Music: Gian Carlo Menotti
Afraid, am I afraid?
Madame Flora afraid!
Can it be that I'm afraid?
In my young days I have seen many terrible things!
Women screaming as they were murdered,
And men's hands dripping with blood,
And men haunted by knives.
And little grotesque children drained
White by the voraciousness of filth,
And loathsome old men insane with vice,
And young men with cankers crawling
On their flesh like hungry lizards.
This I've seen, and more, and never been afraid.
O God'
Forgive my sins, I'm sick and old.
Forgive my sins and give me peace!
What ill wind shakes my hand?
What unseen ghost stands by my side?
No, no, it cannot be the dead!
The dead... the dead.