The Duchess of Malfi John Webster (intellectual books to read TXT) đ
- Author: John Webster
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All the mad-folk, and place them near her lodging;
There let them practise together, sing and dance,
And act their gambols to the full oâ thâ moon:
If she can sleep the better for it, let her.
Your work is almost ended. Bosola
Must I see her again?
FerdinandYes.
BosolaNever.
FerdinandYou must.
BosolaNever in mine own shape;
Thatâs forfeited by my intelligence91
And this last cruel lie: when you send me next,
The business shall be comfort.
Very likely;
Thy pity is nothing of kin to thee, Antonio
Lurks about Milan: thou shalt shortly thither,
To feed a fire as great as my revenge,
Which nevâr will slack till it hath spent his fuel:
Intemperate agues make physicians cruel.
Another room in the lodging of the Duchess.
Enter Duchess and Cariola. DuchessWhat hideous noise was that?
CariolaâTis the wild consort92
Of madmen, lady, which your tyrant brother
Hath placâd about your lodging. This tyranny,
I think, was never practisâd till this hour.
Indeed, I thank him. Nothing but noise and folly
Can keep me in my right wits; whereas reason
And silence make me stark mad. Sit down;
Discourse to me some dismal tragedy.
O, âtwill increase your melancholy!
DuchessThou art deceivâd:
To hear of greater grief would lessen mine.
This is a prison?
Yes, but you shall live
To shake this durance off.
Thou art a fool:
The robin-red-breast and the nightingale
Never live long in cages.
Pray, dry your eyes.
What think you of, madam?
Of nothing;
When I muse thus, I sleep.
Like a madman, with your eyes open?
DuchessDost thou think we shall know one another
In thâ other world?
Yes, out of question.
DuchessO, that it were possible we might
But hold some two daysâ conference with the dead!
From them I should learn somewhat, I am sure,
I never shall know here. Iâll tell thee a miracle:
I am not mad yet, to my cause of sorrow:
Thâ heaven oâer my head seems made of molten brass,
The earth of flaming sulphur, yet I am not mad.
I am acquainted with sad misery
As the tannâd galley-slave is with his oar;
Necessity makes me suffer constantly,
And custom makes it easy. Who do I look like now?
Like to your picture in the gallery,
A deal of life in show, but none in practice;
Or rather like some reverend monument
Whose ruins are even pitied.
Very proper;
And Fortune seems only to have her eyesight
To behold my tragedy.â âHow now!
What noise is that?
I am come to tell you
Your brother hath intended you some sport.
A great physician, when the Pope was sick
Of a deep melancholy, presented him
With several sorts93 of madmen, which wild object
Being full of change and sport, forcâd him to laugh,
And so the imposthume94 broke: the selfsame cure
The duke intends on you.
Let them come in.
ServantThereâs a mad lawyer; and a secular priest;
A doctor that hath forfeited his wits
By jealousy; an astrologian
That in his works said such a day oâ the month
Should be the day of doom, and, failing ofât,
Ran mad; an English tailor crazâd iâ the brain
With the study of new fashions; a gentleman-usher
Quite beside himself with care to keep in mind
The number of his ladyâs salutations
Or âHow do you,â she employâd him in each morning;
A farmer, too, an excellent knave in grain,95
Mad âcause he was hindâred transportation:96
And let one broker thatâs mad loose to these,
Youâd think the devil were among them.
Sit, Cariola.â âLet them loose when you please,
For I am chainâd to endure all your tyranny.
Here by a Madman this song is sung to a dismal kind of music.
O, let us howl some heavy note,
Some deadly dogged howl,
Sounding as from the threatening throat
Of beasts and fatal fowl!
As ravens, screech-owls, bulls, and bears,
Weâll bell, and bawl our parts,
Till irksome noise have cloyâd your ears
And corrosivâd your hearts.
At last, whenas our choir wants breath,
Our bodies being blest,
Weâll sing, like swans, to welcome death,
And die in love and rest.
Is he
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