(Darkness.)ERICHTHOO this night’s awful festival, as oft before,I enter here, Erichtho, I, the gloomy one:Not so atrocious as the evil poets draw,In most superfluous slander—for they never ceaseTheir blame or praises … Over-whitened I beholdThe vale, with waves of tents that glimmer gray afar,The after-vision of that fatal, fearful night.How oft is it repeated!—will forever beForever re-enacted! No one grants the realmUnto another: unto him whose might achievedAnd rules it, none; for each, incompetent to ruleHis own internal self, is all too fain to swayHis neighbor’s will, even as his haughty mind inclines.But here a lesson grand was battled to the end,How force resists and grapples with the greater force,The lovely, thousand-blossomed wreath of Freedom rends,And bends the stubborn laurel round the Ruler’s brow.Here, of his days of early greatness Pompey dreamed:Before the trembling balance Cæsar yonder watched!It will be weighed: the world knows unto whom it turned.The watch-fires flash and glow, spendthrift of ruddy flame;Reflections of the squandered blood the earth exhales,And, lured by rare and marvellous splendor of the night,The legion of Hellenic legends gathers here.Round all the fires uncertain hover, or at easeSit near them, fabulous forms of ancient days.…The moon, imperfect, truly, but of clearest beam,Arises, scattering mellow radiance everywhere:Vanish the phantom tents, the fires are burning blue.But o’er my head what unexpected meteor!It shines, illuminates the sphere of earth below.I scent the Living! therefore it becomes me notThem to approach, I. being harmful unto them:An evil name it brings me, and it profits naught.Already now it sinks: discreatly I withdraw.[Exit.](The Airy Travellers above.)HOMUNCULUSOnce again the circle follow,O’er the flames and horrors hover!Ghostly ’t is in vale and hollow,Spectral all that we discoverMEPHISTOPHELESIf, as through my window nigutlyIn the grewsome North, I seeSpectres hideous and unsightly,Here is home, as there, to me.
ERICHTHO:Zum Schauderfeste dieser Nacht, wie öfter schon,Tret' ich einher, Erichtho, ich, die düstere;Nicht so abscheulich, wie die leidigen Dichter michIm übermaß verlästern... Endigen sie doch nieIn Lob und Tadel... überbleicht erscheint mir schonVon grauer Zelten Woge weit das Tal dahin,Als Nachgesicht der sorg- und grauenvollsten Nacht.Wie oft schon wiederholt' sich's! wird sich immerfortIns Ewige wiederholen... Keiner gönnt das ReichDem andern; dem gönnt's keiner, der's mit Kraft erwarbUnd kräftig herrscht. Denn jeder, der sein innres SelbstNicht zu regieren weiß, regierte gar zu gernDes Nachbars Willen, eignem stolzem Sinn gemäß...Hier aber ward ein großes Beispiel durchgekämpft:Wie sich Gewalt Gewaltigerem entgegenstellt,Der Freiheit holder, tausendblumiger Kranz zerreißt,Der starre Lorbeer sich ums Haupt des Herrschers biegt.Hier träumte Magnus früher Größe Blütentag,Dem schwanken Zünglein lauschend wachte Cäsar dort!Das wird sich messen. Weiß die Welt doch, wem's gelang.Wachfeuer glühen, rote Flammen spendende,Der Boden haucht vergoßnen Blutes Widerschein,Und angelockt von seltnem Wunderglanz der Nacht,Versammelt sich hellenischer Sage Legion.Um alle Feuer schwankt unsicher oder sitztBehaglich alter Tage fabelhaft Gebild...Der Mond, zwar unvollkommen, aber leuchtend hell,Erhebt sich, milden Glanz verbreitend überall;Der Zelten Trug verschwindet, Feuer brennen blau.Doch über mir! welch unerwartet Meteor?Es leuchtet und beleuchtet körperlichen Ball.Ich wittre Leben. Da geziemen will mir's nicht,Lebendigem zu nahen, dem ich schädlich bin;Das bringt mir bösen Ruf und frommt mir nicht.Schon sinkt es nieder. Weich' ich aus mit Wohlbedacht!
HOMUNCULUSSee! a tall one there is stridingOn before us, in the shade.MEPHISTOPHELESThrough the air she saw us gliding,And it seems she is afraid.HOMUNCULUSLet her stride! The knight be takenNow, and set upon the strand:Here to life again he’ll waken,Seeking it in fable-land.Faust (as he touches the earth):Where is she?—HOMUNCULUSIt’s more than we can tell,But to inquire would here be well.Thou’rt free to hasten, ere the day,From flame to flame, and seek her so:Who to the Mothers found his way,Has nothing more to undergo.MEPHISTOPHELESI also claim my share in the excursion;Yet know no better plan for our diversion,Than that each one, amid these fires,Should seek such fortunes as he most desires.Then, as a sign to reunite us,Let, little one, thy lantern sound and light us!
HOMUNCULUS:Schwebe noch einmal die Runde über Flamm- und Schaudergrauen;Ist es doch in Tal und GrundeGar gespenstisch anzuschauen.
HOMUNCULUSThus shall it shine, and thus shall ring!(The glass shines and rings powerfully.)HOMUNCULUSAnd now, away to many a marvellous thing!Faust (solus):Where is she?—But no further question make!If this were not the soil that bore her feet,If not the wave that to her coming beat,Yet ’t is the air that knows the tongue she spake.Here, by a marvel! Here, on Grecian land!I felt at once the earth whereon I stand.Through me, the sleeper, fresher spirit stealing,I rise refreshed, Antzus in my feeling.Together here I find the strangest store;Let me this labyrinth of flames explore.[Goes away.]Mephistopheles (prying around):And as among these fires I wander, aimless,I find myself so strange, so disconcerted:Quite naked most, a few are only shirted;The Griffins insolent, the Sphinxes shameless,And what not all, with pinions and with tresses,Before, behind, upon one’s eyesight presses!—Indecency, ’t is true, is our ideal,But the Antique is too alive and real;One must with modern thought the thing bemaster,And in the fashion variously o’erplaster:—Disgusting race! Yet I, perforce, must meet them,And as new guest with due decorum greet them.—Hail, then, Fair Ladies! Graybeards wise, good cheer.
MEPHISTOPHELES:Seh' ich, wie durchs alte FensterIn des Nordens Wust und Graus,Ganz abscheuliche Gespenster,Bin ich hier wie dort zu Haus.
Griffin (snarling):Not graybeards! Graybeards? No one likes to hearOne call him gray. For in each word there ringsThe source, wherefrom its derivation springs.Gray, growling, grewsome, grinning, graves, and grimlyEtymologically accord, nor dimly,And make us grim.
MEPHISTOPHELESAnd yet, why need you stiffen?You like the grif in your proud title, “Griffin.”Griffin (as above, and continuously so):Of course! for this relation is found fit;Though often censured, oftener praised was it.Let one but grip at maidens, crowns, and gold:Fortune is gracious to the Griper bold.Ants (of the colossal kind):You speak of gold, much had ourselves collected;In rocks and caverns secretly we trapped it:The Arimaspean race our store detected,—They’re laughing now, so far away they’ve snapped it.THE GRIFFINSWe soon shall force them to confess.THE ARIMASPEANSBut not in this free night of jubilee.Before the morrow, all will squandered be;This time our efforts will obtain success.Mephistopheles (who has seated himself between the Sphinxes):How soon I feel familiar here, among you!I understand you, one and all.
HOMUNCULUS:Sieh! da schreitet eine LangeWeiten Schrittes vor uns hin.
SPHINXOur spirit-tones, when we have sung you,Become, for you, material.Now name thyself, till we shall know thee better.MEPHISTOPHELESWith many names would men my nature fetter.Are Britons here? So round the world they wheel,To stare at battle-fields, historic traces,Cascades, old walls, and classic dreary places;And here were something worthy of their zeal.Their Old Plays also testify of me;Men saw me there as “Old Iniquity.”SPHINXHow did they hit on that?MEPHISTOPHELESI know not, verily.SPHINXPerhaps! Hast thou in star-lore any power?What say’st thou of the aspects of the hour?Mephistopheles (looking up):Star shoots on star, the cloven moon doth rideIn brilliance; in this place I’m satisfied:I warm myself against thy lion’s hide.It were a loss to rise from out these shades:—Propose enigmas, or at least charades!
MEPHISTOPHELES:Ist es doch, als wär' ihr bange;Sah uns durch die Lüfte ziehn.
SPHINXExpress thyself, and ’t will a riddle be.Try once thine own analysis: ’t were merry.“To both Devout and Wicked necessary:To those, a breast-plate for ascetic fighting;To these, boon-comrade, in their pranks uniting;And both amusing Zeus, the fun-delighting.”First Griffin (snarling):I like not him!Second Griffin (snarling more gruffly):What will the fellow here?BOTHThe Nasty One is not of us, ’t is clear!Mephistopheles (brutally):Think’st thou, perhaps, thy guest has nails to scratch,That with thy sharper talons cannot match?Just try it once!Sphinx (gently):Stay, shouldst thou find it well;But from our ranks thou wilt thyself expel.In thine own land thou’rt wont thyself to pamper,Yet here, I think, thy spirits feel a damper.
HOMUNCULUS:Laß sie schreiten! setz ihn nieder,Deinen Ritter, und sogleichKehret ihm das Leben wieder,Denn er sucht's im Fabelreich.
MEPHISTOPHELESThine upper part entices; naught is fairer;But, further down, the beast excites my terror,SPHINXBitter, False one, will be thy expiation;Our claws are sound and worthy proof,But thou, with withered horse’s-hoof,Art ill at ease in our association.(The Sirens prelude above.)MEPHISTOPHELESOn yonder poplars by the river,What are the birds that swing above?SPHINXBeware! The very best that everExisted, they have lured to love.SIRENSAh, why vitiate your senses,Where those Uglinesses darken?We, in crowds, come hither: hearkenHow the accordant strain commences,Meet for Sirens’ soft pretences!
FAUST:Wo ist sie?--+
Sphinxes (mocking them, in the same melody):Let them to descend be bidden!In the branches they have hiddenHideous falcon-claws they ’re wearing,And you’ll feel their cruel tearing,Once you lend them willing ear.
SIRENSBanish hate and envy, rather!We the purest pleasures gather,Under Heaven’s auspicious sphere!On the earth and on the ocean,We, with cheerful beckoning motion,Bid the wanderer welcome here.MEPHISTOPHELESThese are of novelties the neatest,Where from the throat and harp-string sweetestThe tones around each other twine.They’re lost on me, these tinkling trickles;The sound my ear-drum pats and tickles,But cannot reach this heart of mine.SPHINXESSpeak not of heart! Fool, so to call it!An old and wrinkled leathern walletWould better suit that face of thine.Faust (approaching):How strange! I, satisfied, behold these creatures,In the Repulsive, grand and solid features:A fate propitious I behold advance.Whither transports me now this solemn glance?(Pointing to the Sphinxes.)Faust (approaching):Once before these took Œdipus his stand:
HOMUNCULUS:Wüßten's nicht zu sagen,Doch hier wahrscheinlich zu erfragen.In Eile magst du, eh' es tagt,Von Flamm' zu Flamme spürend gehen:Wer zu den Müttern sich gewagt,Hat weiter nichts zu überstehen.
(Pointing to the Sirens.)Faust (approaching):These made Ulysses writhe in hempen band:(Pointing to the Ants.)Faust (approaching):By these the highest treasure was amassed:(Pointing to the Griffins.)Faust (approaching):By these ’t was held inviolate and fast:Fresh spirit fills me, face to face with these—Grand are the Forms, and grand the Memories!
MEPHISTOPHELES:Auch ich bin hier an meinem Teil;Doch wüßt' ich Besseres nicht zu unserm Heil,Als: jeder möge durch die FeuerVersuchen sich sein eigen Abenteuer.Dann, um uns wieder zu vereinen,Laß deine Leuchte, Kleiner, tönend scheinen.
MEPHISTOPHELES
Once thou hadst cursed such crude antiques,
But now, it seems, they’ve comfort given;
For when a man his sweetheart seeks,
Welcome to him are monsters, even.
Faust (to the Sphinxes):
Ye woman-forms, give ear, and say
Hath one of you seen Helena?
SPHINXES
Before her day our line expired in Greece;
Our very last was slain by Hercules:
Yet ask of Chiron, if thou please.
He gallops round throughout this ghostly night,
And if he halt for thee, thy chance is bright.
SIRENS
Thou art not to failure fated!
How Ulysses, lingering, learned us,
Nor, regardless passing, spurned us,
Manifold hath he narrated:
All to thee shall be confided,
Seekest thou our meads, divided
By the dark-green arms of Ocean.
SPHINX
Let not thyself thus cheated be!
Not like Ulysses bound,—but we
Will with good counsel thee environ:
If thou canst find the noble Chiron,
Thou’lt learn what I have promised thee.
[Faust goes away.]
HOMUNCULUS:
So soll es blitzen, soll es klingen.
Nun frisch zu neuen Wunderdingen!
Mephistopheles (ill-temperedly):
What croaks and flaps of wings go past!
One cannot see, they fly so fast,
In single file, from first to last:
A hunter would grow tired of these.
SPHINX
The storm-wind like, that winter harrows,
Reached hardly by Alcides’ arrows,
They are the swift Stymphalides;
And not ill-meant their greetings creak,
With goose’s foot and vulture’s beak.
They fain would join us in our places,
And show themselves as kindred races.
Mephistopheles (as if intimidated):
Some other brute is hissing shrill.
SPHINX
Be not afraid, though harsh the pæan!
They are the hydra-heads, the old Lernæan,
Cut from the trunk, yet think they’re something still.
But say, what means your air distressed?
Why show your gestures such unrest?
Where will you go? Then take your leave!
That chorus, there, I now perceive,
Turns like a weathercock your neck. Advance!—
Greet as you will each lovely countenance!
They are the Lamiæ, wenches vile,
With brazen brows and lips that smile,
Such as the satyr-folk have found so fair:
A cloven foot may venture all things there.
MEPHISTOPHELES
But stay you here, that I again may find you?
SPHINX
Yes! Join the airy rabble, there behind you!
From Egypt we, long since, with all our peers,
Accustomed were to reign a thousand years.
If for our place your reverence be won,
We rule for you the days of Moon and Sun.
We sit before the Pyramids
For the judgment of the Races,
Inundation, War, and Peace,—
With eternal changeless faces.
FAUST:
Wo ist sie?--Frage jetzt nicht weiter nach...
Wär's nicht die Scholle, die sie trug,
Die Welle nicht, die ihr entgegenschlug,
So ist's die Luft, die ihre Sprache sprach.
Hier! durch ein Wunder, hier in Griechenland!
Ich fühlte gleich den Boden, wo ich stand;
Wie mich, den Schläfer, frisch ein Geist durchglühte,
So steh' ich, ein Antäus an Gemüte.
Und find' ich hier das Seltsamste beisammen,
Durchforsch' ich ernst dies Labyrinth der Flammen.