One crown that no one seeks 1
And yet the highest head
Its isolation coveted
Its stigma deified
While Pontius Pilate lives 5
In whatsoever hell
That coronation pierces him
He recollects it well.
And yet the highest head
Its isolation coveted
Its stigma deified
While Pontius Pilate lives 5
In whatsoever hell
That coronation pierces him
He recollects it well.
(F.1759/J.1735)
[1] crown:: the crown of thorns; "Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!" (John 19:5)
[2] highest head:: the smartest mind.
[3] coveted:: the smartest mind made this isolation (the crucifixion) be coveted by the world.
[4] stigma:: the Veronica legend or Shroud of Turin.
[5, 6] Pontius Pilate, whatsoever hell:: Pilate may not live in the Hell (the underworld), but for sure is miserable for the coronation.
[7] coronation:: the action of crowning Jesus and the crucifixion.
[8] He, well:: Pilate recollected it well is based on Acts of Pilate, Pilate's letter to King Claudius.
Pontius Pilate to Claudius, Greeting. It hath lately happened, and I have myself witnessed, that the Jews, through envy, have laid themselves as well as their posterity under a bitter condemnation.
As it had been promised to their forefathers that God would send to them from Heaven his Holy One, who should be their King, and that he should be born of a Virgin; and as the God of the Jews had, whilst I was their Governor, sent him: seeing that he restored sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, cured the paralytics, cast out devils, even raised the dead to life, controlled the winds, walked on the water, and did many other miracles. . . . This is the reason for my writing to you, lest any one should represent otherwise; for do not believe that credence should be yielded to the assertions of the Jews. ─ The Correspondent Vol. I (1827)
The holy shroud of Turin falls nothing short of the other; this likewise was brought from Jerusalem, and we are informed by Chifflet, that, after two or three times changing its situation, if fixed itself at last at Turin, in the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, which is within the cathedral. ─ Religious Ceremonies and Customs (1834)
