The Duchess of Malfi

  PESCARA.  How now, my lord!  MALATESTI.                   O sad disaster!  RODERIGO.                                     How comes this?  BOSOLA.  Revenge for the Duchess of Malfi murdered  By the Arragonian brethren; for Antonio  Slain by this hand; for lustful Julia  Poison'd by this man; and lastly for myself,  That was an actor in the main of all  Much 'gainst mine own good nature, yet i' the end  Neglected.  PESCARA.    How now, my lord!  CARDINAL.                      Look to my brother:  He gave us these large wounds, as we were struggling  Here i' th' rushes.  And now, I pray, let me  Be laid by and never thought of.[Dies.]  PESCARA.  How fatally, it seems, he did withstand  His own rescue!  MALATESTI.       Thou wretched thing of blood,  How came Antonio by his death?  BOSOLA.  In a mist; I know not how:  Such a mistake as I have often seen  In a play.  O, I am gone!  We are only like dead walls or vaulted graves,  That, ruin'd, yield no echo.  Fare you well.  It may be pain, but no harm, to me to die  In so good a quarrel.  O, this gloomy world!  In what a shadow, or deep pit of darkness,  Doth womanish and fearful mankind live!  Let worthy minds ne'er stagger in distrust  To suffer death or shame for what is just:  Mine is another voyage.[Dies.]  PESCARA.  The noble Delio, as I came to th' palace,  Told me of Antonio's being here, and show'd me  A pretty gentleman, his son and heir.

[Enter DELIO, and ANTONIO'S Son]

  MALATESTI.  O sir, you come too late!  DELIO.                                 I heard so, and  Was arm'd for 't, ere I came.  Let us make noble use  Of this great ruin; and join all our force  To establish this young hopeful gentleman  In 's mother's right.  These wretched eminent things  Leave no more fame behind 'em, than should one  Fall in a frost, and leave his print in snow;  As soon as the sun shines, it ever melts,  Both form and matter.  I have ever thought  Nature doth nothing so great for great men  As when she 's pleas'd to make them lords of truth:  Integrity of life is fame's best friend,  Which nobly, beyond death, shall crown the end.

Exeunt.

END OF PLAY

1

Malfi. The presence-chamber in the palace of the Duchess.

2

Prevent.

3

The same.

4

The reference is to the knightly sport of riding at the ring.

5

At the expense of.

6

Rolls of lint used to dress wounds.

7

Surgeons.

8

A small horse.

9

Ballasted.

10

A lively dance.

11

Throws into the shade.

12

At the point of.

13

Coaches.

14

Spy.

15

Cheats.

16

Spy.

17

Malfi. Gallery in the Duchess' palace.

18

Lustful.

19

Genesis xxxi., 31-42.

20

The net in which he caught Venus and Mars.

21

Housekeepers.

22

Produced.

23

Qq. read STRANGE.

24

Guess.

25

The phrase used to indicate that accounts had been examined and found correct.

26

Using words of present time; i.e., "I take," not "I will take."

27

Knot.

28

More firmly.

29

Of difficult disposition.

30

Malfi. An apartment in the palace of the Duchess.

31

Chief part.

32

Bullies (Hazlitt); lawyers (Vaughan).

33

Royal journey.

34

Turning a boat on its side for repairs.

35

Scabbed.

36

Empty.

37

Face-modeling (Sampson). "There's a plain statement of your practises."

38

Blue like those of a woman with child.

39

Scurf.

40

Person of highest influence.

41

Hysteria.

42

This year.

43

Clearly.

44

Youngster.

45

A hall in the same palace.

46

Crossness.

47

Always.

48

The meaner servants.

49

At once.

50

Cast his horoscope.

51

The court of the same palace.

52

Making an astrological calculation.

53

Going to the root of the matter.

54

Write.

55

i. e., on his handkerchief.

56

Addressing the lantern.

57

"The rest not considered."

58

A piece of news.

59

Cleverly contrived.

60

Rome. An apartment in the palace of the Cardinal.

61

Religious recluse.

62

Experienced.

63

Sick.

64

Medicinal.

65

Strong broth.

66

Another apartment in the same palace.

67

The mandrake was supposed to give forth shrieks when uprooted, which drove the hearer mad.

68

Unchaste.

69

Supposed to be a sign of folly.

70

Throw the hammer.

71

Boil to shreds. (Dyce.) Qq, TO BOIL.

72

Malfi. An apartment in the palace of the Duchess.

73

Wealth.

74

Lampoons.

75

Plowshares.

76

Spying.

77

Deceptions.

78

Soothing.

79

The bed-chamber of the Duchess in the same.

80

Qq. read SLIGHT.

81

Powder of orris-root.

82

Wheels of craft.

83

Certificate that the books were found correct.

84

The badge of a steward.

85

Spies.

86

Lot.

87

For Plutus.

88

Quick steps.

89

Miss.

90

Remains.

91

Profession.

92

An apartment in the Cardinal's palace at Rome.

93

A decorated horse-cloth, used only when the court is traveling.

94

The first quarto has in the margin: "The Author disclaims this Ditty to be his."

95

Near Loretto.

96

Small birds.

97

His vizard.

98

Malfi. An apartment in the palace of the Duchess.

99

Curtain.

100

The wife of Brutus, who died by swallowing fire.

101

By artificial means.

102

Profession.

103

Spying.

104

Another room in the lodging of the Duchess.

105

Band.

106

Bands.

107

Boil.

108

Punning on the two senses of "dye" and "corn."

109

From exporting his grain.

110

Optical glass.

111

The Geneva Bible.

112

Petticoat.

113

Coach.

114

A warm drink containing milk, wine, etc.

115

Receptacle.

116

A drug supposed to ooze from embalmed bodies.

117

Curdled.

118

Trial.

119

An exclamation of impatience.

120

Milan. A public place.

121

In escheat; here, in fee.

122

Disbeliever.

123

Fraught.

124

A gallery in the residence of the Cardinal and Ferdinand.

125

A dog which worries sheep.

126

A fabulous serpent that killed by its glance.

127

Cut a caper.

128

Broth.

129

Skeletons.

130

So Dyce. Qq. BROUGHT.

131

Perfumed sweetmeats for the breath.

132

Smoke.

133

A fortification.

134

Milan. An apartment in the residence of the Cardinal and Ferdinand.

135

Reality.

136

Mistake.

137

i. e., the dead body.

138

Another apartment in the same.