SPIRITS (in the corridor)

     Some one, within, is caught! 
     Stay without, follow him not! 
     Like the fox in a snare,
     Quakes the old hell-lynx there. 
     Take heed—­look about! 
     Back and forth hover,
     Under and over,
     And he’ll work himself out. 
     If your aid avail him,
     Let it not fail him;
     For he, without measure,
     Has wrought for our pleasure.

FAUST

First, to encounter the beast,
The Words of the Four be addressed: 
    Salamander, shine glorious! 
    Wave, Undine, as bidden! 
    Sylph, be thou hidden! 
    Gnome, be laborious!

Who knows not their sense
(These elements),—­
Their properties
And power not sees,—­
No mastery he inherits
Over the Spirits.

     Vanish in flaming ether,
     Salamander! 
     Flow foamingly together,
     Undine! 
     Shine in meteor-sheen,
     Sylph! 
     Bring help to hearth and shelf. 
     Incubus!  Incubus! 
     Step forward, and finish thus!

Of the Four, no feature
Lurks in the creature. 
Quiet he lies, and grins disdain: 
Not yet, it seems, have I given him pain. 
Now, to undisguise thee,
Hear me exorcise thee! 
Art thou, my gay one,
Hell’s fugitive stray-one? 
The sign witness now,
Before which they bow,
The cohorts of Hell!

With hair all bristling, it begins to swell.

     Base Being, hearest thou? 
     Knowest and fearest thou
     The One, unoriginate,
     Named inexpressibly,
     Through all Heaven impermeate,
     Pierced irredressibly!

Behind the stove still banned,
See it, an elephant, expand! 
It fills the space entire,
Mist-like melting, ever faster. 
’Tis enough:  ascend no higher,—­
Lay thyself at the feet of the Master! 
Thou seest, not vain the threats I bring thee: 
With holy fire I’ll scorch and sting thee! 
Wait not to know
The threefold dazzling glow! 
Wait not to know
The strongest art within my hands!

MEPHISTOPHELES

(while the vapor is dissipating, steps forth from behind the stove, in the costume of a Travelling Scholar.) Why such a noise?  What are my lord’s commands?

FAUST

This was the poodle’s real core,
A travelling scholar, then?  The casus is diverting.

MEPHISTOPHELES

The learned gentleman I bow before: 
You’ve made me roundly sweat, that’s certain!

FAUST

What is thy name?

MEPHISTOPHELES