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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4.
“A bundle of myrrh is my Well-Beloved unto me.”
But what may these the odorous spices mean
That are with Thee within the winding-sheet?
It is the embalming of affections sweet
From bodies mortified and souls serene,
That tend Thee in that “linen white and clean,”
Which is “the righteousness of saints,” made meet
Around Thy bleeding Head and wounded Feet
To watch, and in the silent heart unseen,—
Embalming with the sighs of pensive love,
Which fragrance hath of immortality,
And finds a place among those souls that prove
Dead to this world of sense, and hide with Thee;
Like Magdalene, whose praise is seal'd above,
And breathes on earth for ages yet to be.
| The Altar | |