Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE TANNHAUSER; A LEGEND, by HEINRICH HEINE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE TANNHAUSER; A LEGEND, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O all good christians, be on your guard
Last Line: "I'll tell on another occasion."
Subject(s): Gans, Eduard (1798-1839); Legends, German


1.

O ALL good Christians, be on your guard,
Lest Satan's wiles ensnare you!
I'll sing you the song of the Tannhauser bold,
That ye may duly beware you.

The noble Tannhauser, a valiant knight,
For love and pleasure yearning,
To the Venus' mount travell'd, and there he dwelt
Seven years without returning.

"Dear Venus, lovely mistress, farewell!
"Though much thou mayst enchant me,
"No longer will I tarry with thee,
"Permission to leave now grant me."

"Tannhauser, dear and noble knight,
"To-day you have kept from kissing;
"So kiss me quickly and tell me true.
"What is there in me you find missing?

"Have I each day the sweetest wine
"Not pour'd out for you gaily?
"And have I not always crown'd your head
"With fragrant roses daily?" --

"Dear Venus, lovely mistress, in truth
"My soul no longer finds pleasing
"These endless kisses and luscious wine, --
"I long for something that's teasing.

"Too much have we jested, too much have we laugh'd,
"My heart for tears has long panted;
"Each rose on my head I fain would see
"By pointed thorns supplanted." --
"Tannhauser, dear and noble knight,
"You fain would vex and grieve me;
"An oath you have sworn a thousand times
"That you would never leave me.

"Come, let us into the chamber go,
"To taste of love's rapture and gladness,
"And there my fair and lily-white form
"Shall drive away thy sadness." --

"Dear Venus, lovely mistress, thy charms
"Will bloom for ever and ever;
"As many already have glow'd for thee,
"So men will forget thee never!

"But when I think of the heroes and gods
"Who erst have taken their pleasure
"In clasping thy fair and lily-white form
"My anger knows no measure.

"Thy fair and lily-white figure with dread
"Is filling me even this minute,
"When thinking how many in after times
"Will still take pleasure in it!" --

"Tannhauser, dear and noble knight,
"You should not utter such treason;
"'Twere better to beat me, as you have before
"Oft done for many a season.

"'Twere better to beat me, than such harsh words
"Of insult thus to have spoken,
"Whereby, O Christian ungrateful and cold,
"The pride in my bosom is broken.

"Because I love you so much, I forgive
"Your evil words, thankless mortal;
"Farewell, I grant you permission to leave,
"I'll open myself the portal."

2.

IN Rome, in the holy city of Rome,
With singing and ringing and blowing
A grand procession is moving on,
The Pope in the middle is going.

The pious Pope Urban is his name,
The triple crown he is wearing,
He wears a red and purple robe,
And Barons his train are bearing.

"O holy Father, Pope Urban, stay!
"I will not move from my station,
"Until thou hast saved my soul from hell,
"And heard my supplication!" --

The ghostly songs are suddenly mute,
The people fall backwards dumbly;
O who is the pilgrim pale and wild
Who bends to the Pope so humbly?

"O holy Father, Pope Urban, to whom
"To bind and to loose not too much is,
"O save me from the pangs of hell,
"And out of the Evil One's clutches!

"By name, I'm the noble Tannhauser call'd;
"For love and pleasure yearning,
"To the Venus' mount I travell'd and dwelt
"Seven years there without returning.

"This Venus is a woman fair
"With charms of dazzling splendour;
"Like light of sun and flowers' sweet scent
"Her voice is gentle and tender.

"As a butterfly flutters around a flower
"And from its calyx sips too,
"So flutters my soul for evermore
"Around her rosy lips too.

"Around her noble features entwine
"Her blooming black locks wildly;
"Thy breath would be gone if once her great eyes
"Were fix'd upon thee mildly.

"If her great eyes upon thee were fix'd
"They surely would harass thee greatly;
"'Twas with the greatest trouble that I
"Escaped from the mountain lately.

"From out of the mountain I made my escape
"And yet for ever pursue me
"The looks of the beautiful woman, which seem
"To say 'O hasten back to me!"

"A wretched spectre by day I've become,
"At night I vainly would hide me
"In sleep, for I dream that my mistress dear
"Is sitting and laughing beside me.

"How clearly, how sweetly, how madly she laughs
"Her white teeth all the while showing!
"Whenever I think of that laugh, in streams
"The tears from my eyes begin flowing.

"I love her indeed with a boundless love
"That scorches me up to a cinder;
"Tis like a wild waterfall, whose fierce flood
"No barrier ever can hinder.

"It nimbly leaps from rock to rock
"With noisy foaming and boiling;
"Its neck it may break a thousand times,
"Yet on, still on, it keeps toiling.

"If all the expanse of the heavens were mine,
"To Venus the whole I'd surrender;
"I'd give her the sun, I'd give her the moon,
"I'd give her the stars in their splendour.

"I love her indeed with a boundless love,
"Whose flame within me rages;
"O say can this be the fire of hell,
"The glow that will last through all ages?

"O holy Father, Pope Urban, to whom
To bind and to loose not too much is,
"O save me from the pangs of hell,
"And out of the Evil One's clutches! --'

His hands the Pope raised sadly on high,
And sigh'd till these words he had spoken'
"Tannhauser, most unhappy knight,
"The charm can never be broken.

"The Devil whom they Venus call
"Is mighty for hurting and harming;
"I'm powerless quite to rescue thee
"From out of his talons so charming.

And so thy soul must expiate now
"Thy fleshly lusts infernal;
"Yes, thou art rejected, yes, thou art condemn'd
"To suffer hell's torments eternal."

3.

THE knight Tannhauser roam'd on till his feet
Were sore with his wanderings dreary.
At midnight's hour he came at length
To the Venus' mountain, full weary.

Fair Venus awoke from out of her sleep,
And out of her bed sprang lightly,
And clasp'd her fair and lily-white arms
Around her beloved one tightly.

From out of her nose the blood fell fast,
The tears from her eyes descended;
She cover'd the face of her darling knight
With blood and tears closely blended.

The knight lay quietly down in the bed,
And not one word has he spoken;
While Venus went to the kitchen, to make
Some soup, that his fast might be broken.

She gave him soup, and she gave him bread,
She wash'd his wounded feet, too;
She comb'd his rough and matted hair,
And laugh'd with a laugh full sweet, too.

"Tannhauser, dear and noble knight,
"Full long hast thou been wandering;
"O ay in what lands hast thou thy time
"So far from hence been squandering?"

"Dear Venus, lovely mistress, in truth
"In Italy I have been staying;
"I've had some bus'ness in Rome, and now
"Return without further delaying.

"Rome stands on the Tiber, just at the spot
"Where seven hills are meeting;
"In Rome I also beheld the Pope, --
"The Pope he sends thee his greeting.

"And Florence I saw, when on my return,
"And then through Milan I hasted,
"And next through Switzerland scrambled fast,
"And not one moment wasted.

"And when I travell'd over the Alps,
"The snow already was falling;
"The blue lakes sweetly on me smiled,
"The eagles were circling and calling.

"And when on the Mount St. Gothard I stood,
"Below me snored Germany loudly;
"Beneath the mild sway of thirty-six kings
"It slumber'd calmly and proudly.

"In Swabia I saw the poetical school
"Of dear little simpleton creatures;
"They sat together all ranged in a row,
"With very diminutive features.

"In Dresden I saw a certain dog,
"A sprig of the aristocracy;
"His teeth he had lost, and bark'd and yell'd
"Like one of the vulgar democracy.

"At Weimar, the Muses' widow'd seat,
"I heard them their sentiments giving;
"They wept and lamented that Goethe was dead,
"And Eckermann still 'mongst the living!

"At Potsdam I heard a very loud cry, --
"I said in amaze: 'What's the matter?' --
"'Tis Gans at Berlin, who last century's tale
"'Is reading and making this clatter.'

"At Gottingen knowledge was blossoming still,
"But bringing no fruit to perfection;
"'Twas dark as pitch when I got there at night,
"No light was in any direction.

"In the bridewell at Zell Hanoverians alone
"Were confined; at our next Reformation
"A national bridewell and one common lash
"We must have for the whole German nation.

"At Hamburg, in that excellent town,
"Many terrible rascals dwell still;
"And when I wander'd about the Exchange,
"I fancied myself in Zell still!

"At Hamburg I Altona saw; 'tis a spot
"In a charming situation;
"And all my adventures that there I met
"I'll tell on another occasion."





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net