The King Initiate

"They took Iesous and scourged him."—St. John Age after age the world has wept A joy supreme—I saw the hands Whose fiery radiations swept And burned away his earthly bands: And where they smote the living dyes Flashed like the plumes of paradise. Their joys the heavy nations hush— A form of purple glory rose Crowned with such rays of light as flush The white peaks on their towering snows: It held the magic wand that gave Rule over earth, air, fire and wave. What sorrow makes the white cheeks wet: The mystic cross looms shadowy dim— There where the fourfold powers have met And poured their living tides through him, The Son who hides his radiant crest To the dark Father's bosom pressed. —June 15, 1896