In dieser Kunst möcht' ich was profitiren; Ein Komödiant könnt' einen Pfarrer lehren. ' Fauft. 37 Ja, wenn der Pfarrer ein Komödiant ist; $6 Ach! wenn man so in sein Museum gebannt ist, Faust. Wenn ihr's nicht fühlt, ihr werdet's nicht erjagen, Wenn es nicht aus der Seele dringt, Und mit urkräftigem Behagen Die Herzen aller Hörer zwingt. 39 of an inexorable fate, driving men to unnatural crimes, but the difficulties of a declension or a conjugation, the critical use of a subjunctive or optative mood, the mode of scanning a doubtful verse. 36 That is, to teach him, how to profess feelings when there are none in his breast; how to feign belief, when there is no faith in his bosom; in one word, how to play the hypocrite successfully. Wagner, who is not inspired by any higher thoughts, wishes at least to know, how to become a teacher of words--of great, sounding words. 37 That is if the preacher does not believe what he teaches, he is nothing but a comedian. 38 Here Wagner humbly confesses, how difficult it is for us to govern mankind by mere persuasion, whilst we look on the world from our studies, and see it only at a distance as through a teles cope. 39 If there is no higher inspiration, you will never learn to move the hearts of your hearers. ,,Was nicht vom Herzen kömmt, dringt nicht zum Herzen,“-"what does not come from your own heart, does not touch another's heart"—says the German adage; that is, if we are not ourselves convinced we never can convince others. 10 Sizt ihr nur immer, leimt zusammen, 42 43 Wagner. Allein der Vortrag macht des Redners Glück; Faust. Such' Er den redlichen Gewinn! Sei Er kein schellenlauter" Thor! 40 What a deep satire is contained in these few lines. Men who gather the ideas of others, to cook, as Faust says, a stew from them, or who endeavour to shine only with borrowed flames of inspiration, can never persuade. 41 11 Aschenhäuschen, our body- lit. a little heap of cinders; as in the words: "ashes to ashes." Asche, obsolete for dust; a dusty ground is still called in many parts of Germany Asche—aschicht. The word itself is derived from the Greek ága-dust; in Notker and Ottfried we find Ascu, and Asgu. Gothic: Azgo, AngloSaxon, Acse, English, Ashes, Swed: Aska. This word occurs also in the following idiomatic expressions: Es glimmt Feuer unter der Asche-there is some danger; Im Sack und der Asche Buße thun -to be sorrowful- to mourn-to be grieved-referring to the Jewish custom, pouring ashes on their heads when in great distress. Ungebrannte Asche means a stick;- in the comic style, Jemanden mit ungebrannter Asche bestrenen-is to beat somebody. 42 By addressing Wagner here in the second person plural, Faust addresses in him all those, who, incapable of all deeper feeling, are mere "every-day-men." 43 The delivery, the diction is all that he cares for. 44 Die Schelle, the little bell; schellenlaut, noisy like the jingling of a foolscap. An allusion to the words of the Apostle: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal" (the German version reads "little bell”). Es trägt Verstand und rechter Sinn Und wenn's euch Ernst ist was zu sagen, Ja, eure Reden, die so blinkend sind, In denen ihr der Menschheit Schnißel kräuselt, Der herbstlich durch die dürren Blätter säuselt! 45 Ach Gott! die Kunst ist lang, Und kurz ist unser Leben. 46 Mir wird bei meinem kritischen Bestreben Wie schwer sind nicht die Mittel zu erwerben, 48 Faust. 47 Das Pergament, 18 ist das der heil'ge Bronnen, 66 45 He advises Wagner, to use his own reason; this, he says, does not require any ornament, but readily adapts itself to any style and can always express itself clearly; he then points out the errors of the word-makers" and compares their florid speeches to shreds of paper in which they twist humanity, and again, to a cheerless, damp wind blowing through dry autumnal leaves.--Herbst-autumn, herbstlich, autumnal. 46 „Lang ist die Kunst - kurz ist das Leben“ one of those epigrammatical observations in which Goethe is so rich and striking-its meaning is that the brevity of man's life never allows him to become perfect in any branch of science or art. 47 Wagner realises only the outward difficulties of study, the grammatical knowledge, which is so difficult to obtain. Die Mittel, refers to the necessity of acquiring the language, before any real use can be made of the original authors: die Quellen. 48 Faust expresses his utter contempt for critical and historical commentaries, as, by their dry treatment of the living book of history, those matters are frequently made most prominent which are in reality of only secondary importance. Faust knew that there is a logic in events as well as in reasoning. 49 Woraus ein Trunk den Durst auf ewig stillt? Sich in den Geist der Zeiten zu verseßen, Zu schauen, wie vor uns ein weiser Mann gedacht, O ja, bis an die Sterne weit! 51 Mein Freund, die Zeiten der Vergangenheit Da ist's denn 53 wahrlich oft ein Jammer! 49 The Du is here taken in a general sense, as the two last lines are a general observation rather than an address to Wagner individually. 50 Or Ergötzen-an amusement. 51 An allusion to Revel, V. 1-3. "And I saw on the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals. "And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof. "And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon." 52 Faust breaks out into bitter satire as he thinks how historians substitute their own narrow thoughts for the spirit of bygone times, and how apt they are to lay down their own biassed views as historical facts. Goethe aimed in these lines more particularly at the well-known historian Ludeu. Are not his words applicable to many modern writers ? 53 Dann is found in the old editions, and agrees better with the general sense of the speech, as this exclamation should simply be united by a copulative conjunction to the preceding sentences. Denn, as a causal conjunction, would imply a conclusion from ar с Man läuft euch, bei dem ersten Blick davon. 51 57 Ein Kehrichtfaß und eine Rumpelkammer, 55 Allein die Welt! des Menschen Herz und Geist! Faust. Ja, was man so erkennen heißt! Wer darf das Kind beim rechten Namen nennen? Die thöricht g'nug ihr volles Herz nicht wahrten, guments, which does not exist in the simple exclamation "Da ist's dann wahrlich oft ein Jammer! " 54 The dust-bin. 55 Lumber-room. 56 The name given to dramatical representations of events, taken from the old Testament, and from the histories of Greece, Rome, Turkey or other countries. They were first introduced into Germany by Magister Velthem at the end of the seventeenth century; the pieces were generally bad translations from the Spanish, and a clown or other comic character always took a prominent part in the performance. Lessing intended to publish a collection of these,,Haupt- und Staatsaktionen" but left the work unfinished. 67 With "pragmatical maxims," because the principal characters of these,,Haupt- und Staatsaktionen" had to utter vague political doctrines. The term "pragmatical" was first used by the Greek historian Polybius for the doctrinal part of the historical narrative. 58 Goethe puts the word "knowledge" in the mouth of Wagner merely as a contrast to his pedantry. 59 Faust alludes not to the outward formal learning which Wagner considers knowledge, but to the true inward knowledge |