Goethe's Faust



Faust is a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832). It is his most famous work and considered to be one of the best of German literature.
 * Save where otherwise noted, this article uses the translation of David Luke (1987) ISBN 978-0-19-953621-4

Scene 2: Prelude on the Stage
Das Echte bleibt der Nachwelt unverloren.'' What's genuine, shall Posterity inherit. Soon lost; true gold lives for posterity.
 * ''Was glänzt ist für den Augenblick geboren,
 * What dazzles, for the Moment spends its spirit:
 * ––Poet, lines 73–4, as translated by Bayard Taylor (1870-1871)
 * What gleams is the moment's, born to be
 * As translated by David Luke (1987)

Es findet uns nur noch als wahre Kinder.'' Children we were, true children we remain.
 * ''Das Alter macht nicht kindisch, wie man spricht,
 * Age is no second childhood—age makes plain,
 * ––Clown, lines 212–3

Scene 3: Prologue in Heaven
Mephistopheles: Den Doktor? Der Herr: Meinen Knecht! Mephistopheles: Fürwahr! er dient Euch auf besondre Weise. Nicht irdisch ist des Toren Trank noch Speise. Ihn treibt die Gärung in die Ferne, Er ist sich seiner Tollheit halb bewußt; Vom Himmel fordert er die schönsten Sterne Und von der Erde jede höchste Lust, Und alle Näh und alle Ferne Befriedigt nicht die tiefbewegte Brust. Der Herr:Wenn er mir auch nur verworren dient, So werd ich ihn bald in die Klarheit führen. Weiß doch der Gärtner, wenn das Bäumchen grünt, Das Blüt und Frucht die künft'gen Jahre zieren.'' Mephistopheles: The doctor? Do you mean— The Lord: My servant. Mephistopheles: Ah, he serves you well, indeed! He scorns earth's fare and drinks celestial mead. Poor fool, his ferment drives him far! He half knows his own madness, I'll be bound. He'd pillage heaven for its brightest star, And earth for every last delight that's to be found; Not all that's near nor far Can satisfy a heart so restless and profound. The Lord: He serves me, but still serves me in confusion; I will soon lead him into clarity. '''A gardener knows, one day this young green tree Will blossom and bear fruit in rich profusion'''.
 * ''Der Herr: Kennst du den Faust?
 * The Lord: Do you know Faust?
 * Scene 3: Prologue in Heaven, Lines 299–311


 * Es irrt der Mensch so lang er strebt.
 * Man errs, till he has ceased to strive.
 * ––The Lord, line 317

Scene 4: Night
Juristerei und Medizin, Und leider auch Theologie Durchaus studiert, mit heißem Bemühn. Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor! Und bin so klug als wie zuvor;'' And Law and Medicine, and I fear Theology, too, from A to Z; Hard studies all, that have cost me dear. '''And so I sit, poor silly man No wiser now than when I began'''.
 * ''Habe nun, ach! Philosophie,
 * Well, that's Philosophy I've read,
 * ––Faust, lines 354–59

Im Innersten zusammenhält, Schau alle Wirkenskraft und Samen, Und tu nicht mehr in Worten kramen.'' That bind the world, all its seeds and sources And innermost life—all this I shall see, And stop peddling in words that mean nothing to me. That I may understand whatever Binds the world’s innermost core together, See all its workings, and its seeds, Deal no more in words’ empty reeds.
 * ''Daß ich erkenne, was die Welt
 * To grant me a vision of Nature's forces
 * Variant translation:
 * ––Faust, lines 382–5


 * Bin ich ein Gott? Mir wird so licht!
 * Am I a god? Light fills my mind
 * ––Faust, line 439

Is all it is.
 * Welch Schauspiel! aber ach! ein Schauspiel nur!
 * How great a spectacle! But that, I fear,
 * ––Faust, line 454

Wenn es nicht aus der Seele dringt Und mit urkräftigem Behagen Die Herzen aller Hörer zwingt.'' You can speak as you feel! One's very heart Must pour it out, with primal power address One's hearers and compel them with an art Deeper than words.
 * ''Wenn ihr's nicht fühlt, ihr werdet's nicht erjagen,
 * Give up pursuing eloquence, unless
 * ––Faust, lines 534–8

Wenn sie dir nicht aus eigner Seele quillt.'' It through you, if it's to be anything.
 * ''Erquickung hast du nicht gewonnen,
 * Refreshment! it's your own soul that must pour
 * ––Faust, lines 568–9

Erwirb es, um es zu besitzen.'' Or it remains a mere appurtenance.
 * ''Was du ererbt von deinen Vätern hast
 * What we are born with, we must make our own
 * ––Faust, lines 682–3

Ihr Himmelstöne mich am Staube? [. . .] Die Botschaft hör’ ich wohl, allein mir fehlt der Glaube'' Do you come seeking me? [. . .] For I Can hear the message, but believe no longer.
 * ''Was sucht ihr, mächtig und gelind,
 * You gentle, puissant choirs of heaven, why
 * ––Faust, lines 762–3 & 764

Scene 5: Outside the Town Wall
Bei der Verehrung dieser Menge haben!'' You have as all these people honour you!
 * ''Welch ein Gefühl mußt du, o großer Mann,
 * Ah, what a sense of your own greatness must
 * ––Wagner, of Faust; lines 1011–2

O lerne nie den andern kennen! '''Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust, Die eine will sich von der andern trennen;''' Die eine hält, in derber Liebeslust, Sich an die Welt, mit klammernden Organen; Die andre hebt gewaltsam sich vom Dust, Zu den Gefilden hoher Ahnen. O giebt es Geister in der Luft, Die zwischen Erd' und Himmel herrschend weben, So steiget nieder aus dem goldnen Duft Und führt mich weg, zu neuem buntem Leben! Ja, wäre nur ein Zaubermantel mein! Und trüg' er mich in fremde Länder, Mir sollt' er, um die köstlichsten Gewänder, Nicht feil um einen Königsmantel sein.'' You must not learn the other, oh beware! '''In me there are two souls, alas, and their Division tears my life in two.''' One loves the world, it clutches her, it binds Itself to her, clinging with furious lust; The other longs to soar beyond the dust Into the realm of high ancestral minds. Are there no spirits moving in the air, Ruling the region between earth and sky? Come down then to me from your golden mists on high, Give me a magic cloak to carry me Away to some far place, some land untold, And I'd not part with it for silk or gold Or a king's crown, so precious it would be!
 * ''Du bist dir nur des einen Triebs bewußt,
 * Only one of our needs is known to you;
 * ––Faust, lines 1110–25

Scene 6: Faust's Study (I)
Ein fahrender Skolast? Der Kasus macht mich lachen.'' A student-tramp! How very comical.
 * ''Das also war des Pudels Kern!
 * So that was the quintessence of the cur!
 * ––Faust, lines 1323–4

Die stets das Böse will und stets das Gute schafft.'' Do evil constantly and constantly does good.
 * ''Ein Teil von jener Kraft,
 * Part of that power which would
 * ––Mephistopheles, lines 1335–6


 * Ich bin der Geist der stets verneint!
 * I am the spirit of perpetual negation
 * ––Mephistopheles, line 1338

Mit Wellen, Stürmen, Schütteln, Brand— Geruhig bleibt am Ende Meer und Land!'' Storms, earthquakes, fire and flood assail the land And sea, yet firmly as before they stand!
 * ''Ich wußte nicht ihr beizukommen
 * This solid lump cannot be shaken—
 * ––Mephistopheles, lines 1366–8

Scene 7: Faust's Study (II)

 * Und doch ist nie der Tod ein ganz willkommner Gast.
 * And yet death is never a wholly welcome guest.
 * ––Mephistopheles, line 1572

Omniscient, but I know a lot.
 * Allwissend bin ich nicht; doch viel ist mir bewußt.
 *  I am not
 * ––Mephistopheles, line 1582

Verweile doch! du bist so schön! Dann magst du mich in Fesseln schlagen, Dann will ich gern zugrunde gehn! Dann mag die Totenglocke schallen, Dann bist du deines Dienstes frei, Die Uhr mag stehn, der Zeiger fallen, Es sei die Zeit für mich vorbei!'' Beautiful moment, do not pass away! Then you may forge your chains to bind me''', Then I will put my life behind me, Then let them hear my death-knell toll, Then from your labours you'll be free, The clock may stop, the clock-hands fall, And time come to an end for me!
 * ''Und Schlag auf Schlag! Werd ich zum Augenblicke sagen:
 * '''If ever I to the moment shall say:
 * ––Faust, lines 1698–706

Des Menschen allerhöchste Kraft, Laß nur in Blend- und Zauberwerken Dich von dem Lügengeist bestärken So hab’ ich dich schon unbedingt – Ihm hat das Schicksal einen Geist gegeben, Der ungebändigt immer vorwärts dringt, Und dessen übereiltes Streben Der Erde Freuden überspringt. Den schlepp’ ich durch das wilde Leben, Durch flache Unbedeutenheit, Er soll mir zappeln, starren, kleben, Und seiner Unersättlichkeit Soll Speis’ und Trank vor gier’gen Lippen schweben; Er wird Erquickung sich umsonst erflehn, Und hätt’ er sich auch nicht dem Teufel übergeben, Er müßte doch zu Grunde gehn!'' Reason and Knowledge, only thus contemn, Still let the Prince of lies, without control, With shows, and mocking charms delude thy soul I have thee unconditionally then! Fate hath endow'd him with an ardent mind, Which unrestrain'd still presses on for ever, And whose precipitate endeavour Earth's joys o'erleaping, leaveth them behind. Him will I drag through life's wild waste, Through scenes of vapid dulness, where at last Bewilder'd, he shall falter, and stick fast; And, still to mock his greedy haste, Viands and drink shall float his craving lips beyond-- Vainly he'll seek refreshment, anguish-tost, And were he not the devil's by his bond, Yet must his soul infallibly be lost!
 * ''Verachte nur Vernunft und Wissenschaft,
 * Mortal! the loftiest attributes of men,
 * —Mephistopheles

des Menschen allerhöchste Gaben— So hast dem Teufel dich ergeben und müßte doch zu Grunde gehn!'' The loftiest attributes man has been given, And so the devil has you And your soul is infallibly lost
 * Hegel in the Preface to his Philosophy of Right, slightly miquotes the above quotation as:
 * ''Verachte nur Verstand und Wissenschaft,
 * Disdain sanity and scholarship,

properties.
 * Blut ist ein ganz besondrer Saft.
 * Blood is a juice with curious
 * ––Mephistopheles, line 1740

Und grün des Lebens goldner Baum.'' The golden tree of life.
 * ''Grau, teurer Freund, ist alle Theorie,
 * My friend, all theory is grey, and green
 * ––Mephistopheles, lines 2038–9

Scene 8: Auerbach's Tavern in Leipzig
Doch ihre Weine trinkt er gern.''
 * ''Ein echter deutscher Mann mag keinen Franzen leiden,
 * A Frenchman is not to a German's liking, although he drinks their wine with pleasure.
 * ––Brander, lines 2272–3

Scene 10: A Street
So etwas hab ich nie gesehn. Sie ist so sitt—und tugendreich, Und etwas schnippisch doch zugleich. Der Lippe Rot, der Wange Licht, Die Tage der Welt vergeß ich's nicht!'' More lovely than I've ever met. So virtuous, so decent, yet A touch of sauciness as well! Her lips so red, her cheeks so bright— All my life I'll not forget that sight.
 * ''Beim Himmel, dieses Kind ist schön!
 * By God, but that's a lovely girl!
 * ––Faust, of Margareta; lines 2609–15

Scene 14: A Street
Ich bitte dich, und schone meine Lunge— Wer Recht behalten will und hat nur eine Zunge, Behält’s gewiß.'' And understand, before I burst a lung: Insist on being right, and merely have a tongue, And right you'll be.
 *  ''Hör’! merk’ dir dieß—
 *  Listen to me—
 * ––Faust, lines 3067–70

Scene 18: Gretchen's Room


Mein Herz ist schwer; Ich finde sie nimmer und nimmermehr.''" My heart's so sore, How can ever my heart Be at peace any more?"
 * "''Meine Ruh' ist hin,
 * "My heart's so heavy,
 * ––Gretchen (Margareta), lines 3374–7

Scene 24: A Walpurgis Night
Ein morgenrötlich trüber Schein! Und selbst bis in die tiefen Schlünde Des Abgrunds wittert er hinein.'' Like a false dawn the dull light glows! Into crevasses glinting, shimmering, Into each deep abyss it goes.
 * ''Wie seltsam glimmert durch die Gründe
 * How strangely through the hollows glimmering
 * ––Faust, lines 3916–9

Scene 28: A Prison
Über mich gegeben! Du holst mich schon um Mitternacht.'' Over me? Who said You could fetch me at this midnight hour?
 * ''Wer hat dir Henker diese Macht
 * Oh, hangman, who gave you this power
 * ––Margareta, lines 4427–9

Und soll schon sterben! Schön war ich auch, und das war mein Verderben.'' And already I must die! I was pretty too, and that's the reason why.
 * ''Bin ich doch noch so jung, so jung!
 * I'm still so young, still so young too!
 * ––Margareta, lines 4432–4

The Second Part of the Tragedy (1832)
''Alles Vergängliche Ist nur ein Gleichnis; Das Unzulängliche, Hier wird's Ereignis; Das Unbeschreibliche, Hier ist's getan; Das Ewig-Weibliche Zieht uns hinan.''
 * CHORUS MYSTICUS:

Is but a parable; What lay beyond us, here All is made visible; Here deeds have understood Words they were darkened by; The Eternal Feminine Draws us on high.
 * All that must disappear


 * Him I love who craves the impossible.
 * Quoted by Rudolf Steiner ...Goethe puts the following words into the mouth of a seeress: Him I love... in  An Outline of Occult Science, p. 310, (1922)

Quotes about Goethe's Faust

 * Goethe seems to have taken from Kalidasa the idea of a prologue for Faust.
 * Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage : India and Her Neighbors.


 * I have always been of the opinion that world-significance ought to be attributed to the idea of Faust. Just as our forefathers had a goddess of longing, so, in my opinion, Faust is no doubt personified. More he should not be, and it certainly is a sin against the idea when Goethe allows Faust to be converted in the same way as Mèrimèe lets Don Juan be converted. Do not raise the objection that the moment Faust addressed himself to the devil he made a positive step, for right here, it seems to me, is one of the most profound elements in the Faust legend. He approached the devil for the express purpose of becoming enlightened on things about which he was previously unenlightened, and precisely because he addressed himself to the devil, his doubt increased (just as a sick man falling into the hands of a quack is likely to get even worse.) Admittedly Mephistopheles let him look through his spectacles into the hidden secrets of man and the world, but Faust could still not avoid having doubts about him, for he could never enlighten him about the most profound intellectual matters. In accordance with his idea he could never turn to God, for once he did that, he would have to say to himself that here was the true enlightenment, and at the same moment he would, in fact, deny his character as a doubter.
 * Soren Kierkegaard Journals of Soren Kierkegaard 1 A 72 Copenhagen, June 1, 1835


 * I would consider still another case, that of an individual who by being hidden and by his silence would save the universal. To this end I make use of the legend of Faust. Faust is a doubter, ("If one would prefer not to make use of a doubter, one might choose a similar figure, an ironist, for example, whose sharp sight has discovered fundamentally the ludicrousness of existence, who by a secret understanding with the forces of life ascertains what the patient wishes. He knows that he possesses the power of laughter if he would use it, he is sure of his victory, yea, also of his good fortune. He knows that an individual voice will be raised in resistance, but he knows that he is stronger, he knows that for an instant one still can cause men to seem serious, but he knows also that privately they long to laugh with him; he knows that for an instant one can still cause a woman to hold a fan before her eyes when he talks, but he knows that she is laughing behind the fan, that the fan is not absolutely impervious to vision, he knows that one can write on it an invisible inscription, he knows that when a woman strikes at him with her fan it is because she has understood him, he knows without the least danger of deception how laughter sneaks in, and how when once it has taken up its lodging it lies in ambush and waits.
 * Soren Kierkegaard Fear and Trembling 1843 Lowrie tr 1941 p. 116