Faustian Echoes

[Faust:] "I, Johannes Faust, do call upon thee, Mephistopheles!"
 [Faust:]
 O growing Moon, didst thou but shine
 A last time on this pain of mine
 Behind this desk how oft have I
 At midnight seen thee rising high
 O'er book and paper I bend
 Thou didst appear, o mournful friend
 [Mephistopheles:]
 I am the spirit that ever denies!
 And justly so: for all that is born
 Deserves to be destroyed in scorn
 Therefore 'twere best if nothing were created
 Destruction, sin, wickedness - plainly stated
 All of which you as evil have classified
 That is my element - there I abide
 [Manager: ]
 Scatter the stars with a lavish hand
 Water, fire, tavern wall
 Birds and beasts, all within command
 Thus in our narrow booth today
 Creation's ample scope display
 Wander swiftly, observing well
 From 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 all
 All for which I besought thee, not in vain
 Didst thou reveal thy countenance in the fire
 Thou hast given me Nature for a kingdom
 With the power to enjoy and feel
 Only a visit of chilling bewilderment
 Thou [then me?] bringest all the living creatures
 And taught me to know my brothers in the Air
 In the deep waters and in the silent coverts
 When through the forest the storm rages
 Uprooting the giant pines which in their fall
 Crushing, drag down neighboring boughs and trunks
 Whose [growingly?] hollow thunder shake the hills
 Then thou dost lead me to a sheltering cave
 And revealest me to myself and layest bare
 The deep mysterious miracle of my Nature
 And when the pure moon rises into sight
 Soothingly above me, then about me hover
 Creeping from rocky walls and dewy thickets
 Silver shadows, phantoms of a bygone world
 Which allay the austere joy of meditation
 Now fully do I realize that Man
 Can never possess perfection
 With this ecstasy which brings me near and nearer
 To the Gods
 [Margarete: ]
 My mother the harlot put me to death
 My father the scoundrel ate my flesh
 My dear little sister laid all my bones
 In a dark shaded place under the stones
 Then I changed into a wood-bird
 Fluttering away
 Fly away
 [Mephistopheles:]
 Mankind, that foolish Cosmos
 Always acts as incomplete
 He thought himself to Be
 I am part of that part which was the Absolute
 A part of that Darkness which gave birth to Light
 The arrogant Light which would dispute
 Ancient rank of Mother Night
 Therefore I hope it won't be long before
 With matter it shall perish evermore!
 [Manager: ]
 Scatter the stars with a lavish hand
 Water, fire, tavern wall
 Birds and beasts, all within command
 Thus in our narrow booth today
 Creation's ample scope display
 Wander swiftly, observing well
 From the Heavens to the World
 The 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!"