Page:The ascent of man by Blind, Mathilde.djvu/57


 * But king calls on king in wild alarms,

Troops march threatening through the vales and passes,
 * Barefoot Faubourgs at the cry to arms

On the frontier hurl their desperate masses:
 * The deep tocsin's boom
 * Fills the streets with gloom,
 * And with iron hand
 * The red Terror guillotines the land.


 * For the Furies of the sanguine past

Chase fair Freedom, struggling torn and baffled,
 * Till infuriate—turned to bay at last—

Rolled promiscuous on the common scaffold,
 * Vengeful she shall smite
 * A Queen's head bleached white.
 * And a courtesan's
 * Whose light hands once held the reins of France.