WIST Quotations

Marlowe, Christopher -- The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 3 (sc. 3), l. 231ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)

Dave — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 23:26:51 +0000

FAUSTUS: Faustus, begin thine incantations
And try if devils will obey thy hest,
Seeing thou hast prayed and sacrificed to them.
Within this circle is Jehovah’s name,
Forward, and backward, anagrammatised:
Th’abbreviated names of holy saints,
Figures of every adjunct to the heavens,
And characters of signs, and erring stars,
By which the spirits are enforced to rise.
Then fear not, Faustus, to be resolute
And try the utmost magic can perform.

[Thunder]

Sint mihi Dei Acherontis propitii! Valeat numen triplex Jehovae! Ignei aerii, aquatani spiritus, salvete! Orientis princeps Beelzebub, inferni ardentis monarcha, et Demigorgon, propitiamus vos, ut appareat, et surgat Mephistophilis Dragon, quod tumeraris; per Jehovam, gehennam, et consecratam aquam quam nunc spargo; signumque crucis quod nunc facio, et per vota nostra, ipse nunc surgat nobis dicatus Mephistophilis!

[Enter a Devil]

Christopher "Kit" Marlowe (1564-1593) English dramatist and poet
The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, sc. 3 (sc. 3), l. 231ff (1594; 1604 “A” text)
(Source)

Spelling regularized. The 1616 "B" text is the same.

The Latin spell reads (in Eddington/Bevington (1995)):

Be propitious to me, gods of Acheron! Let the threefold spirit of Jehovah be strong! Hail to thee, spirits of fire, air, water, and earth! Lucifer, thou prince of the East, Beelzebub, thou monarch of fiery hell, and Demogorgon, we beseech you that Mephistopheles may appear and rise. Why do you delay? By Jehovah, Gehenna, and the holy water I now sprinkle, and by the sign of the cross I now make, and by our prayers, may Mephistopheles himself arise at our command!

Shakespeare, William -- Macbeth, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 10ff (4.1.10-11) (1606)

Dave — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 14:02:30 +0000

ALL WITCHES: Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Macbeth, Act 4, sc. 1, l. 10ff (4.1.10-11) (1606)
(Source)

Goethe, Johann von -- Faust: a Tragedy [eine Tragödie], Part 1, sc. 6 “The Study,” l. 1304ff [Faust] (1808-1829) [tr. Latham (1908)]

Dave — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 20:29:17 +0000

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)]

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 35, Wintersmith, ch. 1 [Tiffany] (2006)

Dave — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 15:24:45 +0000

“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.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 35, Wintersmith, ch. 1 [Tiffany] (2006)
(Source)

Keats, John -- “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” st. 10 (1819)

Dave — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:52:27 +0000

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!”

John Keats (1795-1821) English poet
“La Belle Dame sans Merci,” st. 10 (1819)
(Source)