The Duchess of Malfi
Page 30
That which must glad us all. We too take pattern
Of all those suits, the color, trimming, fashion,
E’en to an undistinguished hair almost:
Then entering first, observing the true form,162
Within a strain or two we shall find leisure
To steal our swords out handsomely;
And when they think their pleasure sweet and good,
In midst of all their joys they shall sigh blood.
PIERO. Weightily, effectually!
3RD LORD. Before the t’other maskers come—
VEN. We’re gone, all done and past.
PIERO. But how for the duke’s guard?
VEN. Let that alone;
By one and one their strengths shall be drunk down.163
HIP. There are five hundred gentlemen in the action,
That will apply themselves, and not stand idle.
PIERO. O, let us hug your bosoms!
VEN. Come, my lords,
Prepare for deeds: let other times have words.
Exeunt
SCENE III
In a dumb show, the possessing164 of the Young Duke with all his Nobles; sounding music. A furnished table is brought forth; then enter the Duke and his Nobles to the banquet. A blazing star appeareth
1ST NOBLE. Many harmonious hours and choicest pleasures
Fill up the royal number of your years!
LUS. My lords, we’re pleased to thank you, though we know
’Tis but your duty now to wish it so.
1ST NOBLE. That shine makes us all happy.
3RD NOBLE. His grace frowns.
2ND NOBLE. Yet we must say he smiles.
1ST NOBLE. I think we must.
LUS. [Aside] That foul incontinent duchess we have banished;
The bastard shall not live. After these revels,
I’ll begin strange ones: he and the step-sons
Shall pay their lives for the first subsidies;165
We must not frown so soon, else’t had been now.
1ST NOBLE. My gracious lord, please you prepare for pleasure.
The masque is not far off.
LUS. We are for pleasure.
Beshrew thee, what art thou? thou mad’st me start!
Thou has committed treason. A blazing star!166
1ST NOBLE. A blazing star! O, where, my lord?
LUS. Spy out.
2ND NOBLE. See, see, my lords, a wondrous dreadful one!
LUS. I am not pleased at that ill-knotted fire,
That bushing, staring star. Am I not duke?
It should not quake me now. Had it appeared
Before, it I might then have justly feared;
But yet they say, whom art and learning weds,
When stars wear locks, they threaten great men’s heads:
Is it so? you are read, my lords.
1ST NOBLE. May it please your grace,
It shows great anger.
LUS. That does not please our grace.
2ND NOBLE. Yet here’s the comfort, my lord: many times,
When it seems most near, it threatens farthest off.
LUS. Faith, and I think so too.
1ST NOBLE. Beside, my lord,
You’re gracefully established with the loves
Of all your subjects; and for natural death,
I hope it will be threescore years a-coming.
LUS. True? no more but threescore years?
1ST NOBLE. Fourscore, I hope, my lord.
2ND NOBLE. And fivescore, I.
3RD NOBLE. But ’tis my hope, my lord, you shall ne’er die.
LUS. Give me thy hand; these others I rebuke:
He that hopes so is fittest for a duke:
Thou shalt sit next me; take your places, lords;
We’re ready now for sports; let ’em set on:
You thing!167 we shall forget you quite anon!
3RD NOBLE. I hear ’em coming, my lord.
Enter the Masque of revengers: Vendice and Hippolito, with two Lords
LUS. Ah, ’tis well!
[Aside] Brothers and bastard, you dance next in hell!
They dance; at the end they steal out their swords, and kill the four seated at the table. Thunder
VEN. Mark, thunder!
Dost know thy cue, thou big-voiced crier?
Dukes’ groans are thunder’s watchwords.
HIP. So, my lords, you have enough.
VEN. Come, let’s away, no lingering.
HIP. Follow! go!
Exeunt except Vendice
VEN. No power is angry when the lustful die;
When thunder claps, heaven likes the tragedy.
Exit
LUS. O, O!
Enter the Masque of intended murderers: Ambitioso, Supervacuo, Spurio, and a Lord, coming in dancing. Lussurioso recovers a little in voice, groans, and calls, “A guard! treason!” at which the Dancers start out of their measure,168 and, turning towards the table, find them all to be murdered
SPU. Whose groan was that?
LUS. Treason! a guard!
AMB. How now? all murdered!
SUP. Murdered!
3RD LORD. And those his nobles?
AMB. Here’s a labor saved;
I thought to have sped him. ’Sblood, how came this?
SPU. Then I proclaim myself; now I am duke.
AMB. Thou duke! brother, thou liest.
SPU. Slave! so dost thou.
[Kills Ambitioso]
3RD LORD. Base villain! hast thou slain my lord and master?
[Stabs Spurio]
Re-enter Vendice and Hippolito and the two Lords
VEN. Pistols! treason! murder! Help! guard my lord the duke!
Enter Antonio and Guard
HIP. Lay hold upon this traitor.
LUS. O!
VEN. Alas! the duke is murdered.
HIP. And the nobles.
VEN. Surgeons! surgeons! [Aside] Heart! does he breathe so long?
ANT. A piteous tragedy! able to make
An old man’s eyes bloodshot.
LUS. O!
VEN. Look to my lord the duke. [Aside] A vengeance throttle him!
Confess, thou murderous and unhallowed man,
Didst thou kill all these?
3RD LORD. None but the bastard, I.
VEN. How came the duke slain, then?
3RD LORD. We found him so.
LUS. O villain!
VEN. Hark!
LUS. Those in the masque did murder us.
VEN. La you now,169 sir—
O marble impudence! will you confess now?
3RD LORD. ’Sblood, ’tis all false.
ANT. Away with that foul monster,
Dipped in a prince’s blood.
3RD LORD. Heart! ’tis a lie.
ANT. Let him have bitter execution.
VEN. New marrow!170 no, I cannot be expressed.171
How fares my lord the duke?
LUS. Farewell to all;
He that climbs highest has the greatest fall.
My tongue is out of office.
VEN. Air, gentlemen, air.
[Whispers in his ear] Now thou’lt not prate on’t, ’twas Vendice
murdered thee.
LUS. O!
VEN. [Whispers] Murdered thy father.
LUS. O!
Dies
VEN. [Whispers] And I am he—tell nobody: So, so, the duke’s departed.
ANT. It was a deadly hand that wounded him.
The rest, ambitious who should rule and sway
After his death, were so made all away.
VEN. My lord was unlikely—
HIP. Now the hope
Of Italy lies in your reverend years.
VEN. Your hair will make the silver age again,
When there were fewer, but more honest men.
ANT. The burthen’s weighty, and will press age down;
May I so rule, that Heaven may keep the crown!
VEN. The rape of your good lady
has been quitted
With death on death.
ANT. Just is the law above.
But of all things it put me most to wonder
How the old duke came murdered!
VEN. O my lord!
ANT. It was the strangeliest carried: I’ve not heard of the like.
HIP. ’Twas all done for the best, my lord.
VEN. All for your grace’s good. We may be bold to speak it now,
’Twas somewhat witty carried, though we say it—
’Twas we two murdered him.
ANT. You two?
VEN. None else, i’faith, my lord. Nay, ’twas well-managed.
ANT. Lay hands upon those villains!
VEN. How! on us?
ANT. Bear ’em to speedy execution.
VEN. Heart! was’t not for your good, my lord?
ANT. My good! Away with ’em: such an old man as he!
You, that would murder him, would murder me.
VEN. Is’t come about?172
HIP. ’Sfoot, brother, you begun.
VEN. May not we set as well as the duke’s son?
Thou hast no conscience, are we not revenged?
Is there one enemy left alive amongst those?
’Tis time to die, when we’re ourselves our foes:
When murderers shut deeds close, this curse does seal ’em:
If none disclose ’em, they themselves reveal ’em!
This murder might have slept in tongueless brass173
But for ourselves, and the world died an ass.
Now I remember too, here was Piato
Brought forth a knavish sentence once;
No doubt (said he), but time
Will make the murderer bring forth himself.
’Tis well he died; he was a witch.
And now, my lord, since we are in for ever,
This work was ours, which else might have been slipped!174
And if we list, we could have nobles175 clipped,
And go for less than beggars; but we hate
To bleed so cowardly: we have enough,
I’faith, we’re well, our mother turned, our sister true,
We die after a nest of dukes. Adieu!
Exeunt
ANT. How subtly was that murder closed!
Bear up
Those tragic bodies: ’tis a heavy season;
Pray Heaven their blood may wash away all treason!
Exit
1. With a skull in his hand.
2. Copulate.
3. One given to sexual excess.
4. Counted, accumulated.
5. Rent paid in lieu of service.
6. Represented as bald, with a forelock one must grasp.
7. The hair falls out as a result of syphilis.
8. Costume.
9. Counterfeit (coin).
10. Confidante.
11. Most secret.
12. Disemboweled.
13. Wrapped in a winding-sheet.
14. Stepson.
15. Deed.
16. Sexual performance.
17. i.e., By cuckolding him.
18. Only lower-class women wore hats.
19. Ask him to dismount.
20. Knock against.
21. Set a beggar on horseback, and he’ll ride a gallop.
22. Socket.
23. Foretaste, promise.
24. Cuckold’s horns.
25. Lussurioso.
26. Unsigned promissory notes.
27. Respect my rank.
28. Construe.
29. Dry the ink on.
30. Embrace.
31. Womb.
32. Classes.
33. Hysteria.
34. Gold.
35. Resistant.
36. Lover.
37. Lustful.
38. Got it right.
39. Advance.
40. Novice.
41. By God’s blood.
42. Test.
43. Model.
44. Preservative.
45. It is better to die in virtue than to live dishonored.
46. Small woes are eloquent, great ones are dumb.
47. Following the description of the rapist as a moth.
48. Inheritance.
49. Road.
50. Loves.
51. Have precedence.
52. Unable to express my delight.
53. Next in succession.
54. Close my eyes.
55. Of fortune.
56. Gold coins.
57. Partial.
58. Weaken.
59. Hysteria.
60. Embrace.
61. i.e., To the jailer.
62. Take less care (of virtue).
63. Decides.
64. Stimulating.
65. If.
66. Proud in the extreme.
67. Measured.
68. Honor.
69. Look for.
70. Opportunity
71. Desire.
72. Wicked.
73. i.e., Abandoned her religion.
74. Bow.
75. Whore.
76. Sharp-witted.
77. Hangings.
78. Register of prostitutes.
79. Covers.
80. Thwart.
81. See what happens next.
82. Defile.
83. Liars.
84. Lussurioso’s.
85. Hypocritical.
86. Fit of frenzy.
87. Leaving your anger aside.
88. Forestall.
89. Merely
90. Shameless.
91. i.e., Than a Hatter’s.
92. Staunched.
93. Sophistry.
94. In the card game primero.
95. Appropriate ceremony.
96. The spangled canopy over the stage.
97. Worked out.
98. Left me out.
99. Head-dress.
100. As if addressing the lady.
101. Camphor.
102. Stage prop.
103. Ingenuity.
104. Disappears.
105. Now for it!
106. Plague-stricken.
107. Embraces.
108. Wages.
109. Requited.
110. Repay.
111. Candles.
112. Embracing.
113. Skill in plotting.
114. Boastful.
115. Rightful.
116. Ominous.
117. Plague.
118. Lussurioso.
119. Scratched.
120. Fetters.
121. Even a woman.
122. Unworthy
123. Whim.
124. Craftier deception.
125. Thou wast.
126. Speculate.
127. Right now.
128. Not the worst plan to be suspicious.
129. Don’t worry about me.
130. God give you good evening.
131. Understood.
132. 42nd and 63rd year of the reign.
133. Poultry.
134. Terms of the legal year.
135. Barbarian.
136. Writ of a certiorari. A complaint to a superior court.
137. Rumbles and rattles.
138. Like.
139. Requite.
140. Disposed of.
141. Curdled(?).
142. i.e., Of the world.
143. Incite.
144. If.
145. Orphanage.
146. i.e., He could kill himself over and over again. Eight days were allocated to the court in Michaelmas term for reports.
147. His henchmen.
148. In secret.
149. Hands.
150. unsheathe.
151. A fencer’s exclamation.
152. By other names than you deserve.
153. Ominous.
154. Owns.
155. [Obscure].
156. [Obscure].
157. [Like a wrestler].
/> 158. Secure.
159. Target.
160. To fail.
161. Are not manly enough.
162. Of the dance.
163. Diminished by drink.
164. Installation.
165. Installments.
166. Comet.
167. The comet.
168. Dance.
169. An exclamation.
170. i.e., Fine food.
171. Squeezed out.
172. Turned round.
173. On a memorial tablet.
174. Left undone.
175. With pun on “nobles” meaning gold coins.
THE MAID’S
TRAGEDY
FRANCIS BEAUMONT
AND JOHN FLETCHER
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
KING
LYSIPPUS, brother to the King
AMINTOR, a noble gentleman
CALIANAX, an old humorous lord
DIAGORAS, a servant to CALIANAX
EVADNE, sister to MELANTIUS
ASPATIA, troth-plight wife to Amintor
DULA, waiting-woman to EVADNE
LADIES
NIGHT, CYNTHIA, NEPTUNE, AEOLUS, Proteus and Sea-Gods, Masquers,
Favonius and Winds
MESSENGER, GENTLEMEN, SERVANT, Hautboys
SCENE—THE CITY OF RHODES
THE MAID’S TRAGEDY
ACT I, SCENE I
Enter Cleon, Strato, Lysippus, Diphilus
CLE. The rest are making ready, sir.
LYS. So let them;
There’s time enough.
DIPH. You are the brother to the King, my lord;
We’ll take your word.
LYS. Strato, thou has some skill in poetry;
What think’st thou of a masque? will it be well?
STRA. As well as masques can be.
LYS. As masques can be!
STRA. Yes; they must commend their king, and speak in praise
Of the assembly, bless the bride and bridegroom
In person of some god; they’re tied to rules
Of flattery.
CLE. See, good my lord, who is returned!
Enter Melantius
LYS. Noble Melantius!
The land by me welcomes thy virtues home;
Thou that with blood abroad buy’st us our peace!
The breath of kings is like the breath of gods;
My brother wished thee here, and thou art here:
He will be too-too kind, and weary thee
With often welcomes; but the time doth give thee
A welcome above his or all the world’s.
MEL. My lord, my thanks; but these scratched limbs of mine
Have spoke my love and truth unto my friends,
More than my tongue e’er could. My mind’s the same
It ever was to you: where I find worth,
I love the keeper till he let it go,
And then I follow it.
DIPH. Hail, worthy brother!
He that rejoices not at your return