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prologue (peter grimes) - benjamin britten lyrics

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[hobson]
peter grimes! peter grimes!

[swallow]
peter grimes, we are here to investigate the cause of death of your apprentice william spode, whose body you brought ashore from your boat the boy billy on the 26th ultimo. do you wish to give evidence?

will you step into the box? peter grimes, take the oath after me. “i swear by almighty god…”

[peter]
i swear by almighty god

[swallow]
“that the evidence i shall give…”

[peter]
that the evidence i shall give

[swallow]
“shall be the truth…”

[peter]
shall be the truth

[swallow]
“the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

[peter]
the whole truth and nothing but the truth

[swallow]
tell the court the story in your own words

you sailed your boat round the coast with the intention of putting into london. why did you do this?

[peter]
we’d caught a huge catch, too big to sell here

[swallow]
and the boy died on the way?

[peter]
the wind turned against us, blew us off our course. we ran out of drinking water

[swallow]
how long were you at sea?

[peter]
three days

[swallow]
what happened next?

[peter]
he died lying there among the fish

[swallow]
what did you do?

[peter]
threw them all overboard, set sail for home

[swallow]
you mean you threw the fish overboard? when you landed, did you call for help?

[peter]
i called ned keene

[swallow]
the apothecary here? was there anybody else called?

[peter]
somebody brought the parson

[swallow]
you mean the rector, mr. horace adams? all right, mr. adams. was there a certain amount of excitement?

[peter]
bob boles started shouting

[swallow]
there was a scene in the village street from which you were rescued by our landlady

[peter]
yes, by auntie

[swallow]
we don’t call her that here. you then took to abusing a respectable lady? answer me, you shouted abuse at a certain person?

[mrs. sedley]
say who! say who!

[swallow]
mrs. sedley here

[peter]
i don’t like interferers

[villagers]
when women gossip, the result is
someone doesn’t sleep at night

[swallow]
now tell me this: who helped you carry the boy home? the schoolmistress, the widow, mrs. ellen orford?

[women villagers]
o when you pray you shut your eyes
and then can’t tell the truth from lies

[hobson]
silence!

[swallow]
mrs. orford, as the schoolmistress, the widow, how did you come into this?

[ellen]
i did what i could to help

[swallow]
why should you help this kind of fellow, callous, brutal, and co*rs*?

there’s something here perhaps in your favor. i’m told you rescued the boy from drowning in the march storms

have you something else to say? no? then i have. peter grimes, i here advise you, do not get another boy apprentice. get a fisherman to help you, big enough to stand up for himself. our verdict is that william spode, your apprentice, died in accidental circumstances, but that’s the sort of thing people are apt to remember

[villagers]
but when the crowner sits upon it
who can dare to fix the guilt?

[hobson]
silence! silence!

[peter]
your honor, your honor! like every other fisherman, i have to hire an apprentice. i must have help

[swallow]
then get a woman help you look after him

[peter]
that’s what i want, but not yet

[swallow]
why not?

[peter]
not till i’ve stopped people’s mouths

[swallow]
stand down! clear the court! stand down!

[peter]
“stand down,” you say. you wash your hands
the case goes on in people’s minds
the charges that no court has made
will be shouted at my head
then let me speak, let me stand trial
bring the accusers into the hall
let me thrust into their mouths
the truth itself, the simple truth

[villagers]
when women gossip, the result is
someone doesn’t sleep at night
but when the crowner sits upon it
who can dare to fix the guilt?

[hobson]
clear the court! clear the court!

[peter]
the truth, the pity and the truth

[ellen]
peter, peter, come away

[peter]
where the walls themselves gossip of inquest

[ellen]
but we’ll gossip too, and talk, and rest

[peter]
while peeping toms nod as you go
you’ll share the name of outlaw, too

[ellen]
peter, we shall restore your name
warmed by the new esteem that you will find

[peter]
until the borough hate poisons your mind

[ellen]
there’ll be new shoals to catch, life will be kind

[peter]
ay, only of drowning ghosts, time will not forget
the dead are witness and fate is blind

[ellen]
unclouded, the hot sun will spread his rays around

[peter and ellen]
your voice out of the pain
is like a hand that i can see
that i can feel and know
here is a friend, here is a friend

- benjamin britten lyrics

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