enough To hold the fiery spirit it contains, [They assist TAMBURLAINE to descend from the chariot. Ther. A woful change, my lord, that daunts our thoughts Wounded and broken with your highness' grief, Cel. Your pains do pierce our souls; no hope For by your life we entertain our lives. Ther. My lord, you must obey his majesty, Tamb. But, sons, this subject, not of force Since fate commands and proud necessity. Amy. Heavens witness me with what a broken [They crown AMYRAS. Usum. Then feels your majesty no sovereign ease, Tamb. Casane, no; the monarch of the earth, subjects] Mr. Collier (Preface to Coleridge's Seven Lectures on Shakespeare and Milton, p. cxviii) says that here “subjects” is a printer's blunder for "substance": yet he takes no notice of Tamburlaine's next words, “But, sons, this subject not of force enough," &c.-The old eds. are quite right in both passages: compare, in p. 62, first col.; "A form not meet to give that subject essence Tech. Then let some god oppose his holy power More than the ruin of our proper souls! Amy. With what a flinty bosom should I joy Of Death and Hell be shut against my prayers, Whose matter is the flesh of Tamburlaine," &c. + into] So the 8vo.-The 4to "vnto." Tamb. Let not thy love exceed thine honour, Nor bar thy mind that magnanimity your seeds] So the 8vo.-The 4to "our seedes." (In p. 18, first col., we have had "Their angry seeds"; but in p. 47, first col., "thy seed" :-and Marlowe probably wrote "seed" both here and in p. 18.) § lineaments] So the 8vo.-The 4to "laments."-The Editor of 1826 remarks, that this passage "is too obscure for ordinary comprehension." That his tear-thirsty and unquenched hate [They bring in the hearse of ZENOCRATE, And all the earth, like Etna, breathing fire: these] So the 4to.-The 8vo "those." § Clymene's] So the 8vo.-The 4to "Clymeus.” Phyteus'] Meant perhaps for "Pythius'", according to the usage of much earlier poets: "And of Phyton [i.e. Python] that Phebus made thus fine Came Phetonysses," &c. Lydgate's Warres of Troy, B. ii. Sig. K vi. ed. 1555. Here the modern editors print "Phœbus"". The nature of these proud rebelling jades The nature of thy chariot will not bear thee] So the 8vo.-The 4to "me." tcliffs] Here the old eds. "clifts" and "cliftes" : but see p. 12, line 5, first col. Farewell, my boys! my dearest friends, farewell! My body feels, my soul doth weep to see Your sweet desires depriv'd my company, For Tamburlaine, the scourge of God, must die. [Dies. Amy. Meet heaven and earth, and here let all things end, For earth hath spent the pride of all her fruit, The Tragicall History of D. Faustus. As it hath bene Acted by the Right Honorable the Earle of Nottingham his seruants. Written by Ch. Marl. London Printed by V. S. for Thomas Bushell 1604. In reprinting this edition, I have here and there amended the text by means of the later 4tos,-1616, 1624, 1681.-Of 4to 1663, which contains various comparatively modern alterations and additions, I have made no use. |