John Ellerton (1826–1893)

THRONED upon the awful Tree,

King of grief, I watch with Thee

Darkness veils Thine anguished face,

None its lines of woe can trace,

None can tell what pangs unknown

Hold Thee silent and alone.

Silent through those three dread hours

Wrestling with the evil powers;

Left alone with human sin,

Gloom around Thee and within,

Till the appointed time is nigh,

Till the Lamb of God may die.

Hark that cry that peals aloud

Upward through the whelming cloud

Thou, the Father’s only Son,

Thou, His own Anointed One,

Thou dost ask Him—can it be?

Why hast Thou forsaken Me?

Lord, should fear and anguish roll

Darkly o’er my sinful soul,

Thou, who once wast thus bereft

That Thine own might ne’er be left—

Teach me by that bitter cry

In the gloom to know Thee nigh.