Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/284

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JOAN OF ARC.
Whizzed fierce, and struck, there where the helmet's claspsDefend the neck; a weak protection now,For thro' the tube that the pure air inhalesPierced the keen shaft; blood down the unwonted way 215Gush'd to the lungs: prone fell the dying manGrasping, convuls'd, the earth: a hollow groanIn his throat struggled, and the dews of deathStood on his livid cheek. The days of youthHe had pass'd peaceful, and had known what joys 220Domestic love bestows, the father onceOf two fair infants; in the city hem'dDuring the hard siege; he had seen their cheeksGrow pale with famine, and had heard their criesFor bread! his wife—a broken-hearted one— 225Sunk to the cold grave's quiet, and her babesWith hunger pined, and followed: he survived,A miserable man! and heard the shoutsOf joy in Orleans, when the Maid approach'd,As o'er the corse of his last little one 230He heap'd the unhallowed earth. To him the foe

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