The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 04
TekstTHE PRINCE OF HOMBURG
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ
FREDERICK WILLIAM, Elector of Brandenburg.
THE ELECTRESS.
PRINCESS NATALIE OF ORANGE, his niece,
Honorary Colonel of a regiment of Dragoons.
FIELD-MARSHAL DÖRFLING.
PRINCE FREDERICK ARTHUR OF HOMBURG,
General of cavalry.
COLONEL KOTTWITZ, of the regiment
of the Princess of Orange.
HENNINGS
COUNT TRUCHSZ Infantry Colonels.
COUNT HOHENZOLLERN, of the Elector's suite.
VON DER GOLZ }
COUNT GEORGE VON SPARREN STRANZ }
SIEGFRIED VON MÖRNER } Captains of Cavalry
COUNT REUSS }
A SERGEANT }
Officers. Corporals and troopers. Ladies- and Gentlemen-in-waiting. Pages. Lackeys. Servants. People of both sexes, young and old.
Time: 1675.
THE PRINCE OF HOMBURG (1810)
By HEINRICH VON KLEIST
TRANSLATED BY HERMANN HAGEDORN, A.B.
Author of A Troop of the Guard and Other Poems
ACT I
Scene: Fehrbellin. A garden laid out in the old French style. In the background, a palace with a terrace from which a broad stair descends. It is night.
SCENE I
The PRINCE OF HOMBURG sits with head bare and shirt unbuttoned, half-sleeping, half waking, under an oak, binding a wreath. The ELECTOR, ELECTRESS, PRINCESS NATALIE, COUNT HOHENZOLLERN, CAPTAIN GOLZ and others come stealthily out of the palace and look down upon him from the balustrade of the terrace. Pages with torches.
HOHENZOLLERN. The Prince of Homburg, our most valiant cousin,
Who these three days has pressed the flying Swedes
Exultant at the cavalry's forefront,
And scant of breath only today returned
To camp at Fehrbellin—your order said
That he should tarry here provisioning
Three hours at most, and move once more apace
Clear to the Hackel Hills to cope with Wrangel,
Seeking to build redoubts beside the Rhyn?
ELECTOR. 'Tis so.
HOHENZOLLERN. Now having charged the commandants
Of all his squadrons to depart the town
Obedient to the plan, sharp ten at night,
He flings himself exhausted on the straw
Like a hound panting, his exhausted limbs
To rest a little while against the fight
Which waits us at the glimmering of dawn.
ELECTOR. I heard so! Well?
HOHENZOLLERN. Now when the hour strikes
And in the stirrup now the cavalry
Expectant paws the ground before the gates—
Who still absents himself The Prince of Homburg,
Their chief. With lights they seek the valiant man,
With torches, lanterns, and they find him—where?
[He takes a torch from the hand of a page.]
As a somnambulist, look, on that bench,
Whither in sleep, as you would ne'er believe,
The moonshine lured him, vaguely occupied
Imagining himself posterity
And weaving for his brow the crown of fame.
ELECTOR. What!
HOHENZOLL. Oh, indeed! Look down here: there he sits!
[From the terrace he throws the light on the PRINCE.]
ELECTOR. In slumber sunk? Impossible!
HOHENZOLLERN. In slumber
Sunk as he is, speak but his name—he drops.
[Pause.]
ELECTRESS. Sure as I live, the youth is taken ill.
NATALIE. He needs a doctor's care—
ELECTRESS. We should give help,
Not waste time, gentlemen, meseems, in scorn.
HOHENZOLLERN (handing back the torch).
He's sound, you tender-hearted women folk,
By Jove, as sound as I! He'll make the Swede
Aware of that upon tomorrow's field.
It's nothing more, and take my word for it,
Than a perverse and silly trick of the mind.
ELECTOR. By faith, I thought it was a fairy-tale!
Follow me, friends, we'll take a closer look.
[They descend from the terrace.]
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING (to the pages).
Back with the torches!
HOHENZOLLERN. Leave them, leave them, friends!
These precincts might roar up to heaven in fire
And his soul be no more aware of it
Than the bright stone he wears upon his hand.
[They surround him, the pages illuminating the scene.]
ELECTOR (bending over the PRINCE).
What leaf is it he binds? Leaf of the willow?
HOHENZOLL. What! Willow-leaf, my lord? It is the bay,
Such as his eyes have noted on the portraits
Of heroes hung in Berlin's armor-hall.
ELECTOR. Where hath he found that in my sandy soil?
HOHENZOLL. The equitable gods may guess at that!
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING.
It may be in the garden, where the gardener
Has nurtured other strange, outlandish plants.
ELECTOR. Most curious, by heaven! But what's the odds?
I know what stirs the heart of this young fool.
HOHENZOLL. Indeed! Tomorrow's clash of arms, my liege!
Astrologers, I'll wager, in his mind
Are weaving stars into a triumph wreath.
[The PRINCE regards the wreath.]
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING. Now it is done!
HOHENZOLLERN. A shame, a mortal shame,
That there's no mirror in the neighborhood!
He would draw close to it, vain as any girl,
And try his wreath on, thus, and then again
This other way—as if it were a bonnet!
ELECTOR. By faith! But I must see how far he'll go!
[The ELECTOR takes the wreath from the PRINCE'S hand while the latter regards him, flushing. The ELECTOR thereupon twines his neck-chain about the wreath and gives it to the PRINCESS. The PRINCE rises in excitement, but the ELECTOR draws back with the PRINCESS, still holding the wreath aloft. The PRINCE follows her with outstretched arms.]
THE PRINCE (whispering).
Natalie! Oh, my girl! Oh, my beloved!
ELECTOR. Make haste! Away!
HOHENZOLLERN. What did the fool say?
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING. What?
[They all ascend the stair to the terrace.]
THE PRINCE. Frederick, my prince! my father!
HOHENZOLLERN. Hell and devils!
ELECTOR (backing away from him).
Open the gate for me!
THE PRINCE. Oh, mother mine!
HOHENZOLL. The raving idiot!
ELECTRESS. Whom did he call thus?
THE PRINCE (clutching at the wreath).
Beloved, why do you recoil? My Natalie!
[He snatches a glove from the PRINCESS' hand.]
HOHENZOLL. Heaven and earth! What laid he hands on there?
COURTIER. The wreath?
NATALIE. No, no!
HOHENZOLLERN (opening the door). Hither! This way, my
liege!
So the whole scene may vanish from his eye!
ELECTOR. Back to oblivion, with you, oblivion,
Sir Prince of Homburg! On the battle-field,
If you be so disposed, we meet again!
Such matters men attain not in a dream!
[They all go out; the door crashes shut in the PRINCE'S face. Pause.]
SCENE II
The PRINCE OF HOMBURG remains standing before the door a moment in perplexity; then dreamily descends from the terrace, the hand holding the glove pressed against his forehead. At the foot of the stair he turns again, gazing up at the door.
SCENE III
Enter COUNT HOHENZOLLERN by the wicket below. A page follows him. The PRINCE OF HOMBURG.
PAGE (Softly).
Count! Listen, do! Most worshipful Sir
Count!
HOHENZOLLERN (vexed).
Grasshopper! Well? What's wanted?
PAGE. I am sent—
HOHENZOLL. Speak softly now, don't wake him with your chirping!
Come now! What's up?
PAGE. The Elector sent me hither.
He charges you that, when the Prince awakes,
You breathe no word to him about the jest
It was his pleasure to allow himself.
HOHENZOLLERN (softly).
You skip off to the wheatfield for some sleep.
I knew that, hours ago. So run along.
SCENE IV
COUNT HOHENZOLLERN and the PRINCE of HOMBURG.
HOHENZOLLERN (taking a position some distance behind the PRINCE who is still gazing fixedly up toward the terrace). Arthur!
[The PRINCE drops to the ground.]
And there he lies!
You could not do it better with a bullet.
[He approaches him.]
Now I am eager for the fairy-tale
He'll fabricate to show the reason why
Of all the world he chose this place to sleep in.
[He bends over him.]
Arthur! Hi! Devil's own! What are you up to?
What are you doing here at dead of night?
THE PRINCE. Ah, dear, old fellow!
HOHENZOLLERN. Well, I'm hanged! See here!
The cavalry's a full hour down the road
And you, their colonel, you lie here and sleep.
THE PRINCE. What cavalry?
HOHENZOLLERN. The Mamelukes, of course!
Sure as I live and breathe, the man's forgot
That he commands the riders of the Mark!
THE PRINCE (rising).
My helmet, quick then! My cuirass!
HOHENZOLLERN. Where are they?
THE PRINCE. Off to the right there, Harry.—On the stool.
HOHENZOLL. Where? On the stool?
THE PRINCE. I laid them there, I thought—
HOHENZOLLERN (regarding him).
Then go and get them from the stool yourself.
THE PRINCE. What's this glove doing here
[He stares at the glove in his hand.]
HOHENZOLLERN. How should I know?
[Aside.] Curses! He must have torn that
unobserved from the lady niece's arm. [Abruptly.] Quick
now, be off!
What are you waiting for?
THE PRINCE (casting the glove away again).
I'm coming, coming.
Hi, Frank! The knave I told to wake me must
have—
HOHENZOLLERN (regarding him).
It's raving mad he is!
THE PRINCE. Upon my oath, Harry, my dear, I don't know where I am.
HOHENZOLL. In Fehrbellin, you muddle-headed dreamer—
You're in a by-path of the Castle gardens.
THE PRINCE (to himself).
Engulf me, Night! Unwittingly once more
In slumber through the moonshine have I
strayed! [He pulls himself together.]
Forgive me! Now I know! Last night, recall,
The heat was such one scarce could lie in bed.
I crept exhausted hither to this garden,
And because Night with so sweet tenderness
Encompassed me, fair-haired and odorous Night—
Even as the Persian bride wraps close her lover,
Lo, here I laid my head upon her lap.
What is the clock now?
HOHENZOLLERN. Half an hour of midnight.
THE PRINCE. And you aver the troops are on the march?
HOHENZOLL. Upon my word, sharp, stroke of ten, as planned.
The Princess Orange regiment in van,
By this undoubtedly has reached the heights
Of Hackelwitz, there in the face of Wrangel
To cloak the army's hid approach at dawn.
THE PRINCE. Well, no harm's done. Old Kottwitz captains her
And he knows every purpose of this march.
I should have been compelled, at all events
By two, to come back hither for the council:
Those were the orders. So it's just as well
I stayed in the beginning. Let's be off.
The Elector has no inkling?
HOHENZOLLERN. Bah! How should he?
He's tight abed and snoozing long ago.
[They are about to depart when the PRINCE starts, turns, and picks
up the glove.]
THE PRINCE. I dreamed such an extraordinary dream!
It seemed as though the palace of a king,
Radiant with gold and silver, suddenly
Oped wide its doors, and from its terrace high
The galaxy of those my heart loves best
Came down to me:
The Elector and his Lady and the—third—
What is her name?
HOHENZOLLERN. Whose?
THE PRINCE (searching his memory). Why, the one I mean!
A mute must find his tongue to speak her name.
HOHENZOLL. The Platen girl?
THE PRINCE. Come, come, now!
HOHENZOLLERN. The Ramin
THE PRINCE. No, no, old fellow!
HOHENZOLLERN. Bork? Or Winterfeld?
THE PRINCE. No, no! My word! You fail to see the pearl
For the bright circlet that but sets it off!
HOHENZOLL. Damn it, then, tell me! I can't guess the face!
What lady do you mean?
THE PRINCE. Well, never mind.
The name has slipped from me since I awoke,
And goes for little in the story.
HOHENZOLLERN. Well,
Let's have it then!
THE PRINCE. But now, don't interrupt me!—
And the Elector of the Jovelike brow,
Holding a wreath of laurel in his hand,
Stands close beside me, and the soul of me
To ravish quite, twines round the jeweled band
That hangs about his neck, and unto one
Gives it to press upon my locks—Oh, friend!
HOHENZOLL. To whom?
THE PRINCE. Oh, friend!
HOHENZOLLERN. To whom then? Come, speak up!
THE PRINCE. I think it must have been the Platen girl.
HOHENZOLL. Platen? Oh, bosh! Not she who's off in Prussia?
THE PRINCE. Really, the Platen girl. Or the Ramin?
HOHENZOLL. Lord, the Ramin! She of the brick-red hair?
The Platen girl with those coy, violet eyes—
They say you fancy her.
THE PRINCE. I fancy her—
HOHENZOLL. So, and you say she handed you the wreath?
THE PRINCE. Oh, like some deity of fame she lifts
High up the circlet with its dangling chain
As if to crown a hero. I stretch forth,
Oh, in delight unspeakable, my hands
I stretch to seize it, yearning with my soul
To sink before her feet. But as the odor
That floats above green valleys, by the wind's
Cool breathing is dispelled, the group recedes
Up the high terrace from me; lo, the terrace
Beneath my tread immeasurably distends
To heaven's very gate. I clutch at air
Vainly to right, to left I clutch at air,
Of those I loved hungering to capture one.
In vain! The palace portal opes amain.
A flash of lightning from within engulfs them;
Rattling, the door flies to. Only a glove
I ravish from the sweet dream-creature's arm
In passionate pursuing; and a glove,
By all the gods, awaking, here I hold!
HOHENZOLL. Upon my word—and, you assume, the glove
Must be her glove?
THE PRINCE. Whose?
HOHENZOLLERN. Well, the Platen girl's.
THE PRINCE. Platen! Of course. Or could it be Ramin's
HOHENZOLLERN (with a laugh).
Rogue that you are with your mad fantasies!
Who knows from what exploit delectable
Here in a waking hour with flesh and blood
The glove sticks to your hand, now?
THE PRINCE. Eh? What? I?
With all my love—
HOHENZOLLERN. Oh, well then, what's the odds?
Call it the Platen lady, or Ramin.
There is a Prussian post on Sunday next,
So you can find out by the shortest way
Whether your lady fair has lost a glove.
Off! Twelve o'clock! And we stand here and jaw!
THE PRINCE (dreamily into space).
Yes, you are right. Come, let us go to bed.
But as I had it on my mind to say—
Is the Electress who arrived in camp
Not long since with her niece, the exquisite
Princess of Orange, is she still about?
HOHENZOLL. Why?—I declare the idiot thinks—
THE PRINCE. Why?
I've orders to have thirty mounted men
Escort them safely from the battle-lines.
Ramin has been detailed to lead them.
HOHENZOLLERN. Bosh!
They're gone long since, or just about to go.
The whole night long, Ramin, all rigged for flight,
Has hugged the door. But come. It's stroke o' twelve.
And I, for one, before the fight begins,
I want to get some sleep.
SCENE V
The same. Hall in the palace. In the distance, the sound of cannon. The ELECTRESS and PRINCESS NATALIE, dressed for travel, enter, escorted by a gentleman-in-waiting, and sit down at the side. Ladies-in-waiting. A little later the ELECTOR enters with FIELD-MARSHAL. DÖRFLING, the PRINCE OF HOMBURG with the glove in his collar, COUNT HOHENZOLLERN, COUNT TRUCHSZ, COLONEL HENNINGS, TROOP-CAPTAIN VON DER GOLZ and several other generals, colonels and minor officers.
ELECTOR. What is that cannonading?—Is it Götz?
DÖRFLING. It's Colonel Götz, my liege, who yesterday
Pushed forward with the van. An officer
Has come from him already to allay
Your apprehensions ere they come to birth.
A Swedish outpost of a thousand men
Has pressed ahead into the Hackel Hills,
But for those hills Götz stands security
And sends me word that you should lay your plans
As though his van already held them safe.
ELECTOR (to the officers).
The Marshal knows the plan. Now, gentlemen,
I beg you take your pens and write it down.
[The officers assemble on the other side about the FIELD-MARSHAL, and take out their tablets. The ELECTOR turns to a gentleman-in-waiting.]
Ramin is waiting with the coach outside?
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING.
At once, my sovereign. They are hitching now.
ELECTOR (seating himself on a chair behind the ELECTRESS and the
PRINCESS).
Ramin shall escort my belovèd wife,
Convoyed by thirty sturdy cavalrymen.
To Kalkhuhn's, to the chancellor's manor-house.
At Havelberg beyond the Havel, go.
There's not a Swede dare show his face there now.
ELECTRESS. The ferry is restored?
ELECTOR. At Havelberg?
I have arranged for it. The day will break
In all events before you come to it.
[Pause.]
You are so quiet, Natalie, my girl?
What ails the child?
NATALIE. Uncle, I am afraid.
ELECTOR. And yet my little girl was not more safe
In her own mother's lap than she is now.
[Pause.]
ELECTRESS. When do you think that we shall meet again?
ELECTOR. If God grants me the victory, as I
Doubt not He will, in a few days, perhaps.
[Pages enter and serve the ladies refreshments. FIELD-MARSHAL DÖRFLING dictates. The PRINCE OF HOMBURG, pen and tablet in hand, stares at the ladies.]
MARSHAL. The battle-plan his Highness has devised
Intends, my lords, in order that the Swedes'
Fugitive host be utterly dispersed,
The severing of their army from the bridges
That guard their rear along the river Rhyn.
Thus Colonel Hennings—
HENNINGS. Here!
[He writes.]
MARSHAL. Who by the will
Of his liege lord commands the army's right,
Shall seek by stealthy passage through the bush
To circumscribe the enemy's left wing,
Fearlessly hurl his force between the foe
And the three bridges; then, joined with Count Truchsz—
Count Truchsz!
TRUCHSZ (writing). Here!
MARSHAL. Thereupon, joined with Count Truchsz—
[He pauses.]
Who, meanwhile, facing Wrangel on the heights
Has gained firm footing with his cannonry—
TRUCHSZ (writing). Firm footing with his cannonry—
MARSHAL. You hear it?—
[Proceeding.]
Attempt to drive the Swedes into the swamp
Which lies behind their right.
[A lackey enters.]
LACKEY. Madam, the coach is at the door.
[The ladies rise.]
MARSHAL. The Prince of Homburg—
ELECTOR (also rising). Is Ramin at hand?
LACKEY. He's in the saddle, waiting at the gates.
[The royalties take leave of one another.]
TRUCHSZ (writing). Which lies behind their right.
MARSHAL. The Prince of Homburg—
Where is the Prince of Homburg?
HOHENZOLLERN (in a whisper). Arthur!
THE PRINCE (with a start). Here!
HOHENZOLL. Have you gone mad?
THE PRINCE. My Marshal, to command!
[He flushes, and, taking out pen and parchment, writes.]
MARSHAL. To whom His Highness, trusting that he lead
His force to glory as at Rathenow,
Confides the mounted squadrons of the Mark
[He hesitates.]
Though in no way disprizing Colonel Kottwitz
Who shall be aid in counsel and right hand—
[To CAPTAIN GOLZ in a low voice.]
Is Kottwitz here?
GOLZ. No, General. He has,
You note, dispatched me hither in his place
To take the battle order from your lips.
[The PRINCE gazes over toward the ladies again.]
MARSHAL (continuing).
Takes station in the plain near Hackelwitz
Facing the right wing of the enemy
Well out of range of the artillery fire.
GOLZ (writing). Well out of range of the artillery fire.
[The ELECTRESS ties a scarf about the PRINCESS' throat. The PRINCESS, about to draw on a glove, looks around as if she were in search of something.]
ELECTOR (approaches her).
Dear little girl of mine, what have you lost?
ELECTRESS. What are you searching for?
NATALIE. Why, Auntie dear,
My glove! I can't imagine—
[They all look about.]
ELECTOR (to the ladies-in-waiting). Would you mind?—
ELECTRESS (to the PRINCESS). It's in your hand.
NATALIE. The right glove; but the left?
ELECTOR. You may have left it in your bedroom.
NATALIE. Oh,
Bork, if you will?
ELECTOR (to the lady-in-waiting). Quick, quick!
NATALIE. Look on the mantel.
[_The lady-in-waiting goes out.-]
THE PRINCE (aside).
Lord of my life? Could I have heard aright?
[He draws the glove from his collar.]
MARSHAL (looking down at the paper which he holds in
his hand).
Well out of range of the artillery fire.
[Continuing.]
The Prince's Highness—
THE PRINCE (regarding now the glove, now the PRINCESS).
It's this glove she's seeking—
MARSHAL. At our lord sovereign's express command—
GOLZ (writing). At our lord sovereign's express command—
MARSHAL. Whichever way the tide of battle turn
Shall budge not from his designated place.
THE PRINCE. Quick! Now I'll know in truth if it be hers.
[He lets the glove fall, together with his handkerchief; then recovers the handkerchief but leaves the glove lying where everybody can see it.]
MARSHAL (piqued). What is His Highness up to?
HOHENZOLLERN (aside). Arthur!
THE PRINCE. Here!
HOHENZOLL. Faith, you're possessed!
THE PRINCE. My Marshal, to command!
[He takes up pen and tablet once more. The MARSHAL regards him an
instant, questioningly. Pause.]
GOLZ (reading, after he has finished writing).
Shall budge not from his designated place.
MARSHAL (continues).
Until, hard pressed by Hennings and by
Truchsz—
THE PRINCE (looking over GOLZ's shoulder).
Who, my dear Golz? What? I?
GOLZ. Why, yes. Who else
THE PRINCE. I shall not budge—
GOLZ. That's it.
MARSHAL. Well, have you got it
THE PRINCE (aloud).
Shall budge not from my designated place.
[He writes.]
MARSHAL. Until, hard pressed by Hennings and by
Truchsz— [He pauses.]
The left wing of the enemy, dissolved,
Plunges upon its right, and wavering
The massed battalions crowd into the plain,
Where, in the marsh, criss-crossed by ditch on ditch,
The plan intends that they be wholly crushed.
ELECTOR. Lights, pages! Come, my dear, your arm,
and yours.
[He starts to go out with the ELECTRESS and the PRINCESS.]
MARSHAL. Then he shall let the trumpets sound the
charge.
ELECTRESS (as several officers, bowing and scraping, bid her
farewell).
Pray, let me not disturb you, gentlemen.—
Until we meet again!
[The MARSHAL also bids her good-by.]
ELECTOR (suddenly standing still). Why, here we are!
The lady's glove. Come, quick now! There it is.
GENTLEMAN-IN-WAITING. Where?
ELECTOR. At our cousin's, at Prince Homburg's feet.
THE PRINCE. What! At my feet! The glove? It is your own?
[He picks it up and brings it to the PRINCESS.]
NATALIE. I thank you, noble Prince.
THE PRINCE (confused). Then it is yours?
NATALIE. Yes, it is mine; it is the one I lost.
[She takes it and draws it on.]
ELECTRESS (turning to the PRINCESS, she goes out).
Farewell! Farewell! Good luck! God keep you safe!
See that erelong we joyously may meet!
[The ELECTOR goes out with the ladies. Attendants, courtiers and pages follow.]
THE PRINCE (stands an instant as though struck by a bolt from heaven; then with triumphant step he returns to the group of officers). Then he shall let the trumpets sound the charge!
[He, pretends to write.]
MARSHAL (looking down at his paper).
Then he shall let the trumpets sound the charge.—
However, the Elector's Highness, lest
Through some mistake the blow should fall too soon—
[He pauses.]
GOLZ (writes). Through some mistake the blow should fall too soon—
THE PRINCE (aside to COUNT HOHENZOLLERN in great
perturbation).
Oh, Harry!
HOHENZOLLERN (impatiently).
What's up now? What's in your head?
THE PRINCE. Did you not see?
HOHENZOLLERN. In Satan's name, shut up!
MARSHAL (continuing).
Shall send an officer of his staff to him;
Who, mark this well, shall finally transmit
The order for the charge against the foe.
Ere this the trumpets shall not sound the charge.
[The PRINCE gazes dreamily into space.]
Well, have you got it?
GOLZ (writes). Ere this the trumpets shall not sound the charge.
MARSHAL (in raised tone).
Your Highness has it down?
THE PRINCE. Marshal?
MARSHAL. I asked
If you had writ it down?
THE PRINCE. About the trumpets?
HOHENZOLLERN (aside, with emphatic indignation).
Trumpets be damned! Not till the order—
GOLZ (in the same tone). Not
Till he himself—
THE PRINCE (interrupting). Naturally not, before—
But then he'll let the trumpets sound the
charge.
[He writes. Pause.]
MARSHAL. And I desire—pray note it, Baron Golz—
Before the action opens, to confer
With Colonel Kottwitz, if it can be done.
GOLZ (significantly). He shall receive your message. Rest assured.
[Pause.]
ELECTOR (returning).
What now, my colonels and my generals!
The morning breaks. Have you the orders down?
MARSHAL. The thing is done, my liege. Your battle-plan
Is in all points made clear to your commanders.
ELECTOR (picking up his hat and gloves).
And you, I charge, Prince Homburg, learn control!
Recall, you forfeited two victories
Of late, upon the Rhine, so keep your head!
Make me not do without the third today.
My land and throne depend on it, no less.
[To the officers.]
Come!—Frank!
A GROOM (entering). Here!
ELECTOR. Quick there! Saddle me my gray!
I will be on the field before the sun!
[He goes out, followed by generals, colonels and minor officers.]