Faust: A Tragedy
A power that, in eternal mystery dwelling,
Invisible visible moves beside thee?
Go, fill thy heart therewith, in all its greatness,
And when thy heart brims with this feeling,
Then call it what thou wilt,
Heart! Happiness! Love! God!
I have no name for that which passes all revealing!
Feeling is all in all;
Name is but smoke and sound,
Enshrouding heaven's pure glow.
Margaret.
All that appears most pious and profound;
Much of the same our parson says,
Only he clothes it in a different phrase.
Faust.
All places speak it forth;
All hearts, from farthest South to farthest North,
Proclaim the tale divine,
Each in its proper speech;
Wherefore not I in mine?
Margaret.
When thus you speak it does not seem so bad,
And yet is your condition still most sad:
Unless you are a Christian, all is vain.
Faust.
Sweet love!
Margaret.
Henry, it gives me pain,
More than my lips can speak, to see
Thee joined to such strange company.
Faust.
How so?
Margaret.
The man whom thou hast made thy mate,
Deep in my inmost soul I hate;
Nothing in all my life hath made me smart
So much as his disgusting leer.
His face stabs like a dagger through my heart!
Faust.
Sweet doll! thou hast no cause to fear.
Margaret.
It makes my blood to freeze when he comes near.
To other men I have no lack
Of kindly thoughts; but as I long
To see thy face, I shudder back
From him. That he's a knave I make no doubt;
May God forgive me, if I do him wrong!
Faust.
Such grim old owls must be; without
Their help the world could not get on, I fear.
Margaret.
With men like him I would have nought to do!
As often as he shows him here,
He looks in at the door with such a scornful leer,
Half angry too;
Whate'er is done, he takes no kindly part;
And one can see it written on his face,
He never loved a son of Adam's race.
Henry, within thy loving arm
I feel so free, so trustful-warm;
But when his foot comes near, I start,
And feel a freezing grip tie up my heart.
Faust.
O thou prophetic angel, thou!
Margaret.
This overpowers me so
That, when his icy foot may cross the door,
I feel as if I could not love thee more.
When he is here, too, I could never pray;
This eats my very heart. Now say,
Henry, is't not the same with thee?
Faust.
Nay now, this is mere blind antipathy!
Margaret.
I must be gone.
Faust.
Oh! may it never be
That I shall spend one quiet hour with thee,
One single little hour, and breast on breast,
And soul on soul, with panting love, be pressed?
Margaret.
Alas! did I but sleep alone, this night
The door unbarred thy coming should invite;
But my good mother has but broken sleep;
And, if her ears an inkling got,
Then were I dead upon the spot!
Faust.
Sweet angel! that's an easy fence to leap.
Here is a juice, whose grateful power can steep
Her senses in a slumber soft and deep;
Three drops mixed with her evening draught will do.
Margaret.
I would adventure this and more for you.
Of course, there's nothing hurtful in the phial?
Faust.
If so, would I advise the trial?
Margaret.
Thou best of men, if I but look on thee,
All will deserts me to thy wish untrue;
So much already have I done for thee
That now scarce aught remains for me to do. [_Exit._
_Enter_ /Mephistopheles/.
Mephistopheles.
Well, is the monkey gone?
Faust.
And you--must I
Submit again to see you play the spy?
Mephistopheles.
I have been duly advertised
How Doctor Faust was catechised:
I hope it will agree with you.
The girls are wont--they have their reasons too--
To see that one, in every point, believes
The faith, that from his fathers he receives.
They think, if little mettle here he shows,
We too may lead him by the nose.
Faust.
Thou monster! dost not know how this fond soul,
Who yields her being's whole
To God, and feels and knows
That from such faith alone her own salvation flows,
With many an anxious holy fear is tossed,
Lest he, whom best she loves, should be forever lost?
Mephistopheles.
Thou super-sensual sensual fool,
A silly girl takes thee to school!
Faust.
Thou son of filth and fire, thou monster, thou!
Mephistopheles.
And then her skill in reading faces
Is not the least of all her graces!
When I come near, she feels, she knows not how,
And through my mask can read it on my brow
That I must be, if not the very Devil,
A genius far above the common level.
And now to-night--
Faust.
What's that to thee?
Mephistopheles.
What brings my master joy, brings joy to me.
Scene VI.
_At the Well._
/Margaret/ _and_ /Eliza/, _with water-pitchers._
Eliza.
Have you heard nought of Barbara?
Margaret.
Nothing at all. I seldom stray
From home, to hear of other folk's affairs.
Eliza.
You may believe me every whit;
Sibylla told it me to-day.
She too has been befooled: that comes of it,
When people give themselves such airs!
Margaret.
How so?
Eliza.
'Tis rank!
She eats and drinks for two, not now for one.
Margaret.
Poor girl!
Eliza.
Well, well! she has herself to thank.
How long did she not hang upon
The fellow!--Yes! that was a parading,
A dancing and a promenading!
Must always be before the rest!
And to wines and pasties be pressed;
Began then to be proud of her beauty,
And was so reckless of her duty
As to take presents from him too.
That was a cooing and a caressing!
No wonder if the flower too be amissing!
Margaret.
I pity her.
Eliza.
Methinks you have not much to do.
When we were not allowed to venture o'er
The threshold, night and day kept close at spinning,
There stood she, with her paramour,
Upon the bench, before the door,
Or in the lane, and hour for hour
Scarce knew the end from the beginning.
'Tis time that she should go to school
And learn--on the repentance-stool!
Margaret.
But he will take her for his wife.
Eliza.
He marry her! not for his life!
An active youth like him can find,
Where'er he pleases, quarters to his mind.
Besides, he's gone!
Margaret.
That was not fair.
Eliza.
And if he should come back, she'll not enjoy him more.
Her marriage wreath the boys will tear,
And we will strew chopped straw before the door.[*n9] [_Exit._
Margaret. [_going homewards_]
How could I once so boldly chide
When a poor maiden stepped aside,
And scarce found words enough to name
The measure of a sister's shame!
If it was black, I blackened it yet more,
And with that blackness not content,
More thickly still laid on the paint,
And blessed my stars, as cased in mail,
Against all frailties of the frail;
And now myself am what I chid before!--
Yet was each step that lured my slippery feet
So good, so lovely, so enticing sweet!
Scene VII.
_An enclosed Area._
(_In a niche of the wall an image of the Mater dolorosa, with
flower-jugs before it._)
Margaret. [_placing fresh flowers in the jugs_]
O mother rich in sorrows,
Bend down to hear my cry!
O bend thee, gracious mother,
To my sore agony!
Thy heart with swords is piercèd,
And tears are in thine eye,
Because they made thy dear Son
A cruel death to die.
Thou lookest up to heaven,
And deeply thou dost sigh;
His God and thine beholds thee,
And heals thine agony.
Oh! who can know
What bitter woe
Doth pierce me through and through?
The fear, the anguish of my heart,
Its every pang, its every smart,
Know'st thou, and only thou.
And wheresoe'er I wend me,
What woes, what woes attend me,
And how my bosom quakes!
And in my chamber lonely,
With weeping, weeping only,
My heart for sorrow breaks.
These flower-pots on the window
I wet with tears, ah me!
When with the early morning,
I plucked these flowers for thee.
And when the morn's first sunbeam
Into my room was shed,
I sat, in deepest anguish,
And watched it on my bed.
O save me, Mother of Sorrows!
Unto my prayer give heed,
By all the swords that pierced thee,
O save me in my need!
Scene VIII.
_Night. Street before_ /Margaret's/ _door._
_Enter_ /Valentin/.
Valentin.
When I sat with our merry men,
At a carousal, now and then,
Where one may be allowed a boast,
And my messmates gave toast for toast
To the girl they prized the most,
And with a bumper then swilled o'er
Their praise, when they could praise no more;
I'd sit at ease, and lean upon
My elbow, while they prated on,
Till all the swaggerers had done,
And smile and stroke my beard, and fill
The goodly rummer to my hand,
And say, All that is very well!
But is there one, in all the land,
That with my Margaret may compare,
Or even tie the shoe to her?
Rap, rap! cling, clang! so went it round!
From man to man, with gleesome sound,
And one cried out with lusty breath,
"Yes, Gretchen! Gretchen! she's the girl,
Of womanhood the perfect pearl!"
And all the braggarts were dumb as death.
And now,--the devil's in the matter!
It is enough to make one clatter,
Like a rat, along the walls!
Shall every boor, with gibe and jeer,
Turn up his nose when I appear?
And every pettiest word that falls
Me, like a purseless debtor, torture?
And though I bruised them in a mortar,
I could not say that they were wrong.
What comes apace?--what creeps along?
A pair of them comes slinking by.
If 'tis the man I look for, I
Will dust his coat so well he'll not,
By Jove! go living from the spot! [_Retires._
_Enter_ /Faust/ _and_ /Mephistopheles/.
Faust.
As from the window of the vestry there,
The light of the undying lamp doth glare,
And sidewards gleameth, dimmer still and dimmer,
Till darkness closes round its fitful glimmer,
So murky is it in my soul.
Mephistopheles.
And I've a qualmish sort of feeling,
Like a cat on a rainy day,
Creeping round the wall, and stealing
Near the fireplace, if it may.
Yet am I in most virtuous trim
For a small turn at stealing, or at lechery;
So jumps already through my every limb
Walpurgis-Night, with all its glorious witchery.
The day after to-morrow brings again
The Feast, with fun and frolic in its train.
Faust.
Is it not time that you were raising
The treasure there in the distance blazing?
Mephistopheles.
Soon shall you sate your eyes with gazing,
And lift up from the urn yourself
A little mine of precious pelf.
I gave it a side-glance before--
Saw lion-dollars by the score.
Faust.
Is there no gaud?--no jewel at all?
To deck my sweet little mistress withal.
Mephistopheles.
O yes! I saw some trinkets for the girls,--
A sort of necklace strung with pearls.
Faust.
'Tis well that we have this to give her,
For empty-handed go I never.
Mephistopheles.
And yet a wise man ought to learn
To enjoy gratis, as well as to earn.
Now, that the stars are bright and clear the sky,