 | Faust |  |
54
SCENE II
Scene.—A small, neatly kept chamberEnter Mephistopheles, beckoning Faust
Mephistopheles.
Doctor, come on, but gently; follow me!
Faust.
[After a pause.]
Leave me alone! Depart, I beg of thee!
Mephistopheles.
[Peering round.]
H'm! 'Tis not every girl keeps things so neat.
[Exit.
Faust.
O welcome twilight, soft and sweet, that fills
This virgin shrine! What peace and order breathe
Around me! In this penury what plenty,
And in this cell what bliss!
[He draws aside the bed curtain.
How am I thrilled!
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The angel blossom from the holy bud.
Ah, Faust, what dost thou here with heavy heart?
I who in lust's mere madness hither stole,
Now lie o'erwhelmed in the pure trance of love.
Mephistopheles.
[Returning.]
Quick! She is coming!
Faust.
I return no more!
Mephistopheles.
Here is a casket not unserviceable;
It came from—somewhere else—quick, place it here!
The gewgaws stored within will turn her head.
Faust.
Ah, but I know not—Shall I?
Mephistopheles.
Ask you that?
Perhaps you'd keep the treasure to yourself.
I trust you are not growing avaricious;
If so, I beg you spare me further trouble;
I rub my hands in tender expectation.
[Places casket in press.
Now, quick! away! You'll have her at your pleasure;
And there you stand as in the lecture-hall—
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As grim as Physics and Metaphysics! Come!
[Exeunt Faust and Mephistopheles.
Enter Margaret with lamp
Margaret.
How close, how sultry here!
[Opens window.
And yet without
It is not warm.
[Begins to braid her hair.
I wonder who he was,
That gentleman I saw to-day. He seemed
Gallant and of a noble family.
Besides, he would not else have been so forward.
I tremble strangely, I am silly, timid—
Ah! but I wish my mother would come home!
[She sings as she undresses herself.
Song
A king there lived in Thule
Was faithful till the grave,
To whom his mistress, dying,
A golden goblet gave.
Was faithful till the grave,
To whom his mistress, dying,
A golden goblet gave.
Before all things he prized it,
He drained it at every bout,
The tears his eyes o'erflowing
Whene'er he drank thereout.
He drained it at every bout,
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Whene'er he drank thereout.
And when he came to dying,
His towns he reckoned up,
All to his heir he left them—
But not the golden cup!
His towns he reckoned up,
All to his heir he left them—
But not the golden cup!
He sat at the royal banquet
With his knights of high degree,
In the proud hall of his fathers,
In his castle by the sea.
With his knights of high degree,
In the proud hall of his fathers,
In his castle by the sea.
There stood the old carousers!
As he drank life's parting glow,
He hurled the hallowed goblet
Into the surf below.
As he drank life's parting glow,
He hurled the hallowed goblet
Into the surf below.
He watched it filling and sinking;
Deep into the sea it sank;
His eyelids closed, and never
Again a draught he drank.
Deep into the sea it sank;
His eyelids closed, and never
Again a draught he drank.
How comes this lovely casket here, I wonder!
I am quite sure I locked the press. How strange!
What can there be inside it? And a key
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[She unlocks casket.
Ah! what is this? Was anything ever like it?
Heavens! never in all my days have I seen the like!
Why, ornaments and trinkets such as these
A noble lady might wear on holidays.
I wonder how this chain would suit my neck!
[She steps before the mirror.
Oh! were those earrings mine! At once they give one
A different air. Youth, beauty are well enough,
But who cares? People praise one half in pity—
But all depends on gold! Alas! we poor ones.
| Faust | |