Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/347

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BOOK THE NINTH.
335
Now in the form of Honor, fierce to talkOf satisfaction for his injuries,And reputation, and the jargon'd phraseThat make mankind genteely violate 400The law of God. But these are petty deedsFor this proud Fiend, that o'er the ravaged earthStalks royally, and bids his liveried slaves,His hireling train'd assassins, to go forth,And desolate, and kill!As on they pass'd 405Beyond the hideous train, thus TheodorePursued: "The bottom of the vast abyssThou treadest, Maiden! Here the dungeons areWhere bad men learn repentance; souls diseasedMust have their remedy; and where disease 410Is rooted deep, the remedy is longPerforce, and painful."Thus the Spirit spake,And led the Maid along a narrow path,Dark-gleaming to the light of far-off flames,

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