This episode deals with some of the possible sources for Tamerlane - the longest poem from his first published work. This episode touches on such varied subjects as Christopher Marlowe, Nicolas Rowe and the First Folio, the Richmond Theatre Fire, hippodrome plays, and why Tamerlane and Other Poems is important.
This episode deals with some of the possible sources for Tamerlane - the longest poem from his first published work. This episode touches on such varied subjects as Christopher Marlowe, Nicolas Rowe and the First Folio, the Richmond Theatre Fire, hippodrome plays, and why Tamerlane and Other Poems is important.
00:00 Intro
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Welcome to Celebrate Poe. My name is George Bartley, and this is episode 139 - Where Did He Get THAT idea?
Before we start - you might hear the word Timur or Tamberland or Tamerlane in this podcast episode but don’t be confused. They are all the same person.
Now while it is true that Poe’s poem Tamerlane shares the name of the HISTORICAL Tamerlane, the poem basically has more differences than similarities to the orginial character of Tamerlane the mass murderer. The bottom line is that we just don’t know the exact source - oh, there are lots of contenders as inspiratation for Poe’s Tamerlane - but nothing really definite.
As most anyone who listened to last week’s Celebrate Poe episode, the historical Tamerlane - also referred to as Timur or Tamberlane - killed millions of people. But many scholars believe that Western Civilization seems to have a blind spot regarding Tamerlane’s actions because he overcame the Ottoman Empire - a civilization that many scholars believe would have defeated Western Civilization if it had not been stopped by Tamerlane and his forces.
It is ironic that rulers of European countries actually had treaties with Tamerlane - rulers that the historical Tamerlane would have killed if he had half the chance.
One of the greatest early achievements in English drama was Tamberlane - a fictional account of Tamerlane’s life by Christopher Marlowe. The play is believed to have a tremendous influence on William Shakespeare and all English drama in general. Tamberlane has two parts - two VERRRY long parts that take great liberties with historical facts.
But I am just going to go over two rather brief quotes from a very long play -
One of the most famous parts Tamberlane the Great are these lines from from the first part of Act One, Scene II
I hold the Fates bound fast in iron chains, / And with my hand turn Fortune’s wheel about, / And sooner shall the sun fall from his sphere / Than Tamburlaine be slain or overcome.
These four lines are a very concise expression of Taburlaine’s tremendous ambition. Instead of just the Fates being in charge, Marlowe has Tamburlaine the Great very much in charge. In other words, Marlowe has Tamburlaine himself - not some outside force - controlling his actions.
Perhaps the most famous lines of Tamberlane the Great Part Two are
Nature, that framed us of four elements / Warring within our breasts for regiment, / Doth teach us all to have aspiring minds. / Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend / The wondrous architecture of the world / And measure every wandering planet’s course, / Still climbing after knowledge infinite, / And always moving as the restless spheres, / Wills us to wear ourselves and never rest, / Until we reach that ripest fruit of all, / That perfect bliss and sole felicity, / The sweet fruition of an earthly crown.
The lines contain an entire theory of human nature, with such awe-inspiring phrases such as the imagery of “the wondrous architecture of the world.” Here Tamburlaine recasts the endless striving inherent in human nature as a gift, a notion that’s fundamentally at odds with his too-neat resolution settling on the permanent satisfaction promised by “an earthly crown.” - Heavy stuff - and a theme that Shakespeare explores over and over in such history plays as Richard III, Henry V, and the two parts of Henry IV.
Now the reason I am going into all this is that noted Poe scholar Killis Campbell has pointed out that the plot of Poe’s poem Tamberlane follows in broad outline the life-story of the warrior, Tamerlane, - but only in broad outline. Onto this is is grafted a fanciful love story.
We just don’t know for sure how Poe was first drawn to the story. While at school in London, he was an excellent student and certainly had the opportunity to come across Tamberlane as a historical figure. Kinda like a high school student today being familar with such Civil War Generals as Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. Or being familar with Shakespeare, he could have very well come across Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlane the Great, Parts One and Two.
6:40 Nicolas Rowe and Monk Lewis
The dramatists Nicholas Rowe and Monk Lewis also wrote works regarding Tamberlane that Poe might have seen or read. Nicolas Rowe is generally agreed to be the first editor of Shakespeare. His practical knowledge of the stage helped him divide the plays into scenes with the entrances and exits of the players noted. Note that the Folio (the first publication of all of Shakespeare’s plays except for Pericles does not divide the plays into scenes and acts at all.)
And Monk Lewis was one weird dude. In addition to a drama about Tamerlane, he wrote a play called The Captive. In what sounds like a over-the-top story by a mature Poe, the story is about woman denied any human contact and kept in a modern dungeon. She is not mad but realizes that she will soon be a maniac. It was said that even the staff of the theatre left in horror. The play was only staged once.
But be that as it may, again there is no definite proof that Poe was familar with the historical Tamerlane, or the plays by Nicolas Rowe or Monk Lewis concerning Tamerlane.
For another theory regarding where Poe could have first been exposed to Tamerlane, let’s take a break and look at some theatres in Richmond - and I think this is really cool.
Let’s go back to the night of December 26, 1811 in Richmond, Virginia.
The Allan family would probably have attended the special
performance that night at the Richmond Theatre - they were avid theatre goers. but they were spending the Christmas holidays with the Randolphs at Turkey Island instead.
Now on the night after Christmas, many of Richmond’s most influential citizens were attending the theatre at the Richmond Theatre - and as you might imagine - were quite joyous and spirited as a result of the Christmas season. It seemed that almost all of the leading citizens of Richmond such as lawyers, doctors, scholars, and all those of prominence were in attendance - not knowing the fate that was awaiting them.
The wealthier members of the audience tended to occupy the three levels of box seats. Furthermore, to gain entrance to the box levels, playgoers were forced to descend into a narrow corridor of considerable length, climb a narrow and winding staircase, and finally pass through a single narrow door. This was the only accessible exit for people in the boxes - audience members who tended to be rather wealthy - excellent seats, but quite clumsy if one needed to leave hastily.
The playgoers who bought cheaper seats sat in the balcony sections.
This balcony section was naturally higher than the box seats, but had the benefit of being able to be accessed from the outside. The staircase to the outside was relatively roomy - a building characteristic that was to save many lives. Theatre actors and workers were also able to gain access to the street quickly through private exit doors in the galleries and pit. Unfortunately, few audience members knew of these doors - a fact which also resulted in the loss of life that night.
The first billing of the night had the crowd rolling with laughter, and later cheering wildly with applause. The orchestra then began a brief musical interlude while the theatre workers prepared the stage for the second act.
Workers then instructed a boy to lift one of the chandeliers so that it could not be seen.
While he was raising the lamp, the boy realized that one of the chandelier’s two oil candles was still burning, and he hesitated to act further. However, an individual in authority told him not to stop, but continue to pull the chandelier upward. But the pulley system that was used to pull the chandelier upward froze. So the boy jerked one of the pulley robes trying to free the mechanism. This jerk on the rope caused the chandelier to swing back and forth, and it became apparent that the chandelier could not be controlled. Witnesses later said that a stage carpenter yelled, “Put the chandelier out!” But he was too late - the lit fixture swung back and forth, and brushed up against one of the sceneries, setting it on fire.
As the second act began, a comic by the name of Mr. West was onstage completely oblivious to the reality that behind him. Stage personnel were working frantically to tear down burning pieces and extinguish the flames. It is said that some of the audience thought this was an extremely realistic rendition of a burning fire, and were initially either amazed or confused.
The comic became alarmed when he saw flakes of fire falling. He stopped his act and hurried behind the scene. Mr. West saw that the flames were spreading rapidly, and began to help others in attempting to control the fire. Moments later, he and several other actors gave up and fled to the street.
Then one of the leading actors of the event, Mr. Hopkins Robertson, stepped alone onto the stage with the intention of communicating to the audience to quickly and calmly leave the house. But he saw that flames were rapidly spreading across the theatre, and yelled out, “The House is on fire!”
The audience then began to scramble in a mad rush to leave the building.
Most of the actors and orchestra members fled to the street comparatively easily through private doors. Most of the playgoers in the balcony were also able to leave safely though private doors. But people in the boxes panicked and were forced to fight their way through narrow and winding passages.
One might say that the scene at the Richmond Theatre was nothing short of hellish. The building was filled with thick black smoke, while the playgoers screams increased, Many were to die of suffocation. Others were trampled to death, or crushed by falling structures. Some people were badly burned but able to escape, only to die later from those burns.
Not surprisingly, it was difficult to think logically amid all the panic, and
few people in the box seats realized that they could leave the burning theater relatively easily by jumping down into the pit below. You see, the pit was almost vacant and had an accessible exit. But it seemed that almost everything in the building was combustible, including the oil pained sceneries, the draperies, and the many panels and boxes on stage. Combined with an inadequate means of escape, the building was a death trap.
Theatre goers ran with the clothes on fire while they screamed in agony.
Some of them felt there was no foreseeable way out, and leaped out of the high windows. Initially some of the jumpers suffered broken bones they hit the hard ground, while others were crushed to death when other jumpers
fell on them.
Within 10 minutes after the start of fire, the entire Richmond Theatre was engulfed in flames, and anybody trapped inside by this time was surely dead. The fire finally burned all night, leaving behind it just a few smoldering timbers and several charred bodies.
This was the worst urban disaster in America up to that time.
Just hours after flames left the Richmond Theatre in ruins, a committee was appointed to have the remains of those who perished in the fire collected, to identify the names of the victims, and to plan their funerals. Collected bodies were buried in a crypt at the spot where the playhouse once stood. The city of Richmond was extremely shaken by what happened at their only theatre Public. Shows of any kind were prohibited for four months and stores in the area were closed two consecutive days for mourning. A memorial monument was also erected near the spot in honor of the victims and to serve as a permanent reminder of the horrible holocaust that had occurred. The Monumental Church was erected on the site of the disaster as a memorial to the fire
For an even more detailed account of the Richmond Theatre Fire refer to episode 12 Richmond Theatre - Part One which deals with the fire itself. The subjects of Episode 13 include one of the heroes of the Richmond Fire, as well as one of the heros of 9/11.
17:38 Second Richmond Theatre and Hippodrome Plays
Now the reason I am talking about the Richmond Fire is to hopefully give you an idea of how important the theatre was to Richmond city culture, and point out that a SECOND theatre was built to replace the cultural center that had been incinerated.
One of the productions of that SECOND theatre was a 1811 play called Timour the Tartar. This was known as a hippodrome play - and no - the play had nothing to do with hippopatimi. The term hippodrome basically meant a play featuring horses. Not surprisingly, their concept was controversial, but plays featuring horses were popular for the next 50 years.
I know a few years ago, there was a musical of Gone With the Wind that featured a horse on stage in London - the play must have been a flop because the only thing I heard about it was that horse on stage. and when you think about it, Gone with the Wind is a long novel and has a rather complicated story - With half of it sung, then it would be a very long musical.
But I digress.
18:59 Timour the Tartar at Richmond Theatre
According to theatrical advertisements in Richmond newspapers of the time, Timour the Tartar was presented in the Richmond Theatre three times, on July 12, July 17, and October 25, 1822.
Now Harvard University has a facsimile of the play Timour the Tartar free online, and in the second act, Timour says:
The gay wall of this gaudy tower
Grows dim around me — death is near.
I had not thought, until this hour
When passing from the earth, that ear
Of any, were it not the shade
Of one whom in life I made
All mystery but a simple name,
Might know the secret of a spirit
Bow’d down in sorrow, and in shame. —
Note how In Poe’s version, he ALSO writes about a tower as Tamerlane makes his confession to a priest - an odd jump because the real Tamerlane was definitely not Roman Catholic.
So did the young Poe see Timour the Tartar? Could the words of this play put the idea of a tower somewhere in the back of his head? Will we ever know? And does it really matter?
The historical Tamerlane’s life ended while he and his army of 200,000 soldiers traveled through the deep snow and frozen rivers toward China, eventually stopping for a rest. Tamerlane - who was rather advanced in years, especially for over 600 years ago - caught a cold and died on the journey. The trip to China stopped, and his body was taken home to his beloved city of Samarkand. Here he was buried beneath the dome of a huge mausoleum in a steel coffin under a slab of black jade six feet long. On the stone was inscribed, “This is the resting place of the illustrious and merciful monarch, the most great sultan, the most mighty warrior, Lord Timur, Conqueror of the World.”
21:29 Ending and importance of Poe’s Tamerlane
In contrast, the Tamerlane of Poe’s poem dies after he has made his confesssion to a priest - remember that the character of Tamerlane confessing to a priest was Poe’s invention. Poe’s Tamerlane ends with the lines:
I reach’d my home — my home no more —
For all had flown who made it so.
I pass’d from out its mossy door,
And, tho’ my tread was soft and low,
A voice came from the threshold stone
Of one whom I had earlier known —
O, I defy thee, Hell, to show
On beds of fire that burn below,
An humbler heart — a deeper wo.
Father, I firmly do believe —
I know — for Death who comes for me
From regions of the blest afar,
Where there is nothing to deceive,
Hath left his iron gate ajar,
And rays of truth you cannot see
Are flashing thro’ Eternity ——
I wandered of the idol, Love,
Who daily scents his snowy wings
With incense of burnt offerings
From the most unpolluted things,
Whose pleasant bowers are yet so riven
Above with trellic’d rays from Heaven [page 82:]
No mote may shun — no tiniest fly —
The light’ning of his eagle eye —
How was it that Ambition crept,
Unseen, amid the revels there,
Till growing bold, he laughed and leapt
In the tangles of Love's very hair?
Not exactly Poe’s greatest.
I think it would really be pushing it to call almost any element of the life of the historical Talmerlane a love story - an over-the-top supervillian story but certainly not a love story. ON he other hand, Poe’s version of Tamerlane largely ignores historical facts, and DOES show elements of a love story - or at least a man who wishes that he had paid more attention to the love of his life.
The love story which Poe weaves into his plot could easily be a reflection of his own love affair with Miss Sarah Elmira Royster of Richmond. Just as the Tamerlane of his poem has lost his love, Poe could be referring to Miss Royster because she married another suitor.
According to Killis Campbell, Edgar Allan Poe must certainly have been aware of the imperfections of Tamerlane— its feebleness, its obscurity, its bareness and brokenness of style, and its lack of originality In the preface of 1827 he confesses that the poem has “many faults”; and in a note to the edition of 1845 he refers to Tamerlane along with other early poems as “the crude compositions of my earliest boyhood.”
In conclusion, Tamerlane definitely does have its imperfections, but it points to far greater things to come for Edgar Allan Poe.
24:59 Future episode -
Next week, we will have a visit from an interesting ghost. And I am not talking about the ghost of Mr. Poe, but the imagined ghost of the mass murderer and highly influential historical Tamerlane. So join Celebrate Poe for a really fun episode - and you just might learn something from the ghost of Tamerlane - considered by many to be one of history’s most evil men.
25:16 Sources
Sources include Tamerberlane the Great, Parts 1 and 2 by Christopher Marlowe, The Castle of Otrano by Monk Lewis, The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Killis Campbell, Timour the Tartar by Matthew Lewis, and an extremely helpful work - Timour the Tartar and Poe’s Tamerlane by Martin Staples Shockley.
25:45 Outro
Thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe - a deep dive into the life, times, and works of America’s Shakespeare - Edgar Allan Poe.
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