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Alas, that home To thee has grown so strange! Oh, Uly! Uly! I scarce do know thee now, thus decked in silks, The peacock's feather flaunting in thy cap, And purple mantle round thy shoulders flung; Thou lookest upon the peasant with disdain, And takest with a blush his honest greeting. RUDENZ. All honor due to him I gladly pay, But must deny the right he would usurp.
And must I think, when yielding up my breath, That thou but wait'st the closing of mine eyes, To stoop thy knee to this new feudal court, And take in vassalage from Austria's hands The noble lands, which I from God received Free and unfettered as the mountain air! RUDENZ. 'Tis vain for us to strive against the king.
To your brave hands I now intrust my rights. Will you protect me as your citizen? PEASANTS. Ay, that we will, with life and fortune both! BERTHA. 'Tis well! And to this youth I give my hand. A free Swiss maiden to a free Swiss man! RUDENZ. And from this moment all my serfs are free!
Verschmerzen werd' ich diesen Schlag, das weiss ich, Denn was verschmerzte nicht der Mensch! I shall grieve down this blow, of that I'm conscious: What does not man grieve down? By Frederich Schiller HERMANN GESSLER, Governor of Schwytz and Uri. WERNER, Baron of Attinghausen, free noble of Switzerland. ULRICH VON RUDENZ, his Nephew.
Without us, sir, what would the nobles be? Our order is more ancient, too, than yours! RUDENZ. I honor it, and with my sword will shield it! MELCHTHAL. The arm, my lord, that tames the stubborn earth, And makes its bosom blossom with increase, Can also shield a man's defenceless breast. RUDENZ. Then you shall shield my breast and I will yours; Thus each be strengthened by the others' aid!
ATTINGHAUSEN. Ah, Uly, Uly; all too well I see, The tempter's voice has caught thy willing ear, And poured its subtle poison in thy heart. RUDENZ. Yes, I conceal it not. It doth offend My inmost soul to hear the stranger's gibes, That taunt us with the name of "Peasant Nobles."
Abandoning thy friends, thou takest thy stand Beside thy country's foes, and, as in scorn Of our distress, pursuest giddy joys, Courting the smiles of princes, all the while Thy country bleeds beneath their cruel scourge. RUDENZ. The land is sore oppressed; I know it, uncle. But why? Who plunged it into this distress?
RUDENZ. The emperor is my lord, not you! I'm free As you by birth, and I can cope with you In every virtue that beseems a knight. And if you stood not here in that king's name, Which I respect e'en where 'tis most abused, I'd throw my gauntlet down, and you should give An answer to my gage in knightly fashion. Ay, beckon to your troopers! I have a sword, And he that stirs one step
BERTHA. Think you to find me in the traitor's ranks? Now, as I live, I'd rather give my hand To Gessler's self, all despot though he be, Than to the Switzer who forgets his birth, And stoops to be the minion of a tyrant. RUDENZ. Oh heaven, what must I hear! BERTHA. Say! what can lie Nearer the good man's heart than friends and kindred?
STAUFFACHER. And has the tyrant dared so fell an outrage Against a lady free and nobly born? RUDENZ. Alas! my friends, I promised help to you, And I must first implore it for myself? She that I love is stolen is forced away, And who knows where the tyrant has concealed her. Or with what outrages his ruffian crew May force her into nuptials she detests? Forsake me not! Oh help me to her rescue!
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