Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/365

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BOOK THE NINTH.
353
My coffers full, my subjects undisturb'd,And Plenty and Prosperity had loved 725To dwell amongst them: but mine eye beheldThe realm of France, by faction tempest-torn;And therefore I did think that it would fallAn easy prey. I persecuted thoseWho taught new doctrines, tho' they taught the truth: 730And when I heard of thousands by the swordCut off, or blasted by the pestilence,I calmly counted up my proper gains,And sent new herds to slaughter: temperateMyself, no blood that mutinied, no vice 735Tainting my private life, I sent abroadMurder and Rape; and therefore am I doom'd,Like these imperial Sufferers, crown'd with fire,Here to remain, till Man's awaken'd eyeShall see the genuine blackness of our deeds, 740And warn'd by them, till the whole human race,Equalling in bliss the aggregate we caus'dOf wretchedness, shall form one brotherhood.

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