**Faust:** Sublime spirit, you gave me a...

Faust: Sublime spirit, you gave me all, all,

I asked for. Not in vain have you

Revealed your face to me in flame.

You gave me Nature’s realm of splendour,

With the power to feel it, and enjoy.

Not merely as a cold, awed stranger,

But allowing me to look deep inside,

Like seeing into the heart of a friend.

You lead the ranks of living creatures

Before me, showing me my brothers

In the silent woods, the air, the water.

And when the storm roars in the forest,

When giant firs fell their neighbours,

Crushing nearby branches in their fall,

Filling the hills with hollow thunder,

You lead me to the safety of a cave,

Show me my own self, and reveal

Your deep, secret wonders in my heart.

And when the pure Moon, to my eyes,

Rises, calming me, the silvery visions

Of former times, drift all around me,

From high cliffs, and moist thickets,

Tempering thought’s austere delight.

Oh, I know now that nothing can be

Perfect for Mankind. You gave me,

With this joy, that brings me nearer,

Nearer to the gods, a companion,

Whom I can no longer do without,

Though he is impudent, and chilling,

Degrades me in my own eyes, and with

A word, a breath, makes your gifts nothing.

He fans a wild fire in my heart,

Always alive to that lovely form.

So I rush from desire to enjoyment,

And in enjoyment pine to feel desire.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust, Part One. Trans. A. S. Kline. https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/German/FaustIScenesVIItoXV.php#Scene_XIV

A full-text translation of Faust, with notes: https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/German/Fausthome.php