University of Virginia Library

ACT V.

Nuremberg. Dungeon. Moonlight. Margaret in chains.
Mar.
My mother, the harlot,
Who put me to death;
My father, the varlet,
Who eaten me hath!
Little sister, so good,
Laid my bones in the wood,
In the damp moss and clay:
Then was I a beautiful bird o' the wood.
Fly away! fly away!

[Door unlocks. Faust enters with lamp.
Faust.
O God! and has it come to this, chained in a felon's cell;
A criminal without a taint of guilt,
[Mephistopheles appears at prison bars.
Whose crazy hand hath snatched her infant's life.

Mephis.
[Who has entered].
She's not the first.

Faust.
Infinite spirit! who doth hear him mock,
Change him into a reptile or a hound!
Ah! not the first!

Mephis.
I love her, soul and body, more than thou.
I've thrown a spell of sleep upon her jailers,
And we will bear her hence, living or dead.

[Exit.
Mar.
[Counting].
One, two, three,—I have yet five hours to live.

Faust
[Softly].
Hush! hush! my love—I come to save thee.

Mar.
[On her knees].
Headsman, you come too soon.
Canst thou not wait till morn?

Faust.
Dearest, look in my face; thou shalt not die.
Dost thou not know me?

Mar.
Ah, God has sent some friend—you pity me.
I once was fair, and that was my undoing;
And I was—Ah, I have forgotten now.

Faust.
Come, thou art free!

Mar.
Nay, hold me not with such a cruel grasp.
Spare me; what have I ever done to thee?
I never saw thy face before.

Faust.
Seest thou not I am—

Mar.
First let me rock my little babe asleep,
Or it will cry to part so from its mother.
They took away my child to torture me,
And now they say I've killed it.
Yes, yes.

Faust.
Oh, Margaret! Margaret!

Mar.
That was the voice of my lover.
Where now is all my pain? I heard his voice.

Faust.
Margaret, I'm here—I've come to set you free.

Mar.
'Tis thou! 'tis thou! I'm saved.
Nay, stay a while, a little while.
I love to stay with thee.

Faust.
Come, come with me.

Mar.
Hast thou forgotten me?
Why feel I now so sad upon thy neck?
Thy lips are cold, are dead—I'm Margaret.
Ah! thou hast heard my shame; dost
Know my crime? [Whispers.]
I've killed my mother and killed my babe.
And is it thou indeed?

Faust.
Yes, yes.

Mar.
And do you take me to your heart again,
And do you know who 'tis you are delivering?

Faust.
Come, come, the morning fades.

Mar.
Give me thy hand. Mother doth sleep; the sweetbriar, wet with dew,
Gives all its heavy sweetness to the night.
Oh, welcome; but speak low, she might awake.
Give me thy hand—thy dear, dear hand—oh, God!
There's blood upon it—wipe it off—blood, blood!
What hast thou done?

Faust.
Oh! think not of the past.
Thy words are death to me.

Mar.
No, thou must live. To-morrow, I must die.
And I must tell thee how to range the graves,
And thou must see to it by break of day.
[Sits on bed and points to floor.
My mother, the best place—next her my brother:
Me well apart, but, dearest, not too far,
And by my side my little one shall lie.

Faust.
Wish you that both of us be lost to-night?
Give me your hand, I'll guide you.

Mar.
Keep to the path up to the wood;
Now to the left. See, by the plank—the pond.
Quick, seize it!—see, it tries to rise. Help! help!

Faust.
Ay, quick! Come, we will try to save it.

Mar.
Oh, I could breathe if only past the hill.
There sits my mother on a stone—her eyes
Are set—her hand lies dead, and pale, and heavy.

Faust.
The day is breaking.

Mar.
Yes, 'tis my last day.
See—now the gloomy crowd—they fill the square,
They fill the streets—a thousand upturned faces—
All staring at the scaffold and the block.
Ah, dearest, let me see thee, in that crowd.
Stretch up thy hands that I may find thy face.

Faust.
Margaret, thou shalt not die.
Recall thy wandering mind.
Upon my knees I beg of thee to come,
Thy prison doors are open; let us fly.

Mar.
Where? Out yonder?

Faust.
Yes, into the free air.

Mar.
Is the grave out there? Doth death lie in wait?
Then come! from here, to eternal rest.
I feel death, like a delivering angel
Sent straight from God, descending on my heart:
Perchance in mercy I might die to-night.
Nay, let us kneel and pray that God will strike
The chains of sin from our despairing souls
Because of our great love and all my sorrow.
He may have pity, and may save us both.
What shape is that, that rises from the earth?
Enter Mephistopheles.
'Tis he!
Merciful God, I yield myself to thee.

Mephis.
Too late! She's judged!

[Seizes Margaret.
[Voice replies “She's saved!”
Mephis.
Hither to me!

[Disappears with Faust.
[Vision.
Curtain.