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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Faust, by Goethe
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This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
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re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
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with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
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Title: Faust
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Author: Goethe
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Release Date: December 25, 2004 [EBook #14460]
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Language: English
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Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAUST ***
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Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Bidwell and the PG Online
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Distributed Proofreading Team
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FAUST
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A TRAGEDY
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TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN
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OF
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GOETHE
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WITH NOTES
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BY
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CHARLES T BROOKS
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SEVENTH EDITION.
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BOSTON
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TICKNOR AND FIELDS
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MDCCCLXVIII.
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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856,
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by CHARLES T. BROOKS,
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In the Clerk's Office of the District Court
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of the District of Rhode Island.
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UNIVERSITY PRESS:
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WELCH, BIGELOW, AND COMPANY,
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CAMBRIDGE.
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TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
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Perhaps some apology ought to be given to English scholars, that is, those
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who do not know German, (to those, at least, who do not know what sort of
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a thing Faust is in the original,) for offering another translation to the
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public, of a poem which has been already translated, not only in a literal
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prose form, but also, twenty or thirty times, in metre, and sometimes with
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great spirit, beauty, and power.
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The author of the present version, then, has no knowledge that a rendering
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of this wonderful poem into the exact and ever-changing metre of the
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original has, until now, been so much as attempted. To name only one
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defect, the very best versions which he has seen neglect to follow the
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exquisite artist in the evidently planned and orderly intermixing of
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_male_ and _female_ rhymes, _i.e._ rhymes which fall on the last syllable
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and those which fall on the last but one. Now, every careful student of
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the versification of Faust must feel and see that Goethe did not
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intersperse the one kind of rhyme with the other, at random, as those
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translators do; who, also, give the female rhyme (on which the vivacity of
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dialogue and description often so much depends,) in so small a proportion.
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A similar criticism might be made of their liberty in neglecting Goethe's
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method of alternating different measures with each other.
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It seems as if, in respect to metre, at least, they had asked themselves,
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how would Goethe have written or shaped this in English, had that been his
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native language, instead of seeking _con amore_ (and _con fidelità_) as
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they should have done, to reproduce, both in spirit and in form, the
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movement, so free and yet orderly, of the singularly endowed and
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accomplished poet whom they undertook to represent.
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As to the objections which Hayward and some of his reviewers have
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instituted in advance against the possibility of a good and faithful
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metrical translation of a poem like Faust, they seem to the present
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translator full of paradox and sophistry. For instance, take this
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assertion of one of the reviewers: "The sacred and mysterious union of
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thought with verse, twin-born and immortally wedded from the moment of
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their common birth, can never be understood by those who desire verse
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translations of good poetry." If the last part of this statement had read
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"by those who can be contented with _prose_ translations of good poetry,"
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the position would have been nearer the truth. This much we might well
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admit, that, if the alternative were either to have a poem like Faust in a
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metre different and glaringly different from the original, or to have it
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in simple and strong prose, then the latter alternative would be the one
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every tasteful and feeling scholar would prefer; but surely to every one
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who can read the original or wants to know how this great song _sung
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itself_ (as Carlyle says) out of Goethe's soul, a mere prose rendering
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must be, comparatively, a _corpus mortuum._
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The translator most heartily dissents from Hayward's assertion that a
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translator of Faust "must sacrifice either metre or meaning." At least he
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flatters himself that he has made, in the main, (not a compromise between
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meaning and melody, though in certain instances he may have fallen into
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that, but) a combination of the meaning with the melody, which latter is
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so important, so vital a part of the lyric poem's meaning, in any worthy
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sense. "No poetic translation," says Hayward's reviewer, already quoted,
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"can give the rhythm and rhyme of the original; it can only substitute the
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rhythm and rhyme of the translator." One might just as well say "no
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_prose_ translation can give the _sense and spirit_ of the original; it
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can only substitute the _sense and spirit of the words and phrases of the
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translator's language_;" and then, these two assertions balancing each
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other, there will remain in the metrical translator's favor, that he may
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come as near to giving both the letter and the spirit, as the effects of
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the Babel dispersion will allow.
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As to the original creation, which he has attempted here to reproduce, the
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translator might say something, but prefers leaving his readers to the
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poet himself, as revealed in the poem, and to the various commentaries of
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which we have some accounts, at least, in English. A French translator of
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the poem speaks in his introduction as follows: "This Faust, conceived by
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him in his youth, completed in ripe age, the idea of which he carried with
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him through all the commotions of his life, as Camoens bore his poem with
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him through the waves, this Faust contains him entire. The thirst for
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knowledge and the martyrdom of doubt, had they not tormented his early
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years? Whence came to him the thought of taking refuge in a supernatural
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realm, of appealing to invisible powers, which plunged him, for a
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considerable time, into the dreams of Illuminati and made him even invent
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a religion? This irony of Mephistopheles, who carries on so audacious a
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game with the weakness and the desires of man, is it not the mocking,
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scornful side of the poet's spirit, a leaning to sullenness, which can be
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traced even into the earliest years of his life, a bitter leaven thrown
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into a strong soul forever by early satiety? The character of Faust
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especially, the man whose burning, untiring heart can neither enjoy
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fortune nor do without it, who gives himself unconditionally and watches
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himself with mistrust, who unites the enthusiasm of passion and the
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dejectedness of despair, is not this an eloquent opening up of the most
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secret and tumultuous part of the poet's soul? And now, to complete the
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image of his inner life, he has added the transcendingly sweet person of
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Margaret, an exalted reminiscence of a young girl, by whom, at the age of
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fourteen, he thought himself beloved, whose image ever floated round him,
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and has contributed some traits to each of his heroines. This heavenly
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surrender of a simple, good, and tender heart contrasts wonderfully with
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the sensual and gloomy passion of the lover, who, in the midst of his
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love-dreams, is persecuted by the phantoms of his imagination and by the
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nightmares of thought, with those sorrows of a soul, which is crushed, but
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not extinguished, which is tormented by the invincible want of happiness
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and the bitter feeling, how hard a thing it is to receive or to bestow."
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DEDICATION.[1]
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Once more ye waver dreamily before me,
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Forms that so early cheered my troubled eyes!
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To hold you fast doth still my heart implore me?
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Still bid me clutch the charm that lures and flies?
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Ye crowd around! come, then, hold empire o'er me,
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As from the mist and haze of thought ye rise;
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The magic atmosphere, your train enwreathing,
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Through my thrilled bosom youthful bliss is breathing.
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Ye bring with you the forms of hours Elysian,
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And shades of dear ones rise to meet my gaze;
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First Love and Friendship steal upon my vision
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Like an old tale of legendary days;
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Sorrow renewed, in mournful repetition,
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Runs through life's devious, labyrinthine ways;
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And, sighing, names the good (by Fortune cheated
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Of blissful hours!) who have before me fleeted.
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These later songs of mine, alas! will never
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Sound in their ears to whom the first were sung!
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Scattered like dust, the friendly throng forever!
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Mute the first echo that so grateful rung!
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To the strange crowd I sing, whose very favor
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Like chilling sadness on my heart is flung;
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And all that kindled at those earlier numbers
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Roams the wide earth or in its bosom slumbers.
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And now I feel a long-unwonted yearning
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For that calm, pensive spirit-realm, to-day;
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Like an Aeolian lyre, (the breeze returning,)
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Floats in uncertain tones my lisping lay;
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Strange awe comes o'er me, tear on tear falls burning,
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The rigid heart to milder mood gives way!
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What I possess I see afar off lying,
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And what I lost is real and undying.
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PRELUDE
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IN THE THEATRE.
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_Manager. Dramatic Poet. Merry Person._
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_Manager_. You who in trouble and distress
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Have both held fast your old allegiance,
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What think ye? here in German regions
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Our enterprise may hope success?
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To please the crowd my purpose has been steady,
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Because they live and let one live at least.
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The posts are set, the boards are laid already,
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And every one is looking for a feast.
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They sit, with lifted brows, composed looks wearing,
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Expecting something that shall set them staring.
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I know the public palate, that's confest;
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Yet never pined so for a sound suggestion;
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True, they are not accustomed to the best,
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But they have read a dreadful deal, past question.
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How shall we work to make all fresh and new,
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Acceptable and profitable, too?
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For sure I love to see the torrent boiling,
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When towards our booth they crowd to find a place,
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Now rolling on a space and then recoiling,
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Then squeezing through the narrow door of grace:
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Long before dark each one his hard-fought station
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In sight of the box-office window takes,
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And as, round bakers' doors men crowd to escape starvation,
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For tickets here they almost break their necks.
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This wonder, on so mixed a mass, the Poet
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Alone can work; to-day, my friend, O, show it!
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_Poet_. Oh speak not to me of that motley ocean,
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Whose roar and greed the shuddering spirit chill!
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Hide from my sight that billowy commotion
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That draws us down the whirlpool 'gainst our will.
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No, lead me to that nook of calm devotion,
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Where blooms pure joy upon the Muses' hill;
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Where love and friendship aye create and cherish,
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With hand divine, heart-joys that never perish.
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Ah! what, from feeling's deepest fountain springing,
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Scarce from the stammering lips had faintly passed,
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Now, hopeful, venturing forth, now shyly clinging,
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To the wild moment's cry a prey is cast.
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Oft when for years the brain had heard it ringing
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It comes in full and rounded shape at last.
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What shines, is born but for the moment's pleasure;
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The genuine leaves posterity a treasure.
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_Merry Person_. Posterity! I'm sick of hearing of it;
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Supposing I the future age would profit,
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Who then would furnish ours with fun?
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For it must have it, ripe and mellow;
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The presence of a fine young fellow,
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Is cheering, too, methinks, to any one.
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Whoso can pleasantly communicate,
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Will not make war with popular caprices,
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For, as the circle waxes great,
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The power his word shall wield increases.
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Come, then, and let us now a model see,
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Let Phantasy with all her various choir,
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Sense, reason, passion, sensibility,
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But, mark me, folly too! the scene inspire.
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_Manager_. But the great point is action! Every one
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Comes as spectator, and the show's the fun.
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Let but the plot be spun off fast and thickly,
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So that the crowd shall gape in broad surprise,
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Then have you made a wide impression quickly,
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You are the man they'll idolize.
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The mass can only be impressed by masses;
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Then each at last picks out his proper part.
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Give much, and then to each one something passes,
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And each one leaves the house with happy heart.
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Have you a piece, give it at once in pieces!
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Such a ragout your fame increases;
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It costs as little pains to play as to invent.
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But what is gained, if you a whole present?
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Your public picks it presently to pieces.
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_Poet_. You do not feel how mean a trade like that must be!
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In the true Artist's eyes how false and hollow!
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Our genteel botchers, well I see,
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Have given the maxims that you follow.
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_Manager_. Such charges pass me like the idle wind;
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A man who has right work in mind
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Must choose the instruments most fitting.
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Consider what soft wood you have for splitting,
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And keep in view for whom you write!
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If this one from _ennui_ seeks flight,
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That other comes full from the groaning table,
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Or, the worst case of all to cite,
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From reading journals is for thought unable.
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Vacant and giddy, all agog for wonder,
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As to a masquerade they wing their way;
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The ladies give themselves and all their precious plunder
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And without wages help us play.
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On your poetic heights what dream comes o'er you?
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What glads a crowded house? Behold
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Your patrons in array before you!
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One half are raw, the other cold.
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One, after this play, hopes to play at cards,
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One a wild night to spend beside his doxy chooses,
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Poor fools, why court ye the regards,
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For such a set, of the chaste muses?
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I tell you, give them more and ever more and more,
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And then your mark you'll hardly stray from ever;
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To mystify be your endeavor,
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To satisfy is labor sore....
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What ails you? Are you pleased or pained? What notion----
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_Poet_. Go to, and find thyself another slave!
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What! and the lofty birthright Nature gave,
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The noblest talent Heaven to man has lent,
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Thou bid'st the Poet fling to folly's ocean!
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How does he stir each deep emotion?
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How does he conquer every element?
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But by the tide of song that from his bosom springs,
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And draws into his heart all living things?
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When Nature's hand, in endless iteration,
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The thread across the whizzing spindle flings,
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339 |
When the complex, monotonous creation
|
|
|
340 |
Jangles with all its million strings:
|
|
|
341 |
Who, then, the long, dull series animating,
|
|
|
342 |
Breaks into rhythmic march the soulless round?
|
|
|
343 |
And, to the law of All each member consecrating,
|
|
|
344 |
Bids one majestic harmony resound?
|
|
|
345 |
Who bids the tempest rage with passion's power?
|
|
|
346 |
The earnest soul with evening-redness glow?
|
|
|
347 |
Who scatters vernal bud and summer flower
|
|
|
348 |
Along the path where loved ones go?
|
|
|
349 |
Who weaves each green leaf in the wind that trembles
|
|
|
350 |
To form the wreath that merit's brow shall crown?
|
|
|
351 |
Who makes Olympus fast? the gods assembles?
|
|
|
352 |
The power of manhood in the Poet shown.
|
|
|
353 |
|
|
|
354 |
_Merry Person_. Come, then, put forth these noble powers,
|
|
|
355 |
And, Poet, let thy path of flowers
|
|
|
356 |
Follow a love-adventure's winding ways.
|
|
|
357 |
One comes and sees by chance, one burns, one stays,
|
|
|
358 |
And feels the gradual, sweet entangling!
|
|
|
359 |
The pleasure grows, then comes a sudden jangling,
|
|
|
360 |
Then rapture, then distress an arrow plants,
|
|
|
361 |
And ere one dreams of it, lo! _there_ is a romance.
|
|
|
362 |
Give us a drama in this fashion!
|
|
|
363 |
Plunge into human life's full sea of passion!
|
|
|
364 |
Each lives it, few its meaning ever guessed,
|
|
|
365 |
Touch where you will, 'tis full of interest.
|
|
|
366 |
Bright shadows fleeting o'er a mirror,
|
|
|
367 |
A spark of truth and clouds of error,
|
|
|
368 |
By means like these a drink is brewed
|
|
|
369 |
To cheer and edify the multitude.
|
|
|
370 |
The fairest flower of the youth sit listening
|
|
|
371 |
Before your play, and wait the revelation;
|
|
|
372 |
Each melancholy heart, with soft eyes glistening,
|
|
|
373 |
Draws sad, sweet nourishment from your creation;
|
|
|
374 |
This passion now, now that is stirred, by turns,
|
|
|
375 |
And each one sees what in his bosom burns.
|
|
|
376 |
Open alike, as yet, to weeping and to laughter,
|
|
|
377 |
They still admire the flights, they still enjoy the show;
|
|
|
378 |
Him who is formed, can nothing suit thereafter;
|
|
|
379 |
The yet unformed with thanks will ever glow.
|
|
|
380 |
|
|
|
381 |
_Poet_. Ay, give me back the joyous hours,
|
|
|
382 |
When I myself was ripening, too,
|
|
|
383 |
When song, the fount, flung up its showers
|
|
|
384 |
Of beauty ever fresh and new.
|
|
|
385 |
When a soft haze the world was veiling,
|
|
|
386 |
Each bud a miracle bespoke,
|
|
|
387 |
And from their stems a thousand flowers I broke,
|
|
|
388 |
Their fragrance through the vales exhaling.
|
|
|
389 |
I nothing and yet all possessed,
|
|
|
390 |
Yearning for truth and in illusion blest.
|
|
|
391 |
Give me the freedom of that hour,
|
|
|
392 |
The tear of joy, the pleasing pain,
|
|
|
393 |
Of hate and love the thrilling power,
|
|
|
394 |
Oh, give me back my youth again!
|
|
|
395 |
|
|
|
396 |
_Merry Person_. Youth, my good friend, thou needest certainly
|
|
|
397 |
When ambushed foes are on thee springing,
|
|
|
398 |
When loveliest maidens witchingly
|
|
|
399 |
Their white arms round thy neck are flinging,
|
|
|
400 |
When the far garland meets thy glance,
|
|
|
401 |
High on the race-ground's goal suspended,
|
|
|
402 |
When after many a mazy dance
|
|
|
403 |
In drink and song the night is ended.
|
|
|
404 |
But with a free and graceful soul
|
|
|
405 |
To strike the old familiar lyre,
|
|
|
406 |
And to a self-appointed goal
|
|
|
407 |
Sweep lightly o'er the trembling wire,
|
|
|
408 |
There lies, old gentlemen, to-day
|
|
|
409 |
Your task; fear not, no vulgar error blinds us.
|
|
|
410 |
Age does not make us childish, as they say,
|
|
|
411 |
But we are still true children when it finds us.
|
|
|
412 |
|
|
|
413 |
_Manager_. Come, words enough you two have bandied,
|
|
|
414 |
Now let us see some deeds at last;
|
|
|
415 |
While you toss compliments full-handed,
|
|
|
416 |
The time for useful work flies fast.
|
|
|
417 |
Why talk of being in the humor?
|
|
|
418 |
Who hesitates will never be.
|
|
|
419 |
If you are poets (so says rumor)
|
|
|
420 |
Now then command your poetry.
|
|
|
421 |
You know full well our need and pleasure,
|
|
|
422 |
We want strong drink in brimming measure;
|
|
|
423 |
Brew at it now without delay!
|
|
|
424 |
To-morrow will not do what is not done to-day.
|
|
|
425 |
Let not a day be lost in dallying,
|
|
|
426 |
But seize the possibility
|
|
|
427 |
Right by the forelock, courage rallying,
|
|
|
428 |
And forth with fearless spirit sallying,--
|
|
|
429 |
Once in the yoke and you are free.
|
|
|
430 |
Upon our German boards, you know it,
|
|
|
431 |
What any one would try, he may;
|
|
|
432 |
Then stint me not, I beg, to-day,
|
|
|
433 |
In scenery or machinery, Poet.
|
|
|
434 |
With great and lesser heavenly lights make free,
|
|
|
435 |
Spend starlight just as you desire;
|
|
|
436 |
No want of water, rocks or fire
|
|
|
437 |
Or birds or beasts to you shall be.
|
|
|
438 |
So, in this narrow wooden house's bound,
|
|
|
439 |
Stride through the whole creation's round,
|
|
|
440 |
And with considerate swiftness wander
|
|
|
441 |
From heaven, through this world, to the world down yonder.
|
|
|
442 |
|
|
|
443 |
|
|
|
444 |
|
|
|
445 |
|
|
|
446 |
PROLOGUE
|
|
|
447 |
|
|
|
448 |
|
|
|
449 |
IN HEAVEN.
|
|
|
450 |
|
|
|
451 |
|
|
|
452 |
[THE LORD. THE HEAVENLY HOSTS _afterward_ MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
453 |
_The three archangels_, RAPHAEL, GABRIEL, _and_ MICHAEL, _come forward_.]
|
|
|
454 |
|
|
|
455 |
_Raphael_. The sun, in ancient wise, is sounding,
|
|
|
456 |
With brother-spheres, in rival song;
|
|
|
457 |
And, his appointed journey rounding,
|
|
|
458 |
With thunderous movement rolls along.
|
|
|
459 |
His look, new strength to angels lending,
|
|
|
460 |
No creature fathom can for aye;
|
|
|
461 |
The lofty works, past comprehending,
|
|
|
462 |
Stand lordly, as on time's first day.
|
|
|
463 |
|
|
|
464 |
_Gabriel_. And swift, with wondrous swiftness fleeting,
|
|
|
465 |
The pomp of earth turns round and round,
|
|
|
466 |
The glow of Eden alternating
|
|
|
467 |
With shuddering midnight's gloom profound;
|
|
|
468 |
Up o'er the rocks the foaming ocean
|
|
|
469 |
Heaves from its old, primeval bed,
|
|
|
470 |
And rocks and seas, with endless motion,
|
|
|
471 |
On in the spheral sweep are sped.
|
|
|
472 |
|
|
|
473 |
_Michael_. And tempests roar, glad warfare waging,
|
|
|
474 |
From sea to land, from land to sea,
|
|
|
475 |
And bind round all, amidst their raging,
|
|
|
476 |
A chain of giant energy.
|
|
|
477 |
There, lurid desolation, blazing,
|
|
|
478 |
Foreruns the volleyed thunder's way:
|
|
|
479 |
Yet, Lord, thy messengers[2] are praising
|
|
|
480 |
The mild procession of thy day.
|
|
|
481 |
|
|
|
482 |
_All Three_. The sight new strength to angels lendeth,
|
|
|
483 |
For none thy being fathom may,
|
|
|
484 |
The works, no angel comprehendeth,
|
|
|
485 |
Stand lordly as on time's first day.
|
|
|
486 |
|
|
|
487 |
_Mephistopheles_. Since, Lord, thou drawest near us once again,
|
|
|
488 |
And how we do, dost graciously inquire,
|
|
|
489 |
And to be pleased to see me once didst deign,
|
|
|
490 |
I too among thy household venture nigher.
|
|
|
491 |
Pardon, high words I cannot labor after,
|
|
|
492 |
Though the whole court should look on me with scorn;
|
|
|
493 |
My pathos certainly would stir thy laughter,
|
|
|
494 |
Hadst thou not laughter long since quite forsworn.
|
|
|
495 |
Of sun and worlds I've nought to tell worth mention,
|
|
|
496 |
How men torment themselves takes my attention.
|
|
|
497 |
The little God o' the world jogs on the same old way
|
|
|
498 |
And is as singular as on the world's first day.
|
|
|
499 |
A pity 'tis thou shouldst have given
|
|
|
500 |
The fool, to make him worse, a gleam of light from heaven;
|
|
|
501 |
He calls it reason, using it
|
|
|
502 |
To be more beast than ever beast was yet.
|
|
|
503 |
He seems to me, (your grace the word will pardon,)
|
|
|
504 |
Like a long-legg'd grasshopper in the garden,
|
|
|
505 |
Forever on the wing, and hops and sings
|
|
|
506 |
The same old song, as in the grass he springs;
|
|
|
507 |
Would he but stay there! no; he needs must muddle
|
|
|
508 |
His prying nose in every puddle.
|
|
|
509 |
|
|
|
510 |
_The Lord_. Hast nothing for our edification?
|
|
|
511 |
Still thy old work of accusation?
|
|
|
512 |
Will things on earth be never right for thee?
|
|
|
513 |
|
|
|
514 |
_Mephistopheles_. No, Lord! I find them still as bad as bad can be.
|
|
|
515 |
Poor souls! their miseries seem so much to please 'em,
|
|
|
516 |
I scarce can find it in my heart to tease 'em.
|
|
|
517 |
|
|
|
518 |
_The Lord_. Knowest thou Faust?
|
|
|
519 |
|
|
|
520 |
_Mephistopheles_. The Doctor?
|
|
|
521 |
|
|
|
522 |
_The Lord_. Ay, my servant!
|
|
|
523 |
|
|
|
524 |
_Mephistopheles_. He!
|
|
|
525 |
Forsooth! he serves you in a famous fashion;
|
|
|
526 |
No earthly meat or drink can feed his passion;
|
|
|
527 |
Its grasping greed no space can measure;
|
|
|
528 |
Half-conscious and half-crazed, he finds no rest;
|
|
|
529 |
The fairest stars of heaven must swell his treasure.
|
|
|
530 |
Each highest joy of earth must yield its zest,
|
|
|
531 |
Not all the world--the boundless azure--
|
|
|
532 |
Can fill the void within his craving breast.
|
|
|
533 |
|
|
|
534 |
_The Lord_. He serves me somewhat darkly, now, I grant,
|
|
|
535 |
Yet will he soon attain the light of reason.
|
|
|
536 |
Sees not the gardener, in the green young plant,
|
|
|
537 |
That bloom and fruit shall deck its coming season?
|
|
|
538 |
|
|
|
539 |
_Mephistopheles_. What will you bet? You'll surely lose your wager!
|
|
|
540 |
If you will give me leave henceforth,
|
|
|
541 |
To lead him softly on, like an old stager.
|
|
|
542 |
|
|
|
543 |
_The Lord_. So long as he shall live on earth,
|
|
|
544 |
Do with him all that you desire.
|
|
|
545 |
Man errs and staggers from his birth.
|
|
|
546 |
|
|
|
547 |
_Mephistopheles_. Thank you; I never did aspire
|
|
|
548 |
To have with dead folk much transaction.
|
|
|
549 |
In full fresh cheeks I take the greatest satisfaction.
|
|
|
550 |
A corpse will never find me in the house;
|
|
|
551 |
I love to play as puss does with the mouse.
|
|
|
552 |
|
|
|
553 |
_The Lord_. All right, I give thee full permission!
|
|
|
554 |
Draw down this spirit from its source,
|
|
|
555 |
And, canst thou catch him, to perdition
|
|
|
556 |
Carry him with thee in thy course,
|
|
|
557 |
But stand abashed, if thou must needs confess,
|
|
|
558 |
That a good man, though passion blur his vision,
|
|
|
559 |
Has of the right way still a consciousness.
|
|
|
560 |
|
|
|
561 |
_Mephistopheles_. Good! but I'll make it a short story.
|
|
|
562 |
About my wager I'm by no means sorry.
|
|
|
563 |
And if I gain my end with glory
|
|
|
564 |
Allow me to exult from a full breast.
|
|
|
565 |
Dust shall he eat and that with zest,
|
|
|
566 |
Like my old aunt, the snake, whose fame is hoary.
|
|
|
567 |
|
|
|
568 |
_The Lord_. Well, go and come, and make thy trial;
|
|
|
569 |
The like of thee I never yet did hate.
|
|
|
570 |
Of all the spirits of denial
|
|
|
571 |
The scamp is he I best can tolerate.
|
|
|
572 |
Man is too prone, at best, to seek the way that's easy,
|
|
|
573 |
He soon grows fond of unconditioned rest;
|
|
|
574 |
And therefore such a comrade suits him best,
|
|
|
575 |
Who spurs and works, true devil, always busy.
|
|
|
576 |
But you, true sons of God, in growing measure,
|
|
|
577 |
Enjoy rich beauty's living stores of pleasure!
|
|
|
578 |
The Word[3] divine that lives and works for aye,
|
|
|
579 |
Fold you in boundless love's embrace alluring,
|
|
|
580 |
And what in floating vision glides away,
|
|
|
581 |
That seize ye and make fast with thoughts enduring.
|
|
|
582 |
|
|
|
583 |
[_Heaven closes, the archangels disperse._]
|
|
|
584 |
|
|
|
585 |
_Mephistopheles. [Alone.]_ I like at times to exchange with him a word,
|
|
|
586 |
And take care not to break with him. 'Tis civil
|
|
|
587 |
In the old fellow[4] and so great a Lord
|
|
|
588 |
To talk so kindly with the very devil.
|
|
|
589 |
|
|
|
590 |
|
|
|
591 |
|
|
|
592 |
|
|
|
593 |
FAUST.
|
|
|
594 |
|
|
|
595 |
|
|
|
596 |
_Night. In a narrow high-arched Gothic room_,
|
|
|
597 |
FAUST _sitting uneasy at his desk_.
|
|
|
598 |
|
|
|
599 |
_Faust_. Have now, alas! quite studied through
|
|
|
600 |
Philosophy and Medicine,
|
|
|
601 |
And Law, and ah! Theology, too,
|
|
|
602 |
With hot desire the truth to win!
|
|
|
603 |
And here, at last, I stand, poor fool!
|
|
|
604 |
As wise as when I entered school;
|
|
|
605 |
Am called Magister, Doctor, indeed,--
|
|
|
606 |
Ten livelong years cease not to lead
|
|
|
607 |
Backward and forward, to and fro,
|
|
|
608 |
My scholars by the nose--and lo!
|
|
|
609 |
Just nothing, I see, is the sum of our learning,
|
|
|
610 |
To the very core of my heart 'tis burning.
|
|
|
611 |
'Tis true I'm more clever than all the foplings,
|
|
|
612 |
Doctors, Magisters, Authors, and Popelings;
|
|
|
613 |
Am plagued by no scruple, nor doubt, nor cavil,
|
|
|
614 |
Nor lingering fear of hell or devil--
|
|
|
615 |
What then? all pleasure is fled forever;
|
|
|
616 |
To know one thing I vainly endeavor,
|
|
|
617 |
There's nothing wherein one fellow-creature
|
|
|
618 |
Could be mended or bettered with me for a teacher.
|
|
|
619 |
And then, too, nor goods nor gold have I,
|
|
|
620 |
Nor fame nor worldly dignity,--
|
|
|
621 |
A condition no dog could longer live in!
|
|
|
622 |
And so to magic my soul I've given,
|
|
|
623 |
If, haply, by spirits' mouth and might,
|
|
|
624 |
Some mysteries may not be brought to light;
|
|
|
625 |
That to teach, no longer may be my lot,
|
|
|
626 |
With bitter sweat, what I need to be taught;
|
|
|
627 |
That I may know what the world contains
|
|
|
628 |
In its innermost heart and finer veins,
|
|
|
629 |
See all its energies and seeds
|
|
|
630 |
And deal no more in words but in deeds.
|
|
|
631 |
O full, round Moon, didst thou but thine
|
|
|
632 |
For the last time on this woe of mine!
|
|
|
633 |
Thou whom so many a midnight I
|
|
|
634 |
Have watched, at this desk, come up the sky:
|
|
|
635 |
O'er books and papers, a dreary pile,
|
|
|
636 |
Then, mournful friend! uprose thy smile!
|
|
|
637 |
Oh that I might on the mountain-height,
|
|
|
638 |
Walk in the noon of thy blessed light,
|
|
|
639 |
Round mountain-caverns with spirits hover,
|
|
|
640 |
Float in thy gleamings the meadows over,
|
|
|
641 |
And freed from the fumes of a lore-crammed brain,
|
|
|
642 |
Bathe in thy dew and be well again!
|
|
|
643 |
Woe! and these walls still prison me?
|
|
|
644 |
Dull, dismal hole! my curse on thee!
|
|
|
645 |
Where heaven's own light, with its blessed beams,
|
|
|
646 |
Through painted panes all sickly gleams!
|
|
|
647 |
Hemmed in by these old book-piles tall,
|
|
|
648 |
Which, gnawed by worms and deep in must,
|
|
|
649 |
Rise to the roof against a wall
|
|
|
650 |
Of smoke-stained paper, thick with dust;
|
|
|
651 |
'Mid glasses, boxes, where eye can see,
|
|
|
652 |
Filled with old, obsolete instruments,
|
|
|
653 |
Stuffed with old heirlooms of implements--
|
|
|
654 |
That is thy world! There's a world for thee!
|
|
|
655 |
And still dost ask what stifles so
|
|
|
656 |
The fluttering heart within thy breast?
|
|
|
657 |
By what inexplicable woe
|
|
|
658 |
The springs of life are all oppressed?
|
|
|
659 |
Instead of living nature, where
|
|
|
660 |
God made and planted men, his sons,
|
|
|
661 |
Through smoke and mould, around thee stare
|
|
|
662 |
Grim skeletons and dead men's bones.
|
|
|
663 |
Up! Fly! Far out into the land!
|
|
|
664 |
And this mysterious volume, see!
|
|
|
665 |
By Nostradamus's[5] own hand,
|
|
|
666 |
Is it not guide enough for thee?
|
|
|
667 |
Then shalt thou thread the starry skies,
|
|
|
668 |
And, taught by nature in her walks,
|
|
|
669 |
The spirit's might shall o'er thee rise,
|
|
|
670 |
As ghost to ghost familiar talks.
|
|
|
671 |
Vain hope that mere dry sense should here
|
|
|
672 |
Explain the holy signs to thee.
|
|
|
673 |
I feel you, spirits, hovering near;
|
|
|
674 |
Oh, if you hear me, answer me!
|
|
|
675 |
[_He opens the book and beholds the sign of the Macrocosm.[_6]]
|
|
|
676 |
Ha! as I gaze, what ecstasy is this,
|
|
|
677 |
In one full tide through all my senses flowing!
|
|
|
678 |
I feel a new-born life, a holy bliss
|
|
|
679 |
Through nerves and veins mysteriously glowing.
|
|
|
680 |
Was it a God who wrote each sign?
|
|
|
681 |
Which, all my inner tumult stilling,
|
|
|
682 |
And this poor heart with rapture filling,
|
|
|
683 |
Reveals to me, by force divine,
|
|
|
684 |
Great Nature's energies around and through me thrilling?
|
|
|
685 |
Am I a God? It grows so bright to me!
|
|
|
686 |
Each character on which my eye reposes
|
|
|
687 |
Nature in act before my soul discloses.
|
|
|
688 |
The sage's word was truth, at last I see:
|
|
|
689 |
"The spirit-world, unbarred, is waiting;
|
|
|
690 |
Thy sense is locked, thy heart is dead!
|
|
|
691 |
Up, scholar, bathe, unhesitating,
|
|
|
692 |
The earthly breast in morning-red!"
|
|
|
693 |
[_He contemplates the sign._]
|
|
|
694 |
How all one whole harmonious weaves,
|
|
|
695 |
Each in the other works and lives!
|
|
|
696 |
See heavenly powers ascending and descending,
|
|
|
697 |
The golden buckets, one long line, extending!
|
|
|
698 |
See them with bliss-exhaling pinions winging
|
|
|
699 |
Their way from heaven through earth--their singing
|
|
|
700 |
Harmonious through the universe is ringing!
|
|
|
701 |
Majestic show! but ah! a show alone!
|
|
|
702 |
Nature! where find I thee, immense, unknown?
|
|
|
703 |
Where you, ye breasts? Ye founts all life sustaining,
|
|
|
704 |
On which hang heaven and earth, and where
|
|
|
705 |
Men's withered hearts their waste repair--
|
|
|
706 |
Ye gush, ye nurse, and I must sit complaining?
|
|
|
707 |
[_He opens reluctantly the book and sees the sign of the earth-spirit._]
|
|
|
708 |
How differently works on me this sign!
|
|
|
709 |
Thou, spirit of the earth, art to me nearer;
|
|
|
710 |
I feel my powers already higher, clearer,
|
|
|
711 |
I glow already as with new-pressed wine,
|
|
|
712 |
I feel the mood to brave life's ceaseless clashing,
|
|
|
713 |
To bear its frowning woes, its raptures flashing,
|
|
|
714 |
To mingle in the tempest's dashing,
|
|
|
715 |
And not to tremble in the shipwreck's crashing;
|
|
|
716 |
Clouds gather o'er my head--
|
|
|
717 |
Them moon conceals her light--
|
|
|
718 |
The lamp goes out!
|
|
|
719 |
It smokes!--Red rays are darting, quivering
|
|
|
720 |
Around my head--comes down
|
|
|
721 |
A horror from the vaulted roof
|
|
|
722 |
And seizes me!
|
|
|
723 |
Spirit that I invoked, thou near me art,
|
|
|
724 |
Unveil thyself!
|
|
|
725 |
Ha! what a tearing in my heart!
|
|
|
726 |
Upheaved like an ocean
|
|
|
727 |
My senses toss with strange emotion!
|
|
|
728 |
I feel my heart to thee entirely given!
|
|
|
729 |
Thou must! and though the price were life--were heaven!
|
|
|
730 |
[_He seizes the book and pronounces mysteriously the sign of the spirit.
|
|
|
731 |
A ruddy flame darts out, the spirit appears in the flame._]
|
|
|
732 |
|
|
|
733 |
_Spirit_. Who calls upon me?
|
|
|
734 |
|
|
|
735 |
_Faust. [Turning away.]_ Horrid sight!
|
|
|
736 |
|
|
|
737 |
_Spirit_. Long have I felt the mighty action,
|
|
|
738 |
Upon my sphere, of thy attraction,
|
|
|
739 |
And now--
|
|
|
740 |
|
|
|
741 |
_Faust_. Away, intolerable sprite!
|
|
|
742 |
|
|
|
743 |
_Spirit_. Thou breath'st a panting supplication
|
|
|
744 |
To hear my voice, my face to see;
|
|
|
745 |
Thy mighty prayer prevails on me,
|
|
|
746 |
I come!--what miserable agitation
|
|
|
747 |
Seizes this demigod! Where is the cry of thought?
|
|
|
748 |
Where is the breast? that in itself a world begot,
|
|
|
749 |
And bore and cherished, that with joy did tremble
|
|
|
750 |
And fondly dream us spirits to resemble.
|
|
|
751 |
Where art thou, Faust? whose voice rang through my ear,
|
|
|
752 |
Whose mighty yearning drew me from my sphere?
|
|
|
753 |
Is this thing thou? that, blasted by my breath,
|
|
|
754 |
Through all life's windings shuddereth,
|
|
|
755 |
A shrinking, cringing, writhing worm!
|
|
|
756 |
|
|
|
757 |
_Faust_. Thee, flame-born creature, shall I fear?
|
|
|
758 |
'Tis I, 'tis Faust, behold thy peer!
|
|
|
759 |
|
|
|
760 |
_Spirit_. In life's tide currents, in action's storm,
|
|
|
761 |
Up and down, like a wave,
|
|
|
762 |
Like the wind I sweep!
|
|
|
763 |
Cradle and grave--
|
|
|
764 |
A limitless deep---
|
|
|
765 |
An endless weaving
|
|
|
766 |
To and fro,
|
|
|
767 |
A restless heaving
|
|
|
768 |
Of life and glow,--
|
|
|
769 |
So shape I, on Destiny's thundering loom,
|
|
|
770 |
The Godhead's live garment, eternal in bloom.
|
|
|
771 |
|
|
|
772 |
_Faust_. Spirit that sweep'st the world from end to end,
|
|
|
773 |
How near, this hour, I feel myself to thee!
|
|
|
774 |
|
|
|
775 |
_Spirit_. Thou'rt like the spirit thou canst comprehend,
|
|
|
776 |
Not me! [_Vanishes._]
|
|
|
777 |
|
|
|
778 |
_Faust_. [_Collapsing_.] Not thee?
|
|
|
779 |
Whom then?
|
|
|
780 |
I, image of the Godhead,
|
|
|
781 |
And no peer for thee!
|
|
|
782 |
[_A knocking_.]
|
|
|
783 |
O Death! I know it!--'tis my Famulus--
|
|
|
784 |
Good-bye, ye dreams of bliss Elysian!
|
|
|
785 |
Shame! that so many a glowing vision
|
|
|
786 |
This dried-up sneak must scatter thus!
|
|
|
787 |
|
|
|
788 |
[WAGNER, _in sleeping-gown and night-cap, a lamp in his hand._
|
|
|
789 |
FAUST _turns round with an annoyed look_.]
|
|
|
790 |
|
|
|
791 |
_Wagner_. Excuse me! you're engaged in declamation;
|
|
|
792 |
'Twas a Greek tragedy no doubt you read?
|
|
|
793 |
I in this art should like initiation,
|
|
|
794 |
For nowadays it stands one well instead.
|
|
|
795 |
I've often heard them boast, a preacher
|
|
|
796 |
Might profit with a player for his teacher.
|
|
|
797 |
|
|
|
798 |
_Faust_. Yes, when the preacher is a player, granted:
|
|
|
799 |
As often happens in our modern ways.
|
|
|
800 |
|
|
|
801 |
_Wagner_. Ah! when one with such love of study's haunted,
|
|
|
802 |
And scarcely sees the world on holidays,
|
|
|
803 |
And takes a spy-glass, as it were, to read it,
|
|
|
804 |
How can one by persuasion hope to lead it?
|
|
|
805 |
|
|
|
806 |
_Faust_. What you don't feel, you'll never catch by hunting,
|
|
|
807 |
It must gush out spontaneous from the soul,
|
|
|
808 |
And with a fresh delight enchanting
|
|
|
809 |
The hearts of all that hear control.
|
|
|
810 |
Sit there forever! Thaw your glue-pot,--
|
|
|
811 |
Blow up your ash-heap to a flame, and brew,
|
|
|
812 |
With a dull fire, in your stew-pot,
|
|
|
813 |
Of other men's leavings a ragout!
|
|
|
814 |
Children and apes will gaze delighted,
|
|
|
815 |
If their critiques can pleasure impart;
|
|
|
816 |
But never a heart will be ignited,
|
|
|
817 |
Comes not the spark from the speaker's heart.
|
|
|
818 |
|
|
|
819 |
_Wagner_. Delivery makes the orator's success;
|
|
|
820 |
There I'm still far behindhand, I confess.
|
|
|
821 |
|
|
|
822 |
_Faust_. Seek honest gains, without pretence!
|
|
|
823 |
Be not a cymbal-tinkling fool!
|
|
|
824 |
Sound understanding and good sense
|
|
|
825 |
Speak out with little art or rule;
|
|
|
826 |
And when you've something earnest to utter,
|
|
|
827 |
Why hunt for words in such a flutter?
|
|
|
828 |
Yes, your discourses, that are so refined'
|
|
|
829 |
In which humanity's poor shreds you frizzle,
|
|
|
830 |
Are unrefreshing as the mist and wind
|
|
|
831 |
That through the withered leaves of autumn whistle!
|
|
|
832 |
|
|
|
833 |
_Wagner_. Ah God! well, art is long!
|
|
|
834 |
And life is short and fleeting.
|
|
|
835 |
What headaches have I felt and what heart-beating,
|
|
|
836 |
When critical desire was strong.
|
|
|
837 |
How hard it is the ways and means to master
|
|
|
838 |
By which one gains each fountain-head!
|
|
|
839 |
|
|
|
840 |
And ere one yet has half the journey sped,
|
|
|
841 |
The poor fool dies--O sad disaster!
|
|
|
842 |
|
|
|
843 |
_Faust_. Is parchment, then, the holy well-spring, thinkest,
|
|
|
844 |
A draught from which thy thirst forever slakes?
|
|
|
845 |
No quickening element thou drinkest,
|
|
|
846 |
Till up from thine own soul the fountain breaks.
|
|
|
847 |
|
|
|
848 |
_Wagner_. Excuse me! in these olden pages
|
|
|
849 |
We catch the spirit of the by-gone ages,
|
|
|
850 |
We see what wisest men before our day have thought,
|
|
|
851 |
And to what glorious heights we their bequests have brought.
|
|
|
852 |
|
|
|
853 |
_Faust_. O yes, we've reached the stars at last!
|
|
|
854 |
My friend, it is to us,--the buried past,--
|
|
|
855 |
A book with seven seals protected;
|
|
|
856 |
Your spirit of the times is, then,
|
|
|
857 |
At bottom, your own spirit, gentlemen,
|
|
|
858 |
In which the times are seen reflected.
|
|
|
859 |
And often such a mess that none can bear it;
|
|
|
860 |
At the first sight of it they run away.
|
|
|
861 |
A dust-bin and a lumber-garret,
|
|
|
862 |
At most a mock-heroic play[8]
|
|
|
863 |
With fine, pragmatic maxims teeming,
|
|
|
864 |
The mouths of puppets well-beseeming!
|
|
|
865 |
|
|
|
866 |
_Wagner_. But then the world! the heart and mind of man!
|
|
|
867 |
To know of these who would not pay attention?
|
|
|
868 |
|
|
|
869 |
_Faust_. To know them, yes, as weaklings can!
|
|
|
870 |
Who dares the child's true name outright to mention?
|
|
|
871 |
The few who any thing thereof have learned,
|
|
|
872 |
Who out of their heart's fulness needs must gabble,
|
|
|
873 |
And show their thoughts and feelings to the rabble,
|
|
|
874 |
Have evermore been crucified and burned.
|
|
|
875 |
I pray you, friend, 'tis wearing into night,
|
|
|
876 |
Let us adjourn here, for the present.
|
|
|
877 |
|
|
|
878 |
_Wagner_. I had been glad to stay till morning light,
|
|
|
879 |
This learned talk with you has been so pleasant,
|
|
|
880 |
But the first day of Easter comes to-morrow.
|
|
|
881 |
And then an hour or two I'll borrow.
|
|
|
882 |
With zeal have I applied myself to learning,
|
|
|
883 |
True, I know much, yet to know all am burning.
|
|
|
884 |
[_Exit_.]
|
|
|
885 |
|
|
|
886 |
_Faust_. [_Alone_.] See how in _his_ head only, hope still lingers,
|
|
|
887 |
Who evermore to empty rubbish clings,
|
|
|
888 |
With greedy hand grubs after precious things,
|
|
|
889 |
And leaps for joy when some poor worm he fingers!
|
|
|
890 |
That such a human voice should dare intrude,
|
|
|
891 |
Where all was full of ghostly tones and features!
|
|
|
892 |
Yet ah! this once, my gratitude
|
|
|
893 |
Is due to thee, most wretched of earth's creatures.
|
|
|
894 |
Thou snatchedst me from the despairing state
|
|
|
895 |
In which my senses, well nigh crazed, were sunken.
|
|
|
896 |
The apparition was so giant-great,
|
|
|
897 |
That to a very dwarf my soul had shrunken.
|
|
|
898 |
I, godlike, who in fancy saw but now
|
|
|
899 |
Eternal truth's fair glass in wondrous nearness,
|
|
|
900 |
Rejoiced in heavenly radiance and clearness,
|
|
|
901 |
Leaving the earthly man below;
|
|
|
902 |
I, more than cherub, whose free force
|
|
|
903 |
Dreamed, through the veins of nature penetrating,
|
|
|
904 |
To taste the life of Gods, like them creating,
|
|
|
905 |
Behold me this presumption expiating!
|
|
|
906 |
A word of thunder sweeps me from my course.
|
|
|
907 |
Myself with thee no longer dare I measure;
|
|
|
908 |
Had I the power to draw thee down at pleasure;
|
|
|
909 |
To hold thee here I still had not the force.
|
|
|
910 |
Oh, in that blest, ecstatic hour,
|
|
|
911 |
I felt myself so small, so great;
|
|
|
912 |
Thou drovest me with cruel power
|
|
|
913 |
Back upon man's uncertain fate
|
|
|
914 |
What shall I do? what slum, thus lonely?
|
|
|
915 |
That impulse must I, then, obey?
|
|
|
916 |
Alas! our very deeds, and not our sufferings only,
|
|
|
917 |
How do they hem and choke life's way!
|
|
|
918 |
To all the mind conceives of great and glorious
|
|
|
919 |
A strange and baser mixture still adheres;
|
|
|
920 |
Striving for earthly good are we victorious?
|
|
|
921 |
A dream and cheat the better part appears.
|
|
|
922 |
The feelings that could once such noble life inspire
|
|
|
923 |
Are quenched and trampled out in passion's mire.
|
|
|
924 |
Where Fantasy, erewhile, with daring flight
|
|
|
925 |
Out to the infinite her wings expanded,
|
|
|
926 |
A little space can now suffice her quite,
|
|
|
927 |
When hope on hope time's gulf has wrecked and stranded.
|
|
|
928 |
Care builds her nest far down the heart's recesses,
|
|
|
929 |
There broods o'er dark, untold distresses,
|
|
|
930 |
Restless she sits, and scares thy joy and peace away;
|
|
|
931 |
She puts on some new mask with each new day,
|
|
|
932 |
Herself as house and home, as wife and child presenting,
|
|
|
933 |
As fire and water, bane and blade;
|
|
|
934 |
What never hits makes thee afraid,
|
|
|
935 |
And what is never lost she keeps thee still lamenting.
|
|
|
936 |
Not like the Gods am I! Too deep that truth is thrust!
|
|
|
937 |
But like the worm, that wriggles through the dust;
|
|
|
938 |
Who, as along the dust for food he feels,
|
|
|
939 |
Is crushed and buried by the traveller's heels.
|
|
|
940 |
Is it not dust that makes this lofty wall
|
|
|
941 |
Groan with its hundred shelves and cases;
|
|
|
942 |
The rubbish and the thousand trifles all
|
|
|
943 |
That crowd these dark, moth-peopled places?
|
|
|
944 |
Here shall my craving heart find rest?
|
|
|
945 |
Must I perchance a thousand books turn over,
|
|
|
946 |
To find that men are everywhere distrest,
|
|
|
947 |
And here and there one happy one discover?
|
|
|
948 |
Why grin'st thou down upon me, hollow skull?
|
|
|
949 |
But that thy brain, like mine, once trembling, hoping,
|
|
|
950 |
Sought the light day, yet ever sorrowful,
|
|
|
951 |
Burned for the truth in vain, in twilight groping?
|
|
|
952 |
Ye, instruments, of course, are mocking me;
|
|
|
953 |
Its wheels, cogs, bands, and barrels each one praises.
|
|
|
954 |
I waited at the door; you were the key;
|
|
|
955 |
Your ward is nicely turned, and yet no bolt it raises.
|
|
|
956 |
Unlifted in the broadest day,
|
|
|
957 |
Doth Nature's veil from prying eyes defend her,
|
|
|
958 |
And what (he chooses not before thee to display,
|
|
|
959 |
Not all thy screws and levers can force her to surrender.
|
|
|
960 |
Old trumpery! not that I e'er used thee, but
|
|
|
961 |
Because my father used thee, hang'st thou o'er me,
|
|
|
962 |
Old scroll! thou hast been stained with smoke and smut
|
|
|
963 |
Since, on this desk, the lamp first dimly gleamed before me.
|
|
|
964 |
Better have squandered, far, I now can clearly see,
|
|
|
965 |
My little all, than melt beneath it, in this Tophet!
|
|
|
966 |
That which thy fathers have bequeathed to thee,
|
|
|
967 |
Earn and become possessor of it!
|
|
|
968 |
What profits not a weary load will be;
|
|
|
969 |
What it brings forth alone can yield the moment profit.
|
|
|
970 |
Why do I gaze as if a spell had bound me
|
|
|
971 |
Up yonder? Is that flask a magnet to the eyes?
|
|
|
972 |
What lovely light, so sudden, blooms around me?
|
|
|
973 |
As when in nightly woods we hail the full-moon-rise.
|
|
|
974 |
I greet thee, rarest phial, precious potion!
|
|
|
975 |
As now I take thee down with deep devotion,
|
|
|
976 |
In thee I venerate man's wit and art.
|
|
|
977 |
Quintessence of all soporific flowers,
|
|
|
978 |
Extract of all the finest deadly powers,
|
|
|
979 |
Thy favor to thy master now impart!
|
|
|
980 |
I look on thee, the sight my pain appeases,
|
|
|
981 |
I handle thee, the strife of longing ceases,
|
|
|
982 |
The flood-tide of the spirit ebbs away.
|
|
|
983 |
Far out to sea I'm drawn, sweet voices listening,
|
|
|
984 |
The glassy waters at my feet are glistening,
|
|
|
985 |
To new shores beckons me a new-born day.
|
|
|
986 |
A fiery chariot floats, on airy pinions,
|
|
|
987 |
To where I sit! Willing, it beareth me,
|
|
|
988 |
On a new path, through ether's blue dominions,
|
|
|
989 |
To untried spheres of pure activity.
|
|
|
990 |
This lofty life, this bliss elysian,
|
|
|
991 |
Worm that thou waft erewhile, deservest thou?
|
|
|
992 |
Ay, on this earthly sun, this charming vision,
|
|
|
993 |
Turn thy back resolutely now!
|
|
|
994 |
Boldly draw near and rend the gates asunder,
|
|
|
995 |
By which each cowering mortal gladly steals.
|
|
|
996 |
Now is the time to show by deeds of wonder
|
|
|
997 |
That manly greatness not to godlike glory yields;
|
|
|
998 |
Before that gloomy pit to stand, unfearing,
|
|
|
999 |
Where Fantasy self-damned in its own torment lies,
|
|
|
1000 |
Still onward to that pass-way steering,
|
|
|
1001 |
Around whose narrow mouth hell-flames forever rise;
|
|
|
1002 |
Calmly to dare the step, serene, unshrinking,
|
|
|
1003 |
Though into nothingness the hour should see thee sinking.
|
|
|
1004 |
Now, then, come down from thy old case, I bid thee,
|
|
|
1005 |
Where thou, forgotten, many a year hast hid thee,
|
|
|
1006 |
Into thy master's hand, pure, crystal glass!
|
|
|
1007 |
The joy-feasts of the fathers thou hast brightened,
|
|
|
1008 |
The hearts of gravest guests were lightened,
|
|
|
1009 |
When, pledged, from hand to hand they saw thee pass.
|
|
|
1010 |
Thy sides, with many a curious type bedight,
|
|
|
1011 |
Which each, as with one draught he quaffed the liquor
|
|
|
1012 |
Must read in rhyme from off the wondrous beaker,
|
|
|
1013 |
Remind me, ah! of many a youthful night.
|
|
|
1014 |
I shall not hand thee now to any neighbor,
|
|
|
1015 |
Not now to show my wit upon thy carvings labor;
|
|
|
1016 |
Here is a juice of quick-intoxicating might.
|
|
|
1017 |
The rich brown flood adown thy sides is streaming,
|
|
|
1018 |
With my own choice ingredients teeming;
|
|
|
1019 |
Be this last draught, as morning now is gleaming,
|
|
|
1020 |
Drained as a lofty pledge to greet the festal light!
|
|
|
1021 |
[_He puts the goblet to his lips_.
|
|
|
1022 |
|
|
|
1023 |
_Ringing of bells and choral song_.
|
|
|
1024 |
|
|
|
1025 |
_Chorus of Angels_. Christ hath arisen!
|
|
|
1026 |
Joy to humanity!
|
|
|
1027 |
No more shall vanity,
|
|
|
1028 |
Death and inanity
|
|
|
1029 |
Hold thee in prison!
|
|
|
1030 |
|
|
|
1031 |
_Faust_. What hum of music, what a radiant tone,
|
|
|
1032 |
Thrills through me, from my lips the goblet stealing!
|
|
|
1033 |
Ye murmuring bells, already make ye known
|
|
|
1034 |
The Easter morn's first hour, with solemn pealing?
|
|
|
1035 |
Sing you, ye choirs, e'en now, the glad, consoling song,
|
|
|
1036 |
That once, from angel-lips, through gloom sepulchral rung,
|
|
|
1037 |
A new immortal covenant sealing?
|
|
|
1038 |
|
|
|
1039 |
_Chorus of Women_. Spices we carried,
|
|
|
1040 |
Laid them upon his breast;
|
|
|
1041 |
Tenderly buried
|
|
|
1042 |
Him whom we loved the best;
|
|
|
1043 |
|
|
|
1044 |
Cleanly to bind him
|
|
|
1045 |
Took we the fondest care,
|
|
|
1046 |
Ah! and we find him
|
|
|
1047 |
Now no more there.
|
|
|
1048 |
|
|
|
1049 |
_Chorus of Angels_. Christ hath ascended!
|
|
|
1050 |
Reign in benignity!
|
|
|
1051 |
Pain and indignity,
|
|
|
1052 |
Scorn and malignity,
|
|
|
1053 |
_Their_ work have ended.
|
|
|
1054 |
|
|
|
1055 |
_Faust_. Why seek ye me in dust, forlorn,
|
|
|
1056 |
Ye heavenly tones, with soft enchanting?
|
|
|
1057 |
Go, greet pure-hearted men this holy morn!
|
|
|
1058 |
Your message well I hear, but faith to me is wanting;
|
|
|
1059 |
Wonder, its dearest child, of Faith is born.
|
|
|
1060 |
To yonder spheres I dare no more aspire,
|
|
|
1061 |
Whence the sweet tidings downward float;
|
|
|
1062 |
And yet, from childhood heard, the old, familiar note
|
|
|
1063 |
Calls back e'en now to life my warm desire.
|
|
|
1064 |
Ah! once how sweetly fell on me the kiss
|
|
|
1065 |
Of heavenly love in the still Sabbath stealing!
|
|
|
1066 |
Prophetically rang the bells with solemn pealing;
|
|
|
1067 |
A prayer was then the ecstasy of bliss;
|
|
|
1068 |
A blessed and mysterious yearning
|
|
|
1069 |
Drew me to roam through meadows, woods, and skies;
|
|
|
1070 |
And, midst a thousand tear-drops burning,
|
|
|
1071 |
I felt a world within me rise
|
|
|
1072 |
That strain, oh, how it speaks youth's gleesome plays and feelings,
|
|
|
1073 |
Joys of spring-festivals long past;
|
|
|
1074 |
Remembrance holds me now, with childhood's fond appealings,
|
|
|
1075 |
Back from the fatal step, the last.
|
|
|
1076 |
Sound on, ye heavenly strains, that bliss restore me!
|
|
|
1077 |
Tears gush, once more the spell of earth is o'er me
|
|
|
1078 |
|
|
|
1079 |
_Chorus of Disciples_. Has the grave's lowly one
|
|
|
1080 |
Risen victorious?
|
|
|
1081 |
Sits he, God's Holy One,
|
|
|
1082 |
High-throned and glorious?
|
|
|
1083 |
He, in this blest new birth,
|
|
|
1084 |
Rapture creative knows;[9]
|
|
|
1085 |
Ah! on the breast of earth
|
|
|
1086 |
Taste we still nature's woes.
|
|
|
1087 |
Left here to languish
|
|
|
1088 |
Lone in a world like this,
|
|
|
1089 |
Fills us with anguish
|
|
|
1090 |
Master, thy bliss!
|
|
|
1091 |
|
|
|
1092 |
_Chorus of Angels_. Christ has arisen
|
|
|
1093 |
Out of corruption's gloom.
|
|
|
1094 |
Break from your prison,
|
|
|
1095 |
Burst every tomb!
|
|
|
1096 |
Livingly owning him,
|
|
|
1097 |
Lovingly throning him,
|
|
|
1098 |
Feasting fraternally,
|
|
|
1099 |
Praying diurnally,
|
|
|
1100 |
Bearing his messages,
|
|
|
1101 |
Sharing his promises,
|
|
|
1102 |
Find ye your master near,
|
|
|
1103 |
Find ye him here![10]
|
|
|
1104 |
|
|
|
1105 |
|
|
|
1106 |
|
|
|
1107 |
|
|
|
1108 |
BEFORE THE GATE.
|
|
|
1109 |
|
|
|
1110 |
_Pedestrians of all descriptions stroll forth_.
|
|
|
1111 |
|
|
|
1112 |
_Mechanics' Apprentices_. Where are you going to carouse?
|
|
|
1113 |
|
|
|
1114 |
_Others_. We're all going out to the Hunter's House.
|
|
|
1115 |
|
|
|
1116 |
_The First_. We're going, ourselves, out to the Mill-House, brothers.
|
|
|
1117 |
|
|
|
1118 |
_An Apprentice_. The Fountain-House I rather recommend.
|
|
|
1119 |
|
|
|
1120 |
_Second_. 'Tis not a pleasant road, my friend.
|
|
|
1121 |
|
|
|
1122 |
_The second group_. What will you do, then?
|
|
|
1123 |
|
|
|
1124 |
_A Third_. I go with the others.
|
|
|
1125 |
|
|
|
1126 |
_Fourth_. Come up to Burgdorf, there you're sure to find good cheer,
|
|
|
1127 |
The handsomest of girls and best of beer,
|
|
|
1128 |
And rows, too, of the very first water.
|
|
|
1129 |
|
|
|
1130 |
_Fifth_. You monstrous madcap, does your skin
|
|
|
1131 |
Itch for the third time to try that inn?
|
|
|
1132 |
I've had enough for _my_ taste in that quarter.
|
|
|
1133 |
|
|
|
1134 |
_Servant-girl_. No! I'm going back again to town for one.
|
|
|
1135 |
|
|
|
1136 |
_Others_. Under those poplars we are sure to meet him.
|
|
|
1137 |
|
|
|
1138 |
_First Girl_. But that for me is no great fun;
|
|
|
1139 |
For you are always sure to get him,
|
|
|
1140 |
He never dances with any but you.
|
|
|
1141 |
Great good to me your luck will do!
|
|
|
1142 |
|
|
|
1143 |
_Others_. He's not alone, I heard him say,
|
|
|
1144 |
The curly-head would be with him to-day.
|
|
|
1145 |
|
|
|
1146 |
_Scholar_. Stars! how the buxom wenches stride there!
|
|
|
1147 |
Quick, brother! we must fasten alongside there.
|
|
|
1148 |
Strong beer, good smart tobacco, and the waist
|
|
|
1149 |
Of a right handsome gall, well rigg'd, now that's my taste.
|
|
|
1150 |
|
|
|
1151 |
_Citizen's Daughter_. Do see those fine, young fellows yonder!
|
|
|
1152 |
'Tis, I declare, a great disgrace;
|
|
|
1153 |
When they might have the very best, I wonder,
|
|
|
1154 |
After these galls they needs must race!
|
|
|
1155 |
|
|
|
1156 |
_Second scholar_ [_to the first_].
|
|
|
1157 |
Stop! not so fast! there come two more behind,
|
|
|
1158 |
My eyes! but ain't they dressed up neatly?
|
|
|
1159 |
One is my neighbor, or I'm blind;
|
|
|
1160 |
I love the girl, she looks so sweetly.
|
|
|
1161 |
Alone all quietly they go,
|
|
|
1162 |
You'll find they'll take us, by and bye, in tow.
|
|
|
1163 |
|
|
|
1164 |
_First_. No, brother! I don't like these starched up ways.
|
|
|
1165 |
Make haste! before the game slips through our fingers.
|
|
|
1166 |
The hand that swings the broom o' Saturdays
|
|
|
1167 |
On Sundays round thy neck most sweetly lingers.
|
|
|
1168 |
|
|
|
1169 |
_Citizen_. No, I don't like at all this new-made burgomaster!
|
|
|
1170 |
His insolence grows daily ever faster.
|
|
|
1171 |
No good from him the town will get!
|
|
|
1172 |
Will things grow better with him? Never!
|
|
|
1173 |
We're under more constraint than ever,
|
|
|
1174 |
And pay more tax than ever yet.
|
|
|
1175 |
|
|
|
1176 |
_Beggar_. [_Sings_.] Good gentlemen, and you, fair ladies,
|
|
|
1177 |
With such red cheeks and handsome dress,
|
|
|
1178 |
Think what my melancholy trade is,
|
|
|
1179 |
And see and pity my distress!
|
|
|
1180 |
Help the poor harper, sisters, brothers!
|
|
|
1181 |
Who loves to give, alone is gay.
|
|
|
1182 |
This day, a holiday to others,
|
|
|
1183 |
Make it for me a harvest day.
|
|
|
1184 |
|
|
|
1185 |
_Another citizen_.
|
|
|
1186 |
Sundays and holidays, I like, of all things, a good prattle
|
|
|
1187 |
Of war and fighting, and the whole array,
|
|
|
1188 |
When back in Turkey, far away,
|
|
|
1189 |
The peoples give each other battle.
|
|
|
1190 |
One stands before the window, drinks his glass,
|
|
|
1191 |
And sees the ships with flags glide slowly down the river;
|
|
|
1192 |
Comes home at night, when out of sight they pass,
|
|
|
1193 |
And sings with joy, "Oh, peace forever!"
|
|
|
1194 |
|
|
|
1195 |
_Third citizen_. So I say, neighbor! let them have their way,
|
|
|
1196 |
Crack skulls and in their crazy riot
|
|
|
1197 |
Turn all things upside down they may,
|
|
|
1198 |
But leave us here in peace and quiet.
|
|
|
1199 |
|
|
|
1200 |
_Old Woman_ [_to the citizen's daughter_].
|
|
|
1201 |
Heyday, brave prinking this! the fine young blood!
|
|
|
1202 |
Who is not smitten that has met you?--
|
|
|
1203 |
But not so proud! All very good!
|
|
|
1204 |
And what you want I'll promise soon to get you.
|
|
|
1205 |
|
|
|
1206 |
_Citizen's Daughter_. Come, Agatha! I dread in public sight
|
|
|
1207 |
To prattle with such hags; don't stay, O, Luddy!
|
|
|
1208 |
'Tis true she showed me, on St. Andrew's night,
|
|
|
1209 |
My future sweetheart in the body.
|
|
|
1210 |
|
|
|
1211 |
_The other_. She showed me mine, too, in a glass,
|
|
|
1212 |
Right soldierlike, with daring comrades round him.
|
|
|
1213 |
I look all round, I study all that pass,
|
|
|
1214 |
But to this hour I have not found him.
|
|
|
1215 |
|
|
|
1216 |
_Soldiers_. Castles with lowering
|
|
|
1217 |
Bulwarks and towers,
|
|
|
1218 |
Maidens with towering
|
|
|
1219 |
Passions and powers,
|
|
|
1220 |
Both shall be ours!
|
|
|
1221 |
Daring the venture,
|
|
|
1222 |
Glorious the pay!
|
|
|
1223 |
|
|
|
1224 |
When the brass trumpet
|
|
|
1225 |
Summons us loudly,
|
|
|
1226 |
Joy-ward or death-ward,
|
|
|
1227 |
On we march proudly.
|
|
|
1228 |
That is a storming!
|
|
|
1229 |
|
|
|
1230 |
Life in its splendor!
|
|
|
1231 |
Castles and maidens
|
|
|
1232 |
Both must surrender.
|
|
|
1233 |
Daring the venture,
|
|
|
1234 |
Glorious the pay.
|
|
|
1235 |
There go the soldiers
|
|
|
1236 |
Marching away!
|
|
|
1237 |
|
|
|
1238 |
|
|
|
1239 |
FAUST _and_ WAGNER.
|
|
|
1240 |
|
|
|
1241 |
_Faust_. Spring's warm look has unfettered the fountains,
|
|
|
1242 |
Brooks go tinkling with silvery feet;
|
|
|
1243 |
Hope's bright blossoms the valley greet;
|
|
|
1244 |
Weakly and sickly up the rough mountains
|
|
|
1245 |
Pale old Winter has made his retreat.
|
|
|
1246 |
Thence he launches, in sheer despite,
|
|
|
1247 |
Sleet and hail in impotent showers,
|
|
|
1248 |
O'er the green lawn as he takes his flight;
|
|
|
1249 |
But the sun will suffer no white,
|
|
|
1250 |
Everywhere waking the formative powers,
|
|
|
1251 |
Living colors he yearns to spread;
|
|
|
1252 |
Yet, as he finds it too early for flowers,
|
|
|
1253 |
Gayly dressed people he takes instead.
|
|
|
1254 |
Look from this height whereon we find us
|
|
|
1255 |
Back to the town we have left behind us,
|
|
|
1256 |
Where from the dark and narrow door
|
|
|
1257 |
Forth a motley multitude pour.
|
|
|
1258 |
They sun themselves gladly and all are gay,
|
|
|
1259 |
They celebrate Christ's resurrection to-day.
|
|
|
1260 |
For have not they themselves arisen?
|
|
|
1261 |
From smoky huts and hovels and stables,
|
|
|
1262 |
From labor's bonds and traffic's prison,
|
|
|
1263 |
From the confinement of roofs and gables,
|
|
|
1264 |
From many a cramping street and alley,
|
|
|
1265 |
From churches full of the old world's night,
|
|
|
1266 |
All have come out to the day's broad light.
|
|
|
1267 |
See, only see! how the masses sally
|
|
|
1268 |
Streaming and swarming through gardens and fields
|
|
|
1269 |
How the broad stream that bathes the valley
|
|
|
1270 |
Is everywhere cut with pleasure boats' keels,
|
|
|
1271 |
And that last skiff, so heavily laden,
|
|
|
1272 |
Almost to sinking, puts off in the stream;
|
|
|
1273 |
Ribbons and jewels of youngster and maiden
|
|
|
1274 |
From the far paths of the mountain gleam.
|
|
|
1275 |
How it hums o'er the fields and clangs from the steeple!
|
|
|
1276 |
This is the real heaven of the people,
|
|
|
1277 |
Both great and little are merry and gay,
|
|
|
1278 |
I am a man, too, I can be, to-day.
|
|
|
1279 |
|
|
|
1280 |
_Wagner_. With you, Sir Doctor, to go out walking
|
|
|
1281 |
Is at all times honor and gain enough;
|
|
|
1282 |
But to trust myself here alone would be shocking,
|
|
|
1283 |
For I am a foe to all that is rough.
|
|
|
1284 |
Fiddling and bowling and screams and laughter
|
|
|
1285 |
To me are the hatefullest noises on earth;
|
|
|
1286 |
They yell as if Satan himself were after,
|
|
|
1287 |
And call it music and call it mirth.
|
|
|
1288 |
|
|
|
1289 |
[_Peasants (under the linden). Dance and song._]
|
|
|
1290 |
|
|
|
1291 |
The shepherd prinked him for the dance,
|
|
|
1292 |
With jacket gay and spangle's glance,
|
|
|
1293 |
And all his finest quiddle.
|
|
|
1294 |
And round the linden lass and lad
|
|
|
1295 |
They wheeled and whirled and danced like mad.
|
|
|
1296 |
Huzza! huzza!
|
|
|
1297 |
Huzza! Ha, ha, ha!
|
|
|
1298 |
And tweedle-dee went the fiddle.
|
|
|
1299 |
|
|
|
1300 |
And in he bounded through the whirl,
|
|
|
1301 |
And with his elbow punched a girl,
|
|
|
1302 |
Heigh diddle, diddle!
|
|
|
1303 |
The buxom wench she turned round quick,
|
|
|
1304 |
"Now that I call a scurvy trick!"
|
|
|
1305 |
Huzza! huzza!
|
|
|
1306 |
Huzza! ha, ha, ha!
|
|
|
1307 |
Tweedle-dee, tweedle-dee went the fiddle.
|
|
|
1308 |
|
|
|
1309 |
And petticoats and coat-tails flew
|
|
|
1310 |
As up and down they went, and through,
|
|
|
1311 |
Across and down the middle.
|
|
|
1312 |
They all grew red, they all grew warm,
|
|
|
1313 |
And rested, panting, arm in arm,
|
|
|
1314 |
Huzza! huzza!
|
|
|
1315 |
Ta-ra-la!
|
|
|
1316 |
Tweedle-dee went the fiddle!
|
|
|
1317 |
|
|
|
1318 |
"And don't be so familiar there!
|
|
|
1319 |
How many a one, with speeches fair,
|
|
|
1320 |
His trusting maid will diddle!"
|
|
|
1321 |
But still he flattered her aside--
|
|
|
1322 |
And from the linden sounded wide:
|
|
|
1323 |
Huzza! huzza!
|
|
|
1324 |
Huzza! huzza! ha! ha! ha!
|
|
|
1325 |
And tweedle-dee the fiddle.
|
|
|
1326 |
|
|
|
1327 |
_Old Peasant._ Sir Doctor, this is kind of you,
|
|
|
1328 |
That with us here you deign to talk,
|
|
|
1329 |
And through the crowd of folk to-day
|
|
|
1330 |
A man so highly larned, walk.
|
|
|
1331 |
So take the fairest pitcher here,
|
|
|
1332 |
Which we with freshest drink have filled,
|
|
|
1333 |
I pledge it to you, praying aloud
|
|
|
1334 |
That, while your thirst thereby is stilled,
|
|
|
1335 |
So many days as the drops it contains
|
|
|
1336 |
May fill out the life that to you remains.
|
|
|
1337 |
|
|
|
1338 |
_Faust._ I take the quickening draught and call
|
|
|
1339 |
For heaven's best blessing on one and all.
|
|
|
1340 |
|
|
|
1341 |
[_The people form a circle round him._]
|
|
|
1342 |
|
|
|
1343 |
_Old Peasant._ Your presence with us, this glad day,
|
|
|
1344 |
We take it very kind, indeed!
|
|
|
1345 |
In truth we've found you long ere this
|
|
|
1346 |
In evil days a friend in need!
|
|
|
1347 |
Full many a one stands living here,
|
|
|
1348 |
Whom, at death's door already laid,
|
|
|
1349 |
Your father snatched from fever's rage,
|
|
|
1350 |
When, by his skill, the plague he stayed.
|
|
|
1351 |
You, a young man, we daily saw
|
|
|
1352 |
Go with him to the pest-house then,
|
|
|
1353 |
And many a corpse was carried forth,
|
|
|
1354 |
But you came out alive again.
|
|
|
1355 |
With a charmed life you passed before us,
|
|
|
1356 |
Helped by the Helper watching o'er us.
|
|
|
1357 |
|
|
|
1358 |
_All._ The well-tried man, and may he live,
|
|
|
1359 |
Long years a helping hand to give!
|
|
|
1360 |
|
|
|
1361 |
_Faust._ Bow down to Him on high who sends
|
|
|
1362 |
His heavenly help and helping friends!
|
|
|
1363 |
[_He goes on with_ WAGNER.]
|
|
|
1364 |
|
|
|
1365 |
_Wagner._ What feelings, O great man, thy heart must swell
|
|
|
1366 |
Thus to receive a people's veneration!
|
|
|
1367 |
O worthy all congratulation,
|
|
|
1368 |
Whose gifts to such advantage tell.
|
|
|
1369 |
The father to his son shows thee with exultation,
|
|
|
1370 |
All run and crowd and ask, the circle closer draws,
|
|
|
1371 |
The fiddle stops, the dancers pause,
|
|
|
1372 |
Thou goest--the lines fall back for thee.
|
|
|
1373 |
They fling their gay-decked caps on high;
|
|
|
1374 |
A little more and they would bow the knee
|
|
|
1375 |
As if the blessed Host came by.
|
|
|
1376 |
|
|
|
1377 |
_Faust._ A few steps further on, until we reach that stone;
|
|
|
1378 |
There will we rest us from our wandering.
|
|
|
1379 |
How oft in prayer and penance there alone,
|
|
|
1380 |
Fasting, I sate, on holy mysteries pondering.
|
|
|
1381 |
There, rich in hope, in faith still firm,
|
|
|
1382 |
I've wept, sighed, wrung my hands and striven
|
|
|
1383 |
This plague's removal to extort (poor worm!)
|
|
|
1384 |
From the almighty Lord of Heaven.
|
|
|
1385 |
The crowd's applause has now a scornful tone;
|
|
|
1386 |
O couldst thou hear my conscience tell its story,
|
|
|
1387 |
How little either sire or son
|
|
|
1388 |
Has done to merit such a glory!
|
|
|
1389 |
My father was a worthy man, confused
|
|
|
1390 |
And darkened with his narrow lucubrations,
|
|
|
1391 |
Who with a whimsical, though well-meant patience,
|
|
|
1392 |
On Nature's holy circles mused.
|
|
|
1393 |
Shut up in his black laboratory,
|
|
|
1394 |
Experimenting without end,
|
|
|
1395 |
'Midst his adepts, till he grew hoary,
|
|
|
1396 |
He sought the opposing powers to blend.
|
|
|
1397 |
Thus, a red lion,[11] a bold suitor, married
|
|
|
1398 |
The silver lily, in the lukewarm bath,
|
|
|
1399 |
And, from one bride-bed to another harried,
|
|
|
1400 |
The two were seen to fly before the flaming wrath.
|
|
|
1401 |
If then, with colors gay and splendid,
|
|
|
1402 |
The glass the youthful queen revealed,
|
|
|
1403 |
Here was the physic, death the patients' sufferings ended,
|
|
|
1404 |
And no one asked, who then was healed?
|
|
|
1405 |
Thus, with electuaries so satanic,
|
|
|
1406 |
Worse than the plague with all its panic,
|
|
|
1407 |
We rioted through hill and vale;
|
|
|
1408 |
Myself, with my own hands, the drug to thousands giving,
|
|
|
1409 |
They passed away, and I am living
|
|
|
1410 |
To hear men's thanks the murderers hail!
|
|
|
1411 |
|
|
|
1412 |
_Wagner._ Forbear! far other name that service merits!
|
|
|
1413 |
Can a brave man do more or less
|
|
|
1414 |
Than with nice conscientiousness
|
|
|
1415 |
To exercise the calling he inherits?
|
|
|
1416 |
If thou, as youth, thy father honorest,
|
|
|
1417 |
To learn from him thou wilt desire;
|
|
|
1418 |
If thou, as man, men with new light hast blest,
|
|
|
1419 |
Then may thy son to loftier heights aspire.
|
|
|
1420 |
|
|
|
1421 |
_Faust._ O blest! who hopes to find repose,
|
|
|
1422 |
Up from this mighty sea of error diving!
|
|
|
1423 |
Man cannot use what he already knows,
|
|
|
1424 |
To use the unknown ever striving.
|
|
|
1425 |
But let not such dark thoughts a shadow throw
|
|
|
1426 |
O'er the bright joy this hour inspires!
|
|
|
1427 |
See how the setting sun, with ruddy glow,
|
|
|
1428 |
The green-embosomed hamlet fires!
|
|
|
1429 |
He sinks and fades, the day is lived and gone,
|
|
|
1430 |
He hastens forth new scenes of life to waken.
|
|
|
1431 |
O for a wing to lift and bear me on,
|
|
|
1432 |
And on, to where his last rays beckon!
|
|
|
1433 |
Then should I see the world's calm breast
|
|
|
1434 |
In everlasting sunset glowing,
|
|
|
1435 |
The summits all on fire, each valley steeped in rest,
|
|
|
1436 |
The silver brook to golden rivers flowing.
|
|
|
1437 |
No savage mountain climbing to the skies
|
|
|
1438 |
Should stay the godlike course with wild abysses;
|
|
|
1439 |
And now the sea, with sheltering, warm recesses
|
|
|
1440 |
Spreads out before the astonished eyes.
|
|
|
1441 |
At last it seems as if the God were sinking;
|
|
|
1442 |
But a new impulse fires the mind,
|
|
|
1443 |
Onward I speed, his endless glory drinking,
|
|
|
1444 |
The day before me and the night behind,
|
|
|
1445 |
The heavens above my head and under me the ocean.
|
|
|
1446 |
A lovely dream,--meanwhile he's gone from sight.
|
|
|
1447 |
Ah! sure, no earthly wing, in swiftest flight,
|
|
|
1448 |
May with the spirit's wings hold equal motion.
|
|
|
1449 |
Yet has each soul an inborn feeling
|
|
|
1450 |
Impelling it to mount and soar away,
|
|
|
1451 |
When, lost in heaven's blue depths, the lark is pealing
|
|
|
1452 |
High overhead her airy lay;
|
|
|
1453 |
When o'er the mountain pine's black shadow,
|
|
|
1454 |
With outspread wing the eagle sweeps,
|
|
|
1455 |
And, steering on o'er lake and meadow,
|
|
|
1456 |
The crane his homeward journey keeps.
|
|
|
1457 |
|
|
|
1458 |
_Wagner._ I've had myself full many a wayward hour,
|
|
|
1459 |
But never yet felt such a passion's power.
|
|
|
1460 |
One soon grows tired of field and wood and brook,
|
|
|
1461 |
I envy not the fowl of heaven his pinions.
|
|
|
1462 |
Far nobler joy to soar through thought's dominions
|
|
|
1463 |
From page to page, from book to book!
|
|
|
1464 |
Ah! winter nights, so dear to mind and soul!
|
|
|
1465 |
Warm, blissful life through all the limbs is thrilling,
|
|
|
1466 |
And when thy hands unfold a genuine ancient scroll,
|
|
|
1467 |
It seems as if all heaven the room were filling.
|
|
|
1468 |
|
|
|
1469 |
_Faust_. One passion only has thy heart possessed;
|
|
|
1470 |
The other, friend, O, learn it never!
|
|
|
1471 |
Two souls, alas! are lodged in my wild breast,
|
|
|
1472 |
Which evermore opposing ways endeavor,
|
|
|
1473 |
The one lives only on the joys of time,
|
|
|
1474 |
Still to the world with clamp-like organs clinging;
|
|
|
1475 |
The other leaves this earthly dust and slime,
|
|
|
1476 |
To fields of sainted sires up-springing.
|
|
|
1477 |
O, are there spirits in the air,
|
|
|
1478 |
That empire hold 'twixt earth's and heaven's dominions,
|
|
|
1479 |
Down from your realm of golden haze repair,
|
|
|
1480 |
Waft me to new, rich life, upon your rosy pinions!
|
|
|
1481 |
Ay! were a magic mantle only mine,
|
|
|
1482 |
To soar o'er earth's wide wildernesses,
|
|
|
1483 |
I would not sell it for the costliest dresses,
|
|
|
1484 |
Not for a royal robe the gift resign.
|
|
|
1485 |
|
|
|
1486 |
_Wagner_. O, call them not, the well known powers of air,
|
|
|
1487 |
That swarm through all the middle kingdom, weaving
|
|
|
1488 |
Their fairy webs, with many a fatal snare
|
|
|
1489 |
The feeble race of men deceiving.
|
|
|
1490 |
First, the sharp spirit-tooth, from out the North,
|
|
|
1491 |
And arrowy tongues and fangs come thickly flying;
|
|
|
1492 |
Then from the East they greedily dart forth,
|
|
|
1493 |
Sucking thy lungs, thy life-juice drying;
|
|
|
1494 |
If from the South they come with fever thirst,
|
|
|
1495 |
Upon thy head noon's fiery splendors heaping;
|
|
|
1496 |
The Westwind brings a swarm, refreshing first,
|
|
|
1497 |
Then all thy world with thee in stupor steeping.
|
|
|
1498 |
They listen gladly, aye on mischief bent,
|
|
|
1499 |
Gladly draw near, each weak point to espy,
|
|
|
1500 |
They make believe that they from heaven are sent,
|
|
|
1501 |
Whispering like angels, while they lie.
|
|
|
1502 |
But let us go! The earth looks gray, my friend,
|
|
|
1503 |
The air grows cool, the mists ascend!
|
|
|
1504 |
At night we learn our homes to prize.--
|
|
|
1505 |
Why dost thou stop and stare with all thy eyes?
|
|
|
1506 |
What can so chain thy sight there, in the gloaming?
|
|
|
1507 |
|
|
|
1508 |
_Faust_. Seest thou that black dog through stalks and stubble roaming?
|
|
|
1509 |
|
|
|
1510 |
_Wagner_. I saw him some time since, he seemed not strange to me.
|
|
|
1511 |
|
|
|
1512 |
_Faust_. Look sharply! What dost take the beast to be?
|
|
|
1513 |
|
|
|
1514 |
_Wagner_. For some poor poodle who has lost his master,
|
|
|
1515 |
And, dog-like, scents him o'er the ground.
|
|
|
1516 |
|
|
|
1517 |
_Faust_. Markst thou how, ever nearer, ever faster,
|
|
|
1518 |
Towards us his spiral track wheels round and round?
|
|
|
1519 |
And if my senses suffer no confusion,
|
|
|
1520 |
Behind him trails a fiery glare.
|
|
|
1521 |
|
|
|
1522 |
_Wagner_. 'Tis probably an optical illusion;
|
|
|
1523 |
I still see only a black poodle there.
|
|
|
1524 |
|
|
|
1525 |
_Faust_. He seems to me as he were tracing slyly
|
|
|
1526 |
His magic rings our feet at last to snare.
|
|
|
1527 |
|
|
|
1528 |
_Wagner_. To me he seems to dart around our steps so shyly,
|
|
|
1529 |
As if he said: is one of them my master there?
|
|
|
1530 |
|
|
|
1531 |
_Faust_. The circle narrows, he is near!
|
|
|
1532 |
|
|
|
1533 |
_Wagner_. Thou seest! a dog we have, no spectre, here!
|
|
|
1534 |
He growls and stops, crawls on his belly, too,
|
|
|
1535 |
And wags his tail,--as all dogs do.
|
|
|
1536 |
|
|
|
1537 |
_Faust_. Come here, sir! come, our comrade be!
|
|
|
1538 |
|
|
|
1539 |
_Wagner_. He has a poodle's drollery.
|
|
|
1540 |
Stand still, and he, too, waits to see;
|
|
|
1541 |
Speak to him, and he jumps on thee;
|
|
|
1542 |
Lose something, drop thy cane or sling it
|
|
|
1543 |
Into the stream, he'll run and bring it.
|
|
|
1544 |
|
|
|
1545 |
_Faust_. I think you're right; I trace no spirit here,
|
|
|
1546 |
'Tis all the fruit of training, that is clear.
|
|
|
1547 |
|
|
|
1548 |
_Wagner_. A well-trained dog is a great treasure,
|
|
|
1549 |
Wise men in such will oft take pleasure.
|
|
|
1550 |
And he deserves your favor and a collar,
|
|
|
1551 |
He, of the students the accomplished scholar.
|
|
|
1552 |
|
|
|
1553 |
[_They go in through the town gate._]
|
|
|
1554 |
|
|
|
1555 |
|
|
|
1556 |
|
|
|
1557 |
|
|
|
1558 |
STUDY-CHAMBER.
|
|
|
1559 |
|
|
|
1560 |
_Enter_ FAUST _with the_ POODLE.
|
|
|
1561 |
|
|
|
1562 |
|
|
|
1563 |
I leave behind me field and meadow
|
|
|
1564 |
Veiled in the dusk of holy night,
|
|
|
1565 |
Whose ominous and awful shadow
|
|
|
1566 |
Awakes the better soul to light.
|
|
|
1567 |
To sleep are lulled the wild desires,
|
|
|
1568 |
The hand of passion lies at rest;
|
|
|
1569 |
The love of man the bosom fires,
|
|
|
1570 |
The love of God stirs up the breast.
|
|
|
1571 |
|
|
|
1572 |
Be quiet, poodle! what worrisome fiend hath possest thee,
|
|
|
1573 |
Nosing and snuffling so round the door?
|
|
|
1574 |
Go behind the stove there and rest thee,
|
|
|
1575 |
There's my best pillow--what wouldst thou more?
|
|
|
1576 |
As, out on the mountain-paths, frisking and leaping,
|
|
|
1577 |
Thou, to amuse us, hast done thy best,
|
|
|
1578 |
So now in return lie still in my keeping,
|
|
|
1579 |
A quiet, contented, and welcome guest.
|
|
|
1580 |
|
|
|
1581 |
When, in our narrow chamber, nightly,
|
|
|
1582 |
The friendly lamp begins to burn,
|
|
|
1583 |
Then in the bosom thought beams brightly,
|
|
|
1584 |
Homeward the heart will then return.
|
|
|
1585 |
Reason once more bids passion ponder,
|
|
|
1586 |
Hope blooms again and smiles on man;
|
|
|
1587 |
Back to life's rills he yearns to wander,
|
|
|
1588 |
Ah! to the source where life began.
|
|
|
1589 |
|
|
|
1590 |
Stop growling, poodle! In the music Elysian
|
|
|
1591 |
That laps my soul at this holy hour,
|
|
|
1592 |
These bestial noises have jarring power.
|
|
|
1593 |
We know that men will treat with derision
|
|
|
1594 |
Whatever they cannot understand,
|
|
|
1595 |
At goodness and truth and beauty's vision
|
|
|
1596 |
Will shut their eyes and murmur and howl at it;
|
|
|
1597 |
And must the dog, too, snarl and growl at it?
|
|
|
1598 |
|
|
|
1599 |
But ah, with the best will, I feel already,
|
|
|
1600 |
No peace will well up in me, clear and steady.
|
|
|
1601 |
But why must hope so soon deceive us,
|
|
|
1602 |
And the dried-up stream in fever leave us?
|
|
|
1603 |
For in this I have had a full probation.
|
|
|
1604 |
And yet for this want a supply is provided,
|
|
|
1605 |
To a higher than earth the soul is guided,
|
|
|
1606 |
We are ready and yearn for revelation:
|
|
|
1607 |
And where are its light and warmth so blent
|
|
|
1608 |
As here in the New Testament?
|
|
|
1609 |
I feel, this moment, a mighty yearning
|
|
|
1610 |
To expound for once the ground text of all,
|
|
|
1611 |
The venerable original
|
|
|
1612 |
Into my own loved German honestly turning.
|
|
|
1613 |
[_He opens the volume, and applies himself to the task_.]
|
|
|
1614 |
"In the beginning was the _Word_." I read.
|
|
|
1615 |
But here I stick! Who helps me to proceed?
|
|
|
1616 |
The _Word_--so high I cannot--dare not, rate it,
|
|
|
1617 |
I must, then, otherwise translate it,
|
|
|
1618 |
If by the spirit I am rightly taught.
|
|
|
1619 |
It reads: "In the beginning was the _thought_."
|
|
|
1620 |
But study well this first line's lesson,
|
|
|
1621 |
Nor let thy pen to error overhasten!
|
|
|
1622 |
Is it the _thought_ does all from time's first hour?
|
|
|
1623 |
"In the beginning," read then, "was the _power_."
|
|
|
1624 |
Yet even while I write it down, my finger
|
|
|
1625 |
Is checked, a voice forbids me there to linger.
|
|
|
1626 |
The spirit helps! At once I dare to read
|
|
|
1627 |
And write: "In the beginning was the _deed_."
|
|
|
1628 |
|
|
|
1629 |
If I with thee must share my chamber,
|
|
|
1630 |
Poodle, now, remember,
|
|
|
1631 |
No more howling,
|
|
|
1632 |
No more growling!
|
|
|
1633 |
I had as lief a bull should bellow,
|
|
|
1634 |
As have for a chum such a noisy fellow.
|
|
|
1635 |
Stop that yell, now,
|
|
|
1636 |
One of us must quit this cell now!
|
|
|
1637 |
'Tis hard to retract hospitality,
|
|
|
1638 |
But the door is open, thy way is free.
|
|
|
1639 |
But what ails the creature?
|
|
|
1640 |
Is this in the course of nature?
|
|
|
1641 |
Is it real? or one of Fancy's shows?
|
|
|
1642 |
|
|
|
1643 |
How long and broad my poodle grows!
|
|
|
1644 |
He rises from the ground;
|
|
|
1645 |
That is no longer the form of a hound!
|
|
|
1646 |
Heaven avert the curse from us!
|
|
|
1647 |
He looks like a hippopotamus,
|
|
|
1648 |
With his fiery eyes and the terrible white
|
|
|
1649 |
Of his grinning teeth! oh what a fright
|
|
|
1650 |
Have I brought with me into the house! Ah now,
|
|
|
1651 |
No mystery art thou!
|
|
|
1652 |
Methinks for such half hellish brood
|
|
|
1653 |
The key of Solomon were good.
|
|
|
1654 |
|
|
|
1655 |
_Spirits_ [_in the passage_]. Softly! a fellow is caught there!
|
|
|
1656 |
Keep back, all of you, follow him not there!
|
|
|
1657 |
Like the fox in the trap,
|
|
|
1658 |
Mourns the old hell-lynx his mishap.
|
|
|
1659 |
But give ye good heed!
|
|
|
1660 |
This way hover, that way hover,
|
|
|
1661 |
Over and over,
|
|
|
1662 |
And he shall right soon be freed.
|
|
|
1663 |
Help can you give him,
|
|
|
1664 |
O do not leave him!
|
|
|
1665 |
Many good turns he's done us,
|
|
|
1666 |
Many a fortune won us.
|
|
|
1667 |
|
|
|
1668 |
_Faust_. First, to encounter the creature
|
|
|
1669 |
By the spell of the Four, says the teacher:
|
|
|
1670 |
Salamander shall glisten,[12]
|
|
|
1671 |
Undina lapse lightly,
|
|
|
1672 |
Sylph vanish brightly,
|
|
|
1673 |
Kobold quick listen.
|
|
|
1674 |
|
|
|
1675 |
He to whom Nature
|
|
|
1676 |
Shows not, as teacher,
|
|
|
1677 |
Every force
|
|
|
1678 |
And secret source,
|
|
|
1679 |
Over the spirits
|
|
|
1680 |
No power inherits.
|
|
|
1681 |
|
|
|
1682 |
Vanish in glowing
|
|
|
1683 |
Flame, Salamander!
|
|
|
1684 |
Inward, spirally flowing,
|
|
|
1685 |
Gurgle, Undine!
|
|
|
1686 |
Gleam in meteoric splendor,
|
|
|
1687 |
Airy Queen!
|
|
|
1688 |
Thy homely help render,
|
|
|
1689 |
Incubus! Incubus!
|
|
|
1690 |
Forth and end the charm for us!
|
|
|
1691 |
|
|
|
1692 |
No kingdom of Nature
|
|
|
1693 |
Resides in the creature.
|
|
|
1694 |
He lies there grinning--'tis clear, my charm
|
|
|
1695 |
Has done the monster no mite of harm.
|
|
|
1696 |
I'll try, for thy curing,
|
|
|
1697 |
Stronger adjuring.
|
|
|
1698 |
|
|
|
1699 |
Art thou a jail-bird,
|
|
|
1700 |
A runaway hell-bird?
|
|
|
1701 |
This sign,[13] then--adore it!
|
|
|
1702 |
They tremble before it
|
|
|
1703 |
All through the dark dwelling.
|
|
|
1704 |
|
|
|
1705 |
His hair is bristling--his body swelling.
|
|
|
1706 |
|
|
|
1707 |
Reprobate creature!
|
|
|
1708 |
Canst read his nature?
|
|
|
1709 |
The Uncreated,
|
|
|
1710 |
Ineffably Holy,
|
|
|
1711 |
With Deity mated,
|
|
|
1712 |
Sin's victim lowly?
|
|
|
1713 |
|
|
|
1714 |
Driven behind the stove by my spells,
|
|
|
1715 |
Like an elephant he swells;
|
|
|
1716 |
He fills the whole room, so huge he's grown,
|
|
|
1717 |
He waxes shadowy faster and faster.
|
|
|
1718 |
Rise not up to the ceiling--down!
|
|
|
1719 |
Lay thyself at the feet of thy master!
|
|
|
1720 |
Thou seest, there's reason to dread my ire.
|
|
|
1721 |
I'll scorch thee with the holy fire!
|
|
|
1722 |
Wait not for the sight
|
|
|
1723 |
Of the thrice-glowing light!
|
|
|
1724 |
Wait not to feel the might
|
|
|
1725 |
Of the potentest spell in all my treasure!
|
|
|
1726 |
|
|
|
1727 |
|
|
|
1728 |
MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
1729 |
[_As the mist sinks, steps forth from behind the stove,
|
|
|
1730 |
dressed as a travelling scholasticus_.]
|
|
|
1731 |
Why all this noise? What is your worship's pleasure?
|
|
|
1732 |
|
|
|
1733 |
_Faust_. This was the poodle's essence then!
|
|
|
1734 |
A travelling clark? Ha! ha! The casus is too funny.
|
|
|
1735 |
|
|
|
1736 |
_Mephistopheles_. I bow to the most learned among men!
|
|
|
1737 |
'Faith you did sweat me without ceremony.
|
|
|
1738 |
|
|
|
1739 |
_Faust_. What is thy name?
|
|
|
1740 |
|
|
|
1741 |
_Mephistopheles_. The question seems too small
|
|
|
1742 |
For one who holds the _word_ so very cheaply,
|
|
|
1743 |
Who, far removed from shadows all,
|
|
|
1744 |
For substances alone seeks deeply.
|
|
|
1745 |
|
|
|
1746 |
_Faust_. With gentlemen like him in my presence,
|
|
|
1747 |
The name is apt to express the essence,
|
|
|
1748 |
Especially if, when you inquire,
|
|
|
1749 |
You find it God of flies,[14] Destroyer, Slanderer, Liar.
|
|
|
1750 |
Well now, who art thou then?
|
|
|
1751 |
|
|
|
1752 |
_Mephistopheles_. A portion of that power,
|
|
|
1753 |
Which wills the bad and works the good at every hour.
|
|
|
1754 |
|
|
|
1755 |
_Faust_. Beneath thy riddle-word what meaning lies?
|
|
|
1756 |
|
|
|
1757 |
_Mephistopheles_. I am the spirit that denies!
|
|
|
1758 |
And justly so; for all that time creates,
|
|
|
1759 |
He does well who annihilates!
|
|
|
1760 |
Better, it ne'er had had beginning;
|
|
|
1761 |
And so, then, all that you call sinning,
|
|
|
1762 |
Destruction,--all you pronounce ill-meant,--
|
|
|
1763 |
Is my original element.
|
|
|
1764 |
|
|
|
1765 |
_Faust_. Thou call'st thyself a part, yet lookst complete to me.
|
|
|
1766 |
|
|
|
1767 |
_Mephistopheles_. I speak the modest truth to thee.
|
|
|
1768 |
A world of folly in one little soul,
|
|
|
1769 |
_Man_ loves to think himself a whole;
|
|
|
1770 |
Part of the part am I, which once was all, the Gloom
|
|
|
1771 |
That brought forth Light itself from out her mighty womb,
|
|
|
1772 |
The upstart proud, that now with mother Night
|
|
|
1773 |
Disputes her ancient rank and space and right,
|
|
|
1774 |
Yet never shall prevail, since, do whate'er he will,
|
|
|
1775 |
He cleaves, a slave, to bodies still;
|
|
|
1776 |
From bodies flows, makes bodies fair to sight;
|
|
|
1777 |
A body in his course can check him,
|
|
|
1778 |
His doom, I therefore hope, will soon o'ertake him,
|
|
|
1779 |
With bodies merged in nothingness and night.
|
|
|
1780 |
|
|
|
1781 |
_Faust_. Ah, now I see thy high vocation!
|
|
|
1782 |
In gross thou canst not harm creation,
|
|
|
1783 |
And so in small hast now begun.
|
|
|
1784 |
|
|
|
1785 |
_Mephistopheles_. And, truth to tell, e'en here, not much have done.
|
|
|
1786 |
That which at nothing the gauntlet has hurled,
|
|
|
1787 |
This, what's its name? this clumsy world,
|
|
|
1788 |
So far as I have undertaken,
|
|
|
1789 |
I have to own, remains unshaken
|
|
|
1790 |
By wave, storm, earthquake, fiery brand.
|
|
|
1791 |
Calm, after all, remain both sea and land.
|
|
|
1792 |
And the damn'd living fluff, of man and beast the brood,
|
|
|
1793 |
It laughs to scorn my utmost power.
|
|
|
1794 |
I've buried myriads by the hour,
|
|
|
1795 |
And still there circulates each hour a new, fresh blood.
|
|
|
1796 |
It were enough to drive one to distraction!
|
|
|
1797 |
Earth, water, air, in constant action,
|
|
|
1798 |
Through moist and dry, through warm and cold,
|
|
|
1799 |
Going forth in endless germination!
|
|
|
1800 |
Had I not claimed of fire a reservation,
|
|
|
1801 |
Not one thing I alone should hold.
|
|
|
1802 |
|
|
|
1803 |
_Faust_. Thus, with the ever-working power
|
|
|
1804 |
Of good dost thou in strife persist,
|
|
|
1805 |
And in vain malice, to this hour,
|
|
|
1806 |
Clenchest thy cold and devilish fist!
|
|
|
1807 |
Go try some other occupation,
|
|
|
1808 |
Singular son of Chaos, thou!
|
|
|
1809 |
|
|
|
1810 |
_Mephistopheles_. We'll give the thing consideration,
|
|
|
1811 |
When next we meet again! But now
|
|
|
1812 |
Might I for once, with leave retire?
|
|
|
1813 |
|
|
|
1814 |
_Faust_. Why thou shouldst ask I do not see.
|
|
|
1815 |
Now that I know thee, when desire
|
|
|
1816 |
Shall prompt thee, freely visit me.
|
|
|
1817 |
Window and door give free admission.
|
|
|
1818 |
At least there's left the chimney flue.
|
|
|
1819 |
|
|
|
1820 |
_Mephistopheles_. Let me confess there's one small prohibition
|
|
|
1821 |
|
|
|
1822 |
Lies on thy threshold, 'gainst my walking through,
|
|
|
1823 |
The wizard-foot--[15]
|
|
|
1824 |
|
|
|
1825 |
_Faust_. Does that delay thee?
|
|
|
1826 |
The Pentagram disturbs thee? Now,
|
|
|
1827 |
Come tell me, son of hell, I pray thee,
|
|
|
1828 |
If that spell-binds thee, then how enteredst thou?
|
|
|
1829 |
_Thou_ shouldst proceed more circumspectly!
|
|
|
1830 |
|
|
|
1831 |
_Mephistopheles_. Mark well! the figure is not drawn correctly;
|
|
|
1832 |
One of the angles, 'tis the outer one,
|
|
|
1833 |
Is somewhat open, dost perceive it?
|
|
|
1834 |
|
|
|
1835 |
_Faust_. That was a lucky hit, believe it!
|
|
|
1836 |
And I have caught thee then? Well done!
|
|
|
1837 |
'Twas wholly chance--I'm quite astounded!
|
|
|
1838 |
|
|
|
1839 |
_Mephistopheles_. The _poodle_ took no heed,
|
|
|
1840 |
as through the door he bounded;
|
|
|
1841 |
The case looks differently now;
|
|
|
1842 |
The _devil_ can leave the house no-how.
|
|
|
1843 |
|
|
|
1844 |
_Faust_. The window offers free emission.
|
|
|
1845 |
|
|
|
1846 |
_Mephistopheles_. Devils and ghosts are bound by this condition:
|
|
|
1847 |
|
|
|
1848 |
The way they entered in, they must come out. Allow
|
|
|
1849 |
In the first clause we're free, yet not so in the second.
|
|
|
1850 |
|
|
|
1851 |
_Faust_. In hell itself, then, laws are reckoned?
|
|
|
1852 |
Now that I like; so then, one may, in fact,
|
|
|
1853 |
Conclude a binding compact with you gentry?
|
|
|
1854 |
|
|
|
1855 |
_Mephistopheles_. Whatever promise on our books finds entry,
|
|
|
1856 |
We strictly carry into act.
|
|
|
1857 |
But hereby hangs a grave condition,
|
|
|
1858 |
Of this we'll talk when next we meet;
|
|
|
1859 |
But for the present I entreat
|
|
|
1860 |
Most urgently your kind dismission.
|
|
|
1861 |
|
|
|
1862 |
_Faust_. Do stay but just one moment longer, then,
|
|
|
1863 |
Tell me good news and I'll release thee.
|
|
|
1864 |
|
|
|
1865 |
_Mephistopheles_. Let me go now! I'll soon come back again,
|
|
|
1866 |
Then may'st thou ask whate'er shall please thee.
|
|
|
1867 |
|
|
|
1868 |
_Faust_. I laid no snare for thee, old chap!
|
|
|
1869 |
Thou shouldst have watched and saved thy bacon.
|
|
|
1870 |
Who has the devil in his trap
|
|
|
1871 |
Must hold him fast, next time he'll not so soon be taken.
|
|
|
1872 |
|
|
|
1873 |
_Mephistopheles_. Well, if it please thee, I'm content to stay
|
|
|
1874 |
For company, on one condition,
|
|
|
1875 |
That I, for thy amusement, may
|
|
|
1876 |
To exercise my arts have free permission.
|
|
|
1877 |
|
|
|
1878 |
_Faust_. I gladly grant it, if they be
|
|
|
1879 |
Not disagreeable to me.
|
|
|
1880 |
|
|
|
1881 |
_Mephistopheles_. Thy senses, friend, in this one hour
|
|
|
1882 |
Shall grasp the world with clearer power
|
|
|
1883 |
Than in a year's monotony.
|
|
|
1884 |
The songs the tender spirits sing thee,
|
|
|
1885 |
The lovely images they bring thee
|
|
|
1886 |
Are not an idle magic play.
|
|
|
1887 |
Thou shalt enjoy the daintiest savor,
|
|
|
1888 |
Then feast thy taste on richest flavor,
|
|
|
1889 |
Then thy charmed heart shall melt away.
|
|
|
1890 |
Come, all are here, and all have been
|
|
|
1891 |
Well trained and practised, now begin!
|
|
|
1892 |
|
|
|
1893 |
_Spirits_. Vanish, ye gloomy
|
|
|
1894 |
Vaulted abysses!
|
|
|
1895 |
Tenderer, clearer,
|
|
|
1896 |
Friendlier, nearer,
|
|
|
1897 |
Ether, look through!
|
|
|
1898 |
O that the darkling
|
|
|
1899 |
Cloud-piles were riven!
|
|
|
1900 |
Starlight is sparkling,
|
|
|
1901 |
Purer is heaven,
|
|
|
1902 |
Holier sunshine
|
|
|
1903 |
Softens the blue.
|
|
|
1904 |
Graces, adorning
|
|
|
1905 |
Sons of the morning--
|
|
|
1906 |
Shadowy wavings--
|
|
|
1907 |
Float along over;
|
|
|
1908 |
Yearnings and cravings
|
|
|
1909 |
After them hover.
|
|
|
1910 |
Garments ethereal,
|
|
|
1911 |
Tresses aerial,
|
|
|
1912 |
Float o'er the flowers,
|
|
|
1913 |
Float o'er the bowers,
|
|
|
1914 |
Where, with deep feeling,
|
|
|
1915 |
Thoughtful and tender,
|
|
|
1916 |
Lovers, embracing,
|
|
|
1917 |
Life-vows are sealing.
|
|
|
1918 |
Bowers on bowers!
|
|
|
1919 |
Graceful and slender
|
|
|
1920 |
Vines interlacing!
|
|
|
1921 |
Purple and blushing,
|
|
|
1922 |
Under the crushing
|
|
|
1923 |
Wine-presses gushing,
|
|
|
1924 |
Grape-blood, o'erflowing,
|
|
|
1925 |
Down over gleaming
|
|
|
1926 |
Precious stones streaming,
|
|
|
1927 |
Leaves the bright glowing
|
|
|
1928 |
Tops of the mountains,
|
|
|
1929 |
Leaves the red fountains,
|
|
|
1930 |
Widening and rushing,
|
|
|
1931 |
Till it encloses
|
|
|
1932 |
Green hills all flushing,
|
|
|
1933 |
Laden with roses.
|
|
|
1934 |
Happy ones, swarming,
|
|
|
1935 |
Ply their swift pinions,
|
|
|
1936 |
Glide through the charming
|
|
|
1937 |
Airy dominions,
|
|
|
1938 |
Sunward still fleering,
|
|
|
1939 |
Onward, where peering
|
|
|
1940 |
Far o'er the ocean,
|
|
|
1941 |
Islets are dancing
|
|
|
1942 |
With an entrancing,
|
|
|
1943 |
Magical motion;
|
|
|
1944 |
Hear them, in chorus,
|
|
|
1945 |
Singing high o'er us;
|
|
|
1946 |
Over the meadows
|
|
|
1947 |
Flit the bright shadows;
|
|
|
1948 |
Glad eyes are glancing,
|
|
|
1949 |
Tiny feet dancing.
|
|
|
1950 |
Up the high ridges
|
|
|
1951 |
Some of them clamber,
|
|
|
1952 |
Others are skimming
|
|
|
1953 |
Sky-lakes of amber,
|
|
|
1954 |
Others are swimming
|
|
|
1955 |
Over the ocean;--
|
|
|
1956 |
All are in motion,
|
|
|
1957 |
Life-ward all yearning,
|
|
|
1958 |
Longingly turning
|
|
|
1959 |
To the far-burning
|
|
|
1960 |
Star-light of bliss.
|
|
|
1961 |
|
|
|
1962 |
_Mephistopheles_. He sleeps! Ye airy, tender youths, your numbers
|
|
|
1963 |
Have sung him into sweetest slumbers!
|
|
|
1964 |
You put me greatly in your debt by this.
|
|
|
1965 |
Thou art not yet the man that shall hold fast the devil!
|
|
|
1966 |
Still cheat his senses with your magic revel,
|
|
|
1967 |
Drown him in dreams of endless youth;
|
|
|
1968 |
But this charm-mountain on the sill to level,
|
|
|
1969 |
I need, O rat, thy pointed tooth!
|
|
|
1970 |
Nor need I conjure long, they're near me,
|
|
|
1971 |
E'en now comes scampering one, who presently will hear me.
|
|
|
1972 |
|
|
|
1973 |
The sovereign lord of rats and mice,
|
|
|
1974 |
Of flies and frogs and bugs and lice,
|
|
|
1975 |
Commands thee to come forth this hour,
|
|
|
1976 |
And gnaw this threshold with great power,
|
|
|
1977 |
As he with oil the same shall smear--
|
|
|
1978 |
Ha! with a skip e'en now thou'rt here!
|
|
|
1979 |
But brisk to work! The point by which I'm cowered,
|
|
|
1980 |
Is on the ledge, the farthest forward.
|
|
|
1981 |
Yet one more bite, the deed is done.--
|
|
|
1982 |
Now, Faust, until we meet again, dream on!
|
|
|
1983 |
|
|
|
1984 |
_Faust_. [_Waking_.] Again has witchcraft triumphed o'er me?
|
|
|
1985 |
Was it a ghostly show, so soon withdrawn?
|
|
|
1986 |
I dream, the devil stands himself before me--wake, to find a poodle gone!
|
|
|
1987 |
|
|
|
1988 |
|
|
|
1989 |
|
|
|
1990 |
|
|
|
1991 |
STUDY-CHAMBER.
|
|
|
1992 |
|
|
|
1993 |
FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
1994 |
|
|
|
1995 |
|
|
|
1996 |
_Faust_. A knock? Walk in! Who comes again to tease me?
|
|
|
1997 |
|
|
|
1998 |
_Mephistopheles_. 'Tis I.
|
|
|
1999 |
|
|
|
2000 |
_Faust_. Come in!
|
|
|
2001 |
|
|
|
2002 |
_Mephistopheles_. Must say it thrice, to please me.
|
|
|
2003 |
|
|
|
2004 |
_Faust_. Come in then!
|
|
|
2005 |
|
|
|
2006 |
_Mephistopheles_. That I like to hear.
|
|
|
2007 |
We shall, I hope, bear with each other;
|
|
|
2008 |
For to dispel thy crotchets, brother,
|
|
|
2009 |
As a young lord, I now appear,
|
|
|
2010 |
In scarlet dress, trimmed with gold lacing,
|
|
|
2011 |
A stiff silk cloak with stylish facing,
|
|
|
2012 |
A tall cock's feather in my hat,
|
|
|
2013 |
A long, sharp rapier to defend me,
|
|
|
2014 |
And I advise thee, short and flat,
|
|
|
2015 |
In the same costume to attend me;
|
|
|
2016 |
If thou wouldst, unembarrassed, see
|
|
|
2017 |
What sort of thing this life may be.
|
|
|
2018 |
|
|
|
2019 |
_Faust_. In every dress I well may feel the sore
|
|
|
2020 |
Of this low earth-life's melancholy.
|
|
|
2021 |
I am too old to live for folly,
|
|
|
2022 |
Too young, to wish for nothing more.
|
|
|
2023 |
Am I content with all creation?
|
|
|
2024 |
Renounce! renounce! Renunciation--
|
|
|
2025 |
Such is the everlasting song
|
|
|
2026 |
That in the ears of all men rings,
|
|
|
2027 |
Which every hour, our whole life long,
|
|
|
2028 |
With brazen accents hoarsely sings.
|
|
|
2029 |
With terror I behold each morning's light,
|
|
|
2030 |
With bitter tears my eyes are filling,
|
|
|
2031 |
To see the day that shall not in its flight
|
|
|
2032 |
Fulfil for me one wish, not one, but killing
|
|
|
2033 |
Every presentiment of zest
|
|
|
2034 |
With wayward skepticism, chases
|
|
|
2035 |
The fair creations from my breast
|
|
|
2036 |
With all life's thousand cold grimaces.
|
|
|
2037 |
And when at night I stretch me on my bed
|
|
|
2038 |
And darkness spreads its shadow o'er me;
|
|
|
2039 |
No rest comes then anigh my weary head,
|
|
|
2040 |
Wild dreams and spectres dance before me.
|
|
|
2041 |
The God who dwells within my soul
|
|
|
2042 |
Can heave its depths at any hour;
|
|
|
2043 |
Who holds o'er all my faculties control
|
|
|
2044 |
Has o'er the outer world no power;
|
|
|
2045 |
Existence lies a load upon my breast,
|
|
|
2046 |
Life is a curse and death a long'd-for rest.
|
|
|
2047 |
|
|
|
2048 |
_Mephistopheles_. And yet death never proves a wholly welcome guest.
|
|
|
2049 |
|
|
|
2050 |
_Faust_. O blest! for whom, when victory's joy fire blazes,
|
|
|
2051 |
Death round his brow the bloody laurel windeth,
|
|
|
2052 |
Whom, weary with the dance's mazes,
|
|
|
2053 |
He on a maiden's bosom findeth.
|
|
|
2054 |
O that, beneath the exalted spirit's power,
|
|
|
2055 |
I had expired, in rapture sinking!
|
|
|
2056 |
|
|
|
2057 |
_Mephistopheles_. And yet I knew one, in a midnight hour,
|
|
|
2058 |
Who a brown liquid shrank from drinking.
|
|
|
2059 |
|
|
|
2060 |
_Faust_. Eaves-dropping seems a favorite game with thee.
|
|
|
2061 |
|
|
|
2062 |
_Mephistopheles_. Omniscient am I not; yet much is known to me.
|
|
|
2063 |
|
|
|
2064 |
_Faust_. Since that sweet tone, with fond appealing,
|
|
|
2065 |
Drew me from witchcraft's horrid maze,
|
|
|
2066 |
And woke the lingering childlike feeling
|
|
|
2067 |
With harmonies of happier days;
|
|
|
2068 |
My curse on all the mock-creations
|
|
|
2069 |
That weave their spell around the soul,
|
|
|
2070 |
And bind it with their incantations
|
|
|
2071 |
And orgies to this wretched hole!
|
|
|
2072 |
Accursed be the high opinion
|
|
|
2073 |
Hugged by the self-exalting mind!
|
|
|
2074 |
Accursed all the dream-dominion
|
|
|
2075 |
That makes the dazzled senses blind!
|
|
|
2076 |
Curs'd be each vision that befools us,
|
|
|
2077 |
Of fame, outlasting earthly life!
|
|
|
2078 |
Curs'd all that, as possession, rules us,
|
|
|
2079 |
As house and barn, as child and wife!
|
|
|
2080 |
Accurs'd be mammon, when with treasure
|
|
|
2081 |
He fires our hearts for deeds of might,
|
|
|
2082 |
When, for a dream of idle pleasure,
|
|
|
2083 |
He makes our pillow smooth and light!
|
|
|
2084 |
Curs'd be the grape-vine's balsam-juices!
|
|
|
2085 |
On love's high grace my curses fall!
|
|
|
2086 |
On faith! On hope that man seduces,
|
|
|
2087 |
On patience last, not least, of all!
|
|
|
2088 |
|
|
|
2089 |
_Choir of spirits_. [_Invisible_.] Woe! Woe!
|
|
|
2090 |
Thou hast ground it to dust,
|
|
|
2091 |
The beautiful world,
|
|
|
2092 |
With mighty fist;
|
|
|
2093 |
To ruins 'tis hurled;
|
|
|
2094 |
A demi-god's blow hath done it!
|
|
|
2095 |
A moment we look upon it,
|
|
|
2096 |
Then carry (sad duty!)
|
|
|
2097 |
The fragments over into nothingness,
|
|
|
2098 |
With tears unavailing
|
|
|
2099 |
Bewailing
|
|
|
2100 |
All the departed beauty.
|
|
|
2101 |
Lordlier
|
|
|
2102 |
Than all sons of men,
|
|
|
2103 |
Proudlier
|
|
|
2104 |
Build it again,
|
|
|
2105 |
Build it up in thy breast anew!
|
|
|
2106 |
A fresh career pursue,
|
|
|
2107 |
Before thee
|
|
|
2108 |
A clearer view,
|
|
|
2109 |
And, from the Empyréan,
|
|
|
2110 |
A new-born Paean
|
|
|
2111 |
Shall greet thee, too!
|
|
|
2112 |
|
|
|
2113 |
_Mephistopheles_. Be pleased to admire
|
|
|
2114 |
My juvenile choir!
|
|
|
2115 |
Hear how they counsel in manly measure
|
|
|
2116 |
Action and pleasure!
|
|
|
2117 |
Out into life,
|
|
|
2118 |
Its joy and strife,
|
|
|
2119 |
Away from this lonely hole,
|
|
|
2120 |
Where senses and soul
|
|
|
2121 |
Rot in stagnation,
|
|
|
2122 |
Calls thee their high invitation.
|
|
|
2123 |
|
|
|
2124 |
Give over toying with thy sorrow
|
|
|
2125 |
Which like a vulture feeds upon thy heart;
|
|
|
2126 |
Thou shalt, in the worst company, to-morrow
|
|
|
2127 |
Feel that with men a man thou art.
|
|
|
2128 |
Yet I do not exactly intend
|
|
|
2129 |
Among the canaille to plant thee.
|
|
|
2130 |
I'm none of your magnates, I grant thee;
|
|
|
2131 |
Yet if thou art willing, my friend,
|
|
|
2132 |
Through life to jog on beside me,
|
|
|
2133 |
Thy pleasure in all things shall guide me,
|
|
|
2134 |
To thee will I bind me,
|
|
|
2135 |
A friend thou shalt find me,
|
|
|
2136 |
And, e'en to the grave,
|
|
|
2137 |
Shalt make me thy servant, make me thy slave!
|
|
|
2138 |
|
|
|
2139 |
_Faust_. And in return what service shall I render?
|
|
|
2140 |
|
|
|
2141 |
_Mephistopheles_. There's ample grace--no hurry, not the least.
|
|
|
2142 |
|
|
|
2143 |
_Faust_. No, no, the devil is an egotist,
|
|
|
2144 |
And does not easily "for God's sake" tender
|
|
|
2145 |
That which a neighbor may assist.
|
|
|
2146 |
Speak plainly the conditions, come!
|
|
|
2147 |
'Tis dangerous taking such a servant home.
|
|
|
2148 |
|
|
|
2149 |
_Mephistopheles_. I to thy service _here_ agree to bind me,
|
|
|
2150 |
To run and never rest at call of thee;
|
|
|
2151 |
When _over yonder_ thou shalt find me,
|
|
|
2152 |
Then thou shalt do as much for me.
|
|
|
2153 |
|
|
|
2154 |
_Faust_. I care not much what's over yonder:
|
|
|
2155 |
When thou hast knocked this world asunder,
|
|
|
2156 |
Come if it will the other may!
|
|
|
2157 |
Up from this earth my pleasures all are streaming,
|
|
|
2158 |
Down on my woes this earthly sun is beaming;
|
|
|
2159 |
Let me but end this fit of dreaming,
|
|
|
2160 |
Then come what will, I've nought to say.
|
|
|
2161 |
I'll hear no more of barren wonder
|
|
|
2162 |
If in that world they hate and love,
|
|
|
2163 |
And whether in that future yonder
|
|
|
2164 |
There's a Below and an Above.
|
|
|
2165 |
|
|
|
2166 |
_Mephistopheles._ In such a mood thou well mayst venture.
|
|
|
2167 |
Bind thyself to me, and by this indenture
|
|
|
2168 |
Thou shalt enjoy with relish keen
|
|
|
2169 |
Fruits of my arts that man had never seen.
|
|
|
2170 |
|
|
|
2171 |
_Faust_. And what hast thou to give, poor devil?
|
|
|
2172 |
Was e'er a human mind, upon its lofty level,
|
|
|
2173 |
Conceived of by the like of thee?
|
|
|
2174 |
Yet hast thou food that brings satiety,
|
|
|
2175 |
Not satisfaction; gold that reftlessly,
|
|
|
2176 |
Like quicksilver, melts down within
|
|
|
2177 |
The hands; a game in which men never win;
|
|
|
2178 |
A maid that, hanging on my breast,
|
|
|
2179 |
Ogles a neighbor with her wanton glances;
|
|
|
2180 |
Of fame the glorious godlike zest,
|
|
|
2181 |
That like a short-lived meteor dances--
|
|
|
2182 |
Show me the fruit that, ere it's plucked, will rot,
|
|
|
2183 |
And trees from which new green is daily peeping!
|
|
|
2184 |
|
|
|
2185 |
_Mephistopheles_. Such a requirement scares me not;
|
|
|
2186 |
Such treasures have I in my keeping.
|
|
|
2187 |
Yet shall there also come a time, good friend,
|
|
|
2188 |
When we may feast on good things at our leisure.
|
|
|
2189 |
|
|
|
2190 |
_Faust_. If e'er I lie content upon a lounge of pleasure--
|
|
|
2191 |
Then let there be of me an end!
|
|
|
2192 |
When thou with flattery canst cajole me,
|
|
|
2193 |
Till I self-satisfied shall be,
|
|
|
2194 |
When thou with pleasure canst befool me,
|
|
|
2195 |
Be that the last of days for me!
|
|
|
2196 |
I lay the wager!
|
|
|
2197 |
|
|
|
2198 |
_Mephistopheles_. Done!
|
|
|
2199 |
|
|
|
2200 |
_Faust_. And heartily!
|
|
|
2201 |
Whenever to the passing hour
|
|
|
2202 |
I cry: O stay! thou art so fair!
|
|
|
2203 |
To chain me down I give thee power
|
|
|
2204 |
To the black bottom of despair!
|
|
|
2205 |
Then let my knell no longer linger,
|
|
|
2206 |
Then from my service thou art free,
|
|
|
2207 |
Fall from the clock the index-finger,
|
|
|
2208 |
Be time all over, then, for me!
|
|
|
2209 |
|
|
|
2210 |
_Mephistopheles_. Think well, for we shall hold you to the letter.
|
|
|
2211 |
|
|
|
2212 |
_Faust_. Full right to that just now I gave;
|
|
|
2213 |
I spoke not as an idle braggart better.
|
|
|
2214 |
Henceforward I remain a slave,
|
|
|
2215 |
What care I who puts on the setter?
|
|
|
2216 |
|
|
|
2217 |
_Mephistopheles_. I shall this very day, at Doctor's-feast,[16]
|
|
|
2218 |
My bounden service duly pay thee.
|
|
|
2219 |
But one thing!--For insurance' sake, I pray thee,
|
|
|
2220 |
Grant me a line or two, at least.
|
|
|
2221 |
|
|
|
2222 |
_Faust_. Pedant! will writing gain thy faith, alone?
|
|
|
2223 |
In all thy life, no man, nor man's word hast thou known?
|
|
|
2224 |
Is't not enough that I the fatal word
|
|
|
2225 |
That passes on my future days have spoken?
|
|
|
2226 |
The world-stream raves and rushes (hast not heard?)
|
|
|
2227 |
And shall a promise hold, unbroken?
|
|
|
2228 |
Yet this delusion haunts the human breast,
|
|
|
2229 |
Who from his soul its roots would sever?
|
|
|
2230 |
Thrice happy in whose heart pure truth finds rest.
|
|
|
2231 |
No sacrifice shall he repent of ever!
|
|
|
2232 |
But from a formal, written, sealed attest,
|
|
|
2233 |
As from a spectre, all men shrink forever.
|
|
|
2234 |
The word and spirit die together,
|
|
|
2235 |
Killed by the sight of wax and leather.
|
|
|
2236 |
What wilt thou, evil sprite, from me?
|
|
|
2237 |
Brass, marble, parchment, paper, shall it be?
|
|
|
2238 |
Shall I subscribe with pencil, pen or graver?
|
|
|
2239 |
Among them all thy choice is free.
|
|
|
2240 |
|
|
|
2241 |
_Mephistopheles_. This rhetoric of thine to me
|
|
|
2242 |
Hath a somewhat bombastic savor.
|
|
|
2243 |
Any small scrap of paper's good.
|
|
|
2244 |
Thy signature will need a single drop of blood.[17]
|
|
|
2245 |
|
|
|
2246 |
_Faust_. If this will satisfy thy mood,
|
|
|
2247 |
I will consent thy whim to favor.
|
|
|
2248 |
|
|
|
2249 |
_Mephistopheles._ Quite a peculiar juice is blood.
|
|
|
2250 |
|
|
|
2251 |
_Faust_. Fear not that I shall break this bond; O, never!
|
|
|
2252 |
My promise, rightly understood,
|
|
|
2253 |
Fulfils my nature's whole endeavor.
|
|
|
2254 |
I've puffed myself too high, I see;
|
|
|
2255 |
To _thy_ rank only I belong.
|
|
|
2256 |
The Lord of Spirits scorneth me,
|
|
|
2257 |
Nature, shut up, resents the wrong.
|
|
|
2258 |
The thread of thought is snapt asunder,
|
|
|
2259 |
All science to me is a stupid blunder.
|
|
|
2260 |
Let us in sensuality's deep
|
|
|
2261 |
Quench the passions within us blazing!
|
|
|
2262 |
And, the veil of sorcery raising,
|
|
|
2263 |
Wake each miracle from its long sleep!
|
|
|
2264 |
Plunge we into the billowy dance,
|
|
|
2265 |
The rush and roll of time and chance!
|
|
|
2266 |
Then may pleasure and distress,
|
|
|
2267 |
Disappointment and success,
|
|
|
2268 |
Follow each other as fast as they will;
|
|
|
2269 |
Man's restless activity flourishes still.
|
|
|
2270 |
|
|
|
2271 |
_Mephistopheles_. No bound or goal is set to you;
|
|
|
2272 |
Where'er you like to wander sipping,
|
|
|
2273 |
And catch a tit-bit in your skipping,
|
|
|
2274 |
Eschew all coyness, just fall to,
|
|
|
2275 |
And may you find a good digestion!
|
|
|
2276 |
|
|
|
2277 |
_Faust_. Now, once for all, pleasure is not the question.
|
|
|
2278 |
I'm sworn to passion's whirl, the agony of bliss,
|
|
|
2279 |
The lover's hate, the sweets of bitterness.
|
|
|
2280 |
My heart, no more by pride of science driven,
|
|
|
2281 |
Shall open wide to let each sorrow enter,
|
|
|
2282 |
And all the good that to man's race is given,
|
|
|
2283 |
I will enjoy it to my being's centre,
|
|
|
2284 |
Through life's whole range, upward and downward sweeping,
|
|
|
2285 |
Their weal and woe upon my bosom heaping,
|
|
|
2286 |
Thus in my single self their selves all comprehending
|
|
|
2287 |
And with them in a common shipwreck ending.
|
|
|
2288 |
|
|
|
2289 |
_Mephistopheles_. O trust me, who since first I fell from heaven,
|
|
|
2290 |
Have chewed this tough meat many a thousand year,
|
|
|
2291 |
No man digests the ancient leaven,
|
|
|
2292 |
No mortal, from the cradle to the bier.
|
|
|
2293 |
Trust one of _us_--the _whole_ creation
|
|
|
2294 |
To God alone belongs by right;
|
|
|
2295 |
_He_ has in endless day his habitation,
|
|
|
2296 |
_Us_ He hath made for utter night,
|
|
|
2297 |
_You_ for alternate dark and light.
|
|
|
2298 |
|
|
|
2299 |
_Faust_. But then I _will!_
|
|
|
2300 |
|
|
|
2301 |
_Mephistopheles_. Now that's worth hearing!
|
|
|
2302 |
But one thing haunts me, the old song,
|
|
|
2303 |
That time is short and art is long.
|
|
|
2304 |
You need some slight advice, I'm fearing.
|
|
|
2305 |
Take to you one of the poet-feather,
|
|
|
2306 |
Let the gentleman's thought, far-sweeping,
|
|
|
2307 |
Bring all the noblest traits together,
|
|
|
2308 |
On your one crown their honors heaping,
|
|
|
2309 |
The lion's mood
|
|
|
2310 |
The stag's rapidity,
|
|
|
2311 |
The fiery blood of Italy,
|
|
|
2312 |
The Northman's hardihood.
|
|
|
2313 |
Bid him teach thee the art of combining
|
|
|
2314 |
Greatness of soul with fly designing,
|
|
|
2315 |
And how, with warm and youthful passion,
|
|
|
2316 |
To fall in love by plan and fashion.
|
|
|
2317 |
Should like, myself, to come across 'm,
|
|
|
2318 |
Would name him Mr. Microcosm.
|
|
|
2319 |
|
|
|
2320 |
_Faust_. What am I then? if that for which my heart
|
|
|
2321 |
Yearns with invincible endeavor,
|
|
|
2322 |
The crown of man, must hang unreached forever?
|
|
|
2323 |
|
|
|
2324 |
_Mephistopheles_. Thou art at last--just what thou art.
|
|
|
2325 |
Pile perukes on thy head whose curls cannot be counted,
|
|
|
2326 |
On yard-high buskins let thy feet be mounted,
|
|
|
2327 |
Still thou art only what thou art.
|
|
|
2328 |
|
|
|
2329 |
_Faust_. Yes, I have vainly, let me not deny it,
|
|
|
2330 |
Of human learning ransacked all the stores,
|
|
|
2331 |
And when, at last, I set me down in quiet,
|
|
|
2332 |
There gushes up within no new-born force;
|
|
|
2333 |
I am not by a hair's-breadth higher,
|
|
|
2334 |
Am to the Infinite no nigher.
|
|
|
2335 |
|
|
|
2336 |
_Mephistopheles_. My worthy sir, you see the matter
|
|
|
2337 |
As people generally see;
|
|
|
2338 |
But we must learn to take things better,
|
|
|
2339 |
Before life pleasures wholly flee.
|
|
|
2340 |
The deuce! thy head and all that's in it,
|
|
|
2341 |
Hands, feet and ------ are thine;
|
|
|
2342 |
What I enjoy with zest each minute,
|
|
|
2343 |
Is surely not the less mine?
|
|
|
2344 |
If I've six horses in my span,
|
|
|
2345 |
Is it not mine, their every power?
|
|
|
2346 |
I fly along as an undoubted man,
|
|
|
2347 |
On four and twenty legs the road I scour.
|
|
|
2348 |
Cheer up, then! let all thinking be,
|
|
|
2349 |
And out into the world with me!
|
|
|
2350 |
I tell thee, friend, a speculating churl
|
|
|
2351 |
Is like a beast, some evil spirit chases
|
|
|
2352 |
Along a barren heath in one perpetual whirl,
|
|
|
2353 |
While round about lie fair, green pasturing places.
|
|
|
2354 |
|
|
|
2355 |
_Faust_. But how shall we begin?
|
|
|
2356 |
|
|
|
2357 |
_Mephistopheles_. We sally forth e'en now.
|
|
|
2358 |
What martyrdom endurest thou!
|
|
|
2359 |
What kind of life is this to be living,
|
|
|
2360 |
Ennui to thyself and youngsters giving?
|
|
|
2361 |
Let Neighbor Belly that way go!
|
|
|
2362 |
To stay here threshing straw why car'st thou?
|
|
|
2363 |
The best that thou canst think and know
|
|
|
2364 |
To tell the boys not for the whole world dar'st thou.
|
|
|
2365 |
E'en now I hear one in the entry.
|
|
|
2366 |
|
|
|
2367 |
_Faust_. I have no heart the youth to see.
|
|
|
2368 |
|
|
|
2369 |
_Mephistopheles_. The poor boy waits there like a sentry,
|
|
|
2370 |
He shall not want a word from me.
|
|
|
2371 |
Come, give me, now, thy robe and bonnet;
|
|
|
2372 |
This mask will suit me charmingly.
|
|
|
2373 |
[_He puts them on_.]
|
|
|
2374 |
Now for my wit--rely upon it!
|
|
|
2375 |
'Twill take but fifteen minutes, I am sure.
|
|
|
2376 |
Meanwhile prepare thyself to make the pleasant tour!
|
|
|
2377 |
|
|
|
2378 |
[_Exit_ FAUST.]
|
|
|
2379 |
|
|
|
2380 |
_Mephistopheles [in_ FAUST'S _long gown_].
|
|
|
2381 |
Only despise all human wit and lore,
|
|
|
2382 |
The highest flights that thought can soar--
|
|
|
2383 |
Let but the lying spirit blind thee,
|
|
|
2384 |
And with his spells of witchcraft bind thee,
|
|
|
2385 |
Into my snare the victim creeps.--
|
|
|
2386 |
To him has destiny a spirit given,
|
|
|
2387 |
That unrestrainedly still onward sweeps,
|
|
|
2388 |
To scale the skies long since hath striven,
|
|
|
2389 |
And all earth's pleasures overleaps.
|
|
|
2390 |
He shall through life's wild scenes be driven,
|
|
|
2391 |
And through its flat unmeaningness,
|
|
|
2392 |
I'll make him writhe and stare and stiffen,
|
|
|
2393 |
And midst all sensual excess,
|
|
|
2394 |
His fevered lips, with thirst all parched and riven,
|
|
|
2395 |
Insatiably shall haunt refreshment's brink;
|
|
|
2396 |
And had he not, himself, his soul to Satan given,
|
|
|
2397 |
Still must he to perdition sink!
|
|
|
2398 |
|
|
|
2399 |
[_Enter_ A SCHOLAR.]
|
|
|
2400 |
|
|
|
2401 |
_Scholar_. I have but lately left my home,
|
|
|
2402 |
And with profound submission come,
|
|
|
2403 |
To hold with one some conversation
|
|
|
2404 |
Whom all men name with veneration.
|
|
|
2405 |
|
|
|
2406 |
_Mephistopheles._ Your courtesy greatly flatters me
|
|
|
2407 |
A man like many another you see.
|
|
|
2408 |
Have you made any applications elsewhere?
|
|
|
2409 |
|
|
|
2410 |
_Scholar_. Let me, I pray, your teachings share!
|
|
|
2411 |
With all good dispositions I come,
|
|
|
2412 |
A fresh young blood and money some;
|
|
|
2413 |
My mother would hardly hear of my going;
|
|
|
2414 |
But I long to learn here something worth knowing.
|
|
|
2415 |
|
|
|
2416 |
_Mephistopheles_. You've come to the very place for it, then.
|
|
|
2417 |
|
|
|
2418 |
_Scholar_. Sincerely, could wish I were off again:
|
|
|
2419 |
My soul already has grown quite weary
|
|
|
2420 |
Of walls and halls, so dark and dreary,
|
|
|
2421 |
The narrowness oppresses me.
|
|
|
2422 |
One sees no green thing, not a tree.
|
|
|
2423 |
On the lecture-seats, I know not what ails me,
|
|
|
2424 |
Sight, hearing, thinking, every thing fails me.
|
|
|
2425 |
|
|
|
2426 |
_Mephistopheles_. 'Tis all in use, we daily see.
|
|
|
2427 |
The child takes not the mother's breast
|
|
|
2428 |
In the first instance willingly,
|
|
|
2429 |
But soon it feeds itself with zest.
|
|
|
2430 |
So you at wisdom's breast your pleasure
|
|
|
2431 |
Will daily find in growing measure.
|
|
|
2432 |
|
|
|
2433 |
_Scholar_. I'll hang upon her neck, a raptured wooer,
|
|
|
2434 |
But only tell me, who shall lead me to her?
|
|
|
2435 |
|
|
|
2436 |
_Mephistopheles_. Ere you go further, give your views
|
|
|
2437 |
As to which faculty you choose?
|
|
|
2438 |
|
|
|
2439 |
_Scholar_. To be right learn'd I've long desired,
|
|
|
2440 |
And of the natural world aspired
|
|
|
2441 |
To have a perfect comprehension
|
|
|
2442 |
In this and in the heavenly sphere.
|
|
|
2443 |
|
|
|
2444 |
_Mephistopheles_. I see you're on the right track here;
|
|
|
2445 |
But you'll have to give undivided attention.
|
|
|
2446 |
|
|
|
2447 |
_Scholar_. My heart and soul in the work'll be found;
|
|
|
2448 |
Only, of course, it would give me pleasure,
|
|
|
2449 |
When summer holidays come round,
|
|
|
2450 |
To have for amusement a little leisure.
|
|
|
2451 |
|
|
|
2452 |
_Mephistopheles_. Use well the precious time, it flips away so,
|
|
|
2453 |
Yet method gains you time, if I may say so.
|
|
|
2454 |
I counsel you therefore, my worthy friend,
|
|
|
2455 |
The logical leisures first to attend.
|
|
|
2456 |
Then is your mind well trained and cased
|
|
|
2457 |
In Spanish boots,[18] all snugly laced,
|
|
|
2458 |
So that henceforth it can creep ahead
|
|
|
2459 |
On the road of thought with a cautious tread.
|
|
|
2460 |
And not at random shoot and strike,
|
|
|
2461 |
Zig-zagging Jack-o'-lanthorn-like.
|
|
|
2462 |
Then will you many a day be taught
|
|
|
2463 |
That what you once to do had thought
|
|
|
2464 |
Like eating and drinking, extempore,
|
|
|
2465 |
Requires the rule of one, two, three.
|
|
|
2466 |
It is, to be sure, with the fabric of thought,
|
|
|
2467 |
As with the _chef d'œuvre_ by weavers wrought,
|
|
|
2468 |
Where a thousand threads one treadle plies,
|
|
|
2469 |
Backward and forward the shuttles keep going,
|
|
|
2470 |
Invisibly the threads keep flowing,
|
|
|
2471 |
One stroke a thousand fastenings ties:
|
|
|
2472 |
Comes the philosopher and cries:
|
|
|
2473 |
I'll show you, it could not be otherwise:
|
|
|
2474 |
The first being so, the second so,
|
|
|
2475 |
The third and fourth must of course be so;
|
|
|
2476 |
And were not the first and second, you see,
|
|
|
2477 |
The third and fourth could never be.
|
|
|
2478 |
The scholars everywhere call this clever,
|
|
|
2479 |
But none have yet become weavers ever.
|
|
|
2480 |
Whoever will know a live thing and expound it,
|
|
|
2481 |
First kills out the spirit it had when he found it,
|
|
|
2482 |
And then the parts are all in his hand,
|
|
|
2483 |
Minus only the spiritual band!
|
|
|
2484 |
Encheiresin naturæ's[19] the chemical name,
|
|
|
2485 |
By which dunces themselves unwittingly shame.
|
|
|
2486 |
|
|
|
2487 |
_Scholar_. Cannot entirely comprehend you.
|
|
|
2488 |
|
|
|
2489 |
_Mephistopheles_. Better success will shortly attend you,
|
|
|
2490 |
When you learn to analyze all creation
|
|
|
2491 |
And give it a proper classification.
|
|
|
2492 |
|
|
|
2493 |
_Scholar_. I feel as confused by all you've said,
|
|
|
2494 |
As if 'twere a mill-wheel going round in my head!
|
|
|
2495 |
|
|
|
2496 |
_Mephistopheles_. The next thing most important to mention,
|
|
|
2497 |
Metaphysics will claim your attention!
|
|
|
2498 |
There see that you can clearly explain
|
|
|
2499 |
What fits not into the human brain:
|
|
|
2500 |
For that which will not go into the head,
|
|
|
2501 |
A pompous word will stand you in stead.
|
|
|
2502 |
But, this half-year, at least, observe
|
|
|
2503 |
From regularity never to swerve.
|
|
|
2504 |
You'll have five lectures every day;
|
|
|
2505 |
Be in at the stroke of the bell I pray!
|
|
|
2506 |
And well prepared in every part;
|
|
|
2507 |
Study each paragraph by heart,
|
|
|
2508 |
So that you scarce may need to look
|
|
|
2509 |
To see that he says no more than's in the book;
|
|
|
2510 |
And when he dictates, be at your post,
|
|
|
2511 |
As if you wrote for the Holy Ghost!
|
|
|
2512 |
|
|
|
2513 |
_Scholar_. That caution is unnecessary!
|
|
|
2514 |
I know it profits one to write,
|
|
|
2515 |
For what one has in black and white,
|
|
|
2516 |
He to his home can safely carry.
|
|
|
2517 |
|
|
|
2518 |
_Mephistopheles_. But choose some faculty, I pray!
|
|
|
2519 |
|
|
|
2520 |
_Scholar_. I feel a strong dislike to try the legal college.
|
|
|
2521 |
|
|
|
2522 |
_Mephistopheles_. I cannot blame you much, I must acknowledge.
|
|
|
2523 |
I know how this profession stands to-day.
|
|
|
2524 |
Statutes and laws through all the ages
|
|
|
2525 |
Like a transmitted malady you trace;
|
|
|
2526 |
In every generation still it rages
|
|
|
2527 |
And softly creeps from place to place.
|
|
|
2528 |
Reason is nonsense, right an impudent suggestion;
|
|
|
2529 |
Alas for thee, that thou a grandson art!
|
|
|
2530 |
Of inborn law in which each man has part,
|
|
|
2531 |
Of that, unfortunately, there's no question.
|
|
|
2532 |
|
|
|
2533 |
_Scholar_. My loathing grows beneath your speech.
|
|
|
2534 |
O happy he whom you shall teach!
|
|
|
2535 |
To try theology I'm almost minded.
|
|
|
2536 |
|
|
|
2537 |
_Mephistopheles_. I must not let you by zeal be blinded.
|
|
|
2538 |
This is a science through whose field
|
|
|
2539 |
Nine out of ten in the wrong road will blunder,
|
|
|
2540 |
And in it so much poison lies concealed,
|
|
|
2541 |
That mould you this mistake for physic, no great wonder.
|
|
|
2542 |
Here also it were best, if only one you heard
|
|
|
2543 |
And swore to that one master's word.
|
|
|
2544 |
Upon the whole--words only heed you!
|
|
|
2545 |
These through the temple door will lead you
|
|
|
2546 |
Safe to the shrine of certainty.
|
|
|
2547 |
|
|
|
2548 |
_Scholar_. Yet in the word a thought must surely be.
|
|
|
2549 |
|
|
|
2550 |
_Mephistopheles_. All right! But one must not perplex himself about it;
|
|
|
2551 |
For just where one must go without it,
|
|
|
2552 |
The word comes in, a friend in need, to thee.
|
|
|
2553 |
With words can one dispute most featly,
|
|
|
2554 |
With words build up a system neatly,
|
|
|
2555 |
In words thy faith may stand unshaken,
|
|
|
2556 |
From words there can be no iota taken.
|
|
|
2557 |
|
|
|
2558 |
_Scholar_. Forgive my keeping you with many questions,
|
|
|
2559 |
Yet must I trouble you once more,
|
|
|
2560 |
Will you not give me, on the score
|
|
|
2561 |
Of medicine, some brief suggestions?
|
|
|
2562 |
Three years are a short time, O God!
|
|
|
2563 |
And then the field is quite too broad.
|
|
|
2564 |
If one had only before his nose
|
|
|
2565 |
Something else as a hint to follow!--
|
|
|
2566 |
|
|
|
2567 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_aside_]. I'm heartily tired of this dry prose,
|
|
|
2568 |
Must play the devil again out hollow.
|
|
|
2569 |
[_Aloud_.]
|
|
|
2570 |
The healing art is quickly comprehended;
|
|
|
2571 |
Through great and little world you look abroad,
|
|
|
2572 |
And let it wag, when all is ended,
|
|
|
2573 |
As pleases God.
|
|
|
2574 |
Vain is it that your science sweeps the skies,
|
|
|
2575 |
Each, after all, learns only what he can;
|
|
|
2576 |
Who grasps the moment as it flies
|
|
|
2577 |
He is the real man.
|
|
|
2578 |
Your person somewhat takes the eye,
|
|
|
2579 |
Boldness you'll find an easy science,
|
|
|
2580 |
And if you on yourself rely,
|
|
|
2581 |
Others on you will place reliance.
|
|
|
2582 |
In the women's good graces seek first to be seated;
|
|
|
2583 |
Their oh's and ah's, well known of old,
|
|
|
2584 |
So thousand-fold,
|
|
|
2585 |
Are all from a single point to be treated;
|
|
|
2586 |
Be decently modest and then with ease
|
|
|
2587 |
You may get the blind side of them when you please.
|
|
|
2588 |
A title, first, their confidence must waken,
|
|
|
2589 |
That _your_ art many another art transcends,
|
|
|
2590 |
Then may you, lucky man, on all those trifles reckon
|
|
|
2591 |
For which another years of groping spends:
|
|
|
2592 |
Know how to press the little pulse that dances,
|
|
|
2593 |
And fearlessly, with sly and fiery glances,
|
|
|
2594 |
Clasp the dear creatures round the waist
|
|
|
2595 |
To see how tightly they are laced.
|
|
|
2596 |
|
|
|
2597 |
_Scholar_. This promises! One loves the How and Where to see!
|
|
|
2598 |
|
|
|
2599 |
_Mephistopheles_. Gray, worthy friend, is all your theory
|
|
|
2600 |
And green the golden tree of life.
|
|
|
2601 |
|
|
|
2602 |
_Scholar_. I seem,
|
|
|
2603 |
I swear to you, like one who walks in dream.
|
|
|
2604 |
Might I another time, without encroaching,
|
|
|
2605 |
Hear you the deepest things of wisdom broaching?
|
|
|
2606 |
|
|
|
2607 |
_Mephistopheles_. So far as I have power, you may.
|
|
|
2608 |
|
|
|
2609 |
_Scholar_. I cannot tear myself away,
|
|
|
2610 |
Till I to you my album have presented.
|
|
|
2611 |
Grant me one line and I'm contented!
|
|
|
2612 |
|
|
|
2613 |
_Mephistopheles_. With pleasure.
|
|
|
2614 |
[_Writes and returns it_.]
|
|
|
2615 |
|
|
|
2616 |
_Scholar [reads]._ Eritis sicut Deus, scientes bonum et malum.
|
|
|
2617 |
[_Shuts it reverently, and bows himself out_.]
|
|
|
2618 |
|
|
|
2619 |
_Mephistopheles_.
|
|
|
2620 |
Let but the brave old saw and my aunt, the serpent, guide thee,
|
|
|
2621 |
And, with thy likeness to God, shall woe one day betide thee!
|
|
|
2622 |
|
|
|
2623 |
_Faust [enters_]. Which way now shall we go?
|
|
|
2624 |
|
|
|
2625 |
_Mephistopheles_. Which way it pleases thee.
|
|
|
2626 |
The little world and then the great we see.
|
|
|
2627 |
O with what gain, as well as pleasure,
|
|
|
2628 |
Wilt thou the rollicking cursus measure!
|
|
|
2629 |
|
|
|
2630 |
_Faust_. I fear the easy life and free
|
|
|
2631 |
With my long beard will scarce agree.
|
|
|
2632 |
'Tis vain for me to think of succeeding,
|
|
|
2633 |
I never could learn what is called good-breeding.
|
|
|
2634 |
In the presence of others I feel so small;
|
|
|
2635 |
I never can be at my ease at all.
|
|
|
2636 |
|
|
|
2637 |
_Mephistopheles_. Dear friend, vain trouble to yourself you're giving;
|
|
|
2638 |
Whence once you trust yourself, you know the art of living.
|
|
|
2639 |
|
|
|
2640 |
_Faust_. But how are we to start, I pray?
|
|
|
2641 |
Where are thy servants, coach and horses?
|
|
|
2642 |
|
|
|
2643 |
_Mephistopheles_. We spread the mantle, and away
|
|
|
2644 |
It bears us on our airy courses.
|
|
|
2645 |
But, on this bold excursion, thou
|
|
|
2646 |
Must take no great portmanteau now.
|
|
|
2647 |
A little oxygen, which I will soon make ready,
|
|
|
2648 |
From earth uplifts us, quick and steady.
|
|
|
2649 |
And if we're light, we'll soon surmount the sphere;
|
|
|
2650 |
I give thee hearty joy in this thy new career.
|
|
|
2651 |
|
|
|
2652 |
|
|
|
2653 |
|
|
|
2654 |
|
|
|
2655 |
AUERBACH'S CELLAR IN LEIPSIC.[20]
|
|
|
2656 |
|
|
|
2657 |
_Carousal of Jolly Companions_.
|
|
|
2658 |
|
|
|
2659 |
|
|
|
2660 |
_Frosch_.[21] Will nobody drink? Stop those grimaces!
|
|
|
2661 |
I'll teach you how to be cutting your faces!
|
|
|
2662 |
Laugh out! You're like wet straw to-day,
|
|
|
2663 |
And blaze, at other times, like dry hay.
|
|
|
2664 |
|
|
|
2665 |
_Brander_. 'Tis all your fault; no food for fun you bring,
|
|
|
2666 |
Not a nonsensical nor nasty thing.
|
|
|
2667 |
|
|
|
2668 |
_Frosch [dashes a glass of wine over his bead_]. There you have both!
|
|
|
2669 |
|
|
|
2670 |
_Brander_. You hog twice o'er!
|
|
|
2671 |
|
|
|
2672 |
_Frosch_. You wanted it, what would you more?
|
|
|
2673 |
|
|
|
2674 |
_Siebel_ Out of the door with them that brawl!
|
|
|
2675 |
Strike up a round; swill, shout there, one and all!
|
|
|
2676 |
Wake up! Hurra!
|
|
|
2677 |
|
|
|
2678 |
_Altmayer_. Woe's me, I'm lost! Bring cotton!
|
|
|
2679 |
The rascal splits my ear-drum.
|
|
|
2680 |
|
|
|
2681 |
_Siebel_. Only shout on!
|
|
|
2682 |
When all the arches ring and yell,
|
|
|
2683 |
Then does the base make felt its true ground-swell.
|
|
|
2684 |
|
|
|
2685 |
_Frosch_. That's right, just throw him out, who undertakes to fret!
|
|
|
2686 |
A! tara! lara da!
|
|
|
2687 |
|
|
|
2688 |
_Altmayer_. A! tara! lara da!
|
|
|
2689 |
|
|
|
2690 |
_Frosch_. Our whistles all are wet.
|
|
|
2691 |
[_Sings_.]
|
|
|
2692 |
The dear old holy Romish realm,
|
|
|
2693 |
What holds it still together?
|
|
|
2694 |
|
|
|
2695 |
_Brander_. A sorry song! Fie! a political song!
|
|
|
2696 |
A tiresome song! Thank God each morning therefor,
|
|
|
2697 |
That you have not the Romish realm to care for!
|
|
|
2698 |
At least I count it a great gain that He
|
|
|
2699 |
Kaiser nor chancellor has made of me.
|
|
|
2700 |
E'en we can't do without a head, however;
|
|
|
2701 |
To choose a pope let us endeavour.
|
|
|
2702 |
You know what qualification throws
|
|
|
2703 |
The casting vote and the true man shows.
|
|
|
2704 |
|
|
|
2705 |
_Frosch [sings_].
|
|
|
2706 |
Lady Nightingale, upward soar,
|
|
|
2707 |
Greet me my darling ten thousand times o'er.
|
|
|
2708 |
|
|
|
2709 |
_Siebel_. No greetings to that girl! Who does so, I resent it!
|
|
|
2710 |
|
|
|
2711 |
_Frosch_. A greeting and a kiss! And you will not prevent it!
|
|
|
2712 |
[_Sings.]_
|
|
|
2713 |
Draw the bolts! the night is clear.
|
|
|
2714 |
Draw the bolts! Love watches near.
|
|
|
2715 |
Close the bolts! the dawn is here.
|
|
|
2716 |
|
|
|
2717 |
_Siebel_. Ay, sing away and praise and glorify your dear!
|
|
|
2718 |
Soon I shall have my time for laughter.
|
|
|
2719 |
The jade has jilted me, and will you too hereafter;
|
|
|
2720 |
May Kobold, for a lover, be her luck!
|
|
|
2721 |
At night may he upon the cross-way meet her;
|
|
|
2722 |
Or, coming from the Blocksberg, some old buck
|
|
|
2723 |
May, as he gallops by, a good-night bleat her!
|
|
|
2724 |
A fellow fine of real flesh and blood
|
|
|
2725 |
Is for the wench a deal too good.
|
|
|
2726 |
She'll get from me but one love-token,
|
|
|
2727 |
That is to have her window broken!
|
|
|
2728 |
|
|
|
2729 |
_Brander [striking on the table_]. Attend! attend! To me give ear!
|
|
|
2730 |
I know what's life, ye gents, confess it:
|
|
|
2731 |
We've lovesick people sitting near,
|
|
|
2732 |
And it is proper they should hear
|
|
|
2733 |
A good-night strain as well as I can dress it.
|
|
|
2734 |
Give heed! And hear a bran-new song!
|
|
|
2735 |
Join in the chorus loud and strong!
|
|
|
2736 |
[_He sings_.]
|
|
|
2737 |
A rat in the cellar had built his nest,
|
|
|
2738 |
He daily grew sleeker and smoother,
|
|
|
2739 |
He lined his paunch from larder and chest,
|
|
|
2740 |
And was portly as Doctor Luther.
|
|
|
2741 |
The cook had set him poison one day;
|
|
|
2742 |
From that time forward he pined away
|
|
|
2743 |
As if he had love in his body.
|
|
|
2744 |
|
|
|
2745 |
_Chorus [flouting_]. As if he had love in his body.
|
|
|
2746 |
|
|
|
2747 |
_Brander_. He raced about with a terrible touse,
|
|
|
2748 |
From all the puddles went swilling,
|
|
|
2749 |
He gnawed and he scratched all over the house,
|
|
|
2750 |
His pain there was no stilling;
|
|
|
2751 |
He made full many a jump of distress,
|
|
|
2752 |
And soon the poor beast got enough, I guess,
|
|
|
2753 |
As if he had love in his body.
|
|
|
2754 |
|
|
|
2755 |
_Chorus_. As if he had love in his body.
|
|
|
2756 |
|
|
|
2757 |
_Brander_. With pain he ran, in open day,
|
|
|
2758 |
Right up into the kitchen;
|
|
|
2759 |
He fell on the hearth and there he lay
|
|
|
2760 |
Gasping and moaning and twitchin'.
|
|
|
2761 |
Then laughed the poisoner: "He! he! he!
|
|
|
2762 |
He's piping on the last hole," said she,
|
|
|
2763 |
"As if he had love in his body."
|
|
|
2764 |
|
|
|
2765 |
_Chorus_. As if he had love in his body.
|
|
|
2766 |
|
|
|
2767 |
_Siebel_. Just hear now how the ninnies giggle!
|
|
|
2768 |
That's what I call a genuine art,
|
|
|
2769 |
To make poor rats with poison wriggle!
|
|
|
2770 |
|
|
|
2771 |
_Brander_. You take their case so much to heart?
|
|
|
2772 |
|
|
|
2773 |
_Altmayer_. The bald pate and the butter-belly!
|
|
|
2774 |
The sad tale makes him mild and tame;
|
|
|
2775 |
He sees in the swollen rat, poor fellow!
|
|
|
2776 |
His own true likeness set in a frame.
|
|
|
2777 |
|
|
|
2778 |
|
|
|
2779 |
FAUST _and_ MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
2780 |
|
|
|
2781 |
_Mephistopheles_. Now, first of all, 'tis necessary
|
|
|
2782 |
To show you people making merry,
|
|
|
2783 |
That you may see how lightly life can run.
|
|
|
2784 |
Each day to this small folk's a feast of fun;
|
|
|
2785 |
Not over-witty, self-contented,
|
|
|
2786 |
Still round and round in circle-dance they whirl,
|
|
|
2787 |
As with their tails young kittens twirl.
|
|
|
2788 |
If with no headache they're tormented,
|
|
|
2789 |
Nor dunned by landlord for his pay,
|
|
|
2790 |
They're careless, unconcerned, and gay.
|
|
|
2791 |
|
|
|
2792 |
_Brander_. They're fresh from travel, one might know it,
|
|
|
2793 |
Their air and manner plainly show it;
|
|
|
2794 |
They came here not an hour ago.
|
|
|
2795 |
|
|
|
2796 |
_Frosch_. Thou verily art right! My Leipsic well I know!
|
|
|
2797 |
Paris in small it is, and cultivates its people.
|
|
|
2798 |
|
|
|
2799 |
_Siebel_. What do the strangers seem to thee?
|
|
|
2800 |
|
|
|
2801 |
_Frosch_. Just let me go! When wine our friendship mellows,
|
|
|
2802 |
Easy as drawing a child's tooth 'twill be
|
|
|
2803 |
To worm their secrets out of these two fellows.
|
|
|
2804 |
They're of a noble house, I dare to swear,
|
|
|
2805 |
They have a proud and discontented air.
|
|
|
2806 |
|
|
|
2807 |
_Brander_. They're mountebanks, I'll bet a dollar!
|
|
|
2808 |
|
|
|
2809 |
_Altmayer_. Perhaps.
|
|
|
2810 |
|
|
|
2811 |
_Frosch_. I'll smoke them, mark you that!
|
|
|
2812 |
|
|
|
2813 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_to Faust_]. These people never smell the old rat,
|
|
|
2814 |
E'en when he has them by the collar.
|
|
|
2815 |
|
|
|
2816 |
_Faust_. Fair greeting to you, sirs!
|
|
|
2817 |
|
|
|
2818 |
_Siebel_. The same, and thanks to boot.
|
|
|
2819 |
[_In a low tone, faking a side look at MEPHISTOPHELES_.]
|
|
|
2820 |
Why has the churl one halting foot?
|
|
|
2821 |
|
|
|
2822 |
_Mephistopheles_. With your permission, shall we make one party?
|
|
|
2823 |
Instead of a good drink, which get here no one can,
|
|
|
2824 |
Good company must make us hearty.
|
|
|
2825 |
|
|
|
2826 |
_Altmayer_. You seem a very fastidious man.
|
|
|
2827 |
|
|
|
2828 |
_Frosch_. I think you spent some time at Rippach[22] lately?
|
|
|
2829 |
You supped with Mister Hans not long since, I dare say?
|
|
|
2830 |
|
|
|
2831 |
_Mephistopheles_. We passed him on the road today!
|
|
|
2832 |
Fine man! it grieved us parting with him, greatly.
|
|
|
2833 |
He'd much to say to us about his cousins,
|
|
|
2834 |
And sent to each, through us, his compliments by dozens.
|
|
|
2835 |
[_He bows to_ FROSCH.]
|
|
|
2836 |
|
|
|
2837 |
_Altmayer_ [_softly_]. You've got it there! he takes!
|
|
|
2838 |
|
|
|
2839 |
_Siebel_. The chap don't want for wit!
|
|
|
2840 |
|
|
|
2841 |
_Frosch_. I'll have him next time, wait a bit!
|
|
|
2842 |
|
|
|
2843 |
_Mephistopheles_. If I mistook not, didn't we hear
|
|
|
2844 |
Some well-trained voices chorus singing?
|
|
|
2845 |
'Faith, music must sound finely here.
|
|
|
2846 |
From all these echoing arches ringing!
|
|
|
2847 |
|
|
|
2848 |
_Frosch_. You are perhaps a connoisseur?
|
|
|
2849 |
|
|
|
2850 |
_Mephistopheles_. O no! my powers are small, I'm but an amateur.
|
|
|
2851 |
|
|
|
2852 |
_Altmayer_. Give us a song!
|
|
|
2853 |
|
|
|
2854 |
_Mephistopheles_. As many's you desire.
|
|
|
2855 |
|
|
|
2856 |
_Siebel_. But let it be a bran-new strain!
|
|
|
2857 |
|
|
|
2858 |
_Mephistopheles_. No fear of that! We've just come back from Spain,
|
|
|
2859 |
The lovely land of wine and song and lyre.
|
|
|
2860 |
[_Sings_.]
|
|
|
2861 |
There was a king, right stately,
|
|
|
2862 |
Who had a great, big flea,--
|
|
|
2863 |
|
|
|
2864 |
_Frosch_. Hear him! A flea! D'ye take there, boys? A flea!
|
|
|
2865 |
I call that genteel company.
|
|
|
2866 |
|
|
|
2867 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_resumes_]. There was a king, right stately,
|
|
|
2868 |
Who had a great, big flea,
|
|
|
2869 |
And loved him very greatly,
|
|
|
2870 |
As if his own son were he.
|
|
|
2871 |
He called the knight of stitches;
|
|
|
2872 |
The tailor came straightway:
|
|
|
2873 |
Ho! measure the youngster for breeches,
|
|
|
2874 |
And make him a coat to-day!
|
|
|
2875 |
|
|
|
2876 |
_Brander_. But don't forget to charge the knight of stitches,
|
|
|
2877 |
The measure carefully to take,
|
|
|
2878 |
And, as he loves his precious neck,
|
|
|
2879 |
To leave no wrinkles in the breeches.
|
|
|
2880 |
|
|
|
2881 |
_Mephistopheles_. In silk and velvet splendid
|
|
|
2882 |
The creature now was drest,
|
|
|
2883 |
To his coat were ribbons appended,
|
|
|
2884 |
A cross was on his breast.
|
|
|
2885 |
He had a great star on his collar,
|
|
|
2886 |
Was a minister, in short;
|
|
|
2887 |
And his relatives, greater and smaller,
|
|
|
2888 |
Became great people at court.
|
|
|
2889 |
|
|
|
2890 |
The lords and ladies of honor
|
|
|
2891 |
Fared worse than if they were hung,
|
|
|
2892 |
The queen, she got them upon her,
|
|
|
2893 |
And all were bitten and stung,
|
|
|
2894 |
And did not dare to attack them,
|
|
|
2895 |
Nor scratch, but let them stick.
|
|
|
2896 |
We choke them and we crack them
|
|
|
2897 |
The moment we feel one prick.
|
|
|
2898 |
|
|
|
2899 |
_Chorus_ [_loud_]. We choke 'em and we crack 'em
|
|
|
2900 |
The moment we feel one prick.
|
|
|
2901 |
|
|
|
2902 |
_Frosch_. Bravo! Bravo! That was fine!
|
|
|
2903 |
|
|
|
2904 |
_Siebel_. So shall each flea his life resign!
|
|
|
2905 |
|
|
|
2906 |
_Brander_. Point your fingers and nip them fine!
|
|
|
2907 |
|
|
|
2908 |
_Altmayer_. Hurra for Liberty! Hurra for Wine!
|
|
|
2909 |
|
|
|
2910 |
_Mephistopheles_. I'd pledge the goddess, too, to show how high I set her,
|
|
|
2911 |
Right gladly, if your wines were just a trifle better.
|
|
|
2912 |
|
|
|
2913 |
_Siebel_. Don't say that thing again, you fretter!
|
|
|
2914 |
|
|
|
2915 |
_Mephistopheles_. Did I not fear the landlord to affront;
|
|
|
2916 |
I'd show these worthy guests this minute
|
|
|
2917 |
What kind of stuff our stock has in it.
|
|
|
2918 |
|
|
|
2919 |
_Siebel_. Just bring it on! I'll bear the brunt.
|
|
|
2920 |
|
|
|
2921 |
_Frosch_. Give us a brimming glass, our praise shall then be ample,
|
|
|
2922 |
But don't dole out too small a sample;
|
|
|
2923 |
For if I'm to judge and criticize,
|
|
|
2924 |
I need a good mouthful to make me wise.
|
|
|
2925 |
|
|
|
2926 |
_Altmayer_ [_softly_]. They're from the Rhine, as near as I can make it.
|
|
|
2927 |
|
|
|
2928 |
_Mephistopheles_. Bring us a gimlet here!
|
|
|
2929 |
|
|
|
2930 |
_Brander_. What shall be done with that?
|
|
|
2931 |
You've not the casks before the door, I take it?
|
|
|
2932 |
|
|
|
2933 |
_Altmayer_. The landlord's tool-chest there is easily got at.
|
|
|
2934 |
|
|
|
2935 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_takes the gimlet_] (_to Frosch_).
|
|
|
2936 |
What will you have? It costs but speaking.
|
|
|
2937 |
|
|
|
2938 |
_Frosch_. How do you mean? Have you so many kinds?
|
|
|
2939 |
|
|
|
2940 |
_Mephistopheles_. Enough to suit all sorts of minds.
|
|
|
2941 |
|
|
|
2942 |
_Altmayer_. Aha! old sot, your lips already licking!
|
|
|
2943 |
|
|
|
2944 |
_Frosch_. Well, then! if I must choose, let Rhine-wine fill my beaker,
|
|
|
2945 |
Our fatherland supplies the noblest liquor.
|
|
|
2946 |
|
|
|
2947 |
MEPHISTOPHELES
|
|
|
2948 |
[_boring a hole in the rim of the table near the place
|
|
|
2949 |
where_ FROSCH _sits_].
|
|
|
2950 |
Get us a little wax right off to make the stoppers!
|
|
|
2951 |
|
|
|
2952 |
_Altmayer_. Ah, these are jugglers' tricks, and whappers!
|
|
|
2953 |
|
|
|
2954 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_to Brander_]. And you?
|
|
|
2955 |
|
|
|
2956 |
_Brander_. Champaigne's the wine for me,
|
|
|
2957 |
But then right sparkling it must be!
|
|
|
2958 |
|
|
|
2959 |
[MEPHISTOPHELES _bores; meanwhile one of them has made
|
|
|
2960 |
the wax-stoppers and stopped the holes_.]
|
|
|
2961 |
|
|
|
2962 |
_Brander_. Hankerings for foreign things will sometimes haunt you,
|
|
|
2963 |
The good so far one often finds;
|
|
|
2964 |
Your real German man can't bear the French, I grant you,
|
|
|
2965 |
And yet will gladly drink their wines.
|
|
|
2966 |
|
|
|
2967 |
_Siebel_ [_while Mephistopheles approaches his seat_].
|
|
|
2968 |
I don't like sour, it sets my mouth awry,
|
|
|
2969 |
Let mine have real sweetness in it!
|
|
|
2970 |
|
|
|
2971 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_bores_]. Well, you shall have Tokay this minute.
|
|
|
2972 |
|
|
|
2973 |
_Altmayer_. No, sirs, just look me in the eye!
|
|
|
2974 |
I see through this, 'tis what the chaps call smoking.
|
|
|
2975 |
|
|
|
2976 |
_Mephistopheles_. Come now! That would be serious joking,
|
|
|
2977 |
To make so free with worthy men.
|
|
|
2978 |
But quickly now! Speak out again!
|
|
|
2979 |
With what description can I serve you?
|
|
|
2980 |
|
|
|
2981 |
_Altmayer_. Wait not to ask; with any, then.
|
|
|
2982 |
|
|
|
2983 |
[_After all the holes are bored and stopped_.]
|
|
|
2984 |
|
|
|
2985 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_with singular gestures_].
|
|
|
2986 |
From the vine-stock grapes we pluck;
|
|
|
2987 |
Horns grow on the buck;
|
|
|
2988 |
Wine is juicy, the wooden table,
|
|
|
2989 |
Like wooden vines, to give wine is able.
|
|
|
2990 |
An eye for nature's depths receive!
|
|
|
2991 |
Here is a miracle, only believe!
|
|
|
2992 |
Now draw the plugs and drink your fill!
|
|
|
2993 |
|
|
|
2994 |
ALL
|
|
|
2995 |
[_drawing the stoppers, and catching each in his glass
|
|
|
2996 |
the wine he had desired_].
|
|
|
2997 |
Sweet spring, that yields us what we will!
|
|
|
2998 |
|
|
|
2999 |
_Mephistopheles_. Only be careful not a drop to spill!
|
|
|
3000 |
[_They drink repeatedly_.]
|
|
|
3001 |
|
|
|
3002 |
_All_ [_sing_]. We're happy all as cannibals,
|
|
|
3003 |
Five hundred hogs together.
|
|
|
3004 |
|
|
|
3005 |
_Mephistopheles_. Look at them now, they're happy as can be!
|
|
|
3006 |
|
|
|
3007 |
_Faust_. To go would suit my inclination.
|
|
|
3008 |
|
|
|
3009 |
_Mephistopheles_. But first give heed, their bestiality
|
|
|
3010 |
Will make a glorious demonstration.
|
|
|
3011 |
|
|
|
3012 |
SIEBEL
|
|
|
3013 |
[_drinks carelessly; the wine is spilt upon the ground
|
|
|
3014 |
and turns to flame_].
|
|
|
3015 |
Help! fire! Ho! Help! The flames of hell!
|
|
|
3016 |
|
|
|
3017 |
_Mephistopheles [_conjuring the flame_].
|
|
|
3018 |
Peace, friendly element, be still!
|
|
|
3019 |
[_To the Toper_.]
|
|
|
3020 |
This time 'twas but a drop of fire from purgatory.
|
|
|
3021 |
|
|
|
3022 |
_Siebel_. What does this mean? Wait there, or you'll be sorry!
|
|
|
3023 |
It seems you do not know us well.
|
|
|
3024 |
|
|
|
3025 |
_Frosch_. Not twice, in this way, will it do to joke us!
|
|
|
3026 |
|
|
|
3027 |
_Altmayer_. I vote, we give him leave himself here _scarce_ to make.
|
|
|
3028 |
|
|
|
3029 |
_Siebel_. What, sir! How dare you undertake
|
|
|
3030 |
To carry on here your old hocus-pocus?
|
|
|
3031 |
|
|
|
3032 |
_Mephistopheles_. Be still, old wine-cask!
|
|
|
3033 |
|
|
|
3034 |
_Siebel_. Broomstick, you!
|
|
|
3035 |
Insult to injury add? Confound you!
|
|
|
3036 |
|
|
|
3037 |
_Brander_. Stop there! Or blows shall rain down round you!
|
|
|
3038 |
|
|
|
3039 |
ALTMAYER
|
|
|
3040 |
[_draws a stopper out of the table; fire flies at him_].
|
|
|
3041 |
I burn! I burn!
|
|
|
3042 |
|
|
|
3043 |
_Siebel_. Foul sorcery! Shame!
|
|
|
3044 |
Lay on! the rascal is fair game!
|
|
|
3045 |
|
|
|
3046 |
[_They draw their knives and rush at_ MEPHISTOPHELES.]
|
|
|
3047 |
|
|
|
3048 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_with a serious mien_].
|
|
|
3049 |
Word and shape of air!
|
|
|
3050 |
Change place, new meaning wear!
|
|
|
3051 |
Be here--and there!
|
|
|
3052 |
|
|
|
3053 |
[_They stand astounded and look at each other_.]
|
|
|
3054 |
|
|
|
3055 |
_Altmayer_. Where am I? What a charming land!
|
|
|
3056 |
|
|
|
3057 |
_Frosch_. Vine hills! My eyes! Is't true?
|
|
|
3058 |
|
|
|
3059 |
_Siebel_. And grapes, too, close at hand!
|
|
|
3060 |
|
|
|
3061 |
_Brander_. Beneath this green see what a stem is growing!
|
|
|
3062 |
See what a bunch of grapes is glowing!
|
|
|
3063 |
[_He seizes_ SIEBEL _by the nose. The rest do the same to each
|
|
|
3064 |
other and raise their knives._]
|
|
|
3065 |
|
|
|
3066 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_as above_]. Loose, Error, from their eyes the band!
|
|
|
3067 |
How Satan plays his tricks, you need not now be told of.
|
|
|
3068 |
[_He vanishes with_ FAUST, _the companions start back from each
|
|
|
3069 |
other_.]
|
|
|
3070 |
|
|
|
3071 |
_Siebel_. What ails me?
|
|
|
3072 |
|
|
|
3073 |
_Altmayer_. How?
|
|
|
3074 |
|
|
|
3075 |
_Frosch_. Was that thy nose, friend, I had hold of?
|
|
|
3076 |
|
|
|
3077 |
_Brander_ [_to Siebel_]. And I have thine, too, in my hand!
|
|
|
3078 |
|
|
|
3079 |
_Altmayer_. O what a shock! through all my limbs 'tis crawling!
|
|
|
3080 |
Get me a chair, be quick, I'm falling!
|
|
|
3081 |
|
|
|
3082 |
_Frosch_. No, say what was the real case?
|
|
|
3083 |
|
|
|
3084 |
_Siebel_. O show me where the churl is hiding!
|
|
|
3085 |
Alive he shall not leave the place!
|
|
|
3086 |
|
|
|
3087 |
_Altmayer_. Out through the cellar-door I saw him riding--
|
|
|
3088 |
Upon a cask--he went full chase.--
|
|
|
3089 |
Heavy as lead my feet are growing.
|
|
|
3090 |
|
|
|
3091 |
[_Turning towards the table_.]
|
|
|
3092 |
|
|
|
3093 |
My! If the wine should yet be flowing.
|
|
|
3094 |
|
|
|
3095 |
_Siebel_. 'Twas all deception and moonshine.
|
|
|
3096 |
|
|
|
3097 |
_Frosch_. Yet I was sure I did drink wine.
|
|
|
3098 |
|
|
|
3099 |
_Brander_. But how about the bunches, brother?
|
|
|
3100 |
|
|
|
3101 |
_Altmayer_. After such miracles, I'll doubt no other!
|
|
|
3102 |
|
|
|
3103 |
|
|
|
3104 |
|
|
|
3105 |
|
|
|
3106 |
WITCHES' KITCHEN.
|
|
|
3107 |
|
|
|
3108 |
[_On a low hearth stands a great kettle over the fire. In the smoke,
|
|
|
3109 |
which rises from it, are seen various forms. A female monkey[28] sits by
|
|
|
3110 |
the kettle and skims it, and takes care that it does not run over. The
|
|
|
3111 |
male monkey with the young ones sits close by, warming himself. Walls and
|
|
|
3112 |
ceiling are adorned 'with the most singular witch-household stuff_.]
|
|
|
3113 |
|
|
|
3114 |
|
|
|
3115 |
FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
3116 |
|
|
|
3117 |
_Faust_. Would that this vile witch-business were well over!
|
|
|
3118 |
Dost promise me I shall recover
|
|
|
3119 |
In this hodge-podge of craziness?
|
|
|
3120 |
From an old hag do I advice require?
|
|
|
3121 |
And will this filthy cooked-up mess
|
|
|
3122 |
My youth by thirty years bring nigher?
|
|
|
3123 |
Woe's me, if that's the best you know!
|
|
|
3124 |
Already hope is from my bosom banished.
|
|
|
3125 |
Has not a noble mind found long ago
|
|
|
3126 |
Some balsam to restore a youth that's vanished?
|
|
|
3127 |
|
|
|
3128 |
_Mephistopheles_. My friend, again thou speakest a wise thought!
|
|
|
3129 |
I know a natural way to make thee young,--none apter!
|
|
|
3130 |
But in another book it must be sought,
|
|
|
3131 |
And is a quite peculiar chapter.
|
|
|
3132 |
|
|
|
3133 |
_Faust_. I beg to know it.
|
|
|
3134 |
|
|
|
3135 |
_Mephistopheles_. Well! here's one that needs no pay,
|
|
|
3136 |
No help of physic, nor enchanting.
|
|
|
3137 |
Out to the fields without delay,
|
|
|
3138 |
And take to hacking, digging, planting;
|
|
|
3139 |
Run the same round from day to day,
|
|
|
3140 |
A treadmill-life, contented, leading,
|
|
|
3141 |
With simple fare both mind and body feeding,
|
|
|
3142 |
Live with the beast as beast, nor count it robbery
|
|
|
3143 |
Shouldst thou manure, thyself, the field thou reapest;
|
|
|
3144 |
Follow this course and, trust to me,
|
|
|
3145 |
For eighty years thy youth thou keepest!
|
|
|
3146 |
|
|
|
3147 |
_Faust_. I am not used to that, I ne'er could bring me to it,
|
|
|
3148 |
To wield the spade, I could not do it.
|
|
|
3149 |
The narrow life befits me not at all.
|
|
|
3150 |
|
|
|
3151 |
_Mephistopheles_. So must we on the witch, then, call.
|
|
|
3152 |
|
|
|
3153 |
_Faust_. But why just that old hag? Canst thou
|
|
|
3154 |
Not brew thyself the needful liquor?
|
|
|
3155 |
|
|
|
3156 |
_Mephistopheles_. That were a pretty pastime now
|
|
|
3157 |
I'd build about a thousand bridges quicker.
|
|
|
3158 |
Science and art alone won't do,
|
|
|
3159 |
The work will call for patience, too;
|
|
|
3160 |
Costs a still spirit years of occupation:
|
|
|
3161 |
Time, only, strengthens the fine fermentation.
|
|
|
3162 |
To tell each thing that forms a part
|
|
|
3163 |
Would sound to thee like wildest fable!
|
|
|
3164 |
The devil indeed has taught the art;
|
|
|
3165 |
To make it not the devil is able.
|
|
|
3166 |
[_Espying the animals_.]
|
|
|
3167 |
See, what a genteel breed we here parade!
|
|
|
3168 |
This is the house-boy! that's the maid!
|
|
|
3169 |
[_To the animals_.]
|
|
|
3170 |
Where's the old lady gone a mousing?
|
|
|
3171 |
|
|
|
3172 |
_The animals_. Carousing;
|
|
|
3173 |
Out she went
|
|
|
3174 |
By the chimney-vent!
|
|
|
3175 |
|
|
|
3176 |
_Mephistopheles_. How long does she spend in gadding and storming?
|
|
|
3177 |
|
|
|
3178 |
_The animals_. While we are giving our paws a warming.
|
|
|
3179 |
|
|
|
3180 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_to Faust_]. How do you find the dainty creatures?
|
|
|
3181 |
|
|
|
3182 |
_Faust_. Disgusting as I ever chanced to see!
|
|
|
3183 |
|
|
|
3184 |
_Mephistopheles_. No! a discourse like this to me,
|
|
|
3185 |
I own, is one of life's most pleasant features;
|
|
|
3186 |
[_To the animals_.]
|
|
|
3187 |
Say, cursed dolls, that sweat, there, toiling!
|
|
|
3188 |
What are you twirling with the spoon?
|
|
|
3189 |
|
|
|
3190 |
_Animals_. A common beggar-soup we're boiling.
|
|
|
3191 |
|
|
|
3192 |
_Mephistopheles_. You'll have a run of custom soon.
|
|
|
3193 |
|
|
|
3194 |
THE HE-MONKEY
|
|
|
3195 |
[_Comes along and fawns on_ MEPHISTOPHELES].
|
|
|
3196 |
O fling up the dice,
|
|
|
3197 |
Make me rich in a trice,
|
|
|
3198 |
Turn fortune's wheel over!
|
|
|
3199 |
My lot is right bad,
|
|
|
3200 |
If money I had,
|
|
|
3201 |
My wits would recover.
|
|
|
3202 |
|
|
|
3203 |
_Mephistopheles_. The monkey'd be as merry as a cricket,
|
|
|
3204 |
Would somebody give him a lottery-ticket!
|
|
|
3205 |
|
|
|
3206 |
[_Meanwhile the young monkeys have been playing with a great
|
|
|
3207 |
ball, which they roll backward and forward_.]
|
|
|
3208 |
|
|
|
3209 |
_The monkey_. 'The world's the ball;
|
|
|
3210 |
See't rise and fall,
|
|
|
3211 |
Its roll you follow;
|
|
|
3212 |
Like glass it rings:
|
|
|
3213 |
Both, brittle things!
|
|
|
3214 |
Within 'tis hollow.
|
|
|
3215 |
There it shines clear,
|
|
|
3216 |
And brighter here,--
|
|
|
3217 |
I live--by 'Pollo!--
|
|
|
3218 |
Dear son, I pray,
|
|
|
3219 |
Keep hands away!
|
|
|
3220 |
_Thou_ shalt fall so!
|
|
|
3221 |
'Tis made of clay,
|
|
|
3222 |
Pots are, also.
|
|
|
3223 |
|
|
|
3224 |
_Mephistopheles_. What means the sieve?
|
|
|
3225 |
|
|
|
3226 |
_The monkey [takes it down_]. Wert thou a thief,
|
|
|
3227 |
'Twould show the thief and shame him.
|
|
|
3228 |
[_Runs to his mate and makes her look through_.]
|
|
|
3229 |
Look through the sieve!
|
|
|
3230 |
Discern'st thou the thief,
|
|
|
3231 |
And darest not name him?
|
|
|
3232 |
|
|
|
3233 |
_Mephistopheles [approaching the fire_]. And what's this pot?
|
|
|
3234 |
|
|
|
3235 |
_The monkeys_. The dunce! I'll be shot!
|
|
|
3236 |
He knows not the pot,
|
|
|
3237 |
He knows not the kettle!
|
|
|
3238 |
|
|
|
3239 |
_Mephistopheles_. Impertinence! Hush!
|
|
|
3240 |
|
|
|
3241 |
_The monkey_. Here, take you the brush,
|
|
|
3242 |
And sit on the settle!
|
|
|
3243 |
[_He forces_ MEPHISTOPHELES _to sit down_.]
|
|
|
3244 |
|
|
|
3245 |
FAUST
|
|
|
3246 |
[_who all this time has been standing before a looking-glass,
|
|
|
3247 |
now approaching and now receding from it_].
|
|
|
3248 |
|
|
|
3249 |
What do I see? What heavenly face
|
|
|
3250 |
Doth, in this magic glass, enchant me!
|
|
|
3251 |
O love, in mercy, now, thy swiftest pinions grant me!
|
|
|
3252 |
And bear me to her field of space!
|
|
|
3253 |
Ah, if I seek to approach what doth so haunt me,
|
|
|
3254 |
If from this spot I dare to stir,
|
|
|
3255 |
Dimly as through a mist I gaze on her!--
|
|
|
3256 |
The loveliest vision of a woman!
|
|
|
3257 |
Such lovely woman can there be?
|
|
|
3258 |
Must I in these reposing limbs naught human.
|
|
|
3259 |
But of all heavens the finest essence see?
|
|
|
3260 |
Was such a thing on earth seen ever?
|
|
|
3261 |
|
|
|
3262 |
_Mephistopheles_. Why, when you see a God six days in hard work spend,
|
|
|
3263 |
And then cry bravo at the end,
|
|
|
3264 |
Of course you look for something clever.
|
|
|
3265 |
Look now thy fill; I have for thee
|
|
|
3266 |
Just such a jewel, and will lead thee to her;
|
|
|
3267 |
And happy, whose good fortune it shall be,
|
|
|
3268 |
To bear her home, a prospered wooer!
|
|
|
3269 |
|
|
|
3270 |
[FAUST _keeps on looking into the mirror_. MEPHISTOPHELES
|
|
|
3271 |
_stretching himself out on the settle and playing with the brush,
|
|
|
3272 |
continues speaking_.]
|
|
|
3273 |
Here sit I like a king upon his throne,
|
|
|
3274 |
The sceptre in my hand,--I want the crown alone.
|
|
|
3275 |
|
|
|
3276 |
THE ANIMALS
|
|
|
3277 |
[_who up to this time have been going through all sorts of queer antics
|
|
|
3278 |
with each other, bring_ MEPHISTOPHELES _a crown with a loud cry_].
|
|
|
3279 |
O do be so good,--
|
|
|
3280 |
With sweat and with blood,
|
|
|
3281 |
To take it and lime it;
|
|
|
3282 |
[_They go about clumsily with the crown and break it into two pieces,
|
|
|
3283 |
with which they jump round_.]
|
|
|
3284 |
'Tis done now! We're free!
|
|
|
3285 |
We speak and we see,
|
|
|
3286 |
We hear and we rhyme it;
|
|
|
3287 |
|
|
|
3288 |
_Faust [facing the mirror_]. Woe's me! I've almost lost my wits.
|
|
|
3289 |
|
|
|
3290 |
_Mephistopheles [pointing to the animals_].
|
|
|
3291 |
My head, too, I confess, is very near to spinning.
|
|
|
3292 |
|
|
|
3293 |
_The animals_. And then if it hits
|
|
|
3294 |
And every thing fits,
|
|
|
3295 |
We've thoughts for our winning.
|
|
|
3296 |
|
|
|
3297 |
_Faust [as before_]. Up to my heart the flame is flying!
|
|
|
3298 |
Let us begone--there's danger near!
|
|
|
3299 |
|
|
|
3300 |
_Mephistopheles [in the former position_].
|
|
|
3301 |
Well, this, at least, there's no denying,
|
|
|
3302 |
That we have undissembled poets here.
|
|
|
3303 |
|
|
|
3304 |
[The kettle, which the she-monkey has hitherto left unmatched, begins to
|
|
|
3305 |
run over; a great flame breaks out, which roars up the chimney. The_ WITCH
|
|
|
3306 |
_comes riding down through the flame with a terrible outcry_.]
|
|
|
3307 |
|
|
|
3308 |
_Witch_. Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
|
|
|
3309 |
The damned beast! The cursed sow!
|
|
|
3310 |
Neglected the kettle, scorched the Frau!
|
|
|
3311 |
The cursed crew!
|
|
|
3312 |
[_Seeing_ FAUST _and_ MEPHISTOPHELES.]
|
|
|
3313 |
And who are you?
|
|
|
3314 |
And what d'ye do?
|
|
|
3315 |
And what d'ye want?
|
|
|
3316 |
And who sneaked in?
|
|
|
3317 |
The fire-plague grim
|
|
|
3318 |
Shall light on him
|
|
|
3319 |
In every limb!
|
|
|
3320 |
|
|
|
3321 |
[_She makes a dive at the kettle with the skimmer and spatters flames
|
|
|
3322 |
at _FAUST, MEPHISTOPHELES_, and the creatures. These last whimper_.]
|
|
|
3323 |
|
|
|
3324 |
MEPHISTOPHELES
|
|
|
3325 |
[_inverting the brush which he holds in his hand, and striking
|
|
|
3326 |
among the glasses and pots_].
|
|
|
3327 |
|
|
|
3328 |
In two! In two!
|
|
|
3329 |
There lies the brew!
|
|
|
3330 |
There lies the glass!
|
|
|
3331 |
This joke must pass;
|
|
|
3332 |
For time-beat, ass!
|
|
|
3333 |
To thy melody, 'twill do.
|
|
|
3334 |
[_While the_ WITCH _starts back full of wrath and horror.]
|
|
|
3335 |
Skeleton! Scarcecrow! Spectre! Know'st thou me,
|
|
|
3336 |
Thy lord and master? What prevents my dashing
|
|
|
3337 |
Right in among thy cursed company,
|
|
|
3338 |
Thyself and all thy monkey spirits smashing?
|
|
|
3339 |
Has the red waistcoat thy respect no more?
|
|
|
3340 |
Has the cock's-feather, too, escaped attention?
|
|
|
3341 |
Hast never seen this face before?
|
|
|
3342 |
My name, perchance, wouldst have me mention?
|
|
|
3343 |
|
|
|
3344 |
_The witch_. Pardon the rudeness, sir, in me!
|
|
|
3345 |
But sure no cloven foot I see.
|
|
|
3346 |
Nor find I your two ravens either.
|
|
|
3347 |
|
|
|
3348 |
_Mephistopheles_. I'll let thee off for this once so;
|
|
|
3349 |
For a long while has passed, full well I know,
|
|
|
3350 |
Since the last time we met together.
|
|
|
3351 |
The culture, too, which licks the world to shape,
|
|
|
3352 |
The devil himself cannot escape;
|
|
|
3353 |
The phantom of the North men's thoughts have left behind them,
|
|
|
3354 |
Horns, tail, and claws, where now d'ye find them?
|
|
|
3355 |
And for the foot, with which dispense I nowise can,
|
|
|
3356 |
'Twould with good circles hurt my standing;
|
|
|
3357 |
And so I've worn, some years, like many a fine young man,
|
|
|
3358 |
False calves to make me more commanding.
|
|
|
3359 |
|
|
|
3360 |
_The witch [dancing_]. O I shall lose my wits, I fear,
|
|
|
3361 |
Do I, again, see Squire Satan here!
|
|
|
3362 |
|
|
|
3363 |
_Mephistopheles_. Woman, the name offends my ear!
|
|
|
3364 |
|
|
|
3365 |
_The witch_. Why so? What has it done to you?
|
|
|
3366 |
|
|
|
3367 |
_Mephistopheles_. It has long since to fable-books been banished;
|
|
|
3368 |
But men are none the better for it; true,
|
|
|
3369 |
The wicked _one_, but not the wicked _ones_, has vanished.
|
|
|
3370 |
Herr Baron callst thou me, then all is right and good;
|
|
|
3371 |
I am a cavalier, like others. Doubt me?
|
|
|
3372 |
Doubt for a moment of my noble blood?
|
|
|
3373 |
See here the family arms I bear about me!
|
|
|
3374 |
[_He makes an indecent gesture.]
|
|
|
3375 |
|
|
|
3376 |
The witch [laughs immoderately_]. Ha! ha! full well I know you, sir!
|
|
|
3377 |
You are the same old rogue you always were!
|
|
|
3378 |
|
|
|
3379 |
_Mephistopheles [to Faust_]. I pray you, carefully attend,
|
|
|
3380 |
This is the way to deal with witches, friend.
|
|
|
3381 |
|
|
|
3382 |
_The witch_. Now, gentles, what shall I produce?
|
|
|
3383 |
|
|
|
3384 |
_Mephistopheles_. A right good glassful of the well-known juice!
|
|
|
3385 |
And pray you, let it be the oldest;
|
|
|
3386 |
Age makes it doubly strong for use.
|
|
|
3387 |
|
|
|
3388 |
_The witch_. Right gladly! Here I have a bottle,
|
|
|
3389 |
From which, at times, I wet my throttle;
|
|
|
3390 |
Which now, not in the slightest, stinks;
|
|
|
3391 |
A glass to you I don't mind giving;
|
|
|
3392 |
[_Softly_.]
|
|
|
3393 |
But if this man, without preparing, drinks,
|
|
|
3394 |
He has not, well you know, another hour for living.
|
|
|
3395 |
|
|
|
3396 |
_Mephistopheles_.
|
|
|
3397 |
'Tis a good friend of mine, whom it shall straight cheer up;
|
|
|
3398 |
Thy kitchen's best to give him don't delay thee.
|
|
|
3399 |
Thy ring--thy spell, now, quick, I pray thee,
|
|
|
3400 |
And give him then a good full cup.
|
|
|
3401 |
|
|
|
3402 |
[_The_ WITCH, _with strange gestures, draws a circle, and places singular
|
|
|
3403 |
things in it; mean-while the glasses begin to ring, the kettle to sound
|
|
|
3404 |
and make music. Finally, she brings a great book and places the monkeys in
|
|
|
3405 |
the circle, whom she uses as a reading-desk and to hold the torches. She
|
|
|
3406 |
beckons_ FAUST _to come to her_.]
|
|
|
3407 |
|
|
|
3408 |
_Faust [to Mephistopheles_].
|
|
|
3409 |
Hold! what will come of this? These creatures,
|
|
|
3410 |
These frantic gestures and distorted features,
|
|
|
3411 |
And all the crazy, juggling fluff,
|
|
|
3412 |
I've known and loathed it long enough!
|
|
|
3413 |
|
|
|
3414 |
_Mephistopheles_. Pugh! that is only done to smoke us;
|
|
|
3415 |
Don't be so serious, my man!
|
|
|
3416 |
She must, as Doctor, play her hocus-pocus
|
|
|
3417 |
To make the dose work better, that's the plan.
|
|
|
3418 |
[_He constrains_ FAUST _to step into the circle_.]
|
|
|
3419 |
|
|
|
3420 |
THE WITCH
|
|
|
3421 |
[_beginning with great emphasis to declaim out of the book_]
|
|
|
3422 |
|
|
|
3423 |
Remember then!
|
|
|
3424 |
Of One make Ten,
|
|
|
3425 |
The Two let be,
|
|
|
3426 |
Make even Three,
|
|
|
3427 |
There's wealth for thee.
|
|
|
3428 |
The Four pass o'er!
|
|
|
3429 |
Of Five and Six,
|
|
|
3430 |
(The witch so speaks,)
|
|
|
3431 |
Make Seven and Eight,
|
|
|
3432 |
The thing is straight:
|
|
|
3433 |
And Nine is One
|
|
|
3434 |
And Ten is none--
|
|
|
3435 |
This is the witch's one-time-one![24]
|
|
|
3436 |
|
|
|
3437 |
_Faust_. The old hag talks like one delirious.
|
|
|
3438 |
|
|
|
3439 |
_Mephistopheles_. There's much more still, no less mysterious,
|
|
|
3440 |
I know it well, the whole book sounds just so!
|
|
|
3441 |
I've lost full many a year in poring o'er it,
|
|
|
3442 |
For perfect contradiction, you must know,
|
|
|
3443 |
A mystery stands, and fools and wise men bow before it,
|
|
|
3444 |
The art is old and new, my son.
|
|
|
3445 |
Men, in all times, by craft and terror,
|
|
|
3446 |
With One and Three, and Three and One,
|
|
|
3447 |
For truth have propagated error.
|
|
|
3448 |
They've gone on gabbling so a thousand years;
|
|
|
3449 |
Who on the fools would waste a minute?
|
|
|
3450 |
Man generally thinks, if words he only hears,
|
|
|
3451 |
Articulated noise must have some meaning in it.
|
|
|
3452 |
|
|
|
3453 |
_The witch [goes on_]. Deep wisdom's power
|
|
|
3454 |
Has, to this hour,
|
|
|
3455 |
From all the world been hidden!
|
|
|
3456 |
Whoso thinks not,
|
|
|
3457 |
To him 'tis brought,
|
|
|
3458 |
To him it comes unbidden.
|
|
|
3459 |
|
|
|
3460 |
_Faust_. What nonsense is she talking here?
|
|
|
3461 |
My heart is on the point of cracking.
|
|
|
3462 |
In one great choir I seem to hear
|
|
|
3463 |
A hundred thousand ninnies clacking.
|
|
|
3464 |
|
|
|
3465 |
_Mephistopheles_. Enough, enough, rare Sibyl, sing us
|
|
|
3466 |
These runes no more, thy beverage bring us,
|
|
|
3467 |
And quickly fill the goblet to the brim;
|
|
|
3468 |
This drink may by my friend be safely taken:
|
|
|
3469 |
Full many grades the man can reckon,
|
|
|
3470 |
Many good swigs have entered him.
|
|
|
3471 |
|
|
|
3472 |
[_The_ WITCH, _with many ceremonies, pours the drink into a cup;
|
|
|
3473 |
as she puts it to_ FAUST'S _lips, there rises a light flame_.]
|
|
|
3474 |
|
|
|
3475 |
_Mephistopheles_. Down with it! Gulp it down! 'Twill prove
|
|
|
3476 |
All that thy heart's wild wants desire.
|
|
|
3477 |
Thou, with the devil, hand and glove,[25]
|
|
|
3478 |
And yet wilt be afraid of fire?
|
|
|
3479 |
|
|
|
3480 |
[_The_ WITCH _breaks the circle_; FAUST _steps out_.]
|
|
|
3481 |
|
|
|
3482 |
_Mephistopheles_. Now briskly forth! No rest for thee!
|
|
|
3483 |
|
|
|
3484 |
_The witch_. Much comfort may the drink afford you!
|
|
|
3485 |
|
|
|
3486 |
_Mephistopheles [to the witch_]. And any favor you may ask of me,
|
|
|
3487 |
I'll gladly on Walpurgis' night accord you.
|
|
|
3488 |
|
|
|
3489 |
_The witch_. Here is a song, which if you sometimes sing,
|
|
|
3490 |
'Twill stir up in your heart a special fire.
|
|
|
3491 |
|
|
|
3492 |
_Mephistopheles [to Faust_]. Only make haste; and even shouldst thou tire,
|
|
|
3493 |
Still follow me; one must perspire,
|
|
|
3494 |
That it may set his nerves all quivering.
|
|
|
3495 |
I'll teach thee by and bye to prize a noble leisure,
|
|
|
3496 |
And soon, too, shalt thou feel with hearty pleasure,
|
|
|
3497 |
How busy Cupid stirs, and shakes his nimble wing.
|
|
|
3498 |
|
|
|
3499 |
_Faust_. But first one look in yonder glass, I pray thee!
|
|
|
3500 |
Such beauty I no more may find!
|
|
|
3501 |
|
|
|
3502 |
_Mephistopheles_. Nay! in the flesh thine eyes shall soon display thee
|
|
|
3503 |
The model of all woman-kind.
|
|
|
3504 |
[_Softly_.]
|
|
|
3505 |
Soon will, when once this drink shall heat thee,
|
|
|
3506 |
In every girl a Helen meet thee!
|
|
|
3507 |
|
|
|
3508 |
|
|
|
3509 |
|
|
|
3510 |
|
|
|
3511 |
A STREET.
|
|
|
3512 |
|
|
|
3513 |
FAUST. MARGARET [_passing over_].
|
|
|
3514 |
|
|
|
3515 |
_Faust_. My fair young lady, will it offend her
|
|
|
3516 |
If I offer my arm and escort to lend her?
|
|
|
3517 |
|
|
|
3518 |
_Margaret_. Am neither lady, nor yet am fair!
|
|
|
3519 |
Can find my way home without any one's care.
|
|
|
3520 |
[_Disengages herself and exit_.]
|
|
|
3521 |
|
|
|
3522 |
_Faust_. By heavens, but then the child _is_ fair!
|
|
|
3523 |
I've never seen the like, I swear.
|
|
|
3524 |
So modest is she and so pure,
|
|
|
3525 |
And somewhat saucy, too, to be sure.
|
|
|
3526 |
The light of the cheek, the lip's red bloom,
|
|
|
3527 |
I shall never forget to the day of doom!
|
|
|
3528 |
How me cast down her lovely eyes,
|
|
|
3529 |
Deep in my soul imprinted lies;
|
|
|
3530 |
How she spoke up, so curt and tart,
|
|
|
3531 |
Ah, that went right to my ravished heart!
|
|
|
3532 |
[_Enter_ MEPHISTOPHELES.]
|
|
|
3533 |
|
|
|
3534 |
_Faust_. Hark, thou shalt find me a way to address her!
|
|
|
3535 |
|
|
|
3536 |
_Mephistopheles_. Which one?
|
|
|
3537 |
|
|
|
3538 |
_Faust_. She just went by.
|
|
|
3539 |
|
|
|
3540 |
_Mephistopheles_. What! She?
|
|
|
3541 |
She came just now from her father confessor,
|
|
|
3542 |
Who from all sins pronounced her free;
|
|
|
3543 |
I stole behind her noiselessly,
|
|
|
3544 |
'Tis an innocent thing, who, for nothing at all,
|
|
|
3545 |
Must go to the confessional;
|
|
|
3546 |
O'er such as she no power I hold!
|
|
|
3547 |
|
|
|
3548 |
_Faust_. But then she's over fourteen years old.
|
|
|
3549 |
|
|
|
3550 |
_Mephistopheles_. Thou speak'st exactly like Jack Rake,
|
|
|
3551 |
Who every fair flower his own would make.
|
|
|
3552 |
And thinks there can be no favor nor fame,
|
|
|
3553 |
But one may straightway pluck the same.
|
|
|
3554 |
But 'twill not always do, we see.
|
|
|
3555 |
|
|
|
3556 |
_Faust_. My worthy Master Gravity,
|
|
|
3557 |
Let not a word of the Law be spoken!
|
|
|
3558 |
One thing be clearly understood,--
|
|
|
3559 |
Unless I clasp the sweet, young blood
|
|
|
3560 |
This night in my arms--then, well and good:
|
|
|
3561 |
When midnight strikes, our bond is broken.
|
|
|
3562 |
|
|
|
3563 |
_Mephistopheles_. Reflect on all that lies in the way!
|
|
|
3564 |
I need a fortnight, at least, to a day,
|
|
|
3565 |
For finding so much as a way to reach her.
|
|
|
3566 |
|
|
|
3567 |
_Faust_. Had I seven hours, to call my own,
|
|
|
3568 |
Without the devil's aid, alone
|
|
|
3569 |
I'd snare with ease so young a creature.
|
|
|
3570 |
|
|
|
3571 |
_Mephistopheles_. You talk quite Frenchman-like to-day;
|
|
|
3572 |
But don't be vexed beyond all measure.
|
|
|
3573 |
What boots it thus to snatch at pleasure?
|
|
|
3574 |
'Tis not so great, by a long way,
|
|
|
3575 |
As if you first, with tender twaddle,
|
|
|
3576 |
And every sort of fiddle-faddle,
|
|
|
3577 |
Your little doll should mould and knead,
|
|
|
3578 |
As one in French romances may read.
|
|
|
3579 |
|
|
|
3580 |
_Faust_. My appetite needs no such spur.
|
|
|
3581 |
|
|
|
3582 |
_Mephistopheles_. Now, then, without a jest or slur,
|
|
|
3583 |
I tell you, once for all, such speed
|
|
|
3584 |
With the fair creature won't succeed.
|
|
|
3585 |
Nothing will here by storm be taken;
|
|
|
3586 |
We must perforce on intrigue reckon.
|
|
|
3587 |
|
|
|
3588 |
_Faust_. Get me some trinket the angel has blest!
|
|
|
3589 |
Lead me to her chamber of rest!
|
|
|
3590 |
Get me a 'kerchief from her neck,
|
|
|
3591 |
A garter get me for love's sweet sake!
|
|
|
3592 |
|
|
|
3593 |
_Mephistopheles_. To prove to you my willingness
|
|
|
3594 |
To aid and serve you in this distress;
|
|
|
3595 |
You shall visit her chamber, by me attended,
|
|
|
3596 |
Before the passing day is ended.
|
|
|
3597 |
|
|
|
3598 |
_Faust_. And see her, too? and have her?
|
|
|
3599 |
|
|
|
3600 |
_Mephistopheles_. Nay!
|
|
|
3601 |
She will to a neighbor's have gone away.
|
|
|
3602 |
Meanwhile alone by yourself you may,
|
|
|
3603 |
There in her atmosphere, feast at leisure
|
|
|
3604 |
And revel in dreams of future pleasure.
|
|
|
3605 |
|
|
|
3606 |
_Faust_. Shall we start at once?
|
|
|
3607 |
|
|
|
3608 |
_Mephistopheles_. 'Tis too early yet.
|
|
|
3609 |
|
|
|
3610 |
_Faust_. Some present to take her for me you must get.
|
|
|
3611 |
|
|
|
3612 |
[_Exit_.]
|
|
|
3613 |
|
|
|
3614 |
_Mephistopheles_. Presents already! Brave! He's on the right foundation!
|
|
|
3615 |
Full many a noble place I know,
|
|
|
3616 |
And treasure buried long ago;
|
|
|
3617 |
Must make a bit of exploration.
|
|
|
3618 |
|
|
|
3619 |
[_Exit_.]
|
|
|
3620 |
|
|
|
3621 |
|
|
|
3622 |
|
|
|
3623 |
|
|
|
3624 |
EVENING.
|
|
|
3625 |
|
|
|
3626 |
_A little cleanly Chamber_.
|
|
|
3627 |
|
|
|
3628 |
MARGARET [_braiding and tying up her hair_.]
|
|
|
3629 |
I'd give a penny just to say
|
|
|
3630 |
What gentleman that was to-day!
|
|
|
3631 |
How very gallant he seemed to be,
|
|
|
3632 |
He's of a noble family;
|
|
|
3633 |
That I could read from his brow and bearing--
|
|
|
3634 |
And he would not have otherwise been so daring.
|
|
|
3635 |
[_Exit_.]
|
|
|
3636 |
|
|
|
3637 |
FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
3638 |
|
|
|
3639 |
_Mephistopheles_. Come in, step softly, do not fear!
|
|
|
3640 |
|
|
|
3641 |
_Faust [after a pause_]. Leave me alone, I prithee, here!
|
|
|
3642 |
|
|
|
3643 |
_Mephistopheles [peering round_]. Not every maiden keeps so neat.
|
|
|
3644 |
[_Exit_.]
|
|
|
3645 |
|
|
|
3646 |
_Faust [gazing round_]. Welcome this hallowed still retreat!
|
|
|
3647 |
Where twilight weaves its magic glow.
|
|
|
3648 |
Seize on my heart, love-longing, sad and sweet,
|
|
|
3649 |
That on the dew of hope dost feed thy woe!
|
|
|
3650 |
How breathes around the sense of stillness,
|
|
|
3651 |
Of quiet, order, and content!
|
|
|
3652 |
In all this poverty what fulness!
|
|
|
3653 |
What blessedness within this prison pent!
|
|
|
3654 |
[_He throws himself into a leathern chair by the bed_.]
|
|
|
3655 |
Take me, too! as thou hast, in years long flown,
|
|
|
3656 |
In joy and grief, so many a generation!
|
|
|
3657 |
Ah me! how oft, on this ancestral throne,
|
|
|
3658 |
Have troops of children climbed with exultation!
|
|
|
3659 |
Perhaps, when Christmas brought the Holy Guest,
|
|
|
3660 |
My love has here, in grateful veneration
|
|
|
3661 |
The grandsire's withered hand with child-lips prest.
|
|
|
3662 |
I feel, O maiden, circling me,
|
|
|
3663 |
Thy spirit of grace and fulness hover,
|
|
|
3664 |
Which daily like a mother teaches thee
|
|
|
3665 |
The table-cloth to spread in snowy purity,
|
|
|
3666 |
And even, with crinkled sand the floor to cover.
|
|
|
3667 |
Dear, godlike hand! a touch of thine
|
|
|
3668 |
Makes this low house a heavenly kingdom slime!
|
|
|
3669 |
And here!
|
|
|
3670 |
[_He lifts a bed-curtain_.]
|
|
|
3671 |
What blissful awe my heart thrills through!
|
|
|
3672 |
Here for long hours could I linger.
|
|
|
3673 |
Here, Nature! in light dreams, thy airy finger
|
|
|
3674 |
The inborn angel's features drew!
|
|
|
3675 |
Here lay the child, when life's fresh heavings
|
|
|
3676 |
Its tender bosom first made warm,
|
|
|
3677 |
And here with pure, mysterious weavings
|
|
|
3678 |
The spirit wrought its godlike form!
|
|
|
3679 |
And thou! What brought thee here? what power
|
|
|
3680 |
Stirs in my deepest soul this hour?
|
|
|
3681 |
What wouldst thou here? What makes thy heart so sore?
|
|
|
3682 |
Unhappy Faust! I know thee thus no more.
|
|
|
3683 |
Breathe I a magic atmosphere?
|
|
|
3684 |
The will to enjoy how strong I felt it,--
|
|
|
3685 |
And in a dream of love am now all melted!
|
|
|
3686 |
Are we the sport of every puff of air?
|
|
|
3687 |
And if she suddenly should enter now,
|
|
|
3688 |
How would she thy presumptuous folly humble!
|
|
|
3689 |
Big John-o'dreams! ah, how wouldst thou
|
|
|
3690 |
Sink at her feet, collapse and crumble!
|
|
|
3691 |
|
|
|
3692 |
_Mephistopheles_. Quick, now! She comes! I'm looking at her.
|
|
|
3693 |
|
|
|
3694 |
_Faust_. Away! Away! O cruel fate!
|
|
|
3695 |
|
|
|
3696 |
_Mephistopheles_. Here is a box of moderate weight;
|
|
|
3697 |
I got it somewhere else--no matter!
|
|
|
3698 |
Just shut it up, here, in the press,
|
|
|
3699 |
I swear to you, 'twill turn her senses;
|
|
|
3700 |
I meant the trifles, I confess,
|
|
|
3701 |
To scale another fair one's fences.
|
|
|
3702 |
True, child is child and play is play.
|
|
|
3703 |
|
|
|
3704 |
_Faust_. Shall I? I know not.
|
|
|
3705 |
|
|
|
3706 |
_Mephistopheles_. Why delay?
|
|
|
3707 |
You mean perhaps to keep the bauble?
|
|
|
3708 |
If so, I counsel you to spare
|
|
|
3709 |
From idle passion hours so fair,
|
|
|
3710 |
And me, henceforth, all further trouble.
|
|
|
3711 |
I hope you are not avaricious!
|
|
|
3712 |
I rub my hands, I scratch my head--
|
|
|
3713 |
[_He places the casket in the press and locks it up again_.]
|
|
|
3714 |
(Quick! Time we sped!)--
|
|
|
3715 |
That the dear creature may be led
|
|
|
3716 |
And moulded by your will and wishes;
|
|
|
3717 |
And you stand here as glum,
|
|
|
3718 |
As one at the door of the auditorium,
|
|
|
3719 |
As if before your eyes you saw
|
|
|
3720 |
In bodily shape, with breathless awe,
|
|
|
3721 |
Metaphysics and physics, grim and gray!
|
|
|
3722 |
Away!
|
|
|
3723 |
[_Exit_.]
|
|
|
3724 |
|
|
|
3725 |
_Margaret [with a lamp_]. It seems so close, so sultry here.
|
|
|
3726 |
[_She opens the window_.]
|
|
|
3727 |
Yet it isn't so very warm out there,
|
|
|
3728 |
I feel--I know not how--oh dear!
|
|
|
3729 |
I wish my mother 'ld come home, I declare!
|
|
|
3730 |
I feel a shudder all over me crawl--
|
|
|
3731 |
I'm a silly, timid thing, that's all!
|
|
|
3732 |
[_She begins to sing, while undressing_.]
|
|
|
3733 |
There was a king in Thulè,
|
|
|
3734 |
To whom, when near her grave,
|
|
|
3735 |
The mistress he loved so truly
|
|
|
3736 |
A golden goblet gave.
|
|
|
3737 |
|
|
|
3738 |
He cherished it as a lover,
|
|
|
3739 |
He drained it, every bout;
|
|
|
3740 |
His eyes with tears ran over,
|
|
|
3741 |
As oft as he drank thereout.
|
|
|
3742 |
|
|
|
3743 |
And when he found himself dying,
|
|
|
3744 |
His towns and cities he told;
|
|
|
3745 |
Naught else to his heir denying
|
|
|
3746 |
Save only the goblet of gold.
|
|
|
3747 |
|
|
|
3748 |
His knights he straightway gathers
|
|
|
3749 |
And in the midst sate he,
|
|
|
3750 |
In the banquet hall of the fathers
|
|
|
3751 |
In the castle over the sea.
|
|
|
3752 |
|
|
|
3753 |
There stood th' old knight of liquor,
|
|
|
3754 |
And drank the last life-glow,
|
|
|
3755 |
Then flung the holy beaker
|
|
|
3756 |
Into the flood below.
|
|
|
3757 |
|
|
|
3758 |
He saw it plunging, drinking
|
|
|
3759 |
And sinking in the roar,
|
|
|
3760 |
His eyes in death were sinking,
|
|
|
3761 |
He never drank one drop more.
|
|
|
3762 |
[_She opens the press, to put away her clothes,
|
|
|
3763 |
and discovers the casket_.]
|
|
|
3764 |
|
|
|
3765 |
How in the world came this fine casket here?
|
|
|
3766 |
I locked the press, I'm very clear.
|
|
|
3767 |
I wonder what's inside! Dear me! it's very queer!
|
|
|
3768 |
Perhaps 'twas brought here as a pawn,
|
|
|
3769 |
In place of something mother lent.
|
|
|
3770 |
Here is a little key hung on,
|
|
|
3771 |
A single peep I shan't repent!
|
|
|
3772 |
What's here? Good gracious! only see!
|
|
|
3773 |
I never saw the like in my born days!
|
|
|
3774 |
On some chief festival such finery
|
|
|
3775 |
Might on some noble lady blaze.
|
|
|
3776 |
How would this chain become my neck!
|
|
|
3777 |
Whose may this splendor be, so lonely?
|
|
|
3778 |
[_She arrays herself in it, and steps before the glass_.]
|
|
|
3779 |
Could I but claim the ear-rings only!
|
|
|
3780 |
A different figure one would make.
|
|
|
3781 |
What's beauty worth to thee, young blood!
|
|
|
3782 |
May all be very well and good;
|
|
|
3783 |
What then? 'Tis half for pity's sake
|
|
|
3784 |
They praise your pretty features.
|
|
|
3785 |
Each burns for gold,
|
|
|
3786 |
All turns on gold,--
|
|
|
3787 |
Alas for us! poor creatures!
|
|
|
3788 |
|
|
|
3789 |
|
|
|
3790 |
|
|
|
3791 |
|
|
|
3792 |
PROMENADE.
|
|
|
3793 |
|
|
|
3794 |
|
|
|
3795 |
FAUST [_going up and down in thought_.] MEPHISTOPHELES _to him_.
|
|
|
3796 |
|
|
|
3797 |
_Mephistopheles_. By all that ever was jilted! By all the infernal fires!
|
|
|
3798 |
I wish I knew something worse, to curse as my heart desires!
|
|
|
3799 |
|
|
|
3800 |
_Faust_. What griping pain has hold of thee?
|
|
|
3801 |
Such grins ne'er saw I in the worst stage-ranter!
|
|
|
3802 |
|
|
|
3803 |
_Mephistopheles_. Oh, to the devil I'd give myself instanter,
|
|
|
3804 |
If I were not already he!
|
|
|
3805 |
|
|
|
3806 |
_Faust_. Some pin's loose in your head, old fellow!
|
|
|
3807 |
That fits you, like a madman thus to bellow!
|
|
|
3808 |
|
|
|
3809 |
_Mephistopheles_. Just think, the pretty toy we got for Peg,
|
|
|
3810 |
A priest has hooked, the cursed plague I--
|
|
|
3811 |
The thing came under the eye of the mother,
|
|
|
3812 |
And caused her a dreadful internal pother:
|
|
|
3813 |
The woman's scent is fine and strong;
|
|
|
3814 |
Snuffles over her prayer-book all day long,
|
|
|
3815 |
And knows, by the smell of an article, plain,
|
|
|
3816 |
Whether the thing is holy or profane;
|
|
|
3817 |
And as to the box she was soon aware
|
|
|
3818 |
There could not be much blessing there.
|
|
|
3819 |
"My child," she cried, "unrighteous gains
|
|
|
3820 |
Ensnare the soul, dry up the veins.
|
|
|
3821 |
We'll consecrate it to God's mother,
|
|
|
3822 |
She'll give us some heavenly manna or other!"
|
|
|
3823 |
Little Margaret made a wry face; "I see
|
|
|
3824 |
'Tis, after all, a gift horse," said she;
|
|
|
3825 |
"And sure, no godless one is he
|
|
|
3826 |
Who brought it here so handsomely."
|
|
|
3827 |
The mother sent for a priest (they're cunning);
|
|
|
3828 |
Who scarce had found what game was running,
|
|
|
3829 |
When he rolled his greedy eyes like a lizard,
|
|
|
3830 |
And, "all is rightly disposed," said he,
|
|
|
3831 |
"Who conquers wins, for a certainty.
|
|
|
3832 |
The church has of old a famous gizzard,
|
|
|
3833 |
She calls it little whole lands to devour,
|
|
|
3834 |
Yet never a surfeit got to this hour;
|
|
|
3835 |
The church alone, dear ladies; _sans_ question,
|
|
|
3836 |
Can give unrighteous gains digestion."
|
|
|
3837 |
|
|
|
3838 |
_Faust_. That is a general pratice, too,
|
|
|
3839 |
Common alike with king and Jew.
|
|
|
3840 |
|
|
|
3841 |
_Mephistopheles_. Then pocketed bracelets and chains and rings
|
|
|
3842 |
As if they were mushrooms or some such things,
|
|
|
3843 |
With no more thanks, (the greedy-guts!)
|
|
|
3844 |
Than if it had been a basket of nuts,
|
|
|
3845 |
Promised them all sorts of heavenly pay--
|
|
|
3846 |
And greatly edified were they.
|
|
|
3847 |
|
|
|
3848 |
_Faust_. And Margery?
|
|
|
3849 |
|
|
|
3850 |
_Mephistopheles_. Sits there in distress,
|
|
|
3851 |
And what to do she cannot guess,
|
|
|
3852 |
The jewels her daily and nightly thought,
|
|
|
3853 |
And he still more by whom they were brought.
|
|
|
3854 |
|
|
|
3855 |
_Faust._ My heart is troubled for my pet.
|
|
|
3856 |
Get her at once another set!
|
|
|
3857 |
The first were no great things in their way.
|
|
|
3858 |
|
|
|
3859 |
_Mephistopheles._ O yes, my gentleman finds all child's play!
|
|
|
3860 |
|
|
|
3861 |
_Faust._ And what I wish, that mind and do!
|
|
|
3862 |
Stick closely to her neighbor, too.
|
|
|
3863 |
Don't be a devil soft as pap,
|
|
|
3864 |
And fetch me some new jewels, old chap!
|
|
|
3865 |
|
|
|
3866 |
_Mephistopheles._ Yes, gracious Sir, I will with pleasure.
|
|
|
3867 |
[_Exit_ FAUST.]
|
|
|
3868 |
Such love-sick fools will puff away
|
|
|
3869 |
Sun, moon, and stars, and all in the azure,
|
|
|
3870 |
To please a maiden's whimsies, any day.
|
|
|
3871 |
[_Exit._]
|
|
|
3872 |
|
|
|
3873 |
|
|
|
3874 |
|
|
|
3875 |
|
|
|
3876 |
THE NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE.
|
|
|
3877 |
|
|
|
3878 |
|
|
|
3879 |
MARTHA [_alone]._
|
|
|
3880 |
My dear good man--whom God forgive!
|
|
|
3881 |
He has not treated me well, as I live!
|
|
|
3882 |
Right off into the world he's gone
|
|
|
3883 |
And left me on the straw alone.
|
|
|
3884 |
I never did vex him, I say it sincerely,
|
|
|
3885 |
I always loved him, God knows how dearly.
|
|
|
3886 |
[_She weeps_.]
|
|
|
3887 |
Perhaps he's dead!--O cruel fate!--
|
|
|
3888 |
If I only had a certificate!
|
|
|
3889 |
|
|
|
3890 |
_Enter_ MARGARET.
|
|
|
3891 |
Dame Martha!
|
|
|
3892 |
|
|
|
3893 |
_Martha_. What now, Margery?
|
|
|
3894 |
|
|
|
3895 |
_Margaret_. I scarce can keep my knees from sinking!
|
|
|
3896 |
Within my press, again, not thinking,
|
|
|
3897 |
I find a box of ebony,
|
|
|
3898 |
With things--can't tell how grand they are,--
|
|
|
3899 |
More splendid than the first by far.
|
|
|
3900 |
|
|
|
3901 |
_Martha_. You must not tell it to your mother,
|
|
|
3902 |
She'd serve it as she did the other.
|
|
|
3903 |
|
|
|
3904 |
_Margaret_. Ah, only look! Behold and see!
|
|
|
3905 |
|
|
|
3906 |
_Martha [puts them on her_]. Fortunate thing! I envy thee!
|
|
|
3907 |
|
|
|
3908 |
_Margaret._ Alas, in the street or at church I never
|
|
|
3909 |
Could be seen on any account whatever.
|
|
|
3910 |
|
|
|
3911 |
_Martha._ Come here as often as you've leisure,
|
|
|
3912 |
And prink yourself quite privately;
|
|
|
3913 |
Before the looking-glass walk up and down at pleasure,
|
|
|
3914 |
Fine times for both us 'twill be;
|
|
|
3915 |
Then, on occasions, say at some great feast,
|
|
|
3916 |
Can show them to the world, one at a time, at least.
|
|
|
3917 |
A chain, and then an ear-pearl comes to view;
|
|
|
3918 |
Your mother may not see, we'll make some pretext, too.
|
|
|
3919 |
|
|
|
3920 |
_Margaret._ Who could have brought both caskets in succession?
|
|
|
3921 |
There's something here for just suspicion!
|
|
|
3922 |
[_A knock._ ]
|
|
|
3923 |
Ah, God! If that's my mother--then!
|
|
|
3924 |
|
|
|
3925 |
_Martha_ [_peeping through the blind_].
|
|
|
3926 |
'Tis a strange gentleman--come in!
|
|
|
3927 |
|
|
|
3928 |
[_Enter_ MEPHISTOPHELES.]
|
|
|
3929 |
Must, ladies, on your kindness reckon
|
|
|
3930 |
To excuse the freedom I have taken;
|
|
|
3931 |
[_Steps back with profound respect at seeing_ MARGARET.]
|
|
|
3932 |
I would for Dame Martha Schwerdtlein inquire!
|
|
|
3933 |
|
|
|
3934 |
_Martha._ I'm she, what, sir, is your desire?
|
|
|
3935 |
|
|
|
3936 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_aside to her_]. I know your face, for now 'twill do;
|
|
|
3937 |
A distinguished lady is visiting you.
|
|
|
3938 |
For a call so abrupt be pardon meted,
|
|
|
3939 |
This afternoon it shall be repeated.
|
|
|
3940 |
|
|
|
3941 |
_Martha [aloud]._ For all the world, think, child! my sakes!
|
|
|
3942 |
The gentleman you for a lady takes.
|
|
|
3943 |
|
|
|
3944 |
_Margaret_. Ah, God! I am a poor young blood;
|
|
|
3945 |
The gentleman is quite too good;
|
|
|
3946 |
The jewels and trinkets are none of my own.
|
|
|
3947 |
|
|
|
3948 |
_Mephistopheles_. Ah, 'tis not the jewels and trinkets alone;
|
|
|
3949 |
Her look is so piercing, so _distinguè_!
|
|
|
3950 |
How glad I am to be suffered to stay.
|
|
|
3951 |
|
|
|
3952 |
_Martha_. What bring you, sir? I long to hear--
|
|
|
3953 |
|
|
|
3954 |
_Mephistopheles_. Would I'd a happier tale for your ear!
|
|
|
3955 |
I hope you'll forgive me this one for repeating:
|
|
|
3956 |
Your husband is dead and sends you a greeting.
|
|
|
3957 |
|
|
|
3958 |
_Martha_. Is dead? the faithful heart! Woe! Woe!
|
|
|
3959 |
My husband dead! I, too, shall go!
|
|
|
3960 |
|
|
|
3961 |
_Margaret_. Ah, dearest Dame, despair not thou!
|
|
|
3962 |
|
|
|
3963 |
_Mephistopheles_ Then, hear the mournful story now!
|
|
|
3964 |
|
|
|
3965 |
_Margaret_. Ah, keep me free from love forever,
|
|
|
3966 |
I should never survive such a loss, no, never!
|
|
|
3967 |
|
|
|
3968 |
_Mephistopheles_. Joy and woe, woe and joy, must have each other.
|
|
|
3969 |
|
|
|
3970 |
_Martha_. Describe his closing hours to me!
|
|
|
3971 |
|
|
|
3972 |
_Mephistopheles_. In Padua lies our departed brother,
|
|
|
3973 |
In the churchyard of St. Anthony,
|
|
|
3974 |
In a cool and quiet bed lies sleeping,
|
|
|
3975 |
In a sacred spot's eternal keeping.
|
|
|
3976 |
|
|
|
3977 |
_Martha_. And this was all you had to bring me?
|
|
|
3978 |
|
|
|
3979 |
_Mephistopheles_. All but one weighty, grave request!
|
|
|
3980 |
"Bid her, when I am dead, three hundred masses sing me!"
|
|
|
3981 |
With this I have made a clean pocket and breast.
|
|
|
3982 |
|
|
|
3983 |
_Martha_. What! not a medal, pin nor stone?
|
|
|
3984 |
Such as, for memory's sake, no journeyman will lack,
|
|
|
3985 |
Saved in the bottom of his sack,
|
|
|
3986 |
And sooner would hunger, be a pauper--
|
|
|
3987 |
|
|
|
3988 |
_Mephistopheles_. Madam, your case is hard, I own!
|
|
|
3989 |
But blame him not, he squandered ne'er a copper.
|
|
|
3990 |
He too bewailed his faults with penance sore,
|
|
|
3991 |
Ay, and his wretched luck bemoaned a great deal more.
|
|
|
3992 |
|
|
|
3993 |
_Margaret_. Alas! that mortals so unhappy prove!
|
|
|
3994 |
I surely will for him pray many a requiem duly.
|
|
|
3995 |
|
|
|
3996 |
_Mephistopheles_. You're worthy of a spouse this moment; truly
|
|
|
3997 |
You are a child a man might love.
|
|
|
3998 |
|
|
|
3999 |
_Margaret_. It's not yet time for that, ah no!
|
|
|
4000 |
|
|
|
4001 |
_Mephistopheles_. If not a husband, say, meanwhile a beau.
|
|
|
4002 |
It is a choice and heavenly blessing,
|
|
|
4003 |
Such a dear thing to one's bosom pressing.
|
|
|
4004 |
|
|
|
4005 |
_Margaret_. With us the custom is not so.
|
|
|
4006 |
|
|
|
4007 |
_Mephistopheles_. Custom or not! It happens, though.
|
|
|
4008 |
|
|
|
4009 |
_Martha_. Tell on!
|
|
|
4010 |
|
|
|
4011 |
_Mephistopheles_. I slood beside his bed, as he lay dying,
|
|
|
4012 |
Better than dung it was somewhat,--
|
|
|
4013 |
Half-rotten straw; but then, he died as Christian ought,
|
|
|
4014 |
And found an unpaid score, on Heaven's account-book lying.
|
|
|
4015 |
"How must I hate myself," he cried, "inhuman!
|
|
|
4016 |
So to forsake my business and my woman!
|
|
|
4017 |
Oh! the remembrance murders me!
|
|
|
4018 |
Would she might still forgive me this side heaven!"
|
|
|
4019 |
|
|
|
4020 |
_Martha_ [_weeping_]. The dear good man! he has been long forgiven.
|
|
|
4021 |
|
|
|
4022 |
_Mephistopheles_. "But God knows, I was less to blame than she."
|
|
|
4023 |
|
|
|
4024 |
_Martha_. A lie! And at death's door! abominable!
|
|
|
4025 |
|
|
|
4026 |
_Mephistopheles_. If I to judge of men half-way am able,
|
|
|
4027 |
He surely fibbed while passing hence.
|
|
|
4028 |
"Ways to kill time, (he said)--be sure, I did not need them;
|
|
|
4029 |
First to get children--and then bread to feed them,
|
|
|
4030 |
And bread, too, in the widest sense,
|
|
|
4031 |
And even to eat my bit in peace could not be thought on."
|
|
|
4032 |
|
|
|
4033 |
_Martha_. Has he all faithfulness, all love, so far forgotten,
|
|
|
4034 |
The drudgery by day and night!
|
|
|
4035 |
|
|
|
4036 |
_Mephistopheles_. Not so, he thought of you with all his might.
|
|
|
4037 |
He said: "When I from Malta went away,
|
|
|
4038 |
For wife and children my warm prayers ascended;
|
|
|
4039 |
And Heaven so far our cause befriended,
|
|
|
4040 |
Our ship a Turkish cruiser took one day,
|
|
|
4041 |
Which for the mighty Sultan bore a treasure.
|
|
|
4042 |
Then valor got its well-earned pay,
|
|
|
4043 |
And I too, who received but my just measure,
|
|
|
4044 |
A goodly portion bore away."
|
|
|
4045 |
|
|
|
4046 |
_Martha_. How? Where? And he has left it somewhere buried?
|
|
|
4047 |
|
|
|
4048 |
_Mephistopheles_. Who knows which way by the four winds 'twas carried?
|
|
|
4049 |
He chanced to take a pretty damsel's eye,
|
|
|
4050 |
As, a strange sailor, he through Naples jaunted;
|
|
|
4051 |
All that she did for him so tenderly,
|
|
|
4052 |
E'en to his blessed end the poor man haunted.
|
|
|
4053 |
|
|
|
4054 |
_Martha_. The scamp! his children thus to plunder!
|
|
|
4055 |
And could not all his troubles sore
|
|
|
4056 |
Arrest his vile career, I wonder?
|
|
|
4057 |
|
|
|
4058 |
_Mephistopheles_. But mark! his death wipes off the score.
|
|
|
4059 |
Were I in your place now, good lady;
|
|
|
4060 |
One year I'd mourn him piously
|
|
|
4061 |
And look about, meanwhiles, for a new flame already.
|
|
|
4062 |
|
|
|
4063 |
_Martha_. Ah, God! another such as he
|
|
|
4064 |
I may not find with ease on this side heaven!
|
|
|
4065 |
Few such kind fools as this dear spouse of mine.
|
|
|
4066 |
Only to roving he was too much given,
|
|
|
4067 |
And foreign women and foreign wine,
|
|
|
4068 |
And that accursed game of dice.
|
|
|
4069 |
|
|
|
4070 |
_Mephistopheles_. Mere trifles these; you need not heed 'em,
|
|
|
4071 |
If he, on his part, not o'er-nice,
|
|
|
4072 |
Winked at, in you, an occasional freedom.
|
|
|
4073 |
I swear, on that condition, too,
|
|
|
4074 |
I would, myself, 'change rings with you!
|
|
|
4075 |
|
|
|
4076 |
_Martha_. The gentleman is pleased to jest now!
|
|
|
4077 |
|
|
|
4078 |
_Mephistopheles [aside_]. I see it's now high time I stirred!
|
|
|
4079 |
She'd take the very devil at his word.
|
|
|
4080 |
[_To_ MARGERY.]
|
|
|
4081 |
How is it with your heart, my best, now?
|
|
|
4082 |
|
|
|
4083 |
_Margaret_. What means the gentleman?
|
|
|
4084 |
|
|
|
4085 |
_Mephistopheles. [aside_]. Thou innocent young heart!
|
|
|
4086 |
[_Aloud_.]
|
|
|
4087 |
Ladies, farewell!
|
|
|
4088 |
|
|
|
4089 |
_Margaret_. Farewell!
|
|
|
4090 |
|
|
|
4091 |
_Martha_. But quick, before we part!--
|
|
|
4092 |
I'd like some witness, vouching truly
|
|
|
4093 |
Where, how and when my love died and was buried duly.
|
|
|
4094 |
I've always paid to order great attention,
|
|
|
4095 |
Would of his death read some newspaper mention.
|
|
|
4096 |
|
|
|
4097 |
_Mephistopheles_. Ay, my dear lady, in the mouths of two
|
|
|
4098 |
Good witnesses each word is true;
|
|
|
4099 |
I've a friend, a fine fellow, who, when you desire,
|
|
|
4100 |
Will render on oath what you require.
|
|
|
4101 |
I'll bring him here.
|
|
|
4102 |
|
|
|
4103 |
_Martha_. O pray, sir, do!
|
|
|
4104 |
|
|
|
4105 |
_Mephistopheles_. And this young lady 'll be there too?
|
|
|
4106 |
Fine boy! has travelled everywhere,
|
|
|
4107 |
And all politeness to the fair.
|
|
|
4108 |
|
|
|
4109 |
_Margaret_. Before him shame my face must cover.
|
|
|
4110 |
|
|
|
4111 |
_Mephistopheles_. Before no king the wide world over!
|
|
|
4112 |
|
|
|
4113 |
_Martha_. Behind the house, in my garden, at leisure,
|
|
|
4114 |
We'll wait this eve the gentlemen's pleasure.
|
|
|
4115 |
|
|
|
4116 |
|
|
|
4117 |
|
|
|
4118 |
|
|
|
4119 |
STREET.
|
|
|
4120 |
|
|
|
4121 |
FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
4122 |
|
|
|
4123 |
_Faust_. How now? What progress? Will 't come right?
|
|
|
4124 |
|
|
|
4125 |
_Mephistopheles_. Ha, bravo? So you're all on fire?
|
|
|
4126 |
Full soon you'll see whom you desire.
|
|
|
4127 |
In neighbor Martha's grounds we are to meet tonight.
|
|
|
4128 |
That woman's one of nature's picking
|
|
|
4129 |
For pandering and gipsy-tricking!
|
|
|
4130 |
|
|
|
4131 |
_Faust_. So far, so good!
|
|
|
4132 |
|
|
|
4133 |
_Mephistopheles_. But one thing we must do.
|
|
|
4134 |
|
|
|
4135 |
_Faust_. Well, one good turn deserves another, true.
|
|
|
4136 |
|
|
|
4137 |
_Mephistopheles_. We simply make a solemn deposition
|
|
|
4138 |
That her lord's bones are laid in good condition
|
|
|
4139 |
In holy ground at Padua, hid from view.
|
|
|
4140 |
|
|
|
4141 |
_Faust_. That's wise! But then we first must make the journey thither?
|
|
|
4142 |
|
|
|
4143 |
_Mephistopheles. Sancta simplicitas_! no need of such to-do;
|
|
|
4144 |
Just swear, and ask not why or whether.
|
|
|
4145 |
|
|
|
4146 |
_Faust_. If that's the best you have, the plan's not worth a feather.
|
|
|
4147 |
|
|
|
4148 |
_Mephistopheles_. O holy man! now that's just you!
|
|
|
4149 |
In all thy life hast never, to this hour,
|
|
|
4150 |
To give false witness taken pains?
|
|
|
4151 |
Have you of God, the world, and all that it contains,
|
|
|
4152 |
Of man, and all that stirs within his heart and brains,
|
|
|
4153 |
Not given definitions with great power,
|
|
|
4154 |
Unscrupulous breast, unblushing brow?
|
|
|
4155 |
And if you search the matter clearly,
|
|
|
4156 |
Knew you as much thereof, to speak sincerely,
|
|
|
4157 |
As of Herr Schwerdtlein's death? Confess it now!
|
|
|
4158 |
|
|
|
4159 |
_Faust_. Thou always wast a sophist and a liar.
|
|
|
4160 |
|
|
|
4161 |
_Mephistopheles_. Ay, if one did not look a little nigher.
|
|
|
4162 |
For will you not, in honor, to-morrow
|
|
|
4163 |
Befool poor Margery to her sorrow,
|
|
|
4164 |
And all the oaths of true love borrow?
|
|
|
4165 |
|
|
|
4166 |
_Faust_. And from the heart, too.
|
|
|
4167 |
|
|
|
4168 |
_Mephistopheles_. Well and fair!
|
|
|
4169 |
Then there'll be talk of truth unending,
|
|
|
4170 |
Of love o'ermastering, all transcending--
|
|
|
4171 |
Will every word be heart-born there?
|
|
|
4172 |
|
|
|
4173 |
_Faust_. Enough! It will!--If, for the passion
|
|
|
4174 |
That fills and thrills my being's frame,
|
|
|
4175 |
I find no name, no fit expression,
|
|
|
4176 |
Then, through the world, with all my senses, ranging,
|
|
|
4177 |
Seek what most strongly speaks the unchanging.
|
|
|
4178 |
And call this glow, within me burning,
|
|
|
4179 |
Infinite--endless--endless yearning,
|
|
|
4180 |
Is that a devilish lying game?
|
|
|
4181 |
|
|
|
4182 |
_Mephistopheles_. I'm right, nathless!
|
|
|
4183 |
|
|
|
4184 |
_Faust_. Now, hark to me--
|
|
|
4185 |
This once, I pray, and spare my lungs, old fellow--
|
|
|
4186 |
Whoever _will_ be right, and has a tongue to bellow,
|
|
|
4187 |
Is sure to be.
|
|
|
4188 |
But come, enough of swaggering, let's be quit,
|
|
|
4189 |
For thou art right, because I must submit.
|
|
|
4190 |
|
|
|
4191 |
|
|
|
4192 |
|
|
|
4193 |
|
|
|
4194 |
GARDEN.
|
|
|
4195 |
|
|
|
4196 |
MARGARET _on_ FAUST'S _arm_. MARTHA _with_ MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
4197 |
[_Promenading up and down_.]
|
|
|
4198 |
|
|
|
4199 |
_Margaret_. The gentleman but makes me more confused
|
|
|
4200 |
|
|
|
4201 |
With all his condescending goodness.
|
|
|
4202 |
Men who have travelled wide are used
|
|
|
4203 |
To bear with much from dread of rudeness;
|
|
|
4204 |
I know too well, a man of so much mind
|
|
|
4205 |
In my poor talk can little pleasure find.
|
|
|
4206 |
|
|
|
4207 |
_Faust_. One look from thee, one word, delights me more
|
|
|
4208 |
Than this world's wisdom o'er and o'er.
|
|
|
4209 |
[_Kisses her hand_.]
|
|
|
4210 |
|
|
|
4211 |
_Margaret_. Don't take that trouble, sir! How could you bear to kiss it?
|
|
|
4212 |
A hand so ugly, coarse, and rough!
|
|
|
4213 |
How much I've had to do! must I confess it--
|
|
|
4214 |
Mother is more than close enough.
|
|
|
4215 |
[_They pass on_.]
|
|
|
4216 |
|
|
|
4217 |
_Martha_. And you, sir, are you always travelling so?
|
|
|
4218 |
|
|
|
4219 |
_Mephistopheles_. Alas, that business forces us to do it!
|
|
|
4220 |
With what regret from many a place we go,
|
|
|
4221 |
Though tenderest bonds may bind us to it!
|
|
|
4222 |
|
|
|
4223 |
_Martha_. 'Twill do in youth's tumultuous maze
|
|
|
4224 |
To wander round the world, a careless rover;
|
|
|
4225 |
But soon will come the evil days,
|
|
|
4226 |
And then, a lone dry stick, on the grave's brink to hover,
|
|
|
4227 |
For that nobody ever prays.
|
|
|
4228 |
|
|
|
4229 |
_Mephistopheles_. The distant prospect shakes my reason.
|
|
|
4230 |
|
|
|
4231 |
_Martha_. Then, worthy sir, bethink yourself in season.
|
|
|
4232 |
[_They pass on_.]
|
|
|
4233 |
|
|
|
4234 |
_Margaret_. Yes, out of sight and out of mind!
|
|
|
4235 |
Politeness you find no hard matter;
|
|
|
4236 |
But you have friends in plenty, better
|
|
|
4237 |
Than I, more sensible, more refined.
|
|
|
4238 |
|
|
|
4239 |
_Faust_. Dear girl, what one calls sensible on earth,
|
|
|
4240 |
Is often vanity and nonsense.
|
|
|
4241 |
|
|
|
4242 |
_Margaret_. How?
|
|
|
4243 |
|
|
|
4244 |
_Faust_. Ah, that the pure and simple never know
|
|
|
4245 |
Aught of themselves and all their holy worth!
|
|
|
4246 |
That meekness, lowliness, the highest measure
|
|
|
4247 |
Of gifts by nature lavished, full and free--
|
|
|
4248 |
|
|
|
4249 |
_Margaret_. One little moment, only, think of me,
|
|
|
4250 |
I shall to think of you have ample time and leisure.
|
|
|
4251 |
|
|
|
4252 |
_Faust_. You're, may be, much alone?
|
|
|
4253 |
|
|
|
4254 |
_Margaret_. Our household is but small, I own,
|
|
|
4255 |
And yet needs care, if truth were known.
|
|
|
4256 |
We have no maid; so I attend to cooking, sweeping,
|
|
|
4257 |
Knit, sew, do every thing, in fact;
|
|
|
4258 |
And mother, in all branches of housekeeping,
|
|
|
4259 |
Is so exact!
|
|
|
4260 |
Not that she need be tied so very closely down;
|
|
|
4261 |
We might stand higher than some others, rather;
|
|
|
4262 |
A nice estate was left us by my father,
|
|
|
4263 |
A house and garden not far out of town.
|
|
|
4264 |
Yet, after all, my life runs pretty quiet;
|
|
|
4265 |
My brother is a soldier,
|
|
|
4266 |
My little sister's dead;
|
|
|
4267 |
With the dear child indeed a wearing life I led;
|
|
|
4268 |
And yet with all its plagues again would gladly try it,
|
|
|
4269 |
The child was such a pet.
|
|
|
4270 |
|
|
|
4271 |
_Faust_. An angel, if like thee!
|
|
|
4272 |
|
|
|
4273 |
_Margaret_. I reared her and she heartily loved me.
|
|
|
4274 |
She and my father never saw each other,
|
|
|
4275 |
He died before her birth, and mother
|
|
|
4276 |
Was given up, so low she lay,
|
|
|
4277 |
But me, by slow degrees, recovered, day by day.
|
|
|
4278 |
Of course she now, long time so feeble,
|
|
|
4279 |
To nurse the poor little worm was unable,
|
|
|
4280 |
And so I reared it all alone,
|
|
|
4281 |
With milk and water; 'twas my own.
|
|
|
4282 |
Upon my bosom all day long
|
|
|
4283 |
It smiled and sprawled and so grew strong.
|
|
|
4284 |
|
|
|
4285 |
_Faust_. Ah! thou hast truly known joy's fairest flower.
|
|
|
4286 |
|
|
|
4287 |
_Margaret_. But no less truly many a heavy hour.
|
|
|
4288 |
The wee thing's cradle stood at night
|
|
|
4289 |
Close to my bed; did the least thing awake her,
|
|
|
4290 |
My sleep took flight;
|
|
|
4291 |
'Twas now to nurse her, now in bed to take her,
|
|
|
4292 |
Then, if she was not still, to rise,
|
|
|
4293 |
Walk up and down the room, and dance away her cries,
|
|
|
4294 |
And at the wash-tub stand, when morning streaked the skies;
|
|
|
4295 |
Then came the marketing and kitchen-tending,
|
|
|
4296 |
Day in, day out, work never-ending.
|
|
|
4297 |
One cannot always, sir, good temper keep;
|
|
|
4298 |
But then it sweetens food and sweetens sleep.
|
|
|
4299 |
[_They pass on_.]
|
|
|
4300 |
|
|
|
4301 |
_Martha_. But the poor women suffer, you must own:
|
|
|
4302 |
A bachelor is hard of reformation.
|
|
|
4303 |
|
|
|
4304 |
_Mephistopheles_. Madam, it rests with such as you, alone,
|
|
|
4305 |
To help me mend my situation.
|
|
|
4306 |
|
|
|
4307 |
_Martha_. Speak plainly, sir, has none your fancy taken?
|
|
|
4308 |
Has none made out a tender flame to waken?
|
|
|
4309 |
|
|
|
4310 |
_Mephistopheles_. The proverb says: A man's own hearth,
|
|
|
4311 |
And a brave wife, all gold and pearls are worth.
|
|
|
4312 |
|
|
|
4313 |
_Martha_. I mean, has ne'er your heart been smitten slightly?
|
|
|
4314 |
|
|
|
4315 |
_Mephistopheles_. I have, on every hand, been entertained politely.
|
|
|
4316 |
|
|
|
4317 |
_Martha_. Have you not felt, I mean, a serious intention?
|
|
|
4318 |
|
|
|
4319 |
_Mephistopheles_.
|
|
|
4320 |
Jesting with women, that's a thing one ne'er should mention.
|
|
|
4321 |
|
|
|
4322 |
_Martha_. Ah, you misunderstand!
|
|
|
4323 |
|
|
|
4324 |
_Mephistopheles_. It grieves me that I should!
|
|
|
4325 |
But this I understand--that you are good.
|
|
|
4326 |
[_They pass on_.]
|
|
|
4327 |
|
|
|
4328 |
_Faust_. So then, my little angel recognized me,
|
|
|
4329 |
As I came through the garden gate?
|
|
|
4330 |
|
|
|
4331 |
_Margaret_. Did not my downcast eyes show you surprised me?
|
|
|
4332 |
|
|
|
4333 |
_Faust_. And thou forgav'st that liberty, of late?
|
|
|
4334 |
That impudence of mine, so daring,
|
|
|
4335 |
As thou wast home from church repairing?
|
|
|
4336 |
|
|
|
4337 |
_Margaret_. I was confused, the like was new to me;
|
|
|
4338 |
No one could say a word to my dishonor.
|
|
|
4339 |
Ah, thought I, has he, haply, in thy manner
|
|
|
4340 |
Seen any boldness--impropriety?
|
|
|
4341 |
It seemed as if the feeling seized him,
|
|
|
4342 |
That he might treat this girl just as it pleased him.
|
|
|
4343 |
Let me confess! I knew not from what cause,
|
|
|
4344 |
Some flight relentings here began to threaten danger;
|
|
|
4345 |
I know, right angry with myself I was,
|
|
|
4346 |
That I could not be angrier with the stranger.
|
|
|
4347 |
|
|
|
4348 |
_Faust_. Sweet darling!
|
|
|
4349 |
|
|
|
4350 |
_Margaret_. Let me once!
|
|
|
4351 |
|
|
|
4352 |
[_She plucks a china-aster and picks off the leaves one after another_.]
|
|
|
4353 |
|
|
|
4354 |
_Faust_. What's that for? A bouquet?
|
|
|
4355 |
|
|
|
4356 |
_Margaret_. No, just for sport.
|
|
|
4357 |
|
|
|
4358 |
_Faust_. How?
|
|
|
4359 |
|
|
|
4360 |
_Margaret_. Go! you'll laugh at me; away!
|
|
|
4361 |
[_She picks and murmurs to herself_.]
|
|
|
4362 |
|
|
|
4363 |
_Faust_. What murmurest thou?
|
|
|
4364 |
|
|
|
4365 |
_Margaret [half aloud_]. He loves me--loves me not.
|
|
|
4366 |
|
|
|
4367 |
_Faust_. Sweet face! from heaven that look was caught!
|
|
|
4368 |
|
|
|
4369 |
_Margaret [goes on_]. Loves me--not--loves me--not--
|
|
|
4370 |
[_picking off the last leaf with tender joy_]
|
|
|
4371 |
He loves me!
|
|
|
4372 |
|
|
|
4373 |
_Faust_. Yes, my child! And be this floral word
|
|
|
4374 |
An oracle to thee. He loves thee!
|
|
|
4375 |
Knowest thou all it mean? He loves thee!
|
|
|
4376 |
[_Clasping both her hands_.]
|
|
|
4377 |
|
|
|
4378 |
_Margaret_. What thrill is this!
|
|
|
4379 |
|
|
|
4380 |
_Faust_. O, shudder not! This look of mine.
|
|
|
4381 |
This pressure of the hand shall tell thee
|
|
|
4382 |
What cannot be expressed:
|
|
|
4383 |
Give thyself up at once and feel a rapture,
|
|
|
4384 |
An ecstasy never to end!
|
|
|
4385 |
Never!--It's end were nothing but blank despair.
|
|
|
4386 |
No, unending! unending!
|
|
|
4387 |
|
|
|
4388 |
[MARGARET _presses his hands, extricates herself, and runs away.
|
|
|
4389 |
He stands a moment in thought, then follows her_].
|
|
|
4390 |
|
|
|
4391 |
_Martha [coming_]. The night falls fast.
|
|
|
4392 |
|
|
|
4393 |
_Mephistopheles_. Ay, and we must away.
|
|
|
4394 |
|
|
|
4395 |
_Martha_. If it were not for one vexation,
|
|
|
4396 |
I would insist upon your longer stay.
|
|
|
4397 |
Nobody seems to have no occupation,
|
|
|
4398 |
No care nor labor,
|
|
|
4399 |
Except to play the spy upon his neighbor;
|
|
|
4400 |
And one becomes town-talk, do whatsoe'er they may.
|
|
|
4401 |
But where's our pair of doves?
|
|
|
4402 |
|
|
|
4403 |
_Mephistopheles_. Flown up the alley yonder.
|
|
|
4404 |
Light summer-birds!
|
|
|
4405 |
|
|
|
4406 |
_Martha_. He seems attached to her.
|
|
|
4407 |
|
|
|
4408 |
_Mephistopheles_. No wonder.
|
|
|
4409 |
And she to him. So goes the world, they say.
|
|
|
4410 |
|
|
|
4411 |
|
|
|
4412 |
|
|
|
4413 |
|
|
|
4414 |
A SUMMER-HOUSE.
|
|
|
4415 |
|
|
|
4416 |
MARGARET [_darts in, hides behind the door, presses the tip of
|
|
|
4417 |
her finger to her lips, and peeps through the crack_].
|
|
|
4418 |
|
|
|
4419 |
_Margaret_. He comes!
|
|
|
4420 |
|
|
|
4421 |
_Enter_ FAUST.
|
|
|
4422 |
|
|
|
4423 |
_Faust_. Ah rogue, how sly thou art!
|
|
|
4424 |
I've caught thee!
|
|
|
4425 |
[_Kisses her_.]
|
|
|
4426 |
|
|
|
4427 |
_Margaret [embracing him and returning the kiss_].
|
|
|
4428 |
Dear good man! I love thee from my heart!
|
|
|
4429 |
|
|
|
4430 |
[MEPHISTOPHELES _knocks_.]
|
|
|
4431 |
|
|
|
4432 |
_Faust [stamping_]. Who's there?
|
|
|
4433 |
|
|
|
4434 |
_Mephistopheles_. A friend!
|
|
|
4435 |
|
|
|
4436 |
_Faust_. A beast!
|
|
|
4437 |
|
|
|
4438 |
_Mephistopheles_. Time flies, I don't offend you?
|
|
|
4439 |
|
|
|
4440 |
_Martha [entering_]. Yes, sir, 'tis growing late.
|
|
|
4441 |
|
|
|
4442 |
_Faust_. May I not now attend you?
|
|
|
4443 |
|
|
|
4444 |
_Margaret_. Mother would--Fare thee well!
|
|
|
4445 |
|
|
|
4446 |
_Faust_. And must I leave thee then? Farewell!
|
|
|
4447 |
|
|
|
4448 |
_Martha_. Adé!
|
|
|
4449 |
|
|
|
4450 |
_Margaret_. Till, soon, we meet again!
|
|
|
4451 |
|
|
|
4452 |
[_Exeunt_ FAUST _and_ MEPHISTOPHELES.]
|
|
|
4453 |
|
|
|
4454 |
_Margaret_. Good heavens! what such a man's one brain
|
|
|
4455 |
Can in itself alone contain!
|
|
|
4456 |
I blush my rudeness to confess,
|
|
|
4457 |
And answer all he says with yes.
|
|
|
4458 |
Am a poor, ignorant child, don't see
|
|
|
4459 |
What he can possibly find in me.
|
|
|
4460 |
|
|
|
4461 |
[_Exit_.]
|
|
|
4462 |
|
|
|
4463 |
|
|
|
4464 |
|
|
|
4465 |
|
|
|
4466 |
WOODS AND CAVERN.
|
|
|
4467 |
|
|
|
4468 |
_Faust_ [_alone_]. Spirit sublime, thou gav'st me, gav'st me all
|
|
|
4469 |
For which I prayed. Thou didst not lift in vain
|
|
|
4470 |
Thy face upon me in a flame of fire.
|
|
|
4471 |
Gav'st me majestic nature for a realm,
|
|
|
4472 |
The power to feel, enjoy her. Not alone
|
|
|
4473 |
A freezing, formal visit didst thou grant;
|
|
|
4474 |
Deep down into her breast invitedst me
|
|
|
4475 |
To look, as if she were a bosom-friend.
|
|
|
4476 |
The series of animated things
|
|
|
4477 |
Thou bidst pass by me, teaching me to know
|
|
|
4478 |
My brothers in the waters, woods, and air.
|
|
|
4479 |
And when the storm-swept forest creaks and groans,
|
|
|
4480 |
The giant pine-tree crashes, rending off
|
|
|
4481 |
The neighboring boughs and limbs, and with deep roar
|
|
|
4482 |
The thundering mountain echoes to its fall,
|
|
|
4483 |
To a safe cavern then thou leadest me,
|
|
|
4484 |
Showst me myself; and my own bosom's deep
|
|
|
4485 |
Mysterious wonders open on my view.
|
|
|
4486 |
And when before my sight the moon comes up
|
|
|
4487 |
With soft effulgence; from the walls of rock,
|
|
|
4488 |
From the damp thicket, slowly float around
|
|
|
4489 |
The silvery shadows of a world gone by,
|
|
|
4490 |
And temper meditation's sterner joy.
|
|
|
4491 |
O! nothing perfect is vouchsafed to man:
|
|
|
4492 |
I feel it now! Attendant on this bliss,
|
|
|
4493 |
Which brings me ever nearer to the Gods,
|
|
|
4494 |
Thou gav'st me the companion, whom I now
|
|
|
4495 |
No more can spare, though cold and insolent;
|
|
|
4496 |
He makes me hate, despise myself, and turns
|
|
|
4497 |
Thy gifts to nothing with a word--a breath.
|
|
|
4498 |
He kindles up a wild-fire in my breast,
|
|
|
4499 |
Of restless longing for that lovely form.
|
|
|
4500 |
Thus from desire I hurry to enjoyment,
|
|
|
4501 |
And in enjoyment languish for desire.
|
|
|
4502 |
|
|
|
4503 |
_Enter_ MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
4504 |
|
|
|
4505 |
_Mephistopheles_. Will not this life have tired you by and bye?
|
|
|
4506 |
I wonder it so long delights you?
|
|
|
4507 |
'Tis well enough for once the thing to try;
|
|
|
4508 |
Then off to where a new invites you!
|
|
|
4509 |
|
|
|
4510 |
_Faust_. Would thou hadst something else to do,
|
|
|
4511 |
That thus to spoil my joy thou burnest.
|
|
|
4512 |
|
|
|
4513 |
_Mephistopheles_. Well! well! I'll leave thee, gladly too!--
|
|
|
4514 |
Thou dar'st not tell me that in earnest!
|
|
|
4515 |
'Twere no great loss, a fellow such as you,
|
|
|
4516 |
So crazy, snappish, and uncivil.
|
|
|
4517 |
One has, all day, his hands full, and more too;
|
|
|
4518 |
To worm out from him what he'd have one do,
|
|
|
4519 |
Or not do, puzzles e'en the very devil.
|
|
|
4520 |
|
|
|
4521 |
_Faust_. Now, that I like! That's just the tone!
|
|
|
4522 |
Wants thanks for boring me till I'm half dead!
|
|
|
4523 |
|
|
|
4524 |
_Mephistopheles_. Poor son of earth, if left alone,
|
|
|
4525 |
What sort of life wouldst thou have led?
|
|
|
4526 |
How oft, by methods all my own,
|
|
|
4527 |
I've chased the cobweb fancies from thy head!
|
|
|
4528 |
And but for me, to parts unknown
|
|
|
4529 |
Thou from this earth hadst long since fled.
|
|
|
4530 |
What dost thou here through cave and crevice groping?
|
|
|
4531 |
Why like a hornèd owl sit moping?
|
|
|
4532 |
And why from dripping stone, damp moss, and rotten wood
|
|
|
4533 |
Here, like a toad, suck in thy food?
|
|
|
4534 |
Delicious pastime! Ah, I see,
|
|
|
4535 |
Somewhat of Doctor sticks to thee.
|
|
|
4536 |
|
|
|
4537 |
_Faust_. What new life-power it gives me, canst thou guess--
|
|
|
4538 |
This conversation with the wilderness?
|
|
|
4539 |
Ay, couldst thou dream how sweet the employment,
|
|
|
4540 |
Thou wouldst be devil enough to grudge me my enjoyment.
|
|
|
4541 |
|
|
|
4542 |
_Mephistopheles_. Ay, joy from super-earthly fountains!
|
|
|
4543 |
By night and day to lie upon the mountains,
|
|
|
4544 |
To clasp in ecstasy both earth and heaven,
|
|
|
4545 |
Swelled to a deity by fancy's leaven,
|
|
|
4546 |
Pierce, like a nervous thrill, earth's very marrow,
|
|
|
4547 |
Feel the whole six days' work for thee too narrow,
|
|
|
4548 |
To enjoy, I know not what, in blest elation,
|
|
|
4549 |
Then with thy lavish love o'erflow the whole creation.
|
|
|
4550 |
Below thy sight the mortal cast,
|
|
|
4551 |
And to the glorious vision give at last--
|
|
|
4552 |
[_with a gesture_]
|
|
|
4553 |
I must not say what termination!
|
|
|
4554 |
|
|
|
4555 |
_Faust_. Shame on thee!
|
|
|
4556 |
|
|
|
4557 |
_Mephistopheles_. This displeases thee; well, surely,
|
|
|
4558 |
Thou hast a right to say "for shame" demurely.
|
|
|
4559 |
One must not mention that to chaste ears--never,
|
|
|
4560 |
Which chaste hearts cannot do without, however.
|
|
|
4561 |
And, in one word, I grudge you not the pleasure
|
|
|
4562 |
Of lying to yourself in moderate measure;
|
|
|
4563 |
But 'twill not hold out long, I know;
|
|
|
4564 |
Already thou art fast recoiling,
|
|
|
4565 |
And soon, at this rate, wilt be boiling
|
|
|
4566 |
With madness or despair and woe.
|
|
|
4567 |
Enough of this! Thy sweetheart sits there lonely,
|
|
|
4568 |
And all to her is close and drear.
|
|
|
4569 |
Her thoughts are on thy image only,
|
|
|
4570 |
She holds thee, past all utterance, dear.
|
|
|
4571 |
At first thy passion came bounding and rushing
|
|
|
4572 |
Like a brooklet o'erflowing with melted snow and rain;
|
|
|
4573 |
Into her heart thou hast poured it gushing:
|
|
|
4574 |
And now thy brooklet's dry again.
|
|
|
4575 |
Methinks, thy woodland throne resigning,
|
|
|
4576 |
'Twould better suit so great a lord
|
|
|
4577 |
The poor young monkey to reward
|
|
|
4578 |
For all the love with which she's pining.
|
|
|
4579 |
She finds the time dismally long;
|
|
|
4580 |
Stands at the window, sees the clouds on high
|
|
|
4581 |
Over the old town-wall go by.
|
|
|
4582 |
"Were I a little bird!"[26] so runneth her song
|
|
|
4583 |
All the day, half the night long.
|
|
|
4584 |
At times she'll be laughing, seldom smile,
|
|
|
4585 |
At times wept-out she'll seem,
|
|
|
4586 |
Then again tranquil, you'd deem,--
|
|
|
4587 |
Lovesick all the while.
|
|
|
4588 |
|
|
|
4589 |
_Faust_. Viper! Viper!
|
|
|
4590 |
|
|
|
4591 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_aside_]. Ay! and the prey grows riper!
|
|
|
4592 |
|
|
|
4593 |
_Faust_. Reprobate! take thee far behind me!
|
|
|
4594 |
No more that lovely woman name!
|
|
|
4595 |
Bid not desire for her sweet person flame
|
|
|
4596 |
Through each half-maddened sense, again to blind me!
|
|
|
4597 |
|
|
|
4598 |
_Mephistopheles_. What then's to do? She fancies thou hast flown,
|
|
|
4599 |
And more than half she's right, I own.
|
|
|
4600 |
|
|
|
4601 |
_Faust_. I'm near her, and, though far away, my word,
|
|
|
4602 |
I'd not forget her, lose her; never fear it!
|
|
|
4603 |
I envy e'en the body of the Lord,
|
|
|
4604 |
Oft as those precious lips of hers draw near it.
|
|
|
4605 |
|
|
|
4606 |
_Mephistopheles_. No doubt; and oft my envious thought reposes
|
|
|
4607 |
On the twin-pair that feed among the roses.
|
|
|
4608 |
|
|
|
4609 |
_Faust_. Out, pimp!
|
|
|
4610 |
|
|
|
4611 |
_Mephistopheles_. Well done! Your jeers I find fair game for laughter.
|
|
|
4612 |
The God, who made both lad and lass,
|
|
|
4613 |
Unwilling for a bungling hand to pass,
|
|
|
4614 |
Made opportunity right after.
|
|
|
4615 |
But come! fine cause for lamentation!
|
|
|
4616 |
Her chamber is your destination,
|
|
|
4617 |
And not the grave, I guess.
|
|
|
4618 |
|
|
|
4619 |
_Faust_. What are the joys of heaven while her fond arms enfold me?
|
|
|
4620 |
O let her kindling bosom hold me!
|
|
|
4621 |
Feel I not always her distress?
|
|
|
4622 |
The houseless am I not? the unbefriended?
|
|
|
4623 |
The monster without aim or rest?
|
|
|
4624 |
That, like a cataract, from rock to rock descended
|
|
|
4625 |
To the abyss, with maddening greed possest:
|
|
|
4626 |
She, on its brink, with childlike thoughts and lowly,--
|
|
|
4627 |
Perched on the little Alpine field her cot,--
|
|
|
4628 |
This narrow world, so still and holy
|
|
|
4629 |
Ensphering, like a heaven, her lot.
|
|
|
4630 |
And I, God's hatred daring,
|
|
|
4631 |
Could not be content
|
|
|
4632 |
The rocks all headlong bearing,
|
|
|
4633 |
By me to ruins rent,--
|
|
|
4634 |
Her, yea her peace, must I o'erwhelm and bury!
|
|
|
4635 |
This victim, hell, to thee was necessary!
|
|
|
4636 |
Help me, thou fiend, the pang soon ending!
|
|
|
4637 |
What must be, let it quickly be!
|
|
|
4638 |
And let her fate upon my head descending,
|
|
|
4639 |
Crush, at one blow, both her and me.
|
|
|
4640 |
|
|
|
4641 |
_Mephistopheles_. Ha! how it seethes again and glows!
|
|
|
4642 |
Go in and comfort her, thou dunce!
|
|
|
4643 |
Where such a dolt no outlet sees or knows,
|
|
|
4644 |
He thinks he's reached the end at once.
|
|
|
4645 |
None but the brave deserve the fair!
|
|
|
4646 |
Thou _hast_ had devil enough to make a decent show of.
|
|
|
4647 |
For all the world a devil in despair
|
|
|
4648 |
Is just the insipidest thing I know of.
|
|
|
4649 |
|
|
|
4650 |
|
|
|
4651 |
|
|
|
4652 |
|
|
|
4653 |
MARGERY'S ROOM.
|
|
|
4654 |
|
|
|
4655 |
MARGERY [_at the spinning-wheel alone_].
|
|
|
4656 |
My heart is heavy,
|
|
|
4657 |
My peace is o'er;
|
|
|
4658 |
I never--ah! never--
|
|
|
4659 |
Shall find it more.
|
|
|
4660 |
While him I crave,
|
|
|
4661 |
Each place is the grave,
|
|
|
4662 |
The world is all
|
|
|
4663 |
Turned into gall.
|
|
|
4664 |
My wretched brain
|
|
|
4665 |
Has lost its wits,
|
|
|
4666 |
My wretched sense
|
|
|
4667 |
Is all in bits.
|
|
|
4668 |
My heart is heavy,
|
|
|
4669 |
My peace is o'er;
|
|
|
4670 |
I never--ah! never--
|
|
|
4671 |
Shall find it more.
|
|
|
4672 |
Him only to greet, I
|
|
|
4673 |
The street look down,
|
|
|
4674 |
Him only to meet, I
|
|
|
4675 |
Roam through town.
|
|
|
4676 |
His lofty step,
|
|
|
4677 |
His noble height,
|
|
|
4678 |
His smile of sweetness,
|
|
|
4679 |
His eye of might,
|
|
|
4680 |
His words of magic,
|
|
|
4681 |
Breathing bliss,
|
|
|
4682 |
His hand's warm pressure
|
|
|
4683 |
And ah! his kiss.
|
|
|
4684 |
My heart is heavy,
|
|
|
4685 |
My peace is o'er,
|
|
|
4686 |
I never--ah! never--
|
|
|
4687 |
Shall find it more.
|
|
|
4688 |
My bosom yearns
|
|
|
4689 |
To behold him again.
|
|
|
4690 |
Ah, could I find him
|
|
|
4691 |
That best of men!
|
|
|
4692 |
I'd tell him then
|
|
|
4693 |
How I did miss him,
|
|
|
4694 |
And kiss him
|
|
|
4695 |
As much as I could,
|
|
|
4696 |
Die on his kisses
|
|
|
4697 |
I surely should!
|
|
|
4698 |
|
|
|
4699 |
|
|
|
4700 |
|
|
|
4701 |
|
|
|
4702 |
MARTHA'S GARDEN.
|
|
|
4703 |
|
|
|
4704 |
MARGARET. FAUST.
|
|
|
4705 |
|
|
|
4706 |
_Margaret_. Promise me, Henry.
|
|
|
4707 |
|
|
|
4708 |
_Faust_. What I can.
|
|
|
4709 |
|
|
|
4710 |
_Margaret_. How is it now with thy religion, say?
|
|
|
4711 |
I know thou art a dear good man,
|
|
|
4712 |
But fear thy thoughts do not run much that way.
|
|
|
4713 |
|
|
|
4714 |
_Faust_. Leave that, my child! Enough, thou hast my heart;
|
|
|
4715 |
For those I love with life I'd freely part;
|
|
|
4716 |
I would not harm a soul, nor of its faith bereave it.
|
|
|
4717 |
|
|
|
4718 |
_Margaret_. That's wrong, there's one true faith--one must believe it?
|
|
|
4719 |
|
|
|
4720 |
_Faust_. Must one?
|
|
|
4721 |
|
|
|
4722 |
_Margaret_. Ah, could I influence thee, dearest!
|
|
|
4723 |
The holy sacraments thou scarce reverest.
|
|
|
4724 |
|
|
|
4725 |
_Faust_. I honor them.
|
|
|
4726 |
|
|
|
4727 |
_Margaret_. But yet without desire.
|
|
|
4728 |
Of mass and confession both thou'st long begun to tire.
|
|
|
4729 |
Believest thou in God?
|
|
|
4730 |
|
|
|
4731 |
_Faust_. My. darling, who engages
|
|
|
4732 |
To say, I do believe in God?
|
|
|
4733 |
The question put to priests or sages:
|
|
|
4734 |
Their answer seems as if it sought
|
|
|
4735 |
To mock the asker.
|
|
|
4736 |
|
|
|
4737 |
_Margaret_. Then believ'st thou not?
|
|
|
4738 |
|
|
|
4739 |
_Faust_. Sweet face, do not misunderstand my thought!
|
|
|
4740 |
Who dares express him?
|
|
|
4741 |
And who confess him,
|
|
|
4742 |
Saying, I do believe?
|
|
|
4743 |
A man's heart bearing,
|
|
|
4744 |
What man has the daring
|
|
|
4745 |
To say: I acknowledge him not?
|
|
|
4746 |
The All-enfolder,
|
|
|
4747 |
The All-upholder,
|
|
|
4748 |
Enfolds, upholds He not
|
|
|
4749 |
Thee, me, Himself?
|
|
|
4750 |
Upsprings not Heaven's blue arch high o'er thee?
|
|
|
4751 |
Underneath thee does not earth stand fast?
|
|
|
4752 |
See'st thou not, nightly climbing,
|
|
|
4753 |
Tenderly glancing eternal stars?
|
|
|
4754 |
Am I not gazing eye to eye on thee?
|
|
|
4755 |
Through brain and bosom
|
|
|
4756 |
Throngs not all life to thee,
|
|
|
4757 |
Weaving in everlasting mystery
|
|
|
4758 |
Obscurely, clearly, on all sides of thee?
|
|
|
4759 |
Fill with it, to its utmost stretch, thy breast,
|
|
|
4760 |
And in the consciousness when thou art wholly blest,
|
|
|
4761 |
Then call it what thou wilt,
|
|
|
4762 |
Joy! Heart! Love! God!
|
|
|
4763 |
I have no name to give it!
|
|
|
4764 |
All comes at last to feeling;
|
|
|
4765 |
Name is but sound and smoke,
|
|
|
4766 |
Beclouding Heaven's warm glow.
|
|
|
4767 |
|
|
|
4768 |
_Margaret_. That is all fine and good, I know;
|
|
|
4769 |
And just as the priest has often spoke,
|
|
|
4770 |
Only with somewhat different phrases.
|
|
|
4771 |
|
|
|
4772 |
_Faust_. All hearts, too, in all places,
|
|
|
4773 |
Wherever Heaven pours down the day's broad blessing,
|
|
|
4774 |
Each in its way the truth is confessing;
|
|
|
4775 |
And why not I in mine, too?
|
|
|
4776 |
|
|
|
4777 |
_Margaret_. Well, all have a way that they incline to,
|
|
|
4778 |
But still there is something wrong with thee;
|
|
|
4779 |
Thou hast no Christianity.
|
|
|
4780 |
|
|
|
4781 |
_Faust_. Dear child!
|
|
|
4782 |
|
|
|
4783 |
_Margaret_. It long has troubled me
|
|
|
4784 |
That thou shouldst keep such company.
|
|
|
4785 |
|
|
|
4786 |
_Faust_. How so?
|
|
|
4787 |
|
|
|
4788 |
_Margaret_. The man whom thou for crony hast,
|
|
|
4789 |
Is one whom I with all my soul detest.
|
|
|
4790 |
Nothing in all my life has ever
|
|
|
4791 |
Stirred up in my heart such a deep disfavor
|
|
|
4792 |
As the ugly face that man has got.
|
|
|
4793 |
|
|
|
4794 |
_Faust_. Sweet plaything; fear him not!
|
|
|
4795 |
|
|
|
4796 |
_Margaret_. His presence stirs my blood, I own.
|
|
|
4797 |
I can love almost all men I've ever known;
|
|
|
4798 |
But much as thy presence with pleasure thrills me,
|
|
|
4799 |
That man with a secret horror fills me.
|
|
|
4800 |
And then for a knave I've suspected him long!
|
|
|
4801 |
God pardon me, if I do him wrong!
|
|
|
4802 |
|
|
|
4803 |
_Faust_. To make up a world such odd sticks are needed.
|
|
|
4804 |
|
|
|
4805 |
_Margaret_. Shouldn't like to live in the house where he did!
|
|
|
4806 |
Whenever I see him coming in,
|
|
|
4807 |
He always wears such a mocking grin.
|
|
|
4808 |
Half cold, half grim;
|
|
|
4809 |
One sees, that naught has interest for him;
|
|
|
4810 |
'Tis writ on his brow and can't be mistaken,
|
|
|
4811 |
No soul in him can love awaken.
|
|
|
4812 |
I feel in thy arms so happy, so free,
|
|
|
4813 |
I yield myself up so blissfully,
|
|
|
4814 |
He comes, and all in me is closed and frozen now.
|
|
|
4815 |
|
|
|
4816 |
_Faust_. Ah, thou mistrustful angel, thou!
|
|
|
4817 |
|
|
|
4818 |
_Margaret_. This weighs on me so sore,
|
|
|
4819 |
That when we meet, and he is by me,
|
|
|
4820 |
I feel, as if I loved thee now no more.
|
|
|
4821 |
Nor could I ever pray, if he were nigh me,
|
|
|
4822 |
That eats the very heart in me;
|
|
|
4823 |
Henry, it must be so with thee.
|
|
|
4824 |
|
|
|
4825 |
_Faust_. 'Tis an antipathy of thine!
|
|
|
4826 |
|
|
|
4827 |
_Margaret_. Farewell!
|
|
|
4828 |
|
|
|
4829 |
_Faust_. Ah, can I ne'er recline
|
|
|
4830 |
One little hour upon thy bosom, pressing
|
|
|
4831 |
My heart to thine and all my soul confessing?
|
|
|
4832 |
|
|
|
4833 |
_Margaret_. Ah, if my chamber were alone,
|
|
|
4834 |
This night the bolt should give thee free admission;
|
|
|
4835 |
But mother wakes at every tone,
|
|
|
4836 |
And if she had the least suspicion,
|
|
|
4837 |
Heavens! I should die upon the spot!
|
|
|
4838 |
|
|
|
4839 |
_Faust_. Thou angel, need of that there's not.
|
|
|
4840 |
Here is a flask! Three drops alone
|
|
|
4841 |
Mix with her drink, and nature
|
|
|
4842 |
Into a deep and pleasant sleep is thrown.
|
|
|
4843 |
|
|
|
4844 |
_Margaret_. Refuse thee, what can I, poor creature?
|
|
|
4845 |
I hope, of course, it will not harm her!
|
|
|
4846 |
|
|
|
4847 |
_Faust_. Would I advise it then, my charmer?
|
|
|
4848 |
|
|
|
4849 |
_Margaret_. Best man, when thou dost look at me,
|
|
|
4850 |
I know not what, moves me to do thy will;
|
|
|
4851 |
I have already done so much for thee,
|
|
|
4852 |
Scarce any thing seems left me to fulfil.
|
|
|
4853 |
[_Exit_.]
|
|
|
4854 |
|
|
|
4855 |
Enter_ MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
4856 |
|
|
|
4857 |
_Mephtftopheles_. The monkey! is she gone?
|
|
|
4858 |
|
|
|
4859 |
_Faust_. Hast played the spy again?
|
|
|
4860 |
|
|
|
4861 |
_Mephistopheles_. I overheard it all quite fully.
|
|
|
4862 |
The Doctor has been well catechized then?
|
|
|
4863 |
Hope it will sit well on him truly.
|
|
|
4864 |
The maidens won't rest till they know if the men
|
|
|
4865 |
Believe as good old custom bids them do.
|
|
|
4866 |
They think: if there he yields, he'll follow our will too.
|
|
|
4867 |
|
|
|
4868 |
_Faust_. Monster, thou wilt not, canst not see,
|
|
|
4869 |
How this true soul that loves so dearly,
|
|
|
4870 |
Yet hugs, at every cost,
|
|
|
4871 |
The faith which she
|
|
|
4872 |
Counts Heaven itself, is horror-struck sincerely
|
|
|
4873 |
To think of giving up her dearest man for lost.
|
|
|
4874 |
|
|
|
4875 |
_Mephistopheles_. Thou supersensual, sensual wooer,
|
|
|
4876 |
A girl by the nose is leading thee.
|
|
|
4877 |
|
|
|
4878 |
_Faust_. Abortion vile of fire and sewer!
|
|
|
4879 |
|
|
|
4880 |
_Mephistopheles_. In physiognomy, too, her skill is masterly.
|
|
|
4881 |
When I am near she feels she knows not how,
|
|
|
4882 |
My little mask some secret meaning shows;
|
|
|
4883 |
She thinks, I'm certainly a genius, now,
|
|
|
4884 |
Perhaps the very devil--who knows?
|
|
|
4885 |
To-night then?--
|
|
|
4886 |
|
|
|
4887 |
_Faust_. Well, what's that to you?
|
|
|
4888 |
|
|
|
4889 |
_Mephistopheles_. I find my pleasure in it, too!
|
|
|
4890 |
|
|
|
4891 |
|
|
|
4892 |
|
|
|
4893 |
|
|
|
4894 |
AT THE WELL.
|
|
|
4895 |
|
|
|
4896 |
MARGERY _and_ LIZZY _with Pitchers._
|
|
|
4897 |
|
|
|
4898 |
_Lizzy_. Hast heard no news of Barbara to-day?
|
|
|
4899 |
|
|
|
4900 |
_Margery_. No, not a word. I've not been out much lately.
|
|
|
4901 |
|
|
|
4902 |
_Lizzy_. It came to me through Sybill very straightly.
|
|
|
4903 |
She's made a fool of herself at last, they say.
|
|
|
4904 |
That comes of taking airs!
|
|
|
4905 |
|
|
|
4906 |
_Margery_. What meanst thou?
|
|
|
4907 |
|
|
|
4908 |
_Lizzy_. Pah!
|
|
|
4909 |
She daily eats and drinks for two now.
|
|
|
4910 |
|
|
|
4911 |
_Margery_. Ah!
|
|
|
4912 |
|
|
|
4913 |
_Lizzy_. It serves the jade right for being so callow.
|
|
|
4914 |
How long she's been hanging upon the fellow!
|
|
|
4915 |
Such a promenading!
|
|
|
4916 |
To fair and dance parading!
|
|
|
4917 |
Everywhere as first she must shine,
|
|
|
4918 |
He was treating her always with tarts and wine;
|
|
|
4919 |
She began to think herself something fine,
|
|
|
4920 |
And let her vanity so degrade her
|
|
|
4921 |
That she even accepted the presents he made her.
|
|
|
4922 |
There was hugging and smacking, and so it went on--
|
|
|
4923 |
And lo! and behold! the flower is gone!
|
|
|
4924 |
|
|
|
4925 |
_Margery_. Poor thing!
|
|
|
4926 |
|
|
|
4927 |
_Lizzy_. Canst any pity for her feel!
|
|
|
4928 |
When such as we spun at the wheel,
|
|
|
4929 |
Our mothers kept us in-doors after dark;
|
|
|
4930 |
While she stood cozy with her spark,
|
|
|
4931 |
Or sate on the door-bench, or sauntered round,
|
|
|
4932 |
And never an hour too long they found.
|
|
|
4933 |
But now her pride may let itself down,
|
|
|
4934 |
To do penance at church in the sinner's gown!
|
|
|
4935 |
|
|
|
4936 |
_Margery_. He'll certainly take her for his wife.
|
|
|
4937 |
|
|
|
4938 |
_Lizzy_. He'd be a fool! A spruce young blade
|
|
|
4939 |
Has room enough to ply his trade.
|
|
|
4940 |
Besides, he's gone.
|
|
|
4941 |
|
|
|
4942 |
_Margery_. Now, that's not fair!
|
|
|
4943 |
|
|
|
4944 |
_Lizzy_. If she gets him, her lot'll be hard to bear.
|
|
|
4945 |
The boys will tear up her wreath, and what's more,
|
|
|
4946 |
We'll strew chopped straw before her door.
|
|
|
4947 |
|
|
|
4948 |
[_Exit._]
|
|
|
4949 |
|
|
|
4950 |
_Margery [going home]_. Time was when I, too, instead of bewailing,
|
|
|
4951 |
Could boldly jeer at a poor girl's failing!
|
|
|
4952 |
When my scorn could scarcely find expression
|
|
|
4953 |
At hearing of another's transgression!
|
|
|
4954 |
How black it seemed! though black as could be,
|
|
|
4955 |
It never was black enough for me.
|
|
|
4956 |
I blessed my soul, and felt so high,
|
|
|
4957 |
And now, myself, in sin I lie!
|
|
|
4958 |
Yet--all that led me to it, sure,
|
|
|
4959 |
O God! it was so dear, so pure!
|
|
|
4960 |
|
|
|
4961 |
|
|
|
4962 |
|
|
|
4963 |
|
|
|
4964 |
DONJON.[27]
|
|
|
4965 |
|
|
|
4966 |
[_In a niche a devotional image of the Mater Dolorosa,
|
|
|
4967 |
before it pots of flowers._]
|
|
|
4968 |
|
|
|
4969 |
MARGERY [_puts fresh flowers into the pots_].
|
|
|
4970 |
Ah, hear me,
|
|
|
4971 |
Draw kindly near me,
|
|
|
4972 |
Mother of sorrows, heal my woe!
|
|
|
4973 |
|
|
|
4974 |
Sword-pierced, and stricken
|
|
|
4975 |
With pangs that sicken,
|
|
|
4976 |
Thou seest thy son's last life-blood flow!
|
|
|
4977 |
|
|
|
4978 |
Thy look--thy sighing---
|
|
|
4979 |
To God are crying,
|
|
|
4980 |
Charged with a son's and mother's woe!
|
|
|
4981 |
|
|
|
4982 |
Sad mother!
|
|
|
4983 |
What other
|
|
|
4984 |
Knows the pangs that eat me to the bone?
|
|
|
4985 |
What within my poor heart burneth,
|
|
|
4986 |
How it trembleth, how it yearneth,
|
|
|
4987 |
Thou canst feel and thou alone!
|
|
|
4988 |
|
|
|
4989 |
Go where I will, I never
|
|
|
4990 |
Find peace or hope--forever
|
|
|
4991 |
Woe, woe and misery!
|
|
|
4992 |
|
|
|
4993 |
Alone, when all are sleeping,
|
|
|
4994 |
I'm weeping, weeping, weeping,
|
|
|
4995 |
My heart is crushed in me.
|
|
|
4996 |
|
|
|
4997 |
The pots before my window,
|
|
|
4998 |
In the early morning-hours,
|
|
|
4999 |
Alas, my tears bedewed them,
|
|
|
5000 |
As I plucked for thee these flowers,
|
|
|
5001 |
|
|
|
5002 |
When the bright sun good morrow
|
|
|
5003 |
In at my window said,
|
|
|
5004 |
Already, in my anguish,
|
|
|
5005 |
I sate there in my bed.
|
|
|
5006 |
|
|
|
5007 |
From shame and death redeem me, oh!
|
|
|
5008 |
Draw near me,
|
|
|
5009 |
And, pitying, hear me,
|
|
|
5010 |
Mother of sorrows, heal my woe!
|
|
|
5011 |
|
|
|
5012 |
|
|
|
5013 |
|
|
|
5014 |
|
|
|
5015 |
NIGHT.
|
|
|
5016 |
|
|
|
5017 |
_Street before_ MARGERY'S _Door._
|
|
|
5018 |
|
|
|
5019 |
|
|
|
5020 |
VALENTINE [_soldier,_ MARGERY'S _brother_].
|
|
|
5021 |
|
|
|
5022 |
When at the mess I used to sit,
|
|
|
5023 |
Where many a one will show his wit,
|
|
|
5024 |
And heard my comrades one and all
|
|
|
5025 |
The flower of the sex extol,
|
|
|
5026 |
Drowning their praise with bumpers high,
|
|
|
5027 |
Leaning upon my elbows, I
|
|
|
5028 |
Would hear the braggadocios through,
|
|
|
5029 |
And then, when it came my turn, too,
|
|
|
5030 |
Would stroke my beard and, smiling, say,
|
|
|
5031 |
A brimming bumper in my hand:
|
|
|
5032 |
All very decent in their way!
|
|
|
5033 |
But is there one, in all the land,
|
|
|
5034 |
With my sweet Margy to compare,
|
|
|
5035 |
A candle to hold to my sister fair?
|
|
|
5036 |
Bravo! Kling! Klang! it echoed round!
|
|
|
5037 |
One party cried: 'tis truth he speaks,
|
|
|
5038 |
She is the jewel of the sex!
|
|
|
5039 |
And the braggarts all in silence were bound.
|
|
|
5040 |
And now!--one could pull out his hair with vexation,
|
|
|
5041 |
And run up the walls for mortification!--
|
|
|
5042 |
Every two-legged creature that goes in breeches
|
|
|
5043 |
Can mock me with sneers and stinging speeches!
|
|
|
5044 |
And I like a guilty debtor sitting,
|
|
|
5045 |
For fear of each casual word am sweating!
|
|
|
5046 |
And though I could smash them in my ire,
|
|
|
5047 |
I dare not call a soul of them liar.
|
|
|
5048 |
|
|
|
5049 |
What's that comes yonder, sneaking along?
|
|
|
5050 |
There are two of them there, if I see not wrong.
|
|
|
5051 |
Is't he, I'll give him a dose that'll cure him,
|
|
|
5052 |
He'll not leave the spot alive, I assure him!
|
|
|
5053 |
|
|
|
5054 |
|
|
|
5055 |
FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
5056 |
|
|
|
5057 |
_Faust_. How from yon window of the sacristy
|
|
|
5058 |
The ever-burning lamp sends up its glimmer,
|
|
|
5059 |
And round the edge grows ever dimmer,
|
|
|
5060 |
Till in the gloom its flickerings die!
|
|
|
5061 |
So in my bosom all is nightlike.
|
|
|
5062 |
|
|
|
5063 |
_Mephistopheles_. A starving tom-cat I feel quite like,
|
|
|
5064 |
That o'er the fire ladders crawls
|
|
|
5065 |
Then softly creeps, ground the walls.
|
|
|
5066 |
My aim's quite virtuous ne'ertheless,
|
|
|
5067 |
A bit of thievish lust, a bit of wantonness.
|
|
|
5068 |
I feel it all my members haunting--
|
|
|
5069 |
The glorious Walpurgis night.
|
|
|
5070 |
One day--then comes the feast enchanting
|
|
|
5071 |
That shall all pinings well requite.
|
|
|
5072 |
|
|
|
5073 |
_Faust_. Meanwhile can that the casket be, I wonder,
|
|
|
5074 |
I see behind rise glittering yonder.[28]
|
|
|
5075 |
|
|
|
5076 |
_Mephistopheles_. Yes, and thou soon shalt have the pleasure
|
|
|
5077 |
Of lifting out the precious treasure.
|
|
|
5078 |
I lately 'neath the lid did squint,
|
|
|
5079 |
Has piles of lion-dollars[29] in't.
|
|
|
5080 |
|
|
|
5081 |
_Faust_. But not a jewel? Not a ring?
|
|
|
5082 |
To deck my mistress not a trinket?
|
|
|
5083 |
|
|
|
5084 |
_Mephistopheles_. I caught a glimpse of some such thing,
|
|
|
5085 |
Sort of pearl bracelet I should think it.
|
|
|
5086 |
|
|
|
5087 |
_Faust_. That's well! I always like to bear
|
|
|
5088 |
Some present when I visit my fair.
|
|
|
5089 |
|
|
|
5090 |
_Mephistopheles_. You should not murmur if your fate is,
|
|
|
5091 |
To have a bit of pleasure gratis.
|
|
|
5092 |
Now, as the stars fill heaven with their bright throng,
|
|
|
5093 |
List a fine piece, artistic purely:
|
|
|
5094 |
I sing her here a moral song,
|
|
|
5095 |
To make a fool of her more surely.
|
|
|
5096 |
[_Sings to the guitar_.][30]
|
|
|
5097 |
What dost thou here,
|
|
|
5098 |
Katrina dear,
|
|
|
5099 |
At daybreak drear,
|
|
|
5100 |
Before thy lover's chamber?
|
|
|
5101 |
Give o'er, give o'er!
|
|
|
5102 |
The maid his door
|
|
|
5103 |
Lets in, no more
|
|
|
5104 |
Goes out a maid--remember!
|
|
|
5105 |
|
|
|
5106 |
Take heed! take heed!
|
|
|
5107 |
Once done, the deed
|
|
|
5108 |
Ye'll rue with speed--
|
|
|
5109 |
And then--good night--poor thing--a!
|
|
|
5110 |
Though ne'er so fair
|
|
|
5111 |
His speech, beware,
|
|
|
5112 |
Until you bear
|
|
|
5113 |
His ring upon your finger.
|
|
|
5114 |
|
|
|
5115 |
_Valentine_ [_comes forward_].
|
|
|
5116 |
Whom lur'ft thou here? what prey dost scent?
|
|
|
5117 |
Rat-catching[81] offspring of perdition!
|
|
|
5118 |
To hell goes first the instrument!
|
|
|
5119 |
To hell then follows the musician!
|
|
|
5120 |
|
|
|
5121 |
_Mephistopheles_. He 's broken the guitar! to music, then, good-bye, now.
|
|
|
5122 |
|
|
|
5123 |
_Valentine_. A game of cracking skulls we'll try now!
|
|
|
5124 |
|
|
|
5125 |
_Mephistopbeles_ [_to Faust_]. Never you flinch, Sir Doctor! Brisk!
|
|
|
5126 |
Mind every word I say---be wary!
|
|
|
5127 |
Stand close by me, out with your whisk!
|
|
|
5128 |
Thrust home upon the churl! I'll parry.
|
|
|
5129 |
|
|
|
5130 |
_Valentine_. Then parry that!
|
|
|
5131 |
|
|
|
5132 |
_Mephistopheles_. Be sure. Why not?
|
|
|
5133 |
|
|
|
5134 |
_Valentine_. And that!
|
|
|
5135 |
|
|
|
5136 |
_Mephistopheles_. With ease!
|
|
|
5137 |
|
|
|
5138 |
_Valentine_. The devil's aid he's got!
|
|
|
5139 |
But what is this? My hand's already lame.
|
|
|
5140 |
|
|
|
5141 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_to Faust_]. Thrust home!
|
|
|
5142 |
|
|
|
5143 |
_Valentine_ [_falls_]. O woe!
|
|
|
5144 |
|
|
|
5145 |
_Mephistopheles_. Now is the lubber tame!
|
|
|
5146 |
But come! We must be off. I hear a clatter;
|
|
|
5147 |
And cries of murder, too, that fast increase.
|
|
|
5148 |
I'm an old hand to manage the police,
|
|
|
5149 |
But then the penal court's another matter.
|
|
|
5150 |
|
|
|
5151 |
_Martha_. Come out! Come out!
|
|
|
5152 |
|
|
|
5153 |
_Margery_ [_at the window_]. Bring on a light!
|
|
|
5154 |
|
|
|
5155 |
_Martha_ [_as above_]. They swear and scuffle, scream and fight.
|
|
|
5156 |
|
|
|
5157 |
_People_. There's one, has got's death-blow!
|
|
|
5158 |
|
|
|
5159 |
_Martha_ [_coming out_]. Where are the murderers, have they flown?
|
|
|
5160 |
|
|
|
5161 |
_Margery_ [_coming out_]. Who's lying here?
|
|
|
5162 |
|
|
|
5163 |
_People_. Thy mother's son.
|
|
|
5164 |
|
|
|
5165 |
_Margery_. Almighty God! What woe!
|
|
|
5166 |
|
|
|
5167 |
_Valentine_. I'm dying! that is quickly said,
|
|
|
5168 |
And even quicklier done.
|
|
|
5169 |
Women! Why howl, as if half-dead?
|
|
|
5170 |
Come, hear me, every one!
|
|
|
5171 |
[_All gather round him_.]
|
|
|
5172 |
My Margery, look! Young art thou still,
|
|
|
5173 |
But managest thy matters ill,
|
|
|
5174 |
Hast not learned out yet quite.
|
|
|
5175 |
I say in confidence--think it o'er:
|
|
|
5176 |
Thou art just once for all a whore;
|
|
|
5177 |
Why, be one, then, outright.
|
|
|
5178 |
|
|
|
5179 |
_Margery_. My brother! God! What words to me!
|
|
|
5180 |
|
|
|
5181 |
_Valentine_. In this game let our Lord God be!
|
|
|
5182 |
That which is done, alas! is done.
|
|
|
5183 |
And every thing its course will run.
|
|
|
5184 |
With one you secretly begin,
|
|
|
5185 |
Presently more of them come in,
|
|
|
5186 |
And when a dozen share in thee,
|
|
|
5187 |
Thou art the whole town's property.
|
|
|
5188 |
|
|
|
5189 |
When shame is born to this world of sorrow,
|
|
|
5190 |
The birth is carefully hid from sight,
|
|
|
5191 |
And the mysterious veil of night
|
|
|
5192 |
To cover her head they borrow;
|
|
|
5193 |
Yes, they would gladly stifle the wearer;
|
|
|
5194 |
But as she grows and holds herself high,
|
|
|
5195 |
She walks uncovered in day's broad eye,
|
|
|
5196 |
Though she has not become a whit fairer.
|
|
|
5197 |
The uglier her face to sight,
|
|
|
5198 |
The more she courts the noonday light.
|
|
|
5199 |
|
|
|
5200 |
Already I the time can see
|
|
|
5201 |
When all good souls shall shrink from thee,
|
|
|
5202 |
Thou prostitute, when thou go'st by them,
|
|
|
5203 |
As if a tainted corpse were nigh them.
|
|
|
5204 |
Thy heart within thy breast shall quake then,
|
|
|
5205 |
When they look thee in the face.
|
|
|
5206 |
Shalt wear no gold chain more on thy neck then!
|
|
|
5207 |
Shalt stand no more in the holy place!
|
|
|
5208 |
No pleasure in point-lace collars take then,
|
|
|
5209 |
Nor for the dance thy person deck then!
|
|
|
5210 |
But into some dark corner gliding,
|
|
|
5211 |
'Mong beggars and cripples wilt be hiding;
|
|
|
5212 |
And even should God thy sin forgive,
|
|
|
5213 |
Wilt be curs'd on earth while thou shalt live!
|
|
|
5214 |
|
|
|
5215 |
_Martha_. Your soul to the mercy of God surrender!
|
|
|
5216 |
Will you add to your load the sin of slander?
|
|
|
5217 |
|
|
|
5218 |
_Valentine_. Could I get at thy dried-up frame,
|
|
|
5219 |
Vile bawd, so lost to all sense of shame!
|
|
|
5220 |
Then might I hope, e'en this side Heaven,
|
|
|
5221 |
Richly to find my sins forgiven.
|
|
|
5222 |
|
|
|
5223 |
_Margery_. My brother! This is hell to me!
|
|
|
5224 |
|
|
|
5225 |
_Valentine_. I tell thee, let these weak tears be!
|
|
|
5226 |
When thy last hold of honor broke,
|
|
|
5227 |
Thou gav'st my heart the heaviest stroke.
|
|
|
5228 |
I'm going home now through the grave
|
|
|
5229 |
To God, a soldier and a brave.
|
|
|
5230 |
[_Dies_.]
|
|
|
5231 |
|
|
|
5232 |
|
|
|
5233 |
|
|
|
5234 |
|
|
|
5235 |
CATHEDRAL.
|
|
|
5236 |
|
|
|
5237 |
_Service, Organ, and Singing._
|
|
|
5238 |
|
|
|
5239 |
|
|
|
5240 |
[MARGERY _amidst a crowd of people._ EVIL SPIRIT _behind_ MARGERY.]
|
|
|
5241 |
|
|
|
5242 |
_Evil Spirit_. How different was it with thee, Margy,
|
|
|
5243 |
When, innocent and artless,
|
|
|
5244 |
Thou cam'st here to the altar,
|
|
|
5245 |
From the well-thumbed little prayer-book,
|
|
|
5246 |
Petitions lisping,
|
|
|
5247 |
Half full of child's play,
|
|
|
5248 |
Half full of Heaven!
|
|
|
5249 |
Margy!
|
|
|
5250 |
Where are thy thoughts?
|
|
|
5251 |
What crime is buried
|
|
|
5252 |
Deep within thy heart?
|
|
|
5253 |
Prayest thou haply for thy mother, who
|
|
|
5254 |
Slept over into long, long pain, on thy account?
|
|
|
5255 |
Whose blood upon thy threshold lies?
|
|
|
5256 |
--And stirs there not, already
|
|
|
5257 |
Beneath thy heart a life
|
|
|
5258 |
Tormenting itself and thee
|
|
|
5259 |
With bodings of its coming hour?
|
|
|
5260 |
|
|
|
5261 |
_Margery_. Woe! Woe!
|
|
|
5262 |
Could I rid me of the thoughts,
|
|
|
5263 |
Still through my brain backward and forward flitting,
|
|
|
5264 |
Against my will!
|
|
|
5265 |
|
|
|
5266 |
_Chorus_. Dies irae, dies illa
|
|
|
5267 |
Solvet saeclum in favillâ.
|
|
|
5268 |
|
|
|
5269 |
[_Organ plays_.]
|
|
|
5270 |
|
|
|
5271 |
_Evil Spirit_. Wrath smites thee!
|
|
|
5272 |
Hark! the trumpet sounds!
|
|
|
5273 |
The graves are trembling!
|
|
|
5274 |
And thy heart,
|
|
|
5275 |
Made o'er again
|
|
|
5276 |
For fiery torments,
|
|
|
5277 |
Waking from its ashes
|
|
|
5278 |
Starts up!
|
|
|
5279 |
|
|
|
5280 |
_Margery_. Would I were hence!
|
|
|
5281 |
I feel as if the organ's peal
|
|
|
5282 |
My breath were stifling,
|
|
|
5283 |
The choral chant
|
|
|
5284 |
My heart were melting.
|
|
|
5285 |
|
|
|
5286 |
_Chorus_. Judex ergo cum sedebit,
|
|
|
5287 |
Quidquid latet apparebit.
|
|
|
5288 |
Nil inultum remanebit.
|
|
|
5289 |
|
|
|
5290 |
_Margery_. How cramped it feels!
|
|
|
5291 |
The walls and pillars
|
|
|
5292 |
Imprison me!
|
|
|
5293 |
And the arches
|
|
|
5294 |
Crush me!--Air!
|
|
|
5295 |
|
|
|
5296 |
_Evil Spirit_. What! hide thee! sin and shame
|
|
|
5297 |
Will not be hidden!
|
|
|
5298 |
Air? Light?
|
|
|
5299 |
Woe's thee!
|
|
|
5300 |
|
|
|
5301 |
_Chorus_. Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
|
|
|
5302 |
Quem patronum rogaturus?
|
|
|
5303 |
Cum vix justus sit securus.
|
|
|
5304 |
|
|
|
5305 |
_Evil Spirit_. They turn their faces,
|
|
|
5306 |
The glorified, from thee.
|
|
|
5307 |
To take thy hand, the pure ones
|
|
|
5308 |
Shudder with horror.
|
|
|
5309 |
Woe!
|
|
|
5310 |
|
|
|
5311 |
_Chorus_. Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
|
|
|
5312 |
|
|
|
5313 |
_Margery_. Neighbor! your phial!--
|
|
|
5314 |
[_She swoons._]
|
|
|
5315 |
|
|
|
5316 |
|
|
|
5317 |
|
|
|
5318 |
|
|
|
5319 |
WALPURGIS NIGHT.[32]
|
|
|
5320 |
|
|
|
5321 |
_Harz Mountains._
|
|
|
5322 |
|
|
|
5323 |
_District of Schirke and Elend._
|
|
|
5324 |
|
|
|
5325 |
|
|
|
5326 |
FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
5327 |
|
|
|
5328 |
_Mephistopheles_. Wouldst thou not like a broomstick, now, to ride on?
|
|
|
5329 |
At this rate we are, still, a long way off;
|
|
|
5330 |
I'd rather have a good tough goat, by half,
|
|
|
5331 |
Than the best legs a man e'er set his pride on.
|
|
|
5332 |
|
|
|
5333 |
_Faust_. So long as I've a pair of good fresh legs to stride on,
|
|
|
5334 |
Enough for me this knotty staff.
|
|
|
5335 |
What use of shortening the way!
|
|
|
5336 |
Following the valley's labyrinthine winding,
|
|
|
5337 |
Then up this rock a pathway finding,
|
|
|
5338 |
From which the spring leaps down in bubbling play,
|
|
|
5339 |
That is what spices such a walk, I say!
|
|
|
5340 |
Spring through the birch-tree's veins is flowing,
|
|
|
5341 |
The very pine is feeling it;
|
|
|
5342 |
Should not its influence set our limbs a-glowing?
|
|
|
5343 |
|
|
|
5344 |
_Mephistopheles_. I do not feel it, not a bit!
|
|
|
5345 |
My wintry blood runs very slowly;
|
|
|
5346 |
I wish my path were filled with frost and snow.
|
|
|
5347 |
The moon's imperfect disk, how melancholy
|
|
|
5348 |
It rises there with red, belated glow,
|
|
|
5349 |
And shines so badly, turn where'er one can turn,
|
|
|
5350 |
At every step he hits a rock or tree!
|
|
|
5351 |
With leave I'll beg a Jack-o'lantern!
|
|
|
5352 |
I see one yonder burning merrily.
|
|
|
5353 |
Heigh, there! my friend! May I thy aid desire?
|
|
|
5354 |
Why waste at such a rate thy fire?
|
|
|
5355 |
Come, light us up yon path, good fellow, pray!
|
|
|
5356 |
|
|
|
5357 |
_Jack-o'lantern_. Out of respect, I hope I shall be able
|
|
|
5358 |
To rein a nature quite unstable;
|
|
|
5359 |
We usually take a zigzag way.
|
|
|
5360 |
|
|
|
5361 |
_Mephistopheles_. Heigh! heigh! He thinks man's crooked course to travel.
|
|
|
5362 |
Go straight ahead, or, by the devil,
|
|
|
5363 |
I'll blow your flickering life out with a puff.
|
|
|
5364 |
|
|
|
5365 |
_Jack-o'lantern_. You're master of the house, that's plain enough,
|
|
|
5366 |
So I'll comply with your desire.
|
|
|
5367 |
But see! The mountain's magic-mad to-night,
|
|
|
5368 |
And if your guide's to be a Jack-o'lantern's light,
|
|
|
5369 |
Strict rectitude you'll scarce require.
|
|
|
5370 |
|
|
|
5371 |
FAUST, MEPHISTOPHELES, JACK-O'LANTERN, _in alternate song_.
|
|
|
5372 |
|
|
|
5373 |
Spheres of magic, dream, and vision,
|
|
|
5374 |
Now, it seems, are opening o'er us.
|
|
|
5375 |
For thy credit, use precision!
|
|
|
5376 |
Let the way be plain before us
|
|
|
5377 |
Through the lengthening desert regions.
|
|
|
5378 |
|
|
|
5379 |
See how trees on trees, in legions,
|
|
|
5380 |
Hurrying by us, change their places,
|
|
|
5381 |
And the bowing crags make faces,
|
|
|
5382 |
And the rocks, long noses showing,
|
|
|
5383 |
Hear them snoring, hear them blowing![33]
|
|
|
5384 |
|
|
|
5385 |
Down through stones, through mosses flowing,
|
|
|
5386 |
See the brook and brooklet springing.
|
|
|
5387 |
Hear I rustling? hear I singing?
|
|
|
5388 |
Love-plaints, sweet and melancholy,
|
|
|
5389 |
Voices of those days so holy?
|
|
|
5390 |
All our loving, longing, yearning?
|
|
|
5391 |
Echo, like a strain returning
|
|
|
5392 |
From the olden times, is ringing.
|
|
|
5393 |
|
|
|
5394 |
Uhu! Schuhu! Tu-whit! Tu-whit!
|
|
|
5395 |
Are the jay, and owl, and pewit
|
|
|
5396 |
All awake and loudly calling?
|
|
|
5397 |
What goes through the bushes yonder?
|
|
|
5398 |
Can it be the Salamander--
|
|
|
5399 |
Belly thick and legs a-sprawling?
|
|
|
5400 |
Roots and fibres, snake-like, crawling,
|
|
|
5401 |
Out from rocky, sandy places,
|
|
|
5402 |
Wheresoe'er we turn our faces,
|
|
|
5403 |
Stretch enormous fingers round us,
|
|
|
5404 |
Here to catch us, there confound us;
|
|
|
5405 |
Thick, black knars to life are starting,
|
|
|
5406 |
Polypusses'-feelers darting
|
|
|
5407 |
At the traveller. Field-mice, swarming,
|
|
|
5408 |
Thousand-colored armies forming,
|
|
|
5409 |
Scamper on through moss and heather!
|
|
|
5410 |
And the glow-worms, in the darkling,
|
|
|
5411 |
With their crowded escort sparkling,
|
|
|
5412 |
Would confound us altogether.
|
|
|
5413 |
|
|
|
5414 |
But to guess I'm vainly trying--
|
|
|
5415 |
Are we stopping? are we hieing?
|
|
|
5416 |
Round and round us all seems flying,
|
|
|
5417 |
Rocks and trees, that make grimaces,
|
|
|
5418 |
And the mist-lights of the places
|
|
|
5419 |
Ever swelling, multiplying.
|
|
|
5420 |
|
|
|
5421 |
_Mephistopheles_. Here's my coat-tail--tightly thumb it!
|
|
|
5422 |
We have reached a middle summit,
|
|
|
5423 |
Whence one stares to see how shines
|
|
|
5424 |
Mammon in the mountain-mines.
|
|
|
5425 |
|
|
|
5426 |
_Faust_. How strangely through the dim recesses
|
|
|
5427 |
A dreary dawning seems to glow!
|
|
|
5428 |
And even down the deep abysses
|
|
|
5429 |
Its melancholy quiverings throw!
|
|
|
5430 |
Here smoke is boiling, mist exhaling;
|
|
|
5431 |
Here from a vapory veil it gleams,
|
|
|
5432 |
Then, a fine thread of light, goes trailing,
|
|
|
5433 |
Then gushes up in fiery streams.
|
|
|
5434 |
The valley, here, you see it follow,
|
|
|
5435 |
One mighty flood, with hundred rills,
|
|
|
5436 |
And here, pent up in some deep hollow,
|
|
|
5437 |
It breaks on all sides down the hills.
|
|
|
5438 |
Here, spark-showers, darting up before us,
|
|
|
5439 |
Like golden sand-clouds rise and fall.
|
|
|
5440 |
But yonder see how blazes o'er us,
|
|
|
5441 |
All up and down, the rocky wall!
|
|
|
5442 |
|
|
|
5443 |
_Mephistopheles_. Has not Sir Mammon gloriously lighted
|
|
|
5444 |
His palace for this festive night?
|
|
|
5445 |
Count thyself lucky for the sight:
|
|
|
5446 |
I catch e'en now a glimpse of noisy guests invited.
|
|
|
5447 |
|
|
|
5448 |
_Faust_. How the mad tempest[34] sweeps the air!
|
|
|
5449 |
On cheek and neck the wind-gusts how they flout me.
|
|
|
5450 |
|
|
|
5451 |
_Mephistopheles_. Must seize the rock's old ribs and hold on stoutly!
|
|
|
5452 |
Else will they hurl thee down the dark abysses there.
|
|
|
5453 |
A mist-rain thickens the gloom.
|
|
|
5454 |
Hark, how the forests crash and boom!
|
|
|
5455 |
Out fly the owls in dread and wonder;
|
|
|
5456 |
Splitting their columns asunder,
|
|
|
5457 |
Hear it, the evergreen palaces shaking!
|
|
|
5458 |
Boughs are twisting and breaking!
|
|
|
5459 |
Of stems what a grinding and moaning!
|
|
|
5460 |
Of roots what a creaking and groaning!
|
|
|
5461 |
In frightful confusion, headlong tumbling,
|
|
|
5462 |
They fall, with a sound of thunder rumbling,
|
|
|
5463 |
And, through the wreck-piled ravines and abysses,
|
|
|
5464 |
The tempest howls and hisses.
|
|
|
5465 |
Hearst thou voices high up o'er us?
|
|
|
5466 |
Close around us--far before us?
|
|
|
5467 |
Through the mountain, all along,
|
|
|
5468 |
Swells a torrent of magic song.
|
|
|
5469 |
|
|
|
5470 |
_Witches_ [_in chorus_]. The witches go to the Brocken's top,
|
|
|
5471 |
The stubble is yellow, and green the crop.
|
|
|
5472 |
They gather there at the well-known call,
|
|
|
5473 |
Sir Urian[85] sits at the head of all.
|
|
|
5474 |
Then on we go o'er stone and stock:
|
|
|
5475 |
The witch, she--and--the buck.
|
|
|
5476 |
|
|
|
5477 |
_Voice_. Old Baubo comes along, I vow!
|
|
|
5478 |
She rides upon a farrow-sow.
|
|
|
5479 |
|
|
|
5480 |
_Chorus_. Then honor to whom honor's due!
|
|
|
5481 |
Ma'am Baubo ahead! and lead the crew!
|
|
|
5482 |
A good fat sow, and ma'am on her back,
|
|
|
5483 |
Then follow the witches all in a pack.
|
|
|
5484 |
|
|
|
5485 |
_Voice_. Which way didst thou come?
|
|
|
5486 |
|
|
|
5487 |
_Voice_. By the Ilsenstein!
|
|
|
5488 |
Peeped into an owl's nest, mother of mine!
|
|
|
5489 |
What a pair of eyes!
|
|
|
5490 |
|
|
|
5491 |
_Voice_. To hell with your flurry!
|
|
|
5492 |
Why ride in such hurry!
|
|
|
5493 |
|
|
|
5494 |
_Voice_. The hag be confounded!
|
|
|
5495 |
My skin flie has wounded!
|
|
|
5496 |
|
|
|
5497 |
_Witches_ [_chorus]._ The way is broad, the way is long,
|
|
|
5498 |
What means this noisy, crazy throng?
|
|
|
5499 |
The broom it scratches, the fork it flicks,
|
|
|
5500 |
The child is stifled, the mother breaks.
|
|
|
5501 |
|
|
|
5502 |
_Wizards_ [_semi-chorus_]. Like housed-up snails we're creeping on,
|
|
|
5503 |
The women all ahead are gone.
|
|
|
5504 |
When to the Bad One's house we go,
|
|
|
5505 |
She gains a thousand steps, you know.
|
|
|
5506 |
|
|
|
5507 |
_The other half_. We take it not precisely so;
|
|
|
5508 |
What she in thousand steps can go,
|
|
|
5509 |
Make all the haste she ever can,
|
|
|
5510 |
'Tis done in just one leap by man.
|
|
|
5511 |
|
|
|
5512 |
_Voice_ [_above_]. Come on, come on, from Felsensee!
|
|
|
5513 |
|
|
|
5514 |
_Voices_ [_from below_]. We'd gladly join your airy way.
|
|
|
5515 |
For wash and clean us as much as we will,
|
|
|
5516 |
We always prove unfruitful still.
|
|
|
5517 |
|
|
|
5518 |
_Both chorusses_. The wind is hushed, the star shoots by,
|
|
|
5519 |
The moon she hides her sickly eye.
|
|
|
5520 |
The whirling, whizzing magic-choir
|
|
|
5521 |
Darts forth ten thousand sparks of fire.
|
|
|
5522 |
|
|
|
5523 |
_Voice_ [_from below_]. Ho, there! whoa, there!
|
|
|
5524 |
|
|
|
5525 |
_Voice_ [_from above_]. Who calls from the rocky cleft below there?
|
|
|
5526 |
|
|
|
5527 |
_Voice_ [_below_]. Take me too! take me too!
|
|
|
5528 |
Three hundred years I've climbed to you,
|
|
|
5529 |
Seeking in vain my mates to come at,
|
|
|
5530 |
For I can never reach the summit.
|
|
|
5531 |
|
|
|
5532 |
_Both chorusses_. Can ride the besom, the stick can ride,
|
|
|
5533 |
Can stride the pitchfork, the goat can stride;
|
|
|
5534 |
Who neither will ride to-night, nor can,
|
|
|
5535 |
Must be forever a ruined man.
|
|
|
5536 |
|
|
|
5537 |
_Half-witch_ [_below_]. I hobble on--I'm out of wind--
|
|
|
5538 |
And still they leave me far behind!
|
|
|
5539 |
To find peace here in vain I come,
|
|
|
5540 |
I get no more than I left at home.
|
|
|
5541 |
|
|
|
5542 |
_Chorus of witches_. The witch's salve can never fail,
|
|
|
5543 |
A rag will answer for a sail,
|
|
|
5544 |
Any trough will do for a ship, that's tight;
|
|
|
5545 |
He'll never fly who flies not to-night.
|
|
|
5546 |
|
|
|
5547 |
_Both chorusses_. And when the highest peak we round,
|
|
|
5548 |
Then lightly graze along the ground,
|
|
|
5549 |
And cover the heath, where eye can see,
|
|
|
5550 |
With the flower of witch-errantry.
|
|
|
5551 |
[_They alight_.]
|
|
|
5552 |
|
|
|
5553 |
_Mephistopheles._ What squeezing and pushing, what rustling and hustling!
|
|
|
5554 |
What hissing and twirling, what chattering and bustling!
|
|
|
5555 |
How it shines and sparkles and burns and stinks!
|
|
|
5556 |
A true witch-element, methinks!
|
|
|
5557 |
Keep close! or we are parted in two winks.
|
|
|
5558 |
Where art thou?
|
|
|
5559 |
|
|
|
5560 |
_Faust_ [_in the distance_]. Here!
|
|
|
5561 |
|
|
|
5562 |
_Mephistopheles_. What! carried off already?
|
|
|
5563 |
Then I must use my house-right.--Steady!
|
|
|
5564 |
Room! Squire Voland[36] comes. Sweet people, Clear the ground!
|
|
|
5565 |
Here, Doctor, grasp my arm! and, at a single bound;
|
|
|
5566 |
Let us escape, while yet 'tis easy;
|
|
|
5567 |
E'en for the like of me they're far too crazy.
|
|
|
5568 |
See! yonder, something shines with quite peculiar glare,
|
|
|
5569 |
And draws me to those bushes mazy.
|
|
|
5570 |
Come! come! and let us slip in there.
|
|
|
5571 |
|
|
|
5572 |
_Faust_. All-contradicting sprite! To follow thee I'm fated.
|
|
|
5573 |
But I must say, thy plan was very bright!
|
|
|
5574 |
We seek the Brocken here, on the Walpurgis night,
|
|
|
5575 |
Then hold ourselves, when here, completely isolated!
|
|
|
5576 |
|
|
|
5577 |
_Mephistopheles_. What motley flames light up the heather!
|
|
|
5578 |
A merry club is met together,
|
|
|
5579 |
In a small group one's not alone.
|
|
|
5580 |
|
|
|
5581 |
_Faust_. I'd rather be up there, I own!
|
|
|
5582 |
See! curling smoke and flames right blue!
|
|
|
5583 |
To see the Evil One they travel;
|
|
|
5584 |
There many a riddle to unravel.
|
|
|
5585 |
|
|
|
5586 |
_Mephistopheles_. And tie up many another, too.
|
|
|
5587 |
Let the great world there rave and riot,
|
|
|
5588 |
We here will house ourselves in quiet.
|
|
|
5589 |
The saying has been long well known:
|
|
|
5590 |
In the great world one makes a small one of his own.
|
|
|
5591 |
I see young witches there quite naked all,
|
|
|
5592 |
And old ones who, more prudent, cover.
|
|
|
5593 |
For my sake some flight things look over;
|
|
|
5594 |
The fun is great, the trouble small.
|
|
|
5595 |
I hear them tuning instruments! Curs'd jangle!
|
|
|
5596 |
Well! one must learn with such things not to wrangle.
|
|
|
5597 |
Come on! Come on! For so it needs must be,
|
|
|
5598 |
Thou shalt at once be introduced by me.
|
|
|
5599 |
And I new thanks from thee be earning.
|
|
|
5600 |
That is no scanty space; what sayst thou, friend?
|
|
|
5601 |
Just take a look! thou scarce canst see the end.
|
|
|
5602 |
There, in a row, a hundred fires are burning;
|
|
|
5603 |
They dance, chat, cook, drink, love; where can be found
|
|
|
5604 |
Any thing better, now, the wide world round?
|
|
|
5605 |
|
|
|
5606 |
_Faust_. Wilt thou, as things are now in this condition,
|
|
|
5607 |
Present thyself for devil, or magician?
|
|
|
5608 |
|
|
|
5609 |
_Mephistopheles_. I've been much used, indeed, to going incognito;
|
|
|
5610 |
|
|
|
5611 |
But then, on gala-day, one will his order show.
|
|
|
5612 |
No garter makes my rank appear,
|
|
|
5613 |
But then the cloven foot stands high in honor here.
|
|
|
5614 |
Seest thou the snail? Look there! where she comes creeping yonder!
|
|
|
5615 |
Had she already smelt the rat,
|
|
|
5616 |
I should not very greatly wonder.
|
|
|
5617 |
Disguise is useless now, depend on that.
|
|
|
5618 |
Come, then! we will from fire to fire wander,
|
|
|
5619 |
Thou shalt the wooer be and I the pander.
|
|
|
5620 |
[_To a party who sit round expiring embers_.]
|
|
|
5621 |
Old gentlemen, you scarce can hear the fiddle!
|
|
|
5622 |
You'd gain more praise from me, ensconced there in the middle,
|
|
|
5623 |
'Mongst that young rousing, tousing set.
|
|
|
5624 |
One can, at home, enough retirement get.
|
|
|
5625 |
|
|
|
5626 |
_General_. Trust not the people's fickle favor!
|
|
|
5627 |
However much thou mayst for them have done.
|
|
|
5628 |
Nations, as well as women, ever,
|
|
|
5629 |
Worship the rising, not the setting sun.
|
|
|
5630 |
|
|
|
5631 |
_Minister_. From the right path we've drifted far away,
|
|
|
5632 |
The good old past my heart engages;
|
|
|
5633 |
Those were the real golden ages,
|
|
|
5634 |
When such as we held all the sway.
|
|
|
5635 |
|
|
|
5636 |
_Parvenu_. We were no simpletons, I trow,
|
|
|
5637 |
And often did the thing we should not;
|
|
|
5638 |
But all is turning topsy-turvy now,
|
|
|
5639 |
And if we tried to stem the wave, we could not.
|
|
|
5640 |
|
|
|
5641 |
_Author_. Who on the whole will read a work today,
|
|
|
5642 |
Of moderate sense, with any pleasure?
|
|
|
5643 |
And as regards the dear young people, they
|
|
|
5644 |
Pert and precocious are beyond all measure.
|
|
|
5645 |
|
|
|
5646 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_who all at once appears very old_].
|
|
|
5647 |
The race is ripened for the judgment day:
|
|
|
5648 |
So I, for the last time, climb the witch-mountain, thinking,
|
|
|
5649 |
And, as my cask runs thick, I say,
|
|
|
5650 |
The world, too, on its lees is sinking.
|
|
|
5651 |
|
|
|
5652 |
_Witch-broker_. Good gentlemen, don't hurry by!
|
|
|
5653 |
The opportunity's a rare one!
|
|
|
5654 |
My stock is an uncommon fair one,
|
|
|
5655 |
Please give it an attentive eye.
|
|
|
5656 |
There's nothing in my shop, whatever,
|
|
|
5657 |
But on the earth its mate is found;
|
|
|
5658 |
That has not proved itself right clever
|
|
|
5659 |
To deal mankind some fatal wound.
|
|
|
5660 |
No dagger here, but blood has some time stained it;
|
|
|
5661 |
No cup, that has not held some hot and poisonous juice,
|
|
|
5662 |
And stung to death the throat that drained it;
|
|
|
5663 |
No trinket, but did once a maid seduce;
|
|
|
5664 |
No sword, but hath some tie of sacred honor riven,
|
|
|
5665 |
Or haply from behind through foeman's neck been driven.
|
|
|
5666 |
|
|
|
5667 |
_Mephistopheles_. You're quite behind the times, I tell you, Aunty!
|
|
|
5668 |
By-gones be by-gones! done is done!
|
|
|
5669 |
Get us up something new and jaunty!
|
|
|
5670 |
For new things now the people run.
|
|
|
5671 |
|
|
|
5672 |
_Faust_. To keep my wits I must endeavor!
|
|
|
5673 |
Call this a fair! I swear, I never--!
|
|
|
5674 |
|
|
|
5675 |
_Mephistopheles_. Upward the billowy mass is moving;
|
|
|
5676 |
You're shoved along and think, meanwhile, you're shoving.
|
|
|
5677 |
|
|
|
5678 |
_Faust_. What woman's that?
|
|
|
5679 |
|
|
|
5680 |
_Mephistopheles_. Mark her attentively.
|
|
|
5681 |
That's Lilith.[37]
|
|
|
5682 |
|
|
|
5683 |
_Faust_. Who?
|
|
|
5684 |
|
|
|
5685 |
_Mephistopbeles_. Adam's first wife is she.
|
|
|
5686 |
Beware of her one charm, those lovely tresses,
|
|
|
5687 |
In which she shines preeminently fair.
|
|
|
5688 |
When those soft meshes once a young man snare,
|
|
|
5689 |
How hard 'twill be to escape he little guesses.
|
|
|
5690 |
|
|
|
5691 |
_Faust_. There sit an old one and a young together;
|
|
|
5692 |
They've skipped it well along the heather!
|
|
|
5693 |
|
|
|
5694 |
_Mephistopheles_. No rest from that till night is through.
|
|
|
5695 |
Another dance is up; come on! let us fall to.
|
|
|
5696 |
|
|
|
5697 |
_Faust_ [_dancing with the young one_]. A lovely dream once came to me;
|
|
|
5698 |
In it I saw an apple-tree;
|
|
|
5699 |
Two beauteous apples beckoned there,
|
|
|
5700 |
I climbed to pluck the fruit so fair.
|
|
|
5701 |
|
|
|
5702 |
_The Fair one_. Apples you greatly seem to prize,
|
|
|
5703 |
And did so even in Paradise.
|
|
|
5704 |
I feel myself delighted much
|
|
|
5705 |
That in my garden I have such.
|
|
|
5706 |
|
|
|
5707 |
_Mephistopheles_ [_with the old hag_]. A dismal dream once came to me;
|
|
|
5708 |
In it I saw a cloven tree,
|
|
|
5709 |
It had a ------ but still,
|
|
|
5710 |
I looked on it with right good-will.
|
|
|
5711 |
|
|
|
5712 |
_The Hog_. With best respect I here salute
|
|
|
5713 |
The noble knight of the cloven foot!
|
|
|
5714 |
Let him hold a ------ near,
|
|
|
5715 |
If a ------ he does not fear.
|
|
|
5716 |
|
|
|
5717 |
_Proctophantasmist_.[38] What's this ye undertake? Confounded crew!
|
|
|
5718 |
Have we not giv'n you demonstration?
|
|
|
5719 |
No spirit stands on legs in all creation,
|
|
|
5720 |
And here you dance just as we mortals do!
|
|
|
5721 |
|
|
|
5722 |
_The Fair one_ [_dancing_]. What does that fellow at our ball?
|
|
|
5723 |
|
|
|
5724 |
_Faust_ [_dancing_]. Eh! he must have a hand in all.
|
|
|
5725 |
What others dance that he appraises.
|
|
|
5726 |
Unless each step he criticizes,
|
|
|
5727 |
The step as good as no step he will call.
|
|
|
5728 |
But when we move ahead, that plagues him more than all.
|
|
|
5729 |
If in a circle you would still keep turning,
|
|
|
5730 |
As he himself in his old mill goes round,
|
|
|
5731 |
He would be sure to call that sound!
|
|
|
5732 |
And most so, if you went by his superior learning.
|
|
|
5733 |
|
|
|
5734 |
_Proctophantasmist_. What, and you still are here! Unheard off obstinates!
|
|
|
5735 |
Begone! We've cleared it up! You shallow pates!
|
|
|
5736 |
The devilish pack from rules deliverance boasts.
|
|
|
5737 |
We've grown so wise, and Tegel[39] still sees ghosts.
|
|
|
5738 |
How long I've toiled to sweep these cobwebs from the brain,
|
|
|
5739 |
And yet--unheard of folly! all in vain.
|
|
|
5740 |
|
|
|
5741 |
_The Fair one_. And yet on us the stupid bore still tries it!
|
|
|
5742 |
|
|
|
5743 |
_Proctophantasmist_. I tell you spirits, to the face,
|
|
|
5744 |
I give to spirit-tyranny no place,
|
|
|
5745 |
My spirit cannot exercise it.
|
|
|
5746 |
[_They dance on_.]
|
|
|
5747 |
I can't succeed to-day, I know it;
|
|
|
5748 |
Still, there's the journey, which I like to make,
|
|
|
5749 |
And hope, before the final step I take,
|
|
|
5750 |
To rid the world of devil and of poet.
|
|
|
5751 |
|
|
|
5752 |
_Mephistopheles_. You'll see him shortly sit into a puddle,
|
|
|
5753 |
In that way his heart is reassured;
|
|
|
5754 |
When on his rump the leeches well shall fuddle,
|
|
|
5755 |
Of spirits and of spirit he'll be cured.
|
|
|
5756 |
[_To_ FAUST, _who has left the dance_.]
|
|
|
5757 |
Why let the lovely girl slip through thy fingers,
|
|
|
5758 |
Who to thy dance so sweetly sang?
|
|
|
5759 |
|
|
|
5760 |
_Faust_. Ah, right amidst her singing, sprang
|
|
|
5761 |
A wee red mouse from her mouth and made me cower.
|
|
|
5762 |
|
|
|
5763 |
_Mephistopheles_. That's nothing wrong! You're in a dainty way;
|
|
|
5764 |
Enough, the mouse at least wan't gray.
|
|
|
5765 |
Who minds such thing in happy amorous hour?
|
|
|
5766 |
|
|
|
5767 |
_Faust_. Then saw I--
|
|
|
5768 |
|
|
|
5769 |
_Mephistopheles_. What?
|
|
|
5770 |
|
|
|
5771 |
_Faust_. Mephisto, seest thou not
|
|
|
5772 |
Yon pale, fair child afar, who stands so sad and lonely,
|
|
|
5773 |
And moves so slowly from the spot,
|
|
|
5774 |
Her feet seem locked, and she drags them only.
|
|
|
5775 |
I must confess, she seems to me
|
|
|
5776 |
To look like my own good Margery.
|
|
|
5777 |
|
|
|
5778 |
_Mephistopheles_. Leave that alone! The sight no health can bring.
|
|
|
5779 |
it is a magic shape, an idol, no live thing.
|
|
|
5780 |
To meet it never can be good!
|
|
|
5781 |
Its haggard look congeals a mortal's blood,
|
|
|
5782 |
And almost turns him into stone;
|
|
|
5783 |
The story of Medusa thou hast known.
|
|
|
5784 |
|
|
|
5785 |
_Faust_. Yes, 'tis a dead one's eyes that stare upon me,
|
|
|
5786 |
Eyes that no loving hand e'er closed;
|
|
|
5787 |
That is the angel form of her who won me,
|
|
|
5788 |
Tis the dear breast on which I once reposed.
|
|
|
5789 |
|
|
|
5790 |
_Mephistopheles_. 'Tis sorcery all, thou fool, misled by passion's dreams!
|
|
|
5791 |
For she to every one his own love seems.
|
|
|
5792 |
|
|
|
5793 |
_Faust_. What bliss! what woe! Methinks I never
|
|
|
5794 |
My sight from that sweet form can sever.
|
|
|
5795 |
Seeft thou, not thicker than a knife-blade's back,
|
|
|
5796 |
A small red ribbon, fitting sweetly
|
|
|
5797 |
The lovely neck it clasps so neatly?
|
|
|
5798 |
|
|
|
5799 |
_Mephistopheles_. I see the streak around her neck.
|
|
|
5800 |
Her head beneath her arm, you'll next behold her;
|
|
|
5801 |
Perseus has lopped it from her shoulder,--
|
|
|
5802 |
But let thy crazy passion rest!
|
|
|
5803 |
Come, climb with me yon hillock's breast,
|
|
|
5804 |
Was e'er the Prater[40] merrier then?
|
|
|
5805 |
And if no sorcerer's charm is o'er me,
|
|
|
5806 |
That is a theatre before me.
|
|
|
5807 |
What's doing there?
|
|
|
5808 |
|
|
|
5809 |
_Servibilis_. They'll straight begin again.
|
|
|
5810 |
A bran-new piece, the very last of seven;
|
|
|
5811 |
To have so much, the fashion here thinks fit.
|
|
|
5812 |
By Dilettantes it is given;
|
|
|
5813 |
'Twas by a Dilettante writ.
|
|
|
5814 |
Excuse me, sirs, I go to greet you;
|
|
|
5815 |
I am the curtain-raising Dilettant.
|
|
|
5816 |
|
|
|
5817 |
_Mephistopheles_. When I upon the Blocksberg meet you,
|
|
|
5818 |
That I approve; for there's your place, I grant.
|
|
|
5819 |
|
|
|
5820 |
|
|
|
5821 |
|
|
|
5822 |
|
|
|
5823 |
WALPURGIS-NIGHT'S DREAM, OR OBERON AND TITANIA'S GOLDEN NUPTIALS.
|
|
|
5824 |
|
|
|
5825 |
_Intermezzo_.
|
|
|
5826 |
|
|
|
5827 |
|
|
|
5828 |
_Theatre manager_. Here, for once, we rest, to-day,
|
|
|
5829 |
Heirs of Mieding's[41] glory.
|
|
|
5830 |
All the scenery we display--
|
|
|
5831 |
Damp vale and mountain hoary!
|
|
|
5832 |
|
|
|
5833 |
_Herald_. To make the wedding a golden one,
|
|
|
5834 |
Must fifty years expire;
|
|
|
5835 |
But when once the strife is done,
|
|
|
5836 |
I prize the _gold_ the higher.
|
|
|
5837 |
|
|
|
5838 |
_Oberon_. Spirits, if my good ye mean,
|
|
|
5839 |
Now let all wrongs be righted;
|
|
|
5840 |
For to-day your king and queen
|
|
|
5841 |
Are once again united.
|
|
|
5842 |
|
|
|
5843 |
_Puck_. Once let Puck coming whirling round,
|
|
|
5844 |
And set his foot to whisking,
|
|
|
5845 |
Hundreds with him throng the ground,
|
|
|
5846 |
Frolicking and frisking.
|
|
|
5847 |
|
|
|
5848 |
_Ariel_. Ariel awakes the song
|
|
|
5849 |
With many a heavenly measure;
|
|
|
5850 |
Fools not few he draws along,
|
|
|
5851 |
But fair ones hear with pleasure.
|
|
|
5852 |
|
|
|
5853 |
_Oberon_. Spouses who your feuds would smother,
|
|
|
5854 |
Take from us a moral!
|
|
|
5855 |
Two who wish to love each other,
|
|
|
5856 |
Need only first to quarrel.
|
|
|
5857 |
|
|
|
5858 |
_Titania_. If she pouts and he looks grim,
|
|
|
5859 |
Take them both together,
|
|
|
5860 |
To the north pole carry him,
|
|
|
5861 |
And off with her to t'other.
|
|
|
5862 |
|
|
|
5863 |
_Orchestra Tutti_.
|
|
|
5864 |
|
|
|
5865 |
_Fortissimo_. Fly-snouts and gnats'-noses, these,
|
|
|
5866 |
And kin in all conditions,
|
|
|
5867 |
Grass-hid crickets, frogs in trees,
|
|
|
5868 |
We take for our musicians!
|
|
|
5869 |
|
|
|
5870 |
_Solo_. See, the Bagpipe comes! fall back!
|
|
|
5871 |
Soap-bubble's name he owneth.
|
|
|
5872 |
How the _Schnecke-schnicke-schnack_
|
|
|
5873 |
Through his snub-nose droneth!
|
|
|
5874 |
_Spirit that is just shaping itself_. Spider-foot, toad's-belly, too,
|
|
|
5875 |
Give the child, and winglet!
|
|
|
5876 |
'Tis no animalcule, true,
|
|
|
5877 |
But a poetic thinglet.
|
|
|
5878 |
|
|
|
5879 |
_A pair of lovers_. Little step and lofty bound
|
|
|
5880 |
Through honey-dew and flowers;
|
|
|
5881 |
Well thou trippest o'er the ground,
|
|
|
5882 |
But soarst not o'er the bowers.
|
|
|
5883 |
|
|
|
5884 |
_Curious traveller_. This must be masquerade!
|
|
|
5885 |
How odd!
|
|
|
5886 |
My very eyes believe I?
|
|
|
5887 |
Oberon, the beauteous God
|
|
|
5888 |
Here, to-night perceive I!
|
|
|
5889 |
|
|
|
5890 |
_Orthodox_. Neither claws, nor tail I see!
|
|
|
5891 |
And yet, without a cavil,
|
|
|
5892 |
Just as "the Gods of Greece"[42] were, he
|
|
|
5893 |
Must also be a devil.
|
|
|
5894 |
|
|
|
5895 |
_Northern artist_. What here I catch is, to be sure,
|
|
|
5896 |
But sketchy recreation;
|
|
|
5897 |
And yet for my Italian tour
|
|
|
5898 |
'Tis timely preparation.
|
|
|
5899 |
|
|
|
5900 |
_Purist_. Bad luck has brought me here, I see!
|
|
|
5901 |
The rioting grows louder.
|
|
|
5902 |
And of the whole witch company,
|
|
|
5903 |
There are but two, wear powder.
|
|
|
5904 |
|
|
|
5905 |
_Young witch_. Powder becomes, like petticoat,
|
|
|
5906 |
Your little, gray old woman:
|
|
|
5907 |
Naked I sit upon my goat,
|
|
|
5908 |
And show the untrimmed human.
|
|
|
5909 |
|
|
|
5910 |
_Matron_. To stand here jawing[43] with you, we
|
|
|
5911 |
Too much good-breeding cherish;
|
|
|
5912 |
But young and tender though you be,
|
|
|
5913 |
I hope you'll rot and perish.
|
|
|
5914 |
|
|
|
5915 |
_Leader of the music_. Fly-snouts and gnat-noses, please,
|
|
|
5916 |
Swarm not so round the naked!
|
|
|
5917 |
Grass-hid crickets, frogs in trees,
|
|
|
5918 |
Keep time and don't forsake it!
|
|
|
5919 |
|
|
|
5920 |
_Weathercock_ [_towards one side_]. Find better company, who can!
|
|
|
5921 |
Here, brides attended duly!
|
|
|
5922 |
There, bachelors, ranged man by man,
|
|
|
5923 |
Most hopeful people truly!
|
|
|
5924 |
|
|
|
5925 |
_Weathercock [towards the other side_].
|
|
|
5926 |
And if the ground don't open straight,
|
|
|
5927 |
The crazy crew to swallow,
|
|
|
5928 |
You'll see me, at a furious rate,
|
|
|
5929 |
Jump down to hell's black hollow.
|
|
|
5930 |
|
|
|
5931 |
_Xenia[_44] We are here as insects, ah!
|
|
|
5932 |
Small, sharp nippers wielding,
|
|
|
5933 |
Satan, as our _cher papa_,
|
|
|
5934 |
Worthy honor yielding.
|
|
|
5935 |
|
|
|
5936 |
_Hennings_. See how naïvely, there, the throng
|
|
|
5937 |
Among themselves are jesting,
|
|
|
5938 |
You'll hear them, I've no doubt, ere long,
|
|
|
5939 |
Their good kind hearts protesting.
|
|
|
5940 |
|
|
|
5941 |
_Musagetes_. Apollo in this witches' group
|
|
|
5942 |
Himself right gladly loses;
|
|
|
5943 |
For truly I could lead this troop
|
|
|
5944 |
Much easier than the muses.
|
|
|
5945 |
|
|
|
5946 |
_Ci-devant genius of the age_. Right company will raise man up.
|
|
|
5947 |
Come, grasp my skirt, Lord bless us!
|
|
|
5948 |
The Blocksberg has a good broad top,
|
|
|
5949 |
Like Germany's Parnassus.
|
|
|
5950 |
|
|
|
5951 |
_Curious traveller_. Tell me who is that stiff man?
|
|
|
5952 |
With what stiff step he travels!
|
|
|
5953 |
He noses out whate'er he can.
|
|
|
5954 |
"He scents the Jesuit devils."
|
|
|
5955 |
|
|
|
5956 |
_Crane_. In clear, and muddy water, too,
|
|
|
5957 |
The long-billed gentleman fishes;
|
|
|
5958 |
Our pious gentlemen we view
|
|
|
5959 |
Fingering in devils' dishes.
|
|
|
5960 |
|
|
|
5961 |
_Child of this world_. Yes, with the pious ones, 'tis clear,
|
|
|
5962 |
"All's grist that comes to their mill;"
|
|
|
5963 |
They build their tabernacles here,
|
|
|
5964 |
On Blocksberg, as on Carmel.
|
|
|
5965 |
|
|
|
5966 |
_Dancer_. Hark! a new choir salutes my ear!
|
|
|
5967 |
I hear a distant drumming.
|
|
|
5968 |
"Be not disturbed! 'mong reeds you hear
|
|
|
5969 |
The one-toned bitterns bumming."
|
|
|
5970 |
|
|
|
5971 |
_Dancing-master._ How each his legs kicks up and flings,
|
|
|
5972 |
Pulls foot as best he's able!
|
|
|
5973 |
The clumsy hops, the crooked springs,
|
|
|
5974 |
'Tis quite disreputable!
|
|
|
5975 |
|
|
|
5976 |
_Fiddler_. The scurvy pack, they hate, 'tis clear,
|
|
|
5977 |
Like cats and dogs, each other.
|
|
|
5978 |
Like Orpheus' lute, the bagpipe here
|
|
|
5979 |
Binds beast to beast as brother.
|
|
|
5980 |
|
|
|
5981 |
_Dogmatist_. You'll not scream down my reason, though,
|
|
|
5982 |
By criticism's cavils.
|
|
|
5983 |
The devil's something, that I know,
|
|
|
5984 |
Else how could there be devils?
|
|
|
5985 |
|
|
|
5986 |
_Idealist_. Ah, phantasy, for once thy sway
|
|
|
5987 |
Is guilty of high treason.
|
|
|
5988 |
If all I see is I, to-day,
|
|
|
5989 |
'Tis plain I've lost my reason.
|
|
|
5990 |
|
|
|
5991 |
_Realist_. To me, of all life's woes and plagues,
|
|
|
5992 |
Substance is most provoking,
|
|
|
5993 |
For the first time I feel my legs
|
|
|
5994 |
Beneath me almost rocking.
|
|
|
5995 |
|
|
|
5996 |
_Supernaturalist_. I'm overjoyed at being here,
|
|
|
5997 |
And even among these rude ones;
|
|
|
5998 |
For if bad spirits are, 'tis clear,
|
|
|
5999 |
There also must be good ones.
|
|
|
6000 |
|
|
|
6001 |
_Skeptic_. Where'er they spy the flame they roam,
|
|
|
6002 |
And think rich stores to rifle,
|
|
|
6003 |
Here such as I are quite at home,
|
|
|
6004 |
For _Zweifel_ rhymes with _Teufel_.[45]
|
|
|
6005 |
|
|
|
6006 |
_Leader of the music_. Grass-hid cricket, frogs in trees,
|
|
|
6007 |
You cursed dilettanti!
|
|
|
6008 |
Fly-snouts and gnats'-noses, peace!
|
|
|
6009 |
Musicians you, right jaunty!
|
|
|
6010 |
|
|
|
6011 |
_The Clever ones_. Sans-souci we call this band
|
|
|
6012 |
Of merry ones that skip it;
|
|
|
6013 |
Unable on our feet to stand,
|
|
|
6014 |
Upon our heads we trip it.
|
|
|
6015 |
|
|
|
6016 |
_The Bunglers_. Time was, we caught our tit-bits, too,
|
|
|
6017 |
God help us now! that's done with!
|
|
|
6018 |
We've danced our leathers entirely through,
|
|
|
6019 |
And have only bare soles to run with.
|
|
|
6020 |
|
|
|
6021 |
_Jack-o'lanterns_. From the dirty bog we come,
|
|
|
6022 |
Whence we've just arisen:
|
|
|
6023 |
Soon in the dance here, quite at home,
|
|
|
6024 |
As gay young _sparks_ we'll glisten.
|
|
|
6025 |
|
|
|
6026 |
_Shooting star_. Trailing from the sky I shot,
|
|
|
6027 |
Not a star there missed me:
|
|
|
6028 |
Crooked up in this grassy spot,
|
|
|
6029 |
Who to my legs will assist me?
|
|
|
6030 |
|
|
|
6031 |
_The solid men_. Room there! room there! clear the ground!
|
|
|
6032 |
Grass-blades well may fall so;
|
|
|
6033 |
Spirits are we, but 'tis found
|
|
|
6034 |
They have plump limbs also.
|
|
|
6035 |
|
|
|
6036 |
_Puck_. Heavy men! do not, I say,
|
|
|
6037 |
Like elephants' calves go stumping:
|
|
|
6038 |
Let the plumpest one to-day
|
|
|
6039 |
Be Puck, the ever-jumping.
|
|
|
6040 |
|
|
|
6041 |
_Ariel_. If the spirit gave, indeed,
|
|
|
6042 |
If nature gave you, pinions,
|
|
|
6043 |
Follow up my airy lead
|
|
|
6044 |
To the rose-dominions!
|
|
|
6045 |
|
|
|
6046 |
_Orchestra_ [_pianissimo_]. Gauzy mist and fleecy cloud
|
|
|
6047 |
Sun and wind have banished.
|
|
|
6048 |
Foliage rustles, reeds pipe loud,
|
|
|
6049 |
All the show has vanished.
|
|
|
6050 |
|
|
|
6051 |
|
|
|
6052 |
|
|
|
6053 |
|
|
|
6054 |
DREARY DAY.[46]
|
|
|
6055 |
|
|
|
6056 |
_Field_.
|
|
|
6057 |
|
|
|
6058 |
|
|
|
6059 |
FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
6060 |
|
|
|
6061 |
_Faust_. In wretchedness! In despair! Long hunted up and down the earth, a
|
|
|
6062 |
miserable fugitive, and caught at last! Locked up as a malefactor in
|
|
|
6063 |
prison, to converse with horrible torments--the sweet, unhappy creature!
|
|
|
6064 |
Even to this pass! even to this!--Treacherous, worthless spirit, and this
|
|
|
6065 |
thou hast hidden from me!--Stand up here--stand up! Roll thy devilish eyes
|
|
|
6066 |
round grimly in thy head! Stand and defy me with thy intolerable presence!
|
|
|
6067 |
Imprisoned! In irretrievable misery! Given over to evil spirits and to the
|
|
|
6068 |
judgment of unfeeling humanity, and me meanwhile thou lullest in insipid
|
|
|
6069 |
dissipations, concealest from me her growing anguish, and leavest her
|
|
|
6070 |
without help to perish!
|
|
|
6071 |
|
|
|
6072 |
_Mephistopheles_. She is not the first!
|
|
|
6073 |
|
|
|
6074 |
_Faust_. Dog! abominable monster! Change him, thou Infinite Spirit! change
|
|
|
6075 |
the worm back into his canine form, as he was often pleased in the night
|
|
|
6076 |
to trot before me, to roll before the feet of the harmless wanderer, and,
|
|
|
6077 |
when he fell, to hang on his shoulders. Change him again into his favorite
|
|
|
6078 |
shape, that he may crawl before me on his belly in the sand, and that I
|
|
|
6079 |
may tread him under foot, the reprobate!--Not the first! Misery! Misery!
|
|
|
6080 |
inconceivable by any human soul! that more than one creature ever sank
|
|
|
6081 |
into the depth of this wretchedness, that the first in its writhing
|
|
|
6082 |
death-agony did not atone for the guilt of all the rest before the eyes of
|
|
|
6083 |
the eternally Forgiving! My very marrow and life are consumed by the
|
|
|
6084 |
misery of this single one; thou grinnest away composedly at the fate of
|
|
|
6085 |
thousands!
|
|
|
6086 |
|
|
|
6087 |
_Mephistopheles_. Here we are again at our wits' ends already, where the
|
|
|
6088 |
thread of sense, with you mortals, snaps short. Why make a partnership
|
|
|
6089 |
with us, if thou canst not carry it through? Wilt fly, and art not proof
|
|
|
6090 |
against dizziness? Did we thrust ourselves on thee, or thou on us?
|
|
|
6091 |
|
|
|
6092 |
_Faust_. Gnash not so thy greedy teeth against me! It disgusts me!--Great
|
|
|
6093 |
and glorious spirit, thou that deignedst to appear to me, who knowest my
|
|
|
6094 |
heart and soul, why yoke me to this shame-fellow, who feeds on mischief
|
|
|
6095 |
and feasts on ruin?
|
|
|
6096 |
|
|
|
6097 |
_Mephistopheles_. Hast thou done?
|
|
|
6098 |
|
|
|
6099 |
_Faust_. Rescue her! O woe be unto thee! The most horrible curse on thee
|
|
|
6100 |
for thousands of years!
|
|
|
6101 |
|
|
|
6102 |
_Mephistopheles_. I cannot loose the bonds of the avenger, nor open his
|
|
|
6103 |
bolts.--Rescue her!--Who was it that plunged her into ruin? I or thou?
|
|
|
6104 |
[FAUST _looks wildly round_.]
|
|
|
6105 |
Grasp'st thou after the thunder? Well that it was not given to you
|
|
|
6106 |
miserable mortals! To crush an innocent respondent, that is a sort of
|
|
|
6107 |
tyrant's-way of getting room to breathe in embarrassment.
|
|
|
6108 |
|
|
|
6109 |
_Faust_. Lead me to her! She shall be free!
|
|
|
6110 |
|
|
|
6111 |
_Mephistopheles_. And the danger which thou incurrest? Know that the guilt
|
|
|
6112 |
of blood at thy hand still lies upon the town. Over the place of the
|
|
|
6113 |
slain, avenging spirits hover and lurk for the returning murderer.
|
|
|
6114 |
|
|
|
6115 |
_Faust_. That, too, from thee? Murder and death of a world upon thee,
|
|
|
6116 |
monster! Lead me thither, I say, and free her!
|
|
|
6117 |
|
|
|
6118 |
_Mephistopheles_. I will lead thee, and hear what I can do! Have I all
|
|
|
6119 |
power in heaven and on earth? I will becloud the turnkey's senses; possess
|
|
|
6120 |
thyself of the keys, and bear her out with human hand. I will watch! The
|
|
|
6121 |
magic horses shall be ready, and I will bear you away. So much I can do.
|
|
|
6122 |
|
|
|
6123 |
_Faust_. Up and away!
|
|
|
6124 |
|
|
|
6125 |
|
|
|
6126 |
|
|
|
6127 |
|
|
|
6128 |
NIGHT. OPEN FIELD.
|
|
|
6129 |
|
|
|
6130 |
FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES.
|
|
|
6131 |
_Scudding along on black horses_.
|
|
|
6132 |
|
|
|
6133 |
_Faust_. What's doing, off there, round the gallows-tree?[47]
|
|
|
6134 |
|
|
|
6135 |
_Mephistopheles_. Know not what they are doing and brewing.
|
|
|
6136 |
|
|
|
6137 |
_Faust_. Up they go--down they go--wheel about, reel about.
|
|
|
6138 |
|
|
|
6139 |
_Mephistopheles_. A witches'-crew.
|
|
|
6140 |
|
|
|
6141 |
_Faust_. They're strewing and vowing.
|
|
|
6142 |
|
|
|
6143 |
_Mephistopheles_. Pass on! Pass on!
|
|
|
6144 |
|
|
|
6145 |
|
|
|
6146 |
|
|
|
6147 |
|
|
|
6148 |
PRISON.
|
|
|
6149 |
|
|
|
6150 |
FAUST [_with a bunch of keys and a lamp, before an iron door_]
|
|
|
6151 |
A long unwonted chill comes o'er me,
|
|
|
6152 |
I feel the whole great load of human woe.
|
|
|
6153 |
Within this clammy wall that frowns before me
|
|
|
6154 |
Lies one whom blinded love, not guilt, brought low!
|
|
|
6155 |
Thou lingerest, in hope to grow bolder!
|
|
|
6156 |
Thou fearest again to behold her!
|
|
|
6157 |
On! Thy shrinking slowly hastens the blow!
|
|
|
6158 |
[_He grasps the key. Singing from within_.]
|
|
|
6159 |
My mother, the harlot,
|
|
|
6160 |
That strung me up!
|
|
|
6161 |
My father, the varlet,
|
|
|
6162 |
That ate me up!
|
|
|
6163 |
My sister small,
|
|
|
6164 |
She gathered up all
|
|
|
6165 |
The bones that day,
|
|
|
6166 |
And in a cool place did lay;
|
|
|
6167 |
Then I woke, a sweet bird, at a magic call;
|
|
|
6168 |
Fly away, fly away!
|
|
|
6169 |
|
|
|
6170 |
_Faust [unlocking_]. She little dreams, her lover is so near,
|
|
|
6171 |
The clanking chains, the rustling straw can hear;
|
|
|
6172 |
[_He enters_.]
|
|
|
6173 |
|
|
|
6174 |
_Margaret [burying herself in the bed_]. Woe! woe!
|
|
|
6175 |
They come. O death of bitterness!
|
|
|
6176 |
|
|
|
6177 |
_Faust_ [_softly_]. Hush! hush! I come to free thee; thou art dreaming.
|
|
|
6178 |
|
|
|
6179 |
_Margaret_ [_prostrating herself before him_].
|
|
|
6180 |
Art thou a man, then feel for my distress.
|
|
|
6181 |
|
|
|
6182 |
_Faust_. Thou'lt wake the guards with thy loud screaming!
|
|
|
6183 |
[_He seizes the chains to tin lock them._]
|
|
|
6184 |
|
|
|
6185 |
_Margaret_ [_on her knees_]. Headsman, who's given thee this right
|
|
|
6186 |
O'er me, this power!
|
|
|
6187 |
Thou com'st for me at dead of night;
|
|
|
6188 |
In pity spare me, one short hour!
|
|
|
6189 |
Wilt't not be time when Matin bell has rung?
|
|
|
6190 |
[_She stands up._]
|
|
|
6191 |
Ah, I am yet so young, so young!
|
|
|
6192 |
And death pursuing!
|
|
|
6193 |
Fair was I too, and that was my undoing.
|
|
|
6194 |
My love was near, far is he now!
|
|
|
6195 |
Tom is the wreath, the scattered flowers lie low.
|
|
|
6196 |
Take not such violent hold of me!
|
|
|
6197 |
Spare me! what harm have I done to thee?
|
|
|
6198 |
Let me not in vain implore thee.
|
|
|
6199 |
Thou ne'er till now sawft her who lies before thee!
|
|
|
6200 |
|
|
|
6201 |
_Faust_. O sorrow worse than death is o'er me!
|
|
|
6202 |
|
|
|
6203 |
_Margaret_. Now I am wholly in thy power.
|
|
|
6204 |
But first I'd nurse my child--do not prevent me.
|
|
|
6205 |
I hugged it through the black night hour;
|
|
|
6206 |
They took it from me to torment me,
|
|
|
6207 |
And now they say I killed the pretty flower.
|
|
|
6208 |
I shall never be happy again, I know.
|
|
|
6209 |
They sing vile songs at me! 'Tis bad in them to do it!
|
|
|
6210 |
There's an old tale that ends just so,
|
|
|
6211 |
Who gave that meaning to it?
|
|
|
6212 |
|
|
|
6213 |
_Faust [prostrates himself_]. A lover at thy feet is bending,
|
|
|
6214 |
Thy bonds of misery would be rending.
|
|
|
6215 |
|
|
|
6216 |
_Margaret [flings herself beside him_].
|
|
|
6217 |
O let us kneel, the saints for aid invoking!
|
|
|
6218 |
See! 'neath the threshold smoking,
|
|
|
6219 |
Fire-breathing,
|
|
|
6220 |
Hell is seething!
|
|
|
6221 |
There prowling,
|
|
|
6222 |
And grim under cover,
|
|
|
6223 |
Satan is howling!
|
|
|
6224 |
|
|
|
6225 |
_Faust [aloud_]. Margery! Margery!
|
|
|
6226 |
|
|
|
6227 |
_Margaret [listening_]. That was the voice of my lover!
|
|
|
6228 |
[_She springs up. The chains fall off_.]
|
|
|
6229 |
|
|
|
6230 |
Where is he? Where? He calls. I hear him.
|
|
|
6231 |
I'm free! Who hinders? I will be near him.
|
|
|
6232 |
I'll fly to his neck! I'll hold him!
|
|
|
6233 |
To my bosom I'll enfold him!
|
|
|
6234 |
He stood on the threshold--called Margery plainly!
|
|
|
6235 |
Hell's howling and clattering to drown it sought vainly,--
|
|
|
6236 |
Through the devilish, grim scoffs, that might turn one to stone,
|
|
|
6237 |
I caught the sweet, loving, enrapturing tone.
|
|
|
6238 |
|
|
|
6239 |
_Faust_. 'Tis I!
|
|
|
6240 |
|
|
|
6241 |
_Margaret_. 'Tis thou! O say it once again.
|
|
|
6242 |
[_Clasping again._]
|
|
|
6243 |
'Tis he! 'tis he! Where now is all my pain?
|
|
|
6244 |
And where the dungeon's anguish? Joy-giver!
|
|
|
6245 |
'Tis thou! And come to deliver!
|
|
|
6246 |
I am delivered!
|
|
|
6247 |
Again before me lies the street,
|
|
|
6248 |
Where for the first time thou and I did meet.
|
|
|
6249 |
And the garden-bower,
|
|
|
6250 |
Where we spent that evening hour.
|
|
|
6251 |
|
|
|
6252 |
_Faust_ [_trying to draw her away_]. Come! Come with me!
|
|
|
6253 |
|
|
|
6254 |
_Margaret_. O tarry!
|
|
|
6255 |
I tarry so gladly where thou tarriest.
|
|
|
6256 |
[_Caressing him._]
|
|
|
6257 |
|
|
|
6258 |
_Faust_. Hurry!
|
|
|
6259 |
Unless thou hurriest,
|
|
|
6260 |
Bitterly we both must rue it.
|
|
|
6261 |
|
|
|
6262 |
_Margaret_. Kiss me! Canst no more do it?
|
|
|
6263 |
So short an absence, love, as this,
|
|
|
6264 |
And forgot how to kiss?
|
|
|
6265 |
What saddens me so as I hang about thy neck?
|
|
|
6266 |
When once, in thy words, thy looks, such a heaven of blisses
|
|
|
6267 |
Came o'er me, I thought my heart would break,
|
|
|
6268 |
And it seemed as if thou wouldst smother me with kisses.
|
|
|
6269 |
Kiss thou me!
|
|
|
6270 |
Else I kiss thee!
|
|
|
6271 |
[_She embraces him._]
|
|
|
6272 |
Woe! woe! thy lips are cold,
|
|
|
6273 |
Stone-dumb.
|
|
|
6274 |
Where's thy love left?
|
|
|
6275 |
Oh! I'm bereft!
|
|
|
6276 |
Who robbed me?
|
|
|
6277 |
[_She turns from him_]
|
|
|
6278 |
|
|
|
6279 |
_Faust_. O come!
|
|
|
6280 |
Take courage, my darling! Let us go;
|
|
|
6281 |
I clasp-thee with unutterable glow;
|
|
|
6282 |
But follow me! For this alone I plead!
|
|
|
6283 |
|
|
|
6284 |
_Margaret [turning to him_]. Is it, then, thou?
|
|
|
6285 |
And is it thou indeed?
|
|
|
6286 |
|
|
|
6287 |
_Faust_. 'Tis I! Come, follow me!
|
|
|
6288 |
|
|
|
6289 |
_Margaret_. Thou break'st my chain,
|
|
|
6290 |
And tak'st me to thy breast again!
|
|
|
6291 |
How comes it, then, that thou art not afraid of me?
|
|
|
6292 |
And dost thou know, my friend, who 'tis thou settest free?
|
|
|
6293 |
|
|
|
6294 |
_Faust_. Come! come! The night is on the wane.
|
|
|
6295 |
|
|
|
6296 |
_Margaret_. Woe! woe! My mother I've slain!
|
|
|
6297 |
Have drowned the babe of mine!
|
|
|
6298 |
Was it not sent to be mine and thine?
|
|
|
6299 |
Thine, too--'tis thou! Scarce true doth it seem.
|
|
|
6300 |
Give me thy hand! 'Tis not a dream!
|
|
|
6301 |
Thy blessed hand!--But ah! there's dampness here!
|
|
|
6302 |
Go, wipe it off! I fear
|
|
|
6303 |
There's blood thereon.
|
|
|
6304 |
Ah God! what hast thou done!
|
|
|
6305 |
Put up thy sword again;
|
|
|
6306 |
I pray thee, do!
|
|
|
6307 |
|
|
|
6308 |
_Faust_. The past is past--there leave it then,
|
|
|
6309 |
Thou kill'st me too!
|
|
|
6310 |
|
|
|
6311 |
_Margaret_. No, thou must longer tarry!
|
|
|
6312 |
I'll tell thee how each thou shalt bury;
|
|
|
6313 |
The places of sorrow
|
|
|
6314 |
Make ready to-morrow;
|
|
|
6315 |
Must give the best place to my mother,
|
|
|
6316 |
The very next to my brother,
|
|
|
6317 |
Me a little aside,
|
|
|
6318 |
But make not the space too wide!
|
|
|
6319 |
And on my right breast let the little one lie.
|
|
|
6320 |
No one else will be sleeping by me.
|
|
|
6321 |
Once, to feel _thy_ heart beat nigh me,
|
|
|
6322 |
Oh, 'twas a precious, a tender joy!
|
|
|
6323 |
But I shall have it no more--no, never;
|
|
|
6324 |
I seem to be forcing myself on thee ever,
|
|
|
6325 |
And thou repelling me freezingly;
|
|
|
6326 |
And 'tis thou, the same good soul, I see.
|
|
|
6327 |
|
|
|
6328 |
_Faust_. If thou feelest 'tis I, then come with me
|
|
|
6329 |
|
|
|
6330 |
_Margaret_. Out yonder?
|
|
|
6331 |
|
|
|
6332 |
_Faust_. Into the open air.
|
|
|
6333 |
|
|
|
6334 |
_Margaret_. If the grave is there,
|
|
|
6335 |
If death is lurking; then come!
|
|
|
6336 |
From here to the endless resting-place,
|
|
|
6337 |
And not another pace--Thou
|
|
|
6338 |
go'st e'en now? O, Henry, might I too.
|
|
|
6339 |
|
|
|
6340 |
_Faust_. Thou canst! 'Tis but to will! The door stands open.
|
|
|
6341 |
|
|
|
6342 |
_Margaret_. I dare not go; for me there's no more hoping.
|
|
|
6343 |
What use to fly? They lie in wait for me.
|
|
|
6344 |
So wretched the lot to go round begging,
|
|
|
6345 |
With an evil conscience thy spirit plaguing!
|
|
|
6346 |
So wretched the lot, an exile roaming--And
|
|
|
6347 |
then on my heels they are ever coming!
|
|
|
6348 |
|
|
|
6349 |
_Faust_. I shall be with thee.
|
|
|
6350 |
|
|
|
6351 |
_Margaret_. Make haste! make haste!
|
|
|
6352 |
No time to waste!
|
|
|
6353 |
Save thy poor child!
|
|
|
6354 |
Quick! follow the edge
|
|
|
6355 |
Of the rushing rill,
|
|
|
6356 |
Over the bridge
|
|
|
6357 |
And by the mill,
|
|
|
6358 |
Then into the woods beyond
|
|
|
6359 |
On the left where lies the plank
|
|
|
6360 |
Over the pond.
|
|
|
6361 |
Seize hold of it quick!
|
|
|
6362 |
To rise 'tis trying,
|
|
|
6363 |
It struggles still!
|
|
|
6364 |
Rescue! rescue!
|
|
|
6365 |
|
|
|
6366 |
_Faust_. Bethink thyself, pray!
|
|
|
6367 |
A single step and thou art free!
|
|
|
6368 |
|
|
|
6369 |
_Margaret_. Would we were by the mountain. See!
|
|
|
6370 |
There sits my mother on a stone,
|
|
|
6371 |
The sight on my brain is preying!
|
|
|
6372 |
There sits my mother on a stone,
|
|
|
6373 |
And her head is constantly swaying;
|
|
|
6374 |
She beckons not, nods not, her head falls o'er,
|
|
|
6375 |
So long she's been sleeping, she'll wake no more.
|
|
|
6376 |
She slept that we might take pleasure.
|
|
|
6377 |
O that was bliss without measure!
|
|
|
6378 |
|
|
|
6379 |
_Faust_. Since neither reason nor prayer thou hearest;
|
|
|
6380 |
I must venture by force to take thee, dearest.
|
|
|
6381 |
|
|
|
6382 |
_Margaret_. Let go! No violence will I bear!
|
|
|
6383 |
Take not such a murderous hold of me!
|
|
|
6384 |
I once did all I could to gratify thee.
|
|
|
6385 |
|
|
|
6386 |
_Faust_. The day is breaking! Dearest! dearest!
|
|
|
6387 |
|
|
|
6388 |
_Margaret_. Day! Ay, it is day! the last great day breaks in!
|
|
|
6389 |
My wedding-day it should have been!
|
|
|
6390 |
Tell no one thou hast been with Margery!
|
|
|
6391 |
Alas for my garland! The hour's advancing!
|
|
|
6392 |
Retreat is in vain!
|
|
|
6393 |
We meet again,
|
|
|
6394 |
But not at the dancing.
|
|
|
6395 |
The multitude presses, no word is spoke.
|
|
|
6396 |
Square, streets, all places--
|
|
|
6397 |
sea of faces--
|
|
|
6398 |
The bell is tolling, the staff is broke.
|
|
|
6399 |
How they seize me and bind me!
|
|
|
6400 |
They hurry me off to the bloody block.[48]
|
|
|
6401 |
The blade that quivers behind me,
|
|
|
6402 |
Quivers at every neck with convulsive shock;
|
|
|
6403 |
Dumb lies the world as the grave!
|
|
|
6404 |
|
|
|
6405 |
_Faust_. O had I ne'er been born!
|
|
|
6406 |
|
|
|
6407 |
_Mephistopheles [appears without_]. Up! or thou'rt lost! The morn
|
|
|
6408 |
Flushes the sky.
|
|
|
6409 |
Idle delaying! Praying and playing!
|
|
|
6410 |
My horses are neighing,
|
|
|
6411 |
They shudder and snort for the bound.
|
|
|
6412 |
|
|
|
6413 |
_Margaret_. What's that, comes up from the ground?
|
|
|
6414 |
He! He! Avaunt! that face!
|
|
|
6415 |
What will he in the sacred place?
|
|
|
6416 |
He seeks me!
|
|
|
6417 |
|
|
|
6418 |
_Faust_. Thou shalt live!
|
|
|
6419 |
|
|
|
6420 |
_Margaret_. Great God in heaven!
|
|
|
6421 |
Unto thy judgment my soul have I given!
|
|
|
6422 |
|
|
|
6423 |
_Mephistopheles [to Faust_].
|
|
|
6424 |
Come! come! or in the lurch I leave both her and thee!
|
|
|
6425 |
|
|
|
6426 |
_Margaret_. Thine am I, Father! Rescue me!
|
|
|
6427 |
Ye angels, holy bands, attend me!
|
|
|
6428 |
And camp around me to defend me I
|
|
|
6429 |
Henry! I dread to look on thee.
|
|
|
6430 |
|
|
|
6431 |
_Mephistopheles_. She's judged!
|
|
|
6432 |
|
|
|
6433 |
_Voice [from above_]. She's saved!
|
|
|
6434 |
|
|
|
6435 |
_Mephistopheles [to Faust_]. Come thou to me!
|
|
|
6436 |
[_Vanishes with_ FAUST.]
|
|
|
6437 |
|
|
|
6438 |
_Voice [from within, dying away_]. Henry! Henry!
|
|
|
6439 |
|
|
|
6440 |
|
|
|
6441 |
|
|
|
6442 |
|
|
|
6443 |
NOTES.
|
|
|
6444 |
|
|
|
6445 |
|
|
|
6446 |
[Footnote 1: Dedication. The idea of Faust had early entered into Goethe's
|
|
|
6447 |
mind. He probably began the work when he was about twenty years old. It
|
|
|
6448 |
was first published, as a fragment, in 1790, and did not appear in its
|
|
|
6449 |
present form till 1808, when its author's age was nearly sixty. By the
|
|
|
6450 |
"forms" are meant, of course, the shadowy personages and scenes of the
|
|
|
6451 |
drama.]
|
|
|
6452 |
|
|
|
6453 |
[Footnote 2: --"Thy messengers"--
|
|
|
6454 |
"He maketh the winds his-messengers,
|
|
|
6455 |
The flaming lightnings his ministers."
|
|
|
6456 |
_Noyes's Psalms_, c. iv. 4.]
|
|
|
6457 |
|
|
|
6458 |
[Footnote 3: "The Word Divine." In translating the German "Werdende"
|
|
|
6459 |
(literally, the _becoming, developing_, or _growing_) by the term _word_,
|
|
|
6460 |
I mean the _word_ in the largest sense: "In the beginning was the Word,
|
|
|
6461 |
&c." Perhaps "nature" would be a pretty good rendering, but "word," being
|
|
|
6462 |
derived from "werden," and expressing philosophically and scripturally the
|
|
|
6463 |
going forth or manifestation of mind, seemed to me as appropriate a
|
|
|
6464 |
translation as any.]
|
|
|
6465 |
|
|
|
6466 |
[Footnote 4: "The old fellow." The commentators do not seem quite agreed
|
|
|
6467 |
whether "den Alten" (the old one) is an entirely reverential phrase here,
|
|
|
6468 |
like the "ancient of days," or savors a little of profane pleasantry, like
|
|
|
6469 |
the title "old man" given by boys to their schoolmaster or of "the old
|
|
|
6470 |
gentleman" to their fathers. Considering who the speaker is, I have
|
|
|
6471 |
naturally inclined to the latter alternative.]
|
|
|
6472 |
|
|
|
6473 |
[Footnote 5: "Nostradamus" (properly named Michel Notre Dame) lived
|
|
|
6474 |
through the first half of the sixteenth century. He was born in the south
|
|
|
6475 |
of France and was of Jewish extraction. As physician and astrologer, he
|
|
|
6476 |
was held in high honor by the French nobility and kings.]
|
|
|
6477 |
|
|
|
6478 |
[Footnote 6: The "Macrocosm" is the great world of outward things, in
|
|
|
6479 |
contrast with its epitome, the little world in man, called the microcosm
|
|
|
6480 |
(or world in miniature).]
|
|
|
6481 |
|
|
|
6482 |
[Footnote 7: "Famulus" seems to mean a cross between a servant and a
|
|
|
6483 |
scholar. The Dominie Sampson called Wagner, is appended to Faust for the
|
|
|
6484 |
time somewhat as Sancho is to Don Quixote. The Doctor Faust of the legend
|
|
|
6485 |
has a servant by that name, who seems to have been more of a _Sancho_, in
|
|
|
6486 |
the sense given to the word by the old New England mothers when upbraiding
|
|
|
6487 |
bad boys (you Sanch'!). Curiously enough, Goethe had in early life a
|
|
|
6488 |
(treacherous) friend named Wagner, who plagiarized part of Faust and made
|
|
|
6489 |
a tragedy of it.]
|
|
|
6490 |
|
|
|
6491 |
[Footnote 8: "Mock-heroic play." We have Schlegel's authority for thus
|
|
|
6492 |
rendering the phrase "Haupt- und Staats-Action," (literally, "head and
|
|
|
6493 |
State-action,") who says that this title was given to dramas designed for
|
|
|
6494 |
puppets, when they treated of heroic and historical subjects.]
|
|
|
6495 |
|
|
|
6496 |
[Footnote 9: The literal sense of this couplet in the original is:--
|
|
|
6497 |
"Is he, in the bliss of becoming,
|
|
|
6498 |
To creative joy near--"
|
|
|
6499 |
"Werde-lust" presents the same difficulty that we found in note 3. This
|
|
|
6500 |
same word, "Werden," is also used by the poet in the introductory theatre
|
|
|
6501 |
scene (page 7), where he longs for the time when he himself was
|
|
|
6502 |
_ripening_, growing, becoming, or _forming_, (as Hayward renders it.) I
|
|
|
6503 |
agree with Hayward, "the meaning probably is, that our Saviour enjoys, in
|
|
|
6504 |
coming to life again," (I should say, in being born into the upper life,)
|
|
|
6505 |
"a happiness nearly equal to that of the Creator in creating."]
|
|
|
6506 |
|
|
|
6507 |
[Footnote 10: The Angel-chorusses in this scene present the only instances
|
|
|
6508 |
in which the translator, for the sake of retaining the ring and swing of
|
|
|
6509 |
the melody, has felt himself obliged to give a transfusion of the spirit
|
|
|
6510 |
of the thought, instead of its exact form.
|
|
|
6511 |
|
|
|
6512 |
The literal meaning of the first chorus is:--
|
|
|
6513 |
|
|
|
6514 |
Christ is arisen!
|
|
|
6515 |
Joy to the Mortal,
|
|
|
6516 |
Whom the ruinous,
|
|
|
6517 |
Creeping, hereditary
|
|
|
6518 |
Infirmities wound round.
|
|
|
6519 |
|
|
|
6520 |
Dr. Hedge has come nearer than any one to reconciling meaning and melody
|
|
|
6521 |
thus:--
|
|
|
6522 |
|
|
|
6523 |
"Christ has arisen!
|
|
|
6524 |
Joy to our buried Head!
|
|
|
6525 |
Whom the unmerited,
|
|
|
6526 |
Trailing, inherited
|
|
|
6527 |
Woes did imprison."
|
|
|
6528 |
|
|
|
6529 |
The present translator, without losing sight of the fact that "the Mortal"
|
|
|
6530 |
means Christ, has taken the liberty (constrained by rhyme,--which is
|
|
|
6531 |
sometimes more than the _rudder_ of verse,) of making the congratulation
|
|
|
6532 |
include Humanity, as incarnated in Christ, "the second Adam."
|
|
|
6533 |
|
|
|
6534 |
In the closing Chorus of Angels, the translator found that he could best
|
|
|
6535 |
preserve the spirit of the five-fold rhyme:--
|
|
|
6536 |
|
|
|
6537 |
"Thätig ihn preisenden,
|
|
|
6538 |
Liebe beweisenden,
|
|
|
6539 |
Brüderlich speisenden,
|
|
|
6540 |
Predigend reisenden,
|
|
|
6541 |
Wonne verheissenden,"
|
|
|
6542 |
|
|
|
6543 |
by running it into three couplets.]
|
|
|
6544 |
|
|
|
6545 |
[Footnote 11: The prose account of the alchymical process is as follows:--
|
|
|
6546 |
|
|
|
6547 |
"There was red mercury, a powerfully acting body, united with the tincture
|
|
|
6548 |
of antimony, at a gentle heat of the water-bath. Then, being exposed to
|
|
|
6549 |
the heat of open fire in an aludel, (or alembic,) a sublimate filled its
|
|
|
6550 |
heads in succession, which, if it appeared with various hues, was the
|
|
|
6551 |
desired medicine."]
|
|
|
6552 |
|
|
|
6553 |
[Footnote 12: "Salamander, &c." The four represent the spirits of the
|
|
|
6554 |
four elements, fire, water, air, and earth, which Faust successively
|
|
|
6555 |
conjures, so that, if the monster belongs in any respect to this mundane
|
|
|
6556 |
sphere, he may be exorcized. But it turns out that he is beyond and
|
|
|
6557 |
beneath all.]
|
|
|
6558 |
|
|
|
6559 |
[Footnote 13: Here, of course, Faust makes the sign of the cross, or holds
|
|
|
6560 |
out a crucifix.]
|
|
|
6561 |
|
|
|
6562 |
[Footnote 14: "Fly-God," _i.e._ Beelzebub.]
|
|
|
6563 |
|
|
|
6564 |
[Footnote 15: The "Drudenfuss," or pentagram, was a pentagonal figure
|
|
|
6565 |
composed of three triangles, thus:
|
|
|
6566 |
[Illustration]
|
|
|
6567 |
|
|
|
6568 |
[Footnote 16: Doctor's Feast. The inaugural feast given at taking a
|
|
|
6569 |
degree.]
|
|
|
6570 |
|
|
|
6571 |
[Footnote 17: "Blood." When at the first invention of printing, the art
|
|
|
6572 |
was ascribed to the devil, the illuminated red ink parts were said by the
|
|
|
6573 |
people to be done in blood.]
|
|
|
6574 |
|
|
|
6575 |
[Footnote 18: "The Spanish boot" was an instrument of torture, like the
|
|
|
6576 |
Scottish boot mentioned in Old Mortality.]
|
|
|
6577 |
|
|
|
6578 |
[Footnote 19: "Encheiresin Naturæ." Literally, a handling of nature.]
|
|
|
6579 |
|
|
|
6580 |
[Footnote 20: Still a famous place of public resort and entertainment. On
|
|
|
6581 |
the wall are two old paintings of Faust's carousal and his ride out of the
|
|
|
6582 |
door on a cask. One is accompanied by the following inscription, being two
|
|
|
6583 |
lines (Hexameter and Pentameter) broken into halves:--
|
|
|
6584 |
|
|
|
6585 |
"Vive, bibe, obgregare, memor
|
|
|
6586 |
Fausti hujus et hujus
|
|
|
6587 |
Pœnæ. Aderat clauda haec,
|
|
|
6588 |
Ast erat ampla gradû. 1525."
|
|
|
6589 |
|
|
|
6590 |
"Live, drink, be merry, remembering
|
|
|
6591 |
This Faust and his
|
|
|
6592 |
Punishment. It came slowly
|
|
|
6593 |
But was in ample measure."]
|
|
|
6594 |
|
|
|
6595 |
[Footnote 21:_Frosch, Brander_, &c. These names seem to be chosen with an
|
|
|
6596 |
eye to adaptation, Frosch meaning frog, and Brander fireship. "Frog"
|
|
|
6597 |
happens also to be the nickname the students give to a pupil of the
|
|
|
6598 |
gymnasium, or school preparatory to the university.]
|
|
|
6599 |
|
|
|
6600 |
[Footnote 22: Rippach is a village near Leipsic, and Mr. Hans was a
|
|
|
6601 |
fictitious personage about whom the students used to quiz greenhorns.]
|
|
|
6602 |
|
|
|
6603 |
[Footnote 23: The original means literally _sea-cat_. Retzsch says, it is
|
|
|
6604 |
the little ring-tailed monkey.]
|
|
|
6605 |
|
|
|
6606 |
[Footnote 24: One-time-one, _i.e._ multiplication-table.]
|
|
|
6607 |
|
|
|
6608 |
[Footnote 25: "Hand and glove." The translator's coincidence with Miss
|
|
|
6609 |
Swanwick here was entirely accidental. The German is "thou and thou,"
|
|
|
6610 |
alluding to the fact that intimate friends among the Germans, like the
|
|
|
6611 |
sect of Friends, call each other _thou_.]
|
|
|
6612 |
|
|
|
6613 |
[Footnote 26: The following is a literal translation of the song referred
|
|
|
6614 |
to:--
|
|
|
6615 |
|
|
|
6616 |
Were I a little bird,
|
|
|
6617 |
Had I two wings of mine,
|
|
|
6618 |
I'd fly to my dear;
|
|
|
6619 |
But that can never be,
|
|
|
6620 |
So I stay here.
|
|
|
6621 |
|
|
|
6622 |
Though I am far from thee,
|
|
|
6623 |
Sleeping I'm near to thee,
|
|
|
6624 |
Talk with my dear;
|
|
|
6625 |
When I awake again,
|
|
|
6626 |
I am alone.
|
|
|
6627 |
|
|
|
6628 |
Scarce is there an hour in the night,
|
|
|
6629 |
When sleep does not take its flight,
|
|
|
6630 |
And I think of thee,
|
|
|
6631 |
How many thousand times
|
|
|
6632 |
Thou gav'st thy heart to me.]
|
|
|
6633 |
|
|
|
6634 |
[Footnote 27: Donjon. The original is _Zwinger_, which Hayward says is
|
|
|
6635 |
untranslatable. It probably means an old tower, such as is often found in
|
|
|
6636 |
the free cities, where, in a dark passage-way, a lamp is sometimes placed,
|
|
|
6637 |
and a devotional image near it.]
|
|
|
6638 |
|
|
|
6639 |
[Footnote 28: It was a superstitious belief that the presence of buried
|
|
|
6640 |
treasure was indicated by a blue flame.]
|
|
|
6641 |
|
|
|
6642 |
[Footnote 29: Lion-dollars--a Bohemian coin, first minted three centuries
|
|
|
6643 |
ago, by Count Schlick, from the mines of Joachim's-Thal. The one side
|
|
|
6644 |
bears a lion, the other a full length image of St. John.]
|
|
|
6645 |
|
|
|
6646 |
[Footnote 30: An imitation of Ophelia's song: _Hamlet_, act 14, scene 5.]
|
|
|
6647 |
|
|
|
6648 |
[Footnote 31: The Rat-catcher was supposed to have the art of drawing rats
|
|
|
6649 |
after him by his whistle, like a sort of Orpheus.]
|
|
|
6650 |
|
|
|
6651 |
[Footnote 32: Walpurgis Night. May-night. Walpurgis is the female saint
|
|
|
6652 |
who converted the Saxons to Christianity.--The Brocken or Blocksberg is
|
|
|
6653 |
the highest peak of the Harz mountains, which comprise about 1350 square
|
|
|
6654 |
miles.--Schirke and Elend are two villages in the neighborhood.]
|
|
|
6655 |
|
|
|
6656 |
[Footnote 33: Shelley's translation of this couplet is very fine:
|
|
|
6657 |
("_O si sic omnia!_")
|
|
|
6658 |
|
|
|
6659 |
"The giant-snouted crags, ho! ho!
|
|
|
6660 |
How they snort and how they blow!"]
|
|
|
6661 |
|
|
|
6662 |
[Footnote 34: The original is _Windsbraut_, (wind's-bride,) the word used
|
|
|
6663 |
in Luther's Bible to translate Paul's _Euroclydon_.]
|
|
|
6664 |
|
|
|
6665 |
[Footnote 35: One of the names of the devil in Germany.]
|
|
|
6666 |
|
|
|
6667 |
[Footnote 36: One of the names of Beelzebub.]
|
|
|
6668 |
|
|
|
6669 |
[Footnote 37: "The Talmudists say that Adam had a wife called Lilis before
|
|
|
6670 |
he married Eve, and of her he begat nothing but devils."
|
|
|
6671 |
_Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy_.
|
|
|
6672 |
|
|
|
6673 |
A learned writer says that _Lullaby_ is derived from "Lilla, abi!" "Begone
|
|
|
6674 |
Lilleth!" she having been supposed to lie in wait for children to kill
|
|
|
6675 |
them.]
|
|
|
6676 |
|
|
|
6677 |
[Footnote 38: This name, derived from two Greek words meaning _rump_ and
|
|
|
6678 |
_fancy_, was meant for Nicolai of Berlin, a great hater of Goethe's
|
|
|
6679 |
writings, and is explained by the fact that the man had for a long time a
|
|
|
6680 |
violent affection of the nerves, and by the application he made of leeches
|
|
|
6681 |
as a remedy, (alluded to by Mephistopheles.)]
|
|
|
6682 |
|
|
|
6683 |
[Footnote 39: Tegel (mistranslated _pond_ by Shelley) is a small place a
|
|
|
6684 |
few miles from Berlin, whose inhabitants were, in 1799, hoaxed by a ghost
|
|
|
6685 |
story, of which the scene was laid in the former place.]
|
|
|
6686 |
|
|
|
6687 |
[Footnote 40: The park in Vienna.]
|
|
|
6688 |
|
|
|
6689 |
[Footnote 41: He was scene-painter to the Weimar theatre.]
|
|
|
6690 |
|
|
|
6691 |
[Footnote 42: A poem of Schiller's, which gave great offence to the
|
|
|
6692 |
religious people of his day.]
|
|
|
6693 |
|
|
|
6694 |
[Footnote 43: A literal translation of _Maulen_, but a slang-term in
|
|
|
6695 |
Yankee land.]
|
|
|
6696 |
|
|
|
6697 |
[Footnote 44: Epigrams, published from time to time by Goethe and Schiller
|
|
|
6698 |
jointly. Hennings (whose name heads the next quatrain) was editor of the
|
|
|
6699 |
_Musaget_, (a title of Apollo, "leader of the muses,") and also of the
|
|
|
6700 |
_Genius of the Age_. The other satirical allusions to classes of
|
|
|
6701 |
notabilities will, without difficulty, be guessed out by the readers.]
|
|
|
6702 |
|
|
|
6703 |
[Footnote 45: "_Doubt_ is the only rhyme for devil," in German.]
|
|
|
6704 |
|
|
|
6705 |
[Footnote 46: The French translator, Stapfer, assigns as the probable
|
|
|
6706 |
reason why this scene alone, of the whole drama, should have been left in
|
|
|
6707 |
prose, "that it might not be said that Faust wanted any one of the
|
|
|
6708 |
possible forms of style."]
|
|
|
6709 |
|
|
|
6710 |
[Footnote 47: Literally the _raven-stone_.]
|
|
|
6711 |
|
|
|
6712 |
[Footnote 48: The _blood-seat_, in allusion to the old German custom of
|
|
|
6713 |
tying a woman, who was to be beheaded, into a wooden chair.]
|
|
|
6714 |
|
|
|
6715 |
* * * * *
|
|
|
6716 |
|
|
|
6717 |
P. S. There is a passage on page 84, the speech of Faust, ending with the
|
|
|
6718 |
lines:--
|
|
|
6719 |
|
|
|
6720 |
Show me the fruit that, ere it's plucked, will rot,
|
|
|
6721 |
And trees from which new green is daily peeping,
|
|
|
6722 |
|
|
|
6723 |
which seems to have puzzled or misled so much, not only English
|
|
|
6724 |
translators, but even German critics, that the present translator has
|
|
|
6725 |
concluded, for once, to depart from his usual course, and play the
|
|
|
6726 |
commentator, by giving his idea of Goethe's meaning, which is this: Faust
|
|
|
6727 |
admits that the devil has all the different kinds of Sodom-apples which he
|
|
|
6728 |
has just enumerated, gold that melts away in the hand, glory that vanishes
|
|
|
6729 |
like a meteor, and pleasure that perishes in the possession. But all these
|
|
|
6730 |
torments are too insipid for Faust's morbid and mad hankering after the
|
|
|
6731 |
luxury of spiritual pain. Show me, he says, the fruit that rots _before_
|
|
|
6732 |
one can pluck it, and [a still stronger expression of his diseased craving
|
|
|
6733 |
for agony] trees that fade so quickly as to be every day just putting
|
|
|
6734 |
forth new green, only to tantalize one with perpetual promise and
|
|
|
6735 |
perpetual disappointment.
|
|
|
6736 |
|
|
|
6737 |
|
|
|
6738 |
|
|
|
6739 |
|
|
|
6740 |
|
|
|
6741 |
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Faust, by Goethe
|
|
|
6742 |
|
|
|
6743 |
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAUST ***
|
|
|
6744 |
|
|
|
6745 |
***** This file should be named 14460-8.txt or 14460-8.zip *****
|
|
|
6746 |
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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|
6747 |
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|
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|
6748 |
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|
6749 |
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Bidwell and the PG Online
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6750 |
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|
6751 |
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6752 |
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|
6753 |
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6754 |
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6758 |
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6759 |
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|
6760 |
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6761 |
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6762 |
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6763 |
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6764 |
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6765 |
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6766 |
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6767 |
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