How a Man May Choose a Good Wife from a Bad · chunk 42 of 43
Anonymous · published 1602 · first performed or written 1602 [c.1601-1602] (Annals) comedy · Worcester's Men T1 Death, grief and revenge typicality 0.69 · 496 words
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T1: death, life, dead, die, blood, revenge, soul, father, heart, heaven.
ay but who sold the poison unto him? That must be likewise known, speak schoolmaster. A man verbosus, that was a fine generosus, He was a great guller, his name I take to be Fuller: See where he stands that unto my hands conveyed a powder, And like a knave sen her to her grave obscurely to shroud her. Lay hands on him, are you a poison seller? Bring him before us, sirrah what say you, Sold you a poison to this honest man? I sold no poison, but I gave him one To kill his Rats. Ha, ha, I smell a Rat. You sold him poison then to kill his Rats? The word to kill, argues a murderous mind: And you are brought in compass of the murder: So set him by we will not hear him speak. That Arthur Fuller and the schoolmaster Shall by the judges be examined. Sir if my friend may not speak for himself Yet let me his proceedings justify. What's he that will a murder justify? Lay hands on him, lay hands on him I say, For justifiers are all accessaries, And accessaries have deserved to die. A way with him, we will not hear him speak, They all shall to the high Commissioners. Nay stay them, stay them yet a little while, I bring a warrant to the contrary, And I will please all parties presently. I think my wives ghost haunts me to my death, Wretch that I was to shorten her lives breath. Whom do I see my sons wife? What my daughter? Is it not Mistress Arthur that we see, That long since buried we supposed to be. This man is condemned for poisoning of his wife, His poisoned wife yet lives, and I am she: And therefore justly I release his bands. This man for suffering him these drugs to take, Is likewise bound, release him for my sake. This gentleman that first the poison gave, And this his friend to be released I crave. Murder there cannot be where none is killed, Her blood is saved whom you supposed was spilled. Father in law I give you here your son, The act's to do, which you supposed was done. And father now joy in your daughter's life, Whom heaven hath still kept to be Arthur's wife. O welcome, welcome, daughter now I see, God by his power hath preserved thee. And 'tis my wench whom I supposed was dead, My joy revives, and my sad woe is fled. I know not what I am, nor where I am, My souls transported to an ecstasy, For hope and joy confound my memory. What do I see, lives Arthur's wife again? Nay then I labour for his death in vain. What secret force did in nature lurk; That in her soul the poison would not work? How can it be the poison took no force? She lives with that which would have killed a horse.
nodes 2377–2437 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 42 of 43 in this edition
Length
496 words · 609 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T1 — Death, grief and revengecross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.687 (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)
I but who sold the poison vnto him? That must be likewise knowne, speake schoole-maister. A man verbosus, that was a fine generosus, He was a great guller, his name I take to be Fuller: See where he stands that vnto my hands conueyeda powder, And like a knaue sen her to her graue obscurely to shroud her. Laie hands on him, are you a poison seller? Bring him before vs, sirra what say you, Sold you a poison to this honest man? I sold no poison, but I gaue him one To kill his Rats. Ha, ha, I smell a Rat. You sold him poison then to kill his Rats? The word to kill, argues a murdrous mind: And you are brought in compasse of the murder: So set him by we will not heare him speake. That Arthur Fuller and the schoole-maister Shall by the Iudges be examined. Sir if my friend may not speak for himself Yet let me his proceedings iustifie. Whats he that will a murther iustifie? Lay hands on him, laie hands on him I say, For iustifiers are all accessaries, And accessaries haue deseru'd to die. A way with him, we will not heare him speake, They all shall to the high Commissioners. Nay stay them, stay them yet a little while, I bring a warrant to the contrary, And I will please all parties presently. I thinke my wiues ghost haunts me to my death, Wretch that I was to shorten her liues breath. Whom do I see my sonnes wife? What my daughter? Is it not Mistris Arthur that we see, That long since buried we supposde to bee. This man is cōdemd for poysoning of his wife, His poysoned wife yet liues, and I am she: And therefore iustly I release his bands. This man for suffring him these drugs to take, Is likewise bound, release him for my sake. This gentleman that first the poyson gaue, And this his friend to be releasd I craue. Murther there cannot be where none is kild, Her blood is sau'd whom you suppos'd was spild. Father in law I giue you here your sonne, The act's to do, which you suppos'd was donne. And father now ioy in your daughters life, Whom heauen hath still kept to be Arthurs wife. O welcome, welcome, daughter now I see, God by his power hath preserued thee. And tis my wench whom I suppos'd was dead, My ioy reuiues, and my sad woe is fled. I know not what I am, nor where I am, My soules transported to an extasie, For hope and ioy confound my memorie. What do I see, liues Arthurs wife againe? Nay then I labour for his death in vaine. What seeret force did in nature lurke; That in her soule the poyson would not worke? How can it be the poysan tooke no force? She liues with that which wold haue kild a horse.