Classic Poem

SCENE 5

[ Enter FAUSTUS in his study .] FAUSTUS
Now Faustus, must thou needs be damned,
And canst thou not be saved.
What boots┬░ it then to think of God or heaven?
Away with such vain fancies, and despair,
Despair in God, and trust in Belzebub.
Now go not backward: no, Faustus, be resolute;
Why waverest thou? O, something soundeth in mine ears:
"Abjure this magic, turn to God again."
Ay, and Faustus will turn to God again.
To God? He loves thee not:
The god thou servest is thine own appetite
Wherein is fixed the love of Belzebub.
To him I'll build an altar and a church,
And offer lukewarm blood of newborn babes.
[ Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL .] GOOD ANGEL
Sweet Faustus, leave that execrable art. FAUSTUS
Contrition, prayer, repentance: what of them? GOOD ANGEL
O they are means to bring thee unto heaven. EVIL ANGEL
Rather illusions, fruits of lunacy,
That makes men foolish that do trust them most. GOOD ANGEL
Sweet Faustus, think of heaven, and heavenly things. EVIL ANGEL
No Faustus, think of honor and of wealth.
[ Exeunt .] FAUSTUS
Of wealth!
Why, the signory of Emden shall be mine,
When Mephastophilis shall stand by me.
What god can hurt thee, Faustus? Thou art safe,
Cast no more doubts. Come, Mephastophilis,
And bring glad tidings from great Lucifer.
Is't not midnight? Come, Mephastophilis:
Veni, veni, Mephastophile !
[ Enter MEPHASTOPHILIS .]
Now tell, what says Lucifer thy lord? MEPHASTOPHILIS
That I shall wait on Faustus whilst he lives,
So he will buy my service with his soul. FAUSTUS
Already Faustus hath hazarded that for thee. MEPHASTOPHILIS
But Faustus, thou must bequeath it solemnly,
And write a deed of gift with thine own blood,
For that security craves great Lucifer.
If thou deny it, I will back to hell. FAUSTUS
Stay, Mephastophilis, and tell me,
What good will my soul do thy lord? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Enlarge his kingdom. FAUSTUS
Is that the reason he tempts us thus? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris . FAUSTUS
Have you any pain that tortures others? MEPHASTOPHILIS
As great as have the human souls of men.
But tell me Faustus, shall I have thy soul?
And I will be thy slave and wait on thee,
And give thee more than thou hast wit to ask. FAUSTUS
Ay Mephastophilis, I give it thee. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Then stab thine arm courageously,
And bind thy soul, that at some certain day
Great Lucifer may claim it as his own,
And then be thou as great as Lucifer. FAUSTUS
Lo Mephastophilis, for love of thee,
I cut my arm, and with my proper┬░ blood
Assure my soul to be great Lucifer's,
Chief lord and regent of perpetual night.
View here the blood that trickles from mine arm,
And let it be propitious for my wish. MEPHASTOPHILIS
But Faustus, thou must write it
In manner of a deed of gift. FAUSTUS
Ay, so I will; but, Mephastophilis,
My blood congeals and I can write no more. MEPHASTOPHILIS
I'll fetch thee fire to dissolve it straight.[ Exit .] FAUSTUS
What might the staying of my blood portend?
Is it unwilling I should write this bill?┬░
Why streams it not, that I may write afresh:
"Faustus gives to thee his soul"? Ah, there it stayed!
Why should'st thou not? Is not thy soul thine own?
Then write again: "Faustus gives to thee his soul."
[ Enter MEPHASTOPHILIS with a chafer ┬░ of coals .] MEPHASTOPHILIS
Here's fire, come Faustus, set it on. FAUSTUS
So, now the blood begins to clear again.
Now will I make an end immediately. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Oh what will not I do to obtain his soul! FAUSTUS
Consummatum est , this bill is ended,
And Faustus hath bequeathed his soul to Lucifer.
But what is this inscription on mine arm?
Homo fuge .┬░ Whither should I fly?
If unto God, he'll throw me down to hell;
My senses are deceived, here's nothing writ;
I see it plain, here in this place is writ,
Homo fuge ! Yet shall not Faustus fly. MEPHASTOPHILIS
I'll fetch him somewhat to delight his mind.[ Exit .]
[ Enter with DEVILS , giving crowns and rich apparel to FAUSTUS , and dance, and then depart .] FAUSTUS
Speak, Mephastophilis, what means this show? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Nothing, Faustus, but to delight thy mind withal,
And to show thee what magic can perform. FAUSTUS
But may I raise up spirits when I please? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Ay, Faustus, and do greater things than these. FAUSTUS
Then there's enough for a thousand souls!
Here, Mephastophilis, receive this scroll,
A deed of gift of body and of soul:
But yet conditionally, that thou perform
All articles prescribed between us both. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Faustus, I swear by hell and Lucifer
To effect all promises between us made. FAUSTUS
Then hear me read them. On these conditions following:
First, that Faustus may be a spirit in form and substance .
Secondly, that Mephastophilis shall be his servant, and at his command .
Thirdly, that Mephastophilis shall do for him, and bring him whatsoever .
Fourthly, that he shall be in his chamber or house invisible .
Lastly, that he shall appear to the said John Faustus at all times, in what form or shape soever he please .
I, John Faustus of Wittenberg, doctor, by these presents, do give both body and soul to Lucifer, Prince of the East, and his minister Mephastophilis; and furthermore grant unto them that, four and twenty years being expired, the articles above-written inviolate, full power to fetch or carry the said John Faustus, body and soul, flesh, blood, or goods, into their habitation wheresoever .
By me John Faustus . MEPHASTOPHILIS
Speak, Faustus: do you deliver this as your deed? FAUSTUS
Ay, take it; and the devil give thee good on't. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Now, Faustus, ask what thou wilt. FAUSTUS
First will I question with thee about hell:
Tell me, where is the place that men call hell? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Under the heavens. FAUSTUS
Ay, but whereabouts? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Within the bowels of these elements,
Where we are tortured and remain for ever.
Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed
In one self place; for where we are is hell,
And where hell is there must we ever be.
And to conclude, when all the world dissolves,
And every creature shall be purified,
All places shall be hell that is not heaven. FAUSTUS
Come, I think hell's a fable. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Ay, think so still, till experience change thy mind. FAUSTUS
Why? think'st thou then that Faustus shall be damned? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Ay, of necessity, for here's the scroll
Wherein thou hast given thy soul to Lucifer. FAUSTUS
Ay, and body too; but what of that?
Think'st thou that Faustus is so fond┬░ to imagine
That after this life there is any pain?
Tush, these are trifles and mere old wives' tales. MEPHASTOPHILIS
But Faustus, I am an instance to prove the contrary;
For I am damned, and am now in hell. FAUSTUS
How, now in hell? Nay, and this be hell, I'll willingly be damned here! What? walking, disputing, etc....But leaving off this, let me have a wife, the fairest maid in Germany, for I am wanton and lascivious, and cannot live without a wife. MEPHASTOPHILIS
How, a wife? I prithee Faustus, talk not of a wife. FAUSTUS
Nay sweet Mephastophilis, fetch me one, for I will have one. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Well, thou wilt have one; sit there till I come.
I'll fetch thee a wife in the devil's name.[ Exit .]
[ Enter with a DEVIL dressed like a woman, with fireworks .] MEPHASTOPHILIS
Tell, Faustus, how dost thou like thy wife? FAUSTUS
A plague on her for a hot whore! MEPHASTOPHILIS
Tut, Faustus, marriage is but a ceremonial toy;
If thou lovest me, think no more of it.
I'll cull thee out the fairest courtesans
And bring them every morning to thy bed:
She whom thine eye shall like, thy heart shall have,
Be she as chaste as was Penelope,
As wise as Saba, or as beautiful
As was bright Lucifer before his fall.
Hold, take this book, peruse it thoroughly:
The iterating┬░ of these lines brings gold;
The framing┬░ of this circle on the ground
Brings whirlwinds, tempests, thunder and lightning.
Pronounce this thrice devoutly to thyself,
And men in armor shall appear to thee,
Ready to execute what thou desirest. FAUSTUS
Thanks, Mephastophilis, yet fain would I have a book wherein I might behold all spells and incantations, that I might raise up spirits when I please. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Here they are in this book.[ There turn to them .] FAUSTUS
Now would I have a book where I might see all characters and planets of the heavens, that I might know their motions and dispositions. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Here they are too.[ Turn to them .] FAUSTUS
Nay, let me have one book more, and then I have done, wherein I might see all plants, herbs, and trees that grow upon the earth. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Here they be. FAUSTUS
O thou art deceived! MEPHASTOPHILIS
Tut, I warrant thee.[ Turn to them .] FAUSTUS
When I behold the heavens, then I repent,
And curse thee, wicked Mephastophilis,
Because thou hast deprived me of those joys. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Why Faustus,
Think'st thou that heaven is such a glorious thing?
I tell thee 'tis not half so fair as thou,
Or any man that breathes on earth. FAUSTUS
How prov'st thou that? MEPHASTOPHILIS
It was made for man, therefore is man more excellent. FAUSTUS
If it were made for man, 'twas made for me:
I will renounce this magic, and repent.
[ Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL .] GOOD ANGEL
Faustus, repent, yet┬░ God will pity thee. EVIL ANGEL
Thou art a spirit,┬░ God cannot pity thee. FAUSTUS
Who buzzeth in mine ears I am a spirit?
Be I a devil, yet God may pity me.
Ay, God will pity me if I repent. EVIL ANGEL
Ay, but Faustus never shall repent.[ Exeunt .] FAUSTUS
My heart's so hardened I cannot repent!
Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven,
But fearful echoes thunders in mine ears,
"Faustus, thou are damned"; then swords and knives,
Poison, guns, halters,┬░ and envenomed steel
Are laid before me to dispatch myself:
And long ere this I should have slain myself,
Had not sweet pleasure conquered deep despair.
Have I not made blind Homer sing to me
Of Alexander's love, and Oenon's death?
And hath not he that built the walls of Thebes
With ravishing sound of his melodious harp,
Made music with my Mephastophilis?
Why should I die then, or basely despair?
I am resolved! Faustus shall ne'er repent.
Come, Mephastophilis, let us dispute again,
And argue of divine astrology.
Tell me, are there many heavens above the moon?
Are all celestial bodies but one globe,
As is the substance of this centric earth? MEPHASTOPHILIS
As are the elements, such are the spheres,
Mutually folded in each other's orb.
And, Faustus, all jointly move upon one axletree
Whose termine┬░ is termed the world's wide pole,
Nor are the names of Saturn, Mars, or Jupiter
Feigned, but are erring stars. FAUSTUS
But tell me, have they all one motion, both situ et tempore? MEPHASTOPHILIS
All jointly move from east to west in four-and-twenty hours upon the poles of the world, but differ in their motion upon the poles of the zodiac. FAUSTUS
Tush, these slender trifles Wagner can decide!
Hath Mephastophilis no greater skill?
Who knows not the double motion of the planets?
The first is finished in a natural day, the second thus: as Saturn in thirty years; Jupiter in twelve; Mars in four; the Sun, Venus, and Mercury in a year; the Moon in twenty-eight days. Tush, these are freshmen's suppositions. But tell me, hath every sphere a dominion or intelligentia? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Ay. FAUSTUS
How many heavens or spheres are there? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Nine: the seven planets, the firmament, and the empyreal heaven. FAUSTUS
Well, resolve me then in this question: why have we not conjunctions, oppositions, aspects, eclipses, all at one time, but in some years we have more, in some less? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Per inaequalem motum respectu totius . FAUSTUS
Well, I am answered. Tell me who made the world? MEPHASTOPHILIS
I will not. FAUSTUS
Sweet Mephastophilis, tell me. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Move┬░ me not, for I will not tell thee. FAUSTUS
Villain, have I not bound thee to tell me anything? MEPHASTOPHILIS
Ay, that is not against our kingdom; but this is.
Think thou on hell, Faustus, for thou art damned. FAUSTUS
Think, Faustus, upon God, that made the world. MEPHASTOPHILIS
Remember this.[ Exit. ] FAUSTUS
Ay, go accursed spirit, to ugly hell,
'Tis thou hast damned distressed Faustus' soul:
Is't not too late?
[ Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL .] EVIL ANGEL
Too late. GOOD ANGEL
Never too late, if Faustus will repent. EVIL ANGEL
If thou repent, devils shall tear thee in pieces. GOOD ANGEL
Repent, and they shall never raze┬░ thy skin.
[ Exeunt .] FAUSTUS
Ah Christ my Savior! seek to save Distressed Faustus' soull
[ Enter LUCIFER , BELZEBUB , and MEPHASTOPHILIS .] LUCIFER
Christ cannot save thy soul, for he is just.
There's none but I have interest in the same. FAUSTUS
O who art thou that look'st so terrible? LUCIFER
I am Lucifer, and this is my companion prince in hell. FAUSTUS
O Faustus, they are come to fetch away thy soul! LUCIFER
We come to tell thee thou dost injure us.
Thou talk'st of Christ, contrary to thy promise.
Thou should'st not think of God; think of the devil,
And his dam too. FAUSTUS
Nor will I henceforth: pardon me in this,
And Faustus vows never to look to heaven,
Never to name God, or to pray to him,
To burn his Scriptures, slay his ministers,
And make my spirits pull his churches down. LUCIFER
Do so, and we will highly gratify thee. Faustus, we are come from hell to show thee some pastime; sit down, and thou shalt see all the Seven Deadly Sins appear in their proper shapes. FAUSTUS
That sight will be as pleasing unto me as Paradise was to Adam, the first day of his creation. LUCIFER
Talk not of Paradise, nor creation, but mark this show; talk of the devil and nothing else. Come away.
[ Enter the SEVEN DEADLY SINS .]
Now Faustus, examine them of their several names and dispositions. FAUSTUS
What art thou, the first? PRIDE
I am Pride: I disdain to have any parents. I am like to Ovid's flea, I can creep into every corner of a wench: sometimes like a periwig, I sit upon her brow; or like a fan of feathers, I kiss her lips. Indeed I do — what do I not! But fie, what a scent is here? I'll not speak another word, except the ground were perfumed and covered with cloth of arras. FAUSTUS
What art thou, the second? COVETOUSNESS
I am Covetousness, begotten of an old chur! in an old leathern bag; and might I have my wish, I would desire that this house, and all the people in it, were turned to gold, that I might lock you up in my good chest. O my sweet gold! FAUSTUS
What art thou, the third? WRATH
I am Wrath. I had neither father nor mother: I leaped out of a lion's mouth when I was scarce half an hour old, and ever since I have run up and down the world, with this case of rapiers, wounding myself when I had nobody to fight withal. I was born in hell — and look to it, for some of you shall be my father. FAUSTUS
What art thou, the fourth? ENVY
I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-wife. I cannot read, and therefore wish all books were burnt; I am lean with seeing others eat — O that there would come a famine through all the world, that all might die, and I live alone; then thou should'st see how fat I would be! But must thou sit and I stand? Come down, with a vengeance! FAUSTUS
Away, envious rascal! What art thou, the fifth? GLUTTONY
Who, I sir? I am Gluttony. My parents are all dead, and the devil a penny they have left me but a bare pension, and that is thirty meals a day and ten bevers" — a small trifle to suffice nature. O, I come of a royal parentage: my grandfather was a gammon" of bacon, my grandmother a hogshead of claret wine; my godfathers were these: Peter Pickled-Herring, and Martin Martlemas-Beef. O, but my godmother! She was a jolly gentlewoman, and well-beloved in every good town and city; her name was Mistress Margery March-Beer. Now, Faustus, thou hast heard all my progeny; wilt thou bid me to supper? FAUSTUS
No, I'll see thee hanged; thou wilt eat up all my victuals. GLUTTONY
Then the devil choke thee! FAUSTUS
Choke thyself, Glutton. What art thou, the sixth? SLOTH
I am Sloth; I was begotten on a sunny bank, where I have lain ever since — and you have done me great injury to bring me from thence. Let me be carried thither again by Gluttony and Lechery. I'll not speak another word for a king's ransom. FAUSTUS
What are you, Mistress Minx, the seventh and last? LECHERY
Who, I sir? I am one that loves an inch of raw mutton better than an ell of fried stockfish; and the first letter of my name begins with Lechery. LUCIFER
Away! To hell, to hell![ Exeunt the SINS .]
Now Faustus, how dost thou like this? FAUSTUS
O this feeds my soul! LUCIFER
Tut, Faustus, in hell is all manner of delight. FAUSTUS
O might I see hell, and return again, how happy were I then! LUCIFER
Thou shalt; I will send for thee at midnight. In meantime, take this book, peruse it thoroughly, and thou shalt turn thyself into what shape thou wilt. FAUSTUS
Great thanks, mighty Lucifer; this will I keep as chary as my life. LUCIFER
Farewell, Faustus; and think on the devil. FAUSTUS
Farewell, great Lucifer; come, Mephastophilis.[ Exeunt OMNES .]