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Whose cursed fate hath so dismember'd it,
Then should you see this chief of Scythia,
This proud, usurping king of Persia,
Do us such honour and

supremacy,
Bearing the vengeance of our father's wrongs,
As all the world should blot our dignities
Out of the book of base-born infamies.
And now I doubt not but your royal cares
Have so provided for this cursed foe,
That, since the heir of mighty Bajazet,
(An emperor so honour'd for his virtues,)
Revives the spirits of true Turkish hearts,
In grievous mem'ry of his father's shame,
We shall not need to nourish any doubt,
But that proud fortune, who hath follow'd long
The martial sword of mighty Tamburlaine,
Will now retain her old inconstancy,
And raise our honours to as high a pitch,
In this our strong and fortunate encounter;
For so hath heaven provided my escape,
From all the cruelty my soul sustain's,
By this my friendly keeper's happy means,
That Jove, surcharg'd with pity of our wrongs,
Will pour it down in showers on our heads,
Scourging the pride of Tamburlaine.

Orc. I have a hundred thousand men in arms;
Some, that in conquest of the perjur'd Christian,
Being a handful to a mighty host,
Think them in number yet sufficient
To drink the river Nile or Euphrates,

And for their power know to win the world.

Ter. And I as many from Jerusalem,
Judæa, Gaza, and Sclavonia's bounds,
That on mount Sinai with their ensigns spread,
Look like the parti-coloured clouds of heaven
That show fair weather to the neighbour morn,

TREB. And I as many bring from Trebizond,
Chio, Famastro, and Amasia
All bord'ring on the Mare Major sea,
Riso, Sancina, and the bord'ring towns
That touch the end of famous Euphrates,
Whose courages are kindled with the flames,
The cursed Scythian sets on all their towns,
And vow to burn the villain's cruel heart.

Syr. From Syria with seventy thousand strong
Ta'en from Aleppo, Saldino, Tripoli,
And so unto my city of Damascus,
I march to meet and aid my neighbour kings;
All which will join against this Tamburlaine,
And bring him captive to your highness' feet.

Orc. Our battle then in martial manner pitch'd
According to our ancient use, shall bear
The figure of the semicircled moon,
Whose horns shall sprinkle through the tainted air
The poison'd brains of this proud Scythian.
CALL. Well then, my noble lords, for this my

friend
That freed me from the bondage of my foe,
I think it requisite and honourable,
To keep my promise and to make him king,

That is a gentleman, I know, at least.

ALM. That is no matter, sir, for being a king; For Tamburlaine came up from nothing.

JER. Your majesty may choose some pointed

time,

Performing all your promise to the full;

'Tis nought for your majesty to give a kingdom. CALL. Then will I shortly keep my promise,

Almeda.

ALM. Why, I thank your majesty.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt.

Enter TAMBURLAINE with USU MCASANE, and his three Sons, four bearing the hearse of Zenocrate, and the drums sounding a doleful march; the town burning.

TAM. So burn the turrets of this cursed town, Flame to the highest region of the air,

And kindle heaps of exhalations,

That being fiery meteors may presage
Death and destruction to the inhabitants!
Over my Zenith hang a blazing star,
That may endure till heaven be dissolv❜d,
Fed with the fresh supply of earthly dregs,
Threat'ning a death and famine to this land!
Flying dragons, lightning, fearful thunderbolts,
Singe these fair plains, and make them seem as
black

As is the island where the Furies mask,

Compass'd with Lethe, Styx, and Phlegethon,

Because my

dear'st Zenocrate is dead.

CAL. This pillar, plac'd in memory of her, Where in Arabian, Hebrew, Greek, is writ:This town, being burnt by Tamburlaine the Great, Forbids the world to build it up again.

AMY. And here this mournful streamer shall be plac'd,

Wrought with the Persian and th' Ægyptian arms,
To signify she was a princess born,

And wife unto the monarch of the East.
CEL. And here this table as a register
Of all her virtues and perfections.

TAMB. And here the picture of Zenocrate,
To show her beauty which the world admir'd;

Sweet picture of divine Zenocrate,

That, hanging here, will draw the gods from heaven,

And cause the stars fix'd in the southern arc,

(Whose lovely faces never any view'd

That have not pass'd the centre's latitude)
As pilgrims travel to our hemisphere,
Only to gaze upon Zenocrate.

Thou shalt not beautify Larissa's plains,
But keep within the circle of mine arms.
At ev'ry town and castle I besiege,
Thou shalt be set upon my royal tent;
And when I meet an army in the field,

Whose looks will shed such influence in my camp,

As if Bellona, goddess of the

war,

Threw naked swords and sulphur-balls of fire
Upon the heads of all our enemies.

And now, my lords, advance your spears again :
Sorrow no more, my sweet Casane, now;
Boys, leave to mourn! this town shall erer mourn,
Being burnt to cinders for your mother's death.

CAL. If I had wept a sea of tears for her,
It would not ease the sorrows I sustain.

Amy. As is that town, so is my heart consum'd With grief and sorrow for my mother's death.

Cel. My mother's death hath mortified my mind, And sorrow stops the passage of my speech. Tamb. But now, my boys, leave off and list to

me, That mean to teach you

rudiments of war; I'll have you learn to sleep upon the ground, March in your armour thorough wat’ry fens, Sustain the scorching heat and freezing cold, Hunger and thirst, right adjuncts of the war, And after this to scale a castle wall, Besiege a fort, to undermine a town, And make whole cities caper in the air. Then next the way to fortify your men; In champion grounds, what figure serves you best ; For which the quinque-angle form is meet, Because the corners there may fall more flat Whereas the fort may fittest be assail'd, And sharpest where th' assault is desperate. The ditches must be deep; the counterscarps Narrow and steep; the walls made high and broad; The bulwarks and the rampiers large and strong, With cavalieros and thick counterforts,

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