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 |  |
5.
“Thy rebuke hath broken My heart: I am full of heaviness:
I looked for some to have pity on Me, but there was no man.”
Thou hadst no sin, but didst in pity take
The tenderness of those meek souls serene
That on all brotherly compassions lean,
And when those sympathies of friends forsake,
Soul-stricken feel, as if the heart would break:
Such love, when by the rude world it is seen,
Is deem'd all weakness, though its griefs have been
Not for itself, but for its brethren's sake.
Through Psalms and Prophets thus, like the meek Dove,
His Spirit doth a mourner's heart express,
With images akin to human love.
And thus the Lord descending from above,
Clothed Himself with all human tenderness,
That so His Shadow might our weakness bless.
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