Lenten Devotion for March 10

To Keep a True Lent

by Robert Herrick, 1648

Is this a fast, to keep

   The larder lean?

      And clean

From fat of veals and sheep?

Is it to quit the dish

   Of flesh, yet still

      To fill

The platter high with fish?¹

Is it to fast an hour,

   Or ragg’d go,

      Or show

A down-cast look and sour?

No: ’tis a Fast to dole

   Thy sheaf of wheat

      And meat

Unto the hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife

   And old debate,

      And hate;

To circumcise thy life.²

To show a heart grief-rent;

   To starve thy sin,

      Not bin;³

And that’s to keep thy Lent.

¹ “flesh” – many Christians fast from meat on Fridays during Lent, but still eat fish

² Circumcision is a biblical metaphor for spiritual conversion  

³ “bin” – container for storing food.