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“Der fliegende Holländer” by Richard Wagner libretto (English)
| Contents: Characters; Act One; Act Two; Act Three |
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SCENE ONE (A large room in Daland's house; on the walls are pictures of ships, maps, etc. On the back wall hangs a portrait of a man with pale face and dark beard, wearing a black cloak. Mary and the girls are seated round the stove, spinning. Senta, leaning back in an old-fashioned armchair, is lost in dreamy contemplation of the portrait on the wall) GIRLS Hum and buzz, good wheel, gaily, gaily turn! Spin, spin a thousand threads, good wheel, hum and buzz! My love is out at sea, he thinks of home and his true maid; my good wheel, hum and sing! Ah, if you drove the wind, he'd soon be here. Spin! Spin! Spin! Set to, girls! Buzz! Hum! Good wheel! Tralaralalalala! MARY Aha! Work away! How busily they spin! Each wants to win a sweetheart! GIRLS Mistress Mary, hush! You know quite well the song is not yet finished. MARY Then sing! It keeps the wheel at work. - (to Senta) But you, Senta, not a word? |
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GIRLS Hum and buzz, good wheel, gaily, gaily turn! Spin, spin a thousand threads, good wheel, hum and buzz! My love out there at sea, in the South has won much gold; ah, good wheel, turn faster! He'll give it to his girl if she spins well. Spin! Spin! Work away, girls! Buzz! Hum! Good wheel! Tralaralalalala! MARY (to Senta) You naughty girl, if you don't spin, you'll get no gift from your sweetheart. GIRLS She has no need to hurry; her sweetheart's not at sea. He brings no gold, but game, we know well what a hunter's worth. (They laugh. Senta, without changing her position, softly hums a theme from the ballad which follows later) MARY Look! Always in front of that picture! - (to Senta) Do you want to dream away your whole young life before that portrait? SENTA (without changing her position) Why did you tell me? Why did you tell me the story about him? (sighing) The poor man! |
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MARY God be with you! GIRLS Aha! What do we hear! She sighs for the pale man! MARY She's lost her head over him. GIRLS You see what a picture can do! MARY It's no use though I grumble daily! Come, Senta! turn around! GIRLS She can't hear you - she's in love! Oh! Oh! let's hope there'll be no quarrel, for Erik is very hot-blooded - may he do no violence! Say nothing or, mad with rage, he'll shoot his rival off the wall! (They laugh) SENTA (starting up angrily) Oh, stop your silly laughing! Do you want to make me really angry? GIRLS (interrupting Senta with comic fervour, meanwhile turning their spinning-wheels violently and very loudly as if give Senta no opportunity of scolding them) Hum and buzz, good wheel, gaily, gaily turn! Spin, spin a thousand threads, good wheel, hum and buzz! |
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SENTA (jumping up angrily) Oh, stop that stupid song, it hums and buzzes in my ears! If you want me with you, think of something better! GIRLS Very well! You sing! SENTA Hear what I propose: Let Mistress Mary sing us the ballad. MARY God forbid! I could not! Leave the Flying Dutchman in peace! SENTA Yet I have often heard it from you! MARY God forbid! I could not! SENTA I'll sing it myself! Listen, girls! Let me appeal to your hearts, the poor man's fate will surely move you! GIRLS All right, let's hear it. SENTA Mark well the words. GIRLS Stop the spinning-wheels! MARY (crossly) I'll spin on! (Having put their spinning-wheels aside, the girls move their seats nearer to the armchair and group themselves round Senta. Mary remains sitting by the hearth and continues her spinning) |
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SENTA (in the armchair) (BALLAD) I. Johohoe! Johohohoe! Hohohoe! Johoe! Have you met the ship at sea with blood-red sails and black mast? On the high deck, the pale man, the master of the ship, keeps endless watch. Hui! How the wind howls - Yohohey! Hui! How it whistles in the rigging, Yohohey! Hui! Like an arrow he flies, without aim, without rest, without peace! But redemption may one day come to the pale man, if he but find a woman on earth true unto death. Oh, when will you find her, wan mariner? Pray to Heaven that soon a woman will stay true to him! (Towards the end of the stanza Senta turns to the picture. The girls listen attentively; Mary has stopped spinning) II. In bitter gale and raging storm, he once tried to round a cape; he cursed, in mad fury, and swore: "Never will I give up!" Hui! And Satan heard it! Yohohey! Hui! Took him at his word! Yohohey! Hui! And, damned, he now roams the sea without rest or peace! But the poor man may still find salvation on earth for an angel of God showed him how one day he might be redeemed. Ah, wan mariner, could you but find it! Pray to Heaven that soon a woman will stay true to him! GIRLS Ah, wan mariner, could you but find it! Pray to Heaven! |
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SENTA (continues with ever-increasing agitation) III. At anchor every seven years, a wife to woo he goes ashore: he wooed every seven years, but never a true wife he found. Hui! "Hoist sails!" Yohohey! Hui! "Weigh anchor!" Yohohey! Hui "False love, false faith! Back to sea, without rest or peace!" (Senta, overcome by her emotion, sinks back in her chair) GIRLS (after a pause, continue the song softly) Ah, where is she whom the angel of God someday may show to you? Where will you meet her who will be your own true love unto death? SENTA (seized with a sudden inspiration, springs up from her chair) It is I who will save you with my true love! May God's angel show me to you! Through me you shall find grace! MARY AND GIRLS (starting up in terror) Heaven help us! Senta! Senta! ERIK (entering, has heard Senta's final words) Senta, do you wish to destroy me? GIRLS Help us, Erik! She's out of her mind! MARY I feel my blood curdling! Horrible portrait, out you go as soon as her father comes home! ERIK (gloomily) |
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Her father's coming now! SENTA (who has remained in her last position, oblivious of everything, starts up joyfully, as if awaking) My father's coming? ERIK From the cliff I saw his ship approaching. GIRLS (joyfully) They're home! They're home! MARY Now see what a fine state we're in! No work is done in the house yet! GIRLS They're home! Hurry, let's go! MARY (detaining the girls) Stop! Stop! You just stay indoors! The crew'll come with empty stomachs. To work in kitchen and cellar! GIRLS Oh! I've so much to ask him! I cannot check my curiosity. MARY You'll have to curb your curiosity - your duties come first! GIRLS All right! Once the food is served, we'll have no more to do! (Mary drives the girls from the room and follows them) |
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SCENE TWO (Senta is also at the point of leaving when Erik detains her) ERIK Stay, Senta! Stay but a moment! Free me of my torment! Or if you wish, oh then destroy me completely! SENTA (hesitantly) What is...? What must...? ERIK Oh, Senta, say, what is to become of me? Your father is home, before he sails again, he will do what he has often wanted to. SENTA What do you mean? ERIK Give you a husband! I offer a heart true unto death, a few poor possessions, a hunter's lot: - Can I ask for your hand as I am? Won't your father refuse me? If then my heart with sorrow breaks, tell me, senta, who will speak for me? SENTA Ah, say no more now, Erik. Let me go out to greet my father! If his daughter does not go aboard as usual, he'll be angry, won't he? ERIK So you run from me? SENTA I must go to the harbour. ERIK You shun me? SENTA Oh, let me go! |
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ERIK You shrink from this wound you gave me, this madness of love? Oh, listen to me here and now, hear my last question: - in this heart of mine breaks with grief, will it be Senta who speaks for me? SENTA What? You doubt my heart? You doubt my affection for you? Tell me, what gives you such pain? What has made you sad and suspicious? ERIK Your father, oh, he thinks only of wealth! And you, Senta, how far can I rely on you? Have you ever granted a wish of mine? Do you not wound my heart each day? SENTA Your heart? ERIK What am I to think? That picture... SENTA The picture? ERIK Can't you forget your mad infatuation? SENTA Can I help it if my face shows my pity? ERIK And the ballad, you sang it again today! SENTA I am a child and know not what I sing. What? Do you fear a song, a picture? ERIK You are so pale, tell me, Why should I not fear it? SENTA Ought I not to be moved by the poor man's dreadful fate? ERIK Doesn't my anguish move you more, Senta? |
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SENTA Oh, don't boast! What can your anguish be? Do you know the fate of that unhappy man? (she leads Erik to the picture and show it to him) Do you feel the pain, the deep grief with which he looks down on me? Ah, the evil that robbed him for ever of his peace pierces my heart! ERIK Alas! I recall my baleful dream! God defend you! Satan has ensnared you! SENTA What alarms you so? ERIK Senta! Please believe me: I had a dream! Heed its warning! (Senta, exhausted, sit down in the armchair; at the beginning of Erik's narration she falls into a trance-like sleep, so that she appears to be dreaming the dream being related to her. Erik stands at her side, leaning against the chair) |
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ERIK On a high cliff I lay dreaming, saw the angry sea beneath me! I heard the breakers as the foaming waters dashed in fury upon the shore. An alien ship near the coast I saw, strange and mysterious; two men were coming ashore, I recognized one as your father. SENTA (her eyes closed) The other? ERIK I knew him well, with his black doublet, pallid face... SENTA (as before) and gloomy mien... ERIK (pointing to the portrait) That sailor, he. SENTA And I? ERIK You came from the house, raced to greet your father. I saw you just as you reached them, you fell at the stranger's feet, I saw you clasp his knees... SENTA (with growing excitement) He raised me up... ERIK to his breast; ardently you clung to him and kissed him with hot desire... |
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SENTA And then? ERIK (looking at her in astonishment) I saw you two sail away. SENTA (awaking suddenly, in the utmost rapture) He is looking for me. I must see him! ERIK Horrible! It is all clear now! SENTA With him must I perish! ERIK She is lost! My dream spoke true! (Erik rushes away in despair and terror. Senta, after her outburst of excitement remains where she is, sunk in silent meditation, her eyes fixed on the portrait) SENTA (softly but with deep emotion) Ah, may you find her, pale seaman! Pray to Heaven that soon a woman will be true... (The door is opened. Daland and the Dutchman enter) |
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SCENE THREE (The Dutchman is just entered and Senta's gaze sweeps from the portrait to the Dutchman... She uttes a cry of astonishment and remains as if spellbound, without taking her eyes off him. The Dutchman, his eyes fixed on Senta, comes slowly forward) |
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DALAND My child, you see me on the threshold. What? No embrace? No kiss? You stand as if bewitched. Senta, do I deserve such a greeting? SENTA (As Daland comes up to her, she grasps his hand) God greet you! (drawing him closer to her) Father, tell me, who is the stranger? DALAND (laughing) You really want to know? My child, bid this stranger welcome! A seaman he is, like me, he asks to be our guest. Long homeless, always sailing far and wide, in foregin lands he has won rich treasure. Exiled from his homeland, he'll pay well for a hearth. Tell me, Senta, would it vex you if this stranger lodged with us? (Senta nods her assent to the suggestion) DALAND (turns to the Dutchman) Now, did I overpraise her? You see her yourself - do you appreove? Need I lavish more praise? Admit it, she adorns her sex! (The Dutchman makes a gesture of assent) DALAND (to Senta) Will you, my child, be friendly to this man? From your heart he asks too a gracious gift: give him your hand, for bridegroom you shall call him: agree with your father and tomorrow he is your husband. |
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(Senta makes a convulsive movement of pain. Daland produces some jewellery and shows it to Senta) See this bracelet, these clasps! This is nothing to what he owns. Surely you want them, dear child? It is all yours when you exchange rings. (He sees that neither Senta nor the Dutchman are paying any attention to him) But neither speaks... Do I intrude? Yes. Better leave them alone. (to Senta) May you win this fine man! Belive me, such luck never comes twice. (to the Dutchman) Stay here alone! I am going. Believe me, she is as true as she is fair. (Daland slowly goes out, leaving Senta and the Dutchman rapt in contemplation of each other. Senta and the Dutchman are alone) |
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DUTCHMAN (deeply moved) As from the mist of times long gone this girl's image speaks to me: as I dreamt of her for restless ages, I see her now before my eyes. I have often lifted my eyes at dead of night, longing for a wife. Satan's spite left me but a pounding heart to remind me of my torment. The dull glow I feel burning here, can I in my misery call it love? Ah, no! It is a yearning for redemption: would that through such an angel it came true! SENTA Am I deep in a wonderful dream? What I see, is it mere fancy? Have I been till now in some false world, is my day of awakening dawning? He stands before me, his face lined with suffering, it reveals his terrible grief to me: can deep pity's voice lie to me? As I have often seen him, here he stands. The pain that burns within my breast, ah, this longing, how shall I name it? What you yearn for, salvation, would it came true, poor man, through me! DUTCHMAN (drawing slightly, near to Senta) Do you agree with your father's choice? What he promised, say, can I count on it? Could you give yourself to me for ever and offer your hand to a stranger? Shall I, after a life of anguish, find in your loyalty my long-sought rest? SENTA Whoever you are, whatever the evil lot which cruel fate has meted out to you - and whatever the future holds in store for me, I shall always obey my father! DUTCHMAN What? So unhesitating? Have you such deep pity for my suffering? |
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SENTA (aside) Oh, what suffering! Could I but console you! DUTCHMAN (overhearding her) What a sweet sound in the murky tumult! You are an angel! An angel's love can comfort even a lost soul! Ah, if I can still hope for redemption, Eternal God, may it come through her! SENTA Ah, if he can still hope for redemption, Eternal God, may it come through me! DUTCHMAN Ah, if you realised the fate that then you would share with me, it would warn you of the sacrifice you make for me, if you swear to be true to me. Your young soul would flee in horror from the ruin to which you condemn it, without woman's noblest virtue, without eternal fidelity. SENTA I well know woman's sacred duty, take heart, then, unhappy man! Let destiny judge me who can defy its sentence! In the sheer purity of my heart I know what loyalty most demands. To whom I show it, I give it all, true love till death! DUTCHMAN (in exaltation) A holy balm for my wounds springs from this solemn oath. Hear me: my deliverance I have found, you powers that have repulsed me! The star of my evil fate shall fail, light of my hope, shine anew! You angels who once abandoned me, strengthen now this heart in faith! |
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SENTA By mighty magic overcome, I am swept to his rescue: here may he find a home, here may he ship anchor safe in port! What stirs so strongly within me? What fills my heart with rapture? Almighty God, may the source of my exaltation be the strength of my true love. DALAND (re-entering) Forgive me! My people will stay outside no longer. After each voyage, you know, we have a feast. To grace the occasion, I have come to ask if you agree to the betrothal? (to the Dutchman) I think you courted to your heart's desire? (to Senta) Senta, my child, say, are you willing? SENTA (with solemn resolution) Here is my hand! And without regret till death I vow to be true! DUTCHMAN She gives her hand! You are mocked, Hell, by her true love! DALAND You will not regret this union! To the feast! Today shall everyone rejoice! (The curtain falls) |
| Contents: Characters; Act One; Act Two; Act Three |