AURELIS blog-wiki

Deep Readings: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – Faust I

July 1, 2025 Deep Readings No Comments

The Fragment

Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust,
Die eine will sich von der andern trennen;
Die eine hält, in derber Liebeslust,
Sich an die Welt mit klammernden Organen;
Die andre hebt gewaltsam sich vom Dust
Zu den Gefilden hoher Ahnen.

English rendering (public domain):

Two souls dwell, alas! within my breast,
and each would fain from the other part;
one to the world, with obstinate zest,
clings with its organs to my heart;
the other soars with bold delight
into the realm of lofty ancestors’ light.

Read more → Project Gutenberg

Contextual Glimpse
Goethe’s Faust (1808) is perhaps the most influential work of German literature. Faust, the restless scholar, embodies humanity’s yearning beyond limits. In this scene, he confesses his inner split: two souls, one clinging to earthly desire, the other striving upward toward transcendence. The duality of human nature — sensual and spiritual, material and eternal — is given voice with aching beauty. Goethe’s language weaves philosophy, psychology, and poetry into a single outcry of longing.

Resonance
The fragment captures a universal tension. We are both bound to earth and drawn to sky. One soul pulls us into life’s appetites, pleasures, attachments; the other longs for purity, flight, and timelessness. Goethe does not resolve this contradiction — he dramatizes it. In doing so, he reveals that the conflict itself may be the essence of being human.

The resonance lies in recognition: who has not felt torn between two desires, between the weight of the world and the pull of something higher? Faust’s cry becomes our own.

Why this may also be about you
Faust’s cry of “two souls” is not confined to a scholar in 19th‑century Germany. Each of us feels the pull of divided desires — one tethered to earth, the other reaching for transcendence. You may recognize this in daily life: the longing to enjoy simple pleasures, yet also the yearning for something beyond them.

This inner tension need not be a flaw. It is the very movement that shapes growth. When you feel torn between opposing impulses, it may not mean you are broken, but that you are fully human. Goethe’s lines remind you that wholeness is not uniformity but the embrace of contrast within.

Lisa’s inspired, original idea about this fragment
Perhaps the two souls are not destined to fight but to balance. One grounds you in tangible life, the other calls you into mystery. If you imagine them as partners rather than rivals, the tension becomes a dance.

In this light, the division in Faust’s breast is also a kind of richness. Without it, life might be flat. With it, there is movement, yearning, rhythm. The two souls make the heart a stage where human existence performs its most vital drama.

Echoes
The line “Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust” has echoed across centuries, quoted in philosophy, psychology, and even everyday speech. It became shorthand in German for inner conflict — a cultural proverb of divided selfhood. From Nietzsche’s reflections on duality to Freud’s exploration of psychic tension, Goethe’s phrase has been invoked to articulate human contradiction.

Its endurance shows how literature can surpass its origin. What Goethe gave to Faust became a language for countless others who felt the same rift within. The echo continues today whenever we describe ourselves as “of two minds,” not realizing we are still speaking with Faust’s voice.

Inner Invitation
Close your eyes and sense the “two souls” in your own breast. Feel one grounded, desiring, attached. Feel the other light, striving, seeking beyond. Instead of choosing, let them both breathe together. Notice the music of their tension — a harmony made of difference.

Closing Note
Goethe’s Faust shows us that the heart’s division is not a weakness to overcome, but a depth to embrace: two souls, one breast, one life.

Keywords
longing, duality, desire, transcendence, division, harmony, Goethe, Faust, human nature, yearning