Then call for mercy, and avoid despair.
FAUSTUS. O friend, I feel
Thy words to comfort my distressed soul!
Leave me a while to ponder on my sins.
OLD MAN. Faustus, I leave thee; but with grief of heart,
Fearing the enemy of thy hapless soul.
[Exit.]
FAUSTUS. 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?
MEPHIST. Thou traitor, Faustus, I arrest thy soul
For disobedience to my sovereign lord:
Revolt, or I’ll in piece-meal tear thy flesh.
FAUSTUS. 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.
MEPHIST. Do it, then, Faustus, with unfeigned heart,
Lest greater dangers do attend thy drift.
FAUSTUS. Torment, sweet friend, that base and aged man,
That durst dissuade me from thy Lucifer,
With greatest torments that our hell affords.
MEPHIST. His faith is great; I cannot touch his soul;
But what I may afflict his body with
I will attempt, which is but little worth.
FAUSTUS. 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 clean
Those thoughts that do dissuade me from my vow,
And keep my oath I made to Lucifer.
MEPHIST. This, or what else my Faustus shall desire,
Shall be perform’d in twinkling of an eye.
Re-enter HELEN, passing over the stage between two CUPIDS.
FAUSTUS. Was this the face that launch’d a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? —
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss. —
[Kisses her.]
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 sack’d;
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 air
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars;
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter
When he appear’d to hapless Semele;
More lovely than the monarch of the sky
In wanton Arethusa’s azur’d arms;
And none but thou shalt be my paramour!
[Exeunt.]
Thunder. Enter LUCIFER, BELZEBUB, and MEPHISTOPHILIS.
LUCIFER. 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.
MEPHIST. And, this gloomy night,
Here, in this room, will wretched Faustus be.
BELZEBUB. And here we’ll stay,
To mark him how he doth demean himself.
MEPHIST. 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 over-reach the devil; but all in vain;
His store of pleasures must be sauc’d 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.
FAUSTUS. Say, Wagner, — thou hast perus’d my will, —
How dost thou like it?
WAGNER. Sir, So wondrous well,
As in all humble duty I do yield
My life and lasting service for your love.
FAUSTUS. Gramercy, Wagner.
Enter SCHOLARS.
Welcome, Gentlemen.
[Exit WAGNER.]
FIRST SCHOLAR. Now, worthy Faustus, methinks your looks are chang’d.
FAUSTUS. O, gentlemen!
SECOND SCHOLAR. What ails Faustus?
FAUSTUS. 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?
FIRST SCHOLAR. O my dear Faustus, what imports this fear?
SECOND SCHOLAR. Is all our pleasure turn’d to melancholy?
THIRD SCHOLAR. He is not well with being over-solitary.
SECOND SCHOLAR. If it be so, we’ll have physicians,
And Faustus shall be cur’d.
THIRD SCHOLAR. ’Tis but a surfeit, sir; fear nothing.
FAUSTUS. A surfeit of deadly sin, that hath damned both
body and soul.
SECOND SCHOLAR. Yet, Faustus, look up to heaven, and remember
mercy is infinite.
FAUSTUS. But Faustus’ offence can ne’er be pardoned: the serpent
that tempted Eve may be saved, but not Faustus. O gentlemen,
hear me with patience, and tremble not at my speeches! Though
my heart pant and quiver to remember 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 for ever, hell. O, hell, for ever! Sweet friends,
what shall become of Faustus, being in hell for ever?
SECOND SCHOLAR. Yet, Faustus, call on God.
FAUSTUS. 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!
O, he stays my tongue! I would lift up my hands; but see, they
hold ‘em, they hold ‘em? (‘?’ sic)
ALL. Who, Faustus?
FAUSTUS. Why, Lucifer and Mephistophilis. O gentlemen, I gave
them my soul for my cunning!
ALL. O, God forbid!
FAUSTUS. 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.
FIRST SCHOLAR. Why did not Faustus tell us of this before,
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 me
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 may we do to save 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 pray for him.
FAUSTUS. Ay, pray for me, pray for me; and what noise soever
you hear, 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.]
MEPHIST. Ay, Faustus, now thou hast no hope of heaven;
Therefore despair; think only upon hell,
For that must be thy mansion, there to dwell.
FAUSTUS. O thou bewitching fiend, ’twas thy temptation
Hath robb’d me of eternal happiness!
MEPHIST. I do confess it, Faustus, and rejoice:
’Twas I that, when thou wert i’the way to heaven,
Damm’d up thy passage; when thou took’st the book
To view the Scriptures, then I turn’d the leaves,
And led thine eye.
What, weep’st thou? ’tis too late; despair! Farewell:
Fools that will laugh on earth must weep in hell.
[Exit.]
Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL at several doors.
GOOD ANGEL. O Faustus, if thou hadst given ear to me,
Innumerable joys had follow’d thee!
But thou didst love the world.
EVIL ANGEL. Gave ear to me,
And now must taste hell-pains perpetually.
GOOD ANGEL. O, what will all thy riches, pleasures, pomps,
Avail thee now?
EVIL ANGEL. Nothing, but vex thee more,
To want in hell, that had on earth such store.
GOOD ANGEL. O, thou hast lost celestial happiness,
Pleasures unspeakable, bliss without end
Hadst thou affected sweet divinity,
Hell or the devil had had no power on thee:
Hadst thou kept on that way, Faustus, behold,
[Music, while a throne descends.]
In what resplendent glory thou hadst sit
In yonder throne, like those bright-shining saints,
And triumph’d 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. The throne ascends.]
EVIL ANGEL. Now, Faustus, let thine eyes with horror stare
[Hell is discovered.]
Into that vast perpetual torture-house:
There are the Furies tossing damned souls
On burning forks; there bodies boil in lead;
There are live quarters broiling on the coals,
That ne’er can die; this ever-burning chair
Is for o’er-tortur’d souls to rest them in;
These that are fed with sops of flaming fire,
Were gluttons, and lov’d only delicates,
And laugh’d to see the poor starve at their gates:
But yet all these are nothing; thou shalt see
Ten thousand tortures that more horrid be.
FAUSTUS. O, I have seen enough to torture me!
EVIL ANGEL. 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. Hell disappears. — The clock strikes eleven.]
FAUSTUS. O 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, 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 heaven! — Who pulls me down? —
See, where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament!
One drop of blood will save me: O my Christ! —
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 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 vomit forth into the air,
My limbs may issue from your smoky mouths;
But let my soul mount and ascend to heaven!
[The clock strikes the half-hour.]
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 sav’d!
No end is limited to damned souls.
Why wert thou not a creature wanting soul?
Or why is this immortal that thou hast?
O, Pythagoras’ metempsychosis, were that true,
This soul should fly from me, and I be chang’d
Into some brutish beast! 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.]
It strikes, it strikes! Now, body, turn to air,
Or Lucifer will bear thee quick to hell!
O soul, be chang’d into small water-drops,
And fall into the ocean, ne’er be found!
Thunder. Enter DEVILS.
O, mercy, heaven! 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! — O Mephistophilis!
[Exeunt DEVILS with FAUSTUS.]
Enter SCHOLARS.
FIRST SCHOLAR. Come, gentlemen, let us go visit Faustus,
For such a dreadful night was never seen;
Since first the world’s creation did begin,
Such fearful shrieks and cries were never heard:
Pray heaven the doctor have escap’d the danger.
SECOND SCHOLAR.
O, help us, heaven! see, here are Faustus’ limbs,
All torn asunder by the hand of death!
THIRD SCHOLAR.
The devils whom Faustus serv’d have torn him thus;
For, twixt the hours of twelve and one, methought,
I heard him shriek and call aloud for help;
At which self time the house seem’d all on fire
With dreadful horror of these damned fiends.
SECOND SCHOLAR. Well, gentlemen, though Faustus’ end be such
As every Christian heart laments to think on,
Yet, for he was a scholar once admir’d
For wondrous knowledge in our German schools,
We’ll give his mangled limbs due burial;
And all the students, cloth’d in mourning black,
Shall wait upon his
heavy funeral.
[Exeunt.]
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 practise more than heavenly power permits.
[Exit.]
Terminat hora diem; terminat auctor opus.
ROMEO AND JULIET by William Shakespeare
1592
This tragedy was created by Shakespeare in 1592 and has become one of the most famous works of literature ever written. The plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1582. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both texts, but added the supporting characters Mercutio and Paris himself. Shakespeare’s use of dramatic structure, especially switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to complement the story, have been identified as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play is well renowned for its eternal tale of forbidden love, which has inspired filmmakers and writers across the world for hundreds of years.
The Quarto first printing of the play
CONTENTS
Dramatis Personæ
Prologue.
Act I. Scene I.
Act I. Scene II.
Act I. Scene III.
Act I. Scene IV.
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