Western European stream·Works of Goethe·Faust (Parts I and II)·Faust II (1832)·Act II — Rocky Coves of the Aegean Sea (Galatea)

Source context

Theme

elemental sea-realm as site of cosmogonic eros and the ascent of soul through Galatea's marine epiphany

Soul-faculty

Sentient Soul

Steiner

• GA 13, chapter 5Steiner footnotes Faust II, Act II in the chapter on initiation, treating the Homunculus-and-sea sequence as an image of the soul's reimmersion in the elemental world as a stage of higher development.

Cross-tradition

• Neoplatonic theurgy (Iamblichus, Proclus)The procession of Nereids and sea-daemons toward Galatea structurally parallels the Neoplatonic doctrine of the soul's descent through elemental spheres and its re-ascent drawn by divine eros toward the one radiant form.
• Greek mystery tradition (Samothracian Kabeiroi)The Kabeiroi invoked in this scene bear cross-tradition congruence with the Samothracian mysteries of sea-passage and elemental initiation, in which chthonic-fire beings preside over transformation at the boundary of formed and unformed matter.

SIRENS (couched upon the cliffs around, fluting and singing).

HOUGH erewhile, by spells nocturnal, Thee Thessalian hags infernal

Downward drew, with guilt intended, — Look, from where thine arch is bended, On the multitudinous, splendid Twinkles of the billowy Ocean! Shine upon the throngs in motion O'er the waters, wild and free! To thy service vowed are we:

Fairest Luna, gracious be!

Act II. 199

NEREIDS AND I RITONS (as Wonders of the Sea).

Call with clearer, louder singing, Through the Sea's broad bosom ringing, Call the tenants of the Deep!

When the storm swept unimpeded

We to stillest depths receded ;

Forth at sound of song we leap.

See! delighted and elated,

We ourselves have decorated,

With our golden crowns have crowned us, With our spangled girdles bound us, Chains and jewels hung around us!

All are spoils which you purvey ! Treasures, here in shipwreck swallowed, You have lured, and we have followed

You, the Demons of our bay.

SIRENS.

In the crystal cool, delicious, 1 Smoothly sport the happy fishes, | Pliant lives that nothing mar ;

Yet, ye festive crowds that gather,

Faust.

We, to-day, would witness, rather,

That ye more than fishes are.

NEREIDS AND I RITONS.

We, before we hither wandered,

Thoroughly the question pondered :

Sisters, Brothers, speed afar ! Briefest travel, light endurance, Yield the validest assurance

That we more than fishes are.

SIRENS. Off! they have left the place,

Steering away to Samothrace,?!

Vanished with favoring wind.

[ They depart.

What is their purpose there, in the dreary

Domain of the lofty Cabiri?

Gods are they, but the strangest crew,

Ever begetting themselves anew,

And unto their own being blind.

In thy meridian stay, Luna! — graciously delay,

That the Night still embrace us,

And the Day not chase us!

Act LT. 201

THALES (on the shore, to Homuncutus).

I fain would lead thee unto Nereus old. Not distant are we from his cavern cold, But stubbornness is his delight,

The peevish and repulsive wight. Howe'er the human race has tried,

The Grumbler 's never satisfied :

Yet he the Future hath unsealed,

And men thereto their reverence yield, And give him honor in his station.

Many his benefits have tasted.

HomuNCcUuLUS.

Then let us try, without more hesitation!

My glass and flame will not at once be wasted.

NEREwsS.

Are human voices those that reach mine ear?

At once my wrath is kindled, keen and clear. Aspiring forms, that high as Gods would ramble, Yet ever damned their own selves to resemble. In ancient years could I divinely rest,

Yet was impelled to benefit the Best ;

202Faust.
And when, at last, I saw my deeds completed, It fully seemed as were the work defeated. THALES. And yet we trust thee, Graybeard of the Sea! Thou art the Wise One: drive us not from thee! Behold this Flame, in man's similitude: It yields itself unto thy counsel good. NEREUS. What! Counsel? When did ever men esteem it? Wise words in hard ears are but lifeless lore. Oft as the Act may smite them when they scheme it, The People are as self-willed as before. | How warned I Paris, in paternal trust, Before a foreign woman woke his lust ! Upon the Grecian strand he stood so bold; I saw in spirit, and to him foretold The smoky winds, the overwhelming woe, Beams all a-blaze, murder and death below, — Troy's judgment-day, held fast in lofty rhyme, A terror through a thousand years of time! My words seemed sport unto the reckless one: His lust he followed: fallen was Ilion, — A giant carcass, stiff, and hacked with steel, | Act LT. To Pindus' eagles 't was a welcome meal. Ulysses, too! did I not him presage The wiles of Circe and the Cyclops' rage? His paltering mind, his crew's inconstant strain, And what not all ?—and did it bring hiyh gain? Till him, though late, the favoring billow bore, A much-tossed wanderer, to the friendly shore. THALES. Such conduct, truly, gives the wise man pain, And yet the good man once will try again. An ounce of gratitude, his help repaying, Tons of ingratitude he sees outweighing. And nothing trifling now we beg of thee; The boy here wishes to be born, and be. NEREUS. Let not my rarest mood be spoiled, I pray! Far other business waits for me to-day. I've hither bidden, by the wave and breeze, The Graces of the Sea, the Dorides." Olympus bears not, nor your lucent arch, Such lovely forms, in such a lightsome march: They fling themselves, in wild and wanton dalliance, From the sea-dragons upon Neptune's stallions,

204Faust.
Blent with the element so freely, brightly, That even the foam appears to lift them lightly. In Venus' chariot-shell, with hues of morn, Comes Galatea, now the fairest, borne; Who, since that Cypris turned from us her face, In Paphos reigns as goddess in her place. Thus she, our loveliest, long since came to own, As heiress, templed town and chariot-throne. Away! the father's hour of rapture clips Hate from the heart, and harshness from the lips. Away to Proteus! Ask that wondrous man Of Being's and of Transformation's plan ! [ He retires towards the sea. THALES. We, by this step, gain nothing : one may meet Proteus, and straight he melts, dissolving fleet. | Though he remain, he only says That which confuses and astonishes. However, of such counsel thou hast need; So, at a venture, let us thither speed! | [ They depart. S1RENS (on the rocks above). What is 't, that, far advancing, Glides o'er the billows dancing? Act LT, 205 As, when the winds are shifted, Shine snowy sails, uplifted, So shine they o'er the waters, Transfigured Ocean-daughters. We 'll clamber down, and, near them, Behold their forms, and hear them. NEREIDS AND I RITONS. What in our hands we bear you Much comfort shall prepare you. Chelone's buckler giant Shines with its forms defiant : — They 're Gods that we are bringing: High songs must you be singing! SIRENS. Small to the sight, Great in their might, — Saviours of the stranded, Ancient Gods, and banded. NEREIDS AND I RITONS. We bring you the Cabiri To festals calm and cheery ; Faust, For where their sway extendeth Neptune the realm befriendeth, SIRENS. We yield to your claim; When a shipwreck came, Irresistibly you Protected the crew. NEREIDS AND TriTons. Three have we brought hither,93 The fourth refused us altogether : He was the right one, said he, — Their only thinker ready. SIRENS, One God the other God Smites with the scoffer's rod: Honor all grace they bring, Fear all evil they fling! NEREIDS AND TRITONS. Seven are they, really. SIRENS, Where, then, stay the other three? Act Lf. 207 NEREIDS AND T RITONS. The truth we cannot gather: Ask on Olympus, rather ! There pines the eighth, forgotten, By no one ever thought on! In grace to us entreated, But not yet all completed. These incomparable, unchainable,™ Are always further yearning, With desire and hunger burning For the Unattainable! SIRENS. These are our ways: The God that sways Sun, Moon, or other blaze, We worship: for it pays. NEREIDS AND TRITONS. Highest glory for us behold, Leading these festals cheery ! SIRENS. The heroes of the ancient time Fail of their glory's prime,

208Faust.
Where and howe'er it may unfold; Though they have won the Fleece of Gold, — Ye, the Cabiri! (Repeated as full chorus.) Though they have won the Fleece of Gold, — We! Ye! the Cabiri! (The NEReE1Ds and TRITONS move past.) Homuncut_us. These Malformations, every one, Had earthen pots for models : 95 Against them now the wise men run, And break their stubborn noddles. THALES. That is the thing one wishes, just ! The coin takes value from its rust. Proteus (unperceived). This pleases me, the old fable-ranger ! The more respectable, the stranger. THALES. Where art thou, Proteus ? Act I. 209 PRoTEus (speaking ventriloqually, now near, now at a distance). Here! and here! THALES, I pardon thee thine ancient jeer. Cheat not a friend with vain oration: Thou speak'st, I know, from a delusive station. Proteus (as if at a distance). Farewell ! Tua es (softly to Homuncutus). He is quite near: shine brilliantly ! For curious as a fish is he; 'And in whatever form he hide, A flame will make him hither glide. HomuNCULUS. At once a flood of light I'll fling, - Yet softly, lest the glass should spring. PRoTEvus (in the form of a giant tortoise). What shines so fair, so graciously ?

210faust.
THALES (covering Homuncutus). Good! If thou wishest, canst thou nearer see. Be not annoyed to take a little trouble, And show thyself on man's foundation double. What we disclose, to whomsoe'er would see it, With our will only, by our favor, be it! Proteus (in a noble form). Still world-wise pranks thou failest to forget. THALES. To change thy form remains thy pleasure yet. (He uncovers Homuncutus.) Proteus (astonished). A shining dwarf! The like I ne'er did see! THALES. He asks thy counsel, he desires to be. He is, as I myself have heard him say, (The thing 's a marvel!) only born half-way. He has no lack of qualities ideal, But far too much of palpable and real.% Till now the glass alone has given him weight, And he would fain be soon incorporate. Act I. 211 Proteus. Thou art a genuine virgin's-son: Finished, ere thou shouldst be begun! THALES (whispering). Viewed from another side, the thing seems critical : He is, methinks, hermaphroditical | Proteus. Then all the sooner 't will succeed: Let him but start, 't will be arranged with speed. No need to ponder here his origin; On the broad ocean's breast must thou begin! One starts there first within a narrow pale,9 And finds, destroying lower forms, enjoyment: Little by little, then, one climbs the scale, And fits himself for loftier employment. HomunculuLuws. Here breathes and blows a tender air ; And I delight me in the fragrance rare, Proteus. Yea, verily, my loveliest stripling ! And farther on, far more enjoyable.

212Faust.
Around yon narrow spit the waves are rippling, The halo bright and undestroyable ! There to the host we 'l] nearer be, Now floating hither o'er the sea. Come with me there! THALES. I 'll go along. Homuncu.us. A spirit-purpose, triply strong !

1acces V.
TELCHINES OF RHODES.% On Sea-Horses and Sea-Dragons, wielding Neptune's Trident. CHoRUus. E 've forged for old Neptune the trident that urges To smoothness and peace the refractory surges. When Jove tears the clouds of the tempest asunder, '"T is Neptune encounters the roll of the thunder : The lightnings above may incessantly glow, But wave upon wave dashes up from below, Act II. And all that, between them, the terrors o'erpower, Long tossed and tormented, the Deep shall devour ; And thence he hath lent us his sceptre to-day. — Now float we contented, in festal array. SIRENS. You, to Helios consecrated, To the bright Day's blessing fated, — You to this high Hour we hail: Luna's worship shall prevail ! TELCHINES. O loveliest Goddess by night over-vaulted ! Thou hearest with rapture thy brother exalted: To listen to Rhodes thou wilt lean from the skies; To him, there, the pzxans eternally rise. When the day he begins, when he ends its career, His beam is the brightest that falls on us here. The mountains, the cities, the sea and the shore, Are lovely and bright to the God they adore: No mist hovers o'er us, and should one appear, A beam and a breeze, and the Island is clear! There Pheebus his form may by hundreds behold, —

214Faust.
Colossal, as youth, as the Gentle, the Bold; For we were the first whose devotion began To shape the high Gods in the image of Man. PROTEUS. But leave them to their boasting, singing! Beside the holy sunbeams, bringing All life, their dead works are a jest. They melt and cast, with zeal impassioned, And what they once in bronze have fashioned, They think it's something of the best. These proud ones are at last made lowly: The forms of Gods, that stood and shone, Were by an earthquake overthrown, And long since have been melted wholly. This earthly toil, whate'er it be, Is never else than drudgery : A better life the waves declare thee, And now to endless seas shall bear thee Proteus-Dolphin. (He transforms himself.) *T is done! Behold! Unto thy fairest fortune waken: Act L. 215 Upon my back shalt thou be taken, And wedded to the Ocean old. THALES, Yield to the wish so wisely stated, And at the source be thou created! Be ready for the rapid plan ! There, by eternal canons wending, Through thousand, myriad forms ascending, Thou shalt attain, in time, to Man. (Homuncutus mounts the Proteus-Dolphin.) Proteus. In spirit seek the watery distance! Boundless shall there be thine existence, And where to move, thy will be free. But struggle not to higher orders! Once Man, within the human borders, Then all is at an end for thee. THALES. That 's as it haps: 't is no ill fate In one's own day to be true man and great. =

216Faust.
Proteus (fo THALES). Some one, perchance, of thine own kind! Their lives continue long, I find; For with thy pallid phantom-peers I've seen thee now for many hundred years. SIRENS (on the rocks). See! what rings of cloudlets, gliding Round the moon, in circles play! They are doves whom Love is guiding, With their wings as white as day. Paphos hither sends them fleetly, All her ardent birds, to us, And our festival completely Crowns with purest rapture, thus! NeREws (advancing to THALES). Though some nightly wanderer's vision Deem yon ring an airy spectre, We, the spirits, with decision Entertain a view correcter : They are doves, whose convoy gathers Round my daughter's chariot-shell, Act I. 217 With a flight of wondrous spell, Learned in old days of the fathers. THALES. That I also think is best,% Which the true man comfort gives, When in warm and peaceful nest Something holy for him lives. Psyitir anD Mars © (on sea-bulls, sea-heifers and sea-rams). In hollow caves on Cyprus' shore, ' By the Sea-God still unbattered, Not yet by Seismos shattered, By eternal winds breathed o'er, And still, as in days that are measured, Contented and silently pleasured, The chariot of Cypris we 've treasured. By the murmurs, the nightly vibrations, O'er the waves and their sweetest pulsations, Unseen to the new generations, The loveliest daughter we lead. We fear not, as lightly we hie on, Either Eagle or wing-lifted Lion, Either Crescent or Cross,

218Faust,
Though the sky it emboss, — Though it changefully triumphs and flashes, In defeat to forgetfulness dashes, Lays the fields and the cities in ashes ! Straightway, with speed, The loveliest of mistresses forth we lead. SIRENS. Lightly moved, with paces graver, Circle round the car again ; Line on line inwoven, waver Snake-like in a linking chain, — Stalwart Nereids, come, enring us, Rudest women, wild and free ; Tender Dorides, ye bring us Her, the Mother of the Sea, — Galatea, godlike woman, Worthiest immortality, Yet, like those of lineage human, Sweet with loving grace is she. DoriIDEs (in chorus, mounted on dolphins, passing NEREUS). Lend us, Luna, light and shadow, Show this youthful flower and fire! Act I. 219. For we bring beloved spouses, Praying for them to our sire. (To Nereus.) They are boys, whom we have rescued From the breaker's teeth of dread; They, on reeds and mosses bedded, Back to light and life we led: Now must they, with glowing kisses, Thank us for the granted blisses ; On the youths thy favor shed! NEREUS. Lo, now! what double gains your deed requite! You show compassion, and you take delight. Doripes. If thou praisest our endeavor, Father, grant the fond request, — Let us hold them fast forever On each young, immortal breast. NEREUS. Take joy in what you 've finely captured, And shape to men the youthful crew ; I cannot grant the boon enraptured

220faust
Which only Zeus can give to you. The billows, as they heave and rock you, Allow to love no firmer stand, So, when these fancies fade and mock you, Send quietly the youths to land. DorIDEs. Fair boys, we must part, forsooth; Yet we love you, we vow it! We have asked for eternal truth, But the Gods will not allow it. THe Yourus. We sailor-boys, if still you would Give love, as first you gave it, = We 've never had a life so good, And would not better have it! (GaLATEA approaches on her chariot of shell.) x NEREUS. "T is thou, O my darling! GALATEA. O, Sire! what delight! Linger, ye dolphins! I cling to the sight. | Act I. 221 NEREUS. Already past, they swiftly wander On, in circling courses wheeling! What care they for the heart's profoundest feeling? Ah, would they took me with them yonder ! Yet a single glance can cheer All the livelong barren year. THALES. Hail! All hail! with newer voices: How my spirit rejoices, By the True and the Beautiful penetrated ! From Water was everything first created! Water doth everything still sustain ! Ocean, grant us thine endless reign! If the clouds thou wert sending not, The swelling streams wert spending not, The winding rivers bending not, And all in thee were ending not, Could mountains, and plains, and the world itself, be? The freshest existence is nourished by thee! Ecuo (chorus of the collective circles). The freshest existence flows ever from thee!

222Faust.
NEREwuS. They turn and wheel again, afar ; No longer face to face they are. In linking circles, wide extending, — In their festive dances blending, — . The countless cohorts now appear. But Galatea's chariot-shell Still I see, and see it well: It shines like a star Through the crowds intwining. Love from the tumult still is shining! Though ne'er so far, It shimmers bright and clear, aa Ever true and near. Homuncu.us. This softly heaving brine on, Whatever I may shine on Is all with beauty crowned. PROTEUS. Within this moisture living, Thy lamp now first is giving A clear and splendid sound. Act LT. 223 NEREUvS. What mystery new, 'mid the crowds that are wheeling, Is now to our vision its wonders revealing ? What flames round the shell at the feet of the Queen ? — | Now flaring in force, and now shining serene, As if by the pulses of love it were fed. THALES. Homunculus is it, by Proteus misled! ... And these are the signs of imperious yearning, The presage of swelling, impatiently spurning: He'll shiver his glass on the glittering throne — He glows and he flashes, and now he hath flown! SIRENS. What fiery marvel the billows enlightens,' As one on the other is broken and brightens ? It flashes, and wavers, and hitherward plays! On the path of the Night are the bodies ablaze, And all things around are with flames overrun: Then Eros be ruler, who all things begun ! Hail, ye Waves! Hail, Sea unbounded, By the holy Fire surrounded! Faust. Water, hail! Hail, Fire, the splendid! Hail, Adventure rarely ended! ALL TOGETHER. Hail, ye Airs that softly flow! Hail, ye caves of Earth below! Honored now and evermore Be the Elemental Four! Act Ill, 225 ACT III.

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