Now Robert Buchanan perceived that the Church legends of the punishment of Judas might be strongly questioned from a moral point of view. Revenge is indeed in the spirit of the Old Testament; but revenge is not exactly in the spirit of the teaching of Christ. The true question as to the fate of Judas ought to be answered by supposing what Christ himself would have wished in the matter. Would Christ have wished to see his betrayer burning for ever in the fires of hell? Or would he have shown to him some of that spirit manifested in his teachings, "Do good unto them that hate you; forgive your enemies"? As a result of thinking about the matter, Buchanan produced his ballad. All that could be said against it from a religious point of view is that the spirit of it is even more Christian than Christianity itself. From the poetical point of view we must acknowledge it to be one of the grandest ballads produced in the whole period of Victorian literature. You will not find so exquisite a finish here as in some of the ballads of Rossetti; but you will find a weirdness and a beauty and an emotional power that make up for slenderness in workmanship. In order to understand the beginning of the ballad clearly, you should know the particulars about another superstition concerning Judas. It is said that all the elements refused to suffer the body to be committed to them; fire would not burn it; water would not let it sink to rest; every time it was buried, the earth would spew it out again. Man could not bury that body, so the ghosts endeavoured to get rid of it. The Field of Blood referred to in the ballad is the Aceldama of Scriptural legend, the place where Judas hanged himself. 'Twas the body of Judas Iscariot Lay in the Field of Blood; 'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot Beside the body stood. Black was the earth by night, And black was the sky; Black, black were the broken clouds, Though the red Moon went by. . . . . . . Then the soul of Judas Iscariot Did make a gentle moan-- "I will bury underneath the ground My flesh and blood and bone. . . . . . . "The stones of the field are sharp as steel, And hard and bold, God wot; And I must bear my body hence Until I find a spot!" 'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot So grim, and gaunt, and grey, Raised the body of Judas Iscariot And carried it away. And as he bare it from the field Its touch was cold as ice, And the ivory teeth within the jaw Rattled aloud, like dice. The use of the word "ivory" here has a double function; dice are usually made of ivory; and the suggestion of whiteness heightens the weird effect. As the soul of Judas Iscariot Carried its load with pain, The Eye of Heaven, like a lanthorn's eye, Opened and shut again.