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Soar round me, Spirits, and be near: If you hear me, then answer! He opens the Book, and sees the Symbol of the Macrocosm. In a moment, what bliss flows Through my senses from this Sign! Am I a god? All seems so clear to me! It seems the deepest works of Nature Lie open to my soul, with purest feature. Now I understand what wise men see: 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! They penetrate from Heaven to Earth, Sounding a harmony through the Universe!
How then can I grasp you endless Nature? You flow You nourish, yet I languish so, in vain desire. How differently it works on me, this Sign! Already, I feel my power is greater, Already, I glow, as with fresh wine. Crimson rays dart Round my head — Horror Flickers from the vault above, And grips me tight! I feel you float around me, Spirit, I summon to appear, speak to me! What tears now at the core of me! All my senses reeling With fresh feeling! I feel you draw my whole heart towards you! Spirit Who calls me? Terrible to gaze at!
Spirit Mightily you have drawn me to you, Long, from my sphere, snatched your food, And now — Faust Ah! The mighty prayer of your soul weighs With me, I am here! 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? Faust Shall I fear you: I am, I am Faust: I am your peer! Birth and the tomb, An eternal flow, A woven changing, A glow of Being. Faust You who wander the world, on every hand, Active Spirit, how close to you I feel! Not even like you? In all the fullness of my doing, He must intrude, that arid pedant! But I heard you declaim: To profit from that art is my aim, Nowadays it goes down splendidly.
Which might well seem to be the case. I feel that I am far behind the rest. Faust Seek to profit honestly! And if you mean what you say, Why hunt for words, anyway? Yes, your speech, that glitters so, Where you gather scraps for Man, Is dead as the mist-filled winds that blow Through the dried-up leaves of autumn! Art is long And life is short.
Faust: A Tragedy is the first part of Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and is considered by Through a scheme involving jewellery and Gretchen's neighbour Marthe, Mephistopheles brings about Faust's and Gretchen's liaison. Faust and Wagner see a poodle, who they do not know is Mephistopheles in disguise. Faust is a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually known in English as In contrast to Faust Part One, the focus here is no longer on the soul of Faust, which Marthe, Gretchen's neighbour; Valentin, Gretchen's brother; Wagner, Faust's In Faust's study, the poodle transforms into Mephistopheles.
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. Faust Oh yes, as widely as the constellations! My friend, all of the ages that are gone 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. Faust Yes, what men choose to understand! The few who knew what might be learned, Foolish enough to put their whole heart on show, And reveal their feelings to the crowd below, Mankind has always crucified and burned.
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! 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, Enjoying the light, both heavenly and clear, Setting to one side the earthbound man: 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. What shall I learn from? Some more and more alien substance presses On the splendour that the Mind conceives: Still we tremble for what never strikes us, 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: This junk, and all the thousand-fold Shapes, of a moth-ridden world, around me?
What do you say to me, bare grinning skull? Except that once your brain whirled like mine, Sought the clear day, and in the twilight dull, 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: Better the little I had was squandered, Than sweat here under its puny weight!
Why is there suddenly so sweet a light, As moonlight in a midnight woodland plays? I salute you, phial of rare potion, I lift you down, with devotion! Extract, with deadly power, refined, Show your master all his craft! A fiery chariot sweeps nearer On light wings!
I feel ready, free To cut a new path through the ether And reach new spheres of pure activity. You, but a worm, have you earned this? Let me dare to throw those gates open, That other men go creeping by! Choose to take that step, happy to go Where danger lies, where Nothingness may flow. Come here to me, cup of crystal, clear! You shone at ancestral feasts, Cheering the over-serious guests: One man passing you to another here.
You remind me of those youthful nights of mine. Now I will never pass you to a friend, Or test my wits on your art again. 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 A high and festive greeting to the Dawn! He puts the cup to his mouth. Bells chime and a choir sings.
To view it, click here. What tears now at the core of me! Instead, I got interested in such delightful activities for two main reasons. He seems to me, saving Your Grace, Like a long-legged grasshopper: All of his forced questions about the complexity of the universe have not been adequately revealed to him in the immense amount of reading and study that he has undertaken throughout the course of his life. Faust By Heavens, the child is lovely!
Choir of Angels Christ has arisen! Joy to the One, of us, Who the pernicious, Ancestral, insidious, Fault has unwoven. Faust What deep humming, what shining sound Strikes the glass from my hand with power? Linen and bindings, We unwound there, Ah! Now we find Christ is not here.
Blissful Beloved, Out of what grieved, Tested, and healed: 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: A sweet yearning, beyond my understanding, Set me wandering through woods and fields, And while a thousand tears were burning I felt a world around me come to be. O, sing on you sweet songs of Heaven! My tears flow, Earth claims me again! Chorus of Disciples Has the buried one Already, living, Raised himself, alone, Splendidly soaring: Her guilt is shown in the final lines of her speech: Was so innocent, was so dear!
She uses the opening of the Stabat Mater , a Latin hymn from the thirteenth-century thought to be authored by Jacopone da Todi. Valentine, Gretchen's brother, is enraged by her liaison with Faust and challenges him to a duel. Guided by Mephistopheles, Faust defeats Valentine, who curses Gretchen just before he dies.
Gretchen seeks comfort in the church, but she is tormented by an Evil Spirit who whispers in her ear, reminding her of her guilt. This scene is generally considered to be one of the finest in the play. Gretchen ultimately falls into a faint.
A folk belief holds that during the Walpurgis Night Walpurgisnacht on the night of 30 April—the eve of the feast day of Saint Walpurga —witches gather on the Brocken mountain, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, and hold revels with the Devil. The celebration is a Bacchanalia of the evil and demonic powers. At this festival, Mephistopheles draws Faust from the plane of love to the sexual plane, to distract him from Gretchen's fate.
Mephistopheles is costumed here as a Junker and with cloven hooves. Mephistopheles lures Faust into the arms of a naked young witch, but he is distracted by the sight of Medusa , who appears to him in "his lov'd one's image": The first of these two brief scenes is the only section in the published drama written in prose, and the other is in irregular unrhymed verse.
Faust has apparently learned that Gretchen has drowned the newborn child in her despair, and has been condemned to death for infanticide. Now she awaits her execution. Faust feels culpable for her plight and reproaches Mephistopheles, who however insists that Faust himself plunged Gretchen into perdition: Mephistopheles procures the key to the dungeon, and puts the guards to sleep, so that Faust may enter. Gretchen is no longer subject to the illusion of youth upon Faust, and initially does not recognize him. Faust attempts to persuade her to escape, but she refuses because she recognizes that Faust no longer loves her, but pities her.
When she sees Mephistopheles, she is frightened and implores to heaven: To thee my soul I give! Mephistopheles pushes Faust from the prison with the words: Gretchen's salvation, however, is proven by voices from above: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Dichtung und Wahrheit Italian Journey. Metamorphosis of Plants Theory of Colours colour wheel. Works based on Faust. Johann Fausten Faustus, the Last Night Love of the Damned Fausto 5. The Devil and Daniel Mouse Retrieved from " https: Views Read Edit View history. In other projects Wikimedia Commons.
This page was last edited on 20 April , at Mephistopheles Poor Son of Earth, how could you make. Mephistopheles Well, what then? Mephistopheles Quite so, my friend! My envy often closes. Mephistopheles Fine, you curse and I must smile. Faust Where is the heavenly joy in her arms? Mephistopheles Again it glows: Forest and Cavern Scene XV: Faust Lovely lady, may I offer you My arm, and my protection, too? She releases herself and exits. Faust By Heavens, the child is lovely!
The way she cast down her eyes, Deep in my heart, imprinted, lies: How curt in her speech she was, Well that was quite charming, of course! Listen, you must get that girl for me! Faust Master Moraliser is that so? With me, best leave morality alone! I need at least fourteen days, to make Some kind of opportunity to meet her. Lead me to where she lies at leisure! Faust And shall I see her? Meanwhile, you can be alone there, With every hope of future pleasure, Enjoy her breathing space, at leisure.
Faust Can we go? Faust Look for a gift for her, from me! I know many a lovely place, up here, And many an ancient buried treasure: I must have a look around for a bit.
Evening, A small well-kept room Margaret, plaiting and fastening the braids of her hair. Mephistopheles and Faust appear. Not every girl keeps thing so clean. Faust Welcome, sweet twilight glow, That weaves throughout this shrine! In this poverty, what wealth is found! In this prison, what enchantment! He throws himself into a leather armchair near the bed.
Sweet girl, I feel your spirit, softly stray, Through the wealth of order, all around me, That with motherliness instructs, each day, The tablecloth to lie smooth, at your say, And even the wrinkled sand beneath your feet. O beloved hand, so goddess-like! He lifts one of the bed curtains. What grips me with its bliss! Here I could stand, slowly lingering.
Here the child lay! Life, warm, Filled her delicate breast, And here, in pure and holy form, A heavenly image was expressed! What leads me here? Why do I feel so deeply stirred? What do I seek? Why such a heavy heart? I no longer know who you are. Are we the sport of every lightest breeze? And if she appeared at this instant, How to atone for being so indiscreet? The great man, alas, of little moment! Would lie here, melting, at her feet. I see her coming, there. Mephistopheles Are you asking, pray? I scratch my head: I rub my hands — He places the casket in the chest, and shuts it again.
Now off we go, and go quickly! Yet now you seem to me As if you were heading for the lecture hall, and see Standing there grey-faced, in front of you, Physics, and Metaphysics too! Margaret with a lamp. She begins to sing, while undressing. He valued nothing greater: At every feast it shone: His tears were brimming over, When he drank there-from.
When he himself was dying No towns did he with-hold, No wealth his heir denying, Except the cup of gold. Then threw the golden goblet Into the waves below. He saw it falling, drowning, Sinking in the sea, Then, his eyelids closing, Never again drank he. How can this lovely casket be here? What can it hold in store? A noble lady might glow With all of these on high holidays! How would this chain look?
This display Of splendour: If only the earrings were mine! At once one looks so different. What makes us beautiful, young blood? To gold they tend, On gold depend, All things! Promenade Faust walking about pensively. I could use it in a curse! I never, in all my life, saw such a face! Mephistopheles To think, the priest should get his hands on Jewellery that was meant for Gretchen! Her mother snatched it up, to see, And was gripped by secret anxiety. The Church alone, dear lady, could Always digest ill-gotten goods. Mephistopheles Then he took the bangles, chains and rings, As if they were merely trifling things, Thanked her too, no less nor more Than if it were a sack of nuts, one wore.
Promised them their reward when they died, And left them suitably edified. Mephistopheles Sits there, restlessly, still Not knowing what she should do, or will, Thinks of the jewels night and day, But more of him who placed them in her way. Find some jewels for her, again!
Such a lovesick fool would blow up the Sun, High up in the air, with the Moon and Stars, To provide his sweetheart with a diversion. Truly I did nothing to grieve him, I gave him, God knows, fine loving. Margaret My legs are giving way beneath me! See what a show! Martha Dressing her with jewels.
Then give us a holiday, an occasion, When people can see a fraction of them. Margaret Who could have left the second casket? Is it my mother, then?