Page:MU KPB 001 The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie - Illustrated by Artur Rackham.pdf/219

	That ye wild ones might weep and whine When my wrath on a faithless one falls? Learn, wretched whimperers, What was the crime Of her for whom Ye are shedding those tears. No one but she Knew what most deeply I brooded; No one but she Pierced to the source of my being; Through her deeds All, I wished to be, came to birth. This sacred bond So completely she broke That she defied me, Opposing my will, Her master’s command Openly mocked, And against me pointed the spear That she held from me alone. Hearest, Brünnhilde? Thou who didst hold Thy helm and spear, Grace and delight, Life and name as my gift! Hearing my voice thus accusing, Dost hide from me in terror, A coward who shirks her doom?
Brünnhilde Steps out from the	Here I am, Father, Awaiting thy sentence!
band of Valkyries, and humbly but with a firm ſtep descends from the rocky peak until within a ſhort diſtance from Wotan.
Wotan	I—sentence thee not; Thou hast shaped thy doom for thyself. Through my will only

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