ARMGART (continuing with vehemence).
Many a day thou hast
Trampled the Emperor's lands beneath thy feet.
Oh, I am but a woman! Were I man,
I'd find some better thing to do, than here
Lie grovelling in the dust.
[The music of the bridal party is again heard from the top of the pass, but more softly.]
GESSLER.
Where are my knaves?
Drag her away, lest I forget myself,
And do some deed I may repent me of.
HARRAS.
My lord, the servants cannot force their way;
The pass is block'd up by a bridal train.
GESSLER.
Too mild a ruler am I to this people,
Their tongues are all too bold—nor have they yet
Been tamed to due submission, as they shall be.
I must take order for the remedy;
I will subdue this stubborn mood of theirs,
This braggart spirit of freedom I will crush,
I will proclaim a new law through the land;
I will—
[An arrow pierces him—he puts his hand on his heart, and is about to sink—with a feeble voice.]