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Book of Mormon
Revelation

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Lyrics: AMULON
(An opera in three scenes. Text and music by Ralph S. Gardner II.)

Characters:
ALMA (Tenor)
SPIRIT OF PROPHECY (Tenor)*
MESSENGER FROM THE LAMANITES (Tenor)*
SPIRIT OF PRIESTCRAFT (Baritone)
AMULON (Baritone)
VOICES OF NIGHT (SATB Chorus)
*(These 2 roles may be sung by one person.)

Scenery: None.
Costumes: Simple, or present day.
ALMA and PROPHECY - white attire
AMULON and PRIESTCRAFT - dark attire
MESSENGER - neutral attire
CHORUS - white attire
Props: Scroll; book of metal plates; sword.
Reference: Mosiah 2324.

Scene One - Sunset

(The curtain rises on a semi-dark stage. PRIESTCRAFT is at one side.)

PRIESTCRAFT:
Night that overcomes day now draws near,
And sun sets in homage to the Lord of darkness.
Though once for me the noon was bright,
Now I hate its false glory, its stolen majesty.
I have not worshiped the day, nor will I,
While hands ward off the glare of judgment from above.

(Enter the MESSENGER, holding a scroll, opposite PRIESTCRAFT. As they sing, MESSENGER and PRIESTCRAFT draw close to each other.)

MESSENGER:
I wend my way through the gloom of past years
And now I am lost in this death of day.
The future is heavy, and the weight of my message
Slows my feet until I can hardly stand.
I seek Amulon, your Chief Priest.

PRIESTCRAFT:
He broods over the lot of a people oppressed by Alma.

MESSENGER:
As slaves you are to us; would one slave oppress another?
Yet my King sends me to deliver his will to Amulon:
That of these slaves, one may be called ruler,
The others ruled.
(Exit)

PRIESTCRAFT:
And this yields the weight of the future,
That Amulon has won the goal he sought.

(Enter PROPHECY opposite PRIESTCRAFT)

PROPHECY:
Do you rejoice in the death of this light?
Now is a solemn time, for night draws near,
And men are silent.

PRIESTCRAFT:
The harsh glare is gone, and we may see
That within us which day would conceal.

PROPHECY:
You burden men
With darkness, that they never know
The God who shines on them daily.

(Enter AMULON with the scroll, beside PRIESTCRAFT)

AMULON:
As God wills, I have the decree of the Lamanite King:
I am to rule, and Alma is cast down.
Now will this land know I am guardian to God's law.
Abinadi's words will be heard no more from the pulpit,
For he is dead, and his words with him.
Thus is my design complete; now will I fulfill its promise.
The details are before me, the vision succeeds
And I sink in joy before God,
Who grants me victory.

(Enter ALMA beside PROPHECY.)

What say you to this, the King's decree?


ALMA:
Are you in league with the Lamanites?

AMULON:
With the devil himself, to thwart you!

ALMA and PROPHECY
With the devil.

AMULON:
Read the scroll, my commission, my power!

ALMA: (reading the scroll)
I see the power you hold so lightly.
Oh that my burden were as your conscience,
My affliction light as this scroll.
(He gives the scroll back to AMULON)

AMULON:
Your wish cannot change the decree,
Nor your prayers, the way of the world.

ALMA:
My prayers I give to God, not the world.

AMULON:
Yet he is silent; he does not answer you.
Let him speak and relieve your suffering!
But he does not speak: the sun sets quietly,
And I rule. Your God is powerless, as your prayers.

ALMA:
He speaks to me through his scriptures, his prophets.

AMULON:
And does he let them die, as Abinadi?
He was no prophet, no man of God:
No word of truth knew his lips, nor any ray of light,
His heart. That he died was no loss, no tragedy.
Yet death has not stopped his lies,
But spreads them abroad, to confront me even here,
In this land, far from the place where I had him burned,
Where I tried, with fire, to stop his lying mouth.
But still he speaks! I hear his voice,
As from the dead. And his mouth, though dust and ashes,
Speaks from the dust, the grave, as one dead, who lives.
It shall not continue! I will kill his spirit,
His soul that walks the night, sending rays of darkness
Into every place of dawn, until all is dark and evil,
Even as he was.

ALMA:
You mock him, yet fear him. You think to rule
Over this land and this people: rule now your own fear.

AMULON:
Do not speak to me of that! You will soon
Have great cause to fear me, you and this people,
Led astray with your lies.

ALMA:
I must submit to your power, as the King decrees
Only spare this people!

AMULON:
No, for none are guiltless; all shall suffer.

ALMA:
Let me be punished for your pride.

AMULON:
Pride is your master;
See now where it has led you!

ALMA:
I saw the light of day, and knew I dwelt in night.
Has truth now gone, as the sun?

AMULON:
Here is my power: the backs of your people will bend low
Under the burdens I shall give them. I will make this land
Anew. Walled temples will rise to heaven, that I may
Address this land, and lead this people in the way I would
Have them go. Remember this, when you cry for help
From your God, for he will not help you, or hear your cries.
Listen to me, and I will be your God in this land.

ALMA:
My God speaks in ways not known to those who deny him,
And I have heard His voice within my heart.

AMULON:
Your heart! I would tear it from your breast
Your heart that is full of bloody pride;
But I will empty it, and fill it full of sorrow.
Soon, soon will tears of grief weigh down your soul
With remorse for the past, and fear of the future.
You will live in dread, and cringe from my presence,
Hide your face from me, yet praise me as you run from me
And still obey every word that I speak; only then
Will my anger be satisfied, when you are humbled
To the dust. And I shall triumph over you.
(Exit)

PRIESTCRAFT:
A storm covers the land, threatening with tongues of fire
All that men hold sacred, even to shake heaven
With its thunder. And walls fall before it,
Towers, and mighty buildings: all things are brought to ruin;
Destruction reigns, and death.
(Exit)

ALMA:
The sun sets now in darkness, filling this valley
With night, and my heart is filled
With a coldness not from God.
Where is he now? Are the stars,
Dim now, in the gathering gloom,
To be all I see of God's plan for us?
I fear that, before the dawn, I must pass through
A long night of sin and terror.
Abinadi, I need your spirit to sustain me:
For that which is here is too dark for me to see.
The smoke from your pyre blinds the eyes of Amulon;
Does it also hide me from God's face?
(Exit)

PROPHECY:
Within my soul, all is twilight; the night that comes
Could be no worse. This is the saddest time of day,
For having seen the sun, when it is gone
We see but a fragment of its glory,
That remains to tell us of what was,
What we could have been, were we to walk
In the light of the dawn. But all is dark within us,
And night falls to match the darkness
In our soul.
(Curtain)
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