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_ ACT IV - SCENE III
[Enter TAMBURLAINE, drawn in his chariot by the KINGS OF TREBIZON and SORIA, [227] with bits in their mouths, reins in his [228] left hand, and in his right hand a whip with which he scourgeth them; AMYRAS, CELEBINUS, TECHELLES, THERIDAMAS, USUMCASANE; ORCANES king of Natolia, and the KING OF JERUSALEM, led by five [229] or six common SOLDIERS; and other SOLDIERS.]
[Footnote 227: Soria] See note ?, p. 44. [i.e. note 13.]]
[Footnote 228: his] So the 4to.--The 8vo "their."]
[Footnote 229: led by five] So the 4to.--The 8vo "led by WITH fiue."]
TAMBURLAINE.
Holla, ye pamper'd jades of Asia! [230]
What, can ye draw but twenty miles a-day,
And have so proud a chariot at your heels,
And such a coachman as great Tamburlaine,
But from Asphaltis, where I conquer'd you,
To Byron here, where thus I honour you?
The horse that guide the golden eye of heaven,
And blow the morning from their nostrils, [231]
Making their fiery gait above the clouds,
Are not so honour'd in [232] their governor
As you, ye slaves, in mighty Tamburlaine.
The headstrong jades of Thrace Alcides tam'd,
That King Aegeus fed with human flesh,
And made so wanton that they knew their strengths,
Were not subdu'd with valour more divine
Than you by this unconquer'd arm of mine.
To make you fierce, and fit my appetite,
You shall be fed with flesh as raw as blood,
And drink in pails the strongest muscadel:
If you can live with it, then live, and draw
My chariot swifter than the racking [233] clouds;
If not, then die like beasts, and fit for naught
But perches for the black and fatal ravens.
Thus am I right the scourge of highest Jove;
And see the figure of my dignity,
By which I hold my name and majesty!
[Footnote 230: Holla, ye pamper'd jades of Asia, &c.] The ridicule showered on this passage by a long series of poets, will be found noticed 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 a footnote from page xvii of that introduction.
"Tamb. Holla, ye pamper'd jades of Asia!" &c. p. 64, sec. col.
This has been quoted or alluded to, generally with ridicule, by a whole host of writers. Pistol's "hollow pamper'd jades of Asia" in Shakespeare's HENRY IV. P. II. Act ii. sc. 4, is known to most readers: see also Beaumont and Fletcher's COXCOMB, act ii. sc. 2; Fletcher's WOMEN PLEASED, act iv. sc. 1; Chapman's, Jonson's, and Marston's EASTWARD HO, act ii. sig. B 3, ed. 1605; Brathwait's STRAPPADO FOR THE DIUELL, 1615, p. 159; Taylor the water-poet's THIEFE and his WORLD RUNNES ON WHEELES,--WORKES, pp. 111[121], 239, ed. 1630; A BROWN DOZEN OF DRUNKARDS, &c. 1648, sig. A 3; the Duke of Newcastle's VARIETIE, A COMEDY, 1649, p. 72; --but I cannot afford room for more references.--In 1566 a similar spectacle had been exhibited at Gray's Inn: there the Dumb Show before the first act of Gascoigne and Kinwelmersh's JOCASTA introduced "a king with an imperiall crowne vpon hys head," &c. "sitting in a chariote very richly furnished, drawen in by iiii kings in their dublets and hosen, with crownes also vpon theyr heads, representing vnto vs ambition by the historie of Sesostres," &c.]
[Footnote 231: And blow the morning from their nostrils] Here "nostrils" is to be read as a trisyllable,--and indeed is spelt in the 4to "nosterils."--Mr. Collier (HIST. OF ENG. DRAM. POET., iii. 124) remarks that this has been borrowed from Marlowe by the anonymous author of the tragedy of CAESAR AND POMPEY, 1607 (and he might have compared also Chapman's HYMNUS IN CYNTHIAM,--THE SHADOW OF NIGHT, &c. 1594, sig. D 3): but, after all, it is only a translation;
"cum primum alto se gurgite tollunt
Solis equi, LUCEMQUE ELATIS NARIBUS EFFLANT."
AEN. xii. 114]
(Virgil being indebted to Ennius and Lucilius).]
[Footnote 232: in] So the 8vo.--The 4to "as."]
[Footnote 233: racking] i.e. moving like smoke or vapour: see Richardson's DICT. in v.]
AMYRAS.
Let me have coach, [234] my lord, that I may ride,
And thus be drawn by [235] these two idle kings.
[Footnote 234: have coach] So the 8vo.--The 4to "haue A coach."]
[Footnote 235: by] So the 4to.--The 8vo "with."]
TAMBURLAINE.
Thy youth forbids such ease, my kingly boy:
They shall to-morrow draw my chariot,
While these their fellow-kings may be refresh'd.
ORCANES.
O thou that sway'st the region under earth,
And art a king as absolute as Jove,
Come as thou didst in fruitful Sicily,
Surveying all the glories of the land,
And as thou took'st the fair Proserpina,
Joying the fruit of Ceres' garden-plot, [236]
For love, for honour, and to make her queen,
So, for just hate, for shame, and to subdue
This proud contemner of thy dreadful power,
Come once in fury, and survey his pride,
Haling him headlong to the lowest hell!
[Footnote 236: garden-plot] So the 4to.--The 8vo "GARDED plot."]
THERIDAMAS.
Your majesty must get some bits for these,
To bridle their contemptuous cursing tongues,
That, like unruly never-broken jades,
Break through the hedges of their hateful mouths,
And pass their fixed bounds exceedingly.
TECHELLES.
Nay, we will break the hedges of their mouths,
And pull their kicking colts [237] out of their pastures.
[Footnote 237: colts] i.e. (with a quibble) colts'-teeth.]
USUMCASANE.
Your majesty already hath devis'd
A mean, as fit as may be, to restrain
These coltish coach-horse tongues from blasphemy.
CELEBINUS.
How like you that, sir king? why speak you not?
KING OF JERUSALEM.
Ah, cruel brat, sprung from a tyrant's loins!
How like his cursed father he begins
To practice taunts and bitter tyrannies!
TAMBURLAINE.
Ay, Turk, I tell thee, this same [238] boy is he
That must (advanc'd in higher pomp than this)
Rifle the kingdoms I shall leave unsack'd,
If Jove, esteeming me too good for earth,
Raise me, to match [239] the fair Aldeboran,
Above [240] the threefold astracism of heaven,
Before I conquer all the triple world.--
Now fetch me out the Turkish concubines:
I will prefer them for the funeral
They have bestow'd on my abortive son.
[The CONCUBINES are brought in.]
Where are my common soldiers now, that fought
So lion-like upon Asphaltis' plains?
[Footnote 238: same] So the 8vo.--Omitted in the 4to.]
[Footnote 239: match] So the 8vo.--The 4to "march."]
[Footnote 240: Above] So the 8vo.--The 4to "About."]
SOLDIERS.
Here, my lord.
TAMBURLAINE.
Hold ye, tall [241] soldiers, take ye queens a-piece,--
I mean such queens as were kings' concubines;
Take them; divide them, and their [242] jewels too,
And let them equally serve all your turns.
[Footnote 241: tall] i.e. bold, brave.]
[Footnote 242: their] So the 4to.--Omitted in the 8vo.]
SOLDIERS.
We thank your majesty.
TAMBURLAINE.
Brawl not, I warn you, for your lechery;
For every man that so offends shall die.
ORCANES.
Injurious tyrant, wilt thou so defame
The hateful fortunes of thy victory,
To exercise upon such guiltless dames
The violence of thy common soldiers' lust?
TAMBURLAINE.
Live continent, [243] then, ye slaves, and meet not me
With troops of harlots at your slothful heels.
[Footnote 243: continent] Old eds. "content."]
CONCUBINES.
O, pity us, my lord, and save our honours!
TAMBURLAINE.
Are ye not gone, ye villains, with your spoils?
[The SOLDIERS run away with the CONCUBINES.]
KING OF JERUSALEM.
O, merciless, infernal cruelty!
TAMBURLAINE.
Save your honours! 'twere but time indeed,
Lost long before ye knew what honour meant.
THERIDAMAS.
It seems they meant to conquer us, my lord,
And make us jesting pageants for their trulls.
TAMBURLAINE.
And now themselves shall make our pageant,
And common soldiers jest [244] with all their trulls.
Let them take pleasure soundly in their spoils,
Till we prepare our march to Babylon,
Whither we next make expedition.
[Footnote 244: jest] A quibble--which will be understood by those readers who recollect the double sense of JAPE (jest) in our earliest writers.]
TECHELLES.
Let us not be idle, then, my lord,
But presently be prest [245] to conquer it.
[Footnote 245: prest] i.e. ready.]
TAMBURLAINE.
We will, Techelles.--Forward, then, ye jades!
Now crouch, ye kings of greatest Asia,
And tremble, when ye hear this scourge will come
That whips down cities and controlleth crowns,
Adding their wealth and treasure to my store.
The Euxine sea, north to Natolia;
The Terrene, [246] west; the Caspian, north northeast;
And on the south, Sinus Arabicus;
Shall all [247] be loaden with the martial spoils
We will convey with us to Persia.
Then shall my native city Samarcanda,
And crystal waves of fresh Jaertis' [248] stream,
The pride and beauty of her princely seat,
Be famous through the furthest [249] continents;
For there my palace royal shall be plac'd,
Whose shining turrets shall dismay the heavens,
And cast the fame of Ilion's tower to hell:
Thorough [250] the streets, with troops of conquer'd kings,
I'll ride in golden armour like the sun;
And in my helm a triple plume shall spring,
Spangled with diamonds, dancing in the air,
To note me emperor of the three-fold world;
Like to an almond-tree [251] y-mounted [252] high
Upon the lofty and celestial mount
Of ever-green Selinus, [253] quaintly deck'd
With blooms more white than Erycina's [254] brows, [255]
Whose tender blossoms tremble every one
At every little breath that thorough heaven [256] is blown.
Then in my coach, like Saturn's royal son
Mounted his shining chariot [257] gilt with fire,
And drawn with princely eagles through the path
Pav'd with bright crystal and enchas'd with stars,
When all the gods stand gazing at his pomp,
So will I ride through Samarcanda-streets,
Until my soul, dissever'd from this flesh,
Shall mount the milk-white way, and meet him there.
To Babylon, my lords, to Babylon!
[Exeunt.]
[Footnote 246: Terrene] i.e. Mediterranean.]
[Footnote 247: all] So the 8vo.--Omitted in the 4to.]
[Footnote 248: Jaertis'] See note **, p. 62. [i.e. note 198.] So the 8vo.--The 4to "Laertes."]
[Footnote 249: furthest] So the 4to.--The 8vo "furthiest."]
[Footnote 250: Thorough] So the 8vo.--The 4to "Through."]
[Footnote 251: Like to an almond-tree, &c.] This simile in borrowed from Spenser's FAERIE QUEENE, B. i. C. vii. st. 32;
"Upon the top of all his loftie crest,
A bounch of heares discolourd diversly,
With sprincled pearle and gold full richly drest,
Did shake, and seemd to daunce for iollity;
Like to an almond tree ymounted hye
On top of greene Selinis all alone,
With blossoms brave bedecked daintily;
Whose tender locks do tremble every one
At everie little breath that under heaven is blowne."
The first three books of THE FAERIE QUEENE were originally printed in 1590, the year in which the present play was first given to the press: but Spenser's poem, according to the fashion of the times, had doubtless been circulated in manuscript, and had obtained many readers, before its publication. In Abraham Fraunce's ARCADIAN RHETORIKE, 1588, some lines of the Second Book of THE FAERIE QUEENE are accurately cited. And see my Acc. of Peele and his Writings, p. xxxiv, WORKS, ed. 1829.]
[Footnote 252: y-mounted] So both the old eds.--The modern editors print "mounted"; and the Editor of 1826 even remarks in a note, that the dramatist, "finding in the fifth line of Spenser's stanza the word 'y-mounted,' and, probably considering it to be too obsolete for the stage, dropped the initial letter, leaving only nine syllables and an unrythmical line"! ! ! In the FIRST PART of this play (p. 23, first col.) we have,--
"Their limbs more large and of a bigger size
Than all the brats Y-SPRUNG from Typhon's loins:"
but we need not wonder that the Editor just cited did not recollect the passage, for he had printed, like his predecessor, "ERE sprung."]
[Footnote 253: ever-green Selinus] Old eds. "EUERY greene Selinus" and "EUERIE greene," &c.--I may notice that one of the modern editors silently alters "Selinus" to (Spenser's) "Selinis;" but, in fact, the former is the correct spelling.]
[Footnote 254: Erycina's] Old eds. "Hericinas."]
[Footnote 255: brows] So the 4to.--The 8vo "bowes."]
[Footnote 256: breath that thorough heaven] So the 8vo.--The 4to "breath FROM heauen."]
[Footnote 257: chariot] Old eds. "chariots."] _
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