University of Virginia Library

Scæna. 2.

Tamburlaine with Vsumeasane, and his three sons, foure bearing the hearse of Zenocrate, and the drums sounding a dolefull martch, the Towne burning.
Tamb.
So , burne the turrets of this cursed towne,
Flame to the highest region of the aire:
And kindle heaps of exhalations,
That being fiery meteors, may presage,
Death and destruction to th'inhabitants
Ouer my Zenith hang a blazing star,
That may endure till heauen be dissolu'd,
Fed with the fresh supply of earthly dregs,
Threatning a death and famine to this land,
Flieng Dragons, lightning, fearfull thunderclaps,
sindge these fair plaines, and make them seeme as black
As is the Island where the Furies maske
Compast with Lethe, Styx and Phlegeton,
Because my deare Zenocrate is dead.

Cal.
This Piller plac'd in memorie of her,
Where in Arabian, Hebrew, Greek, is writ
This towne being burnt by Tamburlaine the great,
Forbids the world to build it vp againe.

Amy.
And here this mourful streamer shal be plac'd
Wrought with the Persean and Egyptian armes,
To signifie she was a princesse borne,
And wife vnto the Monarke of the East.

Celib.
And here this table as a Register
Of all her vertues and perfections.

tam.
And here the picture of zenocrate,
To shew her beautie, which the world admyr'd,
Sweet picture of diuine Zenocrate,
That hanging here, wil draw the Gods from heauen:
And cause the stars fixt in the Southern arke,
Whose louely faces neuer any viewed,
That haue not past the Centers latitude.
As Pilgrimes traueile to our Hemi-spheare.
Onely to gaze vpon Zenocrate.
Thou shalt not beautifie Larissa plaines.
But keep within the circle of mine armes.
At euery towne and castle I besiege,
Thou shalt be set vpon my royall tent.
And when I meet an armie in the field,
Whose looks will shed such influence in my campe,
As if Bellona, Goddesse of the war
Threw naked swords and sulphur bals of fire,
Upon the heads of all our enemies.
And now my Lords, aduance your speares againe,
Sorrow no more my sweet Casane now:
Boyes leaue to mourne, this towne shall euer mourne,
Being burnt to cynders for your mothers death.

Cal.
If I had wept a sea of teares for her,
It would not ease the sorrow I sustaine.

Amy.
As is that towne, so is my heart consum'd,
With griefe and sorrow for my mothers death.

Cel.
My mothers death hath mortified my mind,
And sorrow stops the passage of my speech.

Tamb.
But now my boies, leaue off, and list to me,
That meane to teach you rudiments of war:
Ile haue you learne to sleepe vpon the ground,
March in your armour throwe watery Fens,
Sustaine the scortching heat and freezing cold,
Hunger and cold right adiuncts of the war.
And after this, to scale a castle wal,
Besiege a fort, to vndermine a towne,
And make whole cyties caper in the aire.
Then next, the way to fortifie your men,
In champion grounds, what figure serues you best,
For with the quinque-angle fourme is meet,
Because the corners there may fall more flat:
Whereas the Fort may fittest be assailde,
And sharpest where th'assault is desperate.
The ditches must be deepe, the Counterscarps
Narrow and steepe, the wals made high and broad,
The Bulwarks and the rampiers large and strong,
With Caualieros and thicke counterforts,
And roome within to lodge sixe thousand men.
It must haue priuy ditches, countermines,
And secret issuings to defend the ditch.
It must haue high Argins and couered waies
To keep the bulwark fronts from battery,
And Parapets to hide the Muscatiers:
Casemates to place the great Artillery,
And store of ordinance that from euery flanke
May scoure the outward curtaines of the Fort,
Dismount the Cannon of the aduerse part,
Murther the Foe and saue their walles from breach.
When this is learn'd for seruice on the land,
By plaine and easie demonstration,
Ile teach you how to make the water mount,
That you may dryfoot martch through lakes & pooles,
Deep riuers, hauens, creekes, and litle seas,
And make a Fortresse in the raging waues,
Fenc'd with the concaue of a monstrous rocke,
Inuincible by nature of the place.
When this is done, then are ye souldiers,
And worthy sonnes of Tamburlain the great,

Cal.
My Lord, but this is dangerous to be done,
We may be slaine or wounded ere we learne.

tam.
Uillain, art thou the sonne of Tamburlaine,
And fear'st to die, or with a Curtle-axe
To hew thy flesh and make a gaping wound?
Hast thou beheld a peale of ordinance strike
A ring of pikes, mingled with shot and horse,
Whose shattered lims, being tost as high as heauen,
Hang in the aire as thicke as sunny motes,
And canst thou Coward stand in feare of death?
Hast thou not seene my horsmen charge the foe,
Shot through the armes, cut ouerthwart the hands,
Dieng their lances with their streaming blood,
And yet at night carrouse within my tent,
Filling their empty vaines with aiery wine,
That being concocted, turnes to crimson blood,
And wilt thou shun the field for feare of woundes?
Uiew me thy father that hath conquered kings,
And with his hoste martch round about the earth,
Quite voide of skars, and cleare from any wound,
That by the warres lost not a dram of blood,
And see him lance his flesh to teach you all.
He cuts his arme.
A wound is nothing be it nere so deepe,
Blood is the God of Wars rich liuery.
Now look I like a souldier, and this wound
As great a grace and maiesty to me,
As if a chaire of gold enamiled,
Enchac'd with Diamondes, Saphyres, Rubies
And fairest pearle of welthie India
Were mounted here vnder a Canapie:
And I sat downe, cloth'd with the massie robe,
That late adorn'd the Affrike Potentate.
Whom I brought bound vnto Damascus walles.
Come boyes and with your fingers search my wound,
And in my blood wash all your hands at once,
While I sit smiling to behold the sight.
Now my boyes, what think you of a wound?

Cal.
I know not what I should think of it,
Me thinks tis a pitifull sight.

Cel.
Tis nothing: giue me a wound father.

Amy.
And me another my Lord.

tam.
Come sirra, giue me your arme.

Cel.
Here father, cut it brauely as you did your own

tam.
It shall suffice thou darst abide a wound
My boy, Thou shalt not loose a drop of blood,
Before we meet the armie of the Turke.
But then run desperate through the thickest throngs,
Dreadlesse of blowes, of bloody wounds and death:
And let the burning of Larissa wals
My speech of war, and this my wound you see
Teach you my boyes to beare couragious minds,
Fit for the followers of great tamburlaine.
Vsumeasane now come let vs martch
Towards Techelles and Theridamas,
That we haue sent before to fire the townes,
The towers and cities of these hatefull Turks,
And hunt that Coward, faintheart, runaway,
With that accursed traitor Almeda,
Til fire and sword haue found them at a bay.

Vsu.
I long to pierce his bowels with my sword,
That hath betraied my gracious Soueraigne,
That curst and damned Traitor Almeda.

Tam.
Then let vs see if coward Calapine
Dare leuie armes against our puissance,
That we may tread vpon his captiue necke,
And treble all his fathers slaueries.

Exeunt.