"The Pledge" (German: "Die Bürgschaft", ) is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

published by the German poet

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

in his 1799 ''

Musen-Almanach A ''Musen-Almanach'' ("Muses' Almanac") was a kind of literary annual, popular in Germany from 1770 into the mid-19th century. They were modelled on the ''Almanach des Muses'' published in Paris from 1765. Development in the 1770s The first examp ...

''. He took the idea out of the

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

legend of

Damon and Pythias The story of Damon (; , gen. Δάμωνος) and Pythias (; or ; or Phintias, ) is a legend in Greek historic writings illustrating the Pythagorean ideal of friendship. Pythias is accused of and charged with plotting against the tyrannical Dion ...

issuing from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Fabulae'' by

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Augustus, and reputed author of the '' Fabulae'' and the '' De astronomia'', although this is disputed. Life and works ...

, as rendered in the medieval collection of the ''

Gesta Romanorum ''Gesta Romanorum'' (; "Deeds of the Romans") is a Latin collection of anecdotes and tales that was probably compiled about the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th. It still possesses a two-fold literary interest, first as one of ...

''. It magnifies the belief in

fidelity Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of '' fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word , meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London financial m ...

and loving friendship, and remains today one of the most famous German poems.

Synopsis

The ballad is set in the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

. After a failed attempt by Damon to kill the gruesome tyrant

Dionysius The name Dionysius (; ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; ) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name of the Greek god, Dionysus, parallel ...

, he is caught and sentenced to death but asks for a delay to marry his sister to her designated husband. Dionysius allows him an extension of three days on condition that his friend remains with him to guarantee Damon's return. If he would not be back on time, his friend would suffer his punishment, while Damon would go with impunity. To Dionysius' astonishment Damon, despite facing floods, an assault by a bandit gang, beating sun and lack of water on the way back to his own execution, at the last minute returns to save his friend. Ashamed by this deed, the tyrant admits the moral value of fidelity and asks to be considered as a friend in their midst.

Versions

Schiller wrote the original version in summer 1798, simultaneously with his poem ''

Der Kampf mit dem Drachen "The Battle with the Dragon" ("Der Kampf mit dem Drachen") is a 300-verse ballad by Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. ...

'', and published both in 1799. In 1804 he re-worked the ballad and changed the name of the main character (from initially Moerus to Damon). It was translated into English by 1842 when it appeared in ''Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine''. In the late 1930s,

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

wrote a verse commentary "Über Schillers Gedicht 'Die Bürgschaft'", a

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

ironically praising the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

in which contract had such moral force that the tyrant realizes that he is hardly needed. This has been set to music by

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was a German-Austrian composer. He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The ...

. In 1940 the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese author

Osamu Dazai , known by his pen name , was a Japanese novelist and author. A number of his most popular works, such as ''The Setting Sun'' (斜陽, ''Shayō'') and '' No Longer Human'' (人間失格, ''Ningen Shikkaku''), are considered modern classics. Hi ...

published the short story ''

Run, Melos! is a Japanese Language, Japanese Novella, short story by Osamu Dazai. It was first published 1940 and is a widely read classic in Japanese schools. It was first used as teaching material for Japanese middle high schoolers in 1956. The story is a ...

'' reworking Schiller's poem. It is a widely read classic in Japanese schools.

Musical settings

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

set it to music twice: first as a song for voice and piano in 1815 ( D 246), and then as an opera in 1816 (D 435) but left off work on the latter the middle of the third act. There is also the setting for narrator and piano by Baltic German composer Gustav von Giźycki (1883).

External links

* (4.36 MB, OGG)
The same at Project Gutenberg

A very recent translation
*
mp3 recording of Franz Schubert's song, legal and free download

Text from "Die Bürgschaft" used in the song "Schiller" (a parody of Michael Jackson's "Thriller") by German a cappella group, Wise Guys.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgschaft, Die Ballads Poetry by Friedrich Schiller Lieder composed by Franz Schubert 1798 poems 1815 songs