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Post by Kipuka Theatre Admin on Jun 27, 2012 8:03:27 GMT -10
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 concealèd 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.
'Tis magic, magic, that hath ravished me.
Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt
And I, that have with concise syllogisms
Graveled the pastors of the German church
And made the flowering pride of Wittenberg
Swarm to my problems, as the infernal spirits
On sweet Musaeus when he came to hell,
Will be as cunning as Agrippa was,
Whose dark arts made all Europe honor 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 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 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,
If learnèd 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,
Enriched with tongues, well seen in minerals,
Hath all the principles magic doth require.
Then doubt not, Faustus, but to be renowned
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,
Yay, 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, show 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 Albanus' 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 learned,
Faustus may try his cunning by himself.
VALDES. First I'll instruct thee in the rudiments,
And then wilt thou be more perfect 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 ALL.]
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Post by Lani on Jun 30, 2012 7:12:18 GMT -10
How could Faust possibly NOT want to proceed after hearing such words ^_^
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Post by Kaitlyn on Jul 2, 2012 6:18:17 GMT -10
I know, right? and it makes me think even further of the power of friends and respected colleagues--even though our friends will often look out for our own good, friends are also our best co-conspirators... enablers...
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Tuan
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by Tuan on Jul 9, 2012 19:15:27 GMT -10
Often times you go along with what your friends want because you want to stay accepted by them. For instance, if you are not the type who enjoys partying hard on a weeknight, but you've declined two weeks in a row already then one would often feel a kind of pressure to go on the next invite regardless of whether you want to or not.
Faust knew about his friends' abilities and what they wanted prior to this moment but never joined them. Why now does he take up their offer and say "Know that your words have won me at the last"?
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