No More Learning

_Sieg. _ Oh! my dead father's curse! 'tis working now.

_Ulr. _ Let it work on! the grave will keep it down!
Ashes are feeble foes: it is more easy
To baffle such, than countermine a mole,
Which winds its blind but living path beneath you.
Yet hear me still! --If _you_ condemn me, yet,
Remember _who_ hath taught me once too often 440
To listen to him! _Who_ proclaimed to me
That _there were crimes_ made venial by the occasion?
That passion was our nature? that the goods
Of Heaven waited on the goods of fortune?
_Who_ showed me his humanity secured
By his _nerves_ only? _Who_ deprived me of
All power to vindicate myself and race
In open day? By his disgrace which stamped
(It might be) bastardy on me, and on
Himself--a _felon's_ brand! The man who is 450
At once both warm and weak invites to deeds
He longs to do, but dare not. Is it strange
That I should _act_ what you could _think? _ We have done
With right and wrong; and now must only ponder
Upon effects, not causes. Stralenheim,
Whose life I saved from impulse, as _unknown_,
I would have saved a peasant's or a dog's, I slew
_Known_ as our foe--but not from vengeance. He
Was a rock in our way which I cut through,
As doth the bolt, because it stood between us 460
And our true destination--but not idly.
As stranger I preserved him, and he _owed me_
His _life_: when due, I but resumed the debt.
He, you, and I stood o'er a gulf wherein
I have plunged our enemy. _You_ kindled first
The torch--_you_ showed the path; now trace me that
Of safety--or let me!

_Sieg. _ I have done with life!

_Ulr. _ Let us have done with that which cankers life--
Familiar feuds and vain recriminations
Of things which cannot be undone. We have 470
No more to learn or hide: I know no fear,
And have within these very walls men who
(Although you know them not) dare venture all things.
You stand high with the state; what passes here
Will not excite her too great curiosity:
Keep your own secret, keep a steady eye,
Stir not, and speak not;--leave the rest to me:
We must have no _third_ babblers thrust between us.
[_Exit_ ULRIC.

_Sieg. _ (_solus_). Am I awake? are these my father's halls?
And _you_--my son? _My_ son! _mine! _ I who have ever 480
Abhorred both mystery and blood, and yet
Am plunged into the deepest hell of both!
I must be speedy, or more will be shed--
The Hungarian's! --Ulric--he hath partisans,
It seems: I might have guessed as much. Oh fool!
Wolves prowl in company. He hath the key
(As I too) of the opposite door which leads
Into the turret. Now then! or once more
To be the father of fresh crimes, no less
Than of the criminal! Ho! Gabor! Gabor! 490
[_Exit into the turret, closing the door after him_.


SCENE II. --_The Interior of the Turret_.

GABOR _and_ SIEGENDORF.

_Gab. _ Who calls?

_Sieg. _ I--Siegendorf! Take these and fly!
Lose not a moment!

[_Tears off a diamond star and other jewels, and thrusts
them into_ GABOR'S _hand_.

_Gab. _ What am I to do
With these?

_Sieg. _ Whate'er you will: sell them, or hoard,
And prosper; but delay not, or you are lost!

_Gab. _ You pledged your honour for my safety!

_Sieg. _ And
Must thus redeem it. Fly! I am not master,
It seems, of my own castle--of my own
Retainers--nay, even of these very walls,
Or I would bid them fall and crush me! Fly!
Or you will be slain by----

_Gab. _ Is it even so? 10
Farewell, then! Recollect, however, Count,
You sought this fatal interview!

_Sieg. _ I did:
Let it not be more fatal still! --Begone!

_Gab. _ By the same path I entered?

_Sieg. _ Yes; that's safe still;
But loiter not in Prague;--you do not know
With whom you have to deal.

_Gab. _ I know too well--
And knew it ere yourself, unhappy Sire!
Farewell! [_Exit_ GABOR.

_Sieg. _ (_solus and listening_).
He hath cleared the staircase. Ah! I hear
The door sound loud behind him! He is safe!
Safe! --Oh, my father's spirit! --I am faint-- 20

[_He leans down upon a stone seat, near the wall of
the tower, in a drooping posture_.

_Enter_ ULRIC _with others armed, and with weapons drawn_.

_Ulr. _ Despatch! --he's there!

_Lud. _ The Count, my Lord!

_Ulr. _ (_recognizing_ SIEGENDORF). _You_ here, sir!

_Sieg. _ Yes: if you want another victim, strike!

_Ulr. _ (_seeing him stript of his jewels_).
Where is the ruffian who hath plundered you?
Vassals, despatch in search of him! You see
'Twas as I said--the wretch hath stript my father
Of jewels which might form a Prince's heir-loom!
Away! I'll follow you forthwith.
[_Exeunt all but_ SIEGENDORF _and_ ULRIC.
What's this?
Where is the villain?

_Sieg. _ There are _two_, sir: which
Are you in quest of?

_Ulr. _ Let us hear no more
Of this: he must be found. You have not let him 30
Escape?

_Sieg. _ He's gone.

_Ulr. _ With your connivance?

_Sieg. _ With
My fullest, freest aid.

_Ulr. _ Then fare you well!
[ULRIC _is going_.

_Sieg. _ Stop! I command--entreat--implore! Oh, Ulric!
Will you then leave me?

_Ulr. _ What! remain to be
Denounced--dragged, it may be, in chains; and all
By your inherent weakness, half-humanity,
Selfish remorse, and temporizing pity,
That sacrifices your whole race to save
A wretch to profit by our ruin! No, Count,
Henceforth you have no son!

_Sieg. _ I never had one; 40
And would you ne'er had borne the useless name!
Where will you go? I would not send you forth
Without protection.

_Ulr. _ Leave that unto me.
I am not alone; nor merely the vain heir
Of your domains; a thousand, aye, ten thousand
Swords, hearts, and hands are mine.

_Sieg. _ The foresters!
With whom the Hungarian found you first at Frankfort!

_Ulr. _ Yes--men--who are worthy of the name! Go tell
Your Senators that they look well to Prague;
Their Feast of Peace was early for the times; 50
There are more spirits abroad than have been laid
With Wallenstein!

_Enter_ JOSEPHINE _and_ IDA.

_Jos. _ What is't we hear? My Siegendorf!
Thank Heaven, I see you safe!

_Sieg. _ Safe!

_Ida. _ Yes, dear father!

_Sieg. _ No, no; I have no children: never more
Call me by that worst name of parent.

_Jos. _ What
Means my good Lord?

_Sieg. _ That you have given birth
To a demon!

_Ida_ (_taking_ ULRIC'S _hand_). Who shall dare say this of Ulric?

_Sieg. _ Ida, beware! there's blood upon that hand.

_Ida_ (_stooping to kiss it_).
I'd kiss it off, though it were mine.

_Sieg. _ It is so!

_Ulr. _ Away! it is your father's! [_Exit_ ULRIC.

_Ida. _ Oh, great God! 60
And I have loved this man!
[IDA _falls senseless_--JOSEPHINE _stands speechless with horror_.

_Sieg. _ The wretch hath slain
Them both! --My Josephine! we are now alone!
Would we had ever been so! --All is over
For me! --Now open wide, my sire, thy grave;
Thy curse hath dug it deeper for thy son
In mine! --The race of Siegendorf is past.

The end of the fifth act and the Drama.
B. P. J^y 20, 1822.


FOOTNOTES:

[159] {337}[This is not correct. _The Young Lady's Tale, or the Two
Emilys_ and _The Clergyman's Tale, or Pembroke_, were contributed by
Sophia Lee. _Kruitzner, or The Germans Tale_, was written by Harriet Lee
(1757-1851), the younger of the sisters. Miss Lee began her literary
career as a dramatist.
A comedy, _The New Peerage; or, Our Eyes may
deceive us_, was played at Drury Lane, November 10, 1787. In 1798 she
published _The Mysterious Marriage; or, The Heirship of Rosalva_. After
the publication of Byron's _Werner_, she wrote a dramatic version of
_The German's Tale_, under the title of _The Three Strangers_. It was
brought out at Covent Garden, December 10, 1825, and acted four times.

The first volume of the _Canterbury Tales_, by Harriet Lee, was
published in 1797; the second volume, by Sophia Lee, in 1798 (a second
edition of these volumes was published in 1799); a third volume (second
edition), by Sophia and Harriet Lee, appeared in 1800; the fourth
volume, by Harriet Lee (which contains _The German's Tale_, pp. 3-368)
was published in 1801; and the fifth volume, by Harriet Lee, in 1805.

There can be little doubt that Byron's visit to Churchill's grave at
Dover, which took place April 25, 1816 (see _Poetical Works_, 1901, iv.
45), was suggested by a passage in the _Introduction_, pp. vii. -ix. , to
the first volume (1797) of the _Canterbury Tales_. The author "wanders
forth to note the _memorabilia_ of Dover," is informed that "the
greatest curiosity in the place is the tomb of a poet," and hastens "to
a spot surrounded by ruined walls, in the midst of which stood the white
marble tablet marked with Churchill's name," etc. ]

[cm] {338} [_Of England or any other country. It may seem unnecessary to
add this, but having seen a poem of mine never intended for
representation, dragged in spite of my remonstrance upon the theatres of
more than one nation, I trust it will not be deemed impertinent if I
once more repeat my protest against_ [_a gross_] _folly which may injure
me--and_ [_benefit_] _no one. If it be understood that_ all dramatic
_writing is generically intended for the stage, I deny it_[*]. _With the
exception of Shakespeare_ (_or Tate, Cibber, and Thompson under his
name_), _not one in fifty plays of our dramatists is ever acted, however
much they may be read. Only_ one _of Massinger--none of Ford--none of
Marlowe_, one _of Ben Jonson--none of Webster, none of Heywood: and,
even in Comedy, Congreve is rarely acted, and that in only one of his
plays. Neither is Joanna Baillie. I am far from attempting to raise
myself to a level with the least of these names--I only wish to be_
[_exempted_] _from a stage which is not theirs. Perhaps Mr. Lamb's essay
upon the effects of dramatic representation on the intelligent
auditor_[**]----_marks are just with regard to this--plays of Shakespeare
himself--the hundredfold to those of others_. --From a mutilated page of
MS. M. ]

[*] [Byron is replying to Jeffrey (_Edinburgh Review_, February, 1822,
vol. 36, p. 422). "A drama is not merely a dialogue, but _an action_:
and necessarily supposes that something is to pass before the eyes of
assembled spectators. . . . If an author does not bear this continually in
his mind, and does not write in the ideal presence of an eager and
diversified assemblage, he may be a poet, perhaps, but assuredly he will
never be a dramatist. "]

[**] ["It may seem a paradox, but I cannot help being of opinion that
the plays of Shakespeare are less calculated for performance on a stage
than those of almost any other dramatist whatever. "--"On the Tragedies
of Shakespeare," _Complete Works of Charles Lamb_, 1875, p. 255. It was,
too, something of a paradox that Byron should be eager to shelter
himself under the aegis of Charles Lamb. But unpopularity, like poverty,
brings together strange bedfellows. ]

[160] {340}[The Thirty Years' War dates from the capture of Pilsen by
Mansfeld, November 21, 1618, and did not end till the Peace of
Westphalia, October 24, 1648. The incident recorded in act v. , a solemn
commemoration of the Treaty of Prague, must have taken place in 1635.
But in _Werner_ there is little or no attempt "to follow history. "]

[cn] {342} _Yea--to a peasant_. --[MS. erased. ]

[161] {346}[Compare--"And still my passions wake and war. " Lines
"To----" [Lady Blessington], _Poetical Works_, 1901, iv. 564. ]

[162] {347}[It has been surmised that Byron had some knowledge of the
early life and history of the dramatist Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias
Werner (1768-1823), and that a similarity of character and incident
suggested the renaming of Kruitzner. But the change of name was made in
1815, not in 1821, and it is far more probable that Byron called his
hero "Werner," because "Kruitzner" is unrhythmical, or simply because
"Werner," a common German surname, is not unlike "Werther," which was
"familiar as a household word. "]

[163] {348}["Lord Byron's establishment at Pisa was, like everything
else about him, somewhat singular; it consisted of a monkey, a mastiff,
a bull-dog, two cats, . . . several servants in livery, and the trusty
Fletcher as _Major Domo_, or superintendant of the _Menagerie_. "--_Life,
Writings, Opinions, etc. _, 1825, ii. 203, 204. See, too, Medwin,
_Conversations_, 1824, pp. 1, 2. ]

[164] [The Oder crosses and re-crosses the northern frontier of
Silesia. ]

[165] {349}[In Miss Lee's _Kruitzner_ Gabor is always spoken of as "The
Hungarian. " He is no doubt named after Bethlen Gabor, Prince of
Transylvania, who was elected King of Hungary, August, 1620. ]

[166] {351}[Compare--"And so--for God's sake--hock and soda-water. "
Fragment written on MS. of Canto I. of _Don Juan_. ]

[167] {352}[On the 18th of August, 1619, Bethlen Gabor threw in his lot
with the Bohemians, and "wrote the Directors at Prague that he would
march with his troops, and in September would, in their defence, enter
Moravia. "--History of the Thirty Years War, by A. Gindely, 1885, i. 166.
_Vide ibid. _, for portrait of "Gabriel Bethlem, D. G. Princeps
Transsylvaniae, etc. , AEtatis suae 40, A^o Christi, 1620. "]

[168] {354}[From _super_, and _nagel_, "a nail. " To drink _supernaculum_
is to empty the cup so thoroughly that the last drop or "pearl," drained
on to the nail, retains its shape, and does not run. If "the pearl"
broke and began to slide, the drinker was "sconced. " Hence, good liquor.
See Rabelais' _Life of Gargantua, etc. _, Urquhart's Translation, 1863,
lib. i, ch. 5. ]

[co] {355} _Without means and he has not a stiver left_. --[MS. erased. ]

[cp] {357} _ This is one of those to whom I owe aid_. --[MS. erased. ]

[169] {364}[Compare Age of Bronze, line 130, _vide post_, p. 549. ]

[170] {365}[For the "merchant dukes" of Florence, see _Childe Harold_,
Canto IV. stanza lx. line 4. See, too, _ibid_. , stanza xlviii. line 8,
_Poetical Works_, 1899, ii. 375, and 365, note 1. ]

[171] {367}["Your printer has made one odd mistake:--'poor as a _Mouse_'
instead of 'poor as a _Miser_. ' The expression may seem strange, but it
is only a translation of 'Semper avarus eget! '" (Hor. , _Epist. I. _ ii.
56). --Letter to Murray, May 29, 1822, _Letters_, 1901, vi. 75. ]

[cq] {368} ----_who furnish our good masters_. --[MS. M. ]

[172] {385}[The Swedish garrisons did not evacuate Bohemia till 1649,
and then, as their occupation was gone, with considerable reluctance.
"It need not, therefore, be a matter of wonder that from the discharged
soldiers numerous bands of robbers ['_bande nere_,' or 'black bands:'
see _Deformed Transformed_, Part II. sc. i. line 65] were formed; that
these pursued on their own account the trade that they had formerly
carried on under the cover of military law, and that commerce became
again unsafe on the highways. "--_History of the Thirty Years' War_, by
A. Gindely, 1885, ii. 382, 383. ]

[173] [Albrecht Wenceslaus Eusebius, Count of Waldstein, Duke of
Mecklenburg, quartermaster of the Imperial Army in the Thirty Years'
War, was born in Bohemia, September 15, 1583, and assassinated at Egra,
February 25, 1634.

Johann Tserclas Count von Tilly, born 1559, defeated the Bohemians at
the battle of Prague, November 8, 1620, died April 30, 1632.

Gustavus Adolphus, the "Lion of the North," born December 9, 1594,
succeeded his father, Charles IX. , King of Sweden, in 1611. As head of
the Protestant League, he invaded Germany, defeated the armies of Conti
and Schaumburg, June-December, 1630; defeated Tilly at Leipzig and
Breitenfeld, September 7, 1631; defeated Wallenstein at Lutzen; but was
killed in battle, November 16, 1632.

Johan Bannier, or Baner, Swedish general, born June 23, 1595, defeated
the Saxons near Chemnitz, April 4, 1639, died December, 1649.

Lennart Torstenson, Swedish general, born 1603, fought at the battle of
Leipzig, and was taken prisoner at Nurnburg. In 1641 he was appointed
General-in-Chief of the Swedes in Germany, and died at Stockholm, April,
1651.

Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, born 1604, succeeded Gustavus Adolphus in
command in Germany, November 16, 1632; defeated the Imperialists at
Rheinfeld, 1638; died at Huningen, 1639.

Banier and Torstenson were living when the Peace of Westphalia was
proclaimed, November 3, 1648. ]

[174] {373}[George William, Elector of Brandenburgh (1595-1640), was in
alliance with Gustavus Adolphus; John George, Elector of Saxony
(1585-1656) (_vide supra_, line 179), was on the side of the
Imperialists. ]

[175] {377}[Compare _The Antiquary_, by Sir W. Scott, i. 366, chap. vii.
ed. 1851: "'Good man,' said Sir Arthur, 'can you think of nothing? --of
no help? --I'll make you rich--I'll give you a farm--I'll----' 'Our
riches will soon be equal,' said the beggar, looking upon the strife of
the waters. 'They are sae already; for I hae nae land, and you would give
your fair bounds and barony for a square yard of rock that would be dry
for twal hours. '"--_The Antiquary_ was published in 1816, six years
before the second version of _Werner_ was written, and ten years after
the death of the Duchess of Devonshire. ]

[176] {381}[The following is the original passage in the
novel:--"'Stralenheim,' said Conrad, 'does not appear to me altogether
the man you take him for:--but were it even otherwise, he owes me
gratitude not only for the past, but for what he supposes to be my
present employment. I saved his life, and he therefore places confidence
in me. He has been robbed last night--is sick--a stranger--and in no
condition to discover the villain who has plundered him. . . . and the
business on which I sought the Intendant was chiefly
that. '"--_Canterbury Tales_, by Sophia and Harriet Lee, 1838, ii. 203,
204. ]

[177] ["'And who,' said he, 'has entitled you to brand thus with
ignominious epithets a being you do not know? Who . . . has taught you
that it would be safe even for my son to insult me? '--'It is not
necessary to know the person of a ruffian,' replied Conrad, indignantly,
'to give him the appellation he merits:--and what is there in common
between my father and such a character? '--'_Everything_,' said
Siegendorf, bitterly,--'for that ruffian was your father! '"--Ibid. , p.
204. ]

[178] {382}["'Conrad . . . before you thus presume to chastise me with your
eye, learn to understand my actions! Young, and inexperienced in the
world--reposing hitherto in the bosom of indulgence and luxury, is it
for _you_ to judge of the impulse of the passions, or the temptations of
misery? Wait till, like me, you have blighted your fairest hopes--have
endured humiliation and sorrow--poverty and insult--before you pretend
to judge of their effect on you! Should that miserable day ever
arrive--should you see the being at your mercy who stands between you
and everything that is dear or noble in life! --who is ready to tear from
you your name--your inheritance--your very life itself--congratulate
your own heart, if, like me, you are content with petty plunder, and are
not tempted to exterminate a serpent, who now lives, perhaps to sting us
all. '"--_Canterbury Tales_, by Sophia and Harriet Lee, 1838, ii. 204,
205. ]

[179] {383}["'You do not know this man,' continued he; 'I do! --I believe
him to be mean--sordid--deceitful! You will conceive yourself safe,
because you are young and brave! Learn, however, . . . none are so secure
but desperation or subtilty may reach them! Stralenheim, in the palace
of a prince, was in my power! My knife was held over him--a single
moment would have swept him from the face of the earth, and with him all
my future fears:--I forbore--and I am now in his. --Are you certain that
you are not so too? Who assures you he does not know you? --who tells you
that he has not lured you into his society, either to rid himself of you
for ever, or to plunge you with your family into a
dungeon? '"--_Canterbury Tales_, by Sophia and Harriet Lee, 1838, ii. 205.
It should be noted that this and other passages from Miss Lee's story,
which have been selected for comparison with the text, are to be
regarded as representative parallels--samples of a far more extended
adaptation. _Vide ante_, "The Introduction to _Werner_," p. 326. ]

[180] ["'Me . . . he has known invariably through every change of fortune
or of name--and why not you? --_Me_ he has entrapped--are you more
discreet? He has wound the snares of Idenstein around me:--of a reptile,
whom, a few years ago, I would have spurned from my presence, and whom,
in spurning now, I have furnished with fresh venom:--will _you_ be more
patient? --Conrad, Conrad, there are crimes rendered venial by the
occasion, and temptations too exquisite for human fortitude to master or
endure. '"--_Canterbury Tales_, by Sophia and Harriet Lee, 1838, ii.
205. ]

[181] {384}["'These are only the systems of my father . . . My mother
thinks not with him? '"--Ibid. , p. 206. ]

[182] {385} The Ravenstone, "Rabenstein," is the _stone gibbet_ of
Germany, and so called from the ravens perching on it. [Compare
_Manfred_, act iii.