Tamburlaine monologue (Act 4) — Tamburlaine the Great — Part 2

Stand up, my boys, and I will teach ye arms, And what the jealousy of wars must do.-- O Samarcanda, where I breathed first, And joy'd the fire of this martial [195] flesh, Blush, blush, fair city, at thine [196] honour's foil, And shame of nature, which [197] Jaertis' [198] stream, Embracing thee with deepest of his love, Can never wash from thy distained brows!-- Here, Jove, receive his fainting soul again; A form not meet to give that subject essence Whose matter is the flesh of Tamburlaine, Wherein an incorporeal [199] spirit moves, Made of the mould whereof thyself consists, Which makes me valiant, proud, ambitious, Ready to levy power against thy throne, That I might move the turning spheres of heaven; For earth and all this airy region Cannot contain the state of Tamburlaine. [Stabs CALYPHAS.] By Mahomet, thy mighty friend, I swear, In sending to my issue such a soul, Created of the massy dregs of earth, The scum and tartar of the elements, Wherein was neither courage, strength, or wit, But folly, sloth, and damned idleness, Thou hast procur'd a greater enemy Than he that darted mountains at thy head, Shaking the burden mighty Atlas bears, Whereat thou trembling hidd'st thee in the air, Cloth'd with a pitchy cloud for being seen.-- [200] And now, ye canker'd curs of Asia, That will not see the strength of Tamburlaine, Although it shine as brightly as the sun, Now you shall [201] feel the strength of Tamburlaine, And, by the state of his supremacy, Approve [202] the difference 'twixt himself and you.