Calais 75 white double sink vanity by studio bathe

Faust

parts I & II

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A Translation into English by

A. S. Kline

With illustrations by Eugène Delacroix

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© Copyright 2003 A. S. Kline

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part I

Faust in His Studio Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (The Netherlands, 1606 - 1669)

Contents

Part I: Dedication.................................................................................................... 6

Part I: Prelude On Stage ........................................................................................ 7

Part I: Prologue In Heaven ................................................................................. 14

Part I Scene I: Night ............................................................................................. 19

Part I Scene II: In Front Of The City-Gate ..................................................... 34

Part I Scene III: The Study .................................................................................. 49

Part I Scene IV: The Study .................................................................................. 63

Part I Scene V: Auerbach’s Cellar in Leipzig ................................................... 83

Part I Scene VI: The Witches’ Kitchen ............................................................. 97

Part I Scene VII: A Street .................................................................................. 108

Part I Scene VIII: Evening, ............................................................................... 112

Part I Scene IX: Promenade ............................................................................. 117

Part I Scene X: The Neighbour’s House ........................................................ 120

Part I Scene XI: The Street ............................................................................... 129

Part I Scene XII: The Garden .......................................................................... 131

Part I Scene XIII: An Arbour in the Garden ................................................. 137

Part I Scene XIV: Forest and Cavern .............................................................. 139

Part I Scene XV: Gretchen’s Room ................................................................. 144

Part I Scene XVI: Martha’s Garden ................................................................. 147

Part I Scene XVII: At The Fountain ............................................................... 153

Part I Scene XVIII: A Tower............................................................................ 155

Part I Scene XIX: Night .................................................................................... 157

Part I Scene XX: The Cathedral ....................................................................... 166

Part I Scene XXI: Walpurgis Night ................................................................. 170

Part I Scene XXII: A Walpurgis Night’s Dream ........................................... 186

Part I Scene XXIII: Gloomy Day .................................................................... 193

Part I Scene XXIV: Night ................................................................................. 195

Part I Scene XXV: A Dungeon ........................................................................ 197

Part II Act I Scene I: A Pleasant Landscape .................................................. 209

Part II Act I Scene II: The Emperor’s Castle: The Throne Room ............. 213

Part II Act I Scene III: A Spacious Hall with Adjoining Rooms ................ 224

Part II Act I Scene IV: A Pleasure Garden in the Morning Sun ................. 255

Part II Act I Scene V: A Gloomy Gallery ....................................................... 262

Part II Act I Scene VI: Brilliantly Lit Halls ..................................................... 268

Part II Act I Scene VII: The Hall of the Knights, Dimly Lit ...................... 271

Part II Act II Scene I: A High-Arched, Narrow, Gothic Chamber ............ 279

Part II Act II Scene II: A Laboratory .............................................................. 288

Part II Act II Scene III: Classical Walpurgis Night. ...................................... 296

Part II Act II Scene IV: On The Upper Peneus Again ................................ 315

Part II Act II Scene V: Rocky Coves in the Aegean Sea .............................. 335

Part II Act II Scene VI: The Telchines of Rhodes ........................................ 344

Part II Act III Scene I: Before the Palace of Menelaus in Sparta ............... 352

Part II Act III Scene II: The Inner Court of The Castle .............................. 375

Part II Act IV Scene I: High Mountains ......................................................... 409

Part II Act IV Scene II: On the Headland ...................................................... 420

Part II Act IV Scene III: The Rival Emperor’s Tent .................................... 436

Part II Act V Scene I: Open Country .............................................................. 446

Part II Act V Scene II: In the Little Garden .................................................. 449

Part II Act V Scene III: The Palace ................................................................. 451

Part II Act V Scene IV: Dead of Night ........................................................... 456

Part II Act V Scene V: Midnight ...................................................................... 460

Part II Act V Scene VI: The Great Outer Court of the Palace ................... 465

Part II Act V Scene VII: Mountain Gorges, Forest, Rock, Desert............. 478

Line numbering corresponds to digital editions (www.poetryintranslation.com) to aid

cross-comparison. Some reformatting has occurred for the printed page.

Faust

6

Part I: Dedication

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.

Part I

7

Part I: Prelude On Stage

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!

Faust

8

DRAMATIST 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.

COMEDIAN 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.

Part I

9

DIRECTOR 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.

DRAMATIST 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.

DIRECTOR 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!

Faust

10

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?

DRAMATIST 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.

Part I

11

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.

DRAMATIST 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.

Faust

12

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!

COMEDIAN 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.

DIRECTOR 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,

Part I

13

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.

Faust

14

Part I: Prologue In Heaven

God, the Heavenly Hosts, and then Mephistopheles.

The Three Archangels step forward.

RAPHAEL 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

GABRIEL 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.

MICHAEL 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

Part I

15

MEPHISTOPHELES 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.

GOD Have you nothing else to name?

Do you always come here to complain?

Does nothing ever go right on the Earth? 295

MEPHISTOPHELES 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.

GOD Do you know, Faust?

MEPHISTOPHELES The Doctor?

GOD My servant, first!

Faust

16

MEPHISTOPHELES 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.

GOD 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.

MEPHISTOPHELES 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.

GOD As long as he’s alive on Earth, 315

So long as that I won’t forbid it,

For while man strives he errs.

MEPHISTOPHELES 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.

GOD 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.

Part I

17

MEPHISTOPHELES 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

GOD You can appear freely too:

Those like you I’ve never hated.

Of all the spirits who deny, it’s you,

The jester, 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 play 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!

Faust

18

Part I

19

Part I Scene I: Night

In a high-vaulted Gothic chamber, Faust, in a chair at his desk, restless.

FAUST 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

Faust

20

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’s 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,

Part I

21

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,

Faust

22

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.)

SPIRIT Who calls me?

FAUST (Looking away.)

Terrible to gaze at!

SPIRIT Mightily you have drawn me to you,

Long, from my sphere, snatched your food,

And now –

Part I

23

FAUST Ah! Endure you, I cannot! 485

SPIRIT 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?

FAUST Shall I fear you: you form of fire?

I am, I am Faust: I am your peer! 500

SPIRIT 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.

FAUST You who wander the world, on every hand, 510

Active Spirit, how close to you I feel!

SPIRIT You’re like the Spirit that you understand

Not me!

(It vanishes.)

Faust

24

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.

WAGNER 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.

FAUST Yes, when the priest’s a comedian already:

Which might well seem to be the case.

WAGNER 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?

Part I

25

FAUST 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 others’ 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

WAGNER Still, lecturing brings orators success:

I feel that I am far behind the rest.

FAUST 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!

WAGNER 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

Faust

26

FAUST 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.

WAGNER 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.

FAUST 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.

FAUST 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

Part I

27

WAGNER 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.

Faust

28

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,

Part I

29

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

Faust

30

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.

Part I

31

CHOIR OF ANGELS 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?

CHORUS OF WOMEN 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.

CHOIR OF ANGELS Christ has arisen!

Blissful Beloved,

Out of what grieved,

Tested, and healed: 760

His trial is won.

FAUST 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,

Faust

32

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!

CHORUS OF DISCIPLES 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!

Part I

33

CHOIR OF ANGELS 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!

Faust

34

Part I Scene II: In Front Of The City-Gate

Passers-by of all kinds appear.

SEVERAL APPRENTICES So, then, where are you away to?

OTHERS We’re away to the Hunting Lodge.

THE FORMER We’re off to saunter by the Mill. 810

AN APPRENTICE Off to the Riverside Inn, I’d guess.

A SECOND APPRENTICE The way there’s not of the best.

THE OTHERS What about you?

A THIRD I’m with the others, still.

A FOURTH Come to the Castle, you’ll find there

The prettiest girls, the finest beer, 815

And the best place for a fight.

A FIFTH You quarrelsome fool, are you looking

For a third good hiding?

Not for me, that place, I hate its very sight.

A MAIDSERVANT No, No! I’m going back to town. 820

ANOTHER We’ll find him by those poplar trees for sure.

THE FIRST 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

Part I

35

THE OTHER I’m sure he’s not alone, he said

He’d bring along that Curly-head.

A STUDENT 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.

A CITIZEN’S DAUGHTER 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.

THE FIRST 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

CITIZEN 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.

Faust

36

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!

ANOTHER CITIZEN 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.

THIRD CITIZEN 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

THE CITIZEN’S DAUGHTER 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.

Part I

37

THE OTHER 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.

THE SOLDIERS 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,

Faust