THE LOVE OF LONG AGO
A short chamber opera
Based on a short story by Guy de Maupassant
By Charles Deemer
Characters:
Grandmother
Berhe, her granddaughter
The Lover, a handsome man
(A parlor. Berthe knitting. Grandmother rocking.)
GRANDMOTHER
Permit an old woman her visions of youth
Her memory of times when the world made sense
Before strange fashions, before all this noise
How sweet to recall the lovers I’ve had
(The Lover comes forward.)
LOVER
Permit this woman her visions of youth
For when she was young, I knew her well
How often I held her tight in my arms
To let her escape her husband and child
GRANDMOTHER, LOVER
Love is the only good thing in life
As fleeting a thing as love can be
It burns like a flame – and goes out the same
Something to cherish as long as you can
GRANDMOTHER
How I remember the strength of your arms
LOVER
How I remember your soft white flesh
GRANDMOTHER
How I remember your powerful thrust
LOVER
How I remember your cries in the night
GRANDMOTHER, LOVER
Love is the only good thing in life
It comes like a storm and leaves like a hawk
That carries away your heart and your soul
Love is the only good thing in life
(The Lover exits.)
BERTHE
Grandmother, are you ill?
You seem so far away.
GRANDMOTHER
I must have been dreaming.
BERTHE
Are you not well?
GRANDMOTHER
Quite well for my age.
Read me the paper,
Would you, my dear?
I still like to know
What goes on in this world.
BERTHE (looking through paper)
All the main stories
Are politics, it seems.
GRANDMOTHER
Are there no love stories?
Has gallantry died?
No lover abducting
The girl he seduced?
BERTHE
Here is a story.
“A Love Drama” it’s called.
GRANDMOTHER
This is the one
I want you to read.
(The Lover comes forward to listen.)
BERTHE
A wife’s been betrayed by her husband.
A story we’ve heard many times.
But this time the wife finds the mistress,
Pours gas on her face and eyes,
And sets her on fire, deforming
The beauty that men used to prize.
GRANDMOTHER
What a horrid story this is!
BERTHE
Of course, the wife was acquitted.
Her act justified by the law.
GRANDMOTHER
This is perfectly horrible!
What other stories are there?
BERTHE
“A Gloomy Drama” is the name of this.
A shop girl finds herself led astray.
Her lover soon enough finds another,
Forcing the shop girl to get revenge.
LOVER (stepping forward)
Put away the gun, my dear.
BERTHE (as girl, pointing finger for gun)
You said I was the one you loved.
LOVER
And so I did the time I said it.
BERTHE
I thought you meant eternally.
LOVER
This is your mistake, my dear.
Nothing so intense can last.
Love is lightening in the heart,
A volcano in the soul.
BERTHE
Love is for eternity.
LOVER
Love is for the here and now.
BERTHE
Love is what will never die.
LOVER
The hottest sun will always set
But come to rise another day.
What I felt for you was real
And just as soon faded away.
BERTHE
Bang!
LOVER
But why?
GRANDMOTHER
How much time did the woman get?
BERTHE
A jury of all men acquitted her.
GRANDMOTHER
What is wrong with you?
Are you people mad?
God has given you love,
The only enchantment in life.
To love man has added
Gallantry and romance
To get us through the day
To liven our dull hours
And what is it you do?
You mix up love with this,
With gasoline and guns.
You might as well pour mud
Into the finest wine.
BERTHE
But the woman avenged herself!
Remember she was married.
Her husband had betrayed her.
GRANDMOTHER
Whoever told you this
Would matter more than love?
Is this the propaganda
Young girls get today?
BERTHE
But marriage is a sacred vow!
Eternal in the eyes of God!
GRANDMOTHER
Love is more sacred than this!
Love is sacred beyond all!
Listen now to an old woman
Who has seen three generations
Who has loved her share of men
I speak from long experience
[John’s aria]
Love is one thing and marriage is another.
Marriage is law, and we marry once for life.
Marriage provides the best way to raise children.
Only God can put love within our breast.
For every man there is only one wife.
And yet this same man can love again and more.
The world insists that we marry just once, for life.
But love will come swift like lightning in storm,
lightning in the storm.
I have often given my heart.
I have loved so many men
and what I learned is that love must be cherished.
Love is here today and gone tomorrow.
We marry once as required by law
but love comes again and yet again through life
Love comes from instinct
It's futile to fight it off
Instincts come from God
They can't be ignored
They cannot be ignored
They cannot be ignored
Therefore love as often as you can as often as you can
A lover goes, another will take his place
Love each one like he's the last
Love each one with all your heart and soul
Love them all
Love them all
Love each lover like he's the last.
(Lover comes forward.)
LOVER
I love each woman like she’s the first
I make her feel like she’s the last
I make her feel like she’s the best
I love each woman like she’s the first
Women define Beauty
Women define Music
Women define Love
Who am I to deny Beauty?
Who am I to deny Music?
Who am I to deny Love?
LOVER & GRANDMOTHER
Love comes from instinct
It's futile to fight it off
Instincts come from God
They can't be ignored
They cannot be ignored
They cannot be ignored
Therefore love as often as you can, as often as you can
A lover goes, another will take his place
Love each one like he's the last
Love each one with all your heart and soul
Love them all
Love them all
Love each lover like he's the last.
(Lover moves back, Berthe comes forward.)
BERTHE
No, you cannot mean this!
This is not how love is.
Love comes once in life.
Once and only once!
Marriage is most sacred
Marriage is for life
Marriage is for love
Marriage is forever!
GRANDMOTHER
What has become of you?
You are a race of serfs!
A race of common folk.
Listen to the poets
How men have died for love!
How women died for love!
Time and time again!
A man loves every woman
And when a woman finds
A man who gives delight
She sends word to him
A note from a page
And beckons him to come
Making sure, of course,
To keep her lover close
And perhaps to keep them both!
BERTHE
Then women have no honor?
GRANDMOTHER
No honor? No honor?
A woman without a lover
Becomes a laughing stock
And women who disagree
Can enter a convent instead
Yes, marriage is necessary
But only for society
Only to raise children
This is not our nature
Do you understand?
Marriage is made by man
Love is given by God
And Love comes from instincts
You treat love as solemn
As something to be bought
How you spoil it!
Love is lightning in the heart
Love is passion in the breast
Love will overpower all
Love is what is best in life
(Lover comes forward.)
LOVER & GRANDMOTHER
Love is lightning in the heart
Love is passion in the breast
Love will overpower all
Love is what is best in life
BERTHE
Hold you tongue, grandmother!
LOVER & GRANDMOTHER
Love is lightning in the heart
Love is passion in the breast
Love will overpower all
Love is what is best in life
BERTHE
Dear God, forgive her
She is so old
She doesn’t realize
What she says
I pray for One Great Love
One and one alone
Eternal happiness
Eternal Love
With your blessing
LOVER & GRANDMOTHER
Love is lightning in the heart
Love is passion in the breast
Love will overpower all
Love is what is best in life
GRANDMOTHER
You pray for folly
BERTHE
Forgive her, God
GRANDMOTHER
You will be unhappy
LOVER
I love each woman like the first
GRANDMOTHER
You cripple Love with prayer
BERTHE
She’s old and mad
LOVER
I make each woman think she’s the last
GRANDMOTHER
Love is lightning in the heart
Love is passion in the breast
BERTHE
Hold your tongue, hold your tongue
LOVER & GRANDMOTHER
Love is lightning in the heart
Love is passion in the breast
Love will overpower all
Love is what is best in life
BERTHE
Hold your tongue, hold your tongue
(She drops to her knees to pray.)
Dear God, who art in heaven …etc.
LOVER & GRANDMOTHER
Love is the only good thing in life
As fleeting a thing as love can be
It burns like a flame – and goes out the same
Something to cherish as long as you can
Love is the only good thing in life
It comes like a storm and leaves like a hawk
That carries away your heart and your soul
Love is the only good thing in life
END