Finished: Faust (Goethe). Both parts. My brain hurts! I can see why Goethe's Faust is considered a brilliant piece of writing. The entire story is written in poetic form and incorporates so many biblical and mythological references. I had to read many of the passages several times and I'm still not sure I understood everything I read. I can say that it is an incredible work of writing, but I can't really add it to my favorite books. It took Goethe several years to write both parts I and II. I can't even imagine the work that went into all that detail! It's basically the story of Faust, a mortal who is unsatisfied with all the earthly answers to life he has learned through his many degrees. He wants more knowledge. I'm not sure what he's seeking can be found. In any event, the devil makes a bet with God that he can capture Faust's soul by taking him on some pretty wild adventures. In the end, just when you think Faust's entire life has been turned over to the devil and his soul will follow to hell when he dies, God wins out and takes him to heaven. :-)

In the meat of all the stories are some fascinating pieces of poetry. All kinds of objects are brought to life and given thoughts and words. Some of my favorite passages are below:

Faust: "All that you have,
bequeathed you by your father,
Earn it in order to possess it.
Things unused often burden and beset;
But what hour brings forth, that can use it and bless it."
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Mephistopheles (the devil): "Here to your service I will bind me;
Beck when you will, I will not pause or rest;
But in return when yonder you will find me,
Then likewise shall you be at my behest."

Faust: "The yonder is to me a trifling matter.
Should you this world to ruins shatter,
The other then may rise, its place to fill.
'Tis from this earth my pleasure springs,
And this sun shines upon my sufferings;
When once I separate me from these things,
Let happen then what can and will.
And furthermore I've no desire to hear
Whether in future too men hate and love,
And whether too in  yonder sphere
There is an under or above."
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Margaret: "So you don't believe?" (in God)

Faust: "Sweet vision, don't misunderstand me now!
Who dare name Him?
And who avow:
"I believe in Him"?
Who feels and would
Have hardihood
To say: "I don't believe in Him"?
The All-Enfolder,
The All-Upholder,
Enfolds, upholds He not
You, me, Himself?
Do not the heavens over-arch us yonder?
Does not the earth lie from beneath?
Do not eternal stars rise friendly
Looking down upon us?
Look I not, eye in eye, on you,
And do not all things throng
Toward your head and heart,
Weaving in mystery eternal,
Invisible, visible, near to you?
Fill up your heart with it, great though it is,
And when you're wholly in the feeling, in its bliss,
Name it then as you will,
Name it Happiness! Heart! Love! God!
I have no name for that!
Feeling is all in all;
Name is but sound and smoke,
Beclouding Heaven's glow."

Margaret: "That's all quite nice and good to know;
Much the same way the preacher talks of it,
Only in words that differ just a bit."

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At a masquerade, a host of  "entities" enter and make their claims after being announced by the Herald.

An Olive Branch with Fruits: "Flowery sprays I do not covet,
Strife I shun, I am above it;
To my nature it is strange.
Yet I am the nation's marrow,
Pledge secure 'gainst spear and arrow.
Sign of peace where men may range.
And today I'm hoping, fleetly
To adorn a fair head meetly."

Rosebuds, a Challenge: "Let fantastic gaudy flowers
Bloom as Fashion oft empowers,
Wondrous-strange and finely moulded,
Such as Nature ne'er unfolded.
Green stalks, gold bells, look entrancing
From rich locks, their charm enhancing!
But we hide from mortal eyes.
Happy he who us espies!
When anew the summer beameth
As the rosebud, kindling, gleameth,
From such bliss who'd be abstaining?
Sweet the promise and attaining
Which in Flora's fair domain
Rule over vision, heart, and brain."

Herald: "Now, if it please you, stand aside a pace,
For what comes now is not your kind or race.
Ye see a mountain pressing through the throng,
Its flanks with brilliant  housings proudly hung,
A head with long tusks, snake-like snout below.
A mystery! but soon the key I'll show.
A dainty woman on his neck is sitting
And with her wand subjects him to her bidding;
Another stands aloft, sublime to see,
Girt by a radiance dazzling, blinding me.
Beside them chained, two noble women near,
Fearful the one, the other blithe of cheer.
One longs for freedom and one feels she's free.
Let each declare now who she be."

Fear: "Lamps and lights and torches smoking
Through this turmoil gleam around;
Midst these faces, shamming, joking,
I, alas, in chains am bound.
Hence, ye throngs absurdly merry!
I mistrust your grins with right;
Every single adversary
Presses nearer in this night.
Friend turned foes would here bewray me,
But his mask I know well. Stay,
Yonder's one who wished to slay me;
Now revealed, he slinks away.
Through the wide world I would wander,
Following every path that led,
But destruction threatens yonder,
Holds me fast twixt gloom and dread."

Hope: "Hail, beloved sisters, hail!
Though today and yesterday
Ye have loved this maskers' play,
Yet tomorrow ye'll unveil.
This I know of you quite surely.
If beneath the torches' flaring
We can't find our special pleasure,
Yet in days of cheerful leisure,
As our will doth bid us purely,
Now in groups, now singly faring,
We'll roam over lovely leas,
Resting, doing, as we please,
In a life no cares assailing,
Naught forgoing, never failing.
Everywhere as welcome guest
Let us enter, calm in mind,
Confident that we shall find
Somewhere, certainly, the best."

Prudence: "Two of man's chief foes, behold them,
Fear and Hope, in fetters mated;
From this crowd I'll keep and hold them.
Room, make room! Ye're liberated.
I conduct the live colossus,
See the burden that it carries,
And the steepest pass it crosses,
Step by step, and never wearies."
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Two arguing entities:

Leader of the Chorus: "How ugly, near to beauty, ugliness appears!"

Phorkyas: "How senseless, near to wisdom, seems the want of sense!"
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Faust falls in love with the goddess, Helena:

Faust: "Astonished, I behold alike, O Queen,
The unerring archer and the stricken one;
I see the bow which hath the arrow sped
That wounded him. Arrows on arrows fly,
Me do they smite. Criss-cross through keep and court
I feel their feathered whirring everywhere.
What am I now? The faithfulest thou mak'st
At once rebellious to me, insecure
My walls, And so my army, I fear now,
Obeys the conquering, unconquered Queen.
What else remains save that I give to thee
Myself and all that I have fancied mine?
Freely and truly let me at thy feet
Acknowledge thee as Queen who by her coming
Acquired at once possession and a throne."
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Helena despairs and perishes after her son with Faust dies:

Helena: "Alas, an ancient truth is verified in me:
That bliss and beauty never lastingly unite.
The bond of life is rent no less than that of love;
Bewailing both, I say with sorrow: Fare thee well!
And cast myself once more, once only, in thine arms.
Receive, Persephone, receive the boy and me."
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