Once, from the cross, an anguished voice
Came languidly: "I thirst,"
And then a cry, as though the heart,
So full of love, had burst.
"Eli, Eli," these were the words,
"Lama Sabachthani?"
Oh! what acutest agony
Wrung forth that mournful cry!
Meanwhile a sponge, in vinegar,
One standing near Him dips;