Until I bring this sturdy Tamburlaine,

And all his captains bound in captive chains.
Zab. Such good success happen to Bajazeth!
Tamb. Zenocrate, the loveliest maid alive,
Fairer than rocks of pearl and precious stone,
The only paragon of Tamburlaine,

Whose eyes are brighter than the lamps of heaven,
And speech more pleasant than sweet harmony;
That with thy looks canst clear the darkened sky,
And calm the rage of thundering Jupiter,
Sit down by her, adorned with my crown,
As if thou wert the empress of the world.
Stir not, Zenocrate, until thou see
Me march victoriously with all my men,
Triumphing over him and these his kings;
Which I will bring as vassals to thy feet;
Till then take thou my crown, vaunt of my worth,

And manage words with her, as we will arms.

Zeno. And may my love the king of Persia,

Return with victory and free from wound!

120

130

Baj. Now shalt thou feel the force of Turkish arms, Which lately made all Europe quake for fear.

I have of Turks, Arabians, Moors, and Jews,
Enough to cover all Bithynia.

Let thousands die; their slaughtered carcasses
Shall serve for walls and bulwarks to the rest;
And as the heads of Hydra, so my power,
Subdued, shall stand as mighty as before.
If they should yield their necks unto the sword,
Thy soldiers' arms could not endure to strike

140

So many blows as I have heads for thee.1

Thou know'st not, foolish, hardy 2 Tamburlaine,
What 'tis to meet me in the open field,

That leave no ground for thee to march upon.

Tamb. Our conquering swords shall marshal us the

way

We use to march upon the slaughtered foe,
Trampling their bowels with our horses' hoofs;
Brave horses bred on th' white Tartarian hills;
My camp is like to Julius Cæsar's host,
That never fought but had the victory;
Nor in Pharsalia was there such hot war,
As these, my followers, willingly would have.
Legions of spirits fleeting 3 in the air

Direct our bullets and our weapons' points,

And make your strokes to wound the senseless light,4
And when she sees our bloody colours spread,
Then Victory begins to take her flight,
Resting herself upon my milk-white tent?—
But come, my lords, to weapons let us fall;
The field is ours, the Turk, his wife and all.

150

160

[Exit, with his followers.

1 Dyce needlessly altered "thee" to "them." Dyce reads "foolish-hardy."

=

3 Fleet float, swim. In his sonnet on the Return of Spring, Surrey writes :

"The fishes flete with new repaired scale."

4 The old copies give our for your and lure for light. Ed. 1826 corrected lure into light, a reading which I adopt doubtfully, and Dyce made the other correction. Peele imitates this line in David and Bethseba:

"And make their weapons wound the senseless winds."

Baj. Come, kings and bassoes, let us glut our swords, That thirst to drink the feeble Persians' blood.

[Exit with his followers.

Zab. Base concubine, must thou be placed by me,
That am the empress of the mighty Turk?

Zeno. Disdainful Turkess and unreverend boss! 1
Callest thou me concubine, that am betrothed
Unto the great and mighty Tamburlaine ?

Zab. To Tamburlaine, the great Tartarian thief!
Zeno. Thou wilt repent these lavish words of thine,
When thy great basso-master and thyself

Must plead for mercy at his kingly feet,

And sue to me to be your advocate.2

Zab. And sue to thee !-I tell thee, shameless girl,
Thou shalt be laundress to my waiting maid!
How lik'st thou her, Ebea ?-Will she serve?

Ebea. Madam, perhaps, she thinks she is too fine,
But I shall turn her into other weeds,

And make her dainty fingers fall to work.

170

180

Zeno. Hear'st thou, Anippe, how thy drudge doth talk?

And how my slave, her mistress, menaceth?

Both for their sauciness shall be employed

To dress the common soldiers' meat and drink,

For we will scorn they should come near ourselves.

Anip. Yet sometimes let your highness send for them To do the work my chambermaid disdains.

[They sound to the battle within.

1 Dyce quotes from Cotgrave :-"A fat bosse. Femme bien grasse et grosse; une coche."

2 So 4to.-8vo. "advocates."

Zeno. Ye gods and powers that govern Persia,
And made my lordly love her worthy king,

Now strengthen him against the Turkish Bajazeth,
And let his foes, like flocks of fearful roes
Pursued by hunters fly his angry looks,
That I may see him issue conqueror !

Zab. Now, Mahomet, solicit God himself,

190

And make him rain down murdering shot from heaven To dash the Scythians' brains, and strike them dead, That dare to manage arms with him

That offered jewels to thy sacred shrine,

When first he warred against the Christians!

200

[To the battle again.

Zeno. By this the Turks lie weltering in their blood, And Tamburlaine is Lord of Africa.

Zab. Thou art deceived.-I heard the trumpet sound, As when my emperor overthrew the Greeks,

And led them captive into Africa.

Straight will I use thee as thy pride deserves

Prepare thyself to live and die my slave.

Zeno. If Mahomet should come from heaven and

swear

My royal lord is slain or conquerèd,

Yet should he not persuade me otherwise

But that he lives and will be conqueror.

210

Enter BAJAZETH, pursued by TAMBURLAINE; they fight, and BAJAZETH is overcome.

Tamb. Now, king of bassoes, who is conqueror?

Baj. Thou, by the fortune of this damnèd foil.1
Tamb. Where are your stout contributory kings?

Enter TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, and USUMCASANE. Tech. We have their crowns-their bodies strow the field.

Tamb. Each man a crown!-Why kingly fought i' faith.

Deliver them into my treasury.

Zeno. Now let me offer to my gracious lord

His royal crown again so highly won.

Tamb. Nay, take the crown from her, Zenocrate,

220

And crown me emperor of Africa.

Zab. No, Tamburlaine : though now thou gat the best,

Thou shalt not yet be lord of Africa.

Ther. Give her the crown, Turkess; you were best.

[He takes it from her.

Zab. Injurious villains!-thieves !-runagates!

How dare you thus abuse my majesty?

Ther. Here, madam, you are empress; she is none.

[Gives it to ZENOCRATE.

Tamb. Not now, Theridamas; her time is past. The pillars that have bolstered up those terms, Are fallen in clusters at my conquering feet.

Zab. Though he be prisoner, he may be ransomed.

230

1 Old copies, "soil." "Foil of course meaning sword. But the old editions read soil, which is very probably (?) right, as referring to the ill-chosen field of battle."-Cunningham. I take foil to mean "check, defeat," as in line 235, "So great a foil by any foreign foe."