Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe
Faust
A. S. Kline ã2003 All Rights Reserved
This work may be freely reproduced, stored, and transmitted, electronically or otherwise, for any non-commercial purpose.
Contents
Part I Scene II: In Front Of The City-Gate
Part I Scene V: Auerbach’s Cellar in Leipzig
Part I Scene VI: The Witches’ Kitchen
Part I Scene X: The Neighbour’s House
Part I Scene XIII: An Arbour in the Garden
Part I Scene XIV: Forest and Cavern
Part I Scene XV: Gretchen’s Room
Part I Scene XVI: Martha’s Garden
Part I Scene XVII: At The Fountain
Part I Scene XX: The Cathedral
Part I Scene XXI: Walpurgis Night
Part I Scene XXII: A Walpurgis Night’s Dream
Part I Scene XXIII: Gloomy Day
Part II Act I Scene I: A Pleasant Landscape
Part II Act I Scene II: The Emperor’s Castle: The Throne Room
Part II Act I Scene III: A Spacious Hall with Adjoining Rooms
Part II Act I Scene IV: A Pleasure Garden in the Morning Sun
Part II Act I Scene V: A Gloomy Gallery
Part II Act I Scene VI: Brilliantly Lit Halls
Part II Act I Scene VII: The Hall of the Knights, Dimly Lit
Part II Act II Scene I: A High-Arched, Narrow, Gothic Chamber
Part II Act II Scene II: A Laboratory
Part II Act II Scene III: Classical Walpurgis Night
Part II Act II Scene IV: On The Upper Peneus Again
Part II Act II Scene V: Rocky Coves in the Aegean Sea
Part II Act II Scene VI: The Telchines of Rhodes
Part II Act III Scene I: Before the Palace of Menelaus in Sparta
Part II Act III Scene II: The Inner Court of The Castle
Part II Act IV Scene I: High Mountains
Part II Act IV Scene II: On the Headland
Part II Act IV Scene III: The Rival Emperor’s Tent
Part II Act V Scene I: Open Country
Part II Act V Scene II: In the Little Garden
Part II Act V Scene III: The Palace
Part II Act V Scene IV: Dead of Night
Part II Act V Scene V: Midnight
Part II Act V Scene VI: The Great Outer Court of the Palace
Part II Act V Scene VII: Mountain Gorges, Forest, Rock, Desert
Again you show yourselves, you wavering Forms,
Revealed, as you once were, to clouded vision.
Shall I attempt to hold you fast once more?
Heart’s willing still to suffer that illusion?
You crowd so near! Well then, you shall endure, 5
And rouse me, from your mist and cloud’s confusion:
My spirit feels so young again: it’s shaken
By magic breezes that your breathings waken.
You bring with you the sight of joyful days,
And many a loved shade rises to the eye: 10
And like some other half-forgotten phrase,
First Love returns, and Friendship too is nigh:
Pain is renewed, and sorrow: all the ways,
Life wanders in its labyrinthine flight,
Naming the good, those that Fate has robbed 15
Of lovely hours, those slipped from me and lost.
They can no longer hear this latest song,
Spirits, to whom I gave my early singing:
That kindly crowd itself is now long gone,
Alas, it dies away, that first loud ringing! 20
I bring my verses to the unknown throng,
My heart’s made anxious even by their clapping,
And those besides delighted by my verse,
If they still live, are scattered through the Earth.
I feel a long and unresolved desire 25
For that serene and solemn land of ghosts,
It quivers now, like an Aeolian lyre,
My stuttering verse, with its uncertain notes,
A shudder takes me: tear on tear, entire,
The firm heart feels weakened and remote: 30
What I possess seems far away from me,
And what is gone becomes reality.
(Director, Dramatist, Comedian)
Director
You two, who’ve often stood by me,
In times of need, when trouble’s breaking,
Say what success our undertaking 35
Will meet with, then, in Germany?
I’d rather like the crowd to enjoy it,
Since they live and let live, truly.
The stage is set, the boards complete,
And they await our festivity. 40
They’re seated already, eyebrows raised,
Calmly hoping they’ll be amazed.
I know how to make the people happy:
But I’ve never been so embarrassed: not
That they’ve been used to the best, you see, 45
Yet they’ve all read such a dreadful lot.
How can we make it all seem fresh and new,
Weighty, but entertaining too?
I’d love to see a joyful crowd, that’s certain,
When the waves drive them to our place, 50
And with tremendous and repeated surging,
Squeeze them through the narrow gate of grace:
In the light of day they’re there already,
Pushing, till they’ve reached the window,
As if they’re at the baker’s, starving, nearly 55
Breaking their necks: just for a ticket. Oh!
Only poets can work this miracle on men
So various: the day is yours, my friend!
O, don’t speak to me of that varied crew,
The sight of whom makes inspiration fade. 60
Veil, from me, the surging multitude,
Whose whirling will drives us everyway.
No, some heavenly silence lead me to,
Where for the poet alone pure joy’s at play:
Where Love and Friendship too grace our hearts, 65
Created and inspired by heavenly arts.
Ah! What springs here from our deepest being,
What the shy trembling lips in speaking meant,
Now falling awry, and now perhaps succeeding,
Is swallowed in the fierce Moment’s violence. 70
Often, when the first years are done, unseeing,
It appears at last, complete, in deepest sense.
What dazzles is a Momentary act:
What’s true is left for posterity, intact.
Don’t speak about posterity to me! 75
If I went on about posterity,
Where would you get your worldly fun?
Folk want it, and they’ll still have some.
The presence of a fine young man
Is nice, I think, for everyone. 80
Who, comfortably, shares his wit,
And to their moods takes no exception:
He’ll make himself a greater hit,
And win a more secure reception.
Be brave, and show them what you’ve got, 85
Have Fantasy with all her chorus, yes,
Mind, Reason, Passion, Tears, the lot,
But don’t you leave out Foolishness.
Make sure, above all, plenty’s happening there!
They come to look, and then they want to stare. 90
Spin endlessly before their faces,
So the people gape amazed,
You’ve won them by your many paces,
You’ll be the man most praised.
The mass are only moved by things en masse, 95
Each one, himself, will choose the bit he needs:
Who brings a lot, brings something that will pass:
And everyone goes home contentedly.
You’ll give a piece, why then give it them in pieces!
With such a stew you’re destined for success. 100
Easy to serve, it’s as easy to invent.
What use to bring them your complete intent?
The Public will soon pick at what you’ve dressed.
You don’t see how badly such work will do!
How little it suits the genuine creator! 105
Already, I see, it’s a principle with you.
The finest master is a sloppy worker.
Such a reproach leaves me unmoved:
The man who seeks to be approved,
Must stick to the best tools for it, 110
Think, soft wood’s the best to split,
and have a look for whom you write!
See, this is one that boredom drives,
Another’s from some overloaded table,
Or, worst of all, he’s one arrives, 115
Like most, fresh from the daily paper.
They rush here mindlessly, as to a Masque,
And curiosity inspires their hurry:
The ladies bring themselves, and in their best,
Come and play their parts and ask no fee. 120
What dream of yours is this, exalted verse?
Doesn’t a full house make you happy?
Have a good look at your patrons first!
One half are coarse, the rest are chilly.
After the show he hopes for card-play: 125
He hopes for a wild night, and a woman’s kiss.
Why then do so many poor fools plague,
The sweet Muse, for such a goal as this?
I tell you, just give them more and more,
So you’ll never stray far from the mark, 130
Just seek to confuse them, in the dark:
To keep them happy, that’s hard - for sure.
And now what’s wrong? Delight or Pain?
Go, look for another scribbler by night!
Shall the poet throw away the highest right, 135
The right of humanity, that Nature gave,
Carelessly, so that you might gain!
How will he move all hearts again?
How will each element be his slave?
Is that harmony nothing, from his breast unfurled, 140
That draws back into his own heart, the world?
When Nature winds the lengthened filaments,
Indifferently, on her eternal spindle,
When all the tuneless mass of elements,
In their sullen discord, jar and jangle – 145
Who parts the ever-flowing ranks of creation,
Stirs them, so rhythmic measure is assured?
Who calls the One to general ordination,
Where it may ring in marvellous accord?
Who lets the storm wind rage with passion, 150
The sunset glow the senses move?
Who scatters every lovely springtime blossom
Beneath the footsteps of the one we love?
Who weaves the slight green wreath of leaves,
To honour work well done in every art? 155
What makes Olympus sure, joins deities?
The power of Man, revealed by the bard.
Comedian
So use it then, all this fine energy,
And drive along the work of poetry,
To show how we are driven in Love’s play. 160
By chance we meet, we feel, we stay,
And bit by bit we’re tightly bound:
Happiness grows, and then it’s fenced around:
We’re all inflamed then comes the sorrowing:
Before you know it, there’s a novel brewing! 165
Why don’t we give such a piece!
Grasp the life of man complete!
Everyone lives, though it’s seldom confessed,
And wherever you grasp, there’s interest.
In varied pictures there’s little light, 170
A lot of error, and a gleam of right,
So the best of drinks is brewed,
So the world’s cheered and renewed.
Then see the flower of lovely youth collect,
To hear your words, and view the offering, 175
And every tender nature will extract
A melancholy food from what you bring,
They’ll gain now this and that from your art,
So each sees what is present in their heart.
They’re readily moved to weeping or to laughter, 180
They’ll admire your verve, and enjoy the show:
What’s finished you can never alter after:
Minds still in growth will be grateful though.
So give me back that time again,
When I was still ‘becoming’, 185
When words gushed like a fountain
In new, and endless flowing,
Then for me mists veiled the world,
In every bud the wonder glowed,
A thousand flowers I unfurled, 190
That every valley, richly, showed.
I had nothing, yet enough:
Joy in illusion, thirst for truth.
Give every passion, free to move,
The deepest bliss, filled with pain, 195
The force of hate, the power of love,
Oh, give me back my youth again!
Youth is what you need, dear friend,
When enemies jostle you, of course,
And girls, filled with desire, bend 200
Their arms around your neck, with force,
When the swift-run race’s garland
Beckons from the hard-won goal,
When from the swirling dance, a man
Drinks until the night is old. 205
But to play that well-known lyre
With courage and with grace,
Moved by self-imposed desire,
At a sweet wandering pace,
That is your function, Age, 210
And our respect won’t lessen.
Age doesn’t make us childish, as they say,
It finds that we’re still children.
That’s enough words for the moment,
Now let me see some action! 215
While you’re handing out the compliments,
You should also make things happen.
Why talk so much of inspiration?
Delay won’t make it flow, you see.
Since Poetry gave the gift of creation, 220
Take your orders then from Poetry.
You know what’s wanted here,
We need strong ale to appear:
So brew me a barrel right away!
Tomorrow won’t do what’s undone today, 225
We shouldn’t waste a minute, so
Decide what’s possible, and just
Grasp it firmly like a hoe,
Make sure that you let nothing go,
And work it about, because you must. 230
On the German stage, you see,
Everyone tries out what he can:
Don’t fail to show me, I’m your man,
Your trap-doors, and your scenery.
Use heavenly lights, the big and small, 235
Squander stars in any number,
Rocky cliffs, and fire, and water,
Birds and creatures, use them all.
So in our narrow playhouse waken
The whole wide circle of creation, 240
And stride, deliberately, as well,
From Heaven, through the world, to Hell.
(God, the Heavenly Hosts, and then Mephistopheles.)
(The Three Archangels step forward.)
The Sun sings out, in ancient mode,
His note among his brother-spheres,
And ends his pre-determined road, 245
With peals of thunder for our ears.
The sight of him gives Angels power,
Though none can understand the way:
The inconceivable work is ours,
As bright as on the primal day. 250
And swift, and swift, beyond conceiving,
The splendour of the Earth turns round,
A Paradisial light is interleaving,
With night’s awesome profound.
The ocean breaks with shining foam, 255
Against the rocky cliffs deep base,
And rock and ocean whirl and go,
In the spheres’ swift eternal race.
And storms are roaring in their race
From sea to land, and land to sea, 260
Their raging forms a fierce embrace,
All round, of deepest energy.
The lightning’s devastations blaze
Along the thunder-crashes’ way:
Yet, Lord, your messengers, shall praise 265
The gentle passage of your day.
All Three
The sight of it gives Angels power
Though none can understand the way,
And all your noble work is ours,
As bright as on the primal day. 270
Since, O Lord, you near me once again,
To ask how all below is doing now,
And usually receive me without pain,
You see me too among the vile crowd.
Forgive me: I can’t speak in noble style, 275
And since I’m still reviled by this whole crew,
My pathos would be sure to make you smile,
If you had not renounced all laughter too.
You’ll get no word of suns and worlds from me.
How men torment themselves is all I see. 280
The little god of Earth sticks to the same old way,
And is as strange as on that very first day.
He might appreciate life a little more: he might,
If you hadn’t lent him a gleam of Heavenly light:
He calls it Reason, but only uses it 285
To be more a beast than any beast as yet.
He seems to me, saving Your Grace,
Like a long-legged grasshopper: through space
He’s always flying: he flies and then he springs,
And in the grass the same old song he sings. 290
If he’d just lie there in the grass it wouldn’t hurt!
But he buries his nose in every piece of dirt.
Have you nothing else to name?
Do you always come here to complain?
Does nothing ever go right on the Earth? 295
No, Lord! I find, as always, it couldn’t be worse.
I’m so involved with Man’s wretched ways,
I’ve even stopped plaguing them, myself, these days.
Do you know, Faust?
The Doctor?
My servant, first!
In truth! He serves you in a peculiar manner. 300
There’s no earthly food or drink at that fool’s dinner.
He drives his spirit outwards, far,
Half-conscious of its maddened dart:
From Heaven demands the brightest star,
And from the Earth, Joy’s highest art, 305
And all the near and all the far,
Fails to release his throbbing heart.
Though he’s still confused at how to serve me,
I’ll soon lead him to a clearer dawning,
In the green sapling, can’t the gardener see 310
The flowers and fruit the coming years will bring.
What do you wager? I might win him yet!
If you give me your permission first,
I’ll lead him gently on the road I set.
As long as he’s alive on Earth, 315
So long as that I won’t forbid it,
For while man strives he errs.
My thanks: I’ve never willingly seen fit
To spend my time amongst the dead,
I much prefer fresh cheeks instead. 320
To corpses, I close up my house:
Or it’s too like a cat with a mouse.
Well and good, you’ve said what’s needed!
Divert this spirit from his source,
You know how to trap him, lead him,
On your downward course, 325
And when you must, then stand, amazed:
A good man, in his darkest yearning,
Is still aware of virtue’s ways.
That’s fine! There’s hardly any waiting. 330
My wager’s more than safe I’m thinking.
When I achieve my goal, in winning,
You’ll let me triumph with a swelling heart.
He’ll eat the dust, and with an art,
Like the snake my mother, known for sinning. 335
You can appear freely too:
Those like you I’ve never hated.
Of all the spirits who deny, it’s you,
The joker, who’s most lightly weighted.
Man’s energies all too soon seek the level, 340
He quickly desires unbroken slumber,
So I gave him you to join the number,
To move, and work, and pass for the devil.
But you the genuine sons of light,
Enjoy the living beauty bright! 345
Becoming, that works and lives forever,
Embrace you in love’s limits dear,
And all that may as Appearance waver,
Fix firmly with everlasting Idea!
(Heaven closes, and the Archangels separate.)
Mephistopheles (alone)
I like to hear the Old Man’s words, from time to time, 350
And take care, when I’m with him, not to spew.
It’s very nice when such a great Gentleman,
Chats with the devil, in ways so human, too!
(In a high-vaulted Gothic chamber, Faust, in a chair at his desk, restless.)
Ah! Now I’ve done Philosophy,
I’ve finished Law and Medicine, 355
And sadly even Theology:
Taken fierce pains, from end to end.
Now here I am, a fool for sure!
No wiser than I was before:
Master, Doctor’s what they call me, 360
And I’ve been ten years, already,
Crosswise, arcing, to and fro,
Leading my students by the nose,
And see that we can know - nothing!
It almost sets my heart burning. 365
I’m cleverer than all these teachers,
Doctors, Masters, scribes, preachers:
I’m not plagued by doubt or scruple,
Scared by neither Hell nor Devil –
Instead all Joy is snatched away, 370
What’s worth knowing, I can’t say,
I can’t say what I should teach
To make men better or convert each.
And then I’ve neither goods nor gold,
No worldly honour, or splendour hold: 375
Not even a dog would play this part!
So I’ve given myself to Magic art,
To see if, through Spirit powers and lips,
I might have all secrets at my fingertips.
And no longer, with rancid sweat, so, 380
Still have to speak what I cannot know:
That I may understand whatever
Binds the world’s innermost core together,
See all its workings, and its seeds,
Deal no more in words’ empty reeds. 385
O, may you look, full moon that shines,
On my pain for this last time:
So many midnights from my desk,
I have seen you, keeping watch:
When over my books and paper, 390
Saddest friend, you appear!
Ah! If on the mountain height
I might stand in your sweet light,
Float with spirits in mountain caves,
Swim the meadows in twilight’ waves, 395
Free from the smoke of knowledge too,
Bathe in your health-giving dew!
Alas! In this prison must I stick?
This hollow darkened hole of brick,
Where even the lovely heavenly light 400
Shines through stained glass, dull not bright.
Hemmed in, by heaps of books,
Piled to the highest vault, and higher,
Worm eaten, decked with dust,
Surrounded by smoke-blackened paper, 405
Glass vials, boxes round me, hurled,
Stuffed with Instruments thrown together,
Packed with ancestral lumber –
This is my world! And what a world!
And need you ask why my heart 410
Makes such tremors in my breast?
Why all my life-energies are
Choked by some unknown distress?
Smoke and mildew hem me in,
Instead of living Nature, then, 415
Where God once created Men,
Bones of creatures, and dead limbs!
Fly! Upwards! Into Space, flung wide!
Isn’t this book, with secrets crammed,
From Nostradamus’ very hand, 420
Enough to be my guide?
When I know the starry road,
And Nature, you instruct me,
My soul’s power, you shall flow,
As spirits can with spirits be. 425
Useless, this dusty pondering here
To read the sacred characters:
Soar round me, Spirits, and be near:
If you hear me, then answer!
(He opens the Book, and sees the Symbol of the Macrocosm)
Ah! In a moment, what bliss flows 430
Through my senses from this Sign!
I feel life’s youthful, holy joy: it glows,
Fresh in every nerve and vein of mine.
This symbol now that calms my inward raging,
Perhaps a god deigned to write, 435
Filling my poor heart with delight,
And with its mysterious urging
Revealing, round me, Nature’s might?
Am I a god? All seems so clear to me!
It seems the deepest works of Nature 440
Lie open to my soul, with purest feature.
Now I understand what wise men see:
“The world of spirits is not closed:
Your senses are: your heart is dead!
Rise, unwearied, disciple: bathe instead 445
Your earthly breast in the morning’s glow!”
(He gazes at the Symbol.)
How each to the Whole its selfhood gives,
One in another works and lives!
How Heavenly forces fall and rise,
Golden vessels pass each other by! 450
Blessings from their wings disperse:
They penetrate from Heaven to Earth,
Sounding a harmony through the Universe!
Such a picture! Ah, alas! Merely a picture!
How then can I grasp you endless Nature? 455
Where are your breasts that pour out Life entire,
To which the Earth and Heavens cling so,
Where withered hearts would drink? You flow
You nourish, yet I languish so, in vain desire.
(He strikes the book indignantly, and catches sight of
the Symbol
of the Earth-Spirit.)
How differently it works on me, this Sign! 460
You, the Spirit of Earth, are nearer:
Already, I feel my power is greater,
Already, I glow, as with fresh wine.
I feel the courage to engage the world,
Into the pain and joy of Earth be hurled, 465
And though the storm wind is unfurled,
Fearless, in the shipwreck’s teeth, be whirled.
There’s cloud above me –
The Moon hides its light –
The lamp flickers!
Now it dies! Crimson rays dart 470
Round my head – Horror
Flickers from the vault above,
And grips me tight!
I feel you float around me, 475
Spirit, I summon to appear, speak to me!
Ah! What tears now at the core of me!
All my senses reeling
With fresh feeling!
I feel you draw my whole heart towards you! 480
You must! You must! Though my Life’s lost, too!
(He grips the book and speaks the mysterious name of the Spirit. A crimson flame flashes, the Spirit appears in the flame.)
Who calls me?
Faust (Looking away)
Terrible to gaze at!
Mightily you have drawn me to you,
Long, from my sphere, snatched your food,
And now –
Ah! Endure you, I cannot! 485
You beg me to show myself, you implore,
You wish to hear my voice, and see my face:
The mighty prayer of your soul weighs
With me, I am here! – What wretched terror
Grips you, the Superhuman! Where is your soul’s calling? 490
Where is the heart that made a world inside, enthralling:
Carried it, nourished it, swollen with joy, so tremulous,
That you too might be a Spirit, one of us?
Where are you, Faust, whose ringing voice
Drew towards me with all your force? 495
Are you he, who, breathing my breath,
Trembles in all your life’s depths,
A fearful, writhing worm?
Shall I fear you: you form of fire?
I am, I am Faust: I am your peer! 500
In Life’s wave, in action’s storm,
I float, up and down,
I blow, to and fro!
Birth and the tomb,
An eternal flow, 505
A woven changing,
A glow of Being.
Over Time’s quivering loom intent,
Working the Godhead’s living garment.
You who wander the world, on every hand, 510
Active Spirit, how close to you I feel!
You’re like the Spirit that you understand
Not me!
(It vanishes.)
Faust (Overwhelmed)
Not you?
Who then? 515
I, the image of the Godhead!
Not even like you?
(A knock.)
Oh, fate! I know that sound – it’s my attendant –
My greatest fortune’s ruined!
In all the fullness of my doing, 520
He must intrude, that arid pedant!
(Wagner enters, in gown and nightcap, lamp in hand. Faust turns to him impatiently.)
Forgive me! But I heard you declaim:
Reading, I’m sure, from some Greek tragedy?
To profit from that art is my aim,
Nowadays it goes down splendidly. 525
I’ve often heard it claimed, you see
A priest could learn from the Old Comedy.
Yes, when the priest’s a comedian already:
Which might well seem to be the case.
Ah! When a man’s so penned in his study, 530
And scarcely sees the world on holidays,
And barely through the glass, and far off then,
How can he lead men, through persuading them?
You can’t, if you can’t feel it, if it never
Rises from the soul, and sways 535
The heart of every single hearer,
With deepest power, in simple ways.
You’ll sit forever, gluing things together,
Cooking up a stew from other’s scraps,
Blowing on a miserable fire, 540
Made from your heap of dying ash.
Let apes and children praise your art,
If their admiration’s to your taste,
But you’ll never speak from heart to heart,
Unless it rises up from your heart’s space. 545
Still, lecturing brings orators success:
I feel that I am far behind the rest.
Seek to profit honestly!
Don’t be an empty tinkling fool!
Understanding, and true clarity, 550
Express themselves without art’s rule!
And if you mean what you say,
Why hunt for words, anyway?
Yes, your speech, that glitters so,
Where you gather scraps for Man, 555
Is dead as the mist-filled winds that blow
Through the dried-up leaves of autumn!
Oh, God! Art is long
And life is short.
Often the studies that I’m working on 560
Make me anxious, in my head and heart.
How hard it is to command the means
By which a man attains the very source!
Before a man has travelled half his course,
The wretched devil has to die it seems. 565
Parchment then, is that your holy well,
From which drink always slakes your thirst?
You’ll never truly be refreshed until
It pours itself from your own soul, first.
Pardon me, but it’s a great delight 570
When, moved by the spirit of the ages, we have sight
Of how a wiser man has thought, and how
Widely at last we’ve spread his word about.
Oh yes, as widely as the constellations!
My friend, all of the ages that are gone 575
Now make up a book with seven seals.
The spirit of the ages, that you find,
In the end, is the spirit of Humankind:
A mirror where all the ages are revealed.
And so often it’s all a mere misery 580
Something we run away from at first sight.
A pile of sweepings, a lumber room, maybe
At best, a puppet show, that’s bright
With maxims, excellent, pragmatic,
Suitable when dolls’ mouths wax dramatic! 585
Wagner
But, the world! Men’s hearts and minds!
Something of those, at least, I’d like to know.
Yes, what men choose to understand!
Who dares to name the child’s real name, though?
The few who knew what might be learned, 590
Foolish enough to put their whole heart on show,
And reveal their feelings to the crowd below,
Mankind has always crucified and burned.
I beg you, friend, it’s now the dead of night,
We must break up this conversation. 595
I would have watched with you, if I might
Speak with you still, so learned in oration.
But tomorrow, on Easter’s first holy day,
I’ll ask my several questions, if I may.
I’ve pursued my work, zealously studying: 600
There’s much I know: yet I’d know everything.
(He leaves.)
Faust (Alone.)
That mind alone never loses hope,
That keeps to the shallows eternally,
Grabs, with eager hand, the wealth it sees,
And rejoices at the worms for which it gropes! 605
Dare such a human voice echo, too,
Where this depth of Spirit surrounds me?
Ah yet! For just this once, my thanks to you,
You sorriest of all earth’s progeny!
You’ve torn me away from that despair, 610
That would have soon overwhelmed my senses.
Ah! The apparition was so hugely there,
It might have truly dwarfed my defences.
I, image of the Godhead, already one,
Who thought the spirit of eternal truth so near, 615
Enjoying the light, both heavenly and clear,
Setting to one side the earthbound man:
I, more than Angel, a free force,
Ready to flow through Nature’s veins,
And, in creating, enjoy the life divine, 620
Pulsing with ideas: must atone again!
A word like thunder swept me away.
I dare not measure myself against you.
I possessed the power to summon you,
But not the power to make you stay. 625
In that blissful moment, then
I felt myself so small, so great:
Cruelly you hurled me back again,
Into Man’s uncertain state.
What shall I learn from? Or leave? 630
Shall I obey that yearning?
Ah! Our actions, and not just our grief,
Impede us on life’s journey.
Some more and more alien substance presses
On the splendour that the Mind conceives: 635
And when we gain what this world possesses,
We say the better world’s dream deceives.
The splendid feelings that give us life,
Fade among the crowd’s earthly strife.
If imagination flew with courage, once, 640
And, full of hope, stretched out to eternity,
Now a little room is quite enough,
When joy on joy has gone, in time’s whirling sea.
Care has nested in the heart’s depths,
Restless, she rocks there, spoiling joy and rest, 645
There she works her secret pain,
And wears new masks, ever and again,
Appears as wife and child, fields and houses,
As water, fire, or knife or poison:
Still we tremble for what never strikes us, 650
And must still cry for what has not yet gone.
I am no god: I feel it all too deeply.
I am the worm that writhes in dust: see,
As in the dust it lives, and seeks to eat,
It’s crushed and buried by the passing feet. 655
Is this not dust, what these vaults hold,
These hundred shelves that cramp me:
This junk, and all the thousand-fold
Shapes, of a moth-ridden world, around me?
Will I find here what I’m lacking else, 660
Shall I read, perhaps, as a thousand books insist,
That Mankind everywhere torments itself,
So, here and there, some happy man exists?
What do you say to me, bare grinning skull?
Except that once your brain whirled like mine, 665
Sought the clear day, and in the twilight dull,
With a breath of truth, went wretchedly awry.
For sure, you instruments mock at me,
With cylinders and arms, wheels and cogs:
I stand at the door: and you should be the key: 670
You’re deftly cut, but you undo no locks.
Mysterious, even in broad daylight,
Nature won’t let her veil be raised:
What your spirit can’t bring to sight,
Won’t by screws and levers be displayed. 675
You, ancient tools, I’ve never used
You’re here because my father used you,
Ancient scroll, you’ve darkened too,
From smoking candles burned above you.
Better the little I had was squandered, 680
Than sweat here under its puny weight!
What from your father you’ve inherited,
You must earn again, to own it straight.
What’s never used, leaves us overburdened,
But we can use what the Moment may create! 685
Yet why does that place so draw my sight,
Is that flask a magnet for my gaze?
Why is there suddenly so sweet a light,
As moonlight in a midnight woodland plays?
I salute you, phial of rare potion, 690
I lift you down, with devotion!
In you I worship man’s art and mind,
Embodiment of sweet sleeping draughts:
Extract, with deadly power, refined,
Show your master all his craft! 695
I see you, and my pain diminishes,
I grasp you, and my struggles grow less,
My spirit’s flood tide ebbs, more and more,
I seem to be where ocean waters meet,
A glassy flood gleams around my feet, 700
New day invites me to a newer shore.
A fiery chariot sweeps nearer
On light wings! I feel ready, free
To cut a new path through the ether
And reach new spheres of pure activity. 705
This greater life, this godlike bliss!
You, but a worm, have you earned this?
Choosing to turn your back, ah yes,
On all Earth’s lovely Sun might promise!
Let me dare to throw those gates open, 710
That other men go creeping by!
Now’s the time, to prove through action
Man’s dignity may rise divinely high,
Never trembling at that void where,
Imagination damns itself to pain, 715
Striving towards the passage there,
Round whose mouth all Hell’s fires flame:
Choose to take that step, happy to go
Where danger lies, where Nothingness may flow.
Come here to me, cup of crystal, clear! 720
Free of your ancient cover now appear,
You whom I’ve never, for many a year,
Considered! You shone at ancestral feasts,
Cheering the over-serious guests:
One man passing you to another here. 725
It was the drinker’s duty to explain in rhyme
The splendour of your many carved designs
Or drain it at a draught, and breathe, in time:
You remind me of those youthful nights of mine.
Now I will never pass you to a friend, 730
Or test my wits on your art again.
Here’s a juice will stun any man born:
It fills your hollow with a browner liquid.
I prepared it, now I choose the fluid,
At last I drink, and with my soul I bid 735
A high and festive greeting to the Dawn!
(He puts the cup to his mouth.)
(Bells chime and a choir sings.)
Christ has arisen!
Joy to the One, of us,
Who the pernicious,
Ancestral, insidious, 740
Fault has unwoven.
Faust
What deep humming, what shining sound
Strikes the glass from my hand with power?
Already, do the hollow bells resound,
Proclaiming Easter’s festive course? Our 745
Choirs, do you already sing the hymn of consolation,
Which once rang out, in deathly night, in Angels’ oration,
That certainty of a new testament’s hour?
With pure spices
We embalmed him, 750
We his faithful
We entombed him:
Linen and bindings,
We unwound there,
Ah! Now we find 755
Christ is not here.
Christ has arisen!
Blissful Beloved,
Out of what grieved,
Tested, and healed: 760
His trial is won.
You heavenly sounds, powerful and mild,
Why, in the dust, here, do you seek me?
Ring out where tender hearts are reconciled.
I hear your message, but faith fails me: 765
The marvellous is faith’s dearest child.
I don’t attempt to rise to that sphere,
From which the message rings:
Yet I know from childhood what it sings,
And I’m recalled to life once more. 770
In other times a Heavenly kiss would fall
On me, in the deep Sabbath silence:
The bell notes filled with presentiments,
And a prayer was pleasure’s call:
A sweet yearning, beyond my understanding, 775
Set me wandering through woods and fields,
And while a thousand tears were burning
I felt a world around me come to be.
Love called out the lively games of youth,
The joy of spring’s idle holiday: 780
Memory’s childish feelings, in truth,
Hold me back from the last sombre way.
O, sing on you sweet songs of Heaven!
My tears flow, Earth claims me again!
Has the buried one 785
Already, living,
Raised himself, alone,
Splendidly soaring:
Is he, in teeming air,
Near to creative bliss: 790
Ah! In sorrow, we’re
Here on Earth’s breast.
Lacking Him, we
Languish, and sigh.
Ah! Master we 795
Cry for your joy!
Christ has arisen
Out of corruption’s sea.
Tear off your bindings
Joyfully free! 800
Actively praising him,
Lovingly claiming him,
Fraternally aiding him,
Prayerfully journeying,
Joyfully promising, 805
So is the Master near,
So is he here!
(Passers-by of all kinds appear.)
So, then, where are you away to?
We’re away to the Hunting Lodge.
We’re off to saunter by the Mill. 810
Off to the Riverside Inn, I’d guess.
The way there’s not of the best.
What about you?
I’m with the others, still.
Come to the Castle, you’ll find there
The prettiest girls, the finest beer, 815
And the best place for a fight.
You quarrelsome fool, are you looking
For a third good hiding?
Not for me, that place, I hate its very sight.
No, No! I’m going back to town. 820
We’ll find him by those poplar trees for sure.
Well that’s no joy for me, now:
He’ll walk by your side, of course,
He’ll dance with you on the green.
Where’s the fun in that for me, then! 825
I’m sure he’s not alone, he said
He’d bring along that Curly-head.
My how they strut those bold women!
Brother, come on! We’ll follow them.
Fierce tobacco, strong beer, 830
And a girl in her finery, I prefer.
They are handsome boys there, I see!
But it’s truly a disgrace:
They could have the best of company,
And run after a painted face! 835
Second Student (to the first)
Not so fast! Those two behind,
They walk about so sweetly,
One must be that neighbour of mine:
I could fall for her completely.
They pass by with demure paces, 840
But in the end they’ll go with us.
Brother, no! I shouldn’t bother, anyway.
Quick! Before our quarry gets away.
The hand that wields a broom on Saturday,
Gives the best caress, on Sunday too, I say. 845
No, the new mayor doesn’t suit me!
Now he’s there he’s getting cocky.
And what’s he done to help the town?
Isn’t it getting worse each day?
As always it’s us who must obey, 850
And pay more money down.
A Beggar (sings)
Fine gentlemen, and lovely ladies,
Rosy-cheeked and finely dressed,
You could help me, for your aid is
Needed: see, ease my distress! 855
Don’t let me throw my song away,
Only he who gives is happy.
A day when all men celebrate,
Will be a harvest day for me!
On holidays there’s nothing I like better 860
Than talking about war and war’s display,
When in Turkey far away,
People one another batter.
You sit by the window: have a glass:
See the bright boats glide down the river, 865
Then you walk back home and bless
Its peacefulness, and peace, forever.
Neighbour, yes! I like that too:
Let them go and break their heads,
Make the mess they often do: 870
So long as we’re safe in our beds.
An Old Woman (to the citizen’s daughter)
Ah! So pretty! Sweet young blood!
Who wouldn’t gaze at you?
Don’t be so proud! I’m very good!
And what you want, I’ll bring you. 875
Agatha, come away! I must go carefully:
No walking freely with such a witch as her:
For on Saint Andrew’s Night she really
Showed me who’ll be my future Lover.
She showed me mine in a crystal ball, 880
A soldier, with lots of other brave men:
I look around: among them all,
Yet I can never find him.
Castles with towering
Ramparts and wall, 885
Proud girls showing
Disdain for us all,
We want them to fall!
The action is brave,
And splendid the pay! 890
So let the trumpet,
Do our recruiting,
Calling to joy
Calling to ruin.
It’s a storm, blowing! 895
But it’s the life too!
Girls and castles
We must win you.
The action is brave,
Splendid the pay! 900
And the soldiers
Go marching away.
(Faust and Wagner)
Rivers and streams are freed from ice
By Spring’s sweet enlivening glance.
Valleys, green with Hope’s happiness, dance: 905
Old Winter, in his weakness, sighs,
Withdrawing to the harsh mountains.
From there, retreating, he sends down
Impotent showers of hail that show
In stripes across the quickening ground. 910
But the sun allows nothing white below,
Change and growth are everywhere,
He enlivens all with his colours there,
And lacking flowers of the fields outspread,
He takes these gaudy people instead. 915
Turn round, and from this mountain height,
Look down, where the town’s in sight.
That cavernous, dark gate,
The colourful crowd penetrate,
All will take the sun today, 920
The Risen Lord they’ll celebrate,
And feel they are resurrected,
From low houses, dully made,
From work, where they’re constricted,
From the roofs’ and gables’ weight, 925
From the crush of narrow streets,
From the churches’ solemn night
They’re all brought to the light.
Look now: see! The crowds, their feet
Crushing the gardens and meadows, 930
While on the river a cheerful fleet
Of little boats everywhere it flows.
And over-laden, ready to sink,
The last barge takes to the stream.
From far off on the mountain’s brink,
All the bright clothing gleams.
I hear the noise from the village risen,
Here is the people’s true Heaven,
High and low shout happily:
Here I am Man: here, dare to be! 940
Doctor, to take a walk with you,
Is an honour and a prize:
Alone I’d have no business here, true,
Since everything that’s coarse I despise.
Shrieking, fiddlers, skittles flying, 945
To me it’s all a hateful noise:
They rush about possessed, crying,
And call it singing: and call it joy.
(Farm-workers under the lime tree. Dance and Song.)
The shepherd for the dance, had on
His gaudy jacket, wreath, and ribbon, 950
Making a fine show,
Under the linden-tree, already,
Everyone was dancing madly.
Hey! Hey!
Hurrah! Hurray! 955
So goes the fiddle-bow.
In his haste, in a whirl,
He stumbled against a girl,
With his elbow flailing:
Lively, she turned, and said: 960
Mind out, you wooden-head!
Hey! Hey!
Hurrah! Hurray!
Just watch where you’re sailing!
Fast around the circle bright, 965
They danced to left and right,
Skirts and jackets flying.
They grew red: they grew warm,
They rested, panting, arm on arm
Hey! Hey! 970
Hurrah! Hurray!
And hip, and elbow, lying.
Don’t be so familiar then!
That’s how many a lying man,
Cheated his wife so! 975
But he soon tempted her aside,
And from the linden echoed wide:
Hey! Hey!
Hurrah! Hurray!
So goes the fiddle-bow. 980
Doctor, it’s good of you today
Not to shun the crowd,
So that among the folk, at play,
The learned man walks about.
Then have some from the finest jug 985
That we’ve filled with fresh ale first,
I offer it now and wish it would,
Not only quench your thirst:
But the count of drops it holds
May it exceed your hours, all told. 990
I’ll take some of your foaming drink,
And offer you all, health and thanks.
(The people gather round him in a circle.)
Truly, it’s a thing well done:
You’re here on our day of happiness,
Since in evil times now gone,
You’ve eased our distress!
Many a man stands here alive,
Whom your father, at the last,
Snatched from the fever’s rage,
While the plague went past. 1000
And you, only a young man, went,
Into every house of sickness, then,
Though many a corpse was carried forth,
You walked safely out again.
Many a hard trial you withstood, 1005
A Helper helped by the Helper above.
Health to the man who’s proven true,
Long may he help me and you!
To Him above bow down instead,
Who teaches help, and sends his aid. 1010
(He walks off, with Wagner.)
How it must feel, O man of genius,
To be respected by the crowd!
O happy he whose gifts endow
Him with such advantages!
The father shows you to his son, now 1015
Each one asks and pushes near,
The fiddle halts, and the dancers there:
You pass: in ranks they stop to see,
And throw their caps high in the air:
A little more and they’d bend the knee, 1020
As if what they worshipped was holy.
Climb these few steps to that stone,
Here we’ll rest from our wandering.
Here I’ve sat often, thoughtful and alone,
Tormenting myself with prayer and fasting. 1025
Rich in hope, and firm of faith,
Wringing my hands, with sighs even,
Tears, to force the end of plague
From the very God of Heaven.
The crowd’s approval now’s like scorn. 1030
O if you could read within me
How little the father and the son
Deserve a fraction of their glory.
My father was a gloomy, honourable man,
Who pondered Nature and the heavenly spheres, 1035
Honestly, in his own fashion,
With eccentric studies it appears:
He, in his adepts’ company,
Locked in his dark workshop, forever
Tried with endless recipes, 1040
To make things opposite flow together.
The fiery Lion, a daring suitor,
Wed the Lily, in a lukewarm bath, there
In a fiery flame, both of them were
Strained from one bride-bed into another, 1045
Until the young Queen was descried,
In a mix of colours, in the glass:
There was the medicine: the patient died.
And who recovered? No one asked.
So we roamed, with our hellish pills, 1050
Among the valleys and the hills,
Worse than the pestilence itself we were.
I’ve poisoned a thousand: that’s quite clear:
And now from the withered old must hear
How men praise a shameless murderer. 1055
How can you grieve at that!
Isn’t it enough for an honest man
To exercise the skill he has,
Carefully, precisely, as given?
Honour your father as a youth, 1060
And receive his teaching in your soul,
As a man, then, add to scientific truth,
So your son can achieve a higher goal.
Faust
O happy the man who still can hope
Though drowned in a sea of error! 1065
Man needs the things he doesn’t know,
What he knows is useless, forever.
But don’t let such despondency
Spoil the deep goodness of the hour!
In the evening glow, we see 1070
The houses gleaming, green-embowered.
Mild it retreats, the day that’s left,
It slips away to claim new being.
Ah, that no wing from earth can lift
Me, closer and closer to it, striving! 1075
I’d see, in eternal evening’s light,
The silent Earth beneath my feet, forever,
The heights on fire, each valley quiet
While silver streams flow to a golden river.
The wild peaks with their deep clefts, 1080
Would cease to bar my godlike way,
Already the sea with its warm depths,
Opens to my astonished gaze.
At last the weary god sinks down to night:
But in me a newer yearning wakes, 1085
I hasten on, drinking his endless light:
The dark behind me: and ahead the day.
Heaven above me: and the waves below,
A lovely dream, although it vanishes.
Ah! Wings of the mind, so weightless 1090
No bodily wings could ever be so.
Yet it’s natural in every spirit, too,
That feeling drives us, up and on,
When over us, lost in the vault of blue,
The lark sings his piercing song, 1095
When over the steep pine-filled peaks,
The eagle widely soars,
And across the plains and seas,
The cranes seek their home shores.
I’ve often had strange moments, I know, 1100
But I’ve never felt yearnings quite like those:
The joys of woods and fields soon fade
I wouldn’t ask the birds for wings: indeed,
How differently the mind’s raptures lead
Us on, from book to book, and page to page! 1105
Then winter nights are beautiful, and sweet,
A blissful warmth steals through your limbs, too
When you’ve unrolled some noble text, complete,
Oh, how heaven’s light descends on you!
You only feel the one yearning at best, 1110
Oh, never seek to know the other!
Two souls, alas, exist in my breast,
One separated from another:
One, with its crude love of life, just
Clings to the world, tenaciously, grips tight, 1115
The other soars powerfully above the dust,
Into the far ancestral height.
Oh, let the spirits of the air,
Between the heavens and Earth, weaving,
Descend through the golden atmosphere, 1120
And lead me on to new and varied being!
Yes, if a magic cloak were mine, that
Would carry me off to foreign lands,
Not for the costliest garment in my hands,
For the mantle of a king, would I resign it! 1125
Don’t call to that familiar crowd,
Streaming in misty circles, spreading,
Preparing a thousand dangers now,
On every side, for human beings.
The North winds’ sharp teeth penetrate, 1130
Down here, and spit you with their fangs:
Then the East’s drying winds are at the gate,
To feed themselves on your lungs.
If, from the South, the desert sends them,
And fire on fire burns on your brow, 1135
The West brings a swarm to quench them,
And you and field and meadow drown.
They hear us, while they’re harming us,
Hear us, while they are betraying:
They make out they’re from heaven above, 1140
And lisp like angels when they’re lying.
Let’s go on! The world has darkened,
The air is cool: the mists descend!
Man values his own house at night.
What is it occupies your sight? 1145
What troubles you so, in the evening?
Through corn and stubble, see that black dog running?
I saw him long ago: he seems a wretched thing.
Look at him closely! What do you make of him?
A dog that, in the way they do, 1150
Sniffs around to find his master.
See how he winds in wide spirals too,
Round us here, yet always coming nearer?
And if I’m right, I see a swirl of fire
Twisting about, behind his track. 1155
Perhaps your eyesight proves a liar,
I only see a dog, that’s black.
It seems to me that with a subtle magic,
He winds a fatal knot around our feet.
I see his timid and uncertain antics, 1160
It’s strangers, not his master, whom he meets.
The circle narrows: now he’s here!
You see a dog, there’s no spectre near!
He barks uncertainly, lies down and crawls,
Wags his tail. Dogs’ habits, after all. 1165
Come on! Here, now! Here, to me!
He’s a dogged hound, I agree.
Stand still and he holds his ground:
Talk to him, he dances round:
What you’ve lost, he’ll bring to you: 1170
Retrieve a stick from the water, too.
You’re right: and I see nothing
Like a Spirit there, it’s only training.
A wise man finds agreeable,
A dog that’s learnt its lesson well. 1175
Yes, he deserves all your favour,
Among the students, the true scholar!
(They enter the City gate.)
(Faust enters, with the dog.)
Fields and meadows now I’ve left
Clothed in deepest night,
Full of presentiments, a holy dread 1180
Wakes the better soul in me to light.
Wild desires no longer stir
At every restless act of mine:
Love for Humanity is here,
And here is Love Divine. 1185
Quiet, dog! Stop running to and fro!
Why are you snuffling at the door?
Lie down now, behind the stove,
There’s my best cushion on the floor.
Since you amused us running, leaping, 1190
Out on the mountainside, with zest,
Now I take you into my keeping,
A welcome, and a silent guest.
Ah, when in our narrow room,
The friendly lamp glows on the shelf, 1195
Brightness burns in our inner gloom,
In the Heart, that knows itself.
Reason speaks with insistence,
And Hope once more appears,
We see the River of Existence, 1200
Ah, the founts of Life, are near.
Don’t growl, dog! With this holy sound
Which I, with all my soul, embrace,
Your bestial noise seems out of place.
Men usually scorn the things, I’ve found, 1205
That, by them, can’t be understood,
Grumbling at beauty, and the good,
That to them seems wearisome:
Can’t a dog, then, snarl like them?
Oh, yet now I can feel no contentment 1210
Flow through me, despite my best intent.
Why must the stream fail so quickly,
And once again leave us thirsty?
I’ve long experience of it, yet I think
I could supply what’s missing, easily: 1215
We learn to value what’s beyond the earthly,
We yearn to reach revelation’s brink,
That’s nowhere nobler or more excellent
Than where it burns in the New Testament.
I yearn to render the first version, 1220
With true feeling, once and for all,
Translate the sacred original
Into my beloved German.
(He opens the volume, and begins.)
It’s written here: ‘In the Beginning was the Word!’
Here I stick already! Who can help me? It’s absurd, 1225
Impossible, for me to rate the word so highly
I must try to say it differently
If I’m truly inspired by the Spirit. I find
I’ve written here: ‘In the Beginning was the Mind’.
Let me consider that first sentence, 1230
So my pen won’t run on in advance!
Is it Mind that works and creates what’s ours?
It should say: ‘In the beginning was the Power!’
Yet even while I write the words down,
I’m warned: I’m no closer with these I’ve found. 1235
The Spirit helps me! I have it now, intact.
And firmly write: ‘In the Beginning was the Act!’
If I’m to share my room with you,
Dog, you can stop howling too:
Stop your yapping! 1240
A fellow who’s always snapping,
I can’t allow too near me.
One of us you see,
Must leave the other free.
I’ve no more hospitality to show, 1245
The door’s open, you can go.
But what’s this I see!
Can this happen naturally?
Is it a phantom or is it real?
The dog’s growing big and tall. 1250
He rises powerfully,
It’s no doglike shape I see!
What a spectre I brought home!
Like a hippo in the room,
With fiery eyes, and fearful jaws. 1255
Oh! Now, what you are, I’m sure!
The Key of Solomon is good
For conjuring your half-hellish brood.
Spirits (In the corridor.)
Something’s trapped inside!
Don’t follow it: stay outside! 1260
Like a fox in a snare
An old lynx from hell trembles there.
Be careful what you’re about!
Float here: float there,
Under and over, 1265
And he’ll work his way out.
If you know how to help him,
Don’t let yourself fail him!
Since it’s all done for sure,
Just for your pleasure. 1270
First speak the Words of the Four
To encounter the creature.
Salamander, be glowing,
Undine, flow near,
Sylph, disappear, 1275
Gnome, be delving.
Who does not know
The Elements so,
Their power sees,
And properties, 1280
Cannot lord it
Over the Spirits.
Vanish in flame,
Salamander!
Rush together in foam, 1285
Undine!
Shine with meteor-gleam,
Sylph!
Bring help to the home,
Incubus! Incubus! 1290
Go before and end it thus!
None of the Four
Show in the creature.
He lies there quietly grinning at me:
I’ve not stirred him enough it seems. 1295
But you’ll hear how
I’ll press him hard now.
My good fellow, are you
Exiled from Hell’s crew?
Witness the Symbol 1300
Before which they bow,
The dark crowd there!
Now it swells, with its bristling hair.
Depraved being!
Can you know what you’re seeing? 1305
The uncreated One
With name unexpressed,
Poured through Heaven,
Pierced without redress?
Spellbound, behind the stove, 1310
An elephant grows.
It fills the room, completely,
It will vanish like mist, I can see.
Don’t rise to the ceiling!
Lie down at your master’s feet! 1315
You see I don’t threaten you lightly.
I’ll sting you with fire that’s holy!
Don’t wait for the bright
Triple glowing Light!
Don’t wait for 1320
My highest art!
Why such alarms? What command would my lord impart?
This was the dog’s core!
A wandering scholar? The fact makes me smile.
I bow to the learned lord! 1325
You certainly made me sweat, in style.
How are you named?
A slight question
For one who so disdains the Word,
Is so distant from appearance: one
Whom only the vital depths have stirred. 1330
We usually gather from your names
The nature of you gentlemen: it’s plain
What you are, we all too clearly recognise
One who’s called Liar, Ruin, Lord of the Flies.
Well, what are you then? 1335
Part of the Power that would
Always wish Evil, and always works the Good.
What meaning to these riddling words applies?
I am the spirit, ever, that denies!
And rightly so: since everything created,
In turn deserves to be annihilated: 1340
Better if nothing came to be.
So all that you call Sin, you see,
Destruction, in short, what you’ve meant
By Evil is my true element.
You call yourself a part, yet seem complete to me?
I’m speaking the truth to you, and modestly.
Even if Man’s accustomed to take
His small world for the Whole, that’s his mistake:
I’m part of the part, that once was - everything,
Part of the darkness, from which Light, issuing, 1350
Proud Light, emergent, disputed the highest place
With its mother Night, the bounds of Space,
And yet won nothing, however hard it tried,
Still stuck to Bodily Things, and so denied.
It flows from bodies, which it beautifies, 1355
And bodies block its way:
I hope the day’s not far away
When it, along with all these bodies, dies.
Now I see the plan you follow!
You can’t destroy it all, and so 1360
You’re working on a smaller scale.
And frankly it’s a sorry tale.
What’s set against the Nothingness,
The Something, World’s clumsiness,
Despite everything I’ve tried, 1365
Won’t become a nothing: though I’d
Storms, quakes, and fires on every hand,
It deigned to stay as sea and land!
And those Men and creatures, all the damned,
It’s no use my owning any of that crew: 1370
How many I’ve already done with too!
Yet new fresh blood is always going round.
So it goes on, men make me furious!
With water, earth and air, of course,
A thousand buds unfurl 1375
In wet and dry, warm and cold!
And if I hadn’t kept back fire of old,
I’d have nothing left at all.
So you set the Devil’s fist
That vainly clenches itself, 1380
Against the eternally active,
Wholesome, creative force!
Strange son of Chaos, start
On something else instead!
Truly I’ll think about it: more 1385
Next time, on that head!
Might I be allowed to go?
I see no reason for you to ask it.
Since I’ve learnt to know you now,
When you wish: then make a visit. 1390
There’s the door, here’s the window,
And, of course, there’s the chimney.
I must confess, I’m prevented though
By a little thing that hinders me,
The Druid’s-foot on your doorsill – 1395
The Pentagram gives you pain?
Then tell me, you Son of Hell,
If that’s the case, how did you gain
Entry? Are spirits like you cheated?
Look carefully! It’s not completed: 1400
One angle, if you inspect it closely
Has, as you see, been left a little open.
Just by chance as it happens!
And left you prisoner to me?
Success created by approximation! 1405
The dog saw nothing, in his animation,
Now the affair seems inside out,
The Devil can’t get out of the house.
Why not try the window then?
To devils and ghosts the same laws appertain: 1410
The same way they enter in, they must go out.
In the first we’re free, in the second slaves to the act.
So you still have laws in Hell, in fact?
That’s good, since it allows a pact,
And one with you gentlemen truly binds? 1415
What’s promised you’ll enjoy, and find,
There’s nothing mean that we enact.
But it can’t be done so fast,
First we’ll have to talk it through,
Yet, urgently, I beg of you 1420
Let me go my way at last.
Wait a moment now,
Tell me some good news first.
I’ll soon be back, just let me go:
Then you can ask me what you wish. 1425
I didn’t place you here, tonight.
You trapped yourself in the lime.
Who snares the devil, holds him tight!
He won’t be caught like that a second time.
I’m willing, if you so wish, 1430
To stay here, in your company:
So long as we pass the time, and I insist,
On arts of mine, exclusively.
Gladly, you’re free to present
Them, as long as they’re all pleasant. 1435
My friend you’ll win more
For your senses, in an hour,
Than in a whole year’s monotony.
What the tender spirits sing,
The lovely pictures that they bring, 1440
Are no empty wizardry.
First your sense of smell’s invited,
Then your palate is delighted,
And then your touch, you see.
Now, I need no preparation, 1445
We’re all here, so let’s begin!
Vanish, you shadowy
Vaults above!
Cheerfully show,
The friendliest blue 1450
Of aether, down here.
Would that shadowy
Clouds had gone!
Starlight sparkling
Milder sun 1455
Shining clear.
Heavenly children
In lovely confusion,
Swaying and bending,
Drifting past. 1460
Affectionate yearning,
Following fast:
Their garments flowing
With fluttering ribbons,
Cover the gardens, 1465
Cover the leaves,
Where with each other
In deep conversation
Lover meets lover.
Leaves on leaves! 1470
Tendrils’ elation!
Grapes beneath
Crushed in a stream,
Pressed to extreme,
Crushed to fountain, 1475
Of foaming wine,
Trickling, fine,
Through rocks divine,
Leaving the heights,
Spreading beneath, 1480
Broad as the seas,
Valleys it fills
Round the green hills.
And the wings still,
Blissfully drunk, 1485
Fly to the sun,
Fly to the brightness,
Towards the islands,
Out of the waves
Magically raised: 1490
Now we can hear
The choir of joy near,
Over the meadow,
See how they dance now,
All in the air 1495
Dispersing there.
Some of them climbing
Over the mountains,
Others are swimming
Over the ocean, 1500
Others take flight:
All towards Life,
All towards distant,
Love of the stars, and
Approval’s bliss. 1505
He’s asleep! Enough, you delicate children of air!
You’ve sung to him faithfully, I declare!
I’m in your debt for all this.
He’s not yet the man to hold devils fast!
Spellbind him with dream-forms, cast 1510
Him deep into illusions’ sea:
Now, for the magic sill I must pass,
I could use rat’s teeth: no need for me
To conjure up a lengthier spell,
One’s rustling here that will do well. 1515
The Lord of Rats and Mice,
Of Flies, Frogs, Bugs and Lice,
Summons you to venture here,
And gnaw the threshold where
He stains it with a little oil - 1520
You’ve hopped, already, to your toil!
Now set to work! The fatal point,
Is at the edge, it’s on the front.
One more bite, then it’s complete –
Now Faust, dream deeply, till we meet. 1525
Faust (Waking.)
Am I cheated then, once again?
Does the Spirit-Realm’s deep yearning fade:
So a mere dream has conjured up the devil,
And only a dog, it was, that ran away?
(Faust, Mephistopheles)
I am
Enter!
Ah, now, you please me.
I hope we’ll get along together:
To drive away the gloomy weather,
I’m dressed like young nobility, 1535
In a scarlet gold-trimmed coat,
In a little silk-lined cloak,
A cockerel feather in my hat,
With a long, pointed sword,
And I advise you, at that, 1540
To do as I do, in a word:
So that, footloose, fancy free,
You can experience Life, with me.
This life of earth, its narrowness,
Pains me, however I’m turned out, 1545
I’m too old to play about,
Too young, still, to be passionless.
What can the world bring me again?
Abstain! You shall! You must! Abstain!
That’s the eternal song 1550
That in our ears, forever, rings
The one, that, our whole life long,
Every hour, hoarsely, sings.
I wake in terror with the dawn,
I cry, the bitterest tears, to see 1555
Day grant no wish of mine, not one
As it passes by on its journey.
Even presentiments of joy
Ebb, in wilful depreciation:
A thousand grimaces life employs 1560
To hinder me in creation.
Then when night descends I must
Stretch out, worried, on my bed:
What comes to me is never rest,
But some wild dream instead. 1565
The God that lives inside my heart,
Can rouse my innermost seeing:
The one enthroned beyond my art,
Can’t stir external being:
And so existence is a burden: sated, 1570
Death’s desired, and Life is hated.
Yet Death’s a guest who’s visit’s never wholly celebrated.
Happy the man whom victory enhances,
Whose brow the bloodstained laurel warms,
Who, after the swift whirling dances, 1575
Finds himself in some girl’s arms!
If only, in my joy, then, I’d sunk down
Before that enrapturing Spirit power!
Yet someone, from a certain brown
Liquid, drank not a drop, at midnight hour. 1580
It seems that you delight in spying.
I know a lot: and yet I’m not all-knowing.
When sweet familiar tones drew me,
Away from the tormenting crowd,
Then my other childhood feelings 1585
Better times echoed, and allowed.
So I curse whatever snares the soul,
In its magical, enticing arms,
Banishes it to this mournful hole,
With dazzling, seductive charms! 1590
Cursed be those high Opinions first,
With which the mind entraps itself!
Then glittering Appearance curse,
In which the senses lose themselves!
Curse what deceives us in our dreaming, 1595
With thoughts of everlasting fame!
Curse the flattery of ‘possessing’
Wife and child, lands and name!
Curse Mammon, when he drives us
To bold acts to win our treasure: 1600
Or straightens out our pillows
For us to idle at our leisure!
Curse the sweet juice of the grape!
Curse the highest favours Love lets fall!
Cursed be Hope! Cursed be Faith, 1605
And cursed be Patience most of all!
Choir of Spirits (Unseen)
Sorrow! Sorrow!
You’ve destroyed it,
The beautiful world,
With a powerful fist: 1610
It tumbles, it’s hurled
To ruin! A demigod crushed it!
We carry
Fragments into the void,
And sadly 1615
Lament the Beauty that’s gone.
Stronger
For all of Earth’s sons,
Brighter,
Build it again, 1620
Build, in your heart!
Life’s new start,
Begin again,
With senses washed clean,
And sound, then, 1625
A newer art!
They’re little, but fine,
These attendants of mine.
Precocious advice they give, listen,
Regarding both action, and passion! 1630
Into the World outside,
From Solitude, that’s dried
Your sap and senses,
They tempt us.
Stop playing with grief, 1635
That feeds, a vulture, on your breast,
The worst society, you’ll find, will prompt belief,
That you’re a Man among the rest.
Not that I mean
To shove you into the mass. 1640
Among ‘the greats’, I’m second-class:
But if you, in my company,
Your path through life would wend,
I’ll willingly condescend
To serve you, as we go. 1645
I’m your man, and so,
If it suits you of course,
I’m your slave: I’m yours!
And what must I do in exchange?
There’s lots of time: you’ve got the gist. 1650
No, no! The Devil is an egotist,
Does nothing lightly, or in God’s name,
To help another, so I insist,
Speak your demands out loud,
Such servants are risks, in a house. 1655
I’ll be your servant here, and I’ll
Not stop or rest, at your decree:
When we’re together, on the other side,
You’ll do the same for me.
The ‘other side’ concerns me less: 1660
Shatter this world, in pieces,
The other one can take its place,
The root of my joy’s on this Earth,
And this Sun lights my sorrow:
If I must part from them tomorrow, 1665
What can or will be, that I’ll face.
I’ll hear no more of it, of whether
In that future, men both hate and love,
Or whether in those spheres, forever,
We’re given a below and an above. 1670
In that case, you can venture all.
Commit yourself: today, you shall
View my arts with joy: I mean
To show you what no man has seen.
Poor devil what can you give? When has ever 1675
A human spirit, in its highest endeavour,
Been understood by such a one as you?
You have a never-satiating food,
You have your restless gold, a slew
Of quicksilver, melting in the hand, 1680
Games whose prize no man can land,
A girl, who while she’s on my arm,
Snares a neighbour, with her eyes:
And Honour’s fine and godlike charm,
That, like a meteor, dies? 1685
Show me fruits then that rot, before they’re ready.
And trees grown green again, each day, too!
Such commands don’t frighten me:
With such treasures I can truly serve you.
Still, my good friend, a time may come, 1690
When one prefers to eat what’s good in peace.
When I lie quiet in bed, at ease.
Then let my time be done!
If you fool me, with flatteries,
Till my own self’s a joy to me, 1695
If you snare me with luxury –
Let that be the last day I see!
That bet I’ll make!
Done!
And quickly!
When, to the Moment then, I say:
‘Ah, stay a while! You are so lovely!’ 1700
Then you can grasp me: then you may,
Then, to my ruin, I’ll go gladly!
Then they can ring the passing bell,
Then from your service you are free,
The clocks may halt, the hands be still, 1705
And time be past and done, for me!
Consider well, we’ll not forget.
You have your rights, complete:
I never over-estimate my powers.
I’ll be a slave, in defeat: 1710
Why ask whose slave or yours?
Today, likewise, at the Doctors’ Feast
I’ll do my duty as your servant.
One thing, though! – Re: life and death, I want
A few lines from you, at the least. 1715
You pedant, you demand it now in writing?
You still won’t take Man’s word for anything?
It’s not enough that the things I say,
Will always accord with my future?
The world never ceases to wear away, 1720
And shall a promise bind me, then, forever?
Yet that’s the illusion in our minds,
And who then would be free of it?
Happy the man, who pure truth finds,
And who’ll never deign to sacrifice it! 1725
Still a document, written and signed,
That’s a ghost makes all men fear it.
The word is already dying in the pen,
And wax and leather hold the power then.
What do you want from me base spirit? 1730
Will iron: marble: parchment: paper do it?
Shall I write with stylus, pen or chisel?
I’ll leave the whole decision up to you.
Why launch into oratory too?
Hot-tempered: you exaggerate as well. 1735
Any bit of paper’s just as good.
And you can sign it with a drop of blood.
If it will satisfy you, and it should,
Then let’s complete the farce in full.
Blood is a quite special fluid. 1740
Have no fear I’ll break this pact!
The extreme I can promise you: it is
All the power my efforts can extract.
I’ve puffed myself up so highly
I belong in your ranks now. 1745
The mighty Spirit scorns me
And Nature shuts me out.
The thread of thought has turned to dust,
Knowledge fills me with disgust.
Let the depths of sensuality 1750
Satisfy my burning passion!
And, its impenetrable mask on,
Let every marvel be prepared for me!
Let’s plunge into time’s torrent,
Into the whirlpools of event! 1755
Then let joy, and distress,
Frustration, and success,
Follow each other, as well they can:
Restless activity proves the man!
No goal or measure’s set for you. 1760
Do as you wish, nibble at everything,
Catch at fragments while you’re flying,
Enjoy it all, whatever you find to do.
Now grab at it, and don’t be stupid!
It’s not joy we’re about: you heard it. 1765
I’ll take the frenzy, pain-filled elation,
Loving hatred, enlivening frustration.
Cured of its urge to know, my mind
In future, will not hide from any pain,
And what is shared by all mankind, 1770
In my innermost self, I’ll contain:
My soul will grasp the high and low,
My heart accumulate its bliss and woe,
So this self will embrace all theirs,
That, in the end, their fate it shares. 1775
Believe me, many a thousand year
They’ve chewed hard food, and yet
From the cradle to the bier,
Not one has ever digested it!
Trust one of us, this Whole thing 1780
Was only made for a god’s delight!
In eternal splendour he is dwelling,
He placed us in the darkness quite,
And only gave you day and night.
But, I will! 1785
That’s good to hear!
Yet I’ve a fear, just the one:
Time is short, and art is long.
I think you need instruction.
Join forces with a poet: use poetry,
Let him roam in imagination, 1790
You’ll gain every noble quality
From your honorary occupation,
The lion’s brave attitude
The wild stag’s swiftness,
The Italian’s fiery blood, 1795
The North’s persistence.
Let him find the mysterious
Meeting of generous and devious,
While you, with passions young and hot,
Fall in love, according to the plot. 1800
I’d like to see such a gentleman, among us,
And I’d call him Mister Microcosmus.
What am I then, if it’s a flight too far,
For me to gain that human crown
I yearn towards with every sense I own? 1805
In the end, you are – what you are.
Set your hair in a thousand curlicues
Place your feet in yard-high shoes,
You’ll remain forever, what you are.
All the treasures of the human spirit 1810
I feel that I’ve expended, uselessly.
And wherever, at the last, I sit,
No new power flows, in me.
I’m not a hair’s breadth taller, as you see,
And I’m no nearer to Infinity. 1815
My dear sir, you see the thing
Exactly as all men see it: why,
We must re-order everything,
Before the joys of life slip by.
Hang it! Hands and feet, belong to you, 1820
Certainly, a head, and a backside,
Yet everything I use as new
Why is my ownership of it denied?
When I can count on six stallions,
Isn’t their horsepower mine to use? 1825
I drive behind, and am a proper man,
As though I’d twenty-four legs, too.
Look lively! Leave the senses be,
And plunge into the world with me!
I say to you that scholarly fellows 1830
Are like the cattle on an arid heath:
Some evil spirit leads them round in circles,
While sweet green meadows lie beneath.
How shall we begin then?
From here, we’ll first win free.
What kind of a martyrs’ hole can this be? 1835
What kind of a teacher of life is he,
Who fills young minds with ennui?
Let your neighbours do it, and go!
Do you want to thresh straw forever?
The best things you can ever know, 1840
You dare not tell the youngsters, ever.
I hear one of them arriving, too!
I’ve no desire to see him, though.
The poor lad’s waited hours for you.
He mustn’t go away un-consoled. 1845
Come: give me your cap and gown.
The mask should look delicious. So!
(He disguises himself.)
Now I’ve lost what wit’s my own!
I want fifteen minutes with him, only:
Meanwhile get ready for our journey! 1850
(Faust exits.)
Mephistopheles (In Faust’s long gown.)
Reason and Science you despise,
Man’s highest powers: now the lies
Of the deceiving spirit must bind you
With those magic arts that blind you,
And I’ll have you, totally – 1855
Fate gave him such a spirit
It urges him ever onwards, wildly,
And, in his hasty striving, he has leapt
Beyond all earth’s ecstasies.
I’ll drag him through raw life, 1860
Through the meaningless and shallow,
I’ll freeze him: stick to him: keep him ripe,
Frustrate his insatiable greed, allow
Food and drink to drift before his eyes:
In vain he’ll beg for consummation, 1865
And if he weren’t the devil’s, why
He’d still go to his ruination!
(A student enters.)
I’m only here momentarily,
I’ve come, filled with humility,
To speak to, and to stand before, 1870
One who’s spoken of with awe.
Your courtesy delights me greatly!
A man like other men you see.
Have you studied then, elsewhere?
I beg you, please enrol me, here! 1875
I come to you strong of courage,
Lined in pocket, healthy for my age:
My mother didn’t want to lose me: though,
I’d like to learn what it’s right for me to know.
Then you’ve come to the right place, exactly. 1880
To be honest, I’d like to go already:
There’s little pleasure for me at all,
In these walls, and all these halls.
It’s such a narrow space I find,
You see no trees, no leaves of any kind, 1885
And in the lectures, on the benches,
All thought deserts me, and my senses.
It will only come to you with habit.
So the child takes its mother’s breast
Quite unwillingly at first, and yet it 1890
Soon sucks away at her with zest.
So will you at Wisdom’s breast, here,
Feel every day a little zestier.
I’ll cling to her neck with pleasure:
But only tell me how to find her. 1895
Explain, before you travel on
What faculty you’ve settled on.
I want to be a true scholar,
I want to grasp, by the collar,
What’s on earth, in heaven above, 1900
In Science, and in Nature too.
Then here’s the very path for you,
But don’t allow yourself to wander off.
Student
I’ll be present heart and soul:
Of course I’ll want to play, 1905
Have some fun and freedom, though,
On each sweet summer holiday.
Use your time well: it slips away so fast, yet
Discipline will teach you how to win it.
My dear friend, I’d advise, in sum, 1910
First, the Collegium Logicum.
There your mind will be trained,
As if in Spanish boots, constrained,
So that painfully, as it ought,
It creeps along the way of thought, 1915
Not flitting about all over,
Wandering here and there.
So you’ll learn, in many days,
What you used to do, untaught, as in a haze,
Like eating now, and drinking, you’ll see 1920
The necessity of One! Two! Three!
Truly the intricacy of logic
Is like a master-weaver’s fabric,
Where the loom holds a thousand threads,
Here and there the shuttles go 1925
And the threads, invisibly, flow,
One pass serves for a thousand instead.
Then the philosopher steps in: he’ll show
That it certainly had to be so:
The first was - so, the second - so, 1930
And so, the third and fourth were - so:
If first and second had never been,
Third and fourth would not be seen.
All praise the scholars, beyond believing,
But few of them ever turn to weaving. 1935
To know and note the living, you’ll find it
Best to first dispense with the spirit:
Then with the pieces in your hand,
Ah! You’ve only lost the spiritual bond.
‘Natural treatment’, Chemistry calls it 1940
Mocks at herself, and doesn’t know it.
I’m not sure that I quite understand.
You’ll soon know it all, as planned,
When you’ve learnt the science of reduction,
And everything’s proper classification. 1945
After all that, I feel as stupid
As if I’d a mill wheel in my head.
Next, before all else, you’ll fix
Your mind on Metaphysics!
See that you’re profoundly trained 1950
In what never stirs in a human brain:
You’ll learn a splendid word
For what’s occurred or not occurred.
But for the present take six months
To get yourself in order: start at once. 1955
Five hours every day, lock
Yourself in, with a ticking clock!
Make sure you’re well prepared,
Study each paragraph with care,
So afterwards you’ll be certain 1960
Only what’s in the book, was written:
Then be as diligent when you pen it,
As if the Holy Ghost had said it!
You won’t need to tell me twice!
I think, myself, it’s very helpful, too 1965
That one can take back home, and use,
What someone’s penned in black and white.
Mephistopheles
But choose a faculty, any one!
I wouldn’t be comfortable with Law.
I couldn’t name you anything more 1970
Vile, I know how dogmatic it’s become.
Laws and rights are handed down
It’s an eternal disgrace:
They’re moved round from town to town
Dragged around from place to place. 1975
Reason is nonsense, kindness a disease,
If you’re a grandchild it’s a curse!
The rights we are born with,
To those, alas, no one refers!
That just strengthens my disgust. 1980
Happy the student that you instruct!
I’ve nearly settled on Theology.
I wouldn’t wish to guide you erroneously.
In what that branch of knowledge concerns
It’s so difficult to avoid a fallacious route, 1985
There’s so much poison hidden in what you learn,
And it’s barely distinguishable from the antidote.
The best thing here’s to make a single choice,
Then simply swear by your master’s voice.
On the whole, to words stick fast! 1990
Through the safest gate you’ll pass
To the Temple of Certainty.
Yet surely words must have a sense.
Why, yes! But don’t torment yourself with worry,
Where sense fails it’s only necessary 1995
To supply a word, and change the tense.
With words fine arguments can be weighted,
With words whole Systems can be created,
With words, the mind does its conceiving,
No word suffers a jot from thieving. 2000
Forgive me, I delay you with my questions,
But I must trouble you again,
On the subject of Medicine,
Have you no helpful word to say?
Three years, so little time applied, 2005
And, God, the field is rather wide!
If only you had some kind of pointer,
You would feel so much further on.
I’m tired of this desiccated banter
I really must play the devil, at once. 2010
(Aloud.)
To grasp the spirit of Medicine’s easily done:
You study the great and little world, until,
In the end you let it carry on
Just as God wills.
Useless to roam round, scientifically: 2015
Everyone learns only what he can:
The one who grasps the Moment fully,
He’s the proper man.
You’re quite a well-made fellow,
You’re not short of courage too, 2020
And when you’re easy with yourself,
Others will be easy with you.
Study, especially, female behaviour:
Their eternal aches and woes,
All of the thousand-fold, 2025
Rise from one point, and have one cure.
And if you’re half honourable about it
You shall have them in your pocket.
A title first: to give them comfort you
Have skills that far exceed the others, 2030
Then you’re free to touch the goods, and view
What someone else has prowled around for years.
Take the pulse firmly, you understand,
And then, with sidelong fiery glance,
Grasp the slender hips, in haste, 2035
To find out whether she’s tight-laced.
That sounds much better! The Where and How, I see.
Grey, dear friend, is all theory,
And green the golden tree of life.
I swear it’s like a dream to me: may I 2040
Trouble you, at some further time,
To expound your wisdom, so sublime?
As much as I can, I’ll gladly explain.
I can’t tear myself away,
I must just pass you my album, sir, 2045
Grant me the favour of your signature!
Very well.
(He writes and gives the book back.)
Student (Reading Mephistopheles’ Latin inscription which means: ‘You’ll be like God, acquainted with good and evil’.)
Eritis sicut Deus, scientes bonum et malum.
(He makes his bows, and takes his leave.)
Just follow the ancient text, and my mother the snake, too:
And then your likeness to God will surely frighten you! 2050
(Faust enters.)
Where will we go, then?
Where you please.
The little world, and then the great, we’ll see.
With what profit and delight,
This term, you’ll be a parasite!
Yet with my long beard, I’ll 2055
Lack life’s superficial style.
My attempt will come to nothing:
I know, in this world, I don’t fit in.
I feel so small next to other men,
It only means embarrassment. 2060
My friend, just give yourself completely to it:
When you find yourself, you’ll soon know how to live it.
How shall we depart from here, then?
I see not one servant, coach, or horse.
We’ll just spread this cloak wide open, 2065
Then through the air we’ll take our course.
For a daring trip like this we’re on,
Better not take much baggage along.
A little hot air I’ll ready, first,
To lift us nimbly above the Earth, 2070
And as we’re light we’ll soon get clear:
Congratulations on your new career!
(Friends happily drinking.)
Will none of you laugh? Nobody drink?
I’ll have to teach you to smile, I think!
You’re all of you like wet straw today, 2075
And usually you’re well away.
That’s up to you, you bring us nothing.
Nothing dumb, or dirty, nothing.
You can have both!
Rotten swine!
You wanted them both, so you got mine! 2080
Out the door, whoever fights! Get out!
Let’s sing a heart-felt chorus, drink and shout!
Up! Hurray! Ha!
Ah! I’m in agony!
Earplugs, here! This fellow’s deafened me.
It’s only when it echoes in the tower, 2085
You hear a bass voice’s real power.
Right, out with him who takes offence!
Ah! Do, re, me!
Ah! Do, re, me!
Our throats are tuned: commence.
(He sings.)
‘Dear Holy Roman Empire, 2090
How do you hold together?’
A lousy song! Bah! A political song -
A tiresome song! Thank God, every morning,
It isn’t you who must sit there worrying
About the Empire! At least I’m better for 2095
Not being a King or a Chancellor.
But we should have a leader, so
We’ll choose a Pope of our own.
You know the qualities that can
Swing the vote, and elevate the man. 2100
‘Sing away, sweet Nightingale,
Greet my girl, and never fail.’
Don’t greet my girl! I’ll not allow it!
Greet and kiss her! You’ll not stop it!
(He sings.)
‘Slip the bolt in deepest night! 2105
Slip it! Wake, the lover bright.
Slip it to! At break of dawn.’
Yes, sing in praise of her, and boast: sing on!
I’ll laugh later when it suits:
She leads me a dance, she’ll lead you too. 2110
She should have a dwarf for a lover!
At the crossroads, let him woo her:
An old goat from Blocksberg, galloping over,
Can bleat goodnight, as it passes by her.
An honest man, of flesh and blood, 2115
For a girl like that’s far too good.
I’m not bothered even to say hello
Except perhaps to break her window.
Brander (Pounding on the table.)
Quiet! Quiet! Or you won’t hear!
I know about life, you lot, confess. 2120
Besotted persons sit among us,
As fits their status, then, I must
Give them, tonight, of my very best.
Listen! A song in the newest strain!
And you can shout out the refrain! 2125
(He sings.)
‘Once there was a cellar rat,
Who lived on grease, and butter:
He had a belly, round and fat,
Just like Doctor Luther.
The cook set poison round about: 2130
It brought on such a violent bout,
As if he’d love inside him.’
Chorus (Shouting.)
‘As if he’d love inside him!’
‘He ran here, and he ran there,
And drank from all the puddles, 2135
Gnawing, scratching, everywhere,
But nothing cured his shudders.
In torment, he leapt to the roof,
Poor beast, soon he’d had enough,
As if he’d love inside him.’ 2140
‘As if he’d love inside him!’
‘Fear drove him to the light of day,
Into the kitchen then he ran,
Fell on the hearth and twitched away,
Pitifully weak, and wan. 2145
Then the murderess laughed with glee:
He’s on his last legs, I see,
As if he’d love inside him.’
‘As if he’d love inside him.’
How pleased they are, the tiresome fools! 2150
Spreading poison for wretched rats,
To me, that’s the right thing to do!
You’re in sympathy with them, perhaps?
That fat belly with a balding head!
Bad luck makes him meek and mild: 2155
From a swollen rat, he sees, with dread,
His own natural likeness is compiled.
(Faust and Mephistopheles appear.)
First of all, I had to bring you here,
Where cheerful friends sup together,
To see how happily life slips away. 2160
For these folk every day’s a holiday.
With lots of leisure, and little sense,
They revolve in their round-dance,
Chasing their tails as kittens prance,
If the hangovers aren’t too intense, 2165
If the landlord gives them credit,
They’re cheerful, and unworried by it.
They’re fresh from their travelling days,
You can tell by their foreign ways:
They’ve not been back an hour: you see. 2170
Frosch
True, you’re right! My Leipzig’s dear to me!
It’s a little Paris, and educates its people.
Who do you think the strangers are?
Let me find out! I’ll draw the truth,
From those two, with a brimming glass, 2175
As easily as you’d pull a child’s tooth.
It seems to me they’re of some noble house,
They look so discontented and so proud.
They’re surely strolling players, I’d guess!
Perhaps.
Watch me screw it out of them, then! 2180
These folk wouldn’t feel the devil, even
If he’d got them dangling by the neck.
Greetings, sirs!
Siebel
Thank
you, and greetings.
(He mutters away, inspecting Mephistopheles side-on.)
What’s wrong with his foot: why’s he limping?
Allow us to sit with you, if you please. 2185
Instead of fine ale that can’t be had,
We can still have good company.
You seem a choosy sort of lad.
Was it late when you started out from Rippach?
Perhaps you dined with Hans there, first? 2190
We passed straight by, today, without a rest!
We spoke to him last some time back,
When he talked a lot about his cousins,
And he sent to each his kind greetings.
(He bows to Frosch.)
Altmayer (Aside.)
He did you, there! He’s smart!
A shrewd customer! 2195
Frosch
Wait, I’ll have him soon, I’m sure!
If I’m not wrong, we heard
A tuneful choir singing?
I’m sure, with this vault, the words
Must really set it ringing! 2200
Are you by any chance a virtuoso?
No! Though my desire is great, my skill is only so-so.
Give us a song!
If you wish it, a few.
So long as it’s a brand-new one!
Well, it’s from Spain that we’ve just come, 2205
The lovely land of wine, and singing too.
(He sings.)
‘There was once a king, who
Had a giant flea’ –
Listen! Did you get that? A flea.
A flea’s an honest guest to me. 2210
Mephistopheles (Sings.)
‘There was once a king, who
Had a giant flea,
He loved him very much, oh,
He was like a son, you see.
The king called for his tailor, 2215
He came right away:
Now, measure up the lad for
A suit of clothes, I say!’
Make sure the tailor’s sharp,
And cuts them out precisely, 2220
And, since his son’s dear to his heart,
Make sure there’s never a crease to see.
‘All in silk and velvet,
He was smartly dressed,
With ribbons on his coat, 2225
A cross upon his chest.
He was the First Minister,
And so he wore a star:
His brothers and his sisters,
He made noblest by far. 2230
The lords and the ladies,
They were badly smitten,
The Queen and her maids,
They were stung and bitten.
They didn’t dare to crush them, 2235
Or scratch away, all night.
We smother them, and crush them,
The moment that they bite.’
Chorus (Shouted.)
‘We smother them, and crush them,
The moment that they bite.’ 2240
Frosch
Bravo! Bravo! That went sweetly!
So shall it be with every flea!
Sharpen your nails, and crush them fine!
Long live freedom, and long live wine!
I’d love to drink a glass, in freedom’s honour, 2245
If only the wine were a little better.
Not again, we don’t want to hear!
I fear the landlord might complain
Or I’d give these worthy guests,
One of my cellar’s very best. 2250
Just bring it on! He’ll accept it: I’ll explain.
Make it a good glass and we’ll praise it.
But don’t make it so small we can’t taste it.
Because if I’m truly going to decide,
I need a really big mouthful inside. 2255
Altmayer (Aside.)
They’re from the Rhine, as I guessed.
Bring me a corkscrew!
What for?
Is it outside already, this cask?
There’s one in the landlord’s toolbox, for sure.
Now, what would you like to try? 2260
Frosch
What? Is there a selection, too?
There’s a choice for every one of you.
Altmayer (To Frosch.)
Ah! You soon catch on: your lips are dry?
Good! When I’ve a choice, I drink Rhenish.
The Fatherland grants those best gifts to us. 2265
Bring me a little wax, to make the seals, as well!
Ah, that’s for the conjuring trick, I can tell.
Mephistopheles (To Brander.)
And yours?
Champagne for me is fine:
Make it a truly sparkling wine!
(Mephistopheles bores the holes: one of the others makes the wax stoppers and stops the holes with them.)
We can’t always shun what’s foreign, 2270
Things from far away are often fine.
Real Germans can’t abide a Frenchman,
And yet they gladly drink his wine.
Siebel (As Mephistopheles approaches his seat.)
I must confess I do dislike the dry,
Give me a glass of the very sweetest! 2275
Mephistopheles (Boring a hole.)
I’ll pour an instant Tokay for you, yes?
Now, gentlemen, look me in the eye!
I see you’ve had the better of us there.
Now! Now! With guests so rare,
That would be far too much for me to dare. 2280
Quick! Time for you to declare!
Which wine can I serve you with?
Any at all! Don’t make us ask forever.
(Now all the holes have been stopped and sealed.)
Grapes, they are the vine’s load!
Horns, they are the he-goat’s: 2285
Wine is juice: wood makes vines,
The wooden board shall give us wine.
Look deeper into Nature!
Have faith, and here’s a wonder!
Now draw the stoppers, and drink up! 2290
All (Draw the stoppers, and the wine they chose flows into each glass.)
O lovely fount, that flows for us!
But careful, don’t lose a drop!
(They drink repeatedly.)
All (Singing.)
‘We’re all of us cannibals now,
We’re like five hundred sows.’
The folk are free, and we can go, you see! 2295
I’d like to leave here now.
Watch first: their bestiality
Will make a splendid show.
Help! Fire! Hell burns bright!
Friendly element, be quiet! 2300
(To the drinkers.)
For this time, just a drop of Purgatory.
What’s that? You wait! You’ll pay dearly!
It seems you don’t quite see us right.
Try playing that trick a second time, on us!
I think we should quietly send him packing. 2305
What, sir? You think you’re daring,
Tricking us with your hocus-pocus?
Mephistopheles
Be quiet, old wine-barrel!
You broomstick! You’ll show us you’re ill bred?
Just wait, it’ll rain blows, on your head! 2310
I’m burning! Burning!
It’s magic, strike!
The man’s a rascal! Kick him as you like!
(They draw knives and rush at Mephistopheles.)
Word and Image, ensnare!
Alter, senses and air!
Be here, and there! 2315
(They look at each other, amazed.)
Where am I? What a lovely land!
Frosch
Vineyards? Am I seeing straight?
And, likewise, grapes to hand!
Deep in this green arbour, here,
See, the vines! What grapes appear!
(He grasps Siebel by the nose: the others do the same reciprocally, and raise their knives.)
From their eyes, Error, take the iron band, 2320
And let them see how the Devil plays a joke.
(He vanishes with Faust: the revellers separate.)
What’s happening?
And how?
Was that your nose?
Brander (To Siebel.)
And I’ve still got your nose in my hand!
It was a tremor, that passed through every limb!
Pass me a stool: I’m sinking in! 2325
Tell me: what happened there, my friend?
Siebel
Where is he? When I catch that fellow,
He won’t leave here alive again!
I saw him myself fly out of the cellar
Riding on a barrel – and then – 2330
I feel there’s lead still in my feet.
(He turns towards the table.)
Ah! Does the wine still flow as sweet?
Siebel
It was deception, cheating, lying.
Still, it seemed that I drank wine.
And what about all those grapes that hung there? 2335
Tell me, now, we shouldn’t believe in wonders!
(A giant cauldron stands on a low hearth, with a
fire under it. Various shapes appear in the fumes from the cauldron. A She-Ape
sits next to it, skimming it, watching to see it doesn’t boil over. The He-Ape,
with young ones, sits nearby warming himself. The ceiling and walls are covered
with the Witches’ grotesque instruments.)
Faust
These magical wild beasts repel me, too!
Are you telling me I can be renewed,
Wandering around in this mad maze,
Demanding help from some old hag: 2340
That her foul cookery will spirit away
Thirty years from my age, just like that?
It’s sad, if you know of nothing better!
The star of hope has quickly set.
Hasn’t some noble mind, or Nature, 2345
Found some wondrous potion yet?
My friend, what you say, again, is intelligent!
There’s a natural means to make you younger:
But it’s written, in a book quite different,
And in an odd chapter. 2350
I’ll know it, then.
Fine! You’ve a method here that needs
No gold, no doctor, no magician:
Take yourself off to the nearest field,
To scratch around, and hoe, and dig in,
Maintain yourself, and constrain 2355
Your senses in a narrow sphere:
Feed yourself on the purest fare,
Be a beast among beasts: think it no robbery,
To manure the fields you harvest, there:
Since that’s the best of ways, believe me, 2360
To keep your youth for eighty years!
I’m not used to it, can’t condescend,
To take a spade in hand, and bend:
That narrow life wouldn’t suit me at all.
So you must call the witch then, after all. 2365
Why is that old witch necessary!
Why can’t you, yourself, make the brew?
What a lovely occupation for me!
And build a thousand bridges, meanwhile, too.
It’s not just art and science that tell, 2370
Patience is needed in the work as well.
A calm mind’s busy years in its creation,
Only time strengthens the fermentation.
And everything about it
Is quite a peculiar show! 2375
It’s true the Devil taught it:
The Devil can’t make it though.
(Seeing the creatures.)
See what a dainty race I hail!
This is the female: this is the male!
(To the creatures.)
The mistress isn’t home, I say? 2380
Feasting away,
Gone today,
The Chimney way!
How long will she be swarming?
As long as our paws are warming. 2385
Mephistopheles (To Faust.)
What do you think of these tender creatures?
As rude as any I ever saw!
Ah, but to me this kind of discourse
Shows the most delightful features!
(To the creatures.)
Accursed puppets, tell me true, 2390
What are you stirring in that brew?
We’re cooking up thick beggars’ soup.
Then there’ll be thousands in the queue.
The He-Cat (Approaches and fawns on Mephistopheles.)
O, throw the dice quick,
And let me be rich! 2395
I’ll be the winner!
It’s all arranged badly,
And if I had money,
I’d be a thinker.
Why does the ape think he’d be lucky, 2400
If he’d only a chance to try the lottery!
(Meanwhile the young apes have been playing with a large ball, and they roll it forward.)
The world’s a ball
It lifts to fall,
Rolls without rest:
Rings like glass, 2405
And breaks as fast!
It’s hollow at best.
It’s shining here,
Here, what’s more:
‘I am living!’ 2410
A place dear son,
To keep far from!
You must die!
Its clay will soon
In pieces, lie. 2415
Mephistopheles
Why the sieve?
The He-Ape (Lifting it down.)
If you were a thief
I’d know you this minute.
(He runs to the She-Ape, and lets her look through the sieve.)
Look through the sieve! 2420
Can you see the thief,
But daren’t name him?
And this pot?
What a silly lot!
Not to know a pot,
Not to know a kettle! 2425
Rude creature!
Take this brush here,
And sit on the settle.
(He invites Mephistopheles to sit down.)
Faust (Who all this time has been standing in front of a mirror, alternately approaching it and distancing himself from it.)
What do I see? What heavenly form
Is this that the magic mirror brings! 2430
Love, lend me your swiftest wings,
Then bear me to fields she adorns!
Ah, if I do not stand still here,
If I dare to venture nearer,
I see as if through a mist, no clearer – 2435
The loveliest form of Woman, there!
Is it possible: can Woman be so lovely?
Must I, in her outspread body, declare
The incarnation of all that’s heavenly?
Can any such this earth deliver? 2440
Naturally, if a God torments himself six days,
And says to himself, Bravo, at last, in praise,
He must have made something clever.
See, this time, what will satisfy you, forever:
I’ll know how to fish that treasure out for you, 2445
Happy, the one who finds good fortune in her,
And carries her home again, as his bride, too.
(Faust gazes endlessly in the mirror. Mephistopheles stretches himself on the settle, plays with the brush, and continues to speak.)
Here I sit like a king on his throne,
The sceptre’s here, but where’s the crown?
The Creatures (Who up till now have been making all kinds of grotesque movements together, bring Mephistopheles a crown, with great outcry.)
Oh, with sweat and with blood, 2450
If you’ll be so good,
Glue on this crown, sublime!
(They are awkward with the crown, and snap it in two
pieces, with which they leap about.)
We see, and we say,
We hear, and we rhyme - 2455
Faust (In front of the mirror.)
Ah! I’ll go completely mad.
Mephistopheles (Pointing to the creatures.)
Now my head’s almost spinning.
If our luck’s not bad,
If there’s sense to be had,
We must be thinking! 2460
Faust (As before.)
My heart pains me with its burning! Quick,
Let’s leave this place, forego it!
Well, at least one must admit
That they’re honest poets.
(The cauldron that the She-Ape has forgotten to keep a watch on, now boils over: a great flame flares from the chimney. The Witch comes careering down through the flames, with horrendous cries.)
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! 2465
Damned creature! Accursed sow!
You left the kettle: you’ve singed me now!
Accursed creature!
(Seeing Faust and Mephistopheles.)
What have we here?
Who are you, here? 2470
What do you want?
Who creeps unknown?
The fire’s pain own
In all your bone!
(She plunges the skimming-ladle into the cauldron, and scatters flame towards Faust, Mephistopheles and the Creatures. The Creatures whimper.)
Mephistopheles (Reversing the brush he holds in his hand, and striking among the jars and glasses.)
One, two! One, two!
There lies the brew!
There lies the glass!
A joke at last,
In time, she-ass,
To your melody, too. 2480
(As the Witch starts back in Anger and Horror.)
Do you know me? Skeleton! Scarecrow!
Do you know your lord and master?
What stops me from striking you, so,
Crushing you, and your ape-creatures?
Have you no respect for a scarlet coat? 2485
Don’t you understand a cockerel’s feather?
Have I hidden my face, you old she-goat?
Have I to name myself, as ever?
Oh sir, forgive the rude welcome!
I don’t see a single foot cloven. 2490
And your two ravens - are where?
Mephistopheles
This once, you get away with it:
It’s truly a good while, isn’t it,
Since we’ve been seen together.
And Civilisation makes men level, 2495
It even sticks to the Devil:
That Northern demon is no more:
Who sees horns now, or tail or claw?
As for the feet, which I can’t spare,
That would harm me with the people. 2500
So like many a youth, now, I wear,
False calves and false in-steps, as well.
Sense and reason flee my brain,
I see young Satan here again!
Woman, I forbid that name! 2505
Why? What harm is caused so?
It’s written in story books, always:
Men are no better for it, though:
The Evil One’s gone: the evil stays.
Call me the Baron: that sounds good: 2510
I’m a gentleman, like the other gentlemen.
Perhaps you doubt my noble blood:
See, here’s the crest I carry, then!
(He makes an indecent gesture.)
The Witch (Laughing immoderately.)
Ha! Ha! That’s your way, as ever.
You’re the same rogue forever! 2515
My friend, take note: learn that this is
The proper way to handle witches.
Now, gentlemen, say how I can be of use.
A good glass of your well-known juice!
But I must insist on the oldest: 2520
The years double what it can do.
The Witch
Gladly! Here’s a flask, on the shelf:
I sometimes drink from it myself,
And it doesn’t really stink at all:
I’ll gladly give him a glass or so. 2525
(Whispering.)
If he drinks it unprepared, recall,
He won’t live a single hour, though.
He’s my good friend: it’ll go down well:
Don’t begrudge the best of your kitchen.
Draw the circle: speak the speech, then 2530
Offer him a glass full!
(The Witch draws a circle with fantastic gestures, and places mysterious articles inside it: meanwhile the glasses start to ring, and the cauldron to echo, and make music. Finally she brings a large book, sits the Apes in a ring, who serve as a reading desk and hold torches. She beckons Faust to approach.)
Faust (To Mephistopheles.)
Tell me, now, what’s happening?
These wild gestures, crazy things,
All of this tasteless trickery,
Is known, and hateful enough to me. 2535
A farce! You should be laughing:
Don’t be such a serious fellow!
This hocus-pocus she, the doctor’s, making,
So you’ll be aided by the juice to follow.
(He persuades Faust to enter the circle.)
You shall see, then! 2540
From one make ten!
Let two go again,
Make three even,
You’re rich again.
Take away four! 2545
From five and six,
So says the Witch,
Make seven and eight,
So it’s full weight:
And nine is one, 2550
And ten is none.
This is the Witch’s one-times-one!
Faust
I’m in the dark, the hag babbles with fever.
There’s still more she’s not gone over,
I know it well, the whole book’s like this: 2555
I’ve wasted time on it before, though,
A perfect contradiction in terms is
Ever a mystery to the wise: fools more so.
My friend, the art’s both old and new,
It’s like this in every age, with two 2560
And one, and one and two,
Scattering error instead of truth.
Men prattle, and teach it undisturbed:
Who wants to be counted with the fools?
Men always believe, when they hear words, 2565
There must be thought behind them, too.
The Witch (Continuing.)
The highest skill,
The science, still
Is hidden from the rabble!
One who never thought, 2570
To him it’s brought,
He owns it without trouble.
Faust
Why talk this nonsense to us?
My head’s near split in two.
It seems I hear the chorus, 2575
Of a hundred thousand fools.
Mephistopheles
Enough, enough, O excellent Sibyl!
Bring the drink along: and fill
The cup, quick, to the very brim:
The drink will bring my friend no harm: 2580
He’s a man of many parts, and him
Many a noble draught has charmed.
(The Witch, ceremoniously, pours the drink into a cup: as Faust puts it to his lips, a gentle flame rises.)
Down it quickly! Every time! It’ll
Likewise, warm your heart, entire.
You’re hand in hand with the Devil: 2585
Will you shrink before the fire?
(The Witch breaks the circle. Faust steps out.)
Now, quick, away! You may not rest.
The Witch
Much good may that potion do you!
Mephistopheles (To the Witch.)
On Walpurgis Night you can tell me best,
What favour I can return to you. 2590
Here’s a song! Sing it sometimes, and you,
Will feel a peculiar effect: don’t ask me how.
Mephistopheles (To Faust.)
Come on, quickly, run about now:
You need to sweat, that will allow
The power to penetrate, through and through. 2595
Later, I’ll teach you to value leisure,
And soon you’ll find with deepest pleasure,
How Cupid stirs, and, now and then, leaps, too.
Let me look quickly in the glass, once more!
How lovely that woman’s form, I descried! 2600
No! No! The paragon of all women, you’re
About to see before you, personified.
(Aside.)
With that drink in your body, well then,
All women will look to you like Helen.
(Faust. Margaret, passing by.)
Lovely lady, may I offer you 2605
My arm, and my protection, too?
Not lovely, nor the lady you detected,
I can go home, unprotected.
(She releases herself and exits.)
By Heavens, the child is lovely!
I’ve never seen anything more so. 2610
She’s virtuous, yet innocently
Pert, and quick-tongued though.
Her rosy lips, her clear cheeks,
I’ll not forget them in many a week!
The way she cast down her eyes, 2615
Deep in my heart, imprinted, lies:
How curt in her speech she was,
Well that was quite charming, of course!
(Mephistopheles enters.)
Listen, you must get that girl for me!
Which one?
Faust
The girl who just went by. 2620
That one, there? She’s come from the priest,
Absolved of all her sins, while I
Crept into a stall nearby:
She is such an innocent thing,
She’s no need to sit confessing: 2625
I’ve no power with such as those, I mean!
Yet, she’s older than fourteen.
Mephistopheles
Now you’re speaking like some Don Juan
Who wants every flower for himself alone,
Conceited enough to think there’s no honour, 2630
To be plucked except by him, nor favour:
But that’s never the case, you know.
Master Moraliser is that so?
With me, best leave morality alone!
I’m telling you, short and sweet, 2635
If that young heart doesn’t beat
Within my arms, tonight - so be it,
At midnight, then our pact is done.
Think, what a to and fro it will take!
I need at least fourteen days, to make 2640
Some kind of opportunity to meet her.
Faust
If I’d seven hours at my call,
I’d not need the Devil at all,
To seduce such a creature.
You’re almost talking like a Frenchman: 2645
But don’t let yourself get all annoyed:
What’s the use if she’s only part enjoyed?
Your happiness won’t be as prolonged,
As if you were to knead and fashion
That little doll, with every passion, 2650
Up and down, as yearning preaches,
And many a cunning rascal teaches.
I’ve enough appetite without all that.
Now, without complaint or jesting, what
I’m telling you is, with this lovely child, 2655
Once and for all, you mustn’t be wild.
She won’t be taken by storm, I said:
We’ll need to use cunning instead.
Faust
Get me a part of the angels’ treasure!
Lead me to where she lies at leisure! 2660
Get me a scarf from her neck: aspire
To a garter, that’s my heart’s desire.
So you can see how I will strain
To help you, and ease your pain,
We’ll not let an instant slip away, 2665
I’ll lead you to her room today.
And shall I see her? And have her?
No! She has to visit a neighbour.
Meanwhile, you can be alone there,
With every hope of future pleasure, 2670
Enjoy her breathing space, at leisure.
Can we go?
Her room’s not yet free.
Look for a gift for her, from me!
(He exits.)
A present? Good! He’s sure to work it!
I know many a lovely place, up here, 2675
And many an ancient buried treasure:
I must have a look around for a bit.
(He exits.)
A small well-kept room.
(Margaret, plaiting and fastening the braids of her hair.)
I’d give anything if I could say
Who that gentleman was, today!
He’s brave for certain, I could see, 2680
And from some noble family:
That his face readily told –
Or he wouldn’t have been so bold.
(She exits.) (Mephistopheles and Faust appear.)
Come in: but quietly, I mean!
I’d ask you, now, to leave me be! 2685
Mephistopheles (Poking about.)
Not every girl keeps thing so clean.
(Mephistopheles exits.)
Welcome, sweet twilight glow,
That weaves throughout this shrine!
Sweet love-pangs grip my heart so,
That on hope’s dew must live, and pine! 2690
How a breath of peace breathes around,
Its order, and contentment!
In this poverty, what wealth is found!
In this prison, what enchantment!
(He throws himself into a leather armchair near the bed.)
Accept me now, you, who with open arms 2695
Gathered joy and pain, in past days, where,
How often, ah, with all their childish charms
The little flock hung round their father’s chair!
There my beloved, perhaps, cheeks full, stands,
Grateful for all the gifts of Christmas fare, 2700
Kissing her grandfather’s withered hands.
Sweet girl, I feel your spirit, softly stray,
Through the wealth of order, all around me,
That with motherliness instructs, each day,
The tablecloth to lie smooth, at your say, 2705
And even the wrinkled sand beneath your feet.
O beloved hand, so goddess-like!
This house because of you is Heaven’s like.
And here!
(He lifts one of the bed curtains.)
What grips me with its bliss!
Here I could stand, slowly lingering. 2710
Here, Nature, in its gentlest dreaming,
Formed an earthly angel within this.
Here the child lay! Life, warm,
Filled her delicate breast,
And here, in pure and holy form, 2715
A heavenly image was expressed!
And I! What leads me here?
Why do I feel so deeply stirred?
What do I seek? Why such a heavy heart?
Poor Faust! I no longer know who you are. 2720
Is there a magic fragrance round me?
I urged myself on, to the deepest delight,
And feel myself melt in Love’s dreaming flight!
Are we the sport of every lightest breeze?
And if she appeared at this instant, 2725
How to atone for being so indiscreet?
The great man, alas, of little moment!
Would lie here, melting, at her feet.
Mephistopheles (Appearing.)
Quick! I see her coming, there.
Away! Away! I’ll not return again. 2730
Here’s a casket fairly loaded, then,
I’ve taken it from elsewhere.
Put it just here on the chest,
I swear it’ll dazzle her, when she sees:
I’ve put in some trinkets, and the rest, 2735
For you to win another, if you please.
Truly, a child’s a child, and play is play.
I don’t know, shall I?
Are you asking, pray?
Perhaps you’d like to keep the treasure, too?
Then I’d advise your Lustfulness, 2740
To spare the sweet hours of brightness,
And spare me a heap of trouble over you.
I hope that you’re not full of meanness!
I scratch my head: I rub my hands –
(He places the casket in the chest, and shuts it again.)
Now off we go, and go quickly! 2745
Through this you’ll bend the child, you see,
To your wish and will: as any fool understands:
Yet now you seem to me
As if you were heading for the lecture hall, and see
Standing there grey-faced, in front of you, 2750
Physics, and Metaphysics too!
Now, away!
(They exit.)
(Margaret with a lamp.)
It’s so close and sultry, here,
(She opens the window.)
And yet it’s not warm outside.
It troubles me so, I don’t know why – 2755
I wish that Mother were near.
A shudder ran through my whole body –
I’m such a foolish girl, so timid!
(She begins to sing, while undressing.)
‘There was a king in Thule, he
Was faithful, to the grave, 2760
To whom his dying lady
A golden goblet gave.
He valued nothing greater:
At every feast it shone:
His tears were brimming over, 2765
When he drank there-from.
When he himself was dying
No towns did he with-hold,
No wealth his heir denying,
Except the cup of gold. 2770
He gave a royal banquet,
His knights around him, all,
In his sea-girt turret,
In his ancestral hall.
There the old king stood, yet, 2775
Drinking life’s last glow:
Then threw the golden goblet
Into the waves below.
He saw it falling, drowning,
Sinking in the sea, 2780
Then, his eyelids closing,
Never again drank he.’
(She opens the chest in order to arrange her clothes, and sees the casket.)
How can this lovely casket be here? I’m sure
I locked the chest when I was here before.
It’s quite miraculous! What can it hold in store? 2785
Perhaps someone brought it as security,
And my mother’s granted a loan on it?
There’s a ribbon hanging from it, there’s a key,
I’m quite determined to open it.
What’s here? Heavens! What a show, 2790
More than I’ve ever seen in all my days!
A jewel box! A noble lady might glow
With all of these on high holidays!
How would this chain look? This display
Of splendour: who owns it, it’s so fine? 2795
(She puts the jewellery on and stands in front of the mirror.)
If only the earrings were mine!
At once one looks so different.
What makes us beautiful, young blood?
All that’s fine and good,
But it’s discounted, in the end, 2800
They praise us half in pity.
To gold they tend,
On gold depend,
All things! Oh, poverty!
(Faust walking about pensively. Mephistopheles appears.)
Scorned by all love! And by hellfire! What’s worse? 2805
I wish I knew: I could use it in a curse!
What’s wrong? What’s pinching you so badly?
I never, in all my life, saw such a face!
I’d pack myself off to the Devil, in disgrace,
If I weren’t a Devil myself already! 2810
Is something troubling your brain?
It’s fitting that you’ve a raging pain.
To think, the priest should get his hands on
Jewellery that was meant for Gretchen!
Her mother snatched it up, to see, 2815
And was gripped by secret anxiety.
That woman’s a marvellous sense of smell,
From nosing round in her prayer-book too well,
And sniffs things, ever and again,
To see if they’re holy or profane: 2820
And about the jewels, she felt, that’s clear,
There’s not much of a blessing here.
‘My child,’ she said, ‘ill-gotten goods
Snare the soul, and dissipate the blood.
We’ll dedicate it to the Virgin, 2825
She’ll repay us with manna from Heaven!’
Margaret, grimacing wryly, was quite put out:
Thinking: ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,
He’s not a godless man, nor one to fear,
He who left these fine things here.’ 2830
Her mother let the parson in:
He’d scarcely let the game begin
Before his eyes filled with enjoyment.
He said: ‘So we see aright, we sinners,
Who overcome themselves are winners. 2835
The Church has a healthy stomach, when,
It gobbles up lands, and don’t forget,
It’s never over-eaten yet.
The Church alone, dear lady, could
Always digest ill-gotten goods.’ 2840
That’s a universal custom, too, my friend,
With all those who rule, and those who lend.
Then he took the bangles, chains and rings,
As if they were merely trifling things,
Thanked her too, no less nor more 2845
Than if it were a sack of nuts, one wore.
Promised them their reward when they died,
And left them suitably edified.
And Gretchen?
Sits there, restlessly, still
Not knowing what she should do, or will, 2850
Thinks of the jewels night and day,
But more of him who placed them in her way.
Faust
The dear girl’s sadness brings me pain.
Find some jewels for her, again!
Those first were not so fine, I’d say. 2855
Oh yes, to gentlemen it’s child’s play!
Fix it: arrange it, as I want you to,
Attach yourself to her neighbour, too!
Don’t be a devil made of clay,
Get her fresh jewels straight away! 2860
Yes, gracious sir, gladly, with all my heart.
(Faust exits.)
Such a lovesick fool would blow up the Sun,
High up in the air, with the Moon and Stars,
To provide his sweetheart with a diversion.
(He exits.)
Martha (Alone.)
God forgive that man I love so well, 2865
He hasn’t done right by me at all!
Off into the world he’s gone,
And left me here, in the dust, alone.
Truly I did nothing to grieve him,
I gave him, God knows, fine loving. 2870
(She weeps.)
Perhaps, he’s even dead! – Yet, oh!
If I’d only his death certificate to show!
(Margaret enters.)
Martha!
My little Gretchen, what’s happened?
My legs are giving way beneath me!
I’ve found another box of jewellery 2875
In the chest: it’s of ebony, fashioned,
Full of quite splendid things,
And richer than the first, I think.
You’d better not tell your mother:
She’ll give it to the Church, like the other. 2880
Margaret
Ah, See now! See what a show!
Martha (Dressing her with jewels.)
O you’re a lucky creature, though!
I can’t wear them in the street, alas,
Nor be seen like this, at Mass.
Come often then, to me, as before: 2885
You can put them on, here, secretly:
Stand, for an hour, in front of the mirror,
We’ll take delight in them privately.
Then give us a holiday, an occasion,
When people can see a fraction of them. 2890
A chain first, then a pearl in the ear: your
Mother won’t know, say you’d them before.
Who could have left the second casket?
There’s something not proper about it!
(A knock.)
Good God! Is it my mother, then? 2895
Martha (Looking through the shutter.)
It’s a stranger, a gentleman – Come in!
(Mephistopheles enters.)
Mephistopheles
In introducing myself so freely,
I ask you ladies to excuse me.
(He steps back reverently on seeing Margaret.)
It’s Martha Schwerdtlein I seek!
I’m she, what do you wish with me? 2900
I know you now: that’s enough for me:
You’ve a distinguished visitor there, I see.
Pardon the liberty I’ve taken, pray,
I’ll return this afternoon, if I may.
To think, child: of all things: just fancy! 2905
The gentleman takes you for a lady.
I’m a poor young thing he’ll find:
Heavens! The gentleman’s far too kind:
The jewels and trinkets aren’t mine.
Ah, it’s not just the jewellery, mind: 2910
The look: the manner: she has a way!
I’m pleased that I’m allowed to stay.
Martha
What brings you here? I wish that you –
I wish I brought you happier news! –
This news I hope you’ll forgive me repeating: 2915
Your husband’s dead, but sends a greeting.
He’s dead? That true heart! Oh!
My man is dead! I’ll die, also!
Ah! Dear lady, don’t despair!
Hear the mournful tale I bear! 2920
That’s why I’ll never love while I’ve breath,
Such a loss would grieve me to death.
Joy must have sorrows: sorrow its joys, too.
Tell me of his last hours: ah tell me!
Mephistopheles
He’s buried in Padua, close to 2925
The blessed Saint Anthony,
In a consecrated space,
A cool eternal resting place.
Have you brought nothing else, from him?
Yes a request, it’s large and heavy: 2930
For you to sing a hundred masses for him!
Otherwise, no, my pocket’s empty.
What? No piece of show? No jewellery?
What every workman has in his purse,
And keeps with him as his reserve, 2935
Rather than having to starve or beg!
Madam, it’s a heavy grief to me:
But truly his money wasn’t wasted.
And then, he felt his errors greatly,
Yes, and bemoaned his bad luck lately. 2940
Ah! How unlucky all men are! I’ll
Be sure to offer many a prayer for him.
You’re worthy of soon marrying:
You’re such a kindly child.
Margaret
Oh, no! That wouldn’t do as yet. 2945
If not a husband, a lover, while you wait.
It’s heaven’s greatest charm,
To have a dear one on one’s arm.
That’s not the custom of the country.
Custom or not! It seems to be. 2950
Go on with your tale!
I stood beside his death-bed,
Hardly better than a rubbish-tip, poor man,
Of half-rotten straw: yet he died a Christian,
And found that he was even further in debt.
‘Alas,’ he cried, ‘I hate myself, with good reason, 2955
For leaving, as I did, my wife and my occupation!
Ah the memory of that is killing me,
Would in this life I might be forgiven, though!’
The dear man! I forgave him long ago.
Mephistopheles
‘Although, God knows, she was more to blame than me.’ 2960
The liar! What! At death’s door, lies he was telling!
In his last wanderings, he was rambling,
If I’m any judge myself of the thing.
‘I had,’ he said, ‘no time to gaze in play:
First children, then bread for them each day, 2965
And I mean bread in the wider sense:
And couldn’t even eat my share in silence.’
Did he forget the love, the loyalty,
My drudgery, night and day!
Not at all, he thought of it deeply, in his way. 2970
He said: ‘As I was leaving Malta
I prayed hard for my wife and children:
And favour came to me from heaven,
Since our ship took a Turkish cutter,
Carrying the great Sultan’s treasure. 2975
There was a reward for bravery,
And I received, in due measure,
The generous share that fell to me.’
What? And where? Has he buried it by chance?
Mephistopheles
Who can tell: the four winds know the circumstance. 2980
A lovely girl there took him on,
As he, a stranger, roamed round Naples:
She gave him loyalty, and loved the man,
And he felt it so, till his last hour fell.
He stole from his children, and his wife! 2985
The rogue! All the pain and misery he met,
Couldn’t keep him from that shameful life!
Ah, but: now he’s died of it!
If I were truly in your place,
I’d mourn him quietly for a year, 2990
And look, meanwhile, for a dear new face.
Ah, sweet God! I’ll not easily find another,
In all the world, such as my first one was!
There never was a dearer fool than mine.
Only he loved roaming too much, at last, 2995
And foreign women, and foreign wine,
And the rolling of those cursed dice.
Well, that would have still been fine,
If, with you, he’d followed that line,
And noticed nothing, on your side. 3000
I swear that, with that same condition,
I’d swap rings with you, no question!
Martha
O, the gentleman’s pleased to jest!
I must fly from here, swift as a bird!
She might hold the Devil to his word. 3005
(To Gretchen.)
How does your heart feel? At rest?
What does the gentleman mean?
Mephistopheles (To himself.)
Sweet, innocent child!
(Aloud.)
Farewell, ladies!
Farewell!
Oh, speak to me yet, a while!
I’d like a witness, as to where, how, and when
My darling man died and was buried: then, 3010
As I’ve always been a friend of tradition,
Put his death in the paper, a weekly edition.
Yes, dear lady, two witnesses you need
To verify the truth, or so all agree:
I’ve a rather fine companion, 3015
He can be your second man.
I’ll bring him here.
Oh yes, please do!
That young lady will be here, too?
He’s a brave youth! Travelled, yes,
And with ladies he’s all politeness. 3020
I’d be shamed before the gentleman.
Not before any king on earth, madam.
Behind the house, then, in my garden,
Tonight: we’ll expect you gentlemen.
(Faust. Mephistopheles.)
How goes it? Will it be? Will it soon be done? 3025
Ah, bravo! Do I find you all on fire?
In double-quick time you’ll have your desire.
You’ll meet tonight, at her neighbour Martha’s home:
There’s a woman, who’s the thing,
For procuring and for gipsying! 3030
All right!
Mephistopheles
But, she needs something from us, too.
One good turn deserves another, true.
We only have to bear a valid witness,
That her husband’s outstretched members bless
A consecrated place in Padua. 3035
Brilliant! We must first make the journey there!
Mephistopheles
Sacred Simplicity! There’s no need to do that.
Just testify, without saying too much to her.
If you can’t do better than that, your pact I’ll tear.
O holy man! Now I see you there! 3040
Is it the first time in your life, come swear,
That you’ve ever born false witness?
Haven’t you shown skill in definition
Of God, the World, what’s in it, Men,
What moves them, in mind and breast? 3045
With impudent brow, and swollen chest?
And if you look at it more deeply, oh yes,
Did you know as much now - confess,
As you do about Herr Schwerdtlein’s death?
You are, and you’ll remain, a Liar and a Sophist. 3050
Yes when no one’s the wiser for it.
The coming morn, in all honour though,
Won’t you beguile poor Gretchen so:
And swear you love her with all your soul?
From my heart.
Mephistopheles
Well, and good! 3055
And will your eternal Truth and Love,
Your one all-powerful Force, above –
Flow from your heart, too, as it should?
Stop! Stop! It will! If I but feel,
For that emotion, for that throng, 3060
Seek the name, that none reveal,
Roam, with senses, through the world.
Seize on every highest word,
And call the fire, that I’m tasting,
Endless, eternal, everlasting – 3065
Does that to some devil’s game of lies belong?
Yet, I’m still right!
Hear one thing more,
I beg you, and spare my breath – the one
Who wants to hold fast, and has a tongue,
He’ll hold for sure. 3070
Come, chattering fills me with disgust,
And then you’re right, especially since I must.
(Margaret on Faust’s arm, Martha and Mephistopheles walking up and down.)
I know the gentleman flatters me,
Lowers himself, and shames me, too.
A traveller is used to being 3075
Content, out of courtesy, with any food.
I know too well, so learned a man,
Can’t feed himself on my poor bran.
A glance, a word from you, feeds me more,
Than all the world’s wisest lore. 3080
(He kisses her hand.)
Don’t trouble yourself! How could you kiss it?
It’s such a nasty, rough thing!
What work haven’t I done with it!
My mother’s so exacting.
(They move on.)
And you, sir, you’re always travelling? 3085
Ah, work and duty are such a bother!
There’s many a place one’s sad at leaving,
And daren’t stay a moment longer!
Martha
In youth it’s fine, up and down,
Flitting about, the whole world over: 3090
Then harsher days come round,
And lonely bachelors small joy discover,
In sliding towards their hole in the ground.
I view the prospect with horror.
Then take advice in time, dear sir. 3095
(They move on.)
Margaret
Yes, out of sight is out of mind!
Politeness comes naturally to you:
But you’ll meet friends, often, who,
Are more sensible than me, you’ll find.
Dearest, believe me, what men call sense, 3100
Is often just vanity and short-sightedness.
How so?
Ah, that simplicity and innocence never know
Themselves, or their heavenly worth!
That humble meekness, the highest grace
That Nature bestows so lovingly – 3105
It’s only for a moment that you think of me,
I’ve plenty of time to dream about your face.
You’re often alone, then?
Margaret
Yes, our household’s a little one,
Yet it has to be cared for by someone. 3110
We have no servant: I sweep, knit, sew,
And cook, I’m working early and late:
And in everything my mother is so
Strict, and straight.
Not that she has to be quite so economical: 3115
We could be more generous than others:
My father left a little fortune for us:
A house and garden by the town-wall.
But now my days are spent quietly:
My brother is a soldier: I’d 3120
A younger sister who died.
The trouble I had with that child:
Yet I’d take it on again, the worry,
She was so dear to me.
An angel, if like you.
I raised her, and she loved me too. 3125
After my father died, she was born,
We gave mother up for lost, so worn
And wretchedly she lay there then,
And slowly, day by day, grew well again.
She couldn’t think of feeding 3130
It herself: that poor little thing,
And so I nursed it all alone,
On milk and water, as if it were my own,
In my arms, in my lap,
It charmed me, tumbling, and grew fat. 3135
You found your greatest happiness there, for sure.
Margaret
But also truly many a weary hour.
The baby’s cradle stood at night
Beside my bed: and if it hardly stirred
I woke outright: 3140
Now I nursed it, now laid it beside me: heard
When it cried, and left my bed, and often
Danced it back and forth, in the room: and then,
At break of dawn stood at the washtub, again:
Then the market and the kitchen, oh, 3145
And every day just like tomorrow.
One sometimes lacks the courage, sir, and yet
One appreciates one’s food and rest.
(They move on.)
Women have the worst of it: it’s true:
A bachelor is hard to change, you see. 3150
That just depends on the likes of you,
The right teacher might improve me.
Say, have you never found anyone, dear sir?
Has your heart never been captured, anywhere?
The proverb says: A hearth of your own, 3155
And a good wife, are worth pearls and gold.
I mean: have you never felt desire, even lightly?
Mephistopheles
I’ve everywhere been treated most politely.
I meant to say: were you never seriously smitten?
Mephistopheles
With ladies, one should never dare to be flippant. 3160
Ah, you won’t understand me!
I am sorry! Yet you’ll find
I understand – that you are very kind.
(They move on.)
And, Angel, did you recognise me again,
As soon as I appeared in the garden?
Didn’t you see my gaze drop then? 3165
And you forgive the liberty I’ve taken,
The impertinence of it all,
Just as you were leaving the Cathedral?
Margaret
I was flustered, such a thing’s never happened to me:
‘Ah’, I thought, ‘has he seen, in your behaviour, 3170
Something that’s impertinent or improper?
No one could ever say anything bad about me.
He seems to be walking suddenly, with you,
As though he dealt with a girl of easy virtue’.
I confess, I didn’t know what it was, though, 3175
That I began to feel, and to your advantage too,
But certainly I was angry with myself, oh,
That I could not be angrier with you.
Sweet darling!
Wait a moment!
(She picks a Marguerite and pulls the petals off one by one.)
What’s that for, a bouquet?
No, it’s a game.
What?
No, you’ll laugh if I say! 3180
(She pulls off the petals, murmuring to herself.)
What are you whispering?
Margaret (Half aloud.)
He loves me – he loves me not.
You sweet face that Heaven forgot!
Margaret (Continuing.)
Loves me – Not – Loves me – Not
(She plucks the last petal with delight.)
He loves me!
Yes, my child! Let this flower-speech
Be heaven’s speech to you. He loves you! 3185
Do you know what that means? He loves you!
(He grasps her hands.)
I’m trembling!
Don’t tremble, let this look,
Let this clasping of hands tell you
What’s inexpressible: 3190
To give oneself wholly, and feel
A joy that must be eternal!
Eternal! – Its end would bring despair.
No, no end! No end!
(Margaret presses his hand, frees herself, and runs away. He stands a moment in thought: then follows her.)
Martha (Coming forward.)
Night is falling.
Yes, and we must away. 3195
I’d ask you to remain here longer,
But this is quite a wicked place.
It’s as if they had nothing to do yonder,
And no work they should be doing
But watching their neighbours’ to-ing and fro-ing, 3200
And whatever one does, insults are hurled.
And our couple, now?
Flown up the passage, there.
Wilful little birds!
He seems keen on her.
And she on him. It’s the way of the world.
(Margaret comes in, hides behind the door of the garden-house, holds her fingers to her lips, and peeps through the gaps.)
Margaret
He’s coming.
Faust (Appearing.)
Ah, rascal, you tease me so! I’ve got you! 3205
(He kisses her.)
Dearest man! With all my heart I love you!
(Mephistopheles knocks.)
Faust (Stamping his foot in frustration.)
Who’s there?
A dear friend!
Faust
A creature!
It’s time to go.
Martha (Appearing.)
Yes, sir, it’s late!
May I keep company with you, though?
My mother would tell me, – Farewell!
Must I go, then?
Farewell!
Goodbye, now!
And soon to meet again! 3210
(Faust and Mephistopheles exit.)
Dear God! That one man, by thinking,
Knows everything, oh, everything!
I stand in front of him, ashamed
And just say yes to all he says.
I’m such a poor, ignorant child, and he - 3215
I can’t understand what he sees in me.
(Faust, alone.)
Sublime spirit, you gave me all, all,
I asked for. Not in vain have you
Revealed your face to me in flame.
You gave me Nature’s realm of splendour, 3220
With the power to feel it, and enjoy.
Not merely as a cold, awed stranger,
But allowing me to look deep inside,
Like seeing into the heart of a friend.
You lead the ranks of living creatures 3225
Before me, showing me my brothers
In the silent woods, the air, the water.
And when the storm roars in the forest,
When giant firs fell their neighbours,
Crushing nearby branches in their fall, 3230
Filling the hills with hollow thunder,
You lead me to the safety of a cave,
Show me my own self, and reveal
Your deep, secret wonders in my heart.
And when the pure Moon, to my eyes, 3235
Rises, calming me, the silvery visions
Of former times, drift all around me,
From high cliffs, and moist thickets,
Tempering thought’s austere delight.
Oh, I know now that nothing can be 3240
Perfect for Mankind. You gave me,
With this joy, that brings me nearer,
Nearer to the gods, a companion,
Whom I can no longer do without,
Though he is impudent, and chilling,
Degrades me in my own eyes, and with 3245
A word, a breath, makes your gifts nothing.
He fans a wild fire in my heart,
Always alive to that lovely form.
So I rush from desire to enjoyment,
And in enjoyment pine to feel desire. 3250
(Mephistopheles enters.)
Haven’t you had enough of this life yet?
How can you be happy all this time?
It’s fine for a man to try it for a bit,
But then you need a newer clime!
I wish you’d something else to do, 3255
Than plague me on a good day.
Now, now! I’d gladly ignore you,
You don’t really mean it anyway.
You’d be little loss to me,
A rude, mad, sour companion. 3260
One’s hands are full all day, and see,
What pleases you, or what to let be,
No one can tell from your expression.
So that’s the tone he takes!
I’m to thank him, for boring me. 3265
Poor Son of Earth, how could you make
Your way through life without me?
I’ve cured you for a while at least
Of your twitches of imagination,
If I weren’t here, you’d certainly 3270
Have walked right off this earthly station.
In rocky hollows, in a hole,
Why sit around here, like an owl?
From soaking moss and dripping stone,
Sucking your nourishment, like a toad? 3275
Spend your time sweeter, better!
Your body’s still stuck there with the Doctor.
Do you understand the new power of being
That a walk in the wilderness can bring?
But then, if you were able to guess, 3280
You’re devil enough to begrudge my happiness.
An other-worldly pleasure.
Night and day, mountains for leisure.
Clasping heaven and earth, blissfully,
Inflating yourself, becoming a deity. 3285
With expectant urge burrowing through earth’s core,
Feeling all that six days’ work, in yours,
To taste who knows what, in power’s pride,
Overflowing, almost, with the joy of life,
Vanishing, the Earthly Son, 3290
And into some deep Intuition –
(With a gesture.)
I can’t say how – passing inside.
Fie, on you!
Ah, you don’t like it from me!
You’ve the right, to say ‘fie’ to me, politely.
Before chaste ears men daren’t speak aloud, 3295
That which chaste hearts can’t do without:
Short and sweet, I begrudge the pleasure you get
From occasionally lying to yourself, about it.
But you won’t hold out for long, I’m sure.
You’re already over-driven, 3300
Sooner or later you’ll be given
To madness, or to fear and horror.
Enough! Your lover sits inside,
All is dull, oppressive to her,
She can’t get you out of her mind, 3305
Her deep love overwhelms her.
First your love’s flood round her flowed,
As a stream pours from melted snow:
You’ve so filled her heart, and now,
Your stream again is shallow. 3310
Instead of enthroning yourself in the wood,
Let the great gentleman do some good,
To that poor little ape of flesh and blood,
And reward her, I think, for her love.
Her days seem pitifully long: 3315
She sits at the window, cloud drifting
Over the old City wall, sees it lifting.
‘Would I were a little bird!’ runs her song,
All day long, and all night long.
Sometimes lively, mostly not, 3320
Sometimes crying out, in tears,
Then quiet again, it appears,
And always in love.
You snake! You snake, you!
A touch! That caught you! 3325
Faust
Wretch! Be gone from my presence:
Don’t name that lovely girl to me!
Don’t bring desire for that sweet body
Before every half-maddened sense!
Well, what then? She thinks you’ve flown away, 3330
And, half and half, you already have, I’d say.
I’m near her, and were I still far,
I can’t lose her or forget her,
I even envy the body of our Lord,
When her lips touch it at the altar. 3335
Quite so, my friend! My envy often closes
On that pair of twins that feed among the roses.
Away from me, procurer!
Fine, you curse and I must smile.
The god who made both man and woman,
He likewise knew the noblest profession, 3340
So made the opportunity as well.
Go on, it’s a crying shame!
Since you’re bound, all the same
For your lover’s room, not death.
Faust
Where is the heavenly joy in her arms? 3345
Let me warm myself with her charms!
Do I not always feel her absent breath?
Am I not the fugitive? The homeless one?
The creature without aim or rest,
A torrent in the rocks, still thundering down, 3350
Foaming eagerly into the abyss?
And she beside it, with vague childlike mind,
In a hut there, on a little Alpine field,
So, her first homely life you’d find,
Hidden there in that little world. 3355
And I, the god-forsaken,
Was not great enough,
To grasp the cliffs, and take them,
And crush them into dust!
I still must undermine her peaceful life! 3360
You, Hell, must have your sacrifice.
Help, Devil, curtail the anxious moment brewing.
What must be, let it be, and swiftly!
Let her fate also fall on me,
And she and I rush to ruin! 3365
Again it glows: again it seethes!
Go in and comfort her, you fool!
When a brain, like yours, no exit sees,
It calls it the end of all things, too.
Praise him who keeps his courage fresh! 3370
Or you’ll soon get quite be-devilled, there.
I find nothing in the world so tasteless,
As a Devil, in despair.
(Gretchen alone at the spinning wheel.)
‘My peace is gone,
My heart is sore: 3375
I’ll find it, never,
Oh, nevermore.
When he’s not here,
My grave is near,
The world is all, 3380
A bitter gall.
My poor head
Feels crazed to me.
My poor brain
Seems dazed to me. 3385
My peace is gone,
My heart is sore:
I’ll find it, never,
Oh, nevermore.
Only to see him 3390
I look out.
Only to meet him,
I leave the house.
His proud steps,
His noble figure, 3395
His smiling lips,
His eyes: their power.
And all his speech
Like magic is,
His fingers’ touch, 3400
And, oh, his kiss!
My peace is gone,
My heart is sore:
I’ll find it, never,
Oh, nevermore. 3405
My heart aches
To be with him,
Oh if I could
Cling to him,
And kiss him, 3410
The way I wish,
So I might die,
At his kiss!
(Margaret. Faust.)
Promise me, Heinrich!
If I can!
Say, as regards religion, how you feel. 3415
I know that you are a dear, good man,
Yet, for you, it seems, it has no appeal.
Leave that alone, child! You feel I’m kind to you:
For Love I’d give my blood, my life too.
I’ll rob no man of his church and faith. 3420
That’s not right, we must have faith.
Must we?
Ah, if in this I was only fluent!
You don’t respect the Holy Sacrament.
I respect it.
Without wanting it, though. You’ve passed
So many years without confession, or mass. 3425
Do you believe in God?
My darling, who dare say:
‘I believe in God’?
Choose priest to ask, or sage,
The answer would seem a joke, would it not,
Played on whoever asks?
So, you don’t believe? 3430
Sweetest being, don’t misunderstand me!
Who dares name the nameless?
Or who dares to confess:
‘I believe in him’?
Yet who, in feeling, 3435
Self-revealing,
Says: ‘I don’t believe’?
The all-clasping,
The all-upholding,
Does it not clasp, uphold, 3440
You: me, itself?
Don’t the heavens arch above us?
Doesn’t earth lie here under our feet?
And don’t the eternal stars, rising,
Look down on us in friendship? 3445
Are not my eyes reflected in yours?
And don’t all things press
On your head and heart,
And weave, in eternal mystery,
Visibly: invisibly, around you? 3450
Fill your heart from it: it is so vast,
And when you are blessed by the deepest feeling,
Call it then what you wish,
Joy! Heart! Love! God!
I have no name 3455
For it! Feeling is all:
Names are sound and smoke,
Veiling Heaven’s bright glow.
That’s all well and good, I know,
The priest says much the same, 3460
Only, in slightly different words.
It’s what all hearts, say, everywhere
Under the heavenly day,
Each in its own speech:
And why not I in mine? 3465
Listening to you, it almost seems quite fine,
Yet something still seems wrong, to me,
Since you don’t possess Christianity.
Dear child!
I’ve long been grieved
To see you in such company. 3470
Faust
Why, who?
That man who hangs round you so,
I hate him in my innermost soul:
Nothing in all my life has ever
Given my heart such pain, no, never,
As his repulsive face has done. 3475
Don’t be afraid of him, sweet one!
His presence here, it chills my blood.
To every other man I wish good:
But much as I’m longing to see you
I’ve a secret horror of seeing him, too, 3480
I’ve thought him a rogue, all along!
God forgive me, if I do him wrong!
There have to be such odd fellows.
I’d rather not live with such as those!
Once he’s inside the door, again, 3485
He looks around in a mocking way,
And half-severely:
You can see he’s not at all in sympathy:
It’s written on his forehead even,
That there’s no spirit of love within. 3490
I’m so happy in your arms,
Free, untroubled, and so warm,
Yet I’m stifled in his presence.
You angel, full of presentiments!
It oppresses me, so deeply, too, 3495
That when he meets with us, wherever,
I feel that I no longer love you.
Ah I can’t pray when he’s there,
And that gnaws inside me: oh,
Heinrich, for you too, surely it’s so. 3500
Faust
It’s merely an antipathy!
I must go now.
Ah, will there never be
An hour where I can clasp you to my heart,
And heart to heart, and soul, to soul impart?
Ah, if I only slept alone! 3505
For you, I’d gladly draw the bolt tonight:
But my mother hears the slightest tone,
And if we were caught outright,
I’d die on the selfsame spot!
Faust
You angel: no need for that. 3510
Here is a little phial to keep!
Three drops of this, in her drink, she’ll take,
And Nature will favour her with deepest sleep.
What would I not do for your sake?
I hope that it won’t harm her though! 3515
Would I advise it, Love, if it were so?
Ah, I only have to see you, dearest man,
And something bends me to your will,
For you, so much, I have already done,
Little remains for me to do for you still. 3520
(She exits.)
(Mephistopheles enters.)
The little monkey! Has it gone?
Spying again, are you?
I’ve heard in infinite detail, how
The Doctor works his catechism through,
And I hope it does you good, now.
Girls are always so keen to review 3525
Whether one’s virtuous, and sticks to the rules.
They think if a man can be led, he’ll follow too.
Monster, you can’t see
How this true loving soul,
Full of a belief, 3530
That is wholly
Her salvation, torments herself so,
In case her lover should be lost indeed.
You sensual wooer, beyond the sensual,
A Magdalen leads you by the nose, I see. 3535
Abortion, of the filth and fire of hell!
And how well she reads one’s physiognomy:
In my presence, senses, without knowing how,
The hidden mind behind the mask: she feels
That I’m an evil genius, at least, and now 3540
Perhaps, that it’s the Devil it conceals.
So, tonight? –
What’s that to you?
I take my pleasure in it too!
(Gretchen and Lisbeth.)
Lisbeth
Have you not heard from Barbara?
It’s certain, Sibyl told me: well then,
She finally fell to that seducer.
There’s a lady for you!
How so?
It stinks!
She’s feeding two when she eats and drinks.
Oh! 3550
Serves her right then, finally.
She clung to that fellow, oh so tightly!
That was a fine to-ing and fro-ing,
Round the village, and dance-going,
Ahead of us all, they had to shine, 3555
Him treating her always to cakes and wine:
She the picture of loveliness, oh so fine,
So low after all, then, and so shameless,
And the gifts she took from him, nameless.
It was all kissing and carrying on: 3560
But now the flower is gone!
The poor thing!
Why are you so pitying?
When each of us was at our spinning,
When mother never let us out,
She and her lover hung about: 3565
On the bench, in a dark alley,
Forgetting the time, he and she.
She can’t raise her head again,
In a sinner’s shift now, penitent.
Surely he’ll take her for his wife. 3570
He’d be a fool! A lively fellow
Can ply his trade elsewhere, and so -
He’s gone.
Oh, that’s not nice!
If she gets him, she’ll reap ill in a trice,
The lads will tear at her wreath, what’s more 3575
We’ll scatter chaff in front of her door!
(She exits.)
Gretchen (Walking home.)
How proudly I’d revile her, then,
Whenever some poor girl had fallen!
I couldn’t find words enough, I mean,
To pour out scorn for another’s sin! 3580
Black as it seemed, I made it blacker,
Not black enough for me: oh never.
It blessed its own being, that proud self,
Yet now I’m the image of sin, myself!
Yet all that drove me on to do it, 3585
God! Was so fine! Oh, so sweet!
(In a niche of its wall a shrine, and image of the Mater Dolorosa, with flowers in front of it. Gretchen sets out fresh flowers. )
Oh bow down,
Sorrowful one,
Your kind face, to my affliction!
A sword in your heart, 3590
Where a thousand pains start,
You look up, at your dead Son.
You look up to the Father,
You send Him your sighs, there,
For His, and for your, affliction. 3595
Who then can feel,
How like steel,
Is the pain inside my bones?
What my poor heart fears for,
What it quakes for, and longs for 3600
You know, and you alone!
Wherever I go now,
How sore, sore, sore now
How sore my heart must be!
Ah, when I’m alone here, 3605
I moan, moan, moan here:
My heart it breaks in me.
The pots before my window!
My tears bedewed them so,
In the early dawn, when 3610
I picked the flowers below.
The sun it shone so brightly,
And early, in my room,
Where I sat already,
On my bed, in deepest gloom. 3615
Help me! Oh, save me, from shame and destruction!
Oh, bow down,
Sorrowful one,
Your kind face, to my affliction!
(The Street in front of Gretchen’s door.)
Valentine (A soldier, Gretchen’s brother.)
When I have sat, and heard the toasts, 3620
Where everyone makes good his boasts,
And comrades praised, to me, the flower
Of maidenhood, and loud the hour,
With brimming glass that blurred the praise,
And elbows sticking out all ways, 3625
I sat in my own peace secure,
Listening to the boastful roar,
And as I stroked my beard, I’d smile
And take a full glass in my hand,
Saying: ‘Each to his own, but I’ll 3630
Ask if there’s any in this land,
Who, to my Gretel, can compare
Whose worth can ever equal hers?’
Hear! Hear! Clink! Clang! Went around:
Some cried out: ‘He’s quite correct, 3635
She’s an ornament to all her sex.’
There sat the boasters, not a sound.
And now! – I could tear my hair, bawl,
And dash my head against the wall! –
With jeers, they now turn up their noses: 3640
Every rogue can taunt me, he supposes!
Like a bankrupt debtor, when I’m sitting,
A casual word can start me sweating!
And though I thrash them all together,
I’ve still no right to call them liars. 3645
Who goes there? What’s creeping by?
If I’m not wrong, there’s two I spy.
If it’s him, I’ll have him by the skin,
Alive he’ll not leave the place he’s in!
(Faust. Mephistopheles)
How the glow of the eternal light 3650
Shines from the Sacristy window, there,
On either side grows fainter, fainter,
And all around draws in the night!
Now it seems as dark within my heart.
And I’ve a little of the tom-cat’s art, 3655
That creeps around the fire escape,
Then slinks along the wall, a silent shape,
I’m quite virtuous in my way,
A little prone to thieve, and stray.
The splendour of Walpurgis Night, 3660
Already haunts all my members,
It’s the day after tomorrow’s light:
There, why one watches, one remembers.
Meanwhile you’ll bring that wealth to view,
That I see there, glimmering, behind you? 3665
You’ll soon experience the delight
Of holding this cauldron to the light.
I recently had a squint inside –
Where splendid silver dollars hide.
And not a jewel, or a ring, 3670
To adorn my darling girl?
Mephistopheles
Among the rest I saw a thing,
A sort of necklace, made of pearl.
That’s good! It’s painful to me,
To take no gift for her to see. 3675
You shouldn’t find it so annoying,
To get something now, for nothing.
Now the sky glows, filled with stars,
You’ll hear the work of a master:
I’ll sing a few moralising bars, 3680
All the better to seduce her.
(Sings to the zither.)
‘Why are you here,
Katrina dear,
In daylight clear,
At your lover’s door? 3685
No, no! When,
It will let in,
A maid, and then,
Let out a maid no more!
Take care for once 3690
It’s over and done,
And it’s all gone,
Goodnight to you, poor thing!
Keep your love’s belief,
And the pleasure brief,
From every thief, 3695
Unless you’ve a wedding ring.’
Valentine (Approaching.)
Whom do you lure? By every element!
You evil-tongued rat-catcher!
To the devil, with your instrument! 3700
To the devil, too, with the singer!
Mephistopheles
The zither’s broken! There’s nothing left of it.
There’s a still a skull left I’ll need to split!
Mephistopheles (To Faust.)
Look lively, Doctor! Don’t give ground.
Stand by: I’ll command this thing. 3705
Out with your fly-whisk, now.
You lunge! I’m parrying.
Parry, then!
Mephistopheles
And why not, indeed?
Valentine
And that!
Mephistopheles
Ah, yes!
Valentine
The devil opposes me!
What’s this? My hand’s already maimed. 3710
Thrust, home!
Valentine (Falls.)
Ah!
Now, the lout is tamed!
Away, we must go! Swiftly, of course,
Soon the cries of murder will begin,
With the police, now, I’m well in:
But not so much so, with the courts. 3715
(He exits with Faust.)
Martha (At the window.)
Come here! Come here!
Gretchen (At the window.)
Here’s a light!
Hear how they swear and struggle, yell and fight.
Martha (Leaving the house.)
Where have the murderers gone?
Gretchen (Leaving the house.)
Who is it, lying there?
On-lookers
Your mother’s son. 3720
Almighty God! What misery!
I’m dying! That’s soon spoken,
And, sooner still, it will be done.
Why stand there, crying, woman?
Come, hear me everyone! 3725
(They gather round him.)
You’re still young, my Gretchen, see!
And still haven’t sense enough, to be
Effective in your occupation.
I’ll tell you confidentially:
Now that you’re a whore indeed, 3730
Be one, by proclamation!
My brother! God! Why speak to me so?
In this business, leave God alone!
Sadly, what is done is done,
And what will come: will come. 3735
Begin with one, in secret, then,
Soon you’ll gather other men,
And, when a dozen of them have had you,
All the town can have you too.
When Shame herself appears, 3740
She’s first brought secretly to light,
Then they draw the veil of night
Over both her eyes and ears:
Men would gladly kill her, I say,
But they let her walk about and prosper, 3745
So she goes nakedly by day,
Yet isn’t any lovelier.
She’s the uglier to our sight,
The more it is she seeks the light.
Truly I can see the day 3750
When all honest people
Will turn aside from you, girl,
As from a corpse with plague.
Your heart’s flesh will despair,
When they look you in the face, 3755
You’ll have no golden chain to wear!
At the altar, there, you’ll have no place!
You’ll not be dancing joyfully
In all your lovely finery!
In some wretched gloomy corner, you 3760
Will hide, with cripples and beggars too,
And, though God may still forgive,
Be damned on earth while you live!
Commend your soul to God’s mercy!
Will you end your life with blasphemy? 3765
Valentine
If I could destroy your withered body,
Shameless, bawd, I’d hope to see
A full measure of forgiveness
For me, and all my sinfulness.
My brother! These are the pains of hell! 3770
Valentine
I said, leave off weeping, girl!
When you and honour chose to part,
That was the sword-thrust in my heart.
I go, through a sleep within the grave,
To God, as a soldier, true and brave. 3775
(He dies.)
(A Mass, with organ and choir.)
(Gretchen among a large congregation: the Evil Spirit behind Gretchen.)
How different it was, Gretchen,
When you, still innocent,
Came here to the altar,
And from that well-thumbed Book,
Babbled your prayers, 3780
Half, a childish game,
Half, God in your heart!
Gretchen!
What’s in your mind?
In your heart, 3785
What crime?
Do you pray for your mother’s soul, who
Through you, fell asleep to long, long torment?
Whose blood is on your doorstep?
And beneath your heart, 3790
Does not something stir and swell,
And trouble you, and itself,
A presence full of foreboding?
Oh! Oh!
Would I were free of the thoughts 3795
That rush here and there inside me,
Despite myself!
‘Dies Irae, dies illa,
Solvet saeclum in favilla!’
(The organ sounds.)
Wrath grasps you! 3800
The trumpet sounds!
The grave trembles!
And your heart,
From ashen rest,
To fiery torment 3805
Brought again,
Shudders!
Would I were not here!
It seems to me as if the organ
Steals my breath, 3810
The Hymn dissolves
My heart in the abyss.
(Verse 6:‘So when the Judge takes the chair, whatever is hidden will appear, nothing is left unpunished there.’)
‘Judex ergo cum sedebit,
Quidquid latet adparebit,
Nil unultum remanebit.’ 3815
I’m so stifled!
The pillars of the walls
Imprison me!
The arches
Crush me! – Air! 3820
The Evil Spirit
Hide yourself! Sin and shame
Cannot be hidden.
Light? Air?
Misery, to you!
Choir (Verse 7: ‘What shall I say in that misery, who shall I ask to speak for me, when the righteous will be saved, and barely?’)
‘Quid sum miser tunc dicturus, 3825
Quem patronum rogaturus,
Cum vix Justus sit securus?’
The transfigured, turn
Their faces from you.
The pure, shudder 3830
To offer you their hand.
Misery!
Choir (Repeats: ‘What shall I say in that misery?’)
‘Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?’
Neighbour! Your restorative!
(She falls, fainting.)
(The Hartz Mountains, in the region of Schierke and Elend.)
(Faust, Mephistopheles.)
Don’t you just long for a broomstick? 3835
I wish I’d the sturdiest goat to ride.
Like this, the journey’s not so quick.
So long as my legs can do the trick,
This knotted stick will do me fine.
Why do we need a shorter way! – 3840
To wander this labyrinth of valleys,
Climb all these cliffs and gullies,
From which the waters ever spray,
That’s a delight enchants the day!
Spring stirs already in the birches, 3845
And even the fir tree knows it now:
Shouldn’t our limbs feel it search us?
Truly, I don’t feel a thing!
It’s winter in my body, still,
On my path I want it frosty, snowing. 3850
How sadly the Moon’s imperfect circle
With its red belated glow, is rising,
So dim its light that at every step
You scrape a rock, or else a tree!
Ah, there, a will o’ the wisp leapt! 3855
It’s burning fiercely, now, I see.
Hey! My friend! May I ask your aid?
Would you like to give us a blaze?
Be so good as to light us up the hill!
With respect, I hope I’ll still be able, 3860
To keep my Natural light quite stable:
We usually zig-zag here, at will.
Ha, ha! He thinks to play the human game.
Go straight along now, in the Devil’s name!
Or I’ll blow out your flickering spark! 3865
You’re master of the house, I’ll remark,
And yes, I’ll serve you willingly.
But think! The mount is magically mad today,
And if a will o’ the wisp should lead the way,
You mustn’t judge things too precisely. 3870
Faust, Mephistopheles, The Will O’ The Wisp (In alternating song.)
We it seems, now find ourselves.
In the sphere of dreams and magic,
Do us honour, guide us well
So our journey will be quick,
Through the wide, deserted spaces! 3875
Tree on tree now shift their places,
See how fast they open to us
And the cliffs bow down before us,
And their long and rocky noses,
How they whistle and blow, for us! 3880
Through the stones, and through the grasses,
Stream and streamlet, downward, hurrying.
Is that rustling? Is that singing?
Do I hear sweet lovers’ sighing,
Heavenly days, is that their babbling? 3885
What we hope for, what we love!
And the echoes, like the murmuring
Of those other days, are ringing.
‘Too-wit! Too-woo!’ sounding nearer,
Owl there, and jay, and plover, 3890
Are they all awake above?
A salamander in the scrub, he’s
Long of leg, and fat of belly!
And every root like a snake,
Over sand and rock all bent, 3895
Stretches with a strange intent,
To scare us, of us prisoners make:
From the gnarled and living mass,
Stretching towards those who pass,
Fibrous tentacles. And mice 3900
Multi-coloured, lemming-wise,
In the moss and in the heather!
And all the fire-flies glowing,
Crushed together, tightly crowding,
In their tangled cohorts gather. 3905
Tell me, are we standing still,
Or are we climbing up the hill?
All seems spinning like a mill,
Rocks and trees, with angry faces
Lights, now, wandering in spaces, 3910
Massing: swelling at their will.
Grasp me bravely by the coat-tail!
Here’s a summit in the middle,
Where, astonished you can see,
Mammon glowing furiously. 3915
How strangely, through the hollow, glows
A sort of dull red morning light!
Into the deepest gorge it flows,
Scenting abysses in their night.
There vapour rises: here cloud sweeps, 3920
Here the glow burns through the haze,
Now like a fragile thread it creeps,
Now like a coloured fountain plays.
Here a vast length winds its way,
In a hundred veins, down the vales, 3925
And here in a corner, locked away,
All at once, now lonely, fails.
Nearby the sparks pour down,
Like showers of golden sand,
But see! On all the heights around, 3930
The cliffs, now incandescent, stand.
Has Mammon not lit his palace
Splendidly, for this festivity?
It’s fortunate you’re here to see,
I already sense the eager guests. 3935
How the wind roars through the air!
And whips around my head!
Grasp the ancient stony bed,
Lest you’re thrown in the abyss, there.
Mist dims the night to deepest black. 3940
Hear the forest timbers crack!
The owls are flying off in terror.
Hear, how the columns shatter,
In the vast, evergreen halls.
Now the boughs groan and fall! 3945
All the tree-trunks are thrumming!
All their roots are creaking, gaping!
Sinking in a tangled horror,
Crashing down on each other,
And through the ruined gorges 3950
The wind howls and surges.
Hear the voices on the heights?
Far away, and then nearby?
Yes, a furious magic song
Sweeps the mountain, all along! 3955
Witches (In chorus.)
To Brocken’s tip the witches stream,
The stubble’s yellow, the seed is green.
There the crowd of us will meet.
Lord Urian has the highest seat.
So they go, over stone and sticks, 3960
The stinking goat, the farting witch.
Old Baubo comes, alone, and how:
She’s riding on a mother-sow.
So honour then, where honour’s due!
Baubo, goes first! Then, all the crew! 3965
A tough old sow, a mother proud,
Then follow, all the witches’ crowd.
Which way did you come?
By the Ilsen Stone!
I gazed at the owl in her nest alone.
What a pair of Eyes she made! 3970
O, all you who to Hell’s gate go!
Why ride there so quickly though?
A Voice
She’s driven me hard: oh, see,
The wounds, all over me!
Witches, Chorus
The way is broad: the way is long.
Where is this mad yearning from?
The fork will prick, the broom will scratch,
The child will smother: the mother crack.
Wizards, Half-Chorus
Like snails in their shells, we’re crawlers,
All the women are there before us.
At the House of Evil, when we’re callers, 3980
Woman’s a thousand steps before us.
We don’t measure with so much care,
In a thousand steps a Woman’s there.
But make whatever speed she can,
A single leap, and there is Man. 3985
Voice (From above.)
Come now: come now from stony mere!
Voice (From below.)
We’d like to climb the heights from here.
We’re as bright and clean as ever,
But we’re unfruitful still, forever.
The wind is quiet: a star shoots by, 3990
The shadowy Moon departs the sky.
The magic choir’s a rush of sparks,
Thousands shower through the dark.
Voice (From below.)
Halt! Halt!
Voice (From above.)
Who calls there, from the stony vault? 3995
Voice (From below.)
Take me with you! Take me with you!
Climbing for three hundred years,
I haven’t reached the summit yet,
I long to be where my peers are met.
Here’s the broom: and here’s the stick, 4000
The ram is here, the fork to prick.
Tonight, whoever can’t deliver
There’s a man is lost forever.
Half-witches (Below.)
I’ve stumbled round so long, down here:
How far ahead the rest appear! 4005
I get no peace around the house,
And get none either hereabouts.
Chorus of Witches
An ointment makes the witches hale:
A rag will do them for a sail,
A trough’s a goodly ship, and tight: 4010
He’ll fly not who flies not tonight.
And once we’ve soared around,
So, alight then, on the ground,
Cover the heather, far and wide,
With your swarming witches’ tide. 4015
(They let themselves fall.)
Mephistopheles
They push and shove, they roar and clatter!
They whistle and whirl, jostle and chatter!
They glimmer and sparkle, stink and flare!
The genuine witch-element’s there!
We’ll soon be parted, so stay near! 4020
Where are you?
Here!
What! Nearly out of sight?
Then I’ll have to use a master’s right.
Ground! Sir Voland comes. Sweet folk, give ground!
Here, Doctor, hold tight! In a single bound,
Far from the crowd, we’ll soon be free: 4025
It’s too much, even for the likes of me.
Something burned there with a special light,
In that thicket, as far then as I could see,
Come on! We can slip inside, all right.
You spirit of contradiction! Go on! I follow you. 4030
I think after all it’s worked out quite cleverly:
We walk the Brocken on Walpurgis Night, yet we
Are as isolated now, as we ever could choose.
See now, what colours flare!
A lively mob club together there. 4035
In little groups one’s not alone.
I’d still rather be higher, though!
I can see fire and whirling smoke.
There the crowd stream, to the Evil One:
There many a puzzle finds solution. 4040
Mephistopheles
But many a puzzle’s knotted so.
Let the whole world have its riot,
Here we’ll house ourselves in quiet.
It’s a long and well-established tradition,
From the great one makes a smaller edition. 4045
I see young witches, naked, bare,
And old ones, veiled cunningly.
For my sake, be a little friendly.
The trouble’s slight, the fun is rare.
I hear instruments being tuned, too! 4050
A cursed din, you’ll soon get used to.
Come, with me! There’s no way otherwise,
I’ll step ahead, lead you to their eyes,
And earn your fresh gratitude, so.
What say you? There’s lots of room, my friend. 4055
Look over there! You can’t see its end.
A hundred fires burning, in a row,
They love, and drink, and dance, and chat,
Tell me where you’ll find better than that?
Will you, as we make our bow, 4060
Play the devil, or wizard now?
To be sure I’m used to travelling incognito,
But on formal occasions rank’s allowed to show.
I’ve no Knight’s garter to mark me out,
But the cloven foot’s honoured in this house. 4065
Do you see how that snail there crawls to me:
With those delicate feelers on its head,
It’s already scented me, you see,
I can’t deny myself, if I wished.
Come! We’ll go from fire to fire, 4070
I’m the broker: you’re the suitor.
(To some, sitting by dying embers.)
Old sirs, what do you sit at the edge for?
I’d praise you, in the middle, more,
Among the youthful buzz, and shout.
You’re alone enough inside the house. 4075
Who would trust the Nation!
One’s toiled so long for it:
With the people, as with women,
Youth’s always the best fit.
From every rule they’ve gone astray, 4080
Me, I praise the good old days,
Then, truly, we were all the rage,
That was a real golden age.
We weren’t so stupid, you’d have found,
And often did, what wasn’t right: 4085
But now it all turns round and round,
Just as we’d like to grasp it tight.
Who writes anything good these days,
Or reads with moderate intelligence!
And what the dear young folk all praise, 4090
I’ve never seen such stupid nonsense.
Mephistopheles (Suddenly looking old.)
I feel folk are ripe for Judgement Day,
Of Witches’ Mount, I’ve made my last ascent.
And now my cask runs cloudy, anyway,
The world itself is all as good as spent. 4095
Gentlemen: don’t pass me by!
Don’t lose the opportunity!
Inspect my wares attentively,
I’ve a selection for your eye.
There’s nothing on my stall, here, 4100
On Earth, it’s equal you’ll not find,
That hasn’t caused some harm somewhere,
To the world itself, and then, mankind.
No knife that isn’t dyed in gore,
No cup that, through some healthy body, 4105
Hot, gnawing venom hasn’t poured,
No gems that haven’t bought some kindly
Girl, no sword that’s not cut ties that bind,
Or, perhaps, struck an enemy from behind.
Mephistopheles
Granny! You misunderstand the age. 4110
What’s gone: is done! What’s done: is gone!
Get novelties they’re all the rage!
Now it’s novelties that lead us on.
Don’t let me lose myself in here!
Now, this is what I call a fair! 4115
This whole whirlpool’s trying to climb above,
You think you’re shoving, and you’re being shoved!
Who is that, there?
Note that madam!
That’s Lilith.
Faust
Who?
First wife to Adam.
Pay attention to her lovely hair, 4120
The only adornment she need wear.
When she traps a young man in her snare,
She won’t soon let him from her care.
Those two, the old and young one, sitting,
They’ve leapt about more than is fitting! 4125
No rest tonight for anyone.
Let’s grasp them. There’s a new dance, come!
A lovely dream once came to me,
And there I saw an apple-tree,
Two lovely apples, there, did shine, 4130
Tempting me so, I had to climb.
Apples you love a lot, I know,
That once in Paradise did grow.
I’m deeply moved with joy to feel,
That such my garden does reveal. 4135
Mephistopheles (Dancing with the old witch.)
A vile dream once came to me,
In it, I saw an old cleft tree,
A monstrous crack there met my eyes,
It pleased me, though, despite its size.
I offer my best greetings to 4140
The knight of the cloven shoe!
He’ll need to have a real stopper,
If he’s not scared of that whopper.
A Rationalist (Nicolai)
Cursed Folk! How do you dare to?
Haven’t we shown, for many a season, 4145
Spirits can’t exist: it stands to reason?
Yet you dance around, just as we do!
The Lovely Witch (Dancing.)
Why’s he here then, at our ball?
Faust (Dancing.)
Oh! He’s everywhere, and into all.
While others dance, he must reflect. 4150
If he can’t discuss every last step,
It’s as good as if it didn’t happen.
He’s angriest at a forward pattern.
But if you turn around in circles,
As he does in his ancient mills, 4155
He’ll call it excellent, least ways
If you greet with interest what he says.
The Rationalist
You’re still there! Oh, it’s quite unheard of.
We’re enlightened now, so take yourselves off!
The Devil’s crew’s discounted by every rule: 4160
Yet though clever, still we’re haunted, in Tegel, too.
Well listen: here we’re bored with it!
I tell you, Spirit, to your face: 4165
For me, spirit-rule has no place:
Because my spirit can’t exercise it.
(The dance continues.)
I see, tonight, I’ll have no success:
But I get a bit from every trip,
And hope, before the final step, 4170
I’ll defeat the devils and the poets.
Mephistopheles
Now he’ll sit in some wet sump,
And console himself, like that, about you,
And if he sticks leeches on his rump,
He’s cured of the Spirit, and Spirits, too. 4175
(To Faust, who has left the dance.)
Why have you deserted that lovely girl,
Who sang so sweetly in the dancing?
Ugh! Right in the middle of her singing
A red mouse sprang out of her mouth.
That’s fine: don’t brood on it, anyway: 4180
Enough, that the mouse wasn’t grey.
At harvest time who queries a mouse?
Then I saw –
Mephistopheles
What?
Faust
Mephisto, can you see
That lovely child, far off, alone there, 4185
Travelling slowly, so painfully,
As if her feet were chained together.
I must admit, without question
She’s the image of my sweet Gretchen.
Forget all that! It benefits no one.
It’s a lifeless magic form, a phantom. 4190
Encountering it will do you no good:
Its fixed stare freezes human blood,
And then one’s almost turned to stone:
Medusa’s story is surely known.
Those are the eyes of the dead, truly, 4195
No loving hand has closed their void.
That’s the breast Gretchen offered to me:
That’s the sweet body I enjoyed.
It’s magic, fool: you’re an easy one to move!
She comes to all, as if she were their love. 4200
What delight! What pain!
I can’t turn from her, again.
Strange, around her lovely throat,
A single scarlet cord adorns her,
Like a knife-cut, and no wider! 4205
Mephistopheles
That’s right! I see it too: and note,
She can carry her head under her arm,
Since Perseus did her that fatal harm.
Always desire for that illusion!
Come on, climb this bit of mountain: 4210
It’s as lively as the Vienna Prater,
And if no one’s deceiving me,
I’m looking at a genuine theatre.
You’re showing?
It’ll be on again shortly.
A fresh performance: last of seven. 4215
That number, for us, is traditional.
An amateur’s written it, and then
It’s amateurs who perform it all.
Forgive me, sir, if I break off here,
Since I’m the amateur curtain-raiser. 4220
That I find you on the Blocksberg’s good,
Since I find you exactly where I should.
Oberon and Titania’s Golden Wedding.
An
Interlude (Intermezzo)
Theatre Manager
You brave stagehands, of Weimar,
Take a rest, at least for today.
Ancient mountains, misty vales are, 4225
All the scenery for our play.
Fifty years we’ve passed by,
To make this wedding golden,
But let some argument arise:
There’s gold in it, for me, then. 4230
Spirits, where I am, be seen:
Appear, all, at this moment:
Fairy King, and Fairy Queen,
Renew their old intent.
Puck comes shooting through the air, 4235
And moves his feet, in time:
After him a hundred, there,
Share his joyful rhyme.
Ariel conducts his singing
In pure and heavenly tones: 4240
Ugly faces greet its ringing,
But also lovely ones.
Partners if you’d get along,
Learn then from the two of us!
If we in pairs would love for long, 4245
Someone needs to separate us.
The sulky man, the wilful wife,
So they might know each other,
I’d show him all the Northern ice,
And show her the Equator. 4250
The Whole Orchestra (Tutti. Very loud.)
From fly-snout and midge-nose,
And all of their relations,
Frog and cricket, too, there flow
These musical vibrations!
See, the bagpipes on their way! 4255
Made from a soap-bubble.
Hear the snail’s-twaddle play
Through its stumpy nozzle.
Spirit (Newly formed.)
Spider’s-feet and toad’s-belly,
With useless winglets to ’em!
A little creature, it can’t be
But it makes a little poem.
Little steps and high leaps,
Through honeydew and fragrance here,
You still won’t do enough it seems, 4265
To climb into the atmosphere.
A masquerade of mockery?
Do I dare to trust my eyes?
Oberon, that fair divinity,
Do I see him here, tonight? 4270
He’s no tail, and not a claw!
And yet it’s him, it’s true:
Like the gods of Greece, I’m sure,
He must be a devil too.
What I capture here today, 4275
In truth is only sketchy:
Yet I prepare myself, someday
For my Italian journey.
Purist
Ah! My bad luck brings me here:
Since I haven’t been invited! 4280
Of all the witches to appear,
Only two are powdered.
Powder like a petticoat
On an old, grey witch you’ll see,
While I sit naked on my goat, 4285
And show a fine young body.
We have too much experience,
To moan about you, here, then!
Yet, as young and tender you are, once,
So, I hope you will be, rotten. 4290
Fly-snout and midge-nose,
Don’t swarm around the naked!
Frog and cricket, too, all know
Your time, and don’t mistake it!
A Wind-Vane (Swinging to one side.)
Society, as one would like it done: 4295
True pure brides along the slope!
And young fellows, one for one,
People quite brimful of hope!
The Wind-Vane (Swinging to the other side.)
And if the ground doesn’t split,
And swallow everyone, 4300
I’ll be so amazed at it,
I’ll leap into hell at once.
Xenies (Barbed verses: Greek – gifts exchanged.)
As insects we appear,
With little claws we’re nipping,
To do Satan, our Papa, 4305
Due honour as is fitting.
Hennings (August Von Hennings, a literary enemy.)
See them, packed in a crowd,
Naïve, together, poking fun!
At last, they’ll even say, aloud,
They’re hearts were blameless ones. 4310
Musagete (Controller of the Muses: Greek – epithet of Apollo)
Among this witches’ crew,
I’d gladly lose my way:
They’re easier to manage, too
Than Muses, any day.
One was someone, among real folk. 4315
Come on, then: I can hold my end up!
Like Germany’s Parnassus, look,
The Blocksberg’s summit’s broad enough.
Curious Traveller (Nicolai)
Say, who’s that haughty man?
He walks with such proud steps. 4320
He sniffs as only a sniffer-out can.
‘He smells out Jesuits.’
A Crane (Lavater)
I like to fish among the clear
And the muddy levels:
So the pious man appears 4325
Mixing with the devils.
A Child of This World (Goethe himself.)
To the pious man, as I’m aware,
Every place is fitting,
So you build, on the Blocksberg here,
Many a house of meeting. 4330
Does some new choir succeed?
I hear a distant drum.
‘No! It’s the booming in the reeds,
Of bitterns, in unison.’
How they lift their legs, this lot! 4335
As best they can, they all take flight!
The cripples skip, the clumsy hop,
And don’t care at all what they look like.
A Fiddle-Player
The ragged mob all hate so much,
They’d gladly crush the others. 4340
Here the bagpipe draws them, just
As Orpheus’ lyre the creatures.
The Dogmatist
I won’t declare it’s madness, now,
Or show myself too critical.
The devil must exist somehow, 4345
Or how could we act the devil?
The Idealist
The fantasy in my mind,
For once, is too despotic.
Truly, if I am all, I find
Today I’m idiotic! 4350
Here’s real pain, at hand,
It annoys me so to see it:
For the first time, here I stand,
Unsteady, on my feet.
It’s very pleasant to be here, 4355
And this crowd too has merit:
Since from the devil I infer
Some much more virtuous spirit.
These little flames a-hunting go,
And think they’re near the treasure: 4360
But Devil rhymes with doubtful: so
My being here’s a pleasure.
Frog on leaf, and cricket, oh
You amateur editions!
Fly-snout and midge-nose, 4365
Remember you’re musicians!
Carefree, is what they call
This band of happy creatures:
When we can’t go on foot at all
Our head it is that features. 4370
The Maladroit
We picked up many a titbit once,
But now, God orders things so,
Our shoes are ragged from the dance,
And we travel on naked soles.
From the swamps we’ve come, 4375
Where we first arose:
In the ranks here, we, at once,
As glittering gallants pose.
A Shooting Star
I shoot here from the sky
And star- and firelight meet. 4380
Now across the grass I lie -
Who’ll help me to my feet?
The Heavy-Footed
Room, round about us, room!
We crush the grasses under.
Spirits come, and spirits too 4385
Have their bulky members.
Don’t tread so heavily,
Like elephantine calves: let
Puck himself, the sturdy, be,
On this night, the stoutest. 4390
Loving nature winged your backs,
You spirits, one supposes,
Follow, then, on my light track,
To the hill of roses!
Orchestra (Quietly: pianissimo)
Trailing cloud, and misted trees, 4395
Brighten with the day.
Breeze in leaves, and wind in reeds,
And all have flown away.
(A Field. Faust, Mephistopheles.)
Faust
In misery! Despair! Wandering wretchedly on the face of the earth, for ages, and now imprisoned! That kind, unfortunate creature, locked up in prison as a criminal, and lost in torment! To this! This! – Treacherous, worthless spirit, you hid it from me! – Stand there, then! Roll the devil’s eyes in your head, in anger! Stand there, and defy me with your unbearable presence! Imprisoned! In irredeemable misery! Delivered up to evil spirits, and the judgement of unfeeling men! And you’ve troubled me meanwhile with tasteless diversions, concealed her growing misery from me, and left her helpless in the face of ruin!
She is not the first.
Dog! Loathsome Monster! – Change him, infinite Spirit! Change the worm into his dog-form, in which he often liked to scamper in front of me, at night, rolling at the feet of the unsuspecting traveller, and clambering on his shoulders when he fell. Change him into his favourite likeness, so he can crawl on his belly in the sand in front of me, and I can trample him, depraved thing, under my feet! – ‘Not the first!’ – Misery! Misery! That no human spirit can grasp. That more than one being should sink into the depth of this wretchedness: that the first, writhing in its death-pangs, under the eyes of Eternal Forgiveness, did not expiate the guilt of all the others! It pierces to the marrow of my bones, the misery of this one being – and you smile calmly at the fate of thousands!
Now we’re out of our wits again, already, at the point where men’s brains are cracked. Why did you enter into partnership with us, if you can’t go through with it? Would you take wing, and yet be free of dizziness? Did we thrust ourselves on you, or you on us?
Faust
Don’t gnash your greedy jaws at me! It disgusts me! – Great and glorious Spirit, you who revealed yourself to me, nobly, who know my heart and soul, why shackle me to this disgraceful companion, who feeds on injury, and at the last on ruin?
Have you finished?
Save her, or woe to you! May the weightiest curse fall on you for a thousand ages!
I can’t undo the bonds of the Avenger, nor loose his bolts. – ‘Save her!’ –
Who was it dragged her to ruin? I or you?
(Faust looks around, wildly.)
Would you grasp the lightning? A good thing it has not been allowed you miserable mortals! To crush the innocent one who replies is the tyrant’s way to free oneself of an embarrassment.
Take me to her! She shall be freed!
And the danger you expose yourself to? Be aware, the guilty blood from your hands lies on the town. Avenging spirits hover over the place of death, and lie in wait for the murderer’s return.
Faust
And not from yours, too? Murder, and death in this world, be on you, monster! Take me there, I say, and free her.
I’ll take you: listen to what I can do! Have I all the powers of heaven and earth? I’ll confuse the jailor’s mind: you take possession of the key, and bring her out, hand in human hand! I’ll keep watch: magic horses are ready: I’ll carry you away. That, I can do.
Faust
Away!
(An open field. Faust and Mephistopheles flying onwards on black horses.)
What do they weave, round the Ravenstone?
Mephistopheles
I don’t know what they’re cooking and brewing. 4400
Soaring up, diving down, bending and bowing.
A guild of witches.
They scatter, they consecrate.
Away! Away!
(Faust, with a bunch of keys and a lamp, in front of an iron door.)
A long-forgotten shudder grips me, 4405
I’m gripped by all of Mankind’s misery,
Here behind these damp walls, she
Lives: and all her guilt’s illusory.
Do I tremble, then, to free her!
Do I dread, once more, to see her! 4410
On! Fear adds to death’s proximity.
(He grips the lock. She sings within.)
My mother, the whore
She killed me!
My father, the rogue,
He gnawed me! 4415
Little sister alone
Laid out the bone
In the cool of the clay:
Then I was a sweet bird on the stone.
Fly away! Fly away! 4420
Faust (Unlocking the door.)
She doesn’t know her lover’s listening,
Hears the chains, the straw’s rustling.
(He enters.)
Margaret (Hiding herself in the bed of straw.)
Woe! Woe! It comes. Bitterest Death!
Hush! Hush! It’s I who come, to free you.
Margaret (Throwing herself down in front of him.)
Are you a man? Then pity my distress. 4425
Your cries will wake the jailors, too!
(He grasps the chains, to loose them.)
Margaret (On her knees.)
Who gives the executioner
Such power over me!
At midnight you’re already here.
Let me live, have mercy on me! 4430
Won’t it be soon enough when dawn should come?
(She stands up.)
I’m still so young, so young!
And yet I’ll die!
I was lovely too, that was my
Ruin. My love was near, now he’s gone: 4435
The garland’s torn: the flowers are done.
Don’t grip me, now, so violently!
What harm have I done you? Spare me!
Don’t let me beg for mercy, in vain,
I’ve never seen you before today! 4440
How shall I endure this misery, say!
I’m wholly in your power. Oh,
Let me feed my baby first.
I caressed it all night, though,
They told me I caused it hurt, 4445
And now they say I killed it, so,
And now I’ll never be happy again.
They sing songs of me! It’s wicked of folk!
There’s an old story ends this way,
Who told them to tell it so? 4450
A lover lies at your feet,
Who’ll end your painful slavery.
O let’s kneel, the saints will bless!
See here! Under these steps,
Under this sill, 4455
Seethes Hell!
The Evil One
With fierce anger,
Makes his groan!
Faust (Aloud)
Gretchen! Gretchen! 4460
Margaret (Listening closely.)
The voice of my lover!
(She leaps to her feet: the chains fall away.)
Where? I heard him call me.
I’m free! No one holds me.
To his neck, I shall fly,
On his breast, I shall lie! 4465
He called Gretchen! Stood at the sill.
Among the howls and cries of Hell,
Among the devil’s, scornful groans,
I knew his sweet, dear tones.
I’m here!
Here! O, say it once again! 4470
(She embraces him.)
It’s he! It’s he! Where now is all the pain?
Where now the chains, the dungeon’s misery?
You’re here! You come to save me.
I am saved!
Already the street is there again, 4475
Where I first saw you plain,
And the joyful garden,
Where Martha and I waited, then.
Come with me! Come!
O stay,
I’ll gladly stay, if you are with me. 4480
Away!
If you don’t hurry,
We’ll pay for this.
What? You can no longer kiss?
My dear, so short a time to miss me, 4485
And you’ve forgotten how to kiss me?
Why am I so anxious on your breast?
When, once, at your words, your gaze,
With a whole heaven I was blessed,
And you kissed me, enough to suffocate. 4490
Kiss me!
I kiss you: see!
(She embraces him.)
Oh! How cold and silent,
Your lips.
Where has your passion 4495
Gone?
Who brought me this?
(She turns away from him.)
Come! Follow me! Darling, be bold!
I’ll clasp you with a thousand-fold
Warmth: now follow me! I beg you! 4500
Margaret (Turning to him.)
And is it you? Is it really you?
It is! Come, with me!
You’ll loose the chains,
And take me to your breast, again.
How is it you don’t shrink from me?
Do you know, friend, whom you free? 4505
Faust
Come! Come! The night will soon be over.
I’ve killed my mother,
I’ve drowned my child.
Was it not given to you and I?
You too. - You here! I scarce believe. 4510
Give me your hand! This is no dream.
Your dear hand! – Ah, but it’s damp!
Wipe it clean! Why do I think,
It has blood on.
Ah God! What have you done? 4515
Put your sword away,
I beg you, please!
Let past be past I say!
You’re destroying me!
No you must live on: must do. 4520
I’ll describe our graves to you.
You must begin them
This very dawn:
The best one is for my mother,
Then, by her, my brother, 4525
Myself, a little further, lay,
But not too far away!
And the little one, at my right breast.
No one else by me will lie! –
Ah, to nestle at your side, 4530
That was a sweet, a darling bliss!
But no more will I achieve it:
It’s as if I must force you to it,
As if you turn aside my kiss:
And yet it’s you, so good, so sweet to see! 4535
You know it is, so come with me!
Out there?
To Freedom.
If the grave is there,
Death waiting, then I come!
From here to everlasting rest, 4540
And not a step further would
You go now? O Heinrich, if I could!
You can! Just will it! The door is open!
I dare not: there’s no hope for me then.
What use is flight? They lie in wait for me. 4545
To be forced to beg is a bitter existence,
And cursed too with an evil conscience!
To wander among strangers, bitter,
And even then I’d still be captured!
I’ll stay beside you. 4550
Margaret
Quickly! Quickly!
Save my poor baby!
Away! Down the ridge,
Now, by the brook,
Over the bridge, 4555
Into the wood,
Left, where the plank is,
There, in the pool.
Seize it now: you!
It’s trying to rise, 4560
It’s moving still!
Save it! Save it!
Be sensible!
Only one step, and then you’re free!
If we were on the mountain, only! 4565
There my mother sits, on a stone,
And oh, the cold, it grips me!
There my mother sits on a stone,
And wags her head, so heavy.
No sign, no nod, for me, I’m sure 4570
Her sleep’s so long: she’ll wake no more.
She slept, while we took our pleasure.
That was such a time to treasure!
Here all’s useless, speech or prayer:
I’ll take you from this place: I’ll dare. 4575
Let me alone! No, no force!
Don’t grip me so murderously, oh,
I’ve done all else to please you so.
The day breaks! Dearest! Dearest!
Day! Yes, it’s dawn! The last I’ll see: 4580
My wedding day, that was to be!
Tell no one you’ve been with Gretchen. Ah, bright glance!
It’s done with: all in vain!
We two will meet again: 4585
But not in the dance.
The crowd gather, without speech.
The streets, the square,
Can’t hold them, there.
The bell tolls, the wand breaks. 4590
Now, they seize and tie me!
I’m dragged already to the block.
The blade that quivers over me,
Has quivered before over every neck.
Silent the world, now, as the grave! 4595
Oh, would that I’d never seen the light!
Away! Or you’ll be lost, tonight.
Useless staying and praying! Chattering!
The horses are shivering,
The dawn breaks, clear. 4600
What rises in the doorway, here?
Him! Him! Send him away!
Why is he here in this holy place?
He wants me!
You will live!
Margaret
God of Judgement! To you, myself I give! 4605
Come! Now! Or I leave you both to stew.
Margaret
Father, save me! I belong to you!
Angels! In Holy Company,
Draw round me: guard me!
Heinrich! For you, I fear. 4610
She is judged!
A Voice (From above.)
She is saved!
Mephistopheles (To Faust.)
To me, here!
(He vanishes, with Faust.)
A Voice (From within, dying away.)
Heinrich! Heinrich!
(Faust is lying on flowery turf, tired and restless, trying to sleep. A circle of tiny, graceful spirits hovers round him.)
Ariel (Chanting, accompanied by Aeolian Harps.)
When the springtime blossoms, falling,
Shower down, and cover all things,
When the fields with greener blessing 4615
Dazzle all the world of earthlings,
Little elves, but great in spirit,
Haste to help, where help they can,
And, be he holy, be he wicked,
Pity they the luckless man. 4620
You, hovering in airy circles, round his head
Show yourselves in proud elf-form, instead,
Calm all the fierce resistance of his heart,
Remove the bitter barbs of sharp remorse,
Free him from past terrors, by your art. 4625
Four are the watches night makes in its course,
At once, now, mercifully, let the dark depart.
Let his head sink down on pillow’s coolness,
Next sprinkle him with dew from Lethe’s stream:
Then let his joints be free of cramps and stiffness, 4630
So that he’s strong enough to greet day’s gleam:
Elves exert your sweetest right,
Return him to the holy light!
When the balmy breezes smother
All the green-encircled land, 4635
Sweetly fragrant and mist-covered,
Twilight gathers all around.
Sweet peace then whispers softly,
Rocks the heart on childhood’s shores,
And on the eyelids, tired and weary,
Closes daylight’s golden doors.
Here the night’s already passing,
Sacred stars set, star by star,
Great lights, and the lesser glittering,
Sparkling near, and gleaming far: 4645
Sparkling, where the lake reflects her,
Gleaming bright in cloudless height,
Protecting the deep bliss of rest, there,
Moon, in splendour, rules the night.
The hours have vanished now, already 4650
Joy and pain have flown away,
You are whole! Recover, wholly:
Trust the sight of breaking day.
Greening valleys, swelling hills there,
Rise from out their shadowy sleep: 4655
And, drifting in its waves of silver,
On to harvest, flows the wheat.
Wish then, to achieve your wishes,
Gaze up, at the brightness there!
You are lightly tangled: this is 4660
Sleep, a shell, so now emerge!
Don’t delay, walk bravely, tall,
When the crowd waits, hesitating:
The noblest man achieves his all,
By seeing, and then, swiftly, taking. 4665
Listen! Hear the hour nearing!
Ringing out to spirit-hearing,
Now, the new day is appearing.
Doors of stone creak and chatter,
Phoebus’ wheels roll and clatter, 4670
What a din the daylight’s bringing!
Trombone- and trumpeting,
Eyes amazed, and ears ringing,
The Unheard drops out of hearing.
Slip into the flowers presence, 4675
Deeper, deeper, lie there silent,
In the pebbles, where the leaves bend:
If it strikes you, you’ll be deafened.
Faust
Life’s pulses beating now, with new existence,
Greet the mild ethereal half-light round me: 4680
You, Earth, stood firm tonight, as well: I sense
Your breath is quickening all the things about me,
Already, with that joy you give, beginning
To stir the strengthening resolution in me,
That strives, forever, towards highest Being. – 4685
Now the world unfolds, in half-light’s gleam,
The wood’s alive, its thousand harmonies singing,
While through the valleys, misted ribbons stream:
And heavenly light now penetrates the deep:
Twigs, branches shoot, with fresher life it seems, 4690
From fragrant gulfs, where they were sunk in sleep:
Colour on colour lifts now from the ground,
As leaf and flower with trembling dewdrops weep –
And a paradise reveals itself, all round.
Gaze upwards! – The vast mountain heights 4695
Already with the solemn hour resound:
They are the first to enjoy the eternal light
That later, for us, will work its way below.
Now, to the sloping Alpine meadows bright,
It gives a fresh clarity, a newer glow, 4700
And step by step it reaches us down here: –
It blazes out! – Ah, already blinded, though
I turn away, my eyesight wounded, pierced.
So it is, when to the thing we yearn for
The highest wish so intimately rehearsed, 4705
We find fulfilment opening wide the door:
And then, from eternal space, there breaks
A flood of flame, we stand amazed before:
We wished to set the torch of life ablaze,
A sea of fire consumes us, and such fire! 4710
Love, is it, then? Or hate? This fierce embrace,
The joy and pain of alternating pyres,
So that, gazing back to earth again,
We seek to veil ourselves in youth’s desire.
Let the sun shine on, behind me, then! 4715
The waterfall that splits the cliffs’ broad edge,
I gaze at with a growing pleasure, when
A thousand torrents plunge from ledge to ledge,
And still a thousand more pour down that stair,
Spraying the bright foam skywards from their beds. 4720
And in lone splendour, through the tumult there,
The rainbow’s arch of colour, bending brightly,
Is clearly marked, and then dissolved in air,
Around it the cool showers, falling lightly.
There the efforts of mankind they mirror. 4725
Reflect on it, you’ll understand precisely:
We live our life amongst refracted colour.
(A council of state waits for the Emperor. Trumpets.)
(Enter court attendants of all kinds, splendidly dressed.
The Emperor approaches the throne: the Astrologer is to his right.)
I greet you all, the loved, and true,
Gathered here from far and wide: -
I see a wise man’s at my side, 4730
But where on earth’s the fool?
Right behind your mantle there,
He suddenly tumbled on the stair,
They dragged away the pile of fat.
Dead: or drunk? No man knows that. 4735
At once, and at a wondrous pace,
Another came to take his place.
Quite extravagantly dressed,
Yet troubling, since he’s so grotesque:
Guards closed the door in his face, 4740
Their halberds held crosswise too –
Yet here he comes, the daring fool!
Mephistopheles (Kneeling in front of the throne.)
What is cursed, and yet is welcomed?
What’s desired, yet chased away?
What’s always carefully defended? 4745
What’s abused: condemned, I say?
What do you not dare appeal to?
What will all, happily, hear named?
What stands on the step before you?
What’s banished from here, all the same? 4750
For once, at least, spare us your babble!
This is no time or place for riddles,
They’re a matter for these gentlemen. –
Solve it! I’ll gladly hear it all again.
I fear my old fool’s wandered far in space: 4755
Come to my side, here, and take his place.
(Mephistopheles places himself on the Emperor’s left.)
A newer fool – for newer cares –
Where’s he from? – How’d he get there? –
The old one fell – He’s all done in –
He was fat – Now this one’s thin – 4760
So now, my faithful and beloved,
Welcome here from near and far!
We meet beneath a lucky star,
Since health and luck are written above.
But tell me, why in days like these, 4765
When we’ve conquered care,
And carnival masks are all our wear,
And delightful things are waiting,
We trouble ourselves with debating?
Yet since you say we have to do it, 4770
It’s settled then, and we’ll go to it.
The highest virtue, like a sacred halo
Circles the Emperor’s head: and so
He alone may validly exercise it:
Justice! – All men love and prize it, 4775
What all ask, yet wish they could do without,
The people look to him to hand it out.
But ah! What help can human wit deliver,
Or kindly heart, or willing hand, if fever
Rages wildly through the state, and evil 4780
Itself is broodingly preparing evil?
Look about, from this height’s extreme,
Across the realm: it seems like some bad dream,
Where one deformity acts on another,
Where lawlessness by law is furthered, 4785
And an age of crime is discovered.
Here one steals cattle, there, a wife,
Cross, cup and candlestick, from the altar,
And boasts of it for many a year,
His skin’s intact, and so’s his life. 4790
Then they take their claims to court
The judge, in pomp, on his high cushion,
Meanwhile there grows a furious roar,
From swelling tides of revolution.
They insist it’s crime and disgrace, 4795
With their accomplices beside them,
And ‘Guilty!’ is the verdict in a case,
Only where Innocence is its own defence.
So all the world will slash and chop,
Destroying just what suits themselves: 4800
How then can that true sense develop
That shows the morally acceptable?
At last the well-intentioned man
Yields to the bribe, the flatterer:
And the judge who can’t convict, is hand 4805
In hand with the criminal offender.
I’ve painted in black, but I’d rather draw
Its image in the deeper colour that I saw.
(Pause)
The conclusion’s inescapable:
If all men suffer when all cause trouble, 4810
Then His Majesty himself is harmed.
How riotous things are in this wild age!
They all lash out, and are lashed, these days,
And everyone is deaf to all command.
The citizen behind his wall, 4815
The knight in his cliff-top tower,
Have sworn to defy us all,
And hold fast to their power.
The impatient mercenaries
Impetuously demand their pay, 4820
And if we owed them less, already
They’d be off, and march away.
If one forbids what all desire,
He’s disturbed a hornet’s nest:
The kingdom, they should keep entire, 4825
Is plundered, and distressed.
They’d like to wreak a wild disorder,
Half the world has been dissolved:
There are still kings beyond our border,
But none of them think they’re involved. 4830
In allies, then, who’d put their trust!
The subsidies they promised us,
Like water pipes are all blocked up.
And, Sire, in all your wide estate,
Who’s benefited from the take? 4835
Wherever you go, there’s some new pup,
Who declares his independence.
We watch, while they carry on:
We’ve given away our rights, and hence,
No rights are left for us, not one. 4840
Our parties too, however called,
Can’t be depended on today:
They like to praise, and blame: it’s all
Impartial both their love and hate.
They’re resting: they take cover,
The Ghibelline, and Guelph. 4845
Now, who’ll help his neighbour?
Each man just helps himself.
The golden doors are fastened tight,
Men scrape and scratch and glean, all right, 4850
But our coffers still are empty.
What evils, too, I must endure!
We try to save each day, I’m sure,
But every day sees greater need: 4855
So, daily, some new torment’s mine.
The cooks, alas, have all they want:
Boar, pheasant, hare and venison,
Ducks and peacocks, chickens, geese,
Payment in kind, and guaranteed,
They keep coming all the time, 4860
But in the end we’re short of wine.
Though cask on cask once filled the cellar,
The best of vintages, and names, there,
These noble lords can drink forever,
And haven’t left a single drop. 4865
The council too must have their fill,
They grasp their tankards tight until,
Under the table, they have to stop.
Now I’ll count the cost, you’ll see,
The moneylenders won’t spare me, 4870
The advances that they give gladly,
Will eat the future years, on top.
Pigs don’t have time to fatten: instead
Men seize the pillows from your bed,
Even the bread from your table’s gone. 4875
Fool, do you know anything else that’s wrong?
Mephistopheles
Me? Nothing at all! I see splendour, as I must,
Around me, of you and yours! – Lack trust,
Where Majesty commands so, without question,
Where ready force scatters the enemy faction? 4880
Where strong wills, with wit to understand,
Active and various, are all at hand?
What, for some evil purpose, could combine,
For darkness, then, where such stars shine?
Here’s a rogue – who understands – 4885
He’ll tell lies – as long as he can –
I wonder too – what lies behind –
And what’s in front? – A project of some kind –
In this world, what isn’t lacking, somewhere, though?
Sometimes it’s this, or that: here what’s missing’s gold. 4890
True you can’t just rake it up from the floor,
But wisdom knows the mines where one gets more.
In mountain veins, foundation walls,
Coined and un-coined golden hoards,
And ask me, now, who’ll bring it to the light: 4895
One gifted with Mind’s power and Nature’s might.
Mind and Nature – don’t speak to Christians so.
That’s why men burn atheists, below,
Such speech is dangerous, all right,
Nature is sin, and Mind’s the devil, 4900
It harbours within it, Doubt, that evil,
Their misshapen hermaphrodite.
Not so with us! – In the Emperor’s land
Two kinds of men are still at hand
Worthy alone to defend the throne: 4905
The Saints are they, and the Knights:
They enter life’s uncertain fights,
Rewards of Church and State they own:
Firm in their resistance, check
The confused aims of everyman. 4910
No, Nature and Mind are heretics!
Wizards! Ruining town and land.
And you, with brazen impudence still
Invoke them here in this high circle:
You’re fostering the corrupted will, 4915
Fools are always hand in hand.
By this I recognise a most learned lord!
What you can’t feel lies miles abroad,
What you can’t grasp, you think, is done with too.
What you don’t count on can’t be true, 4920
What you can’t weigh won’t weigh, of old,
What you don’t coin: that can’t be gold.
You won’t sort out our faults like that,
Will Lenten sermons make men fat?
I’m tired of the eternal ‘if and when’: 4925
We’re short of gold, well fine, so fetch some then.
I’ll fetch what you wish, and I’ll fetch more:
Easy it’s true, but then easy things weigh more:
It’s there already, yet how we might achieve it,
That’s the tricky thing, knowing how to seize it. 4930
Just think how, in those times of consternation,
When a human flood drowned land and nation,
People were so terrified, everywhere,
They hid their treasures, here and there.
So it was when mighty Rome held sway, 4935
And so it goes on, yesterday and today.
Still buried in the earth, why, there it is:
The earth is the Emperor’s, so it’s his.
For a Fool his aim’s not out of sight:
It’s true, that’s an old Imperial right. 4940
Satan lays out his gilded nets, for you,
These things don’t square with what’s good and true.
Only bring them to court: I’ll welcome the sight,
And I’ll gladly accept the thing as not quite right.
The Fool’s clever, to promise what each of us needs: 4945
A soldier will never ask from whence it all proceeds.
If you think I’m cheating you, maybe,
Why here’s the man: ask Astrology!
He knows each circling hour and house:
So ask him: how are the Heavens now? 4950
Two rogues, there – already known –
Fool and Dreamer – so near the throne –
An idle song – an ancient rhyme –
The Fool plays – the Wise Man speaks, in time –
The Astrologer (Speaks, with Mephistopheles prompting him.)
The Sun, himself, he is of purest gold: 4955
Mercury, messenger, of riches told:
Venus has bewitched you all, and she
Looks on you, soon and late, quite lovingly:
The chaste Moon’s mood holds fast:
Mars won’t harm: his strength won’t last: 4960
And Jupiter remains the loveliest sight:
While Saturn’s great, but far away and slight.
His metal we don’t greatly venerate,
Light of worth, though leaden in its weight.
Yes! When Sun and Moon are conjoined fine, 4965
Silver and gold will make the whole world shine:
The rest as well in turn are all achieved,
Palaces, gardens proud, and rosy cheeks:
All this he brings this highly knowledgeable man:
He can deliver, too, what nobody else here can. 4970
The words they say, I hear them twice,
And yet I’m not convinced they’re right.
What’s all that? - A joke gone flat –
Horoscopy – And Chemistry –
I’ve heard that vein – Hoped in vain – 4975
Come, quick – It’s still a trick –
They stand around: they’re all amazed,
They don’t trust what can be found,
One babbles about deadly nightshade,
The other of some jet-black hound. 4980
What matter if one thinks I’m jesting,
Or another calls it sorcery,
If the soles of their feet are itching,
If their firm step totters towards me.
All can feel the secret working 4985
Of Nature’s everlasting power,
And from its deepest lurking,
A living vein shall rise and flower.
When every member twitches,
When all looks strange to your eyes, 4990
Make up your minds, be delvers,
Here the players, there the prize!
It’s like a lead-weight on my feet –
My arm’s swollen – but then, it’s gouty –
There’s a tickle here in my big toe – 4995
All the way down my back it goes –
From these signs, I’d say we’re near
A rich vein of treasure, here.
Quick then! Don’t slope off there!
Let’s test your froth of lies, 5000
Show us, all, this rarest prize.
I’ll lay down the sword and sceptre,
With my own noble hands, as well,
If you don’t lie, complete the work myself,
And, if you lie, then send you down to Hell! 5005
Mephistopheles
I’ll find the way there anyway –
Yet I really can’t exaggerate
What’s lying round ownerless, everywhere.
The farmer, ploughing the furrows, lays bare
A crock of gold the clods unfold: 5010
Seeks saltpetre from damp limy walls,
And finds there golden rolls of gold,
In his poor hands: frightened by all.
What caverns exist to be blown open,
Through what shafts and cuttings then, 5015
Burrow those gold-divining men,
Those neighbours of the Underworld!
Secure in vast ancient cellars, find,
Golden plates, bowls, cups for wine,
In rows, and heaps where they were hurled: 5020
Goblets fashioned out of rubies,
And if they wants to try their uses,
Beside them there’s the ancient fluid.
Yet – I would trust the expert though –
The wooden casks rotted long ago, 5025
The wine makes tartar, in the liquid.
Not just gold, and jewels, fine
But the essence then of noble wine
Terror hides, and night, as stark.
So quiz the wise untiringly: 5030
It’s trivial, by day, to see:
Mystery: houses in the dark.
See to it then! What use is it out of sight?
Whatever’s valuable must see the light.
Who knows a rogue for certain but by day? 5035
At night all cows are black, and cats are grey.
The pots down there, full of golden weight –
Drive your plough, and, ploughing, excavate.
Take hoe and spade: and dig yourself,
Labouring will make you great, 5040
A herd of golden calves, you’ll help
To rise from out their buried state.
Then with delight, without delay,
You can, yourself, your love array:
Glittering colours, shining gems, will best 5045
Enhance your majesty, and her loveliness.
The Emperor
Quick then, quick! How slow it always is!
The Astrologer (Prompted by Mephistopheles.)
Sire, restrain your urgent passion, please.
First let all your pleasant pastimes go:
Distracted natures won’t achieve the goal. 5050
First we must atone for them in quiet,
Lower things are gained by the higher.
Who wants the good, must first be good:
Who wants delight, must calm the blood:
Who longs for wine, treads ripened grapes: 5055
Who hopes for miracles, strengthens then his faith.
So let the time be passed in merriment!
Ash Wednesday will achieve our grave intent.
And we can celebrate, wild Carnival,
More riotously, meanwhile, after all. 5060
(They exit to the sound of trumpets.)
How merit and luck are linked together
These fools can’t see, no, not a one:
If they’d the Philosopher’s Stone, as ever,
There’d lack a philosopher for the stone.
(Arranged and decorated for a Carnival Masque.)
In our German lands, fear no evil, 5065
Dance of Death or Fool, or Devil:
There’s a cheerful feast, here: wait.
Our Sire, on his Roman travels,
Has, for his profit, and our revels,
Crossed the highest Alpine levels, 5070
And gained himself a happier State.
The Emperor kissed the holy slipper,
First, won sovereign rights, and as,
He was gifted with the crown, there,
Accepted a fool’s cap, for us. 5075
We’re all newly born, now:
Every sophisticated man,
Pulls it snug over ears and brow:
He seems a poor fool, but he’ll vow
To wear it wisely as he can. 5080
I see they’re gathering already,
Hesitant alone, or paired off intimately:
Chorus on chorus pushing through.
In, and out, quite undeterred:
And end up where they were before, too. 5085
With its hundred thousand scenes of the absurd,
The World itself is just one giant Fool.
Flower Girls (Singing, accompanied by mandolins.)
Dressed to win your praises,
We are here tonight,
Young Florentine ladies, 5090
At the German Court of light.
Many a bright flower we wear
To adorn our tawny hair:
Silken threads, silken gear,
They play their own part here. 5095
Then our position’s well deserved, oh,
Worth your praise, without a doubt,
Our shining-flowers, by hand we sew,
So they bloom year in, year out.
All kinds of coloured snippets, 5100
Placed with perfect symmetry:
You might mock us bit by bit, yes,
But the whole attracts you see.
We are pretty things to look on,
Flower Girls, and very smart: 5105
Then, the temperament of Woman
Is so very close to Art.
Herald
Let’s see those trays of flowers
That you carry on your heads,
That paint your arms with colours: 5110
What each likes, let her select.
Quick: in walks and branches
What a garden we will share!
They are fit to crowd around us,
Flower sellers and their wares. 5115
Haggle in this cheerful place,
But seek no market here!
At a quick and witty pace,
Let all know what you bear.
I don’t envy flowery ones, 5120
Every kind of strife I shun:
It’s unnatural, to me:
So I am the sign of nations,
And I seal their obligations,
Mark of peace in any field. 5125
I hope I’m worth good luck today:
Some lovely head I might array.
A Garland of Wheat-Ears (Golden)
Ceres gift, for you to wear,
Charming, sweet, we were all sent:
The most desired of uses, here 5130
As your beautiful adornment.
A Fancy Garland
Like a mallow, bright with colour,
A marvellous flower grew from the moss!
Never known before to Nature,
Yet Fashion brought it us. 5135
My name’s for you to know,
Theophrastus couldn’t tell you though:
Yet I hope, if not all do,
Many of us will still please you,
She, I’d like, most to possess us, 5140
Who might twine us in her tresses:
Or if she should so decide,
Set beside her heart, I’d ride.
Many-coloured fancies may
Form the fashion of the day, 5145
Strange and curious of shape,
Such as Nature never made:
Stalks of green and bells of gold,
Show in tresses all untold! –
Yet we – remain here, covered up: 5150
Lucky those who first discover us.
When the summer is proclaimed,
Then the rosebuds are in flame,
Who would do without such pleasures?
Promises, and yielded treasures, 5155
That, in the flowery kingdom, rule,
Mind and heart and glances, too.
(The Flower Girls garland themselves, and show their wares, gracefully, in the green leafy arcades.)
The Gardeners (Singing, accompanied by lutes.)
See the flowers quietly growing,
On your brows, sweetly amuse you,
And their fruit will not seduce you, 5160
One may taste delight in knowing.
Sunburned faces offer up,
Peaches, plums, and cherries, yet.
Buy! Against the tongue and palate,
The eye is the worst way to judge. 5165
Come, of all this ripest fruit,
Eat with taste, and delight!
Poems on roses might still suit,
But on the apple man must bite.
So then let us join with their 5170
Flowering youth itself,
And we’ll dress our riper wares
In our neighbour’s wealth.
Dressed in cheerful garlands, there,
Along this jewelled leafy route, 5175
All things can be found together,
Buds and leaves, and flowers and fruit.
(Both choruses set out their goods on the flight of steps, with alternating song accompanied by the lutes and mandolins, and offer their wares to the spectators.)
A Mother (With her daughter.)
Child, when you came to light,
I dressed you in your little hat:
Your face was so sweet and bright, 5180
And your body was soft at that.
I thought you’d soon be a bride,
To the wealthiest of men allied,
I thought you’d find a match.
Ah! Now already many a year 5185
Has flown by, uselessly,
The motley crowd of suitors here,
Pass you quickly by, I see:
With him you danced a lively dance,
Gave that other a knowing glance 5190
With your elbow, sharply.
I’ve thought about the many feasts
We went to, all in vain,
Forfeits, and Hide and Seek,
Couldn’t help, that’s plain: 5195
Today the fools are out the trap,
Darling, open then your lap,
There’s someone you can gain.
(Other young and lovely girls join the Flower Girls, and they gossip together. Fishermen and bird-catchers with fishing rods, nests, limed twigs and other implements appear, and scatter themselves among the girls. Mutual attempts to win over, catch, escape and embrace, allow the most agreeable conversation.)
Wood-cutters (Entering, loudly and boisterously.)
Make way! Stand back!
We must be free, 5200
We fell the trees,
They crash, and smash:
And when we pass,
Expect a smack.
To give us praise 5205
Consider this:
If coarser ways,
Weren’t in this land,
How’d the finest,
Have means to stand, 5210
Despite they’re jesting?
So learn our meaning!
For you’d be freezing,
If we weren’t sweating.
You’re fools, a troop, 5215
That’s born to stoop.
We’re the wise,
We see through lies:
And then our bags
Our caps and rags, 5220
Are light to wear:
And free from care,
We’re always idle,
Slippered, we sidle,
Through market crowds, 5225
Slithering about,
Standing to gaze,
And croak, amazed:
And at that sound,
Through heaving mounds, 5230
Eel-like slipping,
Lightly skipping,
We romp together.
Praise us ever,
Or scold us so, 5235
We let both go.
The Parasitical (Fawning, and lustful.)
You brave woodsmen,
And your next of kin,
The charcoal-burners,
You’re the men for us. 5240
Since all the stooping,
The ready nodding,
The winding phrase,
That plays both ways,
That warms or chills, 5245
Just as one feels,
What profit is it then?
The mighty fire
From heaven or higher, 5250
Might come in vain
Without logs again,
And coal heaps there,
To light the oven
And make it glare.
It roasts and steams, 5255
It boils and teems.
The finger-picker,
The plate-licker,
He sniffs the fry,
Suspects the fish: 5260
Rules, by and by,
The patron’s dish.
A Drunk (Confused.)
Nothing seems bad to me today!
I feel so frank, and free:
New joys, and happy songs, I say. 5265
I brought them both with me!
So let’s drink! Drink, and drink!
Drink up, you! Clink, and clink!
You behind me, come around!
Drink it up, and send it down. 5270
My wife was so outraged, she screamed,
When I turned up, dressed so funny,
However much I boasted, she
Kept calling me a tailor’s dummy.
So I drink! Drink, and drink! 5275
Clink the tankards! Clink, and clink!
Tailor’s dummy: swill it round!
When it’s clinked, drink it down!
Don’t you say, I’ve lost my way:
I’m here, where I’ve got it made. 5280
If host and hostess won’t play,
I’ll get credit from the maid.
Always drinking! Drink, and drink!
Lift, you others! Clink, and clink!
Each to each! So it goes round! 5285
Too soon, I know, it’s all gone down.
However I please myself, may I
Have it happen at my command:
Let me lie here, where I lie,
If I can’t, any longer, stand. 5290
Every pal, now: drink and drink!
A toast again, a clink and clink!
Hold tight now to bench and ground!
Under the table, he’ll be found.
(The Herald announces sundry poets – Poets of Nature, and Court, and Minstrels, Sentimentalists and Enthusiasts. In this competitive crowd no one allows anyone else to start reciting. One slips by with a few words.)
As a poet, do you know 5295
What I’d most enjoy, here?
If I dared to sing, or bellow
What no one wants to hear.
(The Night and Church Poets excuse themselves having become engaged in a very interesting conversation with a newly-risen Vampire, from which a new school of poetry might derive. The Herald has to accept their excuses, and meanwhile calls on characters from Greek Mythology, who even in modern masks lose neither their character nor power to charm.)
(The Three Graces appear.)
Grace it is we bring, to living:
So be graceful in your giving. 5300
Gracefully may you receive:
Lovely is the wish achieved.
And in quieter hours, and places,
Chiefly, in your thanks, be gracious.
(The Three Fates appear)
I, the eldest, I, the spinning 5305
Am lumbered with this time: I’ve
Need of lots of pondering, thinking,
To yield the tender threads of life.
So you may be soft and supple,
I sift through the finest flax: 5310
Drawn through clever fingers, double
Fine, and even, smooth as wax.
If you wish all joy and dancing,
Excessive now, in what you take,
Think about those threads: their ending. 5315
Then, take care! The threads might break.
Know that in these latter days,
I was trusted with the shears:
Since our eldest sister’s ways,
Failed to help men, it appears. 5320
She dragged all her useless spinning,
Endlessly to air and light,
While the hopes of wondrous winnings,
Were clipped and buried out of sight.
I too made a host of errors: 5325
Myself, in my younger years,
But, to keep myself in check, there’s
The case, in which I keep my shears.
And so, willingly restrained,
I look kindly on this place, 5330
In these hours, your freedom gained,
Run on and on, at your wild pace.
I, the only one with sense,
To twist the threads am left:
My ways brook no nonsense, 5335
I’ve never hurried yet.
Threads they come, threads I wind,
Guiding each one on its track,
Letting no thread wander blind,
Twining each one in the pack. 5340
If I, once, forgot myself, my fears
For the world would give me pause:
Counting hours, measuring years,
So the Weaver holds her course.
Herald
You wouldn’t recognise the ones who come now, 5345
However much you know of ancient troubles,
To look at them, the cause of many evils,
You’d call them welcome guests, and bow.
They’re the Furies: no one will believe me,
Pretty, shapely, friendly, young in years: 5350
But meet with them, you’ll quickly learn I fear,
How serpent-like these doves are to hurt freely.
Though they’re malicious, in modernity,
Where fools now boast about their sinful stories,
They too have ceased to want the Angels’ glories: 5355
Confess themselves the plague of land and city.
(The Furies approach.)
What does that matter? You still believe in us:
Then, we’re pretty, young, and fawning kittens:
If one of you has a lover, with whom he’s smitten,
We’ll tickle his ears at length, sweetly fuss, 5360
Till it would be safe to tell him, eye to eye,
That she waves to him, and him, the same,
She’s thick up top, a crooked back, and lame,
And married, she’d be no good, by and by.
We know how to pester the bride-to-be as well: 5365
Scarcely a week ago, her lover himself,
Said nasty things to her about herself! –
They’re reconciled, but something rankles still.
Megaera
That’s a joke! Let them be married, any way,
I’ll take it up, and know, whatever may befall, 5370
Through wilfulness the sweetest joys will pall,
Man’s changeable, and changeable the day.
And no one holds the desired one in his arms,
Without longing, foolishly, for the more-desired,
Leave’s his good fortune, with which he was fired: 5375
Flies from the sun, and asks the frost for warmth.
I know how to give birth to those things: there,
Is Asmodi, who is my faithful servant,
To work true mischief at the proper moment,
And send to ruin all Mankind, in pairs. 5380
Instead of malice: poison and the knife
I’m mixing, sharpening for that betrayer:
Love another, and sooner now or later,
Ruin itself will penetrate your life.
Gall and wormwood they must roam 5385
Through all those sweetest moments!
No bargaining here, no bartering, come –
The perpetrator must atone.
Let no one sing about forgiveness!
I cry my cause to the cliffs again, 5390
Echo! Hear! Reply: Avenge!
Let him who alters, cease existence.
I’ll ask you please, to move aside, 5395
Since what comes next, is otherwise.
You can see, here’s a mountain coming,
Decked with princely coloured trappings,
A tusked head, snaking trunk, there too,
A mystery, but I’ll reveal the key to you.
A delicate and dainty girl sits on its neck,
And with a thin wand keeps the beast in check: 5400
Another, up there, standing, wonderfully,
Surrounded with light, almost blinding me.
Beside it, two girls walk in chains, one fearful,
While the other girl seems quite cheerful:
One wishes to be, and one feels she is, free. 5405
Let each of them declare who they might be.
Fear
Smoking torches, flares and lights,
Are burning at the troubled feast:
Among all these deceptive sights,
Ah, I’m held fast by the feet. 5410
Away, you ridiculous smilers!
I suspect those grins so bright:
All my enemies, beguilers,
Press towards me through the night.
Here! A friend becomes a foe, 5415
Yet I know that mask, I’d say:
One that wants to kill me, though,
Now unmasked he creeps away.
Gladly, heedless of direction
I’d escape from out this world: 5420
But, beyond, there roars destruction:
In mists of terror I am furled.
I greet you, sisters! Though today,
And the whole of yesterday,
You enjoyed the masquerade, 5425
I know all will be displayed:
In the morning you’ll unveil.
And if, in the torchlight, we
Don’t feel particular delight,
Yet the days to come, so bright, 5430
More wholly suited, we shall hail,
Now as one, now solitary,
Through fair fields, we’ll roam loose,
To act, or rest, as we choose,
And in that carefree way of living, 5435
Dispense with nothing, go on striving:
Guests are welcome everywhere,
Confidently, let’s appear:
Surely, the best anywhere,
Must be somewhere, here. 5440
Two of Man’s worst enemies,
Fear and Hope, I bind for you,
Now this country worries me.
Make room! I’ll rescue you.
I lead the living Colossus, 5445
Turret-crowned, as you see,
Step by step, he crosses,
The highest passes, tirelessly.
But above me, on the summit,
Is a goddess, there, who’s bearing 5450
Outspread wings, and turns about,
Everywhere, to see who’s winning.
Ringed by splendour, and by glory,
Shining far, on every side:
She calls herself – Victory, 5455
Goddess of the active life.
Ah, ha! I’ve come just in time,
I hold you all guilty of crime!
Yet my goal I assume to be
Her up there: Queen Victory. 5460
With her pair of snowy wings,
She’s an eagle, she must think:
And that whenever she’s on hand,
To her belong the folk and land:
But when famous deeds are done, 5465
At once I’m here with armour on,
When low is high, and high is low,
Bent is straight, and straight not so,
That alone fills me with mirth,
I wish it so throughout the Earth. 5470
So I’ll lend you, dog from birth,
This good baton’s masterstroke!
Twist and turn now: it’s no joke! –
See how the twin dwarfish ape,
Rolls into a foul lumpish shape! 5475
A wonder – the lump’s an egg, on cue,
It swells and then it cracks in two:
Now a pair of twins appear,
An adder and a bat roll clear.
One through the dust is swiftly winding, 5480
The black one’s flitting round the ceiling.
They hurry outside, in company,
I wouldn’t choose to be number three.
Lively now! There’s dancing there –
No! I’d much rather be elsewhere – 5485
Can’t you feel some ghostly race
Fly about us, through this place? –
Something just rushed through my hair –
Round my feet, it’s flying, where? –
None of us are injured though – 5490
But we all are frightened so –
All the fun is spoilt completely –
As those creatures wished, you see.
Since I play the herald’s role,
As this masquerade unfolds, 5495
I watch sternly at the door,
In case some devious outlaw
To this happy place, comes creeping:
Never yielding, never wavering.
Through the window, though, I fear 5500
Airborne spectres enter here:
From magic and from devilry
Alas, I cannot set you free.
All this makes the dwarf suspicious,
Now! From behind, a new masque issues. 5505
And I must dutifully explain
The meaning of the forms, again.
But I can’t easily announce
What cannot be understood:
Help me explain it, if you would! – 5510
See it wander through the crowd?
A splendid chariot, a four-in-hand,
Rolling through them, where they stand:
But it doesn’t split the people,
I see no one’s crushed at all. 5515
Colours glitter in the distance,
Sundry wandering stars for instance,
A magic-lantern-like performance.
It blows along, a storm’s assault.
Make way, there! I shudder!
Halt! 5520
Dragons, your wings restrain,
Feel your accustomed rein,
Control yourselves, if I control you,
Sweep away when I inspire you –
Let us do honour to this place! 5525
Look round, a widening display
Of admirers, circle now on circle.
Herald, now, then! As you will,
Before we leave you all,
Describe us, and say our name: 5530
Since we’re allegorical,
You should know us, plain.
Herald
No, indeed, I can’t tell your name:
I’ll try and describe you all the same.
So try!
I must confess 5535
To young and handsome, before the rest.
You’re a half-grown boy: yet a woman
Would prefer to see you fully grown.
You seem to me a wooer, in future,
Out of her house, a real seducer. 5540
Let’s hear more! Go on: go on,
Find the riddle’s bright solution.
The Herald
Dark eyes that shine: night-black hair
Which brightly jewelled bands enclose:
And what a dainty garment flows 5545
From shoulder down to ankle, there:
With purple hem its glittering shows!
One might take you for a girl:
Yet for good or ill, you’d be,
Prized already by any girl, 5550
She’d teach you your ABC.
And he, who like a splendid vision,
Sits on the chariot, enthroned there?
He seems a king, a rich and kind one,
Blessed are they who gain his favour! 5555
He has no further need to strive,
His eyes observe whatever’s lacking,
And to spread his pure delight,
Is more to him than joy and owning.
You daren’t stop there: what you see, 5560
You must describe it precisely.
I can’t express all the dignity.
But the glowing moon face, I see,
The full mouth, the bright cheeks, then
That shine beneath the jewelled turban: 5565
Rich comfort in the clothes he’s wearing!
What shall I say about his bearing?
As a ruler he seems known to me.
Plutus the God of Riches, this is he!
He’s come himself in all his splendour, 5570
The Emperor wished greatly he were here.
The Herald
Explain your own what and how to me!
I am Extravagance: I am Poetry:
I am the Poet, who is self-perfected
When his special gift is squandered. 5575
Yet I’m immeasurably wealthy,
Like Plutus, worth as much as he,
I adorn, enliven, dance and feast,
And whatever he lacks, I complete.
Your boasting makes you handsomer, 5580
But let’s see all your skill appear.
Just watch me snap my fingers, now,
The chariot will gleam and glow.
There a string of pearls appear!
(He continues to snap his fingers, in all directions.)
Golden jewels for neck and ear: 5585
Flawless combs and diadems,
Set in a ring, rare precious gems:
I scatter flames too, here and there,
Waiting for their chance to flare.
How the dear crowd snatch, I see! 5590
The giver’s soon in difficulty.
He snaps out jewels, as in a dream,
And they all snatch them, in a stream.
But now a different trick, you see:
What each has grasped so eagerly, 5595
Has gained him but a poor reward,
The gifts already fluttering skyward.
The pearls are loosened from their band,
And beetles crawl there in his hand,
The poor man shakes them off, instead 5600
They’re humming now around his head.
Another, for some solid thing,
Catches at a butterfly’s wing.
That’s what the rascal’s promise means:
He only lends them golden gleams! 5605
The Boy Charioteer
You know how to announce masks: it’s true,
But it’s not the herald’s task to search below
The outer surface of existence:
That requires a keener sense.
Still I’m wary of all disputes. 5610
Lord, I’ll direct my speech and questioning to you.
(Turning towards Plutus.)
Have you not trusted me with the task, to stand
And guide the tempest of your four-in-hand?
Don’t I steer well, as you direct?
Am I not there, when you expect? 5615
And don’t I know how to win
The palm, for you, on daring wing?
When I’ve fought for you in war, now,
I’ve been successful every time:
When laurel wreaths adorn your brow 5620
Have I not fashioned them with hand and mind?
If I’m required to be a witness to it,
I’d say: You are the spirit of my spirit.
You always act according to my wishes,
And as I gain myself, you too are richer. 5625
To reward your services, I value now
The green branch higher than my crown.
One true word, then, for everyone:
I’ve found delight in you, dear Son.
The greatest gifts from my hand, 5630
See! I’ve scattered them around.
On every head there’s the glow
Of some little flame I throw:
Leaping from one brow to another,
Halts on him, then leaves his brother, 5635
But rarely does the flame-let rise,
And briefly flower in bright skies:
For many, before they know, it’s vanished,
Sadly, it’s burnt out, and finished.
Up there, on the four-in-hand, 5640
He’s certainly a charlatan:
And there’s a clown perched behind,
By hunger and thirst he’s been refined,
Like nothing one’s ever seen before:
Pinch, and he’ll feel nothing at all. 5645
Disgusting women, leave me alone!
Not to come here again, I’ll know.
When women kept to their hearths, then
Avaritia, Greed: was my name:
The houses were fine, all about, 5650
Lots came in, nothing went out!
I took care of cupboard and chest:
That was a burden, to top the rest.
But now in this younger age,
Wives don’t know how to save, 5655
And like all those wicked students,
They have more desires than ‘talents’,
And their men have much to suffer,
Their debts are left about all over.
They spend whatever they can extract, 5660
On their lovers, and on their backs:
They eat of the best, and drink deeper,
With their wretched army of admirers:
Which adds to the value of gold, for me:
We’re manly fellows, the Miserly! 5665
Let dragon be miserly with dragon:
In the end it’s merely lies, illusion!
Men flock around, and turn the charm on,
But they’re soon annoyance and confusion.
That Scarecrow! Give him a poke! 5670
What’s the Wooden Rake threaten?
We’ll all shun his ugly looks, then!
Dragons of wood and paper: a joke!
Look lively, now, and we’ll do him in!
By my wand! Keep the peace! – 5675
Though there’s no need for my assistance:
Look at those grim monsters, how each
Clears round itself a proper distance,
Unfolding its quadruple wings, the beast.
The dragons shake themselves, indignant, 5680
With fiery throats, their tails rampant:
The place is cleared: the people flee.
(Plutus descends from the chariot.)
The Herald
He steps down, in a kingly manner!
He beckons, and the dragons stir:
From the chariot bearing Avarice, 5685
And gold, down comes the chest,
See, there at his feet, it’s landed:
It’s a wonder how it happened.
Plutus (To the Boy Charioteer)
Now you’ve left that troubling burden here,
You’re free: so, fly now to your own sphere! 5690
Not this! Where, confused, motley, wild,
Distorted objects crowd around us, child.
No: where you see clear, with sweetest Clarity,
Self-possessed, trusting in your own self: flee,
Where Goodness and Beauty may be viewed, 5695
And there create your world – in Solitude!
The Boy Charioteer
So, I’ll be your worthy envoy then,
So, I’ll love you like my dearest kin.
Where you live, is Plenty: and where
I am, all feel they gain in splendour. 5700
And often hesitate in life’s uncertainty:
Should they yield to you, or yield to me?
Certainly your followers will have rest:
Who follows me, with work’s forever blessed.
My actions are never kept a secret, 5705
I only have to breathe and I’m apparent.
Farewell, then! You granted me my joy:
But whisper low, and you shall have your boy!
(He exits as he came.)
Plutus (Faust in disguise.)
And now it’s time to reveal the treasure!
I strike the lock with the herald’s wand. 5710
It’s open! Look! Vessels of noblest measure,
Pour the golden blood through your hands,
First it swells, roars, writhes as if it’s molten:
A jewelled hoard of crowns, rings, and chains.
Various Shouts from the Crowd.
Look here, oh, there! How rich it flows: 5715
The chest, right to the brim, it glows. –
Golden vessels, molten too,
Rolls of coins, turning too. –
Minted ducats leaping,
Oh, how my heart is beating – 5720
I see all, for which I’m yearning,
On the floor there, burning! –
It’s offered you, don’t be a fool,
Be rich, you only need to stoop. –
For, quick as lightning, all the rest, 5725
Will take possession of the chest.
What’s this, you Fools? Ah, yes,
It’s no more than a maskers’ jest.
Tonight, don’t ask for any more:
Think you, we’d give you golden ore? 5730
In this game there are any amount
Of pennies: too many for you to count.
You clumsy idiots! A fine appearance,
Seems, to you, truth’s naked essence.
What is your Truth? – Hollow illusion 5735
Grasps you, with its fool’s cap on. –
Heroic Mask, Plutus that conceals,
Drive these folk, then, from the field.
Plutus
Your wand’s best by a mile,
Lend it me for a little while. – 5740
I’ll dip it, quick, in heat and glow. –
You Maskers, all take care then, now!
It gleams and bursts and throws off sparks!
The wand already shines in the dark.
And anyone who gets too near me, 5745
Will be scorched, as well, mercilessly. –
And now I’ll sweep with my brand.
Ah! We’re done for every man. –
Fly, now, whoever can! –
Back, back, the hindmost man! – 5750
It’s shining brightly in my eyes. –
On me the wand’s hot weight lies –
We’re all lost, lost for good. –
Back, back, you masks in flood!
Back, back, you senseless mob! – 5755
If I’d wings, I’d soar aloft. –
The circle backwards sinks,
Yet no one’s scorched, I think.
The crowd will now give way,
They’re only scared I’d say. – 5760
But to guarantee good order,
I’ll mark out an unseen border.
You’ve done a fine job all right,
Thanks to your cunning, and might.
Plutus
Noble friend, you’ll still need patience: 5765
All kinds of turmoil still threaten us.
Now, if it pleases you, you may
Cast your eye around with pleasure:
The women are to the fore as ever,
Where they can nibble things, or gaze. 5770
Still, I’m not completely rusty!
A lovely woman’s always lovely:
And since, today, it costs me nothing,
With confidence, I too go wooing.
Still, here, in such a crowded space, 5775
Lest words fall in an idle place,
I’ll try being clever, attempt success,
And in clear mime make my address.
Hands, feet, gesturing won’t cut the ice,
So, I’ll have to employ a comical device. 5780
I’ll shape the gold like moistened clay,
Since the metal’s malleable anyway.
What’s he up to that skinny Fool!
Is there a jest in the starveling too?
He kneads the gold just like dough, 5785
It’s soft between his hands, although
However he squeezes and forms it all,
It still remains a shapeless ball.
He turns now towards the women,
They all scream, and start to run, 5790
Gesturing in complete disgust:
That rascal’s up to no good.
I fear he’ll be in ecstasy
If he can offend morality.
I shan’t remain silent, anyway 5795
Give me the wand: I’ll drive him away.
Plutus
He doesn’t see what we threaten here:
Let him pursue his foolishness!
There’ll be no room left for his excess:
The law is great, but necessity’s greater. 5800
The wild crowd come here, specially,
From mountain-top, and wooded valley,
Shouting forcefully, as they can:
They celebrate the great god Pan. 5805
They know what none can know,
And into the empty circle flow.
‘I know you well, and your great Pan!
Together these daring steps you plan.
I know all that no one knows,
And clear for you this narrow close.’ 5810
May good fortune follow them too!
The strangest things may happen:
They don’t know where they’re going to:
Since they never look before them.
You plaster people: you tinsel show! 5815
Rough and coarse is how they go,
Leaping: wild is their track ahead,
Solid and sturdy is their tread.
Fauns
In happy dance, 5820
Oaken garlands,
On curling locks,
Fine pointed ears
Through tangled hair,
Snub noses, faces broad and flat, 5825
The women can’t fault any of that:
When the Fauns begin to prance,
The loveliest won’t scorn the dance.
The Satyr’s leaping here behind,
Goat’s foot, and lean of thigh, 5830
Sinewy, skinny he’ll go by,
And chamois-like, on mountain height,
He looks around, and takes delight.
He’s alive in the free air,
Mocks at man, child, woman there, 5835
Who deep in the valley’s damp flue,
Think, cosily, they’re living too,
While, still pure and undisturbed,
To him alone is the upper world.
The little crowd trips by there, 5840
They don’t like to travel in pairs:
In mossy clothes with lanterns bright,
They pass together, quick and light,
Each one passing on his own,
Like glowing ants swarming home: 5845
And always busy, here and there,
Industrious, and everywhere.
Kin to the ‘Little People’, known
As surgeons to the rock and stone:
‘We bleed the mountains high, 5850
We drain the deep veins dry:
We hurl the metals round,
With hearty greetings: Luck! Well found!
And it’s always kindly meant: again,
We’re the friends of all good men. 5855
Yet we the gold to light deliver,
So men may steal, and covet ever,
So princely hand won’t lack the steel
That worldwide murder longs to deal.
Who those three commandments breaks 5860
Scant heed of the other seven takes.
But of all that we’re innocent:
About it all, like us, be patient.’
The wild men, we are named,
Known in all the Hartz range: 5865
Natural, plain, in all our antics,
Appearing frightfully gigantic.
A fir-tree trunk in each right hand,
Round our body a thick band,
A solid apron of branches, not 5870
The bodyguard the Pope has got.
Nymphs in Chorus (Surrounding Great Pan, who is the masked Emperor.)
Here he’ll stand! –
The world’s All,
Is shown to all,
In mighty Pan. 5875
You the happiest, surround him,
In magic dances soar around him:
Here now, serious and good, he
Wishes all men to be happy.
Under the curving roof of blue 5880
He seems endlessly wakeful, too,
Yet the streams flow gently for him,
And the breezes gently rock him,
And, when he sleeps at noon, the leaf
Is motionless in the branches’ wreath: 5885
The rich plants’ fragrant balsams there
Fill all the still and silent air:
The Nymph no longer dares to leap,
And where she stands, falls fast asleep.
But when his powerful shout, 5890
Unexpectedly, rings out,
Like thunder crack, or wave’s roar,
Who knows what’s happening any more,
The army’s witless in the fight,
The hero in battle’s filled with fright. 5895
So honour him, where honour’s due,
And hail him, who led us to you!
When the rich and shining goods,
Spread threadlike through the deep,
Then delicate divining rods, 5900
Reveal what labyrinths keep.
Bending in our dark vaults, there,
As troglodytes we’re measured,
While in the purest daylight air,
Gracious, you divide the treasure. 5905
Now we find we’ve discovered
A marvellous fountain here,
Promising, easily, to deliver
Things that infrequently appear.
It all waits for your command: 5910
Master, take and care for it: do.
Every treasure in your hand,
Helps the whole world too.
Plutus (To the Herald.)
We must grasp things in the highest sense,
And let what may come, come, with confidence. 5915
You’ve shown the highest courage once before.
So now too what is fearful, we must try it:
World, and posterity, will stubbornly deny it,
So pen it faithfully in your report.
The Herald (Grasping the wand in Plutus’ hand, and
assisting with the Masquerade.)
The dwarves lead on great Pan, 5920
Gently, to the fiery fountain:
It boils from the deep profound,
Then sinks again, through the ground,
And gloomy is its open round:
Yet shows again the heat and glow. 5925
Great Pan stands there, well disposed,
Pleased with all this wondrous thing,
Pearl foam, right, left, showering.
How can he trust such a show?
He bends to look inside, and so, 5930
His beard gets caught within! –
Who’s made that hairless chin?
His hand hides it from our vision. –
What follows is all clumsy action:
The beard, on fire, flies back, soon 5935
Scorching garland, chest and head:
Delight is turned to pain instead. –
They rush to quench it all again,
But none of them are free of flames,
And how they flare and dart, 5940
Exciting fire in every part:
Wreathed in that element,
The whole masked crowd is burnt.
But what’s all this news about,
Ear after ear, mouth after mouth! 5945
O eternally unlucky night
So little of it’s turned out right!
Tomorrow’s dawn will declare
What nobody wants to hear:
In every ear we’ll hear it plain: 5950
‘The Emperor is in such pain.’
O, would that it were something other!
Burnt, Emperor and Court together.
Cursed be those who led him astray,
In resinous twigs did him array, 5955
To rage, and bellow out that song,
To the ruin of all that throng.
O Youth, Youth will you never
Restrict joy’s purest measure?
O Power, Power, will you never, 5960
Sense and Omnipotence treasure?
The ‘forest’ too is soon in flames,
The pointed tongues play their games,
To the real wooden beams lick higher:
We’re threatened by universal fire. 5965
The cup of misery overflows,
Who will save us? No one knows.
See, Imperial splendour, by dawn’s light,
Turned to a heap of ash, in a single night.
That’s enough terror overhead, 5970
Let help arrive here, instead! –
Strike, you heavenly wand, with power,
So the earth will ring and tremor!
You, the wide realms of air,
Fill with cool fragrance there! 5975
Hurry down, to sweep around us,
Cloudy mists and swelling vapours,
Quench the thronging flames!
Murmuring, trickling, fogs gather,
Sliding, rolling, softly drenching, 5980
Slipping everywhere, and quenching.
You, the moist, who soothe forever,
Change them all to gleaming weather,
All these empty fiery games! –
Threatening Spirits, that would harm, 5985
We, by magic, will disarm.
(The Emperor, his Court, Noblemen and Ladies: Faust and Mephistopheles dressed fashionably but not ostentatiously, both kneel.)
Sire, forgive the fiery conjuring tricks?
The Emperor (Beckoning to him to rise.)
More fun, in that vein, would be my wish. –
At once, I saw myself in a glowing sphere,
It seemed as if I were divine Pluto, there. 5990
A rocky depth of mine, and darkness, lay
Glowing with flame: out of each vent played
A thousand wild and whirling fires,
And flickered in the vault together, higher,
Licking upwards to the highest dome, 5995
That now seemed there, and now was gone.
Through a far space wound with fiery pillars,
I saw a long line of people approach us,
Crowding till they formed a circle near,
And paid me homage, as they do forever. 6000
From Court, I knew one face, and then another’s,
I seemed the Prince of a thousand salamanders.
You are, Sire! Since every element
Knows your Majesty, amongst all men.
You’ve now proved the fire obedient: 6005
Leap in the sea, in its wildest torrent,
You’ll barely touch its pearl-strewn bed,
A noble dome will rise round you, instead:
You’ll see green translucent waves swelling
Purple edged, to make the loveliest dwelling, 6010
And you will be its centre. At each step
Wherever you go, the palace follows yet,
The very walls themselves delight in life,
Flash to and fro, in swarming arrow-flight.
Sea-wonders crowd around this sweet new sight, 6015
Shoot past, still not allowed to enter quite.
There, golden-scaled, bright sea-dragons play,
The shark gapes wide, you smile in his face.
However much your court attracts you now,
You’ve never seen such an amazing crowd. 6020
Nor will you part there from the loveliest:
The Nereids will be gathering, curious,
To this wondrous house, in seas eternally fresh,
The youngest shy and pleasure-loving, like fish,
The old ones: cunning. Thetis at the news, 6025
Gives hand and lips to this second Peleus. –
A seat there, on the height of Olympus, too…
I’ll leave the airy spaces all to you:
Soon enough we’ll be climbing to that throne.
Mephistopheles
And, Sire, the Earth already is your own! 6030
What brought you here, now: what good fortune,
Straight from the Thousand Nights and One?
If you’re as fertile as Scheherezade
I’ll guarantee you a sublime reward.
Be ready then, when your world’s light, 6035
As it often does, disappoints me quite.
Your Supreme Highness, I never thought
To announce such luck, the finest wrought,
As this is, for me the greatest blessing,
Which I’ve revealed in your presence: 6040
For debt after debt I’ve accounted,
The usurer’s claws now are blunted,
I’m free of Hell’s pain, and then,
It can’t be any brighter in Heaven.
Something’s paid of what we owe, 6045
The Army’s all renewed their vow,
The Cavalry’s fresh blood is up,
And girls and landlords can sup.
Now your chests breathe easier!
Now your furrowed brows are clear! 6050
How quickly you hurried to the hall!
The Treasurer (Appearing.)
Ask them: it was they who did it all.
It’s right the Chancellor should read the page.
The Chancellor (Coming forward slowly.)
I’m happy enough to do so, in my old age. –
See and hear the scroll, heavy with destiny, 6055
That’s changed to happiness, our misery.
‘To whom it concerns, may you all know,
This paper’s worth a thousand crowns, or so.
As a secure pledge, it will underwrite,
All buried treasure, our Emperor’s right. 6060
Now, as soon as the treasure’s excavated,
It’s taken care of, and well compensated.’
The Emperor
I smell a fraud, a monstrous imposture!
Who forged the Emperor’s signature?
Have they gone unpunished for their crime? 6065
Remember! You yourself it was that signed:
Last night. You acted as great Pan,
Here’s how the Chancellor’s speech began:
‘Grant yourself this great festive pleasure,
The People’s Good: a few strokes of the feather.’ 6070
You wrote it here, and while night ruled the land,
A thousand artists created another thousand,
So all might benefit from your good deed,
We stamped the whole series with your screed,
Tens, Thirties, Fifties, Hundreds, all are done. 6075
You can’t think how well the folk get on.
See your city once half-dead with decay,
Now all’s alive, enjoying its new day!
Though your name’s long filled the world with glee,
They’ve never gazed at it so happily. 6080
Now the alphabet’s superfluous,
In these marks there’s bliss for all of us.
And my people value it as gold, you say?
The Court and Army treat it as real pay?
Then I must yield, though it’s wonderful to me. 6085
It was impossible to catch the escapee:
It flashed like lightning through the land:
The moneychanger’s shops are jammed,
Men pay, themselves, the papers mount
They’re gold and silver, and at a discount. 6090
Now used by landlords, butchers, bakers:
Half the world think they’re merrymakers,
The others, newly clothed, are on show.
The drapers cut the cloth: the tailors sew.
The toast is ‘Hail, the Emperor!’ in the bars, 6095
With cooking, roasting, tinkling of jars.
Strolling, lonely, on the terrace,
You see a beauty, smartly dressed,
One eye hidden by her peacock fan,
She smiles sweetly, looks at your hand: 6100
And, quicker than wit or eloquence,
Love’s sweetest favour’s arranged at once.
You’re not plagued with pouch or wallet,
A note beneath the heart, install it,
Paired with love-letters, conveniently. 6105
The priest carries his in a breviary,
And wouldn’t the soldier be quicker on his way,
With a lighter belt around his middle, say.
Your Majesty will forgive me if, in miniature,
I produce a low note, in our high adventure. 6110
The wealth of treasure that solidifies,
That in your land, in deep earth lies,
Is all unused. In our boldest thought,
Such riches are only feebly caught:
Imagination, in its highest flight, 6115
Strives to, but can’t reach that height.
But grasping Spirits, worthy to look deeply,
Trust in things without limit, limitlessly.
Mephistopheles
Such paper’s convenient, for rather than a lot
Of gold and silver, you know what you’ve got. 6120
You’ve no need of bartering and exchanging,
Just drown your needs in wine and love-making.
If you lack coin, there’s moneychangers’ mile,
And if it fails, you dig the ground a while.
Cups and chains are auctioned: well, 6125
Since the paper, in this way, pays for itself,
It shames the doubters, and their acid wit,
People want nothing else, they’re used to it.
So now in all of your Imperial land
You’ve gems, gold, paper enough to hand. 6130
The Empire thanks you deeply for this bliss:
We want the reward to match your service.
We entrust you with the riches underground,
You are the best custodians to be found.
You know the furthest well-concealed hoard, 6135
And when men dig, it’s you must give the word.
You masters of our treasure, then, unite,
Accept your roles with honour and delight:
They make the Underworld, and the Upper,
Happy in their agreement, fit together. 6140
No dispute will divide us in the future:
I’m happy to have a wizard for a partner.
(He exits with Faust.)
Now, presents for the court: everyone
Confess to me whatever it is you want.
I’ll live well, happy, have the best of things. 6145
Another (Also.)
I’ll quickly buy my lover chains and rings.
I’ll drink wines that are twice as fine.
The dice in my pockets itch I find.
My lands and castle will be free of debt.
It’s treasure: a second treasure I will get. 6150
I hoped for desire and courage for new deeds:
But whoever knows you, thinks you slight indeed.
I see, clearly: despite this treasure and more,
You’re all the same, still, as you were before.
The Fool (Recovered, and approaching the throne.)
You’re handing presents out: give me one too! 6155
Alive again? You’d drink it all you fool.
Magic papers! I don’t understand them, truly.
That I’d believe: you’ll only use them badly.
Others are falling: I don’t know what to do.
Just pick them up: those are all yours too. 6160
(The Emperor exits.)
Five thousand crowns I’m holding, in my hand!
You two-legged wineskin, so you still stand?
I’ve had my luck, but this is the best yet.
You’re so delighted: look, it’s made you sweat.
But see here, is it truly worth real gold? 6165
You’ve there just what belly and throat are owed.
The Fool
And can I buy a cottage, cow and field?
Why yes! There’s nothing to it: make a bid.
A castle: with forests, hunting, fishing?
Trust me!
To see you a proper Lord would make me happy! 6170
Tonight I’ll plant my weight on what I’ll get! –
(He Exits.)
Mephistopheles
Who doubts now that our Fool’s full of wit!
(Faust. Mephistopheles.)
Mephistopheles
Why bring me here to this dark passage?
Isn’t there fun enough inside,
In the Court’s colourful tide, 6175
Opportunities for jests and sharp practice?
Don’t give me that: in the good old days
You wore us out in a thousand ways:
And now this wandering, there and here,
Is only so I can’t catch your ear. 6180
But there’s something I need done:
Commander and Chamberlain egg me on.
The Emperor, I must work quickly for him,
Wants Helen and Paris to appear before him:
He wants to see the ideal form of Man 6185
Clearly revealed to him, and Woman.
Get to work! I daren’t break my word.
Such a thoughtless promise was absurd.
Friend, you haven’t considered
Where your powers have lead us: 6190
First we made him rich, and how,
So he wants us to amuse him now.
You think it’s fixed that quickly:
We’re looking at a deeper track,
To the strangest realm, and wickedly, 6195
Adding new faults to the old,
Do you think it’s easy to call Helen back,
Like a pasteboard spirit edged with gold –
Witch-bitches, ghost-hostesses, freely,
Or dwarf-maidens, I’ll serve you equally: 6200
But Devil’s sweethearts, though you’re for them,
Still you can’t, as heroines, applaud them.
Still the same old story, every day!
With you, things are always difficult.
You’re the father of all obstacles, 6205
For every miracle you want more pay.
I know: a little muttering, and it’s done:
At a blink, you’ll bring her here.
Mephistopheles
With Pagan folk I don’t get on:
They live in their own Hell there: 6210
Yet, there is a way.
Tell, without delay!
Unwillingly! There’s a greater mystery, I say,
Goddesses, enthroned on high, and solitary.
No space round them, not even time: only
To speak of them embarrasses me. 6215
They are The Mothers!
Mothers!
Mephistopheles
Are you afraid?
The Mothers! Mothers! It sounds so strange!
As, it is. Goddesses, unknown, as you see,
To you Mortals, not named by us willingly.
You must dig in the Depths to reach them: 6220
It’s your own fault that we need them.
Where is the path?
No path! Into the un-enterable,
Never to be entered: One path to the un-askable,
Never to be asked. Are you ready?
No locks, no bolts to manipulate, 6225
You’ll drift about in solitary space.
Can you conceive the waste and solitary?
Faust
I think you might spare the speeches then:
They always smell of the witches’ kitchen,
Of a long forgotten time, to me. 6230
Have I not trafficked with the world?
Learned the void, the void unfurled? –
When I spoke with reason, as I descried,
Contradiction, doubly loud, replied:
Have I not fled, from hateful trickery, 6235
Into the wild, into the solitary,
And, not to lose all, and live alone,
Surrendered to the Devil’s own?
And if you’d swum through every ocean,
And seen the boundless space all round 6240
You’d still have seen wave on wave in motion,
Though you might have been afraid to drown.
You’d have seen something. Seen, within
The green still seas, the leaping dolphin:
Seen clouds go by, Sun, Moon and star – 6245
You’ll see none in the endless void, afar,
Hear not a single footstep fall,
Find no firm place to rest at all.
You speak as chief of all Mystagogues, who
Deceive their neophytes, the loyal and true: 6250
Only reversed. You send me to the Void,
So I’ll increase the power and skill employed:
To use me, like a cat, that’s your desire:
Just to claw your chestnuts from the fire.
The same as ever! I’ll find what I’ll discover: 6255
In your Nothingness, I hope, the All I will recover.
I’ll praise you, before you separate from me,
That you know the Devil, I can truly see:
Here take this key.
That tiny thing!
Grasp it, it has a worth you’re undervaluing. 6260
Faust
It’s growing in my hand, it shines and glows!
What one possesses in it, would you now know?
The key will sniff the place out, from all others.
Follow it down: it leads you to the Mothers.
The Mothers! That always strikes me like a blow! 6265
What is that word that, once heard, scares me so?
Are you so limited one new word disturbs you?
Will you only hear what you’re accustomed to?
Don’t be troubled, whatever strange sound rings,
You’ve already long been used to marvellous things. 6270
Yes, there’s no good for me in lethargy.
A shudder’s the truest sign of humanity:
Though the world is such we may not feel it,
Once seized by it, we feel Immensity deeply.
Then, descend! I might as easily say rise! 6275
It’s all the same. Escape from what exists,
Into the boundless realm where all Form lies!
Delight in what’s no longer on the list:
Where turmoil rolls along all cloudily:
Then, far from your body, swing the key! 6280
Faust (Inspired.)
Good! I feel new strength, firmly grasped,
My heart expands, on now to the great task.
Sight of a glowing tripod will tell you, finally,
You’re in the last deep, deepest there might be.
By its light you’ll see the Mothers, 6285
Some sit about, as they wish, the others,
Stand and move. Formation, Transformation,
Eternal minds in eternal recreation.
Images of all creatures float, portrayed:
They’ll not see you: they only see a shade. 6290
Be of good heart, the danger there is great,
Go to the tripod: don’t hesitate,
And touch it with the key!
(Faust assumes a commanding attitude with the key.)
That’s right!
It will close itself, and follow as a servant might:
Exalted by your good luck, you’ll calmly rise, 6295
And be back with it, before you’ve blinked your eyes.
And, once you’ve brought it here all right,
Call the Hero and Heroine from the night,
The first man who has ever achieved it:
It’s done, and you’re the one who did it. 6300
By magic process then you’ll surely find,
The incense’ vapour will become divine.
And now: what?
Mephistopheles
Strain with all your being: downward.
Stamp to descend, stamp again to go upward.
(Faust stamps and sinks out of sight.)
If he might only gain some good from that key! 6305
I’m curious as to whether he’ll return to me.
(The Emperor and Princes. The Court in Action.)
You still owe us that scene with the Spirits:
The Emperor’s impatient. Get on with it!
That’s what His Grace just now was saying:
You! Don’t offend His Majesty by delaying. 6310
That’s why my companion has just gone:
He knows how to put the whole thing on,
And has to labour away in silence: still,
All the most special diligence he applies:
He who’d own that treasure, the Beautiful, 6315
Needs highest arts, the magic of the wise.
The arts you need are neither here nor there:
The Emperor orders it to be prepared.
A Blonde Lady (Approaching Mephistopheles.)
Sir, a word! You see a clear complexion,
Yet it’s not so in summertime’s dejection! 6320
A hundred red-brown freckles all sprout there,
And cover my white skin: I’m in despair.
A cure!
Mephistopheles
A pity! Such a shining beauty,
Spotted like a panther-cub, in May!
Take frogspawn, toads’ tongues, in cohabitation, 6325
Skilfully, under a full moon, make a distillation,
When it wanes, apply it undiluted,
When spring comes, the spots have been uprooted.
The crowd are pressing round to squeeze you dry.
I ask a cure! For a frozen foot 6330
That hinders me in dancing, walking by,
And I curtsey awkwardly to boot.
Mephistopheles
Permit a little kick from my foot.
The Dark-haired Lady
Well, between lovers that’s occurred before.
Child! My kick means something more. 6335
Like cures like, when one’s suffering:
Foot heals foot, and so with every member.
Come! Pay attention! No retaliation there.
The Dark-haired Lady (Crying out.)
Ouch! Ouch! That hurt! I call that kicking
Like a horse’s hoof.
Mephistopheles
With that the cure I bring. 6340
You can indulge in any amount of dancing,
Touch feet under the table with your darling.
A Lady (Pushing forward.)
Let me through! My suffering is so great,
He used to hold me in his heart’s embrace:
Yesterday his joy was in my glances, 6345
He turns his back on me: with her romances.
That’s serious, but listen to me now.
You must gently press your advances,
Take this charcoal: mark him anyhow,
On his cloak or on his sleeve alight, 6350
He’ll feel sweet Remorse’s blow.
Swallow the charcoal straight away,
No wine or water on your lips all day:
He’ll be sighing at your door tonight.
It’s not poisonous?
Respect now, where it’s due! 6355
You’d have to travel far to find such charcoal:
It comes from the dying pyre at a funeral,
On which I, once more, diligently blew.
I’m in love: they say I’m not old enough to.
Mephistopheles (Aside.)
I’m not sure now, whom I should listen to. 6360
(To the Page.)
Don’t set your heart on the younger ones.
The older will value what they’ve won.
(Others crowd round.)
More, already! What a demanding crew!
I’ll help myself, and out now with the truth:
The worst expedient! The pain is great, you see. – 6365
O Mothers, Mothers! Just let Faust go free!
(Gazing round him.)
The lights burn dim, already, in the hall,
The Court’s moving off, and they’re all
Arranged in their proper rank, I see,
Through the far aisles and galleries. 6370
Now they assemble in the largest place,
The vast Hall of the Knights, there’s barely space,
Who bought the mass of bright tapestry,
Filled corners, niches like an armoury.
Here I doubt there’s need of magic spells: 6375
The ghosts will find this place for themselves.
(The Emperor and Court.)
My ancient duty, to announce the play,
Is thwarted by the Spirits’ secret action:
Please forgive: there’s no sensible way
To explain such confused transformation. 6380
The chairs are here: the stools and all:
The emperor’s high up, by the wall:
He can see the battles on the tapestry
From mighty ages: watching comfortably.
Here they all sit now, Prince, Court around, 6385
Benches packed together, as background:
In this hour of spirits, too, the lovers
Have lovingly found room beside their lovers.
And now that all have found their proper places,
We’re ready: let the spirits show their faces! 6390
(Trumpets.)
Begin the drama then without delay,
The Emperor commands: take walls away!
No further hindrance, here magic is at hand:
The Tapestry’s shrivelled as if by burning brand.
The walls divide, and sweep apart, as one, 6395
An empty stage it seems has been created,
A mysterious light falls on our faces,
And I climb up to the proscenium.
Mephistopheles (Rising to view in the prompter’s box.)
From here I hope for general acclamation,
Prompting is the devil’s true oration. 6400
(To the Astrologer.)
You know the measures that all the stars obey,
You’ll understand my whispers in a masterly way.
By miraculous power appears to view,
A massive temple-front: it’s ancient too.
Like Atlas, who once held up the sky, 6405
The many rows of columns stand on high.
They might well bear the stony weight,
Since two could raise a building straight.
That’s the antique! It doesn’t earn my praise,
Clumsy, overstretched we call it, nowadays. 6410
Men think that crude is noble: bulk is greatness.
I love slender shafts, uplifting, boundless:
A pointed arch sends the spirit to the sky:
Architecture such as that will edify.
Receive with reverence these hours the stars allow: 6415
Let words of magic bind pure Reason now:
Let marvellously daring Fantasy,
In return, sweep onward, wide and free.
Your eyes see what you daringly conceived:
It’s impossible, so more worthy to be believed. 6420
(Faust rises into view on the other side of the proscenium.)
In priestly vestments, crowned, a wondrous man,
Fulfilling what he confidently began.
A tripod rises with him from deep abyss,
I smell the odour of incense in the dish.
He prepares to bless this sacred labour: 6425
From this moment on it will find favour.
In your name, Mothers, you enthroned
In boundlessness, set eternally alone,
And yet together. All the Forms of Life
Float round your heads, active, not alive. 6430
Whatever was, in all its glow and gleam,
Moves there still, since it must always be.
And you assign it, with omnipotent might,
To day’s pavilion or the vault of night.
Life holds some fast on its sweet track, 6435
Others the bold magician must bring back:
Filled with faith, and richly generous,
He shows, what each desires, the Marvellous.
The glowing key has scarcely touched the dish,
At once the room is filled with darkened mist: 6440
It swirls about, as puffs of cloud will do,
Grows, condenses, shrinks, and splits in two.
And now behold a spirit-masterpiece!
As it moves about, there’s music without cease.
In heavenly tones, pours out a who-knows-how, 6445
And while it moves, all’s turned to melody now.
The pillared shafts, even the tri-glyph, ringing
I think that the whole temple’s singing.
The dark sinks down: from the light mist,
A handsome youth steps out in time to it. 6450
I needn’t name him, so my task is finished,
Who doesn’t know the name of charming Paris!
A Lady
O! What a shining healthy powerful youth!
Like a peach, so fresh and full of juice!
The finely delineated, sweetly swelling lip! 6455
A Fourth
From such a cup you’d surely like to sip?
He’s quite pretty, but a little unrefined.
He could be a bit more graceful, to my mind.
I sense the shepherd here, I think,
No trace of Courtier or Prince. 6460
Yes! Half naked the youth’s quite handsome
We’d need to see him first with armour on!
He sits down so gently and pleasantly.
A Knight
You’d like to sit on his lap, comfortably?
He lifts his arm so lightly above his head. 6465
The lout! That’s not acceptable: how ill-bred!
You lords find fault with everything.
The Chamberlain
In the Emperor’s presence, all that stretching!
He’s posed there! He thinks he’s quite alone.
Even a play should be polite in tone. 6470
Now sleep has overcome the charming boy.
The Chamberlain
And now he’ll snore: that’s natural, what joy!
A Young Lady
What refreshes my heart so deeply, that fragrance
Mixed with fumes from the burning incense?
An Older Lady
Truly! It’s breath penetrates one’s nature, 6475
It comes from him!
It’s the sap of nurture,
It’s generated in youth, like ambrosia,
And spreads around in the atmosphere.
(Helen emerges.)
So that’s her! I’d not lose sleep for that. She
Is quite pretty, true, but doesn’t do much for me. 6480
The Astrologer
There’s nothing more now for me to do,
As men of honour confess, I confess it too.
Beauty comes: if only I’d a tongue of fire! –
Beauty so many songs has forever inspired –
Whom she appears to, of self he’s dispossessed, 6485
Whom she belonged to, was too greatly blessed.
Faust
Is this the fount of beauty? Have I still, eyes?
What pours here, through my mind, so richly?
My dreadful journey yields a blessed prize.
How void the world was, undeveloped for me! 6490
What is it now since my priesthood?
Desirable, lasting, solid underfoot!
The power of my life’s breath should
Fail, if I’m ever again estranged from you! –
The perfect form that drew me before, 6495
Delighting me, in the magic mirror,
Was only an airy phantom of such beauty! – You
Are the true embodiment of my passion:
Towards you is my powers’ whole direction
To you, love, feeling, faith, madness are owed. 6500
Calm yourself, now, and don’t fail in your role!
Tall, well formed, only the head is small.
Just look! Could clumsier feet exist at all?
I’ve seen princesses of this kind: though
I think she’s beautiful, from head to toe. 6505
Soft and sly, she goes towards the sleeper.
How ugly, near that form so young and pure.
From her Beauty shines towards him.
A Lady
A picture! Luna and Endymion!
Quite so! The goddess seems to descend, 6510
Leans above him to drink his breath, ah then:
Enviable! – A Kiss! – The cup’s full to excess.
In front of everyone! What utter madness!
Faust
A dreadful favour to grant a boy! –
Quiet now! Be still!
And let the spectre do what it will. 6515
She slips away, lightly: he awakes.
Just as I thought! That glance she takes!
He stares! It’s wonderful what’s happening.
But not so wonderful what she sees in him.
She turns towards him now with dignity. 6520
A Lady
I see she’ll soon take him through his lesson:
At such times men behave quite stupidly,
Perhaps he even thinks that’s he the first one.
Let me be worthy! Majestically fine! –
The trollop! I’d call that table wine! 6525
I’d like to swap his place for mine!
Who wouldn’t be tangled in such a net?
That treasure’s been handled often, you forget,
And the gilding’s mostly rubbed away.
Another
Worthless since it was ten years old, I’d say. 6530
Sometimes one takes the best that one can get:
I’d be content with the loveliness that’s left.
I see clearly but I’ll confess, quite freely
It’s doubtful if that’s the true one I see.
The Present’s tempted to exaggerate, 6535
I hold to what the ancient texts relate.
There I read she gave particular joy
To all the grey-bearded men of Troy:
And that fits perfectly here too, you see:
I’m not young: still she gives joy to me. 6540
No longer a boy! A daring hero, he:
Grasped she defends herself, but barely.
He lifts her high in his strong arms, too,
Will he carry her off?
Audacious fool!
You dare? Do you hear? Stop! Enough, I say! 6545
You created the mime these phantoms play!
A word! After what we’ve been given,
I’ll call this piece: The Rape of Helen.
What rape! Am I nothing in this place!
Is this key no longer in my hand! 6550
It led me through terror, waste and wave,
Through solitude, to where, set firm, I stand.
Here’s a foothold! Here’s reality,
Where spirit dare with spirits disagree,
And prepare itself for its great, dual mastery. 6555
She was so far: how could she closer shine!
I’ll rescue her, and she’ll be doubly mine.
The risk! The Mothers! They must grant her!
Who knows her once, can never live without her.
What are you doing, Faust! Faust! –With force 6560
He seizes her, the form dims in its course.
He turns the key against the youth, and then,
Touches him! – Ah! – Gone, in a moment! Gone!
(An explosion. Faust falls to the ground. The spirits vanish in mist.)
You’ve done it now! Carrying fools, my friend,
Brings harm to the Devil himself, in the end. 6565
(Darkness. Tumult.)
Formerly Faust’s, Unchanged
Mephistopheles (Entering from behind a curtain. As he holds it up and looks behind him, Faust is seen lying stretched out on an antiquated bed.)
Lie there, unlucky man! One tempted by
The bonds of a love not readily undone!
The man whom Helena shall paralyse
Won’t find it easy to regain his reason.
(Looking around him.)
I look upwards, here, around me, 6570
All’s unaltered, and undamaged:
Stained glass, there, shows darkly,
Spiders have added to their webs:
The ink is dry: the paper’s yellow,
But everything’s still in its place: 6575
Even the quill-pen’s here, on show,
With which Faust and the Devil embraced.
Yes! Deeper in the nib there’s still
A drop of blood, I tempted him to spill.
It’s a unique piece, in my book, 6580
So I’ll wish the great collectors luck.
The old fur-robe, on the hook, too,
Reminds me of a joke or two,
That time when I taught the student,
What, perhaps, in youth, he’s glad he learnt. 6585
Truly the same desire is on me, for
You, smoke-singed gown: you and I,
To flaunt ourselves once more as a professor,
And speak as one who’s always in the right.
How to achieve that all the learned know: 6590
It’s something the Devil lost long ago.
(He shakes the fur as he takes it down, and moths, crickets and beetles fly out.)
Greetings! We’re greeting
Our Patron of old,
We’re floating and buzzing,
To us you’re well known. 6595
Singly, in silence,
You sowed us like plants.
Father, in thousands
We’ve come to the dance.
The jester is snugly 6600
Contained in the breast,
The lice in the fur they
Are sooner expressed.
What a nice surprise, this young brood of mine!
One merely sows, and harvests in due time. 6605
I’ll shake this ancient fleece about,
Here and there, one flutters out. –
Away! Around! In a hundred leavings,
Hurry and hide yourself, you darlings.
There, where the ancient boxes lie, 6610
Here, in the smoky parchment try,
In that broken dusty old pottery,
Or the skull, its eye-sockets empty.
All this jumbled mildewed existence,
Always gives one whims and fancies. 6615
Again let’s dress up as a lecturer!
Today I’ll be the Principal, once more.
But it’s no use naming myself, you see:
Where are the people, to welcome me?
Famulus (A College Servant, tottering here, down the long gallery)
What a noise! What a quake! 6620
The stairs sway, the walls shake:
Through the windows’ trembling colours
I see the lightning gleam above us.
The floor leaps, and, on high,
Plaster, rubble from the sky. 6625
And the door, once tightly locked,
By wondrous force is thrown back. –
There! How fearful! A giant
Look, in Faust’s old garment!
At his gazing, and his pleas, 6630
I want to sink to my knees.
Shall I go? Shall I remain?
Oh, what will happen to me, then!
Mephistopheles
Here, my friend! – You’re called Nicodemus.
Honoured Sir! That’s my name – Oremus. 6635
Enough of that!
Famulus
How pleased I am you knew me!
I know you well: a student still, I see,
Mossy Sir! After all, a learned man
Studies hard, and does the best he can.
So one builds a respectable house of cards, 6640
That greater minds can’t finish afterwards.
But he’s a witty fellow, is your master,
Who doesn’t know the noble Doctor Wagner?
He’s the first in all the world of learning!
He’s unique: wisdom, each day increasing,
And all of it he still holds together, 6645
Crowds, around him, panting, gather
Listeners, eaves’-droppers, welcome.
Alone, he shines there at the rostrum.
He holds a key, just like Saint Peter, 6650
That unlocks the lower, and the higher.
He glows and sparkles above the rest,
No name and fame has wider standing:
Even that of Faust has dimmed, at best:
He’s the one who’s always inventing. 6655
Forgive me, honoured Sir, if I dare
To speak, and contradict you, there:
There’s no question of that, I must declare:
Since modesty’s his role, as all discern.
Discovering nothing of the circumstances, 6660
Baffled by the great man’s disappearance:
He seeks all health and comfort in his return.
The room waits for its old master
While Doctor Faustus is away,
Untouched, still, as in his day. 6665
And I scarcely dare to enter.
What can the stars be doing? –
The walls themselves are frightening me:
The doorframes quiver, bolts work free,
Or you yourself couldn’t have got in. 6670
Mephistopheles
And your great man where is he?
Lead me there: or bring him here to me!
Famulus
Oh! His warnings are quite clear,
I’m not allowed to interfere.
For months I’ve left him in utter peace, 6675
Till his great work is complete.
He, the most delicate of scholars,
His face looks like a charcoal burner’s,
Blackened now from nose to ears,
Eyes crimson, blowing up the fires, 6680
All the while, so enthusiastic:
Clinking of tongs, that’s his music.
Why would he deny an entrance to me?
I’m one who’d speed his luck, you see.
(The Famulus exits: Mephistopheles sits down, gravely.)
I’ve hardly taken my seat here, 6685
And I see a guest behind my chair.
But he’s one of the new school’s persuasion:
He’ll be arrogant, I think, on this occasion.
Baccalaureus (Storming along the corridor.)
I find the gates and doors are open!
Now there’s room at last for hope then, 6690
That it won’t be merely as before,
A live man, acting as a corpse,
Wasting away, and rotting,
Till he merely dies of living.
These walls and these partitions, 6695
Bow and sink towards perdition,
And if we don’t look about us,
Their decline and fall will rout us.
I’m audacious, no one more so,
But no further in do I go. 6700
What will I find here today?
It’s years since I’ve been this way,
Where timid and innocent
As a freshman I was sent!
Where I trusted in my elders, 6705
Edified by all their blather.
From the dry old books, they knew
They lied to me: what they knew,
Not believing in it truly,
Stealing life itself, from me. 6710
What? – There, in his cell,
Sits a darkly bright one still!
With astonishment now, nearer,
See him sitting in his dark fur,
Truly, as I left him sitting 6715
Still in all his coarse wrapping!
Then he seemed a fount of wisdom,
Since I didn’t understand him.
He won’t find me so today,
Fresh and new, I’m on my way! 6720
Sir, if in Lethe’s melancholy stream
That bald nodding head’s not swum,
See your grateful scholar come,
Outgrown, his academic dream.
I find you now, as I saw you: 6725
I was another though: that’s true.
I’m glad the ringing brought you.
I rated you once before as high:
The caterpillar, the chrysalis too,
Showed the bright future butterfly. 6730
Your curly hair and pointed collar,
Made you a childishly pleasing scholar.
You never wore pigtails I believe? –
And today you’re cropped like a Swede.
I see you’re bold and resolute: 6735
But don’t go home too absolute!
My old master! We’re in our old places:
But don’t think to renew time’s journey,
And spare me words with dual-faces:
I treat them now quite differently. 6740
You teased the true, and honest youth.
It wasn’t difficult for you to do
It’s what no one dares to do today.
Pure truth on the young is thrown away,
The little beaks don’t like it, any way, 6745
But afterwards when years have passed,
And they’ve learnt it for themselves at last,
And think it came from them, not school:
Then we hear: ‘The Master was a fool.’
A rascal, maybe! – What teacher ever shows us 6750
The Truth directly, underneath our noses?
They know the way to make it seem more, or less,
Now serious, now playful, as suits the children best.
There’s a moment given us for learning, truly:
But you’re ready now to teach, yourself, I see. 6755
For many moons, united with their suns,
You the riches of experience have won.
Baccalaureus
Experience! Mist and Foam!
And not the Spirit’s equal.
Confess! What one has known, 6760
Is not worth knowing at all.
I’ve thought so for ages. I was a Fool,
But I think that shallow now I’m sensible.
Baccalaureus
That pleases me! I hear pure Reason’s sound:
The first old man of sense I’ve ever found. 6765
I sought for treasure, buried gold,
And brought to light frightful coals.
Confess now, your skull, bald and old,
Is worth no more than that empty poll.
Do you know, my friend, how rude you seem to me? 6770
In German, one’s lying if one speaks politely.
Mephistopheles (Wheeling his chair nearer to the proscenium and the audience.)
Up here I’m dazed by light and air:
Shall I take shelter with you down there?
I find it arrogant that in times like these,
A man wants to be what he no longer is. 6775
Man’s life is in his arteries, and when
Are they so vibrant as in younger men?
There the fresh blood full of strength
Creates new life from its own life again.
There all works, and things get done, 6780
The waverers fall, the capable get on.
While we’ve conquered half the world,
What have you done? Nodded, curled
In the sun, dreamed, weighed, plan on plan.
For sure, age is a chilling fever: 6785
The frost of whims and need ahead.
When your thirtieth year is over,
A man’s as good as dead.
It would be best to seek an early grave.
That leaves the Devil nothing more to say. 6790
Unless I will it, no Devil can exist.
Mephistopheles (Aside.)
The Devil will still trip you, in a bit.
This is youth’s noblest profession!
The world was nothing before my creation:
I drew the Sun out of the sea: 6795
The Moon began her changeful course with me:
The daylight decked my path to greet me,
The Earth flowered, grew green, to meet me.
At my command, in primal night,
The stars in splendour swam to sight. 6800
Who, but I, loosed from its prison
Cramped thought’s philistinism?
I, quite free, as my spirit cites,
Happily following my inner light,
And speeding on, in delight, 6805
Darkness behind: and all before me, bright.
Go forth in splendour, you primal man! –
How could insight harm you, ever:
Who can think of stupid things or clever,
That past ages didn’t, long ago, understand. 6810
Yet there’s no danger from him, you see,
He’ll think about it differently in time:
Even if the grape-juice acts absurdly,
In the end it changes into wine.
(To the younger members of the audience, who do not applaud.)
My words have left you cold, I gather,
May it be so for you, sweet children:
But think: the Devil’s a lot older,
So you need to be old to understand him!
(In the fashion of the Middle Ages: lots of heavy apparatus for strange purposes.)
Wagner (At the furnace.)
The fearful bell is sounding,
The soot-black walls shudder. 6820
My deepest expectation
Will be unsure no longer.
Soon the dark itself will lighten:
Soon in the innermost phial,
It will glow like living fire, 6825
Yes, like the noblest ruby’s glow,
Lightning flashing in the shadow.
A clearest white light shines now!
Ah, not to lose it once more! –
Oh, God! Who’s rattling at the door? 6830
Mephistopheles (Entering.)
Greetings! And kindly meant now.
Wagner (Anxiously.)
Welcome, to the planet of the hour!
(Whispering.)
But stifle your breath, and words’ power,
A noble work is likewise being weighed.
Mephistopheles (Whispering.)
What might it be?
A Man is being made. 6835
Mephistopheles
A Man? And what loving couple
Have you got hidden, up the chimney?
God Forbid! How unfashionable!
We’re free of all that idle foolery.
The tender moment from which life emerged, 6840
The charming power with which its inner urge,
Took and gave, and clearly stamped its seal,
First in a near, and then a further field,
We now divest of all that dignity:
Though the creatures still enjoy it, we, 6845
As Men, with all our greater gifts, begin,
To have, as we should, a nobler origin.
(He turns towards the furnace.)
It brightens! See! – Now there’s a real chance,
That, if from the hundred-fold substance,
By mixing – since mixing makes it happen – 6850
The stuff of human life’s compounded,
And distilled in a flask, well-founded,
And in proper combination, grounded,
Then the silent work is done.
(He turns again to the furnace.)
It will be! The mass is clearer! 6855
The proof comes nearer, nearer:
What man praises in deepest Nature,
Through Reason we dare to probe it,
And what she organises, here,
We’re now able to crystallise it. 6860
Who lives a while, gains much experience,
And nothing new can happen on his journey.
In years of travelling, and in my presence,
I’ve seen, already, crystallised humanity.
It rises: flashes, there’s expansion 6865
In a moment more it will be done.
Great aims seem foolish at the outset:
But we’ll laugh at Chance itself, yet,
And brains, with thoughts to celebrate,
In the future, a Thinker will create. 6870
(He inspects the phial, rapturously.)
The glass rings with sweet power,
It darkens, clears: it must have being!
In a delicate form I see appear
A well-behaved little Man behaving.
What can the world ask more, what can we? 6875
Now that this mystery’s visible to each.
Give ear to what these sounds may be,
They make a voice: they’re forming speech.
Now, father! That was no joke. How are you?
Come: press me tenderly to your heart, too! 6880
But not too hard, the glass may be too thin.
It’s in the very nature of the thing:
For the natural the world has barely space:
What’s artificial commands a narrow place.
(To Mephistopheles.)
But you, Rascal, my dear Cousin, are you 6885
Here at the right moment? I thank you, too.
Good fortune’s led you here to me:
Since I exist, I must be doing, you see.
I’d like to begin my work today:
You’re skilful at shortening the way. 6890
But first, a word! Till now I’ve had no direction,
When old or young teased me with a question.
For example: no one’s found out, ever,
What makes body and soul fit together:
Stick tight, as if there’ll be no separation, 6895
Yet always cause each other irritation.
So then, -
Stop! I’d rather he told me,
Why married people get by so wretchedly?
You’ll never discover that, my friend.
There’s work to do the little Man can tend. 6900
What work’s to do?
Mephistopheles (Pointing to a side door.)
Employ your gifts on this!
Wagner (Still gazing at the phial.)
Truly, you’re the loveliest boy there is!
(The side-door opens: Faust is seen stretched out on a couch.)
Homunculus (Astonished.)
Interesting!
(The phial slips out of Wagner’s hands, hovers over Faust, and shines on him.)
Lovely surroundings! – Clear water
In thick forest! Women there: undressing.
The loveliest of all! – It’s getting clearer. 6905
One’s left, different from the rest, gleaming:
Of highest race, for sure, a heavenly name.
She places her foot in the transparent glow,
Her noble body’s sweetly living flame
Cools itself in the yielding crystal flow. – 6910
But what’s that rush of beating wings for:
That thrashing, splashing, in the mirror?
The lovely girls, intimidated, flee:
Their queen, alone, looks on, composedly,
To see, with a proud feminine pleasure, 6915
The Swan-Prince press against her knee, there,
Forward yet tame. Familiar, he seems. –
But suddenly a vapour heaves,
And covers, with the veil it weaves,
The loveliest of scenes. 6920
All the things that you could murmur!
So little: and such a great dreamer.
I see nothing –
So I believe. You’re Northern,
In the age of mist you’re born then, 6925
In a jumble of priest-craft and chivalry,
So how could your sight be free!
You’re at home with darkness.
(He gazes around.)
Brown repulsive, mildewed walls,
Low, pointed arches, full of scrolls! –
One wakes, and gives another pain, 6930
On the spot, dead then, he’ll remain.
Wooded founts, swans, naked beauty,
That was his far-sighted dream:
How could this place do duty!
I can scarcely endure the scene. 6935
Carry him off!
I’d be happy: a last chance.
Order the soldier to the fight,
Lead the maiden to the dance,
Then everything’s done right.
Even now, thinks, quick as light, 6940
It’s Classical Walpurgis Night:
That’s the best, if he were sent
To his own true element!
I’ve never heard that event named, here.
Homunculus
How could it come to your ear? 6945
Only Romantic ghosts, for you:
A true ghost must be Classic too.
Mephistopheles
Which path do we take there? Already
Your antique colleagues quite repel me.
North-westward Satan, is your pleasure ground, 6950
But this time we’re South-eastward bound –
In wider space flows Peneus, the free
By bushes, groves, and damp still bays:
Its levels stretch to mountain ways,
And over it Pharsalus: old, yet contemporary. 6955
Oh! Enough! And keep all the fight,
Of tyranny and slavery, out of sight.
It bores me: they’re scarce done when
They start the whole thing over again:
And no one sees: they’re being re-aligned, 6960
By Asmodeus, who works them from behind.
They clash, it’s said, for Freedom’s right:
Seen rightly, slave with slave is all the fight.
Leave Mankind’s wilfulness to me, then.
Each man defends himself, as best he can, 6965
From childhood, till, at last, he is a man.
Just ask how we can get back there again.
Have you a method, then, let’s see:
If you haven’t, leave it all to me.
There’s many a Brocken trick I could display, 6970
But I find that Pagan bolts have barred the way.
The whole Greek race was never that much use!
They dazzle with the senses’ freer play: it’s true:
They lure the heart of man to happier sins:
While ours, one always finds, are gloomy things. 6975
And now, what?
Once you weren’t so witless:
When I spoke about Thessalian witches.
I can deliver what I said: just think a little.
Thessalian witches! Good! They’re the people
I once enquired about long ago. 6980
I don’t think it would suit me, at all,
To live with them night after night, though,
Still, a visit, and a trial –
This mantle here,
Fold it around your knight there! 6985
As before, the cloak can carry another,
One of you, along with the other.
I’ll light the way.
And I?
Well, now, you
Stay home, there are important things to do.
Unfold all your ancient parchments,
Then, by rote, collect life’s elements, 6990
And place them together with due care,
Consider What, more deeply consider How.
Meanwhile round the world, a bit, I’ll fare,
And find the last dot on the ‘i’, for now.
Then the great work will see its final stage: 6995
Great effort will merit great reward, you’ll see:
Gold, honour, fame, a long and ripe old age,
And science too – and virtue, possibly.
Farewell!
Wagner (Sadly.)
Farewell! It gives me pain.
Already, I fear, I’ll not see you again. 7000
Now to Peneus, lively, on!
Sir Cousin’s highly rated.
(To the audience.)
In the end we’re dependent on
The creatures we’ve created.
The Pharsalian Fields.
(Darkness.)
Erichtho (The Thessalian Witch, see Lucan’s
Pharsalia)
This night’s awesome feast, as so often in the past, 7005
I enter now, I, Erichtho, the gloomy one:
Not so abominable as the wretched poets
Painted me, with excessive slander…they never
Cease their blame or praise…I see the valley whiten
With waves of tents that gleam greyer in the distance, 7010
The after-image of that anxious, fearful night.
How often it’s repeated! In eternity
Acted out, again, forever…No one gives the realm
To another: to the one whose power won it:
Whose strength rules. Since each, incapable of ruling 7015
His inner self, would gladly rule his neighbour’s will,
In the manner that his proud mind dictates to him…
But here a great instance was fought out, to the end,
Of how force may battle against a greater force,
Freedom’s lovely thousand-blossomed garland be torn, 7020
And stubborn laurel be wound round the ruler’s brow.
Here, Pompey dreams of his youth and former greatness,
There, Caesar, listening, watches the balance tremble!
It settles, and the world knows whom it sinks towards.
The watch fires, glowing, send out their crimson flames: 7025
The field exhales those images of squandered blood,
And lured by the strange wondrous splendour of the night,
A legion of Hellenic legends gather here.
They hover around all the fires uncertainly,
Or sit nearby, the fabled forms of ancient days…. 7030
The Moon, not full it is true, but of clearest light,
Rises, scattering mild radiance everywhere:
The ghostly tents vanish: the fires burn bluish now.
But, over my head, what sudden meteor’s this?
It shines, illuminates the material globe. 7035
I smell Life. It’s not fitting for me to approach
Closer to the living, since I’m harmful to them:
It gives me a bad name, and is no benefit to me.
It sinks down already. I give way, thoughtfully!
(She Exits. The Airy Travellers speak from above.)
Once again float round the circle 7040
Over flames and shuddering horror:
On the ground, and in the vale still,
It’s quite ghostly, we discover.
It’s the same as through my old window
In the grim and tangled north, 7045
Really loathsome ghosts below,
I’m at home here: and there, of course.
See! There’s a tall one striding,
With gigantic steps, before us.
Mephistopheles
As if she were afraid, now: gliding 7050
Through the air above, she saw us.
Let her stride! Right away,
Set the knight down there:
He’ll return to life again,
Once he breathes this mythic air. 7055
Faust (As he touches the ground.)
Where is she?
We can’t say, I fear,
But you can probably enquire here.
Hurry now before it’s daylight,
Go and search, from fire to fire:
Who found his way to the Mothers’ side, 7060
Won’t find this harder to survive.
On my own behalf too, I’m here:
But I don’t know anything better
Than each to seek, among the fires,
The adventure he desires. 7065
Then, so that we can reunite,
Little one, shine your ringing light.
It shines like this, and rings.
(The glass shines and rings out powerfully.)
Now off to new and wondrous things!
Faust (Alone.)
Where is she? – But no further answer seek… 7070
If this is not the soil she trod,
Nor the wave that bathed her foot,
It is the air that spoke her speech.
Here! By a miracle, on Hellenic land!
I feel, the earth, too, where I stand: 7075
A fresh power glows in me, the Sleeper,
So I am Antaeus-like in nature.
And I find the strangest things lie here,
First let me search this Labyrinth of fire.
(He moves away.)
(On the Upper Peneus)
Mephistopheles (Looking around.)
And as I wander through these fires, 7080
I feel myself a total stranger: in the event,
They’re mostly naked, a shirt here and there:
The Sphinx shameless, the Gryphon impudent:
And what’s more, curly-haired and winged,
Before, behind, in eyes, reflected things… 7085
Of course, at heart, indecency’s my ideal,
But I find the Antique is a little too real.
One should control all with a modern mind,
Overlay it with fashions of assorted kinds….
Repulsive people! Yet still I have to meet them, 7090
And, as a new guest too, correctly greet them…
Luck to you, fair ladies, and men, you wise grey ones!
A Gryphon (Snarling. For the gold-guarding Gryphons see Herodotus’ Histories.)
Not Grey ones! Gryphons! – No one likes the name
Of something grey. Every word rings
With what conditioned it: its origins: 7095
Grey, grievous, grumpy, gruesome, gravely, grimly,
Similarly harmonious etymologically,
Disharmonise us.
And yet, without deviation,
You like the gryp in your proud name of Gryphon.
Naturally! The relationship’s tried and tested: 7100
It was often censured, but more often praised:
One grips maidens, money, gold,
To the gripper, Fortune’s never cold.
Giant Ants
You spoke of gold: we’ve collected lots of it,
In rocks and caves, secretly, we’ve crammed it: 7105
The Arimaspi, discovered it all, one day,
They’re laughing now: they took it far away.
We’ll soon make them confess.
But not on this night of public festival.
By morning we’ll have spent it all. 7110
This time at least we’ll achieve success.
How free, and easy, I feel here,
I understand you, one and all.
We breathe out spirit-tones, clear,
That for you become substantial. 7115
Now name yourself, so we can know your fame.
Men choose to saddle me with a host of names…
Are there Britons here? They travel about so much,
Looking for battlefields, and ruined walls,
The dullest classical places, waterfalls: 7120
Here’s a site that’s worth all their fuss.
They spoke of me too: in their Mysteries:
And portrayed me there as Old Iniquity.
A Sphinx
How so?
Mephistopheles
I don’t know why that should be.
Perhaps you’ve knowledge of the stars? 7125
What do you think of the present hour?
Star glides by star, the horned moon shines bright,
And I feel happy here, in this mournful site,
I warm myself on a lion skin: your right.
To have to take off, again: that would be hard: 7130
Give us a riddle, or at least charades.
To express yourself, that would be a riddle.
Try for once to solve your own inner muddle:
‘Needed by the good man and the sinful,
To the first a breastplate in ascetic swordplay, 7135
A wild friend for the other, to show the way,
And both amusing Zeus with their display.’
I don’t like him!
The Second Gryphon (Snarling more fiercely.)
What’s he after?
The nasty thing, he’s not been heard of here!
Perhaps you think a guest’s nails can’t claw 7140
Every bit as sharply as those talons of yours?
Just try it, then!
You’ll only stay until,
You leave our company, yourself, as you will:
In your own land everything worked for you,
But this if I’m not wrong’s too much for you. 7145
Looked at above, you’re rather appetising,
But lower down the creature’s somewhat frightening.
False one, you’ll do bitter penance,
These claws of ours are sound and good:
You with your withered horse’s hoof, 7150
Aren’t comfortable in our presence.
(The Sirens start to sing, above them.)