Rutter, Joseph / Corneille, Pierre · published 1637 · first performed or written 1637 [1637-1638] (Annals) not in BritDrama · before the Court T1 Death, grief and revenge typicality 0.84 · 484 words
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T1: death, life, dead, die, blood, revenge, soul, father, heart, heaven.
STrooke to the very heart, with a blow as fatal As unforeseen; what shall I do? I must Revenge my father, and provoke my mistress, Either betray my honour, or my love, It were a better choice for me to die Than to do either: If I revenge my father, I must lose My love; if not, I must live infamous; How can I live, having lost all I live for? But infamy pursues me after death. On then my soul, and rather choose to die Losing thy love, than live ingloriously, And start not at the name of the offender, Because he is the father of thy mistress, But rather think thine own received the offence, And thou art bound to give the recompense. I Must needs say, when I did give th' affront My blood was overheated, and my hand Somewhat too ready, but now who can help it? Since it is done, it cannot be recalled. Faith, Let your courage stoop to the Kings will, He takes the business much to heart, and being So highly incensed, believe it he'll proceed With his full power, and then what defence Can you make for yourself, when th' affront, And its high quality shall be aggravated By the person of th' offended, and the place. These will require of you, my Lord, submissions Beyond all ordinary satisfaction. Then let him take my life, 'tis in his power. Abate some of your heat, and hear what's reason, Will you not seek to appease a Prince that loves you He says, I'll ha' this done, will not you do it? Sir, to preserve my honour, I cannot think 'Tis such a crime, somewhat to disobey, But were it greater, what I've done for him, Would be more than enough to make my excuse. Suppose you've done all that a man can think In the king's service: is he bound to thank you? Can a Prince be beholding to a subject? You are too much o'erweening, you must know, He that best serves his King does but his duty, If you think otherwise, you are undone. I shall believe you when I find it so. you can't but fear the power of the King. One day destroys not such a man as I am. Let him arm all his power to punish me, The state shall rather perish, than I suffer. Do you so little fear the sovereign power? What? of that Sceptre? which if not for me Had ere now fall'n out of his hand: my person Is Sir, of so much consequence to the King, That if my head fall, his crown cannot stand. My Lord, give reason leave to settle you, Think on't a little. The thought's already taken. What shall I say then? I must give him an account. This: that I know not how to give consent To mine own shame.
before the Court;Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional
Genre (British Drama)
not in BritDrama
Play type
Boys Professional;Professional;Translation
Edition / TCP / DEEP
edition 1059 · TCP A19346 · DEEP 878
Edition role
Representative edition — used in the analysis
Position
nodes 304–362 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 6 of 27 in this edition
Length
484 words · 612 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T1 — Death, grief and revengecross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.839 (cosine to the topic centroid)
Other seeds
seed 43: T7 · seed 44: T1 — topic numbers are assigned independently in each run; equal or different numbers say nothing by themselves
Original spelling (EEBO-TCP, unregularized)
STrooke to the very heart, with a blow as fatall As un-foreſeene; what ſhall I doe? I muſt Revenge my father, and provoke my miſtreſſe, Either betray my honour, or my love, It were a better choice for me to die Than to doe either: If I revenge my father, I muſt loſe My love; if not, I muſt live infamous; How can I live, having loſt all I live for? But infamy purſues me after death. On then my ſoule, and rather chuſe to die Loſing thy love, than live ingloriouſly, And ſtart not at the name of the offender, Becauſe he is the father of thy miſtreſſe, But rather thinke thine owne receiv'd the offence, And thou art bound to give the recompence. I Muſt needs ſay, when I did give th' affront My bloud was over-heated, and my hand Somewhat too ready, but now who can help it? Since it is done, it cannot be recall'd. Faith, Let your courage ſtoope to the Kings will, He takes the buſineſſe much to heart, and being So highly incens'd, beleeve it hee'le proceed With his full power, and then what defence Can you make for your ſelfe, when th' affront, And it's high quality ſhall be aggravated By the perſon of th' offended, and the place. Theſe will require of you, my Lord, ſubmiſſions Beyond all ordinary ſatisfaction. Then let him take my life, 'tis in his power. Abate ſome of your heat, and heare what's reaſon, Will you not ſeeke to appeaſe a Prince that loves you He ſayes, I'le ha' this done, will not you doe it? Sir, to preſerve my honour, I cannot thinke 'Tis ſuch a crime, ſomewhat to diſobey, But were it greater, what I've done for him, Would be more than enough to make my excuſe. Suppoſe you've done all that a man can thinke In the Kings ſervice: is he bound to thanke you? Can a Prince be beholding to a ſubject? You are too much o're-weening, you muſt know, He that beſt ſerves his King does but his duty, If you thinke otherwiſe, you are undone. I ſhall beleeve you when I finde it ſo. Yout can't but feare the power of the King. One day deſtroyes not ſuch a man as I am. Let him arme all his power to puniſh me, The ſtate ſhall rather periſh, than I ſuffer. Doe you ſo little feare the ſoveraigne power? What? of that Scepter? which if not for me Had ere now falne out of his hand: my perſon Is Sir, of ſo much conſequence to the King, That if my head fall, his crowne cannot ſtand. My Lord, give reaſon leave to ſettle you, Thinke on't a little. The thought's already taken. What ſhall I ſay then? I muſt give him an account. This: that I know not how to give conſent To mine owne ſhame.