Should have been spilt, but that it is for you
Alone to punish or pardon, as you please.
HELEN. You grant high dignity, in making me
Both judge and ruler, even though it were
Only to tempt me, as I may surmise.
But I do my first duty as a judge
By hearing the accused. You, therefore, speak!
LYNCEUS THE WATCHMAN.
Let me kneel and let me gaze,
Let me die or let me live:
To this lady, whom the gods give,
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I devote my mortal days.
I have watched a mystery:
As I waited for the dawn,
Eastward peering, suddenly
In the south the sun was born.
And my eyes were drawn aside—
Not a peak nor valley there,
Sky nor earth they now descried:
Only her, uniquely fair.
Like the lynx on topmost bough
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With keen vision I am blessed;
But to wake I laboured now
As by some dark dream oppressed.
Where was I? What could restore me?
Towers, ramparts, where were they?
Such a goddess stood before me
As the mists were swept away!
Eyes and heart towards her turning,
I had drunk her gentle light,
And her beauty, dazzling, burning,
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Burned and dazzled my poor sight.
I forgot the watchman’s duty
And my watch-horn’s promised call.
Doom me now to death; yet beauty
Tames the anger in us all.
HELEN. I must not punish a misfortune I myself
Have brought about. Alas, how pitiless
Has been my fate, doomed everywhere to drive
Men’s hearts to madness, that they neither spared
Themselves nor reverenced any other thing!
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They ravished and seduced and fought and snatched
Me hither and thither: heroes, demigods,
Gods, demons, led me wandering to and fro.
My single form confused the world, twice more
My double; now I am threefold, fourfold ruin.
Take away this good man and set him free;
Let no shame strike one whom a god has crazed.
FAUST. A double sight, oh queen, amazes me:
Your surely-speeding arrow, and its victim.
I see the bow that winged it on its way,
9260
And him who felt the wound. Arrows apace
Assail me now, I sense their feathering flight
At me from all sides, here within the castle.
What has become of me? My truest followers
You turn to rebels all at once, my walls
You weaken. Will my army now obey
Me, or this conquering unconquered lady?
What choice now, but to give myself and all
My supposed wealth to you in vassalage?
Let me then at your feet, freely and truly,
9270
Confess you mistress, who had but to appear
And take at once your place upon the throne.
LYNCEUS [with a treasure-chest, followed by men bringing others].
Queen, we return from near and far
To beg one glance, rich as we are!
What man is there that looks at you
And is not prince and beggar too?
What am I now? what have I been?
What must I will or do, oh queen?
My piercing sight, what can it see?
Your bright throne casts it back at me.
9280
Out of the east we came, and so
The west was conquered and laid low;
A weighty army, wide and strong,
From head to tail none knew how long.
The first would fall, the next would stand,
A third was ready spear in hand;
Each reinforced a hundredfold,
And a slain thousand fell untold.
So we rushed on like storm and flame,
Conquering and ruling as we came;
9290
One day I gave the orders, then
The plunder fell to other men.
We looked around with greedy eyes:
The loveliest woman was one man’s prize,
Others took horses by the score
Or prancing bulls, as spoils of war.
But I would peer with my sharp sight
At all things rare and recondite:
I sought what no one else possessed,
Cared not a straw for all the rest.
9300
I hunted treasure’s every trace,
Clear vision led me to the place,
No pocket hid its wealth from me,
Locked chests were glass, my eyes the key.
Mine it became, a hoard of gold
And precious stones. The emerald
Now of all gems is worthiest
To glow so green upon your breast;
And let a pearl from deepest sea
Now by your cheek hang tremblingly—
9310
So red it blooms, no rubies dare
To add their pale adornment there.
Oh queen, so great a gathering
Of riches to your throne I bring;
Much blood was shed in warlike fray,
Its harvest at your feet I lay.
These coffers all are full, and yet
More iron coffers I can get;
If I may be your slave, all these
Shall fill your vaulted treasuries.
9320
For scarcely were you here enthroned
Than all bowed down to you and owned
Their minds, their wealth, their power in thrall
To you, the loveliest form of all.
All this was mine, I held it fast,
I let it go, to you it passed.
I thought it worthy: now I see
This lofty treasure’s nullity.
All’s vanished now I called my own,
Withered it lies like grass that’s mown.
9330
Lady, with one glad look restore
Its value to it all once more!
FAUST. Remove at once this burden boldly won;
Uncensured it shall be, yet unrewarded.
All that my castle’s deep interior hides
Is hers already: a specific gift
Is otiose. Go, and lay out the treasures
In proper order. Raise on high the lofty
Image of unseen splendour! Let the vaulted
Roofs glitter like skies freshly starred; plant here
9340
Strange paradises of unliving life.
Where she will walk, let many carpets rich
With flowers unroll before her: let her feet
Fall upon softest ground, and brightest radiance,
Dazzling to all but gods, confront her eyes.
LYNCEUS. Little, my lord, is this you ask,
Your command’s a trifling task;
For this beauty all extol
Rules us all, goods, life and soul.
All the army now is tame,
9350
Every sword is blunt and lame;
And this form beyond compare
Dulls the sun and chills the air.
All’s made empty, poor and base
By the riches of her face. [Exit.]
HELEN [to FAUST]. I wish to speak with you, but I would have you
Seated here at my side! This empty place
Calls for the master, and makes mine secure.
FAUST. First, as I kneel, accept my faithful homage,
Most noble princess! Let me kiss the hand
9360
That lifts me to your side; confirm me now
As the co-regent of your rea
lm which knows
No boundaries, and let me be for you
Admirer, servant, guardian, all in one!
HELEN. Manifold wonders I have seen and heard,
And in amazement I have much to ask.
But tell me why the speech of that good man
Had something strange about it, strange and friendly:
Each sound seems to accommodate the next,
And when one word has settled in the ear
9370
Another follows to caress the first.
FAUST. It is the way our peoples speak; I know
That if this pleases you, our music too
Will charm your hearing, ravish your inmost heart.
But it is best we practise it at once,
Talking by turns, for that calls forth the skill.
HELEN. Then say, how shall I learn such lovely speech?
FAUST. It is not hard: say what your heart will teach.
And when one’s heart is full, one turns to see
Who’ll share the rapture—
HELEN. Share it now with me!
9380
FAUST. No past recalled, no future time to guess;
Only the present—
HELEN. is our happiness.
FAUST. It is treasure and gain, possession and
A pledge: but what must seal the pledge?
HELEN. My hand.
CHORUS. Who would find fault with our queen for
Granting this castle’s lord
Some signs of her favour?
For we must confess that we all are now
Captives, as we have been before
So often already since the shameful
9390
Fall of Troy, and our grievous
Journey, labyrinthine, fear-haunted.
Women accustomed to men’s love
May not be choosers, but
Their knowledge is expert.
For whether to golden-haired shepherd boys
Or to swarthy bristling fauns,
As the case may be or the occasion:
Equal rights will be granted,
Making them free of their soft limbs.
9400
Nearer they sit, closer already,
Leaning against each other;
Shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee,
Hand in hand they are cradled
On the soft cushions
Of the magnificent throne.
Our rulers do not forebear to make
Their secret pleasures
Proudly and exuberantly
Public before the gaze of their people.
9410
HELEN. I feel so far away, and yet so near;
How willingly I say: Look, I am here!
FAUST. Breathless I seem, words tremble and lose power;
This is a dream, in no place, at no hour.
HELEN. I am as one long past, and yet so new;
To you bound fast, to an unknown stranger true.
FAUST. Why puzzle, why insist? Our unique role
Bids us exist; one moment means the whole.
PHORCYAS [bursting in].
Now’s no time for childish riddling
Amorous alphabetic fiddling
9420
Idle puzzling and canoodling!
Now there’s other work to do.
Can you hear the trumpets blaring,
Hollow sounds of thunder nearing?
Direst peril threatens you.
Menelaus, battle-waging,
Warrior-hosted, rides here raging:
Arm yourselves for bitter strife!
They’ll outnumber you; he’ll lop you
Like Deïphobus, he’ll chop you
9430
Up for dallying with his wife.
This slave-trash he’ll hang; then, lady,
For your neck an axe is ready
Or a sacrificial knife.
FAUST. Offensive interruption! Insolently it intrudes.
I hate such headstrong folly, even when danger speaks.
Ill news disfigures even the fairest messenger,
And you, the foulest, you like best to bring the worst.
But you shall not achieve it this time: shake the air
With empty breath! There is no danger here, and if
9440
There were, it would be seen to be an idle threat.
[Signals, explosions from the towers, trumpets and cornets, warlike music, a powerful army marching through.]
FAUST. NO! we shall stand, we shall not waver,
As these my heroes now shall show.
He alone merits woman’s favour
Who can defend her from the foe.
[To the commanders, who step from the columns and present themselves to him.]
You from the east, you from the north
In youthful strength, in vigorous flower:
Let your long silent rage burst forth
And bring you victory in this hour!
A steel-clad host, with glint of flame:
9450
Earth trembles where it treads the ground,
Kingdoms have crumbled where it came,
It marches to the thunder’s sound.
In ancient Pylos from the sea
We landed; Nestor ruled there once.
The petty lordships fell, as we
Warred on with wild unchecked advance.
Now Menelaus comes: drive him
Back to the waves without delay!
Let him pursue his fate, his whim,
9460
And go his wandering robber’s way.
As Sparta’s queen commands, I greet
You now as dukes; when you have laid
These vales and mountains at her feet
In princely kind you shall be paid.
Teuton, build ramparts on the shores
Of Corinth, and defend it well!
Achaia’s gorges shall be yours,
Bold Goth, all comers to repel.
Let Elis be the Frank’s to guard,
Let Saxons shield Messini, let
The sea-ways by the Norman’s sword
9470
Be cleansed, and Argolis made great.
Thus each shall reign in his demesne
And outwards make his power known:
But she shall rule you all, the Queen
Of Sparta, from her ancient throne.
Under her sway an age of gold
And plenty on this land shall fall;
She shall enlighten and uphold
9480
And bless with justice each and all.
[FAUST descends, the princes approach and surround him to hear his further orders and dispositions.]
CHORUS. He who desires the loveliest of women,
Let him above all wisely
Arm himself with redoubtable weapons.
For though he may have won by flattery
The earth’s supreme treasure,
He will never possess it in peace:
Subtle enemies will seek to entice her,
Bold robbers to snatch her away from him.
Let him take heed to prevent this loss.
9490
Therefore I praise our prince and esteem him
High above others: for bravely
And with foresight he forms alliances,
And the strong stand loyally round him,
Awaiting his lightest gesture.
They will faithfully hear his commands;
Each will be serving his own advantage
And rewarding his prince with gratitude;
Both will win high honour and fame.
For now who can carry her off
From her powerful possessor?
9500
To him she belongs, and may he have joy of her;
This we doubly wish him, for with her
He has surrounded us too with a sure wall
And outside it with a mighty army.
FAUST. T
hese fiefdoms which I here bestow—
To each a rich and thriving land—
Are great and splendid; let them go!
Here in the midst we take our stand;
These vying vassals shall make fast
9510
And sure our ambient realm the while—
So lightly linked and branched to Europe’s last
Great mountain-chain, our wave-lapped demi-isle!
Above all lands beneath the sun
May this land flourish evermore,
Which for my queen we now have won:
Where first Eurotas’ whispering shore
Looked up at her, when lovelier far
Than Leda and with eyes more bright
Than all her siblings, like a star
9520
She broke her shell to greet the light.
Lady, this land for you alone
Displays its beauty; the whole earth
Is yours, but this earth is your own:
Love this land more, which gave you birth!
The jagged summits on its mountain ridge
Suffer the sun’s cold arrows sharp and clear;
But rocks blush green with scanty pasturage
And nibbling goats can seek their nurture here.
The springs leap up, down gush the mingling rills,
9530
Ravines and slopes are verdant now, the grass
Covers in turn a hundred fields and hills
Where the wide-wandering fleecy flocks may pass.
Horned grazing cattle, scattered, warily
Pacing, approach the brink of the sheer fall;
But darkly arching in the cliffside, see!
A hundred caves are shelter for them all.
There Pan protects them, there they lie at ease
In the moist wooded clefts where life-nymphs dwell.
With upthrust branches the close-crowding trees
9540
Aspire to higher regions. Mark them well,
These ancient forests! Mighty oaks extrude
Their stubborn and anfractuous limbs; here too
The maple, heavy with sweet liquid food,
Plays with its burden, soaring straight and true.
Here in the quiet shade a lamb, a child,
Sucks warm maternal milk with eager lips;
Here in the plains the fruit grows ripe and wild,
And from the hollow tree-trunk honey drips.
Contentment is a birthright here,
9550
A smiling mouth, a cheek that glows;
Each is immortal in his sphere,
No sickness, no disquietude he knows;
And thus the children grow in this pure day
To fatherhood. We ask again
As in astonishment we gaze: are they
Not gods indeed, or are they men?
Apollo lived with shepherds so, and passed
For one, and all were beautiful:
For where the laws of purest Nature rule,
9560
All separate worlds unite at last.
[He sits at her side.]
See, this is ours now; let our quest be ended,
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