The Crucifix And The Owl

That unutterable Agony on the Crucifix
Of Jesus Christ the hideous Jews decried
Rent night asunder; seethed the sullen Styx,
Sad Lethe murmured where the reeds transfix
The invisible winds; then He, the Crucified,
Nailed by the cruel nails, the wound in His side
That bled, His feet that bled, His head whose pride
Was more than man's, His brow the thorns did mix
With drops of blood, heard the hooting of an Owl:
The Owl who when the wan moon, the sun's Bride,
Begins to shine, inevitably hoots.
Nothing he fears, not even the earth's roots,
He fears not lightning nor the clouds that scowl.
The Christ: who loved him, panted, then he sighed;
So sighed beneath him Mary Magdalen.
At the ninth hour the ghost within him died.
The Owl was silent and no God replied:
At the ninth hour the Owl hooted again.