Faust

“ Then believ'st thou not?
Faust. Sweet face, do not misunderstand my thought!
Who dares express him?
And who confess him,
Saying, I do believe?
A man's heart bearing,
What man has the daring
To say: I acknowledge him not?
The All-enfolder,
The All-upholder,
Enfolds, upholds He not
Thee, me, Himself?
Upsprings not Heaven's blue arch high o'er thee?
Underneath thee does not earth stand fast?
See'st thou not, nightly climbing,
Tenderly glancing eternal stars? ”

“ It seems as if all heaven the room were filling.
Faust. One passion only has thy heart possessed;
The other, friend, O, learn it never!
Two souls, alas! are lodged in my wild breast,
Which evermore opposing ways endeavor,
The one lives only on the joys of time,
Still to the world with clamp-like organs clinging;
The other leaves this earthly dust and slime,
To fields of sainted sires up-springing.
O, are there spirits in the air,
That empire hold 'twixt earth's and heaven's dominions,
Down from your realm of golden haze repair,
Waft me to new, rich life, upon your rosy pinions! ”

“ Faust.
In truth I see the eyes of one that’s dead,
On which no closing hand of love was laid.
That is my Margaret’s kindly breast,
That the sweet body I caressed.
Mephistopheles.
There lies the witchcraft o’t, thou fool!
A phantom takes thy wit to school:
She is the love of every lover’s brain.
Faust. ”

“ Faust. Would thou hadst something else to do, That thus to spoil my joy thou burnest.
Mephistopheles. Well! well! I'll leave thee, gladly too!—
Thou dar'st not tell me that in earnest!
'Twere no great loss, a fellow such as you,
So crazy, snappish, and uncivil.
One has, all day, his hands full, and more too;
To worm out from him what he'd have one do,
Or not do, puzzles e'en the very devil.
Faust. Now, that I like! That's just the tone! Wants thanks for boring me till I'm half dead!
Mephistopheles. Poor son of earth, if left alone,
What sort of life wouldst thou have led? ”

“ The inborn angel's features drew!
Here lay the child, when life's fresh heavings
Its tender bosom first made warm,
And here with pure, mysterious weavings
The spirit wrought its godlike form!
And thou! What brought thee here? what power
Stirs in my deepest soul this hour?
What wouldst thou here? What makes thy heart so sore?
Unhappy Faust! I know thee thus no more.
Breathe I a magic atmosphere?
The will to enjoy how strong I felt it,—
And in a dream of love am now all melted!
Are we the sport of every puff of air? ”

“ Faust.
I feel it well, in vain have I uphoarded
All treasures that the mind of man afforded,
And when I sit me down, I feel no more
A well of life within me than before;
Not ev’n one hairbreadth greater is my height,
Not one inch nearer to the infinite.
Mephistopheles.
My worthy friend, these things you view,
Just as they appear to you;
Some wiser method we must shape us,
Ere the joys of life escape us.
Why, what the devil! hands and feet,
Brain and brawn and blood are thine ”

“ Shouldst thou manure, thyself, the field thou reapest;
Follow this course and, trust to me,
For eighty years thy youth thou keepest!
Faust. I am not used to that, I ne'er could bring me to it, To wield the spade, I could not do it. The narrow life befits me not at all.
Mephistopheles. So must we on the witch, then, call.
Faust. But why just that old hag? Canst thou Not brew thyself the needful liquor?
Mephistopheles. That were a pretty pastime now
I'd build about a thousand bridges quicker.
Science and art alone won't do,
The work will call for patience, too ”

“ FAUST
And from my heart.
MEPHISTOPHELES
'Tis very fine!
Thine endless love, thy faith assuring,
The one almighty force enduring,—
Will that, too, prompt this heart of thine?
FAUST
Hold! hold! It will!—If such my flame,
And for the sense and power intense
I seek, and cannot find, a name;
Then range with all my senses through creation,
Craving the speech of inspiration,
And call this ardor, so supernal,
Endless, eternal and eternal,—
Is that a devilish lying game?
MEPHISTOPHELES
And yet I'm right!
FAUST
Mark this, I beg of thee! ”

“ OLDHAM
Faust, I feel,
Transfused with light and glory, that deep peace
Awaiting. There shall perish like a flame
The passions which have seared my tortured soul
All my life long. They die; and nothingness
Like a cool flood sweeps over me. Ah, come
Where never storm shall smite!
FAUST
I see the gates;
I see the cool breast of the silvery flood
Of refuge and oblivion.... Fare you well,
Oldham, and light go with you! For I go,
Alas, not with you....
OLDHAM
Faust, Faust, turn not back! ”

“ Faust. This was the poodle's essence then! A travelling clark? Ha! ha! The casus is too funny.
Mephistopheles. I bow to the most learned among men! 'Faith you did sweat me without ceremony.
Faust. What is thy name?
Mephistopheles. The question seems too small
For one who holds the word so very cheaply,
Who, far removed from shadows all,
For substances alone seeks deeply.
Faust. With gentlemen like him in my presence,
The name is apt to express the essence,
Especially if, when you inquire,
You find it God of flies, [14] Destroyer, Slanderer, Liar.
Well now, who art thou then? ”

“ The character of Faust especially, the man whose burning, untiring heart can neither enjoy fortune nor do without it, who gives himself unconditionally and watches himself with mistrust, who unites the enthusiasm of passion and the dejectedness of despair, is not this an eloquent opening up of the most secret and tumultuous part of the poet's soul? ”

“ Microcosm.
Faust. What am I then? if that for which my heart Yearns with invincible endeavor, The crown of man, must hang unreached forever?
Mephistopheles. Thou art at last—just what thou art.
Pile perukes on thy head whose curls cannot be counted,
On yard-high buskins let thy feet be mounted,
Still thou art only what thou art.
Faust. Yes, I have vainly, let me not deny it,
Of human learning ransacked all the stores,
And when, at last, I set me down in quiet,
There gushes up within no new-born force ”

“ What then? 'Tis half for pity's sake
They praise your pretty features.
Each burns for gold,
All turns on gold,—
Alas for us! poor creatures!
PROMENADE. FAUST [going up and down in thought.] MEPHISTOPHELES to him.
Mephistopheles. By all that ever was jilted! By all the infernal fires! I wish I knew something worse, to curse as my heart desires!
Faust. What griping pain has hold of thee? Such grins ne'er saw I in the worst stage-ranter!
Mephistopheles. Oh, to the devil I'd give myself instanter, If I were not already he!
Faust. Some pin's loose in your head, old fellow! ”

“ Who takes no thought,
To him 'tis brought,
'Tis given unsought, unbidden!
FAUST
What nonsense she declaims before us!
My head is nigh to split, I fear:
It seems to me as if I hear
A hundred thousand fools in chorus.
MEPHISTOPHELES
O Sibyl excellent, enough of adjuration!
But hither bring us thy potation,
And quickly fill the beaker to the brim!
This drink will bring my friend no injuries:
He is a man of manifold degrees,
And many draughts are known to him.
(The WITCH, with many ceremonies, pours the drink into a
cup; as FAUST sets it to his lips, a light flame arises.) ”

“ Excited to a frenzy of rage, Faust curses all that is good and calls upon the Evil One to aid him. Mephistopheles appears, and offers gold, glory, boundless power; but the aged doctor craves youth, its passions and delights. The fiend agrees that all shall be his if he but sign a compact, by which the devil serves Faust on earth, but in the hereafter below the relation is to be reversed. Faust wavers at first, but a vision of Marguerite appears, which inflames his ardor and dispels his hesitation; he drinks the potion and is transformed into a young and handsome man. ”

“ Faust. Do stay but just one moment longer, then, Tell me good news and I'll release thee.
Mephistopheles. Let me go now! I'll soon come back again, Then may'st thou ask whate'er shall please thee.
Faust. I laid no snare for thee, old chap!
Thou shouldst have watched and saved thy bacon.
Who has the devil in his trap
Must hold him fast, next time he'll not so soon be taken. ”

“ In an ecstasy of embitterment and despair, though fully conscious that such a life can never bring him satisfaction and happiness, Faust exclaims: 'What wilt thou, poor devil, give me? Was the human spirit, in its aspirations, ever understood by such as thou?... And yet—hast thou the food that never satiates—hast thou red gold—hast thou love, [86] passionate faithless love—hast thou the fruits that rot before one plucks them—hast thou the fruits of that tree of sensual pleasure which daily puts forth new blossoms—then done! ”

“ When he is once more left alone, longing to face the mystery of life but crushed by the contempt of the Earth-spirit, Faust is seized by despair. He shrinks from encountering life, with its delusive joys, its pitiless injustice and its arbitrary fate. He resolves to seek certainty—to solve the riddle of life by death. As he moves the cup of poison to his lips there comes floating through the air the chime of bells and, perhaps from some near chapel, the hymn of Easter morn:
Joy unto mortals! ”

“ The Godhead's live garment, eternal in bloom.
Faust. Spirit that sweep'st the world from end to end, How near, this hour, I feel myself to thee!
Spirit. Thou'rt like the spirit thou canst comprehend, Not me! [Vanishes.]
Faust. [Collapsing.] Not thee?
Whom then?
I, image of the Godhead,
And no peer for thee!
[A knocking.]
O Death! I know it!—'tis my Famulus—
Good-bye, ye dreams of bliss Elysian!
Shame! that so many a glowing vision
This dried-up sneak must scatter thus!
[WAGNER, in sleeping-gown and night-cap, a lamp in his hand.
FAUST turns round with an annoyed look.]
Wagner. ”

“ Margaret on Faust’s arm; Martha with Mephistopheles, walking up and down.
Margaret.
I feel it well, ’tis from pure condescension
You pay to one like me so much attention.
With travellers ’tis a thing of course,
To be contented with the best they find;
For sure a man of cultivated mind
Can have small pleasure in my poor discourse.
Faust.
One look from thee, one word, delights me more
Than all the world’s high-vaunted lore. ”

“ Faust then wakens, and gratefully welcomes the fresh tide of a renewed existence which, after the soothing influences of the magic sleep, seems to stream in upon him. A resolution is strongly stirred in his breast to strive after the highest perfection of which human nature is capable. ”

“ Faust despairs of solving the riddle of the universe. Aged, his pursuit of science vain, he seizes a flask of poison, pours it into a crystal goblet, and is about to drain it, when, day having dawned, the cheerful song of young women on their way to work arrests him. The song dies away. Again he raises the goblet, only to pause once more, as he hears a chorus of labourers, with whose voices those of the women unite. Faust, beside himself at these sounds of joy and youth, curses life and advancing age, and calls upon Satan to aid him. ”

“ Wilt thou the rollicking cursus measure!
Faust. I fear the easy life and free
With my long beard will scarce agree.
'Tis vain for me to think of succeeding,
I never could learn what is called good-breeding.
In the presence of others I feel so small;
I never can be at my ease at all.
Mephistopheles. Dear friend, vain trouble to yourself you're giving; Whence once you trust yourself, you know the art of living.
Faust. But how are we to start, I pray? Where are thy servants, coach and horses?
Mephistopheles. We spread the mantle, and away
It bears us on our airy courses. ”

“ Well, all have a way that they incline to, But still there is something wrong with thee; Thou hast no Christianity.
Faust. Dear child!
Margaret. It long has troubled me That thou shouldst keep such company.
Faust. How so?
Margaret. The man whom thou for crony hast,
Is one whom I with all my soul detest.
Nothing in all my life has ever
Stirred up in my heart such a deep disfavor
As the ugly face that man has got.
Faust. Sweet plaything; fear him not! ”

“ How this true soul that loves so dearly,
Yet hugs, at every cost,
The faith which she
Counts Heaven itself, is horror-struck sincerely
To think of giving up her dearest man for lost.
Mephistopheles. Thou supersensual, sensual wooer, A girl by the nose is leading thee.
Faust. Abortion vile of fire and sewer!
Mephistopheles. In physiognomy, too, her skill is masterly.
When I am near she feels she knows not how,
My little mask some secret meaning shows;
She thinks, I'm certainly a genius, now,
Perhaps the very devil—who knows?
To-night then?—
Faust. ”

“ Faust has turned from all the highest influences to which his spirit in its inmost depths responds. In a mood of despair he has abandoned his ideals, and is seeking through the world for some rapture that will satisfy his cravings. So far, he is a type of humanity in one aspect of its life. But—Goethe seems to have asked himself—why should not Faust be a type of humanity in a larger, greater sense? If it is the destiny of evil to be conquered and to pass away, might not Faust become the representative of this sublime world-process? ”

“ At times she'll be laughing, seldom smile,
At times wept-out she'll seem,
Then again tranquil, you'd deem,—
Lovesick all the while.
Faust. Viper! Viper!
Mephistopheles [aside] . Ay! and the prey grows riper!
Faust. Reprobate! take thee far behind me!
No more that lovely woman name!
Bid not desire for her sweet person flame
Through each half-maddened sense, again to blind me!
Mephistopheles. What then's to do? She fancies thou hast flown, And more than half she's right, I own.
Faust. I'm near her, and, though far away, my word,
I'd not forget her, lose her; never fear it! ”