Cyrano De Bergerac

  

A few weeks ago, I went to see the Broadway revival of Cyrano De Bergerac, the classic 1897 French play about a disfigured man who, though he is the bravest and wittiest of men, cannot seem to find the words to profess his love for the fair Roxane face-to-face.  

Anyway, you know the story, and I did too, but as I watched this production, I found the beautiful words of the play and Cyrano's pure character and never wavering devotion to Roxane so heartbreaking and unbelievably romantic. (What a surprise. This can probably be attributed to the wonderful, amazing performance of Douglas Hodge as Cyrano.)

Some of my favorite lines come from the scene where Cyrano (here cloaked in darkness and pretending to be the handsome soldier Christian) declares his love to Roxane who is standing on a balcony above.

CYRANO: 

I love you, but insanely, utterly

so much I'm suffocating, torn apart

Your name hangs like a bell here in my heart

and so, because I'm trembling all the time,

'Roxane' rings out with an incessant chime!

You won't believe it, but I can recall

each detail of your life, however small:

For instance, last year, on the twelfth of May

you did your hair up in a different way –

It dazzled me so much that, just as one

will, after looking too long at the sun, 

see a gold disk on everything one views, 

the image of your hair did so infuse

my sight that after I could not behold

an object without finding flecks of gold

covering its surface, brighter than sunlight!

Pretty, right? 

(image via)