SCENE XIII.—: The Prison at Heilbronn. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Goethe’s Works, vol. 3 (Goetz von Berlichingen, Iphigenia in Tauris, Tarquato Tasso, etc) [1885]
Edition used:
Goethe’s Works, illustrated by the best German artists, 5 vols. (Philadelphia: G. Barrie, 1885). Vol. 3.
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SCENE XIII.—
The Prison at Heilbronn.
GoetzandElizabeth.
Elizabeth.
I entreat thee, dear husband, speak to me. Thy silence alarms me; thy spirit consumes thee, pent up within thy breast. Come, let me see thy wounds; they mend daily. In this desponding melancholy I know thee no longer!
Goetz.
Seekest thou Goetz? He is long since gone! Piece by piece have they robbed me of all I held dear—my hand, my property, my freedom, my good name! My life! of what value is it to me? What news of George? Is Lerse gone to seek him?
Elizabeth.
He is, my love! Be of good cheer; things may yet take a favorable turn.
Goetz.
He whom God hath stricken lifts himself up no more! I best know the load I have to bear.—To misfortune I am inured.—But now it is not Weislingen alone, not the peasants alone, not the death of the emperor, nor my wounds—it is the whole united—. My hour is come! I had hoped it should have been like my life. But His will be done!
Elizabeth.
Wilt thou not eat something?
Goetz.
Nothing, my love! See how the sun shines yonder!
Elizabeth.
It is a fine spring day!
Goetz.
My love, wilt thou ask the keeper’s permission for me to walk in his little garden for half an hour, that I may look upon the clear face of heaven, the pure air, and the blessed sun?
Elizabeth.
I will—and he will readily grant it.