 | Werter |  |
SCENE I.
WERTER's Apartment.Enter SEBASTIAN and LEUTHROP.
Sebastian.
Is then my friend so much afflicted?
Can Werter be thus chang'd?
Leuthrop.
Alas!
So chang'd of late he's scarcely to be known;
Those scenes which once delight'd please no more,
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But pines in solitude, and ever wastes
The live long day in grief.
Sebastian.
Such were my fears.
For every letter breath'd the said reverse:
Can you unfold the cause?
Leuthrop.
Love is the cause.
Sebastian.
Ah! then I dread the tale—for well I know
How passion sways my friend.—Yet quickly say
Who has engag'd his love?
Leuthrop.
One much too fair,
Too rich in virtue's choicest gifts, t'escape
The quick discerning eye of kindred worth:
Her name is Charlotte, Walheim's proudest boast.
Sebastian.
And whence arose this passion?
Leuthrop.
I'll tell thee all;
Some few nights past, intreated by a friend,
He went to mingle in a revel here,
The lovely Charlotte graced the ball—her eye
Was fix'd on him alone; too soon he saw
And own'd its power—Thence their passions grew,
And now each sees how much the other loves.
Sebastian.
Why then lament? Methinks he shou'd be blest
Beyond his utmost hopes.—
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O! No, a rival,
A generous rival, stands between his love;
His name is Albert, and his honour sounds
Wherever sounds his name.—His various virtues
Long since endear'd him to Charlotte's friends,
And friendship has supplied the want of love,
For she has yielded to his suit.
Sebastian.
Heavens!
What scenes of sorrow open to my view;
How can I act?—Has Albert heard this tale?
Leuthrop.
No; he is distant hence, and little thinks
How much my master loves; but soon returns
To wed his lovely prize, and then your friend
Must leave for ever what he holds most dear;
Prepare him Heaven for so great a trial.
Sebastian.
Alas! poor Werter, oh! 'twas kindly done
To hide this story from thine anxious friends;
Thine own afflictions nobly boded their's.
Leuthrop.
Yet, when he sees you, he'll unload his heart
And pour his sorrows forth.—I know him well—
Ah! you remember, Sir, the time has been
When Werter was the happiest of his friends;
Alas! how chang'd the scene—forgive my tears—
He has no pang that it not felt by me.
Sebastian.
Nay, weep not, Leuthrop; happy days
Will soon revive.—But leave
Werter approaches.
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Werter.
Ha! welcome, my Sebastian!
My heart exults to see my friend again.
O! to what angel do I owe this bliss,
This best of blessings?
Sebastian.
Thou ow'st it to thy grief;
I thought affliction lurk'd in Werter's breast,
And therefore came to prove myself his friend.
Werter.
Would I could thank thee for thy generous thought,
For Heaven can witness, that I need a friend.
Yes, I've been wretched since we parted last;
Pleasure is driven from her late abode,
And sorrow—ceaseless sorrow—triumphs there!
Sebastian.
I know the whole, and much lament thy fate;
Yet, Werter—yet there is a way mark'd out
To banish all thy cares.
Werter.
O! name it.
Sebastian.
Forsake this spot beset with dangers round;
Forget the fatal image of thy love,
And fly with me to Manheim. There our friends—
Werter.
Go tell the wretch expiring on the rack
To think not of his pains: Go tell the Sun
To quit its sphere: And when these deeds are done,
Then talk of Werter of forgetting Charlotte.
If all the charms that virtue can bestow;
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If all that's perfect can be thus forgot;
Why is it Gods, such excellence is made?
Sebastian.
Why nurse a passion then thou know'st was vain?
Reason should shudder at a thought so wild.
Werter.
Reason is banish'd from a lover's mind,
For love admits of no associate there;
Had icy apathy congeal'd my soul,
It must have melted at my Charlotte's looks.
My friend, such looks! as pitying angels give
To dying saints alone,
Sebastian.
Yet, had reason reign'd
'Twou'd place a dismal prospect to thy view,
'Twould tell thee to avoid the gathering storm
That must be fatal, if not quickly shun'd.
Werter.
Oh, I am grown so careless of myself,
Nor storms, nor dangers can appal me now;
Place me alone 'midst hot Arabia's sands;
Leave me unclad 'midst freezing Zembla's snow;
Find me where mortal never trod before;
And only tell me that my Charlotte loves,
And hopeless Werter shall be happier far,
Than monarchs glittering on triumphant thrones.
Sebastian.
Has love then banish'd honour from thy breast,
Or art thou senseless of the wrongs design'd
The generous Albert! That, that alone
Should check thy boasted transports.
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O, my friend,
Thou'st touch'd the cord that sounds to all my woes—
To that alone I owe my present pangs.
Sebastian.
Ah, he begins to soften into reason.
Werter.
O, had my rival borne a worthless name,
Or us'd deception to obtain his suit,
Or play'd the villain in a single act,
I'd not have yielded, or suffer'd thus;
But Albert is the gentlest, best of men:
Yes, he has shewn such nobleness of mind,
Such truth, such honour, and such generous love,
That by my soul! I'd rather be despis'd
By her I idolize, than injure him.
Sebastian.
Mysterious heaven! why is a soul so good
Tortur'd with pangs the bad alone should feel?
Werter.
He is so honour'd and esteem'd by all,
That though my rival, he must be my friend.
Yes; I will emulate his noble virtues;
Convince him Werter merits his esteem,
And shew Sebastian that my honour's safe.
Sebastian.
Werter's himself again! and reason now
With double force returns—Wilt thou forgive
The rash expressions that my harshness dropt?
Werter.
To sue forgiveness is for me, my friend.
My joys, when joy did revel in this breast,
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But when his friendship would partake my grief,
I owe him much indeed—and much I fear
I never can requite him.
Sebastian.
Ah, how blest,
How well rewarded would Sebastian be,
Could he but think he came not here in vain?
Werter.
Of that hereafter—I must leave thee now,
To pay the summons of inviting love:
Oh, I am wandering to a paradise,
Where fruits ambrosial bloom! which heav'n has doom'd
Fatal to Werter as the tree of old!
[Exeunt.
| Werter | |