Free Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Page A

opinion, first of all,
 
with which the mind deludes itself!
 
I curse the glare of mere appearance
 
that presses hard upon our senses.
 
I curse the lies of our fondest dreams,
 
their promises of glory and of lasting fame!
 
I curse what flatters us as fine possessions,
 
wife and child, and serf and plow!
 
I curse Mammon and his golden treasures,
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inciting us to daring enterprise,
 
and all his silken cushions
 
on which to loll in pillowed ease.
 
My curse upon the blessings of the grape!
 
My curse on lovers’ highest consummation!
 
My curse on Hope! My curse on Faith,
 
and my curse on Patience most of all!
    CHORUS OF SPIRITS (
invisible
).
 
              Woe! Woe!
 
              You have destroyed
 
              The lovely world
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              With a heavy blow.
 
              It falls, it is shattered!
 
              Smashed by a demigod’s fist.
 
              We carry the fragments
 
              Into the Void,
 
              And we bemoan
 
              Beauty forlorn.
 
              O mighty one
 
              Of earthly sons,
 
              Build it anew,
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              Build in your breast
 
              A brighter world!
 
              Begin,
 
              Begin once more
 
              With senses purged!
 
              Newer songs
 
              Will sound for you.
    MEPHISTOPHELES.
 
These are my little ones;
 
they belong to my tribe.
 
Mark their precocious counsel
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to pleasure and action!
 
They lure you away
 
into the open,
 
away from bitter solitude
 
where sense and juices clog.
 
Stop playing games with your affliction,
 
which like a vulture feeds upon your life.
 
The lowest company will yet allow
 
for you to be a full-fledged man among the rest.
 
But never fear, I do not wish
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to throw you to the common pack.
 
I am not really so great myself,
 
but if you travel at my side
 
and make your way through life with me,
 
then I shall do the best I can
 
to be your friend in need
 
and your traveling companion;
 
And if I do things as you like,
 
you’ll have me as your servant and your slave.
    FAUST.
 
And in return, what do you ask of me?
    MEPHISTOPHELES.
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For that you still have ample time.
    FAUST.
 
No, no! The devil is an egoist
 
and does not easily, for heaven’s sake,
 
do what is useful for another.
 
State clearly your conditions.
 
A servant of your kind is full of present danger.
    MEPHISTOPHELES.
 
I pledge myself to serve you
here and now;
 
the slightest hint will put me at your beck and call,
 
and if
beyond
we meet again,
 
you shall do the same for me.
    FAUST.
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With that
beyond
I scarcely bother.
 
Once we smash this world to bits,
 
the other world may rise for all I care.
 
From this earth spring all my joys;
 
it’s this sun which shines on all my sorrows.
 
Once I must take my leave of them,
 
then come what may, it is of no concern.
 
I wish to hear no more discussion
 
on whether love and hate persist forever,
 
or whether in those other spheres
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the up and down be much like ours.
    MEPHISTOPHELES.
 
That’s the spirit; take the risk.
 
Commit yourself to me and soon
 
you will enjoy some samples of my art.
 
I’ll give you what no man has ever seen before.
    FAUST.
 
What, poor devil, can you offer?
 
Was ever human spirit in its highest striving
 
comprehended by the like of you?
 
You offer