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