Page:Works of Voltaire Volume 36.djvu/142

From Cuma this general marched to Beneventum,
But the rulers ne'er dreamed he would thus circumvent them;
Desolation and ruin up to Rome's walls he spread,
And St. Paul and St. Peter were both seized with dread.
My dear readers, this chief was Abdallah the Proud,
Who, by God, to chastise his own church was allowed.
When the palace he entered, in chains all were cast,
Prince, monks, lackeys, ministers, and chiefs were made fast,
As calves tied in couples upon sledges are laid,
And to the next market sad victims conveyed.
Thus appeared the young duke and each worthy assessor,
All laid by the heels with the father confessor,
Who crossed himself often, and with fervency prayed,
And preached resolution, though sorely dismayed.
The victors then shared when the vanquished were tied,
The booty the emirs in three parts divide;
Of men, and of horses, and saints they dispose,
And first from their captives they strip off their clothes.
In all ages have tailors disguised human nature,
So that man to man always was a most unknown creature.
Dress changes men's figures and their characters too,
To judge of man rightly we should naked him view.