The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Faust a Tragedy
• Faust First Part
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Dedication.
• Prologue For the Theatre.
• Prologue In Heaven.
• Walpurgis-night.
• Walpurgis-night’s Dream; Or, Oberon and Titania’s Golden Wedding Feast. Intermezzo.
• Faust. Second Part
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Act II.
• Act III.
• Act IV.
• Act V.
• Egmont
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Scene I.—: Soldiers and Citizens, With Cross-bows.
• Scene II.—: Palace of the Regent.
• Scene III.—: Citizen’s House.
• Act II.
• Scene I.—: Square In Brussels.
• Scene II.—: Egmont’s Residence.
• Act III.
• Scene I.—: Palace of the Regent.
• Scene II.—: Clara’s Dwelling.
• Act IV.
• Scene I.—: A Street.
• Scene II.—: The Palace of Eulenberg, Residence of the Duke of Alva.
• Act V.
• Scene I.—: A Street. Twilight.
• Scene II.: A Prison.
• Scene III.—: Clara’s House.
• Scene IV.—: A Prison.
• The Natural Daughter a Tragedy
• Dramatis PersonÆ.
• Act I.
• Scene I.—: Thick Wood.
• Scene II.—: The Same.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.—: The Same.
• Scene V.
• Scene VI.
• Act II.
• Scene I.—: Eugenie’s Apartment In Gothic Style.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.
• Scene V.
• Act III.
• Scene I.—: The Antechamber of the Duke, Furnished In Magnificent Modern Style.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.
• Act IV.
• Scene I.—: Park At the Port. On One Side a Palace, On the Other a Church; In the Background a Row of Trees Through Which the Port Is Seen Below. Eugenie, Enveloped In a Veil, Seated On a Bench In the Background, With Face Turned to the Sea.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.
• Act V.
• Scene I.—: Plaza At the Port.
• Scene II.—: The Same.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.—: The Same.
• Scene V.
• Scene VI.
• Scene VII.
• Scene VIII.
• Scene IX.
• The Sorrows of Young Werther
• Book I.
• Book II.
• The Editor to the Reader.
• Colma.
• Rhyno.
• Alpin.

SCENE VI.

Eugenie.AfterwardsGovernessin background.

Eugenie.

Thus then the loveliest kingdom on the earth,

This seaport peopled by its busy thousands,

Becomes a wilderness. I am alone.

Here noble gentlemen conform to laws,

And warriors listen to the word of duty;

Here saints in peace beseech the God of heaven;

The throng are busy striving after gain;

But I am banish’d without right or justice.

There is no hand to arm itself for me;

The house of safety is shut fast against me;

None dares to stir an inch in my defence.

Banishment! Yes, the hideous, burdensome word

Already crushes me with all its weight.

I feel that I am but a lifeless member

The which the healthy body lops away.

As one who dies before his time I am—

Who, conscious of himself but stricken dumb,

Lies shuddering in a waking dream, to be

The unwilling witness of his own interment.

Unspeakable necessity! Yet hold!

Is not a choice still left me? Can I not

Lay hold upon the hand of that good man

Who offer’d aid to me, the nobly born.

But could I do it? I renounce the birth

Which lifted me to such a lofty height?

Forever yield the glory of my hope?

In vain! oh, seize me, Force, with brazen claws!

Unseeing Fate, oh, take me hence away!

The choice that trembles dubious ’twixt two ills

Is even harder than the ill itself.

[Governess,with porters carrying luggage, goes in silence across the background.

They come, they bear off with them my possessions,

The last remaining of my costly treasures.

Will all I have be stolen from me too?

They take them to the ship and I must follow.

A favoring zephyr lifts the pennant seawards;

Soon shall I see the swelling sails all spread.

The fleet already leaves the harbor mouth!

And now the ship that bears me wretched sails.

They’re coming! I must set my foot on board.

O God! Why are the heavens as brass above me?

Does not my voice of anguish reach thine ear?

So be it! I will go. Yet shall the vessel

Not swallow me within its prison cell.

The plank that leads me over to its side

Shall be the first step for me unto freedom.

Receive me then, ye billows, take me up,

And girdling me around let me descend

Into the bosom of your solemn peace.

And when at last no more I have to fear

From the injustice of this world, then roll

To shore my whitening bones, that pious care

May make my grave upon my native soil.

[She takes a few steps.

Why stop then?

[She hesitates.

Will my foot no more obey me?

What chains my steps? What seems to hold me here?

Oh, fatal love for miserable life,

Again thou bring’st me to the bitter strife.

By banishment, by death and degradation

I am environ’d round about and each

Has deeper anguish for me than the other.

And when I turn my shuddering eyes from one

The other glares with hellish face upon me.

Is there no mortal means, no means divine

To free me from this thousand-footed anguish?

Oh, that a single sympathetic word

Might chance to reach me from the passing throng.

Oh, that a bird, foreboding peace, might fly

Light-winged by me, guiding me to shelter.

I gladly follow whither fate should call.

Point me the way and faith shall lead me on.

Or give me but a hint and I will yield

In hope and confidence without delay.