Whether it be, the old contagious fit

And plague o' the prison have surprised me too,

The appropriate drunkenness of the death-hour

Crept on my sense, kind work o' the wine and myrrh,—

I know not,—I begin to taste my strength,

Careless, gay even. What's the worth of life?

The Pope 's dead now, my murderous old man,

For Tozzi told me so: and you, forsooth—

Why, you don't think, Abate, do your best,

You 'll live a year more with that hacking cough