Page:The Lay of the Last Minstrel - Scott (1805).djvu/154

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145

XXI.
Ill would it suit your gentle ear,
Ye lovely listeners, to hear
How to the axe the helms did sound,
And blood poured down from many a wound;
For desperate was the strife, and long,
And either warrior fierce and strong.
But were each dame a listening knight,
I well could tell how warriors fight;
For I have seen war's lightning flashing,
Seen the claymore with bayonet clashing,
Seen through red blood the war-horse dashing,
And scorned, amid the reeling strife,
To yield a step for death or life.

XXII.
'Tis done, 'tis done! that fatal blow
Has stretch d him on the bloody plain;
He strives to rise—brave Musgrave, no!
Thence never shalt thou rise again!