Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/391

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
BOOK THE TENTH.
379
Destroyed the fell destroyer? if thy hand 180Had pierced the Ruffian as he burst thy doorPrepar'd for midnight murder, would'st thou feelThe weight of blood press heavy on thy soul?I slew the Wolves of State, the MurderersOf thousands. JOAN! when rusted in its sheath, 185The sword of Justice hung, blam'st thou the manThat lent his weapon for the virtuous deed?"
Conrade replied. "Nay, Richemont, it were wellTo pierce the ruffian as he burst thy doors;But if he bear the plunder safely thence, 190And thou should'st meet him on the future day;Vengeance must not be thine: there is the LawTo punish; and if thy impatient hand,Unheard and uncondemn'd, should executeDeath on that man, Justice will not allow 195The Judge in the Accuser!""Thou hast saidRight wisely, Warrior!" cried the Constable;

"But

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.