 | Youthful Verses by Francis Thompson |  |
6
THE STORMING OF CORINTH.
Now streamed the boding Crescent on the wind;
Serried, and dark, and eager, poured behind
The turbaned multitudes of Turkish war,
Scenting the destined slaughter from afar.
As when amidst the burning Ethiop land
The locust-swarms, innumerous as the sand,
Whir onwards on the desert's parching blast,
Serried, and dark, and eager, poured behind
The turbaned multitudes of Turkish war,
Scenting the destined slaughter from afar.
As when amidst the burning Ethiop land
The locust-swarms, innumerous as the sand,
Whir onwards on the desert's parching blast,
Hide the strong sun and bare the country past,
And falling still, and still advancing more,
Pass, dealing ruin, to the ocean's shore,—
So countless, so destructive, rushed to fight
The Turkish hosts, resistless in their might.
Far other stood upon the crumbling wall,
The Christians left to meet that tempest's fall.
How few, and yet how faithful! Battered, worn,
Their armour hacked and stained, their plumes all torn.
And falling still, and still advancing more,
Pass, dealing ruin, to the ocean's shore,—
So countless, so destructive, rushed to fight
The Turkish hosts, resistless in their might.
Far other stood upon the crumbling wall,
The Christians left to meet that tempest's fall.
How few, and yet how faithful! Battered, worn,
Their armour hacked and stained, their plumes all torn.
| Youthful Verses by Francis Thompson | |