In silence of thy solemn evening's walk,
Making the mantle of the richest night,
The moon, the planets, and the meteors, light;
There angels in their crystal armours fight *
A doubtful battle with my tempted thoughts
For Egypt's freedom and the Soldan's life,
His life that so consumes Zenocrate;
Whose sorrows lay more siege unto my soul
Than all my army to Damascus' walls;
And neither Persia's † sovereign nor the Turk
Troubled my senses with conceit of foil
So much by much as doth Zenocrate.
What is beauty, saith my sufferings, then?
If all the pens that ever poets held

Had fed the feeling of their masters' thoughts,
And every sweetness that inspir'd their hearts,
Their minds, and muses on admired themes;
If all the heavenly quintessence they still
From their immortal flowers of poesy,
Wherein, as in a mirror, we perceive
The highest reaches of a human wit;

If these had made one poem's period,
And all combin'd in beauty's worthiness,

Yet should there hover in their restless heads

'One thought, one grace, one wonder, at the least,

Which into words no virtue can digest.

But how unseemly is it for my sex,

My discipline of arms and chivalry,
My nature, and the terror of my name,

To harbour thoughts effeminate and faint!
Save only that in beauty's just applause,

With whose instinct the soul of man is touch'd;
And every warrior that is rapt with love
Of fame, of valour, and of victory,
Must needs have beauty beat on his conceits:

I thus conceiving,§ and subduing both,

* fight] So the 8vo.-The 4to "fights."

+ Persia's] Old eds. "Perseans," and "Persians." tstill] i. e. distil.

§ I thus conceiving, and subduing both,

That which hath stoop'd the chiefest of the gods,
Even from the fiery-spangled veil of heaven,
To feel the lovely warmth of shepherds' flames,
And mask in cottages of strowed reeds, &c.] i. e.

I thus feeling, and also subduing, the power of Beauty, which has drawn down the chiefest of the gods even from, &c.

The 8vo has,

"I thus conceiving and subduing both.

That which hath stopt the tempest of the Gods, Euen from the fiery spangled raile of heauen, To feele the lovely warmth of shepheards flames, And martch in cottages of strowed weeds," &c. The 4to has,

66 I the concieving and subduing both,

Tht which hath stopt the tempest of the Gods, Ben from the spangled firie vaile of heauen,

That which hath stoop'd the chiefest of the gods,

Even from the fiery-spangled veil of heaven,
To feel the lovely warmth of shepherds' flames,
And mask in cottages of strowèd reeds,
Shall give the world to note, for all my birth,
That virtue solely is the sum of glory,
And fashions men with true nobility.-
Who's within there?

Enter Attendants.

Hath Bajazeth been fed to-day?
Attend.* Ay, my lord.

Tamb. Bring him forth; and let us know if the town be ransacked. [Exeunt Attendants.

Enter TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE,

and others.

Tech. The town is ours, my lord, and fresh supply

Of conquest and of spoil is offer'd us.

Tamb. That's well, Techelles. What's the news?

Tech. The Soldan and the Arabian king together

March on us with such eager violence
As if there were no way but one with us.‡
Tamb. No more there is not, I warrant thee,
Techelles.

Attendants bring in BAJAZETH in his cage, followed by ZABINA. Exeunt Attendants.

Ther. We know the victory is ours, my lord;

To feele the lovely warmth of Shepheardes flames, And march in coatches of strowed weedes," &c. The alterations which I have made in this corrupted passage are supported by the following lines of the play;

"See now, ye slaves, my children stoop your pride [i. e. make your pride to stoop],

And lead your bodies sheep-like to the sword."

Part Second,-act iv. sc. 1. "The chiefest god, first mover of that sphere", &c. Part First,-act iv. sc. 2. Jove sometime masked in a shepherd's weed", &c. Part First,-act i. sc. 2. Perhaps in the third line of the present passage “fieryspangled" should be "fire-yspangled."

* Attend.] Old eds. "An." (a misprint probably), which the modern editors understand as "Anippe" (the waiting-maid of Zenocrate).

+ March on us with] So the 4to.-The Svo "Martcht on with vs with."

As if there were no way but one with us] i. e. as if we were to lose our lives. This phrase, which is common in our early writers, was not obsolete in Dryden's time: "for, if he heard the malicious trumpeter proclaiming his name before his betters, he knew there was but one way with him." Preface to All for Love.

D

O highest lamp of ever-living* Jove,
Accursed day, infected with my griefs,
Hide now thy stainèd face in endless night,
And shut the windows of the lightsome heavens !
Let ugly Darkness with her rusty coach,
Engirt with tempests, wrapt in pitchy clouds,
Smother the earth with never-fading mists,
And let her horses from their nostrils breathe
Rebellious winds and dreadful thunder-claps,
That in this terror Tamburlaine may live,
And my pin'd soul, resolv'd in liquid air,
May still excruciate his tormented thoughts!
Then let the stony dart of senseless cold
Pierce through the centre of my wither'd heart,
And make a passage for my loathed life!

[He brains himself against the cage.

Re-enter ZABINA.

Zab. What do mine eyes behold? my husband

dead!

His skull all riven in twain! his brains dash'd out,

The brains of Bajazeth, my lord and sovereign! O Bajazeth, my husband and my lord!

O Bajazeth! O Turk! O emperor !

Give him his liquor? not I. Bring milk and fire, and my blood I bring him again.-Tear me in pieces-give me the sword with a ball of wild-fire upon it.-Down with him! down with him!-Go to my child; away, away, away! ah, save that infant! save him, save him!-I, even I, speak to her.-The sun was down-streamers white, red, black-Here, here, here!-Fling the meat in his face-Tamburlaine, Tamburlaine ! -Let the soldiers be buried.-Hell, death, Tamburlaine, § hell!-Make ready my coach, || my chair, my jewels.-I come, I come, I come! ¶

[She runs against the cage, and brains herself.

Enter ZENOCRATE with ANIPPE. Zeno. Wretched Zenocrate! that liv'st to see Damascus' walls dy'd with Egyptians' ** blood,

* ever-living] So the 8vo.-The 4to. "euerlasting." ↑ give] So the 4to.-The 8vo " and giue.”

her] Must mean Zenocrate, whom Zabina fancies herself to be addressing.

§ Let the soldiers be buried.-Hell, death, Tamburlaine] So the 8vo.-Omitted in the 4to. (Where the modern editors got their reading, "Let the soldiers be cursed," I know not.)

|| Make ready my coach] Shakespeare seems to have remembered this passage when he made Ophelia say, "Come, roach," &c. Hamlet, act iv. sc. 5.

Thy father's subjects and thy countrymen;
The streets strow'd with dissever'd joints of men,
And wounded bodies gasping yet for life;
But most accurs'd, to see the sun-bright troop
Of heavenly virgins and unspotted maids
(Whose looks might make the angry god of arms
To break his sword and mildly treat of love)
On horsemen's lances to be hoisted up,
And guiltlessly endure a cruel death;
For every fell and stout Tartarian steed,
That stamp'd on others with their thundering
hoofs,
[spears,
When all their riders charg'd their quivering
Began to check the ground and rein themselves,
Gazing upon the beauty of their looks.
Ah, Tamburlaine, wert thou the cause of this,
1
That term'st Zenocrate thy dearest love?
Whose lives were dearer to Zenocrate
Than her own life, or aught save thine own love.
But see, another bloody spectacle !

Ah, wretched eyes, the enemies of my heart,
How are ye glutted with these grievous objects,
And tell my soul more tales of bleeding ruth!—
See, see, Anippe, if they breathe or no.

Anip. No breath, nor sense, nor motion, in

them both :

Ah, madam, this their slavery hath enforc'd,
And ruthless cruelty of Tamburlaine !

Zeno. Earth, cast up fountains from thy +

entrails,

And wet thy cheeks for their untimely deaths; Shake with their weight in sign of fear and grief! Blush, heaven, that gave them honour at their

birth,

And let them die a death so barbarous !
Those that are proud of fickle empery
And place their chiefest good in earthly pomp,
Behold the Turk and his great emperess!
Ah, Tamburlaine my love, sweet Tamburlaine,
That fight'st for sceptres and for slippery crowns,
Behold the Turk and his great emperess!
Thou that, in conduct of thy happy stars,
Sleep'st every night with conquest on thy brows,
And yet wouldst shun the wavering turns of war,+
In fear and feeling of the like distress
Behold the Turk and his great emperess !
Ah, mighty Jove and holy Mahomet,
Pardon my love! O, pardon his contempt
Of earthly fortune and respect of pity;
And let not conquest, ruthlessly pursu'd,

* The] Old eds. "Thy."

thy] So the 8vo.-The 4to "thine." war] So the 8vo.- The 4to "warres."

Be equally against his life incens'd

In this great Turk and hapless emperess!
And pardon me that was not mov'd with ruth
To see them live so long in misery!—
Ah, what may chance to thee, Zenocrate?

Anip. Madam, content yourself, and be resolv'd

Your love hath Fortune so at his command,
That she shall stay, and turn her wheel no more,
As long as life maintains his mighty arm
That fights for honour to adorn your head.

Enter PHILEMUS.

Zeno. What other heavy news now brings Philemus?

Phil. Madam, your father, and the Arabian king,

The first affecter of your excellence,

*

Come now, as Turnus 'gainst Æneas did,
Armed with lance into the Egyptian fields,
Ready for battle 'gainst my lord the king.

Zeno. Now shame and duty, love and fear present

A thousand sorrows to my martyr'd soul.
Whom should I wish the fatal victory,
When my poor pleasures are divided thus,
And rack'd by duty from my cursed heart?
My father and my first-betrothed love
Must fight against my life and present love;
Wherein the change I use condemns my faith,
And makes my deeds infamous through the
world:

But, as the gods, to end the Trojans' toil,
Prevented Turnus of Lavinia,
And fatally enrich'd Æneas' love,
So, for a final issue to my griefs,

To pacify my country and my love,
Must Tamburlaine by their resistless powers,
With virtue of a gentle victory,

Conclude a league of honour to my hope;
Then, as the powers divine have pre-ordain'd,
With happy safety of my father's life
Send like defence of fair Arabia.

[They sound to the battle within; and TAMBURLAINE
enjoys the victory: after which, the KING OF
ARABIA § enters wounded.

K. of Ar. What cursèd power guides the murdering hands

Of this infamous tyrant's soldiers,

That no escape may save their enemies,

*Come] Old eds. "Comes" and "Comep."

+ Armed] So the 8vo.--The 4to "Armes." final] So the 4to.-The 8vo "small."

King of Arabia] i. e. Aleidamus; see p. 10, l. 9,

sec. col.

Nor fortune keep themselves from victory?
Lie down, Arabia, wounded to the death,
And let Zenocrate's fair eyes behold,

That, as for her thou bear'st these wretched arms,

*

Even so for her thou diest in these arms,
Leaving thy blood for witness of thy love.
Zeno. Too dear a witness for such love, my
lord!

Behold Zenocrate, the cursèd object
Whose fortunes never mastered her griefs;
Behold her wounded in conceit + for thee,
As much as thy fair body is for me!

K. of Ar. Then shall I die with full contented heart,

Having beheld divine Zenocrate,

Whose sight with joy would take away my life
As now it bringeth sweetness to my wound,
If I had not been wounded as I am.
Ah, that the deadly pangs I suffer now
Would lend an hour's licence to my tongue,
To make discourse of some sweet accidents
Have chanc'd thy merits in this worthless bond-

age,

And that I might be privy to the state
Of thy deserv'd contentment and thy love!
But, making now a virtue of thy sight,
To drive all sorrow from my fainting soul,
Since death denies me further cause of joy,
Depriv'd of care, my heart with comfort dies,
Since thy desirèd hand shall close mine eyes.

[Dies.

Re-enter TAMBURLAINE, leading the SOLDAN; TECHELLES,
THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE, with others.
Tamb. Come, happy father of Zenocrate,
A title higher than thy Soldan's name.
Though my right hand have thus enthralled
thee,

Thy princely daughter here shall set thee free;
She that hath calm'd the fury of my sword,
Which had ere this been bath'd in streams of
blood

As vast and deep as Euphrates § or Nile.

Zeno. O sight thrice-welcome to my joyful soul,

To see the king, my father, issue safe
From dangerous battle of my conquering love!
Sold. Well met, my only dear Zenocrate,
Though with the loss of Egypt and my crown!