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'Twas the Bridegroom sat at the table-head,
And the lights burned bright and clear.
"Oh, who is that?" the Bridegroom said,
"Whose weary feet I hear?"
'Twas one looked from the lighted hall,
And answered soft and slow,
"It is a wolf runs up and down
With a black track in the snow."
The Bridegroom in his robe of white
Sat at the table-head
"Oh, who is that who moans without?"
The blessed Bridegroom said.
'Twas one looked from the lighted hall,
And answered fierce and low.
"Tis the soul of Judas Iscariot
Gliding to and fro."
'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot
Did hush itself and stand,
And saw the Bridegroom at the door
With a light in his hand.
'Twas the Bridegroom stood at the open door,
And beckoned, smiling sweet;
'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot
Stole in, and fell at his feet.
"The Holy Supper is spread within,
And the many candles shine,
And I have waited long for thee
Before I poured the wine!"
ROBERT BUCHANAN
This old ballad tells the story of when Judas committed suicide and his soul wandered through the universe bearing his body and seeking a place for it to rest. Hell would not take it in; the earth would not receive it; the sun refused to shine on it. Judas could find no resting place in all creation.
At last, in a nameless region of darkness and ice and snow, the soul of Judas saw a lighted hall and the shadows of people moving about within. He laid his body in the snow and ran back and forth outside the windows. Although Judas did not know it, inside Jesus sat at a table with His guests, ready to receive the fleeing soul and relieve Judas of the burden of that body lying in the snow.
from Adventures on the Othe Side of Silence by Morton Kelsey
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