d loneliness shall raise
Their sight to heaven; and peace shall fold you round;
And God, who is our Father, shall be yours.

FAUST

This is not truth! My fevered eyes are weak
To look into this glowing maze of fire
With vision. All the ramparts of the world
Reel round me. I have scoffed God all my days,
Believing pain--your province of the world--
Proof of His non-existence. And you come
Crying His glory, testifying His faith,
Exhorting me to seek Him.... I am lost
Where naught is known to me.

SATAN

He is your hope,
Your sole salvation in a universe
Where never other form shall comfort you--
A waif except for Him. So have all souls--
The holy and the pure--from age to age,
Learned, homesick for His home. Their frustrate hopes,
Their burdens heavier than by mortal strength
Can be sustained, their impotence, bow down
Each spirit: and it cries: "O God, support
My helplessness; unto Thy perfect will
Do I resign my vain and evil hopes,
My burdens; and Thy Will Be Done Forever."
Thus, with arms folded on despairing breast,
With head bowed to the inscrutable decree,
They seek Him: and a sudden glory fills
The humbled bosom; all His stars and thrones
Shine down upon it; all His majesty
Enters that lowly door, lifts up, sustains
The sundered soul; and His beneficence
With more than father-love enfolds the heart
Joined to His own forever. From His light
Reflected radiance pours; to the dark sight
Comes glimpse of the high justice of God's will;
And all roads lead to Heaven, and all hearts lie
Within His love, and all's well with the world.

[_Deep organ music begins to roll through the
arches of the cathedral. Candles are lighted one by
one on the High Altar. Worshippers begin to enter
the nave: they pass down the long central aisle
and gather in groups at the far end, near the
Altar. Faust stands leaning against a pillar,
silent and lost in meditation.

Brander enters among the worshippers. He passes
the spot where Faust is standing, glances at him and
stops, astonished._

BRANDER

You have come back! I had not heard of it.
Where have you been these many months? I long
To talk with you.

FAUST

Yes, come and see me soon.
It's a long story.... I congratulate you
Upon your marriage....

BRANDER

Then you know....

FAUST

She came
And spoke to me a little while ago.