Songs

Presto 'You monster!'

by Benjamin Britten From Phaedra

If you would like to use our texts and translations, please click here for more information.

Text

Presto 'You monster!'
English source: Jean Racine trans. Robert Lowell

You monster! You understood me too well!
Why do you hang here, speechless, petrified,
polite! My mind whirls. What have I to hide?
Phaedra in all her madness stands before you!
I love you! Fool, I love you, I adore you!
Do not imagine that my mind approved
my first defection, Prince, or that I loved
your youth light-heartedly, and fed my treason
with cowardly compliance, till I lost my reason.
Alas, my violence to resist you made
my face inhuman, hateful. I was afraid
to kiss my husband lest I love his son.
I made you fear me (this was easily done);
you loathed me more, I ached for you no less.
Misfortune magnified your loveliness.
The wife of Theseus loves Hippolytus!
See, Prince! Look, this monster, ravenous
for her execution, will not flinch.
I want your sword’s spasmodic final inch.

Composer

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music,…

Help us with a Donation

Enjoying our texts and translations? Help us continue to offer this service to all.

Make a Donation

Select Tickets