FAREWELL!
A libretto based on Guy de Maupassant’s short story
by Charles Deemer
CHARACTERS:
PIERRE, an old man & a young man
HENRI, an old man
JULIE, an old woman & a young woman
* = structural break, possible musical interlude
(Pierre and Henri, old men, sit at a table in an outdoor café.)
PIERRE & HENRI
Permit an old man to look back at his youth
With wonder and sadness at how much has changed
How quickly we age, yet slowly as well
From day to day, we don’t see our age
HENRI
I used to feel so full of life
You remember this, my friend
Now I feel old and full of regrets
Life is too short, my friend, too short
PIERRE & HENRI
Each in our time must realize this
The great revelation that comes as you age
Life is here and gone in a flash
Life is too short, my friend, too short
PIERRE
You learned this before I did
I used to be carefree and not give a damn
HENRI
Your health has always been better than mine
PIERRE
I mean more than just my health
Each morning I’d look in the mirror and see
The very same man I saw yesterday
From day to day, we don’t change at all
HENRI
And so you denied how much you had aged
PIERRE
And so I denied how much I had aged
PIERRE & HENRI
Permit an old man to look back at his youth
with wonder and sadness at how much has changed
How quickly we age, yet slowly as well
From day to day, we don’t see our age
Each in our time must realize this
The great revelation that comes as you age
Life is here and gone in a flash
Life is too short, my friend, too short
*
HENRI
When did you look in the mirror and see
The truth of the matter, as others see you?
PIERRE
I remember the moment as yesterday
You see, in my youth I was madly in love
With a woman who was spoken for
HENRI
Married?
PIERRE
Married!
HENRI
A terrible thing.
PIERRE
When her husband traveled, as often he did,
We’d spend time together, precious, alone
The happiest moments in all my life
(JULIE comes forward.)
JULIE
We hardly talked, if the truth be known,
But I saw in his eyes that he was entranced
A flattering thing for a woman to feel
In the prime of her youth when innocence reigns
PIERRE
The curve of your neck, the blush on your cheek
The full red lips, your sparkling eyes!
JULIE
He’d buy me tea and talk of his work
So handsome he was, his voice mature
PIERRE
The curve of your neck, the blush on your cheek
The full red lips, your sparkling eyes!
JULIE
He was so polite, a true gentleman
He never confessed the truth of his heart
And he never knew how unhappy I was
PIERRE
This lasted a few months. Then I went away
And her memory would not go away
It slept in my bed and haunted my dreams
Never again did I meet a woman
Who so much revealed what a woman can be
The curve of her neck, the blush on her cheek
The full red lips, her sparkling eyes!
PIERRE & JULIE
A brief meeting in time and nothing more
And yet you remember the rest of your life
PIERRE
The curve of your neck, the blush on your cheek
JULIE
So handsome he was, his voice mature
PIERRE & JULIE
A brief meeting in time and nothing more
And yet you remember the rest of your life
The way that you felt, the beat of your heart
A rush of desire that’s never revealed
*
HENRI
And you never saw her again?
PIERRE
But I did. I did.
HENRI
And felt the same?
PIERRE
I felt – strange.
Years passed by.
I was dining alone.
A fat woman passed by
Her brood of children along
I remember thinking,
How ugly we become
How fat and old she is
I found myself feeling sorry
For her husband.
JULIE
Excuse me.
PIERRE
She stopped at my table.
JULIE
You don’t remember me, do you?
PIERRE
Have we met before?
JULIE
Oh yes! You used to buy me tea.
PIERRE
Buy you tea?
JULIE
I am Madame Julie Lefevre. … Sir?
PIERRE
I thought I might pass out.
How could it be?
The young woman
Who had stolen my heart
Who had filled my dreams
Had become fat
With children pulling
On her dress.
How could it be?
JULIE
Are you not Monsieur Pierre Garnier?
PIERRE
I am he.
JULIE
I knew it was you.
PIERRE
This cannot be!
JULIE
And how have you been?
PIERRE
I felt weak.
I felt betrayed.
The sweet curve of her neck
Had changed into fat
Her cheek was bloated
Her lips were rough
Her eyes were hard
She was fat and ugly
How could this be?
HENRI
What did you do?
PIERRE
I escaped.
As soon as I could
I begged my leave
And fled.
JULIE
I was no longer pretty
No longer young
I saw disappointment
In your eyes
And then you fled
PIERRE
And later, at home
Looking in the mirror
I saw the terrible truth
My brown moustache was gray
My black hair, gray
My youthful face, old
I was no younger than she!
I was as ugly as she!
I had changed
As much as she!
My cheek as bloated
My neck as fat
I was as ancient as she!
This is the moment I learned
How old I really was
This is the moment I learned
The most terrible truth in life
Farewell, my youth!
Farewell!
PIERRE & JULIE
The beauty of youth fast fades away
Life is too short, my friend, too short
PIERRE & HENRI & JULIE
Each in our time must realize this
The great revelation that comes as you age
Life is here and gone in a flash
Life is too short, my friend, too short
JULIE
Seize the moment, seize the day
Life is too short, my friend, too short
PIERRE
I loved her so much
But she was married
JULIE
He never knew
How unhappy I was
If only he’d told me
The truth in his heart
PIERRE
Our time was so short
Here and then gone
JULIE
If you’d taken me with you
If only you’d asked
PIERRE
Moments at tea
With impossible thoughts
JULIE
If only you’d told me
The truth in your heart
PIERRE
But now she was old
Now she was fat
And now I was old
Now I was fat
JULIE
Seize the moment, seize the day
Life is too short, my friend, too short
*
PIERRE, HENRI, JULIE (various combinations)
Seize the moment, seize the day
What you don’t do
Never gets done
Life is too short, my friend, too short
Love is the crash of thunder at night
One moment, everything possible
The next moment, everything gone
Life is too short, my friend, too short
Life is the blink of an eye
Life is a flash in the sky
Life is the snap of a twig
Life is the beat of your heart
Life is too short, my friend, too short
Seize the moment, seize the day
Or it will pass you by
Farewell, my youth! Farewell!
You look in the mirror
You’re old, you’re fat
Life is too short, my friend, too short
Seize the moment, seize the day
Seize the moment, seize the day
Farewell, my youth!
Farewell!
PIERRE
Farewell, my youth!
Farewell!
END