Faust (trans. Bayard Taylor)/Act V/III
III.
PALACE.
Spacious Pleasure-Garden: Broad, Straightly cut Canal.
Faust (in extreme old age, walking about, meditative).
Lynceus, the Warder
(through the speaking-trumpet).
(through the speaking-trumpet).
THE sun goes down, the ships are veering
To reach the port, with song and cheer:
A heavy galley, now appearing
On the canal, will soon be here.
The gaudy pennons merrily flutter,
The masts and rigging upward climb:
Blessings on thee the seamen utter,
And Fortune greets thee at thy prime.
(The little bell rings on the downs.)
To reach the port, with song and cheer:
A heavy galley, now appearing
On the canal, will soon be here.
The gaudy pennons merrily flutter,
The masts and rigging upward climb:
Blessings on thee the seamen utter,
And Fortune greets thee at thy prime.
(The little bell rings on the downs.)
Faust (starting).
Accurséd chime! As in derision
It wounds me, like a spiteful shot:
My realm is boundless to my vision,
Yet at my back this vexing blot!
The bell proclaims, with envious bluster,
My grand estate lacks full design:155
The brown old hut, the linden-cluster,
The crumbling chapel, are not mine.
If there I wished for recreation,
Another’s shade would give no cheer:
A thorn it is, a sharp vexation,—
Would I were far away from here!
It wounds me, like a spiteful shot:
My realm is boundless to my vision,
Yet at my back this vexing blot!
The bell proclaims, with envious bluster,
My grand estate lacks full design:155
The brown old hut, the linden-cluster,
The crumbling chapel, are not mine.
If there I wished for recreation,
Another’s shade would give no cheer:
A thorn it is, a sharp vexation,—
Would I were far away from here!
Warder (from above).
With evening wind and favoring tide,
See the gay galley hither glide!
How richly, on its rapid track,
Tower chest and casket, bale and sack!
(A splendid Galley, richly and brilliantly laden with the productions
of Foreign Countries.)
See the gay galley hither glide!
How richly, on its rapid track,
Tower chest and casket, bale and sack!
(A splendid Galley, richly and brilliantly laden with the productions
of Foreign Countries.)
Mephistopheles. The Three Mighty Men.
Chorus.
Here we have landed:
Furl the sail!
Hail to the Master,
Patron, hail!
Furl the sail!
Hail to the Master,
Patron, hail!
(They disembark: the goods are brought ashore.)
Mephistopheles.
We ’ve proved our worth in many ways,
Delighted, if the Patron praise !
We sailed away with vessels twain,
With twenty come to port again.156
Of great successes to relate,
We only need to show our freight.
Free is the mind on Ocean free
Who there can ponder sluggishly?
You only need a rapid grip:
You catch a fish, you seize a ship;
And when you once are lord of three,
The fourth is grappled easily;
The fifth is then in evil plight;
You have the Power, and thus the Right.
You count the What, and not the How:
If I have ever navigated,
War, Trade and Piracy, I vow,
Are three in one, and can’t be separated!
Delighted, if the Patron praise !
We sailed away with vessels twain,
With twenty come to port again.156
Of great successes to relate,
We only need to show our freight.
Free is the mind on Ocean free
Who there can ponder sluggishly?
You only need a rapid grip:
You catch a fish, you seize a ship;
And when you once are lord of three,
The fourth is grappled easily;
The fifth is then in evil plight;
You have the Power, and thus the Right.
You count the What, and not the How:
If I have ever navigated,
War, Trade and Piracy, I vow,
Are three in one, and can’t be separated!
The Three Mighty Men.
No thank and hail?
No hail and thank?
As if our freight
To him were rank!
He makes a face
Of great disgust;
The royal wealth
Displease him must.
No hail and thank?
As if our freight
To him were rank!
He makes a face
Of great disgust;
The royal wealth
Displease him must.
Mephistopheles.
Expect no further
Any pay;
Your own good share
Ye took away.
Any pay;
Your own good share
Ye took away.
The Mighty Men.
We only took it
For pastime fair;
We all demand
An equal share.
For pastime fair;
We all demand
An equal share.
Mephistopheles.
First, arrange them
In hall on hall,—
The precious treasures,
Together all!
If such a splendor
Meets his ken,
And he regards it
More closely then,
A niggard he
Won't be, at least:
He ’ll give our squadron
Feast on feast.
To-morrow the gay birds hither wend,157
And I can best to them attend.
(The cargo is removed.)
In hall on hall,—
The precious treasures,
Together all!
If such a splendor
Meets his ken,
And he regards it
More closely then,
A niggard he
Won't be, at least:
He ’ll give our squadron
Feast on feast.
To-morrow the gay birds hither wend,157
And I can best to them attend.
(The cargo is removed.)
Mephistopheles (to Faust).
With gloomy gaze, with serious brow,
Of this great fortune hearest thou.
Crowned is thy wisest industry,
And reconciled are shore and sea;
And from the shore, to swifter wakes,
The willing sea the vessels takes.
Speak, then, that here, from thy proud seat,
Thine arm may clasp the world complete.
Here, on this spot, the work was planned;
Here did the first rough cabin stand;
A little ditch was traced, a groove,
Where now the feathered oar-blades move.
Thy high intent, thy servants’ toil,
From land and sea have won the spoil.
From here—
Of this great fortune hearest thou.
Crowned is thy wisest industry,
And reconciled are shore and sea;
And from the shore, to swifter wakes,
The willing sea the vessels takes.
Speak, then, that here, from thy proud seat,
Thine arm may clasp the world complete.
Here, on this spot, the work was planned;
Here did the first rough cabin stand;
A little ditch was traced, a groove,
Where now the feathered oar-blades move.
Thy high intent, thy servants’ toil,
From land and sea have won the spoil.
From here—
Faust.
Still that accursed Here!
To me a burden most severe.
To thee, so clever, I declare it,—
It gives my very heart a sting;
It is impossible to bear it!
Yet shamed am I, to say the thing.
The old ones, there, should make concession;
A shady seat would I create:
The lindens, not my own possession,
Disturb my joy in mine estate.
There would I, for a view unbaffled,
From bough to bough erect a scaffold,
Till for my gaze a look be won
O’er everything that I have done,—
To see before me, unconfined,
The masterpiece of human mind,
Wisely asserting to my sense
The people’s gain of residence.
No sorer plague can us attack,
Than rich to be, and something lack!158
The chiming bell, the lindens’ breath,
Oppress like air in vaults of death:
My force of will, my potence grand,
Is shattered here upon the sand.
How shall I ban it from my feeling!
I rave whene’er the bell is pealing.
To me a burden most severe.
To thee, so clever, I declare it,—
It gives my very heart a sting;
It is impossible to bear it!
Yet shamed am I, to say the thing.
The old ones, there, should make concession;
A shady seat would I create:
The lindens, not my own possession,
Disturb my joy in mine estate.
There would I, for a view unbaffled,
From bough to bough erect a scaffold,
Till for my gaze a look be won
O’er everything that I have done,—
To see before me, unconfined,
The masterpiece of human mind,
Wisely asserting to my sense
The people’s gain of residence.
No sorer plague can us attack,
Than rich to be, and something lack!158
The chiming bell, the lindens’ breath,
Oppress like air in vaults of death:
My force of will, my potence grand,
Is shattered here upon the sand.
How shall I ban it from my feeling!
I rave whene’er the bell is pealing.
Mephistopheles.
’T is natural that so great a spite
Thy life should thus imbitter quite.
Who doubts it? Every noble ear,
Disgusted, must the jangle hear;
And that accurséd bim-bam-booming,
Through the clear sky of evening glooming,
Is mixed with each event that passes,
From baby’s bath to burial-masses,
As if, between its bam and bim,
Life were a dream, in memory dim.
Thy life should thus imbitter quite.
Who doubts it? Every noble ear,
Disgusted, must the jangle hear;
And that accurséd bim-bam-booming,
Through the clear sky of evening glooming,
Is mixed with each event that passes,
From baby’s bath to burial-masses,
As if, between its bam and bim,
Life were a dream, in memory dim.
Faust.
Their obstinate, opposing strain
Darkens the brightest solid gain,
Till one, in plague and worry thrust
Grows tired, at last, of being just.
Darkens the brightest solid gain,
Till one, in plague and worry thrust
Grows tired, at last, of being just.
Mephistopheles.
Why be annoyed, when thou canst well despise them?
Wouldst thou not long since colonize them?
Wouldst thou not long since colonize them?
Faust.
Then gé, and clear them out with speed!
Thou knowest the fair estate, indeed,
I chose for the old people’s need.
Thou knowest the fair estate, indeed,
I chose for the old people’s need.
Mephistopheles.
We ’ll set them down on other land;
Ere you can look, again they ’ll stand:
When they ’ve the violence outgrown,
Their pleasant dwelling shall atone.
(He whistles shrilly.)
Ere you can look, again they ’ll stand:
When they ’ve the violence outgrown,
Their pleasant dwelling shall atone.
(He whistles shrilly.)
The Three enter.
Mephistopheles.
Come, as the Master bids, and let
The fleet a feast to-morrow get!
The fleet a feast to-morrow get!
The Three.
Reception bad the old Master gave:
A jolly feast is what we crave.
A jolly feast is what we crave.
Mephistopheles.
(ad spectatores).
It happens as it happed of old:
Still Naboth’s vineyard we behold!159
It happens as it happed of old:
Still Naboth’s vineyard we behold!159