Tannhäuser with Venus, surrounded by cherubim by Joseph Matthäus Aigner 1845
"VENUS
Ah, what do I hear? What foolish complaints!
Are you so soon weary of the sweet wonders
which my love has lavished on you?
Or can it be you so regret being a God?
Have you so soon forgotten how once you suffered,
while now you live here lapped in delights?
My singer, rise! Take up your harp!
Extol love, which you lauded with such rapture
that you won for yourself the Goddess of love!
Extol love, for its highest prize is yours!
TANNHÄUSER
Let your praises resound! Glorified be
the wonders your might has wrought for my bliss!
Let my song in loud and joyful tones
extol the sweet delights flowing from your bounty!
My heart yearned, my soul thirsted
for joy, ah! for divine pleasure:
what once you showed only to Gods
your favour has bestowed upon a mortal.
But alas! I have remained mortal,
and your love overwhelms me.
Though a God can savour joy for ever,
I am subject to change;
I have at heart not pleasure alone,
and in my joy long for suffering.
From your kingdom I must flee;
O queen, o Goddess, set me free!"
-Richard Wagner, Tannhäuser and the Minnesingers' Contest at Wartburg
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| Tannhäuser with Venus, surrounded by cherubim by Joseph Matthäus Aigner 1845. |
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| The mural in Neuschwanstein Castle. |
Source:
https://www.alamy.com/tannhuser-opera-by-richard-wagner-thannhuser-im-venusberg-tannhuser-image159142330.html
https://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/idea/sagas/tannhaeuser.htm
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