Cas. Let it be A brief one, then.-What wouldst thou? Fitz-Ed. Oh, my father!— The tempest that my slighted speech foretold, Cas. And 'tis this To tell me this, that thou art here-to vaunt Fitz-Ed. No.-I come To break thy commerce with the midnight wolf— That flow from man's communion with his kind ;- Cas. Beware-beware. If I thought that-thou knowest my temper-hence, Fitz-Ed. Oh, I must, and thou Must hear me, too. Enough of constancy- The kingly sway— Cas. Patience-oh, patience, heart! Fitz-Ed. Nay, hear me on.-Is not all lost ?—and thou Dost thou still singly labor to oppose The common doom ?-oh, idle all.-There now Thy bosom-I must speak it-'tis submission. Cas. Heaven!-are thy thunders idle ?-and thou, earth 'That yet endurest his tread!—thou wilt not part Beneath him, and deep hide his infamy! Cas. No--thou blot On the pure 'scutcheon of thy noble fathers Thor shalt not plume thee in my fall, nor show me With "Lo! my work, and there the untamable !". Fitz-Ed. Dreadful thought! 'Tis not within thy hate's extremest bound Away, weak heart – In upright conscious honesty, I stand And shake thy loose aspersions from my soul, As lightly as the falcon from her wing The dews of evening. Cas. I will not hear thee.-Hence. Fitz-Ed. Obdurate man, bow thy proud spirit down, (Starting up resolvedly.) Cas. Reveal!-betray me to-? But no-thou art Caswallon's son, and thus far he will trust thee. Cas. (Going.) Nay, follow not. Attempt to stay me, and a father's curse Cling to thy soul, and hold thee lost for ever! (Exit.) Or what is't stirs my brain?—a father's curse!— It fell not-'tis not that that rages here. SELECTION X. VERNER-TELL-PIERRE-THEODORE-SARNEM-MICHAEL SOLDIERS AND PEOPLE.-Knowles. (The people have gathered to one side, and look in the opposite direction with apprehension and trouble.) Verner. Now Tell observe the people. Tell. Ha! they please me now-I like them now-their looks 1re just in season. Pierre. 'Tis Sarnem. Theodore. What is that he brings with him? Pierre. A pole; and on the top of it a cap That looks like Gesler's-I could pick it from A thousand! Theo. So could I !—My heart hath oft Leaped at the sight of it. What comes he now (Sarnem enters with soldiers bearing Gesler's cap upon a pole, which he fixes into the ground; the people looking on in silence and amazement.) Sarnem. Ye men of Altorf! Behold the emblem of your master's power Tell. Have I my hearing? Ver. Away! away! Tell. Or sight? They do it, Verner! Look!-Look! Have I the outline of that caitiff Who to the servile earth doth bend the crown His god did rear for him to heaven? Ver. Away, Before they mark us. Tell. No! no!-since I've tasted, I'll e'n feed on. A spirit's in me likes it. Sar. (Striking a person.) Bow lower, slave! Tell. Do you feel that blow-my flesh doth tingle with it. I would it had been I! Ver. You tremble, William; come-you must not stay. (Enter Michael through the crowd.) Sar. Bow, slave. Michael. For what? Sar. Obey, and question then. Mich. Tell. I'll question now, perhaps not then obey. Sar. 'Tis Gesler's will that all Bow to that cap. Mich. Were it thy lady's cap, I'd courtesy to it. Sar. Do you mock us, friend? Mich. Not I. I'll bow to Gesler, if you please; But not his cap, nor cap of any he In christendon. Tell. Well done! The lion thinks as much of cowering. Do you hear me, slave? Mich. Slave! Tell. A man! I'll swear a man! Don't hold me, Verner. Sar. Villain, bow To Gesler's cap! Mich. No! not to Gesler's self. Seize him. (Soldiers come forward.) Tell. (Rushing forward.) Off, off, you base and hireling pack! Lay not your brutal touch upon the thing God made in his own image. Sar. What! shrink you, cowards? Your duty for you? Tell. Let them stir-I've scattered A flock of wolves did outnumber them Must I do For sport I did it.-Sport!-I scattered them With but a staff, not half so thick as this. (Wrests Sarnem's weapon from him—Sarnem and Soldiers fly.) Men of Altorf, What fear ye! See what things you fear-the show And surfaces of men. Why stand you wondering there? Lack you the manhood even to look on, And see bold deeds achieved by others' hands? Or is't that cap still holds your thralls to fear? (Dashes down the pole.) Be free then.-There! Thus do I trample on SELECTION XI. DRUID-ELIDURUS-ARVIRAGUS.-Mason. Druid. Say, thou false one! What doom befits the slave who sells his country? Druid. No! lingering piecemeal death; Elid. That on my soul doth lie some secret grief, ye could. And 'tis both fit that you should try those means, Will for some space baffle your torturing fury. Arvi. Stranger, ere this be tried, Confess the whole of thy black perfidy; So black, that when I look upon thy youth, Elid. Such a crime Indeed I durst not; and would rather be The very wretch thou seest. Druid. Brethren, 'tis so. This youth has been deceived. I'll speak no more. You say, the Romans have invaded Mona. Lead then to torture. |