Sextet no 26
Repressive operetta
By Luke Hsieh (To a friend once beheld)
Oh, how cheerful can'st thou be?
For some two hours and more,
Three quatre tempo is excessive sugar added in one's tea,
So, how much can I adore?
In some fifty miles to see,
Much treasured operetta must be my only cure therefore,
Shall I let her in my heart fall,
Like A teardrop in a reservoir,
Beholding her as the most vicious mistress of them all,
Her blue eyes does say 'aurevoir',
A trick of mind, heart and wall,
My heart is gold and thereby concluded 'son c?ur c'est noir',
Waltz-song resounded from the stage sings,
Fairy-tales which my heart seemed responding,
Graceful duet sang in pairs,
Lovers danced hand in hand,
For once let them dream - 'tis poets' affair,
Where this final scene in the last act land,
When reality set in for the kill,
My heart for her must hold still,
Yet must I love her in some other day,
Let the stage lead the way,
The lightning of my composure I may
Control from day to day,
Swore I - she is the most hideous creature - my friends thou might'st disagree,
Thus condemn me for being unreasonably harsh and undoubted cruelty,
If thou doth recall the theatre of Vienna well - Yes - where operetta was staged,
The sorrow of the actress O how they in the three-quatre tempos waltz were caged,
Swallow their tears in the children-pill fashion - in this waltz-song - artificial ecstasy,
Price of happiness, perfect composure, artistic temperament, Nay! a poet to be
I shalt sunk myself in these torrent eloquence of endless three-quatre tempo music,
Any feeling I have for her will not be repressed but merely distorted into horrific
Imageries - For I am no opera singer nor actress nor dancer - But a fool of pencil,.
Will not let Love does its ingratitude - pray, let me detest her for the lesser evil,
While her exact innocent kindness and beauty made her the demon from heaven,
My minds of reason veil me the angel from inferno in an sweetest operetta frozen.
-Luke Hsieh