From Tamburlaine the Great, Part One ("What is Beauty? saith my sufferings, then")
From Tamburlaine the Great, Part One ("What is Beauty? saith my sufferings, then")
Original Text
Tamburlaine the Great (London: Printed by Richard Jones, 1590) sig. E4r / STC (2nd ed.) 17425
2If all the pens that poets ever held
3Had fed the feeling of their master’s thoughts,
4And every sweetness that inspired their hearts,
5Their minds, and muses on admired themes,
7From their immortal flowers of Poesy,
8Wherein, as in a mirror, we perceive
9The highest reaches of a human wit,
11And all combined in Beauty’s worthiness,
12Yet should there hover in their restless heads
13One thought, one grace, one wonder at the least,
Notes
1] While laying seige to Damascus in Act 5, Tamburlaine looks upon the face of his captive Egyptian princess, Zenocrate, and is suddenly troubled by the otherworldy aspect and power of beauty. Back to Line
6] still: distill Back to Line
10] period: duration Back to Line
14] virtue: power, force Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1590
RPO poem Editors
Christopher Matusiak
RPO Edition
2011
Form