CARDINAL PALLAVICINI.
The Pope
Is dead, is dead.
[They rush out to the Guard—a cry down the galleries “The Pope is dead!”
POTO.
[Re-entering.] What horror!
His Blessèdness, where is he? Jammed behind
Those ribs of vaulting—but the throne still stands,
Veiled by a dais-curtain.
Re-enter the Lord Cardinal Antoniotto Pallavicini and the Papal Guard. The vesper bell begins to ring.
O my lord, look there!
[They discover the Pope.
CARDINAL PALLAVICINI.
Ah, God on earth, he keeps his throne! Not dead;
See, see, he moves the ruin from his hands.