"Deh! Tu di un Umile Preghiera"
I beseech thee, hear my humble prayer
Sentenced to death by Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots finds solace in a final prayer with her devoted courtiers.
MARY’S COURTIERS
We shall be silent.
MARY
I finally see you again.
COURTIERS
Only for us to lose you!
MARY
I rejoice in a better life to come.
Yes, I will gain a better life.
Contented, I hasten to God’s embrace,
but you must flee this troubled land.
COURTIERS
Our hearts are breaking with sorrow!
MARY
For pity’s sake! Do not weep!
Here is a cloth bathed in tears.
It will be a sombre blindfold for my eyes,
when they shut out forever the light of day.
But why are you still weeping?
Join with me, dear friends, in sending up to merciful heaven
a final devout and fervent prayer.
I beseech thee, hear my humble prayer, o blessed God of mercy.
Receive me into the shelter of thy forgiveness,
my heart has no other refuge.
COURTIERS
Receive her into the shelter of thy forgiveness,
her heart has no other refuge.
MARY
There is no need for tears, heaven will aid me.
COURTIERS
Forget your life’s folly.
Throw off your sorrow, throw off your cares,
merciful heaven has forgiven you.
MARY
Oh! Released from sorrow, released from care,
eternal love will nourish me.
COURTIERS
Spread a veil over your cares,
merciful heaven has forgiven you.
MARY
Oh, God! Yes! eternal love will nourish me.
Has forgiven me.
COURTIERS
Oh, God! Have mercy! Ah, have mercy!
Merciful heaven has forgiven you.
Maria Stuarda by Gaetano Donizetti
For many years, Queen Elizabeth I of England has kept her cousin, Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots), a prisoner in Fotheringhay Castle as she is a focus for Catholic plots which threaten Elizabeth’s throne. Lord Cecil, Elizabeth’s chief minister, opposes mercy for Mary. The Queen’s favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, loves Mary and hopes to gain her freedom. Jealousy compounds Elizabeth’s political distrust of her cousin.
Leicester arranges a meeting between the two sovereigns, together with Cecil, George Talbot, Mary’s jailer, and Anna, Mary’s lady in waiting. The encounter quickly deteriorates, with Mary insulting the Queen as a “vile bastard”. Elizabeth responds by threatening Mary with execution. This dramatic ensemble piece conveys the intense emotions and high stakes involved when the two queens meet. The death warrant is soon signed by Elizabeth and Mary is executed in the hall of Fotheringhay Castle, calmly approaching her death as a martyr to her faith.
In reality, Elizabeth and Mary never met, but the dramatic potential of such an encounter has inspired the imagination of both writers and composers.