Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/145

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BOOK THE FOURTH
133
The guests sat silent. When into the hallThe Messenger from that besieged town,Stalk'd stately. "It is pleasant, King of France, 180To feast at ease and hear the harper's song;Far other music hear the men of Orleans!Death is among them; there the voice of WoeMoans ceaseless.""Rude unmannerly intruder!"Exclaim'd the Monarch, "Cease to interrupt 185The hour of merriment; it is not thineTo instruct me in my duty."Of reproof Heedless, the stranger to the minstrel cried, "Why harpest thou of Good Rinaldo's fameAmid these walls? Virtue and Genius love 190That lofty lay. Hast thou no loose lewd taleTo pamper and provoke the appetite?Such should procure thee worthy recompence:Or rather sing thou of that mighty one,Who tore the ewe lamb from the poor man's bosom, 195

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