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The Duke's bed-chamber, without his alarming
The servants of the Court; for he has here
A numerous company of followers?

BUTLER.

THEKLA (looking around her).
Where am I?

WALLENSTEIN (steps to her, raising her up in his arms).
Come, cheerly, Thekla! be my own brave girl!

The attendants fill the right wing; he hates bustle, See, there's thy loving mother. Thou art in

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Foreboded some misfortune. The report
Of an engagement, in the which had fallen

A colonel of the Imperial army, frighten'd her.

I saw it instantly. She flew to meet

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Shortly I shall be quite myself again.
You'll grant me one request?

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Permit the stranger to be call'd to me,
And grant me leave, that by myself I may
Hear his report and question him.

DUCHESS.

COUNTESS.

"Tis not advisable-assent not to it.

WALLENSTEIN.

No, never!

The Swedish courier, and with sudden questioning, Hush! Wherefore wouldst thou speak with him, my

Soon wrested from him the disastrous secret.

Too late we miss'd her, hasten'd after her,

We found her lying in his arms, all pale

And in a swoon.

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daughter?

THEKLA,

Knowing the whole, I shall be more collected :

I will not be deceived. My mother wishes
Only to spare me. I will not be spared,
The worst is said already: I can hear
Nothing of deeper anguish!

DUCHESS and COUNTESS.

Do it not.

THEKLA.

The horror overpower'd me by surprise.
My heart betray'd me in the stranger's presence
He was a witness of my weakness, yea,.

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Where art thou going? I heard Tertsky say
That 'tis thy purpose to depart from hence
To-morrow early, but to leave us here.

WALLENSTEIN.

Yes, ye stay here, placed under the protection
Of gallant men.

COUNTESS.

O take us with you, brother!

Leave us not in this gloomy solitude

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We, lay, expecting no attack, at Neustadt,
Intrench'd but insecurely in our camp,
When towards evening rose a cloud of dust
From the wood thitherward; our vanguard fled
Into the camp, and sounded the alarm.
Scarce had we mounted, ere the Pappenheimers,
Their horses at full speed, broke through the lines,
And leapt the trenches; but their heedless courage

To brood o'er anxious thoughts. The mists of doubt Had borne them onward far before the others-
Magnify evils to a shape of horror.

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The infantry were still at distance only.
The Pappenheimers follow'd daringly
Their daring leader

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These walls breathe on me, like a church-yard vault. Back to the trenches drove them, where the foot

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Stretch'd out a solid ridge of pikes to meet them.
They neither could advance, nor yet retreat⚫
And as they stood on every side wedged in,
The Rhinegrave to their leader call'd aloud,
Inviting a surrender; but their leader,
Young Piccolomini-

[THEKLA, as giddy, grasps a chair
Known by his plume,
And his long hair, gave signal for the trenches;
Himself leapt first, the regiment all plunged after
His charger, by a halbert gored, rear'd up,
Flung him with violence off, and over him
The horses, now no longer to be curb'd,———
[THEKLA who has accompanied the last speech with
all the marks of increasing agony, trembles
through her whole frame, and is falling. The
LADY NEUBRUNN runs to her, and receives her
in her arms.

Exeunt DUCHESS and COUNTESS. | My dearest lady

NEUBRUNN.

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THEKLA (faltering).

And whereWhere is-You have not told me all.

CAPTAIN (after a pause). This morning We buried him. Twelve youths of noblest birth Did bear him to interment; the whole army Follow'd the bier. A laurel deck'd his coffin; The sword of the deceased was placed upon it, In mark of honor, by the Rhinegrave's self. Nor tears were wanting; for there are among us Many, who had themselves experienced The greatness of his mind, and gentle manners; All were affected at his fate. The Rhinegrave Would willingly have saved him; but himself Made vain the attempt-'tis said he wish'd to die.

NEUBRUNN (to THEKLA, who has hidden her counLook up, my dearest lady————

tenance).

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SCENE V.

THEKLA, LADY NEUBRUNN.

THEKLA (falls on LADY NEUBRUNN's neck). Now, gentle Neubrunn, show me the affection Which thou hast ever promised-prove thyself My own true friend and faithful fellow-pilgrim. This night we must away!

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Is now the only place, Where life yet dwells for me: detain me not! Come and make preparations: let us think Of means to fly from hence.

That time is past

NEUBRUNN.

Your father's rage

THEKLA.

CAPTAIN.

Saint Catherine's.

THEKLA.

And how far is it thither?

CAPTAIN.

Near twelve leagues.

THEKLA.

And which the way?

CAPTAIN.

You go by Tirschenreit

And Falkenberg, through our advanced posts.

THEKLA.

Who

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Is their commander?

CAPTAIN.

Colonel Seckendorf.

This rough tempestuous night

THEKLA.

Had be a soft bed

[THEKLA steps to the table, and takes a ring from Under the hoofs of his war-horses?

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Commend me to your lord. I sympathize

In his good fortune; and if you have seen me
Deficient in the expressions of that joy,
Which such a victory might well demand,
Attribute it to no lack of good-will,

For henceforth are our fortunes one. Farewell,

And for your trouble take my thanks. To-morrow
The citadel shall be surrender'd to you
On your arrival.

[The SWEDISH CAPTAIN retires. WALLENSTEIN sita
lost in thought, his eyes fixed vacantly, and his
head sustained by his hand. The COUNTESS
TERTSKY enters, stands before him awhile, un-
observed by him; at length he starts, sees her
and recollects himself.

WALLENSTEIN.

Comest thou from her? Is she restored? How is she?
COUNTESS.

My sister tells me, she was more collected
After her conversation with the Swede.
She has now retired to rest.

She will shed tears.

WALLENSTEIN.

The pang will soften.

COUNTESS.

I find thee alter'd too,

My brother! After such a victory
I had expected to have found in thee
A cheerful spirit. O remain thou firm!
Sustain, uphold us! For our light thou art,
Our sun.

To a deep quiet, such as he has found,
It draws me on, I know not what to name it,
Resistless does it draw me to his grave.
There will my heart be eased, my tears will flow.
O hasten, make no further questioning!
There is no rest for me till I have left
These walls-they fall in on me-a dim power
Drives me from hence-O mercy! What a feeling!
What pale and hollow forms are those! They fill,
They crowd the place! I have no longer room here!
Mercy! Still more! More still! The hideous swarm!
They press on me; they chase me from these walls-Thy
Those hollow, bodiless forms of living men!

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COUNTESS.

Bid me not go, O let me stay with thee!

WALLENSTEIN (moves to the window).
There is a busy motion in the Heaven,
The wind doth chase the flag upon the tower,
Fast sweep the clouds, the sickle* of the moon,
Struggling, darts snatches of uncertain light.
No form of star is visible! That one

White stain of light, that single glimmering yonder,
Is from Cassiopeia, and therein
Is Jupiter. (A pause). But now

The blackness of the troubled element hides him!

[He sinks into profound melancholy, and looks vacantly into the distance. COUNTESS (looks on him mournfully, then grasps his

hand).

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Whom meanest thou then?

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WALLENSTEIN.

This anguish will be wearied down,* I know;
What pang is permanent with man? From the highest
As from the vilest thing of every day
He learns to wean himself: for the strong hours
Conquer him. Yet I feel what I have lost
In him. The bloom is vanish'd from my life.

For O! he stood beside me, like my youth,
Transform'd for me the real to a dream,
Clothing the palpable and the familiar
With golden exhalations of the dawn.
Whatever fortunes wait my future toils,
The beautiful is vanish'd-and returns not.

COUNTESS.

O be not treacherous to thy own power.
Thy heart is rich enough to vivify
Itself. Thou lovest and prizest virtues in him,
The which thyself didst plant, thyself unfold.
WALLENSTEIN (stepping to the door).

Who interrupts us now at this late hour?
It is the Governor. He brings the keys
Of the Citadel. "Tis midnight. Leave me, sister

COUNTESS.

O'tis so hard to me this night to leave thee-
A boding fear possesses me!

WALLENSTEIN.

Fear? Wherefore?

COUNTESS.

WALLENSTEIN.

He, the more fortunate! yea, he hath finish'd!
For him there is no longer any future,
His life is bright-bright without spot it was,
And cannot cease to be. No ominous hour
Knocks at his door with tidings of mishap.
Far off is he, above desire and fear;
No more submitted to the change and chance
Of the unsteady planets. O'tis well

With him! but who knows what the coming hour
Veil'd in thick darkness brings for us?

These four lines are expressed in the original with exquisite felicity.

Am Himmel ist geschæftige Bewegung,

Des Thurmes Fahne jagt der Wind, schnell geht
Der Wolken Zug, die Mondes-Sichel wankt,
Und durch die Nacht zuckt ungewisse Helle.

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To-day I dreamt that I was seeking thee

The word "moon-sickle," reminds me of a passage in Har-In thy own chamber. As I enter'd, lo! ris, as quoted by Johnson, under the word "falcated." enlightened part of the moon appears in the form of a sickle or reaping-hook, which is while she is moving from the conjunction to the opposition, or from the new-moon to the full: but from full to a new again, the enlightened part appears gibbous, and the dark falcated."

"The It was no more a chamber: the Chartreuse

At Gitschin 't was, which thou thyself hast founded

The words "wanken" and schwebeu are not easily translated. The English words, by which we attempt to render them, are either vulgar or pedantic, or not of sufficiently general application. So "der Wolken Zug"-The Draft, the Procession of clouds.-The Masses of the Clouds sweep onward in swift stream.

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