She took all the presents the fellow gave her.
'Twas kissing and coddling, on and on!
So now, at the end, the flower is gone.
Margaret The poor, poor thing! LisbethDost pity her, at that?
When one of us at spinning sat,
And mother, nights, ne'er let us out the door
She sported with her paramour.
On the door-bench, in the passage dark,
The length of the time they'd never mark.
So now her head no more she'll lift,
But do church-penance in her sinner's shift!
MargaretHe'll surely take her for his wife.
LisbethHe'd be a fool! A brisk young blade
Has room, elsewhere, to ply his trade.
Besides, he's gone. MargaretThat is not fair!
LisbethIf him she gets, why let her beware!
The boys shall dash her wreath on the floor,
And we'll scatter chaff before her door!
Exit Lisbeth. Margaret Returning home.
How scornfully I once reviled,
When some poor maiden was beguiled!
More speech than any tongue suffices
I craved, to censure others' vices.
Black as it seemed, I blackened still,
And blacker yet was in my will;
And blessed myself, and boasted high,—
And now—a living sin am I!
Yet—all that drove my heart thereto,
God! was so good, so dear, so true!
DONJON In a niche of the wall a shrine, with an image of the Mater Dolorosa. Pots of flowers before it. Margaret Putting fresh flowers in the pots.Incline, O Maiden,
Thou sorrow-laden,
Thy gracious countenance upon my pain!
The sword Thy heart in,
With anguish smarting,
Thou lookest up to where Thy Son is slain!
Thou seest the Father;
Thy sad sighs gather,
And bear aloft Thy sorrow and His pain!
Ah, past guessing,
Beyond expressing,
The pangs that wring my flesh and bone!
Why this anxious heart so burneth,
Why it trembleth, why it yearneth,
Knowest Thou, and Thou alone!
Where'er I go, what sorrow,
What woe, what woe and sorrow
Within my bosom aches!
Alone, and ah! unsleeping,
I'm weeping, weeping, weeping,
The heart within me breaks.
The pots before my window,
Alas! my tears did wet,
As in the early morning
For thee these flowers I set.
Within my lonely chamber
The morning sun shone red:
I sat, in utter sorrow,
Already on my bed.
Help! rescue me from death and stain!
O Maiden!
Thou sorrow-laden,
Incline Thy countenance upon my pain!
NIGHT Street before Margaret's door. Valentine Soldier, Margaret's brother.When I have sat at some carouse,
Where each to each his brag allows,
And many a comrade praised to me
His pink of girls right lustily,
With brimming glass that spilled the toast,
And elbows planted as in boast:
I sat in unconcerned repose,
And heard the swagger as it rose.
And stroking then my beard, I'd say,
Smiling, the bumper in my hand:
"Each well enough in her own way.
But is there one in all the land
Like sister Margaret, good as gold,—
One that to her can a candle hold?"
Cling! clang! "Here's to her!" went around
The board: "He speaks the truth!" cried some;
"In her the flower o' the sex is found!"
And all the swaggerers were dumb.
And now!—I could tear my hair with vexation.
And dash out my brains in desperation!

Yet, though I thresh them all together,
I cannot call them liars, either.
But what comes sneaking, there, to view?
If I mistake not, there are two.
If he's one, let me at him drive!
He shall not leave the spot alive.
Enter Faust and Mephistopheles. FaustHow from the window of the sacristy
Upward th'eternal lamp sends forth a glimmer,
That, lessening side-wards, fainter grows and dimmer,
Till darkness closes from the sky!
The shadows thus within my bosom gather.

I feel in every limb the presage
Forerunning the grand Walpurgis-Night:
Day after to-morrow brings its message,
And one keeps watch then with delight.
FaustMeanwhile, may not the treasure risen be,
Which there, behind, I glimmering see?
MephistophelesShalt soon experience the pleasure,
To lift the kettle with its treasure.
I lately gave therein a squint—
Saw splendid lion-dollars in 't.
FaustNot even a jewel, not a ring,
To deck therewith my darling girl?
MephistophelesI saw, among the rest, a thing
That seemed to be a chain of pearl.
FaustThat's well, indeed! For painful is it
To bring no gift when her I visit.
MephistophelesThou shouldst not find it so annoying,
Without return to be enjoying.
Now, while the sky leads forth its starry throng,
Thou'lt hear a masterpiece, no work completer:
I'll sing her, first, a moral song,
The surer, afterwards, to cheat her.
Sings to the cither.What dost thou here
In daybreak clear,
Kathrina dear,
Before thy lover's door?
Beware! the blade
Lets in a maid.
That out a maid
Departeth nevermore!
The coaxing shun
Of such an one!
When once 'tis done
Good-night to thee, poor thing!
Love's time is brief:
Unto no thief
Be warm and lief,
But with the wedding-ring!
Valentine Comes forward.Whom wilt thou lure? God's-element!
Rat-catching piper, thou!—perdition!
To the Devil, first, the instrument!
To the Devil, then, the curst musician!
MephistophelesThe cither's smashed! For nothing more 'tis fitting.
ValentineThere's yet a skull I must be splitting!
Mephistopheles To Faust.Sir Doctor, don't retreat, I pray!
Stand by: I'll lead, if you'll but tarry:
Out with your spit, without delay!
You've but to lunge, and I will parry.
Valentine Then parry that! MephistophelesWhy not? 'tis light.
Valentine That, too! Mephistopheles Of course. ValentineI think the Devil must fight!
How is it, then? my hand's already lame:
Mephistopheles To Faust. Thrust home! Valentine Falls. O God! MephistophelesNow is the lubber tame!
But come, away! 'Tis time for us to fly;
For there arises now a murderous cry.
With the police 'twere easy to compound it,
But here the penal court will sift and sound it.
Exit Mephistopheles, with Faust. Martha At the window. Come out! Come out! Margaret At the window.Quick, bring a light!
Martha As above.They swear and storm, they yell and fight!

Martha Coming from the house.The murderers, whither have they run?
Margaret Coming out. Who lies here? People'Tis thy mother's son!
MargaretAlmighty God! what misery!
ValentineI'm dying! That is quickly said,
And quicker yet 'tis done.
Why howl, you women there? Instead,
Come here and listen, every one!
All gather around him.My Margaret, see! still young thou art,
But not the least bit shrewd or smart,
Thy business thus to slight:
So this advice I bid thee heed—
Now that thou art a whore indeed,
Why, be one then, outright!
MargaretMy brother! God! such words to me?
ValentineIn this game let our Lord God be!
What's done's already done, alas!
What follows it, must come to pass.
With one begin'st thou secretly,
Then soon will others come to thee,
And when a dozen thee have known,
Thou'rt also free to all the town.

But let her growth and strength display,
She walks abroad unveiled by day,
Yet is not grown a whit the fairer.
The uglier she is to sight,
The more she seeks the day's broad light.
The time I verily can discern
When all the honest folk will turn
From thee, thou jade! and seek protection
As from a corpse that breeds infection.
Thy guilty heart shall then dismay thee.
When they but look thee in the face:—
Shalt not in a golden chain array thee,
Nor at the altar take thy place!
Shalt not, in lace and ribbons flowing,
Make merry when the dance is going!
But in some corner, woe betide thee!

MarthaCommend your soul to God for pardon,
That you your heart with slander harden!
ValentineThou pimp most infamous, be still!
Could I thy withered body kill,
'Twould bring, for all my sinful pleasure,
Forgiveness in the richest measure.
MargaretMy brother! This is Hell's own pain!
ValentineI tell thee, from thy tears refrain!
When thou from honor didst depart
It stabbed me to the very heart.
Now through the slumber of the grave
I go to God as a soldier brave.
Dies. CATHEDRAL Service, Organ, and Anthem. Margaret among much people. Evil Spirit behind Margaret. Evil SpiritHow otherwise was it, Margaret,
When thou, still innocent,
Here to the altar cam'st,
And from the worn and fingered book
Thy prayers didst prattle,
Half sport of childhood,
Half God within thee!
Margaret!
Where tends thy thought?
Within thy bosom
What hidden crime?
Pray'st thou for mercy on thy mother's soul,
That fell asleep to long, long torment, and through thee?
Upon thy threshold whose the blood?
And stirreth not and quickens
Something beneath thy heart,
Thy life disquieting
With most foreboding presence?
MargaretWoe! woe!
Would I were free from the thoughts
That cross me, drawing hither and thither
Despite me!
ChorusDiesira, dies illa,
Solvet soeclum in favilla!
Sound of the organ. Evil SpiritWrath takes thee!
The trumpet peals!
The graves tremble!
And thy heart
From ashy rest
To fiery torments
Now again requickened,
Throbs to life!
MargaretWould I were forth!
I feel as if the organ here
My breath takes from me,
My very heart
Dissolved by the anthem!
ChorusJudex ergo cum sedebit,
Quidquid latet, ad parebit,
Nil inultum remanebit.
MargaretI cannot breathe!
The massy pillars
Imprison me!
The vaulted arches
Crush me!—Air!
Evil SpiritHide thyself! Sin and shame
Stay never hidden.
Air? Light?
Woe to thee!
ChorusQuid sum miser tunc dicturus,
Quem patronem rogaturus,
Cum vix Justus sit securus
Evil SpiritThey turn their faces,
The glorified, from thee:
The pure, their hands to offer,
Shuddering, refuse thee!
Woe!
ChorusQuid sum miser tune dicturus ?
MargaretNeighbor! your cordial!
She falls in a swoon. WALPURGIS-NIGHT Hartz Mountains. District of Schierke and Elend. Faust and Mephistopheles. MephistophelesDost thou not wish a broomstick-steed's assistance?
The sturdiest he-goat I would gladly see:
The way we take, our goal is yet some distance.
FaustSo long as in my legs I feel the fresh existence.
This knotted staff suffices me.
What need to shorten so the way?
Along this labyrinth of vales to wander,
Then climb the rocky ramparts yonder,
Wherefrom the fountain flings eternal spray,
Is such delight, my steps would fain delay.
The spring-time stirs within the fragrant birches,
And even the fir-tree feels it now:
Should then our limbs escape its gentle searches?
MephistophelesI notice no such thing, I vow!
'Tis winter still within my body:
Upon my path I wish for frost and snow.
How sadly rises, incomplete and ruddy,
The moon's lone disk, with its belated glow,
And lights so dimly, that, as one advances,
At every step one strikes a rock or tree!
Let us, then, use a Jack-o'-lantern's glances:
I see one yonder, burning merrily.
Ho, there! my friend! I'll levy thine attendance:
Why waste so vainly thy resplendence?
Be kind enough to light us up the steep!
Will-O'-The-WispMy reverence, I hope, will me enable
To curb my temperament unstable;
For zigzag courses we are wont to keep.
MephistophelesIndeed? he'd like mankind to imitate!
Now, in the Devil's name, go straight,
Or I'll blow out his being's flickering spark!
Will-O'-The-WispYou are the master of the house, I mark,
And I shall try to serve you nicely.
But then, reflect: the mountain's magic-mad to-day,
And if a will-o'-the-wisp must guide you on the way,
You mustn't take things too precisely.
Faust, Mephistopheles, Will-O'-The-Wisp In alternating song.We, it seems, have entered newly
In the sphere of dreams enchanted.
Do thy bidding, guide us truly,
That our feet be forwards planted
In the vast, the desert spaces!
See them swiftly changing places,
Trees on trees beside us trooping,
And the crags above us stooping,
And the rocky snouts, outgrowing,—
Hear them snoring, hear them blowing!
O'er the stones, the grasses, flowing
Stream and streamlet seek the hollow.
Hear I noises? songs that follow?
Hear I tender love-petitions?
Voices of those heavenly visions?
Sounds of hope, of love undying!
And the echoes, like traditions
Of old days, come faint and hollow.
Hoo-hoo! Shoo-hoo! Nearer hover
Jay and screech-owl, and the plover,—
Are they all awake and crying?
Is't the salamander pushes,
Bloated-bellied, through the bushes?
And the roots, like serpents twisted,
Through the sand and boulders toiling,
Fright us, weirdest links uncoiling
To entrap us, unresisted:
Living knots and gnarls uncanny
Feel with polypus-antennae
For the wanderer. Mice are flying,
Thousand-colored, herd-wise hieing
Through the moss and through the heather!
And the fire-flies wink and darkle,
Crowded swarms that soar and sparkle,
And in wildering escort gather!
Tell me, if we still are standing,
Or if further we're ascending?
All is turning, whirling, blending,
Trees and rocks with grinning faces,
Wandering lights that spin in mazes,
Still increasing and expanding!
MephistophelesGrasp my skirt with heart undaunted!
Here a middle-peak is planted,
Whence one seeth, with amaze,
Mammon in the mountain blaze.
FaustHow strangely glimmers through the hollows
A dreary light, like that of dawn!
Its exhalation tracks and follows
The deepest gorges, faint and wan.
Here steam, there rolling vapor sweepeth;
Here burns the glow through film and haze:
Now like a tender thread it creepeth,
Now like a fountain leaps and plays.
Here winds away, and in a hundred
Divided veins the valley braids:
There, in a corner pressed and sundered,
Itself detaches, spreads and fades.
Here gush the sparkles incandescent
Like scattered showers of golden sand;—
But, see! in all their height, at present,
The rocky ramparts blazing stand.
MephistophelesHas not Sir Mammon grandly lighted
His palace for this festal night?
'Tis lucky thou hast seen the sight;
The boisterous guests approach that were invited.
FaustHow raves the tempest through the air!
With what fierce blows upon my neck 'tis beating!
MephistophelesUnder the old ribs of the rock retreating,
Hold fast, lest thou be hurled down the abysses there!
The night with the mist is black;
Hark! how the forests grind and crack!
Frightened, the owlets are scattered:
Hearken! the pillars are shattered.
The evergreen palaces shaking!
Boughs are groaning and breaking,
The tree-trunks terribly thunder,
The roots are twisting asunder!
In frightfully intricate crashing
Each on the other is dashing,
And over the wreck-strewn gorges
The tempest whistles and surges!
Hear'st thou voices higher ringing?
Far away, or nearer singing?
Yes, the mountain's side along,
Sweeps an infuriate glamouring song!
Witches In chorus.The witches ride to the Brocken's top,
The stubble is yellow, and green the crop.
There gathers the crowd for carnival:
Sir Urian sits over all.
And so they go over stone and stock;
The witch she——-s, and——-s the buck.
A VoiceAlone, old Baubo's coming now;
She rides upon a farrow-sow.
ChorusThen honor to whom the honor is due!
Dame Baubo first, to lead the crew!
A tough old sow and the mother thereon,
Then follow the witches, every one.
A VoiceWhich way com'st thou hither?
VoiceO'er the Ilsen-stone.
I peeped at the owl in her nest alone:
How she stared and glared!
VoiceBetake thee to Hell!
Why so fast and so fell?
VoiceShe has scored and has flayed me:
See the wounds she has made me!
Witches Chorus.The way is wide, the way is long:
See, what a wild and crazy throng!
The broom it scratches, the fork it thrusts,
The child is stifled, the mother bursts.
Wizards Semichorus.As doth the snail in shell, we crawl:
Before us go the women all.
When towards the Devil's House we tread,
Woman's a thousand steps ahead.
Other SemichorusWe do not measure with such care:
Woman in thousand steps is theft.
But howsoe'er she hasten may,
Man in one leap has cleared the way.
Voice From above.Come on, come on, from Rocky Lake!
Voice From below.Aloft we'd fain ourselves betake.
We've washed, and are bright as ever you will,
Yet we're eternally sterile still.
Both ChorusesThe wind is hushed, the star shoots by.
The dreary moon forsakes the sky;
The magic notes, like spark on spark,
Drizzle, whistling through the dark.
Voice From below.Halt, there! Ho, there!
Voice From above.Who calls from the rocky cleft below there?
Voice Below.Take me, too! take me, too!
I'm climbing now three hundred years,
And yet the summit cannot see:
Among my equals I would be.
Both ChorusesBears the broom and bears the stock,
Bears the fork and bears the buck:
Who cannot raise himself to-night
Is evermore a ruined wight.
Half-Witch Below.So long I stumble, ill bestead,
And the others are now so far ahead!
At home I've neither rest nor cheer,
And yet I cannot gain them here.
Chorus of WitchesTo cheer the witch will salve avail;
A rag will answer for a sail;
Each trough a goodly ship supplies;
He ne'er will fly, who now not flies.
Both ChorusesWhen round the summit whirls our flight,
Then lower, and on the ground alight;
And far and wide the heather press
With witchhood's swarms of wantonness!
They settle down. MephistophelesThey crowd and push, they roar and clatter!
They whirl and whistle, pull and chatter!
They shine, and spirt, and stink, and burn!
The true witch-element we learn.
Keep close! or we are parted, in our turn,
Where art thou? Faust In the distance. Here! MephistophelesWhat! whirled so far astray?
Then house-right I must use, and clear the way.
Make room! Squire Voland comes! Room, gentle rabble, room!
Here, Doctor, hold to me: in one jump we'll resume
An easier space, and from the crowd be free:
It's too much, even for the like of me.
Yonder, with special light, there's something shining clearer
Within those bushes; I've a mind to see.
Come on! well slip a little nearer.
FaustSpirit of Contradiction! On! I'll follow straight.
'Tis planned most wisely, if I judge aright:
We climb the Brocken's top in the Walpurgis-Night,
That arbitrarily, here, ourselves we isolate.
MephistophelesBut see, what motley flames among the heather!
There is a lively club together:
In smaller circles one is not alone.
FaustBetter the summit, I must own:
There fire and whirling smoke I see.
They seek the Evil One in wild confusion:
Many enigmas there might find solution.
MephistophelesBut there enigmas also knotted be.
Leave to the multitude their riot!
Here will we house ourselves in quiet.
It is an old, transmitted trade,
That in the greater world the little worlds are made.
I see stark-nude young witches congregate,
And old ones, veiled and hidden shrewdly:
On my account be kind, nor treat them rudely!
The trouble's small, the fun is great.
I hear the noise of instruments attuning,—
Vile din! yet one must learn to bear the crooning.
Come, come along! It must be, I declare!
I'll go ahead and introduce thee there,
Thine obligation newly earning.
That is no little space: what say'st thou, friend?
Look yonder! thou canst scarcely see the end:
A hundred fires along the ranks are burning.
They dance, they chat, they cook, they drink, they court:
Now where, just tell me, is there better sport?
FaustWilt thou, to introduce us to the revel,
Assume the part of wizard or of devil?
MephistophelesI'm mostly used, 'tis true, to go incognito,
But on a gala-day one may his orders show.
The Garter does not deck my suit,
But honored and at home is here the cloven foot.
Perceiv'st thou yonder snail? It cometh, slow and steady;
So delicately its feelers pry,
That it hath scented me already:
I cannot here disguise me, if I try.
But come! we'll go from this fire to a newer:
I am the go-between, and thou the wooer.
To some, who are sitting around dying embers.Old gentlemen, why at the outskirts? Enter!
I'd praise you if I found you snugly in the centre,
With youth and revel round you like a zone:
You each, at home, are quite enough alone.
GeneralSay, who would put his trust in nations,
Howe'er for them one may have worked and planned?
For with the people, as with women,
Youth always has the upper hand.
MinisterThey're now too far from what is just and sage.
I praise the old ones, not unduly:
When we were all-in-all, then, truly,
Then was the real golden age.
ParvenuWe also were not stupid, either,
And what we should not, often did;
But now all things have from their bases slid,
Just as we meant to hold them fast together.
AuthorWho, now, a work of moderate sense will read?
Such works are held as antiquate and mossy;
And as regards the younger folk, indeed,
They never yet have been so pert and saucy.
Mephistopheles Who all at once appears very old.I feel that men are ripe for Judgment-Day,
Now for the last time I've the witches'-hill ascended:
Since to the lees my cask is drained away,
The world's, as well, must soon be ended.
Huckster-WitchYe gentlemen, don't pass me thus!
Let not the chance neglected be!
Behold my wares attentively:
The stock is rare and various.
And yet, there's nothing I've collected—
No shop, on earth, like this you'll find!—
Which has not, once, sore hurt inflicted
Upon the world, and on mankind.
No dagger's here, that set not blood to flowing;
No cup, that hath not once, within a healthy frame
Poured speedy death, in poison glowing:
No gems, that have not brought a maid to shame;
No sword, but severed ties for the unwary,
Or from behind struck down the adversary.
MephistophelesGossip! the times thou badly comprehendest:
What's done has happed—what haps, is done!
'Twere better if for novelties thou sendest:
By such alone can we be won.
FaustLet me not lose myself in all this pother!
This is a fair, as never was another!
MephistophelesThe whirlpool swirls to get above:
Thou'rt shoved thyself, imagining to shove.
Faust But who is that? MephistophelesNote her especially,
Tis Lilith. Faust Who? MephistophelesAdam's first wife is she.
Beware the lure within her lovely tresses,
The splendid sole adornment of her hair!
When she succeeds therewith a youth to snare,
Not soon again she frees him from her jesses.
FaustThose two, the old one with the young one sitting,
They've danced already more than fitting.
MephistophelesNo rest to-night for young or old!
They start another dance: come now, let us take hold!
Faust Dancing with the young witch.A lovely dream once came to me;
I then beheld an apple-tree,
And there two fairest apples shone:
They lured me so, I climbed thereon.
The Fair OneApples have been desired by you,
Since first in Paradise they grew;
And I am moved with joy, to know
That such within my garden grow.
Mephistopheles Dancing with the old one.A dissolute dream once came to me:
Therein I saw a cloven tree,
Which had a————————;
Yet,——as 'twas, I fancied it.
The Old OneI offer here my best salute
Unto the knight with cloven foot!
Let him a—————prepare,
If him—————————does not scare.
ProktophantasmistAccurséd folk!
Had you not, long since, demonstration
That ghosts can't stand on ordinary foundation?
And now you even dance, like one of us!
The Fair One Dancing.Why does he come, then, to our ball?
Faust Dancing.O, everywhere on him you fall!
When others dance, he weighs the matter:
If he can't every step bechatter,
Then 'tis the same as were the step not made;
But if you forwards go, his ire is most displayed.
If you would whirl in regular gyration
As he does in his dull old mill,
He'd show, at any rate, good-will,—
Especially if you heard and heeded his hortation.
ProktophantasmistYou still are here? Nay, 'tis a thing unheard!
Vanish, at once! We've said the enlightening word.
The pack of devils by no rules is daunted:
We are so wise, and yet is Tegel haunted.
To clear the folly out, how have I swept and stirred!
Twill ne'er be clean: why, 'tis a thing unheard!
The Fair OneThen cease to bore us at our ball!
ProktophantasmistI tell you, spirits, to your face,
I give to spirit-despotism no place;
My spirit cannot practise it at all.
The dance continues.Naught will succeed, I see, amid such revels;
Yet something from a tour I always save,
And hope, before my last step to the grave,
To overcome the poets and the devils.
MephistophelesHe now will seat him in the nearest puddle;
The solace this, whereof he's most assured:
And when upon his rump the leeches hang and fuddle,
He'll be of spirits and of Spirit cured.
To Faust, who has left the dance.Wherefore forsakest thou the lovely maiden,
That in the dance so sweetly sang?
FaustAh! in the midst of it there sprang
A red mouse from her mouth—sufficient reason.
MephistophelesThat's nothing! One must not so squeamish be;
So the mouse was not gray, enough for thee.
Who'd think of that in love's selected season?
Faust Then saw I—. Mephistopheles What? FaustMephisto, seest thou there,
Alone and far, a girl most pale and fair?
She falters on, her way scarce knowing,
As if with fettered feet that stay her going.
I must confess, it seems to me
As if my kindly Margaret were she.
MephistophelesLet the thing be! All thence have evil drawn:
It is a magic shape, a lifeless eidolon.
Such to encounter is not good:
Their blank, set stare benumbs the human blood,
And one is almost turned to stone.
Medusa's tale to thee is known.
FaustForsooth, the eyes they are of one whom, dying,
No hand with loving pressure closed;
That is the breast whereon I once was lying,—
The body sweet, beside which I reposed!
MephistophelesTis magic all, thou fool, seduced so easily!
Unto each man his love she seems to be.
FaustThe woe, the rapture, so ensnare me,
That from her gaze I cannot tear me!

MephistophelesQuite right! The mark I also note.
Her head beneath her arm she'll sometimes carry;
Twas Perseus lopped it, her old adversary.
Thou crav'st the same illusion still!
Come, let us mount this little hill;
The Prater shows no livelier stir,
And, if they've not bewitched my sense,
I verily see a theatre.
What's going on? Servibilis'Twill shortly recommence:
A new performance—'tis the last of seven.
To give that number is the custom here:
'Twas by a Dilettante written,
And Dilettanti in the parts appear.
That now I vanish, pardon, I entreat you!
As Dilettante I the curtain raise.
MephistophelesWhen I upon the Blocksberg meet you,
I find it good: for that's your proper place.
WALPURGIS-NIGHT'S DREAM OR OBERON AND TITANIA'S GOLDEN WEDDING Intermezzo ManagerSons of Mieding, rest to-day!
Needless your machinery:
Misty vale and mountain gray,
That is all the scenery.
HeraldThat the wedding golden be.
Must fifty years be rounded:
But the Golden give to me,
When the strife's compounded.
OberonSpirits, if you're here, be seen—
Show yourselves, delighted!
Fairy king and fairy queen,
They are newly plighted.
PuckCometh Puck, and, light of limb,
Whisks and whirls in measure:
Come a hundred after him,
To share with him the pleasure.

OberonSpouses, who would fain agree,
Learn how we were mated!
If your pairs would loving be,
First be separated!
TitaniaIf her whims the wife control,
And the man berate her,
Take him to the Northern Pole,
And her to the Equator!
Orchestra Tutti Fortissimo.Snout of fly, mosquito-bill,
And kin of all conditions,
Frog in grass, and cricket-trill,—
These are the musicians!
SoloSee the bagpipe on our track!
'Tis the soap-blown bubble:
Hear the schnecke-schnicke-schnack
Through his nostrils double!
Spirit, Just Growing into FormSpider's foot and paunch of toad,
And little wings—we know 'em!
A little creature 'twill not be,
But yet, a little poem.

Inquisitive TravellerIs't but masquerading play?
See I with precision?
Oberon, the beauteous fay,
Meets, to-night, my vision!
OrthodoxNot a claw, no tail I see!
And yet, beyond a cavil,
Like "the Gods of Greece," must he
Also be a devil.
Northern ArtistI only seize, with sketchy air,
Some outlines of the tourney;
Yet I betimes myself prepare
For my Italian journey.
PuristMy bad luck brings me here, alas!
How roars the orgy louder!
And of the witches in the mass,
But only two wear powder.

MatronWe've too much tact and policy
To rate with gibes a scolder;
Yet, young and tender though you be,
I hope to see you moulder.
Leader of the BandFly-snout and mosquito-bill,
Don't swarm so round the Naked!
Frog in grass and cricket-trill,
Observe the time, and make it!
Weathcock Towards one side.Society to one's desire!
Brides only, and the sweetest!
And bachelors of youth and fire.
And prospects the completest!
Weathcock Towards the other side.And if the Earth don't open now
To swallow up each ranter,
Why, then will I myself, I vow,
Jump into hell instanter!
XeniesUs as little insects see!
With sharpest nippers flitting,
That our Papa Satan we
May honor as is fitting.
HenningsHow, in crowds together massed,
They are jesting, shameless!
They will even say, at last,
That their hearts are blameless.
MusagetesAmong this witches' revelry
His way one gladly loses;
And, truly, it would easier be
Than to command the Muses.
Ci-Devant Genius of the AgeThe proper folks one's talents laud:
Come on, and none shall pass us!
The Blocksberg has a summit broad,
Like Germany's Parnassus.
Inquisitive TravellerSay, who's the stiff and pompous man?
He walks with haughty paces:
He snuffles all he snuffle can:
"He scents the Jesuits' traces."
CraneBoth clear and muddy streams, for me
Are good to fish and sport in:
And thus the pious man you see
With even devils consorting.
WorldlingYes, for the pious, I suspect,
All instruments are fitting;
And on the Blocksberg they erect
Full many a place of meeting.
DancerA newer chorus now succeeds!
I hear the distant drumming.
"Don't be disturbed! 'tis, in the reeds,
The bittern's changeless booming."
Dancing-MasterHow each his legs in nimble trip
Lifts up, and makes a clearance!
The crooked jump, the heavy skip,
Nor care for the appearance.
Good FellowThe rabble by such hate are held,
To maim and slay delights them:
As Orpheus' lyre the brutes compelled,
The bagpipe here unites them.
DogmatistI'll not be led by any lure
Of doubts or critic-cavils:
The Devil must be something, sure,—
Or how should there be devils?
IdealistThis once, the fancy wrought in me
Is really too despotic:
Forsooth, if I am all I see,
I must be idiotic!
RealistThis racking fuss on every hand,
It gives me great vexation;
And, for the first time, here I stand
On insecure foundation.
SupernaturalistWith much delight I see the play,
And grant to these their merits,
Since from the devils I also may
Infer the better spirits.
ScepticThe flame they follow, on and on,
And think they're near the treasure:
But Devil rhymes with Doubt alone,
So I am here with pleasure.
Leader of the BandFrog in green, and cricket-trill.
Such dilettants!—perdition!
Fly-snout and mosquito-bill,—
Each one's a fine musician!
The AdroitSans souci , we call the clan
Of merry creatures so, then;
Go a-foot no more we can,
And on our heads we go, then.
The AwkwardOnce many a bit we sponged, but now,
God help us! that is done with:
Our shoes are all danced out, we trow,
We've but naked soles to run with.
Will-O'-The-WispsFrom the marshes we appear,
Where we originated;
Yet in the ranks, at once, we're here
As glittering gallants rated.
Shooting-StarDarting hither from the sky,
In star and fire light shooting,
Cross-wise now in grass I lie:
Who'll help me to my footing?
The Heavy FellowsRoom! and round about us, room!
Trodden are the grasses:
Spirits also, spirits come,
And they are bulky masses.
PuckEnter not so stall-fed quite,
Like elephant-calves about one!
And the heaviest weight to-night
Be Puck, himself, the stout one!
ArielIf loving Nature at your back,
Or Mind, the wings uncloses,
Follow up my airy track
To the mount of roses!
Orchestra Pianissimo.Cloud and trailing mist o'erhead
Are now illuminated:
Air in leaves, and wind in reed,
And all is dissipated.
DREARY DAY Field. Faust. Mephistopheles. FaustIn misery! In despair! Long wretchedly astray on the face of the earth, and now imprisoned!  To this has it come! to this!—Treacherous, contemptible spirit, and thou hast concealed it from me!—Stand, then,—stand! Roll the devilish eyes wrathfully in thy head! Stand and defy me with thine intolerable presence! Imprisoned! In irretrievable misery!  And thou hast lulled me, meanwhile, with the most insipid dissipations, hast concealed from me her increasing wretchedness, and suffered her to go helplessly to ruin!
MephistophelesShe is not the first.
FaustDog! Abominable monster! Transform him, thou Infinite Spirit! transform the reptile again into his dog-shape? in which it pleased him often at night to scamper on before me, to roll himself at the feet of the unsuspecting wanderer, and hang upon his shoulders when he fell! Transform him again into his favorite likeness, that he may crawl upon his belly in the dust before me,—that I may trample him, the outlawed, under foot! Not the first! O woe! woe which no human soul can grasp, that more than one being should sink into the depths of this misery,—that the first, in its writhing death-agony under the eyes of the Eternal Forgiver, did not expiate the guilt of all others! The misery of this single one pierces to the very marrow of my life; and thou art calmly grinning at the fate of thousands!
MephistophelesNow we are already again at the end of our wits, where the understanding of you men runs wild. Why didst thou enter into fellowship with us, if thou canst not carry it out? Wilt fly, and art not secure against dizziness? Did we thrust ourselves upon thee, or thou thyself upon us?
FaustGnash not thus thy devouring teeth at me? It fills me with horrible disgust. Mighty, glorious Spirit, who hast vouchsafed to me Thine apparition, who knowest my heart and my soul, why fetter me to the felon-comrade, who feeds on mischief and gluts himself with ruin?
MephistophelesHast thou done?
FaustRescue her, or woe to thee! The fearfullest curse be upon thee for thousands of ages!
MephistophelesI cannot loosen the bonds of the Avenger, nor undo his bolts. Rescue her? Who was it that plunged her into ruin? I, or thou?
Faust looks around wildly.Wilt thou grasp the thunder? Well that it has not been given to you, miserable mortals! To crush to pieces the innocent respondent—that is the tyrant-fashion of relieving one's self in embarrassments.
FaustTake me thither! She shall be free!
MephistophelesAnd the danger to which thou wilt expose thyself? Know that the guilt of blood, from thy hand, still lies upon the town! Avenging spirits hover over the spot where the victim fell, and lie in wait for the returning murderer.
FaustThat, too, from thee? Murder and death of a world upon thee, monster! Take me thither, I say, and liberate her!
MephistophelesI will convey thee there; and hear, what I can do! Have I all the power in Heaven and on Earth? I will becloud the jailer's senses: get possession of the key, and lead her forth with human hand!  So much is in my power.
FaustUp and away!
 FaustWhat weave they there round the raven-stone?
MephistophelesI know not what they are brewing and doing.
FaustSoaring up, sweeping down, bowing and bending!
MephistophelesA witches'-guild.
FaustThey scatter, devote and doom!
MephistophelesOn! on!

She dwells within the dark, damp walls before me,
And all her crime was a delusion dear!
What! I delay to free her?
I dread, once again to see her?
On! my shrinking but lingers Death more near.
He grasps the lock. The sound of singing is heard inside.My mother, the harlot,
Who put me to death;
My father, the varlet,
Who eaten me hath!
Little sister, so good,
Laid my bones in the wood,
In the damp moss and clay:
Then was I a beautiful bird o' the wood;
Fly away! Fly away!
Faust Unlocking.She does not dream her lover listens near;
That he the rattling chain, the rustling straw, can hear.
Faust enters. Margaret Hiding herself on the pallet.Woe! woe! They come. O death of bitterness!
Faust Whispering.Hush! hush! The hour is come that frees thee.
Margaret Throwing herself before him.Art thou a man, then pity my distress!
FaustThy cries will wake the guards, and they will seize thee!
He takes hold of the fetters to unlock them. Margaret On her knees.Who, headsman! unto thee such power
Over me could give?
Thou'rt come for me at midnight-hour:
Have mercy on me, let me live!
Is't not soon enough when morning chime has run?
She rises.And I am yet so young, so young!
And now Death comes, and ruin!
I, too, was fair, and that was my undoing.
My love was near, but now he's far;
Torn lies the wreath, scattered the blossoms are.
Seize me not thus so violently!
Spare me! What have I done to thee?
Let me not vainly entreat thee!
I never chanced, in all my days, to meet thee!
FaustShall I outlive this misery?
MargaretNow am I wholly in thy might.
But let me suckle, first, my baby!

And never shall I be glad again.
They sing songs about me! 'tis bad of the folk to do it!
There's an old story has the same refrain;
Who bade them so construe it?
Faust Falling upon his knees.Here lieth one who loves thee ever,
The thraldom of thy woe to sever.
Margaret Flinging herself beside him.O let us kneel, and call the Saints to hide us!
Under the steps beside us,
The threshold under,
Hell heaves in thunder!
The Evil One
With terrible wrath
Seeketh a path
His prey to discover!
Faust Aloud.Margaret! Margaret!
Margaret Attentively listening.That was the voice of my lover!
She springs to her feet. The fetters fall off.Where is he? I heard him call me.
I am free! No one shall enthrall me.
To his neck will I fly,
On his bosom lie!
On the threshold he stood, and Margaret ! calling,
Midst of Hell's howling and noises appalling,
Midst of the wrathful, infernal derision,
I knew the sweet sound of the voice of the vision!
Faust'Tis I!
Margaret'Tis thou! O, say it once again!
Clasping him.'Tis he! 'tis he! Where now is all my pain?
The anguish of the dungeon, and the chain?
'Tis thou! Thou comest to save me,
And I am saved!—
Again the street I see
Where first I looked on thee;
And the garden, brightly blooming,
Where I and Martha wait thy coming.
Faust Struggling to leave.Come! Come with me!
MargaretDelay, now!
So fain I stay, when thou delayest!
Caressing him. FaustAway, now!
If longer here thou stayest,
We shall be made to dearly rue it.
MargaretKiss me!—canst no longer do it?
My friend, so short a time thou'rt missing,
And hast unlearned thy kissing?
Why is my heart so anxious, on thy breast?

Or I'll kiss thee!
She embraces him.Ah, woe! thy lips are chill,
And still.
How changed in fashion
Thy passion!
Who has done me this ill?
She turns away from him. FaustCome, follow me! My darling, be more bold:
I'll clasp thee, soon, with warmth a thousand-fold;
But follow now! 'Tis all I beg of thee.
Margaret Turning to him.And is it thou? Thou, surely, certainly?
Faust 'Tis I! Come on! MargaretThou wilt unloose my chain,
And in thy lap wilt take me once again.
How comes it that thou dost not shrink from me?—
Say, dost thou know, my friend, whom thou mak'st free?
FaustCome! come! The night already vanisheth.
MargaretMy mother have I put to death;
I've drowned the baby born to thee.
Was it not given to thee and me?
Thee, too!—'Tis thou! It scarcely true doth seem—
Give me thy hand! 'Tis not a dream!
Thy dear, dear hand!—But, ah, 'tis wet!
Why, wipe it off! Methinks that yet
There's blood thereon.
Ah, God! what hast thou done?
Nay, sheathe thy sword at last!
Do not affray me!
FaustO, let the past be past!
Thy words will slay me!
MargaretNo, no! Thou must outlive us.
Now I'll tell thee the graves to give us:
Thou must begin to-morrow
The work of sorrow!
The best place give to my mother,
Then close at her side my brother,
And me a little away,
But not too very far, I pray!
And here, on my right breast, my baby lay!
Nobody else will lie beside me!—
Ah, within thine arms to hide me,
That was a sweet and a gracious bliss,
But no more, no more can I attain it!
I would force myself on thee and constrain it,
And it seems thou repellest my kiss:
And yet 'tis thou, so good, so kind to see!
FaustIf thou feel'st it is I, then come with me!
MargaretOut yonder?
FaustTo freedom.
MargaretIf the grave is there,
Death lying in wait, then come!
From here to eternal rest:
No further step—no, no!
Thou goest away! O Henry, if I could go!
FaustThou canst! Just will it! Open stands the door.
MargaretI dare not go: there's no hope any more.
Why should I fly? They'll still my steps waylay!
It is so wretched, forced to beg my living,
And a bad conscience sharper misery giving!
It is so wretched, to be strange, forsaken,
And I'd still be followed and taken!
FaustI'll stay with thee.
MargaretBe quick! Be quick!
Save thy perishing child!
Away! Follow the ridge
Up by the brook,
Over the bridge,
Into the wood,
To the left, where the plank is placed
In the pool!
Seize it in haste!
'Tis trying to rise,
'Tis struggling still!
Save it! Save it!
FaustRecall thy wandering will!
One step, and thou art free at last!
MargaretIf the mountain we had only passed!
There sits my mother upon a stone,—
I feel an icy shiver!

She beckons, she nods not, her heavy head falls o'er;
She slept so long that she wakes no more.
She slept, while we were caressing:
Ah, those were the days of blessing!
FaustHere words and prayers are nothing worth;
I'll venture, then, to bear thee forth.
MargaretNo—let me go! I'll suffer no force!
Grasp me not so murderously!
I've done, else, all things for the love of thee.
FaustThe day dawns: Dearest! Dearest!
MargaretDay? Yes, the day comes,—the last day breaks for me!
My wedding-day it was to be!
Tell no one thou has been with Margaret!
Woe for my garland! The chances
Are over—'tis all in vain!
We shall meet once again,
But not at the dances!
The crowd is thronging, no word is spoken:
The square below
And the streets overflow:
The death-bell tolls, the wand is broken.
I am seized, and bound, and delivered—
Shoved to the block—they give the sign!
Now over each neck has quivered
The blade that is quivering over mine.

FaustO had I ne'er been born!
Mephistopheles Appears outside.Off! or you're lost ere morn.
Useless talking, delaying and praying!
My horses are neighing:
The morning twilight is near.
MargaretWhat rises up from the threshold here?
He! he! suffer him not!
What does he want in this holy spot?
He seeks me! FaustThou shalt live.
MargaretJudgment of God! myself to thee I give.
Mephistopheles To Faust.Come! or I'll leave her in the lurch, and thee!
MargaretThine am I, Father! rescue me!
Ye angels, holy cohorts, guard me,
Camp around, and from evil ward me!
Henry! I shudder to think of thee.
Mephistopheles She is judged! Voice From above. She is saved! Mephistopheles To Faust.Hither to me!
He disappears with Faust. Voice From within, dying away.Henry! Henry!