in The Seven Champions of Christendom — Kirke, John
Metadata
Play
The Seven Champions of Christendom
Author
Kirke, John
Year (catalogued)
1638
First performance
1635
Decade
1630s
Genre
Romance
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Red Bull Company (second)
Theater
Red Bull;Phoenix/Cockpit;Indoor Professional;Outdoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
Le. | Len. | Lenon.
Words
429
Characters
2314
Typicality
0.31 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A04874
BritDrama no.
2432
Cluster
Cluster 23 — Gulls, fops & laughing-stocks
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Let Death come how he will, And do you tamely suffer what you will, This British Knight shall never boast in Wales, That ere he triumphed Victor over me. The cry went in our Prince Arbasto's name: Hark another charge gives they a second meeting: It's well he kept his saddle at the first: Look to the Prince there some, and take him: For fallen I'm sure he is before this time. Hark, the third charge is begun. This whetstone makes revenges edge more keen: Go forward good mischance. Well, the disaster. Murderous villain, if my brains can invent torture Sufficient, sufficient; here begins thy hell, And I thy first devil. Most Noble Sir, Tears shows effeminate in noble spirits, Those aged sluices want that Rain that falls, Bewail him not with tears, but with revenge; If drops must needs be spilled, let they be blood. His blood that wilfully sheds blood, The Law of Nations wisely did allow All Jousts and Tournaments in Princes Courts, For honours cause to break a friendly staff, But not to make a butchery or shambles in Court lists: Therefore if I might of his jury be, My Verdict should be given up, he must die. Spoke Like no lover of his Sovereigns son 'Twill break the Riders neck dares but to back him And ill intent armed Executions hand. Remus and Romulus, my Lord, one sucked more Harder on the Wolf than tother, Think what a game Hope lost. Why Almain, Almain, dare you stand to this? In private be it spoke my Liege, I Like not Almonas love to this same Knight: It little shows love to the deceased Prince: What was he but a young strait tender plant; The sturdy Oak might well have spared him then: His towards Hope's were ruined and cut down: Had he done this in any other Court, to any Prince So towards as your Son, he had ere this been atoms: Your son has suffered, let him suffer too, Who ever wilfully committed murder, And was without excuse? but can that save? No more should this my Liege, I have but said. Now the excuse my Lord. Will you not join with me to be revenged? When was it known that Lenon and Almona Parted with victories triumphant, which now flies With a disdained applause from us unto a stranger? When did these Bulwarks which hath stood till now The shock of all the Knights our parts hath seen, Ere shrink under the sinews of and Army? A Heads man and and Axe there.
Plot summary
Plot — The Seven Champions of Christendom
Years ago, the witch Calib stole a child, George, intending to bathe in his blood; but she fell in love with the baby and brought him up with her own son, Suckabus. She has always refused to let him know the identity of his real parents, but after much importunity she relents and tells George that he was a bastard whom she saved from infanticide. She asks her diabolic lover Tarpax how long she has to live; the demon prophesies that she will die only when love causes her to lose control of her magical powers. She shows George six Christian champions whom she keeps in her cave, and grants him their ransom. When George feels pity for them but pretends severity, she gives him her magic wand. The ghosts of his parents visit him, and he learns that Calib poisoned them, and that he is really of noble birth. He uses the magic wand to kill Calib, but agrees to take on Suckabus as a servant; Tarpax encourages Suckabus to spread his seed widely around the earth by taking every opportunity for procreation. George joins the six champions, bringing them up to the number prophesied by a Sibyl, seven. They go their separate ways into pagan lands. Trebizond is troubled by monsters: a dragon and a lion terrorize the land and kill knights who attempt to dispose of them. The Emperor proclaims a reward for anyone who will deal with the menace. The champions Andrew and Anthony arrive in Trebizond, and the Princess and Carintha fall in love with them; but their welcome evaporates when the Emperor discovers their religion. An oracle has decreed that any Christians who set foot in Trebizond must convert to paganism or be executed. The Emperor allows them to choose their own executioners; they choose the ladies, who refuse to comply; so they offer to relieve the ladies of the responsibility and execute one another. The Emperor allows them to be rearmed so that they can do so, and this enables them to fight their way to freedom. The champion David accidentally causes the death of Prince Arbasto in a joust. David has helped the King of Tartary, Arbasto’s father, in his war with the Persians, and cannot honourably be executed, so the King offers him a pardon, half the kingdom, and the succession if he will bring back the head of his enemy, Ormandine. The expectation is that Ormandine will kill him. Ormandine was once a duke, but was deposed by the Kings of Tartary and Arabia, and took up magic to avenge himself. A prophecy assures him of his security until the arrival of a British…