The Poems of Schiller — First period

SCENE II

The Hall as before. — Sudden brightness.

ZEUS in the shape of a youth. — MERCURY in the distance.

ZEUS    Thou son of Maia! MERCURY. (Kneeling, with his head bowed reverentially.)             Zeus! ZEUS    Up! Hasten! Turn    Thy pinions' flight toward far Scamander's bank!    A shepherd there is weeping o'er the grave    Of his loved shepherdess. No one shall weep    When Zeus is loving: Call the dead to life! MERCURY. (Rising.)    Let but thy head a nod almighty give,    And in an instant I am there, — am back    In the same instant — ZEUS    Stay! As I o'er Argos    Was flying, from my temples curling rose    The sacrificial smoke: it gave me joy    That thus the people worship me — so fly    To Ceres, to my sister, — thus speaks Zeus:    "Ten-thousandfold for fifty years to come    Let her reward the Argive husbandmen!" — MERCURY    With trembling haste I execute thy wrath, —    With joyous speed thy messages of grace,    Father of all! For to the deities    'Tis bliss to make man happy; to destroy him    Is anguish to the gods. Thy will be done!    Where shall I pour into thine ears their thanks, —    Below in dust, or at thy throne on high? ZEUS    Here at my throne on earth — within the palace,    Of Semele! Away! [Exit Mercury.             Does she not come,    As is her wont, Olympus' mighty king    To clasp against her rapture-swelling breast?    Why hastens not my Semele to meet me?    A vacant, deathlike, fearful silence reigns    On every side around the lonely palace,    So wont to ring with wild bacchantic shouts —    No breath is stirring — on Cithaeron's height    Exulting Juno stands. Will Semele    Never again make haste to meet her Zeus? (A pause, after which he continues.)    Ha! Can yon impious one perchance have dared    To set her foot in my love's sanctuary? —    Saturnia — Mount Cithaeron — her rejoicings    Fearful foreboding! — Semele — yet peace! —    Take courage! — I'm thy Zeus! the scattered heavens    Shall learn, my Semele, that I'm thy Zeus!    Where is the breath of air that dares presume    Roughly to blow on her whom Zeus calls His?    I scoff at all her malice. — Where art thou,    O Semele? I long have pined to rest    My world-tormented head upon thy breast, —    To lull my wearied senses to repose    From the wild storm of earthly joys and woes, —    To dream away the emblems of my might,    My reins, my tiller, and my chariot bright,    And live for naught beyond the joys of love!    Oh heavenly inspiration, that can move    Even the Gods divine! What is the blood    Of mighty Uranus — what all the flood    Of nectar and ambrosia — what the throne    Of high Olympus — what the power I own,    The golden sceptre of the starry skies —    What the omnipotence that never dies,    What might eternal, immortality —    What e'en a god, oh love, if reft of thee?    The shepherd who, beside the murmuring brooks,    Leans on his true love's breast, nor cares to look    After his straying lambs, in that sweet hour    Envies me not my thunderbolt of power!    She comes — she hastens nigh! Pearl of my works,    Woman! the artist who created thee    Should be adored. 'Twas I — myself I worship    Zeus worships Zeus, for Zeus created thee.    Ha! Who will now, in all the being-realm,    Condemn me? How unseen, yes, how despised    Dwindle away my worlds, my constellations    So ray-diffusing, all my dancing systems,    What wise men call the music of my spheres! —    How dead are all when weighed against a soul! (Semele approaches, without looking up.)    My pride! my throne on earth! Oh Semele! (He rushes towards her; she seeks to fly.)    Thou flyest? — art mute? — Ha! Semele! thou flyest? SEMELE. (Repulsing him.)    Away! ZEUS. (After a pause of astonishment.)       Is Jupiter asleep? Will Nature    Rush to her fall? — Can Semele speak thus?    What, not an answer? Eagerly mine arms    Toward thee are stretched — my bosom never throbbed    Responsive to Agenor's daughter, — never    Throbbed against Leda's breast, — my lips ne'er burned    For the sweet kiss of prisoned Danae,    As now — SEMELE Peace, traitor! Peace! ZEUS. (With displeasure, but tenderly.) My Semele! SEMELE    Out of my sight! ZEUS. (Looking at her with majesty.)             Know, I am Zeus! SEMELE   Thou Zeus?    Tremble, Salmoneus, for he fearfully    Will soon demand again the stolen charms    That thou hast robbed him of — thou art not Zeus! ZEUS. (With dignity.)    The mighty universe around me whirls,    And calls me so — SEMELE    Ha! Fearful blasphemy! ZEUS. (More gently.)    How, my divine one? Wherefore such a tone?    What reptile dares to steal thine heart from me? SEMELE    My heart was vowed to him whose ape thou art!    Men ofttimes come beneath a godlike form    To snare a woman. Hence! thou art not Zeus! ZEUS    Thou doubtest? What! Can Semele still doubt    My godhead? SEMELE. (Mournfully.)          Would that thou wert Zeus! No son    Of morrow-nothingness shall touch this mouth;    This heart is vowed to Zeus! Would thou wert he! ZEUS Thou weepest? Zeus is here, — weeps Semele? (Falling down before her.)    Speak! But command! and then shall slavish nature    Lie trembling at the feet of Cadmus' daughter!    Command! and streams shall instantly make halt —    And Helicon, and Caucasus, and Cynthus,    And Athos, Mycale, and Rhodope, and Pindus,    Shall burst their bonds when I order it so,    And kiss the valleys and plains below,    And dance in the breeze like flakes of snow.    Command! and the winds from the east and the north,    And the fierce tornado shall sally forth,    While Poseidon's trident their power shall own,    When they shake to its base his watery throne;    The billows in angry fury shall rise,    And every sea-mark and dam despise;    The lightning shall gleam through the firmament black    While the poles of earth and of heaven shall crack,    The ocean the heights of Olympus explore,    From thousandfold jaws with wild deafening roar    The thunder shall howl, while with mad jubilee    The hurricane fierce sings in triumph to thee.    Command — SEMELE   I'm but a woman, a frail woman    How can the potter bend before his pot?    How can the artist kneel before his statue? ZEUS    Pygmalion bowed before his masterpiece —    And Zeus now worships his own Semele! SEMELE. (Weeping bitterly.)    Arise — arise! Alas for us poor maidens!    Zeus has my heart, gods only can I love,    The gods deride me, Zeus despises me! ZEUS Zeus who is now before thy feet — SEMELE    Arise!    Zeus reigns on high, above the thunderbolts,    And, clasped in Juno's arms, a reptile scorns. ZEUS. (Hastily.)    Ha! Semele and Juno! — which the reptile! SEMELE    How blessed beyond all utterance would be    Cadmus' daughter — wert thou Zeus! Alas!    Thou art not Zeus! ZEUS. (Arises.) I am! (He extends his hand, and a rainbow fills the hall; music accompanies its appearance.)     Knowest thou me now? SEMELE    Strong is that mortal's arm whom gods protect, —    Saturnius loves thee — none can I e'er love    But deities — ZEUS    What! art thou doubting still    Whether my might is lent me by the gods    And not god-born? The gods, my Semele,    In charity oft lend their strength to man;    Ne'er do the deities their terrors lend —    Death and destruction is the godhead's seal —    Bearer of death to thee were Zeus unveiled! (He extends his hand. Thunder, fire, smoke, and earthquake. Music accompanies the spell here and subsequently.) SEMELE    Withdraw, withdraw thy hand! — Oh, mercy, mercy,    For the poor nation! Yes, thou art the child    Of great Saturnius — ZEUS    Ha! thou thoughtless one!    Shall Zeus, to please a woman's stubbornness,    Bid planets whirl, and bid the suns stand still?    Zeus will do so! — oft has a god's descendant    Ripped up the fire-impregnate womb of rocks,    And yet his might's confined to Tellus' bounds    Zeus only can do this! (He extends his hand — the sun vanishes, and it becomes suddenly night.) SEMELE. (Falling down before him.)               Almighty one!    Couldst thou but love! [Day reappears. ZEUS    Ha! Cadmus' daughter asks    Kronion if Kronion e'er can love!    One word and he throws off divinity —    Is flesh and blood, and dies, and is beloved! SEMELE    Would Zeus do that? ZEUS    Speak, Semele! What more?    Apollo's self confesses that 'tis bliss    To be a man 'mongst men — a sign from thee,    And I'm a man! SEMELE. (Falling on his neck.)           Oh Jupiter, the Epidaurus women    Thy Semele a foolish maiden call,    Because, though by the Thunderer beloved,    She can obtain naught from him — ZEUS. (Eagerly.) They shall blush,    Those Epidaurus women! Ask! — but ask!    And by the dreaded Styx — whose boundless might    Binds e'en the gods like slaves — if Zeus deny thee,    Then shall the gods, e'en in that self-same moment,    Hurl me despairing to annihilation! SEMELE. (Springing up joyfully.)    By this I know that thou'rt my Jupiter!    Thou swearest — and the Styx has heard thine oath!    Let me embrace thee, then, in the same guise    In which — ZEUS. (Shrieking with alarm.) Unhappy one! Oh stay! oh stay! SEMELE Saturnia — ZEUS. (Attempting to stop her mouth.) Be thou dumb! SEMELE    Embraces thee. ZEUS. (Pale, and turning away.)    Too late! The sound escaped! — The Styx! — 'Tis death    Thou, Semele, hast gained! SEMELE    Ha! Loves Zeus thus? ZEUS    All heaven I would have given, had I only    Loved thee but less! (Gazing at her with cold horror.)    Thou'rt lost — SEMELE    Oh, Jupiter! ZEUS. (Speaking furiously to himself,)    Ah! Now I mark thine exultation, Juno!    Accursed jealousy! This rose must die!    Too fair — alas! too sweet for Acheron! SEMELE    Methinks thou'rt niggard of thy majesty! ZEUS    Accursed be my majesty, that now    Has blinded thee! Accursed be my greatness,    That must destroy thee! Cursed be I myself    For having built my bliss on crumbling dust! SEMELE    These are but empty terrors, Zeus! In truth    I do not dread thy threats! ZEUS    Deluded child!    Go! take a last farewell forever more    Of all thy friends beloved — naught, naught has power    To save thee, Semele! I am thy Zeus!    Yet that no more — Go — SEMELE    Jealous one! the Styx! —    Think not that thou'lt be able to escape me.  [Exit. ZEUS    No! Juno shall not triumph. — She shall tremble —    Aye, and by virtue of the deadly might    That makes the earth and makes the heavens my footstool,    Upon the sharpest rock in Thracia's land    With adamantine chains I'll bind her fast.    But, oh, this oath — [Mercury appears in the distance. What means thy hasty flight? MERCURY    I bring the fiery, winged, and weeping thanks    Of those whom thou hast blessed — ZEUS    Again destroy them! MERCURY. (In amazement.)    Zeus! ZEUS None shall now be blessed! She dies — [The curtain falls

1

The allusion in the original is to the seemingly magical power possessed by a Jew conjuror, named Philadelphia, which would not be understood in English.

2

This most exquisite love poem is founded on the platonic notion, that souls were united in a pre-existent state, that love is the yearning of the spirit to reunite with the spirit with which it formerly made one — and which it discovers on earth. The idea has often been made subservient to poetry, but never with so earnest and elaborate a beauty.

3

"Und Empfindung soll mein Richtschwert seyn." A line of great vigor in the original, but which, if literally translated, would seem extravagant in English.

4

Joseph, in the original.

5

The youth's name was John Christian Weckherlin.

6

Venus.

7

Originally Laura, this having been one of the "Laura-Poems," as the Germans call them of which so many appeared in the Anthology (see Preface). English readers will probably not think that the change is for the better.

8

Tityus.