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Words: 27511 in 13 pages
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ach distant quarter had disgorged itself Of its inhabitants. Age had forgotten All its decrepitude; sickness, its pains. Walls, windows, streets, each edifice and pillar Seemed as a living mass; and waving hands And loud acclaims filled the astonished air. The sun burst forth in joy. Onward she came, Our civil functionaries at her head, The wonderous sword and standard borne before her. The princely Duke Alen?on at her side, His stately countenance impressed alike With patriotic joy and martial pride.
ARN. And thou wert in the fight?
VAL. I was, and near her; A proud distinction, for where'er she stood There hottest battle raged: the foe to crush her, Friends to rival her. Sight alone of her Gave spirit to the faint, and kindled courage E'en to its height. Herself in ev'ry part, Like lightning's bolt was seen, sudden as fatal.
ARN. The night was terrible. The heavens appeared To threaten earth with wreck.
VAL. It has no fellow. Terrific thunders rattled through the sky, And fiery vengeance hissed upon the ground, With human gore and heavy rain deep drenched. "See! Heaven itself doth fight for us!" she cried. As struck with terror back our troops recoiled. The happy augury was hailed with shouts, And victory was ours.
ARN. But yet, methinks, The hand of woman should be free from stain, And most from stain of blood: the lamb for innocence, The kite for prey.
VAL. No blood has stained her hand. The sword she bears nor forms defence, nor wounds, But guides the fight. Amidst its loudest din And fiercest rage she shows a countenance Most calmly brave, most femininely gentle.
ARN. And he, great Orleans' valiant son, was he--
VAL. Ah! 'twas a curious sight to see how proud He scorned the maid when first she reached the camp. His great heart swelled against her, and his gibe, Keen as his sword, betrayed contempt.
ARN. And well He might be pardoned, if he deemed the thought Injurious, that a woman should succeed Where he himself had failed.
VAL. Forth armed she went, A graceful female, though in martial garb. He marked her lack of sword and loosed his own; And with a curled lip and mock humility He turned the heft, and offered it in silence. "I may not trust to arms," she calmly said. His searching eye glanced on her countenance, He coloured crimson deep, and the proud sneer Forsook his lip, and, like a lion tamed, He showed him gentlest where he least intended.
VAL. Why should the thought Dart agony like this into my heart?
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