SCENE I
|
||
Silla, Aufidio and guards.
|
||
Recitative
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
I had predicted this to thee, my lord: the proud one
|
||
grows yet more stubborn, the more
|
||
concern and love thou showest her.
|
||
Silla
|
||
Little time remains to her
|
||
to insult me. I have decided
|
||
that she must die. I have borne enough of her.
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
May thy loyal friend
|
||
speak freely to thee?
|
||
Silla
|
||
Speak!
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
Thou knowest
|
||
that never in this world were heroes
|
||
without foes. ’Tis true of the Emilios and the Scipios.
|
||
And, despite his heroic deeds,
|
||
is the glorious Silla of their number, too.
|
||
Silla
|
||
This I know indeed.
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
With Giunia's death
|
||
thou dost proffer thine enemies
|
||
the weapon against thyself. She is Marius' daughter,
|
||
and this Marius lives on, to thy peril,
|
||
in his own friends.
|
||
Silla
|
||
What shall I do?
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
Before
|
||
the people and the senate
|
||
let the proud woman become thy wife. To appease the old hatred
|
||
feign a zeal
|
||
that will disguise the violence. Who will dare
|
||
to oppose thy will? Countless armed hosts
|
||
surround thee. Every man fears
|
||
thee as the hero who thus far all civil dissent
|
||
hath subdued and governs.
|
||
The Senate and Rome tremble before thy glance.
|
||
Your power, o master, procures you
|
||
public assent. Right hath always
|
||
followed might. And what man surrounded by a thousand armies
|
||
stoops to plead?
|
||
He demands and commands, even when he speaks and begs.
|
||
Silla
|
||
And if the ungrateful one
|
||
proudly still rejects me
|
||
before the people, before the Senate, before Rome?
|
||
What shall I do?
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
The proud woman
|
||
will not resist. Thou shalt see it melt, that obstinate heart,
|
||
in face of public approbation,
|
||
of the Roman people's plaudits.
|
||
Silla
|
||
Thy counsel, friend,
|
||
will I follow. Oh heaven!… Know… To thee will I divulge
|
||
my weakness. Whene'er I practise violence
|
||
or destruction,
|
||
the heart of Silla is
|
||
by grave torments of conscience
|
||
torn and oppressed. In such moments
|
||
I suffer violent conflicts. I tremble,
|
||
am determined, I quake, despise myself, love, am bold.
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
Be told: this wavering
|
||
clouds the brilliance of thy merits. Remorses
|
||
are the children of cowardice. Take my counsel,
|
||
be cheerful and bold. And, in spite of herself,
|
||
let this proud woman
|
||
be compelled to be thy wife.
|
||
No. 8 Aria
|
||
Aufidio
|
||
Let the warrior who blenches
|
||
at the flash of steel
|
||
not go upon the battlefield
|
||
in order to lay bare his cowardice.
|
||
Yielding, now to craven fear,
|
||
now to hope,
|
||
what, if not this,
|
||
is unsteadfastness?
|
||
(Exit.)
|
||
SCENE II
|
||
Silla and guards, then Celia.
|
||
Recitative
|
||
Silla
|
||
Ah, never did I think
|
||
that for the man adorned with glory and greatness
|
||
evil-doing would prove so arduous a task.
|
||
Celia
|
||
All have I attempted here now. With pleas, harshness,
|
||
promises and threats is Giunia's heart
|
||
in vain attacked. Ah, my brother,
|
||
thou canst not know
|
||
how I for thee…
|
||
Silla
|
||
I know what thou wouldst say to me.
|
||
Silla is no less grateful to one who,
|
||
though unavailing, makes endeavour for him.
|
||
Because success depends on destiny, true merit
|
||
of the deed cannot be thwarted
|
||
by adverse circumstance. Giunia will this very day
|
||
become my wife.
|
||
Celia
|
||
Giunia thy wife?
|
||
Silla
|
||
Inquire not how.
|
||
That I am recompensed
|
||
must suffice for thee.
|
||
Celia
|
||
Why dost thou conceal from me a secret?
|
||
Why dost thou not illuminate
|
||
such obscure speech?
|
||
Silla
|
||
(Because a secret is less sure with a woman.)
|
||
My silence should not displease thee. – Listen:
|
||
this day it is my wish
|
||
to give thee as wife to Cinna.
|
||
Celia
|
||
(Oh, happy am I!)
|
||
Let me, oh let me, to Cinna, thy
|
||
true friend,
|
||
this joyful message bring. At last shall my lips
|
||
disclose to him that he alone is my dearest treasure
|
||
and that I will ever adore him as I do now esteem him.
|
||
(Exit.)
|
||
Silla
|
||
Now to the Capitol,
|
||
my well-considered plan to pursue. May stealthy
|
||
cunning be employed that my enemy
|
||
may follow me to the altar. Alas, I know
|
||
that I at any price must
|
||
gain possession of her.
|
||
’Tis to no avail that ye awake once more – pangs of conscience.
|
||
(Exit with the guards.)
|
||
SCENE III
|
||
Cecilio, without helmet, without mantle and with drawn sword as though to pursue Silla, Cinna restraining him.
|
||
Recitative
|
||
Cinna
|
||
What rage impels thee?
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
(Starting to depart.)
|
||
Restrain not
|
||
my arm. On the track
|
||
of the tyrant let me hasten. Let the shining steel
|
||
cleave his breast…
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Desist.
|
||
Whence
|
||
thy sudden wrath?
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
(As before.)
|
||
Know
|
||
that not for one moment
|
||
will I delay the blow…
|
||
Cinna
|
||
And the danger?
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
I fear it not and disregard all counsel.
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Oh Mercy, so hearken to me…
|
||
Reveal to me… Tell me… Oh heaven! What broken words…
|
||
what fierce looks…
|
||
thy raving despair… thy exertion
|
||
to flee from me… in a fateful enterprise
|
||
to show thy daring… a thousandfold suspicion
|
||
arises in my breast. Speak. Answer…
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
(As before.)
|
||
Thou shalt learn all…
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Never
|
||
will I let thee go.
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
Why dost thou halt
|
||
the vengeance of the people?
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Only because I desire
|
||
that it should not be uncertain.
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
(As before.)
|
||
Uncertain it shall not be…
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Thus wilt thou untimely,
|
||
through daring that is but vain,
|
||
disjoint my well considered
|
||
plans? Giunia shalt thou see again. And whereas,
|
||
for her sake, thou shouldst love thine own life even more,
|
||
why dost thou recklessly pursue a rash venture?
|
||
Break thy silence. Disclose
|
||
what impels thee to so great a fury.
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
Dreadful remembrance kindles
|
||
fresh wrath in my heart. Listen and wonder.
|
||
In her grief my troubled soul
|
||
found sweet comfort
|
||
at the side of my bride.
|
||
As Giunia's steps
|
||
led her away
|
||
from that gloomy place, a light sleep
|
||
played about mine eyes. Oh heaven!
|
||
I am still numbed with horror! It seemed to me
|
||
that I beheld, opened up, the cold grave
|
||
in which the dead limbs
|
||
of Marius reposed. His hollow eye
|
||
he turned on me,
|
||
thrice did he shake his skull,
|
||
wild and wrathful.
|
||
I hear how his hoarse voice calls:
|
||
"Cecilio, to what end dost thou linger
|
||
at my grave? Go to and hasten
|
||
on the longed-for moment
|
||
of universal vengeance. Let not thy sword
|
||
hang idly at thy side. Oh if thou shouldst fail
|
||
to fulfil the task that Marius' unavenged shade
|
||
this day doth counsel and upon thee lay,
|
||
shalt thou thy bride and I my daughter lose."
|
||
Accompanied Recitative
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
The majestic tone of these threatening words
|
||
perturbed my spirit. Sleep
|
||
fell from my bewildered eyes.
|
||
Of a sudden was I aflame
|
||
with rage. I grasped the steel.
|
||
My timorous foot no longer held me back.
|
||
To slay the guilt-laden tyrant came I hence.
|
||
Oh detain me here no longer…
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Stay!
|
||
Bridle thy wrath a little,
|
||
thy wild impulse. Oh thou art lost
|
||
should Silla see thee…
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
Am I to fear
|
||
a tyrant's glance? Is another hand
|
||
to slay him? Never! Every hour I see
|
||
about me Marius' pale
|
||
shade seeking vengeance.
|
||
Every moment I hear his noble words
|
||
sound in my ear.
|
||
Even now, as I stand at thy side.
|
||
Let me…
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Ah, if thou thus
|
||
despisest danger, think at least of this,
|
||
that on thy life depends the life
|
||
of a faithful bride. Oh stars! What if
|
||
a life so precious to thee…
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
Oh Giunia!… Oh that name!…
|
||
The very thought, my friend,
|
||
that I might lose her,
|
||
quells any surge of my wrath.
|
||
But hasten, fly,
|
||
for me slay the tyrant… Ye gods, and now
|
||
my bride is delivered up
|
||
to my enemy… Alas!… Who defends her?…
|
||
And what if he should come his way?… Oh God! How harsh the contrast,
|
||
what grief, immortal gods! Fear, trouble,
|
||
wrath, hope, furor: all these I feel within my breast,
|
||
and know not which feeling will triumph! What thoughts are these?
|
||
And am I still not resolved?
|
||
Let Giunia be saved, or at her side I will die.
|
||
No. 9 Aria
|
||
Cecilio
|
||
This unexpected trembling
|
||
growing and growing in my breast,
|
||
I know not whether it be hope,
|
||
I know not whether it be wrath.
|
||
Yet, whether in its inward feeling
|
||
or in its outward wrath
|
||
it be madness or hope,
|
||
it shall strike terror in the traitor's heart.
|
||
(Exit.)
|
||
SCENE IV
|
||
Cinna, then Celia.
|
||
Recitative
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Ah, to do the deed! Should heaven delay the evil-doer's
|
||
punishment longer, shall one really wait
|
||
until the vile misdeeds
|
||
of the Tarquinian
|
||
will begin anew in our own days?
|
||
Celia
|
||
What anxiety do I behold
|
||
in thine eyes, o Cinna?
|
||
Cinna
|
||
To some other place,
|
||
Celia, I must go.
|
||
Detain me not…
|
||
Celia
|
||
Thou dost forever shun me!
|
||
Cinna
|
||
(Starting to depart.)
|
||
Farewell!
|
||
Celia
|
||
One moment only
|
||
hear me, then go.
|
||
Cinna
|
||
What dost thou desire?
|
||
Celia
|
||
(Oh gods!
|
||
Speak I cannot, though speak I would.)
|
||
Know that my brother…
|
||
Cinna
|
||
Speak!
|
||
Celia
|
||
…wishes…
|
||
(Oh stars, I am confused, and I fear
|
||
the cruel one loves me not.) Know that… (Oh heaven!
|
||
Why am I confused in the face of whom I love?
|
||
Today he becomes my husband,
|
||
and do I not dare declare my mind?…)
|
||
Cinna
|
||
I do not comprehend
|
||
these broken words of thine.
|
||
Celia
|
||
(He pretends, the ungrateful one.)
|
||
Now, when I in my doubt remain silent,
|
||
does not my heart speak
|
||
to you for me? What shall I say?
|
||
Speech enough from sad eyes
|
||
reaches thee in my silence.
|
||
No. 10 Aria [Cavatina]
|
||
Celia
|
||
If my timid lips
|
||
dare not disclose
|
||
the hidden flame,
|
||
may these eyes
|
||
speak in their stead,
|
||
may they reveal
|
||
my whole heart.
|
||
(Exit.)
|
||
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.
|
||
|
||
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.
|