Writ in as many several languages

As I have conquer'd kingdoms with my sword.
This cursèd town will I consume with fire,
Because this place bereft me of my love;
The houses, burnt, will look as if they mourn'd;
And here will I set up her stature †,

And march about it with my mourning camp,
Drooping and pining for Zenocrate.

[The arras is drawn.

ACT III.

Scene I.

Enter the Kings of Trebizon and Soria‡, one bringing a sword and the other a sceptre; next, Orcanes king of Natolia, and the King of Jerusalem, with the imperial crown; after, Callapine; and, after him, other Lords and Almeda. Orcanes and the King of Jerusalem crown Callapine, and the others give him the sceptre.

Orc. Callapinus Cyricelibes, otherwise Cybelius, son and successive heir to the late mighty emperor Bajazeth, by the aid of God and his friend Mahomet,

+ stature] See note, p. 80.—So the 8vo.—The 4to "statue." Here the metre would be assisted by reading "statua," which is frequently found in our early writers: see my Remarks on Mr. Collier's and Mr. Knight's editions of Shakespeare, p. 186. Soria] See note, p. 124.

Emperor of Natolia, Jerusalem, Trebizon, Soria, Amasia, Thracia, Ilyria, Carmonia, and all the hundred and thirty kingdoms late contributory to his mighty father, long live Callapinus, Emperor of Turkey! CALL. Thrice-worthy kings of Natolia, and the rest, I will requite your royal gratitudes

With all the benefits my empire yields;
And, were the sinews of the imperial seat
So knit and strengthen'd as when Bajazeth,
My royal lord and father, fill'd the throne,
Whose cursed fate* hath so dismember'd it,
Then should you see this thief of Scythia,
This proud usurping king of Persia,
Do us such honour and supremacy,
Bearing the vengeance of our father's wrongs,
As all the world should blot his+ dignities
Out of the book of base-born infamies.
And now I doubt not but your royal cares
Have so provided for this cursèd foe,
That, since the heir of mighty Bajazeth
(An emperor so honour'd for his virtues)
Revives the spirits of all § true Turkish hearts,
In grievous memory of his father's shame,
We shall not need to nourish any doubt,

But that proud Fortune, who hath follow'd long
The martial sword of mighty Tamburlaine,

Will now retain her old inconstancy,
And raise our honours || to as high a pitch,
In this our strong and fortunate encounter;
For so hath Heaven provided my escape
From all the cruelty my soul sustain'd,
By this my friendly keeper's happy means,
That Jove, surcharg'd with pity of our wrongs,
Will pour
it down in showers on our heads,
Scourging the pride of cursèd Tamburlaine.

ORC. I have a hundred thousand men in arms; Some that, in conquest of the perjur'd Christian, Being a handful to a mighty host,

Think them in number yet sufficient
To drink the river Nile or Euphrates,

And for their power enow to win the world.

K. OF JER. And I as many from Jerusalem, Judæat, Gaza, and Sclavonia's bounds, That on mount Sinai, with their ensigns spread, Look like the parti-colour'd clouds of heaven That shew fair weather to the neighbour morn. K. OF TREB. And I as many bring from Trebizon, Chio, Famastro, and Amasia,

All bordering on the Mare-Major-sea,

Riso, Sancina, and the bordering towns
That touch the end of famous Euphrates,
Whose courages are kindled with the flames

honours] So the 8vo.—The 4to "honour."

⁕ in conquest] So the 4to.—The 8vo " in the conquest." † Judœa] So the 8vo.—The 4to "Juda."

Sclavonia's] Old eds. "Scalonians" and "Sclauonians."

The cursed Scythian sets on all their towns,
And vow to burn the villain's cruel heart.

K. OF SOR. From Soria § with seventy thousand

strong,

Ta'en from Aleppo, Soldino, Tripoly,

And so unto my city of Damascus ||,

I march to meet and aid my neighbour kings;
All which will join against this Tamburlaine,
And bring him captive to your highness' feet.

ORC. Our battle, then, in martial manner pitch'd,
According to our ancient use, shall bear
The figure of the semicircled moon,

Whose horns shall sprinkle through the tainted air The poison'd brains of this proud Scythian.

CALL. Well, then, my noble lords, for this my friend

That freed me from the bondage of my foe,

I think it requisite and honourable

To keep my promise and to make him king,

That is a gentleman, I know, at least.

ALM. That's no matter*, sir, for being a king;

for Tamburlaine came up of nothing.

K. OF JER. Your majesty may choose some 'pointed time,

Performing all your promise to the full;

'Tis nought for your majesty to give a kingdom.

91.

$ Soria] See note, p. 124.

Damascus] Here the old eds. "Damasco." See note, p.

⁕ That's no matter, &c.] So previously (p. 131) Almeda speaks in prose, "I like that well," &c.

CALL. Then will I shortly keep my promise,

Almeda.

ALM. Why, I thank your majesty.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt.

Enter TAMBURLAINE and his three sons, CALYPHAS, AMYRAS, and CELEBINUS; USUMCASANE; four attendants bearing the hearse of Zenocrate, and the drums sounding a doleful march; the town burning.

Tamb. So burn the turrets of this cursèd town, Flame to the highest region of the air,

And kindle heaps of exhalations,

That, being fiery meteors, may presage

Death and destruction to the inhabitants !
Over my zenith hang a blazing star,
That may endure till heaven be dissolv'd,
Fed with the fresh supply of earthly dregs,
Threatening a dearth and famine to this land!

*

Flying dragons, lightning, fearful thunder-claps, Singe these fair plains, and make them seem as black

As is the island where the Furies mask,

Compass'd with Lethe, Styx, and Phlegethon,
Because my dear Zenocrate is dead!

Caly. This pillar, plac'd in memory of her,

Where in Arabian, Hebrew, Greek, is writ,
This town, being burnt by Tamburlaine the Great,

dearth] Old eds. "death."