MELCH.
Even so! Whoe'er
Shall talk of bearing Austria's yoke, let him
Of all his rights and honours be despoiled,
No man thenceforth receive him at his hearth!
ALL (raising their right hands).
Agreed! Be this the law!
REDING. (After a pause).
The law it is.
ROSSEL.
Now you are free-this law hath made you free.
Never shall Austria obtain by force
What she has fail'd to gain by friendly suit.
WEIL.
On with the order of the day! Proceed!
REDING.
Confederates! Have all gentler means been tried?
Perchance the Emp'ror knows not of our wrongs,
It may not be his will we suffer thus:
Were it not well to make one last attempt,
And lay our grievances before the throne,
Ere we unsheath the sword? Force is at best
A fearful thing e'en in a righteous cause;
God only helps, when man can help no more.
STAUFF. (to Conrad Hunn).
Here you can give us information. Speak!
HUNN.
I was at Rheinfeld, at the Emperor's Court,
Deputed by the Cantons to complain
Of the oppressions of these governors,
And of our liberties the charter claim,
Which each new king till now has ratified.
I found the envoys there of many a town,
From Suabia and the valley of the Rhine,
Who all received their parchments as they wish'd,
And straight went home again with merry heart.
But me, your envoy, they to the Council sent,
Where I with empty cheer was soon dismiss'd:
"The Emperor at present was engaged;
Some other time he would attend to us!"
I turn'd away, and passing through the hall,
With heavy heart, in a recess I saw
The Grand Duke John[*] in tears, and by his side
The noble lords of Wart and Tegerfeld,
Who beckon'd me, and said, "Redress yourselves.
Expect not justice from the Emperor.
Does he not plunder his own brother's child,
And keep from him his just inheritance?"
The Duke claims his maternal property,
Urging he's now of age, and 'tis full time,
That he should rule his people and estates;
What is the answer made to him? The King
Places a chaplet on his head; "Behold
The fitting ornament," he cries, "of youth!"
[*] The Duke of Suabia, who soon afterwards assassinated his uncle,
for withholding his patrimony from him.
MAUER.
You hear. Expect not from the Emperor
Or right or justice! Then redress yourselves!
REDING.
No other course is left us. Now, advise
What plan most likely to ensure success.
FURST.
To shake a thraldom off that we abhor,
To keep our ancient rights inviolate,
As we received them from our fathers,-this,
Not lawless innovation, is our aim.
Let Caesar still retain what is his due;
And he that is a vassal, let him pay
The service he is sworn to faithfully.
MEYER.
I hold my land of Austria in fief.
FURST.
Continue, then, to pay your feudal dues.
WEIL.
I'm tenant of the lords of Rappersweil.
FURST.
Continue, then, to pay them rent and tithe.
ROSSEL.
Of Zurich's Abbess humble vassal I.
FURST.
Give to the cloister, what the cloister claims.
STAUFF.
The Empire only is my feudal lord.
FURST.
What needs must be, we'll do, but nothing more.
We'll drive these tyrants and their minions hence,
And raze their towering strongholds to the ground,
Yet shed, if possible, no drop of blood,
Let the Emperor see that we were driven to cast
The sacred duties of respect away;
And when he finds we keep within our bounds,
His wrath, belike, may yield to policy;
For truly is that nation to be fear'd,
That, arms in hand, is temperate in its wrath.
REDING.
But prithee tell us how may this be done?
The enemy is arm'd as well as we,
And, rest assured, he will not yield in peace.
STAUFF.
He will, whene'er he sees us up in arms;
We shall surprise him, ere he is prepared.
MEYER.
Easily said, but not so easily done.
Two strongholds dominate the country-they
Protect the foe, and should the King invade us,
Our task would then be dangerous, indeed.
Rossberg and Sarnen both must be secured,
Before a sword is drawn in either Canton.
STAUFF.
Should we delay, the foe would soon be warned;
We are too numerous for secrecy.
MEYER.
There is no traitor in the Forest States.
ROSSEL.
But even zeal may heedlessly betray.
FURST.
Delay it longer, and the keep at Altdorf
Will be complete,-the governor secure.
MEYER.
You think but of yourselves.
SACRIS.
You are unjust!
MEYER.
Unjust! said you? Dares Uri taunt us so?
REDING.
Peace, on your oath!
SACRIS.
If Schwytz be leagued with Uri,
Why, then, indeed, we must perforce be dumb.
REDING.
And let me tell you, in the Diet's name,
Your hasty spirit much disturbs the peace.
Stand we not all for the same common cause?
WINK.
What, if till Christmas we delay? 'Tis then
The custom for the serfs to throng the castle,
Bringing the Governor their annual gifts.
Thus may some ten or twelve selected men
Assemble unobserved, within its walls.
Bearing about their persons pikes of steel,
Which may be quickly mounted upon staves,
For arms are not admitted to the fort.
The rest can fill the neighb'ring wood, prepared
To sally forth upon a trumpet's blast,
Soon as their comrades have secured the gate;
And thus the castle will with ease be ours.
MELCH.
The Rossberg I will undertake to scale.
I have a sweetheart in the garrison,
Whom with some tender words I could persuade
To lower me at night a hempen ladder.
Once up, my friends will not be long behind.
REDING.
Are all resolved in favor of delay?
[The majority raise their hands.]
STAUFF. (counting them).
Twenty to twelve is the majority.
FURST.
If on the appointed day the castles fall,
From mountain on to mountain we shall speed
The fiery signal: in the capital
Of every Canton quickly rouse the Landsturm.[*]
Then, when these tyrants see our martial front,
Believe me, they will never make so bold
As risk the conflict, but will gladly take
Safe conduct forth beyond our boundaries.
[*] A sort of national militia.
STAUFF.
Not so with Gessler. He will make a stand
.
Surrounded with his dread array of horse,
Blood will be shed before he quits the field,
And even expell'd he'd still be terrible.
'Tis hard, nay, dangerous, to spare his life.
BAUM.
Place me where'er a life is to be lost;
I owe my life to Tell, and cheerfully
Will pledge it for my country. I have clear'd
My honour, and my heart is now at rest.
REDING.
Counsel will come with circumstance. Be patient!
Something must still be to the moment left.
Yet, while by night we hold our Diet here,
The morning, see, has on the mountain tops
Kindled her glowing beacon. Let us part,
Ere the broad sun surprise us.
FURST.
Do not fear.
The night wanes slowly from these vales of ours.
[All have involuntarily taken off their caps, and contemplate the
breaking of day, absorbed in silence.]
ROSSEL.
By this fair light which greeteth us, before
Those other nations, that, beneath us far,
In noisome cities pent, draw painful breath,
Swear we the oath of our confederacy!
A band of brothers true we swear to be,
Never to part in danger or in death!
[They repeat his words with three fingers raised.]
We swear we will be free as were our sires,
And sooner die than live in slavery!
[All repeat as before.]
We swear, to put our trust in God Most High,
And not to quail before the might of man!
[All repeat as before, and embrace each other.]
STAUFF.
Now every man pursue his several way
Back to his friends, his kindred, and his home.
Let the herd winter up his flock, and gain
In secret friends for this great league of ours!
What for a time must be endured, endure,
And let the reckoning of the tyrants grow,
Till the great day arrive when they shall pay
The general and particular debt at once.
Let every man control his own just rage,
And nurse his vengeance for the public wrongs:
For he whom selfish interests now engage
Defrauds the general weal of what to it belongs.
[As they are going off in profound silence, in three different
directions, the orchestra plays a solemn air. The empty scene remains
open for some time showing the rays of the sun rising over the
Glaciers.]
ACT III.
SCENE I.
Court before Tell's house. Tell with an axe. Hedwig engaged in her
domestic duties. Walter and William in the background, playing with a
little cross-bow.
(Walter sings)
With his cross-bow, and his quiver,
The huntsman speeds his way,
Over mountain, dale and river,
At the dawning of the day.
As the eagle, on wild pinion,
Is the king in realms of air,
So the hunter claims dominion
Over crag and forest lair.
Far as ever bow can carry,
Thro' the trackless airy space,
All he sees he makes his quarry,
Soaring bird and beast of chase.
WILL. (runs forward).
My string has snapped! Oh, father, mend it, do!
TELL.
Not I; a true-born archer helps himself.
[Boys retire.]
HEDW.
The boys begin to use the bow betimes.
TELL.
'Tis early practice only makes the master.
HEDW.
Ah! Would to heaven they never learned the art!
TELL.
But they shall learn it, wife, in all its points.
Whoe'er would carve an independent way
Through life, must learn to ward or plant a blow.
HEDW.
Alas, alas! and they will never rest
Contentedly at home.
TELL.
No more can I!
I was not framed by nature for a shepherd.
My restless spirit ever yearns for change;
I only feel the flush and joy of life,
If I can start fresh quarry every day.
HEDW.
Heedless the while of all your wife's alarms,
As she sits watching through long hours at home.
For my soul sinks with terror at the tales
The servants tell about the risks you run,
Whene'er we part, my trembling heart forebodes,
That you will ne'er come back to me again.
I see you on the frozen mountain steeps,
Missing, perchance, your leap from crag to crag.
I see the chamois, with a wild rebound,
Drag you down with him o'er the precipice.
I see the avalanche close o'er your head,
The treacherous ice give way, and you sink down
Intombed alive within its hideous gulf.
Ah! in a hundred varying forms does death
Pursue the Alpine huntsman on his course.
That way of life can surely ne'er be blessed,
Where life and limb are perill'd every hour.
TELL.
The man that bears a quick and steady eye,
And trusts in God, and his own lusty thews,
Passes, with scarce a scar, through every danger.
The mountain cannot awe the mountain child.
[Having finished his work, he lays aside his tools.]
And now, methinks, the door will hold awhile,
Axe in the house oft saves the carpenter.
[Takes his cap.]
HEDW.
Whither away?
TELL.
To Altdorf, to your father.
HEDW.
You have some dangerous enterprise in view?
Confess!
TELL.
Why think you so?
HEDW.
Some scheme's on foot
Against the governors. There was a Diet
Held on the Rootli-that I know-and you
Are one of the confederacy, I'm sure.
TELL.
I was not there. Yet will I not hold back,
Whene'er my country calls me to her aid.
HEDW.
Wherever danger is, will you be placed.
On you, as ever, will the burden fall.
TELL.
Each man shall have the post that fits his powers.
HEDW.
You took-ay, 'mid the thickest of the storm
The man of Unterwald across the lake.
'Tis marvel you escaped. Had you no thought
Of wife and children, then?
TELL.
Dear wife, I had;
And therefore saved the father for his children.
HEDW.
To brave the lake in all its wrath! 'Twas not
To put your trust in God! 'Twas tempting Him.
TELL.
Little will he that's over cautious do.
HEDW.
Yes, you've a kind and helping hand for all;
But be in straits, and who will lend you aid?
TELL.
God grant I ne'er may stand in need of it!
[Takes up his cross-bow and arrows.]
HEDW.
Why take your cross-bow with you? leave it here.
TELL.
I want my right hand, when I want my bow.
[The boys return.]
WALT.
Where, father, are you going?
TELL.
To grand-dad, boy-
To Altdorf. Will you go?
WALT.
Ay, that
I will!
HEDW.
The Viceroy's there just now. Go not to Altdorf!
TELL.
He leaves to-day.
HEDW.
Then let him first be gone,
Cross not his path.-You know he bears us grudge.
TELL.
His ill-will cannot greatly injure me.
I do what's right, and care for no man's hate.
Wilhelm Tell Page 7
