Faust (trans. Bayard Taylor)/Act I/I
I.
A PLEASANT LANDSCAPE.
Twilight.
Faust, bedded on flowery turf, fatigued, restless, endeavoring to sleep. Circle of hovering spirits in motion: graceful, diminutive figures.
Ariel1
(Chant, accompanied by Æolian harps.)
WHEN the Spring returns serener
Raining blossoms over all;
When the fields with blessing greener
On the earth-born children call;
Then the craft of elves propitious
Hastes to help where help it can:
Be he holy, be he vicious,
Pity they the luckless man.
Raining blossoms over all;
When the fields with blessing greener
On the earth-born children call;
Then the craft of elves propitious
Hastes to help where help it can:
Be he holy, be he vicious,
Pity they the luckless man.
Who round this head in airy circles hover,
Yourselves in guise of noble Elves discover!
The fierce convulsions of his heart compose;
Remove the burning barbs of his remorses,
And cleanse his being from the suffered woes!
Four pauses makes the Night upon her courses,2
And now, delay not, let them kindly close!
First on the coolest pillow let him slumber,
Then sprinkle him with Lethe’s drowsy spray!
His limbs no more shall cramps and chills encumber,
When sleep has made him strong to meet the day.
Perform, ye Elves, your fairest rite:
Restore him to the holy Light!
Yourselves in guise of noble Elves discover!
The fierce convulsions of his heart compose;
Remove the burning barbs of his remorses,
And cleanse his being from the suffered woes!
Four pauses makes the Night upon her courses,2
And now, delay not, let them kindly close!
First on the coolest pillow let him slumber,
Then sprinkle him with Lethe’s drowsy spray!
His limbs no more shall cramps and chills encumber,
When sleep has made him strong to meet the day.
Perform, ye Elves, your fairest rite:
Restore him to the holy Light!
Chorus3
(singly, by two or more, alternately and collectively).
When around the green-girt meadow
Balm the tepid winds exhale,
Then in fragrance and in shadow
Twilight spreads her misty veil:
Whispers peace in accents cheery,
Rocks the heart in childhood’s play,
And upon these eyelids weary
Shuts the golden gates of Day.
Balm the tepid winds exhale,
Then in fragrance and in shadow
Twilight spreads her misty veil:
Whispers peace in accents cheery,
Rocks the heart in childhood’s play,
And upon these eyelids weary
Shuts the golden gates of Day.
Now the Night already darkles,
Holy star succeeds to star;
Dazzling lights and fainter sparkles
Glimmer near and gleam afar:
Glimmer here, the lake reflecting,
Gleam in cloudless dark aboon;
While, the bliss of rest protecting,
Reigns in pomp the perfect moon.
Holy star succeeds to star;
Dazzling lights and fainter sparkles
Glimmer near and gleam afar:
Glimmer here, the lake reflecting,
Gleam in cloudless dark aboon;
While, the bliss of rest protecting,
Reigns in pomp the perfect moon.
Now the Hours are cancelled for thee,
Pain and bliss have fled away:
Thou art whole: let faith restore thee!
Trust the new, the rising Day!
Vales grow green, and hills are lifting
Through the shadow-rest of morn;
And in waves of silver, drifting
On to harvest, rolls the corn.
Pain and bliss have fled away:
Thou art whole: let faith restore thee!
Trust the new, the rising Day!
Vales grow green, and hills are lifting
Through the shadow-rest of morn;
And in waves of silver, drifting
On to harvest, rolls the corn.
Wouldst thou win desires unbounded,
Yonder see the glory burn!
Lightly is thy life surrounded—
Sleep’s a shell, to break and spurn!
When the crowd sways, unbelieving,
Show the daring will that warms!
He is crowned with all achieving,
Who perceives and then performs.
Yonder see the glory burn!
Lightly is thy life surrounded—
Sleep’s a shell, to break and spurn!
When the crowd sways, unbelieving,
Show the daring will that warms!
He is crowned with all achieving,
Who perceives and then performs.
(A tremendous tumult announces the approach of the Sun.)
Ariel.
Hearken! Hark!—the Hours careering!
Sounding loud to spirit-hearing,
See the new-born Day appearing!
Rocky portals jarring shatter,
Phœbus’ wheels in rolling clatter,
With a crash the Light draws near!4
Pealing rays and trumpet-blazes,—
Eye is blinded, ear amazes:
The Unheard can no one hear!
Slip within each blossom-bell,
Deeper, deeper, there to dwell,—
In the rocks, beneath the leaf!
If it strikes you, you are deaf.
Sounding loud to spirit-hearing,
See the new-born Day appearing!
Rocky portals jarring shatter,
Phœbus’ wheels in rolling clatter,
With a crash the Light draws near!4
Pealing rays and trumpet-blazes,—
Eye is blinded, ear amazes:
The Unheard can no one hear!
Slip within each blossom-bell,
Deeper, deeper, there to dwell,—
In the rocks, beneath the leaf!
If it strikes you, you are deaf.
Faust.
Life’s pulses now with fresher force awaken
To greet the mild ethereal twilight o’er me;
This night, thou, Earth! hast also stood unshaken,
And now thou breathest new-refreshed before me,
And now beginnest, all thy gladness granting,
A vigorous resolution to restore me,
To seek that highest life for which I’m panting.—
The world unfolded lies in twilight glimmer,
A thousand voices in the grove are chanting;
Vale in, vale out, the misty streaks grow dimmer;
The deeps with heavenly light are penetrated;
The boughs, refreshed, lift up their leafy shimmer
From gulfs of air where sleepily they waited;
Color on color from the background cleareth,
Where flower and leaf with trembling pearls are freighted
And all around a Paradise appeareth.
To greet the mild ethereal twilight o’er me;
This night, thou, Earth! hast also stood unshaken,
And now thou breathest new-refreshed before me,
And now beginnest, all thy gladness granting,
A vigorous resolution to restore me,
To seek that highest life for which I’m panting.—
The world unfolded lies in twilight glimmer,
A thousand voices in the grove are chanting;
Vale in, vale out, the misty streaks grow dimmer;
The deeps with heavenly light are penetrated;
The boughs, refreshed, lift up their leafy shimmer
From gulfs of air where sleepily they waited;
Color on color from the background cleareth,
Where flower and leaf with trembling pearls are freighted
And all around a Paradise appeareth.
Look up!—The mountain summits, grand, supernal,5
Herald, e’en now, the solemn hour that neareth;
They earliest enjoy the light eternal
That later sinks, till here below we find it.
Now to the Alpine meadows, sloping vernal,
A newer beam descends ere we divined it,
And step by step unto the base hath bounded:
The sun comes forth! Alas, already blinded,
I turn away, with eyesight pierced and wounded!
Herald, e’en now, the solemn hour that neareth;
They earliest enjoy the light eternal
That later sinks, till here below we find it.
Now to the Alpine meadows, sloping vernal,
A newer beam descends ere we divined it,
And step by step unto the base hath bounded:
The sun comes forth! Alas, already blinded,
I turn away, with eyesight pierced and wounded!
’T is thus, when, unto yearning hope’s endeavor,
Its highest wish on sweet attainment grounded,
The portals of fulfilment widely sever:
But if there burst from those eternal spaces
A flood of flame, we stand confounded ever;
For Life’s pure torch we sought the shining traces,
And seas of fire—and what a fire!—surprise us.
Is ’t Love? Is’t Hate? that burningly embraces,
And that with pain and joy alternate tries us?
So that, our glances once more earthward throwing,
We seek in youthful drapery to disguise us.
Behind me, therefore, let the sun be glowing!
The cataract, between the crags deep-riven,
I thus behold with rapture ever-growing.
From plunge to plunge in thousand streams ’t is given,
And yet a thousand, to the valleys shaded,
While foam and spray in air are whirled and driven.
Yet how superb, across the tumult braided,
The painted rainbow’s changeful life is bending,
Now clearly drawn, dissolving now and faded,
And evermore the showers of dew descending!
Of human striving there ’s no symbol fuller;
Consider, and ’t is easy comprehending—
Life is not light, but the refracted color.6
Its highest wish on sweet attainment grounded,
The portals of fulfilment widely sever:
But if there burst from those eternal spaces
A flood of flame, we stand confounded ever;
For Life’s pure torch we sought the shining traces,
And seas of fire—and what a fire!—surprise us.
Is ’t Love? Is’t Hate? that burningly embraces,
And that with pain and joy alternate tries us?
So that, our glances once more earthward throwing,
We seek in youthful drapery to disguise us.
Behind me, therefore, let the sun be glowing!
The cataract, between the crags deep-riven,
I thus behold with rapture ever-growing.
From plunge to plunge in thousand streams ’t is given,
And yet a thousand, to the valleys shaded,
While foam and spray in air are whirled and driven.
Yet how superb, across the tumult braided,
The painted rainbow’s changeful life is bending,
Now clearly drawn, dissolving now and faded,
And evermore the showers of dew descending!
Of human striving there ’s no symbol fuller;
Consider, and ’t is easy comprehending—
Life is not light, but the refracted color.6