When Paracelsus confesses the failure of his pursuit of absolute
knowledge, his friend Festus urges him to redeem the past by making new
use of what he has gained; but Paracelsus has no courage to attempt a
reorganization of his life in accordance with a new ideal. His answer to
Festus is the second of the three songs. He afterwards calls it,
"The sad rhyme of the men who proudly clung
To their first fault and withered in their pride."
The song is a beautiful and clear allegory, vivid in its pictures, rapid
and musical.