Until I bring this sturdy Tamburlaine, And all his captains bound in captive chains. Whose eyes are brighter than the lamps of heaven, 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, Let thousands die; their slaughtered carcasses 140 So many blows as I have heads for thee.1 Thou know'st not, foolish, hardy 2 Tamburlaine, 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, Direct our bullets and our weapons' points, And make your strokes to wound the senseless light,4 150 160 [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, Zeno. Disdainful Turkess and unreverend boss! 1 Zab. To Tamburlaine, the great Tartarian thief! 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, Ebea. Madam, perhaps, she thinks she is too fine, 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, Now strengthen him against the Turkish Bajazeth, 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 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." |