Tannhauser.
Vile thing
I will try otherwise —to raise myself
:
But if I fail, I will not drag her down ;
I will return.
Venus.
To lose thee for one hour
Is my swift death—so desolate am I !
I have not got one lover in the world,
Save only Tannhauser.
And he will go.
Tannhauser.
One lover
!
Who makes up
the equal
soul
Of all the wickedness beneath
the sun
?
Lilith
! Seek out thy children
to devour
!
Leave
me.
I go to my Elizabeth.
Venus.
no !
It kills me !
That is naked truth.
1 am the soul and symbol of desire.
Yet individual
to thy love.
Stay
!
Stay
!
One last caress,
and then I let thee go,
And — die.
I fear,
and I detest,
this death.
I am not mortal, doomed to it !
I slip
Into mere slime
; no resurrection waits
Me,
made
the vilest of the stars that fell.
71