Act V
Scene I
Enter the GOVERNOR OF DAMASCUS 241 with three or four CITIZENS, and four VIRGINS with branches of laurel in their hands.
GOVERNOR. Still doth this man, or rather god of war,
Batter our walls and beat our turrets down;
And to resist with longer stubbornness,
Or hope of rescue from the Soldan’s power,
Were but to bring our wilful overthrow,
And make us desperate of our threaten’d lives.
We see his tents have now been altered
With terrors to the last and cruel’st hue;
His coal-black colours, every where advanc’d,
Threaten our city with a general spoil;
And, if we should with common rites of arms
Offer our safeties to his clemency,
I fear the custom proper to his sword,
Which he observes as parcel of his fame,
Intending so to terrify the world,
By any innovation or remorse 242 Will never be dispens’d with till our deaths.
Therefore, for these our harmless virgins’ sakes, 243 Whose honours and whose lives rely on him,
Let us have hope that their unspotted prayers,
Their blubber’d 244 cheeks, and hearty humble moans,
Will melt his fury into some remorse,
And use us like a loving conqueror. 245
FIRST VIRGIN. If humble suite or imprecations
(Utter’d with tears of wretchedness and blood
Shed from the heads and hearts of all our sex,
Some made your wives, and some your children,)
Might have entreated your obdurate breasts
To entertain some care 246 of our securities
Whiles only danger beat upon our walls,
These more than dangerous warrants of our death
Had never been erected as they be,
Nor you depend on such weak helps 247 as we.
GOVERNOR. Well, lovely virgins, think our country’s care,
Our love of honour, loath to be enthrall’d
To foreign powers and rough imperious yokes,
Would not with too much cowardice or 248 fear,
Before all hope of rescue were denied,
Submit yourselves and us to servitude.
Therefore, in that your safeties and our own,
Your honours, liberties, and lives were weigh’d
In equal care and balance with our own,
Endure as we the malice of our stars,
The wrath of Tamburlaine and power 249 of wars;
Or be the means the overweighing heavens
Have kept to qualify these hot extremes,
And bring us pardon in your cheerful looks.
SECOND VIRGIN. Then here, before the Majesty of Heaven
And holy patrons of Aegyptia,
With knees and hearts submissive we entreat
Grace to our words and pity to our looks,
That this device may prove propitious,
And through the eyes and ears of Tamburlaine
Convey events of mercy to his heart;
Grant that these signs of victory we yield
May bind the temples of his conquering head,
To hide the folded furrows of his brows,
And shadow his displeased countenance
With happy looks of ruth and lenity.
Leave us, my lord, and loving countrymen:
What simple virgins may persuade, we will.
GOVERNOR. Farewell, sweet virgins, on whose safe return
Depends our city, liberty, and lives.
[Exeunt all except the VIRGINS.]
Enter TAMBURLAINE, all in black and very melancholy,
TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE, with others.
TAMBURLAINE. What, are the turtles fray’d out of their nests?
Alas, poor fools, must you be first shall feel
The sworn destruction of Damascus?
They knew 250 my custom; could they not as well
Have sent ye out when first my milk-white flags,
Through which sweet Mercy threw her gentle beams,
Reflexed 251 them on their 252 disdainful eyes,
As 253 now when fury and incensed hate
Flings slaughtering terror from my coal-black tents, 254 And tells for truth submission 255 comes too late?
FIRST VIRGIN. Most happy king and emperor of the earth,
Image of honour and nobility,
For whom the powers divine have made the world,
And on whose throne the holy Graces sit;
In whose sweet person is compris’d the sum
Of Nature’s skill and heavenly majesty;
Pity our plights! O, pity poor Damascus!
Pity old age, within whose silver hairs
Honour and reverence evermore have reign’d!
Pity the marriage-bed, where many a lord,
In prime and glory of his loving joy,
Embraceth now with tears of ruth and 256 blood
The jealous body of his fearful wife,
Whose cheeks and hearts, so punish’d with conceit, 257 To think thy puissant never-stayed arm
Will part their bodies, and prevent their souls
From heavens of comfort yet their age might bear,
Now wax all pale and wither’d to the death,
As well for grief our ruthless governor
Hath 258 thus refus’d the mercy of thy hand,
(Whose sceptre angels kiss and Furies dread,)
As for their liberties, their loves, or lives!
O, then, for these, and such as we ourselves,
For us, for infants, and for all our bloods,
That never nourish’d 259 thought against thy rule,
Pity, O, pity, sacred emperor,
The prostrate service of this wretched town;
And take in sign thereof this gilded wreath,
Whereto each man of rule hath given his hand,
And wish’d, 260 as worthy subjects, happy means
To be investers of thy royal brows
Even with the true Egyptian diadem!
TAMBURLAINE. Virgins, in vain you labour to prevent
That which mine honour swears shall be perform’d.
Behold my sword; what see you at the point?
FIRST VIRGIN. Nothing but fear and fatal steel, my lord.
TAMBURLAINE. Your fearful minds are thick and misty, then,
For there sits Death; there sits imperious 261 Death,
Keeping his circuit by the slicing edge.
But I am pleas’d you shall not see him there;
He now is seated on my horsemen’s spears,
And on their points his fleshless body feeds.—
Techelles, straight go charge a few of them
To charge these dames, and shew my servant Death,
Sitting in scarlet on their armed spears.
VIRGINS. O, pity us!
TAMBURLAINE. Away with them, I say, and shew them Death!
[The VIRGINS are taken out by TECHELLES and others.]
I will not spare these proud Egyptians,
Nor change my martial observations
For all the wealth of Gihon’s golden waves,
Or for the love of Venus, would she leave
The angry god of arms and lie with me.
They have refus’d the offer of their lives,
And know my customs are as peremptory
As wrathful planets, death, or destiny.
Re-enter TECHELLES.
What, have your horsemen shown the virgins Death?
TECHELLES. They have, my lord, and on Damascus’ walls
Have hoisted up their slaughter’d carcasses.
TAMBURLAINE. A sight as baneful to their souls, I think,
As are Thessalian drugs or mithridate:
But go, my lords, put the rest to the sword.
[Exeunt all except TAMBURLAINE.]
Ah, fair Zenocrate!—divine Zenocrate!
Fair is too foul an epithet for thee,—
That in thy passion 262 for thy country’s love,
And fear to see thy kingly father’s harm,
With hair dishevell’d wip’st thy watery cheeks;
And, like to Flora in her morning’s pride,
Shaking her silver tresses in the air,
Rain’st on the earth resolved 263 pearl in showers,
And sprinklest sapphires on thy shining face,
Where Beauty, mother to the Muses, sits,
And comments volumes with her ivory pen,
Taking instructions from thy flowing eyes;
Eyes, when that Ebena steps to heaven, 264 In silence of thy solemn evening’s walk,
Making the mantle of the richest night,
The moon, the planets, and the meteors, light;
There angels in their crystal armours fight 265 A doubtful battle with my tempted thoughts
For Egypt’s freedom and the Soldan’s life,
His life that so consumes Zenocrate;
Whose sorrows lay more siege unto my soul
Than all my army to Damascus’ walls;
And neither Persia’s 266 sovereign nor the Turk
Troubled my senses with conceit of foil
So much by much as doth Zenocrate.
What is beauty, saith my sufferings, then?
If all the pens that ever poets held
Had fed the feeling of their masters’ thoughts,
And every sweetness that inspir’d their hearts,
Their minds, and muses on admired themes;
If all the heavenly quintessence they still 267 From their immortal flowers of poesy,
Wherein, as in a mirror, we perceive
The highest reaches of a human wit;
If these had made one poem’s period,
And all combin’d in beauty’s worthiness,
Yet should there hover in their restless heads
One thought, one grace, one wonder, at the least,
Which into words no virtue can digest.
But how unseemly is it for my sex,
My discipline of arms and chivalry,
My nature, and the terror of my name,
To harbour thoughts effeminate and faint!
Save only that in beauty’s just applause,
With whose instinct the soul of man is touch’d;
And every warrior that is rapt with love
Of fame, of valour, and of victory,
Must needs have beauty beat on his conceits:
I thus conceiving, 268 and subduing both,
That which hath stoop’d the chiefest of the gods,
Even from the fiery-spangled veil of heaven,
To feel the lovely warmth of shepherds’ flames,
And mask in cottages of strowed reeds,
Shall give the world to note, for all my birth,
That virtue solely is the sum of glory,
And fashions men with true nobility.—
Who’s within there?
Enter ATTENDANTS.
Hath Bajazeth been fed to-day?
ATTEND. 269 Ay, my lord.
TAMBURLAINE. Bring him forth; and let us know if the town be ransacked.
[Exeunt ATTENDANTS.]
Enter TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE, and others.
TECHELLES. The town is ours, my lord, and fresh supply
Of conquest and of spoil is offer’d us.
TAMBURLAINE. That’s well, Techelles. What’s the news?
TECHELLES. The Soldan and the Arabian king together
March on us with 270 such eager violence
As if there were no way but one with us. 271
TAMBURLAINE. No more there is not, I warrant thee, Techelles.
ATTENDANTS bring in BAJAZETH in his cage, followed by
ZABINA.
Exeunt ATTENDANTS.
THERIDAMAS. We know the victory is ours, my lord;
But let us save the reverend Soldan’s life
For fair Zenocrate that so laments his state.
TAMBURLAINE. That will we chiefly see unto, Theridamas,
For sweet Zenocrate, whose worthiness
Deserves a conquest over every heart.—
And now, my footstool, if I lose the field,
You hope of liberty and restitution?—
Here let him stay, my masters, from the tents,
Till we have made us ready for the field.—
Pray for us, Bajazeth; we are going.
[Exeunt all except BAJAZETH and ZABINA.]
BAJAZETH. Go, never to return with victory!
Millions of men encompass thee about,
And gore thy body with as many wounds!
Sharp forked arrows light upon thy horse!
Furies from the black Cocytus’ lake,
Break up the earth, and with their fire-brands
Enforce thee run upon the baneful pikes!
Vollies of shot pierce through thy charmed skin,
And every bullet dipt in poison’d drugs!
Or roaring cannons sever all thy joints,
Making thee mount as high as eagles soar!
ZABINA. Let all the swords and lances in the field
Stick in his breast as in their proper rooms!
At every pore 272 let blood come dropping forth,
That lingering pains may massacre his heart,
And madness send his damned soul to hell!
BAJAZETH. Ah, fair Zabina! we may curse his power,
The heavens may frown, the earth for anger quake;
But such a star hath influence in 273 his sword
As rules the skies and countermands the gods
More than Cimmerian Styx or Destiny:
And then shall we in this detested guise,
With shame, with hunger, and with horror stay, 274 Griping our bowels with retorqued 275 thoughts,
And have no hope to end our ecstasies.
ZABINA. Then is there left no Mahomet, no God,
No fiend, no fortune, nor no hope of end
To our infamous, monstrous slaveries.
Gape, earth, and let the fiends infernal view
A 276 hell as hopeless and as full of fear
As are the blasted banks of Erebus,
Where shaking ghosts with ever-howling groans
Hover about the ugly ferryman,
To get a passage to Elysium! 277 Why should we live?—O, wretches, beggars, slaves!—
Why live we, Bajazeth, and build up nests
So high within the region of the air,
By living long in this oppression,
That all the world will see and laugh to scorn
The former triumphs of our mightiness
In this obscure infernal servitude?
BAJAZETH. O life, more loathsome to my vexed thoughts 278 Than noisome parbreak 279 of the Stygian snakes,
Which fills the nooks of hell with standing air,
Infecting all the ghosts with cureless griefs!
O dreary engines of my loathed sight,
That see my crown, my honour, and my name
Thrust under yoke and thraldom of a thief,
Why feed ye still on day’s accursed beams,
And sink not quite into my tortur’d soul?
You see my wife, my queen, and emperess,
Brought up and propped by the hand of Fame,
Queen of fifteen contributory queens,
Now thrown to rooms of black abjection, 280 Smeared with blots of basest drudgery,
And villainess 281 to shame, disdain, and misery.
Accursed Bajazeth, whose words of ruth, 282 That would with pity cheer Zabina’s heart,
And make our souls resolve 283 in ceaseless tears,
Sharp hunger bites upon and gripes the root
From whence the issues of my thoughts do break!
O poor Zabina! O my queen, my queen!
Fetch me some water for my burning breast,
To cool and comfort me with longer date,
That, in the shorten’d sequel of my life,
I may pour forth my soul into thine arms
With words of love, whose moaning intercourse
Hath hitherto been stay’d with wrath and hate
Of our expressless bann’d 284 inflictions.
ZABINA. Sweet Bajazeth, I will prolong thy life
As long as any blood or spark of breath
Can quench or cool the torments of my grief.
[Exit.]
BAJAZETH. Now, Bajazeth, abridge thy baneful days,
And beat the 285 brains out of thy conquer’d head,
Since other means are all forbidden me,
That may be ministers of my decay.
O highest lamp of ever-living 286 Jove,
Accursed day, infected with my griefs,
Hide now thy stained face in endless night,
And shut the windows of the lightsome heavens!
Let ugly Darkness with her rusty coach,
Engirt with tempests, wrapt in pitchy clouds,
Smother the earth with never-fading mists,
And let her horses from their nostrils breathe
Rebellious winds and dreadful thunder-claps,
That in this terror Tamburlaine may live,
And my pin’d soul, resolv’d in liquid air,
May still excruciate his tormented thoughts!
Then let the stony dart of senseless cold
Pierce through the centre of my wither’d heart,
And make a passage for my loathed life!
[He brains himself against the cage.]
Re-enter ZABINA.
ZABINA. What do mine eyes behold? my husband dead! His skull all riven in twain! his brains dash’d out, The brains of Bajazeth, my lord and sovereign! O Bajazeth, my husband and my lord! O Bajazeth! O Turk! O emperor! Give him his liquor? not I. Bring milk and fire, and my blood I bring him again.—Tear me in pieces—give 287 me the sword with a ball of wild-fire upon it.—Down with him! down with him!—Go to my child; away, away, away! ah, save that infant! save him, save him!—I, even I, speak to her. 288—The sun was down—streamers white, red, black—Here, here, here!—Fling the meat in his face—Tamburlaine, Tamburlaine!—Let the soldiers be buried.—Hell, death, Tamburlaine, 289 hell!—Make ready my coach, 290 my chair, my jewels.—I come, I come, I come! 291 [She runs against the cage, and brains herself.]
Enter ZENOCRATE with ANIPPE.
ZENOCRATE. Wretched Zenocrate! that liv’st to see
Damascus’ walls dy’d with Egyptians’ 292 blood,
Thy father’s subjects and thy countrymen;
The 293 streets strow’d with dissever’d joints of men,
And wounded bodies gasping yet for life;
But most accurs’d, to see the sun-bright troop
Of heavenly virgins and unspotted maids
(Whose looks might make the angry god of arms
To break his sword and mildly treat of love)
On horsemen’s lances to be hoisted up,
And guiltlessly endure a cruel death;
For every fell and stout Tartarian steed,
That stamp’d on others with their thundering hoofs,
When all their riders charg’d their quivering spears,
Began to check the ground and rein themselves,
Gazing upon the beauty of their looks.
Ah, Tamburlaine, wert thou the cause of this,
That term’st Zenocrate thy dearest love?
Whose lives were dearer to Zenocrate
Than her own life, or aught save thine own love.
But see, another bloody spectacle!
Ah, wretched eyes, the enemies of my heart,
How are ye glutted with these grievous objects,
And tell my soul more tales of bleeding ruth!—
See, see, Anippe, if they breathe or no.
ANIPPE. No breath, nor sense, nor motion, in them both:
Ah, madam, this their slavery hath enforc’d,
And ruthless cruelty of Tamburlaine!
ZENOCRATE. Earth, cast up fountains from thy 294 entrails,
And wet thy cheeks for their untimely deaths;
Shake with their weight in sign of fear and grief!
Blush, heaven, that gave them honour at their birth,
And let them die a death so barbarous!
Those that are proud of fickle empery
And place their chiefest good in earthly pomp,
Behold the Turk and his great emperess!
Ah, Tamburlaine my love, sweet Tamburlaine,
That fight’st for sceptres and for slippery crowns,
Behold the Turk and his great emperess!
Thou that, in conduct of thy happy stars,
Sleep’st every night with conquest on thy brows,
And yet wouldst shun the wavering turns of war, 295 In fear and feeling of the like distress
Behold the Turk and his great emperess!
Ah, mighty Jove and holy Mahomet,
Pardon my love! O, pardon his contempt
Of earthly fortune and respect of pity;
And let not conquest, ruthlessly pursu’d,
Be equally against his life incens’d
In this great Turk and hapless emperess!
And pardon me that was not mov’d with ruth
To see them live so long in misery!—
Ah, what may chance to thee, Zenocrate?
ANIPPE. Madam, content yourself, and be resolv’d
Your love hath Fortune so at his command,
That she shall stay, and turn her wheel no more,
As long as life maintains his mighty arm
That fights for honour to adorn your head.
Enter PHILEMUS.
ZENOCRATE. What other heavy news now brings Philemus?
PHILEMUS. Madam, your father, and the Arabian king,
The first affecter of your excellence,
Come 296 now, as Turnus ’gainst Aeneas did,
Armed 297 with lance into the Aegyptian fields,
Ready for battle ’gainst my lord the king.
ZENOCRATE. Now shame and duty, love and fear present
A thousand sorrows to my martyr’d soul.
Whom should I wish the fatal victory,
When my poor pleasures are divided thus,
And rack’d by duty from my cursed heart?
My father and my first-betrothed love
Must fight against my life and present love;
Wherein the change I use condemns my faith,
And makes my deeds infamous through the world:
But, as the gods, to end the Trojans’ toil,
Prevented Turnus of Lavinia,
And fatally enrich’d Aeneas’ love,
So, for a final 298 issue to my griefs,
To pacify my country and my love,
Must Tamburlaine by their resistless powers,
With virtue of a gentle victory,
Conclude a league of honour to my hope;
Then, as the powers divine have pre-ordain’d,
With happy safety of my father’s life
Send like defence of fair Arabia
[They sound to the battle within; and TAMBURLAINE enjoys the victory: after which, the KING OF ARABIA 299 enters wounded.]
KING OF ARABIA. What cursed power guides the murdering hands
Of this infamous tyrant’s soldiers,
That no escape may save their enemies,
Nor fortune keep themselves from victory?
Lie down, Arabia, wounded to the death,
And let Zenocrate’s fair eyes behold,
That, as for her thou bear’st these wretched arms,
Even so for her thou diest in these arms,
Leaving thy 300 blood for witness of thy love.
ZENOCRATE. Too dear a witness for such love, my lord!
Behold Zenocrate, the cursed object
Whose fortunes never mastered her griefs;
Behold her wounded in conceit 301 for thee,
As much as thy fair body is for me!
KING OF ARABIA. Then shall I die with full contented heart,
Having beheld divine Zenocrate,
Whose sight with joy would take away my life
As now it bringeth sweetness to my wound,
If I had not been wounded as I am.
Ah, that the deadly pangs I suffer now
Would lend an hour’s licence to my tongue,
To make discourse of some sweet accidents
Have chanc’d thy merits in this worthless bondage,
And that I might be privy to the state
Of thy deserv’d contentment and thy love!
But, making now a virtue of thy sight,
To drive all sorrow from my fainting soul,
Since death denies me further cause of joy,
Depriv’d of care, my heart with comfort dies,
Since thy desired hand shall close mine eyes.
[Dies.]
Re-enter TAMBURLAINE, leading the SOLDAN; TECHELLES,
THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE, with others.
TAMBURLAINE. Come, happy father of Zenocrate,
A title higher than thy Soldan’s name.
Though my right hand have 302 thus enthralled thee,
Thy princely daughter here shall set thee free;
She that hath calm’d the fury of my sword,
Which had ere this been bath’d in streams of blood
As vast and deep as Euphrates 303 or Nile.
ZENOCRATE. O sight thrice-welcome to my joyful soul,
To see the king, my father, issue safe
From dangerous battle of my conquering love!
SOLDAN. Well met, my only dear Zenocrate,
Though with the loss of Egypt and my crown!
TAMBURLAINE. ’Twas I, my lord, that gat the victory;
And therefore grieve not at your overthrow,
Since I shall render all into your hands,
And add more strength to your dominions
Than ever yet confirm’d th’ Egyptian crown.
The god of war resigns his room to me,
Meaning to make me general of the world:
Jove, viewing me in arms, looks pale and wan,
Fearing my power should 304 pull him from his throne:
Where’er I come the Fatal Sisters sweat, 305 And grisly Death, by running to and fro,
To do their ceaseless homage to my sword:
And here in Afric, where it seldom rains,
Since I arriv’d with my triumphant host,
Have swelling clouds, drawn from wide-gaping 306 wounds,
Been oft resolv’d 307 in bloody purple showers,
A meteor that might terrify the earth,
And make it quake at every drop it drinks:
Millions 308 of souls sit on the banks of Styx,
Waiting the back-return of Charon’s boat;
Hell and Elysium 309 swarm with ghosts of men
That I have sent from sundry foughten fields
To spread my fame through hell and up to heaven:
And see, my lord, a sight of strange import,—
Emperors and kings lie breathless at my feet;
The Turk and his great empress, as it seems,
Left to themselves while we were at the fight,
Have desperately despatch’d their slavish lives:
With them Arabia, too, hath left his life:
All sights of power to grace my victory;
And such are objects fit for Tamburlaine,
Wherein, as in a mirror, may be seen
His honour, that consists in shedding blood
When men presume to manage arms with him.
SOLDAN. Mighty hath God and Mahomet made thy hand,
Renowmed 310 Tamburlaine, to whom all kings
Of force must yield their crowns and emperies;
And I am pleas’d with this my overthrow,
If, as beseems a person of thy state,
Thou hast with honour us’d Zenocrate.
TAMBURLAINE. Her state and person want no pomp, you see;
And for all blot of foul inchastity,
I record 311 heaven, her heavenly self is clear:
Then let me find no further time 312 to grace
Her princely temples with the Persian crown;
But here these kings that on my fortunes wait,
And have been crown’d for proved worthiness
Even by this hand that shall establish them,
Shall now, adjoining all their hands with mine,
Invest her here the 313 Queen of Persia
What saith the noble Soldan, and Zenocrate?
SOLDAN. I yield with thanks and protestations
Of endless honour to thee for her love.
TAMBURLAINE. Then doubt I not 314 but fair Zenocrate
Will soon consent to satisfy us both.
ZENOCRATE. Else 315 should I much forget myself, my lord.
THERIDAMAS. Then let us set the crown upon her head,
That long hath linger’d 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. 316
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 subdu’d.
As Juno, when the giants were suppress’d,
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 the[e], sweet Zenocrate,
Egyptians, Moors, and men of Asia,
From Barbary unto the Western India,
Shall pay a yearly tribute to thy sire;
And from the bounds of Afric to the banks
Of Ganges shall his mighty arm extend.—
And now, my lords and loving followers,
That purchas’d kingdoms by your martial deeds,
Cast off your armour, put on scarlet robes,
Mount up your royal places of estate,
Environed with troops of noblemen,
And there make laws to rule your provinces:
Hang up your weapons on Alcides’ post[s];
For Tamburlaine takes truce with all the world.—
Thy first-betrothed love, Arabia,
Shall we with honour, as beseems, 317 entomb
With this great Turk and his fair emperess.
Then, after all these solemn exequies,
We will our rites 318 of marriage solemnize.
[Exeunt.]
Footnotes
1 To the Gentlemen-readers, &c.] From the 8vo of 1592: in the 4tos this address is worded here and there differently. I have not thought it necessary to mark the varioe lectiones of the worthy printer’s composition.
2 histories] i.e. dramas so called,—plays founded on history.
3 fond] i.e. foolish.—Concerning the omissions here alluded to, some remarks will be found in the ACCOUNT OF MARLOWE AND HIS WRITINGS.
The “Account of Marlowe and His Writings,” is the introduction to this book of ‘The Works of Christopher Marlowe.’ That is, the book from which this play has been transcribed. The following is from pages xvi and xvii of that introduction.
“This tragedy, which was entered in the Stationers’ Books, 14th August, 1590,a and printed during the same year, has not come down to us in its original fulness; and probably we have no cause to lament the curtailments which it suffered from the publisher of the first edition. “I have purposely,” he says, “omitted and left out some fond and frivolous gestures, digressing, and, in my poor opinion, far unmeet for the matter, which I thought might seem more tedious unto the wise than any way else to be regarded, though haply they have been of some vain-conceited fondlings greatly gaped at, what time they were shewed upon the stage in their graced deformities: nevertheless now to be mixtured in print with such matter of worth, it would prove a great disgrace to so honourable and stately a history.”b By the words, “fond and frivolous gestures,” we are to understand those of the “clown;” who very frequently figured, with more or less prominence, even in the most serious dramas of the time. The introduction of such buffooneries into tragedyc is censured by Hall towards the conclusion of a passage which, as it mentions “the Turkish Tamberlaine,” would seem to be partly levelled at Marlowe:d
“One higher-pitch’d doth set his soaring thought
On crowned kings that Fortune hath low brought,
Or some vpreared high-aspiring swaine,
As it might be THE TURKISH TAMBERLAINE.
Then weeneth he his base drink-drowned spright
Rapt to the three-fold loft of heauen hight,
When he conceiues vpon his fained stage
The stalking steps of his greate personage,
Graced with huf-cap termes and thundring threats,
That his poore hearers’ hayre quite vpright sets.
NOW, LEAST SUCH FRIGHTFULL SHOWES OF FORTUNE’S FALL
AND BLOUDY TYRANTS’ RAGE SHOULD CHANCE APALL
THE DEAD-STROKE AUDIENCE, MIDST THE SILENT ROUT
COMES LEAPING IN A SELFE-MISFORMED LOUT,
AND LAUGHES, AND GRINS, AND FRAMES HIS MIMIK FACE,
AND IUSTLES STRAIGHT INTO THE PRINCE’S PLACE:
THEN DOTH THE THEATRE ECCHO ALL ALOUD
WITH GLADSOME NOYSE OF THAT APPLAUDING CROWD:
A GOODLY HOCH-POCH, WHEN VILE RUSSETTINGS
ARE MATCH[‘D] WITH MONARCHS AND WITH MIGHTIE KINGS!”e
But Hall’s taste was more refined and classical than that of his age; and the success of TAMBURLAINE, in which the celebrated Alleyn represented the hero,[f] was adequate to the most sanguine expectations which its author could have formed.]
a “A ballad entituled the storye of Tamburlayne the greate,” &c. (founded, I suppose, on Marlowe’s play) was entered in the Stationers’ Books, 5th Nov. 1594.
b P. 4 of the present volume.
c In Italy, at the commencement of the 18th century (and probably much later), it was not unusual to introduce “the Doctor,” “Harlequin,” “Pantalone,” and “Coviello,” into deep tragedies. “I have seen,” says Addison, “a translation of THE CID acted at Bolonia, which would never have taken, had they not found a place in it for these buffoons.” REMARKS ON SEVERAL PARTS OF ITALY, &C. IN THE YEARS 1701, 1702, 1703, p. 68, ed. 1745.
d Perhaps I ought to add, that Marlowe was dead when (in 1597) the satire, from which these lines are quoted, was first given to the press.
e Hall’s VIRGID. Lib. I. Sat. iii., ed. 1602.
4 censures] i.e. judgments, opinions.
5 Afric] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Affrica.”
6 their] Old eds. “his.”
7 through] So the 4to.—The 8vo “thorough.”
8 incivil] i.e. barbarous.—So the 8vo.—The 4to “vnciuill.”
9 incontinent] i.e. forthwith, immediately.
10 chiefest] So the 8vo.—The 4to “chiefe.”
11 rout] i.e. crew.
12 press] So the 8vo.—The 4to “prease.”
13 you] So the 8vo.—0mitted in the 4to.
14 all] So the 4to.—0mitted in the 8vo.
15 mated] i.e. confounded.
16 pass not] i.e. care not.
17 regiment] i.e. rule, government.
18 resolve] i.e. dissolve.—So the 8vo.—The 4to “dissolue.”
19 ships] So the 4to.—The 8vo “shippe.”
20 Pass] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Hast.”
21 you] So the 8vo.—The 4to “they.”
22 Ceneus] Here both the old eds. “Conerus.”
23 states] i.e. noblemen, persons of rank.
24 their] So the 8vo.—The 4to “the.”
25 and Persia] So the 8vo.—The 4to “and OF Persia.”
26 ever-raging] So the 8vo.—The 4to “RIUER raging.”
27 ALL] So the 4to.—Omitted in the 8vo.
28 And Jove may, &c.] i.e. And may Jove, &c. This collocation of words is sometimes found in later writers: so in the Prologue to Fletcher’s WOMAN’S PRIZE,—“WHICH this may PROVE!”
29 knew] So the 8vo.—The 4to “knowe.”
30 lords] So the 4to.—The 8vo “Lord.”
31 [ injury] This verb frequently occurs in our early writers. “Then haue you INIURIED manie.” Lyly’s ALEXANDER AND CAMPASPE, sig. D 4, ed. 1591. It would seem to have fallen into disuse soon after the commencement of the 17th century: in Heywood’s WOMAN KILLED WITH KINDNESS, 1607, we find,
“You INJURY that good man, and wrong me too.”
Sig. F 2.
but in ed. 1617 “injury” is altered to “iniure.”]
32 ALL] So the 4to.—0mitted in the 8vo.
33 Who, travelling, &c.] The halting metre shews that there is some corruption in this and the next line.
34 thorough] So the 8vo.—The 4to “through.”
35 unvalued] i.e. not to be valued, or estimated.
36 conceit] i.e. fancy, imagination.
37 Rhodope] Old eds. “Rhodolfe.”
38 valurous] i.e. valuable.
39 pools] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Poles.”
40 resolv’d] i.e. dissolved.—So the 8vo.—The 4to “desolu’d.”
41 Shall we all offer] The 8vo “Shall we offer” (the word “all” having dropt out).—The 4to “WE ALL SHALL offer.”
42 in] The 8vo “it.”—Omitted in the 4to.
43 triumph’d] So the 8vo.—The 4to “tryumph.”
44 brave] i.e. splendidly clad.
45 top] So the 4to.—The 8vo “foot.”
46 mails] i.e. bags, budgets.
47 lance] So the 4to.—Here the 8vo has “lanch;” but more than once in the SEC. PART of the play it has “lance.”
48 this] So the 8vo.—The 4to “the.”—Qy. “Where is this Scythian SHEPHERD Tamburlaine”? Compare the next words of Theridamas.
49 [ vaults] Here the 8vo has “vauts,”—“which,” says one of the modern editors, “was common in Marlowe’s time:” and so it was; but in the SEC. PART of this play, act ii. sc. 4, the same 8vo gives,—
“As we descend into the infernal VAULTS.”]
50 thy] So the 8vo.—The 4to “the.”
51 brave] See note | in preceding column.[i.e. note 44.]
52 [ renowmed] i.e. renowned.—So the 8vo.—The 4to “renowned.” —The form “RENOWMED” (Fr. renomme) occurs repeatedly afterwards in this play, according to the 8vo. It is occasionally found in writers posterior to Marlowe’s time. e.g.
“Of Constantines great towne RENOUM’D in vaine.”
Verses to King James, prefixed to Lord Stirling’s
MONARCHICKE TRAGEDIES, ed. 1607.]
53 cliffs] So the 8vo.—The 4to “cliftes.”
54 merchants] i.e. merchant-men, ships of trade.
55 stems] i.e. prows.
56 vail] i.e. lower their flags.
57 Bootes] The 8vo “Botees.”—The 4to “Boetes.”
58 competitor] i.e. associate, partner (a sense in which the word is used by Shakespeare).
59 To these] Old eds. “ARE these.”
60 renowmed] See note ||, p. 11.[i.e. note 52.]—So the 8vo. —The 4to “renowned.”
61 statues] So the 4to.—“The first edition reads ‘statutes,’ but, as the Scythians worshipped Pylades and Orestes in temples, we have adopted the reading of the quarto as being most probably the correct one.” Ed. 1826.
62 kings] So the 8vo.—The 4to “king.”
63 Nor thee nor them] The modern editors silently print “Nor THEY nor THEIRS.”
64 will] So the 8vo.—Omitted in the 4to.
65 pitch] Is generally equivalent to—stature. (“I would have you tell me what PITCH he was of, Velim mihi dicas qua STATURA fuerit.” Coles’s DICT.) But here it means the highest part of the body,—the shoulders (see the 10th sign. of PITCH in Halliwell’s DICT. OF ARCH. AND PROV. WORDS),—the “pearl” being, of course, his head.
66 and] So the 4to.—The 8vo “with.”
67 [ His arms and fingers long and sinewy] So the 8vo, except that, by a misprint, it has “snowy” for “sinewy.”—The 4to gives the line thus,—
“His armes long, HIS fingers SNOWY-WHITE.”!!
(and so the line used to stand in Lamb’s SPEC. OF DRAM. POETS, till I made the necessary alteration in Mr. Moxon’s recent ed. of that selection.)]
68 subdu’d] So the 8vo.—The 4to “subdue.”
69 [ Nature doth strive with Fortune, &c.] Qy did Shakespeare recollect this passage when he wrote,—
“Nature and Fortune join’d to make thee great”?
KING JOHN, act iii. sc. 1.]
70 port] i.e. gate.
71 is] So the 8vo.—The 4to “in.”
72 [ In fair, &c.] Here “fair” is to be considered as a dissyllable: compare, in the Fourth Act of our author’s JEW OF MALTA,
“I’ll feast you, lodge you, give you FAIR words,
And, after that,” &c.]
73 of] i.e. on.
74 worse] So the 8vo.—The 4to “worst.”
75 the] So the 8vo.—The 4to “that.”
76 his] So the 8vo.—The 4to “the.”
77 be] So the 8vo.—The 4to “are.”
78 Beside] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Besides.”
79 champion] i.e. champaign.
80 greedy after] Old eds. “after greedie.”
81 [ Sprung] Here, and in the next speech, both the old eds. “Sprong”: but in p. 18, l. 3, first col., the 4to has “sprung”, and in the SEC. PART of the play, act iv. sc. 4, they both give “SPRUNG from a tyrants loynes.”
[Page 18, First Column, Line 3, This Play:
“For he was never sprung[118: of human race,”]
82 teeth of] So the 8vo.—Omitted in the 4to.
83 lance] Here both the old eds. “lanch”: but see note ||, p. 11.(i.e. note 47.)
84 the] So the 8vo.—0mitted in the 4to.
85 some] So the 4to.—The 8vo “scorne.”
86 will] So the 8vo.—The 4to “shall.”
87 top] i.e. rise above, surpass.—Old eds. “stop.”
88 renowmed] See note ||, p. 11.[i.e. note 52.] So the 8vo. —The 4to “renowned.”
89 thirst] The 8vo “thrust”: the 4to “thrist.”
90 and] So the 4to.—The 8vo “not.”
91 the fair] So the 8vo.—The 4to “THEE faire.”
92 she] i.e. Nemesis.
93 Rhamnus’] Old eds. “Rhamnis.”
94 meeds] So the 8vo.—The 4to “deeds.”
95 into] Used here (as the word was formerly often used) for UNTO.
96 sure] A dissyllable here. In the next line “assure” is a trisyllable.
97 with his crown in his hand] The old eds. add “offering to hide it;” but THAT he does presently after.
98 those were] i.e. those who were, who have been.
99 Stand staggering] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Stand THOSE staggering.”
100 [ For kings are clouts that every man shoots at,
Our crown the pin, &c.
CLOUT means the white mark in the butts; PIN, the peg in the centre, which fastened it.]
101 me] So the 4to.—Omitted in the 8vo.
102 MYCETES. Ay, marry, &c.] From this to “TAMBURLAINE. Well, I mean you shall have it again” inclusive, the dialogue is prose: compare act iv. sc. 4, p. 29.
103 renowmed man-at-arms] See note ||, p. 11.[i.e. note 52.] So the 8vo.—The 4to “RENOWNED MEN at armes.”
104 chiefest] So the 4to.—The 8vo “chiefe.”
105 happy] So the 8vo.—The 4to “happiest.”
106 aim’d] So the 4to.—The 8vo “and.”
107 it] So the 4to.—The 8vo “is.”
108 our] So the 4to.—Omitted in the 8vo.
109 we] So the 8vo.—The 4to “I.”
110 in earth] i.e. on earth. So in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done IN EARTH.”
111 Casane] Both the old eds. here “Casanes.”
112 a-piece] So the 4to.—The 8vo “apace.”
113 purchase] i.e. booty, gain.
114 quite] i.e. requite.
115 this] So ([[deiktikos]]) the 8vo.—The 4to “the.”
116 him] Old eds. “his.”
117 and] So the 8vo.—The 4to “with.”
118 sprung] See note ||, p. 14.[i.e. note 81.]
119 dares] So the 8vo.—The 4to “dare.”
120 fate] Old eds. “state.”
121 [ Resolve] Seems to mean—dissolve (compare “our bodies turn to elements,” p. 12, sec. col.): but I suspect some corruption here.
Page 12, Second Column, This Play:
“TAMBURLAINE.....
Until our bodies turn to elements,
And both our souls aspire celestial thrones.—”
etc.]]
122 Barbarous] Qy. “O barbarous”? in the next line but one, “O treacherous”? and in the last line of the speech, “O bloody”? But we occasionally find in our early dramatists lines which are defective in the first syllable; and in some of these instances at least it would almost seem that nothing has been omitted by the transcriber or printer.
123 artier] i.e. artery. This form occurs again in the SEC. PART of the present play: so too in a copy of verses by Day;
“Hid in the vaines and ARTIERS of the earthe.”
SHAKESPEARE SOC. PAPERS, vol. i. 19.
The word indeed was variously written of old:
“The ARTER strynge is the conduyt of the lyfe spiryte.”
Hormanni VULGARIA, sig. G iii. ed. 1530.
“Riche treasures serue for th’ARTERS of the war.”
Lord Stirling’s DARIUS, act ii. Sig. C 2. ed. 1604.
“Onelye the extrauagant ARTIRE of my arme is brused.”
EVERIE WOMAN IN HER HUMOR, 1609, sig. D 4.
“And from the veines some bloud each ARTIRE draines.”
Davies’s MICROCOSMOS, 1611, p. 56.]
124 regiment] i.e. rule.
125 fruit] So the 4to.—The 8vo “fruites.”
126 are] Old eds. “Is.”
127 talents] Was often used by our early writers for TALONS, as many passages might be adduced to shew. Hence the quibble in Shakespeare’s LOVE’S LABOUR (K\.OST, act iv. sc. 2., “If a TALENT be a claw,” &c.)
128 harpy] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Harper;” and with that reading the line is cited, in a note on MACBETH, act iv. sc. 1, by Steevens, who also gives “tires UPON my life;” but “TIRES” (a well-known term in falconry, and equivalent here to—preys) is to be pronounced as a dissyllable. (In the 4to it in spelt “tyers.”
129 the] So the 4to.—The 8vo “thy.”
130 bassoes] i.e. bashaws.
131 [ Christians renied] i.e. Christians who have denied, or renounced their faith.—In THE GENT. MAGAZINE for Jan. 1841, J. M. would read “Christians RENEGADENS” or “CHRISTIAN RENEGADES:”
but the old text is right; among many passages that might be cited, compare the following;
“And that Ydole is the God of false Cristene, that han RENEYED hire FEYTHE.” THE VOIAGE AND TRAVAILE OF SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILE, p. 209. ed. 1725.
“For that thou should’st RENY THY FAITH, and her thereby possesse. The Soldan did capitulat in vaine: the more thy blesse.” Warner’s ALBIONS ENGLAND, B. XI. Ch. 68. p. 287. ed. 1596.]
132 Terrene] i.e. Mediterranean.
133 Renowmed] See note ||, p. 11.[i.e. note 52.] So the 8vo. —The 4to “renowned.”
134 basso] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Brother.”
135 Not] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Nor.”
136 in] So the 8vo.—The 4to “on.”
137 Or spread, &c.] A word has dropt out from this line.
138 measur’d heaven] So the 8vo.—The 4to “measured THE heauen.”
139 pioners] The usual spelling of the word in our early writers (in Shakespeare, for instance).
140 ceaseless] So the 8vo.—The 4to “carelesse.”
141 conceits] i.e[.] fancies, imaginations.
142 counterfeit] i.e. picture, resemblance.
143 his] So the 8vo.—The 4to “the.”
144 you] So the 8vo.—The 4to “me.”
145 Leave] The author probably wrote, “AGYDAS, leave,” &c.
146 facts] i.e. deeds.
147 much] So the 8vo.—The 4to “more.”
148 Pierides] i.e. The daughters of Pierus, who, having challenged the Muses to a trial of song, were overcome, and changed into magpies.
149 [ the young Arabian] Scil. Alcidamus; see p. 10, l. 9, sec. col.
(Page 10, Second Column, Line 9, This Play:
“Where her betrothed lord, Alcidamus,”)]
150 Fearing his love] i.e. Fearing with respect to his love.
151 of] so the 4to.—The 8vo “and.”
152 fury] So the 4to.—The 8vo “furies.”
153 shone] Old eds. “shine.”
154 send] Old eds. “sent.”
155 menace] So the 8vo.—The 4to “meane.”
156 fetch] So the 8vo.—The 4to “fetcht.”
157 set] So the 8vo.—The 4to “seate.”
158 Terrene] i.e. Mediterranean.
159 to rest or breathe] So the 8vo.—The 4to “to BREATH AND REST.”
160 bastones] i.e. bastinadoes.
161 they] So the 8vo.—0mitted in the 4to.
162 Morocco] Here the old eds. “Moroccus,”—a barbarism which I have not retained, because previously, in the stage-direction at the commencement of this act, p. 19, they agree in reading “Morocco.”
163 titles] So the 8vo.—The 4to “title.”
164 sarell] i.e. seraglio.
165 I’ll] So the 8vo.—The 4to “I will.”
166 the] So the 8vo.—The 4to “this.”
167 hugy] i.e. huge.
168 renowm’d] See note ||, p. 11.[i.e. note 52.] So the 8vo. —The 4to “renowned.”
169 of] So the 8vo.—The 4to “all.”
170 rule] So the 8vo.—The 4to “raigne.”
171 braver] So the 8vo.—The 4to “braue.”
172 pash] i.e. crush to pieces by a stroke.
173 y-sprung] Here the old eds. “ySPRONG.”—See note ||, p. 14. i.e. note 81.
174 them] Old eds. “thee.”
175 the] Has perhaps crept in by a mistake of the transcriber or printer.
176 [ And make your strokes to wound the senseless light] The old eds. have,
“And make OUR strokes to wound the sencelesse LURE.”
(the last word being, perhaps, in the 8vo “lute.”) Here “light” is a very questionable reading: qy. “air”? (though the third line above ends with that word).)]
177 boss] In the GENT. MAG. for Jan. 1841, J. M. proposed to alter “boss” to “Bassa.” But Cotgrave, in his DICT., has; “A fat BOSSE. Femme bien grasse et grosse; une coche.”
178 advocate] So the 4to.—The 8vo “aduocates.”
179 That dare, &c.] Something dropt out from this line.
180 [ Re-enter Bajazeth, pursued by Tamburlaine] The old eds. have,
“Bajazeth flies, and he pursues him. The battell short
(Qto. is short), and they enter, Bajazeth is ouercome.”
This not very intelligible stage-direction means perhaps that, after Bajazeth and Tamburlaine had entered, a short combat was to take place between them.]
181 foil] The old eds. “soil.”
182 gat] So the 8vo.—The 4to “got.”
183 pilling] i.e. plundering.
184 British] So the 4to.—The 8vo “brightest.”
185 martial] So the 8vo.—The 4to “materiall.”
186 Awake, ye men of Memphis!] These words are put into the mouth of Judas, in Fletcher’s BONDUCA, at the commencement of act ii.; and in Fletcher’s WIT WITHOUT MONEY, act v. sc. 2. we find “thou man of Memphis.”
187 basilisks] Pieces of ordnance so called. They were of immense size; see Douce’s ILLUST. OF SHAKESPEARE, i. 425.
188 monstrous] To be read as a trisyllable.
189 Or ever-drizzling] So the 4to.—The 8vo “Or drisling.”
190 should] So the 4to.—The 8vo “shal.”
191 he devil] So the 8vo.—The 4to “he THE deuill.”
192 [ Arabian king] Scil. Alcidamus: see p. 10, l. 9, sec. col.
(Page 10, Second Column, Line 9, This Play:
“Where her betrothed lord, Alcidamus,”)]
193 it] So the 4to.—Omitted in the 8vo.
194 it should] So the 4to.—The 8vo “should it.”
195 this] So the 8vo.—The 4to “it.”
196 into] So the 4to.—The 8vo “vnto.”
197 heart] So the 4to.—The 8vo “soul.”
198 stoop] Qy. “stoop, STOOP”?
199 your] Old eds. “their.”—Compare the tenth line of the speech.
200 to] So the 8vo.—The 4to “on.”
201 brent] i.e. burnt. So the 8vo.—The 4to “burnt.”
202 kings] So the 8vo.—The 4to “king.”
203 from] So the 4to.—The 8vo “in.”
204 then, for you] So the 4to.—The 8vo “for you then.”
205 [ stark nak’d] Compare (among many passages which might be cited from our early poets),—
“rather on Nilus’ mud
Lay me STARK NAK’D, and let the water-flies
Blow me into abhorring!”
Shakespeare’s ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, act v. sc. 2. (where
the modern editors print “naked.”)]
206 dignities] So the 8vo.—The 4to “dignitie.”
207 whiles] So the 8vo.—The 4to “while.”
208 shalt] So the 4to.—The 8vo “shal.”
209 grace] Olds eds. “grac’d.”
210 [ stature] So the 8vo.—The 4to “statue:” but again, in the SECOND PART of this play, act ii. sc. 4, we have, according to the 8vo—
“And here will I set up her STATURE.”
and, among many passages that might be cited from our early authors, compare the following;
“The STATURES huge, of Porphyrie and costlier matters made.”
Warner’s ALBIONS ENGLAND, p. 303. ed. 1596.
“By them shal Isis STATURE gently stand.”
Chapman’s BLIND BEGGER OF ALEXANDRIA, 1598, sig. A 3.
“Was not Anubis with his long nose of gold preferred before
Neptune, whose STATURE was but brasse?”
Lyly’s MIDAS, sig. A 2. ed. 1592.]
211 bird] i.e. the ibis.
212 are] Old eds. “is.”
213 country] Old eds. “countries.”
214 [ King of Arabia] i.e. Alcidamus; see p. 10, l. 9, sec. col.
(Page 10, Second Column, Line 9, This Play:
“Where her betrothed lord, Alcidamus,”)]
215 Calydonian] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Calcedonian.”
216 lusty] So the 8vo.—Omitted in the 4to.
217 and] So the 4to.—0mitted in the 8vo.
218 Renowmed] See note ||. p. 11.[i.e. note 52.] So the 8vo. —The 4to “Renow[ned.”]
219 [ Ibis’ holy name] The ibis has been already alluded to in the lines (p. 27, sec. col.),—
“The golden stature of their feather’d bird,
That spreads her wings upon the city-walls”;
and it is well known to have been a sacred bird among the Egyptians (see Cicero DE NAT. DEORUM, I. 36). Compare the old play of THE TAMING OF A SHREW;
“Father, I SWEARE BY IBIS’ GOLDEN BEAKE,
More faire and radiente is my bonie Kate
Then siluer Zanthus,” &c.
p. 22. ed. Shakespeare Soc.
In the passage of our text the modern editors substitute “Isis’” for “Ibis’.”]
220 the] So the 8vo.—The 4to “and.”
221 and] So the 8vo.—Omitted in the 4to.
222 thy baseness and] So the 8vo.—The 4to “THE basnesse OF.”
223 mask] So the 8vo.—The 4to “walke.”
224 My lord, &c.] Something has dropt out: qy. “TAMELY suffer”?
225 a goodly refreshing for them] So the 8vo.—The 4to “a GOOD refreshing TO them.”
226 Here] So the 8vo.—The 4to “there.”
227 it from] So the 8vo.—The 4to “it VP from.”
228 slice] So the 8vo.—The 4to “fleece.”
229 will fall] So the 8vo.—The 4to “will NOT fall.”
230 let] i.e. hinder.
231 while] i.e. until.
232 consort] i.e. band.
233 pen] i.e. his sword.
234 hastening] So the 4to.—The 8vo “hasting.”
235 ‘specially] So the 8vo.—The 4to “especially.”
236 Morocco] Here and in the next speech the old eds. have “Morocus” and “Moroccus:” but see note ||, p. 22.(i.e. note 162.)
237 plage] i.e. region.—Old eds. “place.”
238 valour] Old eds. “value.”
239 again] So the 8vo.—Omitted in the 4to.
240 renowm’d] See note ||. p. 11.[i.e. note 52.] So the 8vo. —The 4to “renown’d.”
241 Damascus] Both the old eds. here “Damasco:” but in many other places they agree in reading “Damascus.”
242 remorse] i.e. pity.
243 sakes] So the 8vo.—The 4to. “sake.”
244 blubber’d] That this word formerly conveyed no ludicrous idea, appears from many passages of our early writers.
245 And use us like a loving conqueror] “i.e. And that he will use us like, &c.” Ed. 1826.
246 care] So the 4to.—The 8vo “cares.”
247 helps] So the 8vo.—The 4to “help.”
248 or] So the 8vo.—The 4to “for.”
249 power] So the 8vo.—The 4to “powers.”
250 knew] So the 8vo.—The 4to “know.”
251 Reflexed] Old eds. “Reflexing.”
252 their] Old eds. “your.”
253 As] So the 8vo.—The 4to “And.”
254 tents] So the 8vo.—The 4to “tent.”
255 submission] Old eds. “submissions.”
256 of ruth and] So the 8vo.—The 4to “AND ruth OF.”
257 conceit] i.e. fancy, imagination.
258 Hath] So the 4to.—The 8vo “Haue.”
259 nourish’d] So the 8vo.—The 4to “nourish.”
260 wish’d] So the 8vo.—The 4to “wish.”
261 imperious] So the 8vo.—The 4to “imprecious.”
262 passion] i.e. sorrow.
263 resolved] i.e. dissolved.
264 Eyes, when that Ebena steps to heaven, &c.] Either the transcriber or the printer has made sad work with this passage; nor am I able to suggest any probable emendation.
265 fight] So the 8vo.—The 4to “fights.”
266 Persia’s] Old eds. “Perseans,” and “Persians.”
267 still] i.e. distil.
268 [ I thus conceiving, and subduing both, That which hath stoop’d the chiefest of the gods, Even from the fiery-spangled veil of heaven, To feel the lovely warmth of shepherds’ flames, And mask in cottages of strowed reeds, &c.
i.e. I thus feeling, and also subduing, the power of Beauty, which has drawn down the chiefest of the gods even from, &c.
The 8vo has,
“I thus conceiuing and subduing both.
That which hath STOPT the TEMPEST of the Gods,
Euen from the fiery spangled vaile of heauen,
To feele the louely warmth of shepheards flames,
And MARTCH in cottages of strowed WEEDS,” &c.
The 4to has,
“I thus concieuing and subduing both,
That which hath STOPT the TEMPEST of the Gods,
Euen from the SPANGLED FIRIE vaile of heauen,
To feele the louely warmth of Shepheardes flames,
And MARCH in COATCHES of strowed WEEDES,” &c.
The alterations which I have made in this corrupted passage are supported by the following lines of the play;
“See now, ye slaves, my children STOOP YOUR PRIDE (i.e. make your pride to stoop), And lead your bodies sheep-like to the sword.” Part Second,—act iv. sc. 1.
“The chiefest god, FIRST MOVER OF THAT SPHERE”, &c.
Part First,—act iv. sc. 2.
“Jove SOMETIME masked IN A SHEPHERD’S WEED”, &c.
Part First,—act i. sc. 2.
Perhaps in the third line of the present passage “fiery-spangled” should be “FIRE-YSPANGLED.”]
269 Attend.] Old eds. “An.” (a misprint probably), which the modern editors understand as “Anippe” (the waiting-maid of Zenocrate).
270 March on us with] So the 4to.—The 8vo “MARTCHT on WITH vs with.”
271 As if there were no way but one with us] i.e. as if we were to lose our lives. This phrase, which is common in our early writers, was not obsolete in Dryden’s time: “for, if he heard the malicious trumpeter proclaiming his name before his betters, he knew THERE WAS BUT ONE WAY WITH HIM.” Preface to ALL FOR LOVE.
272 pore] So the 8vo.—The 4to “dore.”
273 in] i.e. on.
274 stay] Old eds. “aie” and “aye.”
275 retorqued] i.e. bent back in reflections on our former happiness. So the 8vo.—The 4to “retortued.”
276 A] Old eds. “As.”
277 Elysium] Old eds. “Elisian.”
278 thoughts] So the 8vo.—The 4to “thought.”
279 parbreak] i.e. vomit.
280 abjection] Old eds. “obiection.”
281 villainess] i.e. servant, slave,
282 ruth] So the 8vo.—The 4to “truth.”
283 resolve] i.e. dissolve.
284 bann’d] i.e. cursed.
285 the] So the 4to.—The 8vo “thy.”
286 ever-living] So the 8vo.—The 4to. “euerlasting.”
287 give] So the 4to.—The 8vo “AND giue.”
288 her] Must mean Zenocrate, whom Zabina fancies herself to be addressing.
289 Let the soldiers be buried.—Hell, death, Tamburlaine] So the 8vo.—Omitted in the 4to. (Where the modern editors got their reading, “Let the soldiers be CURSED,” I know not.)
290 Make ready my coach] Shakespeare seems to have remembered this passage when he made Ophelia say, “Come, my coach,” &c. HAMLET, act iv. sc. 5.
291 I come, I come, I come] So the 8vo.—The 4to “I come, I come.”
292 Egyptians’] So the 4to.—The 8vo “Egiptian.’
293 The] Old eds. “Thy.”
294 thy] So the 8vo.—The 4to “thine.”
295 war] So the 8vo.—The 4to “warres.”
296 Come] Old eds. “Comes” and “Comep.”
297 Armed] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Armes.”
298 final] So the 4to.—The 8vo “small.”
299 King of Arabia] i.e. Alcidamus; see p. 10, l. 9, sec. col.
[Page 10, Second Column, Line 9, This Play:
“Where her betrothed lord, Alcidamus,”]
300 thy] So the 4to.—The 8vo “my.”
301 conceit] i.e. fancy, imagination.
302 have] So the 8vo.—The 4to “hath.”
303 Euphrates] So our old poets invariably, I believe, accentuate this word.1 So the 8vo.—The 4to “shall.”
305 sweat] So the 8vo.—The 4to “sweare.”
306 wide-gaping] Old eds. “wide GASPING.”
307 resolv’d] i.e. dissolved.
308 Millions] So the 8vo.—The 4to “Million.”
309 Elysium] Old eds. “Elisian.”
310 Renowmed] See note ||, p. 11.[i.e. note 52.] So the 8vo. —The 4to “Renowned.”
311 record] i.e. take to witness.
312 no further time] i.e. no more distant time.
313 the] So the 8vo.—The 4to “my.”
314 I not] So the 8vo.—The 4to “not I.”
315 Else] So the 4to.—The 8vo “Then.”
316 on] So the 4to.—Omitted in the 8vo.
317 as beseems] So the 4to.—The 8vo “as BEST beseemes.”
318 We will our rites, &c.] Old eds. “We will our CELEBRATED rites,” &c.—“The word ‘CELEBRATED’ occurs in both the old editions, but may well be dispensed with as regards both the sense and measure.” Ed. 1826. “I think this word got into the text from either the author or printer, who was perhaps the editor, doubting whether to use ‘SOLEMNIZE’ or ‘CELEBRATE;’ and it slipt from the margin, where it was probably placed, into the verse itself.” J. M. in GENT. MAG. for Jan. 1841.
Proceed to Part II.
Notes
1 ‘Euphrates’ was printed with no accented characters at all.
304 should