LXXXVII.
“Satan (in sooth, it can no other be)
“Destroys and ruins the unhappy town.
“Turn, and the curling wreaths of vapour see,
“From the red flames which wander up and down;
“List to those groans, and be they warrantry
“Of the sad news thy servant now makes known!
“One the fair city wastes with sword and fire,
“Before whose vengeful fury all retire.”
LXXXVIII.
Even such as he, who hears the tumult wide,
And clatter of church-bells, ere he espy
The raging fire, concealed from none beside
Himself, to him most dangerous, and most nigh;
Such was King Charles; who heard, and then descried
The new disaster with his very eye.
Hence he the choicest of his meiny steers
Thither, where he the cry and tumult hears.
LXXXIX.
With many peers and chiefs, who worthiest are,
Summoned about him, Charlemagne is gone:
He bids direct his standards to the square
Whither the paynim had repaired; hears groan
And tumult, spies the horrid tokens there
Of cruelty, sees human members strown.
—No more—Let him return another time,
Who willingly will listen to this rhyme.
