Demetrius by Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller
page 28 of 71 (39%)
page 28 of 71 (39%)
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Which links mankind with sympathies of love.
KING. But now you enter on a realm where all-- Use, custom, morals--are untried and strange, In Poland here reigns freedom absolute; The king himself, although in pomp supreme, Must ofttime be the serf of his noblesse; But there the father's sacred power prevails, And in the subject finds a passive slave. DEMETRIUS. That glorious freedom which surrounds me here I will transplant into my native land, And turn these bond-serfs into glad-souled men; Not o'er the souls of slaves will I bear rule. KING. Do naught in haste; but by the time be led! Prince, ere we part, three lessons take from me, And truly follow them when thou art king. It is a king that gives them, old and tried, And they may prove of profit to thy youth. DEMETRIUS. Oh, share thy wisdom with me! Thou hast won The reverence of a free and mighty people; What must I do to earn so fair a prize? KING. |
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