Norma (1974) - full transcript
To the hills, o Druids,
To watch over the Heavens;
When the new moon reveals
Her silver disk,
With the first smile
Of her virgin face...
Let the mystic priestly gong
Sound its triple signal
Will Norma come
to cut the sacred mistletoe?
She will.
Yes she will. Yes. Yes.
Inspire her, O terrible God,
With Thy prophetic spirit;
Inspire her, O Irminsul,
With hate and anger against the Romans,
That this peace, fatal to us,
May be broken, yes.
Yes, God will speak in anger,
From these ancient oaks;
He will free this land
Of the hated Roman eagles.
The sound of his mighty shield,
Like the crash of thunder
In the cities of Caesar,
Shall echo at last...
O moon, hasten, rise!
Norma will come to the altar...
O moon, hasten, rise!
The voices have died away.
The path now is free through the awful wood.
In this forest lurks Death.
Norma told you so.
You have spoken a name
Which chills my heart.
What are you saying? Your beloved,
The mother of your children!
There is no reproach which you can make me
that I do not already feel.
But in my heart the flame is dead
extinguished by a God
who is the foe of my peace.
At my feet
I see the abyss, and therein I cast myself.
Do you love another?
Speak softly!
Ah yes, another. Adalgisa!
You will see her.
Innocent and laughing with sweetness
and love.
She is a priestess in the temple
of this blood maddened God,
yet she seems
like starlight in a troubled sky.
My wretched friend!
And does she love you as you do her?
I am sure she does.
Do you not fear
the wrath of Norma?
It will be terrible,
as my remorse already shows me in a dream.
Tell me.
Even recalling it, I tremble!
Adalgisa was with me, in Rome,
at the altar of Venus,
Dressed in pure white
With flowers in her hair.
As she heard the hymns of Hymen
And breathed the holy incense,
Her senses were enraptured
With the joy of love...
Suddenly between us there descended
a horrible shadow,
and the great Druidic mantle
enfolded her like smoke.
Lightning flashed on the altar,
And the day was veiled in darkness.
Silently, all around,
Rose a tomb like horror.
The beloved maiden
is no longer at my side.
From afar I heard a sob,
Mingled with the weeping of my children.
Then a monstrous voice
Echoed through the temple, saying:
This is the vengeance of Norma
Upon her faithless lover!
Do you hear it? Norma is coming now
From the temple to perform her rites.
The moon has risen, o Druids!
Let none stay here, unless he believe.
Come...
Let me be.
Listen to me.
Barbarians!...
Let us go...
I shall defeat their plans!
Come, let us go.
Here they will find you!
The barbarians are plotting against me,
But I shall defeat their plans.
A Power greater than they
Protects me, defends me.
It is the thought of her,
It is Love itself, which inflames me!
I shall burn the evil forest
Of that god who would take her from me,
And I shall destroy his blasphemous altars!...
Norma comes now,
her hair Girt with the mystic verbena;
In her hand, shining like the crescent moon,
Gleams the golden sickle.
She comes: and the star of Rome
Veils itself in terror;
Irminsul courses the fields of heaven.
Like a comet, the prophet of doom
Are there those who dare
To raise seditious voices,
Warlike voices, before the altar of God?
Who dares to question my inspired words,
Seeking to hasten the ordained fate of Rome?
That will not come through human efforts.
How long, then, must we remain oppressed by Rome?
Have not the Roman eagles sullied enough
our native shores,our ancestral temples?
Brenno's sword can remain no longer idle.
Let that sword, for once, be brandished!
And broken,
If one of you should draw it
Before the destined time.
Not yet is the moment of our vengeance.
The Roman spears are still
stronger than the Druids axes.
What command has God given you?
What prophecy?
In the secret books of Heaven,
On a mortal page,
I read the name of proud Rome.
One day she shall die; but not at your hands.
She will die, consumed by her own vices,
Await that hour,
That fatal hour decreed by God.
And meanwhile, peace!
I cut the sacred mistletoe.
Chaste goddess, who dost bathe in silver light
These ancient, hallowed trees,
Turn thy fair face upon us,
Unveiled and unclouded...
Temper, Chaste goddess
thou the burning hearts,
The excessive zeal of thy people.
Enfold the earth in that sweet peace
Which, through Thee, reigns in heaven...
The holy rites are ended.
From the sacred wood
Let every unbeliever go.
When God, in his dark anger,
Shall demand the Romans' blood,
Then from the Druid temple
My voice will thunder forth
Let it thunder, and not one of the cursed race
Shall escape the holy slaughter.
And first to fall before our wrath
Shall be the Proconsul of Rome.
Yes, he shall fall. I can punish him ?
(But my heart can never do it.
Ah! bring back to me
The beauty of our first love.
Then, against the world itself
I shall be your defense.
Ah! Bring back to me
The peace and warmth of love,
And in that love I shall find again
Life, fatherland and heaven itself!)
But a wrathful god is hastening
To condemn the power of Rome.
(Ah, be once more as you were
When first I gave my heart to you!)
The rite is finished, the sacred wood is empty.
Now I can sigh, unseen at last,
here where first he came to me,
My fatal Roman whose love
Made me a traitor to my vows, my God.
Had that first time been the last!
A vain desire
for I am powerless
Before that force.
My heart feeds
On the sight of him,
and the breeze
Repeats to me his dear voice.
Ah, protect me, God, for I am lost
Great God, take pity, for I am lost.
There she is. Go, now: leave me.
I can no longer listen to reason.
You - you here?
What is this? Were you weeping?
I was praying. Ah,
Leave me now; let me pray.
You pray to an atrocious god,
foe of your desire,
and of mine.
O beloved,
your God
should be the God of Love.
Love! Ah, be silent.
I shall listen to you no more.
You shun me? Where
Can you flee that I shall not find you?
To the temple,
To the holy altar whose sworn bride I am.
The altar? And our love?
Ah, forgotten!
Go, cruel woman,
shed my blood
As offering to your heartless god;
All my blood may be spilt,
But I can never leave you,
No, no, I can never leave you.
You were but promised to your god:
Your heart you really gave to me.
Ah, you do not know what it would cost me,
Ever to have to renounce your love...
And you, you do not know the pain
Which loving you has cost me.
Happy and innocent was I,
destined to the altar which I have profaned.
My thoughts rose up to heaven,
Into the very presence of God.
Now for me, guilty violator of my oath,
Both heaven and God are veiled from sight
A purer heaven and holier gods
I offer you, in Rome.
I am going there now.
You are leaving?At dawn - You are leaving!
- and l?
You will come with me.
Love is more sacred than your rites?
Yield to Love, ah, yield to me!
Do not say it!
I shall say it,
so many times that you will listen...
Ah, leave me!
No, yield, Yield to me.
Can you abandon me like this?
Abandon me like this, Adalgisa?
Abandon me like this?
Adalgisa! Adalgisa!
Come with me to Rome, O my love,
For there is love, and joy, and life;
We shall vie with each other
To know the greater joy in life.
Do you not hear a voice in your heart
Which promises eternal happiness?
Ah! Have faith in that sweet voice
And take me, as husband, to your heart!
(Heavens! Thus I hear his voice
Always, everywhere, even in the temple
His eyes, his face, his image
I see even upon the altar.
He triumphs over my tears,
He conquers my sorrow.
God, take away from me this delight
Or else forgive my sin.
Adalgisa!
Have pity!
Spare me further pain!
Adalgisa! You will not leave me?
I? Oh no, I can not - I shall come.
Here - tomorrow - at this same hour -
You will come?
I promise you.
Swear!
I swear!
Oh joy!
You will remember -
I shall remember,
My God I shall renounce,
But to you I shall be always faithful.
Your love gives me courage
And I shall dare to defy your god.
But to you I shall be always faithful.
I shall dare to defy your god.
Go, now, hide them both.
I tremble tonight to embrace them.
What strange fear troubles you,
that you send your children away?
I do not know.
Many passions torture my soul.
I love and yet I hate my children!
I suffer when I see them,
I suffer when I do not,
I feel pain together with joy,
as never before, in being their mother.
Are you their mother?
If only I were not!
What an evil strife!
Which no one can imagine.
O Clotilde!
Pollione has been recalled to Rome.
Are you leaving with him?
He keeps his thoughts a secret.
Oh, if he tried to flee...
Leaving me here?
If only I could forget these sons of his!
Do you think he will?
I dare not. It is too much?
Such a doubt is too horrible.
Someone is coming.
Go, hide them now!
Adalgisa!
(Glorious faith!)
Come here, my child,
Come.
Why are you trembling?
They told me
You had a secret to tell me.
Yes, but oh, look upon me
Without this priestly austerity which shines
in your eyes.
Give me courage, that I
may reveal my heart wholly to you.
Come, embrace me and speak.
What is it?
Love.
Do not be angry, I fought
long to stifle it.
It conquered all my strength,
all remorse.
Ah! You do not know the oath
I swore just now!
To flee from the temple,
To betray the altar to which I am sworn,
To leave my fatherland
Ah, unhappy girl!
The morning of your life
is already clouded!
How and when
did this love come to you?
At the first glance,
At the first sigh,
in the sacred wood,
Before the altar, as I was praying.
I trembled, my prayers fell mute
on my lips.
Lost in beholding his beauty,
I seemed to find a new heaven in his face..
A new heaven in his face.
(Oh what memories!
I too felt that when I first saw his face.)
But you are not listening to me?
Yes, go on.
Secretly, alone at the temple
I often waited for him.
Every day the fire of love
Burned with a greater flame.
(I too felt that: her enchantment is like mine.)
"Come," he would say,
"let me throw myself at your feet.
Let me breathe the breath
Her enchantment is like mine
- Of your sweet sighs
"Give me the curls
Of your hair to kiss."
(Oh dear words!
So my lover spoke to me -
Opening the way to my heart.)
His words were sweet to me
As the music of a harp;
In his eyes I thought to find
A new, a lovelier sun.
Her enchantment is like mine-
I was lost, I still am lost.
Ah, do not weep.
I need your forgiveness.
I shall have pity.-
Ah, you are my staff, my guide.
Ah, do not weep.
Comfort me or reproach me,
Save me from myself,
Save me from my own heart.
- Ah, do not weep.
you are not yet bound
To the altar by an eternal knot.
Repeat, oh heaven, repeat
The joyous words:
Ah! s?! Ah!
Yes? take heart, embrace me.
I forgive you and weep for you.
From your vows I free you,
I break the sacred bonds.
You shall live happy, forever,
Close to the man you love...
Repeat, oh heaven, repeat
The joyous words:
Through you is quieted
The terrible torment.
You have given me life again,
If my love is not a sin.
But tell me - the youth you love -
Which one of us is he?
He is not a Gaul -
His country is Rome.
Rome!
Who is he? Tell me -
You see him now.
- He- Pollion! Why are you angry?
You say you love him?
Have I understood you?
Wretched girl!
What have you done?
I -
You are trembling! For whom!
For whom are you trembling?
Do not tremble, faithless man,
No, not for her
She is not to blame,
The guilty one is you.
Tremble for yourself, traitor!
For your children - for me -
Tremble for me, traitor!
What are you saying?
Ah! speak! Tell me! You are silent. You draw back?
- Alas!
What a cruel, infamous deception
Has entrapped you!
It would have been far better
To die than ever to have known him.
The source of eternal tears,
He opened, too, to you;
The wretch betrayed your heart, as well.
Norma! do not wound me
With your scorn.
It would have been far better
to die than ever to have known him.
Let there be peace for this troubled girl.
What a ghastly mystery
Is hidden in your words.
My heart quakes to ask you,
My heart fears to know the truth.
Hide from that pure soul
Our shame, as if with a veil
Heartbroken, now I understand
The full depth of my misfortune
Let Heaven alone be judge
Of whose is the greater fault.
The source of eternal tears,
He opened, too, to you
My boundless misery,
If he has so deceived me.
Traitor!
Enough for now!
Stop!
Come!
Leave me - go away -
You are a faithless husband.
What I was, I have forgotten -
But now I am your lover
Go now, traitor!
It is my fate to love you,
It is my fate to leave her...
Accept your fate, then go!
Follow him!
Ah no.
I should rather die.
Leave me, yes, worthless man!
Forget your children,
your promises, your honour.
Cursed by my disdain, you will find
no joy in your sinful love...
Over the seas, borne on the winds,
My burning hatred will pursue you.
Night and day my fury
will rage around you...
Hate me if you will. Let your fury
invoke eternal anguish upon me!
The love which is now my master
Is greater than you or I.
No god could ever fashion
Greater suffering than mine.
Cursed was I that day
When fate gave me to you.
Never allow that I may be
The cause of such pain in your heart.
Seas and mountains forever
Will divide me from the traitor
I shall stifle my cries
And swallow my anguish
I shall die to bring back
This cruel man to his children, to you
They are both asleep.
They will not see the hand which strikes them.
No remorse, o my heart;
They must not live.
Anguish here, in Rome,
Abuse far worse than anguish.
Slaves of a stepmother.
Ah no, never!
They must die.
I cannot go nearer:
A chill seizes me, my hair
Stands with fright.
e in fronte mi si solleva
il crin.
To kill my children!
Tender babies,
until now the joy of my life
they, in whose smile
I seemed to see Heaven's pardon,
Can I kill them?
What guilt have they?
They are the children of Pollione:
That is their crime!
For me, they have already died;
Let them die for him, too.
May his anguish be greater than any other.
Strike -
Ah no! They are my children, mine!
Oh, Clotilde!
Come - quickly!
Bring Adalgisa to me.
She is nearby,
Walking alone,
weeping and praying.
Va.
Go let my sin be mended and then, to die.
Were you calling me, Norma?
How pale and sad your face!
The pallor of death
I must confess my shame to you.
I ask one thing, which you will do
If my present grief and my grief to come
Deserves pity.
I promise to do anything.
Swear!
I swear!
Then hear me.
I have resolved
to cleanse this earth of my existence.
I cannot take these poor children with me:
I entrust them to you.
Oh Heaven!
To me?
Take them to the Roman camp.
To him whom I dare not name.
What are you asking?
May he be less cruel a husband to you.
I forgive him,
and now I shall die.
Husband! No, never!
For his children's sake, I beg you.
Ah, take them with you,
Succour them, protect them.
I do not ask for glory and honours
That will be for your own sons.
I ask only that my children
Be not abandoned to wretchedness and slavery.
Remember that it was for you
That I was betrayed and cast aside!?
Norma, ah Norma! for me
You will always be a beloved mother.
Keep your children. May I never
Leave this land.
You swore.
Yes I swore but only to do good for you.
Now I shall go to the Roman camp
and assail him with your laments.
The compassion you have stirred in me
Will speak out in sublime tones.
Do not despair, you will see
love and nature reawakened in him.
I am sure I know his heart
And Norma, there, shall reign again!..
I should beg him? Ah no, never.
Norma, do not resist.
I no longer hear you. Go now, go!
No, never!
See, o Norma, at your knees,
These dear, dear children.
Let pity for them move you,
If you feel no pity for yourself...
Ah, why do you try to weaken me
With such soft feelings?
Such illusions, such hopes
Are not for one about to die...
Relent, ah yield!
Ah, leave me. He loves you.
And already he repents.
And you?
I loved him,
now I feel nothing but friendship.
Child, what will you do?
Return to you what is yours,
Or hide myself, with you, from God and man.
You have won,
Embrace me.
I have found my friend again.
For the rest of my life
I shall always stay with you.
The earth is big enough
To shelter us both from love.
Together with you, courageously,
We shall fight outrageous Destiny,
As long as in our breasts
Our loving hearts shall beat...
Has he gone?
He is still in the camp.
To judge from the signs:
the warlike chants,
The noise, the clang of arms,
The banners waving in the breeze.
Let us wait. This slight delay
Must not disturb us nor hold us back...
In silence let our hearts prepare
Fulfillment of our mighty task...
Warriors! I had hoped to come,
Bearer of better news.
The unselfish ardour,
The anger seething in your breasts,
I had hoped to second but God's will is different.
What! The hated Proconsul
still does not leave our land?
He is not returning to Rome?
A fiercer, crueler Roman
will succeed Pollione in command.
Does Norma know this?
Does she still speak to us of peace?
In vain
I studied Norma's thoughts.
What must we do now?
Submit to Fate disband,
without revealing
to anyone the failure of our plan.
Always to pretend?
Cruel law!
I feel it too.
Ah! I too chafe beneath the Roman yoke
And long from battle.
But Heaven is against us.
We must pretend docility.
Yes, pretence if pretence serves us,
But keep our anger burning in our breasts.
Let us keep our hatred covered
Until the Romans think it dead.
The day will come when it will blaze forth
To burn with a fiercer flame.
Woe to Rome when the
arms will arrive at the sacred altar!
He will return.
Yes, I have faith In Adalgisa.
He will return, repentant,
Suppliant, my lover again.
This thought cleaves the black cloud
Which weighted upon me,
and the sun breaks through,
bright as on the first day of love.
Clotilde!
O Norma! Be brave!
What are you saying?
Alas!
Speak!
It was in vain
That Agalgisa spoke to him and wept.
Why did I trust her?
She left me and, made lovelier by her grief,
She went to him. She betrayed me!
She is coming to the temple.
Sad and anguished, she begs
To offer up her vows.
And he?
Has sworn to carry her off,
Even from the altar of God,
The traitor would go too far.
But my vengeance will strike first
And blood?
Roman blood shall flow like water!
The sacred gong has sounded!
Norma, what has happened?
The shield of Irminsul has sounded.
What meaning does it have?
War,
plunder and death.
But only a few hours ago
Your lips bound us to peace.
And now to anger -
To rage, to battle, to their death!
Raise your voices, o brave men,
In the hymn of battle!
To battle! to battle! In the forest of Gaul
Brave warriors outnumber the trees.
As hungry wolves fall upon the flock,
We shall strike at the soldiers of Rome.
Blood! Blood! The Gallic axes
Are bathed in the blood of the Roman
Over the impure waters of the Liguri
It gushes with deathly sound.
Slaughter, extermination and vengeance
Already begin and will soon be fulfilled.
Like grain mowed down by the sickle,
The Roman legions shall fall.
With proud wings clipped with talons drawn,
Behold the mighty eagle on the ground!
And God will come on the rays of the sun
To behold the triumph of his men.
Will you not fulfil the rite now, o Norma?
Will you not tell us who the victim is to be?
The victim will be here.
The awful altar has never lacked its victims.
But what confusion!
Our temple has been desecrated
By a Roman:
he has been captured
In the sacred cloister of the virgins.
A Roman?
Who can it be?
If it were he?
They are bringing him here.
(It is he!)
It is Pollione!
(Now I am avenged.)
Blasphemous enemy, who led you
To violate the fearful threshold,
To challenge the wrath of Irminsul?
Kill me!
But do not question me.
It is I who must strike.
Make way.
Whom do I see?
Norma!
Yes, Norma.
Strike with the holy dagger,
Avenge our God!
Yes, I shall strike.
Ah!
You tremble
(Ah, I cannot!)
What is it? Why do you hesitate?
(Can I feel pity now?)
Strike him!
I must question him to know what accomplice,
What insidious priestess, spurred
this infidel to the worst of crimes.
Leave me for a moment.
(What is her plan?)
(I am trembling.)
At last you are in my hands.
No one else can break your bonds.
I can.
But you must not.
I shall.
How can you?
Listen to me:
For the sake of your God, your children,
You must swear that forever
You will avoid Adalgisa
You will not take her from the altar
Then I shall grant you life -
And I shall never see you again.
Swear it!
No: I am not such a coward!
Swear it, swear it!
First I shall die.
Do you not know
My fury is greater than yours?
I am waiting for it to strike.
Do you not know that I, with this dagger,
Your children -
Oh God! What are you saying?
Yes: I raised it over them -
See, see what I have become!
I did not strike, but soon,
now I shall commit the fearful excess,
forgetting I am a mother.
Cruel woman, it is into the father's breast
that you must plunge the dagger.
Give it rather to me.
To you!
Then I alone shall die.
No, all the Romans, by the hundreds,
Shall be mown down, destroyed
and Adalgisa...
Alas!
Adalgisa having violated her vows
shall be punished;
She will die in the fire...
Oh! Kill me, kill me,
But on her have pity...
At last you are pleading? Too late?
I'll strike your heart through hers...
Already, in your eyes, I feed upon
Your anguish for her death;
I can, at last I can make you
As unhappy as I myself am!...
Be satisfied with my terror:
I am weeping at your feet...
Vent your fury on me,
But spare an innocent girl.
Let it suffice, for your vengeance,
That I kill myself now before you...
Give me the dagger.
How dare you?
Stand back.
There!
Priests, come here now!
To appease your wrath,
I announce a new victim.
A perjured priestess has broken her holy vows,
Has betrayed her nation and our fathers' gods.
A crime! Oh, what wrath! Tell us all.
Yes but prepare meanwhile the pyre.
Again I beseech you,
Norma, have pity!
Who is she?
Hear me!
(Shall I, so guilty,
accuse her of my own sin?)
Speak: who is she?
Do not tell them.
It is I!
You, Norma!
Yes, I. Build the pyre.
(I am frozen with horror!)
(My heart fails me.)
You, a traitress!
Do not believe her.
Norma does not lie.
Oh, what shame!
The heart you betrayed,
The heart you lost,
See in this hour
What a heart it was.
In vain you sought
To flee from me;
Cruel Roman, at last you are with me.
A god, a fate stronger than you,
Wills us together in life and death.
On the same pyre which consumes me,
And in the earth,
I shall be with you.
Too late, too late
I have known you
Sublime woman,
what a heart it was.
With my remorse, love is reborn,
A madder, more desperate love.
Let us die together, yes, let us die:
My last word will be that I love you.
But you, in dying, must not hate me.
Before you die, forgive me.
Oh, be your true self again, reassure us:
An aged father beseeches you.
Say you were speaking false, it is not true.
That the words you spoke were wild.
The austere God who hears you now
Is silent and holds back his thunder.
This is a sign, the clearest sign,
That He will not punish,
Ah no, that God will not punish you!
Norma, ah Norma, vindicate yourself!
You are silent? You scarcely heed us!
Heavens! And my children?
Poor children! What anguish!
Norma, are you guilty? Speak!
Yes.
Beyond any mortal power to say.
Sinner!
Do you hear me?
Away!
Ah, hear me!
What sorrow is mine!
I am a mother.
Mother!
Be calm.
Clotilde has my children.
Take them - save them -
Together with her from the barbarians.
No, now go, leave me.
Ah, father!
One last request.
Oh, what horror!
Oh, do not let them be victims
Of my cruel mistake
Oh, do not cut them down
In the innocence of childhood.
Remember that I am your blood,
Have pity on my children.
Oh father, have pity,
have pity on my children.
She weeps! She prays but what hope has she?
Her prayers will be rejected.
Father, you cry
My heart is oppressed!
Love conquered me!
Love conquered, yes!
Ah, forgive me, your tears have told me.
I ask no more, I am happy,
And gladly I shall ascend the pyre!
Tear from her brow the sacred wreath,
Place upon her the veil of death!
I ask no more of you!
Father, ah father!
No more, wretched girl!
You promise me?
I promise you, yes.
I am happy.
Ah, you forgive me! Your tears have told me
Go, wretched child!
Father, goodbye!
Break forth, at last, o tears!
You are a father's right.
Your pyre, o Norma, is mine.
There beyond, purer, holier,
Begins eternal love!
Go now to the pyre and may your sacrifice
Cleanse the altar and the temple,
O you who shall be cursed in death!
To watch over the Heavens;
When the new moon reveals
Her silver disk,
With the first smile
Of her virgin face...
Let the mystic priestly gong
Sound its triple signal
Will Norma come
to cut the sacred mistletoe?
She will.
Yes she will. Yes. Yes.
Inspire her, O terrible God,
With Thy prophetic spirit;
Inspire her, O Irminsul,
With hate and anger against the Romans,
That this peace, fatal to us,
May be broken, yes.
Yes, God will speak in anger,
From these ancient oaks;
He will free this land
Of the hated Roman eagles.
The sound of his mighty shield,
Like the crash of thunder
In the cities of Caesar,
Shall echo at last...
O moon, hasten, rise!
Norma will come to the altar...
O moon, hasten, rise!
The voices have died away.
The path now is free through the awful wood.
In this forest lurks Death.
Norma told you so.
You have spoken a name
Which chills my heart.
What are you saying? Your beloved,
The mother of your children!
There is no reproach which you can make me
that I do not already feel.
But in my heart the flame is dead
extinguished by a God
who is the foe of my peace.
At my feet
I see the abyss, and therein I cast myself.
Do you love another?
Speak softly!
Ah yes, another. Adalgisa!
You will see her.
Innocent and laughing with sweetness
and love.
She is a priestess in the temple
of this blood maddened God,
yet she seems
like starlight in a troubled sky.
My wretched friend!
And does she love you as you do her?
I am sure she does.
Do you not fear
the wrath of Norma?
It will be terrible,
as my remorse already shows me in a dream.
Tell me.
Even recalling it, I tremble!
Adalgisa was with me, in Rome,
at the altar of Venus,
Dressed in pure white
With flowers in her hair.
As she heard the hymns of Hymen
And breathed the holy incense,
Her senses were enraptured
With the joy of love...
Suddenly between us there descended
a horrible shadow,
and the great Druidic mantle
enfolded her like smoke.
Lightning flashed on the altar,
And the day was veiled in darkness.
Silently, all around,
Rose a tomb like horror.
The beloved maiden
is no longer at my side.
From afar I heard a sob,
Mingled with the weeping of my children.
Then a monstrous voice
Echoed through the temple, saying:
This is the vengeance of Norma
Upon her faithless lover!
Do you hear it? Norma is coming now
From the temple to perform her rites.
The moon has risen, o Druids!
Let none stay here, unless he believe.
Come...
Let me be.
Listen to me.
Barbarians!...
Let us go...
I shall defeat their plans!
Come, let us go.
Here they will find you!
The barbarians are plotting against me,
But I shall defeat their plans.
A Power greater than they
Protects me, defends me.
It is the thought of her,
It is Love itself, which inflames me!
I shall burn the evil forest
Of that god who would take her from me,
And I shall destroy his blasphemous altars!...
Norma comes now,
her hair Girt with the mystic verbena;
In her hand, shining like the crescent moon,
Gleams the golden sickle.
She comes: and the star of Rome
Veils itself in terror;
Irminsul courses the fields of heaven.
Like a comet, the prophet of doom
Are there those who dare
To raise seditious voices,
Warlike voices, before the altar of God?
Who dares to question my inspired words,
Seeking to hasten the ordained fate of Rome?
That will not come through human efforts.
How long, then, must we remain oppressed by Rome?
Have not the Roman eagles sullied enough
our native shores,our ancestral temples?
Brenno's sword can remain no longer idle.
Let that sword, for once, be brandished!
And broken,
If one of you should draw it
Before the destined time.
Not yet is the moment of our vengeance.
The Roman spears are still
stronger than the Druids axes.
What command has God given you?
What prophecy?
In the secret books of Heaven,
On a mortal page,
I read the name of proud Rome.
One day she shall die; but not at your hands.
She will die, consumed by her own vices,
Await that hour,
That fatal hour decreed by God.
And meanwhile, peace!
I cut the sacred mistletoe.
Chaste goddess, who dost bathe in silver light
These ancient, hallowed trees,
Turn thy fair face upon us,
Unveiled and unclouded...
Temper, Chaste goddess
thou the burning hearts,
The excessive zeal of thy people.
Enfold the earth in that sweet peace
Which, through Thee, reigns in heaven...
The holy rites are ended.
From the sacred wood
Let every unbeliever go.
When God, in his dark anger,
Shall demand the Romans' blood,
Then from the Druid temple
My voice will thunder forth
Let it thunder, and not one of the cursed race
Shall escape the holy slaughter.
And first to fall before our wrath
Shall be the Proconsul of Rome.
Yes, he shall fall. I can punish him ?
(But my heart can never do it.
Ah! bring back to me
The beauty of our first love.
Then, against the world itself
I shall be your defense.
Ah! Bring back to me
The peace and warmth of love,
And in that love I shall find again
Life, fatherland and heaven itself!)
But a wrathful god is hastening
To condemn the power of Rome.
(Ah, be once more as you were
When first I gave my heart to you!)
The rite is finished, the sacred wood is empty.
Now I can sigh, unseen at last,
here where first he came to me,
My fatal Roman whose love
Made me a traitor to my vows, my God.
Had that first time been the last!
A vain desire
for I am powerless
Before that force.
My heart feeds
On the sight of him,
and the breeze
Repeats to me his dear voice.
Ah, protect me, God, for I am lost
Great God, take pity, for I am lost.
There she is. Go, now: leave me.
I can no longer listen to reason.
You - you here?
What is this? Were you weeping?
I was praying. Ah,
Leave me now; let me pray.
You pray to an atrocious god,
foe of your desire,
and of mine.
O beloved,
your God
should be the God of Love.
Love! Ah, be silent.
I shall listen to you no more.
You shun me? Where
Can you flee that I shall not find you?
To the temple,
To the holy altar whose sworn bride I am.
The altar? And our love?
Ah, forgotten!
Go, cruel woman,
shed my blood
As offering to your heartless god;
All my blood may be spilt,
But I can never leave you,
No, no, I can never leave you.
You were but promised to your god:
Your heart you really gave to me.
Ah, you do not know what it would cost me,
Ever to have to renounce your love...
And you, you do not know the pain
Which loving you has cost me.
Happy and innocent was I,
destined to the altar which I have profaned.
My thoughts rose up to heaven,
Into the very presence of God.
Now for me, guilty violator of my oath,
Both heaven and God are veiled from sight
A purer heaven and holier gods
I offer you, in Rome.
I am going there now.
You are leaving?At dawn - You are leaving!
- and l?
You will come with me.
Love is more sacred than your rites?
Yield to Love, ah, yield to me!
Do not say it!
I shall say it,
so many times that you will listen...
Ah, leave me!
No, yield, Yield to me.
Can you abandon me like this?
Abandon me like this, Adalgisa?
Abandon me like this?
Adalgisa! Adalgisa!
Come with me to Rome, O my love,
For there is love, and joy, and life;
We shall vie with each other
To know the greater joy in life.
Do you not hear a voice in your heart
Which promises eternal happiness?
Ah! Have faith in that sweet voice
And take me, as husband, to your heart!
(Heavens! Thus I hear his voice
Always, everywhere, even in the temple
His eyes, his face, his image
I see even upon the altar.
He triumphs over my tears,
He conquers my sorrow.
God, take away from me this delight
Or else forgive my sin.
Adalgisa!
Have pity!
Spare me further pain!
Adalgisa! You will not leave me?
I? Oh no, I can not - I shall come.
Here - tomorrow - at this same hour -
You will come?
I promise you.
Swear!
I swear!
Oh joy!
You will remember -
I shall remember,
My God I shall renounce,
But to you I shall be always faithful.
Your love gives me courage
And I shall dare to defy your god.
But to you I shall be always faithful.
I shall dare to defy your god.
Go, now, hide them both.
I tremble tonight to embrace them.
What strange fear troubles you,
that you send your children away?
I do not know.
Many passions torture my soul.
I love and yet I hate my children!
I suffer when I see them,
I suffer when I do not,
I feel pain together with joy,
as never before, in being their mother.
Are you their mother?
If only I were not!
What an evil strife!
Which no one can imagine.
O Clotilde!
Pollione has been recalled to Rome.
Are you leaving with him?
He keeps his thoughts a secret.
Oh, if he tried to flee...
Leaving me here?
If only I could forget these sons of his!
Do you think he will?
I dare not. It is too much?
Such a doubt is too horrible.
Someone is coming.
Go, hide them now!
Adalgisa!
(Glorious faith!)
Come here, my child,
Come.
Why are you trembling?
They told me
You had a secret to tell me.
Yes, but oh, look upon me
Without this priestly austerity which shines
in your eyes.
Give me courage, that I
may reveal my heart wholly to you.
Come, embrace me and speak.
What is it?
Love.
Do not be angry, I fought
long to stifle it.
It conquered all my strength,
all remorse.
Ah! You do not know the oath
I swore just now!
To flee from the temple,
To betray the altar to which I am sworn,
To leave my fatherland
Ah, unhappy girl!
The morning of your life
is already clouded!
How and when
did this love come to you?
At the first glance,
At the first sigh,
in the sacred wood,
Before the altar, as I was praying.
I trembled, my prayers fell mute
on my lips.
Lost in beholding his beauty,
I seemed to find a new heaven in his face..
A new heaven in his face.
(Oh what memories!
I too felt that when I first saw his face.)
But you are not listening to me?
Yes, go on.
Secretly, alone at the temple
I often waited for him.
Every day the fire of love
Burned with a greater flame.
(I too felt that: her enchantment is like mine.)
"Come," he would say,
"let me throw myself at your feet.
Let me breathe the breath
Her enchantment is like mine
- Of your sweet sighs
"Give me the curls
Of your hair to kiss."
(Oh dear words!
So my lover spoke to me -
Opening the way to my heart.)
His words were sweet to me
As the music of a harp;
In his eyes I thought to find
A new, a lovelier sun.
Her enchantment is like mine-
I was lost, I still am lost.
Ah, do not weep.
I need your forgiveness.
I shall have pity.-
Ah, you are my staff, my guide.
Ah, do not weep.
Comfort me or reproach me,
Save me from myself,
Save me from my own heart.
- Ah, do not weep.
you are not yet bound
To the altar by an eternal knot.
Repeat, oh heaven, repeat
The joyous words:
Ah! s?! Ah!
Yes? take heart, embrace me.
I forgive you and weep for you.
From your vows I free you,
I break the sacred bonds.
You shall live happy, forever,
Close to the man you love...
Repeat, oh heaven, repeat
The joyous words:
Through you is quieted
The terrible torment.
You have given me life again,
If my love is not a sin.
But tell me - the youth you love -
Which one of us is he?
He is not a Gaul -
His country is Rome.
Rome!
Who is he? Tell me -
You see him now.
- He- Pollion! Why are you angry?
You say you love him?
Have I understood you?
Wretched girl!
What have you done?
I -
You are trembling! For whom!
For whom are you trembling?
Do not tremble, faithless man,
No, not for her
She is not to blame,
The guilty one is you.
Tremble for yourself, traitor!
For your children - for me -
Tremble for me, traitor!
What are you saying?
Ah! speak! Tell me! You are silent. You draw back?
- Alas!
What a cruel, infamous deception
Has entrapped you!
It would have been far better
To die than ever to have known him.
The source of eternal tears,
He opened, too, to you;
The wretch betrayed your heart, as well.
Norma! do not wound me
With your scorn.
It would have been far better
to die than ever to have known him.
Let there be peace for this troubled girl.
What a ghastly mystery
Is hidden in your words.
My heart quakes to ask you,
My heart fears to know the truth.
Hide from that pure soul
Our shame, as if with a veil
Heartbroken, now I understand
The full depth of my misfortune
Let Heaven alone be judge
Of whose is the greater fault.
The source of eternal tears,
He opened, too, to you
My boundless misery,
If he has so deceived me.
Traitor!
Enough for now!
Stop!
Come!
Leave me - go away -
You are a faithless husband.
What I was, I have forgotten -
But now I am your lover
Go now, traitor!
It is my fate to love you,
It is my fate to leave her...
Accept your fate, then go!
Follow him!
Ah no.
I should rather die.
Leave me, yes, worthless man!
Forget your children,
your promises, your honour.
Cursed by my disdain, you will find
no joy in your sinful love...
Over the seas, borne on the winds,
My burning hatred will pursue you.
Night and day my fury
will rage around you...
Hate me if you will. Let your fury
invoke eternal anguish upon me!
The love which is now my master
Is greater than you or I.
No god could ever fashion
Greater suffering than mine.
Cursed was I that day
When fate gave me to you.
Never allow that I may be
The cause of such pain in your heart.
Seas and mountains forever
Will divide me from the traitor
I shall stifle my cries
And swallow my anguish
I shall die to bring back
This cruel man to his children, to you
They are both asleep.
They will not see the hand which strikes them.
No remorse, o my heart;
They must not live.
Anguish here, in Rome,
Abuse far worse than anguish.
Slaves of a stepmother.
Ah no, never!
They must die.
I cannot go nearer:
A chill seizes me, my hair
Stands with fright.
e in fronte mi si solleva
il crin.
To kill my children!
Tender babies,
until now the joy of my life
they, in whose smile
I seemed to see Heaven's pardon,
Can I kill them?
What guilt have they?
They are the children of Pollione:
That is their crime!
For me, they have already died;
Let them die for him, too.
May his anguish be greater than any other.
Strike -
Ah no! They are my children, mine!
Oh, Clotilde!
Come - quickly!
Bring Adalgisa to me.
She is nearby,
Walking alone,
weeping and praying.
Va.
Go let my sin be mended and then, to die.
Were you calling me, Norma?
How pale and sad your face!
The pallor of death
I must confess my shame to you.
I ask one thing, which you will do
If my present grief and my grief to come
Deserves pity.
I promise to do anything.
Swear!
I swear!
Then hear me.
I have resolved
to cleanse this earth of my existence.
I cannot take these poor children with me:
I entrust them to you.
Oh Heaven!
To me?
Take them to the Roman camp.
To him whom I dare not name.
What are you asking?
May he be less cruel a husband to you.
I forgive him,
and now I shall die.
Husband! No, never!
For his children's sake, I beg you.
Ah, take them with you,
Succour them, protect them.
I do not ask for glory and honours
That will be for your own sons.
I ask only that my children
Be not abandoned to wretchedness and slavery.
Remember that it was for you
That I was betrayed and cast aside!?
Norma, ah Norma! for me
You will always be a beloved mother.
Keep your children. May I never
Leave this land.
You swore.
Yes I swore but only to do good for you.
Now I shall go to the Roman camp
and assail him with your laments.
The compassion you have stirred in me
Will speak out in sublime tones.
Do not despair, you will see
love and nature reawakened in him.
I am sure I know his heart
And Norma, there, shall reign again!..
I should beg him? Ah no, never.
Norma, do not resist.
I no longer hear you. Go now, go!
No, never!
See, o Norma, at your knees,
These dear, dear children.
Let pity for them move you,
If you feel no pity for yourself...
Ah, why do you try to weaken me
With such soft feelings?
Such illusions, such hopes
Are not for one about to die...
Relent, ah yield!
Ah, leave me. He loves you.
And already he repents.
And you?
I loved him,
now I feel nothing but friendship.
Child, what will you do?
Return to you what is yours,
Or hide myself, with you, from God and man.
You have won,
Embrace me.
I have found my friend again.
For the rest of my life
I shall always stay with you.
The earth is big enough
To shelter us both from love.
Together with you, courageously,
We shall fight outrageous Destiny,
As long as in our breasts
Our loving hearts shall beat...
Has he gone?
He is still in the camp.
To judge from the signs:
the warlike chants,
The noise, the clang of arms,
The banners waving in the breeze.
Let us wait. This slight delay
Must not disturb us nor hold us back...
In silence let our hearts prepare
Fulfillment of our mighty task...
Warriors! I had hoped to come,
Bearer of better news.
The unselfish ardour,
The anger seething in your breasts,
I had hoped to second but God's will is different.
What! The hated Proconsul
still does not leave our land?
He is not returning to Rome?
A fiercer, crueler Roman
will succeed Pollione in command.
Does Norma know this?
Does she still speak to us of peace?
In vain
I studied Norma's thoughts.
What must we do now?
Submit to Fate disband,
without revealing
to anyone the failure of our plan.
Always to pretend?
Cruel law!
I feel it too.
Ah! I too chafe beneath the Roman yoke
And long from battle.
But Heaven is against us.
We must pretend docility.
Yes, pretence if pretence serves us,
But keep our anger burning in our breasts.
Let us keep our hatred covered
Until the Romans think it dead.
The day will come when it will blaze forth
To burn with a fiercer flame.
Woe to Rome when the
arms will arrive at the sacred altar!
He will return.
Yes, I have faith In Adalgisa.
He will return, repentant,
Suppliant, my lover again.
This thought cleaves the black cloud
Which weighted upon me,
and the sun breaks through,
bright as on the first day of love.
Clotilde!
O Norma! Be brave!
What are you saying?
Alas!
Speak!
It was in vain
That Agalgisa spoke to him and wept.
Why did I trust her?
She left me and, made lovelier by her grief,
She went to him. She betrayed me!
She is coming to the temple.
Sad and anguished, she begs
To offer up her vows.
And he?
Has sworn to carry her off,
Even from the altar of God,
The traitor would go too far.
But my vengeance will strike first
And blood?
Roman blood shall flow like water!
The sacred gong has sounded!
Norma, what has happened?
The shield of Irminsul has sounded.
What meaning does it have?
War,
plunder and death.
But only a few hours ago
Your lips bound us to peace.
And now to anger -
To rage, to battle, to their death!
Raise your voices, o brave men,
In the hymn of battle!
To battle! to battle! In the forest of Gaul
Brave warriors outnumber the trees.
As hungry wolves fall upon the flock,
We shall strike at the soldiers of Rome.
Blood! Blood! The Gallic axes
Are bathed in the blood of the Roman
Over the impure waters of the Liguri
It gushes with deathly sound.
Slaughter, extermination and vengeance
Already begin and will soon be fulfilled.
Like grain mowed down by the sickle,
The Roman legions shall fall.
With proud wings clipped with talons drawn,
Behold the mighty eagle on the ground!
And God will come on the rays of the sun
To behold the triumph of his men.
Will you not fulfil the rite now, o Norma?
Will you not tell us who the victim is to be?
The victim will be here.
The awful altar has never lacked its victims.
But what confusion!
Our temple has been desecrated
By a Roman:
he has been captured
In the sacred cloister of the virgins.
A Roman?
Who can it be?
If it were he?
They are bringing him here.
(It is he!)
It is Pollione!
(Now I am avenged.)
Blasphemous enemy, who led you
To violate the fearful threshold,
To challenge the wrath of Irminsul?
Kill me!
But do not question me.
It is I who must strike.
Make way.
Whom do I see?
Norma!
Yes, Norma.
Strike with the holy dagger,
Avenge our God!
Yes, I shall strike.
Ah!
You tremble
(Ah, I cannot!)
What is it? Why do you hesitate?
(Can I feel pity now?)
Strike him!
I must question him to know what accomplice,
What insidious priestess, spurred
this infidel to the worst of crimes.
Leave me for a moment.
(What is her plan?)
(I am trembling.)
At last you are in my hands.
No one else can break your bonds.
I can.
But you must not.
I shall.
How can you?
Listen to me:
For the sake of your God, your children,
You must swear that forever
You will avoid Adalgisa
You will not take her from the altar
Then I shall grant you life -
And I shall never see you again.
Swear it!
No: I am not such a coward!
Swear it, swear it!
First I shall die.
Do you not know
My fury is greater than yours?
I am waiting for it to strike.
Do you not know that I, with this dagger,
Your children -
Oh God! What are you saying?
Yes: I raised it over them -
See, see what I have become!
I did not strike, but soon,
now I shall commit the fearful excess,
forgetting I am a mother.
Cruel woman, it is into the father's breast
that you must plunge the dagger.
Give it rather to me.
To you!
Then I alone shall die.
No, all the Romans, by the hundreds,
Shall be mown down, destroyed
and Adalgisa...
Alas!
Adalgisa having violated her vows
shall be punished;
She will die in the fire...
Oh! Kill me, kill me,
But on her have pity...
At last you are pleading? Too late?
I'll strike your heart through hers...
Already, in your eyes, I feed upon
Your anguish for her death;
I can, at last I can make you
As unhappy as I myself am!...
Be satisfied with my terror:
I am weeping at your feet...
Vent your fury on me,
But spare an innocent girl.
Let it suffice, for your vengeance,
That I kill myself now before you...
Give me the dagger.
How dare you?
Stand back.
There!
Priests, come here now!
To appease your wrath,
I announce a new victim.
A perjured priestess has broken her holy vows,
Has betrayed her nation and our fathers' gods.
A crime! Oh, what wrath! Tell us all.
Yes but prepare meanwhile the pyre.
Again I beseech you,
Norma, have pity!
Who is she?
Hear me!
(Shall I, so guilty,
accuse her of my own sin?)
Speak: who is she?
Do not tell them.
It is I!
You, Norma!
Yes, I. Build the pyre.
(I am frozen with horror!)
(My heart fails me.)
You, a traitress!
Do not believe her.
Norma does not lie.
Oh, what shame!
The heart you betrayed,
The heart you lost,
See in this hour
What a heart it was.
In vain you sought
To flee from me;
Cruel Roman, at last you are with me.
A god, a fate stronger than you,
Wills us together in life and death.
On the same pyre which consumes me,
And in the earth,
I shall be with you.
Too late, too late
I have known you
Sublime woman,
what a heart it was.
With my remorse, love is reborn,
A madder, more desperate love.
Let us die together, yes, let us die:
My last word will be that I love you.
But you, in dying, must not hate me.
Before you die, forgive me.
Oh, be your true self again, reassure us:
An aged father beseeches you.
Say you were speaking false, it is not true.
That the words you spoke were wild.
The austere God who hears you now
Is silent and holds back his thunder.
This is a sign, the clearest sign,
That He will not punish,
Ah no, that God will not punish you!
Norma, ah Norma, vindicate yourself!
You are silent? You scarcely heed us!
Heavens! And my children?
Poor children! What anguish!
Norma, are you guilty? Speak!
Yes.
Beyond any mortal power to say.
Sinner!
Do you hear me?
Away!
Ah, hear me!
What sorrow is mine!
I am a mother.
Mother!
Be calm.
Clotilde has my children.
Take them - save them -
Together with her from the barbarians.
No, now go, leave me.
Ah, father!
One last request.
Oh, what horror!
Oh, do not let them be victims
Of my cruel mistake
Oh, do not cut them down
In the innocence of childhood.
Remember that I am your blood,
Have pity on my children.
Oh father, have pity,
have pity on my children.
She weeps! She prays but what hope has she?
Her prayers will be rejected.
Father, you cry
My heart is oppressed!
Love conquered me!
Love conquered, yes!
Ah, forgive me, your tears have told me.
I ask no more, I am happy,
And gladly I shall ascend the pyre!
Tear from her brow the sacred wreath,
Place upon her the veil of death!
I ask no more of you!
Father, ah father!
No more, wretched girl!
You promise me?
I promise you, yes.
I am happy.
Ah, you forgive me! Your tears have told me
Go, wretched child!
Father, goodbye!
Break forth, at last, o tears!
You are a father's right.
Your pyre, o Norma, is mine.
There beyond, purer, holier,
Begins eternal love!
Go now to the pyre and may your sacrifice
Cleanse the altar and the temple,
O you who shall be cursed in death!