Agalloch

Faustian Echoes
[Faust:] "I, Johannes Faust, do call upon thee, Mephistopheles!"[Faust:]O growing Moon, didst thou but shineA last time on this pain of mineBehind this desk how oft have IAt midnight seen thee rising highO'er book and paper I bendThou didst appear, o mournful friend[Mephistopheles:]I am the spirit that ever denies!And justly so: for all that is bornDeserves to be destroyed in scornTherefore 'twere best if nothing were createdDestruction, sin, wickedness - plainly statedAll of which you as evil have classifiedThat is my element - there I abide[Manager: ]Scatter the stars with a lavish handWater, fire, tavern wallBirds and beasts, all within commandThus in our narrow booth todayCreation's ample scope displayWander swiftly, observing wellLetras de cancionesFrom the Heavens, to the World, to Hell!The World of Spirits is not barred to thee![Mephistopheles:] "Now then, Faustus. What wouldst thou have Mephisto do?"[Faust:]"I charge thee, Mephisto, wait upon me while I live... to do whatever Faustus shall command. Be it to make the moon drop from outer sphere, or the ocean to overwhelm the world. Go bear these tidings to great Lucifer: say he surrenders up his soul. So that he shall spare him four and twenty years, letting him live in all voluptiousness, having thee ever to attend on me. To give me whatsoever I shall ask."[Mephistopheles:] "I will."[Faust:]Sublime spirit, thou hast given me allAll for which I besought thee, not in vainDidst thou reveal thy countenance in the fireThou hast given me Nature for a kingdomWith the power to enjoy and feelOnly a visit of chilling bewildermentThou [then me?] bringest all the living creaturesAnd taught me to know my brothers in the AirIn the deep waters and in the silent covertsWhen through the forest the storm ragesUprooting the giant pines which in their fallCrushing, drag down neighboring boughs and trunksWhose [growingly?] hollow thunder shake the hillsThen thou dost lead me to a sheltering caveAnd revealest me to myself and layest bareThe deep mysterious miracle of my NatureAnd when the pure moon rises into sightSoothingly above me, then about me hoverCreeping from rocky walls and dewy thicketsSilver shadows, phantoms of a bygone worldWhich allay the austere joy of meditationNow fully do I realize that ManCan never possess perfectionWith this ecstasy which brings me near and nearerTo the Gods[Margarete: ]My mother the harlot put me to deathMy father the scoundrel ate my fleshMy dear little sister laid all my bonesIn a dark shaded place under the stonesThen I changed into a wood-birdFluttering awayFly away[Mephistopheles:]Mankind, that foolish CosmosAlways acts as incompleteHe thought himself to BeI am part of that part which was the AbsoluteA part of that Darkness which gave birth to LightThe arrogant Light which would disputeAncient rank of Mother NightTherefore I hope it won't be long beforeWith matter it shall perish evermore![Manager: ]Scatter the stars with a lavish handWater, fire, tavern wallBirds and beasts, all within commandThus in our narrow booth todayCreation's ample scope displayWander swiftly, observing wellFrom the Heavens to the WorldThe World of Spirits is not barred to thee![Faust:] "So, still I seek the force, the reason governing life's flow, and not just its external show."[Mephistopheles:] "The governing force? The reason? Some things cannot be known; they are beyond your reach even when shown."[Faust:] "Why should that be so?"[Mephistopheles:] "They lie outside the boundaries that words can address; and man can only grasp those thoughts which language can express."[Faust:] "What? Do you mean that words are greater yet than man?"[Mephistopheles:] "Indeed they are."[Faust:] "Then what of longing? Affection, pain or grief? I can't describe these, yet I know they are in my breast. What are they?""[Mephistopheles:] "Without substance, as mist is."[Faust:] "In that case man is only air as well!" From Letras Mania