Der. The same. I learn'd, That, burning for the sultan's beauteous daughter, [They seem to talk together aside. Enter OMAR. Omar. No--if I forgive it, Dishonour blast my name! Was it for this Omar. It is, And I will seize it in despite of Tamerlane, Haly. What need of force, When every thing concurs to meet your wishes? Our mighty master would not wish a son Nobler than Omar. From a father's hand Receive that daughter, which ungrateful Tamerlane Has to your worth deny'd. Omar. Now, by my arms, It will be great revenge. What will your sultan Give to the man that shall restore his liberty, His crown, and give him pow'r to wreak his hatred Upon his greatest foe? Haly. All he can ask, And far beyond his wish. Omar. These trumpets speak [Trumpets. The emperor's approach; he comes once more To offer terms of peace. Within, I will know farther. [Exeunt. SCENE II. BAJAZET'S Tent. ARPASIA discovered lying on a Couch. SONG. To thee, O gentle sleep, alone By thee our joys are heighten'd shown, By thee, obtaining a divorce, In her own choice is bless'd. Conjures thee, not to lose in day The object of her care. To grasp whose pleasing form she sought, Thus by ourselves are oft'nest wrought Arp. Oh, death! thou gentle end of human sorrows, Still must my weary eye-lids vainly wake In tedious expectation of thy peace? Why stand thy thousand thousand doors still open, Guard every passage, and forbids my entrance?— What Cato's daughter durst not!-Live, Arpasia, Enter TAMERLANE. Tam. Such welcome as a camp can give, fair sultaness, We hope you have receiv'd; it shall be larger, Arp. Since I have borne That miserable mark of fatal greatness, I have forgot all difference of conditions; To cure those ills which you unjustly suffer, Arp. Not that my soul disdains the generous aid My noble parents! Oh, the grief of heart, Ye saints and angels, give me of your constancy, Tam. Why is my pity all that I can give Arp. No, Tamerlane, nor did I mean thou shouldst: But know, (tho' to the weakness of my sex I yield these tears) my soul is more than man. Think, I am born a Greek, nor doubt my virtue ; They must be mighty evils, that can vanquish A Spartan courage, and a Christian faith. Enter BAJAZET, Baj, To know no thought of rest? to have the mind Still minist'ring fresh plagues, as in a circle, Where one dishonour treads upon another; What know the fiends beyond it?-Ha! by hell, [Seeing ARPASIA and TAMERLANE. There wanted only this to make me mad. Tam. But that I read upon thy frowning brow, I meant to offer peace. Baj. And mean'st thou too To treat it with our empress; and to barter Is this the royal usage thou didst boast? Tam. The boiling passion, that disturbs thy soul, Spreads clouds around, and makes thy purpose darkUnriddle what thy mystic fury aims at, Baj. Is it a riddle? Read it there explain'd; There, in my shame. Now judge me thou, O prophet, And equal Heav'n, if this demand not rage! The peasant hind, begot and born to slavery, Yet dares assert a husband's sacred right, And guards his homely couch from violation: And shall a monarch tamely bear the wrong Without complaining? Tam. If I could have wrong'd thee, If conscious virtue, and all-judging Heav'n, Baj. By hell, 'tis false! else wherefore art thou present? honour? Tam. Yet ere thou rashly urge my rage too far, I warn thee to take heed; I am a man, And have the frailties common to man's nature, And may be blown up to so fierce a blaze, As wisdom cannot rule. Know, thou hast touch'd me Thy breath has blasted my fair virtue's fame, Arp. And stand I here an idle looker-on, |