 | Tamerlane |  |
1
ACT I.
SCENE I.
SCENE before Tamerlane's Tent.Enter the Prince of Tanais, Zama, and Mirvan.
Pr. of T.
Hail to the Sun! from whose returning Light
The chearful Soldiers Arms new Lustre take,
To deck the Pomp of Battle; Oh, my Friends!
Was ever such a glorious Face of War?
See, from this height! how all Galatia's Plains
With Nations numberless are cover'd o'er;
Who, like a Deluge, hide the face of Earth,
And leave no Object, in the vast Horizon,
But glitt'ring Arms and Skies.
Zam.
Our Asian World
From this important Day expects a Lord,
This Day they hope an End of all their Woes,
Of Tyranny, of Bondage, and Oppression,
From our Victorious Emp'ror, Tamerlane.
Mir.
Well has our holy Alha mark'd him out
The Scourge of lawless Pride, and dire Ambition,
The great Avenger of the groaning World.
Well has he worn the Sacred Cause of Justice
2
Still crown'd the righteous Warrior with Success;
As if it said, Go forth, and be my Champion,
Thou most like me of all my Works below.
Pr.
No Lust of Rule, (the common Vice of Kings)
No furious Zeal inspir'd by hot-brain'd Priests,
Ill hid beneath Religion's Specious Name,
E'er drew his temperate Courage to the Field:
But to redress an Injur'd People's VVrongs,
To save the weak one from the strong Oppressor,
Is all his End of VVar; and when he draws
the Sword to punish, like relenting Heav'n,
He seems unwilling to deface his Kind.
Mir.
So rich his Soul in every virtuous Grace,
That, had not Nature made him great by Birth,
Yet all the Brave had sought him for their Friend:
The Christian Prince Axalla nicely bred
In polish'd Arts of Europæan Courts,
For him forsakes his Native Italy,
And lives a happy Exile in his Service.
Pr.
Pleas'd with the gentle Manners of that Prince,
Our mighty Lord is lavish to his Friendship;
Tho' Omar, and the Tartar Lords repine,
And loudly tax their Monarch, as too partial.
Zam.
'E'er the mid Hour of Night, from Tent to Tent,
Unweary'd, thro' the num'rous Host he past,
Viewing with careful Eyes each several Quarter;
VVhilst from his Looks, as from Divinity,
The Soldier took Presage; and cry'd, Lead on,
Great Alha, and our Emperor, Lead on
To Victory, and Everlasting Fame.
Mir.
Hear you of Bajazet?
Pr.
Late in the Evening
A Slave, of near Attendance on his Person,
'Scap'd to our Camp: from him we learn'd, the Tyrant
VVith Rage redoubled, for the Fight prepares;
Some accidental Passion fires his Breast,
(Love, as 'tis thought, for a fair Grecian Captive)
3
For five returning Suns, scarce was he seen
By any the most favour'd of his Court;
But in lascivious Ease, amongst his VVomen,
Liv'd from the VVar retir'd; or else, alone
In sullen mood sate meditating Plagues,
And Ruin to the VVorld, till yester Morn,
Like Fire that lab'ring upwards rends the Earth,
He burst with Fury from his Tent, Commanding
All should be ready for the Fight, this Day.
Zam.
I know his Temper well, since, in his Court
Companion of the brave Axalla's Embassy,
I oft observ'd him, Proud, impatient,
Of Ought Superiour, ev'n of Heav'n, that made him.
Fond of false Glory, of the Savage Pow'r
Of ruling without Reason, of confounding
Just, and Unjust, by an Unbounded VVill;
By whom Religion, Honour, all the Bands,
That ought to hold the jarring VVorld in Peace,
VVere held the Tricks of State, Snares of wise Princes
To draw their Easy Neighbours to destruction.
Mir.
Thrice, by our Law and Prophet, has he sworn,
By the VVorld's Lord, and Maker, lasting Peace
VVith our great Master, and his Royal Friend
The Grecian Emperor; as oft regardless
Of plighted Faith, with most Un-Kingly Baseness,
H'has ta'en the Advantage of their absent Arms,
VVithout a VVar proclaim'd, or Cause pretended,
To wast with Sword and Fire their fruitful Fields:
Like some accursed Fiend, who, 'scapt from Hell,
Poisons the balmy Air thro' which he flies,
He blasts the bearded Corn, and loaded Branches,
The lab'ring Hind's best hopes, and marks his way with ruine.
Pr.
But see! his Fate, the mighty Tamerlane
Comes like the Proxy of inquring Heav'n,
To Judge, and to redress.
4
Enter Tamerlane, Guards, and other Attendants.
Tam.
Yet, yet a little, and destructive Slaughter
Shall rage around, and marr this beauteous Prospect;
Pass but an Hour, which stands betwixt the Lives
Of Thousands and Eternity: What Change
Shall hasty Death make in yon glitt'ring Plain?
Oh thou fell Monster War! that in a moment
Lay'st wast the noblest part of the Creation,
The Boast, and Masterpiece of the Great Maker,
That wears in vain th'Impression of his Image,
Unpriviledg'd from thee.
To the Prince, Zama, and Mirvan.
Health to my Friends, and to our Arms Success,
Such as the Cause for which we fight deserves.
Pr.
Nor can we ask beyond what Heav'n bestows,
Preventing still our Wishes. See Great Sir!
The Universal Joy, your Soldier wears
Omen of prosp'rous Battle
Impatient of the tedious Night in Arms
Watchful they stood expecting opening Day;
And now are hardly by their Leaders held
From darting on the Foe; like a hot Courser,
That bounding paws the mould'ring Soil, disdaining
The Rein that checks him, eager for the Race.
Tam.
Yes, Prince, I mean to give a loose to War:
This Morn, Axalla, with my Parthian Horse
Arrives to join me, He, who like a Storm
Swept with his flying Squadrons all the Plain
Between Angoria's Walls, and yon tall Mountains,
That seem to reach the Clouds; and now he comes
Loaden with Spoils, and Conquest, to my aid.
Zam.
These Trumpets speak his Presence—
5
Enter Axalla with Soldiers. Moneses, Stratocles, and Selima, Prisoners.
Axalla kneels to Tamerlane.
Tam.
VVelcome! thou worthy Partner of my Lawrels,
Thou Brother of my Choice, a Band more Sacred
Than Nature's brittle Tye. By holy Friendship!
Glory, and Fame stood still for thy arrival,
My Soul seem'd wanting in its better half,
And languish'd for thy absence, like a Prophet,
That waits the Inspiration of his God.
Ax.
My Emperor! my ever Royal Master!
To whom my Secret Soul more lowly bends,
Than Forms of outward VVorship can express;
How poorly does your Soldier pay this Goodness,
VVho wears his every hour of Life out for you?
Yet 'tis his All, and what he has he offers;
Nor now disdain, t'accept the Gift he brings,
This Earnest of your Fortune. See My Lord
The noblest Prize, that ever grac'd my Arms;
Approach my Fair—
Tam.
This is indeed to Conquer,
And well to be rewarded for thy Conquest;
The bloom of opening Flow'rs, Unsully'd Beauty,
Softness, and sweetest Innocence she wears,
And looks like Nature in the VVorld's first Spring;
But say, Axalla—
Sel.
Most renoun'd in War,
Kneeling to Tam.
Look with Compassion on a captive Maid,
Tho' born of hostile Blood; nor let my Birth
Deriv'd from Bajazet, prevent that Mercy,
VVhich every Subject of your Fortune finds;
VVar is the Province of Ambitious Man,
VVho tears the miserable VVorld for Empire;
6
On either side claims Priviledge of Safety.
Tam.
[Raising her.]
Rise, Royal Maid, the Pride of haughty Power,
Pays Homage, not receives it from the Fair:
Thy angry Father fiercely calls me forth,
And urges me unwillingly to arm;
Yet, tho' our frowning Battles menace Death
And mortal Conflict, think not that we hold
Thy Innocence and Vertue as our Foe.
Here, 'till the Fate of Asia is decided,
In safety stay. To Morrow is your own:
Nor grieve for who may conquer, or who lose;
Fortune on either side shall wait thy Wishes.
Sel.
Where shall my Wonder and my Praise begin!
From the successful Labours of thy Arms?
Or from a Theme more soft, and full of Peace,
Thy Mercy, and thy Gentleness? Oh! Tamerlane!
What can I pay thee for this noble Usage
But grateful Praise? So Heav'n it self is paid.
Give Peace, ye Pow'rs above, Peace to Mankind;
Nor Let my Father wage unequal War,
Against the force of such united Vertues.
Tam.
Heaven hear thy pious Wish!—But since our Prospect
Looks darkly on Futurity, till Fate
Determine for us, let thy Beauty's Safety
Be my Axalla's Care; in whose glad Eyes
I read what Joy the pleasing Service gives him.
Is there amongst thy other Pris'ners ought
[To Axalla.
Worthy our Knowledge?
Ax.
This brave Man, my Lord,
Pointing to Moneses.
With long Resistance held the Combat doubtful:
His Party, prest with Numbers, soon grew faint,
And would have left their Charge an easie Prey;
Whilst he alone, undaunted at the odds,
Tho' hopeless to escape, fought well and firmly:
Nor yielded, till o'er-match'd by many Hands,
He seem'd to shame our Conquest, whilst he own'd it.
7
Thou speak'st him as a Soldier should a Soldier,
Just to the worth he finds. I would not war
[To Moneses.
With ought that wears thy vertuous Stamp of Greatness:
Thy Habit speaks thee Christian—Nay, yet more,
My Soul seems pleas'd to take acquaintance with thee,
As if ally'd to thine: Perhaps 'tis Sympathy
Of honest Minds; Like Strings wound up in Musick,
Where by one touch, both utter the same Harmony:
Why art thou then a Friend to Bajazet?
And why my Enemy?
Mor.
If Humane Wisdom
Could point out every Action of our Lives,
And say, Let it be thus, in spite of Fate,
Or partial Fortune, then I had not been
The Wretch I am.
Tam.
The Brave meet every Accident
With equal Minds: Think nobler of thy Foes,
Than to account thy Chance in War an Evil.
Mon.
Far, far from that; I rather hold it grievous
That I was forc'd ev'n but to seem your Enemy;
Nor think the baseness of a vanquish'd Slave
Moves me to flatter for precarious Life,
Or ill-bought Freedom, when I swear by Heav'n!
Were I to chuse from all Mankind a Master,
It should be Tamerlane.
Tam.
A noble Freedom
Dwells with the Brave, unknown to fawning Sycophants,
And Claims a Priviledge of being believ'd.
I take thy Praise as earnest of thy Friendship.
Mon.
Still you prevent the Homage I should offer,
O Royal Sir! let my Misfortunes plead,
And wipe away the hostile Mark I wore.—
I was, when not long since my Fortune hail'd me,
Bless'd to my wish, I was the Prince Moneses;
Born and bred up to Greatness: Witness the Blood
Which thro' successive Hero's Veins ally'd
To our Greek Emperors, roll'd down to me,
Feeds the bright Flame of Glory in my Heart.
8
Ev'n that! that Princely Tye should bind thee to me,
If Vertue were not more than all Alliance.
Mon.
I have a Sister, (Oh severe Remembrance!)
Our noble Houses, nay, her Sexe's Pride:
Nor think my Tongue too lavish, if I speak her
Fair as the Fame of Vertue, and yet chaste
As its cold Precepts, wise beyond her Sex
And blooming Youth, soft as forgiving Mercy,
Yet greatly brave, and jealous for her Honour:
Such as she was, to say I barely lov'd her,
Is poor to my Soul's meaning: From our Infancy
There grew a mutual Tenderness between us,
Till not long since her Vows were kindly plighted
To a young Lord, the Equal of her Birth.
The happy Day was fix'd, and now approaching,
When faithless Bajazet (upon whose Honour,
In solemn Treaty giv'n, the Greeks depended)
With sudden War broke in upon the Country,
Secure of Peace, and for Defence unready.
Tam.
Let Majesty no more be held Divine,
Since Kings, who are call'd Gods, profane themselves.
Mon.
Among the Wretches, whom that Deluge swept
Away to Slavery, my self and Sister
Then passing near the Frontiers to the Court,
(Which waited for her Nuptials) were surpriz'd,
And made the Captives of the Tyrant's Power.
Soon as we reach'd his Court, we found our Usage
Beyond what we expected, fair, and noble:
'Twas then the Storm of your victorious Arms
Look'd black, and seem'd to threaten, when he press'd me
(By oft repeated Instances) to draw
My Sword for him? But when he found my Soul
Disdain'd his Purpose, he more fiercely told me,
That my Arpasia, my lov'd Sister's Fate
Depended on my Courage shewn for him.
I had long learnt to hold my self at nothing,
But for her sake; to ward the Blow from her,
I bound my Service to the Man I hated.
9
I left the Pledge of my return behind,
And went to guard this Princess to his Camp:
The rest the brave Axalla's Fortune tells you.
Tam.
Wisely the Tyrant strove, to prop his Cause
By leaguing with thy Vertue; but just Heav'n
Has torn thee from his Side, and left him naked
To the avenging Bolt that drives upon him:
Forget the Name of Captive, and I wish
I could as well restore that Fair One's Freedom,
Whose loss hangs heavy on thee: Yet e're Night
Perhaps we may deserve thy Friendship nobler;
Th'approaching Storm may cast thy Shipwreck'd Wealth
Back to thy Arms: Till that be past, since War
(Tho' in the justest Cause) is ever doubtful,
I will not ask thy Sword to aid my Victory,
Lest it should hurt that Hostage of thy Valour
Our common Foe detains.
Mon.
Let Bajazet
Bend to his Yoak repining Slaves by force,
You, Sir, have found a nobler way to Empire,
Lord of the willing VVorld.
Tam.
Oh, my Axalla!
Thou hast a tender Soul, apt for Compassion,
And art thy self a Lover and a Friend:
Does not this Prince's Fortune move thy Temper?
Ax.
Yes, Sir, I mourn the brave Moneses Fate;
The Merit of his Vertue hardly match'd
VVith disadvent'rous Chance: Yet, Prince, allow me,
Allow me from the Experience of a Lover
To say, one Person, whom your Story mention'd,
(If he survive) is far beyond you wretched:
You nam'd the Bridegroom of your beauteous Sister.
Mon.
I did: Oh, most accurst!
Ax.
Think what he feels,
Dasht in the fierceness of his Expectation;
Then, when the approaching Minute of possession
Had wound Imagination to the heighth,
10
Mon.
He lives, he does; 'tis true,
He lives; but how? To be a Dog, and dead,
VVere Paradise to such a State as his:
He holds down Life as Children do a Potion,
VVith strong reluctance, and convulsive Strugglings,
VVhilst his Misfortunes press him to disgorge it.
Tam.
Spare the remembrance; 'tis a useless Grief,
And adds to the Misfortune by repeating it.
The Revolution of a Day may bring
Such Turns, as Heav'n itself could scarce have promis'd,
Far, far beyond thy Wish: Let that Hope chear thee;
Haste my Axalla, to dispose, with safety,
Thy beauteous Charge, and on the Foe revenge
The Pain, which Absence gives; thy other care,
Honour and Arms, now summon thy Attendance;
Now, do thy Office well, my Soul, remember
Thy Cause; the Cause of Heaven and injur'd Earth.
O thou Supream! if thy great Spirit warms
My glowing Breast, and fires my Soul to arms,
Grant that my Sword, assisted by thy Pow'r,
This Day may Peace and Happiness restore,
That War and lawless Rage may vex thy World no more,
[Exeunt Tamerlane, Moneses, Stratocles, Prince of Tanais, Zama, Mirvan, and Attendants.
Manent Axalla, and Selina, with Soldiers.
Ax.
The Battle calls, and bids me haste to leave thee.
Oh! Selima!—But let Destruction wait.
Are there not Hours enough for Blood and Slaughter?
This Moment shall be Love's; and I will waste it
In soft Complainings, for thy Sighs and Coldness,
For thy forgetful Coldness; even at Birza,
When in thy Father's Court my Eyes first own'd thee,
Fairer than Light, the Joy of their beholding,
Ev'n then thou wert not thus.
Sel.
Art not thou chang'd?
11
Those were the gentle Hours of Peace, and thou
The World's good Angel, that didst kindly joyn
Its mighty Masters in harmonious Friendship:
But since those Joys, that once were ours, are lost,
Forbear to mention 'em, and talk of War:
Talk of thy Conquest, and my Chains, Axalla.
Ax.
Yet I will listen fair unkind Upbraider,
Yet I will listen to thy charming Accents,
Altho' they make me curse my Fame and Fortune,
My Lawrel-wreaths, and all the glorious Trophies,
For which the valiant bleed.—Oh! thou unjust one,
Dost thou then envy me this small return
My niggard Fate has made for all the Mournings,
For all the Pains, for all the sleepless Nights
That cruel Absence brings?
Sel.
Away, Deceiver;
I will not hear thy soothing: Is it thus
That Christian Lovers prove the Faith they swear?
Are War and Slavery the soft Endearments
With which they court the Beauty's they admire?
'Twas well my Heart was cautious of believing
Thy Vows, and thy protesting. Know, my Conqueror,
Thy Sword has vanquish'd but the half of Selima,
Her Soul disdains thy Victory.
Ax.
Hear, sweet Heav'n,
Hear the fair Tyrant, how she wrests Love's Laws,
As she had vow'd my Ruin! What is Conquest?
What Joy have I from that but to behold thee,
To kneel before thee, and with lifted Eyes
To view thee, as Devotion does a Saint,
With awful, trembling Pleasure: Then to swear
Thou art the Queen and Mistress of my Soul:
Has not ev'n Tamerlane (whose Word, next Heav'n's,
Makes Fate at second hand) bid thee disclaim
Thy Fears? And dost thou call thy self a Slave?
Only to try how far the sad Impression
Can sink into Axalla.
12
Oh. Axalla!
Ought I to hear you?
Ax.
Come back, ye Hours,
And tell my Selima what she has done:
Bring back the time, when to her Father's Court
I came Ambassador of Peace from Tamerlane;
VVhen hid by conscious Darkness and Disguise,
I past the Dangers of the watchful Guards;
Bold as the Youth who nightly swam the Hellespont:
Then, then she was not sworn the Foe of Love;
VVhen, as my Soul confest its Flame, and su'd
In moving Sounds for Pity, she frown'd rarely,
But, blushing, heard me tell the gentle Tale:
Nay, ev'n confest, and told me softly sighing
She thought there was no guilt in Love like mine.
Sel.
Young and unskilful in the VVorld's false Arts,
I suffer'd Love to steal upon my Softness,
And warm me with a lambent guiltless Flame:
Yes, I have heard thee swear a thousand times,
And call the conscious Pow'rs of Heav'n to witness
The tend'rest, truest, everlasting Passion:
But, Oh! 'tis past; and I will charge Remembrance
To banish the fond Image from my Soul:
Since thou art sworn the Foe of Royal Bajazet,
I have resolv'd to hate thee
Ax.
Is it possible!
Hate is not in thy Nature; thy whole Frame
Is Harmony, without one jarring Atom.
VVhy do'st thou force thy Eyes to wear this Coldness?
It damps the Springs of Life. Oh! bid me die,
Much rather bid me die, if it be true,
That thou hast sworn to hate me.—
Sel.
Let Life and Death
VVait the Decision of the bloody Field;
Nor can thy Fate (my Conqueror) depend
Upon a VVoman's Hate. Yet since you urge
A Power, which once perhaps I had, there is
But one Request, that I can make with Honour.
13
Oh! name it! say!—
Sel.
Forego your right of VVar,
And render me this instant to my Father.
Ax.
Impossible!—The Tumult of the Battle,
That hastes to join, cuts off all means of Commerce
Betwixt the Armies.
Sel.
Swear then to perform it,
Which way soe'er the chance of War determines,
On my first instance.
Ax.
By the sacred Majesty
Of Heav'n, to whom we kneel, I will obey thee;
Yes, I will give thee this severest Proof
Of my Soul's vow'd Devotion, I will part with thee
(Thou Cruel, to command it!) I will part with thee,
As Wretches, that are doubtful of Hereafter,
Part with their Lives, unwilling, loth, and fearful,
And trembling at Futurity. But is there nothing,
No small return that Honour can afford
For all this waste of Love?
Sel.
The Gifts of Captives
Wear somewhat of constraint; and generous Minds
Disdain to give, where freedom of the Choice
Does but seem wanting.
Ax.
What! not one kind Look?
Then thou art chang'd indeed. [Trumpets.]
Hark! I am summon'd,
And thou wilt send me forth like one unbless'd;
Whom Fortune has forsaken, and ill Fate
Markt for Destruction. Thy surprising Coldness
Hangs on my Soul, and weighs my Courage down;
And the first feeble Blow I meet shall raze me
From all remembrance: Nor is Life or Fame
Worthy my Care, since I am lost to thee.
[Going.
Sel.
Ha! Goest thou to the Fight?—
Ax.
I do.—Farewel!—
Sel.
What! and no more! A Sigh heaves in my Breast,
And stops the struggling Accents on my Tongue,
Else, sure, I should have added something more,
And made our parting softer.
14
Give it way,
The niggard Honour, that affords not Love,
Forbids not Pity—
Sel.
Fate perhaps has set
This Day, the Period of thy Life, and Conquests,
And I shall see thee born at Evening back,
A breathless Coarse;—Oh! Can I think on that
And hide my Sorrows?—No—they will have way,
And all the Vital Air, that Life draws in,
Is render'd back in Sighs.
Ax.
The murmuring Gale revives the drooping Flame,
That at thy Coldness languish'd in my Breast;
So breath the gentle Zephyrs on the Spring,
And waken every Plant, and od'rous Flower,
Which Winter Frosts had blasted, to new life.
Sel.
To see thee for this moment, and no more—
Oh! help me to resolve against this Tenderness,
That charms my fierce Resentments, and presents thee
Not as thou art, mine, and my Father's Foe,
But as thou wert, when first thy moving Accents
Won me to hear; when, as I listn'd to thee,
The happy Hours past by us unperceiv'd,
So was my Soul fix'd to the soft Enchantment.
Ax.
Let me be still the same, I am, I must be.
If it were possible my Heart could stray,
One Look from thee would call it back again,
And fix the Wanderer for ever thine.
Sel.
Where is my boasted Resolution now?
Sinking into his Arms.
Oh! Yes! Thou art the same; my Heart joins with thee,
And to betray me will believe thee still:
It dances to the Sounds that mov'd it first,
And owns at once the weakness of my Soul:
So when some skilful Artist strikes the Strings,
The magick numbers rouse our sleeping Passions,
And force us to confess our Grief, and Pleasure.
Alas! Axalla, say—dost thou not pity
My artless Innocence, and easy Fondness?
15
Ax.
No—let me rather gaze, for ever gaze,
And bless the new-born Glories that adorn thee;
From every Blush, that kindles in thy Cheeks,
Ten thousand little Loves, and Graces spring,
To revel in the Roses.—'two'not be,
[Trumpets.
This envious Trumpet calls, and tears me from thee—
Sel.
My Fears increase, and doubly press me now.
I charge thee, if thy Sword comes cross my Father,
Stop for a moment, and remember me.
Ax.
Oh! doubt not, but his Life shall be my care,
Even dearer, than my own—
Sel.
Guard that, (for me) too.
Ax.
Oh! Selima! thou hast restor'd my Quiet,
The noble ardour of the War, with Love
Returning brightly, burns within my Breast,
And bids me be secure of all hereafter.
So chears some pious Saint a dying Sinner,
(Who trembled at the thought of Pains to come)
With Heav'ns Forgiveness, and the hopes of Mercy:
At length the Tumult of his Soul appeas'd,
And every Doubt, and anxious Scruple eas'd,
Boldly he proves the dark, uncertain Road,
The Peace, his holy Comforter bestow'd,
Guides, and protects him, like a Guardian God.
[Exit Axalla.
Manent Selima, and Guards.
Sel.
In vain all Arts a Love-sick Virgin tries,
Affects to frown, and seem severely wise,
In hopes to cheat the wary Lover's Eyes.
If the dear Youth her Pity strives to move,
And pleads, with Tenderness, the cause of Love;
Nature asserts her Empire in her Heart,
And kindly takes the faithful Lover's part.
16
No more she trusts in Pride's fantastick Aid,
But bids her Eyes confess the yielding Maid.
[Exit Selima, Guards following.
End of the First Act.
| Tamerlane | |