our lovely night of enchantment! Descend will I to your court,
where your beauty shall shine upon me forevermore!" Wolfram tries
vainly to stop him. He will not be stopped,--all the more ardently
he calls: "Oh, let me not seek in vain! How easily once did I find
my way to you! You have heard that men curse me; now, sweetest
goddess, guide me to yourself!... Ha!" he cries, in a moment, to
Wolfram wrestling all unheeded to turn him from his deadly purpose,
"Ha, do you not feel soft gusts of air?... Do you not smell exquisite
odours?... Do you not hear jubilant music?" Rosy vapours are rolling
near; dancing forms define themselves in the soft increasing glow.
Tannhaeuser madly calls them to him, while struggling to release
himself from Wolfram's obstinate hold. "It is the dancing rout
of the nymphs! Come hither! Come hither, to pleasure and delight!
Oh, enchantment pervades all my senses, at beholding once more
that rosy light of dawn! It is the magic realm of love, we are
entering into the Hill of Venus!"--"Woe!" shudders Wolfram; "It is
evil sorcery unfolding its insidious snares! It is Hell approaching
at mad career!"

The radiant form of Venus appears in the midst of the rosy atmosphere,
Venus holding out to the recreant knight her perfect arms. "Welcome,
faithless man! Has the world condemned and rejected you? And do you,
finding no mercy anywhere, come seeking love now in my arms?" Wolfram
speaks exorcisms rapid and vigorous as he can, while Tannhaeuser
stretches his hands toward the soft vision: "Oh, Venus, Lady, rich
in forbearance! To you, to you I come!" With tenderest smiles she
holds forth forgiveness. "Since you are returned to my threshold,
your revolt shall be condoned. The well of joy shall gush for you
forever, never shall you go from me again!" With the desperate
cry: "All hope of Heaven is lost to me, I choose therefore the
pleasures of Hell!" Tannhaeuser tears himself free from Wolfram.
Wolfram seizes him again, calling upon the help of the Almighty,
not to be thrown off. The battle over Tannhaeuser is hot between
Wolfram and Venus, this one calling him to her, that one physically
holding him back, while the insensate man orders him off, tries to
loose himself and rush to her. "Heinrich, one word--" Wolfram makes
the last appeal; "One word and you are free! Oh, sinner though you
be, you shall yet be saved. An angel prayed for you on earth; ere
long, shedding benedictions, she will hover above you... El