Page:Keats - Poetical Works, DeWolfe, 1884.djvu/397

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OTHO THE GREAT.
381
 Conrad. Sister, you have grown sensible and wise,Seconding, ere I speak it, what is now,I hope, resolv'd between us.
 Auranthe. Say, what is't?
 Conrad. You need not be his sexton too: a manMay carry that with him shall make him dieElsewhere,—give that to him; pretend the whileYou will to-morrow succumb to his wishes,Be what they may, and send him from the castleOn some fool's errand; let his latest groanFrighten the wolves!
 Auranthe. Alas! he must not die!
 Conrad. Would you were both hearsed up in stifling lead!Detested—
 Auranthe. Conrad, hold! I would not bearThe little thunder of your fretful tongue,Tho' I alone were taken in these toils,And you could free me; but remember, sir,You live alone in my securitySo keep your wits at work, for your own sake,Not mine, and be more mannerly.
 Conrad.Thou wasp!If my domains were emptied of these folk,And I had thee to starve—
 Auranthe.O, marvellous!But Conrad, now be gone; the host is look'd for;Cringe to the Emperor, entertain the Lords,And, do ye mind, above all things, proclaimMy sickness, with a brother's sadden'd eye,Condoling with Prince Ludolph. In fit timeReturn to me.
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