SCHNETZEN.
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
LANDGRAVE.
'T were rash
Contending with such odds.
SCHNETZEN.
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.
LANDGRAVE.
What credence lend you to the general rumor
Of the river poison ?
