Friedrich Schiller - The Maid of Orleans (Act 2 Scene 2) lyrics

The same. QUEEN ISABEL, attended by a PAGE. ISABEL What must I hear? This fatal strife forbear! What brain-bewildering planet o'er your minds Sheds dire perplexity? When unity Alone can save you, will you part in hate, And, warring 'mong yourselves, prepare your doom?— I do entreat you, noble duke, recall Your hasty order. You, renowned Talbot, Seek to appease an irritated friend! Come, Lionel, aid me to reconcile These haughty spirits and establish peace. LIONEL Not I, madame. It is all one to me. 'Tis my belief, when things are misallied, The sooner they part company the better. ISABEL How? Do the arts of hell, which on the field Wrought such disastrous ruin, even here Bewilder and befool us? Who began This fatal quarrel? Speak! Lord-general! Your own advantage did you so forget, As to offend your worthy friend and ally? What could you do without his powerful arm? 'Twas he who placed your monarch on the throne, He holds him there, and he can hurl him thence; His army strengthens you—still more his name. Were England all her citizens to pour Upon our coasts, she never o'er this realm Would gain dominion did she stand alone; No! France can only be subdued by France! TALBOT A faithful friend we honor as we ought; Discretion warns us to beware the false. BURGUNDY The liar's brazen front beseemeth him Who would absolve himself from gratitude. ISABEL How, noble duke? Could you so far renounce Your princely honor, and your sense of shame, As clasp the hand of him who slew your sire? Are you so mad to entertain the thought Of cordial reconcilement with the Dauphin, Whom you yourself have hurled to ruin's brink? His overthrow you have well nigh achieved, And madly now would you renounce your work? Here stand your allies. Your salvation lies In an indissoluble bond with England? BURGUNDY Far is my thought from treaty with the Dauphin; But the contempt and insolent demeanor Of haughty England I will not endure. ISABEL Come, noble duke? Excuse a hasty word. Heavy the grief which bows the general down, And well you know misfortune makes unjust. Come! come! embrace; let me this fatal breach Repair at once, ere it becomes eternal. TALBOT What think you, Burgundy? A noble heart, By reason vanquished, doth confess its fault. A wise and prudent word the queen hath spoken; Come, let my hand with friendly pressure heal The wound inflicted by my angry tongue. BURGUNDY Discreet the counsel offered by the queen! My just wrath yieldeth to necessity. ISABEL 'Tis well! Now, with a brotherly embrace Confirm and seal the new-established bond; And may the winds disperse what hath been spoken. [BURGUNDY and TALBOT embrace.] LIONEL (contemplating the group aside) Hail to an union by the furies planned! ISABEL Fate hath proved adverse, we have lost a battle, But do not, therefore, let your courage sink. The Dauphin, in despair of heavenly aid, Doth make alliance with the powers of hell; Vainly his soul he forfeits to the devil, For hell itself cannot deliver him. A conquering maiden leads the hostile force; Yours, I myself will lead; to you I'll stand In place of maiden or of prophetess. LIONEL Madame, return to Paris! We desire To war with trusty weapons, not with women. TALBOT GO! go! Since your arrival in the camp, Fortune hath fled our banners, and our course Hath still been retrograde. Depart at once! BURGUNDY Your presence here doth scandalize the host. ISABEL (looks from one to the other with astonishment) This, Burgundy, from you? Do you take part Against me with these thankless English lords? BURGUNDY Go! go! The thought of combating for you Unnerves the courage of the bravest men. ISABEL I scarce among you have established peace, And you already form a league against me! TALBOT Go, in God's name. When you have left the camp No devil will again appal our troops. ISABEL Say, am I not your true confederate? Are we not banded in a common cause? TALBOT Thank God! your cause of quarrel is not ours. We combat in an honorable strife. BURGUNDY A father's bloody murder I avenge. Stern filial duty consecrates my arms. TALBOT Confess at once. Your conduct towards the Dauphin Is an offence alike to God and man. ISABEL Curses blast him and his posterity! The shameless son who sins against his mother! BURGUNDY Ay! to avenge a husband and a father! ISABEL To judge his mother's conduct he presumed! LIONEL That was, indeed, irreverent in a son! ISABEL And me, forsooth, he banished from the realm. TALBOT Urged to the measure by the public voice. ISABEL A curse light on him if I e'er forgive him! Rather than see him on his father's throne—— TALBOT His mother's honor you would sacrifice! ISABEL Your feeble natures cannot comprehend The vengeance of an outraged mother's heart. Who pleasures me, I love; who wrongs, I hate. If he who wrongs me chance to be my son, All the more worthy is he of my hate. The life I gave I will again take back From him who doth, with ruthless violence, The bosom rend which bore and nourished him. Ye, who do thus make war upon the Dauphin, What rightful cause have ye to plunder him? What crime hath he committed against you? What insult are you called on to avenge? Ambition, paltry envy, goad you on; I have a right to hate him—he's my son. TALBOT He feels his mother in her dire revenge! ISABEL Mean hypocrites! I hate you and despise. Together with the world, you cheat yourselves! With robber-hands you English seek to clutch This realm of France, where you have no just right, Nor equitable claim, to so much earth As could be covered by your charger's hoof. —This duke, too, whom the people style the Good, Doth to a foreign lord, his country's foe, For gold betray the birthland of his sires. And yet is justice ever on your tongue. —Hypocrisy I scorn. Such as I am, So let the world behold me! BURGUNDY It is true! Your reputation you have well maintained. ISABEL I've pa**ions and warm blood, and as a queen Came to this realm to live, and not to seem. Should I have lingered out a joyless life Because the curse of adverse destiny To a mad consort joined my blooming youth? More than my life I prize my liberty. And who a**ails me here——But why should I Stoop to dispute with you about my rights? Your sluggish blood flows slowly in your veins! Strangers to pleasure, ye know only rage! This duke, too—who, throughout his whole career, Hath wavered to and fro, 'twixt good and ill— Can neither love or hate with his whole heart. —I go to Melun. Let this gentleman, [Pointing to LIONEL.] Who doth my fancy please, attend me there, To cheer my solitude, and you may work Your own good pleasure! I'll inquire no more Concerning the Burgundians or the English. [She beckons to her PAGE, and is about to retire.] LIONEL Rely upon us, we will send to Melun The fairest youths whom we in battle take. [Coming back.] ISABEL Skilful your arm to wield the sword of d**h, The French alone can round the polished phrase. [She goes out.]