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" One birth of my bosom ; One beam of mine eye ; One topmost blossom That scales the sky. Man, equal and one with me, man that is made of me, man that is I." Hertha. 134
These leaves ? A strong man sobbing ! The earth quakes Responsive. Hillo-ho! Who comes by there ? [ Tannhduser enters. He appears old and worn ; but from his whole body radiates a dazzling light, and his face is that of the Christ crticified. Save us, Saints, save us ! I have looked on God ! Tannhauser. Heinrich! my friend, my old true-hearted friend ! Fear not ! I am not ghost, but living man ! Ah me, ah me, the sorrow of the world ! Heinrich. Thou, Tannhauser ! what miracle is this ? Your body glows —with what unearthly light ? Tannhauser. I …
… pangs consume This nest of scorpions where my heart once was. Yet to my fearful task of hate I set No faltering bosom. I will have this man, His life, his strength ; and live a little more. Life—shall I ever reach the splendid sword Of womanhood, and gird it, gain my will, A human soul, and from that altitude Renew the terrible war against the Gods ? I have called Chronos the devouring God My father—shall his desolating reign Never return } Ay me ! this heart of hate, Loathing the man, takes comfort in the beast, 67
That if man lack not purpose, but succeed, Reaching in very deed Impersonal existence; — Lo ! Man is made one with God, an equal soul. For he shall know The harmony, the oneness of the Whole. This was my purpose. Vain, Ah vain ! The Star of the Unconquered Will Centred its vehemence and light, to stain In one successful strain, The stainless sphere of the unchangeable. With its own passionate, desperate breath Ever confronting the dark gate of Death. I passed that gate ! O pitiful ! The same Mystery holds me, and the flame Of Life stands up, un…
…e Dawning of the Blood, even as a smile : Even as a smile on Beauty's burning cheek- Ha ! In a circle ? As this journey is ? How vain is man's imagining and weak ! Begod my lady, and my lady's kiss ? Back swing we to the pitiful abyss. Liken God's being to the life of man. So reason staggers. Angels, answer me ! Ye who have watched the far unfolding plan— How is time shorter than eternity ? Prove it and weigh ! By mind it cannot be. All our divisions spring in our own brain. See ! As upsprings on the horizon there A clefted hill contemptuous of…
…he strong curse rolls Over accursed and immortal souls, Covering the corners of the universe Without escape. This is the evil destiny of man : The desperate plan Made by the Ancient One, to keep His power. Limits He set, made space unsearchable Yet bounded, made time endless to transcend Man's thought to comprehend : Builded the Tower Of life, and girded it with walls of hell, The name of Death. This limit in all things Baffles the spirit wings, Chains the swift soul ; for even Death is bound. In its apparent amplitude I saw, I, who have slept …
Because no soul of man has ever crossed Again that River—the old fable's wrong ; .(Eneas came never to the ghostly side ! Was not the boat weighed with his body still ? Felt he the keen emotions of the dead ? Could he, the mortal and the warrior, Converse with Them, and understand ? Believe ! No soul has crossed in utter sympathy And yet returned ; because of this decree : No man can look upon the face of God ! Yet Moses looked upon His hinder parts. And I —yes, goddess ! in this passionate Life in our secret mountain, well I know Thy beauty, a…
…The East ! Tannhauser. As if a flowerless moss Suddenly broke in passionate primroses ! Venus. Violets, violets ! Tannhauser. Or as if a man Lay in the fairest garden of the world, In the beginning : and grew suddenly A living soul at that caressing wind ! Venus. A living soul ! Tannhauser. So is Thy shade to me When sleep takes shape. 43
…might discover for themselves (if they chose to take the trouble) the real continuity in the apparent disjointedness. The history of any man who seriously and desperately dares to force a passage into the penetralia of nature ; not with the calm philosophy of the scientist, but with the burn- ing conviction that his immortal destiny is at stake ; must be a strange one : to me at least strangely attractive. The con- stant illusions ; the many disappointments ; the bitter earnest- ness of the man amid the grim humour, or more often sheer cacchina…
Chosen of Me ! Thou heart of hearts, thou mine, Man ! Stamping into dust the Soul Divine By might of that mere Manhood ! Sense and thought Reel for the glory of thee kissed and caught In the eternal circle of my arms ! Woven in vain are the mysterious charms Endymion taught Diana ! For one gaze ; One word of my unutterable praise ; And I was utterly and ever lost, Lost in the whirlwind of thy love, and tossed A wreck on its irremeable sea ! Life ! Life ! This kiss ! Draw in thy breath ! To me ! To me ! \Tannhauser is lost. 31
…sset leaves go grey, And sombre loves and sober Make twilight of the day. Dark dreams and shadows tenser Throb through the vital scroll, Man's soul. Lift, shake the subtle censer That hides the cruel coal ! 36
Still sweeter when the Bowman His silky shaft of frost Lets loose on earth, that no man May linger nor be lost. The barren woods, deserted, Lose echo of our siofhs— Love—dies ?— Love lives — in granite skirted, And under oaken skies. But best is grim December, The Goatish God his power ; The Satyr blows the ember, And pain is passion's flower ; When blood drips over kisses, And madness sobs through wine :— Ah, mine !— The snake starts up and hisses And strikes and— I am thine ! Venus. Those are thy true joys ? Cruelty for love } Tannhauser. And…
…ngs Sin, vast vampire, the corrupt, that swings Her unredeeming wings Over the world, and flaps for lust of Death —and Love! Venus. This man was drained of music ! Five new songs Chase the three ancient to oblivion ! Oh ! Love is grown fury ! TannhAuser. Kill me! Venus. In the kiss. [ Tannhduser sleeps. 63
Tannhauser. I have no hope nor trust in man at all ; But I will go. Fare well, Elizabeth ! [^Going, returns and kneels before her. Dare you once kiss these grey and withered brows ? As 'twere some flower that fell amid my hair, The lotus of eternal hope and life. Elizabeth. Dare I } 1 kiss you once upon the brow, Praying that God will make the purpose clear. And on the eyes —that He may lend them light. [ Tannhauser rises, and silently departs. Oh God ! Oh God ! That I have loved him so ! Be merciful ! Be merciful ! to him, The great high soul,…
…? Wolfram. No, certes. But substitutes for one reality Another —and a lovely pleasant one. Tannhauser. Existence is illusion after all ; Man, a bad joke ; and God, mere epigram I If we must come to that. And likewise love, p 11^
…sion and music—but no Principle ! How different is Tannhauser! ( To the unknown minstrel^ You, sir, next ! Sing of pure love and noble womanhood. Our court loves not these wastrel troubadours, Loose locks, flushed faces, soul's unseemliness. The Unknown Minstrel (sings). Amid earth's motley, Gaia's cap and bells, This too material, too unreal life, Sing, sing the crown of tender miracles, The pure true wife ! Sing not of love, the unutterable one, The love divine that Mary has to men. Seek not the winepress and the rising sun Beyond thy ken ! T…
… too small to understand himself! Eldest Pilgrim. Cling to the Cross, sir, there is hope in that ! Tannhauser. You know not, friend, the man to whom you speak. I have lived long in miracles enough, Myself the crowning miracle of all, That I am merely here. God speed you, sirs ! I ask your blessing, not to stay therewith My soul's own need (though that is dire enough) But —he that blesseth shall himself be blessed ! My blessing were small help to you, my friends. L 8i
The Unknown Minstrel. Leave the wide circle—word and argument ! Move to the line—the steady will of man, That shall attract the Two, the Breath of Life, The Holy Spirit : land you in the Three, Where form is perfect— in the triangle. Tannhauser. My friend, the Three is infinitely small, Mere surface. And I seek the Depth divine ! The Unknown Minstrel. The solid ! But the triangle aspires To that same unity that you despise, And lo ! the Pyramid ! The Sages say : Unite that to the Sphinx, and all is done, Completion of the Magnum Opus. Tannhause…
… The dice are in His lap- Let Him decide in His imperial mind! My choice ; to see entirely —and be blind ! Yet I bethink me of that holy man, (Pagan albeit) my stirrup's wisdom-share : " Learn this from Thothmes the Egyptian. " Use only in thine uttermost despair ! " He whispered me a Word. " Beware ! Beware " Two voices are there in the sullen sea ; " Two functions hath the inevitable fire ; " Earthquake hath earth, and yet fertility : " See to thy purpose, and thy set desire ! " Else, dire the fate — the ultimation dire ! " Vague threats and …
…king ! Hail to Thee ! I am afraid, I also, I myself ! Help ! lover, Venus, mistress of my life ! I cannot bear the glory of the gaze. No man shall look upon the face of God ! Where art thou } Save me from the scorpion ! I am — alone ! Hathoor. Light, Truth, arise, arise ! TannhAuser. I see— I see ! All blinded by the Light — Thou art the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Love ! Thou, Whom I sought through ages of deep sleep Forgotten when I died. There is no death : Change alternating ; and forgetfulness Of one state in the other—easy truth I could…