Oh! qual parlar fu il suo

English Libretto or Translation:

Scene 4
Giovanna returns from the departments of the Queen. She is disturbed.

JANE:
Oh! what words were hers!
My heart condemned me!
Betrayed perhaps,
will I be discovered?
Did she read the misdeed
on my countenance? Ah, no, she clasped me
tenderly to her bosom;
she remains ignorant that
she has clasped a serpent.
Would that I could at least
have withdrawn
my feet from this abyss;
and have prevented the time
from happening; Ah! my fate is sealed,
sealed in Heaven as the final day.

(there is a knocking at the door, she goes to open it)

Behold…behold the King…

Scene 5
Enrico and above.

HENRY:
Are you trembling?

JANE:
Yes, I'm trembling.

HENRY:
What is she doing?

JANE:
She is resting.

HENRY:
I'm not.

JANE:
Do you think that I am at rest?
Let this be our last colloquy…
the last, o Sire:
I implore you…

HENRY:
And that it will be.
We must see each other
in plain daylight
Heaven and Earth must know
that I love you.

JANE:
Never, never…
I would want to hide my shame
beneath the earth.

HENRY:
It is glory, the love of Henry
And thus it was for Anna
in the eyes of all of England.

JANE:
After marriage it was…
Only after marriage.

HENRY:
And does Seymour love me
in this guise?

JANE:
And does the King also love me thus?

HENRY:
Thankless girl, and what do you desire?

JANE:
Love and honour.