Salamander, gleam candescent!
Thou, Undine, shalt wreathe and coil!
Sylph, disperse thee evanescent!
Goblin, thou shalt toil and moil![Salamander, soll glühen,
Undene sich winden,
Sylphe verschwinden,
Kobold sich mühen.]Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, statesman, scientist
Faust: a Tragedy [eine Tragödie], Part 1, sc. 6 “The Study,” l. 1304ff [Faust] (1808-1829) [tr. Latham (1908)]
(Source)
Some translations (and this site) include the Declaration, Prelude on the Stage, and Prologue in Heaven as individual scenes; others do not, leading to their Part 1 scenes being numbered three lower.
"The Spell of Four Elements" or "Fourfold Spell" [Spruch der Viere]. (Source (German)). Alternate translations:
Salamander must be glowing,
Undine self-coiling,
Sylph vanish in going,
Kobold keep toiling.
[tr. Priest (1808)]
Salamander shall glow,
Undine twine,
Sylph vanish,
Kobold be moving.
[tr. Hayward (1831)]
Salamander shall kindle,
Writhe nymph of the wave,
In air sylph shall dwindle,
And Kobold shall slave.
[tr. Swanwick (1850)]
Salamander shall glisten,
Undina lapse lightly,
Sylph vanish brightly,
Kobold quick listen.
[tr. Brooks (1868)]
Salamander, shine glorious!
Wave, Undine, as bidden!
Sylph, be thou hidden!
Gnome, be laborious!
[tr. Taylor (1870)]
Let the Salamander glow,
Undene twine her crested wave,
Silphe into ether flow,
And Kobold vex him, drudging slave!
[tr. Blackie (1880)]
Salamander shall broil,
Undene shall grieve,
Sylphe shall leave,
Kobold shall toil.
[tr. Kaufmann (1961)]
Glow, Salamander
Undine, coil
Sylph, meander
Kobold, toil.
[tr. Salm (1962)]
Let Salamander flare,
Undine coil,
Sylph thin to air,
Hobgoblin toil.
[tr. Arndt (1976)]
Salamander, burn!
Water-nymph, twist and turn!
Sylph of the air, dissolve!
Goblin, dig and delve
[tr. Luke (1987)]
Salamander, glow hot,
Undine, wind about,
Sylph vanish quick,
Kobold, to work
[tr. Greenberg (1992)]
Salamanders aglow,
Undines so fair,
Sylphs of the air,
Kobolds below!
[tr. Williams (1999), l. 1273ff]
Salamander, be glowing,
Undine, flow near,
Sylph, disappear,
Gnome, be delving.
[tr. Kline (2003)]
Quotations about:
spell
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
“This I choose to do,” she croaked, her breath leaving little clouds in the air. She cleared her throat and started again. “This I choose to do. If there is a price, this I choose to pay. If it is my death, then I choose to die. Where this takes me, there I choose to go. I choose. This I choose to do.”
It wasn’t a spell, except in her own head, but if you couldn’t make spells work in your own head, you couldn’t make them work at all.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried — “La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!”
