Page:Poems Terry, 1861.djvu/203

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The death of tankerfield.
199
"I may not have a minister
To break this bread to me,
But by thy passion, gracious Lord,
Lay not the sin to me!

"I fain would keep thy feast again
Before I drink it new,
To aid my flesh in deathly pain,
And keep my spirit true."

So, giving thanks, he took the bread,
And drank the sacred wine,
Which now in heaven he doth partake
From chalices divine.

Then prayed he them to light a fire,
That he his strength might try;
The host did grant him his desire,
And stood amazed by:

For, lo! he stretched his naked foot
Into the scorching flame,
But bone and sinew quivering shrank,
And loud he spake in pain:—

"Ho, flesh! thou wilt not gladly burn,
But spirit shall endure;