4.
“They shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced, and
they shall mourn for Me as one mourneth for his only son.”
Hard hath my heart been as the stony rock,
Yet therein would I make a place for Thee,
Where nought that breathes of mortal vanity
May more be laid, which might Thy sorrows mock;
But mournful Contemplation with a stock
Of better thoughts wait on Thee in my breast.
And if Thou thus wouldst come with me to rest,
I would 'gainst all things else my senses lock;
Like a closed sepulchre, where the rock weeps,
From very coldness, the ethereal dew
Condensing into drops, where hid from view
Around the cave the weeping moisture creeps.
So in this evening of my waning years
I would therein receive Thee with my tears.
