B00ARI2G5C EBOK (33 page)

With empty breath! There is no danger here, and if

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There were, it would be seen to be an idle threat.

[
Signals, explosions from the towers, trumpets and cornets, warlike music, a powerful army marching
through.]

FAUST. NO
! we shall stand, we shall not waver,

As these my heroes now shall show.

He alone merits woman’s favour

Who can defend her from the foe.

[
To the commanders, who step from the columns and present themselves to him
.]

You from the east, you from the north

In youthful strength, in vigorous flower:

Let your long silent rage burst forth

And bring you victory in this hour!

A steel-clad host, with glint of flame:

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Earth trembles where it treads the ground,

Kingdoms have crumbled where it came,

It marches to the thunder’s sound.

In ancient Pylos from the sea

We landed; Nestor ruled there once.

The petty lordships fell, as we

Warred on with wild unchecked advance.

Now Menelaus comes: drive him

Back to the waves without delay!

Let him pursue his fate, his whim,

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And go his wandering robber’s way.

As Sparta’s queen commands, I greet

You now as dukes; when you have laid

These vales and mountains at her feet

In princely kind you shall be paid.

Teuton, build ramparts on the shores

Of Corinth, and defend it well!

Achaia’s gorges shall be yours,

Bold Goth, all comers to repel.

Let Elis be the Frank’s to guard,

Let Saxons shield Messini, let

The sea-ways by the Norman’s sword

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Be cleansed, and Argolis made great.

Thus each shall reign in his demesne

And outwards make his power known:

But she shall rule you all, the Queen

Of Sparta, from her ancient throne.

Under her sway an age of gold

And plenty on this land shall fall;

She shall enlighten and uphold

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And bless with justice each and all.

[
FAUST
descends, the princes approach and surround him to hear his further orders and dispositions
.]

CHORUS
. He who desires the loveliest of women,

Let him above all wisely

Arm himself with redoubtable weapons.

For though he may have won by flattery

The earth’s supreme treasure,

He will never possess it in peace:

Subtle enemies will seek to entice her,

Bold robbers to snatch her away from him.

Let him take heed to prevent this loss.

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Therefore I praise our prince and esteem him

High above others: for bravely

And with foresight he forms alliances,

And the strong stand loyally round him,

Awaiting his lightest gesture.

They will faithfully hear his commands;

Each will be serving his own advantage

And rewarding his prince with gratitude;

Both will win high honour and fame.

For now who can carry her off

From her powerful possessor?

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To him she belongs, and may he have joy of her;

This we doubly wish him, for with her

He has surrounded us too with a sure wall

And outside it with a mighty army.

FAUST
. These fiefdoms which I here bestow—

To each a rich and thriving land—

Are great and splendid; let them go!

Here in the midst we take our stand;

These vying vassals shall make fast

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And sure our ambient realm the while—

So lightly linked and branched to Europe’s last

Great mountain-chain, our wave-lapped demi-isle!

Above all lands beneath the sun

May this land flourish evermore,

Which for my queen we now have won:

Where first Eurotas’ whispering shore

Looked up at her, when lovelier far

Than Leda and with eyes more bright

Than all her siblings, like a star

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She broke her shell to greet the light.

Lady, this land for you alone

Displays its beauty; the whole earth

Is yours, but this earth is your own:

Love this land more, which gave you birth!

The jagged summits on its mountain ridge

Suffer the sun’s cold arrows sharp and clear;

But rocks blush green with scanty pasturage

And nibbling goats can seek their nurture here.

The springs leap up, down gush the mingling rills,

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Ravines and slopes are verdant now, the grass

Covers in turn a hundred fields and hills

Where the wide-wandering fleecy flocks may pass.

Horned grazing cattle, scattered, warily

Pacing, approach the brink of the sheer fall;

But darkly arching in the cliffside, see!

A hundred caves are shelter for them all.

There Pan protects them, there they lie at ease

In the moist wooded clefts where life-nymphs dwell.

With upthrust branches the close-crowding trees

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Aspire to higher regions. Mark them well,

These ancient forests! Mighty oaks extrude

Their stubborn and anfractuous limbs; here too

The maple, heavy with sweet liquid food,

Plays with its burden, soaring straight and true.

Here in the quiet shade a lamb, a child,

Sucks warm maternal milk with eager lips;

Here in the plains the fruit grows ripe and wild,

And from the hollow tree-trunk honey drips.

Contentment is a birthright here,

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A smiling mouth, a cheek that glows;

Each is immortal in his sphere,

No sickness, no disquietude he knows;

And thus the children grow in this pure day

To fatherhood. We ask again

As in astonishment we gaze: are they

Not gods indeed, or are they men?

Apollo lived with shepherds so, and passed

For one, and all were beautiful:

For where the laws of purest Nature rule,

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All separate worlds unite at last.

[
He sits at her side
.]

See, this is ours now; let our quest be ended,

The past behind us and beyond recall.

Feel from the highest god yourself descended;

Feel yours uniquely this first land of all!

And I will guard you where no walls enclose:

A place for ever young, not far

From here, shall now surround our sweet repose;

Sparta’s near neighbourhood, Arcadia!

To this blest homeland, by Fate’s happy power

And my enticement, you shall flee.

These thrones become a leafy bower:

Let our joy be Arcadian and free!

[
The scene changes completely. Leafy arbours grow by the mouths of rocky caverns, a shady grove extends to the surrounding cliffs
.
FAUST
and
HELEN
are no longer seen. The maidens of the
CHORUS
are lying about asleep
.]

PHORCYAS
. How long these girls have been asleep I do not know;

Whether they could have dreamt what with my waking eyes

I have seen clear and plain, that too I cannot tell.

And so I’ll wake them. The young fools shall be amazed;

And so shall you, you greybeards, sitting there agog

To see our riddling spectacle resolve itself.

Come, girls! Come on now! Quickly, give your locks a shake,

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Shake sleep from your eyes, stop blinking, listen to what I say!

CHORUS
. We are listening, tell us quickly, tell us what strange thing has happened!

Preferably tell us something that’s so strange we can’t believe it;

For we all are bored to death here, sitting looking at these cliffs.

PHORCYAS
. Why, your eyes are scarcely open, children, and you’re bored already!

Hear me then: our lord and lady have found shelter and protection

In these caverns, in these grottoes, in these arbours; like a pair of

Lovers in a pastoral idyll.

CHORUS
. What, in there?

PHORCYAS
. And quite secluded

From the world. I was selected as their sole discreet attendant.

So I stood there, highly honoured, at their side; but, as was seemly,

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Looked elsewhere with eyes averted, turning this way, turning that way,

Seeking roots and barks and mosses, for I knew their magic virtues;

Thus our pair was left in peace.

CHORUS
. Why, you talk as if those caverns had whole world-wide spaces in them:

Forests, meadows, lakes and rivers; what unlikely tale is this?

PHORCYAS
. But of course, you ignorant creatures! They are depths no man has fathomed;

Many halls and many courtyards, which I subtly have explored.

But I suddenly heard laughter echoing in the hollow caverns:

And I looked, and from the woman’s lap a boy leapt to his father,

Then from him back to his mother; such caresses, such endearments,

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Such a babbling fond affection! Peals of laughter, squeals of pleasure,

Taking turns to deafen me.

He is naked, like an unwinged genius, faun-like but unbestial;

On the firm ground he is leaping, but the ground’s elastic pressure

Sends him springing, spinning skywards; two or three bounds, and already

He has touched the vaulted roof.

Anxiously his mother calls: Leap as you like, and go on leaping,

But beware of flying freely, you are not allowed to fly!

And his loving father warns him: In the earth lies the resilient

Power that drives you upwards; touch the soil, on tiptoe merely touch it,

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And like the earth’s son Antaeus you will grow at once in strength.

Thus he jumps about this solid cliff mass, from one rocky summit

To another and all round it: like a bouncing ball he jumps.

But a grim crevasse is gaping, and he suddenly is swallowed,

And we fear him lost. His father comforts his lamenting mother;

I stand by, nonplussed and anxious. But he reappears in glory!

Are there treasures in the abysses? Now his garments are like flowers,

He is robed in dignity.

From his arms hang tassels tossing, round his bosom ribbons flutter,

In his hand he holds the golden lyre; just like a young Apollo,

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He steps blithely to the cliff edge, to the precipice; amazement

Seizes us, the enraptured parents fall into each other’s arms.

For about his head is brightness, a mysterious light, we cannot

Tell if it is gold, or flames of mighty spiritual power.

Thus he moves, and thus his gestures prophesy this boy the future

Master-maker of all beauty, through whose limbs the everlasting

Music is already flowing. Thus it is you all shall hear him,

And shall see him; there has never been so great a miracle.

CHORUS
. Tell us, daughter of Crete,
*

Is this so wondrous?

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Have you perhaps not listened

To the instructive voice of poetry,

Never yet heard the ancient

Ancestral legends of Ionia

Or of Hellas, with their rich treasure

Of god-lore and lore of heroes?

All that ever is done

Nowadays is no

More than a wretched echo

Of the more glorious age of our forebears.

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How can your tale compare with

The song that a charming fiction,

Less incredible than truth, sang of

Young Hermes,
*
the son of Maia?

Strong already though only just born,

This tiny infant was wound in

Cleanest, softest of swaddling-bands,

Tied up firmly in sumptuous

Wrappings by chattering nurses who

Thought they knew their business.

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But the young rogue, being tiny but strong,

Very soon had most cunningly freed

His elastic and supple limbs,

Calmly discarding the royal purple

Integument which so anxiously

Had constricted them. Thus the full-grown

Butterfly nimbly escapes, with its wings

Spread wide, from the rigid prison

Of its chrysalis, boldly,

Wantonly fluttering ever higher

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Into the ethereal sunlight.

So too Hermes was nimblest of all

And best fitted to be patron—

Sprite for ever of thieves and rogues

And all seekers of fortune.

This he at once made clear by the

Artfullest of exploits.

Quickly he stole the trident of the lord

Of the sea, and the war-god’s sword

He soon slyly filched from its sheath;

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Likewise Apollo’s bow and arrows,

As well as the tongs of the fire-god.

Even the thunderbolt of his father

Zeus he’d have taken, but dreaded its flame.

Yet he tripped and defeated Eros

When they wrestled, and for good

Measure he snatched Aphrodite’s girdle

From her lap as she caressed him.

[
A delightful melody on stringed intruments is heard from the cave. All pay attention, and soon seem deeply moved by it. From this point until the pause noted below, the words are continuously accompanied by fully harmonized music
.]

PHORCYAS
. Hear these charming sounds, and let them

Free you from this foolish lore!

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Your old gods, you must forget them

Now, for they are gods no more.

Modern ears are closed to fables,

We demand superior art: