Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 9.djvu/199

Rh "Whose, my father?"—"Silence! Silence!" "What! oh, what! my mother's blood! What her crime? What did she? Answer! Now, the sword! the sword now hold I! Thou thy wife perchance might'st slaughter, But my mother might'st not slay! Through the flames the wife is able Her beloved spouse to follow, And his dear and only mother Through the sword her faithful son." "Stay! oh, stay!" exclaimed the father: "Yet 'tis time, so hasten, hasten! Join the head upon the body, With the sword then touch the figure, And, alive, she'll follow thee."

Hastening, he, with breathless wonder, Sees the bodies of two women Lying crosswise; and their heads, too; Oh, what horror! which to choose! Then his mother's head he seizes, — Does not kiss it, deadly pale 'tis,— On the nearest headless body Puts it quickly, and then blesses With the sword the pious work. Then a giant form uprises.— From the dear lips of his mother, Lips all godlike—changeless—blissful, Sound these words with horror fraught: "Son, oh, son! what overhastening! Yonder is thy mother's body, Near it lies the impious head Of the woman who hath fallen Victim to the judgment-sword! To her body I am grafted By thy hand for endless ages; Wise in counsel, wild in action,