from Act I, Scene 4 of the English opera The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore

Libretto: John Latouche

Role: Elizabeth Doe (Baby Doe), the wife of a miner, Harvey Doe

Voice Part: soprano       Fach: lyric coloratura

Setting: lobby of the Clarendon Hotel, Leadville, Colorado, 1880

Synopsis: Baby Doe writes a letter to her mother, saying that her marriage to Harvey Doe, the miner, is over. She continues by telling her that she has found her soulmate in Horace Tabor and they both love each other equally. However, Tabor is married and, torn between her love and what is right, she feels that she must leave.