I love to have a free unshackled spirit. [The dance goes on.]
To-day I see that all my strength is spent in vain;
I’ve had a tour, at least, to compensate my evils,
And hope, before I come to Blocksberg back again,
To crush, with one good stroke, the poets and the devils.
Mephistopheles.
He will now go, and, bare of breeches,
Sit in a pool with solemn patience;
And, when his buttocks are well sucked by leeches,
Be cured of ghosts and ghostly inspirations.
[ToFaust,who has just left the dance.]
Why do you let the lovely damsel go,
That in the dance with sweet song pleased you so?
Faust.
Alas! while she so passing sweet was singing,
I saw a red mouse from her mouth outspringing.
Mephistopheles.
Pooh! on the Brocken that’s a thing of course;
Let not such trifles mar your sweet discourse.
Go, join the crew, and dance away;
Enough, the red mouse was not gray.
Faust.
Then saw I——
Mephistopheles.
What?
Faust.
Mephisto, see’st thou there
A pale yet lovely girl, in lonely distance fare?
From place to place she moveth slow;
With shackled feet she seems to go;
I must confess, she has a cast
Of Margaret, when I saw her last.
Mephistopheles.
Let that alone! it brings thee certain harm;
It is bewitched, a bloodless, breathless form,
For men to look upon it is not good.
Its fixèd gaze hath power to freeze the blood,
And petrify thee stark and stiff.
Of course I need not ask you if
You’ve heard of the Medusa’s head.
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.
What ecstasy! and yet what pain!
I cannot leave it for my life.
How strangely this most lovely neck
A single streak of red doth deck,
No broader than the back o’ a knife!
Mephistopheles.
Quite right! I see it, just as well as you.
Sometimes her head beneath her elbow too
She wears; for Perseus cut it off, you know.
What! will you still a-dreaming go?
Come, let us mount the hillock—there
We shall have noble sport, believe me;
For, unless mine eyes deceive me,
They have got up a theatre.
What make you here?
A Servant.
You are just come in time.
’Tis a new piece, the last of all the seven,
For such the number that with us is given.
A dilettante ’twas that wrote the rhyme,
And dilettanti are the actors too.
Excuse me, sirs,—no disrespect to you,
If I seem curt: I am the dilettante
To draw the curtain; and our time is scanty.
Mephistopheles.
Just so; I only wish you were so clever
To know your home;
Then from the Blocksberg you would never
Have lust to roam!
Intermezzo.[n15]
Walpurgis-Night’s Dream;orOberon and Titania’s Golden Hightide.
Director of the Theatre.
We players here may take our ease;
For all we need for scenery
Is mount and mead, and trees, and seas
Of Nature’s leafy greenery.
Herald.
The golden high-tide is it then,
When fifty years pass over;
But doubly golden is it when
All brawls and strifes they cover.
Oberon.
Ye spirits, who obey my law,
Are to this feast invited,
When Oberon and Titania
In love are reunited.
Puck.
Puck comes in first, and turns athwart,
His merry circles wheeling;
And hundreds more behind him dart,
Loud shouts of laughter pealing.
Ariel.
I fill the air with thrilling song
Of virtue quite enchanting;
Though ugly imps I lure along,
The fair are never wanting!
Oberon.
When man and wife begin to strive,
Just give them length of tether!
They will learn in peace to live,
When not too much together.
Titania.
When pouts the wife, and frets the man,
This cure is best in Nature,
Him to the Arctic circle ban,
And her to the Equator.
Orchestra.[Tutti. Fortissimo]
Snout of fly, and nose of gnat,
Lead on the band before us!
Frog and cricket, cat and bat,
Join merry in the chorus!
Solo.
A soap-bell for a doodle-sack,[3]
The merry waters troubling!
Hear the snecke-snicke-snack,
From its snub-nose bubbling!
Embryo-Spirit.
Legs of spider, paunch of toad,
And wings, if you would know it;
Nor fish, nor fowl, but on the road
Perhaps to be a poet!
A Pair of Dancers.
With many a nimble pace and spring,
Through honey-dew and vapour,
Trips o’er the ground the little thing,
But higher cannot caper.
Inquisitive Traveller.
Do I see a real thing,
Or is it all delusion?
Oberon, the fairy king,
Amid this wild confusion.
Orthodox.
Though neither tail nor claws are his,
’Tis true beyond all cavil,
As devils were the gods of Greece,
He too must be a devil.
Northern Artist.
’Tis but a sketch, I must admit;
But what I can’t unravel
To-night, I’ll know, with larger wit,
From my Italian travel.
Purist.
Alas! that I should see it too!
Here we a riot rare have!
Of all the crew, there are but two
That powder on their hair have.
Young Witch.
Powder and petticoat for grey
And wrinkled hags are fitting;
But I my lusty limbs display,
Upon a he-goat sitting.
Matron.
To speak with such a shameless pack
We have nor will nor leisure;
Soon may your flesh rot on your back,
And we look on with pleasure!
Leader of the Orchestra.
Snout of fly, and nose of gnat,
Sting not the naked beauty!
Frog and cricket, cat and bat,
Attend ye to your duty!
Weathercock.[to the one side]
A goodly company! as sure
As I stand on the steeple;
With brides and bridegrooms swarms the moor,
The hopefulest of people!
Weathercock.[to the other side]
And opes not suddenly the ground,
To swallow one and all up,
Then, with a jerk, I’ll veer me round,
And straight to hell I’ll gallop.
Xenien.
We insects keep them all in awe,
With sharpest scissors shear we!
Old Nick, our worthy Squire Papa,
Here to salute appear we.
Hennings.
See! how in merry circles they
Sit gossiping together;
The graceless crew have hearts, they say,
As good as any other.
Musagetes.
This witch and wizard crew to lead,
My willing fancy chooses;
More hopeful field is here indeed,
Than when I lead the Muses.
Ci-devant Genius of the Age.
The Brocken has a good broad back,
Like the High-Dutch Parnassus;
The Jury here no man can pack,
Or with proud silence pass us.
Inquisitive Traveller.
Say, who is he so stiff that goes,
That stately-stalking stranger?
He snuffs for Jesuits with sharp nose,
And cries—the Church in danger!
Crane.
In muddy waters do I fish
As well as where it clear is,
And only for such cause as this
The pious man too here is.
Worldling.
Yes! though the saints declare that sin
And Blocksberg are identical,
Yet here, amid this demon din,
They’ll set up their conventicle.
Dancer.
A sound of drums! a sound of men!
That wafted on the wind came!—
The weary bitterns in the fen
Are booming—never mind ’em!
Dancing-Master.
Lo! how they kick, and how they jump!
How well each figure shown is!
Springs the crooked, hops the plump!
Each thinks him an Adonis!
A Good Fellow.
A sorry lot! What muffled ire
Their swelling breasts inflames here!
The beasts were tamed by Orpheus’ lyre,
And them the bagpipe tames here!
Professor of Systematic Theology.
I let no one bamboozle me
With doubts and critic cavils;
The devil sure must something be,
Else whence so many devils?
Idealist.
Imagination travels free
Without or rein or rule here;
If I am all that now I see,
Myself must be a fool here.
Realist.
That on the Brocken ghosts appear
Now scarce admits disputing;
Amid this hurly burly here
I’ve fairly lost my footing.
Supernaturalist.
Into this swarming hellish brood
I come, without intrusion;
From evil spirits to the good,
It is a just conclusion.
Sceptic.
They chase the flame that flits about,
And deem them near their treasure;
Best rhymes with doubt this demon-rout,
And I look on with pleasure.
Leader of the Orchestra.
Snout of fly, and nose of gnat,
Ye stupid Dilettanti!
Frog and cricket, cat and bat,
Keep better time, why can’t ye?
Clever Spirits.
Sans-souciis hight the crew
On limber limbs that ply it;
When on our feet it will not do,
Then on our heads we try it.
Awkward Spirits.
With once or twice a lucky throw
We tramped the road together;
But now we flounder on, and show
Our toes outside the leather!
Ignes Fatui.
Though born but with the sultry ray
This morn, in the morass all,
Yet now, amid the gallants gay,
We shine here and surpass all.
Falling Star.
Last night I shot from starry sky
And fell upon my nose here;
Will no one come where flat I lie,
And plant me on my toes here?
Stout Spirits.
Make way, make way! and brush the dew
Right bravely from the lawn here;
Spirits we are, but Spirits too
Can show both pith and brawn here!
Puck.
Why tramp ye so majestical
As cub of river-horse is?
The plumpest spirit of you all
Stout Puck himself of course is.
Ariel.
If loving Nature’s bounteous care
Hath fitted you with pinions,
Then cleave with me the yielding air
To rosy bright dominions.
Orchestra.
The mist draws off, and overhead
All clear and bright the air is,
And with the rustling breeze are fled
The devils and the fairies!
end of the interlude.
A cloudy day. The Fields.
FaustandMephistopheles.
Faust.
In misery! in despair! Wandering in hopeless wretchedness over the wide earth, and at last made prisoner! Shut up like a malefactor in a dungeon, victim of the most horrible woes—poor miserable girl! Must it then come to this? Thou treacherous and worthless Spirit! this hast thou concealed from me!—Stand thou there! stand!—Roll round thy fiendish eyes, infuriate in thy head! Stand and confront me with thy insupportable presence. A prisoner! in irredeemable misery! given over to evil Spirits, and to the condemning voice of the unfeeling world! and me, meanwhile, thou cradlest to sleep amid a host of the most vapid dissipations, concealing from my knowledge her aggravated woes!—while she—she is left in hopeless wretchedness to die!
Mephistopheles.
She’s not the first.
Faust.
Dog! abominable monster!—Change him, O thou infinite Spirit! change the reptile back again into his original form—the poodle that ran before me in the twilight, now cowering at the feet of the harmless wanderer, now springing on his shoulders!—Change him again into his favourite shape, that he may crouch on his belly in the sand before me, and I may tramp him underneath my feet, the reprobate!—Not the first! Misery, misery! by no human soul to be conceived! that more than one creature of God should ever have been plunged into the depth of this woe! that the first, in the writhing agony of her death, should not have atoned for the guilt of all the rest before the eyes of the All-merciful! It digs even into the marrow of my life, the misery of thisone; and thou—thou grinnest in cold composure over the wretchedness of thousands!
Mephistopheles.
Here we are arrived once more at the limit of our wits, where the thread of human reason snaps in sunder. Wherefore seekest thou communion with us, unless thou would’st carry it through? Would’st fly, and yet art not proof against giddiness? Did we thrust ourselves on you, or you on us?
Faust.
Whet not thy rows of voracious teeth at me! I loathe it!—Great and glorious Spirit, who didst condescend to reveal thyself to me, who knowest my heart and my soul, wherefore didst thou yoke me to this vilest of complices, who feeds on mischief and banquets on destruction?
Mephistopheles.
Art done?
Faust.
Deliver her! or woe thee!—the direst of curses lie on thee for ever!
Mephistopheles.
I cannot loose the bonds of the avenger, nor open his bars.—Deliver her! Who was it that plunged her into ruin? I or thou?
[Faustlooks wildly round.
Mephistopheles.[continues]
Would’st grasp the thunder? ’Tis well that you, poor mortals, have it not to wield! To smash the innocent in pieces is the proper tyrant’s fashion of venting one’s spleen in a dilemma.
Faust.
Bring me to her! She shall be free!
Mephistopheles.
And the danger to which thou exposest thyself! Know that the guilt of blood from thy hand still lies upon the town. Above the spot where the slain fell, avenging Spirits hover and lie in wait for the returning murderer.
Faust.
That too from thee? Murder and death of a world on thee, thou monster! Bring me to her, I say, and deliver her!
Mephistopheles.
I’ll lead thee thither, and what I can do that I will do. Mark me! Have I all power in heaven and on earth? I will cloud the wits of the warder, and thou may’st seize the keys, and bring her out with the hand of a man. I wait for you with the magic horses to ensure your escape. This I can do.
Faust.
Up and away!
Night. The open Field.
Faust. Mephistopheles.(Galloping past on black horses.)
Faust.
What are they about there, bustling round the Ravenstone?[4]
Mephistopheles.
Can’t say what they are cooking and kitchening.
Faust.
They hover up, they hover down, bending and bowing.
Mephistopheles.
A corporation of Witches.
Faust.
They seem to be sprinkling and blessing something.
Mephistopheles.
On! on!
A Prison.
Faust,with a bundle of keys in his hand and a lamp, before an iron door.
Faust.
A strange cold shuddering dread comes o’er me, all
The up-heaped wretchedness of time.
Here dwells she now behind this damp cold wall,
And dear delusion was her only crime!
Fear’st thou to go to her?
Tremblest to meet her eye?
Quick! thy delay but brings her death more nigh.
[He seizes the lock. Singing heard from within.
My mother, the wanton,
That choked my breath![n16]
My father, the villain,
That dined on my death!
My sister dear,
In the cool green shade
My bones she laid;
Then was I a glad little bird in the May;
Fly away! fly away!
Faust.[opening the door]
She dreams not that her loved one is so near,
The clinking chains and rustling straw to hear.
Margaret.[hiding herself on the bed]
Woe, woe! they come.—To bitter death they call.
Faust.[softly]
Hush! hush! I come to free thee from their thrall!
Margaret.[throwing herself at his feet]
Art thou a man? feel for my hapless plight.
Faust.
Thy cries will wake the watchers of the night!
[He takes hold of the chains to unloose them.
Margaret.[on her knees]
Who gave thee, hangman, such a power
To drag me from my cell at midnight hour?
Have pity on me! Be not so harsh!—so rough!
Surely to-morrow morn is soon enough. [She stands up.]
So young, so very young, am I,
And must already die!
Once I was lovely too—’twas this that caused my fall.
Near was the friend, but far from me to-day;
Torn lies the wreath, the flowers are scattered all.
Oh tear me not so forcibly away!
Spare me! what have I done to injure thee?
Oh hear my prayer! for once compassion show!—
’Tis the first time I ever looked on thee.
Faust.
That I should live to see such depth of woe!
Margaret.
Thou hast me now completely in thy might.
Only first give me time to suckle my sweet child.
I hugged it the whole weary night;
They took’t from me in very spite;
And now they say I murdered the sweet child,
And never more shall I be glad again.
They sing songs on me, too!
A wicked thing to do!
’Tis the refrain
Of a grim old melody:
Who taught them that its words were meant for me?
Faust.[throwing himself down]
Here, at thy feet, behold who loves thee fall,
To strike thy shackles, and to break thy thrall!
Margaret.[falling beside him on her knees]
Yes! let us kneel and call upon the Saints!
Beneath these steps,
I hear it well!
Beneath the threshold,
Boileth Hell!
The evil One
His fury vents,
With fearful yell!
Faust.[loud]
Gretchen! Gretchen!
Margaret.[attentive]
That was the loved one’s voice!
[She springs up; the chains fall away.]
Where is he? where? I heard him call on me,
Now I am free! and none shall hinder me!
To his neck will I fly!
On his bosom lie!
He called me his Gretchen! he stood at the door.
Through the wild howling and hissing of Hell,
Through the loud-laughing scorn and the fiendish uproar,
Came the sweet voice of love that I know so well.
Faust.
’Tis I!
Margaret.
’Tis thou! O say it yet again! [Clasping him.]
’Tis he! ’tis he! Where now is all my pain?
Where all my prison’s woe? my fetters where?
’Tis he! he comes to lift me from this lair
Of wretchedness! I’m free, I’m free!
Already the well-known street I see,
Where the first time I spake to thee,
And the pleasant garden, where
Martha and I did wait for thee.
Faust.[striving forward]
Come, come!
Margaret.
O stay, stay!
Thou know’st how pleased I stay where thou dost stay.
[Caressing him.
Faust.
Away, away!
Unless we haste,
Dearly we’ll pay for these few moments’ waste.
Margaret.
How! giv’st thou me no kiss?
My friend, so very short a space away,
And hast forgot to kiss?
Why feel I now so straitened when I hold
Thee in my arms? It was not so of old,
When from thy words and looks, a heaven of bliss
Came down; and thou didst kiss
As thou would’st smother me. Come, kiss me! kiss!
Else kiss I thee! [She embraces him.]
O woe! thy lips are cold,
Are dumb;
Where is the love thy swelling bosom bore
Whilome for me? why are thy lips so cold?
[She turns away from him.
Faust.
Come with me, sweet love, come!
I’ll hug thee ten times closer than before,
Only come with me now! Come, I implore!
Margaret.[turning to him]
Art thou thenhe? Art thou then trulyhe?
Faust.
’Tis I, in truth. Come, love, and follow me.
Margaret.
And these vile chains thou breakest,
And me again unto thy bosom takest?
How canst thou dare to turn fond eyes on me?
Know’st thou then, Henry, whom thou com’st to free?
Faust.
Come, come! the night sinks fast; come, follow me!
Margaret.
My mother slept a sleep profound!
I drugged her to’t;
My little babe I drowned!
Was it not heaven’s boon to me and thee?
Thee, too!—’tis thou! I scarce may deem
My sense speaks true. Give me thy hand!
It is no dream!
Thy dear, dear hand!
Alas! but it is wet!
Wipe it; for it is wet
With blood! O God! what hast thou done?
Put up thy sword;
I pray thee put it up.
Faust.
Let gone be gone!
Thou stabbest me with daggers, every word.
Margaret.
No! thou shalt survive our sorrow!
I will describe the graves to thee,
Where thou shalt bury them and me
To-morrow.
The best place thou shalt give my mother;
Close beside her lay my brother;
Me a little to the side,
But at distance not too wide!
And my child at my right breast.—
These, and none else with us shall rest!
Me on thy loving side to press,
That was a heaven of blessedness!
But now, I cannot do it more;
I feel as I must force my love to thee,
And thou didst coldly fling me back from thee;
And yet ’tis thou!—as good, as loving as before.
Faust.
’Tis I, even I, come, sweet love, come!
Margaret.
Out there?
Faust.
Into the open air.
Margaret.
If the grave be there,
And death there waits, then come!
Hence to my eternal home,
Not a step more.——
Thou leav’st me now?—would I might go with thee?
Faust.
Thou canst, if thou but wilt. I have unbarred the door.
Margaret.
I may not go; no hope for me remains;
They watch me close—my home is with my chains.
It is so sad to beg from door to door;
A guilty thing from human loves outcast,
A homeless earth to wander o’er;
And they are sure to find me out at last.
Faust.
I will protect thee.
Margaret.
Quick! Quick!
Save thy poor child!
Away, away!
Keep the path
Up the stream,
Across the bridge,
To the left hand,
Where the plank stands,
In the pond,
Seize it, quick!
It rises up,
It kicks! it lives!
O save it, save it!
Faust.
Only bethink thee!
One step more, and thou art free.
Margaret.
Would we were past that mountain gray!
There sits my mother on a stone—
I feel a hand that pulls me back
As cold as clay!
There sits my mother on a stone;
Her head sways heavily;
She winks not, she nods not, her head she may not raise.
She slept so long, she never more may wake.
She slept that we might our enjoyment take.
O these were happy days!
Faust.
Here words and prayers will only make things worse;
Come! come; or I must hale thee hence by force.
Margaret.
Let me alone! lay no rough hands on me!
Nor with such murderous clutches seize me!
Thou know’st I have done everything to please thee.
Faust.
The day dawns. Come, my Gretchen, follow me!
Margaret.
Day! yes, it is day! the Judgment-day breaks in!
My marriage-day it should have been!
Let no one know thou wert before with Margaret.
Woe to my wreath!
’Tis done! oh, pain!
We will meet again;
But not at the dance.
The thronging crowds advance
With bated breath;
No word is spoken;
The squares, the streets,
Cannot contain them all.
The bell doth call,
The staff is broken,
They bind me with cords, they drag me away,
And on the bloody block me lay;
And every trembling eye doth quake
At the blade that is brandished o’er my neck.
Mute lies the world as the grave!
Faust.
O had I ne’er been born!
Mephistopheles.[appearing from without]
Up! or no help can save!
Profitless whining, whimpering, and prating!
Meanwhile my eager steeds are waiting,
Snuffing the scent of the morning air.
Margaret.
What’s that from the floor uprising there?
’Tis he! ’Tis he! O send his hateful face
Away! What seeks he in this holy place?
He comes for me!
Faust.
No! thou shalt live.
Margaret.
Judgment of God! to thee my soul I give.
Mephistopheles.[toFaust]
Come, come! else will I leave you to your fate!
Margaret.
Thine am I, Father! O shut not the gate
Of mercy on me!
Ye angels! ye most holy Spirits! now
Encamp around me! and protect me now!
Henry, I tremble when I think on thee.
Mephistopheles.
She is judged!
Voice.[from above]
Is saved!
Mephistopheles.[toFaust]
Hither to me!
Voice.[from within, dying away]
Henry! Henry!
[The End]
[i1]De Dæmonibus, Ficini, Aldus; and Horst, Zauber-Bibliothek, vi. p. 72.
[i2]Giordano Bruno de Monade, numero et figura, apud Horst, Z. B.iii. p. 70.
[i3]John xii. 31; 1 John iii. 8; and the remarks in Bretschneider’sDogmatik, § 108.
[i4]