Traviata Poem by gershon hepner

Traviata means a woman who
has gone astray like Violetta;
Alfredo loved her though he knew
his father hoped for someone better
that her for his beloved son
than a demi-mondaine hostess and,
since he was over twenty-one,
did not comply with his command
that he behave as in Provence
the natives do, allegedly, not quarrel
with bourgeois norms and don’t entrance
young men who wish to be immoral.

His girl-friend handed him a flower,
declaring when it starts to wilt
he should return to her, attractive power
thus overcoming filial guilt.
An earlier version of the saga
has her declaring, “Wait until
the flower’s red.” When she’s red ragger,
she will let him have his will
with her, which is far more transgressive
that what occurs in our libretto,
against our morals more aggressive,
escaping those of bourgeois ghetto.

Although Alfredo loved her pass-
ionately, she wanted to be free;
deep love, she sang, is balderdash,
and hors de camp in gay Paris.
In spite of this she quit the town,
and took Alfredo to her house,
a country villa, living down-
and-out with him, not as his spouse,
of course, but as his mistress who
sold her possessions to provide
the wherewithal for them to screw
around––A had no pride.

The girl showed great nobility
when Père Germont, Alfredo’s dad,
showed her the culpability
of living with his wayward lad,
and pleaded with her to break off
relations with him, arguing
as father, friend and philosophe,
that this great happiness would bring
to his young daughter who then could
hook-up with someone who was wealthy,
bestowing him her maidenhood.
Though Violetta was not healthy––
she had been coughing ever since
Alfredo met her––she paid heed,
and let her lover’s dad convince
her to facilitate his need
for young Alfredo, and to leave
him, writing him a letter,
which in a sad recitative
she read aloud. Poor Violetta!

She’d told Alfredo very clearly
that she still loved him, but he thought
that she’d betrayed him, loving dearly
a Baron who her favors bought.
Alfredo beat him in a game
of cards––success as bettor
greater than in love––to shame
the Baron and poor Violetta,
to whom he threw with great disdain
the money he had won, upsetting
his father who could sense her pain.
On her pure nature he’d been betting,
and hated how his son was treating
this girl who to protect his daughter,
had sworn, and never thought of cheating,
to tell Alfredo not to court her.

In the last act we see how
the life of Violetta ends,
allowed to make her final bow
with lover, lover’s father, friends,
Humiliated, she’d declined
to break her oath, and slowing dying,
sings of Alfred as she pines
for him, with high notes sighing,
undeceived by Grenvil, doctor
who’d told her she was getting better,
like most doctors lie concocter
disbelieved by Violetta.
Before finale’s falling curtain
Alfredo and his father make
a deathbed visit, both quite certain
they’d made a tragic, great mistake.


Inspired by a performance of Verdi's “La Traviata” by the LA Opera on June 10,1009, with Elizabeth Futral as Violetta, Alexey Dolgov as Alfredo Germont and Stephen Powell as Giorgio Germont. Before the opera Paul G. Floyd gave a superb lecture, comparing the opera to the book “La Dame Au Camelias” by Dumas.
6/11/09