Friedrich Schiller - Don Carlos (Act 5 Scene 9) lyrics

The KING. The preceding. All are alarmed at his appearance, fall back, and let him pa** through them. He appears to be in a waking dream, like a sleep-walker. His dress and figure indicate the disorder caused by his late fainting. With slow steps he walks past the GRANDEES and looks at each with a fixed eye, but without recognizing any of them. At last he stands still, wrapped in thought, his eyes fixed on the ground, till the emotions of his mind gradually express themselves in words. KING. Restore me back the dead! Yes, I must have him. DOMINGO (whispering to ALVA). Speak to him, duke. KING. He died despising me! Have him again I must, and make him think More nobly of me. ALVA (approaching with fear). Sire! KING (looking round the circle). Who speaks to me! Have you forgotten who I am? Why not Upon your knees, before your king, ye creatures! Am I not still your king? I must command Submission from you. Do you all then slight me Because one man despised me? ALVA. Gracious king! No more of him: a new and mightier foe Arises in the bosom of your realm. FERIA. Prince Carlos—— KING. Had a friend who died for him; For him! With me he might have shared an empire. How he looked down upon me! From the throne Kings look not down so proudly. It was plain How vain his conquest made him. His keen sorrow Confessed how great his loss. Man weeps not so For aught that's perishable. Oh, that he might But live again! I'd give my Indies for it! Omnipotence! thou bring'st no comfort to me: Thou canst not stretch thine arm into the grave To rectify one little act, committed With hasty rashness, 'gainst the life of man. The dead return no more. Who dare affirm That I am happy? In the tomb he dwells, Who scorned to flatter me. What care I now For all who live? One spirit, one free being, And one alone, arose in all this age! He died despising me! ALVA. Our lives are useless! Spaniards, let's die at once! E'en in the grave This man still robs us of our monarch's heart. KING (sits down, and leans his head on his arm). Oh! had he died for me! I loved him, too, And much. Dear to me was he as a son. In his young mind there brightly rose for me A new and beauteous morning. Who can say What I had destined for him? He to me Was a first love. All Europe may condemn me, Europe may overwhelm me with its curse, But I deserved his thanks. DOMINGO. What spell is this? KING. And, say, for whom did he desert me thus? A boy,—my son? Oh, no, believe it not! A Posa would not perish for a boy; The scanty flame of friendship could not fill A Posa's heart. It beat for human kind. His pa**ion was the world, and the whole course Of future generations yet unborn. To do them service he secured a throne— And lost it. Such high treason 'gainst mankind Could Posa e'er forgive himself? Oh, no; I know his feelings better. Not that he Carlos preferred to Philip, but the youth— The tender pupil,—to the aged monarch. The father's evening sunbeam could not ripen His novel projects. He reserved for this The young son's orient rays. Oh, 'tis undoubted, They wait for my decease. ALVA. And of your thoughts, Read in these letters strongest confirmation. KING. 'Tis possible he may miscalculate. I'm still myself. Thanks, Nature, for thy gifts; I feel within my frame the strength of youth; I'll turn their schemes to mockery. His virtue Shall be an empty dream—his d**h, a fool's. His fall shall crush his friend and age together. We'll test it now—how they can do without me. The world is still for one short evening mine, And this same evening will I so employ, That no reformer yet to cone shall reap Another harvest, in the waste I'll leave, For ten long generations after me. He would have offered me a sacrifice To his new deity—humanity! So on humanity I'll take revenge. And with his puppet I'll at once commence. [To the DUKE ALVA. What you have now to tell me of the prince, Repeat. What tidings do these letters bring? ALVA. These letters, sire, contain the last bequest Of Posa to Prince Carlos. KING (reads the papers, watched by all present. He then lays them aside and walks in silence up and down the room). Summon straight The cardinal inquisitor; and beg He will bestow an hour upon the king, This very night! TAXIS. Just on the stroke of two The horses must be ready and prepared, At the Carthusian monastery. ALVA. Spies Despatched by me, moreover, have observed Equipments at the convent for a journey, On which the prince's arms were recognized. FERIA. And it is rumored that large sums are raised In the queen's name, among the Moorish agents, Destined for Brussels. KING. Where is Carlos? ALVA. With Posa's body. KING. And there are lights as yet Within the queen's apartments? ALVA. Everything Is silent there. She has dismissed her maids Far earlier than as yet has been her custom. The Duchess of Arcos, who was last with her, Left her in soundest sleep. [An officer of the Body Guard enters, takes the DUKE OF FERIA aside, and whispers to him. The latter, struck with surprise, turns to DUKE ALVA. The others crowd round him, and a murmuring noise arises. FERIA, TAXIS, and DOMINGO (at the same time) 'Tis wonderful! KING. What is the matter! FERIA. News scarce credible! DOMINGO. Two soldiers, who have just returned from duty, Report—but—oh, the tale's ridiculous! KING. What do they say? ALVA. They say, in the left wing Of the queen's palace, that the emperor's ghost Appeared before them, and with solemn gait Pa**ed on. This rumor is confirmed by all The sentinels, who through the whole pavilion Their watches keep. And they, moreover, add, The phantom in the queen's apartment vanished. KING. And in what shape appeared it? OFFICER. In the robes, The same attire he in Saint Justi wore For the last time, apparelled as a monk. KING. A monk! And did the sentries know his person Whilst he was yet alive? They could not else Determine that it was the emperor. OFFICER. The sceptre which he bore was evidence It was the emperor. DOMINGO. And the story goes He often has been seen in this same dress. KING. Did no one speak to him? OFFICER. No person dared. The sentries prayed, and let him pa** in silence. KING. The phantom vanished in the queen's apartments! OFFICER. In the queen's antechamber. [General silence. KING (turns quickly round). What say you? ALVA. Sire! we are silent. KING (after some thought, to the OFFICER). Let my guards be ready And under arms, and order all approach To that wing of the palace to be stopped. I fain would have a word with this same ghost. [Exit OFFICER. Enter a PAGE. PAGE. The cardinal inquisitor. KING (to all present). Retire! [The CARDINAL INQUISITOR, an old man of ninety, and blind, enters, supported on a staff, and led by two Dominicans. The GRANDEES fall on their knees as he pa**es, and touch the hem of his garment. He gives them his blessing, and they depart.