Ready-made admiration is dangerous. It behooves us to study Parsifal for ourselves, and not accept as gospel the uncritical enthusiasms of the Wagnerite who is without a sense of the eternal fitness of things. One ounce of humor, of common sense, puts to flight the sham ethical and the sham æsthetical of the Parsifal worshippers. And level-headed study should prove of profit. The composition is a miracle of polyphonic architecture—and it is also the weakest that its creator ever planned.
PARSIFAL
Parsifal a vaincu les filles, leur gentil
Babil et la luxure amusante et sa pente
Vers la chair de garçon vierge que cela tente
D’aimer les seins légers et ce gentil babil.
Il a vaincu la femme belle au cœur subtil
Étalant ces bras frais et sa gorge excitante;
Il a vaincu l’enfer, et rentre dans sa tente
Avec un lourd trophée à son bras puéril.