[Faust:] "I, Johannes Faust, do call thee, Mephistopheles!"
O growing Moon, didst thou but A last time on this of mine Behind this desk how oft I At midnight seen thee rising O'er and paper I bend Thou didst appear, o mournful
I am the spirit that denies! And justly so: for all is born to be destroyed in scorn Therefore best if nothing were created Destruction, sin, - plainly stated All of which you as evil have That is my - there I abide
] Scatter the stars with a hand Water, fire, tavern and beasts, all within command Thus in our narrow today Creation's ample scope Wander swiftly, observing the Heavens, to the World, to Hell!
The of Spirits is not barred to thee!
"Now then, Faustus. What wouldst thou have Mephisto do?" "I charge thee, Mephisto, wait upon me while I live... to do whatever Faustus shall command. Be it to make the moon drop from outer sphere, or the ocean to overwhelm the world. Go bear these tidings to great Lucifer: say he surrenders up his soul. So that he shall him four and twenty years, letting him live in all voluptiousness, having thee ever to attend on me. To give me whatsoever I shall ask."
"I will."
Sublime spirit, thou hast me all All for which I besought thee, not in Didst thou reveal thy in the fire Thou hast given me Nature for a the power to enjoy and feel Only a visit of bewilderment [then me?] bringest all the living creatures And taught me to my brothers in the Air In the waters and in the silent coverts When through the forest the storm Uprooting the pines which in their fall Crushing, down neighboring boughs and trunks Whose [growingly?] hollow thunder the hills Then thou dost lead me to a cave And revealest me to myself and layest The deep mysterious of my Nature And when the pure rises into sight Soothingly above me, about me hover Creeping from walls and dewy thickets Silver shadows, phantoms of a bygone Which the austere joy of meditation
Now fully do I that Man Can never perfection With ecstasy which brings me near and nearer To the
] My mother the harlot put me to My the scoundrel ate my flesh My dear little laid all my bones In a dark place under the stones Then I changed a wood-bird Fluttering Fly
Mankind, that foolish Always acts as He thought to Be I am of that part which was the Absolute A part of that Darkness gave birth to Light The arrogant Light would dispute Ancient rank of Night I hope it won't be long before With matter it shall evermore!
] Scatter the stars a lavish hand Water, fire, tavern Birds and beasts, all command in our narrow booth today Creation's ample display Wander swiftly, well From the to the World
The of Spirits is not barred to thee!
"So, still I seek the force, the reason governing life's flow, and not just its external show." [Mephistopheles:] "The governing force? The reason? Some things cannot be known; are beyond your reach even when shown." [Faust:] "Why that be so?" [Mephistopheles:] "They lie outside the boundaries that words can and man can only grasp those thoughts which language can express." [Faust:] "What? Do you mean that words are yet than man?" [Mephistopheles:] "Indeed are." [Faust:] "Then what of Affection, pain or grief? I can't describe these, yet I know they are in my breast. What are they?"" "Without substance, as mist is." [Faust:] "In that man is only air as well!"