Thief! ay, he 'twas, this very thief, they chose
To bear the purse and give alms to the poor.
I, for my part, see nothing wrong in this."
"But why, if Judas was a man like this,
Frank, noble, honest"--here I interposed--
"Why was it that he thus betrayed his Lord?"
"This question oft did I revolve," said he,
"When all the facts were fresh, and oft revolved
In latter days, and with no change of mind;
And this is my solution of the case:
"Daily he heard his master's voice proclaim,
'I am the Lord! the Father lives in me!
Who knoweth me knows the eternal God!
He who believes in me shall never die!
No! he shall see me with my angels come
With power and glory here upon the earth
To judge the quick and dead! Among you here
Some shall not taste of death before I come
God's kingdom to establish on the earth!'
"What meant these words? They seethed in Judas' soul.
Here is my God--Messias, King of kings,
Christus, the Lord--the Saviour of us all.
How long shall he be taunted and reviled,
And threatened by this crawling scum of men?
Oh, who shall urge the coming of that day
When he in majesty shall clothe himself
And stand before the astounded world its King?'
Long brooding over this inflamed his soul,
And, ever rash in schemes as wild in thought,
At last he said, 'No longer will I bear
This ignominy heaped upon my Lord.
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