IV.
Then came the awful ravage of the fray:
The cannon’s roar, the dying’s groan, the sounds of war.
And ev’rywhere was blood—the verdure was
Beneath the hard foot trampled and the day
Turned dark beneath the reign of chaos wild.
V.
The Mincio’s waters drifted toward the sea.
But ever on its bosom wild was borne
The life-blood of the soldier’s in the fray.
Ah! red as blood its once clear waters were,
And on its banks the same dread curse prevailed.
VI.
Thus man shall slay and man shall die until
The time when his wild fury thus unchecked
Shall spend itself and once relapse away.
Oh! may man’s conscience soon awake to learn
The wild disaster that his fury wrought.