Giving up the desire for the eternal and choosing human love in German Opera

 This lure of eternity can take many forms, from  post mortal Fame to fulfilling one’s social role.

What if the gesture of choosing temporal  existence, of giving up eternal existence for the sake of love—from Christ to  Siegmund  in Act II of Wagner’s Die  Walküre, who prefers to remain a common mortal if his beloved Sieglinde cannot follow him to Valhalla, the eternal dwelling-place of dead heroes—is the highest ethical act of them all? 

The shattered  Brünnhilde  comments on this refusal: “So little do you value everlasting bliss? Is she everything to you, this poor woman who, tired and sorrowful, lies limp in your lap? Do you think  nothing less glorious