Page:CromwellHugo.djvu/94

Carr [after a pause.]Of the Long Parliament I've earned the wrath.
The Tower hath held me under lock and key
Mourning our liberties, these seven years,
Vanished 'neath Cromwell's rule. My gaoler said
To me this morning, throwing wide my door:—
"At the Three Cranes thou art awaited. Go!
"Its tribes doth Israel convoke; at last
"Cromwell's to be o'erthrown, and in his fall
"The foul abuses that corrupt the state."—
So went I forth, and as in days of old
Jacob to Mesopotamia, I come
To your fraternal door. My soul awaits
Your blessed healing words, as does the earth
The rain from heaven. I am girt about
And made unclean with malediction dire.
Wherefore with hyssop purify me, pray;
For if your eyes turn not their light upon me,
I shall be as a dead man in the tomb!
Rochester [to Davenant, in an undertone.]What shocking jargon!
Davenant [in the same tone.] From th' Apocalypse.
Carr.My soul doth crave the light.
Rochester [aside.] My soul doth crave the light. Then put an end
To the eclipse! I gather from his speech
He's from the Tower and his name is Carr.
He's one of the conspirators sent hither
By Barkstead. This same Carr's a sectary,
A bird of prey. Assisted by Strachan,
In the late war he drew his forces off
From the encampment of the Parliament.
The Parliament confined him in the Tower;
But, Master Davenant, blush you to know
That Cromwell he reproached for that he did
By treachery the Parliament dissolve