confessedly one of the most mystical of modern dramas. It may perchance
be considered as representing the strife between paganism and
Christianity in the early centuries of the Church,--the powers of magic
and the hot passions of the human heart contending against the advancing
power of Christian truth and the victorious might of Purity as portrayed
in the guileless hero. Or it may be considered as representing in a
mystic legend the spiritual history of Christ coming in later presence
among the sons of men and imaged in the mystic Parsifal. Wagner mentions
that this Scripture was often in his mind when writing Parsifal--"Hath
not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? The foolishness of God is
wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." Or this,
further, it may represent, in striking and inspiring way,--that the pure
in heart shall win the victories in life; that the guileless are the
valiant sons of God; that the heart that resists evil passion and is
touched by pity for the world's woe is the heart that reincarnates the
passionate purity of the Christ and can reveal again the healing power,
the Holy Grail of God.

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 o