Come to this shore!
Come to the land
where in glowing love's fond embrace
blessed balm shall soothe your longings!
Come to this shore!
Come to the land!
Beloved, say:
where dwell your thoughts?
Too long! Too long!
Oh, that I might wake now!
Say: what troubles you?
In a dream it was
as if I heard what long has been unfamiliar to my ear,
as if I heard the joyous peal of bells.
Ah, say: how long is it since I heard it?
What possesses you? Where strays your mind?
I cannot measure the time that I have tarried here.
Days, months exist no more for me
for no more do I see the sunlight,
no more the friendly stars of heaven.
I see no more the fields
which, freshly green, herald a new summer.
No more do I hear the nightingale,
harbinger of spring.
Shall I never hear or see them again?
Ah, what do I hear? What foolish complaints!
Are you so soon weary of the sweet wonders
which my love has lavished on you?
Or can it be you so regret
being a god?
Have you so soon forgotten how once you suffered
while now you live here lapped in delights?
My singer, rise!
Take up your harp!
Extol love,
which you lauded with such rapture
that you won for yourself the goddess of love!
Extol love, for its highest prize is yours!
Let your praises resound! Glorified be the wonders
your might has wrought for my bliss!
Let my song in loud and joyful tones
extol the sweet delights flowing from your bounty!
My heart yearned,
my soul thirsted
for joy, ah! for divine pleasure:
what once you showed only to gods
your favour has bestowed upon a mortal.
But alas! I have remained mortal
and your love overwhelms me.
Though a god can savour joy for ever
I am subject to change.
I have at heart not pleasure alone
and in my joy long for suffering.
From your kingdom I must flee.
O queen, O goddess,
set me free!
Must I listen to this? What a song!
What mournful mood clouds your lay?
Where has that rapture flown
which inspired you only to songs of delight?
What is it? In what has my love been lacking?
Beloved, with what do you reproach me?
Gratitude for your favour and praise for your love.
For ever blessed is he who has dwelt here.
For ever envied is he who, hot with desire,
has in your arms shared the divine glow.
The wonders of your realm cast a spell.
Here I breathe the magic of unalloyed bliss.
No land in the wide world offers the like.
All it holds seems in comparison of little worth.
Yet from these rosy scents I long
for the woodland breezes,
for the clear blue of our sky,
for the fresh green of our meadows,
for the sweet song of our birds,
for the dear sound of our bells.
From your kingdom I must flee.
O queen, O goddess,
set me free!
Faithless one! Alas, what is this I hear?
You dare to spurn my love?
You praise it but seek to fly from it?
Has my allure grown wearisome?
Ah, fair goddess! Do not be angry with me!
Has my allure grown wearisome?
It is your unbounded allure from which I fly.
Shame on you, traitor!
- Dissembler, ingrate! Ah! - Never was my love greater...
I will not let you go!
- You shall not leave me! - ...never more true than now,
- Ingrate! I will not let you go! - when I must leave you for ever!
You shall not leave me! Ah!
Beloved, come! See yonder grotto,
permeated with the soft perfume of roses,
the abode of sweetest joys
which might enchant even a god.
Resting on the softest pillow,
all pain shall quit your limbs,
cool airs shall play about your burning brow,
a rapturous glow shall course through your veins.
From afar sweet sounds softly whisper
for my arms to enfold you in a fond embrace.
From my lips, from my eyes
you shall sip the nectar of the gods.
A feast of joy shall spring from our union.
Let us gladly celebrate the rite of love.
No timid offering shall you dedicate to it.
Revel in union with love's own goddess!
Come to this shore!
Say, dear friend, my beloved!
Come to the land!
Will you fly from me?
To you, to you alone shall my song ever be raised!
Your praise alone will I sing aloud!
Your soft charms are the fount of all beauty
and every fair wonder springs from you.
The fire you kindled in my heart
shall in flame brightly burn to you alone.
Yes, against the whole world henceforth
will I be your bold and tireless champion.
But I must hence to the earthly world.
With you I can only be a slave.
For freedom I am consumed with longing,
for freedom I thirst.
To strife and struggle will I go
even though it be to downfall and death.
So from your kingdom I must flee.
O queen, O goddess,
set me free!
Then go, madman,
go!
Traitor, see! I am not holding you.
Fly! I set you free!
What you desire shall be your doom.
Away! Away!
Fly to the cold world of men,
from whose feeble, cheerless fancies
we gods of joy fled
into the warming depths of the earth's womb!
Go then, poor fool! Seek there happiness,
the happiness you never shall find!
Soon will the pride fail in your soul,
humbled will I see you approach me.
Contrite, defeated
shall you seek me,
weeping for the magic of my power!
Ah, lovely goddess, farewell!
Never shall I return to you!
Ha, never return to me!
Never return?
Ha! Then I curse
the whole mortal race of men!
Search in vain for my wonders!
May the world be barren and you not hero but slave!
Come back! Come back!
May I never taste love's joys again!
Come back
if your heart desires it!
Your lover is going for ever.
And if all the world rejects you?
From your spell I shall be released by atonement.
Forgiveness will never be your lot!
Come back! Salvation is for ever closed to you!
My salvation is in Mary!
Dame Holda came forth from the hill
to roam through fields and meadows.
Surpassing sweet sounds reached my ear,
my eyes craved to see her.
There I dreamed many a fair dream
and scarcely had I opened my eyes
than the sun was shining warm
and May had come.
Now I merrily play my pipe
for May is here, lovely May.
To thee I turn my steps,
Lord Jesus Christ,
for thou art the pilgrim's hope.
Praise to thee, O Virgin sweet and pure,
and deign to smile upon this pilgrimage!
Ah, the burden of sin weighs heavy upon me
and I can no longer bear it.
Therefore I seek neither rest nor repose
and choose for myself pain and toil.
At the high celebration of God's grace
I will humbly expiate my guilt.
Blessed is he who is steadfast in his faith:
through repentance shall he be redeemed.
God speed! God speed to Rome!
Pray for my poor soul!
Almighty God be praised!
Great are the marvels of thy mercy.
To thee I turn my steps,
Lord Jesus Christ,
for thou art the pilgrim's hope.
Praise to thee, O Virgin sweet and pure,
and deign to smile upon this pilgrimage!
Ah, the burden of sin weighs heavy upon me
and I can no longer bear it.
Therefore I seek neither rest nor repose
and choose for myself pain and toil.
At the high celebration of God's grace
I will expiate my guilt.
Blessed is the steadfast in his faith.
Who is that yonder, deep in prayer?
Surely a penitent.
A knight, by his garb.
- It is he! - Heinrich!
- Heinrich! Do I see aright? - It is he!
Is it really you?
Are you returning to us,
whom in your haughty pride you abandoned?
Say: what means your return to us?
Tell us!
Reconciliation or renewed strife?
Do you come to us as friend or foe?
As foe?
Do not ask!
Is this the demeanour of pride?
We welcome you, valiant minstrel,
that have so long been absent from our midst.
Welcome, if you come in peace!
Greetings, if you treat us as friends!
Greetings! We welcome you!
Then let me, too, welcome you!
But say:
where have you been so long?
I wandered in far, far distant lands
where repose or rest I never found.
Do not ask! I came not here to contend with you.
Let us make peace and let me go my way.
Not yet! You are one of us again.
- You must not go! - We will not let you go!
- Stay with us! - Let me go!
- To linger is of no avail - Stay! Oh, stay!
and never can I rest in peace.
Oh, stay! You must remain with us!
We will not let you go again.
My way urges me to hasten only onwards.
You sought us out. Why hasten away?
- My way urges me to hasten only onwards. - After such a brief reunion?
- And never may I look back. - Why hasten away?
Stay, oh, stay with us! You must remain with us!
No, never may I look back.
- I must away! - Why in such haste away?
- Let me go! - Remain with us now!
Stay for Elisabeth!
Elisabeth!
O might of heaven, is it you that recalls to me that sweet name?
Abuse me not as foe when I speak that name to you.
My lord, will you permit me
to tell him of his fortune?
Tell him of the magic that he wrought
and God grant him virtue
that he may use it worthily!
When you contended with us for the palm in singing
sometimes you were victorious over our songs,
sometimes you suffered defeat through our art.
One prize there was
which you alone won.
Was it magic, was it a divine power
by which you wrought such a miracle,
enchanting that maid of matchless virtue
by your song of joy and sorrow?
But ah! When in your pride you left us
she closed her heart against our song.
We saw her cheeks grow pale
and she henceforth avoided our company.
Oh, come back, valiant minstrel,
and do not deprive us of your song!
Let her no longer be absent from our festivals
and may her star shine on us once more!
Be one of us, Heinrich!
Come back to us!
Let discord and strife be laid aside.
United let our songs arise
and henceforth let us be brothers.
To her! To her!
Oh, lead me to her!
He who was lost has returned!
Ah, now I recognize again
the beautiful world from which I fled.
A miracle has brought him back.
- The heavens shine down upon me, - Praised be the gentle power
- the fields are refulgent in rich array. - which has banished his pride!
- Spring with a thousand charming sounds - Now let the maid we prize
- has filled my heart with joy. - once again hearken to our noblest lays.
- In sweet, urgent eagerness - In joyful tones let a song
- my heart cries aloud. - resound from every throat!
To her! To her!
- He who was lost has returned. - Ah, now I recognize it again,
- A miracle has brought him back. - the beautiful world from which I fled.
- Now let the maid we prize - Spring with a thousand charming sounds
- once again hearken to our noblest lays! - has filled my heart with joy.
In joyful tones let a song resound from every throat!
In sweet, urgent eagerness
my heart cries aloud: To her! To her!
Lead me to her!
Dear hall, I greet thee again!
Gladly I greet thee, beloved place!
In thee his songs will waken
and rouse me from my gloomy dreams.
When he from here departed
how bleak thou didst seem to me!
All peace forsook me,
all pleasure in thee vanished!
But now my heart is exalted
and thou dost seem proud and stately once again.
For he who revives both thee and me
no longer tarries far away.
Greetings, greetings!
Dear hall, I greet thee!
There she is!
Approach her undisturbed!
O princess!
Heavens! Do not kneel! Leave me!
I may not see you here.
You may! Oh, stay
and let me remain at your feet!
Rise, I beg you!
You must not kneel here
for this hall is your kingdom.
Arise!
Accept my thanks
for your return!
Where have you tarried so long?
Far from here, in very distant lands.
Dark oblivion has fallen between yesterday and today.
All memory has suddenly deserted me
and one thing only must I remember:
that I never dared hope to greet you again
nor raise my eyes to you.
What was it then that led you back?
It was a miracle, a mysterious, mighty miracle!
This miracle I praise from the depths of my heart.
Forgive me if I know not what I say.
I am in a dream and, more foolish than a child,
helpless before the might of this marvel.
I scarcely know myself any longer.
Oh, help me,
help me solve the riddle in my heart!
To minstrels' beguiling music
I formerly lent a willing and a constant ear.
Their singing and their paeans
seemed a delightful recreation.
But what a strange new life your song aroused in my breast!
Now I was as if wracked with pain,
now as if pierced with sudden joy.
Emotions I had never felt.
Longings I had never known.
What once had delighted me had vanished
before these yet unnamed raptures.
And then when you left us
my peace and joy were gone.
The melodies the minstrels sang
seemed stale to me and cheerless their ideas.
In dreams I felt dull pain.
Waking, I was filled with troubled fancies.
Joy had fled from my heart.
Heinrich!
What did you do to me?
The god of love be praised!
He touched my harp strings,
spoke to you in my melodies
and has led me here to you.
Blessed be this hour,
blessed be the power
that brought me the wondrous tidings
that you were near!
To this new-found life may I now wholly devote myself.
Encircled by the glow of bliss, on me the sun now smiles.
Trembling with joy I name its fairest wonder mine.
Awakened to new life I can call joy mine.
So every ray of hope
evades me in this life!
Blessed be this hour,
blessed be the power!
Encircled by the glow of bliss, on me the sun now smiles.
To this new-found life may I now wholly devote myself.
- Awakened to new life - Trembling with joy
- I can call joy mine. - I name its fairest wonder mine.
Do I find you in this hall,
which you have avoided for so long?
Does the festival of song that we prepare
at last attract you?
O uncle,
who are a father to me!
Would you then at last
unlock your heart to me?
Look in my eyes!
I cannot speak.
Then for a little while
let your sweet secret remain undisclosed,
the spell remain unbroken
until you are able to reveal it.
So be it!
The wonder that by song was awakened and aroused today
shall be revealed
and crowned with fulfilment.
Our gracious art shall do the deed.
Already the nobles of my land approach,
bidden by me to this solemn tournament.
More numerous than ever they come for they have heard
that you will be the princess of the festival.
Joyfully we greet this noble hall,
where only art and peace shall ever dwell,
where long the glad cry shall resound:
"Hail to Thuringia's prince, the Landgrave Hermann!"
Full often, dear minstrels, in this hall
have your fine songs resounded.
With wise allegories and merry lays alike
you have gladdened our hearts.
If our sword in stern bloody battles
fought for the supremacy of the German State,
if we withstood the savage Guelphs
and held disastrous discord in check
you won no less a prize.
For charm and gracious ways,
for virtue and unsullied faith
you achieved with your art a great and mighty victory.
Prepare then for us today another festival
now that the valiant singer has returned to us
whom we for long so sadly missed.
What brought him back among us
remains to me a mysterious secret.
You shall reveal it to us through the art of song.
Therefore I now propose this theme to you.
Can you fathom the nature of love?
He who in his singing
most worthily succeeds
shall from Elisabeth receive the prize.
Let his claim be as bold and lofty as he please,
I undertake that she shall grant it.
Up, dear minstrels! Strike your strings!
The theme is set,
strive for the prize and let all accept our thanks in advance!
Hail! Hail!
Hail to Thuringia's prince!
Hail to the protector of the gracious art!
Wolfram von Eschenbach,
begin!
As I look around on this noble assembly
what a glorious sight makes my heart glow!
So many heroes, valiant, upright and wise,
like a proud oak wood, splendid, fresh, and green.
And I see ladies lovely and virtuous,
a fair garland of most fragrant flowers.
My gaze is dazzled by this display.
My song is silenced before such beauteous lustre.
Then I raise my eyes to one single star
up in the heavens which shines on me.
My spirit is comforted by that distant radiance
and my soul devoutly sinks in prayer.
And lo! I behold a fountain of delights,
on which my spirit gazes, filled with wonder.
From it there flows blissful joy
by which my heart is inexpressibly refreshed.
Oh, never may I sully that fountain
or cloud its waters with impure thoughts!
In devotion I would sacrifice myself
and gladly shed the last drop of my heart's blood!
You nobles may gather from these words
how I regard the purest essence of love.
'Tis so!
Praised be your song!
I, too, call myself fortunate
in having seen what, Wolfram, you have seen!
Who does not know that fountain?
Hear me, I loudly praise its virtue!
Yet I cannot approach its spring
without feeling a hot longing.
When I must cool my burning thirst
I confidently touch my lips to it.
In full draughts I drink in its joy
unmixed with any cares.
For the fountain is inexhaustible
as my longing is unquenchable.
So that my yearning may burn for ever
I refresh myself for ever at that spring.
And know, Wolfram, that it is I
who am acquainted with love in its truest form!
The fountain that Wolfram told of,
it has shone its light on my spirit, too.
Yet, if you have burned with thirst for it,
Heinrich, you have not really known it.
Let me tell you, let me teach you:
that fountain is true chastity.
You ought to honour it ardently
and sacrifice to its sweet purity.
If you touch your lips to it,
in cold-hearted, criminal passion,
yes, if you but taste at its rim
its magic power departs for ever!
If you would receive refreshment from the fountain
your heart must not seek delight in your senses.
Hail! Hail!
Hail, Walther! Praised be your song!
O Walther, if thus you sing,
you badly belie love.
If so timid is your longing
your world will truly run dry.
In praise of God in the supreme heights
look up to heaven, behold its stars!
Give humble worship to such wonders
for you shall never know them.
But my heart and mind lie nearer
to something they can bend and touch,
something born of the same race,
whose soft form clings to me,
with whom it is meet to taste pleasure in joyful union,
and to me love means nothing save pleasure!
Come forth to combat with us all!
Who could hear you in silence?
If your pride will allow you
now listen to me, blasphemer!
When noble love inspires me
it steels my sword and my spirit.
To preserve it in its purity for ever
I would proudly shed my lifeblood.
Woman's virtue and high honour
will I, as a knight, defend with my sword.
Those delights that captured your immaturity
are shoddy, not worth a blow.
Hail, Biterolf! Here are our swords.
Ah, you foolish braggart, Biterolf!
Do you sing of love, you fierce wolf?
Assuredly you have never known
that which I find pleasurable.
What, poor wretch, have you known of pleasure?
Your life was lacking in love
and what paltry joys befell you
were indeed not worth a blow.
We'll hear no more! End this audacity!
Put up your sword! Minstrels, keep the peace!
O heaven, let me now implore thee,
grant my song divine approval!
Let me see sin banished
from this noble, pure assembly!
Let my song resound
inspired by thee, sacred love,
that pierced my very soul in angelic beauty!
Thou didst come from heaven,
I follow from afar.
So guide me to that land
where thy star shines for ever!
To you, goddess of love, shall my song be raised.
Loudly let me now sing your praise!
Your sweet charms are the source of all beauty
and every fair wonder springs from you.
Only he who has known your ardent embrace
knows what love is.
Poor wretches who have never tasted love.
Away! Hasten to the hill of Venus!
Oh, he is wicked!
Fly from him!
Hark!
He was in the Venusberg.
Away! Away from his presence!
You heard it.
His sinful lips have confessed his fearful crime.
He has shared the joys of hell within the Venusberg.
Abominable! Monstrous! Damnable!
Steep your swords in his blood!
Let him be condemned and sent back
to the bottomless pit of hell!
Stay your hands!
What? What do I hear? Elisabeth!
The chaste maiden shielding the sinner?
Stand back! For death I care nothing.
What is the wound your swords could cause
against the deadly blow he has dealt me?
Elisabeth! Can we believe it?
How can your heart so delude you
as to stave off punishment from him who has so vilely deceived you?
What do I matter?
But he must be saved.
Would you rob him of eternal salvation?
He has forfeited all hope.
Never will he earn salvation.
The curse of heaven has fallen on him.
Let him go, his sins upon his head.
Stand back from him! 'Tis not for you to judge him.
Shame on you!
Cast aside your cruel swords
and give ear to a spotless virgin's words!
Through me learn what is God's will!
This hapless man,
that a fearful, mighty spell holds captive,
what, may he never find salvation
through repentance and atonement in this world?
You who are so strong in purity of faith,
is this how you understand the will of heaven?
If you would deny hope to the sinner
then say: what harm did he do you?
Behold me, a maiden whose blossoming
he has cut short with one sudden blow.
Exultantly he has broken my heart,
I who loved him with all my being.
I plead for him,
I plead for his life.
Let him contritely turn his steps to atonement.
Let him regain the strength of the belief
that the Saviour once suffered for him, too.
Alas! Wretch that I am!
An angel has descended from the realms of light
to bring God's holy message.
Look up, vile traitor!
Realize your sin! Look up to her!
You gave her death: she begs for your life.
Who could hear an angel's plea unmoved?
Though I may not forgive the sinner
I cannot oppose heaven's word.
To lead the sinner to salvation
an angel was sent down to me from heaven.
But ah! Profaning her by my presence
I turned on her a lascivious gaze.
Though I may not forgive the sinner...
O thou, high above this mortal earth,
- I plead for him. - who sent me my guardian angel,
have mercy on me, so deep in sin, alas,
that to my shame I did not recognize heaven's messenger!
I plead for him.
Have mercy on me!
I plead for him, I plead for his life...
A fearful misdeed has been committed.
Into our midst in treacherous guise
there stole sin's curse-laden son.
We cast you out.
You shall not dwell among us.
Through you our hearth is defiled
and heaven itself looks menacingly on this roof
which sheltered you too long.
But one way lies open to save you
from eternal perdition.
Though I banish you, I point it out.
Take it and save your soul!
From my lands a throng of pilgrims has assembled
intent on penance.
The elders have already set forth,
the younger are still halted in the valley.
Their hearts will give them no peace
even for more venial sins
and to still the pious promptings of repentance
they go to the shrine of grace in Rome.
With them you shall travel to the city of gracious mercy,
there prostrate yourself in the dust and atone for your sin.
Humble yourself before him who pronounces God's judgement
and never return until you have gained his pardon.
Our vengeance we were forced to temper
because an angel interceded for you
but this sword will smite you
if you remain in sin and shame.
How shall I find pardon?
- O God of grace and mercy, - How shall I atone for my sin?
let him seek and find thee.
- I have seen salvation vanish, - Though he has fallen so low
- heaven's mercy withdrawn from me. - forgive his debt of sin.
- But I will go forth as a penitent - For him alone will I plead
- to beat my breast - and spend my life in prayer.
- and kneel in the dust. - Let him see thy radiance
- Contrition be my willing lot. - before eternal night claims him.
Oh, could she but forgive me, my guardian angel,
who, so rudely betrayed, yet offers herself as sacrifice for me!
Take, oh, take my life! I count it no longer my own.
This sword will smite you
if you remain in sin and shame.
At the high celebration of God's grace
I will humbly expiate my guilt.
Blessed is he who is steadfast in his faith:
through repentance shall he be redeemed.
To Rome!
I well knew I would find her here in prayer
as I have so often seen her
when I've wandered alone from the wooded height into the valley.
With the death blow he dealt her heart,
racked with burning sorrow
she prays day and night for his salvation.
O blessed love, how great thy power!
She awaits the pilgrims' return from Rome.
The leaves are already falling. Soon they will be home.
Will he return with them, pardoned?
That is her question, her prayer.
Ye holy ones, let it be fulfilled!
But if her wound remains unhealed,
oh, grant her some solace!
With joy, my home, I now behold thee...
That is their song.
It is the pilgrims!
...and gladly greet thy smiling meadows.
- It is they! - It is the pious hymn
telling of grace and mercy received.
Now I lay down my pilgrim's staff...
They have returned!
...for, submissive to God, I have made my pilgrimage.
- Ye holy ones, show me now my task - O heaven, now strengthen her heart
- that I may worthily fulfil it! - for this crucial moment of her life!
By atonement and repentance I have made my peace
with the Lord, to whom my heart bows down,
who has crowned my remorse with blessing,
the Lord to whom I raise my song.
The grace of salvation is granted to the penitent,
who shall enter into the peace of heaven.
Hell and death cannot affright him.
Therefore will I praise God all the days of my life.
Hallelujah!
For evermore!
He has not returned.
With joy, my home, I now behold thee
and gladly greet thy smiling meadows.
Now I lay down my pilgrim's staff.
Almighty Virgin,
hear my plea!
Queen of glory, to thee I call.
Let me turn to dust before thee.
Oh, take me from this earth!
Let me enter, pure and spotless,
into thy blessed kingdom.
If ever, engrossed in vain fancies,
my heart turned away from thee,
if ever a sinful desire
or earthly longing rose within me
I strove with untold anguish
to stifle it in my heart.
Then, though of every fault I am not shriven,
turn thy gracious face to me
that I may, a worthy maid,
approach thee with humble devotion
to implore the rich bounty
of thy mercy for his offence!
Elisabeth,
may I not escort you home?
Like a portent of death twilight shrouds the earth
and envelops the valley in its sable robe.
The soul that yearns for those heights
dreads to take its dark and awful flight.
There you shine, O fairest of the stars,
and shed your gentle light from afar.
Your friendly beam penetrates the twilight gloom
and points the way out from the valley.
O my fair evening star,
I always gladly greeted thee.
From a heart that never betrayed its faith
greet her when she passes,
when she soars above this mortal vale
to become a blessed angel in heaven!
I heard a harp:
how sad a sound!
It could not be from her.
Who are you, pilgrim, who wander so alone?
Who am I?
But I know you full well.
You are Wolfram,
the skilful minstrel.
Heinrich!
You? What brings you back here? Speak!
Do you dare,
still unabsolved, to set foot in this region?
Have no fear, worthy minstrel!
I seek not you
nor any of your company.
I seek for one who can show me the way,
that way which once I found with such ease.
- Which way is that? - The way to the Venusberg.
Monster! Do not profane my ear!
Is that your goal?
- Do you know the way? - Madman!
To hear you fills me with horror.
Where have you been? Did you not go to Rome?
Do not speak of Rome!
Were you not at the holy service?
Speak not of that!
Were you not there? Speak, I implore you!
I was indeed in Rome.
Then speak! Tell me all!
Unhappy man, I am seized with deep compassion for you.
What say you, Wolfram?
Are you not, then, my foe?
I was never that, while I thought you honourable!
But speak! You made your pilgrimage to Rome?
Well then, listen!
You, Wolfram, shall learn what happened.
Away from me!
Where ever I rest is accursed.
Now listen, Wolfram,
listen well!
With a fervour in my heart
such as no penitent had ever felt
I sought the way to Rome.
An angel had banished my overweening sin of pride.
For her sake I wished humbly to atone,
to beg for the grace once denied me,
to lighten for her those tears
which she once shed for me, a sinner.
When at my side the heaviest laden pilgrim took the road
his burden seemed for me too light.
When his foot trod the soft ground of the meadow
my naked sole sought thorns and stones.
When he refreshed his lips at some fountain
I drank in the sun's scorching heat.
When he offered up his pious prayers to heaven
I shed my blood in praise of God.
When in the hospice he eased his weariness
I laid my limbs in snow and ice.
With eyes closed, not to see its beauties,
I blindly passed through Italy's fair fields.
All this I did, wishing to atone in remorse,
so as to lighten my angel's tears.
Thus I reached Rome and the holy places
and lay in prayer at the threshold of the shrine.
Daylight broke, bells pealed,
heavenly strains rang out from on high.
An ardent cry of joy burst forth
for they promised grace and salvation to the throng.
Then I saw him through whom God speaks.
Before him all abased themselves in the dust.
To thousands he gave his blessing.
Thousands, pardoned, he bade joyfully arise.
Then I, too, drew near.
My head bowed to the ground
and beating my breast in sorrow I confessed my sins,
the evil desires that had filled my mind,
the longing that no penance yet had stilled.
And for deliverance from these burning fetters I cried
pierced with bitter anguish.
And he to whom I prayed replied:
"If you have felt such sinful desires"
"and warmed yourself at hell's fires,"
"if you have dwelt within the Venusberg"
"you are for ever accursed."
"As this staff in my hand will nevermore put forth a living leaf"
"so from the burning brand of hell salvation never will bloom for you."
Then I sank down, crushed and in despair,
my senses left me.
When I awoke, night had fallen on the empty square
but from afar sounded joyful hymns of praise.
The sweet songs sickened me.
From the lying sounds of promise
which pierced my soul with icy chill
horror drove me forth in wild flight.
It drove me here
where once I so enjoyed bliss and pleasure on her warm breast.
To you, fair Venus, I return,
to the sweet darkness of your spell.
I will come down to your court
where your charms now shall ever smile on me.
Stop, stop, unhappy man!
Ah, let me not seek in vain;
how easily I once did find you!
You hear that by men I am accursed.
Now, sweet goddess, lead me to you!
Madman, whom are you calling?
Ah! Do you not feel gentle breezes?
Stay with me or you are lost!
And do you not breathe sweet fragrance?
Do you not hear rapturous voices?
My heart palpitates with wild dread.
That is the dancing host of nymphs.
Come on!
Come on to bliss and joy!
Alas! Black magic is abroad.
Hell's wild course draws near.
Rapture surges through my senses
as this roseate glow I see.
This is the magic realm of love.
Let us away to the Venusberg!
Welcome, fickle man.
Did earth reject and banish you?
And now that you nowhere find compassion
do you seek for love in my arms?
- O Venus, generous of mercy! - Enchantments of hell, away!
- To you I am driven! - Do not ensnare the righteous!
If you again approach my realm
your pride shall be forgiven.
The fount of pleasure will flow for you for ever
and never shall you fly from me.
All hope of salvation is lost to me.
- Almighty Lord, help thy servant! - Now let me choose the delights of hell.
Heinrich! One word will set you free.
Oh, come! Be mine now for ever!
- Your salvation! - Away from me!
You can still gain pardon for your sins.
- Oh, come! - Never, Wolfram, never! I must away.
- An angel prayed for you on earth. - Come, oh, come! - Let me be!
Soon she will send her blessing down to you.
To me! To me!
Elisabeth!
- Elisabeth! - Hail to the soul
that now has flown from the body of the virtuous sufferer!
Your angel pleads at God's throne
and her prayer for you is heard.
- Alas! Lost to me! - Heinrich, you are saved!
Hers be the angels' blessed reward,
the rich crown of heavenly joys!
Do you hear the chant?
I hear it.
Blessed be the pure one who now stands
among the heavenly host before the Eternal One!
Blessed be the sinner for whom she wept,
for whom she implored heaven's mercy!
Holy Elisabeth, pray for me!
Hail! Hail!
Hail to this miracle of grace!
Salvation to the world is given.
In this holy hour of the night
the Lord hath manifested himself through a miracle.
The barren staff in the priest's hand
he has decked with fresh green.
So to the sinner in hell's fire
shall redemption bloom anew.
Proclaim it through every land
that through this miracle he found grace!
God reigns high above the whole world.
His compassion is never sought in vain.
God's grace is granted to the penitent.
Now he enters into the bliss of heaven!
Hallelujah!