Page:CromwellHugo.djvu/216

 Rochester [aside.]My verses bad! thou liest! Save the mark! Cromwell, this regicide, a judge of verse! Cromwell.This quatrain's savourless. Rochester. Forever damned The authors of such writings are, my lord. But in themselves the verses seem well turned. Trick [to the other , in an undertone. 'Tis sure, he is the author!
 * [Aloud.] I, who built

Those rhymes, agree that in Apollo's eyes They'd loom as crimes, so pitiful they are! Rochester [looking askance at the , aside. Ay, jeer and mock, ye vulture's parroquets, Ye leopard's monkeys! Cromwell. Learned Obededom, 'Tis not within your province to appraise These amorously soporific lines. Rochester [putting the paper in his pocket, aside. Frances will surely find them to her taste. Trick [saluting  ironically. My lord is far too kind to me! Rochester. To thee! How so? 'Twould give me pleasure thee to drive Through London, riding backward on an ass, And scourge thee lustily while God doth damn thee! Trick.The quatrain's author you would punish so? Rochester [confused.] Nay, I— Trick. Am I the man to hide his name? Rochester [with increasing perturbation. 'Tis well! Trick. 'Tis not my purpose to entreat His pardon. He deserves the lash! Rochester [aside.] The knave!