Tannhauser Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A BCDEFCCDAGCHCCICIJDK LHMDNCDOPQRBSTUVWCXJ CYZA2CCCCB2CC2CD2CCC CE2F2F2G2F2CCF2F2H2F 2F2CF2F2CIF2F2I2J2C2 F2K2CF2F2L2CCCCF2M2N 2CO2P2F2Q2F2F2F2F2CR 2CF2F2I2S2Q2CGF2F2IT 2H2F2F2F2CU2V2W2X2F2 Q2GF2Y2CCF2Z2Q2A3Q2F 2F2B3C2AIC3Q2ICY2CD3 E3F2CIAIF2C2CCCCJ2Q2 Q2F3D3CIF2CCCCCF2CZF 2N2CF2Y2G3F2F2Y2F2C3 P2F2Q2H3 CI3AJ3F2F2F2F2K3W2F2 F2C3CF2Q2CF2Y2F2F2F2 F2W2A2F2IF2F2CA2ZCF2 F2F2P2P2F2CCCJ3Q2F2F 2JCW2F2CZ2CCA2CCL3F2 CF2F2Q2A2CCJ2Z2F2CCF 2CW2F2Z2A2CCF2A2F2A2 A2C2F2F2F2CA2F2F2CD3 R2F2Q2F2F2A2F2J2D3A2 CJ2F2Y2M3F2F2C C3CF2F2CA2A2CF2F2F2C 3CF2Y2N3H3A2C3Q2W2CF 2Q2A2O3I2Q2CF2A2F2AF 2Z2A2 CCY2Y2P3F2Q3A2Q2D3CC R3F2CA2Z2CCCA2CF2CW2 F2F2S3T3CF2F2A2CF2K2 F2CCT3F2CCF2F2F2W2F2 J2F2U3F2Y2CY2F2F2F2C Y2F2F2F2Q2CF2Q2CA2B3 F2F2V3T3Y2W3Q2CA2A2C F2Q2CT2X3CF2F2CF3CY2 CF2F2F2CF2F2Y2F2Q2F2 F2A2Q2Y2ZY3F2CZF2I3C N2F3Z3F2F2Z2Z2CCCCF2 C2F2K2F2Z2A2F2CF2F2F 2F2F2A2F2Q2Y2Q2F2CCA 4K2Y3 Y2CF2F2Z2B4F2CA2Q2CC F2Y2F2F2Q2C4CF3CCCCC Q2Q2F2F2F2CCCY3Q2Q2C CF2CZ2F2CD4N2CF2G3F2 N2F2F2Q2N2F2N2F2YN2Z 2Q2F2W2N2F2F2B4Y2F2N 2 CCF2F2A2CE4F2Y2Z2CN2 F2F2Q2CX3F2N2F2B3F2F 2F2CF2CQ2A2CN2F2CCA2 F2F2CCY2Q2C4CCCF2F2C CCN2CCZ2CCA2F3F2Y2CC N2CN2CR2A2Q2Y2F2CF2N 2CF4A2C3N2CF2F2Q2 F2N2A2F2W2F2Q2F2F2Z2 N2CF2Z2Q2Q2F2I3R3F2N 2CG4Q2CZ2F2N2N2CY2Y2 CY2A2F2CF2YF2N2H4Z2F 2I4CF2Z2C N2F2CCY2N2CF2CF2F2A2 W2H4CF2F2G3F2F2CF2CN 2R2CCCN2CY2F2Y2CF2N2 Y2F2W2CF2Q2Y2CCCYN2Z 2N2F2 Y2F2CQ2O3CL3X3CCF2A2 CCA2B3CF2F2F2CQ2CCY2 F2F2J4Y2CCK4F2F2Y2CA 2CA2A2CCCCCY2F2CYCR3 Z2A2CA2F2F2Y2CQ2Q2Q2 B4F2F2Y2F2CF2A2CCF2Z 2Q2CF2A2A2F2F2F2F2F2 A2CA2F2CCCY2Y2F2F2F2 M3Y2A2Y2Q2N2F2F2CC3R 3CF2CCF2C2F3K2N2A2CF 2A2CF2N2CY2Z2Y2A2CQ2 R3CCF2Q2F2F2CW2CCKCQ 3F2R2 CN2F2CN2F2CN2C3Z2CF2 Q2F2A2N2CF2CKQ2CA2F2 Y2Q2F2CCA2N2F2T3Y2F2 A2F2Q2N2CPF2F2CF2F2F 2Y2F2CCQ2F2CF2N2CB4F 2F2N2CCCCR3F2Y2CCN2C F2KQ2CF2F2F2F2L4Q2A2 F2N2Y2CQ2N2CF2C2CF2C CQ2A2CY F2YCT3CCCCCF2F2CCM4A 2F2A2F3CCCCF2F2N2F2C F2N2CA2F2CN2G3CR2W2C CCCCA2N2F2CR2CN2CCF2 F2N2N2N2C2YCN2R2Y2Y2 CCN2N4F2R2Q2F2N2N2F2 Y2F2F2N2Y2N2 F2N2CF2F2Y2Y2R2CF2N2 CR2F2CF2F2R2CCQ2A2CF 2CQ2Q2N2F2O4I4CN2N2C N2F2F2F2A2A2N2N2A2R2 F2CF2F2A2F2Y2F2N2Y2Z 2YZ2F2F2R2F2CH4CN2F2 CR2N2F2F2Y2N2Q2CF2F2 F2A2F2F2F2F2Z2F2N2F2 J3N2N2Y2F2F2Q2R2N2R3 N2N2F2Q2Y2R3KF3F2Q2Y 2J4F2R2CN2A2A2F2A2CQ 2R2F2F2F2F2F2A2A2R2Q 2A2F2F2KF2F2F2F2CF2C F2F2F2F2C R2CN2B3Y2Q2

To my mother May	A
	-
	-
The Landgrave Hermann held a gathering	B
Of minstrels minnesingers troubadours	C
At Wartburg in his palace and the knight	D
Sir Tannhauser of France the greatest bard	E
Inspired with heavenly visions and endowed	F
With apprehension and rare utterance	C
Of noble music fared in thoughtful wise	C
Across the Horsel meadows Full of light	D
And large repose the peaceful valley lay	A
In the late splendor of the afternoon	G
And level sunbeams lit the serious face	C
Of the young knight who journeyed to the west	H
Towards the precipitous and rugged cliffs	C
Scarred grim and torn with savage rifts and chasms	C
That in the distance loomed as soft and fair	I
And purple as their shadows on the grass	C
The tinkling chimes ran out athwart the air	I
Proclaiming sunset ushering evening in	J
Although the sky yet glowed with yellow light	D
The ploughboy ere he led his cattle home	K
In the near meadow reverently knelt	L
And doffed his cap and duly crossed his breast	H
Whispering his Ave Mary as he heard	M
The pealing vesper bell But still the knight	D
Unmindful of the sacred hour announced	N
Disdainful or unconscious held his course	C
Would that I also like yon stupid wight	D
Could kneel and hail the Virgin and believe	O
He murmured bitterly beneath his breath	P
Were I a pagan riding to contend	Q
For the Olympic wreath O with what zeal	R
What fire of inspiration would I sing	B
The praises of the gods How may my lyre	S
Glorify these whose very life I doubt	T
The world is governed by one cruel God	U
Who brings a sword not peace A pallid Christ	V
Unnatural perfect and a virgin cold	W
They give us for a heaven of living gods	C
Beautiful loving whose mere names were song	X
A creed of suffering and despair walled in	J
On every side by brazen boundaries	C
That limit the soul's vision and her hope	Y
To a red hell or and unpeopled heaven	Z
Yea I am lost already even now	A2
Am doomed to flaming torture for my thoughts	C
O gods O gods where shall my soul find peace	C
He raised his wan face to the faded skies	C
Now shadowing into twilight no response	C
Came from their sunless heights no miracle	B2
As in the ancient days of answering gods	C
With a long shuddering sigh he glanced to earth	C2
Finding himself among the Horsel cliffs	C
Gray sullen gaunt they towered on either side	D2
Scant shrubs sucked meagre life between the rifts	C
Of their huge crags and made small darker spots	C
Upon their wrinkled sides the jaded horse	C
Stumbled upon loose rattling fallen stones	C
Amidst the gathering dusk and blindly fared	E2
Through the weird perilous pass As darkness waxed	F2
And an oppressive mystery enwrapped	F2
The roadstead and the rocks Sir Tannhauser	G2
Fancied he saw upon the mountain side	F2
The fluttering of white raiment With a sense	C
Of wild joy and horror he gave pause	C
For his sagacious horse that reeked of sweat	F2
Trembling in every limb confirmed his thought	F2
That nothing human scaled that haunted cliff	H2
The white thing seemed descending now a cloud	F2
It looked and now a rag of drifted mist	F2
Torn in the jagged gorge precipitous	C
And now an apparition clad in white	F2
Shapely and real then he lost it quite	F2
Gazing on nothing with blank foolish face	C
As with wide eyes he stood he was aware	I
Of a strange splendor at his very side	F2
A presence and a majesty so great	F2
That ere he saw he felt it was divine	I2
He turned and leaping from his horse fell prone	J2
In speechless adoration on the earth	C2
Before the matchless goddess who appeared	F2
With no less freshness of immortal youth	K2
Than when first risen from foam of Paphian seas	C
He heard delicious strains of melody	F2
Such as his highest muse had ne'er attained	F2
Float in the air while in the distance rang	L2
Harsh and discordant jarring with those tones	C
The gallop of his frightened horse's hoofs	C
Clattering in sudden freedom down the pass	C
A voice that made all music dissonance	C
Then thrilled through heart and flesh of that prone knight	F2
Triumphantly The gods need but appear	M2
And their usurped thrones are theirs again	N2
Then tenderly Sweet knight I pray thee rise	C
Worship me not for I desire thy love	O2
Look on me follow me for I am fain	P2
Of thy fair human face He rose and looked	F2
Stirred by that heavenly flattery to the soul	Q2
Her hair unbraided and unfilleted	F2
Rained in a glittering shower to the ground	F2
And cast forth lustre Round her zone was clasped	F2
The scintillant cestus stiff with flaming gold	F2
Thicker with restless gems than heaven with stars	C
She might have flung the enchanted wonder forth	R2
Her eyes her slightest gesture would suffice	C
To bind all men in blissful slavery	F2
She sprang upon the mountain's dangerous side	F2
With feet that left their print in flowers divine	I2
Flushed amaryllis and blue hyacinth	S2
Impurpled amaranth and asphodel	Q2
Dewy with nectar and exhaling scents	C
Richer than all the roses of mid June	G
The knight sped after her with wild eyes fixed	F2
Upon her brightness as she lightly leapt	F2
From crag to crag with flying auburn hair	I
Like a gold cloud that lured him ever on	T2
Higher and higher up the haunted cliff	H2
At last amidst a grove of pines she paused	F2
Until he reached her breathing hard with haste	F2
Delight and wonder Then upon his hand	F2
She placed her own and all his blood at once	C
Tingled and hotly rushed to brow and cheek	U2
At the supreme caress but the mere touch	V2
Infused fresh life and when she looked at him	W2
With gracious tenderness he felt himself	X2
Strong suddenly to bear the blinding light	F2
Of those great eyes Dear knight she murmured low	Q2
For love of me wilt thou accord this boon	G
To grace my weary home in banishment	F2
His hungry eyes gave answer ere he spoke	Y2
In tones abrupt that startled his own ears	C
With their strange harshness but with thanks profuse	C
She guided him still holding his cold hand	F2
In her warm dainty palm unto a cave	Z2
Whence a rare glory issued and a smell	Q2
Of spice and roses frankincense and balm	A3
They entering stood within a marble hall	Q2
With straight slim pillars at whose farther end	F2
The goddess led him to a spiral flight	F2
Of stairs descending always 'midst black gloom	B3
Into the very bowels of the earth	C2
Down these with fearful swiftness they made way	A
The knight's feet touching not the solid stair	I
But sliding down as in a vexing dream	C3
Blind feeling but that hand divine that still	Q2
Empowered him to walk on empty air	I
Then he was dazzled by a sudden blaze	C
In vast palace filled with reveling folk	Y2
Cunningly pictured on the ivory walls	C
Were rolling hills cool lakes and boscage green	D3
And all the summer landscape's various pomp	E3
The precious canopy aloft was carved	F2
In semblance of the pleached forest trees	C
Enameled with the liveliest green wherethrough	I
A light pierced more resplendent than the day	A
O'er the pale polished jasper of the floor	I
Of burnished metal fretted and embossed	F2
With all the marvelous story of her birth	C2
Painted in prodigal splendor of rich tincts	C
And carved by heavenly artists crystal seas	C
And long haired Nereids in their pearly shells	C
And all the wonder of her lucent limbs	C
Sphered in a vermeil mist Upon the throne	J2
She took her seat the knight beside her still	Q2
Singing on couches of fresh asphodel	Q2
And the dance ceased and the flushed revelers came	F3
In glittering phalanx to adore their queen	D3
Beautiful girls with shining delicate heads	C
Crested with living jewels fanned the air	I
With flickering wings from naked shoulders soft	F2
Then with preluding low a thousand harps	C
And citherns and strange nameless instruments	C
Sent through the fragrant air sweet symphonies	C
And the winged dancers waved in mazy rounds	C
With changing lustres like a summer sea	C
Fair boys with charming yellow hair crisp curled	F2
And frail effeminate beauty the knight saw	C
But of strong stalwart men like him were none	Z
He gazed thereon bewitched until the hand	F2
Of Venus erst withdrawn now fell again	N2
Upon his own and roused him from his trance	C
He looked on her and as he looked a cloud	F2
Auroral flaming as at sunrising	Y2
Arose from nothing floating over them	G3
In luminous folds like that vermilion mist	F2
Penciled upon the throne and as it waxed	F2
In density and brightness all the throng	Y2
Of festal dancers less and less distinct	F2
Grew like pale spirits in a vague dim dream	C3
And vanished altogether and these twain	P2
Shut from the world in that ambrosial cloud	F2
Now with a glory inconceivable	Q2
Vivid and conflagrant looked each on each	H3
	-
All hours came laden with their own delights	C
In that enchanted place wherein Time	I3
Knew no divisions harsh of night and day	A
But light was always and desire of sleep	J3
Was satisfied at once with slumber soft	F2
Desire of food with magical repast	F2
By unseen hands on golden tables spread	F2
But these the knight accepted like a god	F2
All less was lost in that excess of joy	K3
The crowning marvel of her love for him	W2
Assuring him of his divinity	F2
Meanwhile remembrance of the earth appeared	F2
Like the vague trouble of a transient dream	C3
The doubt the scruples the remorse for thoughts	C
Beyond his own control the constant thirst	F2
For something fairer than his life more real	Q2
Than airy revelations of his Muse	C
Here was his soul's desire satisfied	F2
All nobler passions died his lyre he flung	Y2
Recklessly forth with vows to dedicate	F2
His being to herself She knew and seized	F2
The moment of her mastery and conveyed	F2
The lyre beyond his sight and memory	F2
With blandishment divine she changed for him	W2
Each hour her mood a very woman now	A2
Fantastic voluble affectionate	F2
And jealous of the vague unbodied air	I
Exacting penitent and pacified	F2
All in a breath And often she appeared	F2
Majestic with celestial wrath with eyes	C
That shot forth fire and a heavy brow	A2
Portentous as the lowering front of heaven	Z
When the reverberant sullen thunder rolls	C
Among the echoing clouds Thus she denounced	F2
Her ancient fickle worshippers who left	F2
Her altars desecrate her fires unfed	F2
Her name forgotten But I reign I reign	P2
She would shrill forth triumphant yea I reign	P2
Men name me not but worship me unnamed	F2
Beauty and Love within their heart of hearts	C
Not with bent knees and empty breath of words	C
But with devoted sacrifice of lives	C
Then melting in a moment she would weep	J3
Ambrosial tears pathetic full of guile	Q2
Accusing her own base ingratitude	F2
In craving worship when she had his heart	F2
Her priceless knight her peerless paladin	J
Her Tannhauser then with an artful glance	C
Of lovely helplessness entreated him	W2
Not to desert her like the faithless world	F2
For these unbeautiful and barbarous gods	C
Or she would never cease her prayers to Jove	Z2
Until he took from her the heavy curse	C
Of immortality With closer vows	C
The knight then sealed his worship and forswore	A2
All other aims and deeds to serve her cause	C
Thus passed unnoted seven barren years	C
Of reckless passion and voluptuous sloth	L3
Undignified by any lofty thought	F2
In his degraded mind that sometime was	C
Endowed with noble capability	F2
From revelry to revelry he passed	F2
Craving more pungent pleasure momently	Q2
And new intoxications and each hour	A2
The siren goddess answered his desires	C
Once when she left him with a weary sense	C
Of utter lassitude he sat alone	J2
And raising listless eyes he saw himself	Z2
In a great burnished mirror wrought about	F2
With cunning imagery of twisted vines	C
He scarcely knew those sunken red rimmed eyes	C
For his who in the flush of manhood rode	F2
Among the cliffs and followed up the crags	C
The flying temptress and there fell on him	W2
A horror of her beauty a disgust	F2
For his degenerate and corrupted life	Z2
With irresistible intense desire	A2
To feel the breath of heaven on his face	C
Then as Fate willed who rules above the gods	C
He saw within the glass behind him glide	F2
The form of Venus Certain of her power	A2
She had laid by in fond security	F2
The enchanted cestus and Sir Tannhauser	A2
With surfeited regard beheld her now	A2
No fairer than the women of the earth	C2
Whom with serenity and health he left	F2
Duped by a lovely witch Before he moved	F2
She knew her destiny and when he turned	F2
He seemed to drop a mask disclosing thus	C
An alien face and eyes with vision true	A2
That for long time with glamour had been blind	F2
Hiding the hideous rage within her breast	F2
With girlish simpleness of folded hands	C
Auroral blushes and sweet shamefast mien	D3
She spoke Behold my love I have cast forth	R2
All magic blandishments and sorcery	F2
For I have dreamed a dream so terrible	Q2
That I awoke to find my pillow stained	F2
With tears as of real woe I thought my belt	F2
By Vulcan wrought with matchless skill and power	A2
Was the sole bond between us this being doffed	F2
I seemed to thee an old unlovely crone	J2
Wrinkled by every year that I have seen	D3
Thou turnedst from me with a brutal sneer	A2
So that I woke with weeping Then I rose	C
And drew the glittering girdle from my zone	J2
Jealous thereof yet full of fears and said	F2
'If it be this he loves then let him go	Y2
I have no solace as a mortal hath	M3
No hope of change or death to comfort me	F2
Through all eternity yet he is free	F2
Though I could hold him fast with heavy chains	C
Bound in perpetual imprisonment '	-
Tell me my vision was a baseless dream	C3
See I am kneeling and kiss thy hands	C
In pity look on me before thy word	F2
Condemns me to immortal misery	F2
As she looked down the infernal influence	C
Worked on his soul again for she was fair	A2
Beyond imagination and her brow	A2
Seemed luminous with high self sacrifice	C
He bent and kissed her head warm shining soft	F2
With its close curling gold and love revived	F2
But ere he spoke he heard the distant sound	F2
Of one sweet smitten lyre and a gleam	C3
Of violent anger flashed across the face	C
Upraised to his in feigned simplicity	F2
And singleness of purpose Then he sprang	Y2
Well nigh a god himself with sudden strength	N3
to vanquish and resist beyond her reach	H3
Crying My old Muse calls me and I hear	A2
Thy fateful vision is no baseless dream	C3
I will be gone from this accursed hall	Q2
Then she too rose dilating over him	W2
And sullen clouds veiled all her rosy limbs	C
Unto her girdle and her head appeared	F2
Refulgent and her voice rang wrathfully	Q2
Have I cajoled and flattered thee till now	A2
To lose thee thus How wilt thou make escape	O3
ONCE BEING MINE THOU ART FOREVER MINE	I2
Yea not my love but my poor slave and fool	Q2
But he with both hands pressed upon his eyes	C
Against that blinding lustre heeded not	F2
Her thundered words and cried in sharp despair	A2
Help me O Virgin Mary and thereat	F2
The very bases of the hall gave way	A
The roof was rived the goddess disappeared	F2
And Tannhauser stood free upon the cliff	Z2
Amidst the morning sunshine and fresh air	A2
	-
Around him were the tumbled blocks and crags	C
Huge ridges and sharp juts of flinty peaks	C
Black caves and masses of the grim bald rock	Y2
The ethereal unfathomable sky	Y2
Hung over him the valley lay beneath	P3
Dotted with yellow hayricks that exhaled	F2
Sweet healthy odors to the mountain top	Q3
He breathed intoxicate the infinite air	A2
And plucked the heather blossoms where they blew	Q2
Reckless with light and dew in crannies green	D3
And scarcely saw their darling bells for tears	C
No sounds of labor reached him from the farms	C
And hamlets trim nor from the furrowed glebe	R3
But a serene and sabbath stillness reigned	F2
Till broken by the faint melodious chimes	C
Of the small village church that called to prayer	A2
He hurried down the rugged scarped cliff	Z2
And swung himself from shelving granite slopes	C
To narrow foot holds near wide throated chasms	C
Tearing against the sharp stones his bleeding hands	C
With long hair flying from his dripping brow	A2
Uncovered head and white exalted face	C
No memory had he of his smooth ascent	F2
No thought of fear upon those dreadful hills	C
He only heard the bell inviting him	W2
To satisfy the craving of his heart	F2
For worship 'midst his fellow men He reached	F2
The beaten dusty road and passed thereon	S3
The pious peasants faring towards the church	T3
And scarce refrained from greeting them like friends	C
Dearly beloved after long absence met	F2
How more than fair the sunburnt wenches looked	F2
In their rough homespun gowns and coifs demure	A2
After the beauty of bare rosy limbs	C
And odorous loose hair He noted not	F2
Suspicious glances on his garb uncouth	K2
His air extravagant and face distraught	F2
With bursts of laughter from the red cheeked boys	C
And prudent crossings of the women's breasts	C
He passed the flowering close about the church	T3
And trod the well worn path with throbbing heart	F2
The little heather bell between his lips	C
And his eyes fastened on the good green grass	C
Thus entered he the sanctuary lit	F2
With frequent tapers and with sunbeams stained	F2
Through painted glass How pure and innocent	F2
The waiting congregation seemed to him	W2
Kneeling or seated with calm brows upraised	F2
With faltering strength he cowered down alone	J2
And held sincere communion with the Lord	F2
For one brief moment in a sudden gush	U3
Of blessed tears The minister of God	F2
Rose to invoke a blessing on his flock	Y2
And then began the service not in words	C
To raise the lowly and to heal the sick	Y2
But an alien tongue with phrases formed	F2
And meaningless observances The knight	F2
Unmoved yet thirsting for the simple word	F2
That might have moved him held his bitter thoughts	C
But when in his own speech a new priest spake	Y2
Looked up with hope revived and heard the text	F2
Go preach the Gospel unto all the world	F2
He that believes and is baptized is saved	F2
He that believeth not is damned in hell	Q2
He sat with neck thrust forth and staring eyes	C
The crowded congregation disappeared	F2
He felt alone in some black sea of hell	Q2
While a great light smote one exalted face	C
Vivid already with prophetic fire	A2
Whose fatal mouth now thundered forth his doom	B3
He longed in that void circle to cry out	F2
With one clear shriek but sense and voice seemed bound	F2
And his parched tongue clave useless to his mouth	V3
As the last words resounded through the church	T3
And once again the pastor blessed his flock	Y2
Who serious and subdued passed slowly down	W3
The arrow aisle none noted near the wall	Q2
A fallen man with face upon his knees	C
A heap of huddled garments and loose hair	A2
Unconscious 'mid the rustling murmurous stir	A2
'Midst light and rural smell of grass and flowers	C
Let in athwart the doorway One lone priest	F2
Darkening the altar lights moved noiselessly	Q2
Now with the yellow glow upon his face	C
Now a black shadow gliding farther on	T2
Amidst the smooth slim pillars of hewn ash	X3
But from the vacant aisles he heard at once	C
A hollow sigh heaved from a depth profound	F2
Upholding his last light above his head	F2
And peering eagerly amidst the stalls	C
He cried Be blest who cometh in God's name	F3
Then the gaunt form of Tannhauser arose	C
Father I am a sinner and I seek	Y2
Forgiveness and help by whatso means	C
I can regain the joy of peace with God	F2
The Lord hath mercy on the penitent	F2
'Although thy sins be scarlet ' He hath said	F2
'Will I not make them white as wool ' Confess	C
And I will shrive you Thus the good priest moved	F2
Towards the remorseful knight and pressed his hand	F2
But shrinking down he drew his fingers back	Y2
From the kind palm and kissed the friar's feet	F2
Thy pure hand is anointed and can heal	Q2
The cool calm pressure brings back sanity	F2
And what serene past joys yet touch me not	F2
My contact is pollution hear O hear	A2
While I disburden my charged soul He lay	Q2
Casting about for words and strength to speak	Y2
O father is there help for such a one	Z
In tones of deep abasement he began	Y3
Who hath rebelled against the laws of God	F2
With pride no less presumptuous than his	C
Who lost thereby his rank in heaven My son	Z
There is atonement for all sins or slight	F2
Or difficult proportioned to the crime	I3
Though this may be the staining of thy hands	C
With blood of kinsmen or of fellow men	N2
My hands are white my crime hath found no name	F3
This side of hell yet though my heart strings snap	Z3
To live it over let me make the attempt	F2
I was a knight and bard with such a gift	F2
Of revelation that no hour of life	Z2
Lacked beauty and adornment in myself	Z2
The seat and centre of all happiness	C
What inspiration could my lofty Muse	C
Draw from those common and familiar themes	C
Painted upon the windows and the walls	C
Of every church the mother and her child	F2
The miracle and mystery of the birth	C2
The death the resurrection Fool and blind	F2
That saw not symbols of eternal truth	K2
In that grand tragedy and victory	F2
Significant and infinite as life	Z2
What tortures did my skeptic soul endure	A2
At war against herself and all mankind	F2
The restless nights of feverish sleeplessness	C
With balancing of reasons nicely weighed	F2
The dawn that brought no hope nor energy	F2
The blasphemous arraignment of the Lord	F2
Taxing His glorious divinity	F2
With all the grief and folly of the world	F2
Then came relapses into abject fear	A2
And hollow prayer and praise from craven heart	F2
Before a sculptured Venus I would kneel	Q2
Crown her with flowers worship her and cry	Y2
'O large and noble type of our ideal	Q2
At least my heart and prayer return to thee	F2
Amidst a faithless world of proselytes	C
Madonna Mary with her virgin lips	C
And eyes that look perpetual reproach	A4
Insults and is a blasphemy on youth	K2
Is she to claim the worship of a man	Y3
Hot with the first rich flush of ripened life '	-
Realities like phantoms glided by	Y2
Unnoted 'midst the torment and delights	C
Of my conflicting spirit and I doffed	F2
the modest Christian weeds of charity	F2
And fit humility and steeled myself	Z2
In pagan panoply of stoicism	B4
And self sufficing pride Yet constantly	F2
I gained men's charmed attention and applause	C
With the wild strains I smote from out my lyre	A2
To me the native language of my soul	Q2
To them attractive and miraculous	C
As all things whose solution and whose source	C
Remain a mystery Then came suddenly	F2
The summons to attend the gathering	Y2
Of minstrels at the Landgrave Hermann's court	F2
Resolved to publish there my pagan creed	F2
In harmonies so high and beautiful	Q2
That all the world would share my zeal and faith	C4
I journeyed towards the haunted Horsel cliffs	C
O God how may I tell you how SHE came	F3
The temptress of a hundred centuries	C
Yet fresh as April She bewitched my sense	C
Poisoned my judgment with sweet flatteries	C
And for I may not guess how many years	C
Held me a captive in degrading bonds	C
There is no sin of lust so lewd and foul	Q2
Which I learned not in that alluring hell	Q2
Until this morn I snapped the ignoble tie	F2
By calling on the Mother of our Lord	F2
O for the power to stand again erect	F2
And look men in the eyes What penitence	C
What scourging of the flesh what rigid fasts	C
What terrible privations may suffice	C
To cleanse me in the sight of God and man	Y3
Ill omened silence followed his appeal	Q2
Patient and motionless he lay awhile	Q2
Then sprang unto his feet with sudden force	C
Confronting in his breathless vehemence	C
With palpitating heart the timid priest	F2
Answer me as you hope for a response	C
One day at the great judgment seat yourself	Z2
I cannot answer said the timid priest	F2
I have not understood Just God is this	C
The curse Thou layest upon me I outstrip	D4
The sympathy and brotherhood of men	N2
So far removed is my experience	C
From their clean innocence Inspire me	F2
Prompt me to words that bring me near to them	G3
Father in gentler accents he resumed	F2
Thank Heaven at your every orison	N2
That sin like mine you cannot apprehend	F2
More than the truth perchance I have confessed	F2
But I have sinned and darkly this is true	Q2
And I have suffered and am suffering now	N2
Is there no help in your great Christian creed	F2
Of liberal charity for such a one	N2
My son the priest replied your speech distraught	F2
Hath quite bewildered me I fain would hope	Y
That Christ's large charity can reach your sin	N2
But I know naught I cannot but believe	Z2
That the enchantress who first tempted you	Q2
Must be the Evil one your early doubt	F2
Was the possession of your soul by him	W2
Travel across the mountain to the town	N2
The first cathedral town upon the road	F2
That leads to Rome a sage and reverend priest	F2
The Bishop Adrian bides there Say you have come	B4
From his leal servant Friar Lodovick	Y2
He hath vast lore and great authority	F2
And may absolve you freely of your sin	N2
	-
Over the rolling hills through summer fields	C
By noisy villages and lonely lanes	C
Through glowing days when all the landscape stretched	F2
Shimmering in the heat a pilgrim fared	F2
Towards the cathedral town Sir Tannhauser	A2
Had donned the mournful sackcloth girt his loins	C
With a coarse rope that ate into his flesh	E4
Muffled a cowl about his shaven head	F2
Hung a great leaden cross around his neck	Y2
And bearing in his hands a knotty staff	Z2
With swollen sandaled feet he held his course	C
He snatched scant rest at twilight or at dawn	N2
When his forced travel was least difficult	F2
But most he journeyed when the sky o'ercast	F2
Uprolled its threatening clouds of dusky blue	Q2
And angry thunder grumbled through the hills	C
And earth grew dark at noonday till the flash	X3
Of the thin lightning through the wide sky leapt	F2
And tumbling showers scoured along the plain	N2
Then folk who saw the pilgrim penitent	F2
Drenched weird and hastening as as to some strange doom	B3
Swore that the wandering Jew had crossed their land	F2
And the Lord Christ had sent the deadly bolt	F2
Harmless upon his cursed immortal head	F2
At length the hill side city's spires and roofs	C
With all its western windows smitten red	F2
By a rich sunset and with massive towers	C
Of its cathedral overtopping all	Q2
greeted his sight Some weary paces more	A2
And as the twilight deepened in the streets	C
He stood within the minster How serene	N2
In sculptured calm of centuries it seemed	F2
How cool and spacious all the dim lit aisles	C
Still hazy with fumes of frankincense	C
The vesper had been said yet here and there	A2
A wrinkled beldam or mourner veiled	F2
Or burly burgher on the cold floor knelt	F2
And still the organist with wandering hands	C
Drew from the keys mysterious melodies	C
And filled the church with flying waifs of song	Y2
That with ethereal beauty moved the soul	Q2
To a more tender prayer and gentler faith	C4
Than choral anthems and the solemn mass	C
A thousand memories sweet to bitterness	C
Rushed on the knight and filled his eyes with tears	C
Youth's blamelessness and faith forever lost	F2
The love of his neglected lyre his art	F2
Revived by these aerial harmonies	C
He was unworthy now to touch the strings	C
Too base to stir men's soul to ecstasy	C
And high resolves as in the days agone	N2
And yet with all his spirit's earnestness	C
He yearned to feel the lyre between his hands	C
To utter all the trouble of his life	Z2
Unto the Muse who understands and helps	C
Outworn with travel soothed to drowsiness	C
By dying music and sweet scented air	A2
His limbs relaxed and sleep possessed his frame	F3
Auroral light the eastern oriels touched	F2
When with delicious sense of rest he woke	Y2
Amidst the cast and silent empty aisles	C
God's peace hath fallen upon me in this place	C
This is my Bethel here I feel again	N2
A holy calm if not of innocence	C
Yet purest after that the calm serene	N2
Of expiation and forgiveness	C
He spake and passed with staff and wallet forth	R2
Through the tall portal to the open square	A2
And turning paused to look upon the pile	Q2
The northern front against the crystal sky	Y2
Loomed dark and heavy full of sombre shade	F2
With each projecting buttress carven cross	C
Gable and mullion tipped with laughing light	F2
By the slant sunbeams of the risen morn	N2
The noisy swallows wheeled above their nests	C
Builded in hidden nooks about the porch	F4
No human life was stirring in the square	A2
Save now and then a rumbling market team	C3
Fresh from the fields and farms without the town	N2
He knelt upon the broad cathedral steps	C
And kissed the moistened stone while overhead	F2
The circling swallows sang and all around	F2
The mighty city lay asleep and still	Q2
	-
To stranger's ears must yet again be made	F2
The terrible confession yet again	N2
A deathly chill with something worse than fear	A2
Seized the knight's heart who knew his every word	F2
Widened the gulf between his kind and him	W2
The Bishop sat with pomp of mitred head	F2
In pride of proven virtue hearkening to all	Q2
With cold official apathy nor made	F2
A sign of pity nor encouragement	F2
The friar understood the pilgrim's grief	Z2
The language of his eyes his speech alone	N2
Was alien to these kind untutored ears	C
But this was truly to be misconstrued	F2
To tear each palpitating word alive	Z2
From out the depths of his remorseful soul	Q2
And have it weighed with the precision cool	Q2
And the nice logic of a reasoning mind	F2
This spiritual Father judged his crime	I3
As the mad mischief of a reckless boy	R3
That call for strict immediate punishment	F2
But Tannhauser who felt himself a man	N2
Though base yet fallen through passions and rare gifts	C
Of an exuberant nature rankly rich	G4
And knew his weary head was growing gray	Q2
With a life's terrible experience	C
Found his old sense of proper worth revive	Z2
But modestly he ended Yet I felt	F2
O holy Father in the church this morn	N2
A strange security a peace serene	N2
As though e'en yet the Lord regarded me	C
With merciful compassion yea as though	Y2
Even so vile a worm as I might work	Y2
Mine own salvation through repentant prayers	C
Presumptuous man it is no easy task	Y2
To expiate such sin a space of prayer	A2
That deprecates the anger of the Lord	F2
A pilgrimage through pleasant summer lands	C
May not atone for years of impious lust	F2
Thy heart hath lied to thee in offering hope	Y
Is there no hope on earth the pilgrim sighed	F2
None through thy penance said the saintly man	N2
Yet there may be through mediation help	H4
There is a man who by a blameless life	Z2
Hath won the right to intercede with God	F2
No sins of his own flesh hath he to purge	I4
The Cardinal Filippo he abides	C
Within the Holy City Seek him out	F2
This is my only counsel through thyself	Z2
Can be no help and no forgiveness	C
	-
How different from the buoyant joy of morn	N2
Was this discouraged sense of lassitude	F2
The Bishop's words were ringing in his ears	C
Measured and pitiless and blent with these	C
The memory of the goddess' last wild cry	Y2
ONCE BEING MINE THOU ART FOREVER MINE	N2
Was it the truth despite his penitence	C
And the dedication of his thought to God	F2
That still some portion of himself was hers	C
Some lust survived some criminal regret	F2
For her corrupted love He searched his heart	F2
All was remorse religious and sincere	A2
And yet her dreadful curse still haunted him	W2
For all men shunned him and denied him help	H4
Knowing at once in looking on his face	C
Ploughed with deep lines and prematurely old	F2
That he had struggled with some deadly fiend	F2
And that he was no longer kin to them	G3
Just past the outskirts of the town he stopped	F2
To strengthen will and courage to proceed	F2
The storm had broken o'er the sultry streets	C
But now the lessening clouds were flying east	F2
And though the gentle shower still wet his face	C
The west was cloudless while the sun went down	N2
And the bright seven colored arch stood forth	R2
Against the opposite dull gray There was	C
A beauty in the mingled storm and peace	C
Beyond clear sunshine as the vast green fields	C
Basked in soft light though glistening yet with rain	N2
The roar of all the town was now a buzz	C
Less than the insects' drowsy murmuring	Y2
That whirred their gauzy wings around his head	F2
The breeze that follows on the sunsetting	Y2
Was blowing whiffs of bruised and dripping grass	C
Into the heated city But he stood	F2
Disconsolate with thoughts of fate and sin	N2
Still wrestling with his soul to win it back	Y2
From her who claimed it to eternity	F2
Then on the delicate air there came to him	W2
The intonation of the minster bells	C
Chiming the vespers musical and faint	F2
He knew not what of dear and beautiful	Q2
There was in those familiar peals that spake	Y2
Of his first boyhood and his innocence	C
Leading him back with gracious influence	C
To pleasant thoughts and tender memories	C
And last recalling the fair hour of hope	Y
He passed that morning in the church Again	N2
The glad assurance of God's boundless love	Z2
Filled all his being and he rose serene	N2
And journeyed forward with a calm content	F2
	-
Southward he wended and the landscape took	Y2
A warmer tone the sky a richer light	F2
The gardens of the graceful festooned with hops	C
With their slight tendrils binding pole to pole	Q2
Gave place to orchards and the trellised grape	O3
The hedges were enwreathed with trailing vines	C
With clustering shapely bunches 'midst the growth	L3
Of tangled greenery The elm and ash	X3
Less frequent grew than cactus cypresses	C
And golden fruited or large blossomed trees	C
The far hills took the hue of the dove's breast	F2
Veiled in gray mist of olive groves No more	A2
He passed dark moated strongholds of grim knights	C
But terraces with marble paven steps	C
With fountains leaping in the sunny air	A2
And hanging gardens full of sumptuous bloom	B3
Then cloisters guarded by their dead gray walls	C
Where now and then a golden globe of fruit	F2
Or full flushed flower peered out upon the road	F2
Nodding against the stone and where he heard	F2
Sometimes the voices of the chanting monks	C
Sometimes the laugh of children at their play	Q2
Amidst the quaint old gardens But these sights	C
Were in the suburbs of the wealthy towns	C
For many a day through wildernesses rank	Y2
Or marshy feverous meadow lands he fared	F2
The fierce sun smiting his close muffled head	F2
Or 'midst the Alpine gorges faced the storm	J4
That drave adown the gullies melted snow	Y2
And clattering boulders from the mountain tops	C
At times between the mountains and the sea	C
Fair prospects opened with the boundless stretch	K4
Of restless tideless water by his side	F2
And their long wash upon the yellow sand	F2
Beneath this generous sky the country folk	Y2
Could lead a freer life the fat green fields	C
Offered rich pasturage athwart the air	A2
Rang tinkling cow bells and the shepherds' pipes	C
The knight met many a strolling troubadour	A2
Bearing his cithern flute or dulcimer	A2
And oft beneath some castle's balcony	C
At night he heard their mellow voices rise	C
Blent with stringed instruments or tambourines	C
Chanting some lay as natural as a bird's	C
Then Nature stole with healthy influence	C
Into his thoughts his love of beauty woke	Y2
His Muse inspired dreams as in the past	F2
But after this came crueler remorse	C
And he would tighten round his loins the rope	Y
And lie for hours beside some wayside cross	C
And feel himself unworthy to enjoy	R3
The splendid gift and privilege of life	Z2
Then forth he hurried spurred by his desire	A2
To reach the City of the Seven Hills	C
And gain his absolution Some leagues more	A2
Would bring him to the vast Campagna land	F2
When by a roadside well he paused to rest	F2
'T was noon and reapers in the field hard by	Y2
Lay neath the trees upon the sun scorched grass	C
But from their midst one came towards the well	Q2
Not trudging like a man forespent with toil	Q2
But frisking like a child at holiday	Q2
With light steps The pilgrim watched him come	B4
And found him scarcely older than a child	F2
A large mouthed earthen pitcher in his hand	F2
And a guitar upon his shoulder slung	Y2
A wide straw hat threw all his face in shade	F2
But doffing this to catch whatever breeze	C
Might stir among the branches he disclosed	F2
A charming head of rippled auburn hair	A2
A frank fair face as lovely as a girls	C
With great soft eyes as mild and grave as kine's	C
Above his head he slipped the instrument	F2
And laid it with his hat upon the turf	Z2
Lowered his pitcher down the well head cool	Q2
And drew it dripping upward ere he saw	C
The watchful pilgrim craving as he thought	F2
The precious draught Your pardon holy sir	A2
Drink first he cried before I take the jar	A2
Unto my father in the reaping field	F2
Touched by the cordial kindness of the lad	F2
The pilgrim answered Thanks my thirst is quenched	F2
From mine own palm The stranger deftly poised	F2
The brimming pitcher on his head and turned	F2
Back to the reaping folk while Tannhauser	A2
Looked after him across the sunny fields	C
Clasping each hand about his waist to bear	A2
The balanced pitcher then down glancing found	F2
The lad's guitar near by and fell at once	C
To striking its tuned string with wandering hands	C
And pensive eyes filled full of tender dreams	C
Yea holy sir it is a worthless thing	Y2
And yet I love it for I make it speak	Y2
The boy again stood by him and dispelled	F2
His train of fantasies half sweet half sad	F2
That was not in my thought the knight replied	F2
Its worth is more than rubies whoso hath	M3
The art to make this speak is raised thereby	Y2
Above all loneliness or grief or fear	A2
More to himself than to the lad he spake	Y2
Who understanding not stood doubtfully	Q2
At a loss for answer but the knight went on	N2
How came it in your hands and who hath tuned	F2
your voice to follow it I am unskilled	F2
Good father but my mother smote its strings	C
To music rare Diverted from one theme	C3
Pleased with the winsome candor of the boy	R3
The knight encouraged him to confidence	C
Then his own gift of minstrelsy revealed	F2
And told bright tales of his first wanderings	C
When in lords' castles and kings' palaces	C
Men still made place for him for in his land	F2
The gift was rare and valued at its worth	C2
And brought great victory and sounding fame	F3
Thus in retracing all his pleasant youth	K2
His suffering passed as though it had not been	N2
Wide eyed and open mouthed the boy gave ear	A2
His fair face flushing with the sudden thoughts	C
That went and came then as the pilgrim ceased	F2
Drew breath and spake And where now is your lyre	A2
The knight with both hands hid his changed white face	C
Crying aloud Lost lost forever lost	F2
Then gathering strength he bared his face again	N2
Unto the frightened wondering boy and rose	C
With hasty fear Ah child you bring me back	Y2
Unwitting to remembrance of my grief	Z2
For which I donned eternal garb of woe	Y2
And yet I owe you thanks for one sweet hour	A2
Of healthy human intercourse and peace	C
'T is not for me to tarry by the way	Q2
Farewell The impetuous remorseful boy	R3
Seeing sharp pain on that kind countenance	C
Fell at his feet and cried Forgive my words	C
Witless but innocent and leave me not	F2
Without a blessing Moved unutterably	Q2
The pilgrim kissed with trembling lips his head	F2
And muttered At this moment would to God	F2
That I were worthy Then waved wasted hands	C
Over the youth in act of blessing him	W2
But faltered Cleanse me through his innocence	C
O heavenly Father and with quickening steps	C
Hastened away upon the road to Rome	K
The noon was past the reapers drew broad swaths	C
With scythes sun smitten 'midst the ripened crop	Q3
Thin shadows of the afternoon slept soft	F2
On the green meadows as the knight passed forth	R2
	-
He trudged amidst the sea of poisonous flowers	C
On the Campagna's undulating plain	N2
With Rome the many steepled many towered	F2
Before him regnant on her throne of hills	C
A thick blue cloud of haze o'erhung the town	N2
But the fast sinking sun struck fiery light	F2
From shining crosses roofs and flashing domes	C
Across his path an arching bridge of stone	N2
Was raised above a shrunken yellow stream	C3
Hurrying with the light on every wave	Z2
Towards the great town and outward to the sea	C
Upon the bridge's crest he paused and leaned	F2
Against the barrier throwing back his cowl	Q2
And gazed upon the dull unlovely flood	F2
That was the Tiber Quaggy banks lay bare	A2
Muddy and miry glittering in the sun	N2
And myriad insects hovered o'er the reeds	C
Whose lithe moist tips by listless airs were stirred	F2
When the low sun had dropped behind the hills	C
He found himself within the streets of Rome	K
Walking as in a sleep where naught seemed real	Q2
The chattering hubbub of the market place	C
Was over now but voices smote his ear	A2
Of garrulous citizens who jostled past	F2
Loud cries gay laughter snatches of sweet song	Y2
The tinkling fountains set in gardens cool	Q2
About the pillared palaces and blent	F2
With trickling of the conduits in the squares	C
The noisy teams within the narrow streets	C
All these the stranger heard and did not hear	A2
While ringing bells pealed out above the town	N2
And calm gray twilight skies stretched over it	F2
Wide open stood the doors of every church	T3
And through the porches pressed a streaming throng	Y2
Vague wonderment perplexed him at the sight	F2
Of broken columns raised to Jupiter	A2
Beside the cross immense cathedrals reared	F2
Upon a dead faith's ruins all the whirl	Q2
And eager bustle of the living town	N2
Filling the storied streets whose very stones	C
Were solemn monuments and spake of death	P
Although he wrestled with himself the thought	F2
Of that poor past religion smote his heart	F2
With a huge pity and deep sympathy	C
Beyond the fervor which the Church inspired	F2
Where was the noble race who ruled the world	F2
Moulded of purest elements and stuffed	F2
With sternest virtues every man a king	Y2
Wearing the purple native in his heart	F2
These lounging beggars stealthy monks and priests	C
And womanish patricians filled their place	C
Thus Tannhauser still half an infidel	Q2
Pagan through mind and Christian through the heart	F2
Fared thoughtfully with wandering aimless steps	C
Till in the dying glimmer of the day	F2
He raised his eyes and found himself alone	N2
Amid the ruined arches broken shafts	C
And huge arena of the Coliseum	B4
He did not see it as it was dim lit	F2
By something less than day and more than night	F2
With wan reflections of the rising moon	N2
Rather divined than seen on ivied walls	C
And crumbled battlements and topless columns	C
But by the light of all the ancient days	C
Ringed with keen eager faces living eyes	C
Fixed on the circus with a savage joy	R3
Where brandished swords flashed white and human blood	F2
Streamed o'er the thirsty dust and Death was king	Y2
He started shuddering and drew breath to see	C
The foul pit choked with weeds and tumbled stones	C
The cross raised midmost and the peaceful moon	N2
Shining o'er all and fell upon his knees	C
Restored to faith in one wise loving God	F2
Day followed day and still he bode in Rome	K
Waiting his audience with the Cardinal	Q2
And from the gates on pretext frivolous	C
Passed daily forth his Eminency slept	F2
Again his Eminency was fatigued	F2
By tedious sessions of the Papal court	F2
And thus the patient pilgrim was referred	F2
Unto a later hour At last the page	L4
Bore him a missive with Filippo's seal	Q2
That in his name commended Tannhauser	A2
Unto the Pope The worn discouraged knight	F2
Read the brief scroll then sadly forth again	N2
Along the bosky alleys of the park	Y2
Passed to the glare and noise of summer streets	C
Good God he muttered Thou hast ears for all	Q2
And sendest help and comfort yet these men	N2
Thy saintly ministers must deck themselves	C
With arrogance and from their large delight	F2
In all the beauty of the beauteous earth	C2
And peace of indolent untempted souls	C
Deny the hungry outcast a bare word	F2
Yet even as he nourished bitter thoughts	C
He felt a depth of clear serenity	C
Unruffled in his heart beneath it all	Q2
No outward object now had farther power	A2
To wound him there for the brooding o'er those deeps	C
Of vast contrition was boundless hope	Y
	-
Yet not to leave a human chance untried	F2
He sought the absolution of the Pope	Y
In a great hall with airy galleries	C
Thronged with high dignitaries of the Church	T3
He took his seat amidst the humblest friars	C
Through open windows came sweet garden smells	C
Bright morning light and twittered song of birds	C
Around the hall flashed gold and sunlit gems	C
And splendid wealth of color white stoled priests	C
And scarlet cardinals and bishops clad	F2
In violet vestments while beneath the shade	F2
Of the high gallery huddled dusky shapes	C
With faded travel tattered sombre smocks	C
And shaven heads and girdles of coarse hemp	M4
Some pilgrims penitent like Tannhauser	A2
Some devotees to kiss the sacred feet	F2
The brassy blare of trumpets smote the air	A2
Shrill pipes and horns with swelling clamor came	F3
And through the doorway's wide stretched tapestries	C
Passed the Pope's trumpeters and mace bearers	C
His vergers bearing slender silver wands	C
Then mitred bishops red clad cardinals	C
The stalwart Papal Guard with halberds raised	F2
And then with white head crowned with gold ingemmed	F2
The vicar of the lowly Galilean	N2
Holding his pastoral rod of smooth hewn wood	F2
With censer swung before and peacock fans	C
Waved constantly by pages either side	F2
Attended thus they bore him to his throne	N2
And priests and laymen fell upon their knees	C
Then after pause of brief and silent prayer	A2
The pilgrims singly through the hall defiled	F2
To kiss the borders of the papal skirts	C
Smiting their foreheads on the paven stone	N2
Some silent abject some accusing them	G3
Of venial sins in accents of remorse	C
Craving his grace and passing pardoned forth	R2
Sir Tannhauser came last no need for him	W2
To cry Peccavi and crook suppliant knees	C
His gray head rather crushed than bowed his face	C
Livid and wasted his deep thoughtful eyes	C
His tall gaunt form in those unseemly weeds	C
Spake more than eloquence His hollow voice	C
Brake silence saying I am Tannhauser	A2
For seven years I lived apart from men	N2
Within the Venusberg A horror seized	F2
The assembled folk some turbulently rose	C
Some clamored From the presence cast him forth	R2
But the knight never ceased his steady gaze	C
Upon the Pope At last I have not spoken	N2
To be condemned he said by such as these	C
Thou spiritual Father answer me	C
Look thou upon me with the eyes of Christ	F2
Can I through expiation gain my shrift	F2
And work mine own redemption Insolent man	N2
Thundered the outraged Pope is this the tone	N2
Wherewith thou dost parade thy loathsome sin	N2
Down on thy knees and wallow on the earth	C2
Nay rather go there is no ray of hope	Y
No gleam through cycles of eternity	C
For the redemption of a soul like thine	N2
Yea sooner shall my pastoral rod branch forth	R2
In leaf and blossom and green shoots of spring	Y2
Than Christ will pardon thee And as he spoke	Y2
He struck the rod upon the floor with force	C
That gave it entrance 'twixt two loosened tiles	C
So that it stood fast rooted and alone	N2
The knight saw naught he only heard his judge	N4
Ring forth his curses and the court cry out	F2
Anathema and loud and blent therewith	R2
Derisive laughter in the very hall	Q2
And a wild voice that thrilled through flesh and heart	F2
ONCE BEING MINE THOU ART FOREVER MINE	N2
Half mad he clasped both hands upon his brow	N2
Amidst the storm of voices till they died	F2
And all was silence save the reckless song	Y2
Of a young bird upon a twig without	F2
Then a defiant ghastly face he raised	F2
And shrieked 'T is false I am no longer thine	N2
And through the windows open to the park	Y2
Rushed forth beyond the sight and sound of men	N2
	-
By church nor palace paused he till he passed	F2
All squares and streets and crossed the bridge of stone	N2
And stood alone amidst the broad expanse	C
Of the Campagna twinkling in the heat	F2
He knelt upon a knoll of turf and snapped	F2
The cord that held the cross about his neck	Y2
And far from him the leaden burden flung	Y2
O God I thank Thee that my faith in Thee	R2
Subsists at last through all discouragements	C
Between us must no type nor symbol stand	F2
No mediator were he more divine	N2
Than the incarnate Christ All forms all priests	C
I part aside and hold communion free	R2
Beneath the empty sky of noon with naught	F2
Between my nothingness and thy high heavens	C
Spirit with spirit O have mercy God	F2
Cleanse me from lust and bitterness and pride	F2
Have mercy in accordance with my faith	R2
Long time he lay upon the scorching grass	C
With his face buried in the tangled weeds	C
Ah who can tell the struggles of his soul	Q2
Against its demons in that sacred hour	A2
The solitude the anguish the remorse	C
When shadows long and thin lay on the ground	F2
Shivering with fever helpless he arose	C
But with a face divine ineffable	Q2
Such as we dream the face of Israel	Q2
When the Lord's wrestling angel at gray dawn	N2
Blessed him and disappeared	F2
Upon the marsh	O4
All night he wandered striving to emerge	I4
From the wild pathless plain now limitless	C
And colorless beneath the risen moon	N2
Outstretching like a sea with landmarks none	N2
Save broken aqueducts and parapets	C
And ruined columns glinting 'neath the moon	N2
His dress was dank and clinging with the dew	F2
A thousand insects fluttered o'er his head	F2
With buzz and drone unseen cicadas chirped	F2
Among the long rank grass and far and near	A2
The fire flies flickered through the summer air	A2
Vague thoughts and gleams prophetic filled his brain	N2
Ah fool he mused to look for help from men	N2
Had they the will to aid they lack the power	A2
In mine own flesh and soul the sin had birth	R2
Through mine own anguish it must be atoned	F2
Our saviours are not saints and ministers	C
But tear strung women children soft of heart	F2
Or fellow sufferers who by some chance word	F2
Some glance of comfort save us from despair	A2
These I have found thank heaven to strengthen trust	F2
In mine own kind when all the world grew dark	Y2
Make me not proud in spirit O my God	F2
Yea in thy sight I am one mass of sin	N2
One black and foul corruption yet I know	Y2
My frailty is exceeded by thy love	Z2
Neither is this the slender straw of hope	Y
Whereto I drowning cling but firm belief	Z2
That fills my inmost soul with vast content	F2
As surely as the hollow faiths of old	F2
Shriveled to dust before one ray of Truth	R2
So will these modern temples pass away	F2
Piled upon rotten doctrines baseless forms	C
And man will look in his own breast for help	H4
Yea search for comfort his own inward reins	C
Revere himself and find the God within	N2
Patience and patience Through the sleepless night	F2
He held such thoughts at times before his eyes	C
Flashed glimpses of the Church that was to be	R2
Sublimely simple in the light serene	N2
Of future ages then the vision changed	F2
To the Pope's hall thronged with high priests who hurled	F2
Their curses on him Staggering he awoke	Y2
Unto the truth and found himself alone	N2
Beneath the awful stars When dawn's first chill	Q2
Crept though the shivering grass and heavy leaves	C
Giddy and overcome he fell and slept	F2
Upon the dripping weeds nor dreamed nor stirred	F2
Until the wide plain basked in noon's broad light	F2
He dragged his weary frame some paces more	A2
Unto a solitary herdsman's hut	F2
Which in the vagueness of the moonlit night	F2
Was touched with lines of beauty till it grew	F2
Fair as the ruined works of ancient art	F2
Now squat and hideous with its wattled roof	Z2
Decaying timbers and loose door wide oped	F2
Half fallen from the hinge A drowsy man	N2
Bearded and burnt in shepherd habit lay	F2
Stretched on the floor slow munching half asleep	J3
His frugal fare for thus at blaze of noon	N2
The shepherds sought a shelter from the sun	N2
Leaving their vigilant dogs beside their flock	Y2
The knight craved drink and bread and with respect	F2
For pilgrim weeds the Roman herdsman stirred	F2
His lazy length and shared with him his meal	Q2
Refreshed and calm Sir Tannhauser passed forth	R2
Yearning with morbid fancy once again	N2
To see the kind face of the minstrel boy	R3
He met beside the well At set of sun	N2
He reached the place the reaping folk were gone	N2
The day's toil over yet he took his seat	F2
A milking girl with laden buckets full	Q2
Came slowly from the pasture paused and drank	Y2
From a near cottage ran a ragged boy	R3
And filled his wooden pail and to his home	K
Returned across the fields A herdsman came	F3
And drank and gave his dog to drink and passed	F2
Greeting the holy man who sat there still	Q2
Awaiting But his feeble pulse beat high	Y2
When he descried at last a youthful form	J4
Crossing the field a pitcher on his head	F2
Advancing towards the well Yea this was he	R2
The same grave eyes and open girlish face	C
But he saw not amidst the landscape brown	N2
The knight's brown figure who to win his ear	A2
Asked the lad's name My name is Salvator	A2
To serve you sir he carelessly replied	F2
With eyes and hands intent upon his jar	A2
Brimming and bubbling Then he cast one glance	C
Upon his questioner and left the well	Q2
Crying with keen and sudden sympathy	R2
Good Father pardon me I knew you not	F2
Ah you have travelled overmuch your feet	F2
Are grimed with mud and wet your face is changed	F2
Your hands are dry with fever But the knight	F2
Nay as I look on thee I think the Lord	F2
Wills not that I should suffer any more	A2
Then you have suffered much sighed Salvator	A2
With wondering pity You must come with me	R2
My father knows of you I told him all	Q2
A knight and minstrel who cast by his lyre	A2
His health and fame to give himself to God	F2
Yours is a life indeed to be desired	F2
If you will lie with us this night our home	K
Will verily be blessed By kindness crushed	F2
Wandering in sense and words the broken knight	F2
Resisted naught and let himself be led	F2
To the boy's home The outcast and accursed	F2
Was welcomed now by kindly human hands	C
Once more his blighted spirit was revived	F2
By contact with refreshing innocence	C
There when the morning broke upon the world	F2
The humble hosts no longer knew their guest	F2
His fleshly weeds of sin forever doffed	F2
Tannhauser lay and smiled for in the night	F2
The angel came who brings eternal peace	C
	-
	-
	-
Far into Wartburg through all Italy	R2
In every town the Pope sent messengers	C
Riding in furious haste among them one	N2
Who bore a branch of dry wood burst in bloom	B3
The pastoral rod had borne green shoots of spring	Y2
And leaf and blossom God is merciful	Q2

Emma Lazarus

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