Javert’s Suicide

[Valjean, carrying Marius, emerges from the sewers and meets Javert.]

[VALJEAN]
It's you, Javert!
I knew you wouldn't wait too long
The faithful servant at his post once more
This man's done no wrong
And he needs a doctor's care

[JAVERT]
I warned you I would not give in
I won't be swayed

[VALJEAN]
Another hour yet
And then I'm yours
And all our debts are paid

[JAVERT]
The man of mercy comes again
And talks of justice

[VALJEAN]
Come, time is running short

Look down, Javert
He's standing in his grave

Give way, Javert
There is a life to save

[JAVERT]
Take him, Valjean
Before I change my mind
[JAVERT]
I will be waiting
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[Valjean carries Marius off.]

[JAVERT]
Who is this man, what sort of devil is he?
To have me caught in a trap and choose to let me go free?
It was his hour at last to put a seal on my fate
Wipe out the past and wash me clean off the slate!
All it would take is a flick of his knife
Vengeance was his and he gave me back my life!

Damned if I'll live in the debt of a thief!
Damned if I'll yield at the end of the chase
I am the Law and the Law is not mocked
I'll spit his pity right back in his face
There is nothing on earth that we share
It is either Valjean or Javert!

How can I now allow this man
To hold dominion over me
This desperate man whom I have hunted
He gave me my life, he gave me freedom

I should have perished by his hand
It was his right
It was my right to die as well
Instead, I live... but live in hell

And my thoughts fly apart
Can this man be believed?
Shall his sins be forgiven?
Shall his crimes be reprieved?

And must I now begin to doubt
Who never doubted all these years?
My heart is stone and still it trembles
The world I have known is lost in shadow

Is he from heaven or from hell?
And does he know
That granting me my life today
This man has killed me even so?

I am reaching, but I fall
And the stars are black and cold
As I stare into the void
Of a world that cannot hold

I'll escape now from that world
From the world of Jean Valjean
There is nowhere I can turn
There is no way to go on!

[He throws himself into the swollen river.]