And by the magic of true eloquence
Transform'd this many-headed Cerberus,
This pied camelion,—this beast multitude,
Whose power consists in number, pride in threats
Yet melt like snow when majesty shines forth."
In a very spirited style is likewise the whole of the first scene[1], Act V.
Faustus is well censured by Hazlitt, who esteems it, on the whole, as Marlow's greatest work. "Faustus himself is a rude sketch, but it is a gigantic one. As the outline of the character is grand and daring, the execution is abrupt and fearful. The thoughts are vast and irregular, and the style halts and staggers under them with uneasy steps." Milton may have had in his eye the following passages:—
"Faustus to the Daemon. Where are you damn'd?
Mephistophiles. In Hell.—
Faust. How comes it then that thou art out of Hell?
Mephis. Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.—
Think'st thou that I who saw the face of God,
And tasted the eternal joys of Heaven,
- ↑ Most ludicrously divided into three by the editor of "Old English Plays," 6 vols. 8vo. 1814.
