PROLOGUE.

The general welcomes Tamburlaine receiv'd,
When he arrived last upon the stage,

Hath made our poet pen his second part,
Where death cuts off the progress of his pomp,
And murd'rous fate throws all his triumph down.
But what became of fair Zenocrate,

And with how many cities' sacrifice

He celebrated her sad funeral,

Himself in presence shall unfold at large.

FREDERICK,

BALDWIN, } Lords of Buda and Bohemia.

PERDICAS, Servant to Calyphas.
GOVERNOR OF BABYLON.
MAXIMUS.

CALLAPINE, Emperor of the Turks.
ALMEDA, his Keeper.

KING OF AMASIA.

PHYSICIAN.

CAPTAIN.

ZENOCRATE, Tamburlaine's Queen.
OLYMPIA, the Captain's Wife.

Byron is much more like an English or French than an Oriental name: it is perhaps Bihra or Bir, Anglecised.

TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT.

PART THE SECOND.

ACT THE FIRST.

SCENE I.

ORCANES, King of Natolia, GAZELLUS, Viceroy of Byron, URIBASSA, and their Train, with Drums and Trumpets.

ORC. Egregious viceroys of these eastern parts! Plac'd by the issue of great Bajazet,

And sacred lord, the mighty Callapine,

Who lives in Egypt, prisoner to that slave
Which kept his father in an iron cage ;—
Now have we march'd from fair Natolia
Two hundred leagues, and on Danubius' banks
Our warlike host, in complete armour, rest,
Where Sigismund, the king of Hungary
Should meet our person to conclude a truce.
What! Shall we parley with the Christian?
Or cross the stream, and meet him in the field?
GAZ. King of Natolia, let us treat of peace;
We all are glutted with the Christian's blood,
And have a greater foe to fight against,—

Proud Tamburlaine, that, now in Asia,

Near Gihon's head doth set his conq'ring feet,
And means to fire Turkey as he goes.

'Gainst him, my lord, you must address your power. URI. Besides, King Sigismund hath brought from Christendom,

More than his camp of stout Hungarians,— Sclavonians, Almains, Rutters, Muffes, and Danes, That with the halberd, lance, and murd'ring axe, Will hazard that we might with safety hold.

ORC. Though from the shortest northern parallel, Vast Grantland, compass'd with the Frozen Sea, (Inhabited with tall and sturdy men,

Giants as big as huge Polypheme,)

Millions of soldiers cut the arctick line,

Bringing the strength of Europe to these arms,
Our Turkey blades shall glide through all their throats,
And make this champaign'd mead a bloody fen.
Danubius' stream, that runs to Trebizond,*
Shall carry, wrapt within his scarlet waves,
As martial presents to our friends at home,
The slaughter'd bodies of these Christians.
The Tyrrhene main, wherein Danubius falls,
Shall, by this battle, be the bloody sea.
The wand'ring sailors of proud Italy

The geographical knowledge of the author, is by no means accurate. Poets do not in general write by the map, and it may be observed, once for all, that any attempt to reconcile all the geographical descriptions and allusions of this author, with the actual state of the globe, would be a fruitless task.

Shall meet those Christians, fleeting with the tide,
Beating in heaps against their Argosies,

And make fair Europe, mounted on her bull,
Trapp'd with the wealth and riches of the world,
Alight, and wear a woeful mourning weed.

GAZ. Yet, stout Orcanes, Prorex of the world,
Since Tamburlaine hath muster'd all his men,
Marching from Cairo northward with his camp,
To Alexandria, and the frontier towns,
Meaning to make a conquest of our land,
'Tis requisite to parley for a peace
With Sigismund, the king of Hungary,
And save our forces for the hot assaults

Proud Tamburlaine intends Natolia.

ORC. Viceroy of Byron, wisely hast thou said. My realm, the centre of our empery,

Being lost, all Turkey would be overthrown,
And for that cause the Christians shall have peace.
Sclavonians, Almains, Rutters, Muffes, and Danes,
Fear not Orcanes, but great Tamburlaine,
Nor he, but fortune, that hath made him great.
We have revolted Grecians, Albanees,

Sicilians, Jews, Arabians, Turks, and Moors,

Natolians, Syrians, black Egyptians.

GAZ. And we from Europe, to the same intent, Illyrians, Thracians, and Bithynians,

Enough to swallow forceless Sigismund,
Yet scarce enough t' encounter Tamburlaine.
He brings a world of people to the field,
From Scythia to the oriental plage