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The Works of Christopher Marlowe

Act: 5 Scene: 2<<- -

Thunder. Enter Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Mephistophilis.

Thus from infernal Dis do we ascend

To view the subjects of our monarchy,

Those souls which sin seals the black sons of hell,

'Mong which as chief, Faustus, we come to thee,

Bringing with us lasting damnation,

To wait upon thy soul. The time is come

Which makes it forfeit.

And this gloomy night,

Here in this room will wretched Faustus be.

And here we'll stay,

To mark him how he doth demean himself.

How should he, but in desperate lunacy?

Fond worldling, now his heart blood dries with grief;

His conscience kills it, and his labouring brain

Begets a world of idle fantasies

To overreach the devil, but all in vain.

His store of pleasures must be sauced with pain.

He and his servant Wagner are at hand.

Both come from drawing Faustus' latest will.

See where they come. Enter Faustus and Wagner.

Say, Wagner, thou hast perused my will;

How dost thou like it?

Sir, so wondrous well,

As in all humble duty, I do yield

My life and lasting service for your love.

Enter the Scholars.

Gramercies, Wagner. Welcome, gentlemen.

Now worthy Faustus, me thinks your looks are changed.

Ah, my sweet chamber-fellow, had I lived with thee,

Then had I lived still, but now must die eternally.

Look, sirs, comes he not? Comes he not?

O my dearFaustus, what imports this fear?

Is all our pleasure turned to melancholy?

He is not well with being over solitary.

If it be so, we'll have physicians, and Faustus shall be cured.

Tis but a surfeit sir; fear nothing.

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

Yet, Faustus, look up to heaven, and remember mercy is

infinite.

But Faustus' offense can ne'er be pardoned;

The serpent that tempted Eve may be saved,

But not Faustus. O, gentlemen, hear with patience, and trem-

ble not at my speeches. Though my heart pant and quiver to re-

member that I have been a student here these thirty years, O

would I had never seen Wittenberg, 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

forever. Hell, O hell forever. Sweet friends, what shall be-

come of Faustus being in hell forever?

Yet Faustus, call on God.

On God, whom Faustus hath abjured? On God, whom

Faustus hath blasphemed? O my God, I would weep, but the

Devil draws in my tears. Gush forth blood instead of

tears, yea life and soul. Oh, he stays my tongue. I would

lift up my hands, but see they hold 'em, they hold 'em.

Why, Lucifer and Mephistophilis. O, gentlemen,

I gave them my soul for my cunning.

God forbade it indeed but Faustus hath done it. For

the vain pleasure of four and twenty years hath Faustus

lost eternal joy and felicity. I writ them a bill with mine

own blood; the date is expired: this is the time, and he will

fetch me.

Why did not Faustus tell us of this before, that divines

might have prayed for thee?

Oft have I thought to have done so, but the Devil

threatened to tear me in pieces if I named God, to fetch me,

body and soul, if I once gave ear to divinity. And now

'ts too late. Gentlemen, away, lest you perish with

me.

O what may we do to save Faustaus?

Talk not of me, but save yourselves and depart.

God will strengthen me; I will stay with Faustus.

Tempt not God, sweet friend, but let us into the next

room, and pray for him.

Ay, pray for me, pray for me. And what noise soever

you hear, come not unto me, for nothing can rescue me.

Pray, thou, and we will pray that God may have mer-

cy upon thee.

Gentlemen, farewell. If I live 'til morning, I'll vi-

sit you. If not, Faustus is gone to hell.

Faustus, farewell. Exeunt Scholars.

I Faustus, now thou hast no hope of heaven,

Therefore despair; think only upon hell,

For that must be thy mansion there to dwell.

O, thou bewitching fiend, 'twas thy temptation

Hath robbed me of eternal happiness.

I do confess it Faustus, and rejoice

Twas I that when thou were't i'the way to heaven,

Damned up thy passage; when thou took'st the book,

To view the scriptures, then I turned the leaves

And led thine eye.

What weep'st thou? 'Tis too late; despair. Farewell.

Fools that will laugh on earth most weep in hell. Exit.

Enter the Good Angel and the Evil Angel at several doors.

Oh Faustus, if thou had'st given ear to me,

Innumerable joys had followed thee.

But thou did'st love the world.

Gave ear to me,

And now must taste hell's pains perpetually.

O, what will all thy riches, pleasures, pomps,

Avail thee now?

Nothing but vex thee more,

To want in hell, that had on earth such store.

Music while the throne descends.

O, thou hast lost celestial happiness,

Pleasures unspeakable, bliss without end.

Had'st thou affected sweet divinity,

Hell, or the Devil, had had no power on thee.

Had'st thou kept on that way, Faustus behold

In what resplendent glory thou had'st set

In yonder throne, like those bright shining Saints,

And triumphed over hell. That hast thou lost,

And now poor soul must thy good angel leave thee.

The jaws of hell are open to receive thee. Exit.

Now, Faustus, let shine eyes with horror stare

Into that vast perpetual torture-house.

There are the Furies tossing damned souls

On burning forks; their bodies broil in lead.

There are live quarters broiling on the coals,

That ne'er can die. This ever-burning chair

Is for o'er-tortured souls to rest them in.

These, that are fed with sops of flaming fire,

Were gluttons, and loved only delicates,

And laughed to see the poor starve at their gates.

But yet all these are nothing; thou shalt see

Ten thousand tortures that more horrid be.

O, I have seen enough to torture me.

Nay, thou must feel them, taste the smart of all.

He that loves pleasure must for pleasure fall.

And so I leave thee, Faustus, till anon.

Then wilt thou tumble in confusion. Exit.

The clock strikes eleven.

O, Faustus,

Now hast thou but one bare hour to live,

And then thou must be damned 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 lente currite noctis equi.

The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike.

The devil will come and Faustus must be damned.

O, I'll leap up to heaven; who pulls me down?

One drop of blood will save me.

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 a threatening arm, an angry brow.

Mountains and hills, come, come, and fall on me,

And hide me from the heavy wrath of heaven.

No? Then will I headlong run into the earth.

Gape, earth! O no, it will not harbour me.

You stars that reigned 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,

That when you vomit forth into the air,

My limbs may issue from your smokey mouths,

But let my soul mount and ascend to heaven.

The watch strikes.

O, half the hour is past! 'Twill all be past anon.

O, if my soul must suffer for my sin,

Impose some end to my incessant pain.

Let Faustus live in hell a thousand years,

A hundred thousand, and at last be saved.

No end is limited to damned souls.

Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul?

Or why is this immortal that thou hast?

Oh πψτηαγορας' metempsychosis' were that true,

This soul should fly from me, and I be changed

Into some brutish beast.

All beasts are happy, for when they die,

Their souls are soon dissolved in elements,

But mine must live still to be plagued in hell.

Cursed be the parents that engendered me;

No, Faustus, curse thyself. Curse Lucifer

That hath deprived thee of the joys of heaven.

The clock strikes twelve

It strikes, it strikes! Now body turn to air,

Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell.

O soul be changed into small water drops,

And fall into the ocean ne'er be found.

Thunder, and enter the devils.

O mercy, heaven! Look not so fierce on me;

Adders and serpents let me breathe awhile.

Ugly hell, gape not; come not Lucifer!

I'll burn my books! Oh, Mephistophilis! Exeunt.

Dr. Faustus (B Text)