Lo, I have spoken openly to the world, I have taught ever in the Synagogue, And in the Temple, where the Jews resort In secret have said nothing.Wherefore then Askest thou me of this? Ask them that heard me What I have said to them.Behold, they know What I have said!
OFFICER, striking him, What, fellow! answerest thou The High-Priest so?
CHRISTUS.
If I have spoken evil, Bear witness of the evil; but if well, Why smitest thou me?
CAIAPHAS.
Where are the witnesses?
Let them say what they know.
THE TWO FALSE WITNESSES.
We heard him say:
I will destroy this Temple made with hands, And will within three days build up another Made without hands.
SCRIBES and PHARISEES.
He is o'erwhelmed with shame And cannot answer!
CAIAPHAS.
Dost thou answer nothing?
What is this thing they witness here against thee?
SCRIBES and PHARISEES.
He holds his peace.
CAIAPHAS.
Tell us, art thou the Christ?
I do adjure thee by the living God, Tell us, art thou indeed the Christ?
CHRISTUS.
I am.
Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man Sit on the right hand of the power of God, And come in clouds of heaven!
CAIAPHAS, rending his clothes.
It is enough.
He hath spoken blasphemy! What further need Have we of witnesses? Now ye have heard His blasphemy.What think ye? Is he guilty?
SCRIBES and PHARISEES.
Guilty of death!
KINSMAN OF MALCHUS to PETER in the vestibule.
Surely I know thy face, Did I not see thee in the garden with him?
PETER.
How couldst thou see me? I swear unto thee I do not know this man of whom ye speak!
The cock crows.
Hark! the cock crows! That sorrowful, pale face Seeks for me in the crowd, and looks at me, As if He would remind me of those words:
Ere the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice!
Goes out weeping.CHRISTUS is blindfolded and buffeted.
AN OFFICER, striking him with his palm.
Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, thou Prophet!
Who is it smote thee?
CAIAPHAS.
Lead him unto Pilate!
VI
PONTIUS PILATE
PILATE.
Wholly incomprehensible to me, Vainglorious, obstinate, and given up To unintelligible old traditions, And proud, and self-conceited are these Jews!
Not long ago, I marched the legions Down from Caesarea to their winter-quarters Here in Jerusalem, with the effigies Of Caesar on their ensigns, and a tumult Arose among these Jews, because their Law Forbids the making of all images!
They threw themselves upon the ground with wild Expostulations, bared their necks, and cried That they would sooner die than have their Law Infringed in any manner; as if Numa Were not as great as Moses, and the Laws Of the Twelve Tables as their Pentateuch!
And then, again, when I desired to span Their valley with an aqueduct, and bring A rushing river in to wash the city And its inhabitants,--they all rebelled As if they had been herds of unwashed swine!
Thousands and thousands of them got together And raised so great a clamor round my doors, That, fearing violent outbreak, I desisted, And left them to their wallowing in the mire.
And now here comes the reverend Sanhedrim Of lawyers, priests, and Scribes and Pharisees, Like old and toothless mastiffs, that can bark But cannot bite, howling their accusations Against a mild enthusiast, who hath preached I know not what new doctrine, being King Of some vague kingdom in the other world, That hath no more to do with Rome and Caesar Than I have with the patriarch Abraham!
Finding this man to be a Galilean I sent him straight to Herod, and I hope That is the last of it; but if it be not, I still have power to pardon and release him, As is the custom at the Passover, And so accommodate the matter smoothly, Seeming to yield to them, yet saving him, A prudent and sagacious policy For Roman Governors in the Provinces.
Incomprehensible, fanatic people!
Ye have a God, who seemeth like yourselves Incomprehensible, dwelling apart, Majestic, cloud-encompassed, clothed in darkness!
One whom ye fear, but love not; yet ye have No Goddesses to soften your stern lives, And make you tender unto human weakness, While we of Rome have everywhere around us Our amiable divinities, that haunt The woodlands, and the waters, and frequent Our households, with their sweet and gracious presence!
I will go in, and, while these Jews are wrangling, Read my Ovidius on the Art of Love.
VII
BARABBAS IN PRISON
BARABBAS, to his fellow-prisoners Barabbas is my name, Barabbas, the Son of Shame, Is the meaning, I suppose;I'm no better than the best, And whether worse than the rest Of my fellow-men, who knows?
I was once, to say it in brief, A highwayman, a robber-chief, In the open light of day.
So much I am free to confess;
But all men, more or less, Are robbers in their way.
From my cavern in the crags, From my lair of leaves and flags, I could see, like ants, below, The camels with their load Of merchandise, on the road That leadeth to Jericho.
And I struck them unaware, As an eagle from the air Drops down upon bird or beast;And I had my heart's desire Of the merchants of Sidon and Tyre, And Damascus and the East.
But it is not for that I fear;
It is not for that I am here In these iron fetters bound;Sedition! that is the word That Pontius Pilate heard, And he liketh not the sound.
What think ye, would he care For a Jew slain here or there, Or a plundered caravan?
But Caesar!--ah, that is a crime, To the uttermost end of time Shall not be forgiven to man.
Therefore was Herod wroth With Matthias Margaloth, And burned him for a show!
Therefore his wrath did smite Judas the Gaulonite, And his followers, as ye know.
For that cause and no more, Am I here, as I said before;For one unlucky night, Jucundus, the captain of horse, Was upon us with all his force, And I was caught in the flight,I might have fled with the rest, But my dagger was in the breast Of a Roman equerry, As we rolled there in the street, They bound me, hands and feet And this is the end of me.
Who cares for death? Not I!
A thousand times I would die, Rather than suffer wrong!
Already those women of mine Are mixing the myrrh and the wine;I shall not be with you long.
VIII
ECCE HOMO
PILATE, on the tessellated pavement in front of his palace.
