The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Preface
• Publisher's Notice
• Introduction
• Tamburlaine the Great. In Two Parts.
• Tamburlaine the Great, Part Tbe First.
• The Prologue.
• Persons Represented. 1
• Tamburlaine the Great. Part the First.: Act the First.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Act the Second.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.
• Scene V.
• Scene VI.
• Scene VII.
• Act the Third.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Act the Fourth.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.
• Act the Fifth.
• Scene I.
• Tamburlaine the Great. Part the Second
• Prologue.
• Persons Represented.
• Tamburlaine the Great. Part the Second: Act the First.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Scene II.
• Act the Second.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.
• Act the Third.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.
• Scene V.
• Act the Fourth.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.
• Act the Fifth.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.
• Persons Represented.
• The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.
• Scene I.
• Scene II.
• Scene III.
• Scene IV.
• Scene V.
• Scene VI. 1
• Scene VII.
• Scene VIII.
• Scene IX.
• Scene X.
• Scene XI.
• Scene XII.
• Scene XIII.
• Scene XIV.
• Scene XV.
• Scene XVI.
• Appendix to Dr. Faustus.
• Ballad of Faustus.

SCENE III.

EnterSoldan, Arabia, Capolin,and Soldiers with streaming colours.

Sold.

• Methinks we march as Meleager did,
• Environèd with brave Argolian knights,
• To chase the savage Calydonian boar,
• Or Cephalus with lusty Theban youths
• Against the wolf that angry Themis sent
• To waste and spoil the sweet Aonian fields,
• A monster of five hundred thousand heads,
• Compact of rapine, piracy, and spoil.
• The scum of men, the hate and scourge of God,
• Raves in Ægyptia and annoyeth us.

  10

• My lord, it is the bloody Tamburlaine,
• A sturdy felon and1 a base-bred thief,
• By murder raisèd to the Persian crown,
• That dare control us in our territories.
• To tame the pride of this presumptuous beast,
• Join your Arabians with the Soldan's power,
• Let us unite our royal bands in one,
• And hasten to remove Damascus' siege.
• It is a blemish to the majesty
• And high estate of mighty emperors,

  20

• That such a base usurping vagabond
• Should brave a king, or wear a princely crown.

Arab.

• Renowmèd Soldan, have you lately heard
• The overthrow of mighty Bajazeth
• About the confines of Bithynia?
• The slavery wherewith he persecutes
• The noble Turk and his great emperess?

Sold.

• I have, and sorrow for his bad success;
• But noble lord of great Arabia,
• Be so persuaded that the Soldan is

  30

• No more dismayed with tidings of his fall,
• Than in the haven when the pilot stands,
• And views a stranger's ship rent in the winds,
• And shiverèd against a craggy rock;
• Yet in compassion to his wretched state,
• A sacred vow to heaven and him I make,
• Confirming it with Ibis' holy name.
• That Tamburlaine shall rue the day, the hour,
• Wherein he wrought such ignominious wrong
• Unto the hallowed person of a prince,

  40

• Or kept the fair Zenocrate so long
• As concubine, I fear, to feed his lust.

Arab.

• Let grief and fury hasten on revenge;
• Let Tamburlaine for his offences feel
• Such plagues as we and heaven can pour on him.
• I long to break my spear upon his crest,
• And prove the weight of his victorious arm;
• For Fame, I fear, hath been too prodigal
• In sounding through the world his partial praise.

Sold.

• Capolin, hast thou surveyed our powers?

  50

Capol.

• Great emperors of Egypt and Arabia,
• The number of your hosts united is
• A hundred and fifty thousand horse;
• Two hundred thousand foot, brave men-at-arms,
• Courageous, and full of hardiness,
• As frolick as the hunters in the chase
• Of savage beasts amid the desert woods.

Arab.

• My mind presageth fortunate success
• And Tamburlaine, my spirit doth foresee
• The utter ruin of thy men and thee.

  60

Sold.

• Then rear your standards; let your sounding drums
• Direct our soldiers to Damascus walls.
• Now, Tamburlaine, the mighty Soldan comes,
• And leads with him the great Arabian king,
• To dim thy baseness and obscurity,
• Famous for nothing but for theft and spoil;
• To raze and scatter thy inglorious crew
• Of Scythians and slavish Persians.
• [Exeunt.

[1]So 4to. — Omitted in 8vo.