The Poems of Schiller — Suppressed poems

With steed trained aright,
And bold for the fight,
With a sword by the side,
To rove far and wide, —
Quick, nimble, and free
As the finch that we see
On bushes and trees,
Or braving the breeze, —
Huzza, then! the Friedlander's banner for me!

From Wallenstein's Camp, scene the last.

SECOND CUIRASSIER sings

Up, up, my brave comrades! to horse! to horse!
Let us haste to the field and to freedom!
To the field, for 'tis there that is proved our hearts' force,
'Tis there that in earnest we need 'em!
None other can there our places supply,
Each must stand alone, — on himself must rely.

CHORUS

None other can there our places supply,
Each must stand alone, — on himself must rely.

DRAGOON

Now freedom appears from the world to have flown,
None but lords and their vassals one traces;
While falsehood and cunning are ruling alone
O'er the living cowardly races.
The man who can look upon death without fear —
The soldier, — is now the sole freeman left here.

CHORUS

The man who can look upon death without fear —
The soldier, — is now the sole freeman left here.

FIRST YAGER

The cares of this life, he casts them away,
Untroubled by fear or by sorrow;
He rides to his fate with a countenance gay,
And finds it to-day or to-morrow;
And if 'tis to-morrow, to-day we'll employ
To drink full deep of the goblet of joy,

CHORUS

And if 'tis to-morrow, to-day we'll employ
To drink full deep of the goblet of joy.
[They refill their glasses and drink.

CAVALRY SERGEANT

The skies o'er him shower his lot filled with mirth,
He gains, without toil, its full measure;
The peasant, who grubs in the womb of the earth,
Believes that he'll find there the treasure,
Through lifetime he shovels and digs like a slave,
And digs — till at length he has dug his own grave.

CHORUS

Through lifetime he shovels and digs like a slave,
And digs — till at length he has dug his own grave.

FIRST YAGER

The horseman, as well as his swift-footed beast,
Are guests by whom all are affrighted,
When glimmer the lamps at the wedding feast,
In the banquet he joins uninvited;
He woos not long, and with gold he ne'er buys,
But carries by storm love's blissful prize.

CHORUS

He woos not long, and with gold he ne'er buys,
But carries by storm love's blissful prize.

SECOND CUIRASSIER

Why weeps the maiden? Why sorrows she so?
Let me hence, let me hence, girl, I pray thee?
The soldier on earth no sure quarters can know,
With true love he ne'er can repay thee.
Fate hurries him onward with fury blind,
His peace he never can leave behind.

CHORUS

Fate hurries him onward with fury blind,
His peace he can never leave behind,

FIRST YAGER

(Taking his two neighbors by the hand. The rest do the same,