| |
JESUS sitting among his playmates crowned with flowers as their King.
BOYS. WE spread our garments on the ground! | |
| With fragrant flowers thy head is crowned | |
| While like a guard we stand around, | |
| And hail thee as our King! | |
| Thou art the new King of the Jews! | 5 |
| Nor let the passers-by refuse | |
| To bring that homage which men use | |
| To majesty to bring. Here a traveller shall go by, and the boys shall lay hold of his garments and say: | |
| |
BOYS. Come hither! and all reverence pay | |
| Unto our monarch, crowned to-day! | 10 |
| Then go rejoicing on your way, | |
| In all prosperity! | |
| |
TRAVELLER. Hail to the King of Bethlehem. | |
| Who weareth in his diadem | |
| The yellow crocus for the gem | 15 |
| Of his authority! He passes by; and others come in, bearing on a litter a sick child. | |
| |
BOYS. Set down the litter and draw near! | |
| The King of Bethlehem is here! | |
| What ails the child, who seems to fear | |
| That we shall do him harm? | 20 |
| |
THE BEARERS. He climbed up to the robin’s nest, | |
| And out there darted, from his rest, | |
| A serpent with a crimson crest, | |
| And stung him in the arm. | |
| |
JESUS. Bring him to me, and let me feel | 25 |
| The wounded place; my touch can heal | |
| The sting of serpents, and can steal | |
| The poison from the bite! He touches the wound, and the boy begins to cry. | |
| Cease to lament! I can foresee | |
| That thou hereafter known shalt be, | 30 |
| Among the men who follow me, | |
| As Simon the Canaanite! | |
| |
