60 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 mouthed like Orcus’ gulf
Batter the walls, and we will enter in;
And thus the Grecians shall be conqueràd.
Exeunt.
Scene 2
[Enter] AGYDAS, ZENOCRATE, ANIPPE, with others.
AGYDAS
Madam Zenocrate, may I presume
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 seemed to be digested long ago.
ZENOCRATE
Although it be digested long ago,
As his exceeding favours have deserved,
10 And might content the queen of heaven as well
As it hath changed my first-conceived disdain,
Yet, since, a farther passion feeds my thoughts
With ceaseless and disconsolate conceits,
Which dyes my looks so lifeless as they are
And might, if my extremes had full events,
Make me the ghastly counterfeit of death.
AGYDAS
Eternal heaven sooner be dissolved,
And all that pierceth Phoebe’s silver eye,
20 Before such hap fall to Zenocrate!
ZENOCRATE
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 [from behind] TAMBURLAINE with TECHELLES and others.
AGYDAS
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 supposed his worthless concubine,
30 Be honoured with your love but for necessity.
So now the mighty Sultan hears of you,
Your highness needs not doubt but in short time
He will, with Tamburlaine’s destruction,
Redeem you from this deadly servitude.
ZENOCRATE
Agydas, leave to wound me with these words,
And speak of Tamburlaine as he deserves.
The entertainment we have had of him
Is far from villainy or servitude,
And might in noble minds be counted princely.
AGYDAS
40 How can you fancy one that looks so fierce,
Only disposed 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.
ZENOCRATE
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
50 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 matched with mighty Tamburlaine.
AGYDAS
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, seemed to love you much,
60 Now in his majesty he leaves those looks,
Those words of favour, and those comfortings,
And gives no more than common courtesies.
ZENOCRATE
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 wrath fully on AGYDAS, and says nothing.
[Exeunt, AGYDAS remains.]
AGYDAS
Betrayed by fortune and suspicious love,
Threatened with frowning wrath and jealousy,
Surprised with fear of hideous revenge,
I stand aghast, but most astonièd
To see his choler shut in secret thoughts
70 And wrapped in silence of his angry soul.
Upon his brows was portrayed ugly death,
And in his eyes the fury of his heart,
That shine as comets, menacing revenge,
And casts a pale complexion on his cheeks.
As when the seaman sees the Hyades
Gather an army of Cimmerian clouds
(Auster and Aquilon, with wingèd steeds
All sweating, tilt about the watery heavens
80 With shivering spears enforcing thunderclaps,
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
Against the terror of the winds and waves,
So fares Agydas for the late-felt frowns
That sent a tempest to my daunted thoughts
And makes my soul divine her overthrow.
Enter TECHELLES with a naked dagger.
TECHELLES [giving the dagger]
See you, Agydas, how the king salutes you.
He bids you prophesy what it imports.
Exit [TECHELLES].
AGYDAS
90 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 threatened 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.
100 Then haste, Agydas, and prevent the plagues
Which thy prolongèd fates may draw on thee.
Go wander free from fear of tyrant’s rage,
Removèd 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.]
[Enter TECHELLES and USUMCASCANE.]
TECHELLES
Usumcasane, see how right the man
Hath hit the meaning of my lord the king.
USUMCASANE
Faith, and, Techelles, it was manly done;
And since he was so wise and honourable,
110 Let us afford him now the bearing hence
And crave his triple-worthy burial.
TECHELLES
Agreed, Casane. We will honour him.
[Exeunt, bearing the body.]
Scene 3
[Enter] TAMBURLAINE, TECHELLES, USUMCASANE, THERIDAMAS, BASSO, ZENOCRATE, [ANIPPE,] with Others [with a throne].
TAMBURLAINE
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
10 As if they meant to conquer Africa?
BASSO
Your men are valiant, but their number few,
And cannot terrify his mighty host.
My lord, the great commander of the world,
Besides fifteen contributory kings,
Hath now in arms ten thousand janizaries
Mounted on lusty Mauritanian steeds,
Brought to the war by men of Tripoli;
Two hundred thousand footmen that have served
In two set battles fought in Graecia;
20 And for the expedition of this war,
If he think good, can from his garrisons
Withdraw as many more to follow him.
TECHELLES
The more he brings, the greater is the spoil;
For, when they perish by our warlike hands,
We mean to seat our footmen on their steeds
And rifle all those stately janizars.
TAMBURLAINE
But will those kings accompany your lord?
BASSO
Such as his highness please, but some must stay
To rule the provinces he late subdued.
TAMBURLAINE [to his followers]
30 Then fight courageously, their crowns are yours.
This hand shall set them on your conquering heads
That made me emperor of Asia.
USUMCASANE
Let him bring millions infinite of men,
Unpeopling western Africa and Greece,
Yet we assure us of the victory.
THERIDAMAS
Even he, that in a trice vanquished two kings
More mighty than the Turkish emperor,
Shall rouse him out of Europe and pursue
His scattered army till they yield or die.
TAMBURLAINE
40 Well said, Theridamas! Speak in that mood,
For ‘will’ and ‘shall’ best fitteth Tamburlaine,
Whose smiling stars gives him assurèd hope
Of martial triumph ere he meet his foes.
I that am termed the scourge and wrath of God,
The only fear and terror of the world,
Will first subdue the Turk and then enlarge
Those Christian captives which you keep as slaves,
Burdening their bodies with your heavy chains,
And feeding them with thin and slender fare,
That naked row about the Terrene Sea,
50 And when they chance to breathe and rest a space,
Are punished with bastones so grievously
That they lie panting on the galley’s side
And strive for life at every stroke they give.
These are the cruel pirates of Argier,
That damnèd train, the scum of Africa,
Inhabited with straggling runagates,
That make quick havoc of the Christian blood.
But, as I live, that town shall curse the time
That Tamburlaine set foot in Africa.
60 Enter BAJAZETH with his BASSOES [with a throne,] and contributory KINGS [OF FEZ, MOROCCO and ARGIER; ZABINA and EBEA].
BAJAZETH
Bassoes and janizaries of my guard,
Attend upon the person of your lord,
The greatest potentate of Africa.
TAMBURLAINE
Techelles and the rest, prepare your swords.
I mean t’encounter with that Bajazeth.
BAJAZETH
Kings of Fez, Moroccus, and Argier,
He calls me Bajazeth, whom you call lord!
Note the presumption of this Scythian slave.
I tell thee, villain, those that lead my horse
Have to their names titles of dignity;
70 And dar’st thou bluntly call me Bajazeth?
TAMBURLAINE
And know thou, Turk, that those which lead my horse
Shall lead thee captive thorough Africa;
And dar’st thou bluntly call me Tamburlaine?
BAJAZETH
By Mahomet my kinsman’s sepulchre,
And by the holy Alcoran I swear
He shall be made a chaste and lustless eunuch,
And in my sarell tend my concubines,
And all his captains that thus stoutly stand
80 Shall draw the chariot of my emperess,
Whom I have brought to see their overthrow.
TAMBURLAINE
By this my sword that conquered Persia,
Thy fall shall make me famous through the world.
I will not tell thee how I’ll handle thee,
But every common soldier of my camp
Shall smile to see thy miserable state.
FEZ [to BAJAZETH]
What means the mighty Turkish emperor
To talk with one so base as Tamburlaine?
MOROCCO
Ye Moors and valiant men of Barbary,
90 How can ye suffer these indignities?
ARGIER
Leave words and let them feel your lances’ points,
Which glided through the bowels of the Greeks.
BAJAZETH
Well said, my stout contributory kings!
Your threefold army and my hugy host
Shall swallow up these base-born Persians.
TECHELLES
Puissant, renowned, and mighty Tamburlaine,
Why stay we thus prolonging all their lives?
THERIDAMAS
I long to see those crowns won by our swords,
That we may reign as kings of Africa.
USUMCASANE
100 What coward would not fight for such a prize?
TAMBURLAINE
Fight all courageously, and be you kings!
I speak it, and my words are oracles.
BAJAZETH
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,
110 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.
ZABINA
Such good success happen to Bajazeth!
TAMBURLAINE
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,
120 And speech more pleasant than sweet harmony,
That with thy looks canst clear the darkened sky
And calm the rage of thund’ring 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,
130 And manage words with her as we will arms.
ZENOCRATE
And may my love, the King of Persia,
Return with victory and free from wound!
BAJAZETH
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 slaughtered carcasses
Sha
ll serve for walls and bulwarks to the rest;
140 And as the heads of Hydra, so my power,
Subdued, 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 thee.
Thou knowest not, foolish-hardy Tamburlaine,
What ’tis to meet me in the open field,
That leave no ground for thee to march upon.
TAMBURLAINE
Our conquering swords shall marshal us the way
We use to march upon the slaughtered foe,
150 Trampling their bowels with our horses’ hoofs –
Brave horses, bred on the white Tartarian hills.
My camp is like to Julius Caesar’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 our strokes to wound the senseless air;
And when she sees our bloody colours spread,
160 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 [TAMBURLAINE,] with his followers.
BAJAZETH
Come, kings and bassoes, let us glut our swords
That thirst to drink the feeble Persians’ blood!
Exit [BAJAZETH,] with his followers.
ZABINA
Base concubine, must thou be placed by me
That am the empress of the mighty Turk?
ZENOCRATE
Disdainful Turkess and unreverend boss,
Call’st thou me concubine, that am betrothed
170 Unto the great and mighty Tamburlaine?
ZABINA
To Tamburlaine, the great Tartarian thief!
ZENOCRATE
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 advocates.
ZABINA
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,
180 And make her dainty fingers fall to work.
ZENOCRATE
Hear’st thou, Anippe, how thy drudge doth talk,
And how my slave, her mistress, menaceth?
Both, for their sauciness, shall be employed
To dress the common soldiers’ meat and drink,
For we will scorn they should come near ourselves.
ANIPPE
The Complete Plays Page 14