Christopher Marlowe, 1564-1593
Doctor Faustus (1604)
[EXTRACT FROM ACT ONE]
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Enter Faustus to coniure.

Fau.
Now that the gloomy shadow of the earth,
Longing to view Orions drisling looke,

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Leapes from th'antartike world vnto the skie,
And dimmes the welkin with her pitchy breath:
Faustus, begin thine incantations,
And trie if diuels will obey thy hest,
Seeing thou hast prayde and sacrific'd to them.
UUithin this circle is Iehouahs name,
Forward and backward, and Agramithist,
The breviated names of holy Saints,
Figures of euery adiuuct to the heauens,
And characters of signes and erring starres.
By which the spirits are inforst to rise,
Then feare not Faustus, but be resolute,
And trie the vttermost Magicke can performe.

Sint mihi dei acherontis propitij, valeat numen triplex Iehouæ, ignei, / aërij Aquatani spiritus saluete, Orientis princeps Belsibub, inferni / [250] ardentis monarcha & demigorgon, propitiamus vos, vt apariat & / surgat Mephastophilis, quòd tumeraris, per Iehouam gehennam & / consecratam aquam quam nunc spargo, signúmque crucis quod nunc / facio, & per vota nostra ipse nunc surgat nobis dicatis Mephastophilis. /

Enter a Diuell.

I charge thee to returne and chaunge thy shape,
Thou art too vgly to attend on me,
Goe and returne an old Franciscan Frier,
That holy shape becomes a diuell best.
                                        Exit diuell.

I see theres vertue in my heauenly words,
Who would not be proficient in this art?
How pliant is this Mephastophilis?
Full of obedience and humilitie,
Such is the force of Magicke and my spels,
No Faustus, thou art Coniurer laureate
That canst commaund great Mephastophilis,
Quin regis, Mephastophilis fratris imagine.

Enter Mephostophilis.

Me.
Now Faustus, what wouldst thou haue me do?

Fau.
I charge thee wait vpon me whilst I liue,

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To do what euer Faustus shall commaund,
Be it to make the Moone drop from her spheare,
Or the Ocean to ouerwhelme the world.

Me.
I am a seruant to great Lucifer,
And may not follow thee without his leaue,
No more then he commaunds must we performe.

Fau.
Did not he charge thee to appeare to mee?

Me.
[275] No, I came now hither of mine owne accord.

Fau.
Did not my coniuring speeches raise thee? speake.

Me.
That was the cause, but yet per accident,
For when we heare one racke the name of God,
Abiure the scriptures, and his Sauiour Christ,
Wee flye, in hope to get his glorious soule,
Nor will we come, vnlesse he vse such meanes
Whereby he is in danger to be damnd:
Therefore the shortest cut for coniuring
Is stoutly to abiure the Trinitie,
And pray deuoutly to the prince of hell.

Fau.
So Faustus hath already done, & holds this principle
There is no chiefe but onely Belsibub,
To whom Faustus doth dedicate himselfe,
This word damnation terrifies not him,
For he confounds hell in Elizium,
His ghost be with the olde Philosophers,
But leauing these vaine trifles of mens soules,
Tell me what is that Lucifer thy Lord?

Me.
Arch-regent and commaunder of all spirits.

Fau.
Was not that Lucifer an Angell once?

Me.
Yes Faustus, and most dearely lou'd of God.

Fau.
How comes it then that he is prince of diuels?

Me.
O by aspiring pride and insolence,
For which God threw him from the face of heauen.

Fau.
[300] and what are you that liue with Lucifer?

Me.
Unhappy spirits that fell with Lucifer,
Conspir'd against our God with Lucifer,
And are for euer damnd with Lucifer.

Fau.
UUhere are you damn'd?

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Me.
In hell.

Fau.
How comes it then that thou art out of hel?

Me.
Why this is hel, nor am I out of it:
Thinkst thou that I who saw the face of God,
And tasted the eternal ioyes of heauen,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hels,
In being depriv'd of euerlasting blisse:
O Faustus, leaue these friuolous demaunds,
which strike a terror to my fainting soule.

Fau.
What, is great Mephastophilis so passionate,
For being deprivd of the ioyes of heauen?
Learne thou of Faustus manly fortitude,
And scorne those ioyes thou neuer shalt possesse.
Go beare those tidings to great Lucifer,
Seeing Faustus hath incurrd eternall death,
By desprate thoughts against Ioues deitie:
Say, he will surrenders vp to him his soule,
So he will spare him 24. yeeres,
Letting him liue in al voluptuousnesse,
Hauing thee euer to attend on me,
[325] To giue me whatsoeuer I shal aske,
To tel me whatsoeuer I demaund,
To slay mine enemies, and ayde my friends,
And alwayes be obedient to my wil:
Goe and returne to mighty Lucifer,
And meete mee in my study at midnight,
And then resolue me of thy maisters minde.

Me.
I will Faustus.
                                        exit.

Fau.
Had I as many soules as there be starres,
Ide giue them al for Mephastophilis:
By him Ile be great Emprour of the world,
And make a bridge through the moouing ayre,
To passe the Ocean with a band of men,
Ile ioyne the hils that binde the Affricke shore,
And make that land continent to Spaine,
And both contributory to my crowne:
The Emprour shal not liue but by my leaue,

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Nor any Potentate of Germany:
Now that I haue obtaind what I desire,
Ile liue in speculation of this Art,
Til Mephastophilis returne againe.

Bibliographic details for the Electronic File

Marlowe: The Tragicall Historie of Doctor Faustus (1604): a machine-readable transcript
Cambridge 1994
Chadwyck-Healey
English Verse Drama Full-Text Database
Copyright (c) 1994 Chadwyck-Healey. Do not export or print from this database without checking the Copyright Conditions to see what is permitted.

Bibliographic details for the Source Text

Christopher Marlowe, 1564-1593 (1564-1593)
The Tragicall History of D. Faustus. As it hath bene Acted by the Right Honorable the Earle of Nottingham his seruants. Written by Ch. Marl.
London
Printed by V. S. for Thomas Bushell 1604
[46] p.
Preliminaries omitted

Play details
Doctor Faustus.
Genre: Tragedy.
Date first published: 1604.
Date first performed: 1592-1593.