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10
THE FIRST PART OF
Act I.
As easily may you get the Soldan's crown
As any prizes out of my precìnct;
For they are friends that help to wean my state
Till men and kingdoms help to strengthen it,
And must maintain my life exempt from servitude.—
But, tell me, madam, is your grace betroth'd?
As any prizes out of my precìnct;
For they are friends that help to wean my state
Till men and kingdoms help to strengthen it,
And must maintain my life exempt from servitude.—
But, tell me, madam, is your grace betroth'd?
Zeno. I am, my lord, for so you do import.
Tamb. I am a lord, for so my deeds shall prove;
And yet a shepherd by my parentage.
But, lady, this fair face and heavenly hue
Must grace his be.l that conquers Asia,
And means to be a terror to the world,
Measuring the limits of his empeiy
By east and west, as Phœbus doth his course.
Lie here, ye weeds, that I disdain to wear!
This complete armour and this curtle-axe
Are adjuncts more beseeming Tamburlaine.—
And, madam, whatsoever you esteem
Of this success, and loss unvaluèd[1],
Both may invest you empress of the East;
And these that seem but silly country swains
May have the leading of so great an host
As with their weight shall make the mountains quake,
Even as when windy exhalations,
Fighting for passage, tilt within the earth.
And yet a shepherd by my parentage.
But, lady, this fair face and heavenly hue
Must grace his be.l that conquers Asia,
And means to be a terror to the world,
Measuring the limits of his empeiy
By east and west, as Phœbus doth his course.
Lie here, ye weeds, that I disdain to wear!
This complete armour and this curtle-axe
Are adjuncts more beseeming Tamburlaine.—
And, madam, whatsoever you esteem
Of this success, and loss unvaluèd[1],
Both may invest you empress of the East;
And these that seem but silly country swains
May have the leading of so great an host
As with their weight shall make the mountains quake,
Even as when windy exhalations,
Fighting for passage, tilt within the earth.
Tech. As princely lions, when they rouse themselves,
Stretching their paws, and threatening herds of beasts,
So in his armour looketh Tamburlaine.
Methinks I see kings kneeling at his feet,
And he with frowning brows and fiery looks
Spurning their crowns from off their captive heads.
Stretching their paws, and threatening herds of beasts,
So in his armour looketh Tamburlaine.
Methinks I see kings kneeling at his feet,
And he with frowning brows and fiery looks
Spurning their crowns from off their captive heads.
Usum. And making thee and me, Techelles, kings,
That even to death will follow Tamburlaine.
That even to death will follow Tamburlaine.
Tamb. Nobly resolv'd, sweet friends and followers!
These lords perhaps do scorn our estimates,
And think we prattle with distemper' d spirits:
But, since they measure our deserts so mean,
That in conceit[2] bear empires on our spears,
Affecting thoughts coequal with the clouds,
They shall be kept our forced followers
Till with their eyes they view us emperors.
These lords perhaps do scorn our estimates,
And think we prattle with distemper' d spirits:
But, since they measure our deserts so mean,
That in conceit[2] bear empires on our spears,
Affecting thoughts coequal with the clouds,
They shall be kept our forced followers
Till with their eyes they view us emperors.
Zeno. The gods, defenders of the innocent,
Will never prosper your intended drifts,
That thus oppress poor friendless passengers.
Therefore at least admit us liberty,
Even as thou hop'st to be eternized
By living Asia's mighty emperor.
Will never prosper your intended drifts,
That thus oppress poor friendless passengers.
Therefore at least admit us liberty,
Even as thou hop'st to be eternized
By living Asia's mighty emperor.
Agyd. I hope our lady's treasure and our own
May serve for ransom to our liberties :
Return our mules and empty camels back,
That we may travel into Syria,
Where her betrothed lord, Alcidamus,
Expects the arrival of her highness' person.
May serve for ransom to our liberties :
Return our mules and empty camels back,
That we may travel into Syria,
Where her betrothed lord, Alcidamus,
Expects the arrival of her highness' person.
Mag. And wheresoever we repose ourselves,
We will report but well of Tamburlaine.
We will report but well of Tamburlaine.
Tamb. Disdains Zenocrate to live with me?
Or you, my lords, to be my followers
Think you I weigh this treasure more thau you 1
Not all the gold in India's wealthy arms
Shall buy the meanest soldier in my train.
Zenocrate, lovelier than the love of Jove,
Brighter than is the silver Rhodope[3],
Fairer than whitest snow on Scythian hills,
Thy person is more worth to Tamburlaine
Than the possession of the Persian crown,
Which gracious stars have promis'd at my birth,
A hundred Tartars shall attend on thee,
Mounted on steeds swifter than Pegasus;
Thy garments shall be made of Median silk,
Enchas'd with precious jewels of mine own,
More rich and i. e. valuable.[4] than Zenocrate's;
With milk-white harts upon an ivory pled
Thou shalt be drawn amidst the frozen pools[5]
And scale the icy mountains' lofty tops,
Which with thy beauty will be soon resolv'd[6]:
My martial prizes, with five hundred men,
Won on the fifty-headed Volga's waves,
Shall we all offer[7] to Zenocrate,
And then myself to fair Zenocrate.
Or you, my lords, to be my followers
Think you I weigh this treasure more thau you 1
Not all the gold in India's wealthy arms
Shall buy the meanest soldier in my train.
Zenocrate, lovelier than the love of Jove,
Brighter than is the silver Rhodope[3],
Fairer than whitest snow on Scythian hills,
Thy person is more worth to Tamburlaine
Than the possession of the Persian crown,
Which gracious stars have promis'd at my birth,
A hundred Tartars shall attend on thee,
Mounted on steeds swifter than Pegasus;
Thy garments shall be made of Median silk,
Enchas'd with precious jewels of mine own,
More rich and i. e. valuable.[4] than Zenocrate's;
With milk-white harts upon an ivory pled
Thou shalt be drawn amidst the frozen pools[5]
And scale the icy mountains' lofty tops,
Which with thy beauty will be soon resolv'd[6]:
My martial prizes, with five hundred men,
Won on the fifty-headed Volga's waves,
Shall we all offer[7] to Zenocrate,
And then myself to fair Zenocrate.
Tech. What now! in love ?
Enter a. Soldier.
Sold. News, news!
Tamb. How now! what's the matter?
Sold. A thousand Persian horsemen are at hand,
Sent from the king to overcome us all.
Sent from the king to overcome us all.
- ↑ unvaluèd] i e. not to be valued, or estimated.
- ↑ conceit] i. e. fancy, imagination.
- ↑ Rhodope] Old eds. "Rhodolfe."
- ↑ valurous] valurous
- ↑ pools] So the 8vo. The 4to "Poles."
- ↑ resolv'd] i. e. dissolved. So the 8vo. The 4to "do solu'd."
- ↑ Shall we all offer] The 8vo "Shall we offer" (the word "all" having dropt out). The 4to "We all shall offer.
- ↑ in] The 8vo "it." Omitted in the 4to.
