Faust Part One Author:Goethe Goethe's activities as poet, statesman, theatre director, critic, and scientist show him to be a genius of amazing versatility. This quality is reflected in his "Faust," which ranks with the achievements of Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare. The mood of the paly shifts constantly, displaying in turn the poet's controlled energy, his wit, his irony... more », his compassion, and above all his gift for lyrical expression. "Faust," which Goethe began in his youth and worked on during the greater part of his lifetime, takes for its theme the universal experience of the troubled human soul, but its spiritual values far transcend mere satanism and its consequences. The translation is by Philip Wayne.« less