Page:Kickerbocker Feb 1833 vol 1 no 2.djvu/15
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1833.]
Horæ Germanicæ.
79
And presently engage to do
Thy hopes and wishes service true.
Nay, if but thus thou wilt agree,
Thy instrument and bondsman be.
Mephistopheles.Faust. And what conditions then must I fulfil?
Mephistopheles.Meph. Oh nothing—for a good long time at least.
Mephistopheles.Faust. No, no, the Devil is an egöiste,
And not so very prompt from pure good will,
For God’s sake thus his neighbor to assist.
Tell the conditions, speak them fairly out,
With such a servant danger comes no doubt.
Mephistopheles.Meph. I bind myself to thy obedience here,
To know no pause nor rest in serving thee;
And should we meet again in yonder sphere,
Why thou in turn shalt do the same for me.
Mephistopheles.Faust. Small care for yonder sphere have I.
If this world once in fragments fly,
A new perchance the void may fill;
But let my joys from this their sources borrow,
This sun hath been the witness of my sorrow—
And when I part from these, the morrow
May even bring what chance it will.
I heed not that, nor care to hear
If men hereafter hate or love;
Or if there be in "yonder sphere,"
A part below and part above.
Mephistopheles.Meph. With views like these what needs delay—
Accept my terms, and even to-day
I shall delight for thee my art to try,
For things unseen till now by mortal eye.
Mephistopheles.Faust. Poor devil, vain, how vain is all thy art.
Was the high scope of an aspiring heart,
By such a spirit e'er embraced?
Where are thy fruits that satiate not the taste?
And thy red gold, whose ready haste
Quicksilver-like evades the hand?
Thy games for losing only plann'd?
Thy dames, that from our very arms,
Will wink to catch our neighbor's eye?
And Honor, whose ambitious charms,
Like transient meteors shine and fly?
Show me the fruits that while we grasp them, rot;
And trees whose leaves each morning must renew.
Mephistopheles.Meph. Reproaches such as these affect me not.
That I have gifts like these to give, is true;
But time brings fairer hours, my gentle friend,
Which we with joy and soft repose may crown
Mephistopheles.Faust. —When I lie joyful in corruption down,
May my existence on the instant end.
Canst thou once flatter me to deem
I do not hate myself, or cast
One instant o’er my soul a gleam
Of pleasure, be the next my last.
These are my terms.
Mephistopheles.Meph. Agreed.
Mephistopheles.Faust. 'Tis done and fast.
When I to any instant say
Nay, fleet not thus, thou art so bright,
Thy hopes and wishes service true.
Nay, if but thus thou wilt agree,
Thy instrument and bondsman be.
Mephistopheles.Faust. And what conditions then must I fulfil?
Mephistopheles.Meph. Oh nothing—for a good long time at least.
Mephistopheles.Faust. No, no, the Devil is an egöiste,
And not so very prompt from pure good will,
For God’s sake thus his neighbor to assist.
Tell the conditions, speak them fairly out,
With such a servant danger comes no doubt.
Mephistopheles.Meph. I bind myself to thy obedience here,
To know no pause nor rest in serving thee;
And should we meet again in yonder sphere,
Why thou in turn shalt do the same for me.
Mephistopheles.Faust. Small care for yonder sphere have I.
If this world once in fragments fly,
A new perchance the void may fill;
But let my joys from this their sources borrow,
This sun hath been the witness of my sorrow—
And when I part from these, the morrow
May even bring what chance it will.
I heed not that, nor care to hear
If men hereafter hate or love;
Or if there be in "yonder sphere,"
A part below and part above.
Mephistopheles.Meph. With views like these what needs delay—
Accept my terms, and even to-day
I shall delight for thee my art to try,
For things unseen till now by mortal eye.
Mephistopheles.Faust. Poor devil, vain, how vain is all thy art.
Was the high scope of an aspiring heart,
By such a spirit e'er embraced?
Where are thy fruits that satiate not the taste?
And thy red gold, whose ready haste
Quicksilver-like evades the hand?
Thy games for losing only plann'd?
Thy dames, that from our very arms,
Will wink to catch our neighbor's eye?
And Honor, whose ambitious charms,
Like transient meteors shine and fly?
Show me the fruits that while we grasp them, rot;
And trees whose leaves each morning must renew.
Mephistopheles.Meph. Reproaches such as these affect me not.
That I have gifts like these to give, is true;
But time brings fairer hours, my gentle friend,
Which we with joy and soft repose may crown
Mephistopheles.Faust. —When I lie joyful in corruption down,
May my existence on the instant end.
Canst thou once flatter me to deem
I do not hate myself, or cast
One instant o’er my soul a gleam
Of pleasure, be the next my last.
These are my terms.
Mephistopheles.Meph. Agreed.
Mephistopheles.Faust. 'Tis done and fast.
When I to any instant say
Nay, fleet not thus, thou art so bright,