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Literary Gazette, 7th March, 1835, Pages 154-155
ORIGINAL POETRY.
VERSIONS FROM THE GERMAN.
(Fifth Series: continued.)
Count Egmont, a Tragedy.—Goethe.
Egmont.
Evening has darken'd o'er the market-place:
'Tis shadowy and deserted. Those who pass
Go hurrying by, with pale and anxious looks,
That fear to meet each other. She is there,
The gentle maiden whom Count Egmont loves.
An hour has changed her more than many years.
Her wild eyes wander round, and in their gaze
Flashes the lightning of despair that hopes—
Hope, agony's brief fever. Her white lip
Is eloquent, and passionate with fear—
Fear born of love, forgetful of itself.
Her cheek is flushed—'tis with the eagerness
Of the young warrior—but they heed her not.
A selfish fear has paralysed the crowd—
The future is not with them—and they seek
Precarious safety by its sacrifice.
Clara, Brackenberg, and Citizens.
Brackenberg.
Clara.
To free him, Brackenberg. A little word
Will bid his fellow citizens awake
To strength and action. Strong in every heart,
Though secret is the wish to set him free.
What do we hazard but our useless lives,
That are not worth the keeping, if he perish.
Come, come, there only wants the gathering voice!
Brackenberg.
Unhappy one! you do not see the power
That fetters our desire with iron band.
Clara.
But not unconquerable. See, they come,
Men, tried and true, his fellow citizens.
Oh, friends, what now of Egmont?
1st Citizen.
