“Alles Vergangliche ist nur ein Gleichnis”:

German: “All things transient are but a parable.” from Faust II, Goethe

The full quote, which are the last lines of Fasut II are:

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       "All things transient

Are but a parable;

Earth's insufficiency

Here finds fulfilment;

The indescribable

Here becomes deed;

The eternal-feminine

Draws us on high."

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This reflects Goethe’s mysticism, it is defining an urge in the soul, initially indefinite, towards something which the soul has not yet come to know, an urge to unite itself with something, a union which will require striving forward.  This goal, at first only dimly surmised by the aspiring soul, is called by Goethe, in accord with the mystics of diverse times, the eternal-feminine.  The whole sense of the second part of Faust confirms this way of understanding its concluding lines.

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