Torquato Tasso: A Play

Princess.

There comes my brother, let us not betray
Where the conversation has turned,
We would have to bear his jest,
Just as our clothing endured his mockery.

Second Scene.

Alphons.

I am looking for Tasso, whom I find nowhere,
And I do not encounter him—not even here with you.
Can you give me no news of him?

Princess.

I saw him little yesterday, and not at all today.

Alphons.

It is an old fault of his that he seeks
Solitude more than company.