TAMBURLAINE. But, sons, this subject, not of force enough To hold the fiery spirit it contains, Must part, imparting his impressions By equal portions into [313] both your breasts; My flesh, divided in your precious shapes, Shall still retain my spirit, though I die, And live in all your seeds [314] immortally.-- Then now remove me, that I may resign My place and proper title to my son.-- First, take my scourge and my imperial crown, And mount my royal chariot of estate, That I may see thee crown'd before I die.-- Help me, my lords, to make my last remove. [They assist TAMBURLAINE to descend from the chariot.] THERIDAMAS. A woful change, my lord, that daunts our thoughts More than the ruin of our proper souls! TAMBURLAINE. Sit up, my son, [and] let me see how well Thou wilt become thy father's majesty. AMYRAS. With what a flinty bosom should I joy The breath of life and burden of my soul, If not resolv'd into resolved pains, My body's mortified lineaments [315] Should exercise the motions of my heart, Pierc'd with the joy of any dignity! O father, if the unrelenting ears Of Death and Hell be shut against my prayers, And that the spiteful influence of Heaven Deny my soul fruition of her joy, How should I step, or stir my hateful feet Against the inward powers of my heart, Leading a life that only strives to die, And plead in vain unpleasing sovereignty! TAMBURLAINE. Let not thy love exceed thine honour, son, Nor bar thy mind that magnanimity That nobly must admit necessity. Sit up, my boy, and with these [316] silken reins Bridle the steeled stomachs of these [317] jades. THERIDAMAS. My lord, you must obey his majesty, Since fate commands and proud necessity. AMYRAS. Heavens witness me with what a broken heart [Mounting the chariot.] And damned [318] spirit I ascend this seat, And send my soul, before my father die, His anguish and his burning agony! [They crown AMYRAS.] TAMBURLAINE. Now fetch the hearse of fair Zenocrate; Let it be plac'd by this my fatal chair, And serve as parcel of my funeral. USUMCASANE. Then feels your majesty no sovereign ease, Nor may our hearts, all drown'd in tears of blood, Joy any hope of your recovery? TAMBURLAINE. Casane, no; the monarch of the earth, And eyeless monster that torments my soul, Cannot behold the tears ye shed for me, And therefore still augments his cruelty. TECHELLES. Then let some god oppose his holy power Against the wrath and tyranny of Death, That his tear-thirsty and unquenched hate May be upon himself reverberate! [They bring in the hearse of ZENOCRATE.]