The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864, page 49 by Various Authors
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a steep cliff jutting out over the abyss.) I see thee, my eternity, as thou rapidly floatest on to meet me, black with the shadows of eternal night! shoreless, limitless, infinite! And in the midst of thy rayless gloom, like a burning sun, eternally shining, but illumining nothing, I see my God! (He takes some steps forward, and stands on the brink of the precipice.) Ha! they run, the New Men--they see me now! Jesus! Mary! O Poetry! be cursed by me, as I shall be to all eternity! Up, ye strong arms! cut through these waves of air!
He springs into the abyss.
* * * * *
The courtyard of the castle. Pancratius, Leonard; Bianchetti stands at the head of a regiment of soldiers. The remaining princes and counts, accompanied by their wives and children, file in before Pancratius.
PANCRATIUS. Your name?
A COUNT. Christopher von Volsagen.
PANCRATIUS. You have pronounced it for the last time! And yours?
A PRINCE. Wladislaus, Lord of Schwarzwald.
PANCRATIUS. It shall be heard on earth no more! And yours?
A BARON. Alexander von Godalberg.
PANCRATIUS. It is already erased from the list of the living. Go!
BIANCHETTI (to Leonard). They have repulsed us for two long months; their arms are wretched, and their accoutrements utterly worthless.
LEONARD. Are there many of them left?
PANCRATIUS. They are all given over to you for execution, that their blood may flow as an example to the world. But if there is one among them who can tell me where Count Henry hides, he shall have his life for his information!
MANY VOICES. He vanished from our sight at last.
THE GODFATHER. Great Pancratius, I appear as mediator between you and your prisoners; spare these citizens of noble birth, because they have given up to you the keys and strongholds of the castle of the Holy Trinity!
PANCRATIUS. I have conquered by my own strength, and need no mediator. You will yourself take charge of their immediate execution!
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