Classic Poem

Within the sombre palace walls
She heard them cry out for his blood —
She heard them cry, and she was nigh
To swooning where she stood.

Her seemed as if her very life
Was ebbing from her, watching there,
And all her soul reached up to god
In one heart-broken prayer.

She saw, in mocking reverence,
The maddened crowd before him bow,
And press the cruel crown of thorns
Deep in his pallid brow.

She saw the heavy knotted scourge
Encircle thrice above his head
And cut into his naked flesh
Until the blood ran red,

Through all the master stood serene
As forest pools at eventide,
Though agony dwelt in his eyes
And pain stayed at his side.

They spat upon him, in her sight;
She heard their shrieks demoniac;
She saw them lift the heavy cross,
And bind it on his back.

And as he staggered forth in pain,
She sobbed aloud her dule and dree,
What time Christ took his weary way
Unto mount calvary.

She saw him stumble, as he walked,
Beneath his burden and his pain;
And, as he fell, she saw them lash
His bleeding back again,

Then strove she hard to reach his side,
And give him comfort in his woe,
Whereat the jealous judas came
And felled her with one blow.

Bravely she struggled to her feet,
And, weeping blindly, followed on,
Marking the saviour's trembling steps,
By his blood on the stone.