The open or incomplete pentagram (Goethe; Taylor, tr., Faust: a Tragedy, 1889)

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Quote:

MEPHISTOPHELES.

Well, we'll consider: thou canst gather
My views, when next I venture in.
Might I, perhaps, depart at present?

FAUST.

Why thou shouldst ask, I don't perceive.
Though our acquaintance is so recent,
For further visits thou hast leave.
The window's here, the door is yonder;
A chimney, also, you behold.

MEPHISTOPHELES.

I must confess that forth I may not wander,
My steps by one slight obstacle controlled,---
The wizard's-foot, that on your threshold made is.

FAUST.

The pentagram prohibits thee?
Why, tell me now, thou Son of Hades,
If that prevents, how cam'st thou in to me?
Could such a spirit be so cheated?

MEPHISTOPHELES.

Inspect the thing: the drawing's not completed.
The outer angle, you may see,
Is open left---the lines don't fit it.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von; Taylor, Bayard, tr., Faust: a Tragedy, auth. ed., London; New York: Ward, Lock, and Co., 1889, p. 40.

Online Source: archive.org/details/fausttragedy00goetuoft

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