The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 01

CHORUS

 Much have I lived through, although my tresses Youthfully waver still round my temples; Manifold horrors have mine eyes witnessed; Warfare's dire anguish, Ilion's night, When it fell; Through the o'erclouded, dust over-shadow'd Tumult of war, to gods have I hearken'd, Fearfully shouting; hearken'd while discord's Brazen voices clang through the field Rampart-wards. Ah, yet standing were Ilion's Ramparts; nathless the glowing flames Shot from neighbor to neighbor roof, Ever spreading from here and there, with their tempest's fiery blast, Over the night-darkened city.— Flying, saw I through smoke and glare, And the flash of the tonguèd flames, Dreadful, threatening gods draw near; Wondrous figures, of giant mould, Onward striding through the weird Gloom of fire-luminous vapor. Saw I them, or did my mind, Anguish-torn, itself body forth Phantoms so terrible—never more Can I tell; but that I this Horrible shape with eyes behold, This of a surety know I! Yea, with my hands could clutch it even, Did not fear, from the perilous Venture, ever withhold me. Tell me, of Phorkyas' Daughters which art thou? For to that family Thee must I liken. Art thou, may be, one of the gray-born? One eye only, and but one tooth Using still alternately? One of the Graiæ art thou? Darest thou, Horror, Thus beside beauty, Or to the searching glance Phoebus' unveil thee? Nathless step thou forward undaunted; For the horrible sees he not, As his hallowed glances yet Never gazed upon shadows. But a tragical fate, alas, Us, poor mortals, constrains to bear Anguish of vision, unspeakable, Which the contemptible, ever-detestable, Doth in lovers of beauty wake! Yea, so hearken then, if thou dar'st Us to encounter, hear our curse, Hark to each imprecation's threat, Out of the curse-breathing lips of the happy ones, Who by the gods created are!

PHORKYAS

Trite is the word, yet high and true remains the sense:That Shame and Beauty ne'er together, hand in hand,Their onward way pursue, earth's verdant path along.Deep-rooted in these twain dwelleth an ancient grudge,So that, where'er they happen on their way to meet,Upon her hated rival turneth each her back;Then onward speeds her course with greater vehemence,Shame filled with sorrow, Beauty insolent of mood,Till her at length embraces Orcus' hollow night,Unless old age erewhile her haughtiness hath tamed.You find I now, ye wantons, from a foreign shore,With insolence o'erflowing, like the clamorous flightOf cranes, with shrilly scream that high above our heads,A long and moving cloud, croaking send down their noise,Which the lone pilgrim lures wending his silent way,Aloft to turn his gaze; yet on their course they fare,He also upon his: so will it be with us.Who are ye then, that thus around the monarch's house,With Maenad rage, ye dare like drunken ones to rave?Who are ye then that ye the house's stewardessThus bay, like pack of hounds hoarsely that bay the moon?Think ye, 'tis hid from me, the race whereof ye are?Thou youthful, war-begotten, battle-nurtured brood,Lewd and lascivious thou, seducers and seduced,Unnerving both, the soldier's and the burgher's strength!Seeing your throng, to me a locust-swarm ye seem,Which, settling down, conceals the young green harvest-field.Wasters of others' toil! ye dainty revellers,Destroyers in its bloom of all prosperity!Thou conquer'd merchandise, exchanged and marketed!

HELENA

Who in the mistress' presence chides her handmaidens,Audacious, doth o'erstep her household privilege;For her alone beseems, the praise-worthy to praise,As also that to punish which doth merit blame.Moreover with the service am I well-content,Which these have rendered me, what time proud Ilion's strengthBeleaguer'd stood, and fell and sank; nor less indeedWhen we, of our sea-voyage the dreary changeful woeEndured, where commonly each thinks but of himself.Here also I expect the like from this blithe train;Not what the servant is, we ask, but how he serves.Therefore be silent thou, and snarl at them no more!If thou the monarch's house till now hast guarded well,Filling the mistress' place, that for thy praise shall count;But now herself is come, therefore do thou retire,Lest chastisement be thine, instead of well-earn'd meed!

PHORKYAS

The menial train to threat, a sacred right remains,Which the illustrious spouse of heaven-favor'd lordThrough many a year doth earn of prudent governance.Since that, now recognized, thy ancient place as queen,And mistress of the house, once more thou dost resume,The long-time loosen'd reins grasp thou; be ruler here,And in possession take the treasures, us with them!Me before all protect, who am the elder-born,From this young brood, who seem, thy swan-like beauty near,But as a basely wingèd flock of cackling geese!

LEADER OF THE CHORUS

How hideous beside beauty showeth hideousness!

PHORKYAS

How foolish by discretion's side shows foolishness!

[Henceforth the choristers respond in turn, stepping forth singly from the chorus.]

FIRST CHORISTER

Tell us of Father Erebus, tell us of Mother Night!

PHORKYAS

Speak thou of Scylla, speak of her, thy sister-born!

SECOND CHORISTER

From thy ancestral tree springs many a monster forth.

PHORKYAS

To Orcus hence, away! Seek thou thy kindred there!

THIRD CHORISTER

Who yonder dwell, in sooth, for thee are far too young.

PHORKYAS

Tiresias, the hoary, go, make love to him!

FOURTH CHORISTER

Orion's nurse of old, was thy great-grand-daughter.

PHORKYAS

Harpies, so I suspect, did rear thee up in filth.

FIFTH CHORISTER

Thy cherished meagreness, whereon dost nourish that?

PHORKYAS

'Tis not with blood, for which so keenly thou dost thirst.

SIXTH CHORISTER

For corpses dost thou hunger, loathsome corpse thyself!

PHORKYAS

Within thy shameless jaw the teeth of vampires gleam.

SEVENTH CHORISTER

Thine I should stop were I to tell thee who thou art.

PHORKYAS

First do thou name thyself; the riddle then is solved.

HELENA

Not wrathful, but in grief, step I between you now,Forbidding such alternate quarrel's angry noise;For to the ruler naught more hurtful can befall,Than, 'mong his trusty servants, sworn and secret strife;The echo of his mandate then to him no moreIn swift accomplished deed responsively returns;No, stormful and self-will'd, it rages him around,The self-bewilder'd one, and chiding still in vain.Nor this alone; ye have in rude unmanner'd wrathUnblessèd images of dreadful shapes evoked,Which so encompass me, that whirl'd I feel myselfTo Orcus down, despite these my ancestral fields.Is it remembrance? Was it frenzy seized on me?Was I all that? and am I? shall I henceforth beThe dread and phantom-shape of those town-wasting ones?The maidens quail: but thou, the eldest, thou dost stand,Calm and unmoved; speak, then, to me some word of sense!

PHORKYAS

Who of long years recalls the fortune manifold,To him heaven's highest favor seems at last a dream.But thou, so highly favored, past all bound or goal,Saw'st, in thy life-course, none but love-inflamèd men,Kindled by impulse rash to boldest enterprise.Theseus by passion stirred full early seized on thee,A man of glorious form, and strong as Heracles.

HELENA

Forceful he bore me off, a ten-year slender roe,And in Aphidnus' keep shut me, in Attica.

PHORKYAS

But thence full soon set free, by Castor, Pollux too,In marriage wast thou sought by chosen hero-band.

HELENA

Yet hath Patroclus, he, Pelides' other self,My secret favor won, as willingly I own.

PHORKYAS

But thee thy father hath to Menelaus wed,Bold rover of the sea, and house-sustainer too.

HELENA

His daughter gave he, gave to him the kingdom's sway;And from our wedded union sprang Hermione.

PHORKYAS

But while he strove afar, for Crete, his heritage,To thee, all lonely, came an all too beauteous guest.

HELENA

Wherefore the time recall of that half-widowhood,And what destruction dire to me therefrom hath grown!

PHORKYAS

That voyage unto me, a free-born dame of Crete,Hath also capture brought, and weary servitude.

HELENA

As stewardess forthwith, he did appoint thee here,With much intrusted,—fort and treasure boldly won.

PHORKYAS

All which thou didst forsake, by Ilion's tower-girt townAllured, and by the joys, the exhaustless joys of love.

HELENA

Remind me not of joys: No, an infinitudeOf all too bitter woe o'erwhelm'd my heart and brain.

PHORKYAS

Nathless 'tis said thou didst in two-fold shape appear;Seen within Ilion's walls, and seen in Egypt too.

HELENA

Confuse thou not my brain, distraught and desolate!Here even, who I am in sooth I cannot tell.

PHORKYAS

'Tis also said, from out the hollow shadow-dream,Achilles, passion-fired, hath joined himself to thee,Whom he hath loved of old, 'gainst all resolves of Fate.

HELENA

As phantom I myself, to him a phantom bound;A dream it was—thus e'en the very words declare.I faint, and to myself a phantom I become.[She sinks into the arms of the semi-chorus._]

CHORUS

 Silence! Silence! False seeing one, false speaking one, thou! Through thy horrible, single-tooth'd lips, Ghastly, what exhaleth From such terrible loathsome gulf! For the malignant one, kindliness feigning, Rage of wolf 'neath the sheep's woolly fleece, Far more terrible is unto me than Jaws of the hound three-headed. Anxiously watching stand we here: When? How? Where of such malice Bursteth the tempest From this deep-lurking brood of Hell? Now, 'stead of friendly words, freighted with comfort, Lethe-bestowing, gracious and mild, Thou art summoning from times departed, Thoughts of the past most hateful, Overshadowing not alone All sheen gilding the present, Also the future's Mildly glimmering light of hope. Silence! Silence! That fair Helena's soul, Ready e'en now to take flight, Still may keep, yea firmly keep The form of all forms, the loveliest, Ever illumined of old by the sun.

[HELENA has revived, and again stands in the midst.]

* * * * *

(The scene is entirely changed. Close arbors recline against a series of rocky caverns. A shady grove extends to the base of the encircling rocks. FAUST and HELENA are not seen. The CHORUS lies sleeping, scattered here and there.)

PHORKYAS

How long these maids have slept, in sooth I cannot tell;Or whether they have dreamed what I before mine eyesSaw bright and clear, to me is equally unknown.So wake I them. Amazed the younger folks shall be,Ye too, ye bearded ones, who sit below and wait,Hoping to see at length these miracles resolved.Arise! Arise! And shake quickly your crisped locks!Shake slumber from your eyes! Blink not, and list to me!

CHORUS

Only speak, relate, and tell us, what of wonderful hath chanced!We more willingly shall hearken that which we cannot believe;For we are aweary, weary, gazing on these rocks around.

PHORKYAS

Children, how, already weary, though you scarce have rubbed your eyes?Hearken then! Within these caverns, in these grottoes, in these bowers,Shield and shelter have been given, as to lover-twain idyllic,To our lord and to our lady—

CHORUS

                        How, within there?

PHORKYAS

                                        Yea, secludedFrom the world; and me, me only, they to secret service called.Highly honored stood I near them, yet, as one in trust beseemeth,Round I gazed on other objects, turning hither, turning thither,Sought for roots, for barks and mosses, with their properties acquainted;And they thus remained alone.

CHORUS

Thou would'st make believe that yonder, world-wide spaces lie within,Wood and meadow, lake and brooklet; what strange fable spinnest thou!

PHORKYAS

Yea, in sooth, ye inexperienced, there lie regions undiscovered:Hall on hall, and court on court; in my musings these I track.Suddenly a peal of laughter echoes through the cavern'd spaces;In I gaze, a boy is springing from the bosom of the womanTo the man, from sire to mother: the caressing and the fondling,All love's foolish playfulnesses, mirthful cry and shout of rapture,Alternating, deafen me.Naked, without wings, a genius, like a faun, with nothing bestial,On the solid ground he springeth; but the ground, with counter-action,Up to ether sends him flying; with the second, third reboundingTouches he the vaulted roof.Anxiously the mother calleth: Spring amain, and at thy pleasure;But beware, think not of flying, unto thee is flight denied.And so warns the faithful father: In the earth the force elasticLies, aloft that sends thee bounding; let thy toe but touch the surface,Like the son of earth, Antæus, straightway is thy strength renewed.And so o'er these rocky masses, on from dizzy ledge to ledge,Leaps he ever, hither, thither, springing like a stricken ball.But in cleft of rugged cavern suddenly from sight he vanished;And now lost to us he seemeth, mother waileth, sire consoleth,Anxiously I shrug my shoulders. But again, behold, what vision!Lie there treasures hidden yonder? Raiment broidered o'er with flowersHe becomingly hath donned;Tassels from his arms are waving, ribbons flutter on his bosom,In his hand the lyre all-golden, wholly like a tiny Phoebus,Boldly to the edge he steppeth, to the precipice; we wonder,And the parents, full of rapture, cast them on each other's heart;For around his brow what splendor! Who can tell what there is shining?Gold-work is it, or the flaming of surpassing spirit-power?Thus he moveth, with such gesture, e'en as boy himself announcingFuture master of all beauty, through whose limbs, whose every member,Flow the melodies eternal: and so shall ye hearken to him,And so shall ye gaze upon him, to your special wonderment.

CHORUS

 This call'st thou marvelous, Daughter of Creta? Unto the bard's pregnant word Hast thou perchance never listened? Hast thou not heard of Ionia's, Ne'er been instructed in Hellas' Legends, from ages primeval, Godlike, heroical treasure? All, that still happeneth Now in the present, Sorrowful echo 'tis, Of days ancestral, more noble; Equals not in sooth thy story That which beautiful fiction, Than truth more worthy of credence, Chanted hath of Maia's offspring! This so shapely and potent, yet Scarcely-born delicate nursling, Straight have his gossiping nurses Folded in purest swaddling fleece, Fastened in costly swathings, With their irrational notions. Potent and shapely, ne'ertheless, Draws the rogue his flexible limbs, Body firm yet elastic, Craftily forth; the purple shell, Him so grievously binding, Leaving quietly in its place; As the perfected butterfly, From the rigid chrysalid, Pinion unfolding, rapidly glides, Boldly and wantonly sailing through Sun-impregnated ether. So he, too, the most dextrous, That to robbers and scoundrels, Yea, and to all profit-seekers, He a favoring god might be, This he straightway made manifest, Using arts the most cunning. Swift from the ruler of ocean he Steals the trident, yea, e'en from Arès Steals the sword from the scabbard; Arrow and bow from Phoebus too, Also his tongs from Hephæstos Even Zeus', the father's, bolt, Him had fire not scared, he had ta'en. Eros also worsted he, In limb-grappling, wrestling match; Stole from Cypria as she caressed him, From her bosom, the girdle.

(An exquisite, purely melodious lyre-music resounds from the cave. All become attentive, and appear soon to be inwardly moved; henceforth, to the pause indicated, there is a full musical accompaniment.)

PHORKYAS

 Hark those notes so sweetly sounding; Cast aside your fabled lore: Gods, in olden time abounding,— Let them go! their day is o'er. None will comprehend your singing; Nobler theme the age requires: From the heart must flow, up-springing, What to touch the heart aspires.

[She retires behind the rock.]

CHORUS

 To these tones, so sweetly flowing, Dire one! dost incline thine ears, They in us, new health bestowing, Waken now the joy of tears. Vanish may the sun's clear shining, In our soul if day arise, In our heart we, unrepining, Find what the whole world denies.

(HELENA, FAUST, EUPHORION in the costume indicated above)

EUPHORION

 Songs of childhood hear ye ringing, Your own mirth it seems; on me Gazing, thus in measure springing, Leap your parent-hearts with glee.

HELENA

 Love, terrestrial bliss to capture, Two in noble union mates; But to wake celestial rapture, He a precious three creates.

FAUST

All hath been achieved. For everI am thine, and mine thou art,Blent our beings are—oh neverMay our present joy depart!

CHORUS

Many a year of purest pleasure,In the mild light of their boy,Crowns this pair in richest measure.Me their union thrills with joy!

EUPHORION

 Now let me gambol, Joyfully springing! Upward to hasten Through ether winging, This wakes my yearning, This prompts me now!

FAUST

 Gently! son, gently! Be not so daring! Lest ruin seize thee Past all repairing, And our own darling Whelm us in woe!

EUPHORION

 From earth my spirit Still upward presses; Let go my hands now, Let go my tresses, Let go my garments, Mine every one!

HELENA

 To whom, bethink thee, Now thou pertainest! Think how it grieves us When thou disdainest Mine, thine, and his,—the all That hath been won.

CHORUS

 Soon shall, I fear me, The bond be undone!

HELENA and FAUST

 Curb for thy parents' sake, To us returning, Curb thy importunate Passionate yearning! Make thou the rural plain Tranquil and bright.

EUPHORION

 But to content you Stay I my flight.

(Winding among the CHORUS and drawing them forth to dance)

 Round this gay troop I flee With impulse light. Say is the melody, Say is the movement right?

HELENA

 Yea, 'tis well done; advance, Lead to the graceful dance These maidens coy!

FAUST

 Could I the end but see! Me this mad revelry Fills with annoy.

EUPHORION and the CHORUS

(Dancing and singing, they move about in interweaving lines)

 Moving thine arms so fair With graceful motion, Tossing thy curling hair In bright commotion; When thou with foot so light Over the earth doth skim, Thither and back in flight, Moving each graceful limb; Thou hast attained thy goal, Beautiful child, All hearts thou hast beguiled,Won every soul. [Pause.]

EUPHORION

 Gracefully sporting, Light-footed roes, New frolic courting Scorn ye repose: I am the hunter, Ye are the game.

CHORUS

 Us wilt thou capture, Urge not thy pace; For it were rapture Thee to embrace, Beautiful creature, This our sole aim!

EUPHORION

 Through trees and heather, Bound all together, O'er stock and stone! Whate'er is lightly won, That I disdain; What I by force obtain, Prize I alone.

HELENA and FAUST

What vagaries, sense confounding!Naught of measure to be hoped for!Like the blare of trumpet sounding,Over vale and forest ringing.What a riot! What a cry!

CHORUS (entering quickly one by one)

Us he passed with glance scorn-laden;Hastily still onward springing,Bearing now the wildest maidenOf our troop, he draweth nigh.

EUPHORION (bearing a young maiden)

I this wilful maid and coyCarry to enforced caress;For my pleasure, for my joyHer resisting bosom press,Kiss her rebel lips, that soShe my power and will may know.

MAIDEN

Loose me! in this frame residing,Burns a spirit's strength and might;Strong as thine, our will presidingSwerveth not with purpose light.Thinkest, on thy strength relying,That thou hast me in a strait?Hold me, fool! thy strength defying,For my sport, I'll scorch thee yet![She flames up and flashes into the air.]Follow where light breezes wander,Follow to rude caverns yonder,Strive thy vanish'd prey to net!

EUPHORION (shaking off the last flames)

Rocks all around I see,Thickets and woods among!Why should they prison me?Still am I fresh and young.Tempests, they loudly roar,Billows, they lash the shore;Both far away I hear;Would I were near![He springs higher up the rock.]

HELENA, FAUST, and CHORUS

Wouldst thou chamois-like aspire?Us thy threaten'd fall dismays!

EUPHORION

Higher must I climb, yet higher,Wider still must be my gaze.Know I now, where I stand:'Midst of the sea-girt land,'Midst of great Pelops' reign,Kin both to earth and main.

CHORUS

Canst not near copse and woldTarry, then yonder,Ripe figs and apple-goldSeeking, we'll wander;Grapes too shall woo our hand,Grapes from the mantling vine.Ah, let this dearest land,Dear one, be thine!

EUPHORION

 Dream ye of peaceful day? Dream on, while dream ye may! War! is the signal cry, Hark! cries of victory!

CHORUS

 War who desireth While peace doth reign, To joy aspireth Henceforth in vain.

EUPHORION

 All whom this land hath bred, Through peril onward led, Free, of undaunted mood, Still lavish of their blood, With soul untaught to yield, Rending each chain! To such the bloody field, Brings glorious gain.

CHORUS

High he soars,—mark, upward gazing,—And to us not small doth seem:Victor-like, in harness blazing,As of steel and brass the gleam!

EUPHORION

Not on moat or wall relying,On himself let each one rest!Firmest stronghold, all defying,Ever is man's iron breast!Dwell for aye unconquered would ye?Arm, by no vain dreams beguiled!Amazons your women should be,And a hero every child!

CHORUS

O hallowed Poesie,Heavenward still soareth she!Shine on, thou brightest star,Farther and still more far!Yet us she still doth cheer;Even her voice to hear,Joyful we are.

EUPHORION

Child no more; a stripling bearingArms appears, with valor fraughtLeagued with the strong, the free, the daring,In soul already who hath wrought.Hence away!No delay!There where glory may be sought.

HELENA and FAUST

Scarcely summoned to life's gladness,Scarcely given to day's bright gleam,Downward now to pain and sadnessWouldst thou rush, from heights supreme!Are then weNaught to thee?Is our gracious bond a dream?

EUPHORION

Hark! What thunders seaward rattle,Echoing from vale to vale!'Mid dust and foam, in shock of battle,Throng on throng, to grief and bale!And the commandIs, firm to stand;Death to face, nor ever quail.

HELENA, FAUST, and CHORUS

Oh what horror! Hast thou told it!Is then death for thee decreed?

EUPHORION

From afar shall I behold it?No! I'll share the care and need!

HELENA, FAUST and CHORUS

Rashness to peril brings,And deadly fate!

EUPHORION

Yet—see a pair of wingsUnfoldeth straight!Thither—I must, I must—Grudge not my flight!

[He casts himself into the air; his garments support him for a moment; his head flames, a trail of light follows him.]

CHORUS

 Icarus! Icarus! Oh woeful sight!

(A beautiful youth falls at the parents' feet; we imagine that in the dead we recognize a well-known form; yet suddenly the corporeal part vanishes; the aureole rises like a comet to heaven; dress, mantle, and lyre remain lying on the ground.)

HELENA and FAUST

Follows on joy new-bornAnguishful moan!

EUPHORION'S VOICE, (from the depths)

Leave me in realms forlorn,Mother, not all alone! [Pause.]

CHORUS (dirge)

Not alone—for hope we cherish,Where thou bidest thee to know!Ah, from daylight though thou perish,Ne'er a heart will let thee go!Scarce we venture to bewail thee,Envying we sing thy fate:Did sunshine cheer, or storm assail thee,Song and heart were fair and great.Earthly fortune was thy dower,Lofty lineage, ample might,Ah, too early lost, thy flowerWithered by untimely blight!Glance was thine the world discerning,Sympathy with every wrong,Woman's love for thee still yearning,And thine own enchanting song.Yet the beaten path forsaking,Thou didst run into the snare;So with law and usage breaking,On thy wilful course didst fare;Yet at last high thought has givenTo thy noble courage weight,For the loftiest thou has striven—It to win was not thy fate.Who does win it? Unreplying,Destiny the question hears,When the bleeding people lying,Dumb with grief, no cry uprears!—Now new songs chant forth, in sorrowDeeply bowed lament no more;Them the earth brings forth tomorrow,As she brought them forth of yore!

[Full pause. The music ceases.]