
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - jobstijl
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14591/14591-h/14591-h.htm
======
weinzierl
This is an English translation in original metres of the tragic play Faust I
of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

In contrast to Faust II it is quite accessible and not too long. Here is one
of the most famous verses:

    
    
        I am the Spirit that Denies!
        And justly so: for all things, from the Void
        Called forth, deserve to be destroyed:
        'Twere better, then, were naught created.
        Thus, all which you as Sin have rated,—
        Destruction,—aught with Evil blent,—
        That is my proper element.
    

tl;dr and _SPOILER_ (heavily abridged and slightly modified from [1])

Mephistopheles makes a bet with God: he says that he can lure God's favourite
human being (Faust), who is striving to learn everything that can be known,
away from righteous pursuits.

Faust makes an arrangement with the devil: the devil will do everything that
Faust wants while he is here on Earth, and in exchange Faust will serve the
devil in Hell. Faust's arrangement is that if he is pleased enough with
anything the devil gives him that he wants to stay in that moment forever,
then he will die in that moment.

Faust seduces 14 year old Gretchen. Gretchen's mother dies from a sleeping
potion, administered by Gretchen to obtain privacy so that Faust could visit
her. Gretchen discovers she is pregnant. Gretchen's brother condemns Faust,
challenges him and falls dead at the hands of Faust and Mephistopheles.
Gretchen drowns her illegitimate child and is convicted of the murder. Faust
tries to save Gretchen from death by attempting to free her from prison.
Finding that she refuses to escape, Faust and the devil flee the dungeon,
while voices from Heaven announce that Gretchen shall be saved.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethe's_Faust](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethe's_Faust)

~~~
jobstijl
Faust

I've studied now Philosophy

And Jurisprudence, Medicine,—

And even, alas! Theology,—

From end to end, with labor keen;

And here, poor fool! with all my lore

I stand, no wiser than before:

I'm Magister—yea, Doctor—hight,

And straight or cross-wise, wrong or right,

These ten years long, with many woes,

I've led my scholars by the nose,—

And see, that nothing can be known!

That knowledge cuts me to the bone.

I'm cleverer, true, than those fops of teachers,

Doctors and Magisters, Scribes and Preachers;

Neither scruples nor doubts come now to smite me,

Nor Hell nor Devil can longer affright me.

_edit, tl;dr from britannica.com:

Faust, also called Faustus, or Doctor Faustus, hero of one of the most durable
legends in Western folklore and literature, the story of a German necromancer
or astrologer who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and
power. There was a historical Faust, indeed perhaps two, one of whom more than
once alluded to the devil as his Schwager, or crony. One or both died about
1540, leaving a tangled legend of sorcery and alchemy, astrology and
soothsaying, studies theological and diabolical, necromancy and, indeed,
sodomy. Contemporary references indicate that he was widely traveled and
fairly well known, but all observers testify to his evil reputation.
Contemporary humanist scholars scoffed at his magical feats as petty and
fraudulent, but he was taken seriously by the Lutheran clergy, among them
Martin Luther and Philippe Melanchthon. Ironically, the relatively obscure
Faust came to be preserved in legend as the representative magician of the age
that produced such occultists and seers as Paracelsus, Nostradamus, and
Agrippa von Nettesheim.

    
    
         -  -  -  
    

Goethe’s play, which contains an array of epic, lyric, dramatic, operatic, and
balletic elements, ranges through various poetic metres and styles to present
an immensely varied cultural commentary that draws upon theology, mythology,
philosophy, political economy, science, aesthetics, music, and literature. In
the end Goethe saves Faust by bringing about his purification and redemption.

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