FAUST

The monster to confront, at first,
The spell of Four must be rehears’d;

 Salamander shall kindle,
 Writhe nymph of the wave,
 In air sylph shall dwindle,
 And Kobold shall slave.

Who doth ignore
The primal Four,
Nor knows aright
Their use and might,
O’er spirits will he
Ne’er master be!

 Vanish in the fiery glow,
 Salamander! 
 Rushingly together flow,
 Undine! 
 Shimmer in the meteor’s gleam,
 Sylphide! 
 Hither bring thine homely aid,
 Incubus!  Incubus! 
 Step forth!  I do adjure thee thus!

None of the Four
Lurks in the beast;
He grins at me, untroubled as before;
I have not hurt him in the least. 
A spell of fear
Thou now shalt hear.

 Art thou, comrade fell,
 Fugitive from Hell? 
 See then this sign,
 Before which incline
 The murky troops of Hell! 
With bristling hair now doth the creature swell.

 Canst thou, reprobate,
 Read the uncreate,
 Unspeakable, diffused
 Throughout the heavenly sphere,
 Shamefully abused,
 Transpierced with nail and spear!

Behind the stove, tam’d by my spells,
Like an elephant he swells;
Wholly now he fills the room,
He into mist will melt away. 
Ascend not to the ceiling!  Come,
Thyself at the master’s feet now lay! 
Thou seest that mine is no idle threat. 
With holy fire I will scorch thee yet! 
Wait not the might
That lies in the triple-glowing light! 
Wait not the might
Of all my arts in fullest measure!

MEPHISTOPHELES (as the mist sinks, comes forward from behind the stove, in the dress of a traveling scholar)

Why all this uproar?  What’s the master’s pleasure?

FAUST

This then the kernel of the brute! 
A traveling scholar?  Why I needs must smile.

MEPHISTOPHELES

Your learned reverence humbly I salute! 
You’ve made me swelter in a pretty style.

FAUST

Thy name?

MEPHISTOPHELES

The question trifling seems from one,
Who it appears the Word doth rate so low;
Who, undeluded by mere outward show,
To Being’s depths would penetrate alone.

FAUST

With gentlemen like you indeed
The inward essence from the name we read,
As all too plainly it doth appear,
When Beelzebub, Destroyer, Liar, meets the ear. 
Who then art thou?

MEPHISTOPHELES

Part of that power which still
Produceth good, whilst ever scheming ill.

FAUST