Christopher Marlowe

“ He that loves pleasure must for pleasure fall: And so I leave thee, Faustus, till anon; Then wilt thou tumble in confusion. [Exit. Hell disappears.—The clock strikes eleven.] FAUSTUS. O Faustus, Now hast thou but one bare hour to live, And then thou must be damn'd perpetually! Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven, That time may cease, and midnight never come; Fair Nature's eye, rise, rise again, and make Perpetual day; or let this hour be but A year, a month, a week, a natural day, That Faustus may repent and save his soul! ”

“ FAUSTUS. O thou bewitching fiend, 'twas thy temptation Hath robb'd me of eternal happiness! MEPHIST. I do confess it, Faustus, and rejoice: 'Twas I that, when thou wert i'the way to heaven, Damm'd up thy passage; when thou took'st the book To view the Scriptures, then I turn'd the leaves, And led thine eye. 251 What, weep'st thou? 'tis too late; despair! Farewell: Fools that will laugh on earth must weep in hell. [Exit.] 252 Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL at several doors. GOOD ANGEL. O Faustus, if thou hadst given ear to me, Innumerable joys had follow'd thee! But thou didst love the world. ”

“ Enter an OLD MAN. OLD MAN. O gentle Faustus, leave this damned art, This magic, that will charm thy soul to hell, And quite bereave thee of salvation! Though thou hast now offended like a man, Do not persever in it like a devil: Yet, yet thou hast an amiable soul, If sin by custom grow not into nature; Then, Faustus, will repentance come too late; Then thou art banish'd from the sight of heaven: No mortal can express the pains of hell. ”

“ FAUSTUS. The Pope will curse them for their sloth to-day, That slept both Bruno and his crown away. But now, that Faustus may delight his mind, And by their folly make some merriment, Sweet Mephistophilis, so charm me here, That I may walk invisible to all, And do whate'er I please, unseen of any. MEPHIST. Faustus, thou shalt: then kneel down presently, Whilst on thy head I lay my hand, And charm thee with this magic wand. ”

“ First, wear this girdle; then appear Invisible to all are here: The planets seven, the gloomy air, Hell, and the Furies' forked hair, Pluto's blue fire, and Hecat's tree, With magic spells so compass thee, That no eye may thy body see! So, Faustus, now, for all their holiness, Do what thou wilt, thou shalt not be discern'd. FAUSTUS. Thanks, Mephistophilis.—Now, friars, take heed, Lest Faustus make your shaven crowns to bleed. MEPHIST. Faustus, no more: see, where the Cardinals come! Re-enter the CARDINALS of France and Padua with a book. POPE. Welcome, Lord Cardinals ”

“ CORNELIUS. The miracles that magic will perform Will make thee vow to study nothing else. He that is grounded in astrology, Enrich'd with tongues, well seen in minerals, Hath all the principles magic doth require: Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowm'd, 23 And more frequented for this mystery Than heretofore the Delphian oracle. The spirits tell me they can dry the sea, And fetch the treasure of all foreign wrecks, Yea, all the wealth that our forefathers hid Within the massy entrails of the earth: Then tell me, Faustus, what shall we three want? ”

“ That holy shape becomes a devil best. [Exit MEPHISTOPHILIS.] I see there's virtue in my heavenly words. Who would not be proficient in this art? How pliant is this Mephistophilis, Full of obedience and humility! Such is the force of magic and my spells. Re-enter MEPHISTOPHILIS like a Franciscan friar. MEPHIST. Now, Faustus, what wouldst thou have me do? FAUSTUS. I charge thee wait upon me whilst I live, To do whatever Faustus shall command, Be it to make the moon drop from her sphere, Or the ocean to overwhelm the world. ”

“ Is not all power on earth bestow'd on us? And therefore, though we would, we cannot err. Behold this silver belt, whereto is fix'd Seven golden seals, fast sealed with seven seals, In token of our seven-fold power from heaven, To bind or loose, lock fast, condemn or judge, Resign or seal, or what so pleaseth us: Then he and thou, and all the world, shall stoop, Or be assured of our dreadful curse, To light as heavy as the pains of hell. ”

“ Where are you damn'd? MEPHIST. In hell. FAUSTUS. How comes it, then, that thou art out of hell? MEPHIST. Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it: Think'st thou that I, that saw the face of God, And tasted the eternal joys of heaven, Am not tormented with ten thousand hells, In being depriv'd of everlasting bliss? ”

“ Sith black disgrace hath thus eclips'd our fame, We'll rather die with grief than live with shame. [Exeunt.] Enter FAUSTUS, a HORSE-COURSER, and MEPHISTOPHILIS. HORSE-COURSER. I beseech your worship, accept of these forty dollars. FAUSTUS. Friend, thou canst not buy so good a horse for so small a price. I have no great need to sell him: but, if thou likest him for ten dollars more, take him, because I see thou hast a good mind to him. HORSE-COURSER. I beseech you, sir, accept of this: I am a very poor man, and have lost very much of late by horse-flesh, and this bargain will set me up again. ”

“ Philosophy is odious and obscure; Both law and physic are for petty wits: 'Tis magic, magic that hath ravish'd me. Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt; And I, that have with subtle syllogisms Gravell'd the pastors of the German church, And made the flowering pride of Wittenberg Swarm 17 to my problems, as th' infernal spirits On sweet Musaeus when he came to hell, Will be as cunning as Agrippa was, Whose shadow made all Europe honour him. VALDES. Faustus, these books, thy wit, and our experience, Shall make all nations to 18 canonize us. ”

“ FAUSTUS. I'll make you feel something anon, if my art fail me not.— My lord, I must forewarn your majesty, That, when my spirits present the royal shapes Of Alexander and his paramour, Your grace demand 157 no questions of the king, But in dumb silence let them come and go. EMPEROR. Be it as Faustus please; we are content. BENVOLIO. Ay, ay, and I am content too: an thou bring Alexander and his paramour before the Emperor, I'll be Actaeon, and turn myself to a stag. FAUSTUS. And I'll play Diana, and send you the horns presently. ”

“ Enter FAUSTUS, in his study, and MEPHISTOPHILIS. FAUSTUS. When I behold the heavens, 69 then I repent, And curse thee, wicked Mephistophilis, Because thou hast depriv'd me of those joys. MEPHIST. 'Twas thine 70 own seeking, Faustus; thank thyself. But, think'st thou heaven is 71 such a glorious thing? I tell thee, Faustus, it is not half so fair As thou, or any man that breathes 72 on earth. FAUSTUS. How prov'st thou that? MEPHIST. 'Twas made for man; then he's more excellent. FAUSTUS. If heaven was made for man, 'twas made for me: I will renounce this magic and repent. ”

“ BENVOLIO. A plague upon you! let me sleep a while. EMPEROR. I blame thee not to sleep much, having such a head of thine own. SAXONY. Look up, Benvolio; 'tis the Emperor calls. BENVOLIO. The Emperor! where?—O, zounds, my head! EMPEROR. Nay, an thy horns hold, 'tis no matter for thy head, for that's armed sufficiently. FAUSTUS. Why, how now, Sir Knight! what, hanged by the horns! this is 166 most horrible: fie, fie, pull in your head, for shame! let not all the world wonder at you. BENVOLIO. Zounds, doctor, this is 167 your villany! FAUSTUS. O, say not so, sir! ”

“ Nothing so sweet as magic is to him, Which he prefers before his chiefest bliss: And this the man that in his study sits. [Exit.] FAUSTUS discovered in his study. FAUSTUS. Settle thy studies, Faustus, and begin To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess: Having commenc'd, be a divine in show, Yet level at the end of every art, And live and die in Aristotle's works. Sweet Analytics, 'tis thou hast ravish'd me! Bene disserere est finis logices. Is, to dispute well, logic's chiefest end? Affords this art no greater miracle? ”

“ HORSE-COURSER. I warrant you, sir!—O, joyful day! now am I a made man for ever. [Exit.] FAUSTUS. What art thou, Faustus, but a man condemn'd to die? Thy fatal time draws to a final end; Despair doth drive distrust into my thoughts: Confound these passions with a quiet sleep: Tush, Christ did call the thief upon the Cross; Then rest thee, Faustus, quiet in conceit. [He sits to sleep.] Re-enter the HORSE-COURSER, wet. HORSE-COURSER. 0, what a cozening doctor was this! ”

“ Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib'd In one self-place; but where we are is hell, And where hell is, there must we ever be: And, to be short, when all the world dissolves, And every creature shall be purified, All places shall be hell that are 63 not heaven. FAUSTUS. I think hell's a fable. 64 MEPHIST. Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind. FAUSTUS. Why, dost thou think that Faustus shall be damn'd? MEPHIST. Ay, of necessity, for here's the scroll In which thou hast given thy soul to Lucifer. FAUSTUS. Ay, and body too ”

“ Be a physician, Faustus; heap up gold, And be eterniz'd for some wondrous cure: Summum bonum medicinoe sanitas, The end of physic is our body's health. Why, Faustus, hast thou not attain'd that end? Are not thy bills hung up as monuments, Whereby whole cities have escap'd the plague, And thousand 5 desperate maladies been cur'd? Yet art thou still but Faustus, and a man. Couldst thou make men to live eternally, Or, being dead, raise them 6 to life again, Then this profession were to be esteem'd. ”

“ ROBIN. O, brave! an ape! I pray, sir, let me have the carrying of him about, to shew some tricks. MEPHIST. And so thou shalt: be thou transformed to a dog, and carry him upon thy back. Away! be gone! ROBIN. A dog! that's excellent: let the maids look well to their porridge-pots, for I'll into the kitchen presently.—Come, Dick, come. [Exeunt ROBIN and DICK.] MEPHIST. Now with the flames of ever-burning fire I'll wing myself, and forthwith fly amain (sic) Unto my Faustus, to the Great Turk's court. ”

“ Thence pitch them headlong to the lowest hell. Yet, stay: the world shall see their misery, And hell shall after plague their treachery. Go, Belimoth, and take this caitiff hence, And hurl him in some lake of mud and dirt. Take thou this other, drag him through 190 the woods Amongst 191 the pricking thorns and sharpest briers; Whilst, with my gentle Mephistophilis, This traitor flies unto some steepy rock, That, rolling down, may break the villain's bones, As he intended to dismember me. Fly hence; despatch my charge immediately. FREDERICK. Pity us, gentle Faustus! save our lives! ”

“ Or any villany thou canst devise; And I'll perform it, 117 Faustus. Hark! they come: This day shall make thee be admir'd in Rome. Enter the CARDINALS and BISHOPS, some bearing crosiers, some the pillars; MONKS and FRIARS, singing their procession; then the POPE, RAYMOND king of Hungary, the ARCHBISHOP OF RHEIMS, BRUNO led in chains, and ATTENDANTS. POPE. Cast down our footstool. RAYMOND. Saxon Bruno, stoop, Whilst on thy back his Holiness ascends Saint Peter's chair and state pontifical. BRUNO. Proud Lucifer, that state belongs to me; But thus I fall to Peter, not to thee. ”

“ Then, soldiers, boldly 180 fight: if Faustus die, Take you the wealth, leave us the victory. FREDERICK. Come, soldiers, follow me unto the grove: Who kills him shall have gold and endless love. [Exit FREDERICK with SOLDIERS.] BENVOLIO. My head is lighter, than it was, by the horns; But yet my heart's 181 more ponderous than my head, And pants until I see that 182 conjurer dead. MARTINO. Where shall we place ourselves, Benvolio? BENVOLIO. Here will we stay to bide the first assault: O, were that damned hell-hound but in place, Thou soon shouldst see me quit my foul disgrace! ”

“ FAUSTUS. These 153 gracious words, most royal Carolus, Shall make poor Faustus, to his utmost power, Both love and serve the German Emperor, And lay his life at holy Bruno's feet: For proof whereof, if so your grace be pleas'd, The doctor stands prepar'd by power of art To cast his magic charms, that shall pierce through 154 The ebon gates of ever-burning hell, And hale the stubborn Furies from their caves, To compass whatsoe'er your grace commands. BENVOLIO. Blood, he speaks terribly! ”

“ If Faustus do it, you are straight resolv'd, In bold Actaeon's shape, to turn a stag:— And therefore, my lord, so please your majesty, I'll raise a kennel of hounds shall hunt him so As 168 all his footmanship shall scarce prevail To keep his carcass from their bloody fangs.— Ho, Belimoth, Argiron, Asteroth! 169 BENVOLIO. Hold, hold!—Zounds, he'll raise up a kennel of devils, I think, anon.—Good my lord, entreat for me.—'Sblood, I am never able to endure these torments. ”

“ Lo, Mephistophilis, for love of thee, Faustus hath cut his arm, and with his proper blood Assures his soul to be great Lucifer's, Chief lord and regent of perpetual night! ”

“ EMPEROR. Come, Faustus: while the Emperor lives, In recompense of this thy high desert, Thou shalt command the state of Germany, And live belov'd of mighty Carolus. [Exeunt.] Enter BENVOLIO, MARTINO, FREDERICK, and SOLDIERS. MARTINO. Nay, sweet Benvolio, let us sway 174 thy thoughts From this attempt against the conjurer. 175 BENVOLIO. Away! you love me not, to urge me thus: Shall I let slip so great an injury, When every servile groom jests at my wrongs, And in their rustic gambols proudly say, "Benvolio's head was grac'd with horns today?" ”

“ In what resplendent glory thou hadst sit 254 In yonder throne, like those bright-shining saints, And triumph'd over hell! That hast thou lost; And now, poor soul, must thy good angel leave thee: The jaws of hell are open 255 to receive thee. [Exit. The throne ascends.] EVIL ANGEL. Now, Faustus, let thine eyes with horror stare [Hell is discovered.] Into that vast perpetual torture-house: There are the Furies tossing damned souls On burning forks; there bodies boil 256 in lead; There are live quarters broiling on the coals, That ne'er can die ”