I will not Defend my father. Woe is me, I cannot! Hard deeds and luckless have ta'en place; one crime Drags after it the other in close link. But we are innocent: how have we fallen Into this circle of mishap and guilt? To whom have we been faithless? Wherefore must The evil deeds and guilt reciprocal Of our two fathers twine like serpents round us? Why must our fathers' Unconquerable hate rend us asunder, Who love each other?
Max, remain with me. Go you not from me, Max! Hark! I will tell thee-- How when at Prague, our winter quarters, thou Wert brought into my tent a tender boy, Not yet accustom'd to the German winters; Thy hand was frozen to the heavy colors; Thou wouldst not let them go.-- At that time did I take thee in my arms, And with my mantle did I cover thee; I was thy nurse, no woman could have been A kinder to thee; I was not ashamed To do for thee all little offices, However strange to me; I tended thee Till life return'd; and when thine eyes first open'd, I had thee in my arms. Since then, when have Alter'd my feelings toward thee? Many thousands Have I made rich, presented them with lands; Rewarded them with dignities and honors; Thee have I _loved_: my heart, my self, I gave To thee! They all were aliens: THOU went Our child and inmate.[29] Max! Thou cans't not leave me; It cannot be; I may not, will not think That Max can leave me.
I have Held and sustain'd thee from thy tottering childhood; 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.
O God! how can I Do otherwise? Am I not forced to do it? My oath--my duty--my honor--
How? Thy duty? Duty to whom? Who art thou? Max! bethink thee What duties mayst _thou_ have? If _I_ am acting A criminal part toward the Emperor, It is my crime, not thine. Dost thou belong To thine own self? Art thou thine own commander? Stand'st thou, like me, a freeman in the world, That in thy actions thou shouldst plead free agency? On me thou'rt planted, I am thy Emperor; To obey _me_, to _belong_ to me, this is Thy honor, this a law of nature to thee! And if the planet, on the which thou livest And hast thy dwelling, from its orbit starts, It is not in thy choice whether or no Thou'lt follow it. Unfelt it whirls thee onward Together with his ring, and all his moons. With little guilt stepp'st thou into this contest, Thee will the world not censure, it will praise thee, For that thou held'st thy friend more worth to thee Than names and influences more removed; For justice is the virtue of the ruler, Affection and fidelity the subject's. Not every one doth it beseem to question The far-off high Arcturus. Most securely Wilt thou pursue the nearest duty: let The pilot fix his eye upon the pole-star.