Peter Grimes

Peter Grimes (1945) is an opera composed by British musician Benjamin Britten. The libretto is written by Montagu Slater.

Main Characters in the Opera
(taken from the Wikipedia page)
 * Peter Grimes, a fisherman
 * Ellen Orford, a widow, Borough schoolmistress
 * Balstrode, retired merchant skipper
 * Auntie, landlady of The Boar
 * Two Nieces
 * Mrs. (Nabob) Sedley, a rentier widow
 * Swallow, a lawyer
 * Ned Keene, apothecary and quack
 * Bob Boles, fisherman and Methodist
 * Rev. Horace Adams, the rector
 * Mr. Hobson, a carrier
 * Borough Villagers (in chorus)

Prologue
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.

Ellen and Peter (in unison): My voice out of the pain Is like a hand That I can feel and know: Here is a friend.

Act One
Ned: Man invented morals but tide have none.

 Peter: I live alone. The habit grows.

 Balstrode: The storm is here. O come away.

Peter: The storm is here and I shall stay.

 Peter:

What harbour shelters peace?

Away from tidal waves, away from storm?

What harbour can embrace

Terrors and tragedies?

Act Two
Peter:

Now the great Bear and Pleiades where earth moves

Are drawing up the clouds of human grief,

Breathing solemnity in the deep night.

Who can decipher,

In storm or starlight,

The written character

of a friendly fate –--

As the sky turns, the world for us to change?

But if the horoscope' s bewildering

Like a flashing turmoil of a shoal of herring,

Who can turn skies back and begin again?

Chorus:

He's mad or drunk.

Why's that man here?

Act Two
Ellen:

Peter! You cannot buy your peace.

You'll never stop the gossips' talk

With all the fish from out the sea.

We were mistaken to have dreamed...

Peter! We've failed. We've failed...

(He cries out as if in agony. Then strikes her. The basket falls.)

Choir

Amen.

Peter

So be it! –-- And God have mercy upon me!

 Peter

But dreaming builds what dreaming can disown.

Dead fingers stretch themselves to tear it down.

I hear those voices that will not be drowned

Calling, there is no stone

In earth's thickness to make a home

That you can build with and remain alone.

Act Four
Balstrode:

When horror breaks one heart

All hearts are broken.

 Peter:

Steady. There you are. Nearly home.

What is home? Calm as deep water.

Where's my home? Deep in calm water.

Water will drink my sorrows dry,

And the tide will turn.

 Peter:

To hell with all your mercy.

To hell with your revenge.

And God have mercy upon you.

 Balstrode (goes up to Peter and speaks):

Come on, I'll help you with the boat.

Ellen:

No!

Balstrode (speaking):

Sail out till you lose sight of land, then sink the boat.

D'you hear? Sink her.

Goodbye Peter.