No More Learning

FAUST
Thy cries will wake the guards, and they will seize thee!
[He takes hold of the fetters to unlock them.
MARGARET [on her knees]
Who, headsman! unto thee such power
Over me could give?
Thou'rt come for me at midnight hour:
Have mercy on me; let me live!
Is't not soon enough when morning chime has rung?
[She rises.
And I am yet so young, so young!
And now death comes, and ruin!
I, too, was fair, and that was my undoing.
My love was near, but now he's far;
Torn lies the wreath, scattered the blossoms are.
Seize me not thus so violently!
Spare me! What have I done to thee?
Let me not vainly entreat thee!
I never chanced, in all my days, to meet thee!
FAUST
Shall I outlive this misery?
MARGARET
Now am I wholly in thy might.
But let me suckle, first, my baby!
I blissed it all this livelong night;
They took 't away, to vex me, maybe,
And now they say I killed the child outright.
And never shall I be glad again.
They sing songs about me! 'tis bad of the folk to do it!
There's an old story has the same refrain;
Who bade them so construe it?
FAUST [falling upon his knees]
Here lieth one who loves thee ever,
The thraldom of thy woe to sever.


## p. 6408 (#390) ###########################################

6408
GOETHE
MARGARET [flinging herself beside him]
Oh let us kneel, and call the saints to hide us!
Under the steps beside us,
The threshold under,
Hell heaves in thunder!
The Evil One
With terrible wrath
Seeketh a path
His prey to discover!
FAUST [aloud]
Margaret! Margaret!
MARGARET [attentively listening]
That was the voice of my lover!
'Tis I!
[She springs to her feet: the fetters fall off.
Where is he? I heard him call me.
I am free! No one shall enthrall me.
To his neck will I fly,
On his bosom lie!
On the threshold he stood, and Margaret! calling,
'Midst of hell's howling and noises appalling,
'Midst of the wrathful, infernal derision,
I knew the sweet sound of the voice of the vision!
FAUST
MARGARET
'Tis thou! O, say it once again!
[Clasping him.
'Tis he! 'tis he! Where now is all my pain?
The anguish of the dungeon, and the chain?
'Tis thou! Thou comest to save me,
And I am saved!
Again the street I see
Where first I looked on thee;
And the garden, brightly blooming,
Where I and Martha wait thy coming.
FAUST [struggling to leave]
Come! Come with me!


## p. 6409 (#391) ###########################################

GOETHE
6409
MARGARET
Delay, now!
So fain I stay, when thou delayest!
FAUST
Away, now!
If longer here thou stayest,
We shall be made to dearly rue it.
MARGARET
'Tis I! Come on!
Kiss me! -canst no longer do it?
My friend, so short a time thou 'rt missing,
And hast unlearned thy kissing?
Why is my heart so anxious, on thy breast?
Where once a heaven thy glances did create me,
A heaven thy loving words expressed,
And thou didst kiss as thou wouldst suffocate me -
Kiss me!
Or I'll kiss thee!
Ah, woe! thy lips are chill,
And still.
How changed in fashion
Thy passion!
Who has done me this ill?
FAUST
[Caressing him.
Come, follow me! My darling, be more bold:
I'll clasp thee, soon, with warmth a thousandfold;
But follow now! 'Tis all I beg of thee.
FAUST
MARGARET [turning to him]
And is it thou? Thou, surely, certainly?
MARGARET
[She embraces him.
[She turns away from him.
Thou wilt unloose my chain,
And in thy lap wilt take me once again.
How comes it that thou dost not shrink from me? -
Say, dost thou know, my friend, whom thou mak'st free?


## p. 6410 (#392) ###########################################

6410
GOETHE
FAUST
Come! come! The night already vanisheth.
MARGARET
My mother have I put to death;
I've drowned the baby born to thee.
Was it not given to thee and me?
Thee, too! -'Tis thou! It scarcely true doth seem
Give me thy hand! 'Tis not a dream!
Thy dear, dear hand! - But, ah, 'tis wet!
Why, wipe it off! Methinks that yet
There's blood thereon.
Ah, God! what hast thou done?
Nay, sheathe thy sword at last!
Do not affray me!
FAUST
Oh, let the past be past!
Thy words will slay me!
MARGARET
No, no! Thou must outlive us.
Now I'll tell thee the graves to give us:
Thou must begin to-morrow
The work of sorrow!
The best place give to my mother,
Then close at her side my brother,
And me a little away,
But not too very far, I pray!
And here, on my right breast, my baby lay!
Nobody else will lie beside me! -
Ah, within thine arms to hide me,
That was a sweet and a gracious bliss,
But no more, no more can I attain it!
I would force myself on thee and constrain it,
And it seems thou repellest my kiss:
And yet 'tis thou, so good, so kind to see!
FAUST
If thou feelest it is I, then come with me!
MARGARET
-
Out yonder?


## p. 6411 (#393) ###########################################

GOETHE
6411
FAUST
To freedom.
MARGARET
If the grave is there,
Death lying in wait, then come!
From here to eternal rest:
No further step-no, no!
Thou goest away! O Henry, if I could go!
FAUST
Thou canst! Just will it! Open stands the door.
MARGARET
I dare not go: there's no hope any more.
Why should I fly? They'll still my steps waylay!
It is so wretched, forced to beg my living,
And a bad conscience sharper misery giving!
It is so wretched, to be strange, forsaken,
And I'd still be followed and taken!
FAUST
I'll stay with thee.
MARGARET
Be quick! Be quick!
Save thy perishing child!
Away! Follow the ridge
Up by the brook,
Over the bridge,
Into the wood,
To the left, where the plank is placed
In the pool!
Seize it in haste!
'Tis trying to rise,
'Tis struggling still!
Save it! Save it!
FAUST
Recall thy wandering will!
One step, and thou art free at last!
MARGARET
If the mountain we had only passed!
There sits my mother upon a stone,-


## p. 6412 (#394) ###########################################

6412
GOETHE
I feel an icy shiver!
There sits my mother upon a stone,
And her head is wagging ever.
She beckons, she nods not, her heavy head falls o'er;
She slept so long that she wakes no more.
She slept, while we were caressing:
Ah, those were the days of blessing!
FAUST
Here words and prayers are nothing worth;
I'll venture, then, to bear thee forth.
MARGARET
No-let me go! I'll suffer no force!
Grasp me not so murderously!
I've done, else, all things for the love of thee.
FAUST
The day dawns: Dearest! Dearest!
MARGARET
Day? Yes, the day comes, -the last day breaks for me!
My wedding day it was to be!
Tell no one thou hast been with Margaret!
Woe for my garland! The chances
Are over 'tis all in vain!
We shall meet once again,
But not at the dances!
The crowd is thronging, no word is spoken:
The square below
And the streets overflow:
The death-bell tolls, the wand is broken.
I am seized, and bound, and delivered -
Shoved to the block-they give the sign!
Now over each neck has quivered
The blade that is quivering ov mine.
Dumb lies the world like the grave!
FAUST
Oh, had I ne'er been born!
MEPHISTOPHELES [appears outside]
Off! or you're lost ere morn.
Useless talking, delaying, and praying!


## p. 6413 (#395) ###########################################

GOETHE
6413
My horses are neighing:
The morning twilight is near.
MARGARET
What rises up from the threshold here?
He! he suffer him not!
What does he want in this holy spot?
He seeks me!
FAUST
Thou shalt live.
She is judged!
MARGARET
Judgment of God! myself to thee I give.
MEPHISTOPHELES [to Faust]
Come! or I'll leave her in the lurch, and thee!
MARGARET
Thine am I, Father! rescue me!
Ye angels, holy cohorts, guard me,
Camp around, and from evil ward me!
Henry! I shudder to think of thee.
MEPHISTOPHELES
VOICE [from above]
She is saved!
MEPHISTOPHELES [to Faust]
Hither to me!
[He disappears with Faust.
VOICE [from within, dying away]
Henry! Henry!


## p. 6414 (#396) ###########################################

6414
GOETHE
THE DEATH OF FAUST
LEMURES
[Digging with mocking gestures]
IN
N YOUTH when I did love, did love,
Methought it was very sweet;
When 'twas jolly and merry every way,
And I blithely moved my feet.
But now old Age, with his stealing steps,
Hath clawed me with his crutch:
I stumbled over the door of a grave;
Why leave they open such?
Overseer!
[Comes forth from the palace, groping his way along the door-posts]
How I rejoice to hear the clattering spade!
It is the crowd, for me in service moiling,
Till Earth be reconciled to toiling,
Till the proud waves be stayed,
And the sea girded with a rigid zone.
FAUST
MEPHISTOPHELES [aside]
And yet thou'rt laboring for us alone,
With all thy dikes and bulwarks daring;
Since thou for Neptune art preparing-
The Ocean Devil - carousal great.
In every way shall ye be stranded;
The elements with us are banded,
And ruin is the certain fate.
Here!
FAUST
MEPHISTOPHELES
FAUST
However possible,
Collect a crowd of men with vigor,
Spur by indulgence, praise, or rigor,-
Reward, allure, conscript, compel!
Each day report me, and correctly note
How grows in length the undertaken moat.


## p.
6415 (#397) ###########################################

GOETHE
6415
MEPHISTOPHELES [half aloud]
When they to me the information gave,
They spake not of a moat, but of-a grave.
FAUST
Below the hills a marshy plain
Infects what I so long have been retrieving;
This stagnant pool likewise to drain
Were now my latest and my best achieving.
To many millions let me furnish soil,
Though not secure, yet free to active toil;
Green, fertile fields, where men and herds go forth
At once, with comfort, on the newest earth,
And swiftly settled on the hill's firm base,
Created by the bold, industrious race.
A land like Paradise here, round about;
Up to the brink the tide may roar without,
And though it gnaw, to burst with force the limit,
By common impulse all unite to hem it.
Yes! to this thought I hold with firm persistence;
The last result of wisdom stamps it true:
He only earns his freedom and existence
Who daily conquers them anew.
Thus here, by dangers girt, shall glide away
Of childhood, manhood, age, the vigorous day:
And such a throng I fain would see,-
Stand on free soil among a people free!
Then dared I hail the Moment fleeing:
"Ah, still delay-thou art so fair! "
The traces cannot, of mine earthly being,
In æons perish,- they are there!
In proud fore-feeling of such lofty bliss,
I now enjoy the highest Moment, - this!
[Faust sinks back: the Lemures take him and lay him upon the ground. ]
—
MEPHISTOPHELES
No joy could sate him, and suffice no bliss!
To catch but shifting shapes was his endeavor:
The latest, poorest, emptiest Moment-this,—
He wished to hold it fast forever.
Me he resisted in such vigorous wise,
But Time is lord, on earth the old man lies.
The clock stands still-


## p. 6416 (#398) ###########################################

6416
GOETHE
'Tis past!
Stands still! silent as midnight, now!
The index falls.
CHORUS
MEPHISTOPHELES
It falls; and it is finished, here!
THE
CHORUS
MEPHISTOPHELES
Past! a stupid word.
If past, then why?
Past and pure Naught, complete monotony!
What good for us, this endlessly creating? —
What is created then annihilating?
"And now it's past! " Why read a page so twisted?
'Tis just the same as if it ne'er existed,
Yet goes in circles round as if it had, however:
I'd rather choose, instead, the Void forever.
THE SALVATION OF FAUST
ANGELS
[Soaring in the higher atmosphere, bearing the immortal part of Faust]
HE noble spirit now is free,
And saved from evil scheming:
Whoe'er aspires unweariedly
Is not beyond redeeming.
And if he feels the grace of love
That from on high is given,
The blessed hosts, that wait above,
Shall welcome him to heaven!
THE YOUNGER ANGELS
They, the roses, freely spended
By the penitent, the glorious,
Helped to make the fight victorious,
And the lofty work is ended.
We this precious soul have won us;
Evil ones we forced to shun us;


## p. 6417 (#399) ###########################################

GOETHE
6417
Devils fled us when we hit them:
'Stead of pangs of hell, that bit them,
Love pangs felt they, sharper, vaster:
Even he, old Satan Master,
Pierced with keenest pain retreated.
Now rejoice! The work's completed!
THE MORE PERFECT ANGELS
Earth's residue to bear
Hath sorely pressed us;
It were not pure and fair,
Though 'twere asbestus.
When every element
The mind's high forces
Have seized, subdued, and blent,
No angel divorces
Twin natures single grown,
That inly mate them:
Eternal love alone
Can separate them.
THE YOUNGER ANGELS
Mist-like on heights above,
We now are seeing
Nearer and nearer move
Spiritual Being.
The clouds are growing clear;
And moving throngs appear
Of blessed boys,
Free from the earthly gloom,
In circling poise,
Who taste the cheer
Of the new springtime bloom
Of the upper sphere.
Let them inaugurate
Him to the perfect state,
Now, as their peer!
THE BLESSED BOYS
Gladly receive we now
Him, as a chrysalis:
Therefore achieve we now
Pledge of our bliss.
XI-402


## p. 6418 (#400) ###########################################

6418
GOETHE
The earth-flakes dissipate
That cling around him!
See, he is fair and great!
Divine Life hath crowned him.
DOCTOR MARIANUS
[In the highest, purest cell]
Free is the view at last,
The spirit lifted:
There women, floating past,
Are upward drifted:
The Glorious One therein,
With star-crown tender,-
The pure, the Heavenly Queen,
I know her splendor.
[Enraptured]
Highest Mistress of the World!
Let me in the azure
Tent of Heaven, in light unfurled,
Here thy Mystery measure!
Justify sweet thoughts that move
Breast of man to meet thee,
And with holy bliss of love
Bear him up to greet thee!
With unconquered courage we
Do thy bidding highest;
But at once shall gentle be,
When thou pacifiest.
Virgin, pure in brightest sheen,
Mother sweet, supernal,-
Unto us Elected Queen,
-
Peer of Gods Eternal!
Light clouds are circling
Around her splendor,-
Penitent women
Of natures tender,
Her knees embracing,
Ether respiring,
Mercy requiring!
Thou, in immaculate ray,
Mercy not leavest,
And the lightly led astray,
Who trust thee, receivest!


## p. 6419 (#401) ###########################################

GOETHE
6419
In their weakness fallen at length,
Hard it is to save them:
Who can crush, by native strength,
Vices that enslave them?
Whose the foot that may not slip
On the surface slanting?
Whom befool not eye and lip,
Breath and voice enchanting?
The Mater Gloriosa soars into the space
CHORUS OF WOMEN PENITENTS
To heights thou'rt speeding
Of endless Eden:
Receive our pleading,
Transcendent Maiden,
With mercy laden!
MAGNA PECCATRIX [St. Luke, vii. 36]
By the love before him kneeling,—
Him, thy Son, a Godlike vision;
By the tears like balsam stealing,
Spite of Pharisees' derision;
By the box, whose ointment precious
Shed its spice and odors cheery;
By the locks, whose softest meshes
Dried the holy feet and weary! -
MULIER SAMARITANA [St. John, iv. ]
By that well, the ancient station
Whither Abram's flocks were driven;
By the jar, whose restoration
To the Savior's lips was given;
By the fountain pure and vernal,
Thence its present bounty spending,-
Overflowing, bright, eternal,
Watering the worlds unending! -
MARIA ÆGYPTIACA [Acta Sanctorum]
By the place where the immortal
Body of the Lord hath lain;
By the arm which, from the portal,
Warning, thrust me back again;
By the forty years' repentance
In the lonely desert land;
—


## p. 6420 (#402) ###########################################

6420
GOETHE
By the blissful farewell sentence
Which I wrote upon the sand!
THE THREE
Thou thy presence not deniest
Unto sinful women ever,—
Liftest them to win the highest
Gain of penitent endeavor,—
So, from this good soul withdraw not-
Who but once forgot, transgressing,
Who her loving error saw not-
Pardon adequate, and blessing!
UNA POENITENTIUM
[Formerly named Margaret, stealing closer]
Incline, O Maiden,
With mercy laden,
In light unfading,
-
Thy gracious countenance upon my bliss!
My loved, my lover,
His trials over
In yonder world, returns to me in this!
BLESSED BOYS
[Approaching in hovering circles]
With mighty limbs he towers
Already above us;
He, for this love of ours,
Will richlier love us.
Early were we removed,
Ere Life could reach us;
Yet he hath learned and proved,
And he will teach us.
THE PENITENT
[Formerly named Margaret]
The spirit choir around him seeing,
New to himself, he scarce divines
His heritage of new-born Being,
When like the Holy Host he shines.
Behold, how he each band hath cloven
The earthly life had round him thrown,


## p. 6421 (#403) ###########################################


GOETHE
6421
And through his garb, of ether woven,
The early force of youth is shown!
Vouchsafe to me that I instruct him!
Still dazzles him the Day's new glare.
MATER GLORIOSA
Rise thou to higher spheres! Conduct him,
Who, feeling thee, shall follow there!
DOCTOR MARIANUS
[Prostrate, adoring]
Penitents, look up, elate,
Where she beams salvation;
Gratefully to blessed fate
Grow, in re-creation!
Be our souls, as they have been,
Dedicate to thee!
Virgin Holy, Mother, Queen,
Goddess, gracious be!
CHORUS MYSTICUS
All things transitory
But as symbols are sent:
Earth's insufficiency
Here grows to Event:
The Indescribable,
Here it is done:
The Woman Soul leadeth us
Upward and on!
MIGNON'S LOVE AND LONGING
From Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. Carlyle's Translation
NOTH
OTHING is more touching than the first disclosure of a love
which has been nursed in silence; of a faith grown strong
in secret, and which at last comes forth in the hour of
need and reveals itself to him who formerly has reckoned it of
small account. The bud which had been closed so long and
firmly was now ripe to burst its swathings, and Wilhelm's heart
could never have been readier to welcome the impressions of
affection.



## p. 6422 (#404) ###########################################

6422
GOETHE
She stood before him, and noticed his disquietude. "Master! "
she cried, "if thou art unhappy, what will become of Mignon? "
"Dear little creature," said he, taking her hands, "thou too art
part of my anxieties. I must go hence. " She looked at his eyes,
glistening with restrained tears, and knelt down with vehemence
before him. He kept her hands; she laid her head upon his
knees, and remained quite still. He played with her hair, patted
her, and spoke kindly to her. She continued motionless for a
considerable time. At last he felt a sort of palpitating movement
in her, which began very softly, and then by degrees, with in-
creasing violence, diffused itself over all her frame. "What ails
thee, Mignon? " cried he; "what ails thee? " She raised her lit-
tle head, looked at him, and all at once laid her hand upon her
heart, with the countenance of one repressing the utterance of
pain. He raised her up, and she fell upon his breast; he pressed
her towards him, and kissed her. She replied not by any press-
ure of the hand, by any motion whatever. She held firmly
against her heart; and all at once gave a cry, which was accom-
panied by spasmodic movements of the body. She started up,
and immediately fell down before him, as if broken in every
joint. It was an excruciating moment! "My child! " cried he,
raising her up and clasping her fast,-"my child, what ails thee?
The palpitations continued, spreading from the heart over all the
lax and powerless limbs; she was merely hanging in his arms.
All at once she again became quite stiff, like one enduring the
sharpest corporeal agony; and soon with a new vehemence all
her frame once more became alive, and she threw herself about
his neck, like a bent spring that is closing; while in her soul, as
it were, a strong rent took place, and at the same moment a
stream of tears flowed from her shut eyes into his bosom. He
held her fast. She wept, and no tongue can express the force
of these tears. Her long hair had loosened, and was hanging
down before her; it seemed as if her whole being was melting
incessantly into a brook of tears. Her rigid limbs were again
become relaxed; her inmost soul was pouring itself forth; in the
wild confusion of the moment, Wilhelm was afraid she would
dissolve in his arms, and leave nothing there for him to grasp.
He held her faster and faster. "My child! " cried he, "my child!
thou art indeed mine, if that word can comfort thee. Thou art
mine! I will keep thee, I will never forsake thee! " Her tears
continued flowing. At last she raised herself; a faint gladness


## p. 6423 (#405) ###########################################

GOETHE
6423
shone upon her face. "My father! " cried she, "thou wilt not
forsake me? Wilt be my father? I am thy child! "
Softly, at this moment, the harp began to sound before the
door; the old man brought his most affecting songs as an even-
ing offering to our friend, who, holding his child ever faster in
his arms, enjoyed the most pure and undescribable felicity.
"KNOW'ST thou the land where citron-apples bloom,
And oranges like gold in leafy gloom,
A gentle wind from deep-blue heaven blows,
The myrtle thick, and high the laurel grows?
Know'st thou it then?
'Tis there! 'Tis there,
O my true loved one, thou with me must go!
"Know'st thou the house, its porch with pillars tall?
The rooms do glitter, glitters bright the hall,
And marble statues stand, and look each one:
What's this, poor child, to thee they've done?
Know'st thou it then?
'Tis there! 'Tis there,
O my protector, thou with me must go!
"Know'st thou the hill, the bridge that hangs on cloud?
The mules in mist grope o'er the torrent loud,
In caves lie coiled the dragon's ancient brood,
The crag leaps down, and over it the flood:
Know'st thou it then?
'Tis there! 'Tis there
Our way runs: O my father, wilt thou go? "
Next morning, on looking for Mignon about the house, Wil-
helm did not find her, but was informed that she had gone out
early with Melina, who had risen betimes to receive the ward-
robe and other apparatus of his theatre.
After the space of some hours, Wilhelm heard the sound of
music before his door. At first he thought it was the harper
come again to visit him; but he soon distinguished the tones of
a cithern, and the voice which began to sing was Mignon's.
Wilhelm opened the door; the child came in, and sang him the
song we have just given above.
The music and general expression of it pleased our friend
extremely, though he could not understand all the words. He


## p. 6424 (#406) ###########################################

6424
GOETHE
made her once more repeat the stanzas, and explain them; he
wrote them down, and translated them into his native language.
But the originality of its turns he could imitate only from afar:
its childlike innocence of expression vanished from it in the pro-
cess of reducing its broken phraseology to uniformity, and com-
bining its disjointed parts. The charm of the tune, moreover,
was entirely incomparable.
She began every verse in a stately and solemn manner, as if
she wished to draw attention towards something wonderful, as if
she had something weighty to communicate. In the third line, her
tones became deeper and gloomier; the "Know'st thou it then? "
was uttered with a show of mystery and eager circumspectness;
in the "'Tis there! 'Tis there! " lay a boundless longing; and her
"With me must go! " she modified at each repetition, so that now
it appeared to entreat and implore, now to impel and persuade.
On finishing her song for the second time, she stood silent for
a moment, looked keenly at Wilhelm, and asked him, "Know'st
thou the land? " "It must mean Italy," said Wilhelm: "where
didst thou get the little song? " "Italy! " said Mignon, with an
earnest air. "If thou go to Italy, take me along with thee; for
I am too cold here. " "Hast thou been there already, little
dear? " said Wilhelm. But the child was silent, and nothing more
could be got out of her.
WILHELM MEISTER'S INTRODUCTION TO SHAKESPEARE
From Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship. Carlyle's Translation
“H^
AVE you never," said Jarno, taking him aside, "read one of
Shakespeare's plays? "
"No," replied Wilhelm: "since the time when they be-
came more known in Germany, I have myself grown unacquainted
with the theatre; and I know not whether I should now rejoice
that an old taste and occupation of my youth, has been by
chance renewed. In the mean time, all that I have heard of
these plays has excited little wish to become acquainted with
such extraordinary monsters, which appear to set probability and
dignity alike at defiance. "
"I would advise you," said the other, "to make a trial, not-
withstanding: it can do one no harm to look at what is extraordi-
nary with one's own eyes. I will lend you a volume or two; and


## p. 6425 (#407) ###########################################

GOETHE
6425
you cannot better spend your time than by casting everything
aside, and retiring to the solitude of your old habitation, to look
into the magic lantern of that unknown world. It is sinful of
you to waste your hours in dressing out these apes to look more
human, and teaching dogs to dance. One thing only I require,-
you must not cavil at the form; the rest I can leave to your
own good sense and feeling. "
The horses were standing at the door; and Jarno mounted
with some other cavaliers, to go and hunt. Wilhelm looked after
him with sadness. He would fain have spoken much with this
man who though in a harsh, unfriendly way, gave him new
ideas,-ideas that he had need of.
Oftentimes a man, when approaching some development of his
powers, capacities, and conceptions, gets into a perplexity from
which a prudent friend might easily deliver him. He resembles
a traveler, who, at but a short distance from the inn he is to
rest at, falls into the water: were any one to catch him then
and pull him to the bank, with one good wetting it were over;
whereas, though he struggles out himself, it is often at the side
where he tumbled in, and he has to make a wide and weary cir-
cuit before reaching his appointed object.
Wilhelm now began to have an inkling that things went for-
ward in the world differently from what he had supposed. He
now viewed close at hand the solemn and imposing life of the
great and distinguished, and wondered at the easy dignity which
they contrived to give it. An army on its march, a princely
hero at the head of it, such a multitude of co-operating warriors,
such a multitude of crowding worshipers, exalted his imagination.
In this mood he received the promised books; and ere long, as
may be easily supposed, the stream of that mighty genius laid
hold of him and led him down to a shoreless ocean, where he
soon completely forgot and lost himself.
Wilhelm had scarcely read one or two of Shakespeare's plays,
till their effect on him became so strong that he could go no
further. His whole soul was in commotion. He sought an
opportunity to speak with Jarno; to whom, on meeting with him,
he expressed his boundless gratitude for such delicious entertain-
ment.
"I clearly enough foresaw," said Jarno, "that you would not
remain insensible to the charms of the most extraordinary and
most admirable of all writers. "


## p. 6426 (#408) ###########################################

6426
GOETHE
"Yes! " exclaimed our friend: "I cannot reconect that any
book, any man, any incident of my life, has produced such im-
portant effects on me, as the precious works to which by your
kindness I have been directed. They seem as if they were per-
formances of some celestial genius descending among men, to
make them by the mildest instructions acquainted with them-
selves. They are no fictions! You would think, while reading
them, you stood before the inclosed awful Books of Fate, while
the whirlwind of most impassioned life was howling through the
leaves, and tossing them fiercely to and fro. The strength and
tenderness, the power and peacefulness of this man, have so
astonished and transported me, that I long vehemently for the
time when I shall have it in my power to read further. "
"Bravo! " said Jarno, holding out his hand, and squeezing our
friend's. "This is as it should be! And the consequences which
I hope for will likewise surely follow. "
"I wish," said Wilhelm, "I could but disclose to you all that
is going on within me even now. All the anticipations I have
ever had regarding man and his destiny, which have accompanied
me from youth upwards often unobserved by myself, I find de-
veloped and fulfilled in Shakespeare's writings. It seems as if
he cleared up every one of our enigmas to us, though we cannot
say, Here or there is the word of solution.
His men appear
like natural men, and yet they are not. These, the most myste-
rious and complex productions of creation, here act before us as
if they were watches, whose dial-plates and cases were of crystal,
which pointed out according to their use the course of the hours.