clasps her in his arms, while Telramund and Ortrud,
his wife, bewail their disgrace, for, according to the law of
the land, they are doomed to poverty and exile. Their sorrow,
however, is quite unheeded by the enthusiastic spectators, who
set Elsa and Lohengrin upon their shields, and then bear them
off in triumph, to the glad accompaniment of martial strains:--

'CHORUS.

We sing to thee,--we praise thee,
To highest honour raise thee.
Stranger, we here greet thee delighted.
Wrong thou hast righted;
We gladly greet thee here.
Thee, thee we sing alone. Thy name shall live in story.
Oh, never will be one to rival thee in glory!'

It is night when the curtain rises upon the second act; the
knights are still revelling in the part of the palace they
occupy, while the women's apartments are dark and still. The
street is deserted, and on the steps of the cathedral sit
Frederick and Ortrud, who have been despoiled of their rich
garments, and are now clad like beggars.

Frederick, who feels his disgrace, bitterly reproaches his wife
for having blasted his career, and seeks to induce her to depart
with him ere day breaks; but Ortrud refuses to go. She is not yet
conquered, and passionately bids him rouse himself, and listen to
her plan, if he would recover his honour, retrieve his fortunes,
and avenge himself for his public defeat. She first persuades
him that the Swan Knight won the victory by magic arts only,
which was an unpardonable offence, and then declares that, if
Elsa could only be prevailed upon to disobey her champion's
injunctions and ask his name, the spell which protects him
would soon be broken, and he would soon become their prey.

Telramund, overjoyed at the prospect of wiping out his disgrace,
acquiesces eagerly, and as Elsa just then appears at her window
and softly apostrophises the evening breeze, Ortrud creeps out
of the shadow and timidly addresses her, simulating a distress
she is far from feeling.

Moved by compassion at the sight of the haughty woman thus laid
low, and touched by the pretended repentance she shows, Elsa,
whom happiness has made even more tender than usual, eagerly
hastens down with two of her attendants, and, opening the door,
bids her come in, promising to intercede in her behalf on the
morrow. During the subsequent brief conversation Ortrud artfully
manages to make Elsa vaguely uneasy, and to sow in her innocent
mind the fi