Tannhäuser

Hide thee, sweet river ; welcome to the sea, Ocean of love that shall encompass thee ! Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness, return to me— To me ! \Tannh'duser perceives that he is in the palace of a Great Qtieen. Rise, rise, my knight ! My king ! My love, arise ! See the grave avenues of Paradise, The dewy larches bending at my breath, Portentous cedars prophesying death ! See the long vistas and the dancing sea, The measured motion of fecundity ! Bright winds set swaying the soft-sounding flowers (Here flowers have music) in my woven bowers, Where sweet birds blossom, and in chorus quire The rapt beginnings of immense desire. Here is the light and rapture of the will : We touch the stars —and they are tiny still ! O mighty thews ! O godlike face and hair ! Rise up and take me ; ay, and keep me there, One tingle at thy touch from head to feet ; Lips that cling close, and never seem to meet. Melting as sunlight melts in wine ! Arise ! Shame ! Has thy learning left thee overwise ? Thy lips sing fondly —to another tune. Nay ! 'twas my breathing beauty made thee swoon, 29