Upon His Breast

Upon his breast Upon his breast A cross he bore A cross he bore And step by step And step by step Down narrow lanes He walked And walked And with him walked And walked The other men: And in their hands A torch each bore As one by one One after one Down narrow lanes They walked And walked. And as they walked Hymns chanted they Or psalms In language strange and queer How eerie the idiom looked And the sounds jarred: Yet still They walked And walked And on their journey walked And on their breast And on their breast A cross they bore A cross they bore And in their hand A flaming torch A smoking torch They bore And in the night And in the night They faded They faded And last to see And last to see The torch light smoke The torch light smoke.