part. He is equally explicit later,
when Tamburlaine examines his
map and accepts his general's con-
quests as his own ; reversing the
actual order of march he passes
along the Ethiopian sea.
Cutting the Tropicke line of Capri-
come,
I conquered all as far as Zansibar.
(Part II, v. iii.)
' Actually the name Zanzibar is
to the north of the Tropic, but the
coloured maps make it clear that
the province includes the whole
southern portion of the continent,
from Cape Negro to the Cape of
Good Hope and so round to Mozam-
bique. In this location of the pro-
vince Zanzibar, or more commonly
Zanguebar, on the western coast,
Ortelius is at variance with many
contemporary authorities, and the
map of Africa by Gastaldo (1564)
which otherwise he followed very
closely, does not include it at all.
... In any case, the responsi-
bility for that oft-emended western
rests with Ortelius, not with our
Marlowe.
' Techelles has reached his south-
ernmost point ; turning north-
wards, he passes successively
through Manico, by the coast of
Byather, and so "to Cubar, where
the Negros dwell ". On the map,
Manico, curtailed by Marlowe for
his metre, appears in full style as
the province Manicongo, Byather
the province in its more correct
and modern form of Biafar, while
above the province and town of
Guber is printed in bold type
Nigritarum Regio. . . . Borno, the
chief town of Nubia, lies near the
shore of Borno lacus, that " Borno
Lake " which Tamburlaine himself
mentions later. . . . One can al-
most follow Marlowe's finger
travelling down the page as he
plans the campaign.' (Marlowe's
Map, pp. 17-18.)
sc. VI] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 203
Where, unresisted, I removed my camp ;
And, by the coast of Byather, at last
I came to Cubar, where the negroes dwell,
And, conquering that, made haste to Nubia.
There, having sacked Borno, the kingly seat,
I took the king and led him bound in chains
Unto Damasco, where I stayed before.
Tamh. Well done, Techelles ! What saith Theridamas ?
Ther. I left the confines and the bounds of Afric, 80
And made a voyage into Europe,
Where, by the river Tyros, I subdu'd
Stoka, Padolia, and Codemia ;
Then crossed the sea and came to Oblia,
And Nigra Silva, where the devils dance.
Which, in despite of them, I set on fire.
From thence I crossed the gulf call'd by the name
Mare Majore of th* inhabitants.
Yet shall my soldiers make no period
Until Natolia kneel before your feet. 90
88. th' inhabitants] the inhabitants O3 O4.
81. And made . . . Europe] The is the thick, green, hollow square
line is metrically defective and of Nigra Silva, but even in this
various emendations have been picture atlas, there is never a devil
suggested : ' And thence I made ' dancing there. It is disconcerting
(Cunningham, Bullen), ' Europa ' to find the Black Forest cropping
(Elze, Wagner). up thus near Odessa, but a quota-
82 seq. by the river Tyros . . . tion given by Mercator in his later
th' inhabitants] For Theridamas's atlas explains both the position
line of march we may turn again to and the ill repute : ' ' La Forest
Miss Seaton's elucidation. ' With Hercynie va iusques ... a ce
some variations of spelling that qu'elle aye atteint les derniers
make one wonder whether Mar- Tartares, ou elle se nomme la
lowe's o's and a's were almost in- Forest noire ou obscure, sans
distinguishable, all these names bornes, sans chemins, ny sentiers
cluster round the north-west shore fraiez : et tant pour la cruaute
oithe'BlaiCkSea,, the Mare Magiore. des bestes farouches, que pour
The River Tyros (the Dniester) les monstrueuses terreurs des Faunes
acts as the southern boundary of espouventables, du tout inaccessible
the province Podalia ; Stoko is on auxhumains." (Footnote: "French
it, and Codemia lies to the north- text of 1619, p. 227. Cf. A. H.
east on another stream. Partly Gilbert, A Geographical Diction-
separating Codemia from Olbia, ary of Milton, s.v. Hercynian
and thus perhaps suggesting an Wilderness.")' [Marlowe's Map,
otherwise unnecessary sea- journey, p. 29.)
204 TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT [acti
Tamb. Then will we triumph, banquet, and carouse ;
Cooks shall have pensions to provide us cates.
And glut us with the dainties of the world ;
Lachryma Christi and Calabrian wines
Shall common soldiers drink in quaffing bowls.
Ay, liquid gold, when we have conquer 'd him.
Mingled with coral and with orient pearl.
Come, let us banquet and carouse the whiles. [Exeunt,
Finis Actus primi.
97. orient] Rob. etc. oriental{l) Oi_^.
94. Lachryma Christi] is a sweet 97. orient] Robinson's conjecture,
South Italian wine. The earUest followed by most later editors, for
reference cited by the N.E.D. is oriental (1) of the octavos ; ' orient '
that of Coryat {Crudities, 161 1) is so common an epithet for pearl
which Marlowe's antedates by that the conjecture carries con-
twenty odd years. siderable weight.
ACT II
SCENE I
SiGisMUND, Frederick, Baldwin, with their train.
Sig. Now say, my lords of Buda and Bohemia,
What motion is it that inflames your thoughts,
And stirs your valours to such sudden arms ?
Fred. Your majesty remembers, I am sure.
What cruel slaughter of our Christian bloods
These heathenish Turks and pagans lately made
Betwixt the city Zula and Danubius ;
How through the midst of Verna and Bulgaria,
And almost to the very waUs of Rome,
They have, not long since, massacred our camp. lo
It resteth now, then, that your majesty
Take all advantages of time and power,
And work revenge upon these infidels.
Your highness knows, for Tamburlaine's repair.
That strikes a terror to all Turkish hearts,
Natolia hath dismissed the greatest part
Of aU his army, pitched against our power
Betwixt Cutheia and Orminius' mount,
Act II. Scene i.
i8. Cutheia] Cuthea O3 O4.
Act II. Scene i. Constantinople : the word may
7-9. Zula . . . Rome] ' Zula,' have been suggested by Roma in
Miss Seaton remarks, ' which has large type just north of Constanti-
vanished from the average modern nople, violently and ludicrously
map, appears in. the Europe of Orte- separated from its nia.' {Marlowe's
lius to the north of the Danube, in Map, p. 30.)
the province of Rascia ; the same 18. Betwixt . . . mount] Miss
map offers a possible explanation Seaton [R.E.S.) points out that
of that puzzling Rome, which cannot these forms are not those of
mean Rome though it may mean Ortelius (' Chiutaie ' and ' Hor-
205
206
THE SECOND PART OF
[act II
And sent them marching up to Belgasar,
Acantha, Antioch, and Caesarea, 20
To aid the kings of Soria and Jerusalem.
Now, then, my lord, advantage take hereof.
And issue suddenly upon the rest ;
That, in the fortune of their overthrow.
We may discourage all the pagan troop
That dare attempt to war with Christians.
Stg. But calls not, then, your grace to memory
The league we lately made with King Orcanes,
Confirmed by oath and articles of peace,
And calling Christ for record of our truths ? 30
This should be treachery and violence
Against the grace of our profession.
Bald. No whit, my lord ; for with such infidels,
20. Acantha] Acanthia O3. 22. hereof] thereof O2 heereof O4.
minius '), but of Lonicerus (1578,
I. f. 28 ; 1584, I. p. 50) : ' Hunc
magno proelio superatum, atque
in fugam conjectum, festinoque
advolatu obrutum ac circumfessum
conclusit intra Cutheiam urbem
ad Orminium montem, in veteri
Caucorum sede, quae urbs totius
Asiae minoris umbilicus ac mag-
istri equitum Anatoliae sedes est.'
The passage refers to a later battle
and the detail has clearly been
lifted by Marlowe from its setting,
like many others, to give a mis-
leading effect of definition to this
unhistorical battle. In the earlier
article {Marlowe's Map) Miss Sea-
ton comments upon the position
taken up by the Natolian army :
' Marlowe does not, however, com-
mit himself to the site of Varna for
this anachronistic battle, but seems
purposely to transport it into Asia
Minor, and to prefer indication to
precise location. The Turkish
troops were in fact withdrawn into
Asia Minor, and it was a lightning-
move by the Sultan that hurled
them back into Europe to meet the
truce-breakers at Varna ; Mar-
lowe seems content to leave them
in Natolia. . . . Mount Horminius
is shown only in the map of Graecia
in the Parergon, situated in Bithy-
nia, east and slightly south of the
modern Scutari. . . . Belgasar
and Acantha appear in the map of
Asia as Beglasar and Acanta in a
line leading roughly south-east
through Asia Minor while the
former is to be found again as
Begbasar in Natolia and as Begasar
in Turcicum Imperium.'
33-41. No whit . . . victory] With
the arguments used here by Bald-
win and by Frederick we may com-
pare those addressed by the Cardinal
JuUan to Vladislaus and the Chris-
tian leaders whom he incited to
attack Amurath after the with-
drawal of the main Turkish army
from Europe : ' Omni in perfidium
hostem arte, vi, fraudeque, uti licet,
ars arte eluditur, et fraus fraude cir-
cumvenienda est. . . . Deum, quod
coelesti benignitate prohibeat, si
aliter feceritis, acerrimum viola-
tae fidei fore vindicem existimate,
et nihil reputate, Christo optimo
maximo gratius, vobisque glorio-
SCI] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 207
In whom no faith nor true religion rests,
We are not bound to those accomphshments
The holy laws of Christendom enjoin ;
But, as the faith which they profanely plight
Is not by necessary policy
To be esteem'd assurance for ourselves,
So what we vow to them should not infringe 40
Our liberty of arms and victory.
Sig. Though I confess the oaths they undertake
Breed little strength to our security.
Yet those infirmities that thus defame
Their faiths, their honours and their religion.
Should not give us presumption to the like.
Our faiths are sound, and must be consummate.
Religious, righteous, and inviolate.
Fred. Assure your grace, 'tis superstition
To stand so strictly on dispensive faith 50
And, should we lose the opportunity
That God hath given to venge our Christians* death,
And scourge their foul blasphemous paganism,
As fell to Saul, to Balaam, and the rest.
That would not kill and curse at God's command,
So surely will the vengeance of the highest.
And jealous anger of his fearful arm.
Be pour'd with rigour on our sinful heads.
If we neglect this offered victory.
Stg. Then arm, my lords, and issue suddenly, 60
40. what we] that we Og. 45. faiths] fame O4. 47. consummate] Dyce ^
etc. consinuate Ol.^. 59. this] the O4.
sius futurum, quam occupatas a reading ' consinuate ' of the octavos,
Turca provincias omnes, humani 50. dispensive faith] faith which
divinique juris experti, a fera ilHus is subject to dispensation ; for the
servitute vindicare.' (Bonfinius. setting aside of which allowance
De Rer. Ung., Dec. III. Lib. vi. is made,
pp. 457-9.) 54. Saul . . . Balaam] See i Sam-
35. accomplishment] here has the uel-Kv. and Numbers xxii. and xxiii.
sense of ' fulfilment ', either of But Marlowe's scriptural knowledge
obligation or of promise. is not so sound as his knowledge of
47. consummate] The reading of Ovid, for Balaam's position is the
Dyce * in emendation of the converse of Sigismund's.
208 THE SECOND PART OF [actii
Giving commandment to our general host,
With expedition to assail the pagan,
And take the victory our God hath given. [Exeunt.
SCENE II
Orcanes, Gazellus, Uribassa, with their train.
Ore. GazeUus, Uribassa, and the rest,
Now will we march from proud Orminius' mount
To fair Natolia, where our neighbour kings
Expect our power and our royal presence,
T' encounter with the cruel Tamburlaine,
That nigh Larissa sways a mighty host.
And with the thunder of his martial tools
Makes earthquakes in the hearts of men and heaven.
Gaz. And now come we to make his sinews shake
With greater power than erst his pride hath felt. lo
An hundred kings, by scores, will bid him arms.
And hundred thousands subjects to each score :
Which, if a shower of wounding thunderbolts
Should break out of the bowels of the clouds.
And fall as thick as hail upon our heads,
In partial aid of that proud Scythian,
Yet should our courages and steeled crests.
And numbers, more than infinite, of men,
Be able to withstand and conquer him.
Uri. Methinks I see how glad the Christian king 20
Is made for joy of your admitted truce.
That could not but before be terrified
With unacquainted power of our host.
Scene ii.
7. martial] materiall Og. lo. than] then O3 O4. 14. Should] Sould O4,
of] off O^ O2. 21. your] our O3 O4.
Scene ii. 6. Larissa] see i. iv. 5 above, and
2. Ormmius] see i. 18 above, and note,
note.
sen] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 209
Enter a Messenger.
Mess. Arm, dread sovereign, and my noble lords !
The treacherous army of the Christians,
Taking advantage of your slender power.
Comes marching on us, and determines straight
To bid us battle for our dearest lives.
Ore. Traitors, villains, damned Christians !
Have I not here the articles of peace 30
And solemn covenants we have both confirmed.
He by his Christ, and I by Mahomet ?
Gaz. Hell and confusion light upon their heads.
That with such treason seek our overthrow.
And cares so little for their prophet Christ !
Ore. Can there be such deceit in Christians,
Or treason in the fleshly heart of man,
Whose shape is figure of the highest God ?
Then, if there be a Christ, as Christians say.
But in their deeds deny him for their Christ, 40
If he be son to everliving Jove,
And hath the power of his outstretched arm,
If he be jealous of his name and honour
As is our holy prophet Mahomet,
Take here these papers as our sacrifice
And witness of thy servant's perjury !
Open, thou shining veil of Cynthia,
46. perjury] S.D. He tears to pieces the articles of peace. Add. Dyce.
29 seq. Traitors . . . we shall have perfide suum Deum abnegarunt.
victory'] With the speeches of Or- Nunc Christe, si Deus es (ut aiunt,
canes and the events that follow et nos hallucinamur) tuas measque
here, we may compare the words hie injurias, te quaeso, ulciscere :
of Amurath at the battle of Varna. et his qui sanctum tuum nomen
The likeness is very close : nondum agnovere, violatae fidei
' Depromptum e sinu codicem poenas ostende." Vix haec dixerat
initi sanctissime foederis, explicat : ... quum praelium . . . inclin-
intentis in coelum oculis, " Haec are coepit. . . . Talis igitur poe-
sunt " (inquit ingeminans) " lesu nas, exauditis Turc^ imprecationi-
Christe foedera, quae Christiani tui bus, Deus Justus k Christianis
mecum percussere : per numen exegit.' (Bonfinius, loc. cit., p.
tuum sancte jurarunt, datamque 465.)
sub nomine tuo fidem violarunt,
14
210 THE SECOND PART OF [actii
And make a passage from th' imperial heaven,
That he that sits on high and never sleeps,
Nor in one place is circumscriptible, 50
But everywhere fills every continent
With strange infusion of his sacred vigour,
May, in his endless power and purity,
Behold and venge this traitor's perjury !
Thou, Christ, that art esteem'd omnipotent.
If thou wilt prove thyself a perfect God,
Worthy the worship of all faithful hearts.
Be now reveng'd upon this traitor's soul.
And make the power I have left behind
Too little to defend our guiltless lives 60
Sufficient to discomfit and confound
The trustless force of those false Christians !
To arms, my lords ! on Christ still let us cry :
If there be Christ, we shall have victory. [Exeunt,
SCENE III
Sound to the battle, and Sigismund comes out wounded.
Sig. Discomfited is all the Christian host.
And God hath thundered vengeance from on high.
For my accursed and hateful perjury.
O just and dreadful punisher of sin.
Let the dishonour of the pains I feel
In this my mortal well-deserved wound
End all my penance in my sudden death !
63. lords] Lord O4. 64. S.D. Exeunt'] Add. Rob. etc. om. O^.^.
Scene Hi.
Heading Scene Hi] Add. Rob. etc. i. Christian] Christians O3 O4.
48. imperial] see I, iv. iv. 30. and the play (11. vii. 18-26). The two
note. passages, taken together, furnish
49-52. That he that sits . . . the best clue to Marlowe's religious
vigour] These fine and clear lines thought at the period preceding
deserve to be compared with those the writing of Faustus.
on the soul in the earlier part of
sc. Ill] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 211
And let this death, wherein to sin I die,
Conceive a second life in endless mercy 1
Enter Orcanes, Gazellus, Uribassa, with others.
Ore. Now lie the Christians bathing in their bloods, lo
And Christ or Mahomet hath been my friend.
Gaz. See here the perjur'd traitor Hungary,
Bloody and breathless for his villainy !
Ore, Now shall his barbarous body be a prey
To beasts and fowls, and all the winds shall breathe
Through shady leaves of every senseless tree,
Murmurs and hisses for his heinous sin.
Now scalds his soul in the Tartarian streams,
And feeds upon the baneful tree of hell.
That Zoacum, that fruit of bitterness, 20
That in the midst of fire is ingraffed,
Yet flourisheth as Flora in her pride.
With apples like the heads of damned fiends.
The devils there, in chains of quenchless flame
Shall lead his soul through Orcus' burning gulf,
From pain to pain, whose change shall never end.
What sayst thou yet, Gazellus, to his foil,
24. quenchless] quencelesse Oj.
Scene in. Tom. I, Lib. ii., Secunda Pars,
18-23. Now scalds his soul . . . Cap. xxiii. De Animarum Damna-
damned fiends'] Miss Seaton {Fresh tarum Poenis, 1578, f. 64 ; 1584,
Sources for Marlowe, R.E.S., Oct., p. 122. See Seaton, op. cit., p.
1929) has pointed out that the 386.) Lonicerus derives his ac-
source for these hnes is to be found count, of course, indirectly from
in Chronicorum Turcorum Tomi the Koran, chapter 47.
Duo of Phihppus Lonicerus (Frank- 24-6. quenchless flame . . . never
furt, 1578, 1584) and that Marlowe's end] It may be noticed that, the
' Zoacum ' (for ' ezecum ') is a form specific quotation from Lonicerus
peculiar to Lonicerus : ' Credunt ended, Orcanes' hell becomes now
praeterea arborem, quam vocant that of the Christians (1. 24, 26),
Zoacum agacci, hoc est, amaritu- now that of the Greeks (1. 25).
dinis, in medio inferni, licet igni For Orcus, see I, iii. i. 65, and
quasi infixam, florere, cuius sin- note.
gula poma diabolorum capitibus 27-30. foil] disgrace. The sin
sint similia. . . . Tum etiam dia- of Sigismund has been referred (by
boli ipsi ignitis eos [damnatos] Orcanes) to his God for judgment
catenis constrictos (ne una poe- and its wickedness is clearly re-
narum tormentorumque sit facies) vealed in the punishment which
assidue volutant.' (Lonicerus, has fallen upon him.
212 THE SECOND PART OF [actii
Which we referred to justice of his Christ
And to his power, which here appears as full
As rays of Cynthia to the clearest sight ? 30
Gaz. 'Tis but the fortune of the wars, my lord,
Whose power is often prov'd a miracle.
Ore. Yet in my thoughts shall Christ be honoured,
Not doing Mahomet an injury.
Whose power had share in this our victory ;
And, since this miscreant hath disgrac'd his faith.
And died a traitor both to heaven and earth.
We will both watch and ward shall keep his trunk
Amidst these plains for fowls to prey upon.
Go, Uribassa, give it straight in charge. 40
Uri. I will, my lord. [Exit Urih.
Ore. And now, Gazellus, let us haste and meet
Our army, and our brothers of Jerusalem,
Of Soria, Trebizon, and Amasia,
And happily, with full Natolian bowls
Of Greekish wine, now let us celebrate
Our happy conquest and his angry fate. [Exeunt,
SCENE IV
The arras is drawn, and Zenocrate lies in her hed of state ;
Tamburlaine sitting by her; three Physicians about
her bed, tempering potions ; Theridamas, Techelles,
UsuMCASANE and the three sons.
Tamb. Black is the beauty of the brightest day ;
The golden ball of heaven's eternal fire.
That danc'd with glory on the silver waves,
Now wants the fuel that inflamed his beams.
And all with faint ness and for foul disgrace.
He binds his temples with a frowning cloud.
Ready to darken earth with endless night.
34. an] any O4. 38. shalV] and O^. trunk] tranke Og. 40. give] and
give O4.
sc. IV] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 213
Zenocrate, that gave him light and life,
Whose eyes shot fire from their ivory bowers,
And tempered every soul with lively heat, lo
Now by the malice of the angry skies.
Whose jealousy admits no second mate.
Draws in the comfort of her latest breath.
All dazzled with the hellish mists of death.
Now walk the angels on the walls of heaven.
As sentinels to warn th' immortal souls
To entertain divine Zenocrate :
Apollo, Cynthia, and the ceaseless lamps
That gently look'd upon this loathsome earth.
Shine downwards now no more, but deck the heavens 20
To entertain divine Zenocrate :
The crystal springs, whose taste illuminates
Refined eyes with an eternal sight.
Like tried silver run through Paradise
To entertain divine Zenocrate :
The cherubins and holy seraphins,
That sing and play before the King of Kings,
Use all their voices and their instruments
To entertain divine Zenocrate :
And in this sweet and curious harmony, 30 ^ ^ ,4^"
The god that tunes this music to our souls
Holds out his hand in highest majesty ^
To entertain divine Zenocrate. ^ "
Then let some holy trance convey my thoughts
Up to the palace of th' imperial heaven,
Scene iv.
9. their] om. O^. 19. this] the O3 O4.
Scene iv. 22-4. The crystal springs . . .
Paradise] Lines again characteristic
9. bowers] the reading of the of Marlowe, the river ' the streams
octavos ; Dyce would have sub- whereof make glad the City of
stituted ' brows '. Cunningham God ' mingling with the waters
suggested that ' the eyes of Zeno- of Aganippe.
crate were embowered in her 35. imperial] see I, iv. iv. 30,
ivory skin *. and note.
214 THE SECOND PART OF [act n
That this my life may be as short to me
As are the days of sweet Zenocrate.
Physicians, will no physic do her good ?
First Phys. My lord, your majesty shall soon perceive,
And if she pass this fit, the worst is past. 40
Tamh. Tell me, how fares my fair Zenocrate ?
Zeno. I fare, my lord, as other empresses.
That, when this frail and transitory flesh
Hath sucked the measure of that vital air
That feeds the body with his dated health,
Wanes with enforced and necessary change.
Tamb. May never such a change transform my love,
In whose sweet being I repose my life.
Whose heavenly presence, beautified with health.
Gives light to Phoebus and the fixed stars, 50
Whose absence makes the sun and moon as dark
As when, opposed in one diameter.
Their spheres are mounted on the serpent's head,
Or else descended to his winding train.
Live still, my love, and so conserve my life.
Or, dying, be the author of my death.
Zeno. Live still, my lord ; O, let my sovereign live !
38. no] not O2. 43. and] a O^. 56. author] anchor Oj.s.
42-6. / fare, my lord . . . change] and moon in an eclipse are here de-
The character of Zenocrate has scribed. The ecHpse of the moon
been sUghtly but clearly drawn occurs when it is ' opposite ' to the
throughout. Not the least of her sun on the same diameter, i.e.
functions is this insistence upon when the earth intervenes. Mar-
the frailty of man and the tran- lowe adds a further condition when
sience of his glory. Even when he says that the head or the tail
living in the world of Tamburlaine of the sign Scorpio of the zodiac
whose hand turns Fortune's wheel must fall in the same plane and in
about, Marlowe is never unaware the same right line in that plane
of the presence of this wistful as the three other bodies, the moon,
melancholy. He never attempted the earth and the sun. The sig-
fuUy to harmonize the two ; Tarn- nificance of this addition escapes
burlaine proclaims one theme while me.
the later Edward II is pervaded 56. author] the reading of O4 is
by that of Zenocrate, so strictly followed by Dyce and many later
subordinated here. editors. If ' anchor ' of O1-3 is
45. dated] limited, having its retained, the line can be inter-
end, preordained. Cf. I, 11. vi. 37. preted, as Wagner points out,
52-4. The positions of the sun ' Draw on my death through thine.*
sc. IV] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 215
And sooner let the fiery element
Dissolve, and make your kingdom in the sky,
Than this base earth should shroud your majesty ; 60
For, should I but suspect your death by mine, i
The comfort of my future happiness, ^
And hope to meet your highness in the heavens, j
Turn'd to despair, would break my wretched breast, '
And fury would confound my present rest. [
But let me die, my love ; yet, let me die ; <
With love and patience let your true love die : |
Your grief and fury hurts my second life. .
Yet let me kiss my lord before I die, j
And let me die with kissing of my lord. 70 '
But, since my life is lengthened yet a while,
Let me take leave of these my loving sons.
And of my lords, whose true nobility
Have merited my latest memory.
Sweet sons, farewell ; in death resemble me,
And in your lives your father's excellency.
Some music, and my fit will cease, my lord.
[They call music.
Tamh. Proud fury and intolerable fit.
That dares torment the body of my love,
And scourge the scourge of the immortal God ! 80
Now are those spheres, where Cupid used to sit.
Wounding the world with wonder and with love,
Sadly supplied with pale and ghastly death,
Whose darts do pierce the centre of my soul.
Her sacred beauty hath enchanted heaven,
. And had she liv'd before the siege of Troy,
-L^ Helen, whose beauty summoned Greece to arms,
And drew a thousand ships to Tenedos,
60. Than] Then O3 O4. 65. And] an O3. 76. excellency] excellence
O3 O4. 77. S.D. call] call for O3 O4.
88. And drew . . . Tenedos] An ' Is this the face that launched a
anticipation of Fausius, 1. 1328 : thousand ships.'
216
THE SECOND PART OF
[act II
4
m
Had not been nam'd in Homer's Iliads,
Her name had been in every line he wrote ; 90
Or had those wanton poets, for whose birth
Old Rome was proud, but gazed a while on her,
Nor Lesbia nor Corinna had been nam'd,
Zenocrate had been the argument
Of every epigram or elegy.
[The music sounds and she dies.
What, is she dead ? Techelles, draw thy sword.
And wound the earth, that it may cleave in twain.
And we descend into th' infernal vaults.
To hale the fatal Sisters by the hair,
And throw them in the triple moat of hell, 100
For taking hence my fair Zenocrate.
Casane and Theridamas, to arms !
Raise cavalieros higher than the clouds.
And with the cannon break the frame of heaven ;
Batter the shining palace of the sun.
And shiver all the starry firmament,
^For amorous Jove hath snatched my love from hence.
Meaning to make her stately quee^^ of heaven:.
93. Lesbia nor Corinna] These
names, which came, in time, to
be almost typical, are associated
chiefly with the love poetry of
Horace, Ovid and Catullus. Cor-
inna appears in twelve of the
Elegies of Ovid which Marlowe had
translated at some date slightly
earlier than that of Tamburlaine.
100. the triple moat of hell] seems
to be Marlowe's own addition to
our conception of infernal geo-
graphy, probably suggested by
Virgil's lines {Aen., vi. 548 ff.) on
the triple wall of hell :
' sub rupe sinistra
moenia lata videt triplici circum-
data muro,
quae rapidus flammis ambit torren-
tibus amnis,
Tartareus Phlegethon.'
It is interesting to compare also
Dante's references to the walls
and moats of hell {Inf., viii. 74
and xviii. i ff.).
103. cavalieros] according to
Cunningham, ' mound (s) for can-
non, elevated above the rest of the
works of a fortress, as a horseman
is raised above a foot-soldier.'
Danchin {Rev. Germ.) quotes R. P.
Millet, L'Art de fortifier (1683),
p. 16 : ' Des terrasses elevees par-
dessus le Rempart pour y loger le
canon. On les appelle ainsi k cause
qu'elles sont autant elevees par-
dessus les autres ouvrages qu'un
Cavalier par-dessus un homme de
pied.'
105. palace of the sun] the palace
of Helios is described by the later
classical poets as lying in the east ;
in many cases, he has another
palace in the west, where he goes to
rest at night.
sc. IV] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 217
What god soever holds thee in his arms,
Giving thee nectar and ambrosia, no
Behold me here, divine Zenocrate,
Raving, impatient, desperate and mad.
Breaking my steeled lance, with which I burst
The rusty beams of Janus' temple doors.
Letting out death and tyrannising war,
To march with me under this bloody flag !
And, if thou pitiest Tamburlaine the Great,
Come down from heaven and live with me again !
Ther. Ah, good my lord, be patient ! she is dead,
And all this raging cannot make her live. 120
j If words might serve, our voice hath rent the air ;
/ If tears, our eyes have watered all the earth ;
" If grief, our murdered hearts have strained forth blood.
Nothing prevails, for she is dead, my lord.
Tamh. For she is dead 1 thy words do pierce my soul :
Ah, sweet Theridamas, say so no more ;
Though she be dead, yet let me think she lives,
And feed my mind that dies for want of her.
Where'er her soul be, thou shalt stay with me,
Embalm'd with cassia, amber greece, and myrrh, 130
Not lapt in lead, but in a sheet of gold.
And, till I die, thou shalt not be interred.
Then in as rich a tomb as Mausolus
We both will rest and have one epitaph
129. Thou S.D. To the body.] Add. Dyce. 132. shalt] shall O4.
134. one] on O2 our O4.
1 14-15. Janus' temple-doors . . . Rome, originally apparently a sun-
war] Marlowe appean^; to refer to god.
the covered passage near the Forum 125-8. For she is dead! . . .
known sometimes as the Temple of want of her] There is fine under-
Janus, whose doors stood open in standing, beyond the reach of the
time of war, to symbolize the earlier play, in these lines. It has
absence with the fighting forces departed entirely from the picture
of the presiding deity, and were of Tamburlaine offered by the
shut in time of peace so that western sources,
the God of the city might not i^o. amber greece] SLmheTgris. The
escape. Janus was never a god reading of the octavos is retained,
of war, as Marlowe's lines almost 133. Mausolus] a false quantity,
imply, but a tutelary deity of rare with Marlowe.
218 TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT [act ii
Writ in as many several languages
As I have conquered kingdoms with my sword.
This cursed town will I consume with fire,
Because this place bereft me of my love ;
The houses, burnt, will look as if they mourn'd ;
And here will I set up her stature 140
And march about it with my mourning camp.
Drooping and pining for Zenocrate.
[The arras is drawn.
140. stature] statue O3 O4.
140. stature] There seems to be a in this text. See Parti, iv. ii. 105,
genuine confusion between ' stat- and note,
ure ' and ' statue ' (qy. ' statua ' ?)
ACT III
SCENE I
Enter the Kings of Trebizond and Soria, one bringing a
sword and another a sceptre ; next, Natolia, and Jeru-
salem with the imperial crown ; after, Callapine ; and,
after him, other Lords and Almeda. Orcanes and
Jerusalem crown him, and the other give him the sceptre.
Ore. Callapinus Cyricelibes, otherwise Cybelius, son and
successive heir to the late mighty emperor Bajazeth, by
the aid of God and his friend Mahomet, Emperor of
NatoHa, Jerusalem, Trebizon, Soria, Amasia, Thracia,
lllyria, Carmonia, and all the hundred and thirty
kingdoms late contributory to his mighty father, — ^long
live Callapinus, Emperor of Turkey !
Call. Thrice worthy kings of Natolia and the rest,
I will requite your royal gratitudes
With all the benefits my empire yields ; lo
And, were the sinews of th' imperial seat
So knit and strengthened as when Bajazeth,
My royal lord and father, filled the throne.
Whose cursed fate hath so dismembered it,
Then should you see this thief of Scythia,
This proud usurping king of Persia,
Do us such honour and supremacy.
Act III. Scene i.
Heading S.D. and Almeda] Add. Dyce. 14. fatel Fates O4.
Act III Scene i form of the name with contem-
porary writers is ' C9,ra(iriania ',
5. Carmonia] The more usual or ' Carmania '.
219
220 THE SECOND PART OF [actiii
Bearing the vengeance of our father's wrongs.
As all the world should blot our dignities
Out of the book of base born infamies. 20
And now I doubt not but your royal cares
Hath so provided for this cursed foe,
That, since the heir of mighty Bajazeth
(An emperor so honoured for his virtues)
Revives the spirits of true Turkish hearts.
In grievous memory of his father's shame.
We shall not need to nourish any doubt,
But that proud Fortune, who hath followed long
The martial sword of mighty Tamburlaine,
Will now retain her old inconstancy, 30
And raise our honours to as high a pitch.
In this our strong and fortunate encounter ;
For so hath heaven provided my escape
From all the cruelty my soul sustained.
By this my friendly keeper's happy means.
That Jove, surcharg'd with pity of our wrongs.
Will pour it down in showers on our heads,
Scourging the pride of cursed Tamburlaine.
Ore. I have a hundred thousand men in arms ;
Some that, in conquest of the perjur'd Christian, 40
Being a handful to a mighty host.
Think them in number yet sufficient
To drink the river Nile or Euphrates,
And for their power ynow to win the world.
Jer. And I as many from Jerusalem,
25. of] of all Og. 31. honours] honour O3 O4. 40. in] in the Og.
19. our] Dyce and some later small but victorious host that
editors would read ' his ', but this defeated Sigismund.
is not the meaning and Callapine's 45-46. Jerusalem , . . Scalonian's
words are clear enough. We bounds] Miss Seaton comments
should so triumph that the world upon this army : ' The king of
should remove our names from the Jerusalem naturally raises his
roll of infamy on which Bajazet's [army] from * ludcBa, Gaza and
fall had caused them to be inscribed. Scalonians bounds ' ; that the town
40. Some that . . . Christian. of Ascalon appears in the map as
Orcanes has brought with him the Scalona effectively disposes of the
SCI] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 221
Judaea, Gaza, and Scalonian's bounds,
That on mount Sinai, with their ensigns spread,
Look like the parti-coloured clouds of heaven
That show fair weather to the neighbour morn.
Treh. And I as many bring from Trebizon, 50
Chio, Famastro, and Amasia,
All bordering on the Mare-Major sea ;
Riso, Sancina, and the bordering towns
That touch the end of famous Euphrates;
Whose courages are kindled with the flames
The cursed Scythian sets on all their towns.
And vow to burn the villain's cruel heart.
Sor. From Soria with seventy thousand strong,
Ta'en from Aleppo, Soldino, Tripoly,
And so unto my city of Damasco, 60
I march to meet and aid my neighbour kings ;
All which will join against this Tamburlaine,
And bring him captive to your highness' feet.
Ore. Our battle, then, in martial manner pitched.
According to our ancient use, shall bear
The figure of the semicircled moon.
Whose horns shall sprinkle through the tainted air
The poisoned brains of this proud Scythian.
Call. Well then, my noble lords, for this my friend
That freed me from the bondage of my foe, 70
46. JudcBo] ludea O3 luda O4. Scalonian' s] Sclavonians O4.
1605 Quarto's absurd change to 58-60. Soria . . . Damasco] ' For
Sclauonians, apparently a confused the king of Soria, he passes from
reminiscence of the earher enumera- Aleppo south-westward to the sea-
tion of Sigismund's composite army coast near Cyprus, and chooses
of ' Slauonians, Almains, Rutters, Soldino and Tripoli, and so inland
Muffes, and Danes '. [Marlowe's again to Damasco ; and in pass-
Ma^, pp. 29-30.) ing it may be said that this
50-4. from Trebizon . . . Eu- form Damasco, which is that of
phrates] ' For the king of Trebizond, four out of five of the modern
Marlowe's finger traces from west maps in the Theatrum, replaces
to east the northern seaboard of in Part II, except for a single
Asia Minor : Chia, Famastro, genitive use, the form Damascus,
Amasia (here the province only), regular in Part I.' {Marlowe's Map,
Trebisonda, Riso, San/ina.' [Mar- p. 30.)
lowe's Map, p. 30.)
222 THE SECOND PART OF [actiii
I think it requisite and honourable
To keep my promise and to make him king,
That is a gentleman, I know, at least.
Aim. That's no matter, sir, for being a king ; for Tamburlaine
came up of nothing.
Jer. Your majesty may choose some 'pointed time,
i Performing all your promise to the full ;
(l 'Tis naught for your majesty to give a kingdom.
I Call. Then will I shortly keep my promise, Almeda.
I Aim. Why, I thank your majesty. [Exeunt. 80
SCENE II
Tamburlaine with Usumcasane and his three sons ; four
bearing the hearse o/Zenocrate, and the drums sounding
a doleful march; the town burning.
Tamh. So, burn the turrets of this cursed town,
Flame to the highest region of the air,
And kindle heaps of exhalations.
That, being fiery meteors, may presage
Death and destruction to th' inhabitants !
Over my zenith hang a blazing star.
That may endure till heaven be dissolv'd.
Fed with the fresh supply of earthly dregs.
Scene ii.
Heading Act III, Scene ii] Actus 2 Scaena 2 O1-4.
74-5. This bears every mark of a spheres) and will there kindle
piece of actor's gag. Its prose meteors (not clearly distinguished
form alone coming in the middle of from comets) whose function is to
a verse scene would throw sus- presage dire events. Meanwhile
picion on it. directly over Tamburlaine 's head
(the zenith is actually the point of
Scene it. intersection of the circumference of
2-8. Flame to . . . earthly dregs] the enveloping sphere and the line
The astronomical and astrological produced from the centre of the
implications of this passage may earth through a given point upon
be briefly summed up : The flames the earth's surface) shall hang a
of the burning town will rise to blazing star which will be kept
the top of the region of air (here alight by the other fires that he will
thought to be next to the sphere of light on earth,
the moon, the innermost of the
sc. II] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT 223
Threatening a death and famine to this land !
Flying dragons, lightning, fearful thunder-claps, lo
Singe these fair plains, and make them seem as black
As is the island where the Furies mask,
Compassed with Lethe, Styx, and Phlegethon,
Because my dear Zenocrate is dead !
Caly. This pillar, plac'd in memory of her.
Where in Arabian, Hebrew, Greek, is writ,
This town, being burnt by Tamburlaine the Great,
Forbids the world to build it up again.
Amy. And here this mournful streamer shall be plac'd,
Wrought with the Persian and Egyptian arms, 20
To signify she was a princess born.
And wife unto the monarch of the East.
Cel. And here this table as a register
Of all her virtues and perfections.
Tamb. And here the picture of Zenocrate,
To show her beauty which the world admir'd ;
Sweet picture of divine Zenocrate,
That, hanging here, will draw the gods from heaven,
And cause the stars fixed in the southern arc,
20. and] and the O^-
9. death] Dyce would have read would be found in his poetry
' dearth ' for ' death ' of O1-4. generally.
12-13. the island . . . Phlegethon] 17-18. being] Brereton suggested
Marlowe has the map of the under- the reading ' was ', but the con-
world extremely clear in his mind. struction is normal ; the ruins of
I am unable to find a single source the town itself convey the message
for all his details : the Island of the and forbid the world to rebuild it.
Furies, the Triple Moat, the Sty- It is also possible to paraphrase
gian Snakes and the Invisible ' The fact that this town was burnt
Furies. Rather, he seems to have by Tamburlaine, forbids . . .' etc.
drawn what he could from Ovid, 29-32. the stars . . . hemisphere]
Seneca, Cicero, Virgil and, brooding The southern stars, through their
upon this, to have evoked a picture desire to see the portrait of Zeno-
whose vividness sometimes recalls crate, will move into the northern
the details of Dante. Marlowe, latitudes ; the centre's latitude] the
whose knowledge of Macchiavelli, equator, the middle line of latitude,
seems to suggest that he could Marlowe uses hemisphere of any
read Italian, could, of course, have half of the celestial sphere, as do
based some of his detail on Dante's many of his contemporaries : mod-
descriptions, but it is hard to ern English more generally uses it
believe that, had he read the of one of the divisions made in the
Divina Comedia, so few traces of it celestial sphere by the ecliptic.
224 THE SECOND PART OF [actiii
Whose lovely faces never any viewed 30
That have not passed the centre's latitude,
As pilgrims travel to our hemisphere,
Only to gaze upon Zenocrate.
Thou shalt not beautify Larissa plains.
But keep within the circle of mine arms ;
At every town and castle I besiege.
Thou shalt be set upon my royal tent ;
And when I meet an army in the field.
Those looks will shed such influence in my camp.
As if Bellona, goddess of the war, 40
Threw naked swords and sulphur balls of fire
Upon the heads of all our enemies.
And now, my lords, advance your spears again ;
Sorrow no more, my sweet Casane, now :
Boys, leave to mourn ; this town shall ever mourn,
Being burnt to cinders for your mother's death.
Caly. If I had wept a sea of tears for her,
It would not ease the sorrow I sustain.
Amy. As is that town, so is my heart consum'd
With grief and sorrow for my mother's death. 50
Cel. My mother's death hath mortified my mind,
And sorrow stops the passage of my speech.
Tamh. But now, my boys, leave off, and list to me.
That mean to teach you rudiments of war.
I'll have you learn to sleep upon the ground,
March in your armour thorough watery fens,
Sustain the scorching heat and freezing cold,
Hunger and thirst, right adjuncts of the war ;
And, after this, to scale a castle wall,
39. Those] Dyce etc. whoseO^_^. 48. sorrowl sorrows Og. 56. thorough]
throwe O^. 58. thirst] cold Oj.g.
40. Bellona] the Latin goddess of refer to Greek fire or to the primi-
war appears frequently in classical tive sixteenth-century hand-gren-
literature. See Ovid, Metam., v. ades described in military text-
155, Fast., VI. 201 and Virgil, Aen., books such as Paul Ive's Practise
VIII. 703. of Fortification.
41. sulphur halls of fire] may here
sc. II] TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT
225
Besiege a fort, to undermine a town^ 60
And make whole cities caper in the air.
Then next, the way to fortify your men ;
In champion grounds what figure serves you best,
For which the quinque-angle form is meet,
Because the corners there may fall more flat
Whereas the fort may fittest be assailed,
And sharpest where th' assault is desperate ;
The ditches must be deep, the counterscarps
Narrow and steep, the walls made high and broad,
The bulwarks and the rampiers large and strong, 70
With cavalieros and thick counterforts,
And room within to lodge six thousand men.
It must have privy ditches, countermines,
And secret issuings to defend the ditch ;
It must have high argins and covered ways
64. which] Rob. etc.
68. the] and O3 O4.
with Oi_4. 67. th' assault] the assault O3 O4.
62 seq. the way to fortify, etc.]
For the connection of this lengthy-
excursus upon tactics and its con-
nection with Paul Ive's Practise of
Fortification, see Introduction, p. 45.
63. champion] see I, 11. ii. 40,
and note.
64. the quinque-angle form] This
fort is in the shape of a five-pointed
star, and, as Marlowe regards it,
presents the pointed angles at a
greater distance from the inner
fortifications (' where th' assault
is desperate ', i.e. for the assailers)
and the blunt angles, easier to
defend, where the assault is most
likely to be made. M. Danchin
suggests that Marlowe has mis-
understood Paul Ive's account of
the ' quinque angle ' fort. But I
think rather that by ' meet ' he
means that it is both defensible and
quick and economical to build. See
Introduction, p. 45.
68. counterscarps] The walls of the
ditch facing the fort. Cunningham
adds the comment, ' I cannot under-
stand the advantage of (their)
being narrow.'
15
70. bulwarks . . . rampiers] are
earthworks or defences of some
similar material used in fortifica-
tion, the rampiers (ramparts) in
| 