A circle small of pupils to attend Which had arisen then within his town. The man who was the teacher of this band Was in his soul possessed of all the lore Which by the masters in much older days Had been delivered to initiates-- All this I hear from men within the crowd. It fills me with warm love when I behold With my soul's sight, this agèd man, who thus After the victories which love of fame Had won for him could even then achieve The greatest human task--to conquer self-- Therefore do I perceive within this place The man to whom I wholly give myself, Although I see him but in pictured form. This feeling howsoe'er it comes to me Is not a moment's work. Through lives long past I must have been in closest union joined Unto a soul I love as I love him. I have not in this moment roused in me A love so strong as that which now I feel; It is a recollection from past times; Nor can I grasp it with my thought as yet,-- Though memory calls these feelings back to me. Surely I once was pupil of this man And full of awe and wonder gazed on him? Oh, how I long once more in this same hour To meet the earthly soul which formerly Could speak about this body as its own, No matter if on Earth or otherwhere. Then would I prove the strength with which I love; What noble human ties did once create This can good powers alone renew in me. MARIA: Art thou quite sure, Johannes, that this soul If it approached thee now would show itself Upon the same bright height whereon it stood In those old days just pictured 'fore thy soul? Perchance it now is chained a prisoner By feelings all unworthy of its past. Many a man now walks upon the Earth Who would be filled with shame, if he could see How little in his present mode of life Doth correspond with that which once he was. Perchance this man hath wallowed in the mire Of lust and passion, and thou saw'st him now Oppressed by consternation and remorse. THOMASIUS: Maria, why dost thou suggest such words? I cannot see what leads thee so to speak. For thoughts have here quite other influence, Than in the places where that man hath lived. THE GUARDIAN: Johannes, that which here within this place Reveals itself is proving of thy soul. Gaze on the groundwork of thy self, and see What thou, unknowing, willst and canst perform. All that was hidden in thine inmost depths While thou wert living with thy soul still blind. (Lucifer appears.) Will now appear and rob thee of the dark In whose protection thou wast living then. So now perceive what human soul it is To whom thou dost bow down in ardent love, And who indwelt the body thou didst see. Perceive to whom thy strongest love is given. LUCIFER: