Oro. O, hold! I charge thee, hold! It would be nobler for us both, from you. Oro. O for a whirlwind's wing to hurry us To yonder cliff, which frowns upon the flood; That in embraces locked we might plunge in, And perish thus in one another's arms. Imo. Alas! what shout is that? Oro. I see 'em coming. They sha'not overtake us. And now farewell. This last kiss, Imo. Farewell, farewell forever! Oro. I'll turn my face away, and do it so. Now, are you ready? Imo. Now. But do not grudge me The pleasure, in my death, of a last look; [Going to stab her, he stops short; she lays her hand on his, in order to give the blow. Imo. Nay, then I must assist you. And since it is the common cause of both, 'Tis just that both should be employed in it. Thus, thus 'tis finished, and I bless my fate, [Stabs herself. That, where I lived, I die in these loved arms. [Dies. Oro. She's gone. And now all's at an end with me. Soft, lay her down: O we will part no more. [Throws himself by her. But let me pay the tribute of my grief, And then I follow- [Shouts: weeps over her. [A noise again. The noise comes nearer. Hold, before I go, It shall be so, There's something would be done. [Rises. Enter BLANDFORD and his party, before the LIEUTENANTGOVERNOR and his party. Swords drawn on both sides. Lieut. You strive in vain to save him, he shall die. Oro. Here is the wretch whom you would have. Who cannot live, and now entreats to die. This object will convince you. [They gather about the body. Bland. 'Tis his wife. Bloody I know it is, and I expect Thus, self-condemned, I do resign myself into your hands, The hands of justice—But I hold the sword For you and for myself. [Stabs the GOVERNOR and himself, then throws himself by IMOINDA's body. "Tis as it should be now, I have sent his ghost In the next world, which he denied us here. To all he knew: and, if he went astray, [Dies. There's mercy still above to set him right. [Exeunt. Nicholas Rowe. TAMERLANE. TAMERLANE Overthrows BAJAZET, the Turkish Sultan, and takes him Prisoner. In the Characters of TAMERLANE and BAJAZET, Rowe professed to draw the Characters of WILLIAM III. and Louis XIV. SCENE II.-The inside of a magnificent Tent. Symphony of warlike Music. Enter TAMERLAne, Axalla, Prince of TANAIS, ZAMA, MIRVAN, Soldiers, and other Attend ants. Ax. From this auspicious day the Parthian name Shall date its birth of empire, and extend Even from the dawning east to utmost Thu'e The limits of its sway. Pr. Nations unknown, Where yet the Roman eagles never flew, Shall pay their homage to victorious Tamerlane; Bend to his valour and superior virtue, And own that conquest is not given by chance, But, bound by fatal and resistless merit, Waits on his arms. Tam. It is too much you dress me Vaunt of himself, and say, Thus have I done this? Ax. With such unshaken temper of the soul Tam. Oh, Axalla ! Could I forget I am a man as thou art, Would not the winter's cold or summer's heat, Enter OMAR. Om. Honour and fame [Bowing to TAMERLANE Forever wait the emperor: may our prophet Give him ten thousand thousand days of life, And every day like this. The captive sultan, Fierce in his bonds, and at his fate repining, Attends your sacred will. Tam. Let him approach. Enter BAJAZET, and other Turkish Prisoners in chains, with a Guard of Soldiers. When I survey the ruins of this field, The wild destruction which thy fierce ambition Has dealt among mankind (so many widows And helpless orphans has thy battle made, That half our eastern world this day are mourners), Baj. Make thy demand to those that own thy power; Know, I am still beyond it; and though fortune (Curse on that changeling deity of fools!) Has stripped me of the train and pomp of greatness, I know what power the chance of war has given, This after-game of words, is what most irks me; Be it as it may. Tam. Well was it for the world, When on their borders neighbouring princes met, Preventing wasteful war: such should our meeting The sanctity of leagues so often sworn to. Canst thou believe thy Prophet, or, what's more, That Power supreme, which made thee and thy Prophet, |