I. 

It matters not what place he drew 
At first life's mortal breath, 
Some say it was in Bethlehem, 
And some in Nazareth. 
But shame and sorrow were his lot 
And shameful was his death. 

The angels sang, and o'er the barn 
Wherein the infant lay, 
They hung a star, for they foresaw 
The sad world's better day, 
But well God knew what thyme and rue 
Were planted by his way. 

The children of the Pharisees 
In hymn and orison 
Worshipped the prophets, whom their sires 
To cruel death had done, 
And said, 'had we been there their death 
We had not looked upon.' 

While the star shone the angels saw 
The tombs these children built 
For those the world had driven out, 
And smitten to the hilt, 
God knew these wretched sons would bear 
The self-same bloody guilt. 

Always had he who strives for men 
But done some other thing, 
If he had not led a hermit life, 
Or had not had his fling, 
We would have followed him, they say, 
And made him lord and King. 

For John was clothed in camel's hair 
And lived among the brutes; 
But Jesus fared where the feast was spread 
To the sound of shawms and lutes, 
Where gathered knaves and publicans 
And hapless prostitutes. 

Like children in the market place 
Who sullen sat and heard, 
With John they would not mourn, nor yet 
Rejoice at Jesus' word; 
Had Jesus mourned, or John rejoiced, 
He had been King and lord. 

II. 

From Bethlehem until the day 
He came up to the feast 
We hear no word, we only know 
In wisdom he increased, 
We know the marvelous boy did awe 
The Pharisee and priest. 

For wearied men wake to admire 
A genius in the bud; 
Before the passion of the world 
Flows through him like a flood; 
Ere he becomes a scourge to those 
Who drink of mankind's blood. 

Perhaps in him they saw an arm 
To keep the people still; 
And fool the meek and slay the weak 
And give the King his will; 
And put a wall for arm?d men 
'Round every pleasant hill. 

And this is why in after years 
The Galilean wept; 
The cup of youth was sweet with truth 
But a green worm in it crept; 
And that was dullness clothed in power, 
And hate which never slept. 

Through twenty years he drove the plane, 
And shaped with ax and saw; 
And dreamed upon the Hebrew writ 
Unto a day of awe, 
When he felt the world fit to his grasp 
As by a mighty law. 

He looked upon the sunny sky, 
And 'round the flowering earth; 
He heard the poor man's groan of woe, 
And the prince's song of mirth; 
Then Jesus vowed the life of man 
Should have another birth. 

And this is why the Son of Man 
Wept when he knew the loss, 
The toil and sacrifice to cleanse 
A little earthly dross; 
And that a god to save twelve men 
Must die upon the cross. 

III. 

'Twas on a pleasant day in June 
Beneath an azure sky 
That 'round him stood the multitude 
And saw within his eye 
The light that from nor sun nor star 
Ever was known to fly. 

And some came out to scoff and laugh, 
And some to lay a snare; 
The rhetorician gaped to see: 
The learn?d carpenter. 
The money changer, judge and priest, 
And statesman all were there. 

Some thought the Galilean mad; 
Some asked, is he sincere? 
Some said he played the demagogue 
To gain the people's ear, 
And raise a foe against the law 
That lawful men should fear. 

But all the while did C¾sar's might 
Grow big with blood and lust; 
And no one brooked his tyrant arm, 
For the statesman said the crust 
That paupers gnaw is by the law, 
And that the law is just. 

From hunger's hovel, from the streets; 
From horror's blackened niche 
Earth's mourners came and hands were stretched 
To touch him from the ditch. 
Then rose a Scribe and said he turned 
The poor against the rich. 

And those who hated C¾sar's rule, 
Albeit sowed the lie 
That Jesus stirred sedition up 
That he might profit by 
A revolution, which should clothe 
Himself in monarchy. 

Through twice a thousand years the world 
Has missed the words he taught; 
To forms and creeds and empty show 
Christ never gave a thought, 
But wrongs that men do unto men 
They were the wrongs he fought. 

He did not eat with washen hands, 
Nor keep the Sabbath day; 
He did not to the Synagogue 
Repair to sing and pray. 
Nor for to-morrow take a thought, 
To mar life's pleasant way. 

He saw that all of human woe 
Takes root in hate and greed; 
He saw until men love their kind 
The human heart must bleed. 
And that nor hymn nor sacrifice 
Meets any human need. 

And this is why he scourged the rich 
And lashed the Pharisee, 
And stripped from ev