University of Virginia Library

SCENE VI

Scene.—Margaret's garden
[Margaret spinning in the doorway.
Margaret
Gone is my peace, and with heart so sore
I shall find it again nevermore.
If he be not near me, the world is a grave
And bitter as is the sea-wave.
Ah! my poor brain is racked and crazed,
My spirit and senses amazed!
Gone is my peace, and with heart so sore
I shall find it again nevermore.
At the window I stand only to greet him,
I leave the house but to meet him.
Ah! the smile of his mouth and the power of his eye,
And his noble symmetry!
What a charm in his speech, in his touch what bliss!
The rapture of his wild kiss!
My bosom is aching for him alone—
Might I make him my very own!
Might I kiss but his lips till my mouth were fire,
And then on his kisses expire!
Enter Faust
Ah, dearest! thou hast been so long away,
I almost feared.... What it would be to lose thee
Thou know'st not!

Faust.
[Kissing her.]
Margaret, once more I am happy.
I fled away into the wilderness
To commune with my God. I lived alone
With mighty trees and waters and wide air,
With wild and wingéd things, creatures and birds;
But all availed not. Oh, the very desert
Was haunted by thee; solitudes were filled
Suddenly with thy presence, silences
Murmured thee in my ear. From thee to fly
Is but to bring thee doubly near to me.

Margaret.
And I all day lonely at yonder window
Have stood, and listened for a single step;
Now would I fall to singing, now would cease,
Now took my work up, and now set it down;
And now I loved in rapture, now in gloom.
Ah! leave me nevermore.

Faust.
Nay, nevermore.

Margaret.
Oh! the deep bliss descending on me fast,
Like steady rain on an unfolding flower.
Yet one thing troubles me.

Faust.
What troubles thee?

Margaret.
Dearest, dost thou believe?

Faust.
In what

Margaret.
In God.

Faust.
Darling, who dares say “I believe in God”?

Margaret.
Oh! but we must!

Faust.
I feel the living God
Trembling in starlight, surging in the sea,
And rushing by me in the wind; I feel Him
Approach me close in twilight without word.
He shakes my soul with thunder—oh, to feel
It all! I have no single name to give it—
Bliss, Love, God, what you will, the name is smoke
Obscuring all the serene glow of Heaven.

Margaret.
And, dear, long has it been a grief to me
To see thee in such company.

Faust.
How so?

Margaret.
Thy comrade, who is ever at thy side;
His face with a deep horror fills my soul,
And my heart shudders at his voice.

Faust.
Yet why?

Margaret.
I know not; but believe me I can tell
He is not a good man. O God forgive me
If I speak ill of any; but I feel
He is not good. I am so happy here,
So yielding and free, and warm upon thy arm,
But if his face peer round the garden wall
I am struck cold, and cannot love, or pray.
But I must go.

Faust.
Ah! will there never come
A quiet hour when we two, heart to heart
And soul to soul may cling; when we two may
Drive down the stream and headlong greet the sea,
The full ocean of bliss?

Margaret.
Now am I thine
So wholly, thine in every thought and hope,
In my outgoing and returning, night
And day, by sunlight or by moonlight thine;
So utterly am I given o'er to thee
In spirit, that what else thou dost desire
Can have no strangeness in it, only bliss.
I have yielded—then do with me what thou wilt.

Faust.
Oh, if to-night—I burn for thee!

Margaret.
And I
For thee!

Faust.
To-night then!

Margaret.
If I slept alone
I would undraw the bolt for thy desire;
But mother sleeps so light of late, and if
She should discover us I could but die.

Faust.
Thou angel, fear it not. Here is a phial:
Pour but three drops into her sleeping cup
And she will sleep on deeply thro' the night.

Margaret.
It will not harm her: thou art sure?

Faust.
Would I
Give it if there were danger?

Margaret.
O belovéd,
I can refuse thee nothing thou dost wish,
I will refuse thee nothing. I will open
That window when she is fallen quite asleep;
Listen for that—and then I'll unlock the door.
How heavy come the roses on the air
To-night! Kiss me—I must go in.

[He kisses her passionately.
Faust.
'Tis hard
To part but for a moment.

Margaret.
Only wait!

[She goes into the house. As Faust stands expectant, the door of the garden opens and Mephistopheles appears.
Faust.
Who's there?

Mephistopheles.
A friend.

Faust.
A fiend!

Mephistopheles.
Ay, both in one!

Faust.
Monster, begone!

Mephistopheles.
I have no need to stay,
My work is done.
[Margaret's hand is seen opening the lattice as Faust makes a threatening gesture to Mephistopheles.
Softly! The rest is thine!

[Faust halts: his eyes turn toward the cottage, the door of which slowly opens. Faust is drawn towards it. He looks back as he enters.
Faust.
And thine!

Mephistopheles.
[As the door closes on Faust.]
Ay, truly thine and mine in one!