Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller

“ Thy heart, say rather—'twas thy heart, my child!
THEKLA.
Faith hath no voice but the heart's impulses.
I am all his! His Present—his alone,
Is this new life, which lives in me? He hath
A right to his own creature. What was I
Ere his fair love infus'd a soul into me?
COUNTESS.
Thou would'st oppose thy father, then, should he
Have otherwise determin'd with thy person?
(Thekla remains silent. The Countess continues.)
Thou mean'st to force him to thy liking?—Child,
His name is Friedland.
THEKLA.
My name too is Friedland.
He shall have found a genuine daughter in me. ”

“ From his own mouth—from the Duke's mouth I had it.
MAX. (in excessive agitation)
No!—no!—never!
OCTAVIO.
Himself confided to me
What I, 'tis true, had long before discovered
By other means—himself confided to me,
That 'twas his settl'd plan to join the Swedes;
And, at the head of the united armies,
Compel the Emperor———
MAX.
He is passionate,
The Court has stung him—he is sore all over
With injuries and affronts; and in a moment
Of irritation, what if he, for once,
Forgot himself? He's an impetuous man. ”

“ Doth warrant thee that it is no Priest's legend.
MAX.
How mere a maniac they supposed the Duke!
What, he can meditate?—the Duke?—can dream
That he can lure away full thirty thousand
Tried troops and true, all honourable soldiers,
More than a thousand noblemen among them,
From oaths, from duty, from their honour lure them,
And make them all unanimous to do
A deed that brands them scoundrels?
OCTAVIO.
Such a deed,
With such a front of infamy, the Duke
No way desires—what he requires of us
Bears a far gentler appellation. Nothing
He wishes but to give the Empire peace. ”

“ Appears to me no other than a trick
Of Illo's own device. These underhand
Traders in great men's interests ever use
To urge and hurry all things to the extreme.
They see the Duke at variance with the Court,
And fondly think to serve him, when they widen
The breach irreparably. Trust me, father,
The Duke knows nothing of all this.
OCTAVIO.
It grieves me
That I must dash to earth, that I must shatter
A faith so specious; but I may not spare thee!
For this is not a time for tenderness.
Thou must take measur'd, speedy ones—must act. ”

“ Because the Duke
Believes he has secur'd us—means to lure us
Still further on by splendid promises.
To me he portions forth the princedoms, Glatz
And Sagan; and too plain I see the angel
With which he doubts not but to catch thee.
MAX.
No! no!
I tell thee—no!
OCTAVIO.
O open yet thine eyes!
And to what purpose think'st thou he has call'd us
Hither to Pilsen?—To avail himself
Of our advice?—O when did Friedland ever
Need our advice?—Be calm, and listen to me.
To sell ourselves are we call'd hither, and
Decline we that—to be his hostages. ”

“ Scene a Chamber in Piccolomini's Dwelling-House.
Octavio Piccolomini, Isolani, entering.
ISOLANI.
Here am I—Well! who comes yet of the others?
OCTAVIO. (with an air of mystery)
But, first, a word with you, Count Isolani.
ISOLANI. (assuming the same air of mystery)
Will it explode, ha?—Is the Duke about
To make th' attempt? In I me, friend, you may place
Full confidence.—Nay, put me to the proof.
OCTAVIO.
That may happen.
ISOLANI.
Noble brother, I am
Not one of those men who in words are valiant,
And when it comes to action skulk away. ”

“ COUNTESS.
So faithfully preserv'st thou each small favour,
And hast no memory for contumelies?
Must I remind thee, how at Regenspurg
This man repaid thy faithful services?
All ranks and all conditions in the empire
Thou hadst wrong'd, to make him great,—hadst loaded on thee,
On thee, the hate, the curse of the whole world.
No friend existed for thee in all Germany,
And why? because thou hadst existed only
For th' Emperor. To th' Emperor alone
Clung Friedland in that storm which gather'd round him
At Regenspurg in the Diet—and he dropp'd thee! ”

“ That restless, ceaseless, whirls impetuous onward,
I have past a life of frights and horrors with him,
And ever to the brink of some Abyss
With dizzy headlong violence he whirls me.
Nay, do not weep, my child! Let not my suff'rings
Presignify unhappiness to thee,
Nor blacken with their shade, the fate that waits thee.
There lives no second Friedland: thou, my child,
Hast not to fear thy mother's destiny.
THEKLA.
O let us supplicate him, dearest mother!
Quick! quick! here's no abiding-place for us.
Here every coming hour broods into life
Some new affrightful monster. ”

“ The oak-forest bellows, the clouds gather, the damsel walks to and fro on the green of the shore; the wave breaks with might, with might, and she sings out into the dark night, her eye discolour'd with weeping: the heart is dead, the world is empty, and further gives it nothing more to the wish. Thou Holy One, call thy child home, I have enjoyed the happiness of this world, I have lived and have loved. ”

“ The Swede, if he would treat well with the German,
Must keep a sharp look-out. We have been call'd
Over the Baltic, we have sav'd the empire
From ruin-with our best blood have we seal'd
The liberty of faith, and gospel truth.
But now already is the benefaction
No longer felt, the load alone is felt.———
Ye look askance with evil eye upon us,
As foreigners, intruders in the empire,
And would fain send us, with some paltry sum
Of money, home again to our old forests. ”

“ QUESTENBERG.
You have taken liberty—it was not given you.
And therefore it becomes an urgent duty
To rein it in with the curbs.
OCTAVIO (interposing and addressing Questenberg) .
My noble friend,
This is no more than a remembrancing
That you are now in camp, and among warriors.
The soldier's boldness constitutes his freedom.
Could he act daringly, unless he dar'd
Talk even so? One runs into the other. ”

“ Bohemia was deliver'd from the Saxons,
The Swede's career of conquest checked! These lands
Began to draw breath freely, as Duke Friedland
From all the streams of Germany forc'd hither
The scatter'd armies of the enemy ”

“ Thekla, you are no more a child. Your heart
Is no more in nonage: for you love,
And boldness dwells with love—that you have prov'd.
Your nature moulds itself upon your father's
More than your mother's spirit. ”

“ The war has not yet reach'd. Life, life, my father———
My venerable father, Life has charms
Which we have ne'er experienc'd. We have been
But voyaging along it's barren coasts,
Like some poor ever-roaming horde of pirates,
That, crowded in the rank and narrow ship,
House on the wild sea with wild usages,
Nor know aught of the main land, but the bays
Where safeliest they may venture a thieves' landing. ”