The past behind us and beyond recall.
Feel from the highest god yourself descended;
Feel yours uniquely this first land of all!
And I will guard you where no walls enclose:
A place for ever young, not far
From here, shall now surround our sweet repose;
Sparta’s near neighbourhood, Arcadia!
To this blest homeland, by Fate’s happy power
And my enticement, you shall flee.
These thrones become a leafy bower:
Let our joy be Arcadian and free!
13 - ARCADIA*
[The scene changes completely. Leafy arbours grow by the mouths of rocky caverns, a shady grove extends to the surrounding cliffs. FAUST and HELEN are no longer seen. The maidens of the CHORUS are lying about asleep.]
PHORCYAS. How long these girls have been asleep I do not know;
Whether they could have dreamt what with my waking eyes
I have seen clear and plain, that too I cannot tell.
And so I’ll wake them. The young fools shall be amazed;
And so shall you, you greybeards, sitting there agog
To see our riddling spectacle resolve itself.
Come, girls! Come on now! Quickly, give your locks a shake,
9580
Shake sleep from your eyes, stop blinking, listen to what I say!
CHORUS. We are listening, tell us quickly, tell us what strange thing has happened!
Preferably tell us something that’s so strange we can’t believe it;
For we all are bored to death here, sitting looking at these cliffs.
PHORCYAS. Why, your eyes are scarcely open, children, and you’re bored already!
Hear me then: our lord and lady have found shelter and protection
In these caverns, in these grottoes, in these arbours; like a pair of
Lovers in a pastoral idyll.
CHORUS. What, in there?
PHORCYAS. And quite secluded
From the world. I was selected as their sole discreet attendant.
So I stood there, highly honoured, at their side; but, as was seemly,
9590
Looked elsewhere with eyes averted, turning this way, turning that way,
Seeking roots and barks and mosses, for I knew their magic virtues;
Thus our pair was left in peace.
CHORUS. Why, you talk as if those caverns had whole world-wide spaces in them:
Forests, meadows, lakes and rivers; what unlikely tale is this?
PHORCYAS. But of course, you ignorant creatures! They are depths no man has fathomed;
Many halls and many courtyards, which I subtly have explored.
But I suddenly heard laughter echoing in the hollow caverns:
And I looked, and from the woman’s lap a boy leapt to his father,
Then from him back to his mother; such caresses, such endearments,
9600
Such a babbling fond affection! Peals of laughter, squeals of pleasure,
Taking turns to deafen me.
He is naked, like an unwinged genius, faun-like but unbestial;
On the firm ground he is leaping, but the ground’s elastic pressure
Sends him springing, spinning skywards; two or three bounds, and already
He has touched the vaulted roof.
Anxiously his mother calls: Leap as you like, and go on leaping,
But beware of flying freely, you are not allowed to fly!
And his loving father warns him: In the earth lies the resilient
Power that drives you upwards; touch the soil, on tiptoe merely touch it,
9610
And like the earth’s son Antaeus you will grow at once in strength.
Thus he jumps about this solid cliff mass, from one rocky summit
To another and all round it: like a bouncing ball he jumps.
But a grim crevasse is gaping, and he suddenly is swallowed,
And we fear him lost. His father comforts his lamenting mother;
I stand by, nonplussed and anxious. But he reappears in glory!
Are there treasures in the abysses? Now his garments are like flowers,
He is robed in dignity.
From his arms hang tassels tossing, round his bosom ribbons flutter,
In his hand he holds the golden lyre; just like a young Apollo,
9620
He steps blithely to the cliff edge, to the precipice; amazement
Seizes us, the enraptured parents fall into each other’s arms.
For about his head is brightness, a mysterious light, we cannot
Tell if it is gold, or flames of mighty spiritual power.
Thus he moves, and thus his gestures prophesy this boy the future
Master-maker of all beauty, through whose limbs the everlasting
Music is already flowing. Thus it is you all shall hear him,
And shall see him; there has never been so great a miracle.
CHORUS. Tell us, daughter of Crete,*
Is this so wondrous?
9630
Have you perhaps not listened
To the instructive voice of poetry,
Never yet heard the ancient
Ancestral legends of Ionia
Or of Hellas, with their rich treasure
Of god-lore and lore of heroes?
All that ever is done
Nowadays is no
More than a wretched echo
Of the more glorious age of our forebears.
9640
How can your tale compare with
The song that a charming fiction,
Less incredible than truth, sang of
Young Hermes,* the son of Maia?
Strong already though only just born,
This tiny infant was wound in
Cleanest, softest of swaddling-bands,
Tied up firmly in sumptuous
Wrappings by chattering nurses who
Thought they knew their business.
9650
But the young rogue, being tiny but strong,
Very soon had most cunningly freed
His elastic and supple limbs,
Calmly discarding the royal purple
Integument which so anxiously
Had constricted them. Thus the full-grown
Butterfly nimbly escapes, with its wings
Spread wide, from the rigid prison
Of its chrysalis, boldly,
Wantonly fluttering ever higher
9660
Into the ethereal sunlight.
So too Hermes was nimblest of all
And best fitted to be patron—
Sprite for ever of thieves and rogues
And all seekers of fortune.
This he at once made clear by the
Artfullest of exploits.
Quickly he stole the trident of the lord
Of the sea, and the war-god’s sword
He soon slyly filched from its sheath;
9670
Likewise Apollo’s bow and arrows,
As well as the tongs of the fire-god.
Even the thunderbolt of his father
Zeus he’d have taken, but dreaded its flame.
Yet he tripped and defeated Eros
When they wrestled, and for good
Measure he snatched Aphrodite’s girdle
From her lap as she caressed him.
[A delightful melody on stringed intruments is heard from the cave. All pay attention, and soon seem deeply moved by it. From this point until the pause noted below, the words are continuously accompanied by fully harmonized music.]
PHORCYAS. Hear these charming sounds, and let them
Free you from this foolish lore!
9680
Your old gods, you must forget them
Now, for they are gods no more.
Modern ears are closed to fables,
We demand superior art:
Only the heart’s dep
th enables
Any word to move the heart.
[She withdraws towards the cliff.]
CHORUS. If these melodies are pleasing,
Ancient monster, to your ears,
How much more must their sweet teasing
Melt our new-born youth to tears!
9690
Though the sun grow dark, we find it
In our souls as bright as day:
In our hearts we have enshrined it,
What the world would take away.
[HELEN, FAUST, and EUPHORION in the costume described above.]
EUPHORION. These are songs of children: hear them
With parental joy! And see,
To their rhythm I dance near them:
Do your hearts not leap with me?
HELEN. Love uniting man and woman
Shapes a joy of two made one;
9700
Two, with rapture more than human,
Are made three; this love has done.
FAUST. All is found, and it has found us:
I am yours and you are mine.
Sacred union now has bound us;
Is this not our fate’s design?
CHORUS. By this boy and by his splendour
Many years of blessing shine
On this pair; with bonds how tender,
Touchingly they intertwine!
9710
EUPHORION. Now I am freer!
Let me be leaping
Into the ether,
Skipping, escaping;
This is my craving,
This is my joy!
FAUST. But not so hastily,
So overboldly!
They fall to ruin
Who leap so wildly:
9720
We dread to lose him,
Our dearest boy!
EUPHORION. Ill be no groundling!
Your hands detain me
With anxious fondling;
Let go my hair, let
Go of my clothing!
What’s mine is mine!
HELEN. Alas, remember,
You are our son: oh,
9730
Think of our sorrow, Our bond so tender,
Our threefold union’s
Delicate twine!
CHORUS. Soon it will sunder,
To grief and pine.
HELEN and FAUST. For our sake, our sake,
Dear son, try harder
To curb this energy,
To check this ardour!
9740
Let rural beauty
Content your heart.
EUPHORION. My filial duty
Must take your part.
[He weaves in and out of the CHORUS, drawing the maidens into a dance with him.]
These girls I hover round
Here are entrancing.
How does this music sound?
How is this dancing?
HELEN. You have done well, indeed,
An artful dance you lead
9750
Them all, my son!
FAUST. This fluttering trickery,
It has no charms for me;
Would it were done!
[EUPHORION and the CHORUS, singing, move in a complicated round dance.]
CHORUS. You move your arms, how rare
And fine their motion!
You shake your curly hair
To bright commotion!
How light your foot can slide
Over the earth, how glide
9760
These limbs that to and fro
Around each other go!
Sweet boy, all this ensures
Your purposes, if they
Are to steal hearts away:
Ours all are yours!
[A pause.]
EUPHORION. Is this too tame for you,
Lightfooted deer?
Here’s a new game for you:
Run, run from here!
9770
Ill be your hunter,
You’ll be my kill!
CHORUS. You need not hurry,
Well not outrace you;
We should be sorry
Not to embrace you;
Beautiful boy, your
Love is our will.
EUPHORION. Come, to the woodlands,
Mountain and flood lands!
9780
I take no pleasure in
An easy capture;
Only what’s hard to win
Fills me with rapture.
HELEN and FAUST. What a wanton mad performance!
Can they learn no moderation?
Now like horns in ululation
Through the woods and glens they call.
What a romp and caterwaul!
CHORUS [entering quickly one by one].
He ran past! Does he ignore us,
9790
Mock us, scorn us? He has chosen
One, and drags her here before us!
She’s the wildest of us all!
EUPHORION [carrying in a young girl].
I have brought this little filly,
And I’ll have her willy-nilly;
What a pleasure, what delight
To subdue and hug her tight,
And if she resists a kiss,
Show my strength and will like this!
THE GIRL. Let me go! In my disguise
9800
There is strength and spirit too;
We have wills like yours, a prize
No less hard to snatch than you.
Do you think me helpless? How you
Trust your manly strength! Come, cling
Close to me, I’ll singe you now, you
Fool! Such fiery sport you bring!
[She bursts into flames and blazes up into the sky.]
Follow me into the air,
To the abysses, follow there!
See, your goal is vanishing!*
9810
EUPHORION [shaking off the last of the flames].
Forest ravines, how steep
They loom around me!
Shall not my youth outleap
These cliffs that bound me?
Are these not winds that roar,
Waves from a distant shore?
They are too far from here;
I must be near!
[He bounds higher and higher among the rocks.]
HELEN, FAUST, and the CHORUS.
Chamois-like you leap, while we
Dread the inevitable fall.
9820
EUPHORION. Ever higher I must be,
Seeing further, seeing all!
Where am I? Now I know:
Pelops’ land here below,
The island of my birth,
Wedded to sea and earth!
CHORUS. Cannot these mountains, these
Forests suffice you,
Gathering the grapes not please,
Hillsides entice you,
9830
Where vines stand row on row,
Figs, golden apples grow?
Stay in this lovely place,
Live by its grace!
EUPHORION. Dream, if you like, of dull
Peace, dream of what you will:
War is the word for me,
The next is victory.
CHORUS. Our wars are over:
Can you want war again?
9840
What hope shall ever
Gladden you then?
EUPHORION. Oh land that gave them life,
Bore them to perilous strife,
For you they shed their blood,
Valiant and free they stood;
Bless now these warriors
Who in your name
All are the carriers
Of quenchless flame!
9850
CHORUS. Look, how high he has ascended,
Yet majestic still he seems,
Like a conqueror: see, with splendid
Bronze and steel his armour gleams!
EUPHO
RION. By no walls, no ramparts shielded
Each man stands and holds his own:
Like a fortress never yielded
Is his iron heart alone.
Come for peace, for your delivery,
Arm yourselves, your freedom take!
9860
Women shall be fighters, every
Child a hero for its sake.
CHORUS. Poetry, art god-given,
Let it leap up to heaven,
Shine as the loveliest star
Remote from where we are;
Yet still its sacred word
Finds us, its song is heard
Still from afar!
EUPHORION. I was not born here as a child:
9870
A young man armed I come to you.
The strong, the free, the bold and wild
Taught me the deeds I still must do.
Farewell!
They spell
My path to fame and glory too.
HELEN and FAUST. Scarcely are you born, ah scarcely
Given to the shining day,
And from those mad heights you fiercely
Long to find that dolorous way!
9880
Can our bond
Once so fond
Like a dream thus fade away?
EUPHORION. Hear, from the sea that thunderous call!
The thundering valleys make reply;
Through dust, through waves, those warriors all,
In mortal throng they strive and cry!
Fate has here
Spoken clear:
What other law but so to die?
9890
HELEN, FAUST, and the CHORUS.
Words of horror and despair!
Is your death then fate’s decree?
EUPHORION. Mine their anguish, mine to share:
No mere spectator I will be!
HELEN, FAUST, and the CHORUS. Oh heart too overbold,
Oh perilous pride!
EUPHORION. Yes!—And now wings unfold
Here at my side!
There! There! Now let me fly:
I must! I shall!
9900
[He hurls himself into the air, his garments bear him up for a moment, his head shines, a trail of light follows him.]
CHORUS. Icarus! From the sky
Oh grievous fall!
[A beautiful youth falls and lies dead at his parents’feet, we seem to recognize his face as that of a well-known figure;* but his body vanishes at once, the halo rises skywards like a comet, his costume, mantle, and lyre remain on the ground.)
HELEN and FAUST. Now into grief apace
Our joy has grown.
EUPHORION’S voice [from the depth].
Mother, in this dark place
Must I be left alone?
[A pause. The CHORUS sings a lament.*]
CHORUS. Left alone!—We seem to know you,
And wherever death may take you
When you haste to shades below you,
Still our hearts will not forsake you.
9910
And we scarcely can lament you,
For we envy you your fate:
Dark and bright the days it sent you,
B00ARI2G5C EBOK Page 26