| Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935). Collected Poems. 1921. |
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| II. The Children of the Night |
| 13. Calvary |
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| FRIENDLESS and faint, with martyred steps and slow, | |
| Faint for the flesh, but for the spirit free, | |
| Stung by the mob that came to see the show, | |
| The Master toiled along to Calvary; | |
| We gibed him, as he went, with houndish glee, | 5 |
| Till his dimned eyes for us did overflow; | |
| We cursed his vengeless hands thrice wretchedly,— | |
| And this was nineteen hundred years ago. | |
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| But after nineteen hundred years the shame | |
| Still clings, and we have not made good the loss | 10 |
| That outraged faith has entered in his name. | |
| Ah, when shall come love’s courage to be strong! | |
| Tell me, O Lord—tell me, O Lord, how long | |
| Are we to keep Christ writhing on the cross! | |
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