  We calculate the effective charge for multimagnon infrared (IR) absorption
assisted by phonons in the parent insulating compounds of cuprate
superconductors and the spectra for two-magnon absorption using interacting
spin-wave theory. Recent measured bands in the mid IR [Perkins et al. Phys.
Rev. Lett. {\bf 71} 1621 (1993)] are interpreted as involving one phonon plus a
two-magnon virtual bound state, and one phonon plus higher multimagnon
absorption processes. The virtual bound state consists of a narrow resonance
occurring when the magnon pair has total momentum close to $(\pi,0)$.
