Those who desire to study further the mystical and
spiritual meanings will find much helpful suggestion
in such books as The Argument and Mystery of Parsifal,
by Charles T. Gatty, F.S.A. (London); A Study of Parsifal,
by Alfred Gurney, M.A. (London); Parsifal,—the
Finding of Christ through Art, by A.R. Parsons
(New York); or My Musical Memories, by Rev. H.R.
Haweis (chapter on “Parsifal").
It may be some time before the real Parsifal as given
at Bayreuth is fully appreciated by the English-speaking
public, although shortly the special conditions which
have hitherto reserved its production to Bayreuth
alone will be released, and the great drama will be
heard in other musical centres. This version
is intended to be a vivid reminder of the drama to
those who have seen it at Bayreuth, and also to give
to those who have not seen it a fuller glimpse of
the majestic story than has hitherto been possible
to find in English. The genius of Wagner as a
musician has so far overshadowed all else, that his
genius as a poet and as an exquisite reteller of the
old legends has not been fully appreciated.
Galahad, as Tennyson portrays him, will always hold
the first place with English readers as the ideal
knight of the Holy Grail. The matchless diction
of Tennyson has given the less perfect form of the
legend a supreme charm and beauty. But Wolfram
von Eschenbach’s Parsifal, as spiritualized
and humanized in Wagner’s lyric drama, will be
seen to be in fuller accord with the whole cycle and
development of the Grail legends, and at the same
time gives the nobler story. It is a consummate
parable of the contending passions and the heavenly
aspiration, the ineffable pity and the mystic glory,
of the human heart. It portrays an intensely
human and heroic life, imaginatively identified with
that of the very Christ.
“However mediaeval the language and symbolism
of Parsifal may be,” says a modern critic, “one
cannot but acknowledge the simplicity and power of
the story. Its spiritual significance is universal.
Whatever more it may mean, we see clearly that the
guileless knight is Purity, Kundry is the Wickedness
of the world expressed in its most enticing form, and
King Amfortas suffering with his open wound is Humanity.
One cannot read the drama without a thrill, without
a clutching at the heart, at its marvellous meaning,
its uplifting and ennobling lessons.”
O.H.
Baltimore, Maryland, January 7th, 1903.
PARSIFAL. PART I
THE COMING OF PARSIFAL
Within a noble stretch of mountain woods,
Primeval forest, deep and dark and grand,
There rose a glorious castle towering high,—
And at its foot a smiling, shimmering lake
Lay in the still lap of a verdant glade.
’T was daybreak, and the arrows of the dawn
Were shot in golden glory through the trees,
And from the castle came a trumpet blast
To waken life in all the slumbering host,—
Warriors and yeomen in the castle halls.
