Wilhelm Tell

Friedrich von Schiller, William F. Mainland

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9780226217376
• Topic: Letteratura
• Subtopic: Teatro

When Schiller completed Wilhelm Tell as a "New Year's Gift for 1805" he foretold that it would cause a stir. He was right. In the midst of Great Power politics a play which drew substance from one of the fourteenth-century liberation movements proved both attractive and inflammatory. Since then the work as become immensely popular. This new English translation by William F. Mainland brings out the essential tragi-comic nature of Wilhelm Tell but also emphasizes its impressive formal unity.Schiller based his play on chronicles of the Swiss liberation movement, in which Wilhelm Tell played a major role. Since Tell's existence has never been proven, Schiller, a historian by profession, felt he had to devise a figure who would bring the uncertainties and contradictions of the various Swiss chronicles into focus. Respected for his courage and skill with a bow, for his peaceable nature and his integrity, Schiller's archer—while always ready to aid his fellows—habitually seeks solitude. In the midst of political turmoil Wilhelm Tell is the nonpolitical man of action.Keenly interested in the problematic interplay of history and legend, Schiller turned it to be dramatic advantage. He constructed his play to illustrate the greatest possible development of the character traits suggested for Tell by the chronicles. The result of Schiller's supreme achievement in historical drama.

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE

The Lake of Luzern. A steep rocky shore facing Canton Schwyz. The lake forms an inlet and there is a hut not far from the shore. The fisher-boy is out in a boat. Across the lake the green meadows, villages, and farms of Schwyz are seen in bright sunlight. To the left of the spectator are the cloud-capped peaks of the Haken; to the right in the background are snow-covered mountains. Before the curtain rises the Kuhreihen or ranz des vaches can be heard, together with the sound of cowbells, which continues for a time after the scene has begun.

FISHER-BOY (sings in the boat)

(Melody of the Kuhreihen)

In the sun on the lake little waves are leaping,

On the soft grassy bank the shepherd-boy sleeping

Can hear a sweet music

5 Of flutes in a dream;

Like voices of angels

In heaven they seem.

His ear on awaking still echoes the charms

But the waters are weaving about his arms—

He hears a voice calling

10 Come hither to me,

My spell’s on the dreamer:

He will never be free.

HERDSMAN (on the hill)

(Variation of the Kuhreihen)

Ye meadows farewell!

Your herdsman must leave you

15 But let it not grieve you

The summer is gone.

We will come back, you shan’t be forsaken,

When the cuckoo calls and the spring songs awaken,

When the earth is all smiling in colors gay

20And the streams are a-sparkle in frolicsome May.

Ye meadows farewell!

Your herdsman must leave you

But let it not grieve you

The summer is gone.

HUNTER (appears on the top of the cliff)

(Second variation)

25The groan of the glacier, the trembling bridge

Ne’er frightens the hunter on the high mountain ridge.

Undaunted he ventures,

No blossom he sees

On bleak fields of ice,

30 No green friendly trees;

And down far below him the endless cloud

Will cover his home in a grey ghostly shroud,

Till suddenly parting

A glimpse it will yield

35 Deep, deep as in water

Faint green of a field.

A change spreads over the landscape. A low rumbling noise is heard among the mountains. Shadows of clouds flit across. Enter RUODl the fisherman from the hut, WERNI the hunter, coming down from the rock, KUONI the herdsman, his milk pail on his shoulder, followed by his young handyman SEPPI.

RUODI

Hey! Jenni there! Make haste. Haul in the boat.

The mists are drifting...