Poems (Mary Coleridge)/Poem 221

CCXXI AT THE MADELEINE
I saw a cross of burning goldAnd jewels glorious to behold;
Over it a golden crown,All the people falling down.
I saw an ugly cross of wood,On it there were stains of blood;
Over it a crown of thorn,Plaited for the people's scorn,
Cross of gold, no fruit was thine,Nothing but the empty shrine.
Cross of wood, thou living tree,The true vine clung fast to thee.