EARTH-SPIRIT
(Erdgeist)
A Tragedy in Four Acts
“I was created out of ranker stuff
By Nature, and to the earth by Lust am drawn.
Unto the spirit of evil, not of good,
The earth belongs. What deities send to us
From heaven are only universal goods;
Their light gives gladness, but makes no man rich;
In their domain no pelf is seized and held.
The stone of price, all-treasured gold, from false
And evil-natured powers must be won,
Who riot underneath the light of day.
Not without sacrifice their favor is gained,
And no man liveth who from serving them
Hath extricated undefiled his soul.”
[Spoken by Wallenstein in Schiller’s
Wallenstein’s Death, Act II.]