Foreseeing such might shape, Each high-and by-way to the Danube hence I have of late had measured, mapped, and judged; Such spots as suit for depots chosen and marked; Each regiment's daily pace and bivouac Writ tablewise for ready reference; All which itineraries are sent herewith.” So shall I crush the two gigantic sets Upon the Empire, now grown imminent. --Let me reflect.--First Bernadotte---but nay, The courier to Marmont must go first. Well, well.--The order of our march from hence I will advise.... My knock at George's door With bland inquiries why his royal hand Withheld due answer to my friendly lines, And tossed the irksome business to his clerks, Is thus perforce delayed. But not for long. Instead of crossing, thitherward I tour By roundabout contrivance not less sure! DARU I'll bring the writing to your Majesty. [NAPOLEON and DARU go out severally.] CHORUS OF THE YEARS [aerial music] Recording Angel, trace This bold campaign his thought has spun apace-- One that bids fair for immortality Among the earthlings--if immortal deeds May be ascribed to so extemporary And transient a race! It will be called, in rhetoric and rhyme, As son to sire succeeds, A model for the tactics of all time; “The Great Campaign of that so famed year Five,” By millions of mankind not yet alive. SCENE II THE FRONTIERS OF UPPER AUSTRIA AND BAVARIA [A view of the country from mid-air, at a point south of the River Inn, which is seen as a silver thread, winding northward between its junction with the Salza and the Danube, and forming the boundaries of the two countries. The Danube shows itself as a crinkled satin riband, stretching from left to right in the far background of the picture, the Inn discharging its waters into the larger river.] DUMB SHOW A vast Austrian army creeps dully along the mid-distance, in the detached masses and columns of a whitish cast. The columns insensibly draw nearer to each other, and are seen to be converging from the east upon the banks of the Inn aforesaid. A RECORDING ANGEL [in recitative] This movement as of molluscs on a leaf, Which from our vantage here we scan afar, Is one manoeuvred by the famous Mack To countercheck Napoleon, still believed To be intent on England from Boulogne, And heedless of such rallies in his rear. Mack's enterprise is now to cross Bavaria-- Beneath us stretched in ripening summer peace As field unwonted for these ugly jars--