with
soft words and tears. But this time her beauty is lost upon him: he
has at last recognized her false soul; with noble pride he scorns her,
prefering to expiate his follies, by dying in the desert. He curses
her, praying to God to save him from the temptress.--Henceforth he
thinks only of Sulamith and invokes Heaven's benediction on her. He is
dying in the dreadful heat of the desert, when Sulamith appears, the
faithful one who without resting has sought her bridegroom till now.
But alas, in vain she kneels beside him couching his head on her bosom;
his life is fast ebbing away.--Heaven has granted his last wish; he
sees Sulamith before his death and with the sigh: "Liberation!", he
sinks back and expires.

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THE NIBELUNGEN RING.

A Festival-Play in three days and a fore-evening by RICHARD WAGNER.

THE RHINEGOLD.

The grand dramatic work, which cannot any longer with justice be called
an opera, differing as it does so considerably from the ordinary style
of these, is the result of many years of study and hard work.

Wagner took the subject from the German mythology, the oldest
representative of which is found in the Edda.

We have first to do with the fore-evening, called the "Rhinegold."

The first scene is laid in the very depths of the Rhine, where we see
three nymphs, frolicking in the water. They are the guardians of the
Rhinegold which glimmers on a rock.

Alberich, a Nibelung, highly charmed by their grace and beauty, tries
to make love to each one of them alternately. As he is an ugly dwarf,
they at first allure and then deride him, gliding away as soon as he
comes near and laughing at him.--Discovering their mockery at last, he
swears vengeance. He sees the Rhinegold shining brightly, and asks the
nymphs what it means. They tell him of its wonderful qualities, which
would render the owner all-powerful, if he should form it into a ring
and forswear love.

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Alberich, listening attentively, all at once climbs the rock, and
before the frightened nymphs can cry for help, has grasped the treasure
and disappeared. Darkness comes on; the scene changes into an open
district on mountain-heights. In the back-ground we see a grand
castle, which the rising sun illumines. Wotan, the father of the gods,
and Fricka, his wife, are slumbering on the ground. Awakening, their
eyes fall on the castle for the first time. It is the "Walhalla", the
palace, which the giants have built f