Excerpt from The Rhine-Gold: A Dramatic Poem

It partakes of the power and gran deur, of the earlier ages of the world. It is a dra ma of the mighty era of the gods, the giants, and the heroes before the coming of man upon the earth. It is the wondrous story in which was em wrapped much of the religious belief of our an cientfinorthern ancestors in Europe. The deepest truths of this drama of primitive life are universal, and their meanings as potent to-day as in the prehistoric world. It is a vast allegory of the strongest passions of life. It is a dream of yesterday and a vision of to-morrow, if we have eyes to look into the heart of its mystery. It is the aim of this present translation and in terpretation to present the story of The Ring in the clear and strong way of the German origi nal, to show the relation of the parts and the dramatic unity of the whole, to make the whole vast epic stand out in its own vivid light and thrilling power. The usual English librettos of The Ring are totally inadequate and confusing as transla tions of Wagner's text. They are made to suit the musical requirements rather than to pre sent the thought in literary form. It is often a perplexing task rather than a pleasure to read them. Tenfold more involved and obscure than Browning, they have none of his redeeming grace of thought or speech.

The present translation aims to be faithful to Wagner's text, and at the same time clear in thought, poetic in imagery, rhythmic in expres sion. It endeavors to transfuse into English the very spirit of Wagner's lofty thought. It will be remembered that Wagner wrote The N ibelungen Ring, first of all, merely as a poem, and so it was originally published. The music was not composed until a later period. Some parts of the published poem he did not use for the music, and they are not given in the libret tos, for instance, Brunnhilda's splendid fare well words in The Dusk of the Gods, - but we have used them in this translation as being a real part of the poem, and as a fine inspiration for the interpretation of the fullest thought of the drama. The N ibelungen Ring, aswagner gives it, is di vided into four dramas, - The rhine-gold, The Valkyrie, Siegfried, and The Dusk of the Gods. These are a tetralogy, a cycle of four great mu sic dramas, or, as it is sometimes designated, a trilogy, considering The rhine-gold as a pre lude to the greater story of The Valkyrie, Sieg fried, and The Dusk of the Gods. In these introductory words, we may find it helpful toward a clear understanding to con sider the four dramas as one great epic whole, - for such they are, - and to study the sources of the story, the story itself, and finally its spir itual and universal significance. In doing this, each one of the dramas will be studied in some detail, the special features noted, the unusual references explained, and the dramatic scope xand purpose considered. Wagner's part in the remarkable welding into unity will then be clearly seen.

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