Faust. To freedom!
Gretchen. I dare not. For me there is no hope more. What is the use to flee? They are lurking after me.... It's so wretched to have to beg, and that too with a bad conscience. It's so wretched to wander about in strange lands ... and they'll catch me all the same.
Faust. I shall be with thee.
Gretchen. Quick! Quick! Save it! Save my child!... Onward! Right up that path alongside the stream ... over the bridge ... there!... into the wood.... There! to the left! there, where the plank lies—in the pond! Catch hold of it! Catch it! It's rising!... It's struggling! Save it! save it!
Faust. Bethink thyself! One step and thou art free!
Gretchen. If only we were over that hill!... There's mother sitting there on a stone. (Ah! what was that, like an icy hand, grasping my hair?) ... She sits and wags with her head—she does not beckon or nod to us ... her head droops so heavily. Yes, she slept so long, and she will wake no more. She slept that we might have joy. Ah, those were happy times!
Faust. No entreaty avails—no words are of use. I shall have to carry thee away. [Seizes hold of her.
Gretchen. Let me go! I will not suffer violence. Seize not hold of me so murderously. All else I did for love of thee.
Faust. The day is dawning! Dearest! dearest!
Gretchen. Day? Yes—the day is coming! The last day is dawning! It was to have been my wedding day. Woe to my wreath! But what is, must be! We shall see each other again ... but not at the dance! The crowd is thronging.... One hears no word.... The square, the streets, cannot contain them.... The bell is tolling—the staff is broken.... They seize me! They bind me fast! I am being dragged already to the block! Each feels the axe at his own neck as its keen blade flashes down on mine ... and the world lies dark and silent as the grave.