What else remains, but that I give to thee
Myself, and all I vainly fancied mine?
Let me, before thy feet, in fealty true,
Thee now acknowledge, Lady, whose approach
Won thee at once possession and the throne![216]
This language, so very different from what the same man had formerly addressed to Marguerite, is much more like that of an old lover to a young beauty whom he admires. When Helena invited Faust to sit on the throne beside her, he replied:—
First, kneeling, let the dedication be
Accepted, lofty Lady! Let me kiss
The gracious hand that lifts me to thy side.
Confirm me as co-regent of thy realm,