The Altar or, Meditations in Verse On The Great Christian Sacrifice By The Author of "The Cathedral," [i.e. Isaac Williams] |
 |
 | The Altar |  |
28
2.
“The Breath of our nostrils, the Anointed of the Lord, was
taken in their pits.”
A momentary terror seem'd to steep
Their senses, and a felt unearthly power
Before their lowly Victim made them cower—
Like pause that ushers in the thunders deep.
But now the spirits of darkness o'er them lower,
And turn their tongues to triumph, as they creep
Nigh to the city's gates, which guilty sleep
Stills to false slumbers in its destined hour.
Now gibe they cast, and scoff, and blasphemy
On the Divinest Stranger. He doth yield
To rudest violence His harmless Head,
Like a defenceless Lamb to slaughter led,
That He may o'er us cast His sheltering shield,
And from nocturnal terrors set us free.
| The Altar | |