Page:Joan of Arc - Southey (1796).djvu/39

We love?" said Theodore; and as he spake
His warm cheek crimson'd. "Is it not most right
To cheer the evening of declining age,
With filial tenderness repaying thus,385
Parental love?"
"Hard is it," Conrade cried
"Aye, very hard, to part from those we love;
And I have suffer'd that severest pang.
My Agnes! I have left an aged mother;
I have left one, on whom my fond heart doats 390
With love unutterable. Should I live
'Till France shall see the blessed hour of Peace,
I shall return. My heart will be content,
My highest duties will be well discharg'd
And I may dare be happy. There are those395
Who deem these thoughts wild fancies of a mind
Strict beyond measure, and were well content
If I should soften down my rigid nature
Even to inglorious ease, to honor me.
But pure of heart and high of self-esteem400

"I must