For thou must move a world and be the master —
He kills thee who condemns thee to inaction.
So be it then! maintain thee in thy post
By violence. Resist the emperor,
And if it must be force with force repel;
I will not praise it, yet I can forgive it.
But not – not to the traitor – yes! the word
Is spoken out —
Not to the traitor can I yield a pardon.
That is no mere excess! that is no error
Of human nature – that is wholly different,
Oh, that is black, black as the pit of hell!
[WALLENSTEIN betrays a sudden agitation.
Thou canst not hear it named, and wilt thou do it?
O turn back to thy duty. That thou canst,
I hold it certain. Send me to Vienna;
I'll make thy peace for thee with the emperor.
He knows thee not. But I do know thee. He
Shall see thee, duke! with my unclouded eye,
And I bring back his confidence to thee.
It is too late! Thou knowest not what has happened.
Were it too late, and were things gone so far,
That a crime only could prevent thy fall,
Then – fall! fall honorably, even as thou stoodest,
Lose the command. Go from the stage of war!
Thou canst with splendor do it – do it too
With innocence. Thou hast lived much for others,
At length live thou for thy own self. I follow thee.
My destiny I never part from thine.
It is too late! Even now, while thou art losing
Thy words, one after another, are the mile-stones
Left fast behind by my post couriers,
Who bear the order on to Prague and Egra.
[MAX. stands as convulsed, with a gesture and countenance expressing the most intense anguish.
Yield thyself to it. We act as we are forced.
I cannot give assent to my own shame
And ruin. Thou – no – thou canst not forsake me!
So let us do, what must be done, with dignity,
With a firm step. What am I doing worse
Than did famed Caesar at the Rubicon,
When he the legions led against his country,
The which his country had delivered to him?
Had he thrown down the sword, he had been lost.
As I were, if I but disarmed myself.
I trace out something in me of this spirit.
Give me his luck, that other thing I'll bear.
[MAX. quits him abruptly. WALLENSTEIN startled and overpowered, continues looking after him, and is still in this posture when TERZKY enters.
SCENE III
WALLENSTEIN, TERZKY.
Max. Piccolomini just left you?
Where is Wrangel?
He is already gone.
In such a hurry?
It is as if the earth had swallowed him.
He had scarce left thee, when I went to seek him.
I wished some words with him – but he was gone.
How, when, and where, could no one tell me.
Nay, I half believe it was the devil himself;
A human creature could not so at once
Have vanished.
Is it true that thou wilt send
Octavio?
How, Octavio! Whither send him?
He goes to Frauenberg, and will lead hither
The Spanish and Italian regiments.
No!
Nay, heaven forbid!
And why should heaven forbid?
Him! – that deceiver! Wouldst thou trust to him
The soldiery? Him wilt thou let slip from thee,
Now in the very instant that decides us —
Thou wilt not do this! No! I pray thee, no!
Ye are whimsical.
O but for this time, duke,
Yield to our warning! Let him not depart.
And why should I not trust him only this time,
Who have always trusted him? What, then, has happened
That I should lose my good opinion of him?
In complaisance to your whims, not my own,
I must, forsooth, give up a rooted judgment.
Think not I am a woman. Having trusted him
E'en till to-day, to-day too will I trust him.
Must it be he – he only? Send another.
It must be he, whom I myself have chosen;
He is well fitted for the business.
Therefore I gave it him.
Because he's an Italian —
Therefore is he well fitted for the business!
I know you love them not, nor sire nor son,
Because that I esteem them, love them, visibly
Esteem them, love them more than you and others,
E'en as they merit. Therefore are they eye-blights,
Thorns in your footpath. But your jealousies,
In what affect they me or my concerns?
Are they the worse to me because