K. of Mor. Ye Moors and valiant men of Barbary.

How can ye suffer these indignities?

K. of Arg. Leave words, and let them feel your lances' points,

Which glided through the bowels of the Greeks.
Baj. Well said, my stout contributory kings!
Your threefold army and my hugy* host
Shall swallow up these base-born Persians,

Tech. Puissant, renowm'd,† and mighty Tamburlaine,

Why stay we thus prolonging of their lives? Ther. I long to see those crowns won by our swords,

That we may rule § as kings of Africa.

Usum. What coward would not fight for such

a prize?

Tamb. Fight all courageously, and be you kings:

I speak it, and my words are oracles.

Baj. Zabina, mother of three braver || boys Than Hercules, that in his infancy Did pash ¶ the jaws of serpents venomous; Whose hands are made to gripe a warlike lance, Their shoulders broad for complete armour fit, Their limbs more large and of a bigger size Than all the brats y-sprung ** from Typhon's loins; Who, when they come unto their father's age, Will batter turrets with their manly fists;Sit here upon this royal chair of state, And on thy head wear my imperial crown, 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 darken'd 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!

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 slaughter'd carcasses
Shall serve for walls and bulwarks to the rest;
And as the heads of Hydra, so my power,
Subdu'd, shall stand as mighty as before:
If they should yield their necks unto the sword,
Thy soldiers' arms could not endure to strike
So many blows as I have heads for them.*
Thou know'st not, foolish-hardy 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 slaughter'd foe,
Trampling their bowels with our horses' hoofs,
Brave horses bred on the+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 in the air,

Direct our bullets and our weapons' points,
And make your strokes to wound the senseless
light; +

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-
[Exit with his followers.
Baj. Come, kings and bassoes, let us glut our
swords,

That thirst to drink the feeble Persians' blood.

Zeno. Disdainful Turkess, and unreverend boss,*

Call'st thou me concubine, that am betroth'd
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.+

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, she thinks perhaps she is too fine;

But I shall turn her into other weeds,
And make her dainty fingers fall to work.
Zeno. Hear'st thou, Anippe, how thy drudge

doth talk?

And how my slave, her mistress, menaceth?
Both for their sauciness shall be employ'd
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.

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 Pursu'd by hunters, fly his angry looks, That I may see him issue conqueror !

Zab. Now, Mahomet, solicit God himself, 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 offer'd jewels to thy sacred shrine

When first he warr'd against the Christians!

[They sound again to the battle within.

Zeno. By this the Turks lie weltering in their

blood,

And Tamburlaine is lord of Africa.

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 conquered,
Yet should he not persuade me otherwise
But that he lives and will be conqueror.

Re-enter BAJAZETH, pursued by TAMBURLAINE.* Tamb. Now, king of bassoes, who is conqueror? Baj. Thou, by the fortune of this damnèd foil.+ Tamb. Where are your stout contributory kings?

Re-enter TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, and USUиCASANE. 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 Turkish crown from her, Zenocrate,

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. [Takes it from her. Zab. Injurious villains, thieves, runagates, How dare you thus abuse my majesty? Ther. Here, madam, you are empress; she is [Gives it to ZENOCRATE. Tamb. Not now, Theridamas; her time is past: The pillars, that have bolster'd up those terms, Are faln in clusters at my conquering feet.

none.

Zab. Though he be prisoner, he may be ransom'd.

Tamb. Not all the world shall ransom Bajazeth.

Baj. Ah, fair Zabina ! we have lost the field; And never had the Turkish emperor

So great a foil by any foreign foe.
Now will the Christian miscreants be glad,

sound

boss] In the Gent. Mag. for Jan. 1841, J. M. proposed to alter "boss" to "Bassa." But Cotgrave, in his Dict., has; "A fat bosse. Femme bien grasse et grosse; une coche."

↑ advocate] So the 4to.-The 8vo "aduocates." That dare, &c.] Something dropt out from this line.

* Re-enter Bajazeth, pursued by Tamburlaine] The old eds. have, "Bajazeth flies, and he pursues him. The battell short [Qto. is short], and they enter, Bajazeth is overcome." This not very intelligible stage-direction means perhaps that, after Bajazeth and Tamburlaine had entered, a short combat was to take place between them. tfoil] The old eds. "soil." tgat] So the Svo.-The 4to "got."

And making bonfires for my overthrow :
But, ere I die, those foul idolaters

Shall make me bonfires with their filthy bones;
For, though the glory of this day be lost,
Afric and Greece have garrisons enough
To make me sovereign of the earth again.

Tamb. Those walled garrisons will I subdue,
And write myself great lord of Africa:
So from the East unto the furthest West
Shall Tamburlaine extend his puissant arm.
The galleys and those pilling* brigandines,
That yearly sail to the Venetian gulf,
And hover in the Straits for Christians' wreck,
Shall lie at anchor in the Isle Asant,
Until the Persian fleet and men-of-war,
Sailing along the oriental sea,

Have fetch'd about the Indian continent,
Even from Persepolis to Mexico,

And thence unto the Straits of Jubalter;
Where they shall meet and join their force in

one,

Keeping in awe the Bay of Portingale,
And all the ocean by the British * shore;
And by this means I'll win the world at last.
Baj. Yet set a ransom on me, Tamburlaine.
Tamb. What, think'st thou Tamburlaine es-
teems thy gold?

I'll make the kings of India, ere I die,
Offer their mines, to sue for peace, to me,
And dig for treasure to appease my wrath.-
Come, bind them both, and one lead in the
Turk;

The Turkess let my love's maid lead away,

[They bind them.

Baj. Ah, villains, dare you touch my sacred arms?

O Mahomet! O sleepy Mahomet !

Zab. O cursed Mahomet, that mak'st us thus The slaves to Scythians rude and barbarous ! Tamb. Come, bring them in; and for this happy conquest

Triumph, and solemnize a martial+ feast. [Exeunt.

SCENE I.

Enter the SOLDAN OF EGYPT, CAPOLIN, Lords, and a

Messenger.

Sold. Awake, ye men of Memphis !+ hear the clang

Of Scythian trumpets; hear the basilisks,
That, roaring, shake Damascus' turrets down!
The rogue of Volga holds Zenocrate,
The Soldan's daughter, for his concubine,
And, with a troop of thieves and vagabonds,
Hath spread his colours to our high disgrace,
While you, faint-hearted base Egyptians,
Lie slumbering on the flowery banks of Nile,
As crocodiles that unaffrighted rest
While thundering cannons rattle on their skins.
Mess. Nay, mighty Soldan, did your greatness

see

The frowning looks of fiery Tamburlaine, That with his terror and imperious eyes

* pilling] i. e. plundering.

Awake, ye men of Memphis!] These words are put into the mouth of Judas, in Fletcher's Bonduca, at the commencement of act ii.; and in Fletcher's Wit without Money, act v. sc. 2. we find "thou man of Memphis."

t basilisks] Pieces of ordnance 80 called. They were of immense size; see Douce's Illust. of Shakespeare, 1.425.

Commands the hearts of his associates,
It might amaze your royal majesty.

Sold. Villain, I tell thee, were that Tamburlaine

As monstrous as Gorgon prince of hell,
The Soldan would not start a foot from him.
But speak, what power hath he?

Mess. Mighty lord,

Three hundred thousand men in armour clad,
Upon their prancing steeds, disdainfully
With wanton paces trampling on the ground;
Five hundred thousand footmen threatening
shot,

Shaking their swords, their spears, and iron bills,
Environing their standard round, that stood
As bristle-pointed as a thorny wood;
Their warlike engines and munition
Exceed the forces of their martial men.

Sold. Nay, could their numbers countervail

the stars,

Or ever-drizzling § drops of April showers,
Or wither'd leaves that autumn shaketh down,
Yet would the Soldan by his conquering power

* British] So the 4to.-The Svo "brightest."

+ martial] So the Svo.-The 4to "materiall. "

↑ monstrous] To be read as a trisyllable.

§ Or ever-drizzling] So the 4to.-The 8vo "Or drisling."

So scatter and consume them in his rage,
That not a man should* live to rue their fall.
Capo. So might your highness, had you time

to sort

Your fighting men, and raise your royal host; But Tamburlaine by expedition

Advantage takes of your unreadiness.

Sold. Let him take all th' advantages he can:
Were all the world conspir'd to fight for him,
Nay, were he devil,† as he is no man,
Yet in revenge of fair Zenocrate,
Whom he detaineth in despite of us,

This arm should send him down to Erebus,
To shroud his shame in darkness of the night.
Mess. Pleaseth your mightiness to understand,
His resolution far exceedeth all.

The first day when he pitcheth down his tents,
White is their hue, and on his silver crest
A snowy feather spangled-white he bears,'
To signify the mildness of his mind,
That, satiate with spoil, refuseth blood:

But, when Aurora mounts the second time,

As red as scarlet is his furniture;

Baj. Ye holy priests of heavenly Mahomet, That, sacrificing, slice and cut your flesh, Staining his altars with your purple blood, Make heaven to frown, and every fixed star To suck up poison from the moorish fens, And pour it in this glorious tyrant's throat! Tamb. The chiefest god, first mover of that

sphere

Enchas'd with thousands ever-shining lamps, Will sooner burn the glorious frame of heaven Than it should + so conspire my overthrow. But, villain, thou that wishest this to me, Fall prostrate on the low disdainful earth, And be the footstool of great Tamburlaine, That I may rise into § my royal throne.

Baj. First shalt thou rip my bowels with thy sword,

And sacrifice my heart to death and hell,
Before I yield to such a slavery.

Tamb. Base villain, vassal, slave to Tambur

laine,

Unworthy to embrace or touch the ground That bears the honour of my royal weight;

blood,

Not sparing any that can manage arms :
But, if these threats move not submission,
Black are his colours, black pavilion;

His spear, his shield, his horse, his armour, plumes,

And jetty feathers, menace death and hell;
Without respect of sex, degree, or age,
He razeth all his foes with fire and sword.
Sold. Merciless villain, peasant, ignorant
Of lawful arms or martial discipline !
Pillage and murder are his usual trades:
The slave usurps the glorious name of war.
See, Capolin, the fair Arabian king,‡
That hath been disappointed by this slave
Of my fair daughter and his princely love,
May have fresh warning to go war with us,
And be reveng'd for her disparagement.

My sword struck fire from his coat of steel,
Even in Bithynia, when I took this Turk;
As when a fiery exhalation,

Wrapt in the bowels of a freezing cloud,
Fighting for passage, make[s] the welkin crack,
And casts a flash of lightning to* the earth:
But, ere I march to wealthy Persia,

Or leave Damascus and th' Egyptian fields,
As was the fame of Clymene's brain-sick son
That almost brent + the axle-tree of heaven,
So shall our swords, our lances, and our shot
Fill all the air with fiery meteors;

Then, when the sky shall wax as red as blood,
It shall be said I made it red myself,

To make me think of naught but blood and war.
Zab. Unworthy king, that by thy cruelty
Unlawfully usurp'st the Persian seat,
Dar'st thou, that never saw an emperor
Before thou met my husband in the field,
Being thy captive, thus abuse his state,
Keeping his kingly body in a cage,
That roofs of gold and sun-bright palaces
Should have prepar'd to entertain his grace?
And treading him beneath thy loathsome feet,
Whose feet the kings ‡ of Africa have kiss'd?
Tech. You must devise some torment worse,
my lord,

To make these captives rein their lavish tongues.
Tamb. Zenocrate, look better to your slave.
Zeno. She is my handmaid's slave, and she
shall look

That these abuses flow not from § her tongue.Chide her, Anippe.

Anip. Let these be warnings, then, for you,|| my slave,

How you abuse the person of the king;

Or else I swear to have you whipt stark nak'd.¶ Baj. Great Tamburlaine, great in my overthrow,

Ambitious pride shall make thee fall as low,
For treading on the back of Bajazeth,
That should be horséd on four mighty kings.
Tamb. Thy names, and titles, and thy dignities**

Are fled from Bajazeth, and remain with me, That will maintain it 'gainst a world of kings.— Put him in again. [They put him into the cage.

Baj. Is this a place for mighty Bajazeth? Confusion light on him that helps thee thus ! Tamb. There, whiles* he lives, shall Bajazeth be kept;

And, where I go, be thus in triumph drawn; And thou, his wife, shalt + feed him with the

scraps

My servitors shall bring thee from my board;
For he that gives him other food than this,
Shall sit by him, and starve to death himself:
This is my mind, and I will have it so.
Not all the kings and emperors of the earth,
If they would lay their crowns before my feet,
Shall ransom him, or take him from his cage:
The ages that shall talk of Tamburlaine,
Even from this day to Plato's wondrous year,
Shall talk how I have handled Bajazeth:
These Moors, that drew him from Bithynia
To fair Damascus, where we now remain,
Shall lead him with us wheresoe'er we go.-
Techelles, and my loving followers,
Now may we see Damascus' lofty towers,
Like to the shadows of Pyramides

That with their beauties grace the Memphian fields.

The golden stature § of their feather'd bird,||
That spreads her wings upon the city-walls,
Shall not defend it from our battering shot:
The townsmen mask in silk and cloth of gold,
And every house is as a treasury;

The men, the treasure, and the town are ¶ ours.
Ther. Your tents of white now pitch'd before

the gates,

And gentle flags of amity display'd,

I doubt not but the governor will yield, Offering Damascus to your majesty.

*whiles] So the 8vo.-The 4to "while." tshalt] So the 4to.-The 8vo "shal."

grace] Olds eds. "grac'd."

§ stature] So the 8vo.-The 4to "statue:" but again, in the Second Part of this play, act ii. sc. 4. we have, according to the 8vo

"And here will I set up her stature." and, among many passages that might be cited from our early authors, compare the following;

"The Statures huge, of Porphyrie and costlier matters made."

Warner's Albions England, p. 303. ed. 1596. "By them shal Isis stature gently stand." Chapman's Blind Begger of Alexandria, 1598, sig. A 3. "Was not Anubis with his long nose of gold preferred before Neptune, whose stature was but brasse?" Lyly's Midas, sig. A 2. ed. 1592.

bird] i. e. the ibis.

¶ are] Old eds. "is."