KING LUDWIG OF BAVARIA

WAGNER IN 1877

PALAZZO VENDRAMIN CALERGI, VENICE, WHERE
WAGNER DIED, FEB. 13, 1883

CARL TAUSIG




CHAPTER I

EARLY LIFE


I

As the springtide of 1813 was melting into early summer the poet and
musician of spring days and summer nights was born at the house of the
Red and White Lion on the Brühl in old Leipzig. The precise date was
May 22; and owing to many causes the 16th of August came round before,
at the church of St. Thomas, the child was christened Wilhelm Richard
Wagner. The events and circumstances of the period have furnished the
imaginative with many striking portents with regard to the future
mighty composer; and, to do the prophets full justice, after the
event--long after the event--they have widely opened their mouths and
uttered prophecies. Thus the name of the house, describing a beast