Act 5 — [Scene I.]

Faust. Settle my studies, Faustus, and begin To sound the depth of that thou wilt profess[369]; Having commenc’d, be a divine in show. Yet level[370] and at the end of every art, And live and die in Aristotle’s works.5 Sweet Analytics,[371] ’tis thou hast ravish’d me, Bene disserere est finis logices. Is to dispute well logic’s chiefest end? Affords this art no greater miracle? Then read no more, thou hast attain’d the end; A greater subject fitteth Faustus’ wit.11 Bid ὂν καὶ μὴ ὄν[372] farewell; Galen come, Seeing Ubi desinit Philosophus, ibi incipit Medicus;[373] Be a physician, Faustus, heap up gold, And be eternis’d for some wondrous cure.15 Summum bonum medicinæ sanitas,[374] “The end of physic is our body’s health.” Why, Faustus, hast thou not attain’d that end? Is not thy common talk sound Aphorisms?[375] Are not thy bills[376] hung up as monuments,20 Whereby whole cities have escap’d the plague, And thousand desperate maladies been eas’d? Yet art thou still but Faustus and a man. Wouldst thou make men to live eternally, Or, being dead, raise them to life again?25 Then this profession were to be esteem’d. Physic, farewell.—Where is Justinian? [Reads.] Si una eademque res legatur duobus, alter rem, alter valorem rei, &c.[377] A pretty case of paltry legacies! [Reads.] Exhæreditare filium non potest pater nisi, &c.[378]30 Such is the subject of the Institute[379] And universal Body of the Law.[380] His[381] study fits a mercenary drudge, Who aims at nothing but external trash; Too servile and illiberal for me.35 When all is done, divinity is best; Jerome’s Bible,[382] 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.40 “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,45 “What will be shall be?” Divinity, adieu! These metaphysics of magicians And necromantic books are heavenly; Lines, circles, scenes, letters, and characters,49 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 artisan! All things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command. Emperors and kings Are but obeyed in their several provinces,56 Nor can they raise the wind or rend the clouds; But his dominion that exceeds[383] in this Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man. A sound magician is a mighty god:60 Here, Faustus, try thy[384] brains to gain a deity. Wagner! Enter Wagner. Commend me to my dearest friends, The German Valdes and Cornelius; Request them earnestly to visit me. Wag. I will, sir. 65 Exit. Faust. Their conference will be a greater help to me Than all my labours, plod I ne’er so fast.

G. Ang. O Faustus! lay that damned book aside, And gaze not upon it lest it tempt thy soul, And heap God’s heavy wrath upon thy head.70 Read, read the Scriptures: that is blasphemy. E. Ang. Go forward, Faustus, in that famous art, Wherein all Nature’s treasure is contain’d: Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky, Lord and commander of these elements.75 Exeunt [Angels.] Faust. How am I glutted with conceit[385] of this! Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please, Resolve me of all ambiguities, Perform what desperate enterprise I will? I’ll have them fly to India for gold,80 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;85 I’ll have them wall all Germany with brass, And make swift Rhine circle fair Wittenberg; I’ll have them fill the public schools with [silk],[386] Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad; I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring,90 And chase the Prince of Parma from our land,[387] And reign sole king of all the provinces; Yea, stranger engines for the brunt of war Than was the fiery keel[388] at Antwerp’s bridge, I’ll make my servile spirits to invent.95 Come, German Valdes and Cornelius, And make me blest with your sage conference. Enter Valdes and Cornelius.[389] Valdes, sweet Valdes, and Cornelius, Know that your words have won me at the last To practise magic and concealed arts:100 Yet not your words only, 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;105 Divinity is basest of the three, Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile: ’Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish’d me. Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt; And I that have with concise syllogisms110 Gravell’d the pastors of the German church, And made the flow’ring pride of Wittenberg Swarm to my problems, as the infernal spirits On sweet Musæus,[390] when he came to hell, Will be as cunning as Agrippa was,115 Whose shadows made all Europe honour him. Vald. Faustus, these books, thy wit, and our experience Shall make all nations to canónise us. As Indian Moors[391] obey their Spanish lords, So shall the subjects[392] of every element120 Be always serviceable to us three; Like lions shall they guard us when we please; Like Almain rutters[393] with their horsemen’s staves, Or Lapland giants, trotting by our sides; Sometimes like women or unwedded maids,125 Shadowing more beauty in their airy brows Than have the white breasts of the queen of love: From Venice shall they drag huge argosies, And from America the golden fleece That yearly stuffs old Philip’s treasury;130 If learned Faustus will be resolute. Faust. Valdes, as resolute am I in this As thou to live; therefore object it not. Corn. The miracles that magic will perform Will make thee vow to study nothing else.135 He that is grounded in astrology, Enrich’d with tongues, well seen[394] in minerals, Hath all the principles magic doth require. Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowm’d, And more frequented for this mystery140 Than heretofore the Delphian Oracle. The spirits tell me they can dry the sea, And fetch the treasure of all foreign wracks, Ay, all the wealth that our forefathers hid Within the massy entrails of the earth;145 Then tell me, Faustus, what shall we three want? Faust. Nothing, Cornelius! O this cheers my soul! Come show me some demonstrations magical, That I may conjure in some lusty grove, And have these joys in full possession.150 Vald. Then haste thee to some solitary grove, And bear wise Bacon’s[395] and Albanus’s[396] works, The Hebrew Psalter and New Testament; And whatsoever else is requisite154 We will inform thee ere our conference cease. Corn. Valdes, first let him know the words of art; And then, all other ceremonies learn’d, Faustus may try his cunning by himself. Vald. First I’ll instruct thee in the rudiments, And then wilt thou be perfecter than I.160 Faust. Then come and dine with me, and after meat, We’ll canvass every quiddity[397] thereof; For ere I sleep I’ll try what I can do: This night I’ll conjure though I die therefore. Exeunt.