Classic Poem

[SCENE I.]

Sound drums and trumpets, and enter A BDELMELEC , C ALSEPIUS B ASSA and his Guard, and Z AREO , a Moor, with Soldiers.

Abdelm . All hail, Argerd Zareo; and, ye Moors,
Salute the frontiers of your native home:
Cease, rattling drums; and, Abdelmelec, here
Throw up thy trembling hands to heaven's throne,
Pay to thy God due thanks, and thanks to him
That strengthens thee with mighty gracious arms
Against the proud usurper of thy right,
The royal seat and crown of Barbary,
Great Amurath, great Emperor of the East:
The world bear witness how I do adore
The sacred name of Amurath the Great.
Calsepius Bassa, Bassa Calsepius,
To thee, and to thy trusty band of men
That carefully attend us in our camp,
Pick'd soldiers, comparable to the guard
Of Myrmidons that kept Achilles' tent,
Such thanks we give to thee and to them all,
As may concern a poor distressed king,
In honour and in princely courtesy.
Cal. Bas . Courteous and honourable Abdelmelec,
We are not come, at Amurath's command,
As mercenary men, to serve for pay,
But as sure friends, by our great master sent
To gratify and to remunerate
Thy love, thy loyalty, and forwardness,
Thy service in his father's dangerous war;
And to perform, in view of all the world,
The true office of right and royalty;
To see thee in thy kingly chair enthroned,
To settle and to seat thee in the same,
To make thee Emperor of this Barbary,
Are come the viceroys and sturdy janizaries
Of Amurath, son to Sultan Solimon.

Enter M ULY M AHAMET S ETH , R UBIN A RCHIS , A BDEL R AYES , with others .

Abd. Rayes. Long live my lord, the sovereign of my heart,
Lord Abdelmelec, whom the god of kings,
The mighty Amurath hath happy made!
And long live Amurath for this good deed!
Muly Mah. Seth . Our Moors have seen the silver moons to wave
In banners bravely spreading o'er the plain,
And in these semicircles have descried,
All in a golden field, a star to rise,
A glorious comet that begins to blaze,
Promising happy sorting to us all.
Rub. Ar. Brave man-at-arms, whom Amurath hath sent
To sow the lawful true-succeeding seed
In Barbary, that bows and groans withal
Under a proud usurping tyrant's mace,
Right thou the wrongs this rightful king hath borne.
Abdelm . Distressed ladies, and ye dames of Fess,
Sprung from the true Arabian Muly Xarif,
The loadstar and the honour of our line,
Now clear your watery eyes, wipe tears away,
And cheerfully give welcome to these arms:
Amurath hath sent scourges by his men,
To whip that tyrant traitor-king from hence,
That hath usurp'd from us, and maim'd you all,
Soldiers, sith rightful quarrels [by heaven's] aid
Successful are, and men that manage them
Fight not in fear as traitors and their pheres;
That you may understand what arms we bear,
What lawful arms against our brother's son,
In sight of heaven, even of mine honour's worth,
Truly I will deliver and discourse
The sum of all. Descended from the line
Of Mahomet, our grandsire Muly Xarif
With store of gold and treasure leaves Arabia,
And strongly plants himself in Barbary;
And of the Moors that now with us do wend
Our grandsire Muly Xarif was the first.
From him well wot ye Muly Mahamet Xeque,
Who in his lifetime made a perfect law,
Confirm'd with general voice of all his peers,
That in his kingdom should successively
His sons succeed. Abdallas was the first,
Eldest of four, Abdelmunen the second,
And we the rest, my brother and myself.
Abdallas reign'd his time: but see the change!
He labours to invest his son in all,
To disannul the law our father made,
And disinherit us his brethren;
And in his lifetime wrongfully proclaims
His son for king that now contends with us.
Therefore I crave to re-obtain my right,
That Muly Mahamet the traitor holds,
Traitor and bloody tyrant both at once,
That murdered his younger brethren both:
But on this damned wretch, this traitor-king,
The gods shall pour down showers of sharp revenge.
And thus a matter not to you unknown
I have deliver'd; yet for no distrust
Of loyalty, my well-beloved friends,
But that th' occasions fresh in memory
Of these encumbers so may move your minds,
As for the lawful true-succeeding prince
Ye neither think your lives nor honours dear,
Spent in a quarrel just and honourable.
Cal. Bas . Such and no other we repute the cause
That forwardly for thee we undertake,
Thrice-puissant and renowmed Abdelmelec,
And for thine honour, safety, and crown,
Our lives and honours frankly to expose
To all the dangers that on war attends,
As freely and as resolutely all
As any Moor whom thou commandest most.
Muly Mah. Seth . And why is Abdelmelec, then, so slow
To chastise him with fury of the sword
Whose pride doth swell to sway beyond his reach?
Follow this pride with fury of revenge.
Rub. Ar. Of death, of blood, of wreak, and deep revenge,
Shall Rubin Archis frame her tragic songs:
In blood, in death, in murder, and misdeed,
This heaven's malice did begin and end.
Abdelm . Rubin, these rites to Abdelmunen's ghost
Have pierced by this to Pluto's cave below;
The bells of Pluto ring revenge amain,
The Furies and the fiends conspire with thee;
War bids me draw my weapons for revenge
Of my deep wrongs and my dear brother's death.
Muly Mah. Seth. Sheath not your swords, you soldiers of Amurath,
Sheath not your swords, you Moors of Barbary,
That fight in right of your anointed king,
But follow to the gates of death and hell,
Pale death and hell, to entertain his soul;
Follow, I say, to burning Phlegethon,
This traitor-tyrant and his companies.
Cal. Bas. Heave up your swords against these stony holds,
Wherein these barbarous rebels are enclosed:
Call'd for is Abdelmelec by the gods
To sit upon the throne of Barbary.
Abd. Rayes. Bassa, great thanks, the honour of the Turks. —
Forward, brave lords, unto this rightful war!
How can this battle but successful be,
Where courage meeteth with a rightful cause?
Rub. Ar. Go in good time, my best-beloved lord,
Successful in thy work thou undertakes!