“Parsifal” by Richard Wagner libretto (English)

Contents: Characters; Act One; Act Two; Act Three

ACT THREE

In the domain of the Grail.

A pleasant, open spring landscape with a background of gently rising flowery meadows. The edge of the forest forms the foreground, and extends to the right to rising rocky ground. In the foreground, by the side of the wood, a spring; facing it, a little further back, a humble hermit's hut leaning against a mass of rock. Very early morning.

(Gurnemanz, now a very old man, clad as a hermit only in the tunic of the knights of the Grail, comes out of the hut and listens.)

GURNEMANZ

From yonder came the groaning.
No beast cries so piteously,
least of all today on this most holy morning.
I seem to know that sound of lamenting.

(muffed groaning in Kundry's voice.
Gurnemanz walks firmly
to a densely overgrown
thorn thicket at the side,
forces the undergrowth
apart, then stops
suddenly)

Ha! She here again?
The rough wintry thorn
has been concealing her: for how long? -
Up! Kundry! Up!
Winter has fled, and Spring is here!
Awake! Awake to the Spring! -
Cold and stiff!
This time she may well be dead:
yet it was her groaning I heard.

(He drags Kundry, quite stiff and lifeless, out of the bushes and carries her to a nearby grassy mound. He does his utmost to restore Kundry's numb circulation. Gradually life seems to return to her. When at last she opens her eyes, she utters a cry. Kundry is in the coarse robe of a penitent, similar to that in Act One, but her face is paler and the wildness has vanished from her looks and behaviour. - She gazes long at Gurnemanz. Then she rises, arranges her cloathing and hair and at once sets to work like a serving-maid.)

GURNEMANZ

You crazy woman!
Have you no word for me?
Are these your thanks
for having woken you again
from deathly sleep?

KUNDRY
(slowly bows her head: then hoarsely
and brokenly brings out the words)

Let me serve... serve!

GURNEMANZ
(shaking his head)
It will give you little work!
We send out no more on messages:
herbs and roots
each finds for himself;
we've learnt that from the beasts in the forest.

(Kundry has meanwhile been looking about her, noticed the hut and gone inside.)

GURNEMANZ
(gazes after her in astonishment)

How differently she moves from before!
Has the holy day brought this about?
O day of mercy beyond compare!
In truth it was for her salvation
that I was able to awake that poor soul
today from the sleep of death.

(Kundry returns from the hut: she carries a water-pitcher and goes with it to the spring. Looking into the forest, she perceives someone coming from the distance and turns to Gurnemanz to point this out to him.)

GURNEMANZ
(looks into the wood)

Who there is approaching the holy spring,
in sombre apparel of war?
That is none of the brethren!

(Kundry moves away with the filled pitcher into the hut,
where she busies herself.)

(Parsifal emerges from the forest, entirely accoutred in black armour: with closed helm and lowered spear he strides slowly forward with head bowed, dreamily and uncertainly, and seats himself on the small grassy mound by the spring.)

GURNEMANZ
(after gazing long in astonishment
at Parsifal, now draws nearer to him.)

Greeting, guest!
Have you lost your way, and may I direct you?

(Parsifal gently shakes his head)

Do you offer me no greeting?

(Parsifal bows his head)
(Gurnemanz angry:)

Hey! What?
If your vows
constrain you to be silent to me,
then mine charge me
to tell you what is fitting.
Here you are in a hallowed place:
no man comes here armed,
with vizored helmet, shield and spear;
and today of all days! Do you not know
what holy day this is?

(Parsifal shakes his head)

No? Then whence come you?
Among what heathen have you dwelt,
not to know that today
is the supremely holy Good Friday?

(Parsifal bows his head still lower)

Lay down your weapons!
Do not offend the Lord, who today,
bereft of alla arms, offered His holy blood
to redeem the sinful world!

(Parsifal rises after a further silence, thrusts the Spear into the ground before him, lays shield and sword beneath it, opens his helmet, takes it from his head and lays it with the other arms, then kneels before the Spear in silent prayer. Gurnemanz watches Parsifal with astonishment and emotion. He beckons to Kundry, who has just emerged from the hut. Parsifal raises his eyes devoutly to the spearhead.)

GURNEMANZ
(to Kundry)
Do you recognise him?
It is he who once killed the swan.

(Kundry assents with a slight nod of the head)
It is indeed he, the fool
whom I wrathfully drove away.

(Kundry gazes fixedly, but calmly at Parsifal)

Ah! How did he find the way?
The Spear! I recognize it!

(with great emotion)

O most holy day
for me to awaken to now!

(Kundry has turned her face away.)

PARSIFAL
(rises slowly from prayer, looks calmly
about him, recognises Gurnemanz
and gently offers his hand in greeting.)

I rejoice to have found you again!

GURNEMANZ
Then you still know me too?
You recognise me again,
though grief and care have bowed me so low?
How have you come now, and from where?

PARSIFAL

Through error and the path of suffering I came;
may I not think myself freed from it,
now that I hear again
the murmur of the forest
and greet you anew, good old man?
Or do I still err?
Everything seems changed.

GURNEMANZ

But tell me, to whom were you seeking the way?

PARSIFAL

To him whose deep lamenting
I once heard in foolish wonder,
to bring him salvation
I dare think myself ordained.
But ah!
An evil curse drove me about
in trackless wandering,
never to find the way to healing;
numberless dangers,
battles and conflicts
forced me from my path
even when I thought I knew it.
Then I was forced to despair
of holding unsullied the treasure
to defend and guard which
I earned wounds from every weapon;
for I dared not wield this
itself in conflict;
unprofaned
I have borne it beside me
and now bring it home,
gleaming clean and bright before you,
the holy Spear of the Grail.

GURNEMANZ
(breaking out in a transport of joy)

O mercy! Bounteous grace!
O wonder! Holy, highest wonder!

(after somewhat composing himself)

Sir knight! If it was a curse
which drove you from the rightful path,
be sure its power is broken.
Here you are: this is the domain of the Grail
whose brotherhood awaits you.
Ah, it needs the healing,
the healing that you bring! -
Since the day you tarried here,
the sorrow then made known to you, the anguish,
increased to the extremes of distress.
Amfortas, fighting against his wound,
which brought torment to his soul,
in maddened defiance craved only for death.
No entreaties, no misery of his knights
could move him to perform again his holy office.
The Grail has long lain enclosed within the shrine;
thus its guardian, repentant of his sin,
hopes to hasten his end,
since he cannot die
while he beholds it,
and with his life to end his torment.
The divine bread is now defined us,
and common food must sustain us;
thereby our heroes' strenght is exhausted.
Never more do messages come here
or calls from afar to holy war;
our dispirited and leaderless knighthood
wander about, pale and woeful.
In this corner of the forest I myself lie hidden,
silently awaiting that death
to which my aged warrior lord surrendered.
For Titurel, my holy hero,
whom the sight of the Grail no longer revived,
is dead - a man like all men!

PARSIFAL
(springing up
in intense grief)

And it is I, I,
who caused all this woe!
Ah! what transgression,
what burden of guilt
must my foolish head
have borne from eternity,
since no repentance, no atonement
can free me of my blindness;
though I was appointed for deliverance,
the last path of deliverance escapes me,
lost as I am in hopeless error!

(He seems about to fall in a faint. Gurnemanz holds him upright and sets him down on the grassy mound. Kundry hurriedly fetches a blowl of water with which to sprinkle Parsifal)

GURNEMANZ
(gently repulsing Kundry)

Not with this! -
The holy spring itself
shall refresh and bathe our pilgrim.

I suspect he has today
to fulfil a lofty task,
to perform the holy office.
Then let him be free of stain,
and the dust of lengthy wanderings
now be washed from him.

(Parsifal gently led by the two to the edge of the spring. During the following Kundry loosens his greaves while Gurnemanz removes his body armour.)

PARSIFAL

Shall I be led today to Amfortas?

GURNEMANZ
(as he busies himself)

Assuredly; the great castle awaits us:
the solemn death-rites of my dear lord
summon me within.
Once more to reveal to us the Grail,
once more to serve today
the long-neglected Office -
to sanctify the noble father
slain by his son's misdeed,
which he thus now may expiate -
this Amfortas has vowed to us.

(Kundry bathes Parsifal's feet with humble zeal. Parsifal watches her in silent wonder.)

PARSIFAL
(to Kundry)

You wash my feet,
now bathe my head, oh friend!

GURNEMANZ
(scoops his hand in the spring
and sprinkles Parsifal's head)

May this purity bless you, pure one!
Thus may the load
of all guilt be washed away!

(While Gurnemanz solemnly sprinkles the water, Kundry draws from her bosom a golden phial and pours part of its contents over Parsifal's feet, which she then dries with her hastily unbound hair)

PARSIFAL
(gently taking the phial from Kundry
and handing it to Gurnemanz)

You have anointed my feet,
let Titurel's knight anoint my head,
that he may greet me today as king!

GURNEMANZ
(empties the phial over
Parsifal's head, gently strokes it
and then folds his hands upon it)

Thus was it promised to us;
thus do I bless your head,
as king to greet you.
Pure of heart!
Pitying sufferer,
enlightened healer!
As you have endured the sufferings of the redeemed,
lift the last burden from his head!

PARSIFAL
(unpercelved, he scoops up water from the
spring, bends over Kundry, still kneeling
before him, and sprinkles her head.)

My first office I thus perform:
Receive this baptism,
and believe in the Redeemer!

(Kundry bows her head to the ground
and appears to weep bitterly)
(Parsifal turns and gazes
in gentle rapture on wood and meadow,
which are now glowing in the morning light)

How fair seem the meadows today!
Once I came upon magic flowers
which twined their tainted tendrils about my head;
but never did I see so fresh and charming
the grass, the blossoms and flowers,
nor did they smell so sweet of youth
or speak with such tender love to me.

GURNEMANZ

That is the magic of Good Friday, my lord!

PARSIFAL

Alas for that day of utmost grief!
Now, I feel, should all that blooms,
that breathes, lives and lives anew
only mourn and weep!

GURNEMANZ

You see that it is not so.
It is the tears of repentant sinners
that today with holy dew
besprinkle field and meadow:
thus they make them flourish.
Now all creation rejoices
at the Saviour's sign of love
and dedicates to Him its prayer.
No more can it see Him Himself on the Cross;
it looks up to man redeemed,
who feels freed from the burden of sin and terror,
made clean and whole through God's loving sacrifice.
Now grasses and flowers in the meadow know
that today the foot of man will not tread them down,
but that, as God with divine patience
pitied him and suffered for him,
so man today in devout grace
will spare them with soft tread.
Thus all creation gives thanks,
all that here blooms and soon fades,
now that nature, absolved from sin,
today gains its day of innocence.

(Kundry has slowly raised her head again and looks up at Parsifal with teaful eyes in calm and earnest enteaty)

PARSIFAL

I saw them that once mocked me wither:
do they long for redemption today? -
Your tears too are a dew of blessing:
you weep - and see, the meadow smiles.

(He kisses her gently on the forehead)

(A peal of bells in the far distance)

GURNEMANZ

Midday:
the hour has come.
My lord, permit your servant to guide you!

(Gurnemanz has brought out his mantle of the knights of the Grail, and he and Kundry invest Parsifal with it. Parsifal solemnly takes up the Spear and with Kundry follows Gurnemanz, who slowly leads the way. - The scene very gradually changes, as in Act One, but from right to left. After remaining visible for a time the three disappear completely from sight as the forest gradually vanishes and rocky vaults draw near in its place. In the vaulted passages the sound of bells increasingly grows in intensity. The rocky walls open disclosing once more, as in Act One, the great hall of the Grail, but without the festal tables. Dim lighting. From one side enter knoghts bearing Titurel's body in a coffin, from the other those carrying Amfortas on a litter, preceded by the covered shrine with the Grail.)

FIRST PROCESSION
(with the Grail and Amfortas)

We carry in its sheltering shine
the Grail to the holy Office;
whom do you shelter in yon gloomy shrine
and bear here in sorrow?

SECOND PROCESSION
(with Titurel's body)

Within the shrine of mourning
lies the hero with the holy strength,
whom God Himself once took as His guardian:
we bear Titurel hither.

FIRST PROCESSION

Who brought him low that, in God's keeping,
once guarded God Himself?

SECOND PROCESSION

The conquering weight of years laid him low,
since he no more might look upon the Grail.

FIRST PROCESSION

Who barred him from looking of the Grail?

SECOND PROCESSION

He whom you carry there, its sinful guardian.

FIRST PROCESSION

We bear him in today, because once more -
for the last time -
he will serve the Office.

ZWEITER ZUG
(Amfortas is now set down
on the couch behin the altar
of the Grail, the coffin
placed in front; the knights
turn towards him.)

Alas! Alas! Guardian of the Grail!
For the last time!
Be mindful of your charge!
AMFORTAS

(feebly raising himself a little)

Alas indeed! Alas! Woe be on me!
Thus I willingly cry with you.
More willingly yet would I accept from you death,
the lightest atonement for sin!

(The coffin is opened. At the sight of Titurel's body all utter a sudden cry of woe.)

AMFORTAS
(raises himself high on his couch
and turns towards the body.)
My father!
Most blessed of heroes!
Most pure, to whom once the angels bowed:
I, who alone longed to die,
to you brought death!
O you who in divine radiance
do behold the Redeemer's very self,
entreat of Him that His holy blood,
if once more today His blessing
shall revive these my brothers,
as it gives them new life
may at least grant me death!
Death! - To die!
Unique mercy!
Take from me the hideous wound, the poison,
paralyse the heart it eats away!
My father! As I call to you,
I beg you call to Him:
"Redeemer, grant my son repose!"

KNIGHTS
(pressing closer
to Amfortas)

Uncover the Grail! -
Serve the Office!
Your father exhorts you -
You must! You must!

AMFORTAS
(leaps up in wild despair
and rushes among
the knights, who recoil)

No! No more! Ha!
Already I feel the darkness of death enshround me,
and must I yet again return to life?
Madmen!
Who would force me to live?
Could you but grant me death!

(He tears open his garment)

Here I am - here is the open wound!
Here flows my blood, that poisons me.
Draw your weapons! Plunge your swords
in deep - deep, up to the hilt!
Up, you heroes!

Slay the sinner with his agony,
then once more the Grail shall shine clear on you!

(All have shrunk back in dread from Amfortas. Parsifal, accompanied by Gurnemanz and Kundry, has appeared unobserved among the knights and now steps forward and extends the Spear, touching Amfortas's side with its point.)

PARSIFAL

But one weapon serves:
only the Spear that smote you
can heal your wound.

(Amfortas's features light up in holy ecstasy; he seems to stagger under overpowering emotion; Gurnemanz supports him.)

PARSIFAL
Be whole, absolved and atoned!
For I now will perform your task.
O blessed be your suffering,
that gave pity's mighty power
and purest wisdom's might
to the timorous fool!

(Parsifal steps towards the centre,
holding the Spear aloft before him)

I bring back to you
the holy Spear!

(All gaze in supreme rapture
at the uplifted Spear
to whose point Parsifal raises
his eyes and continues ecstatically)

O supreme joy of this miracle!
This that could heal your wound
I see pouring with holy blood
yearning for that kindred fount
which flows and wells within the Grail.
No more shall it be hidden:
uncover the Grail, open the shrine!

(Parsifal mounts the altar steps, takes the Grail from the shrine already opened by the squires, and falls to his knees before it in silent prayer and contemplation. - The Grail gradually glows with a soft light. - Increasing darkness below and growing illumination from above.)

ALL
(with barely audiable voices
from the middle and apex
of the dome)

Miracle of supreme salvation!
Our Redeemer redeemed!

(A beam of light: the Grail glows at its brightest. From the dome a white dove descends and hovers over Parsifal's head. - Kundry slowly sinks lifeless to the ground in front of Parsifal, her eyes uplifted to him. Amfortas and Gurnemanz kneel in homage to Parsifal, who waves the Grail in blessing over the worshipping brotherhood of knights.)

Contents: Characters; Act One; Act Two; Act Three