In champion<112> grounds what figure serves you best,
For which<113> the quinque-angle form is meet,
Because the corners there may fall more flat
Whereas<114> the fort may fittest be assail'd,
And sharpest where th' assault is desperate:
The ditches must be deep; the<115> counterscarps
Narrow and steep; the walls made high and broad;
The bulwarks and the rampires large and strong,
With cavalieros<116> and thick counterforts,
And room within to lodge six thousand men;
It must have privy ditches, countermines,
And secret issuings to defend the ditch;
It must have high argins<117> and cover'd ways
To keep the bulwark-fronts from battery,
And parapets to hide the musketeers,
Casemates to place the great<118> artillery,
And store of ordnance, that from every flank
May scour the outward curtains of the fort,
Dismount the cannon of the adverse part,
Murder the foe, and save the<119> walls from breach.
When this is learn'd for service on the land,
By plain and easy demonstration
I'll teach you how to make the water mount,
That you may dry-foot march through lakes and pools,
Deep rivers, havens, creeks, and little seas,
And make a fortress in the raging waves,
Fenc'd with the concave of a monstrous rock,
Invincible by nature<120> of the place.
When this is done, then are ye soldiers,
And worthy sons of Tamburlaine the Great.