The Complete Plays
Page 57
218 Furies… Cocytus: See (N). Cf. 4.4.17–18.
226 proper rooms: Natural places.
234 Cimmerian Styx: An oath by the Styx, the principal river of Hades, bound even the gods.
236–7 aye / Griping: Constantly clawing: the ‘thoughts’ are imagined as curled talons. The sentence lacks a main verb.
240 fiend: Infernal spirit to whom we might pray for help.
241 infamous: Stressed on the second syllable. Cf. lines 391 and 404.
244 Erebus: Usually, the darkness of Hell; here associated with the river Styx (see next note).
246 ferryman: Charon, who conveyed the souls of the dead across the river Styx to the underworld, which included the Elysian fields (247)
249 build up nests: Build false hopes.
256 noisome parbreak: Offensive vomit.
257 standing: Stagnant.
259 engines: I.e. eyes.
270–74 Accursed Bajazéth… break: Bajazeth would wish to condole with Zabina, but hunger gnaws at the source of his feelings.
277 date: I.e. life.
282 expressless, banned inflictions: The inexpressible, cursed things inflicted on.
300 resolved… air: Melted into transparent, bright air. air: O’s ay is nonsense.
311 wildfire: Inflammable substance used as a weapon of war.
332 charged: (Here) levelled.
333 check: Stamp, paw.
337 Whose: The Virgins’.
347 entrails: Perhaps trisyllabic.
349 Shake… grief: Zenocrate calls for an earthquake to mark their deaths.
358 in conduct: Under the guidance.
365 Of… pity: ‘For the inevitable turn of Fortune’s wheel and for considerations of pity’ (Bevington and Rasmussen 1995).
368 In: As in the case of (or, on account of?).
380 Turnus… Aeneas: See (N). Aeneas killed his rival for the hand of Lavinia. Cf. lines 392–4.
387 racked: Tormented, pulled apart (by her divided loyalties).
390 change I use: My inconstancy.
393 Prevented: Deprived.
394 fatally: (i) By decree of fate, (ii) disastrously (to Turnus).
395–9 So… my hope: Similarly, to end my sorrows and reconcile my nation with my beloved, Tamburlaine must, through the irresistible power of the gods, grant honourable terms to the losers.
397 by… powers: Referring to ‘the gods’ (392).
400–402 Then… fair Arabia: Zenocrate prays that the King of Arabia may be saved, as well as her father.
412 for such love: For one so unworthy of that love.
414 Whose fortunes… griefs: Whose good fortune has never overcome her sorrow.
424–5 sweet accidents… merits: Happy events such as you deserve which have befallen you.
438 had ere this: Would by now have.
449 confirmed: Established firmly, or was confirmed by.
454 the Fatal Sisters: The three Fates (N); see 1.2.174.
459–62 swelling clouds… drinks: Tamburlaine has killed so many people that their blood, drawn up by the sun, has fallen like a portentous rain on the earth.
466 foughten fields: Battle fields (an archaic poetic formula).
474 of power to: Able to.
487 record: Call to witness.
488 find… time: Wait no longer.
497 her love: Your love for her.
504 work us rest: Cause us to stop the work of conquest.
510–11 the giants… Jove: On Zeus’ triumph over the giants, see 2.3.21 and 2.6.5–6.
512 shadowing: (i) Depicting, (ii) bearing.
514 Latona’s daughter: Diana, whom Marlowe here seems to conflate with Minerva (Athena); she played a prominent role in the war of the gods against the giants.
528 Alcides’ post: The door-post of the temple of Hercules, or the Pillars of Hercules, which marked the end of the known world.
TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT, PART TWO
PROLOGUE
8 sad: For O’s said.
ACT 1
Scene 1
2 Placed by the issue: Appointed by (or to a place close to) the offspring (his son Callapine).
6–10 Now… a truce: They have marched from Anatolia to the Danube, where Christian and Muslim worlds met.
17 Guyron: Marlowe seems to give the name of this town on the upper Euphrates, north-east of Aleppo, to a river.
20 Besides: Apparently hypermetrical (i.e. the line has six feet instead of the pentameter’s five).
22 Slavonians: Slavs.
Almains, rutters: German cavalry.
Muffs: An abusive name for the Swiss or Germans.
24 hazard that: Endanger what.
25 SP ORCANES: Omitted in all early texts.
25 shortest northern parallel: The most northerly (and shortest) line of latitude.
26–8 Vast Gruntland… Polypheme: Greenland was legendarily populated by giants, here compared to the Cyclops of the Odyssey. See (N).
29 cut the Arctic line: Cross the Arctic Circle.
32 champian mead: Open plain.
33–41 Danubius’ stream… argosies: Marlowe ‘sees the waters of the Danube sweeping from the river mouths in two strong currents, one racing across the Black Sea to Trebizond, the other swirling southward to the Bosporus, and so onward to the Hellespont and the Aegean. Both currents bear the slaughtered bodies of Christian soldiers, the one to bring proof of victory to the great Turkish town, the other to strike terror to the Italian merchants cruising round the Isles of Greece’ (Seaton 1924:33).
42 Europe… bull: The continent is identified with Europa, abducted by Jupiter in the form of a bull.
55–6 My realm… overthrown: ‘Natolia’ is larger than modern Anatolia, occupying most of Asia Minor.
59 Fear not… Tamburlaine: [They] do not frighten me, but great Tamburlaine does.
61 Albanese: Albanians.
62 Sicilians: O’s Cicilians may be an error for Cilicians, from Anatolia.
63 Sorians: Syrians (in Part Two, Soria is treated as distinct from Egypt). Alternatively, the name may designate inhabitants of Zor, i.e. Tyre.
68 oriental plage: Eastern region.
73–5 Even from… Archipelago: All of Africa, from the northern Tropic of Cancer to Amazonia (near the southern Tropic of Capricorn in Marlowe’s maps), and as far north as the islands of the Aegean archipelago.
81 as the Romans used: As was the custom of the Romans.
88 the continent: (Here) the ground.
90 axletree of heaven: See Part One, 4.2.50 Orcanes compares the force of his cannon to earthquakes which shake the globe on its axis.
92 powdered shot… steel: Gunshot and arrows.
93 blink-eyed burghers: Citizens shutting their eyes in fear, wincing.
94 County Palatine: Count enjoying territorial autonomy under the Holy Roman Emperor.
95 Austric: Austrian.
100 princely fowl: The eagle, emblem of the Holy Roman Empire.
122 So prest are we: We too are ready for action.
123 stand not upon terms: Does not insist on unreasonable conditions.
161 chief: Most.
163 stay: Await.
Scene 2
3 the western world: The Turkish Empire, from an oriental point of view. Orcanes’s ambitions may also stretch to the rest of Europe.
12–18 Not for… of this: Almeda’s jokey prose, with its puns on ‘move’ and ‘run’, perhaps gives a hint of the kind of comedy cut by the printer.
12 move: Urge.
20 Darote’s streams: Ortelius’s atlas shows a town of this name (pronounced with three syllables) in the Nile delta.
33 Straits: Straits of Gibraltar.
44 cloth of arras: Rich tapestry (originally manufactured in Arras, France).
48 goest: Take a walk.
50–52 fair veil… Antipodes: The veil of starlight, after the sun has set.
71 haughty: Lofty.
77 Even straight: Immediately.
Scene 3
23 Water… in one: The combination of the moist cold phlegmatic humour (associated with water) with the moist hot humour of blood (associated with air).
39 Trotting the ring: Riding around a circular enclosure for training horses.
41 reined… curvet: Raising the forelegs of a horse and exercising a leap with the back ones alone.
44 Armour of proof: Armour tested for strength.
46 harmless: Unharmed.
79 superficies: Surface (for O’s superfluities).
80 purple: (Blood-) red.
103 channel: Throat, or perhaps shoulder (channel-bone = collar-bone).
133–4 From Azamor… unpeopled: The people of North Africa (‘Barbary’), from Azimur in Morocco as far east as Tunis, have all been conscripted.
143 infernal Jove: Pluto.
144 thee… these: For O’s them… this.
152 Makes me… joy: Overjoys me at the thought of future delight.
165 lavish: Profligate spilling.
166 his wingèd messenger: Mercury.
169 Thetis’: I.e. the sea’s (N).
170 Boötes: Bootes (N), a ploughman, drove oxen.
174–215 My lord… th’inhabitants: The journeys of Tamburlaine’s henchmen are all derived from Ortelius. See (N).
176 lain in leaguer: Encamped for besieging.
182 recreate: Rest, spend time in recreation.
188 John the Great: Prester John, the legendary Christian priest-king who ruled Abyssinia.
189 triple mitre: Papal tiara.
192 Amazonians: Amazons.
193 vouchsafed a league: Granted an alliance.
194 Zanzibar: Not the island, but part of the mainland.
196 Ethiopian sea: (Apparently) the southern Atlantic.
198–201 Therefore… to Cubar: See (N). Techelles travelled up through west Africa.
202 Nubia: An area between the Red Sea and the Nile, with its capital at ‘Borno’ (203).
209–15 Tyros… Mare Maggiore: ‘The river Tyros (the Dniester) acts as a southern boundary of the province of Podalia; Stoko is on it, and Codemia lies to the north-east on another stream. Partly separating Codemia from Olbia, and thus perhaps suggesting an otherwise unnecessary sea-journey, is the thick, green, hollow square of Nigra Silva [see next note]’ (Seaton 1924:29).
212 Nigra Silva… devils dance: The ‘Black Forest’ designates the Hercynian wilderness, legendarily populated by evil spirits.
215 Mare Maggiore: (The greater sea) the Black Sea.
216 period: (Here) stop.
221 Lachryma Christi: (Christ’s tears) a sweet wine from southern Italy.
224 orient: Lustrous (for O’s orienta ll).
225 the whiles: Until then.
ACT 2
Scene 1
2 motion: (Here) impulse, purpose.
8 Varna: The city in north-east Bulgaria, apparently mistaken for a region.
16 Natolia: I.e. Orcanes.
18–20 Cutheia… Caeasaria: See (N). The towns are in Anatolia, Mount Horminius in Bithynia.
21 Soria: See 1.1.63n.
31 should: Would.
32 profession: Oath.
35 those accomplishments: Fulfilments of oaths.
37–9 But as… ourselves: Just as no rules of statecraft bind us to put our trust in the oath (‘faith’) they make in their own profane religion.
47 consummate: Consummated, fulfilled (for O’s consinuate).
50 dispensive faith: An oath which can be put aside by special Church dispensation (or simply dispensed with).
54 Saul: Cf. I Samuel 15, where Saul spared Agag, and so failed to enact God’s command to destroy the Amalekites. Balaam: Cf. Numbers 22–3, where Balaam obeyed God’s instruction that the children of Israel should not be cursed.
Scene 2
11 by scores… arms: Challenge him twenty at a time.
41 Jove: Euphemism for ‘God’.
45 these papers: The ‘scroll’ of 1.1.144.
47 shining veil of Cynthia: The moonlit sky (cf. 1.2.50–52n).
50 in one… circwnscriptible: Is bound to one locality.
51 continent: (i) Space, (ii) land-mass.
Scene 3
8 wherein… I die: With which (death) my sins end.
18 Tartarian: Of Hell (Tartarus).
20–23 That Zoacum… fiends: In the Koran (37:60–64), the Zaqqūm-tree stands in the nethermost region of Hell, bearing fruits shaped like devil’s heads which are eaten by those who are perpetually damned.
32 Whose power… miracle: I.e. the fortunes of war often seem like miracles.
38 We will… trunk: We decree that a guard keep watch over his body.
40 give it… charge: Give the order to do it immediately.
43 brother: Fellow monarch.
47 his angry fate: The vengeance that has fallen on Sigismond.
Scene 4
0.1 SD The arras is drawn: The curtain in front of the discovery-space, drawn to reveal a bedridden Zenocrate.
0.3 SD tempering: Mixing, blending.
9 ivory bowers: Eye-sockets, or eye-lids.
10 tempered… heat: Tamburlaine attributes to Zenocrate’s eyes the sun’s power to balance the humoral temperature (= mixture) of living bodies.
12 jealousy… mate: The heavens are too jealous to share the heavenly Zenocrate with a human husband.
13 latest: Last.
14 dazzled: Blinded (usually by excessive light).
17 entertain: Welcome.
24 tried: Refined, purified.
52–4 As when… train: I.e. as during a lunar eclipse (occurring at points in the celestial map at which the moon’s orbit intersects with the ecliptic, known as the serpent’s head and tail).
58–60 And sooner… majesty: Zenocrate would rather that the sphere of fire (the elementum ignis) be put out to make room for Tamburlaine’s glory than see it obscured in the grave.
61 suspect… by mine: (i) Suspect that you might die for grief at my death, (ii) suspect, from the evidence of my death, that you too are mortal.
68 second life: Afterlife.
74 latest memory: Recollection as I die.
81 spheres: Her eyes, like heavenly spheres.
87–8 Helen… a thousand ships: Cf. Doctor Faustus, 13.90–92.
90 Her: Zenocrate’s.
99 the Fatal Sisters: The Fates (N).
100 triple moat of hell: The rivers Lethe, Styx and Phlegethon.
114 Janus’ temple doors: Opened in time of war. See (N).
129 thou: Zenocrate’s body.
131 lapped in lead: Placed in a lead coffin.
140 stature: Statue (the spelling may represent the common variant ‘statua’).
ACT 3
Scene 1
1 Callapinus… Cybelius: The names (or possibly titles) are taken from Lonicerus (Seaton 1929:388).
19–20 blot our dignities… infamies: Remove our exalted names from the book of lowly shame.
27–32 We shall… encounter: Callapine is confident that Fortune, despite her favours to Tamburlaine, will revert to her usual inconstancy, and favour the Turks in the coming battle.
40–42 Some that… sufficient: Some who, having overcome the superior numbers of Sigismond’s army, think they are sufficient.
46 Scalonia’s: For O’s Scalonians, the inhabitants of Ascalon.
49 neighbour: Next.
50–53 from Trebizond… towns: ‘For the king of Trebizond, Marlowe’s finger traces from west to east the northern seaboard of Asia Minor: Chia, Famastro, Riso, Sanfina’ (Seaton 1924:30).
52 Mare-Major sea: The Black Sea.
59–60 Aleppo…. Damasco: ‘For the king of Soria, [Marlowe] passes from Aleppo south-westward to the sea-coast near Cyprus, and chooses Soldino and Tripoli, and so inland again to Damasco’ (Seaton 1924:30).
64 battle: Forces (whose disposition is described in the following lines).
Scene 2
0.4 SD the town: Larissa.
3 exhalations: Fi
ery vapours.
6 zenith: Highest point of the sun’s, or any star’s, course and influence. Tamburlaine wishes a comet (‘blazing star’), traditionally a portent of disaster, to predominate over his fortunes.
15–18 This pillar… again: In Marlowe’s loose rhetorical grammar, ‘this pillar’ seems to govern ‘forbids’.
20 Wrought: Embroidered.
29–33 the stars… Zenocrate: The stars of the southern hemisphere (‘arc’), usually invisible above the equator (‘the centre’s latitude’), will travel, like pilgrims, into the northern hemisphere to gaze on Zenocrate’s beauty.
34 Thou: Zenocrate’s likeness. Tamburlaine appears to change his mind about hanging her picture on the pillar.
39 Those: O’s Whose is possible but grammatically strained.
58 thirst: For O’s cold.
61 caper: Dance, leap (because they have been blown up).
62–90 Then next… place: The display of military technique is taken from Paul Ive’s Practise of Fortification (1589); see Paul Kocher, ‘Marlowe’s Art of War’, Studies in Philology 39 (1942), pp. 207–25
65–7 the corners… desperate: The arrangement of the fortifications in the shape of a star or pentagon (‘quinque-angle’, 64) is not suitable for flat open (‘champian’, 63) country, but for uneven ground, where its stronger and weaker sections can be disposed at the points of greater and less vulnerability. For other military terms in this passage, see (G).
74 secret issuings: Small doorways which allowed defensive sallies.
75 covered ways: Protected passages.
79 ordnance: (Here) ammunition.
80 scour: (Here) rake with gun-shot.
81 Dismount… part: Dislodge the enemy’s cannon.
85 mount: Rise (through the use of dams).
98 peal of ordnance: Cannonshot.
99 A ring… horse: A ring of soldiers with pikes supported by infantrymen and cavalry.
101 sunny motes: Dust particles in the sunlight.
107–8 Filling… blood: Digested wine supposedly replenished lost blood.
124 the Afric potentate: Bajazeth.
126 search: A technical term for the probing of a wound.
136 bravely: Well.
153 at a bay: At bay (like hunted animals).
158 puissance: Power, might (here, three syllables).
Scene 3
3 Balsera: Probably Marlowe’s misreading of Ortelius’s Passera, a town close to the Natolian border.
hold: Stronghold.