THE ROBE

By: Joyce Kilmer

At the foot of the cross at Calvary
Three soldiers sat and diced.
And one of them was the devil,
And won the robe of Christ.

When the devil comes in his proper form,
To the chamber where I dwell.
I know him and make the sign of the cross
Which drives him back to hell.

I saw him through a thousand veils,
And has not this sufficed?
Now must I see the devil robed,
In the radiant robe of Christ?

How can I tell, who am a fool?
If this be Christ or no?
Those bleeding hands outstretched to me!
Those eyes that love me so!

I see the robe, I look, I hope,
I fear, yet there is one;
Who will direct my troubled soul,
Christ's Mother knows her Son.

"This man of lies" she says...
"Disguised with fearful art."
"He has the wounded hands and feet,"
"But not the wounded heart."

At the foot of the cross at Calvary,
She watched them as they diced.
She saw the devil join the game,
And win the robe of Christ.