Come to snatch that soul away.

Said another: "I would rather

That his shame by all were seen.

Do not spare him, O my Father;

Let the blow be swift and keen!

"Let not justice be evaded!

Keep him, bound to labour hard,

With you, but apart degraded,

And from speech with all debarred!"

This the abbot not refusing,

Only wondered, while he thought,

Was there no one feared the losing

Of a soul the Lord had bought?

One, more thoughtless, recommended

That in prison closely pent

He should stay till life was ended!

But to this would none consent.

In the cell where first they closed him,

Shrinking back, as best he might,

From a window that exposed him

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