Page:The Siege of Valencia.pdf/80

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He came, with starry gems On his quiver and his crest; With starry gems, at whose heart the day Of the cloudless orient burning lay, And they cast a gleam on the laurel-stems, As onward his thousands press'd.

But a gloom fell o'er their way, And a heavy moan went by! A moan, yet not like the wind's low swell, When its voice grows wild amidst cave and dell, But a mortal murmur of dismay, Or a warrior's dying sigh!

A gloom fell o'er their way! 'Twas not the shadow cast By the dark pine-boughs, as they cross'd the blue Of the Grecian heavens with their solemn hue; —The air was fill'd with a mightier sway, —But on the spearmen pass'd!

And hollow, to their tread, Came the echoes of the ground,