Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/420

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
408
JOAN OF ARC.
And know thy duty! if thou dost oppressThy people, if to aggrandize thyself 720Thou tear'st them from their homes, and send'st them forthTo slaughter, prodigal of misery!If when the Widow and the Orphan groanIn want and wretchedness, thou turnest theeTo hear the music of the flatterer's tongue; 725If when thou hear'st of thousands massacred,Thou sayest, "I am a King! and fit it isThat these should perish for me." If thy realmShould, thro' the counsels of thy government,Be filled with woe, and in thy streets be heard 730The voice of mourning and the feeble cryOf asking Hunger; if at such a timeThou dost behold thy plenty-covered board,And shroud thee in thy robes of Royalty,And say that all is well—Oh gracious God! 735Be merciful to such a monstrous man,When the Spirits of the murdered innocentCry at the throne for justice!

"King

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.