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# The Maiden's Holiday

A Modern Translation of a Lost Play
By Christopher Marlowe
Lewis A. Sellers
April 4th 1990
DAVID BOOCKER
British Literature I

>     THE MAIDENS' HOLIDAY
>     It has often been said that, based on textual and obscure references of old, half of all
>     the plays of the Shakespearean era could have been attributed to one Christopher
>     Marlowe, perhaps both Shakespeare's friend and earliest master in the new
>     dramatic arts. Several of his "lost" plays are known to us only by a few obtuse hints
>     garnered by a quenchless hope of their survival. This academic hunger, though often
>     arid and fruitless, has, in fact paid-off in the memorable past, perhaps most notably
>     with the thrice-recovered "Dido, the Queen of Carthage", one of Marlowe's earliest
>     full works.
>     	As for the other long sought texts, the fate of "The Maiden's Holiday",
>     noted April 8th 1654 in the Stationer's Register, had once been assumed to have
>     been to be burned as an impromptu pie plate for Lord Warburton's  infamous cook
>     Betsy. Little else was ever said of it, and so was presumed destroyed. However,
>     recently the archaic holdings of Lord Warburton were tracked down. And nearly
>     missed on first inspection were several burned and badly deteriorated sheets of
>     manuscript. While their order was undiscernible, the yellowed pages of a work
>     called "The Maiden's Holiday" was found therein. As much of that drama has been
>     preserved as possible.
>     	It seems, if indeed the surviving intermingled pages are indeed part of
>     Marlowe's lost work, that most is sadly unrecoverable. There are those who
>     hypothesize that the play was never truly finished though, for no known record exists
>     of it ever being published. The title itself is also somewhat of a mystery and must
>     either be meant to mislead or perhaps is an insight into Marlowe's curious sense of
>     dark humour.
>     Dramatis Personae
>     Antanon, the King,                                        Chorus, ex Dieum ,
>     Kathleen, his wife,                                   Jove, the High Father,
>     John August , lord master,                      Cronus, father of Jove,
>     Parason,                                                        Outermost Guard,
>     Moribund,     lords,                                     A thousand warriors,
>     Harris,                                                                 Throng of men
>     Act 1
>     Enter CHORUS  (dressed as Thanatos ), JOHN.
>     CHO.	Now we watch, and how shall we make this man?
>     	Of limb, his pendant motion may we wake,
>     	Of heart, hard to the woe-giving world
>     	And council to evil hope and prudent ambition.
>     	The years have been hard upon him. In return
>     	He has been hard upon the years of men.
>     [Thunder.
>     	His unmade body calls the whims of impetuous
>     	Being, for surely wouldst he dare
>     	The opium dream of self-made man and
>     	Wondrous things woven, and living creates
>     	Anew the eternal majesty of
>     	Timeless reason and infinite fate.
>     [Thunder.
>     	Sweet rapture, his would bind what heart could
>     	Ne'er capture. His sword, his life, born by
>     	Reason and self-alone desire, that Hell is
>     	His passion and Heaven his dark abyss.
>     [John is discovered.
>     	It is cold and it is dark but no one
>     	Notices such things for a mountain looms
>     	Heavy in the distance. A thousand men
>     	Ride behind him, but none look in his direction.
>     	There'd never been a face he could not turn away.
>     [Exit as trumpets sound.
>     [Curtain rises, many grim WARRIORS rush cross stage.
>     [There is a long silence as John begins to rise in mute ecstasy.
>     JOHN.	Blood smears the morning light and hands hold captive
>     	One more day; so wonder, so suppose
>     	Thy eve'ning's external arms lock--unoppos'd
>     	And love only me.
>     Enter PARASON.
>     PAR.	Why so, winter's king.
>     	The change is made and the task is laid
>     And what man may hold us prison'd now?
>     JOHN.	Soothe, though some should have a saying to, so
>     Thou shall poll the peasants of the land and
>     	Lay the standard of the kill while we
>     	Frolic in the fury of this frozen dawn.
>     Enter HARRIS.
>     HAR.	Oh, there I have at him and hale fine Hades.
>     	I shall be there straight away I fear!
>     PAR.	Yon their council gathers in the dew before
>     	This dawn, while quiet the crow is sleeping
>     	In the shadow of this titan's ice bound dawn.
>     	So, shouldst not we stay? but oh, look and laugh!
>     HAR.	Oh, gage and gape, my fine lords, for fear flies
>     	The heavens o'er the dome of dying night.
>     	Long that light is levell'd  at thee--and perhaps me!
>     JOHN.	Now! the wild winds blow, and there! halcyon's bill
>     	Shows us hardy in hand shall further on.
>     	Fearful lord, thy tun has distemper'd, ah...
>     	Care thou traffic for?
>     PAR.	                                   Mere sip, nothing more.
>     HAR.	Hogshead! in place this behooves you, thou shall
>     	Labour thy admission by the lodestar guide.
>     	What is vengeance but meed in meadows, fly!
>     PAR.	Mort Dieu!  mercury is mad in bootless blood.
>     JOHN.	Soft@ but let lie on, my young lord today.
>     HAR.	Out! Orcus gapes and gathers high it's head.
>     	Shall I glance back so lightly in longing?
>     continued later...

>       A seventeenth century collector of books. He is, however, recorded as being rather indifferent as to
>     the contents therein, but satisfied only with their possession.
>       The chorus of gods
>       Apparently his full name is John August Maximillian
>       The first act begins, curtain closed, enshrouded in fog with lights flashing from behind which
>     begins to dissipate before the trumpets sound and John first speaks. Initially, John is crouched as if
>     praying and arises in blind lethargic triumph. The Chorus stands as if judging behind.
>       Illegible stage markings on the side of these CHORUS lines and the slightly ambiguous "we" of the
>     first line seem to suggest that the CHORUS was in fact, at least originally, composed of perhaps
>     three different people. It has been suggested that these figures were representative of Thanatos,
>     Jove and Cronus (or possibly Parason), but no solid proof has been put forward.
>       Thanatos, the Greek god of death, in black attire, who invariable hold his great sheathed sword's
>     handle tightly al all times that he may kill at will.
>       Harris is talking to PARASON about JOHN as though he's deaf, out of contempt.
>       The enormity of the surreal landscape and the situation has them drunk in madness.
>       A comet: these were considered to foretell misfortunes, e.g. the fall or death of kings.
>       "To Hell!"

> `continued later...`

Copyright © 1989, Lewis A. Sellers. All Rights Reserved.
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