ELECTOR. Back to oblivion, with you, oblivion,
Sir Prince of Homburg! On the battle-field,
If you be so disposed, we meet again!
Such matters men attain not in a dream!
[They all go out; the door crashes shut in the PRINCE'S face. Pause.]
The PRINCE OF HOMBURG remains standing before the door a moment in perplexity; then dreamily descends from the terrace, the hand holding the glove pressed against his forehead. At the foot of the stair he turns again, gazing up at the door.
Enter COUNT HOHENZOLLERN by the wicket below. A page follows him. The PRINCE OF HOMBURG.
PAGE (Softly).
Count! Listen, do! Most worshipful Sir
Count!
HOHENZOLLERN (vexed).
Grasshopper! Well? What's wanted?
PAGE. I am sent—
HOHENZOLL. Speak softly now, don't wake him with your chirping!
Come now! What's up?
PAGE. The Elector sent me hither.
He charges you that, when the Prince awakes,
You breathe no word to him about the jest
It was his pleasure to allow himself.
HOHENZOLLERN (softly).
You skip off to the wheatfield for some sleep.
I knew that, hours ago. So run along.
COUNT HOHENZOLLERN and the PRINCE of HOMBURG.
HOHENZOLLERN (taking a position some distance behind the PRINCE who is still gazing fixedly up toward the terrace). Arthur!
[The PRINCE drops to the ground.]
And there he lies!
You could not do it better with a bullet.
[He approaches him.]
Now I am eager for the fairy-tale
He'll fabricate to show the reason why
Of all the world he chose this place to sleep in.
[He bends over him.]
Arthur! Hi! Devil's own! What are you up to?
What are you doing here at dead of night?
THE PRINCE. Ah, dear, old fellow!
HOHENZOLLERN. Well, I'm hanged! See here!
The cavalry's a full hour down the road
And you, their colonel, you lie here and sleep.
THE PRINCE. What cavalry?
HOHENZOLLERN. The Mamelukes, of course!
Sure as I live and breathe, the man's forgot
That he commands the riders of the Mark!
THE PRINCE (rising).
My helmet, quick then! My cuirass!
HOHENZOLLERN. Where are they?
THE PRINCE. Off to the right there, Harry.—On the stool.
HOHENZOLL. Where? On the stool?
THE PRINCE. I laid them there, I thought—
HOHENZOLLERN (regarding him).
Then go and get them from the stool yourself.
THE PRINCE. What's this glove doing here
[He stares at the glove in his hand.]
HOHENZOLLERN. How should I know?
[Aside.] Curses! He must have torn that
unobserved from the lady niece's arm. [Abruptly.] Quick
now, be off!
What are you waiting for?
THE PRINCE (casting the glove away again).
I'm coming, coming.
Hi, Frank! The knave I told to wake me must
have—
HOHENZOLLERN (regarding him).
It's raving mad he is!
THE PRINCE. Upon my oath, Harry, my dear, I don't know where I am.
HOHENZOLL. In Fehrbellin, you muddle-headed dreamer—
You're in a by-path of the Castle gardens.
THE PRINCE (to himself).
Engulf me, Night! Unwittingly once more
In slumber through the moonshine have I
strayed! [He pulls himself together.]
Forgive me! Now I know! Last night, recall,
The heat was such one scarce could lie in bed.
I crept exhausted hither to this garden,
And because Night with so sweet tenderness
Encompassed me, fair-haired and odorous Night—
Even as the Persian bride wraps close her lover,
Lo, here I laid my head upon her lap.
What is the clock now?
HOHENZOLLERN. Half an hour of midnight.
THE PRINCE. And you aver the troops are on the march?
HOHENZOLL. Upon my word, sharp, stroke of ten, as planned.
The Princess Orange regiment in van,
By this undoubtedly has reached the heights
Of Hackelwitz, there in the face of Wrangel
To cloak the army's hid approach at dawn.
THE PRINCE. Well, no harm's done. Old Kottwitz captains her
And he knows every purpose of this march.
I should have been compelled, at all events
By two, to come back hither for the council:
Those were the orders. So it's just as well
I stayed in the beginning. Let's be off.
The Elector has no inkling?
HOHENZOLLERN. Bah! How should he?
He's tight abed and snoozing long ago.
[They are about to depart when the PRINCE starts, turns, and picks
up the glove.]
THE PRINCE. I dreamed such an extraordinary dream!
It seemed as though the palace of a king,
Radiant with gold and silver, suddenly
Oped wide its doors, and from its terrace high
The galaxy of those my heart loves best
Came down to me:
The Elector and his Lady and the—third—
What is her name?
HOHENZOLLERN. Whose?
THE PRINCE (searching his memory). Why, the one I mean!
A mute must find his tongue to speak her name.
HOHENZOLL. The Platen girl?
THE PRINCE. Come, come, now!
HOHENZOLLERN. The Ramin
THE PRINCE. No, no, old fellow!
HOHENZOLLERN. Bork? Or Winterfeld?
THE PRINCE. No, no! My word! You fail to see the pearl
For the bright circlet that but sets it off!
HOHENZOLL. Damn it, then, tell me! I can't guess the face!
What lady do you mean?
THE PRINCE. Well, never mind.
The name has slipped from me since I awoke,
And goes for little in the story.
HOHENZOLLERN. Well,
Let's have it then!
THE PRINCE. But now, don't interrupt me!—
And the Elector of the Jovelike brow,
Holding a wreath of laurel in his hand,
Stands close beside me, and the soul of me
To ravish quite, twines round the jeweled band
That hangs about his neck, and unto one
Gives it to press upon my locks—Oh, friend!
HOHENZOLL. To whom?
THE PRINCE. Oh, friend!
HOHENZOLLERN. To whom then? Come, speak up!
THE PRINCE. I think it must have been the Platen girl.
HOHENZOLL. Platen? Oh, bosh! Not she who's off in Prussia?
THE PRINCE. Really, the Platen girl. Or the Ramin?
HOHENZOLL. Lord, the Ramin! She of the brick-red hair?
The Platen girl with those coy, violet eyes—
They say you fancy her.
THE PRINCE. I fancy her—
HOHENZOLL. So, and you say she handed you the wreath?
THE PRINCE. Oh, like some deity of fame she lifts
High up the circlet with its dangling chain
As if to crown a hero. I stretch forth,
Oh, in delight unspeakable, my hands
I stretch to seize it, yearning with my soul
To sink before her feet. But as the odor
That floats above green valleys, by the wind's
Cool breathing is dispelled, the group recedes
Up the high terrace from me; lo, the terrace
Beneath my tread immeasurably distends
To heaven's very gate. I clutch at air
Vainly to right, to left I clutch at air,
Of those I loved hungering to capture one.
In vain! The palace portal opes amain.
A flash of lightning from within engulfs them;
Rattling, the door flies to. Only a glove
I ravish from the sweet dream-creature's arm
In passionate pursuing; and a glove,
By all the gods, awaking, here I hold!
HOHENZOLL. Upon my word—and, you assume, the glove
Must be her glove?
THE PRINCE. Whose?
HOHENZOLLERN. Well, the Platen girl's.
THE PRINCE. Platen! Of course. Or could it be Ramin's
HOHENZOLLERN (with a laugh).
Rogue that you are with your mad fantasies!
Who knows from what exploit delectable
Here in a waking hour with flesh and blood
The glove sticks to your hand, now?
THE PRINCE. Eh? What? I?
With all my love—
HOHENZOLLERN. Oh, well then, what's the odds?
Call it the Platen lady, or Ramin.
There is a Prussian post on Sunday next,
So you can find out by the shortest way
Whether your lady fair has lost a glove.
Off! Twelve o'clock! And we stand here and jaw!
THE PRINCE (dreamily into space).
Yes, you are right. Come, let us go to bed.
But as I had it on my mind to say—
Is the Electress who arrived in camp
Not long since with her niece, the exquisite
Princess of Orange, is she still about?
HOHENZOLL. Why?—I declare the idiot thinks—
THE PRINCE. Why?
I've orders to have thirty mounted men
Escort them safely from the battle-lines.
Ramin has been detailed to lead them.
HOHENZOLLERN. Bosh!
They're gone long since, or just about to go.
The whole night long, Ramin, all rigged for flight,
Has hugged the door. But come. It's stroke o' twelve.
And I, for one, before the fight begins,
I want to get some sleep.
The same. Hall in the palace. In the distance, the sound of cannon. The ELECTRESS and PRINCESS NATALIE, dressed for travel, enter, escorted by a gentleman-in-waiting, and sit down at the side. Ladies-in-waiting. A little later the ELECTOR enters with FIELD-MARSHAL. DÖRFLING, the PRINCE OF HOMBURG with the glove in his collar, COUNT HOHENZOLLERN, COUNT TRUCHSZ, COLONEL HENNINGS, TROOP-CAPTAIN VON DER GOLZ and several other generals, colonels and minor officers.
ELECTOR. What is that cannonading?—Is it Götz?
DÖRFLING. It's Colonel Götz, my liege, who yesterday
Pushed forward with the van. An officer
Has come from him already to allay
Your apprehensions ere they come to birth.
A Swedish outpost of a thousand men
Has pressed ahead into the Hackel Hills,
But for those hills Götz stands security
And sends me word that you should lay your plans
As though his van already held them safe.
ELECTOR (to the officers).
The Marshal knows the plan. Now, gentlemen,
I beg you take your pens and write it down.
[The officers assemble on the other side about the FIELD-MARSHAL, and take out their tablets. The ELECTOR turns to a gentleman-in-waiting.]
Ramin is waiting with the coach outside?
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING.
At once, my sovereign. They are hitching now.
ELECTOR (seating himself on a chair behind the ELECTRESS and the
PRINCESS).
Ramin shall escort my belovèd wife,
Convoyed by thirty sturdy cavalrymen.
To Kalkhuhn's, to the chancellor's manor-house.
At Havelberg beyond the Havel, go.
There's not a Swede dare show his face there now.
ELECTRESS. The ferry is restored?
ELECTOR. At Havelberg?
I have arranged for it. The day will break
In all events before you come to it.
[Pause.]
You are so quiet, Natalie, my girl?
What ails the child?
NATALIE. Uncle, I am afraid.
ELECTOR. And yet my little girl was not more safe
In her own mother's lap than she is now.
[Pause.]
ELECTRESS. When do you think that we shall meet again?
ELECTOR. If God grants me the victory, as I
Doubt not He will, in a few days, perhaps.
[Pages enter and serve the ladies refreshments. FIELD-MARSHAL DÖRFLING dictates. The PRINCE OF HOMBURG, pen and tablet in hand, stares at the ladies.]
MARSHAL. The battle-plan his Highness has devised
Intends, my lords, in order that the Swedes'
Fugitive host be utterly dispersed,
The severing of their army from the bridges
That guard their rear along the river Rhyn.
Thus Colonel Hennings—
HENNINGS. Here!
[He writes.]
MARSHAL. Who by the will
Of his liege lord commands the army's right,
Shall seek by stealthy passage through the bush
To circumscribe the enemy's left wing,
Fearlessly hurl his force between the foe
And the three bridges; then, joined with Count Truchsz—
Count Truchsz!
TRUCHSZ (writing). Here!
MARSHAL. Thereupon, joined with Count Truchsz—
[He pauses.]
Who, meanwhile, facing Wrangel on the heights
Has gained firm footing with his cannonry—
TRUCHSZ (writing). Firm footing with his cannonry—
MARSHAL. You hear it?—
[Proceeding.]
Attempt to drive the Swedes into the swamp
Which lies behind their right.
[A lackey enters.]
LACKEY. Madam, the coach is at the door.
[The ladies rise.]
MARSHAL. The Prince of Homburg—
ELECTOR (also rising). Is Ramin at hand?
LACKEY. He's in the saddle, waiting at the gates.
[The royalties take leave of one another.]
TRUCHSZ (writing). Which lies behind their right.
MARSHAL. The Prince of Homburg—
Where is the Prince of Homburg?
HOHENZOLLERN (in a whisper). Arthur!
THE PRINCE (with a start). Here!
HOHENZOLL. Have you gone mad?
THE PRINCE. My Marshal, to command!
[He flushes, and, taking out pen and parchment, writes.]
MARSHAL. To whom His Highness, trusting that he lead
His force to glory as at Rathenow,
Confides the mounted squadrons of the Mark
[He hesitates.]
Though in no way disprizing Colonel Kottwitz
Who shall be aid in counsel and right hand—
[To CAPTAIN GOLZ in a low voice.]
Is Kottwitz here?
GOLZ. No, General. He has,
You note, dispatched me hither in his place
To take the battle order from your lips.
[The PRINCE gazes over toward the ladies again.]
MARSHAL (continuing).
Takes station in the plain near Hackelwitz
Facing the right wing of the enemy
Well out of range of the artillery fire.
GOLZ (writing). Well out of range of the artillery fire.
[The ELECTRESS ties a scarf about the PRINCESS' throat. The PRINCESS, about to draw on a glove, looks around as if she were in search of something.]
ELECTOR (approaches her).
Dear little girl of mine, what have you lost?
ELECTRESS. What are you searching for?
NATALIE. Why, Auntie dear,
My glove! I can't imagine—
[They all look about.]
ELECTOR (to the ladies-in-waiting). Would you mind?—
ELECTRESS (to the PRINCESS). It's in your hand.
NATALIE. The right glove; but the left?
ELECTOR. You may have left it in your bedroom.
NATALIE. Oh,
Bork, if you will?
ELECTOR (to the lady-in-waiting). Quick, quick!
NATALIE. Look on the mantel.
[_The lady-in-waiting goes out.-]
THE PRINCE (aside).
Lord of my life? Could I have heard aright?
[He draws the glove from his collar.]
MARSHAL (looking down at the paper which he holds in
his hand).
Well out of range of the artillery fire.
[Continuing.]
The Prince's Highness—
THE PRINCE (regarding now the glove, now the PRINCESS).
It's this glove she's seeking—
MARSHAL. At our lord sovereign's express command—
GOLZ (writing). At our lord sovereign's express command—
MARSHAL. Whichever way the tide of battle turn
Shall budge not from his designated place.
THE PRINCE. Quick! Now I'll know in truth if it be hers.
[He lets the glove fall, together with his handkerchief; then recovers the handkerchief but leaves the glove lying where everybody can see it.]
MARSHAL (piqued). What is His Highness up to?
HOHENZOLLERN (aside). Arthur!
THE PRINCE. Here!
HOHENZOLL. Faith, you're possessed!
THE PRINCE. My Marshal, to command!
[He takes up pen and tablet once more. The MARSHAL regards him an
instant, questioningly. Pause.]
GOLZ (reading, after he has finished writing).
Shall budge not from his designated place.
MARSHAL (continues).
Until, hard pressed by Hennings and by
Truchsz—
THE PRINCE (looking over GOLZ's shoulder).
Who, my dear Golz? What? I?
GOLZ. Why, yes. Who else
THE PRINCE. I shall not budge—
GOLZ. That's it.
MARSHAL. Well, have you got it
THE PRINCE (aloud).
Shall budge not from my designated place.
[He writes.]
MARSHAL. Until, hard pressed by Hennings and by
Truchsz— [He pauses.]
The left wing of the enemy, dissolved,
Plunges upon its right, and wavering
The massed battalions crowd into the plain,
Where, in the marsh, criss-crossed by ditch on ditch,
The plan intends that they be wholly crushed.
ELECTOR. Lights, pages! Come, my dear, your arm,
and yours.
[He starts to go out with the ELECTRESS and the PRINCESS.]
MARSHAL. Then he shall let the trumpets sound the
charge.
ELECTRESS (as several officers, bowing and scraping, bid her
farewell).
Pray, let me not disturb you, gentlemen.—
Until we meet again!
[The MARSHAL also bids her good-by.]
ELECTOR (suddenly standing still). Why, here we are!
The lady's glove. Come, quick now! There it is.
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING. Where?
ELECTOR. At our cousin's, at Prince Homburg's feet.
THE PRINCE. What! At my feet! The glove? It is your own?
[He picks it up and brings it to the PRINCESS.]
NATALIE. I thank you, noble Prince.
THE PRINCE (confused). Then it is yours?
NATALIE. Yes, it is mine; it is the one I lost.
[She takes it and draws it on.]
ELECTRESS (turning to the PRINCESS, she goes out).
Farewell! Farewell! Good luck! God keep you safe!
See that erelong we joyously may meet!
[The ELECTOR goes out with the ladies. Attendants, courtiers and pages follow.]
THE PRINCE (stands an instant as though struck by a bolt from heaven; then with triumphant step he returns to the group of officers). Then he shall let the trumpets sound the charge!
[He, pretends to write.]
MARSHAL (looking down at his paper).
Then he shall let the trumpets sound the charge.—
However, the Elector's Highness, lest
Through some mistake the blow should fall too soon—
[He pauses.]
GOLZ (writes). Through some mistake the blow should fall too soon—
THE PRINCE (aside to COUNT HOHENZOLLERN in great
perturbation).
Oh, Harry!
HOHENZOLLERN (impatiently).
What's up now? What's in your head?
THE PRINCE. Did you not see?
HOHENZOLLERN. In Satan's name, shut up!
MARSHAL (continuing).
Shall send an officer of his staff to him;
Who, mark this well, shall finally transmit
The order for the charge against the foe.
Ere this the trumpets shall not sound the charge.
[The PRINCE gazes dreamily into space.]
Well, have you got it?
GOLZ (writes). Ere this the trumpets shall not sound the charge.
MARSHAL (in raised tone).
Your Highness has it down?
THE PRINCE. Marshal?
MARSHAL. I asked
If you had writ it down?
THE PRINCE. About the trumpets?
HOHENZOLLERN (aside, with emphatic indignation).
Trumpets be damned! Not till the order—
GOLZ (in the same tone). Not
Till he himself—
THE PRINCE (interrupting). Naturally not, before—
But then he'll let the trumpets sound the
charge.
[He writes. Pause.]
MARSHAL. And I desire—pray note it, Baron Golz—
Before the action opens, to confer
With Colonel Kottwitz, if it can be done.
GOLZ (significantly). He shall receive your message. Rest assured.
[Pause.]
ELECTOR (returning).
What now, my colonels and my generals!
The morning breaks. Have you the orders down?
MARSHAL. The thing is done, my liege. Your battle-plan
Is in all points made clear to your commanders.
ELECTOR (picking up his hat and gloves).
And you, I charge, Prince Homburg, learn control!
Recall, you forfeited two victories
Of late, upon the Rhine, so keep your head!
Make me not do without the third today.
My land and throne depend on it, no less.
[To the officers.]
Come!—Frank!
A GROOM (entering). Here!
ELECTOR. Quick there! Saddle me my gray!
I will be on the field before the sun!
[He goes out, followed by generals, colonels and minor officers.]
THE PRINCE (coming forward).
Now, on thine orb, phantasmic creature, Fortune,
Whose veil a faint wind's breathing even now
Lifts as a sail, roll hither! Thou hast touched
My hair in passing; as thou hovered'st near
Already from thy horn of plenty thou
Benignantly hast cast me down a pledge.
Child of the gods, today, O fugitive one,
I will pursue thee on the field of battle,
Seize thee, tear low thy horn of plenty, pour
Wholly thy radiant blessings round my feet,
Though sevenfold chains of iron bind thee fast
To the triumphant chariot of the Swede!
[Exit.]
Scene: Battlefield of Fehrbellin.
COLONEL KOTTWITZ, COUNT HOHENZOLLERN, CAPTAIN VON DER GOLZ and other officers enter at the head of the cavalry.
KOTTWITZ (outside). Halt! Squadron, halt! Dismount!
HOHENZOLLERN AND GOLZ (entering). Halt, halt!
KOTTWITZ. Hey, friends, who'll help me off my horse?
HOHENZOLLERN AND GOLZ. Here—here!
[They step outside again.]
KOTTWITZ (still outside).
Thanks to you-ouch! Plague take me! May a son
Be giv'n you for your pains, a noble son
Who'll do the same for you when you grow sear.
[He enters, followed by_ HOHENZOLLERN, GOLZ and others.]
Oh, in the saddle I am full of youth!
When I dismount, though, there's a battle on
As though the spirit and the flesh were parting,
In wrath. [Looking about.] Where is our
chief, the Prince's Highness?
HOHENZOLL. The Prince will momentarily return.
KOTTWITZ. Where has he gone?
HOHENZOLLERN. He rode down to a hamlet,
In foliage hidden, so you passed it by.
He will return erelong.
OFFICER. Last night, they say,
His horse gave him a tumble.
HOHENZOLLERN. So they say.
KOTTWITZ. He fell?
HOHENZOLLERN (turning). A matter of no consequence.
His horse shied at the mill, but down his flank
He lightly slipped and did himself no harm.
It is not worth the shadow of a thought.
KOTTWITZ (ascending a slight elevation).
A fine day, as I breathe the breath of life!
A day our God, the lofty Lord of earth,
For sweeter things than deadly combat made.
Ruddily gleams the sunlight through the clouds
And with the lark the spirit flutters up
Exultant to the joyous airs of heaven!
GOLZ. Did you succeed in finding Marshal Dorfling?
KOTTWITZ (coming forward).
The Devil, no! What does my lord expect?
Am I a bird, an arrow, an idea,
That he should bolt me round the entire field?
I was at Hackel hillock with the van
And with the rearguard down in Hackel vale.
The one man whom I saw not was the Marshal!
Wherefore I made my way back to my men.
GOLZ. He will be ill-content. He had, it seemed,
A matter of some import to confide.
OFFICER. His Highness comes, our commandant, the Prince!
The PRINCE OF HOMBURG with a black bandage on his left hand. The others as before.
KOTTWITZ. My young and very noble prince, God greet you!
Look, how I formed the squadrons down that road
While you were tarrying in the nest below.
I do believe you'll say I've done it well.
THE PRINCE. Good morning, Kottwitz! And good morning, friends!
You know that I praise everything you do.
HOHENZOLL. What were you up to in the village, Arthur?
You seem so grave.
THE PRINCE. I—I was in the chapel
That beckoned through the placid village trees;
The bells were ringing, calling men to prayers,
As we passed by, and something urged me on
To kneel before the altar, too, and pray.
KOTTWITZ. A pious gentleman for one so young!
A deed, believe me, that begins with prayer
Must end in glory, victory, and fame.
THE PRINCE. Oh, by the way, I wanted to inquire—
[He draws the COUNT forward a step.]
Harry, what was it Dorfling said last night
In his directions, that applied to me?
HOHENZOLL. You were distraught. I saw that well enough.
THE PRINCE. Distraught—divided! I scarce know what ailed me.
Dictation always sets my wits awry.
HOHENZOLL. Not much for you this time, as luck would have it.
Hennings and Truchsz, who lead the infantry,
Are designated to attack the foe,
And you are ordered here to halt and stay,
Ready for instant action with the horse,
Until an order summon you to charge.
THE PRINCE (after a pause, dreamily).
A curious thing!
HOHENZOLLERN. To what do you refer?
[He looks at him. A cannon-shot is heard.]
KOTTWITZ. Ho, gentlemen! Ho, sirs! To horse, to horse!
That shot is Hennings', and the fight is on!
[They all ascend a slight elevation.]
THE PRINCE. Who is it? What?
HOHENZOLLERN. It's Colonel Hennings, Arthur,
He's stolen his way about to Wrangel's rear.
Come, you can watch the entire field from here.
GOLZ (on the hillock).
At the Rhyn there, how terribly he uncoils!
THE PRINCE (shading his eyes with his hand).
Is Hennings over there on our right wing?
1ST OFFICER. Indeed, Your Highness.
THE PRINCE. What the devil then
Why, yesterday he held our army's right.
[Cannonade in the distance.]
KOTTWITZ. Thunder and lightning! Wrangel's cutting loose
At Hennings' now, from twelve loud throats of fire.
1ST OFFICER. I call those some redoubts the Swedes have there!
2D OFFICER. By heaven, look, they top the very spire Rising above the hamlet at their back!
[Shots near-by.]
GOLZ. That's Truchsz!
THE PRINCE. Truchsz?
KOTTWITZ. To be sure! Of course, it's Truchsz,
Approaching from the front to his support.
THE PRINCE. What's Truchsz there in the centre for, today?
[Loud cannonading.]
GOLZ. Good heavens, look. The village is afire!
3D OFFICER. Afire, as I live!
1ST OFFICER. Afire! Afire! The flames are darting up the steeple now!
GOLZ. Hey! How the Swedish aides fly right and left!
2D OFFICER. They're in retreat!
KOTTWITZ. Where?
1ST OFFICER. There, at their right flank!
3D OFFICER. In masses! Sure enough! Three regiments!
The intention seems to be to brace the left.
2D OFFICER. My faith! And now the horse are ordered out
To screen the right living's march!
HOHENZOLLERN (with a laugh). Hi! How they'll scamper
When they get ware of us here in the vale!
[Musketry fire.]
KOTTWITZ. Look, brothers, look!
2D OFFICER. Hark!
1ST OFFICER. Fire of musketry!
3D OFFICER. They're at each other now in the redoubts!
GOLZ. My God, in my born days I never heard
Such thunder of artillery!
HOHENZOLLERN. Shoot! Shoot!
Burst open wide the bowels of the earth!
The cleft shall be your corpses' sepulchre!
[Pause. Shouts of victory in the distance.]
1ST OFFICER. Lord in the heavens, who grants men victories! Wrangel is in retreat already!
HOHENZOLLERN. No!
GOLZ. By heaven, friends! Look! There on his left
flank!
He's drawing back his guns from the redoubts!
ALL. Oh, triumph! Triumph! Victory is ours!
THE PRINCE (descending from the hillock).
On, Kottwitz, follow me!
KOTTWITZ. Come, cool now—cool!
THE PRINCE. On! Let the trumpets sound the charge!
And on!
KOTTWITZ. Cool, now, I say.
THE PRINCE (wildly).
By heaven and earth and hell!
KOTTWITZ. Our liege's Highness in the ordinance
Commanded we should wait his orders here.
Golz, read the gentlemen the ordinance.
THE PRINCE. Orders? Eh, Kottwitz, do you ride so slow?
Have you not heard the orders of your heart?
KOTTWITZ. Orders?
HOHENZOLLERN. Absurd!
KOTTWITZ. The orders of my heart?
HOHENZOLL. Listen to reason, Arthur!
GOLZ. Here, my chief!
KOTTWITZ (offended).
Oh, ho! you give me that, young gentleman?—The
nag you dance about on, at a pinch
I'll tow him home yet at my horse's tail!
March, march, my gentlemen! Trumpets, the
charge!
On to the battle, on! Kottwitz is game!
GOLZ (to KOTTWITZ).
Never, my colonel, never! No, I swear!
2D OFFICER. Remember, Hennings' not yet at the Rhyn!
1ST OFFICER. Relieve him of his sword!
THE PRINCE. My sword, you say?
[He pushes him back.]
Hi, you impertinent boy, who do not even
Know yet the Ten Commandments of the Mark!
Here is your sabre, and the scabbard with it!
[He tears off the officer's sword together with the belt.]
1ST OFFICER (reeling).
By God, Prince, that's—
THE PRINCE (threateningly).
If you don't hold your tongue—
HOHENZOLLERN (to the officer).
Silence! You must be mad!
THE PRINCE (giving up the sword).
Ho, corporal's guard!
Off to headquarters with the prisoner!
[To KOTTWITZ and the other officers.]
Now, gentlemen, the countersign: A knave
Who follows not his general to the fight!—
Now, who dares lag?
KOTTWITZ. You heard. Why thunder more?
HOHENZOLLERN (mollifying).
It was advice, no more, they sought to give.
KOTTWITZ. On your head be it. I go with you.
THE PRINCE (somewhat calmed). Come!
Be it upon my head then. Follow, brothers!
[Exeunt.]
A room in a village. A gentleman-in-waiting, booted and spurred, enters. A peasant and his wife are sitting at a table, at work.
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING.
God greet you, honest folk! Can you make room
To shelter guests beneath your roof?
PEASANT. Indeed!
Gladly, indeed!
THE WIFE. And may one question, whom?
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING.
The highest lady in the land, no less.
Her coach broke down outside the village gates,
And since we hear the victory is won
There'll be no need for farther journeying.
BOTH (rising).
The victory won? Heaven!
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING. What! You haven't heard?
The Swedish army's beaten hip and thigh;
If not forever, for the year at least
The Mark need fear no more their fire and sword!—
Here comes the mother of our people now.
The ELECTRESS, pale and distressed, enters with the PRINCESS NATALIE, followed by various ladies-in-waiting. The others as before.
ELECTRESS (on the threshold).
Bork! Winterfeld! Come! Let me have your arm.
NATALIE (going to her).
Oh, mother mine!
LADIES-IN-WAITING. Heavens, how pale! She is faint.
[They support her.]
ELECTRESS. Here, lead me to a chair, I must sit down.
Dead, said he—dead?
NATALIE. Mother, my precious mother!
ELECTRESS. I'll see this bearer of dread news myself.
CAPTAIN VON MÖRNER enters, wounded, supported by two troopers. The others.
ELECTRESS. Oh, herald of dismay, what do you bring?
MÖRNER. Oh, precious Madam, what these eyes of mine
To their eternal grief themselves have seen!
ELECTRESS. So be it! Tell!
MÖRNER. The Elector is no more.
NATALIE. Oh, heaven
Shall such a hideous blow descend on us?
[She hides her face in her hands.]
ELECTRESS. Give me report of how he came to fall—
And, as the bolt that strikes the wanderer,
In one last flash lights scarlet-bright the world,
So be your tale. When you are done, may night
Close down upon my head.
MÖRNER (approaching her, led by the two troopers).
The Prince of Homburg,
Soon as the enemy, hard pressed by Truchsz,
Reeling broke cover, had brought up his troops
To the attack of Wrangel on the plain;
Two lines he'd pierced and, as they broke, destroyed,
When a strong earthwork hemmed his way; and thence
So murderous a fire on him beat
That, like a field of grain, his cavalry,
Mowed to the earth, went down; twixt bush and hill
He needs must halt to mass his scattered corps.
NATALIE (to the ELECTRESS).
Dearest, be strong!
ELECTRESS. Stop, dear. Leave me alone.
MÖRNER. That moment, watching, clear above the dust,
We see our liege beneath the battle-flags
Of Truchsz's regiments ride on the foe.
On his white horse, oh, gloriously he rode,
Sunlit, and lighting the triumphant plain.
Heart-sick with trepidation at the sight
Of him, our liege, bold in the battle's midst,
We gather on a hillock's beetling brow;
When of a sudden the Elector falls,
Horseman and horse, in dust before our eyes.
Two standard-bearers fell across his breast
And overspread his body with their flags.
NATALIE. Oh, mother mine!
FIRST LADY-IN-WAITING. Oh, heaven!
ELECTRESS. Go on, go on!
MÖRNER. At this disastrous spectacle, a pang
Unfathomable seized the Prince's heart;
Like a wild beast, spurred on of hate and vengeance,
Forward he lunged with us at the redoubt.
Flying, we cleared the trench and, at a bound,
The shelt'ring breastwork, bore the garrison down,
Scattered them out across the field, destroyed;
Capturing the Swede's whole panoply of war—
Cannon and standards, kettle-drums and flags.
And had the group of bridges at the Rhyn
Hemmed not our murderous course, not one had lived
Who might have boasted at his father's hearth
At Fehrbellin I saw the hero fall!
ELECTRESS. Triumph too dearly bought! I like it not.
Give me again the purchase-price it cost.
[She falls in a faint.]
FIRST LADY-IN-WAITING. Help, God in heaven! Her senses flee from her.
[NATALIE is weeping.]
The PRINCE OF HOMBURG enters. The others.
THE PRINCE. Oh, Natalie, my dearest!
[Greatly moved, he presses her hand to his heart.]
NATALIE. Then it is true?
THE PRINCE. Could I but answer No!
Could I but pour my loyal heart's blood out
To call his loyal heart back into life!
NATALIE (drying her tears).
Where is his body? Have they found it yet?
THE PRINCE. Until this hour, alas, my labor was
Vengeance on Wrangle only; how could I
Then dedicate myself to such a task?
A horde of men, however, I sent forth
To seek him on the battle-plains of death.
Ere night I do not doubt that he will come.
NATALIE. Who now will lead us in this terrible war
And keep these Swedes in subjugation? Who
Shield us against this world of enemies
His fortune won for us, his high renown?
THE PRINCE (taking her hand).
I, lady, take upon myself your cause!
Before the desolate footsteps of your throne
I shall stand guard, an angel with a sword!
The Elector hoped, before the year turned tide,
To see the Marches free. So be it! I
Executor will be of that last will.
NATALIE. My cousin, dearest cousin!
[She withdraws her hand.]
THE PRINCE. Natalie!
[A moment's pause.]
What holds the future now in store for you?
NATALIE. After this thunderbolt which cleaves the ground
Beneath my very feet, what can I do?
My father and my precious mother rest
Entombed at Amsterdam; in dust and ashes
Dordrecht, my heritage ancestral lies.
Pressed hard by the tyrannic hosts of Spain
Maurice, my kin of Orange, scarcely knows
How he shall shelter his own flesh and blood.
And now the last support that held my fate's
Frail vine upright falls from me to the earth.
Oh, I am orphaned now a second time!
THE PRINCE (throwing his arm about her waist).
Oh, friend, sweet friend, were this dark hour not given
To grief, to be its own, thus would I speak
Oh, twine your branches here about this breast,
Which, blossoming long years in solitude,
Yearns for the wondrous fragrance of your bells.
NATALIE. My dear, good cousin!
THE PRINCE. Will you, will you?
NATALIE. Ah,
If I might grow into its very marrow!
[She lays her head upon his breast.]
THE PRINCE. What did you say
NATALIE. Go now!
THE PRINCE (holding her). Into its kernel!
Into the heart's deep kernel, Natalie!
[_He kisses her. She tears herself away.]
Dear God, were he for whom we grieve but here
To look upon this union! Could we lift
To him our plea: Father, thy benison!
[He hides his face in his hands; NATALIE turns again to the ELECTRESS.]
A sergeant enters in haste. The others as before.
SERGEANT. By the Almighty God, my Prince, I scarce
Dare bring to you the rumor that's abroad!—
The Elector lives!
THE PRINCE. He lives!
SERGEANT. By heaven above!
Count Sparren brought the joyful news but now!
NATALIE. Lord of my days! Oh, mother, did you hear?
[She falls down at the feet of the ELECTRESS and embraces her.]
THE PRINCE. But say! Who brings the news
SERGEANT. Count George of Sparren,
Who saw him, hale and sound, with his own eyes
At Hackelwitz amid the Truchszian corps.
THE PRINCE. Quick! Run, old man! And bring him in to me!
[The SERGEANT goes out.]
COUNT SPARREN and the Sergeant enter. The others as before.
ELECTRESS. Oh, do not cast me twice down the abyss!
NATALIE. No, precious mother mine!
ELECTRESS. And Frederick lives?
NATALIE (holding her up with both hands).
The peaks of life receive you once again!
SERGEANT (entering).
Here is the officer!
THE PRINCE. Ah, Count von Sparren!
You saw His Highness fresh and well disposed
At Hackelwitz amid the Truchszian corps?
SPARREN. Indeed, Your Highness, in the vicarage court
Where, compassed by his staff, he gave commands
For burial of both the armies' dead.
LADIES-IN-WAITING.
Dear heaven! On thy breast—
[They embrace.]
ELECTRESS. My daughter dear!
NATALIE. Oh, but this rapture is well-nigh too great!
[She buries her face in her aunt's lap.]
THE PRINCE. Did I not see him, when I stood afar
Heading my cavalry, dashed down to earth,
His horse and he shivered by cannon-shot?
SPARREN. Indeed, the horse pitched with his rider down,
But he who rode him, Prince, was not our liege.
THE PRINCE. What? Not our liege?
NATALIE. Oh, wonderful!
[She rises and remains standing beside the ELECTRESS.]
THE PRINCE. Speak then!
Weighty as gold each word sinks to my heart.
SPARREN. Then let me give you tidings of a deed
So moving, ear has never heard its like.
Our country's liege, who, to remonstrance deaf,
Rode his white horse again, the gleaming white
That Froben erstwhile bought for him in England,
Became once more, as ever was the case,
The target for the foe's artillery.
Scarce could the members of his retinue
Within a ring of hundred yards approach
About there and about, a stream of death,
Hurtled grenades and cannon-shot and shell.
They that had lives to save fled to its banks.
He, the strong swimmer, he alone shrank not,
But beckoning his friends, unswervingly
Made toward the high lands whence the river came.
THE PRINCE. By heaven, i' faith! A gruesome sight it was!
SPARREN. Froben, the Master of the Horse who rode
Closest to him of all, called out to me
"Curses this hour on this white stallion's hide,
I bought in London for a stiff round sum!
I'd part with fifty ducats, I'll be bound,
Could I but veil him with a mouse's gray."
With hot misgiving he draws near and cries,
"Highness, your horse is skittish; grant me leave
To give him just an hour of schooling more."
And leaping from his sorrel at the word
He grasps the bridle of our liege's beast.
Our liege dismounts, still smiling, and replies
"As long as day is in the sky, I doubt
If he will learn the art you wish to teach.
But give your lesson out beyond those hills
Where the foe's gunners will not heed his fault."
Thereon he mounts the sorrel, Froben's own,
Returning thence to where his duty calls.
But scarce is Froben mounted on the white
When from a breastwork, oh! a murder-shell
Tears him to earth, tears horse and rider low.
A sacrifice to faithfulness, he falls;
And from him not a sound more did we hear.
[Brief pause.]
THE PRINCE. He is well paid for! Though I had ten lives
I could not lose them in a better cause!
NATALIE. Valiant old Froben!
ELECTRESS (in tears). Admirable man!
NATALIE (also weeping).
A meaner soul might well deserve our tears!
THE PRINCE. Enough! To business! Where's the Elector then
Is Hackelwitz headquarters?
SPARREN. Pardon, sir!
The Elector has proceeded to Berlin
And begs his generals thence to follow him.
THE PRINCE. What? To Berlin? You mean the war is done?
SPARREN. Indeed, I marvel that all this is news.
Count Horn, the Swedish general, has arrived;
And, following his coming, out of hand
The armistice was heralded through camp.
A conference, if I discern aright
The Marshal's meaning, is attached thereto
Perchance that peace itself may follow soon.
ELECTRESS (rising).
Dear God, how wondrously the heavens clear!
THE PRINCE. Come, let us follow straightway to Berlin.
'Twould speed my journey much if you could spare
A little space for me within your coach?—
I've just a dozen words to write to Kottwitz,
And on the instant I'll be at your side.
[He sits down and writes.]
ELECTRESS. Indeed, with all my heart!
THE PRINCE (folds the note and gives it to the Sergeant;
then, as he turns again to the ELECTRESS,
softly lays his arm about NATALIE's waist).
I have a wish,
A something timorously to confide
I thought I might give vent to on the road.
NATALIE (tearing herself away).
Bork! Quick! My scarf, I beg—
ELECTRESS. A wish to me?
FIRST LADY-IN-WAITING.
Princess, the scarf is round your neck.
THE PRINCE (to the ELECTRESS). Indeed!
Can you not guess?
ELECTRESS. No—
THE PRINCE. Not a syllable?
ELECTRESS (abruptly).
What matter? Not a suppliant on earth
Could I deny today, whate'er he ask,
And you, our battle-hero, least of all!
Come!
THE PRINCE. Mother! Oh, what did you speak? Those words—
May I interpret them to suit me best?
ELECTRESS. Be off, I say! More, later, as we ride!
Come, let me have your arm.
THE PRINCE. Oh, Cæsar Divus!
Lo, I have set a ladder to thy star!
[He leads the ladies out. Exeunt omnes.]
Scene: Berlin. Pleasure garden outside the old palace. In the background the palace chapel with a staircase leading up to it. Tolling of bells. The church is brightly illuminated. The body of FROBEN is carried by and set on a splendid catafalque. The ELECTOR, FIELD-MARSHAL DÖRFLING, COLONEL HENNINGS, COUNT TRUCHSZ and several other colonels and minor officers enter. From the opposite side enter various officers with dispatches. In the church as well as in the square are men, women and children of all ages.
ELECTOR. What man soever led the cavalry
Upon the day of battle, and, before
The force of Colonel Hennings could destroy
The bridges of the foe, of his own will
Broke loose, and forced the enemy to flight
Ere I gave order for it, I assert
That man deserves that he be put to death;
I summon him therefore to be court-martialed.—
Prince Homburg, then, you say, was not the man?
TRUCHSZ. No, my liege lord!
ELECTOR. What proof have you of that?
TRUCHSZ. Men of the cavalry can testify,
Who told me of 't before the fight began:
The Prince fell headlong from his horse, and, hurt
At head and thigh, men found him in a church
Where some one bound his deep and dangerous wounds.
ELECTOR. Enough! Our victory this day is great,
And in the church tomorrow will I bear
My gratitude to God. Yet though it were
Mightier tenfold, still would it not absolve
Him through whom chance has granted it to me.
More battles still than this have I to fight,
And I demand subjection to the law.
Whoever led the cavalry to battle,
I reaffirm has forfeited his head,
And to court-martial herewith order him.—
Come, follow me, my friends, into the church.