64473: In The Wilderness

<p dir="ltr"> He, of his gentleness,<br> Thirsting and hungering<br> Walked in the wilderness;<br> Soft words of grace he spoke<br> Unto lost desert-folk<br> That listened wondering.<br> He heard the bittern call<br> From ruined palace-wall,<br> Answered him brotherly;<br> He held communion<br> With the she-pelican<br> Of lonely piety.<br> Basilisk, cockatrice,<br> Flocked to his homilies,<br> With mail of dread device,<br> With monstrous barbd stings,<br> With eager dragon-eyes;<br> Great bats on leathern wings<br> And old, blind, broken things<br> Mean in their miseries.<br> Then ever with him went,<br> Of all his wanderings<br> Comrade, with ragged coat,<br> Gaunt ribs---poor innocent---<br> Bleeding foot, burning throat,<br> The guileless young scapegoat:<br> For forty nights and days<br> Followed in Jesus' ways,<br> Sure guard behind him kept,<br> Tears like a lover wept.</p>