Then will we* march to all those Indian mines
My witless brother to the Christians lost,
And ransom them with fame and usury:
And, till thou overtake me, Tamburlaine,
(Staying to order all the scatter'd troops,)
Farewell, lord regent and his happy friends.
I long to sit upon my brother's throne.

Mean. Your majesty shall shortly have your wish,

And ride in triumph through Persepolis.

[Exeunt all except TAMB., THER., TECH., and USUM. Tamb. And ride in triumph through Perse

polis!

Is it not brave to be a king, Techelles ?-
Usumcasane and Theridamas,

Is it not passing brave to be a king,

And ride in triumph through Persepolis?

Tech. O, my lord, it is sweet and full of pomp!
Usum. To be a king is half to be a god.

Ther. A god is not so glorious as a king:
I think the pleasure they enjoy in heaven,
Cannot compare with kingly joys in † earth;-
To wear a crown enchas'd with pearl and gold,
Whose virtues carry with it life and death;
To ask and have, command and be obey'd;
When looks breed love, with looks to gain the
prize,-

Such power attractive shines in princes' eyes. Tamb. Why, say, Theridamas, wilt thou be a king?

Ther. Nay, though I praise it, I can live without it.

Tamb. What say my other friends? will you be kings?

Tech. I, if I could, with all my heart, my lord. Tamb. Why, that's well said, Techelles: so would I ;

And so would you, my masters, would you not? Usum. What, then, my lord?

Tamb. Why, then, Casane,‡ shall we wish for aught

The world affords in greatest novelty,
And rest attemptless, faint, and destitute?
Methinks we should not. I am strongly mov'd,
That if I should desire the Persian crown,
I could attain it with a wondrous ease:
And would not all our soldiers soon consent,
If we should aim at such a dignity?

Ther. I know they would with our persuasions.

Tamb. Why, then, Theridamas, I'll first assay To get the Persian kingdom to myself;

Then thou for Parthia; they for Scythia and Media;

And, if I prosper, all shall be as sure

As if the Turk, the Pope, Afric, and Greece, Came creeping to us with their crowns a-piece.* Tech. Then shall we send to this triumphing

king,

And bid him battle for his novel crown?

Usum. Nay, quickly, then, before his room be hot.

Tamb. 'Twill prove a pretty jest, in faith, my friends.

Ther. A jest to charge on twenty thousand

men!

I judge the purchase + more important far.
Tamb. Judge by thyself, Theridamas, not me;
For presently Techelles here shall haste
To bid him battle ere he pass too far,

And lose more labour than the gain will quite :‡
Then shalt thou see this § Scythian Tamburlaine
Make but a jest to win the Persian crown.-
Techelles, take a thousand horse with thee,
And bid him turn him back to war with us,
That only made him king to make us sport:
We will not steal upon him cowardly,
But give him warning and ¶ more warriors:
Haste thee, Techelles; we will follow thee.

So do we hope to reign in Asia,

If Tamburlaine be plac'd 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,
For want of nourishment to feed them both,

¦ Are dry and cold; and now doth ghastly Death With greedy talents+ gripe my bleeding heart, And like a harpy ‡ tires on my life.-Theridamas and Tamburlaine, I die: And fearful vengeance light upon you both! [Dies.-TAMBURLAINE takes COSROE's crown, and puts it on his own head.

Tamb. Not all the curses which the* Furies

breathe

Shall make me leave so rich a prize as this.
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!

Tamb. So; now it is more surer on my head Than if the gods had held a parliament,

And all pronounc'd me king of Persia. [Exeunt.

SCENE I.

Enter BAJAZETH, the KINGS OF FEZ, MOROCCO, and ARGIER, with others, in great pomp.

Baj. Great kings of Barbary, and my portly bassoes, §

We hear the Tartars and the eastern thieves,
Under the conduct of one Tamburlaine,
Presume a bickering with your emperor,
And think to rouse us from our dreadful siege
Of the famous Grecian Constantinople.
You know our army is invincible;
As many circumcised Turks we have,
And warlike bands of Christians renied, ||

* Are] Old eds. "Is."

+ talents] Was often used by our early writers for talons, as many passages might be adduced to shew. Hence the quibble in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, act iv. sc. 2., “If a talent be a claw," &c.

: harpy] So the 8vo.-The 4to "Harper;" and with that reading the line is cited, in a note on Macbeth, act iv. sc. 1, by Steevens, who also gives "tires upon my life: but "tirea" (a well-known term in falconry, and equivalent here to--preys) is to be pronounced as a dissyllable. (In the 4to it is spelt "tyers.")

What, if you sent the bassoes of your guard To charge him to remain in Asia,

Or else to threaten death and deadly arins As from the mouth of mighty Bajazeth?

Baj. Hie thee, my basso, § fast to Persia; Tell him thy lord, the Turkish emperor, Dread lord of Afric, Europe, and Asia, Great king and conqueror of Græcia, The ocean, Terrene, and the Coal-black sea, The high and highest monarch of the world, Wills and commands, (for say not I entreat,)

reneyed hire feythe." The Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundevile, p. 209. ed. 1725.

"For that thou should'st reny thy faith, and her thereby

possesse.

The Soldan did capitulat in vaine: the more thy blesse."

Warner's Albions England, B. XI. Ch. 68. p. 287. ed. 1596. * the] So the 4to.-The 8vo "thy."

↑ Terrene] i. e. Mediterranean.

Renowmed] See note I, p. 11. So the 8vo.-The 4to "renowned."

§ basso] So the 8vo.-The 4to "Brother."

*

Not once to set his foot in + Africa,

Or spread his colours in Græcia,
Lest he incur the fury of my wrath:
Tell him I am content to take a truce,
Because I hear he bears a valiant mind:
But if, presuming on his silly power,
He be so mad to manage arms with me,
Then stay thou with him,—say, I bid thee so;
And if, before the sun have measur'd heaven §
With triple circuit, thou regreet us not,
We mean to take his morning's next arise
For messenger he will not be reclaim'd,
And mean to fetch thee in despite of him.
Bas. Most great and puissant monarch of the
earth,

Your basso will accomplish your behest,
And shew your pleasure to the Persian,
As fits the legate of the stately Turk.

[Exit.

K. of Arg. They say he is the king of Persia ; But, if he dare attempt to stir your siege, 'Twere requisite he should be ten times more, For all flesh quakes at your magnificence.

Baj. True, Argier; and tremble[s] at my looks. K. of Mor. The spring is hinder'd by your smothering host;

For neither rain can fall upon the earth,
Nor sun reflex his virtuous beams thereon,
The ground is mantled with such multitudes.
Baj. All this is true as holy Mahomet;
And all the trees are blasted with our breaths.
K. of Fez. What thinks your greatness best to
be achiev'd

In pursuit of the city's overthrow?

Baj. I will the captive pioners || of Argier Cut off the water that by leaden pipes Runs to the city from the mountain Carnon; Two thousand horse shall forage up and down, That no relief or succour come by land; And all the sea my galleys countermand: Then shall our footmen lie within the trench, And with their cannons, mouth'd like Orcus' gulf, Batter the walls, and we will enter in ; And thus the Grecians shall be conquerèd.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt.

Enter ZENOCRATE, AGYDAS, ANIPPE, with others. Agyd. Madam Zenocrate, may I presume

*Not] So the 8vo.-The 4to "Nor." tin] So the 8vo.-The 4to "on."

Or spread, &c.] A word has dropt out from this line. § measur'd heaven] So the 8vo.-The 4to "measured the heaven."

pioners] The usual spelling of the word in our early writers (in Shakespeare, for instance).

To know the cause of these unquiet fits
That work such trouble to your wonted rest?
'Tis more than pity such a heavenly face
Should by heart's sorrow wax so wan and pale,
When your offensive rape by Tamburlaine
(Which of your whole displeasures should be
most)

Hath seem'd to be digested long ago.

Zeno. Although it be digested long ago, As his exceeding favours have deserv'd, And might content the Queen of Heaven, as well As it hath chang'd my first-conceiv'd disdain; Yet since a farther passion feeds my thoughts With ceaseless* and disconsolate conceits †, Which dye my looks so lifeless as they are, And might, if my extremes had full events, Make me the ghastly counterfeit of death.

Agyd. Eternal heaven sooner be dissolv'd, And all that pierceth Phoebus' silver eye, Before such hap fall to Zenocrate!

Zeno. Ah, life and soul, still hover in his § breast,

And leave my body senseless as the earth,
Or else unite you to his life and soul,
That I may live and die with Tamburlaine !
Enter, behind, TAMBURLAINE, with TECHELLES, and others.
Agyd. With Tamburlaine! Ah, fair Zenocrate,
Let not a man so vile and barbarous,
That holds you from your father in despite,
And keeps you from the honours of a queen,
(Being suppos'd his worthless concubine,)
Be honour'd with your love but for necessity!
So, now the mighty Soldan hears of you,
Your highness needs not doubt but in short time
He will, with Tamburlaine's destruction,
Redeem you from this deadly servitude.

Zeno. Leave to wound me with these words,
And speak of Tamburlaine as he deserves:
The entertainment we have had of him
Is far from villany or servitude,

And might in noble minds be counted princely. Agyd. How can you fancy one that looks so fierce,

Only dispos'd to martial stratagems?
Who, when he shall embrace you in his arms,
Will tell how many thousand men he slew;
And, when you look for amorous discourse,

| Will rattle forth his facts* of war and blood, Too harsh a subject for your dainty ears.

Zeno. As looks the sun through Nilus' flowing
stream,

Or when the Morning holds him in her arms,
So looks my lordly love, fair Tamburlaine;
His talk much † sweeter than the Muses' song
They sung for honour 'gainst Pierides,
Or when Minerva did with Neptune strive :
And higher would I rear my estimate
Than Juno, sister to the highest god,
If I were match'd with mighty Tamburlaine.
Agyd. Yet be not so inconstant in your love,
But let the young Arabian § live in hope,
After your rescue to enjoy his choice.
You see, though first the king of Persia,
Being a shepherd, seem'd to love you much,
Now, in his majesty, he leaves those looks,
Those words of favour, and those comfortings,
And gives no more than common courtesies.
Zeno. Thence rise the tears that so distain my
cheeks,

Fearing his love | through my unworthiness.

[TAMBURLAINE goes to her, and takes her away

lovingly by the hand, looking wrathfully on AGYDAS, and says nothing. Exeunt all except AGYDAS.

Agyd. Betray'd by fortune and suspicious love, Threaten'd with frowning wrath and jealousy, Surpris'd with fear of ¶ hideous revenge,

I stand aghast; but most astonièd

To see his choler shut in secret thoughts, And wrapt in silence of his angry soul: Upon his brows was pourtray'd ugly death; And in his eyes the fury ** of his heart, That shone ++ as comets, menacing revenge, And cast a pale complexion on his cheeks. As when the seaman sees the Hyades Gather an army of Cimmerian clouds, (Auster and Aquilon with winged steeds, All sweating, tilt about the watery heavens, With shivering spears enforcing thunder-claps, And from their shields strike flames of lightning,) All-fearful folds his sails, and sounds the main, Lifting his prayers to the heavens for aid

Re-enter TECHELLES with a naked danger, and USUMCASANE. Tech. See you, Agydas, how the king salutes you!

He bids you prophesy what it imports.

Agyd. I prophesied before, and now I prove The killing frowns of jealousy and love. He needed not with words confirm my fear, For words are vain where working tools present The naked action of my threaten'd end: It says, Agydas, thou shalt surely die, And of extremities elect the least; More honour and less pain it may procure, To die by this resolvèd hand of thine Than stay the torments he and heaven have sworn. Then haste, Agydas, and prevent the plagues Which thy prolongèd fates may draw on thee: Go wander free from fear of tyrant's rage, Removed from the torments and the hell Wherewith he may excruciate thy soul; And let Agydas by Agydas die, And with this stab slumber eternally.

[Stabs himself.

Tech. Usumcasane, see, how right the man Hath hit the meaning of my lord the king!

Usum. Faith, and, Techelles, it was manly done; And, since he was so wise and honourable, Let us afford him now the bearing hence, And crave his triple-worthy burial. Tech. Agreed, Casane; we will honour him. [Exeunt, bearing out the body.

SCENE III.

Enter TAMBURLAINE, TECHELLES, USUMCASANE, THERIDAMAS, a Basso, ZENOCRATE, ANIPPE, with others. Tamb. Basso, by this thy lord and master knows I mean to meet him in Bithynia:

See, how he comes! tush, Turks are full of brags,
And menace + more than they can well perform.
He meet me in the field, and fetch ‡ thee hence !
Alas, poor Turk! his fortune is too weak
T'encounter with the strength of Tamburlaine :
View well my camp, and speak indifferently;
Do not my captains and my soldiers look
As if they meant to conquer Africa?

send] Old eds. "sent."

† menace] So the Svo.-The 4to "meane." fetch] So the Svo.-The 4to "fetcht."