The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-07
WAGNER And "TANNHAUSER"
A TRAGEDY ALWAYS MIST\TEH-
PRETFD.
The Drama Of . Mans Battle With Himself
Turned Into m Operate spectacle
italian Ballet Versus Wagnerian
Action-A Story Told for Men Alone,

and beautiful things. lie was the lflehd -
noble natures and was surrounded by the
clear atmosphere of ideal thought Poetry
nurtured his fancy and music attuned his
soul TO the harmony Of gentle life. He was
beloved bv a ruler of men, lofty IL con-
ception and aspiring in spirit. de had
touched the hear Of this ruler > daushter'
Q lady So fair to see and so sweet oil dis po-
sition that men in all the land sighed Tor her
favor. OF all suitors be was the most en-
couraged Even a great poet, who loved
the maid, knew that IN her heart her choice
was already formed and that it was not for
him
But the favored man was filed with the
deyil of discomfort. He wearled OF the
beauty Of truth, Of the sweetness OF Ideal
life He suddenly went out from among
his associates, and {. world That was al
his knew him no more. The maiden ana
the friend brooded in secret sorrow over ms
absence. but knew not whore he was. lie
had gone TO scenes Of carnal reNelry, where
the feshly appetites held Wild orgy and the
ideal life Was unknown He looked into
the ewes Of a woman TO whom love was a
consuming fire, and his blood wac enkird!ed
by her ardent gaze. He threw himself al
her feet ". became n worshipper of the
Scarlet Woman.
She was a woman With genuine passion
She loved him She wound her tolls about
him for her own JOY. She would have
kent him aly avs. She Was Unsuitable.
Cut he was a man Within the man 5 SOU
the fire of passion burns To ashs. Inc
time comes whom not even Smou.derins
ember warns the heart. In the ideal me-
where love is high and holy, this is not
always So. But this man had forgotten the
ideal life He knew only that he was sick
unto dea, Of the qualification Of his desire.
He yearned for world in which pleasure
vas not unbroken He craved the sting OF
pain. of disappointment. Of sorrow. He
thought of the sweetness of green fields,
VI the music Of the song Of birds.
But the Scarlet Woman would not let him
70 She tempted his senses with ravish-
laents unspeakable. She lured his eyes
Ind his thoughts. He clasped her in his
arms and pressed his lips 10 hers. Their
touch sickcned him Then he lifted his
arms to heaven and prayed, and his burden
fell from him The Scarlet Woman shrieked
in her DE- pair. but she held him no longer,
He went into the green fields. He heard
the tinkling Of the bell upon the bell
weth,.. Of the flock He heard the piping
and the song Of shepherds He heard the
sacred hymn OF worship, 70 long a stranger
70 his ear He melted 10 tears He fell
upon the earth ard wep, his soul out in
comtrite duplication. And AS he lay thus
there came TO him his old companions
the ruler and the friend who had loved him.
He would have fled crying, "Unclean,'
N,,, h., s,tr hin, Tho fri.pI
whispered TO him the name Of the pure
woman he had loved She loved him still
His salvation lay in her. He arose and
went to her.
She loved and pitied him He dared not
tell her where he had been but she under
stood that he had been tainted by sin Still
she was woman, and she loved him;
therefore she forgave. He was received
again into the society Of his former friends.
He resumed his proud place in his old world,
and every one rejoiced. But the poison
of sin was in his veins. He had not yet
paid his penalty. He must suffer, and
through his own act
so il came To pass that on a day he re-
Sealed the hidden hlackness Of his heart.
He disclosed the canker in his soul. Men
.urned from him. They would even have
slain him, but she who was stricken the
heaviest blow interceded for him. She
prayed that ne might yet be given the OPP
portunity for repentance. Humbled to the
dust, bitterly deploring his madness, he
went forth TO seek regeneration.
II was denied him. The canker in his
soul could not be removed in life He
must suffer unto death. Waiting and
watching for him to come again. the maiden
faded. She sank as gently as a dewdro p
in, o her grave, she left the shadow Of her
beauty on the bier. her soul went heaven
ward like a vIpor Nainly searching
for salvation, the man wandered back
10 the scenes Of his downfall Tortured
by eternal remorse and unable to find re-
lief, he desperately determined to drown
himself once more in the sea Of pleasure.
The Scarlet Womin's image rose in his
mind He saw her rosy lips leaning toward
him. He saw her snowy arms outstretched
He would have gone to her but the friend
who still loved him, restrained him, And
then he learned that the maiden was dead
IL WAS enough, To him she became a saint,
and falling upon his knees he besought her
TO intcrcedc for him, In the very breath
ing Of the prayer he found salvation. Again
his burden fell from him, and in death he
was proclaimed greater than in life He
was saved
That is the story OF Wagner's Tam
hAuser That is the story which Is usually
hidden behind conventions Of the stage
devised by persons to whom this eloquent
drama Of mans soul is nothing more OF
Jess than a grand opera, This story Is
Richard Wagner's. II was made by him
The old LEGENDS OF the knight who tarried
in tho Venusberg and was cursed by Rome
do not rise to the ethical grandeur of this
dramatic version Elisabeth is not found
In them, Td'nhdysr's salvation is not
there. In the Tdanhd iser's egend the mar
returns to Venus ard dies; and Pope Urban
whose stan has blo>somed III his hand
seeks hiii Ia vain. For This, the poem tells
u,, Urban is accurscd "" has condemned
TdnnkdJsor to eternal pcrdition.
In no way whatever is she Thought of sal
sation through "A womans love. whicf
plays such an important par, in the Wlg.
merriam drama, ,ugg">tci in the old stories
Neither is there any connection between
the Original leg, nd and The contest OF singers
al the Wartbvrg Castle in the early part
of the thirteenth century. at which Wolfram
ron EscherbGtb was present Wagner
made the -Iannlau>nr which bear, hl.