’He doth return, no more to wander;
    Our loved and lost is ours again. 
    All praise and thanks to those we render
    Who could persuade, and not in vain. 
    Now let your harps indite a measure
    Of all that hero’s hand may dare,
    Of all that poet’s heart can pleasure,
    Before the fairest of the fair.’

The second act is played in the great hall of the Wartburg castle, which is festively decorated, for the minstrels are again to contend for the prize of song, a laurel wreath which will again be bestowed as of yore by the fair hands of the beloved Princess Elizabeth.  As the curtain rises she is alone in the hall, no longer pale and wan, but radiant with happiness, for she knows that Tannhaeuser, her lover, has returned, and she momentarily expects him to appear.  While she is greeting the well known hall, the scene of her lover’s former triumphs, with a rapturous little outburst of song, the door suddenly opens and Wolfram appears, leading the penitent Tannhaeuser, who rushes forward and falls at Elizabeth’s feet, while his friend discreetly withdraws.  Elizabeth would fain raise the knight, telling him it is unbecoming for him to assume so humble an attitude beneath the roof where he has triumphed over all rivals, and she tenderly asks where he has lingered so long.  Tannhaeuser, ashamed of the past, and absorbed in the present, declares that he has been far away, in the land of oblivion, where he has forgotten all save her alone:—­

   ’Far away in strange and distant regions,
    And between yesterday and to-day oblivion’s veil hath fallen. 
    Every remembrance hath forever vanished,
    Save one thing only, rising from the darkness,—­
    That I then dared not hope I should behold thee,
    Nor ever raise mine eyes to thy perfection.’

Elizabeth is so happy to see him once more, so ready to forgive him at the very first word of repentance, that Tannhaeuser cannot but see how dearly she loves him, and they soon unite in a duet of complete bliss, rejoicing openly over their reunion, and vowing to love each other forever, and never to part again.

The Landgrave appears just as their song is ended, to congratulate Elizabeth upon having at last left her seclusion and honoured the minstrels with her presence.  In conclusion, he declares that, as all the contestants know she will be there to bestow the prize, the rivalry will be greater than ever.  He is interrupted in this speech, however, by the entrance of knights and nobles, who file in singing a chorus in praise of the noble hall, and of Hermann, Landgrave of Thuringia, the patron of song, whom they repeatedly cheer.  When they have all taken their appointed places, the Landgrave, rising in his seat, addresses them, bidding them welcome, reminding them of the high aims of their art, and telling them that, while the theme he is about to propose for their lays is love, the princess herself will bestow as prize whatever the winner may ask:—­