“Who is this man?” the angels sing,
“Who comes with bended knee and head?
He dares not look upon our King,
The Life, so who is he, the dead
That faces toward the floor instead?”
He sweats beneath their flaming swords.
“The earth and ashes,” whispers he.
“To bow before the Lord of Lords,
To fall in front of One and Three,
The dust has come on hand and knee.”
Enlightened choirs harmonize
Around the man, and swoop and soar
On wheels of wings; the Name-filled eyes
See him within their ninefold corps
That decorates the Kingdom’s door.
Their chanting is victorious:
“A mortal man has met his end
But in the Light is glorious,
So let him stand, let him ascend,
For God would call this man His friend.”