revive the barricades of Dresden in the Temple of the Grail. Only
those who have never had any political enthusiasms to survive can
believe that such an attempt could succeed. G. B. S.

London, 1901



Preface to the First Edition

This book is a commentary on The Ring of the Niblungs, Wagner's
chief work. I offer it to those enthusiastic admirers of Wagner
who are unable to follow his ideas, and do not in the least
understand the dilemma of Wotan, though they are filled with
indignation at the irreverence of the Philistines who frankly
avow that they find the remarks of the god too often tedious and
nonsensical. Now to be devoted to Wagner merely as a dog is
devoted to his master, sharing a few elementary ideas, appetites
and emotions with him, and, for the rest, reverencing his
superiority without understanding it, is no true Wagnerism. Yet
nothing better is possible without a stock of ideas common to
master and disciple. Unfortunately, the ideas of the
revolutionary Wagner of 1848 are taught neither by the education
nor the experience of English and American gentlemen-amateurs,
who are almost always political mugwumps, and hardly ever
associate with revolutionists. The earlier attempts to translate
his numerous pamphlets and essays into English, resulted in
ludicrous mixtures of pure nonsense with the absurdest
distorsions of his ideas into the ideas of the translators. We
now have a translation which is a masterpiece of interpretation