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JOAN OF ARC.
Thrill'd her: her heart throbb'd fast—she started up,
And fell upon the neck of Theodore.
And fell upon the neck of Theodore.
"Oh! I have found thee!" cried th' enraptur'd youth,
"And I shall dare the battle by thy side, 345
And shield thee from the war! but tell me, JOAN,
Why didst thou brood in such strange mystery,
O'er this thy Heaven-doom'd purpose? trust me, Maiden
I have shed many tears for that wild gloom
That so estranged thee from thy Theodore! 350
If thou couldst know the anguish I endur'd
When thou wert gone! how thro' the live-long night
I vainly travers'd o'er thy wonted paths,
Making the forest echo to thy name!
Our mother too! in sooth it was unkind 355
To leave us thus!"
Mindless of her high call,
Again the lowly shepherdess of Arc,
In half-articulated words the Maid
Express'd her joy. Of Elinor she ask'd,
"And I shall dare the battle by thy side, 345
And shield thee from the war! but tell me, JOAN,
Why didst thou brood in such strange mystery,
O'er this thy Heaven-doom'd purpose? trust me, Maiden
I have shed many tears for that wild gloom
That so estranged thee from thy Theodore! 350
If thou couldst know the anguish I endur'd
When thou wert gone! how thro' the live-long night
I vainly travers'd o'er thy wonted paths,
Making the forest echo to thy name!
Our mother too! in sooth it was unkind 355
To leave us thus!"
Mindless of her high call,
Again the lowly shepherdess of Arc,
In half-articulated words the Maid
Express'd her joy. Of Elinor she ask'd,
How
