No words from me, only a passing memory

"Torna ai felici di"

(Return to the Happy Days)
Roberto's aria from "Le Villi"
an opera by Giacomo Puccini

Roberto:

Here is her house.
O God, what a horrible night!
Weird voices pursue me.The Willis: away with them!
They are imaginings!
No, the fatal vendetta of the Wilis
Does not pursue me!
Viper of Hell!
Thou alone, remorse, dost plague me!
Viper of the poison of Hell!
My anguished thought
Returns to those happy days
When May was gay with flowers
And love blossomed for me!
Then everything was blackened
By lugubrious mysteries,
And now in my heart there is
Naught but sadness and terror!
Perhaps she still lives! I shall knock!
What a shudder ran through me!
I could not lift
My hand to her door!

Willis:

Come, damned soul, make haste!

Roberto:

I seem to hear
A funeral dirge!
O great God! This is the end
Of my journey, of my destiny.
Let forgiveness bring me
A single moment of happiness,
Then I shall die!
I cannot pray!
Ah, cursed be the day
When I left this village!
And cursed be your beauty,
O vile courtesan!

[Editor's Note: I do not much care for tragedy, which the opera, "Le Villi," most certainly is; I always want endings to be happy. But, I greatly appreciate the artistry of Giacomo Puccini and the talent of Placido Domingo -- and, the legend of "the Willis" (the Fairies) fascinates me -- so, here they all are together. By the way, neither do I care much for comedy. No tragedy, no comedy? What else is there? Romance, of course.]