The Complete Plays (15 page)

Return with speed!
Time passeth
swift away.

Our life is frail, and we may die today.

THERIDAMAS

Before the moon renew her
borrowed light
,

Doubt not, my lord and gracious sovereign,

70   But Tamburlaine and that Tartarian rout

Shall either perish by our warlike hands

Or plead for mercy at your highness' feet.

MYCETES

Go, stout Theridamas, thy words are swords,

And with thy looks thou conqu'rest all thy foes.

I long to see thee back return from thence,

That I may view these milk-white steeds of mine

All loaden with the heads of killèd men,

And from their knees even to their hoofs below

80   Besmeared with blood, that makes a dainty show.

THERIDAMAS

Then now, my lord, I humbly take my leave.

Exit
[
THERIDAMAS
].

MYCETES

Theridamas, farewell ten thousand times!

Ah, Menaphon, why stayest thou thus behind

When other men press forward for renown?

Go, Menaphon, go into Scythia,

And foot by foot follow Theridamas.

COSROE

Nay, pray you, let him stay; a greater
task

Fits Menaphon than warring with a thief.

Create him prorex of
Assyria,

90   That he may win the Babylonians' hearts,

Which will revolt from Persian government

Unless they have a wiser king than you.

MYCETES

‘Unless they have a wiser king than you'!

These are his words, Meander, set them down.

COSROE

And add this to them, that all Asia

Lament to see the folly of their king.

MYCETES

Well, here I swear by this my royal seat –

COSROE

You may do well to
kiss it, then
.

MYCETES

Embossed with
silk as best beseems my state,

100   To be revenged for these contemptuous words.

O, where is duty and allegiance now?

Fled to the Caspian or the ocean main?

What, shall I call thee brother? No, a foe,

Monster of nature, shame unto thy stock,

That dar'st presume thy sovereign for to mock.

Meander, come. I am abused, Meander.

Exit
[
with
MEANDER
and others
].

COSROE
and
MENAPHON
remain
.

MENAPHON

How now, my lord, what,
mated and
amazed

To hear the king thus threaten like himself?

COSROE

Ah, Menaphon, I
pass not
for his threats.

110   The plot is laid by Persian noblemen

And captains of the
Median garrisons

To crown me emperor of Asia.

But this it is that does excruciate

The very substance of my vexèd soul:

To see our neighbours, that were wont to quake

And tremble at the Persian monarch's name,

Now sits and laughs our regiment to scorn;

And – that which might
resolve me
into tears –

Men from the farthest
equinoctial line

Have swarmed in troops into the Eastern Inde,

120   Lading their ships with gold and precious stones,

And made their spoils from all our provinces.

MENAPHON

This should entreat your highness to rejoice,

Since Fortune gives you opportunity

To gain the title of a conqueror

By curing of this maimèd empery.

Afric and Europe bordering on your land

And continent to your dominions,

How easily may you with a mighty host

Pass into Graecia, as did
Cyrus once
,

130   And cause them to withdraw their
forces home

Lest you subdue the pride of Christendom!

[
A trumpet sounds
.]

COSROE

But, Menaphon, what means this trumpet's sound?

MENAPHON

Behold, my lord, Ortygius and the rest,

Bringing the crown to make you emperor.

Enter
ORTYGIUS
and
CENEUS
,
bearing a crown, with others.

ORTYGIUS

Magnificent and mighty prince Cosroe,

We, in the name of other Persian
states

And commons of this mighty monarchy,

Present thee with th'imperial diadem.

CENEUS

The warlike soldiers and the gentlemen

140   That heretofore have filled Persepolis

With Afric captains taken in the field,

Whose ransom made them march in coats of gold

With costly jewels hanging at their ears

And shining stones upon their lofty crests,

Now living idle in the walled towns,

Wanting both pay and martial discipline,

Begin in troops to threaten civil war

And openly exclaim against the king.

150   Therefore, to stay all sudden mutinies,

We will invest your highness emperor,

Whereat the soldiers will conceive more joy

Than did the
Macedonians at
the spoil

Of great Darius and his wealthy host.

COSROE

Well, since I see the state of Persia droop

And languish in my brother's government,

I willingly receive th'imperial crown

And vow to wear it for my country's good,

In spite of
them shall malice my
estate.

ORTYGIUS
[
crowning
COSROE
]

160   And in assurance of desired success

We here do crown thee monarch of the East,

Emperor of Asia and of Persia,

Great lord of Media and Armenia,

Duke of Assyria and Albania,

Mesopotamia and of Parthia,

East India and the
late-discovered isles,

Chief lord of all the wide vast Euxine Sea

And of the ever-raging Caspian lake.

Long live Cosroë, mighty emperor!

COSROE

170   And Jove may never let me longer live

Than I may seek to gratify your love

And cause the soldiers that thus honour me

To triumph over many provinces!

By whose desires of discipline in arms

I doubt not shortly but to reign sole king,

And with the army of Theridamas,

Whither we presently will fly, my lords,

To rest secure against my brother's force.

ORTYGIUS

We knew, my lord, before we brought the crown,

Intending your investion so near

180   The residence of your despisèd brother,

The lords would not be
too exasperate

To injure or suppress your worthy title.

Or if they would, there are in readiness

Ten thousand horse to carry you from hence

In spite of all suspected enemies.

COSROE

I know it well, my lord, and thank you all.

ORTYGIUS

Sound up the trumpets, then. God save the king!

[
The trumpets sound
.]                     
Exeunt
.

[
Enter
]
TAMBURLAINE
,
leading
ZENOCRATE
;
TECHELLES
,
USUMCASANE
,
other
LORDS
, [
MAGNETES
and
AGYDAS
,]
and
SOLDIERS
loaden with treasure
.

TAMBURLAINE

Come, lady, let not this appal your thoughts.

The jewels and the treasure we have ta'en

Shall be reserved, and you in better state

Than if you were arrived in Syria,

Even in the circle of your father's arms,

The mighty Sultan of Egyptia.

ZENOCRATE

Ah, shepherd, pity my distressèd plight,

If, as thou seem'st, thou art so
mean a
man,

And seek not to enrich thy followers

By lawless rapine from a
silly maid

10   Who, travelling with these Median lords

To Memphis, from my uncle's country of Media,

Where all my youth I have been governèd,

Have passed the army of the mighty Turk,

Bearing his
privy signet and
his hand

To safe conduct us
thorough Africa.

MAGNETES

And, since we have arrived in Scythia,

Besides rich presents from
the puissant Cham

We have his highness' letters to command

20   Aid and assistance if we stand in need.

TAMBURLAINE

But now you see these letters and commands

Are countermanded by a greater man,

And through my provinces you must expect

Letters of conduct from my mightiness

If you intend to keep your treasure safe.

But since I love to live at liberty,

As easily may you get the Sultan's crown

As any
prizes out
of my precinct;

For they
are friends that help to wean my state

30   Till men and kingdoms help to strengthen it,

And must maintain my life exempt from servitude.

But tell me, madam, is your grace betrothed?

ZENOCRATE

I am, my lord,
for so
you do import.

TAMBURLAINE

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 bed that conquers Asia

And means to be a terror to the world,

Measuring the limits of his empery

40   By east and west as Phoebus doth his course.

Lie here
, ye weeds that I disdain to wear!

[
He removes his shepherd's cloak
.]

This complete armour and this curtle-axe

Are adjuncts more beseeming Tamburlaine.

And, madam, whatsoever you esteem

Of this
success and
loss unvaluèd,

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,

50   Fighting for passage, tilt within the earth.

TECHELLES

As princely lions when they rouse themselves,

Stretching their paws and threat'ning 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.

USUMCASANE

And making thee and me, Techelles, kings,

That even to death will follow Tamburlaine.

TAMBURLAINE

Nobly resolved, sweet friends and followers.

60   These lords, perhaps, do scorn
our estimates,

And think we prattle with distempered spirits;

But since they measure our deserts so mean

That in
conceit bear
empires on our spears,

Affecting thoughts coequal with the clouds,

They shall be kept our forcèd followers

Till with their eyes they view us emperors.

ZENOCRATE

The gods, defenders of the innocent,

Will never prosper your intended drifts

That thus oppress poor friendless passengers.

70   Therefore at least admit us liberty,

Even as thou hop'st to be eternizèd

By living Asia's mighty emperor.

AGYDAS

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 betrothèd, Lord Alcidamus,

Expects th'arrival of her highness' person.

MAGNETES

80   And wheresoever we repose ourselves

We will report but well of Tamburlaine.

TAMBURLAINE

Disdains Zenocrate to live with me?

Or you, my lords, to be my followers?

Think you I weigh this treasure more than you?

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,

Fairer than whitest snow on Scythian hills,

90   Thy person is more worth to Tamburlaine

Than the possession of the Persian crown,

Which gracious stars have promised at my birth.

A hundred Tartars shall attend on thee,

Mounted on steeds swifter than Pegasus;

Thy garments shall be made of Median silk,

Enchased with precious jewels of mine own,

More rich and valurous than Zenocrate's;

With milk-white harts upon an ivory sled

Thou shalt be drawn amidst the frozen pools

100   And scale the icy mountains' lofty tops,

Which with thy beauty will be soon resolved;

My martial prizes, with five hundred men,

Won on the
fifty-headed Volga's
waves,

Shall all we offer to
Zenocrate,

And then myself to fair Zenocrate.

TECHELLES
[
to
TAMBURLAINE
]

What now? In love?

TAMBURLAINE