Tamerlane

The central theme of “Tamerlane” is the unbalanced dynamic between pure love and ruthless ambition. In his monologue to the priest, the title character presents these as two irreconcilable goals; he could not have both values in his life at the same time.

Initially, the speaker believed his lover shared his hunger for power:

The moment's converse; in her eyes

I read, perhaps too carelessly—

A mingled feeling with my own—

The flush on her bright cheek, to me

Seem’d to become a queenly throne (Lines 148-52).

In retrospect, however, the speaker recognizes his own projection onto the lover—in other words, he saw his ambition reflected back at him. In reality, the lover represented a more pure and innocent source of fulfilment than the emptiness of endless war. Once the speaker understood the divide between them, he turned away toward new endeavors: “Why did I leave it, and, adrift, / Trust to the fire within, for light?” (Lines 94-95). The idea of both love and power as sources of light is prevalent throughout the poem; they are two sides of the same dynamic, which has led the speaker to ultimately see them as inversions of each other.

The poem is clear in its thematic intent; Tamerlane looks back on the choice he made as the wrong one.