| 1 & 2 In deliuering my sonne from me, I burie a second husband. And I in going, Madam, weep ore my fathers death anew; | Chr. M. made this in iail. I pretend I'm somebody named G. Gifford 'n' giue nonny a-answers. O, wearee! UUhen bad men a– |
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nonny a-answers. Kit, still under cover as Gilbert Gifford, was questioned in jail about Gifford's activities and his relations with "Grately" (Thomas Lodge). To his credit, Kit never blew his cover and never bad-mouthed his working partners. His answers can be read in Latin in the Calendar of MSS of the Marquis of Salisbury (Robt. Cecil) at Hatfield House, Part III, #715, calendared on 14 August 1588 (Historical MSS Commission). A copy is kept in the Folger Shakespeare Library. |
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| 3& 4 but I must attend his maiestie's command, to whom I am now in Ward, euermore in subiection. | re houndin' U, 'n' vomit's near, U write t' mimic some acts o' the dim bon maison.I seem t' await bed w– |
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mimic some acts. During his stay in jail Marlowe wrote Measure for Measure, a work reflecting facets of the bordello he visited on Christmas Eve, 1587. |
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| 5& 6 You shall find of the King a husband, Madame, you sir a father. He that so generally is at all times good, | i' Flo. Go t' business, Flo! Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha! Someday! Tyl then, Hen, I'l uurite al da feo stories 'n' al da drama. Kyt M. (G. G.) |
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feo. (Sp.) ugly. Flo. Florence Bacot was the Madame at the brothel in Longchamp where Kit's enemies had arranged for him to be murdered. Florence seems to have offered to take Gilbert Gifford in her care, on parole. If she'd managed that, her bravos would have dispatched Marlowe at once. Much later, not realizing that Kit had escaped, she wrote to Walsingham's secretary Phelippes (CSP Dom. Addenda xxxi p. 279), asking him to send her money to aid Gifford's trial. Hen. As he often does, Kit is writing to Henry Wriothesley, but in the final cipher Kit speaks to another friend. (G. G.) (Gilbert Gifford) |
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| 7& 8 must of necessitie hold his vertue to you, whose worthinesse would stirre it vp where it wanted rather then lack | No more ciphers here, Edw. Kit's leavin' for Dover. Wish U were s-sailin' too! Hey, U write! T-tush! Watch the dust settle on 't ! |
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Edw. is his loyal friend Edward Grimston, second secretary of the English embassy in Paris. |
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All'sWell That Ends Well. First Folio of Shakespeare. Comedies, p 230. Only lines of dialogue are counted.
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