Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow SCENE VI. 1 - The Works of Christopher Marlowe vol. 1

Return to Title Page for The Works of Christopher Marlowe vol. 1

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Literature

SCENE VI. 1 - Christopher Marlowe, The Works of Christopher Marlowe vol. 1 [1590]

Edition used:

The Works of Christopher Marlowe, ed. A.H. Bullen (London: John C. Nimmo, 1885). Vol. 1.

Part of: The Works of Christopher Marlowe, 3 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


SCENE VI.1

Enter FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHILIS.

Faust.

  • When I behold the heavens, then I repent, And curse thee, wicked Mephistophilis, Because thou hast deprived me of those joys.

Meph.

  • Why,2

Meph.

  • 'Twas thine own seeking, Faustus; thank thyself.
  • But think'st thou Heaven is such a glorious thing?
  • I tell thee, Faustus, it is not half so fair
  • As thou or any man that breathes on earth.
  • ''Faust. How prov'st thou that?

“Meph.

  • 'Twas made for man; then he's more excellent.” Faustus,
  • Thinkest thou Heaven is such a glorious thing?
  • I tell thee 'tis not half so fair as thou,
  • Or any man that breathes on earth.

Faust.

  • How prov'st thou that?

Meph.

  • 'Twas made for man, therefore is man more excellent.

Faust.

  • If it were made for man, 'twas made for me;

    10

  • I will renounce this Magic and repent
  • Enter Good Angel and Evil Angel.

G. Ang.

  • Faustus, repent; yet God will pity thee.

E. Ang.

  • Thou art a Spirit; God cannot pity thee.

Faust.

  • Who buzzeth in mine ears I am a Spirit?
  • Be I a Devil, yet God may pity me;
  • Ay, God will pity me if I repent.

E. Ang.

  • Ay, but Faustus never shall repent.
  • [Exeunt Angels.

Faust.

  • My heart's so hardened I cannot repent
  • Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven,
  • But1 fearful echoes thunder in mine ears

    20

  • Faustus, thou art damned I Then swords and knives,
  • Poison,2 .gun, halters, and envenomed steel
  • Are laid before me to despatch myself,
  • And long ere this I should have slain myself,
  • Had not sweet pleasure conquered deep despair.
  • Have not I made blind Homer sing to me
  • Of Alexander's love and CEnon's death?
  • And hath not he that built the walls of Thebes
  • With ravishing sound of his melodious harp,
  • Made music with my Mephistophilis?

    30

  • Why should I die then, or basely despair?
  • I am resolved: Faustus shall ne'er repent—
  • Come, Mephistophilis, let us dispute again,
  • And argue of divine Astrology.
  • Tell me, are there many heavens above the moon?
  • Are all celestial bodies but one globe,
  • As is the substance of this centric earth?

Meph.

  • As are the elements, such are the spheres3
  • Mutually folded in each other's orb,
  • And, Faustus,

    40

  • All jointly move upon one axletree
  • Whose terminine is termed the world's wide pole;
  • Nor are the names of Saturn, Mars,
  • or Jupiter Feigned, but are erring stars.

Faust.

  • But tell me, have they all one motion both, situ et tempore.

Meph.

  • All jointly move from east to west in twenty-four hours upon the poles of the world; but differ in their motion upon the poles of the zodiac.

Faust.

  • Tush!

    50

  • These slender trifles Wagner can decide;
  • Hath Mephistophilis no greater skill?
  • Who knows not the double motion of the planets?
  • The first is finished in a natural day;
  • The second thus: as Saturn in thirty years; Jupiter in twelve: Mars in four; the Sun, Venus, and Mercury in a year; the moon in twenty-eight days. Tush, these are freshmen'sJ suppositions. But tell me, hath every sphere a dominion or intelligentia?

Meph.

  • Ay.

    60

Faust.

  • How many heavens, or spheres, are there?

Meph.

  • Nine: the seven planets, the firmament, and the empyreal heaven.2
  • Faust. But is there not ctclum igneum et cryitallinum?

'' Meph.

  • No, Faustus, they are but fables.
  • Faust. Resolve me then in this one question: Why,” &c.

Faust.

  • Well, resolve me in this question: Why have we not conjunctions, oppositions, aspects, eclipses, all at one time, but in some years we have more, in some less?

Meph.

  • Per inmqualem motute rcspectu totius.

Faust.

  • Well, I am answered. Tell me who made the world.

    70

Meph.

  • I will not.

Faust.

  • Sweet Mephistophilis, tell me.

Meph.

  • Move me not,1 for I will not tell thee.

Faust.

  • Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me anything?

Meph.

  • Ay, that is not against our kingdom; but this is. Think thou on Hell, Faustus, for thou art damned.

Faust.

  • Think, Faustus, upon God that made the world.

Meph.

  • Remember this.
  • [Exit.

Faust.

  • Ay, go, accursèd Spirit, to ugly Hell.

    80

  • 'Tis thou hast damned distressed Faustus' soul.
  • Is't not too late?
  • Re-enter Good Angel and Evil Angel.

E. Ang.

  • Too late.

G. Ang.

  • Never too late, if Faustus can repent.

E. Ang.

  • If thou repent, Devils shall tear thee in pieces.

G. Ang.

  • Repent, and they shall never raze thy skin.
  • [Exeunt Angels.

Faust.

  • Ah, Christ my Saviour,1
  • Seek to save distressed Faustus' soul!
  • Enter LUCIFER, BELZEBUB, and MEPHISTOPHILIS.

Luc.

  • Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just;
  • There's none but I have interest in the same.

    90

Faust.

  • O, who art thou that look'st so terrible?

Luc.

  • I am Lucifer, And this is my companion-prince in Hell.

Faust.

  • O Faustus! they are come to fetch away2 thy soul!
  • Luc?3

Belz.

  • We are come to tell thee thou dost injure us.
  • Luc. Thou call'st on Christ contrary to thy promise.
  • Belz. Thou shouldst not think on God.

“Luc.

  • Think on the Devil.

“Belz.

  • And his dam too.”
  • (The mention of the devil's “dam” must surely have been added by; the actor to provoke a laugh from the groundlings.) We come to tell thee thou dost injure us.
  • Thou talk'st of Christ contrary to thy promise;
  • Thou should'st not think of God: think of the Devil, And of his dam too.

Faust.

  • Nor will I henceforth: pardon me in this,
  • And Faustus vows never to look to Heaven,
  • Never4 to name God, or to pray to him,

    100

  • To burn his Scriptures, slay his Ministers,
  • And make my Spirits pull his Churches down.

Luc.

  • Do so, and we will highly gratify thee. Faustus, we are come from Hell to show thee some pastime: sit down, and thou shalt see all the Seven Deadly Sins1 appear in their proper shapes.

Faust.

  • That sight will be as pleasing unto me,
  • As Paradise was to Adam the first day Of his creation.

Luc.

  • Talk not of paradise nor creation, but mark this show: talk of the Devil, and nothing else: come away!

    112

  • Enter the Seven Deadly Sins.
  • Now, Faustus, examine them of their several names and dispositions.

Faust.

  • What art thou—the first?

Pride.

  • I am Pride. I disdain to have any parents. I am like to Ovid's flea:2 I can creep into every corner of a wench; sometimes, like a perriwig, I sit upon her brow; or like a fan of feathers, I kiss her lips; indeed I do—what do I not? But, fie, what a scent is here! I'll not speak another word, except the ground were perfumed, and covered with cloth of arras.

    122

Faust.

  • What art thou—the second?

Covet.

  • I am Covetousness, begotten of an old churl in an old leathern bag; and might I have my wish I would desire that this house and all the people in it were turned
  • to gold, that I might lock you up in my good chest

    O

    , my sweet gold!

Faust.

  • What art thou—the third?

    129

Wrath.

  • I am Wrath. I had neither father nor mother: I leapt out of a lion's mouth when I was scarce half an hour old; and ever since I have run up and down the world with this case1 of rapiers, wounding myself when I had nobody to fight withal. I was born in Hell; and look to it, for some of you shall be my father.

Faust.

  • What art thou—the fourth?

Envy.

  • I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-wife. I cannot read, and therefore wish all books were burnt. I am lean with seeing others eat.

    O

    that there would come a famine through all the world, that all might die, and I live alone! then thou should'st see how fat I would be. But must thou sit and I stand! Come down with a vengeance!

    143

Faust.

  • Away, envious rascal! What art thou—the fifth?

Glut.

  • Who, I, sir? I am Gluttony. My parents are all dead, and the devil a penny they have left me, but a bare pension, and that is thirty meals a day and ten bevers2 —a small trifle to suffice nature. O, I come of a royal parentage! My grandfather was a Gammon of Bacon, my grandmother was a Hogshead of Claret-wine,
  • my godfathers “were these, Peter Pickleherring, and-Martin Martlemas-beef;1
  • O, but my godmother, she was a jolly gentlewoman, and well beloved in every good town and city; her name was Mistress Margery March-beer.2
  • Now, Faustus, thou hast heard all my progeny, wilt thou bid me to supper?

    156

Faust.

  • No, I'll see thee hanged: thou wilt eat up all my victuals.
  • Glut Then the Devil choke thee!

Faust.

  • Choke thyself, glutton! Who art thou—the sixth?

    161

Sloth.

  • I am Sloth. I was begotten on a sunny bank, where I have lain ever since; and you have done me great injury to bring me from thence: let me be carried thither again by Gluttony and Lechery. I'll not speak another word for a king's ransom.

Faust.

  • What are you, Mistress Minx, the seventh and last?

Lech.

  • Who, I, sir? I am one that loves an inch of raw mutton better than an ell of fried stockfish; and the first letter of my name begins with L.3

    171

[Luc.]1

  • Away to Hell, to Hell! Now, Faustus, how dost thou like this?
  • [Exeunt the Sins.

Faust.

  • O, this feeds my soul!

Luc.

  • Tut, Faustus, in Hell is all manner of delight.

Faust.

  • O might I see Hell, and return again, How happy were I then!

Luc.

  • Thou shalt; I will send for thee at midnight. In meantime take this book; peruse it throughly, And thou shalt turn thyself2 into what shape thou wilt.

    180

Faust.

  • Great thanks, mighty Lucifer! This will I keep as chary as my life.

Luc.

  • Farewell, Faustus, and think on the Devil.

Faust.

  • Farewell, great Lucifer!
  • [Exeunt LUCIFER and BELZEBUB. Come, Mephistophilis.3
  • Enter CHORUS.

Chorus.

  • Learned Faustus, To know the secrets of Astronomy, Graven in the book of Jove's high firmament, Did mount himself to scale Olympus' top, Being seated in a chariot burning bright, Drawn by the strength of yoky dragons' necks.
  • He now is gone to prove Cosmography,
  • And, as I guess, will first arrive at Rome,
  • To see the Pope and manner of his Court,
  • And take some part of holy Peter's feast,
  • That to this day is highly solemnised.1
  • [Exit.

Chor.

  • Learned Faustus,
  • To find the secrets of Astronomy
  • Graven in the book of Jove's high firmament,
  • Did mount him up to scale Olympus' top;
  • Where, sitting in a chariot burning bright,
  • Drawn by the strength of yoked dragons' necks,
  • He views the clouds, the planets, and the stars,
  • The tropic zones, and quarters of the sky,
  • From the bright circle of the hornÈd moon
  • Even to the height of Primum Mobile;
  • And, whirling round with this circumference,
  • Within the concave compass of the pole,
  • From east to west his dragons swiftly glide,
  • And in eight days did bring him home again.
  • Not long he stay'd within his quiet house,
  • To rest his bones after his weary toil,
  • But new exploits do hale him out again
  • And, mounted then upon a dragon's back,
  • That with his wings did part the subtle air,
  • He now is gone to prove cosmography,
  • That measures coasts and kingdoms of the earth;
  • And, as I guess, will first arrive at Rome,
  • To see the Pope and manner of his court,
  • And take some part of holy Peter's feast,
  • The which this day is highly solemniss'd.
  • [Exit,
  • The additional lines seem worthy of Marlowe, and add considerably to the picturesqueness of the original.—In Henslowe's inventory of the property of the Admiral's men (Diary, p. 273) mention is made of “I dragon in fostes.” Perhaps (as Wagner suggests) Faustus alighted from his dragon-car at the beginning of the next scene.

[1]In eds. 1604, 1609, this scene is a continuation of the former. Before seeing the eds. of Wagner and Ward, I had marked the commencement of a new scene in my own copy.(Scene: a room in Faustus' house.)

[2]Ed. 1616 reads.—

[1]Lines 20-21 are omitted in ed. 1616.

[2]Ed. 1616 “Swords, poisons, halters,” &c,

[3]After this line ed. 1616 gives —.

  • “Even from the moon unto the empyreal orb.”

[2]Ed. 1616 proceeds—

[1]Ed. 1616 “Move me not, Faustus” (omitting “for I will not tell thee”).

[1]Ed. 1616 repeats the words “my Saviour.

[2]“Omitted in ed. 1616, to the advantage of the metre.

[3]The arrangement in ed. 1616 is as follows:—

[4]Lines Ioo-IO2 are omitted in ed. 1616.

[1]At Dulwrich College is preserved the '' plat “of an extemporal play by Richard Tarlton on the subject of the Seven Deadly Sins. See Collier's Engl Dram. Poetry, iii. 394 (ed. i).

[2]An allusion to the mediaeval Carmen de Pulice, formerly ascribed to Ovid.

[1]Pair of rapiers. Cf. Webster's White Devil (ed. 1857, p. 46).#x2014;

  • “My lord hath left me yet two case of jewels
  • Shall make me scorn your bounty.”

(The speaker, Flaminius, goes out and presently returns with “two case of pistols.”)

[2]Refreshment between meals.

[1]“Martleimas was the customary time for hanging up provisions to dry, which had been salted for winter provision, as our ancestors lived chiefly upon salted meat in the spring, the winter-fed cattle not being fit for use “—Nares. The Feast of St. Martin falls on November iith.

[2]The March brewing was much esteemed. In Shj ley's Captain Underwit a fencing-master's allowance is put at “twenty pipes of Bermudas [i.e. twenty pipefuls of tobacco] a day, six flagons of March beer, a quart of sack in a week,—for he scorns meat,” (See my Old Plays, ii. 323.)

[3]All the copies read “Lechery.” The change was proposed by Collier.

[1]Ed. 1616 reads:—

  • “Luc. Away to Hell, away! On, piper!
  • [Exeunt the Sins.
  • Faust. O, how this sight doth delight my soul!
  • Luc. But, Faustus, in hell,” & c.

[2]I should like to omit “thyself” for the metre's sake.

[3]In ed. 1616 there follows a clownish scene between Robin and Dick. I ave printed it after the play in the Appendix.

[1]In ed. 1616 the speech of the Chorus is expanded as follows:—