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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Faust, by Goethe

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Title: Faust

Author: Goethe

Release Date: December 25, 2004 [EBook #14460]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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FAUST

A TRAGEDY

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN

OF

GOETHE

WITH NOTES

BY

CHARLES T BROOKS

SEVENTH EDITION.

BOSTON

TICKNOR AND FIELDS

MDCCCLXVIII.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856,

by CHARLES T. BROOKS,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court

of the District of Rhode Island.

UNIVERSITY PRESS:

WELCH, BIGELOW, AND COMPANY,

CAMBRIDGE.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

Perhaps some apology ought to be given to English scholars, that is, those

who do not know German, (to those, at least, who do not know what sort of

a thing Faust is in the original,) for offering another translation to the

public, of a poem which has been already translated, not only in a literal

prose form, but also, twenty or thirty times, in metre, and sometimes with

great spirit, beauty, and power.

The author of the present version, then, has no knowledge that a rendering

of this wonderful poem into the exact and ever-changing metre of the

original has, until now, been so much as attempted. To name only one

defect, the very best versions which he has seen neglect to follow the

exquisite artist in the evidently planned and orderly intermixing of

_male_ and _female_ rhymes, _i.e._ rhymes which fall on the last syllable

and those which fall on the last but one. Now, every careful student of

the versification of Faust must feel and see that Goethe did not

intersperse the one kind of rhyme with the other, at random, as those

translators do; who, also, give the female rhyme (on which the vivacity of

dialogue and description often so much depends,) in so small a proportion.

A similar criticism might be made of their liberty in neglecting Goethe's

method of alternating different measures with each other.

It seems as if, in respect to metre, at least, they had asked themselves,

how would Goethe have written or shaped this in English, had that been his

native language, instead of seeking _con amore_ (and _con fidelità_) as

they should have done, to reproduce, both in spirit and in form, the

movement, so free and yet orderly, of the singularly endowed and

accomplished poet whom they undertook to represent.

As to the objections which Hayward and some of his reviewers have

instituted in advance against the possibility of a good and faithful

metrical translation of a poem like Faust, they seem to the present

translator full of paradox and sophistry. For instance, take this

assertion of one of the reviewers: "The sacred and mysterious union of

thought with verse, twin-born and immortally wedded from the moment of

their common birth, can never be understood by those who desire verse

translations of good poetry." If the last part of this statement had read

"by those who can be contented with _prose_ translations of good poetry,"

the position would have been nearer the truth. This much we might well

admit, that, if the alternative were either to have a poem like Faust in a

metre different and glaringly different from the original, or to have it

in simple and strong prose, then the latter alternative would be the one

every tasteful and feeling scholar would prefer; but surely to every one

who can read the original or wants to know how this great song _sung

itself_ (as Carlyle says) out of Goethe's soul, a mere prose rendering

must be, comparatively, a _corpus mortuum._

The translator most heartily dissents from Hayward's assertion that a

translator of Faust "must sacrifice either metre or meaning." At least he

flatters himself that he has made, in the main, (not a compromise between

meaning and melody, though in certain instances he may have fallen into

that, but) a combination of the meaning with the melody, which latter is

so important, so vital a part of the lyric poem's meaning, in any worthy

sense. "No poetic translation," says Hayward's reviewer, already quoted,

"can give the rhythm and rhyme of the original; it can only substitute the

rhythm and rhyme of the translator." One might just as well say "no

_prose_ translation can give the _sense and spirit_ of the original; it

can only substitute the _sense and spirit of the words and phrases of the

translator's language_;" and then, these two assertions balancing each

other, there will remain in the metrical translator's favor, that he may

come as near to giving both the letter and the spirit, as the effects of

the Babel dispersion will allow.

As to the original creation, which he has attempted here to reproduce, the

translator might say something, but prefers leaving his readers to the

poet himself, as revealed in the poem, and to the various commentaries of

which we have some accounts, at least, in English. A French translator of

the poem speaks in his introduction as follows: "This Faust, conceived by

him in his youth, completed in ripe age, the idea of which he carried with

him through all the commotions of his life, as Camoens bore his poem with

him through the waves, this Faust contains him entire. The thirst for

knowledge and the martyrdom of doubt, had they not tormented his early

years? Whence came to him the thought of taking refuge in a supernatural

realm, of appealing to invisible powers, which plunged him, for a

considerable time, into the dreams of Illuminati and made him even invent

a religion?  This irony of Mephistopheles, who carries on so audacious a

game with the weakness and the desires of man, is it not the mocking,

scornful side of the poet's spirit, a leaning to sullenness, which can be

traced even into the earliest years of his life, a bitter leaven thrown

into a strong soul forever by early satiety? The character of Faust

especially, the man whose burning, untiring heart can neither enjoy

fortune nor do without it, who gives himself unconditionally and watches

himself with mistrust, who unites the enthusiasm of passion and the

dejectedness of despair, is not this an eloquent opening up of the most

secret and tumultuous part of the poet's soul? And now, to complete the

image of his inner life, he has added the transcendingly sweet person of

Margaret, an exalted reminiscence of a young girl, by whom, at the age of

fourteen, he thought himself beloved, whose image ever floated round him,

and has contributed some traits to each of his heroines. This heavenly

surrender of a simple, good, and tender heart contrasts wonderfully with

the sensual and gloomy passion of the lover, who, in the midst of his

love-dreams, is persecuted by the phantoms of his imagination and by the

nightmares of thought, with those sorrows of a soul, which is crushed, but

not extinguished, which is tormented by the invincible want of happiness

and the bitter feeling, how hard a thing it is to receive or to bestow."

DEDICATION.[1]

Once more ye waver dreamily before me,

Forms that so early cheered my troubled eyes!

To hold you fast doth still my heart implore me?

Still bid me clutch the charm that lures and flies?

Ye crowd around! come, then, hold empire o'er me,

As from the mist and haze of thought ye rise;

The magic atmosphere, your train enwreathing,

Through my thrilled bosom youthful bliss is breathing.

Ye bring with you the forms of hours Elysian,

And shades of dear ones rise to meet my gaze;

First Love and Friendship steal upon my vision

Like an old tale of legendary days;

Sorrow renewed, in mournful repetition,

Runs through life's devious, labyrinthine ways;

And, sighing, names the good (by Fortune cheated

Of blissful hours!) who have before me fleeted.

These later songs of mine, alas! will never

Sound in their ears to whom the first were sung!

Scattered like dust, the friendly throng forever!

Mute the first echo that so grateful rung!

To the strange crowd I sing, whose very favor

Like chilling sadness on my heart is flung;

And all that kindled at those earlier numbers

Roams the wide earth or in its bosom slumbers.

And now I feel a long-unwonted yearning

For that calm, pensive spirit-realm, to-day;

Like an Aeolian lyre, (the breeze returning,)

Floats in uncertain tones my lisping lay;

Strange awe comes o'er me, tear on tear falls burning,

The rigid heart to milder mood gives way!

What I possess I see afar off lying,

And what I lost is real and undying.

PRELUDE

IN THE THEATRE.

  _Manager. Dramatic Poet. Merry Person._

_Manager_. You who in trouble and distress

Have both held fast your old allegiance,

What think ye? here in German regions

Our enterprise may hope success?

To please the crowd my purpose has been steady,

Because they live and let one live at least.

The posts are set, the boards are laid already,

And every one is looking for a feast.

They sit, with lifted brows, composed looks wearing,

Expecting something that shall set them staring.

I know the public palate, that's confest;

Yet never pined so for a sound suggestion;

True, they are not accustomed to the best,

But they have read a dreadful deal, past question.

How shall we work to make all fresh and new,

Acceptable and profitable, too?

For sure I love to see the torrent boiling,

When towards our booth they crowd to find a place,

Now rolling on a space and then recoiling,

Then squeezing through the narrow door of grace:

Long before dark each one his hard-fought station

In sight of the box-office window takes,

And as, round bakers' doors men crowd to escape starvation,

For tickets here they almost break their necks.

This wonder, on so mixed a mass, the Poet

Alone can work; to-day, my friend, O, show it!

_Poet_. Oh speak not to me of that motley ocean,

Whose roar and greed the shuddering spirit chill!

Hide from my sight that billowy commotion

That draws us down the whirlpool 'gainst our will.

No, lead me to that nook of calm devotion,

Where blooms pure joy upon the Muses' hill;

Where love and friendship aye create and cherish,

With hand divine, heart-joys that never perish.

Ah! what, from feeling's deepest fountain springing,

Scarce from the stammering lips had faintly passed,

Now, hopeful, venturing forth, now shyly clinging,

To the wild moment's cry a prey is cast.

Oft when for years the brain had heard it ringing

It comes in full and rounded shape at last.

What shines, is born but for the moment's pleasure;

The genuine leaves posterity a treasure.

_Merry Person_. Posterity! I'm sick of hearing of it;

Supposing I the future age would profit,

Who then would furnish ours with fun?

For it must have it, ripe and mellow;

The presence of a fine young fellow,

Is cheering, too, methinks, to any one.

Whoso can pleasantly communicate,

Will not make war with popular caprices,

For, as the circle waxes great,

The power his word shall wield increases.

Come, then, and let us now a model see,

Let Phantasy with all her various choir,

Sense, reason, passion, sensibility,

But, mark me, folly too! the scene inspire.

_Manager_. But the great point is action! Every one

Comes as spectator, and the show's the fun.

Let but the plot be spun off fast and thickly,

So that the crowd shall gape in broad surprise,

Then have you made a wide impression quickly,

You are the man they'll idolize.

The mass can only be impressed by masses;

Then each at last picks out his proper part.

Give much, and then to each one something passes,

And each one leaves the house with happy heart.

Have you a piece, give it at once in pieces!

Such a ragout your fame increases;

It costs as little pains to play as to invent.

But what is gained, if you a whole present?

Your public picks it presently to pieces.

_Poet_. You do not feel how mean a trade like that must be!

In the true Artist's eyes how false and hollow!

Our genteel botchers, well I see,

Have given the maxims that you follow.

_Manager_. Such charges pass me like the idle wind;

A man who has right work in mind

Must choose the instruments most fitting.

Consider what soft wood you have for splitting,

And keep in view for whom you write!

If this one from _ennui_ seeks flight,

That other comes full from the groaning table,

Or, the worst case of all to cite,

From reading journals is for thought unable.

Vacant and giddy, all agog for wonder,

As to a masquerade they wing their way;

The ladies give themselves and all their precious plunder

And without wages help us play.

On your poetic heights what dream comes o'er you?

What glads a crowded house? Behold

Your patrons in array before you!

One half are raw, the other cold.

One, after this play, hopes to play at cards,

One a wild night to spend beside his doxy chooses,

Poor fools, why court ye the regards,

For such a set, of the chaste muses?

I tell you, give them more and ever more and more,

And then your mark you'll hardly stray from ever;

To mystify be your endeavor,

To satisfy is labor sore....

What ails you? Are you pleased or pained? What notion----

_Poet_. Go to, and find thyself another slave!

What! and the lofty birthright Nature gave,

The noblest talent Heaven to man has lent,

Thou bid'st the Poet fling to folly's ocean!

How does he stir each deep emotion?

How does he conquer every element?

But by the tide of song that from his bosom springs,

And draws into his heart all living things?

When Nature's hand, in endless iteration,

The thread across the whizzing spindle flings,

When the complex, monotonous creation

Jangles with all its million strings:

Who, then, the long, dull series animating,

Breaks into rhythmic march the soulless round?

And, to the law of All each member consecrating,

Bids one majestic harmony resound?

Who bids the tempest rage with passion's power?

The earnest soul with evening-redness glow?

Who scatters vernal bud and summer flower

Along the path where loved ones go?

Who weaves each green leaf in the wind that trembles

To form the wreath that merit's brow shall crown?

Who makes Olympus fast? the gods assembles?

The power of manhood in the Poet shown.

_Merry Person_. Come, then, put forth these noble powers,

And, Poet, let thy path of flowers

Follow a love-adventure's winding ways.

One comes and sees by chance, one burns, one stays,

And feels the gradual, sweet entangling!

The pleasure grows, then comes a sudden jangling,

Then rapture, then distress an arrow plants,

And ere one dreams of it, lo! _there_ is a romance.

Give us a drama in this fashion!

Plunge into human life's full sea of passion!

Each lives it, few its meaning ever guessed,

Touch where you will, 'tis full of interest.

Bright shadows fleeting o'er a mirror,

A spark of truth and clouds of error,

By means like these a drink is brewed

To cheer and edify the multitude.

The fairest flower of the youth sit listening

Before your play, and wait the revelation;

Each melancholy heart, with soft eyes glistening,

Draws sad, sweet nourishment from your creation;

This passion now, now that is stirred, by turns,

And each one sees what in his bosom burns.

Open alike, as yet, to weeping and to laughter,

They still admire the flights, they still enjoy the show;

Him who is formed, can nothing suit thereafter;

The yet unformed with thanks will ever glow.

_Poet_. Ay, give me back the joyous hours,

When I myself was ripening, too,

When song, the fount, flung up its showers

Of beauty ever fresh and new.

When a soft haze the world was veiling,

Each bud a miracle bespoke,

And from their stems a thousand flowers I broke,

Their fragrance through the vales exhaling.

I nothing and yet all possessed,

Yearning for truth and in illusion blest.

Give me the freedom of that hour,

The tear of joy, the pleasing pain,

Of hate and love the thrilling power,

Oh, give me back my youth again!

_Merry Person_. Youth, my good friend, thou needest certainly

When ambushed foes are on thee springing,

When loveliest maidens witchingly

Their white arms round thy neck are flinging,

When the far garland meets thy glance,

High on the race-ground's goal suspended,

When after many a mazy dance

In drink and song the night is ended.

But with a free and graceful soul

To strike the old familiar lyre,

And to a self-appointed goal

Sweep lightly o'er the trembling wire,

There lies, old gentlemen, to-day

Your task; fear not, no vulgar error blinds us.

Age does not make us childish, as they say,

But we are still true children when it finds us.

_Manager_. Come, words enough you two have bandied,

Now let us see some deeds at last;

While you toss compliments full-handed,

The time for useful work flies fast.

Why talk of being in the humor?

Who hesitates will never be.

If you are poets (so says rumor)

Now then command your poetry.

You know full well our need and pleasure,

We want strong drink in brimming measure;

Brew at it now without delay!

To-morrow will not do what is not done to-day.

Let not a day be lost in dallying,

But seize the possibility

Right by the forelock, courage rallying,

And forth with fearless spirit sallying,--

Once in the yoke and you are free.

  Upon our German boards, you know it,

What any one would try, he may;

Then stint me not, I beg, to-day,

In scenery or machinery, Poet.

With great and lesser heavenly lights make free,

Spend starlight just as you desire;

No want of water, rocks or fire

Or birds or beasts to you shall be.

So, in this narrow wooden house's bound,

Stride through the whole creation's round,

And with considerate swiftness wander

From heaven, through this world, to the world down yonder.

    PROLOGUE

    IN HEAVEN.

[THE LORD. THE HEAVENLY HOSTS _afterward_ MEPHISTOPHELES.

_The three archangels_, RAPHAEL, GABRIEL, _and_ MICHAEL, _come forward_.]

_Raphael_. The sun, in ancient wise, is sounding,

  With brother-spheres, in rival song;

And, his appointed journey rounding,

  With thunderous movement rolls along.

His look, new strength to angels lending,

  No creature fathom can for aye;

The lofty works, past comprehending,

  Stand lordly, as on time's first day.

_Gabriel_. And swift, with wondrous swiftness fleeting,

  The pomp of earth turns round and round,

The glow of Eden alternating

  With shuddering midnight's gloom profound;

Up o'er the rocks the foaming ocean

  Heaves from its old, primeval bed,

And rocks and seas, with endless motion,

  On in the spheral sweep are sped.

_Michael_. And tempests roar, glad warfare waging,

  From sea to land, from land to sea,

And bind round all, amidst their raging,

  A chain of giant energy.

There, lurid desolation, blazing,

  Foreruns the volleyed thunder's way:

Yet, Lord, thy messengers[2] are praising

  The mild procession of thy day.

_All Three_. The sight new strength to angels lendeth,

  For none thy being fathom may,

The works, no angel comprehendeth,

  Stand lordly as on time's first day.

_Mephistopheles_. Since, Lord, thou drawest near us once again,

And how we do, dost graciously inquire,

And to be pleased to see me once didst deign,

I too among thy household venture nigher.

Pardon, high words I cannot labor after,

Though the whole court should look on me with scorn;

My pathos certainly would stir thy laughter,

Hadst thou not laughter long since quite forsworn.

Of sun and worlds I've nought to tell worth mention,

How men torment themselves takes my attention.

The little God o' the world jogs on the same old way

And is as singular as on the world's first day.

A pity 'tis thou shouldst have given

The fool, to make him worse, a gleam of light from heaven;

He calls it reason, using it

To be more beast than ever beast was yet.

He seems to me, (your grace the word will pardon,)

Like a long-legg'd grasshopper in the garden,

Forever on the wing, and hops and sings

The same old song, as in the grass he springs;

Would he but stay there! no; he needs must muddle

His prying nose in every puddle.

_The Lord_. Hast nothing for our edification?

Still thy old work of accusation?

Will things on earth be never right for thee?

_Mephistopheles_. No, Lord! I find them still as bad as bad can be.

Poor souls! their miseries seem so much to please 'em,

I scarce can find it in my heart to tease 'em.

_The Lord_. Knowest thou Faust?

_Mephistopheles_. The Doctor?

_The Lord_. Ay, my servant!

_Mephistopheles_.        He!

Forsooth! he serves you in a famous fashion;

No earthly meat or drink can feed his passion;

Its grasping greed no space can measure;

Half-conscious and half-crazed, he finds no rest;

The fairest stars of heaven must swell his treasure.

Each highest joy of earth must yield its zest,

Not all the world--the boundless azure--

Can fill the void within his craving breast.

_The Lord_. He serves me somewhat darkly, now, I grant,

Yet will he soon attain the light of reason.

Sees not the gardener, in the green young plant,

That bloom and fruit shall deck its coming season?

_Mephistopheles_. What will you bet? You'll surely lose your wager!

If you will give me leave henceforth,

To lead him softly on, like an old stager.

_The Lord_. So long as he shall live on earth,

Do with him all that you desire.

Man errs and staggers from his birth.

_Mephistopheles_. Thank you; I never did aspire

To have with dead folk much transaction.

In full fresh cheeks I take the greatest satisfaction.

A corpse will never find me in the house;

I love to play as puss does with the mouse.

_The Lord_. All right, I give thee full permission!

Draw down this spirit from its source,

And, canst thou catch him, to perdition

Carry him with thee in thy course,

But stand abashed, if thou must needs confess,

That a good man, though passion blur his vision,

Has of the right way still a consciousness.

_Mephistopheles_. Good! but I'll make it a short story.

About my wager I'm by no means sorry.

And if I gain my end with glory

Allow me to exult from a full breast.

Dust shall he eat and that with zest,

Like my old aunt, the snake, whose fame is hoary.

_The Lord_. Well, go and come, and make thy trial;

The like of thee I never yet did hate.

Of all the spirits of denial

The scamp is he I best can tolerate.

Man is too prone, at best, to seek the way that's easy,

He soon grows fond of unconditioned rest;

And therefore such a comrade suits him best,

Who spurs and works, true devil, always busy.

But you, true sons of God, in growing measure,

Enjoy rich beauty's living stores of pleasure!

The Word[3] divine that lives and works for aye,

Fold you in boundless love's embrace alluring,

And what in floating vision glides away,

That seize ye and make fast with thoughts enduring.

[_Heaven closes, the archangels disperse._]

_Mephistopheles. [Alone.]_ I like at times to exchange with him a word,

And take care not to break with him. 'Tis civil

In the old fellow[4] and so great a Lord

To talk so kindly with the very devil.

    FAUST.

    _Night. In a narrow high-arched Gothic room_,

    FAUST _sitting uneasy at his desk_.

_Faust_. Have now, alas! quite studied through

Philosophy and Medicine,

And Law, and ah! Theology, too,

With hot desire the truth to win!

And here, at last, I stand, poor fool!

As wise as when I entered school;

Am called Magister, Doctor, indeed,--

Ten livelong years cease not to lead

Backward and forward, to and fro,

My scholars by the nose--and lo!

Just nothing, I see, is the sum of our learning,

To the very core of my heart 'tis burning.

'Tis true I'm more clever than all the foplings,

Doctors, Magisters, Authors, and Popelings;

Am plagued by no scruple, nor doubt, nor cavil,

Nor lingering fear of hell or devil--

What then? all pleasure is fled forever;

To know one thing I vainly endeavor,

There's nothing wherein one fellow-creature

Could be mended or bettered with me for a teacher.

And then, too, nor goods nor gold have I,

Nor fame nor worldly dignity,--

A condition no dog could longer live in!

And so to magic my soul I've given,

If, haply, by spirits' mouth and might,

Some mysteries may not be brought to light;

That to teach, no longer may be my lot,

With bitter sweat, what I need to be taught;

That I may know what the world contains

In its innermost heart and finer veins,

See all its energies and seeds

And deal no more in words but in deeds.

  O full, round Moon, didst thou but thine

For the last time on this woe of mine!

Thou whom so many a midnight I

Have watched, at this desk, come up the sky:

O'er books and papers, a dreary pile,

Then, mournful friend! uprose thy smile!

Oh that I might on the mountain-height,

Walk in the noon of thy blessed light,

Round mountain-caverns with spirits hover,

Float in thy gleamings the meadows over,

And freed from the fumes of a lore-crammed brain,

Bathe in thy dew and be well again!

  Woe! and these walls still prison me?

Dull, dismal hole! my curse on thee!

Where heaven's own light, with its blessed beams,

Through painted panes all sickly gleams!

Hemmed in by these old book-piles tall,

Which, gnawed by worms and deep in must,

Rise to the roof against a wall

Of smoke-stained paper, thick with dust;

'Mid glasses, boxes, where eye can see,

Filled with old, obsolete instruments,

Stuffed with old heirlooms of implements--

That is thy world! There's a world for thee!

  And still dost ask what stifles so

The fluttering heart within thy breast?

By what inexplicable woe

The springs of life are all oppressed?

Instead of living nature, where

God made and planted men, his sons,

Through smoke and mould, around thee stare

Grim skeletons and dead men's bones.

  Up! Fly! Far out into the land!

And this mysterious volume, see!

By Nostradamus's[5] own hand,

Is it not guide enough for thee?

Then shalt thou thread the starry skies,

And, taught by nature in her walks,

The spirit's might shall o'er thee rise,

As ghost to ghost familiar talks.

Vain hope that mere dry sense should here

Explain the holy signs to thee.

I feel you, spirits, hovering near;

Oh, if you hear me, answer me!

        [_He opens the book and beholds the sign of the Macrocosm.[_6]]

Ha! as I gaze, what ecstasy is this,

In one full tide through all my senses flowing!

I feel a new-born life, a holy bliss

Through nerves and veins mysteriously glowing.

Was it a God who wrote each sign?

Which, all my inner tumult stilling,

And this poor heart with rapture filling,

Reveals to me, by force divine,

Great Nature's energies around and through me thrilling?

Am I a God? It grows so bright to me!

Each character on which my eye reposes

Nature in act before my soul discloses.

The sage's word was truth, at last I see:

"The spirit-world, unbarred, is waiting;

Thy sense is locked, thy heart is dead!

Up, scholar, bathe, unhesitating,

The earthly breast in morning-red!"

                           [_He contemplates the sign._]

How all one whole harmonious weaves,

Each in the other works and lives!

See heavenly powers ascending and descending,

The golden buckets, one long line, extending!

See them with bliss-exhaling pinions winging

Their way from heaven through earth--their singing

Harmonious through the universe is ringing!

  Majestic show! but ah! a show alone!

Nature! where find I thee, immense, unknown?

Where you, ye breasts? Ye founts all life sustaining,

On which hang heaven and earth, and where

Men's withered hearts their waste repair--

Ye gush, ye nurse, and I must sit complaining?

  [_He opens reluctantly the book and sees the sign of the earth-spirit._]

How differently works on me this sign!

Thou, spirit of the earth, art to me nearer;

I feel my powers already higher, clearer,

I glow already as with new-pressed wine,

I feel the mood to brave life's ceaseless clashing,

To bear its frowning woes, its raptures flashing,

To mingle in the tempest's dashing,

And not to tremble in the shipwreck's crashing;

Clouds gather o'er my head--

Them moon conceals her light--

The lamp goes out!

It smokes!--Red rays are darting, quivering

Around my head--comes down

A horror from the vaulted roof

And seizes me!

Spirit that I invoked, thou near me art,

Unveil thyself!

Ha! what a tearing in my heart!

Upheaved like an ocean

My senses toss with strange emotion!

I feel my heart to thee entirely given!

Thou must! and though the price were life--were heaven!

  [_He seizes the book and pronounces mysteriously the sign of the spirit.

   A ruddy flame darts out, the spirit appears in the flame._]

_Spirit_. Who calls upon me?

_Faust. [Turning away.]_ Horrid sight!

_Spirit_. Long have I felt the mighty action,

Upon my sphere, of thy attraction,

And now--

_Faust_.   Away, intolerable sprite!

_Spirit_. Thou breath'st a panting supplication

To hear my voice, my face to see;

Thy mighty prayer prevails on me,

I come!--what miserable agitation

Seizes this demigod! Where is the cry of thought?

Where is the breast? that in itself a world begot,

And bore and cherished, that with joy did tremble

And fondly dream us spirits to resemble.

Where art thou, Faust? whose voice rang through my ear,

Whose mighty yearning drew me from my sphere?

Is this thing thou? that, blasted by my breath,

Through all life's windings shuddereth,

A shrinking, cringing, writhing worm!

_Faust_. Thee, flame-born creature, shall I fear?

'Tis I, 'tis Faust, behold thy peer!

_Spirit_. In life's tide currents, in action's storm,

Up and down, like a wave,

Like the wind I sweep!

Cradle and grave--

A limitless deep---

An endless weaving

To and fro,

A restless heaving

Of life and glow,--

So shape I, on Destiny's thundering loom,

The Godhead's live garment, eternal in bloom.

_Faust_. Spirit that sweep'st the world from end to end,

How near, this hour, I feel myself to thee!

_Spirit_. Thou'rt like the spirit thou canst comprehend,

Not me!             [_Vanishes._]

_Faust_. [_Collapsing_.] Not thee?

  Whom then?

  I, image of the Godhead,

  And no peer for thee!

         [_A knocking_.]

O Death! I know it!--'tis my Famulus--

Good-bye, ye dreams of bliss Elysian!

Shame! that so many a glowing vision

This dried-up sneak must scatter thus!

      [WAGNER, _in sleeping-gown and night-cap, a lamp in his hand._

       FAUST _turns round with an annoyed look_.]

_Wagner_. Excuse me! you're engaged in declamation;

'Twas a Greek tragedy no doubt you read?

I in this art should like initiation,

For nowadays it stands one well instead.

I've often heard them boast, a preacher

Might profit with a player for his teacher.

_Faust_. Yes, when the preacher is a player, granted:

As often happens in our modern ways.

_Wagner_. Ah! when one with such love of study's haunted,

And scarcely sees the world on holidays,

And takes a spy-glass, as it were, to read it,

How can one by persuasion hope to lead it?

_Faust_. What you don't feel, you'll never catch by hunting,

It must gush out spontaneous from the soul,

And with a fresh delight enchanting

The hearts of all that hear control.

Sit there forever! Thaw your glue-pot,--

Blow up your ash-heap to a flame, and brew,

With a dull fire, in your stew-pot,

Of other men's leavings a ragout!

Children and apes will gaze delighted,

If their critiques can pleasure impart;

But never a heart will be ignited,

Comes not the spark from the speaker's heart.

_Wagner_. Delivery makes the orator's success;

There I'm still far behindhand, I confess.

_Faust_. Seek honest gains, without pretence!

Be not a cymbal-tinkling fool!

Sound understanding and good sense

Speak out with little art or rule;

And when you've something earnest to utter,

Why hunt for words in such a flutter?

Yes, your discourses, that are so refined'

In which humanity's poor shreds you frizzle,

Are unrefreshing as the mist and wind

That through the withered leaves of autumn whistle!

_Wagner_. Ah God! well, art is long!

And life is short and fleeting.

What headaches have I felt and what heart-beating,

When critical desire was strong.

How hard it is the ways and means to master

By which one gains each fountain-head!

And ere one yet has half the journey sped,

The poor fool dies--O sad disaster!

_Faust_. Is parchment, then, the holy well-spring, thinkest,

A draught from which thy thirst forever slakes?

No quickening element thou drinkest,

Till up from thine own soul the fountain breaks.

_Wagner_. Excuse me! in these olden pages

We catch the spirit of the by-gone ages,

We see what wisest men before our day have thought,

And to what glorious heights we their bequests have brought.

_Faust_. O yes, we've reached the stars at last!

My friend, it is to us,--the buried past,--

A book with seven seals protected;

Your spirit of the times is, then,

At bottom, your own spirit, gentlemen,

In which the times are seen reflected.

And often such a mess that none can bear it;

At the first sight of it they run away.

A dust-bin and a lumber-garret,

At most a mock-heroic play[8]

With fine, pragmatic maxims teeming,

The mouths of puppets well-beseeming!

_Wagner_. But then the world! the heart and mind of man!

To know of these who would not pay attention?

_Faust_. To know them, yes, as weaklings can!

Who dares the child's true name outright to mention?

The few who any thing thereof have learned,

Who out of their heart's fulness needs must gabble,

And show their thoughts and feelings to the rabble,

Have evermore been crucified and burned.

I pray you, friend, 'tis wearing into night,

Let us adjourn here, for the present.

_Wagner_. I had been glad to stay till morning light,

This learned talk with you has been so pleasant,

But the first day of Easter comes to-morrow.

And then an hour or two I'll borrow.

With zeal have I applied myself to learning,

True, I know much, yet to know all am burning.

                                          [_Exit_.]

_Faust_. [_Alone_.] See how in _his_ head only, hope still lingers,

Who evermore to empty rubbish clings,

With greedy hand grubs after precious things,

And leaps for joy when some poor worm he fingers!

  That such a human voice should dare intrude,

Where all was full of ghostly tones and features!

Yet ah! this once, my gratitude

Is due to thee, most wretched of earth's creatures.

Thou snatchedst me from the despairing state

In which my senses, well nigh crazed, were sunken.

The apparition was so giant-great,

That to a very dwarf my soul had shrunken.

  I, godlike, who in fancy saw but now

Eternal truth's fair glass in wondrous nearness,

Rejoiced in heavenly radiance and clearness,

Leaving the earthly man below;

I, more than cherub, whose free force

Dreamed, through the veins of nature penetrating,

To taste the life of Gods, like them creating,

Behold me this presumption expiating!

A word of thunder sweeps me from my course.

  Myself with thee no longer dare I measure;

Had I the power to draw thee down at pleasure;

To hold thee here I still had not the force.

Oh, in that blest, ecstatic hour,

I felt myself so small, so great;

Thou drovest me with cruel power

Back upon man's uncertain fate

What shall I do? what slum, thus lonely?

That impulse must I, then, obey?

Alas! our very deeds, and not our sufferings only,

How do they hem and choke life's way!

  To all the mind conceives of great and glorious

A strange and baser mixture still adheres;

Striving for earthly good are we victorious?

A dream and cheat the better part appears.

The feelings that could once such noble life inspire

Are quenched and trampled out in passion's mire.

  Where Fantasy, erewhile, with daring flight

Out to the infinite her wings expanded,

A little space can now suffice her quite,

When hope on hope time's gulf has wrecked and stranded.

Care builds her nest far down the heart's recesses,

There broods o'er dark, untold distresses,

Restless she sits, and scares thy joy and peace away;

She puts on some new mask with each new day,

Herself as house and home, as wife and child presenting,

As fire and water, bane and blade;

What never hits makes thee afraid,

And what is never lost she keeps thee still lamenting.

  Not like the Gods am I! Too deep that truth is thrust!

But like the worm, that wriggles through the dust;

Who, as along the dust for food he feels,

Is crushed and buried by the traveller's heels.

  Is it not dust that makes this lofty wall

Groan with its hundred shelves and cases;

The rubbish and the thousand trifles all

That crowd these dark, moth-peopled places?

Here shall my craving heart find rest?

Must I perchance a thousand books turn over,

To find that men are everywhere distrest,

And here and there one happy one discover?

Why grin'st thou down upon me, hollow skull?

But that thy brain, like mine, once trembling, hoping,

Sought the light day, yet ever sorrowful,

Burned for the truth in vain, in twilight groping?

Ye, instruments, of course, are mocking me;

Its wheels, cogs, bands, and barrels each one praises.

I waited at the door; you were the key;

Your ward is nicely turned, and yet no bolt it raises.

Unlifted in the broadest day,

Doth Nature's veil from prying eyes defend her,

And what (he chooses not before thee to display,

Not all thy screws and levers can force her to surrender.

Old trumpery! not that I e'er used thee, but

Because my father used thee, hang'st thou o'er me,

Old scroll! thou hast been stained with smoke and smut

Since, on this desk, the lamp first dimly gleamed before me.

Better have squandered, far, I now can clearly see,

My little all, than melt beneath it, in this Tophet!

That which thy fathers have bequeathed to thee,

Earn and become possessor of it!

What profits not a weary load will be;

What it brings forth alone can yield the moment profit.

  Why do I gaze as if a spell had bound me

Up yonder? Is that flask a magnet to the eyes?

What lovely light, so sudden, blooms around me?

As when in nightly woods we hail the full-moon-rise.

  I greet thee, rarest phial, precious potion!

As now I take thee down with deep devotion,

In thee I venerate man's wit and art.

Quintessence of all soporific flowers,

Extract of all the finest deadly powers,

Thy favor to thy master now impart!

I look on thee, the sight my pain appeases,

I handle thee, the strife of longing ceases,

The flood-tide of the spirit ebbs away.

Far out to sea I'm drawn, sweet voices listening,

The glassy waters at my feet are glistening,

To new shores beckons me a new-born day.

  A fiery chariot floats, on airy pinions,

To where I sit! Willing, it beareth me,

On a new path, through ether's blue dominions,

To untried spheres of pure activity.

This lofty life, this bliss elysian,

Worm that thou waft erewhile, deservest thou?

Ay, on this earthly sun, this charming vision,

Turn thy back resolutely now!

Boldly draw near and rend the gates asunder,

By which each cowering mortal gladly steals.

Now is the time to show by deeds of wonder

That manly greatness not to godlike glory yields;

Before that gloomy pit to stand, unfearing,

Where Fantasy self-damned in its own torment lies,

Still onward to that pass-way steering,

Around whose narrow mouth hell-flames forever rise;