The Complete Plays

by Christopher Marlowe

  440 O, sight thrice welcome to my joyful soul,

  To see the king my father issue safe

  From dangerous battle of my conquering love!

  SULTAN

  Well met, my only dear Zenocrate,

  Though with the loss of Egypt and my crown.

  TAMBURLAINE

  ’Twas I, my lord, that gat the victory.

  And therefore grieve not at your overthrow,

  Since I shall render all into your hands

  And add more strength to your dominions

  Than ever yet confirmed th’Egyptian crown.

  The god of war resigns his room to me,

  450 Meaning to make me general of the world.

  Jove, viewing me in arms, looks pale and wan,

  Fearing my power should pull him from his throne.

  Where’er I come, the Fatal Sisters sweat,

  And grisly Death, by running to and fro

  To do their ceaseless homage to my sword;

  And here in Afric, where it seldom rains,

  Since I arrived with my triumphant host

  Have swelling clouds, drawn from wide gasping wounds,

  Been oft resolved in bloody purple showers –

  460 A meteor that might terrify the earth

  And make it quake at every drop it drinks.

  Millions of souls sit on the banks of Styx,

  Waiting the back return of Charon’s boat;

  Hell and Elysium swarm with ghosts of men

  That I have sent from sundry foughten fields

  To spread my fame through hell and up to heaven.

  And see, my lord, a sight of strange import:

  Emperors and kings lie breathless at my feet.

  The Turk and his great empress, as it seems,

  470 Left to themselves while we were at the fight,

  Have desperately dispatched their slavish lives.

  With them Arabia too hath left his life –

  All sights of power to grace my victory.

  And such are objects fit for Tamburlaine,

  Wherein as in a mirror may be seen

  His honour, that consists in shedding blood

  When men presume to manage arms with him.

  SULTAN

  Mighty hath God and Mahomet made thy hand,

  Renownèd Tamburlaine, to whom all kings

  480 Of force must yield their crowns and emperies.

  And I am pleased with this my overthrow

  If, as beseems a person of thy state,

  Thou hast with honour used Zenocrate.

  TAMBURLAINE

  Her state and person wants no pomp, you see;

  And for all blot of foul inchastity,

  I record heaven, her heavenly self is clear.

  Then let me find no further time to grace

  Her princely temples with the Persian crown;

  490 But here these kings, that on my fortunes wait,

  And have been crowned for provèd worthiness

  Even by this hand that shall establish them,

  Shall now, adjoining all their hands with mine,

  Invest her here my queen of Persia.

  What saith the noble Sultan and Zenocrate?

  SULTAN

  I yield with thanks and protestations

  Of endless honour to thee for her love.

  TAMBURLAINE

  Then doubt I not but fair Zenocrate

  Will soon consent to satisfy us both.

  ZENOCRATE

  500 Else should I much forget myself, my lord.

  THERIDAMAS

  Then let us set the crown upon her head,

  That long hath lingered for so high a seat.

  TECHELLES

  My hand is ready to perform the deed,

  For now her marriage time shall work us rest.

  USUMCASANE

  And here’s the crown, my lord. Help set it on.

  TAMBURLAINE

  Then sit thou down, divine Zenocrate.

  And here we crown thee queen of Persia

  And all the kingdoms and dominions

  That late the power of Tamburlaine subdued.

  510 As Juno, when the giants were suppressed,

  That darted mountains at her brother Jove,

  So looks my love, shadowing in her brows

  Triumphs and trophies for my victories;

  Or, as Latona’s daughter, bent to arms,

  Adding more courage to my conquering mind.

  To gratify thee, sweet Zenocrate,

  Egyptians, Moors, and men of Asia,

  From Barbary unto the Western Indie,

  Shall pay a yearly tribute to thy sire,

  And from the bounds of Afric to the banks

  520 Of Ganges shall his mighty arm extend.

  And now, my lords and loving followers,

  That purchased kingdoms by your martial deeds,

  Cast off your armour, put on scarlet robes,

  Mount up your royal places of estate,

  Environèd with troops of noble men,

  And there make laws to rule your provinces.

  Hang up your weapons on Alcides’ post,

  For Tamburlaine takes truce with all the world.

  [To ZENOCRATE]

  Thy first betrothèd love, Arabia,

  530 Shall we with honour, as beseems, entomb,

  With this great Turk and his fair emperess.

  Then after all these solemn exequies,

  We will our celebrated rites of marriage solemnize.

  [Exeunt.]

  TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT, PART TWO

  [Dramatis Personae

  THE PROLOGUE

  ORCANES, King of Natolia

  GAZELLUS, Viceroy of Byron

  URIBASSA, a Natolian lord

  SIGISMOND, King of Hungary

  FREDERICK, lord of Buda

  BALDWIN, lord of Bohemia

  CALLAPINE, son to Bajazeth, and prisoner to Tamburlaine

  ALMEDA, his keeper

  TAMBURLAINE, King of Persia

  ZENOCRATE, wife to Tamburlaine

  CALYPHAS /AMYRAS /CELEBINUS /Tamburlaine’s sons

  THERIDAMAS, King of Argier

  TECHELLES, King of Fez

  USUMCASANE, King of Morocco

  A MESSENGER

  THREE PHYSICIANS

  KING OF TREBIZOND

  KING OF SORIA

  KING OF JERUSALEM

  SOLDIERS

  PIONERS

  A CAPTAIN OF BALSERA

  OLYMPIA, wife to the Captain of Balsera

  THE CAPTAIN’S SON

  PERDICAS, companion to Calyphas

  TURKISH CONCUBINES

  GOVERNOR OF BABYLON

  MAXIMUS

  CITIZENS

  KING OF AMASIA

  A CAPTAIN

  ATTENDANTS]

  [Enter] the PROLOGUE.

  PROLOGUE

  The general welcome Tamburlaine received

  When he arrivèd last upon our stage

  Hath made our poet pen his second part,

  Where death cuts off the progress of his pomp

  And murd’rous Fates throws all his triumphs down.

  5 But what became of fair Zenocrate,

  And with how many cities’ sacrifice

  He celebrated her sad funeral,

  Himself in presence shall unfold at large.

  [Exit.]

  ACT 1

  Scene 1

  [Enter] ORCANES King of Natolia, GAZELLUS viceroy of Byron, URIBASSA, and their train, with drums and trumpets.

  ORCANES

  Egregious viceroys of these eastern parts,

  Placed by the issue of great Bajazeth,

  And sacred lord, the mighty Callapine,

  Who lives in Egypt prisoner to that slave

  Which kept his father in an iron cage:

  Now have we marched from fair Natolia

  Two hundred leagues, and on Danubius’ banks

  Our warlike host in complete armour
rest,

  Where Sigismond the king of Hungary

  10 Should meet our person to conclude a truce.

  What, shall we parley with the Christian,

  Or cross the stream and meet him in the field?

  GAZELLUS

  King of Natolia, let us treat of peace.

  We all are glutted with the Christians’ blood,

  And have a greater foe to fight against:

  Proud Tamburlaine, that now in Asia

  Near Guyron’s head doth set his conquering feet,

  And means to fire Turkey as he goes.

  ’Gainst him, my lord, must you address your power.

  URIBASSA

  20 Besides, King Sigismond hath brought from Christendom

  More than his camp of stout Hungarians,

  Slavonians, Almains, rutters, Muffs, and Danes,

  That with the halberd, lance, and murdering axe

  Will hazard that we might with surety hold.

  ORCANES

  Though from the shortest northern parallel,

  Vast Gruntland, compassed with the frozen sea,

  Inhabited with tall and sturdy men,

  Giants as big as hugy Polypheme,

  Millions of soldiers cut the Arctic line,

  Bringing the strength of Europe to these arms,

  30 Our Turkey blades shall glide through all their throats

  And make this champian mead a bloody fen.

  Danubius’ stream, that runs to Trebizond,

  Shall carry wrapped within his scarlet waves,

  As martial presents to our friends at home,

  The slaughtered bodies of these Christians.

  The Terrene main, wherein Danubius falls,

  Shall by this battle be the bloody sea.

  The wand’ring sailors of proud Italy

  Shall meet those Christians fleeting with the tide,

  40 Beating in heaps against their argosies,

  And make fair Europe, mounted on her bull,

  Trapped with the wealth and riches of the world,

  Alight and wear a woeful mourning weed.

  GAZELLUS

  Yet, stout Orcanes, prorex of the world,

  Since Tamburlaine hath mustered all his men,

  Marching from Cairon northward with his camp

  To Alexandria and the frontier towns,

  Meaning to make a conquest of our land,

  ’Tis requisite to parley for a peace

  50 With Sigismond the King of Hungary,

  And save our forces for the hot assaults

  Proud Tamburlaine intends Natolia.

  ORCANES

  Viceroy of Byron, wisely hast thou said.

  My realm, the centre of our empery,

  Once lost, all Turkey would be overthrown,

  And for that cause the Christians shall have peace.

  Slavonians, Almains, rutters, Muffs, and Danes,

  Fear not Orcanes, but great Tamburlaine –

  60 Nor he, but Fortune that hath made him great.

  We have revolted Grecians, Albanese,

  Sicilians, Jews, Arabians, Turks, and Moors,

  Natolians, Sorians, black Egyptians,

  Illyrians, Thracians, and Bithynians,

  Enough to swallow forceless Sigismond,

  Yet scarce enough t’encounter Tamburlaine.

  He brings a world of people to the field.

  From Scythia to the oriental plage

  Of India, where raging Lantchidol

  70 Beats on the regions with his boisterous blows,

  That never seaman yet discovered,

  All Asia is in arms with Tamburlaine.

  Even from the midst of fiery Cancer’s tropic

  To Amazonia under Capricorn,

  And thence as far as Archipelago,

  All Afric is in arms with Tamburlaine.

  Therefore, viceroys, the Christians must have peace.

  [Enter] SIGISMOND, FREDERICK, BALDWIN, and their train, with drums and trumpets.

  SIGISMOND

  Orcanes, as our legates promised thee,

  We with our peers have crossed Danubius’ stream

  80 To treat of friendly peace or deadly war.

  Take which thou wilt, for as the Romans used,

  I here present thee with a naked sword.

  [He presents his sword.]

  Wilt thou have war, then shake this blade at me;

  If peace, restore it to my hands again,

  And I will sheathe it to confirm the same.

  ORCANES

  Stay, Sigismond. Forgett’st thou I am he

  That with the cannon shook Vienna walls

  And made it dance upon the continent,

  As when the massy substance of the earth

  Quiver about the axletree of heaven?

  90 Forgett’st thou that I sent a shower of darts,

  Mingled with powdered shot and feathered steel,

  So thick upon the blink-eyed burghers’ heads,

  That thou thyself, then County Palatine,

  The king of Boheme, and the Austric duke

  Sent heralds out, which basely on their knees

  In all your names desired a truce of me?

  Forgett’st thou that, to have me raise my siege,

  Wagons of gold were set before my tent,

  Stamped with the princely fowl that in her wings

  100 Carries the fearful thunderbolts of Jove?

  How canst thou think of this and offer war?

  SIGISMOND

  Vienna was besieged, and I was there,

  Then County Palatine, but now a king,

  And what we did was in extremity.

  But now, Orcanes, view my royal host

  That hides these plains, and seems as vast and wide

  As doth the desert of Arabia

  To those that stand on Baghdad’s lofty tower,

  Or as the ocean to the traveller

  110 That rests upon the snowy Apennines;

  And tell me whether I should stoop so low,

  Or treat of peace with the Natolian king.

  GAZELLUS

  Kings of Natolia and of Hungary,

  We came from Turkey to confirm a league,

  And not to dare each other to the field.

  A friendly parley might become ye both.

  FREDERICK

  And we from Europe to the same intent,

  Which if your general refuse or scorn,

  Our tents are pitched, our men stand in array,

  120 Ready to charge you ere you stir your feet.

  ORCANES

  So prest are we. But yet if Sigismond

  Speak as a friend and stand not upon terms,

  Here is his sword; let peace be ratified

  On these conditions specified before,

  Drawn with advice of our ambassadors.

  SIGISMOND

  Then here I sheathe it, and give thee my hand

  Never to draw it out or manage arms

  Against thyself or thy confederates,

  130 But, whilst I live, will be at truce with thee.

  ORCANES

  But, Sigismond, confirm it with an oath

  And swear in sight of heaven and by thy Christ.

  SIGISMOND

  By Him that made the world and saved my soul,

  The son of God and issue of a maid,

  Sweet Jesus Christ, I solemnly protest

  And vow to keep this peace inviolable.

  ORCANES

  By sacred Mahomet, the friend of God,

  Whose holy Alcoran remains with us,

  Whose glorious body, when he left the world,

  140 Closed in a coffin, mounted up the air

  And hung on stately Mecca’s temple roof,

  I swear to keep this truce inviolable;

  Of whose conditions and our solemn oaths

  Signed with our hands, each shall retain a scroll

  As memorable witness of our league.

  Now, Sigismon
d, if any Christian king

  Encroach upon the confines of thy realm,

  Send word Orcanes of Natolia

  Confirmed this league beyond Danubius’ stream,

  150 And they will, trembling, sound a quick retreat,

  So am I feared among all nations.

  SIGISMOND

  If any heathen potentate or king

  Invade Natolia, Sigismond will send

  A hundred thousand horse trained to the war

  And backed by stout lancers of Germany,

  The strength and sinews of th’imperial seat.

  ORCANES

  I thank thee, Sigismond; but when I war,

  All Asia Minor, Africa, and Greece,

  Follow my standard and my thund’ring drums.

  Come, let us go and banquet in our tents.

  160 I will dispatch chief of my army hence

  To fair Natolia and to Trebizond,

  To stay my coming ’gainst proud Tamburlaine.

  Friend Sigismond, and peers of Hungary,

  Come banquet and carouse with us a while

  And then depart we to our territories.

  Exeunt.

  Scene 2

  [Enter] CALLAPINE with ALMEDA, his keeper.

  CALLAPINE

  Sweet Almeda, pity the ruthful plight

  Of Callapine, the son of Bajazeth,

  Born to be monarch of the western world,

  Yet here detained by cruel Tamburlaine.

  ALMEDA

  My lord, I pity it, and with my heart

  Wish your release. But he whose wrath is death,

  My sovereign lord, renownèd Tamburlaine,

  Forbids you further liberty than this.

  CALLAPINE

  Ah, were I now but half so eloquent

  To paint in words what I’ll perform in deeds,

  10 I know thou wouldst depart from hence with me.

  ALMEDA

  Not for all Afric. Therefore move me not.

  CALLAPINE

  Yet hear me speak, my gentle Almeda.

  ALMEDA

  No speech to that end, by your favour, sir.

  CALLAPINE

  By Cairo runs –

  ALMEDA

  No talk of running, I tell you, sir.

  CALLAPINE

  A little further, gentle Almeda.

  ALMEDA

  Well, sir, what of this?

  CALLAPINE

  By Cairo runs to Alexandria Bay

  20 Darote’s streams, wherein at anchor lies

  A Turkish galley of my royal fleet,

  Waiting my coming to the river side,

  Hoping by some means I shall be released,

  Which, when I come aboard, will hoist up sail

  And soon put forth into the Terrene Sea,

  Where ’twixt the isles of Cyprus and of Crete

  We quickly may in Turkish seas arrive.

  Then shalt thou see a hundred kings and more,

  Upon their knees, all bid me welcome home.

  30 Amongst so many crowns of burnished gold