Wallenstein/The Death of Wallenstein/A5S03
SCENE III.
To these enter Seni.
WALLENSTEIN.Is not that Seni? and beside himself,If one may trust his looks! What brings thee hitherAt this late hour, Baptista?
SENI.Terror, Duke!On thy account.
WALLENSTEIN.What now?
SENI.Flee ere the day-break!Trust not thy person to the Swedes!
WALLENSTEIN.What nowIs in thy thoughts?
SENI. (with louder voice.)Trust not thy person to these Swedes.
WALLENSTEIN.What is it then?
SENI. (still more urgently.)O wait not the arrival of these Swedes!An evil near at hand is threatening theeFrom false friends. All the signs stand full of horror!Near, near at hand the net-work of perdition—Yea, even now 'tis being cast around thee!
WALLENSTEIN.Baptista, thou art dreaming!—Fear befools thee.
SENI.Believe not that an empty fear deludes me.Come, read it in the planetaty aspects;Read it thyself, that ruin threatens theeFrom false friends!
WALLENSTEIN.From the falseness of my friendsHas risen the whole of my unprosperous fortunes.The warning should have come before! At presentI need no revelation from the starsTo know that.
SENI.Come and see! trust thine own eyes!A fearful sign stands in the house of lifeAn enemy; a fiend lurks close behind The radiance of thy planet—O be warn'd!Deliver not thyself up to these heathensTo wage a war against our holy church.
WALLENSTEIN. (laughing gently.)The oracle rails that way! Yes, yes! NowI recollect. This junction with the SwedesDid never please thee—lay thyself to sleep,Baptista! Signs like these I do not fear.
GORDON. (who during the whole of this dialogue has shewn marks of extreme agitation, and now turns to Wallenstein.)My Duke and General! May I dare presume?
WALLENSTEIN.Speak freely.
GORDON.What? if 'twere no mere creationOf fear, if God's high providence vouchsaf'dTo interpose its aid for your deliv'rance,And made that mouth its organ.
WALLENSTEIN.Ye're both feverish!How can mishap come to me from the Swedes?They fought this junction with me—'tis theirinterest.
GORDON. (with difficulty suppressing his emotion.)But what if the arrival of these Swedes—What if this were the very thing that wing'dThe ruin that is flying to your temples?(flings himself at his feet.)There is yet time, my Prince———
SENI.O hear him! hear him!
GORDON. (rises.)The Rhinegrave's still far off. Give but the orders———This citadel shall close its gates upon him.If then he will besiege us, let him try it.But this I say; he'll find his own destructionWith his whole force before these ramparts, soonerThan weary down the valour of our spirit.He shall experience what a band of heroes,Inspirited by an heroic leader,Is able to perform. And if indeedIt be thy serious wish to make amendFor that which thou hast done amiss,—this, thisWill touch and reconcile the Emperor,Who gladly turns his heart to thoughts of mercy,And Friedland, who returns repentant to him,Will stand yet higher in his Emperor's favour,Than e'er he stood when he had never fallen.
WALLENSTEIN. (contemplates him with surprize, remains silent awhile, betraying strong emotion.)Gordon—your zeal and fervour lead you far.Well, well—an old friend has a privilege.Blood, Gordon, has been flowing. Never, neverCan the Emperor pardon me and if he could,Yet I—I ne'er could let myself be pardon'd.Had I foreknown what now has taken place,That he, my dearest friend, would fall for me,My first death-offering: and had the heart Spoken to me, as now it has done—Gordon,It may be, I might have bethought myself.It may be too, I might not.—Might, or might not,Is now an idle question. All too seriouslyHas it begun to end in nothing, Gordon!Let it then have its course.(stepping to the window.)All dark and silent—at the castle tooAll is now hush'd—Light me, Chamberlain!(The groom of the chamber, who had entered during the last dialogue, and had been standing at a distance and listening to it with visible expressions of the deepest interest, advances in extreme agitation, and throws himself at the Duke's feet,)And thou too! But I know why thou dost wishMy reconcilement with the Emperor.Poor man! he hath a small estate in Cärnthen,And fears it will be forfeited becauseHe's in my service. Am I then so poor,That I no longer can indemnifyMy servants? Well! To no one I employMeans of compulsion. If 'tis thy beliefThat fortune has fled from me, go! Forsake me.This night for the last time mayst thou unrobe me,And then go over to thy Emperor.Gordon, good night! I think to make a longSleep of it for the struggle and the turmoilOf this last day or two was great. May't please you! Take care that they awake me not too early.[Exit Wallenstein, the Groom of the Chamber lighting him. Seni follows. Gordon remains on the darken'd stage, following the Duke with his eye, till he disappears at the farther end of the gallery: then by his gestures the old man expresses the depth of his anguish, and stands leaning against a pillar.