Page:The Statues in the Block and Other Poems (1881).djvu/36

30 Smelting their souls with his courage, he rides before his soldiers! They bend from his face like the sun—their eyes are blind with shame— They thrill as a stricken tiger thrills, gathering his limbs from a blow; They raise their faces, and watch him, sworded and mailed and strong; They watch him, and shout his name fiercely "Muley, the King!"

Grimly they close their ranks, drinking his face like wine; Strength to the arm and wrath to the soul, and power— Fuel and fire he was—and the battle roared like a crater!

Back to the litter, his face turned from the lines, and fixed In a stare like the faces in granite, the King