Enter THERIDAMAS, TECHELLES, and USUMCASANE.
THERIDAMAS.Weep, heavens, and vanish into liquid tears!
Fall, stars that govern his nativity, And summon all the shining lamps of heaven To cast their bootless fires to the earth, And shed their feeble influence in the air;
Muffle your beauties with eternal clouds;
For Hell and Darkness pitch their pitchy tents, And Death, with armies of Cimmerian spirits, Gives battle 'gainst the heart of Tamburlaine!
Now, in defiance of that wonted love Your sacred virtues pour'd upon his throne, And made his state an honour to the heavens, These cowards invisibly<299> assail his soul, And threaten conquest on our sovereign;
But, if he die, your glories are disgrac'd, Earth droops, and says that hell in heaven is plac'd!
TECHELLES.O, then, ye powers that sway eternal seats, And guide this massy substance of the earth, If you retain desert of holiness, As your supreme estates instruct our thoughts, Be not inconstant, careless of your fame, Bear not the burden of your enemies' joys, Triumphing in his fall whom you advanc'd;
But, as his birth, life, health, and majesty Were strangely blest and governed by heaven, So honour, heaven, (till heaven dissolved be,)
His birth, his life, his health, and majesty!
USUMCASANE.Blush, heaven, to lose the honour of thy name, To see thy footstool set upon thy head;
And let no baseness in thy haughty breast Sustain a shame of such inexcellence,<300>
To see the devils mount in angels' thrones, And angels dive into the pools of hell!
And, though they think their painful date is out, And that their power is puissant as Jove's, Which makes them manage arms against thy state, Yet make them feel the strength of Tamburlaine (Thy instrument and note of majesty)
Is greater far than they can thus subdue;
For, if he die, thy glory is disgrac'd, Earth droops, and says that hell in heaven is plac'd!
Enter TAMBURLAINE,<301> drawn in his chariot (as before)
by ORCANES king of Natolia, and the KING OF JERUSALEM, AMYRAS, CELEBINUS, and Physicians.
TAMBURLAINE.What daring god torments my body thus, And seeks to conquer mighty Tamburlaine?
Shall sickness prove me now to be a man, That have been term'd the terror of the world?
Techelles and the rest, come, take your swords, And threaten him whose hand afflicts my soul:
Come, let us march against the powers of heaven, And set black streamers in the firmament, To signify the slaughter of the gods.
Ah, friends, what shall I do? I cannot stand.
Come, carry me to war against the gods, That thus envy the health of Tamburlaine.
THERIDAMAS.Ah, good my lord, leave these impatient words, Which add much danger to your malady!
TAMBURLAINE.Why, shall I sit and languish in this pain?
No, strike the drums, and, in revenge of this, Come, let us charge our spears, and pierce his breast Whose shoulders bear the axis of the world, That, if I perish, heaven and earth may fade.
Theridamas, haste to the court of Jove;
Will him to send Apollo hither straight, To cure me, or I'll fetch him down myself.
TECHELLES.
Sit still, my gracious lord; this grief will cease,<302>
And cannot last, it is so violent.
TAMBURLAINE.Not last, Techelles! no, for I shall die.
See, where my slave, the ugly monster Death, Shaking and quivering, pale and wan for fear, Stands aiming at me with his murdering dart, Who flies away at every glance I give, And, when I look away, comes stealing on!--
Villain, away, and hie thee to the field!
I and mine army come to load thy back With souls of thousand mangled carcasses.--
Look, where he goes! but, see, he comes again, Because I stay! Techelles, let us march, And weary Death with bearing souls to hell.
FIRST PHYSICIAN.Pleaseth your majesty to drink this potion, Which will abate the fury of your fit, And cause some milder spirits govern you.
TAMBURLAINE.Tell me what think you of my sickness now?
FIRST PHYSICIAN.I view'd your urine, and the hypostasis,<303>
Thick and obscure, doth make your danger great:
Your veins are full of accidental heat, Whereby the moisture of your blood is dried:
The humidum and calor, which some hold Is not a parcel of the elements, But of a substance more divine and pure, Is almost clean extinguished and spent;
Which, being the cause of life, imports your death:
Besides, my lord, this day is critical, Dangerous to those whose crisis is as yours:
Your artiers,<304> which alongst the veins convey The lively spirits which the heart engenders, Are parch'd and void of spirit, that the soul, Wanting those organons by which it moves, Cannot endure, by argument of art.
Yet, if your majesty may escape this day, No doubt but you shall soon recover all.
TAMBURLAINE.Then will I comfort all my vital parts, And live, in spite of death, above a day.
[Alarms within.]
Enter a Messenger.
MESSENGER.My lord, young Callapine, that lately fled from your majesty, hath now gathered a fresh army, and, hearing your absence in the field, offers to set upon<305> us presently.
TAMBURLAINE.See, my physicians, now, how Jove hath sent A present medicine to recure my pain!
My looks shall make them fly; and, might I follow, There should not one of all the villain's power Live to give offer of another fight.
USUMCASANE.I joy, my lord, your highness is so strong, That can endure so well your royal presence, Which only will dismay the enemy.
TAMBURLAINE.I know it will, Casane.--Draw, you slaves!
In spite of death, I will go shew my face.
[Alarms.Exit TAMBURLAINE with all the rest (except the PHYSICIANS), and re-enter presently.]
TAMBURLAINE.Thus are the villain cowards<306> fled for fear, Like summer's vapours vanish'd by the sun;
And, could I but a while pursue the field, That Callapine should be my slave again.
But I perceive my martial strength is spent:
In vain I strive and rail against those powers That mean t' invest me in a higher throne, As much too high for this disdainful earth.
Give me a map; then let me see how much Is left for me to conquer all the world, That these, my boys, may finish all my wants.
[One brings a map.]
