WHAT turned the German myriads back <br />From Paris whither they had won? <br />The sword dropped from their hold grown slack; <br />Children of Attila the Hun, <br />Like Attila, went backward driven <br />By a young shepherdess of Heaven. <br /> <br />A shepherdess is Genevieve, <br />And though her flock should wander light, <br />This shepherdess is quick to save <br />The black, the speckled and the white. <br />She takes her golden crook and goes <br />And deals destruction to its foes. <br /> <br />She who turned Attila back, so slim, <br />A shepherdess that keeps the flock, <br />Waited as once she did for him, <br />Slight as a reed or her own crook; <br />'Turn back in God's Name!' They went back. <br />The tide is stemmed for her sweet sake. <br /> <br />White Genevieve upon her hill <br />Prays, and the German hosts retreat. <br />She plucks the Robes of Heaven still <br />That Heaven give victory for defeat; <br />And keeps her motley flock in sight, <br />The black, the speckled and the white.<br /><br />Katharine Tynan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/what-turned-the-germans-back/
