"But Pilate acted out before them all In symbol a purgation of himself. He had a basin of water brought, and washed His hands, and said: 'Lo, I am innocent Of this just blood; see ye yourselves to it.' And all my people shouted out a curse Upon themselves which for their sakes I fain Had stopped my ears against--if not to hear, Could have undone that dreadful curse! They cried, 'On us and on our children be his blood!' God waits yet, but not long, to wreak that curse.
"That was the end of all until the cross. A multitude of people followed Him, As He went forth out of the city gate Bearing His cross to Golgotha, the place Where He should suffer. Thither going, they Met Simon a Cyrenean coming in, And, of some wanton humor seized, they made Him take the cross and bear it. With the throng Mingled, were many women who like me Wailed and lamented. But the Lord to us Turning said: 'Daughters of Jerusalem, Weep not for me; but for yourselves weep ye, Yea, and your children. For the days will come When, Blessed are the barren, ye shall say, And breasts that never nourished children. Lo, Then to the mountains men shall lift their cry, Fall ye upon us; Cover us, to the hills.'
"While they nailed Jesus to His cross, He spake Words such as never other spake before; Upward He spake, praying, and not to them. 'Father,' He prayed, 'forgive them, for, behold, They know not what they do.' So there He hung, The Savior of the world, upon His cross. I saw the soldiers four whose watch it was Sit unconcerned--not knowing what they did!-- And cast lots for the garments of the Lord. 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,' Pilate had written in three languages, Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin, on the cross; For so he gave his jeering humor play. The chief priests winced at this, and begged of him, 'King of the Jews, write not, but that he said, King of the Jews am I.' But Pilate spoke Curtly, 'What I have written, I have written.' There then the title stood, a bitterness Mixed in their cup of triumph to the Jews, And a truth deeper far than Pilate guessed.
"Mary, the mother of the Lord, stood by; Jesus beheld her, and, close at her side, That one of His disciples whom He loved. A word then from those suffering lips which wrung The mother-heart of Mary with sweet woe To hear it spoken at such time as this. 'Woman,' said Jesus, to His mother speaking, 'Behold, thy son!' He meant John, for to him Likewise He spake, 'Behold, thy mother!' So Thenceforward Mary had with John her home.