Page:Wallenstein, a drama in 2 parts - Schiller (tr. Coleridge) (1800).djvu/293

To thee! They all were aliens: thou wert
Our child and inmate^[1]. Max.! Thou can'st not leave me;
It cannot be; I may not, will not think
That Max. can leave me.

MAX.
O my God!

WALLENSTEIN.
I have
Held and sustain'd thee from thy tott'ring childdhood.
What holy bond is there of natural love?
What human tie, that does not knit thee to me?
I love thee, Max! What did thy father for thee,
Which I too have not done, to the height of duty?
Go hence, forsake me, serve thy Emperor;
He will reward thee with a pretty chain
Of gold; with his ram's fleece will he reward thee;
For that the friend, the father of thy youth,
For that the holiest feeling of humanity,
Was nothing worth to thee.

MAX.
O God! How can I
Do otherwise? Am I not forc'd to do it?
My oath-my duty-honour—

1. This is a poor and inadequate translation of the affectionate simplicity of the original—
   Sie alle waren Fremdlinge, Du warst
   Das kind des Hauses.
   
   
   Indeed the whole speech is in the best style of Massinger. O si sic omnia!

Wal-