Hagb. Erewhile That wish was mine-How different it is now! Sig. Shall I not be forgotten when thou leav'st me? Sig. When shall I again Behold thee? Her enemy to love. Sig. Too true! Hagb. Her deeds Tow'rds thee are not maternal-therefore, she Deserves not filial love. Sig. Yet, in my heart The spirit of revenge finds no abode. Hagb. Oh, Heaven! I cannot beg-I dare not say What are my wishes. Sig. Say it not then, Hagbarth. Such thoughts had better wear the veil of silence. Hagb. Nay, Signa, if thou lov'st me, thou should'st listen! Hagb. Come, follow me at once, and fly With thy lov'd Hagbarth to the shores of Norway! This request Signa resolutely refuses, but promises to go with Hagbarth, if he will come for her in the spring season of the following year. We have not room for the rest of this dialogue, which is interrupted by the clashing of swords. Hamund endeavouring to prevent the sudden approach of the queen and her attendants, is mortally wounded and dies. The first act of Bera's guards (who has entered in great wrath) is to bind with ropes (made of sedge) the hands of Hagbarth, but he instantly breaks them asunder, and disdainfully flings them away. Bera then, with a refinement of cruelty, cuts off a lock of Signa's hair, with which, instead of the ropes, she orders Hagbarth to be bound. To this, of course, he makes no resistance; though Signa entreats him to break through his fetters as before, and make his escape by flight. He kisses the lock of hair and utters a fine speech, which we must not pause to transcribe, though it is one of the best in the play. Signa believes that death will now be her portion, as well as that of Hagbarth; but her mother, fully aware of her attachment, says, that life will to her be the greater punishment. The fourth act is opened with a soliloquy of Prince Alger, who is deeply affected by the situation of his sister, and by the approaching fate of Hagbarth, whose execution is appointed for the following day. He now also repents of the oath which Bera had extorted from himand perceives only the most melancholy prospects before him. Signa will, in all probability, die of grief. Bera will not, by the fulfilment of her revenge, lessen her affliction; and he himself will be left to reign-a king amid the graves of all that were dear to him. After this follows a fine and poetical dialogue between Alger and Signa; at the conclusion of which he promises to her, as the only step which his oath has left within his power to grant to her, a meeting with Hagbarth in his prison. There is next a scene between the latter and his gaoler, in which are some highly beautiful passages, especially where the prince refuses his keeper's proposal of cutting the fetters by which his hands are bound. The knots are then carefully untied, and the lock of hair given to Hagbarth. Hagh. Oh, treasure, inexpressibly belov'd! Now thou art mine !-Life was indeed thy price, There comes next an interview with the prisoner several ballads. Then Alger appears, who, in the course of an affecting dialogue, communicates to the prisoner, that he may have a private conference with Signa. We hasten to transcribe the dialogue between them, and shall then as rapidly as possible wind up this article, which, considering that "Hagbarth and Signa" is certainly not the best of Oehlanschlaeger's productions, has perhaps extended to undue limits. SCENE VI. SIGNA, HAGBARTH. (Signa has roses in her hand, and other flowers in her breast. As soon as they are alone, they fall into each other's arms.) Hagb. Oh, happiness-for beauty such as this, To die! Sig. Fate hurries on-Now listen, Hagbarth! Hagb. From Heaven, immortal joy now beckons us Sig. Ay, truly. Hagb. Signa, Signa! lov'st thou me? Sig. With all my soul I love thee! Assails me, that compassion only moves Sig. Compassion! How? For him. That admiration gains from all, and envy! Hagb. Then all is well-Death is no more unwelcome. I know thy truth, and shall, in Freya's halls, stai Sig. Nay, thou shalt not wait me long. Hagb. Oh Signa, speak not thus!-Yet live, I pray thee; nemok In summer's pleasant hours, think of thy Hagbarth!odavo aux When western breezes blow, and thrushes sing, When elder flowers are blooming, and the moon pa zasian s In mortal life, but one brief day and night? Eternity shall never disunite them! Sig. Take, Hagbarth, this my gift-the first and last These roses-All the buds for thee I gather'd; But with another year fresh flowers will bloom; Bera will then too late bewail her lot; And vainly Hagbarth's grave and Signa's too, With flowers adorn. Hagb. Roses!-I know full well Wherefore they wounded me!-'Twas the sweet warning Of hapless love! But, Signa, what are these Ill-chosen flowers thou bear'st in thine own breast? Sig. They are but for myself. Hagb. What do I see?— Ha! Poison! Thou did'st entreat me hence to fly with thee. Which now I do renounce I gave my word, Hagb. Signa-Signa! Sig. Hear me, beloved!-When from that elder tree, Sig. My life below Were but a tedious and a torturing death! It shall be solemnized, a festival Of faithful and unconquer'd love! Hagb. Well-then, We part not? Sig. Never! Hagb. Where on all this earth May there be found a youth so fortunate. The fifth act abounds with long speeches, more carefully written per haps than the rest of the poem, but we have not time left even to analyse them. The first scene exhibits Bera under the influence both of grief and an accusing conscience. Then follows a dialogue in which Signa vainly endeavours, by eloquence, to change her mother's determination regarding Hagbarth. The same endeavour is afterwards made by Alger, who succeeds so far, as to extort from Bera a promise (Exeunt.) 1 that Hagbarth shall be allowed to survive, but, on condition that he shall be everlastingly separated from Signa, and that he shall first undergo, even to the last moment, all the horrors of death by anticipation. The reader will naturally foresee, that the queen's intended reprieve will come too late. On looking over the speeches in this part of the play, we regret having made extracts so freely from the preceding acts. We have room only for a hasty sketch of the last scenes. SCENE VII. Hagb. (To one of the Guards.) Thanks, friendly youth! In good time hast thou freed My hands, that I may stretch them, ere I die, With fervour to Walhalla! Trabant. That indeed Is not denied to thee. Hagb. Death is to me But child's play! But if she is firm and faithful— Than tenderness of momentary impulse, This must I know ere I from life depart. Is it not true, that to the criminal, Who thus is doom'd to death, one wish is granted, If not too bold? One cup, perchance, at parting, That may, for the last time, his spirit cheer? The guards answering, that his last request, whatever it may be, will be granted, he desires, that (according to the signal agreed upon with the princess) his red mantle may be hung upon the trees. The time allowed him for prayers is not yet elapsed, and he watches until the flames burst out Ber. Go-rescue him. fiercely from the dwelling of Signa.(The historical reader will remember that houses in Denmark were of wood.) Satisfied thus of her constancy, he immediately stabs himself with his own dagger to the heart, and dies. Bera then enters with her intended reprieve. Erich. See how the flames ascend! Ber. Let Hagbarth live! Trab. He is already dead. Ber. Already dead!-But who comes here? (Signa enters through the flames, pale and scorched, at- Alg. Here is your daughter, queen! Ber. Signa!--Insane! "Tis well that thou art rescued from the fire. Sig. I see the mantle. Where is Hagbarth? Ha! (Sees the body.) Trab. He ordered us, it was his last request, To hang his mantle there. When he beheld To try the constancy of Signa's heart. Oh, Hagbarth, couldst thou doubt ?-But I forgive thee! His own destroyer. Sig. Has thy heart relented? My spirit ne'er descended. Have torn us yet asunder? Sig. Nay, death unites us. For thy constancy Ber. What mean'st thou, daughter? Sig. Me too hath the kiss Of death already chill'd. My brother! thou Hast rescued me from outward flames. No power May quench the fires of poison in my veins! Signa, perceiving that death approaches, betakes herself to the dead body of Hagbarth-embraces it, and dies. Bera then soon after breaks out into a strain of poetry, addressed to her remaining son Alger, which almost conciliates the reader, notwithstanding all her past cruelty and sternness; but we have not time left for it now. With the following lines the tragedy is concluded: Long, long the fate of this unhappy pair Like those two brilliant stars that through the gloom Yet one word before closing this article. We are well aware, (as we said at the commencement,) that from readers, accustomed to the carefully finished and ornate style of Müllner, Körner, and Grillparzer, the present author runs a risk of meeting an unfavourable reception. His productions, indeed, may sometimes be compared to mere outline sketches,-or, to use a more poetic illustration, they are like trees without the adornment of leaves and blossoms. But let these hastily written tragedies of Oehlanschlaeger be compared with the most finished compositions of the French School, or even with those of Wieland or Collin, and the superiority even of the Dane's rudest outlines will then be manifest. L. M. F. HUBERT; YEARS roll'd along: the aged Briton's life Which once he loved to tell. Nor oft refused With gladsome friends, from creek of palmy isle, Who scarce can know his words :-how different far VOL. VIII. * Sec page 26. 40 |
