SCENE V
 
 
Cinna, then Giunia.
 
 
Recitative
 
 
Cinna
 
 
Till now was Cinna's soul not able
 
 
to bow itself
 
 
before such sweet dalliance. Ah but should it
 
 
stoop so foolishly – no – not
 
 
on the sister of an evil usurper
 
 
will this heart bestow first place.
 
 
Giunia approaches. Ah, that she alone
 
 
can fulfil the great work that I intend.
 
 
Troubled she doth seem and suffering,
 
 
sunk in dark thoughts.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Silla requires of me
 
 
to show myself to the people and to the Senate.
 
 
What can this infamous one intend? Knowest thou it and what is to be done?
 
 
Cinna
 
 
Nearer than thou dost think, perhaps
 
 
is Silla's death this day,
 
 
to avenge the freedom of Rome.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
In a compassionate heaven
 
 
do we place all our hope. But for the while
 
 
to thy care do I leave
 
 
my beloved bridegroom. To thee I owe
 
 
the joy of beholding him,
 
 
when I believed him dead. Ah, now watch over him,
 
 
strive to keep him
 
 
hidden from the tyrant's eyes.
 
 
Cinna
 
 
Trust in me
 
 
and fear not for his life. Listen.
 
 
Dost thou know what Silla of the senators and of the Roman people
 
 
doth desire? It is thy hand,
 
 
and their consent to be a vindication of his violence.
 
 
His whole scheme,
 
 
o Giunia, do I foresee.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
I alone am
 
 
my own judge. The Senate may yield to cowardly fear,
 
 
but not this heart.
 
 
Cinna
 
 
Upon thee, if thou will, o Giunia,
 
 
doth the great conspiracy depend.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
What can I do?
 
 
Cinna
 
 
To that bed
 
 
to which he doth invite thee follow that nefarious tyrant.
 
 
But there by thy hand may he depart this life.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Heaven! What sayest thou? Could Giunia
 
 
through base imposture?…
 
 
Cinna
 
 
Oh foolish fear!
 
 
But call to mind
 
 
that the shedding of blood among kings
 
 
has to the gods ever been a pleasing play.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
When even the life of a plebean sacred is to us,
 
 
how canst thou mean
 
 
that no chilling dread will shake my bosom
 
 
should I stab the dictator with mine own hand?
 
 
Though with tyranny and injustice
 
 
Silla doth rule over Rome and the Senate,
 
 
in vain dost thou presume
 
 
that I could make myself guilty of his death.
 
 
May he be a victim, but at the hands of the gods.
 
 
Cinna
 
 
Had Brutus on that day
 
 
feared to offend the gods,
 
 
then Rome would not owe to him her freedom.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
But Brutus broke in open field,
 
 
and not in cowardice,
 
 
Rome's
 
 
bonds of servitude. No, never
 
 
for posterity
 
 
shall my name be spotted
 
 
by base deceit. Preserve me, o friend,
 
 
preserve for me my beloved! Consider only
 
 
his deliverance. Let heaven think
 
 
of vengeance.
 
 
Go, haste thee…
 
 
Perhaps far from thee
 
 
and through excess of boldness could my betrothed…
 
 
Thou knowest his impetuous spirit… Have pity.
 
 
See to it that he remain hidden from all eyes.
 
 
Tell him, if he doth honour me,
 
 
tell him, if he be true to me,
 
 
then should he his and my life, too, preserve.
 
 
I put him in thy charge.
 
 
No. 11 Aria
 
 
Giunia
 
     
 
    Ah when the cruel peril
 
 
of my beloved I recall
 
 
horror fills my being,
 
 
I grow chill with fear.
 
     
 
    Should friendship not keep guard
 
 
over his precious life,
 
 
from whom can aid be sought
 
 
from whom compassion?
 
 
(Exit.)
 
 
SCENE VI
 
 
Cinna alone.
 
 
Accompanied Recitative
 
 
Cinna
 
 
Yea, let us at last shake off
 
 
the humiliating yoke. Long enough
 
 
have we borne the servitude of tyranny.
 
 
If Giunia forbears
 
 
to kill that godless man, an arm
 
 
will not be wanting that is less afraid
 
 
to plunge the fatal iron into his breast.
 
 
No. 12 Aria
 
 
Cinna
 
     
 
    In the moment for which
 
 
he yearns as crown of his happiness,
 
 
I will stretch him at my feet
 
 
to avenge all men.
 
     
 
    This hand is already proud
 
 
of its homing stroke,
 
 
yea, this avenging hand
 
 
is not far from him.
 
 
(Exit.)
 
 

Hanging gardens.
 
 
SCENE VII
 
 
Silla, Aufidio and guards.
 
 
Recitative
 
 
Aufidio
 
 
Master, the Senate
 
 
awaits but thy signal. Soon
 
 
it will give ear to thee.
 
 
With a select host of armed men
 
 
have I cunningly surrounded it.
 
 
Silla
 
 
From friendly Cinna
 
 
will I not conceal this secret. For the work's accomplishment is his aid required.
 
 
Oh, that to myself
 
 
am myself a stranger! Wherever I turn
 
 
my thoughts do paint
 
 
the lovely picture of the cruel one.
 
 
Her dear name is ever on my lips,
 
 
and my heart speaks only of her.
 
 
Aufidio
 
 
Already do I see thee
 
 
at the peak of thy fortune. Employ the might
 
 
that heaven hath bestowed upon thee. Rome, the Senate,
 
 
and every proud spirit
 
 
shall before thy might bow down the forehead to thy feet.
 
 
(Exit.)
 
 
Silla
 
 
Forsooth, with the blood of her citizens
 
 
I will drench the streets, if proud Rome
 
 
today resists Silla's will;
 
 
my arm and my heart, they know the cause.
 
 
Giunia?… What fair vision! I find the excuse
 
 
for my weakness in all that beauty… but so much offence?…
 
 
Ah, but when I see her, oh ye gods,
 
 
I am no longer the offended dictator:
 
 
I forget her scornings and pardon her.
 
 
SCENE VIII
 
 
Giunia, Silla and guards.
 
 
Recitative
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(Silla? His hated visage
 
 
pains me. I will flee.)
 
 
Silla
 
 
Hold, stay thy pace.
 
 
Have pity, hear me. The unhappiest
 
 
of mortals dost thou make of me
 
 
when, as my foe, thou dost from me flee…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
What wilt thou?
 
 
Begone, traitor! (I tremble, am alarmed
 
 
for my loved one.)
 
 
Silla
 
 
Nay, in sooth, such a tyrant am I not
 
 
as thou wouldst have. Silla's soul is
 
 
capable of virtue.
 
 
So grave I cannot bear to see thy lovely glance…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(Starting to depart.)
 
 
Capable of virtue? Thou liest.
 
 
Silla
 
 
Give ear to me…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
I hearken not to thee.
 
 
Silla
 
 
And shouldst thou…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Forsooth, I would
 
 
despise thee and die.
 
 
Silla
 
 
Die?
 
 
Giunia
 
 
A Roman heart
 
 
hath no fear of death.
 
 
Silla
 
 
And thou couldst?…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
I could,
 
 
sooner than love thee, die! Go!
 
 
Silla
 
 
Proud one, thou shalt die. But not alone.
 
 
No. 13 Aria
 
 
Silla
 
     
 
    All pity I thrust from me,
 
 
thou overbold and wicked woman.
 
 
Though death to thee be pleasing,
 
 
yet soon shall I see
 
 
thy stubborn pride quail.
 
     
 
    (But my heart beats…
 
 
The one I worship, am I to lose her?…
 
 
Shall my sword barbarously pierce
 
 
my chiefest good?…)
 
     
 
    What am I saying?
 
 
Is my soul
 
 
at so weak a pitch?
 
 
I rage in my distress;
 
 
thou dost yearn to die,
 
 
dost call me cruel:
 
 
tremble, wicked woman,
 
 
in truth I shall be cruel.
 
 
(Exit with the guards.)
 
 
SCENE IX
 
 
Giunia, then Cecilio.
 
 
Recitative
 
 
Giunia
 
 
What did I hear, eternal gods? What sinister
 
 
and dreadful secret lay behind his words?
 
 
I shall not die alone? What meanest thou thereby,
 
 
barbarian?… Ah me! Whom do I see?…
 
 
My betrothed?… What was it?… What has befallen?…
 
 
Whither, thoughtless man, goest thou?
 
 
Surely thou knowest that within these walls
 
 
thy life is in jeopardy! And dost thou not fear
 
 
to breathe the air
 
 
that is thine enemies’? At this very moment
 
 
did the tyrant depart. I tremble… I beg thee, flee…
 
 
Oh should the tyrant's eye…
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
’Tis thy peril, Giunia, that is my greatest fear.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Oh Mercy! Turn back
 
 
if thou dost love me, my dearest. Oh return
 
 
to the gloomy refuge. To see thee,
 
 
oh what torment 'tis for me!
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Thy fear, my love,
 
 
shall not embitter
 
 
my sweet joy.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
O'ershadowed joy,
 
 
because she leaves my heart with icy fear
 
 
and may decide upon thy fate
 
 
determine. Conceal thyself! Ah, in all my life,
 
 
never such affliction…
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Thou wouldst have me leave thee to be that coward's prey?
 
 
I know that this guilt-ridden tyrant,
 
 
unjustly and with force,
 
 
before the Senate will take thee to the altar. And I who love thee,
 
 
far from thy side,
 
 
how could I not die of care? If vainly they
 
 
search for an arm, for steel
 
 
to spill the blood of that brutal one,
 
 
here is the steel and here the arm!
 
 
Giunia
 
 
What art thou thinking of?… Expose thyself?…
 
 
Alone to face the utmost danger?…
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Thou art full of fears, I tremble at naught.
 
 
Restrain thy fear, o thou my hope, and remember this –
 
 
excess of fear in a Roman heart
 
 
may bear the name of cowardice.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
But all too great a daring
 
 
may be foolhardiness. Conceal thyself,
 
 
I beg thee, my beloved, and increase not through danger
 
 
the weeping of these eyes.
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Eternal gods! Flee from thee?
 
 
Abandon thee? Leave thee
 
 
to the insidious infamy, the wrath
 
 
of that traitor who seeks to wed thee?
 
 
Giunia
 
 
What canst thou fear, when
 
 
steadfastness and love remain with me? Haste,
 
 
haste, to whence thou camest!
 
 
Free this heart that honours thee
 
 
from its pain and fear.
 
 
If thou dost not, then I must command thee.
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Who will keep guard on this dreadful day
 
 
if I am hidden from the tyrant,
 
 
to protect thee, Giunia?
 
 
Giunia
 
 
The heaven.
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Oh that the gods…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Whither doth
 
 
this blind rage lead thee? Despite
 
 
my anxieties thou art still at my side.
 
 
Wilt thou not go? Then I will rush to die, ungrateful one!
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Stay!… Listen!… Oh gods!
 
 
Thou wilt not leave me thus? Is this your wish?…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Beware of following
 
 
my steps!
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
How to die, that will I know,
 
 
but not how to leave thee.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(Oh heaven!
 
 
I lose him! What shall I do?)
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
My love, thou weepest…
 
 
Ah, how thy weeping…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
In sooth, for the sake of these tears,
 
 
for these eyes that are destitute of hope,
 
 
go, go from me! Hide! Live!
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
To what dost thou compel me!
 
 
Giunia
 
 
At last,
 
 
dost thou give me through this token
 
 
a proof of thy inmost love?
 
 
How dost thou answer, my life?
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
I give thee my vow.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Fly then, beloved, thou fearest without need
 
 
when thou art afraid for me. Consider
 
 
that heaven protects the righteous and that I
 
 
will never belong to another. Here, my hand to pledge
 
 
the steadfast love
 
 
that I promised thee,
 
 
and that doth the vile traitor despise to the death.
 
 
Accompanied Recitative
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Who knows whether it is riot
 
 
the last time, oh God! that I clasp thee to my breast,
 
 
most precious one, the nobler part of me,
 
 
that art the embodiment of unblemished loyalty?
 
 
Giunia
 
 
My own one, fear not.
 
 
Love me,
 
 
begone and be hopeful.
 
 
No. 14 Aria
 
 
Cecilio
 
     
 
    Alas, if cruel fate
 
 
summons me to death,
 
 
as faithful, guardian shade
 
 
I shall forever be beside thee.
 
     
 
    I would fain give proof of steadfastness,
 
 
dearest, at this parting,
 
 
but now that I leave you, oh God,
 
 
my footsteps falter.
 
 
(Exit.)
 
 
SCENE X
 
 
Giunia, then Celia.
 
 
Recitative
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Why dost thou bound within my breast,
 
 
my timorous heart?
 
 
Why, when now I see not my betrothed at my side,
 
 
do the tears flow coursing down my face?
 
 
Celia
 
 
Heavens, in tears
 
 
thus mourning do I find thee? May thy stubborn spirit
 
 
yield at last to destiny.
 
 
And Rome shall see thee as her ruler's wife.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Calm yourself, I beg thee.
 
 
Celia
 
 
Did Cecilio in harsh exile die,
 
 
why dost thou for him cherish
 
 
such vain constancy?
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(How his name
 
 
doth chill my heart.)
 
 
Celia
 
 
Thou dost not look at me
 
 
and, with sobs and sighs, thy pale lips keep silence.
 
 
Follow my counsel.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Peace, I pray thee.
 
 
Celia
 
 
I long to see thee happy. My brother
 
 
will today make me happy also:
 
 
he has promised me
 
 
Cinna's hand. Oh you know
 
 
that I adore him faithfully. No more shall I recall
 
 
the torments I have endured,
 
 
once the tyrannical course of the stars changes at last.
 
 
No. 15 Aria
 
 
Celia
 
     
 
    When upon the parched fields
 
 
summer's rain falls,
 
 
the leaves, the flowers revive,
 
 
forest and meadows
 
 
are beautified
 
 
and once again grow green.
 
     
 
    So likewise this loving soul
 
 
in its sweet hope
 
 
after its long torments
 
 
begins to breathe anew.
 
 
(Exit.)
 
 
SCENE XI
 
 
Giunia alone.
 
 
Accompanied Recitative
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Oh, how a single moment
 
 
has heightened my fear!
 
 
What a baneful presentiment
 
 
of my misfortune! Perchance my incautious bridegroom
 
 
is no longer concealed
 
 
from the wicked tyrant.
 
 
He has already condemned him to death. In my fear,
 
 
in my extremest grief,
 
 
what shall I do? What thoughts are these?… Hapless one, I tremble!
 
 
But no, I may no longer delay,
 
 
I will go before the Senate. At their feet
 
 
I will beg for pardon and mercy
 
 
for my faithful betrothed. It they refuse it,
 
 
let heaven be besought. If heaven has ordained
 
 
this day to be my adored bridegroom's last,
 
 
let the sword which pierced him, likewise pierce me.
 
 
No. 16 Aria
 
 
Giunia
 
     
 
    I go, I hasten; but thus
 
 
breaks my heart, my soul departs.
 
 
I feel the approach of death, and yet I cannot die;
 
 
I pine and shudder, I weep and I suffer.
 
 
Alas, could I but
 
 
die of grief so great!
 
     
 
    But to increase my torment
 
 
death itself today scorns
 
 
a loving soul
 
 
bowed down with care.
 
 
(Exit.)
 
 

The Capitol.
 
 
SCENE XII
 
 
Silla enters, with Aufidio, followed by senators, people and soldiers while the following chorus is sung.
 
 
No. 17 Chorus
 
 
Chorus
 
     
 
    Even as fame surrounded thy head
 
 
when thou stoodst in combat against a thousand armies,
 
 
so let love here crown
 
 
the redoutable brow.
 
 
Part of the chorus
 
     
 
    May that unvanquished arm embrace
 
 
the one thou dost adore.
 
 
The entire chorus
 
     
 
    Let the warrior's wreath of laurel
 
 
with myrtles be enhanced.
 
 
(Giunia enters among the senators.)
 
 
Recitative
 
 
Silla
 
 
Patrician and Senators, I who have fought for Rome,
 
 
I who have conquered for Rome,
 
 
I who by my valour stifled
 
 
the torch of civil strife, I who through my works now behold peace
 
 
reign along the Tiber,
 
 
I desire some reward for all my triumphs.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(Help, eternal gods!)
 
 
Silla
 
 
You surely know
 
 
the former baneful hate
 
 
which prevailed betwixt Marius and Silla. This is the day
 
 
on which I forget it all. With his daughter
 
 
may the sacred bond unite me. And this sweet covenant
 
 
may soothe the father's shade. A ruler,
 
 
a Roman, in spite of glory and the laurel wreath,
 
 
seeks only this reward for all his toil.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(The Senate keeps silent and with its silence approves
 
 
the will of the tyrant.)
 
 
Silla
 
 
Senators, I do perceive
 
 
in your countenances
 
 
common consent.
 
 
The joyful cries that echo round about
 
 
are a sure token of public opinion.
 
 
Follow me, now, to the altar…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Forbear, wretch!
 
 
Do Rome and the Senate stoop
 
 
to such cowardice? Does some rascally, insane
 
 
fear compel you to favour the shameful villainies
 
 
of a godless man? No, none among you,
 
 
not one
 
 
who has a Roman heart in his breast…
 
 
Silla
 
 
Be silent. 'Twere wiser to give me thy hand.
 
 
Aufidio
 
 
That is the desire of all the people.
 
 
I speak on their behalf.
 
 
Silla
 
 
Come, follow me…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(Makes to stab herself.)
 
 
Approach me not,
 
 
else this iron shall pierce my breast.
 
 
Silla
 
 
Take from this proud woman
 
 
the blade and she shall do my bidding.
 
 
SCENE XIII
 
 
Cecilio with drawn sword; the aforementioned.
 
 
Recitative
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
My bride, have no fear.
 
 
Silla
 
 
(Whom do I see?)
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(Oh God!)
 
 
Aufidio
 
 
(Cecilio?)
 
 
Silla
 
 
In this wise
 
 
am I betrayed by you? In defiance of my ban
 
 
and the laws
 
 
Cecilio has returned, and with Giunia at his side
 
 
he ventures to seek the ruler's life.
 
 
Bind that criminal!
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(Imprudent one!)
 
 
My lord…
 
 
Silla
 
 
Be silent! Wretch!
 
 
I feel only rage.
 
 
(To Cecilio.)
 
 
At sunrise,
 
 
traitor, shalt thou die.
 
 
SCENE XIV
 
 
Cinna with drawn sword; the aforementioned.
 
 
Recitative
 
 
Silla
 
 
What? Cinna?
 
 
With drawn sword,
 
 
confused and undecided?…
 
 
Cinna
 
 
(Oh heaven! All is lost.
 
 
Some way I seek
 
 
out of this disastrous plight.) To my astonishment
 
 
did I see how Cecilio, with drawn sword,
 
 
did make his way
 
 
through the throng. His proud,
 
 
threatening eye, his fury caused me
 
 
to fear treachery.
 
 
Thee from this murderous hand to deliver and to defend
 
 
did I draw my sword.
 
 
Silla
 
 
Go, friend, to discover
 
 
if other faithless…
 
 
Cinna
 
 
Upon my loyalty depend,
 
 
o master. Fear naught.
 
 
(Nearly did I lose myself in the violent encounter.)
 
 
(Exit.)
 
 
Silla
 
 
Bring here the traitor,
 
 
Aufidio, disarm him.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Oh God! Withhold.
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
So long I have the sword,
 
 
so long I know what makes thee tremble.
 
 
Silla
 
 
Is this the measure
 
 
of thy arrogance?
 
 
Giunia
 
 
(Oh gods!)
 
 
Silla
 
 
Surrender thy sword
 
 
else I…
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Thou dost hope in vain.
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Surrender it, o dearest one.
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Doth my bride instruct me
 
 
to be cowardly?
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Defy him not!
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
What wilt thou?…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
A proof
 
 
of thy regard.
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
Must I?…
 
 
Giunia
 
 
Thou needs must
 
 
place thy trust in my constancy and heaven's favour,
 
 
and hope. Shouldst thou still cherish doubt, my love,
 
 
thou dost offend the righteous gods
 
 
and thy bride.
 
 
Cecilio
 
 
(Rage consumes me.)
 
 
(To Giunia.)
 
 
Content thyself.
 
 
(He drops the sword.)
 
 
Take it! – Barbarian.
 
 
Silla
 
 
Into the darkest dungeon
 
 
cast him! But a brief while yet
 
 
shall I suffer thee to breathe the vital breath
 
 
which thou hast forfeited.
 
 
In chains
 
 
thou too, deceitful jade,
 
 
shalt rue thy bold treason.
 
 
No. 18 Trio
 
 
Silla
 
     
 
    This criminal temerity
 
 
I shall know today how to subdue.
 
 
Cecilio
 
     
 
    Give over thy hope, villain,
 
 
thus would I act at any time again.
 
 
Giunia
 
     
 
    Here, o my husband, a pledge
 
 
that I shall die at thy side.
 
 
Silla
 
     
 
    Godless pair, your hands
 
 
are fit for chains alone.
 
 
Giunia and Cecilio
 
     
 
    If my dearest treasure loves me,
 
 
I shall walk gladly to my death.
 
 
a tre
 
 
Silla
 
     
 
    This constancy undaunted,
 
 
this love so true,
 
 
maddens my heart,
 
 
inflames me.
 
 
Giunia and Cecilio
 
     
 
    My constancy undaunted,
 
 
my love so true,
 
 
sweetly comforts my heart
 
 
and leaves me free of fear.
 
 
 
 
End of the second act.