Faust: Night (1)

Summary

Faust languishes in his study in a state of ennui. He has studied it all, received every degree, and still feels he knows nothing. All of this effort has lost him his "mirth" (l. 134). He has now turned to "magic" to do what science and philosophy could not: "penetrate the power / That holds the universe together" (ll. 147-148). This seems to suggest something ineffable, beyond human reason and control — perhaps magical, mysterious, dangerous, and evil?

Notes

Ptolemaic Universe

Nostradamus

"And this strange book of secret lore by Nostradamus' own hand..." (lines 189-190). Faust here is talking about reading one of the book of quatrains(a poem with four lines) written by Nostradamus. Nostradamus lived from 1503 to 1566 and was a physician. He is better known for being able to see into the future.

Works Cited

---

< Prologue in Heaven | Faust Summary, Commentary, Notes | Outside the City Gate >