The Piccolomini. Friedrich von Schiller

coasts,

         Like some poor ever-roaming horde of pirates,

         That, crowded in the rank and narrow ship,

         House on the wild sea with wild usages,

         Nor know aught of the mainland, but the bays

         Where safeliest they may venture a thieves' landing.

         Whate'er in the inland dales the land conceals

         Of fair and exquisite, oh, nothing, nothing,

         Do we behold of that in our rude voyage.

OCTAVIO (attentive, with an appearance of uneasiness)

         And so your journey has revealed this to you?

MAX

         'Twas the first leisure of my life. O tell me,

         What is the meed and purpose of the toil,

         The painful toil which robbed me of my youth,

         Left me a heart unsouled and solitary,

         A spirit uninformed, unornamented!

         For the camp's stir, and crowd, and ceaseless larum,

         The neighing war-horse, the air-shattering trumpet,

         The unvaried, still returning hour of duty,

         Word of command, and exercise of arms —

         There's nothing here, there's nothing in all this,

         To satisfy the heart, the gasping heart!

         Mere bustling nothingness, where the soul is not —

         This cannot be the sole felicity,

         These cannot be man's best and only pleasures!

OCTAVIO

         Much hast thou learnt, my son, in this short journey.

MAX

         Oh day, thrice lovely! when at length the soldier

         Returns home into life; when he becomes

         A fellow-man among his fellow-men.

         The colors are unfurled, the cavalcade

         Mashals, and now the buzz is hushed, and hark!

         Now the soft peace-march beats, home, brothers, home!

         The caps and helmet are all garlanded

         With green boughs, the last plundering of the fields.

         The city gates fly open of themselves,

         They need no longer the petard to tear them.

         The ramparts are all filled with men and women,

         With peaceful men and women, that send onwards.

         Kisses and welcomings upon the air,

         Which they make breezy with affectionate gestures.

         From all the towers rings out the merry peal,

         The joyous vespers of a bloody day.

         O happy man, O fortunate! for whom

         The well-known door, the faithful arms are open,

         The faithful tender arms with mute embracing.

QUESTENBERG (apparently much affected)

                 O that you should speak

         Of such a distant, distant time, and not

         Of the to-morrow, not of this to-day.

MAX. (turning round to him quick and vehement)

         Where lies the fault but on you in Vienna!

         I will deal openly with you, Questenberg.

         Just now, as first I saw you standing here

         (I'll own it to you freely), indignation

         Crowded and pressed my inmost soul together.

         'Tis ye that hinder peace, ye! – and the warrior,

         It is the warrior that must force it from you.

         Ye fret the general's life out, blacken him,

         Hold him up as a rebel, and heaven knows

         What else still worse, because he spares the Saxons,

         And tries to awaken confidence in the enemy;

         Which yet's the only way to peace: for if

         War intermit not during war, how then

         And whence can peace come? Your own plagues fall on you!

         Even as I love what's virtuous, hate I you.

         And here I make this vow, here pledge myself,

         My blood shall spurt out for this Wallenstein,

         And my heart drain off, drop by drop, ere ye

         Shall revel and dance jubilee o'er his ruin.

[Exit

      SCENE V

      QUESTENBERG, OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI.

QUESTENBERG

         Alas! alas! and stands it so?

      [Then in pressing and impatient tones.

         What friend! and do we let him go away

         In this delusion – let him go away?

         Not call him back immediately, not open

         His eyes, upon the spot?

OCTAVIO (recovering himself out of a deep study)

                      He has now opened mine,

         And I see more than pleases me.

QUESTENBERG

                         What is it?

OCTAVIO

         Curse on this journey!

QUESTENBERG

                     But why so? What is it?

OCTAVIO

         Come, come along, friend! I must follow up

         The ominous track immediately. Mine eyes

         Are opened now, and I must use them. Come!

      [Draws QUESTENBERG on with him.

QUESTENBERG

         What now? Where go you then?

OCTAVIO

                         To her herself.

QUESTENBERG

                                 To —

OCTAVIO (interrupting him and correcting himself)

         To the duke. Come, let us go 'Tis done, 'tis done,

         I see the net that is thrown over him.

         Oh! he returns not to me as he went.

QUESTENBERG

         Nay, but explain yourself.

OCTAVIO

                       And that I should not

         Foresee it, not prevent this journey! Wherefore

         Did I keep it from him? You were in the right.

         I should have warned him. Now it is too