Faust (3 page)
Authors: Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
I feel inwardly connected to all those readers who came to
Faust
by way of my English version, and I am now tentatively confident that the changes in this new edition will further contribute to the understanding and enjoyment of one of the world’s supreme poetic works.
| 1749 | August 28. Johann Wolfgang Goethe born in Frankfurt, Germany. |
| 1765 | Enrolls as a law student at the University of Leipzig; takes private lessons in art. |
| 1768 | Falls seriously ill. Returns to Frankfurt. Reads Shakespeare for the first time; also books on alchemy. First anonymous collection of poems, called Neue Lieder , set to music and published by Breitkopf. |
| 1770 | Travels to Strasbourg, in Alsace. Resumes his studies at the university. Falls in love with Friderike Brion, a parson’s daughter living in nearby Sesenheim. Meets German critic and essayist Herder. |
| 1771 | Receives law degree. First plans for drama Götz von Berlichingen , profoundly influenced by Shakespeare. Also possible first sketches for a Faust drama. |
| 1773 | Much preoccupied with drawing and portraiture. Completes Götz von Berlichingen . |
| 1774 | Epistolary novel: The Sorrows of Young Werther . |
| 1775 | Accepts invitation of the reigning duke of Weimar, Carl August, to join his court. |
| 1777 | First version of Wilhelm Meister , a bildungsroman. Group of dithyrambic odes, “Prometheus,” etc. |
| 1780 | Poems: “Der Fischer,” “Erlkönig,” and other ballads. |
| 1782 | Receives title of nobility from the emperor. |
| 1784 | Scientific writings: treatise concerning granite; discovery of the intermaxillary bone in humans. |
| 1785 | Common-law marriage with Christiane Vulpius (legalized 1806). |
| 1786– | First Italian journey. Dramas: Iphigenie auf Tauris , |
| 1788 | Egmont . |
| 1789 | Birth of son, August von Goethe. Poetry: Roman Elegies . Drama: Torquato Tasso . |
| 1790 | Second Italian journey. Faust I first published as a fragment. |
| 1791 | Becomes general manager of Weimar Court Theater. Completes treatise in biology: The Metamorphosis of Plants . |
| 1794 | Meets Schiller. Beginning of collaboration and friendship between the two poets. |
| 1795 | Completes first volume of Wilhelm Meister . Epic poem: Hermann und Dorothea . Second series of ballads, among them “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” |
| 1804 | Madame de Staël visits with Goethe in Weimar. |
| 1805 | Schiller dies. |
| 1808 | Conversation with Napoleon. Faust I appears in complete form. |
| 1812 | Meeting with Beethoven. |
| 1816 | His wife Christiane dies. |
| 1822 | Theory of Color ( Farbenlehre ), opposing the physics of Isaac Newton. |
| 1823 | First visit of Johann Peter Eckermann, subsequently Goethe’s secretary and faithful recorder of conversations with him. |
| 1831 | Completes Faust II . |
| 1832 | Dies in Weimar on March 22. |
FAUST: ENGLISH
DEDICATION1
| | WAVERING FORMS, you come again; |
| | once long ago you passed before my clouded sight. |
| | Should I now attempt to hold you fast? |
| | Does my heart still look for phantoms? |
| | You surge at me! Well, then you may rule |
| | as you rise about me out of mist and cloud. |
| | The airy magic in your path |
| | stirs youthful tremors in my breast. |
| | You bear the images of happy days, |
| 10 | and friendly shadows rise to mind. |
| | With them, as in an almost muted tale, |
| | come youthful love and friendship. |
| | The pain is felt anew, and the lament |
| | sounds life’s labyrinthine wayward course |
| | and tells of friends who went before me |
| | and whom fate deprived of joyous hours. |
| | They cannot hear the songs which follow, |
| | the souls to whom I sang my first, |
| | scattered is the genial crowd, |
| 20 | the early echo, ah, has died away. |
| | Now my voice sings for the unknown many |
| | whose very praise intimidates my heart. |
| | The living whom my song once charmed |
| | are now dispersed throughout the world. |
| | And I am seized by long forgotten yearnings |
| | for the solemn, silent world of spirits; |
| | as on an aeolian harp my whispered song |
| | lingers now in vagrant tones. |
| | I shudder, and a tear draws other tears; |
| 30 | my austere heart grows soft and gentle. |
| | What I possess appears far in the distance, |
| | and what is past has turned into reality. |
Manager, Dramatic Poet, Comic Character.
| | You two who often stood by me |
| | in times of hardship and of gloom, |
| | what do you think our enterprise |
| | should bring to German lands and people? |
| | I want the crowd to be well satisfied, |
| | for, as you know, it lives and lets us live. |
| | The boards are nailed, the stage is set, |
| 40 | and all the world looks for a lavish feast. |
| | There they sit, with eyebrows raised, |
| | and calmly wait to be astounded. |
| | I have my ways to keep the people well disposed, |
| | but never was I in a fix like this. |
| | It’s true, they’re not accustomed to the best, |
| | yet they have read an awful lot of things. |
| | How shall we plot a new and fresh approach |
| | and make things pleasant and significant? |
| | I’ll grant, it pleases me to watch the crowds, |
| 50 | as they stream and hustle to our tent |
| | and with mighty and repeated labors |
| | press onward through the narrow gate of grace; |
| | while the sun still shines—it’s scarcely four o’clock— |
| | they fight and scramble for the ticket window, |
| | and as if in famine begging at the baker’s door, |
| | they almost break their necks to gain admission. |
| | The poet alone can work this miracle |
| | on such a diverse group. My friend, the time is now! |
| | Oh, speak no more of motley crowds to me, |
| 60 | their presence makes my spirit flee. |
| | Veil from my sight those waves and surges |
| | that suck us down into their raging pools. |
| | Take me rather to a quiet little cell |
| | where pure delight blooms only for the poet, |
| | where our inmost joy is blessed and fostered |
| | by love and friendship and the hand of God. |
| | Alas! What sprang from our deepest feelings, |
| | what our lips tried timidly to form, |
| | failing now and now perhaps succeeding, |
| 70 | is devoured by a single brutish moment. |
| | Often it must filter through the years |
| | before its final form appears perfected. |
| | What gleams like tinsel is but for the moment. |
| | What’s true remains intact for future days. |
| | Oh, save me from such talk of future days! |
| | Suppose I were concerned with progeny, |
| | then who would cheer our present generation? |
| | It lusts for fun and should be gratified. |
| | A fine young fellow in the present tense |
| 80 | is worth a lot when all is said and done. |
| | If he can charm and make the public feel at ease, |
| | he will not mind its changing moods; |
| | he seeks the widest circle for himself, |
| | so that his act will thereby be more telling. |
| | And now be smart and show your finest qualities, |
| | let fantasy be heard with all its many voices, |
| | as well as mind and sensibility and passion, |
| | and then be sure to add a dose of folly. |
| | Above all, let there be sufficient action! |
| 90 | They come to gaze and wish to see a spectacle. |
| | If many things reel off before their eyes, |
| | so that the mob can gape and be astounded, |
| | then you will sway the great majority |
| | and be a very popular man. |
| | The mass can only be subdued by massiveness, |
| | so each can pick a morsel for himself. |
| | A large amount contains enough for everyone, |
| | and each will leave contented with his share. |
| | Give us the piece you write in pieces! |
| 100 | Try your fortune with a potpourri |
| | that’s quickly made and easily dished out. |
| | What good is it to sweat and to create a whole? |
| | The audience will yet pick the thing to pieces. |
| | You do not feel the baseness of such handiwork. |
| | How improper for an artist worth his salt! |
| | I see, the botchery of your neat companions |
| | has been the maxim of your enterprise. |
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