Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/43

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BOOK THE FIRST
31

Death never rested, and the morning sun440
Made steam the fearful havoc of the night;
'Till at the break of day I slept; nor then
Repos'd my heated brain; for to my view
Arose strange forms, sent as I do believe
From the Most High. I saw a town hemm'd in445
Like Harfleur, round with enemies begirt,
Where Famine on a heap of carcasses
Half envious of the unutterable feast
Mark'd the gorg'd raven clog his beak with gore.
I turn'd me then to the besieger's camp,450
And there was revelry: the loud lewd laugh
Burst on mine ears, and I beheld the chiefs
Even at their feast plan the device of Death.
My soul grew sick within me: then methought
From a dark lowering cloud, the womb of tempests,455
A giant arm burst forth, and dropt a sword
That pierc'd like lightning thro' the midnight air.
Then was there heard a voice, which in mine ear
Shall echo, at that hour of dreadful joy

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