Santayana, whose early writings are hostile to the Faustian spirit, used a quotation from IFaust, Part IID as epigraph to IThe Realm of SpiritD. This suggest a possible affinity of late Santayana, and aspects of Goethe. The speech of the Earth-Spirit in IFaustD has an amoralism similar to passages in IThe Realm of MattesD. A certain ironical, detached spirituality links the poet-sages as well. Each uses some of the symbolism of Christian dogma (e.g., the last chapter of IThe Realm of (...) SpiritD and the end of IFaust, Part IID) to convey the religious mystery of existence, but with no strict adherence to Christianity. (shrink)