Page:Poems of Emma Lazarus vol 2.djvu/120

102 Not too long, my liege. The moment ' favors. Later 't were hard to show Due cause to his Imperial Majesty, slaughtering the vassals of the Crown. Two mighty friends are theirs. His holiness Clement the Sixth and Kaiser KarL

'T were rash Contending with such odds.

Courage, my lord. These battle singly against death and fate. Your allies are the sense and heart o' the world. Priests warring for their Christ, nobles for gold. And peoples for the very breath of life Spoiled by the poison-mixers. Kaiser Karl Lifts his lone voice unheard, athwart the roar Of such a flood ; the papal bull is whirled An unconsidered rag amidst the eddies. What credence lend you to the general rumor Of the river poison ?