Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, Vol. 07 of 10Fletcher, John
General
Beaumont and Fletcher's Works, Vol. 07 of 10
Fletcher, John
English drama
_Ju._ We are almost at home now, thou must go forward,
Perhaps 'twas my imagination.
_Lur._ 'Tis he?
_Boy._ I know him too, let me alone.
_Ser._ Oh Sir, a Ghost, the very Ghost of Mistress Bride,
I have no power to run away.
_Ju._ Cursed Ghost, bless me, preserve me,
I do command thee what so ere thou art,
I do conjure thee leave me; do not fright me;
If thou beest a devil vex me not so soon,
If thou beest
The spirit of my wife.
_Boy._ Thy Wife.
_Ju._ I shall be tormented.
_Boy._ Thy abus'd wife, that cannot peaceably
Enjoy her death, thou hast an evil conscience.
_Ju._ I know it.
_Boy._ Among thy other sins which black thy soul,
Call to thy mind thy vow made to another,
Whom thou hast wrong'd, and make her satisfaction
Now I am dead, thou perjur'd man: or else
A thousand black tormentors shall pursue thee,
Untill thou leap into eternal flames;
Where gold which thou ador[e]'st here on earth
Melted, the fiends shall powre into thy throat;
For this time pass, go home and think upon me.
_Lur._ Away.
_Ser._ There are more spirits.
_Ju._ Thank you dear wife,
I'll bestow twenty nobles of a Tomb for thee,
Thou shalt not walk and catch cold after death. [_They go Backward in._
_Lu._ So, so, they'r gone, 'twas my ingenious rascal:
But how dost thou know he made vows to another?
_Boy._ I over-heard the woman talk to night on't;
But now let's lose no time Sir, pray lets bury
This Gentlewoman, where's my Mistress?
_Enter Mistress._
_Mi._ Here I durst not tarry.
_Lu._ We ha so cosen'd the old forty i'th hundred,
And the devil hinder him not, he'll go a pilgrimage;
But come, about our business, set her down again.
_Mar._ Oh!
_Lur._ She groans, ha.
_Mar._ Oh!
_Lur._ Again, she stirs.
_Mi._ Lets fly, or else we shall be torn in pieces.
_Lur._ And you be good at that, bury your self,
Or let the Sexton take ye for his fee,
Away boy. [_Exit._
_Mar._ I am very cold, dead cold;
Where am I? What's this? a Coffin? where have I been?
Mercy defend me: Ha? I do remember
I was betray'd, and swounded, my heart akes,
I am wondrous hungry too, dead bodies eat not;
Sure I was meant for burial, I am frozen;
Death, 'like a cake of Ice dwells round about me;
Darkness spreads o're the world too, where? what path?
Best providence direct me. [_Exit._
_Actus Tertius._
_Enter Lady_, Wildbraine, Women, Toby.
_La._ Thou art the most unfortunate fellow.
_Wild._ Why Aunt what have I done?
_La._ The most malicious varlet,
Thy wicked head never at rest, but hammering,
And ha[t]ching hellish things, and to no purpose,
So thou mayst have thy base will.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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