Tamburlaine the Great, part 2 | Page 6

enterprize, Yet would I venture to conduct your grace, And die before I
brought you back again!
CALLAPINE. Thanks, gentle Almeda: then let us haste, Lest time be
past, and lingering let<36> us both.
ALMEDA. When you will, my lord: I am ready.
CALLAPINE. Even straight:--and farewell, cursed Tamburlaine! Now
go I to revenge my father's death. [Exeunt.]
SCENE III.
Enter TAMBURLAINE, ZENOCRATE, and their three sons,
CALYPHAS, AMYRAS, and CELEBINUS, with drums and trumpets.
TAMBURLAINE. Now, bright Zenocrate, the world's fair eye, Whose
beams illuminate the lamps of heaven, Whose cheerful looks do clear
the cloudy air, And clothe it in a crystal livery, Now rest thee here on
fair Larissa-plains, Where Egypt and the Turkish empire part Between
thy sons, that shall be emperors, And every one commander of a world.
ZENOCRATE. Sweet Tamburlaine, when wilt thou leave these arms,
And save thy sacred person free from scathe, And dangerous chances

of the wrathful war?
TAMBURLAINE. When heaven shall cease to move on both the poles,
And when the ground, whereon my soldiers march, Shall rise aloft and
touch the horned moon; And not before, my sweet Zenocrate. Sit up,
and rest thee like a lovely queen. So; now she sits in pomp and majesty,
When these, my sons, more precious in mine eyes Than all the wealthy
kingdoms I subdu'd, Plac'd by her side, look on their mother's face. But
yet methinks their looks are amorous, Not martial as the sons of
Tamburlaine: Water and air, being symboliz'd in one, Argue their want
of courage and of wit; Their hair as white as milk, and soft as down,
(Which should be like the quills of porcupines, As black as jet, and
hard as iron or steel,) Bewrays they are too dainty for the wars; Their
fingers made to quaver on a lute, Their arms to hang about a lady's
neck, Their legs to dance and caper in the air, Would make me think
them bastards, not my sons, But that I know they issu'd from thy womb,
That never look'd on man but Tamburlaine.
ZENOCRATE. 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<37> with his
slender rod, He rein'd him straight, and made him so curvet As I cried
out for fear he should have faln.
TAMBURLAINE. 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, 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, 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.
CELEBINUS. 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<38> tremble at their view.

TAMBURLAINE. 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.
AMYRAS. Why may not I, my lord, as well as he, Be term'd the
scourge and terror of<39> the world?
TAMBURLAINE. Be all a scourge and terror to<40> the world, Or
else you are not sons of Tamburlaine.
CALYPHAS. 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.
TAMBURLAINE. Bastardly boy, sprung<41> from some coward's
loins, And not the issue of great Tamburlaine! Of all the provinces I
have subdu'd 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<42> Is cover'd with a liquid purple veil, And
sprinkled with the brains of slaughter'd 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.
ZENOCRATE. My lord, such speeches to our princely sons Dismay
their minds before they come to prove The wounding troubles angry
war affords.
CELEBINUS. No, madam, these are speeches fit for us; For, if his
chair were in a sea of blood, I would prepare