single drive;
oh, do not seek to know the other passion!
Two souls, alas, dwell in my breast,
each seeks to rule without the other.
The one with robust love’s desires
clings to the world with all its might,
the other fiercely rises from the dust
to reach sublime ancestral regions.
Oh, should there be spirits roaming through the air
which rule between the earth and heaven,
1120
let them leave their golden haze and come to me,
let them escort me to a new and bright-hued life!
Ah yes, if I could have a magic cloak
to whisk me off to foreign lands
I should not trade it for the richest robes,
nor for the mantle of a king.
WAGNER.
Do not invoke the well-known troop
that floats and streams in murky spheres,
a source of myriad dangers for all men,
issuing from every corner of the globe.
1130
The sharp-toothed ghosts come from the north
and chill you with their arrow-pointed tongues;
they move up, dry as bone, from eastern skies
and suck in moisture from your lungs.
Those churning up from southern desert sands
heap fire upon fire on your skull,
while western gusts will quench your thirst,
then drown you and your fertile fields.
They listen gladly and are glad to do you harm
and readily obey because they like to cheat;
1140
they pretend to come to you from Heaven
and lisp like angels when they lie to you.
But let us leave. The world is turning gray,
the air grows chill and mists are seeping down!
We come to prize our home at night—
Why do you stop short and look so startled?
What arrests you in this fading light?
FAUST.
Do you see the jet-black dog traversing field and stubble?
WAGNER.
I saw him long ago; it did not seem important.
FAUST.
Observe him well! What do you take him for?
WAGNER.
1150
Why, for a poodle who, according to his kind,
sniffs out the footsteps of his absent master.
FAUST.
Observe the ample spiral turns
enclosing and racing ever closer!
Unless I’m wrong I see a trail of fire
follow swirling in his wake.
WAGNER.
I see a plain black poodle, and that’s all,
it must be just an optical illusion.
FAUST.
I think he’s softly weaving coils of magic
for future bondage round our feet.
WAGNER.
1160
He is confused and leaps about us filled with fear
at finding not his master but two strangers.
FAUST.
The circle tightens; now he’s near!
WAGNER.
You see? He’s no phantom but a dog.
He snarls and watches, crouching on his belly.
He wags his tail—all canine habits.
FAUST.
Come join with us. Come here! Come here!
WAGNER.
He is a poodly-foolish creature;
you stand still and he will wait for you;
you speak to him, he’ll nuzzle you.
1170
What you forget, he will retrieve for you;
he’ll jump into the water for your cane.
FAUST.
You may be right. I cannot find a trace
of any ghostly thing. It’s all his training.
WAGNER.
A simple dog well-trained to heed commands
may even earn a learned man’s affection.
Yes indeed, he quite deserves your favor
as a student and a fellow-scholar.
(
They pass through the city gate
.)
FAUST’S STUDY
FAUST (
entering with the poodle
) .
Behind me, all the fields and meadows
lie wrapped in shade and deepest night;
1180
a holy and foreboding shudder
wakes the better soul in us.
The rush of turbulent desire sleeps,
and every hint of stressful action.
The love of mankind is astir,
the love of God is all about us.
Poodle, be quiet! Stop racing back and forth!
Why must you sniff at the threshold?
Come now, lie down behind the stove,
I’ll give you my softest pillow.
1190
On the road out in the rolling meadows
your leaps and capers entertained us well;
you did enough to earn my hospitality;
lie still then and be my welcome guest.
Ah, when the friendly lamp is burning
and glows within our narrow cell,
the darkened self
oh, do not seek to know the other passion!
Two souls, alas, dwell in my breast,
each seeks to rule without the other.
The one with robust love’s desires
clings to the world with all its might,
the other fiercely rises from the dust
to reach sublime ancestral regions.
Oh, should there be spirits roaming through the air
which rule between the earth and heaven,
1120
let them leave their golden haze and come to me,
let them escort me to a new and bright-hued life!
Ah yes, if I could have a magic cloak
to whisk me off to foreign lands
I should not trade it for the richest robes,
nor for the mantle of a king.
WAGNER.
Do not invoke the well-known troop
that floats and streams in murky spheres,
a source of myriad dangers for all men,
issuing from every corner of the globe.
1130
The sharp-toothed ghosts come from the north
and chill you with their arrow-pointed tongues;
they move up, dry as bone, from eastern skies
and suck in moisture from your lungs.
Those churning up from southern desert sands
heap fire upon fire on your skull,
while western gusts will quench your thirst,
then drown you and your fertile fields.
They listen gladly and are glad to do you harm
and readily obey because they like to cheat;
1140
they pretend to come to you from Heaven
and lisp like angels when they lie to you.
But let us leave. The world is turning gray,
the air grows chill and mists are seeping down!
We come to prize our home at night—
Why do you stop short and look so startled?
What arrests you in this fading light?
FAUST.
Do you see the jet-black dog traversing field and stubble?
WAGNER.
I saw him long ago; it did not seem important.
FAUST.
Observe him well! What do you take him for?
WAGNER.
1150
Why, for a poodle who, according to his kind,
sniffs out the footsteps of his absent master.
FAUST.
Observe the ample spiral turns
enclosing and racing ever closer!
Unless I’m wrong I see a trail of fire
follow swirling in his wake.
WAGNER.
I see a plain black poodle, and that’s all,
it must be just an optical illusion.
FAUST.
I think he’s softly weaving coils of magic
for future bondage round our feet.
WAGNER.
1160
He is confused and leaps about us filled with fear
at finding not his master but two strangers.
FAUST.
The circle tightens; now he’s near!
WAGNER.
You see? He’s no phantom but a dog.
He snarls and watches, crouching on his belly.
He wags his tail—all canine habits.
FAUST.
Come join with us. Come here! Come here!
WAGNER.
He is a poodly-foolish creature;
you stand still and he will wait for you;
you speak to him, he’ll nuzzle you.
1170
What you forget, he will retrieve for you;
he’ll jump into the water for your cane.
FAUST.
You may be right. I cannot find a trace
of any ghostly thing. It’s all his training.
WAGNER.
A simple dog well-trained to heed commands
may even earn a learned man’s affection.
Yes indeed, he quite deserves your favor
as a student and a fellow-scholar.
(
They pass through the city gate
.)
FAUST’S STUDY
FAUST (
entering with the poodle
) .
Behind me, all the fields and meadows
lie wrapped in shade and deepest night;
1180
a holy and foreboding shudder
wakes the better soul in us.
The rush of turbulent desire sleeps,
and every hint of stressful action.
The love of mankind is astir,
the love of God is all about us.
Poodle, be quiet! Stop racing back and forth!
Why must you sniff at the threshold?
Come now, lie down behind the stove,
I’ll give you my softest pillow.
1190
On the road out in the rolling meadows
your leaps and capers entertained us well;
you did enough to earn my hospitality;
lie still then and be my welcome guest.
Ah, when the friendly lamp is burning
and glows within our narrow cell,
the darkened self
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