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A. Guerber + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Stories of the Wagner Opera + +Author: H. A. Guerber + +Release Date: October 9, 2005 [EBook #16840] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF THE WAGNER OPERA *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Daniel Emerson Griffith and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<p class="central"><img src="images/spine.jpg" width="70" height="500" +alt="[Decoration on spine of book]" class="nopda" /> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="318" height="500" +alt="[Front cover]" /> +</p> + +<p class="central"><a name="page0" id="page0" +title="0"></a><img src="images/wagner.jpg" width="335" height="500" +alt="[Photograph]" /><br /><br />RICHARD WAGNER.</p> + + + + +<div class="frontmatter"> +<h1>STORIES OF THE WAGNER OPERA.</h1> + +<p>BY<br /><big>H.A. GUERBER,</big></p> + +<p>Author of<br /> +“<span class="sm">MYTHS OF GREECE AND ROME</span>,” +“<span class="sm">MYTHS OF NORTHERN LANDS</span>,” +“<span class="sm">CONTES ET LÉGENDS</span>,” +<span class="sc">etc.</span></p> + +<p>NEW YORK:<br />DODD, MEAD, AND COMPANY.<br />1905.</p> + +<p><i>Copyright 1895</i>,<br /> +<span class="sc">By Dodd, Mead and Company.</span></p> + +<p>University Press:<br /> +<span class="sc">John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.</span></p> + +<p>Dedicated to my Friend,<br />M.A. McC.</p> +</div> + + + +<h2><a class="pagebreak" name="page1" id="page1" title="1"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>These short sketches, which can be read in +a few moments' time, are intended to give +the reader as clear as possible an outline of the +great dramatist-composer's work.</p> + +<p>The author is deeply indebted to Professor +G.T. Dippold, to Messrs. Forman, Jackman, +and Corder, and to the Oliver Ditson Company, +for the poetical quotations scattered throughout +the text.</p> + + + + +<div class="toc"> +<h2><a name="page2" id="page2" title="2"></a><a +class="pagebreak" name="page3" id="page3" title="3"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<table summary=""> +<tr><th></th><th>Page</th></tr> +<tr><td>Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes</td><td class="page"><a href="#page7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>The Flying Dutchman</td><td class="page"><a href="#page23">23</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Tannhäuser</td><td class="page"><a href="#page38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Lohengrin</td><td class="page"><a href="#page56">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Tristan and Ysolde</td><td class="page"><a href="#page72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>The Master-Singers of Nuremberg</td><td class="page"><a href="#page88">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>The Nibelung's Ring.—Rheingold</td><td class="page"><a href="#page105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>The Walkyrie</td><td class="page"><a href="#page120">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Siegfried</td><td class="page"><a href="#page138">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Dusk of the Gods</td><td class="page"><a href="#page154">154</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Parsifal</td><td class="page"><a href="#page172">172</a></td></tr> +</table> + + + + +<h2><a name="page4" id="page4" title="4"></a><a +class="pagebreak" name="page5" id="page5" title="5"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + + +<table summary=""> +<tr><th></th><th>Page</th></tr> +<tr><td>Richard Wagner</td><td class="page"><a href="#page0"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Banishment of Rienzi</td><td class="page"><a href="#page7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Senta</td><td class="page"><a href="#page23">23</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Tannhäuser and Venus</td><td class="page"><a href="#page38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Ortrud kneeling before Elsa</td><td class="page"><a href="#page56">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Tristan's Death</td><td class="page"><a href="#page72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Walther crowned by Eva</td><td class="page"><a href="#page88">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>The Rhine Maidens</td><td class="page"><a href="#page105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Brunhilde discovering Siegmund and Sieglinde</td><td class="page"><a href="#page120">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Siegfried and Mime</td><td class="page"><a href="#page138">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Siegfried and the Rhine Maidens</td><td class="page"><a href="#page154">154</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>Parsifal in the Enchanted Garden</td><td class="page"><a href="#page172">172</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + + + +<p class="central"><a name="page6" id="page6" +title="6"></a><a class="pagebreak" name="page7" id="page7" +title="7"></a><img src="images/rienzi.jpg" width="367" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />BANISHMENT OF RIENZI.</p> + + +<h2>RIENZI,<br /><small>THE LAST OF THE TRIBUNES.</small></h2> + + +<p>Wagner was greatly troubled in the beginning +of his career about the choice of +subjects for his operas. His first famous work, +‘Rienzi,’ is founded upon the same historical +basis as Bulwer's novel bearing the same name, +and is a tragic opera in five acts. The composer +wrote the poem and the first two acts of the +score in 1838, during his residence at Riga, and +from there carried it with him to Boulogne. +There he had an interview with Meyerbeer, +after his memorable sea journey. Wagner submitted +his libretto and the score for the first +acts to that famous composer, who is reported +to have said, ‘Rienzi is the best opera-book +extant,’ and who gave him introductions to +musical directors and publishers in Paris. In<a +class="pagebreak" name="page8" id="page8" title="8"></a> +spite of this encouraging verdict on Meyerbeer's +part, Wagner soon discovered that there was no +chance of success for ‘Rienzi’ in France, and, +after completing the score while dwelling at +Meudon, he forwarded it in 1841 to Dresden. +Here the opera found friends in the tenor Tichatscheck +and the chorus-master Fisher, and +when it was produced in 1842 it was received +with great enthusiasm. The opera, which gave +ample opportunity for great scenic display, was +so long, however, that the first representation +lasted from six o'clock to midnight. But when +Wagner would fain have made excisions, the +artists themselves strenuously opposed him, and +preferred to give the opera in two successive +evenings. At the third representation Wagner +himself conducted with such success that ‘he +was the hero of the day.’ This great triumph +was reviewed with envy by the admirers of the +Italian school of music, and some critics went +so far in their partisanship as to denounce the +score as ‘blatant, and at times almost vulgar.’ +Notwithstanding these adverse criticisms, the +opera continued to be played with much success +at Dresden, and was produced at Berlin some +years later, and at Vienna in 1871.</p> + +<p>As Wagner's subsequent efforts have greatly +surpassed this first work, ‘Rienzi’ is not often<a +class="pagebreak" name="page9" id="page9" title="9"></a> +played, and has seldom been produced in America, +I believe owing principally to its great length. +The scene of ‘Rienzi’ is laid entirely in the +streets and Capitol of Rome, in the middle of +the fourteenth century, when the city was rendered +unsafe by the constant dissensions and +brawls among the noble families. Foremost +among these conflicting elements were the rival +houses of Colonna and Orsini, and, as in those +days each nobleman kept an armed retinue within +a fortified enclosure in town, he soon became +a despot. Fearing no one, consulting only his +own pleasure and convenience, he daily sallied +forth to plunder, kidnap, and murder at his will. +Such being the state of affairs, the streets daily +flowed with blood; the merchants no longer +dared open their shops and expose their wares +lest they should be summarily carried away, +and young and pretty women scarcely dared +venture out of their houses even at noonday, +lest they should be seen and carried away by +noblemen.</p> + +<p>Terrified by the lawlessness of the barons, +whom he could no longer control, the Pope left +Rome and took refuge at Avignon, leaving the +ancient city a helpless prey to the various political +factions which were engaged in continual +strife. This state of affairs was so heart-rending<a +class="pagebreak" name="page10" id="page10" title="10"></a> +that Rienzi, an unusually clever man of the +people and an enthusiast, resolved to try and +rouse the old patriotic spirit in the breast of the +degenerate Romans, and to induce them to rise +up against their oppressors and shake off their +hated yoke.</p> + +<p>Naturally a scholar and a dreamer, Rienzi +would probably never have seen the necessity +of such a thing, or ventured to attempt it, had +he not seen his own little brother wantonly +slain during one of the usual frays between the +Orsini and Colonna factions. The murderer, a +scion of the Colonna family, considered the matter +as so trivial that he never even condescended +to excuse himself, or to offer any redress to the +injured parties, thus filling Rienzi's heart with +a bitter hatred against all the patrician race. +Secretly and in silence the young enthusiast +matured his revolutionary plans, winning many +adherents by his irresistible eloquence, and +patiently bided his time until a suitable opportunity +occurred to rally his partisans, openly +defy the all-powerful barons, and restore the +old freedom and prosperity to Rome.</p> + +<p>The opera opens at nightfall, with one of the +scenes so common in those days, an attempt +on the part of the Orsini to carry off by force +a beautiful girl from the presumably safe shelter<a +class="pagebreak" name="page11" id="page11" title="11"></a> +of her own home. The street is silent and deserted, +the armed band steal noiselessly along, +place their scaling ladder under the fair one's +casement, and the head of the Orsini, climbing +up, seizes her and tries to carry her off in spite +of her frantic cries and entreaties.</p> + +<p>The noise attracts the attention of Adrian, +heir of the Colonna family, and when he perceives +that the would-be kidnappers wear the +arms and livery of the Orsini, his hereditary +foes, he seizes with joyful alacrity the opportunity +to fight, and pounces upon them with all his +escort. A confused street skirmish ensues, in +the course of which Adrian rescues the beautiful +maiden, whom he recognises as Irene, Rienzi's +only sister. Attracted by the brawl, the people +crowd around the combatants, cheering and deriding +them with discordant cries, and becoming +so excited that they refuse to disperse when +the Pope's Legate appears and timidly implores +them to keep the peace.</p> + +<p>The tumult has reached a climax when Rienzi +suddenly comes upon the scene, and authoritatively +reminds his adherents that they have +sworn to respect the law and the Church, and +bids them withdraw. His words, received with +enthusiastic cries of approbation by the people, +are, however, scorned by the barons, who<a +class="pagebreak" name="page12" id="page12" title="12"></a> +would fain continue the strife, but are forced to +desist. Anxious to renew hostilities as soon as +possible, and to decide the question of supremacy +by the force of arms, the irate noblemen then +and there appoint a time and place for a general +encounter outside the city gates on the morrow, +when they reluctantly disperse.</p> + +<p>The appointment has been overheard by +Rienzi, who, urged by the Legate of the Pope +and by the clamours of the people to strike a +decisive blow, decides to close the gates upon +the nobles on the morrow, and to allow none +to re-enter the city until they have taken a +solemn oath to keep the peace and respect the +law. In an impassioned discourse Rienzi then +urges the people to uphold him now that the +decisive moment has come, and to rally promptly +around him at the sound of his trumpet, which +will peal forth on the morrow to proclaim the +freedom of Rome.</p> + +<p>When they have all gone in obedience to his +command, the Tribune, for such is the dignity +which the people have conferred upon their +champion Rienzi, turns toward the girl, the +innocent cause of all the uproar, and perceives +for the first time that it is his own sister Irene. +Adrian is bending anxiously over her fainting +form; but as soon as she recovers her senses<a +class="pagebreak" name="page13" id="page13" title="13"></a> +she hastens to inform her brother that he saved +her from Orsini's shameful attempt, and bespeaks +his fervent thanks for her young protector.</p> + +<p>It is then only that the Tribune realises that +a Colonna, one of his bitterest foes, and one of +the most influential among the hated barons, +has overheard his instructions to his adherents, +and can defeat his most secret and long cherished +plans. Suddenly, however, he remembers that +in youth he and Adrian often played together, +and, counting upon the young nobleman's deep +sense of honour, which he had frequently tested +in the past, he passionately adjures him to show +himself a true Roman and help him to save his +unhappy country. Irene fervently joins in this +appeal, and such is the influence of her beauty +and distress that Adrian, who is very patriotic +and who has long wished to see the city resume +its former splendour, gladly consents to lend +his aid.</p> + +<p>This oath of allegiance received, Rienzi, +whom matters of state call elsewhere, asks +Adrian to remain in his house during his absence, +to protect his sister against a renewal +of the evening's outrage. Adrian joyfully accepts +this charge, and the lovers, for they have +been such from the very first glance exchanged, +remain alone together and unite in a touching<a +class="pagebreak" name="page14" id="page14" title="14"></a> +duet of faith and love, whose beautiful, peaceful +strains contrast oddly with the preceding discordant +strife. In spite of his transport at finding +his affections returned, and in the very +midst of his rapturous joy at embracing his beloved, +Adrian, tortured by premonitory fears, +warns Irene that her brother is far too sanguine +of success, and that his hopes will surely be deceived. +He also declares that he fears lest the +proverbially fickle people may waver in their +promised allegiance, and lest Rienzi may be the +victim of the cruel barons whom he has now +openly defied. The lovers' conversation is +interrupted at sunrise by the ringing of the +Capitol bell, proclaiming that the revolution has +begun, and the triumphant chorus of priests and +people is heard without, bidding all the Romans +rejoice as their freedom is now assured. Riding +ahead of the procession, Rienzi slowly passes by +in the glittering armour and array of a Tribune, +and from time to time pauses to address the +crowd, telling them that the ancient city is once +more free, and that he, as chief magistrate, will +severely punish any and every infringement of +the law. At the news of this welcome proclamation +the enthusiasm of the people reaches +such an exalted pitch that they all loudly swear +to obey their Tribune implicitly, and loyally help<a +class="pagebreak" name="page15" id="page15" title="15"></a> +him to uphold the might and dignity of the Holy +City:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘We swear to thee that great and free</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Our Rome shall be as once of yore;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To protect it from tyranny</span><br /> +<span class="i0">We'll shed the last drop of our gore.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Shame and destruction now we vow</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To all the enemies of Rome;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A new free people are we now,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And we'll defend our hearth and home.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The scene of the second act is laid in the +Capitol, where the barons, who had been forced +to take the oath of allegiance ere they were +allowed to re-enter the city, are present, as well +as the numerous emissaries from foreign courts. +Heralds and messengers from all parts of the +land crowd eagerly around the Tribune, anxious +to do him homage, and to assure him that, +thanks to his decrees, order and peace are now +restored.</p> + +<p>Amid the general silence the heralds make +their reports, declaring that the roads are safe, +all brigandage suppressed, commerce and agriculture +more flourishing than ever before, a +statement which Rienzi and the people receive +with every demonstration of great joy. To the +barons, however, these are very unwelcome +tidings, and, knowing that the people could soon<a +class="pagebreak" name="page16" id="page16" title="16"></a> +be cowed were they only deprived of their +powerful leader, they gather together in one +corner of the hall and plot how to put Rienzi to +death.</p> + +<p>Adrian accidentally discovers this conspiracy, +and indignantly remonstrates with the barons, +threatening even to denounce them, since they +are about to break their word and resort to such +dishonourable means. But his own father, Colonna, +is one of the instigators of the conspiracy, +and he dares him to carry out his threat, which +would only result in branding him as a parricide. +Then, without waiting to hear his son's decision, +the old baron, accompanied by the other conspirators, +joins Rienzi on the balcony, whence he +has just addressed the assembled people. They +have been listening to his last proposal, that the +Romans should shake off the galling yoke of the +German Empire and make their city a republic +once more, and now loud and enthusiastic acclamations +rend the air.</p> + +<p>The speech ended, Adrian, stealing softly +behind the Tribune, bids him be on the watch +as treachery is lurking near. He has scarcely +ended his warning and slipped away ere the +conspirators suddenly surround the Tribune, +and there, in the presence of the assembled +people, they simultaneously draw their daggers,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page17" id="page17" title="17"></a> +and strike him repeatedly. This dastardly attempt +at murder utterly fails, however, as the +Tribune wears a corselet of mail beneath the +robes of state, and his guards quickly disarm +and secure the conspirators while the people +loudly clamour for their execution by the axe, a +burly blacksmith, Cecco, acting as their principal +spokesman.</p> + +<p>Rienzi, who is principally incensed by their +attack upon Roman liberties, and by their utter +lack of faith, is about to yield to their demand, +when Irene and Adrian suddenly fall at his feet, +imploring the pardon of the condemned, and +entreating him to show mercy rather than justice. +Once more Rienzi addresses the people, but it +requires all his persuasive eloquence to induce +them, at last, to forgive the barons' attempt. +Then the culprits are summoned into the +Tribune's august presence, where, instead of +being executed as they fully expect, they are +pardoned and set free, after they have once +more solemnly pledged themselves to respect +the new government and its chosen representatives. +This promise is wrung from them by +the force of circumstances; they have no intention +of keeping it, and they are no sooner +released than they utter dark threats of revenge, +which fill the people's hearts with ominous fear,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page18" id="page18" title="18"></a> +and make them regret the clemency they have +just shown.</p> + +<p>The next act is played on one of the public +squares of Rome, where the people are tumultuously +assembled to discuss the secret flight of +the barons. They have fled from the city during +the night, and, in spite of their recently +renewed oaths, are even now preparing to +re-enter the city with fire and sword, and to +resume their former supremacy. In frantic terror, +the people call upon Rienzi to deliver them, +declaring that, had he only been firm and executed +the nobles, Rome would now have no +need to fear their wrath. Adrian, coming upon +the spot as they march off toward the Capitol, +anxiously deliberates what course he shall pursue, +and bitterly reviles fate, which forces him +either to bear arms against his own father and +kin, or to turn traitor and slay the Tribune, the +brother of his fair beloved. While he thus +soliloquises in his despair, Rienzi appears on +horseback, escorted by the Roman troops, all +loudly chanting a battle song, of which the constant +refrain is the Tribune's rallying cry, ‘Santo +Spirito Cavaliere!’ They are on their way to +the city gates, where the assembled forces of +the barons await them, and Adrian, in a last +frantic attempt to prevent bloodshed, throws<a +class="pagebreak" name="page19" id="page19" title="19"></a> +himself in front of Rienzi's horse, imploring the +Tribune to allow him to try once more to conciliate +the rebel nobles. But Rienzi utterly +refuses to yield again to his entreaties, and +marches calmly on, accompanied by the people +chanting the last verse of their solemn war-song.</p> + +<p>The fourth act is played in front of the Lateran +church. The battle has taken place. The +barons have been repulsed at the cost of great +slaughter. But notwithstanding their losses and +the death of their leader, the elder Colonna, +the nobles have not relinquished all hope of +success. What they failed to secure by the +force of arms, they now hope to win by intrigue, +for they have artfully won not only the Pope, +but the Emperor also, to uphold their cause +and side with them. The people, who have just +learned that the Pope and Emperor have recalled +their legates and ambassadors, are awed and +frightened. Baroncelli and Cecco, two demagogues, +seize this occasion to poison their fickle +minds, and blame Rienzi openly for all that has +occurred. Their specious reasoning that the +Tribune must be very wicked indeed, since the +spiritual and temporal authorities alike disapprove +of him, is strengthened by the sudden +appearance of Adrian, who, wild with grief at +his father's death, publicly declares he has vowed<a +class="pagebreak" name="page20" id="page20" title="20"></a> +to slay the Tribune. The people—who, lacking +the strength to uphold their convictions, now hate +their leader as vehemently as they once loved +and admired him—are about to join Adrian in +his passionate cry of ‘Down with Rienzi!’ +when the cardinal and his train suddenly appear, +and march into the church, where a grand ‘Te +Deum’ is to be sung to celebrate the victory +over the barons.</p> + +<p>While the Romans are wavering, and wondering +whether they have not made a mistake, and +whether the Pope really disapproves of their +chief magistrate, Rienzi marches toward the +church, accompanied by Irene and his body +guard. Adrian, at the sight of his pale beloved, +has no longer the courage to execute his purpose +and slay her only brother. Just as they +are about to enter the church, where they expect +to hear the joyful strains of thanksgiving, +the cardinal appears at the church door, barring +their entrance, and solemnly pronounces +the Church's anathema upon the horror-struck +Rienzi.</p> + +<p>The people all start back and withdraw from +him as from one accursed, while Adrian, seizing +Irene's hand, seeks to lead her away from her +brother. But the brave girl resists her lover's +offers and entreaties, and, clinging closely to the<a +class="pagebreak" name="page21" id="page21" title="21"></a> +unhappy Tribune, she declares she will never +forsake him, while he vows he will never relinquish +his hope that Rome may eventually recover +her wonted freedom, and again shake off +the tyrant's yoke.</p> + +<p>The fifth and last act is begun in the Capitol, +where Rienzi, the enthusiast, is wrapped in +prayer, and forgetting himself entirely, fervently +implores Divine protection for his misguided +people and unhappy city. He has scarcely +ended this beautiful prayer when Irene joins +him, and, when he once more beseeches her to +leave him, she declares she will never forsake +him, even though by clinging to him she must +renounce her love,—a passion which he has +never known. At this declaration, Rienzi in a +passionate outburst tells how deeply he has +loved and still loves his mistress, Rome, fallen +and degraded though she may be. He loves her, +although she has broken faith with him, has +turned to listen to the blandishments of another, +and basely deserted him at the time of his utmost +need.</p> + +<p>Irene, touched by his grief, bids him not give +way to despair, but adjures him to make a last +attempt to regain his old ascendency over the +minds of the fickle people. As he leaves her to +follow her advice, Adrian enters the hall, wildly<a +class="pagebreak" name="page22" id="page22" title="22"></a> +imploring her to escape while there is yet time, +for the infuriated Romans are coming, not only +to slay Rienzi, but to burn down the Capitol +which has sheltered him.</p> + +<p>As she utterly refuses to listen to his entreaties, +he vainly seeks to drag her away. It +is only when the lurid light of the devouring +flames illumines the hall, and when she sinks +unconscious to the floor, that he can bear her +away from a place fraught with so much danger +for them all. Rienzi, in the mean while, has +stepped out on the balcony, whence he has +made repeated but futile attempts to address the +mob. Baroncelli and Cecco, fearing lest he +should yet succeed in turning the tide by his +marvellous eloquence, drown his voice by discordant +cries, fling stones which fall all around +his motionless figure like hail, and clamour for +more fuel to burn down the Capitol, which they +have sworn shall be his funeral pyre. Calmly +now Rienzi contemplates their fury and his unavoidable +death, and solemnly predicts that they +will regret their precipitancy, as the Capitol falls +into ruins over the noble head of the Last of the +Tribunes.</p> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page23" id="page23" +title="23"></a><img src="images/senta.jpg" width="379" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />SENTA.</p> + + +<h2>THE FLYING DUTCHMAN.</h2> + + +<p>After leaving Riga, where he had accepted +the position of Music Director, which he +filled acceptably for some time, Wagner went to +Pillau, where he embarked on a sailing vessel +bound for London. He was accompanied by +his wife and by a huge Newfoundland dog, and +during this journey learned to know the sea, +and became familiar with the sound of the sailors' +songs, the creaking of the rigging, the whistling +of the wind, and the roar and crash of the waves. +This journey made a deep impression upon his +imagination. He had read Heine's version of +the legend of the Flying Dutchman, and questioned +the sailors, who told him many similar +yarns. He himself subsequently said: ‘I shall +never forget that voyage; it lasted three weeks +and a half, and was rich in disasters. Three +times we suffered from the effects of heavy +storms. The passage through the Narrows +made a wondrous impression on my fancy. The +legend of the Flying Dutchman was confirmed<a +class="pagebreak" name="page24" id="page24" title="24"></a> +by the sailors, and the circumstances gave it a +distinct and characteristic colour in my mind.’</p> + +<p>One year later, when in Paris, Wagner submitted +detailed sketches for this work to the +Director of the Opera, to whom Meyerbeer had +introduced him. The sketches were accepted, +and shortly after the Director expressed a wish +to purchase them. Wagner utterly refused at +first to give up his claim to the plot, which he +had secured from Heine; but, finding that he +could not obtain possession of the sketches, +which had already been given to Foucher for +versification, he accepted the miserable sum of +£20, which was all that was offered in compensation. +The stolen opera was produced in Paris +under the title of ‘Le Vaisseau Fantôme,’ in +1842, but it was never very successful, and has +been entirely eclipsed by Wagner's version. +Wagner had not, however, relinquished the idea +of writing an opera upon this theme, and he finished +the poem, which Spohr has designated as +‘a little masterpiece,’ as quickly as possible. +The score was written at Meudon, near Paris, +and completed, with the exception of the overture, +in the short space of seven weeks. When +offered in Munich and Leipsic the critics pronounced +it ‘unfit for Germany,’ but, upon +Meyerbeer's recommendation, it was accepted<a +class="pagebreak" name="page25" id="page25" title="25"></a> +at Berlin, although no preparations were made +for its immediate representation.</p> + +<p>‘The Flying Dutchman’ was first brought out +at Dresden in 1843, four years after the idea of +this work had first suggested itself to the illustrious +composer, who conducted the orchestra +in person, while Madame Schröder-Devrient +sang the part of Senta. The audience did not +receive it very enthusiastically, and, while some +of the hearers were deeply moved, the majority +were simply astonished. No one at first seemed +to appreciate the opera at its full value except +Spohr, who in connection with it wrote: ‘Der +Fliegende Holländer interests me in the highest +degree. The opera is imaginative, of noble invention, +well written for the voices, immensely +difficult, rather overdone as regards instrumentation, +but full of novel effects; at the theatre +it is sure to prove clear and intelligible.... I +have come to the conclusion that among composers +for the stage, <i>pro tem.</i>, Wagner is the +most gifted.’</p> + +<p>The legend upon which the whole opera is +based is that a Dutch captain once tried to +double the Cape of Good Hope in the teeth of +a gale, swearing he would accomplish his purpose +even if he had to plough the main forever. +This rash oath was overheard by Satan, who<a +class="pagebreak" name="page26" id="page26" title="26"></a> +condemned him to sail until the Judgment Day, +unless he could find a woman who would love +him faithfully until death. Once in every seven +years only did the Devil allow the Dutchman to +land, in search of the maiden who might effect +his release.</p> + +<p>In the first act of the opera, the seven years +have just ended, and Daland, a Norwegian captain, +has been forced by a tempest to anchor his +vessel in a sheltered bay within a few miles of +his peaceful home, where Senta, his only daughter, +awaits him. All on board are sleeping, and +the steersman alone keeps watch over the anchored +vessel, singing of the maiden he loves +and of the gifts he is bringing her from foreign +lands. In the midst of his song, the Flying +Dutchman's black-masted vessel with its red +sails enters the cove, and casts anchor beside +the Norwegian ship, although no one seems +aware of its approach.</p> + +<p>The Dutchman, who has not noticed the vessel +at anchor so near him, springs eagerly ashore, +breathing a sigh of relief at being allowed to +land once more, although he has but little hope +of finding the faithful woman who alone can +release him from his frightful doom:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘The term is past,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And once again are ended the seven long years!</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page27" id="page27" title="27"></a> +<span class="i0">The weary sea casts me upon the land.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Ha! haughty ocean,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A little while, and thou again wilt bear me.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Though thou art changeful,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Unchanging is my doom;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Release, which on the land I seek for,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Never shall I meet with.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The unhappy wanderer then tells how he has +braved the dangers of every sea, sought death +on every rock, challenged every pirate, and how +vain all his efforts have been to find the death +which always eludes him.</p> + +<p>Daland, waking from his sound slumbers, suddenly +perceives the anchored vessel, and chides +the drowsy steersman, who has not warned him +of its approach. He is about to signal to the +ship to ascertain its name, when he suddenly +perceives the Dutchman, whom he questions +concerning his home and destination.</p> + +<p>The Dutchman answers his questions very +briefly, and, upon hearing that Daland's home +is very near, eagerly offers untold wealth for +permission to linger a few hours by his fireside, +and to taste the joys of home.</p> + +<p>Amazed at the sight of the treasures spread +out before him, Daland not only consents to +show hospitality to this strange homeless guest, +but even promises, after a little persuasion, to<a +class="pagebreak" name="page28" id="page28" title="28"></a> +allow him to woo and to win, if he can, the +affections of his only daughter, Senta:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘I give thee here my word.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I mourn thy lot. As thou art bountiful,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thou showest me thy good and noble heart.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My son I wish thou wert;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And were thy wealth not half as great,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I would not choose another.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Transported with joy at the mere prospect of +winning the love which may compass his salvation, +the Flying Dutchman proclaims in song +his mingled rapture and relief, and while he +sings the storm clouds break, and the sun again +shines forth over the mysteriously calmed sea. +The opportunity is immediately seized by the +Norwegian captain, who, bidding the Dutchman +follow him closely, bids the sailors raise the +anchor, and sails out of the little harbour to the +merry accompaniment of a nautical chorus:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Through thunder and storm from distant seas,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My maiden, come I near;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Over towering waves, with southern breeze,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My maiden, am I here.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My maiden, were there no south wind,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I never could come to thee:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">O fair south wind, to me be kind!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My maiden, she longs for me.</span><br /> +<span class="i3"> Hoho! Halloho!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page29" id="page29" +title="29"></a>The next scene represents a room in Daland's +house. The rough walls are covered with maps +and charts, and on the farther partition there is +a striking portrait of a pale, melancholy looking +man, who wears a dark beard and a foreign +dress.</p> + +<p>The air is resonant with the continual hum of +the whirling spinning-wheels, for the maidens +are all working diligently under the direction of +Maria, the housekeeper, and soon begin their +usual spinning chorus. Their hands and feet +work busily while two verses of the song are +sung, and all are remarkably diligent except +Senta, who sits with her hands in her lap, gazing +in rapt attention at the portrait of the Flying +Dutchman, whose mournful fate has touched her +tender heart, and whose haunting eyes have +made her indulge in many a long day-dream. +Roused from her abstraction by the chiding voice +of Mary, and by her companions, who twit her +with having fallen in love with a shadow instead +of thinking only of her lover Erik, the hunter, +Senta resumes her work, and to still their chatter +sings them the ballad of the Flying Dutchman. +When she has described his aimless wanderings +and his mournful doom, which naught can change +until he finds a maiden who will pledge him her +entire faith, the girls mockingly interrupt her to<a +class="pagebreak" name="page30" id="page30" title="30"></a> +inquire whether she would have the courage to +love an outcast and to follow a spectral wooer. +But when Senta passionately declares she would +do it gladly, and ends by fervently praying that +he may soon appear to put her love and faith +to the test, they are almost as much alarmed as +Erik, who enters the room in time to hear this +enthusiastic outburst.</p> + +<p>Turning to Mary, the housekeeper, he informs +her that Daland's ship has just sailed into the +harbour in company with another vessel, whose +captain and crew he doubtless means to entertain. +At these tidings the wheels are all set +aside, and the maidens hasten to help prepare +the food for the customary feast. Senta alone +remains seated by her wheel, and Erik, placing +himself beside her, implores her not to leave +him for another, but to put an end to his sorrows +by promising to become his wife. His eloquent +pleading has no effect upon her, however, and +when he tries to deride her fancy for the pictured +face, and to awaken her pity for him by +describing his own sufferings, she scornfully +compares them to the Dutchman's unhappy +fate:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Oh, vaunt it not!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">What can thy sorrow be?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Know'st thou the fate of that unhappy man?</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page31" id="page31" title="31"></a> +<span class="i0">Look, canst thou feel the pain, the grief,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">With which his gaze on me he bends?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Ah! when I think he has ne'er found relief,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">How sharp a pang my bosom rends!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Erik, beside himself with jealousy, finally tells +her that he has had an ominous dream, in which +he saw her greet the dark stranger, embrace him +tenderly, and even follow him out to sea, where +she was lost. But all this pleading only makes +Senta more obstinate in her refusal of his attentions, +and more eager to behold the object of +her romantic attachment, who at that very moment +enters the house, following her father, +who greets her tenderly. The sudden apparition +of the stranger, whose resemblance to the +portrait is very striking, robs Senta of all composure, +and it is only when her father has gently +reproved her for her cold behaviour that she +bids him welcome.</p> + +<p>Daland then explains to his daughter that his +guest is a wanderer and an exile, although well +provided with this world's goods, and asks her +whether she would be willing to listen to his wooing, +and would consent to ratify his conditional +promise by giving the stranger her hand:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Wilt thou, my child, accord our guest a friendly welcome,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And wilt thou also let him share thy kindly heart?</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page32" id="page32" title="32"></a> +<span class="i0">Give him thy hand, for bridegroom it is thine to call him,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If thou but give consent, to-morrow his thou art.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Wholly uninfluenced by the description of +the stranger's wealth which her father gives her, +but entirely won by the Flying Dutchman's +timidly expressed hope that she will not refuse +him the blessing he has so long and so vainly +sought, Senta hesitates no longer, but generously +promises to become his wife, whatever fate may +await her:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Whoe'er thou art, where'er thy curse may lead thee,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And me, when I thy lot mine own have made,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Whate'er the fate which I with thee may share in,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My father's will by me shall be obeyed.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This promise at first fills the heart of the Flying +Dutchman with the utmost rapture, for he is +thinking only of himself, and of his release from +the curse, but soon he begins to love the innocent +maiden through whom alone he can find +rest. Then he also remembers that, if she fail, +she too will be accursed, and, instead of urging +her as before, he now tries to dissuade her from +becoming his wife by depicting life at his side +in the most unenticing colours, and by warning +her that she must die if her faith should waver. +Senta, undeterred by all these statements, and +eager if necessary to sacrifice herself for her beloved,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page33" id="page33" title="33"></a> +again offers to follow him, and once more +a rapturous thrill passes through his heart:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘<strong>Senta.</strong></span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Here is my hand! I will not rue,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">But e'en to death will I be true.</span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><strong>The Dutchman.</strong></span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">She gives her hand! I conquer you,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Dread powers of Hell, while she is true.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="continued">Daland returns into the room in time to see that +they have agreed to marry, and proposes that +their wedding should take place immediately, +and be celebrated at the same time as the feast +which he generally gives all his sailors at the end +of a happy journey.</p> + +<p>The third act of this opera represents both +ships riding at anchor in a rocky bay, near which +rises Daland's picturesque Norwegian cottage. +All is life and animation on board the Norwegian +vessel, where the sailors are dancing and +singing in chorus, but the black-masted ship +appears deserted, and is as quiet as the tomb.</p> + +<p>When the sailors have ended their chorus, the +pretty peasant girls come trooping down to the +shore, bringing food and drink for both crews, +which they hail from the shore. The Norwegian +sailors promptly respond to their call, and,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page34" id="page34" title="34"></a> +hastening ashore, they receive their share of the +feast; but the phantom vessel remains as lifeless +as before. In vain the girls offer the provisions +they have brought, in vain the other crew taunt +the sleepers, there is no answer given. The +provisions are then all bestowed upon the Norwegians, +who eat and drink most heartily ere +they resume their merry chorus. Suddenly, +however, the Dutch sailors rouse themselves, +appear on deck, and prepare to depart, while +singing about their captain, who has once more +gone ashore in search of the faithful wife who +alone can save him. Blue flames hover over the +phantom ship, and the sound of a coming storm +is borne upon the breeze. The Norwegian +sailors sing louder than ever to drown this ominous +sound, but they are soon too alarmed to +sing, and hasten into their cabins making the +sign of the cross, which evokes a burst of demoniac +laughter from the phantom crew.</p> + +<p>The storm and lights subside as quickly and +mysteriously as they appeared, and all is quiet +once more as Senta comes down to the shore. +Erik, meeting her, implores her to listen to his +wooing, which once found favour, and to forget +the stranger whom her father has induced her +to accept on such short notice. Senta listens +patiently to his plea, which does not in the least<a +class="pagebreak" name="page35" id="page35" title="35"></a> +shake her faith in her new lover, or change her +resolution to live and die for him alone. But +the Dutchman, appearing suddenly, mistakes +her patience for regret, and, almost frantic with +love and despair, he bids her a passionate farewell +and rushes off toward his ship.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘To sea! To sea till time is ended!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thy sacred promise be forgot,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thy sacred promise and my fate!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Farewell! I wish not to destroy thee!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="continued">But Senta has not ceased to love him. She +runs after him, imploring him to remain with her, +protesting her fidelity and renewing her vows in +spite of Erik's passionate efforts to prevent her +from doing so. The Flying Dutchman at first +refuses to listen to her words, and rapidly gives +his orders for departure. She is about to embark, +when he suddenly turns toward her and +declares that he is accursed, and that she has +saved herself, by timely withdrawal, from the +doom which awaits all those who fail to keep +their troth:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Now hear, and learn the fate from which thou wilt be saved:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Condemned am I to bear a frightful fortune,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Ten times would death appear a brighter lot.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A woman's hand alone the curse can lighten,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If she will love me, and till death be true.</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page36" id="page36" title="36"></a> +<span class="i0">Still to be faithful thou hast vowed,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Yet has not God thy promise?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">This rescues thee; for know, unhappy, what a fate is theirs</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Who break the troth which they to me have plighted:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Endless damnation is their doom!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Victims untold have fallen 'neath this curse through me.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Yet, Senta, thou shalt escape.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Farewell! All hope is fled forevermore.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>But Senta has known from the very beginning +who this dark wooer was, and is so intent upon +saving him from his fate that she fears no danger +for herself. Passionately she clings to him, +protesting her affection, and when he looses her, +and Erik would fain detain her by force, she +struggles frantically to follow him.</p> + +<p>Erik's cry brings Daland, Mary, and the +Chorus to the rescue, and they too strive to restrain +Senta, when they hear the stranger proclaim +from the deck of his phantom ship that he +is the Scourge of the Sea,—the Flying Dutchman. +The vessel sails away from the harbour. +Senta escapes from her friends, and rushes to a +projecting cliff, whence she casts herself recklessly +into the seething waves, intent only upon +showing her love and saving him, and thereby +proving herself faithful unto death:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Praise thou thine angel for what he saith;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Here stand I, faithful, yea, till death!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page37" id="page37" +title="37"></a>As Senta sinks beneath the waves the phantom +vessel vanishes also, and as the storm abates +and the rosy evening clouds appear in the west +the transfigured forms of Senta and the Flying +Dutchman hover for a moment over the wreck, +and, rising slowly, float upward and out of +sight, embracing each other, for her faithful love +has indeed accomplished his salvation, and his +spirit, may now be at rest.</p> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page38" id="page38" +title="38"></a><img src="images/venus.jpg" width="372" height="400" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />TANNHÄUSER AND VENUS.</p> + + +<h2>TANNHÄUSER.</h2> + + +<p>In 1829, when Wagner was only sixteen years +of age, he first became acquainted, through +Hoffmann's novels, with the story of the mastersingers +of Nürnberg, and with the mediæval +legend of Tannhäuser, as versified by Ludwig +Tieck. The ‘mystical coquetry and frivolous +catholicism’ of this modern poem repelled him, +and it was not until twelve years later, when +he chanced upon a popular version of the same +story, that he was struck by its dramatic possibilities. +A chance mention of the Sängerkrieg +of the Wartburg in this version made him trace +the legend as far back as possible, and in doing +so he came across an old poem of Lohengrin, +and read Eschenbach's ‘Titurel’ and ‘Parzival,’ +which were to serve as basis for two other great +operas. The sketch of the opera of ‘Tannhäuser’ +was completed in 1842, at Teplitz, during +an excursion in the Bohemian mountains; +but the whole score was not finished until three +years later. Wagner had gone over it all so +carefully that it was printed without much<a +class="pagebreak" name="page39" id="page39" title="39"></a> +revision, and he had even written the piano +score, which was sent to Berlin in 1845 and +appeared in the same year that the opera was +produced at Dresden.</p> + +<p>Madame Schröder-Devrient, whom Wagner +had in his mind in writing the part of Venus, +sang that rôle, but, in spite of all her talent, the +first performance was not a success. She wrote +to Wagner concerning it, and said, ‘You are a +man of genius, but you write such eccentric stuff +it is hardly possible to sing it.’ The public in +general, accustomed to light operas with happy +endings, was dismayed at the sad and tragical +termination, and, while some of the best musical +authorities of the day applauded, others criticised +the work unsparingly. Schumann alone +seems to have realised the force of the author's +new style, for he wrote, ‘On the whole, Wagner +may become of great importance and significance +to the stage,’—a doubtful prediction which +was only triumphantly verified many years afterward. +Like many of the mediæval legends, the +story of Tannhäuser is connected with the ancient +Teutonic religion, which declared that Holda, +the Northern Venus, had set up her enchanted +abode in the hollow mountain known as the +Hörselberg, where she entertained her devotees +with all the pleasures of love. When the missionaries<a +class="pagebreak" name="page40" id="page40" title="40"></a> +came preaching Christianity, they diligently +taught the people that all these heathen +divinities were demons, and although Holda and +her court were not forgotten, she became a +type of sensual love. Tannhäuser, a minstrel +of note, who has won many prizes for his songs, +hearing of the wondrous underground palace +and of its manifold charm, voluntarily enters +the mountain, and abandons himself to the fair +goddess's wiles. Here he spends a whole year +in her company, surrounded by her train of loves +and nymphs, yielding to all her enchantments, +which at first intoxicate his poetic and beauty +loving soul.</p> + +<p>But at last the sensual pleasures in which he +has been steeped begin to pall upon his jaded +senses. He longs to tear himself away from +the enchantress, and to return to the mingled +pleasure and pain of earth.</p> + +<p>The first scene of the opera represents the +charmed grotto where Venus gently seeks to +beguile the discontented knight, while nymphs, +loves, bacchantes, and lovers whirl about in the +graceful mazes of the dance, or pose in charming +attitudes. Seeing Tannhäuser's abstraction +and evident sadness, Venus artfully questions +him, and when he confesses his homesickness, +and his intense longing to revisit the earth, she<a +class="pagebreak" name="page41" id="page41" title="41"></a> +again tries to dazzle him, and cast a glamour +over all his senses, so as to make him utterly +oblivious of all but her.</p> + +<p>Temporarily intoxicated by her charms, Tannhäuser, +when called upon to tune his lyre, bursts +forth into a song extolling her beauty and fascination; +but even before the lay is ended the +longing to depart again seizes him, and he passionately +entreats her to release him from her +thrall:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘'Tis freedom I must win or die,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For freedom I can all defy;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To strife or glory forth I go,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Come life or death, come joy or woe,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">No more in bondage will I sigh!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">O queen, beloved goddess, let me fly!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Thus adjured, and seeing her power is temporarily +ended, Venus haughtily dismisses her slave, +warning him that he returns to earth in vain, as +he has forfeited all chance of salvation by lingering +with her, and bidding him return without +fear when the intolerance of man has made him +weary of life upon earth.</p> + +<p>A sudden change of scene occurs. At a sign +from Venus, the grotto and its voluptuous figures +disappear; the roseate light makes way +for the glaring sunshine, and Tannhäuser, who +has not moved, suddenly finds himself upon the<a +class="pagebreak" name="page42" id="page42" title="42"></a> +hillside, near the highroad and the shrine of the +Virgin, and within sight of the Wartburg castle, +where he formerly dwelt and won many a prize +for his beautiful songs. The summer silence is +at first broken only by the soft notes of a shepherd +singing a popular ballad about Holda, the +Northern Venus, who issues yearly from the +mountain to herald the spring, but as he ceases +a band of pilgrims slowly comes into view. +These holy wanderers are all clad in penitential +robes, and, as they slowly wend their way down +the hill and past the shrine, they chant a psalm +praying for the forgiveness of their sins. The +shepherd calls to them asking them to pray for +him in Rome, and, as they pass out of sight, still +singing, Tannhäuser, overcome with remorse for +his misspent years, sinks down on his knees +before the Virgin's shrine, humbly imploring forgiveness +for his sins:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Oh, see my heart by grief oppressed!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I faint, I sink beneath the burden!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Nor will I cease, nor will I rest,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Till heavenly mercy grants me pardon.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>While he is still kneeling there, absorbed in +prayer, the Landgrave and his minstrel knights +appear in hunting costume. Their attention is +attracted by the bowed figure of the knight, and<a +class="pagebreak" name="page43" id="page43" title="43"></a> +when he raises his head they recognise him as +their former companion. Some of the minstrels, +jealous of his past triumphs, would fain regard +him as their foe, but, influenced by one of their +number, Wolfram von Eschenbach, they welcome +him kindly and ask him where he has been. +Tannhäuser, only partly roused from his half +lethargic state, dreamily answers that he has +long been tarrying in a land where he found +neither peace nor rest, and in answer to their +invitation to join them in the Wartburg declares +he cannot stay, but must wander on forever. +Wolfram, seeing him about to depart once more, +then reminds him of Elizabeth, the fair chatelaine +of the Wartburg, and when he sees that, although +Tannhäuser trembles at the mere sound of the +name of the maiden he once loved, he will nevertheless +depart, he asks and obtains the Landgrave's +permission to reveal a long kept secret.</p> + +<p>Wolfram himself has long loved the fair Elizabeth, +but such is his unselfish devotion that he +would fain see her happy even with a rival. To +win the light back to her eyes and the smile to +her lips, he now tells Tannhäuser how she has +drooped ever since he went away, and generously +confesses that she took pleasure in his +music only, and has persistently avoided the +minstrel hall since his departure. His eloquent<a +class="pagebreak" name="page44" id="page44" title="44"></a> +pleading touches Tannhäuser's reawakening +heart, and he finally consents to accompany +the Landgrave and his minstrels back to the +Wartburg. Hither they now make their way +on foot and on horseback, singing a triumphal +chorus:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘He doth return, no more to wander;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Our loved and lost is ours again.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">All praise and thanks to those we render</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Who could persuade, and not in vain.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Now let your harps indite a measure</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Of all that hero's hand may dare,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Of all that poet's heart can pleasure,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Before the fairest of the fair.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The second act is played in the great hall of +the Wartburg castle, which is festively decorated, +for the minstrels are again to contend for the +prize of song, a laurel wreath which will again +be bestowed as of yore by the fair hands of the +beloved Princess Elizabeth. As the curtain +rises she is alone in the hall, no longer pale and +wan, but radiant with happiness, for she knows +that Tannhäuser, her lover, has returned, and +she momentarily expects him to appear. While +she is greeting the well known hall, the scene +of her lover's former triumphs, with a rapturous +little outburst of song, the door suddenly opens +and Wolfram appears, leading the penitent Tannhäuser,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page45" id="page45" title="45"></a> +who rushes forward and falls at Elizabeth's +feet, while his friend discreetly withdraws. +Elizabeth would fain raise the knight, telling +him it is unbecoming for him to assume so +humble an attitude beneath the roof where he +has triumphed over all rivals, and she tenderly +asks where he has lingered so long. Tannhäuser, +ashamed of the past, and absorbed in +the present, declares that he has been far away, +in the land of oblivion, where he has forgotten +all save her alone:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Far away in strange and distant regions,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And between yesterday and to-day oblivion's veil hath fallen.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Every remembrance hath forever vanished,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Save one thing only, rising from the darkness,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That I then dared not hope I should behold thee,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Nor ever raise mine eyes to thy perfection.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Elizabeth is so happy to see him once more, +so ready to forgive him at the very first word of +repentance, that Tannhäuser cannot but see how +dearly she loves him, and they soon unite in a +duet of complete bliss, rejoicing openly over +their reunion, and vowing to love each other +forever, and never to part again.</p> + +<p>The Landgrave appears just as their song is +ended, to congratulate Elizabeth upon having at +last left her seclusion and honoured the minstrels<a +class="pagebreak" name="page46" id="page46" title="46"></a> +with her presence. In conclusion, he declares +that, as all the contestants know she will be there +to bestow the prize, the rivalry will be greater +than ever. He is interrupted in this speech, +however, by the entrance of knights and nobles, +who file in singing a chorus in praise of the +noble hall, and of Hermann, Landgrave of Thuringia, +the patron of song, whom they repeatedly +cheer. When they have all taken their appointed +places, the Landgrave, rising in his seat, addresses +them, bidding them welcome, reminding them +of the high aims of their art, and telling them +that, while the theme he is about to propose for +their lays is love, the princess herself will bestow +as prize whatever the winner may ask:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Therefore hear now the theme you all shall sing.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Say, what is love? by what signs shall we know it?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">This be your theme. Whoso most nobly this can tell,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Him shall the princess give the prize.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">He may demand the fairest guerdon:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I vouch that whatsoe'er he ask is granted.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Up, then, arouse ye! sing, O gallant minstrels!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Attune your harps to love. Great is the prize,’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>At the summons of the heralds, Wolfram von +Eschenbach first takes up the strain, and as for +him love is an ardent desire to see the loved +one happy, a longing to sacrifice himself if need +be, and an attitude of worshipful devotion, he<a +class="pagebreak" name="page47" id="page47" title="47"></a> +naturally sings an exalted strain. It finds favour +with all his hearers,—with all except Tannhäuser, +who, having tasted of the passionate joys +of unholy love, cannot understand the purity of +Wolfram's lay, which he stigmatises as cold and +unsatisfactory.</p> + +<p>In his turn, he now attunes his harp to love, +and sings a voluptuous strain, which not only +contrasts oddly with Wolfram's performance, but +shows love merely as a passion, a gratification +of the senses. The minstrels, jealous for their +art, indignantly interrupt him, and one even +challenges Tannhäuser to mortal combat:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘To mortal combat I defy thee!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Shameless blasphemer, draw thy sword!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">As brother henceforth we deny thee:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thy words profane too long we've heard!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If I of love divine have spoken,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Its glorious spell shall be unbroken</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Strength'ning in valour, sword and heart,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Altho' from life this hour I part.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For womanhood and noble honour</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Through death and danger I would go;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">But for the cheap delights that won thee</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I scorn them as worth not one blow!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This minstrel's sentiments are loudly echoed +by all the knights present, who, having been +trained in the school of chivalry, have an exalted<a +class="pagebreak" name="page48" id="page48" title="48"></a> +conception of love, hold all women in high honour, +and deeply resent the attempt just made +to degrade them. Tannhäuser, whose once +pure and noble nature has been perverted and +degraded by the year spent with Venus, cannot +longer understand the exalted pleasures of true +love, even though he has just won the heart of +a peerless and spotless maiden, and when Wolfram, +hoping to allay the strife, again resumes his +former strain, he impatiently interrupts him.</p> + +<p>Recklessly now, and entirely wrapped up in +the recollection of the unholy pleasures of the +past, Tannhäuser exalts the goddess of Love, +with whom he has revelled in bliss, and boldly +reveals the fact that he has been tarrying with +her in her subterranean grove.</p> + +<p>This confession fills the hearts of all present +with nameless terror, for the priests have taught +them that the heathen deities are demons disguised. +The minstrels one and all fall upon +Tannhäuser, who is saved from immediate death +at their hands only by the prompt intervention +of Elizabeth.</p> + +<p>Broken-hearted, for now she knows the utter +unworthiness of the man to whom she has given +her heart, yet loving him still and hoping he +may in time win forgiveness for his sin, she +pleads so eloquently for him that all fall back.<a +class="pagebreak" name="page49" id="page49" title="49"></a> +The Landgrave, addressing him, then solemnly +bids him repent, and join the pilgrims on their +way to Rome, where perchance the Pope may +grant him absolution for his sin:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘One path alone can save thee from perdition,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">From everlasting woe,—by earth abandon'd,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">One way is left: that way thou now shalt know.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A band of pilgrims now assembled</span><br /> +<span class="i0">From every part of my domain;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">This morn the elders went before them,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The rest yet in the vale remain.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">'Tis not for crimes like thine they tremble,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And leave their country, friends and home,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Desire for heav'nly grace is o'er them:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">They seek the sacred shrine at Rome.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Urged to depart by the Landgrave, knights, +nobles, and even by the pale and sorrowful Elizabeth, +Tannhäuser eagerly acquiesces, for now +that the sudden spell of sensuous love has departed, +he ardently longs to free his soul from the +burden of sin. The pilgrims' chant again falls +upon his ear, and, sobered and repentant, Tannhäuser +joins them to journey on foot to Rome, +kneeling at every shrine by the way, and devoutly +praying for the forgiveness and ultimate +absolution of his sins.</p> + +<p>When the curtain rises upon the third and +last act of this opera, one whole year has slowly<a +class="pagebreak" name="page50" id="page50" title="50"></a> +passed, during which no tidings of the pilgrims +have been received. It is now time for their +return, and they are daily expected by their +friends, who have ardently been praying that +they may come home, shrived and happy, to +spend the remainder of their lives at home in +peace. No one has prayed as fervently as the +fair Elizabeth, who, forgetting her wonted splendour, +has daily wended her way down the hillside, +to kneel on the rude stones in front of the +Virgin's wayside shrine. There she has daily +prayed for Tannhäuser's happy return, and there +she kneels absorbed in prayer when Wolfram +comes down the path as usual. He has not forgotten +his love for her, which is as deep and +self-sacrificing as ever, so he too prays that her +lover may soon return from Rome, entirely absolved, +and wipe away her constant tears. Elizabeth +is suddenly roused from her devotions +by the distant chant of the returning pilgrims. +They sing of sins forgiven, and of the peace won +by their long, painful journey to Rome. Singing +thus they slowly file past Wolfram and Elizabeth, +who eagerly scan every face in search of +one whom they cannot discover.</p> + +<p>When all have passed by, Elizabeth, realising +that she will see her beloved no more, sinks slowly +down on her knees, and, raising her despairing<a +class="pagebreak" name="page51" id="page51" title="51"></a> +eyes to the image of the Virgin. Then she solemnly +dedicates the remainder of her life to her +exclusive service, in the hope that Tannhäuser +may yet be forgiven, and prays that death may +soon come to ease her pain and bring her heart +eternal peace:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘O blessed Virgin, hear my prayer!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thou star of glory, look on me!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Here in the dust I bend before thee,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Now from this earth oh set me free!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Let me, a maiden, pure and white,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Enter into thy kingdom bright!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If vain desires and earthly longing</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Have turn'd my heart from thee away,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The sinful hopes within me thronging</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Before thy blessed feet I lay.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I'll wrestle with the love I cherish'd,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Until in death its flame hath perish'd.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If of my sin thou wilt not shrive me,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Yet in this hour, oh grant thy aid!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Till thy eternal peace thou give me,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I vow to live and die thy maid.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And on thy bounty I will call,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That heav'nly grace on him may fall.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This prayer ended, the broken-hearted Elizabeth +slowly totters away, while Wolfram von +Eschenbach, who has seen by her pallid face +and wasted frame that the death she prays for +will not tarry long, sorrowfully realises at last +that all his love can save her no pang.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page52" id="page52" +title="52"></a>When the evening shadows have fallen, and the +stars illumine the sky, he is still lingering by the +holy shrine where Elizabeth has breathed her +last prayer. The silence of the night is suddenly +broken by the sound of his harp, as he gives +vent to his sorrow by an invocation to the stars, +among which his lady-love is going to dwell ere-long, +and as he sings the last notes a pilgrim +slowly draws near. Wolfram does not at first +recognise his old friend and rival Tannhäuser in +this dejected, foot-sore traveller; but when he +sees the worn face he anxiously inquires whether +he has been absolved, and warns him against +venturing within the precincts of the Wartburg +unless he has received Papal pardon for his +sins.</p> + +<p>Tannhäuser, instead of answering this query, +merely asks him to point out the path, which he +once found so easily, the path leading to the +Venus hill, and only when Wolfram renews his +questions does he vouchsafe him a brief account +of his journey to Rome. He tells how he +trod the roughest roads barefooted, how he +journeyed through heat and cold, eschewing all +comforts and alleviation of his hard lot, how he +knelt penitently before every shrine, and how +fervently he prayed for the forgiveness of the +sin which had darkened not only his life but<a +class="pagebreak" name="page53" id="page53" title="53"></a> +that of his beloved. Then, in faltering tones, +he relates how the Pope shrank from him upon +hearing that he had sojourned for a year in the +Venus hill, and how sternly he declared there +could be no more hope of pardon for such a sin +than to see his withered staff blossom and bear +leaves:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘If thou hast shar'd the joys of Hell,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If thou unholy flames hast nurs'd</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That in the hill of Venus dwell,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thou art for evermore accurs'd!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And as this barren staff I hold</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Ne'er will put forth a flower or leaf,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thus shalt thou never more behold</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Salvation or thy sin's relief.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Tannhäuser now passionately describes his +utter despair, after hearing this awful verdict, +his weary homeward journey, and his firm determination, +since he is utterly debarred from ever +seeing Elizabeth again, either in this world or +in the next, to hasten back to the hill of Venus, +where he can at least deaden his remorse with +pleasure, and steep his sinful soul in sensual +love. In vain Wolfram pleads with him not to +give up all hope of ultimate salvation, and still +to repent of his former sin; he insists upon returning +to the enchantress who warned him of +the intolerance of man, and whom he now calls<a +class="pagebreak" name="page54" id="page54" title="54"></a> +upon to guide his steps to the entrance of her +abode.</p> + +<p>This invocation does not remain unheard by +the fair goddess of beauty. She appears in the +distance with her shadowy train, singing her old +alluring song, and welcoming him back to her +realm. Tannhäuser is about to obey her beckoning +hand, and to hasten after her in the direction +of the Hörselberg, when the sound of a funeral +chant falls upon his ear. A long procession is +slowly winding down the hill. The mourners +are carrying the body of the fair Elizabeth, who +has died of grief, to its last resting place.</p> + +<p>While Tannhäuser, forgetting all else, is gazing +spellbound at the waxen features of his beloved, +thus slowly borne down the hill, Wolfram +tells him how the pure maiden interceded for +him in her last prayer on earth, and declares that +he knows her innocent soul is now pleading for +his forgiveness at the foot of the heavenly throne. +This hope of salvation brings such relief to +Tannhäuser's tormented heart, that he turns his +back upon Venus, who, realising her prey has +escaped, suddenly vanishes in the Hörselberg +with all her demon train.</p> + +<p>Kneeling by Elizabeth's bier, Tannhäuser fervently +prays for forgiveness, until the bystanders, +touched by his remorse, assure him that he will<a +class="pagebreak" name="page55" id="page55" title="55"></a> +be forgiven,—an assurance which is confirmed as +he breathes his last, by the arrival of the Pope's +messenger. He appears, bearing the withered +staff, which has miraculously budded and has +burst forth into blossoms and leaves:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘The Lord himself now thy bondage hath riven.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Go, enter in with the blest in His heaven.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page56" id="page56" +title="56"></a><img src="images/ortrud.jpg" width="383" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />ORTRUD KNEELING BEFORE ELSA.</p> + + +<h2>LOHENGRIN.</h2> + + +<p>During a summer vacation at Teplitz in +Bohemia, in 1845, Wagner wrote the first +sketch of the opera of ‘Lohengrin.’ The poem +was written at Dresden in 1845, but the score +was finished only in 1848. The opera was first +performed at Weimar in 1850, under the leadership +of Liszt, who was greatly interested in it, +and determined to make it a success.</p> + +<p>The poet composer had taken the idea for +this poem from a mediæval legend, based upon +the old Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. Its +poetical and musical possibilities immediately +struck him, and when the opera was first played +to an audience composed of musical and literary +people from all parts of Europe, whom Liszt had +invited to be present, it produced ‘a powerful +impression.’ From the memorable night of +its first performance ‘dates the success of the +Wagner movement in Germany.’ During the +next nine years this opera was given in fourteen +different cities, and Wagner, who was then a +political exile, is reported to have sadly remarked,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page57" id="page57" title="57"></a> +‘I shall soon be the only German who +has not heard Lohengrin.’ It was in 1861, +eleven years after its first performance, that he +finally heard it for the first time in Vienna.</p> + +<p>This opera won for Wagner not only lasting +fame, but also the enthusiastic admiration of the +young Ludwig of Bavaria. Such was the impression +this work made upon the young prince, +who first heard it when he was only sixteen, +that he resolved to do all in his power to help +the composer. Three years later he succeeded +to the throne of Bavaria as Ludwig II., and one +of the first independent acts of his reign was to +send a messenger to invite the master to come +and dwell at his court, and to assure him a yearly +pension from his private purse. The young king +was so infatuated with the story of ‘Lohengrin’ +that he not only had his residence decorated +with paintings and statues representing different +episodes of the opera, but used also to sail +about his lake, dressed in the Swan Knight's +costume, in a boat drawn by ingeniously contrived +mechanical swans. The story of this +opera is as follows:—</p> + +<p>Henry I., the Fowler, Emperor of Germany, +about to make war against the Hungarians +who threaten to invade his realm, comes to +Antwerp to collect his troops, and to remind<a +class="pagebreak" name="page58" id="page58" title="58"></a> +all the noblemen of Brabant of their allegiance +to him.</p> + +<p>The opera opens with the trumpet call of the +heralds, and by Henry's speech to the assembled +noblemen, who enthusiastically promise him the +support of their oft-tried arms. The king, who +is pleased with their readiness to serve him, then +informs them that he has heard rumours of trouble +in their midst, and that by right of his office as +high justice of the realm he would fain bring +peace among them. He therefore summons +Frederick of Telramund, the guardian of the +dukedom of Brabant, to state the cause of dissension. +This nobleman relates how the dying +Duke of Brabant confided his children, Elsa +and Godfrey, to his care, how tenderly he +watched over them, and how much sorrow he +felt when the young heir, having gone out in +the forest to walk with his sister one day, failed +to return. Frederick of Telramund then goes +on, and tells how he could not but suspect Elsa +of her brother's murder. He had therefore +renounced her hand, which he had once hoped +to win, had married Ortrud, daughter of Radbod, +the heathen king and former possessor of all this +tract of land, which he now claims as his own +by right of inheritance.</p> + +<p>The people at first refuse to believe his dark<a +class="pagebreak" name="page59" id="page59" title="59"></a> +accusation against Elsa; but when Frederick +declares she murdered her brother so as to become +sole mistress of the duchy, and to bestow +it upon some unworthy lover, the king sends for +the maiden, and, hanging his shield upon an oak, +declares he will not depart until he has tried +this cause:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘<strong>Herald.</strong></span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Now shall the cause be tried as ancient use requires.</span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><strong>King.</strong></span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Never again my shield to wear</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Till judgment is pronounced, I swear.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The people receive this decree with joy, and +the men, drawing their swords, thrust them into +the ground as they form a circle around the +king. These preparations for a solemn court of +justice are scarcely ended when Elsa appears, +all in white, and attended by her ladies, who +stand in the background while she timidly advances +and stands before the king. Her +youth, beauty, and apparent innocence produce +a great effect, not only upon the bystanders, +but also upon the king, who gently begins to +question her.</p> + +<p>But, instead of answering him, the fair maiden +merely bows and wrings her hands, exclaiming,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page60" id="page60" title="60"></a> +‘My hapless brother!’ until the king implores +her to confide in him. Suddenly her tongue is +loosened, and she begins to sing, as if in a +trance, of a vision with which she has been +favoured, wherein a handsome knight had been +sent by Heaven to become her champion:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘I saw in splendour shining</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A knight of glorious mien,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">On me his eye inclining</span><br /> +<span class="i0">With tranquil gaze serene;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A horn of gold beside him,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">He leant upon his sword.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thus when I erst espied him</span><br /> +<span class="i0">'Mid clouds of light he soared;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">His words so low and tender</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Brought life renewed to me.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My guardian, my defender,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thou shalt my guardian be.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>These words and the maiden's rapt and innocent +look are so impressive, that the king and +people utterly refuse to believe the maiden +guilty of crime, until Frederick of Telramund +boldly offers to prove the truth of his assertion +by fighting against any champion whom she may +choose. Elsa accepts this proposal gladly, for +she hopes her heaven-sent champion may appear. +The lists are immediately prepared, while +the herald calls aloud:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"><a class="pagebreak" name="page61" id="page61" +title="61"></a><span class="i0">‘He who in right of Heaven comes here to fight</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For Elsa of Brabant, step forth at once.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The first call remains unanswered; but, at +Elsa's request, the king commands a second to +be made, while she sinks on her knees and +ardently begins praying for her champion's appearance. +Her prayer is scarcely ended when +the men along the bank become aware of the +approach of a snowy swan, drawing a little skiff, +in which a handsome young knight in full armour +stands erect.</p> + +<p>Amid the general silence of the amazed spectators, +Lohengrin, the Swan Knight, springs +ashore, and, turning to his swan, dismisses it +in a beautiful song, one of the gems of this +opera:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘I give thee thanks, my faithful swan.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Turn thee again and breast the tide;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Return unto that land of dawn</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Where joyous we did long abide.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Well thy appointed task is done.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Farewell, my trusty swan.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Then, while the swan slowly sails down the +river and out of sight, the Swan Knight announces +to the king that he has come as Elsa's +champion, and, turning to her, asks whether +she will be his wife if he proves victorious. Elsa<a +class="pagebreak" name="page62" id="page62" title="62"></a> +gladly promises him her hand, nor does she even +offer to withdraw this promise when he tells her +that she must trust him entirely, and never ask +who he is or whence he comes:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Say, dost thou understand me?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Never, as thou dost love me,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Aught shall to question move thee</span><br /> +<span class="i0">From whence to thee I came,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Or what my race and name.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Elsa faithfully promises to remember all +these injunctions, and bids him do battle for +her, whereupon he challenges Telramund, with +whom he begins fighting at a given signal. +The Swan Knight soon defeats his enemy, who +is thus convicted of perjury by the judgment of +God, but he magnanimously refuses to take +his life.</p> + +<p>Then, turning to Elsa, who thanks him passionately +for saving her, he clasps her in his +arms, while Telramund and Ortrud, his wife, +bewail their disgrace, for, according to the law +of the land, they are doomed to poverty and +exile. Their sorrow, however, is quite unheeded +by the enthusiastic spectators, who set Elsa and +Lohengrin upon their shields, and then bear +them off in triumph, to the glad accompaniment +of martial strains:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"><a class="pagebreak" name="page63" id="page63" +title="63"></a><span class="i0">‘<strong>Chorus.</strong></span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i2"> We sing to thee,—we praise thee,</span><br /> +<span class="i2"> To highest honour raise thee.</span><br /> +<span class="i2"> Stranger, we here greet thee delighted.</span><br /> +<span class="i2"> Wrong thou hast righted;</span><br /> +<span class="i2"> We gladly greet thee here.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thee, thee we sing alone. Thy name shall live in story.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Oh, never will be one to rival thee in glory!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>It is night when the curtain rises upon the +second act; the knights are still revelling in +the part of the palace they occupy, while the +women's apartments are dark and still. The +street is deserted, and on the steps of the cathedral +sit Frederick and Ortrud, who have been +despoiled of their rich garments, and are now +clad like beggars.</p> + +<p>Frederick, who feels his disgrace, bitterly reproaches +his wife for having blasted his career, +and seeks to induce her to depart with him ere +day breaks; but Ortrud refuses to go. She is +not yet conquered, and passionately bids him +rouse himself, and listen to her plan, if he would +recover his honour, retrieve his fortunes, and +avenge himself for his public defeat. She first +persuades him that the Swan Knight won the +victory by magic arts only, which was an unpardonable +offence, and then declares that, if +Elsa could only be prevailed upon to disobey<a +class="pagebreak" name="page64" id="page64" title="64"></a> +her champion's injunctions and ask his name, +the spell which protects him would soon be +broken, and he would soon become their +prey.</p> + +<p>Telramund, overjoyed at the prospect of wiping +out his disgrace, acquiesces eagerly, and +as Elsa just then appears at her window and +softly apostrophises the evening breeze, Ortrud +creeps out of the shadow and timidly addresses +her, simulating a distress she is far from +feeling.</p> + +<p>Moved by compassion at the sight of the +haughty woman thus laid low, and touched by +the pretended repentance she shows, Elsa, whom +happiness has made even more tender than +usual, eagerly hastens down with two of her attendants, +and, opening the door, bids her come +in, promising to intercede in her behalf on the +morrow. During the subsequent brief conversation +Ortrud artfully manages to make Elsa +vaguely uneasy, and to sow in her innocent +mind the first seeds of suspicion.</p> + +<p>Frederick of Telramund, in the mean while, +has watched his wife disappear with Elsa, and, +hiding in a niche of the old church, he sees the +gradual approach of day, and hears the herald +proclaiming through the streets the Emperor's +ban upon him:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"><a class="pagebreak" name="page65" id="page65" +title="65"></a><span class="i0">‘Our king's august decree through all the lands</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I here make known,—mark well what he commands:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Beneath a ban he lays Count Telramund</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For tempting Heaven with traitorous intent.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Whoe'er shall harbour or companion him</span><br /> +<span class="i0">By right shall share his doom with life and limb.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="continued">The unhappy man also hears the herald announce +Elsa's coming marriage with the heaven-sent +Swan Knight, and grimly tells the bystanders +he will soon unmask the traitor. A few minutes +later, when he has returned to his hiding +place, he sees Elsa appear in bridal array, followed +by her women, and by Ortrud, who is +very richly clad. But at the church door Ortrud +insolently presses in front of Elsa, claiming the +right of precedence as her due, and taunting her +for marrying a man who has won her by magic +arts only, and whose name and origin she does +not even know.</p> + +<p>This altercation is interrupted by the appearance +of the king and his attendants, among +whom is the Swan Knight. He hastens to Elsa's +side, while the monarch imperiously demands +the cause of strife. Lohengrin tenderly questions +Elsa, who tells him all. As Ortrud's venomous +insinuations have had no apparent effect +upon her, he is about to lead her into the church, +when Telramund suddenly steps forward, loudly<a +class="pagebreak" name="page66" id="page66" title="66"></a> +declaring that the Swan Knight overcame him +by sorcery, and imploring Elsa not to believe a +word he says.</p> + +<p>These accusations are, however, dismissed by +the king and his men, since Elsa passionately +refuses to credit them, and the wedding procession +sweeps into the church, followed by the +vindictive glances of Telramund and Ortrud,—glances +which the trembling Elsa alone seems +to perceive.</p> + +<p>The third act takes place on that selfsame +evening. The festivities are nearly ended, and +through opposite doors the wedding procession +enters the nuptial chamber to the accompaniment +of the well known Bridal Chorus. The attendants +soon depart, however, leaving Elsa and +Lohengrin to join in a duet of happy married +love. Now that they are alone together for the +first time, Elsa softly begins chiding her lover +for not showing more confidence in her, and +revealing who he is. In spite of his tender +attempts to turn aside the conversation into a +less dangerous channel, she gradually becomes +more importunate:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Oh, make me glad with thy reliance,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Humble me not that bend so low.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Ne'er shalt thou rue thy dear affiance:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Him that I love, oh let me know!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page67" id="page67" +title="67"></a>Seeing her husband does not yield to her +tender pleading, Elsa then redoubles her caresses. +Her faint suspicions have taken such firm root, +and grow with such rapidity, that she is soon +almost wild with suspense. All his attempts +to soothe her only seem to excite her more, +and suddenly, fancying that she hears the swan +boat coming to bear him away from her, she +determines to break the magic spell at any +cost, as Ortrud cunningly advised her, and demands +his name. Just as Lohengrin is gazing +upon her in heart-rending but mute reproach, +Telramund bursts into the room, with a band of +hired assassins, to take his life. A quick motion +from Elsa, whose trust returns when she sees +her beloved in danger, permits Lohengrin to +parry the first blow with his sword, and Frederick +of Telramund soon lies dead upon the floor, +while his accomplices cringe at Lohengrin's +feet imploring his pardon. Day is dawning, +and Lohengrin, after caring tenderly for the +half-fainting Elsa, bids the would-be assassins +bear the corpse into the presence of the king, +where he promises to meet Elsa and satisfy all +her demands:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Bear hence the corpse into the king's judgment hall.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Into the royal presence lead her.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Arrayed as fits so fair a bride;</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page68" id="page68" title="68"></a> +<span class="i0">There all she asks I will concede her,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Nor from her knowledge aught will hide.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>At the last scene the king is again near +the river, on his judgment throne, whence he +watches the mustering of the troops which are +to accompany him to the war, and makes a +patriotic speech, to which they gladly respond. +Suddenly, however, the four men appear with +the corpse of Frederick of Telramund, which +they lay at the king's feet, declaring they are +obeying the orders of the new lord of Brabant, +who will soon come to explain all. Before the +king can question further, Elsa appears, pale and +drooping, in spite of her bridal array, and just as +the king is rallying her at wearing so mournful +an expression when her bridegroom is only leaving +her for a short time to lead his troops to the +fray, the Swan Knight appears, and is enthusiastically +welcomed by his men. Sadly he informs +them he can no longer lead them on to +victory, and declares that he slew Frederick of +Telramund in self-defence, a crime for which he +is unanimously acquitted.</p> + +<p>Then he sadly goes on to relate that Elsa +has already broken her promise, and asked the +fatal question concerning his name and origin. +Proudly he tells them that he has no cause to<a +class="pagebreak" name="page69" id="page69" title="69"></a> +be ashamed of his lineage, as he is Lohengrin, +son of Parsifal, the guardian of the Holy Grail, +sent from the temple on Mount Salvatch to +save and defend Elsa. The only magic he had +used was the power with which the Holy Grail +endowed all its defenders, and which never forsook +them until they revealed their name:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘He whom the Grail to be its servant chooses</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Is armed henceforth by high invincible might;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">All evil craft its power before him loses,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The spirit of the darkness where he dwells takes flight.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Nor will he lose the awful charm it lendeth,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Although he should to distant lands,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">When the high cause of virtue he defendeth:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">While he's unknown, its spells he still commands.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="continued">Now, he adds, the sacred spell is broken, he can +no longer remain, but is forced to return immediately +to the Holy Grail, and in confirmation +of his word the swan and skiff again appear, +sailing up the river. Tenderly the Swan Knight +now bids the repentant Elsa farewell, gently resisting +her passionate attempts to detain him, +and giving her his sword, horn, and ring, which +he bids her bestow upon her brother when he +returns to protect her. This boon is denied +him, because she could not keep faith with him +for one short year, at the end of which time he<a +class="pagebreak" name="page70" id="page70" title="70"></a> +would have been free to reveal his name, and +her missing brother would have been restored +to her by the power of the Holy Grail.</p> + +<p>Placing the fainting Elsa in her women's arms, +Lohengrin then goes down toward the swan +boat, amid the loud lamentations of all the +people, One person only is glad to see him +depart, Ortrud, the wife of Telramund, and, +thinking he can no longer interfere, she cruelly +taunts Elsa with her lack of faith, and confesses +that her magic arts and heathen spells have +turned the heir of Brabant into the snowy swan +which is even now drawing the tiny skiff.</p> + +<p>These words, which fill the hearts of Elsa and +all the spectators with horror and dismay, are +however overheard by Lohengrin, who, accustomed +to rely upon Divine aid in every need, +sinks upon his knees, and is rapt in silent prayer. +Suddenly a beam of heavenly light streams down +upon his upturned face, and the white dove of +the Holy Grail is seen hovering over his head. +Lohengrin, perceiving it, springs to his feet, +looses the golden chain which binds the swan +to the skiff, and as the snowy bird sinks out of +sight a fair young knight in silver armour rises +out of the stream. Then all perceive that he is +in truth, as Lohengrin proclaims, the missing +Godfrey of Brabant, released from bondage by<a +class="pagebreak" name="page71" id="page71" title="71"></a> +the power of the Holy Grail. Elsa embraces +her brother with joy, the king and nobles gladly +welcome him, and Ortrud sinks fainting to the +ground. Lohengrin, seeing that his beloved +has now a protector, springs into the skiff, whose +chain is caught by the dove, and rapidly drawn +out of sight. As it vanishes, Elsa sinks lifeless +to the ground with a last passionate cry of +‘My husband!’ and all gaze mournfully after +him, for they know they will never see Lohengrin, +the Swan Knight, again.</p> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page72" id="page72" +title="72"></a><img src="images/tristan.jpg" width="377" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />TRISTAN'S DEATH.</p> + + +<h2>TRISTAN AND YSOLDE.</h2> + + +<p>It was in 1854, when still an exile from his +native land, that Wagner, weary of his long +work, ‘The Ring of the Niblungs,’ of which +only the first two parts were completed, conceived +the idea of using the legend of Tristan +as basis for a popular opera. Three years later +the poem was finished, but the opera was +played in Munich only in 1865 for the first +time.</p> + +<p>The libretto is based on an ancient Celtic +myth or legend, which was very popular during +the Middle Ages. It was already known in the +seventh century, but whether it originally came +from Wales or Brittany is a disputed point. It +was very widely known, however, and, thanks +to the wandering minstrels, it was translated +into all the Continental idioms, and became the +theme of many poets, even of later times. Since +the days when Godfried of Strasburgh wrote his +version of the story it has been versified by many +others, among whom, in our days, are Matthew +Arnold and Swinburne. While the general<a +class="pagebreak" name="page73" id="page73" title="73"></a> +outline of these various versions remains the +same, the legend has undergone many transformations, +but Wagner has preserved many of +the fundamental ideas of the myth, which is intended +to illustrate the overpowering force of +passion. The scene was originally laid in +Ireland, Cornwall, and French Brittany.</p> + +<p>Blanchefleur, sister of King Mark of Cornwall, +falls in love with Rivalin, who dies shortly +after their union. Withdrawing to her husband's +castle in Brittany, Blanchefleur gives birth +to a child whom she calls Tristan, as he is the +child of sorrow, and, feeling that she cannot +live much longer, she intrusts him to the care of +her faithful steward, Kurvenal. When the young +hero has reached the age of fifteen, his guardian +takes him over to Cornwall, where King Mark +not only recognises him as his nephew, but also +designates him as his heir.</p> + +<p>Tristan has been carefully trained, and is so +expert in the use of his arms that he soon excites +the envy of the courtiers, who are watching for +an opportunity to do him harm. The King of +Cornwall, having been defeated in battle by +the King of Ireland, is obliged to pay him a +yearly tribute, which is collected by Morold, a +huge giant and a relative of the Irish king. +Morold, coming as usual to collect the tribute<a +class="pagebreak" name="page74" id="page74" title="74"></a> +money, behaves so insolently that Tristan +resolves to free the country from thraldom by +slaying him. A challenge is given and accepted, +and after a terrible combat, such as the +mediæval poets love to describe with minute +care, the giant falls, after wounding Tristan with +his poisoned spear.</p> + +<p>The King of Cornwall, instead of sending +the wonted tribute to Ireland, now forwards +Morold's head, which is piously preserved by +Ysolde, the Irish princess, who finds in the +wound a fragment of sword by which she hopes +to identify the murderer, and avenge her kinsman's +death.</p> + +<p>Tristan, finding that the skill of all the Cornwall +leeches can give him no relief, decides to +go to Ireland and claim the help of Ysolde the +princess, who, like her mother, is skilled in the +art of healing, and knows the antidote for every +poison. Fearing, however, lest she may seek to +avenge Morold's death, he goes alone, disguised +as a harper, and presents himself before her as +Tantris, a wandering minstrel.</p> + +<p>His precarious condition touches Ysolde's +compassionate heart, and she soon uses all her +medical science to accomplish his cure, tenderly +nursing him back to health. While sitting beside +him one day, she idly draws his sword from<a +class="pagebreak" name="page75" id="page75" title="75"></a> +the scabbard, and her sharp eyes perceive that +a piece is missing. Comparing the break in the +sword with the fragment in her possession, she is +soon convinced that Morold's murderer is at her +mercy, and she is about to slay her helpless foe +when an imploring glance allays her wrath.</p> + +<p>Tristan, having entirely recovered under her +care, takes leave of the fair Ysolde, who has +entirely lost her heart to him, and returns to +Cornwall, where he relates his adventures, and +speaks in such glowing terms of Ysolde's beauty +and goodness that the courtiers finally prevail +upon the king to sue for her hand.</p> + +<p>As the courtiers have tried to make the king +believe that his nephew would fain keep him +single lest he should have an heir, Tristan reluctantly +accepts the commission to bear the +king's proposals and escort the bride to Cornwall. +Ysolde is of course overjoyed at his return, +for she fancies he reciprocates her love; +but when he makes his errand known, she +proudly conceals her grief, and prepares to accompany +the embassy to Cornwall, taking with +her her faithful nurse, Brangeane.</p> + +<p>The Queen of Ireland, another Ysolde, well +versed in every magic art, then brews a mighty +love potion, which she intrusts to Brangeane's +care, bidding her conceal it in her daughter's<a +class="pagebreak" name="page76" id="page76" title="76"></a> +medicine chest, and administer it to the royal +bride and groom on their wedding night, to insure +their future happiness by deep mutual love.</p> + +<p>Wagner's opera opens on shipboard, where +Ysolde lies sullen and motionless under a tent, +brooding over her sorrow and nursing her wrath +against Tristan, who has further embittered her +by treating her with the utmost reserve, and +never once approaching her during the whole +journey. The call of the pilot floats over the +sea, and Ysolde, roused from her abstraction, +asks Brangeane where they are. When she +learns that the vessel is already within sight of +Cornwall, where a new love awaits her, Ysolde +gives vent to her despair, and openly regrets +that she does not possess her mother's power +over the elements, as she would gladly conjure +a storm which would engulf the vessel and set +her free from a life she abhors.</p> + +<p>Brangeane, alarmed at this outburst, vainly +tries to comfort her, and as the vessel draws +near the land she obeys Ysolde's command and +goes to summon Tristan into her presence. +Approaching the young hero, who is at the +helm, the maid delivers her message, but Tristan +refuses to comply, under pretext of best +fulfilling his trust by steering the vessel safe to +land:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"><a class="pagebreak" name="page77" id="page77" +title="77"></a><span class="i0">‘In every station</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Where I stand</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I serve with life and blood</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The pearl of womanhood:—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If I the rudder</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Rashly left,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Who steer'd then safely the ship</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To good King Mark's fair land?’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="continued">He further feigns to misunderstand the purport +of her message, by assuring her that the discomforts +of the journey will soon be over. Kurvenal, +his companion, incensed by Brangeane's +persistency, then makes a taunting speech to the +effect that his master Tristan, the slayer of +Morold, is not the vassal of any queen, and the +nurse returns to the tent to report her failure. +Ysolde, however, has overheard Kurvenal's +speech, and when she learns that Tristan refuses +to obey her summons, she comments bitterly +upon his lack of gratitude for all her tender care, +and confides to Brangeane how she spared him +when he was ill and at her mercy.</p> + +<p>Brangeane vainly tries to make her believe +that Tristan has shown his appreciation by wooing +her for the king rather than for himself, and +when Ysolde murmurs against a loveless marriage, +she shows her the magic potion intrusted +to her care, which will insure her becoming a +loving and beloved wife.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page78" id="page78" +title="78"></a>The sight of the medicine chest in which it is +secreted unfortunately reminds Ysolde that she +too knows the secret of brewing draughts of all +kinds, so she prepares a deadly potion, trying +all the while to make Brangeane believe that it +is a perfectly harmless drug, which will merely +make her forget the unhappy past.</p> + +<p>While she is thus occupied, Kurvenal suddenly +appears to announce that they are about to land, +and to bid her prepare to meet the king, who +has seen their coming and is wending his way +down to the shore to bid her welcome. Ysolde +haughtily replies that she will not stir a step +until Tristan proffers an apology for his rude +behaviour and obeys her summons. After conferring +together for a few moments, Tristan and +Kurvenal agree that it will be wiser to appease +the irate beauty by yielding to her wishes, than +to have an <i>esclandre</i>, and Tristan prepares to +appear before her. Ysolde, in the mean while, +has passionately flung herself into Brangeane's +arms, fondly bidding her farewell, and telling her +to have the magic draught she has prepared all +ready to give to Tristan, with whom she means +to drink atonement.</p> + +<p>While Brangeane, who mistrusts her young +mistress, is still pleading with her to forget the +past, Tristan respectfully approaches the princess,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page79" id="page79" title="79"></a> +and when she haughtily reproves him for slighting +her commands, he informs her, with much +dignity, that he deemed it his duty to keep his +distance:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Good breeding taught,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Where I was upbrought,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That he who brings</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The bride to her lord</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Should stay afar from his trust.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Ysolde retorts, that, as he is such a rigid observer +of etiquette, it would best behoove him +to remember that as yet he has not even proffered +the usual atonement for shedding the +blood of her kin, and that his life is therefore at +her disposal. Tristan, seeing she is bent upon +revenge, haughtily hands her his sword, telling +her that, since Morold was so dear to her, she +had better avenge him. Under pretext that +King Mark might resent such treatment of his +nephew and ambassador, Ysolde refuses to take +advantage of his defencelessness, and declares +she will consider herself satisfied if he will only +pledge her in the usual cup of atonement, which +she motions to Brangeane to bring.</p> + +<p>The bewildered handmaiden hastily pours a +drug into the cup. This she tremblingly brings +to her mistress, who, hearing the vessel grate on<a +class="pagebreak" name="page80" id="page80" title="80"></a> +the pebbly shore, tells Tristan his loathsome +task will soon be over, and that he will soon +be able to relinquish her to the care of his +uncle.</p> + +<p>Tristan, suspecting that the contents of the cup +are poisonous, nevertheless calmly takes it from +her hand and puts it to his lips. But ere he has +drunk half the potion, Ysolde snatches it from +his grasp and greedily drains the rest. Instead +of the ice-cold chill of death which they both +expected, Tristan and Ysolde suddenly feel the +electric tingle of love rushing madly through +all their veins, and, forgetting all else, fall into +each other's arms, exchanging passionate vows +of undying love.</p> + +<p>Brangeane, the only witness of this scene, +views with terror the effect of her subterfuge, +for, fearing lest her mistress should injure Tristan +or herself, she had hastily substituted the +love potion intrusted to her care for the poison +Ysolde had prepared. While the lovers, clasped +in each other's arms, unite in a duet of passionate +love, the vessel is made fast to the shore, +where the royal bridegroom is waiting, and it is +only when Brangeane throws the royal mantle +over Ysolde's shoulders, and when Kurvenal bids +them step ashore, that the lovers suddenly realise +that their brief dream of love is over.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page81" id="page81" +title="81"></a>The sudden revulsion from great joy to overwhelming +despair proves too much for Ysolde's +delicate frame, and she sinks fainting to the +deck, just as King Mark appears and the curtain +falls upon the first act.</p> + +<p>Several days are supposed to have elapsed, +when the second act begins. Ysolde after her +fainting fit has been conveyed to the king's +palace, where she is to dwell alone until her +marriage takes place, and where she forgets +everything except the passion which she feels +for Tristan, who now shares all her feelings. +In a hurried private interview the lovers have +arranged a code of signals, and it is agreed that +as soon as the light in Ysolde's window is extinguished +her lover will join her as speedily as +possible.</p> + +<p>It is a beautiful summer night, and the last +echoes of the hunting horn are dying away on +the evening breeze, when Ysolde turns to Brangeane, +and impatiently bids her put out the +light. The terrified nurse refuses to do so, and +implores Ysolde not to summon her lover, declaring +that she is sure that Melot, one of the king's +courtiers, noted her pallor and Tristan's strange +embarrassment. In vain she adds that she +knows his suspicions have been aroused, and +that he is keeping close watch over them both<a +class="pagebreak" name="page82" id="page82" title="82"></a> +to denounce them should they do anything amiss. +Ysolde refuses to believe her.</p> + +<p>The princess is so happy that she makes fun +of her attendant's forebodings, and, after praising +the tender passion she feels, she again +bids her put out the light. As Brangeane will +not obey this command, Ysolde, too much in +love to wait any longer, finally extinguishes +the light with her own hand, and bids her +nurse go up in the watch-tower and keep a +sharp lookout.</p> + +<p>Ysolde then hastens to the open door, and +gazes anxiously out into the twilighted forest, +frantically waving her veil to hasten the coming +of her lover, and runs to meet and embrace him +when at last he appears.</p> + +<p>Blissful in each other's company, Tristan and +Ysolde now forget all else, while they exchange +passionate vows and declarations of love, bewailing +the length of the days which keep them apart, +and the shortness of the nights during which +they can see each other. In a passionate duet +of mutual love and admiration, they also rejoice +that, instead of dying together, as Ysolde had +planned, they are still able to live and love.</p> + +<p>Brangeane, posted in the watch-tower above, +repeatedly warns them that they had better part, +but her wise advice proves useless, and it is<a +class="pagebreak" name="page83" id="page83" title="83"></a> +only when she utters a loud cry of alarm that +Tristan and Ysolde start apart. Simultaneously +almost with Brangeane's cry, Kurvenal rushes +upon the scene with drawn sword, imploring his +master to fly; but ere this advice can be followed +King Mark and the traitor Melot appear, closely +followed by all the royal hunting party. Ysolde, +overcome with shame at being thus detected +with her lover, sinks fainting to the ground, +while Tristan, wishing to shield her as much as +possible from the scornful glances of these men, +stands in front of her with his mantle outspread. +He, too, is overwhelmed with shame, and +silently bows his head when his uncle bitterly +reproves him for betraying him, and robbing +him of the bride he had already learned to love. +Even the sentence of banishment pronounced +upon him seems none too severe, and Tristan, +almost broken-hearted at the sight of his uncle's +grief, sadly turns to ask Ysolde whether she will +share his lot. Shame and discovery have in no +wise diminished her affection for him, and when +she promises to follow him even to the end of +the earth he cannot restrain his joy, and notwithstanding +the king's presence he passionately +clasps her in his arms:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Wherever Tristan's home may be,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That will Ysolde share with thee:</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page84" id="page84" title="84"></a> +<span class="i0">That she may follow</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And to thee hold,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The way now shown to Ysold'!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Melot, enraged at this sight, rushes upon +Tristan with drawn sword, and wounds him so +sorely that he falls back unconscious in Kurvenal's +arms, while Ysolde, clinging to him, faints +away as the curtain falls on the second act.</p> + +<p>The third act is played in Tristan's ancestral +home in Brittany, whither he has been conveyed +by Kurvenal, who vainly tries to nurse his +wounded master back to health and strength. +The sick man is lying under a great linden tree, +in death-like lethargy, while Kurvenal anxiously +watches for the vessel which he trusts will bring +Ysolde from Cornwall. She alone can cure his +master's grievous wound, and her presence only +can woo him back from the grave into which he +seems rapidly sinking.</p> + +<p>From time to time Kurvenal interrupts his +sad watch beside the pallid sleeper to call to a +shepherd piping on the hillside, and to inquire +of him whether he descries any signs of the +coming sail. Slowly and feebly Tristan at last +opens his eyes, gazes dreamily at his attendant +and surroundings, and wonderingly inquires how +he came thither. Kurvenal gently tells him that +he bore him away from Cornwall while wounded<a +class="pagebreak" name="page85" id="page85" title="85"></a> +and unconscious, and brought him home to recover +his health amid the peaceful scenes of his +happy youth; but Tristan sadly declares that +life has lost all its charms since he has parted +from Ysolde. In a sudden return of delirium the +wounded hero then fancies he is again in the +forest, watching for the light to go out, until +Kurvenal tells him that Ysolde will soon be here, +as he has sent a ship to Cornwall to bring her +safely over the seas.</p> + +<p>These tidings fill Tristan's heart with such +rapture that he embraces Kurvenal, thanking +him brokenly for his lifelong devotion, and +bidding him climb up into the watch-tower that +he may catch the first glimpse of the coming sail. +While Kurvenal is hesitating whether he shall +obey this order and leave his helpless patient +alone, the shepherd joyfully announces the appearance +of the ship. Kurvenal, ascending the +tower, reports to his master how it rounds the +point, steers past the dangerous rocks, touches +the shore, and permits Ysolde to land.</p> + +<p>Tristan has feverishly listened to all these reports, +and bids Kurvenal hasten down to bring +Ysolde to him; then, left alone, he bursts forth +into rapturous praise of the happy day which +brings his beloved to him once more, and of the +deep love which has called him back from the<a +class="pagebreak" name="page86" id="page86" title="86"></a> +gates of the tomb. His impatience to see Ysolde +soon gets the better of his weakness, however, +and he struggles to rise from his couch, although +the exertion causes his wounds to bleed afresh. +Painfully he staggers half across the stage to +meet Ysolde, who appears only in time to hear +his last passionate utterance of her beloved +name, and to catch his dying form in her arms. +She does not realise that he has breathed his +last, however, and gently tries to woo him back +to life, and make him open his eyes. But when +all her efforts have failed, and she finds his heart +no longer beats beneath her hand, she reproaches +him tenderly for leaving her thus alone, and +sinks unconscious upon his breast. Kurvenal, +standing beside the lovers, speechless with +grief, is roused to sudden action by the shepherd's +hurried announcement that a second ship +has arrived, and that King Mark, Melot, and +all his train, are about to appear. Frenzied +with grief, and thinking that they have come +once more to injure his master, Kurvenal seizes +his sword, and, springing to the gate, fights desperately +until he has slain Melot, and falls mortally +wounded at Tristan's feet.</p> + +<p>While the fight is taking place, King Mark +and Brangeane, standing without the castle wall, +vainly call to him to stay his hand, as they have<a +class="pagebreak" name="page87" id="page87" title="87"></a> +come with friendly intentions only, and now +that he can resist them no longer they all come +rushing in. They are horror-struck at the sight +of Tristan and Ysolde, both apparently dead; +but Brangeane, having discovered that her mistress +has only swooned, soon restores her to +consciousness. King Mark hastens to assure +Ysolde that she and Tristan are both forgiven; +for Brangeane having penitently revealed to him +the secret of the love potion which she administered, +he realises that they could not but yield +to its might. Ysolde, however, pays no heed +to his words, but, gazing fixedly at Tristan, she +mournfully extols his charms and love, until her +heart breaks with grief, and she too sinks lifeless +to the ground. No restoratives can now +avail to recall the life which has flown forever, +and King Mark blesses the corpses of the lovers, +and of the faithful servant who has expired at +their feet, as the curtain falls.</p> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page88" id="page88" +title="88"></a><img src="images/walther.jpg" width="396" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />WALTHER CROWNED BY EVA.</p> + + +<h2>THE MASTER SINGERS OF NUREMBERG.</h2> + + +<p>When Richard Wagner was only sixteen +years of age he read with great enthusiasm +one of Hoffmann's novels entitled ‘Sängerkrieg,’ +giving a romantic account of the ancient +musical contests at the Wartburg in Bavaria. +The impression made upon him by this account +was first utilised in his opera of ‘Tannhäuser,’ +when his attention was attracted also to the +picturesque possibilities of the guilds formed by +the burghers.</p> + +<p>It was not until 1845, however, that he made +definite use of this material, and began the +sketch for his only comic opera. The first outline +was drawn during a sojourn in the Bohemian +mountains, when he felt in an unusually +light and festive mood. But the work was soon +set aside, and was not resumed until 1862, when +it was finished in Paris. The score was then +begun, and written almost entirely at Biberich +on the Rhine, and Wagner himself conducted +the overture for the first time at a concert in +Leipzig.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page89" id="page89" +title="89"></a>This fragment was very well received and +there was an ‘enthusiastic demand for a repetition, +in which the members of the orchestra took +part as much as the audience.’ The opera itself, +however, was first performed under Von Bülow, +in 1868, at Munich. The best singers of the +day took the principal parts, and the result of +their united efforts was ‘a perfect performance; +the best that had hitherto been given of any +work of the master.’</p> + +<p>The opera, at first intended as a comical pendant +to ‘Tannhäuser,’ is, as we have already +stated, Wagner's first and only attempt to write +in the comic vein, and the text is full of witty +and cutting allusions to the thick-headed critics +(at whose hands Wagner had suffered so sorely), +who sweepingly condemn everything that does +not conform to their fixed standard. During all +the Middle Ages, and more especially in the +middle of the thirteenth century, the quaint old +city of Nuremberg was the seat of one of the +most noted musical guilds, or German training +schools for poets and musicians. The members +of this fraternity were all burghers, instead of +knights like the Minnesingers, and held different +ranks according to their degree of proficiency. +They were therefore called singers when they +had mastered a certain number of tunes; poets<a +class="pagebreak" name="page90" id="page90" title="90"></a> +when they could compose verses to a given +air; and Master Singers when they could write +both words and music on an appointed theme. +The musical by-laws of this guild were called +‘Tabulatur,’ and every candidate was forced to +pass an examination, seven mistakes being the +maximum allowed by the chief examiner, who +bore the title of Marker.</p> + +<p>The opera opens in the interior of St. Catharine's +church in Nuremberg, where a closing +hymn in honour of St. John is being sung. Eva +Pogner and her maid, Magdalena, have been +present at the service, and are still standing in +their pew. But, in spite of her handmaiden's +energetic signs and nudges, the young lady pays +but little heed to the closing hymn, and turns all +her attention upon a handsome young knight, +Walther von Stolzenfels, who, as the last note +dies away, presses eagerly forward and enters +into conversation with her.</p> + +<p>To secure a few moments' private interview +Eva sends her maid back to the pew, first for +her forgotten kerchief, next for a pin which she +has lost, and lastly for her prayer-book. During +these temporary absences the deeply enamoured +youth implores Eva to tell him whether she is +still free, and whether her heart and hand are +still at her own disposal. Before the agitated<a +class="pagebreak" name="page91" id="page91" title="91"></a> +girl can answer, the servant comes up, and, +overhearing the question, declares that her mistress's +hand has already been promised,—a +statement which Eva modifies by adding that +her future bridegroom is yet to be chosen. +As these contradictory answers greatly puzzle +Walther, she hurriedly explains that her father, +the wealthiest burgher of the town, wishing to +show his veneration for music, has promised his +fortune and her hand to a Master Singer, the +preference being given to the one who will win +the prize on the morrow. The only proviso +made is that the girl may remain free if the +bridegroom does not win her approval, and +Eva timidly confesses that she will either marry +Walther or remain single all her life. Magdalena, +who has been carrying on a lively flirtation +of her own with David, the sexton, now suddenly +hurries her young mistress off, bidding +the knight apply to David if he would learn any +more concerning the musical test about to take +place, and in the same breath she promises her +lover some choice dainties if he will only do all +in his power to enlighten and favour her mistress's +suitor.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Let David supply all</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The facts of the trial.—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">David, my dear, just heed what I say!</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page92" id="page92" title="92"></a> +<span class="i0">You must induce Sir Walther to stay.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The larder I'll sweep,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The best for you keep;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To-morrow rewards shall fall faster</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If this young knight is made Master.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Walther, who has just passionately declared +to Eva that he knows he could become both +poet and musician for her sweet sake, since her +father has vowed never to allow her to marry +any but a Master, now listens attentively to +David's exposition of the school's rules and +regulations. In the mean while the apprentices +come filing in, prepare the benches and chairs, +arrange the Marker's curtained box, and gayly +chaff each other as they join in an impromptu +dance.</p> + +<p>They only subside when Pogner, Eva's father, +enters with Beckmesser, an old widower, the +Marker of the guild, who flatters himself he can +easily win the prize on the morrow, and would +fain make Pogner promise that the victor should +receive the maiden's hand without her consent +being asked. He fears lest the capricious fair +one may yet refuse to marry him, and decides to +make sure of her by singing a serenade under +her window that very night. But when he sees +the handsome young candidate step forward and +receive the support of Pogner, (who has already<a +class="pagebreak" name="page93" id="page93" title="93"></a> +made his acquaintance, and who evidently is +inclined to favour him,) the widower looks very +glum indeed, and vindictively resolves to prevent +his entrance into the guild by fair means or +by foul.</p> + +<p>Hans Sachs, the poet shoemaker of Nuremberg, +and all the other members of the guild, +having now appeared, Beckmesser calls the roll, +and Pogner repeats his offer to give his fortune +and daughter to the winner of the prize on the +morrow, and charges the guild to select their +candidates for the contest. Of course the very +first thing to be done is to examine the new +candidate. Walther, when questioned concerning +his teachers and method, boldly declares he +has learned his art from nature alone, chooses +love as his theme for a trial song, and bursts +forth into an impassioned and beautiful strain. +But as his words and music are strictly original, +and therefore cannot be judged by the usual +canons, Beckmesser savagely marks down mistake +after mistake, and brusquely interrupts +the song to declare the singer is ‘outsung and +outdone.’ In proof of this assertion he exhibits +his slate, which is covered with bad marks. Hans +Sachs, the only member present who has understood +the beauty of this original lay, vainly tries +to interfere in Walther's behalf, but his efforts<a +class="pagebreak" name="page94" id="page94" title="94"></a> +only call forth a rude attack on Beckmesser's +part, who advises him to reserve his opinions, +stick to his last, and finish the pair of shoes +which he has promised him for the morrow. +Walther is finally allowed to finish his song, but +the prejudiced and intolerant citizens of Nuremberg +utterly refuse to receive him in their +guild, and he rushes out of the hall in despair, +for he has lost his best chance to win the +hand of his lady love by competing for the prize +on the morrow. His departure is a signal for +a tumultuous breaking up of the meeting, the +apprentices dancing as before, as soon as their +masters have departed.</p> + +<p>The second act represents one of the tortuous +alleys and a long straight street of the quaint old +city of Nuremberg. On one side is Hans Sachs's +modest shoemaker's shop, on the other the entrance +to Pogner's stately dwelling. It is evening, +and David, the shoemaker's apprentice, +is leisurely putting up the shutters, when his +attention is suddenly attracted by Magdalena, +who appears with a basket of dainties. She +however refuses to give them to him until he +tells her the result of the musical examination. +When she hears that Walther has failed and has +been refused admittance to the guild, she pettishly +snatches the basket from his grasp and<a +class="pagebreak" name="page95" id="page95" title="95"></a> +flounces off in great displeasure. The other +apprentices, who in the mean while have slyly +drawn near, now make unmerciful fun of David, +who stands stupidly in the middle of the street +gazing regretfully after her.</p> + +<p>This rough play is soon ended by the appearance +of Hans Sachs. He orders all the apprentices +to bed, and, by a judicious application of +his strap, drives David into the house. Quiet +has just been restored once more, when Pogner +and Eva come sauntering down the street, returning +from their customary evening walk, and +sit down side by side on the bench in front of +their door.</p> + +<p>Here Pogner tries to sound his daughter's +feelings, and to discover whether she has any +preference among the morrow's candidates, reiterating +his decision, however, that he will +never allow her to marry any one except a man +who has publicly won the title of Master Singer. +As he cannot ascertain his daughter's feelings, +he soon enters the house, while Eva lingers outside +watching for Walther's promised visit. She +is soon joined by Magdalena, who sorrowfully +tells her that Walther has been rejected; but, as +she can give no details about the examination, +Eva timidly approaches Hans Sachs's window +hoping to learn more from him. The cobbler is<a +class="pagebreak" name="page96" id="page96" title="96"></a> +sitting at work near his window, singing a song +of his own composition, and the maiden soon +enters into a bantering conversation with her old +friend.</p> + +<p>In answer to Hans Sachs's questions, she +soon confides to him that she cannot endure +Beckmesser, and to flatter him into a good +humour she archly suggests that, as he too is a +widower, he ought to compete for her hand. +Hans Sachs, who is far too shrewd not to see +through her girlish fencing, now resolves to discover +whether she is as indifferent to the young +knight, and in order to do so he drops a few +careless and contemptuous remarks about him, +which drive the young lady away in a very bad +temper.</p> + +<p>Smiling maliciously at the success of his ruse, +the cobbler cheerfully continues his work, while +Eva rejoins Magdalena, who informs her that +Beckmesser has signified his intention to serenade +her that very night. Eva cares naught +for the widower's music, and, only intent upon +securing a private interview with the handsome +young knight, refuses to re-enter the house; +so Magdalena leaves her to answer Pogner's +call.</p> + +<p>A few moments later Walther himself comes +slowly down the street; but, in spite of Eva's<a +class="pagebreak" name="page97" id="page97" title="97"></a> +rapturous welcome, he remains plunged in melancholy, +for he has forfeited all hope of winning +her on the morrow. The sound of the watchman's +horn drives the young people apart, and +while Eva vanishes into the house, Walther +hides under the shadow of the great linden tree +in front of Sachs's house.</p> + +<p>His presence has been detected by the shoemaker, +who makes no sign, and when the night +watchman has gone by, singing the hour and admonishing +all good people to go to bed, he perceives +a female form glide softly out of the house +and join the knight. This female is Eva, who +has exchanged garments with Magdalena, and +has prevailed upon her to pose at her window +during the serenade, while she tries to comfort +her beloved.</p> + +<p>Crouching in the shade, the lovers now plan +to elope that very night, but Hans Sachs overhears +their conversation, and when they are +about to leave their hiding-place and depart, he +flings open his shutter so that a broad beam of +light streams across the old street. It makes +such a brilliant illumination that it is impossible +for any one to pass unseen. This ruse, which +proves such a hindrance to the lovers, is equally +distasteful to Beckmesser, who has come down +the street and has taken his stand near them to<a +class="pagebreak" name="page98" id="page98" title="98"></a> +tune his lute and begin his serenade. Before +he can utter the first note, Hans Sachs, having +become aware of his presence also, and maliciously +anxious to defeat his plans, lustily entones +a noisy ditty about Adam and Eve, hammering +his shoes to beat time.</p> + +<p>Beckmesser, who has seen Eva's window +open, and longs to make himself heard, steps +up to the shoemaker's window. In answer to +his testy questions why he is at his bench at +such an hour, Hans Sachs good-humouredly +replies that he must work late to finish the +shoes about which he has been twitted in public. +At his wit's end to silence the shoemaker and +sing his serenade, Beckmesser artfully pretends +that he would like to have Sachs's opinion +of the song he intends to sing on the morrow, +and proposes to let him hear it then. After a +little demur the shoemaker consents, upon condition +that he may give a tap with his hammer +every time he hears a mistake, and thus carry +on the double office of marker and of cobbler.</p> + +<p>Beckmesser is, however, so angry and agitated +that his song is utterly spoiled, and he +makes so many mistakes that the cobbler's +hammer keeps up an incessant clatter. These +irritating sounds make the singer more nervous +still, and he sings so loudly and so badly<a +class="pagebreak" name="page99" id="page99" title="99"></a> +that he rouses the whole neighbourhood, and +heads pop out of every window to bid him be +still.</p> + +<p>David also ventures to peer forth, and, seeing +that the serenade is directed to Magdalena, +whom he recognises at the window above, his +jealous anger knows no bounds. He springs +out of the window, and begins belabouring his +unlucky rival with a stout cudgel. The Nuremberg +apprentices, who are divided up into +numerous rival guilds, and who are always +quarrelling, seize this occasion to bandy words, +which soon result in bringing them all out +into the street, where a free fight takes place +between the rival factions of journeymen and +apprentices.</p> + +<p>Magdalena, seeing her beloved David in peril +screams aloud, until Pogner, deceived by her +apparel, pulls her into the room and closes the +window, declaring he must go and see that all +is safe. Sachs, who has closed his shutter at +the first sounds of the fight, steals out into the +street, approaches the young lovers, and, pretending +to take Eva for Magdalena, he thrusts +her quickly into Pogner's house, and drags +Walther into his own dwelling just as the sound +of the approaching night watch is heard. As if +by magic the brawlers suddenly disappear, the<a +class="pagebreak" name="page100" id="page100" title="100"></a> +windows close, the lights are extinguished, and +as the watchman turns the corner the street has +resumed its wonted peaceful aspect.</p> + +<p>The third act opens on the morrow, in Hans +Sachs's shop, where the cobbler is absorbed in +reading and oblivious of the presence of his apprentice +David, who comes sneaking in with a +basket which he has just received from Magdalena. +Taking advantage of his master's absorption, +David examines the ribbons, flowers, cakes, +and sausages with which it is stocked, starting +guiltily at his master's every movement, and +finally seeking to disarm the anger he must feel +at the evening's brawl by offering him the gifts +he has just received.</p> + +<p>Hans Sachs, however, good-naturedly refuses +to receive them, and after making his apprentice +sing the song for the day he dismisses him to +don his festive attire, for he has decided to take +him with him to the festival. Left alone, Sachs +soliloquises on the follies of mankind, until +Walther appears. In reply to his host's polite +inquiry how he spent the night, Walther declares +he has been visited by a wonderful dream, which +he goes on to relate. At the very first words +the cobbler discovers that it is part of a beautiful +song, conforming to all the Master Singers' +rigid rules, and he hastily jots down the words,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page101" id="page101" title="101"></a> +bidding the young knight be careful to retain +the tune.</p> + +<p>As they both leave the room to don their festive +apparel, Beckmesser comes limping in. He +soon discovers the verses on the bench, and +pockets them, intending to substitute them for +his own in the coming contest. Sachs, coming +in, denies all intention of taking part in the day's +programme, and when Beckmesser jealously asks +why he has been inditing a love song if he does +not intend to sue for Eva's hand, he discovers +the larceny. He, however, good-naturedly allows +Beckmesser to retain the copy of verses, +and even promises him that he will never claim +the authorship of the song, a promise which +Beckmesser intends to make use of so as to +pass it off as his own.</p> + +<p>Triumphant now and sure of victory, Beckmesser +departs as Eva enters in bridal attire. +She is of course devoured by curiosity to know +what has become of her lover, but, as excuse +for her presence, she petulantly complains that +her shoe pinches. Kneeling in front of her, +Sachs investigates the matter, greatly puzzled at +first by her confused and contradictory statements +and by her senseless replies to his questions. +He is turning his back to the inner +door, through which Walther has also entered<a +class="pagebreak" name="page102" id="page102" title="102"></a> +the shop, but, soon becoming aware of the +cause of her perturbation, he deftly draws the +shoe from her foot, and going to his last pretends +to be very busy over it, while he is in +reality listening intently to discover whether +Eva's presence will inspire Walther with the +third and last verse of his song. His expectations +are not disappointed, for the knight, approaching +the maiden softly, declares his love +in a beautiful song.</p> + +<p>As the last notes die away, the cobbler joyfully +exclaims that Walther has composed a Master +Song, calls Eva and David (who has just +entered) as witnesses that he composed it, foretells +that, if Walther will only yield to his guidance +he will yet enable him to win the prize, and, +patting Eva in a truly paternal fashion, he bids +her be happy, for she will yet be able to marry +the man she loves. David, who has been made +journeyman so that he can bear witness for Walther, +greets the happy Magdalena with the tidings +that they no longer need delay, but can +marry immediately.</p> + +<p>After the four happy young people and Hans +Sachs have given vent to their rapture in a beautiful +quintette, they adjourn to the meadow outside +of the town, where the musical contest is to +take place. The peasants and apprentices are<a +class="pagebreak" name="page103" id="page103" title="103"></a> +merrily dancing on the green, and cease their +mirthful gyrations only when the Master Singers +appear. Hans Sachs addresses the crowd, reads +the conditions of the test, proclaims what the +prize shall be, and concludes by inviting Beckmesser +to come forth and begin his song. The +young people assembled hail this elderly candidate +with veiled scorn, and Beckmesser, painfully +clambering to the eminence where the +candidates are requested to stand, hesitatingly +begins his lay. The words, with which he has +had no time to become familiar, are entirely unadapted +to his tune, so he draws them out, clips +them, loses the thread of the verses, and fails in +every sense.</p> + +<p>In his chagrin at having made himself ridiculous, +and in anger because his colleagues declare +the words of his song have no sense, he suddenly +turns upon Hans Sachs, and, hoping to humiliate +him publicly, accuses him of having written +the song. Hans Sachs, of course, disowns the +authorship, but stoutly declares the song is a +masterpiece, and that he is sure every one +present will agree with him if they hear it +properly rendered to its appropriate tune. As +he is a general favourite among his townsmen, +he soon prevails upon them to listen to the +author and composer and decide whether he or +Beckmesser is at fault.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page104" id="page104" +title="104"></a>Walther then springs lightly up the turfy +throne, and, inspired by love, he sings with +all his heart. The beautiful words, married to +an equally beautiful strain, win for him the +unanimous plaudits of the crowd, who hail him +as victor, while the blushing Eva places the +laurel crown upon his head. Pogner, openly +delighted with the favourable turn of affairs, gives +him the badge of the guild, and heartily promises +him the hand of his only daughter. As for +Hans Sachs, having publicly proved that his +judgment was not at fault, and that he had been +keen enough to detect genius even when it revealed +itself in a new form, he is heartily cheered +by all the Nurembergers, who are prouder than +ever of the cobbler poet who has brought about +a happy marriage:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Hail Sachs! Hans Sachs!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Hail Nuremberg's darling Sachs!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page105" id="page105" +title="105"></a><img src="images/maidens.jpg" width="346" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />THE RHINE MAIDENS.</p> + + +<h2>THE NIBELUNG'S RING.—RHEINGOLD.</h2> + + +<p>It was in 1848, after the completion of Tannhäuser, +that Wagner looked about for a subject +for a new opera. Then ‘for the last time +the conflicting claims of History and Legend +presented themselves.’ <a name="ft1"></a>He had studied the +story of Barbarossa, intending to make use of +it, but discarded it in favour of the Nibelungen +Myths, which he decided to dramatise.<a class="fn" href="#fn1"> 1 </a> His +first effort was an alliterative poem entitled ‘The +Death of Siegfried,’ which, however, was soon +set aside, a part of it only being incorporated in +‘The Twilight [or Dusk] of the Gods.’</p> + +<p>Wagner was then dwelling in Dresden, and +planning the organisation of a national theatre; +but the political troubles of 1849, which resulted +in his banishment, soon defeated all these hopes. +After a short sojourn in Paris, Wagner took up +his abode in Zurich, where he became a naturalised +citizen, and where he first turned all his attention +to the principal work of his life,—‘The<a +class="pagebreak" name="page106" id="page106" title="106"></a> +Nibelungen Ring.’ In connection with this +work Wagner himself wrote: ‘When I tried to +dramatise the most important moment of the +mythos of the Nibelungen in Siegfried's Tod, I +found it necessary to indicate a vast number of +antecedent facts, so as to put the main incidents +in the proper light. But I could only <i>narrate</i> +these subordinate matters, whereas I felt it imperative +that they should be embodied in the +action. Thus I came to write Siegfried. But +here again the same difficulty troubled me. +Finally I wrote “Die Walküre” and “Das +Rheingold,” and thus contrived to incorporate +all that was needful to make the action tell its +own tale.’ The completed poem was privately +printed in 1853, and published ‘as a literary +product’ ten years later, when the author was +in his fiftieth year.</p> + +<p>As for the score, it was begun in 1853, and +Wagner says: ‘During a sleepless night at an +inn at Spezzia, the music of “Das Rheingold” +occurred to me; straightway I turned homeward +and set to work.’ Such was the energy +with which he laboured that the complete score +of the Rheingold was finished in 1854. Two +years later the music to the Walkyrie was all +done, and Siegfried begun. But pecuniary +difficulties now forced the master to undertake<a +class="pagebreak" name="page107" id="page107" title="107"></a> +more immediately remunerative work, and, ‘tired +of heaping one silent score upon another,’ he +undertook and finished ‘Tristan and Ysolde.’ +He then thought he would never be able to +finish his grand work, and wrote: ‘I can hardly +expect to find leisure to complete the music, +and I have dismissed all hope that I may live to +see it performed.’</p> + +<p>Fortunately for him, however, Ludwig II. of +Bavaria had heard ‘Lohengrin’ when only sixteen, +and, a passionate lover of music and art, +he had become an enthusiastic admirer of the +great composer. One of the very first acts of +his reign was, therefore, to despatch his own +private secretary to Wagner with the message, +‘Come here and finish your work.’</p> + +<p>As this message was backed by a small pension +which would enable the musician to keep +the wolf from the door, he hopefully went to +Munich. But, in spite of the sovereign's continued +favour, Wagner found so many enemies +that the sojourn there became very unpleasant. +It was then that the architect Semper made the +first plans for a theatre, in which the king intended +that ‘The Nibelungen Ring’ should be +played, as he had formally commissioned Wagner +to complete the work.</p> + +<p>Driven away from his native land once more<a +class="pagebreak" name="page108" id="page108" title="108"></a> +by the bitterness of his enemies, Wagner, who +still enjoyed Ludwig's entire favour, withdrew +in 1865 to Triebschen, where the ‘Ring’ progressed +steadily. It was there, in 1869, that he +completed the Siegfried score, and began that of +‘The Twilight of the Gods,’ which was finished +only some time later. As the King's plan for +building a national theatre for the representation +of ‘The Nibelungen Ring’ had to be abandoned, +the scheme was taken up by the municipality of +the little town of Bayreuth. Wagner was cordially +invited to take up his residence there, and +settled in his new home in 1872, when he was +already sixty years of age.</p> + +<p>Thanks to munificent private subscriptions +secured in great part by the Wagner societies in +various parts of the world, the long planned +theatre was finally begun. It was finished in +1876, and the entire ‘Nibelungen Ring’ was performed +there in the month of August, the very +best singers of the day taking all the principal +parts, which they rendered to the best of their +abilities. The result was a magnificent performance, +a musical triumph; but as the venture was +not a financial success, the performances were +not repeated in the following summer. Several +new ventures, however, were made, and another +Wagner festival has just taken place, of which<a +class="pagebreak" name="page109" id="page109" title="109"></a> +the real result is yet unknown, although the +attendance was very large, the audience being +composed of people from all parts of the world. +Thus Wagner completed and rendered the series +of operas, which include plays ‘for three days +and a fore evening,’ whence the series is generally +called a ‘trilogy,’ although it is really composed +of four whole operas.</p> + +<p>Away down in the translucent depths of the +Rhine, three beautiful nymphs, Woglinde, Wellgunde, +and Flosshilde, daughters of the river-god, +dart in and out among the jagged rocks. +They have been stationed there to guard the +Rhinegold, the priceless treasure of the deep, +whence comes all the warm golden light which +illumines the utmost recesses of their dark and +damp abode.</p> + +<p>The nymphs suddenly pause in their merry +game, for the wily dwarf Alberich has emerged +from one of the sombre chasms. He is a Nibelung, +a spirit of night and darkness, and slowly +gropes his way to one of the upper ridges, +whence he can see the graceful forms of the +nymphs, watch their merry evolutions, and overhear +them repeatedly admonish each other to +keep watch over the gleaming treasure, which +their father, the Rhinegod, has intrusted to their +keeping, warning them that just such a dark<a +class="pagebreak" name="page110" id="page110" title="110"></a> +and misshapen creature as the dwarf would try +to wrest it from their grasp:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Guard the gold!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Father said</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That such was the foe.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>But all Alberich's senses are fascinated by the +water-nymphs' beauty, and he soon falls madly +in love with them, and makes almost superhuman +efforts to overtake the mocking fair. Hotly he +pursues them from ridge to ridge, yielding to +the blandishments of one after another, and is +beside himself with rage as they deftly escape +from his clasp just as he fancies he has at last +caught them. The fair nymphs, who know they +have nothing to fear from so infatuated a lover, +swim hither and thither, tantalising him by their +nearness, and lure him up and down the rocky +river-bed.</p> + +<p>They have just exhausted his patience, and +driven him wild with impotent rage, when the +green waters are suddenly illumined by the phosphorescent +glow of the Rhinegold, the treasure +whose presence they hail with a rapturous outburst +of song, and whose secret power they +extol:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"><a +name="ft2"></a><span class="i0">‘The realm of the world</span><br /> +<span class="i0">By him shall be won</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page111" id="page111" title="111"></a> +<span class="i0">Who from the Rhinegold</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Hath wrought the ring</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Imparting measureless power.’<a class="fn" href="#fn2"> 2 </a></span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The dwarf, attracted by the brilliant light, +hears their words at first without paying any +attention to them; but when they repeat that he +who is willing to forego love can fashion a ring +from this gold which will make him master of all +the world, he starts with surprise. Fascinated +at last by the glow of the treasure, and forgetting +all thoughts of love in greed, he suddenly grasps +the carelessly guarded gold and plunges with it +down into the depths, leaving the three nymphs +to bewail its loss in utter darkness.</p> + +<p>Little by little the gloom lightens, however, +and instead of the river bed the scene represents +the green valley through which the Rhine is +flowing. In the gray dawn one can descry the +high hills on either side, and as the light increases +Wotan and Fricka, the principal deities +of Northern mythology, are seen lying on the +flowery slopes.</p> + +<p>As they gently awaken from their peaceful +slumbers, the morning mists entirely disappear, +revealing in the background the fairy-like beauty +of a wondrous palace which has just been<a +class="pagebreak" name="page112" id="page112" title="112"></a> +completed for their abode. This sight startles +Fricka, for she knows that the assembled gods +have promised that Fasolt and Fafnir, the +gigantic builders, should have sun and moon +and the fair Freya as fee. To lose the bright +luminaries of the world were bad enough, but +Fricka's dismay is still greater at the prospect +of parting forever with the fair goddess of beauty +and youth. In her sorrow she bitterly regrets +that the promise has been made and rendered +inviolable by being inscribed on her husband's +spear, and reproves him for the joy he shows in +viewing the completion of his future abode:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘In delight thou revel'st</span><br /> +<span class="i0">When I am alarmed?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thou 'rt glad of the fortress,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For Freya I fear.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Bethink thee, thou thoughtless god,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Of the guerdon now to be given!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The castle is finished,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And forfeit the pledge.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Forgettest thou what is engaged?’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Thus suddenly brought to his senses, Wotan, +king of the Northern gods, protests that he never +really intended to part with the beauty, light, +and sweetness of life, and seeks to excuse himself +by urging that Loge, the god of fire and the +arch-deceiver, overpersuaded him by promising<a +class="pagebreak" name="page113" id="page113" title="113"></a> +to find some way of escape from the fatal +bargain:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘He whom I hearkened to swore</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To find a safety for Freya;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">On him my hope have I set.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>They are still discussing the matter, and +eagerly wondering why Loge does not appear, +when Freya comes rushing wildly upon the +stage, with fear-blanched face and trembling +limbs, breathlessly imploring the father of the +gods to save her from the two huge giants in +close pursuit. In her terror she also summons +her devoted brothers, Donner and Fro. But, +in spite of the strength of these potent gods of the +sunshine and thunder, the giants boldly advance, +boasting aloud of their achievement, and demanding +the fulfilment of the stipulated contract.</p> + +<p>The gods are almost at their wits' end with +anxiety, when Loge, god of fire, appears. They +loudly clamour to him to keep his word and release +them from the consequences of their rash +bargain. In reply to this summons, Loge declares +he has wandered everywhere in search of +something more precious than youth and love, +and that he has utterly failed to find it. No +one, he says, is ready to relinquish these blessed +gifts,—no one except Alberich, who has bartered<a +class="pagebreak" name="page114" id="page114" title="114"></a> +love for the gleaming treasure which he has just +stolen from the Rhine nymphs. Loge concludes +his speech by delivering to Wotan an imploring +message from the defrauded maidens, who summon +him to avenge their wrongs and help them +to recover the stolen gold. The description of +the gleaming treasure, of the power of the ring +which Alberich has fashioned out of it, and +especially of the immense hoard which he has +amassed by the unlimited sway which the ring +enables him to wield over all the underground +folk, has so greatly fascinated the giants, that, +after a few moments' consultation, they step +forward, offering to relinquish all claim to the +previously promised reward, providing the hoard +is theirs ere nightfall. This said, they bear the +shrieking and reluctant Freya away as a hostage, +and vanish in the distance.</p> + +<p>As they depart, the light suddenly grows wan +and dim. The goddess who has just departed +is the dispenser of the golden apples of perennial +youth according to Wagner, and, as she +vanishes, the gods, deprived of the substance +which keeps them ever young, suddenly lose all +their vigour and bloom, and grow visibly old and +gray, to their openly expressed dismay:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Without the apples,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Old and hoar—</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page115" id="page115" title="115"></a> +<span class="i0">Hoarse and helpless—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Worth not a dread to the world,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The dying gods must grow.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This sudden change, especially in his beloved +wife Fricka, determines Wotan to secure the +gold at any price, and he bids Loge lead the +way to Alberich's realm, following him bravely +down through a deep cleft in the rock, whence +rises a dense mist, which soon blots the whole +scene from view.</p> + +<p>In the mean while, the dwarf Alberich has conveyed +the gleaming Rhinegold to his underground +dwelling, where, mindful of the nymphs' words, +he has forced his brother and slave, the smith +Mime, to fashion a ring. No sooner has Alberich +put on this trinket than he finds himself +endowed with unlimited power, which he uses +to oppress all his race, and to pile up a mighty +hoard, for the greed of gold has now filled all +his thoughts. Fearful lest any one should wrest +the precious ring from him, he next directs +Mime to make a helmet of gold, the magic tarn-helm, +which will render the wearer invisible. +Mime is at work at his underground forge, and +has just finished the helmet which he intends to +appropriate to his own use to escape thraldom, +when Alberich suddenly appears, snatches it +from his trembling hand, and, placing it upon his<a +class="pagebreak" name="page116" id="page116" title="116"></a> +head, becomes invisible to all. The malicious +dwarf misuses this power to torture Mime with +his whip, and rushes off to lash the dwarfs in the +rear of the cave as Wotan and Loge suddenly +appear. Of course their first impulse is to inquire +the cause of Mime's writhing and bitter +cries, and from him they hear how Alberich has +become lord of the Nibelungs by the might of +his ring and magic helmet. In corroboration of +this statement, the gods soon behold a long train +of dwarfs toiling across the cave, bending beneath +their burdens of gold and precious stones, +and driven incessantly onward by Alberich's +whip, which he plies with merciless vigour. He +is visible now, for he has hung the magic helmet +to his belt; but he no sooner becomes aware of +the gods' presence than he strides up to them, +and haughtily demands their name and business. +Disarmed a little by Wotan's answer, that they +have heard of his new might and have come to +ascertain whether the accounts were true, Alberich +boasts of his power to compel all to bow +before his will, and says he can even change his +form, thanks to his magic helmet. At Loge's +urgent request, the dwarf then gives them an +exhibition of his power by changing himself first +into a huge loathsome dragon, and next into a +repulsive toad. While in this shape he is made<a +class="pagebreak" name="page117" id="page117" title="117"></a> +captive by the gods, deprived of his tarn-helm, +and compelled to surrender his hoard as the price +of his liberty. Before departing, Wotan even +wrests from his grasp the golden ring, to which +he desperately clings, for he knows that as long +as it remains in his possession he will have the +power to collect more gold. In his rage at +being deprived of it, Alberich hurls his curse +after the gods, declaring the ring will ever bring +death and destruction to the possessor:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘As by curse I found it first,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A curse rest on the ring!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Gave its gold</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To me measureless might,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Now deal its wonder</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Death where it is worn!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This curse uttered, he disappears, and while +mist invades the place the scene changes, and +Loge and Wotan stand once more on the grassy +slopes, where Fricka, Donner, and Fro hasten +to welcome them, and to inquire concerning the +success of their enterprise. Almost at the same +moment, the giants Fasolt and Fafnir also +appear, leading Freya, whom Fricka would fain +embrace, but who is withheld from her longing +arms. The grim giants vow that no one +shall even touch their fair captive until they have +received a pile of gold as high as their staffs,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page118" id="page118" title="118"></a> +which they drive into the ground, and wide +enough to screen the goddess entirely. Thus +admonished, Loge and Fro pile up the gleaming +treasure, which is surmounted by the glittering +helmet, whose power the giants do not know. +Freya is entirely hidden, and only a chink +remains through which the giants can catch a +glimpse of her golden hair. They insist upon +having this chink closed up ere they will relinquish +Freya, so Wotan is forced to give up +the magic ring. But he draws it from his finger +only when Erda, the shadowy earth goddess, +half rises out of the ground to command the +sacrifice of the treasure which Alberich stole +from the Rhine maidens.</p> + +<p>As the stipulated ransom has all been paid, +the giants release Freya. She joyfully embraces +her kin, and under her caresses they recover all +their former youth and bloom. In the mean +while the giants produce their bags, but soon +begin quarrelling together about the division +of the hoard, and appeal to the gods to decide +their dispute. The gods are all too busy to pay +any heed to this request, all except the malicious +Loge, who slyly advises Fafnir to seize the ring +and pay no heed to the rest. As the ring is +accursed, Fafnir remorselessly slays his brother +to obtain it; then, packing up all the treasure<a +class="pagebreak" name="page119" id="page119" title="119"></a> +in his great bag, he triumphantly departs. +To disperse the shadow hovering over Wotan's +brow ever since he has been obliged to sacrifice +the ring, Thor now beats the rocks with his +magic hammer, and conjures a brief storm. The +long roll of thunder soon dies away, and when +the fitful play of the lightning is ended Thor +shows the assembled gods a glittering rainbow +bridge of quivering, changing hues, which +stretches from the valley where they are standing +to the beautiful portals of the wondrous +palace Walhalla, the home of the gods!</p> + +<p>Fascinated by this sight, Wotan invites the +gods to follow him over its lightly swung arch, +and as they trip over the rainbow bridge, the +lament of the Rhine-maidens mourning their +treasure falls in slow, pitiful cadences upon their +ears:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Rhinegold!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Purest gold!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">O would that thy light</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Waved in the waters below!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Unfailing faith</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Is found in the deep,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">While above, in delight,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Faintness and falsehood abide!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p class="fn"><span><a class="fn" href="#ft1"> 1 </a></span><a name="fn1"></a> +See the author's ‘Myths of Northern Lands’ and +‘Legends of the Rhine.’</p> + +<p class="fn"><span><a class="fn" href="#ft2"> 2 </a></span><a name="fn2"></a> +All the quotations in the ‘Ring’ have been taken +either from Dippold's or Forman's admirable translations.</p> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page120" id="page120" +title="120"></a><img src="images/brunhild.jpg" width="384" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />BRUNHILDE DISCOVERING SIEGMUND AND SIEGLINDE.</p> + + +<h2>THE WALKYRIE.</h2> + + +<p>Wotan—made secretly uneasy by Erda's +dark prediction that</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Nothing that is ends not;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A day of gloom</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Dawns for the gods;—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Be ruled and waive from the ring’—</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="continued">relinquishes the ring which he had wrested from +Alberich, as has been seen. His restlessness +however daily increases, until at last he penetrates +in disguise into the dark underground +world and woos the fair earth goddess. So +successfully does he plead his cause, that she +receives him as her spouse and bears him eight +lovely daughters. She also reveals to him the +secrets of the future, when Walhalla's strong +walls shall fall, and the gods shall perish, because +they have resorted to fraud and lent a willing +ear to Loge, prince of evil.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this fatal prediction Wotan +remains undismayed. Instead of yielding passively +to whatever fate may befall him, he resolves +to prepare for a future conflict, and to<a +class="pagebreak" name="page121" id="page121" title="121"></a> +defend Walhalla against every foe. As the gods +are few in number, he soon decides to summon +mortals to his abode, and in order to have men +trained to every hardship and accustomed to +war, he flings his spear over the world, and +kindles unending strife between all the nations. +His eight daughters, the Walkyries, are next +deputed to ride down to earth every day and +bear away the bravest among the slain. These +warriors are entertained at his table with heavenly +mead, and encouraged to keep up their +strength and skill by cutting and hewing each +other, their wounds healing magically as soon +as made.</p> + +<p>But, in spite of these preparations, Wotan is +not yet satisfied. He still remembers the all-powerful +ring which he has given to the giants, +and which is still in the keeping of Fafnir. +In case this ring again falls into the hands of the +revengeful Alberich, he knows the gods cannot +hope to escape from his wrath. He himself cannot +snatch back a gift once given, so he decides +to beget a son, who will unconsciously be his +emissary, and who will, moreover, oppose the +offspring which Erda has predicted that Alberich +will raise merely to help him avenge his wrongs. +Disguised as a mortal named Wälse, or Volsung, +Wotan takes up his abode upon earth, and<a +class="pagebreak" name="page122" id="page122" title="122"></a> +marries a mortal woman, who bears him twin +children, Siegmund and Sieglinde. These children +are still very young when Hunding, a +hunter and lover of strife, comes upon their hut +in the woods, and burns it to the ground, after +slaying the elder woman and carrying off the +younger as his captive.</p> + +<p>On their return from the forest, Wälse and +Siegmund behold with dismay the destruction of +their dwelling, and vow constant warfare against +their foes. This vow they faithfully keep until +Siegmund grows up and his father suddenly +and mysteriously disappears, leaving behind him +nothing but the wolf-skin garment to which he +owes his name.</p> + +<p>Hunding, in the mean while, has carried +Sieglinde off to his dwelling, which is built +around the stem of a mighty oak, and when she +attains a marriageable age he compels her to +become his wife, although she very reluctantly +submits to his wish. The opening scene of this +opera represents Hunding's hall,—in the midst +of which stands the mighty oak whose branches +overshadow the whole house,—which is dimly +illumined by the fire burning on the hearth. Suddenly +the door is flung wide open, and a stranger +rushes in. He is dusty and dishevelled, and +examines the apartment with a wild glance.<a +class="pagebreak" name="page123" id="page123" title="123"></a> +When he has ascertained that it is quite empty, +he comes in, closes the door behind him, and +sinks exhausted in front of the fire, where he +soon falls asleep. A moment later Sieglinde, +Hunding's forced wife, appears. When she +sees a stranger in front of the fire, instead of +her expected lord and master, she starts back +in sudden fear. But, reassured by the motionless +attitude of the stranger, she soon draws +near, and, bending over him, discovers that he +has fallen asleep:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘His heart still heaves,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Though his lids be lowered,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Warlike and manful I deem him</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Though wearied down he sunk.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>As she has only a very dim recollection of her +past, she fails to recognise her brother in the +sleeper. He soon stirs uneasily, and, wakening, +tries to utter a few words, which his parched lips +almost refuse to articulate, until she compassionately +gives him a drink.</p> + +<p>Gazing at Sieglinde as if fascinated by some +celestial vision, Siegmund, in answer to her +questions, informs her that he is an unhappy +wight, whose footsteps misfortune constantly +dogs. He then goes on to inform her that even +now he has escaped from his enemies with<a +class="pagebreak" name="page124" id="page124" title="124"></a> +nothing but his life, and makes a movement to +leave her for fear lest he should bring ill-luck +upon her too. Sieglinde, however, implores +him to remain and await the return of her husband. +Almost as she speaks Hunding enters +the house, and, allowing her to divest him of his +weapons, seems dumbly to inquire the reason of +the stranger's presence at his hearth.</p> + +<p>Sieglinde rapidly explains how she found him +faint and weary before the fire, and Hunding, +mindful of the laws of hospitality, bids the +stranger welcome, and invites him to partake of +the food which Sieglinde now sets before them. +As Siegmund takes his place at the rude board, +Hunding first becomes aware of the strange +resemblance he bears to his wife, and after +commenting upon it <i>sotto voce</i>, he inquires his +guest's name and antecedents. Siegmund then +mournfully relates his happy youth, the tragic +loss of his mother and sister, his roaming life +with his father, and the latter's mysterious disappearance. +Only then does Hunding recognize +in him the foe whom he has long been +seeking to slay.</p> + +<p>Unconscious of all this, Siegmund goes on +to relate how on that very day he had fought +single-handed against countless foes to defend +a helpless maiden, running away only when his<a +class="pagebreak" name="page125" id="page125" title="125"></a> +weapons had failed him and the maiden had been +slain at his feet. Sieglinde listens breathless to +the story of his sad life and of his brave defence +of helpless virtue, while Hunding suddenly declares +that, were it not that the sacred rights of +hospitality restrained him, he would then and +there slay the man who had made so many of +his kinsmen bite the dust. He however contents +himself with making an appointment for a +hostile encounter early on the morrow, promising +to supply Siegmund with a good sword, +since he has no weapons of his own:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘My doors ward thee,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Wölfing, to-day;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Till the dawn shelter they show;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A flawless sword</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Will befit thee at sunrise,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">By day be ready for fight,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And pay thy debt for the dead.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Then Hunding angrily withdraws with his +wife, taking his weapons with him, and muttering +dark threats, which fill his guest's heart with +nameless fear. Left alone, Siegmund bitterly +mourns his lack of weapons, for he fears lest he +may be treacherously attacked by his foe, and +in his sorrow he reproaches his father, who had +repeatedly told him that he would find a sword +ready to his hand in case of direst need.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"><a class="pagebreak" name="page126" id="page126" +title="126"></a><span class="i0">‘A sword,—so promised my father—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">In sorest need I should find—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Weaponless falling</span><br /> +<span class="i0">In the house of the foe,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Here in pledge</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To his wrath I am held.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>While he is brooding thus over his misfortunes, +the flames on the hearth flicker and burn +brighter. Suddenly their light glints upon the +hilt of a sword driven deep in the bole of the +mighty oak, and, reassured by the thought that +he has a weapon within reach, Siegmund disposes +himself to sleep.</p> + +<p>The night wears on. The fire flickers and +dies out. The deep silence is broken only by +Siegmund's peaceful breathing, when the door +noiselessly opens, and Sieglinde, all dressed in +white, steals into the room. She glides up to +the sleeping guest and gently rouses him, bidding +him escape while her husband is still sound +asleep under the influence of an opiate which +she has secretly administered:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘It is I; behold what I say!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">In heedless sleep is Hunding,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I set him a drink for his dreams,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The night for thy safety thou needest.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Leading him to the oak, she then points out +the sword, telling him it was driven into the very<a +class="pagebreak" name="page127" id="page127" title="127"></a> +heart of the tree by a one-eyed stranger. He +had come into the hall on her wedding day, and +had declared that none but the mortal for whom +the gods intended the weapon would ever be +able to pull it out. She then goes on to describe +how many strong men have tried to withdraw it, +and warmly declares it must have been intended +for him who had so generously striven to protect +a helpless maiden. Her tender solicitude +fills the poor outcast's famished heart with such +love and joy that he clasps her to his breast, +and, the door swinging noiselessly open to admit +a flood of silvery moonbeams, they join in the +marvellous duet known as the ‘Spring Song.’</p> + +<p>As they gaze enraptured upon each other, they +too perceive the strong resemblance which has +so struck Hunding, but still fail to recognize +each other as near of kin. To save Sieglinde +from her distasteful compulsory marriage, Siegmund +now consents to fly, providing she will +accompany him, vowing to protect her till death +with the sword which he easily draws from the +oak, and which he declares he knows his father +must have placed there, as he recognizes him in +the description which Sieglinde had given of the +stranger:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Siegmund the Volsung,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Seest thou beside thee!</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page128" id="page128" title="128"></a> +<span class="i0">For bridal gift</span><br /> +<span class="i0">He brings thee this sword.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">He woos with the blade</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The blissfullest wife.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">From the house of the foe</span><br /> +<span class="i0">He hies with thee.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Forth from here</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Follow him far,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Hence to the laughing</span><br /> +<span class="i0">House of the Spring,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Where Nothung the sword defends thee,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Where Siegmund infolds thee in love!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This passionate appeal entirely sweeps away +Sieglinde's last scruples; she yields rapturously +to his wooing, and they steal away softly, hand +in hand, to go and seek their happiness out in +the wide world. Hunding, upon awaking on +the morrow, discovers the treachery of his guest +and the desertion of his wife. Almost beside +himself with fury, he prepares to overtake and +punish the guilty pair.</p> + +<p>As a fight is now imminent between Siegmund, +his mortal son, and Hunding, Wotan, +who is up on a rocky mountain overlooking the +earth, summons Brunhilde the Walkyrie to his +side, bidding her saddle her steed and so direct +the battle that Siegmund may remain victor and +Hunding only fall. Chanting her Walkyrie war-cry, +Brunhilde departs, laughingly calling out to<a +class="pagebreak" name="page129" id="page129" title="129"></a> +Wotan that he had best be prepared for a call +from his wife, who is hastening toward him as +fast as her rams can draw her brazen chariot. +Brunhilde has scarcely passed out of sight when +Fricka comes upon the scene. After upbraiding +Wotan for forsaking her to woo the goddess Erda +and a mortal maiden, she says that, as father of +the gods and ruler of the world, he is bound to +uphold religion and morality. She then dwells +angrily upon the immorality of the just consummated +union between Siegmund and Sieglinde, +who are brother and sister, and finally forces +her husband, much against his will, to promise +he will revoke his decree, give the victory to +the injured husband, Hunding, and punish Siegmund, +the seducer, by immediate death.</p> + +<p>Wotan therefore summons Brunhilde once +more, and sadly bids her to shield Hunding in +the coming fight. Brunhilde, who realizes that +the second command has been dictated by +Fricka, implores him to confide his troubles to +her. She then hears with dismay an account of +the way in which Wotan has been beguiled into +wrongdoing by Loge, of his attempts to gather +an army large enough to oppose to his foes when +the last day should come, and of his long cherished +hope that Siegmund would recover the +fatal ring which he feared would again fall into<a +class="pagebreak" name="page130" id="page130" title="130"></a> +the revengeful Alberich's hands. Finally, however, +Wotan repeats his order to her to befriend +Hunding, and Brunhilde, awed by his despair, +slowly departs to fulfil his commands.</p> + +<p>The god has just vanished amid the mutterings +of thunder, expressive of his wrath if any one +dare to disobey his behests, when Siegmund +and Sieglinde suddenly appear upon the mountain +side. They are fleeing from Hunding, and +Sieglinde, who has discovered when too late that +Siegmund is her brother, is so torn by remorse, +love, and fear that she soon sinks fainting to +the ground. Siegmund, alarmed, bends over +her, but, having ascertained that she has only +fainted, makes no effort to revive her, deeming +it better that she should remain unconscious +during the encounter which must soon take +place, for the horn of the pursuing Hunding is +already heard in the distance.</p> + +<p>Siegmund has just pressed a tender kiss upon +Sieglinde's fair forehead, when Brunhilde, the +Walkyrie, suddenly appears before him, and +solemnly warns him of his coming defeat and +death. He proudly tells her of his matchless +sword, but she informs him that his reliance upon +it is quite misplaced, for it will be wrenched +from his grasp when his need is greatest. Then +she tries to comfort him by describing the glory<a +class="pagebreak" name="page131" id="page131" title="131"></a> +which awaits him in Walhalla, whither she will +convey him after death.</p> + +<p>Siegmund eagerly questions her, but, learning +that Sieglinde can never be admitted within its +shining portals, passionately declares he cannot +leave her. He next proposes to kill her and +himself, so that they may be together in Hela's +dark abode, for he will accept no joys which she +cannot share:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Then greet for me Valhall,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Greet for me Wotan;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Hail unto Wälse,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And all the heroes!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Greet, too, the graceful</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Warlike mist-maidens:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For now I follow thee not.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Brunhilde's heart is so touched by his love for +and utter devotion to Sieglinde, and she is so +anxious at the same time to fulfil Wotan's real +wish, in defiance of his orders, that she finally +allows compassion to get the better of her reason, +and impulsively promises Siegmund that she will +protect him in the coming fray. At the same +moment Hunding's horn is heard, and Brunhilde +disappears, while the scene darkens with the +rapid approach of a thunderstorm. Such is the +darkness that Siegmund, who has sprung down +the path in his eagerness to meet his foe, misses<a +class="pagebreak" name="page132" id="page132" title="132"></a> +his way, while Sieglinde slowly rouses from +her swoon, muttering of the days of her happy +childhood when she dwelt with her family in the +great wood. Suddenly, the lightning flashes, +and Hunding and Siegmund, meeting upon a +ridge, begin fighting, in spite of Sieglinde's frantic +cries.</p> + +<p>As the struggle begins, Brunhilde, true to her +promise, hovers over the combatants, holding +her shield over Siegmund and warding off every +dangerous blow, while Sieglinde gazes in speechless +terror upon the combatants.</p> + +<p>But in the very midst of the fray, when +Siegmund is about to pierce Hunding's heart +with his glittering sword, Wotan suddenly +appears, and, extending his sacred spear to +parry the blow, he shivers the sword Nothung +to pieces. Hunding basely takes advantage of +this accident to slay his defenceless foe, while +Brunhilde, fearing Wotan's wrath and Hunding's +cruelty, catches up the fainting Sieglinde and +bears her rapidly away upon her fleet-footed +steed.</p> + +<p>After gazing for a moment in speechless sorrow +at his lifeless favourite, Wotan turns a wrathful +glance upon the treacherous Hunding, who, +unable to endure the divine accusation of his +unflinching gaze, falls lifeless to the ground.<a +class="pagebreak" name="page133" id="page133" title="133"></a> +Then the god mounts his steed, and rides off +on the wings of the storm in pursuit of the disobedient +Walkyrie, whom he is obliged to punish +severely for his oath's sake.</p> + +<p>The next scene represents an elevated plateau, +the trysting spot of the eight Walkyries, on +Hindarfiall, or Walkürenfels, whither they all +come hastening, bearing the bodies of the slain +across their fleet steeds. Brunhilde appears +last of all, carrying Sieglinde. She breathlessly +pours out the story of the day's adventures, +and implores her sisters to devise some means +of hiding Sieglinde, and to protect her from +Wotan's dreaded wrath:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘The raging hunter</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Behind me who rides,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">He nears, he nears from the North!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Save me, sisters!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Ward this woman.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The sound of the tempest has been growing +louder and louder while she is speaking, and as +she ends her narrative Sieglinde recovers consciousness, +but only to upbraid her for having +saved her life. She wildly proposes suicide, +until Brunhilde bids her live for the sake of Siegmund's +son whom she will bring into the world, +and tells her to treasure the fragments of the +sword Nothung, which she had carried away.<a +class="pagebreak" name="page134" id="page134" title="134"></a> +Sieglinde, anxious now to live for her child's +sake, hides the broken fragments in her bosom, +and, in obedience to Brunhilde's advice, speeds +into the dense forest where Fafnir has his lair, +and where Wotan will never venture lest the +curse of the ring should fall upon him.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Save for thy son</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The broken sword!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Where his father fell</span><br /> +<span class="i0">On the field I found it.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Who welds it anew</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And waves it again,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">His name he gains from me now—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">“Siegfried” the hero be hailed.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The noise of the storm and rushing wind has +become greater and greater, the Walkyries have +anxiously been noting Wotan's approach. As +Sieglinde vanishes in the dim recesses of the +primeval forest, the wrathful god comes striding +upon the stage in search of Brunhilde, who +cowers tremblingly behind her sisters. After a +scathing rebuke to the Walkyries, who would +fain shelter a culprit from his all-seeing eye, +Wotan bids Brunhilde step forth. Solemnly he +then pronounces her sentence, declaring she +shall serve him as Walkyrie no longer, but shall +be banished to earth, where she will have to +live as a mere mortal, and, marrying, to know<a +class="pagebreak" name="page135" id="page135" title="135"></a> +naught beyond the joys and sorrows of other +women:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Heard you not how</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Her fate I have fixed?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Far from your side</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Shall the faithless sister be sundered;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Her horse no more</span><br /> +<span class="i0">In your midst through the breezes shall haste her;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Her flower of maidenhood</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Will falter and fade;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A husband will win</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Her womanly heart,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">She meekly will bend</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To the mastering man</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The hearth she'll heed, as she spins,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And to laughers is left for their sport.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Brunhilde, hearing this terrible decree, which +degrades her from the rank of a goddess to that +of a mere mortal, sinks to her knees and utters +a great cry of despair. This is echoed by the +Walkyries, who, however, depart at Wotan's +command, leaving their unhappy sister alone +with him.</p> + +<p>Passionately now Brunhilde pleads with her +father, declaring she had meant to serve him +best by disobeying his commands, and imploring +him not to banish her forever from his beloved +presence. But, although Wotan still loves her +dearly, he cannot revoke his decree, and repeats<a +class="pagebreak" name="page136" id="page136" title="136"></a> +to her that he will leave her on the mountain, +bound in the fetters of sleep, a prey to the first +man who comes to awaken her and claim her as +his bride.</p> + +<p>All Brunhilde's tears and passionate pleadings +only wring from him a promise that she will be +hedged in by a barrier of living flames, so that +none but the very bravest among men can ever +come near her to claim her as his own.</p> + +<p>Wotan, holding his beloved daughter in a +close embrace, then gently seals her eyes in +slumber with tender kisses, lays her softly down +upon the green mound, and draws down the +visor of her helmet. Then, after covering her +with her shield to protect her from all harm, he +begins a powerful incantation, summoning Loge +to surround her with an impassable barrier of +flames. As this incantation proceeds, small +flickering tongues of fire start forth on every +side; they soon rise higher and higher, roaring +and crackling until, as Wotan disappears, they +form a fiery barrier all around the sleeping +Walkyrie:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Loge, hear!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Hitherward listen!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">As I found thee at first—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">In arrowy flame</span><br /> +<span class="i0">As thereafter thou fleddest—</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page137" id="page137" title="137"></a> +<span class="i0">In fluttering fire;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">As I dealt with thee once,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I wield thee to-day!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Arise, billowing blaze,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And fold in thy fire the rock!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Loge! Loge! Aloft!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Who fears the spike</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Of my spear to face,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">He will pierce not the planted fire.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page138" id="page138" +title="138"></a><img src="images/mime.jpg" width="367" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />SIEGFRIED AND MIME.</p> + + +<h2>SIEGFRIED.</h2> + + +<p>Sieglinde, having dragged herself into +the depths of the great untrodden forest, +dwelt there in utter solitude until the time came +for her son Siegfried to come into the world. +Sick and alone, the poor woman went about +in search of aid, and finally came to Mime's +cavern, where, after giving birth to her child +and intrusting him to the care of the dwarf, +she gently breathed her last.</p> + +<p>Here, in the grand old forest, young Siegfried +grew up to manhood, knowing nothing of his +parentage except the lie which Mime, the wily +dwarf, chose to tell him, that he was his own +son. Strong, fearless, and unruly, the youth +soon felt the utmost contempt for the cringing +dwarf, and, instead of bending over the anvil +and swinging the heavy hammer, he preferred +to range the forest, hunting the wild beasts, +climbing the tallest trees, and scaling the steepest +rocks.</p> + +<p>As the opera opens, the curtain rises upon a +sooty cave, where the dwarf Mime is alone at<a +class="pagebreak" name="page139" id="page139" title="139"></a> +work, hammering a sword upon his anvil and +complaining bitterly of the strength and violence +of young Siegfried, who shatters every weapon +he makes. In spite of repeated disappointments, +however, Mime the Nibelung works on. +His sole aim is to weld a sword which in the +bold youth's hands will avail to slay his enemy, +the giant Fafnir, the owner of the ring and +magic helm, and the possessor of all the mighty +hoard.</p> + +<p>While busy in his forge, Mime tells how the +giant fled with his treasure far away from the +haunts of men, concealed his gold in the Neidhole, +a grewsome den. There, thanks to the +magic helmet, he has assumed the loathsome +shape of a great dragon, whose fiery breath and +lashing tail none dares to encounter.</p> + +<p>As Mime finishes the sword he has been +fashioning, Siegfried, singing his merry hunting +song, dashes into the cave, holding a bear in +leash. After some rough play, which nearly +drives the unhappy Mime mad with terror, +Siegfried sets the beast free, grasps the sword, +and with one single blow shatters it to pieces +on the anvil, to Mime's great chagrin. Another +weapon has failed to satisfy his needs, and the +youth, after harshly upbraiding the unhappy +smith, throws himself sullenly down in front<a +class="pagebreak" name="page140" id="page140" title="140"></a> +of the fire. Mime then cringingly approaches +him with servile offers of food and drink, continually +vaunting his love and devotion. These +protests of simulated affection greatly disgust +Siegfried, who is well aware of the fact that +they are nothing but the merest pretence.</p> + +<p>In his anger against this constant deceit, he +finally resorts to violence to wring the truth +from Mime, who, with many interruptions and +many attempts to resume his old whining tone, +finally reveals to him the secret of his birth and +the name of his mother. He also tells him all +he gleaned about his father, who fell in battle, +and, in proof of the veracity of his words, produces +the fragments of Siegmund's sword, which +the dying Sieglinde had left for her son:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Lo! what thy mother had left me!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For my pains and worry together</span><br /> +<span class="i0">She gave me this poor reward.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">See! a broken sword,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Brandished, she said, by thy father,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">When foiled in the last of his fights.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Siegfried, who has listened to all this tale +with breathless attention, interrupting the dwarf +only to silence his recurring attempts at self-praise, +now declares he will fare forth into +the wild world as soon as Mime has welded +together the precious fragments of the sword.<a +class="pagebreak" name="page141" id="page141" title="141"></a> +In the mean while, finding the dwarf's hated +presence too unbearable, he rushes out and vanishes +in the green forest depths. Left alone +once more, Mime wistfully gazes after him, +thinking how he may detain the youth until the +dragon has been slain. At last he slowly begins +to hammer the fragments of the sword, which +will not yield to his skill and resume their +former shape.</p> + +<p>While the dwarf Mime is abandoning himself +to moody despair, Wotan has been walking +through the forest. He is disguised as a Wanderer, +according to his wont, and suddenly enters +Mime's cave. The dwarf starts up in alarm at +the sight of a stranger, but after asking him who +he may be, and learning that he prides himself +upon his wisdom, he bids him begone. Wotan, +however, who has come hither to ascertain +whether there is any prospect of discovering +anything new, now proposes a contest of wit, +in which the loser's head shall be at the winner's +disposal. Mime reluctantly assents, and begins +by asking a question concerning the dwarfs +and their treasures. This Wotan answers by +describing the Nibelungs' gold, and the power +wielded by Alberich as long as he was owner +of the magic ring.</p> + +<p>Mime's second inquiry is relative to the<a +class="pagebreak" name="page142" id="page142" title="142"></a> +inhabitants of earth, and Wotan describes the +great stature of the giants, who, however, were +no match for the dwarfs, until they obtained +possession not only of the ring, but also of the +great hoard over which Fafnir now broods in +the guise of a dragon.</p> + +<p>Then Mime questions him concerning the +gods, but only to be told that Wotan, the most +powerful of them all, holds an invincible spear +upon whose shaft are engraved powerful runes. +In speaking thus the disguised god strikes +the ground with his spear, and a long roll of +thunder falls upon the terrified Mime's ear.</p> + +<p>The three questions have been asked and successfully +answered, and it is now Mime's turn +to submit to an interrogatory, from which he +evidently shrinks, but to which he must yield. +Wotan now proceeds to ask him which race, +beloved by Wotan, is yet visited by his wrath, +which sword is the most invincible of weapons, +and who will weld its broken pieces together. +Mime triumphantly answers the first two questions +by naming the Volsung race and Siegmund's +blade, Nothung; but as he has failed to weld the +sword anew, and has no idea who will be able +to achieve the feat, he is forced to acknowledge +himself beaten by the third.</p> + +<p>Scorning to take any advantage of so puny<a +class="pagebreak" name="page143" id="page143" title="143"></a> +a rival, Wotan refuses to take the forfeited head, +and departs, after telling the Nibelung that the +sword can only be restored to its pristine glory +by the hand of a man who knows no fear, and +that the same man will claim it as his lawful +prize and dispose of Mime's head:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Hark thou forfeited dwarf;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">None but he</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Who never feared,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Nothung forges anew.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Henceforth beware!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thy wily head</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Is forfeit to him</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Whose heart is free from fear.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>When Siegfried returns and finds the fire +low, the dwarf idle, and the sword unfinished, +he angrily demands an explanation. Mime then +reveals to him that none but a fearless man can +ever accomplish the task. As Siegfried does +not even know the meaning of the word, Mime +graphically describes all the various phases of +terror to enlighten him.</p> + +<p>Siegfried listens to his explanations, but when +they have come to an end and he has ascertained +that such a feeling has never been harboured +in his breast, he springs up and seizes the +pieces of the broken sword. He files them to +dust, melts the metal on the fire, which he blows<a +class="pagebreak" name="page144" id="page144" title="144"></a> +into an intense glow, and after moulding tempers +the sword. While hammering lustily Siegfried +gaily sings the Song of the Sword. The blade, +when finished, flashes in his hand like a streak of +lightning, and possesses so keen an edge that +he cleaves the huge anvil in two with a single +stroke.</p> + +<p>While Siegfried is thus busily employed, +Mime, dreading the man who knows no fear, and +to whom he has been told his head was forfeit, +concocts a poisonous draught. This he intends +to administer to the young hero as soon as the +frightful dragon is slain, for he has artfully +incited the youth to go forth and attack the +monster, in hope of learning the peculiar sensation +of fear, which he has never yet known.</p> + +<p>In another cave, in the depths of the selfsame +dense forest, is Alberich the dwarf, Mime's +brother and former master. He mounts guard +night and day over the Neidhole, where Fafnir, +the giant dragon, gloats over his gold. It is night +and the darkness is so great that the entrance +to the Neidhole only dimly appears. The +storm wind rises and sweeps through the woods, +rustling all the forest leaves. It subsides however +almost as soon as it has risen, and Wotan, +still disguised as a Wanderer, appears in the +moonlight, to the great alarm of the wily dwarf.<a +class="pagebreak" name="page145" id="page145" title="145"></a> +A moment's examination suffices to enable him +to recognise his quondam foe, whom he maliciously +taunts with the loss of the ring, for +well he knows the god cannot take back what +he has once given away.</p> + +<p>Wotan, however, seems in no wise inclined +to resent this taunting speech, but warns Alberich +of the approach of Mime, accompanied by +a youth who knows no fear, and whose keen +blade will slay the monster. He adds that the +youth will appropriate the hoard, ere he rouses +Fafnir to foretell the enemy's coming. Then +he disappears with the usual accompaniment of +rushing winds and rumbling thunder.</p> + +<p>The warning which Alberich would fain disbelieve +is verified, as soon as the morning +breaks, by the appearance of Siegfried and +Mime. The latter is acting as guide, and eagerly +points out the mighty dragon's lair. But even +then the youth still refuses to tremble, and when +Mime describes Fafnir's fiery breath, coiling +tail, and impenetrable hide, he good-naturedly +declares he will save his most telling blow +until the monster's side is exposed, and he can +plunge Nothung deep into his gigantic breast.</p> + +<p>Thus forewarned against the dragon's various +modes of attack, Siegfried advances boldly, +while Mime prudently retires to a place of<a +class="pagebreak" name="page146" id="page146" title="146"></a> +safety. He is closely watched by Alberich, who +crouches unseen in his cave. Siegfried seats +himself on the bank to wait for the dragon's +awakening, and beguiles the time by trying to +imitate the songs of the birds, which he would +fain understand quite clearly. As all his efforts +result in failure, Siegfried soon casts aside the +reed with which he had tried to reproduce their +liquid notes, and, winding his horn, boldly summons +Fafnir to come forth and encounter him +in single fight.</p> + +<p>This challenge immediately brings forth the +frightful dragon. To Siegfried's surprise he can +still talk like a man. After a few of the usual +amenities, the fight begins. Mindful of his +boast, Siegfried skilfully parries every blow, +evades the fiery breath, lashing tail, and dangerous +claws, and, biding his time, thrusts his sword +up to the very hilt in the giant's heart.</p> + +<p>With his dying breath, the monster tells the +youth of the curse which accompanies his hoard, +and, rolling over, dies in terrible convulsions. +The young hero, seeing the monster is dead, +withdraws his sword from the wound; but as +he does so a drop of the fiery blood falls upon +his naked hand. The intolerable smarting +sensation it produces causes him to put it to +his lips to allay the pain. No sooner has he<a +class="pagebreak" name="page147" id="page147" title="147"></a> +done so than he suddenly becomes aware that +a miracle has happened, for he can understand +the songs of all the forest birds.</p> + +<p>Listening wonderingly, Siegfried soon hears +a bird overhead warning him to possess himself +of the tarn-helmet and magic ring, and proclaiming +that the treasure of the Nibelungs is now his +own. He immediately thanks the bird for its +advice, and vanishes into the gaping Neidhole +in search of the promised treasures:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Hi! Siegfried shall have now</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The Nibelungs' hoard,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For here in the hole</span><br /> +<span class="i0">It awaits his hand!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Let him not turn from the tarn-helm,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">It leads to tasks of delight;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">But finds he a ring for his finger,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The world he will rule with his will.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Alberich and Mime, who have been trembling +with fear as long as the conflict raged, now +timidly venture out of their respective hiding +places. Then only they become aware of each +other's intention to hasten into the cave and +appropriate the treasure, and begin a violent +quarrel. It is brought to a speedy close, however, +by the reappearance of Siegfried wearing +the glittering helmet, armour, and magic ring.</p> + +<p>The mere appearance of this martial young<a +class="pagebreak" name="page148" id="page148" title="148"></a> +figure causes both dwarfs to slink back to their +hiding places, while the birds resume their song. +They warn Siegfried to distrust Mime, who +is even then approaching with the poisonous +draught. This the dwarf urges upon him with +such persistency that Siegfried, disgusted with +his fawning hypocrisy, finally draws his sword +and kills him with one blow:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Taste of my sword,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Sickening talker!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Meed for hate</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Nothung makes;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Work for which he was mended.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Then, while Alberich is laughing in malicious +glee over the downfall of his rival, Siegfried +flings his body into the Neidhole, and rolls the +dragon's carcass in front of the opening to protect +the gold. He next pauses again to listen to +the bird in the lime tree, which sings of a lovely +maiden surrounded by flames, who can be won +as bride only by the man who knows no fear:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Ha! Siegfried has slain</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The slanderous dwarf.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">O, would that the fairest</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Wife he might find!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">On lofty heights she sleeps,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A fire embraces her hall;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If he strides through the blaze,</span><br /><a +class="pagebreak" name="page149" id="page149" title="149"></a> +<span class="i0">And wakens the bride,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Brunhilde he wins to wife.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>This new quest sounds so alluring to Siegfried, +that he immediately sets out upon it, following +the road which the Wanderer has previously +taken. The latter has gone on to the very +foot of the mountain, upon which the flickering +flames which surrounded Brunhilde are burning +brightly. There he pauses to conjure the +goddess Erda to appear and reveal future +events. Slowly and reluctantly the Earth goddess +arises from her prolonged sleep. Her face +is pallid as the newly fallen snow, her head +crowned with glittering icicles, and her form +enveloped in a great white winding-sheet. In +answer to the god's inquiries about the future, +she bids him question the Norns and Brunhilde. +After a few obscure prophecies he allows her to +sink down into her grave once more, for he now +knows that one of the Volsung race has won the +magic ring, and is even now on his way up the +mountain to awaken Brunhilde.</p> + +<p>In corroboration of these words, Siegfried +appears a few moments after the prophetess or +Wala has again sunk into rest. Challenged by +Wotan the Wanderer, he declares he is on the +way to rouse the sleeping maiden. In answer +to a few questions, he rapidly adds that he has<a +class="pagebreak" name="page150" id="page150" title="150"></a> +slain Mime and the dragon, has tasted its blood, +and brandishes aloft the glittering sword which +has done him good service and which he has +welded himself.</p> + +<p>Wotan, wishing to test his courage, and at the +same time to fulfil his promise to Brunhilde that +none should attempt to pass the flames except +the one who feared not even his magic spear, +now declares that he has slain his father, Siegmund. +Siegfried, the avenger, boldly draws his +gleaming sword, which, instead of shattering +as once before against the divine spear, cuts +it to pieces. In the same instant the Wanderer +disappears, amid thunder and lightning. Siegfried, +looking about him to find Brunhilde, becomes +aware of the flickering flames of a great +fire, which rise higher and higher as he rushes +joyfully into their very midst, blowing his horn +and singing his merry hunting lay.</p> + +<p>The flames, which now invade the whole stage, +soon flicker and die out, and, as the scene becomes +visible once more, Brunhilde is seen fast +asleep upon a grassy mound. Siegfried comes, +and, after commenting upon the drowsing steed, +draws nearer still. Then he perceives the sleeping +figure in armour, and bends solicitously over +it. Gently he removes the shield and helmet, +cuts open the armour, and starts back in surprise<a +class="pagebreak" name="page151" id="page151" title="151"></a> +when he sees a flood of bright golden hair fall +rippling all around the fair form of a sleeping +woman:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘No man it is!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Hallowed rapture</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thrills through my heart;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Fiery anguish</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Enfolds my eyes.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My senses wander</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And waver.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Whom shall I summon</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Hither to help me?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Mother! Mother!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Be mindful of me.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>His head suddenly sinks down upon her bosom, +but, as her immobility continues, he experiences +for the first time a faint sensation of fear. +This is born of his love for her, and, in a frantic +endeavour to recall her to life, he bends down +and kisses her passionately. At the magic touch +of his lips, Brunhilde opens her eyes, and, overjoyed +at the sight of the rising sun, greets it with +a burst of rapturous song ere she turns to thank +her deliverer. The first glimpse of the hero in +his glittering mail is enough to fill her heart with +love, and recognizing in him Siegfried, the hero +whose coming she herself has foretold, she welcomes +him with joy. Siegfried then relates how +he found her, how he delivered her from the fetters<a +class="pagebreak" name="page152" id="page152" title="152"></a> +of sleep, and, impetuously declaring his +passion, claims her love in return.</p> + +<p>The scene between the young lovers, the +personifications of the Sun and of Spring, is one +of indescribable passion and beauty, and when +they have joined in a duet of unalterable love, +Brunhilde no longer regrets past glories, but +declares the world well lost for the love she has +won.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Away Walhall's</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Lightening world!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">In dust with thy seeming,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Towers lie down!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Farewell greatness</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And gift of the gods!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">End in bliss</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Thou unwithering breed!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">You, Norns, unravel</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The rope of runes!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Darken upwards</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Dusk of the gods!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Night of annulment,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Near in thy cloud!—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I stand in sight</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Of Siegfried's star;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For me he was</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And for me he will be,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Ever and always,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">One and all</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Lighting love</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And laughing death.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page153" id="page153" +title="153"></a>These sentiments are more than echoed by +the enamoured Siegfried, who is beside himself +with rapture at the mere thought of possessing +the glorious creature, who has forgotten all her +divine state to become naught but a loving and +lovable woman.</p> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page154" id="page154" +title="154"></a><img src="images/siegfrd.jpg" width="386" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />SIEGFRIED AND THE RHINE MAIDENS.</p> + + +<h2>DUSK OF THE GODS.</h2> + + +<p>The Norns, or Northern goddesses of fate, +are seen in the dim light before dawn, +busily weaving the web of destiny on the rocky +hillside where the Walkyries formerly held their +tryst. As they twist their rope, which is stretched +from north to south, they sing of the age of gold. +Then they sat beneath the great world-ash, near +the limpid well, where Wotan had left an eye in +pledge to win a daily draught of wisdom.</p> + +<p>They also sing how the god tore from the +mighty ash a limb which he fashioned into an +invincible spear. This caused the death of the +tree, which withered and died in spite of all +their care. The third Norn then continues +the tale her sisters have begun, and tells how +Wotan came home with a shivered spear one +day, and bade the gods cut down the tree. Its +limbs were piled like fuel all around Walhalla, +the castle which the giants had built, and since +then Wotan has sat there in moody silence, +awaiting the predicted end, which can no longer +be far distant.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page155" id="page155" +title="155"></a>While they are singing, the barrier of flame +in the background burns brightly, and its light +grows pale only as dawn breaks slowly over the +scene. The rope which the Norns are weaving +then suddenly parts beneath their fingers; so +they bind the fragments about them and sink +slowly into the ground, to join their mother +Erda, wailing a prophecy concerning the end +of the old heathen world:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Away now is our knowledge!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The world meets</span><br /> +<span class="i0">From wisdom no more;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Below to Mother, below!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>As they vanish, the day slowly breaks, and +Siegfried and Brunhilde come out of the cave. +The former is in full armour and bears a jewelled +shield, the latter leads her horse, Grane, by the +bridle. Tenderly Brunhilde bids her lover farewell, +telling him that she will not restrain his +ardour, for she knows it is a hero's part to journey +out into the world and perform the noble +tasks which await him. But her strength and +martial fury have entirely departed since she has +learned to love, and she repeatedly adjures him +not to forget her, promising to await his homecoming +behind her flickering barrier of flame, +and to think constantly of him while he is<a +class="pagebreak" name="page156" id="page156" title="156"></a> +away. Siegfried reminds her that she need not +fear he will forget her as long as she wears the +Nibelung ring, the seal of their troth, and gladly +accepts from her in exchange the steed Grane. +Although it can no longer scurry along the paths +of air, this horse is afraid of nothing, and is +ready to rush through water and fire at his +command.</p> + +<p>As Siegfried goes down the hill leading his +steed, Brunhilde watches him out of sight, and +it is only when the last echoes of his hunting +horn die away in the distance that the curtain +falls.</p> + +<p>The next scene is played at Worms on the +Rhine. Gunther and his sister Gutrune are +sitting in their ancestral hall, with their half-brother +Hagen. He is the son of Alberich, and +has been begotten with the sole hope that he +will once help his father to recover the Nibelung +ring. Hagen advises Gunther to remember the +duty he owes his race, and to marry as soon +as possible, and recommends as suitable mate +the fair Brunhilde, who is fenced in by a huge +barrier of living flame.</p> + +<p>Gunther is not at all averse to matrimony, and +is anxious to secure the peerless bride proposed, +yet he knows he can never pass through the +flames, and asks how Brunhilde is to be won.<a +class="pagebreak" name="page157" id="page157" title="157"></a> +Hagen, who as a Nibelung knows the future, +foretells that Siegfried, the dauntless hero, will +soon be there, and adds that, if they can only +efface from his memory all recollection of past +love by means of a magic potion, they can soon +induce him to promise his aid in exchange for +the hand of Gutrune.</p> + +<p>As he speaks, the sound of a horn is heard, +and Hagen, looking out, sees Siegfried crossing +the river in a boat, and goes down to the landing +with Gunther to bid the hero welcome. +Hagen leads the horse away, but soon returns, +while Gunther ushers Siegfried into the hall of +the Gibichungs, and enters into conversation +with him. As Siegfried's curiosity has been +roused by the strangers calling him by name, he +soon inquires how they knew him, and Hagen +declares that the mere sight of the tarn-cap +had been enough. He then reveals to Siegfried +its magical properties, and asks him what he has +done with the hoard, and especially with the +ring, which he vainly seeks on his hand. Siegfried +carelessly replies that the gold is still in the +Neidhole, guarded by the body of the dragon, +while the ring now adorns a woman's fair +hand. As he finishes this statement, Gutrune +timidly draws near, and offers him a drinking +horn, the draught of welcome, in which, however,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page158" id="page158" title="158"></a> +the magic potion of forgetfulness has been +mixed.</p> + +<p>Siegfried drains it eagerly, remarking to himself +that he drinks to Brunhilde alone. But no +sooner has he partaken of it than her memory +leaves him, and he finds himself gazing admiringly +upon Gutrune. Gunther then proceeds to +tell Siegfried the story of Brunhilde, whom he +would fain woo to wife. Although the hero +dreamily repeats his words, and seems to be +struggling hard to recall some past memory, he +does not succeed in doing so. Finally he shakes +off his abstraction, and ardently proposes to pass +through the fire and win Brunhilde for Gunther +in exchange for Gutrune's hand:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Me frights not her fire;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I'll woo for thee the maid;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For with might and mind</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Am I thy man—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A wife in Gutrun' to win.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The two heroes now decide upon swearing +blood brotherhood according to Northern custom,—an +inviolable oath,—and, charging Hagen +to guard the hall of the Gibichungs, they +immediately sally forth on their quest.</p> + +<p>Brunhilde, in the mean while, has remained +on the Walkürenfels anxiously watching for Siegfried's +return, and spending long hours in contemplating<a +class="pagebreak" name="page159" id="page159" title="159"></a> +the magic ring, her lover husband's +last gift. Her solitude is, however, soon invaded +by Waltraute, one of her sister Walkyries. +She informs her that Wotan has been plunged +in melancholy thought ever since he returned +home from his wanderings with a shattered +spear, and bade the gods pile the wood of the +withered world-ash all around Walhalla. This +he has decided shall be his funeral pyre, when +the predicted doom of the gods overtakes him.</p> + +<p>Waltraute adds also that she alone has found +the clue to his sorrow, for she has overheard +him mutter that, if the ring were given back +to the Rhine-daughters, the curse spoken by +Alberich would be annulled, and the gods could +yet be saved from their doom:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘The day the River's daughters</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Find from her finger the ring,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Will the curse's weight</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Be cast from the god and the world.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Brunhilde pays but indifferent attention to +all this account, and it is only when Waltraute +informs her that it is in her power to avert the +gods' doom by restoring the ring she wears to +the mourning Rhine-daughters, that she starts +angrily from her abstraction, swearing she will +never part with Siegfried's gift, the emblem and +seal of their plighted troth.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page160" id="page160" +title="160"></a>Waltraute, seeing no prayers will avail to win +the ring, then rides sadly away, while the twilight +gradually settles down, and the barrier of +flames burns on with a redder glow. At the +sound of a hunting horn, Brunhilde rushes joyously +to the back of the scene, with a rapturous +cry of ‘Siegfried!’ but shrinks suddenly back +in fear and dismay when, instead of the bright +beloved form, a dark man appears through the +flickering flames. It is Siegfried, who, by virtue +of the tarn-helmet, has assumed Gunther's form +and voice, and boldly claims Brunhilde as his +bride, in reward for having made his way through +the barrier of fire. Brunhilde indignantly refuses +to recognize him as her master. Passionately +kissing her ring, she loudly declares that +as long as it graces her finger she will have +the strength to repulse every attack and keep +her troth to the giver. This declaration so +incenses Siegfried—who, owing to the magic +potion, has entirely forgotten her and her love—that +he rushes towards her, and after a violent +struggle wrenches the ring from her finger, and +places it upon his own.</p> + +<p>Cowed by the violence of this rude wooer, +and deprived of her ring, Brunhilde no longer +resists, but tacitly yields when he claims her +as wife, and both soon disappear in the cave.<a +class="pagebreak" name="page161" id="page161" title="161"></a> +There Siegfried, mindful of his oath to marry +her by proxy only, lays his unsheathed sword +between him and his friend's bride:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Now, Nothung, witness well</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That faithfully I wooed;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Lest I wane in truth to my brother,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Bar me away from his bride!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Hagen, left alone at Worms to guard the +hall of the Gibichungs, is favored in his sleep +by a visit from his father, Alberich. The dwarf +informs him that ever since the gods touched +the fatal ring their power has waned, and that +he must do all in his power to recover it from +Siegfried, who again holds it, and who little +suspects its magic power. As Alberich disappears, +carrying with him Hagen's promise to +do all he can, the latter awakens just in time to +welcome the returning Siegfried. The young +hero joyfully announces the success of their +expedition, and rapturously claims Gutrune as +his bride. After hearing her lover's account of +his night's adventures, the maiden leads him into +the hall in search of rest and refreshment, while +Hagen, summoning the people with repeated +blasts of his horn, admonishes them to deck the +altars of Wotan, Freya, and Donner, and to +prepare to receive their master and mistress<a +class="pagebreak" name="page162" id="page162" title="162"></a> +with every demonstration of joy. The festive +preparations are barely completed, when Gunther +and Brunhilde arrive. The bride is pale +and reluctant, and advances with downcast eyes, +which she raises only when she stands opposite +Gutrune and Siegfried, and hears the latter's +name. Dropping Gunther's hand, she rushes +forward impetuously to throw herself in Siegfried's +arms, but, arrested by his cold unrecognising +glance, she tremblingly inquires how he +came there, and why he stands by Gutrune's +side? Calmly then Siegfried announces his +coming marriage:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Gunther's winsome sister</span><br /> +<span class="i0">She that I wed</span><br /> +<span class="i0">As Gunther thee.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Brunhilde indignantly denies her marriage +to Gunther, and almost swoons, but Siegfried +supports her, and, although Brunhilde softly +and passionately asks him if he does not know +her, the young hero indifferently hands her +over to Gunther, bidding him look after his +wife.</p> + +<p>At a motion of his hand, Brunhilde's attention +is attracted to the ring, and she angrily demands +how he dare wear the token which Gunther +wrested from her hand.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page163" id="page163" +title="163"></a>Bewildered by this question, Siegfried denies +ever having received the ring from Gunther, +and declares he won it from the dragon +in the Neidhole; but Hagen, anxious to stir up +strife, interferes, and elicits from Brunhilde an +assurance that the hero can have won the ring +only by guile.</p> + +<p>A misunderstanding now ensues, for while +Brunhilde in speaking refers to their first +meeting, and swears that Siegfried had wooed +and treated her as his wife, he, recollecting +only the second encounter, during which he +acted only as Gunther's proxy, denies her assertions.</p> + +<p>Both solemnly swear to the truth of their +statement upon Hagen's spear, calling the vengeance +of Heaven down upon them in case of +perjury. Then the interrupted wedding festivities +are resumed, for Gunther knows only too +well by what fraud his bride was obtained, and +thinks the transformation has not been complete +enough to blind the wise Brunhilde.</p> + +<p>As Siegfried gently leads Gutrune away into +the hall, whither all but Hagen, Gunther, and +Brunhilde follow him, the latter gives way to +her extravagant grief. Hagen approaches her, +offering to avenge all her wrongs, and even slay +Siegfried if nothing else will satisfy her, and<a +class="pagebreak" name="page164" id="page164" title="164"></a> +wipe away the foul stain upon her honour. But +Brunhilde tells him it is quite useless to challenge +the hero, for she herself had made him invulnerable +to every blow by blessing every part +of his body except his back. This she deemed +useless to protect, as Siegfried, the bravest of +men, never fled from any foe:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘<strong>Hagen.</strong></span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So wounds him nowhere a weapon?</span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><strong>Brunhilde.</strong></span></p> + +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In battle none:—but still</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Bare to the stroke is his back</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Never—I felt—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">In flight he would find</span><br /> +<span class="i0">A foe to be harmful behind him,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">So spared I his back from the blessing.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Her resentment against Siegfried has reached +such a pitch, however, that she finally hails with +fierce joy Hagen's proposal to slay him in the +forest on the morrow. Even Gunther acquiesces +in this crime, which will leave his sister a +widow, and they soon agree that it shall be explained +to Gutrune as a hunting casualty.</p> + +<p>At noon on the next day Siegfried arrives +alone on the banks of the Rhine, in search of +a quarry which has escaped him. The Rhine +daughters, who concealed it purposely in hopes<a +class="pagebreak" name="page165" id="page165" title="165"></a> +of recovering their ring, rise up out of the +water, and swimming gracefully around promise +to help him recover his game if he will only give +them his ring. Siegfried, who attaches no value +whatever to the trinket, but wishes to tease +them, refuses it at first; but when they change +their bantering into a prophetic tone and try +to frighten him by telling him the ring will prove +his bane unless he intrust it to their care, he +proudly answers that he has never yet learned +to fear, and declares he will keep it, and see +whether their prediction will be fulfilled:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘My sword once splintered a spear;—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The endless coil</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Of counsel of old,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Wove they with wasting</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Curses its web;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Norns shall not cover from Nothung!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">One warned me beware</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Of the curse a Worm;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">But he failed to make me to fear,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The World's riches</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I won with a ring,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That for love's delight</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Swiftly I'd leave;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I'll yield it for sweetness to you;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">But for safety of limbs and of life,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Were it not worth</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Of a finger's weight,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">No ring from me you will reach!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page166" id="page166" +title="166"></a>The Rhine maidens then bid him farewell, +and swim away repeating their ominous prophecy. +After they have gone, the hunting party +appear, heralded by the merry music of their +horns. All sit down to partake of the refreshments +that have been brought, and as +Siegfried has provided no game, he tries to do +his share by entertaining them with tales of his +early youth.</p> + +<p>After telling them of his childhood spent in +Mime's forge, of the welding of Nothung and +the slaying of Fafnir, he describes how a mere +taste of the dragon's blood enabled him to +understand the songs of the birds. Encouraged +by Hagen, he next relates the capture of the +tarn-helm and ring, and then, draining his horn +in which Hagen has secretly poured an antidote +to the draught of forgetfulness administered by +Gutrune, he describes his departure in quest of +the sleeping Walkyrie and his first meeting with +Brunhilde. At the mere mention of her name, +all the past returns to his mind. He suddenly +remembers all her beauty and love, and starts +wildly to his feet, but only to be pierced by the +spear of the treacherous Hagen, who had stolen +behind him to drive it into his heart.</p> + +<p>The dying hero makes one last vain effort to +avenge himself, then sinks feebly to the earth,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page167" id="page167" title="167"></a> +while Hagen slips away, declaring that the perjurer +had fully deserved to be slain by the +weapon upon which he had sworn his false oath. +Gunther, sorry now that it is too late, bends +sadly over the prostrate hero, who, released +from the fatal effects of Gutrune's draught, +speaks once more of his beloved Brunhilde, and +fancies he is once more clasped in her arms as +of old.</p> + +<p>Then, when he has breathed his last, the +hunters place his body upon a shield and bear +it away in the rapidly falling dusk, to the slow, +mournful accompaniment of a funeral march, +whose muffled notes fall like a knell on the +listener's ear.</p> + +<p>Gutrune, who has found the day very long +indeed without her beloved Siegfried, comes out +of her room at nightfall, and listens intently for +the sound of the hunting horn which will proclaim +his welcome return. She is not the only +watcher, however, for Brunhilde has stolen +down to the river, and her apartment is quite +empty.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Hagen comes in, and Gutrune, terrified +at his unexpected appearance, anxiously +inquires why she has not heard her husband's +horn. Without any preparation, roughly, brutally, +Hagen informs her the hero is dead, just as<a +class="pagebreak" name="page168" id="page168" title="168"></a> +the bearers enter and deposit his lifeless body at +her feet.</p> + +<p>Gutrune faints, but when she recovers consciousness +she indignantly refuses to credit Hagen's +story, that her husband was slain by a boar. +She wildly accuses Gunther, who frees himself +from suspicion by denouncing Hagen. Without +showing the least sign of remorse, the dark son +of Alberich then acknowledges the deed, and, +seeing that Gunther is about to appropriate the +fatal ring, draws his sword and slays him also. +Wildly now Hagen snatches at the ring, that +long coveted treasure; but he starts back in +dismay without having secured it, for the dead +hand is threateningly raised, to the horror of all +the spectators.</p> + +<p>Next Brunhilde comes upon the scene, singing +a song of vengeance; and when Gutrune +wildly accuses her of being the cause of her +husband's murder, she declares that she alone +was Siegfried's lawful wife, and that he would +always have been true to her had not Gutrune +won him by the ruse of a magic draught. Sadly +Gutrune acknowledges the truth of this statement, +and, feeling that she has no right to mourn +over the husband of another woman, she creeps +over to Gunther's corpse and bends motionless +over him.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page169" id="page169" +title="169"></a>Brunhilde's anger is all forgotten now that the +hero is dead, and, after caressing him tenderly +for a while, she directs the bystanders to erect +a huge funeral pyre. While they are thus occupied +she sings the hero's dirge, and draws the +ring unhindered from his dead hand. Then she +announces her decision to perish in the flames +beside him, and declares the Rhine maidens can +come and reclaim their stolen treasure from their +mingled ashes:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Thou guilty ring!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Running gold!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My hand gathers,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And gives thee again.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">You wisely seeing</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Water sisters,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The Rhine's unresting daughters,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">I deem your word was of weight!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">All that you ask</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Now is your own;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Here from my ashes'</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Heap you may have it!—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The flame as it clasps me round</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Free from the curse of the ring!—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Back to its gold</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Unbind it again,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And far in the flood</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Withhold its fire,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The Rhine's unslumbering sun,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">That for harm from him was reft.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page170" id="page170" +title="170"></a>The curse of the ring is at an end. The +ravens of Wotan, perching aloft, fly heavily off +to announce the tidings in Walhalla, while Brunhilde, +after seeing Siegfried's body carefully deposited +on the pyre with all his weapons, kindles +the fire with her own hand. Then, springing +upon Grane, she rides into the very midst of the +flames, which soon rise so high that they swallow +her up and entirely hide her from the spectators' +sight.</p> + +<p>After a short time the flames die down, the +bright light fades, the stage darkens, and the river +rises and overflows its banks, until its waves +come dashing over the funeral pyre. They bear +upon their swelling crests the Rhine maidens +who have come to recover their ring, Hagen, +standing gloomily in the background, becomes +suddenly aware of their intention, wildly flings +his weapons aside, and rushes forward, crying, +‘Unhand the ring!’ But he is caught in the +twining arms of two of the Rhine maidens, who +draw him down under the water, and drown him, +while the third, having secured the Nibelung +ring, returns in triumph on the ebbing waves +to her native depths, chanting the Rhinegold +strain. As she disappears, a reddish glow like +the Aurora Borealis appears in the sky. <a name="ft3"></a>It +grows brighter and brighter, until one can discern<a +class="pagebreak" name="page171" id="page171" title="171"></a> +the shining abode of Walhalla, enveloped +in lurid flames from the burning world-ash, and +in the centre the assembled gods calmly seated +upon their thrones, to submit to their long predicted +doom, the ‘Götterdämmerung.’<a class="fn" href="#fn3"> 3 </a></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="fn"><span><a class="fn" href="#ft3"> 3 </a></span><a name="fn3"></a> +See Prof. G.T. Dippold's ‘Ring of the Nibelung.’</p> + + + + +<p class="central"><a class="pagebreak" name="page172" id="page172" +title="172"></a><img src="images/parsifal.jpg" width="379" height="500" +alt="[Illustration]" /><br /><br />PARSIFAL IN THE ENCHANTED GARDEN.</p> + + +<h2>PARSIFAL.</h2> + + +<p><a name="ft4"></a><span>It</span> was while he was searching for the material +for Tannhäuser, that Wagner came across +Wolfram von Eschenbach's poems of ‘Parsifal’ +and ‘Titurel,’<a class="fn" href="#fn4"> 4 </a> and, as he reports, ‘an entirely +new world of poetical matter suddenly opened +before me.’ Wagner made no use of this idea, +however, until 1857, some fifteen years later, +when he drew up the first sketch of his Parsifal, +during his residence at Zurich; twenty years +later he finished the poem at Bayreuth. He +then immediately began the music, although he +was sixty-five years of age. That same year, +while he was making a concert tour in London, +he read the poem to a select audience of friends, +by whose advice it was published.</p> + +<p>Although the music for this opera, which is +designated as ‘a solemn work destined to hallow +the stage,’ was finished in 1879, the instrumentation +was completed only in 1882, at<a +class="pagebreak" name="page173" id="page173" title="173"></a> +Palermo, a few months before its first production +at Bayreuth.</p> + +<p>This opera, which Wagner himself called a +religious drama, is intended as the ‘Song of +Songs of Divine Love, as Tristan and Ysolde is +the Song of Songs of Terrestrial Love.’ The +performance was repeated sixteen times at Bayreuth, +where many people had come from all +parts of the world to hear and see it, and has +since been revived a number of times. It is +the most difficult and least easily understood of +the master's intricate works, and bears the imprint +not only of his philosophical studies, but +also of the spirit of Oriental mysticism, in which +he delighted, and which he at one time intended +to make use of for the stage.</p> + +<p>The opera opens in the forest, where Gurnemanz, +an old servant of Amfortas, guardian of +the Holy Grail, is lying asleep with two squires. +Suddenly, reveille sounds from the top of +Mount Salvat, the sacred hill upon which the +temple stands. Gurnemanz, springing to his +feet, rouses the squires, and bids them prepare +the bath for their ailing master, who will soon +appear as is his daily custom.</p> + +<p>This Amfortas, whose coming they momentarily +expect, is the son of Titurel, the founder +of the temple erected on Mount Salvat for the<a +class="pagebreak" name="page174" id="page174" title="174"></a> +reception of the Holy Grail, a vessel in which +Joseph of Arimathea caught a few drops of +blood from the dying Redeemer's side, after it +had served as chalice during the Last Supper. +Titurel, feeling too old to continue his office +as guardian of the Grail, appointed Amfortas +as his successor, giving him the sacred lance +which pierced the Saviour's side, and told him +that none could resist him as long as he wielded +it and kept himself perfectly pure.</p> + +<p>During many years Amfortas led a stainless +life, defending the Holy Grail from every foe, +performing all his sacred offices with exemplary +piety, and teaching the Knights of the Grail to +fight for the right, and rescue the feeble and +oppressed. He also sent out messengers to +all parts of the world to right the wrong, whenever +called upon to do so, by the words which +suddenly appeared and glowed like fire around +the edge of the mystic vase. All the knights +who served the Holy Grail were not only fed +with celestial viands by its power alone, but +were endowed with resistless might, which +assured their victory everywhere as long as +they remained unknown. They had moreover +the privilege of recovering, as if by magic, from +every wound. Of course, many knights were +desirous of being admitted into the temple,<a +class="pagebreak" name="page175" id="page175" title="175"></a> +but none except those whose lives were pure +and whose purposes lofty were ever accepted. +When Klingsor, the magician, attempted to +enter, therefore, he was repulsed. In his anger +he established himself upon the other side of +the mountain, where, summoning all the arts of +magic to his aid, he called up delusions of every +kind. Thus he beguiled many of the knights in +search of the Holy Grail, caught them in his toils +and led them on to sin, until they were unfit for +the holy life to which they had once aspired.</p> + +<p>Amfortas, hearing of this, and too confident +in his own strength, sallied forth one day, +armed with the sacred lance, determined to +destroy Klingsor, and put an end to his magic. +But alas! he had no sooner entered the magician's +garden, where roamed a host of lovely +maidens trained to lure all men to sin, than he +yielded to the blandishments of the fairest among +them. Carelessly flinging his sacred lance aside, +he gave himself up to the delights of passion. +Such was his bewitched condition that he never +even noticed the stealthy approach of the magician, +who seized the lance and thrust it into his +side. This deep wound, which had refused to +heal ever since, caused him incessant tortures, +which were increased rather than diminished +whenever he uncovered the Holy Grail.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page176" id="page176" +title="176"></a>Although no remedy could allay this torture, +the Holy Grail decreed that it should be stilled +by a guileless fool, who, enlightened by pity, +would find the only cure. But, as he tarried, +many knights travelled all over the world in +search of simples, and Kundry, a wild, witch-like +woman, also sought in vain to relieve him.</p> + +<p>While the squires, in obedience to Gurnemanz's +orders, prepare the bath, Kundry comes riding +wildly on the scene. In breathless haste she +thrusts a curious little flask into Gurnemanz's +hand, telling him it is a precious balsam she +has brought from a great distance to alleviate +Amfortas's suffering. She is so exhausted by +her long ride that she flings herself upon the +ground, where she remains while a little procession +comes down the hill. It is composed of +knights bearing the wounded Amfortas, and +they set the litter down for a moment, as the +king gives vent to heart-rending groans. To +soothe him, his attendants remind him that there +are many more remedies to try, and Gurnemanz +adds that, failing all others, they can always rely +upon the promise of the Holy Grail, and await +the coming of the guileless fool. When Amfortas +learns that Kundry has made another +attempt to help him, he thanks her kindly, but +his gentle words only seem to increase her<a +class="pagebreak" name="page177" id="page177" title="177"></a> +distress, for she writhes uneasily on the ground +and refuses all thanks.</p> + +<p>When the king and his bearers have gone +down the hill, and have passed out of sight, the +squires begin chaffing poor Kundry. She gazes +upon them with the wild eyes of an animal at +bay, until Gurnemanz comes to her rescue, and +chides the youths. He tells them that although +she may once have been, as they declare, under +a curse, she has repented of her sins, and serves +the Holy Grail with a humility and singleness +of purpose which they would do well to imitate +rather than deride.</p> + +<p>In answer to their questions, he then goes on +to describe how Amfortas received the grievous +wound which causes him such intolerable pain, +and lost the sacred spear, which only enhances +Klingsor's power for evil, and which none but +a stainless knight can ever recover. Their quiet +conversation is brusquely interrupted by the +heavy fall of a swan, which lies dead at their +feet. This arouses their keenest indignation, for +the rules of the order forbid any deed of violence +within sight or hearing of the sacred edifice +containing the Holy Grail. Gazing around in +search of the culprit, they soon behold the +youth Parsifal, clad in the rough and motley +garments of a fool, and when Gurnemanz angrily<a +class="pagebreak" name="page178" id="page178" title="178"></a> +reproves him, and questions him concerning his +name and origin, he is amazed by the ignorance +the lad displays.</p> + +<p>By the help of Kundry, however, who, having +travelled everywhere, knows everything, Gurnemanz +finally ascertains that the youth is a +descendant of the royal family, his father, Gamuret, +having died when he was born. His +mother, Herzeloide (Heart's Affliction), has +brought him up in utter solitude and ignorance, +to prevent his becoming a knight and leave her +perchance to fall in battle:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Bereft of father his mother bore him.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For in battle perished Gamuret:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">From like untimely hero's death</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To save her offspring, strange to arms</span><br /> +<span class="i0">She reared him a witless fool in deserts.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The youth, however, pays no heed to Kundry's +explanations, but goes on to tell Gurnemanz +that he saw some men riding through +the forest in glittering array, and followed them +through the world with no other weapon than +the bow he had manufactured. But when +Kundry again interrupts him, declaring that his +sudden disappearance has caused his mother's +death, he shows the greatest sensibility, and +even faints with grief.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page179" id="page179" +title="179"></a>While the squires gently bathe his face and +hands to bring him back to life, Kundry, feeling +the sudden and overpowering desire for sleep +which often mysteriously overpowers her, creeps +reluctantly into a neighbouring thicket, where +she immediately sinks into a comatose state. +In the mean while, the king's procession comes +up from the bath, and slowly passes across the +stage and up the hill. Gurnemanz, whose heart +has been filled with a sudden hope that the +youth before him may be the promised guileless +fool who alone can cure the king, puts an arm +around him, gently raises him, and, supporting +his feeble footsteps, leads him up the hill. They +walk along dark passages, and finally come into +the great hall on the top of Mount Salvat, which +is empty now, and where only the sound of the +bells in the dome is heard as Gurnemanz says to +Parsifal:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Now give good heed, and let me see,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">If thou 'rt a Fool and pure</span><br /> +<span class="i0">What wisdom thou presently canst secure.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Parsifal, the unsophisticated youth, stands +spellbound at the marvels he beholds, nor does +he move when the great doors open, and the +Knights of the Grail come marching in, singing +of the mystic vessel and of its magic properties.<a +class="pagebreak" name="page180" id="page180" title="180"></a> +This strain is taken up not only by the youths +who follow them, but also by a boy choir in +the dome which is intended to represent the +angels. When the knights have all taken their +places, the doors open again to admit the +bearers of the sacred vessel, which is kept in a +shrine. They are followed by Amfortas, in his +litter, and when he has been carefully laid upon +a couch, and the vessel has been placed upon +the altar before him, all bow down in silent +prayer. Suddenly the silence is broken by the +voice of the aged Titurel. He is lying in a niche +in the rear of the hall, and calls solemnly upon +his son to uncover the Holy Grail, and give him +a sight of the glorious vessel, which alone can +renew his failing strength. The boys are about +to remove the veil when Amfortas suddenly +detains them, and begins a passionate protest, +relating how his sufferings increase every time +he beholds the Grail. He implores his father +to resume the sacred office, and wildly asks how +long his sufferings must endure. To this appeal +the angels' voices respond by repeating the +prophecy made by the Holy Grail:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘By pity 'lightened</span><br /> +<span class="i0">The guileless Fool—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Wait for him</span><br /> +<span class="i0">My chosen tool.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page181" id="page181" +title="181"></a>Strengthened by this reminder of ultimate +relief, and by the voice of the knights and of +Titurel again calling for the uncovering of the +Grail, Amfortas takes the crystal cup from its +shrine, bends over it in devout prayer, while the +angel voices above chant a sort of communion +service, and the hall is gradually darkened. +Suddenly a beam of blinding light shoots down +through the dome and falls upon the cup, which +‘glows with an increased purple lustre,’ while +Amfortas holds it above his head, and gently +waves it to and fro, so that its mystic light can +be seen by all the knights and squires, who have +sunk to their knees.</p> + +<p>Titurel hails the sight with a pious ejaculation, +and when Amfortas has replaced the vessel in +the shrine the beam of light disappears, daylight +again fills the hall, and knights and squires begin +to partake of the bread and wine before them, +a feast to which Gurnemanz invites the amazed +Parsifal by a mute gesture. The youth is too +astonished to accept; he remains spellbound, +while the invisible choir resume their chant, +which is taken up first by the youths' voices, +and then by the knights, and ends only as the +meal draws to a close, and Amfortas is borne +out, preceded by the Holy Grail and followed +by the long train of knights and squires.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page182" id="page182" +title="182"></a>Gurnemanz and Parsifal alone remain. The +Fool, though guileless, has not been enlightened +by pity to inquire the cause of Amfortas's +wound. He has thus missed his opportunity +to cure him, and Gurnemanz, indignant at his +boundless stupidity, opens a side door, and +thrusts him out into the forest, uttering a contemptuous +dismissal.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Thou art then nothing but a Fool!</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Come away, on thy road be gone</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And put my rede to use:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Leave all our swans for the future alone</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And seek thyself, gander, a goose.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The second act represents the inner keep of +Klingsor's castle, the magician himself being +seated on the battlement. He is gazing intently +into the magic mirror, wherein all the world +may be seen, and comments with malicious glee +upon Parsifal's ejection from the temple of the +Holy Grail and his approach to his enchanted +ground.</p> + +<p>Laying aside his magic mirror, Klingsor then +begins one of his uncanny spells, and in the midst +of a bluish vapor calls up Kundry from the enchanted +sleep into which his art has bound her. +He tells her that, although she has succeeded +in escaping his power for a short time, and has +gone over to the enemy whom she has done all<a +class="pagebreak" name="page183" id="page183" title="183"></a> +in her power to serve, he now requires her to +exercise all her fascinations to beguile Parsifal +away from the path of virtue, as she once lured +Amfortas, the king and guardian of the Holy +Grail.</p> + +<p>In vain the half awakened Kundry struggles +and tries to resist his power, Klingsor has her +again in his toils, and once more compels her, +much against her wishes, to execute his will. +Just as Parsifal, overcoming all resistance, drives +away the guards of the castle and springs up on +the ramparts, the magician waves his wand. He +and his tower sink from view, and a beautiful +garden appears, in which lovely damsels flit excitedly +about in very scanty attire. After a few +moments spent in motionless admiration of the +scene before him, Parsifal springs down into the +garden, where he is immediately surrounded by +the fair nymphs. They pull him this way and +that, tease and cajole him, and use all their wiles +to attract his attention and win his admiration. +Seeing him very indifferent to their unadorned +charms, a few of them hastily retire into a bower, +where they don gay flower costumes, in which +they soon appear before him, winding in and +out in the gay mazes of the dance.</p> + +<p>Their youthful companions immediately follow +their example, and also try to beguile Parsifal<a +class="pagebreak" name="page184" id="page184" title="184"></a> +by their flower hues, their kisses and caresses, +but he stands stolidly by until Kundry, who +is now no longer a terrible and haggard witch, +but a fair enchantress reclining upon a bed of +roses, calls him to her side.</p> + +<p>As in a dream, Parsifal obeys her summons, +while the flower nymphs flit away to their respective +bowers. Wonderingly he now inquires +how Kundry knows his name, and again hears +her relate how she was present at his birth, +watched over his childhood, and witnessed the +death of his mother. At this mention the youth +is again overcome with grief. To comfort him, +Kundry, the enchantress, tenderly embraces +him, and lavishes soft words upon him, but all +her caresses have no effect, except to awaken in +his heart a sudden miraculous comprehension +of all he has seen. Love is suddenly born in +his heart, but it is not the evil passion which +Kundry had striven to bring to life, but the pure, +unselfish feeling which enables one human being +to understand and sympathise with another. +He now knows that Amfortas yielded to passion's +spell, and in punishment suffered the spear +wound in his side, and realizes that he alone +could have given him relief. Moved to sudden +indignation by his compassion, he flings Kundry's +caressing arms aside, promising, however, to help<a +class="pagebreak" name="page185" id="page185" title="185"></a> +her win her own redemption, if she will only tell +him how to save Amfortas, and will reveal who +wielded the spear which dealt the fatal wound. +But Kundry, who is acting now entirely under +Klingsor's influence, and not by her own volition, +seeing she cannot lure him to sin, and that +he is about to escape forever, shrieks frantically +for help, cursing him vehemently, and declaring +that he will have to wander long ere he can +again find a way to the realm of the Holy Grail. +Her piercing screams bring the flower damsels +and Klingsor upon the scene, and the latter, +standing upon the rampart, flings the holy spear +at Parsifal, expecting to wound him as grievously +as Amfortas. But the youth has committed no +sin, he is quite pure; so the spear remains poised +above his head, until he stretches out his hand, +and, seizing it, makes a sign of the cross, adjuring +the magic to cease:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘This sign I make, and ban thy cursed magic:</span><br /> +<span class="i0">As the wound shall be closed</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Which thou with this once clovest,—</span><br /> +<span class="i0">To wrack and to ruin</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Falls thy unreal display!’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>At the holy sign, the enchanter's delusions vanish, +maidens and gardens disappear, and Kundry +sinks motionless upon the arid soil, while Parsifal<a +class="pagebreak" name="page186" id="page186" title="186"></a> +springs over the broken wall, calling out that +they shall meet again.</p> + +<p>The third act is played also upon the slopes +of the mountain, upon which the temple stands. +Many years have elapsed, however, and Gurnemanz, +bent with age, slowly comes out of his +hut at the sound of a groan in a neighbouring +thicket. The sounds are repeated until the good +old man, who has assumed the garb of a hermit, +searches in the thicket, and, tearing the +brambles aside, finds the witch Kundry in one +of her lethargic states. He has seen her so +before in days gone by, and, dragging her rigid +form out from the thicket, he proceeds to restore +her to life. Wildly as of old her eyes roll about, +but she has no sooner come to her senses than +she clamours for some work to do for the Holy +Grail, and proceeds to draw water and perform +sundry menial tasks. Gurnemanz, watching her +closely, comments upon her altered behaviour, +and expresses a conviction that she will ultimately +be saved, since she has returned to the +Grail after many years on the morning of Good +Friday.</p> + +<p>He is so occupied in examining her that he +does not notice the approach of Parsifal, clad in +black armour, with closed helmet and lowered +spear, and it is only when Kundry calls his<a +class="pagebreak" name="page187" id="page187" title="187"></a> +attention to the stranger that he welcomes him, +but without recognizing him in the least.</p> + +<p>Parsifal, however, has not forgotten the old +man whom he has sought so long in vain, and is, +so overcome by emotion that he cannot speak. +He obeys Gurnemanz's injunctions to remove +his arms, as none dare enter the holy precincts +of the Holy Grail in martial array, and, planting +the spear he recovered from Klingsor into the +ground, he bends the knee before it, and returns +silent thanks that his quest is ended, and he may +at last be vouchsafed to quiet the pain which +Amfortas still endures. While he is wrapt in +prayer, Gurnemanz, staring at him, suddenly +recognizes him as the Guileless Fool who came +so long ago, and imparts his knowledge to Kundry, +who confirms it. Parsifal, having finished +his prayer, and recovered the power of speech, +now greets Gurnemanz, and in answer to his +question says that he has wandered long, and +expresses a fervent hope that he has not come +too late to retrieve his former fault:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Through error and through suffering lay my pathway;</span><br /> +<span class="i0">May I believe that I have freed me from it,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Now that this forest's murmur</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Falls upon my senses,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And worthy voice of age doth welcome?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Or yet—is 't new error?</span><br /> +<span class="i0">All's altered here meseemeth.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page188" id="page188" +title="188"></a>Gurnemanz is almost overcome with joy when +he hears the young man declare that he has +brought back the sacred lance undefiled, although +he has suffered much to defend it from +countless foes who would fain have wrested it +from him. As Parsifal now begins eagerly to +question him, he mournfully relates that times +have changed indeed. Amfortas still lives, and +suffers untold tortures from his unhealed wound, +but Titurel, the aged king, no longer quickened +by the sight of the Holy Grail, (which has never +again been unveiled since his unhappy visit,) has +slowly passed away, and has closed his eyes in a +last sleep. At these sad tidings Parsifal faints +with remorse, and Gurnemanz and Kundry restore +him with water from the holy spring, with +which they also wash away all the soil of travel. +As he comes to life again, inquiring whether he +will be allowed to see Amfortas, Gurnemanz +tells him that the knights are to assemble once +more in the temple, as of old, to celebrate +Titurel's obsequies, and that Amfortas has solemnly +promised to unveil the Holy Grail, although +at the cost of suffering to himself. He +wishes to comfort the knights, who have lost all +their courage and strength, and are no longer +called upon to go forth and battle for the right +in the name of the Grail.</p> + +<p><a class="pagebreak" name="page189" id="page189" +title="189"></a>To enable Parsifal to appear in the temple, +Gurnemanz now baptises him with water from +the spring, and Kundry, anointing his feet with +a costly perfume, wipes them with her hair. +Parsifal rewards her for this humble office by +baptising her in his turn. Then Gurnemanz +anoints Parsifal's head with the same ointment, +for it is decreed he shall be king, and after +he and Kundry have helped him to don the +usual habit of the servants of the Holy Grail +they proceed, as in the first act, to the temple, +and once more enter the great hall.</p> + +<p>As they appear, the doors open, and two +processions enter, chanting a mournful refrain. +Ten knights bear the bier containing Titurel's +corpse, the others carry the wasted form of the +wounded king. The chorus ended, the coffin +is opened, and at the sight of the dead Titurel +all the assistants cry out in distress. No wail +is so bitter, however, as that of Amfortas, who +mournfully addresses his dead father, imploring +him to intercede for him before the heavenly +throne, and to obtain for him the long hoped for +and long expected release.</p> + +<p>Then he bids the knights uncover the Holy +Grail; but ere they can do so he bursts out +into a paroxysm of grief, exposing his bleeding +and throbbing wound, and declaring he has not<a +class="pagebreak" name="page190" id="page190" title="190"></a> +the courage to endure the sacred beam of light +from the Holy Grail. But, unnoticed by all, +Parsifal, Gurnemanz, and Kundry have drawn +near. Suddenly the youth extends the sacred +spear, and, touching Amfortas with its point, declares +that its power alone can stanch the blood +and heal the wounded side, and pronounces the +absolution of his sin:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Be whole, unsullied and absolved,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For I now govern in thy place.</span><br /> +<span class="i0">Oh blessed be thy sorrows,</span><br /> +<span class="i0">For Pity's potent might</span><br /> +<span class="i0">And Knowledge's purest power</span><br /> +<span class="i0">They taught a timid Fool.’</span></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>No sooner has the sacred point touched the +wound than it is indeed healed, and while Amfortas +sinks tottering with emotion into the arms +of Gurnemanz, all the knights gaze enraptured +at the spear. Then Parsifal announces that he +is commanded by Divine decree to become +the guardian of the Grail, which he unveils and +reverently receives into his hands.</p> + +<p>Once more the hall is darkened, once more +the beam of refulgent light illumines the gloom, +and, as Parsifal slowly waves the vessel to and +fro, a snowy dove, the emblem of the Holy +Grail, hovers lightly over his head.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the beam of light falls across the<a +class="pagebreak" name="page191" id="page191" title="191"></a> +face of the dead Titurel, who, coming to life +again in its radiance, raises his hand in fervent +blessing ere he sinks back once more to peaceful +rest. Kundry, too, has seen the Holy Grail +before her eyes closed in death, and Amfortas, +cured and forgiven, joins the knights and invisible +choir in praising God for his great mercy, +which endures forever.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="fn"><span><a class="fn" href="#ft4"> 4 </a></span><a name="fn4"></a> +See the author's ‘Legends of the Middle Ages,’ in press.</p> + + + + +<h2>THE END.</h2> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Stories of the Wagner Opera, by H. A. 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