Oh! He must everywhere appear.
He must adjudge, when others dance;
If on each step his say’s not said,
So is that step as good as never made.
He’s most annoyed, so soon as we advance;
If ye would circle in one narrow round.
As he in his old mill, then doubtless he
Your dancing would approve, — especially
If ye forthwith salute him with respect profound!
PROCTOPHANTASMIST
Still here! what arrogance! unheard of quite!
Vanish; we now have fill’d the world with light!
Laws are unheeded by the devil’s host;
Wise as we are, yet Tegel hath its ghost!
How long at this conceit I’ve swept with all my might,
Lost is the labor: ’tis unheard of quite!
THE FAIR ONE
Cease here to tease us any more, I pray.
PROCTOPHANTASMIST
Spirits, I plainly to your face declare:
No spiritual control myself will bear,
Since my own spirit can exert no sway.
[The dancing continues.]
Tonight, I see, I shall in naught succeed;
But I’m prepar’d my travels to pursue,
And hope, before my final step indeed,
To triumph over bards and devils too.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Now in some puddle will he take his station,
Such is his mode of seeking consolation;
Where leeches, feasting on his rump, will drain
Spirits alike and spirit from his brain.
(To FAUST, who has left the dance)
But why the charming damsel leave, I pray,
Who to you in the dance so sweetly sang?
FAUST
Ah! in the very middle of her lay,
Out of her mouth a small red mouse there sprang.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Suppose there did! One must not be too nice.
’Twas well it was not gray, let that suffice.
Who ‘mid his pleasures for a trifle cares?
FAUST
Then saw I —
MEPHISTOPHELES
What?
FAUST
Mephisto, seest thou there
Standing far off, a lone child, pale and fair!
Slow from the spot her drooping form she tears,
And seems with shackled feet to move along;
I own, within me the delusion’s strong,
That she the likeness of my Gretchen wears.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Gaze not upon her! ’Tis not good! Forbear!
’Tis lifeless, magical, a shape of air,
An idol. Such to meet with, bodes no good;
That rigid look of hers doth freeze man’s blood,
And well-nigh petrifies his heart to stone: —
The story of Medusa thou hast known.
FAUST
Ay, verily! a corpse’s eyes are those,
Which there was no fond loving hand to close.
That is the bosom I so fondly press’d,
That my sweet Gretchen’s form, so oft caress’d!
MEPHISTOPHELES
Deluded fool! ’Tis magic, I declare!
To each she doth his lov’d one’s image wear.
FAUST
What bliss! what torture! vainly I essay
To turn me from that piteous look away.
How strangely doth a single crimson line
Around that lovely neck its coil entwine,
It shows no broader than a knife’s blunt edge!
MEPHISTOPHELES
Quite right. I see it also, and allege
That she beneath her arm her head can bear,
Since Perseus cut it off. — But you I swear
Are craving for illusions still!
Come then, ascend yon little hill!
As on the Prater all is gay,
And if my senses are not gone,
I see a theatre, — what’s going on?
SERVIBILIS
They are about to recommence; — the play,
Will be the last of seven, and spick-span new —
’Tis usual here that number to present.
A dilettante did the piece invent,
And dilettanti will enact it too.
Excuse me, gentlemen; to me’s assign’d,
As dilettante to uplift the curtain.
MEPHISTOPHELES
You on the Blocksberg I’m rejoiced to find,
That ’tis your most appropriate sphere is certain.
INTERMEZZO: WALPURGIS-NIGHT’S DREAM
OR, OBERON AND TITANIA’S GOLDEN WEDDING-FEAST
* * * * *
THEATRE
MANAGER
Vales, where mists still shift and play,
To ancient hill succeeding, —
These our scenes; — so we, today,
May rest, brave sons of Mieding.
HERALD
That the marriage golden be,
Must fifty years be ended;
More dear this feast of gold to me,
Contention now suspended.
OBERON
Spirits, if present, grace the scene,
And if with me united,
Then gratulate the king and queen,
Their troth thus newly plighted!
PUCK
Puck draws near and wheels about,
In mazy circles dancing!
Hundreds swell his joyous shout,
Behind him still advancing.
ARIEL
Ariel wakes his dainty air,
His lyre celestial stringing. —
Fools he lureth, and the fair,
With his celestial singing.
OBERON
Wedded ones, would ye agree,
We court your imitation:
Would ye fondly love as we,
We counsel separation.
TITANIA
If husband scold and wife retort,
Then bear them far asunder;
Her to the burning south transport,
And him the North Pole under.
THE WHOLE ORCHESTRA (fortissimo)
Flies and midges all unite
With frog and chirping cricket,
Our orchestra throughout the night,
Resounding in the thicket!
(Solo)
Yonder doth the bagpipe come!
Its sack an airy bubble.
Schnick, schnick, schnack, with nasal hum,
Its notes it doth redouble.
EMBRYO SPIRIT
Spider’s foot and midge’s wing,
A toad in form and feature;
Together verses it can string,
Though scarce a living creature.
A LITTLE PAIR
Tiny step and lofty bound,
Through dew and exhalation;
Ye trip it deftly on the ground,
But gain no elevation.
INQUISITIVE TRAVELLER
Can I indeed believe my eyes?
Is’t not mere masquerading?
What! Oberon in beauteous guise,
Among the groups parading!
ORTHODOX
No claws, no tail to whisk about,
To fright us at our revel;
Yet like the gods of Greece, no doubt,
He too’s a genuine devil.
NORTHERN ARTIST
These that I’m hitting off today
Are sketches unpretending;
Toward Italy without delay,
My steps I think of bending.
PURIST
Alas! ill-fortune leads me here,
Where riot still grows louder;
And ‘mong the witches gather’d here,
But two alone wear powder!
YOUNG WITCH
Your powder and your petticoat,
Suit hags, there’s no gainsaying;
Hence I sit fearless on my go
at,
My naked charms displaying.
MATRON
We’re too well-bred to squabble here,
Or insult back to render;
But may you wither soon, my dear,
Although so young and tender.
LEADER OF THE BAND
Nose of fly and gnat’s proboscis,
Throng not the naked beauty!
Frogs and crickets in the mosses,
Keep time and do your duty!
WEATHERCOCK (toward one side)
What charming company I view
Together here collected!
Gay bachelors, a hopeful crew,
And brides so unaffected!
WEATHERCOCK (toward the other side)
Unless indeed the yawning ground
Should open to receive them,
From this vile crew, with sudden bound,
To Hell I’d jump and leave them.
XENIEN
With small sharp shears, in insect guise,
Behold us at your revel!
That we may tender, filial-wise,
Our homage to the devil.
HENNINGS
Look now at yonder eager crew,
How naïvely they’re jesting!
That they have tender hearts and true,
They stoutly keep protesting!
MUSAGET
Oneself amid this witchery
How pleasantly one loses;
For witches easier are to me
To govern than the Muses!
CI-DEVANT GENIUS OF THE AGE
With proper folks when we appear,
No one can then surpass us!
Keep close, wide is the Blocksberg here
As Germany’s Parnassus.
INQUISITIVE TRAVELLER
How name ye that stiff formal man,
Who strides with lofty paces?
He tracks the game where’er he can,
”He scents the Jesuits’ traces.”
CRANE
Where waters troubled are or clear,
To fish I am delighted;
Thus pious gentlemen appear
With devils here united.
WORLDLING
By pious people, it is true,
No medium is rejected;
Conventicles, and not a few,
On Blocksberg are erected.
DANCER
Another chorus now succeeds,
Far off the drums are beating.
Be still! The bitterns ‘mong the reeds
Their one note are repeating.
DANCING MASTER
Each twirls about and never stops,
And as he can he fareth.
The crooked leaps, the clumsy hops,
Nor for appearance careth.
FIDDLER
To take each other’s life, I trow,
Would cordially delight them!
As Orpheus’ lyre the beasts, so now
The bagpipe doth unite them.
DOGMATIST
My views, in spite of doubt and sneer,
I hold with stout persistence,
Inferring from the devils here,
The evil one’s existence.
IDEALIST
My every sense rules Phantasy
With sway quite too potential;
Sure I’m demented if the I
Alone is the essential.
REALIST
This entity’s a dreadful bore,
And cannot choose but vex me;
The ground beneath me ne’er before
Thus totter’d to perplex me.
SUPERNATURALIST
Well pleased assembled here I view
Of spirits this profusion;
From devils, touching angels too,
I gather some conclusion.
SCEPTIC
The ignis fatuus they track out,
And think they’re near the treasure.
Devil alliterates with doubt,
Here I abide with pleasure.
LEADER OF THE BAND
Frog and cricket in the mosses, —
Confound your gasconading!
Nose of fly and gnat’s proboscis; —
Most tuneful serenading!
THE KNOWING ONES
Sans souci, so this host we greet,
Their jovial humor showing;
There’s now no walking on our feet,
So on our heads we’re going.
THE AWKWARD ONES
In seasons past we snatch’d, ’tis true,
Some tit-bits by our cunning;
Our shoes, alas, are now danced through,
On our bare soles we’re running.
WILL-O’-THE-WISPS
From marshy bogs we sprang to light,
Yet here behold us dancing;
The gayest gallants of the night,
In glitt’ring rows advancing.
SHOOTING STAR
With rapid motion from on high,
I shot in starry splendor;
Now prostrate on the grass I lie; —
Who aid will kindly render?
THE MASSIVE ONES
Room! wheel round! They’re coming! lo!
Down sink the bending grasses.
Though spirits, yet their limbs, we know,
Are huge substantial masses.
PUCK
Don’t stamp so heavily, I pray;
Like elephants you’re treading!
And ‘mong the elves be Puck today,
The stoutest at the wedding!
ARIEL
If nature boon, or subtle sprite,
Endow your soul with pinions; —
Then follow to you rosy height,
Through ether’s calm dominions!
ORCHESTRA (pianissimo)
Drifting cloud and misty wreathes
Are fill’d with light elysian;
O’er reed and leaf the zephyr breathes —
So fades the fairy vision!
A GLOOMY DAY. A PLAIN
FAUST and MEPHISTOPHELES
FAUST
In misery! despairing! long wandering pitifully on the face of the earth and now imprisoned! This gentle hapless creature, immured in the dungeon as a malefactor and reserved for horrid tortures! That it should come to this! To this! — Perfidious, worthless spirit, and this thou hast concealed from me! — Stand! ay, stand! roll in malicious rage thy fiendish eyes! Stand and brave me with thine insupportable presence! Imprisoned! In hopeless misery! Delivered over to the power of evil spirits and the judgment of unpitying humanity! — And me, the while, thou went lulling with tasteless dissipations, concealing from me her growing anguish, and leaving her to perish without help!
MEPHISTOPHELES
She is not the first.
FAUST
Hound! Execrable monster! — Back with him, oh thou infinite spirit! back with the reptile into his dog’s shape, in which it was his wont to scamper before me at eventide, to roll before the feet of the harmless wanderer, and to fasten on his shoulders when he fell! Change him again into his favorite shape, that he may crouch on his belly before me in the dust, whilst I spurn him with my foot, the reprobate! — Not the first! — Woe! Woe! By no human soul is it conceivable, that more than one human creature has ever sunk into a depth of wretchedness like this, or that the first in her writhing death-agony should not have atoned in the sight of all-pardoning Heaven for the guilt of all the rest! The misery of this one pierces me to the very marrow, and harrows up my soul; thou art grinning calmly over the doom of thousands!
MEPHISTOPHELES
Now we are once again at our wit’s end, just where the reason of you mortals snaps! Why dost thou seek our fellowship, if thou canst not go through with it? Wilt fly, and art not proof against dizziness? Did we force ourselves on thee, or thou on us?
FAUST
Cease thus to gnash thy ravenous fangs at me! I loathe thee! — Great and glorious spirit, thou who didst vouchsafe to reveal thyself unto me, thou who dost know my ve
ry heart and soul, why hast thou linked me with this base associate, who feeds on mischief and revels in destruction?
MEPHISTOPHELES
Hast done?
FAUST
Save her! — or woe to thee! The direst of curses on thee for thousands of years!
MEPHISTOPHELES
I cannot loose the bands of the avenger, nor withdraw his bolts. — Save her! — Who was it plunged her into perdition? I or thou?
FAUST (looks wildly around)
MEPHISTOPHELES
Would’st grasp the thunder? Well for you, poor mortals, that ’tis not yours to wield! To smite to atoms the being, however innocent, who obstructs his path, such is the tyrant’s fashion of relieving himself in difficulties!
FAUST
Convey me thither! She shall be free!
MEPHISTOPHELES
And the danger to which thou dost expose thyself? Know, the guilt of blood, shed by thy hand, lies yet upon the town. Over the place where fell the murdered one, avenging spirits hover and watch for the returning murderer.
FAUST
This too from thee? The death and downfall of a world be on thee, monster! Conduct me thither, I say and set her free!
MEPHISTOPHELES
I will conduct thee. And what I can do, — hear! Have I all power in heaven and upon earth? I’ll cloud the senses of the warder, — do thou possess thyself of the keys and lead her forth with human hand! I will keep watch! The magic steeds are waiting, I bear thee off. Thus much is in my power.
FAUST
Up and away!
NIGHT. OPEN COUNTRY
FAUST. MEPHISTOPHELES
(Rushing along on black horses)
FAUST
What weave they yonder round the Ravenstone?
MEPHISTOPHELES
I know not what they shape and brew.
FAUST
They’re soaring, swooping, bending, stooping.
MEPHISTOPHELES
A witches’ pack.
FAUST
They charm, they strew.
MEPHISTOPHELES
On! On!
DUNGEON
FAUST (with a bunch of keys and a lamp before a small iron door)
A fear unwonted o’er my spirit falls;
Man’s concentrated woe o’erwhelms me here!
She dwells immur’d within these dripping walls;
Her only trespass a delusion dear!
Thou lingerest at the fatal door?
Thou dread’st to see her face once more?
On! While thou dalliest, draws her death-hour near.
[He seizes the lock. Singing within.]
My mother, the harlot,
She took me and slew!
My father, the scoundrel,
Hath eaten me too!
My sweet little sister
Hath all my bones laid,
Where soft breezes whisper
All in the cool shade!
Then became I a wood-bird, and sang on the spray,
Fly away! little bird, fly away! fly away!
Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Page 226