The Tragedy of Charles Duke of Byron · chunk 34 of 37
Chapman, George · published 1608 · first performed or written 1608 [1607-1608] (Annals) tragedy · Children of the Queen's Revels T1 Death, grief and revenge typicality 0.78 · 480 words
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T1: death, life, dead, die, blood, revenge, soul, father, heart, heaven.
Horror of death, let me alone in peace, And leave my soul to me, whom it concerns; You have no charge of it; I feel her free, How she doth rouse, and like a Falcon stretch Her silver wings; as threatening death, with death; At whom I joyfully will cast her off: I know this body but a sink of folly, The groundwork, and raised frame of woe and frailty. The bond, and bundle of corruption; A quick corpse, only sensible of grief, A walking sepulchre, or household thief: A glass of air, broken with less than breath, A slave bound face to face, to death, till death: And what said all you more? I know, besides That life is but a dark and stormy night, Of senseless dreams, terrors, and broken sleeps; A Tyranny, devising pains to plague And make man long in dying, racks his death; And death is nothing, what can you say more? I bring a long Globe, and a little earth, Am seated like earth betwixt both the heavens: That if I rise; to heaven I rise; if fall I likewise fall to heaven; what stronger faith, Hath any of your souls? what say you more? Why lose I time in these things? talk of knowledge, It serves for inward use. I will not die Like to a Clergy man; but like the Captain, That prayed on horseback and with sword in hand, threatened the Sun, commanding it to stand; These are but ropes of sand. Desire you then, To speak with any man? I would speak with La Force, and Saint Blancart. Do they fly me? Where is Provost, controller of my house? Gone to his house i'th' country three days since. He should have stayed here, he keeps all my blanks; O all the world forsakes me! wretched world, Consisting most of parts, that fly each other: A firmness, breeding all inconstancy, A bond of all disjunction; like a man Long buried, is a man that long hath lived; Touch him, he falls to ashes; for one fault, I forfeit all the fashion of a man; Why should I keep my soul in this dark light? Whose black beams lighted me to lose myself. When I have lost my arms, my fame, my wind, Friends, brother, hopes, fortunes, and even my fury? O happy were the man, could live alone, To know no man, nor be of any known! My Lord, it is the manner once again To read the sentence? Yet more sentences? How often will ye make me suffer death? As ye were proud to hear your powreful domes? I know and feel you were the men that gave it, And die most cruelly to hear so often My crimes and bitter condemnation urged: Suffice it, I am brought here; and obey, And that all here are privy to the crimes.
nodes 2140–2199 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 34 of 37 in this edition
Length
480 words · 623 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T1 — Death, grief and revengecross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.784 (cosine to the topic centroid)
Other seeds
seed 43: T10 · seed 44: T1 — topic numbers are assigned independently in each run; equal or different numbers say nothing by themselves
Original spelling (EEBO-TCP, unregularized)
Horror of death, let me alone in peace, And leaue my soule to me, whome it concernes; You haue no charge of it; I feele her free, How she doth rowze, and like a Faulcon stretch Her siluer wings; as threatening death, with death; At whom I ioyfully will cast her off: I know this bodie but a sinck of folly, The ground-work, and rais'd frame of woe and frailtie▪ The bond, and bundle of corruption; A quick corse, onely sensible of griefe, A walking sepulcher, or household thiefe: A glasse of ayre, broken with lesse then breath, A slaue bound face to face, to death, til death: And what sayd all you more? I know, besides That life is but a darke and stormy night, Of sencelesse dreames, terrors, and broken sleepes; A Tyranie, deuising paines to plague And make man long in dying, racks his death; And death is nothing, what can you say more? I bring a long Globe, and a little earth, Am seated like earth betwixt both the heauens: That if I rise; to heauen I rise; if fall I likewise fall to heauen; what stronger faith, Hath any of your soules? what say you more? Why lose I time in these things? talke of knowledge, It serues for inward vse. I will not die Like to a Clergie man; but like the Captaine, That prayd on horse-back and with sword in hand, Threatend the Sunne, commanding it to stand; These are but ropes of sand. Desire you then, To speake with any man? I would speake with La Force, and Saint Blancart. Do they flie me? Where is Prust, controwler of my house? Gone to his house ith countrie three daies since. He should haue stayd here, he keepes all my blancks▪ O all the world forsakes me! wretched world, Consisting most of parts, that flie each other: A firmnesse, breeding all inconstancy, A bond of all disiunction; like a man Long buried, is a man that long hath liu'd; Touch him, he falls to ashes; for one fault, I forfeite all the fashion of a man; Why should I keepe my soule in this dark light? Whose black beames lighted me to loose my selfe. When I haue lost my armes, my fame, my winde, Friends, brother, hopes, fortunes, and euen my furie? O happie were the man, could liue alone, To know no man, nor be of any knowne! My Lord, it is the manner once againe To read the sentence? Yet more sentences? How often will yee make me suffer death? As yee were proud to heare your powreful domes? I know and feele you were the men that gaue it, And die most cruellie to heare so often My crimes and bitter condemnation vrdg'd: Suffize it, I am brought here; and obey, And that all here are priuie to the crimes.