Toh toh poffare il mondo

English Libretto or Translation:

Sermon

Enter Fra Melitone, who is caught up in the whirl of the dance and for a moment is constrained to dance with the vivandières; finally, managing to extricate himself, he exclaims:

MELITONE
Whew! Good gracious, what a world! What are things coming to?
A fine to-do! And here I am;
I came from Spain to heal wounds
and appeal for souls. What do I see? Is this
a Christian camp, or are you Turks?
Where was such derision of the holy Sabbath
ever seen? You're more concerned
with bottles than with battles,
and instead of donning sackcloth and ashes,
here you're involved with Venus and Bacchus.
The world has become a vale of tears;
every monastery
now is a den of empty air! Sanctuaries
have become the lairs of the sanguinary;
even Christ's tabernacles
have been made to receive villains.
Everything's topsy‑turvy. And why?
Pro peccata vestra, because of your
sins.

ITALIAN SOLDIERS
Oh, brother, brother!

MELITONE
You profane the feast days,
you rob, you blaspheme …

ITALIAN SOLDIERS
You villain in monk's attire!

SPANISH SOLDIERS
Go on, old father!

MELITONE
Limbs and head, you're all alike,
all heretics,
all sewers of iniquity,
and so long as the world stinks of such pitch,
let the earth not hope for any peace.
With such pitch there's no peace …

ITALIAN SOLDIERS
crowding round him
Let him have it!

SPANISH SOLDIERS
defending him
Run away, run away!