Twin Soliloquies
During an otherwise platonic conversation, Emile and Nellie consider the romantic possibilities of their new relationship.
Nellie:
Wonder how I’d feel,
Living on a hillside,
Looking on an ocean,
Beautiful and still.
Emile:
This is what I need,
This is what I’ve longed for,
Someone young and smiling
Climbing up my hill!
Nellie:
We are not alike;
Probably I’d bore him.
He’s a cultured Frenchman—
I’m a little hick.
Emile:
Younger men than I,
Officers and doctors,
Probably pursue her—
She could have her pick.
Nettie:
Wonder why I feel
Jittery and jumpy!
I am like a schoolgirl,
Waiting for a dance.
Emile:
Can I ask her now?
I am like a schoolboy!
What will be her answer?
Do I have a chance?
Reprise (Act One, Scene 12)
Nellie:
This is how it feels
Living on a hillside...
Emile:
This is what I need,
This is what I’ve longed for,
Someone young and smiling
Here upon my hill!
“Twin Soliloquies” (Rodgers/Hammerstein II)
© 1949, Copyright Renewed, Williamson Music Company (ASCAP) c/o Concord Music Publishing.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.