[Exit Bonafede weeping.
Now leave me to the air.
BISHOP OF VENOSA.
He will fall asleep.
ALEXANDER.
[The Crowd withdraws from the bed: the Pope chuckles, after fixing his eyes on Burchard; then his eyes close.
CARDINALS.
How wanton of his end!
—What of his soul?
—The noontide
To me is full of strange attentiveness.
Angels, or fiends?
—What of his soul?
—The noontide
To me is full of strange attentiveness.
Angels, or fiends?
BISHOP OF VENOSA.
Has he not made confession?
CARDINALS.
Ay, of concupiscence and simony,
If one may dare surmise—his open sins.
But of his secret sins! Think how they hide
And loom where fear is with them in men’s thoughts!
—They say he sold his soul to Lucifer
For full eleven years; and all are told.
If one may dare surmise—his open sins.
But of his secret sins! Think how they hide
And loom where fear is with them in men’s thoughts!
—They say he sold his soul to Lucifer
For full eleven years; and all are told.
[A wind stirs the curtains.
—He comes, he comes!
—An apparition like a monkey! Horror!
A straggling darkness....
—Are you sure? A monkey?
—And sounds!
Far more than seven devils are watching us.
—An apparition like a monkey! Horror!
A straggling darkness....
—Are you sure? A monkey?
—And sounds!
Far more than seven devils are watching us.
BISHOP OF VENOSA.
He has received Viaticum, Last Unction.
CARDINALS.
Ah, but he cannot die until his Master
Rise from below to take him, cannot die
As sinners do accepted by their God.
—He sleeps when he should die.
—Closed up in sin,
A sullen Viper of the woods!
—Remember....
Think of the death of Cardinal Michele,
Think of the Cardinal Orsini, think
Of Don Alfonso, Duke Astorre!
—Ay,
Think of the Lady Daughter.
Rise from below to take him, cannot die
As sinners do accepted by their God.
—He sleeps when he should die.
—Closed up in sin,
A sullen Viper of the woods!
—Remember....
Think of the death of Cardinal Michele,
Think of the Cardinal Orsini, think
Of Don Alfonso, Duke Astorre!
—Ay,
Think of the Lady Daughter.
BISHOP OF VENOSA.
Tales and bibble-babble!
Go, chatter with your monkey, fraternise!
He will not tickle this last sleep, my lords;
Give him your company.
Go, chatter with your monkey, fraternise!
He will not tickle this last sleep, my lords;
Give him your company.
A CARDINAL.
But tell us, Doctor,
Low in the ear, have not this son and father
Drunk of the cup Orsini and Michele
Drank at their hands? Have they not been envenomed?
Low in the ear, have not this son and father
Drunk of the cup Orsini and Michele
Drank at their hands? Have they not been envenomed?
BISHOP OF VENOSA.
Yea, by the hand of God, but not of man—
The venom of His secret pestilence,
The fever walking in this August air.
The venom of His secret pestilence,
The fever walking in this August air.
THE SAME CARDINAL.
Both struck together—is not that the singing
Of cantarella?
Of cantarella?
BISHOP OF VENOSA.
By my faith, lords—no.
The hand of God hath struck, and who shall tell
How far His mercy or His wrath is set?
Physicians cure by hope.
The hand of God hath struck, and who shall tell
How far His mercy or His wrath is set?
Physicians cure by hope.
Re-enter Lord Bonafede.
BONAFEDE.
The lord Duke Cesare
Is worse. Physician!
Is worse. Physician!
CARDINAL SEGOVIA.
[To the Bishop of Venosa.] Can you leave this bedside?
You cannot!
You cannot!
BISHOP OF VENOSA.
[The Pope has opened his eyes.
Dear Father,
I will bring you in an hour word that your Duke
Makes speed to visit you.
I will bring you in an hour word that your Duke
Makes speed to visit you.
[The Doctor and the other Surgeons and Apothecaries, with the Cardinals and Attendants, pass in an excited company from the room.
ALEXANDER.
[To himself.] But Burchard
Alters no muscle: nothing of importance
Therefore has passed....
My Chronicler,
And I have never looked into your books!
Alters no muscle: nothing of importance
Therefore has passed....
My Chronicler,
And I have never looked into your books!
[Glancing round, pleased.
Ah, they have left me lonely! How delicious
It is to be neglected when one dies.
It is to be neglected when one dies.
[Mischievously tickling Burchard’s nose with a fan that lies on the bed.
Burchard, good-night!
BURCHARD.
[Yawning.] O Holiness!
ALEXANDER.
You are napping at your post!
It does not matter.
You looked so ugly when you lay asleep,
I waked you: comely
You are when stiff and handsome in your clothes.
It does not matter.
You looked so ugly when you lay asleep,
I waked you: comely
You are when stiff and handsome in your clothes.
[Burchard stands formal before his master, who looks up at him, appealingly.
[Burchard, scandalised, seeks a crucifix.
Good Master
Of the Ceremonies, did you take account
Of my beauty when you chronicled my dress?
I have been very handsome ...
He is gone,
Stolen off in horror at my vanity.
And yet this beauty is not vanity;
The vanity is when it falls away,
And crumbles into nothingness.
Even our Lady
Keeps power of intercession for us all
By loveliness that in simplicity
Draws God to will its pleasure as His will
And perfect pleasure. [Folding his hands.
Rosa Mystica,
O Flower of God, O Rose, O Spotless one,
Thou dost unfold to us thy sweet—in showers
Thy fragrancy, thy dews are shed on me;
Thou droppest on my darkness as soft leaves.
Of the Ceremonies, did you take account
Of my beauty when you chronicled my dress?
I have been very handsome ...
He is gone,
Stolen off in horror at my vanity.
And yet this beauty is not vanity;
The vanity is when it falls away,
And crumbles into nothingness.
Even our Lady
Keeps power of intercession for us all
By loveliness that in simplicity
Draws God to will its pleasure as His will
And perfect pleasure. [Folding his hands.
Rosa Mystica,
O Flower of God, O Rose, O Spotless one,
Thou dost unfold to us thy sweet—in showers
Thy fragrancy, thy dews are shed on me;
Thou droppest on my darkness as soft leaves.
[He lies back, his eyelids softly stirring.
And there are scents—delicious—violets
And roses—unexpected—dropping down,
And running through the air. So unexpected,
So secret to me ... Violets, a gift,
As women give fresh from the hand ...
The flowers!
And roses—unexpected—dropping down,
And running through the air. So unexpected,
So secret to me ... Violets, a gift,
As women give fresh from the hand ...
The flowers!
[He lifts himself, rounding his arms to garner the vision.
[Burchard advances with Lord Bonafede and several Cardinals.
BURCHARD.
The Lord Duke is revived.
ALEXANDER.
SCENE IV
The Palace at Ferrara.
The Duchess Lucrezia Borgia d’Este, dressed in mourning, in a small room. She is feeding birds.
LUCREZIA.
My doves,
My little, gladsome ones.... Rodrigo!...
My little Roman dove, my young, a softness
Still to my bosom....
And this father—
His love to me, and all the streams of pearls!
They have not honourably buried him;
They are not sorry. [She weeps.
I have prayed so long:
I have been angry. In my dreams I prayed;
And then he broke it, for he came to me,
His lips bulged out for kisses: “Dance, Lucrece,
Dance to me, child; it is that grace prevails!”
My little, gladsome ones.... Rodrigo!...
My little Roman dove, my young, a softness
Still to my bosom....
And this father—
His love to me, and all the streams of pearls!
They have not honourably buried him;
They are not sorry. [She weeps.
I have prayed so long:
I have been angry. In my dreams I prayed;
And then he broke it, for he came to me,
His lips bulged out for kisses: “Dance, Lucrece,
Dance to me, child; it is that grace prevails!”
[After a pause—to the doves.
There, there! Fly out! There! Flutter on my shoulder,
And let me catch you.
Father, do you mark,
I am not weeping?—See, how they all settle
About me, on my head, and on my bosom—
See, how I rise and flutter them!
And let me catch you.
Father, do you mark,
I am not weeping?—See, how they all settle
About me, on my head, and on my bosom—
See, how I rise and flutter them!
[She rises and the doves disperse from her in troops.
How lightsome
They come back to their roost! Dear Blessèdness,
And this will give you peace....
They come back to their roost! Dear Blessèdness,
And this will give you peace....
[Suddenly she bows her golden head; the doves flutter down on it in a halo.
SCENE V
Nepi: a sullen evening over the volcanic country. Duke Cesare de Valentinois della Romagna lies stretched on a black litter along the terrace of the castle, under a clump of pomegranate-trees covered with blood-red apples.
A beautiful Mute sits on the ground and watches his every look or gesture.
CESARE.
Banished from all the passion of events,
While, like a sisterhood of Fates, at Rome,
The Conclave sits—
While hot night compasses these empty hills
That once had fire and action! [To the girl at his feet.
O my Silence,
What health in you, what pleasantness! A refuge,
A sepulchre, yet not of death!
They call Love blind: the finer love is dumb—
Our horses’ love, our dogs’, our falcons’, thine.
While, like a sisterhood of Fates, at Rome,
The Conclave sits—
While hot night compasses these empty hills
That once had fire and action! [To the girl at his feet.
O my Silence,
What health in you, what pleasantness! A refuge,
A sepulchre, yet not of death!
They call Love blind: the finer love is dumb—
Our horses’ love, our dogs’, our falcons’, thine.
[She rises by him to be caressed. As Madonna de’ Catanei comes to him, with a cup in her hand, the girl draws back and curls herself up in the roots of a cypress-tree.
VANOZZA.
It is the hour: forgive me, I have brought you
The draught, my Duke.... But let me take your hand,
And guide it to your lips.
The draught, my Duke.... But let me take your hand,
And guide it to your lips.
[He drinks: suddenly she kisses the blond hair over his forehead.
You have been very near
To death!
To death!
CESARE.
Its grey sea-bank that almost beached me
Were bliss to this denuded country.
Mother,
You loved my father fierily?
Were bliss to this denuded country.
Mother,
You loved my father fierily?
VANOZZA.
CESARE.
I am no Prince.... My lands
Are almost gone; only the citadels
Keep pledge of my old force. You and your Pope
Gave me no tenure on the earth. I curse you,
I curse you both. What was there left but ashes
For me, he being extinguished?
Are almost gone; only the citadels
Keep pledge of my old force. You and your Pope
Gave me no tenure on the earth. I curse you,
I curse you both. What was there left but ashes
For me, he being extinguished?
VANOZZA.
Excellence, you brought me
Along with you, and from our enemies,
For safety.
Along with you, and from our enemies,
For safety.
CESARE.
—It is blood,
The fascination of deep heritage,
Compels the old race back to every city
I vaunted mine....
I do not want you near,
I brought you out of danger. Openly
You are my mother, openly I drew you
Behind my litter to a refuge: always,
Till I am powerless, you will feel my power,
Protecting you....
The fascination of deep heritage,
Compels the old race back to every city
I vaunted mine....
I do not want you near,
I brought you out of danger. Openly
You are my mother, openly I drew you
Behind my litter to a refuge: always,
Till I am powerless, you will feel my power,
Protecting you....
Enter Messer Agapito da Amalia.
And is Giovanni Sforza
Restored to Pesaro?
Restored to Pesaro?
AGAPITO
My lord, he is.
[Cesare makes a hissing groan.
CESARE.
Is Guidobaldo in Urbino yet?
AGAPITO.
My lord, he is.
CESARE.
AGAPITO.
All the fair Umbrian Duchy has relapsed
From your control. [A silence.
From your control. [A silence.
CESARE.
Pandolfo Malatesta
Has entered Rimini?
Has entered Rimini?
AGAPITO.
Oh, cease to question
More of your fortune, with the purple
Of pestilence across your lips, the trembling
Of fever in your hands of war, beloved.
More of your fortune, with the purple
Of pestilence across your lips, the trembling
Of fever in your hands of war, beloved.
CESARE.
Giacomo d’Appiano has returned
To Piombino?
To Piombino?
AGAPITO.
Yes.
CESARE.
Ah, to my Piombino,
Messer da Vinci
Has re-erected for defence, a jewel
Wrought by a cunning jeweller, a threat
To Florence, a towered joy! So d’Appiano
Calls it his own again?
Messer da Vinci
Has re-erected for defence, a jewel
Wrought by a cunning jeweller, a threat
To Florence, a towered joy! So d’Appiano
Calls it his own again?
AGAPITO.
Yes, and it called him back.
CESARE.
Agapito, there still is worse behind.
Something not said is in you—publish it!
Something not said is in you—publish it!
AGAPITO.
Don Michelotto by the Florentines
With his whole troop is captured.
With his whole troop is captured.
CESARE.
Michelotto!
My curse on Florence! Messer Macchiavelli
Promised safe-conduct to him ... and delayed,
Playing me false.... What, Michelotto lost!
All of my army, but these failing troops
Camped on this sultry marl. Revolted dogs,
That fawned about my chase!
... Agapito,
Faithful, my pen, my representative
As signature is of oneself, go yonder,
Beside the cypress, gaze along the verge,
Where the great plateaux bow down to its base
From the Tiber valley: see if the Lord Vera
Is riding hither
With news of our new Pontiff.
My suspense—
Forced by the Sacred College to withdraw,
When ill almost to death, my troops and cannon
Ten miles away from Rome!
Agapito!
My curse on Florence! Messer Macchiavelli
Promised safe-conduct to him ... and delayed,
Playing me false.... What, Michelotto lost!
All of my army, but these failing troops
Camped on this sultry marl. Revolted dogs,
That fawned about my chase!
... Agapito,
Faithful, my pen, my representative
As signature is of oneself, go yonder,
Beside the cypress, gaze along the verge,
Where the great plateaux bow down to its base
From the Tiber valley: see if the Lord Vera
Is riding hither
With news of our new Pontiff.
My suspense—
Forced by the Sacred College to withdraw,
When ill almost to death, my troops and cannon
Ten miles away from Rome!
Agapito!
[He lays his hand on his Secretary’s.
—Hot?
AGAPITO.
[Kissing his hand.] Still the cruel sickness, empire’s canker?
[Turning to the cypress-mound] I will look out.
[Turning to the cypress-mound] I will look out.
[He stands by the trees. The Mute half-rears herself up, her face to the horizon.
CESARE.
[To Vanozza.] You gave me
No rights: then why not happy chance? Of chance
Has been my life, fortune my reeling glory.
Why did you bear me under stars conspired
Against the hour when fortune was supreme
For gain or loss? I am a thing of hazard....
You could not breed even luck in me, or give me
The moment that is power.
No rights: then why not happy chance? Of chance
Has been my life, fortune my reeling glory.
Why did you bear me under stars conspired
Against the hour when fortune was supreme
For gain or loss? I am a thing of hazard....
You could not breed even luck in me, or give me
The moment that is power.
[Vanozza looks at him a long time in silence: then she falls on her knees at his side, and presses her lips against the ruby ring on his thumb.
VANOZZA.
But I affirm
You are more wonderful than all the stars;
You are immortal for great fame, for greater
Than I can give the wording of. I bore you—
You are sacred, sacred. All the saints of heaven
Hold you in virtue! I had many dreams
When you were born. My Prince, though I could give you
No rights, and fortune is not in our hands
To give it where we love, I give you faith,
A mother’s, simple as the faith I give
To the High God—though He were poor, and nowhere
Had place to lay His head.
You are more wonderful than all the stars;
You are immortal for great fame, for greater
Than I can give the wording of. I bore you—
You are sacred, sacred. All the saints of heaven
Hold you in virtue! I had many dreams
When you were born. My Prince, though I could give you
No rights, and fortune is not in our hands
To give it where we love, I give you faith,
A mother’s, simple as the faith I give
To the High God—though He were poor, and nowhere
Had place to lay His head.
CESARE.
No marvel
My father, God’s own Sovereign-Vicar, loved you
For over twenty years and with deep fire,
As Jove loved mortals, as he took Europa
On broad bull-shoulders, over many seas,
To the quiet cave where she should bear a king.
No marvel that this beauty,
Proud even to rudeness in its provocation,
Was as his hearth! Rodrigo Borgia’s son
Asks your forgiveness.
My father, God’s own Sovereign-Vicar, loved you
For over twenty years and with deep fire,
As Jove loved mortals, as he took Europa
On broad bull-shoulders, over many seas,
To the quiet cave where she should bear a king.
No marvel that this beauty,
Proud even to rudeness in its provocation,
Was as his hearth! Rodrigo Borgia’s son
Asks your forgiveness.
VANOZZA.
Excellence!... But loose me!
Are you so strong?
Your breath beats at the nostrils as his beat.
Loose!... Let me meet Messer Agapito....
Are you so strong?
Your breath beats at the nostrils as his beat.
Loose!... Let me meet Messer Agapito....
[The Mute has pointed toward the horizon, touching Agapito’s sleeve; he has watched intently for some time, and now advances.
AGAPITO.
News, news, Signore!
I did not tell you till these travellers
Were at our very gates.
I did not tell you till these travellers
Were at our very gates.
CESARE.
[Shivering.] The dew comes down.
Mother, the cloak with ermine! [She goes out.
Mother, the cloak with ermine! [She goes out.
[The Mute creeps under the bushes to the further side of the litter and takes Cesare’s hand that falls that way.
Lord Cardinal Giovanni Vera of Perugia enters attended.
VERA.
Della Rovere,
Since you packed cards with him to save your Duchy,
Vicariate and Gonfaloniership,
Selling him all your Spanish votes, has triumphed,
Yea, of your making, is Pope Julius now,
Julius the Second.
Since you packed cards with him to save your Duchy,
Vicariate and Gonfaloniership,
Selling him all your Spanish votes, has triumphed,
Yea, of your making, is Pope Julius now,
Julius the Second.
CESARE.
Julius—Cesar
Must be allies.
Must be allies.
VERA.
I knelt down at his feet,
I told his Holiness you lay in peril,
Close on your death, and longed to die in Rome.
I told his Holiness you lay in peril,
Close on your death, and longed to die in Rome.
CESARE.
[With a laugh.] Well, he was touched?
VERA.
He welcomes you,
Gives you your old apartments in the Palace,
And only dwarfs your escort to a hundred
And fifty men.
Gives you your old apartments in the Palace,
And only dwarfs your escort to a hundred
And fifty men.
CESARE.
[Touching Vera’s wrist.] Lord Vera,
He told me, in hot pleading of his cause,
Perchance I was his son. Conceive it, Vera—
Twice of St. Peter’s line! We are complaisant,
For we can take all glory at its worth.
He told me, in hot pleading of his cause,
Perchance I was his son. Conceive it, Vera—
Twice of St. Peter’s line! We are complaisant,
For we can take all glory at its worth.
[Madonna de’ Catanei returns with the cloak of crimson and ermine. She and the Mute wrap it round Cesare’s shoulders.
O mother, hear! [Breaking into merry laughter.
The Vatican receives us as before;
The Vatican! [Vanozza brushes tears from her eyes.
And shortly
We shall recover all our own again,
Rimini, Piombino, Imola,
The duchies and the principalities.
Even now each fortress in Romagna keeps
As a locked coffer proof against our foes.
The Vatican! The Stanze!
The Gonfalon! We hold our very course.
The Vatican receives us as before;
The Vatican! [Vanozza brushes tears from her eyes.
And shortly
We shall recover all our own again,
Rimini, Piombino, Imola,
The duchies and the principalities.
Even now each fortress in Romagna keeps
As a locked coffer proof against our foes.
The Vatican! The Stanze!
The Gonfalon! We hold our very course.
SCENE VI
The Papagallo in the Borgia Apartments.
The Lord Julius II. meeting Don Garcilaso de la Vega, Spanish Ambassador.
JULIUS.
No, Don Garcilaso, I am resolved.
Here you will be received no more. Look round,
And bid farewell;
For in these tainted rooms I will not live:
The reek of blood, the breath of heathendom
Hang on them, and old perfumes of old orgies
Float, if one wrings the velvets. Antichrist!
Marranô! Devil!
His whelp, this Valentino—sorry schemer—
Is caged, but only
By promises of freedom can we wrench
The castles of the Holy Church away
From the hooked talons. Mark me!
Never must Valentino slip us, never
Must he have range.... Jove placed all Ætna over
The lawless powers of Earth ... I pass him on
To Naples, to Gonsalvo, when he yields
His castles up, as hostage that they yield:
But, since your lord King Ferdinand, nor I,
Nor true Gonsalvo can break word of faith,
Not even to Perfidy’s own Sovereign Prince,
Persuade your lord the king, and from my lips,
To have this murderer of his brother seized
At instance of the Duke of Gandia’s widow,
Then shipped to Spain, to the Hesperides,
And to his last accompt.
Here you will be received no more. Look round,
And bid farewell;
For in these tainted rooms I will not live:
The reek of blood, the breath of heathendom
Hang on them, and old perfumes of old orgies
Float, if one wrings the velvets. Antichrist!
Marranô! Devil!
His whelp, this Valentino—sorry schemer—
Is caged, but only
By promises of freedom can we wrench
The castles of the Holy Church away
From the hooked talons. Mark me!
Never must Valentino slip us, never
Must he have range.... Jove placed all Ætna over
The lawless powers of Earth ... I pass him on
To Naples, to Gonsalvo, when he yields
His castles up, as hostage that they yield:
But, since your lord King Ferdinand, nor I,
Nor true Gonsalvo can break word of faith,
Not even to Perfidy’s own Sovereign Prince,
Persuade your lord the king, and from my lips,
To have this murderer of his brother seized
At instance of the Duke of Gandia’s widow,
Then shipped to Spain, to the Hesperides,
And to his last accompt.
DON GARCILASO.
Laudabilis
Perfidia! ... On my faith!
The Carthaginian faith—yet I applaud.
[Meditating.] Arrested for the murder of his brother,
So old a sin, and blotted out so clear
By fresher stains....
Perfidia! ... On my faith!
The Carthaginian faith—yet I applaud.
[Meditating.] Arrested for the murder of his brother,
So old a sin, and blotted out so clear
By fresher stains....
JULIUS.
[Pointing to a picture by Pintoricchio on an easel.
Behold the family—
I will erase these images, these vile,
Contaminating forms: posterity
Shall have no pleasure of these mingled snakes;
For one by one these chambers shall be sealed
In their pollution, as a sepulchre.
I will erase these images, these vile,
Contaminating forms: posterity
Shall have no pleasure of these mingled snakes;
For one by one these chambers shall be sealed
In their pollution, as a sepulchre.
DON GARCILASO.
Good, good! You will erase their pictures—good!
But the arch-hypocrite himself, this flower
Of the fiend-brood, can you erase him?
But the arch-hypocrite himself, this flower
Of the fiend-brood, can you erase him?
JULIUS.
Wait!
[They part, and the Pope passes on to the Borgia Tower. The Papal Guard marches in and files behind him.
SCENE VII
The Borgia Tower in the Vatican.
Duke Cesare de Valentinois della Romagna is facing the Lord Julius II.
In the prison with him are Monsignore Gaspare Torella, Messer Agapito da Amalia, the Lord Cardinal Giovanni Vera of San Balbine, and some Spanish Cardinals.
JULIUS.
Your Castellan has hanged my messenger.
CESARE.
JULIUS.
You promised
Cesena should surrender.
Cesena should surrender.
CESARE.
Ha, it knows
The false word of command; it will not answer
Its lord in treason to himself, controlled
By force and the malignity of Fate.
The false word of command; it will not answer
Its lord in treason to himself, controlled
By force and the malignity of Fate.
JULIUS.
Spawn of a harlot, if you brave the Church,
Reserving her possessions, you descend
Into the Mola’s deepest cells to perish
Of darkness and the phantoms through the dark
Your serpent eyes will follow. This same hour
You will descend in night unless you render
The watchword of your castles. Render it!
Reserving her possessions, you descend
Into the Mola’s deepest cells to perish
Of darkness and the phantoms through the dark
Your serpent eyes will follow. This same hour
You will descend in night unless you render
The watchword of your castles. Render it!
CESARE.
[Retreating as if from a blow.
Your promise! You instated me; I gave you
My Spanish votes for the Vicariate
Of my Romagnole cities. I am still
Your Gonfalonier; and you press me thus ...
Fool, I believed your pledge!
My Spanish votes for the Vicariate
Of my Romagnole cities. I am still
Your Gonfalonier; and you press me thus ...
Fool, I believed your pledge!
JULIUS.
—To hand
Our Papal fiefs and lordships to the Wolf?
We gave you but your own and your own life.
Cur of the Devil!
And you can speak of oath or pledge! How simple
Such plea from you! Could Sinigaglia hear!
I’ll not be tricked. Dog in a doublet, villain!
Unbosom!
Our Papal fiefs and lordships to the Wolf?
We gave you but your own and your own life.
Cur of the Devil!
And you can speak of oath or pledge! How simple
Such plea from you! Could Sinigaglia hear!
I’ll not be tricked. Dog in a doublet, villain!
Unbosom!
[He strikes his staff on the ground and grasps Cesare’s vest.
CESARE.
[Suddenly slipping down to Julius’ feet.
Holiness,
Secure your castles from the grasp of Venice!
While they are ruled by me, impregnable
They stand about the country; they remain
The castles of the Church. But publish me
A traitor to these walls my sword has won,
The strongholds lapse to Venice. For a Pope
I won them, let me hold them for a Pope—
Secure your castles from the grasp of Venice!
While they are ruled by me, impregnable
They stand about the country; they remain
The castles of the Church. But publish me
A traitor to these walls my sword has won,
The strongholds lapse to Venice. For a Pope
I won them, let me hold them for a Pope—
[With a faint smile.
Under the shadow of your wings.
JULIUS.
The watchword!
CESARE.
Let me hold them in their strength
For Rome, the Church!
For Rome, the Church!