All 7 Uses of
beguile
in
Faust -- Part 1 -- translated by Theil
- What dreams beguile you on your poet's height?†
*
- MEPHISTOPHELES
If it so please thee, I'm at thy command;
Only on this condition, understand;
That worthily thy leisure to beguile,
I here may exercise my arts awhile.†
- Accurs'd what each as property beguiles,
Wife, child, slave, plough, whate'er its name!†
- Me canst thou cheat with glozing wile
Till self-reproach away I cast,—Me with joy's lure canst thou beguile
Let that day be for me the last!†
- MEPHISTOPHELES
A pretty play our leisure to beguile!†
- FAUST
With but Seven hours I could succeed;
Nor should I want the devil's wile,
So young a creature to beguile.†
- While bright with stars the heavens appear,
I'll sing a masterpiece of art:
A moral song shall charm her ear,
More surely to beguile her heart.†
Definitions:
-
(1)
(beguile) to charm, enchant, or entertain someone; or to deceive -- especially through charm
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much less commonly, in classic literature, beguile can mean to "pass time pleasantly."