The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-09-20

m~elodiously than In any other form. In
one sense that Ia well, but In another 1t
10 g serious drawback II his Faust ID
to be considered 10 an attempt to mirror
the original. The abundance and huepoy
Of metres Ia Goethe'e poem give 1t In no
small measure it's overpowering effect
Of vastness and variety. its fantastic
Gothic ,irregularity and quivering life.
Nowhere 10 this more apparent than in
the scene on the Broken. the Walpurgia
Night. Take for example these words
Of Aephistopheles in P~hillips's version:
81 - Far down below
They scale eseh slope and crag. q myriad throng,
Round gnaried roots like serpents lntercolllng.
Ger rock and boulder leaping. skipping. s%cudding,
See how they-press and jostle. push and scramble
To reach their masters feotf"
And set beside them Shelley's version
of the same speech close to the original
metre, a racing. rhymed four foot iambic:
what .hronglng. dashing. raging, %rustilns;
What whispe ring. babbiing, kissing. busting;
What gllmmering. squirting. sinking. burning,
As heaven and earth werc overturning."
This question Of metre, IL In any true
sense the original 10 TO be reproduced,
even In spirit. Is vastly important. Parts
OF Faust" 20 into the more stately blank
verse quite as reluctantly as Peer Gynt'
would. They are wild. lawless, Gothic,
fantastic. More OF the rush and the roar
OF the Walpurgis Night Is lost In the new
version. in the reading (the stage effects,
Of course. might help to restore it). by
this change in the metre than by the
-ro,kA. h~axttu ~ th. Ahon1a In the an.
ton. And Of other parts Of the play the
Same holds true.
Yet Mr.. Phillips's attempts to render
the lyrics and ohoruses are not so happy
as to make one wholly regret that he
stuck in the main to his blank verse. The
marvellous opening chant Of the arch
angels he hiss transcribed. to be sure,
perhaps as beautifully as n may hope
to achieve the impossible, though he has
not equalled Shelley's 'the worlds I'M
withered c~ountenance.' But the best
Of his king In Thule he has lifted out Of
Bayard Taylor, and his version Of Mar
oaret's spinning song is only to be en-
dured because you have the satisfaction
Of knowing It q never now be trans
lated worse. That his version cannot
be sung to the immortal setting Is Of
course no Just criticism. for Mr.. Tree
has commissioned Coleridge-Taylor to
write new music for the play. which
doubtless contains all the melody and all
the heartbreak Of Schubert. But that
it contains such lines as these
Conc is my peace. and with heart 90 sore
shall ind IL again never more.
II he be not near me, the world 10 Q grave
And bitter a. Is the sea WAVE
that Is u~nforgivable. Whore Mr.. Phil
lips finds the sea ave in Mdrgdrets
utterly simple 'vergallt' passes mortal
comprehension, It Is the trick Of a third
rate poet, the reaching out after iowery
speech where passion and simplicity were
all that we're required. all that were
seemly. Unfortunately 1t Is a trick
only too characteristic Of Mr.. Stephen
Phillips. But in his blank verse he can
at times strike out beautiful and effective
lines. And perhaps It is not strange
that the best ne has written in this play
occur In passages where the German
text is departed from and he is compos-
ing solely for himself. Such lines as
these Of Mephstopheies. speaking Of
Margarct, are worthy Of a poet:
Beside that purer soul my spirit nags:
have no scythe to shear . 'hsrebolI down,
Its weakness masters me.
In ordering the action Of the new
Faust the authors have made some
departures and gathered up some threads
that Goethe left loose. When the French
Opera was reopcned last winter with .
gala performance Of Gounod's Faust
the reporter for one OF the Paris Journals
closed his account with q bit Of oonver-
sation he said he overheard as the crowd
was coming away from the perform
ance. The speakers were two women
of the class who are supposed to care
most for the glittering baubles OF this
earth. SITS a fine old opera after all.
isn't it?' said the first speaker. st
wears 80 we'll"
sYes," said the other. 'but Gounod
v did tell US what became OF those
jewels!"
Mr.. Carr and Mr.. Phillips do nothing
to clear up this important but hitherto
neglected point. They do, however, take
up n hint OF Goethe's which he did not
come back to and by g OF it knit
their scene on the Broken, the first scene
of their fourth act, firmly into the story.
which from the technical point Of view
must be admitted an Improvement on
Goethe. Goethe. II will be remembered,
has Mephistopheles promise the witch
who gives Faust the magic brew that
restores his youth her pay on the Wal
purgis night. But when that night comes
round he forgets all about 1t. The new
version brings the witch back to demand
her pay and, working on another hint OF
Goethe's, Mr.. Phillips has evolved a really
splendid conception OF what that pay is.
Faust in the German sees the vague image
Of Mdrpdret on the Broken, q single
scarlet band about her throat But
nothing comes Of 1t then. Mr.. Phillips
causes the witch at Mephisto's instigation
to show Fausi visions Of Helen OF Troy,
Cleopatra, Mcssalina-ra rather a tawdry
device suggestive Of transparent back
drops and operatio stage effects. Then
the witch OF her own volition shows
Faust the image OF Margaret in prison,
her dead baby at her feet. The sight
stings, rouses him. Across the Gulf Of
He'll I'll fly to thee he cries. Mephis-
topheles is foiled. The witch has had
her pay. And incidentally the transition
to the closing scene in the prison is made
logical and smooth while the act at the
same time is connected back with the