OCTAVIO.And know'st thou what it is which we must do?That Illo's drunken mood betrayed it to thee.Bethink thyself, what hast thou heard, what seen?The counterfeited paper, the omissionOf that particular clause, so full of meaning,Does it not prove that they would bind us downTo nothing good?
MAX.That counterfeited paperAppears to me no other than a trickOf Illo's own device. These underhandTraders in great men's interests ever useTo urge and hurry all things to the extreme.They see the duke at variance with the court,And fondly think to serve him, when they widenThe breach irreparably. Trust me, father,The duke knows nothing of all this.
OCTAVIO.It grieves meThat I must dash to earth, that I must shatterA faith so specious; but I may not spare thee!For this is not a time for tenderness.Thou must take measured, speedy ones, must act.I therefore will confess to thee that allWhich I've intrusted to thee now, that allWhich seems to thee so unbelievable,That—yes, I will tell thee, (a pause) Max.! I had it allFrom his own mouth, from the duke's mouth I had it.
MAX (in excessive agitation).No! no! never!
OCTAVIO.Himself confided to meWhat I, 'tis true, had long before discoveredBy other means; himself confided to me,That 'twas his settled plan to join the Swedes;And, at the head of the united armies,Compel the emperor——
MAX.He is passionate,The court has stung him; he is sore all overWith injuries and affronts; and in a momentOf irritation, what if he, for once,Forgot himself? He's an impetuous man.
OCTAVIO.Nay, in cold blood he did confess this to meAnd having construed my astonishmentInto a scruple of his power, he showed meHis written evidences—showed me letters,Both from the Saxon and the Swede, that gavePromise of aidance, and defined the amount.
MAX.It cannot be!—cannot be! cannot be!Dost thou not see, it cannot!Thou wouldst of necessity have shown himSuch horror, such deep loathing—that or heHad taken thee for his better genius, orThou stood'st not now a living man before me.
OCTAVIO.I have laid open my objections to him,Dissuaded him with pressing earnestness;But my abhorrence, the full sentimentOf my whole heart—that I have still kept safeTo my own consciousness.
MAX.And thou hast beenSo treacherous? That looks not like my father!I trusted not thy words, when thou didst tell meEvil of him; much less can I now do it,That thou calumniatest thy own self.
OCTAVIO.I did not thrust myself into his secrecy.
MAX.Uprightness merited his confidence.
OCTAVIO.He was no longer worthy of sincerity.
MAX.Dissimulation, sure, was still less worthyOf thee, Octavio!
OCTAVIO.Gave I him a causeTo entertain a scruple of my honor?
MAX.That he did not evince his confidence.
OCTAVIO.Dear son, it is not always possibleStill to preserve that infant purityWhich the voice teaches in our inmost heart,Still in alarm, forever on the watchAgainst the wiles of wicked men: e'en virtueWill sometimes bear away her outward robesSoiled in the wrestle with iniquity.This is the curse of every evil deedThat, propagating still, it brings forth evil.I do not cheat my better soul with sophisms;I but perform my orders; the emperorPrescribes my conduct to me. Dearest boy,Far better were it, doubtless, if we allObeyed the heart at all times; but so doing,In this our present sojourn with bad men,We must abandon many an honest object.'Tis now our call to serve the emperor;By what means he can best be served—the heartMay whisper what it will—this is our call!
MAX.It seems a thing appointed, that to-dayI should not comprehend, not understand thee.The duke, thou sayest, did honestly pour outHis heart to thee, but for an evil purpose:And thou dishonestly hast cheated himFor a good purpose! Silence, I entreat thee—My friend, thou stealest not from me—Let me not lose my father!
OCTAVIO (suppressing resentment).As yet thou knowest not all, my son. I haveYet somewhat to disclose to thee.[After a pause.Duke FriedlandHath made his preparations. He reliesUpon the stars. He deems us unprovided,And thinks to fall upon us by surprise.Yea, in his dream of hope, he grasps alreadyThe golden circle in his hand. He errs,We, too, have been in action—he but graspsHis evil fate, most evil, most mysterious!
MAX.Oh, nothing rash, my sire! By all that's good,Let me invoke thee—no precipitation!
OCTAVIO.With light tread stole he on his evil way,And light of tread hath vengeance stole on after him.Unseen she stands already, dark behind himBut one step more—he shudders in her grasp!Thou hast seen Questenberg with me. As yetThou knowest but his ostensible commission:He brought with him a private one, my son!And that was for me only.
MAX.May I know it?
OCTAVIO (seizes the patent).Max!In this disclosure place I in thy hands[A pause.The empire's welfare and thy father's life.Dear to thy inmost heart is WallensteinA powerful tie of love, of veneration,Hath knit thee to him from thy earliest youth.Thou nourishest the wish,—O let me stillAnticipate thy loitering confidence!The hope thou nourishest to knit thyselfYet closer to him——
MAX.Father——
OCTAVIO.Oh, my son!I trust thy heart undoubtingly. But am IEqually sure of thy collectedness?Wilt thou be able, with calm countenance,To enter this man's presence, when that IHave trusted to thee his whole fate?
MAX.AccordingAs thou dost trust me, father, with his crime.
[OCTAVIO takes a paper out of his escritoire and gives it to him.
MAX.What! how! a full imperial patent!
OCTAVIO.Read it.
MAX. (just glances on it).Duke Friedland sentenced and condemned!
OCTAVIO.Even so.
MAX. (throws down the paper).Oh, this is too much! O unhappy error!
OCTAVIO.Read on. Collect thyself.
MAX. (after he has read further, with a look of affright and astonishmenton his father).How! what! Thou! thou!
OCTAVIO.But for the present moment, till the KingOf Hungary may safely join the army,Is the command assigned to me.
MAX.And think'st thou,Dost thou believe, that thou wilt tear it from him?Oh, never hope it! Father! father! father!An inauspicious office is enjoined thee.This paper here!—this! and wilt thou enforce it?The mighty in the middle of his host,Surrounded by his thousands, him wouldst thouDisarm—degrade! Thou art lost, both thou and all of us.
OCTAVIO.What hazard I incur thereby, I know.In the great hand of God I stand. The AlmightyWill cover with his shield the imperial house,And shatter, in his wrath, the work of darkness.The emperor hath true servants still; and evenHere in the camp, there are enough brave menWho for the good cause will fight gallantly.The faithful have been warned—the dangerousAre closely watched. I wait but the first step,And then immediately——
Max.What? On suspicion?Immediately?
OCTAVIO.The emperor is no tyrant.The deed alone he'll punish, not the wish.The duke hath yet his destiny in his power.Let him but leave the treason uncompleted,He will be silently displaced from office,And make way to his emperor's royal son.An honorable exile to his castlesWill be a benefaction to him ratherThan punishment. But the first open step——
MAX.What callest thou such a step? A wicked stepNe'er will he take; but thou mightest easily,Yea, thou hast done it, misinterpret him.
OCTAVIO.Nay, howsoever punishable wereDuke Friedland's purposes, yet still the stepsWhich he hath taken openly permitA mild construction. It is my intentionTo leave this paper wholly unenforcedTill some act is committed which convicts himOf high treason, without doubt or plea,And that shall sentence him.
MAX.But who the judge
OCTAVIO.Thyself.
MAX.Forever, then, this paper will lie idle.
OCTAVIO.Too soon, I fear, its powers must all be proved.After the counter-promise of this evening,It cannot be but he must deem himselfSecure of the majority with us;And of the army's general sentimentHe hath a pleasing proof in that petition,Which thou delivered'st to him from the regiments.Add this too—I have letters that the RhinegraveHath changed his route, and travels by forced marchesTo the Bohemian forests. What this purportsRemains unknown; and, to confirm suspicion,This night a Swedish nobleman arrived here.
MAX.I have thy word. Thou'lt not proceed to actionBefore thou hast convinced me—me myself.
OCTAVIO.Is it possible? Still, after all thou know'st,Canst thou believe still in his innocence?
MAX. (with enthusiasm).Thy judgment may mistake; my heart cannot.[Moderates his voice and manner.These reasons might expound thy spirit or mine;But they expound not Friedland—I have faith:For as he knits his fortunes to the stars,Even so doth he resemble them in secret,Wonderful, still inexplicable courses!Trust me, they do him wrong. All will be solved.These smokes at once will kindle into flame—The edges of this black and stormy cloudWill brighten suddenly, and we shall viewThe unapproachable glide out in splendor.
OCTAVIO.I will await it.
OCTAVIO and MAX. as before. To then the VALET OFTHE CHAMBER.
OCTAVIO.How now, then?
VALET.A despatch is at the door.
OCTAVIO.So early? From whom comes he then? Who is it?
VALET.That he refused to tell me.
OCTAVIO.Lead him in:And, hark you—let it not transpire.
[Exit VALET: the CORNET steps in.
OCTAVIO.Ha! cornet—is it you; and from Count Gallas?Give me your letters.
CORNET.The lieutenant-generalTrusted it not to letters.
OCTAVIO.And what is it?
CORNET.He bade me tell you—Dare I speak openly here?
OCTAVIO.My son knows all.
CORNET.We have him.
OCTAVIO.Whom?
CORNET.Sesina,The old negotiator.
OCTAVIO (eagerly).And you have him?
CORNET.In the Bohemian Forest Captain MohrbrandFound and secured him yester-morning early.He was proceeding then to Regensburg,And on him were despatches for the Swede.
OCTAVIO.And the despatches——
CORNET.The lieutenant-generalSent them that instant to Vienna, andThe prisoner with them.
OCTAVIO.This is, indeed, a tiding!That fellow is a precious casket to us,Enclosing weighty things. Was much found on him?
CORNET.I think, six packets, with Count Terzky's arms.
OCTAVIO.None in the duke's own hand?
CORNET.Not that I know.
OCTAVIO.And old Sesina.
CORNET.He was sorely frightened.When it was told him he must to Vienna;But the Count Altringer bade him take heart,Would he but make a full and free confession.
OCTAVIO.Is Altringer then with your lord? I heardThat he lay sick at Linz.
CORNET.These three days pastHe's with my master, the lieutenant-general,At Frauenburg. Already have they sixtySmall companies together, chosen men;Respectfully they greet you with assurances,That they are only waiting your commands.
OCTAVIO.In a few days may great events take place.And when must you return?
CORNET.I wait your orders.
OCTAVIO.Remain till evening.[CORNET signifies his assent and obeisance, and is going.No one saw you—ha?
CORNET.No living creature. Through the cloister wicketThe capuchins, as usual, let me in.
OCTAVIO.Go, rest your limbs, and keep yourself concealed.I hold it probable that yet ere eveningI shall despatch you. The developmentOf this affair approaches: ere the day,That even now is dawning in the heaven,Ere this eventful day hath set, the lotThat must decide our fortunes will be drawn.
[Exit CORNET.
OCTAVIO and MAX. PICCOLOMINI.
OCTAVIO.Well—and what now, son? All will soon be clear;For all, I'm certain, went through that Sesina.
MAX. (who through the whole of the foregoing scene has been ina violent and visible struggle of feelings, at length startsas one resolved).I will procure me light a shorter way.Farewell.
OCTAVIO.Where now? Remain here.
MAX.To the Duke.
OCTAVIO (alarmed).What——
MAX. (returning).If thou hast believed that I shall actA part in this thy play, thou hastMiscalculated on me grievously.My way must be straight on. True with the tongue,False with the heart—I may not, cannot beNor can I suffer that a man should trust me—As his friend trust me—and then lull my conscienceWith such low pleas as these: "I ask him not—He did it all at his own hazard—andMy mouth has never lied to him." No, no!What a friend takes me for, that I must be.I'll to the duke; ere yet this day is endedWill I demand of him that he do saveHis good name from the world, and with one strideBreak through and rend this fine-spun web of yours.He can, he will! I still am his believer,Yet I'll not pledge myself, but that those lettersMay furnish you, perchance, with proofs against him.How far may not this Terzky have proceeded—What may not he himself too have permittedHimself to do, to snare the enemy,The laws of war excusing? Nothing, saveHis own mouth shall convict him—nothing less!And face to face will I go question him.
OCTAVIO.Thou wilt.
MAX.I will, as sure as this heart beats.
OCTAVIO.I have, indeed, miscalculated on thee.I calculated on a prudent son,Who would have blessed the hand beneficentThat plucked him back from the abyss—and lo!A fascinated being I discover,Whom his two eyes befool, whom passion wilders,Whom not the broadest light of noon can heal.Go, question him! Be mad enough, I pray thee.The purpose of thy father, of thy emperor,Go, give it up free booty! Force me, drive meTo an open breach before the time. And now,Now that a miracle of heaven had guardedMy secret purpose even to this hour,And laid to sleep suspicion's piercing eyes,Let me have lived to see that mine own son,With frantic enterprise, annihilatesMy toilsome labors and state policy.
MAX.Ay—this state policy! Oh, how I curse it!You will some time, with your state policy,Compel him to the measure: it may happen,Because ye are determined that he is guilty,Guilty ye'll make him. All retreat cut off,You close up every outlet, hem him inNarrower and narrower, till at length ye force him—Yes, ye, ye force him, in his desperation,To set fire to his prison. Father! father!That never can end well—it cannot—will not!And let it be decided as it may,I see with boding heart the near approachOf an ill-starred, unblest catastrophe.For this great monarch-spirit, if he fall,Will drag a world into the ruin with him.And as a ship that midway on the oceanTakes fire, at once, and with a thunder-burstExplodes, and with itself shoots out its crewIn smoke and ruin betwixt sea and heaven!So will he, falling, draw down in his fallAll us, who're fixed and mortised to his fortune,Deem of it what thou wilt; but pardon me,That I must bear me on in my own way.All must remain pure betwixt him and me;And, ere the daylight dawns, it must be knownWhich I must lose—my father or my friend.
[During his exit the curtain drops.
[1] A town about twelve German miles N.E. of Ulm.
[2] The Dukes in Germany being always reigning powers, their sons and daughters are entitled princes and princesses.
[3] Carinthia.
[4] A town not far from the Mine-mountains, on the high road from Vienna to Prague.
[5] In the original,—
"Den blut'gen Lorbeer geb' ich hin mit FreudenFuers erste Veilchen, das der Maerz uns bringt,Das duerftige Pfand der neuverjuengten Erde."
[6] A reviewer in the Literary Gazette observes that, in theselines, Mr. Coleridge has misapprehended the meaning of the word"Zug," a team, translating it as "Anzug," a suit of clothes. Thefollowing version, as a substitute, I propose:—
When from your stables there is brought to meA team of four most richly harnessed horses.
The term, however, is "Jagd-zug" which may mean a "hunting equipage," or a "hunting stud;" although Hilpert gives only "a team of four horses."
[7] Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, who succeeded Gustavus in command.
[8] The original is not translatable into English:—
—Und sein SoldMuss dem Soldaten werden, darnach heisst er.
It might perhaps have been thus rendered:—
And that for which he sold his services,The soldier must receive—
but a false or doubtful etymology is no more than a dull pun.
[9] In Germany, after honorable addresses have been paid and formally accepted, the lovers are called bride and bridegreoom, even though the marriage should not take place till years afterwards.
[10] I am doubtful whether this be the dedication of the cloister, or the name of one of the city gates, near which it stood. I have translated it in the former sense; but fearful of having made some blunder, I add the original,—
Es ist ein Kloster hier zur Himmelspforte.
[11] No more of talk, where god or angel guest With man, as with his friend familiar, used To sit indulgent. Paradise Lost, B. IX.
[12] I found it not in my power to translate this song with literal fidelity preserving at the same time the Alcaic movement, and have therefore added the original, with a prose translation. Some of my readers may be more fortunate.
THEKLA (spielt and singt).
Der Eichwald brauset, die Wolken ziehn,Das Maegdlein wandelt an Ufers Gruen;Es bricht sich die Welle mit Macht, mit Macht,Und sie singt hinaus in die finstre Nacht,Das Auge von Weinen getruebet:Das Herz is gestorben, die Welt ist leer,Und weiter giebt sie dem Wunsche nichts mehr.Du Heilige, rufe dein Kind zurueck,Ich babe genossen das irdische Glueck,Ich babe gelebt and geliebet.
THEKLA (plays and sings). The oak-forest bellows, the clouds gather, the damsel walks to and fro on the green of the shore; the wave breaks with might, with might, and she sings out into the dark night, her eye discolored with weeping: the heart is dead, the world is empty, and further gives it nothing more to the wish. Thou Holy One, call thy child home. I have enjoyed the happiness of this world, I have lived and have loved.
I cannot but add here an imitation of this song, with which my friend, Charles Lamb, has favored me, and which appears to me to have caught the happiest manner of our old ballads:—
The clouds are blackening, the storms are threatening,The cavern doth mutter, the greenwood moan!Billows are breaking, the damsel's heart aching,Thus in the dark night she singeth alone,He eye upward roving:
The world is empty, the heart is dead surely,In this world plainly all seemeth amiss;To thy heaven, Holy One, take home thy little one.I have partaken of all earth's bliss,Both living and loving.
[13] There are few who will not have taste enough to laugh at thetwo concluding lines of this soliloquy: and still fewer, I wouldfain hope, who would not have been more disposed to shudder, had Igiven a faithful translation. For the readers of German I haveadded the original:—
Blind-wuethend schleudert selbst der Gott der FreudeDen Pechkranz in das brennende Gebaeude.
Translated by S. T. Coleridge.
WALLENSTEIN, Duke of Friedland, Generalissimo of the Imperial Forces inthe Thirty Years' War.DUCHESS OF FREIDLAND, Wife of Wallenstein.THEKLA, her Daughter, Princess of Friedland.THE COUNTESS TERZKY, Sister of the Duchess.LADY NEUBRUNN.OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI, Lieutenant-General.MAX. PICCOLOMINI, his Son, Colonel of a Regiment of Cuirassiers.COUNT TERZKY, the Commander of several Regiments, andBrother-in-law of Wallenstein.ILLO, Field-Marshal, Wallenstein's Confidant.ISOLANI, General of the Croats.BUTLER, an Irishman, Commander of a Regiment of Dragoons.GORDON, Governor of Egra.MAJOR GERALDIN.CAPTAIN DEVEREUX.CAPTAIN MACDONALD.AN ADJUTANT.NEUMANN, Captain of Cavalry, Aide-de-Camp to TERZKY.COLONEL WRANGEL, Envoy from the Swedes.ROSENBURG, Master of Horse.SWEDISH CAPTAIN.SENI.BURGOMASTER of Egra.ANSPESSADE of the Cuirassiers.GROOM OF THE CHAMBER. | BelongingA PAGE. | to the Duke.Cuirassiers, Dragoons, and Servants.
A room fitted up for astrological labors, and provided with celestial charts, with globes, telescopes, quadrants, and other mathematical instruments. Seven colossal figures, representing the planets, each with a transparent star of different color on its head, stand in a semicircle in the background, so that Mars and Saturn are nearest the eye. The remainder of the scene and its disposition is given in the fourth scene of the second act. There must be a curtain over the figures, which may be dropped and conceal them on occasions.
[In the fifth scene of this act it must be dropped; but in theseventh scene it must be again drawn up wholly or in part.]
WALLENSTEIN at a black table, on which, a speculum astrologicum isdescribed with chalk. SENI is taking observations through a window.
WALLENSTEIN.All well—and now let it be ended, Seni. Come,The dawn commences, and Mars rules the hour;We must give o'er the operation. Come,We know enough.
SENI.Your highness must permit meJust to contemplate Venus. She is now risingLike as a sun so shines she in the east.
WALLENSTEIN.She is at present in her perigee,And now shoots down her strongest influences.[Contemplating the figure on the table.Auspicious aspect! fateful in conjunction,At length the mighty three corradiate;And the two stars of blessing, JupiterAnd Venus, take between them the malignantSlyly-malicious Mars, and thus compelInto my service that old mischief-founder:For long he viewed me hostilely, and everWith beam oblique, or perpendicular,Now in the Quartile, now in the Secundan,Shot his red lightnings at my stars, disturbingTheir blessed influences and sweet aspects:Now they have conquered the old enemy,And bring him in the heavens a prisoner to me.
SENI (who has come down from the window).And in a corner-house, your highness—think of that!That makes each influence of double strength.
WALLENSTEIN.And sun and moon, too, in the Sextile aspect,The soft light with the vehement—so I love it.Sol is the heart, Luna the head of heaven,Bold be the plan, fiery the execution.
SENI.And both the mighty Lumina by noMaleficus affronted. Lo! Saturnus,Innocuous, powerless, in cadente Domo.
WALLENSTEIN.The empire of Saturnus is gone by;Lord of the secret birth of things is he;Within the lap of earth, and in the depthsOf the imagination dominates;And his are all things that eschew the light.The time is o'er of brooding and contrivance,For Jupiter, the lustrous, lordeth now,And the dark work, complete of preparation,He draws by force into the realm of light.Now must we hasten on to action, ereThe scheme, and most auspicious positureParts o'er my head, and takes once more its flight,For the heaven's journey still, and adjourn not.[There are knocks at the door.There's some one knocking there. See who it is.
TERZKY (from without).Open, and let me in.
WALLENSTEIN.Ay—'tis Terzky.What is there of such urgence? We are busy.
TERZKY (from without).Lay all aside at present, I entreat you;It suffers no delaying.
WALLENSTEIN.Open, Seni!
[While SENI opens the door for TERZKY, WALLENSTEIN draws the curtainover the figures.
TERZKY (enters).Hast thou already heard it? He is taken.Gallas has given him up to the emperor.
[SENI draws off the black table, and exit.
WALLENSTEIN (to TERZKY).Who has been taken? Who is given up?
TERZKY.The man who knows our secrets, who knows everyNegotiation with the Swede and Saxon,Through whose hands all and everything has passed——
WALLENSTEIN (drawing back).Nay, not Sesina? Say, no! I entreat thee.
TERZKY.All on his road for Regensburg to the SwedeHe was plunged down upon by Gallas' agent,Who had been long in ambush, lurking for him.There must have been found on him my whole packetTo Thur, to Kinsky, to Oxenstiern, to Arnheim:All this is in their hands; they have now an insightInto the whole—our measures and our motives.
To them enters ILLO.
ILLO (to TERZKY).Has he heard it?
TERZKY.He has heard it.
ILLO (to WALLENSTEIN).Thinkest thou stillTo make thy peace with the emperor, to regainHis confidence? E'en were it now thy wishTo abandon all thy plans, yet still they knowWhat thou hast wished: then forwards thou must press;Retreat is now no longer in thy power.
TERZKY.They have documents against us, and in hands,Which show beyond all power of contradiction——
WALLENSTEIN.Of my handwriting—no iota. TheeI punish or thy lies.
ILLO.And thou believest,That what this man, and what thy sister's husband,Did in thy name, will not stand on thy reckoning?His word must pass for thy word with the Swede,And not with those that hate thee at Vienna?
TERZKY.In writing thou gavest nothing; but bethink thee,How far thou venturedst by word of mouthWith this Sesina! And will he be silent?If he can save himself by yielding upThy secret purposes, will he retain them?
ILLO.Thyself dost not conceive it possible;And since they now have evidence authenticHow far thou hast already gone, speak! tell us,What art thou waiting for? Thou canst no longerKeep thy command; and beyond hope of rescueThou'rt lost if thou resign'st it.
WALLENSTEIN.In the armyLies my security. The army will notAbandon me. Whatever they may know,The power is mine, and they must gulp it downAnd if I give them caution for my fealty,They must be satisfied, at least appear so.
ILLO.The army, duke, is thine now; for this moment'Tis thine: but think with terror on the slow,The quiet power of time. From open violenceThe attachment of thy soldiery secures theeTo-day, to-morrow: but grant'st thou them a respite,Unheard, unseen, they'll undermine that loveOn which thou now dost feel so firm a footing,With wily theft will draw away from theeOne after the other——
WALLENSTEIN.'Tis a cursed accident!Oh! I will call it a most blessed one,If it work on thee as it ought to do,Hurry thee on to action—to decision.The Swedish general?
WALLENSTEIN.He's arrived! Know'stWhat his commission is——
ILLO.To thee aloneWill he intrust the purpose of his coming.
WALLENSTEIN.A cursed, cursed accident! Yes, yes,Sesina knows too much, and won't be silent.
TERZKY.He's a Bohemian fugitive and rebel,His neck is forfeit. Can he save himselfAt thy cost, think you he will scruple it?And if they put him to the torture, will he,Will he, that dastardling, have strength enough——
WALLENSTEIN (lost in thought).Their confidence is lost, irreparably!And I may act which way I will, I shallBe and remain forever in their thoughtA traitor to my country. How sincerelySoever I return back to my duty,It will no longer help me——
ILLO.Ruin thee,That it will do! Not thy fidelity,Thy weakness will be deemed the sole occasion——
WALLENSTEIN (pacing up and down in extreme agitation).What! I must realize it now in earnest,Because I toyed too freely with the thought!Accursed he who dallies with a devil!And must I—I must realize it now—Now, while I have the power, it must take place!
ILLO.Now—now—ere they can ward and parry it!
WALLENSTEIN (looking at the paper of Signatures).I have the generals' word—a written promise!Max. Piccolomini stands not here—how's that?
TERZRY.It was—be fancied——
ILLO.Mere self-willedness.There needed no such thing 'twixt him and you.
WALLENSTEIN.He is quite right; there needed no such thing.The regiments, too, deny to march for FlandersHave sent me in a paper of remonstrance,And openly resist the imperial orders.The first step to revolt's already taken.
ILLO.Believe me, thou wilt find it far more easyTo lead them over to the enemyThan to the Spaniard.
WALLENSTEIN.I will hear, however,What the Swede has to say to me.
ILLO (eagerly to TERZKY).Go, call him,He stands without the door in waiting.
WALLENSTEIN.Stay!Stay but a little. It hath taken meAll by surprise; it came too quick upon me;'Tis wholly novel that an accident,With its dark lordship, and blind agency,Should force me on with it.
ILLO.First hear him only,And then weigh it.
[Exeunt TERZKY and ILLO.
WALLENSTEIN (in soliloquy).Is it possible?Is't so? I can no longer what I would?No longer draw back at my liking? IMust do the deed, because I thought of it?And fed this heart here with a dream?Because I did not scowl temptation from my presence,Dallied with thoughts of possible fulfilment,Commenced no movement, left all time uncertain,And only kept the road, the access open?By the great God of Heaven! it was notMy serious meaning, it was ne'er resolved.I but amused myself with thinking of it.The free-will tempted me, the power to doOr not to do it. Was it criminalTo make the fancy minister to hope,To fill the air with pretty toys of air,And clutch fantastic sceptres moving toward me?Was not the will kept free? Beheld I notThe road of duty close beside me—butOne little step, and once more I was in it!Where am I? Whither have I been transported?No road, no track behind me, but a wall,Impenetrable, insurmountable,Rises obedient to the spells I mutteredAnd meant not—my own doings tower behind me.[Pauses and remains in deep thought.A punishable man I seem, the guilt,Try what I will, I cannot roll off from me;The equivocal demeanor of my lifeBears witness on my prosecutor's party.And even my purest acts from purest motivesSuspicion poisons with malicious gloss.Were I that thing for which I pass, that traitor,A goodly outside I had sure reserved,Had drawn the coverings thick and double round me,Been calm and chary of my utterance;But being conscious of the innocenceOf my intent, my uncorrupted will,I gave way to my humors, to my passion:Bold were my words, because my deeds were notNow every planless measure, chance event,The threat of rage, the vaunt of joy and triumph,And all the May-games of a heart overflowing,Will they connect, and weave them all togetherInto one web of treason; all will be plan,My eye ne'er absent from the far-off mark,Step tracing step, each step a politic progress;And out of all they'll fabricate a chargeSo specious, that I must myself stand dumb.I am caught in my own net, and only force,Naught but a sudden rent can liberate me.
[Pauses again.
How else! since that the heart's unbiased instinctImpelled me to the daring deed, which nowNecessity, self-preservation, orders.Stern is the on-look of necessity,Not without shudder may a human handGrasp the mysterious urn of destiny.My deed was mine, remaining in my bosom;Once suffered to escape from its safe cornerWithin the heart, its nursery and birthplace,Sent forth into the foreign, it belongsForever to those sly malicious powersWhom never art of man conciliated.
[Paces in agitation through the chamber, then pauses, and, afterthe pause, breaks out again into audible soliloquy.
What it thy enterprise? thy aim? thy object?Hast honestly confessed it to thyself?Power seated on a quiet throne thou'dst shake,Power on an ancient, consecrated throne,Strong in possession, founded in all custom;Power by a thousand tough and stringy rootsFixed to the people's pious nursery faith.This, this will be no strife of strength with strength.That feared I not. I brave each combatant,Whom I can look on, fixing eye to eye,Who, full himself of courage, kindles courageIn me too. 'Tis a foe invisibleThe which I fear—a fearful enemy,Which in the human heart opposes me,By its coward fear alone made fearful to me.Not that, which full of life, instinct with power,Makes known its present being; that is notThe true, the perilously formidable.O no! it is the common, the quite common,The thing of an eternal yesterday.Whatever was, and evermore returns,Sterling to-morrow, for to-day 'twas sterling!For of the wholly common is man made,And custom is his nurse! Woe then to themWho lay irreverent hands upon his oldHouse furniture, the dear inheritanceFrom his forefathers! For time consecrates;And what is gray with age becomes religion.Be in possession, and thou hast the right,And sacred will the many guard it for thee!
[To the PAGE,—who here enters.
The Swedish officer? Well, let him enter.
[The PAGE exit, WALLENSTEIN fixes his eye in deep thoughton the door.
Yet, it is pure—as yet!—the crime has comeNot o'er this threshold yet—so slender isThe boundary that divideth life's two paths.
WALLENSTEIN and WRANGEL.
WALLENSTEIN (after having fixed a searching look on him).Your name is Wrangel?
WRANGEL.Gustave Wrangel, GeneralOf the Sudermanian Blues.
WALLENSTEIN.It was a WrangelWho injured me materially at Stralsund,And by his brave resistance was the causeOf the opposition which that seaport made.
WRANGEL.It was the doing of the elementWith which you fought, my lord! and not my merit,The Baltic Neptune did assert his freedom:The sea and land, it seemed were not to serveOne and the same.
WALLENSTEINYou plucked the admiral's hat from off my head.
WRANGEL.I come to place a diadem thereon.
WALLENSTEIN (makes the motion for him to take a seat, and seats himself).And where are your credentialsCome you provided with full powers, sir general?
WRANGEL.There are so many scruples yet to solve——
WALLENSTEIN (having read the credentials).An able letter! Ay—he is a prudent,Intelligent master whom you serve, sir general!The chancellor writes me that he but fulfilsHis late departed sovereign's own ideaIn helping me to the Bohemian crown.
WRANGEL.He says the truth. Our great king, now in heaven,Did ever deem most highly of your grace'sPre-eminent sense and military genius;And always the commanding intellect,He said, should have command, and be the king.
WALLENSTEIN.Yes, he might say it safely. General Wrangel,[Taking his hand affectionately.Come, fair and open. Trust me, I was alwaysA Swede at heart. Eh! that did you experienceBoth in Silesia and at Nuremberg;I had you often in my power, and let youAlways slip out by some back door or other.'Tis this for which the court can ne'er forgive me,Which drives me to this present step: and sinceOur interests so run in one direction,E'en let us have a thorough confidenceEach in the other.
WRANGEL.Confidence will comeHas each but only first security.
WALLENSTEIN.The chancellor still, I see, does not quite trust me;And, I confess—the game does not lie whollyTo my advantage. Without doubt he thinks,If I can play false with the emperor,Who is my sovereign, I can do the likeWith the enemy, and that the one, too, wereSooner to be forgiven me than the other.Is not this your opinion, too, sir general?
WRANGEL.I have here a duty merely, no opinion.
WALLENSTEIN.The emperor hath urged me to the uttermostI can no longer honorably serve him.For my security, in self-defence,I take this hard step, which my conscience blames.
WRANGEL.That I believe. So far would no one goWho was not forced to it.[After a pause.What may have impelledYour princely highness in this wise to actToward your sovereign lord and emperor,Beseems not us to expound or criticise.The Swede is fighting for his good old cause,With his good sword and conscience. This concurrence,This opportunity is in our favor,And all advantages in war are lawful.We take what offers without questioning;And if all have its due and just proportions——
WALLENSTEIN.Of what then are ye doubting? Of my will?Or of my power? I pledged me to the chancellor,Would he trust me with sixteen thousand men,That I would instantly go over to themWith eighteen thousand of the emperor's troops.
WRANGEL.Your grace is known to be a mighty war-chief,To be a second Attila and Pyrrhus.'Tis talked of still with fresh astonishment,How some years past, beyond all human faith,You called an army forth like a creation:But yet——
WALLENSTEIN.But yet?
WRANGEL.But still the chancellor thinksIt might yet be an easier thing from nothingTo call forth sixty thousand men of battle,Than to persuade one-sixtieth part of them——
WALLENSTEIN.What now? Out with it, friend?
WRANGEL.To break their oaths.
WALLENSTEIN.And he thinks so? He judges like a Swede,And like a Protestant. You LutheransFight for your Bible. You are interestedAbout the cause; and with your hearts you followYour banners. Among you whoe'er desertsTo the enemy hath broken covenantWith two lords at one time. We've no such fancies.
WRANGEL.Great God in heaven! Have then the people hereNo house and home, no fireside, no altar?
WALLENSTEIN.I will explain that to you, how it stands:The Austrian has a country, ay, and loves it,And has good cause to love it—but this armyThat calls itself the imperial, this that housesHere in Bohemia, this has none—no country;This is an outcast of all foreign lands,Unclaimed by town or tribe, to whom belongsNothing except the universal sun.And this Bohemian land for which we fightLoves not the master whom the chance of war,Not its own choice or will, hath given to it.Men murmur at the oppression of their conscience,And power hath only awed but not appeased them.A glowing and avenging memory livesOf cruel deeds committed on these plains;How can the son forget that here his fatherWas hunted by the bloodhound to the mass?A people thus oppressed must still be feared,Whether they suffer or avenge their wrongs.
WRANGEL.But then the nobles and the officers?Such a desertion, such a felony,It is without example, my lord duke,In the world's history.
WALLENSTEIN.They are all mine—Mine unconditionally—mine on all terms.Not me, your own eyes you must trust.
[He gives him the paper containing the written oath. WRANGEL readsit through, and, having read it, lays it on the table,—remainingsilent.
So then;Now comprehend you?
WRANGEL.Comprehend who can!My lord duke, I will let the mask drop—yes!I've full powers for a final settlement.The Rhinegrave stands but four days' march from hereWith fifteen thousand men, and only waitsFor orders to proceed and join your army.These orders I give out immediatelyWe're compromised.
WALLENSTEIN.What asks the chancellor?
WRANGEL (considerately).Twelve regiments, every man a Swede—my headThe warranty—and all might prove at lastOnly false play——
WALLENSTEIN (starting).Sir Swede!
WRANGEL (calmly proceeding).Am therefore forcedTo insist thereon, that he do formally,Irrevocably break with the emperor,Else not a Swede is trusted to Duke Friedland.
WALLENSTEIN.Come, brief and open! What is the demand?
WRANGEL.That he forthwith disarm the Spanish regimentsAttached to the emperor, that he seize on Prague,And to the Swedes give up that city, withThe strong pass Egra.
WALLENSTEIN.That is much indeed!Prague!—Egra's granted—but—but Prague! 'Twon't do.I give you every securityWhich you may ask of me in common reason—But Prague—Bohemia—these, sir general,I can myself protect.
WRANGEL.We doubt it not.But 'tis not the protection that is nowOur sole concern. We want security,That we shall not expend our men and moneyAll to no purpose.
WALLENSTEIN.'Tis but reasonable.
WRANGEL.And till we are indemnified, so longStays Prague in pledge.
WALLENSTEIN.Then trust you us so little?
WRANGEL (rising).The Swede, if he would treat well with the German,Must keep a sharp lookout. We have been calledOver the Baltic, we have saved the empireFrom ruin—with our best blood have we sealedThe liberty of faith and gospel truth.But now already is the benefactionNo longer felt, the load alone is felt.Ye look askance with evil eye upon us,As foreigners, intruders in the empire,And would fain send us with some paltry sumOf money, home again to our old forests.No, no! my lord duke! it never wasFor Judas' pay, for chinking gold and silver,That we did leave our king by the Great Stone. [1]No, not for gold and silver have there bledSo many of our Swedish nobles—neitherWill we, with empty laurels for our payment,Hoist sail for our own country. CitizensWill we remain upon the soil, the whichOur monarch conquered for himself and died.
WALLENSTEIN.Help to keep down the common enemy,And the fair border land must needs be yours.
WRANGEL.But when the common enemy lies vanquished,Who knits together our new friendship then?We know, Duke Friedland! though perhaps the SwedeOught not to have known it, that you carry onSecret negotiations with the Saxons.Who is our warranty that we are notThe sacrifices in those articlesWhich 'tis thought needful to conceal from us?
WALLENSTEIN (rises).Think you of something better, Gustave Wrangel!Of Prague no more.
WRANGEL.Here my commission ends.
WALLENSTEIN.Surrender up to you my capital!Far liever would I force about, and stepBack to my emperor.
WRANGEL.If time yet permits——
WALLENSTEIN.That lies with me, even now, at any hour.
WRANGEL.Some days ago, perhaps. To-day, no longer;No longer since Sesina's been a prisoner.[WALLENSTEIN is struck, and silenced.My lord duke, hear me—we believe that youAt present do mean honorably by us.Since yesterday we're sure of that—and nowThis paper warrants for the troops, there's nothingStands in the way of our full confidence.Prague shall not part us. Hear! The chancellorContents himself with Alstadt; to your graceHe gives up Ratschin and the narrow side.But Egra above all must open to us,Ere we can think of any junction.
WALLENSTEIN.You,You therefore must I trust, and not you me?I will consider of your proposition.
WRANGEL.I must entreat that your considerationOccupy not too long a time. AlreadyHas this negotiation, my lord duke!Crept on into the second year. If nothingIs settled this time, will the chancellorConsider it as broken off forever?
WALLENSTEIN.Ye press me hard. A measure such as thisOught to be thought of.
WRANGEL.Ay! but think of this too,That sudden action only can procure it.Success—think first of this, your highness.
[Exit WRANGEL.
WALLENSTEIN, TERZKY, and ILLO (re-enter).
ILLO.Is't all right?
TERZKY.Are you compromised?
ILLO.This SwedeWent smiling from you. Yes! you're compromised.
WALLENSTEIN.As yet is nothing settled; and (well weighed)I feel myself inclined to leave it so.
TERZKY.How? What is that?
WALLENSTEIN.Come on me what will come,The doing evil to avoid an evilCannot be good!
TERZKY.Nay, but bethink you, duke.
WALLENSTEIN.To live upon the mercy of these Swedes!Of these proud-hearted Swedes!—I could not bear it.
ILLO.Goest thou as fugitive, as mendicant?Bringest thou not more to them than thou receivest?
WALLENSTEIN.How fared it with the brave and royal BourbonWho sold himself unto his country's foes,And pierced the bosom of his father-land?Curses were his reward, and men's abhorrenceAvenged the unnatural and revolting deed.
ILLO.Is that thy case?
WALLENSTEIN.True faith, I tell thee,Must ever be the dearest friend of manHis nature prompts him to assert its rights.The enmity of sects, the rage of parties,Long-cherished envy, jealousy, unite;'And all the struggling elements of evilSuspend their conflict, and together leagueIn one alliance 'gainst their common foe—The savage beast that breaks into the fold,Where men repose in confidence and peace.For vain were man's own prudence to protect him.'Tis only in the forehead nature plantsThe watchful eye; the back, without defence,Must find its shield in man's fidelity.
TERZKY.Think not more meanly off thyself than doThy foes, who stretch their hands with joy to greet thee.Less scrupulous far was the imperial Charles,The powerful head of this illustrious house;With open arms he gave the Bourbon welcome;For still by policy the world is ruled.
To these enter the COUNTESS TERZKY.
WALLENSTEIN.Who sent for you? There is no business hereFor women.
COUNTESSI am come to bid you joy.
WALLENSTEIN.Use thy authority, Terzky; bid her go.
COUNTESS.Come I perhaps too early? I hope not.
WALLENSTEIN.Set not this tongue upon me, I entreat you:You know it is the weapon that destroys me.I am routed, if a woman but attack me:I cannot traffic in the trade of wordsWith that unreasoning sex.
COUNTESS.I had alreadyGiven the Bohemians a king.
WALLENSTEIN (sarcastically).They have one,In consequence, no doubt.
COUNTESS (to the others).Ha! what new scruple?
TERZKY.The duke will not.
COUNTESS.He will not what he must!
ILLO.It lies with you now. Try. For I am silencedWhen folks begin to talk to me of conscienceAnd of fidelity.
COUNTESS.How? then, when allLay in the far-off distance, when the roadStretched out before thine eyes interminably,Then hadst thou courage and resolve; and now,Now that the dream is being realized,The purpose ripe, the issue ascertained,Dost thou begin to play the dastard now?Planned merely, 'tis a common felony;Accomplished, an immortal undertaking:And with success comes pardon hand in hand,For all event is God's arbitrament.
SERVANT (enters).The Colonel Piccolomini.
COUNTESS (hastily).—Must wait.
WALLENSTEIN.I cannot see him now. Another time.
SERVANT.But for two minutes he entreats an audienceOf the most urgent nature is his business.
WALLENSTEIN.Who knows what he may bring us! I will hear him.
COUNTESS (laughs).Urgent for him, no doubt? but thou may'st wait.
WALLENSTEIN.What is it?
COUNTESS.Thou shalt be informed hereafter.First let the Swede and thee be compromised.
[Exit SERVANT.
WALLENSTEIN.If there were yet a choice! if yet some milderWay of escape were possible—I stillWill choose it, and avoid the last extreme.
COUNTESS.Desirest thou nothing further? Such a wayLies still before thee. Send this Wrangel off.Forget thou thy old hopes, cast far awayAll thy past life; determine to commenceA new one. Virtue hath her heroes too,As well as fame and fortune. To ViennaHence—to the emperor—kneel before the throne;Take a full coffer with thee—say aloud,Thou didst but wish to prove thy fealty;Thy whole intention but to dupe the Swede.
ILLO.For that too 'tis too late. They know too much;He would but bear his own head to the block.
COUNTESS.I fear not that. They have not evidenceTo attaint him legally, and they avoidThe avowal of an arbitrary power.They'll let the duke resign without disturbance.I see how all will end. The King of HungaryMakes his appearance, and 'twill of itselfBe understood, and then the duke retires.There will not want a formal declaration.The young king will administer the oathTo the whole army; and so all returnsTo the old position. On some morrow morningThe duke departs; and now 'tis stir and bustleWithin his castles. He will hunt and build;Superintend his horses' pedigrees,Creates himself a court, gives golden keys,And introduceth strictest ceremonyIn fine proportions, and nice etiquette;Keeps open table with high cheer: in brief,Commenceth mighty king—in miniature.And while he prudently demeans himself,And gives himself no actual importance,He will be let appear whate'er he likes:And who dares doubt, that Friedland will appearA mighty prince to his last dying hour?Well now, what then? Duke Friedland is as others,A fire-new noble, whom the war hath raisedTo price and currency, a Jonah's gourd,An over-night creation of court-favor,Which, with an undistinguishable ease,Makes baron or makes prince.
WALLENSTEIN (in extreme agitation).Take her away.Let in the young Count Piccolomini.
COUNTESS.Art thou in earnest? I entreat thee!Canst thou consent to bear thyself to thy own grave,So ignominiously to be dried up?Thy life, that arrogated such an heightTo end in such a nothing! To be nothing,When one was always nothing, is an evilThat asks no stretch of patience, a light evil;But to become a nothing, having been——
WALLENSTEIN (starts up in violent agitation).Show me a way out of this stifling crowd,Ye powers of aidance! Show me such a wayAs I am capable of going. IAm no tongue-hero, no fine virtue-prattler;I cannot warm by thinking; cannot sayTo the good luck that turns her back upon meMagnanimously: "Go; I need thee not."Cease I to work, I am annihilated.Dangers nor sacrifices will I shun,If so I may avoid the last extreme;But ere I sink down into nothingness,Leave off so little, who began so great,Ere that the world confuses me with thosePoor wretches, whom a day creates and crumbles,This age and after ages [2] speak my nameWith hate and dread; and Friedland be redemptionFor each accursed deed.
COUNTESS.What is there here, then,So against nature? Help me to perceive it!Oh, let not superstition's nightly goblinsSubdue thy clear, bright spirit! Art thou bidTo murder? with abhorred, accursed poniard,To violate the breasts that nourished thee?That were against our nature, that might aptlyMake thy flesh shudder, and thy whole heart sicken. [3]Yet not a few, and for a meaner object,Have ventured even this, ay, and performed it.What is there in thy case so black and monstrous?Thou art accused of treason—whether withOr without justice is not now the question—Thou art lost if thou dost not avail thee quicklyOf the power which thou possessest—Friedland! Duke!Tell me where lives that thing so meek and tame,That doth not all his living facultiesPut forth in preservation of his life?What deed so daring, which necessityAnd desperation will not sanctify?
WALLENSTEIN.Once was this Ferdinand so gracious to me;He loved me; he esteemed me; I was placedThe nearest to his heart. Full many a timeWe like familiar friends, both at one table,Have banqueted together—he and I;And the young kings themselves held me the basinWherewith to wash me—and is't come to this?
COUNTESS.So faithfully preservest thou each small favor,And hast no memory for contumelies?Must I remind thee, how at RegensburgThis man repaid thy faithful services?All ranks and all conditions in the empireThou hadst wronged to make him great,—hadst loaded on thee,On thee, the hate, the curse of the whole world.No friend existed for thee in all Germany,And why? because thou hadst existed onlyFor the emperor. To the emperor aloneClung Friedland in that storm which gathered round himAt Regensburg in the Diet—and he dropped thee!He let thee fall! he let thee fall a victimTo the Bavarian, to that insolent!Deposed, stripped bare of all thy dignityAnd power, amid the taunting of thy foeThou wert let drop into obscurity.Say not, the restoration of thy honorHas made atonement for that first injustice.No honest good-will was it that replaced thee;The law of hard necessity replaced thee,Which they had fain opposed, but that they could not.
WALLENSTEIN.Not to their good wishes, that is certain,Nor yet to his affection I'm indebtedFor this high office; and if I abuse it,I shall therein abuse no confidence.
COUNTESS.Affection! confidence!—they needed thee.Necessity, impetuous remonstrant!Who not with empty names, or shows of proxy,Is served, who'll have the thing and not the symbol,Ever seeks out the greatest and the best,And at the rudder places him, e'en thoughShe had been forced to take him from the rabble—She, this necessity, it was that placed theeIn this high office; it was she that gave theeThy letters-patent of inauguration.For, to the uttermost moment that they can,This race still help themselves at cheapest rateWith slavish souls, with puppets! At the approachOf extreme peril, when a hollow imageIs found a hollow image and no more,Then falls the power into the mighty handsOf nature, of the spirit-giant born,Who listens only to himself, knows nothingOf stipulations, duties, reverences,And, like the emancipated force of fire,Unmastered scorches, ere it reaches them,Their fine-spun webs, their artificial policy.
WALLENSTEIN.'Tis true! they saw me always as I am—Always! I did not cheat them in the bargain.I never held it worth my pains to hideThe bold all-grasping habit of my soul.
COUNTESS.Nay rather—thou hast ever shown thyselfA formidable man, without restraint;Hast exercised the full prerogativesOf thy impetuous nature, which had beenOnce granted to thee. Therefore, duke, not thou,Who hast still remained consistent with thyself,But they are in the wrong, who, fearing thee,Intrusted such a power in hands they feared.For, by the laws of spirit, in the rightIs every individual characterThat acts in strict consistence with itself:Self-contradiction is the only wrong.Wert thou another being, then, when thouEight years ago pursuedst thy march with fire,And sword, and desolation, through the circlesOf Germany, the universal scourge,Didst mock all ordinances of the empire,The fearful rights of strength alone exertedst,Trampledst to earth each rank, each magistracy,All to extend thy Sultan's domination?Then was the time to break thee in, to curbThy haughty will, to teach thee ordinance.But no, the emperor felt no touch of conscience;What served him pleased him, and without a murmurHe stamped his broad seal on these lawless deeds.What at that time was right, because thou didst itFor him, to-day is all at once becomeOpprobrious, foul, because it is directedAgainst him. O most flimsy superstition!