Tamburlaine the Great Volume Ii Part 11

GOVERNOR. Yet save my life, and let this wound appease The mortal fury of great Tamburlaine!

TAMBURLAINE. No, though Asphaltis' lake were liquid gold, And offer'd me as ransom for thy life, Yet shouldst thou die.--Shoot at him all at once.

[They shoot.]

So, now he hangs like Bagdet's [278] governor, Having as many bullets in his flesh As there be breaches in her batter'd wall.

Go now, and bind the burghers hand and foot, And cast them headlong in the city's lake.

Tartars and Persians shall inhabit there; And, to command the city, I will build A citadel, [279] that all Africa, Which hath been subject to the Persian king, Shall pay me tribute for in Babylon.

TECh.e.l.lES.

What shall be done with their wives and children, my lord?

TAMBURLAINE. Tech.e.l.les, drown them all, man, woman, and child; Leave not a Babylonian in the town.

TECh.e.l.lES. I will about it straight.--Come, soldiers.

[Exit with SOLDIERS.]

TAMBURLAINE. Now, Casane, where's the Turkish Alcoran, And all the heaps of superst.i.tious books Found in the temples of that Mahomet Whom I have thought a G.o.d? they shall be burnt.

USUMCASANE. Here they are, my lord.

TAMBURLAINE. Well said! [280] let there be a fire presently.

[They light a fire.]

In vain, I see, men wors.h.i.+p Mahomet: My sword hath sent millions of Turks to h.e.l.l, Slew all his priests, his kinsmen, and his friends, And yet I live untouch'd by Mahomet.

There is a G.o.d, full of revenging wrath, ]From whom the thunder and the lightning breaks, Whose scourge I am, and him will I [281] obey.

So, Casane; fling them in the fire.-- [They burn the books.]

Now, Mahomet, if thou have any power, Come down thyself and work a miracle: Thou art not worthy to be wors.h.i.+pped That suffer'st [282] flames of fire to burn the writ Wherein the sum of thy religion rests: Why send'st [283] thou not a furious whirlwind down, To blow thy Alcoran up to thy throne, Where men report thou sitt'st [284] by G.o.d himself?

Or vengeance on the head [285] of Tamburlaine That shakes his sword against thy majesty, And spurns the abstracts of thy foolish laws?-- Well, soldiers, Mahomet remains in h.e.l.l; He cannot hear the voice of Tamburlaine: Seek out another G.o.dhead to adore; The G.o.d that sits in heaven, if any G.o.d, For he is G.o.d alone, and none but he.

Re-enter TECh.e.l.lES.

TECh.e.l.lES. I have fulfill'd your highness' will, my lord: Thousands of men, drown'd in Asphaltis' lake, Have made the water swell above the banks, And fishes, fed [286] by human carca.s.ses, Amaz'd, swim up and down upon [287] the waves, As when they swallow a.s.safoetida, Which makes them fleet [288] aloft and gape [289] for air.

TAMBURLAINE. Well, then, my friendly lords, what now remains, But that we leave sufficient garrison, And presently depart to Persia, To triumph after all our victories?

THERIDAMAS. Ay, good my lord, let us in [290] haste to Persia; And let this captain be remov'd the walls To some high hill about the city here.

TAMBURLAINE. Let it be so;--about it, soldiers;-- But stay; I feel myself distemper'd suddenly.

TECh.e.l.lES. What is it dares distemper Tamburlaine?

TAMBURLAINE. Something, Tech.e.l.les; but I know not what.-- But, forth, ye va.s.sals! [291] whatsoe'er [292] it be, Sickness or death can never conquer me.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE II.

Enter CALLAPINE, KING OF AMASIA, a CAPTAIN, and train, with drums and trumpets.

CALLAPINE. King of Amasia, now our mighty host Marcheth in Asia Major, where the streams Of Euphrates [293] and Tigris swiftly run; And here may we [294] behold great Babylon, Circled about with Limnasphaltis' lake, Where Tamburlaine with all his army lies, Which being faint and weary with the siege, We may lie ready to encounter him Before his host be full from Babylon, And so revenge our latest grievous loss, If G.o.d or Mahomet send any aid.

KING OF AMASIA. Doubt not, my lord, but we shall conquer him: The monster that hath drunk a sea of blood, And yet gapes still for more to quench his thirst, Our Turkish swords shall headlong send to h.e.l.l; And that vile carca.s.s, drawn by warlike kings, The fowls shall eat; for never sepulchre Shall grace this [295] base-born tyrant Tamburlaine.

CALLAPINE. When I record [296] my parents' slavish life, Their cruel death, mine own captivity, My viceroys' bondage under Tamburlaine, Methinks I could sustain a thousand deaths, To be reveng'd of all his villany.-- Ah, sacred Mahomet, thou that hast seen Millions of Turks perish by Tamburlaine, Kingdoms made waste, brave cities sack'd and burnt, And but one host is left to honour thee, Aid [297] thy obedient servant Callapine, And make him, after all these overthrows, To triumph over cursed Tamburlaine!

KING OF AMASIA. Fear not, my lord: I see great Mahomet, Clothed in purple clouds, and on his head A chaplet brighter than Apollo's crown, Marching about the air with armed men, To join with you against this Tamburlaine.

CAPTAIN. Renowmed [298] general, mighty Callapine, Though G.o.d himself and holy Mahomet Should come in person to resist your power, Yet might your mighty host encounter all, And pull proud Tamburlaine upon his knees To sue for mercy at your highness' feet.

CALLAPINE. Captain, the force of Tamburlaine is great, His fortune greater, and the victories Wherewith he hath so sore dismay'd the world Are greatest to discourage all our drifts; Yet, when the pride of Cynthia is at full, She wanes again; and so shall his, I hope; For we have here the chief selected men Of twenty several kingdoms at the least; Nor ploughman, priest, nor merchant, stays at home; All Turkey is in arms with Callapine; And never will we sunder camps and arms Before himself or his be conquered: This is the time that must eternize me For conquering the tyrant of the world.

Come, soldiers, let us lie in wait for him, And, if we find him absent from his camp, Or that it be rejoin'd again at full, a.s.sail it, and be sure of victory.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE III.

Enter THERIDAMAS, TECh.e.l.lES, and USUMCASANE.

THERIDAMAS. Weep, heavens, and vanish into liquid tears!

Fall, stars that govern his nativity, And summon all the s.h.i.+ning lamps of heaven To cast their bootless fires to the earth, And shed their feeble influence in the air; m.u.f.fle your beauties with eternal clouds; For h.e.l.l and Darkness pitch their pitchy tents, And Death, with armies of Cimmerian spirits, Gives battle 'gainst the heart of Tamburlaine!

Now, in defiance of that wonted love Your sacred virtues pour'd upon his throne, And made his state an honour to the heavens, These cowards invisibly [299] a.s.sail his soul, And threaten conquest on our sovereign; But, if he die, your glories are disgrac'd, Earth droops, and says that h.e.l.l in heaven is plac'd!

TECh.e.l.lES. O, then, ye powers that sway eternal seats, And guide this ma.s.sy substance of the earth, If you retain desert of holiness, As your supreme estates instruct our thoughts, Be not inconstant, careless of your fame, Bear not the burden of your enemies' joys, Triumphing in his fall whom you advanc'd; But, as his birth, life, health, and majesty Were strangely blest and governed by heaven, So honour, heaven, (till heaven dissolved be,) His birth, his life, his health, and majesty!

USUMCASANE. Blush, heaven, to lose the honour of thy name, To see thy footstool set upon thy head; And let no baseness in thy haughty breast Sustain a shame of such inexcellence, [300]

To see the devils mount in angels' thrones, And angels dive into the pools of h.e.l.l!

And, though they think their painful date is out, And that their power is puissant as Jove's, Which makes them manage arms against thy state, Yet make them feel the strength of Tamburlaine (Thy instrument and note of majesty) Is greater far than they can thus subdue; For, if he die, thy glory is disgrac'd, Earth droops, and says that h.e.l.l in heaven is plac'd!

Enter TAMBURLAINE, [301] drawn in his chariot (as before) by ORCANES king of Natolia, and the KING OF JERUSALEM, AMYRAS, CELEBINUS, and Physicians.

TAMBURLAINE. What daring G.o.d torments my body thus, And seeks to conquer mighty Tamburlaine?

Shall sickness prove me now to be a man, That have been term'd the terror of the world?

Tech.e.l.les and the rest, come, take your swords, And threaten him whose hand afflicts my soul: Come, let us march against the powers of heaven, And set black streamers in the firmament, To signify the slaughter of the G.o.ds.

Ah, friends, what shall I do? I cannot stand.

Come, carry me to war against the G.o.ds, That thus envy the health of Tamburlaine.

THERIDAMAS. Ah, good my lord, leave these impatient words, Which add much danger to your malady!

TAMBURLAINE. Why, shall I sit and languish in this pain?

No, strike the drums, and, in revenge of this, Come, let us charge our spears, and pierce his breast Whose shoulders bear the axis of the world, That, if I perish, heaven and earth may fade.

Theridamas, haste to the court of Jove; Will him to send Apollo hither straight, To cure me, or I'll fetch him down myself.

TECh.e.l.lES.

Sit still, my gracious lord; this grief will cease, [302]

And cannot last, it is so violent.

TAMBURLAINE. Not last, Tech.e.l.les! no, for I shall die.