another in the drama. This is art, not theory; we learn it from his
works, not from his writings. It is true that Wagner's writings
contain many very interesting and valuable speculations on artistic
problems. If these are his theories, he must have abjured them the
moment that he set to work composing. In _Oper und Drama_, for
example, he has a very interesting discussion on the value of
consonants in the German language and on the characteristic difference
between the expression of the consonant and that of the vowel,
arriving at the conclusion that alliteration is better suited for the
German musical drama than the imported rime. Further, he shows--rather
convincingly, I think--that the true subject for the drama is
mythical. But not long after this he wrote _Tristan und Isolde_,
in which alliteration is generally discarded for rime or blank verse,
and a little later _Meistersinger_, which is a comedy of domestic
life, and has nothing to do with mythology. Then there are the
_Leitmotivs_ which are used so methodically in the _Ring_
that it would seem there must have been some preconceived system. But
Wagner never once mentions _Leitmotivs_ in his writings, nor did
he invent them. They have been dragged into the light by von Wolzogen,
and whatever theories we have about them are due to him, not to
Wagner.

There is indeed one doctrine which runs through all his writings, and
may be taken as their general text, namely, that art is not an
amusement but a serious undertaking, consequently that purity and
truthfulness are just as necessary in art as in actual life. It is no
excuse for the artist who deceives to say that his work is "only
poetry," and has no serious significance. He carried this exalted
notion of the mission of art almost to excess, if such a thing is
possible with so noble an idea, when he insisted upon art being a