The Tragedy of Charles Duke of Byron · chunk 36 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 0.76 · 515 words
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T1: death, life, dead, die, blood, revenge, soul, father, heart, heaven.
Go, go? can all go thus? And no man come with comfort? farewell world: He is at no end of his actions blessed, Whose ends will make him greatest, and not best; They tread no ground, but ride in air on storms, That follow State, and hunt their empty forms; Who see not that the Valleys of the world, Make even right with the Mountains? that they grow Green, and lie warmer; and ever peaceful are, When Clouds spit fire as Hills, and burn them bare? Not Valleys part, but we should imitate Streams, That run below the Valleys, and do yield To every Molehill; every Bank embrace That checks their Currants; and when Torrents come, That swell and raise them past their natural height, How mad they are, and troubled? like low strains With Torrents crowned, are men with Diadems; My Lord 'tis late; wilt please you to go up? Up? 'tis a fair preferment, ha ha ha, There should go shouts to up-shots; not a breath Of any mercy, yet? come, since we must; whose's this? The executioner, my Lord; Death slave, down, or by the blood that moves me I'll pluck thy throat out; go, I'll call you straight, Hold boy; and this, Soft boy I'll bar you that Take this then, yet I pray thee, that again I do not joy in sight of such a Pageant As presents death; Though this life have a curse; 'tis better than another, that is worse; My Lord, now you are blind to this world's sight, Look upward to a world of endless light; ay, ay, you talk of upward still to others, And downwards look, with headlong eyes yourselves. Now come you up sir; But not touch me yet; Where shall I be now? Here my Lord; Where's that? There, there, my Lord; And where, slave, is that there? Thou seest I see not? yet I speak as I saw; Well, now be't fit? Kneel, I beseech your Grace, That I may do mine office with most order; Do it, and if at one blow thou art short, Give one and thirty, I'll endure them all. Hold; stay a little; comes there yet no mercy? High Heaven curse these exemplary proceedings, When justice fails, they sacrifice our example; Let me beseech you, I may cut your hair; Out ugly Image of my cruel justice; Yet wilt thou be before me, stay my will, Or by the will of Heaven I'll strangle thee; My Lord you make too much of this your body, Which is no more your own; Nor is it yours; I'll take my death, with all the horrid rites And representments, of the dread it merits; Let tame Nobility, and numbed fools That apprehend not what they undergo, Be such exemplary, and formal sheep; I will not have him touch me, till I will; If you will needs rack me beyond my reason, Hell take me, but I'll strangle half that's here, And force the rest to kill me. I'll leap down If but once more they tempt me to despair;
nodes 2250–2316 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 36 of 37 in this edition
Length
515 words · 685 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T1 — Death, grief and revengecross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.763 (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)
Go, go? can all go thus? And no man come with comfort? farewell world: He is at no end of his actions blest, Whose ends will make him greatest, and not best; They tread no ground, but ride in ayre on stormes, That follow State, and hunt their empty formes; Who see not that the Valleys of the world, Make euen right with the Mountains? that they grow Greene, and lye warmer; and euer peacefull are, When Clowdes spit fire as Hilles, and burne them bare? Not Valleys part, but we should imitate Streames, That run below the Valleys, and do yeeld To euery Mole-hill; euery Banke imbrace That checks their Currants; and when Torrents come, That swell and raise them past their naturall height, How madde they are, and trubl'd? like low straines With Torrents crownd, are men with Diademes; My Lord tis late; wilt please you to go vp? Vp? tis a faire preferment, ha ha ha, There should go showtes to vp-shots; not a breath Of any mercy, yet? come, since we must; Whose this? The executioner, my Lord; Death slaue, downe, or by the blood that moues me Ile plucke thy throat out; goe, Ile call you straight, Hold boy; and this, Soft boy ile barre you that Take this then, yet I pray thee, that againe I do not ioy in sight of such a Pageant As presents death; Though this life haue a cursse; Tis better then another, that is worse; My Lord, now you are blinde to this worlds sight, Looke vpward to a world of endles light; I, I, you talke of vpward still to others, And downwards looke, with headlong eyes your selues. Now come you vp sir; But not touch me yet; Where shall I be now? Heere my Lord; Wheres that? There, there, my Lord; And where, slaue, is that there? Thou seest I see not? yet I speake as I saw; Well, now ist fit? Kneele, I beseech your Grace, That I may do mine office with most order; Do it, and if at one blow thou art short, Giue one and thirty, Ile indure them all. Hold; stay a little; comes there yet no mercy? High Heauen curse these exemplarie proceedings, When Iustice failes, they sacrifize our example; Let me beseech you, I may cut your haire; Out vgly Image of my cruell Iustice; Yet wilt thou be before me, stay my will, Or by the will of Heauen Ile strangle thee; My Lord you make to much of this your body, Which is no more your owne; Nor is it yours; Ile take my death, with all the horride rites And representments, of the dread it merits; Let tame Nobilitie, and nummed fooles That apprehend not what they vndergo, Be such exemplarie, and formall sheepe; I will not haue him touch me, till I will; If you will needs racke me beyond my reason, Hell take me, but Ile strangle halfe thats here, And force the rest to kill me▪ Ile leape downe If but once more they tempt me to dispaire;