He eats only the food
With which the convent is served,
Bland food without savor;
Vigil by night, prayer by day;
But that it was his part to suffer grief:
He would have been tenderly fed and watered.
He puts himself in such great distress
That he, by such efforts, hurts his body too much.
Travails he has more than doubled
But the state of his body is troubled:
The body can’t sustain
What the heart desires.
From fasting his heart is weary
He took to his bed from illness.
A secret confessor of his
Who loved him with great tenderness
Commands under obedience
That he begin to live in another manner.
And he doesn’t want to be contrary
But follows his counsels and commands.
If not he’d have lost his life.
His manner changes and mutates
If he hadn’t done it
He would have died of weakness;
But God by his virtue
Gave him life and health.
Henry the king of England
Is so angry he doesn’t know what to do,
When he sees growing day by day
His reproof and dishonor.
He is outraged and ashamed,
And rejected; it weighs on him.
He sends to the pope to say
That it goes too hard between them;
He greatly desires accord,
Many suspect it won’t be made.
Messengers come and go
Who went and returned;
And the pope answers
Those who disturb him sin,
But wouldn’t lightly make
Peace, save by common assent.
If they were present together,
They’d make peace at such a parliament.
If they had spoken together
They’d have quickly come to an accord.
But the king doesn’t agree
That he and Thomas should be together.
The archbishop answers to that:
“May it not please God who made the world,
And for us suffered death on the cross,
That there not be a third voice,
For the pope by false counsel
Could make a false judgment.”
 

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