part of Scythia or the territory of
the extreme western Tartars.
17-18. Scythia] here apparently
the territory touching the northern
parts of Media. Zenocrate's jour-
ney makes a slight deviation to the
north as the direct line south-west
to Memphis would carry her
through the dreaded and impass-
able Arabian desert. Marlowe, in
presenting Tamburlaine as a mere
shepherd-robber so soon before his
meeting with Bajazeth, follows,
of course, the implications of the
western historians and handles
even them fairly freely. The his-
torical Timur at the time of his
western invasions was himself the
supreme khan of all the Tartars
in Western Asia.
sc. II] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 79
As any prizes out of my precinct.
For they are friends that help to wean my state,
Till men and kingdoms help to strengthen it, 30
And must maintain my life exempt from servitude.
But tell me madam, is your grace betroth'd ?
Zeno. I am, my lord, — for so you do import.
Tanpb: t am a lord, for so my deeds shall prove,?
And yet a shepherd by my parentage.
But lady, this fair face and heavenly hue
Must grace his bed that conquers Asia, -.^
And means to be a terror to the world, ,.^
Measuring the limits of his empery
By east and west, as Phoebus doth his course. 40
Lie here, ye weeds that I disdain to wear !
This complete armour and this curtle-axe
Are adjuncts more beseeming Tamburlaine.
And madam, whatsoever you esteem
Of this success, and loss unvalued,
Both may invest you empress of the East.
And these, that seem but silly country swains.
May have the leading of so great an host
As with their weight shall make the mountains quake,
Even as when windy exhalations, 50
Fighting for passage, tilt within the earth.
28. precinct] province or govern- of kingdoms contributes to its
mental area. Cf. Holinshed, CArow. prosperity.
I. 57. i : ' Lord lieutenant of some 40. By . . . course] that is, by
precinct and iurisdiction perteining no lesser limits than the whole
to the Romane empire.' extent of the world.
29. wean] develop, help to grow. 42. complete] frequently ac-
A somewhat unusual use of the cented, as here, upon the first
word. Emphasis is generally laid syllable.
upon the things from which any- 45. success] event, result, un-
thing is weaned ; here it is upon valued] here, as frequently, ' in-
those on which the next stage of valuable '. Compare Richard III,
its development depends. (But i. iv. 28 : ' Inestimable stones, un-
cf. Lodge {Def. Plays), ' weane valued jewels.'
thyself to wisdome '). The riches 47. silly] The use here is slightly
that Tamburlaine has captured are different from that of 1. 10 ;
friends that help to develop and ' simple ', ' lowly ' rather than
strengthen his state until such ' helpless '.
time as the acquisition of men and
N''
80 THE FIRST PART OF [acti
Tech. As princely lions when they rouse themselves,
I ^Stretching their paws, and threatening herds of beasts,
j^So in his armour looketh Tamburlaine. '\.^,..^ — -
Methinks I see kings kneeling at his feet.
And he with frowning brows and fiery looks
Spurning their crowns from off their captive heads.
Usum. And making thee and me, Techelles, kings,
That even to death will follow Tamburlaine.
Tamh. Nobly resolv'd, sweet friends and followers ! 60
These lords perhaps do scorn our estimates.
And think we prattle with distempered spirits. V
But since they measure our deserts so mean, ' v
That in conceit bear empires on our spears.
Affecting thoughts coequal with the clouds.
They shall be kept our forced followers
Till with their eyes they view us emperors.
Zeno. The gods, defenders of the innocent,
Will never prosper your intended drifts.
That thus oppress poor friendless passengers.
Therefore at least admit us liberty.
Even as thou hop'st to be eternised
By living Asia's mighty emperor.
Agyd. I hope our lady's treasure and our own
May serve for ransom to our liberties :
Return our mules and empty camels back.
That we may travel into Syria,
Where her betrothed lord, Alcidamus, ^^
Expects th' arrival of her highness' person. %
Mag. And wheresoever we repose ourselves, 80
We will report but well of Tamburlaine.
Tamh. Disdains Zenocrate to live with me ?
57. off] of O3. 67. they] thee O^.
64. conceit] imagination, but im- us to liberty '. Cf. for a similar use
agination seeking to express itself of ' to ', Coriolanus, v. i. : ' This
in action. fellow had a Volscian to his
75. ransom to our liberties] by mother.'
metonymy, for ' ransom restoring .
sc.ii] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT
r iJ^-' \
81
Or you, my lords, to be my followers ?
Think you I weigh this treasure more than you ?
Not all the gold in India's wealthy arms
Shall buy the meanest soldier in my train.
Zenocrate, lovelier than the love of Jove, „
Brighter than is the silver Rhodope, ^^^'
Fairer than whitest snow on Scythian hills.
Thy person is more worth to Tamburlaine
Than the possession of the Persian crown,
Which gracious stars have promis'd at my birth.
A hundred Tartars shall attend on thee, \i\
Mounted on steeds swifter than Pegasus. ^^ 'K^'P
Thy garments shall be made of Median silk,'
Enchas'd with precious jewels of mine own.
More rich and valurous than Zenocrate 's.
With milk-white harts upon an ivory sled
90
M-.-
'\ 1 .*
Ax
K
J"'^.
87. love of Jove] love of love O^. 88. Rhodope] Dyce etc, Rhodolfe. O^.^.
93. hundred] hundreth O^ O3 O4.
88. Rhodope] The snow-capped
mountains of Thrace. See Nicho-
las Nicholay, [The Navigations . . .
made into Turkey, chap. i. : ' the
height and sharpness of the mount
Rhodope, vulgarly called the mounts
of silver, because of the silver mines
that are there found.' This is the
emendation of Dyce and subse-
quent editors for the ' Rhodolfe '
of the early texts.
92. stars] One or two of Tambur-
laine's European biographers, not-
ably Perondinus, dwell upon the
comets and starry portents that
accompanied Tamburlaine's birth
and death (cf. especially, Peron-
dinus, Cap. xxii).
94. Pegasus] the mythical winged
horse of antiquity, sprung from the
blood of Medusa, conquered and
ridden for a time Idj Bellerophon, is
a commonplace with a generation as
familiar with Ovid as was Marlowe's.
95. Median silk] was certainly
known in Venice at this time and
from Venice probably found its
way into North- West Europe.
6
96. Enchas'd] Marlowe's use of the
word seems to be without parallel,
but it is not cited by the N.E.D.
The phrase ' enchased with ' was
common in the sense of ' adorned
with ', but was confined to the
adorning of metal with jewels, and
I know of no other instance in
which it is used, as here, of the
embroidering of silk or other fab-
rics. It would appear to be essen-
tially a metal-worker's term. Cf.
the regular use of I. iv. ii. 9.
97. valurous] a rare and obso-
lete word of which the N.E.D.
cites only this instance. The use
of ' valurous ' in the sense of
' valuable ' is akin to that of
' valourous ' in the sense of
' worthy ' : 'Be their value ne'er
so valorous Its held but base . . .'
(J. Davies, Humours Heaven, 11.
Ixxxvi.)
98. sled.] A parallel form to
' sledge ' (perhaps deriving from
M.L.G. ' sledde ' instead of M.Du.
' sleedse ').
82
THE FIRST PART OF
[ACT I
K
Thou shalt be drawn amidst the frozen pools,
And scale the icy mountains' lofty tops,
Which with thy beauty will be soon resolv'd.
My martial prizes, with five hundred men.
Won on the fifty-headed Volga's waves,
Shall all we offer to Zenocrate,
And then myself to fair Zenocrate.
Tech. What now ? in love ?
Tamb. Techelles, women must be flattered.
But" this is she with whom I am in love.
Enter a Soldier.
Sold. News, news !
Tamb. How now, what's the matter ?
Sold. A thousand Persian horsemen are at hand.
Sent from the king to overcome us all.
Tamb. How now, my lords of Egypt and Zenocrate ?
Now must your jewels be rest or 'd again.
And I that triumphed so be overcome.
How say you, lordlings ? Is not this your hope ?
100
no
loi. resolv'd] desolv'd O4. 103. Volga] Vuolga Oi_3. Voulga O4. 104.
Shall all we] Shall we O^. We all shall O4. 115. triumphed] tryumph O4.
103. Volga] The three early-
texts read Vuolga and O4 Voulga.
Ortelius in his Asia and Russia,
however, spells it Volga. In both
these maps the delta is clearly-
shown, though strictly- the epithet
' fifty-headed ' should belong to the
numerous sources and tributaries
rather than to the mouths. ' Ca-
put ' is, however, sometimes used
by Latin writers to describe the
mouth of a river, though more
frequently- to describe the head-
waters, and Marlowe may have
this usage in mind.
106-8. Techelles . . . love] Tambur-
laine's reply is perhaps a little
inept, but the manner of Techelles'
question has abruptly dropped the
tone of the dialogue. In order to
perceive the rapid development of
Marlowe's perceptions and expres-
sion between his first and his later
plays, we should compare this and
other like passages in Tamburlaine
with the similar dialogue between
Isabella and Mortimer [Ed. II,
11. 483 seq.).
III. A thousand Persian horse-
men] The exact number of the
Persian horse sent against Tambur-
laine is specified by Fregoso,
Mexia, Perondinus and Primau-
daye. See Perondinus, Cap. Hi
(where he uses the same word
' Dux ' as Fregoso) and Mexia :
' Lo qual sabido por el Rey de
Persia, embio un Capitan con mil
de cavallo.'
113. How . . . Zenocrate] Notice
the metre, whose irregularity gives
vigour to the speech and contrasts
with the smooth sliding pictures
of a moment before.
sc. II] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 83
Agyd. We hope yourself will willingly restore them.
Tamb. Such hope, such fortune, have the thousand horse.
Soft ye, my lords, and sweet Zenocrate.
You must be forced from me ere you go. 120
A thousand horsemen ! We five hundred foot !
An odds too great for us to stand against.
But are they rich ? And is their armour good ?
Sold. Their plumed helms are wrought with beaten gold,
Their swords enamelled, and about their necks
Hangs massy chains of gold down to the waist ;
In every part exceeding brave and rich.
Tamb. Then shall we fight courageously with them ?
Or look you I should play the orator ?
Tech.. No ; cowards and faint-hearted runaways 130
/Look for orations when the foe is near. I
(^Our swords shall play the orators for us. \
Usum. Come, let us meet them at the mountain foot,
And with a sudden and an hot alarum
Drive all their horses headlong down the hill.
Tech. Come, let us march.
Tamb. Stay, Techelles ; ask a parley first.
133. foot] top O4.
126. Hangs . . . chains'] The sions and uses may well evoke
use of a singular verb with a plural more doubts than Marlowe implies
subject is as common in Elizabethan here.
English as it was with a collective 133. mountain foot] The first
or neuter subject in classical Greek three editions read ' mountain
and the other numerous instances foot ' but O4 reads ' mountain-
in this play will not be noticed. top ', and is followed by Dyce,
An alternative explanation of these Cunningham and others. Cun-
forms is that they are survivals of ningham, at least, as a soldier,
the Northern dialect. See Arden might have perceived that a moun-
edition of Ant. and Chop., 3rd tain-top was no place to meet an
edition, Preface. opposing army, whether already in
128-32. Then . . . orators] Has possession or not. Wagner points
Marlowe also here a sly reference to out that the change from ' foot '
Belleforest's exhaustive compila- to ' top ' may have been made in
tion of Harengues Militaires, that order to avoid an apparent incon-
immense volume into which he may sistency between 11. 133 and 135.
already have looked ? A glance at The inconsistency is, as he says,
Belleforest's meticulous classifica- more apparent than real. Most
tion of the famous harangues of mountains have foothills at their
history under their various occa- feet.
84 THE FIRST PART OF [acti
The Soldiers enter.
Open the mails, yet guard the treasure sure,
Lay out our golden wedges to the view,
That their reflections may amaze the Persians. 140
And look we friendly on them when they come :
But if they offer word or violence,
We'll fight, five hundred men at arms to one,
Before we part with our possession.
And 'gainst the general we will lift our swords,
And either lanch his greedy thirsting throat.
Or take him prisoner, and his chain shall serve
For manacles till he be ransom'd home.
Tech. I hear them come ; shall we encounter them ?
Tamb. Keep all your standings, and not stir a foot, 150
Myself will bide the danger of the brunt.
Enter Theridamas, with others.
Ther. Where is this Scythian Tamburlaine ?
Tamb. Whom seekst thou, Persian ? I am Tamburlaine.
Ther. Tamburlaine ! A Scythian shepherd so embellished
With nature's pride and richest furniture !
His looks do menace heaven and dare the gods.
His fiery eyes are fixed upon the earth.
As if he now devis'd some stratagem.
Or meant to pierce Avernas' darksome vaults
152, this] the O4.
138. mails'] here, as usually, pendix D, Newton) which Marlowe
trunks, baggage. disregarded when he came to that
146. lanch] The four early texts part of his narrative.
all read ' lanch ' and it seems pre- 154. Tamburlaine] The distribu-
ferable to retain it here. The two tion of the line follows the four old
forms ' lance ' and ' launch ' (some- texts here, though metrically, the
times spelt ' lanch ' as here) in the word ' Tamburlaine ' should stand
sense of ' cut ' or ' pierce ' were alone, for the line is complete with-
both common. out it.
147. his chain] The golden chain 159. Avernas] O^-^ frequently
is referred to in 1. 126. There is read Avernas for Avernus and that
here, perhaps, a vague memory of spelling is therefore retained. There
Bajazet's golden chains (see Ap- is here, perhaps, a general memory
sen] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT
85
To pull the triple headed dog from hell. i6o
Tamb. Noble and mild this Persian seems to be,
Jf outward habit judge the inward man. j
Tech. His deep affections make him passionate.
Tamb. With what a majesty he rears his looks ! —
In thee, thou valiant man of Persia,
I see the folly of thy emperor ;
Art thou but captain of a thousand horse.
That by characters graven in thy brows.
And by thy martial face and stout aspect,
Deserv'st to have the leading of an host ? 170
Forsake thy king and do but join with me.
And we will triumph over all the world.
I hold the Fates bound fast in iron chains.
And with my hand turn Fortune's wheel about.
And sooner shall the sun fall from his sphere
Than Tamburlaine be slain or overcome.
Draw forth thy sword, thou mighty man at arms,
166. thy] the O3 O4.
of the line ' Spelunca alta fuit
vastoque immanis hiatu '. {A en.
VI.)
160. To . . . heU] One of the
twelve labours imposed upon Her-
cules by Eurystheus was that of
fetching from Hades the guardian
Cerberus. In Homer and in Hesiod
Cerberus appears as the ' dogs of
Hades ', once (Hes.) with fifty
heads. In Roman times the tradi-
tional three heads seem to have been
firmly established. There are two
references in Ovid which Marlowe
may well have known, the story
of Hercules' descent to Hades to
fetch Cerberus {Met. vii. 409 ff.)
and the lines :
' tria Cerberus extulit ora
' et tres latratus simul edidit '
{Met. IV. 450.)
163. affections'] ' feelings ', gen-
erally. Cf. the more striking in-
stance of II. IV. i. 177. Tambur-
laine remarks upon the gentle
nobility of the Persian's demeanour
and Techelles, also reading the
face of Theridamas, adds that its
capacity for deep feeling argues a
passionate nature.
164 seg. Timur is described by
most of his historians as an in-
fallible judge of human character,
and this episode, though it has no
exact counterpart in their narra-
tives, is in keeping with many such
decisions actually made by the
historical Timur. Fregoso, Mexia,
Perondinus and Primaudaye all
mention this conversion of the
Persian captain by force of Tam-
burlaine's words, but they gave
Marlowe nothing more than the
seed of the story. For Mexia's
version see Fortescue (Appendix
C), who follows him closely here.
175. sun . . . sphere] Marlowe's
astronomy is that of Ptolemy, not
of Copernicus and, again, the
system of Elizabethan England
rather than of fourteenth-century
Persia. Hence the orbit of the
86
THE FIRST PART OF
[act I
Intending but to raze my charmed skin,
And Jove himself will stretch his hand from heaven
To ward the blow, and shield me safe from harm. i8o
See how he rains down heaps of gold in showers,
As if he meant to give my soldiers pay.
And as a sure and grounded argument
That I shall be the monarch of the East,
He sends this Soldan's daughter rich and brave.
To be my queen and portly emperess.
If thou wilt stay with me, renowmed man,
And lead thy thousand horse with my conduct,
Besides thy share of this Egyptian prize,
Those thousand horse shall sweat with martial spoil 190
Of conquered kingdoms and of cities sacked.
Both we will walk upon the lofty clifts.
And Christian merchants, that with Russian stems
Plough up huge furrows in the Caspian Sea,
Shall vail to us as lords of all the lake.
192. clifts\ cliff es O^-
sun round the earth, believed to be
a circle, is conceived as the generat-
ing circle of a sphere. The spheres
themselves, at this time ten in
number, were transparent but im-
penetrable, carrying round the
heavenly bodies fixed in them in
their movement upon a common
axis, as Marlowe himself describes
in Faustus (cf. II. ill. iv. 64-5 and
note).
179. Jove . . . heaven] The im-
mediate protection and support
of Jove upon which Tamburlaine
relies in the first part of the play is
subtly modified, as his megalo-
mania develops in the second part,
into something more nearly re-
sembling an equal partnership.
186. portly] Here, as usually,
' stately '. Compare the use of
' port ' as ' bearing ', ' mien ', of
which the adjective seems to be a
specialized development.
187. renowmed] a common Eliza-
bethan form from O.F. renoumer.
and very frequent in this play.
Cf. I. ii. 238 ; II. iii. 30, v. 6, etc.
The modern form ' renown ' also
current in Elizabethan English,
has been assimilated to the sub-
stantive ' renown ' from O.F.
re-
non
193-4. merchants] merchantmen.
stem] here used, by metonymy,
for the whole ship. Caspian Sea]
One of the most convenient trade
routes to the east involved a passage
across the Caspian from the Russian
to the Persian side. This couplet
also occurs, with the alteration of
one word, in The Taming of a
Shrew.
195. vail] to lower the topsail
in token of respect to a fort, flag-
ship, etc. Cunningham has a
pleasant note to the effect that
' Marlowe was thinking of his
native Cinque Port country and
the narrow seas when he spoke of
" vailing " . . .', though why a
native of Canterbury in the six-
sc.ii] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT
87
Both we will reign as consuls of the earth,
And mighty kings shall be our senators ;
Jove sometimes masked in a shepherd's weed,
And by those steps that he hath scal'd the heavens,
May we become immortal like the gods. 200
Join with me now in this my mean estate,
(I call it mean, because, being yet obscure.
The nations far remov'd admire me not,)
And when my name and honour shall be spread,
As far as Boreas claps his brazen wings.
Or fair Bootes sends his cheerful light,
i Then shalt thou be competitor with me, ''^''""^^^^i
/ And sit with Tamburlaine in all his majesty. \
Ther. Not Hermes, prolocutor to the gods, 4
206. Bootes.] Botees Oj Og. Bo-otes O3. Boetes O4.
teenth century should be familiar
with the Cinque Port coast is not so
clear. It may be added that Mar-
lowe nowhere shows a close know-
ledge of seafaring terms or ways.
196-7. consuls . . . senators']
Like many other Roman terms and
allusions to Roman society, myth-
ology and government that Mar-
lowe puts into the mouth of
Tamburlaine and other Orientals
throughout the play, these are part
of the European inheritance of the
story. Penetrating and lasting as
was the effect of the Roman Empire
in the east, they would hardly have
been part of the normal phraseology
of fourteenth-century Persians,
Tartars and Turks.
198. Jove] Ovid, in describing the
various disguises assumed by Jove
to win the love of mortal women,
has the following passage, which
may have rested in Marlowe's mind :
* Aureus ut Danaen, Asopida lus-
erit ignis,
Mnemosynen pastor, varius De-
oida serpens.' Met. vi. 114.
It is characteristic of Marlowe's
power of transmuting his material
that the disguise assumed by Jove
in his less reputable adventures
should here be paralleled to the low
birth which hides or disguises the
divine spark of genius in Tambur-
laine.
199. that] used somewhat excep-
tionally for the oblique case of the
relative, ' by which '.
205-6. As far . . . light] It is the
northern limit of empire that is,
as often, in Tamburlaine's mind.
Boreas is the north wind and Bootes
or Arcturus, the Bear, is a northern
constellation. The line is a close
translation of Ovid, Tristia, iii. x.
451. While still at college Marlowe
had translated Ovid's Elegies and
fragments from many of the other
works can be traced in the early
plays.
207. competitor] here comrade,
| 