Naught of this genial influence do I know! Within me all is wintry. Frost and
snow I should prefer my dismal path to bound. How sadly, yonder, with

belated glow Rises the ruddy moon's imperfect round, Shedding so faint a
light, at every tread One's sure to stumble 'gainst a rock or tree! An Ignis

Fatuus I must call instead. Yonder one burning merrily, I see. Holla! my
friend! may I request your light? Why should you flare away so uselessly? Be

kind enough to show us up the height!
Ignis Fatuus

Through reverence, I hope I may subdue The lightness of my nature; true, Our
course is but a zigzag one.

Mephistopheles
Ho! ho!

So men, forsooth, he thinks to imitate! Now, in the devil's name, for once go
straight! Or out at once your flickering life I'll blow.

Ignis Fatuus
That you are master here is obvious quite; To do your will, I'll cordially essay;

Only reflect! The hill is magic - mad to - night; And if to show the path you
choose a meteor's light, You must not wonder should we go astray.

Faust, Mephistopheles, Ignis Fatuus (in alternate song)
Through the dream and magic - sphere, As it seems, we now are speeding;

Honour win, us rightly leading, That betimes we may appear In yon wide and
desert region!

Trees on trees, a stalwart legion, Swiftly past us are retreating, And the cliffs
with lowly greeting; Rocks long - snouted, row on row, How they snort, and

how they blow!
Through the stones and heather springing, Brook and brooklet haste below;

Hark the rustling! Hark the singing! Hearken to love's plaintive lays; Voices of
those heavenly days What we hope, and what we love! Like a tale of olden

time, Echo's voice prolongs the chime.
To - whit! To - whoo! It sounds more near; Plover, owl and jay appear, All

awake, around, above? Paunchy salamanders too Peer, long - limbed, the
bushes through! And, like snakes, the roots of trees

Coil themselves from rock and sand, Stretching many a wondrous band, Us
to frighten, us to seize; From rude knots with life embued, Polyp - fangs

abroad they spread, To snare the wanderer! 'Neath our tread, Mice, in
myriads, thousand - hued, Through the heath and through the moss! And the

fire - flies' glittering throng, Wildering escort, whirls along, Here and there, our
path across. Tell me, stand we motionless, Or still forward do we press? All

things round us whirl and fly; Rocks and trees make strange grimaces,
Dazzling meteors change their places, How they puff and multiply!

Mephistopheles
Now grasp my doublet - we at last A central peak have reached, which

shows, If round a wondering glance we cast, How in the mountain Mammon
glows,

Faust
How through the chasms strangely gleams, A lurid light, like dawn's red glow,

Pervading with its quivering beams, The gorges of the gulf below! Here
vapours rise, there clouds float by, Here through the mist the light doth shine;

Now, like a fount, it bursts on high, Meanders now, a slender line; Far
reaching, with a hundred veins, Here through the valley see it glide; Here,

where its force the gorge restrains, At once it scatters, far and wide; Anear,
like showers of golden sand Strewn broadcast, sputter sparks of light: And

mark yon rocky walls that stand Ablaze, in all their towering height!
Mephistopheles

Doth not Sir Mammon for this fete Grandly illume his palace! Thou Art lucky
to have seen it; now, The boisterous guests, I feel, are coming straight.

Faust
How through the air the storm doth whirl! Upon my neck it strikes with

sudden shock.
Mephistopheles

Cling to these ancient ribs of granite rock, Else to yon depths profound it you
will hurl. A murky vapour thickens night. Hark! Through the woods the

tempests roar! The owlets flit in wild affright. Hark! Splinter'd are the columns
that upbore The leafy palace, green for aye: The shivered branches whirr and

sigh, Yawn the huge trunks with mighty groan. The roots upriven, creak and
moan! In fearful and entangled fall, One crashing ruin whelms them all, While

through the desolate abyss, Sweeping the wreck - strewnprecipice, The
raging storm - blasts howl and hiss! Aloft strange voices dost thou hear?

Distant now and now more near? Hark! the mountain ridge along, Streameth
a raving magic - song!

Witches And Wizards Chorus - Visions And Dances
Witches (in chorus)

Now to the Brocken the witches hie, The stubble is yellow, the corn is green;
Thither the gatheringlegions fly, And sitting aloft is Sir Urian seen: O'er stick

and o'er stone they go whirling along, Witches and he - goats, a motley
throng,

Voices
Alone old Baubo's coming now; She rides upon a farrow sow.

Chorus
Honour to her, to whom honour is due! Forward, Dame Baubo! Honour to

you! A goodly sow and mother thereon, The whole witch chorus follows
anon.

Voice
Which way didst come?

Voice
O'er Ilsenstein! There I peep'd in an owlet's nest. With her broad eye she

gazed in mine!
Voice

Drive to the devil, thou hellish pest! Why ride so hard?
Voice

She has graz'd my side, Look at the wounds, how deep and how wide!
Witches (in chorus)

The way is broad, the way is long; What mad pursuit! What tumult wild!
Scratches the besom and sticks the prong; Crush'd is the mother, and stifled

the child.
Wizards (half chorus)

Like house - encumber'd snail we creep; While far ahead the women keep,
For when to the devil's house we speed, By a thousand steps they take the

lead.
The Other Half

Not so, precisely do we view it; They with a thousand steps may do it; But let
them hasten as they can, With one long bound 'tis clear'd by man.

Voices (above)
Come with us, come with us from Felsensee.

Voices (from below)
Aloft to you we would mount with glee! We wash, and free from all stain are

we, Yet barrenevermore must be!
Both Choruses

The wind is hushed, the stars grow pale, The pensive moon her light doth veil;
And whirling on, the magic choir Sputters forth sparks of drizzling fire.

Voice (from below)
Stay! stay!

Voice (from above)
What voice of woe Calls from the cavern'd depths below?

Voice (from below)
Take me with you! Oh take me too! Three centuries I climb in vain, And yet

can ne'er the summit gain! To be with my kindred I am fain.
Both Choruses

Broom and pitch - fork, goat and prong, Mounted on these we whirl along;
Who vainly strives to climb to - night, Is evermore a luckless wight!

Demi - Witch (below)
I hobble after, many a day; Already the others are far away! No rest at home

can I obtain Here too my efforts are in vain!
Chorus of Witches

Salve gives the witches strength to rise; A rag for a sail does well enough; A
goodly ship is every trough; To - night who flies not, never flies.

Both Choruses
And when the topmost peak we round, Then alight ye on the ground; The

heath's wide regions cover ye With your mad swarms of witchery!
(They let themselves down.)

Mephistopleles
They crowd and jostle, whirl and flutter! They whisper, babble, twirl, and

splutter! They glimmer, sparkle, stink and flare A true witch - element!