Chapter 4

FAUSTUS. A surfeit of deadly sin, that hath damned both body and soul.

SECOND SCHOLAR. Yet, Faustus, look up to heaven; remember God's mercies are infinite.

FAUSTUS. But Faustus' offence can ne'er be pardoned: the serpent that tempted Eve may be saved, but not Faustus. Ah, gentlemen, hear me with patience, and tremble not at my speeches! Though my heart pants and quivers to remember that I have been a student here these thirty years, O, would I had never seen Wertenberg, never read book! and what wonders I have done, all Germany can witness, yea, all the world; for which Faustus hath lost both Germany and the world, yea, heaven itself, heaven, the seat of God, the throne of the blessed, the kingdom of joy; and must remain in hell for ever, hell, ah, hell, for ever! Sweet friends, what shall become of Faustus, being in hell for ever?

THIRD SCHOLAR. Yet, Faustus, call on God.

FAUSTUS. On God, whom Faustus hath abjured! on God, whom Faustus hath blasphemed! Ah, my God, I would weep! but the devil draws in my tears. Gush forth blood, instead of tears! yea, life and soul! O, he stays my tongue! I would lift up my hands; but see, they hold them, they hold them!

ALL. Who, Faustus?

FAUSTUS. Lucifer and Mephistophilis. Ah, gentlemen, I gave them my soul for my cunning![168]

ALL. God forbid!

FAUSTUS. God forbade it, indeed; but Faustus hath done it: for vain pleasure of twenty-four years hath Faustus lost eternal joy and felicity. I writ them a bill with mine own blood: the date is expired; the time will come, and he will fetch me.

FIRST SCHOLAR. Why did not Faustus tell us of this before,[169] that divines might have prayed for thee?

FAUSTUS. Oft have I thought to have done so; but the devil threatened to tear me in pieces, if I named God, to fetch both body and soul, if I once gave ear to divinity: and now 'tis too late. Gentlemen, away, lest you perish with me.

SECOND SCHOLAR. O, what shall we do to save[170] Faustus?

FAUSTUS. Talk not of me, but save yourselves, and depart.

THIRD SCHOLAR. God will strengthen me; I will stay with Faustus.

FIRST SCHOLAR. Tempt not God, sweet friend; but let us into the next room, and there pray for him.

FAUSTUS. Ay, pray for me, pray for me; and what noise soever ye hear,[171] come not unto me, for nothing can rescue me.

SECOND SCHOLAR. Pray thou, and we will pray that God may have mercy upon thee.

FAUSTUS. Gentlemen, farewell: if I live till morning, I'll visit you; if not, Faustus is gone to hell.

ALL. Faustus, farewell. [Exeunt SCHOLARS.--The clock strikes eleven.]

FAUSTUS. Ah, 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! O lente,[172] lente currite, noctis equi! The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike, The devil will come, and Faustus must be damn'd. O, I'll leap up to my God!--Who pulls me down?-- See, see, where Christ's blood streams in the firmament! One drop would save my soul, half a drop: ah, my Christ!-- Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ! Yet will I call on him: O, spare me, Lucifer!-- Where is it now? 'tis gone: and see, where God Stretcheth out his arm, and bends his ireful brows! Mountains and hills, come, come, and fall on me, And hide me from the heavy wrath of God! No, no! Then will I headlong run into the earth: Earth, gape! O, no, it will not harbour me! You stars that reign'd at my nativity, Whose influence hath allotted death and hell, Now draw up Faustus, like a foggy mist. Into the entrails of yon labouring cloud[s], That, when you[173] vomit forth into the air, My limbs may issue from your smoky mouths, So that my soul may but ascend to heaven! [The clock strikes the half-hour.] Ah, half the hour is past! 'twill all be past anon O God, If thou wilt not have mercy on my soul, Yet for Christ's sake, whose blood hath ransom'd me, Impose some end to my incessant pain; Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years, A hundred thousand, and at last be sav'd! O, no end is limited to damned souls! Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul? Or why is this immortal that thou hast? Ah, Pythagoras' metempsychosis, were that true, This soul should fly from me, and I be chang'd Unto some brutish beast![174] all beasts are happy, For, when they die, Their souls are soon dissolv'd in elements; But mine must live still to be plagu'd in hell. Curs'd be the parents that engender'd me! No, Faustus, curse thyself, curse Lucifer That hath depriv'd thee of the joys of heaven. [The clock strikes twelve.] O, it strikes, it strikes! Now, body, turn to air, Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell! [Thunder and lightning.] O soul, be chang'd into little water-drops, And fall into the ocean, ne'er be found!

Enter DEVILS.

My God, my god, look not so fierce on me! Adders and serpents, let me breathe a while! Ugly hell, gape not! come not, Lucifer! I'll burn my books!--Ah, Mephistophilis! [Exeunt DEVILS with FAUSTUS.] [175]

Enter CHORUS.

CHORUS. Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, And burned is Apollo's laurel-bough, That sometime grew within this learned man. Faustus is gone: regard his hellish fall, Whose fiendful fortune may exhort the wise, Only to wonder at unlawful things, Whose deepness doth entice such forward wits To practice more than heavenly power permits. [Exit.]

Terminat hora diem; terminat auctor opus.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: mate-- i.e. confound, defeat.]

[Footnote 2: vaunt-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "daunt."]

[Footnote 3: her-- All the 4tos "his."]

[Footnote 4: Whereas-- i.e. where.]

[Footnote 5: cunning-- i.e. knowledge.]

[Footnote 6: So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "more."]

[Footnote 7: FAUSTUS discovered in his study-- Most probably, the Chorus, before going out, drew a curtain, and discovered Faustus sitting. In B. Barnes's DIVILS CHARTER, 1607, we find; "SCEN. VLTIMA. ALEXANDER VNBRACED BETWIXT TWO CARDINALLS in his study LOOKING VPON A BOOKE, whilst a groome draweth the Curtaine." Sig. L 3.]

[Footnote 8: Analytics, 'tis thou, &c.-- Qy. "Analytic"? (but such phraseology was not uncommon).]

[Footnote 9: So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "the" (the printer having mistaken "yt" for "ye").]

[Footnote 10: So the later 4tos (with various spelling).--2to 1604 "Oncaymaeon."]

[Footnote 11: and-- So the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 12: Couldst-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "Wouldst."]

[Footnote 13: men-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "man."]

[Footnote 14: legatur-- All the 4tos "legatus."]

[Footnote 15: &c.-- So two of the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 16: law-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "Church."]

[Footnote 17: This-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "His."]

[Footnote 18: Too servile-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "The deuill."]

[Footnote 19: Che sera, sera-- Lest it should be thought that I am wrong in not altering the old spelling here, I may quote from Panizzi's very critical edition of the ORLANDO FURIOSO, "La satisfazion ci SERA pronta." C. xviii. st. 67.]

[Footnote 20: scenes-- "And sooner may a gulling weather-spie By drawing forth heavens SCEANES tell certainly," &c. Donne's FIRST SATYRE,--p. 327, ed. 1633.]

[Footnote 21: tire-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "trie."]

[Footnote 22: Enter WAGNER, &c.-- Perhaps the proper arrangement is,] "Wagner! Enter WAGNER. Commend me to my dearest friends," &c.]

[Footnote 23: treasure-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "treasury."]

[Footnote 24: Jove-- So again, p. 84, first col.,[See Note 59] : "Seeing Faustus hath incurr'd eternal death By desperate thoughts against JOVE'S deity," &c.: and I may notice that Marlowe is not singular in applying the name JOVE to the God of Christians:] "Beneath our standard of JOUES powerfull sonne [i.e. Christ--". MIR. FOR MAGISTRATES, p. 642, ed. 1610. "But see the judgement of almightie JOUE," &c. Id. p. 696. "O sommo GIOVE per noi crocifisso," &c. Pulci,--MORGANTE MAG. C. ii. st. 1.]

[Footnote 25: these elements-- So again, "Within the bowels of THESE elements," &c., p. 87, first col,[See Note 90----"THESE" being equivalent to THE. (Not unfrequently in our old writers THESE is little more than redundant.)]

[Footnote 26: resolve-- i.e. satisfy, inform.]

[Footnote 27: silk-- All the 4tos "skill" (and so the modern editors!).]

[Footnote 28: the-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "our."]

[Footnote 29: the fiery keel at Antwerp's bridge-- During the blockade of Antwerp by the Prince of Parma in 1585, "They of Antuerpe knowing that the bridge and the Stocadoes were finished, made a great shippe, to be a meanes to breake all this worke of the prince of Parmaes: this great shippe was made of masons worke within, in the manner of a vaulted caue: vpon the hatches there were layed myll-stones, graue-stones, and others of great weight; and within the vault were many barrels of powder, ouer the which there were holes, and in them they had put matches, hanging at a thred, the which burning vntill they came vnto the thred, would fall into the powder, and so blow vp all. And for that they could not haue any one in this shippe to conduct it, Lanckhaer, a sea captaine of the Hollanders, being then in Antuerpe, gaue them counsell to tye a great beame at the end of it, to make it to keepe a straight course in the middest of the streame. In this sort floated this shippe the fourth of Aprill, vntill that it came vnto the bridge; where (within a while after) the powder wrought his effect, with such violence, as the vessell, and all that was within it, and vpon it, flew in pieces, carrying away a part of the Stocado and of the bridge. The marquesse of Roubay Vicont of Gant, Gaspar of Robles lord of Billy, and the Seignior of Torchies, brother vnto the Seignior of Bours, with many others, were presently slaine; which were torne in pieces, and dispersed abroad, both vpon the land and vpon the water." Grimeston's GENERALL HISTORIE OF THE NETHERLANDS, p. 875, ed. 1609.]

[Footnote 30: only-- Qy. "alone"? (This line is not in the later 4tos.)]

[Footnote 31: vile-- Old ed. "vild": but see note ||, p. 68.--(This line is not in the later 4tos.)

[Note || from page 68 (The Second Part of Tamburlaine the Great):]

Vile-- The 8vo "Vild"; the 4to "Wild" (Both eds. a little before, have "VILE monster, born of some infernal hag", and, a few lines after, "To VILE and ignominious servitude":--the fact is, our early writers (or rather transcribers), with their usual inconsistency of spelling, give now the one form, and now the other: compare the folio SHAKESPEARE, 1623, where we sometimes find "vild" and sometimes "VILE.")--]

[Footnote 32: concise syllogisms-- Old ed. "Consissylogismes."]

[Footnote 33: cunning-- i.e. knowing, skilful.]

[Footnote 34: Agrippa-- i.e. Cornelius Agrippa.]

[Footnote 35: shadow-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "shadowes."]

[Footnote 36: spirits-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "subiects."]

[Footnote 37: Almain rutters-- See note †, p. 43.]

[Note † from p. 43. (The Second Part of Tamburlaine the Great):

Almains, Rutters-- Rutters are properly--German troopers (reiter, reuter). In the third speech after the present one this line is repeated VERBATIM: but in the first scene of our author's FAUSTUS we have, "Like ALMAIN RUTTERS with their horsemen's staves."--]

[Footnote 38: have the-- So two of the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "in their."]

[Footnote 39: From-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "For."]

[Footnote 40: in-- So the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 41: renowm'd-- See note ||, p. 11.]

[Note || from p. 11. (The First Part of Tamburlaine the Great):

renowmed-- i.e. renowned.--So the 8vo.--The 4to "renowned." --The form "RENOWMED" (Fr. RENOMME) occurs repeatedly afterwards in this play, according to the 8vo. It is occasionally found in writers posterior to Marlowe's time. e.g. "Of Constantines great towne RENOUM'D in vaine." Verses to King James, prefixed to Lord Stirling's MONARCHICKE TRAGEDIES, ed. 1607.--]

[Footnote 42: Albertus'-- i.e. Albertus Magnus.--The correction of I. M. in Gent. Mag. for Jan. 1841.--All the 4tos "Albanus."]

[Footnote 43: cunning-- i.e. skill.]

[Footnote 44: Enter two SCHOLARS-- Scene, perhaps, supposed to be before Faustus's house, as Wagner presently says, "My master is within at dinner."]

[Footnote 45: upon-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "vpon't."]

[Footnote 46: speak, would-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "speake, IT would."]

[Footnote 47: my dear brethren-- This repetition (not found in the later 4tos) is perhaps an error of the original compositor.]

[Footnote 48: Enter FAUSTUS to conjure-- The scene is supposed to be a grove; see p. 81, last line of sec. col. [Page 81, second column, last line: "VALDES. Then haste thee to some solitary grove,"--]

[Footnote 49: anagrammatiz'd-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "and Agramithist."]

[Footnote 50: Th' abbreviated-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "The breuiated."]

[Footnote 51: erring-- i.e. wandering.]

[Footnote 52: surgat Mephistophilis, quod tumeraris-- The later 4tos have "surgat Mephistophilis DRAGON, quod tumeraris."--There is a corruption here, which seems to defy emendation. For "quod TUMERARIS," Mr. J. Crossley, of Manchester, would read (rejecting the word "Dragon") "quod TU MANDARES" (the construction being "quod tu mandares ut Mephistophilis appareat et surgat"): but the "tu" does not agree with the preceding "vos."--The Revd. J. Mitford proposes "surgat Mephistophilis, per Dragon (or Dagon) quod NUMEN EST AERIS."]

[Footnote 53: dicatus-- So two of the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "dicatis."]

[Footnote 54: Re-enter Mephistophilis, &c.-- According to THE HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS, on which this play is founded, Faustus raises Mephistophilis in "a thicke wood neere to Wittenberg, called in the German tongue Spisser Wolt..... Presently, not three fathom above his head, fell a flame in manner of a lightning, and changed itselfe into a globe..... Suddenly the globe opened, and sprung up in the height of a man; so burning a time, in the end it converted to the shape of a fiery man[?-- This pleasant beast ran about the circle a great while, and, lastly, appeared in the manner of a Gray Fryer, asking Faustus what was his request?" Sigs. A 2, A 3, ed. 1648. Again; "After Doctor Faustus had made his promise to the devill, in the morning betimes he called the spirit before him, and commanded him that he should alwayes come to him like a fryer after the order of Saint Francis, with a bell in his hand like Saint Anthony, and to ring it once or twice before he appeared, that he might know of his certaine coming." Id. Sig. A 4.]

[Footnote 55: came hither-- So two of the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "came NOW hither."]

[Footnote 56: accidens-- So two of the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "accident."]

[Footnote 57: Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it-- Compare Milton, Par. Lost, iv. 75; "Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell."]

[Footnote 58: these-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "those."]

[Footnote 59: Jove's-- See note ‡, p. 80. [i.e. Note 24] : ]

[Footnote 60: four and twenty-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "24."]

[Footnote 61: resolve-- i.e. satisfy, inform.]

[Footnote 62: thorough-- So one of the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "through."]

[Footnote 63: country-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "land."]

[Footnote 64: desir'd-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "desire."]

[Footnote 65: Enter WAGNER, &c.-- Scene, a street most probably.]

[Footnote 66: pickadevaunts-- i.e. beards cut to a point.]

[Footnote 67: by'r lady-- i.e. by our Lady.]

[Footnote 68: Qui mihi discipulus-- The first words of W. Lily's AD DISCIPULOS CARMEN DE MORIBUS,

"Qui mihi discipulus, puer, es, cupis atque doceri, Huc ades," &c.]

[Footnote 69: staves-acre-- A species of larkspur.]

[Footnote 70: vermin-- Which the seeds of staves-acre were used to destroy.]

[Footnote 71: familiars-- i.e. attendant-demons.]

[Footnote 72: their-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "my."]

[Footnote 73: slop-- i.e. wide breeches.]

[Footnote 74: vile-- Old ed. "vild." See note || p. 68.

[Note || from page 68 (The Second Part of Tamburlaine the Great):

Vile-- The 8vo "Vild"; the 4to "Wild" (Both eds. a little before, have "VILE monster, born of some infernal hag", and, a few lines after, "To VILE and ignominious servitude":--the fact is, our early writers (or rather transcribers), with their usual inconsistency of spelling, give now the one form, and now the other: compare the folio SHAKESPEARE, 1623, where we sometimes find "vild" and sometimes "VILE.")]

[Footnote 75: vestigiis nostris-- All the 4tos "vestigias nostras."]

[Footnote 76: of-- So the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 77: me-- So the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 78: he lives-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "I liue."]

[Footnote 79: why-- So the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 80: Solamen miseris, &c.-- An often-cited line of modern Latin poetry: by whom it was written I know not.]

[Footnote 81: Why-- So the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 82: torture-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "tortures."]

[Footnote 83: Faustus-- So the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 84: Bill-- i.e. writing, deed.]

[Footnote 85: Here's fire; come, Faustus, set it on-- This would not be intelligible without the assistance of THE HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS, the sixth chapter of which is headed,--"How Doctor Faustus set his blood in a saucer on warme ashes, and writ as followeth." Sig. B, ed. 1648.]

[Footnote 86: But what is this inscription, &c.-- "He [Faustus-- tooke a small penknife and prickt a veine in his left hand; and for certainty thereupon were seen on his hand these words written, as if they had been written with blood, O HOMO, FUGE." THE HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS, Sig. B, ed. 1648.]

[Footnote 87: me-- So the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "thee."]

[Footnote 88: he desires-- Not in any of the four 4tos. In the tract just cited, the "3d Article" stands thus,--"That Mephostophiles should bring him any thing, and doe for him whatsoever." Sig. A 4, ed. 1648. A later ed. adds "he desired." Marlowe, no doubt, followed some edition of the HISTORY in which these words, or something equivalent to them, had been omitted by mistake. (2to 1661, which I consider as of no authority, has "he requireth.")]

[Footnote 89: that, &c.-- So all the 4tos, ungrammatically.]

[Footnote 90: these-- See note §, p. 80.[i.e. Note 25] : ]

[Footnote 91: there-- So the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 92: are-- So two of the later 4tos.--2to 1604 "is."]

[Footnote 93: fond-- i.e. foolish.]

[Footnote 94: What! walking, disputing, &c.-- The later 4tos have "What, SLEEPING, EATING, walking, AND disputing!" But it is evident that this speech is not given correctly in any of the old eds.]

[Footnote 95: let me have a wife, &c.-- The ninth chapter of THE HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS narrates "How Doctor Faustus would have married, and how the Devill had almost killed him for it," and concludes as follows. "It is no jesting [said Mephistophilis-- with us: hold thou that which thou hast vowed, and we will peforme as we have promised; and more shall that, thou shalt have thy hearts desire of what woman soever thou wilt, be she alive or dead, and so long as thou wilt thou shalt keep her by thee.--These words pleased Faustus wonderfull well, and repented himself that he was so foolish to wish himselfe married, that might have any woman in the whole city brought him at his command; the which he practised and persevered in a long time." Sig. B 3, ed. 1648.]

[Footnote 96: me-- Not in 4to 1604. (This line is wanting in the later 4tos.)]

[Footnote 97: no-- So the later 4tos.--Not in 4to 1604.]

[Footnote 98: Saba-- i.e. Sabaea--the Queen of Sheba.]

[Footnote 99: iterating-- i.e. reciting, repeating.]

[Footnote 100: And argue of divine astrology, &c.-- In THE HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS, there are several tedious pages on the subject; but our dramatist, in the dialogue which follows, has no particular obligations to them.]

[Footnote 101: erring-- i.e. wandering.]

[Footnote 102: freshmen's-- "A Freshman, tiro, novitius." Coles's DICT. Properly, a student during his first term at the university.]

[Footnote 103: resolve-- i.e. satisfy, inform.]

[Footnote 104: Seek to save-- Qy. "Seek THOU to save"? But see note ||, p. 18.]

[Note ||, from page 18 (The First Part of Tamburlaine The Great):

Barbarous-- Qy. "O Barbarous"? in the next line but one, "O treacherous"? and in the last line of the speech, "O bloody"? But we occasionally find in our early dramatists lines which are defective in the first syllable; and in some of these instances at least it would almost seem that nothing has been omitted by the transcriber or printer.--]

[Footnote 105: Enter the SEVEN DEADLY SINS-- In THE HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS, Lucifer amuses Faustus, not by calling up the Seven Deadly Sins, but by making various devils appear before him, "one after another, in forme as they were in hell." "First entered Beliall in forme of a beare," &c.--"after him came Beelzebub, in curled haire of a horseflesh colour," &c.--"then came Astaroth, in the forme of a worme," &c. &c. During this exhibition, "Lucifer himselfe sate in manner of a man all hairy, but of browne colour, like a squirrell, curled, and his tayle turning upward on his backe as the squirrels use: I think he could crack nuts too like a squirrell." Sig. D, ed. 1648.]

[Footnote 106: case-- i.e. couple.]

[Footnote 107: bevers-- i.e. refreshments between meals.]

[Footnote 108: L.-- All the 4tos "Lechery."--Here I have made the alteration recommended by Mr. Collier in his Preface to COLERIDGE'S SEVEN LECTURES ON SHAKESPEARE AND MILTON, p. cviii.]

[Footnote 109: Away, to hell, to hell-- In 4to 1604, these words stand on a line by themselves, without a prefix. (In the later 4tos, the corresponding passage is as follows; "------ begins with Lechery.

LUCIFER. Away to hell, away! On, piper! [Exeunt the SINS. FAUSTUS. O, how this sight doth delight my soul!" &c.)]

[Footnote 110: I will send for thee at midnight-- In THE HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS, we have a particular account of Faustus's visit to the infernal regions, Sig. D 2, ed. 1648.]

[Footnote 111: Enter CHORUS-- Old ed. "Enter WAGNER solus." That these lines belong to the Chorus would be evident enough, even if we had no assistance here from the later 4tos.--The parts of Wagner and of the Chorus were most probably played by the same actor: and hence the error.]

[Footnote 112: Learned Faustus, To know the secrets of astronomy, &c.-- See the 21st chapter of THE HISTORY OF DR. FAUSTUS,--"How Doctor Faustus was carried through the ayre up to the heavens, to see the whole world, and how the sky and planets ruled," &c.]

[Footnote 113: Enter FAUSTUS and MEPHISTOPHILIS-- Scene, the Pope's privy-chamber.]

[Footnote 114: Trier-- i.e. Treves or Triers.]