WALPURGIS
NIGHT DREAM from Faust
Although it may seem an odd
addition to the drama, the Walpurgis Night Dream is a sort of amateur
pageant, possibly being watched by Faust and Mephistopheles, and is
intended to add to the surreal atmosphere of this section of the
play- soon to be in contrast with the tragic conclusion of Part One.
The little verses in it are
satires or comments on various people and things. Mieding was a stage
manager and scene painter. Oberon, Puck and Titania are "fairies"
from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream while Ariel , the airy
spirit, is from The Tempest. The Northern Artist relates to Goethe
himself whose views were enriched by his own Italian Journey.
Xenien are these satiric
verses in the style of the Roman poet Martial. Hennings portrayed as
a sort of literary snob, published a journal called The Genius of the
Age that had attacked Schiller (poet and playwright and Goethe's
friend). His book of poems was called Musagent (leader of the muses).
Ci-Devant possible refers to the name change of the journal at 1800
to Genius of the 19th Century. Orpheus could calm the beasts with
music.
An Idealist is a philosopher
who lays great emphasis on the mind's role in creating reality. The
realist emphasises observation of a world regarded as wholly
external. "Flames" are supposed to lead the sensitive to
treasure. The Nimble Ones who are sans- souci (without care) change
their allegiances easily and have reversed so much they walk on their
heads, while the Useless have ended up with bare feet. The massive
are the masses (particularly in this case in the French Revolution).
Puck and Fairies- Joseph Noel Paton
WALPURGIS
NIGHT DREAM
or
OBERON
AND TITANIA’S GOLDEN WEDDING
Intermezzo
THEATRE
MANAGER
So
today for once we rest,
Brave
sons of painter Mieding.
Ancient
crag and valley mist.
That’s
all the scenery’s needing.
HERALD
A
wedding is a golden one
With
fifty years in store ;
But
when the quarrelling is done,
I
love that gold much more..
OBERON
If
you spirits are around
Reveal
yourselves to view;
Here
the king and queen are bound
To
now be bound anew.
PUCK
Puck
now comes and cuts across,
And
slides his feet in line;
And
a hundred follow this,
To
share a joyful time.
ARIEL
Ariel
is moved to song,
In
heaven tones so true;
Bringing
quite a frightful throng,
But
beauty’s offspring too.
OBERON
Couples
wish to get along,
So
learn what we impart.
Two
can stay in love for long-
They
only need to part.
TITANIA
He
is sulking, she has whims,
So
grab them both with haste.
Send
her off to southern lands,
He
to far northern waste.
ORCHESTRA,
TUTTI (FORTISSIMO)
Nose
of mosquito, snout of fly,
With
relatives around,
Frog
in leaf, grass cricket’s cry,
All
make our music sound.
SOLO
How
the bagpipe with its sack
Is
big soap bubble swelling;
Hear
how skirling snicker-snack
From
its blunt nose is welling.
SPIRIT
(WHICH IS FORMING ITSELF FOR THE FIRST TIME)
Spider’s
foot, toad-belly features,
With
small wings of a sprite,
These
will not make up some creatures,
Just
lines that come out right.
A
LITTLE COUPLE
Little
steps and leaps so high
Through
scents and honey dew;
Though
fleet enough for me are you,
We
never really fly.
INQUISITIVE
TRAVELLER
Is
this some masquerade’s disguise?
Trust
I what seems so clear?
Is
Oberon, the fair god, here
Today
before my eyes?
ORTHODOX
There’s
no claws and no tail piece,
Yet
I’ve no doubt it’s true,
Just
like the ancient gods of Greece,
That
he’s a devil too.
NORTHERN
ARTIST
All
that I’m doing still today
Are
only sketches really.
Still
I get set for when I may
Take
my Italian journey.
PURIST
Oh,
my bad luck brings me such places!
Such
goings-on won’t do!
In
all this witch horde only two
Are
wearing powder on their faces.
YOUNG
WITCH
Such
powder, like a petticoat,
Suits
grannies, grey and worn.
But
I sit naked on my goat
And
show my strapping form.
MATRON
We’re
too well-mannered to engender
Fault-finding
with your lot.
Yet
as you are, still young and tender,
I
hope you start to rot.
ORCHESTRA
LEADER
Nose
of mosquito, snout of fly,
Keep
off that naked girl!
Frog
in leaf, grass cricket’s cry,
Just
keep in time as well!
WEATHERVANE
(TURNING TO ONE SIDE)
The
best companions you could wish;
Each
girl- a bride to be;
And
young friends, man for man, make this
Most
promising to see!
WEATHERVANE
( TURNING TO THE OTHER SIDE)
And
if the ground won’t open wide
And
swallow them inside;
Then
I’ll take to my heels, pell-mell,
And
leap straight into hell.
XENIEN
As
little insects we are here
With
sharp, small nippers ready,
To
becomingly revere
Lord
Satan who is our daddy.
HENNINGS
Oh,
how they crowd, swarm to the fray,
Naively
joke together;
And
in the end they’ll dare to say
They
were good-hearted ever .
MUSAGET
I
love to lose myself within
This
host of witches, for
I’ve
far more chance of leading them
Than
muses- that’s for sure!
CI-DEVANT
GENIUS OF THE AGE (“Musagetes- the genius of the age”)
The
proper people get you places.
Come,
grab on to my coat.
The
Blocksberg like our German Parnassus
Has
a very long, broad top.
INQUISITIVE
TRAVELLER
Tell
me, who’s that stiff-backed man,
Who
strides with such proud steps?
He
noses round now where he can,
“He
sniffs out Jesuits.”
CRANE
Yes,
in the clear I like to fish,
But
also in the murky waters.
That’s
why the pious sir can mix
Quite
well here in the devil's quarters.
CHILD
OF THE WORLD
Believe
me, for the pious lot
All
things can serve their goals.
They
make up, here on Blocksberg’s top,
Lots
of conventicles.
DANCER
Is
that another chorus song?
I
hear a distant drumming.
Don’t
fret! In reeds there swarms a throng
Of
philosophic bitterns booming.
DANCING
MASTER
How
each one lifts his limbs, gets by
By
hook or else by crook-
The
bent ones leap, plump hop up high,
Not
asking how they look.
FIDDLER
They
hate each other, rotten rabble,
Each
wants the rest deceased;
The
bagpipe unifies the babble,
As
Orpheus did beast.
DOGMATIST
I
won’t be muddled by the shouters-
The
critics or the doubters;
The
devil must be real, you see,
Or
else how could this devil be?
IDEALIST
Within
my sight, imagination
Rules
with too strong a grip;
In
truth, if I’m all this creation,
Today
I am a twit.
REALIST
This
is a trial, the real- a dream...
So
vexed by all I meet;
This
is the first time that I’ve been
Unsteady
on my feet.
SUPERNATURALIST
I’m
in a really happy mood,
I
find all this just bliss;
For
from the devils I conclude
Good
spirits must exist.
SKEPTIC
They
follow little flames, not great;
Think
they track near the treasure.
As
devil and doubt alliterate,
I
find this place a pleasure.
ORCHESTRAL
LEADER
Nose
of mosquito, snout of fly,
Damn
dilettante crew!
Leaf-frog,
grass-born cricket’s cry,
Stay
musicians, will you!
THE
NIMBLE ONES
Sans-souci,
that’s our troop of sweet,
Bright
creatures- it is said.
We
go no longer on our feet,
So
we go on our heads.
THE
USELESS ONES
We
used to wheedle many a bite;
God
help us, but time rolls!
We
danced right through our shoes at night,
And
now we run on naked soles.
WILL
O’ THE WISPS
From
reeking swamps we come,
Where
we arose in swarms,
But
once we join the fun,
We’re
glittering, gallant forms.
SHOOTING
STAR
From
the height I shot, a flower
Of
fire and star flight,
Lying
in the grasses now,
Who’ll
help me get upright?
THE
MASSIVE (the masses)
Make
room, make room! Give way all you!
Small
grass gets trampled flat.
Spirits
come, but spirits too
Have
limbs both strong and fat.
PUCK
Do
not tread your massive way
Like
calves of elephants;
May
the sturdiest on this day
Be
weighty Puck’s advance.
ARIEL
If
fair, living nature’s grace
Or
spirit gave you wings,
Follow
my light, airy trace
Up
the hill of rose-fair rings.
ORCHESTRA
(PIANISSIMO)
Clouds
that trail and mist that weaves
Dawn-gleams
light overhead.
Wind
flows through the reeds and leaves
And
everything has fled.
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