Page:The Emigrants.pdf/60

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

[ 56 ]

All she could rescue of the innocent groupe
That yesterday surrounded her­—Escap'd
Almost by miracle! Fear, frantic Fear,
Wing'd her weak feet: yet, half repentant now
Her headlong haste, she wishes she had staid
To die with those affrighted Fancy paints
The lawless soldier's victims­—Hark! again
The driving tempest bears the cry of Death,
And, with deep sudden thunder, the dread sound
Of cannon vibrates on the tremulous earth;
While, bursting in the air, the murderous bomb
Glares o'er her mansion. Where the splinters fall,
Like scatter'd comets, its destructive path
Is mark'd by wreaths of flame!­—Then, overwhelm'd
Beneath accumulated horror, sinks
The desolate mourner; yet, in Death itself,