In the drama by
Josephine Preston Peabody, the persecutions of hypocritical puritans
hound Marlowe to his death. [Footnote: _Marlowe._]
The most representative view of Marlowe as an innocent, deceived youth
is that presented by Alfred Noyes, in _At the Sign of the Golden
Shoe_. In this poem we find Nash describing to the Mermaid group
thetragic end of Marlowe, who lies
Dead like a dog in a drunken brawl,
Dead for a phial of paint, a taffeta gown.
While there float in from the street, at intervals, the cries of the
ballad-mongers hawking their latest doggerel,
Blaspheming Tamborlin must die,
And Faustus meet his end;
Repent, repent, or presently
To hell you must descend,
Nash tells his story of the country lad who walked to London, bringing
his possessions carried on a stick over his shoulder, bringing also,
All unshielded, all unarmed,
A child's heart, packed with splendid hopes and dreams.
His manner,
Untamed, adventurous, but still innocent,
exposed him to the clutches of the underworld.
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