"It is the night of a new moon." "In Roman-occupied Gaul around 1 00 A.C." "Under the oak of lrminsul, the Druids are preparing for the ceremony of cutting mistletoe." "Go up on the hill, O Druids go and observe the skies" "to see when the new moon will show her silver crescent" "and let the first smile on her virginal face" "be announced by three strokes upon the sacred bronze" "will Norma come to cut the sacred mistletoe?" "Yes Norma will come." "She will come" "with thy prophetic aura imbue her, o terrible God; arouse in her, O lrminsul, feelings of wrath and hatred for the Romans, feelings that will break this peace that is fatal to us" "Yes, he will utter terrible words from beneath these ancient oaks;" "he will free the Gauls from the Roman eagles;" "and the sound of his sacred shield like the crash of thunder will fill the city of the Caesars with fearful clamor." "Hasten to rise, O moon," "Norma will come to the altar." "Hasten, O moon!" "Oroveso and the Druids move toward the temple of lrminsul to celebrate the sacred rites in the presence of the priestess Norma" "Pollione, and Flavio wrapped in their togas enter cautiously." "Their voices have ceased, and the way into the dreadful wood is open." "Death lurks in this grove:" "Norma told you so." "You have pronounced a name that chills my hearth." "what are you saying your lover!" "The mother of your children!" "You can utter no reproach that I do not feel to be deserved;" "but the flame that once burned, in my heart is extinguished and a God it was extinguished it a God who is the enemy of my repose:" "at my feet I see the abyss yawning, and rush to hurl myself into it." "Could it be you love another?" "Speak quietly." "Another, yes:" "Adalgisa." "You will see her, a flower of innocence and laughter, of candor and love." "A priestess in the temple of this God of blood" "She shines there like a ray of sunlight in a stormy sky" "Poor friend!" "Are you loved by her in return?" "I have reason to believe so." "And do you not fear the wrath of Norma?" "Horrible, cruel, my deep remorse depicts it." "A dream I had..." "Ah!" "tell me." "Only to recall it makes me shudder" "with me at the altar of Venus in Rome was Adalgisa, veiled all in white, with flowers in her hair;" "I heard the hymns of Hymen, saw the smoke of incense." "my senses were transported with delight and love." "Then a terrible shadow fell between us:" "the great Druidic mantle enveloped it like a cloud:" "lightning struck the altar, the light of day was dimmed, deathly horror spread soundlessly around." "The beloved maid was no more by my side;" "far off I heard a groan, mixed with my children's tears." "And a terrible voice echoed through the temple:" "Thus does Norma punish her faithless lover." "Do you hear?" "Norma is coming" "to perform the rites" "The moon has risen, Druids;" "laymen must leave" "Come." "Leave me." "Listen to me." "Barbarians!" "Let us flee." "l will defy you." "Come;" "let us flee..." "someone may discover you." "The barbarians are plotting together but I will defy them!" "I am protected and defended by a power grater than theirs;" "I adore the image of her and love inflamed me." "Of the God who dares dispute that angelic maid with me, I shall burn the evil forests, overthrow the impious altar." "The rite in the temple of lrminsul ends." "The Druids and priestesses return to the sacred place," "Norma in the van." "Norma is coming:" "her hair is bound" "with verbena, sacred to the mysteries" "in her hand, like the sickle moon the golden sicule sheds brightness." "She comes; and the star of Rome" "affrighted, veils its face." "Irminsul flies across the fields of heaven like a comet, precursor of horror." "Do seditious voices, voices of war, dare to raise themselves near the altar of the god?" "Are there those who presume to dictate answers to Norma, and speed the hidden fate of Rome?" "It does not depend on human might." "But for how long would you have us oppressed?" "Have not our native woods and our ancestral temples been polluted long enough by the Roman eagles?" "The sword of Brennus cannot remain idle." "Let it be raised but once!" "And it will fall in pieces." "Yes in pieces, if any of you dares to unsheath it before time." "The time is not yet ripe for our revenge." "The Roman spears are stronger than the axes of Sicambri." "And what god has revealed to you?" "Speak, what is to happen?" "I read in the secret books of heaven:" "in the pages of death the name of proud Rome is written." "She will perish one day;" "but not through you." "worn out she will die." "The longed-for hour, the fateful hour" "the longed-for hour, the fateful hour when the grand decree shall be fulfilled" "Peace I enjoin upon you, and I will reap the sacred mistletoe" "Chaste Goddess, who dost made silvery" "these ancient sacred trees," "turn upon us thy fair face," "unclouded and unveiled." "Temper, O Goddess, temper these ardent spirits," "temper yet their bold zeal," "oh, shed upon earth that peace" "that thou makest to reign in heaven;" "complete the rites, and let the sacred grove be cleared of the uninitiated." "when the God in gloomy anger demands the blood of the Romans, from the Druids' temple my voice will thunder." "Let it thunder; and not one of the nation shall escape just punishment and, first to be struck by us, the proconsul will fall." "He will fall!" "I can punish him..." "Yet my heart is unable to punish him" "Oh!" "Return to me, beautiful with the trust of first true love, and against the whole world I will be your defense." "Oh!" "return to me beautiful with your serene gaze, and on your breast, life, country and heaven I'll find." "but the angry God who has condemned the Tiber will speed thy coming." "Ah!" "return again as you were then, when I gave you my heart then, oh, come back to me." "Accepting Norma's counsel of patience, the Druids and priestesses leave." "A bit later the same night." "Adalgisa, a young priestess prays at the temple of lrminsul." "The sacred grove is cleared, the rites are done." "At last I can sigh unseen here, where for the first time I met that fatal Roman" "who has made me a rebel to the temple and to God" "Let it be the last time, though!" "Vain hope!" "An irresistible force draws me hither and on that dear face my heart feasts," "and the very breeze that blows repeats for me the sound" "of his dear voice." "Protect me, O God, for pity's sake!" "I am lost!" "great God, have mercy." "There she is." "Go, leave me;" "I will not listen to reason" "Oh!" "You here!" "what do I see!" "were you crying?" "I was praying." "Oh, go away leave me to pray." "You pray to a hideous God a cruel God, opposed to your desires and to mine" "O my beloved, the god you should invoke is love!" "Love!" "Oh, be silent!" "Let me hear you no more would you fly from me?" "And where would you fly that I could not follow?" "To the temple, to the sacred altars which I have vowed to espouse." "The altars?" "And what about our love?" "I have forgotten it" "Go, cruel girl, to your ruthless God make an offering of my blood;" "let it be shed, every drop, but leave you I cannot, no, no" "To the God you were promised but your heart gave itself to me" "You do not know what it would cost me if I ever had to give you up!" "And you too do not know what grief you have cost me!" "To the altar I have violated l went innocent and happy" "My thoughts were raised toward heaven and there I saw my God!" "Now that I am forsworn and guilty, heaven and god are veiled from my sight." "A poorer heaven and better gods I offer you in Rome, whither I go." "Are you going away, then?" "At daybreak." " And what of me?" "You will come with me." "Love is more holy than your rites." "yield to love,ah, yield to me!" "Ah!" "Do not say that!" "I shall say it until you listen to me." "Please leave me!" "For pity's sake, yield to me!" "Ah!" "I cannot." "Protect me, you just Heaven." "Could you leave me like this?" "Leave me like this?" "Adalgisa!" "Adalgisa!" "Come to Rome, my darling." "love and joy and life are there;" "let us delight our souls with the happiness that calls us." "Can't you hear a voice in your heart promising eternal joy?" "Oh!" "Believe these sweet words and embrace me, your husband." "Heavens!" "Thus do I hear him speaking always, everywhere, in the temple itself." "Those eyes, that face I behold engraved even upon the altar." "He triumphs over my tears and wins victory over my grief." "Heaven, save me from this sweet spell, or pardon my sin at least!" "Adalgisa!" "Oh, have pity and save me greater sorrow." "Adalgisa!" "would you leave me?" "Oh!" "I cannot..." "I want to go with you." "Here, tomorrow, at this same hour will you come?" "I promise." "Swear -l swear." "what happiness!" "Remember now..." "Oh!" "I shall remember!" "My god I will forswear, but to you I will be faithful!" "Your love emboldens me, and I shall defy your God." "Defy your God." "Yes, I will be faithful to you." "The next day, on the terrace before Norma's house, her two children are playing with Clotilde" "Go, hide them both." "More than ever I fear to embrace them!" "what strange fear troubles you, That you should spurn your own sons?" "I do not know...various feelings torment my spirit I love and, at the same time, hate my children!" "I suffer when I see them and suffer when I do not." "I experience at once a joy such as I have never known, and sorrow at being their mother." "And you are a mother?" "would that I were not!" "what a cruel contradiction!" "You cannot imagine, my dear Clotilde!" "Pollione is recalled to Rome!" "And is he taking you with him?" "He has not said." "Oh!" "what if he tried to go, and leave me here?" "If he could forget his children!" "Do you believe that?" "I dare not. lt is too tormenting!" "Such a doubt is too horrible!" "Someone is coming." "Go, hide them." "Adalgisa!" "My heart, be strong." "Come in, girl, come in why are you trembling?" "I heard that you wish to reveal some important secret to me." "It's true but divest yourself of the divine austerity that shines in your eyes." "Give me the courage to open my heart to you frankly." "Embrace me and tell me." "what troubles you?" "Love." "Don't be angry." "For a long time I strove to stifle it." "Love conquered all my strength, all my remorse." "Oh!" "You do not know what I have sworn just now!" "To fly from the temple," "To betray the altar to which I am bound," "forsake my country..." "Ohi!" "Unhappy girl!" "is the calm of your youth so soon disturbed?" "How and when was such a passion born in you?" "By a single glance, a single sigh, in the sacred grove at the foot of the altar as I was praying." "I trembled, on my lips the prayer died:" "and wholly absorbed in his fair looks, another heaven I thought to see" "another heaven in him." "Oh!" "memories!" "I too was entranced just by looking at his face." "But are you not listening to me?" "Go on. I am listening." "Alone and in stealth I often waited for him by the temple," "and every day my passion grew more intense." "My passion too burned like this." "Come, he would say, let me fall at your feet;" "oh memories!" "let me breathe the air." "So, too, was I allured!" "enchanted by your soft sighs," "let me kiss your lovely curls." "Oh sweet words!" "Thus he spoke to me, thus he found the way to my heart!" "Sweet as the notes of a harp were his words;" "in his smiling eyes I saw a brighter sun." "l was charmed in the same way." "l was lost and am so still." "Come, dry your tears -l need your pardon." "l will be merciful." "Oh help me and guide me." "Come, dry your tears." "Reassure or reproach me," "save me from myself, save me from my heart." "Ah!" "dry those tears:" "you are not eternally bound to the altar." "O Heaven!" "Repeat those wonderful words." "Ah!" "yes!" "Ah!" "Ah!" "yes, take heart and embrace me." "I forgive and commiserate with you." "I free you from your vows, and break your bonds." "United to your beloved, you will live happy once more." "Say again, heaven, those wonderful words." "Through you my long suffering is calmed." "You give me back my life, if love be not a sin." "But tell me, this youth you love, which of our young men is he?" "He was not born in Gaul;" "Rome is his homeland." "Rome?" "And he is...continue.." "Look at him there." " Ei!" "Pollion!" "why so angry?" "He..him, did you say?" "Have I understood you?" "Oh!" "yes..." "Unhappy girl!" "what have you done?" "I!" "Do you tremble?" "And for whom?" "For whom do you tremble?" "Oh, do not tremble, perfidious man, ah, do not fear on her account." "She is not to blame;" "you are the guilty one." "Fear for yourself, villain and for you sons." "fear, villain, for me!" "what do I hear?" "Ah!" "Speak..." "You are silent!" "You draw back!" "Alas!" "Oh!" "Of what a cruel and fatal deception you are victim!" "Death would have been a lesser evil for you than to have known him." "An everlasting source of tears he has opened up for you;" "just as he beguiled my heart, so has the villain betrayed yours." "Norma!" "do not address..." "instead of knowing him..." "your reproaches to me now." "Oh what a dreadful mystery this is," "Please, give this wretched girl!" "Your mysterious words... some respite." "let a veil conceal our shame let us hide our shame;" "only heaven may judge which of us has sinned the more." "An eternal fount of tears -l understand, oh, woe is me the full extent of my misfortune!" "If he has deceived me thus!" "Perfidious!" "Enough." "Stay." "Come." "Leave me, go away." "You are an unfaithful husband!" "would I could forget it." "Leave me alone, go away." "l am your lover." "Go, traitor." "lt is my fate to love you my destiny to leave her." "well: fulfil it then," "fulfil it and go" "Go with him" "Oh, no never. I'd rather die." "Go, yes leave me, forget your sons your promises, your honor." "Cursed by my wrath you will not enjoy your impious love." "Cursed by my wrath -l shall be able to stifle my grief ," "you will not enjoy an impious love!" "swallow my pain." "l will die so that the cruel man.." "l was cursed that day." "may return to his sons and to you." "that fate presented me to you." "Norma, Norma, come to the altar!" "Oh, the sound of death...!" "ln a ferocious roar..." "begone, it awaits you here." "the voice of lrminsul has thundered!" "your god shall fall at my feet," "Norma Norma, come to the altar!" "The same day at dark at Norma's house" "Her two children lie asleep on the terrace" "They are both asleep;" "they will not see the hand that strikes them." "Do not repent, my heart;" "they cannot live." "Here they would suffer torture and in Rome shame, a far worse torture." "Slaves to a stepmother." "Ah, no, never!" "They must die." "I cannot go near them:" "I am frozen with horror, and my hair rises up with fear." "I kill my sons!" "Dear, dear children, who were but now my joy," "in whose smile" "I thought to find heaven's pardon." "And shall I kill them ?" "Of what are they guilty?" "They are Pollione's sons:" "that is their crime." "They are dead to me:" "let them be dead to him;" "and may there be no grief to equal his." "Now let me strike." "Ah no." "They are my sons." "Ho!" "Clotilde!" "Hurry, bring Adalgisa to me." "She is roaming near here alone praying and weeping." "Go." "Let me mend my fault, and then die." "You called Norma?" "what sad pallor covers your face?" "It is the pallor of death." "I will reveal to you all my shame." "Listen to my one request and fulfill it, if my present suffering and my future grief be worthy of pity." "I promise to do everything." "Swear." "l swear." "Listen. I have decided to purge this infected air of my presence;" "but I cannot take these poor souls with me;" "I entrust them to you." "Heaven!" "You entrust them to me?" "Take them to the Roman camp, to him whom I dare not name." "Oh!" "what are you asking?" "A husband less cruel may he prove;" "I forgive him and die." "Husband!" "No, never!" "I beg you for his children's sake." "Please, take them with you, support them, protect them." "I do not ask for honour and power;" "let those be reserved for your sons;" "I only ask you not to leave mine abject, abandoned slaves." "Suffice to you that I was despised and betrayed on your account." "Adalgisa, oh, be moved by my heart's bitter agony." "Norma, Norma, still beloved, a mother you shall be through me." "Keep your sons." "Oh, I shall never leave these shores." "You swore..." "Yes I swore, but for your good." "I shall go to the camp and tell the ungrateful man of all your grief." "The pity you have aroused in me will speak in sublime accents." "Hope, love, natural feeling you will see reawakened in him." "I am sure of his heart;" "Norma will reign there once more." "Shall I beg him?" "No, never" "Norma, do as I ask." "No, I will hear no more." "Leave me, go." "Norma, look at these dear children of yours at your knees." "Be moved by pity for them, even if you have no pity for yourself." "Ah!" "why would you weaken my resolution with soft sentiments?" "No more dreams, no hopes remain to a heart that is near death." "Yield, oh, yield." "Oh, leave me." "He loves you." "He already repents of it." "And you?" "l loved him." "Now my heart feels only friendship for him." "Dear girl!" "And you want?" "Restore to you your rights, or with you I swear to hide myself forever from heaven and men's eyes." "Yes, you have won." "Embrace me." "I have found my friend again." "Until our last hour you will have me as your comrade:" "to shelter us together the world is wide enough." "with you the affronts of fate I will boldly face, as long as I feel your heart beating close to mine." "The day after bifore dawn." "The Druids meet on the sacred grove." "At the news that the pro-consul Pollione, has been recalled to Rome, the council of Druids meets." "Has he not gone yet?" "He is still in the camp." "Everything proclaims it, the swaggering songs the clangor, the sound of arms, the waving of banners." "we'll not let a brief hindrance upset us, nor turn us from our purpose." "in silence let our hearts prepare to complete the great work... warriors, I thought to come to you herald of a brighter future." "The generous ardor, the anger that burns in your breasts l thought to encourage:" "but God wills it not what!" "is the abhorred proconsul not leaving our forests?" "is he not returning to the Tiber?" "But a Roman leader still more to be feared, and cruel, will succeed Pollione." "And Norma knows this?" "And still counsels peace?" "I have sounded Norma's mind in vain." "And what do you think we should do?" "Bow to fate, separate and leave no suspicion of the plan that has miscarried." "And continue to dissemble?" "A cruel decree!" "I know." "Ah!" "I, too, chafe at at the infamous yoke of the Tiber, I long to take up arms;" "but heaven is still hostile, and to dissemble is advised." "well, let us dissemble, if dissembling helps;" "but let rage smoulder in our breasts." "Let us swallow our indignation, so that Rome thinks it has died." "The day will come when it will reawaken to blaze more furiously." "woe to Rome when the holy altar gives the signal to fight!" "Yes, but let us dissemble, if dissembling helps," "At dawn, Norma is waiting at the temple of lrminsul." "He will return." "I place my trust in Adalgisa;" "he will return repentant, a suppliant lover." "Oh!" "At that thought, the black cloud that oppressed me is dispersed, and the sun shines on me again, as in the first happy days" "of our love." "Clotilde!" "O Norma!" "You must be brave!" "what are you saying?" "woe is me!" "Tell me, speak." "Adalgisa beseeched and wept in vain." "Should I have trusted her?" "She was plotting to escape me and beautiful in her grief, present herself before the villain." "She has returned to the temple." "wretched, grieving, she begs to offer her vows." "And he?" "He swears to snatch her away even from the altar." "The wretch presumes too much." "My vengeance shall forestall him, and blood," "Roman blood, will flow here in torrents." "The gong of God is ringing!" "Norma!" "what happened?" "what does the striking of lrminsul's shield decree in the land?" "war, carnage and destruction." "Yet just now from your own lips peace was imposed on us!" "and wrath now, carnage, fury and death!" "Raise the war chant, o warriors!" "war!" "war!" "The forests of Gaul -sprout warriors as they do oaks." "As upon the flocks the hungry wild beasts fall, so may the soldiers fall." "Blood, blood!" "Vengeance!" "The Gallic axes will be steeped..." "Over the blood-filled waves of the Loire a funeral sound." "Carnage, destruction, vengeance!" "It is beginning already..." "Like corn mowed down by the scythe, the Roman legions have fallen!" "Carnage...!" "with wings broken and talons cut, behold the eagle..." "Behold our God, watching his sons' victory, above the rays of sunshine!" "will you complete the rites, Norma?" "will you indicate the victim?" "The victim is at hand." "Our great altar has never lacked for victims." "what is this noise?" "A Roman has desecrated our temple." "Ha was caught in the holy cloister of the virgin novices." "A Roman?" "what am I hearing?" "what if it is he?" "Bring him to us." "lt's him!" "lt's Pollione!" "Now I have my revenge." "Blasphemer and enemy, who made you cross this fearful threshold and defy the rage of lrminsul?" "Strike!" "But do not question me." "I must strike the blow." "Stand aside." "whom do I see?" "Norma!" "Yes, Norma." "Take the sacred weapon, avenge our God." "Yes, let me strike." "You tremble?" "Oh, I cannot!" "what is it?" "why do you falter?" "Can I feel pity?" "Strike." "l must question him, find out who was the deceived or accomplice priestess whom the impious intruder persuaded to such sin." "Leave us for a while." "what does she intend to do?" "l am afraid." "At last you are in my hands;" "no one can break your bonds." "I can." "You must not." "l wish to. -why?" "Hear me." "By your god, by your sons you must swear from henceforth to keep away from Adalgisa, not to tear her from the altar, and I will grant you your life, and see you no more." "Swear." "No:" "I am not so vile." "Swear, swear!" "I would sooner die!" "Do you not know that my fury" "far outdoes yours?" "l wait for the blow to fall." "Do you not know that in our children's hearts" "this dagger..." "O god!" "what do I hear?" "Yes I held the blade above them." "You see to what I am come!" "I did not strike, but soon I could carry out the crime." "For a moment, I could forget that I was a mother." "Ah!" "Cruel woman, in their father's heart you should plunge the dagger." "Give it to me" "To you!" "That I alone may fall!" "Alone!" "Together with all the rest!" "The Romans in their hundreds should be mowed down and destroyed." "And Adalgisa..." "False to her vows... - well, cruel woman?" "Adalgisa shall be punished;" "in the flames she shall perish!" "Oh, take my life but have mercy on her!" "You plead at last?" "Base villain, lt is too late!" "Though her heart I would wound you." "In your look I already rejoice, in your grief and her death." "At last I can make you as wretched as I am." "Oh, let my terror content you;" "see me at your feet in tears." "Vent you rage on me, but spare the innocent;" "let it satisfy your revenge if I kill myself in front of you." "Give me that dagger." "what would you do?" "Stand back." "The dagger, the dagger." "Ho!" "you ministers and priests, come to me!" "To your wrath I expose a new victim." "A perjured priestess has broken her sacred vows betrayed her country and insulted the God of her forefathers." "Oh, what a crime!" "what indignation!" "Reveal her to us." "Yes, prepare the pyre." "Once more I implore you." "Norma, have pity!" "Reveal her to us!" "Hear me." "Should I, myself guilty, accuse the innocent of my sin?" "Speak: who is she?" "Oh, do not say it!" "It is." "You!" "Norma!" "I myself." "Prepare the pyre." "I am frozen with horror!" "My heart fails." "You a sinner!" "Do not believe her." "Norma does not lie." "Oh!" "what shame!" "Oh!" "what horror!" "what a heart you have betrayed and lost, may this dread hour show you clearly." "In vain you tried to flee from me;" "cruel Roman, you are with me still." "A god, a fate more powerful than you wills us united in life and in death." "On the same pyre that is to consume me" "Oh, I shall be with you still in the grave." "Alas, I have come to know you too late!" "Sublime woman, I have lost you." "with my remorse my love is reborn." "It is more desperate, more frenzied." "we will die together..." "My last words will say I love you." "But in your final agony do not hate me," "Before you die, forgive me!" "Return to your senses; reassure us." "l am the guilty one." "Your old father is begging you!" "Say you are raving;" "say you are lying that such foolish words issue from your lips." "If the harsh god who now hears you remains silent, if he withholds his thunder," "it is a sign, an express sign, that such a crime, is not to be punished." "Norma, justify yourself!" "You are silent?" "You scarcely listen?" "Heavens!" "And my children?" "Poor wretches!" "Oh, anguish!" "But our children?" "Oh anguish!" "Norma, are you guilty?" "Speak!" "Yes, beyond all human imagining." "Impious!" "Hear me!" "Away from me." "Oh, for pity's sake, hear me!" "Oh!" "what grief is mine!" "l am a mother." "A mother!" "Calm yourself." "Coltilde has my children." "Take them , and shelter them from the barbarian." "No, never." "Go, leave me." "Oh!" "Father!" "One more request!" "Oh, my sorrow!" "Oh, what horror!" "Oh, let them not be the victims of my fatal transgression!" "Do not cut them off in the flower of their youthful innocence!" "Consider, they are your own kin, have pity on them," "Oh, father, have pity!" "She weeps!" "She prays!" "Father, are you weeping?" " My heart is heavy. -what is she hoping for?" "weep and forgive" "Love has triumphed!" "Her prayer is rejected here." "Those tears proclaim it." "I am happy.-Oh what anguish!" "Let her head be divested of the wreath." "Let her be veiled in mourning." "I am asking no more, O heaven!" "Oh, cease, unhappy girl!" "You will promise me?" "l promise you, yes!" "I am happy" "Go to the pyre." "And may your suffering purify the altar, cleanse the temple, accursed as you are even in death!" "Go unhappy girl!" " Father!" "Farewell!" "Farewell!"