The Altar or, Meditations in Verse On The Great Christian Sacrifice By The Author of "The Cathedral," [i.e. Isaac Williams] |
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 | The Altar |  |
3.
“And with the rich in His death.”
But what are these, the costly liniment,
Sabean odours, Araby's perfume,
That wrap His pallid Body in the tomb?
Was it for this, in sad presentiment,
Kings from the rich and fragrant East were sent
To where that star's pale radiance did illume
That stable-cave, wherein a mother leant
Upon the offspring of her Virgin womb?
When festal scents of myrrh and frankincense
Were soon to blend with weeping Rachel's cry,
And dying shrieks of murdered Innocents,—
While kingly worshippers around Him press,
And Tyrian garb and gold of Araby
Seemed but to mock His cold and nakedness.
| The Altar | |