ver.
Let her too know it. [Presses his hand.
Now I will go in.
Let the jest cease and earnest work begin;
And if you undertake that till the end
You'll be to her no less a faithful friend,
A staff to lean on, and a help in need,
Than I can be-- [Turning to SVANHILD.
Cancel it from the tables of your thought.
Then it is I who triumph in very deed;
You're happy, and for nothing else I fought.
[To FALK.
And, apropos--just now you spoke of cash,
Trust me, 'tis little more than tinsell'd trash.
I have not ties, stand perfectly alone;
To you I will make over all I own;
My daughter she shall be, and you my son.
You know I have a business by the border:
There I'll retire, you set your home in order,
And we'll foregather when a year is gone.
Now, Falk, you know me; with the same precision
Observe yourself: the voyage down life's stream,
Remember, is no pastime and no dream.
Now, in the name of God--make your decision!

[Goes into the house. Pause. FALK and
SVANHILD look shyly at each other.

FALK.
You are so pale.

SVANHILD.
And you so silent.

FALK.
True.

SVANHILD.
He smote us hardest.

FALK [to himself].
Stole my armour, too.

SVANHILD.
What blows he struck!

FALK.
He knew to place them well.

SVANHILD.
All seemed to go to pieces where they fell.
[Coming nearer to him.
How rich in one another's wealth before
We were, when all had left us in despite,
And Thought rose upward like the echoing roar
Of breakers in the silence of the night.
With exultation then we faced the fray,
And confidence that Love is lord of death;--
He came with worldly cunning, stole our faith,
Sowed doubt,--and all the glory pass'd away!

FALK [with wild vehemence].
Tear, tear it from thy memory! All his talk
Was true for others, but for us a lie!

SVANHILD [slowly shaking her head].
The golden grain, hail-stricken on its stalk,
Will never more wave wanton to the sky.

FALK [with an outburst of anguish].
Yes, we two, Svanhild--!

SVANHILD.
Hence with hopes that snare!
If you sow falsehood, you must reap despair.
For others true, you say? And do you doubt
That each of them, like us, is sure, alike,
That he's the man the lightning will not strike,
And no avenging thunder will find out,
Whom the