Faust

XIV

XIVFOREST AND CAVERN

FAUST (solus)

Spirit sublime, thou gav'st me, gav'st me all

For which I prayed. Not unto me in vain

Hast thou thy countenance revealed in fire.

Thou gav'st me Nature as a kingdom grand,

With power to feel and to enjoy it. Thou

Not only cold, amazed acquaintance yield'st,

But grantest, that in her profoundest breast

I gaze, as in the bosom of a friend.

The ranks of living creatures thou dost lead

Before me, teaching me to know my brothers

In air and water and the silent wood.

And when the storm in forests roars and grinds,

The giant firs, in falling, neighbor boughs

And neighbor trunks with crushing weight bear down,

And falling, fill the hills with hollow thunders,—

Then to the cave secure thou leadest me,

Then show'st me mine own self, and in my brea