DRAMATIS PERSONAE

WALLENSTEIN, Duke of Friedland, Generalissimo of the Imperial Forces in the Thirty Years' War.

DUCHESS OF FREIDLAND, Wife of Wallenstein.

THEKLA, her Daughter, Princess of Friedland.

THE COUNTESS TERZKY, Sister of the Duchess.

LADY NEUBRUNN.

OCTAVIO PICCOLOMINI, Lieutenant-General.

MAX. PICCOLOMINI, his Son, Colonel of a Regiment of Cuirassiers.

COUNT TERZKY, the Commander of several Regiments, and Brother-in-law of Wallenstein.

ILLO, Field-Marshal, Wallenstein's Confidant.

ISOLANI, General of the Croats.

BUTLER, an Irishman, Commander of a Regiment of Dragoons.

GORDON, Governor of Egra.

MAJOR GERALDIN.

CAPTAIN DEVEREUX.

CAPTAIN MACDONALD.

AN ADJUTANT.

NEUMANN, Captain of Cavalry, Aide-de-Camp to TERZKY.

COLONEL WRANGEL, Envoy from the Swedes.

ROSENBURG, Master of Horse.

SWEDISH CAPTAIN.

SENI.

BURGOMASTER of Egra.

ANSPESSADE of the Cuirassiers.

GROOM OF THE CHAMBER. | Belonging

A PAGE. | to the Duke.

Cuirassiers, Dragoons, and Servants.

ACT I

SCENE I

A room fitted up for astrological labors, and provided with celestial charts, with globes, telescopes, quadrants, and other mathematical instruments. Seven colossal figures, representing the planets, each with a transparent star of different color on its head, stand in a semicircle in the background, so that Mars and Saturn are nearest the eye. The remainder of the scene and its disposition is given in the fourth scene of the second act. There must be a curtain over the figures, which may be dropped and conceal them on occasions.

[In the fifth scene of this act it must be dropped; but in the seventh scene it must be again drawn up wholly or in part.]

WALLENSTEIN at a black table, on which, a speculum astrologicum is described with chalk. SENI is taking observations through a window.

WALLENSTEIN

 
  All well – and now let it be ended, Seni. Come,
  The dawn commences, and Mars rules the hour;
  We must give o'er the operation. Come,
  We know enough.
 

SENI

 
           Your highness must permit me
  Just to contemplate Venus. She is now rising
  Like as a sun so shines she in the east.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
  She is at present in her perigee,
  And now shoots down her strongest influences.
 

[Contemplating the figure on the table.

 
  Auspicious aspect! fateful in conjunction,
  At length the mighty three corradiate;
  And the two stars of blessing, Jupiter
  And Venus, take between them the malignant
  Slyly-malicious Mars, and thus compel
  Into my service that old mischief-founder:
  For long he viewed me hostilely, and ever
  With beam oblique, or perpendicular,
  Now in the Quartile, now in the Secundan,
  Shot his red lightnings at my stars, disturbing
  Their blessed influences and sweet aspects:
  Now they have conquered the old enemy,
  And bring him in the heavens a prisoner to me.
 

SENI (who has come down from the window)

 
  And in a corner-house, your highness – think of that!
  That makes each influence of double strength.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
  And sun and moon, too, in the Sextile aspect,
  The soft light with the vehement – so I love it.
  Sol is the heart, Luna the head of heaven,
  Bold be the plan, fiery the execution.
 

SENI

 
  And both the mighty Lumina by no
  Maleficus affronted. Lo! Saturnus,
  Innocuous, powerless, in cadente Domo.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
  The empire of Saturnus is gone by;
  Lord of the secret birth of things is he;
  Within the lap of earth, and in the depths
  Of the imagination dominates;
  And his are all things that eschew the light.
  The time is o'er of brooding and contrivance,
  For Jupiter, the lustrous, lordeth now,
  And the dark work, complete of preparation,
  He draws by force into the realm of light.
  Now must we hasten on to action, ere
  The scheme, and most auspicious positure
  Parts o'er my head, and takes once more its flight,
  For the heaven's journey still, and adjourn not.
 

[There are knocks at the door.

 
  There's some one knocking there. See who it is.
 

TERZKY (from without)

 
  Open, and let me in.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
             Ay – 'tis Terzky.
  What is there of such urgence? We are busy.
 

TERZKY (from without)

 
  Lay all aside at present, I entreat you;
  It suffers no delaying.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
               Open, Seni!
 

[While SENI opens the door for TERZKY, WALLENSTEIN draws the curtain over the figures

SCENE II

WALLENSTEIN, COUNT TERZKY.

TERZKY (enters)

 
  Hast thou already heard it? He is taken.
  Gallas has given him up to the emperor.
 

[SENI draws off the black table, and exit.

WALLENSTEIN (to TERZKY)

 
  Who has been taken? Who is given up?
 

TERZKY

 
  The man who knows our secrets, who knows every
  Negotiation with the Swede and Saxon,
  Through whose hands all and everything has passed —
 

WALLENSTEIN (drawing back)

 
  Nay, not Sesina? Say, no! I entreat thee.
 

TERZKY

 
  All on his road for Regensburg to the Swede
  He was plunged down upon by Gallas' agent,
  Who had been long in ambush, lurking for him.
  There must have been found on him my whole packet
  To Thur, to Kinsky, to Oxenstiern, to Arnheim:
  All this is in their hands; they have now an insight
  Into the whole – our measures and our motives.
 

SCENE III

To them enters ILLO.

ILLO (to TERZKY)

 
  Has he heard it?
 

TERZKY

 
  He has heard it.
 

ILLO (to WALLENSTEIN)

 
           Thinkest thou still
  To make thy peace with the emperor, to regain
  His confidence? E'en were it now thy wish
  To abandon all thy plans, yet still they know
  What thou hast wished: then forwards thou must press;
  Retreat is now no longer in thy power.
 

TERZKY

 
  They have documents against us, and in hands,
  Which show beyond all power of contradiction —
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
  Of my handwriting – no iota. Thee
  I punish or thy lies.
 

ILLO

 
              And thou believest,
  That what this man, and what thy sister's husband,
  Did in thy name, will not stand on thy reckoning?
  His word must pass for thy word with the Swede,
  And not with those that hate thee at Vienna?
 

TERZKY

 
  In writing thou gavest nothing; but bethink thee,
  How far thou venturedst by word of mouth
  With this Sesina! And will he be silent?
  If he can save himself by yielding up
  Thy secret purposes, will he retain them?
 

ILLO

 
  Thyself dost not conceive it possible;
  And since they now have evidence authentic
  How far thou hast already gone, speak! tell us,
  What art thou waiting for? Thou canst no longer
  Keep thy command; and beyond hope of rescue
  Thou'rt lost if thou resign'st it.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
                    In the army
  Lies my security. The army will not
  Abandon me. Whatever they may know,
  The power is mine, and they must gulp it down
  And if I give them caution for my fealty,
  They must be satisfied, at least appear so.
 

ILLO

 
  The army, duke, is thine now; for this moment
  'Tis thine: but think with terror on the slow,
  The quiet power of time. From open violence
  The attachment of thy soldiery secures thee
  To-day, to-morrow: but grant'st thou them a respite,
  Unheard, unseen, they'll undermine that love
  On which thou now dost feel so firm a footing,
  With wily theft will draw away from thee
  One after the other —
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
              'Tis a cursed accident!
  Oh! I will call it a most blessed one,
  If it work on thee as it ought to do,
  Hurry thee on to action – to decision.
  The Swedish general?
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
             He's arrived! Know'st
  What his commission is —
 

ILLO

 
               To thee alone
  Will he intrust the purpose of his coming.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
  A cursed, cursed accident! Yes, yes,
  Sesina knows too much, and won't be silent.
 

TERZKY

 
  He's a Bohemian fugitive and rebel,
  His neck is forfeit. Can he save himself
  At thy cost, think you he will scruple it?
  And if they put him to the torture, will he,
  Will he, that dastardling, have strength enough —
 

WALLENSTEIN (lost in thought)

 
  Their confidence is lost, irreparably!
  And I may act which way I will, I shall
  Be and remain forever in their thought
  A traitor to my country. How sincerely
  Soever I return back to my duty,
  It will no longer help me —
 

ILLO

 
                 Ruin thee,
  That it will do! Not thy fidelity,
  Thy weakness will be deemed the sole occasion —
 

WALLENSTEIN (pacing up and down in extreme agitation)

 
  What! I must realize it now in earnest,
  Because I toyed too freely with the thought!
  Accursed he who dallies with a devil!
  And must I – I must realize it now —
  Now, while I have the power, it must take place!
 

ILLO

 
  Now – now – ere they can ward and parry it!
 

WALLENSTEIN (looking at the paper of Signatures)

 
  I have the generals' word – a written promise!
  Max. Piccolomini stands not here – how's that?
 

TERZRY

 
  It was – he fancied —
 

ILLO

 
             Mere self-willedness.
  There needed no such thing 'twixt him and you.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
  He is quite right; there needed no such thing.
  The regiments, too, deny to march for Flanders
  Have sent me in a paper of remonstrance,
  And openly resist the imperial orders.
  The first step to revolt's already taken.
 

ILLO

 
  Believe me, thou wilt find it far more easy
  To lead them over to the enemy
  Than to the Spaniard.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
              I will hear, however,
  What the Swede has to say to me.
 

ILLO (eagerly to TERZKY)

 
                   Go, call him,
  He stands without the door in waiting.
 

WALLENSTEIN

 
                      Stay!
  Stay but a little. It hath taken me
  All by surprise; it came too quick upon me;
  'Tis wholly novel that an accident,
  With its dark lordship, and blind agency,
  Should force me on with it.
 

ILLO

 
                 First hear him only,
  And then weigh it.
 

[Exeunt TERZKY and ILLO.