64
THE DEATH OF
My oath and duty to the Emperor?
Say, shall I send into Octavio's camp
The parricidal ball? For when the ball
Has left its cannon, and is on its flight,
It is no longer a dead instrument;
It lives, a spirit passes into it,
The avenging furies seize possession of it,
And with sure malice guide it the worst way.
Say, shall I send into Octavio's camp
The parricidal ball? For when the ball
Has left its cannon, and is on its flight,
It is no longer a dead instrument;
It lives, a spirit passes into it,
The avenging furies seize possession of it,
And with sure malice guide it the worst way.
THEKLA.
O! Max.———
O! Max.———
MAX. (interrupting her.)
Nay, not precipitately either, Thekla.
I understand thee. To thy noble heart
The hardest duty might appear the highest.
The human, not the great part, would I act.
Ev'n from my childhood to this present hour,
Think what the Duke has done for me, how lov'd me,
And think too, how my father has repay'd him,
O likewise the free lovely impulses
Of hospitality, the pious friend's
Faithful attachment, these too are a holy
Religion to the heart; and heavily
The shudderings of nature do avenge
Themselves on the barbarian that insults them.
Lay all upon the balance, all—then speak,
And let thy heart decide it.
Nay, not precipitately either, Thekla.
I understand thee. To thy noble heart
The hardest duty might appear the highest.
The human, not the great part, would I act.
Ev'n from my childhood to this present hour,
Think what the Duke has done for me, how lov'd me,
And think too, how my father has repay'd him,
O likewise the free lovely impulses
Of hospitality, the pious friend's
Faithful attachment, these too are a holy
Religion to the heart; and heavily
The shudderings of nature do avenge
Themselves on the barbarian that insults them.
Lay all upon the balance, all—then speak,
And let thy heart decide it.
THEKLA.
O, thy own
Hath long ago decided. Follow thou
Thy heart's first feeling———
O, thy own
Hath long ago decided. Follow thou
Thy heart's first feeling———
COUN-
