(1) Alas!
Lonely sits the city
Once great with people!
She that was great among nations
Is become like a widow;
The princess among states
Is become a thrall. (2) Bitterly she weeps in the night,
Her cheek wet with tears.
There is none to comfort her
Of all her friends.
All her allies have betrayed her;
They have become her foes. (3) Judah has gone into exile
Because of misery and harsh oppression;
When she settled among the nations,
She found no rest;
All her pursuers overtook her
In the narrow places.-b (4) Zion’s roads are in mourning,
Empty of festival pilgrims;
All her gates are deserted.
Her priests sigh,
Her maidens are unhappy—
She is utterly disconsolate! (5) Her enemies are now the masters,
Her foes are at ease,
Because the LORD has afflicted her
For her many transgressions;
Her infants have gone into captivity
Before the enemy.
(6) Gone from Fair Zion are all
That were her glory;
Her leaders were like stags
That found no pasture;
They could only walk feebly
Before the pursuer.
(7) All the precious things she had
In the days of old
Jerusalem recalled
In her days of woe and sorrow,
When her people fell by enemy hands
With none to help her;
When enemies looked on and gloated
Over her downfall. (8) Jerusalem has greatly sinned,
Therefore she is become a mockery.
All who admired her despise her,
For they have seen her disgraced;
And she can only sigh
And shrink back. (9) Her uncleanness clings to her skirts.
She gave no thought to her future;
She has sunk appallingly,
With none to comfort her.—
See, O LORD, my misery;
How the enemy jeers!
Thomas Tallis – Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet – Heh
Heh.
Facti sunt hostes eius in capite, inimici illius locupletati sunt: quia Dominus locutus est super eam propter multitudinem iniquitatem eius: parvuli eius ducti sunt captivi ante faciem tribulantis.
(Ierusalem, Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum.)
Her enemies are now the masters,
Her foes are at ease,
Because the Eternal has afflicted her
For her many transgressions;
Her infants have gone into captivity
Before the enemy.
[Lamentations 1:5]
(Jerusalem, Jerusalem: Return to the Eternal your God.)
Giuseppe Verdi – “Take this picture of me” (from La Traviata)
VIOLETTA
Come closer,
Alfredo, my beloved,
Take this picture of me
In happier days gone by
As a remembrance of her
Who loved you truly.
ALFREDO
Don’t talk to me of dying,
You must live on, beloved;
God would not bring on me
So dreadful a misfortune…
GERMONT
Dear, sublime victim
Of a desperate love,
Forgive me for the
Torment inflicted on your fair heart.
VIOLETTA
If some gentle maiden
In the springtime of her life
Should give to you her heart,
Let her be your wife, for such is my wish.
Give her this picture
And tell her it’s the gift of one
Who from heaven, amongst the angels,
Prays always for her and for you.
ANNINA, GERMONT, THE DOCTOR
As long as I have tears to shed,
I shall weep for you.
Fly to the regions of the blest,
For God calls you to Him!
ALFREDO
Death cannot
Divide you
From me so soon!
Live, or a single coffin
Shall enclose me with you!
VIOLETTA
[Reviving]
How strange!
ANNINA, ALFREDO, GERMONT, THE DOCTOR
What?
VIOLETTA
The spasms of pain have ceased!
I feel reborn in me the strength
That was once mine!
I feel I’m coming back to life!
Oh, joy!
[She falls back on the sofa.]
ANNINA, GERMONT, THE DOCTOR
Oh, heavens! She is dying!
ALFREDO
Violetta?
ANNINA, GERMONT
Oh, God, she needs help!
THE DOCTOR
[Feeling her pulse]
She is dead!
ANNINA, ALFREDO, GERMONT
Oh, my grief!