A common near Altdorf.In the background to the right the keep of Uri, with the scaffold still standing, as in the third scene of the first Act.To the left, the view opens upon numerous mountains, on all of which signal fires are burning.Day is breaking, and distant bells are heard ringing in several directions.
Ruodi, Kuoni, Werni, Master Mason, and many other country people, also women and children.
RUODI.
See there! The beacons on the mountain heights!
MASON.
Hark how the bells above the forest toll!
RUODI.
The enemy's routed.
MASON.
And the forts are storm'd.
RUODI.
And we of Uri, do we still endure Upon our native soil the tyrant's keep?
Are we the last to strike for liberty?
MASON.
Shall the yoke stand, that was to curb our necks?
Up! Tear it to the ground!
ALL.
Down, down with it!
RUODI.
Where is the Stier of Uri?
URI.
Here.What would ye?
RUODI.
Up to your tower, and wind us such a blast, As shall resound afar, from peak to peak;Rousing the echoes of each glen and hill, To rally swiftly all the mountain men!
[Exit Stier of Uri--Enter Walter Furst.]
FURST.
Stay, stay, my friends! As yet we have not learn'd What has been done in Unterwald and Schwytz.
Let's wait till we receive intelligence!
RUODI.
Wait, wait for what? The accursed tyrant's dead And on us freedom's glorious day has dawn'd!
MASON.
How! Are these flaming signals not enough, That blaze on every mountain-top around?
RUODI.
Come all, fall to--come, men and women, all!
Destroy the scaffold! Burst the arches! Down, Down with the walls, let not a stone remain!
MASON.
Come, comrades, come! We built it, and we know How best to hurl it down.
ALL.
Come! Down with it!
[They fall upon the building on every side.]
FURST.
The floodgate's burst.They're not to be restrained.
[Enter Melchthal and Baumgarten.]
MELCH.
What! Stands the fortress still, when Sarnen lies In ashes, and the Rossberg's in our hands?
FURST.
You, Melchthal, here? D'ye bring us liberty?
Are all the Cantons from our tyrants freed?
MELCH.
We've swept them from the soil.Rejoice, my friend, Now, at this very moment, while we speak, There's not one tyrant left in Switzerland!
FURST.
How did you get the forts into your power?
MELCH.
Rudenz it was who by a bold assault With manly valour mastered Sarnen's keep.
The Rossberg I had storm'd the night before.
But hear, what chanced.Scarce had we driven the foe Forth from the keep, and given it to the flames, That now rose crackling upwards to the skies, When from the blaze rush'd Diethelm, Gessler's page, Exclaiming, "Lady Bertha will be burnt!"FURST.
Good heavens!
[The beams of the scaffold are heard falling.]
MELCH.
'Twas she herself.Here had she been By Gessler's orders secretly immured.
Up sprang Rudenz in frenzy.For even now The beams and massive posts were crashing down, And through the stifling smoke the piteous shrieks Of the unhappy lady.
FURST.
Is she saved?
MELCH.
'Twas not a time to hesitate or pause!
Had he been but our baron, and no more, We should have been most chary of our lives;But he was our confederate, and Bertha Honour'd the people.So, without a thought, We risk'd the worst, and rush'd into the flames.
FURST.
But is she saved?
MELCH.
She is.Rudenz and I
Bore her between us from the blazing pile.
With crashing timbers toppling all around.
And when she had revived, the danger past, And raised her eyes to look upon the sun, The baron fell upon my breast; and then A silent vow between us two was sworn, A vow that, welded in yon furnace heat, Will last through ev'ry shock of time and fate.
FURST.
Where is the Landenberg?
MELCH.
Across the Brunig.
'Twas not my fault he bore his sight away;He who had robb'd my father of his eyes!
He fled--I followed--overtook him soon, And dragg'd him to my father's feet.The sword Already quiver'd o'er the caitiff's head, When from the pity of the blind old man, He wrung the life which, craven-like, he begged.
He swore URPHEDE,[*] never to return:
He'll keep his oath, for he has felt our arm.
[*] The Urphede was an oath of peculiar force.When a man, who was at feud with another, invaded his lands and was worsted, he often made terms with his enemy by swearing the Urphede, by which he bound himself to depart, and never to return with a hostile intention.
FURST.
Oh! well for you, you have not stain'd with blood Our spotless victory!
CHILDREN (running across the stage with fragments of wood).
We're free! we're free!
FURST.
Oh! what a joyous scene! These children will Remember it when all their heads are grey.
[Girls bring in the cap upon a pole.The whole stage is filled with people.]
RUODI.
Here is the cap, to which we were to bow!
BAUM.
What shall we do with it? Do you decide!
FURST.
Heavens! 'Twas beneath this cap my grandson stood!
SEVERAL VOICES.
Destroy the emblem of the tyrant's power!
Let it be burnt!
FURST.
No.Rather be preserved;
'Twas once the instrument of despots--now 'Twill of our freedom be a lasting sign.
[Peasants, men, women, and children, some standing, others sitting upon the beams of the shattered scaffold, all picturesquely grouped, in a large semicircle.]
MELCH.
Thus now, my friends, with light and merry hearts, We stand upon the wreck of tyranny;And gloriously the work has been fulfilled, Which we at Rootli pledged ourselves to do.
FURST.
No, not fulfilled.The work is but begun:
Courage and concord firm, we need them both;For, be assured, the king will make all speed, To avenge his Viceroy's death, and reinstate, By force of arms, the tyrant we've expelled.
MELCH.
Why let him come, with all his armaments!
The foe's expelled, that press'd us from within.
The foe without we are prepared to meet!
RUODI.
The passes to our Cantons are but few;
These with our bodies we will block, we will!
BAUM.
Knit are we by a league will ne'er be rent, And all his armies shall not make us quail.
[Enter Rosselmann and Stauffacher.]
ROSSEL.(speaking as he enters).
These are the awful judgments of the Lord!
PEAS.
What is the matter?
ROSSEL.
In what times we live!
FURST.
Say on, what is't? Ha, Werner, is it you?
What tidings?
PEAS.
