The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Volume II Part 108

The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Volume II Part 108

_Thekla._ In a despairing woman, a poor fugitive, Will no one seek the daughter of Duke Friedland.

_Neubrunn._ And where procure we horses for our flight? 35

_Thekla._ My equerry procures them. Go and fetch him.

_Neubrunn._ Dares he, without the knowledge of his lord?

_Thekla._ He will. Go, only go. Delay no longer.

_Neubrunn._ Dear lady! and your mother?

_Thekla._ Oh! my mother!

_Neubrunn._ So much as she has suffered too already; 40 Your tender mother--Ah! how ill prepared For this last anguish!

_Thekla._ Woe is me! my mother! [_Pauses._ Go instantly.

_Neubrunn._ But think what you are doing!

_Thekla._ What can be thought, already has been thought.

_Neubrunn._ And being there, what purpose you to do? 45

_Thekla._ There a divinity will prompt my soul.

_Neubrunn._ Your heart, dear lady, is disquieted!

And this is not the way that leads to quiet.

_Thekla._ To a deep quiet, such as he has found.

It draws me on, I know not what to name it, 50 Resistless does it draw me to his grave.

There will my heart be eased, my tears will flow.

O hasten, make no further questioning!

There is no rest for me till I have left These walls--they fall in on me--A dim power 55 Drives me from hence--Oh mercy! What a feeling!

What pale and hollow forms are those! They fill, They crowd the place! I have no longer room here!

Mercy! Still more! More still! The hideous swarm!

They press on me; they chase me from these walls-- 60 Those hollow, bodiless forms of living men!

_Neubrunn._ You frighten me so, lady, that no longer I dare stay here myself. I go and call Rosenberg instantly. [_Exit LADY NEUBRUNN._

LINENOTES:

[22] arms] arm 1800, 1828, 1829.

[44] _can_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

SCENE VI

_Thekla._ His spirit 'tis that calls me: 'tis the troop Of his true followers, who offered up Themselves to avenge his death: and they accuse me Of an ign.o.ble loitering--they would not Forsake their leader even in his death--they died for him! 5 And shall I live?---- For me too was that laurel-garland twined That decks his bier. Life is an empty casket: I throw it from me. O! my only hope;-- To die beneath the hoofs of trampling steeds-- 10 That is the lot of heroes upon earth! [_Exit THEKLA._[793:1]

(_The curtain drops._)

FOOTNOTES:

[793:1] The soliloquy of Thekla consists in the original of six-and-twenty lines, twenty of which are in rhymes of irregular recurrence. I thought it prudent to abridge it. Indeed the whole scene between Thekla and Lady Neubrunn might, perhaps, have been omitted without injury to the play. _1800_, _1828_, _1829_.

LINENOTES:

[4] _they_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[5] _they_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

[6] _I_ 1800, 1828, 1829.

ACT V

SCENE I

SCENE--_A Saloon, terminated by a gallery which extends far into the back-ground. WALLENSTEIN sitting at a table. The_ Swedish Captain _standing before him._

_Wallenstein._ Commend me to your lord. I sympathize In his good fortune; and if you have seen me Deficient in the expressions of that joy Which such a victory might well demand, Attribute it to no lack of good will, 5 For henceforth are our fortunes one. Farewell, And for your trouble take my thanks. To-morrow The citadel shall be surrendered to you On your arrival.

[_The_ Swedish Captain _retires. WALLENSTEIN sits lost in thought, his eyes fixed vacantly, and his head sustained by his hand. The COUNTESS TERTSKY enters, stands before him awhile, un.o.bserved by him; at length he starts, sees her, and recollects himself._

_Wallenstein._ Com'st thou from her? Is she restored? How is she? 10

_Countess._ My sister tells me, she was more collected After her conversation with the Swede.

She has now retired to rest.

_Wallenstein._ The pang will soften, She will shed tears.

_Countess._ I find thee altered too, My brother! After such a victory 15 I had expected to have found in thee A cheerful spirit. O remain thou firm!

Sustain, uphold us! For our light thou art, Our sun.

_Wallenstein._ Be quiet. I ail nothing. Where's Thy husband?

_Countess._ At a banquet--he and Illo. 20

_Wallenstein (rises)._ The night's far spent. Betake thee to thy chamber.

_Countess._ Bid me not go, O let me stay with thee!