part of the play progresses.
m
196 THE SECOND PART OF [acti
That never look'd on man but Tamburlaine.
Zeno. My gracious lord, they have their mother's looks,
But, when they list, their conquering father's heart.
This lovely boy, the youngest of the three.
Not long ago bestrid a Scythian steed,
Trotting the ring, and tilting at a glove,
Which when he tainted with his slender rod, 40
He rein'd him straight, and made him so curvet
As I cried out for fear he should have fain.
Tamh. Well done, my boy ! thou shalt have shield and
lance.
Armour of proof, horse, helm, and curtle-axe,
^ And I will teach thee how to charge thy foe,
I And harmless run among the deadly pikes.
If thou wilt love the wars and follow me,
Thou shalt be made a king and reign with me.
Keeping in iron cages emperors.
If thou exceed thy elder brothers' worth, 50
And shine in complete virtue more than they.
Thou shalt be king before them, and thy seed
Shall issue crowned from their mother's womb.
Cel. Yes, father ; you shall see me, if I live.
Have under me as many kings as you.
And march with such a multitude of men
As all the world shall tremble at their view.
Tamh. These words assure me, boy, thou art my son.
When I am old and cannot manage arms.
Be thou the scourge and terror of the world. 60
Amy. Why may not I, my lord, as well as he.
Be term'd the scourge and terror of the world ?
57. shair\ should O4. 58. words] word O3. 62. of] toO^.
40. tainted] originally a technical Macbeth 's use of the intransitive
term of the tilt yard, meaning verb ' I cannot taint with fear '
touched or struck, and so used here. is more general still.
A less strictly technical usage is 44. Armour of proof] armour of
cited by the N.E.D. : ' The Enemie metal which has been tested,
tainted fower of them with Shot 51. virtue] power, courage,
of one Harquebouse ' (1583) and
sc. IV] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 197
Tamb. Be all a scourge and terror to the world,
Or else you are not sons of Tamburlaine.
Caly. But while my brothers follow arms, my lord,
Let me accompany my gracious mother.
They are enough to conquer all the world.
And you have won enough for me to keep.
Tamb. Bastardly boy, sprung from some coward's loins.
And not the issue of great Tamburlaine, 70
Of all the provinces I have subdued
Thou shalt not have a foot, unless thou bear
A mind courageous and invincible ;
For he shall wear the crown of Persia
Whose head hath deepest scars, whose breast most
wounds,
Which, being wroth, sends lightning from his eyes.
And in the furrows of his frowning brows
Harbours revenge, war, death and cruelty ;
For in a field, whose superficies
Is covered with a liquid purple veil, 80
And sprinkled with the brains of slaughtered men,
My royal chair of state shall be advanc'd ;
And he that means to place himself therein.
Must armed wade up to the chin in blood.
Zeno. My lord, such speeches to our princely sons
Dismays their minds before they come to prove
The wounding troubles angry war affords.
Cel. No, madam, these are speeches fit for us ;
For, if his chair were in a sea of blood,
I would prepare a ship and sail to it, 90
63. /o]o/ O4. 79. superficies] Rob. etc. superfluities Oi^^.
65-8. But while . . . to keep] The 79. superficies] Robinson's con-
remarks of Calyphas, though ut- jecture is confirmed by the occur-
terly out of harmony with the mood rence of the word in Paul Ive's
Tamburlaine's spirit enforces on Practise of Fortification, in a, passsige
the play, have a note of sound which Marlowe used in the third
sense which tempts one to believe Act of this part. See Introduction,
that Marlowe, through him, is p. 45 {note) £E.
forestalling criticism.
198 THE SECOND PART OF [act i
Ere I would lose the title of a king.
Amy. And I would strive to swim through pools of blood,
Or make a bridge of murdered carcasses,
Whose arches should be fram'd with bones of Turks,
Ere I would lose the title of a king.
Tamh. Well, lovely boys, you shall be emperors both.
Stretching your conquering arms from east to west :
And, sirra, if you mean to wear a crown.
When we shall meet the Turkish deputy
And all his viceroys, snatch it from his head, lOO
And cleave his pericranion with thy sword.
Caly. If any man will hold him, I will strike.
And cleave him to the channel with my sword.
Tamh. Hold him, and cleave him too, or I'll cleave thee ;
For we will march against them presently.
Theridamas, Techelles and Casane
Promised to meet me on Larissa plains.
With hosts apiece against this Turkish crew ;
For I have sworn by sacred Mahomet
To make it parcel of my empery. no
The trumpets sound, Zenocrate they come.
SCENE V
Enter Theridamas, and Ms train, with drums and trumpets.
Tamh. Welcome Theridamas, king of Argier.
Ther. My lord, the great and mighty Tamburlaine,
Arch-monarch of the world, I offer here
My crown, myself, and all the power I have,
96. you\ ye Og O4. loi. pericranion] pecicranion O^-^.
103. channel] The channel-bone of the octavos, the entries of
or collar-bone. The stroke is sug- Theridamas, Techelles and Usum-
gestive of Homeric or of medieval casane mark fresh scenes, though
warfare and weapons rather than there is no change of place. Such
of Scythian. division is a classical usage and it
Q. ^^g y may here represent Marlowe's in-
In accordance with the division
tention.
sc. VI] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 199
In all affection at thy kingly feet.
Tamh. Thanks, good Theridamas.
Ther. Under my colours march ten thousand Greeks,
And of Argier and Afric's frontier towns
Twice twenty thousand valiant men-at-arms ;
All which have sworn to sack Natolia. lo
Five hundred brigandines are under sail,
Meet for your service on the sea, my lord,
That, launching from Argier to Tripoly,
Will quickly ride before Natolia,
And batter down the castles on the shore.
Tamh. Well said, Argier ! receive thy crown again.
SCENE VI
Enter Techelles and Usumcasane together.
Tamh. Kings of Moroccus and of Fesse, welcome.
Usum. Magnificent and peerless Tamburlaine,
I and my neighbour king of Fesse have brought.
To aid thee in this Turkish expedition,
A hundred thousand expert soldiers ;
From Azamor to Tunis near the sea
Is Barbary unpeopled for thy sake,
And all the men in armour under me.
Which with my crown I gladly offer thee.
Tamh. Thanks, king of Moroccus : take your crown again. lo
1 1 , brigandines} brigantines were north of Africa : Azamor, Fes,
small and easily handled vessels Tesella (south of Oran), the pro-
that could be sailed or rowed. vince Gualata, and Canarie Insula.
They were frequently used by the Just as he shortened Manicongo
Mediterranean sailor and had little into Manico for his metre, so he
resemblance to the modern brigan- here shortens Biledulgerid into
tine. BileduU * . . . [1. 21]. 'Estrechode
Scene vi. Gilbraltar, here, and in Europe and
3-22. / and my neighbour . . . Spam, gives him " the narrow
for thy sake'] On the place-names in straight of Gibralter " [1. 53], ' so
this passage Miss Seaton remarks : that it is not necessary even for the
' In the same map [Africa] Marlowe metre to replace this form by that
would find the towns conquered by of Tamburlaine, Part I, Jubalter '
Techelles and Usumcasane in the (p. 29).
200 THE SECOND PART OF [acti
Tech. And, mighty Tamburlaine, our earthly god,
Whose looks make this inferior world to quake,
I here present thee with the crown of Fesse,
And with an host of Moors trained to the war,
Whose coal-black faces make their foes retire.
And quake for fear, as if infernal Jove,
\\%\ Meaning to aid thee in these Turkish arms.
Should pierce the black circumference of hell,
With ugly Furies bearing fiery flags.
And millions of his strong tormenting spirits ; 20
From strong Tesella unto Biledull
All Barbary is unpeopled for thy sake.
Tamb. Thanks, king of Fesse ; take here thy crown again.
Your presence, loving friends and fellow kings.
Makes me to surfeit in conceiving joy ;
If all the crystal gates of Jove's high court
Were opened wide, and I might enter in
To see the state and majesty of heaven.
It could not more delight me than your sight.
Now will we banquet on these plains a while, 30
And after march to Turkey with our camp.
In number more than are the drops that fall
When Boreas rents a thousand swelling clouds ;
And proud Orcanes of Natolia
With all his viceroys shall be so afraid.
Scene vi.
14. way] warres O3 O4. 16. if] if the O4. 17. thee] Rob. them O^-^-
these] this O^ O^.
14-15. Moors . . . coal black faces] The Furies then are in his imme-
The faces of Moors would hardly diate service. These beings are
be coal-black ; the description frequently represented as bearing
applies rather to Nubians or some firebrands. See especially Ovid,
other negro race of Africa. But the Her., xi. 103-4; Metam., vi. 430
term ' Moor ' was loosely used by and Cicero, de Leg., i. 14, 40.
most of the writers from whom 26. Jove's high court] Here the
Marlowe drew his information. supreme ruler of the heavens,
16. infernal Jove] Hades, or Zeus or Jupiter is meant.
Pluto, in his capacity as ruler of 33. For Boreas, see I, i. ii. 205
the infernal regions, is sometimes, and note,
as here, called ' Jovis inferum '.
sc. VI] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 201
That, though the stones, as at DeucaHon's flood.
Were turned to men, he should be overcome.
Such lavish will I make of Turkish blood,
That Jove shall send his winged messenger
To bid me sheathe my sw^ord and leave the field ; 40
The sun, unable to sustain the sight,
Shall hide his head in Thetis' watery lap,
And leave his steeds to fair Bootes' charge ;
For half the world shall perish in this fight.
But now, my friends, let me examine ye ;
How have ye spent your absent time from me ?
Usum. My lord, our men of Barbary have marched
Four hundred miles with armour on their backs,
And lain in leaguer fifteen months and more ;
For, since we left you at the Soldan's court, 50
We have subdued the southern Guallatia,
And all the land unto the coast of Spain ;
We kept the narrow Strait of Gibraltar,
And made Canarea call us kings and lords ;
Yet never did they recreate themselves,
Or cease one day from war and hot alarms ;
And therefore let them rest a while, my lord.
Tamh. They shall, Casane, and 'tis time, i'faith.
Tech. And I have march'd along the river Nile
To Machda, where the mighty Christian priest, 60
36-7. stones . . . turn'd to men] camp that was engaged in a
Ovid describes the rebirth of the siege.
race of men after the flood from 60 seq. To Machda . . . unto
the stones thrown by DeucaHon and Damasco] The names in Techelles'
Pyrrha in Metam., i. 318 ff. march from Machda to Damasco
41-3. The sun , . . leave his have long troubled Marlowe's crit-
steeds] Ovid {Metam., 11. i ff.) de- ics. Broughton and others emend
scribes the chariot and steeds of ' Western ' (1. 68) to ' Eastern ',
the sun, with which he drives Cunningham adding a note upon
across the heavens to sink into the general weakness of Marlowe's
the Ocean in the West. geographical knowledge revealed
43. For Bootes, see I, i. ii. 206 by this passage and by i. i. 37 above,
and note. Miss Seaton has shown that Mar-
49. leaguer] was a military term lowe follows carefully the map of
originally imported from the Low Africa in Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis
Countries. To lie in leaguer was Terr arum, even to the smallest
to lie in camp, particularly in a details. In looking at this map,
202
THE SECOND PART OF
[act I
Caird John the Great, sits in a milk-white robe,
Whose triple mitre I did take by force.
And made him swear obedience to my crown.
From thence unto Cazates did I march,
Where Amazonians met me in the field.
With whom, being women, I vouchsafed a league.
And with my power did march to Zanzibar,
The western part of Afric, where I view'd
The Ethiopian sea, rivers and lakes.
But neither man nor child in all the land. 70
Therefore I took my course to Manico,
she explains, ' The eye is drawn to
Machda, an Abyssinian town on a
tributary of the Nile, by the
neighbouring note : Hie longe
lateq ; imperitat magnus princeps
Presbiter loes totius Africe poten-
tiss : Rex. . . . Where the Nile
rises in a great unnamed lake, the
district Cafates has for its chief
town Cazates, and is called Ama-
zonum regio. Then comes the
crux : (11. 67-70) Beside Cape
Negro appears in large print the
province-name ZANZIBAR, with
the note : hec pars Africe meridion-
alis quq veteribus incognita fuit,
a Persis Arabibusq ; scriptoribus
vacatur. Between this western part
and South America the sea is
named Oceanus Aethiopicus in
flourished letters ; in the province
small rivers abound, and to north
and south of the name Zanzibar is
that word so useful to the carto-
grapher in difficulties, Deserta.
Marlowe, it must be observed, is
therefore vindicated when he speaks
of Zanzibar as not on the western
coast, but as itself the western
| 