And a savage trumpet's note peal'd out,
Till their hearts for terror died!
On the armour of the God,
Then a viewless hand was laid;
There were helm and spear, with a clanging din,
And corslet brought from the shrine within,
From the inmost shrine of the dread abode,
And before its front array'd.
And a sudden silence fell
Thro' the dim and loaded air!
On the wild bird's wing, and the myrtle-spray,
And the very founts, in their silvery way,
With a weight of sleep came down the spell,
Till man grew breathless there.
But the pause was broken soon!
'Twas not by song or lyre;
For the Delphian maids had left their bowers,
And the hearths were lone in the city's towers,
But there burst a sound thro' the misty noon,
That battle-noon of fire!
