Then all afire with mad desire, They chased him through the dark, And each soul carried his dead bodie, Grim, and stiff, and stark.
They struck at him with their bodies, They cursed him for his sin, They made to tear his dumb soul there, With their fingers long and lean.
And Judas fled in his horror, With that fell crew behind, And as they sped the people said Death rode upon the wind.
They chased him near, they chased him far, Because of his treachery, And ever he just escaped their lust, And ever they were nigh.
They chased him near, they chased him far, And ever they were nigh, And never a star shone out on them Out of the cold black sky.
And as they sped by Calvary, There were empty crosses three,-- And on the ground, below the mound, Lay one in agony.
"_Three times I swore I knew Him not, And then--He looked on me. Ah, such a look!--no harshest word Had ever proved so sharp a sword To my inconstancy_.
"_Three times I did deny Thee, Lord! And yet, thou couldst forgive, Now am I thine--in life, in death; Thee will I serve with every breath, While I have breath to give_."
They sped by an open window, Where one knelt all alone, In great amaze, in greater grief, In woe that wrestled with belief, The Mother mourned her Son.
"_My son, I knew thee more than man,-- Ah me!--and the heart of me! Yet, man in God, and God in man, Still wast thou part of me_.
"_The nails through thy dear hands and feet,-- Ah me! they pierced my own. The thorns that on thy brow they plied,-- The spear they drove into thy side,-- The pangs thy Godhead could not hide,-- They pierced me too, my son_.
"_My son! My son! My more than son, My heart is full for thee! Yet, tho' I know thee so much more Than ever mortal man before,-- Yet, tho' I worship and adore,-- Woe's me!--and the heart of me_!"
And ever they came by the Potter's Field, And thrust their bodies in, And ever the sick earth spat them out, Because of Iscariot's sin.
They sped along a palace-wall, The feast waxed high inside,-- On Golgotha the Cross still stood, The Cross where man had nailed his God, Red was the Rood still with his blood,-- They drank--"_The Crucified_!"
The revel gashed the sombre night, And fast the wine-cups plied,-- Time touched Eternity that day;-- God had come down to man that day;-- The world began anew that day;-- They drank--"_The Crucified_!"