Dr. Faustus (with footnotes) | Page 4

law:<16>
This<17> study fits a mercenary drudge, Who aims at nothing but
external trash; Too servile<18> and illiberal for me. When all is done,
divinity is best: Jerome's Bible, Faustus; view it well.
[Reads.] Stipendium peccati mors est. Ha! Stipendium, &c.
The reward of sin is death: that's hard.
[Reads.] Si peccasse negamus, fallimur, et nulla est in nobis veritas;
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there's no truth
in us. Why, then, belike we must sin, and so consequently die: Ay, we
must die an everlasting death. What doctrine call you this, Che sera,

sera,<19> What will be, shall be? Divinity, adieu! These metaphysics
of magicians, And necromantic books are heavenly; Lines, circles,
scenes,<20> letters, and characters; Ay, these are those that Faustus
most desires. O, what a world of profit and delight, Of power, of
honour, of omnipotence, Is promis'd to the studious artizan! All things
that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command: emperors
and kings Are but obeyed in their several provinces, Nor can they raise
the wind, or rend the clouds; But his dominion that exceeds in this,
Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man; A sound magician is a
mighty god: Here, Faustus, tire<21> thy brains to gain a deity.
Enter WAGNER.<22>
Wagner, commend me to my dearest friends, The German Valdes and
Cornelius; Request them earnestly to visit me.
WAGNER. I will, sir. [Exit.]
FAUSTUS. Their conference will be a greater help to me Than all my
labours, plod I ne'er so fast.
Enter GOOD ANGEL and EVIL ANGEL.
GOOD ANGEL. O, Faustus, lay that damned book aside, And gaze not
on it, lest it tempt thy soul, And heap God's heavy wrath upon thy head!
Read, read the Scriptures:--that is blasphemy.
EVIL ANGEL. Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art Wherein all
Nature's treasure<23> is contain'd: Be thou on earth as Jove<24> is in
the sky, Lord and commander of these elements.<25> [Exeunt Angels.]
FAUSTUS. How am I glutted with conceit of this! Shall I make spirits
fetch me what I please, Resolve<26> me of all ambiguities, Perform
what desperate enterprise I will? I'll have them fly to India for gold,
Ransack the ocean for orient pearl, And search all corners of the
new-found world For pleasant fruits and princely delicates; I'll have
them read me strange philosophy, And tell the secrets of all foreign
kings; I'll have them wall all Germany with brass, And make swift
Rhine circle fair Wertenberg; I'll have them fill the public schools with
silk,<27> Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad; I'll levy
soldiers with the coin they bring, And chase the Prince of Parma from
our land, And reign sole king of all the<28> provinces; Yea, stranger
engines for the brunt of war, Than was the fiery keel at Antwerp's
bridge,<29> I'll make my servile spirits to invent.
Enter VALDES and CORNELIUS.

Come, German Valdes, and Cornelius, And make me blest with your
sage conference. Valdes, sweet Valdes, and Cornelius, Know that your
words have won me at the last To practice magic and concealed arts:
Yet not your words only,<30> but mine own fantasy, That will receive
no object; for my head But ruminates on necromantic skill. Philosophy
is odious and obscure; Both law and physic are for petty wits; Divinity
is basest of the three, Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile:<31>
'Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish'd me. Then, gentle friends, aid me in
this attempt; And I, that have with concise syllogisms<32> Gravell'd
the pastors of the German church, And made the flowering pride of
Wertenberg Swarm to my problems, as the infernal spirits On sweet
Musaeus when he came to hell, Will be as cunning<33> as
Agrippa<34> was, Whose shadow<35> made all Europe honour him.
VALDES. Faustus, these books, thy wit, and our experience, Shall
make all nations to canonize us. As Indian Moors obey their Spanish
lords, So shall the spirits<36> of every element Be always serviceable
to us three; Like lions shall they guard us when we please; Like Almain
rutters<37> 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 the<38> white breasts of the
queen of love: From<39> Venice shall they drag huge argosies, And
from America the golden fleece That yearly stuffs 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<40> minerals, Hath all the principles magic
doth require: Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowm'd,<41> And
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