from Act II, Scene 1 of the French opera Jérusalem by Giuseppe Verdi

Libretto: Alphonse Royer

Role: Roger, the Count's brother

Voice Part: bass       Fach: heavy bass

Setting: a cave in the Ramlan mountains in Palestine near Jerusalem, 1099

Synopsis: Roger believes that, in attempting to murder Gaston to gain his niece's love, he has actually murdered his own brother. Torn with self-hatred, he has left France and gone to the Holy Land and lived as a hermit. He sings of how he is unable to escape his brother's ghost which seems to follow him everywhere.