392
JOAN OF ARC.
And spake aloud, and call'd the Shadowy Powers
To give to Rome the conquest, and receive 425
Their willing prey; then rush'd amid the foe,
And died upon the hecatombs he slew.
To give to Rome the conquest, and receive 425
Their willing prey; then rush'd amid the foe,
And died upon the hecatombs he slew.
But Hope inspir'd the assailants. Xaintrailles there
Spread fear and death; and Orleans' valiant Son
Fought as when Warwick fled before his arm. 430
O'er all præeminent for hardiest deeds
Was Conrade. Where he drove his battle-axe,
Weak was the buckler or the helm's defence,
Hauberk, or plated mail; thro' all it pierced,
Resistless as the forked flash of Heaven. 435
The death-doom'd foe, who mark'd the coming Chief,
Felt such a chill run thro' his shivering frame,
As the night traveller of the Pyrenees,
Lone and bewildered on his wint'ry way,
When from the mountains round reverberates 440
The hungry Wolves' deep yell: on every side,
Their fierce eyes gleaming as with meteor fires,
Spread fear and death; and Orleans' valiant Son
Fought as when Warwick fled before his arm. 430
O'er all præeminent for hardiest deeds
Was Conrade. Where he drove his battle-axe,
Weak was the buckler or the helm's defence,
Hauberk, or plated mail; thro' all it pierced,
Resistless as the forked flash of Heaven. 435
The death-doom'd foe, who mark'd the coming Chief,
Felt such a chill run thro' his shivering frame,
As the night traveller of the Pyrenees,
Lone and bewildered on his wint'ry way,
When from the mountains round reverberates 440
The hungry Wolves' deep yell: on every side,
Their fierce eyes gleaming as with meteor fires,
The
