Faust, Part One

One of the most fecund and enduring legends in Western folklore and literature is that of Faust, the old philosopher who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. Perhaps the most profound treatment of the legend in Goethe's Faust, a dramatic poem that incorporates the story's themes of wickedness and mysticism and draws on an immense range of theological, mythological, philosophical, political, and other cultural sources. The present volume reproduces Part One (first published in 1808), which tells of Faust's despair, his pact with Mephistopheles and his love for Gretchen. Containing a vast array of poetic styles — epic, lyric, dramatic, as well as operatic and balletic elements — the poem is one of the supreme achievements of Western literature.