“Der fliegende Holländer” by Richard Wagner libretto (English)

Contents: Characters; Act One; Act Two; Act Three

ACT THREE

SCENE ONE

(A cove with a rocky beach. In the foreground, to one side, is Daland's house. In the background, moored fairly close to each other, are the Norwegian and Dutch ships. It is a clear night. The Norwegian ship is lit up and the sailors are making merry on the deck. In sinister contrast, the Dutch ship is shrouded in unnatural gloom and deathly silence)

NORWEGIAN SAILORS

Steersman, leave your watch!
Steersman, join us!
Ho! Hey! Je! Ha!
Hoist the sails! Anchor fast!
Steersman, here!
We fear no wind nor treacherous coast.
Today we'll be right merry!
Each has his girl ashore,
grand tobacco and good brandy!
Hussassahey!
Rocks and storms outside -
yollohohey!
we laugh at them!
Hussassahey!
Furl sails! Anchor fast!
Rocks and storms we laugh at them!
Steersman, leave your watch!
Steersman, join us!
Ho! Hey! Ye! Ha!
Steersman, drink with us!
Ho! Hey! Ye! Ha!
Rocks and storms, hey!
are over, hey!
Hussahey! Hallohey!
Hussahey! Steersman! Ho!
Here, come and drink with us!

(They dance on the deck, accompanying
the down-beat of each bar
with a heavy stamp of the feet)

GIRLS
(they arrive, carrying baskets
of food and drink)

Well! Just look! Dancing, indeed!
They don't seem to need us girls!

(They go towards the Dutch ship)

SAILORS
Hey! Girls! Stop! Where are you going?

GIRLS
You've a taste for cool wine?
Your neighbours there shall have some too!
Is the food and drink for you alone?

STEERSMAN
Right! Take it to the poor lads!
They must be faint with thirst!

SAILORS
We can't hear them.

STEERSMAN
Oh, just look!
No light! No sign of the crew!

GIRLS
(on the point of going aboard the Dutchman's ship)
Hey! Sailors! Do you want torches?
Where are you then? We can see nothing.

SAILORS
(laughing)
Hahaha! Don't wake them up! They're still asleep!

GIRLS
(shouting to the ship)

Hey! Sailors! Hey! Answer then!

(Complete silence)

SAILORS
(mockingly, with affected sorrow)
Haha! Truly, they are dead:
thay have no need of food and drink!

GIRLS

Hey, Sailors, are you already lying snug in your bunks?
No feasting for you today?

SAILORS
(as before)
They're lying low, sitting tight,
like dragons guarding their treasure.

GIRLS
Hey, sailors! Don't you want some wine?
Surely you must be thirsty, too!

SAILORS
They don't drink, they don't sing;
no light burns on their ship.

GIRLS
Say! Haven't you sweethearts ashore?
Don't you want to dance with them on the pleasant beach?

SAILORS
Thsy must be old and pale, not red-blooded!
and their sweethearts are dead!

GIRLS
(calling loudly)
Hey! Sailors! Sailors! Wake up!

We bring you food and drink in plenty!

SAILORS
(reinforcing them)
Hey! Seamates! Seamates! Wake up!

(Long silence)

GIRLS
(disconcerted and fearful)
Yes, it is true! They seem dead.
They've no need of food and drink.

SAILORS
(cheerfully)
You know of the Flying Dutchman!
The ship you see there is exactly like his!

GIRLS
(as before)
Then don't wake the crew;
they are ghosts, we swear!

SAILORS
How many centuries have you been at sea?
Storms and rocks can do you no harm!

GIRLS
They don't drink! They don't sing!
No light burns on their ship!

SAILORS
Have you no letter, no errand for people ashore?
We'll deliver them to our great-grandfathers!

GIRLS
They must be old and pale, not red-blooded!
And their sweethearts, alas, are dead!

SAILORS
(noisily)
Hey, seamates! Set your sails
and show us the Flying Dutchman's speed!

GIRLS
(frightened, retreating
from the Dutch ship)
They don't hear! Gives you the creeps here!
They don't want anything - so why call to them?

SAILORS
You girls, let the dead rest!
Let us, the living, enjoy ourselves!

GIRLS
(handing the basket aboard
to the Norwegian crew)

Here! Your neighbour has spurned it.

STEERSMAN
What? Aren't you coming aboard?

SAILORS
What? Aren't you coming aboard?

GIRLS
Oh, not just yet! It's not late.
We'll come back soon. You drink up,
and if you want to dance as well,
but let your weary neighbours rest!

(exeunt)

SAILORS
(opening and emptying the baskets)
Hurrah! There's plenty here!
Dear neighbours, thank you!

STEERSMAN
Everyone fill his glass to the brim!
Our good neighbours send us drink!

SAILORS
Hallohohoho! Hallohohoho!
Good neighbours, if you've voice and speech,
wake up and follow our example!

(There is a faint sign of life aboard the Dutch ship)

SAILORS
(laughing)
Wake up! Wake up!
Up and follow our example!

(They noisily clink
their cups)

Hussa!
Steersman, leave your watch!
Steersman, join us!
Ho! Hey! Ye! Ha!
Hoist the sails! Anchor fast!
Steersman, here!
We watched many a night in storm and terror,
we often drank the sea's brine:
today we watch, carousing and feasting,
and the girls give us a better drink from the cask.
Hussassahey! Rocks and storms, outside!
Yollohohey! We laugh at them!
Hussassahey! Furl sails! Anchor fast!
Rocks and storms we laugh at them!
Steersman, leave your watch!
Steersman, join us!
Ho! Hey! Ye! Ha!
Steersman, here! Drink with us!
Rocks and storms, ha!
are over, hey!
Hussahey! Hallohey!
Hussahey! Steersman! Ho!
Ho! Hey! Ye! Ha!
Here, come and drink with us!

(The sea, which everywhere else remains calm, has begun to rise in the neighbouthood of the Dutch ship; a dull blue flame flares up like a watchfire. A storm wind whistles through the rigging. The crew, hitherto invisible, bestir themselves)

THE DUTCHMAN'S CREW
Yohohoeh! Yohohohoeh!
Hojohohoeh! Hoeh! Hoeh! Hoeh!
Huissa!
The storms sweeps ashore,
Huissa!
Furl sails! Anchor away!
Huissa!
Run for the bay!
Sombre capitain, go ashore,
seven years are over!
Seek the fair maid's hand!
Fair maid, be true to him!
Be merry today, hui!
A bridegroom, hui!
The stormwind howls bridal-music and the ocean dances to it!
Hui! Hark, he whistles!
Capitain, here again?
Hui! Hoist sail!
But your bride, say, where is she?
Hui! Back to sea!
Capitain! Capitain! You're unlucky in love!
Hahaha!
Scream, storm-wind, howl!
Leave our sails alone!
Satan has blessed them,
and they will not rend.
Hohoeh! Hoeh! Never!

(In the meantime the Dutch ship tosses to and from in the raging waters, whith a gale howling in the rigging. Yet, everywhere else, the sea and sky are calm)

NORWEGIAN SAILORS
(who have watched and listned
first with astonishment,
then with terror)

What a shanty! Are they spooks? Makes the flesh creep!
Strike up our song! Sing it loud!

Steersman, leave your watch! etc.

THE DUTCHMAN'S CREW
Huissa!
Yohohoeh! Yohohohoeh!
Scream, storm-wind, howl! etc.

(The Dutch crew interrupt with sinister cries and finally their chorus silences the Norwegian sailors who, terror-stricken, leave the deck and go below making the sign of the Cross. The ghostly crew burst into mocking laughter: ha ha ha ha ha ha! whereupon gloom and silence once more envelop their ship and the surrounding sea)

SCENE TWO

(Senta hurries from the house followed by Erik in great agitation)

ERIK
What I heard! God, what I saw!
Is it an illusion? The truth? A fact?

SENTA
(turning away, painfully moved)
Oh, do not ask! I dare not answer!

ERIK
Merciful God! It is true beyond doubt.
What unholy power tore you from me?
What force seduced you so rapidly,
to cruelly break this truest heart?
Your father - ha, he brought the bridegroom;
I know him well, I expected this to happen!
But you - is it possible - offer your hand
to a man who has hardly crossed your threshold!

SENTA
(struggling with herself)
No more! Say no more! I must, I must!

ERIK
Oh, this obedience, as blind as your act!
You welcomed your father's suggestion,
and with one blow broke my heart!

SENTA
(as before)
No more! No more! I must never see you again,
nor think of you: a noble duty decrees it.

ERIK
What noble duty? Isn't it nobler to keep
the vow you once made to me of eternal true love?

SENTA
(frightened)
What? Did I ever vow to be always true to you?

ERIK
(sorrowfully)
Senta, oh Senta, you deny it?
Don't you remember the day
when you called me to you in the valley?
When to get highland flowers for you,
I bravely took countless risks?
Do you recall how on a steep cliff
we saw your father leave the shore?
He sailed on a white-winged ship
and to my protection he entrusted you.
And when you twined your arms around my neck,
didn't you declare your love anew?
The rapture I felt at the touch of your hand,
say, wasn't that assurance of your true love?

(The Dutchman has overheard the previous scene and now wildly rushes forward)

DUTCHMAN
Lost! Ah, lost! Redemption lost for ever!

ERIK
(recoiling in terror)
What do I see? God!

DUTCHMAN
Senta, farewell!

SENTA
(barring his way)
Wait, unhappy man!

ERIK
(to Senta)
What are you going to do?

DUTCHMAN
To sea! To sea! For ever!

(to Senta)

Your pledge is ended,
and with your pledge, my hope of grace!
Farewell, I'll not ruin you!

ERIK
Horrible! That look in his eyes!

SENTA
(holding the Dutchman back)
Wait!
You shall never flee from here!

DUTCHMAN
(giving a shrill blast on his whistle
and shouting to his crew)

Hoist sails! Weigh anchor!
Say farewell to land for ever!
Away to sea again I'm driven!
I doubt you just as I doubt God!
Dead, dead is all faith!
What you promised was a jest to you!

SENTA
Ha! do you doubt my true love?
Unhappy man, why are you so blind?
Stay! Do not regret our bond!
What I promised, I will fulfit!

ERIK
What do I hear! God, what is this I see?
Am I to trust my ears, my eyes?
Senta! Do you want to perish?
Come to me! You are in Satan's clutches!

DUTCHMAN
Hear of the destiny from which I defend you!
I am condemned to the most ghastly fate.
A ten-fold death would be a long awaited joy!
From the curse a woman alone can free me,
a woman true to me till death.
You did vow to be true but
not solemnly before God: this saves you!
For know, poor girl, the fate awaiting
those who break faith with me:
eternal damnation is their lot!
Countless victims have paid this penalty
through me! But you shall be saved.
Farewell!

Farewell for ever to my salvation!

ERIK
(in fearful terror, calling
to the house and the ship)

Help! Save, oh, save her!

SENTA
(checking the Dutchman)
I know you well! And well I know your fate!
I knew you when first I saw you!
The end of your torment is near! I am she
by whose true love you shall find salvation!

ERIK
Help her! She is lost!
(At Erik's cry for help, Daland, Mary and the girls have hurryedfrom the house, and the sailors from the ship)

MARY, DALAND, GIRLS, SAILORS
What do I see!

DUTCHMAN
(to Senta)
You do not know me, cannot guess who I am!!

(He points to his ship,
whose red sails are spread
and whose crew, in ghostly activity,
are preparing for departure)

Ask the seas around the globe, ask
the seaman who has sailed the ocean.
he knows this ship, the terror of all devout men:
the Flying Dutchman they call me!

(The Dutchman rushes aboard his ship which instantly heads out to sea. Senta tries to follow him but is held back by Daland and Erik)

CREW OF THE DUTCHMAN
(weighing anchor)
Yohohoeh! Yohohohoeh! Hojohohoeh!
Hoeh! Hoeh! Hoeh! Huissa!

MARY, DALAND, ERIK,
GIRLS, SAILORS

Senta! Senta! What are you doing?

SENTA
(tears herself free and rushes
to a rock overhanging the sea.
From there she calls after
the departing Dutchman)

Praise your angel and his edict!
Here I stand, true to you unto death!

(She leaps into the sea; at once the Dutch ship sinks with all her crew. The sea heaves and falls in a whirlpool. In the glow of the rising sun, the transfigured forms of the Dutchman and Senta, clasped in each other's arms, are seen rising over the wreck and soaring into the sky)

Contents: Characters; Act One; Act Two; Act Three