ESMERALDA.
It is Phœbus who calls me
Unto our home eternal,
Where God will hold us in His arms,
Safe from misfortunes cruel.
Though plunged in the abyss of woe,
A joyful hope is given:
I am to die upon the earth
To be re-born in heaven!
CLAUDE FROLLO.
To die so young, so beautiful!
Alas! the guilty priest
Must suffer greater woe than she;
He ne'er will be released.
Oh, hapless child of sorrow,
Lost through my infamy,
You only die from off this earth,
While heaven is lost to me!
THE PEOPLE.
Alas! she is an infidel.
God's words, unto us spoken,
Say that in heaven for such as she
No blessed gate shall open.
Death holds her fast, what misery!
She can escape it, never!
She dies unto the world this day,
And unto heaven forever!
[The procession approaches. Claude accosts Esmeralda.
ESMERALDA (frozen with terror).
It is the priest!
CLAUDE FROLLO (low).