Hide thee, sweet river
; welcome to the
sea,
Ocean of love that shall encompass
thee
!
Life,
death,
love,
hatred, light, darkness, return to me—
To me !
\Tannh'duser perceives
that he is in the palace
of a Great
Qtieen.
Rise, rise, my knight
! My king
! My love, arise !
See the grave avenues of Paradise,
The dewy larches bending at my breath,
Portentous
cedars
prophesying death !
See the long vistas and the dancing sea,
The measured
motion of fecundity
!
Bright winds set swaying
the soft-sounding
flowers
(Here flowers have music) in my woven bowers,
Where sweet
birds blossom,
and in chorus quire
The rapt beginnings of immense desire.
Here is the light and rapture of the will
:
We touch the stars —and they are tiny still
!
O mighty thews ! O godlike
face and hair !
Rise up and take me
; ay, and keep me there,
One tingle at thy touch from head
to feet
;
Lips that cling close,
and never seem to meet.
Melting as sunlight
melts
in wine !
Arise !
Shame !
Has thy learning left thee overwise ?
Thy lips sing fondly —to another tune.
Nay ! 'twas my breathing beauty made
thee swoon,
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