Tannhäuser

The Glory of thy Countenance unveiled ! Thy face, O mother ! Splendour of the Gods ! Behold ! amid the glory of her hair And light shed over from the crown thereof, Wonderful eyes less passionate than Peace That wept ! That wept ! O mystery of Love ! Clasping my hands upon the scarlet rose That flamed upon my bosom, the keen thorns Pierced me and slew! My spirit was withdrawn Into Her godhead, and my soul made One With the Great Sorrow of the Universe, The Love of I sis ! Then I fell away Into some old mysterious abyss Rolling between the heights of starry space ; Flaming above, beyond the Tomb of Time, Blending the darkness into the profound Chasms of matter—so I fell away Through many strange eternities of Space, Limitless fields of Time. I knew in me That I must fall into the ground and die ; Dwell in the deep a-many years, at last To rise again—Osiris, slain and risen ! Light of the Cross, I see Thee in the sky, My future ! I must perish from the earth, Abide in desolate halls, until the hour When a new Christ must needs be crucified.— So weep I ever with Our Lady's tears, 139