ACT THE FOURTH. SCENE I. Enter the SOLDAN of EGYPT, CAPOLIN, Lords, and a Messenger. Sold. Awake, ye men of Memphis !-hear the clang Of Scythian trumpets!-hear the basilisks,2 That, roaring, shake Damascus' turrets down! The rogue of Volga holds Zenocrate, The Soldan's daughter, for his concubine, And with a troop of thieves and vagabonds, Hath spread his colours to our high disgrace, While you, faint-hearted, base Egyptians, Lie slumbering on the flowery banks of Nile, As crocodiles that unaffrighted rest, While thundering cannons rattle on their skins. Mess. Nay, mighty Soldan, did your greatness see 1 "These words are put into the mouth of Judas in Fletcher's Bonduca, at the commencement of Act ii.; and in Fletcher's Wit without Money, v. 2, we find 'Thou man of Memphis.' ”—Dyce, * Pieces of ordnance, so named from their fancied resemblance to the serpent. . The frowning looks of fiery Tamburlaine, Sold. Villain, I tell thee, were that Tamburlaine The Soldan would not start a foot from him. Mess. Mighty lord, 20 Three hundred thousand men in armour clad, With wanton paces trampling on the ground: Five hundred thousand footmen threatening shot, Shaking their swords, their spears, and iron bills, Environing their standard round, that stood As bristle-pointed as a thorny wood: Their warlike engines and munition Exceed the forces of their martial men. Sold. Nay, could their numbers countervail the stars, Or ever-drizzling drops of April showers, Or withered leaves that Autumn shaketh down, That not a man should live to rue their fall. 30 Capo. So might your highness, had you time to sort 1 A trisyllable, of course. So 4to.-8vo. "Or drisling drops." So 4to.-8vo, “shal" Your fighting men, and raise your royal host; Sold. Let him take all the advantages he can. Yet in revenge of fair Zenocrate, This arm should send him down to Erebus, The first day when he pitcheth down his tents, Then must his kindled wrath be quenched with blood, 40 50 His spear, his shield, his horse, his armour, plumes, 60 And jetty feathers, menace death and hell; Without respect of sex, degree, or age, He razeth all his foes with fire and sword. Of lawful arms or martial discipline'l The slave usurps the glorious name of war. 70 [Exeunt. SCENE II. Enter TAMBURLAINE, TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, USUM- Tamb. Bring out my footstool. [BAJAZETH is taken out of the cage. Tamb. The chiefest god, first mover of that sphere, Will sooner burn the glorious frame of Heaven, 1 So 4to.-Omitted in 8vo. So 4to.-8vo. "should it." 10 1 And be the footstool of great Tamburlaine, That I may rise into my royal throne. Baj. First shalt thou rip my bowels with thy sword, And sacrifice my soul to death and hell, Before I yield to such a slavery. Tamb. Base villain, vassal, slave to Tamburlaine ! That bears the honour of my royal weight; Struck with the voice of thundering Jupiter. Baj. Then, as I look down to the damnèd fiends, 20 [TAMBURLAINE gets up on him to his chair. Tamb. Now clear the triple region of the air, And let the Majesty of Heaven behold And dim the brightness of your neighbour lamps! 1 Old copies "their." 30 40 |