While Paul with tongue or pen such things discoursed, Things heavenly and things earthly intermixed (Yet so as earthly things to raise to heaven, Like the sea lifted skyward by the moon), Simon the sorcerer, with the guilty pair, His master and his mistress, otherwise Was busy, plotting the apostle's death. Plot within plot there was; the sorcerer sought The death of Felix too, for hate of him. To compass this, he fed Drusilla's mind With bitter poison and with poison sweet; The bitter, of innuendo to inflame Her jealous rancor more against her spouse; The sweet, of flattery ever interfused In casual hint dropped, whisper by the way, No recognition sought, still less reply, Rebuke, repudiation, tempted not, But inly working to inebriate Her pride of beauty and her sense of power, Till she should dare whatever need be dared Of danger or of crime to clear her way To empire hoped over the emperor. At length the double venom took effect Such on Drusilla's fierce aspiring mind, That Simon ventured on these words to her: "Ill sleeper is thine husband, O my liege! I overhear him oft in troubled dream Belching forth broken voices of unrest. He sleeps like Ætna or Vesuvius, Say like Enceladus with Ætna piled-- Thou knowest their fable of that giant old. I hope he never will by evil chance Work his wife harm unmeant in his nightmares! Such weight, such strength, are monstrous in such throes!" Drusilla was as deep as Simon; she Well enough guessed whither he tended so. She made her face an utter vacancy, And listened all as if she listened not, While Simon, who was satisfied, went on With his approaches neither shunned nor met: "At least, madam, thine own rest needs must be Disturbed: it would be easy to compose Thine husband to a sounder sleep." He paused, And she made answer quite as from the point, But Simon did not miss the relevance: "Simon, my lord is still postponed at court, Has had no hearing of the emperor: Reason enough that he should restless be. Procure he have his audience soon, and then-- Simon, what thinkest thou? Would it not be well That I attend him when he pleads his cause? Thou knowest I have some gift of eloquence, The woman's, and thy master is but man, And somewhat slow of speech--if thick of wit Too, that becomes me not to say to thee. I feel that I might help our common cause By being in presence with the emperor Myself, as loyal sponsor for my spouse." "Excellent," Simon said; "and no doubt I, Permitted to make proffer such as this From queen Drusilla, shall with ease contrive An early audience with his majesty." The conscious twain each other understood, But neither token gave with lip or eye.