Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

Hoho! Ferocious,
Merciless churl!
I have no fancy
To be eaten.
Better it seems to me
That without delay thou shouldst die!

FAFNER [_Roaring._

Pruh! Come,
Boy, with thy boasts!

SIEGFRIED [_Draws his sword._

Beware, growler!
The boaster comes!

[_He springs towards Fafner and remains defiantly
confronting him. Fafner drags himself further up
the knoll and spits at Siegfried from his nostrils.
Siegfried avoids the poison, springs nearer, and
stands on one side. Fafner tries to reach him
with his tail. Siegfried, who is nearly caught,
springs over Fafner with one bound, and wounds him
in the tail. Fafner roars, pulls his tail angrily
away, and raises the front part of his body so
that he may throw its full weight on Siegfried,
thus offering his breast to the stroke. Siegfried
quickly looks to see where his heart is, and
thrusts his sword into it up to the hilt. Fafner
raises himself still higher in his pain, and, when
Siegfried has let go his sword and sprung aside, he
sinks on the wound._

SIEGFRIED

Lie there, envious brute! Nothung's point home has speeded!

FAFNER [_In a weaker voice._

Who art thou, boy bold-hearted,
That hast pierced my breast?
Who stirred up thy childish soul
To the murderous deed?
Thy brain schemed not the harm
Wrought by thy hand.

SIEGFRIED

Not much have I learned, Not even who I am; Thou thyself with thy taunting Stirred me to fight and to slay.

FAFNER

O boy bright-eyed,
Who knowest not yet who thou art,
Whom thou hast murdered
Hear from me.
Two mighty giants there were,
Fasolt and Fafner;
The brothers now are both fallen.
For the cursèd gold
We got from the Gods
I did Fasolt to death.
He who now guards
The hoard as dragon,
Fafner, the last remaining,
Falls, by a rosy boy slain.
Boy in thy bloom,
Watch and be wary:
He who stirred thee blind to this deed
Takes thought how to compass thy death.

[_Dying._

Mark the ending!
Think on me!

SIEGFRIED

Who was my father?
Tell, if thou canst.
Dying, thou showest,
Wild one, much wisdom.
Siegfried my name is; haply
That may help thee to guess.

FAFNER

Siegfried!...

[_He raises himself and dies._

SIEGFRIED

The dead can tell no tidings.
My living sword, lead!
Lead onward, my sword!

[_Fafner has rolled to the side in dying. Siegfried
now draws the sword from his breast. In doing so
his hand gets sprinkled with the blood; he draws it
back quickly._

The hot blood burns like fire!

[_Involuntarily he raises his fingers to his mouth
to suck the blood from them. As he looks musingly
before him his attention becomes more and more
attracted by the singing of the birds._

I almost seem
To hear the birds speaking to me.
Is there a spell,
Perhaps, in the blood?
The curious bird up there--
Hark! he sings to me.

VOICE OF THE WOOD-BIRD

[_From the branches of the lime-tree above
Siegfried._

Hei! Siegfried now owns
All the Nibelung hoard!
Oh! could he the hoard
In the cave but find!
Tarnhelm, if he could but win it,
Would help him to deeds of renown;
And could he discover the ring,
It would make him the lord of the world!

SIEGFRIED

[_Has listened holding his breath and beaming with
delight._

Thanks, bonnie bird,
For the counsel good:
I follow the call!

[_He turns towards the back and descends to the
cave, where he at once disappears._

_Mime steals up, looking about him timidly to assure himself of Fafner's death. At the same time Alberich comes out of the cleft on the opposite side. He observes Mime, rushes on him and bars his way, as the latter turns towards the cave._

ALBERICH

On what errand
Furtive and sly,
Knave, dost thou slink?

MIME

Accursèd brother,
That thou shouldst come!
What brings thee here?

ALBERICH

Rogue, has my gold
Provoked thy greed?
Dost covet my goods?

MIME

Get thee gone quickly!
This corner is mine;
What huntest thou here?

ALBERICH

Have I disturbed thee,
Thief, at thy work,
Secret and sly?

MIME

What I have slaved
And toiled to win
Shall not escape me.

ALBERICH

Who was it robbed
The Rhine of gold for the ring?
And whose cunning wrought
The spell of magical might?

MIME

Who made the Tarnhelm,
Changing its wearer's form?
Though thou didst want it,
Was it designed by thee?

ALBERICH

And what of thyself
Couldst aright have fashioned, thou bungler?
The magic ring
Forced thee to master thy craft.

MIME

And where is the ring?
'Twas reft from thy clutch by the giants.
What thou hast lost
I will gain and keep by my guile.

ALBERICH

What the boy has won
Would the niggard deny him?
'Tis not thine; the hero
Who won it is now its lord.

MIME

I brought him up;
For my pains now he shall pay;
For its reward
My trouble has waited too long.

ALBERICH

Just for rearing him,
The old niggardly,
Beggarly knave,
Bold as brass,
A king now would become?
The ring would befit
Better a dog
Than bumpkin like thee.
Never to thee
The magical ring shall fall!

MIME [_Scratches his head._

Well, keep it, then,
And guard with care
The gleaming gold;
Be thou lord,
But treat me as a brother;
Give me against it
Tarnhelm for toy,
Fairly exchanged;
Divided thus,
There will be booty for both.

[_He rubs his hands confidingly._

ALBERICH [_With a mocking laugh._

Share it with thee?
And the Tarnhelm too!
How sly thou art!
I could never
Sleep for a moment safely.

MIME [_Beside himself._

What! not even
Strike a bargain!
I must go bare,
Beggared of gain!
Thou wouldst leave me with nothing!

[_Shrieking._

ALBERICH

Nothing, not so
Much as a nail,
Shall fall to thy portion.

MIME [_In a fury._

Neither ring nor Tarnhelm
Shall thy hand touch, then;
'Tis I will not share!
I will call on Siegfried,
Summon the aid
Of his keen-edged sword;
The lad will make
Short work, dear brother, of thee!

ALBERICH

[_Siegfried having appeared in the background._

Turn and look there!
From the cavern hither he comes.

MIME

He will have chosen
Trivial toys.

ALBERICH

He bears the Tarnhelm!

MIME

Also the ring!

ALBERICH

Curst luck! The ring!

MIME [_Laughing maliciously._

Get him to give thee the ring now! 'Tis I, not thou, who shall win it.

ALBERICH

And yet to its lord
Must it at last be surrendered!

[_He disappears in the cleft._

[_During the foregoing Siegfried, with Tarnhelm and
ring, has come slowly and meditatively from the
cave; he regards his booty thoughtfully, and stops
on the knoll in the middle of the stage._

SIEGFRIED

I do not know
Of what use
Ye are; I chose you
From out the heaped-up hoard
Because of friendly advice.
Meanwhile, of this day
Be ye worn as witness,
Recalling to mind
How with fallen Fafner I fought,
And yet could not learn how to fear.

[_He hangs the Tarnhelm on his girdle and puts
the ring on his finger. Silence. His notice is
involuntarily drawn to the bird again, and he
listens to him with breathless attention._

THE WOOD-BIRD'S VOICE

Hei! Siegfried now owns
Both the helm and the ring!
Oh! let him not listen
To Mime, the false!
He were wise to be wary of
Mime's treacherous tongue.
He will understand
Mime's secret intent,
Because he has tasted the blood.

[_Siegfried's mien and gestures show that he
has understood the bird's song. He sees Mime
approaching, and remains without moving, leaning
on his sword, observant and self-contained, in his
place on the knoll till the close of the following
scene._

MIME

[_Steals forward, and observes Siegfried from the
foreground._

He weighs in his mind
The booty's worth;
Can there by chance
Have come this way
A Wanderer wise
Who talked to the child,
And taught him crafty runes?
Doubly sly
Be then the dwarf;
My snares must be cunning,
Cleverly set,
That with cajoling
And wily falsehoods
The insolent boy I may fool.

[_He goes nearer to Siegfried and welcomes him with
flattering gestures._

Ha! Welcome, Siegfried!
Say, bold fighter,
Hast thou been taught how to fear?

SIEGFRIED

A teacher still is to find.

MIME

But the dragon grim
Has fallen before thee?
A fell and fierce monster was he.

SIEGFRIED

Though grim and spiteful the brute, I grieve over his death, While there live still, unpunished, Blacker scoundrels than he was! The one who bade me slay I hate far more than the slain.

MIME [_Very friendly._

Have patience! Thou wilt not
Look on me long.

[_Sweetly._

In endless sleep
Soon thine eyelids will be sealed.
Thy uses are over,

[_As if praising him._

Done is the deed; The only task left For me is to win the booty. Methinks that task will not tax me; Thou wert always easy to fool.

SIEGFRIED

To me thou art plotting harm, then?

MIME [_Astonished._

What makes thee think that?

[_Continuing tenderly._

Siegfried, listen, my own one! I have always loathed Thee and all that are like thee. It was not from love That I reared thee with care: The gold hid in Fafner's cave I worked for as my reward.

[_As if he were promising him something nice._

If thou wilt not yield
It up to me,

[_As if he were ready to lay down his life for him._

Siegfried, my son,
Thou plainly must see

[_As if in friendly jest._

I have no choice but to slay thee!

SIEGFRIED

That I am hated
Pleases me;
But must I lose my life for thy pleasure?

MIME [_Angrily._

I never said that;
Thou hast made a mistake.
See, thou art weary
From stress of strife,
Burning with fever and thirst;
Mime, the kind one,
To cool thy thirst
Brought a quickening draught.
While thy blade thou didst melt
I brewed thee the drink;
Touch it, and straight
Thy sword shall be mine,
And mine the hoard and Tarnhelm too.

[_Tittering._

SIEGFRIED

So thou of my sword
And all it has won me--
Ring and booty--wouldst rob me?

MIME [_Violently._

Why wilt mistake so my words!
Do I drivel or dote?
I use the utmost
Pains with my speech,
That what in my heart
I mean may be hidden;
And the stupid boy
Misunderstands what I say!
Open thy ears, boy,
And attend to me!
Hear, now, what Mime means.
Take this: the drink will refresh thee
As my drinks oft have done.
Many a time
When fretful and bad,
Though loth enough,
The draughts I brought thou hast swallowed.

SIEGFRIED

Of a cooling drink
I were glad;
Say, how has this one been brewed?

MIME

[_Jesting merrily, as if describing to him a
pleasant state of intoxication which the liquor is
to bring about._

Hei! Just drink it!
Trust to my skill.
In mist and darkness
Soon shall thy senses be sunk;
None to watch or ward them,
Stark-stretched shall thy limbs be.
Thou lying thus,
'Twere not hard
To take the booty and hide it;
But wert thou to awake,
Nevermore would
Mime be safe,
Even owning the ring.
So with the sword
He has made so sharp

[_With a gesture of extravagant joy._

First I will hack
The child's head off!
Then I shall have both rest and the ring!

[_Tittering._

SIEGFRIED

Thou wouldst, then, slay me when sleeping?

MIME [_Furiously._

Do what, child? Did I say that?

[_He takes pains to assume the utmost tenderness.
Carefully and distinctly._

I only mean
To chop off thy head!

[_With the appearance of heartfelt solicitude for
Siegfried's health._

For even if I
Had loathed thee less,
And had not thy scoffs
And my drudgery shameful
So loudly urged to vengeance,

[_Gently._

I should never dare to pause
Till from my path I thrust thee:

[_Jestingly again._

How else could I come by the booty, Which Alberich covets as well?

[_He pours the liquid into the drinking-horn, and
offers it to Siegfried with pressing gestures._

Now, my Wälsung,
Wolf-begot,
Drink the draught and be choked,
And never drink again!

[_Tittering._

SIEGFRIED [_Threatens him with his sword._

Taste thou my sword,
Loathsome babbler!

[_As if seized by violent loathing, he gives Mime a
sharp stroke with his sword. Instantly Mime falls
dead to the ground. Alberich's voice in mocking
laughter from the cleft._

SIEGFRIED

[_Looking at Mime on the ground, quietly hangs his
sword again on his belt._

Envy's wage
Pays Nothung;
'Twas for this that I forged him.

[_He picks up Mime's body, carries it to the knoll,
and throws it into the cave._

In the cavern, there,
Lie on the hoard;
With steadfast guile
The gold thou hast gained:
Now let it belong to its master!
And a watchman good
I give thee, that thieves
Never may enter and steal.

[_With a great effort he pushes the body of the
dragon in front of the entrance to the cave, which
it completely stops up._

There lie thou too,
Dragon grim;
Along with thy foe
Greedy of gain
Thou shalt guard the glittering gold:
So both at last shall rest in peace.

[_He looks down thoughtfully into the cave for a
time, and then turns slowly to the front of the
stage as if tired. He passes his hand over his
brow._

Hot I feel
From the heavy toil;
Fast and furious
Flows my blood,
My hand burns on my head.
High stands the sun in heaven;
From azure heights
Falls his gaze
Through a cloudless sky on my crown.
Pleasant shadows will cool me under the linden.

[_He stretches himself out under the lime-tree, and
again looks up through the boughs._

If only, pretty warbler,
So long and so
Rudely disturbed,
I could once more hear thee singing!
On a branch I see thee
Merrily swaying;
Chirping and chattering,
Brothers and sisters
Are happily hovering round.

But I--I am alone,
Without brother or sister;
My mother died,
My father fell,
Unseen by their son!
The one soul I knew
Was a loathsome old dwarf;

[_Warmly._

Love he festered not
By kindness;
Many a cunning
Snare did he set me;
At last I was forced to slay him.

[_He looks sorrowfully up at the branches._

Bird sweet and friendly,
I ask thee a boon:
Wilt thou find for me
A comrade true?--
Wilt thou choose for me the right one?
So oft I have called,
And yet no one has come!
Thou, my friend,
Wilt manage it better,
So wise thy counsel has been.

[_Softly._

Now sing! I hearken to thy song.

THE WOOD-BIRD'S VOICE

Hei! Siegfried has slain
The deceitful dwarf!
I know for him now
A glorious bride.
She sleeps where rugged rocks soar;
Ringed is her chamber by fire.
Who battles the flames,
Wakens the bride,
Brünnhilde wins as reward.

SIEGFRIED

[_Starts up impetuously from his seat._

O lovely song,
Flower-sweet breath!
Thy yearning music
Burns in my breast!
Like leaping flame
It kindles my heart.
What races so swift
Through soul and senses?
Sweetest of friends, O say!

[_He listens._

THE WOOD-BIRD'S VOICE

Grieving yet glad,
Love I am singing;
Blissful, from woe
Weaving my song:
They only who yearn understand.

SIEGFRIED

Forth, forth then,
Swift and rejoicing!
Forth from the wood to the fell!
Just one thing more
I would learn, sweet singer:
Say, shall I break through the fire?
Can I awaken the bride?

[_He listens again._

THE WOOD-BIRD'S VOICE

No coward wins
Brünnhild' for bride,
Or wakes the maid:
Only a heart without fear.

SIEGFRIED [_Shouting with joy._

The foolish boy
Who has never learned fear,
Dear bird, that dullard am I!
To-day I took endless
Trouble in vain,
To find out what fear was from Fafner.
With longing I burn
Now from Brünnhild' to learn it.
What path soonest leads to the fell?

[_The bird flutters up, circles over Siegfried, and
flies hesitatingly before him._

SIEGFRIED

The bird to my goal will guide me.
Fly where thou wilt,
I follow thy flight!

[_He runs after the bird, who for a time flies
uncertainly hither and thither to tease him; at
last he follows him, when, taking a definite
direction towards the back, the bird flies away._

THE THIRD ACT

_A wild spot at the foot of a rocky mountain which
rises precipitously at the back on the left. Night,
storm, lightning and violent thunder. The latter
ceases shortly, but the lightning continues to
flash from the clouds for some time. The Wanderer
enters and walks resolutely towards a cavernous
opening in a rock in the foreground, and takes up
his position there, leaning on his spear, while he
calls the following towards the entrance to the
cave._

WANDERER

Waken, Wala!
Wala! Awake!
From thy long sleep,
Slumberer, wake at my call!
I summon thee forth:
Arise! Arise!
From cloud-covered caves
In earth's dim abysses, arise!
Erda! Erda,
Old as the world!
From depths dark and hidden
Rise to the day!
With song I call thee,
I sing to wake thee,
From deep dreams of wisdom
Bid thee arise.
All-knowing one!
Fount of knowledge!
Erda! Erda,
Old as the world!
Waken! Awaken, thou Vala! Awaken!

[_A dim bluish light begins to dawn in the cavern.
In this light Erda, during the following, rises
very gradually from below. She appears to be
covered with hoar-frost, which glitters on her hair
and garments._

ERBA

Loud is the call; Strong the spell that summons; I have been roused From dark and wise dreams: Who wakes me from my sleep?

WANDERER

'Tis I who awake thee
With song of magic,
That what in slumber
Was folded fast may rise.
The wide earth ranging,
Far I have roamed,
Seeking for knowledge,
Wisdom at fountains primeval.
No one that lives
Is wiser than thou;
Thou knowest all
In the hidden depths,
What moves on hill,
Dale, in water and air.
Where life is found,
There thou art breathing;
And where brains ponder,
There is thy thought.
Men say that all
Knowledge is thine.
That I might ask of thee counsel,
I have called thee from sleep.

ERBA

My sleep is dreaming,
My dreaming brooding,
My brooding wisdom's calm working.
But while I sleep
The Norns are wakeful:
They twine the rope,
And deftly weave what I know.
The Norns thou shouldst have questioned.

WANDERER

In thrall to the world
Sit the Norns weaving;
They cannot alter
What ordained is.
But I would fain
Be taught of thy wisdom
How a wheel on the roll can be stayed.

ERBA

Dark and troubled
My mind grows through men's deeds.
A God once subdued
The Wala's self to his will.
A wish-maiden
I bore to Wotan;
From fields of battle
She brought him slain heroes;
Bold is she
And wise to boot:
Why waken me?
Why seek not counsel
From Erda's and Wotan's child?

WANDERER

The Valkyrie, Brünnhild'?
Meanest thou her?
She flouted the storm-controller,
When, sorely urged, himself he controlled.
What the swayer and lord
Of battles longed for,
What he refrained from
Against his desire,
Brünnhilde, bold,
Rash, over-confident,
When the fight was at fiercest,
Strove for herself to perform.
War-father
Punished the maid:
He pressed slumber into her eyes,
On the flame-girt rock she sleeps.
The hallowed maid
Will waken alone,
That she may love and wed with a man.
Small hope of answer from her.

ERBA

Dazed have I felt
Since I woke;
Wild, confused
Seems the world!
The Valkyrie,
The Wala's child,
Bound lay, fettered by sleep,
While her all-knowing mother slept!
Does revolt's teacher
Chide revolt?
Does the deed he urged to
Anger him, done?
He who guards the right,
To whom vows are sacred,
Hinders the right?--
Reigns through falsehood?
Let me down to the dark,
That my wisdom may slumber!

WANDERER

I will not let thee descend,
For a potent magic I wield.
All-wise one,
Planted by thee
The sting of care was
In Wotan's dauntless heart;
For, through thy wisdom,
Downfall and shameful
Doom were foretold him;
My mind was fettered by fear.
Now let the world's
Wisest of women
Answer and say
How a God may conquer his care.

ERBA

Thou art not What thou hast said. Why art thou come, wild and wayward, To trouble the Wala's sleep?

WANDERER

Thou art not
What thou hast dreamed.
Thy end draws near,
Mother of wisdom;
Thy wisdom at war
With me shall perish.
Knowest thou Wotan's will?

[_A long silence._

I tell thee
That thou mayest sleep
For evermore unvexed by care.
That the Gods are doomed,
No longer dismays me,
Since I will it so.
What, with myself at war, in anguish,
Despairing, once I resolved,
Gaily, gladly,
With delight I now do.
Mad with disgust I decreed once
The world to the Nibelung's hate,
But now to the valiant Wälsung
I leave it with joy.
One who never knew me,
Though chosen by me,
A boy bold and fearless,
Helped not by Wotan,
Has won the Nibelung's ring.
Blest in love,
Void of all envy,
On him shall fall harmless
Alberich's curse,
For no fear does he know.
Soon thy child and mine,
Brünnhild',
Shall be waked by him;
And when waked
Our child shall achieve
A deed to redeem the world.
So slumber again,
Closing thine eyelids;
Dreaming behold my downfall!
Whatever comes after,
The God rejoicing
Yields to youth ever young.
Descend, then, Erda,
Mother of fear!
World-sorrow!
Descend! Descend!
And sleep for aye!

[_Erda, whose eyes are already closed, and who has
gradually been sinking deeper, disappears entirely.
The cavern has become quite dark again._

_Dawn lights up the stage; the storm has ceased.
The Wanderer has gone close to the cave, and leans
with his back against it, facing the wings._

WANDERER

Lo! Yonder Siegfried comes.

[_He remains where he is without changing his
position. Siegfried's wood-bird flutters towards
the foreground. Suddenly the bird stops in his
direct flight, flutters to and fro in alarm, and
disappears quickly towards the back._

SIEGFRIED [_Enters and stops._

My bird has vanished from sight! With fluttering wings And lovely song Blithely he showed me the way, And then forsook me and fled! I must discover The rock for myself: The path I followed so far 'Twere best still to pursue.

[_He goes towards the back._

WANDERER [_Still in the same position._

Boy, pray tell me,
Whither away?

SIEGFRIED [_Halts and turns round._

Did some one speak?
Perhaps he knows the road.

[_He goes nearer to the Wanderer._

I would find a rock
That by flaming fire is surrounded:
There sleeps a maid
Whom I would awake.

WANDERER

Who bade thee seek
This rock flame-circled?--
Taught thee to yearn for the woman?

SIEGFRIED

It was a singing
Woodland bird;
He gave me welcome tidings.

WANDERER

A wood-bird chatters idly
What no man understands;
How then couldst thou tell
The song's true meaning?

SIEGFRIED

Because of the blood
Of a dragon grim
That fell before me at Neidhöhl'--
The burning blood
Had scarce touched my tongue
When the sense of the singer grew plain.

WANDERER

Who was it urged thee on
To try thy strength,
And slay this dragon so dread?

SIEGFRIED

My guide was Mime,
A faithless dwarf:
What fear is fain he had taught me.
But 'twas the dragon
Roused me himself,
Wrathful, to strike the blow;
For he threatened me with his jaws.

WANDERER

Who forged the sword
So hard and keen
That it slew the daunting foe?

SIEGFRIED

I forged it myself
When the smith was beaten;
Swordless else I should have been still.

WANDERER

But who made
The mighty splinters
From which the sword was welded strong?

SIEGFRIED

What know I of that?
I only know
That the splintered steel was useless
Were not the sword forged anew.

WANDERER

[_Bursts out laughing with gleeful good-humour._

I fully agree.

SIEGFRIED [_Surprised._

At what dost thou laugh?
Prying greybeard!
Prithee have done;
Keep me no longer here talking.
Speak if thou knowest
Whither my way lies;
And hold thy tongue
Unless thou canst tell.

WANDERER

Good boy, have patience!
If I seem old,
More need to show me due honour.

SIEGFRIED

What an odd notion!
My whole life long
A hateful old man
Has blocked my pathway;
Him I at last swept aside.
Standest thou longer
Trying here to stay me,
I warn thee frankly

[_With a significant gesture._

That thou like Mime shalt fare.

[_He goes still nearer to the Wanderer._

But what art thou like?
Why wearest thou
Such a monstrous hat,
And why hangs it so over thy face?

WANDERER [_Still without altering his position._

That is the way I wear it When against the wind I go.

SIEGFRIED [_Inspecting him still more closely._

But an eye beneath it is wanting.
Perchance by some one
Whose way thou didst
Too boldly bar
It has been struck out.
Take thyself off,
Or else very soon
The other thou shalt lose also!

WANDERER

I see, my son,
Where thou art blind,
And hence thy jaunty assurance.
With the eye that is
Amissing in me
Thou lookest now on the other
That still is left me for sight.

SIEGFRIED

[_Who has been listening thoughtfully, now bursts
involuntarily into hearty laughter._

Thy foolish talk sets me laughing! But come, this nonsense must finish. At once show me my way; Then proceed thou too on thine own; For me further Use thou hast none: So speak, or off thou shalt pack!

WANDERER [_Gently._

Child, didst thou know
Who I am,
Thy scoffs I had been spared!
From one so dear,
Insult hard to endure is.
Long have I loved
Thy radiant race,
Though from my fury
In terror it shrank.
Thou whom I love so,
All too fair one,
Rouse my wrath not to-day;
It would ruin both thee and me.

SIEGFRIED

Still art thou dumb,
Stubborn old man?
Stand to one side, then;
That pathway, I know,
Leads to the slumbering maid;
For thither the wood-bird
Was guiding when he flew off.

[_It suddenly becomes dark again._

WANDERER

[_Breaking out in anger and assuming a commanding
attitude._

In fear of its life it fled.
It knew that here
Was the ravens' lord;
Dire his plight were he caught!
The way that it guided
Thou shalt not go!

SIEGFRIED

[_Amazed, falls hack and assumes a defiant
attitude._

Hoho! Interferer!
Who then art thou
That wilt not let me pass?

WANDERER

Fear thou the rock's defender!
My might it is
Holds the maiden fettered by sleep.
He who would wake her,
He who would win her,
Impotent makes me for ever.

A burning sea
Encircles the maid,
Fires fiercely glowing
Surround the rock;
He who craves the bride
The flames must boldly defy.

[_He points with his spear towards the rocky
heights._

Look up above!
That light dost thou see?
The surging heat,
The splendour, grows;
Clouds of fire rolling,
Tongues of flame writhing,
Roaring and raging,
Come ravening down.
Thy head now
Is flooded with light;

[_A flickering glow, increasing in brightness,
appears on the summit of the rock._

The fire will seize thee,
Seize and devour thee.--
Back, back, there, foolhardy boy!

SIEGFRIED

Stand back, old babbler, thyself! For where the fire is burning, To Brünnhilde yonder I go!

[_He advances; the Wanderer bars his way._

WANDERER

Hast thou no fear of the fire,
Then barred by my spear be thy path!
I still hold the haft
That conquers all;
The sword thou dost wield
It shivered long ago:
Upon my spear eternal
Break it once more.

[_He stretches out his spear._

SIEGFRIED [_Drawing his sword._

'Tis my father's foe,
Found here at last!
Now, then, for vengeance!
In luck am I!
Brandish thy spear:
My sword will hew it in twain!

[_With one stroke he hews the Wanderer's spear in
two pieces. Lightning flashes from the spear up
towards the rocks, where the light, until now dim,
begins to flame brighter and brighter. A violent
thunder-clap, which quickly dies away, accompanies
the stroke._

WANDERER

[_Quietly picking up the pieces of the spear which
have fallen at his feet._

Fare on! I cannot prevent thee!

[_He suddenly disappears in utter darkness._

SIEGFRIED

With his spear in splinters Vanished the coward!

[_The growing brightness of the clouds of fire,
which keep sinking down lower and lower, attracts
Siegfried's eye._

Ha! Rapturous fire! Glorious light! Shining my pathway Opens before me. In fiery flames plunging, Through fire I will win to the bride! Hoho! Hahei! To summon a comrade I call!

[_He sets his horn to his lips and plunges into
the fiery billows, which, flowing down from the
heights, now spread over the foreground. Siegfried,
who is soon lost to view, seems, from the sound
of his horn, to be ascending the mountain. The
flames begin to fade, and change gradually into a
dissolving cloud lit by the glow of dawn._

_The thin cloud has resolved itself into a fine
rose-coloured veil of mist, which so divides that
the upper part rises and disappears, disclosing the
bright blue sky of day; whilst on the edge of the
rocky height, now becoming visible (exactly the
same scene as in the third Act of "The Valkyrie"),
a veil of mist reddened by the dawn remains
hanging, which suggests the magic fire still
flaming below. The arrangement of the scene is
exactly the same as at the end of "The Valkyrie."
In the foreground, under a wide-spreading fir-tree,
lies Brünnhilde in full shining armour, her helmet
on her head, and her long shield covering her, in
deep sleep._

SIEGFRIED

[_Coming from the back, reaches the rocky edge of
the summit, and at first shows only the upper part
of his body. He looks round him for a longtime in
amaze. Softly._

Solitude blissful
On sun-caressed height!

[_He climbs to the summit, and, standing on a rock
at the edge of the precipice at the back, gazes at
the scene in astonishment. He looks into the wood
at the side and comes forward a little._

What lies in shadow,
Asleep in the wood?
A charger
Resting in slumber deep.

[_Approaching slowly he stops in surprise when,
still at some little distance from her, he sees
Brünnhilde._

What radiant thing lies yonder?

The steel, how it gleams and glints!
Is it the glare
That dazzles me still?
Shining armour?
Shall it be mine?

[_He lifts up the shield and sees Brünnhilde's
form; her face, however, is for the most part
hidden by her helmet._

Ha! It covers a man!
The sight stirs thoughts sweet and strange!
The helm must lie
Hard on his head;
Lighter lay he
Were it unloosed.

[_He loosens the helmet carefully and removes it
from the head of the sleeper. Long curling hair
breaks forth. Tenderly._

Ah! how fair!

[_He stands lost in contemplation._

Clouds gleaming softly
Fringe with their fleeces
This lake of heaven bright;
Laughing, the glorious
Face of the sun
Shines through the billowy clouds!

[_He bends lower over the sleeper._

His bosom is heaving,
Stirred by his breath;
Ought I to loosen the breastplate?

[_He tries to loosen the breastplate._

Come, my sword,
Cleave thou the iron!

[_He draws his sword and gently and carefully cuts
through the rings on both sides of the breastplate;
he then lifts this off along with the greaves,
so that Brünnhilde now lies before him in a soft
woman's robe. He draws back startled and amazed._

That is no man!

[_He stares at the sleeper, greatly excited._

Magical rapture
Pierces my heart;
Fixed is my gaze,
Burning with terror;
I reel, my heart faints and fails!

[_He is seized with sudden terror._ #/

On whom shall I call,
For aid imploring?
Mother! Mother!
Remember me!

[_He sinks as if fainting on to Brünnhilde's bosom;
then he starts up sighing._

How waken the maid,
Causing her eyelids to open?

[_Tenderly._

Her eyelids to open?
What if her gaze strike me blind!
How shall I dare
To look on their light?
All rocks and sways
And swirls and revolves;
Uttermost longing
Burns and consumes me;
My hand on my heart,
It trembles and shakes!
What ails thee, coward?
Is this what fear means?
O mother! Mother!
Thy dauntless child!

[_Very tenderly._

A woman lying asleep
Has taught him what fear is at last!
How conquer my fear?
How brace my heart?
That, myself, I waken,
I must waken the sleeper!

[_As he approaches the sleeping figure again he
is overcome by tenderer emotions at the light. He
bends down lower; sweetly._

Softly quivers
Her flower-sweet mouth!
Its lovely trembling
Has charmed my despair!
Ah! And the fragrant,
Blissful warmth of her breath!

[_As if in despair._

Awaken! Awaken,
Maiden divine!

[_He gazes at her._

She hears me not.
New life from the sweetest
Of lips I will suck, then,
Even though kissing I die!

[_He sinks, as if dying, on to the sleeping
figure, and, closing his eyes, fastens his lips on
Brünnhilde's. Brünnhilde opens her eyes. Siegfried
starts up, and remains standing before her._

BRÜNNHILDE

[_Rises slowly to a sitting posture. Raising her
arms, she greets the earth and sky with solemn
gestures on her return to consciousness._

Sun, I hail thee!
Hail, O light!
Hail, O glorious day.
Long I have slept;
I am awake.
What hero broke
Brünnhilde's sleep?

SIEGFRIED

[_Awed and entranced by her look and her voice,
stands as if spellbound._

Through the fierce fires flaming
Round this rock I burst;
I unloosened thy helmet strong:
I awoke thee.
Siegfried am I.

BRÜNNHILDE [_Sitting upright._

Gods, I hail you!
Hail, O World!
Hail, O Earth, in thy glory!
My sleep is over now,
My eyes open.
It is Siegfried
Who bids me wake!

SIEGFRIED

[_Breaking forth in rapturous exaltation._

I hail thee, mother
Who gave me birth!
Hail, O Earth,
That nourished my life
So that I see those eyes
Beam on me, blest among men!

BRÜNNHILDE

I hail the mother
Who gave thee birth!
Hail, O Earth,
That nourished thy life!
No eye dared see me but thine;
To thee alone might I wake!

[_Both remain full of beaming ecstasy, lost in
mutual contemplation._

BRÜNNHILDE

O Siegfried! Siegfried!
Hero most blest!
Of life the awaker,
Conquering light!
O joy of the world, couldst know
How thou wert always loved!
Thou wert my gladness,
My care wert thou!
Thy life I sheltered
Before it was thine;
My shield was thy shelter
Ere thou wert born:
So long loved wert thou, Siegfried!

SIEGFRIED [_Softly and timidly._

My mother did not die, then? Did the dear one but sleep?

BRÜNNHILDE

[_Smiles and stretches her hand out kindly towards
him._

Adorable child!
Nevermore thy mother will greet thee!
Thyself am I,
If I be blest with thy love.
All things I know
Known not to thee;
Yet only of my love
Born is my wisdom.

O Siegfried! Siegfried!
Conquering light!
I loved thee always,
For I alone
Divined the thought hid by Wotan:
Hidden thought I dared not
So much as utter;
Thought that I thought not,
Feeling it only;
For which I worked,
Battled and strove,
Defying even
Him who conceived it;
For which in penance
Prisoned I lay,
Because thought it was not,
But felt alone!
For what the thought was--
Say, canst thou guess it?--
Was love of thee, nothing but that!

SIEGFRIED

How wondrous sounds
Thy rapturous song!
But dark the meaning to me.

[_Tenderly._

Of thine eyes the splendour
I see plain,
I can feel thee breathing
Soft and warm,
Sweet can hear
The singing of thy voice,
But what thou sayest I strive
Vainly to understand.
I cannot grasp clearly
Things so far distant;
Needed is every sense
To feel and behold thee!
By laming fear
Fettered am I,
For how to fear
Thou hast taught me at last;
Thou who hast bound me
In bonds of such power,
Give me my courage again!

[_He remains in great excitement with his yearning
gaze fixed on her._

BRÜNNHILDE

[_Turns her head gently aside and looks towards the
wood._

I see there Grane,
My sacred horse;
In gladness he grazes
Who slept with me!
He too has by Siegfried been waked.

SIEGFRIED

[_Without changing his position._

My gaze on a mouth
Most lovely is feasting;
My lips are afire
With passionate yearning
For the pasture sweet that I look on!

BRÜNNHILDE

[_Points to her armour, which she now perceives._

I see there the shield
That sheltered heroes;
And there is the helmet
That hid my head:
It shields, it hides me no more!

SIEGFRIED [_With fire._

By a glorious maid
My heart has been hurt
Wounds in my head
A woman has struck:
I came without shield or helm!

BRÜNNHILDE [_With increased sadness._

I see there the breastplate's
Glittering steel;
A keen-edged sword
Sundered the rings,
From the form of the maiden
Loosened the mail:
Nor shelter nor shield is left
To the weak and sorrowful maid!

SIEGFRIED [_With heat._

Through billows of fire
I battled to thee,
No buckler or breastplate
Sheltered or screened;
The flames have won
Their way to my heart;
My blood hot-surging
Rushes and leaps;
A ravening fire
Is kindled within me:
The flames that shone
Round Brünnhilde's rock
Are burning now in my breast!
O maid, extinguish the fire!
Calm the commotion and rage!

[_He has embraced her passionately._

BRÜNNHILDE

[_Springs up, resists him with the utmost strength
of terror, and flies to the other side of the
stage._

No God's touch have I known!
With awe the heroes
Greeted the maiden:
Holy came she from Walhall.
Woe's me! Woe's me!
Woe the affront,
The bitter disgrace!
He wounds me sore
Who waked me from sleep!
He has broken breastplate and helm;
Now I am Brünnhild' no more.

SIEGFRIED

Thou art to me
The dreaming maid still;
Brünnhilde lies
Lapped still in sleep.
Awake, be a woman to me!

BRÜNNHILDE [_Bewildered._

Confused are my senses,
My mind is blank:
Wisdom, dost thou forsake me?

SIEGFRIED

Said not thy song
Thy wisdom drew
Its light from thy love of me?

BRÜNNHILDE [_Staring before her._

Shadows drear-falling
Darken my gaze;
Mine eyes see dimly,
The light dies out,
Deep is the dark.
From dread-haunted mists
Fear in a frenzy
Comes writhing forth;
Terror stalks me
And grows with each stride!

[_She hides her eyes with her hands in violent
terror._

SIEGFRIED

[_Gently removing her hands from her eyes._

Dread lies dark
On eyelids bound;
With the fetters vanish
The fear and gloom;
Rise from the dark and behold:
Bright as the sun is the day.

BRÜNNHILDE [_Much agitated._

Flaunting my shame,
Bright as the sun shines the day!
O Siegfried! Siegfried!
Pity my woe!
I have always
Lived and shall live--
Always in sweet,
Rapturous yearning,
And always to make thee blest!

O Siegfried! Glorious
Wealth of the world!
Laughing hero!
Life of the earth!
Ah, forbear!
Leave me in peace!
Touch me not,
Mad with delirious frenzy!
Break me not,
Bring me not under thy yoke,
Undo not the loved one so dear!

Hast thou rejoiced
Thyself to see
Reflected clear in the stream?
If into wavelets
The water were stirred,
And ruffled the limpid
Calm of the brook,
Thy face would not be there,
Only water's rippling unrest.
So untouched let me stay,
Trouble me not,
And thy face
Mirrored bright in me
Will smile to thee always,
Gay and merry and glad!
O Siegfried,
Radiant child,
Love thyself
And leave me in peace;
O bring not thine own to naught!

SIEGFRIED

I love thee;
Didst thou but love me!
Myself I have lost;
Ah, would thou wert won!
A fair-flowing flood
Before me rolls;
With all my senses
Nothing I see
But buoyant, beautiful billows.
If it refuse
To mirror my face,
Just as I am,
To assuage my fever,
Myself I will plunge
Straight in the stream:--
If only the billows
Would blissfully drown me,
My yearning lost in the flood!
Awaken, Brünnhilde!
Waken, O maid!
Laughing and living,
Sweetest delight,
Be mine! Be mine! Be mine!

BRÜNNHILDE [_With deep feeling._

Thine, Siegfried!
I was from of old!

SIEGFRIED [_With fire._

What thou hast been
That be thou still!

BRÜNNHILDE

Thine I will
Always be!

SIEGFRIED

What thou wilt be
Be thou to-day!
Clasped in my arms
And closely embraced,
Heart upon heart
Beating in rapture,
Glances aglow,
And breath mingled hungrily,
Eye in eye and
Mouth on mouth!
All that thou wert
And wilt be, be thou it now!
The fear and the fever would vanish
Were Brünnhild' now mine!

BRÜNNHILDE

Were I now thine?

Heavenly calm
Is tossing and raging;
Light that was pure
Flames into passion;
Wisdom divine
Forsakes me and flies;
Jubilant love
Has scared it away!

If I be thine?
Siegfried! Siegfried!
Canst thou not see?
By the blaze of my eyes
Thou art not struck blind?
In my arms' embrace
Thou surely must burn!
As my blood like a torrent
Surges and leaps,
The fire fierce-flaming
Dost thou not feel?
Fearest thou, Siegfried?
Fearest thou not
The wild, love-frenzied maid?

SIEGFRIED [_With a shock of joy._

Ha!
As the blood swift-surging is kindled,
As our eyes devour one another,
As our arms cling close in their rapture,
Dauntless again
My courage swells,
And the fear I failed
For so long to learn,
The fear that I scarcely
Learned from thee--
The stupid boy fears
That fear is completely forgot!

[_With the last words he has involuntarily let
Brünnhilde go._

BRÜNNHILDE [_Laughing wildly with joy._

Oh, valorous boy!
Oh, glorious hero!
Unwitting source
Of wonderful deeds!
Laughing, laughing I love thee;
Laughing welcome my blindness;
Laughing let us go doomwards,
Laughing go down to death!

Farewell Walhall's
Radiant world,
Its stately halls
In the dust laid low!
Farewell, glittering
Pomp divine!
End in bliss,
O immortal race!
Norns, rend in sunder
Your rope of runes!
Dusk steal darkly
Over the Gods!
Night of their downfall
Dimly descend!
Now Siegfried's star
Is rising for me;
He is for ever
And for aye,
My wealth, my world,
My all in all:
Love ever radiant,
Laughing death!

SIEGFRIED

[_While Brünnhilde repeats the foregoing, beginning
at "Farewell Walhall's Radiant world."_

Laughing thou wakest,
Thou my delight!
Brünnhilde lives,
Brünnhilde laughs!
Hail, O day
In glory arisen!
Hail, O Sun
That shines from on high!
Hail, O light
From the darkness sprung!
Hail, O world
Where Brünnhilde dwells!
She wakes! She lives!
She greets me with laughter!
Splendour streams
From Brünnhilde's star!

SIEGFRIED

She is for ever
And for aye
My wealth, my world,
My all in all,
Love ever radiant,
Laughing death!

[_Brünnhilde throws herself into Siegfried's arms.
The curtain falls._

THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS

CHARACTERS

SIEGFRIED
GUNTHER
HAGEN
ALBERICH
BRÜNNHILDE
GUTRUNE
WALTRAUTE
THE THREE NORNS
THE RHINE-MAIDENS
VASSALS
WOMEN

SCENES OF ACTION

PRELUDE: ON THE VALKYRIES' ROCK
ACT I. THE HALL OF GUNTHER'S DWELLING ON THE RHINE.
THE VALKYRIES' ROCK