Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/181

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BOOK THE FIFTH.
169
Along the pleasant borders of the Loire,Late throng'd with multitudes, now feel the handOf Ruin. These preventive Care destroys,[1]Lest England, shelter'd by the friendly walls,Securely should approach. The monasteries 210Fell in the general waste. The holy MonksUnwillingly their long-accustom'd hauntsAbandon, haunts where every gloomy nookCall'd to awakened Memory some traceOf vision seen, or sound miraculous. 215Trembling and terrified, their noiseless cells For the rude uproar of a world unknown, The Nuns desert. Their Abbess, more composed, Collects her maids around, and tells her beads, And pours the timid prayer of piety. 220The citizens with strong and ceaseless stroke Dug up the violated earth, to impede

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  1. ↑ Line 208. "They pulled down all the most considerable buildings in the suburbs, and among the rest twelve churches and several monasteries; that the English might not make use of them in carrying on the siege." Rapin. Monstrellet.
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