Page:Keats - Poetical Works, DeWolfe, 1884.djvu/420

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OTHO THE GREAT.
 1st Lady. He muses.
 Gersa.O, Fortune, where will this end?
 Sigifred. I guess his purpose! Indeed he must not haveThat pestilence brought in,—that cannot be,There we must stop him.
 Gersa.I am lost! Hush, hush!He is about to rave again.
 Ludolph. A barrier of guilt! I was the fool,She was the cheater! Who's the cheater now,And who the fool? The entrapp'd, the caged fool,The bird-limed raven } She shall croak to deathSecure! Methinks I have her in my fist,To crush her with my heel! Wait, wait! I marvelMy father keeps away. Good friend—ah! Sigifred?Do bring him to me,—and Erminia,I fain would see before I sleep—and Ethelbert,That he may bless me, as I know he will,Though I have cursed him.
 Sigifred.Rather suffer meTo lead you to them.
 Ludolph.No, excuse me,—no!The day is not quite done. Go, bring them hither.[Exit Sigifred. Certes, a father's smile should, like sunlight,Slant on my sheaved harvest of ripe bliss.Besides, I thirst to pledge my lovely brideIn a deep goblet: let me see—what wine?The strong Iberian juice, or mellow Greek?Or pale Calabrian? Or the Tuscan grape?Or of old Ætna's pulpy wine-presses,Black stain'd with the fat vintage, as it were
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