The Saviour looked on Peter. Aye, no word--
No gesture of reproach! The heavens serene
Though heavy with armed justice, did not lean
Their thunders that way. The forsaken Lord
_Looked_ only, on the traitor. None record
What that look was; none guess: for those who have seen
Wronged lovers loving through a death-pang keen,
Or pale-cheeked martyrs smiling to a sword,
Have missed Jehovah at the judgment call,
And Peter, from the height of blasphemy--
'I never knew this man' did quail and fall,
As knowing straight THAT GOD,--and turned free
And went out speechless from the face of all,
And filled the silence, weeping bitterly.
--_Elizabeth Barrett Browning._