Baronial mansion of Attinghausen. The BARON upon a couch dying.WALTER FURST, STAUFFACHER, MELCHTHAL, and BAUMGARTEN attending roundhim. WALTER TELL kneeling before the dying man.FURST.All now is over with him. He is gone.STAUFFACHER.He lies not like one dead. The feather, see,Moves on his lips! His sleep is very calm,And on his features plays a placid smile.[BAUMGARTEN goes to the door and speaks with some one.FURST.Who's there?BAUGMARTEN (returning).Tell's wife, your daughter; she insistsThat she must speak with you, and see her boy.[WALTER TELL rises.FURST.I who need comfort—can I comfort her?Does every sorrow centre on my head?HEDWIG (forcing her way in).Where is my child? Unhand me! I must see him.STAUFFACHER.Be calm! Reflect you're in the house of death!HEDWIG (falling upon her boy's neck).My Walter! Oh, he yet is mine!WALTER.Dear mother!HEDWIG.And is it surely so? Art thou unhurt?[Gazing at him with anxious tenderness.And is it possible he aimed at thee?How could he do it? Oh, he has no heart—And he could wing an arrow at his child!FURST.His soul was racked with anguish when he did it.No choice was left him, but to shoot or die!HEDWIG.Oh, if he had a father's heart, he wouldHave sooner perished by a thousand deaths!STAUFFACHER.You should be grateful for God's gracious care,That ordered things so well.HEDWIG.Can I forgetWhat might have been the issue. God of heaven!Were I to live for centuries, I stillShould see my boy tied up,—his father's mark,And still the shaft would quiver in my heart!MELCHTHAL.You know not how the viceroy taunted him!HEDWIG.Oh, ruthless heart of man! Offend his pride,And reason in his breast forsakes her seat;In his blind wrath he'll stake upon a castA child's existence, and a mother's heart!BAUMGARTEN.Is then your husband's fate not hard enough,That you embitter it by such reproaches?Have you no feeling for his sufferings?HEDWIG (turning to him and gazing full upon him).Hast thou tears only for thy friend's distress?Say, where were you when he—my noble Tell,Was bound in chains? Where was your friendship, then?The shameful wrong was done before your eyes;Patient you stood, and let your friend be dragged,Ay, from your very hands. Did ever TellAct thus to you? Did he stand whining byWhen on your heels the viceroy's horsemen pressed,And full before you roared the storm-tossed lake?Oh, not with idle tears he showed his pity;Into the boat he sprung, forgot his home,His wife, his children, and delivered thee!FURST.It had been madness to attempt his rescue,Unarmed, and few in numbers as we were.HEDWIG (casting herself upon his bosom).Oh, father, and thou, too, hast lost my Tell!The country—all have lost him! All lamentHis loss; and, oh, how he must pine for us!Heaven keep his soul from sinking to despair!No friend's consoling voice can penetrateHis dreary dungeon walls. Should befall sick!Ah! In the vapors of the murky vaultHe must fall sick. Even as the Alpine roseGrows pale and withers in the swampy air,There is no life for him, but in the sun,And in the balm of heaven's refreshing breeze.Imprisoned? Liberty to him is breath;He cannot live in the rank dungeon air!STAUFFACHER.Pray you be calm! And, hand in hand, we'll allCombine to burst his prison doors.HEDWIG.Without him,What have you power to do? While Tell was free,There still, indeed, was hope—weak innocenceHad still a friend, and the oppressed a stay.Tell saved you all! You cannot all combinedRelease him from his cruel prison bonds.[The BARON wakes.BAUMGARTEN.Hush, hush! He starts!ATTINGHAUSEN (sitting up).Where is he?STAUFFACHER.Who?ATTINGHAUSEN.He leaves me,—In my last moments he abandons me.STAUFFACHER.He means his nephew. Have they sent for him?FURST.He has been summoned. Cheerily, Sir! Take comfort!He has found his heart at last, and is our own.ATTINGHAUSEN.Say, has he spoken for his native land?STAUFFACHER.Ay, like a hero!ATTINGHAUSEN.Wherefore comes he not,That he may take my blessing ere I die?I feel my life fast ebbing to a close.STAUFFACHER.Nay, talk not thus, dear Sir! This last short sleepHas much refreshed you, and your eye is bright.ATTINGHAUSEN.Life is but pain, and even that has left me;My sufferings, like my hopes, have passed away.[Observing the boy.What boy is that?FURST.Bless him. Oh, good my lord!He is my grandson, and is fatherless.[HEDWIG kneels with the boy before the dying man.ATTINGHAUSEN.And fatherless I leave you all, ay, all!Oh, wretched fate, that these old eyes should seeMy country's ruin, as they close in death.Must I attain the utmost verge of life,To feel my hopes go with me to the grave.STAUFFACHER (to FURST).Shall he depart 'mid grief and gloom like this?Shall not his parting moments be illumedBy hope's delightful beams? My noble lord,Raise up your drooping spirit! We are notForsaken quite—past all deliverance.ATTINGHAUSEN.Who shall deliver you?FURST.Ourselves. For knowThe Cantons three are to each other pledgedTo hunt the tyrants from the land. The leagueHas been concluded, and a sacred oathConfirms our union. Ere another yearBegins its circling course—the blow shall fall.In a free land your ashes shall repose.ATTINGHAUSEN.The league concluded! Is it really so?MELCHTHAL.On one day shall the Cantons rise together.All is prepared to strike—and to this hourThe secret closely kept though hundreds share it;The ground is hollow 'neath the tyrant's feet;Their days of rule are numbered, and ere longNo trace of their dominion shall remain.ATTINGHAUSEN.Ay, but their castles, how to master them?MELCHTHAL.On the same day they, too, are doomed to fall.ATTINGHAUSEN.And are the nobles parties to this league?STAUFFACHER.We trust to their assistance should we need it;As yet the peasantry alone have sworn.ATTINGHAUSEN (raising himself up in great astonishment).And have the peasantry dared such a deedOn their own charge without their nobles' aid—Relied so much on their own proper strength?Nay then, indeed, they want our help no more;We may go down to death cheered by the thoughtThat after us the majesty of manWill live, and be maintained by other hands.[He lays his hand upon the head of the child,who is kneeling before him.From this boy's head, whereon the apple lay,Your new and better liberty shall spring;The old is crumbling down—the times are changingAnd from the ruins blooms a fairer life.STAUFFACHER (to FURST).See, see, what splendor streams around his eye!This is not nature's last expiring flame,It is the beam of renovated life.ATTINGHAUSEN.From their old towers the nobles are descending,And swearing in the towns the civic oath.In Uechtland and Thurgau the work's begun;The noble Bern lifts her commanding head,And Freyburg is a stronghold of the free;The stirring Zurich calls her guilds to arms;And now, behold! the ancient might of kingsIs shivered against her everlasting walls.[He speaks what follows with a prophetic tone;his utterance rising into enthusiasm.I see the princes and their haughty peers,Clad all in steel, come striding on to crushA harmless shepherd race with mailed hand.Desperate the conflict: 'tis for life or death;And many a pass will tell to after yearsOf glorious victories sealed in foemen's blood.25The peasant throws himself with naked breast,A willing victim on their serried lances.They yield—the flower of chivalry's cut down,And freedom waves her conquering banner high![Grasps the hands Of WALTER FURST and STAUFFACHER.Hold fast together, then—forever fast!Let freedom's haunts be one in heart and mind!Set watches on your mountain-tops, that leagueMay answer league, when comes the hour to strike.Be one—be one—be one——[He falls back upon the cushion. His lifeless hands continueto grasp those of FURST and STAUFFACHER, who regard him forsome moments in silence, and then retire, overcome with sorrow.Meanwhile the servants have quietly pressed into the chamber,testifying different degrees of grief. Some kneel down besidehim and weep on his body: while this scene is passing the castlebell tolls.RUDENZ (entering hurriedly).Lives he? Oh, say, can he still hear my voice?FURST (averting his face).You are our seignior and protector now;Henceforth this castle bears another name.RUDENZ (gazing at the body with deep emotion).Oh, God! Is my repentance, then, too late?Could he not live some few brief moments more,To see the change that has come o'er my heart?Oh, I was deaf to his true counselling voiceWhile yet he walked on earth. Now he is gone;Gone and forever,—leaving me the debt,—The heavy debt I owe him—undischarged!Oh, tell me! did he part in anger with me?STAUFFACHER.When dying he was told what you had done,And blessed the valor that inspired your words!RUDENZ (kneeling downs beside the dead body).Yes, sacred relics of a man beloved!Thou lifeless corpse! Here, on thy death-cold hand,Do I abjure all foreign ties forever!And to my country's cause devote myself.I am a Switzer, and will act as oneWith my whole heart and soul.[Rises.Mourn for our friend,Our common parent, yet be not dismayed!'Tis not alone his lands that I inherit,—His heart—his spirit have devolved on me;And my young arm shall execute the taskFor which his hoary age remained your debtor.Give me your hands, ye venerable fathers!Thine, Melchthal, too! Nay, do not hesitate,Nor from me turn distrustfully away.Accept my plighted vow—my knightly oath!FURST.Give him your hands, my friends! A heart like hisThat sees and owns its error claims our trust.MELCHTHAL.You ever held the peasantry in scorn;What surety have we that you mean us fair?RUDENZ.Oh, think not of the error of my youth!STAUFFACHER (to MELCHTHAL).Be one! They were our father's latest words.See they be not forgotten! Take my hand,—A peasant's hand,—and with it, noble Sir,The gage and the assurance of a man!Without us, sir, what would the nobles be?Our order is more ancient, too, than yours!RUDENZ.I honor it, and with my sword will shield it!MELCHTHAL.The arm, my lord, that tames the stubborn earth,And makes its bosom blossom with increase,Can also shield a man's defenceless breast.RUDENZ.Then you shall shield my breast and I will yours;Thus each be strengthened by the others' aid!Yet wherefore talk we while our native landIs still to alien tyranny a prey?First let us sweep the foeman from the soil,Then reconcile our difference in peace![After a moment's pause.How! You are silent! Not a word for me?And have I yet no title to your trust?Then must I force my way, despite your will,Into the league you secretly have formed.You've held a Diet on the Rootli,—IKnow this,—know all that was transacted there!And though I was not trusted with your secret,I still have kept it like a sacred pledge.Trust me, I never was my country's foe,Nor would I ever have ranged myself against you!Yet you did wrong to put your rising off.Time presses! We must strike, and swiftly, too!Already Tell has fallen a sacrificeTo your delay.STAUFFACHER.We swore to wait till Christmas.RUDENZ.I was not there,—I did not take the oath.If you delay I will not!MELCHTHAL.What! You would——RUDENZ.I count me now among the country's fathers,And to protect you is my foremost duty.FURST.Within the earth to lay these dear remains,That is your nearest and most sacred duty.RUDENZ.When we have set the country free, we'll placeOur fresh, victorious wreaths upon his bier.Oh, my dear friends, 'tis not your cause alone!I have a cause to battle with the tyrantsThat more concerns myself. Know, that my BerthaHas disappeared,—been carried off by stealth,Stolen from amongst us by their ruffian bands!STAUFFACHER.And has the tyrant dared so fell an outrageAgainst a lady free and nobly born?RUDENZ.Alas! my friends, I promised help to you,And I must first implore it for myself?She that I love is stolen—is forced away,And who knows where the tyrant has concealed her.Or with what outrages his ruffian crewMay force her into nuptials she detests?Forsake me not! Oh help me to her rescue!She loves you! Well, oh well, has she deservedThat all should rush to arms in her behalf.STAUFFACHER.What course do you propose?RUDENZ.Alas! I know not.In the dark mystery that shrouds her fate,In the dread agony of this suspense,Where I can grasp at naught of certainty,One single ray of comfort beams upon me.From out the ruins of the tyrant's powerAlone can she be rescued from the grave.Their strongholds must be levelled! Everyone,Ere we can pierce into her gloomy prison.MELCHTHAL.Come, lead us on! We follow! Why deferUntil to-morrow what to-day may do?Tell's arm was free when we at Rootli swore,This foul enormity was yet undone.And change of circumstance brings change of law.Who such a coward as to waver still?RUDENZ (to WALTER FURST).Meanwhile to arms, and wait in readinessThe fiery signal on the mountain-tops.For swifter than a boat can scour the lakeShall you have tidings of our victory;And when you see the welcome flames ascend,Then, like the lightning, swoop upon the foe,And lay the despots and their creatures low!
The pass near Kuessnacht, sloping down from behind, withrocks on either side. The travellers are visible upon theheights, before they appear on the stage. Rocks all roundthe stage. Upon one of the foremost a projecting cliffovergrown with brushwood.TELL (enters with his crossbow).Here through this deep defile he needs must pass;There leads no other road to Kuessnacht; hereI'll do it; the opportunity is good.Yon alder tree stands well for my concealment,Thence my avenging shaft will surely reach him.The straitness of the path forbids pursuit.Now, Gessler, balance thine account with Heaven!Thou must away from earth, thy sand is run.I led a peaceful, inoffensive life;My bow was bent on forest game alone,And my pure soul was free from thoughts of murder.But thou hast scared me from my dream of peace;The milk of human kindness thou hast turnedTo rankling poison in my breast, and madeAppalling deeds familiar to my soul.He who could make his own child's head his markCan speed his arrow to his foeman's heart.My children dear, my loved and faithful wife,Must be protected, tyrant, from thy fury!When last I drew my bow, with trembling hand,And thou, with murderous joy, a father forcedTo level at his child; when, all in vain,Writhing before thee, I implored thy mercy,Then in the agony of my soul I vowedA fearful oath, which met God's ear alone,That when my bow next winged an arrow's flightIts aim should be thy heart. The vow I madeAmid the hellish torments of that momentI hold a sacred debt, and I will pay it.Thou art my lord, my emperor's delegate,Yet would the emperor not have stretched his powerSo far as thou. He sent thee to these CantonsTo deal forth law, stern law, for he is angered;But not to wanton with unbridled willIn every cruelty, with fiendlike joy:There is a God to punish and avenge.Come forth, thou bringer once of bitter pangs,My precious jewel now, my chiefest treasure;A mark I'll set thee, which the cry of griefCould never penetrate, but thou shalt pierce it.And thou, my trusty bowstring, that so oftHas served me faithfully in sportive scenes,Desert me not in this most serious hour—Only be true this once, my own good cord,That has so often winged the biting shaft:—For shouldst thou fly successless from my hand,I have no second to send after thee.[Travellers pass over the stage.I'll sit me down upon this bench of stone,Hewn for the wayworn traveller's brief repose—For here there is no home. Each hurries byThe other, with quick step and careless look,Nor stays to question of his grief. Here goesThe merchant, full of care—the pilgrim next,With slender scrip—and then the pious monk,The scowling robber, and the jovial player,The carrier with his heavy-laden horse,That comes to us from the far haunts of men;For every road conducts to the world's end.They all push onwards—every man intentOn his own several business—mine is murder.[Sits down.Time was, my dearest children, when with joyYou hailed your father's safe return to homeFrom his long mountain toils; for when he cameHe ever brought some little present with him.A lovely Alpine flower—a curious bird—Or elf-boat found by wanderers on the hills.But now he goes in quest of other game:In the wild pass he sits, and broods on murder;And watches for the life-blood of his foe,But still his thoughts are fixed on you alone,Dear children. 'Tis to guard your innocence,To shield you from the tyrant's fell revenge,He bends his bow to do a deed of blood![Rises.Well—I am watching for a noble prey—Does not the huntsman, with severest toil,Roam for whole days amid the winter's cold,Leap with a daring bound from rock to rock,—And climb the jagged, slippery steeps, to whichHis limbs are glued by his own streaming blood;And all this but to gain a wretched chamois.A far more precious prize is now my aim—The heart of that dire foe who would destroy me.[Sprightly music heard in the distance, whichcomes gradually nearer.From my first years of boyhood I have usedThe bow—been practised in the archer's feats;The bull's-eye many a time my shafts have hit,And many a goodly prize have I brought home,Won in the games of skill. This day I'll makeMy master-shot, and win the highest prizeWithin the whole circumference of the mountains.[A marriage train passes over the stage, and goes upthe pass. TELL gazes at it, leaning on his bow. Heis joined by STUSSI, the Ranger.STUSSI.There goes the bridal party of the stewardOf Moerlischachen's cloister. He is rich!And has some ten good pastures on the Alps.He goes to fetch his bride from Imisee,There will be revelry to-night at Kuessnacht.Come with us—every honest man's invited.TELL.A gloomy guest fits not a wedding feast.STUSSI.If grief oppress you, dash it from your heart!Bear with your lot. The times are heavy now,And we must snatch at pleasure while we can.Here 'tis a bridal, there a burial.TELL.And oft the one treads close upon the other.STUSSI.So runs the world at present. EverywhereWe meet with woe and misery enough.There's been a slide of earth in Glarus, andA whole side of the Glaernisch has fallen in.TELL.Strange! And do even the hills begin to totter?There is stability for naught on earth.STUSSI.Strange tidings, too, we hear from other parts.I spoke with one but now, that came from Baden,Who said a knight was on his way to court,And as he rode along a swarm of waspsSurrounded him, and settling on his horse,So fiercely stung the beast that it fell dead,And he proceeded to the court on foot.TELL.Even the weak are furnished with a sting.[ARMGART (enters with several children, and placesherself at the entrance of the pass).STUSSI.'Tis thought to bode disaster to the country,Some horrid deed against the course of nature.TELL.Why, every day brings forth such fearful deeds;There needs no miracle to tell their coming.STUSSI.Too true! He's blessed who tills his field in peace,And sits untroubled by his own fireside.TELL.The very meekest cannot rest in quiet,Unless it suits with his ill neighbor's humor.[TELL looks frequently with restless expectationtowards the top of the pass.STUSSI.So fare you well! You're waiting some one here?TELL.I am.STUSSI.A pleasant meeting with your friends!You are from Uri, are you not? His graceThe governor's expected thence to-day.TRAVELLER (entering).Look not to see the governor to-day.The streams are flooded by the heavy rains,And all the bridges have been swept away.[TELL rises.ARMGART (coming forward).The viceroy not arrived?STUSSI.And do you seek him?ARMGART.Alas, I do!STUSSI.But why thus place yourselfWhere you obstruct his passage down the pass?ARMGART.Here he cannot escape me. He must hear me.FRIESSHARDT (coming hastily down the pass, and calls upon the stage).Make way, make way! My lord, the governor,Is coming down on horseback close behind me.[Exit TELL.ARMGART (with animation).The viceroy comes![She goes towards the pass with her children.GESSLER and RUDOLPH DER HARRAS appear upon theheights on horseback.STUSSI (to FRIESSHARDT).How got ye through the streamWhen all the bridges have been carried down?FRIESSHARDT.We've battled with the billows; and, my friend,An Alpine torrent's nothing after that.STUSSI.How! Were you out, then, in that dreadful storm?FRIESSHARDT.Ay, that we were! I shall not soon forget it.STUSSI.Stay, speak——FRIESSHARDT.I cannot. I must to the castle,And tell them that the governor's at hand.[Exit.STUSSI.If honest men, now, had been in the ship,It had gone down with every soul on board:—Some folks are proof 'gainst fire and water both.[Looking round.Where has the huntsman gone with whom I spoke?[Exit.Enter GESSLER and RUDOLPH DER HARRAS on horseback.GESSLER.Say what you please; I am the emperor's servant,And my first care must be to do his pleasure.He did not send me here to fawn and cringeAnd coax these boors into good humor. No!Obedience he must have. We soon shall seeIf king or peasant is to lord it here?ARMGART.Now is the moment! Now for my petition!GESSLER.'Twas not in sport that I set up the capIn Altdorf—or to try the people's hearts—All this I knew before. I set it upThat they might learn to bend those stubborn necksThey carry far too proudly—and I placedWhat well I knew their eyes could never brookFull in the road, which they perforce must pass,That, when their eyes fell on it, they might callThat lord to mind whom they too much forget.HARRAS.But surely, sir, the people have some rights——GESSLER.This is no time to settle what they are.Great projects are at work, and hatching now;The imperial house seeks to extend its power.Those vast designs of conquests, which the sireHas gloriously begun, the son will end.This petty nation is a stumbling-block—One way or other it must be subjected.[They are about to pass on. ARMMGART throws herselfdown before GESSLER.ARMGART.Mercy, lord governor! Oh, pardon, pardon!GESSLER.Why do you cross me on the public road?Stand back, I say.ARMGART.My husband lies in prison;My wretched orphans cry for bread. Have pity,Pity, my lord, upon our sore distress!HARRAS.Who are you, woman; and who is your husband?ARMGART.A poor wild hay-man of the Rigiberg,Kind sir, who on the brow of the abyss,Mows down the grass from steep and craggy shelves,To which the very cattle dare not climb.HARRAS (to GESSLER).By Heaven! a sad and miserable life!I prithee, give the wretched man his freedom.How great soever his offence may be,His horrid trade is punishment enough.[To ARMGART.You shall have justice. To the castle bringYour suit. This is no place to deal with it.ARMGART.No, no, I will not stir from where I stand,Until your grace restore my husband to me.Six months already has he been in prison,And waits the sentence of a judge in vain.GESSLER.How! Would you force me, woman? Hence! Begone!ARMGART.Justice, my lord! Ay, justice! Thou art judge!The deputy of the emperor—of Heaven!Then do thy duty, as thou hopest for justiceFrom Him who rules above, show it to us!GESSLER.Hence! drive this daring rabble from my sight!ARMGART (seizing his horse's reins).No, no, by Heaven, I've nothing more to lose.Thou stirrest not, viceroy, from this spot untilThou dost me fullest justice. Knit thy brows,And roll thy eyes; I fear not. Our distressIs so extreme, so boundless, that we careNo longer for thine anger.GESSLER.Woman, hence!Give way, I say, or I will ride thee down.ARMGART.Well, do so; there![Throws her children and herself upon the ground before him.Here on the ground I lie,I and my children. Let the wretched orphansBe trodden by thy horse into the dust!It will not be the worst that thou hast done.HARRAS.Are you mad, woman?ARMGART (continuing with vehemence).Many a day thou hastTrampled the emperor's lands beneath thy feet.Oh, I am but a woman! Were I man,I'd find some better thing to do, than hereLie grovelling in the dust.[The music of the wedding party is again heardfrom the top of the pass, but more softly.GESSLER.Where are my knaves?Drag her away, lest I forget myself,And do some deed I may repent hereafter.HARRAS.My lord, the servants cannot force a passage;The pass is blocked up by a marriage party.GESSLER.Too mild a ruler am I to this people,Their tongues are all too bold; nor have they yetBeen tamed to due submission, as they shall be.I must take order for the remedy;I will subdue this stubborn mood of theirs,And crush the soul of liberty within them.I'll publish a new law throughout the land;I will——[An arrow pierces him,—he puts his hand on his heart,and is about to sink—with a feeble voice.Oh God, have mercy on my soul!HARRAS.My lord! my lord! Oh God! What's this? Whence came it?ARMGART (starts up).Dead, dead! He reels, he falls! 'Tis in his heart!HARRAS (springs from his horse).This is most horrible! Oh Heavens! sir knight,Address yourself to God and pray for mercy;You are a dying man.GESSLER.That shot was Tell's.[He slides from his horse into the arms of RUDOLPHDER HARRAS, who lays him down upon the bench. TELLappears above, upon the rocks.
3pa100 (146K)
TELL.Thou knowest the archer, seek no other hand.Our cottages are free, and innocenceSecure from thee: thou'lt be our curse no more.[TELL disappears. People rush in.STUSSI.What is the matter? Tell me what has happened?ARMGART.The governor is shot,—killed by an arrow!PEOPLE (running in).Who has been shot?[While the foremost of the marriage party are comingon the stage, the hindmost are still upon the heights.The music continues.HARRAS.He's bleeding fast to death.Away, for help—pursue the murderer!Unhappy man, is't thus that thou must die?Thou wouldst not heed the warnings that I gave thee!STUSSI.By heaven, his cheek is pale! His life ebbs fast.MANY VOICES.Who did the deed?HARRAS.What! Are the people madThat they make music to a murder? Silence![Music breaks off suddenly. People continue to flock in.Speak, if thou canst, my lord. Hast thou no chargeTo intrust me with?[GESSLER makes signs with his hand, which he repeatswith vehemence, when he finds they are not understood.What would you have me do?Shall I to Kuessnacht? I can't guess your meaning.Do not give way to this impatience. LeaveAll thoughts of earth and make your peace with Heaven.[The whole marriage party gather round the dying man.STUSSI.See there! how pale he grows! Death's gathering nowAbout his heart; his eyes grow dim and glazed.ARMGART (holds up a child).Look, children, how a tyrant dies!HARRAS.Mad hag!Have you no touch of feeling that you lookOn horrors such as these without a shudder?Help me—take hold. What, will not one assistTo pull the torturing arrow from his breast?WOMEN.We touch the man whom God's own hand has struck!HARRAS.All curses light on you![Draws his sword.STUSSI (seizes his arm).Gently, sir knight!Your power is at an end. 'Twere best forbear.Our country's foe is fallen. We will brookNo further violence. We are free men.ALL.The country's free!HARRAS.And is it come to this?Fear and obedience at an end so soon?[To the soldiers of the guard who are thronging in.You see, my friends, the bloody piece of workThey've acted here. 'Tis now too late for help,And to pursue the murderer were vain.New duties claim our care. Set on to Kuessnacht,And let us save that fortress for the king!For in an hour like this all ties of order,Fealty, and faith are scattered to the winds.No man's fidelity is to be trusted.[As he is going out with the soldiers sixFRATRES MISERICCRDIAE appear.ARMGART.Here come the brotherhood of mercy. Room!STUSSI.The victim's slain, and now the ravens stoop.BROTHERS OF MERCY (form a semicircle round the body, and singin solemn tones).With hasty step death presses on,Nor grants to man a moment's stay,He falls ere half his race be runIn manhood's pride is swept away!Prepared or unprepared to die,He stands before his Judge on high.[While they are repeating the last two lines, the curtain falls.
A common near Altdorf. In the background to the right the keepof Uri, with the scaffold still standing, as in the third sceneof the first act. To the left the view opens upon numerousmountains, on all of which signal fires are burning. Day isbreaking, and bells are heard ringing from various distances.RUODI, KUONI, WERNI, MASTER MASON, and many other country people,also women and children.RUODI.Look at the fiery signals on the mountains!MASTER MASON.Hark to the bells above the forest there!RUODI.The enemy's expelled.MASTER MASON.The forts are taken.RUODI.And we of Uri, do we still endureUpon our native soil the tyrant's keep?Are we the last to strike for liberty?MASTER MASON.Shall the yoke stand that was to bow our necks?Up! Tear it to the ground!ALL.Down, down with it!RUODI.Where is the Stier of Uri?URI.Here. What would ye?RUODI.Up to your tower, and wind us such a blast,As shall resound afar, from hill to hill;Rousing the echoes of each peak and glen,And call the mountain men in haste together![Exit STIER OF URI—enter WALTER FURST.FURST.Stay, stay, my friends! As yet we have not learnedWhat has been done in Unterwald and Schwytz.Let's wait till we receive intelligence!RUODI.Wait, wait for what? The accursed tyrant's dead,And the bright day of liberty has dawned!MASTER MASON.How! Do these flaming signals not suffice,That blaze on every mountain top around?RUODI.Come all, fall to—come, men and women, all!Destroy the scaffold! Tear the arches down!Down with the walls; let not a stone remain.MASTER MASON.Come, comrades, come! We built it, and we knowHow best to hurl it down.ALL.Come! Down with it![They fall upon the building at every side.FURST.The floodgate's burst. They're not to be restrained.[Enter MELCHTHAL and BAUMGARTEN.MELCHTHAL.What! Stands the fortress still, when Sarnen liesIn ashes, and when Rossberg is a ruin?FURST.You, Melchthal, here? D'ye bring us liberty?Say, have you freed the country of the foe?MELCHTHAL.We've swept them from the soil. Rejoice, my friend;Now, at this very moment, while we speak,There's not a tyrant left in Switzerland!FURST.How did you get the forts into your power?MELCHTHAL.Rudenz it was who with a gallant arm,And manly daring, took the keep at Sarnen.The Rossberg I had stormed the night before.But hear what chanced. Scarce had we driven the foeForth from the keep, and given it to the flames,That now rose crackling upwards to the skies,When from the blaze rushed Diethelm, Gessler's page,Exclaiming, "Lady Bertha will be burnt!"FURST.Good heavens![The beams of the scaffold are heard falling.MELCHTHAL.'Twas she herself. Here had she beenImmured in secret by the viceroy's orders.Rudenz sprang up in frenzy. For we heardThe beams and massive pillars crashing down,And through the volumed smoke the piteous shrieksOf the unhappy lady.FURST.Is she saved?MELCHTHAL.Here was a time for promptness and decision!Had he been nothing but our baron, thenWe should have been most chary of our lives;But he was our confederate, and BerthaHonored the people. So without a thought,We risked the worst, and rushed into the flames.FURST.But is she saved?MELCHTHAL.She is. Rudenz and IBore her between us from the blazing pile,With crashing timbers toppling all around.And when she had revived, the danger past,And raised her eyes to meet the light of heaven,The baron fell upon my breast; and thenA silent vow of friendship passed between us—A vow that, tempered in yon furnace heat,Will last through every shock of time and fate.FURST.Where is the Landenberg?MELCHTHAL.Across the Bruenig.No fault of mine it was, that he, who quenchedMy father's eyesight, should go hence unharmed.He fled—I followed—overtook and seized him,And dragged him to my father's feet. The swordAlready quivered o'er the caitiff's head,When at the entreaty of the blind old man,I spared the life for which he basely prayed.He swore Urphede26, never to return:He'll keep his oath, for he has felt our arm.FURST.Thank God, our victory's unstained by blood!CHILDREN (running across the stage with fragments of wood).Liberty! Liberty! Hurrah, we're free!FURST.Oh! what a joyous scene! These children will,E'en to their latest day, remember it.[Girls bring in the cap upon a pole. The whole stageis filled with people.RUODI.Here is the cap, to which we were to bow!BAUMGARTEN.Command us, how we shall dispose of it.FURST.Heavens! 'Twas beneath this cap my grandson stood!SEVERAL VOICES.Destroy the emblem of the tyrant's power!Let it burn!FURST.No. Rather be preserved!'Twas once the instrument of despots—now'Twill be a lasting symbol of our freedom.[Peasants, men, women, and children, some standing,others sitting upon the beams of the shattered scaffold,all picturesquely grouped, in a large semicircle.MELCHTHAL.Thus now, my friends, with light and merry hearts,We stand upon the wreck of tyranny;And gallantly have we fulfilled the oath,Which we at Rootli swore, confederates!FURST.The work is but begun. We must be firm.For, be assured, the king will make all speed,To avenge his viceroy's death, and reinstate,By force of arms, the tyrant we've expelled.MELCHTHAL.Why, let him come, with all his armaments!The foe within has fled before our arms;We'll give him welcome warmly from without!RUODI.The passes to the country are but few;And these we'll boldly cover with our bodies.BAUMGARTEN.We are bound by an indissoluble league,And all his armies shall not make us quail.[Enter ROSSELMANN and STAUFFACHER.ROSSELMANN (speaking as he enters).These are the awful judgments of the lord!PEASANT.What is the matter?ROSSELMANN.In what times we live!FURST.Say on, what is't? Ha, Werner, is it you?What tidings?PEASANT.What's the matter?ROSSELMANN.Hear and wonder.STAUFFACHER.We are released from one great cause of dread.ROSSELMANN.The emperor is murdered.FURST.Gracious heaven![PEASANTS rise up and throng round STAUFFACHER.ALL.Murdered! the emperor? What! The emperor! Hear!MELCHTHAL.Impossible! How came you by the news?STAUFFACHER.'Tis true! Near Bruck, by the assassin's hand,King Albert fell. A most trustworthy man,John Mueller, from Schaffhausen, brought the news.FURST.Who dared commit so horrible a deed?STAUFFACHER.The doer makes the deed more dreadful still;It was his nephew, his own brother's child,Duke John of Austria, who struck the blow.MELCHTHAL.What drove him to so dire a parricide?STAUFFACHER.The emperor kept his patrimony back,Despite his urgent importunities;'Twas said, indeed, he never meant to give it,But with a mitre to appease the duke.However this may be, the duke gave ear,To the ill counsel of his friends in arms;And with the noble lords, von Eschenbach,Von Tegerfeld, von Wart, and Palm, resolved,Since his demands for justice were despised,With his own hands to take revenge at least.FURST.But say, how compassed he the dreadful deed?STAUFFACHER.The king was riding down from Stein to Baden,Upon his way to join the court at Rheinfeld,—With him a train of high-born gentlemen,And the young princes, John and Leopold.And when they reached the ferry of the Reuss,The assassins forced their way into the boat,To separate the emperor from his suite.His highness landed, and was riding onAcross a fresh-ploughed field—where once, they say,A mighty city stood in Pagan times—With Hapsburg's ancient turrets full in sight,Where all the grandeur of his line had birth—When Duke John plunged a dagger in his throat,Palm ran him through the body with his lance,Eschenbach cleft his skull at one fell blow,And down he sank, all weltering in his blood,On his own soil, by his own kinsmen slain.Those on the opposite bank, who saw the deed,Being parted by the stream, could only raiseAn unavailing cry of loud lament.But a poor woman, sitting by the way,Raised him, and on her breast he bled to death.MELCHTHAL.Thus has he dug his own untimely grave,Who sought insatiably to grasp at all.STAUFFACHER.The country round is filled with dire alarm.The mountain passes are blockaded all,And sentinels on every frontier set;E'en ancient Zurich barricades her gates,That for these thirty years have open stood,Dreading the murderers, and the avengers more,For cruel Agnes comes, the Hungarian queen,To all her sex's tenderness a stranger,Armed with the thunders of the church to wreakDire vengeance for her parent's royal blood,On the whole race of those that murdered him,—Upon their servants, children, children's children,—Nay on the stones that build their castle walls.Deep has she sworn a vow to immolateWhole generations on her father's tomb,And bathe in blood as in the dew of May.MELCHTHAL.Know you which way the murderers have fled?STAUFFACHER.No sooner had they done the deed than theyTook flight, each following a different route,And parted, ne'er to see each other more.Duke John must still be wandering in the mountains.FURST.And thus their crime has yielded them no fruits.Revenge is barren. Of itself it makesThe dreadful food it feeds on; its delightIs murder—its satiety despair.STAUFFACHER.The assassins reap no profit by their crime;But we shall pluck with unpolluted handsThe teeming fruits of their most bloody deed,For we are ransomed from our heaviest fear;The direst foe of liberty has fallen,And, 'tis reported, that the crown will passFrom Hapsburg's house into another line.The empire is determined to assertIts old prerogative of choice, I hear.FURST and several others.Has any one been named to you?STAUFFACHER.The CountOf Luxembourg is widely named already.FURST.'Tis well we stood so stanchly by the empire!Now we may hope for justice, and with cause.STAUFFACHER.The emperor will need some valiant friends,And he will shelter us from Austria's vengeance.[The peasantry embrace. Enter SACRIST, with imperial messenger.SACRIST.Here are the worthy chiefs of Switzerland!ROSSELMANN and several others.Sacrist, what news?SACRISTAN.A courier brings this letter.ALL (to WALTER FURST).Open and read it.FURST (reading)."To the worthy menOf Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwald, the QueenElizabeth sends grace and all good wishes!"MANY VOICES.What wants the queen with us? Her reign is done.FURST (reads)."In the great grief and doleful widowhood,In which the bloody exit of her lordHas plunged her majesty, she still remembersThe ancient faith and love of Switzerland."MELCHTHAL.She ne'er did that in her prosperity.ROSSELMANN.Hush, let us hear.FURST (reads)."And she is well assured,Her people will in due abhorrence holdThe perpetrators of this damned deed.On the three Cantons, therefore, she relies,That they in nowise lend the murderers aid;But rather, that they loyally assistTo give them up to the avenger's hand,Remembering the love and grace which theyOf old received from Rudolph's princely house."[Symptoms of dissatisfaction among the peasantry.MANY VOICES.The love and grace!STAUFFACHER.Grace from the father we, indeed, received,But what have we to boast of from the son?Did he confirm the charter of our freedom,As all preceding emperors had done?Did he judge righteous judgment, or affordShelter or stay to innocence oppressed?Nay, did he e'en give audience to the envoysWe sent to lay our grievances before him?Not one of all these things e'er did the king.And had we not ourselves achieved our rightsBy resolute valor our necessitiesHad never touched him. Gratitude to him!Within these vales he sowed not gratitude.He stood upon an eminence—he mightHave been a very father to his people,But all his aim and pleasure was to raiseHimself and his own house: and now may thoseWhom he has aggrandized lament for him!FURST.We will not triumph in his fall, nor nowRecall to mind the wrongs we have endured.Far be't from us! Yet, that we should avengeThe sovereign's death, who never did us good,And hunt down those who ne'er molested us,Becomes us not, nor is our duty. LoveMust bring its offerings free and unconstrained;From all enforced duties death absolves—And unto him we are no longer bound.MELCHTHAL.And if the queen laments within her bower,Accusing heaven in sorrow's wild despair;Here see a people from its anguish freed.To that same heaven send up its thankful praise,For who would reap regrets must sow affection.[Exit the imperial courier.STAUFFACHER (to the people).But where is Tell? Shall he, our freedom's founder,Alone be absent from our festival?He did the most—endured the worst of all.Come—to his dwelling let us all repair,And bid the savior of our country hail![Exeunt omnes.