Faust (trans. Bayard Taylor)/Act V/I
I.
OPEN COUNTRY.
Wanderer.
YES! ’t is they, the dusky lindens;
There they stand in sturdy age:
And again. shall I behold them,
After such a pilgrimage?
’T is the ancient place, the drifted
Downs, the hut that sheltered me,
When the billow, storm-uplifted,
Hurled me shoreward from the sea!
Here with blessing would I greet them,
They, my hosts, the helpful pair,—
Old, indeed, if now I meet them,
Since they then had hoary hair.
Pious folk, from whom I parted!
Be my greeting here renewed,
If ye still, as open-hearted,
Taste the bliss of doing good!
There they stand in sturdy age:
And again. shall I behold them,
After such a pilgrimage?
’T is the ancient place, the drifted
Downs, the hut that sheltered me,
When the billow, storm-uplifted,
Hurled me shoreward from the sea!
Here with blessing would I greet them,
They, my hosts, the helpful pair,—
Old, indeed, if now I meet them,
Since they then had hoary hair.
Pious folk, from whom I parted!
Be my greeting here renewed,
If ye still, as open-hearted,
Taste the bliss of doing good!
Baucis152 (a little woman, very old).
Gently, stranger! lest thou cumber
Rest, whereof my spouse hath need!
He but gains from longest slumber
Strength for briefest waking deed.
Rest, whereof my spouse hath need!
He but gains from longest slumber
Strength for briefest waking deed.
Wanderer.
Tell me, mother, art thou even
She, to whom my thanks I bear,—
I, the youth, whose life was given
By your kind, united care?
Art thou Baucis, who the coldly
Fading mouth refreshment gave?
(The Husband appears.)
Thou, Philemon, who so boldly
Drew my treasure from the wave?
From your fire, so quickly burning,
From your silver-sounding bell,
Changed my doom, to fortune turning,
When the dread adventure fell.
Forth upon the sand-hills stealing,
Let me view the boundless sea!
Let me pray, devoutly kneeling,
Till my burdened heart be free!
(He walks forward upon the downs.)
She, to whom my thanks I bear,—
I, the youth, whose life was given
By your kind, united care?
Art thou Baucis, who the coldly
Fading mouth refreshment gave?
(The Husband appears.)
Thou, Philemon, who so boldly
Drew my treasure from the wave?
From your fire, so quickly burning,
From your silver-sounding bell,
Changed my doom, to fortune turning,
When the dread adventure fell.
Forth upon the sand-hills stealing,
Let me view the boundless sea!
Let me pray, devoutly kneeling,
Till my burdened heart be free!
(He walks forward upon the downs.)
Philemon (to Baucis).
Haste, and let the meal be dighted
’Neath the garden’s blooming trees!
Let him go, and be affrighted!
He ’ll believe not what he sees.
(Follows, and stands beside the Wanderer.)
Where the savage waves maltreated
You, on shores of breaking foam,
See, a garden lies completed,
Like an Eden-dream of home!
Old was I, no longer eager,
Helpful, as the younger are:
And when I had lost my vigor,
Also was the wave afar.
Wise lords set their serfs in motion,
Dikes upraised and ditches led,
Minishing the rights of Ocean,
Lords to be in Ocean’s stead.
See the green of many a meadow,
Field and garden, wood and town!
Come, our table waits in shadow!
For the sun is going down.
Sails afar are gliding yonder;
Nightly to the port they fare:
To their nest the sea-birds wander,
For a harbor waits them there.
Distant now, thou hardly seëst
Where the Sea’s blue arc is spanned,153—.
Right and left, the broadest, freest
Stretch of thickly-peopled land.
’Neath the garden’s blooming trees!
Let him go, and be affrighted!
He ’ll believe not what he sees.
(Follows, and stands beside the Wanderer.)
Where the savage waves maltreated
You, on shores of breaking foam,
See, a garden lies completed,
Like an Eden-dream of home!
Old was I, no longer eager,
Helpful, as the younger are:
And when I had lost my vigor,
Also was the wave afar.
Wise lords set their serfs in motion,
Dikes upraised and ditches led,
Minishing the rights of Ocean,
Lords to be in Ocean’s stead.
See the green of many a meadow,
Field and garden, wood and town!
Come, our table waits in shadow!
For the sun is going down.
Sails afar are gliding yonder;
Nightly to the port they fare:
To their nest the sea-birds wander,
For a harbor waits them there.
Distant now, thou hardly seëst
Where the Sea’s blue arc is spanned,153—.
Right and left, the broadest, freest
Stretch of thickly-peopled land.