Wallenstein/The Death of Wallenstein/A3S09

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The Death of Wallenstein, Act 3, Scene VIII

Wallenstein
by Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, translated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Death of Wallenstein: Act 3, Scene IX

The Death of Wallenstein, Act 4, Scene I

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4418222Wallenstein — The Death of Wallenstein: Act 3, Scene IXSamuel Taylor ColeridgeJohann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller

SCENE IX.

BUTLER. (alone.)I treasur'd my good name all my life long;The Duke has cheated me of life's best jewel,So that I blush before this poor weak Gordon!He prizes above all his fealty;His conscious soul accuses him of nothing;In opposition to his own soft heartHe subjugates himself to an iron duty.Me in a weaker moment passion warp'd;I stand beside him, and must feel myselfThe worse man of the two. What, though the worldIs ignorant of my purpos'd treason, yetOne man does know it, and can prove it too—High-minded Piccolomini! There lives the man who can dishonour me! This ignominy blood alone can cleanse! Duke Friedland, thou or I—Into my own hands Fortune delivers me—The dearest thing a man has is himself.(The curtain drops.)