Mark Scrivener Poetry Blog No 86 Witch's Kitchen from Faust

WITCH’S KITCHEN from FAUST by GOETHE

After Auerbach's Cellar where Mephistopheles. has failed to interest Faust in that particular sort of low life we find him taking Faust to the realm of the witch's kitchen. On the one hand this serves a plot function as Faust, the oldish scholar, is to be regenerated to such a degree that a young woman (Margaret/Gretchen) can fall for him. On the other hand these fantastic scenes (like the Witch's Kitchen and later Walpurgis Night) have a sort of symbolic role to play in Goethe's overall view of life. Without getting too theoretical and dogmatic, I think it is fair to say that they have something to do with the "night" side of human nature- the subconscious, sexual and other instinctive drives and sometimes irrationality. It is notable that the witch's brew is a sort of parody of the alchemist's ideal of the "philosopher's stone" or even the eternal life of the spirit as spoken of in Christianity and other religions. Not only does it take thirty years off Faust's life, but it strengthens the erotic instincts in him with which Mephistopheles hopes to snare him- "... there soon will be/ A Helen in each girl you see,"

WITCH’S KITCHEN

ON A LOW HEARTH A BIG KETTLE STANDS OVER A FIRE. IN THE STEAM THAT RISES FROM IT VARIOUS SHAPES REVEAL THEMSELVES. A FEMALE MONKEY SITS BY THE KETTLE SKIMMING IT AND MAKING SURE IT DOESN’T OVERFLOW. THE MALE MONKEY , WITH THE LITTLE ONES, SITS NEAR HER, WARMING HIMSELF. THE WALLS AND CEILINGS ARE DECORATED WITH THE STRANGEST IMPLEMENTS OF WITCHCRAFT.

FAUST AND MEPHISTOPHELES ENTER

FAUST

I’ve set against this mad-brewed magic thing!
You pledge I’ll be restored now in
This chaos of insanity?
Do I desire help from this old wife?
Shall her froth-slopping cookery
Take thirty years from off my life?
I'm lost if you have nothing with more merit.
All hope's already vanishing.
But hasn’t nature or some noble spirit
Come up with balm or some such thing?

MEPHISTOPHELES

You’re talking sense once more. Now look,
One way is naturally rejuvenating;
But it is written in a different book,
A curious chapter for your taking.

FAUST

I’d like to know it.

MEPHISTOPHELES

Good! A means that needs no gold
Or quacks or sorcery- just go,
Get out there in the field and fold
And start to learn to dig and hoe.
And hold yourself and your thoughts in
A sphere thus strictly limiting;
There live with beasts as beast, don’t feel it as a loss
To dress the fields you harvest with your dung!
Believe, the best way known is this,
For eighty years you’ll keep quite young!

FAUST

I am not used to that and I can’t bring myself
To take a spade in hand for health.
A narrow life like that is not my style.

MEPHISTOPHELES

So we still need the witch’s wiles.

FAUST

But why this old wife? Don’t you think
That you yourself could brew the drink?

MEPHISTOPHELES

A splendid pastime! I could make
A thousand bridges in the time it takes.
Not only science, skill and art,
But also patience plays a part.
A quiet spirit works for years- this course
Gives time to give the fermentation force.
And all that goes into the brew;
Quite wonderful things they are! I own
The devil taught her how, that’s true,
But he can’t make it all alone.

NOTICING THE ANIMALS

It seems your mistress isn’t home.

ANIMALS

At banquet,
Out from home,
Through chimney alone.

MEPHISTOPHELES

How long’s she normally outdoors?

ANIMALS

As long as we shall warm our paws.

MEPHISTOPHELES (TO FAUST)

How do you find these tender beasts?

FAUST

I’ve never seen anything more ridiculous.

MEPHISTOPHELES

Oh, no, a little chat like this

Is just the thing that I like best.

TO THE ANIMALS

Explain to me, cursed puppet group,

What are you stirring in that stew?

ANIMALS

We’re cooking thinned-out beggar’s soup.

MEPHISTOPHELES

You will have many for that brew.

MALE MONKEY (APPROACHING MEPHISTOPHELES

AND FAWNING)

O let the dice roll,
And give me the gold
And let me win all!
How bad in our place,
Much gold would increase
My wit now as well!

MEPHISTOPHELES

This ape would prize his luck could he

Just get into the lottery!

MEANWHILE THE YOUNG MONKEYS HAVE BEEN PLAYING WITH A BALL WHICH THEY NOW ROLL FORWARD

MALE MONKEY

The world's like this;

Goes up and down,

Rolls endlessly;

It rings like glass-

Breaks easily!

Has hollow sound.

Here it shines lightly,

And here more brightly:

Alive am I!

Dear son, I say,

Stay right away!

You needs must die!

It’s made of clay,

Its pieces fly.

MEPHISTOPHELES (POINTING)

So why the sieve?

MALE MONKEY (GETTING IT DOWN)

Were you a thief,

I’d know it straight away.

HE RUNS TO THE FEMALE MONKEY AND LETS HER LOOK THROUGH IT

Look through it, be brief,

You know who’s the thief,

Don’t you, but dare not say?

MEPHISTOPHELES (NEARING THE FIRE)

What of this pot?

MALE AND FEMALE

The stupid clot!
He knows not the pot,
He knows not the kettle!

MEPHISTOPHELES

Rude, beastly pair!

THE MALE MONKEY

Now sit in big chair,
Take duster and settle!

HE FORCES MEPHISTOPHELES TO SIT

FAUST
(WHO DURING THIS TIME HAS BEEN STANDING BEFORE A MIRROR, NOW STEPPING CLOSER TO IT, NOW STEPPING AWAY AGAIN)

What do I see? What sight in heaven's gleam
Is shown within this magic mirror's sheen!
O, love, lend me your swiftest, wide-winged power
And guide me to her presence now!
But if I don’t stay put; yes, if I dare
To venture near, if I persist,
She starts to vanish in a mist-
A woman’s fairest image there!
Yet could it be? Could woman be so fair?
In this reclining figure do I see
The quintessential heavenly?
Could such a one be found on earth?

MEPHISTOPHELES

Of course, if a god has struggled six full days
And at the end sings his own praise,
He’s brought some clever thing to birth.
So gaze till filled up for this while;
I’ve ways to find a small pearl of your own,
And happy’s he who sees fair fortune smile,
And as her bridegroom leads her home.

FAUST IS STILL GAZING INTO THE MIRROR. MEPHISTOPHELES STRETCHES OUT IN THE ARMCHAIR

AND, PLAYING WITH THE DUSTER, CONTINUES SPEAKING

Well, here I sit, a king enthroned. Indeed,

I have the sceptre here, the crown is all I need.

THE ANIMALS (WHO SO FAR HAVE BEEN MAKING STRANGE MOVEMENTS AROUND ONE ANOTHER, BRING MEPHISTOPHELES A CROWN WITH GREAT CLAMOURING)

O just be so good,

With sweat and blood,

This crown now to lime!

(THEY TAKE THE CROWN CLUMSILY, BREAKING IT IN TWO. THEN THEY JUMP AROUND WITH THE PIECES.)

It’s done now, let be.

We chatter and see,

We hear and we rhyme-

FAUST (AT THE MIRROR)

O grief! I'm sure I'll lose my mind.

MEPHISTOPHELES (POINTING TO THE ANIMALS)

My head is nearly reeling at their sports.

ANIMALS

And if we have luck,

And if our rhymes tuck,

Why- then we have thoughts!

FAUST (AS ABOVE)

My heart is starting to catch flame!

Oh, let us flee from here at once!

MEPHISTOPHELES (AS IN ABOVE POSITION)

As poets, one thing they can claim:

Theirs is a very candid stance.

THE KETTLE CAULDRON THAT THE FEMALE MONKEY TO LOOK AFTER, SENDS A GREAT FLAME BLAZING UP THE CHIMNEY. THE WITCH COMES DOWN THROUGH THE FLAME WITH A DREADFUL SHRIEKS

THE WITCH

Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!

You damned, fool beast, you cursed, old sow!

Neglecting the pot, you’ve singed your mistress now!

Damned beastly pair!

NOTICING MEPHISTOPHELES AND FAUST

What have we here?

Why are you here?

What do you want?

How’s it you came?

The pain of flame

Upon your frame!

SHE DIPS THE SKIMMING SPOON INTO THE KETTLE AND SPLATTERS FLAME TOWARDS FAUST, MEPHISTOPHELES AND THE CREATURES. THE ANIMALS WHIMPER.

MEPHISTOPHELES

(REVERSING THE BRUSH HE HOLDS IN HIS HAND, SMASHING INTO THE GLASSES AND POTS)

In two! In two!

There lies the brew!

There lies the glass!

Just fun, a farce,

The beat, hag-arse,

To melodies from you.

HE CONTINUES WHILE THE WITCH RETREATS IN RAGE AND HORROR

You know me now? Monster! Skeleton!

Do you now know your master and your lord?

What’s stopping me from striking on,

And smashing you and all your monkey horde?

Is my red coat not honoured in this place?

Do you not see my rooster feather? Shame!

Or have I covered up my face?

And do I have to give my name?

THE WITCH

My lord, forgive me my rough hello!

I see no horse hoof down below,

And your two ravens, where are they?

MEPHISTOPHELES

This once no further blame, for I

Admit that quite some time’s gone by

Since we last met. Since that far day

All things have had a lick of culture’s brew,

Likewise the devil you once knew.

Yes, that old Nordic phantom is no more;

Do you see horn, or tail, or claw?

And as regards the foot, which I still need to use,

It would give folk the wrong idea,

Therefore I have employed, as do so many youths,

False calves for many a good year.

THE WITCH

I lose my sense and reason here,

To see my squire Satan now once more !

MEPHISTOPHELES

No woman, no; that name just brings me pain!

THE WITCH

But why, what has it done to you?

MEPHISTOPHELES

It’s long been stuff of fable, though I'm sure

That humans are no better off. It's true

The evil one has gone, but evil ones remain.

So call me baron now and everything is fine.

I am a cavalier, like other cavaliers;

And don’t you dare to doubt my noble line.

See, this is how my coat of arms appears!

HE MAKES AN INDECENT GESTURE

THE WITCH (LAUGHING IMMODERATELY)

Ha, ha! That is your style, fine sir!

You’re just the rogue you ever were.

MEPHISTOPHELES

Learn this, my friend! Without a hitch,

This is the way to get around a witch.

THE WITCH

Now gentlemen, what can I do for you?

MEPHISTOPHELES

A good glass of your well-known brew!
Please make it of your oldest too;
The years just multiply its power.

THE WITCH

Most gladly! Here I have a bit,
That I occasionally sip,
That has no longer the slightest stink;
I’ll gladly give you a small glass now.

SOFTLY

But if, quite unprepared, this man should take a drink,
He will, as you well know, not live more than an hour.

MEPHISTOPHELES

He is a friend, who’ll feel the benefit it weaves;
I wish to grant the best your brewing gives.
So draw your circle, speak your spell,
And then give him a good glass full!

THE WITCH WITH STRANGE GESTURES, DRAWS A CIRCLE AND PLACES WONDEROUS THINGS IN IT. MEANWHILE THE GLASSES START TO RING, THE KETTLES START TO RESOUND, MAKING MUSIC. AT LAST SHE FETCHES A GREAT BOOK, PLACES THE MONKEYS IN THE CIRCLE IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY MAKE HER LECTERN AND HOLD THE TORCH FOR HER. SHE BECKONS FAUST TO STEP INSIDE WITH HER.

FAUST
No- tell me, where’s all this lead? This throng
Of frenzied gestures, mad carry-on?
A most disgusting fraud- such stuff
Is known to me and hated well-enough.

MEPHISTOPHELES

What rot! It’s just a laugh- don’t fuss.
Don’t be so stiff, severe and strict!
She must, like a doctor, have some hocus-pocus
So you can feel the fullest benefit.

HE FORCES FAUST TO STEP INTO THE CIRCLE

THE WITCH (STARTING TO RECITE OUT OF THE BOOK WITH GREAT EMPHASIS)

You must see then!
From One make Ten,
Let Two go, when
Three’s made alike-
You’re rich all right.
Then lose the four!
From five and six,
So says the witch,
Make Seven and Eight,
It’s finished straight:
And Nine is One,
And Ten is None.
That is the witches’ one-times-one.

FAUST

I think the old crone speaks in fever.

MEPHISTOPHELES

It’s still, my friend, nowhere near over;

I know it well, thus babbles the whole book;

I spent some many hours upon this jewel-

A stream of contradiction looks

As arcane to the wise as to the greatest fool.

his art is old and new, friend. See-
It was the fashion through the ages,
Through three and one and one and three,
To spread not truth but error’s stages.
And so some chat, teach undisturbed;
For who would tangle with such fools?
For mostly people think, if they just hear a word,
That it must let them form some thought as well.

THE WITCH (CONTINUING)

The science with
High power is
From all the world concealed.
He who thinks not
Receives the lot,
Not trying it’s revealed.

FAUST

Why does she pile the nonsense higher?

I feel as though my head is breaking.

I think I hear a whole mad choir,

A hundred thousand idiots speaking.

MEPHISTOPHELES

Enough, oh worthy Sibyl, enough!

Bring on your drink, swift-fill the cup

Right to the very brim now- such

Won’t harm my friend at all. For he

Is one of many a degree,

Who has already gulped down much.

THE WITCH, WITH MUCH CEREMONY, POURS THE DRINK INTO A CUP, FROM WHICH, AS FAUST LIFTS IT TO HIS MOUTH, A SLIGHT FLAME SHOOTS FORTH

MEPHISTOPHELES

Straight down with it! Keep on, go to!

It’ll give your heart much joy. Be game!

The devil’s bosom buddy, you

Should not shy from a little flame.

THE WITCH BREAKS THE CIRCLE. FAUST STEPS OUT

MEPHISTOPHELES

Now get out fast! You must not rest!

THE WITCH

And may this potion do you good.

MEPHISTOPHELES (TO THE WITCH)

If I can favour any small request,

Just tell me at Walpurgis, if you would.

THE WITCH

Here is a song. If it’s sung now and then

You’ll sense a special, good effect.

MEPHISTOPHELES (TO FAUST)

Come quickly, let me lead; we won’t neglect

To make you sweat and so direct

The potion’s force inside and out again.

In time I’ll teach the prize of noble idleness,

And soon you’ll sense with deepest, inner bliss

How Cupid stirs himself and springs this way and that.

FAUST

Once more just let me glance at that reflection!

That image was so beautiful!

MEPHISTOPHELES

No! You’ll soon see that woman of perfection,

Alive before your eyes in full.

SOFTLY

And with this drink in you, there soon will be

A Helen in each girl you see.