Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/208

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JOAN OF ARC.
She is the Delegate of the Most High, 85And shall deliver Orleans!"Gaucour then,"Be it as thou hast said. High hope I feel,For to no vulgar tale would Conrade yieldBelief, or he the Bastard. Our small storesMust yield us, ere another week elapse, 90To death or England. Tell thro' all our troopsThere is a holy Virgin sent from God;They in that faith invincible shall warWith more than mortal fury."Thus the Chief,And what he said seem'd good. The men of Orleans, 95Long by their foemen bayed, a victim band,To war, and woe, and want, such transport feltAs when the Mexicans, with eager eye[1]

"Gazing

  1. ↑ Line 98. "It was the belief of the Mexicans, that at the conclusion of one of their centuries the sun and earth would be destroyed. On the last night of every century they extinguished all their fires, covered the faces of the women and children, and expected the end of the world. The kindling of the sacred fire on the mountain of Huixachtla was believed an omen of their safety.

    See the History of Mexico, by the Abbe Clavigero.

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