Olim Lyrics - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Annotations

Olim, olim, Deus accelere / Hoc saeculum splendidum / Accelere fiat.
A smooth English rendering reads:

Once, long ago, God came down;
in this age of brightness
He will come again.

The chorus functions like a classical Greek chorus—our on-stage storytellers—so opening with “once, long ago” plants us in fable territory straight away. Their lyric also threads into the show’s constant play of light versus darkness: calling the present “an age of brightness” foreshadows the conflict between heavenly light and earthly shadow.

Many fans hear an extra layer of meaning in those lines. Quasimodo, perched high above the city, watching humanity and ultimately judging its wicked, stands as a kind of God-figure. “He will come again” hints that divine justice might arrive through the bell-ringer himself.

The production handbook offers this official translation: “Someday, someday, Godspeed / This bright millennium / Let it come someday.” In the finale the ensemble repeats that English text, sometimes phrasing the last wish as “Let it come quickly,” turning Quasimodo’s story into a living prayer for light to overcome the world’s cruelty without delay.