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4

FAUST.

And cleanse his being from the suffered woes!
Four pauses makes the Night upon her courses,^[1]
And now, delay not, let them kindly close!
First on the coolest pillow let him slumber,
Then sprinkle him with Lethe’s drowsy spray!
His limbs no more shall cramps and chills encumber,
When sleep has made him strong to meet the day.
Perform, ye Elves, your fairest rite:
Restore him to the holy Light!

CHORUS^[2]

(singly, by two or more, alternately and collectively).

When around the green-girt meadow
Balm the tepid winds exhale,
Then in fragrance and in shadow
Twilight spreads her misty veil:
Whispers peace in accents cheery,
Rocks the heart in childhood’s play,
And upon these eyelids weary
Shuts the golden gates of Day.

Now the Night already darkles,
Holy star succeeds to star;
Dazzling lights and fainter sparkles
Glimmer near and gleam afar:
Glimmer here, the lake reflecting,
Gleam in cloudless dark aboon;
While, the bliss of rest protecting,
Reigns in pomp the perfect moon.

Now the Hours are cancelled for thee,
Pain and bliss have fled away:
Thou art whole: let faith restore thee!

Trust the new, the rising Day!

↑ Goethe here refers to the four vigiliæ, or night-watches, of the Romans, each of three hours; so that the whole, from six in the evening until six in the morning, include both sunset and sunrise. I see no reason to suspect, in addition, a reference to Jean Paul’s four phases of slumber, especially as the latter division is rather fantastic than real, the phases of healthy slumber being only three. The line,—

Then sprinkle him with Lethe’s drowsy spray,”

recalls a passage in one of Goethe's letters to Zelter: “With every breath we draw, an ethereal current of Lethe flows through our whole being, so that we remember our joys but imperfectly, our cares and sorrows scarcely at all.”
↑ The four verses of the Chorus correspond to the four vigiliæ. The first describes the evening twilight; the second, the dead of night; the third, the coming of the dawn; and the fourth, the awaking to the day. The direction in regard to the chanting of the verses by the alternate or collective voices of the elves was added, in view of the possible representation of the drama upon the stage. Even where he had no such special intention, Goethe was fond of attaching a theatrical reality to his poetic creations; but throughout the Second Part he has purposely done this, in order to counteract the tendency of his symbolism to become vague and formless.

[1] Goethe here refers to the four vigiliæ, or night-watches, of the Romans, each of three hours; so that the whole, from six in the evening until six in the morning, include both sunset and sunrise. I see no reason to suspect, in addition, a reference to Jean Paul’s four phases of slumber, especially as the latter division is rather fantastic than real, the phases of healthy slumber being only three. The line,—

Then sprinkle him with Lethe’s drowsy spray,”

recalls a passage in one of Goethe's letters to Zelter: “With every breath we draw, an ethereal current of Lethe flows through our whole being, so that we remember our joys but imperfectly, our cares and sorrows scarcely at all.”

[2] The four verses of the Chorus correspond to the four vigiliæ. The first describes the evening twilight; the second, the dead of night; the third, the coming of the dawn; and the fourth, the awaking to the day. The direction in regard to the chanting of the verses by the alternate or collective voices of the elves was added, in view of the possible representation of the drama upon the stage. Even where he had no such special intention, Goethe was fond of attaching a theatrical reality to his poetic creations; but throughout the Second Part he has purposely done this, in order to counteract the tendency of his symbolism to become vague and formless.

[1]

[2]