CHILD
Mother, when
Will the show start?
MERCHANT'S WIFE
Hush, very soon! Yes, see—
There he is coming in.
CHILD
Oh, goody, goody!
[Faust enters the hall and mounts the platform.
He busies himself for a moment adjusting the reading
desk; then turns toward the audience, gripping
the desk steadily, and waits a moment more for the
stir to subside.
FAUST
I come before you with unwilling lips—
Not led by eagerness, or wont of speech;
Being not of those who easily proclaim
Small miracles to move you. But the force
Of grave necessity has bid me cast
All thought save one aside, and in your midst,
Utter strange words, with lips that must obey
The soul that wills not silence.
For I come
Announcing not the common verities
Of learned books, or laboratory lore,
Or ancient heresies; as speaks the fool,
So speak I—from my heart. What I have seen,
That shall you see, and with grim gladness hold
Close in your hearts. Yes, all the world shall see it—
I am a tower burning to light the world!
(He pauses a moment, meditatively)
OLD WOMAN (whispering)