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r 









Ifaac Wilfon, ^ 






m 



KENDAL. * 



1 



3foanaf9ta, 



OMHPOfc 



THE SECOND VOLUME* 



TIINTID BY M. VIGCI, TO* 

T. |l* X.ONGJ4AN, PATIRNOITIR-JIOW, LONDOK| 

AND JOSIPH COTTLI, BRIITOt, 

1798. 



2^ 



/ fc* 



CONTENTS. 



The fifth Book --•---.-5 
The sixth Book ..-...••47 
The seventh Book -------85 

The eighth Book ------- ^3 

The ninth Book ----....-189 

The tenth Book - r 221 



C&e iFfffy Sooiu 



The Maid receives a consecrated Banner. The 
troops under her command march towards Orleans* 
They meet with one of the female outcasts from 
that City. Her history, including that of the siege. 



JOAN of ARC. 



THE FIFTH BOOK. 

Scarce had the earliest ray from Chinon's towers 

Made visible the mists that curl'd along 

The winding waves of Vienne, when from her conch 

Started the martial Maid. She mail'd her limbs ; 

The white plumes nodded o'er her helmed head ; 

She girt the sacred falchion by her side, 

And, like some youth that from his mother's arms, 

For his first field impatient, breaks away, 

Poising the lance went forth. 

Twelve hundred men, 
Rearing in order'd ranks their well-sharp'd spears, 
Await her coming. Terrible in arms 
Before them towered Dunois, his manly face 
Dark-shadow'd by the helmet's iron cheeks. 



V. 6 

The assembled court gaz'd on the marshall'd train, 

And at the gate the aged Prelate stood 

To pour his blessing on the chosen host. 

And now a soft apd solemn symphony 

Was heard, and chaunting high the hallow'd hymn 

From the near convent came the vestal maids. 

A holy banner, woven by virgin hands, 

Snow-white they bore. A mingled sentiment 

Of awe, and eager ardor for the fight, 

Thrill'd thro* the troops, as he the reverend man 

Took the white standard, and with heaven-ward eye 

Call'd on the God of Justice, blessing it. 

The Maid, her brows in reverence unhelm'd, 

Her dark hair floating on the rooming gale, 

Knelt to his prayer, and stretching forth her hand 

Receiv'd the mystic ensign. From the host 

A loud and universal shout burst forth, 

As rising from the ground,, on her white brow, 

She placed the plumed casque, and waved on high 

The banner'd lillies. .On their way they march, 



V. 7 

And dim in distance, soon the towers of Chinoa 
Fade from the eye reverted* 

The sixth srm. 
Purpling the sky with bis dilated light, 
Sunk westering; when embosomed in the depth 
Of * that old forest, that for many a league 
Shadows the hills and rales of Orleannois, 
They pitch their tents. The hum of occupation 
Sounds ceaseless. Waving to the evening gale, 
The streamers wanton ; and, ascending slow 
Beneath the foliage of the forest trees, 
With many a light hue tinged, the curiing smoke 
Melts in the impurpled air. Leaving her tent, 
The martial Maiden wander'd thro* the wood ; 
There, by a streamlet, on the mossy bank 
Reclined, she saw a damsel 5 her long locks 
Eogarlanded, and as she nearer came, 



* The forest of Orleans contains even now fourteen thou- 
sand acres of various. kinds of wood. 



V. 8 

The Virgin knew it for the willow weed. 
Resting his head upon her lap, there lay 
A dark-hair d man, listening as she did sing 
Sad ditties, and enwreathe to hind his brow 
The melancholy rue. Scared at the sound 
Of one in arms approaching, she had fled 3 
But Conrade, looking upward, recogniz'd 
The Maid of Arc. «* Fear not, poor Isabel/* 
Said he " for this is one of gentle kind, 
" Whom even the wretched need not fear to love." 

So saying, he arose and took her hand. 
And held it to his bosom. " My weak heart,, 
" Tho' schooFd by wrongs to loath at human kind, 
" Beats high, a rebel to its own resolves. 
" Come hither outcast One ! and call her friend, 
" And she shall be thy friend more readily 
« Because thou art unhappy.** 

Isabel 
Saw a tear starting in the Virgin's eye, 



V. 9 

m 

And glancing upon Conrade, she too wept, 
Wailing his wilder d senses. 

"Mission* Maid P 
The warrior cried, " be happy I for thy power 
* Can make this wanderer so. From Orleans driven, 
" Orphan'd by war, and torn away from one 
" Her only friend, 1 found her in the wilds, 
" Worn out with want and wretchedness. Thou, JOAN, 
" Wilt his beloved to the youth restore j 
" And, trust me Maid I the miserable feel 
" When they on others bestow happiness, 
" High joys and soul-ennobling." 

She replied, 
Pressing the damsel's hand, in the mild tone 
Of equal friendship, solacing her cares. 
" Soon shall we enter Orleans," said the Maid > 
" A few hours in her dream of vi&ory 
" England shall triumph ; then to be awaked 
" By the loud thunder of Almighty wrath I 
" Irksome meantime the busy camp to me 



V. io 

" A solitary woman. Isabel, 
" Wert thou the while companion of my tent, 
" Lightly the time would pass. Return with me, 
" I may not long be absent.* 1 

" So she spake. 
The wanderer in half-uttered words express'd 
Grateful assent. " Art thou astonish'd Maid, 
€< That one tho* powerful is benevolent ? 
" In truth thou well naayest wonder 1" Comrade cried. 
" But little cause to love the mighty ones 
" Has the low cottager ! for with its shade 
" Does Powbr, a barren death-dew-dropping tree, 
u Blast ev'ry herb beneath its baleful boughs ! 
" Tell thou thy sufferings Isabel ! Relate 
" How warr'd the chieftains, and the people died, 
" The mission'd. Virgin hath not heard thy woes, 
" And pleasant to mine ear the twice-told tale 
" Of sorrow." 

Gazing on the martial Maid 
She read her wish and spake. " A wanderer now 



V, 11 

" Friendless and hopeless, still I love to think 

" Upon my pleasant home, and call to mind 

" Each haunt of careless youth j the woodhurd wall, 

" The jessamine that round the straw-roof d cot 

u Its fragrant branches wreath'd, beneath whose shade 

" I wont to sit and watch the setting sun 

" And hear the redbreast's lay. Nor far remote 

" As o'er the subjeft landsfcip round I gazed, 

" The towers of Jeriville rose upon the view. 

" A foreign master holds my father's home. ( 

" I, far away, remember the past years, 

"And weep. 

" Two brethren forrn'd our family j 
" Humble we were, and happy. Honest toil 
" Procured our homely sustenance 3 our herds 
" Daly at morn and evening to my hand 
" Gave their full stores $ the vineyard he had rear d 
" Purpled its clusters in the southern sun, 
" And, plenteous produce of my father's toil, 
" The yellow harvest billowed o'er the plain. 



V. 12 

m Ham cfcearfal seated raand the blazing hearth 

* When all the labour of the day was done, 

" We past the evening hoars ! tor they would sing 

** Or chearfol roundelay, or ditty sad 

"Of maid forsaken and the willow weed, 

" Or of the doughty Paladins of France, 

" Some warlike fit, the while my spinning wheel 

" Homm'd not nnpleasing round !" 

« Thus long we lived, 
" And happy. To a neighbouring youth my hand 
" In holy wedlock soon to be combin'd 
" Was plighted : my poor Francis !" Here she paus'd, 
And here she wept awhile. 

" We did not dream 
" The desolating sword of War would stoop 
" To us j but soon as with the whirlwind's speed 
" Ruin * rush*d round us. Mehun, Clery, fell, 



• «< To succeed in the siege of Orleans, the English first 
secured the neighbouring places, which might otherwise have 
annoyed the besiegers. The months of August and September 
were spent in this work. During that space they took Mehun, 



V. 13 

" The banner'd Leopard waved on Gergeau's wall $ 
" Baugenci yielded 5 soon the foe approach'd 
" The towers of Jcnville." 

" Fatal was the hoar 
" To wretched Isabel : for from the wall 
" The rusty sword was taken, and the shield 
" That long had mouldered on the mouldering nail, 
" To meet the war repair'd. No more was heard 
" The ballad, or the merry roundelay \ 
'' The clattering hammer's clank, the grating file 
" Harsh sounded thro* the day a dismal din. 
" I never shall forget their mournful sound I 

" My father stood encircling hhr old limbs 
" In long forgotten arms. " Come boys," he cried, 
" I did not think that this grey head again 
" Should bear the helmet's weight ! but in the field 



Baugenci, Gergeau, Ciery, Sully, Jcnvillc, and some other 
small towns, and at la>t appeared before Orleans on the I2tn 
0fOaobcr. M 

Rapin. 



V. 14 

" fetter to boldly die a soldier's death, 

" Than here be tamely butcher'd. Thou my child, 

^ Go to the Abbey : here is gold to buy 

" The safe protection of the holy church. 

"Fare thee well Isabel! if we survive 

" And conquer, we shall meet again : if not, 

* There is a better world ! H 

" In broken words 
« Lifting his looks to Heaven, my fother breath'd 
" His blessing on me. As they strode away, 
" My brethren gazed on me and prest my hand 
" In silence, for they lovM their Isabel. 
u From the near cottage Francis join'd the troop. 
" Then did I look on our forsaken home, 
" And almost sob my very soul away ! 
" For all my hopes of happiness were fled, 
* * Like a vain dream ! H 

u Perish these mighty ones/* 
" Cried Conrade, " these prime ministers of death, 
" Who stalk elated o'er their fields of fame, 



V. 15 

" And count the thousand* they hare massacred, 

" And with the bodies of the innocent, fear 

" Thar pyramid of glory I perish these, 

" The epitome of all the pestilent plagues 

" That Egypt knew ! who poor their locust swarms 

" O'er ravaged realms, and bid the brooks ran blood. 

" Fear and Destruction go before their path, 

" And Famine dogs their footsteps. God of Justice* 

" Let not the innocent blood cry out in rain !" 

Thus whilst he spake the murmur of the camp 
Rose on their ear : first like the distant sound 
When the full-foliaged forest to the storm 
Shakes its hoarse head; anon with louder din \ 
And thro' the opening glade gleamed many a fire* 
The virgin's tent they enter'd j there the board 
Was spread, the wanderer of the fare partook, 
Then thus her talc renew'd, 

" Slow o'er the hill 
" Whose rising head conceal'd our cot I past, 



V. 16 

" Yet on my journey paosd awhile, and gasd 
"And wept; for often had I crost the hill 
" With chearfol step, and teen the rising smoke 
44 Of hospitable fire; alas I no smoke 
" Cari'd o'er the melancholy chimneys now ! 
4 * Orleans I reach*d. There in the suburbs stood 
" The abbey ; and ere long I learnt the fall 
*Of Jenville. 

" On a day, a soldier ask'd 
" For Isabel. Scarce could my faltering feet 
" Support me. It was Francis, and alone — 
u The sole survivor of the fatal fight ! 

" And soon the foes approachM : impending war 
r, Soon sadden'd * Orleans. There the bravest chiefs 



* " The French King used every expedient to supply the 
city with a garrison and provisions, and enable it te maintain 
a long and obstinate siege. The Lord of Gaucour, a brave 
and experienced captain, was appointed governor. Many 
officers of distinction threw themselves into the place. The 



V. 17 

" Assemble : Thvaan, Coaraae, GkabeftMt, 

" And the Sire * GbapeUe in foccessfiil war 

" Since woaaded to the death, and that good Knight 

" Giresroe of Rhodes, wbo in a belter cans* 



troops which they condu&ed were mured to war, and were 
determined to make the most obstinate resistance : and even 
the inhabitants, disciplined by the long continuance of hostili- 
ties, were weU qualified in their own defence, to second the 
efforts of the most veteran forces. The eyes of all Europe 
were turned towards this scene ; where, it was reasonably 
supposed, the French were to make their last stand for 
maintaining the independence of their monarchy, and the 
rights of their sovereign." 

Burnt. 

• This title waa not discriminatery used by the French. 
Chapelle is sometimes stiled le Sire, and som etim es Gentil- 
homme de Beausse by Daniel. The same title was applied to 
the Allmighty, and to Princes, and Selden observes from 
Pasquier " these ancient Barons afft&ed rather to be stiled by 
the name of Sire than Baron, and the Baron of Coney carried 
to that purpose this ffcfeme' in his device : 

Je ne suis Roy ne Princeaussi, 
J* sufc k Sire de Coucy. 



V. 18 

€i Can never wield the crucifix + that hilts 
" His hallowed sword, and Xaintrailles ransom'd now, 
" And Fayette late releas'd, and that young * Duke 
" Who at Verneuil senseless with many a wound 
" Fell prisoner, and La Hire, the § merriest man 



f At the creation of a Knight of Rhodes a sword with a 
cross for the hilt was delivered to him in token that his valour 
must defend religion. No bastard could be a Knight Hospi- 
taller, from whose order that of Rhodes was formed, except 
a bastard to a Prince, there being honour in that dishonour, ^ 
as there is light in the very spots of the moon." 

Fuller* s Historic of the Holy ff'arre. 

• Alencon. 

I " In the late warres in France between King Henry the 
fifth of England and. Charles the 7 th of France, the French 
arraie being in distresse, one Captain La Hire a Frenchman, 
was sent to declare unto the said French King, the estate and 
affaires of the warre, and how for want of yi&uals, money, 
and other necessaries, the French had lost divers townes and 
battailes to the English. The French King being disposed to 
use his Captaine familiarly, shewed him such thinges as 
himself was delighted in, as his buildings, his banquets, 
faire ladies, &c. and then asked the Captaine how hee liked 
them : " trust me Sir" quoth the Captaine, speaking his 



V. ig 

" That ever yet did win bis soldiers love, 
" And over all for hardihood renown'd 
" The Bastard Orleans. 

41 These within the town 
" Expect the foe. Twelve hundred chosen men 
" Well tried in war, uprear the guardian shield 
" Beneath their banners. Dreadful was the sight 
" Of preparation. The wide suburbs stretch' d 
" Along the pleasant borders of the Loire, 
" Late throng'd with multitudes, now feel the hand 



mind freely, " I did never know any Prince that more delighted 
himself with his losses, than you doe with yours." 

Uorwtt. 
La Hire had just time before an engagement to make a 
general confession of his sins, and tell his Confessor that they 
were all of them very soldier-like ones. This done he made 
this prayer, " Dieu je te pric, que tu fusses aujourd 'hui pour 
La Hire, autant que tu voudrois que La Hire fit pour toi, s'il 
etoit Dieu et tu fusses La Hire." The epitaph of Thomas 
Hodmandod was evidently suggested by this ill-directed jest of 
La Hire. It is surprizing how few witticisms are original. 



V. 20 

"Of* Ruin. These preventive care destroys, 

" Lest England, shelter^ by the friendly wails, , 

4t Securely should approach. The monasteries - 

" Fell jn the general waste. The holy Monks 

« Unwillingly their long-accustomed haunts 

" Abandon, haunts where every gloomy nook 

" CaJTd to awakened memory some trace 

•* Of vision seen, or sound miraculous. 

** Trembling and terrified, their noiseless cells 

" For the rude uproar of a world unknown, 

" The nuns desert : their Abbess, more composed, 

'< Collects her maids around, and tells her beads, 

" And pours the timid prayer of piety. 

" The citizens with strong and ceaseless stroke 



• " They pulled down all the most considerable building* 
in the suburbs, and among the rest twelve churches and 
several monasteries ; that the English might not make use «f 
them in carrying on the siege." 

Rapin. Mom tt tilt f 



V. 21 

" Dug up the violated earth, to taped* 
"The foe: the hollow chambers of the dead 
" Echoed beneath. The bram-trophied tomb 
" Thrown in the furnace, now prepares to fire 
" The death it late recorded* Itwassnd 
"To sec so wide a waste j the aged ones 
" Hanging their heads, and weeping aa they went 
" O'er the fidrn dwellings of their happier jean ; 
" The stern and sullen silence of the men 
" Musing on vengeance : and, but ill represt, 
•* The mother's fears as to her breast she clasp 'd 
" Her ill-doom'd infant. Soon the suburbs lay 
- " One ample ruin $ the huge stones rerocVd, 
* Wait in the town to rain the storm of death. 

" And now without the walls the desolate plain 
■* Stretch'd wide, a rough and melancholy waste, 
* " With uptorn pavements and foundations deep 
" Of many a ruined dwelling : nor within 
""Less dreary was the scene j at evening hour 



V. 11 ■ 

" No more the merry * viol's note was heard, 

" No more the aged matron at her door 

" Hurnm'd cheery to her spinning wheel, and mark'd 

" Her children dancing to the roundelay. 

" The chieftains strengthening still the massy walls, 

" Survey th6m with the prying eye of fear. 

" The eager youth in dreadful preparation 

" Strive in the mimic war. Silent and stern, 

" With the 1 hurrying restlessness of fear, they urge 

u Their* gloomy labours. In the city dwelt 



* The instrument which most frequently served for an 
accompaniment to the harp, and which disputed the pre- 
eminence with it in the early times of music in France, was 
the Viol ; and indeed, when reduced to four strings, and 
stript with the frets wkh which viols of all kinds seem to 
have been furnished till the 1 6th century, it still holds the 
first place among treble instruments under the denomination 
of violin. 

The Viol played with a bow, and wholly 
different from the Vielle, whose tones are produced by the 
fri&ion of a, wheel which indeed performs the part of a bow, 
was very early in favour with the inhabitants of France. 

Barneys History of Music ;„ 



V. 23 

" A most dead silence of all pleasant sounds, 
" Bat all day long the armourers beat was heard, 
. " And all the night it echoed. 

" Soon the foe 
. " Led to our walls the siege : as on they move 
" The clarions clangor, and the chearful fife, 
" According to the thundering drum's deep sound, 
" Direct their measur'd march. Before the ranks 
" Stalks the stern form of Salisbury, the scourge 
" Of France ; and Talbot towered by his side, 
" Talbot, at whose dread name the froward child 
" Clings mute and trembling to his nurse's breast. 
" Suffolk was there, and Hungerford, and Scales, 
" And FastolfFe, vidor in the frequent fight. 
" Dark as the autumnal storm they roll'd along, 
" A countless host I From the high tower I raark'd 
" The dreadful scene ; I saw the iron blaze 
" Of javelins sparkling to the noontide sun, 
'* Their banners tossing to the troubled gale, 
*; And — fearful music — heard upon the wind 



V. 24 

" The modulated step of multitudes . 

" There in the midst* shuddering with fear, I s*w 
" The dreadful stores of death 3 tremendous roll'd 
t( Over rough roads the harsh wheels 3 the brazen tubes 
Flash'd in the sun their fearful splendor for, 
And last the loaded waggon cmak'd along. 

« Nor wtne our chkftoiA whHst thisSr care pJtotttfd 

" Human defence, negtadfol to implore 

a Hiat heavenly aid, deprired of which the strength 

u Of man is weakness. Bearing thro* our streets 

" The precious relics of tie holy dead, 

" The Monks and Nuns pour*d many an earnest prayer 

49 Devoutly join'd by all. Saint Aigaao*s shrine 

" Was throng'd by supplicants, the general voice 

" Call'd on Saint * Aignan's name again to save 



* St. Aignan was the tutelary Saint of Orleans. He had 
miraculously been chosen Bishop of that City when Attila 
besieged it. " Comme les citoyens effrayez eurent recours a 
leur prelat, luy, sans se soucier, pour le salut dc~*iens, sooit 



V. -25 

" His people, as of yore, before he part 

" Into the fullness of eternal rest, 

" When by the Spirit to the lingering camp 



delavttleetparlaaAftUa, Mate n* l'aya** po flteMr, 9 le 
mit en prieres, fit fairc des processions, et porter par let Sues 
les reliques des Saints. Un Prestre s'estant mocque, disant, 
que cda n'avoit de tien profit* an* aatrea viUes, tomb* reide 
mort sur la place, portant par ce moyen la peine de ion inso- 
lente temeriti. Apres toutes ces choses, il commanda aux 
habitans de voit e le secoors n* ar rfteit point ; ayatit ett re- 
pondu que non, il se remet en prieres, et puis leur fait mesne 
commandement : mais n' appercevant point encore de secours, 
pour latrotsienfe fbis il se pros'teme a terre, fcs yeu* et ? es- 
prit vers le Ciel. Se sentant exauce* il fait monter a la guerite 
et luy rapporte-t-on que Ton ne voyoit rien si non une grosse 
nuee de poussfere, il assaert que <f etoit feseeoato d* M&astt 
de Teudo Roy des Goths, lecqjiels tardaas ate moatrex uY ar- 
mee d' Attilla, S Aignan fut divinement transporte en leur 
camp, et les suStertfe qae Milt estott peMct, s* ib attendofent 
an lendemaku Bs parurcn* autsMost, et forcerent AttUa de 
lever si hativement le siege, que plusieurs des siens se noye- 
rent dans la Loire, d' autres s* entittuerent avec regret c? avoir 
perdu la ville. Et non contens de cette vi&oire, le poursui- 
virent si vivement avec le Roy Merouee, qui se vint joindre a 
euz, qu' ils le defirent en battaiUe ranges pres de Chalons, 
jonchant la campagne de I80,0o0 cadavres." 

Le notrveau Parterre des JUurs des vies des Saints. Par P> 
Rihadentira, Anire du Met Jean Baudot*. Lpns 1000. 



V. 26 

xi Of JEiius home, he brought the timely aid, 
" And Attila with all his multitudes 
" Far off retreated to their field of shame. 

And now Dunois, for he had seen the camp 

" Well-order'd, enter d. " One night more in peace 

<( England shall rest," he cried, " ere yet the storm 

" Bursts on her guilty head 1 then their proud vaunts 

" Forgotten, or remember d to their shame, 

a Vainly her chiefs shall curse the hour, when first 

4t They pitched their tents round Orleans.'* 

" Of that siege," 

The Maid of Arc replied, " gladly I hear 

" The detail. Isabel proceed ! for soon 

" Destin'd to rescue that devoted town, 

" All that has chanced, the ills she has endur'd, 

" I litsen, sorrowing for the past, and feel 

" High satisfa&ion at the saviour power 

" To me commission'd." 

Thus the virgin spake, 
• • • 
Nor Isabel delayed. " And -now more near 



V. 11 

" The hostile host advancing pitch their tents. 

" Unnumber'd streamers wave, and clamorous shouts, 

" Anticipating conquest, rend the air 

" With universal uproar. From their camp 

" A Herald conies ; his garb emblazoned o'er 

" With leopards and the lillies of our realm 

"Foul shame to France 1 The summons of the foe 

" He brought." 

The Bastard interrupting cried, 
" I was with Gaucour and the assembled chiefs, 
" When by his office privileged and proud 
" That Herald spake, as certain of success 
" As he had made a league with Victory." 
" Nobles of France rebellious ! from the chief 
" Of yon victorious host, the mighty Earl 
" Of Salisbury, now there in place of him 
" Your Regent John of Bedford : in his name 
" I come, and in our sovereign Lord the King's, 
" Henry. Ye know full well our master's claim, 
** Incontrovertible to this good realm, 



v. 2d 

" By right descent, and solemnly coafirtnd 

M By your great Monarch and oar mighty King 

* Fifth Henry, in the treaty ratified 

u At * Trapes, wherein your monarch did disclaim 

" All future right and tide to this crown, 

" His own exempted, for his son and heirs 

" Down to the end of time. This sign'd and seal'd 

" At the holy altar, and by nuptial knot 

" Of Henry and your Princess, yields the realm, 

" Charles dead and Henry, to his infant son 

u Henry of Windsor. Who then dares oppose 

" My master s title, in the face of God 

•* Of wilful perjury, most atrocious crime, 

u Stands guilty, and of flat rebellion 'gainst 



* « By the treaty otf Troyes, Charles was to remain 
in quiet possession of the royal dignity and revenues. After 
his death the crown, with all its rights and dominions, ' 
devolved to Henry and his heirs. The imbecillity of Charles 
was so great that he could not appear in public, so that the 
Queen and Burgundy swore for him." 

Rapt* 



V. 39 

" The Lord's anointed. He at Paris erown'd, 

* With loud acclaim from the duteous multitude 
" Thus speaks by me. Deliver up your town 

H To Salisbury, and yield yourselves and anas, 
" So shall your lives be safe: and^mark hit grace! 
" If of year fee accord, to him you pay 
M Due homage as your sovereign Lord and King, 
" Your rich estates, yeur bouses shall be safe, 
" And you in favour stand, as is the Duke, 

* Philip of Burgundy. But— mark me well ! 

* If obstinately wilful, you persist 

" To scorn his preftVd mercy | not one stone 
" Upon another of this wretched town 

* Shall then be left : and when the English host 
" Triumphant in the dust have trod the towers 

" Of Orleans, who survive the dreadful wsw 
" Shall die like traitors by the hangman's hand. 

* Ye men of France, remember Caen and Roan !" 

n Mc ceased * nor Gaweoor for a m esne * * pemM' 



V. 30 

c< To form reply. 

" Herald ! to all thy vaunts 
" Of English sovereignty let this suffice 
" For answer : France will only own as King 
€i Him whom the people chuse. On Charles's brow 
" Transmitted thro* a long and good descent 
€t The crown remains. We know no homage due 
" To English robbers, and disclaim the peace 
" Inglorious made at Troyes by factious men 
" Hostile to France. Thy masters proffer'd grace 
u Meets the contempt it merits. Herald, yes, 
" We shall remember Meaux, and Caen, and Roan ! 
" Go tell the mighty Earl of Salisbury, 
" That as like Blanchard, Gauconr dares his power; 
*' Like Blanchard, he can mock his cruelty, 
" And triumph by enduring. Speak I well 
" Ye men of Orleans?" 

t€ Never did I bear 
*' A shout so universal as ensued 
" Of approbation. The assembled host 



V. 31 

" As with one voice pour'd forth their loyalty, 

" And struck their sounding shields. The towers of Orleans 

" Echoed the load uproar. The Herald went. 

" The work of war began." 

u A fearful scene, • 
Cried Isabel. " The iron storm of death 
" Clash'd in the sky y from the strong engines hurl'd 
" Huge rocks with tempest force convuls'd the air j . 
" Then was there heard at once the clang of arms, 
" The bellowing cannons, and the soldier's shout, 
" The femaie's shriek, the affrighted infant's cry, 
" The groan of death : discord of dreadful sounds 
"Thatjarrd the soul! 

" Nor while the encircling foe 
fc Leager'd the walls of Orleans, idly slept 
" Our friends : for winning down the Loire its way 
" The frequent vessel with provision fraught, 
" And men, and all the artillery of death, • 
" Cheer'd us with welcome succour. At the bridge? 
" These safety stranded mock'd the foeman's force. 



V. 32 

" This to prevent, * Salisbury their watchful chief, 
" Prepares the amazing work. Around our walla, 
" Encircling walls he builds, surrounding tbu* 
x< The city. Firm'd with massiest buttresses* 
u M equal distance, sixty forts proted 



" The besiegers received succours in the very beginning of 
the siege ; bm the Earl of Salisbury, who considered this 
enterprise as a decisive a&on for the King his master, and 
his own reputation, omitted nothing to deprive the besieged of 
that advantage. He run up round the city sixty forts. How 
great soever this work might be., nothing could divert him 
from it, since the success of the siege entirely depended upon 
it. In vem would be have puvsued his attack, if the manic* 
could continually introduce fresh supplies. Besides, the sea- 
son, now far advanced, suggested to him, that he would be 
*>rced to pass the winter in the camp, and during that time 
be liable to many insults. Among the sixty forts., there wens 
fix much stronger than the rest, upon the six principal ave- 
flnes of the city. The Flench could before with ewe intro- 
duce convoys into the place, and had made frequent use of 
that advantage. But after these forts were built, it was with 
extreme difficulty that they could, now and then, give some 
assistance to the besieged. Upon these six redoubts- the gene- 
ral ereQed batteries* which thundered against the walls." 



V. 33 

" The pile. But chief where in the sieged town 
"The * six great avenues meet in the midst, 
" Six castles there he rear'd impregnable, 
" With deep-dug moats and bridges drawn aloft, 
" Where over the strong gate suspended hong 
" The dread portcullis. Thence the gunner** eye 
" From his safe shelter could with ease survey 
" Intended sally, or approaching aid, 
" And point destruction. 

" It were long to tell 
" And tedious, how with many a bold assault 
" The men of Orleans rush'd upon their foes -, 
" How after difficult fight the enemy 



* Rheims had six principle stieets meeting thus in one centre 
Where the Cathedral stood. 

Au centre de la Ville, entre six avenues, 

S* eleve un sacre* temple a la hauteur des nues. 

. Ck+ela'm. 
I blow not whether towns were usually built upon this plan. 



V. 34 

" PossesVd the f Tourodles, and the embattled tower 

" That shadows from the bridge the subje& t/nre ; 

" Tho* numbering now three thousand daring men, 

u Frequent and fierte the garrison repell'd 

€t Their far out-numbering foes. From every aid 

" inducted, they in Orleans groanM beneath 

" All iUs accumulate. The thatterd roofs 

" Crave to the dews of night free passage there, 

" And ever and anon the ponderous stone, 

" Ruining where'er it fell, with hideous crash 

" Came like aft eitthqadke, slartHtfg from his deep 

" The affrighted soldier. From the brazen 41irJgs 



f " The bulwark of the TourneUes bein$ much shaken by 
the besiegers cannon, and the besieged thinking it proper to 
set it on fire, the English extinguished the flames, and lodged 
themselves in that post. At the same time they became 
masters of the tower on the bridge, from whence the whole 
city could be viewed." 

Bapiw., 



V, as 

"The wild-fire * belli shower'd thro* the mldulgkt ik^, 
u And often their huge engines cast among m 
"The dead and loathsome cattle of their camp, 
u As tho' our enemim, to most deadly league 
" Forcing the common air, would make as hreerhe 
''Poieonomfpdhitiott. Thro* the streets were seen 
u The frequent fire, and heaps of dead, in haste 
* Filed up and steaming to infected Heaven. 



* Drayton enumerates these among the English prepara- 
tions for war : 

" The engineer provided the petard 
" To break the strong porlcullies, and the balls 
" Of wild-fire devised to throw from far 
" To burn to ground their palaces and halls. 
And at the siege of Harfleur he says, 

44 Their brazen slings send in the wild-fire balls. 

t Thus atthe siege of Thm sur 1* escauk. «Ceulx detest 
kav gectoiem par kurengims chevaulx mors «r antics bestes 
■sties et pnantes, pour les empuautir, dent Uc cstoient la 
dedans en moult grant destresse. Car lair tntoit fort et 
cntult ainsi eomme en pkbo eSte, et de ce furent plus con* 
trains que de nulle autre chose. Si considerent j&nablenaent 



v. <tf 

" For ever the incessant storm of death 
" Pours down, and shrouded in unwholesome * vaults 
" The wretched females hide, Hot idle there, 
" Wasting the hours in tears, but all eroploy'd, 
" Or to provide the hungry saidier's meal, 
< 4f Or teartheir garments to bind up his wounds : 
" A -sad equality of wretchedness 1 



cntre culx que celle messaise ilz ne pourroient longuemenf 
endurer ne soufirir, tant leur estoitla punaisie abhominable." 

Froissart if. 88. 

This was an evil which sometimes annoyed the besieging 
army. At Dan " pour la puantise des bestes que lori tuoit en 
lost, et des chevaulx qui cstoient mors, larr estoit tout cor. 
rumpu, dont moult de chevaliers et escuyers en estoient ma- 
lades et merencolieux, et sey alloient les plusieurs, refreschir 
a Bruges et ailleurs pour eviter ce mauvais air." 

Froissart 1. 175. 

' • AtThin sur V Escault, " Laiist leDac charier grant foisoa 
dehgins de Cambray etde Douay, et en yeut six moult grans, 
le Due les fist lever devant la forteresse. LesqLz engins gec- 
toientnuyt et jour grosses pierres et mangonneaulx qui ab*- 
toient tes combles et le hault des tours des chambres et des 
talks. Et en contraignoient les gens du Chastd par xest as- 



V. 37 

" Now came the wont of ills, for Famine came ! 
" The provident hand deals out its scanty dole, 
" Yielding so little a supply to life 
" As bat protra&ed death. The loathliest food. 
" Hunted with eager eye, and dainty deem'd 3 
" The dog is slain, that at his master's feet 
" Howling with hunger lay 5 with jealous fear> 
" Hating a rival's look, the husband hides 
" His miserable meal ; the famished babe 
" Clings closely to his dying mother's breast ; ' 
" And — horrible to tell !— where, thrown aside 
" There lay unburied in the open streets 
"• Huge heaps of carcasses, the soldier stands 
w Eager to. seize the carrion crow for * food: 



sault tresduwment. Et si nosient les eompaignon* qui le 
gardoicnt demourer en chambres nen . sales quilz eusseat, 
mais en caves & en celiers." 

Froissart 1. 38. 

* Scudery has a most ingenious idea of the effc&s of famine ; ;. 
during the blockade of Rome by the Goths ; he makes the. 



V. 38 

« O peaceful scenes of childhood ! plea*a*t fields 1 
" Haunts of mine infancy, where I have stray'd 
" Tracing the brook along its winding way, 
" Or plnck*d the primrose, <* with giddy speed 
« Chaced the gay butterfly from flower to flower I 
" O days in Tain iwnember'dl how my sooT 
" Sick with calamity, and the tore ilk 
w Of hunger, dwelt upon you I quiet home! 
" Thinking of you amid the waste of war, 
" I could ia bitterness hare curs'd the Great 
w Who made me what I was ! a helpless one, 
*' Orphan*d, and wanting bread 1 

* And be they curst/ 1 
Conrade ex&lahn'd, his dark eye flashing tagc 5 



inhabitants est one another, and then eat themselves. 

Ia rage se meslant a leurs douletirs extremes, 
lis se mangent fan l'autre, 3s se mangent eux-mesmes. 

Alar'i*. 

FttBer expresses the want of food pithily. u The siege grew 
krag, and vi&nale short/' 



V. 30 

" Aadbethcycuiatl O groves and woodland shades, 

"HowWtttiadcodwwyon, if the iron tod 

" Should one day from Oppressions hand be wrenched 

<f By evedastiog Justice ! ooaoe that hour 

'< When m the ftnn* the An$tl of the Lord 

* Shall stand and 017 to all the fowls of Heaven, 

" Gather ye to the supper of your God, 

" That ye may cat the flesh of mighty men, 

" Of Captains, and or Kings 1 M Then shall be peace. 

" And now, lest ail should perish," she pursued, 
*' The females and the infirm must from the town 
" Go forth, and seek their fate. 



• And 1 taw an Angel standing in the sun ; and he cried 
with a load voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst 
of heaven, " Come and gather yourselves together unto the 
supper of the great God : 

That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, 
and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of 
them that sit on them. 

Rrvilatiwu, xuc. 17, IS. 

toe same idea occurs in Ezekiel, though not with equal 



V. 40 

"I will not now 
" Recall the moment, when on my poor Francis, 
" With a long look I hung ! At dead of night, 
" Made mute by fear, we mount the secret bark, 
" And glide adown the stream with silent oars : 
" Thus thrown upon the mercy of mankind, 
" I wandered reckless where, till wearied out 
" And cold at heart, I laid me down to die t 



kublimity. 

And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord God, speak 
uuto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the - fieM. 
Assemble yourselves, and come ; gather yourselves on every 
side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great 
sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, tha* ye may eat flesh 
and drink blood. 

Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood, of - 
the pr'mces of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, o£ « 
bullocks, all of them fallings of Bashan. 
And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till, ye be : " 
drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed /or you. . 
Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariot**; 
with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord 
Qpd. 

Ezekiel ixxix. If, &c. 



V. 41 

" So by this warrior found. Him I had known 

" And loved, for all loved Conrade who had known him;. 

" Nor did I feel so pressing the hard hand 

" Of want in Orleans, ere he parted thence 

" On perilous envoy. For of his small fare"— 

" Of this enough," said Conrade, " Holy Maid t 
*' One duty yet awaits me to perform. 
" Orleans her envoy sent me, claiming aid 
" From her inactive sovereign. Willingly 
" Did I atchieve the hazardous enterprize, 
" For Rumour had already made me fear 
" The ill that has fallen on me. It remain* 
" Ere I do banish me from human kind, 
" That I re-enter Orleans, and announce 
" Thy march. 'Tis nigh,t — and hark ! how dead a silence t 
u Fit hour to tread so perilous a path 1" 

So saying Conrade from the tent went forth* 



CtyeftrfilfcNfc 



-Comrade on his ivqy to Orleans releases a Wrench 
soldier. Council of the leaders. Summons of the 
Maid to the English Generals. The Maid at- 
tach, defeats them, and enters Orleans in triumph 
*t midnight, amid thunder and lightning. 



JOAN of ARC. 



THE SIXTH BOOK. 



The night was calm, and many a moving cloud 
Shadowed the moon. Along the forest glade 
With swift foot Conrade past, and now had reachM 
The plain, Were whilome by the pleasant Loire, 
Cheer'd with the song, the rustics had beheld 
The day go ddwn opon their merriment : 
No song of Peace now echoed on its banks. 
There tents Were pitched, and there the centind > 
Slow pacing on his sullen rounds, beheld 
The frequent corse roll down 4hc tainted stream. 
Conrade with wider sweep pursued his way, 
Shunning the camp, now hush'd in sleep and still*. 
Andnow no sound was heard atfreof the Loire* 



VI. 48 

Murmuring along. The noise of coming feet 

Alarm'd him \ nearer drew the fearful sound 

As of pursuit; anon — the clash of arms ! 

That instant rising o'er a broken cloud 

The moon beams shone, where two with combined force 

Prest on a single foe 5 he, warding still 

Their swords, retreated in the unequal fight, 

As he would make the city. Cdbrade shook 

His long lance for the war, and strode along* 

Bull in the breast of one with forceful arm 

Plunged he the spear of death ; and as, dismayed 

The other fled, " now haste we to the gates, 

" Frenchman 1" he cried. On to the stream they speed, 

And plunging stemm'd with sinewy stroke the tide. 

Soon 4n the opposite shore arrived and safe. 

* Whence art thou ?" cried the Warrior -, " on whatcbarg 
44 Commission'd ?" 

"Is it not the voice of Conrade ? n 
Francjg exclaun'd j " and dost thou bring *o us 



VI. 4Q 

« Tidings of speedy aid ? oh 1 had it come 
" A few hours earlier ! Isabel is gone T 

" Nay she is safe:" cried Conrade, " her I found 
" When wilder'd in the forest, and consign'd 
" To the protection of that holy Maid, 
« The delegate, of Heaven. One evening more 
" Aad thou shalt have thine Isabel. Now say, 
" Wherefore alone ? A fugitive from Orleans, 
" Or sent on dangerous service from the town ?" 

4f There is no food in Orleans," he replied, 

" Scarce a meal more ! the assembled chiefs resolved, 

" If thou shouldst bring no tidings of near aid, 

" To cut their way to safety, or by death 

" Prevent the pang of • famine. One they sought 

" Who venturous in the English camp should spy 



* Fuller calls this " resolving rather to lose their lives by 
wholesale on the point of the sword, than to retail them out . 
by famine.*' 



VI. 3» 

« Where safest they migjbt rtsh tpdn the ft*. 
" The perilous taak I chow, then desperate 
"•Of happiness." 

96 sayiftg, they appnwrch'd 
The gate: The cehtinel, won as he hear! 
Thitherward fodtfceps, with uplifted iance 
Challenged the darkling travelled. At their Voice 
He draws the Wrong bolts iwfcfc, and p'aifrfal terns 
The massy entrance. To the cdrefui chiefs 
They pbss. At : foidn%ht oftbrirwtrebie'itttte 
Counselling they sat> serious and stern. To them. 
Conrade. 

u Assembled Wanton I sent from Go* 
" There is a holy Maid by miracles 
" Made manifest; Twelve hundred chosen men 
" Follow her hallowed standard. These Dunois, 
" The strength of France, arrays. Withtbenext coda 
" Ye shall behold their march: 1 

Astonishment 
Seised the contend Chfcfs, and Jriy by tiodbt 



vr. n 

Little reprtasM. " Open the grat*i*ea T 
Xaintrailles exdataM ? " give we to all the host 
" With hand unsparing bow the plenteous meal ; 
" To-morrow we are safe t for Heaven aU just 
u Has seeir our sufferings and decreed their end* 
u Let the glad tidings echo thfo' the town I 
" God is whhus I* 

« Rest not™ too full faith/' 
Graville replied* " on this miraculous aid* 
* Sortie frenzied female whftse wild phantasy* 
" Shaping vain dreams, infeds the credulous 
" With her own madness ! that fiunois is tlhere^. 
u Leading in anna twelve hundred chosen men* 
" Cheers me : yet let not we our little food 
" Be lavish'd, test the warrior in the fight 
*« Should haply fell, and Orleans toe the prey; 
"OfEngJandr 

" Chief! 1 tell thee," Comrade cried,. 
" I did myself behold the sepulchre, 
" Fulfilling; what she spake, give up those arm*- 



VI. 52 

" That sorely for no common end tie grave 
" Thro* many an age has held inviolate. 
" She is the Delegate of the Most High, 
" And shall deliver Orleans !" 

Gaucour then, 
" Be it as thou hast said. High hope I feel, 
" For to no vulgar tale would Conrade yield 
" Belief, or he the Bastard. Our small stores 
" Must yield us, ere another week elapse, 
" To death or England. Tell thro' all our troops 
" There is a holy Virgin sent from God ; 
" They in that faith invincible shall war 
" With more than mortal fury." 

Thus the Chief, 
And what he said seem'd good. The men of Orleans,. 
Long by their foemen bayed, a vi&im band, 
To war, and woe, and want/ such transport felt, 
As when the * Mexicans, with eager eye 



* " It was the belief of the Mexicans, that at the conclusion 
of one of their centuries the sun and earth would be dtstroved. • 



VI. 33 

Crazing to Huixachtla's distant top, 
On that last night, doubtful if ever mom 
Again shall cheer them, mark the mystic fire 
flame on the breast of some brave prisoner, 
A dreadful altar. As they see the blaze 
Beaming on Iztapalapan's near towers, 
Or on Tezcuco's calmy lake flash'd far, 
Songs of thanksgiving and the shout of joy 
Wake the loud echo ; the glad husband tears 
The mantling aloe from the female's face, 
And children, now delivered from the dread 
Of everlasting darkness, look abroad, 
Hail the good omen, and expect the sun 
Uninjur'd still to run his flaming race. 



On the last night of every century they extinguished all their 
fires, covered the faces of the women and children, and 
expeaed the end of the world. The kindling of the sacred 
fire on the mountain of Huixachtla was believed an omen of 
their safety. 

See the History of Mexico, by the Abbe Claviget$. 



VI. 54 

Thus whilst in thai besieged town the Bight 

Wain'd sleepless, silent slept the hallowed host. 

And now the Dooming came. From his hard coach, 

Lightly upstarting and hedigbt in arms. 

The Bastard moved along, with provident eye 

Marshalling the troops. All high in hope they march $ 

And now the sun shot from the southern sky 

His noon-ride radiance, when afar they hear 

The hum of men, and mark the distant towers 

Of Orleans, and the bulwarks of the foe, 

And many a streamer wantoning in air. 

These as they saw and thought of all the ills 

Their brethren had endured, beleager'd there 

For many a month ; such ardor for the fight 

Burnt in each bosom, as young Ali felt 

When to .the assembled tribe Mohammed spake, 

Asking for one his Vizir. Fierce in faith 

Forth from the race of Hashem stept the youth, 

" Prophet of God ! lo— I will be the man T 

And well did Ali merit that high post, 



VI. S3 

Vitafiptyf . upon, Bedert fertile vale, 
And on mount Qbudj ap4 \&*t the walla 
itfCbqifcar, ^ wt^ 4*^ to the chest 
His giant foe, ttf g*W'd Uw m) f*fe> 
SbOfltf Wltfc *t?9|g a^n and mt it ftow the Jqrt, 
£n4 lifted it in air* nqftagtoiM shield ! 

" Behold the tagefs of Orleans," cried Dunois . 
*Lo! this the vaje^^rf on the h«oka of Loire, 
*' Of f opv a| close of day the rustic hand 
*' Danced tq the touft&lay. In jfQUPger years 
* As oft I gljded dawa t|» lilver stream, 
*' Frequent upon the lifted oar I pans'd 
*' Listening the sound of fwrfiwniment. 
** There wave the JingHsh banners 1 martial Maid, 
" Give thai* the signal— let me rush upon 
*■ These ministers of murdcF, who have sack'd 
*' The fruitful fields, and made the hamlet haunts 
u Si)ent— «or hearing hut the widow's groan. 
«' Give thou the signal Maiden I" 



VI. 56 

Her darkey© 
Fix'd sadly cm the foe, the holy Maid 
Answer'd him. " Ere the bloody sword be drawn, 
" Ere slaughter be let loose, befits us send 
" Some peaceful messenger, who shall make known 
« The will of Heaven. So timely warn'd, our foes 
" Haply may yet repent, and quit in peace 
" Besieged Orleans. Victory is sad 
" When even one man ts murdcr'd." 

So she said, 
And as she spake a soldier from the ranks 
Advanced. " I will be thy messenger, 
" Maiden of God ! I to the English camp 
u Will bear thy bidding." 

• * ■ " Go/ the Virgin cried, 

" Say to the Chief of Salisbury, and the host 
" Attending, Suffolk, Fasfolffe, Talbot, Scales, 
'< Invaders of the country, say, thus says 
" The Maid op Orleans. " With your troops retire 
" In peace. Of every captur'd town the keys 



VI. 57 

" Restore to Charles ; to bloodiest yon may seek 
" Your native England ; for the God of Hosts 
" That bat decreed. To Charlet the rightful heir, 
4t By long descent and voluntary choice, 
" Of duteous subjects hath the Lord attign'd 

* His conquest. In his name the Virgin comet 
" Arm'd with his tword j yet not of mercy void, 
" Depart in peace : for ere the morrow dawns, 
" Vi&orious upon Orleans' wall shall wave 

" The holy banner.* 9 To the English camp 
Fearless the warrior strode. 

At mid-day meal, 
With all the dissonance of boisterous mirth, 
The British Chieft carous'd and quaflTd the bowl 
To future conquest. By the centinel 
Conducted came the Frank. 

" Chiefs," he exclaim^ 
" Salisbury, and ye the representatives 

* Of the English King, usurper of this realm, 
" To ye the leaders of the invading host 



VI. 58 

"* I come, w>, welcome opcsjenger. Itui say? 

^ Th* JWfom e*i Ohle^im. " Wi A yoqr troqp* retire 

" In peace. Of every cgptqr'd town tJ^c l^ey* 

* Restore to QM4e»i «* Wwifess, JW «W- *** 
" Youf *»ti** JEftgtaM? j so* the God of ifcsts 
"Thu* to topped. TftC^rl^thorig^fallwr, 
" By long descent ftftl voluntary choice 

"* Of dut&w sulge&v hath the Lord assign'd 
" His conquest Jq J4* W t^ie Virgin corner 
" Arm*4 wi^h hU word, yet not of mercy void* 
" Depart in peace : for era t^e morrow dawns, 

* Victorious upen Orleans' wall shall wave 
« The tofr banner." 

Wonder made a pause j 
To this the laugji succeeds. " What I* Fastojffe cried, 
" A woman warrior has your rnpnarch sent 
u To save devoted Qdeans ? By the rood, 
" I thank his Grace. If she be young and fair, 
m No worthies* prize my Lord* ! Go tell your Afaid, 
* Joyful we wait her coming." 



VI. 50 

There was one 
Among the English Chiefs, -who had grown old 
In arms, yet had not age onnerv'd bis limbs. 
Bat from the flexile niroble|Nss of youth 
Braced to unyielding strength. One, who had i 
The warrior at the feast, might well have 4oomVl 
That Talbot with his whole ooUe&ed 4 might 
Wielded the sword in war, for on bit neck 
The veins were ftffl,* and eveiy muscle bora 
Most powerful chara&er. He hit stem eye 
Fix'd on the HeraM, and before be spake 
His silence f thieates'd. 

« Get thee gqn»1" cielaim'd 



* teii); nut yvtow w or*? vttftf -tk\ornmr 
Ai 8s 01 wfopoLvri xar* a.v%fva iravrotw ivtf, 
Jta voKiw irep wrr ro fa ffavos *£<ov aGag, 

#EOKPiTOX. 

f Bon sitaftoe aMMoe. 



VI. 6o 

The indignant Chief, " away ! nor think to scare 

" With girlish phantasies the English host 

€t That scorns your bravest warriors. Hie thee hence, 

" Insolent Herald 1 tell this frantic girl, 

" This courtly minion, to avoid my wrath, 

" For if she dares the war, I will not stain 

" My good-blood-rusted sword — bat she shall meet 

" The mockery of the camp T 

u Nay, scare her not $" 
Replied their Chief, " go tell this Maid of Orleans, 
" That Salisbury longs to meet her in the fight. 
" Nor let her fear that rude and iron chains 
" Shall gall her tender limbs ; for I myself 

" Will be her prison, and * 

" Contemptuous Man ! 
No more," the Frank exclaimed, as to his cheek 
Rush'd the red anger. " Bearing words of peace 
" And timely warning, came I to your camp, 
*' Here with rude mockery and stern insolence 
« Received. Bear witness Chieftains ! that the French, 



VI. 61 

" Fret from blood-guiltiness, shall meet the war.»* 

<r And who art thou ?" cried Suffolk, and his eye 
' Grew fierce and wrath-inflamed, " what fool art thou 
" That at this woman's bidding comest to brave 
" The host of England ? thou shalt have thy meed!" 
Then turning to the centinel he cried 
" Prepare the stake ! and let the men of Orleans, 
" And let this woman who believes her name 
** May privilege her apostle, see the * fire 



* Reasons for burning a Trumpeter. 
" The letter she sent to Suffolk was received with scorn, 
and the trumpeter that brought it commanded to be burnt, 
against the Law of Nations, saith a French f Author, but 
erroneously, for his coming was not warranted by the authority 
of any lawfull Prince, but from a private Maid, how highly 
soever self-pretended, who had neither estate to keep, nor 
commission to send a trumpeter. | 

Fuller' $ Profane State. 

f De Scrres. 



vi. (h 

* Cstuume him. Build the stake ! Ibr bj my God 
tf He shall be kalendeiedof this new faith 
"Pint martyr." 

A* he spoke a sadden flash 
Came o'er the Herald's cheek and his heartbeat 
With quicker a&ion; bat the sadden flash, 
Alarmed Nature's impulse, faded soon 
To such* "steady hoe as spake the soul 
Kous'd up with all its powers, and unsubdued* 
And glorying in endurance. Thro' the canm 
Soon as the tidings spread, a shout arose, 
A hideous shout, more savage than the howl 
Of midnight wolves 5 aiti round the Frank (hey thronged, 
To $aze upon their viftim. He pass'd on, 
And as taef led him to the appointed $laot 
Lodk'd round, tte tW forgetful of himself, 
And cried aloud, " Ok! I am sad to think 
" So many men shall never seethe sun 
" 60 down I ye English mothers mourn ye now, 
" Daughters of England weep ! for hard of heart 



VI. 63 

* Still your mad leaders urge the impious war, 
tf And for their fbHy and their wickedness, 
** Your sons, your husbands, by the sword most ftfll 
M Long-suffering is the lord, and slow to wrath, 
<( But heavy We his judgements t" 

Re who spake 
Was young an* cotntiy ; hadiris dheek been pate 
With dread, trod had his feye took'd fearfully, 
Sure &e had won compassion; but the blood 
Gave now a HveWer meaning to bis chefek, 
As with a prophetis look and prophet's votee 
He spake the ominous words : am} tb6y ^wbo lifeattk 
WotideiM, and they who rear'd the stake urged on, 
With half-unwiOitrg hands their sladfen'd toil, 
And doubted what might follow. 

Not unseen 
Rear'd they the stake, and piled around the wood ; 
In sight * of Orleans and the Maiden's host. 



•DeSentstays, «* the Trumpeter was ready to be burnt 
in the sight, of the besieged*" 



VI. 64 

Had Suffolk's arrogant fierceness bade the work 

Of death be done. The Maiden's host beheld, 

At once in eager wrath they rais'd the loud 

And general clamour, " lead as to the foe !" 

" Not upon us O God !" the Maid exclaim'd, 

" Not upon us cry out the innocent blood !" 

And bade the signal sound. • In the English camp 

The clarion and the trumpet's blare was heard, 

In haste thf y seize their arms, in haste they form, 

Some by bold wor&ueekiog to hide their fear 

Even from themselves, some silently in prayer, 

For much their hearts misgave them. 

But the rage 

Of Suffolk swcll'd within him. " Speed your work I" 

Exclaim'd the savage Earl, " kindle the pile 

" That France may see the fire, and in defeat 

4< Feel aggravated shame 1" 

And now they bound 

The Herald to the stake : he cried aloud, 

And fix*d his eye on Suffolk, " let not him 



VI. 63 

" Who gitdetb on his harness bdast himself 
"Ashe that pats ft * off? they comet they eoffld! 
"God and the Maid!* 

•the frost of ftance approached, 
Add Suffolk eagofy beteld the fire 
Draw near the pile 5 Sudden a fearful shout 
Toward Orleans ttfm'd his eyd, and (hence he saw 
A matted man opoit a mailed steed 
Come thundering on. 

As vrtka* Chederles f ctimes 
To aid the righteous on his deathless steed. 



• Let awt fern* that gtaittt on bis faamsss boa* htaiaslf , a4 
he that putieth it off 

I. KtngLg.Wy 11. 

f «* A ripa fiuminis Halys renimus ad Gookurthoy ; inde 
Choron; post in The Ke Thtoi. Hie multa didiciraua a mo*> 
aachis Turcicis, quos Dervis vocant, qui co loco insignem 
habenCadtm, de heroe quodam Chederle summa corporis 
atque animi fortitudine, quem eundem fuisse cum nostro 
D". Georgio fabutantur ; eademque illi ascribunt quae huia 
nosfri; nimirum vasti & horrendi draconis cede scrvasse 
c*positam virgmtra. Ad fcsec alia adjiciunt multa, et quae 



VI. 66 

Swaying his sword with such resistless arm. 
Such mightiest force, as he had, newly quaff d 
The hidden waters of eternal youth, 
Till with the copious draught of life and strength 
Inebriate $ such, so fierce, so terrible, 
Came Conrade thro' the camp y aright* aleft, 
The affrighted English scatter from his spear j 
Onward he * drives, and now the circling throng 



libitum est,, comminiscuntur ; ilium per longinquas ores pe- 
regrinari solitum, ad fluvium postremo pervenisse; cujua 
aquae bibentibus praestarent immortalitatcm. Qui quidem 
fluvius, in qua parte terrarum sit, non dicunt; nisi fbrtassia 
in Utopia collocari debet : tantum affirmant ilium magnis 
tenebris, multaque caligine obducmm latere ; neque cuiquam 
mortalium post Chederlem, uti ilium viderct, contigisse. 
Chederlem vero ipsum mortis legibus solutum, hue illuc in 
equo praestantissimo, qui similiter qusdem aquae haustu 
mortalitatem exuerit, divagari, gaudentem prseliis, adesse in 
bello melioribus, aut iis qui ejus opem imploraverint, cujus* 
cunque tandem sint reltgionis." 

Busbequimt, 

• Single sallies were not unusual in the wars of Edward III. 
in that which the following extract from Froissart records the 
Adventurers were well supported. It is characteristic as well 



VI. 67 

Fly from the stake and now he checks his coarse, 
And cuts the Herald's bonds, and bids him hie, 
And arm, and fight, and conquer. 



of the Ladies as the Warriors of the period. 

Sir Walter Manny arrived at Hamebout to succour the 
Countess of Montford. " La Contesse fist appareiller et bien« 
tapisser salles et chambres pour herberger aiseraent les. Seig- 
neurs et Barons Dangleterre quelle veoit venir, et envoya en- 
contre eulx moult noblement. Quant ilz furent tiescendua 
die vint encontre eulx en grant reverence, si lezfestoya au 
mieulx que elle peut, et remercia et amena tous les chevaliers 
et escuyers dedans le cbastel ioger et en la Ville a leur aysc, 
et leur donna le lendemain a disner grandement. Toute la 
nuyt ne cesserent les engine de getter et le lendemain aussi. • 
Quant vint apres disner que la dame cut festoye ces seigneurs, 
Messire Gaultier de Manny, qui estoit chief des Anglois de- 
manda de kstat de ceulx de la ville, et de ceulx de lost. Puis, 
regarda et dist quil avoit grant voutente daller abatre ung grant* 
engin, qui moult pres leur estoit assis, et grant ennuy leur . 
feisoit, mais que on le voulsist suyvir. Lors Messire Yves de > 
Tribiqucdy dist quil ne luy fauldroit ja a ceste premiere > 
envahye; ainsi dist le Sire de Landreman. Lors sey 
allefenttous armer, puis yssirent tous paisiblement par une > 
porte, et firent aller avecques eulx trois cens archiers, leqlz 
tyroient tellement quilz firent fouyr ceulx qui gardoicnt .le • 
grant engin, et les gensdarmes qui venoient apres ces archiers < 



VI. ft 

"ftftotfttllMtace 
<'T«Ortea*%"crirttte*tirt*. "left the Cfcfefs 
" There u conrusxoo in (be EttgfiA e*d$. 



en tuerent aucuns abatirent ce grant enain et le despeeerent et 
le coupperent par pieces. Puis sey coururent de randoo jus- 
ques ink ttme* etlogis, si y indent le tea atmertftt et nan*. 
reseat pl uslc nr s de leur ennemys, ainttris que lost fust ettnen. 
Was se retrairent tout beUement arriere. Quant eeuU a* lost 
ratentafmea, Us vtiidnmtspKseals:coattM<k>mM«iots«Ma. 
Quant Mafeire Guiltier tit ct> il dist « jamais ne soye taiue an 
inadaneetchiereamye, seje nmtreenchsjteltieenfbfteiesse 
jasanesatamiqtt ejes y el a ti gdsceiytttato»c>ae. Ian **&**- 
aa le giawt aa pdingters leseanetnys, aussi Premies deux teres 
de Uadeliale, te Hate de Brabant, Mestire Vyei de TrlbU 
qnedy^ Mcsstre Gakrea de Landresoaa, et ptutseurft autre* 
optnnaigiMns. Setaocherentau* premiers Tenant et tnAreat 
ptaieuis terser les jambeseantitniont; aussien yeutitdes 
leur* verse/. La amunenca wis; tresfbrt ttttki, ear teusjonn 
wnoientavant tenia da lest, tnultiplierent leur effcrt, par 
quay il convint sua Anglais Mtraire tout beUement vers In 
ferteresse. La peust on veoir, dunepertet daatre, belles en* 
tahayes* belles reseoussts, passes et felt* darmes. Les An* 
Slois se retraireatsaigement jusques sua fbssez, et la renderent 
estal tons cotnbatans les chevaliers, jusques a ee que leurs 
gens rutsent retraita a sauvete. Et seiches que eenfac que 
point navoiem este a abatre le grant engin yssirent de la vtt!e 
et sa rengcrent ftur lea fosse*, et titer ant si fort que ile firent 



VI. fig 

" Bid them emne forth " Oa Genmdt's steed the youth 
Leapt up and hwteo'd onward. He the while 
Turn^totfceww. 

like two eenfli&ftg clouds, 
Pregnant with thunder, rush'd the hostile hosts. 
Then man met man, then on the batter'd shield 
Rang the loud lance, and thro* the darken'd sky 
Fast fell the arrowy storm, Amid hw foes 
The Bastard** ami sway'd irresistible 
The strokes of death j and by his side the Makt 
Led the fierce fight, the Maid, £ho all unused 
To the rude cooflid, now inspired by Heaven* 
Flashing her fismy fekhion thro? the troops, 



ceulx de lost rcculer, ct navrerentet occireat plusieura hom- 
ines et chevaulx. Lors quant cculx de lost virent quilx 
cstoicnt am dessoubs, et quilz pcrdoicnt sans riens conquerir, ilz 
fircnt retraireleurs gens a lcurs lops. JEt quant ilz furent tons 
retraitz cculx de la ville se retrairentaussi chascun a son hostel. 
Lots d e soen dit la Comesse du cbastel a joyeuse chiere, tc Tint 
baiser Messire Gaultierdc Manny & ses compaignous, les uag* 
apres let autrcs deux fois ou trois, corame nobk ct vaillante 
tame" 

Frcitsart.. l.F.SS 



VI. 70 

That like the thunderbolt, where'er it fell, 
Scattered the trembling ranks ; the Saracen, 
Tho' arm'd from Cashbin or Damascus, wields 
A weaker sword j nor might that magic blade 
Compare with this that Oriana saw 
Flame in the brutal Ardan's robber hand, 
When, sick and cold as the grave, she turn'd away 
Her dizzy eyes lest they should see the death ,< 
Of her own Amadis. Nor plated shield, 
Nor the strong hauberk, nor the crested casque, 
Stay that descending sword. Dreadful she moved, 
Like as the Angel of the Lord want forth 
And smote his army, when the Assyrian King, 
Haughty of Hamath and Sepharvaim fallen, 
Brasphera'd the God of Israel. 

Yet the fight 
Hung doubtful, where exampling hardiest deeds, 
Salisbury mowM down the foe, and Fastoiffe strove, 
And in the hottest doings of the war 
Towered Talbot, He, remembering the past day 



VI. 71 

When from his name the affrighted ions of France 
Fled trembling, all astonish'd at their force 
And wontless valour, rages round the field 
Dreadful in fury j yet in every man 
Meeting a foe fearless, and in the faith 
Of Heaven's assistance firm. 

The clang of arms 
Reaches the walls of Orleans. For the war 
Prepared, and confident of vi&ory, 
Speed forth the troops. Not when afar exhaled 
The hungry raven snuffs the steam of blood 
That from some carcass-cover'd field of fame 
Taints the pure air, wings he more eagerly 
To riot on the gore, than rush'd the ranks ; 
Impatient now for many an ill endured 
In the long siege, to wreak upon their foes 
Due vengeance. Then more fearful grew the fray ; 
The * swords that late flash'd to the evening sun, 



• Now docs the day grow blacker than before, 



vi. n 

{fow quenched in blood their radiance. 

O'er toe bo* 
Howl'd the deep wind that ominous o/ items 
Roll'd on the lnrid clouds. The blacjtgn'4 night 
Frown'd, and the thunder from the troubled skjr 
Roared hollow. Javelins clash'd and bucklers wmg 5 
Shield ptest on shield; loud on the helmet jarr'd 
The ponderous battle axe ; the frerj gegt £K>ap 
Of death commingling with the storm was heard, 
And the shrill shriek of Eear. 

Evensncb 9 storm 
Before the walls of Chartres q^ell'd the pride 
Of the third Edward, when the heavy hail 
Smote down his soldier*, apd the Conqueror h&ri 



The swords that glistered late, in purple gore 

}fow all distain'd, their former brightness* lose. 

Mays Edward III. 
And again Book 7. 

The glittering swords that shone so bright of late 

Are quickly all distain'd with purple gore. 



VI. 73 

God in the tttnpefrt, e»d remembered fatal 
Of tjbc widow* ike had made, and in the name 
Of blessed Mary * vowed the vow of peace. 



* n advint ft luy et a toute sa gent, estant devant Chartres, 

qui moult hmaAift et brise son courage ; car entendis que ces 

tiai&eurs Francois allpient et preschojent ledit roy ct son con- 

leil, ct encores nulle responce agreable nen avoient cue. Unc 

onge unc aesnpeste ct use fouldre si grande et si horrible des- 

cendit dn cicl en tost du rpy Pauglejcf re quil sernhloit pfopre- 

ment que lc sieclc deust finer. Car il cheoit si grosses pierret 

que ellcs tuoyent hommts et ofeevaulx, ct en furcnt les plus 

hardis tous esbahis. Adoncques regard* le joy Pangfcterjre 

devers Icglise de nostre dame de Chartres, et se voua et rendit 

devotement a nostre dame, et promist, et confissa sicommc il 

diet depuis auil se accorderpit ft la paix. 

Froissart. 

But whilst he lodged there, (before Chartres) his army 
making a horrible spoile.of the whole -country, there chanced 
an occasion, as the work of Heaven, which suddenly quailed 
his ambitious design to ruin Prance : for behold a horrible 
and extraordinary tempest of hailc, thunder, and lightning, 
fids with such violence as many horses and men in the army 
perished, as if that God had stretched forth his hand from 
Heaven to tty his course. 

De Strut. 



VI. 74 

to ! where the holy banner wared aloft. 

The lambent lightnings play d. Irradiate round 

As with a blase of glory, o'er the field 

It stream'd miraculous splendour. Then their hearts 

Sunk, and the English trembled j with such. fear. 

Possessed, as when the combined host beheld 

The sun stand still on Gibeon, at the voice 

Of that king-conquering warrior, he who smote 

The country of the hills, and of the south, 

From Baal-gad to Halak, and their Kings, 

liven as the Lord commanded. Swift they fled 

From that portentous banner, and the sword 

Of France ; tho' Talbot with vain valiancy 

Yet urged the war, and stemm'd alone the tide 

Of conquest. Even their leaders felt dismay ; 

Fastolffe fled fast, and Salisbury in the rout 

Mingles, and all impatient of defeat, 

Borne backward Talbot turns. Then echoed loud 

The cry of conquest, deeper grew the storm, 

And Darkness, hovering o'er on raven wing, 



VI. 75 

Brooded the field of death. 

Nor in the camp 
Deem themselves safe the trembling fugitives. 
On to the forts they haste. Bewilder'd there 
Amid the moats by fear, and the dead gloom 
Of more than midnight darkness, plunge the troops/ 
Crashed by fast following numbers who partake 
The death they give. As rushing from the snows 
Of winter liquified, the torrent tide 
Resistless down the mountain rolls along, 
Till at the brink of giddy precipice 
Arrived, with deafening clamour down it falls : 
Thus borne along, the affrighted English troops 
Driven by the force behind them, plunge amid 
The liquid death. Then rose the dreadful cries 
More dreadful, and the dash of breaking waves 
That to the passing lightning as they broke 
Gleam'd horrible. 

Nor of the host so late 
Triumphing In the pride of victory, 



VI. 76 

And swoln with confidence, had bow escaped 

One wretched remnant, had not Talbot's mind, 

Slow at he moved unwittteg from the war, 

What moat night profit the defeated raaks, 

Pondered. He reaching safe the massy fort 

By St. John's name made holy, kindled op 

The guiding fire. Not unobserved k Mazed ; 

The watchful guards on Tournclles, and the pife 

Of that proud city, in remembrance fond 

Call'd London, light the beacon. Soon the fires 

Flame on the summit of the circling forts 

That firm entrenched with Walls and deep-delved moats 

Included Orleans. Oer the shadowy piam 

They cast a lurid splendor y to the troops 

Grateful, as to the way-worn traveller, 

Wandering with parched feet o'er the Arabian sands, 

The far-seen cistern j he for many a league 

Travelling the trackless desolate, where heaved 

With tempest swell the desart billows round, 

Pauses, and shudders at his perils past, 



VI. m 

Then wild with joy speeds <to to Utftedfe Wife 
So long bewail'd* 

Strift «t the afirtgtmi herd 
Scud o'er the plain, wfaeak frequent thro' tlM Jkf 
Flash the fierce lightnings, speed the Muted host 
Of Ebglaod. To the sheltering forts they haste* 
Tho* safe, of safety doubtful, still appalM 
And trembling, at the pilgrim who by night 
On his way wilder**, to the waif s deef> howl 
Hears the wood echo, when from the fell beast 
Escaped, of some tall tree the topmost branch 
He grasps close cli Aging, still of that keen fang 
Fearful, his teeth jar, and the big drifri stand 
Oa his cold quivering limbs* 

Not now the Maid 
Greedy of vengeance urges the pursuit. 
She bids the trumpet of fetreat resound j 
A pleasant music to the routed ranks t 

Blows the loud Mast. Obedient to its voice 
The French, tho' eager oh the invaders' heads 



VI. 7S 

To wreak their wrath, stay the victorious sword. 

Loud is the cry of conquest as they turn 
To Orleans. There what few to guard the town 
Unwilling had remained, haste forth to meet 
The triumph: Many a blazing torch they held 
That rais d aloft amid the midnight storm, 
Flash'd far a festive light. The Maid advanced ; 
Deep * thro* the sky the hollow thunders rolTd ; 



• The circumstance of the Maids entering Orleans at mid- 
night in a storm of thunder and lightning is historically true. 

" The Englishmen perceiving that thei within could not- 
long continue for faute of vitaile and pouder, kepte not their 
watche so diligently as thei wer accustomed, nor scoured not 
the countrey environed as thei before had ordained. Whiche 
negligence the Citczens shut in perceiving, sent worde therof 
to the French capitaines, which with Pucelle in the dedde 
tyme of the nighte, and in a grcate rayne and thundre, with 
all their vitaile and artilery entered into the citie. 

Hall fi>L \*1. Edmund Howes. Rapin. 
Shakespear also notices this storm. Striking as the circum- 
stance is Chapelain has omitted it. 



VI. 79 

Innocuous lightnings round the hallowed banner 
Wreath'd their red radiance; 

Thro' the operid gate 
Slow past the laden convoy. Then was heard 
The shout of exultation, and such joy 
The men of Orleans at that welcome sight 
Possessed ; as when from Baftria late subdued, 
The Macedonian Madman led bis troops 
Amid the Sogdian desart, where no stream 
Wastes on the wild its fertilizing waves. 
Fearful alike to pause, or to proceed ; 
Scorch'd by the sun that o'er their morning march 
Steam'd his hot vapours, heart subdued and faint $ 
Such joy as then they felt, when from the heights 
Burst the soul-gladdening sound ! for thence was seed 
Tbe evening sun silvering the vale below, 
Where Oxus rolTd along. 

Clamours of joy 
Echo along the streets of Orleans, wont 
Long time to bear the infant's feeble ciy, 



VI. 00 

The mother's frantic shriek, or the dread sttfii*, 
When from the cannon btfrtt ht store* of dea+h. 
F»f fb«« the ire «f J07 on rnin'd piles, 
And high heafTd eflroasserf, Whence seared awajr 
From his abhorred meal, on clattering wing 
Rose the night-riven alow. 

In the English forfs, 
Sad was the l&ftt. There alt the livelong night 
Steals in the Stragling fugitive 5 as when, 
Past is the storm, and er Che aaure sky 
Serenely shines the sun 5 with every breeze 
The waving branches drop their gathered rain, 
Renewing the remembrance of the storm. 



C&e fcetentfr Boofu 



Description of the English forts. The French troops 
attack and capture the forts of St. Loup and St. 
John. Attack of Fort London. Salisbury encounters 
the Maid. Event of that encounter. The Tournelles 
surrounded by the French, who dispatch a troop to 
Orleans for provisions, and encamp before it for the 



JOAN of ARC. 



THE SEVENTH BOOK. 



Strong were the English * forts, by dally tail 
Of thousands rear*d on high, when arrogant 
With fancied conquest, Salisbury bade rise 
The amazing pile, from succour to include 
Besieged Orleans. Round the city walla 



* The patience and perseverance of a besieging army in 
those ages appear almost incredible to us now. The camp of 
Ferdinand before Granada swelled into a city. Edward IIL 
made a market town before Calais. Upon the Captain's refusal 
to surrender, says Barnes " he began, to entrench himself 
strongly about the city, setting his own tent dire&ly against 
the chief gates at which he intended to enter ; then he placed 
bastions between the town and the river, and set out regular 
streets, and rear'd up decent buildings of strong timber be* 
tween the trenches, which he covered with thatch, reed,, 
broom and skins. Thus he encompassed the. whole town of 



VII. 86 

Stretch'd the wide circle, massy as the fence 

Erst by the fearful Roman on the bounds 

Of Caledonia raisM, for, sonl-enslaYed 

Her hireling plunderers foar'd 4he car-borne chiefs 

Who rash'd from Mom^sm. 

Strong battlements 
Crested tfee mightf'bdlwflark, on whose top 
Secure the duttioteef -fright wfceefl *io*£. 
Thefrequ«mt'rMrtWc»titjuitdlstatoj0e, ttfcfe 
Declining ftoitt&steafey w*l mstf for* 



Calais, from Risban on the northwest side to Cburgaine oa 
the northeast, all along by Sangate, at Port and FortdeNictt* 
lay, commonly by the English called Newiand bridge, down 
by'Hammes, Cologne and Marke ; so that his camp looked 
like * spacious city, and was usually by strangers, that came 
thfther to market, called New Calais. For this Prince's 
reputation for Justice was so great, that to his markets (which 
he hetd m his camp twice every week, viz : on Tuesdays and 
Saturdays for flesh, fish, bread, wine and ale, with cloth 
and all other necessaries) there came not only his friends and 
allies from England, Flanders and Aquitain, hut even many 
of «Klng Philip*s subjects and confederates conveyed thither 
their cattle and other commodities tobe sold. 



vii. a* 

Lifted dfaft their tanetettwnei heads. 

All finn jadmassjr- llut,tfA«cwst*nn, 

Astho , ofsane>iw*e>fc^^ 
Stood six wpateifciiWttcrwitiiiunteflBpfc'd, 
Klaqf Qiao^lUstrimi^hr the 1 nw dewtfdiwesflt 
'Gainst pmisange Morc^than nmrtai Safid^ heaot 
The skilful arctacfflrtBring-* an* .hfir«jre 
Thenafcr, might, tomtit* the white unseen, 
TW tbetoog tuning itaw Us winged deaths. 
Loire'i woiea diTwrstAfiUdtbeileep^tog moat 
Ci«jfcig4be ptfef ******** *s tfhat 
Rouaddusr disheartened camp and*trand*d4&ps 
The Gfateki gpetarttj * ia«niiioii«ittilch» 
Ofthocsumda AnghtePd, iand Ac-daoitfd de*th*placs 
Of many a Chief, when Priam's jatriot son 
Bush'd in his wrath and scattered their pale tribes. 



• Nunc lentus, celsis aclstans in collibus, intrat 
Urbcm oculis, discitquc locos caussasque locoram. 

SUius Italicus. xii. 507. 



vn. *s 



Bat cowering now amid their sheltering forts 
Tremble the English host Tbeh* leaders care ; 
In anxioos ¥Jgfla» n ft|wq > ito to wnid . 
Assault expected. Ncc tbeMridVintait 
Did he not rightly arced; tboTain the attempt 
To kindle in their breast* the wonted name 
Of valour; for by prodigies' unmannd 
They wait the morn % the soldiers pride was- gone,. 
The blood was on their swords, their bucklers lay 
Unbitnish'd and * defiled, they sharpened not 
Their blunted spears, the afirighted ai^her's haiod 
Relaxed not his bent bow. To them, confused 
With fears of unknown danger the long night 
Was dreadful, but more dreadful dawn'd the day v 



* Abjeccrc madentcs, 
Sicut •rant, clypeoa ; nee quisquam spicula tersit* 
Nee liudavit equum, nitida nee cassidii altan\ 
Compsit adornavitquc jubanu 

Stativu 



VII. 89 

The morning came. The martial Maid am** 
Lovely in tnns the moved. Around the gale 
Eager again lor conquest throng the troops. 
High towered the Son of Orleans* in his strength • 
Posing the ponderous spear. HU batter'd shield* • 
Witnessing the fierce fray of yesternight. 
Hong oa his sinewy arm* 

u Maiden of Arc* 
" So. as he spake approaching/' cried the Chief, 
u Well hast thou prov'd thy mission, as, by words, 
" And miracles attested when dismayed 
u The stem Tbeologists forgot their doubts, 
" So in the field, of slaughter now confirmed. 
" Yon well-fenced forts proteft the fugitives, 
lt And seem as in. their strength they mock'd our forces 
* Yet must they falL" 

* And fall they shall r replied 
The Maid of Odeans. . " Ere the sun be set 
(c The lily on that shattered wall shall wave 
(< Triumphant*— Men of France ! ye have fought wall 



VII. go 

" On that blood-rooking plain. Your humbled feci 

" Lurk trembling now amid their massy walls; 

" Wolves that have ravaged the neglected flock! 

" The SfafepherdV-the Great Shepherd is arisen ! 

u Ye ly 1 yet iholl not ye by flight e*»pe 

" His vengeance. MenofOrieans! itwerew 

•* By words to waken wrath within your breasts. 

" Look round I Your holy buildings and your homes— 

" Ru*i» 'that choke the way 1 yonr populous town— 

" One ©pern sepulchre I whew there here 

" That does not mourn a friend, a brrt&er slain, 

" A parent famish 'd-— or his dear tared *w?fe 

*' Torn from his bosom— 4ngfecast-~breken hearted— 

u Cast on thetneroy of mantund ? 

•She ceased. 
The cry of indignation from the host 
Burst forth, and all impatient for the war 
Demand the signal. These Dubois arrays 
In four battalions. Xainfariiles, tried in war,. 
Commands the hist -, Xaintrailles, who oft subdued 



VII. gi . . . 

By advene fortune to the capture -cbafo, • 

Still more tremendous -to the cacrajr, 

Lifted his death-fraught lance, at entiropaeartjk 

Antaeus vat»n*H>g m kk gitWtiralk, 

When graspt by tofefc HeveuleaB, down -fee ||U 

Vanquishtj booh tfyrote owe fie** for war. 

GaucG«r«>«r one presides, fcbeateadf fiaead 
To long impcifOa'dOrteaavj rf Jus town 
Bdoved guardian, he the dreadful *ie#e 
Firmly abiding, prudent stiH to plan 
Irruption, and -with youthful vigour swift 
To lead the bottle, from bis soldiers lore 
Prompter obedience gained, 4han efer i e ar 
Forced from 4he .heart reluctant. 

The third band 
Alencon leads. He on the fatal field 
Vcrneuil, when Bacbanand the Douglas died, 
Fell senseless. Guiltless he of that day's loss, 
Wore undisgraoed awbiic ibc -captive chain. 





vn. 90 

-Oath^tood^kiBsphiB. Yo^fc«^ b,ed/bC 
- *<inr*m lm vnged the negJeSed ft** ' 




-Tetjl TttshftBaocyebf *gbi««*f* 
-f&TeagwBce. Ms,rfO*«>»l i»w«*^•'• 




-^ww*»w*tol wrath wW»<>r«> rbn:,,,B " 

"LookModt TsvboljbniUiac*^ 
" Kom tfaM cbek« t&e w«r < roar (op" 100 ' 


* That does m* n« 


•A|»MifaMh^ 


" Tvvb flaw Ins ba- 


^■"•sf oq t/>c cuc^flH^f ^^H 


71 ^^> 





VII. 94 .. 

Hurl fierce. Nor from the ttamg axm ooftftautcbtt 
The javeBa fed* bat drives* by the stntfoadfaee 
Of the t**Usta, ta one cartas* spn! 
Stay d aot * thio' armt and nca it make* its- way* 

And leaving death behind, still holds its course 
By many a death unclqgg'4. With rapid march. * 
Bight* onward they advanced* aad soon the shafts* 
ImpdTd by that strong stroke beyond the host, 
gtti ni i i i, tv .- eaag 

f Neque enimi soils excuss* kcertift 
Lancea, sed tenso balistse turbine rapta, 
- Haud unum contenta latus transire, quiescit ; 
Sed paodens potqnt ajma.*ianv perque ossa, rettfif 
Morte fugit : superest tclo post vulnera cursus. 

Lucan. Ill 

Vegetius says, that the Balista discharged darts with such 
rapidity and violence, that nothing could resit their force. 
Thtt engine was used particularly to discharge darts of a 
surprizing length and weight, and often many small ones- 
together. Its form was not unlike that of a broken bow ; it 
had two arms, but strait and not curve like those of a cross- 
bow, of which the whole acting force consists in bending the 
how. That of the balista as- well as of the catapulta, lies in 
fes cords. 



VII. Q5 

Wasting, their force, feU taurralcsi. Now they ftacfa'd 
Where by the § baytet embattled wall in arms 
The Knights of England stood. There Poyaings shook 
His lance, and Giaddisdaie hta hoary mace 
For the death-Mow pitpar'd. Aleseon here, 
And here the Bastard strode, and by the Mai4 
That daring man who to the English host 
Then insolent of many z c on qp ea t gain'd, 



§ The bayle or lists was a space on the outside of the ditch, 
surrounded by strong paltisades, and sometimes by a low 
embattled wall. In the attack of fortresses, as the. range of 
the machines then in use did not exceed the distance of four 
stadia, the besiegers did not carry on their approaches by 
means of trenches, but began their operations above ground, 
'with the attack of the bayle or lists,*" where many feats of 
chivalry were performed by the Knights and men at arms, 
who considered the assault of that work as particularly belong- 
ing to them, the weight of their armour preventing them 
from scaling the walls. As this part was attacked by the 
Knights and men at arms, it was also defended by those of 
the same rank in the place, whence many single combats 
were fought here. This was at the first investing of the 
place* 



VII. y6 

Bote her Tyld bidding. A rude * coat of mail 

Unhosed, unhooded, as *f lowly line • 

Arm'd him, tho* here amid the high-born chieft 

Preeminent for prowess. On his head . 

A black plume -shadowed the rude>featnr*d + helm. 

Then t^as the war of men, when front to front 

They rearM the hostile hand, for low the wall 

Where the bold Frenchman's ttpward-drhren spear, 

Might pierce the foemen. 

il 

• In France only persons of a certain estate, called mm Jiff 
it hauler, were permitted to wear a hauberk, which was the 
armor of a Knight. Esquires might only wear a simple coat 
of mail without the hood and hose. Had this aristocratic 
distinction consisted in &e ornamental part of the aims alone, 
it would only have been ridiculous. In the enlightened and 
free States of Greece, every soldier was well provided with 
defensive arms. In Rome, a civic wreath was the reward of 
him who should save the life of a Citfeen. To use the words 
of Dr. Gillies, " the miserable peasants oftnodern Europe are 
exposed without define* as without remorse, by the ambition of 
men, whom the Greeks would have stiled tyrants." 

f The burgonet, which represented the shape of the head 
■and features. 



VII. $7 

At Alencon moved, 
On his crown-crested • helm with ponderous blow 
Fell Gladdisdaie's huge maee. Back he fecoH'd 
Astounded ; toon recovering, his keea lance 
Thrust on the warrior's shield : there fat-Mi&Vfc 
Nor could Alencon the dcep-drirea spear • 
Recover, nor the foeman from his grasp 
Wrench the con t ended weapon. Fierce again 
He lifts the mace, that on Ae ashea htlt 
Fell fulli itihiverM, and the Frenchman held 
A pointless truncheon. Where the Bastard fought 
The spear of Poynings, thro' his plated mail 
Pierced, and against the t iron fence beneath 
Blunted its point. Again he apeeds the spear j 



* Earls and Dukes frequently wore their coronets on the 
crests of their helmets. At the battle of Azincour, Henry 
wore " a bright helmet, whereupon was set a crowne of gold, 
repleate with pearle and precious stones, marvellous rich." 

How*;. 
t A breastplate was sometimes worn under the hauberk 



vn. $8 

At once Donois on his broad buckler bean 
The unharmiog stroke, arid aims with better fate 
His javelin. Thro* his sword-arm did it pieroe 
Maugre the mail. Hot from the streaming wound 
Again the weapon fell, and in bis breast 
Even thoo* the hauberk drove. 

But there the war 
Raged fiercest where the martial Maiden moved 
The minister of wrath j for thither throng d 
The bravest champions of the adverse host. 
And on her either side two warriors stood 
Of unmatch'd prowess, still with eager eye 
Shielding her form, and aiming at her foes 
Their deadly weapons, of themselves the while . 
Little regarding. One was that bold man -, 
Who bade defiance to the English Chiefs. 
Firmly he stood, untir*d and undisniay*#, • 
Tho' on his burgonet the frequent spear 
Drove fierce, and on his arm the buckler hung 
Heavy, thick-bristled with the hostile shafts, 



VII. 99 

Even like the porcupine when in his rage 

Bous'd, he colle&s within him all his force, 

Himself a quiver. And of loftier port 

On the other hand towered Conrade* Firmly fenced, 

A jazerent of double mail he wore, 

Beneath whose weight one but of common strength 

Had sunk. Uhtir'd the conflid he endur'd, 

Wielding a battle-axe ponderous and keen, 

That gave no second stroke 5 for where it fell, 

Not the strong buckler nor the plated mail 

Might save, nor crested casque. On Molyn's head* 

As at the Maid he aimed his javelin, 

Forceful it fell, and shiver'd with t{ie blow 

The iron helm, and to his braia-pan drove 

The fragments. At their comrades death amaz'd, 

And for a moment fearful shrunk the foes. 

That instant Conrade, with an * a&ive bound; 



* The nature of this barrier has been explained in a pre* 
Tious note. The possibility of leaping upon it is exemplified 
ia. the following adventure, characteristic enough of the period 



Sprang on Urn batttetxiebt* ; thtffc fittn hfc stood. 
Guarding ascent. Thte warrior Maid of Arc, 
And be the partner of that battle's **tte, 



in which it happened (1370) to merit preservation. 

" At that time there was done an extraordinary feat of areas 
by a Scotch Knight, named Air John Assucton, being one of 
those men of arfes of Scotland, who had now entered iftng 
Edward'* pay. ^Fhis man left -his rank with his -spear in his 
hand,* his Page riding behind him, and went towards the 
barriers of Koyon, where he attgh*d, asyidg, ** here hold 
my horse, and stir not from hence ;" and so he came to the 
barriers. *There were there at that time Sir John de Roye, 
and Sir Lancelot de Ldrris with ten or twelve more, who aH 
wondered what this Knight designed to do. He for his part 
being close At the barriers said unto them, u (Gentlemen, I ant 
come hither to visit yon, and because! see yon will not oorafc 
forth of your barriers to me, I will come in to you, jf I may, 
and prove my Knighthood against you. ^Win me if you can.** 
And with that he leaped over the bars, and began to la> about 
him like a lion, he at them and they at him ; so that he alone 
fought thus against them all for near the space of an hour, 
and hurt several of them. Arid all the 'while those of the 
town beheld with much delight from the walls and their 
garret windows his great activity, strength and courage ; but 
they offered not to do him any hurt, as they might very easily 
have done, if they had been minded to cast stones or darts at 



vir. ror 

FoDwcrib •»* toon the exulting cry of fWurte 
Along the lists waa heard, at waved aloft 
The hoty banner. Gbddiadale beheld, 
And hasting from his well-defended post,. 
Sped to the fiercer conflift* To the Maid' 
He strode, on her resolved to wreak his rage, 
With her to end the wan Nor did not JOAN? 
Areed his purpose : lifting up her shield. 
Pwpar'd she stood, and pofc'd her sparkling spear* 
Hie English Chief came on 5 . he raised his mace, 



turn : bat the. French Knigbte charged: them to the conttarjr ? 

saying " how they should let them alone to deal with him." 

When matters had continued thus about an hour, the Scotch 

Page came to the barriers with his master's horse in his hand* 

and said 4a hir language, " Sir; pray come away, it is high 

time for you to leave off now : for the Army is marched off 

out of sight.'*" The Knight heard his man, and then gave 

two or three terrible strokes about him to clear the way, and 

so, armed as he was, he leaped back, again over the barriers 

and mounted his horse, having not received any hurt ; and 

turning to the Frenchmen, said " Adieu Sirs ! I thank you • 

for my diversion." And with that he rode after his man, 

upon the spur towards the Army. 

Jmhua IUrrus. 



vn. 102 

With circling force, the iron weight f swing high 
As Gladdudale with hit coUe&ed might 
Drove the full blow. The man of lowly line 



f Le massue est un baton groscomme le bras, ayant a 1* an 
de ses boats une forte courtoie poar teftir Tarme et 1" em'pe- 
cher de gtisier, et a Y autre trois chainons de fer, auxquels 
pend un boulct pesant huit livres. H n' y a pas d* homme 
aujourd" hui capable de manier une telle arme. 

L* Graad* 

The arms of the Medici family " are romantically referred . 
to Averardo de Medici, a commander under Charlemagne, 
who for his valour in destroying the gigantic plunderer Mu- 
gello, by whom the surrounding country was laid waste, was 
honoured with the privilege of bearing for his arms six palte 
or balls, as characteristic of the iron balls that hung from the 
mace of his fierce antagonist, the impression of which re- 
mained on his shield. ? 

Roscoe. 

Scudery enumerates the mace among the instruments of war, 1 

in a passage whose concluding line may vie with any bathos 1 

of'Sir Richard Blackmore. ' 

I 
La confinement frappent de toutes parts j 

Pierres, piques^ espieux, masses, fleches et dards, 

Lances et javelots, sabres et marteaux d'armes, 

Danger fuses instruments dtt gutrriercs alarmes, 

Alarit, 



VII. 103 

That instant rcsh'd between, and rear'd his shield 
And met the broken blow, and thrust his lance 
Fierce thro* the gorget of the English Knight. 
A gallant man/ of no ignoble line, 
Was tiladdisdale. His lire* had lived in peace, 
They heap'd the hospitable hearth, thejr spread 
The feast, their vassals loved them, and afar 
The traveller told their fame. In peace they died j 
For them the venerable fathers poor'd 
A requiem when they slept, and o'er them rais'd 
The sculptured monument. Now far away 
Their offspring falls, the last of all his race, 
Slain in a foreign land, and doom'd to share 
The common grave. 

Then terror seized the host 
Their Chieftain dead. And lo ! where on the wall, 
Bulwark' d of late by Gladdisdale so well; 
The son of Orleans stood, and swayed around 
His falchion, keeping thus at bay the foe, 
Till on ihe battlements his comrades sprang, 



vn. 104 

And nb'd the shoot of conquest. Then appaSTd 
The English fled : nor fled they unpursued, 
For mingling with the foremost fugitives, 
The gallant Comade nishid -, and with the throng; 
The Knights of France together o'er the bridge 
Fast speeded. Nor the garrison within 
Durst let the ponderous portcullis fall, 
For in the entrance of the fort the fight 
Baged fiercely, and together thro* the gate 
The vanquished English and their eager foes 
Pass'd in the flying conflict. 

Well I deem 
And wisely did that daring Spaniard ad 
At Vera-Cruz, when he his yet sound ships 
Dismantling, left no spot where treacherous Fear 
Might still with wild and wistful eye look back. 
For knowing no retreat, his desperate troops 
In conquest sought their safety. Victors hence 
At Tlascala, and o'er the Cholulans, 
And by Otompan, on that bloody field 



VII. 105 

'When Mexico her patriot thousand* pour'd, 
Fierce in vain valour on their ruffian foes. 
There wa§ a portal to the English fort 
That opened on the * wall; a speedier path 
In the hour of safety, whence the charmed eye- 
Might linger down the river a pleasant coarse* 
Fierce in the gate-way raged, the deadly war •, 



• Vitruvius observes, in treating upon fortified walls, that 
near the towers the wall should be cut within-eide the breadth 
of the tower, and that the ways broke in this manner should * 
only be joined and continued-* by beams laid upon the two* 
extsemities, without being, made frit with iron ; that in case • 
the enemy should make himself snaster of any part of the* 
wall, the besieged might- remove this wooden bridge, and' 
thereby prevent his passage to the otter parts of the wall andi 
into the towers* 

The precaution recommended fey Vitruvius had not been ob- . 
served in the constru&ion of the English walls. On efth tide « 
•f every tower, a small door opened 'upon the wall ; and the • 
garrison of one tower are represented in the poem as flying by 
this way from one to shelter themsehres in the other. With-., 
the enterprieing spirit and the defensive arms of chivalry, the * 
subsequent events will not be found to exceed probability. 



VIL 106 

For there the Maiden strove, and Conrade there, 
And he of lowly line, bravelier than whom 
Fought not in that day's battle. Of success 
Desperate, for from above, the garrison 
Could wield no arms, so certain to bestow 
Equal destru&ion, of the portal's aid 
The foe bethought them : then with lesser force 
Their weapons fell > abandoned was the gate y 
And soon from Orleans the glad citizens 
Beheld the hallowed banner on the tower 
Triumphant. Swift along the lofty wall 
The -English haste to St. John's neighbouring fort, 
Flying with fearful speed. Nor from pursuit 
The v-i&ors .ceased, but .with the fugitives 
Mingled and waged the war : the combatants, 
Lock'd in the hostile grasp, together fall 
Precipitate. 

But foremost of the French, 
Dealing destruction, Conrade rush'd along z 
Heedless of daDger, he to the near fort 



VII. 107 

fiws'd in the fight \ nor did not then the Chief 

What most might serve bethink him : firm he stood 

In the portal, and one moment looking back 

lifted his loud voice : thrice the warrior cried, 

Then to the war addrest him, now assail'd 

By numerous foes, who arrogant of power 

Threatened his single valour. He the while 

Stood firm, not vainly confident, or rash, 

But of his own strength conscious, and the post 

Friendly ; for narrow was the portal way 

To one alone fit passage, from above 

O'erbrowVL by no out-jutting * parapet, 

Whence death might crush him. He in double mafl 

Was arm'd^ a massy burgonet, Well tried 



* The machicolation : a projection over the gate-way of a 
town of castle, contrived for letting fall great weights, scald- 
ing wjitir &c. on the heads of any assailants who might have 
.got clo>- to i he gate. " Machecoliare, or machecoulare, says 
Coke, 19 to make a warlike device over a gate or other passage 
iike to a grate, thraagh which scalding water, or ponderous 
•oi offensive things may b; cast upon the assaylants." 



YIL 106 

Jb many a haid-fougbt field, helming his bod;. 
▲ buckler brood, aod fenced with iron plates, 
Bulwark'dhU breast. Nor to dislodge Ac Chief 
Could the English poor their numbers, for the way 
By upward steps presented from the fort 
Narrow ascent, where 000 ales* eonid meet 
The war. Yet were they of their numbers proud, 
Tho* useless numbers were in that strait path, 
Save by assault unceasing to outcast 
A single warrior, who at length must sink 
Fatigued with conquering, by long vi&ory 
, Yanquish'4, 

There was amid the gajrisoo 
A fearless Knight who at Veraeuil had fought. 
And high renown for his bold chivalry 
Acquir'd in>that day's conquest. To his fame 
The thronging English yield the foremost place. 
He his long javeljn to transpierce the Frank 
Thrust force/ul : harmless in his shield it fU'd;. 
Advantaging the foe! for Conrade, lifts ' 



VII. lop 

The tfrttte-axfc, anil stntite upon the lance 
And * hxrrfd its severed point with mighty arm 
fierce on the foe. With vnty bend, the fbe 



dt 



'+ 1 have met wfth one instance in the English "history, and 
only one, of throwing the irpear after the manner of the 
•ancients. It is in the dironidctf 'Howes. " 1443. The doth 
of January, a challenge was done in Smithneld within list*, 
before the King ; the ©He Sir Thftlp de Ueawse of Arragon a 
Knight, and the other an Esquire of the King's house called 
John Ausley Or Astley. These comming to the nelde, Woke 
their tents, and there w*3 the Knight's Sonne made Knight 
by the King, and so brought agajn to his father's tent. Then 
the Heralds of Armes called them by name to doe their bat- 
tel], and so they came both, all armed, with their weapons ; 
the Knight came with his sword drawn, and the Esquire 
with his apeare. The Esquire cast his speare against the * 
Knight, 'but the Knight avoiding it with his sword oast it to 
'the ground. Then the Esquire took his axe and went against 
the Knight suddenly, on whom he stroke many strokes, hard 
-and aofe «pon his foasenet, and on his hand, and made him 
loose and let -fall his axe to the ground, and brast up his 
limbes three time*, and caught his dagger and would have 
'smitten him fa the fare, lor to have shunejhrm in the field $ 
and then the King cried hoo, and so they were departed and 
"Went to their tents, and the feing dubbed John Astley Knight 
Tor his valiant Torncy, and the Knight of Arragon offered hif 
> at Windsor.'* 



VII. no 

Shrunk from the flying death ; yet not in vain 
From that strong hand the fate-fraught weapon fled : 
Full on the + corselet of a meaner man 
It fell, and pierced, there where the heaving lungs, 
With purer air distended, to the heart 
Roll back their purged tide : from the deep wound 
The red blood gush*d : prone on the steps he fell, 
And in the strong convulsive grasp of death 
Grasp'd his long pike. Of unrecorded name 
Died the mean man > yet did he leave behind 
One who did never say her daily prayers, 
Of him forgetful -, who to every tale 
Of the distant war, lending an eager ear, 
Grew pale and trembled. At her cottage door, 
The wretched one shall sit, and with dim eye 
Gaze o'er the plain, where on his parting steps 
Her last look hung. Nor ever shall she know 
Her husband dead, but tortur'd with vain hope*. 



f The corselet wa« chiefly worn by pikemen.. 



•VII. in . 

Gaze on— then heart-sick turn to her poor babe* 

And weep it fatherless ! 

The enraged Knight 
Drew his keen falchion, and with dauntless step 
Moved to the closer conflict. Then the Frank 
Held forth his buckler, and his battle axe 
Uplifted. Where the buckler was below 
Rounded, the falchion struck, but impotent 
To pierce its plated folds ; more forceful driven, 
Fierce on his crested helm, the Frenchman's stroke 
Fell i the helm shivered y from his eyes the blood 
Started 5 with blood the chambers of the brain 
Were filTd ; his breast-plate with convulsive throes. 
Heaved as he fell y victorious, he the prize 
At many a tournament had borne away 
In the mimic war : happy, if so content 
With bloodless glory, he had never left 
The mansion of his sires. 

But terrified 
The English stood, nor durst adventure now 



VII. 112 

Near that death-doing man. Amid their host 
Was one who well could from the stubborn bow 
Shower his sharp shafts : well skill'd in wood-craft he, 
Even as the merry Outlaws who their haunts 
In Sherwood held, and bade their bugles rouse 
The sleeping stag, ere on the web-woven grass 
The dew-drops sparkled to the rising sun. 
He safe in distance at thewarrior aim'd 
The fbather'd dart; with force he drew the bow ; 
Loud on his bracer struck the sounding string : 
And swift and strong the well-winged arrow fled* 
Deep in his shield it hung j then Conrade rais'd 
Again his echoing voice, and calTd for aid/ 
Nor was the call unheard : the troops of France, 
From St. Loup's captur'd fort along the wall 
Haste to the portal j cheering was the sound 
Of their near footsteps to the Chief 3 he drew 
His falchion forth, and down the steps he rush'd. 
Then terror seized the English, for their foes 
Swarm'd thro* the open portal, aodifee sw«*4 



►VII. l%3 

4 



OfConradc wag dmong them. Not more fierce 

l^e injnr'4 Turnus swayed bis angry aim, 

Slaughtering the robber fugitives of Troy ; 

Nor frith more- fury thro' the streets of Paria 

Rush'dhe, the King of Sarza, RodoniaDt 

Clad in his dnigon mail. 

like some tall rock, 

Around whose billow-beaten foot the waves 
* • 

Waste their wild fury, stood the unshaken man j 
Tho* roura} him prest bis foemen, by Despair 
Hdbrten'd. He, mowing thro' the throng his path, 
Call'd on the troops of France, and bade them haste 
Where he should lead the way. A daring band ♦ 
Followed the adventurous Chieftain : he moved on 
Unterrified, amid the arrowy shower, 
Tho 1 on his shield and helm the darts fell fast 
As the sear'd leaves tbat frojn the trembling tree 
The autumnal whirlwind shakes. 

Nor Conrade paus'd, 
Still thro' the fierce fight urging on his way, 



VII. 114 

Till to the gate he came, and with strong hand 

Seiz'd on the massy bolts. These as he drew, 

Full on his helm the weighty English sword 

Descended ; swift he turn'd to wreak his wrath, 

When lo ! the assailant gasping on the ground. 

Cleft by the Maiden's falchion : she herself 

To the foe opposing with that lowly man, 

For they alone following the adventurous steps 

Of Conrade, still had equall'd his bold course, 

Shielded him as with eager hand he drew 

The bolts : the gate turn'd slow : forth leapt the Chief 

And shivered with his battle-axe the chains 

That hung on high the bridge. The impetuous troops, 

By Gaucour led, rush'd o'er to victory. 

The banner'd lillies on the captur'd wall 
Tossed to the wind. u On to the neighbouring fort !" 
Cried Conrade, " Xaintrailles ( ere the night draws on 
" Once more to conquest lead the troops of France I 
" Foree ye the lists, and fill the deep-dug moat, 



VII. 115 

" And with the ram, shake down their batter'd walls* 
*' Anon I shall be with you." Thus he said ; 
Then to the Damsel. " Maid of Arc ! awhile 
" Cease we from battle, and by short repose 
" Renew our strength." So saying he his helm 
Unlaced, and in the Loire's near- flowing stream 
Cool'd his hot face. The Maid her head unhelm'd, , 
And stooping to the stream, reflected there 
Saw her white plumage stahVd with human blood ! 
Shuddering she saw, but soon her steady soul 
Collected : on the banks she laid her down, 
Freely awhile respiring, for her breath 
Quick panted from the fight : silent they lay, 
For gratefully the cooling breezes bathed 
Their throbbing temples. 

It was now the noon : 
The sun-beams on the gently-waving stream 
Danced sparkling. Lost in thought the warrior lay, 
And softening sadly his stern face, exclaim'd, 
" Maiden of Arc! at such an hour as this, . 



VII. n$ 

" Beneath the o'er-arching forest's checquer'd shade, 

t€ With that lost woman have I wandered on, 

" Talking of years of happiness to come ! 

" Oh hours for ever fled I delightful dreams 

" Of the unsuspe&iqg heart ! I do believe 

" If Agnes on a worthier one had fix'd 

" Her love, that tho' mine aching heart had must 

w Its sorrows, I had never on her choice 

" Pour'd ope upbraiding— but to stoop to him 1 

" A harlot I— on adulteress !" 

In his eye 
Red anger flash'd ; anon of what she was 
Ere yet the foul pollution of the Court 
Stain'd her fair fame, he thought. " Oh happy age P 
He cried, " when all the family of man 
" Freely enjoyed their goodly heritage, 
" And only bow'd the knee in prayer to God ! 
" Calm flow'd the unruffled stream of years along, 
€t Till o'er the peaceful rustic's head, grew grey 
" The hairs in full of time. Then he would sit 



vn. nr 

" Beneath the coctaneous oak, whilst round, 

" Sons, grandsons and their offspring join'd to fom* 

" The blameless merriment ; and learnt of him 

" What time to yoke the oxen to the plough, 

" What hollow moanings of the western wind 

" Foretel the storm, and in what lurid clouds 

u The embryo lightning lies. Well pleas'd, he taught 

" The heart-smile glowing on his aged cheek, 

" Mild as the summer's sun's decaying light. 

" llius quietly the stream of life flow'd on 

u Till in the shoreless ocean lost at length. 

" Around the bed of death his numerous race 

u Listen'd, in ho unprofitable grief, 

u His last advice, and caught his latest sigh : 

" And when he died, as he had &tien asleep, 

a Beneath the aged tree that grew with him . 

" They delved the narrow house : there oft at eve 

u Drew round their children of the after days, 

" And pointing to the turf, told how he lived, 

** And taught by his example how to die. 



VII. 118 

''Maiden! and such the evening of my days 

" Fondly I hoped j and * would that I had lived 

" In those old times, or till some better years 

" Slumber'd unborn \ for this is a hard race, 

" An evil generation ! nor by day 

" Nor in the night have respite from their cares 

" And wretchedness. But I shall be at rest 

" Soon, in that better world of Peace and Love 

" Where evil is not : in that better world 

" JOAN! we shall meet and he too will be there, 

" Thy Theodore." 

Sooth*d by his words, the Maid 
Had listened sadly, till at that loved name . 
She wept. " Nay, Maid !" he cried, " I did not think 



* Mijxsr' sifsir* cv$ei\ov eyto itEyrtrom [uetsivau 
Ayfyaow, «XX' y vgocQe Qavsiv rj eireira, ysvsariau. 
Nuv yag 8r f yevog btti wtyeov u^iror* r}p.a,£ 

H2IOA02. 



VII. lip 

" To wake a tear ; bat pleasant is thy grief t 

" Thou knowest not what it is, round thy warm heart 

" To have a false one wreath in viper folds. 

" But to the battle I in the clang of arms, 

" We win forgetfulness. 

Then from the bank 
He sprung, and helm'd his head. The Maid arose, 
Bidding awhile adieu to milder thoughts. 
On to the fort they speed, whose name recall' d ' 
England's proud capital to the English host, 
Now half subdued, anticipating death, 
And vainly wishing they from her white clifts 
Had never spread the sail. Cold terror creeps 
Thro* every vein : already they turn back 
Their eager eyes to meditate the flight, 
Tho* Talbot there presided, with their Chief, 
The gallant Salisbury. 

" Soldiers fam'd in arms I" 
Thus, in vain hope to renovate the strength 
Of England, spake the Chief, " Vi&orious friends, 



VII. 120 

" So oft victorious in the hsflrd^fought fight 

" What— shrink ye no* dismay 'd ? have ye forgot 

" The plaids of Azinooor, when Taoquish'd France ' 

" Fled with her thousands fronfcyoor father's tfrfes, 

« Tho* worn with sickness ? or your own exploits*, 

" When en Verftenil, the flower of chivalry 

" Fell by yonr daring prowess ? wken the Scot 

« Bit the red earth in dearth, and Narboim* died, 

" And the feting boaster thia Atencon felt 

" The weight of English- fetters ? then we broke 

" The plated shield, and cleft the warrior's feefcb, 

" For etet victors. Ota BaugencTs wall 

" Ye placed the English flag 5 beneath yotir force 

" Fell Jenville and Gergeau, fhe neighbouring towns 

99 Of well-nigh captur'd Orleans. I omit! 

■*' To speak of Caen subdued, and vanqtrisrb'd Rorfn, 

99 And that late day when Clermont fled the fight. 

" And the young Bastard of that prison'd Duke. 

99 Shame ! shame ! that beaferi Boy is here in arms, 

99 And ye will fly before the fugitives j - 



VIL 121 

" Fly from Si Woman ! from a frenzied girl 1 
" That with her empty mummeries, would blast 
" Your courage ; or if miracles she brings, 
"Aid of the Devil 1 who is there among you 
" False to his country— to his former fame — 

* To me-*-yoar leader in the frequent field, 
"The field of glory?" 

From the heartless hott 
A timid shout arose ; then Talbot's cheek 
Grew red with indignation. " Earl I" he cried, 
Addressing him the Chief: " there is no hope 
" From these white-liver'd dastards ; and this fort 

* Will fall an easy conquest : it were well 
" To reach the Tournelles, better fortified, 

" Fit to endure long siege : the hope in view 
" To reach a safer fortress, these our troops 
" Shall better dare the battle." 

So he spake, 
Wisely advising. Him the Chief replied : 
" Well hast thou said : and, Talbot, if our swords 



VII. 122 

*' Could thro" the thickest ranks this Sorceress reach, 

" The hopes of France were blasted. I have strove 

•' In many a field, yet never to a foe 

" Stbop'd my proud crest : nor difficult to meet 

" This wizard girl, for from the battlements, 

" Her have I mark'd the foremost in attack, 

" Playing right valiantly the soldier's part ; 

" Yet shall not all her witcheries avail 

" To blunt my good sword's edge." 

Thus communed they, 
And thro' the host the gladdening tidings ran, 
That they should seek the Tournelles. Then their hearts 
Gathered new strength) placing on those strong walls 
Dependence ; empty hope ( nor the strong wall, 
Nor the deep moat can save, if Fear within 
Palsy the soldier's arm. 

Them issuing forth. 
As from the river's banks they past along, 
The Maid beheld !"Lo! Conrade ! M she exclaim'd, 
u The foes advance to meet us— look ! they lower 



VII. 123 

* The bridge— and now they rush upon the troops : 
" A gallant onset ! Dost thou mark that man % 
" Who all the day has by our side endnr'd 

" The hottest conflict? I did then behold 

" His force, and wonder : now his deeds of death 

" Make all the a&ions of the former fight 

" Seem as of no account : know'st thou the man ? 

" There is not one amid the host of France, 

" Of fairer promise.* 

"He," the Chief replied, 
" Wretched and prodigal of life atchteves 
" The exploits of Despair t a gallant youth 
" Widowed like me of Hope, and but for whom, 
" I had been seen among mankind no more. 
" Maiden ! with me thy comrade in the war, 
" His arm is vowed to Heaven. Lo ! where he stands 
" Bearing the battle's brunt in unmoved strength, 

* Firm as the mountain round whose misty head, 
° The unharming tempest breaks P 

Nor paus'd they now 



vn. 124 

In farther converse, to the perilous fray 
Speeding, not unobserved ; them Salisbury saw 
And call'd on Talbot. Six, the bravest Knights 
And vow'd with them against the Virgin's life, 
Beat their fierce course. She by that unknown mas 
Now urged the war, when on her plumed helm 
The hostile falchion fell. On high she lifts 
Her hallowed sword, the tenant of the tomb, 
And drench'd it in his bosom. On the front 
Of one, his comrade, fell the* battle axe 
Of him the dark-brow*d Chief; the ponderous blow 
Shattered his brain. With Talbot's giant force 
The daring Herald urged unequal fight * 
For like some oak that firm with deep-fix'd roots 
Mocks at the storm, the undaunted Earl ehdur'd 
His rude assault. Warding tfith wary eye 
The angry sword, the Frank around his foe 
Wheels rapid, flashing his keen weapon fast * T 
Now as be marks the Earl's descending stroke 
Bending, anon more fierce in' swift attack. 



VII. 125 

Ill-fated man ! one deed of glory more 
Shall with the short-lived lightning's splendor grace 
This thy death-day j for Slaughter even now 
Stands o'er the loom of life, and lifts his sword. 

Upon her shield the martial Maiden bore 

An English warrior's blow, and in his side 

Kerced him : that instant Salisbury speeds his sword 

That glancing from her helm fell on the fold* 

That arm'd her neck, and making there its way, 

Stain'd with her blood its edge. The Herald saw, 

He saw her red blood gushing from the wound, 

And turn d from Talbot heedless of himself, 

And lifting up his falchion, all his force 

Concenter'd. On the breast of Salisbury 

It fell, and pierced his mail, and thro' the plate 

Beneath drove fierce, and in his heartVblood plunged. 

Lo ! as he struck the strength of Talbot came : 

Full on his treacherous helm he smote : it burst, 

And the stern Earl against his fenceless head 



vn. 126 

Drives with strong ami the murderous sword. She sai 
Nor could the maiden save her Theodore. 

Conrade beheld, and from his vanquish'd foe 
Strode terrible in vengeance* Front to front 
They stood, and each for the death-blow prepar'd 
His angry might. At once their weapons fell, 
The Frank's huge battle-axe, and the keen sword 
Of Talbot. He, stunn'd by the weighty blow, 
Sunk senseless ; by his followers from the field 
Conveyed with fearful speed : nor did his stroke 
Fall vainly on the Frenchman's crested helm, 
Tho' weak to wound, for from his eyes the fire 
Sparkled, and back recoiling with the blow, 
He in the Maiden's arms astounded fell. 

But now their troops all captainless confus'd, 
Fear seized the English. Not with more dismay 
When over wild Caffraria s wooded hills, 
Echoes the lion's roar, the timid herd 



VII. 127 * 

% the death-boding sound. The forts they seek, 
Now reckless which, so from that battle's rage 
A present refuge. On their flying ranks 
The vi&ors press, and mark their coune with blood. 

But loud the trumpet of retreat resounds, 
For now the westering sun with many a hue 
Streak'd the gay clouds. 

" Dunois 1" the Maiden cried, 
" Form we around yon stronger pile the siege, 
" There for the night encamping." So she said. 
The Chief to Orleans for their needful food, 
And enginery to batter that huge pile, 
Dismiss'd a troop, and round the Tournelles led 
The host beleagering. There they pitch their tents. 
And plant their engines for the morrow's war, 
Then to their meal, and o'er the chearf ul bowl, 
Recount the tale of danger; soon to rest 
Betaking them, for now the night drew on. 



Cfre «($$ *oolu 



TransaSions of the night. Attack of the TourneUeu 
The garrison retreat to the tower on the bridge. 
Their total defeat there. 



JOAN of ARC. 



THE EIGHTH BOOK. 



Now was the noon of night ; and all was still, 
Save where the centinel paced on his rounds 
Humming a broken song. Along the camp 
High flames the frequent fire. The warrior Franks, 
On the hard earth extended, rest their limbs 
Fatigued, their spears lay by them, and the shield 
Pillowed * the helmed head : secure they slept, 



* n n'est rien de si doux, pour des cceurs pleins de gloire, 
Que la paisible nuit qui suit unc vi&oire. 
Dormir sur un Trophee, est un charmant repos, 
Et Je champ de bataille est le lict d v un heros. 

Scudery. Alar is. 

The night after a battle is certainly more agreeable than the 
night before one. A soldier may use his shield for a pillow, 
but he must be very ingenious to sleep upon a Trophy. 



vm. 134 

And busy Fancy in her dream renewed 
The fight of yesterday. 

Bat not to JOAN, 
Bat not to her, most wretched, came thy aid, 
Soother of son-rows, Sleep ! no more her pulse, 
Amid the battle s tumult throbbing fast, 
Allowed no pause for thought. With clasped hands 
And fixed eye she sat, the while around 
The Spe&res of the Days departed rose, 
A melancholy train ! upon the gale 
The raven's croak was heard j she started up, 
And passing thro' the camp with hasty s$ep 
Strode to the field of blood. 

The night was calm | 
Fair as was ever on CfeaJdea's plain 
When the pale moon-beams o'er the silvery scene 
Shone cloudless, whilst the watchful shepherd's eye* 
Survey'd the host of beqveq, and mark'd them rise 
Successive, and successively decay, 
Lost in the stream of light, as lesser springs 



VIII. 135 

Amid Euphrates' current. The high wall 

Cast a deep shadow, and her faltering feet 

Stumbled o'er broken arms and carcasses j 

And sometimes did she hear the heavy groan 

Of one yet straggling in the pangs of death. 

She reach'd the spot where Theodore had falin, 

Before fort London's gate ; but vainly there 

Sought she the youth, on every clay-cold face 

Gazing * with such a look as tho* she fe&rM 

The thing she sought. Amazement seiz'd the Maid, 

For there the victim of his vengeful arm, 

Known by the buckler's blazon'd heraldry, 

Salisbury lay dead. So as the Virgin stood 

Gazing around the plain, she mark'd a man 

Pass slowly on, as burthened. Him to aid 

She sped, and soon with unencumbered speed 

Oertaking, thus bespake : " Stranger ! this weight 



* With a dumb silence seeming that it fears 
The thing it went about to effectuate. 



Daniel. 



VIII. 136 

" Impedes thy progress. Dost thou bear away 

" Some slaughtered friend ? or lives the sufferer 

" With many a sore wound gash'd ? oh ! if he lives, • 

" I will with earnest prayer petition Heaven 

" To shed its healing on him P 

So she said, 

And as she spake stretched forth her careful hands 

To ease the burthen. " Warrior P he replied, 

" Thanks for thy proffered succour : but this man 

" lives not, and I with unassisted arm 

" Can bear him tp the sepulchre. Farewell I 

" The night is far advanced $ thou to the camp 

» 
" Return : it fits not darkling thus to stray." 

" Conrade P the Maid exclaim'd, for well she knew 
His voice :— with that she fell upon his neck 
And cried, " my Theodore ! but whereforWthus 
" Thro* the dead midnight dost thou bear his corse ?" 

* Peace, Maiden P Comrade cried, <' coifed* thy soul ! 



VIII. 137 

" He is but gone before thee to that world 

" Whither thou soon must follow ! in the mora, 

u Ere yet from Orleans to the war we went, 

" He pour'd his tale of sorrow on mine ear. 

" Lo Conrade where she moves— beloved Maid ! 

" Devoted for the realm of France she goes 

"Abandoning for this the joys of life, 

" Yea — life itself T yet on my heart her word* 

" Vibrate. If she mast perish in the war, 

" 1 will not live to bear the dreadful thought, 

" Haply my arm had saved her. I shall go 

" Her unknown guardian. Conrade, if I fall, 

" And trust me I have little love of life, 

" Bear me in secret from the gory field, 

" Lest haply I might meet her wandering eye 

" A mangled corse. She must not know my fate. 

u Do this last act of friendship— in the flood 

" Whelm me : so shall she think of Theodore 

" Unanguish'd." Maiden, I did vow with him 

" That I would dare the battle by" thy side, 



VHL 138 

^ And shield thee in the war. Thee of his death 
** I hoped unknowing.'* 

As the warrior spake, 
He on the earth the day-cold carcass laid. 
With fixed eye the wretched Maiden gaaed 
The life-left tenement : his batterM arms 
Were with the night-dews damp ; his brown hair clang 
Gore-clotted in the wound, and one loose lock 
flayed o'er his cheeks black * paleness. " Gallant youth ! 
She cried, " I would to God the hour were come 
" When I might meet thee in the bowers of bliss ! 
** No Theodore ! the sport of winds and waves* 
44 Thy body shall not roll adown the stream, 
" The iea-wolf*s banquet. Conrade, bear with me 
" The corse to Orleans, there in hallowed ground 
t( To rest ; the Priest shall say the sacred prayer, 
" And hymn the requiem to his parted soul. 
* So shall not Elinor in bitterness 



Z* Mepu % Saint J.mus.'Liv. *T!» 



VIII. 139 

" Lament that no dear friend to her dead chili 
"Paid the last office." 

From the earth they lift 
The mournful burden, and along the plain 
Pass with slow footsteps to the city gate. 
The obedient centinel at Cdnrade's voice 
Admits the midnight travellers^ on they pass, 
Till in the neighbouring Abbey's porch arrived 
They rest the Hfeless load. 

Loud rings the bell j 
The awakened porter turns the heavy door. 
To him the Virgin : " Father, from the slain 
" On yonder reeking field a dear-loved friend 
" I bring to holy sepulture : chaunt ye 
* The requiem to his soul t to morrow eve 4 
' Will I return, and in the narrow house 
n Behold him laid to rest." The father kne* 
The mission d Maid, and humbly bow'd assent* 

Now from the city, o'er the shadowy .plain* 



VIII. 140 

Backward they bend their way. From silent thoughts 

The Maid awakening cried, " there was a time, 

" When thinking on my closing hour of life, 

*' Tho' with resolved mind, some natural fears 

" Shook the weak frame ; now that the happy hour, 

" When my emancipated soul shall burst 

u The cumberous fetters of mortality, 

" Wishful I contemplate. Conrade ! lay friend, 

€t My wounded heart would feel another pang 

" Should'st thou forsake me !" 

« JOAN!" the Chief replied, 
« Along the weary pilgrimage of life 
" Together will we journey, and beguile 
" The dreary road, telling with what gay hopes 
u We in the morning eyed the pleasant fields 
u Vision d before 5 then wish that we had reach'd 
"The bower of rest!" 

Thus communing they gain'4 
The camp, yet hush'd in sleep 5 there separating, 
■Each in the post allotted, restless waits 



VIII. 141 

The day-break. 

Morning came : dim thro* the* shade 

The first rays glimmer ; soon the brightening clouds 

Drink the rich beam, and o'er the landscape spread 

The dewy light. The soldiers from the earth. 

Leap up invigorate, and each his food" 

Receives, impatient to renew the war. 

Dunois his javelin to the Tonrnelles points, 

" Soldiers of France ! your English foes are there l" 

As when a band of hunters, round the den 

Of some wood-monster, point their spears> elate 

In hope of conquest and the future feast ; 

When on the* hospitable board their spoil 

Shall smoak, and they, as the rich bowl goes round. 

Tell to their guests their exploits in the chase 3 

They with their shouts of exultation make 

The forest ring j so elevate of heart, 

With such loud clamours for the fierce assault 

The French prepare 3 nor, guarding now the lists 

Durst the disheartened English man to man 



VIII. 142 

Meet the close conflict. From the * barbican, 

Or from the embattled f wall they their yeugh bows 



••Next the bayle was the ditch, fose, graff, or mote : 
generally where it could be a wet one, and pretty deep. The 
passage over it was by a draw-bridge, covered by an advance 
work called a barbican. The barbican was sometimes beyond 
the ditch that covered the draw-bridge, and in towns and 
large fortresses had frequently & ditch and draw-bridge of its 

own. 

Grose. 

f The outermost walls enclosing towns or fortresses were 

commonly perpendicular, or had a very small external talus-. 

They were flanked by semi-circular, polygonal,, or square 

towers, commonly about forty or fifty yards distant from each 

other. Within were steps to mount the terre-pltint- of the 

walls or rampart, which were always defended by an em* 

1 battled or crenellated parapet. 

Grose. 

The fortifications of the middle-ages differed in this respeeV 
from those of the ancients. When the besiegers had gained, 
the summit of the wall the descent on the other side was safe 
and easy. But " the ancients did not generally support their 
walls on the inside with earth, in the manner of the talus or 
slope, which made the attacks more dangerous. For though 
the enemy had gained some footing upon them, he could not 
assure himself of taking the city. It was necessary to get 



VIII. 143 

Bent forceful, and their death-fraught enginery 
Discharged ; nor did the Gallic archers cease 
With well-dire&ed shafts their loftier foea 
To assail : behind the guardian * pavais fenced, 
They at the battlements their arrows aim'd. 
Showering an iron storm* whilst o'er the bayk, 
The bayle now levell'd by victorious France, 
Fass'd the bold troops with all their t mangonels y 



ttoww, and to mike use of some of the ladders by which he 
bad mounted j and that descent exposed the soldier to verjr* 
great danger." 

1UW*. 

• The pavai3, or pavache, was a large shield, or rather a 

portable mantlet, capable of covering a man from head to 

| foot, and probably of sufficient thickness to resist the missive 

! weapons then in use. These were in sieges carried by servants, 

j whose business it was to cover their masters with them, whilst 

| they, with their bows and arrows, shot at the enemy on the 

! ramparts. As this must have been a service of danger, it was 

| that perhaps which made the office of Scutifer honourable. 

! The pavais was rectangular at the bottom, but rounded off 

above : it was sometimes supported by props. 
| Grost. 

t Mangonels is a term comprehending all the smaller engines. 



vin. 144 

Or J tortoises, beneath whose roofing safe, 



X The tortoise was a machine composed of very strong and 
solid timber work. The height of it to its highest beam, 
which sustained the roof, was twelve feet. The base was 
square, and each of its fronts twenty five feet. It was covered 
with a kind of quilted mattress made of rawhides, and prepared 
with different drugs to prevent its being set on fire by combus- 
tibles.- This heavy machine was supported upon four wheels, 
or perhaps upon eight. It was called tortoise from its serving 
as a very strong covering and defence against the enormous 
weights thrown down on it.; those under it being safe in the 
same manner as a tortoise under his shell. It was used both 
to fill up the fosse, and for -sapping. It may not be improper 
to add, that it is believed, so enormous a weight could not be 
moved from place to place on wheels, and that it was pushed 
forward on rollers. Under these wheels or rollers, the way 
was laid with strong planks to facilitate its motion, and pre- 
vent its sinking into the ground, from whence it would have 
been very difficult to have removed u\ The ancients have 
observed that the roof had a thicker covering, of hides, hurdles, 
sea-weed, tec. than the sides, as it was exposed to much . 
greater shocks from the weights thrown upon it by the 
besieged. It had a door in front, which was drawn up by a 
chain as far as was necessary, and covered the soldiers at work 

in filling up the fosse with fascines. 

Rollin. 

This is the tortoise of the ancients, but that of the middle 
ages differed from it in nothing material. 



VIII. 14* 

They, filling tht deep moat, might for the tower* 
Make fit foundation, or their petraries, 
War-wolfs, andbeugles, and that murderous sling 
The matafunda, whence the ponderous stone 
Fled fierce, and made one wound of whom it struck*. 
Shattering the frame so that no pious hand 
Gathering his mangled limbs might him convey 
To where his fathers slept : * a dreadful train 
Prepared by Salisbury over the sieged towu 
To hurl his ruin y but that dreadful train 



* " The besiegers having carried the bsyle, brought up 
their machines and established themselves in the counter- 
scarp, began under cover of their cats, sows, or tortoises, 
to drain the ditch,, if a wet one, and also to fill it up with 
hurdles and fascines, and level it for the passage of their 
moveable towers. Whilst this was doing, the archers, 
attended by young men carrying shields, (pavoises) attempted 
with their arrows to drive the besieged from the towers 
and ramparts, being themselves covered by these portable 
mantlets. The garrison on their part essayed by the discharge 
of machines, cross and long bows, to keep the enemy at a 

distance. 

Grost. 



VIII. 146 

Must hurl their ruin on the invaders head?, 
Such retribution righteous Heaven decreed. 

Nor lie the English trembling, for the fort 
Was ably garrison d. Glacidas, the Chief, 
A gallant man, sped on from place to place 
Cheering the brave ; or if the archer's hand, 
Palsied with fear, shot wide the ill aim'd shaft, 
Threatening the coward who betrayed himself, 
He drove him from the ramparts. In his hand 
The Chief a f cross-bow held ; an engine dread 



f The cross-bow was- for some time laid aside In obedience 
to a decree of the second JLateran Council held in 1139. 
" Artcm illam morttferam et Deo odibilera ballistariorum 
adversns Christianos & Catholicos exercere de csetero sub 
anathemate prohibemus." This weapon was again introduced 
into our armies by Richard I. who being slain with a Quarrel 
shot from one of them, at the- siege of the Castle af Chaluz in 
Normandy, it was considered as a judgment from Heaven 
inflicted upon him for his impiety. Cuilliaume le Breton 
relating the death of this King, puts the following into the 
. mouth of Atropos : 



VIII. 14/ 

Of such wide-wasting fury, that of yore 
The assembled fathers of the Christian church 
Pronounced that man accurs'd whose impious hand 
Should point the murderous weapon. Such decrees 
Befits the men of God to promulgate, 
And with a warning voice, tho* haply vain, 
To cry aloud and spare not, woe to them 
Whose hands are full of blood ! 

An English King, 
The lion-hearted Richard, their decree 
First broke, and heavenly retribution doom'd 
His fall by the keen quarrel ; since that day 
Frequent in fields of battle, and from far 
To many a good Knight, bearing his death wound 
From hands unknown. With such an instrument, 
Arm'd on the ramparts, Glacidas his eye 



Hac volo, non alia Richardum mortc perire 
Ut qui Francigenis ballistx primitus usum 
Tradidit, ipse, sui rem primitus experiatur, 
Qucmque alios docuit in se vim sentiat artis. 

Crete, 



VIII. 148 

Cast on the assailing host. A keener glance 
Darts not the hawk when from the feather'd tribe 
He marks his yi&im. 

On a Frank he fix'd 
His gaze, who kneeling by the * trebachet, 
Charged its long sling with death. Him Glacidas 
Secure behind the battlements, beheld, 
And strung his bow ; then, bending on one knee, 
He in the groove the feather'd f quarrel placed 
And levelling with firm eye, the death-wound mark'd. 
The bow-string twang d, on its swift way the dart 



* From the trebuchet they discharged many stones at once 
T>v a sling. It acted by means of a great weight fastened to 
the short arm of a lever, which being let fall, raised the end 
of the long arm with a great velocity. A man is represented 
kneeling to load one of these in an i\ ory carving, supposed to 
be of the age of Edward II. 

Grose. 

f Quarrels, or carrcaux, were so called from their heads, 
which were square pyramids of iron. 



vni. i4^ 

Whizzed fierce, and struck, there where the helmet's clasps 

Defend the neck •, a weak prote&ion now. 

For tb^o' the tube that the pure air inhales 

Pierced the keen shaft j .blood down the unwonted way 

Gjisk'd to the lungs : prone fell the dying man 

Grasping, convuls'd, the earth : a hollow groan 

In his throat struggled, and the dews of death 

Stood on his livid cheek. The days of youth 

He had pass*d peaceful, and had known what joys 

Domestic love bestows, the father once 

Of two fair infants ; An the city hensn'd 

During the hard siege ; he had seen -their cheeks 

Grow pale wkh famine, and had heard their cries 

For bread ! his wile, a broken-hearted one 

Sunk to the cold grave's quiet, and her babes 

With hunger pined, and followed ; he survived, 

A miserable man, and heard the shouts 

Of joy in Orleans, when the Maid approach'd ' 

As o'er the corse of his last little one 

He heap'd the unhallowed earth. To him the foe 



VIII. J 50 

i 

Perform d a friendly part, hastening the hour 
Grief else had soon brought on. 

The English Chief; . 
Pointing again his arbalist, let loose 
The string ; the quarrel, driven by that strong blow* 
True to its aim, fled fatal : one it struck 
Dragging a tortoise to the moat, and fix'd 
Deep in his liver ; blood and mingled gall 
Flow'd from the wound ; and writhing with keen pangs, 
Headlong he fell ; he for the wintry hour 
Knew many a merry ballad and quaint tale, 
A man in his small circle wetl-beloved. 
None better knew with prudent hand to guide 
The vine's young tendrils, or at vintage time 
To press the full-swoln clusters ; he, heart-glad, 
Taught his young boys the little all he knew, 
Enough for happiness. The English host 
Laid waste his fertile fields : he, to the war, 
By want compelled, adventur d, in his gore 
Now weltering. 



VIII. 151 

Nor the Gallic host remit 
Their eager efforts ; some, * the watery fence, 
Beneath the tortoise roof 'd, with engines apt 
Drain painful 5 part, laden with wood, throw there 
Their buoyant burdens, labouring so to gain 
Firm footing : some the mangonels supply, 
Or charging with huge stones the murderous f sling, 
Or petrary, or in the espringal 
Fix the brass-winged J arrows. Hoarse around 
Rose the confused din of multitudes. 



* The tortoises &c. and moveable towers having reached 
the walls, the besiegers under them either began to mine, or 
batter them with the ram. They also established batteries of 
balistas and mangonels on the counterscarp. These were 
opposed by those of the enemy. 

f The Matafunda. 

X The Espringal threw large darts called Muchetta, some- 
times winged with brass instead of feathers. Procopius says 
that because feathers could not be put to the large darts 
dicharged from the balista, the) ancients used pieces of wood 
six inches thick, which had the same effeft. 



VIII. 152 

Fearless along the ramparts Gargrave moved, 
Cheering the English troops. The bow he bore 5 
The quiver rattled as he moved along. 
He knew aright to aim the feather'd shafts, 
Well-skiird to pierce the mottled roebuck's side, 
Overtaken in his flight. Him passing on, 
From someirage * martinet, a ponderous stone 



* Le lendemain Vindrent deux maistres engingneurs au Due 
dc Normandie, qui dirent que, si on leur vouloit livrcr boys 
et ouvriers, ilz feroient quatre eschauffaulx et baulx que oft 
meneroit aux murs duxhastel, et seroient si haulx q'lz sur- 
monteroient les murs. Le Due t»mmanda qlz les feissent, 
et fist prendre tous les charpentiers du pays, et payer largement. 
Si furent faitz ces quatre eschauffaulx en quatre grosses nefz, 
mais on y mist longuemerft et cousterent grans deniers. Si y 
fist on les gens entrer q ' a ceulx du chastel devoientcombattre. 
Quant ilz eurent passe la moitie de la riviere, ceulx du chas- 
tel desclinquerent quatre martinetz qlz avoient faitz nouvelle- 
ment pour remedier contre lesditz eschauffaulx. Ces quatre 
martinetz gcttoient si grosses pierres et si souvent sur ces 
eschauffaulx qlz furent bien tost froissez ttfrit que les gensdar- 
roes et ceulx que les conduisoient ne se peurent dedans garan- 
tir. Si se retirerenf arriere le plus tost quilz .peurent. Ift 
aincois qlz fussent oultre la riviere lung des eschauffaulx ton 

oofondre au fons de leaue. 

Fivissart. Lfueillet 82. 



VIII. 153 

trush'd : on his breast-plate falling, the vast force, 
Shattered the bone, and with his mangled lungs 
The fragments mingled. On the tunny brow 
Of a fair hill, wood-circled, stood his home, ' 

A pleasant dwelling, whence the ample ken 
"Gazed o'er subjected distance, and surveyed 
Streams, hills, and forests, fair variety ! 
The traveller knew its hospitable towers, 
For open were the gates, and blazed for all 
The friendly fire. By glory lur'd, the youth 
Went forth 3 and he had bathed his falchion's edge 
In many a Frenchman's gore ; now crush'd beneath 
The ponderous fragments force, his mangled limbs 
Lie quivering. 

Lo I towards the levelled moat, 
A * moving tower the men of Orleans wheel 



* The following extra& from the History of Edward III. by 
Joshua Barnes will convey a full idea of these moving towers. 
" Now the Earl of Darby had layn before Rcule more than 
"fiine weeks, in which time he had made two vast Belfroys or 



VIII. 154 

Four stages elevate. Above was hung, 
Equalling the wall*, a bridge; in the lower stage 
The ponderous battering-ram : a troop within 
Of f archers, thro^ the opening, shot their shafts. 



Bastilles of massy timber, with three stages or floors ; each of 
the belfroys running on four huge wheels, bound about with 
thick hoops of iron ; and the sides and other parts that any 
ways respe&ed the town were covered with raw hides, thick 
laid, to defend the engines from fire and shot. In every one 
of these stages were placed an hundred archers, and between 
the two Bastilks, there were two hundred men with pick- 
axes and mattocks* From these six stages six hundred 
archers shot so fiercely all together, that no man could 
appear at his defence without a sufficient punishment: so 
that the Belfreys being brought upon wheels by the strength 
of men over a part of the ditch, which was purposely made 
plain and level by the faggots and earth and stones cast upon 
them, the two hundred pioneers plyed their work so well 
under the protection of these engines, that they made a con- 
siderable breach through the walls of the town. 

f The archers and cross-bowmen from the upper stories in 

the moveable towers essayed to drive away the garrison from 

the parapets, and on a proper opportunity to let fall a bridge, 

by that means to enter the town. In the bottom story was 

often a large ram. 

Grose. 



VIII. 155 

In the loftiest part was Conrade, so prcpar'd 

To mount the rampart ; for he loath'd the chase. 

And loved to see the dappled foresters 

Browze fearless on their lair, with friendly eyo, 

And happy in beholding happiness, 

Not meditating death : the bowman's art 

Therefore he little knew, nor was he wont 

To aim the arrow at the distant foe. 

But uprear in close confH&, front to front, 

His death-red battle-axe, and break the shield, 

First in the war of men. There too the Maid 

Awaits, impatient on the wall to wield 

Her falchion. Onward moves the heavy tower, 

Slow o'er the moat and steady, tho* the foe 

Showered there their javelins, aim'd their engines there, 

And from the arbalist the fire-tipt * dart 



• Against the moveable tower there were many modes of 
defence. The chief was to break up the ground over which 
it was to pass, or by undermining it to overthrow it. At- 
tempts were likewise made to set it on fire, to prevent which 
it was covered with raw hides, or coated over with alum. 

Grose, 



VIII. 156 

$hot lightening thro' the sky. In vain it flamed, 
For well with many a reeking hide secured, 
"Pass'd on the dreadful pile, and now it readied 
The wall. Below, with forceful impulse driven, 
The iron-horned engine swings its stroke, 
Then back recoils, whilst they within who guide* 
In backward step collecting all their strength. 
Anon the massy beam with stronger arm 
Drive full and fierce ; so rolls the swelling sea 
Its curly billows to the unmoved foot 
Of some huge promontory, whose broad base 
Breaks the rough wave ; the shiver'd surge rolls back, 
Till, by the coming billow borne, it bursts 
Again, and foams with ceaseless violence. 
The Wanderer, on the sunny clift outstretch'd. 
Harks to the roaring surges, as they rock 
-His weary senses to forgetfulness. 

But nearer danger threats the invaders now, 
For on the ramparts, lowered from above 



VIII. 157 

The' bridge * reclines. An universal shout 



* These bridges are described by Rollin in the account of 
the moving towers which he gives from Vegetius. " The 
moving towers are made of an assemblage of beams and strong 
planks, not unlike a house. To secure them against the fires 
thrown by the besieged, they are covered with raw hides, or 
with pieces of cloth made of hair. Their height is in propor- 
tion to their base. They are sometimes thirty feet square, 
and sometimes forty or fifty. They are higher than the walls- 
or even towers of the city. They are supported upon several 
wheels according to mechanic principles, by the means of 
which the machine is easily made to move, how great soever 
it may be. The town is in great danger if this tower can 
approach the walls ;-for it has stairs from one story to another, 
and includes different methods of attack. At bottom it has a 
nun to batter the wall, and on the middle story a drawbridge,, 
made of two beams with rails of basket-work, which lets down 
easily upon the wall of a city, wheifcwithin the reach of it. 
The besiegers pass upon this bridge,. to make themselves mas- 
ters of the wall. Upon the higher stories are soldiers armed 
with partisans and missive weapons, who keep a perpetual 
discharge upon the works. When affairs are in this posture, 
a place seldom held out long. For what can they hope who 
have nothing to confide in but the height of their ramparts, 
when they see others suddenly appear which command 
them ? 

The Towers or Belfreys of modern times rarely exceeded 
three or four stages or stories. 



VIII. 138 

Rose from (he hostile hosts. The exultant Pranks 
Clamour their loud rejoicing, whilst the foe 
Lift up the warning voice, and call aloud 
For speedy succour there, with deafening shout 
Cheering their comrades. Not with louder din 
The mountain torrent flings precipitate 
Its hoik of waters, tho' amid the fall 
Shattered, and dashing silvery from the rock. 

Lo I on the bridge he stands, the undaunted man 
Conrade ! the gathered foes along the wall 
Throng opposite, and on him point their pikes, 
Cresting with armed men the battlements. 
He, undismayed tho* on that perilous height, 
Stood firm, and hurl'd his javelin j the keen point 
Pierced thro* the destined vi&im, where his arm 
Join'd the broad breast : a wound that skilful care 
Haply had heal'd ; but, him disabled now 
For farther service, the unpi tying throng 
Of his. tumultuous comrades from the wall 



VIII. 169 

Thrust headlong. Nor did Conrade cease to iiurl 

His deadly javelins fast, for well within 

The tower was stor'd with weapons, to the Chief 

Quickly supplied : nor did the mission'd Maid 

Rest idle from the combat ; she, secure 

Aim'd the keen quarrel, taught the cross-bow's use 

By the willing mind that what it well desires 

Gams aptly : nor amid the numerous throng, 

Tho' haply erring from their destin'd mark, 

Sped her sharp arrows frastrate. From the tower 

Ceaseless the bow-strings twang : the Knights below, 

Each by his pavais bulwark'd, thither aim'd 

Their darts, and not a dart fell woundless there, 

So thickly throng'd they stood, and fell as fast 

As when the Monarch of the East goes forth 

From Gemna's banks and the proud palaces 

Of Delhi, the wild monsters of the wood 

Die in the blameless warfare : closed within 

The still-contradtfng circle, their brute force 

Wasting in mutual rage, they perish there, 



vni. i&> 

Or by each other's fury lacerate, 
The archer's barbed arrow, or the lance 
Of some bold youth of his first exploits vaift, 
Rajah or Omrab, for the war of beasts 
Venturous, and learning thus the lore of blood. 
The shout of terror rings along the wall, 
For now the French their scaling ladders place, 
And bearing high their bucklers, to- the assault 
Mount fearless : from above the furious troops- 
Hurl down such weapons as inventive care, 
Or frantic rage supplies : huge stones and beams 
Crush the bold foe ; some, thrust adown the height,. 
Fall living to their death ; some in keen pangs 
And wildly-writhing, as the liquid: lead 
Gnaws thro* their members, leap down desperate, 
Eager to cease from suffering. Still they mount, 
And by their fellows 1 fate unterrified, 
Still dare -the perilous way. Nor dangerless 
To the English was the fight, tho* from above 
Easy to crush the assailants : them amidst 



VIII. ]6l 

Fast 6ed the arrows \ the large * brass- wing'd darts, 

There driven resistless from the espringal, 

Keeping their impulse even in the wound, 

Whirl as they pierce the vi&m. Some fall crush'd 

Beneath the ponderous fragment that descends 

The heavier from its height : some, the long lince, 

Impetuous rushing on its viewless way, 

Transfix'd. The death-fraught cannon's thundering roar 

Convulsing air* the soldier's eager shout, 

And Terror's wild shriek echo o'er the plain 

In dreadful harmony. 

Meantime the Chief, 

Who equall'd on the bridge the rampart's height, 

With many a well-aim'd javelin dealing death, 

Made thro* the throng his passage : he advanced 

In wary valour o'er his slaughtered foes, 

On the blood-reeking wall. Him drawing near, 

Two youths, the boldest of the English host, 



* These darts were called Viretons, from their whirling 
about in the air. 



viii. ida 

Prest on to thrust him from that perilous height ; 
At once they rush'd upon him : he, his axe 
Dropping, the dagger drew ; one thro' the throat 
He pierced, and swinging his broad buckler round, 
Dash'd down his comrade. So, unmoved be stood. 
The sire of Guendolen, that daring man, 
Corineus ;* grappling with his monstrous foe, 



* And here, with leave bespoken to recite a grand Cable, 
though dignifyed by our best poets, while Brutus on a certain 
festival day, solemnly -kept on that shore where he first 
landed, was with the people in great jollity and mirth, a crew 
of these savages breaking in among them, began on the sud- 
den another sort of game than at such a meeting was expected. 
But at length by many hands overcome, Goemagog the httgest, 
in height twelve cubits, is reserved alive* that with him 
Corineus who desired nothing more, might try his strength ; 
whom in a wrestle the giant catching aloft, with a terrible 
jbugg broke three^of his ribs : nevertheless Corineus enraged 
heaving him up by main force, and on his shoulders bearing 
him to the next high rock, threw him headlong all shattered 
into the sea, and left his name on the cliff, called ever since 
Langoemagog, which is to say, the Giant's leap." 

Milton, 

The expression Irute vastnesz is token from the same work of 
Milton, where he relates the death of Morindus* " Well 



VIII. 163 

He the brute witness held aloft, and bore, 
And headlong hurTd, all shatter d to the sea, 
Down from the rock's high summit, since that day 
Him, hugest of the giants, chronicling, 
Called Langoemagog. 

The Maid of Arc 
Bounds o'er the bridge, and to the wind unfurls 
Her hallowed banner. At that welcome sight 
A general shout of acclamation rose, 
And loud, as when the tempest-tossing forest 
Roars to the roaring wind 5 then terror seiz'd 
The garrison ; and fired anew with hope. 
The fierce assailants to their prize rush on 
Resistless. Vainly do their English foes 
Hurl there their beams, and stones, and javelins, 
And fire-brands ; fearless in the escalade, 



fitted to such a beastial cruelty was his end ; for hearing of a 
huge monster that from the Irish sea infested the coast, and 
in the pride of his strength foolishly attempting to set manly 
valour against a brute vastness, when his weapons were all in 
vain, by that horrible mouth he was catched up and devoured." 



VIII. 164 

Firm mount the French, and now npon the wall 
Wage equal battle. 

Burning at the sight 
With indignation, Glacidas beheld 
His troops fly scattered 3 fast on every side 
The foes up -rushing eager to their spoil $ 
The holy standard waving 5 and the Maid 
Fierce in pursuit. " Speed but this arrow Heaven !" 
The Chief exclaim'd, " and I shall fall content/* 
So saying, he his sharpest quarrel chose, 
And fix'd the bow-string, and against the Maid 
Levelling, let loose : her arm was rais'd on high 
To smite a fugitive : he glanced aside, 
Shunning her deadly stroke, and thus receiv'd 
The Chieftain's arrow : thru' his ribs it pass'd, 
And cleft that vessel, whence the purer blood, 
Thro* many a branching channel o'er the frame 
Meanders. 

u Fool ! H the enraged Chief exclaim'd, 
" Would she had slain thee ! thou hast lived too long." i 



VIII. 165 

Again he aim'd his arbalist : the string 

Struck forceful : swift the erring arrow sped 

Guiltless of blood, for lightly o'er the court 

Bounded the warrior Virgin. Glacidas 

Levelled his bow again ; the fated shaft 

Fled true, and difficultly thro' the mail 

Pierced to her neck, and tinged its point with blood, 

" She bleeds ! she bleeds !" exulting cried the Chief 5 

" The Sorceress bleeds ! nor all her hellish arts 

" Can charm my arrows from their destined course." 

Ill-fated man ! in vain with murderous hand 

Placing thy feathered quarrel in its groove, 

Dream'st thou of JOAN subdued ! She from her neck 

Plucking the shaft unterrified, exclaim'd, 

" This is a * favour ! Frenchmen, let us on I 



• " Tha Tournelles adjoining to the Bridge, was kept by 
Glacidas, (one of the most resolute Captains among the 
English) having well encouraged his men to defend themselves 
and to fight for their lives. 

The skirmish begins at nine of 
the, clock in the morning, and the ladders are planted. A 



vm. 166 

" Escape they cannot from the hand of GodT 
Bat Conrade, rolling round his angry eyes, 



storm of English arrows tails upon oar men with such violence 
as they recoiled. " How now V (saith the Virgin) " have 
we begun so well to end so ill ? let us charge ! they are our 
own, seeing God is on our side ! M so every one recovering his 
forces, flocks about the Virgin. The English double the 
storm upon the thickest of the troops. The Virgin fighting 
in the foremost ranks and encouraging her men to do weH 
was shot through the arm with an arrow ; she, nothing 
amazed, takes the arrow in one hand and her sword in the 
other, " this is a favour » H (says she) " let us go on I they 
cannot escape the hand of GOD !*' 

Chapelain has dilated this exclamation of the Maid into a 
ridiculous speech. 

Quoy 1 valeureux Guerriers, quoy ! dans vostre avantage 
Un peu de sang perdu vow fait perdre courage ! 
Pour moy, je le repute a supreme bonheur, 
¥l dans ce petit mal je trouve un grand honneur ; 
^ Le succes, Men qu' heureux, n'eust eu rien d' honnorable, 
Si le Ciel n'eust pennis un coup si favorable ; 
Vous n'en verres pas moins vos bias vi&orieux, 
J 'en verray seulement mon nom plus glorieux. 

tur, 



VIII. 167 

Beheld the English Chieftain as be aim'd 
Again the bow : with rapid step he strode ; 
Nor did not Glacidas the Frank perceive ; 
At him he drew the string : the powerless dart 
Fell blunted from his buckler. Fierce he came 
And lifting high his ponderous battle-axe, 
Full on his shoulder drove the furious stroke 
Deep-buried in his bosom : prone he fell, 
The cold air rush'd upon his heaving heart. 
One whose low lineage gave no second name • 
Was * Glacidas, a gallant man, and still 



• I can main nothing English of this name. Monstrellet 
calls him Clacedas ant Clasendas. Daniel says the principal 
leaders of the English were Sufiblk, Talbot, Scales, Faatolfle, 
et un nomme Glacidas on Clacidas, dont le mente snppleant 
a la naissancc, l'avoit fait parvenir anx premieres charges de 
rarmee. * 

The importance attached to a second name is well exem- 
plified by an extraft in Selden, relating to " the creation of 
Robert Earle of Glocester natural sonne to King Henry I. 
The King having speech with Mabile the sole daughter and 
fceire of Robert Fitz Hayman Lord of Glocester, told her (as 



vra. 168 

His mcmoiy in the records of the foe 
Survive*. 

it is reported in an old English rithmical story attributed ta 
one Robert of Glocester) that 

—he seold his sone to her spousing avonge, 

The Maid was ther agen, and withsaid it long. 

The King of sought her suith ynou, so that atten end© 

Mabile him answered, as gode Maide and hende, 

Sir, heo sede, well ichot, that your hert ope me is, 

More vor mine heritage than vor my sulre iwis. 

So vair eritage as ich abbe, it were me grete shame, 

Vor tcabbc an louerd, bote he had an tooarne. 

Sir Roberd le Fitz Haim my fadcrs name was, 

And that ne might nought be his that of his kunne nought nas. 

Therefore, Sir, vor Godes love, ne let me no mon owe, 

Bote he abbe an twoname war thoru he be iknowe. 

Damoysato, quoth the King, thou seist well in this case, 

Sir Roberd de Fitz Haim thy fader twoname was ; 

And as udir twoname he shall abbe, gif me him may bise 

Sir Roberd de Fitz Rey is name shall be. 

Sire, quoth this Maid, tho, that is a vaire name 

As who seith all his life and of great fame, 

Ae wat ahold is sonne note thanne and he that of him come. 

So ne might hii bote, whereof nameth gone. 

The King understood that the Maid ne sede no outrage, 

And that Gloucestre was chief of ire heritage. 

Duneaaile he sede tho, thi Louerd shall have a name 



vin. 169 

And now disheartened at his death 
The vanquish'd English fly towards the gate, 
Seeking the * inner court, as yet in hope 
Again to dare the siege, and with their friends 
Find present refuge there. Mistaken men I 
The vanquished have no. friends t defeated thus, 
Prest by pursuit, in vain with eager voice 
They call their comrades in the suppliant tone* 
Of pity now, now in the indignant phrase 



Vor him and Tor his heirs vair without blame* 

Vor Roberd Earle of Glouoestre is name shall be and his, 

Vor he shall be Earle of Glouoestre and his heirs iwis. 

Sire, quoth this Maid tho, well liketh me this 

In this forme ichole that all my gode be his. 

Thus was Earle of Glouoestre first imade there 

Ae his Roberd of all thulke that long bivore were, 

This was end leve hundred yeare, and in die ninth yeer right 

After that ure Louerd was in his moder a high** 

Seldens Titlet of Honor. 

• On entering the outer gate, the next part that presented 
itself was the outer ballium, or bailey, separated from the 
inner ballium by a strong embattled wall and- towered gate. 



VIII. 170 

Of fruitless anger ; they indeed within 
Fast from the ramparts on the Vi&ox troops 
Hurl their keen javelins,— rbut the gate is barr'd— 
The huge portcullis down 1 

Then tenor seiz'd 
Their hopeless hearts : some, furious in despair, 
Turn on their foes; fear-palsied some await 
The coming death 5 some drop the useless sword 
And cry fox mercy. 

Then the Maid of Arc 
Had pity on the vanquished ; and she call'd 
Aloud, and cried unto the host of France, 
And bade them cease from slaughter. They obeyed 
The delegated damsel* Some there were 
Apart that communed murmuring, and of these 
Graville addressd her. " Mission'd Maid ! our troops 
" Are few in number; and to well secure 
" These many prisoners such a force demands, 
u As should we spare might shortly make us need j 
*' The mercy we bestow 5 not mercy then, 



VIII. 171 

* Rather to these our soldiers, cruelty, 
" Justice to them, to France, and to our King, 
" And that regard wise Nature has in each 
" Implanted of self-safety, all demand 
"Their deaths." 

" Foul fall such evil policy !" 
The indignant Maid exclaim'd. " I tell thee, Chief, 
" God is with us I but God shall hide hit face 
u From him who sheds one drop of human blood 
" In calm cold-hearted wisdom \ him who weighs 
" The right and the expedient, and resolves, 
" Just as the well-pois d scale shall rise or fall. 
" These men shall live—live to be happy Chief, 
" And in the latest hour of life, shall bless 
" Us who preserved. What is the Conqueror's name, 
" Compared to this when the death hour shall come ? 
" To think that we have from the murderous sword 
" Rescued one man, and that his heart-pour'd prayers, 
" Already with celestial eloquence, 
<' Head for us to the AH-ju*t 1" 



vm. 17a 

Severe she spake. 
Then .tarn'd to Conrade. " Thou from these our troops 
" Appoint fit escort for the prisoners : 
" I need not tell thee, Conrade, they are men, 
" Misguided men, led from their little homes, 
" The vi&ims of the mighty ! thus subdued 
." They are our foes no longer : be they held 
" In Orleans. From the war we may not spars 
« Thy valour long." 

She said : when Conrade cast 
His eyes around, and mark'd amid the court 
From man to man where Francis rush'd along, 
Bidding them spare the vanquish'd. Him he haiTd. 
" The Maid hath bade me chuse a leader forth 
," To guard the captives ; thou shalt be the man ; 
u For thou wilt guard them with due diligence, 
" Yet not forgetting they are men, our foes, 
« No longer P 

Nor meantime the garrison 
Ceas'd from the war ; they, in, the hour of need, 



vni. 173 

Abandoning their comrades to the sword> 

A daring band, resolved to bide the siege 

In desperate valour. Fast against the walls 

The battering-ram drove fierce $ the enginery 

Ply'd at the ramparts fast $ the catapults 

Drove there their dreadful darts ; the wsjr-wolfs there 

Hurl'd their huge stones ; and, thro* the kindled sky, 

The engines showered their * sheets of liquid fire. 

" Feel ye not, Comrades, how the ramparts shake 
" Beneath the ponderous ram's unceasing stroke ?" 



* When the Black Prince attacked the Castle of llomoran- 
tin " there was slain hard by him an English Esquire named 
Jacob Bernard, whereat the Prince was so displeased, that he 
took his most solemn oath, and sware by his father's soul not 
to leave the siege, till he had the Castle and all within at his 
mercy. Then the assault was renewed much hotter than 
ever, till at last the Prince saw there was no likelihood of 
prevailing that way. Wherefore presently he gave order to 
raise certain engines, wherewith they cast combustible mat- 
ter enflamed after the manner of wild fire into the Base court 



VIII. 174 

Cried one, a venturous Englishman. " Our foe*, 
" In woman-like compassion, have dismissed 
" A powerful escort, weakening thus themselves, 
" And giving us fair hope, in equal field, 
" Or" better fortune. Sorely here annoyed, 
« And slaughtered by their engines from afar, 
" We perish. Vainly does the soldier boast 
" Undaunted courage and the powerful arm, 
" If thus pent up, like some wild beast he falls, 
" Mark'd for the hunter's arrows : let us- rush 
" And meet them in the battle, man to man, 



bo fast and in such quantities, that at last the whole court 
seemed to be one huge fife. Whereupon the excessive heat- 
prevailed so, that it took hold of the roof of a great tower,, 
-which was covered with reed, and so began to spread over all 
the castle. Now therefore when these valiant captains within 
saw, that of necessity they must either submit entirely to the 
Prince's courtesy, or perish by the most merciless of elements, 
they all together came down and yielded themselves absolutely 
to his grace. 

Joshua Barms. 



VIII. i;5 

" Either to conquer, or, at least, to die 
"A soldier's death." 

u Nay nay— not so, M replied 
One of less daring valor. " Tho' they point 
" Their engines hese, our archers not in vain 
" Speed their death-doing shafts. Let the strong walla 
" First by the foe be won 5 'twill then be time 
" To meet them in the battle man to man, 
" When these shall fail us." . 

Scarcely had he spoke 
When full upon his breast a ponderous stone 
Fell fierce impelTd, and drove him to the earth, 
All shattered. Horror the spectators seiz'd, 
For as the dreadful weapon shivered him, 
His blood besprinkled round, and they beheld 
His mangled lungs lie quivering ! 

" Such the fate 
" Of those who trust them to their walls defence." 
Again exclaim'd the soldier : ■« thus they fall, 
" Betrayed by their own fears. Courage alone 



VIII. 176 

* Can save us.** 

Nor to draw them (rem the fort 
N*w needed eloquence ; with one accord 
They bade him lead to battle. Forth they rash'd 
Impetuous. With such fury o'er the plain. 
Swoln by the autumnal tempest, Vega rolls 
His rapid waters, when the gathered storm, 
On the black hills of Cambria bursting, swells 
The tide of desolation. 

Then the Maid 
Spake to the son of Orleans, " Let our troops 
" Fall back, so shall the English in pursuit 
" Leave this strong fortress, thus an easy prey/ 
Time was not for long counsel. From the court, 
Obedient to Dunois, a band of Franks 
Retreat, as at the irruption of their foes 
Disheartened 5 they, with shouts and loud uproar, 
Rush to their fancied conquest : JOAN, the while 
Placing a small but gallant garrison, 
Bade them secure the gates : then forth she rush'd, 



VIII. 177 

With such fierce onset charging on their rear, 
That tenor smote the English, and they wisb'd 
Again that they might hide them in their walk 
Rashly abandoned, for now wheeling round 
The son of Orleans fought. All captainless> 
IU-manhaird, ill-direded, in vain rage, 
They waste their furious efforts* falling fast 
Before the Maid's good falchion and the sword 
Of Conrade : loud was heard the mingled sound 
Of arms and men ; tike earth, that trampled late 
By multitudes, gave to the passing wind 
Its dusty clouds, now reek'd with their hot gore. 

feRgh on the fort's far summit Talbot mark'd 

The fight, and calPd impatient for his arms, 

tager to rush to war* and scarce withheld, 

For now, disheartened and discomfited, 

The troops fled fearful. 

On the bridge there stood 

A strong-built tower, commanding o'er the Loire. 



VIIL 178 

The traveller sometimes lingered on his way, 
Marking the playful tenants of the stream, ♦ 
Seen in its shadow, stem the sea-ward tide. 
This had the invaders won in hard assault 
Ere she, the Delegate of Heaven, came forth 
And made them fear who never fear'd before. 
Hither the English troops with hasty steps 
Retir'd, yet not forgetful of defence, 
But waging still the war : the garrison 
Them thus retreating saw, and open threw 
Their guarded gates, and on the -Gallic iiost, 
Covering their vanquish'd fellows, pour'd their shafts. 
Check'dui pursuit they stopt. Then Graville cried, 
" 111 Maiden hast thou done ! those valiant troops 
" Thy womanish pity has dismissed, with us 
" Conjoiu'd might press upon the vanquish'd foes, 
" Tho' aided thus, and plant the lillied flag 
u Victorious on yon tower." 

" Dark-minded man P 
The Maid of Orleans answered, " to ad well 



VIII. 179 

" Brings with itself an ample recompence. ' 
" I ha¥e not reared the Oriflamme # of dftath, 



* The Oriflamme was a standard erected to denote that no 
quarter would be given. It is said to have been of red silk, 
adorned and beaten with very broad and fair lilies of gold, 
and bordered about with gold and vcrmillion. Le Moyne has 
given it a suitable escort : 

Ensuite POriflamme ardent et lumincuse, 

Marche sur un grand char, dont la forme est affreuse. 

Quatrc enormes Dragons d'un or ombre ecaillez, 

Et de pourpre, d* azur, et de vert emaillez, 

Dans quelque occasion que le besoin le porte, 

Luy font une pompeuse et formidable escorte. 

Dans leur terribles yeux des grenas arrondis, 

De leur feu, de leur sang, font peur auz plus hardis, 

Et si ce feu paroist allumer leur audace, • 

Aussi paroist ce sang animer leur menace. 

Le char roulant sous euz, il semble auroultment, 

Qu' il les fosse voler.avecque sifflement: 

Et de la poudre, en V air, il se fak des fumees 

A leur bouches du vent et du bruit animees. 

Philip is said by some historians to have erected the 
Oriflammc at Crecy, where Edward in return raised up his 
Burning Dragon, the English signal for massacre. The 
Oriflamme was originally used only in wars against the 
Infidels, for it was a sacred banner, and believed to have 
been sent from Heaven. 



VIII. 180 

" The butcher flag ! the banner of the Lord 
" Is this, and come what will, me it behove*, 
" Mindful of that Good Po w er who delegates, 
" To spare the fallen foe : thai gracious God 
" Sends me the minister of mercy forth, 
" Sends me to save this ravaged realm of France, 
" To England friendly as to all the world, 
" Foe only to the great blood-guilty ones, 
" The roasters and the murderers of mankind." 

She said, and suddenly threw off her hehn \ 
Her breast heaved high — her cheek grew red— her cres 
Flash'd fbrth a wilder lustre. €t Thou dost deem 
" That I have illy spar'd so large a band, 
" Disabling from pursuit our weakened troops — 
" God is with us !" she cried — " God is with lis ! 
" Our Champion manifest !" 

Even as she spake, 
The tower, the bridge, and all its multitudes* 
Sank with a mighty crash. 



VIII. 181 

Astonishment 
Seized on the*F*encfe— an universal cry 



• At thit woman's voice amidst the sound of war, the 
combat grows very hot Our men, greatly encouraged by 
the Virgin, run headlong to the Bastion and force a point 
thereof * then Are and stones rain so violently, as the English 
being amazed, forsake their defences : some are slain Upon 
the place, some throw themselves down headlong, and fly 
to the tower upon the bridge. In the end this brave Glaridas 
abandons this quarter, and retires into the base court upon 
the bridge, and after him a great number of his soldiers. 
The btidge greatly shaken with Artillery, try#d by fire, and 
overcharged with the weight of this multitude, sinks into the 
water with a fearful cry, carrying all this multitude wkh it. 

De Serrts. 

This circumstance has been magnified into a miracle. 
" The French, for the most part, draw the institution of the 
order of 8t. Michael principally from a purpose that Charles 
had to make it, after the apparition of the Archangel upon 
Orleans bridge, as the tutelary angell of France assisting 
against the English in 1428." Selden'i Titles of Honour. 

The expressions are somewhat curious in the patent of 
this, V ordre de Monsieur St. Michael Ar change. Louis XI. 
instituted it " a la gloire et louange de Dieu nostre createur 
tout puissant, et reverence de la glorieuse vierge Marie, a 1* 
honneur et reverence de St. Michael, premier Chevalier, qui 
par la querelle de Dieu, battaile contre 1' ancien enemy de V 
humain lignage, et le fit tiesbuchcr de Ciel." 



VIIL 182 

Of terror bunt from them. Crush'd in the fall. 
Or by their armour whelm'd beneath the tide, 
The sufferers sunk, or vainly plied their arms, 
Caught by some sinking wretch, who grasp'd them fast 
And dragg'd them down to death : shrieking they sunk; 
Huge fragments frequent dash'd with thundering roar, 
Amid the foaming current. From the fort 
Talbot beheld, and gnash'd his teeth, and cured 
The more than mortal Virgin j whilst the towers 
Of Orleans echoed to the loud uproar, 
And all who heard, trembled, and cross'd their breasts, 
And as they hastened to the city walls, 
Told fearfully their beads. 

Twas now the hour 
When o'er the plain the pensive hues of eve 
Shed their meek radiance 5 when the lowing herd, 
Slow as they stalk to shelter, draw behind 
The lengthening shades 5 and seeking his high nest, 
As heavily he flaps the dewy air, I 

The hoarse rook pours his not unpleasing note. I 



VJIL 183 

" Now then Dunois for Orleans !'• cried the Maid 
" And give we to the flames these monuments 
" Of sorrow and disgrace. The ascending flames 
" Shall to the dwellers of yon rescued town 
" Blaze with a jo/ful splendour, while the foe 
" Behold and tremble.** 

As she spake, they rush*d 
To fire the forts ; they shower their wild fire there, 
And high amid the gloom the ascending flames 
Blaze up ; then joyful of their finish'd toil 
The host retire. Hush'd is the field of fight 
As the calm'd ocean, when its gentle wares 
Heave slow and silent, wafting tranquilly 
The shattered fragments of the midnight wreck. 



c&e titixtib 3aoft. 



Transactions of the night* Murmurs, councit 
and retreat of the English. Advance of Burgundy 
to their assistance prevented. Burial of the dead* 
Their funeral oration pronounced by the Maid* 



JOAN of ARC. 



*HE NINTH BOOK. 



Jar thro* the shadowy sky the ascending * flames 
Streamed their fierce torrents, *by the gales of night 
Now curl'd, now flashing their long lightnings up 
That made the stars seem pale j less frequent now 
Thro* the red volumes the brief splendours shot, 
And blacker waves roll'd o'er the darkened heaven. 
Dismayed amid the forts that yet remain d 
The invaders saw, and clamoured for retreat, 
Deeming that aided by invisible powers 



* Lesdi6kes bastiles ct fortresses* furent prestetnent arses et 
demolies jusquea en terre, affin que nulles gens de guerre d« 
^uelcanque pays quilz soient ne si peussent plus loger. 

Momtrellet. II. f, 43. 



/ 



IX. igo 



The Maid went forth to conquer. Not a sound 

Moved on the*airbut filled them with vague dreafl 

Of unseen dangers $ if the blaft arose 

Sudden, thro' every .fibre a deep fear 

Crept shivering, and to their expecting minds 

Silence f itself was dseadful . One there was 

Who, learning wisdom in the hour of ill, 

Exclaimed, " I marvel not that the Most High 

" Hath hid his face from England ! wherefore thus 

" Quitting the comforts of domestic life, 

" Swarm we to desolate this goodly land, 

" Making the drenched earth rank with human blood, 

".Scatter pollution on the winds of Heaven ? 

" Oh ! that the sepulchre had closed its jaws 



f Un cry, que le besoin ou la peur fait jetter, 
-Et les airs agitls les pcuvent agiter. 
line haleine, un souspir et mesme le silence 
Aux cbefs, comme aux soldats, font perdre V assurance. 

Chapilain. L. <*. 



IX. 1^1 

" On that foul f Priest, that bad blood-guilty man, 
" Who, trembling for the Churches ill-got wealth, 
" Bade Henry look on France, ere he had drawn 
"The desolating sword, and sent him forth 
" To slaughter 1 Sure he spake the will of God, 
u That holy * Hermit, who in his career 



t The Parliament, when Henry V. demanded supply, en« 
treated him to seize all the ecclesiastical revenues, and con- 
vert them to the use of the crown. The Clergy were alarmed, 
and Chichely, Archbishop of Canterbury, endeavoured to 
divert the blow, by giving occupation to the King, and by 
persuading him to undertake a war against France. 

Hume, 

• While Henry V. lay at the siege of Dreux, an nonest 
Hermit unknown to him, came and told him the great evils 
he brought upon Christendom by his unjust ambition, Who 
usurped the kingdom of France, against all manner of right, 
and contrary to the will of God ; wherefore in his holy name 
he threatened him with a severe and sudden punishment, if 
he desisted not from his enterprize. Henry took this exhor- 
tation either as an idle whimsey, or a suggestion of the 
Dauphin's, and was but the more confirmed in his design. 
But the blow soon followed the threatening; for within 
some few months after, he was smitten in the fundament 

with a strange aud incurable disease. 

Mexeraj. 



IX. 102 

* Of conquest met the King, and bade him cease 
" The work of death, before the wrath divine 
" Fell heavy on his head ; and soon it fell 
*' And sank him to the grave ; and soon that wrath 
*' On us, alike in sin, alike shall fall, 
H For thousands and ten thousands, by the sword 
" Cut off, and sent before the Eternal Judge, 
•* With all their unrepented crimes upon them, 
" Cry out for vengeance ! for the widow's groan, 
** Tho' here she groan unpitied of unheard, 
" Is heard in Heaven against us i o'er this land 
u For hills of human slain, unsepulchred, 
" Steam pestilence, and cloud the blessed sun ( 
" The wrath of God is on us— God has call'd 
<f This Virgin forth, and gone before her path— 
** Our brethren, vainly valiant, fall beneath them, 
" Clogging with gore their weapons,, or in the flood 
" Whelm'd like the Egyptian tyrant's* impious host* 
Tr Mangled and swoln, their blackened carcasses 
x< Toss on the tossing billows ! We remain* 



IX. 193 

" For yet our rulerg will pursee the war, 
" We still remain to perish by the sword, 
" Soon to appear before the throne of God, 
" Lost, guilty wretches, hireling murderers, 
" UninjurM, unprovok'd, who dared to risk 
" The life his goodness gave us, on the chance 
" Of war, and in obedience to our Chiefs, 
" Durst disobey our God." 

Then terror seized 
The troops and late repentance : and they thought 
The Spiritstof the Mothers and their Babes 
Famish'd at Roan, sat on the clouds of night, 
Circling the forts, to hail with gloomy joy 
The hour of vengeance.* 



- Reseraverat antrum 



Tartar eus Re&or paUenn, utque arraa nefanda 
Spedarent, caperentque sui solatia fati, .. 
Invisas illuc Libyes emiserat umbras ; 
Undkrae consedere arvis, nigraque corona 
Infccere diem, versatiiis umbra Jugurtha, 



IX. 1Q4: 

Nor the English Chiefs 
Heard their loud murmurs heedless : counselling 
They met despondent. Suffolk, now their Chief, 
Since conquered by the arm of Theodore 
Fell Salisbury, thus began. 

(t It now were vain 
" Lightly of this our more than mortal foe, 
" To speak contemptuous. She has vanquished us, 
" Aided by Hell's leagued powers, nor ought avails 
"' Man unassisted 'gainst the powers of * Hell 



Annibalis ssevi Manes, captique Syphacis, 
Qui nunc eversas secum Carthaginis arcea 
Ignovere Deis, postquam feralia campi 
Prselia Thapsiaci, et Latios videre furores. 

Supplementum Lucani. Lib. Hi. 

1 am not conscious of having imitated these lines ; but I 
would not lose the opportunity of quoting so fine a passage 
from Thomas May, an author to whom I owe some obliga- 
tions, and who is not remembered as his merits deserve. 

* To some, says Speed, it may appear more ^honourable to 
our nation, that they were not to be expelled by a human 
power, but by a divine, extraordinarily revealing itself. 



IX. 195 

M To dare the conflict : were it best remain 
" Waiting the doubtful aid of Burgundy, 
" Doubtful and still delayed ; or from this scene, 
" Scene of our shame, retreating as we may, 
" Yet struggle to preserve the guarded towns 
" OfOrleannois?" 

He ceas'd, and with a sigh 
Struggling with pride that heav'd his gloomy breast, 
Talbot replied — " Our council little boots j 
" For by their numbers now made bold * in fear 
" The soldiers will not fight, they will not heed 
" Our vain resolves,, heart-withered by the spells 
" Of this accursed Sorceress : -soon will come 
l( The expeded host from England : even now 
" Perchance the tall bark scuds across the deep 
" That bears my soti : young Talbot comes*— he comes 



* Nee pavidum murmur ; consensu audacia crevit, 
Tantaque turba metu poenarum solvit ad omni. 

Sup. Lucani. 



IX. 196 

" To find his sire disgraced 1 bat soon mine arm, 
" By vengeance nerved, and shame of such defeat, 
" Shall, from the crest-fallen courage of yon witch, 
" Regain its antient glory. Near the coast 
" Best is it to retreat, and there expe& 
" The coming succour." 

Thus the warrior spake. 
Joy ran thro' all the * troops, at tho' retreat 
Were safety. Silently in ordered ranks 
They issue forth, favoured by the deep clouds 
Thstt mantled o'er the moon. With throbbing hearts 
Fearful they speeded on : some, thinking sad 
Of distant England, and, now wise too late, 
Cursing in bitterness that evil hour 
That led them from her shores: some in feint hope 
Calling to mind the comforts of their home : 



* In Rymer's Foedera arc two proclamations, one " contra 
Capitaneos et Soldarios tergiversantes, incantationibus Puellae 
terrificatos ;" the other, " de fugitivis ab exercitu quos 
tcrriculamema Puellse exanimaverant, arestandis." 



IX. 197 

Talbot went musing on his blasted fame 
Sullen and Hero, and feeding on dark thoughts. 
And meditating vengeance, 

In the walls 
Of Orleans, tho* her habitants with joy 
Humbly acknowledged the high aid of Heaven, 
Of many a heavy ill and bitter loss. 
Mindful, such mingled sentiments they felt 
As one from shipwreck saved, the first warm glow 
Of transport past, who contemplates himself, 
Preserved alone, a solitary wretch, 
Possessed of life indeed, but reft of all 
That makes man love to live. The Chieftains shared 
The social * bowl> glad of the town relieved, 
And communing of that miraculous Maid, 



* Ronsard remarks, 

Rien n'c9t meilleur pour Y hottime soulager 
Apres le mal, que le boire et manger. 

Franciade, 



IX. 1Q8 

Who came the saviour of the realm of France, 
When vanquished in the frequent field of shame^ 
Her bravest warriors trembled. 

JOAN the while 
Foodless and silent to the Convent pass'd r 
Conrade with her, and Isabel j both mute, 
Yet gazing on her oft with eloquent eye, 
Looking the consolation that they fear'd 
To give a voice to. Now they reach'd the dome : 
The glaring torches o'er the house of death 
Stream'd a sad splendour. Flowers and funeral herbs 
Bedeck 'd the bier of Theodore : the rue, 
The dark green rosemary, and the violet, 
That pluck'd like him withered in its first bloom. 
Dissolved in sorrow, Isabel her grief 
Pour d copious j Conrade wept : the Maid alone 
Was tearless, for she stood unbeedingly, 
Gazing the vision'd scene of her last hour, 
Absorb'd in contemplation; from her eye 
Intelligence was absent $ nor she seem'd 



IX. 199 

To hear, tho* listening to the dirge of death. 
Laid in his last home now was Theodore, 
And now.upon the coffin thrown, the earth 
Fell heavy : the Maid started — for the sound 
Smote on her heart -, her eye one lightning glance 
Shot wild, and shuddering, upon Isabel 
She hung, her pale lips trembling, and her cheek. 
As wan as tho' untenanted by life. 

Then in the Priest arose the earnest hope, 

That weary of the world and sick with woe, 

The Maid might dwell with them a vestal vowed. 

" Ah Damsel !" slow he spake and cross'd his breast, 

" Ah Damsel ! favoured as thou art of Heaven, 

" Let not thy soul beneath its sorrow sink 

" Despondent. 3 Heaven by sorrow disciplines 

" The froward heart, and chastens whom it loves 3 

" Therefore, companion of thy way of life, 

" Affliction thee shall wean from this vain world, 

" Where happiness provokes the traveller's chase, 



IX. 200 

" And like the midnight meteor of the marsh, 

" Allures hit long and perilous pursuit, 

" Then leaves htm dark and comfortless. O Maid ! 

" Fix thou thine eyes upon that heavenly dawa 

" Beyond the night of life! thy race is ran, 

" Thou hast delivered Orleans : mom perfect 

" Thyself; accomplish all, and he the child 

" Of God. Amid these sacred hamate the groan 

" Of Woe is never heard 5 these hallowed roofs 

" Re-echo only to the pealing quire, 

" The chaunted mass, aad Virgin's holy hymn, 

" Celestial sounds I secluded here, the soul 

" Receives a foretaste of her joys to come! 

" This is the abode of Piety and Peace: 

" Oh 1 be their inmate Maiden i come to rest, 

" Die to the world, and live espous'd to Heaven !" 

Then Conrade answered, " Father i Heaven has doom'd 
" This Maid to adive virtue,** 

" Aaivel" cried 



IX. 301 

The astonish'd Priest ; " thou dost not know the toil* 

" This holy warfare asks; thou dost not know 

" How powerful the attacks that Satan makes 

" By sinful Nature aided 1 ddsi thou deem 

" It is an easy task from the fond breast 

" To root afibdion out f to burst the coeds 

" That grapple to society the heart 

" Of social man ? to rouse the unwilling spirit, 

" That, rebel to Devotion, faintly pours 

w The cold lip-worship of the wearying prayer ? 

" To fear and tremble at him, yet to love 

" A God of Terrors ? Maid, beloved of Heaven ! 

" Come to this sacred trial ! share with us 

" The day of penance and the night of prayer i 

" Humble thyself 1 feel thine own woithlessness, 

" A reptile worm ! before thy birth condenrod 

" To all the horrors of thy Maker s wrath, 

" The let of fallen mankind 1 oh hither come ! 

" Humble thyself in ashes, so thy name 

" Shall live amid the blessed host of saints* 



IX. 202 

* And ufiborn pilgrims at thy hallowed shrine 
u Four forth their pious offerings." 

« Hear me Priest P 
Exclaim'd the awakened Maid; " amid these tombs* 
" Cold as their clayey tenants, know, my heart 
" Must never grow to stone I chill thou thyself, 
" And break thy midnight rest, and tell thy heads, • 
" And labour thro' thy still repeated prayer j 
" Fear thou thy God of Terrors j spurn the gifts « 
" He gave, and sepulchre thyself alive ! 
" But far more valued is the vine that bends 
" Beneath its swelling clusters, than the dark 
" And joyless ivy, round the cloister's wall 
" Wreathing its barren arms. For me I know 
" Mine own worth, Priest! that I have well perform*! 
" My duty, and untnembling shall appear 
" Before the just tribunal of that God, 
" Whom grateful Love has taught me to adore P 

Severe she spake, for sorrow in her heart 



IX. 203 

Had wrought unwonted sternness. From the dome 1 
They past in silence, when with hasty steps, 
Sent by the assembled Chieftains, one they met 
Seeking the mission*d virgin, as alamVd, 
The herald of ill tidings. 

"Holy Maid P 
He cried, " they ask thy counsel. Burgundy 
" Comes in the cause of England, and his troops 
" Scarce three leagues from our walls, a fearful power 
" Rest tented for the night." 

" Say to the Chiefs, 
" At morn I will be with them,'* she replied. 
" Meantime their welfare well shall occupy 
" My nightly thoughts." 

So saying on she past 
Thoughtful and silent. A brief while she mus'd, 
Brief, but sufficing to impel the soul, 
As with a strange and irresistible force, 
To loftiest daring. " Conrade P she exclaim'd 
" I pray thee meet me at the eastern gate 



IX. 204 

" With a swift steed prepared : for I most hence." 

Her voice was calm ; nor Coarade thro' the gloom 
Saw the faint fash that witnessed on her cheek 
High thoughts conceived. She to her borne repair'd 
And with a light add nnplumed * casquetel 
She helm'd her head j hnng from her neck + the shield 
And forth she went. 



* A lighter kind of helmet. 

f The shield was often worn thus. " Among the French- 
men there was a young hasty Esquire of Oatcoigne, named 
William Marctaant, who came out among the foremost into 
the field, well mounted, his shield about his neck, and his 

spear in his hand." 

Barnes. 

This is frequently alluded to in Romance. " Then the 

Knight of the burning sword stept forward, and lifting up his 

arm as if he would strike Cynocephal on the top of his head, 

seized with his left hand on the shield, which he pulled to 

him with so much strength, that plucking it from his neck 

he brought him to the .ground." 

Antadii de Gretee. 

Sometimes the shield was laced to the shoulder. 



I 



IX. 205 

Her Conrade by the wall 
Awaited. u May I Maiden seek unblamed 
w Whither this midnight journey ? may I share 
" The peril ?'' cried the warrior. She rcjoin'd, 
u This Conrade, may act be. Alone 1 go. 
" That impulse of the soul that comes from God 
" Hath summon*d me. Of this remain assured, 
" If ought of patriot enterprise required 



The shield of the middle ages must not be confounded with 
that of the ancients. The Knight might easily bear his small 
shield around his neck ; but the Grecian warrior stood 
protecting his thighs and his legs, his breast also and his shoulders 
with the boay of his broad shield. 

TTPTAIOS. 

Bat the most convenient shields were used by 

Ceux qu'on voit demeurer dans les iles Alandes, 
Qui portent pour pavois, des escailles si grandes, 
Que lors qu' il faut camper, le soldat qui s'en sert 
En fait comme unc hutte, et s' y wet a couvcrt. 

Alarie. 



IX. 206 

" Associate firmness, thou shouldst be the man, 
H Best— last— and only friend !" 

So up she sprang 
And left him. He beheld the warden close 
The gate, and listened to her Conner's tramp, 
Till soon upon his ear the far-off sound 
Fell faintly, and was lost. 

Swift o'er the rale 
Sped the good courser 3 eagerly the Maid 
Gave the loose rein, and now her speed attain'd 
The dark encampment. Thro' the sleeping ranks 
Onward she past. The trampling of the steed 
Or mingled with the soldier's busy dreams, 
Or with vague terrors filTd his startled sense, 
Prompting the secret prayer. 

So on she past 
To where in loftier shade arofe the, tent 
Of Burgundy : light leaping from her seat 
She entered. 

On the earth the chieftain slept, 



IX. 207 

His mantle scarft around him -, armed all, 

Save that his shield hung near him, and his helm, 

And by his side in warrior readiness 

The sheathed falchion lay. Profound he slept, 

Nor heard the speeding courser's sounding hoof, 

Nor entering footstep. "Burgundy," she cried, 

u What, Burgundy ! awake 1" He started up 

And caught the gleam of arms, and to his sword 

Reach'dthe quick hand. But soon his upward glance 

ThrilTd him, for full upon her face the lamp 

Stream'd its deep glare, and in. her solemn look 

Was most unearthly meaning. Pale she was. 

But in her eye a saintly lustre beam'd, 

And that most calm and holiest confidence 

That guilt knows never. " Burgundy, thouseest 

" The Maid op Orleans ! m 

As she spake, a voice 
Exciaim'd, " die sorceress ! H and a knight rush'din, 
Whose name by her illustrated yet lives, 
Franquet of Arras. With uplifted arm 



IX. 208 

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 bkmt, smote on his neck, his neck 
Unfenced, for he m haste aroused had cast 
An * armet on ; resistless there she smote 
And to the earth prone fell the headless trunk 
OfFranquet. 

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 hts vengeance smote the ruffian sons 
" Of England, equaiFd tho- thou wen in guilt, 



* The Armet or Chapelle de fer was an iron hat, occasion- 
ally 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, 



IX. 209 

" Thee he has spared to work by penitence 
" And better deeds atopemept." 

That she ipake, 
Then issued forth, and bounding on her Meed 
Sped o'er the plain. Dark on the upland hank 
The hedge-row trees distin& and colpurlesa 
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 5 Burgundy-V* 

'* Fear not for Burgundy !" the Maid exclaim'd* 
u Him will the Lord direct. Our earliest scouts 
" Shall tell his homeward march. What of the troops 
u Of England ?" 



IX. 210 

" They," the son of Orleans cried, 
" By darkness favoured, fled 5 yet not by flight 
" Shall England's robber sons escape the arm 
'* Of retribution. 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 I 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, foe pursuit, when we have, paid 

" The rites of burial to our fellow men, 

" And hymn'd our gratitude to that Ai»wust 

" Who gave the conquest. Thou, meantime, dispatch 

" Tidings to Chinon : bid the King set forth, 

" That crowning him before assembled France, 

" In Rheims delivered from the enemy, 

" I may accomplish all." 



IX. ail 

So said the Maid, 
Then to the gate moved on* 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 ttill'd the host. 
Then thus the missioned Maid, " Fellows in anas ! 
4( We must not speed to joyful vi&ory, 
" Whilst our unburied comrades, on yon plain, 
" Allure the carrion bird. Give we this day 
" To our dead friends 1" 

Nor did she speak in vats* 
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 mfcrk far off the iron-blaze of arms ) 
Se« distant standards waving on the air, 
And bear the clarion'* dang. Then sprite the MM 
To Coiimde, and she bode him speed to view 
The coming artty > br to meet tfaelr march 
With firiendV greettog, or if foes they came 
With such array of battle as short space 
Allowed : the Warrior sped across the "plain* ' 
And soon beheld the batmend littles 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 expe&ed day 
•GJF conquest past, yet give their willing aid : 
They dig the general grave, and thither bear 
English of French alike commingled now, 
And heap the mound of Death. 

Afhid the Plain 
There was a little eminence, of old 



IX. 1W . 

Piled ©ter tome Jiononeed £fcfc&}in's tftrfow fceisA 
HispraigCfthc.wngJuiijc^as^lo.odcbnite,* 
And n*i*r t *i.uoktoVB ftge bad <bc ionggiuis. 
Wflwed o'dtibcnameleas lhonnd, tho* bafcran now 
Bcncatjitkifiwqucftttikadofilittltitadei, 
There .etarate, the Martial Maiden Mood, 
Her brow «mhd«ed, And Awtfing on the wind 
tinrlengdavk locks. Thejilent troops Around 
Stood thickly throug'd, as d'erthe fertile field 
Billow* the ripeit'd corn* IFhe passing bseeie 
Bore not p murmur from the numerous host, 
Such deep attention held item. She began, . 

. . * i < 

* Clery to these wno 4a *ii*ir country's cause 
« Fati m fee *dd ef batflel X&fchfcos, 
" I stand net here to radum these' gallant tqeny 
" Qar comrades, nor with vain and idle phrase 

* Of pity and compassion, to console » * 
« The friends wh6 toyed fhciri. They, indeed, whb fall 

* Beneath Oppression'* banner, merit w*tl •' ' 



IX. ,ai4 : 

* Our pity ; may the God or Pmcs ako Lot* 
" Be merciful to those Mood-guihy men 

« Who came to desolate the realm of France, 

u To make us boifr the knee, and crouch like stores, 

« Before a tyrant'* footstool ! Give to these, 

" And to their wives and 1 orphan 11 trigones 

04 That on their distant father vainly ay 

09 tar bread, give these your pity. Wretched men, 

" Forced or inveigled from their hones, of .driven 

" By Need and Hunger to the trade of blood ; 

" Or, . if with free and willing mind they came? 

" Moat wretched— Iwr before the eternal throne 

" <They stand, as hireling murderers arraign'd. 

* But our dead comrades for their freedom fought ; 

* Jtfoarti thqr needed, nor the specious bribes 
" Of promise, to allure them to this fight, 

49 This holy warfare I them their parents sent,, 
tf And as they raised their streaming eyes to Heaven* 
" Bade them go forth, ancLfrom the ruffian's sword 
u Save their grey hairs: these men their wiyes-sentfortii> 



■ IX. 213 

<* Fix'd their last kisses on tbeir * armed hoods, 

• r And bade them in the battle think they fought 

" For them and for their babes. Thus rous*d to rage 

" By eveiy niilder feeling, they rush'd 'forth, 

" They fought, they conquer'd. To thishigh-rear'dmound 

" The men of Orleans aball in after days 

" Bring their young boys, and tell them of the deeds 

" Our gallant friends atehieved, and bid them learn 

" Like them to love their country, and like them, 

" Should wild Oppression pour again it's tide 

" Of desolation, to step forth and stem . 

" Fearless, the furious torrent. Men of France I , 

" Mourn not for these our comrades ; boldly they 

" Fought the goodfight, and that Eternal One, 



• Scd contra CEnotria pubes * 
Non ullus voce* ducis aut pnecepta requirit. 
Sat mattes stimulant, natiquc, et cara supinas 
Tendcntum palmas lacrimantiaque ora parentura. 
Gstentant parrot, vagituque incita pulsant 
Corda virftm, srmatis infigunt oscula dextris. 

Silius Ualitui. xii. 58f. 



IX aifi 

« Who bade the angels harbinger His M 

" With "Tteace on Earth, M rewardi them. Wefarrivfc, * 

* Honouring their memories to avenge their fall 
" On England's ruffl&fl hordes $ in vain her chiefs 
" Madly will drain her wealth and waste her Wood 
" To conquer this vist realm ! for, easier were it 
" To hnrl the rooted mountain from it's base, 

" • Than force the yoke of slavery upon men 

<< DetermkiM to be trtit 1 Jrei— let them rage, 

" And drain their country 'I wealth, ana waste her Mood, 

" And pour their hireling thoowrad* on oar coasts 

* Sublime amid the storm shall France arise, 
n And like tbcTock end surrounding ware* 
« Repel the mthing 6c&n>t-the shall wield 

" The thunder— she shall blast her despot foes. 



€%t Centf> *«fr. 



The- English succours arrtie. Battle of Patay* 
The King arrives. The Poem concludes with ih* 
mmnation of Charles at Bheum, 



JOAN of ARC. 



THE TENTH BOOK, 



Thus to the Martyrs in their country Ycausfc 

The Maiden gave their fame ; and when she ceas'dj 

Such murmur from the multitude arose, 

As when at twilight hour the summer breeze 

Moves o'er the elmy vale : there was not one 

Who mourn'd with feeble sorrow for his friend) 

Slain in the fight of Freedom j or if chance 

Remembrance with a tear sufFus'd the eye, 

The Patriot's joy flash'd thro*. 

And now the rites 
Of sepulture perform'd, the hymn to Heaven 
They chaunted. To the town the Maid return'dj 
i)unoiswith her, and Richemont, and the man, 



X. 222 

HConrade, whose convene most the Virgin lov'd. 
They of pursuit and. of the future war 
"Sat communing; when loud the trumpet's voice 
Proclaim'd approaching herald. 

" To the Maid/* 
Exclaim'd the Messenger, " and thee, Dunois, 
**' Son of the Chief he loved ! Du Chastel sends 
*' Greeting. The aged warrior has not spared 
" All a&ve efforts to partake your toil, 
" And serve his country ; and tho' late arrived, 
" fie share not in the fame your arms acquire ; 
" His heart is glad that he is late arrived, 
" And France preserved thus early. He were here 
" To join your host, and follow on their flight, 
" But Richemont is his foe. To that high Lord 
** Thus says my master : We, tho* each to each 
" Be hostile, are alike the embattled sons 
" Of this our common country. ' Do thou join 
" The conquering troops, and prosecute success ; 
" 1 will the while assault what guarded towns 



X. 223 

" Bedford yet iiolds in Orlearinois : t>ne day, 
u Peshaps the Constable pf France may learn 
" He wroI^g , dI>ttCiM6tel: , 

* As the Herald spake, 
The crimson current rush'd to Richeroont's cheek. 
" Tell to thy master/ 1 eager he replied, 
" I am the foe of those Court Parasites 
" Who poison the King's ear. Him who shall serye . 
" Our country in the field, I hold my friend : 
" Such may Dvl Chastel prove/ 

So said the Chief, 
And pausing as the Herald went his way, 
'Gaz'd on the Virgin. " Maiden I if aright 
" I deem, thou dost not with a friendly eye 
" Scan my past deeds.*' 

Then o'er the Damsel's cheek 
A faint glow spread. " True Chieftain !" she replied, 
" Report bespeaks thee haughty, of thy power 
" Jealous, and to the shedding human blood 
m Revengeful." . 



X. 2U 

«• Maid of Orleans !" he exdaim'd, 
u Should the wolf daughter thy defenceless flock, 
" Were it a crime if thy mora mighty force 
" Destroyed the fell destroyer ? if thy hand 
" Had pierced the Ruffian as be bunt thy door 
* Prepaid for midnight murder, would'st thou fed 
•' The weight of blood press heavy on thy soul ? 
'" I slew the Wolves of State, the Murderers 
" Of thousands. JOAN! when rusted in its sheatfi, 
n The sword of Justice hung, blamest thou the man 
" That lent bis weapon for the virtuous deed ?" 

Conrade replied. " Nay, Richemont, it were well 

Vr To pierce the ruffian as he burst tby doors j 

w But if he bear the plunder safely thence, 

* c And thon should'st meet him on the future day, 

" Vengeance must not be thine : there is the Law 

u To punish $ and if thy impatient hand, 

" Unheard and uncondemn^, should execute 

" Death on that man, Justice will not allow 



X. 225 

w The Judge in the Accuser 1" 

« Thou hast said 
" Right wisely, Warrior 1" cried the Constable ; 
" But there are guilty ones above the law, 
" Men whose black crimes exceed the utmost bound 
" Of private guilt 5 court vermin that buz round, 
" And fly-blow the King's ear, and make him waste; 
" In this most perilous time, his people's wealth 
" And blood : immers'd one while in criminal sloth, 
" Heedless tho* ruin threat the realm they rule 1 
%< And now projecting some mad enterprize, ' 

" To certain slaughter send their wretched troops. 
" These are the men that make the King suspect 
" His wisest, faithf ullest, best Counsellors 5 
" And for themselves and their dependents, seize 
" All places, and all profits \ and they wrest 
" To their own ends the Statutes of the land, 
" Or safely break them : thus, or indolent, 
" Or active, ruinous alike to France. 
** Wisely thou sayest, Warrior ! that the Law 



" Should strike the guilty; but the roiceof Justice 

" Cries out, and brings conviction as it cries, 

" Whom the Laws cannot reach the Dagger should. ' 

The Maid replied, " I blame thee not, O Chief ! 
" If, reasoning to thine own convidion thus, 
" Thou didst, well-satisfied, destroy these men 
" Above the Law : but If a meaner one, 
" Sdf-constitatmg him the Minister 

* Of Justice to the death of these bad men, 

* Had wrought the deed, hra would the Laws have 9eiicd, 
° And doom'd a Murderer: thee, thy power preserved! 
" And what hast thou exaropled ? thou hast taught 

" All men to execute what deeds of blood 

" Their wiH or passion sentence: right and wtofif 

•' Confounding thus, and making Power,, of all, 

" Sole arbiter. Thy ads were criminal, 

" Yet Ricbemont, for thou didst them tefcapproved, 

" I may not blame the agent. Trust me* Chief! 

" That when a people sorely ase oppress 



X. 227 

<r The hour of violence will come too soon, 
" And he does wrong who hastens it. He best 
" Performs the Patriot's and the Good Man's part, 
" Who, in the ear of Rage and Ea&ion, breathes 
" The healing words of Love.*' 

Thus communed they. 
Meantime, all panic struck and terrified, 
The English urge their night ; by other thoughts 
Possessed than when, elate with arrogance, »* 

They dreamt of conquest, and the orown of France 
At their disposal. Of their bard-fought fields, 
Of glory hardly-earn'd, and last with shame, 
Of friends and brethren slaughter^, and the fate . 
Threatening themselves, they brooded sadly, now 
Repentant tote and vainly. They whom fear 
Erst made obedient to their conquering march, 
At their defeat exultant, wreak what ills 
Their power allow'd. Thus many a league they fled, 
Marking their path with ruin, day by day 
Leaving the weak and wounded destitute 



X. 218 

To the foe's mercy j thinking of their home, 
Tho' to that far-off prosped scarcely Hope 
Could raise her sickly eye. Oh then what joy 
Inspir'd anew their bosoms, when, like clouds 
Moving in shadows down the distant hill. 
They mark'd their coming succours ! in each heart 
Doubt rais'd a busy tumult 5 soon they knew 
The friendly standard, and a general shout 
Burst frotn the joyful ranks j yet came no joy 
To Talbot : he, with dark and downward brow, 
Mus'd sternly, till at length arous'd to hope 
Of vengeance, welcoming his warrior son, 
He brake a * sullen smile. 

" Son of my age 1 
" Welcome young Talbot to thy first of fields. 
" Thy father bids thee welcome, tho' disgraced, 



* " She sternly shook her dewy locks, and brake 
" A melancholy smile." 



Quark*. 



X. 229 

" Baffled, and flying from a Woman's arm ! 
" Yes, by my former glories, from a Woman f 
" The scourge of France I the conqueror of Men I 
" Flying before a Woman ! Son of Talbot, 
" Had the winds wafted thee a few days sooner, 
" Thou hadst seen me high in honour, and thy namfc 
" Alone had scattered armies $ yet, my child, 
" I bid thee welcome ! rest we here our flight, 
u And lift again the sword." 

So spake the chief $ 
And well he counsell'd : for not yet the sun i 

Had reach'd meridian height, when, o'er the plain 
Of Patay they beheld the troops of France 
Speed in pursuit. Soon as the troops of France 
Beheld the dark battalions of the foe 
Shadowing the distant plain, a general shout 
Burst from the expectant host, and on they prcst, 
Elate of heart and eager for the fight, 
With clamours ominous of vi&ory. 



X. 230 

Thus urging on, one from the advene host 
Advanced to meek then* : they his garb of peace 
Knew, and they stayed them as the Herald spake 
His bidding to the Chieftains* " Sirs P he cried 
t€ I bear defiance to you from the Earl 
" William of Suffolk. Here on this fit plain* 
" He wills to give you battle, power to power; 
" So pleaae you* on tibs morrow," 

" On the morrow 
" We wUI join battle then/' replied Dunois, 
" And God befriend the right ! N then * on the Herald 
Arobe rich-furred and btoidered he bestowed, 
A costly guerdon. Thro* the army spread 



♦When the armies of England, and France lay in the plain 
between Vifonfosse and Flemengucre, 1339, Edward sent tft 
demand a day of battle of the French King* " An herald of 
the Duke of Gueldres, being well skilled in the French 
tongue, was sent on this errand : he rode forth till he came 
to the French host, where being admitted before the King 
and his Council, he spake aloud these words, " Sir, the King 
«f England is here hard by in the fields, and desires to tight 



X, *3i 

The tmwelcorne tidings of delay : jJosscsseA 
With agitating hopes they felt the hours* 
Pass heavily j but soon the night wained on 9 
And the loud trumpets blare from broken sleep 
Reused them ; a second time the thrilling blast 
Bade them be aimed, and at the third + deep sound 
They ranged them ia their ranks. From man to man 
With pious haste hurried the Confessed 



you power against power ; and if you please to appoint him 

a day he will not fail to meet you upon the word of a Kipg." 

This message being thus delivered, King Philip yielded either 

to give or take battle two days after, and in token of his 

acceptance of the news, richly rewarded the herald with 

furred gowns* and other gifts bestowed on him, as well by 

himself as others, the Princes and Lords of his host, and so 

dismissed him again. 

Barnes, 

f Every man was warned to rise from sleep at the first 

sound of the trumpet ; at the second to arm without delay, 

and at the third to take horse in his due*place under the 

■colours. 

Barnti, 



To shrive * them, lest with unprepared soul* 
They to their death might go. Dunois meantime 



• Religious ceremonies teem to. have preceded all settled 
engagements at this period. On the night before the battle of 
Crecy" King Edward made a sapper in. his royal pavilion 
for all his chief Barons, Lords and Captains : at which he 
appeared wonderful chearful and pleasant, to the great encou- 
ragement of his people. But when they were all dismissed . 
to their several quarters, the King himself retired into his 
private oratory, and came before the altar, and there pros- 
trated himself to Almighty God and devoutly prayed, " that 
of his infinite goodness he would vouchsafe to look down on 
the justice of his cause, and remember his unfeigned endea- 
vours for a reconcilement, altho' they had* all been rendered 
frustrate by his enemies : that if he should be brought to a 
battle the next day, it would please him of his great mercy 
to grant him the victory, as his trust was only in him, and 
in the right which he- had given him." Being thus armed- 
with faith, about midnight he laid himself upon a pallet or 
mattress to take a little repose ; but he rose again betimes and 1 
heard mass, with his son the young prince, and received ab- 
solution, and the body and blood of his redeemer, as did the 
Prince, also, and most of the Loids and others who were so 

disposed. 

Barnes. 

Thus also before the battle of Azincour " after prayers and 



X. 233 

Rode thro* the host j the shield of * dignity 
Before him borne, and in his hand he held 
The white wand of command. The open helm. 
Disclosed that eye that tempered the strong lines. 
Of steady valour, to obedient awe 
Winning the will's assent. To some he spake- 
Of late-earned glory j others, new to war, 
He bade bethink them of the feats atchieved 
When Talbot, recreant to his former fame, 
Fled from beleager'd Orleans. Was there one 
Whom he had known in battle ? by the hand 
Him did he take and bid him on that day 
Summon, his wonted courage, and once more 
Support his chief and comrade. Happy he 



supplications of the King, his priests and people done with 
great devotion, the King of England in the morning very 
early set forth his hosts in array." 

Howes, 

• The Roundel. A shield too weak for service which was 
borne before the General of an army. 



Who caught \m glance or frem the Chieftai»*» Up 
Heard his own name ! joy more inspiriting 
nils not the Persian's sod, when sure* be- deems 
That Mithra hears propitiously his prayer, 
And o'er the scattered cloud of morning poors 
A brighter raj responsive. 

Then rite host 
Partook due food, this their last meal belike 
Receiving with such thoughtful doubts, as make 
The sou!, impatient of uncertainty, 
Rush eager to the- event ; prepared thus 
Upon the grass the soldiers laid themselves. 
Each in his station, waiting there the sound 
Of onset, that in undiminished strength 
Strong, they might meet the* battle: silent some 



• The conduft of the English on the morning of the battte 
of Crecy is followed in the text. * c All things being thus 
ordered, every Lord and Captain under his own banner and 
pennon, and the ranks duly settled, the vakrorouB young King 1 



X. 235 

Pondering the chances of the coming day, 
Some whiling with a careless gaiety 
The fearful pause of a£tion. Thus the French 
In such array and higbra eori&dent hope 



mounted on * lusty white bobby, and with a white wand til 
bis hand,, rode between his two Marshalh from rank to sank) 
-and from one Battalia unto another, exhorting and encou- 
raging every man that day to defend and maintain his right 
and hpnmtc: and this be din 1 with so chearfui a countenance, 
and with such sweet and obliging words, that even the most 
faint-hearted of the army were sufficiently assured thereby. 
%y that time the English weife thus prepared, it was nine 
o'clock in the morning, and then the King Commanded them 
all to take their refreshment of meat and drink,, which being 
done, with-stnafl. disturbance they alt repaired to their colbifrs 
again, and then laid.themsclves in thetr Order upon the dry 
and warm grass, with their bows and helmets by their side, 
to be mora fresh and vigorous upon the approach of the 

enemy." 

Joshua Barnes. 

The Bnglish before the battle of Azincour <% fell prostrate 
to the ground, and committed themselves to God, every, of 
them tooke in his mouth a little piece of earth, in remem- 
brance that they were mor tall and made of earth, as also in 

Remembrance of : the hory communion." 

fhwes. 



X. 236 

Await the signal j whilst, with other thoughts, 
And ominous, awe, once more, the invading host 
Prepare them in the field of fight to meet 
The Maid of God. Colle&ed in himaelf 
Appeared the might of Talbot. Thro* the rank* 
He stalks, reminds them of their former fame, 
Their native land, their homes, the friends they loved, 
All the rewards of this day's victory* 
But awe had filled the English, and they struck 
Faintly their shields ; for they who had beheld 
The hallowed banner with celestial light 
Irradiate, and the Missioned Maiden's deeds, 
Felt their hearts sink within them, at the thought 
Of her near vengeance 5 and the tale they told 
Boused such a tumult in the new-come troops, 
As fitted them for fear. The aged Chief 
Beheld their drooping valour : his stern brow, 
Wrinkled with thought, bewray'd his inward doubts: 
Still he was firm, tho' all might fly resolved 
That Talbot should retrieve his old renown, 



X. 237 

And period Life with Glory. Yet some hope 

Inspired the Veteran, as across the plain 

Casting his eye, he marked the embattled strength 

Of thousands ; Archers of unequalled skill, 

Brigans, and Pikemen, from whose lifted points 

A fearful radiance flashed, and young Esquires, 

And high-born Warriors, bright in blazoned arms. 

Nor few, nor fameless were the English Chiefs : 

In many a field victorious, he was there, 

Th« gartered Fastolffe ; Hungerford, and Scales, 

Men who had seen the hostile squadrons fly 

Before the arms of England. Suffolk there, 

The haughty Chieftain towered 5 blest had he fallen 

Ere yet a Courtly Minion he was marked 

By public hatred, and the murderer's name ! 

There, too the Son of Talbot, young in arms, 

Moved eager, he, at many a tournament, 

With matchless force, had pointed his strong lance, 

O'er all opponents* vic"fcor : confident 

In strength, and jealous of his future fame, 



X. 238 

His heart beat high for battle. Such amy 
Of marshalled numbers fought not on the field 
Of Crecy, nor at Poi&iers j nor such force 
lied Henry to the fight of Azincour, 
When thousands fell before him. 

Onward move 
The host of France. It was a goodly sight 
To see the embattled pomp, as with the step 
Of stateliness the barbed steeds came on, 
To see the pennons -J- rolling their long waves 
Before the gale, and banners + broad and bright 

ifimt ,n ,',' i i a 

t The Pennon was long, ending in fcwo points, the Banner 
square." Un Seigneur n'etoit Banneret et ne pouvoit porter 
la bannierequarree, que tors qu'il pouvoit entretenir a ses de- 
pens un certain nombre de Chevaliers et d'Ecuyers, avec lent 
suite a la guerre : jusques-la son etendard avoit deux queues 
ou fanons, et, quand il devenoit pins puissant, son souve- 
tain coupoit lui-meme les fanons de son etendard, pour le 

rendre quarre*. 

fomte de Treucau 

An incident before the battle of Nagera exemplifies this. 



X. 239 

Tossing their Mazomy, and high-plumed chiefe 



" As the two armies approached near together, the Prince 
went over a little hill, in the descending whereof ht saw 
plainly his enemies marching toward him : wherefore when * 
tfte whole army was come over this mountain, he comman- 
ded that there they should make an halt, and so fit themselves 
for fight. At that instant the Lord John Chandos brought 
his ensign folded up, and offered it to the Prince, saying, 
" Sir, here is my Guidon ; I- request your Highness to display 
it abroad, and to give me leave to raise it this day as my ban- 
ner ; for I thank God and your Highness, I have lands and 
possessions sufficient to maintain it withal]." Then the Prince 
took the Pennon, and having cut off the tail, made it a 
square banner, and this done, both he and King Don Pedro*. 
for the greater honour, holding it between their hands dis- 
played it abroad, it being Or, a sharp pile Gules : and then 
the Prince delivered it unto the Lord Chandos again, faying, 
".Sir John, behold here is your banner. God send yo» 
much joy and honour wkh h" And thus being made a 
Knight Banneret, the Lord Chandos returned to- the head of 
his men, and said " here Gentlemen, behold my banner and 
yours. Take and keep it, to your honour and mine/' And 
so they took it with a shout, and said by the grace of God and 
St. George they would defend it to the best of their powers. ■ 
But the banner remained in the hands of a gallant English. 
Esquire named William Allestry, who- bore it all that day*, 

and acquitted himself in the service right honourably." 

Baran 



X. wo 

Vidatnes* and Seneschalls and Chastellainft) 
Gay with their bucklers gorgeous heraldry, 
And silken f surcoats on the buoyant wind 
Billowing. 



• This title frequently occurs in the French Chronicles, 
it was peculiar to France, " the Vidame or Vicedominus 
being to the Bishop in his temporals as the Vicecomes of 
Vicount anciently to the Earle, in his judicials." 

Peter Htyljn. 

f Joshua Barnes seems to have been greatly impressed 
with the splendour of such a spectacle. " It was a glorious 
and ravishing sight, no doubt," says he, " to behold these 
two armies standing thus regularly embattled in the field/ 
their banners and standards waving in the wind, their proud 
horses barbed, and Kings, Lords, Knights, and Esquires 
richly armed, and all shining in their surcoats of sattin and 
embroidery." 

Thus also at Poi&iers " there you might have beheld a 
most beautiful sight of fair harness, of shining steel, feathered 
crests of glittering helmets, and the rich embroidery of 
silken surcoats of arms, together with golden standards, 
banners and pennons gloriously moving in the air. 

And at Nagera " the sun being now risen, it was a ravish* 
tag sight to behold the armies, and the sun reflecting from 



X. 241 

And now the Knights of France dismount 
For not to brutal strength they deemed it right 
To trust their fame and their dear * country's weal ; 
Rather to manly courage, and the glow 
Of honourable thoughts, such as inspire 
Ennobling energy. Unhors'd, unspurr'd, 



their bright steel and shining armour. For in those days the 
Cavalry were generally armed in mail or polished steel at all 
points, and besides that, the Nobility wore over their armour 
rich surcoats of silk and satin embroidery, whereon was 
curiously sticht or beaten, the arms of their house, whether 
in* colour or metal. 

• Kos Ancestres, et netamment du temps de la guerre des 
Anglots, en combats solemnels et journees assj&nees, se 
mettoient la plus-part du temp tous a pied ; pour ne se fier a 
autre chose qu' a leur force propre et vigueur de leur courage 
et de leur membres, de chose si chere que 1' honneur et la vie. 

Montaigne. Liv. i. c. 48. 

In the battle of Patay, Monstrellet says, " les Francois moult 
de pres rairent pied a terre, et descendirent la plus grand 
partie de leur cjievaulx. 



X. 242 

Their f javelins lessen'd to a wieldy length. 
They to the foe advanced. The Maid alone, 
Conspicuous on a coal-black courser, meets. 
The war. They moved to battle with such sound 
As rushes o'er the vaulted firmament, 
When from his seat, on the utmost verge of Heaven 
That overhangs the Void, Father of Winds ! 
Hrjesvblgbr * starting, rears his giant bulk, 
And from his eagle pinions shakes the storm. 



f Thus at Pollers, " the three battails being all ready 
ranged in the field, and every Lord in his due place under 
his own banner, command was given that all men should put 
off their spurs, and cut their spears to five foot length; as 
most commodious for such who had left their horses. 

J3 antes* 
* Hraesvelgr vocatur 
Qui sedet in extremitate cseli, 
Gigas exuvias ami&us aquilae: 
Ex ejus alis 
Ferunt venire ventum 
Omnes super homines. 

Tafthrudtumal 



High on her stately steed the Martial Maid 

Rode foremost of the war : her burnish'd anna 

Shone like the brook that o'er its pebbled course 

Runs glittering gayly to the noon-tide sun. 

Her foaming courser, of the guiding hand 

Impatient, smote the earth, and toss'd his mane, 

And rear'd aloft with mahy a froward bound, 

Then answered to the rein with such a *tep, 

As, in submission, he weref>roud to show 

His unsubdued strength. Slow on the air 

Waved the white plumes that shadow'd o'er her helm. 

Even such, so fair, so terrible in arms 

Pelides moved from Scyros, where, "Conceal'd 

He lay Obedient to his mother's fears 

A seemly Virgin * thus the Youth appear'd 



Where the Heavens remotest bound 
With darkness is encompassed round 
There Hraesvelger sits and swings 
The tempest from his eagle wings. 

The Edda ofSamund, translated by A. S. Cottle. 



X. 244 

Terribly graceful, when upon his neck 
Deidameia hung, and with a look 
That ipake the tumult of her troubled souV 
Fear, anguish, and upbraiding tenderness, 
Gazed on the father of her unborn babe. 

An English Knight, who eager for renown 
Late left his peaceful mansion, marked the Maid. 
Her power miraculous, and fearful deeds 
He from the troops had heard incredulous, 
And scoff d their easy fears, and vow'd that he, 
Proving the magic of this dreaded Girl 
Jn equal battle, would dissolve the spell, 
Powerless oppos'd to valor. Forth he spurr'd 
Before the ranks; she mark'd the coming foe,. 
And fix'd her lance in rest, and rush'd along. 
Midway they met ; full on her buckler driven, 
§hiver'd the English spear : h$r better force 
Drove the brave foeman senseless from hja seat. 
Headlong he fell, nor ever to the sense 



X. 245 

Of shame awoke, for nuhing multitudes 
Soon crush'd the helpless Warrior. 

Then the Maid 
Bode thro' the thickest battle : fast thej fell, 
Pierced by her forceful spear. Amid the troops . 
Plunged her strong war-horsfc, by the noise of arms 
Elate and rous'd to rage, he tramples o'er, 
Or with the lance * protended from his front, 



* In a combat fought in Smithfidd 140*7, between the 
Lord Scales and the Bastard of Birrgoygae, " the Lord Scales* 
horse had on his chafron a long sharp pike of Steele, and as 
the two Champions coaped together, the same horse thrust 
his pike into the nostrills of the Bastard's horse, so that for 
very paine, he mounted so high that he fell on the one side 
with his master. Edmond Howes. . 

Lope de Vega 1s the only poet in whom 1 have found this 
weapon mentioned. 

Unicornia el cavallo parecia < 

Con el fuerte pyramide delante, 
Xsue en medio del bocal resplandecia 

Como si fuera punta de diamante, « 

Jerusalem ConquistaJa. L. 10» 
Amadis, after his combat with Gasquilan, was struck 
town by one of these pikes. 



X. 24& 

ThrusU down the thronging squadrons. Where she tuna 
The foe tremble and die. Such ominous fea* 
Seizes the Traveller o'er the trackless sands. 
Who marks the dread Simoom across the waste* 
Sweep its swift pestilence : to earth he falls, 
Nor dares give utterance to the inward prayer, 
Deeming the Genius of the Desart breathes 
The purple blast of Death. 

Such was the sound 
As when the tempest, mingling air and sea* 
flies o'er the uptorn ocean : dashing high 
Their foamy heads amid the incumbent clouds, 
The madden'd billows, with their deafening roar, 
Drown the loud thunder's peal. In every form 
Of horror, Death was there. They fall, transfix'd 
By the. random arrow's point, or fierce-thrust lance* 
Or sink, all battered by the ponderous mace : 
Some from their coursers thrown, lie on the earth, 
Unwieldy in their arms, that weak to saveu 
Protraded all the agonies of Deaths 



X. 247 

Bat most the English fell, by their own fears 
Betrayed, for Fear the evil that it dreads 
Increases. Even the Chiefs, who many a day 
Had met the war and conquered, trembled now, 
Appall'dby her, the Maid miraculous. 
As the blood-nurtured Monarch of the wood, 
That o'er the wilds of Afric, in his strength 
Resistless ranges, when the. mutinous clouds 
Burst, and the lightnings thro' the midnight sky 
Dart their red fires, lies fearful in his den, 
And howls in terror to the passing storm* 

But Talbot, fearless where the bravest fear'd, 

Mowed down the hostile ranks. The Chieftain stood 

Like the strong oak, amid the tempest's rage, 

That stands unbarm'd, and while the forest falls 

Uprooted round, lifts his high head aloft, 

And nods majestic to the warring wind. 

He fought resolved to snatch the shield of *Death 



* Thus did Juba catchup the shield of Death to defend 



X. 248 

And shelter bim from Shame. The very herd 
Who fought aear Talbot, tbo' the Virgin's name 
Made their cheeks pale, and drove the curdling blood 
Back to their hearts, -caught from his daring deeds 
New force, and went like Eaglets to the prey 
Beneath their mother's wing : to him they look'd 
Their towtr * of ttrength, and followed where hissword 
Made thro' the foe a way. Nor did the son 
Of Talbot shame hit lineage ; by his sire 
Emulous he strove* Kke the young Lionet 
When first he bathes his murderous jaws in blood. 



himself from Ignominy. 

Cleopatra.* 

TTPTAI02 

Quarles has made this expression somewhat ludicrous bf 
calling Sampson 

Great army of men, the wonder of whose power 
Gives thee the title of a walking tower. 



X. 249 

They fought intrepid, tho* amid their ranks 
Fear and Confusion triumph'd -, for such awe 
Possessd the English, as the Etruscans felt, 
When self-devoted to the Infernal Gods 
The gallant Decius stood before the troops, 
Robed in the vi&im garb of sacrifice, 
And spake aloud, and caird the Shadowy Power* 
To give to Rome the conquest, and receive 
Their willing prey ; then rush'd amid the foe* 
And died upon the hecatombs he slew. 

But Hope inspired the assailants. Xaintrailles there 

Spread fear and death ; and Orleans* valiant Son 

Fought as when Warwick fled before his arm* 

O'er aH preeminent for hardiest deeds 

Was Conrade. Where he drove his battle-axe, 

Weak was the buckler or the helm's defence, 

Hauberk, or plated mail ; thro* all it pierced, 

Resistless as the forked Hash of Heaven. 

The death-doom^ foe, who mark'd the coming Chiefs 



X. 250 

Felt such a chill rim thro' hU shivering frame, 
As the night traveller of the Pyrenees, 
Lone and .bewildered on his winter/ way, 
When from the mountains round reverberates 
The hungry Wolves* deep yell : on every side, 
Their fierce eyes gleaming as with meteor, fires, 
The famish'd troop come round : the affrighted mule 
Snorts loud with terror, on his shuddering limbs 
The big sweat starts, convulsive pant his sides, 
Then on he rushes, wild in desperate speed. 

Him dealing death an English Knight beheld, 
And spurred his steed to crush him : Conrade leap d 
Lightly aside, and thro' the Warrior's grecve* 
Fii'd a deep wound : nor longer could the foe* 
Tortur'd with anguish, guide his mettled horse, 
Or his rude plunge endure ; headlong he fell, 
And perish*<L In his castle-hall was hung 
On high his father's shield, with many a dint 
Graced on the blood-drench'd field of Azincou* : 



X. 251 

His deeds the son had heard ; and when a boy* 
Listening delighted to the old man's talc, 
His little hand would lift the weighty spear 
In warlike pastime : he had left behind 
An infant offspring, and did fondly deem 
He too in age the exploits of his youth 
Should tell, and in the Stripling's bosom rouse 
The fire of glory. 

' Comrade the next foe- 
Smote where the heaving membrane separates* • 
The chambers of the trunk. The dying man, 
In his Lord's castle dwelt, for many a year, 
A well-beloved servant : he could sing 
Carols for Shrove-tide, or for Candlemas, 
Songs for the Wassel, and when the Boar's * hea<t 



•Two carols for this occasion are preserved in Mr. Ritson'a 
valuable collection of Ancient Songs. The first of these, 
lKie alluded to, is as follows : 

Caput aprt deftro 

Rtddcnt imdts dmitn. 



Crowed with gay garlands, and with Rosemary, 
Smoakcd on the Christmas board : he went to war 
Following the Lord he loved, and saw him fall 
Beneath the arm of Conrade, and expired, 
Slain on his Master • body. 

Nor the fight 
Was doubtful long. Fierce on the invading host 
TVess the French troops impetuous, as of old, 
When, pouring o'er his legion slaves on Greece, 
The Eastern Despot bridged the. Hellespont, 



The bote's heed In hand bring I 
With garlands gay and rosemary, 
1 pray you all synge merely 
Qui estis in cotrurvio. 

The bore's heed I understande 
Is the chefe servyce in this lande, 
Loke where ever it be fande 
Servitc cum cantlto. 

Be gladde lordes bothe more and lasse 
For this hath ordeyned our stewarde, 
To chere you all this christmasse 
The bore's heed with mustarde. 



X. 253 

The rushing sea against the might y pile 
Soll'd its full weight of waters $ far away 
The fearful Satrap mark'd on Asia's coasts 
The floating fragments, and with ominous fear 
Trembled for the Great King. 

Still Talbot strove, 
IJis foot firm planted, his uplifted shield 
Fencing that breast that never yet had known 
The throb of fear. But when the warrior's eye. 
Quick glancing round the fight, beheld the foe 
Pressing to conquest, and bis heartless troops 
Striking with feebler force in backward step, 
Then o'er bis cheek he felt the patriot flush 
Of shame, and loud he lifted up his voice, 
And cried, " fly cravens ! leave your aged chief 
" Here in the front to perish ! his old limbs 
" Are not like yours so supple * in the flight.* 



* Tb§ is itaXcuoi'sQBf, wv Bum yavai* s\a$( «> 
Mij KaraAsflrom* (psvyers rs$ yegcuss. 



X. 254 

n Go tell your countrymen how ye escaped 
" When Talbot fell P 

in vain the warrior spake, 
In the Uproar of the fight his voice was lost -, 
And they, the nearest, who had heard, beheld 
The martial Maid approach, and every thought 
Was overwhelmed in terror. But the son 
Of Talbot marked her thus across the plain 
Careering fierce in conquest, and the hope 
Of glory rose within him. Her to meet 
He spurr'd his horse, by one decisive deed 
Or to retrieve the battle, or to fail 
With honour. Bach beneath the others blow 
Bowed down 5 their lances shivered with the shock : 



Aurxfw yag Sy r&ro pera itgopoLxpuri ttetrovra, 
Ksio-iai Ttgoo-Qe vewv avtya tfaXagoregov, 

U&j Xsvxov sypvra, xa$r), mXiov re yevstov, 
<©u/**y aitQtfvsiovT' aAw/AOv ev xMiy. 

TTPTAIOS. 



X. 255 

To earth their coursers fell : at once they rose, 
He from the saddle * bow his falchion caught 
Rushing to closer combat, and she bared 
The lightning f of her sword. In vain the youth 



• In-the combat between Ffancus and Phouere, Ronsardsays 
•— de la main leurs coutelas trouvcrcnt 
Bicn aiguisez qui de V argon pendoyent 
On this passage the commentator observes, " 1' autheur 
*rme ces deux chevaliers 4 la -mode de nos gendarmes* 
Francois, la lance en la main, la coutelace ou la mace 4 T 
argon, et 1' espee au coste\ 

Thus Desmarests says of the troops of Qovis 

A tous pend de 1* argon, a le«r mode guerrierre, 
Et la hache tranchante, et la masee meurtriere. 

And when Clovis on foot and without a weapon hears the 
shrieks of a woman, he sees his horse 

Jette 1* ceil sur Y arcon, et void luire sa hache. 
Lope de Vega speaks of the sword being carried in the same 
manner, when he describes Don Juan de Aguila as 
desatando del arcon la espada. 

f Desnudo el rayo de la ardiente espada. 

Jituitltn Conqwitad*. 



X. 256 . 



Essayed to pierce those arms diet evea the j 
Of Time was weak to injure : she the while 
Thro* many a wound beheld her fbensan s blood 
Oote fast. " Yet save thee Warrior I" cried the Maid, 
" Me canst thou not destroy: be timely wise, 
" And live 1" He answered not, but lifting high 
His weapon, drove with fierce and forceful arm 
Full on the Virgin's helm : fire from her eyes 
Flash' d with the stroke : one step she back recoiled, 
Then in his breast plunged deep the sword of Death. 

Him falling Talbot saw. Qn the next foe, 

With rage and anguish wild, the Warrior turn'd ; 

His ill-dire&ed weapon to the earth 

Drove down the unbounded Frank: he lifts the sword 

And thro* his all-in-vain imploring hands 

Cleaves the poor suppliant. On that dreadful day 

The sword of Talbot,* cloggM with hostile gore, 



* •tfhis inscription was upon the sword of Talbot. — " Sum 
u Talboti pro vinccre inimicos suos." A sword with bad 



X. 357 

Made good its yawt Amfa the heap W* M» 
Had slain, the Cbieftaia stood and *wgy<*d around 
His furious strokes : nor ceased he from the fight, 
Tho* no v discomfited tte English troops 
Pled fast, all panic-struck and spiritless $ 
And mingling with the rooted, Fastolffe fled, 
Fastolffe, all fierce * and haughty as he was, 



Latin upon it, but fpotf steel within it, eajp Fuller. 

It was probably not uncommon to bear a motto upon the 
t word. Lope de Vega describes that of Aguila as bearing 
inlaid in gold, a verse of the psalms. It was, he says, 

Mas famosa que fne de hombre cenida, 
Para ocaslones del honor guardada, 

Y en uktma defensa de la vida, 
Y detde cuya guamicion dorada 

Hasta la punta la canal brunida 
Tenia escrito de David un verso. 
•Nielado de oro en el azero terso. 

JtrmaUn Conqulitada. 

• In the original letters published by Mr. Fenn, FastoHIt 
appears in a very unfavourable light. Henry Windsor writes 
thus of him, « hit k not unknown that crueHe and vengtbie 



X. 258 

False to hit former fame 5 for he beheld 
The Maiden rushing onward, and such fear 
Ran thro* hift frame, as thrills the African, 
When, grateful solace in the sultry hour, . 
He rises on the buoyant billow's breast, 
If then his eye behold the monster shark 
Gape eager to devour. 

But Talbot now 
A moment paused, for bending thitherwards 
He mark'd a warrior, such as well might ask 



he hath byn ever, and for the most part with aute pite and 
mercy. I can no more, butiwir «r corripe cum, for truly he 
cannot bryng about his maticrs in this word (wrldjy for the 
word is not for him. I suppose it wolnot chaunge yett be 
likelenes, buti beseche you sir help not to amend hym onely, 
but every other man yf ye kno any mo mysse disposed." 

The order of the Garter was taken from Fastolffe for his 
conduct at Patay. He suffered a more material loss in the 
money he expended in the service of the state. In 1455, 
£4083. 15. 7. were due to him for costs and charges during 
his services in France, " whereof the sayd Fastolff hath 
had nouther payement nor assignation." -So he complains. . 



X. (159 

'His* utmost force. Of strong and stately port 

The onward foeman moved, and bore on high 

'A battle-axe, in many a field of blood 

Known by the English Chieftain. Over heaps 

Of slaughtered, strode the Frank, and bade the troops 

Retire from the bold Earl : then Conrade spake. 

u Vain is thy 1 valour Talbot ! look^round, 

-*' See where thy squadrons fly ! but thou shalt lose 

" No glory, by their cowardice subdued, 

*' Performing well thyself the soldier's part." 

" And let them fly !" the indignant Earl exclaimed, 
" And let them fly ! but bear thou witness, Chief! 
" Tfiat guiltless of this day's disgrace, I fall. 
" Bat Frenchman 1 Talbot will not tamely fall, 
*' Or unrevenged." 

So saying, for the war 
He stood prepared : nor now with heedless rage 
The Champions fought, for either knew full well 
*His foeman's prowess : now they aim (he blow 



X. 260 

Insidious, with quick change then drive the steel * 
Fierce on the side exposed. Hie unfaithful arms 
Yield to the strong-driven edge ; the blood streams dewn 
Their battered mails. With swift eye Conrtfdv anrked 
The lifted buckler, and beneath impelled 
His battle-axe ; that instant on his helm 
The sword of Talbot fell, aod with the blow 
Shivered. " Yet yield thee Englishman 1" efcdakaed 
The generous Frank— ** vain is this bloody strife : 

" Me shouldst thou conquer, little would my death 

" Avail thee, weak and wounded 1" 

" Long enough 

" Talbot has lived," replied the sullen Chief: 

" His hour is come -, yet shalt not thou survive* 

t% To glory in his fall !" So, as he spake, 

He lifted from the ground a massy spear* 

And rushed again to battle. 

Now more fierce 

The conflift ragec^ for careless of himself, » 

And desperate, Talbot fought. Colleaed still 



X. n6i 

Was Gonrade. Wheresoe'er his foeman aimed 
His barbed javeKn, there he swung around 
The guardian shield : the long and vain assault 
JLxhaueted Talbot now ; foredone with toil 
lie bare his buckler low for weariness, 
His buckler now splintered * with many a stroke 
Fell peaoetneal j from his riven arms the blood 
Streamed fast : and now the Frenchman's battle-axe 
Drove unresisted thro' the shieWless mail. 
Backward the Frank recoiled. " Urge not to death 
•" This fruitless contest/' cried he -, u live, oh Chief! 
*' Are there not those in England who would feel 



* V601 dcs Chevaliers etait ordinairement un bouclicr dc 
forme a peu pres triangulaire, large par le haut pour couvrir 
le corps,, et se termtnant en pointe par le baa, arm d'etre 
moins lourd. On les faisait de bois qu'on recouvrait avec du 
cuirbouilli, avecdesnerfs ou autres matteres dures, mais 
jamais de fer ou d' acier. Seulement il etait permis, pour 
ies empecher d' €tre coupes trop aisement par les epces, d' y 
mettle un ccrole d* orj d' argent, ou de fer, qui les entourat. 

Le Grand, 



X. 26a 

" Keen anguish at thy loss ? a wife perchance* 
" Who trembles for thy safety, or a child 
" Needing a Fathers care !"' 

Then Talbofr heart 
Smote him. " Warrior ! he cried, " if thou dost think. 
" That life is worth preserving, hie thee hence, 
" And. save thyself; I loath this useless talk." 

So saying, be addressed him to the fight, 
Impatient of existence : from their arms 
Flashed fire, and quick they panted; but not long 
Endured the deadly combat. With full force 
Down thro' his shoulder even to the chest, 
Conrade impelled the ponderous battle-axe 5 
And at that instant underneath his shield 
Received the hostile spear. Prone fell the Earl, 
Even in his death rejoicing that.no foe 
Should live to boast his fall: 

Then with faint hand < 
Conrade unlaced his helm, and from his brow. 



X. 263 

Wiping the cold dews, ominous of death, 

He laid him on the earth, thence to remove* 

While the long lance hong heavy in his side, 

Poweriess. As thus beside his lifeless foe 

He lay, the Herald of the English Earl 

With faltering step drew near, and when he saw 

His master's arms, " Alas ! and is it you, 

" My Lord?" he cried. " God pardon you your sins I 

" I have been forty years your officer, 

" And time it is I should surrender now 

" The ensigns of my office I" So he said, 

And paying thus his site, of sepulture, 

Threw o'er the slaughtered chief his blazoned * coat. 



* This fa& is mentioned in Andrews's History of England. 
I have merely versified the original expressions. «* The 
herald of Talbot sought out his body among the slain. " Alas 
my Lord ! and is it you ! I pray God pardon you all your 
misdoings. I have been your officer of arms forty years and 
more : it is time that I should surrender to you the ensigns 
of my office." Thus saying, with the tears gushing from 
his eyes, he threw his coat of arms over the corpse, thus 
performing one of the ancient rites of sepulture." 



X. J&4 

Then Conraft thus fcetyftltthfoi : tk fejgtehrn**, 
" Doforirdytngttfldtef oAetitwljd! 
" Seek for the M«4d tf tirtean* W* to !**& 
u Hither, add tbou sbail: gain What KtorapOK* 
" It pleases thfce toast/' 

Thfe herald soon, 
Meeting the ranriorrts* Virgin, toldhtafefle. 
Ttainbnihg-sn£ hastened ort, ant* ^neu sbfe^Kuew 
The death-pale Abe of Otaraete, scaVefe fcHrid JGLJiT 
Lift up the eipfririg *fcrnbV» heaty hantf, 
And press it to her heart. 

* rsetrtfbrthee, 
" !% ftftaxd !*• *rt& ihterVdptfcd roice hfc cited, 
" That I might comfort this my dying hour 
" With one good deed. A fifir domain is mine i $ 
" Let Francis and his Isabel possess 
" That, mine inheritance." He Ranted atfhile, 
Straggling for utterance j then urith breathless speedy 
And pate as him he rtiburned for, FVan'cis came, 
And hung in silence oVr the blameless swan. 



X. *63 

feven with a brother** sdrrow : he pursued, 

" Tbi* JOAN will bo thy cart. 1 ha?* at hdme 

" An aged mother— Francis do thou Sodthe 

" Her cKMiasa age. Nay. *eep ndt for me that : 

« Sweet to the wretehed is the tomb's rtpote !" 

So saying Conrad* d*eW the javelin forth, 
And died without • groan. 

By this the Scout*, 

Forerunning the King** mfcrcn, upon the pitta 
Of P**a* ht& arrived, of latfc to g*y 
With marshalled thousands in their radiant firms, 
And streamtert glittering ih the noon-tide sun, 
And blazon'd sniehfc; atiti gay afccoutreitttetitil,' 
The pageantry of muhter : now defiled 
With mingled dust dnd btobdj and ©token attn*, 
And mfc^ed' bodies. Sbon the Monarch jbirii 
His victor attriy. Round tfcfe royal flag, 
Upreaf d to conquest now, the Chieftains flock 
IVoff&WfeliW^iwgtts<Tvi<!e. Itbisawni, 



Or wisely fearful, or by speedy force 
Compelled, the embattled towns submit and owv 
Their rightful King. Baugenci strives in vain : 
Jenville and Mehun yield j from Sully's wall 
Huri'd is the bannered Lion : on they pass. 
Au&erre, ancLTroyes, and Chalons, ope their gates,. 
And by the Missioned Maiden-'s roraoured deeds 
Inspirited, the Citizens of Bheims 
Feel their own strength $ against the English troops 
With patriot valour, irresistible, 
They rise, they conquer, and to their liege Lord 
Present the city keys. 

The morn was fair 
When Rheims re-echoed to the busy hum. . 
Of multitudes, for high solemnity. 
Assembled. To the holy fabric moves 
The long procession, thro' the streets bestrewn 
With flowers and laurel boughs. The Courtier throng 
Were there, and they in Orleans, who endured 
The siege right bravely y Gaucour* and La Hire, 



X. 26f 

The gallant Xafntrailles, Boussac, and Chabannev 

La Fayette, name tjjat Freedom still shall love,. 

Aiencon, and the bravest of the brave,. 

The Bastard Orleans, now in hope elate> 

Soon to. release from hard captivity 

A dear-beloved brother j gallant men, 

And worthy of eternal memory, 

For they, in the most perilous times of France 

Despaired not of their country. By the King 

The Delegated Damsel passed along 

Clad in her battered, arms* She bore on high. 

Her hallowed banner to the sacred pile,. 

And fixed it on the altar, whilst her hand. 

Poured oa the Monarch's head the mystic * oil, 



* " The Frenchmen wonderfully reverence this oylt ; and' 
at the coronation of their Kings, fetch it from the church 
where it is kept, with great solemnity. For it is brought 
(saith Sleiden in his Commentaries) by the Prior sitting on a 
white ambling Palfrey, and "attended by his Monkes j the 
Archbishop of the town (Rheims) and such Bishops as are 
present, going to the church doc* to meet it, and leaving for 



Wafted of yore by milk-white Dove from Hearcn, 

(So legends say) to Clovk, when be stood 

At Rheims for baptism j dubioiis since that dny, 

When Tolbiec plain reefc'd with his warrior s bloocj. 

And fierce upon their flight the Alemanni prest, 

And reared the shout of triumph j in that hour 

Clovis invoked aloud the Christian God, 

And conquered : waked to wonder thus, the Chief 

Became Love's convert, and Clotilda led 

r t 

Her husband to the font. 

The Missioned Maid 
Then placed on Charles's brow the Crown of France, 
And back retiring, gazed upon the ting 
One moment, quickly scanning all the past, 
Till in a tumult of wild wonderment 
She wept aloud* The assembled multitude 



it with the Prior some £age, and the King, when k ts by the 
Archbishop brought to the altar, towing himself befojoe k 
'•mth .great reverence." 

Peter Htylyn. 



x. K5$ 

r; In awful stillness witnessed ; then at once, 
As with a tempest-rushing noise of winds, 
• Lifted their mingled clamours. Now the Maid 

oi Stood as prepared to speak, and waved her hand, 
And instant silence followed. 

4< King of France r 
She cried—" At Chinon, when my gifted eye 

t " Knew thee disguised, what inwardly the Spirit 
€t Prompted, I spake— armed with the sword of God 
u To drive from Orleans far the English Wolves, 
" And crown thee in the rescued walls of Rhemts. 

: " All is accomplished. I have here this day 
" Fulfilled my mission, and anointed thee 
* Chief Servant of the People. Of this charge, 
" Or well performed or wickedly, high Heaven 
" Shall take account. Jf that thine heart be good, 
" I know no limit to the happiness 
•' Thou mayest create. I do beseech thee King P* 
The Maid exclaimed, and fell upon the ground 
And clasped his knees, " I do beseech thee King f 



X. 270 

"*' By all the millions that depend on thefe, 
*' For weal or woe— consider what thou art, 
" And know thy doty ! if thou dost oppress 
" Thy. people, if to aggrandize thyself - 

" Thou tear'st them from their homes, and sendest them 
" To slaughter, prodigal of misery ! 
M If when the Widow and the Orphan groan 
" In want and wretchedness, thou turnest thee 
" To hear the music of the flatterer's tongue $ 
" If when thou hear st of thousands massacred, 
" Thou sayest, " I am a King 1 and fit it is 
" That these should.perish for me/' If thy realm 
" Should, thro 1 the counsels of thy government, 
" Be filled with woe, and in thy streets be heard 
" The voice of mourning and the feeble cry 
" Of asking hunger; if at such a time 
* € Thou dost behold thy plenty-covered board, 
" And shroud thee in thy robes of Royalty, 
" And say that all is well— Oh gracious God ! 
" Be merciful to such a monstrous man, 



X. 271 

" When the Spirits of the murdered innocent 
u Cry at thy throne for justice 1 

" King of France! 
" Protect the lowly, feed the hungry ones, 
" And be the Orphan's father ! thus shalt thou 
" Become the Representative of Heaven, 
" And Gratitude and Love establish thus 
" Thy reign. Believe me, King 1 that hireling guards, 
" Tho* fleshed in slaughter, would be weak to save 
ft A tyrant on the blood-cemented Throne 
" That totters underneath him.*' 

Thus the Maid 
Redeemed her country. Ever may the All-Just 
Give to the arms of Freboom such success. 



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