BELLINI

NORMA

Pollione, in love with Norma no longer and enflamed by Adalgisa, senses danger to come:

Gone is the former magic;

Past fire of love

Has burnt to ashes.

Extinguished,

No prodding can revive it.

The tiger is tamer!

A recent dream

Betrays my guilty conscience.

A nightmare!

Gone like a dream, my bride-to-be

Breathed by my side no longer.

Searching, I heard a broken sob

Mingled with cries of children.

Then came a voice implacable

That echoed through the temple:

Norma repays the traitor

Whose love has turned untrue.

Norma hails the chaste goddess of the night:

Pass serenely,

Cast a halo, pale Queen of Heaven.

Dress with silver

These ancestral groves

Of myrtle, pine and cedar.

From the region

Of tranquil order,

Turn upon us rays of peaceful light and splendor,

Light and splendor;

Cast aside the somber veil.

If only I could recover

The love that delights no longer,

To death I would shield my lover

Though all the world oppose.

No less than life I’d offer

If I could but recapture

The golden days of rapture

That love alone bestows.

Pollione urges Adalgisa to leave her country and her religion:

Are we placed on earth to suffer

By a jealous god of anger?

Wine and bread to Him you offer

And deny the hungry heart . . .

Cross with me these hostile borders.

My beloved!

Far beyond this land of shadows,

We shall drift on quiet waters,

Breathe the air of golden meadows.

There on pathways flower-scented

We shall revel in the sun.

We shall live serene, contented,

Man and wife, forever one.

Norma, fully sympathetic to the conflicting claims on Adalgisa’s heart, encourages her to find love and happiness.

Go forth, my darling, be of cheer;

You have my heartfelt sympathy.

From former vows entirely free,

Go wed your bold, handsome lover.

No longer bound to chastity

Nor sworn to God alone,

Go forth in peace and harmony

And make your life your own.

All changes when she learns the identity of Adalgisa’s lover:

Without remorse, he lied to you,

Made sport of trust and candor.

Long will you curse the day

You came to him unknowing,

To be torn to pieces.

Sorrow and tears eternal

Remain his lasting legacy.

Though my own trust he now betrays,

You may be certain, he will betray you, too.

Her wrath turns upon Pollione:

Cast aside your word of honor,

Leave behind your wife and children,

Find a home across the water.

Yet however far you travel,

My relentless curse will follow.

Disregard forgotten pledges,

Overlook the claims of duty.

Yes, be off! But my curse will follow,

My curse will follow.

Over mountains, beyond the rivers,

Through the valleys, my rage will find you out.

May the tempest, on my behalf,

Howl around you night and day.

Adalgisa pleads with Norma not to end her life:

ADALGISA:

Hear me, oh Norma! And hear you children.

They are pleading for care and comfort.

Can you leave them without a mother,

Lost and frightened, their lives not yet begun?

NORMA:

What have I to give? My purse is empty.

What recourse remains, except surrender?

Vain illusions I leave to others;

Facing death, I cling to none.

Confronting Pollione, Norma hungers for vengeance:

NORMA:

I shall feast upon your anguish.

With her death shall I repay you

For the wrong that I have suffered;

Your despair will equal mine.

POLLIONE:

Ah! On me let fall your fury,

But grant her peace and pardon.

Let me die on wheels of torture,

Let my body burn to ashes,

Only spare this gentle flower

Green and tender on the vine.

Her wrath transcended, she offers herself as sacrifice:

NORMA:

The heart you hated,

Disowned, discarded,

In fire emerges

Disarmed and naked.

You tried to leave me;

In vain, departed.

Oh, cruel Roman!

With you I die.

Beyond the clashes

Of pride and anger,

We’re now united

For all eternity.

The pyre prepared for me

For you is lighted;

Our mingled ashes

In peace will lie.