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Furious he came; her buckler broke the blow, And forth she flash'd her sword, and with a stroke Swift that no eye could ward it, and of strength No mail might blunt, smote on his neck, his neck Unfenced, for he in haste aroused had cast

An * armet on; resistless there she smote

And to the earth prone fell the headless trunk
Of Franquet.

Then on Burgundy she fixed

Her eye severe.

"Go Chief, and thank thy God

"That he with lighter judgments visits thee

"Than fell on Sisera, or by Judith's hand

"He wrought upon the Assyrian! thank thy God "That when his vengeance smote the ruffian sons "Of England, equall'd tho' thou wert in guilt,

*The Armet or Chapelle de fer was an iron hat, occasionally put on by Knights when they retired from the heat of the battle to take breath, and at times when they could not with propriety go unarmed,

"Thee he has spared to work by penitence

"And better deeds atonement."

Thus she spake,

Then issued forth, and bounding on her steed
Sped o'er the plain. Dark on the upland bank
The hedge-row trees distinct and colourless
Rose o'er the grey horizon, and the Loire
Form'd in its winding way islands of light

Amid the shadowy vale, when now she reach'd
The walls of Orleans,

From the eastern clouds
The sun came forth, as to the assembled chiefs
The Maiden past. Her bending thitherwards
The Bastard met. "New perils threaten us,"
He cried, "new toils await us; Burgundy-"

"Fear not for Burgundy!" the Maid exclaim'd,

"Him will the Lord direct. Our earliest scouts "Shall tell his homeward march. What of the troops "Of England?"

They," the son of Orleans cried,

"By darkness favoured, fled; yet not by flight

"Shall England's robber sons escape the arm

"Of retribution.

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Even now our troops,

By battle unfatigued, unsatisfied

"With conquest, clamour to pursue the foe."

The Delegated Damsel thus replied:

"So let them fly, Dunois! but other toils
"Than those of battle, these our hallowed troops
"Await. Look yonder to that carnaged plain!
"Behoves us there to delve the general grave.

Then, Chieftain, for pursuit, when we have paid "The rites of burial to our fellow men,

"And hymn'd our gratitude to that ALL-JUST

"Who gave the conquest. Thou, meantime, dispatch

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Tidings to Chinon: bid the King set forth,

"That crowning him before assembled France,

"In Rheims delivered from the enemy,

"I may accomplish all."

Then to the gate moved on.

So said the Maid,

The assembled troops

Beheld their coming Chief, and smote their shields, Clamouring their admiration; for they thought,

That she would lead them to the instant war.

She waved her hand, and Silence still'd the host. Then thus the mission'd Maid, "Fellows in arms! "We must not speed to joyful victory,

"Whilst our unburied comrades, on yon plain, "Allure the carrion bird. Give we this day

"To our dead friends!"

Nor did she speak in vain.;

For as she spake, the thirst of battle dies

In every breast, such awe and love pervade

The listening troops. They o'er the corse-strewn plain
Speed to their sad employment: some dig deep
The house of Death; some bear the lifeless load;

One little troop search carefully around,

"If haply they might find surviving yet

Some wounded wretches. As they labour thus,

They mark far off the iron-blaze of arms;

See distant standards waving on the air,
And hear the clarion's clang. Then spake the Maid
To Conrade, and she bade him speed to view
The coming army; or to meet their march

With friendly greeting, or if foes they came
With such array of battle as short space

Allowed the Warrior sped across the plain,
And soon beheld the bannered lillies wave.

Their Chief was Richemont: he, when as he heard
What rites employed the Virgin, straightway bade
His troops assist in barial; they, tho' grieved
At late arrival, and the expected day

Of conquest past, yet give their willing aid:
They dig the general grave, and thither bear
English or French alike commingled now,

And heap the mound of Death.

Amid the Plain

There was a little eminence, of old

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