 | The Legend of Stauffenberg |  |
2. Part Second.
Scene I.
—Franconia. A Chamber in the Palace. Conrad. Chorus in the outer Court. A Triumphal March.No. 13.—CHORUS.
Hail! hail! hail!
To the mighty conqueror!
Hail! hail! hail!
To the brave who rest from war.
Be each dinted helm unbound,
Every brow with laurel crowned.
Strip from tired limbs the bloody mail,
In silken ease and rest regale!
All hail! all hail!
To the mighty conqueror!
Hail! hail! hail!
To the brave who rest from war.
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Every brow with laurel crowned.
Strip from tired limbs the bloody mail,
In silken ease and rest regale!
All hail! all hail!
Hail! hail! hail!
Worthiest Stauffenberg to thee!
Leap all hearts to bid him hail,
Our champion red with victory!
Welcome, Prince, our power and pride,
Welcome to thy royal bride!
Joy! the fairest in the land
Crowns thy worth with loving hand.
All hail! all hail!
Stauffenberg! Stauffenberg!
Long live Prince Conrad!
Worthiest Stauffenberg to thee!
Leap all hearts to bid him hail,
Our champion red with victory!
Welcome, Prince, our power and pride,
Welcome to thy royal bride!
Joy! the fairest in the land
Crowns thy worth with loving hand.
All hail! all hail!
Stauffenberg! Stauffenberg!
Long live Prince Conrad!
[AN INTERVAL.]
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No. 14.—Conrad (Recit.)
Come, greatness, come! my dream of love, farewell!
Ianthe! O Ianthe!
I tear the dearest nerve quick from my heart,
Tearing myself from thee.
A fateful trumpet calls me. O farewell!
Chorus of Elemental Spirits.
Ianthe! Ianthe!
Ai! Ai!
No. 14 A.—Conrad (Aria).
Welcome, Titan-eyed ambition!
In Love's bower may dream the boy.
I accept the stern condition
That bereaves my heart of joy—
Dare to clasp thee, bride immortal,
Dare to claim thy dreadful dower,
Dare to pass the Olympian portal,
Grasp the thunderbolts of power.
In Love's bower may dream the boy.
I accept the stern condition
That bereaves my heart of joy—
Dare to clasp thee, bride immortal,
Dare to claim thy dreadful dower,
Dare to pass the Olympian portal,
Grasp the thunderbolts of power.
Shall vain ease, that siren-charmer,
Fool me with bold deeds half done,
Bid me doff, content, my armour,
With the world's great war half-won?
No—let falcons, tame of pinion,
Meanly stoop at lady's lure,
In his own august dominion
The grave eagle reigns secure.
Fool me with bold deeds half done,
Bid me doff, content, my armour,
With the world's great war half-won?
No—let falcons, tame of pinion,
Meanly stoop at lady's lure,
In his own august dominion
The grave eagle reigns secure.
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Scene II.
—Room in Stauffenberg Castle. Ianthe alone.No. 15.—Solo.—Ianthe.
Woe, woe, woe, woe, nothing but lonely woe!
Let me alone, to make my moan to the crannying
Winds that blow
Dolefully high and low,
As homeless they come and go!
O winds, we are one in woe—
Sing with me then heigho!
Heigho! heigho!
Let me alone, to make my moan to the crannying
Winds that blow
Dolefully high and low,
As homeless they come and go!
O winds, we are one in woe—
Sing with me then heigho!
Heigho! heigho!
My sighs are turned to snatches of sad song
To hush a weary heart. Well, death ends all.
To hush a weary heart. Well, death ends all.
No more be woman! Up, rage, ye wild winds,
Lend all your turbulent might to champion me!
Ye swift and seraph-visaged lightnings, be
My winged and all-confounding ministers!
Make ye my bower my tomb, gulf this grey hold
A blazing ruin, deep in the cold Rhine—
And then— My hour draws on!
Lend all your turbulent might to champion me!
Ye swift and seraph-visaged lightnings, be
My winged and all-confounding ministers!
Make ye my bower my tomb, gulf this grey hold
A blazing ruin, deep in the cold Rhine—
And then— My hour draws on!
Beauteous body, fare thee well!
Agony must break the spell
That agony alone could weave.
Lovingly I take my leave;
But unreluctant, undismayed,
I feel thee droop, I see thee fade,
Fare thee well! dear mortal home—
Conrad, I come, I come, I come!
Agony must break the spell
That agony alone could weave.
Lovingly I take my leave;
But unreluctant, undismayed,
I feel thee droop, I see thee fade,
Fare thee well! dear mortal home—
Conrad, I come, I come, I come!
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Scene III.
—Bridal Procession. King, Princess Bertha, Conrad. Bridal Chorus. Afterwards Ianthe with Chorus of Elemental Spirits.
No. 16.—CHORUS.
Honour, empire, nuptial blessing,
Love's coy graces sweet and rare,
Marriage blisses past expressing,
Richly dower this peerless pair!
Men.
Joy to the realm that hopes so fair a queen!
Women.
Joy to the realm whose prince hath such a mien!
Men.
Joy to the realm whose homes have such a head!
Women.
Joy to the realm whose armies are so led!
CHORUS.
Honour, empire, marriage blessing,
Heavenly favours past expressing,
All things good and all things fair,
Richly dower this royal pair!
Conrad
(aside).
How this rude popular merriment,
These bells that nuptial welcome peal,
Insult a heart whose discontent
Weak smiling lips but ill conceal!
Bertha
(aside).
What weight of secret discontent
Sits on my love's half-frowning brow?
Even 'midst this bridal merriment
What bodement chills my spirit now?
Trio.—Bertha, Conrad, The King.
Thanks, friends, for all the festal splendour,
Your zeal to this fair day imparts;
Firm stands the realm while thus ye tender
The joyous homage of your hearts.
CHORUS.
Honour, empire, marriage blessing,
Heavenly favours past expressing,
All things good and all things fair,
Richly dower this royal pair!
Men.
Joy to the realm that hopes so fair a queen!
Women.
Joy to the realm whose prince hath such a mien!
Men.
Joy to the realm whose homes have such a head!
Women.
Joy to the realm whose armies are so led!
No. 17.—CHORUS.Honour, empire, nuptial blessing,
Love's coy graces sweet and rare,
Marriage blisses past expressing,
Richly dower this peerless pair!
Men.
Joy to the realm that hopes so fair a queen!
Women.
Joy to the realm whose prince hath such a mien!
Men.
Joy to the realm whose homes have such a head!
Women.
Joy to the realm whose armies are so led!
CHORUS.
Honour, empire, marriage blessing,
Heavenly favours past expressing,
All things good and all things fair,
Richly dower this royal pair!
Conrad
(aside).
How this rude popular merriment,
These bells that nuptial welcome peal,
Insult a heart whose discontent
Weak smiling lips but ill conceal!
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(aside).
What weight of secret discontent
Sits on my love's half-frowning brow?
Even 'midst this bridal merriment
What bodement chills my spirit now?
Trio.—Bertha, Conrad, The King.
Thanks, friends, for all the festal splendour,
Your zeal to this fair day imparts;
Firm stands the realm while thus ye tender
The joyous homage of your hearts.
CHORUS.
Honour, empire, marriage blessing,
Heavenly favours past expressing,
All things good and all things fair,
Richly dower this royal pair!
Men.
Joy to the realm that hopes so fair a queen!
Women.
Joy to the realm whose prince hath such a mien!
Men.
Joy to the realm whose homes have such a head!
Women.
Joy to the realm whose armies are so led!
Thro' the leaves runs a boding sigh,
The birds that but now were singing are hid,
And a lurid cloud looms low thro' the air
In menacing silence—what may it mean?
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(Spirits of Lightning.)
From the caves of air,
From the lightning's lair,
We are come, we are come,
To trouble this bridal.
(Spirits of Thunder.)
From the womb of each cloud,
Leaping, shouting loud,
We are come, we are come,
To trouble this bridal.
(Spirits of Hail.)
From the cloudlands of frost,
Ever tempest-tost,
We are come, we are come,
To trouble this bridal.
(Spirits of Tempest.)
From the zones of the earth,
Where fierce winds have birth,
We are come, we are come,
To trouble this bridal.
(All together.)
From fire, sea, earth, air,
From everywhere,
We are come, we are come,
To trouble this bridal.
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Conrad, Conrad, from the arms of thy bride,
I call thee and claim thee!
Conrad
(Recit.)
What cry was that? From the clouds what cried?
My lips dare not name thee!
Bertha.
My lord, my lord, do the sprites that flame
In the storm enchant thee?
Conrad.
What cry was that? Who called my name?
Bertha.
Thy name!
Conrad.
Ianthe! Ianthe!
No. 20.—Ianthe (and Conrad) Duo.
Conrad, Conrad, I am here, I am here,
By thy side, at thine ear,
My love, I have found thee,
My arms are around thee,
With kisses I shame thee,
My own I proclaim thee,
My kisses shall dart
A sweet pang to thy heart,—
O come,—I have sighed for thee,
Lived for thee, died for thee,
O come!
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My love, my love, art thou here, art thou here,
Pressing, so near?
Once more hast thou found me,
Thy arms are around me,
Thy kisses that shame me,
A traitor proclaim me,
Thy lips bid depart
A vain dream from my heart,
O take me, I sigh for thee,
Love thee, will die for thee.
I come!
Bertha.
My love, my lord! Alas! his looks are wild!
King.
What horror's this? Alas! my ill-starred child!
Ianthe.
My love, my lord! I claim thee undefiled!
Conrad.
Burst, my worn heart, with transport all too wild!
King., Bertha.
O day of grief! O woful, woful day
Of joy so deep, so rudely rent away!
Conrad., Ianthe.
O day of love! O blissful, blissful day
Of wrong removed, of sorrow past away!
Bridal Chorus.
O day of grief! O woful, woful day
Of joy so deep, so rudely rent away!
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O day of love! O blissful, blissful day
Of wrong removed, of sorrow past away!
No. 21.—Ianthe (Recit.)
Come, Conrad, come, what holds thee from my arms
Bertha., King.
Stay, Conrad, stay, what power of evil charms?
No. 22.—CHORUS.
O horror! O fear! with the might of a troop
He hath torn himself from us,
And spurs like a tempest the tempest to meet,
Where the thunders are direst!
O madness! O prince of all hearts, rush not so to thy doom!
Naught stays him. He stretches his hand to the lightning and leaps
In the midst of their earth-shaking fires—alas! he is gone—
Hurled down by the torrent or hurried aloft by the rage
Of the whirlwind that snatches the oaks from their station of pride.
He is gone—and our glory goes with him!
Great spirit, farewell!
No. 23.—Bertha.
Recit.
—Gone with no word of love!
(Aria Parlante).
More woful bridal never woman knew.
Come away!
And ere I die on this cold bosom strew
These withered flowers with slips of mournful yew,
So keep love's day!
—Gone with no word of love!
(Aria Parlante).
More woful bridal never woman knew.
Come away!
And ere I die on this cold bosom strew
These withered flowers with slips of mournful yew,
So keep love's day!
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Come, for my heart lies dead,
This breast its bier,
Sleep seal these eyes that shed
Never a tear;
Lone in some cloistered shade,
Making no moan,
Bride, widow, lovelorn maid,
Leave me alone.
This breast its bier,
Sleep seal these eyes that shed
Never a tear;
Lone in some cloistered shade,
Making no moan,
Bride, widow, lovelorn maid,
Leave me alone.
There, Death for bridal guest
Crowned with love's flowers,
Leave me to take my rest,
Ebb with the hours;
There to lie still and pray
For a strayed soul,
Till death, with dying day,
Ease me from dole.
Crowned with love's flowers,
Leave me to take my rest,
Ebb with the hours;
There to lie still and pray
For a strayed soul,
Till death, with dying day,
Ease me from dole.
SYMPHONIC INTERMEZZO.
Scene IV.
No. 24.—(Duo)—Ianthe., Conrad.
Ever to love,
Never to part,
None to reprove,
When heart pants to heart!
O in love's purest wells
Lave me and steep me,
In thy soul's inmost cells,
Hide me and keep me!
Never to part,
None to reprove,
When heart pants to heart!
O in love's purest wells
Lave me and steep me,
In thy soul's inmost cells,
Hide me and keep me!
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Thus star weds star
In a boundless union,
Naught to mar
Their intense communion.
O the bliss to wheel
On wild wings pulsating,
As Love's life we feel
Throbbing, palpitating.
In a boundless union,
Naught to mar
Their intense communion.
O the bliss to wheel
On wild wings pulsating,
As Love's life we feel
Throbbing, palpitating.
No. 25.—CHORUS OF ELEMENTAL SPIRITS.
As the stars' restless fires,
So are the heart's desires,
And Love must have his will,
His wings will ne'er be still.
So are the heart's desires,
And Love must have his will,
His wings will ne'er be still.
Soars eagle pride so high
Thro' the lone upper sky?
Love can soar higher still,
And bend him to his will.
Thro' the lone upper sky?
Love can soar higher still,
And bend him to his will.
What mortal wars with Love?
We airy powers above
Will fight against him still,
And bend him to Love's will.
We airy powers above
Will fight against him still,
And bend him to Love's will.
As the stars' restless fires,
So are the heart's desires,
Love's wings are never still,
And Love must have his will.
So are the heart's desires,
Love's wings are never still,
And Love must have his will.
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Where are the piercing eyes
Can read life's mysteries?
Where are the ears can read
Where its wild discords lead?
Ianthe.
Pride and ambition dwell
In the deep bounds of Hell.
Conrad.
But conquering Love soars high,
Thro' the wide upper sky.
No. 27.—CHORUS OF ELEMENTAL SPIRITS.
Who knows what he has done,
What victories he has won?
Who knows what Love hath cost,
What life has won and lost?
No. 28.—Ianthe., Conrad (Duo and Chorus).
Count not love's loss and gain,
Weigh not life's bliss or pain;
The fight is still begun,
The victory never won.
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Who knows what he has done,
What victories he has won?
Who knows what Love hath cost,
What life has won and lost?
What victories he has won?
Who knows what Love hath cost,
What life has won and lost?
Count not love's loss and gain,
Weigh not life's bliss or pain;
The fight is still begun,
The victory never won.
Weigh not life's bliss or pain;
The fight is still begun,
The victory never won.
| The Legend of Stauffenberg | |