Page:The Corsair (Byron).djvu/57

Rh Alla il Alla! Vengeance swells the cry—

Shame mounts to rage that must atone or die!

And flame for flame and blood for blood must tell,

The tide of triumph ebbs that flowed too well—

When wrath returns to renovated strife,

And those who fought for conquest strike for life.

Conrad beheld the danger—he beheld

His followers faint by freshening foes repelled:

"One effort—one—to break the circling host!"

They form—unite—charge—waver—all is lost!

Within a narrower ring compress'd, beset,

Hopeless, not heartless, strive and struggle yet—

Ah! now they fight in firmest file no more,

Hemm'd in—cut off—cleft down—and trampled o'er;

But each strikes singly, silently, and home,

And sinks outwearied rather than o'ercome,

His last faint quittance rendering with his breath,

Till the blade glimmers in the grasp of death!

VII.

But first, ere came the rallying host to blows,

And rank to rank, and hand to hand oppose,