Now, Mahomet, if thou have any power,
Come down thyself and work a miracle :
Thou art not worthy to be worshipped,
That suffers flame of fire to burn the writ
Wherein the sum of thy religion rests.
Why send'st thou not a furious whirlwind down
To blow thy Alcoran up to thy throne,
Where men report thou sit'st by God himself?
Or vengeance on the head of Tamburlaine
That shakes his sword against thy majesty,
And spurns the abstracts of thy foolish laws?
Well, soldiers, Mahomet remains in hell;
He cannot hear the voice of Tamburlaine ;
Seek out another Godhead to adore,
The God that sits in heaven, if any God;
For he is God alone, and none but he.
Tech. I have fulfilled your highness' will, my lord.
Thousands of men, drowned in Asphaltis' lake,
Have made the waters swell above the banks,
And fishes, fed1 by human carcases,
Amazed, swim up and down upon the waves,
As when they swallow assafoetida,
Which makes them fleet aloft and gape for air.
Tamb. Well then, my friendly lords, what more remains,
But that we leave sufficient garrison,
And presently depart to Persia
To triumph after all our victories?
Ther. I, good my lord; let us in haste to Persia, And let this captain be removed the walls
To some high hill about the city here.
Tamb. Let it be so; about it, soldiers;
But stay; I feel myself distempered suddenly.
Tech. What is it dares distemper Tamburlaine?
Tamb. Something, Techelles; but I know not whatBut forth, ye vassals! whatsoe'er it be,
Sickness or death can never conquer me. [Exeunt. 220
Enter CALLAPINE, the King of Amasia, and Soldiers, with drums and trumpets.
Call. King of Amasia, now our mighty host
Marcheth in Asia Major where the streams
Of Euphrates and Tigris swiftly run,
And here may we behold great Babylon
Circled about with Limnasphaltis' lake
Where Tamburlaine with all his army lies,
Which being faint and weary with the siege,
We may lie ready to encounter him
Before his host be full from Babylon,
And so revenge our latest grievous loss,
If God or Mahomet send any aid.
Ama. Doubt not, my lord, but we shall conquer him.
The monster that hath drunk a sea of blood,
And yet gapes still for more to quench his thirst,
Our Turkish swords shall headlong send to hell,
And that vile carcase drawn by warlike kings
The fowls shall eat; for never sepulchre
Shall grace this base-born tyrant Tamburlaine.
Call. When I record my parents' slavish life,
Their cruel death, mine own captivity,
My viceroys' bondage under Tamburlaine,
Methinks I could sustain a thousand deaths
To be revenged of all his villany.
Ah, sacred Mahomet! thou that hast seen
Millions of Turks perish by Tamburlaine,
Kingdoms made waste, brave cities sacked and burnt,
And but one host is left to honour thee,
Aid thy obedient servant, Callapine,
And make him after all these overthrows
To triumph over cursèd Tamburlaine.
Ama. Fear not, my lord; I see great Mahomet
Clothed in purple clouds, and on his head
A chaplet brighter than Apollo's crown,
Marching about the air with armèd men
To join with you against this Tamburlaine.
Renowmèd general, mighty Callapine,
Though God himself and holy Mahomet
Should come in person to resist your power,
Yet might your mighty host encounter all,
And pull proud Tamburlaine upon his knees
To sue for mercy at your highness' feet.
Call. Captain, the force of Tamburlaine is great,
His fortune greater, and the victories
Wherewith he hath so sore dismayed the world
Are greatest to discourage all our drifts;
Yet when the pride of Cynthia is at full,
She wanes again, and so shall his, I hope;
For we have here the chief selected men
Of twenty several kingdoms at the least;
Nor ploughman, priest, nor merchant, stays at home; 50
All Turkey is in arms with Callapine;
And never will we sunder camps and arms
Before himself or his be conquered.
This is the time that must eternise me
For conquering the tyrant of the world.
Come, soldiers, let us lie in wait for him,
And if we find him absent from his camp,
Or that it be rejoined again at full,
Assail it and be sure of victory.
Enter THERIDAMAS, TECHELLES, and USUMCASANE.
Ther. Weep, heavens, and vanish into liquid tears! Fall, stars that govern his nativity,
And summon all the shining lamps of heaven
To cast their bootless fires to the earth,
And shed their feeble influence in the air.
Muffle your beauties with eternal clouds,
For Hell and Darkness pitch their pitchy tents,
And Death with armies of Cimmerian spirits
Gives battle 'gainst the heart of Tamburlaine.
Now in defiance of that wonted love
Your sacred virtues poured upon his throne
And made his state an honour to the heavens,
These cowards invisible 1 assail his soul,
And threaten conquest on our sovereign;
But if he die your glories are disgraced;
Earth droops and says that hell in heaven is
placed.
Tech. O then, ye powers that sway eternal seats
And guide this massy substance of the earth,
If you retain desert of holiness
As your supreme estates instruct our thoughts,
Be not inconstant, careless of your fame,—
Bear not the burthen of your enemies' joys
Triumphing in his fall whom you advanced,
But as his birth, life, health, and majesty
Were strangely blest and governed by heaven,
So honour, heaven, (till heaven dissolvèd be)
His birth, his life, his health, and majesty!
Usum. Blush, heaven, to lose the honour of thy
name !
To see thy footstool set upon thy head!
And let no baseness in thy haughty breast
Sustain a shame of such inexcellence, 2
To see the devils mount in angels' thrones,
And angels dive into the pools of hell!
And though they think their painful date is out,
And that their power is puissant as Jove's,
Which makes them manage arms against thy state,
Yet make them feel the strength of Tamburlaine,
1 8vo. "invincible.”—4to. “invisibly." The reading in the text is Cunningham's.
2 So 4to.-8vo. "inexcellencie."
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