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

The First Part of the Tragedy (1808)

Scene 2: Prelude on the Stage

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

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

Scene 3: Prologue in Heaven

A gardener knows, one day this young green tree
Will blossom and bear fruit in rich profusion.

Der Herr: Kennst du den Faust?
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.
- The Lord: Do you know Faust?
  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.
- 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

How great a spectacle! But that, I fear,
Is all it is.

Habe nun, ach! Philosophie,
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;
- Well, that's Philosophy I've read,
  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.
- ––Faust, lines 354–59

Daß ich erkenne, was die Welt
Im Innersten zusammenhält,
Schau alle Wirkenskraft und Samen,
Und tu nicht mehr in Worten kramen.
- To grant me a vision of Nature's forces
  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.
- Variant translation:
  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.
- ––Faust, lines 382–5

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

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

Wenn ihr's nicht fühlt, ihr werdet's nicht erjagen,
Wenn es nicht aus der Seele dringt
Und mit urkräftigem Behagen
Die Herzen aller Hörer zwingt.
- Give up pursuing eloquence, unless
  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.
- ––Faust, lines 534–8

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

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

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

Scene 5: Outside the Town Wall

Ah, what a sense of your own greatness must
You have as all these people honour you!

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

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

Du bist dir nur des einen Triebs bewußt,
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.
- Only one of our needs is known to you;
  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!
- ––Faust, lines 1110–25

Scene 6: Faust's Study (I)

So that was the quintessence of the cur!
A student-tramp! How very comical.

Part of that power which would
Do evil constantly and constantly does good;
[. . .]
I am the spirit of perpetual negation.

This solid lump cannot be shaken—
Storms, earthquakes, fire and flood assail the land
And sea, yet firmly as before they stand!

Das also war des Pudels Kern!
Ein fahrender Skolast? Der Kasus macht mich lachen.
- So that was the quintessence of the cur!
  A student-tramp! How very comical.
- ––Faust, lines 1323–4

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

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

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

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

Und Schlag auf Schlag! Werd ich zum Augenblicke sagen:
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!
- If ever I to the moment shall say:
  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!
- ––Faust, lines 1698–706

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

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

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

Scene 8: Auerbach's Tavern in Leipzig

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

Scene 10: A Street

By God, but that's a lovely girl!
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!
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!
- By God, but that's a lovely girl!
  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.
- ––Faust, of Margareta; lines 2609–15

Scene 14: A Street

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

Scene 18: Gretchen's Room

My heart's so heavy,
My heart's so sore,
How can ever my heart
Be at peace any more?

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

Scene 24: A Walpurgis Night

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

Scene 28: A Prison

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

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

The Second Part of the Tragedy (1832)

CHORUS MYSTICUS:
Alles Vergängliche
Ist nur ein Gleichnis;
Das Unzulängliche,
Hier wird's Ereignis;
Das Unbeschreibliche,
Hier ist's getan;
Das Ewig-Weibliche
Zieht uns hinan.
- All that must disappear
  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.

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

External links

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Goethe's Faust

The original text of Goethe's Faust at the German Wikisource