In a dispute between two men, one of whom wounds
the other and steals his goat, Prometheus pronounces the judgment that
the hand of the offender will be against every man, and every man's
hand against him. In the third and last Scene we have the most
remarkable passage in the poem. Pandora, Prometheus' favourite
creation, in dismay and bewilderment, describes the strange
experience she has witnessed in the case of a friend, another maiden,
and Prometheus tells her that what she had seen was death. What death
meant Prometheus explains in the following passage, charged with the
sensuous mysticism which was one of the elements of Goethe's own
experiences when he wrote it:--
Wenn aus dem innerst tiefsten Grunde
Du ganz erschuettert alles fuehlst,
Was Freud' und Schmerzen jemals dir ergossen,
[Transcriber's Note: corrected error "and" for "und"]
Im Sturm dein Herz erschwillt,
In Traenen sich erleichtern will
Und seine Glut vermehrt,
Und alles klingt an dir und bebt und zittert,
Und all die Sinne dir vergehn,
Und du dir zu vergehen scheinst
Und sinkst,
Und alles um dich her versinkt in Nacht,
Und du, in inner eigenstem Gefuehl,
Umfassest eine Welt;
Dann stirbt der Mensch.
Pages:
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227