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The Works of Christopher Marlowe

Gentlemen, for that I know your friendship is unfeigned,

It is not Faustus' custom to deny

The just request of those that wish him well.

You shall behold that peerless dame of Greece,

No otherwise for pomp or majesty,

Than when Sir Paris cross the seas with her,

And brought the spoils to rich Dardania.

Be silent then, for danger is in words.

Gentlemen, farewell; the same wish I to you.

Where art thou, Faustus? Wretch, what hast thou done?

Hell claims his right, and with a roaring voice

Says, Faustus, come, thine hour is almost come,Mephistophilis

And Faustus now will come to do thee right.

O, friend, I feel thy words to comfort my distressed soul.

Leave me a while to ponder on my sins.

Accursed Faustus, wretch what hast thou done?

I do repent, and yet I do despair,

Hell strives with grace for conquest in my breast.

What shall I do to shun the snares of death?

Thou traitor, Faustus, I arrest thy soul,

For disobedience to my sovereign lord.

Revolt or I'll in piecemeal tear thy flesh.

I do repent I e'er offended him.

Sweet Mephistophilis, entreat thy lord

To pardon my unjust presumption,

And with my blood again I will confirm

The former vow I made to Lucifer.

Do it then, Faustus, with unfeigned heart,

Lest greater dangers do attend thy drift.

Torment, sweet friend, that base and aged man

That durst dissuade me from thy Lucifer,

With greatest torment that our hell affords.

One thing, good servant, let me crave of thee

To glut the longing of my heart's desire,

That I may have unto my paramour,

That heavenly Helen, which I saw of late,

Whose sweet embraces may extinguish clear

Those thoughts that do dissuade me from my vow,

And keep my vow I made to Lucifer.

Was this the face that launched a thousand ships,

And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?

Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.

Her lips suck forth my soul; see where it flies.

Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.

Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips,

And all is dross that is not Helena.

I will be Paris, and for love of thee,

Instead of Troy shall Wittenberg be sacked,

And I will combat with weak Menelaus,

And wear thy colours on my plumed crest.

Yea, I will wound Achilles in the heel,

And then return to Helen for a kiss.

O, thou art fairer than the evening's air

Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars.

Brighter art thou then flaming Jupiter,

When he appeared to hapless Semele,

More lovely than the Monarch of the sky,

In wanton Arethusa's azure arms,

And none but thou shalt be my paramour. Exeunt.

Say, Wagner, thou hast perused my will;

How dost thou like it?

Gramercies, Wagner. Welcome, gentlemen.

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?

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

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?

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.

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.

Talk not of me, but save yourselves and depart.

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

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

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

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

O, thou bewitching fiend, 'twas thy temptation

Hath robbed me of eternal happiness.

O, I have seen enough to torture me.

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)