twelve o'clock
It was a toss up as to who was the handsomest man , William or Marlowe , yet a stranger , on close inspection could see glinting out of William 's eye a divine light and flashing expression that ever commanded respect and admiration . He was unlike any other mortal . I , alone at that period , knew the bursting ability of William ; and that his granary of knowledge was full to the brim , needing only an opportunity to flood the world with immortal sonnets , Venus and Adonis , and the incubating passion plays that lay struggling in his burning brain for universal recognition . During the evening young actors , politicians , college students and roystering lords , filled the house and by twelve o'clock Bacchanalian folly ruled the madcaps of the town , while battered Venus with bedraggled hair and skirts languished in sensuous display . Field requested his friend Marlowe to recite a few lines from `` Dr. Faustus '' for our instruction and pleasure , and forthwith he gave the soliloquy of Faust , waiting at midnight for Lucifer to carry him to hell , the terrified Doctor exclaiming to the devil : _ `` Oh mercy ! heaven , look not so fierce on me , Adders and serpents , let me breathe awhile ; Ugly hell gape not ; come not , Lucifer ; I 'll burn my books ; oh ! Mephistopheles ! ''