Faustus' follows very closely most of the details given in the German Faust-books. Its poetical beauties (and they are many) are unfortunately, as Hallam rightly remarks, intermingled with a great deal of coarse buffoonery. Possibly he had to consult the taste of his public in introducing such a large ingredient of this buffoon element--taken from what I called the Münchhausen portion of the old legend. Patriotic German commentators sometimes deny that Goethe knew Marlowe's play (though he knew Shakespeare well), but I think there is no doubt that the opening monologue of Marlowe's play inspired the more famous, though scarcely finer, opening scene of Goethe's drama. 'Theology, adieu!' Faustus exclaims, taking up a book of magic-- These metaphysics of magicians, And necromantic books are heavenly ... All things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command--Emperors and kings Are but obey'd in their several provinces,... But _his_ dominion that excels in _this_ Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man. A sound magician is a mighty god. Here, Faustus, tire thy brains to gain a deity. His agony of despair at the last moment is very finely depicted, and there are not a few passages in the play which, for beauty of expression and thought, are truly Shakespearean. Some of you possibly know the magnificent lines addressed to Helen of Troy, which begin thus: Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium-- and the lines which seem to allude to the identification of Helen with Selene, the Moon-goddess-- O thou art fairer than the evening air Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars. Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter When he appeared to hapless Semele; More lovely than the monarch of the sky, In wanton Arethusa's azur'd arms. Marlowe's play was written about 1590. Now it is asserted that about this time English travelling players visited Germany, and perhaps introduced there Marlowe's drama; and possibly _this_ was the beginning of the German 'puppet-plays' on the subject of Faust. I do not feel quite sure about it. Faust puppet-plays seem to have existed almost simultaneously with the old Faust-books, and there is even the trace of one _before_ the oldest Faust-book; at least in the archives of the University of Tübingen an entry has been unearthed in which in 1587 two students were condemned to the 'Karzer,' or 'Black hole,' for composing a 'Puppenspiel' on the subject of Dr. Faust.