Feel nerved myself upon the world to throw,
To bear Earth's weal, to bear Earth's woe,

To battle with tempests, and stand on the deck
Undaunted amidst the loud crash of the wreck ;
Clouds close above me,

The moon hides her light,.

The lamp glimmers faintly;

Smoke swells, red flashes sparkle round my head,
A creeping horror on the air is shed,

Down from the roof it sinks, and seizes me.

Spirit invoked, I feel thou hoverest near,
Unveil thyself-appear!

Ha, what conflict tears my heart,
Unto what new emotions starts my mind,*

Deep stirred and passion tossed,

I feel my heart entire to thee resigned,

Thou must, thou must, though it my life should

cost.

tion of angels and spirits, but only by the unity and harmony of nature. There were some also that stayed not here, but went further, and held, that if the Spirit of Man, whom they call the Microcosm, do give a fit touch to the Spirit of the world, by strong imaginations and belief, it might command nature, for Paracelsus and some darksome authors of magic, do ascribe to imagination exalted the power of miracle working fate."

Lord Bacon.

* Literally all my senses are stirred up or harrowed.

The

He pronounces the sign of the Spirit of the Earth mysteriously. A reddish flame flashes. Spirit appears in the flame.

THE SPIRIT.

Who calls upon me?

FAUST, turning away.

Aspect of affright.

THE SPIRIT.

Thy potent call hath brought me here,
Thou, long nourished in my sphere:

And now

FAUST.

Torture, I cannot bear the sight.

THE SPIRIT.

With panting supplication thou hast sought me,
To hear my voice, my countenance to see,
The mighty praying of thy soul has brought me ;*
I am here. What piteous terror seizes thee
Thou Superhuman? Where the soul's bold call,
The breast that in itself a world created,
Bore, cherished, and in joy ecstatical

Its swoln self to us, the spirits, elevated?

* Mich neigt, bends me, inclines me to comply with your prayer.

Where art thou Faust, whose voice so rang unto me,
Who put forth all thine energies to woo me?
Yet now enveloped in my atmosphere,
Tremblest within thy deepest soul for fear,
A terrified and writhing worm.

FAUST.

Thou shape of flame, I yield not so,
In me, in Faust, thine equal know.

SPIRIT.

In the tide of life, in action's storm,

Up and down I ever float;

Hover here and there,

The cradle and the tomb,

An eternal ocean,

A changeful motion,

A glowing living:

I work at old Time's whirring loom,

A garment of life for the Deity weaving.

FAUST.

Thou that pervadest earth, and air, and sea,

Creative Spirit, how I yearn to thee.

Oh death! I know it, it is my Famulus.*
Farewell this lofty ecstacy of joy,

That all the fulness of bright visions thus
This brainless blockhead must destroy.

WAGNER, in his dressing gown and night-cap, a lamp in his hand-FAUST turns unwillingly.

WAGNER.

Pardon; just now I heard you loud declaim ;
A tragedy of Greece no doubt you read,

* Famulus, a sort of literary aide-de-camp.

+ Goethe seems to have gibbeted the name of Wagner, in retaliation for a small act of piracy, committed by an early friend of his bearing it. He says, "On account of the consequences, I must recall the recollection of a good companion, who, without any extraordinary gifts, was nevertheless one of

And much I wish to profit by the same;
For now a-days, the art tells well indeed :
I've often heard how good a teacher

A player might be to a preacher.

FAUST.

Yes, if the preacher act himself a play,
As sometimes may take place upon

WAGNER.

occasion.

Ah, when one to one's study is confined,
And sees the world but on a holiday,

As through a telescope one sees mankind,
How can one lead them by one's own persuasion?

FAUST.

Unless you feel, in vain pursuit ;

Unless from out your soul it wells,

us. He was called Wagner, and was first a member of the Strasburg, then of the Frankfurt company. He was not without spirit, talent, and instruction. He shewed himself active, and so was welcome. He was also attached to me, and as I made no secret of my projects, I told him, as I did others, of my plot for Faust, especially the catastrophe of Gretchen. He took up the plot and used it for a tragedy, 'the Infanticide.' That was the first time any one snatched away any of my designs. It vexed me, though I bore him no grudge for it."

Wahrheit und Dichtung.