A Philosopher Bids Farewell To His Coat

(In the opera “La Bohème”, four impoverished students share a Paris apartment. Rodolfo falls in love with Mimi, a seamstress who is dying of tuberculosis. With money at an all-time low, Rodolfo’s friend, the philosopher Colline, decides he must pawn his overcoat in order to buy medicine for Mimi. In this aria (“Vecchia Zimarra”), he takes leave of his dearly-loved garment.) Listen to me, old friend of sixteen years, and counting: it's you who must ascend - alone - the sacred mountain, while I stay on the plain. You know you have my thanks: whether we'll meet again, triumphant in the ranks of the righteous, I don't know. You never bent your back to any rich man, though we often felt the lack of life-sustaining sous. These pockets, gaping, worn, have borne their fill of booze when we caroused till dawn. Poets and thinking men found shelter from the storm in here. I don't know when you failed to keep me warm. Our hands abrade and age the very book they cherish: it's time to turn the page, for even love must perish. Farewell, you care-worn sleeves, buttons, I know by heart. And see, your master grieves, for now the teardrops start.