style="font-size:15px;"> Let us only dispute which of us knows how to love him better.
(Glory repeats the last verse with Wisdom.)
GLORY AND WISDOM:
As soon as one sees him appear,
Of what heart is he not the master?
How sweet it is to follow in his steps.
Can one know him
And not love him?
(The Chorus repeats the last five verses, and the suites of Glory and Wisdom express by their dances the joy they have in seeing these two divinities in perfect harmony.)
WISDOM:
Let’s love our hero; let nothing separate us.
He is inviting us to games they’ve prepared for us.
There we will see Renaud despite sensuality.
Follow an honest and wise suggestion,
We will see him leave an enchanted palace
Where, from love of Armida he was held,
And fly to where Glory calls for his courage
The great king, who shares between us his desires,
Loves to see us even in his pleasures.
GLORY:
May the dazzle of his fame extend to the ends of the world.
Let’s join our voices.
Let each answer to us.
GLORY, WISDOM AND THE CHORUSES:
Sing of the softness of his laws,
Sing of his glorious exploits.
(The suites of Glory and Wisdom continue their rejoicing.)
CHORUS:
In the Temple of Memory,
May his name be forever engraved.
It was reserved to him
To unite Wisdom and Glory.
CURTAIN
ACT I
The stage represents a great public place ornamented with a triumphal arch.
PHENICIA:
In a day of triumph, in the midst of pleasures,
Who can inspire you with a somber sorrow?
Glory, grandeur, beauty, youth,
All these blessings fulfill your wishes.
SIDONIA:
You are lighting a fatal flame
That you will never feel the results of.
Love dares not trouble the peace
Which reigns in your soul.
PHENICIA AND SIDONIA:
Who has more appeal?
And who can be happy if you cannot?
PHENICIA:
If today, war makes its ravages feared,
It’s at the shores of Jordan they must halt.
Our tranquil shores
Have nothing to fear.
SIDONIA:
Hell, if need be, will take up arms for us,
And you know how to impose your rule on it.
PHENICIA:
Your eyes have need of only their own charms
To weaken Godfrey’s camp.
SIDONIA:
His most gallant warriors are defenseless against you,
Have fallen into your power.
ARMIDA:
I am not triumphing over the most valiant of them all.
Renaud, whom I hate so violently,
The indomitable Renaud escapes my wrath.
The whole enemy camp has become sensitive for me,
And he alone, still invincible.
Glory made him see me with an indifferent eye.
He’s in the loving years wherein,
Without effort one falls in love.
No, I cannot fail without extreme bitterness
To conquer a heart so proud and grand.
SIDONIA:
What does it matter
That a captive is lacking to your victory?
There are enough other witnesses to be seen in your chains.
And for one slave the less,
Such a beautiful triumph will lose little of its glory.
PHENICIA:
Why do you want to think about
That which can displease you?
It’s more certain to avenge oneself
By forgetting him than by rage.
ARMIDA:
Hell predicted a hundred times
That against this warrior our arms would be vain,
And that he would vanquish our greatest kings.
Ah! How sweet it would be to me to overwhelm him with chains,
And halt the course of his exploits.
How I hate him! How his scorn outrages me!
How proud he will be to avoid slavery
In which I hold so many other heroes.
Despite me, his importunate image
Ceaselessly
