Page:Wallenstein, a drama in 2 parts - Schiller (tr. Coleridge) (1800).djvu/38

16 D'ye think too, he has brought his wife and daughter Without a purpose hither? Here in camp! And at the very point of time, in which We're arming for the war? That he has taken These, the last pledges of his loyalty, Away from out the Emperor's dominions— This is no doubtful token of the nearness Of some eruption!

How shall we hold footing Beneath this tempest, which collects itself And threats us from all quarters? Th' enemy Of th' empire on our borders, now already The master of the Danube, and still farther, And farther still, extending every hour! In our interior the alarum-bells Of insurrection—peasantry in arms All orders discontented—and the army, Just in the moment of our expectation Of aidance from it—lo! this very army Seduc'd, run wild, lost to all discipline, Loosen'd, and rent asunder from the state And from their sov'reign, the blind instrument Of the most daring of mankind, a weapon Of fearful power, which at his will he wields!

Nay, nay, friend! let us not despair too soon. Men's words are ever bolder than their deeds: And many a resolute, who now appears Made