Chapter 4
He is your hope, Your sole salvation in a universe Where never other form shall comfort you-- A waif except for Him. So have all souls-- The holy and the pure--from age to age, Learned, homesick for His home. Their frustrate hopes, Their burdens heavier than by mortal strength Can be sustained, their impotence, bow down Each spirit: and it cries: "O God, support My helplessness; unto Thy perfect will Do I resign my vain and evil hopes, My burdens; and Thy Will Be Done Forever." Thus, with arms folded on despairing breast, With head bowed to the inscrutable decree, They seek Him: and a sudden glory fills The humbled bosom; all His stars and thrones Shine down upon it; all His majesty Enters that lowly door, lifts up, sustains The sundered soul; and His beneficence With more than father-love enfolds the heart Joined to His own forever. From His light Reflected radiance pours; to the dark sight Comes glimpse of the high justice of God's will; And all roads lead to Heaven, and all hearts lie Within His love, and all's well with the world.
[_Deep organ music begins to roll through the arches of the cathedral. Candles are lighted one by one on the High Altar. Worshippers begin to enter the nave: they pass down the long central aisle and gather in groups at the far end, near the Altar. Faust stands leaning against a pillar, silent and lost in meditation.
Brander enters among the worshippers. He passes the spot where Faust is standing, glances at him and stops, astonished._
BRANDER
You have come back! I had not heard of it. Where have you been these many months? I long To talk with you.
FAUST
Yes, come and see me soon. It's a long story.... I congratulate you Upon your marriage....
BRANDER
Then you know....
FAUST
She came And spoke to me a little while ago.
BRANDER
It must seem strange to you beyond my power Ever to quite unravel. But for me All things are clear; and to my blinded sight Morning has come--in this thing, as in all The doubts that once enslaved me.
FAUST
Do you mean...
BRANDER
Come here aside before the service starts. I owe it you to tell you. I have changed In your long absence....
FAUST
These are curious words. I do not understand.
BRANDER
To understand, You must hear all. You know my life--how vain Its occupations, how absorbed I moved In this day's folly and to-morrow's lure-- How petty trifles made my whole small round Of being--selfish trifles, nothing worth, Stained with a cruelty that I would forget. That night we talked together--you and I And Oldham--in your rooms, I wandered home Sorely distressed. For you had stirred in me A gnawing doubt whether the whole of life Was not mere child's play.
FAUST
I am sorry if--
BRANDER
It was the kindest act man ever did In all my life! I peered into my heart: I saw myself Judas to innocence, Betraying lightly with a careless kiss A mortal body and immortal soul; I saw no thing in all my days to claim A sane man's approbation; one by one Each glittering bauble that I late had loved Crumbled to dust beneath the parching fire Of reason.... And that night, I walked in Hell.
FAUST
Poor Brander! And my mocking did all this?
BRANDER
Thank God for it! That night I saw my joys Like some rank thicket of bright vanities Masking a precipice. A sense of sin And loathing overcame me, and the power Of utter terror filled me. I beheld The evil riot of gross earthy things That had o'ergrown me. Like a burden lay That sense upon me, and it pressed me down To a despondence deep beyond all words, Beyond all thought. And no escape I saw Except the bullet....
FAUST
What a faith we pin Upon that bullet!
BRANDER
Thus the doubtful days Passed like a nightmare. Till, one Sabbath morn, As restlessly I paced, some random mood Led me to enter this cathedral's doors At hour of service. As I knelt, with lips Unknown to prayer, the mighty music rolled Over my heart like an all-purging flood, And a voice chanted: "He that loveth life Shall lose it; he that hateth this world's life Shall keep the life eternal." And a voice Shortly thereafter sang, in angel tones: "Come, let our feet return unto the Lord; For He hath torn, and He will heal us." And My soul cried: "Yield thy burdens to the Lord, Upon His love cast thine unworthy self, And bid His Will Be Done."
And then my soul Melted as in the warmth of His embrace. My guilt was gone like night before the sun: Light blinded me; an infinite love and joy Lifted me up, a child again, from earth Into such regions as my mortal speech Can never utter. And from that hour forth, God has been with me.... Now you know my tale.
FAUST
You teach me more of marvels than I guessed Was yet unlearned by me.
BRANDER
No words can teach These marvels to a heart that has not known God's glories.
FAUST Then this mystery of the heart Is what men mean when of the faith of God They speak? I thought 'twas dogma, service, prayer; But this is life, is vision.
BRANDER
Aye, and more! Now do I walk in meadows of calm light; The love of God is over me; I faint Almost beneath its sweetness and wild joy. My whole heart's toil is how to merit it Even a little.
SATAN (_raising his hand to bless_)
By the grace of God You shall be worthy servant, O my son.
FAUST
This, then, is what God's vision-seers behold-- This revelation veiled unto mine eyes-- This love unfelt by me--this light of dawn Beyond our darkened night.... I was too far Estranged from Him, of too unworthy will, Bowed by too sore a burden....
[_The music of the organ rolls forth once more; and, at the far end of the nave, the choir takes up the music._
VOICES SINGING
From the waters of Zion, From the fountains of peace, Pour the floods on whose bosom Thy seeking shall cease.
There the winds of His garments Shall lull thee to rest. There the night of His watching Shall enter thy breast.
Thou shalt sleep, and awaken; On His morrow, to be As a star in His heavens, A wave in His sea.
FAUST
With old, profound, unutterable grief My spirit speaks in me: as, many a time In childhood, at the hour of evening dusk, When all the room was still and shadowy, I, at my mother's knee, wept out my heart And knew not why I wept. And I am drawn Out of myself upon the music's tide, With nameless sorrowing, with childlike pain-- As though in careless play-hours of the day I had done hurt to someone that I loved. Ah, I am homesick; and in all the world There is no knee at which I can weep out My loneliness. There is no breast of peace And silence and forgiveness for this child In any dusk-strewn chamber....
BRANDER
There is God!
FAUST
O God, can Thine arms fold me? Can my weight Of loneliness and failure and despair With the day's fruitage, find a child's release In Thy great tenderness? I am a child; And life's vast terrors gather round my soul; And I am frightened. I am weary, Lord! It darkens; and the storms creep on with night; The shadows come; the wanderer would turn home.
[_Faust falls to his knees; he bows his head. Again the organ throbs, the choir sings._
VOICES SINGING
To His peace shalt thou yield thee; In His love shalt thou sleep; All the rills of thy valleys Shall merge in His deep.
To His hands shalt thou offer All hope thou hast known. His hope and His glory Shall compass thine own.
And the vain stars of longing Shall fade in His sun; And the vain hand shall stay; And His Will Shall Be Done.
SATAN
Let us beside our brother kneel in prayer Beseeching mercy.
[_Satan and Brander kneel beside Faust._
BRANDER
Brother in the Lord, Let us together from devoted hearts Repeat: "Thy Will Be Done."
[_Faust continues to kneel in silence. The music ceases._
BRANDER
Faust, let us pray: "Father, we do beseech Thee for Thy light"...
SATAN
Brother, pray thus: "Thy Will Be Done"...
FAUST (_rising_)
What will?...
BRANDER
Faust!
FAUST
Lost is my way among eternal shadows. Darkened is every light; and clouds are rolled With blackening curtain over all the stars Within my heaven. But I stand upright Now to the end, no traitor to that dawn I cannot image.
SATAN
What do you mean?
FAUST
Begone, Judas!...
Ah, Brander, would that I could yield Myself to Him who has received your burdens! But to me seems it as another sleep, Like that Nirvana which I put aside In other gardens of temptation. Sleep-- Sleep that should have no waking--happy sleep-- An anodyne for which my spirit yearns But dare not take--a yielding to some Will, Whose Will, we know not, nor do greatly care So long it be not our will....
Thus may yield The weary; I am weary, but not yet To such last slumber. Thus may yield the base; I am not base. Thus may those spirits yield Who, poisoned by some madness in their blood, Despise life's being; but not yet will I So utterly despise it. Though in gulfs Of yet unsounded ruin I should die At the end miserably, I still shall seek In life itself my refuge: not in God That stands apart from life, on heights of peace. All my desires, my visions, my dreams, my unrest, My loathing and my longing will I clutch And cry: "With all its bitterness on my head, _My Will_ be done, not Thy Will!"
BRANDER
Blasphemy! Ah, Faust, what madness!...
FAUST
With calm sight, I speak No blasphemy, but truth. Shall I buy peace So easily? Toss my burdens to God's Will-- Into the fathomless void of that unknown? Such were the last, the great apostacy.... I go into a darkness past your thought-- Into an emptiness you know not of-- A night profounder that it late has held Marsh-lights of promise. My last altar lies Smoking in ruins; and I stand alone Of all the universe. But my Will be done! My errant tortured Will, my bitter Will, _My_ Will, _my_ Will!
BRANDER
Flee, ere the awful wrath Of God smite down these walls, these poisoned stones, That hear your words! Flee, ere the heavens rain forth Lightnings to blast us for these horrors!
FAUST
Nay! In this dim hour of desolation's reign Upon my soul, I summon to my soul All powers that good or evil may consign To the most lonely man in all the world; I lift my voice, burdened with all the weight Of loathing and of longing, and I cry: My curse upon Thee, lure of dying hearts! May lightnings smite Thy altars back to earth!
BRANDER
Father, forgive! He knows not what he does....
CURTAIN
THE FOURTH ACT
_The scene is a public lecture-hall. To the left rises a platform, on which stands a reading-desk. To the right are rows of chairs arranged as for an audience. In the front row of these sit four old men, patiently and silently waiting. One is reading a newspaper.
Suddenly there bursts into the hall a rout of wildly gay and dancing maskers: Harlequin, Columbine, a Pig, Pantaloon, an enormously tall Ghost, Clowns, a Skeleton, Ballet-girls, Oriental Princesses, Monks, Courtiers, Turks and Jew Pedlers. The first few attempt to draw back on seeing the chairs and the four old men; but they are pushed on by those behind. Once in, they all circle about in a crazy dance, singing over and over the same verse._
THE MASKERS
Oh, children, children, New Year's Day Is more than half a year away. And we might get most awful dry If we should wait for the Fourth of July. So let us celebrate now and here With rah, rah, rah and a bottle of beer!
[_One of the maskers, who is dressed as a clown, raises his hands, ineffectually trying to hush the rest._
CLOWN (_shouting_)
Stop! Stop! I want to teach another verse To you before we go back to the others.
[_Loud laughter. The song continues._
THE SKELETON (_shouting_)
Isn't one bad enough?
CLOWN
A poor thing--but It is mine own.
THE PIG
So much the worse for you!
ONE OF THE OLD MEN (_rising_)
Gentlemen! There's to be a lecture here.
CLOWN
Is that all? Well, I'll give it you myself.
A MONK
Not if we see you first!
THE PIG
My God! Let's run!
SKELETON
Back! Or the others will drink all the punch!
[_The mob of maskers turbulently surges out again, leaving the hall quiet and empty except for the four old men._
AN OLD MAN
They are a noisy lot.
SECOND OLD MAN
Yes.
THE FIRST OLD MAN
There must be Party upstairs?
SECOND OLD MAN
Yes, I suppose there is.
FIRST OLD MAN
They begin early.
THIRD OLD MAN
Early? Yes, or late. This is the end of last night's party, which Began at twelve, and likely'll last till noon. I know, for I'm the janitor.
FIRST OLD MAN
Well! Well!
[_Two men enter, look around and take seats in the chairs set for the audience. One carries a small black surgical case; the other has a green bag under his arm._
DOCTOR
We seem to be a little early--or Have we made some mistake?
LAWYER
No, ten's the hour. But I was anxious that we should be prompt, And so have rather overdone our haste.
DOCTOR
It doesn't matter; we can wait a bit. How curiously impatient, though, you are To hear this talk! I personally have doubts Whether it's worth our trouble.
LAWYER
Well, I know The man, however slightly; you do not, And so can hardly share my expectation. But he has been, throughout these many years, So secretive, so self-contained, so deep In matters that I could not guess, that now, When he at last promises to proclaim Some strange discovery, I half believe It will be worth our coming.
[_Two women enter together. The younger one is leading a child by the hand. The older, a gaunt, spinsterly-looking figure, peers about with a near-sighted glance._
MERCHANT'S WIFE
Take that seat. And now be quiet.
CHILD
Mother, will he have The Devil with him?
MERCHANT'S WIFE
I don't know. The child Has been completely crazy since I told her That I would bring her with me.
OLD WOMAN
I am just A little curious myself. I learned When I was young all that they thought was known About the Devil; and if this Mr. Faust Has really made some new discovery About him, it seems well that even the young Should be informed of it.
[_A number of detached men and women enter and take seats silently. They are followed by two plumbers in overalls, carrying the tools of their trade still with them._
YOUNG PLUMBER
Whew, but the boss will skin us for this trick!
OLD PLUMBER
Go, if you like. But I intend to stay. I have not been, through seventeen long years, Philosopher myself, now to let slip A chance of hearing such a talk as this.
YOUNG PLUMBER
Oh, I won't go.
OLD PLUMBER
You'd better not. They say That all the rumors wholly underrate The real importance of his talk to-day. I've been informed, on good authority, That he will have the Devil on the platform And publicly enchain him to a cart For all of us to see.
[_The two plumbers have taken their seats. A man behind them leans forward now and interrupts them._
BUTCHER
What's that? A cart? He means to drive the Devil as a horse?
OLD PLUMBER
Quite probably, quite probably.
BUTCHER
Well, that Will be outrageous, in these troubled times Of strikes and lock-outs. Without any doubt, If he goes trying to harness up the Devil, It will precipitate a teamsters' strike. Using non-union horses always does.
YOUNG PLUMBER
Do you think that? Why, that would be a shame, When times are bad already.
CHILD
Mother, Mother! Will there be moving pictures?
MERCHANT'S WIFE
I don't know. Don't talk so loud.
[_Two prosperous-looking men enter. One is elderly, the other young._
BANKER
Do not apologize Now that you've brought me. As I said at first, I am prepared to see a mountebank Perform his pretty tricks of eloquence To set the crowd agape. Why, once a week The Ethical Society hires one To work the same performance--quite the same Each time. Unearth a few forgotten doubts, Or dig your elbow into some new dogma, And you will see the mob fawn at your feet, Believing you the greatest mind since Plato.
RICH YOUNG MAN
I'm sure he isn't that kind.
BANKER
We shall see! And afterwards, the drinks shall be on you.
[_A gawky young man who has flour in his hair, and a vivacious and pertly dressed girl enter together._
GIRL
I go to all the lectures that I can. I do think culture is the grandest thing; And one acquires it so easily Nowadays that one shouldn't let it slip.
BAKER
I'd go to lectures, too, if I could go Always with you.
GIRL
Well, now, perhaps I'll try To educate you!
BAKER
Oh, I wish you would!
[_Satan enters, dressed as an artisan. He takes a seat in the far corner, out of sight of the platform. Two young men enter. Both have books under their arms._
YOUNG STUDENT
His is the subtlest mind I ever knew. The gulfs through which he whirled bewildered me When he would talk. So I am quite prepared For a great treat to-day.
YOUNGER STUDENT
Oh, I forgot My note-book. Can you tear a sheet from yours?
SATAN (_to a man beside him who rises, apparently tired of waiting_)
What, going? Well, I wouldn't, if I were you. You ought to hear this: I have had a hand In getting him to speak; and I am sure There will be something doing.
THE MAN
Well, I'll stay, Since you, of the committee, vouch for it.
[_More people enter and take their seats._
YOUNG PLUMBER (_to his companion_)
What do you get by being philosopher? I don't see how you do it. I could never Think about nothing all the time, like you.
OLD PLUMBER
Perhaps your mind is not just made for it. It takes a thinker, that it does. And I Did not get into it so easy, either. I read a lot of books before I saw The greatness of Philosophy. Now I wonder How I got on without it. Why, to-day I could not clean a sewer in peace of mind If I did not know that, when I got home, I could philosophize on Space and Time.
YOUNG PLUMBER
It must be wonderful to know these things.
[_Brander and Midge enter together. They seem to find some difficulty in choosing their seats._
MIDGE
Are you quite sure that we can hear him here?
BRANDER
Yes; and besides, I do not wish to sit Too near the front. I'd rather not have come At all to-day. But you...
MIDGE
Oh, don't go back Now on your promise! I must hear him speak. I must, I must. I cannot tell you why; I do not know. But I have never seen A face that seemed to promise me so much-- Things that I cannot utter, cannot think.
BRANDER
I never want to see his face again. I shall try not to listen.
CHILD
Mother, when Will the show start?
MERCHANT'S WIFE
Hush, very soon! Yes, see-- There he is coming in.
CHILD
Oh, goody, goody!
[_Faust enters the hall and mounts the platform. He busies himself for a moment adjusting the reading desk; then turns toward the audience, gripping the desk steadily, and waits a moment more for the stir to subside._
FAUST
I come before you with unwilling lips-- Not led by eagerness, or wont of speech; Being not of those who easily proclaim Small miracles to move you. But the force Of grave necessity has bid me cast All thought save one aside, and in your midst, Utter strange words, with lips that must obey The soul that wills not silence.
For I come Announcing not the common verities Of learned books, or laboratory lore, Or ancient heresies; as speaks the fool, So speak I--from my heart. What I have seen, That shall you see, and with grim gladness hold Close in your hearts. Yes, all the world shall see it-- I am a tower burning to light the world!
(_He pauses a moment, meditatively_)
OLD WOMAN (_whispering_)
He has a good opinion of himself.
FAUST
I have beheld the toil and pain of life, Its emptiness and defeat; I have beheld Hearts, weary with recurrence of the days That held no sweetness, turn in trust to where In high aërial spaces far from earth God in his heaven to all the weary ones Offers a refuge. And in such a mood Was I, too, led toward heaven by one whom now I know my foe--Satan. Toward God I turned, Seeking in Him fulfilment of all hopes That earth had thwarted. Then, in the hour of prayer And revelation, from my deepest breast Flashed lightnings. And I saw the Lord of Hosts High on a mountain, inaccessible To yearning men, who, mastered by a dream, Turn skyward from our dark and struggling earth. I saw the crafty Satan urging on The heavenward-yearning myriads, while the world Lay like a stagnant quagmire, to his sway Wholly abandoned, and man's mortal house Burned in fierce conflagration of corruption. And lo! the lightnings from my heart smote forth Across the heavens; and God dissolved like cloud, And through the cloud peered Satan's sinister face.
Friends: God is dead; your God and mine is dead. And Satan in his place--Satan who is The father of the gods--lures on your hearts Unto an idol in the untrodden skies, That, while ye dream oblivious in the void, The earth may crumble. Or if God there be, He is the God of dying hearts and spent-- A deity of chaos, for whose ends One thing alone is mete--ruin of life, Of loathings and of longings that on earth Restlessly grapple with the powers of Hell. I know not if in regions yet unguessed Some gods may dwell, of nature fit to guide Us, the adventurers of an earthly fight. But I have seen with eyes that cannot lie That they reside not in this Devil's net-- This heavenly trust, this labyrinth of peace, Which draws men on to nothingness....
And I cry With all the passion of my baffled soul-- Cast down your God! Cast down your peace and trust In His far Will! It is a solace mete For slaves, not men. With bitter hand, destroy This idol of destruction! Smite all haunts Of faith and resignation and defeat And rest and peace and comfort. Heaven and earth Alike are poisoned: somnolence in heaven, Decay on earth is regnant. Every faith And law and nation must in wreck go down For us who see the death that taints their halls; And ruin shall walk reckless through the world, Destroying tombs where life is daily slain!
(_Faust pauses_)
BRANDER (_rises suddenly from his place in the audience_)
My friends, I came to listen, not to speak. But when such words as these from impious lips Fall lightly, I must rise here to refute Their poisonous message. Three days since, I stood With this man in the sacred halls of God, And witnessed in his heart the glory grow Of God's bright hope. Then suddenly from Hell, Or from his own deep, labyrinthine heart, Sprang fiends to snatch him back from heaven's clear gate And God's deliverance. And his bitter lips, By thirst so nearly quenched made bitterer yet, Cried blasphemies against the powers of heaven And all bright starry hopes that light our days With faith and glory. And the hand of God, Inscrutably withheld, smote him not dumb, But suffered him to go. Now in our sight He rises to proclaim his searing doubt, His hot destroying passion, and tears down Our fairest altars. I, who was his friend, Hereby renounce him; and in sober words Counsel all men to flee the company Of one who hates the great hopes of the world!
[_As Brander sits down, there is some scattered applause in the audience. Faces are turned toward him. Midge sits motionless, her face buried in her hands._
FAUST
I scarce foresaw that my laborious task Should profit by the aid of willing hands So freely offered. Well, the Devil moves still Unchained on earth; and while he toils, your toil Is of small matter. You have ranged yourself With things fast dying; and our feet--the feet Of trampling hordes--shall pass above your head, As we shall pass over all creeds and laws, All stately chambers and respected homes And hearths and council-halls and sleek vile marts-- We, the destroyers of destruction!
BUTCHER
Here! Don't you go shaking any fist at me!
GIRL
I think it's awful. Someone ought to stop him.
MERCHANT'S WIFE
The man is crazy!
OLD PLUMBER
Say! Would you destroy Space and Time, too?
YOUNG PLUMBER
Hooray for hell broke loose!
BUTCHER
Out with him! He's an anarchist!
BANKER
I'm not Religious; but I cannot stand for that.
YOUNG STUDENT
Oh, let him have a chance!
BUTCHER
Not if I know it! Damn such a man!