The Complete Plays (25 page)

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
.]

[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
.]

[
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, Sigismond, 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