Here is the genuine path for you;
Yet strict attention must be given.

STUDENT

Body and soul thereon I’ll wreak;
Yet, truly, I’ve some inclination
On summer holidays to seek
A little freedom and recreation.

MEPHISTOPHELES

Use well your time!  It flies so swiftly from us;
But time through order may be won, I promise. 
So, Friend (my views to briefly sum),
First, the collegium logicum. 
There will your mind be drilled and braced,
As if in Spanish boots ’twere laced,
And thus, to graver paces brought,
’Twill plod along the path of thought,
Instead of shooting here and there,
A will-o’-the-wisp in murky air. 
Days will be spent to bid you know,
What once you did at a single blow,
Like eating and drinking, free and strong,—­
That one, two, three! thereto belong. 
Truly the fabric of mental fleece
Resembles a weaver’s masterpiece,
Where a thousand threads one treadle throws,
Where fly the shuttles hither and thither. 
Unseen the threads are knit together. 
And an infinite combination grows. 
Then, the philosopher steps in
And shows, no otherwise it could have been: 
The first was so, the second so,
Therefore the third and fourth are so;
Were not the first and second, then
The third and fourth had never been. 
The scholars are everywhere believers,
But never succeed in being weavers. 
He who would study organic existence,
First drives out the soul with rigid persistence;
Then the parts in his hand he may hold and class,
But the spiritual link is lost, alas!
Encheiresin natures, this Chemistry names,
Nor knows how herself she banters and blames!

STUDENT

I cannot understand you quite.

MEPHISTOPHELES

Your mind will shortly be set aright,
When you have learned, all things reducing,
To classify them for your using.

STUDENT

I feel as stupid, from all you’ve said,
As if a mill-wheel whirled in my head!

MEPHISTOPHELES

And after—­first and foremost duty—­Of
Metaphysics learn the use and beauty! 
See that you most profoundly gain
What does not suit the human brain! 
A splendid word to serve, you’ll find
For what goes in—­or won’t go in—­your mind. 
But first, at least this half a year,
To order rigidly adhere;
Five hours a day, you understand,
And when the clock strikes, be on hand! 
Prepare beforehand for your part
With paragraphs all got by heart,
So you can better watch, and look
That naught is said but what is in the book: 
Yet in thy writing as unwearied be,
As did the Holy Ghost dictate to thee!