Dr. Faustus (newer edition) | Page 5

spirits On
sweet Musaeus when he came to hell, Will be as cunning as Agrippa
was, Whose shadow made all Europe honour him.
VALDES. Faustus, these books, thy wit, and our experience, Shall
make all nations to<18> canonize us. As Indian Moors obey their
Spanish lords, So shall the spirits of every element Be always
serviceable to us three; Like lions shall they guard us when we please;
Like Almain rutters with their horsemen's staves, Or Lapland giants,
trotting by our sides; Sometimes like women, or unwedded maids,
Shadowing more beauty in their airy brows Than have<19> the white
breasts of the queen of love: >From Venice shall they<20> drag
huge<21> argosies, And from America the golden fleece That yearly
stuffs<22> old Philip's treasury; If learned Faustus will be resolute.
FAUSTUS. Valdes, as resolute am I in this As thou to live: therefore
object it not.
CORNELIUS. The miracles that magic will perform Will make thee
vow to study nothing else. He that is grounded in astrology, Enrich'd
with tongues, well seen in minerals, Hath all the principles magic doth
require: Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowm'd,<23> And more
frequented for this mystery Than heretofore the Delphian oracle. The
spirits tell me they can dry the sea, And fetch the treasure of all foreign

wrecks, Yea, all the wealth that our forefathers hid Within the massy
entrails of the earth: Then tell me, Faustus, what shall we three want?
FAUSTUS. Nothing, Cornelius. O, this cheers my soul! Come, shew
me some demonstrations magical, That I may conjure in some bushy
grove, And have these joys in full possession.
VALDES. Then haste thee to some solitary grove, And bear wise
Bacon's and Albertus'<24> works, The Hebrew Psalter, and New
Testament; And whatsoever else is requisite We will inform thee ere
our conference cease.
CORNELIUS. Valdes, first let him know the words of art; And then,
all other ceremonies learn'd, Faustus may try his cunning by himself.
VALDES. First I'll instruct thee in the rudiments, And then wilt thou be
perfecter than I.
FAUSTUS. Then come and dine with me, and, after meat, We'll
canvass every quiddity thereof; For, ere I sleep, I'll try what I can do:
This night I'll conjure, though I die therefore. [Exeunt.]
Enter two SCHOLARS.
FIRST SCHOLAR. I wonder what's become of Faustus, that was wont
to make our schools ring with sic probo.
SECOND SCHOLAR. That shall we presently know; here comes his
boy.
Enter WAGNER.
FIRST SCHOLAR. How now, sirrah! where's thy master?
WAGNER. God in heaven knows.
SECOND SCHOLAR. Why, dost not thou know, then?
WAGNER. Yes, I know; but that follows not.
FIRST SCHOLAR. Go to, sirrah! leave your jesting, and tell us where
he is.
WAGNER. That follows not by force of argument, which you, being
licentiates, should stand upon: therefore acknowledge your error, and
be attentive.
SECOND SCHOLAR. Then you will not tell us?
WAGNER. You are deceived, for I will tell you: yet, if you were not
dunces, you would never ask me such a question; for is he not corpus
naturale? and is not that mobile? then wherefore should you ask me
such a question? But that I am by nature phlegmatic, slow to wrath, and
prone to lechery (to love, I would say), it were not for you to come

within forty foot of the place of execution, although I do not doubt but
to see you both hanged the next sessions. Thus having triumphed over
you, I will set my countenance like a precisian, and begin to speak
thus:-- Truly, my dear brethren, my master is within at dinner, with
Valdes and Cornelius, as this wine, if it could speak, would inform
your worships: and so, the Lord bless you, preserve you, and keep you,
my dear brethren! [Exit.]
FIRST SCHOLAR. O Faustus! Then I fear that which I have long
suspected, That thou art fall'n into that<25> damned art For which they
two are infamous through the world.
SECOND SCHOLAR. Were he a stranger, not allied to me, The danger
of his soul would make me mourn. But, come, let us go and inform the
Rector: It may be his grave counsel may reclaim him.<26>
FIRST SCHOLAR. I fear me nothing will reclaim him now.
SECOND SCHOLAR. Yet let us see what we can do. [Exeunt.]
Enter FAUSTUS.<27>
FAUSTUS. Now that the gloomy shadow of the night, Longing to view
Orion's drizzling look, Leaps from th' antartic world unto the sky, And
dims the welkin with her<28> pitchy breath, Faustus, begin thine
incantations, And try if devils will obey thy hest, Seeing thou hast
pray'd and sacrific'd to them. Within this circle is Jehovah's name,
Forward and backward anagrammatiz'd, Th' abbreviated names of holy
saints, Figures of every adjunct to the heavens, And characters of signs