 | Tamerlane |  |
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ACT. V.
SCENE I.
SCENE Bajazet's Tent.Enter Arpasia.
Arp.
Sure 'tis a Horror, more than Darkness brings
That fit's upon the Night; Fate is abroad.
Some ruling Fiend hangs in the dusky Air,
And scatters Ruin, Death, and wild Distraction,
O'er all the wretched Race of Man below:
Not long ago, a Troop of ghastly Slaves
Rush't in, and forc't Moneses from my Sight;
Death hung so heavy on his drooping Spirits,
That scarcely could he say—Farewel—for ever.
And yet, methinks, some gentle Spirit whispers
Thy Peace draws near, Arpasia Sigh no more;
And see the King of Terrors is at hand;
His Minister appears.
Enter Bajazet, and Haly.
Baj.
aside to Haly]
The rest I leave
To thy dispatch. For oh! My faithful Haly,
Another Care has taken up thy Master;
Spight of the high-wrought Tempest in my Soul,
Spight of the Pangs, which Jealousy has cost me;
This haughty Woman reigns within my Breast:
In vain I strive to put her from my Thoughts,
To drive her out with Empire, and Revenge:
Still she comes back like a retiring Tide,
That Ebbs a while, but strait returns again,
And swells above the Beach.
Ha.
Why wears my Lord
An anxious thought, for what his Pow'r commands?
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Have born the Empress, from amidst your Foes,
She must be yours, be only, and all yours.
Baj.
On that depends my fear. Yes! I must have her,
I own I will not, cannot go without her;
But such is the condition of our Flight,
That should she not consent, t'would hazard all,
To bear her hence by force; Thus I resolve then,
By Threats, and Prayr's, by every way to move her:
If all prevail not, Force is left, at last;—
And I will set Life, Empire on the Venture,
To keep her mine.—Be near, to wait my Will.
[Exit Haly.
When last we parted, t'was on angry Terms,
Let the remembrance dye, or kindly think
That jealous Rage is but a hasty Flame,
That blazes out, when Love too fiercely burns.
Arp.
For thee to wrong me, and for me to suffer,
Is the hard Lesson that my Soul has learn't;
And now I stand prepar'd for all to come:
Nor is it worth my leisure to distinguish,
If Love, or Jealousy commit the violence;
Each have alike been fatal to my Peace,
Confirming me a Wretch, and thee a Tyrant.
Baj.
Still to deform thy gentle Brow with Frowns!
And still to be perverse! It is a manner
Abhorrent from the softness of thy Sex:
Women, like Summer Storms, a while are Cloudy,
Burst out in Thunder, and impetuous Show'rs;
But strait the Sun of Beauty dawns abroad,
And all the fair Horison is serene.
Arp.
Then to retrieve the honour of my Sex,
Here I disclaim that Changing, and Inconstancy;
To Thee I will be ever, as I am.
Baj.
Thou say'st, I am a Tyrant, think so still,
And let it warm thy Prudence, to lay hold
On the good hour of Peace, that courts thee now;
Souls form'd like mine, brook being scorn'd, but Ill;
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It is a short-liv'd Virtue.
Arp.
Turn thy Eyes
Back on the Story of my Woes, Barbarian.
Thou that ha'st violated all Respects
Due to my Sex, and Honour of my Birth,
Thou brutal Ravisher! that hast undone me,
Ruin'd my Love! Can I have Peace with thee?
Impossible! first Heav'n and Hell shall join,
They only differ more.
Baj.
I see, 'tis vain,
To court thy stubborn Temper with Endearments.
Resolve this moment, to return my Love,
And be the willing Partner of my Flight,
Or by the Prophet's holy Law! thou dy'st.
Arp.
And dost thou hope, to fright me with that Fantome?
Death! 'Tis the greatest Mercy thou can'st give;
So frequent are the Murders of thy Reign,
One Day scarce passing by unmarkt with Blood,
That Children, by long use, have learn't to scorn it:
Know, I disdain to aid thy treacherous purpose,
And should'st thou dare to force me, with my Cries
I will call Heaven and Earth to my Assistance.
Baj.
Confusion! dost thou brave me? But my Wrath
Shall find a Passage to thy swelling Heart,
And rack thee worse, than all the Pains of Death.
That Grecian Dog, the Minion of thy Wishes,
Shall be drag'd forth, and butcher'd in thy sight;
Thou shalt behold him, when his Pangs are terrible,
Then, when he stares, and gasps, and struggles strongly,
Ev'n in the bitterest Agony of dying;
Till thou shalt rend thy Hair, tear out thy Eyes,
And curse thy Pride, while I applaud my Vengeance.
Arp.
Oh! fatal Image! All my Powers give way,
And Resolution sickens at the Thought;
A Flood of Passion rises in my Breast,
And labours fiercely upward to my Eyes.
Come, all ye great Examples of my Sex,
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Ye holy Martyrs, who, with wond'rous Faith
And Constancy unshaken, have sustain'd
The Rage of cruel Men, and fiery Persecution;
Come to my Aid, and teach me to defy
The malice of this Fiend. I feel, I feel
Your sacred Spirit arm me to Resistance.
Yes, Tyrant, I will stand this shock of Fate;
Will live to triumph over thee, for a moment,
Then die well pleas'd, and follow my Moneses.
Baj.
Thou talk'st it well: But talking is thy Privilege,
'Tis all the boasted Courage of thy Sex;
Tho', for thy Soul, thou dar'st not meet the Danger.
Arp.
By all my hopes of Happiness! I dare—
My Soul is come within her ken of Heaven;
Charm'd with the Joys and Beauties of that place,
Her Thoughts, and all her Cares she fixes there,
And 'tis in vain for thee, to rage below:
Thus Stars shine bright, and keep their place above,
Tho' ruffing Winds deform this Lower World.
Baj.
This moment is the Tryal.
Arp.
Let it come;
This moment then shall shew I am a Greek,
And speak my Country's Courage in my suffering.
Baj.
Here, Mercy, I disclaim thee. Mark me, Traitress!
My Love prepares a Victim to thy Pride,
And when it greets thee next, 'twill be in Blood.
[Exit Bajazet.
Arp.
My Heart beats higher, and my nimble Spirits
Ride swiftly thro' their purple Channels round:
'Tis the last blaze of Life: Nature revives
Like a dim, winking Lamp, that flashes brightly
With parting Light, and strait is dark for ever.
And see! my last of Sorrows is at hand:
Death and Moneses come together to me;
As if my Stars that had so long been cruel,
Grew kind at last, and gave me all I wish.
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Mon.
I charge ye, O ye Minister of Fate,
Be swift to execute your Master's Will,
Bear me to my Arpasia; let me tell her,
The Tyrant is grown kind. He bids me go,
And die beneath her Feet. A Joy shoots thro'
My drooping Breast, as often, when the Trumpet
Has call'd my youthful Ardour forth to Battle;
High in my Hopes, and ravisht with the Sound,
I have rusht eager on amidst the foremost
To purchase Victory, or glorious Death.
Arp.
If it be Happiness alas! to die,
To lie forgotten in the silent Grave,
To Love, and Glory lost, and from among
The great Creator's Works expung'd and blotted,
Then very shortly shall we both be happy.
Mon.
There is no room for doubt, 'tis certain Bliss;
The Tyrant's cruel Violence, thy Loss,
Already seem more light, nor has my Soul
One unrepented Guilt upon remembrance,
To make me dread the Justice of hereafter;
But standing now on the last Verge of Life,
Boldly I view the vast Abyss, Eternity,
Eager to plunge, and leave my Woes behind me.
Arp.
By all the Truth of our past Lives I vow!
To die! appears a very nothing to me:
But oh! Moneses, should I not allow
Somewhat to Love, and to my Sexes tenderness,
This very Now, I could put off my being,
Without a Groan; but to behold thee die.—
Nature shrinks in me, at the dreadful Thought,
Nor can my Constancy sustain this Blow.
Mon.
Since thou art arm'd for all things, after Death,
Why should the Pomp and Preparation of it
Be frightful to thy Eyes? There's not a Pain,
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That vexes any part of this fine Frame,
Is full as grievous: All that the Mind feels
Is much, much more.—And see, I go to prove it.
Enter a Mute; he signs to the rest, who proffer the Bow-string to Moneses.
Arp.
Think e'er we part!
Mon.
Of what?
Arp.
Of something soft,
Tender and kind, of something wondrous sad.
Oh! my full Soul!
Mon.
My Tongue is at a loss,
Thoughts crowd so fast, thy Name is all I've left,
My kindest! truest! dearest! best Arpasia!
[The Mutes struggle with him.
Arp.
I have a thousand, thousand Things to utter,
A thousand more to hear yet. Barbarous Vilains!
Give me a Minute. Speak to me, Moneses.
Mon.
Speak to thee? 'Tis the Business of my Life,
'Tis all the use I have for vital Air.
Stand off ye Slaves! To tell thee, that my Heart
Is full of thee; that ev'n at this dread moment
My fond Eyes gaze with Joy and Rapture on thee,
Angels and Light it self are not so fair.
Enter Bajazet, Haly, and Attendants.
Baj.
Ha! wherefore lives this Dog? Be quick, ye Slaves,
And rid me of the Pain.
Mon.
For only Death,
And the last Night can shut out my Arpasia.
[The Mutes strangle Moneses.
Arp.
Oh! dismal! 'tis not to be born. Ye Moralists,
Ye Talkers, what are all your Precepts now?
Patience? Distraction? blast the Tyrant, blast him.
Avenging Lightnings, snatch him hence, ye Fiends!
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Ruin is on her, and she sinks at once.
[She sinks down.
Baj.
Help, Haly, raise her up, and bear her out.
Ha.
Alas! she faints.
Arp.
No, Tyrant, 'tis in vain;
Oh! I am now beyond thy cruel Power:
The peaceful Slumber of the Grave is on me;
Ev'n all the tedious Day of Life I've wandred,
Bewildred with Misfortunes;
At length 'tis Night, and I have reach't my home:
Forgetting all the Toils and Troubles past,
Weary I'll lay me down, and sleep till—Oh!
[She dies.
Baj.
Fly, ye Slaves,
And fetch me Cordials. No she shall not die.
Spight of her sullen Pride, I'll hold in Life,
And force her to be blest against her Will.
Ha.
Already 'tis beyond the Power of Art;
For see a deadly Cold has froze the Blood,
The plyant Limbs grow stiff, and lose their use,
And all the animating Fire is quencht:
Even Beauty too is dead; an ashy Pale
Grows o'er the Roses, the red Lips have lost
Their flagrant Hew, for want of that sweet Breath,
That blest 'em with its Odours, as it past.
Baj.
Can it be possible? Can Rage and Grief,
Can Love and Indignation be so fierce,
So mortal in a Woman's Heart? Confusion!
Is she escapt then? What is Royalty?
If those, that are my Slaves, and should live for me,
Can die, and bid defiance to my Power.
Enter the Dervise.
Der.
The valiant Omar sends, to tell thy Greatness,
The hour of Flight is come, and urges haste,
Since he descrys near Tamerlane's Pavilion,
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On either Hand stretch far into the Night,
And seem to form a shining Front of Battle.
Behold, ev'n from this place, thou may'st discern 'em.
[Looking out.
Baj.
By Alha! yes! they cast a Day around 'em,
And the Plain seems thick set with Stars, as Heav'n.
Ha! or my Eyes are false, they move this way.
'Tis certain so. Fly, Haly, to our Daughter.
[Exit Haly.
Let some secure the Christian Prince Axalla;
We will be gone this Minute.
Enter Omar.
Om.
Lost! Undone!
Baj.
What mean'st thou?
Om.
All our hopes of Flight are lost;
Mirvan and Zama, with the Parthian Horse,
Enclose us round, they hold us in a Toil.
Baj.
Ha! whence this unexpected Curse of Chance?
Om.
Too late I learnt, that early in the Night
A Slave was suffer'd by the Princess order,
To pass the Guard; I clove the Vilain down,
Who yielded to his Flight; but that's poor Vengeance.
That Fugitive has rais'd the Camp upon us,
And unperceiv'd, by favour of the Night,
In silence they have marcht to intercept us.
Baj.
My Daughter! oh! the Traitress!
Der.
Yet, we have
Axalla in our Power, and angry Tamerlane
Will buy his Favourite's Life, on any Terms.
Om.
With these few Friends I have, I for a while,
Can face their Force; if they refuse us Peace,
Revenge shall sweeten Ruin, and 'twill Joy me,
To drag my Foe down with me, in my fall.
[Exit Omar.
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Baj.
See where she comes! with well-dissembled Innocence,
With Truth, and Faith so lovely in her Face,
As if she durst ev'n disavow the Falshood.—
Hop'st thou to make amends with trifling Tears,
For my lost Crown, and disappointed Vengeance?
Ungrateful Selima! thy Father's Curse!
Bring forth the Minion of her foolish Heart;
He dies this Moment.—
Ha.
Would I could not speak
The Crime of fatal Love, the Slave who fled,
By whom we are undone; was that Axalla?
Baj.
Ha! say'st thou?—
Ha.
Hid beneath that vile Appearance,
The Princess found a means for his Escape.
Sel.
I am undone! ev'n Nature has disclaim'd me;
My Father! have I lost you all?—My Father!
Baj.
Talk'st thou of Nature? who hast broke her Bands!
Thou art my Bane, thou Witch! thou Infant Parricide!
But I will study to be strangely cruel,
I will forget the Folly of my Fondness;
Drive all the Father from my Breast, now snatch thee,
Tear thee to pieces, drink thy treacherous Blood,
And make the answer all my great Revenge:
Now, now, thou Traitress!
[Offers to kill her.
Sel.
Plunge the Poynard deep!
[She embraces him.
The Life my Father gave shall hear his Summons,
And issue at the Wound—Start not, to feel
My Heart's warm Blood gush out upon your Hands,
Since from your Spring I drew the Purple Stream,
And I must pay it back, if you demand it.
Baj.
Hence! from my Thoughts! thou soft relenting Weakness,
Hast thou not given me up a Prey? betray'd me?
Sel.
Oh! not for Worlds, not ev'n for all the Joys,
Love, or the Prophet's Paradise can give,
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Amidst the thousand Pains of anxious Tenderness,
I made the gentle kind Axalla swear,
Your Life, your Crown, and Honour should be safe.
Baj.
Away! my Soul disdains the vile Dependance.
No, let me rather die, die like a King;
Shall I fall down at the proud Tartar's Foot?
And say, have mercy on me? Hark, they come.
[Shout.
Disgrace will overtake my lingring Hand:
Die then, thy Father's Shame, and thine, die with thee.
[Offers to kill her.
Sel.
For Heaven, for Pity's sake!
Baj.
No more, thou Trifler!
[She catches hold of his Arm.
Ha! dar'st thou bar my Will? Tear off her hold.
Sel.
What not for Life? Should I not plead for Life?
When Nature teaches ev'n the brute Creation,
To hold fast that, her best, her noblest Gift.
Look on my Eyes, whom you so oft have kist,
And swore, they were your best lov'd Queen's, my Mothers.
Behold 'em now streaming for Mercy, Mercy!
Look on me, and deny me, if you can;
'Tis but for Life I beg, is that a Boon
So hard for me t'obtain? or you to grant?
Oh! spare me! spare your Selima my Father.
Baj.
A lazy Sloth hangs on my Resolution;
It is my Selima!—Ha! What? my Child?
And can I Murder her?—Dreadful Imagination!
Again they come. I leave her to my Foes!
[Shout.
And shall they triumph o'er the Race of Bajazet?
Die Selima! Is that a Father's Voice?
Rouse, rouse my Fury! yes she dies, the Victim
To my lost hopes. Out! out! thou foolish Nature!
Justly she shares the Ruin she has made,
Seize her, [To the Mutes.]
ye Slaves, and strangle her this moment.
Sel.
Oh! let me die by you! behold my Breast!
I wo'not shrink; oh! save me but from these.
[The Mutes seize her.
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Dispatch.
Sel.
But for a moment, while I pray,
That Heaven may guard my Royal Father.
Baj.
Dogs!
Sel.
That you may only bless me, e'er I die.
[Shout.
Baj.
Ye tedious Vilains! then the Work is mine.
As Bajazet runs at Selima with his Sword, enter Tamerlane, Axalla, &c. Axalla gets between Bajazet and Selima, whilst Tamerlane and the rest drive Bajazet and the Mutes off the Stage.
Ax.
And I am come to save thee. Oh! my Joy!
Be this the whitest Hour of all my Life;
This one Success is more, than all my Wars,
The noblest, dearest Glory of my Sword.
Sel.
Alas, Axalla, Death has been around me,
My Coward-Soul still trembles at the Fright,
And seems but half secure, ev'n in thy Arms.
Ax.
Retire, my Fair, and let me guard thee forth,
Blood and tumultuous Slaughter are about us,
And Danger in her ugliest Forms is here;
Nor will the pleasure of my Heart be full,
Till all my Fears are ended in thy Safety.
[Exeunt Axalla and Selima.
Enter Tamerlane, the Prince of Tanais, Zama, Mirvan, and Soldier; with Bajazet, Omar, and the Dervise, Prisoners.
Tam.
Mercy at length gives up her peaceful Scepter,
And Justice sternly takes her turn to govern;
'Tis a rank World, and asks her keenest Sword,
To cut up Vilany of monstrous growth.
Zama, take care, that with the earliest dawn,
Those Traytors meet the Fate, their Treason merits.
[Pointing to Omar and the Dervise.
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For thee, thou Tyrant, whose oppressive Violence
Has ruin'd those, thou should'st protect at home,
Whose Wars, whose Slaughters, whose Assassinations,
(That basest Thirst of Blood, that Sin of Cowards)
Woose Faith so often given, and always violated,
Have been th'Offence of Heav'n, and Plague of Earth.
What Punishment is equal to thy Crimes?
The Doom, thy Rage design'd for me, be thine:
Clos'd in a Cage, like some destructive Beast,
I'll have thee born about, in publick View,
A great Example of that righteous Vengeance
That waits on Cruelty, and Pride like thine.
Baj.
It is beneath me, to decline my Fate,
I stand prepar'd to meet thy utmost Hate:
Yet think not, I will long thy Triumph see,
None want the Means, when the Soul dares be free;
I'll Curse thee with my last, my parting Breath,
And keep the Courage of my Life in Death;
Then boldly venture on that World unknown,
It cannot use me worse, than this has done.
[Exit Bajazet guarded.
Tam.
Behold the vain Effects of Earth-born Pride,
That scorn'd Heav'ns Laws, and all its Pow'r defy'd;
That could the Hand, which form'd it first, forget,
And fondly say, I made my self, be great:
But justly those above assert their Sway,
And teach ev'n Kings what Homage they should pay,
Who then Rule best, when mindful to Obey:
[Exeunt Omnes.
FINIS.
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