Forever feel a stranger among strangers. 
The world asks virtues of far other stamp
Than thou hast learned within these simple vales. 
But go—­go thither—­barter thy free soul,
Take land in fief, be minion to a prince,
Where thou might’st be lord paramount, and prince
Of all thine own unburden’d heritage! 
O, Uly, Uly, stay among thy people! 
Go not to Altdorf.  Oh, abandon not
The sacred cause of thy wrong’d native land! 
I am the last of all my race.  My name
Ends with me.  Yonder hang my helm and shield;
They will be buried with me in the grave.[48]
And must I think, when yielding up my breath,
That thou but wait’st the closing of mine eyes,
To stoop thy knee to this new feudal court,
And take in vassalage from Austria’s hands
The noble lands, which I from God received,
Free and unfetter’d as the mountain air!

RUDENZ.

’Tis vain for us to strive against the king. 
The world pertains to him.  Shall we alone,
In mad presumptuous obstinacy, strive
To break that mighty chain of lands, which he
Hath drawn around us with his giant grasp? 
His are the markets, his the courts—­his, too,
The highways; nay, the very carrier’s horse,
That traffics on the Gotthardt, pays him toll. 
By his dominions, as within a net,
We are inclosed, and girded round about—­
And will the Empire shield us?  Say, can it
Protect itself ’gainst Austria’s growing power? 
To God, and not to emperors must we look! 
What store can on their promises be placed,
When they, to meet their own necessities,
Can pawn, and even alienate the towns
That flee for shelter ’neath the Eagle’s wings?[49]
No, uncle!  It is wise and wholesome prudence,
In times like these, when faction’s all abroad,
To vow attachment to some mighty chief. 
The imperial crown’s transferred from line to line.[50]
It has no memory for faithful service
But to secure the favor of these great
Hereditary masters, were to sow
Seed for a future harvest.

ATTINGHAUSEN.

Art so wise? 
Wilt thou see clearer than thy noble sires,
Who battled for fair freedom’s priceless gem
With life, and fortune, and heroic arm? 
Sail down the lake to Lucern, there inquire
How Austria’s thraldom weighs the Cantons down. 
Soon she will come to count our sheep, our cattle,
To portion out the Alps, e’en to their peaks,
And in our own free woods to hinder us
From striking down the eagle or the stag;
To set her tolls on every bridge and gate,
Impoverish us, to swell her lust of sway,
And drain our dearest blood to feed her wars. 
No, if our blood must flow, let it be shed
In our own cause!  We purchase liberty
More cheaply far than bondage.

RUDENZ.

What can we,
A shepherd race, against great Albert’s hosts?

ATTING.