Fidelio

 
“Gott, welch ein Dunkel hier!”
God, what a Darkness here  –
says Florestan, after the orchestra,
without words, describes a dungeon,  [i]
and man’s despair beyond reach
 
“Da, nimm das Brot, du armer Mann!”
Now, take this Bread, you poor man –
says the faithful one, disguised,
– accept the first morsel
of freedom, light, and joy, sustained …
 
“Du armer Mann”
thus becomes Every, each,
and Beethoven’s soulful music builds the scene
of our contingent rescue –
Love                                     
 
(2010s)
 

[i]   “Fidelio”. Wikipedia.org. {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidelio}  (accessed December 1, 2021).  –  “Fidelio, Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner … with the work premiering at Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 1805.”