[Recitativo]
Midnyght Venus calleth from towres bleke,
Shadows wrythe upon the stone;
A whisper shaketh dust of olde,
Where lyfe did bloom, now death hath throne.
O heart, wherefore dost quake at dark?
For in its armes, I am reborn—
Yet bound by mortal pulse and vow,
I pynë ’twixt the dusk and dawn.
⸻
[Aria — Cantabile]
Bloud of the moone, breath of the nyght,
Draw me nigh, forbiddëd light—
Thy velvet silence, fell delyght,
Biddeth me yield, biddeth me flyght.
My soule was once the morrow’s prize,
Pure as prayer, soft as sighes—
Yet here I stand in longing’s guise,
To tastë truth within thine eyes.
O sorrow auncient, thirst unquench’d,
Flesh and fate for ever bench’d—
Luve or hunger— which commen first?
In crimson dreames I am immers’d.
(whispered, as an echo faint)
Immortal heart… devoure mine…
⸻
[Cabaletta — swifter, with rising passion]
Let daylight breke— I feare it not!
For mortal chainës shal be forgott!
What heauen giveth, I defy—
Graunt me the dark wherin to fly!
Thy kisse— my covenant of paine,
Thy touch— the blissë of the slaine!
If luve be death, then death be sweete,
Entwynë our soules where nyght hearts beate!
I chuse the shadowës— I chuse thee!
Let fate be curst, let light now flee!
Eternall breath, eternall flame—
In death, in luve, one name, one name!
(crescendo, triumphant yet tragic)
Dracul… my lord… my doome… my nyght!