408
JOAN OF ARC.
And know thy duty! if thou dost oppress
Thy people, if to aggrandize thyself 720
Thou tear'st them from their homes, and send'st them forth
To slaughter, prodigal of misery!
If when the Widow and the Orphan groan
In want and wretchedness, thou turnest thee
To hear the music of the flatterer's tongue; 725
If when thou hear'st of thousands massacred,
Thou sayest, "I am a King! and fit it is
That these should perish for me." If thy realm
Should, thro' the counsels of thy government,
Be filled with woe, and in thy streets be heard 730
The voice of mourning and the feeble cry
Of asking Hunger; if at such a time
Thou dost behold thy plenty-covered board,
And shroud thee in thy robes of Royalty,
And say that all is well—Oh gracious God! 735
Be merciful to such a monstrous man,
When the Spirits of the murdered innocent
Cry at the throne for justice!
Thy people, if to aggrandize thyself 720
Thou tear'st them from their homes, and send'st them forth
To slaughter, prodigal of misery!
If when the Widow and the Orphan groan
In want and wretchedness, thou turnest thee
To hear the music of the flatterer's tongue; 725
If when thou hear'st of thousands massacred,
Thou sayest, "I am a King! and fit it is
That these should perish for me." If thy realm
Should, thro' the counsels of thy government,
Be filled with woe, and in thy streets be heard 730
The voice of mourning and the feeble cry
Of asking Hunger; if at such a time
Thou dost behold thy plenty-covered board,
And shroud thee in thy robes of Royalty,
And say that all is well—Oh gracious God! 735
Be merciful to such a monstrous man,
When the Spirits of the murdered innocent
Cry at the throne for justice!
"King
