{"id":2384,"date":"2013-03-22T13:34:47","date_gmt":"2013-03-22T17:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=2384"},"modified":"2013-03-22T13:34:47","modified_gmt":"2013-03-22T17:34:47","slug":"the-story-of-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=2384","title":{"rendered":"“The Story of the Cross”"},"content":{"rendered":"

My poem of the week has been Edward Monro\u2019s \u201cThe Story of the Cross.\u201d I discovered this poem reading Anthony Esolen\u2019s recent column at Touchstone Magazine<\/a>. I appreciated the meditation on Jesus\u2019 cross work, enhanced by Esolen\u2019s comments,\u00a0 and hope you will as well.<\/p>\n

In His own raiment clad, with His blood dyed;
\nWomen walk sorrowing by His side.
\nHeavy that cross to Him, weary the weight;
\nOne who will help Him waits at the gate.<\/p>\n

See! they are traveling on the same road;
\nSimon is sharing with Him the load.
\nO whither wandering bear they that tree?
\nHe who first carries it, who is He?<\/p>\n

Follow to Calvary; tread where He trod,
\nHe who for ever was Son of God.
\nYou who would love Him stand, gaze at His face:
\nTarry a while on your earthy race.<\/p>\n

As the swift moments fly, through the blest week,
\nRead the great story the cross will teach.
\nIs there no beauty to you who pass by,
\nIn that lone figure which marks that sky?<\/p>\n

On the cross lifted Thy face we scan,
\nBearing that cross for us, Son of Man.
\nThorns form Thy diadem, rough wood Thy throne;
\nFor us Thy blood is shed, us alone.<\/p>\n

No pillow under Thee to rest Thy head;
\nOnly the splintered cross is Thy bed.
\nNails pierced Thy hands and feet, Thy side the spear;
\nNo voice is nigh to say help is near.<\/p>\n

Shadows of midnight fall, though it is day:
\nThy friends and kinsfolk stand far away.
\nLoud is Thy bitter cry; sunk on Thy breast
\nHangeth Thy bleeding head without rest.<\/p>\n

Loud scoffs the dying thief, who mocks at Thee;
\nCan it, my Savior, be all for me?
\nGazing, afar from Thee, silent and lone,
\nStand those few weepers Thou callest Thine own.<\/p>\n

I see Thy title, Lord, inscribed above;
\nJesus of Nazareth, King of Love.
\nWhat, O my Savior, here didst Thou see,
\nWhich made Thee suffer and die for me?<\/p>\n

\u201cChild of My grief and pain, watched by My love;
\nI came to call thee to realms above.
\nI saw thee wandering far off from Me:
\nIn love I seek for Thee; do not flee.<\/p>\n

For thee My blood I shed, for thee alone;
\nI came to purchase thee, for Mine own.
\nWeep thou not for My grief, child of My love:
\nStrive to be with Me in Heaven above.<\/p>\n

O I will follow Thee, Star of my soul,
\nThrough the deep shades of life to the goal.
\nYea, let Thy cross be borne each day by me;
\nMind not how heavy, if but with Thee.<\/p>\n

Lord, if Thou only wilt, make us Thine own,
\nGive no companion, save Thee alone.
\nGrant through each day of life to stand by Thee;
\nWith Thee, when morning breaks, ever to be.<\/p>\n

By Edward Monro, in A Supplement to Hymns Used in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Leeds (Leeds, England: E. W. Sharp, 1864).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My poem of the week has been Edward Monro\u2019s \u201cThe Story of the Cross.\u201d I discovered this poem reading Anthony Esolen\u2019s recent column at Touchstone Magazine. I appreciated the meditation on Jesus\u2019 cross work, enhanced by Esolen\u2019s comments,\u00a0 and hope you will as well. In His own raiment clad, with His blood dyed; Women walk …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘“The Story of the Cross”’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[296,261],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2384"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2386,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2384\/revisions\/2386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}