Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/270

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. vn. APML e, iwi.

In Marlowe thus :

Tamb. I '11 ride in golden armour like the sun ; And in my helm a triple plume shall spring, Spangled with diamonds, dancing in the air, To note me emperor of the three-fold world ; Like to an almond-tree y-mounted high Upon the lofty and celestial mount Of ever-green Selinus, quaintly deck'd With blooms more white than Erycina s brows, Whose tender blossoms tremble every one At every little breath that thorough heaven is

blown.

Then in my coach, like Saturn's royal sou Mounted his shining chariot gilt with fire, And drawn with princely eagles through the path Pav'd with bright crystal and enchas'd with stars, When all the gods stand gazing at his pomp, So will I ride through Samarcanda-streets.

'2 Tamburlaine,' IV. iii. p. 66, cols. 1, 2.

So much has been attributed to Marlowe, who lived but thirty years, that it may be asked, How much more 1 My answer is that I only claim * Selimus ' for him, in addition to the plays and poems in Dyce. Not only so : I assert that Marlowe had no hand in ' Titus Andronicus ' or the various versions of my assertion. In these dramas Marlowe is merely copied by Shakespeare, who is their sole author.
 * Henry VI.' ; and I am prepared to prove

' Selimus ' has all the appearance of being an older play than ' Tamburlaine/ and there- fore it seems to be the eldest of Marlowe's works. The construction " for to " with an infinitive occurs in ' Selimus ' no fewer than thirteen times, and several times the play has " for " in the sense of " because," and other bits of a phrasing that was fast dying out. This phrasing occurs but rarely in Marlowe's other work, but it is extremely common in Spenser, whom the author of the play imi- tates throughout. As a matter of fact, some of these turns of expression in ' Selimus ' can be proved to have been taken direct from ' The Faerie Queene.'

Like '1 Tamburlaine,' 'Selimus' was written with an eye to continuation, and the remainder of the play was to follow, provided that Part I. pleased the " Gentles." But the "Gentles" apparently were not pleased, for nobody has ever heard of ' Seli- mus,' Part II. The author's own words in his Prologue to Part II. of ' Tamburlaine ' are worth noting in this connexion, as they show clearly that this portion of his great drama would not have been written if the public had withheld their approval from Part I. :

The general welcomes Tamburlaine receiv'd, When he arrived last upon the stage, Jfane made our author pen his Second Par/,.

It is possible, then, that the first part of 'Selimus' proved to be a bad venture, and

that Marlowe resolved to change his subject to one presenting similar aspects and capable of treatment on similar lines. In ' Tambur- laine' we find such a subject, and a treat- ment that is identical in all its features with that displayed in 'Selimus,' even to the minutest bits of phrasing.

The author of 'Selimus' was well acquainted with the life-story of the Scythian shepherd, whom he mentions three times in his play. Each time that he alludes to Tamburlaine, he alludes to him in terms that instantly recall ' Tamburlaine ' : For Tamberlaine the scourge of nations.

Sprung from great Tamberlaine the Scythian thief.

' Selimus,' 11. 1754, 2449. Marlowe thus :

Of Tamburlaine, that sturdy Scythian thief.

'1 Tamb., 3 1. i. p. 7, col. 2. The scum of men, the hate and scourge of God,

My lord, it is the bloody Tamburlaine, A sturdy felon, and a base-bred thief.

'1 Tamb.,' IV. iii. p. 28, col. 1.

The ' Selimus ' Bajazet is, as I have shown, associated in the play with his namesake of ' Tamburlaine ' ; nor does it forget to make a passing allusion to Usumcasane, one of Tam- burlaine's devoted followers. In fact, outside myth and fable, and barring references to personages directly concerned with the play, ' Selimus ' makes allusions to only six histori- cal names : Constantine, Mahomet, the great Sultan Ottoman (the founder of the Ottoman dynasty), Bajazet, Tamburlaine, and Usum- casane. The last three, of course, have been made immortal by Marlowe. Prester John, too, is mentioned in ' Selimus ' as well as in 'Tamburlaine,' but he must be classed amongst the myths. Yet these allusions in ' Selimus ' show that the author would not experience much trouble in passing from one subject to the other.

The Conclusion of 'Selimus' is neither more nor less than a forecast of 'Tambur- laine,' expressed in terms identical with those employed in the latter :

Thus have we brought victorious Selimus

Unto the crown of great Arabia ;

Next, shall you see him with triumphant sword

Dividing kingdoms into equal shares,

And give them to his warlike followers.

LI. 2566-70.

The Prologue to ' 1 Tamburlaine ' promises the spectacle of Tamburlaine

Scourging kingdoms with his conquering sword, and in several places the play exhibits the Scythian conqueror dividing kingdoms into equal shares and giving them to his warlike followers. (See Dyce, p. 10, col. 1, and else-