k about if they wish to talk at all;
and the scene serves to sustain and to intensify the atmosphere in
which the whole drama is enacted, the atmosphere of the old sagas. But
I cheerfully concede that it is far too long, and in many respects an
artistic error.

The real drama of _Siegfried_, considering it as a separate,
self-contained opera, is now prepared for, and forthwith begins. We
know Siegfried and the task before him; we know Mime and _his_
task--to find out if Siegfried can be made to fear, and if he cannot,
to encourage him to kill the dragon, win the gold, and then to poison
him. He tries Siegfried with stories of terror, asks him if he has
never felt afraid of this, that and the other; and finding that this
is the veritable Hero, makes his preparation. Siegfried takes the
splinters of the sword--the splinters no smith can weld
together--files them to dust, melts the dust, re-casts the sword and
finishes it. Meantime Mime, working on, brews his poisonous broth,
muttering to himself about his purpose. At the end Siegfried tests the
sword and proves it true by splitting the anvil. All sorts of
allegorical meanings may be found in this gigantic scene; but the
plain meaning is that to a hero, unique, unparalleled in the history
of the world, a patched-up weapon, used previously by lesser men, is
useless: his sword must be new, and only he himself can forge it.

III

Before dealing further with the drama of _Siegfried_ I wish, for a
reason, to say a few words about the music of this First Act. From
_Tannhaeuser_ onward Wagner showed in the music of his operas a
complete mastery of what can only be called the business-artistic side
of his art, or perhaps a complete knowledge of effectiveness. In so
long an affair as an opera, and especially a Wagner opera,
effectiveness depends largely on contrast, not simply between scene
and scene of an act, but also in a more marked degree between act and
act of an opera. In the _Dutchman_ there is none of this larger
contrast, and could hardly be, for the _Dutchman_ was originally
planned as an opera in one act. There is contrast enough, but he
contrasts set-piece with set-piece, scene with scene, not act with
act. In _Tannhaeuser_ he works on the bigger scale and contrasts act
with act: the opening of the Second reveals a totally different mood
from that of the First, and the Third is entirely different from
either. This is true of the _Valkyrie_; but the _Rhinegold_, l