Jarl. Thou hear'st me not. This interrupts me. No one speaks well, if he is thus unheeded. Erich Well, if it aids thee, I shall hear thy tale. Jarl. (still peevishly.) Enough. If Yngurd had not sail'd to Norway, He had not been the favourite of King Ottfried Nor won the crown. Now, tell me, can this give Imperial right?-Sail thou where'er thou wilt, Or south or north, thou art Sir Erichson. thinks thou know'st But yet me The hero Ottfried's formal testament, That Yngurd as the kingdom's heir confirmed Jarl. Nay, this is null and void.-No In law prevail against a son. Is not our king by parchment rights alone, He was the nation's choice. Even ere the death Of Ottfried, to his son-in-law we swore Jarl. Nay, remember'st thou ? Of corn. Now tell me, has it not been so ? Erich. Thou mak'st me angry. Would'st thou blame the lion Who shakes the gad-flies from his mane ? the boar, By hounds attack'd, who with his teeth resists them? 'Twas for the hand of Irma, not the king. dom, That Yngurd fought and conquer'd. Jarl. Um! whoe'er Has gain'd a princess, deems that Heaven ere long Will grant the kingdom. Erich. Well, if it were so, Why should'st thou blame him? Norway's law denies The reins of empire to a female hand. his throne This to prevent, did Ottfried give the kingdom To that young champion who for Irma fought At all the knightly tournaments, and call'd Jarl. Thence, eighteen years ago, Er. Heaven weighed the right. The scale All the dread horrors of a civil strife; Er. (Interrupting him.) Thou slanderest Irma?-Jarl, I charge thee, silence! Or with the pummel of my sword shall I Seal up thy lips. Jari. Ho, ho! Must we forsooth, Never thus while away a leisure hour, By reasoning on the past? Now tell me truly, Had it not then been fitter that each mother First brought to light her offspring? Er. This belonged To queen Braunhilda. Had her child not prov'd A son, she had no more to seek from Norway. She trusted not the uncertain game of for tune, But summon'd Yngurd's envious foes to arms, The rights of her unborn son to defend. Jurl. Well, whether born or not, it was her child. Erich. Her child? Aye, this indeed was said in scorn, Thro' half the land 'twas called the "fatherless." Yet Yngurd fought but for his interregnum. Even after victory he made concessions, And offered compromise. Braunhilda fled, Proclaiming that king Yngurd had exiled her Then in her father's fraudful court she knew, That to assist her purposes a son Before the people, bearing in her arms Jarl. Yet not without entreaty he was won, And long delay. Well, thence arose new war, For the third time. Erich. Heaven weigh'd the right. The scale Of Oscar mounted. Jarl. Nay, it rose and fell For ten long years-and still clear eyes behold The balance wavering.-Now, I pray thee, comrade, Tell me what has ensued since we have chosen This bauer for Norway's king-War, war, and Erich. (Warmly) Silence!Seeks Yngurd for this war? Jarl. Why-truly-no! He seeks not war, but victory.-To supply The lack of kingly right, he woos renown; For something by the people is required, Whereon to found attachment.-Well, this bauer Erich. Silence! Have I not told thee Is now, as heretofore, untameable; some. Now, tell me, though king Alf, and Eastland's duke Disputed, wherefore should we rise in arms? Erich. Wherefore? When fire assails a neighbour's house, Is it not time that we should rise to aid him, And from ourselves ward off the approach ing flame? The crafty Dane squares measures with their If this were but to conquer Arimbald, King Alf is uncle to the bastard Oscar, The duke to join with him in firm alliance, ** Jarl. Lo! there thou speak'st even mine Oscar the son of Ottfried-or, forsooth, And wonder.-Now, if Alf the FROST The gentle SNOW, methinks he will not fail To gain adherents.-A mild ruler now VOL. VII. Might prove the best for Norway. (This is Yngurd, the LIGHTNING comes with To stop his course-but what can Lightning do, More than to dart with whizzing transient force, And here and there a building cast in ruins? At this instant the hall is brilliantly illuminated by lightning; and there is heard a clap of the loudest thunder, which reverberates through the castle. The sentinels are alarmed. A trabant enters to inform them, that the lightning has fallen upon the royal chapel. Jarl goes out with the trabant. Erichson remains at his post. The queen and other inhabitants of the palace have been awakened. The former, dressed without ornaments, enters in great agitation to question the sentinel. Irma. Where is the fire ?Erich. If any where it burns, "Tis in the chapel. Irma. There thou art deceived. Brightly it flames on high where Asla sleeps, And yet thou fliest not to her aid? The messenger was here, who has informed us That on the chapel all the lightning fell; How's this?What meanest thou ? Erich. Heaven defend us! Lady hast thou not heard the shock ?-Almost It rent the castle's rocky base asunder. Irma. (recollecting herself) It seemed indeed the roaring of a storm That broke my sleep. Was it a thunderstroke? Erich. Violent and fearful, changing night to day; The castle is awake, the princess comes. Which I, half slumbering, deemed that I beheld, Was true indeed?-Why did the sentinel Not mark those threatening flames ? (Erichson is about to speak, but desists, when Asla resumes). Asla. Why blam'st thou him, Could he within my troubled veins command Repose, as in the galleries of this castle? From darkening clouds my brain in sleep defend, Or that terrific dream? Irma. A dream ?-thou too? Asla. A feverish strife-now pain, now I know not if in truth it were a dream, Irma, "Tis most strange! My sufferings were like thine. Relate thy dream. Asla. Not here ;-it may not be! From a third ear Thine Asla turns asham'd. Irma, Retire, sir knight→→→→ Erichson goes out. Asla has mean while come to the stage front. Irma stands op posite to her. Now-daughter, to thy story. Asla, (After she has for a few moments recollected herself). Look not now And upward shoots to leaves and stalks and ears, Then by the sickle it is mown across, Irma. Asla, pure guiltless being! In thy The feverish agitation that prevails Confounds thee. But 'tis not thy heart that wanders 'Tis but thy wayward fancy. Let me still Call thee my child; but to the grown up virgin, The riddle will more easily be clear'd; Asla. If so thou lov'st me, feel'st thou The power to lay that love aside for ever? To love me less-nay, even perchance to hate me ? Irma. From thee such questions are indeed unwonted; Full well thou knowest my heart unchangeable! Asla. But, lo! that fearful power is come The sacred ties of filial love at last I feel within me a strange influence rule,- Nay, horrible to tell, could on their heads Heap curses, and, unmov'd, to death resign them! Irma. Thy dream supplies of mine the interpretation Methought thou wert by fire assailed—and there, The flame burns on thy cheeks, but fear it not; To me and Yngurd has thy heart adhered ness, All for a dream resigned. True-'tis a dream! Yet worth far more than life can give beyond; So may it prosper thee, as once thy mother! Through rugged pathways it may lead thee on Yet thou art kind ;-fear not that in thine heart It will destroy thy cherished filial love. Asla. Alas! this was already done. Full well I know that dreams may not unveil the future, But what in sleep we feel, or love, or hate, Has place within the heart; and, in the will, Tho' slumbering, lurks, and must e'er long appear! (After a pause.) A youthful knight all brilliant as the day, Drew hither with his army from the East He past me by my looks strain'd after him And then I pray'd, "Oh may he be victorious!" Then came another army from the WestAll clad in steel-but gloomy as the night And o'er the level plain, file after file, Collecting form'd, as if for bloody contest. "Destroy them, Heaven!" I prayed-with eyes upturn'd To the blue vault of day" save the young knight !" And looking fearfully on earth again, I knew the steel clad warriors of king Yngurd I knew my father's plume, and helm, and shield! Then rose the dust in clouds, and through the plain The deadly strife began! Methought some power Of darkness seized me with his iron hands, And sought to rend my labouring breast in sunder Yet evermore a dreadful pleasure led A curse from Yngurd's voice, and, like alion, And cold and pale my cheeks were left again. and thence Downward I came-the battle strife was o'er The young knight lay upon the field of death Lifeless and mangled-all alone. Then too shrieked, And tore out mine, and beat my breast, and fell On the cold frame of him who lay in death, may'd From his own bloody work. Full well I knew Irma. Óh cease! No strength Of mortal mind can this endure. My hair Asla. So methought I saw thee, I felt cold damps upon my brow, and strove As when loud thunder mingles with the And started up at last in wild affright- the We omit, for want of room, rest of this scene, in which Irma endeavours to quiet her daughter's apprehensions; and takes the opportunity to disclose some of her own sources of melancholy; especially the painful recollection that she had lost the affections of her late father king Ottfried, for whom she had cherished the tenderest filial attachment. The dialogue is at length interrupted by the sudden entrance of Erichson-who comes to describe the effects of the lightning on the royal chapel; by which every inhabitant in the castle had been thrown into the greatest consternation. The royal grave has been torn open, and the remains of king Ottfried exposed to view;-an event which, in itself however repelling, is described most poetically. The queen faints at the recital of this horrible and ominous event; and is soon afterwards recovered only to combat with new trials. Nös, Egrosund, Viorneland, and Durdal, Norwegian nobles, arrive unexpectedly at the castle, having been summoned by Yngurd to a counsel of war. Their appearance creates much anxiety and discussion; during which, it appears that Yngurd has been defeated in his present expedition, and is now retreating homewards. Irma declares her conviction, that the king could not survive the loss of his renown. At this moment, a messenger from the army is announced; in which pretended character, the hero himself for the first time appears, disguised in a simple dark-coloured dress. The scene is highly effective. At first he is not recognised, but suddenly takes off his helmet. Irma. (Throwing herself into his arms.) Asla. (Trembling.) My father- Thou coms't alone in this disguise-alone- With skilful arm the sickle ply, nor scorn In consequence of this artful harangue, as might be expected, the four nobles express the utmost grief and astonishment at the (pretended) despondency of Yngurd. He repeats to them the information that Alf has suddenly arrived in Norway, for the purpose of supporting the claims of Oscar. They swear allegiance, and declare, that every Norwegian ought to shed the last drop of his blood for Yngurd. On this, the hero, as if overcome by their persuasions, determines on prosecuting the defensive war, and retires to consult with his nobles. Asla, meanwhile, remains wholly absorbed in her own thoughts, and when questioned by Irma, replies only by a wild illusion to her dream. Her disordered mind retains clearly only one impression. The young knight lay upon the field of death Lifeless and mangled-all alone." Thus ends the first act. The second act opens at sunrise on the sea shore, with an animated and truly original dialogue between two fishermen, which scarcely admits a translation (especially into verse) although they describe very poetically the effects of the violent tempest of the preceding night. In the second scene, a Danish soldier enters for the purpose of gaining their assistance in saving the crew of a vessel which appears at some distance in the greatest danger. The two fishermen agree to have recourse to their boat for the purpose; and in the course of the conversation, before setting out, the Danish soldier affords some further information respecting the defeat and flight of Yngurd, in consequence of which the Eastlanders (allies of Alf) had remained masters of the coast. The blowing of horns, as a signal of alarm, is repeatedly heard from the vessel, and after a highly effective scene, the two fishermen disappear among the rocks. In the third scene, king Alf appears, attended by his train of guards, The words "all alone" have been inserted instead of those of the original, which might have been rendered "far from his broken shield.” |