befor it is puen SCENE VI.] Tamburlaine the Great. Then shalt thou see this Scythian Tamburlaine, Ther. Go on for me. SCENE VI. [Exeunt. Enter COSROE, Meander, Ortygius, Menaphon, with other Soldiers. Cos. What means this devilish shepherd to aspire With such a giantly presumption To cast up hills against the face of heaven, Meand. Some powers divine, or else infernal, mixed For he was never sprong of human race, 1 Old copies "his.” IO Orty. What god, or fiend, or spirit of the earth, Or monster turnèd to a manly shape, Or of what mould or mettle he be made, Let us put on our meet encountering minds; And since we all have sucked one wholesome air, 20 Vowing our loves to equal death and life. T Let's cheer our soldiers to encounter him, That fiery thirster after sovereignty, And burn him in the fury of that flame, That none can quench but blood and empery. Then strike up, drum; and all the stars that make And scorns the powers that govern Persia ! 40 [Exeunt; martial music. SCENE VII. Alarms.—A battle; enter COSROE, wounded, THERIDAMAS, TAMBURLAINE, Techelles, USUMCASANE, with others. Cos. Barbarous and bloody Tamburlaine, Who, entering at the breach thy sword hath made, Tamb. The thirst of reign and sweetness of a crown IO 20 1 Dyce quotes several instances of this form of the word "artery." And measure every wandering planet's course, And always moving as the restless spheres, Wills us to wear ourselves, and never rest, The sweet fruition of an earthly crown. For he is gross and like the massy earth, Ther. And that made me to join with Tamburlaine: 30 That moves not upwards, nor by princely deeds Doth mean to soar above the highest sort. Tech. And that made us the friends of Tamburlaine, To lift our swords against the Persian king. Usum. For as when Jove did thrust old Saturn down, Neptune and Dis gained each of them a crown, So do we hope to reign in Asia, If Tamburlaine be placed in Persia. Cos. The strangest men that ever nature made! I know not how to take their tyrannies. My bloodless body waxeth chill and cold, And with my blood my life slides through my wound; My soul begins to take her flight to hell, And summons all my senses to depart. The heat and moisture, which did feed each other, Is dry and cold; and now doth ghastly death, 1 With greedy talents 1 gripe my bleeding heart, 40 1 "Talon " was not unfrequently spelt "talent." Cf. Love's Labour's Lost, iv. 2:—"If a talent be a claw."-Pistol's "Let vultures gripe thy guts," may be, as Stevens suggested, a parody of this passage. And like a harpy tires 1 on my life. 50 Theridamas and Tamburlaine, I die : And fearful vengeance light upon you both! [COSROE dies.-TAMBURLAINE takes the crown and Tamb. Not all the curses which the 2 furies breathe, Theridamas, Techelles, and the rest, Who think you now is king of Persia ? All. Tamburlaine! Tamburlaine ! Tamb. Though Mars himself, the angry god of arms, And all the earthly potentates conspire To dispossess me of this diadem, Yet will I wear it in despite of them, As great commander of this eastern world, If you but say that Tamburlaine shall reign. All. Long live Tamburlaine and reign in Asia! 60 [Exeunt. 1 Preys. 2 So 4to.-8vo. "thy." |