Question

Why was Saint Peter about to faint ?

Answer 1

According to the poem, Saint Peter has been fasting for almost a day, that is, he hadn't eaten anything for a day. Hence, due to weakness, he was about to faint.

This lines tell us about it :-

'And being faint with fasting,

for the day was almost done'

Further story (not related to answer)

→ He asked an old lady to give him some bread to eat as he had an empty stomach. The lady tried to bake as thin as she could, but to her surprise, whenever she was done, the bread seemed to be very large. So instead of giving, she kept it for herself. Saint Peter became angry and cursed him to be a bird who bores and bores for food.