Down came the blow! but in the heath
The erring blade found bloodless sheath.
The struggling foe may now unclasp
The fainting Chief’s relaxing grasp;
Unwounded from the dreadful close,
But breathless all, Fitz-James arose.
XVII.
He falter’d thanks to Heaven for life,
Redeem’d, unhoped, from desperate strife;
Next on his foe his look he cast,