Wagner.
A small black poodle is all I see;
Surely some strange delusion blinds thee!
Faust.
Methinks soft magic circles winds he,
About, about, a snare for thee and me.
Wagner.
I see him only doubtful springing round,
Having two strangers for his master found.
Faust.
He draws him closer—now he comes quite near!
Wagner.
A dog, be sure, and not a ghost, is here.
He growls, and looks about in fear,
And crouches down, and looks to you,
And wags his tail—what any dog will do.
Faust.
Come hither, poodle!
Wagner.
’Tis a drollish brute;
When you stand still, then stands he mute,
But when you speak, he springs as he would speak to you;
He will bring back what you let fall,
And fetch your stick out of the water.
Faust.
You are quite right. There’s no such matter.
No trace of ghost—a dog well trained, that’s all!
Wagner.
A well-trained dog may well engage
The favor of a man most sage;
This poodle well deserves your recognition;
Few students learn so much from good tuition.
[Exeunt, going in through the gate of the city.
Scene IV.
Faust’s Study.
Faust. [entering with the Poodle.]
Now field and meadow lie behind me,
Hushed ’neath the veil of deepest night,
And thoughts of solemn seeming find me,
Too holy for the garish light.
Calm now the blood that wildly ran,
Asleep the hand of lawless strife;
Now wakes to life the love of man,
The love of God now wakes to life.
Cease, poodle! why snuff’st and snifflest thou so,
Running restless to and fro?
Behind the stove there lie at rest,
And take for bed my cushion the best!
And as without, on our mountain-ramble,
We joyed to see thy freakish gambol,
