Early Plays - Catiline, the Warrior's Barrow, Olaf Liljekrans Part 16

MANLIUS. Such is the way of young and buoyant souls.

They slumber on as peaceful and secure As though embosomed in their mothers' arms, Instead of in a forest wilderness.

They rest as though they dream some merry game Were held in store for them when they awake, Instead of battle,--the last one, perchance, That will be theirs to fight.

STATILIUS. [Awakes and rises.] Still standing guard?

You must be weary? I'll relieve you now.

MANLIUS. Go rest yourself instead. Youth needs his sleep; His untamed pa.s.sions tax his native strength.

'Tis otherwise when once the hair turns gray, When in our veins the blood flows lazily, And age weighs heavily upon our shoulders.

STATILIUS. Yes, you are right. Thus I too shall in time, An old and hardened warrior--

MANLIUS. Are you sure The fates decreed you such a destiny?

STATILIUS. And pray, why not? Why all these apprehensions?

Has some misfortune chanced?

MANLIUS. You think no doubt That we have naught to fear, foolhardy youth?

STATILIUS. Our troops are strongly reenforced--

MANLIUS. Indeed,-- With fugitive slaves and gladiators--

STATILIUS. Well,-- Grant that they are; together they may prove No little aid, and all the tribes of Gaul Will send us help--

MANLIUS. --Which has not yet arrived.

STATILIUS. You doubt that the Allobroges will keep Their promised word?

MANLIUS. I know these people well From days gone by. However, let that pa.s.s.

The day that dawns will doubtless bring to light What destinies the G.o.ds have set for us.

MANLIUS. But go the rounds, my friend, and ascertain If all the guards perform their proper tasks.

For we must fend against a night attack; We know not where the enemy makes his stand.

[STATILIUS goes into the forest.]

MANLIUS. [Alone by the camp fire.]

The clouds begin to gather thick and fast; It is a dark and storm-presaging night;-- A misty fog hangs heavy on my breast, As though foreboding mishap to us all.

Where is it now, that easy carefree spirit With which in former times I went to war?

Ah, can it be the weight of years alone That now I feel? Strange--strange, indeed,--last night Even the young seemed sorely out of heart.

MANLIUS. [After a pause.]

The G.o.ds shall know revenge was not the aim For which I joined and followed Catiline.

My wrath flared up within me for a s.p.a.ce When first I felt I had been wronged, insulted;-- The old blood is not yet entirely cold; Now and again it courses warmly through my veins.

But the humiliation is forgotten.

I followed Catiline for his own sake; And I shall watch o'er him with zealous care.

Here stands he all alone amidst these hosts Of paltry knaves and dissolute companions.

They cannot comprehend him,--he in turn Is far too proud to wish to fathom them.

[He throws some branches on the fire and remains standing in silence. CATILINE comes out of the tent.]

CATILINE. [To himself.]

Midnight approaches. Everything is hushed;-- Only to my poor eyes sleep fails to come.

Cold is the night wind; 'twill refresh my soul And give me strength anew--. I sorely need it!

[He becomes aware of MANLIUS.]

CATILINE. 'Tis you, old Manlius? And do you stand guard Alone on such a night?

MANLIUS. Oft have I stood Guard over you in childhood's early days.

Say, do you not recall?

CATILINE. Those days are gone; With them, my peace; wherever now I go, I'm haunted by a mult.i.tude of visions.

All things find shelter in my bosom, Manlius;-- Save peace alone. That--that is far away.

MANLIUS. Cast off these gloomy thoughts and take your rest!

Remember that the morrow may require Your utmost strength for our deliverance.

CATILINE. I cannot rest. If I but close my eyes One fleeting moment in forgetful slumber, I'm tossed about in strange, fantastic dreams.

Here on my couch I lay now, half asleep, When these same visions reappeared again, More strange than ever,--more mysterious And puzzling--. Ah, if I could only know What this forebodes! But no--

MANLIUS. Confide your dream To me. Perhaps I can expound its meaning.

CATILINE. [After a pause.]

If I slept or if I waked, scarcely can I say; Visions fast pursued each other in a mad array.

Soon a deepening twilight settles over everything; And a night swoops down upon me on her wide-spread wing, Terrible and dark, unpierced, save by the lightning's flare; I am in a grave-like dungeon, filled with clammy air.

Lofty is the ceiling and with thunderclouds o'ercast; Mult.i.tudes of shadow forms go racing wildly past, Whirl around in roaring eddies, as the ocean wave Draws the raging storm and breaks against a rocky cave.

Yet amid this frenzied tumult children often come, Decked in flowers, singing of a half-forgotten home.

Soon the darkness round them changes to a vivid glare,-- Dimly in the center I descry a lonely pair; Ah, two women,--stern the one and gloomy as the night,-- And the other gentle, like the evening in its flight.

How familiar to my eyes the two lone figures seemed!

With her smiling countenance the one upon me beamed; Like the zigzag lightning flashed the other's piercing eye; Terror seized my soul,--yet on I gazed in ecstasy.

Proudly upright stands the one, the other leans in weariness On the solitary table, where they play a game of chess.

p.a.w.ns they barter, or they move them now from place to place;-- Then the game is lost and won,--she fades away in s.p.a.ce,-- She who radiantly smiled, ah, she who lost the game; Instantly the bands of children vanish whence they came.

Tumult rises; darkness deepens; but from out the night Two eyes fix upon me, in a victor's gloating right; Then my brain reels; I see nothing but those baleful eyes.

But what else I dreamed of in that frenzied slumber lies Far within me hidden, buried deep beyond recall.

Could I but remember. Gone forever is it all.

MANLIUS. Remarkable, indeed, my Catiline, Is this your dream.

CATILINE. [Meditating.] If I could but remember-- But no; my memory fails me--

MANLIUS. Brood no longer Upon these thoughts. For what are dreams, indeed, But pale chimeras only, darkling visions, On nothing founded, and by naught explained?

CATILINE. Yes, you are right; I will no longer brood;-- Already I am calm. But go your way; You need some rest. The meanwhile I shall walk In privacy and meditate my plans.

[MANLIUS goes into the forest.]

CATILINE. [Paces for some time back and forth by the camp fire, which is about to go out; then he stops and speaks thoughtfully.] If I could only--. Ah, it is unmanly To brood and be distressed by thoughts like these.