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the outlaw.
Enter Page.
Page. My lord, the money hath been paid.
Duke. 'Tis well.
Page. Pardon me, my lord, for speaking;
But it is said the famous Robber of the Rhine,
But lately captured, hath been brought, in chains,
To wait thy judgment.
Duke. Alas! alas! the penalty is great of worldly power:—
Must I condemn this man to death?
Take the bright cup of life from his parched lips,
And make his wife a widow, and his orphans
A bye-word and a stain upon the earth?
It must be so! Would that my aged head
Was laid in peace beneath the sheltering marble;
There are but few to weep for me,
And those—alas! I weep for them.
Duke. 'Tis well.
Page. Pardon me, my lord, for speaking;
But it is said the famous Robber of the Rhine,
But lately captured, hath been brought, in chains,
To wait thy judgment.
Duke. Alas! alas! the penalty is great of worldly power:—
Must I condemn this man to death?
Take the bright cup of life from his parched lips,
And make his wife a widow, and his orphans
A bye-word and a stain upon the earth?
It must be so! Would that my aged head
Was laid in peace beneath the sheltering marble;
There are but few to weep for me,
And those—alas! I weep for them.
SCENE II.—Street in Dresden.
Enter Citizens.
1st Citizen. So the noted robber's safe at last?
2nd Cit. Thinkest thou he will be hung?
2nd Cit. Thinkest thou he will be hung?
