And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? <br /> 2 Kings VI: 27 <br /> <br />Thou that on sin's wages starvest, <br />Behold we have the joy in harvest: <br />For us was gather'd the first fruits, <br />For us was lifted from the roots, <br />Sheaved in cruel bands, bruised sore, <br />Scourged upon the threshing-floor; <br />Where the upper mill-stone roof'd His head, <br />At morn we found the heavenly Bread, <br />And, on a thousand altars laid, <br />Christ our Sacrifice is made! <br /> <br />Thou whose dry plot for moisture gapes, <br />We shout with them that tread the grapes: <br />For us the Vine was fenced with thorn, <br />Five ways the precious branches torn; <br />Terrible fruit was on the tree <br />In the acre of Gethsemane; <br />For us by Calvary's distress <br />The wine was racked from the press; <br />Now in our altar-vessels stored <br />Is the sweet Vintage of our Lord. <br /> <br />In Joseph's garden they threw by <br />The riv'n Vine, leafless, lifeless, dry: <br />On Easter morn the Tree was forth, <br />In forty days reach'd heaven from earth; <br />Soon the whole world is overspread; <br />Ye weary, come into the shade. <br /> <br />The field where He has planted us <br />Shall shake her fruit as Libanus, <br />When He has sheaved us in His sheaf, <br />When He has made us bear his leaf. - <br />We scarcely call that banquet food, <br />But even our Saviour's and our blood, <br />We are so grafted on His wood.<br /><br />Gerard Manley Hopkins<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/barnfloor-and-winepress/
