Wilhelm Meister and Hermann und Dorothea, banished it for a time from his thoughts; and the first instigation which led him to resume the work came from Schiller, who thus wrote to him on the 29th of November, 1794: “But I have no less desire to read those fragments of your Faust which are not yet printed; for I confess that what I have already read seems to me the torso of Hercules. In these scenes there is a power and fulness of genius which clearly reveals the highest master-hand, and I wish to follow as far as possible the bold and lofty nature which breathes through them.” Goethe wrote in answer: “I can at present communicate nothing of Faust; I do not dare to untie the package in which he is imprisoned. I could not copy without continuing the work, and I have no courage for that, now. If anything can restore it to me in the future, it is surely your sympathy.”
It seems, however, that during the following winter Goethe took the manuscript to Jena, and discussed the plan of the work with Schiller, for in the summer of 1795 Wilhelm von Humboldt writes to the latter, thanking him for his information concerning Faust. “The plan,” he says, “is gigantic: what a pity, therefore, that it will never be anything else than a plan!” If Frau von Kalb's memory is to be trusted, Goethe wrote about this time the interview between Mephistopheles and the Baccalaureus (Part Second, Act II.), which has generally been referred to a much later date.
There is no evidence that the First Part of Faust was resumed before 1797, when the “Dedication” and the “Prologue in Heaven” were probably written, together with the Intermezzo (Oberon and Titania's Golden Wedding), which was afterwards inserted by accident rather than design. In 1798 the “Prelude on the Stage” and perhaps the conclusion of Scene I., together with Scene II. and III., appear to have been written. It is probable that the concluding scene of the First Part (the “Dungeon”) was either produced or rewritten at this time. Goethe writes to Schiller that he is favored by “the lyrical mood of Spring,” and in several letters announces the progress he is making in the work. During the year 1799 little, if anything, was accomplished; but
