Make way! Squire Voland comes,[n12] sweet mob, make way!
Here, Doctor, hold by me!—and now, I say,
We must cut clear
Of this wild hubbub, while we may;
Even my cloth is puzzled here.
See’st thou that light on yonder mound quite near,
It hath a most peculiar glare,
We’ll slip in there,
And watch behind the bush the humors of the Fair.
Faust.
Strange son of contradiction!—may’st even guide us!
A rare conceit! of course you must be right;
This weary way we march on famed Walpurgis night,
Like hermits in a corner here to hide us!
Mephistopheles.
Lo! where the flames mount up with bickering glee;
In sooth it is a goodly company.
In such a place one cannot be alone.
Faust.
And yet a place I’d rather own
Upon the top, where whirling smoke I see;
There thousands to the evil Spirit hie,
And many a riddle there he will untie.
Mephistopheles.
Yes: and for every knot he disentangles,
He’ll make another to produce new wrangles.
Let the great world rant and riot,
We’ll know to house us here in quiet;
In the great world ’tis a sanctioned plan,
Each makes a little world the best he can.
Look there; you see young witches without cover,
And old ones prudently veiled over;
Yield but to me, and I can promise thee,
With little labor, mickle glee.
I hear their noisy instruments begin!
Confound their scraping!—one must bear the din.
Come, come! what must be must be—let’s go in!
With my good introduction on this night,
Thou shalt have laughter to thy heart’s delight.
What say’st thou, friend? this is no common show,
A hundred lights are burning in a row,
You scarce may see the end;
They dance, they talk, they cook, they drink, they court;
Now tell me, saw you ever better sport?
Faust.
Say, in what character do you intend
To appear here, and introduce your friend?
Devil or conjurer?
Mephistopheles.
I love incognito,
