s of the temple, who has consented to abandon her people and her
country and to fly with him to Rome. Before leaving her home, Adalgisa,
ignorant of the connection between Norma and Pollio, reveals her secret
to the priestess, and begs for absolution from her vows. At the news of
her husband's faithlessness Norma's fury breaks forth, and her
indignation is equalled by that of Adalgisa, who is furious at finding
herself the mere plaything of a profligate. Pollio, maddened by passion,
endeavours to tear Adalgisa from the altar of the temple, but is checked
by Norma, who strikes the sacred shield and calls the Druids to arms.
Pollio, now a prisoner, is brought before her for judgment, and she
gives him a last choice, to renounce Adalgisa or to die. He refuses to
give up his love, whereupon Norma, in a passion of self-sacrifice, tears
the sacred wreath from her own brow and declares herself the guilty one.
Pollio is touched by her magnanimity, and together they ascend the
funeral pyre, in its flames to be cleansed from earthly sin.

It would be too much to assert that Bellini has risen to the level of
this noble subject, but parts of his score have a fervour and a dignity
which might scarcely have been expected from the composer of 'La
Sonnambula.' We may smile now at the trio between Pollio and his two
victims, in which the extremes of fury and indignation are expressed by
a lilting tune in 9-8 time, but it is impossible to deny the truth and
beauty of Norma's farewell to her children, and in several other scenes
there are evidences of real dramatic feeling, if not of the power to
express it. It is important to remember, in discussing the works of
Bellini and the other composers of his school, that in their day the art
of singing was cultivated to a far higher pitch of perfection than is
now the case. Consequently the composer felt that he had done his duty
if, even in situations of the most tragic import, he provided his
executant with a broad, even melody. Into this the consummate art of the
singer could infuse every gradation of feeling. The composer presented a
blank canvas, upon which the artist painted the required picture.

Unlike that of 'Norma,' the libretto of 'I Puritani,' Bellini's last
opera, is a dull and confused affair. The scene is laid in England,
apparently at the time of the Civil War, but the history and chronology
throughout are of the vaguest description. Queen Henrietta Maria is
imprisoned in the fo