Cutting their way through Germany by the sword, Until they gained these pine-clad hills of ours;Nor stopp'd they ever on their forward course, Till at the shaggy dell they halted, where The Muta flows through its luxuriant meads.
No trace of human creature met their eye, Save one poor hut upon the desert shore, Where dwelt a lonely man, and kept the ferry.
A tempest raged--the lake rose mountains high And barr'd their further progress.Thereupon They view'd the country--found it rich in wood, Discover'd goodly springs, and felt as they Were in their own dear native land once more.
Then they resolved to settle on the spot;Erected there the ancient town of Schwytz;And many a day of toil had they to clear The tangled brake and forest's spreading roots.
Meanwhile their numbers grew, the soil became Unequal to sustain them, and they cross'd To the black mountain, far as Weissland, where, Conceal'd behind eternal walls of ice, Another people speak another tongue.
They built the village Stanz, beside the Kernwald;The village Altdorf, in the vale of Reuss;Yet, ever mindful of their parent stem, The men of Schywtz, from all the stranger race, That since that time have settled in the land, Each other recognize.Their hearts still know, And beat fraternally to kindred blood.
[Extends his hand right and left.]
MAUER.
Ay, we are all one heart, one blood, one race!
ALL (joining hands).
We are one people, and will act as one.
STAUFF.
The nations round us bear a foreign yoke;For they have to the conqueror succumbed.
Nay, e'en within our frontiers may be found Some, that owe villein service to a lord, A race of bonded serfs from sire to son.
But we, the genuine race of ancient Swiss, Have kept our freedom from the first till now.
Never to princes have we bow'd the knee;
Freely we sought protection of the Empire.
ROSSEL.
Freely we sought it--freely it was given.
'Tis so set down in Emperor Frederick's charter.
STAUFF.
For the most free have still some feudal lord There must be still a chief, a judge supreme, To whom appeal may lie, in case of strife.
And therefore was it, that our sires allow'd, For what they had recover'd from the waste This honour to the Emperor, the lord Of all the German and Italian soil;And, like the other free men of his realm, Engaged to aid him with their swords in war;The free man's duty this alone should be, To guard the Empire that keeps guard for him.
MELCH.
He's but a slave that would acknowledge more.
STAUFF.
They followed, when the Heribann[*] went forth, The imperial standard, and they fought its battles!
To Italy they march'd in arms, to place The Caesars' crown upon the Emperor's head.
But still at home they ruled themselves in peace, By their own laws and ancient usages.
The Emperor's only right was to adjudge The penalty of death; he therefore named Some mighty noble as his delegate, That had no stake or interest in the land, Who was call'd in, when doom was to be pass'd, And, in the face of day, pronounced decree, Clear and distinctly, fearing no man's hate.
What traces here, that we are bondsmen? Speak, If there be any can gainsay my words!
[*] The Heribann was a muster of warriors similar to the /arriere ban/of France.
HOFE.
No! You have spoken but the simple truth;We never stoop'd beneath a tyrant's yoke.
STAUFF.
Even to the Emperor we did not submit, When he gave judgment 'gainst us for the church;For when the Abbey of Einsiedlen claimed The Alp our fathers and ourselves had grazed, And showed an ancient charter, which bestowed The land on them as being ownerless--For our existence there had been concealed--What was our answer? This: "The grant is void.
No Emperor can bestow what is our own:
And if the Empire shall deny our rights, We can, within our mountains, right ourselves!"Thus spake our fathers! And shall we endure The shame and infamy of this new yoke, And from the vassal brook what never king Dared, in his plenitude of power, attempt?
This soil we have created for ourselves, By the hard labour of our hands; we've changed The giant forest, that was erst the haunt Of savage bears, into a home for man;Extirpated the dragon's brood, that wont To rise, distent with venom, from the swamps;Rent the thick misty canopy that hung Its blighting vapours on the dreary waste;Blasted the solid rock; across the chasm Thrown the firm bridge for the wayfaring man.
By the possession of a thousand years The soil is ours.And shall an alien lord, Himself a vassal, dare to venture here, Insult us by our own hearth fires,--attempt To forge the chains of bondage for our hands, And do us shame on our own proper soil?
Is there no help against such wrong as this?
[Great sensation among the people.]
Yes! there's a limit to the despot's power!
When the oppress'd for justice looks in vain, When his sore burden may no more be borne, With fearless heart he makes appeal to Heaven, And thence brings down his everlasting rights, Which there abide, inalienably his, And indestructible as are the stars.
Nature's primaeval state returns again, Where man stands hostile to his fellow man;And if all other means shall fail his need, One last resource remains--his own good sword.
Our dearest treasures call to us for aid, Against the oppressor's violence; we stand For country, home, for wives, for children here!
ALL (clashing their swords).
Here stand we for our homes, our wives, and children.
ROSSEL.(stepping into the circle).
Bethink ye well, before ye draw the sword.
Some peaceful compromise may yet be made;Speak but one word, and at your feet you'll see The men who now oppress you.Take the terms That have been often tendered you; renounce The Empire, and to Austria swear allegiance!
MAUER.
What says the priest? To Austria allegiance?
BUHEL.
Hearken not to him!
WINK.
'Tis a traitor's counsel, His country's foe!
REDING.
Peace, peace, confederates!
SEWA.
Homage to Austria, after wrongs like these!
FLUE.
Shall Austria extort from us by force What we denied to kindness and entreaty?
MEYER.
Then should we all be slaves, deservedly.
MAUER.
