FAUST.
| Come! Follow me! Beloved, be strong!
|
| I’ll love you with thousandfold passion;
|
4500
| only come with me! This is all I beg of you!
|
MARGARET
(
turning to him
)
.
| Is it really you? Are you quite certain?
|
FAUST.
MARGARET.
| You loose my chains;
|
| you hold me close to you again.
|
| Why is it that you don’t recoil from me?—
|
| Do you know, my friend, whom you set free?
|
FAUST.
| Come! Come! The night is almost done.
|
MARGARET.
| I killed my mother,
|
| drowned my child;
|
| was it not a gift for you and me?
|
4510
| For me and
you
. It’s you! I can scarce believe it.
|
| Give me your hand. No, it is no dream!
|
| Your dear hand!—Oh, but it is wet!
|
| Wipe it! I believe
|
| there’s blood on it.
|
| My God! What have you done!
|
| Put your sword away,
|
| I beg of you!
|
FAUST.
| Let the past be past.
|
| You are killing me!
|
MARGARET.
4520
| No, no! You must remain among the living.
|
| I will describe the graves for you.
|
| You must begin tomorrow
|
| to prepare them carefully.
|
| Give the best place to my mother,
|
| and lay my brother next to her;
|
| place me a little to one side—
|
| but not so very far away!
|
| And place my baby by my breast.
|
| No one else will lie beside me!
|
4530
| To nestle at your side, my love,
|
| that was a sweet and golden bliss!
|
| It is not granted to me anymore;
|
| I feel that I must force myself on you,
|
| that you are thrusting me from you.
|
| And yet it’s you; you seem so good and kind.
|
FAUST.
MARGARET.
FAUST.
MARGARET.
| If the grave is there,
|
| and death lurks there, then come!
|
4540
| From here to my eternal rest,
|
| and not another step—
|
| Must you go? Oh, Heinrich, could I go with you!
|
FAUST.
| You can! Only will it! The door stands open.
|
MARGARET.
| I dare not leave; for me there’s nothing more to hope.
|
| Why escape? I know they lie in wait for me.
|
| It’s misery to go begging,
|
| and with a guilty conscience too.
|
| It’s misery to wander where I am not at home,
|
| and in the end they’ll come to hunt me down.
|
FAUST.
4550
| I will stay with you.
|
MARGARET.
| Quickly! Quickly!
|
| Save your poor child.
|
| Go! Follow the trail
|
| that leads along the brook,
|
| over the bridge
|
| into the wood to the left
|
| where the plank is thrust
|
| into the pond.
|
| Grasp it! Be quick!
|
4560
| It wants to rise,
|
| it wriggles still!
|
| Save it! Save it!
|
FAUST.
| Collect your wits!
|
| One single step and you are free!
|
MARGARET.
| If we were only past the mountain!
|
| There my mother sits on a stone—
|
| icy claws have seized my hair!
|
| There my mother sits on a stone,
|
| her head is swaying to and fro.
|
4570
| She does not nod nor beckon me, her head is very heavy,
|
| she slept so long, she wakes no more.
|
| She slept, so we could be content.
|
| We had some happy hours!
|
FAUST.
| My words and pleadings are of no avail;
|
| I must carry you away from here.
|
MARGARET.
| Leave me! No! I will not be forced!
|
| Do not hold me in that murderous grip!
|
| There was nothing, once, I would not do for you.
|
FAUST.
| Dear love! My love! The day is dawning!
|
MARGARET.
4580
| The day. It’s coming, yes. The final day is breaking;
|
| it was meant to be my wedding day!
|
| Tell no one that you were in Gretchen’s room.
|
| My poor wreath!
|
| Now it has happened!
|
| We shall meet again,
|
| but not at the dance.
|
| The crowd is pressing—a silent crowd.
|
| The streets, the square,
|
| they cannot hold all the people.
|
4590
| The death bell tolls, the staff is broken.
|
| How they bind me and grip me!
|
| I am now transported to the block.
|
| The blade quivers over every neck
|
| as it quivers over mine.
|
| The world lies silent as the grave!
|
FAUST.
| Oh, if only I had not been born!
|
MEPHISTOPHELES
(
appears outside
)
.
| Off! Or else you’ll both be lost.
|
| Useless conversation! Dally and prate!
|
| My horses shudder;
|
4600
| the day has now begun.
|
MARGARET.
| What rises from the ground?
|
| He! He! Send him away!
|
| What does he want here in this holy place?
|
| He wants me!
|
FAUST.
MARGARET.
| Judgment of God! To Thee I surrender!
|
MEPHISTOPHELES
(
to
FAUST
).
| Come now! Come! Or I will desert you both.
|
MARGARET.
| Save me, Father! I am Thine!
|
| Angels! Sacred Hosts!
|
| Gather about and keep me!
|
4610
| Heinrich! I shudder to look at you.
|
MEPHISTOPHELES.
VOICE
(
from above
).
MEPHISTOPHELES
(
to
FAUST
).
| You come with me!
|
| (
He vanishes with
FAUST
.)
|
VOICE
(
from within, dying away
)
.
FAUST: GERMAN
ZUEIGNUNG
| IHR NAHT euch wieder, schwankende Gestalten,
|
| Diet früh sich einst dem trüben Blick gezeigt.
|
| Versuch’ ich wohl, euch diesmal festzuhalten?
|
| Fühl’ ich mein Herz noch jenem Wahn geneigt?
|
| Ihr drängt euch zu! nun gut, so mögt ihr walten,
|
| Wie ihr aus Dunst und Nebel um mich steigt;
|
| Mein Busen fühlt sich jugendlich erschüttert
|
| Vom Zauberhauch, der euren Zug umwittert.
|
| Ihr bringt mit euch die Bilder froher Tage,
|
10
| Und manche liebe Schatten steigen auf;
|
| Gleich einer alten, halbverklungnen Sage
|
| Kommt erste Lieb’ und Freundschaft mit herauf;
|
| Der Schmerz wird neu, es wiederholt die Klage
|
| Des Lebens labyrinthisch irren Lauf,
|
| Und nennt die Guten, die, um schöne Stunden
|
| Vom Glück getäuscht, vor mir hinweggeschwunden.
|
| Sie hören nicht die folgenden Gesänge,
|
| Die Seelen, denen ich die ersten sang;
|
| Zerstoben ist das freundliche Gedränge,
|
20
| Verklungen, ach! der erste Widerklang.
|
| Mein Leid ertönt der unbekannten Menge,
|
| Ihr Beifall selbst macht meinem Herzen bang,
|
| Und was sich sonst an meinem Lied erfreuet,
|
| Wenn es noch lebt, irrt in der Welt zerstreuet.
|
| Und mich ergreift ein längst entwöhntes Sehnen
|
| Nach jenem stillen, ernsten Geisterreich,
|
| Es schwebet nun in unbestimmten Tönen
|
| Mein lispelnd Lied, der Äolsharfe gleich,
|
| Ein Schauer faßt mich, Träne folgt den Tränen,
|
30
| Das strenge Herz, es fühlt sich mild und weich;
|
| Was ich besitze, seh’ ich wie im Weiten,
|
| Und was verschwand, wird mir zu Wirklichkeiten.
|
VORSPIEL AUF DEM THEATER
