544
10s.
Communion of the body and blood of Christ.
Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face;
Here would I touch and handle things unseen;
Here grasp with firmer hand the eternal grace,
And all my weariness upon thee lean.
2 Here would I feed upon the bread of God;
Here drink with thee the royal wine of heaven;
Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven.
3 Too soon we rise; the symbols disappear;
The feast, though not the love, is passed and gone:
The bread and wine remove, but thou art here—
Nearer than ever—still my Shield and Sun.
4 Feast after feast thus comes and passes by;
Yet, passing, points to the glad feast above—
Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,
The Lamb’s great bridal feast of bliss and love.