DUCHESS.O my husband!You're ever building, building to the clouds,Still building higher, and still higher building,And ne'er reflect, that the poor narrow basisCannot sustain the giddy tottering column.
WALLENSTEIN (to the COUNTESS).Have you announced the place of residenceWhich I have destined for her?
COUNTESS.No! not yet,'Twere better you yourself disclosed it to her.
DUCHESS.How? Do we not return to Carinthia then?
WALLENSTEIN.No.
DUCHESS.And to no other of your lands or seats?
WALLENSTEIN.You would not be secure there.
DUCHESS.Not secure.In the emperor's realms, beneath the emperor'sProtection?
WALLENSTEIN.Friedland's wife may be permittedNo longer to hope that.
DUCHESS.O God in heaven!And have you brought it even to this!
WALLENSTEIN.In HollandYou'll find protection.
DUCHESSIn a Lutheran country?What? And you send us into Lutheran countries?
WALLENSTEIN.Duke Franz of Lauenburg conducts you thither.
DUCHESS.Duke Franz of Lauenburg?The ally of Sweden, the emperor's enemy.
WALLENSTEIN.The emperor's enemies are mine no longer.
DUCHESS (casting a look of terror on the DUKE and the COUNTESS).Is it then true? It is. You are degradedDeposed from the command? O God in heaven!
COUNTESS (aside to the DUKE).Leave her in this belief. Thou seest she cannotSupport the real truth.
To them enter COUNT TERZKY.
COUNTESS.Terzky!What ails him? What an image of affright!He looks as he had seen a ghost.
TERZKY (leading WALLENSTEIN aside).Is it thy command that all the Croats——
WALLENSTEIN.Mine!
TERZKY.We are betrayed.
WALLENSTEIN.What?
TERZKY.They are off! This nightThe Jaegers likewise—all the villagesIn the whole round are empty.
WALLENSTEIN.Isolani!
TERZKY.Him thou hast sent away. Yes, surely.
TERZKY.No? Hast thou not sent him off? Nor Deodati?They are vanished, both of them.
To them enter ILLO.
ILLO.Has Terzky told thee?
TERZKY.He knows all.
ILLO.And likewiseThat Esterhatzy, Goetz, Maradas, Kaunitz,Kolatto, Palfi, have forsaken thee.
TERZKY.Damnation!
WALLENSTEIN (winks at them).Hush!
COUNTESS (who has been watching them anxiously from the distance and now advances to them). Terzky! Heaven! What is it? What has happened?
WALLENSTEIN (scarcely suppressing his emotions).Nothing! let us be gone!
TERZKY (following him).Theresa, it is nothing.
COUNTESS (holding him back).Nothing? Do I not see that all the life-bloodHas left your cheeks—look you not like a ghost?That even my brother but affects a calmness?
PAGE (enters).An aide-de-camp inquires for the Count Terzky.
[TERZKY follows the PAGE.
WALLENSTEIN.Go, hear his business.[To ILLO.This could not have happenedSo unsuspected without mutiny.Who was on guard at the gates?
ILLO.'Twas Tiefenbach.
WALLENSTEIN.Let Tiefenbach leave guard without delay,And Terzky's grenadiers relieve him.[ILLO is going.Stop!Hast thou heard aught of Butler?
ILLO.Him I metHe will be here himself immediately.Butler remains unshaken,
[ILLO exit. WALLENSTEIN is following him.
COUNTESS.Let him not leave thee, sister! go, detain him!There's some misfortune.
DUCHESS (clinging to him).Gracious Heaven! What is it?
WALLENSTEIN.Be tranquil! leave me, sister! dearest wife!We are in camp, and this is naught unusual;Here storm and sunshine follow one anotherWith rapid interchanges. These fierce spiritsChamp the curb angrily, and never yetDid quiet bless the temples of the leader;If I am to stay go you. The plaints of womenIll suit the scene where men must act.
[He is going: TERZKY returns.
TERZKY.Remain here. From this window must we see it.
WALLENSTEIN (to the COUNTESS).Sister, retire!
COUNTESS.No—never!
WALLENSTEIN.'Tis my will.
TERZKY (leads the COUNTESS aside, and drawing her attentionto the DUCHESS).Theresa!
DUCHESS.Sister, come! since he commands it.
WALLENSTEIN (stepping to the window).What now, then?
TERZKY.There are strange movements among all the troops,And no one knows the cause. Mysteriously,With gloomy silentness, the several corpsMarshal themselves, each under its own banners;Tiefenbach's corps make threatening movements; onlyThe Pappenheimers still remain aloofIn their own quarters and let no one enter.
WALLENSTEIN.Does Piccolomini appear among them?
TERZKY.We are seeking him: he is nowhere to be met with.
WALLENSTEIN.What did the aide-de-camp deliver to you?
TERZKY.My regiments had despatched him; yet once moreThey swear fidelity to thee, and waitThe shout for onset, all prepared, and eager.
WALLENSTEIN.But whence arose this larum in the camp?It should have been kept secret from the armyTill fortune had decided for us at Prague.
TERZKY.Oh, that thou hadst believed me! Yester-eveningDid we conjure thee not to let that skulker,That fox, Octavio, pass the gates of Pilsen.Thou gavest him thy own horses to flee from thee.
WALLENSTEIN.The old tune still! Now, once for all, no moreOf this suspicion—it is doting folly.
TERZKY.Thou didst confide in Isolani too;And lo! he was the first that did desert thee.
WALLENSTEIN.It was but yesterday I rescued himFrom abject wretchedness. Let that go by;I never reckoned yet on gratitude.And wherein doth he wrong in going from me?He follows still the god whom all his lifeHe has worshipped at the gaming-table. WithMy fortune and my seeming destinyHe made the bond and broke it, not with me.I am but the ship in which his hopes were stowed,And with the which, well-pleased and confident,He traversed the open sea; now he beholds itIn eminent jeopardy among the coast-rocks,And hurries to preserve his wares. As lightAs the free bird from the hospitable twigWhere it had nested he flies off from me:No human tie is snapped betwixt us two.Yea, he deserves to find himself deceivedWho seeks a heart in the unthinking man.Like shadows on a stream, the forms of lifeImpress their characters on the smooth forehead,Naught sinks into the bosom's silent depth:Quick sensibility of pain and pleasureMoves the light fluids lightly; but no soulWarmeth the inner frame.
TERZKY.Yet, would I ratherTrust the smooth brow than that deep furrowed one.
ILLO (who enters agitated with rage).Treason and mutiny!
TERZKY.And what further now?
ILLO.Tiefenbach's soldiers, when I gave the orders.To go off guard—mutinous villains!
TERZKY.Well!
WALLENSTEIN.What followed?
ILLO.They refused obedience to them.
TERZKY.Fire on them instantly! Give out the order.
WALLENSTEIN.Gently! what cause did they assign?
ILLO.No other,They said, had right to issue orders butLieutenant-General Piccolomini.
WALLENSTEIN (in a convulsion of agony).What? How is that?
ILLO.He takes that office on him by commission,Under sign-manual from the emperor.
TERZKY.From the emperor—hearest thou, duke?
ILLO.At his incitementThe generals made that stealthy flight——
TERZKY.Duke, hearest thou?
ILLO.Caraffa too, and Montecuculi,Are missing, with six other generals,All whom he had induced to follow him.This plot he has long had in writing by himFrom the emperor; but 'twas finally concluded,With all the detail of the operation,Some days ago with the Envoy Questenberg.
[WALLENSTEIN sinks down into a chair and covers his face.
TERZKY.Oh, hadst thou but believed me!
To them enter the COUNTESS.
COUNTESS.This suspense,This horrid fear—I can no longer bear it.For heaven's sake tell me what has taken place?
ILLO.The regiments are falling off from us.
TERZKY.Octavio Piccolomini is a traitor.
COUNTESS.O my foreboding!
[Rushes out of the room.
TERZKY.Hadst thou but believed me!Now seest thou how the stars have lied to thee.
WALLENSTEIN.The stars lie not; but we have here a workWrought counter to the stars and destiny.The science is still honest: this false heartForces a lie on the truth-telling heaven,On a divine law divination rests;Where nature deviates from that law, and stumblesOut of her limits, there all science errs.True I did not suspect! Were it superstitionNever by such suspicion to have affrontedThe human form, oh, may the time ne'er comeIn which I shame me of the infirmity.The wildest savage drinks not with the victim,Into whose breast he means to plunge the sword.This, this, Octavio, was no hero's deed'Twas not thy prudence that did conquer mine;A bad heart triumphed o'er an honest one.No shield received the assassin stroke; thou plungestThy weapon on an unprotected breast—Against such weapons I am but a child.
To these enter BUTLER.
TERZKY (meeting him).Oh, look there, Butler! Here we've still a friend!
WALLENSTEIN (meets him with outspread arms and embraces him with warmth).Come to my heart, old comrade! Not the sunLooks out upon us more revivingly,In the earliest month of spring,Than a friend's countenance in such an hour.
BUTLER.My general; I come——
WALLENSTEIN (leaning on BUTLER'S shoulder).Knowest thou alreadyThat old man has betrayed me to the emperor.What sayest thou? Thirty years have we togetherLived out, and held out, sharing joy and hardship.We have slept in one camp-bed, drank from one glass,One morsel shared! I leaned myself on him,As now I lean me on thy faithful shoulder,And now in the very moment when, all love,All confidence, my bosom beat to hisHe sees and takes the advantage, stabs the knifeSlowly into my heart.
[He hides his face on BUTLER's breast.
BUTLER.Forget the false one.What is your present purpose?
WALLENSTEIN.Well remembered!Courage, my soul! I am still rich in friends,Still loved by destiny; for in the momentThat it unmasks the plotting hypocriteIt sends and proves to me one faithful heart.Of the hypocrite no more! Think not his lossWas that which struck the pang: Oh, no! his treasonIs that which strikes the pang! No more of him!Dear to my heart, and honored were they both,And the young man—yes—he did truly love me,He—he—has not deceived me. But enough,Enough of this—swift counsel now beseems us.The courier, whom Count Kinsky sent from Prague,I expect him every moment: and whateverHe may bring with him we must take good careTo keep it from the mutineers. Quick then!Despatch some messenger you can rely onTo meet him, and conduct him to me.
[ILLO is going.
BUTLER (detaining him).My general, whom expect you then?
WALLENSTEIN.The courierWho brings me word of the event at Prague.
BUTLER (hesitating).Hem!
WALLENSTEIN.And what now?
BUTLER.You do not know it?
WALLENSTEIN.Well?
BUTLER.From what that larum in the camp arose?
WALLENSTEIN.From what?
BUTLER.That courier——
WALLENSTEIN (with eager expectation).Well?
BUTLER.Is already here.
TERZKY and ILLO (at the same time).Already here?
WALLENSTEIEN.My courier?
BUTLER.For some hours.
WALLENSTEIN.And I not know it?
BUTLER.The sentinels detain himIn custody.
ILLO (stamping with his foot).Damnation!
BUTLER.And his letterWas broken open, and is circulatedThrough the whole camp.
WALLENSTEIN.You know what it contains?
BUTLER.Question me not.
TERZKY.Illo! Alas for us.
WALLENSTEIN.Hide nothing from me—I can bear the worst.Prague then is lost. It is. Confess it freely.
BUTLER.Yes! Prague is lost. And all the several regimentsAt Budweiss, Tabor, Braunau, Koenigingratz,At Brunn, and Znaym, have forsaken you,And taken the oaths of fealty anewTo the emperor. Yourself, with Kinsky, Terzky,And Illo have been sentenced.
[TERZKY and ILLO express alarm and fury. WALLENSTEIN remainsfirm and collected.
WALLENSTEIN.'Tis decided! 'Tis well! I have received a sudden cureFrom all the pangs of doubt: with steady streamOnce more my life-blood flows! My soul's secure!In the night only Friedland stars can beam.Lingering irresolute, with fitful fearsI drew the sword—'twas with an inward strife,While yet the choice was mine. The murderous knifeIs lifted for my heart! Doubt disappears!I fight now for my head and for my life.
[Exit WALLENSTEIN; the others follow him.
COUNTESS TERZKY (enters from a side room).I can endure no longer. No![Looks around her.Where are they!No one is here. They leave me all alone,Alone in this sore anguish of suspense.And I must wear the outward show of calmnessBefore my sister, and shut in within meThe pangs and agonies of my crowded bosom.It is not to be borne. If all should fail;If—if he must go over to the Swedes,An empty-handed fugitive, and notAs an ally, a covenanted equal,A proud commander with his army following,If we must wander on from land to land,Like the Count Palatine, of fallen greatnessAn ignominious monument. But no!That day I will not see! And could himselfEndure to sink so low, I would not bearTo see him so low sunken.
THEKLA (endeavoring to hold back the DUCHESS)Dear mother, do stay here!
DUCHESS.No! Here is yetSome frightful mystery that is hidden from me.Why does my sister shun me? Don't I see herFull of suspense and anguish roam aboutFrom room to room? Art thou not full of terror?And what import these silent nods and gesturesWhich stealthwise thou exchangest with her?
THEKLA.NothingNothing, dear mother!
DUCHESS (to the COUNTESS).Sister, I will know.
COUNTESS.What boots it now to hide it from her? SoonerOr later she must learn to hear and bear it.'Tis not the time now to indulge infirmity;Courage beseems us now, a heart collect,And exercise and previous disciplineOf fortitude. One word, and over with it!Sister, you are deluded. You believeThe duke has been deposed—the duke is notDeposed—he is——
THEKLA (going to the COUNTESS),What? do you wish to kill her?
COUNTESS.The duke is——
THEKLA (throwing her arms round her mother).Oh, stand firm! stand firm, my mother!
COUNTESS.Revolted is the duke; he is preparingTo join the enemy; the army leave him,And all has failed.
A spacious room in the Duke of Friedland's palace.
WALLENSTEIN (in armor).Thou hast gained thy point, Octavio! Once more am IAlmost as friendless as at Regensburg.There I had nothing left me but myself;But what one man can do you have now experience.The twigs have you hewed off, and here I standA leafless trunk. But in the sap withinLives the creating power, and a new worldMay sprout forth from it. Once already have IProved myself worth an army to you—I alone!Before the Swedish strength your troops had melted;Beside the Lech sank Tilly, your last hope;Into Bavaria, like a winter torrent,Did that Gustavus pour, and at ViennaIn his own palace did the emperor tremble.Soldiers were scarce, for still the multitudeFollow the luck: all eyes were turned on me,Their helper in distress; the emperor's prideBowed itself down before the man he had injured.'Twas I must rise, and with creative wordAssemble forces in the desolate camps.I did it. Like a god of war my nameWent through the world. The drum was beat; and, toThe plough, the workshop is forsaken, allSwarm to the old familiar long loved banners;And as the wood-choir rich in melodyAssemble quick around the bird of wonder,When first his throat swells with his magic song,So did the warlike youth of GermanyCrowd in around the image of my eagle.I feel myself the being that I was.It is the soul that builds itself a body,And Friedland's camp will not remain unfilled.Lead then your thousands out to meet me—true!They are accustomed under me to conquer,But not against me. If the head and limbsSeparate from each other, 'twill be soonMade manifest in which the soul abode.
(ILLO and TERZKY enter.)
Courage, friends! courage! we are still unvanquished;I feel my footing firm; five regiments, Terzky,Are still our own, and Butler's gallant troops;And an host of sixteen thousand Swedes to-morrow.I was not stronger when, nine years ago,I marched forth, with glad heart and high of hope,To conquer Germany for the emperor.
(To them enter NEUMANN, who leads TERZKY aside,and talks with him.)
TERZKY.What do they want?
WALLENSTEIN.What now?
TERZKY.Ten cuirassiersFrom Pappenheim request leave to address youIn the name of the regiment.
WALLENSTEIN (hastily to NEUMANN).Let them enter.[Exit NEUMANN.ThisMay end in something. Mark you. They are stillDoubtful, and may be won.
WALLENSTEIN, TERZKY, ILLO, ten CUIRASSIERS (led by an ANSPESSADE [4], march up and arrange themselves, after the word of command, in one front before the DUKE, and make their obeisance. He takes his hat off, and immediately covers himself again).
ANSPESSADE.Halt! Front! Present!
WALLENSTEIN (after he has run through them with his eye, to theNSPESSADE).I know thee well. Thou art out of Brueggen in Flanders:Thy name is Mercy.
ANSPESSADE.Henry Mercy.
WALLENSTEIN. Thou were cut off on the march, surrounded by the Hessians, and didst fight thy way with an hundred and eighty men through their thousand.
ANSPESSADE. 'Twas even so, general!
WALLENSTEIN. What reward hadst thou for this gallant exploit?
ANSPESSADE. That which I asked for: the honor to serve in this corps.
WALLENSTEIN (turning to a second). Thou wert among the volunteers that seized and made booty of the Swedish battery at Altenburg.
SECOND CUIRASSIER. Yes, general!
WALLENSTEIN. I forget no one with whom I have exchanged words.(A pause.) Who sends you?
ANSPESSADE. Your noble regiment, the cuirassiers of Piccolomini.
WALLENSTEIN. Why does not your colonel deliver in your request according to the custom of service?
ANSPESSADE. Because we would first know whom we serve.
WALLENSTEIN. Begin your address.
ANSPESSADE (giving the word of command). Shoulder your arms!
WALLENSTEIN (turning to a third). Thy name is Risbeck; Cologne is thy birthplace.
THIRD CUIRASSIER. Risbeck of Cologne.
WALLENSTEIN. It was thou that broughtest in the Swedish colonel Duebald, prisoner, in the camp at Nuremberg.
THIRD CUIRASSIER. It was not I, general.
WALLENSTRIN. Perfectly right! It was thy elder brother: thou hadst a younger brother, too: where did he stay?
THIRD CUIRASSIER. He is stationed at Olmutz, with the imperial army.
WALLENSTEIN (to the ANSPESSADE). Now then—begin.
ANSPESSADE.There came to hand a letter from the emperorCommanding us——
WALLENSTEIN (interrupting him).Who chose you?
ANSPESSADE.Every companyDrew its own man by lot.
WALLENSTEIN.Now! to the business.
ANSPESSADE.There came to hand a letter from the emperorCommanding us, collectively, from theeAll duties of obedience to withdraw,Because thou wert an enemy and traitor.
WALLENSTEIN.And what did you determine?
ANSPESSADE.All our comradesAt Braunau, Budweiss, Prague, and Olmutz, haveObeyed already; and the regiments here,Tiefenbach and Toscano, instantlyDid follow their example. But—but weDo not believe that thou art an enemyAnd traitor to thy country, hold it merelyFor lie and trick, and a trumped-up Spanish story![With warmth.Thyself shall tell us what thy purpose is,For we have found thee still sincere and trueNo mouth shall interpose itself betwixtThe gallant general and the gallant troops.
WALLENSTEIN.Therein I recognize my Pappenheimers.
ANSPESSADE.And this proposal makes thy regiment to thee:Is it thy purpose merely to preserveIn thine own hands this military sceptre,Which so becomes thee, which the emperorMade over to thee by a covenant!Is it thy purpose merely to remainSupreme commander of the Austrian armies?We will stand by thee, general! and guaranteeThy honest rights against all opposition.And should it chance, that all the other regimentsTurn from thee, by ourselves we will stand forthThy faithful soldiers, and, as is our duty,Far rather let ourselves be cut to piecesThan suffer thee to fall. But if it beAs the emperor's letter says, if it be true,That thou in traitorous wise wilt lead us overTo the enemy, which God in heaven forbid!Then we too will forsake thee, and obeyThat letter——
WALLENSTEIN.Hear me, children!
ANSPESSADE.Yes, or no,There needs no other answer.
WALLENSTEIN.Yield attention.You're men of sense, examine for yourselves;Ye think, and do not follow with the herd:And therefore have I always shown you honorAbove all others, suffered you to reason;Have treated you as free men, and my ordersWere but the echoes of your prior suffrage.
ANSPESSADE.Most fair and noble has thy conduct beenTo us, my general! With thy confidenceThou has honored us, and shown us grace and favorBeyond all other regiments; and thou seestWe follow not the common herd. We willStand by thee faithfully. Speak but one word—Thy word shall satisfy us that it is notA treason which thou meditatest—thatThou meanest not to lead the army overTo the enemy; nor e'er betray thy country.
WALLENSTEIN.Me, me are they betraying. The emperorHath sacrificed me to my enemies,And I must fall, unless my gallant troopsWill rescue me. See! I confide in you.And be your hearts my stronghold! At this breastThe aim is taken, at this hoary head.This is your Spanish gratitude, this is ourRequital for that murderous fight at Luetzen!For this we threw the naked breast againstThe halbert, made for this the frozen earthOur bed, and the hard stone our pillow! never streamToo rapid for us, nor wood too impervious;With cheerful spirit we pursued that MansfeldtThrough all the turns and windings of his flight:Yea, our whole life was but one restless march:And homeless, as the stirring wind, we travelledO'er the war-wasted earth. And now, even now,That we have well-nigh finished the hard toil,The unthankful, the curse-laden toil of weapons,With faithful indefatigable armHave rolled the heavy war-load up the hill,Behold! this boy of the emperor's bears awayThe honors of the peace, an easy prize!He'll weave, forsooth, into his flaxen locksThe olive branch, the hard-earned ornamentOf this gray head, grown gray beneath the helmet.
ANSPESSADE.That shall he not, while we can hinder it!No one, but thou, who has conducted itWith fame, shall end this war, this frightful war.Thou leadest us out to the bloody fieldOf death; thou and no other shalt conduct us home,Rejoicing, to the lovely plains of peace—Shalt share with us the fruits of the long toil.
WALLENSTEIN.What! Think you then at length in late old ageTo enjoy the fruits of toil? Believe it not.Never, no never, will you see the endOf the contest! you and me, and all of us,This war will swallow up! War, war, not peace,Is Austria's wish; and therefore, because IEndeavored after peace, therefore I fall.For what cares Austria how long the warWears out the armies and lays waste the world!She will but wax and grow amid the ruinAnd still win new domains.[The CUIRASSIERS express agitation by their gestures.Ye're moved—I seeA noble rage flash from your eyes, ye warriors!Oh, that my spirit might possess you nowDaring as once it led you to the battleYe would stand by me with your veteran arms,Protect me in my rights; and this is noble!But think not that you can accomplish it,Your scanty number! to no purpose will youHave sacrificed you for your general.[Confidentially.No! let us tread securely, seek for friends;The Swedes have proffered us assistance, let usWear for a while the appearance of good-will,And use them for your profit, till we bothCarry the fate of Europe in our hands,And from our camp to the glad jubilant worldLead peace forth with the garland on her head!
ANSPESSADE.'Tis then but mere appearances which thouDost put on with the Swede! Thou'lt not betrayThe emperor? Wilt not turn us into Swedes?This is the only thing which we desireTo learn from thee.
WALLENSTEIN.What care I for the Swedes?I hate them as I hate the pit of hell,And under Providence I trust right soonTo chase them to their homes across their Baltic.My cares are only for the whole: I haveA heart—it bleeds within me for the miseriesAnd piteous groanings of my fellow-Germans.Ye are but common men, but yet ye thinkWith minds not common; ye appear to meWorthy before all others, that I whisper theeA little word or two in confidence!See now! already for full fifteen years,The war-torch has continued burning, yetNo rest, no pause of conflict. Swede and German,Papist and Lutheran! neither will give wayTo the other; every hand's against the other.Each one is party and no one a judge.Where shall this end? Where's he that will unravelThis tangle, ever tangling more and moreIt must be cut asunder.I feel that I am the man of destiny,And trust, with your assistance, to accomplish it.
To these enter BUTLER.
BUTLER (passionately).General! this is not right!
WALLENSTEIN.What is not right?
BUTLER.It must needs injure us with all honest men.
WALLENSTEIN.But what?
BUTLER.It is an open proclamationOf insurrection.
WALLENSTEIN.Well, well—but what is it?
BUTLER.Count Terzky's regiments tear the imperial eagleFrom off his banners, and instead of itHave reared aloft their arms.
ANSPESSADE (abruptly to the CUIRASSIERS).Right about! March!
WALLENSTEIN.Cursed be this counsel, and accursed who gave it![To the CUIRASSIERS, who are retiring.Halt, children, halt! There's some mistake in this;Hark! I will punish it severely. StopThey do not hear. (To ILLO). Go after them, assure them,And bring them back to me, cost what it may.
[ILLO hurries out.
This hurls us headlong. Butler! Butler!You are my evil genius, wherefore must youAnnounce it in their presence? It was allIn a fair way. They were half won! those madmenWith their improvident over-readiness—A cruel game is Fortune playing with me.The zeal of friends it is that razes me,And not the hate of enemies.
To these enter the DUCHESS, who rushes into the chamber;THEKLA and the COUNTESS follow her.
DUCHESS.O Albrecht!What hast thou done?
WALLENSTEIN.And now comes this beside.
COUNTESS.Forgive me, brother! It was not in my power—They know all.
DUCHESS.What hast thou done?
COUNTESS (to TERZKY).Is there no hope? Is all lost utterly?
TERZKY.All lost. No hope. Prague in the emperor's hands,The soldiery have taken their oaths anew.
COUNTESS.That lurking hypocrite, Octavio!Count Max. is off too.
TERZKY.Where can he be? He'sGone over to the emperor with his father.
[THEKLA rushes out into the arms of her mother, hiding her facein her bosom.
DUCHESS (enfolding her in her arms).Unhappy child! and more unhappy mother!
WALLENSTEIN (aside to TERZKY).Quick! Let a carriage stand in readinessIn the court behind the palace. Scherfenberg,Be their attendant; he is faithful to us.To Egra he'll conduct them, and we follow.[To ILLO, who returns.Thou hast not brought them back?
ILLO.Hear'st thou the uproar?The whole corps of the Pappenheimers isDrawn out: the younger Piccolomini,Their colonel, they require: for they affirm,That he is in the palace here, a prisoner;And if thou dost not instantly deliver him,They will find means to free him with the sword.
[All stand amazed.
TERZKY.What shall we make of this?
WALLENSTEIN.Said I not so?O my prophetic heart! he is still here.He has not betrayed me—he could not betray me.I never doubted of it.
COUNTESS.If he beStill here, then all goes well; for I know what[Embracing THEKLA.Will keep him here forever.
TERZKY.It can't be.His father has betrayed us, is gone overTo the emperor—the son could not have venturedTo stay behind.
THEKLA (her eye fixed on the door).There he is!
To these enter MAX. PICCOLOMINI.
MAX.Yes, here he is! I can endure no longerTo creep on tiptoe round this house, and lurkIn ambush for a favorable moment:This loitering, this suspense exceeds my powers.
[Advancing to THEKLA, who has thrown herself into her mother's arms.
Turn not thine eyes away. O look upon me!Confess it freely before all. Fear no one.Let who will hear that we both love each other.Wherefore continue to conceal it? SecrecyIs for the happy—misery, hopeless misery,Needeth no veil! Beneath a thousand sunsIt dares act openly.
[He observes the COUNTESS looking on THEKLA with expressionsof triumph.
No, lady! No!Expect not, hope it not. I am not comeTo stay: to bid farewell, farewell forever.For this I come! 'Tis over! I must leave thee!Thekla, I must—must leave thee! Yet thy hatredLet me not take with me. I pray thee, grant meOne look of sympathy, only one look.Say that thou dost not hate me. Say it to me, Thekla!
[Grasps her hand.
O God! I cannot leave this spot—I cannot!Cannot let go this hand. O tell me, Thekla!That thou dost suffer with me, art convincedThat I cannot act otherwise.
[THEKLA, avoiding his look, points with her hand to her father.MAX. turns round to the DUKE, whom he had not till then perceived.
Thou here? It was not thou whom here I sought.I trusted never more to have beheld thee,My business is with her alone. Here will IReceive a full acquittal from this heart;For any other I am no more concerned.
WALLENSTEIN.Think'st thou that, fool-like, I shall let thee go,And act the mock-magnanimous with thee?Thy father is become a villain to me;I hold thee for his son, and nothing moreNor to no purpose shalt thou have been givenInto my power. Think not, that I will honorThat ancient love, which so remorselesslyHe mangled. They are now passed by, those hoursOf friendship and forgiveness. Hate and vengeanceSucceed—'tis now their turn—I too can throwAll feelings of the man aside—can proveMyself as much a monster as thy father!
MAX (calmly).Thou wilt proceed with me as thou hast power.Thou knowest I neither brave nor fear thy rage.What has detained me here, that too thou knowest.[Taking THEKLA by the hand.See, duke! All—all would I have owed to thee,Would have received from thy paternal handThe lot of blessed spirits. That hast thouLaid waste forever—that concerns not thee.Indifferent thou tramplest in the dustTheir happiness who most are thine. The godWhom thou dost serve is no benignant deity,Like as the blind, irreconcilable,Fierce element, incapable of compact.Thy heart's wild impulse only dost thou follow. [5]
WALLENSTEIN.Thou art describing thy own father's heart.The adder! Oh, the charms of hell o'erpowered meHe dwelt within me, to my inmost soulStill to and fro he passed, suspected never.On the wide ocean, in the starry heavenDid mine eyes seek the enemy, whom IIn my heart's heart had folded! Had I beenTo Ferdinand what Octavio was to me,War had I ne'er denounced against him.No, I never could have done it. The emperor wasMy austere master only, not my friend.There was already war 'twixt him and meWhen he delivered the commander's staffInto my hands; for there's a naturalUnceasing war twixt cunning and suspicion;Peace exists only betwixt confidenceAnd faith. Who poisons confidence, he murdersThe future generations.
MAX.I will notDefend my father. Woe is me, I cannot!Hard deeds and luckless have taken place; one crimeDrags after it the other in close link.But we are innocent: how have we fallenInto this circle of mishap and guilt?To whom have we been faithless? Wherefore mustThe evil deeds and guilt reciprocalOf our two fathers twine like serpents round us?Why must our fathers'Unconquerable hate rend us asunder,Who love each other?
WALLENSTEIN.Max., remain with me.Go you not from me, Max.! Hark! I will tell thee——How when at Prague, our winter quarters, thouWert brought into my tent a tender boy,Not yet accustomed to the German winters;Thy hand was frozen to the heavy colors;Thou wouldst not let them go.At that time did I take thee in my arms,And with my mantle did I cover thee;I was thy nurse, no woman could have beenA kinder to thee; I was not ashamedTo do for thee all little offices,However strange to me; I tended theeTill life returned; and when thine eyes first opened,I had thee in my arms. Since then, when haveAltered my feelings toward thee? Many thousandsHave I made rich, presented them with lands;Rewarded them with dignities and honors;Thee have I loved: my heart, my self, I gaveTo thee; They all were aliens: thou wertOur child and inmate. [6] Max.! Thou canst not leave me;It cannot be; I may not, will not thinkThat Max. can leave me.
MAX.Ob, my God!
WALLENSTEINI haveHeld and sustained thee from thy tottering childhood.What holy bond is there of natural love,What human tie that does not knit thee to me?I love thee, Max.! What did thy father for thee,Which I too have not done, to the height of duty?Go hence, forsake me, serve thy emperor;He will reward thee with a pretty chainOf gold; with his ram's fleece will he reward thee;For that the friend, the father of thy youth,For that the holiest feeling of humanity,Was nothing worth to thee.
MAX.O God! how can IDo otherwise. Am I not forced to do it,My oath—my duty—my honor——
WALLENSTEIN.How? Thy duty?Duty to whom? Who art thou? Max.! bethink theeWhat duties may'st thou have? If I am actingA criminal part toward the emperor,It is my crime, not thine. Dost thou belongTo thine own self? Art thou thine own commander?Stand'st thou, like me, a freeman in the world,That in thy actions thou shouldst plead free agency?On me thou art planted, I am thy emperor;To obey me, to belong to me, this isThy honor, this a law of nature to thee!And if the planet on the which thou livestAnd hast thy dwelling, from its orbit starts.It is not in thy choice, whether or noThou'lt follow it. Unfelt it whirls thee onwardTogether with his ring, and all his moons.With little guilt steppest thou into this contest;Thee will the world not censure, it will praise thee,For that thou held'st thy friend more worth to theeThan names and influences more removedFor justice is the virtue of the ruler,Affection and fidelity the subject's.Not every one doth it beseem to questionThe far-off high Arcturus. Most securelyWilt thou pursue the nearest duty: letThe pilot fix his eye upon the pole-star.
To these enter NEUMANN.
WALLENSTEIN.What now?
NEUMANN.The Pappenheimers are dismounted,And are advancing now on foot, determinedWith sword in hand to storm the house, and freeThe count, their colonel.
WALLENSTEIN (to TERZKY).Have the cannon planted.I will receive them with chain-shot.[Exit TERZKY.Prescribe to me with sword in hand! Go, Neumann!'Tis my command that they retreat this moment,And in their ranks in silence wait my pleasure.
[NEUMANN exit. ILLO steps to the window.
COUNTESS.Let him go, I entreat thee, let him go.
ILLO (at the window).Hell and perdition!
WALLENSTEIN.What is it?
ILLO.They scale the council-house, the roof's uncovered,They level at this house the cannon——
MAX.Madmen
ILLO.They are making preparations now to fire on us.
DUCHESS and COUNTESS.Merciful heaven!
MAX. (to WALLENSTEIN).Let me go to them!
WALLENSTEIN.Not a step!
MAX. (pointing to THEKLA and the DUCHESS).But their life! Thine!
WALLENSTEIN.What tidings bringest thou, Terzky?
To these TERZKY returning.
TERZKY.Message and greeting from our faithful regiments.Their ardor may no longer be curbed in.They entreat permission to commence the attack;And if thou wouldst but give the word of onsetThey could now charge the enemy in rear,Into the city wedge them, and with easeO'erpower them in the narrow streets.
ILLO.Oh comeLet not their ardor cool. The soldieryOf Butler's corps stand by us faithfully;We are the greater number. Let us charge themAnd finish here in Pilsen the revolt.
WALLENSTEIN.What? shall this town become a field of slaughter,And brother-killing discord, fire-eyed,Be let loose through its streets to roam and rage?Shall the decision be delivered overTo deaf remorseless rage, that hears no leader?Here is not room for battle, only for butchery.Well, let it be! I have long thought of it,So let it burst then![Turns to MAX.Well, how is it with thee?Wilt thou attempt a heat with me. Away!Thou art free to go. Oppose thyself to me,Front against front, and lead them to the battle;Thou'rt skilled in war, thou hast learned somewhat under me,I need not be ashamed of my opponent,And never hadst thou fairer opportunityTo pay me for thy schooling.
COUNTESS.Is it then,Can it have come to this? What! Cousin, cousin!Have you the heart?
MAX.The regiments that are trusted to my careI have pledged my troth to bring away from PilsenTrue to the emperor; and this promise will IMake good, or perish. More than this no dutyRequires of me. I will not fight against thee,Unless compelled; for though an enemy,Thy head is holy to me still,
[Two reports of cannon. ILLO and TERZKY hurry to the window.
WALLENSTEIN.What's that?
TERZBY.He falls.
WALLENSTEIN.Falls! Who?
ILLO.Tiefenbach's corpsDischarged the ordnance.
WALLENSTEIN.Upon whom?
ILLO.On—Neumann,Your messenger.
WALLENSTEIN (starting up).Ha! Death and hell! I will——
TERZKY.Expose thyself to their blind frenzy?
DUCHESS and COUNTESS.No!For God's sake, no!
ILLO.Not yet, my general!Oh, hold him! hold him!
WALLENSTEIN.Leave me——
MAX.Do it not;Not yet! This rash and bloody deed has thrown themInto a frenzy-fit—allow them time——
WALLENSTEIN.Away! too long already have I loitered.They are emboldened to these outrages,Beholding not my face. They shall beholdMy countenance, shall hear my voice—Are they not my troops? Am I not their general,And their long-feared commander! Let me see,Whether indeed they do no longer knowThat countenance which was their sun in battle!From the balcony (mark!) I show myselfTo these rebellious forces, and at onceRevolt is mounded, and the high-swollen currentShrinks back into the old bed of obedience.
[Exit WALLENSTEIN; ILLO, TERZKY, and BUTLER follow.
COUNTESS, DUCHESS, MAX., and THEKLA.
COUNTESS (to the DUCHESS).Let them but see him—there is hope still, sister.
DUCHESS.Hope! I have none!
MAX. (who during the last scene has been standing at a distance, in avisible struggle of feelings advances).This can I not endure.With most determined soul did I come hither;My purposed action seemed unblamableTo my own conscience—and I must stand hereLike one abhorred, a hard, inhuman being:Yea, loaded with the curse of all I love!Must see all whom I love in this sore anguish,Whom I with one word can make happy—O!My heart revolts within me, and two voicesMake themselves audible within my bosom.My soul's benighted; I no longer canDistinguish the right track. Oh, well and trulyDidst thou say, father, I relied too muchOn my own heart. My mind moves to and fro—I know not what to do.
COUNTESS.What! you know not?Does not your own heart tell you? Oh! then IWill tell it you. Your father is a traitor,A frightful traitor to us—he has plottedAgainst our general's life, has plunged us allIn misery—and you're his son! 'Tis yoursTo make the amends. Make you the son's fidelityOutweigh the father's treason, that the nameOf Piccolomini be not a proverbOf infamy, a common form of cursingTo the posterity of Wallenstein.
MAX.Where is that voice of truth which I dare follow!It speaks no longer in my heart. We allBut utter what our passionate wishes dictate:Oh that an angel would descend from heaven,And scoop for me the right, the uncorrupted,With a pure hand from the pure Fount of light.[His eyes glance on THEKLA.What other angel seek I? To this heart,To this unerring heart, will I submit it;Will ask thy love, which has the power to blessThe happy man alone, averted everFrom the disquieted and guilty—canst thouStill love me, if I stay? Say that thou canst,And I am the duke's——
COUNTESS.Think, niece——
MAX.Think nothing, Thekla!Speak what thou feelest.
COUNTESS.Think upon your father.
MAX.I did not question thee, as Friedland's daughter.Thee, the beloved and the unerring GodWithin thy heart, I question. What's at stake?Not whether diadem of royaltyBe to be won or not—that mightest thou think on.Thy friend, and his soul's quiet are at stake:The fortune of a thousand gallant men,Who will all follow me; shall I forswearMy oath and duty to the emperor?Say, shall I send into Octavio's campThe parricidal ball? For when the ballHas left its cannon, and is on its flight,It is no longer a dead instrument!It lives, a spirit passes into it;The avenging furies seize possession of it,And with sure malice, guide it the worst way.
THEKLA.Oh! Max.——
MAX. (interrupting her).Nay, not precipitately either, Thekla.I understand thee. To thy noble heartThe hardest duty might appear the highest.The human, not the great part, would I act.Even from my childhood to this present hour,Think what the duke has done for me, how loved meAnd think, too, how my father has repaid him.Oh likewise the free lovely impulsesOf hospitality, the pious friend'sFaithful attachment, these, too, are a holyReligion to the heart; and heavilyThe shudderings of nature do avengeThemselves on the barbarian that insults them.Lay all upon the balance, all—then speak,And let thy heart decide it.
THEKLA.Oh, thy ownHath long ago decided. Follow thouThy heart's first feeling——
COUNTESS.Oh! ill-fated woman!
THEKLA.Is it possible, that that can be the right,The which thy tender heart did not at firstDetect and seize with instant impulse? Go,Fulfil thy duty! I should ever love thee.Whate'er thou hast chosen, thou wouldst still have actedNobly and worthy of thee—but repentanceShall ne'er disturb thy soul's fair peace.
MAX.Then IMust leave thee, must part from thee!
THEKLA.Being faithfulTo thine own self, thou art faithful, too, to me:If our fates part, our hearts remain united.A bloody hatred will divide foreverThe houses Piccolomini and Friedland;But we belong not to our houses. Go!Quick! quick! and separate thy righteous causeFrom our unholy and unblessed one!The curse of heaven lies upon our head:'Tis dedicate to ruin. Even meMy father's guilt drags with it to perdition.Mourn not for me:My destiny will quickly be decided.
[MAX. clasps her in his arms in extreme emotion. There is heard from behind the scene a loud, wild, long-continued cry, Vivat Ferdinandus! accompanied by warlike instruments. MAX. and THEKLA remain without motion in each other's embraces.
To the above enter TERZKY.
COUNTESS (meeting him).What meant that cry? What was it?
TERZKY.All is lost!
COUNTESS.What! they regarded not his countenance?
TERZKY.'Twas all in vain.
DUCHESS.They shouted Vivat!
TERZKY.To the emperor.
COUNTESS.The traitors?
TERZKY.Nay! he was not permittedEven to address them. Soon as he began,With deafening noise of warlike instrumentsThey drowned his words. But here he comes.
To these enter WALLENSTEIN, accompanied by ILLO and BUTLER.
WALLENSTEIN (as he enters).Terzky!
TERZKY.My general!
WALLENSTEIN.Let our regiments hold themselvesIn readiness to march; for we shall leavePilsen ere evening.[Exit TERZKY.Butler!
BUTLER.Yes, my general.
WALLENSTEIN.The Governor of Egra is your friendAnd countryman. Write him instantlyBy a post courier. He must be advised,That we are with him early on the morrow.You follow us yourself, your regiment with you.
BUTLER.It shall be done, my general!
WALLENSTEIN (steps between MAX. and THEKLA, who have remained during this time in each other's arms). Part!
MAX.O God!
[CUIRASSIERS enter with drawn swords, and assemble in thebackground. At the same time there are heard from below somespirited passages out of the Pappenheim March, which seem toaddress MAX.
WALLENSTEIN (to the CUIRASSIERS).Here he is, he is at liberty: I keep himNo longer.
[He turns away, and stands so that MAX. cannot pass by himnor approach the PRINCESS.
MAX.Thou know'st that I have not yet learnt to liveWithout thee! I go forth into a desert,Leaving my all behind me. Oh, do not turnThine eyes away from me! Oh, once more show meThy ever dear and honored countenance.
[MAX. attempts to take his hand, but is repelled: heturns to the COUNTESS.
Is there no eye that has a look of pity for me?
[The COUNTESS turns away from him; he turns to the DUCHESS.
My mother!
Go where duty calls you. HaplyThe time may come when you may prove to usA true friend, a good angel at the throneOf the emperor.
MAX.You give me hope; you would notSuffer me wholly to despair. No! no!Mine is a certain misery. Thanks to heaven!That offers me a means of ending it.
[The military music begins again. The stage fills more and morewith armed men. MAX. sees BUTLER and addresses him.
And you here, Colonel Butler—and will youNot follow me? Well, then, remain more faithfulTo your new lord, than you have proved yourselfTo the emperor. Come, Butler! promise me.Give me your hand upon it, that you'll beThe guardian of his life, its shield, its watchman.He is attainted, and his princely headFair booty for each slave that trades in murder.Now he doth need the faithful eye of friendship,And those whom here I see——
[Casting suspicious looks on ILLO and BUTLER.
ILLO.Go—seek for traitorsIn Gallas', in your father's quarters. HereIs only one. Away! away! and free usFrom his detested sight! Away!
[MAX. attempts once more to approach THERLA. WALLENSTEIN preventshim. MAX. stands irresolute, and in apparent anguish, In themeantime the stage fills more and more; and the horns sound frombelow louder and louder, and each time after a shorter interval.
MAX.Blow, blow! Oh, were it but the Swedish trumpets,And all the naked swords, which I see here,Were plunged into my breast! What purpose you?You come to tear me from this place! Beware,Ye drive me not to desperation. Do it not!Ye may repent it!
[The stage is entirely filled with armed men.
Yet more! weight upon weight to drag me downThink what ye're doing. It is not well doneTo choose a man despairing for your leader;You tear me from my happiness. Well, then,I dedicate your souls to vengeance. Mark!For your own ruin you have chosen meWho goes with me must be prepared to perish.
[He turns to the background; there ensues a sudden and violent movement among the CUIRASSIERS; they surround him, and carry him off in wild tumult. WALLENSTEIN remains immovable. THERLA sinks into her mother's arms. The curtain falls. The music becomes loud and overpowering, and passes into a complete war-march—the orchestra joins it—and continues during the interval between the second and third acts.