SCENES FROM THE FAUST OF GOETHE.
[Published in part (Scene 2) in “The Liberal”, No. 1, 1822;
in full, by Mrs. Shelley, “Posthumous Poems”, 1824.]
SCENE 1.—PROLOGUE IN HEAVEN.
The Annotated Edition
SCENES FROM THE FAUST OF GOETHE. by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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Shelley translated pivotal scenes from Goethe's renowned German drama *Faust*, adapting the tale of a restless scholar who strikes a deal with the devil into English verse.
- Themes
- doubt, faith, identity
§01Quick summary
What this poem is about
Shelley translated pivotal scenes from Goethe's renowned German drama *Faust*, adapting the tale of a restless scholar who strikes a deal with the devil into English verse. The poem begins with a grand "Prologue in Heaven," where God and the demon Mephistopheles discuss humanity's value, using Faust as their example. It's a vast, cosmic debate about whether people can be good or are merely foolish wanderers — and Shelley captures the full scope and intensity that Goethe intended.
§02Themes
Recurring themes
§03Line by line
Stanza by stanza, with notes
[Prologue in Heaven — opening]
Editor's note
The scene begins in the celestial court, where archangels Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael sing praises of God's creation — the sun, the sea, the storm. Their hymn sets the stage for a universe of stunning, almost intimidating grandeur. Shelley's translation maintains the formal, elevated style of Goethe's original, allowing the cosmos to feel both magnificent and indifferent to individual human lives.
[Mephistopheles enters]
Editor's note
Mephistopheles shows up and instantly deflates the angels' awe with his sharp, sarcastic humor. He paints humanity as a sad, bewildered being—blessed with reason yet only using it to create more misery than any animal could endure. This is at the heart of the devil's argument: humans are a botched experiment, and their ability to think only amplifies their suffering.
[The wager over Faust]
Editor's note
God identifies Faust as a truly striving individual and allows Mephistopheles to tempt him. The wager is clear: if Mephistopheles can lead Faust into complacency and corruption, he wins. God believes that a genuinely searching soul cannot be permanently misled. This exchange sets the stage for the entire drama, testing whether human ambition can withstand the challenges of cynicism and evil.
§04Tone & mood
How this poem feels
Elevated and dramatic, showcasing a stark contrast between the archangels' deep reverence and Mephistopheles's cool, almost mocking disdain for humanity. Shelley conveys the grandeur of Goethe's cosmic stage while highlighting the sharp irony in the devil's speeches. Beneath it all lies a genuine philosophical tension — this isn't just a straightforward morality play but a serious debate about human nature.
§05Symbols & metaphors
Symbols & metaphors
- Heaven's court
- Reflects the moral order of the universe—a place where humanity's worth is questioned and evaluated. It presents the human story below as something of cosmic importance.
- Faust
- Represents the endlessly ambitious human mind—constantly unsatisfied, always reaching for more. He embodies both the essence of the wager and a representation of humanity's greatest strengths and its most perilous traits.
- Mephistopheles
- Embodies radical cynicism — the voice that claims human effort is futile and human reason is a burden. He isn't just evil; he represents a philosophical challenge that the poem engages with deeply.
- The sun and celestial spheres
- The archangels' hymn to the rotating heavens reflects a universe of continuous, flawless creation—a benchmark for measuring the chaos and confusion of human life.
§06Historical context
Historical context
Shelley translated scenes from Goethe's *Faust: Part One* (1808) in the early 1820s while living in Italy during his final years. He was part of a circle that included Byron and Leigh Hunt, and Scene 2 was published in their brief journal *The Liberal* in 1822—the same year Shelley drowned. The remaining scenes were published posthumously by Mary Shelley in 1824. Goethe's *Faust* is considered the cornerstone of German Romanticism, and Shelley's work with it highlights the Romantic fascination with the self-destructive genius. Shelley was particularly drawn to the rebel intellectual, a theme he explored in his own *Prometheus Unbound*, which makes this translation a personal endeavor as much as a literary one.
§07FAQ
Questions readers ask
Shelley translated it. The original *Faust* was penned by German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Shelley adapted key scenes into English verse, preserving Goethe's meaning while infusing his own poetic style into the text.
It's a conversation between God and the devil (Mephistopheles) about the worth of human beings. Mephistopheles believes people are pitiful, arguing that their ability to reason only leads to their suffering. God counters this by highlighting Faust as an example of a truly questioning soul that holds genuine value. They decide to place a bet on it.
They are archangels—divine messengers who set the stage by singing a hymn to the glory of creation. Their job is to showcase the majesty and order of the heavenly realm before Mephistopheles shows up and begins to undermine it.
God believes that Faust's relentless pursuit and desire for knowledge protect him from permanent corruption. By permitting temptation, God is testing and ultimately affirming the worth of human ambition. While it's a gamble, God views it more as a certainty than a true challenge.
Shelley's version stands out for its lyrical intensity and poetic ambition. He wasn’t focused on creating a scholarly, word-for-word translation; instead, he aimed to craft a vibrant English poem. Later translators, such as Bayard Taylor and David Luke, sought to provide a more complete translation, but Shelley's fragments are highly valued for their dynamic energy.
He passed away in 1822 before he could finish the project. What we have are the scenes he had completed or nearly completed by that time. Mary Shelley collected these and published them the next year as part of his posthumous works.
Quite a lot. Shelley was intrigued by the idea of a rebel who refuses to accept limitations — the same force that motivates Faust also propels Prometheus in Shelley's *Prometheus Unbound*. He was also quite skeptical of traditional religion, which makes the heaven-and-devil framing of the Prologue a provocative choice for him to translate.
It's a great text for that purpose. It stands at the intersection of English and German Romanticism, addressing key Romantic themes like striving, doubt, and the ambitious individual. It also offers students an entry point into Goethe's *Faust* through one of the prominent English Romantic poets.
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