Vittoria
501
Vittoria. I do not understand, but it is sweet—
Part of the undreamed beauty that I find
Filling a world where all is strange to me:
In new hill slopes, new pathways, and in you.
Part of the undreamed beauty that I find
Filling a world where all is strange to me:
In new hill slopes, new pathways, and in you.
Luigi. Beloved, do not leave me! Tell me why
You tremble when I speak.
You tremble when I speak.
Vittoria.tremble when I speak.It is not you,
But through you something great and terrible
Speaks to me, and I bow my head in fear.
But through you something great and terrible
Speaks to me, and I bow my head in fear.
Luigi. Are you content? Always mouth smiles, yet
Sometimes I find your brown eyes hungry still,
And then I am afraid that my great love
Is not the message that you longed to hear.
And yet, if aught can ever lead your feet
Whither they wish to come, it must be love.
Sometimes I find your brown eyes hungry still,
And then I am afraid that my great love
Is not the message that you longed to hear.
And yet, if aught can ever lead your feet
Whither they wish to come, it must be love.
Vittoria. It is a message that I wonder at!
My lord and lover, if my eyes ask aught,
It is more love, and more, and more. I know
But one need now.
My lord and lover, if my eyes ask aught,
It is more love, and more, and more. I know
But one need now.
[Again comes the chant of the monks:
Requiem eternam dona eis, Domine et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Luigi. For me it is no longer my life blood
Beating within my pulses; it is you.
The very green and gold threads of your gown
Have woven finest meshes in my brain.
Oh, tell me once again before you go
That you do love me, and I will believe!
Beating within my pulses; it is you.
The very green and gold threads of your gown
Have woven finest meshes in my brain.
Oh, tell me once again before you go
That you do love me, and I will believe!
Vittoria. You ask me that? But fourteen days ago
I had not seen you, Now, in all the world
Is naught but you. The sunshine on the grass,
The long, green hillside slopes where peach-trees bloom,
The music that finds out I know not what
Unknown recesses of my soul, and hurts—
All, all is you! I cannot grasp my joy,
So great it is, as it comes beating in
Upon my heart, like tide-beats in the sea.
I had not seen you, Now, in all the world
Is naught but you. The sunshine on the grass,
The long, green hillside slopes where peach-trees bloom,
The music that finds out I know not what
Unknown recesses of my soul, and hurts—
All, all is you! I cannot grasp my joy,
So great it is, as it comes beating in
Upon my heart, like tide-beats in the sea.
Luigi (bending to kiss the hem of her dress). I am unworthy—I!
Vittoria.am unworthy—I!Nay, nay, not you!
An ignorant and uninstructed girl,
Lo, what am I, that a great heart like yours
Should come to rest on mine? But take me, all,
You who are strong and wise, for utterly
I give myself, and there is nothing left.
Make of me what you will.
An ignorant and uninstructed girl,
Lo, what am I, that a great heart like yours
Should come to rest on mine? But take me, all,
You who are strong and wise, for utterly
I give myself, and there is nothing left.
Make of me what you will.
[Again come the requiem, dying in:
Requiescat in pace. Amen. Amen.
Requiescat in pace. Amen. Amen.
[Luigi shivers.
Vittoria. And you, too, are afraid?
Luigi.And you, too, are afraid?Through love comes fear.
Yet what is there in all the world to dread
When you and I love thus?
Yet what is there in all the world to dread
When you and I love thus?
Vittoria. you and I love thus?One thing alone
In this great safety of your presence I
Think of with fear: that you should go away,
That any time I might not see your face.
Dear one, you will not, even for a day,
Let life be as it was before?
In this great safety of your presence I
Think of with fear: that you should go away,
That any time I might not see your face.
Dear one, you will not, even for a day,
Let life be as it was before?
Luigi.life be as it was before?I swear
No sun by day nor thousand stars by night
Shall find me anywhere but at your side.
My love shall be the shade that every day
Keeps the heat from you; it shall be each night
A cover from the cold. So, hand in hand,
We shall go on forever, with our feet
Keeping one time along the selfsame road.
No sun by day nor thousand stars by night
Shall find me anywhere but at your side.
My love shall be the shade that every day
Keeps the heat from you; it shall be each night
A cover from the cold. So, hand in hand,
We shall go on forever, with our feet
Keeping one time along the selfsame road.
[A voice comes from the chapel:
Memento mei, Domine, quia ventus est vita mea. . . .
Memento mei, Domine, quia ventus est vita mea. . . .
Homo natus de muliere, brevi vivens tempore, repletur multis miseriis. Qui quasi flos egreditur, et conteritur, et fugit velut umbra, et nunguam in eodem statu permanet.
Vittoria. Tell me, what does it mean?
Luigi (Passionately, his voice rising to a cry)..
It means that love,
Love only, lasts forever, eternal,
Unchangeable, triumphant over chance.
It means that love,
Love only, lasts forever, eternal,
Unchangeable, triumphant over chance.
ACT IV
Scene I.—Frate Giacomo walks in the cloister
before the open chapel door. He forgets his
prayers, but goes on counting his beads.
before the open chapel door. He forgets his
prayers, but goes on counting his beads.
Frate Giacomo. They kneel before the altar, their heads bowed—
I see them where the holy candles make
A little light in the surrounding gloom,
Our Father Ambrose, clad in robe and stole,
Reads over them the marriage service. Here
It never yet has sounded. Hark, they speak!
“Volo” the young man says, and “Volo” comes
The woman’s softer voice. Who, what are they
That they should utter in these sacred walls
The unknown word “desire”?
Oh, what a change
Is wrought here! Great the shock that has been given!
Just as before a storm the air is full
Of dull foreboding, my soul waits in fear
Of what may come, for they are living still
Where things may happen, and they have no right
In this our foretaste of eternal life
Whose peace they have disturbed.
Kyrie Eleison! Christe Eleison! Kyrie Eleison.
I see them where the holy candles make
A little light in the surrounding gloom,
Our Father Ambrose, clad in robe and stole,
Reads over them the marriage service. Here
It never yet has sounded. Hark, they speak!
“Volo” the young man says, and “Volo” comes
The woman’s softer voice. Who, what are they
That they should utter in these sacred walls
The unknown word “desire”?
[The sound of chanted prayer and response comes to him. He strains his ears.
Oh, what a change
Is wrought here! Great the shock that has been given!
Just as before a storm the air is full
Of dull foreboding, my soul waits in fear
Of what may come, for they are living still
Where things may happen, and they have no right
In this our foretaste of eternal life
Whose peace they have disturbed.
[There is a sudden burst of music, then, in the full triumph of many voices:
Kyrie Eleison! Christe Eleison! Kyrie Eleison.
Frate Giacomo.Christe Eleison!God pity those
Who have no walls to shut temptation out.
[The music of the processional begins.
Ah, here they come, the lovers hand in hand,
One flush upon both faces; after them
The white-haired father, aged, but with eyes
Still fierce with love and pain. I go to pray.
Who have no walls to shut temptation out.
[The music of the processional begins.
Ah, here they come, the lovers hand in hand,
One flush upon both faces; after them
The white-haired father, aged, but with eyes
Still fierce with love and pain. I go to pray.
Pater noster, ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nosa malo. Amen. Amen.
Scene II.—Outside the chapel.
Vittoria. Only a little way, dear father, then
Like two good children we will turn again
Without a word toward home. May we not come?
Like two good children we will turn again
Without a word toward home. May we not come?
Father. Your marriage garment, daughter, is too white
For the long dusty way.
For the long dusty way.
Vittoria.long dusty way.That can be changed!
One moment only and I come in blue
Already dusty from the blessed road
That led us here.
One moment only and I come in blue
Already dusty from the blessed road
That led us here.
