Just when you are lulled, engrossed,
Your guard is down
Toward opera’s predators and hosts,
The legend balks:
The hero and heroine drown;
A kobold leaping from the wings attacks
You, onlooker,
And Valkyries in a choir
Shriek an alien, other score that cracks
The groundlings’ subterranean desire.
Brunhilda has sung; Siegfried has ridden his horse;
The lights come up; the listeners clamor and fawn;
But what of Alberich, the evil dwarf?
A gold dwarf conifer shimmers on the lawn
And steals your sense with never a glint of remorse.
Kobold – (Pronounced KŌ-bald) In German folklore, a gnome haunting underground places.
Valkyries – In Norse mythology, celestial warrior maidens who rode flying steeds and conducted the souls of slain heroes to Valhalla.
Groundling – 1) One who lives close to the ground; and 2) a spectator who stands in the pit of a theater.
Brunhilda has sung – In Teutonic legend, Brunhilda is the queen of the Valkyries; Brunhilda, Siegfried, and Alberich are leading figures in The Ring of the Nibelungs, a cycle of four linked operas by composer Richard Wagner (1813‑1883).
Siegfried has ridden his horse – In Wagner’s opera, Siegfried rides his horse through a ring of fire to waken Brunhilda from an enchanted sleep.
Alberich, the evil dwarf – In Wagner’s opera cycle, Alberich is one of the Nibelungs, a race of cunning, treacherous gnomes who live deep in the earth; he steals gold from the Rhine River and forges it into a ring which is to make him all‑powerful.
Dwarf conifer – In horticulture, a dwarf is a normal but small-sized species of tree or shrub often prized for its ornamental qualities; varieties include dwarf conifers, dwarf maples, and dwarf fruit trees.