XXVII.

Oh, arrow-pierced for Christ! whose mighty ban Against the arrowy shower of pestilence In aid Divine is still invoked by Man, And potent still, this plague send howling hence. By that great voice, whose eloquence intense, When Marcus trembled, made him firm to win The Martyr-crown, and Christian turned the dense Blood-thirsting crowd--guard, judges--all within Its mighty compass, rise, and stay the steps of sin!