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.
“They know not what they do.”
O types of suffering and of sovereignty,—
The scarlet robe, a crown that makes to bleed!
And for a sceptre add the hollow reed
Of scorn and weakness;—then they bend the knee,
And bow to Him in mock humility:
While one hath seized in sport the sceptred weed,
And with it strikes upon His crownéd Head
(Oh, art refined in murderous cruelty!)
Driving the thorns more deeply; while e'en now—
O blindness terrible!—around that Brow
Of unseen Godhead, on Whose smile or frown
Bliss everlasting hangs or endless woe,
The Blood bursts forth beneath the thorny crown,
And to His purple garment trickles down.
| The Altar | |