Faust (23 page)
Authors: Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
| 3240 | That nothing perfect ever can accrue to Man |
| | I know deeply now. With all my bliss |
| | which brought me close and closer to the gods, |
| | you gave me the companion which I even now |
| | can no longer do without; though cold and insolent, |
| | he humbles me before myself, and by a single breath |
| | he transforms your gifts to nothingness, |
| | and busily he fans within my bosom |
| | a seething fire for that radiant image. |
| | I stagger from desire to enjoyment, |
| 3250 | and in its throes I starve for more desire. |
| | ( MEPHISTOPHELES enters .) |
| | Are you not done yet with this kind of life? |
| | How can you enjoy it for so long? |
| | A taste of it is well and good, |
| | but then come on, try something new! |
| | I wish that you had other things to do |
| | than to plague me with your presence. |
| | Well, well; I should be glad to let you be, |
| | if you should ask for it in earnest. |
| | The loss of such a mad and hostile fellow |
| 3260 | is but a trifling business for me; |
| | I’ve got my hands full day and night; |
| | there is no telling by his nose and bearing |
| | what pleases him and what repels him at the moment. |
| | This is just the tone I needed! |
| | Demanding gratitude for boring me. |
| | How would you, miserable son of earth, |
| | have lived your life without my help? |
| | I think I cured you for some time to come |
| | from the claptrap of your fantasy. |
| 3270 | Except for me you would have made your exit |
| | from this globe some time ago. 33 |
| | What is the point of cowering like an owl |
| | in fissured rocks and dismal mountain caves? |
| | Why, toadlike, do you swill your nourishment |
| | from soggy moss and dripping stones? |
| | A darling way to pass the time! |
| | The doctor’s in your belly still! |
| | Can you conceive what new and vital power |
| | I draw from living in the wilderness? |
| 3280 | If you could, I think you’d be |
| | devilish enough to envy me my happiness. |
| | What supernatural delight! |
| | To lie in nightly dew on mountain heights, |
| | to encompass earth and heaven in a rapture |
| | and inflate one’s being to a godlike state, |
| | to burrow to the core, inflamed by premonition, |
| | to feel six days of God’s creation in your bosom, |
| | enjoy in pride and strength I know not what, |
| | and flooding all in loving ecstasy, |
| 3290 | the son of earth is canceled out— |
| | then comes the lofty intuition— |
| | ( Makes an obscene gesture .) |
| | to end in … Well, I’ll keep it to myself. |
| | You pig! |
| | I see that this is hardly to your liking. |
| | You may say “pig” in all propriety. |
| | One must not say to chaste and modest ears |
| | what chaste hearts can never do without. |
| | Once for all, you are most welcome to the fun |
| | of self-delusion now and then; |
| | you cannot keep it up for very long; |
| 3300 | you’re driven on before you know, |
| | and should it last, you’re ground to bits |
| | by madness, torment, or sheer horror. |
| | Enough of this, your sweetheart sits at home, |
| | and to her the world seems close and dreary. |
| | You live forever in her mind. |
| | An overwhelming love for you has seized her soul. |
| | At first your passion rose and overflowed |
| | as when a brook will swell from melting snow; |
| | you poured it all into her bosom— |
| 3310 | and now the brook runs dry again. |
| | I think, instead of playing king in forest groves, |
| | the gentleman might well see fit |
| | to give the squirming little creature |
| | a gift in gratitude for loving him. |
| | The time hangs heavy on her hands; |
| | she stands and sees the clouds pass by her window |
| | as they drift above the city walls. |
| | “If I were just a little bird”—so goes her song |
| | throughout the day and half the night. |
| 3320 | Now she’s cheerful, but mostly she is sad, |
| | now her tears are streaming down, |
| | and then she’s calm again, it seems, |
| | and always, always loving you. |
| | You snake! You snake! |
MEPHISTOPHELES
(
aside
)
.
| | Here now! So I’ve trapped you! |
| | Get away from me, you cursed fiend, |
| | and never speak her blessèd name! |
| | Lash not again my tortured senses |
| | to lust for her whom I adore. |
| 3330 | Then why the fuss? She thinks that you have left her, |
| | and more or less, that is what did occur. |
| | I’m near her always, even when I’m far away; |
| | I never can forget nor lose her. |
| | I even grudge the Body of the Lord |
| | when her lips approach to touch the Host. |
| | That’s good, my friend! I’ve often envied you |
| | the pair of roes that feeds among the lilies. 34 |
| | Get out, you pimp! |
| | How nice! You rail away and I must laugh. |
| | The God who fashioned boys and girls, |
| 3340 | seeing quickly what was wanting, |
| | gave them their chance and opportunity. |
| | But come. Why all this fussing? |
| | You’re going to your sweetheart’s chamber |
| | and not at all to death and doom. |
| | When in her arms, I need no joys of Heaven. |
| | The warmth I seek is burning in her breast. |
| | Do I not every moment feel her woe? |
| | Am I not the fugitive, the homeless roamer, |
| | an aimless, rootless, monstrous creature, |
| 3350 | roaring like a cataract from crag to crag, |
| | madly racing for the final precipice? |
| | And she along the banks with childlike, simple sense, |
| | there in her cabin on an alpine meadow, |
| | with all the homey enterprises |
| | encompassed by her tiny world. |
| | And I whom God abhors, |
| | I was not satisfied |
| | to seize the rocks, |
| | and crush them into pieces. |
| 3360 | It was her life, her peace I had to ruin. |
| | You, Satan, claimed this sacrifice! |
| | Help, Satan, help abridge the time of fear! |
| | What has to happen, let it happen now! |
| | Let her fate come crashing down on mine, |
| | let us both embrace perdition! |
| | How you burn and seethe again! |
| | Go in and comfort her, you fool. |
| | When you pinheads find no place to go, |
| | you think at once, “It is the end!” |
| 3370 | Long live he who stands his ground courageously! |
| | Till now I’d thought you pretty well en-deviled. |
| | I can think of nothing tawdrier in the world |
| | than a devil who despairs. |
GRETCHEN
(
alone at the spinning wheel
)
.
| | My peace is gone, |
| | My heart is sore; |
| | I’ll find it never |
| | And nevermore. |
| | To be without him |
| | Is like the grave; |
| 3380 | The sweet world all |
| | Is turned to gall. |
| | Ah, my poor head |
| | Is so distraught; |
| | Ah, my poor mind |
| | Can think no thought. |
| | My peace is gone, |
| | My heart is sore; |
| | I’ll find it never |
| | And nevermore. |
| 3390 | I stand by my window, |
| | I seek only him. |
| | I run from my door |
| | To be but with him. |
| | His noble gait, |
| | Lofty and wise; |
| | The smile on his lips, |
| | The force of his eyes. |
| | In the flow of his words, |
| | Is magical bliss. |
| 3400 | The clasp of his hand |
| | Ah, what bliss! |
| | My peace is gone, |
| | My heart is sore; |
| | I’ll find it never |
| | And nevermore. |
| | My heart is yearning |
| | To be at his side, |
| | To clasp and enfold him |
| | And hold him tight. |
| 3410 | To love and to kiss, |
| | To murmur and sigh, |
| | And under his kiss |
| | To melt and to die! 35 |
Margaret, Faust
.
| | Promise me, Heinrich! |
| | Whatever I can! |
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