Laurel · Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · Faust, Part One

Night

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), translated by Bayard Taylor · 1870

iambic tetrameter · 456 lines · from Faust, Part One

I’ve studied now PhilosophyAnd Jurisprudence, Medicine,—And even, alas! Theology,—From end to end, with labor keen;And here, poor fool! with all my loreI stand, no wiser than before:I’m Magister—yea, Doctor—hight,And straight or cross-wise, wrong or right,These ten years long, with many woes,I’ve led my scholars by the nose,—And see, that nothing can be known!That knowledge cuts me to the bone.I’m cleverer, true, than those fops of teachers,Doctors and Magisters, Scribes and Preachers;Neither scruples nor doubts come now to smite me,Nor Hell nor Devil can longer affright me.

For this, all pleasure am I foregoing;I do not pretend to aught worth knowing,I do not pretend I could be a teacherTo help or convert a fellow-creature.Then, too, I’ve neither lands nor gold,Nor the world’s least pomp or honor hold—No dog would endure such a curst existence!Wherefore, from Magic I seek assistance,That many a secret perchance I reachThrough spirit-power and spirit-speech,And thus the bitter task foregoOf saying the things I do not know,—That I may detect the inmost forceWhich binds the world, and guides its course;Its germs, productive powers explore,And rummage in empty words no more!

O full and splendid Moon, whom IHave, from this desk, seen climb the skySo many a midnight,—would thy glowFor the last time beheld my woe!Ever thine eye, most mournful friend,O’er books and papers saw me bend;But would that I, on mountains grand,Amid thy blessed light could stand,With spirits through mountain-caverns hover,Float in thy twilight the meadows over,And, freed from the fumes of lore that swathe me,To health in thy dewy fountains bathe me!

Ah, me! this dungeon still I see.This drear, accursed masonry,Where even the welcome daylight strainsBut duskly through the painted panes.Hemmed in by many a toppling heapOf books worm-eaten, gray with dust,Which to the vaulted ceiling creep,Against the smoky paper thrust,—With glasses, boxes, round me stacked,And instruments together hurled,Ancestral lumber, stuffed and packed—Such is my world: and what a world!

And do I ask, wherefore my heartFalters, oppressed with unknown needs?Why some inexplicable smartAll movement of my life impedes?Alas! in living Nature’s stead,Where God His human creature set,In smoke and mould the fleshless deadAnd bones of beasts surround me yet!

Fly! Up, and seek the broad, free land!And this one Book of MysteryFrom Nostradamus’ very hand,Is’t not sufficient company?When I the starry courses know,And Nature’s wise instruction seek,With light of power my soul shall glow,As when to spirits spirits speak.Tis vain, this empty brooding here,Though guessed the holy symbols be:Ye, Spirits, come—ye hover near—Oh, if you hear me, answer me!

Ha! what a sudden rapture leaps from thisI view, through all my senses swiftly flowing!I feel a youthful, holy, vital blissIn every vein and fibre newly glowing.Was it a God, who traced this sign,With calm across my tumult stealing,My troubled heart to joy unsealing,With impulse, mystic and divine,The powers of Nature here, around my path, revealing?Am I a God?—so clear mine eyes!In these pure features I beholdCreative Nature to my soul unfold.What says the sage, now first I recognize:“The spirit-world no closures fasten;Thy sense is shut, thy heart is dead:Disciple, up! untiring, hastenTo bathe thy breast in morning-red!”

How each the Whole its substance gives,Each in the other works and lives!Like heavenly forces rising and descending,Their golden urns reciprocally lending,With wings that winnow blessingFrom Heaven through Earth I see them pressing,Filling the All with harmony unceasing!How grand a show! but, ah! a show alone.Thee, boundless Nature, how make thee my own?Where you, ye beasts? Founts of all Being, shining,Whereon hang Heaven’s and Earth’s desire,Whereto our withered hearts aspire,—Ye flow, ye feed: and am I vainly pining?

(He turns the leaves impatiently, and perceives the sign of theEarth-Spirit.)

How otherwise upon me works this sign!Thou, Spirit of the Earth, art nearer:Even now my powers are loftier, clearer;I glow, as drunk with new-made wine:New strength and heart to meet the world incite me,The woe of earth, the bliss of earth, invite me,And though the shock of storms may smite me,No crash of shipwreck shall have power to fright me!Clouds gather over me—The moon conceals her light—The lamp’s extinguished!—Mists rise,—red, angry rays are dartingAround my head!—There fallsA horror from the vaulted roof,And seizes me!I feel thy presence, Spirit I invoke!Reveal thyself!Ha! in my heart what rending stroke!With new impulsionMy senses heave in this convulsion!I feel thee draw my heart, absorb, exhaust me:Thou must! thou must! and though my life it cost me!

Me hast thou long with might attracted,Long from my sphere thy food exacted,And now—

To view me is thine aspiration,My voice to hear, my countenance to see;Thy powerful yearning moveth me,Here am I!—what mean perturbationThee, superhuman, shakes? Thy soul’s high calling, where?Where is the breast, which from itself a world did bear,And shaped and cherished—which with joy expanded,To be our peer, with us, the Spirits, banded?Where art thou, Faust, whose voice has pierced to me,Who towards me pressed with all thine energy?He art thou, who, my presence breathing, seeing,Trembles through all the depths of being,A writhing worm, a terror-stricken form?

Thee, form of flame, shall I then fear?Yes, I am Faust: I am thy peer!

In the tides of Life, in Action’s storm,A fluctuant wave,A shuttle free,Birth and the Grave,An eternal sea,A weaving, flowingLife, all-glowing,Thus at Time’s humming loom ’tis my hand preparesThe garment of Life which the Deity wears!

Thou, who around the wide world wendest,Thou busy Spirit, how near I feel to thee!

Thou’rt like the Spirit which thou comprehendest,Not me!

Not thee!Whom then?I, image of the Godhead!Not even like thee!

O Death!—I know it—’tis my Famulus!My fairest luck finds no fruition:In all the fullness of my visionThe soulless sneak disturbs me thus!

Pardon, I heard your declamation;’Twas sure an old Greek tragedy you read?In such an art I crave some preparation,Since now it stands one in good stead.I’ve often heard it said, a preacherMight learn, with a comedian for a teacher.

Yes, when the priest comedian is by nature,As haply now and then the case may be.

Ah, when one studies thus, a prisoned creature,That scarce the world on holidays can see,—Scarce through a glass, by rare occasion,How shall one lead it by persuasion?

You’ll ne’er attain it, save you know the feeling,Save from the soul it rises clear,Serene in primal strength, compellingThe hearts and minds of all who hear.You sit forever gluing, patching;You cook the scraps from others’ fare;And from your heap of ashes hatchingA starveling flame, ye blow it bare!Take children’s, monkeys’ gaze admiring,If such your taste, and be content;But ne’er from heart to heart you’ll speak inspiring,Save your own heart is eloquent!

Yet through delivery orators succeed;I feel that I am far behind, indeed.

Seek thou the honest recompense!Beware, a tinkling fool to be!With little art, clear wit and senseSuggest their own delivery;And if thou’rt moved to speak in earnest,What need, that after words thou yearnest?Yes, your discourses, with their glittering show,Where ye for men twist shredded thought like paper,Are unrefreshing as the winds that blowThe rustling leaves through chill autumnal vapor!

Ah, God! but Art is long,And Life, alas! is fleeting.And oft, with zeal my critic-duties meeting,In head and breast there’s something wrong.

How hard it is to compass the assistanceWhereby one rises to the source!And, haply, ere one travels half the courseMust the poor devil quit existence.

Is parchment, then, the holy fount before thee,A draught wherefrom thy thirst forever slakes?No true refreshment can restore thee,Save what from thine own soul spontaneous breaks.

Pardon! a great delight is grantedWhen, in the spirit of the ages planted,We mark how, ere our times, a sage has thought,And then, how far his work, and grandly, we have brought.

O yes, up to the stars at last!Listen, my friend: the ages that are pastAre now a book with seven seals protected:What you the Spirit of the Ages callIs nothing but the spirit of you all,Wherein the Ages are reflected.So, oftentimes, you miserably mar it!At the first glance who sees it runs away.An offal-barrel and a lumber-garret,Or, at the best, a Punch-and-Judy play,With maxims most pragmatical and hitting,As in the mouths of puppets are befitting!

But then, the world—the human heart and brain!Of these one covets some slight apprehension.

Yes, of the kind which men attain!Who dares the child’s true name in public mention?The few, who thereof something really learned,Unwisely frank, with hearts that spurned concealing,And to the mob laid bare each thought and feeling,Have evermore been crucified and burned.I pray you, Friend, ’tis now the dead of night;Our converse here must be suspended.

I would have shared your watches with delight,That so our learned talk might be extended.To-morrow, though, I’ll ask, in Easter leisure,This and the other question, at your pleasure.Most zealously I seek for erudition:Much do I know—but to know all is my ambition.

That brain, alone, not loses hope, whose choice isTo stick in shallow trash forevermore,—Which digs with eager hand for buried ore,And, when it finds an angle-worm, rejoices!

Dare such a human voice disturb the flow,Around me here, of spirit-presence fullest?And yet, this once my thanks I oweTo thee, of all earth’s sons the poorest, dullest!For thou hast torn me from that desperate stateWhich threatened soon to overwhelm my senses:The apparition was so giant-great,It dwarfed and withered all my soul’s pretences!

I, image of the Godhead, who began—Deeming Eternal Truth secure in nearness—To sun myself in heavenly light and clearness,And laid aside the earthly man;—I, more than Cherub, whose free force had plannedTo flow through Nature’s veins in glad pulsation,To reach beyond, enjoying in creationThe life of Gods, behold my expiation!A thunder-word hath swept me from my stand.27

With thee I dare not venture to compare me.Though I possessed the power to draw thee near me,The power to keep thee was denied my hand.When that ecstatic moment held me,I felt myself so small, so great;But thou hast ruthlessly repelled meBack upon Man’s uncertain fate.What shall I shun? Whose guidance borrow?Shall I accept that stress and strife?Ah! every deed of ours, no less than every sorrow,Impedes the onward march of life.

Some alien substance more and more is cleavingTo all the mind conceives of grand and fair;When this world’s Good is won by our achieving,The Better, then, is named a cheat and snare.The fine emotions, whence our lives we mould,Lie in the earthly tumult dumb and cold.If hopeful Fancy once, in daring flight,Her longings to the Infinite expanded,Yet now a narrow space contents her quite,Since Time’s wild wave so many a fortune stranded.Care at the bottom of the heart is lurking:Her secret pangs in silence working,She, restless, rocks herself, disturbing joy and rest:In newer masks her face is ever drest,By turns as house and land, as wife and child, presented,—As water, fire, as poison, steel:We dread the blows we never feel,And what we never lose is yet by us lamented!

I am not like the Gods! That truth is felt too deep:The worm am I, that in the dust doth creep,—That, while in dust it lives and seeks its bread,Is crushed and buried by the wanderer’s tread.

Is not this dust, these walls within them hold,The hundred shelves, which cramp and chain me,The frippery, the trinkets thousandfold,That in this mothy den restrain me?Here shall I find the help I need?Shall here a thousand volumes teach me onlyThat men, self-tortured, everywhere must bleed,—And here and there one happy man sits lonely?28What mean’st thou by that grin, thou hollow skull,Save that thy brain, like mine, a cloudy mirror,Sought once the shining day, and then, in twilight dull,29Thirsting for Truth, went wretchedly to Error?Ye instruments, forsooth, but jeer at meWith wheel and cog, and shapes uncouth of wonder;I found the portal, you the keys should be;Your wards are deftly wrought, but drive no bolts asunder!Mysterious even in open day,Nature retains her veil, despite our clamors:That which she doth not willingly displayCannot be wrenched from her with levers, screws, and hammers.Ye ancient tools, whose use I never knew,Here, since my father used ye, still ye moulder:Thou, ancient scroll, hast worn thy smoky hueSince at this desk the dim lamp wont to smoulder.’T were better far, had I my little idly spent,Than now to sweat beneath its burden, I confess it!What from your fathers’ heritage is lent,Earn it anew, to really possess it!30What serves not, is a sore impediment:The Moment’s need creates the thing to serve and bless it!

Yet, wherefore tums my gaze to yonder point so lightly?Is yonder flask a magnet for mine eyes?Whence, all around me, glows the air so brightly,As when in woods at night the mellow moonbeam lies?

I hail thee, wondrous, rarest vial!I take thee down devoutly, for the trial:Man’s art and wit I venerate in thee.Thou summary of gentle slumber-juices,Essence of deadly finest powers and uses,Unto thy master show thy favor free!I see thee, and the stings of pain diminish;I grasp thee, and my struggles slowly finish:My spirit’s flood-tide ebbeth more and more.Out on the open ocean speeds my dreaming;The glassy flood before my feet is gleaming,A new day beckons to a newer shore!

A fiery chariot, borne on buoyant pinions,Sweeps near me now! I soon shall ready beTo pierce the ether’s high, unknown dominions,To reach new spheres of pure activity!This godlike rapture, this supreme existence,Do I, but now a worm, deserve to track?Yes, resolute to reach some brighter distance,On Earth’s fair sun I turn my back 31Yes, let me dare those gates to fling asunder,Which every man would fain go slinking by!’T is time, through deeds this word of truth to thunder:That with the height of Gods Man’s dignity may vie!Nor from that gloomy gulf to shrink affrighted,Where Fancy doth herself to self-born pangs compel,—To struggle toward that pass benighted,Around whose narrow mouth flame all the fires of Hell,—To take this step with cheerful resolution,Though Nothingness should be the certain, swift conclusion!And now come down, thou cup of crystal clearest!Fresh from thine ancient cover thou appearest,So many years forgotten to my thought!Thou shon’st at old ancestral banquets cheery,The solemn guests thou madest merry,When one thy wassail to the other brought.The rich and skilful figures o’er thee wrought,The drinker’s duty, rhyme-wise to explain them,Or in one breath below the mark to drain them,From many a night of youth my memory caught.Now to a neighbor shall I pass thee never,Nor on thy curious art to test my wit endeavor,Here is a juice whence sleep is swiftly born.It fills with browner flood thy crystal hollow;I chose, prepared it: thus I follow,—With all my soul the final drink I swallow,A solemn festal cup, a greeting to the morn!(Chime of bells and choral song.)

Christ is arisen!Joy to the Mortal One,Whom the unmerited,Clinging, inheritedNeeds did imprison.

What hollow humming, what a sharp, clear stroke,Drives from my lip the goblet’s, at their meeting?Announce the booming bells already wokeThe first glad hour of Easter’s festal greeting?Ye choirs, have ye begun the sweet, consoling chant,Which, through the night of Death, the angels ministrantSang, God’s new Covenant repeating?

With spices and preciousBalm, we arrayed him;Faithful and gracious,We tenderly laid him:Linen to bind himCleanlily wound we:Ah! when we would find him,Christ no more found we!

Christ is ascended!Bliss hath invested him,—Woes that molested him,Trials that tested him,Gloriously ended!

Why, here in dust, entice me with your spell,Ye gentle, powerful sounds of Heaven?Peal rather there, where tender natures dwell.Your messages I hear, but faith has not been given;The dearest child of Faith is Miracle.I venture not to soar to yonder regionsWhence the glad tidings hither float;And yet, from childhood up familiar with the note,To Life it now renews the old allegiance.Once Heavenly Love sent down a burning kissUpon my brow, in Sabbath silence holy;And, filled with mystic presage, chimed the church-bell slowly,And prayer dissolved me in a fervent bliss.A sweet, uncomprehended yearningDrove forth my feet through woods and meadows free,And while a thousand tears were burning,I felt a world arise for me.These chants, to youth and all its sports appealing,Proclaimed the Spring’s rejoicing holiday;And Memory holds me now, with childish feeling,Back from the last, the solemn way.Sound on, ye hymns of Heaven, so sweet and mild!My tears gush forth: the Earth takes back her child!

Has He, victoriously,Burst from the vaultedGrave, and all-gloriouslyNow sits exalted?Is He, in glow of birth,Rapture creative near?Ah! to the woe of earthStill are we native here.We, his aspiringFollowers, Him we miss;Weeping, desiring,Master, Thy bliss!

Christ is arisen,Out of Corruption’s womb:Burst ye the prison,Break from your gloom!Praising and pleading him,Lovingly needing him,Brotherly feeding him,Preaching and speeding him,Blessing, succeeding Him,Thus is the Master near,—Thus is He here!

Words in this poem 89

magister n.: Master; sir; -- a title of the Middle Ages, given to a person in authority, or to one having a license from a university to teach philosophy and the liberal arts. [L. See Master.]
hight v. t.: To be called or named. [OE. heiten, highten, haten, hoten; also hight, hatte, hette, is called, was called, AS. hatan to call, name, be called, to command, promise; also hatte is calle]
aught n.: Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
curst a.: Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
wherefore adv.: For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
forego v. t.: To quit; to relinquish; to leave. [See Forgo.]
inmost a.: Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
explore v. t.: To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
rummage n.: A place or room for the stowage of cargo in a ship; also, the act of stowing cargo; the pulling and moving about of packages incident to close stowage; -- formerly written romage. [For roomage, fr. room; hence originally, a making room, a packing away closely. See Room.]
amid prep.: In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
hover n.: A cover; a shelter; a protection. Carew. C. Kingsley. [Etymol. doubtful.]
dungeon n.: A close, dark prison, commondonjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons. [OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a]
drear n.: Sadness; dismalness.
daylight n.: The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
needs adv.: Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
mould n.: Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
fleshless a.: Destitute of flesh; lean. Carlyle.
starry a.: Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
shall v. i.: To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
fibre n.: One of the delicate, threadlike portions of which the tissues of plants and animals are in part constituted; as, the fiber of flax or of muscle. [F. fibre, L. fibra.]
whereon adv.: On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
whereto adv.: To which; -- used relatively.
aspire v. t.: To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
impatiently adv.: In an impatient manner.
clearer n.: One who, or that which, clears.
angry a.: Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
impulsion n.: The act of impelling or driving onward, or the state of being impelled; the sudden or momentary agency of a body in motion on another body; also, the impelling force, or impulse. [L. impulsio: cf. F. impulsion. See Impel.]
convulsion n.: An unnatural, violent, and unvoluntary contraction of the muscular parts of an animal body. [L. convulsio: cf. F. convulsion.]
hast: , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
aspiration n.: The act of aspirating; the pronunciation of a letter with a full or strong emission of breath; an aspirated sound. [L. aspiratio, fr. aspirare: cf. F. aspiration.]
fluctuant a.: Moving like a wave; wavering; (Med.) [L. fluctuans, p.pr. of fluctuare. See Fluctuate.]
fruition n.: Use or possession of anything, especially such as is accompanied with pleasure or satisfaction; pleasure derived from possession or use. [OF. fruition, L. fruitio, enjoyment, fr. L. frui, p. p. fruitus, to use or enjoy. See Fruit, n.]
soulless a.: Being without a soul, or without greatness or nobleness of mind; mean; spiritless.
crave v. t.: To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
comedian n.: An actor or player in comedy. [Cf. F. comédien.]
haply adv.: By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
scarce a.: Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
primal a.: First; primary; original; chief. [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]
starveling n.: One who, or that which, pines from lack or food, or nutriment. [Starve + -ling.]
admiring a.: Expressing admiration; as, an admiring glance.
beware v. t.: To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
grandly adv.: In a grand manner.
oftentimes adv.: Frequently; often; many times. [Often + time. Cf. -wards.]
miserably adv.: In a miserable; unhappily; calamitously; wretchedly; meanly.
pragmatical a.: Of or pertaining to business or to affairs; of the nature of business; practical; material; businesslike in habit or manner. [L. pragmaticus busy, active, skilled in business, especially in law and state affairs, systematic, Gr. pragmatique. See Practical.]
unwisely adv.: In an unwise manner; foolishly. [AS. unwislice.]
evermore adv.: During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
desperate a.: Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
cherub n.: A mysterious composite being, the winged footstool and chariot of the Almighty, described in Ezekiel i. and x. [Heb. kerub.]
borrow v. t.: To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
strife n.: The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
hopeful a.: Full of hope, or agreeable expectation; inclined to hope; expectant.
lamented a.: Mourned for; bewailed.
frippery n.: Coast-off clothes. B. Jonson. [F. friperie, fr. fruper. See Fripper.]
thousandfold a.: Multiplied by a thousand.
mothy a.: Infested with moths; moth-eaten.
grin n.: A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
wretchedly adv.: In a wretched manner; miserably; despicable.
forsooth v. t.: To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
deftly adv.: Aptly; fitly; dexterously; neatly. [Cf. Defly.]
willingly adv.: In a willing manner; with free will; without reluctance; cheerfully.
moulder n.: One who, or that which, molds or forms into shape; specifically (Founding), one skilled in the art of making molds for castings.
smoulder v. t.: To smother; to suffocate; to choke. Holinshed.
heritage a.: That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
yonder adv.: At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
moonbeam n.: A ray of light from the moon.
wondrous adv.: In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
devoutly adv.: In a devout and reverent manner; with devout emotions; piously.
venerate v. t.: To regard with reverential respect; to honor with mingled respect and awe; to reverence; to revere; as, we venerate parents and elders. [L. veneratus, p. p. of venerari to venerate; akin to Venus Venus, Skr. van to like, to wish, and E. winsome. See Winsome.]
fain v. t.: To be glad ; to wish or desire.
curious a.: Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
festal a.: Of or pertaining to a holiday or a feast; joyous; festive. [L. festum holiday, feast. See feast.]
morn n.: The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
chime n.: The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
choral a.: Of or pertaining to a choir or chorus; singing, sung, or adapted to be sung, in chorus or harmony. Choral service, a service of song. [LL. choralis, fr. L. chorus. See Chorus.]
consoling a.: Adapted to console or comfort; cheering; as, this is consoling news.
ministrant a.: Performing service as a minister; attendant on service; acting under command; subordinate. [L. ministrans, -antis, of ministrare to minister.]
tenderly adv.: In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
cleanlily adv.: In a cleanly manner.
peal v. i.: To appeal. Spencer.
dwell v. i.: To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
childhood n.: The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
fervent a.: Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
drove n.: A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
appealing a.: That appeals; imploring.
aspiring a.: That aspires; as, an Aspiring mind.
womb n.: The belly; the abdomen. [OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. v&mb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba.]
lovingly adv.: With love; affectionately.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Night is in the public domain. This text is taken from Faust, Part One, Project Gutenberg ebook #14591, the Bayard Taylor translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Night, in Faust, Part One (1870), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14591, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/goethe-faust/night.html, id L14385.

Form and metre

Night is 456 lines in 49 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 173 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic tetrameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 -A-ABBCCDDEEFFGG philosophy · medicine^A · theology · keen^A · lore^B · before^B · hight^C · right^C · woes^D · nose^D · known^E · bone^E · teachers^F · preachers^F · me^G · me^G
2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH foregoing^A · knowing^A · teacher^B · creature^B · gold^C · hold^C · existence^D · assistance^D · reach^E · speech^E · forego^F · know^F · force^G · course^G · explore^H · more^H
3 AABBCCDD--EE i^A · sky^A · glow^B · woe^B · friend^C · bend^C · grand^D · stand^D · hover · over · me^E · me^E
4 --AABCBCDEDE see · masonry · strains^A · panes^A · heap^B · dust^C · creep^B · thrust^C · stacked^D · hurled^E · packed^D · world^E
5 ABABCDCD heart^A · needs^B · smart^A · impedes^B · stead^C · set^D · dead^C · yet^D
6 A-A-BCBCDEDE land^A · mystery · hand^A · company · know^B · seek^C · glow^B · speak^C · here^D · be^E · near^D · me^E
7 ABABCDDCDEFFE-G-G this^A · flowing^B · bliss^A · glowing^B · sign^C · stealing^D · unsealing^D · divine^C · revealing^D · eyes^E · behold^F · unfold^F · recognize^E · fasten · dead^G · hasten · red^G
8 AABBCC-DDE--E gives^A · lives^A · descending^B · lending^B · blessing^C · pressing^C · unceasing · alone^D · own^D · shining^E · desire · aspire · pining^E
10 ABBACCCCC-----CD-DEECC sign^A · nearer^B · clearer^B · wine^A · me^C · me^C · me^C · me^C · me^C · light · extinguished · darting · falls · roof · me^C · invoke^D · thyself · stroke^D · impulsion^E · convulsion^E · me^C · me^C
12 ABBACCDDB-EE- aspiration^A · see^B · me^B · perturbation^A · where^C · bear^C · expanded^D · banded^D · me^B · energy · seeing^E · being^E · form
13 AA fear^A · peer^A
14 -ABABCCDD storm · wave^A · free^B · grave^A · sea^B · flowing^C · glowing^C · prepares^D · wears^D
17 A--A thee^A · then · godhead · thee^A
19 ABABCC declamation^A · read^B · preparation^A · stead^B · preacher^C · teacher^C
21 --AA creature · see · occasion^A · persuasion^A
22 -A-ABCBCD-D- feeling · clear^A · compelling · hear^A · patching^B · fare^C · hatching^B · bare^C · admiring^D · content · inspiring^D · eloquent
23 AA succeed^A · indeed^A
24 A-A-BBCDCD recompense^A · be · sense^A · delivery · earnest^B · yearnest^B · show^C · paper^D · blow^C · vapor^D
25 ABBA long^A · fleeting^B · meeting^B · wrong^A
26 ABBA assistance^A · source^B · course^B · existence^A
27 ABAB thee^A · slakes^B · thee^A · breaks^B
28 AABB granted^A · planted^A · thought^B · brought^B
29 AABCCBDEDEFF last^A · past^A · protected^B · call^C · all^C · reflected^B · it^D · away^E · garret^D · play^E · hitting^F · befitting^F
30 AA brain^A · apprehension^A
31 AABCCB-- attain^A · mention^A · learned^B · concealing^C · feeling^C · burned^B · night · suspended
32 --AABB delight · extended · leisure^A · pleasure^A · erudition^B · ambition^B
33 ABBA is^A · forevermore^B · ore^B · rejoices^A
34 A-A-B-B- flow^A · fullest · owe^A · dullest · state^B · senses · great^B · pretences
35 ABBACDDDC began^A · nearness^B · clearness^B · man^A · planned^C · pulsation^D · creation^D · expiation^D · stand.27^C
36 AA-ABAB-C-C me^A · me^A · hand · me^A · great^B · me^A · fate^B · borrow · strife^C · sorrow · life^C
37 ABABCCDEDEFFGG-HH- cleaving^A · fair^B · achieving^A · snare^B · mould^C · cold^C · flight^D · expanded^E · quite^D · stranded^E · lurking^F · working^F · rest^G · drest^G · presented · steel^H · feel^H · lamented
38 AABB deep^A · creep^A · bread^B · tread^B
39 ABABCDCDE-E-BFBFGHGHIJIJKLKLKL hold^A · me^B · thousandfold^A · me^B · need^C · only^D · bleed^C · lonely?28^D · skull^E · mirror · dull,29^E · error · me^B · wonder^F · be^B · asunder^F · day^G · clamors^H · display^G · hammers^H · knew^I · moulder^J · hue^I · smoulder^J · spent^K · it^L · lent^K · it!30^L · impediment^K · it^L
40 ABAB lightly^A · eyes^B · brightly^A · lies^B
41 AABCCBDDEFFE vial^A · trial^A · thee^B · juices^C · uses^C · free^B · diminish^D · finish^D · more^E · dreaming^F · gleaming^F · shore^E
42 A-A-B-B-CDCDEFEF--GGH--HH---IIJKKKJ- pinions^A · be · dominions^A · activity · existence^B · track · distance^B · — · asunder^C · by^D · thunder^C · vie^D · affrighted^E · compel^F · benighted^E · hell^F · resolution · conclusion · clearest^G · appearest^G · thought^H · cheery · merry · brought^H · wrought^H · them · them · caught · never^I · endeavor^I · born^J · hollow^K · follow^K · swallow^K · morn^J · song
43 AABBA arisen^A · one^A · unmerited^B · inherited^B · imprison^A
44 ABABCCB stroke^A · meeting^B · woke^A · greeting^B · chant^C · ministrant^C · repeating^B
45 -A-AABAB precious · him^A · gracious · him^A · him^A · we^B · him^A · we^B
46 ABBBA ascended^A · him^B · him^B · him^B · ended^A
47 A-A-A-BB-CDDCEFEFGHGHII spell^A · heaven · dwell^A · given · miracle^A · regions · float^B · note^B · allegiance · kiss^C · holy^D · slowly^D · bliss^C · yearning^E · free^F · burning^E · me^F · appealing^G · holiday^H · feeling^G · way^H · mild^I · child^I
48 -A-ABCBC-D-D victoriously · vaulted^A · gloriously · exalted^A · birth^B · near^C · earth^B · here^C · aspiring · miss^D · desiring · bliss^D
49 ABABCCCCCDD arisen^A · womb^B · prison^A · gloom^B · him^C · him^C · him^C · him^C · him^C · near^D · here^D

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
I’ve studied now Philosophy	8	·/˘·˘/˘˘
And Jurisprudence, Medicine,—	8	··˘/˘/˘˘
And even, alas! Theology,—	9	·/˘˘/˘/˘˘
From end to end, with labor keen;	8	·····/˘·
And here, poor fool! with all my lore	8	········
I stand, no wiser than before:	8	···/˘···
I’m Magister—yea, Doctor—hight,	8	·˘/˘·/˘·
And straight or cross-wise, wrong or right,	8	········
These ten years long, with many woes,	8	·····/˘·
I’ve led my scholars by the nose,—	8	···/˘···
And see, that nothing can be known!	8	···/˘···
That knowledge cuts me to the bone.	8	·/˘·····
I’m cleverer, true, than those fops of teachers,	11	·········/˘
Doctors and Magisters, Scribes and Preachers;	10	/˘······/˘
Neither scruples nor doubts come now to smite me,	11	/˘/˘·······
Nor Hell nor Devil can longer affright me.	10	···/·/˘˘/·
For this, all pleasure am I foregoing;	10	···/˘··˘/˘
I do not pretend to aught worth knowing,	9	···˘/···/
I do not pretend I could be a teacher	11	···˘/····/˘
To help or convert a fellow-creature.	10	···˘/·/˘/˘
Then, too, I’ve neither lands nor gold,	8	···/˘···
Nor the world’s least pomp or honor hold—	9	······/˘·
No dog would endure such a curst existence!	11	···˘/···˘/˘
Wherefore, from Magic I seek assistance,	10	/˘·/˘··˘/˘
That many a secret perchance I reach	9	·/·/˘˘/··
Through spirit-power and spirit-speech,	8	·//˘·/˘·
And thus the bitter task forego	8	···/˘·˘/
Of saying the things I do not know,—	9	·/˘······
That I may detect the inmost force	9	···˘/·/˘·
Which binds the world, and guides its course;	8	········
Its germs, productive powers explore,	8	··˘/˘/˘/
And rummage in empty words no more!	9	·/˘·/˘···
O full and splendid Moon, whom I	8	···/˘···
Have, from this desk, seen climb the sky	8	········
So many a midnight,—would thy glow	8	·/·/····
For the last time beheld my woe!	8	····˘/··
Ever thine eye, most mournful friend,	8	/˘···/˘·
O’er books and papers saw me bend;	8	···/˘···
But would that I, on mountains grand,	8	·····/˘·
Amid thy blessed light could stand,	8	˘/··˘···
With spirits through mountain-caverns hover,	10	·/˘·/˘/˘/˘
Float in thy twilight the meadows over,	9	···/··/··
And, freed from the fumes of lore that swathe me,	10	··········
To health in thy dewy fountains bathe me!	10	····/˘/˘··
Ah, me! this dungeon still I see.	8	···/˘···
This drear, accursed masonry,	8	····˘/˘˘
Where even the welcome daylight strains	8	·/·/˘/··
But duskly through the painted panes.	8	·····/˘·
Hemmed in by many a toppling heap	8	···/·/˘·
Of books worm-eaten, gray with dust,	8	···/˘···
Which to the vaulted ceiling creep,	8	···/˘/˘·
Against the smoky paper thrust,—	8	···/˘/˘·
With glasses, boxes, round me stacked,	8	·/˘/˘···
And instruments together hurled,	8	·/˘˘˘/˘·
Ancestral lumber, stuffed and packed—	8	˘/˘/˘···
Such is my world: and what a world!	8	········
And do I ask, wherefore my heart	8	····/˘··
Falters, oppressed with unknown needs?	8	/˘˘/·˘/·
Why some inexplicable smart	8	···˘/˘˘·
All movement of my life impedes?	8	·/˘···˘/
Alas! in living Nature’s stead,	8	˘/·/˘/˘·
Where God His human creature set,	8	···/˘/˘·
In smoke and mould the fleshless dead	8	·····/˘·
And bones of beasts surround me yet!	8	····˘/··
Fly! Up, and seek the broad, free land!	8	········
And this one Book of Mystery	8	·····/˘˘
From Nostradamus’ very hand,	8	··˘/˘/˘·
Is’t not sufficient company?	8	··˘/˘/˘˘
When I the starry courses know,	8	···/˘/˘·
And Nature’s wise instruction seek,	8	·/˘·˘/˘·
With light of power my soul shall glow,	8	···/····
As when to spirits spirits speak.	8	···/˘/˘·
Tis vain, this empty brooding here,	8	···/˘/˘·
Though guessed the holy symbols be:	8	···/˘/˘·
Ye, Spirits, come—ye hover near—	8	·/˘··/˘·
Oh, if you hear me, answer me!	8	·····/˘·
Ha! what a sudden rapture leaps from this	10	···/˘/˘···
I view, through all my senses swiftly flowing!	10	·····/˘/˘/
I feel a youthful, holy, vital bliss	10	···/˘/˘/˘·
In every vein and fibre newly glowing.	10	·/˘··//˘/˘
Was it a God, who traced this sign,	8	········
With calm across my tumult stealing,	9	··˘/·/˘/˘
My troubled heart to joy unsealing,	9	·/˘···˘/˘
With impulse, mystic and divine,	8	·/˘/˘·˘/
The powers of Nature here, around my path, revealing?	13	·/·/˘·····˘/˘
Am I a God?—so clear mine eyes!	8	········
In these pure features I behold	8	···/˘·˘/
Creative Nature to my soul unfold.	10	˘/˘/˘···˘/
What says the sage, now first I recognize:	10	·······/˘·
“The spirit-world no closures fasten;	9	·/˘··/˘/˘
Thy sense is shut, thy heart is dead:	8	········
Disciple, up! untiring, hasten	9	˘/˘····/˘
To bathe thy breast in morning-red!”	8	·····/˘·
How each the Whole its substance gives,	8	·····/˘·
Each in the other works and lives!	8	···/˘···
Like heavenly forces rising and descending,	11	·/˘/˘/˘·˘/˘
Their golden urns reciprocally lending,	11	·/˘·˘/˘˘˘/˘
With wings that winnow blessing	7	···/·/˘
From Heaven through Earth I see them pressing,	9	·/·····/˘
Filling the All with harmony unceasing!	10	/˘···/˘˘/˘
How grand a show! but, ah! a show alone.	10	········˘/
Thee, boundless Nature, how make thee my own?	10	·/˘/˘·····
Where you, ye beasts? Founts of all Being, shining,	10	·······//˘
Whereon hang Heaven’s and Earth’s desire,	9	˘/·/˘··˘/
Whereto our withered hearts aspire,—	8	˘///˘·˘/
Ye flow, ye feed: and am I vainly pining?	11	·······/˘/˘
(He turns the leaves impatiently, and perceives the sign of the	14	····˘/˘·˘/····
Earth-Spirit.)	3	·/˘
How otherwise upon me works this sign!	10	·/˘·······
Thou, Spirit of the Earth, art nearer:	9	·/˘····/˘
Even now my powers are loftier, clearer;	9	/··/·/˘/˘
I glow, as drunk with new-made wine:	8	········
New strength and heart to meet the world incite me,	11	········˘/·
The woe of earth, the bliss of earth, invite me,	11	········˘/·
And though the shock of storms may smite me,	9	·········
No crash of shipwreck shall have power to fright me!	11	···/˘··/···
Clouds gather over me—	6	·/˘···
The moon conceals her light—	6	··˘/··
The lamp’s extinguished!—	5	··˘/˘
Mists rise,—red, angry rays are darting	9	···/˘··/˘
Around my head!—There falls	6	······
A horror from the vaulted roof,	8	·/˘··/˘·
And seizes me!	4	·/˘·
I feel thy presence, Spirit I invoke!	9	···/˘/·˘/
Reveal thyself!	4	˘/˘/
Ha! in my heart what rending stroke!	8	·····/˘·
With new impulsion	5	··˘/˘
My senses heave in this convulsion!	9	·/˘···˘/˘
I feel thee draw my heart, absorb, exhaust me:	11	······˘/˘/·
Thou must! thou must! and though my life it cost me!	11	···········
Me hast thou long with might attracted,	9	······˘/˘
Long from my sphere thy food exacted,	9	······˘/˘
And now—	2	··
To view me is thine aspiration,	9	······˘/˘
My voice to hear, my countenance to see;	9	·····/˘··
Thy powerful yearning moveth me,	8	·/˘/˘···
Here am I!—what mean perturbation	9	······˘/˘
Thee, superhuman, shakes? Thy soul’s high calling, where?	12	··˘/˘····/˘·
Where is the breast, which from itself a world did bear,	12	······˘/····
And shaped and cherished—which with joy expanded,	11	···/˘···˘/˘
To be our peer, with us, the Spirits, banded?	11	··/····/˘/˘
Where art thou, Faust, whose voice has pierced to me,	10	··········
Who towards me pressed with all thine energy?	9	·······/˘
He art thou, who, my presence breathing, seeing,	10	·····/˘/˘/
Trembles through all the depths of being,	9	/˘·····/˘
A writhing worm, a terror-stricken form?	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
Thee, form of flame, shall I then fear?	8	········
Yes, I am Faust: I am thy peer!	8	········
In the tides of Life, in Action’s storm,	9	······/˘·
A fluctuant wave,	5	·/˘˘·
A shuttle free,	4	·/˘·
Birth and the Grave,	4	····
An eternal sea,	5	·˘/˘·
A weaving, flowing	5	·/˘/˘
Life, all-glowing,	4	··/˘
Thus at Time’s humming loom ’tis my hand prepares	11	···/˘····˘/
The garment of Life which the Deity wears!	10	·/˘····/˘·
Thou, who around the wide world wendest,	9	·······/˘
Thou busy Spirit, how near I feel to thee!	10	·/˘/······
Thou’rt like the Spirit which thou comprehendest,	10	···/···˘/˘
Not me!	2	··
Not thee!	2	··
Whom then?	2	··
I, image of the Godhead!	7	·/˘··/·
Not even like thee!	5	·/˘··
O Death!—I know it—’tis my Famulus!	10	··········
My fairest luck finds no fruition:	9	·/˘···˘/˘
In all the fullness of my vision	9	···/˘··/˘
The soulless sneak disturbs me thus!	8	·/˘·˘/··
Pardon, I heard your declamation;	9	/˘·······
’Twas sure an old Greek tragedy you read?	9	·····/˘··
In such an art I crave some preparation,	11	········˘/˘
Since now it stands one in good stead.	8	········
I’ve often heard it said, a preacher	9	·/˘····/˘
Might learn, with a comedian for a teacher.	11	····˘/˘··/˘
Yes, when the priest comedian is by nature,	11	····˘/˘··/˘
As haply now and then the case may be.	10	·/˘·······
Ah, when one studies thus, a prisoned creature,	11	···/˘··/˘/˘
That scarce the world on holidays can see,—	10	·····/˘···
Scarce through a glass, by rare occasion,	9	······˘/˘
How shall one lead it by persuasion?	9	······˘/˘
You’ll ne’er attain it, save you know the feeling,	11	··˘/·····/˘
Save from the soul it rises clear,	8	·····/˘·
Serene in primal strength, compelling	9	˘/·/˘·˘/˘
The hearts and minds of all who hear.	8	········
You sit forever gluing, patching;	8	··˘/˘·/˘
You cook the scraps from others’ fare;	8	·····/˘·
And from your heap of ashes hatching	9	·····/˘/˘
A starveling flame, ye blow it bare!	8	·/˘·····
Take children’s, monkeys’ gaze admiring,	9	·/˘/˘·˘/˘
If such your taste, and be content;	8	······/˘
But ne’er from heart to heart you’ll speak inspiring,	11	········˘/˘
Save your own heart is eloquent!	8	·····/˘˘
Yet through delivery orators succeed;	9	··˘/˘/˘˘/
I feel that I am far behind, indeed.	10	········˘/
Seek thou the honest recompense!	8	···/˘/˘·
Beware, a tinkling fool to be!	8	˘/·/˘···
With little art, clear wit and sense	8	·/˘·····
Suggest their own delivery;	8	˘/··˘/˘˘
And if thou’rt moved to speak in earnest,	9	·······/˘
What need, that after words thou yearnest?	9	·······/˘
Yes, your discourses, with their glittering show,	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
Where ye for men twist shredded thought like paper,	11	·····/˘··/˘
Are unrefreshing as the winds that blow	10	··········
The rustling leaves through chill autumnal vapor!	11	·/˘···˘/˘/˘
Ah, God! but Art is long,	6	······
And Life, alas! is fleeting.	7	··˘/·/˘
And oft, with zeal my critic-duties meeting,	11	·····/˘/˘/˘
In head and breast there’s something wrong.	8	·····/˘·
How hard it is to compass the assistance	11	·····/˘·˘/˘
Whereby one rises to the source!	8	···/˘···
And, haply, ere one travels half the course	10	·/˘··/˘···
Must the poor devil quit existence.	9	···/˘·˘/˘
Is parchment, then, the holy fount before thee,	11	·/˘··/˘····
A draught wherefrom thy thirst forever slakes?	11	·······˘/˘·
No true refreshment can restore thee,	9	··˘/˘·˘/·
Save what from thine own soul spontaneous breaks.	10	······˘/˘·
Pardon! a great delight is granted	9	/˘··˘/·/˘
When, in the spirit of the ages planted,	10	···/··/˘/˘
We mark how, ere our times, a sage has thought,	10	····/·····
And then, how far his work, and grandly, we have brought.	12	·······/˘···
O yes, up to the stars at last!	8	········
Listen, my friend: the ages that are past	10	/˘···/˘···
Are now a book with seven seals protected:	10	·····/·˘/˘
What you the Spirit of the Ages call	9	···/··/˘·
Is nothing but the spirit of you all,	9	·/˘··/···
Wherein the Ages are reflected.	9	···/˘·˘/˘
So, oftentimes, you miserably mar it!	9	·/˘··/˘··
At the first glance who sees it runs away.	10	········˘/
An offal-barrel and a lumber-garret,	11	·/˘/˘··/˘/˘
Or, at the best, a Punch-and-Judy play,	10	·······/˘·
With maxims most pragmatical and hitting,	11	·/˘······/˘
As in the mouths of puppets are befitting!	11	·····/˘·˘/˘
But then, the world—the human heart and brain!	10	·····/˘···
Of these one covets some slight apprehension.	11	···/˘···˘/˘
Yes, of the kind which men attain!	8	······˘/
Who dares the child’s true name in public mention?	11	·······/˘/˘
The few, who thereof something really learned,	10	·····/˘/˘·
Unwisely frank, with hearts that spurned concealing,	11	˘/˘·····˘/˘
And to the mob laid bare each thought and feeling,	11	·········/˘
Have evermore been crucified and burned.	10	·/˘··/˘···
I pray you, Friend, ’tis now the dead of night;	10	··········
Our converse here must be suspended.	9	//˘···˘/˘
I would have shared your watches with delight,	10	·····/˘·˘/
That so our learned talk might be extended.	10	··/····˘/˘
To-morrow, though, I’ll ask, in Easter leisure,	11	·/˘····/˘/˘
This and the other question, at your pleasure.	11	···/˘/˘··/˘
Most zealously I seek for erudition:	10	·/˘····˘/˘
Much do I know—but to know all is my ambition.	13	··········˘/˘
That brain, alone, not loses hope, whose choice is	11	··˘/·/˘····
To stick in shallow trash forevermore,—	10	···/˘·····
Which digs with eager hand for buried ore,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And, when it finds an angle-worm, rejoices!	11	·····/˘·˘/˘
Dare such a human voice disturb the flow,	10	···/˘·˘/··
Around me here, of spirit-presence fullest?	10	·····//˘/˘
And yet, this once my thanks I owe	8	········
To thee, of all earth’s sons the poorest, dullest!	11	·······/˘/˘
For thou hast torn me from that desperate state	10	·······/˘·
Which threatened soon to overwhelm my senses:	11	·/˘···˘/·/˘
The apparition was so giant-great,	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
It dwarfed and withered all my soul’s pretences!	11	···/˘······
I, image of the Godhead, who began—	10	·/˘··/··˘/
Deeming Eternal Truth secure in nearness—	11	/˘˘/˘·˘/·/˘
To sun myself in heavenly light and clearness,	11	···/·/˘··/˘
And laid aside the earthly man;—	8	··˘/·/˘·
I, more than Cherub, whose free force had planned	10	···/˘·····
To flow through Nature’s veins in glad pulsation,	11	···/˘···˘/˘
To reach beyond, enjoying in creation	11	····˘/˘·˘/˘
The life of Gods, behold my expiation!	10	····˘/····
A thunder-word hath swept me from my stand.27	10	·/˘·······
With thee I dare not venture to compare me.	11	·····/˘·˘/·
Though I possessed the power to draw thee near me,	11	··˘/·/·····
The power to keep thee was denied my hand.	10	·/····˘/··
When that ecstatic moment held me,	9	··˘/˘/˘··
I felt myself so small, so great;	8	···/····
But thou hast ruthlessly repelled me	8	···/˘˘/·
Back upon Man’s uncertain fate.	8	····˘/˘·
What shall I shun? Whose guidance borrow?	9	·····/˘/·
Shall I accept that stress and strife?	8	··˘/····
Ah! every deed of ours, no less than every sorrow,	13	·/˘··/···/˘/˘
Impedes the onward march of life.	8	˘/·/˘···
Some alien substance more and more is cleaving	11	·/˘/˘····/˘
To all the mind conceives of grand and fair;	10	····˘/····
When this world’s Good is won by our achieving,	11	·······/˘/˘
The Better, then, is named a cheat and snare.	10	·/˘·······
The fine emotions, whence our lives we mould,	10	··˘/˘·/···
Lie in the earthly tumult dumb and cold.	10	···/˘/˘···
If hopeful Fancy once, in daring flight,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Her longings to the Infinite expanded,	10	·/˘··/˘˘/˘
Yet now a narrow space contents her quite,	10	···/˘·˘/··
Since Time’s wild wave so many a fortune stranded.	11	·····/·/˘/˘
Care at the bottom of the heart is lurking:	11	···/˘····/˘
Her secret pangs in silence working,	9	·/˘··/˘/˘
She, restless, rocks herself, disturbing joy and rest:	12	·/˘·˘/˘/˘···
In newer masks her face is ever drest,	9	·/˘····/·
By turns as house and land, as wife and child, presented,—	13	··········˘/˘
As water, fire, as poison, steel:	8	·/˘/·/˘·
We dread the blows we never feel,	8	·····/˘·
And what we never lose is yet by us lamented!	12	···/·····˘/˘
I am not like the Gods! That truth is felt too deep:	12	············
The worm am I, that in the dust doth creep,—	10	··········
That, while in dust it lives and seeks its bread,	10	··········
Is crushed and buried by the wanderer’s tread.	10	···/˘··/˘·
Is not this dust, these walls within them hold,	10	··········
The hundred shelves, which cramp and chain me,	9	·/˘······
The frippery, the trinkets thousandfold,	10	·/˘˘·/˘/˘˘
That in this mothy den restrain me?	9	···/˘·˘/·
Here shall I find the help I need?	8	········
Shall here a thousand volumes teach me only	11	···/˘/˘··/˘
That men, self-tortured, everywhere must bleed,—	10	···/˘/˘···
And here and there one happy man sits lonely?28	11	·····/˘··/˘
What mean’st thou by that grin, thou hollow skull,	11	·/˘·····/˘·
Save that thy brain, like mine, a cloudy mirror,	11	·······/˘/˘
Sought once the shining day, and then, in twilight dull,29	12	···/˘····/··
Thirsting for Truth, went wretchedly to Error?	10	/˘···/˘·/˘
Ye instruments, forsooth, but jeer at me	9	·/˘˘/····
With wheel and cog, and shapes uncouth of wonder;	11	······//·/˘
I found the portal, you the keys should be;	10	···/˘·····
Your wards are deftly wrought, but drive no bolts asunder!	13	···/˘·····˘/˘
Mysterious even in open day,	8	˘/˘/·/˘·
Nature retains her veil, despite our clamors:	11	/˘˘/··˘///˘
That which she doth not willingly display	9	·····/˘˘/
Cannot be wrenched from her with levers, screws, and hammers.	13	˘/·····/˘··/˘
Ye ancient tools, whose use I never knew,	9	·/˘····/·
Here, since my father used ye, still ye moulder:	11	···/˘····/˘
Thou, ancient scroll, hast worn thy smoky hue	10	·/˘····/˘·
Since at this desk the dim lamp wont to smoulder.	11	·········/˘
’T were better far, had I my little idly spent,	13	··/˘····/˘/˘·
Than now to sweat beneath its burden, I confess it!	13	·······/˘·˘/·
What from your fathers’ heritage is lent,	9	···/˘/˘··
Earn it anew, to really possess it!30	10	··˘/·/˘˘/·
What serves not, is a sore impediment:	9	······˘/˘
The Moment’s need creates the thing to serve and bless it!	13	·/˘·˘/·······
Yet, wherefore tums my gaze to yonder point so lightly?	13	·/˘····/˘··/˘
Is yonder flask a magnet for mine eyes?	10	·/˘··/˘···
Whence, all around me, glows the air so brightly,	11	·········/˘
As when in woods at night the mellow moonbeam lies?	12	·······/˘/··
I hail thee, wondrous, rarest vial!	9	···/˘/˘/˘
I take thee down devoutly, for the trial:	11	····˘/˘··/˘
Man’s art and wit I venerate in thee.	10	·····/˘···
Thou summary of gentle slumber-juices,	10	·/˘·/˘/˘/˘
Essence of deadly finest powers and uses,	11	/˘·/˘/˘/·/˘
Unto thy master show thy favor free!	10	···/˘··/˘·
I see thee, and the stings of pain diminish;	11	········˘/˘
I grasp thee, and my struggles slowly finish:	11	·····/˘/˘/˘
My spirit’s flood-tide ebbeth more and more.	10	·/˘·······
Out on the open ocean speeds my dreaming;	10	···/˘/··/˘
The glassy flood before my feet is gleaming,	11	·/˘······/˘
A new day beckons to a newer shore!	10	···/˘··/˘·
A fiery chariot, borne on buoyant pinions,	11	·/˘/˘··/˘/˘
Sweeps near me now! I soon shall ready be	10	·······/˘·
To pierce the ether’s high, unknown dominions,	11	···/˘·˘/˘/˘
To reach new spheres of pure activity!	9	······˘/˘
This godlike rapture, this supreme existence,	11	·/˘/˘·˘/˘/˘
Do I, but now a worm, deserve to track?	10	······˘/··
Yes, resolute to reach some brighter distance,	10	·/˘····//˘
On Earth’s fair sun I turn my back 31	8	········
Yes, let me dare those gates to fling asunder,	11	········˘/˘
Which every man would fain go slinking by!	10	·/˘·······
’T is time, through deeds this word of truth to thunder:	12	··········/˘
That with the height of Gods Man’s dignity may vie!	11	·······/˘··
Nor from that gloomy gulf to shrink affrighted,	11	···/˘······
Where Fancy doth herself to self-born pangs compel,—	12	·/˘·˘/····˘/
To struggle toward that pass benighted,	10	·/˘····˘/˘
Around whose narrow mouth flame all the fires of Hell,—	12	···/˘····/··
To take this step with cheerful resolution,	11	·····/˘·˘/˘
Though Nothingness should be the certain, swift conclusion!	12	·/˘···/˘·˘/˘
And now come down, thou cup of crystal clearest!	11	·······/˘/˘
Fresh from thine ancient cover thou appearest,	11	···/˘/˘·˘/˘
So many years forgotten to my thought!	9	·/·˘/˘···
Thou shon’st at old ancestral banquets cheery,	11	····˘/˘/˘/˘
The solemn guests thou madest merry,	9	·/˘····/˘
When one thy wassail to the other brought.	10	···/˘··/˘·
The rich and skilful figures o’er thee wrought,	10	···/˘/˘···
The drinker’s duty, rhyme-wise to explain them,	11	·/˘/˘···˘/·
Or in one breath below the mark to drain them,	11	···········
From many a night of youth my memory caught.	10	·/·····/˘·
Now to a neighbor shall I pass thee never,	10	···/˘····/
Nor on thy curious art to test my wit endeavor,	13	···/˘·····˘/˘
Here is a juice whence sleep is swiftly born.	10	·······/˘·
It fills with browner flood thy crystal hollow;	10	···/··/˘/˘
I chose, prepared it: thus I follow,—	9	··˘/···/˘
With all my soul the final drink I swallow,	11	·····/˘··/˘
A solemn festal cup, a greeting to the morn!	12	·/˘/˘··/˘···
(Chime of bells and choral song.)	7	····/˘·
Christ is arisen!	5	··˘/˘
Joy to the Mortal One,	6	···/˘·
Whom the unmerited,	6	······
Clinging, inherited	6	/˘˘/˘˘
Needs did imprison.	5	··˘/˘
What hollow humming, what a sharp, clear stroke,	10	·/˘/˘·····
Drives from my lip the goblet’s, at their meeting?	11	·····/˘··/˘
Announce the booming bells already woke	10	˘/·/˘·˘/˘·
The first glad hour of Easter’s festal greeting?	11	···/·/˘/˘/˘
Ye choirs, have ye begun the sweet, consoling chant,	12	····˘/··˘/˘·
Which, through the night of Death, the angels ministrant	12	·······/˘/˘˘
Sang, God’s new Covenant repeating?	9	···/˘˘˘/˘
With spices and precious	6	·/˘·/˘
Balm, we arrayed him;	5	··˘/·
Faithful and gracious,	5	/˘·/˘

The first 400 of 456 lines; the reader marks them all.

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

More by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Faust, Part One