Tannhäuser, the Legende

According to German legend, Tannhäuser was a knight and poet, who found the Venusburg, or subterranean home of Venus. He spent a year there worshipping Venus.

After leaving the Venusburg, Tannhäuser became filled with remorse. He travelled to Rome asking Pope Urban if it would be possible to be absolved of his sins. Urban replied that it was just as impossible for his papal staff to blossom. Three days after Tannhäuser returned to Vienna, Urban's staff supposedly bloomed with flowers.

Algernon Swinburne's poem Laus Veneris published in 1866 explores the destructive power of Venus' love:
'Her little chambers drip with flower-like red, ...
Her gateways smoke with fume of flowers and fire,
With loves burnt out and unassuaged desires
Between her lips the steam of them is sweet
The languor in her eyes of many lyres... ...
Her beds are full of perfumes and sad sound,
Her doors are made with music, and barred round
With sighing and with laughter and with tears,
With tears whereby strong souls of men are bound.'