Wallenstein/The Death of Wallenstein/A2S09
SCENE IX.
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 standingat a distance in a visible struggle of feelings,advances.)This can I not endure.With most determin'd soul did I come hither,My purpos'd action seem'd unblameableTo my own conscience—and I must stand hereLike one abhorr'd, 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. O, 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? O! then IWill tell it you. Your father is a traitor,A frightful traitor to us—he has plottedAgainst our General's life, has plung'd us allIn misery—and you're his son! 'Tis your'sTo 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.O 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—can'st thouStill love me, if I stay? Say that thou can'st,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 no—that might'st 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 forswear My 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.O! 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.Ev'n from my childhood to this present hour,Think what the Duke has done for me, how lov'd me,And think too, how my father has repay'd him,O 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.O, 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.What e'er thou hadst chosen, thou would'st 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 for everThe 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 ineach others embraces.)
SCENE X.
To these enter Tertsky.
COUNTESS. (meeting him.)What meant that cry? What was it?
TERTSKY.All is lost!
COUNTESS.What! they regarded not his countenance?
TERTSKY.'Twas all in vain.
DUCHESS.They shouted Vivat!
TERTSKY.To the Emperor.
COUNTESS.The traitors!
TERTSKY.Nay! he was not once permittedEven to address them. Soon as he began,With deafening noise of warlike instrumentsThey drown'd his words. But here he comes.