The Essential Faust

It’s when I’m bored I think of Faust again,
And since I’m bored right now, he’s there,
Entrapped inside a cave within my brain,
And there, like me, he paces in despair.
So shadows in the dark, we wait until
His demon comes to entertain us with
His jokes, his magic tricks, and tales that thrill
Of gods and heroes of romantic myth.
And so we while away what’s left of time
With Helen, Aphrodite, temptress Eve,
And other stories full of love and crime -
Until at twelve o’clock it’s time to leave.
We hear the urgent ringing of twelve bells,
And down we go to very different hells.