Bertha monologue (Act 3) — Wilhelm Tell

Say! what can lie Nearer the good man's heart than friends and kindred? What dearer duty to a noble soul Than to protect weak, suffering innocence, And vindicate the rights of the oppressed? My very soul bleeds for your countrymen; I suffer with them, for I needs must love them; They are so gentle, yet so full of power; They draw my whole heart to them. Every day I look upon them with increased esteem. But you, whom nature and your knightly vow, Have given them as their natural protector, Yet who desert them and abet their foes, In forging shackles for your native land, You--you it is, that deeply grieve and wound me. I must constrain my heart, or I shall hate you.