“Thou who didst chastise heretics and blasphemers, and pursue them from house to house, and take them to prison—fallen! so that they even put thee to disgrace!
“Thou! whose penetrating search after the followers of the Nazarene was like an eagle after his prey—THOU a Nazarene!
“I have mourned thee sore! Rumors came to me from Damascus, but I believed them not, and remained faithful to Saulus—the love of my heart!
“The night-watches have witnessed my weeping and desolation!
“I have clothed myself in sackcloth and mourned!
“My face is bowed in the dust, and my tongue cleaveth to the roof of my mouth!
“Behold the fountains of my tears have dried up!
“I have wandered in the streets of the Holy City, vainly hoping that I might see thy face!
“In my distress I have walked to and fro in my chamber, and anon gazed down through the casement—where thine eyes rested as thou departed—looking for thy return!
“Once I perceived something like a shadow of thy form, and felt thy breath upon my cheek, and a kiss out of the dim light seemed to rest upon me, but in all I was mocked!