I would you loved me less, I would
You did not hold me here as in your clutches.
Midsummer! I shall never see my own:
I have seen you. Beauty, you have no season,
Nor warmth, I think: you are a cruel goddess,
That loves her mortal, and can let him die,
Her fit of doting ended.
LUCREZIA.
Will you quarrel?
[The Pope’s voice is heard calling through the halls.
ALEXANDER.
Where is she?
Lucrezia, Lucrezia! My little nurse!
Lucrezia! [He enters.
LUCREZIA.
[Rising with Alfonso.] We are here, dear father.
ALEXANDER.
Ha!
Feast of S. John, is this austerity?
Skinning cool peaches in a vestibule?
You should have seen the bull-fight, my fair Spaniard.
Cesare....
But he is Hercules! There, in his doublet,
With his short sword he faced five bulls.
I watched
The issue, not the contest; for ... conceive!—
Five spurting carcases, the animals
So swiftly struck one could not draw one’s breath
Between the passes. But the beasts were slain
Before his presence as in sacrifice!
The bloody smoke rose up as to a god.
Ah, little Spaniard, and you kept the hour
Toying with Naples.
[He gives a chuckling whistle.] An arena, child—
Above a reeking tiger there was silence
When Commodus, the golden-haired, stood up;
But when our Spada smote, and at one blow down tumbled
A huge, protesting head, the multitude
Lifted a crowd of shouts into the sky,
And saw no more; hearing was everywhere.
Then, as the noise grew thinner, he emerged
In beauty ... oh, an athlete! oh, a David!