|
Act VScene II
Scene II
A Prison
Lighted by a lamp, a couch in the back-ground
Egmont (alone). Old friend! Ever faithful sleep, dost thou too forsake
me, like my other friends? How wert thou wont of yore to descend unsought upon
my free brow, cooling my temples as with a myrtle wreath of love! Amidst the
din of battle, on the waves of life, I rested in the thine arms, breathing
lightly as a growing boy. When tempests whistled through the leaves and
boughs, when the summits of the lofty trees swung creaking in the blast, the
inmost core of my heart remained unmoved. What agitates thee now? What shakes
thy firm and steadfast mind? I feel it, `tis the sound of the murderous axe,
gnawing at thy root. Yet I stand erect, but an inward shudder runs through my
frame. Yes, it prevails, this treacherous power; it undermines the firm, the
lofty stem, and ere the bark withers, thy verdant crown falls crashing to the
earth.
Yet wherefore now, thou who hast so often chased the weightiest cares
like bubbles from thy brow, wherefore canst thou not dissipate this dire
foreboding which incessantly haunts thee in a thousand different shapes? Since
when hast thou trembled at the approach of death, amid whose varying forms,
thou wert wont calmly to dwell, as with the other shapes of this familiar
earth. But `tis not he, the sudden foe, to encounter whom the sound bosom
emulously pants; - `tis the dungeon, emblem of the grave, revolting alike to
the hero and the coward. How intolerable I used to feel it, in the stately
hall, girt round by gloomy walls, when, seated on my cushioned chair, in the
solemn assembly of the princes, questions, which scarcely required
deliberation, were overlaid with endless discussions, while the rafters of the
ceiling seemed to stifle and oppress me. Then I would hurry forth as soon as
possible, fling myself upon my horse with deep-drawn breath, and away to the
wide champaign, man`s natural element, where, exhaling from the earth,
nature`s richest treasures are poured forth around us, while, from the wide
heavens, the stars shed down their blessings through the still air; where,
like earth-born giants, we spring aloft, invigorated by our mother`s touch;
where our entire humanity and our human desires throb in every vein; were the
desire to press forward, to vanquish, to snatch, to use his clenched fist, to
possess, to conquer, glows through the soul of the young hunter; where the
warrior, with rapid stride, assumes his inborn right to dominion over the
world; and, with terrible liberty, sweeps like a desolating hailstorm over the
field and grove, knowing no boundaries traced by the hand of man.
Thou art but a shadow, a dream of the happiness I so long possessed;
where has treacherous fate conducted thee? Did she deny thee to meet the rapid
stroke of never-shunned death, in the open face of day, only to prepare for
thee a foretaste of the grave, in the midst of this loathsome corruption? How
revolting its rank odour exhales from these damp stones! Life stagnates, and
my foot shrinks from the couch as from the grave.
Oh care, care! Thou who dost begin prematurely the work of murder, -
forbear; - Since when has Egmont been alone, so utterly alone in the world?
`Tis doubt renders thee insensible, not happiness. The justice of the king, in
which, through life thou hast confided, the friendship of the Regent, which,
thou mayst confess it, was akin to love, - have these suddenly vanished, like
a meteor of the night, and left thee alone upon thy gloomy path? Will not
Orange, at the head of thy friends, contrive some daring scheme? Will not the
people assemble, and with gathering might, attempt the rescue of their
faithful friend?
Ye walls, which thus gird me round, separate me not from the well -
intentioned zeal of so many kindly souls. And may the courage with which my
glance was wont to inspire them, now return again from their hearts to mine.
Yes! they assemble in thousands! they come! they stand beside me! their pious
wish rises urgently to heaven, and implores a miracle; and if no angel stoops
for my deliverance, I see them grasp eargerly their lance and sword. The gates
are forced, the bolts are riven, the walls fall beneath their conquering
hands, and Egmont advances joyously, to hail the freedom of the rising morn.
How many well-known faces receive me with loud acclaim! O Clara! wert thou a
man, I should see thee here the very first, and thank thee for that which it
is galling to owe even to a king - liberty.
|
