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Full speech
Pardon me dread Sovereign, I hold it not Good policy, to call your forces home From Persea and Poloniam, bending them Upon a paltry I'll of small defence. A common press of base superfluous Turks, May soon beleuied for so slight a task. Ah Soliman, whose name hath shaked thy foes, As withered leaves with Autume thrown down, Fog not thy glory with so fowl eclipse, Let not thy Soldiers found a base retire, Till Persea stoop, and thou be conqueror. What scandal were it to thy mightiness, After so many valiant Bassowes slain, Whose blood hath been manured to their earth, Whose bones hath made their deep ways passable. To found a homeward, dull, and harsh retreat, Without a conquest, or a mean revenge, Strive not for Rhodes, by letting Persea slip, The ones a Lion almost brought to death, Whose skin will countervail the hunter's toil; The other is a Wasp with threatening sting. Whose Honey is not worth the taking up. Why, his highness gave me leave to speak my will, And far from flattery I spoke my mind, And did discharge a faithful subjects love, Thou Aristippus Like didst flatter him, Not Like my brother, or a man of worth, And for his highness vow I crossed it not, But gave my censure, as his highness bade, Now for thy chastisement, know Amurath, I scorn them as a rechlesse Lion scorns, The humming of a gnat in Summer's night, Not half so much am I a friend to Rhodes, As thou art enemy to thy Sovereign. Not for thy threats, but for my self I say, It is not meet, that one so base as thou, Shouldst come about the person of a King. Your Highness knows I spoke at your command, And to the purpose, far from flattery.
Plot summary
Plot — Soliman and Perseda (Zulziman)
Love, Fortune, and Death dispute which of them is the most appropriate chorus to the tragedy; they debate their roles in the choric passages that follow. Erastus proves his knightly prowess in a wedding-day tilt for the Prince of Cyprus, but loses a chain given to him by his love Perseda. Ferdinando finds it and gives it to his love, Lucina. Seeing her wearing it, Perseda believes Erastus has been unfaithful. Erastus visits Lucina in disguise and wins back the chain in a dice- game, but is confronted by Ferdinando, who is killed in the ensuing quarrel. In consequence, Erastus has to go into exile to the enemy state of Turkey, leaving the chain for Perseda as a token of his misunderstood constancy. Rhodes is strategically important, the key to the conquest of Christendom. One of the knights at the wedding tilt, Brusor, was a Turkish spy sent to investigate the island’s defences prior to an attack. He also tells Suleiman about Erastus’ magnificent tiltyard performance, so the Emperor is pleased when Erastus arrives at his court, and allows him to demonstrate his worth in a friendly bout of swordplay. He accepts and honours Erastus, allows him to remain a Christian, and spares him the task of conquering his native Rhodes, which is successfully undertaken by Brusor. . Erastus is appointed the Governor of conquered Rhodes. Prisoners of war are brought to Turkey, including the island’s women, and also the cowardly knight Basilisco, who escapes execution by converting to Islam. Suleiman falls in love with Perseda, but she refuses him for Erastus’ sake, even before she knows that he is now an honoured courtier. Suleiman gives her to Erastus, but later regrets the decision and has him recalled and executed on a false charge of treason. Perseda takes command of Rhodes and resists Suleiman’s army. Not recognizing her at first in her male clothing, Suleiman kills her. On realizing her identity, he kisses her dead lips, but they are poisoned. Rhodes is conquered, but all the principal characters are dead. Accordingly, Death claims primacy over Love and Fortune in the closing chorus.