Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/328

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JOAN OF ARC.
Withering with age, branched there its naked roots,And there the melancholy Cypress rear'd 50Its head: the earth was heaved with many a mound,And here and there a half-demolish'd tomb.
And now, amid the ruin's darkest shade,The Virgin's eye beheld where pale blue flamesRose wavering, now just gleaming from the earth, 55And now in darkness drown'd. An aged ManSat near, seated on what in long-past daysHad been some sculptured monument, now fall'nAnd half-obscur'd by moss, and gathered heapsOf withered yew-leaves and earth-mouldering bones: 60And shining in the ray was seen the trackOf slimy snail obscene. Composed his look,His eye was large and ray less, and fix'd fullUpon the Maid; the blue flames on his faceStream'd a drear light; his face was of the hue 65Of death: his limbs were mantled in a shroud.

Then

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