Meph. [to the audience]. What long ago was done, is done here too. The tale of Naboth's vineyard is not new. 7% IV DEAD OF NIGHT Lynceus [the Warder, on his tower singing]. With quick powers of seeing, On the height of his watch-tower, I look on the near, On the moon and the bright stars, All that I look on Is lovely to see; I am happy, and all things Seem happy to me. Glad eyes look around ye, 1}} On earth or in air, Gaze where ye will, For still all things are fair! Other scenes than of delight -How the strong glow rends his way, 334 Bristling into fiercer light! Ha! the cottage in the trees, [Pause Where the heavy moss had grown Who, some years since, watched with such care 'Mid stifling smoke-clouds flames the flame. The leaves, and through the branchy sprays; Why hath this power of vision been The little lowly chapel roof Is breaking down: it is not proof What the eye so loved is vanished [Long pause. Song Faust [on the balcony toward the downs]. What a strange whimpering plaint from the watch-tower ! My warder wails it; would 'twere in my power Of the old lindens scarce some half-burned stem The new home of that stubborn strange old pair. They soon will learn to thank me and to praise 66 MEPHISTOPHELES AND THE THREE [below] Meph. We're here, full trot. I wish things had We knocked, we kicked; but not a bit 1339 We kicked and shook it all the more; And down came the old rotten door. They did not hear us-would not hear— This is, you know, the common trick: We had no loitering, no debate; We've done your work-cleared your estate. A stranger, who was for the night, By some chance, sleeping there, showed fight— The straw caught fire-some cinders lay The funeral death-pile of the three. Faust. Distraction! Would that you had been Your act was plunder, merciless, and worse- Chor. The old saying rings loud in my ear at this hour: Strive, heart and hand, in the service of Power, 42 Strive to the utmost, and risk in the strife *Life, honour, and wealth, you lose honour, wealth, V MIDNIGHT XFAUST on the balcony, looking towards the burning cottage Faust. The fading stars their glance and glow And, fanning it, a breeze blows cold, And smoke and mist toward me are rolled. Enter FOUR GREY WOMEN First. I am Want. Second. And I'm By men called Guilt-Debt-Crime. 343 Third. And I am Care. Distress, and Dire Necessity. And men call nie Misery, Three of Them. The door is barred and bolted hard, And we have no way to enter in. 'Tis a rich man's home to which we have come, And we have no wish to enter in. First. I fade into shadow. Second. I cease to be. Fourth. The spoiled child of Fortune will turn from me, Displeased at the presence of Misery. Stage director Care. Three. The clouds are thickening, the stars are sick- From beneath-fast and fast-from afar-from afar- See ye him? feel ye him? know ye him ?-Death._ SD Three going. And the odd talk of the three, {As they went hence, what could its meaning be? I caught some few strange murmurs-Care, and Crime, And Death-the burthen of their dreary rhyme. The hollow tones breathed an unearthly chill, [And through me yet they have not ceased to thrill. Were my path once but from this magic free, Forgotten all these words of sorcery, Stood I alone, O Nature, before thee ([Man, and but Man,] 'twere worth the trouble to be/346 A man. Such was I once, but I must grope And And dabble in the dark--must blot out hope*Must curse myself, and curse the world without. These phantoms everywhere now float about Through the thick air. Go where one will, one meets The same perplexities-the same deceits. If but one day seem tolerably bright, Wild dreams will come disquieting the night. DX By Superstition morn and eve beset, And never free from her entangling net ; & Care. The question is its own reply. Faust. Away with thee Care. To be. It is I. I'm where I have good right Faust [to himself-first angry, then recovering]. Take heed, and speak no spell to-night. 1348 Care. Heard not by the outward ear, In the heart I am a Fear, And from me is no escape. |