The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie. The Ring of the Niblung, part 1

And yet thou didst dareTo shield him, knowing 'twas so?

BRÜNNHILDE [Beginning softly.

Because I the one thingHad kept in my eye,While by twofold desireDivided wert thou,Blindly thy back on him turning!She who wards thy backFrom the foe in the field,She saw aloneWhat thou sawest not:—Siegmund I beheld.Bringing him doomI approached;I looked in his eyes,Gave ear to his words.I perceived the hero'sBitter distress;Loud the lamentOf the brave one resounded;Uttermost love'sMost terrible pang,Saddest of heartsDefying all odds–With my ear I heard,My eye beheldThat which stirred the heart in my breastWith trouble holy and strange.Shamed, astonished,Shrinking I stood.Then all my thoughtWas how I could serve him;Triumph and deathTo share with Siegmund—That seemed, that only,The lot I could choose!Faithful to himWho taught my heart this love,And set meBy the Wälsung's side as friend—Most faithful to him—Thy word I disobeyed.

WOTAN

So thou hast doneWhat I yearned so greatly to do—What a twofold fateWithheld from my desire!So easy seemed to theeHeart's delight in the winning,When burning woeIn my heart flamed fierce,When terrible anguishWrung my soul,When, to save the worldThat I loved, love's springIn my tortured heart I imprisoned?Against my own selfWhen I turned, to my torment,From swooning painArose in a frenzy,When a wild longingBurning like fireThe fearful design in me wokeIn the ruins of my own worldMy unending sorrow to bury,

[Somewhat freely.

Thy heart was lappedIn blissful delight.Trembling with rapture,Drunken with joy,Thy lips drank laughingThe draught of love,While I drank of divine woeMixed with wormwood and gall.

[Dryly and shortly.

By thy lightsome heartHenceforth be guided:From me thou hast turned away!I must renounce thee;Together no moreShall we two whisper counsel;Apart our paths lie,Sundered for ever,And so long as life lastsI, the God, dare nevermore greet thee!

BRÜNNHILDE [Simply.

Unfit was the foolishMaid for thee,Who, dazed by thy counsel,Grasped not thy mindWhen, to her, one counselAlone appeared plain—To love what was loved by thee.If I must forthWhere I shall not find thee,If the fast-woven bondMust be loosed,And half thy beingFar from thee banished—A half once thine and thine only,O God, forget not that!—Thy other selfThou wilt not dishonour,Dealing out shameThat will shame thee too;Thine own honour were lowered,Were I a target for scorn!

WOTAN

The lure of loveThou hast followed fain:Follow the manWho shall wield its might!

BRÜNNHILDE

If I must go from Walhall,No more in thy work be a sharer,And if as my masterA man I must serve,I braggart baseAbandon me not!Not all unworthyBe he who wins!

WOTAN

With Wotan no part hast thou—He cannot fashion thy fate.

BRÜNNHILDE

By thee has been founded a raceToo glorious to bring forth a cowardOne day must a matchless heroFrom Wälsung lineage spring.

WOTAN

Name not the Wälsungs to me!Renouncing thee,Them too I renounced;Through envy they came to naught.

BRÜNNHILDE

She who turned from theeRescued the race;

[With an air of secrecy.

Sieglinde bearsFruit holy and high;In pain and woeBeyond woe known to womanShe will bring forthWhat in fear she hides!

WOTAN

No shelter for herSeek at my hand,Nor for fruit that she may bear.

BRÜNNHILDE

The sword she has keptThat thou gavest Siegmund.

WOTAN [Violently.

And that I splintered with my spear.Strive not, O maid,My spirit to trouble!Await thou the lotCast and decreed;I cannot choose it or change!But now I must forth,Fare from thee far;Too long I stay by thy side.I must turn from thee,As thou didst from me;I must not evenKnow thy desire;Thy doom aloneI must see fulfilled!

BRÜNNHILDE

And what is the doomThat I must suffer?

WOTAN

In slumber fastThou shalt be locked;Wife thou shalt be to the manWho finds and wakes thee from sleep!

BRÜNNHILDE [Falls on her knees.

If fettering sleepFast must bind me,An easy preyTo the basest coward,This one thing that in deep anguishI plead for thou must accord!O shield thou the sleeperWith soul-daunting terrors,

[Firmly.

That by a dauntlessHero aloneHere on the rockI may be found!

WOTAN

Too much thou askest—Too big a boon!

WOTAN.

"Appear, flickering fire,

Encircle the rock with thy flame!

Loge! Loge! Appear!"

BRÜNNHILDE [Clasping his knees.

This one thingGrant me, O grant me!The child that is claspingThy knees crush dead;Tread down thy dear oneAnd shatter the maid;Let her body perish,Pierced by thy spear,But, cruel one, expose her notTo this crying shame!

[With wild ecstasy.

O cause a fireTo burn at thy bidding,With flame fiercely flaringGirdle the rock,And may its tongue lick,And may its tooth eatThe coward who, daring, rashlyApproaches the terrible spot!

WOTAN

[Overcome and deeply stirred, turns quickly towards Brünnhilde, raises her from her knees and looks into her eyes with emotion.

Farewell, thou valiant,Glorious child!Thou the most holyPride of my heart,Farewell! Farewell! Farewell!

[Passionately.

Must we be parted?Shall I never moreGive thee love's greeting?Must thou no longerGallop beside me,Nor bring me mead at banquet?If I must lose thee,Whom I have loved so,The laughing delight of my eyes,For thee there shall burnA bridal fire brighterThan ever yet burned for a bride!Fiercely the flamesShall flare round thy bed,Flames dreadful, devouring,Daunting all cowards;Let cravens fleeFrom Brünnhilde's rock!One only shall set the bride free,One freer than I, the God!

[Moved and enraptured, Brünnhilde sinks on the breast of Wotan, who holds her in a long embrace; then she throws back her head again, and, still embracing him, gazes into his eyes with emotion and awe.

Those eyes so lovely and brightThat oft with smiles I caressed,Thy valourWith a kiss rewardingWhen, sweetly lispedBy thy childlike mouth,The praise of heroes I heard:Those eyes so radiant and fairThat oft in storm on me shone,When hopeless yearningMy heart was wasting,And when the joyOf the world I longed for,While fears thronged thick around me—Once more to-dayGladdening me,Let them take this kissOf fond farewell!On happier mortalMay they yet shine;On me, hapless immortal,Must they close, and for ever!

[He takes her head in both hands.

'Tis thus that the GodFrom thee turns:He kisses thy Godhead away!

As he moves slowly away, Wotan turns and looks sorrowfully back at Brünnhilde.

[He kisses her long on the eyes, and with these closed she sinks back softly into his arms, unconscious. He carries her gently to a low mossy mound, and lays her there beneath the broad-spreading pine-tree which overshadows it. He gazes at her and closes her helmet; his eyes then rest on the form of the sleeper, which he completely covers with the great steel shield of the Valkyries. Having done so, he moves slowly away, turning to take one more sorrowful look. Then he strides with solemn resolve to the middle of the stage, and points his sword towards a large rock.

Loge, hear!Hark to my word!I who found thee at firstA fiery flame,And from whom thou didst vanishIn wandering fire,I, who once bound,Bid thee break forth!Appear, flickering fire,Encircle the rock with thy flame!

[He strikes the rock three times with his spear during the following.

Loge! Loge! Appear!

[A gleam of fire issues from the stone and gradually becomes a fiery glow; then flickering flames break forth. Soon wild, shooting flames surround Wotan, who, with his spear, directs the sea of fire to encircle the rock. It spreads towards the background, so that the mountain is surrounded by flame.

Let none who fearsThe spear of WotanAdventure across this fire!

[He stretches out his spear as a ban, looks sorrowfully back at Brünnhilde, then moves slowly away, turning his head for a farewell gaze. Finally he disappears through the fire. The curtain falls.

The sleep of Brünnhilde