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TAMERLANE.
When thy lov'd Sight shall bless my Eyes again,Then I will own, I ought not to complain,Since that sweet Hour is worth whole Years of Pain.[Exeunt Moneses, and Stratocles.
SCENE II. The Inside of a Magnificent Tent.
Symphony of Warlike Musick.
Enter Tamerlane, Axalla, Prince of Tanais, Zama,Mirvan, Soldiers, and other Attendants.
Ax.From this Auspicious Day the Parthian NameShall date its birth of Empire, and extendEven from the dawning East to utmost ThuléThe Limits of its Sway:
Pr. of T.Nations unknown,Where yet the Roman Eagles never flewShall pay their Homage to Victorious Tamerlane,Bend to his Valour, and Superior Virtue,And own, that Conquest is not giv'n by Chance,But, (bound by fatal and resistless Merit)Waits on his Arms.
Tam.It is too much, you dress meLike an Usurper in the borrow'd AttributesOf Injur'd Heav'n: Can we call Conquest ours?Shall Man this Pigmy with a Gyant's PrideVaunt of himself, and say, Thus have I done this?Oh! vain Pretence to Greatness! Like the Moon,We borrow all the brightness, which we boast,Dark in our selves, and useless. If that HandThat rules the fate of Battles strike for us,Crown us with Fame, and gild our Clay with Honour;'Twere most ungrateful to disown the Benefit,And arrogate a Praise which is not ours.
Ax.With such unshaken Temper of the SoulTo bear the swelling Tide of prosp'rous Fortune,Is to deserve that Fortune: In Adversity
The
