 | Goethe's Faust : First Part |  |
DEDICATION.
Again, ye wavering shapes do ye draw near,
That showed yourselves once to my saddened eye,
Shall I now seek to hold you prisoners here?
Feel I my heart yield to that phantasy?
Ye throng around! 'Tis well, in power appear,
As when in gloom and cloud ye rose round me:
My breast feels itself throb, grown young again,
Urged by the magic breath, breathed by your train.
That showed yourselves once to my saddened eye,
Shall I now seek to hold you prisoners here?
Feel I my heart yield to that phantasy?
Ye throng around! 'Tis well, in power appear,
As when in gloom and cloud ye rose round me:
My breast feels itself throb, grown young again,
Urged by the magic breath, breathed by your train.
Ye bring with you visions of happy days,
And many a well-belovèd Shade appears;
Like folk-tales told in half-forgotten lays,
Come first-love, and the friendships of dead years;
The pain grows new, the plaint echoes always
Of Life's perplexing labyrinth in mine ears,
And names the good, who, of Joy's felicity
Cheated by Fate, have vanished before me.
And many a well-belovèd Shade appears;
Like folk-tales told in half-forgotten lays,
Come first-love, and the friendships of dead years;
The pain grows new, the plaint echoes always
Of Life's perplexing labyrinth in mine ears,
And names the good, who, of Joy's felicity
Cheated by Fate, have vanished before me.
They hear no more the songs that follow here,
The kindred souls to whom the first I sang;
Scattered is now the friendly band, so dear,
Dumb, alas! those first echoes that round me rang.
My song sounds for the unknown crowd, and fear
Even when they applaud, shoots through my heart a pang;
And those who once rejoiced to hear my lay,
If still they live, are scattered far away.
The kindred souls to whom the first I sang;
Scattered is now the friendly band, so dear,
Dumb, alas! those first echoes that round me rang.
Even when they applaud, shoots through my heart a pang;
And those who once rejoiced to hear my lay,
If still they live, are scattered far away.
Unwonted yearning seizes me, I long
For that calm, solemn Kingdom of the Shades;
In tones uncertain soars my faltering song,
Like an Æolian harp's it swells and fades;
A shudder grips me, tears on tears will throng,
Weak tenderness now my stern soul invades;
What I possess, like things far off I see,
And scenes long-vanished alone seem real to me.
For that calm, solemn Kingdom of the Shades;
In tones uncertain soars my faltering song,
Like an Æolian harp's it swells and fades;
A shudder grips me, tears on tears will throng,
Weak tenderness now my stern soul invades;
What I possess, like things far off I see,
And scenes long-vanished alone seem real to me.
| Goethe's Faust : First Part | |