Demetrius. Friedrich von Schiller

iller

      Demetrius: A Play

      ACT I

      SCENE I

      THE DIET AT CRACOW.

      On the rising of the curtain the Polish Diet is discovered, seated in the great senate hall. On a raised platform, elevated by three steps, and surmounted by a canopy, is the imperial throne, the escutcheons of Poland and Lithuania suspended on each side. The KING seated upon the throne; on his right and left hand his ten royal officers standing on the platform. Below the platform the BISHOPS, PALATINES, and CASTELLANS seated on each side of the stage.

      Opposite to these stand the Provincial DEPUTIES, in a double line, uncovered. All armed. The ARCHBISHOP OF GNESEN, as the primate of the kingdom, is seated next the proscenium; his chaplain behind him, bearing a golden cross.

ARCHBISHOP OF GNESEN

      Thus then hath this tempestuous Diet been

         Conducted safely to a prosperous close;

         And king and commons part as cordial friends.

         The nobles have consented to disarm,

         And straight disband the dangerous Rocoss1;

         Whilst our good king his sacred word has pledged,

         That every just complaint shall have redress.

         And now that all is peace at home, we may

         Look to the things that claim our care abroad.

         Is it the will of the most high Estates

         That Prince Demetrius, who hath advanced

         A claim to Russia's crown, as Ivan's son,

         Should at their bar appear, and in the face

         Of this august assembly prove his right?

CASTELLAN OF CRACOW

         Honor and justice both demand he should;

         It were unseemly to refuse his prayer.

BISHOP OF WERMELAND

         The documents on which he rests have been

         Examined, and are found authentic. We

         May give him audience.

SEVERAL DEPUTIES

                     Nay! We must, we must!

LEO SAPIEHA

         To hear is to admit his right.

ODOWALSKY

                         And not

         To hear is to reject his claims unheard.

ARCHBISHOP OF GNESEN

         Is it your will that he have audience?

         I ask it for the second time – and third.

IMPERIAL CHANCELLOR

         Let him stand forth before our throne!

SENATORS

                             And speak!

DEPUTIES

         Yes, yes! Let him be heard!

      [The Imperial GRAND MARSHAL beckons with his baton to the doorkeeper, who goes out.

LEO SAPIEHA (to the CHANCELLOR)

                        Write down, my lord,

         That here I do protest against this step,

         And all that may ensue therefrom, to mar

         The peace of Poland's state and Moscow's crown.

      [Enters DEMETRIUS. Advances some steps towards the throne, and makes three bows with his head uncovered, first to the KING, next to the SENATORS, and then to the DEPUTIES, who all severally answer with an inclination of the head. He then takes up his position so as to keep within his eye a great portion of the assemblage, and yet not to turn his back upon the throne.

ARCHBISHOP OF GNESEN

         Prince Dmitri, son of Ivan! if the pomp

         Of this great Diet scare thee, or a sight

         So noble and majestic chain thy tongue,

         Thou may'st – for this the senate have allowed —

         Choose thee a proxy, wheresoe'er thou list,

         And do thy mission by another's lips.

DEMETRIUS

         My lord archbishop, I stand here to claim

         A kingdom, and the state of royalty.

         'Twould ill beseem me should I quake before

         A noble people, and its king and senate.

         I ne'er have viewed a circle so august,

         But the sight swells my heart within my breast

         And not appals me. The more worthy ye,

         To me ye are more welcome; I can ne'er

         Address my claim to nobler auditory.

ARCHBISHOP OF GNESEN

         ..         The august republic

         Is favorably bent.    ..

DEMETRIUS

         Most puissant king! Most worthy and most potent

         Bishops and palatines, and my good lords,

         The deputies of the august republic!

         It gives me pause and wonder to behold

         Myself, Czar Ivan's son, now stand before

         The Polish people in their Diet here.

         Both realms were sundered by a bloody hate,

         And, whilst my father lived, no peace might be.

         Yet now hath Heaven so ordered these events,

         That I, his blood, who with my nurse's milk

         Imbibed the ancestral hate, appear before you

         A fugitive, compelled to seek my rights

         Even here in Poland's heart. Then, ere I speak,

         Forget magnanimously all rancors past,

         And that the Czar, whose son I own myself,

         Rolled war's red billows to your very homes.

         I stand before you, sirs, a prince despoiled.

         I ask protection. The oppressed may urge

         A sacred claim on every noble breast.

         And who in all earth's circuit shall be just,

         If not a people great and valiant, – one

         In plenitude of power so free, it needs

         To render 'count but to itself alone,

         And may, unchallenged, lend an open ear

         And aiding hand to fair humanity.

ARCHBISHOP OF GNESEN

         You do allege you are Czar Ivan's son;

         And truly, nor your bearing nor your speech

         Gainsays the lofty title that you urge,

         But shows us that you are indeed his son.

         And you shall find that the republic bears

         A generous spirit. She has never quailed

         To Russia in the field! She loves, alike,

         To be a noble foe – a cordial friend.

DEMETRIUS

        

1

An insurrectionary muster of the nobles.