Faust First Part

Faust

Goethe’s Faust reworks the late-medieval myth of Dr Faust, a brilliant scholar so disillusioned he resolves to make a contract or wager with the devil, Mephistopheles. The devil will do all he asks on Earth and seek to grant him a moment in life so glorious that he will wish it to last for ever. But if Faust does bid the moment stay, he falls to Mephisto and must serve him after death. In this first part of Goethe’s great work the embittered thinker and Mephistopheles enter into their agreement, and soon Faust is living a life beyond his study and – in rejuvenated form – winning the love of the charming and beautiful Gretchen. But in this compelling tragedy of arrogance, unfulfilled desire and self-delusion, Faust, served by the devil, heads inexorably towards destruction.

Faust Part 1

Goethe's classic, enlivened by Randall Jarrell's fine translation and Peter Sis's dark, dreamy illustrations Randall Jarrell's translation of "Faust "is one of his most important achievements. In 1957 he inscribed Goethe's motto on the first page of his notebook--"Ohne Hast aber ohne Rast" ("Without haste but without rest")--and from then until his death in 1965 he worked on the masterpiece of his "own favorite daemon, dear good great Goethe." His intent was to make the German poetry free, unrhymed poetry in English. He all but finished the job before he died, and the few lines that remained untouched--"Gretchen's Room"--were rendered into English by Robert Lowell. This elegant new edition features numerous beautiful line drawings and jacket lettering by the renowned Czech artist Peter Sis, author of the award-winning books "Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei" and "Tibet: Through the Red Box."

Goethes Faust: The first part