Parsifal - A Drama by Wagner | Page 6

and told this tale,-- The four young knights ensconced around his feet,-- "Our holy Titurel knew Klingsor well. For in the ancient days when savage foes Distressed the kingdom with their heathen craft, One mystic midnight came a messenger Of God to Titurel, and gave to him The Holy Grail, the vessel lustrous pure, Wherein the crimson wine blushed rosy-red At that Last Supper of the feast of love; Wherein the later wine of His own blood Was caught and cherished from the cruel Cross. This gave the angel unto holy Titurel And with it gave the radiant sacred Spear That pierced the side and broke the suffering heart Of Him, our heavenly Saviour on the Cross, So that the water and the blood flowed forth In mingled tide,--the sacrifice of love. And for these precious witnesses of God That told to men of saving-health and power, The holy Titurel did build an holy house,-- A sanctuary-stronghold on the heights Of Monsalvat, forever given to God. And ye, blest servants of the Holy Grail, Ye know the sacred ways by which ye came Into this holy service. Ye gave all And purified your lives and hearts to God. And with the consecration came the power, By vision of the Grail, to do high deeds And live the life of warriors of God. This Klingsor came to holy Titurel And asked to come into the company. Long had he lived in yonder heathen vale Alone, and shunned by all his kind. I never knew what sin had stained his heart, Or why he sought the castle of the Grail; But holy Titurel discerned his heart And saw the festering evil of his life, And knew unholy purpose filled his soul And steadfastly refused him at the gates. Whereat in wrath the evil Klingsor swore That if he could not serve the Holy Grail, The Holy Grail should serve him by its power; And he would seize it in his own right hand, And some day be the master of them all. Henceforth he waged a subtle, ceaseless war Against Monsalvat and the holy knights. He gave himself to dark and evil life And learned the witchery of magic arts To work the ruin of the Holy Grail. Fair gardens he created by his art, Through all the deserts, and therein he placed Maidens of winsome witchery and power, Who bloomed like flowers in beauty and in grace. And in these subtle snares full many a knight Was caught by magic wiles and lured and lost, And no one knew where they had gone or why. Then holy Titurel, grown old in years, Gave up the kingdom to his only son, The brave Amfortas. And by ceaseless quest Amfortas learned the truth and waged fierce war Against this Klingsor, evil to the heart, Until at last in one unguarded moment, As I have told you, e'en our noble King, The good Amfortas, yielded to a sin,-- And lost the Spear, and had his fatal wound. Now with the Spear within his evil grasp Klingsor exults, and mockingly does tell How his black fingers soon will hold the Grail."
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Then the young knights who listened to the tale Upstarted with the cry: "God give us grace To wrest that sacred Spear from impious hands!"
But Gurnemanz thus checked them: "Listen yet! Long did our King Amfortas kneel before The sanctuary, praying in his pain And seeking for a word of hope from God. At length a radiance glowed around the Grail, And from its glory shone a Sacred Face That spake this oracle of mystic words: _"By pity 'lightened, My guileless One,-- Wait for him, Till My will is done!"_
And as the knights repeated these weird words,-- There came wild cries and shouting from the lake: "Shame! shame! alas, the shame to shoot the swan!" And as they looked, a wild swan came in sight; It floated feebly o'er the flurried lake And strove to fly, but wounded fluttered down And sank upon the lake-shore, and was dead. And Gurnemanz cried out: "Who shot the swan? The King had hailed it as a happy sign, Whene'er a swan came near him in its flight For since the earliest ages has this bird Meant hope and health and holiness to men.-- Who dared to do this dastard deed of shame?"
Then came a knight leading a guileless boy And said: "This is the one who shot the swan,-- And here more arrows like the cruel shaft That hides itself within the bleeding breast."
To whom spake Gurnemanz: "What mean'st thou, boy, By such a cruel, shameless deed as this?"
But the boy answered: "Yea, it was my shot. I shot the swan in flight when high in air."
Then Gurnemanz: "Shame to confess such deed! Such sacrilege within these holy