Lyrics adapted by Frank DiGiacomo from the play by S. Ansky. Based on THE DYBBUK, translation © 1974 by S. Morris Engel, published by Nash Publishing Corporation, New York.
Artwork by Odilon Redon.

As Laia finishes the Lullaby, she hears a sigh coming from inside her and behind her. Khannon’s form materializes, but she does not turn and see him or know who it is, although she knows that it is the same voice she has heard coming from inside herself, and she begs him never to leave her again. Khannon tells her that she must turn to him, must break the circle of power which chains her to the world, and then they will be together always. Laia slowly turns and finally sees Khannon, and knows him. Together they sing an ecstatic Love Duet.

(As the wedding party approaches, Laia mounts the dais, not to join Menashe under the canopy, but to be united with Khannon forever. As the chorus sings in celebration, she falls dead in the Messenger’s arms.)

The recording is of a performance by Mayda Prado and Terry Bowers, accompanied by the Composer, at the recital An Evening of New Music by Frank DiGiacomo, on May 18, 1977 at the Carrier Theater of the Mulroy Civic Center in Syracuse, New York.

LYRICS
KHANNON:
    Ah!

LAIA:
    What was that?
    Ah, who sighed with such pain?

KHANNON:
    It was I.

LAIA:
    I hear your voice,
    but I do not see you.

KHANNON:
    A circle of power which forbids me entrance,
    keeps you from me and me from you!

LAIA:
    Your voice!
    Your voice sounds as sweet to me
    as the weeping of a violin on a silent night.
    Tell me, who are you?

KHANNON:
    I do not know.
    I have forgotten.
    It is only through you, through your thoughts
    that I can remember who I am.

LAIA:
    Oh! I remember, I remember now!
    My heart yearned
    toward a beautiful, radiant star.
    Oh! I remember now!
    On quiet nights
    I shed many, many sweet tears,
    and there was a figure always,
    always in my dreams.
    Was that you?

KHANNON:
    Yes.

LAIA: (with KHANNON)
    Oh! I remember!            
    your hair was soft and gleaming,            
    as if it was touched with tears.            
    Your eyes so gentle and sad,            
    your hands with long slender fingers    
    beckoned to me in my dreams.                        

KHANNON: (with LAIA)
    I crossed all barriers,
    I rose above death itself,
    for you!
    I defied the laws of all ages
    and of all generations,
    struggled with the powerful,
    the mighty, the merciless,
    and when the last spark
    of my strength was spent,
    I left your body
    to return to your soul.

LAIA: (with KHANNON)
    Awake or asleep,            
    I thought only of you.
    Only of you!    
    But you went away,
    and I lived in darkness;
    my soul was forlorn,
    and I was like a desolate widow,
    pursued by strangers in a strange land.
    But then, you came back to me!
    You returned,
    and my heart blossomed again,
    and all sorrow turned to joy!
    Why?
            
KHANNON: (with LAIA)
    They parted us again.
    They cast me from you!

LAIA: (with KHANNON)
     Why did you forsake me again?

KHANNON: (with LAIA)
    I have left your body
    and come now to your soul,
    which awaits me
    with joy and love.

LAIA: (with KHANNON)
    Yes, come back,            
    come back to me,            
    my bridegroom, my husband,
    
(Very gradually, the white-robed figure of KHANNON becomes visible
behind LAIA; and, slowly, she turns to face him.)

LAIA:
    Ah! the circle is broken!
    I see you now.
    My bridegroom, my love,
    come to me, come!            

KHANNON: (with LAIA)    
    Come! come!

LAIA:
    By night in my bed I sought for you,
    whom my soul loves.
    I sought  for you,
    but I did not find you,
    whom my soul loves.
    But now you have come,

KHANNON: (with LAIA)            
    Rise up, rise up,
    my love, my fair one,

LAIA: (with KHANNON)
    and I see you            
    and hear your voice.

KHANNON:             
    and come away!
    
LAIA:             
    My beloved speaks to me

LAIA: (with KHANNON)
    and says to me:            
    Rise up, my fair one,            
    and come away!

KHANNON: (with LAIA)
    Rise up,
    my love, my fair one,
    and come away!

LAIA AND KHANNON:
    For now the winter is past,
    the rain is over and gone.
    The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of the singing of birds has come,
    and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
    Come away! Come away!

LAIA: (with KHANNON)                                                            
    The fig trees put forth their green fruit

KHANNON: (with LAIA)
    Arise, my love, my fair one, etc.

LAIA:
    and the vines their tender grapes.
    My love, let me hear your voice,
    for it is sweet to me,
    and your face as beautiful as the dawn.       

LAIA AND KHANNON:
    Come, call to me, and I will run after you,
    for love is stronger than death!

LAIA:                                                            
    Call to me, my love,            

KHANNON:
    Come away, arise,

LAIA AND KHANNON:
    let me hear your voice
    for love is more strong than death! etc.
    Arise, and come, my love,
    for love is stronger than death,
    more strong than death, my love,
    stronger than death!

LAIA:
    Ah! My love!

KHANNON:
    Come, my love!

LAIA:
    Come, away!

KHANNON:
    Come, my love!

LAIA AND KHANNON:
    Arise, my love, and come!

(A noise of the wedding party chanting is heard off stage,
singing louder as they approach.)