Rest here a while, and plant your pilgrim staff
Beside the fountain in the palm’s cool shade.
In the green oasis, on the sandy desert
Kneel by the spring and so refresh yourself
With living water, which slakes more than wine
Poured out by vassals at the world’s rich feasts.
Through the gift most precious, consecrated be,
Freed from the thirst that burns with fiercest pain.
The gracious Lord has sent his own dear Son,
From whose pure heart the fountain of the Word Arose.
Thank Him who came to bear our sins
And tell your brothers of this blessed place
Where those who languish, faint from wounds or ill,
May fill their jars, and forward through the sands
Carry them, brimming, on their pilgrim way.
Printed with permission of J.H. Kok, Kampen