A HIGH-ARCHED NARROW GOTHIC CHAMBER, FORMERLY FAUST'S-UNALTERED
MEPHISTOPHELES, CHORUS OF CRICKETS, FAMULUS,
BACCALAUREUS
MEPHISTOPHELES steps out from behind a curtain; while he raises it, and looks back, FAUST is seen stretched out on an old-fashioned bed
Meph. Lie down there, luckless! lie down, wretched thrall
Of this inexplicable, inextricable
Love-tangle! His is the worst case of all.
Whom Helen paralyses, little chance 8/50
Has of recovering ever from the trance. [Looks round him
As I look up-down-round me here,
Nowhere does any change appear.
Perhaps some slight shade in the colour
Of the stained glass-a trifle duller.
The spiders' webs are spread more wide;
The paper's yellower, the ink's dried.
All things in their old position—
All things in their old condition.
The very pen with which he signed away
Himself to the devil, look at it there still!
Aye, and the drop of blood I coaxed from him,
A dry stain crusts the barrel of the quill.
What a rare object of virtu to seek
For your collector !-happiest of men,
Could he but get possession of the pen!
Envied proprietor of such unique!
And the old sheepskin on its own old hook,
Brings back that comic lecture, which so took
With the poor boy, who ever since, no doubt, 8170
All its deep meaning still keeps puzzling out.
My old warm furry friend, I like thy look!
I long again to wrap me round in thee,
And put on the Professor, in full blow
Of lecture-room infallibility!
How is it, that these sorry bookmen know
So well to get the feeling up? Ah me!
In the devil it has died out, ages ago.
[He takes down and shakes the old fur gown; crickets, chaffers, moths, and other insects fly out
Chorus of Insects. Hail to thee! hail to thee!
Patron and father; 8180
Welcome and welcome be !
Swarm we and gather
To welcome thy coming,
Hovering and humming.
In the faded and rotten,
Of chambers neglected,
In darkness forgotten,
One by one, unperceived,
Didst thou silently plant us;
Now thousands on thousands, 8190
In sunlight and glee,
We sport and we flaunt us.
Meph. With what surprise and rapturous delight
This young creation glads its maker's sight;
If a man do but sow, he may be sure
Time in due season will the crop mature.
I give the old fleece another whisk about,
And here and there an odd one flutters out;
Up and around, in corners, holes, and shelves,
My darlings, find out snug berths for yourselves. 8210
Yonder, where broken boxes block the ground,
And here in the old parchments time-embrowned;
In dusty potsherds, faded curtain shreds,
And in the eye-holes there of dead men's heads-
Come, moth and maggot, people once again
The rubbish that in life was called the brain!
Up on my shoulders, furry friend! and then
I for the hour am Principal again.
But I must summon them o'er whom I claim
Dominion, or there's nothing in the name. 8220
[He pulls the bell, which gives a harsh piercing sound,
at which the halls shake, and the doors spring
Famulus [tottering up the long dark passage]. What a sounding! what a shaking!
Stairs are trembling, walls are quaking;
Through the window's colour-flashes
Lightnings tremble !-tempest crashes!
Is the floor asunder parting,
Roof in ruins downward falling,
And the bolted doors back starting
Through some wonder-work appalling?
And look yonder, where a giant
Stands in Faust's old fur, defiant; 230
And, with beck and glance and winking,
Me he silently is calling:
And I faint my knees are sinking.
Shall I stand my ground? or fly him?
Stay! what?-stay! be murdered by him?
Meph. Come hither, friend; your name is Nicodemus. Fam. [crossing himself]. High honoured master! 'tis my name-Oremus.
Kind master, that you've not forgotten me.
Meph. I know you well-in years, but still in love 240 With study-books you're always thinking of,
Most learned! most mossy! even a deep-learned man
Still studies on because 'tis all he can:
'Tis like one building to a certain height
A house of cards which none can finish quite.
Your master, he is one, it may be said,
Who always hits the nail upon the head-
The well-known Doctor Wagner-anyhow
The great man of the world of letters now:
His genius 'tis, that all inspires, unites, 8250
While science mounts with him to prouder heights.
There gathers round his chair an eager ring
Of hearers-men who would learn everything.
He, like Saint Peter, holds the keys-can show
The secrets of above and of below;
He shines in all; no reputation is
In any way to be compared to his-
None anywhere now to be placed with him.
Even Faust's fame's beginning to grow dim-
He has made the great discoveries of our days. 8260
Fam. Pardon, most noble sir; permit me to
Speak, sir; permit me just to say to you
That he is one who would shrink from such praise.
His is a modest mind-he does not aim
At rivalling the mighty master's fame.
Since the great master's disappearance, he
Seems ever wrapt in strange perplexity.
For his return he looks, for health and hope
From it-and thus his spirits he keeps up.
The chamber as in Doctor Faust's day $270
Remains no change made since he went away:
There, 'tis kept waiting for its own old master.
Myself I scarcely venture to go in.
What say the stars? does the hour bode disaster?
The walls, as though with terror struck, still shake;
The doors flew open, every bolt sprang back;
Else you had not come in here-you, even you.
Meph. Where is he ?-bring me to him-bring him here.
Fam. Ah, sir, the prohibition's too severe
'Tis scarce a thing that I could venture on. 8280
Intent on the great work, he has lived alone
For months in the stillest stillness. Only think,
Think of this neatest, nattiest of all
Our bookmen, blacked with soot from ear to nose;
And his eyes blearing, and their raw red blink,
As with throat parching at the fire he blows;
For the true moment every moment longs—
His music still the clatter of the tongs!
Meph. To me he'll scarce deny the entrée.
The lucky man, and this the lucky time. 8290
[Exit FAMULUS [MEPHISTOPHELES sits down gravely]. I scarce have sate
When, hark! a stirring from behind,
And I behold a well-known face:
My old friend, sure enough, again I find.
But now he comes in the bold bearing
Of our newest schools; spares nothing, nobody-
Dashing 'gainst all things, no bounds to his daring
Baccalaureus [storming along the passage]. Gateway free,
doors loose, locks broken,
Are a promise and a token
That the living, as of old here, 300
Shall not now like dead men moulder;
Pining, festering, putrefying,
Where to live itself is dying.
Walls are bending in and crumbling,
Tumble-down partitions tumbling;
Roof and joist will fall asunder,
Crushing everybody under.
Than myself of spirit few are
More courageous, with heart truer;
Yet the prospect is so cheerless 8310
As to force back the most fearless.
One step farther into danger
I'll not take for friend or stranger.
Very odd to-day the changes
Seem, as back my memory ranges,
When I was the fox" well hunted,
And with jibe and jeer affronted;
When the grey-beard old deceivers
Classed me with their true believers-
One who all their figments hollow 320
As the bread of life would swallow.
Lying rascals, dry and crusty,
Primed from their old parchments musty
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