The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Illustrated Edition). Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Of aidance from it — lo! this very army
Seduced, run wild, lost to all discipline, 55
Loosened, and rent asunder from the state
And from their sovereign, the blind instrument
Of the most daring of mankind, a weapon
Of fearful power, which at his will he wields!
Octavio. Nay, nay, friend! let us not despair too soon, 60
Men’s words are ever bolder than their deeds:
And many a resolute, who now appears
Made up to all extremes, will, on a sudden
Find in his breast a heart he knew not of,
Let but a single honest man speak out 65
The true name of his crime! Remember, too,
We stand not yet so wholly unprotected.
Counts Altringer and Galas have maintained
Their little army faithful to its duty,
And daily it becomes more numerous. 70
Nor can he take us by surprise: you know,
I hold him all-encompassed by my listeners.
Whate’er he does, is mine, even while ‘tis doing —
No step so small, but instantly I hear it;
Yea, his own mouth discloses it.
Questenberg. ‘Tis quite 75
Incomprehensible, that he detects not
The foe so near!
Octavio. Beware, you do not think,
That I by lying arts, and complaisant
Hypocrisy, have skulked into his graces:
Or with the sustenance of smooth professions 80
Nourish his all-confiding friendship! No —
Compelled alike by prudence, and that duty
Which we all owe our country, and our sovereign,
To hide my genuine feelings from him, yet
Ne’er have I duped him with base counterfeits! 85
Questenberg. It is the visible ordinance of heaven.
Octavio. I know not what it is that so attracts
And links him both to me and to my son.
Comrades and friends we always were — long habit,
Adventurous deeds performed in company, 90
And all those many and various incidents
Which store a soldier’s memory with affections,
Had bound us long and early to each other —
Yet I can name the day, when all at once
His heart rose on me, and his confidence 95
Shot out in sudden growth. It was the morning
Before the memorable fight at Lützner.
Urged by an ugly dream, I sought him out,
To press him to accept another charger.
At distance from the tents, beneath a tree, 100
I found him in a sleep. When I had waked him,
And had related all my bodings to him,
Long time he stared upon me, like a man
Astounded; thereon fell upon my neck,
And manifested to me an emotion 105
That far outstripped the worth of that small service.
Since then his confidence has followed me
With the same pace that mine has fled from him.
Questenberg. You lead your son into the secret?
Octavio. No!
Questenberg. What? and not warn him either what bad hands 110
His lot has placed him in?
Octavio. I must perforce
Leave him in wardship to his innocence.
His young and open soul — dissimulation
Is foreign to its habits! Ignorance
Alone can keep alive the cheerful air, 115
The unembarrassed sense and light free spirit,
That make the Duke secure.
Questenberg. My honoured friend! most highly do I deem
Of Colonel Piccolomini — yet — if ——
Reflect a little ——
Octavio. I must venture it. 120
Hush! — There he comes!
[Before 1] Questenberg (with signs of aversion and astonishment).
1817, 1828, 1829.
Questenberg (walking up and down in evident disquiet). Friend, &c.
1817, 1828, 1829.
SCENE IV
MAX PICCOLOMINI, OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI, QUESTENBERG.
Max. Ha! there he is himself. Welcome, my father!
You are engaged, I see. I’ll not disturb you.
Octavio. How, Max? Look closer at this visitor;
Attention, Max, an old friend merits — Reverence
Belongs of right to the envoy of your sovereign. 5
Max. Von Questenberg! — Welcome — if you bring with you
Aught good to our head quarters.
Questenberg (seizing his hand). Nay, draw not
Your hand away, Count Piccolomini!
Not on mine own account alone I seized it,
And nothing common will I say therewith. 10
[Taking the hands of both.
Octavio — Max Piccolomini!
O saviour names, and full of happy omen!
Ne’er will her prosperous genius turn from Austria,
While two such stars, with blessed influences
Beaming protection, shine above her hosts. 15
Max. Heh! — Noble minister! You miss your part.
You came not here to act a panegyric.
You’re sent, I know, to find fault and to scold us —
I must not be beforehand with my comrades.
Octavio. He comes from court, where people are not quite 20
So well contented with the duke, as here.
Max. What now have they contrived to find out in him?
That he alone determines for himself
What he himself alone doth understand?
Well, therein he does right, and will persist in ‘t. 25
Heaven never meant him for that passive thing
That can be struck and hammered out to suit
Another’s taste and fancy. He’ll not dance
To every tune of every minister.
It goes against his nature — he can’t do it. 30
He is possessed