Christopher Marlowe

Birth: 1564-02-06 , Cantuária

Death: 1593-05-30 , Deptford

Christopher Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593) was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is the foremost of the short-lived generation of playwrights who were Shakespeare's contemporaries. He was the greatest tragedian of his day and, along with William Shakespeare, was one of the few English playwrights of the period to gain a reputation for both great dramatic skill and literary merit.

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I’ll burn my books!

Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, And burned is Apollo’s laurel bough, That sometime grew within this learned man.

O lente, lente currite noctis equi: 7 [Slowly, slowly run, O horses of the night:] The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike, The Devil will come, and Faustus must be damned. O, I’ll leap up to my God! Who pulls me down? See, see where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament! One drop would save my soul—half a drop: ah, my Christ!

O soul, be changed into little waterdrops, And fall into the ocean—ne’er to be found. My God! my God! look not so fierce on me!

Now hast thou but one bare hour to live, And then thou must be damned perpetually! Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of Heaven, That time may cease, and midnight never come.

Oh, thou art fairer than the evening air Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars.

Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? 5 Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss. Her lips suck forth my soul; 6 see, where it flies!

When all the world dissolves, And every creature shall be purified, All places shall be hell that is not Heaven.

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, Am not tormented with ten thousand hells, In being deprived of everlasting bliss?

Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscribed In one self place; for where we are is hell, And where hell is there must we ever be.

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Christopher Marlowe, born in Canterbury on February 6, 1564, was a prominent playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. He is considered one of the precursors of William Shakespeare and one of the greatest dramatists of his time. His most famous works include "The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus" and "Tamburlaine the Great". Marlowe was known for his vivid style and powerful language, exploring complex themes such as ambition, power, and human nature. His life was marked by controversies, including accusations of atheism and espionage activities. He died tragically in London at the age of 29, under circumstances still debated. Despite his short career, Marlowe's impact on English literature is immeasurable.