CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
Tamburlaine (Part 1)
THE PROLOGUE.
From jigging veins of rhyming mother-wits,
And such conceits as clownage keeps in pay,
We'll lead you to the stately tent of war,
Where you shall hear the Scythian Tamburlaine
Threatening the world with high astounding terms,
And scourging kingdoms with his conquering sword.
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1.1.1-5
MYCETES. Brother Cosroe, I find myself agriev'd;
Yet insufficient to express the same,
For it requires a great and thundering speech:
Good brother, tell the cause unto my lords;
I know you have a better wit than I.
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2.3.1-25
Enter COSROE, TAMBURLAINE, THERIDAMAS, TECHELLES,
USUMCASANE, and ORTYGIUS, with others.
COSROE. Now, worthy Tamburlaine, have I repos'd
In thy approved fortunes all my hope.
What think'st thou, man, shall come of our attempts?
For, even as from assured oracle,
I take thy doom for satisfaction.
TAMBURLAINE. And so mistake you not a whit, my lord;
For fates and oracles [of] heaven have sworn
To royalize the deeds of Tamburlaine,
And make them blest that share in his attempts:
And doubt you not but, if you favour me,
And let my fortunes and my valour sway
To some direction in your martial deeds,
The world will strive with hosts of men-at-arms
To swarm unto the ensign I support.
The host of Xerxes, which by fame is said
To drink the mighty Parthian Araris,
Was but a handful to that we will have:
Our quivering lances, shaking in the air,
And bullets, like Jove's dreadful thunderbolts,
Enroll'd in flames and fiery smouldering mists,
Shall threat the gods more than Cyclopian wars;
And with our sun-bright armour, as we march,
We'll chase the stars from heaven, and dim their eyes
That stand and muse at our admired arms.
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2.5.50-64
TAMBURLAINE. And ride in triumph through Persepolis!--
Is it not brave to be a king, Techelles?--
Usumcasane and Theridamas,
Is it not passing brave to be a king,
And ride in triumph through Persepolis?
TECHELLES. O, my lord, it is sweet and full of pomp!
USUMCASANE. To be a king is half to be a god.
THERIDAMAS. A god is not so glorious as a king:
I think the pleasure they enjoy in heaven,
Cannot compare with kingly joys in earth;--
To wear a crown enchas'd with pearl and gold,
Whose virtues carry with it life and death;
To ask and have, command and be obey'd;
When looks breed love, with looks to gain the prize,--
Such power attractive shines in princes' eyes.
(source: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/tmbn110.txt)
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2.7.12-29
TAMBURLAINE. The thirst of reign and sweetness of a crown,
That caus'd the eldest son of heavenly Ops
To thrust his doting father from his chair,
And place himself in the empyreal heaven,
Mov'd me to manage arms against thy state.
What better precedent than mighty Jove?
Nature, that fram'd us of four elements
Warring within our breasts for regiment,
Doth teach us all to have aspiring minds:
Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend
The wondrous architecture of the world,
And measure every wandering planet's course,
Still climbing after knowledge infinite,
And always moving as the restless spheres,
Will us to wear ourselves, and never rest,
Until we reach the ripest fruit of all,
That perfect bliss and sole felicity,
The sweet fruition of an earthly crown.
(source: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/tmbn110.txt)
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Doctor Faustus
Was this the face that launched a thousand ships … (5.1.109-127)
Faustus's last speech : (5.2.126 ) 14.26-84