Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/303

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BOOK THE EIGHTH.
291
One of less daring valor. "Tho' they pointTheir engines here, our archers not in vainSpeed their death-doing shafts. Let the strong wallsFirst by the foe be won; 'twill then be timeTo meet them in the battle man to man, 570When these shall fail us."Scarcely had he spoke,When full upon his breast a ponderous stoneFell fierce impell'd, and drove him to the earth,All shattered. Horror the spectators seiz'd!For as the dreadful weapon shivered him, 575His blood besprinkled round, and they beheldHis mangled lungs lie quivering!"Such the fateOf those who trust them to their walls defence."Again exclaim'd the soldier: "thus they fall,Betrayed by their own fears. Courage alone 580Can save us.”Nor to draw them from the fortNow needed eloquence; with one accord

They

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