Friedrich Schiller

“ Thus, a loftier spirit 'twere well to uphold— FIRST YAGER. And, specially, never be sparing of gold. SERGEANT. In Fortune's ship, with an onward gale, My friend, you have made up your mind to sail. The earth-ball is open before you—yet there Naught's to be gained, but by those who dare. Stupid and sluggish your citizen's found, Like a dyer's dull jade, in his ceaseless round, While the soldier can be whatever he will, For war o'er the earth is the watchword still. ”

“ SERGEANT. Hold, sirs—just toss off a glass with me To the health of Piccolomini. SUTLER-WOMAN (brings a flask) . This shall not go to the list of scores, I gladly give it—success be yours! CUIRASSIER. The soldier shall sway! BOTH YAGERS. The peasant shall pay DRAGOONS and SHARPSHOOTERS. The army shall flourishing stand! TRUMPETER and SERGEANT. And the Friedlander keep the command! SECOND CUIRASSIER (sings) . Arouse ye, my comrades, to horse! to horse! To the field and to freedom we guide! For there a man feels the pride of his force And there is the heart of him tried. ”

“ FIRST YAGER. Whatever I think may be said by me, For the general tells us the word is free. SERGEANT. True—that he said so I fully agree, I was standing by. "The word is free— The deed is dumb—obedience blind!" His very words I can call to mind. FIRST YAGER. I know not if these were his words or no, But he said the thing, and 'tis even so. SECOND YAGER. Victory ne'er will his flag forsake, Though she's apt from others a turn to take: Old Tilly outlived his fame's decline, But under the banner of Wallenstein, There am I certain that victory's mine! Fortune is spell-bound to him, and must yield ”

“ The clever knack and the proper tone, Are caught by the general's side alone. FIRST YAGER. Then the lesson is wofully thrown away,— How he hawks and spits, indeed, I may say You've copied and caught in the cleverest way; But his spirit, his genius—oh, these I ween, On your guard parade are but seldom seen. SECOND YAGER. Why, zounds! ask for us wherever you will, Friedland's wild hunt is our title still! Never shaming the name, all undaunted we go Alike through the field of a friend, or a foe; Through the rising stalk, or the yellow corn, Well know they the blast of Holk's Yager horn. ”

“ A niggard whom we in our souls disdain! That'll never go down—I'm off, I swear. TRUMPETER. Why, what the devil should we do there? We sold our blood to the emperor—ne'er For this Spanish red hat a drop we'll spare! SECOND YAGER. On the Friedlander's word and credit alone We ranged ourselves in the trooper line, And, but for our love to Wallenstein, Ferdinand ne'er had our service known. FIRST DRAGOON. Was it not Friedland that formed our force? His fortune shall still be the star of our course. SERGEANT. Silence, good comrades, to me give ear— Talking does little to help us here. ”

“ SERGEANT. Mark ye well, man!—they doubt us now, And they fear the duke's mysterious brow; He hath clomb too high for them, and fain Would they beat him down from his perch again. TRUMPETER. But we will hold him still on high— That all would think as you and I! SERGEANT. Our regiment, and the other four Which Terzky leads—the bravest corps Throughout the camp, are the General's own, And have been trained to the trade by himself alone The officers hold their command of him, And are all his own, or for life or limb. ”

“ DRAGOON (stepping between them) . Comrade—give over this sport, I pray. SECOND YAGER. Why, who the devil shall say me nay! DRAGOON. I've only to tell you the girl's my own. FIRST YAGER. Such a morsel as this, for himself alone!— Dragoon, why say, art thou crazy grown? SECOND YAGER. In the camp to be keeping a wench for one! No! the light of a pretty girl's face must fall, Like the beams of the sun, to gladden us all. (Kisses her.) DRAGOON (tears her away) . I tell you again, that it shan't be done. FIRST YAGER. The pipers are coming, lads! now for fun! SECOND YAGER (to Dragoon) . ”

“ FIRST ARQUEBUSIER. That no one has ever meant to gainsay; But we're still at the emperor's beck and call, For his majesty 'tis who pays us all. TRUMPETER. In your teeth I deny it—and will again— His majesty 'tis who pays us not, For this forty weeks, say, what have we got But a promise to pay, believed in vain? FIRST ARQUEBUSIER. What then! 'tis kept in safe hands, I suppose. FIRST CUIRASSIER. Peace, good sirs, will you come to blows? Have you a quarrel and squabble to know If the emperor be our master or no? ”

“ Here, you must know, 'Tis just like a cavalry charge 'gainst the foe: The steeds loud snorting, and on they go! Whoever may lie in the mid-career— Be it my brother or son so dear, Should his dying groan my heart divide, Yet over his body I needs must ride, Nor pitying stop to drag him aside. FIRST YAGER. True—who ever asks how another may bide? FIRST CUIRASSIER. Thus, my lads, 'tis my counsel, while On the soldier Dame Fortune deigns to smile, That we with both hands her bounty clasp, For it may not be much longer left to our grasp. ”

“ SERGEANT. 'Tis from heaven his jovial lot has birth; Nor needs he to strive or toil. The peasant may grope in the bowels of earth, And for treasure may greedily moil He digs and he delves through life for the pelf, And digs till he grubs out a grave for himself. CHORUS. He digs and he delves through life for the pelf, And digs till he grubs out a grave for himself. FIRST YAGER. The rider and lightning steed—a pair Of terrible guests, I ween! ”

“ His ox, or his horse, the peasant must chain To our baggage-car, and may grumble in vain. Just let a lance-corp'ral, with seven good men, Tow'rd a village from far but come within ken, You're sure he'll be prince of the place, and may Cut what capers he will, with unquestioned sway. Why, zounds! lads, they heartily hate us all— And would rather the devil should give them a call, Than our yellow collars. And why don't they fall On us fairly at once and get rid of our lumber? They're more than our match in point of number, And carry the cudgel as we do the sword. Why can we laugh them to scorn? ”

“ Away, girl, the soldier must go! No spot on the earth is his resting-place; And your true love he never can know. Still onward driven by fate's rude wind, He nowhere may leave his peace behind. CHORUS. Still onward driven by fate's rude wind, He nowhere may leave his peace behind. FIRST YAGER. He takes the two next to him by the hand—the others do the same—and form a large semi-circle. Then rouse ye, my comrades—to horse! to horse! In battle the breast doth swell! Youth boils—the life-cup foams in its force— Up! ”

“ If I cheerily set my life on a throw, Something still better than life I'll know; Or I'll stand to be slain for the paltry pelf, As the Croat still does—and scorn myself. BOTH PAGERS. Yes—honor is dearer than life itself. FIRST CUIRASSIER. The sword is no plough, nor delving tool, He, who would till with it, is but a fool. For us, neither grass nor grain doth grow, Houseless the soldier is doomed to go, A changeful wanderer over the earth, Ne'er knowing the warmth of a home-lit hearth. ”

“ God help the day! 'Tis the peasant's hide for their sport must pay. Eight months in our beds and stalls have they Been swarming here, until far around Not a bird or a beast is longer found, And the peasant, to quiet his craving maw, Has nothing now left but his bones to gnaw. Ne'er were we crushed with a heavier hand, When the Saxon was lording it o'er the land: And these are the Emperor's troops, they say! ”

“ Vain is the hope in weapons or flight, Nor order nor discipline thwart its might. Then struggles the maid in our sinewy arms, But war hath no pity, and scorns alarms. Go, ask—I speak not with boastful tongue— In Bareuth, Westphalia, Voigtland, where'er Our troops have traversed—go, ask them there— Children and children's children long, When hundreds and hundreds of years are o'er, Of Holk will tell and his Yager corps. SERGEANT. Why, hark! Must a soldier then be made By driving this riotous, roaring trade! 'Tis drilling that makes him, skill and sense— Perception—thought—intelligence. ”

“ No, no, to the devil my hand is gone! 'Tis a stump—no more—and use has none. The eight thousand horse they wish to disband May be but a finger of our army's hand. But when they're once gone may we understand We are but one-fifth the less? Oh, no— By the Lord, the whole to the devil will go! All terror, respect, and awe will be over, And the peasant will swell his crest once more ”

“ SUTLER-WOMAN. Oh! that is a Wallenstein's, sure! SERGEANT-MAJOR. Well, there, you have it—what doubt can rest Is he not prince, just as good as the best? Coins he not money like Ferdinand? Hath he not his own subjects and land? ”

“ Like mill-work don't we move, d'ye think! 'Mong ourselves in the nick, at a word or wink. Who has thus cast us here all as one, Now to be severed again by none? Who? why, no other than Wallenstein! FIRST YAGER. In my life it ne'er was a thought of mine Whether we suited each other or not, I let myself go with the rest of the lot. FIRST CUIRASSIER. I quite agree in the sergeant's opinion— They'd fain have an end of our camp dominion, And trample the soldier down, that they May govern alone in their own good way. 'Tis a conspiration—a plot, I say! ”

“ While the furies of war on the Danube now fare And Bavaria's bulwark is lying full low, And Ratisbon's fast in the clutch of the foe. Yet, the army lies here in Bohemia still, And caring for naught, so their paunches they fill! Bottles far rather than battles you'll get, And your bills than your broad-swords more readily wet ”

“ CITIZEN. A wine-shop his grandfather leaves, to boot, A cellar with twenty casks of wine. TRUMPETER. These with his comrades he'll surely share. SECOND YAGER. Hark ye, lad—be a camp-brother of mine. CITIZEN. A bride he leaves sitting, in tears, apart. FIRST YAGER. Good—that now's a proof of an iron heart. CITIZEN. His grandmother's sure to die with sorrow. SECOND YAGER. The better—for then he'll inherit to-morrow. SERGEANT (advances gravely, and lays his hand on the Recruit's tin cap) . The matter no doubt you have duly weighed, And here a new man of yourself have made ”

“ DRAGOON. An Irishman follows his fortune's star. SECOND SHARPSHOOTER. The Tyrolese for their sovereign war. FIRST CUIRASSIER. Then, comrades, let each of our corps agree A pro memoria to sign—that we, In spite of all force or fraud, will be To the fortunes of Friedland firmly bound, For in him is the soldier's father found. This we will humbly present, when done, To Piccolomini—I mean the son— Who understands these kind of affairs, And the Friedlander's highest favor shares; Besides, with the emperor's self, they say He holds a capital card to play. ”

“ So let us stand out as one man here; And then they may order and send as they will, Fast planted we'll stick in Bohemia still. We'll never give in—no, nor march an inch, We stand on our honor, and must not flinch. SECOND YAGER. We're not to be driven the country about, Let 'em come here, and they'll find it out. FIRST ARQUEBUSIER. Good sirs, 'twere well to bethink ye still, That such is the emperor's sovereign will. TRUMPETER. Oh, as to the emperor, we needn't be nice. FIRST ARQUEBUSIER. Let me not hear you say so twice. TRUMPETER. Why, 'tis even so—as I just have said. ”

“ You must play the part of a pitiful devil, For these roaring rogues, who so loosely revel, Are easily smoothed, and tricked, and flattered, And, free as it came, their gold is scattered. But we—since by bushels our all is taken, By spoonfuls must ladle it back again; And, if with their swords they slash so highly, We must look sharp, boy, and do them slyly. ”

“ The worst are they of the worthless crew. Strutting, swaggering, proud and vain, They seem to think they may well disdain With the peasant a glass of his wine to drain But, soft—to the left o' the fire I see Three riflemen, who from the Tyrol should be Emmerick, come, boy, to them will we. Birds of this feather 'tis luck to find, Whose trim's so spruce, and their purse well lined. ”

“ No, my lads, no, Rather his corps let each of us seek, And quietly then with his comrades speak, That every soldier may clearly know, It were not for his good so far to go; For my Walloons to answer I'm free, Every man of 'em thinks and acts with me. SERGEANT. The Terzky regiments, both horse and foot, Will thus resolve, and will keep them to't. SECOND CUIRASSIER (joining the first) . The Walloons and the Lombards one intent. FIRST YAGER. Freedom is Yagers' own element. SECOND YAGER. Freedom must ever with might entwine— I live and will die by Wallenstein. ”

“ FIRST ARQUEBUSIER. Who but the soldier the blame should bear That the laboring poor so hardly fare? The war with its plagues, which all have blasted Now sixteen years in the land hath lasted. FIRST CUIRASSIER. Why, brother, the blessed God above Can't have from us all an equal love. One prays for the sun, at which t'other will fret One is for dry weather-t'other for wet. What you, now, regard as with misery rife, Is to me the unclouded sun of life. If 'tis at the cost of the burgher and boor, I really am sorry that they must endure ”

“ FIRST CUIRASSIER. Plague take the fellows—they're brave, I know. FIRST YAGER. They haven't a soul 'bove a soapboiler's, though. SECOND YAGER. We're now alone, so teach us who can How best we may meet and mar their plan. TRUMPETER. How? Why, let's tell them we will not go! FIRST CUIRASSIER. Despising all discipline! ”