Classic Poem

“And when they had sung an hymn they went out unto the Mount of Olives.”—Bible.

What song sang the twelve with the Saviour
 When finish'd the sacrament wine?
Were they bow'd and subdued in behavior,
 Or bold as made bold with a sign?

What sang they? What sweet song of Zion
 With Christ in their midst like a crown?
While here sat Saint Peter, the lion;
 And there like a lamb, with head down,

Sat Saint John, with his silken and raven
 Rich hair on his shoulders, and eyes
Lifting up to the faces unshaven
 Like a sensitive child's in surprise.

Was the song as strong fishermen swinging
 Their nets full of hope to the sea?
Or low, like the ripple-wave, singing
 Sea-songs on their loved Galilee?

Were they sad with foreshadow of sorrows,
 Like the birds that sing low when the breeze
Is tip-toe with a tale of tomorrows,—
 Of earthquakes and sinking of seas?

Ah! soft was their song as the waves are
 That fall in low musical moans;
And sad I should say as the winds are
 That blow by the white gravestones.