Shrift at Vespers

Lyrics

At vesper-tide I crossed the rood And knelt beneath the sacring bell The curate drew his sable hood And bade me name what in me dwelt I gave him neither fiend nor sire But every deed I had concealed The thurible coughed a sullen fire The chancel stones refused the seal Give me shrift, or give me none The blackest office is begun Close the book and quench the light I shall be mine before the night He read the rubric back to front And struck my brow with bitter rue The painted saints grew wan and gaunt As though my sins belonged to you Then from the loft, one cracked antiphon Came limping through the rafters thin The bell gave forth a backward tone And named the priest as next of kin Give me shrift, or give me none The blackest office is begun Close the book and quench the light I shall be mine before the night Unhouse me from the borrowed name Unbind the oath, undo the claim Let neither curate, crown, nor creed Keep lordship over what they freed Give me shrift, I need it none The false dominion is undone Close the book and sound the bell I leave no tenant here to quell