Beneath the Cross

[ladylovesJesus]

Beneath Thy Cross
Christina Rossetti
(1830 - 1894)

AM I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy Blood's slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon--
I, only I.

Yet give not o'er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beneath the Cross
Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane

BENEATH the Cross of Jesus,
I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty rock
Within a weary land;

A home within the wilderness,
A rest upon the way,
From the burnng of the noontide heat,
And the burden of the day.

Upon the Cross of Jesus,
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me.

And from my smitten heart, with tears,
Two wonders I confess, --
The wonder of His glorious love,
And my own worthlessness.

I take, O Cross, thy shadow
For my abiding-place;
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of His face:

Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all, the Cross.