Oh! potent is the spell that binds to home!
No, no, the cold, false world is not for thee.
At the proud court, with thy true heart, thou wilt For ever feel a stranger among strangers.
The world asks virtues of far other stamp Than thou hast learned within these simple vales.
But go--go thither,--barter thy free soul, Take land in fief, be minion to a prince, Where thou might'st be lord paramount, and prince Of all thine own unburden'd heritage!
O, Uly, Uly, stay among thy people!
Go not to Altdorf.Oh, abandon not The sacred cause of thy wrong'd native land!
I am the last of all my race.My name Ends with me.Yonder hang my helm and shield;They will be buried with me in the grave.[*]
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 unfetter'd as the mountain air!
[*] According to the custom, by which, when the last male descendant of a noble family died, his sword, helmet, and shield were buried with him.
RUD.
'Tis vain for us to strive against the king.
The world pertains to him:--shall we alone, In mad presumptuous obstinacy, strive To break that mighty chain of lands, which he Hath drawn around us with his giant grasp?
His are the markets, his the courts,--his, too, The highways; nay, the very carrier's horse, That traffics on the Gotthardt, pays him toll.
By his dominions, as within a net, We are enclosed, and girded round about.
And will the Empire shield us? Say, can it Protect itself 'gainst Austria's growing power?
To God, and not to emperors must we look!
What store can on their promises be placed, When they, to meet their own necessities, Can pawn, and even alienate the towns That flee for shelter 'neath the Eagle's wings?[*]
No, uncle! It is wise and wholesome prudence, In times like these, when faction's all abroad, To vow attachment to some mighty chief.
The imperial crown's transferred from line to line.[+]
It has no memory for faithful service:
But to secure the favour of these great Hereditary masters, were to sow Seed for a future harvest.
[*] This frequently occurred.But in the event of an imperial city being mortgaged for the purpose of raising money, it lost its freedom, and was considered as put out of the realm.
[+] An allusion to the circumstance of the Imperial Crown not being hereditary, but conferred by election on one of the Counts of the Empire.
ATTING.
Art so wise?
Wilt thou see clearer than thy noble sires, Who battled for fair freedom's priceless gem, With life, and fortune, and heroic arm?
Sail down the lake to Lucerne, there inquire, How Austria's thraldom weighs the Cantons down.
Soon she will come to count our sheep, our cattle, To portion out the Alps, e'en to their peaks, And in our own free woods to hinder us From striking down the eagle or the stag;To set her tolls on every bridge and gate, Impoverish us, to swell her lust of sway, And drain our dearest blood to feed her wars.
No, if our blood must flow, let it be shed In our own cause! We purchase liberty More cheaply far than bondage.
RUD.
What can we, A shepherd race, against great Albert's hosts?
ATTING.
Learn, foolish boy, to know this shepherd race!
I know them, I have led them on in fight,--I saw them in the battle at Favenz.
What! Austria try, forsooth, to force on us A yoke we are determined not to bear!
Oh, learn to feel from what a stock thou'rt sprung;Cast not, for tinsel trash and idle show, The precious jewel of thy worth away, To be the chieftain of a free-born race, Bound to thee only by their unbought love, Ready to stand--to fight--to die with thee, Be that thy pride, be that thy noblest boast!
Knit to thy heart the ties of kindred--home--Cling to the land, the dear land of thy sires, Grapple to that with thy whole heart and soul!
Thy power is rooted deep and strongly here, But in yon stranger world thou'lt stand alone, A trembling reed beat down by every blast.
Oh come! 'tis long since we have seen thee, Uly!
Tarry but this one day.Only to-day!
Go not to Altdorf.Wilt thou? Not to-day!
For this one day, bestow thee on thy friends.
[Takes his hand.]
RUD.
I gave my word.Unhand me! I am bound.
ATTING.(drops his hand and says sternly).
Bound, didst thou say? Oh yes, unhappy boy, Thou art indeed.But not by word or oath.
'Tis by the silken mesh of love thou'rt bound.
[Rudenz turns away.]
Ah, hide thee, as thou wilt.'Tis she, I know, Bertha of Bruneck, draws thee to the court;'Tis she that chains thee to the Emperor's service.
Thou think'st to win the noble knightly maid By thy apostasy.Be not deceived.
She is held out before thee as a lure;
But never meant for innocence like thine.
RUD.
No more, I've heard enough.So fare you well.
[Exit.]
ATTING.
Stay, Uly! Stay! Rash boy, he's gone! I can Nor hold him back, nor save him from destruction.
And so the Wolfshot has deserted us;--
Others will follow his example soon.
This foreign witchery, sweeping o'er our hills, Tears with its potent spell our youth away.
O luckless hour, when men and manners strange Into these calm and happy valleys came, To warp our primitive and guileless ways!
The new is pressing on with might.The old, The good, the simple, all flee fast away.
New times come on.A race is springing up, That think not as their fathers thought before!
What do I hear? All, all are in the grave With whom erewhile I moved, and held converse;My age has long been laid beneath the sod;Happy the man, who may not live to see What shall be done by those that follow me!
