Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T1: death, life, dead, die, blood, revenge, soul, father, heart, heaven.
Is this fair maid the prisoner? Fair without, but foul within. 'tis pity vice should bear A semblance of fair virtue, or be masked Under so sweet a veil, Sure by her looks I should not judge her guilty. That's a rule Deceives us, for the choicest fruits of all Ofttimes have rotten cores, and underneath The fairest Hours lurk most the foulest snakes. That cannot hold, Bring forth the prisoners; You are accused for poisoning Cibile, How do you answer this? Who's my accuser? myself, and these my servants, who were present When the old woman died, and heard her name Thee, and that other guilty of her death; Canst thou deny the fact? I'll answer thee Proud dame, if my Theagines live yet, I say, I am not guilty of this murder, But if by thy most damnable attempts His purer soul hath left the earthly prison Of his fair body, I declare myself Guilty of this and whatsoever else Thy malice can invent, I was the woman That poisoned then thy nurse, who trained thee up To all those goodly virtues of thy mind; I do desire to suffer, kill me straight That I may meet my lover, who so stoutly Resisted thy foul lust, and lewd enticements, Choosing to die rather than condescend. Base quean, how durst thou take unto thyself Such liberty of speech? judicious sirs. And magistrates of Persia, understand That this she saith is false touching my honour; I take the gods to witness that when first This woman and her friend came to the Palace, I entertained them as became the state Of greater persons, and so long continued My favours to them till by open proof I found they came as spies to Memphis sent From King Hydaspes army, then indeed I did begin to draw back my affection, Many more things inciting me to do it Which I forbear to speak of, but in brief Although I loved this maid so as to make her My bosom-friend, and my most dear companion, She hath repaid me as you see, and poisoned My trusty woman, is't not to be doubted Her purpose stretched yet further, even to me? I do confess yet once again, I poisoned Thy nurse, and would have done so much to thee Had I not been prevented. O Cariclea, Unhappy maid, why dost thou wrongfully Accuse thyself, and draw on death upon thee? Hear me right grave and most impartial Judges, There is no fault in her, I only, I Gave Cibile the poison by mistake, Which was prepared for this virtuous maid By that old beldame, this is true, or else Ye gods hurl down your thunder on my head. But how came this mistake? make it more plain. Old Cibile my mistress did prepare This cup for fair Cariclea, I was forced To have a hand in't too; when I should give The poisoned cup unto Cariclea, And Cibile the other, I know not Whither being troubled with so strange a deed Or hastily called on by Cibile, I changed the cups, and poisoned the old woman.
nodes 2059–2132 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 35 of 44 in this edition
Length
522 words · 668 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T1 — Death, grief and revengecross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.737 (cosine to the topic centroid)
Other seeds
seed 43: unassigned · seed 44: T1 — topic numbers are assigned independently in each run; equal or different numbers say nothing by themselves
Original spelling (EEBO-TCP, unregularized)
Is this faire maid the priſoner? Faire without, but foule within. Tis pitty vice ſhould beare A ſemblance of faire vertue, or be maſk'd Under ſo ſweet a vaile, Sure by her lookes I ſhould not judge her guiltie. That's a rule Deceives us, for the choiceſt fruites of all Ofttimes have rotten cores, and underneath The faireſt Howers lurke moſt the fouleſt ſnakes. That cannot hold, Bring forth the priſoners; You are accus'd for poyſoning Cibile, How doe you anſwer this? Who's my accuſer? My ſelfe, and theſe my ſervants, who were preſent When the old woman dy'd, and heard her name Thee, ad that other guilty of her death; Canſt thou deny the fact? Ile anſwer thee Proud dame, if my Theagines live yet, I ſay, I am not guilty of this murther, But if by thy moſt damnable attempts His purer ſoule hath left the earthly priſon Of his faire body, I declare my ſelfe Guilty of this and whatſoever elſe Thy malice can invent, I was the woman That poiſon'd then thy nurſe, who train'd thee up To all thoſe goodly vertues of thy mind; I doe deſire to ſuffer, kill me ſtraight That I may meet my lover, who ſo ſtoutly Reſiſted thy foule luſt, and lewd enticements, Chooſing to die rather then condeſcend. Baſe queane, how durſt thou take unto thy ſelfe Such liberty of ſpeech? judicious sirs. And magiſtrates of Perſia, underſtand That this ſhe ſaith is falſe touching my honour; I take the gods to witneſſe that when firſt This woman and her friend came to the Palace, I entertain'd them as became the ſtate Of greater perſons, and ſo long continued My favours to them till by open proofe I found they came as ſpies to Memphis ſent From King Hydaſpes army, then indeed I did begin to draw backe my affection, Many more things inciting me to doe it Which I forbeare to ſpeake of, but in briefe Although I lov'd this maid ſo as to make her My boſom-friend, and my moſt deare companion, She hath repaid me as you ſee, and poiſon'd My truſty woman, is't not to be doubted Her purpoſe ſtretch'd yet further, even to me? I doe confeſſe yet once againe, I poiſon'd Thy nurſe, and would have done ſo much to thee Had I not beene prevented. O Cariclea, Unhappy maid, why doſt thou wrongfully Accuſe thy ſelfe, and draw on death upon thee? Heare me right grave and moſt impartiall Judges, There is no fault in her, I onely, I Gave Cibile the poiſon by miſtake, Which was prepared for this vertuous mayd By that old beldame, this is true, or elſe Ye gods hurle downe your thunder on my head. But how came this miſtake? make it more plaine. Old Cibile my miſtris did prepare This cup for faire Cariclea, I was forc'd To have a hand in't too; when I ſhould give The poiſon'd cup unto Cariclea, And Cibile the other, I know not Whither being troubled with ſo ſtrange a deed Or haſtily cal'd on by Cibil, I chang'd the cups, and poiſon'd the old woman.