B00ARI2G5C EBOK (32 page)

Steps for a throne,

A carpet, a seat,

Curtains, a canopy

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Richly adorned;

Like clouds it surmounts

The head of our queen,

Like a cloudy garland;

For already she sits,

As invited, on the place of majesty.

Oh step by step

Let us now approach her

In solemn array.

Worthy, oh worthy, thrice worthy

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And thrice blessed be this noble reception!

[
All these actions have been taking place as the
CHORUS
described them. After a long procession of pages and squires has descended
,
FAUST
appears at the top of the stairway dressed as a medieval knight. He comes down slowly and with dignity
.]

CHORUS LEADER
[
gazing at him]
.

Unless the gods have done here as they sometimes do,

Conferring on him only fleetingly a wondrous form,

A lofty dignity, a presence to enchant

But only for a while: then shall this prince succeed

In all he undertakes, whether in wars with men

Or in the lesser war with the fairest of our sex.

For truly he is to be preferred to many whom I

Have seen, though greatly I admired them none the less.

With slow and solemn, with restrained respectful pace

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This lord draws near; now turn your eyes to him, oh queen!

FAUST
[
approaching, with a man in chains at his side]
.

Not here the solemn greeting that was due
*

The ceremonious welcome: instead I bring

To you that servant, closely bound in chains,

Who robbed me of my duty, failing his.

Kneel here, to make confession of your guilt

To this most noble lady! This, great queen,

Is the possessor of rare far-seeing eyes

Whom I appointed to the high look-out tower,

Thence to observe whatever showed itself

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In heaven’s surrounding space and the wide earth:

He was to watch whatever stirred within

The circle of the hills, or in the valley,

Or near the castle, be it flocks and herds

Or an invading army; we protect

The former, stand against the latter. But

Today, what dereliction! You arrive,

And he does not announce you. No reception

Honoured so high a guest. This miscreant’s life

Is forfeit, and his guilty blood already

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Should have been spilt, but that it is for you

Alone to punish or pardon, as you please.

HELEN
. You grant high dignity, in making me

Both judge and ruler, even though it were

Only to tempt me, as I may surmise.

But I do my first duty as a judge

By hearing the accused. You, therefore, speak!

LYNCEUS THE WATCHMAN
.

Let me kneel and let me gaze,

Let me die or let me live:

To this lady, whom the gods give,

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I devote my mortal days.

I have watched a mystery:

As I waited for the dawn,

Eastward peering, suddenly

In the south the sun was born.

And my eyes were drawn aside—

Not a peak nor valley there,

Sky nor earth they now descried:

Only her, uniquely fair.

Like the lynx on topmost bough

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With keen vision I am blessed;

But to wake I laboured now

As by some dark dream oppressed.

Where was I? What could restore me?

Towers, ramparts, where were they?

Such a goddess stood before me

As the mists were swept away!

Eyes and heart towards her turning,

I had drunk her gentle light,

And her beauty, dazzling, burning,

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Burned and dazzled my poor sight.

I forgot the watchman’s duty

And my watch-horn’s promised call.

Doom me now to death; yet beauty

Tames the anger in us all.

HELEN
. I must not punish a misfortune I myself

Have brought about. Alas, how pitiless

Has been my fate, doomed everywhere to drive

Men’s hearts to madness, that they neither spared

Themselves nor reverenced any other thing!

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They ravished and seduced and fought and snatched

Me hither and thither: heroes, demigods,

Gods, demons, led me wandering to and fro.

My single form confused the world, twice more

My double; now I am threefold, fourfold ruin.

Take away this good man and set him free;

Let no shame strike one whom a god has crazed.

FAUST
. A double sight, oh queen, amazes me:

Your surely-speeding arrow, and its victim.

I see the bow that winged it on its way,

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And him who felt the wound. Arrows apace

Assail me now, I sense their feathering flight

At me from all sides, here within the castle.

What has become of me? My truest followers

You turn to rebels all at once, my walls

You weaken. Will my army now obey

Me, or this conquering unconquered lady?

What choice now, but to give myself and all

My supposed wealth to you in vassalage?

Let me then at your feet, freely and truly,

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Confess you mistress, who had but to appear

And take at once your place upon the throne.

LYNCEUS
[
with a treasure-chest, followed by men bringing others]
.

Queen, we return from near and far

To beg one glance, rich as we are!

What man is there that looks at you

And is not prince and beggar too?

What am I now? what have I been?

What must I will or do, oh queen?

My piercing sight, what can it see?

Your bright throne casts it back at me.

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Out of the east we came, and so

The west was conquered and laid low;

A weighty army, wide and strong,

From head to tail none knew how long.

The first would fall, the next would stand,

A third was ready spear in hand;

Each reinforced a hundredfold,

And a slain thousand fell untold.

So we rushed on like storm and flame,

Conquering and ruling as we came;

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One day I gave the orders, then

The plunder fell to other men.

We looked around with greedy eyes:

The loveliest woman was one man’s prize,

Others took horses by the score

Or prancing bulls, as spoils of war.

But I would peer with my sharp sight

At all things rare and recondite:

I sought what no one else possessed,

Cared not a straw for all the rest.

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I hunted treasure’s every trace,

Clear vision led me to the place,

No pocket hid its wealth from me,

Locked chests were glass, my eyes the key.

Mine it became, a hoard of gold

And precious stones. The emerald

Now of all gems is worthiest

To glow so green upon your breast;

And let a pearl from deepest sea

Now by your cheek hang tremblingly—

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So red it blooms, no rubies dare

To add their pale adornment there.

Oh queen, so great a gathering

Of riches to your throne I bring;

Much blood was shed in warlike fray,

Its harvest at your feet I lay.

These coffers all are full, and yet

More iron coffers I can get;

If I may be your slave, all these

Shall fill your vaulted treasuries.

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For scarcely were you here enthroned

Than all bowed down to you and owned

Their minds, their wealth, their power in thrall

To you, the loveliest form of all.

All this was mine, I held it fast,

I let it go, to you it passed.

I thought it worthy: now I see

This lofty treasure’s nullity.

All’s vanished now I called my own,

Withered it lies like grass that’s mown.

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Lady, with one glad look restore

Its value to it all once more!

FAUST
. Remove at once this burden boldly won;

Uncensured it shall be, yet unrewarded.

All that my castle’s deep interior hides

Is hers already: a specific gift

Is otiose. Go, and lay out the treasures

In proper order. Raise on high the lofty

Image of unseen splendour! Let the vaulted

Roofs glitter like skies freshly starred; plant here

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Strange paradises of unliving life.

Where she will walk, let many carpets rich

With flowers unroll before her: let her feet

Fall upon softest ground, and brightest radiance,

Dazzling to all but gods, confront her eyes.

LYNCEUS
. Little, my lord, is this you ask,

Your command’s a trifling task;

For this beauty all extol

Rules us all, goods, life and soul.

All the army now is tame,

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Every sword is blunt and lame;

And this form beyond compare

Dulls the sun and chills the air.

All’s made empty, poor and base

By the riches of her face. [
Exit
.]

HELEN
[
to
FAUST
]. I wish to speak with you, but I would have you

Seated here at my side! This empty place

Calls for the master, and makes mine secure.

FAUST
. First, as I kneel, accept my faithful homage,

Most noble princess! Let me kiss the hand

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That lifts me to your side; confirm me now

As the co-regent of your realm which knows

No boundaries, and let me be for you

Admirer, servant, guardian, all in one!

HELEN
. Manifold wonders I have seen and heard,

And in amazement I have much to ask.

But tell me why the speech of that good man

Had something strange about it, strange and friendly:

Each sound seems to accommodate the next,

And when one word has settled in the ear

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Another follows to caress the first.

FAUST
. It is the way our peoples speak; I know

That if this pleases you, our music too

Will charm your hearing, ravish your inmost heart.

But it is best we practise it at once,

Talking by turns, for that calls forth the skill.

HELEN
. Then say, how shall I learn such lovely speech?

FAUST
. It is not hard: say what your heart will teach.

And when one’s heart is full, one turns to see

Who’ll share the rapture—

HELEN
. Share it now with me!

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FAUST
. No past recalled, no future time to guess;

Only the present—

HELEN
. is our happiness.

FAUST
. It is treasure and gain, possession and

A pledge: but what must seal the pledge?

HELEN
. My hand.

CHORUS
. Who would find fault with our queen for

Granting this castle’s lord

Some signs of her favour?

For we must confess that we all are now

Captives, as we have been before

So often already since the shameful

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Fall of Troy, and our grievous

Journey, labyrinthine, fear-haunted.

Women accustomed to men’s love

May not be choosers, but

Their knowledge is expert.

For whether to golden-haired shepherd boys

Or to swarthy bristling fauns,

As the case may be or the occasion:

Equal rights will be granted,

Making them free of their soft limbs.

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Nearer they sit, closer already,

Leaning against each other;

Shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee,

Hand in hand they are cradled

On the soft cushions

Of the magnificent throne.

Our rulers do not forebear to make

Their secret pleasures

Proudly and exuberantly

Public before the gaze of their people.

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HELEN
. I feel so far away, and yet so near;

How willingly I say: Look, I am here!

FAUST
. Breathless I seem, words tremble and lose power;

This is a dream, in no place, at no hour.

HELEN
. I am as one long past, and yet so new;

To you bound fast, to an unknown stranger true.

FAUST
. Why puzzle, why insist? Our unique role

Bids us exist; one moment means the whole.

PHORCYAS
[
bursting in]
.

Now’s no time for childish riddling

Amorous alphabetic fiddling

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Idle puzzling and canoodling!

Now there’s other work to do.

Can you hear the trumpets blaring,

Hollow sounds of thunder nearing?

Direst peril threatens you.

Menelaus, battle-waging,

Warrior-hosted, rides here raging:

Arm yourselves for bitter strife!

They’ll outnumber you; he’ll lop you

Like Deïphobus, he’ll chop you

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Up for dallying with his wife.

This slave-trash he’ll hang; then, lady,

For your neck an axe is ready

Or a sacrificial knife.

FAUST
. Offensive interruption! Insolently it intrudes.

I hate such headstrong folly, even when danger speaks.

Ill news disfigures even the fairest messenger,

And you, the foulest, you like best to bring the worst.

But you shall not achieve it this time: shake the air