L. 105. The thought is that Helen's beauty surpasses that of the evening sky when clad ( 'dressed,' 'adorned') or overspread

=

with a thousand beautiful stars.

L. 106. Jupiter appeared to 'hapless,' i.e. unfortunate Semele in thunder and fire, by which she was consumed.

L. 108. Marlowe's mythology appears to be at fault here. Arethusa is never mentioned as the beloved of the monarch of the sky,' whoever he may be-Jupiter or Apollo.

L 109. Wanton was not originally used in a bad sense, and often denotes merely as much as 'playful, loveable.'-Azur’d appears to be said in reference to Arethusa being a sea-nymph.

L. 114. Sift, i.e. 'to examine,' is here employed in the sense of trying, or tempting. Compare St. Luke xxii. 31, 'Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.'

L. 118. At your repulse means 'when you are repulsed.'

SCENE II.

For the text of this scene we may refer to our Introduction, p. xxix., note.

L. 1. Dis, instead of Pluto, the god of the infernal regions. L. 3. Souls on whom their sins have imprinted the seal of being black sons of hell.

L. 5. Damnation should be pronounced in four syllables. L. 12. Worldling appears to be inappropriate to Faustus' character, as it is conceived in the introductory scenes of the present play. Faustus is there made to say that he desires to get a deity and become the equal of God himself.-Fond = foolish (ii. 1, 136).

L. 14. The line reminds us of Shakspere's Richard II., who says in a similar manner (v. 5, 7 sq.); these two (the soul and the brain) beget A generation of still breeding thoughts.

L. 15 sq. The rhyme (vain : pain) is quite contrary to Marlowe's habit, but in conformity with the jingling propensities of later playwrights.

L. 18. We say to draw up a will.-Latest, instead last, apparently for metrical reasons.

L. 24. As, instead of that. This has been noticed before. L. 27. The prose passage which begins would not seem to be by Marlowe, as it stands; it contains too many traces of verse to allow us to consider this a merely accidental circumstance, and we are driven

to the conclusion that Marlowe's verse was in this scene turned into prose by some later hand.

L. 32. It was formerly deemed a sure sign of intimacy and friendship to share one's room or even bed with another person. Even kings and other high-born persons used to share their chambers and beds with persons they meant to honour.

L. 44 sqq. In Faustus' speech we may trace some of the ideas employed in the Oratio Fausti ad Studiosos, contained in the German History, pp. 1064–1066.

L. 47. My heart pants to remember is an instance of the somewhat loose employment of infinitival constructions in the Elizabethan writers. We should now say 'my heart pants when I remember.'

L. 66. Cunning, 'knowledge,' 'art.'

L. 77. We now say to lend an ear to something. Comp. 1. 107. Ll. 95-142 are not read in AB, and are evidently an 'addition." L. 98. Bewitching, in the sense of 'ensnaring.'

L. 102. We should say 'blocked up thy passage.'

L. 104. The line is incomplete both as to metre and sense. Did Mephistophilis originally boast that he led Faustus' eye away from the pages of the Scriptures?

L. 105 sq. We will not fail once more to draw the student's attention to these jingling rhymes which are not at all in Marlowe's style; on the contrary, our poet is proud of having led the muse away from jigging reins of rhyming mother wits And such conceits as clownage keeps in pay.' This remark applies even more forcibly to v. 124 sq. (We have, however, the same kind of jingle in the concluding lines of the Chorus' at the end of the play, and this would seem to be by Marlowe himself.)

L. 110. Gave instead of gavest. See below, v. 116, in which had is used instead of hadst.

L. 118. Affected, 'loved,' 'cherished,' 'striven after.'

L. 121. Sit instead of sat; very uncommon.

Ll. 126-137. We may be sure that Marlowe would not have written such rubbish as these lines, even if he had felt tempted to pen something to this effect.

L. 132. Rest is said ironically.-Them, instead of themselves.
L. 137. Be, instead of are.

L. 143 sg. This passage has always and with justice been considered one of the most pathetic passages of this play, and one of the finest productions of Marlowe's muse.

L. 144. Hour should be pronounced in two syllables. In v. 149 it is a monosyllable.

L. 150. A natural day is a day of ordinary length, according to the course of nature.

L. 152. The passage is taken from Ovid, Amores, i. 13, 38, where it forms a pentameter :

Clamares: 'lente currite, noctis equi.'

Night is frequently represented as seated on a chariot drawn by black horses.

L. 157. It is probable that Marlowe wrote 'nay, half a drop," and that the words 'ah, my Christ' are merely a mistaken and corrupted remnant of the following line, which is omitted in the old editions, though it appears to be absolutely necessary for the

context.

L. 158. We should now omit of, but this preposition is added according to the usage of archaic grammar. See a previous note. L. 161. Ireful is not a common word, in the place of wrathful. L. 162. An allusion to a well-known passage in the Scriptures. L. 167. Nativity is employed by the earlier writers in the sense of birth. In the present passage it may also bear its ordinary meaning.

L. 170. A labouring cloud means one that seems to be big with rain and tempest. Milton uses the same expression, L'Allegro, 74.

L. 173. So that, if only my soul,' &c.

L. 178. Do not let my pain, i.e. the torture I must suffer in hell, be incessant, but impose some end to it.

L. 182. Thou. Faustus is addressing himself.

L. 184. Pythagoras of Samos (in the sixth century before Christ) taught that the human soul did not expire with the body, but was fated to wander through a succession of various shapes before once more returning into a human body: μereμvxwols, subsequent transmigration of the soul. Compare the following passage in Webster's noble tragedy of Appius and Virginia, p. 1726, Dyce:

O thy opinion, old Pythagoras!

Whither, O, whither should thy black soul fly?

Into what ravenous bird or beast most vile?

Only into a weeping crocodile.

L. 186. Unto is more conformable to the period in which Marlowe wrote, than into, which is the correction of a later hand.

L. 189. Still, 'always,' 'for ever.'

L. 198. Adders and serpents are mentioned as an appellation of the devils about to tear Faustus.

L. 200. Books, works on magic. So the Ephesians 'burnt their books' after St. Paul's preaching, Acts xix. 19.

SCENE III.

This scene is not of Marlowe's own composition, and is found only in the later editions. It will be easily perceived that, even from the manager's point of view, it is a mistake, inasmuch as the play finishes much more effectually with the tragic scene of Faustus' horrible death than with the lame reflections of the students. There is not, however, any reason for rejecting the concluding 'Chorus,' which appears fully justified by the analogous Chorus at the opening of the play.

L. 1. Go visit, instead of go to visit. This omission of to before the infinitive after go is exceedingly frequent in old English, and has already been noticed in a preceding note.

L. 3. We may notice the labouring and forced expression of a mere versifier. Instead of saying 'since the world was created,' he draws out this simple idea into a whole line.

L. 5. Have, the subjunctive; instead of which we should now use may have.

L. 9. Twixt, instead of betwixt, thus closely corresponding to the German zwischen.

L. II. Self = 'same' or 'very.' This has been noticed before. L. 19. A heavy funeral means one which is felt as a heavy and great loss.

Chorus.

L. 1. Full is frequently used as an adverb in poetical language, especially in such phrases as 'full well,' 'full many,' &c.

L. 3. Sometime, 'once,' 'formerly.'

L. 5. Fiendful is a new word coined by Marlowe.

INDEX.

NOTE.-Act in numerals, scene in small figures, line in large figures.