Cosroe monologue (Act 2) — Tamburlaine the Great — Part 1

Well hast thou pourtray'd in thy terms of life The face and personage of a wondrous man: Nature doth strive with Fortune [69] and his stars To make him famous in accomplish'd worth; And well his merits shew him to be made His fortune's master and the king of men, That could persuade, at such a sudden pinch, With reasons of his valour and his life, A thousand sworn and overmatching foes. Then, when our powers in points of swords are join'd, And clos'd in compass of the killing bullet, Though strait the passage and the port [70] be made That leads to palace of my brother's life, Proud is [71] his fortune if we pierce it not; And, when the princely Persian diadem Shall overweigh his weary witless head, And fall, like mellow'd fruit, with shakes of death, In fair [72] Persia noble Tamburlaine Shall be my regent, and remain as king.