Titus Andronicus (theatre)/Source

DRAMATIS PERSONAE (Persons Represented):


 * SATURNINUS, Son to the late Emperor of Rome, afterwards declared
 * Emperor.
 * BASSIANUS, Brother to Saturninus, in love with Lavinia.
 * TITUS ANDRONICUS, a noble Roman, General against the Goths.
 * MARCUS ANDRONICUS, Tribune of the People, and Brother to Titus.


 * LUCIUS, Son to Titus Andronicus.
 * QUINTUS, Son to Titus Andronicus.
 * MARTIUS, Son to Titus Andronicus.
 * MUTIUS, Son to Titus Andronicus.


 * YOUNG LUCIUS, a Boy, Son to Lucius.
 * PUBLIUS, Son to Marcus the Tribune.


 * AEMILIUS, a noble Roman.


 * ALARBUS, Son to Tamora.
 * DEMETRIUS, Son to Tamora.
 * CHIRON, Son to Tamora.


 * AARON, a Moor, beloved by Tamora
 * A Captain, Tribune, Messenger,and Clown—Romans
 * Goths and Romans.


 * TAMORA, Queen of the Goths
 * LAVINIA, Daughter to Titus Andronicus
 * A NURSE, and a black CHILD.


 * Kinsmen to Titus, Senators, Tribunes, Officers, Soldiers, and Attendants.

SCENE: Rome, and the Country near it.

SCENE I. Rome. Before the Capitol.
[The Tomb of Andronic appearing; the Tribunes and Senators aloft.
 * Enter, below, SATURNINUS and his Followers on one side, and
 * BASSIANUS and his Followers at the other, with drums and
 * colours.]

SATURNINUS.
 * Noble patricians, patrons of my right,
 * Defend the justice of my cause with arms;
 * And, countrymen, my loving followers,
 * Plead my successive title with your swords:
 * I am his first born son that was the last
 * That wore the imperial diadem of Rome:
 * Then let my father's honours live in me,
 * Nor wrong mine age with this indignity.

BASSIANUS.
 * Romans,—friends, followers, favourers of my right,—
 * If ever Bassianus, Caesar's son,
 * Were gracious in the eyes of royal Rome,
 * Keep then this passage to the Capitol;
 * And suffer not dishonour to approach
 * The imperial seat, to virtue consecrate,
 * To justice, continence, and nobility:
 * But let desert in pure election shine;
 * And, Romans, fight for freedom in your choice.

[Enter MARCUS ANDRONICUS aloft, with the crown.]

MARCUS.
 * Princes,—that strive by factions and by friends
 * Ambitiously for rule and empery,—
 * Know that the people of Rome, for whom we stand
 * A special party, have by common voice,
 * In election for the Roman empery
 * Chosen Andronicus, surnamed Pius
 * For many good and great deserts to Rome:
 * A nobler man, a braver warrior,
 * Lives not this day within the city walls.:
 * He by the senate is accited home
 * From weary wars against the barbarous Goths;
 * That with his sons, a terror to our foes,
 * Hath yok'd a nation strong, train'd up in arms.
 * Ten years are spent since first he undertook
 * This cause of Rome, and chastised with arms
 * Our enemies' pride: five times he hath return'd
 * Bleeding to Rome, bearing his valiant sons
 * In coffins from the field;
 * And now at last, laden with honour's spoils,
 * Returns the good Andronicus to Rome,
 * Renowned Titus, flourishing in arms.
 * Let us entreat,—by honour of his name
 * Whom worthily you would have now succeed,
 * And in the Capitol and senate's right,
 * Whom you pretend to honour and adore,—
 * That you withdraw you and abate your strength;
 * Dismiss your followers, and, as suitors should,
 * Plead your deserts in peace and humbleness.

SATURNINUS.
 * How fair the tribune speaks to calm my thoughts!

BASSIANUS.
 * Marcus Andronicus, so I do affy
 * In thy uprightness and integrity,
 * And so I love and honour thee and thine,
 * Thy noble brother Titus and his sons,
 * And her to whom my thoughts are humbled all,
 * Gracious Lavinia, Rome's rich ornament,
 * That I will here dismiss my loving friends;
 * And to my fortunes and the people's favour
 * Commit my cause in balance to be weigh'd.

[Exeunt the Followers of BASSIANUS.]

SATURNINUS.
 * Friends, that have been thus forward in my right,
 * I thank you all and here dismiss you all;
 * And to the love and favour of my country
 * Commit myself, my person, and the cause.

[Exeunt the Followers of SATURNINUS.]


 * Rome, be as just and gracious unto me
 * As I am confident and kind to thee.—
 * Open the gates, tribunes, and let me in.

BASSIANUS.
 * Tribunes, and me, a poor competitor.

[Flourish. Exeunt; SATURNINUS and BASSIANUS go up into the Capitol.]

[Enter a Captain.]

CAPTAIN.
 * Romans, make way. The good Andronicus,
 * Patron of virtue, Rome's best champion,
 * Successful in the battles that he fights,
 * With honour and with fortune is return'd
 * From where he circumscribed with his sword
 * And brought to yoke the enemies of Rome.

[Flourish of trumpets, &c. Enter MARTIUS and MUTIUS; after them two Men bearing a coffin covered with black; then LUCIUS and QUINTUS. After them TITUS ANDRONICUS; and then TAMORA, with ALARBUS, DEMETRIUS, CHIRON, AARON, and other Goths, prisoners; soldiers and People following. The bearers set down the coffin, and TITUS speaks.]

TITUS.
 * Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning weeds!
 * Lo, as the bark that hath discharg'd her fraught
 * Returns with precious lading to the bay
 * From whence at first she weigh'd her anchorage,
 * Cometh Andronicus, bound with laurel boughs,
 * To re-salute his country with his tears,—
 * Tears of true joy for his return to Rome.—
 * Thou great defender of this Capitol,
 * Stand gracious to the rites that we intend!—
 * Romans, of five and twenty valiant sons,
 * Half of the number that King Priam had,
 * Behold the poor remains, alive and dead!
 * These that survive let Rome reward with love;
 * These that I bring unto their latest home,
 * With burial amongst their ancestors;
 * Here Goths have given me leave to sheathe my sword.
 * Titus, unkind, and careless of thine own,
 * Why suffer'st thou thy sons, unburied yet,
 * To hover on the dreadful shore of Styx?—
 * Make way to lay them by their brethren.—

[The tomb is opened.]


 * There greet in silence, as the dead are wont,
 * And sleep in peace, slain in your country's wars!
 * O sacred receptacle of my joys,
 * Sweet cell of virtue and nobility,
 * How many sons of mine hast thou in store,
 * That thou wilt never render to me more!

LUCIUS.
 * Give us the proudest prisoner of the Goths,
 * That we may hew his limbs, and on a pile
 * Ad manes fratrum sacrifice his flesh
 * Before this earthy prison of their bones;
 * That so the shadows be not unappeas'd,
 * Nor we disturb'd with prodigies on earth.

TITUS.
 * I give him you,—the noblest that survives,
 * The eldest son of this distressed queen.

TAMORA.
 * Stay, Roman brethen!—Gracious conqueror,
 * Victorious Titus, rue the tears I shed,
 * A mother's tears in passion for her son:
 * And if thy sons were ever dear to thee,
 * O, think my son to be as dear to me!
 * Sufficeth not that we are brought to Rome,
 * To beautify thy triumphs and return,
 * Captive to thee and to thy Roman yoke;
 * But must my sons be slaughter'd in the streets
 * For valiant doings in their country's cause?
 * O, if to fight for king and common weal
 * Were piety in thine, it is in these.
 * Andronicus, stain not thy tomb with blood:
 * Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods?
 * Draw near them, then, in being merciful:
 * Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge:
 * Thrice-noble Titus, spare my first-born son.

TITUS.
 * Patient yourself, madam, and pardon me.
 * These are their brethren, whom your Goths beheld
 * Alive and dead; and for their brethren slain
 * Religiously they ask a sacrifice:
 * To this your son is mark'd; and die he must,
 * To appease their groaning shadows that are gone.

LUCIUS.
 * Away with him! and make a fire straight;
 * And with our swords, upon a pile of wood,
 * Let's hew his limbs till they be clean consum'd.

[Exeunt LUCIUS, QUINTUS, MARTIUS, and MUTIUS with ALARBUS.]

TAMORA.
 * O cruel, irreligious piety!

CHIRON.
 * Was ever Scythia half so barbarous!

DEMETRIUS.
 * Oppose not Scythia to ambitious Rome.
 * Alarbus goes to rest; and we survive
 * To tremble under Titus' threatening look.
 * Then, madam, stand resolv'd; but hope withal
 * The self-same gods that arm'd the Queen of Troy
 * With opportunity of sharp revenge
 * Upon the Thracian tyrant in his tent,
 * May favour Tamora, the queen of Goths,—
 * When Goths were Goths and Tamora was queen,—
 * To quit the bloody wrongs upon her foes.

[Re-enter LUCIUS, QUINTUS, MARTIUS,and MUTIUS, with their swords bloody.]

LUCIUS.
 * See, lord and father, how we have perform'd
 * Our Roman rites: Alarbus' limbs are lopp'd,
 * And entrails feed the sacrificing fire,
 * Whose smoke like incense doth perfume the sky.
 * Remaineth naught but to inter our brethren,
 * And with loud 'larums welcome them to Rome.

TITUS.
 * Let it be so, and let Andronicus
 * Make this his latest farewell to their souls.

[Trumpets sounded and the coffin laid in the tomb.]


 * In peace and honour rest you here, my sons;
 * Rome's readiest champions, repose you here in rest,
 * Secure from worldly chances and mishaps!
 * Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells,
 * Here grow no damned grudges; here are no storms,
 * No noise, but silence and eternal sleep:

[Enter LAVINIA.]


 * In peace and honour rest you here, my sons!

LAVINIA.
 * In peace and honour live Lord Titus long;
 * My noble lord and father, live in fame!
 * Lo, at this tomb my tributary tears
 * I render for my brethren's obsequies;
 * And at thy feet I kneel, with tears of joy
 * Shed on this earth for thy return to Rome;
 * O, bless me here with thy victorious hand,
 * Whose fortunes Rome's best citizens applaud!

TITUS.
 * Kind Rome, that hast thus lovingly reserv'd
 * The cordial of mine age to glad my heart!—
 * Lavinia, live; outlive thy father's days,
 * And fame's eternal date, for virtue's praise!

[Enter, below, MARCUS ANDRONICUS and Tribunes; re-enter SATURNINUS, BASSIANUS, and Attendants.]

MARCUS.
 * Long live Lord Titus, my beloved brother,
 * Gracious triumpher in the eyes of Rome!

TITUS.
 * Thanks, gentle tribune, noble brother Marcus.

MARCUS.
 * And welcome, nephews, from successful wars,
 * You that survive and you that sleep in fame!
 * Fair lords, your fortunes are alike in all,
 * That in your country's service drew your swords:
 * But safer triumph is this funeral pomp
 * That hath aspir'd to Solon's happiness
 * And triumphs over chance in honour's bed.—
 * Titus Andronicus, the people of Rome,
 * Whose friend in justice thou hast ever been,
 * Send thee by me, their tribune and their trust,
 * This palliament of white and spotless hue;
 * And name thee in election for the empire
 * With these our late-deceased emperor's sons:
 * Be candidatus then, and put it on,
 * And help to set a head on headless Rome.

TITUS.
 * A better head her glorious body fits
 * Than his that shakes for age and feebleness:
 * What, should I don this robe and trouble you?
 * Be chosen with proclamations to-day,
 * To-morrow yield up rule, resign my life,
 * And set abroach new business for you all?
 * Rome, I have been thy soldier forty years,
 * And led my country's strength successfully,
 * And buried one-and-twenty valiant sons,
 * Knighted in field, slain manfully in arms,
 * In right and service of their noble country:
 * Give me a staff of honour for mine age,
 * But not a sceptre to control the world;
 * Upright he held it, lords, that held it last.

MARCUS.
 * Titus, thou shalt obtain and ask the empery.

SATURNINUS.
 * Proud and ambitious tribune, canst thou tell?

TITUS.
 * Patience, Prince Saturninus.

SATURNINUS.
 * Romans, do me right;—
 * Patricians, draw your swords, and sheathe them not
 * Till Saturninus be Rome's Emperor.—
 * Andronicus, would thou were shipp'd to hell
 * Rather than rob me of the people's hearts!

LUCIUS.
 * Proud Saturnine, interrupter of the good
 * That noble-minded Titus means to thee!

TITUS.
 * Content thee, prince; I will restore to thee
 * The people's hearts, and wean them from themselves.

BASSIANUS.
 * Andronicus, I do not flatter thee,
 * But honour thee, and will do till I die.
 * My faction if thou strengthen with thy friends,
 * I will most thankful be; and thanks to men
 * Of noble minds is honourable meed.

TITUS.
 * People of Rome, and people's tribunes here,
 * I ask your voices and your suffrages:
 * Will you bestow them friendly on Andronicus?

TRIBUNES.
 * To gratify the good Andronicus,
 * And gratulate his safe return to Rome,
 * The people will accept whom he admits.

TITUS.
 * Tribunes, I thank you: and this suit I make,
 * That you create your emperor's eldest son,
 * Lord Saturnine; whose virtues will, I hope,
 * Reflect on Rome as Titan's rays on earth,
 * And ripen justice in this commonweal:
 * Then, if you will elect by my advice,
 * Crown him, and say 'Long live our Emperor!'

MARCUS.
 * With voices and applause of every sort,
 * Patricians and plebeians, we create
 * Lord Saturninus Rome's great emperor;
 * And say 'Long live our Emperor Saturnine!'
 * [A long flourish.]

SATURNINUS.
 * Titus Andronicus, for thy favours done
 * To us in our election this day
 * I give thee thanks in part of thy deserts,
 * And will with deeds requite thy gentleness;
 * And for an onset, Titus, to advance
 * Thy name and honourable family,
 * Lavinia will I make my empress,
 * Rome's royal mistress, mistress of my heart,
 * And in the sacred Pantheon her espouse:
 * Tell me, Andronicus, doth this motion please thee?

TITUS.
 * It doth, my worthy lord; and in this match
 * I hold me highly honoured of your grace:
 * And here in sight of Rome, to Saturnine,—
 * King and commander of our commonweal,
 * The wide world's emperor,—do I consecrate
 * My sword, my chariot, and my prisoners;
 * Presents well worthy Rome's imperious lord:
 * Receive them then, the tribute that I owe,
 * Mine honour's ensigns humbled at thy feet.

SATURNINUS.
 * Thanks, noble Titus, father of my life!
 * How proud I am of thee and of thy gifts
 * Rome shall record; and when I do forget
 * The least of these unspeakable deserts,
 * Romans, forget your fealty to me.

TITUS.
 * [To TAMORA.] Now, madam, are you prisoner to an emperor;
 * To him that for your honour and your state
 * Will use you nobly and your followers.

SATURNINUS.
 * A goodly lady, trust me; of the hue
 * That I would choose, were I to choose anew.—
 * Clear up, fair queen, that cloudy countenance:
 * Though chance of war hath wrought this change of cheer,
 * Thou com'st not to be made a scorn in Rome:
 * Princely shall be thy usage every way.
 * Rest on my word, and let not discontent
 * Daunt all your hopes: madam, he comforts you
 * Can make you greater than the Queen of Goths.—
 * Lavinia, you are not displeas'd with this?

LAVINIA.
 * Not I, my lord, sith true nobility
 * Warrants these words in princely courtesy.

SATURNINUS.
 * Thanks, sweet Lavinia.—Romans, let us go:
 * Ransomless here we set our prisoners free:
 * Proclaim our honours, lords, with trump and drum.

[Flourish. SATURNINUS courts TAMORA in dumb show.]

BASSIANUS.
 * Lord Titus, by your leave, this maid is mine.

[Seizing LAVINIA.]

TITUS.
 * How, sir! are you in earnest then, my lord?

BASSIANUS.
 * Ay, noble Titus; and resolv'd withal
 * To do myself this reason and this right.

MARCUS.
 * Suum cuique is our Roman justice:
 * This prince in justice seizeth but his own.

LUCIUS.
 * And that he will and shall, if Lucius live.

TITUS.
 * Traitors, avaunt!—Where is the emperor's guard?—
 * Treason, my lord,—Lavinia is surpris'd!

SATURNINUS.
 * Surpris'd! by whom?

BASSIANUS.
 * By him that justly may
 * Bear his betroth'd from all the world away.

[Exeunt BASSIANUS and MARCUS with LAVINIA.]

MUTIUS.
 * Brothers, help to convey her hence away,
 * And with my sword I'll keep this door safe.

[Exeunt LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and MARTIUS.]

TITUS.
 * Follow, my lord, and I'll soon bring her back.

MUTIUS.
 * My lord, you pass not here.

TITUS.
 * What, villain boy!
 * Barr'st me my way in Rome?

[Stabbing MUTIUS.]

MUTIUS.
 * Help, Lucius, help!

[Dies.]

[Re-enter Lucius.]

LUCIUS.
 * My lord, you are unjust; and more than so:
 * In wrongful quarrel you have slain your son.

TITUS.
 * Nor thou nor he are any sons of mine;
 * My sons would never so dishonour me.
 * Traitor, restore Lavinia to the Emperor.

LUCIUS.
 * Dead, if you will; but not to be his wife,
 * That is another's lawful promis'd love.

[Exit.]

SATURNINUS.
 * No, Titus, no; the emperor needs her not,
 * Nor her, nor thee, nor any of thy stock:
 * I'll trust by leisure him that mocks me once;
 * Thee never, nor thy traitorous haughty sons,
 * Confederates all thus to dishonour me.
 * Was there none else in Rome to make a stale
 * But Saturnine? Full well, Andronicus,
 * Agree these deeds with that proud brag of thine
 * That said'st I begg'd the empire at thy hands.

TITUS.
 * O monstrous! what reproachful words are these?

SATURNINUS.
 * But go thy ways; go, give that changing piece
 * To him that flourish'd for her with his sword;
 * A valiant son-in-law thou shalt enjoy;
 * One fit to bandy with thy lawless sons,
 * To ruffle in the commonwealth of Rome.

TITUS.
 * These words are razors to my wounded heart.

SATURNINUS.
 * And therefore, lovely Tamora, Queen of Goths,—
 * That, like the stately Phoebe 'mongst her nymphs,
 * Dost overshine the gallant'st dames of Rome,—
 * If thou be pleas'd with this my sudden choice,
 * Behold, I choose thee, Tamora, for my bride
 * And will create thee empress of Rome.
 * Speak, Queen of Goths, dost thou applaud my choice?
 * And here I swear by all the Roman gods,—
 * Sith priest and holy water are so near,
 * And tapers burn so bright, and everything
 * In readiness for Hymenaeus stand,—
 * I will not re-salute the streets of Rome,
 * Or climb my palace, till from forth this place
 * I lead espous'd my bride along with me.

TAMORA.
 * And here in sight of heaven to Rome I swear,
 * If Saturnine advance the Queen of Goths,
 * She will a handmaid be to his desires,
 * A loving nurse, a mother to his youth.

SATURNINUS.
 * Ascend, fair queen, Pantheon.—Lords, accompany
 * Your noble emperor and his lovely bride,
 * Sent by the heavens for Prince Saturnine,
 * Whose wisdom hath her fortune conquered:
 * There shall we consummate our spousal rites.

[Exeunt SATURNINUS and his Followers; TAMORA and her Sons; AARON and Goths.]

TITUS.
 * I am not bid to wait upon this bride.—
 * Titus, when wert thou wont to walk alone,
 * Dishonour'd thus, and challenged of wrongs?

[Re-enter MARCUS, LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and MARTIUS.]

MARCUS.
 * O Titus, see, O, see what thou hast done!
 * In a bad quarrel slain a virtuous son.

TITUS.
 * No, foolish tribune, no; no son of mine,—
 * Nor thou, nor these, confederates in the deed
 * That hath dishonoured all our family;
 * Unworthy brother and unworthy sons!

LUCIUS.
 * But let us give him burial, as becomes;
 * Give Mutius burial with our bretheren.

TITUS.
 * Traitors, away! He rests not in this tomb:—
 * This monument five hundred years hath stood,
 * Which I have sumptuously re-edified:
 * Here none but soldiers and Rome's servitors
 * Repose in fame; none basely slain in brawls:—
 * Bury him where you can, he comes not here.

MARCUS.
 * My lord, this is impiety in you:
 * My nephew Mutius' deeds do plead for him;
 * He must be buried with his bretheren.

QUINTUS & MARTIUS.
 * And shall, or him we will accompany.

TITUS.
 * And shall! What villain was it spake that word?

QUINTUS.
 * He that would vouch it in any place but here.

TITUS.
 * What, would you bury him in my despite?

MARCUS.
 * No, noble Titus; but entreat of thee
 * To pardon Mutius, and to bury him.

TITUS.
 * Marcus, even thou hast struck upon my crest,
 * And with these boys mine honour thou hast wounded:
 * My foes I do repute you every one;
 * So trouble me no more, but get you gone.

MARTIUS.
 * He is not with himself; let us withdraw.

QUINTUS.
 * Not I, till Mutius' bones be buried.

[MARCUS and the Sons of TITUS kneel.]

MARCUS.
 * Brother, for in that name doth nature plead,—

QUINTUS.
 * Father, and in that name doth nature speak,—

TITUS.
 * Speak thou no more, if all the rest will speed.

MARCUS.
 * Renowned Titus, more than half my soul,—

LUCIUS.
 * Dear father, soul and substance of us all,—

MARCUS.
 * Suffer thy brother Marcus to inter
 * His noble nephew here in virtue's nest,
 * That died in honour and Lavinia's cause:
 * Thou art a Roman,—be not barbarous.
 * The Greeks upon advice did bury Ajax,
 * That slew himself; and wise Laertes' son
 * Did graciously plead for his funerals:
 * Let not young Mutius, then, that was thy joy,
 * Be barr'd his entrance here.

TITUS.
 * Rise, Marcus, rise:
 * The dismall'st day is this that e'er I saw,
 * To be dishonour'd by my sons in Rome!—
 * Well, bury him, and bury me the next.

[MUTIUS is put into the tomb.]

LUCIUS.
 * There lie thy bones, sweet Mutius, with thy friends,
 * Till we with trophies do adorn thy tomb.

ALL.
 * [Kneeling.] No man shed tears for noble Mutius;
 * He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause.

MARCUS.
 * My lord,—to step out of these dreary dumps,—
 * How comes it that the subtle Queen of Goths
 * Is of a sudden thus advanc'd in Rome?

TITUS.
 * I know not, Marcus, but I know it is,—
 * Whether by device or no, the heavens can tell:
 * Is she not, then, beholding to the man
 * That brought her for this high good turn so far?

MARCUS.
 * Yes, and will nobly him remunerate.

[Flourish. Re-enter, at one side, SATURNINUS, attended; TAMORA, DEMETRIUS, CHIRON, and AARON; at the other, BASSIANUS, LAVINIA, and others.]

SATURNINUS.
 * So, Bassianus, you have play'd your prize:
 * God give you joy, sir, of your gallant bride!

BASSIANUS.
 * And you of yours, my lord! I say no more,
 * Nor wish no less; and so I take my leave.

SATURNINUS.
 * Traitor, if Rome have law or we have power,
 * Thou and thy faction shall repent this rape.

BASSIANUS.
 * Rape, call you it, my lord, to seize my own,
 * My true betrothed love, and now my wife?
 * But let the laws of Rome determine all;
 * Meanwhile am I possess'd of that is mine.

SATURNINUS.
 * 'Tis good, sir. You are very short with us;
 * But if we live we'll be as sharp with you.

BASSIANUS.
 * My lord, what I have done, as best I may,
 * Answer I must, and shall do with my life.
 * Only thus much I give your grace to know,—
 * By all the duties that I owe to Rome,
 * This noble gentleman, Lord Titus here,
 * Is in opinion and in honour wrong'd,
 * That, in the rescue of Lavinia,
 * With his own hand did slay his youngest son,
 * In zeal to you, and highly mov'd to wrath
 * To be controll'd in that he frankly gave:
 * Receive him then to favour, Saturnine,
 * That hath express'd himself in all his deeds
 * A father and a friend to thee and Rome.

TITUS.
 * Prince Bassianus, leave to plead my deeds:
 * 'Tis thou and those that have dishonour'd me.
 * Rome and the righteous heavens be my judge
 * How I have lov'd and honour'd Saturnine!

TAMORA.
 * My worthy lord, if ever Tamora
 * Were gracious in those princely eyes of thine,
 * Then hear me speak indifferently for all;
 * And at my suit, sweet, pardon what is past.

SATURNINUS.
 * What, madam! be dishonoured openly,
 * And basely put it up without revenge?

TAMORA.
 * Not so, my lord; the gods of Rome forfend
 * I should be author to dishonour you!
 * But on mine honour dare I undertake
 * For good Lord Titus' innocence in all,
 * Whose fury not dissembled speaks his griefs:
 * Then at my suit look graciously on him;
 * Lose not so noble a friend on vain suppose,
 * Nor with sour looks afflict his gentle heart.—
 * [Aside.] My lord, be rul'd by me, be won at last;
 * Dissemble all your griefs and discontents:
 * You are but newly planted in your throne;
 * Lest, then, the people, and patricians too,
 * Upon a just survey take Titus' part,
 * And so supplant you for ingratitude,—
 * Which Rome reputes to be a heinous sin,—
 * Yield at entreats; and then let me alone:
 * I'll find a day to massacre them all,
 * And raze their faction and their family,
 * The cruel father and his traitorous sons,
 * To whom I sued for my dear son's life;
 * And make them know what 'tis to let a queen
 * Kneel in the streets and beg for grace in vain.—
 * Come, come, sweet emperor,—come, Andronicus,—
 * Take up this good old man, and cheer the heart
 * That dies in tempest of thy angry frown.

SATURNINUS.
 * Rise, Titus, rise; my empress hath prevail'd.

TITUS.
 * I thank your majesty and her, my lord:
 * These words, these looks, infuse new life in me.

TAMORA.
 * Titus, I am incorporate in Rome,
 * A Roman now adopted happily,
 * And must advise the emperor for his good.
 * This day all quarrels die, Andronicus;—
 * And let it be mine honour, good my lord,
 * That I have reconcil'd your friends and you. —
 * For you, Prince Bassianus, I have pass'd
 * My word and promise to the emperor
 * That you will be more mild and tractable.—
 * And fear not, lords,—and you, Lavinia,—
 * By my advice, all humbled on your knees,
 * You shall ask pardon of his majesty.

LUCIUS.
 * We do; and vow to heaven and to his highness
 * That what we did was mildly as we might,
 * Tendering our sister's honour and our own.

MARCUS.
 * That on mine honour here do I protest.

SATURNINUS.
 * Away, and talk not; trouble us no more.

TAMORA.
 * Nay, nay, sweet emperor, we must all be friends:
 * The tribune and his nephews kneel for grace;
 * I will not be denied: sweet heart, look back.

SATURNINUS.
 * Marcus, for thy sake, and thy brother's here,
 * And at my lovely Tamora's entreats,
 * I do remit these young men's heinous faults:
 * Stand up.—
 * Lavinia, though you left me like a churl,
 * I found a friend; and sure as death I swore
 * I would not part a bachelor from the priest.
 * Come, if the emperor's court can feast two brides,
 * You are my guest, Lavinia, and your friends.
 * This day shall be a love-day, Tamora.

TITUS.
 * To-morrow, an it please your majesty
 * To hunt the panther and the hart with me,
 * With horn and hound we'll give your grace bonjour.

SATURNINUS.
 * Be it so, Titus, and gramercy too.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE I. Rome. Before the palace.
[Enter AARON.]

AARON.
 * Now climbeth Tamora Olympus' top,
 * Safe out of fortune's shot; and sits aloft,
 * Secure of thunder's crack or lightning's flash;
 * Advanc'd above pale envy's threatening reach.
 * As when the golden sun salutes the morn,
 * And, having gilt the ocean with his beams,
 * Gallops the zodiac in his glistening coach,
 * And overlooks the highest-peering hill;
 * So Tamora:
 * Upon her wit doth earthly honour wait,
 * And virtue stoops and trembles at her frown.
 * Then, Aaron, arm thy heart and fit thy thoughts
 * To mount aloft with thy imperial mistress,
 * And mount her pitch, whom thou in triumph long
 * Hast prisoner held, fett'red in amorous chains,
 * And faster bound to Aaron's charming eyes
 * Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus.
 * Away with slavish weeds and servile thoughts!
 * I will be bright, and shine in pearl and gold,
 * To wait upon this new-made empress.
 * To wait, said I? to wanton with this queen,
 * This goddess, this Semiramis, this nymph,
 * This siren, that will charm Rome's Saturnine,
 * And see his shipwreck and his commonweal's.—
 * Holla! what storm is this?

[Enter DEMETRIUS and CHIRON braving.]

DEMETRIUS.
 * Chiron, thy years wants wit, thy wit wants edge
 * And manners, to intrude where I am grac'd;
 * And may, for aught thou know'st, affected be.

CHIRON.
 * Demetrius, thou dost over-ween in all;
 * And so in this, to bear me down with braves.
 * 'Tis not the difference of a year or two
 * Makes me less gracious or thee more fortunate:
 * I am as able and as fit as thou
 * To serve and to deserve my mistress' grace;
 * And that my sword upon thee shall approve,
 * And plead my passions for Lavinia's love.

AARON.
 * [Aside.] Clubs, clubs! These lovers will not keep the peace.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Why, boy, although our mother, unadvis'd,
 * Gave you a dancing-rapier by your side,
 * Are you so desperate grown to threat your friends?
 * Go to; have your lath glu'd within your sheath
 * Till you know better how to handle it.

CHIRON.
 * Meanwhile, sir, with the little skill I have,
 * Full well shalt thou perceive how much I dare.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Ay, boy, grow ye so brave?

[They draw.]

AARON.
 * [Coming forward.] Why, how now, lords!
 * So near the emperor's palace dare ye draw,
 * And maintain such a quarrel openly?
 * Full well I wot the ground of all this grudge:
 * I would not for a million of gold
 * The cause were known to them it most concerns;
 * Nor would your noble mother for much more
 * Be so dishonour'd in the court of Rome.
 * For shame, put up.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Not I, till I have sheath'd
 * My rapier in his bosom, and withal
 * Thrust those reproachful speeches down his throat
 * That he hath breath'd in my dishonour here.

CHIRON.
 * For that I am prepar'd and full resolv'd,—
 * Foul-spoken coward, that thunder'st with thy tongue,
 * And with thy weapon nothing dar'st perform.

AARON.
 * Away, I say!—
 * Now, by the gods that warlike Goths adore,
 * This pretty brabble will undo us all.—
 * Why, lords, and think you not how dangerous
 * It is to jet upon a prince's right?
 * What, is Lavinia then become so loose,
 * Or Bassianus so degenerate,
 * That for her love such quarrels may be broach'd
 * Without controlment, justice, or revenge?
 * Young lords, beware! and should the empress know
 * This discord's ground, the music would not please.

CHIRON.
 * I care not, I, knew she and all the world:
 * I love Lavinia more than all the world.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Youngling, learn thou to make some meaner choice:
 * Lavina is thine elder brother's hope.

AARON.
 * Why, are ye mad? or know ye not in Rome
 * How furious and impatient they be,
 * And cannot brook competitors in love?
 * I tell you, lords, you do but plot your deaths
 * By this device.

CHIRON.
 * Aaron, a thousand deaths
 * Would I propose to achieve her whom I love.

AARON.
 * To achieve her!—How?

DEMETRIUS.
 * Why mak'st thou it so strange?
 * She is a woman, therefore may be woo'd;
 * She is a woman, therefore may be won;
 * She is Lavinia, therefore must be lov'd.
 * What, man! more water glideth by the mill
 * Than wots the miller of; and easy it is
 * Of a cut loaf to steal a shive, we know:
 * Though Bassianus be the emperor's brother,
 * Better than he have worn Vulcan's badge.

AARON.
 * [Aside.] Ay, and as good as Saturninus may.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Then why should he despair that knows to court it
 * With words, fair looks, and liberality?
 * What, hast not thou full often struck a doe,
 * And borne her cleanly by the keeper's nose?

AARON.
 * Why, then, it seems some certain snatch or so
 * Would serve your turns.

CHIRON.
 * Ay, so the turn were serv'd.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Aaron, thou hast hit it.

AARON.
 * Would you had hit it too!
 * Then should not we be tir'd with this ado.
 * Why, hark ye, hark ye,—and are you such fools
 * To square for this? Would it offend you, then,
 * That both should speed?

CHIRON.
 * Faith, not me.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Nor me, so I were one.

AARON.
 * For shame, be friends, and join for that you jar:
 * 'Tis policy and stratagem must do
 * That you affect; and so must you resolve
 * That what you cannot as you would achieve,
 * You must perforce accomplish as you may.
 * Take this of me,—Lucrece was not more chaste
 * Than this Lavinia, Bassianus' love.
 * A speedier course than lingering languishment
 * Must we pursue, and I have found the path.
 * My lords, a solemn hunting is in hand;
 * There will the lovely Roman ladies troop:
 * The forest walks are wide and spacious;
 * And many unfrequented plots there are
 * Fitted by kind for rape and villainy:
 * Single you thither, then, this dainty doe,
 * And strike her home by force if not by words:
 * This way, or not at all, stand you in hope.
 * Come, come, our empress, with her sacred wit
 * To villainy and vengeance consecrate,
 * Will we acquaint with all what we intend;
 * And she shall file our engines with advice
 * That will not suffer you to square yourselves,
 * But to your wishes' height advance you both.
 * The emperor's court is like the house of fame,
 * The palace full of tongues, of eyes, and ears:
 * The woods are ruthless, dreadful, deaf, and dull;
 * There speak and strike, brave boys, and take your turns;
 * There serve your lust, shadowed from heaven's eye,
 * And revel in Lavinia's treasury.

CHIRON.
 * Thy counsel, lad, smells of no cowardice.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Sit fas aut nefas, till I find the stream
 * To cool this heat, a charm to calm these fits,
 * Per Styga, per manes vehor.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE II. A Forest near Rome; a Lodge seen at a distance.
[Horns and cry of hounds heard.]

[Enter TITUS ANDRONICUS, with hunters, &c., MARCUS, LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and MARTIUS.]

TITUS.
 * The hunt is up, the morn is bright and gay,
 * The fields are fragrant, and the woods are green.
 * Uncouple here, and let us make a bay,
 * And wake the emperor and his lovely bride,
 * And rouse the prince, and ring a hunter's peal,
 * That all the court may echo with the noise.
 * Sons, let it be your charge, as it is ours,
 * To attend the emperor's person carefully:
 * I have been troubled in my sleep this night,
 * But dawning day new comfort hath inspir'd.

[Horns in a peal. Enter SATURNINUS, TAMORA, BASSIANUS, LAVINIA, DEMETRIUS, CHIRON, and Attendants.]
 * Many good morrows to your majesty:—
 * Madam, to you as many and as good:—
 * I promised your grace a hunter's peal.

SATURNINUS.
 * And you have rung it lustily, my lord;
 * Somewhat too early for new-married ladies.

BASSIANUS.
 * Lavinia, how say you?

LAVINIA.
 * I say no; I have been broad awake two hours and more.

SATURNINUS.
 * Come on then, horse and chariots let us have,
 * And to our sport.—[To TAMORA.] Madam, now shall ye see
 * Our Roman hunting.

MARCUS.
 * I have dogs, my lord,
 * Will rouse the proudest panther in the chase,
 * And climb the highest promontory top.

TITUS.
 * And I have horse will follow where the game
 * Makes way, and run like swallows o'er the plain.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Chiron, we hunt not, we, with horse nor hound,
 * But hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE III. A lonely part of the Forest.
[Enter AARON with a bag of gold.]

AARON.
 * He that had wit would think that I had none,
 * To bury so much gold under a tree,
 * And never after to inherit it.
 * Let him that thinks of me so abjectly
 * Know that this gold must coin a stratagem,
 * Which, cunningly effected, will beget
 * A very excellent piece of villainy:
 * And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest

[Hides the gold.]


 * That have their alms out of the empress' chest.

[Enter TAMORA.]

TAMORA.
 * My lovely Aaron, wherefore look'st thou sad
 * When everything does make a gleeful boast?
 * The birds chant melody on every bush;
 * The snakes lie rolled in the cheerful sun;
 * The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind,
 * And make a chequer'd shadow on the ground:
 * Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,
 * And whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds,
 * Replying shrilly to the well-tun'd horns,
 * As if a double hunt were heard at once,
 * Let us sit down and mark their yelping noise;
 * And,—after conflict such as was suppos'd
 * The wandering prince and Dido once enjoy'd,
 * When with a happy storm they were surpris'd,
 * And curtain'd with a counsel-keeping cave,—
 * We may, each wreathed in the other's arms,
 * Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber;
 * Whiles hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds
 * Be unto us as is a nurse's song
 * Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep.

AARON.
 * Madam, though Venus govern your desires,
 * Saturn is dominator over mine:
 * What signifies my deadly-standing eye,
 * My silence and my cloudy melancholy,
 * My fleece of woolly hair that now uncurls
 * Even as an adder when she doth unroll
 * To do some fatal execution?
 * No, madam, these are no venereal signs,
 * Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,
 * Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.
 * Hark, Tamora,—the empress of my soul,
 * Which never hopes more heaven than rests in thee,—
 * This is the day of doom for Bassianus;
 * His Philomel must lose her tongue to-day,
 * Thy sons make pillage of her chastity,
 * And wash their hands in Bassianus' blood.
 * Seest thou this letter? take it up, I pray thee,
 * And give the king this fatal-plotted scroll.—
 * Now question me no more,—we are espied;
 * Here comes a parcel of our hopeful booty,
 * Which dreads not yet their lives' destruction.

TAMORA.
 * Ah, my sweet Moor, sweeter to me than life!

AARON.
 * No more, great empress: Bassianus comes:
 * Be cross with him; and I'll go fetch thy sons
 * To back thy quarrels, whatsoe'er they be.

[Exit.]

[Enter BASSIANUS and LAVINIA.]

BASSIANUS.
 * Who have we here? Rome's royal empress,
 * Unfurnish'd of her well-beseeming troop?
 * Or is it Dian, habited like her,
 * Who hath abandoned her holy groves
 * To see the general hunting in this forest?

TAMORA.
 * Saucy controller of my private steps!
 * Had I the power that some say Dian had,
 * Thy temples should be planted presently
 * With horns, as was Actaeon's; and the hounds
 * Should drive upon thy new-transformed limbs,
 * Unmannerly intruder as thou art!

LAVINIA.
 * Under your patience, gentle empress,
 * 'Tis thought you have a goodly gift in horning;
 * And to be doubted that your Moor and you
 * Are singled forth to try experiments;
 * Jove shield your husband from his hounds to-day!
 * 'Tis pity they should take him for a stag.

BASSIANUS.
 * Believe me, queen, your swarth Cimmerian
 * Doth make your honour of his body's hue,
 * Spotted, detested, and abominable.
 * Why are you sequester'd from all your train,
 * Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed,
 * And wander'd hither to an obscure plot,
 * Accompanied but with a barbarous Moor,
 * If foul desire had not conducted you?

LAVINIA.
 * And, being intercepted in your sport,
 * Great reason that my noble lord be rated
 * For sauciness.—I pray you let us hence,
 * And let her joy her raven-coloured love;
 * This valley fits the purpose passing well.

BASSIANUS.
 * The king my brother shall have notice of this.

LAVINIA.
 * Ay, for these slips have made him noted long:
 * Good king, to be so mightily abus'd!

TAMORA.
 * Why have I patience to endure all this?

[Enter DEMETRIUS and CHIRON.]

DEMETRIUS.
 * How now, dear sovereign, and our gracious mother!
 * Why doth your highness look so pale and wan?

TAMORA.
 * Have I not reason, think you, to look pale?
 * These two have 'ticed me hither to this place:—
 * A barren detested vale you see it is:
 * The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean,
 * O'ercome with moss and baleful mistletoe:
 * Here never shines the sun; here nothing breeds,
 * Unless the nightly owl or fatal raven:—
 * And when they show'd me this abhorred pit,
 * They told me, here, at dead time of the night,
 * A thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes,
 * Ten thousand swelling toads, as many urchins,
 * Would make such fearful and confused cries
 * As any mortal body hearing it
 * Should straight fall mad or else die suddenly.
 * No sooner had they told this hellish tale
 * But straight they told me they would bind me here
 * Unto the body of a dismal yew,
 * And leave me to this miserable death:
 * And then they call'd me foul adulteress,
 * Lascivious Goth, and all the bitterest terms
 * That ever ear did hear to such effect:
 * And had you not by wondrous fortune come,
 * This vengeance on me had they executed.
 * Revenge it, as you love your mother's life,
 * Or be ye not henceforth call'd my children.

DEMETRIUS.
 * This is a witness that I am thy son.

[Stabs BASSIANUS.]

CHIRON.
 * And this for me, struck home to show my strength.

[Also stabs BASSIANUS, who dies.]

LAVINIA.
 * Ay, come, Semiramis,—nay, barbarous Tamora,
 * For no name fits thy nature but thy own!

TAMORA.
 * Give me thy poniard;—you shall know, my boys,
 * Your mother's hand shall right your mother's wrong.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Stay, madam; here is more belongs to her;
 * First thrash the corn, then after burn the straw:
 * This minion stood upon her chastity,
 * Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty,
 * And with that painted hope braves your mightiness:
 * And shall she carry this unto her grave?

CHIRON.
 * An if she do, I would I were an eunuch.
 * Drag hence her husband to some secret hole,
 * And make his dead trunk pillow to our lust.

TAMORA.
 * But when ye have the honey we desire,
 * Let not this wasp outlive, us both to sting.

CHIRON.
 * I warrant you, madam, we will make that sure.—
 * Come, mistress, now perforce we will enjoy
 * That nice-preserved honesty of yours.

LAVINIA.
 * O Tamora! thou bear'st a woman's face,—

TAMORA.
 * I will not hear her speak; away with her!

LAVINIA.
 * Sweet lords, entreat her hear me but a word.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Listen, fair madam: let it be your glory
 * To see her tears; but be your heart to them
 * As unrelenting flint to drops of rain.

LAVINIA.
 * When did the tiger's young ones teach the dam?
 * O, do not learn her wrath,—she taught it thee;
 * The milk thou suck'dst from her did turn to marble;
 * Even at thy teat thou hadst thy tyranny.—
 * Yet every mother breeds not sons alike:
 * [To CHIRON.] Do thou entreat her show a woman's pity.

CHIRON.
 * What, wouldst thou have me prove myself a bastard?

LAVINIA.
 * 'Tis true, the raven doth not hatch a lark:
 * Yet have I heard,—O, could I find it now!—
 * The lion, mov'd with pity, did endure
 * To have his princely paws par'd all away.
 * Some say that ravens foster forlorn children,
 * The whilst their own birds famish in their nests:
 * O, be to me, though thy hard heart say no,
 * Nothing so kind, but something pitiful!

TAMORA.
 * I know not what it means:—away with her!

LAVINIA.
 * O, let me teach thee! for my father's sake,
 * That gave thee life, when well he might have slain thee,
 * Be not obdurate, open thy deaf ears.

TAMORA.
 * Hadst thou in person ne'er offended me,
 * Even for his sake am I pitiless.—
 * Remember, boys, I pour'd forth tears in vain
 * To save your brother from the sacrifice;
 * But fierce Andronicus would not relent:
 * Therefore away with her, and use her as you will;
 * The worse to her the better lov'd of me.

LAVINIA.
 * O Tamora, be call'd a gentle queen,
 * And with thine own hands kill me in this place!
 * For 'tis not life that I have begg'd so long;
 * Poor I was slain when Bassianus died.

TAMORA.
 * What begg'st thou, then? fond woman, let me go.

LAVINIA.
 * 'Tis present death I beg; and one thing more,
 * That womanhood denies my tongue to tell:
 * O, keep me from their worse than killing lust,
 * And tumble me into some loathsome pit,
 * Where never man's eye may behold my body:
 * Do this, and be a charitable murderer.

TAMORA.
 * So should I rob my sweet sons of their fee:
 * No, let them satisfy their lust on thee.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Away! for thou hast stay'd us here too long.

LAVINIA.
 * No grace? no womanhood? Ah, beastly creature!
 * The blot and enemy to our general name!
 * Confusion fall,—

CHIRON.
 * Nay, then I'll stop your mouth:—bring thou her husband.
 * This is the hole where Aaron bid us hide him.

[DEMETRIUS throws BASSIANUS'S body into the pit; then exit with CHIRON, dragging off LAVINIA.]

TAMORA.
 * Farewell, my sons: see that you make her sure:—
 * Ne'er let my heart know merry cheer indeed
 * Till all the Andronici be made away.
 * Now will I hence to seek my lovely Moor,
 * And let my spleenful sons this trull deflower.

[Exit.]

[Re-enter AARON, with QUINTUS and MARTIUS.]

AARON.
 * Come on, my lords, the better foot before:
 * Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit
 * Where I espied the panther fast asleep.

QUINTUS.
 * My sight is very dull, whate'er it bodes.

MARTIUS.
 * And mine, I promise you; were't not for shame,
 * Well could I leave our sport to sleep awhile.

[Falls into the pit.]

QUINTUS.
 * What, art thou fallen?—What subtle hole is this,
 * Whose mouth is cover'd with rude-growing briers,
 * Upon whose leaves are drops of new-shed blood
 * As fresh as morning dew distill'd on flowers?
 * A very fatal place it seems to me.—
 * Speak, brother, hast thou hurt thee with the fall?

MARTIUS.
 * O brother, with the dismallest object hurt
 * That ever eye with sight made heart lament!

AARON.
 * [Aside] Now will I fetch the king to find them here,
 * That he thereby may have a likely guess
 * How these were they that made away his brother.

[Exit.]

MARTIUS.
 * Why dost not comfort me, and help me out
 * From this unhallow'd and blood-stained hole?

QUINTUS.
 * I am surprised with an uncouth fear;
 * A chilling sweat o'er-runs my trembling joints;
 * My heart suspects more than mine eye can see.

MARTIUS.
 * To prove thou hast a true divining heart,
 * Aaron and thou look down into this den,
 * And see a fearful sight of blood and death.

QUINTUS.
 * Aaron is gone; and my compassionate heart
 * Will not permit mine eyes once to behold
 * The thing whereat it trembles by surmise:
 * O, tell me who it is; for ne'er till now
 * Was I a child to fear I know not what.

MARTIUS.
 * Lord Bassianus lies embrewed here,
 * All on a heap, like to a slaughter'd lamb,
 * In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit.

QUINTUS.
 * If it be dark, how dost thou know 'tis he?

MARTIUS.
 * Upon his bloody finger he doth wear
 * A precious ring that lightens all the hole,
 * Which, like a taper in some monument,
 * Doth shine upon the dead man's earthy cheeks,
 * And shows the ragged entrails of the pit:
 * So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus
 * When he by night lay bath'd in maiden blood.
 * O brother, help me with thy fainting hand,—
 * If fear hath made thee faint, as me it hath,—
 * Out of this fell devouring receptacle,
 * As hateful as Cocytus' misty mouth.

QUINTUS.
 * Reach me thy hand, that I may help thee out;
 * Or, wanting strength to do thee so much good,
 * I may be pluck'd into the swallowing womb
 * Of this deep pit, poor Bassianus' grave.
 * I have no strength to pluck thee to the brink.

MARTIUS.
 * Nor I no strength to climb without thy help.

QUINTUS.
 * Thy hand once more; I will not lose again,
 * Till thou art here aloft, or I below:
 * Thou canst not come to me,—I come to thee.

[Falls in.]

[Enter SATURNINUS with AARON.]

SATURNINUS.
 * Along with me: I'll see what hole is here,
 * And what he is that now is leap'd into it.—
 * Say, who art thou that lately didst descend
 * Into this gaping hollow of the earth?

MARTIUS.
 * The unhappy sons of old Andronicus,
 * Brought hither in a most unlucky hour,
 * To find thy brother Bassianus dead.

SATURNINUS.
 * My brother dead! I know thou dost but jest:
 * He and his lady both are at the lodge
 * Upon the north side of this pleasant chase;
 * 'Tis not an hour since I left them there.

MARTIUS.
 * We know not where you left them all alive;
 * But, out, alas! here have we found him dead.

[Re-enter TAMORA, with Attendants; TITUS ANDRONICUS and LUCIUS.]

TAMORA.
 * Where is my lord the king?

SATURNINUS.
 * Here, Tamora; though griev'd with killing grief.

TAMORA.
 * Where is thy brother Bassianus?

SATURNINUS.
 * Now to the bottom dost thou search my wound;
 * Poor Bassianus here lies murdered.

TAMORA.
 * Then all too late I bring this fatal writ,

[Giving a letter.]


 * The complot of this timeless tragedy;
 * And wonder greatly that man's face can fold
 * In pleasing smiles such murderous tyranny.

SATURNINUS.
 * [Reads] 'An if we miss to meet him handsomely,—
 * Sweet huntsman, Bassianus 'tis we mean,—
 * Do thou so much as dig the grave for him:
 * Thou know'st our meaning. Look for thy reward
 * Among the nettles at the elder-tree
 * Which overshades the mouth of that same pit
 * Where we decreed to bury Bassianus.
 * Do this, and purchase us thy lasting friends.'
 * O Tamora! was ever heard the like?—
 * This is the pit and this the elder-tree:—
 * Look, sirs, if you can find the huntsman out
 * That should have murder'd Bassianus here.

AARON.
 * My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold.

[Showing it.]

SATURNINUS.
 * [To TITUS] Two of thy whelps, fell curs of bloody kind,
 * Have here bereft my brother of his life.—
 * Sirs, drag them from the pit unto the prison:
 * There let them bide until we have devis'd
 * Some never-heard-of torturing pain for them.

TAMORA.
 * What, are they in this pit? O wondrous thing!
 * How easily murder is discovered!

TITUS.
 * High emperor, upon my feeble knee
 * I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed,
 * That this fell fault of my accursed sons,—
 * Accursed if the fault be prov'd in them,—

SATURNINUS.
 * If it be prov'd! You see it is apparent.—
 * Who found this letter? Tamora, was it you?

TAMORA.
 * Andronicus himself did take it up.

TITUS.
 * I did, my lord: yet let me be their bail;
 * For, by my fathers' reverend tomb, I vow
 * They shall be ready at your highness' will
 * To answer their suspicion with their lives.

SATURNINUS.
 * Thou shalt not bail them: see thou follow me.—
 * Some bring the murder'd body, some the murderers:
 * Let them not speak a word,—the guilt is plain;
 * For, by my soul, were there worse end than death,
 * That end upon them should be executed.

TAMORA.
 * Andronicus, I will entreat the king:
 * Fear not thy sons; they shall do well enough.

TITUS.
 * Come, Lucius, come; stay not to talk with them.

[Exeunt severally. Attendants bearing the body.]

SCENE IV. Another part of the Forest.
[Enter DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, with LAVINIA, ravished; her hands cut off, and her tongue cut out.]

DEMETRIUS.
 * So, now go tell, an if thy tongue can speak,
 * Who 'twas that cut thy tongue and ravish'd thee.

CHIRON.
 * Write down thy mind, bewray thy meaning so,
 * An if thy stumps will let thee play the scribe.

DEMETRIUS.
 * See how with signs and tokens she can scrowl.

CHIRON.
 * Go home, call for sweet water, wash thy hands.

DEMETRIUS.
 * She hath no tongue to call, nor hands to wash;
 * And so let's leave her to her silent walks.

CHIRON.
 * An 'twere my case, I should go hang myself.

DEMETRIUS.
 * If thou hadst hands to help thee knit the cord.

[Exeunt DEMETRIUS and CHIRON.]

[Enter MARCUS.]

MARCUS.
 * Who is this?—my niece,—that flies away so fast?
 * Cousin, a word; where is your husband?—
 * If I do dream, would all my wealth would wake me!
 * If I do wake, some planet strike me down,
 * That I may slumber an eternal sleep!—
 * Speak, gentle niece,—what stern ungentle hands
 * Hath lopp'd, and hew'd, and made thy body bare
 * Of her two branches,—those sweet ornaments
 * Whose circling shadows kings have sought to sleep in,
 * And might not gain so great a happiness
 * As half thy love? Why dost not speak to me?—
 * Alas, a crimson river of warm blood,
 * Like to a bubbling fountain stirr'd with wind,
 * Doth rise and fall between thy rosed lips,
 * Coming and going with thy honey breath.
 * But sure some Tereus hath deflowered thee,
 * And, lest thou shouldst detect him, cut thy tongue.
 * Ah, now thou turn'st away thy face for shame:
 * And notwithstanding all this loss of blood,—
 * As from a conduit with three issuing spouts,—
 * Yet do thy cheeks look red as Titan's face
 * Blushing to be encounter'd with a cloud.
 * Shall I speak for thee? shall I say 'tis so?
 * O, that I knew thy heart, and knew the beast,
 * That I might rail at him, to ease my mind!
 * Sorrow concealed, like an oven stopp'd,
 * Doth burn the heart to cinders where it is.
 * Fair Philomela, why she but lost her tongue,
 * And in a tedious sampler sew'd her mind;
 * But, lovely niece, that mean is cut from thee;
 * A craftier Tereus, cousin, hast thou met,
 * And he hath cut those pretty fingers off
 * That could have better sew'd than Philomel.
 * O, had the monster seen those lily hands
 * Tremble, like aspen leaves, upon a lute,
 * And make the silken strings delight to kiss them,
 * He would not then have touch'd them for his life!
 * Or had he heard the heavenly harmony
 * Which that sweet tongue hath made,
 * He would have dropp'd his knife, and fell asleep,
 * As Cerberus at the Thracian poet's feet.
 * Come, let us go, and make thy father blind;
 * For such a sight will blind a father's eye:
 * One hour's storm will drown the fragrant meads;
 * What will whole months of tears thy father's eyes?
 * Do not draw back, for we will mourn with thee:
 * O, could our mourning ease thy misery!

[Exeunt.]

SCENE I. Rome. A street.
[Enter Senators, Tribunes, and Officers of Justice, with MARTIUS and QUINTUS bound, passing on to the place of execution; TITUS going before, pleading.]

TITUS.
 * Hear me, grave fathers! noble tribunes, stay!
 * For pity of mine age, whose youth was spent
 * In dangerous wars whilst you securely slept;
 * For all my blood in Rome's great quarrel shed;
 * For all the frosty nights that I have watch'd;
 * And for these bitter tears, which now you see
 * Filling the aged wrinkles in my cheeks;
 * Be pitiful to my condemned sons,
 * Whose souls are not corrupted as 'tis thought.
 * For two and twenty sons I never wept,
 * Because they died in honour's lofty bed.

[Throwing himself on the ground.]


 * For these, tribunes, in the dust I write
 * My heart's deep languor and my soul's sad tears:
 * Let my tears stanch the earth's dry appetite;
 * My sons' sweet blood will make it shame and blush.

[Exeunt Senators, Tribunes, &c., with the prisoners.]


 * O earth, I will befriend thee more with rain
 * That shall distil from these two ancient urns,
 * Than youthful April shall with all his showers:
 * In summer's drought I'll drop upon thee still;
 * In winter with warm tears I'll melt the snow,
 * And keep eternal spring-time on thy face,
 * So thou refuse to drink my dear sons' blood.

[Enter Lucius with his sword drawn.]


 * O reverend tribunes! O gentle aged men!
 * Unbind my sons, reverse the doom of death;
 * And let me say, that never wept before,
 * My tears are now prevailing orators.

LUCIUS.
 * O noble father, you lament in vain:
 * The tribunes hear you not, no man is by;
 * And you recount your sorrows to a stone.

TITUS.
 * Ah, Lucius, for thy brothers let me plead.—
 * Grave tribunes, once more I entreat of you.

LUCIUS.
 * My gracious lord, no tribune hears you speak.

TITUS.
 * Why, 'tis no matter, man: if they did hear,
 * They would not mark me; if they did mark,
 * They would not pity me; yet plead I must,
 * And bootless unto them.
 * Therefore I tell my sorrows to the stones;
 * Who, though they cannot answer my distress,
 * Yet in some sort they are better than the tribunes,
 * For that they will not intercept my tale:
 * When I do weep they humbly at my feet
 * Receive my tears, and seem to weep with me;
 * And were they but attired in grave weeds,
 * Rome could afford no tribunes like to these.
 * A stone is soft as wax, tribunes more hard than stones;
 * A stone is silent, and offendeth not,—
 * And tribunes with their tongues doom men to death.

[Rises.]


 * But wherefore stand'st thou with thy weapon drawn?

LUCIUS.
 * To rescue my two brothers from their death:
 * For which attempt the judges have pronounc'd
 * My everlasting doom of banishment.

TITUS.
 * O happy man! they have befriended thee.
 * Why, foolish Lucius, dost thou not perceive
 * That Rome is but a wilderness of tigers?
 * Tigers must prey; and Rome affords no prey
 * But me and mine: how happy art thou, then,
 * From these devourers to be banished!—
 * But who comes with our brother Marcus here?

[Enter MARCUS and LAVINIA.]

MARCUS.
 * Titus, prepare thy aged eyes to weep;
 * Or if not so, thy noble heart to break:
 * I bring consuming sorrow to thine age.

TITUS.
 * Will it consume me? let me see it then.

MARCUS.
 * This was thy daughter.

TITUS.
 * Why, Marcus, so she is.

LUCIUS.
 * Ay me! this object kills me!

TITUS.
 * Faint-hearted boy, arise, and look upon her.—
 * Speak, my Lavinia, what accursed hand
 * Hath made thee handless in thy father's sight?
 * What fool hath added water to the sea,
 * Or brought a fagot to bright-burning Troy?
 * My grief was at the height before thou cam'st;
 * And now, like Nilus, it disdaineth bounds.
 * Give me a sword, I'll chop off my hands too;
 * For they have fought for Rome, and all in vain;
 * And they have nurs'd this woe in feeding life;
 * In bootless prayer have they been held up,
 * And they have serv'd me to effectless use:
 * Now all the service I require of them
 * Is that the one will help to cut the other.—
 * 'Tis well, Lavinia, that thou hast no hands;
 * For hands to do Rome service, are but vain.

LUCIUS.
 * Speak, gentle sister, who hath martyr'd thee?

MARCUS.
 * O, that delightful engine of her thoughts,
 * That blabb'd them with such pleasing eloquence,
 * Is torn from forth that pretty hollow cage,
 * Where, like a sweet melodious bird, it sung
 * Sweet varied notes, enchanting every ear!

LUCIUS.
 * O, say thou for her, who hath done this deed?

MARCUS.
 * O, thus I found her straying in the park,
 * Seeking to hide herself, as doth the deer
 * That hath receiv'd some unrecuring wound.

TITUS.
 * It was my deer; and he that wounded her
 * Hath hurt me more than had he kill'd me dead:
 * For now I stand as one upon a rock,
 * Environ'd with a wilderness of sea;
 * Who marks the waxing tide grow wave by wave,
 * Expecting ever when some envious surge
 * Will in his brinish bowels swallow him.
 * This way to death my wretched sons are gone;
 * Here stands my other son, a banish'd man;
 * And here my brother, weeping at my woes:
 * But that which gives my soul the greatest spurn
 * Is dear Lavinia, dearer than my soul.—
 * Had I but seen thy picture in this plight
 * It would have madded me: what shall I do
 * Now I behold thy lively body so?
 * Thou hast no hands to wipe away thy tears,
 * Nor tongue to tell me who hath martyr'd thee:
 * Thy husband he is dead; and for his death
 * Thy brothers are condemn'd, and dead by this.—
 * Look, Marcus!—ah, son Lucius, look on her!
 * When I did name her brothers, then fresh tears
 * Stood on her cheeks, as doth the honey dew
 * Upon a gather'd lily almost wither'd.

MARCUS.
 * Perchance she weeps because they kill'd her husband:
 * Perchance because she knows them innocent.

TITUS.
 * If they did kill thy husband, then be joyful,
 * Because the law hath ta'en revenge on them.—
 * No, no, they would not do so foul a deed;
 * Witness the sorrow that their sister makes.—
 * Gentle Lavinia, let me kiss thy lips;
 * Or make some sign how I may do thee ease:
 * Shall thy good uncle, and thy brother Lucius,
 * And thou, and I, sit round about some fountain,
 * Looking all downwards, to behold our cheeks
 * How they are stain'd, like meadows yet not dry,
 * With miry slime left on them by a flood?
 * And in the fountain shall we gaze so long,
 * Till the fresh taste be taken from that clearness,
 * And made a brine-pit with our bitter tears?
 * Or shall we cut away our hands like thine?
 * Or shall we bite our tongues, and in dumb shows
 * Pass the remainder of our hateful days?
 * What shall we do? let us, that have our tongues,
 * Plot some device of further misery,
 * To make us wonder'd at in time to come.

LUCIUS.
 * Sweet father, cease your tears; for at your grief
 * See how my wretched sister sobs and weeps.

MARCUS.
 * Patience, dear niece.—Good Titus, dry thine eyes.

TITUS.
 * Ah, Marcus, Marcus! brother, well I wot
 * Thy napkin cannot drink a tear of mine,
 * For thou, poor man, hast drown'd it with thine own.

LUCIUS.
 * Ah, my Lavinia, I will wipe thy cheeks.

TITUS.
 * Mark, Marcus, mark! I understand her signs:
 * Had she a tongue to speak, now would she say
 * That to her brother which I said to thee:
 * His napkin, with his true tears all bewet,
 * Can do no service on her sorrowful cheeks.
 * O, what a sympathy of woe is this,—
 * As far from help as limbo is from bliss!

[Enter AARON.]

AARON.
 * Titus Andronicus, my lord the emperor
 * Sends thee this word,—that, if thou love thy sons,
 * Let Marcus, Lucius, or thyself, old Titus,
 * Or any one of you, chop off your hand
 * And send it to the king: he for the same
 * Will send thee hither both thy sons alive:
 * And that shall be the ransom for their fault.

TITUS.
 * O gracious emperor! O gentle Aaron!
 * Did ever raven sing so like a lark
 * That gives sweet tidings of the sun's uprise?
 * With all my heart I'll send the emperor
 * My hand:
 * Good Aaron, wilt thou help to chop it off?

LUCIUS.
 * Stay, father! for that noble hand of thine,
 * That hath thrown down so many enemies,
 * Shall not be sent: my hand will serve the turn:
 * My youth can better spare my blood than you;
 * And therefore mine shall save my brothers' lives.

MARCUS.
 * Which of your hands hath not defended Rome,
 * And rear'd aloft the bloody battle-axe,
 * Writing destruction on the enemy's castle?
 * O, none of both but are of high desert:
 * My hand hath been but idle; let it serve
 * To ransom my two nephews from their death;
 * Then have I kept it to a worthy end.

AARON.
 * Nay, come, agree whose hand shall go along,
 * For fear they die before their pardon come.

MARCUS.
 * My hand shall go.

LUCIUS.
 * By heaven, it shall not go!

TITUS.
 * Sirs, strive no more: such wither'd herbs as these
 * Are meet for plucking up, and therefore mine.

LUCIUS.
 * Sweet father, if I shall be thought thy son,
 * Let me redeem my brothers both from death.

MARCUS.
 * And for our father's sake and mother's care,
 * Now let me show a brother's love to thee.

TITUS.
 * Agree between you; I will spare my hand.

LUCIUS.
 * Then I'll go fetch an axe.

MARCUS.
 * But I will use the axe.

[Exeunt LUCIUS and MARCUS.]

TITUS.
 * Come hither, Aaron; I'll deceive them both:
 * Lend me thy hand, and I will give thee mine.

AARON.
 * [Aside.] If that be call'd deceit, I will be honest,
 * And never whilst I live deceive men so:—
 * But I'll deceive you in another sort,
 * And that you'll say ere half an hour pass.

[He cuts off TITUS'S hand.]

[Re-enter LUCIUS and MARCUS.]

TITUS.
 * Now stay your strife: what shall be is despatch'd.—
 * Good Aaron, give his majesty my hand:
 * Tell him it was a hand that warded him
 * From thousand dangers; bid him bury it;
 * More hath it merited,—that let it have.
 * As for my sons, say I account of them
 * As jewels purchas'd at an easy price;
 * And yet dear too, because I bought mine own.

AARON.
 * I go, Andronicus: and for thy hand
 * Look by and by to have thy sons with thee:—
 * [Aside] Their heads I mean. O, how this villainy
 * Doth fat me with the very thoughts of it!
 * Let fools do good, and fair men call for grace:
 * Aaron will have his soul black like his face.

[Exit.]

TITUS.
 * O, here I lift this one hand up to heaven,
 * And bow this feeble ruin to the earth:
 * If any power pities wretched tears,
 * To that I call!—[To LAVINIA.] What, wilt thou kneel with me?
 * Do, then, dear heart; for heaven shall hear our prayers;
 * Or with our sighs we'll breathe the welkin dim,
 * And stain the sun with fog, as sometime clouds
 * When they do hug him in their melting bosoms.

MARCUS.
 * O brother, speak with possibilities,
 * And do not break into these deep extremes.

TITUS.
 * Is not my sorrow deep, having no bottom?
 * Then be my passions bottomless with them.

MARCUS.
 * But yet let reason govern thy lament.

TITUS.
 * If there were reason for these miseries,
 * Then into limits could I bind my woes:
 * When heaven doth weep, doth not the earth o'erflow?
 * If the winds rage, doth not the sea wax mad,
 * Threatening the welkin with his big-swol'n face?
 * And wilt thou have a reason for this coil?
 * I am the sea; hark, how her sighs do flow!
 * She is the weeping welkin, I the earth:
 * Then must my sea be moved with her sighs;
 * Then must my earth with her continual tears
 * Become a deluge, overflow'd and drown'd;
 * For why my bowels cannot hide her woes,
 * But like a drunkard must I vomit them.
 * Then give me leave; for losers will have leave
 * To ease their stomachs with their bitter tongues.

[Enter a Messenger, with two heads and a hand.]

MESSENGER.
 * Worthy Andronicus, ill art thou repaid
 * For that good hand thou sent'st the emperor.
 * Here are the heads of thy two noble sons;
 * And here's thy hand, in scorn to thee sent back,—
 * Thy grief their sports, thy resolution mock'd:
 * That woe is me to think upon thy woes,
 * More than remembrance of my father's death.

[Exit.]

MARCUS.
 * Now let hot Aetna cool in Sicily,
 * And be my heart an ever-burning hell!
 * These miseries are more than may be borne.
 * To weep with them that weep doth ease some deal;
 * But sorrow flouted at is double death.

LUCIUS.
 * Ah, that this sight should make so deep a wound,
 * And yet detested life not shrink thereat!
 * That ever death should let life bear his name,
 * Where life hath no more interest but to breathe!

[LAVINIA kisses him.]

MARCUS.
 * Alas, poor heart, that kiss is comfortless
 * As frozen water to a starved snake.

TITUS.
 * When will this fearful slumber have an end?

MARCUS.
 * Now farewell, flattery; die, Andronicus;
 * Thou dost not slumber: see thy two sons' heads,
 * Thy warlike hand, thy mangled daughter here;
 * Thy other banish'd son with this dear sight
 * Struck pale and bloodless; and thy brother, I,
 * Even like a stony image, cold and numb.
 * Ah! now no more will I control thy griefs:
 * Rent off thy silver hair, thy other hand
 * Gnawing with thy teeth; and be this dismal sight
 * The closing up of our most wretched eyes:
 * Now is a time to storm; why art thou still?

TITUS.
 * Ha, ha, ha!

MARCUS.
 * Why dost thou laugh? it fits not with this hour.

TITUS.
 * Why, I have not another tear to shed:
 * Besides, this sorrow is an enemy,
 * And would usurp upon my watery eyes,
 * And make them blind with tributary tears:
 * Then which way shall I find revenge's cave?
 * For these two heads do seem to speak to me,
 * And threat me I shall never come to bliss
 * Till all these mischiefs be return'd again
 * Even in their throats that have committed them.
 * Come, let me see what task I have to do.—
 * You heavy people circle me about,
 * That I may turn me to each one of you,
 * And swear unto my soul to right your wrongs.—
 * The vow is made.—Come, brother, take a head;
 * And in this hand the other will I bear.
 * And, Lavinia, thou shalt be employ'd in these things;
 * Bear thou my hand, sweet wench, between thy teeth.
 * As for thee, boy, go, get thee from my sight;
 * Thou art an exile, and thou must not stay:
 * Hie to the Goths, and raise an army there:
 * And if you love me, as I think you do,
 * Let's kiss and part, for we have much to do.

[Exeunt TITUS, MARCUS, and LAVINIA.]

LUCIUS.
 * Farewell, Andronicus, my noble father,—
 * The woefull'st man that ever liv'd in Rome:
 * Farewell, proud Rome; till Lucius come again,
 * He leaves his pledges dearer than his life:
 * Farewell, Lavinia, my noble sister;
 * O, would thou wert as thou 'tofore hast been!
 * But now nor Lucius nor Lavinia lives
 * But in oblivion and hateful griefs.
 * If Lucius live, he will requite your wrongs,
 * And make proud Saturnine and his empress
 * Beg at the gates, like Tarquin and his queen.
 * Now will I to the Goths, and raise a power
 * To be reveng'd on Rome and Saturnine.

[Exit.]

SCENE II. Rome. A Room in TITUS'S House. A banquet set out.
[Enter TITUS, MARCUS, LAVINIA, and YOUNG LUCIUS, a boy.]

TITUS.
 * So so, now sit: and look you eat no more
 * Than will preserve just so much strength in us
 * As will revenge these bitter woes of ours.
 * Marcus, unknit that sorrow-wreathen knot:
 * Thy niece and I, poor creatures, want our hands,
 * And cannot passionate our tenfold grief
 * With folded arms. This poor right hand of mine
 * Is left to tyrannize upon my breast;
 * And, when my heart, all mad with misery,
 * Beats in this hollow prison of my flesh,
 * Then thus I thump it down.—
 * [To LAVINIA] Thou map of woe, that thus dost talk in signs!
 * When thy poor heart beats with outrageous beating,
 * Thou canst not strike it thus to make it still.
 * Wound it with sighing, girl; kill it with groans;
 * Or get some little knife between thy teeth,
 * And just against thy heart make thou a hole,
 * That all the tears that thy poor eyes let fall
 * May run into that sink, and, soaking in,
 * Drown the lamenting fool in sea-salt tears.

MARCUS.
 * Fie, brother, fie! teach her not thus to lay
 * Such violent hands upon her tender life.

TITUS.
 * How now! has sorrow made thee dote already?
 * Why, Marcus, no man should be mad but I.
 * What violent hands can she lay on her life?
 * Ah, wherefore dost thou urge the name of hands;—
 * To bid Aeneas tell the tale twice o'er
 * How Troy was burnt and he made miserable?
 * O, handle not the theme, to talk of hands,
 * Lest we remember still that we have none.—
 * Fie, fie, how frantically I square my talk,—
 * As if we should forget we had no hands,
 * If Marcus did not name the word of hands!—
 * Come, let's fall to; and, gentle girl, eat this.—
 * Here is no drink! Hark, Marcus, what she says;—
 * I can interpret all her martyr'd signs;—
 * She says she drinks no other drink but tears,
 * Brew'd with her sorrow, mesh'd upon her cheeks:—
 * Speechless complainer, I will learn thy thought;
 * In thy dumb action will I be as perfect
 * As begging hermits in their holy prayers:
 * Thou shalt not sigh, nor hold thy stumps to heaven,
 * Nor wink, nor nod, nor kneel, nor make a sign,
 * But I of these will wrest an alphabet,
 * And by still practice learn to know thy meaning.

BOY.
 * Good grandsire, leave these bitter deep laments:
 * Make my aunt merry with some pleasing tale.

MARCUS.
 * Alas, the tender boy, in passion mov'd,
 * Doth weep to see his grandsire's heaviness.

TITUS.
 * Peace, tender sapling; thou art made of tears,
 * And tears will quickly melt thy life away.—

[MARCUS strikes the dish with a knife.]


 * What dost thou strike at, Marcus, with thy knife?

MARCUS.
 * At that that I have kill'd, my lord,—a fly.

TITUS.
 * Out on thee, murderer! thou kill'st my heart;
 * Mine eyes are cloy'd with view of tyranny:
 * A deed of death done on the innocent
 * Becomes not Titus' brother: get thee gone;
 * I see thou art not for my company.

MARCUS.
 * Alas, my lord, I have but kill'd a fly.

TITUS.
 * But how if that fly had a father and mother?
 * How would he hang his slender gilded wings
 * And buzz lamenting doings in the air!
 * Poor harmless fly,
 * That with his pretty buzzing melody
 * Came here to make us merry! and thou hast kill'd him.

MARCUS.
 * Pardon me, sir; 'twas a black ill-favour'd fly,
 * Like to the empress' Moor; therefore I kill'd him.

TITUS.
 * O, O, O!
 * Then pardon me for reprehending thee,
 * For thou hast done a charitable deed.
 * Give me thy knife, I will insult on him,
 * Flattering myself as if it were the Moor
 * Come hither purposely to poison me.—
 * There's for thyself, and that's for Tamora.—
 * Ah, sirrah!
 * Yet, I think, we are not brought so low
 * But that between us we can kill a fly
 * That comes in likeness of a coal-black Moor.

MARCUS.
 * Alas, poor man! grief has so wrought on him,
 * He takes false shadows for true substances.

TITUS.
 * Come, take away.—Lavinia, go with me;
 * I'll to thy closet; and go read with thee
 * Sad stories chanced in the times of old.—
 * Come, boy, and go with me: thy sight is young,
 * And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE I. Rome. Before TITUS'S House.
[Enter TITUS and MARCUS. Then enter YOUNG LUCIUS running, with books under his arm, and LAVINIA running after him.]

YOUNG LUCIUS.
 * Help, grandsire, help! my aunt Lavinia
 * Follows me everywhere, I know not why.—
 * Good uncle Marcus, see how swift she comes!
 * Alas, sweet aunt, I know not what you mean.

MARCUS.
 * Stand by me, Lucius: do not fear thine aunt.

TITUS.
 * She loves thee, boy, too well to do thee harm.

YOUNG LUCIUS
 * Ay, when my father was in Rome she did.

MARCUS.
 * What means my niece Lavinia by these signs?

TITUS.
 * Fear her not, Lucius: somewhat doth she mean:—
 * See, Lucius, see how much she makes of thee:
 * Somewhither would she have thee go with her.
 * Ah, boy, Cornelia never with more care
 * Read to her sons than she hath read to thee
 * Sweet poetry and Tully's Orator.

MARCUS.
 * Canst thou not guess wherefore she plies thee thus?

YOUNG LUCIUS.
 * My lord, I know not, I, nor can I guess,
 * Unless some fit or frenzy do possess her:
 * For I have heard my grandsire say full oft
 * Extremity of griefs would make men mad;
 * And I have read that Hecuba of Troy
 * Ran mad for sorrow: that made me to fear;
 * Although, my lord, I know my noble aunt
 * Loves me as dear as e'er my mother did,
 * And would not, but in fury, fright my youth:
 * Which made me down to throw my books, and fly,—
 * Causeless, perhaps: but pardon me, sweet aunt:
 * And, madam, if my uncle Marcus go,
 * I will most willingly attend your ladyship.

MARCUS.
 * Lucius, I will.

[LAVINIA turns over with her stumps the books which Lucius has let fall.]

TITUS.
 * How now, Lavinia!—Marcus, what means this?
 * Some book there is that she desires to see.
 * Which is it, girl, of these?—Open them, boy.—
 * But thou art deeper read and better skill'd:
 * Come and take choice of all my library,
 * And so beguile thy sorrow, till the heavens
 * Reveal the damn'd contriver of this deed.—
 * Why lifts she up her arms in sequence thus?

MARCUS.
 * I think she means that there were more than one
 * Confederate in the fact;—ay, more there was,
 * Or else to heaven she heaves them for revenge.

TITUS.
 * Lucius, what book is that she tosseth so?

YOUNG LUCIUS.
 * Grandsire, 'tis Ovid's Metamorphosis;
 * My mother gave it me.

MARCUS.
 * For love of her that's gone,
 * Perhaps she cull'd it from among the rest.

TITUS.
 * Soft! So busily she turns the leaves! Help her:
 * What would she find?—Lavinia, shall I read?
 * This is the tragic tale of Philomel,
 * And treats of Tereus' treason and his rape;
 * And rape, I fear, was root of thy annoy.

MARCUS.
 * See, brother, see; note how she quotes the leaves.

TITUS.
 * Lavinia, wert thou thus surpris'd, sweet girl,
 * Ravish'd, and wrong'd, as Philomela was,
 * Forc'd in the ruthless, vast, and gloomy woods?—
 * See, see!—
 * Ay, such a place there is where we did hunt.—
 * O, had we never, never hunted there!—
 * Pattern'd by that the poet here describes,
 * By nature made for murders and for rapes.

MARCUS.
 * O, why should nature build so foul a den,
 * Unless the gods delight in tragedies?

TITUS.
 * Give signs, sweet girl,—for here are none but friends,—
 * What Roman lord it was durst do the deed:
 * Or slunk not Saturnine, as Tarquin erst,
 * That left the camp to sin in Lucrece' bed?

MARCUS.
 * Sit down, sweet niece:—brother, sit down by me.—
 * Apollo, Pallas, Jove, or Mercury,
 * Inspire me, that I may this treason find!—
 * My lord, look here:—look here, Lavinia:
 * This sandy plot is plain; guide, if thou canst,
 * This after me, when I have writ my name
 * Without the help of any hand at all.

[He writes his name with his staff, guiding it with feet and mouth.]


 * Curs'd be that heart that forc'd us to this shift!—
 * Write thou, good niece; and here display at last
 * What God will have discover'd for revenge:
 * Heaven guide thy pen to print thy sorrows plain,
 * That we may know the traitors and the truth!

[She takes the staff in her mouth, guides it with her stumps, and writes.]

TITUS.
 * O, do ye read, my lord, what she hath writ?
 * 'Stuprum—Chiron—Demetrius.'

MARCUS.
 * What, what!—the lustful sons of Tamora
 * Performers of this heinous bloody deed?

TITUS.
 * Magni Dominator poli,
 * Tam lentus audis scelera? tam lentus vides?

MARCUS.
 * O, calm thee, gentle lord; although I know
 * There is enough written upon this earth
 * To stir a mutiny in the mildest thoughts,
 * And arm the minds of infants to exclaims,
 * My lord, kneel down with me; Lavinia, kneel;
 * And kneel, sweet boy, the Roman Hector's hope;
 * And swear with me,—as, with the woeful fere
 * And father of that chaste dishonour'd dame,
 * Lord Junius Brutus sware for Lucrece' rape,—
 * That we will prosecute, by good advice,
 * Mortal revenge upon these traitorous Goths,
 * And see their blood, or die with this reproach.

TITUS.
 * 'Tis sure enough, an you knew how.
 * But if you hunt these bear-whelps, then beware:
 * The dam will wake; and if she wind you once,
 * She's with the lion deeply still in league,
 * And lulls him whilst she playeth on her back,
 * And when he sleeps will she do what she list.
 * You are a young huntsman, Marcus; let alone;
 * And, come, I will go get a leaf of brass,
 * And with a gad of steel will write these words,
 * And lay it by: the angry northern wind
 * Will blow these sands like Sibyl's leaves, abroad,
 * And where's our lesson, then?—Boy, what say you?

YOUNG LUCIUS.
 * I say, my lord, that if I were a man,
 * Their mother's bedchamber should not be safe
 * For these bad-bondmen to the yoke of Rome.

MARCUS.
 * Ay, that's my boy! thy father hath full oft
 * For his ungrateful country done the like.

YOUNG LUCIUS.
 * And, uncle, so will I, an if I live.

TITUS.
 * Come, go with me into mine armoury;
 * Lucius, I'll fit thee; and withal, my boy,
 * Shall carry from me to the empress' sons
 * Presents that I intend to send them both:
 * Come, come; thou'lt do my message, wilt thou not?

YOUNG LUCIUS.
 * Ay, with my dagger in their bosoms, grandsire.

TITUS.
 * No, boy, not so; I'll teach thee another course.—
 * Lavinia, come.—Marcus, look to my house:
 * Lucius and I'll go brave it at the court;
 * Ay, marry, will we, sir: and we'll be waited on.

[Exeunt TITUS, LAVINIA, and YOUNG LUCIUS.]

MARCUS.
 * O heavens, can you hear a good man groan,
 * And not relent, or not compassion him?
 * Marcus, attend him in his ecstasy,
 * That hath more scars of sorrow in his heart
 * Than foemen's marks upon his batter'd shield;
 * But yet so just that he will not revenge:—
 * Revenge, ye heavens, for old Andronicus!

[Exit.]

SCENE II. Rome. A Room in the Palace.
[Enter AARON, DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, at one door; at another door, YOUNG LUCIUS and an Attendant, with a bundle of weapons, and verses writ upon them.]

CHIRON.
 * Demetrius, here's the son of Lucius;
 * He hath some message to deliver us.

AARON.
 * Ay, some mad message from his mad grandfather.

YOUNG LUCIUS.
 * My lords, with all the humbleness I may,
 * I greet your honours from Andronicus,—
 * [Aside.] And pray the Roman gods confound you both!

DEMETRIUS.
 * Gramercy, lovely Lucius: what's the news?

YOUNG LUCIUS.
 * [Aside] That you are both decipher'd, that's the news,
 * For villains mark'd with rape.—May it please you,
 * My grandsire, well advis'd, hath sent by me
 * The goodliest weapons of his armoury
 * To gratify your honourable youth,
 * The hope of Rome; for so he bid me say;
 * And so I do, and with his gifts present
 * Your lordships, that, whenever you have need,
 * You may be armed and appointed well:
 * And so I leave you both—[aside] like bloody villains.

[Exeunt YOUNG LUCIUS and Attendant.]

DEMETRIUS.
 * What's here? A scroll; and written round about?
 * Let's see:
 * [Reads.] 'Integer vitae, scelerisque purus,
 * Non eget Mauri jaculis, nec arcu.'

CHIRON.
 * O, 'tis a verse in Horace, I know it well:
 * I read it in the grammar long ago.

AARON.
 * Ay, just,—a verse in Horace;—right, you have it.—
 * [Aside] Now, what a thing it is to be an ass!
 * Here's no sound jest! the old man hath found their guilt;
 * And sends them weapons wrapp'd about with lines,
 * That wound, beyond their feeling, to the quick.
 * But were our witty empress well afoot,
 * She would applaud Andronicus' conceit.
 * But let her rest in her unrest awhile.—
 * And now, young lords, was't not a happy star
 * Led us to Rome, strangers, and more than so,
 * Captives, to be advanced to this height?
 * It did me good before the palace gate
 * To brave the tribune in his brother's hearing.

DEMETRIUS.
 * But me more good to see so great a lord
 * Basely insinuate and send us gifts.

AARON.
 * Had he not reason, Lord Demetrius?
 * Did you not use his daughter very friendly?

DEMETRIUS.
 * I would we had a thousand Roman dames
 * At such a bay, by turn to serve our lust.

CHIRON.
 * A charitable wish, and full of love.

AARON.
 * Here lacks but your mother for to say amen.

CHIRON.
 * And that would she for twenty thousand more.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Come, let us go; and pray to all the gods
 * For our beloved mother in her pains.

AARON.
 * [Aside.] Pray to the devils; the gods have given us over.
 * [Flourish within.]

DEMETRIUS.
 * Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus?

CHIRON.
 * Belike, for joy the emperor hath a son.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Soft! who comes here?

[Enter a NURSE, with a blackamoor CHILD in her arms.]

NURSE.
 * Good morrow, lords:
 * O, tell me, did you see Aaron the Moor?

AARON.
 * Well, more or less, or ne'er a whit at all,
 * Here Aaron is; and what with Aaron now?

NURSE.
 * O gentle Aaron, we are all undone!
 * Now help, or woe betide thee evermore!

AARON.
 * Why, what a caterwauling dost thou keep!
 * What dost thou wrap and fumble in thy arms?

NURSE.
 * O, that which I would hide from heaven's eye,
 * Our empress' shame and stately Rome's disgrace!—
 * She is deliver'd, lords,—she is deliver'd.

AARON.
 * To whom?

NURSE.
 * I mean, she's brought a-bed.

AARON.
 * Well, God give her good rest! What hath he sent her?

NURSE.
 * A devil.

AARON.
 * Why, then she is the devil's dam; a joyful issue.

NURSE.
 * A joyless, dismal, black, and sorrowful issue:
 * Here is the babe, as loathsome as a toad
 * Amongst the fairest breeders of our clime:
 * The empress sends it thee, thy stamp, thy seal,
 * And bids thee christen it with thy dagger's point.

AARON.
 * Zounds, ye whore! is black so base a hue?—
 * Sweet blowse, you are a beauteous blossom sure.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Villain, what hast thou done?

AARON.
 * That which thou canst not undo.

CHIRON.
 * Thou hast undone our mother.

AARON.
 * Villain, I have done thy mother.

DEMETRIUS.
 * And therein, hellish dog, thou hast undone.
 * Woe to her chance, and damn'd her loathed choice!
 * Accurs'd the offspring of so foul a fiend!

CHIRON.
 * It shall not live.

AARON.
 * It shall not die.

NURSE.
 * Aaron, it must; the mother wills it so.

AARON.
 * What, must it, nurse? then let no man but I
 * Do execution on my flesh and blood.

DEMETRIUS.
 * I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point:—
 * Nurse, give it me; my sword shall soon despatch it.

AARON.
 * Sooner this sword shall plough thy bowels up.

[Takes the CHILD from the NURSE, and draws.]


 * Stay, murderous villains, will you kill your brother?
 * Now, by the burning tapers of the sky,
 * That shone so brightly when this boy was got,
 * He dies upon my scimitar's sharp point
 * That touches this my first-born son and heir!
 * I tell you, younglings, not Enceladus,
 * With all his threatening band of Typhon's brood,
 * Nor great Alcides, nor the god of war,
 * Shall seize this prey out of his father's hands.
 * What, what, ye sanguine, shallow-hearted boys!
 * Ye white-lim'd walls! ye alehouse-painted signs!
 * Coal-black is better than another hue,
 * In that it scorns to bear another hue;
 * For all the water in the ocean
 * Can never turn the swan's black legs to white,
 * Although she lave them hourly in the flood.
 * Tell the empress from me I am of age
 * To keep mine own,—excuse it how she can.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Wilt thou betray thy noble mistress thus?

AARON.
 * My mistress is my mistress: this my self,—
 * The vigour and the picture of my youth:
 * This before all the world do I prefer;
 * This maugre all the world will I keep safe,
 * Or some of you shall smoke for it in Rome.

DEMETRIUS.
 * By this our mother is for ever sham'd.

CHIRON.
 * Rome will despise her for this foul escape.

NURSE.
 * The emperor, in his rage, will doom her death.

CHIRON.
 * I blush to think upon this ignomy.

AARON.
 * Why, there's the privilege your beauty bears:
 * Fie, treacherous hue, that will betray with blushing
 * The close enacts and counsels of thy heart!
 * Here's a young lad fram'd of another leer:
 * Look how the black slave smiles upon the father,
 * As who should say 'Old lad, I am thine own.'
 * He is your brother, lords; sensibly fed
 * Of that self-blood that first gave life to you;
 * And from your womb where you imprison'd were
 * He is enfranchised and come to light:
 * Nay, he is your brother by the surer side,
 * Although my seal be stamped in his face.

NURSE.
 * Aaron, what shall I say unto the empress?

DEMETRIUS.
 * Advise thee, Aaron, what is to be done,
 * And we will all subscribe to thy advice:
 * Save thou the child, so we may all be safe.

AARON.
 * Then sit we down and let us all consult.
 * My son and I will have the wind of you:
 * Keep there: now talk at pleasure of your safety.

[They sit.]

DEMETRIUS.
 * How many women saw this child of his?

AARON.
 * Why, so, brave lords! when we join in league
 * I am a lamb: but if you brave the Moor,
 * The chafed boar, the mountain lioness,
 * The ocean swells not so as Aaron storms.—
 * But say, again, how many saw the child?

NURSE.
 * Cornelia the midwife and myself;
 * And no one else but the deliver'd empress.

AARON.
 * The empress, the midwife, and yourself:
 * Two may keep counsel when the third's away:
 * Go to the empress, tell her this I said:—

[Stabs her, and she dies.]


 * Weke, weke!—so cries a pig prepar'd to the spit.

DEMETRIUS.
 * What mean'st thou, Aaron? Wherefore didst thou this?

AARON.
 * O Lord, sir, 'tis a deed of policy:
 * Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours,—
 * A long-tongu'd babbling gossip? no, lords, no:
 * And now be it known to you my full intent.
 * Not far, one Muliteus lives, my countryman;
 * His wife but yesternight was brought to bed;
 * His child is like to her, fair as you are:
 * Go pack with him, and give the mother gold,
 * And tell them both the circumstance of all;
 * And how by this their child shall be advanc'd,
 * And be received for the emperor's heir,
 * And substituted in the place of mine,
 * To calm this tempest whirling in the court;
 * And let the emperor dandle him for his own.
 * Hark ye, lords; ye see I have given her physic.

[Pointing to the NURSE.]

And you must needs bestow her funeral;
 * The fields are near, and you are gallant grooms:
 * This done, see that you take no longer days,
 * But send the midwife presently to me.
 * The midwife and the nurse well made away,
 * Then let the ladies tattle what they please.

CHIRON.
 * Aaron, I see thou wilt not trust the air
 * With secrets.

DEMETRIUS.
 * For this care of Tamora,
 * Herself and hers are highly bound to thee.

[Exeunt DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, bearing off the dead NURSE.]

AARON.
 * Now to the Goths, as swift as swallow flies;
 * There to dispose this treasure in mine arms,
 * And secretly to greet the empress' friends.—
 * Come on, you thick-lipp'd slave, I'll bear you hence;
 * For it is you that puts us to our shifts:
 * I'll make you feed on berries and on roots,
 * And feed on curds and whey, and suck the goat,
 * And cabin in a cave, and bring you up
 * To be a warrior and command a camp.

[Exit.]

SCENE III. Rome. A public Place.
[Enter TITUS, bearing arrows with letters at the ends of them; with him MARCUS, YOUNG LUCIUS, and other gentlemen, with bows.]

TITUS.
 * Come, Marcus, come:—kinsmen, this is the way.—
 * Sir boy, let me see your archery;
 * Look ye draw home enough, and 'tis there straight.—
 * Terras Astrea reliquit:
 * Be you remember'd, Marcus; she's gone, she's fled.
 * Sirs, take you to your tools. You, cousins, shall
 * Go sound the ocean and cast your nets;
 * Happily you may catch her in the sea;
 * Yet there's as little justice as at land.—
 * No; Publius and Sempronius, you must do it;
 * 'Tis you must dig with mattock and with spade,
 * And pierce the inmost centre of the earth:
 * Then, when you come to Pluto's region,
 * I pray you deliver him this petition;
 * Tell him it is for justice and for aid,
 * And that it comes from old Andronicus,
 * Shaken with sorrows in ungrateful Rome.—
 * Ah, Rome!—Well, well; I made thee miserable
 * What time I threw the people's suffrages
 * On him that thus doth tyrannize o'er me.—
 * Go, get you gone; and pray be careful all,
 * And leave you not a man-of-war unsearch'd:
 * This wicked emperor may have shipp'd her hence;
 * And, kinsmen, then we may go pipe for justice.

MARCUS.
 * O Publius, is not this a heavy case,
 * To see thy noble uncle thus distract?

PUBLIUS.
 * Therefore, my lords, it highly us concerns
 * By day and night to attend him carefully,
 * And feed his humour kindly as we may,
 * Till time beget some careful remedy.

MARCUS.
 * Kinsmen, his sorrows are past remedy.
 * Join with the Goths; and with revengeful war
 * Take wreak on Rome for this ingratitude,
 * And vengeance on the traitor Saturnine.

TITUS.
 * Publius, how now! how now, my masters!
 * What, have you met with her?

PUBLIUS.
 * No, my good lord; but Pluto sends you word,
 * If you will have Revenge from hell, you shall:
 * Marry, for Justice, she is so employ'd,
 * He thinks, with Jove in heaven, or somewhere else,
 * So that perforce you must needs stay a time.

TITUS.
 * He doth me wrong to feed me with delays.
 * I'll dive into the burning lake below,
 * And pull her out of Acheron by the heels.—
 * Marcus, we are but shrubs, no cedars we,
 * No big-bon'd men, fram'd of the Cyclops' size;
 * But metal, Marcus, steel to the very back,
 * Yet wrung with wrongs more than our backs can bear:
 * And, sith there's no justice in earth nor hell,
 * We will solicit heaven, and move the gods
 * To send down Justice for to wreak our wrongs.—
 * Come, to this gear.—You are a good archer, Marcus.

[He gives them the arrows.]


 * 'Ad Jovem' that's for you; here, 'Ad Apollinem':—
 * 'Ad Martem' that's for myself:—
 * Here, boy, to Pallas:—here, to Mercury:—
 * To Saturn, Caius, not to Saturnine;
 * You were as good to shoot against the wind.—
 * To it, boy.—Marcus, loose when I bid.—
 * Of my word, I have written to effect;
 * There's not a god left unsolicited.

MARCUS.
 * Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into the court:
 * We will afflict the emperor in his pride.

TITUS.
 * Now, masters, draw. [They shoot.] O, well said, Lucius!
 * Good boy, in Virgo's lap; give it Pallas.

MARCUS.
 * My lord, I aim a mile beyond the moon:
 * Your letter is with Jupiter by this.

TITUS.
 * Ha! ha!
 * Publius, Publius, hast thou done?
 * See, see, thou hast shot off one of Taurus' horns.

MARCUS.
 * This was the sport, my lord: when Publius shot,
 * The Bull, being gall'd, gave Aries such a knock
 * That down fell both the Ram's horns in the court;
 * And who should find them but the empress' villain?
 * She laugh'd, and told the Moor he should not choose
 * But give them to his master for a present.

TITUS.
 * Why, there it goes: God give his lordship joy!

[Enter a CLOWN, with a basket and two pigeons in it.]


 * News, news from heaven! Marcus, the post is come.
 * Sirrah, what tidings? have you any letters?
 * Shall I have justice? what says Jupiter?

CLOWN.
 * Ho, the gibbet-maker? he says that he hath taken them
 * down again, for the man must not be hanged till the next week.

TITUS.
 * But what says Jupiter, I ask thee?

CLOWN.
 * Alas, sir, I know not Jupiter; I never drank with him in all my
 * life.

TITUS.
 * Why, villain, art not thou the carrier?

CLOWN.
 * Ay, of my pigeons, sir; nothing else.

TITUS.
 * Why, didst thou not come from heaven?

CLOWN.
 * From heaven! alas, sir, I never came there: God forbid I
 * should be so bold to press to heaven in my young days. Why, I am
 * going with my pigeons to the tribunal plebs, to take up a matter
 * of brawl betwixt my uncle and one of the imperial's men.

MARCUS.
 * Why, sir, that is as fit as can be to serve for your
 * oration; and let him deliver the pigeons to the emperor from
 * you.

TITUS.
 * Tell me, can you deliver an oration to the emperor with a grace?

CLOWN.
 * Nay, truly, sir, I could never say grace in all my life.

TITUS.
 * Sirrah, come hither: make no more ado,
 * But give your pigeons to the emperor:
 * By me thou shalt have justice at his hands.
 * Hold, hold; meanwhile here's money for thy charges.—
 * Give me pen and ink.—
 * Sirrah, can you with a grace deliver up a supplication?

CLOWN.
 * Ay, sir.

TITUS.
 * Then here is a supplication for you. And when you come to
 * him, at the first approach you must kneel; then kiss his
 * foot; then deliver up your pigeons; and then look for your
 * reward. I'll be at hand, sir; see you do it bravely.

CLOWN.
 * I warrant you, sir; let me alone.

TITUS.
 * Sirrah, hast thou a knife? Come let me see it.
 * Here, Marcus, fold it in the oration;
 * For thou hast made it like a humble suppliant.:—
 * And when thou hast given it to the emperor,
 * Knock at my door, and tell me what he says.

CLOWN.
 * God be with you, sir; I will.

TITUS.
 * Come, Marcus, let us go.—Publius, follow me.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE IV. Rome. Before the Palace.
[Enter SATURNINUS, TAMORA, DEMETRIUS, CHIRON; Lords, and others; SATURNINUS with the arrows in his hand that TITUS shot.]

SATURNINUS.
 * Why, lords, what wrongs are these! was ever seen
 * An emperor in Rome thus overborne,
 * Troubled, confronted thus; and, for the extent
 * Of legal justice, us'd in such contempt?
 * My lords, you know, as know the mightful gods,
 * However these disturbers of our peace
 * Buzz in the people's ears, there naught hath pass'd
 * But even with law, against the wilful sons
 * Of old Andronicus. And what an if
 * His sorrows have so overwhelm'd his wits,
 * Shall we be thus afflicted in his freaks,
 * His fits, his frenzy, and his bitterness?
 * And now he writes to heaven for his redress:
 * See, here's to Jove, and this to Mercury;
 * This to Apollo; this to the God of War;—
 * Sweet scrolls to fly about the streets of Rome!
 * What's this but libelling against the senate,
 * And blazoning our injustice everywhere?
 * A goodly humour, is it not, my lords?
 * As who would say, in Rome no justice were.
 * But if I live, his feigned ecstasies
 * Shall be no shelter to these outrages:
 * But he and his shall know that justice lives
 * In Saturninus' health; whom, if she sleep,
 * He'll so awake as he in fury shall
 * Cut off the proud'st conspirator that lives.

TAMORA.
 * My gracious lord, my lovely Saturnine,
 * Lord of my life, commander of my thoughts,
 * Calm thee, and bear the faults of Titus' age,
 * The effects of sorrow for his valiant sons,
 * Whose loss hath pierc'd him deep, and scarr'd his heart;
 * And rather comfort his distressed plight
 * Than prosecute the meanest or the best
 * For these contempts.—[Aside] Why, thus it shall become
 * High-witted Tamora to gloze with all:
 * But, Titus, I have touch'd thee to the quick,
 * Thy life-blood on't; if Aaron now be wise,
 * Then is all safe, the anchor in the port.—

[Enter CLOWN.]


 * How now, good fellow! wouldst thou speak with us?

CLOWN.
 * Yes, forsooth, an your mistership be imperial.

TAMORA.
 * Empress I am, but yonder sits the emperor.

CLOWN.
 * 'Tis he.—God and Saint Stephen give you good-den; I have
 * brought you a letter and a couple of pigeons here.

[SATURNINUS reads the letter.]

SATURNINUS.
 * Go take him away, and hang him presently.

CLOWN.
 * How much money must I have?

TAMORA.
 * Come, sirrah, you must be hang'd.

CLOWN.
 * Hang'd! by'r lady, then I have brought up a neck to a fair end.
 * [Exit guarded.]
 * [Exit guarded.]

SATURNINUS.
 * Despiteful and intolerable wrongs!
 * Shall I endure this monstrous villainy?
 * I know from whence this same device proceeds:
 * May this be borne,—as if his traitorous sons,
 * That died by law for murder of our brother,
 * Have by my means been butchered wrongfully?—
 * Go, drag the villain hither by the hair;
 * Nor age nor honour shall shape privilege.—
 * For this proud mock I'll be thy slaughter-man;
 * Sly frantic wretch, that holp'st to make me great,
 * In hope thyself should govern Rome and me.

[Enter AEMILIUS.]


 * What news with thee, Aemilius?

AEMILIUS.
 * Arm, my lord! Rome never had more cause!
 * The Goths have gather'd head; and with a power
 * Of high resolved men, bent to the spoil,
 * They hither march amain, under conduct
 * Of Lucius, son to old Andronicus;
 * Who threats, in course of this revenge, to do
 * As much as ever Coriolanus did.

SATURNINUS.
 * Is warlike Lucius general of the Goths?
 * These tidings nip me; and I hang the head
 * As flowers with frost, or grass beat down with storms:
 * Ay, now begins our sorrows to approach:
 * 'Tis he the common people love so much;
 * Myself hath often overheard them say,—
 * When I have walked like a private man,—
 * That Lucius' banishment was wrongfully,
 * And they have wish'd that Lucius were their emperor.

TAMORA.
 * Why should you fear? is not your city strong?

SATURNINUS.
 * Ay, but the citizens favour Lucius,
 * And will revolt from me to succour him.

TAMORA.
 * King, be thy thoughts imperious like thy name.
 * Is the sun dimm'd, that gnats do fly in it?
 * The eagle suffers little birds to sing,
 * And is not careful what they mean thereby,
 * Knowing that with the shadow of his wing
 * He can at pleasure stint their melody;
 * Even so mayest thou the giddy men of Rome.
 * Then cheer thy spirit: for know, thou emperor,
 * I will enchant the old Andronicus
 * With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous,
 * Than baits to fish or honey-stalks to sheep,
 * Whenas the one is wounded with the bait,
 * The other rotted with delicious feed.

SATURNINUS.
 * But he will not entreat his son for us.

TAMORA.
 * If Tamora entreat him, then he will:
 * For I can smooth and fill his aged ear
 * With golden promises that, were his heart
 * Almost impregnable, his old ears deaf,
 * Yet should both ear and heart obey my tongue.—
 * Go thou before [to AEMILIUS]; be our ambassador:
 * Say that the emperor requests a parley
 * Of warlike Lucius, and appoint the meeting
 * Even at his father's house, the old Andronicus.

SATURNINUS.
 * Aemilius, do this message honourably:
 * And if he stand on hostage for his safety,
 * Bid him demand what pledge will please him best.

AEMILIUS.
 * Your bidding shall I do effectually.

[Exit.]

TAMORA.
 * Now will I to that old Andronicus,
 * And temper him with all the art I have,
 * To pluck proud Lucius from the warlike Goths.
 * And now, sweet emperor, be blithe again,
 * And bury all thy fear in my devices.

SATURNINUS.
 * Then go successantly, and plead to him.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE I. Plains near Rome.
[Enter LUCIUS with GOTHS, with drum and colours.]

LUCIUS.
 * Approved warriors and my faithful friends,
 * I have received letters from great Rome,
 * Which signifies what hate they bear their emperor,
 * And how desirous of our sight they are.
 * Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness,
 * Imperious and impatient of your wrongs;
 * And wherein Rome hath done you any scath
 * Let him make treble satisfaction.

FIRST GOTH.
 * Brave slip, sprung from the great Andronicus,
 * Whose name was once our terror, now our comfort;
 * Whose high exploits and honourable deeds
 * Ingrateful Rome requites with foul contempt,
 * Be bold in us: we'll follow where thou lead'st,—
 * Like stinging bees in hottest summer's day,
 * Led by their master to the flowered fields,—
 * And be aveng'd on cursed Tamora.

GOTHS.
 * And as he saith, so say we all with him.

LUCIUS.
 * I humbly thank him, and I thank you all.
 * But who comes here, led by a lusty Goth?

[Enter a GOTH, leading AARON with his CHILD in his arms.]

SECOND GOTH.
 * Renowned Lucius, from our troops I stray'd
 * To gaze upon a ruinous monastery;
 * And as I earnestly did fix mine eye
 * Upon the wasted building, suddenly
 * I heard a child cry underneath a wall.
 * I made unto the noise; when soon I heard
 * The crying babe controll'd with this discourse:—
 * 'Peace, tawny slave, half me and half thy dam!
 * Did not thy hue bewray whose brat thou art,
 * Had nature lent thee but thy mother's look,
 * Villain, thou mightst have been an emperor:
 * But where the bull and cow are both milk-white,
 * They never do beget a coal-black calf.
 * Peace, villain, peace!'—even thus he rates the babe,—
 * 'For I must bear thee to a trusty Goth;
 * Who, when he knows thou art the empress' babe,
 * Will hold thee dearly for thy mother's sake.'
 * With this, my weapon drawn, I rush'd upon him,
 * Surpris'd him suddenly, and brought him hither,
 * To use as you think needful of the man.

LUCIUS.
 * O worthy Goth, this is the incarnate devil
 * That robb'd Andronicus of his good hand;
 * This is the pearl that pleas'd your empress' eye;
 * And here's the base fruit of his burning lust.—
 * Say, wall-ey'd slave, whither wouldst thou convey
 * This growing image of thy fiend-like face?
 * Why dost not speak? what, deaf? No; not a word?—
 * A halter, soldiers; hang him on this tree,
 * And by his side his fruit of bastardy.

AARON.
 * Touch not the boy,—he is of royal blood.

LUCIUS.
 * Too like the sire for ever being good.—
 * First hang the child, that he may see it sprawl,—
 * A sight to vex the father's soul withal.
 * Get me a ladder.

[A ladder brought, which AARON is obliged to ascend.]

AARON.
 * Lucius, save the child,
 * And bear it from me to the empress.
 * If thou do this, I'll show thee wondrous things
 * That highly may advantage thee to hear:
 * If thou wilt not, befall what may befall,
 * I'll speak no more,—but vengeance rot you all!

LUCIUS.
 * Say on: an if it please me which thou speak'st,
 * Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish'd.

AARON.
 * An if it please thee! why, assure thee, Lucius,
 * 'Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak;
 * For I must talk of murders, rapes, and massacres,
 * Acts of black night, abominable deeds,
 * Complots of mischief, treason, villainies,
 * Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd:
 * And this shall all be buried in my death,
 * Unless thou swear to me my child shall live.

LUCIUS.
 * Tell on thy mind; I say thy child shall live.

AARON.
 * Swear that he shall, and then I will begin.

LUCIUS.
 * Who should I swear by? thou believ'st no god;:
 * That granted, how canst thou believe an oath?

AARON.
 * What if I do not? as indeed I do not;
 * Yet, for I know thou art religious,
 * And hast a thing within thee called conscience,
 * With twenty popish tricks and ceremonies
 * Which I have seen thee careful to observe,
 * Therefore I urge thy oath;—for that I know
 * An idiot holds his bauble for a god,
 * And keeps the oath which by that god he swears;
 * To that I'll urge him:—therefore thou shalt vow
 * By that same god,—what god soe'er it be
 * That thou ador'st and hast in reverence,—
 * To save my boy, to nourish and bring him up;
 * Or else I will discover naught to thee.

LUCIUS.
 * Even by my god I swear to thee I will.

AARON.
 * First know thou, I begot him on the empress.

LUCIUS.
 * O most insatiate and luxurious woman!

AARON.
 * Tut, Lucius, this was but a deed of charity
 * To that which thou shalt hear of me anon.
 * 'Twas her two sons that murder'd Bassianus;
 * They cut thy sister's tongue, and ravish'd her,
 * And cut her hands, and trimm'd her as thou saw'st.

LUCIUS.
 * O detestable villain! call'st thou that trimming?

AARON.
 * Why, she was wash'd, and cut, and trimm'd; and 'twas
 * Trim sport for them which had the doing of it.

LUCIUS.
 * O barbarous, beastly villains, like thyself!

AARON.
 * Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct them:
 * That codding spirit had they from their mother,
 * As sure a card as ever won the set;
 * That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me,
 * As true a dog as ever fought at head.
 * Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth.
 * I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hole
 * Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay:
 * I wrote the letter that thy father found,
 * And hid the gold within that letter mention'd,
 * Confederate with the queen and her two sons:
 * And what not done, that thou hast cause to rue,
 * Wherein I had no stroke of mischief in't?
 * I play'd the cheater for thy father's hand;
 * And, when I had it, drew myself apart,
 * And almost broke my heart with extreme laughter:
 * I pry'd me through the crevice of a wall
 * When, for his hand, he had his two sons' heads;
 * Beheld his tears, and laugh'd so heartily
 * That both mine eyes were rainy like to his:
 * And when I told the empress of this sport,
 * She swooned almost at my pleasing tale,
 * And for my tidings gave me twenty kisses.

GOTH.
 * What, canst thou say all this and never blush?

AARON.
 * Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.

LUCIUS.
 * Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?

AARON.
 * Ay, that I had not done a thousand more.
 * Even now I curse the day,—and yet, I think,
 * Few come within the compass of my curse,—
 * Wherein I did not some notorious ill:
 * As, kill a man, or else devise his death;
 * Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it;
 * Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself;
 * Set deadly enmity between two friends;
 * Make poor men's cattle stray and break their necks;
 * Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,
 * And bid the owners quench them with their tears.
 * Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,
 * And set them upright at their dear friends' doors,
 * Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;
 * And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,
 * Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,
 * 'Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.'
 * Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things
 * As willingly as one would kill a fly;
 * And nothing grieves me heartily indeed
 * But that I cannot do ten thousand more.

LUCIUS.
 * Bring down the devil; for he must not die
 * So sweet a death as hanging presently.

AARON.
 * If there be devils, would I were a devil,
 * To live and burn in everlasting fire,
 * So I might have your company in hell
 * But to torment you with my bitter tongue!

LUCIUS.
 * Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no more.

[Enter a GOTH.}

THIRD GOTH.
 * My lord, there is a messenger from Rome
 * Desires to be admitted to your presence.

LUCIUS.
 * Let him come near.

[Enter AEMILIUS.]


 * Welcome, Aemilius. What's the news from Rome?

AEMILIUS.
 * Lord Lucius, and you princes of the Goths,
 * The Roman emperor greets you all by me;
 * And, for he understands you are in arms,
 * He craves a parley at your father's house,
 * Willing you to demand your hostages,
 * And they shall be immediately deliver'd.

FIRST GOTH.
 * What says our general?

LUCIUS.
 * Aemilius, let the emperor give his pledges
 * Unto my father and my uncle Marcus.
 * And we will come.—March away.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE II. Rome. Before TITUS'S House.
[Enter TAMORA, DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, disguised.]

TAMORA.
 * Thus, in this strange and sad habiliment,
 * I will encounter with Andronicus,
 * And say I am Revenge, sent from below
 * To join with him and right his heinous wrongs.
 * Knock at his study, where they say he keeps
 * To ruminate strange plots of dire revenge;
 * Tell him Revenge is come to join with him,
 * And work confusion on his enemies.

[They knock.]

[Enter TITUS, above.]

TITUS.
 * Who doth molest my contemplation?
 * Is it your trick to make me ope the door,
 * That so my sad decrees may fly away
 * And all my study be to no effect?
 * You are deceiv'd: for what I mean to do
 * See here in bloody lines I have set down;
 * And what is written shall be executed.

TAMORA.
 * Titus, I am come to talk with thee.

TITUS.
 * No, not a word: how can I grace my talk,
 * Wanting a hand to give it action?
 * Thou hast the odds of me; therefore no more.

TAMORA.
 * If thou didst know me, thou wouldst talk with me.

TITUS.
 * I am not mad; I know thee well enough:
 * Witness this wretched stump, witness these crimson lines;
 * Witness these trenches made by grief and care;
 * Witness the tiring day and heavy night;
 * Witness all sorrow, that I know thee well
 * For our proud empress, mighty Tamora:
 * Is not thy coming for my other hand?

TAMORA.
 * Know thou, sad man, I am not Tamora;
 * She is thy enemy and I thy friend:
 * I am Revenge; sent from the infernal kingdom
 * To ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind
 * By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes.
 * Come down and welcome me to this world's light;
 * Confer with me of murder and of death:
 * There's not a hollow cave or lurking-place,
 * No vast obscurity or misty vale,
 * Where bloody murder or detested rape
 * Can couch for fear but I will find them out;
 * And in their ears tell them my dreadful name,—
 * Revenge, which makes the foul offender quake.

TITUS.
 * Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to me
 * To be a torment to mine enemies?

TAMORA.
 * I am; therefore come down and welcome me.

TITUS.
 * Do me some service ere I come to thee.
 * Lo, by thy side where Rape and Murder stands;
 * Now give some surance that thou art Revenge,—
 * Stab them, or tear them on thy chariot wheels;
 * And then I'll come and be thy waggoner,
 * And whirl along with thee about the globe.
 * Provide thee two proper palfreys, black as jet,
 * To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away,
 * And find out murderers in their guilty caves:
 * And when thy car is loaden with their heads
 * I will dismount, and by the waggon-wheel
 * Trot, like a servile footman, all day long,
 * Even from Hyperion's rising in the east
 * Until his very downfall in the sea:
 * And day by day I'll do this heavy task,
 * So thou destroy Rapine and Murder there.

TAMORA.
 * These are my ministers, and come with me.

TITUS.
 * Are they thy ministers? what are they call'd?

TAMORA.
 * Rapine and Murder; therefore called so
 * 'Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men.

TITUS.
 * Good Lord, how like the empress' sons they are!
 * And you the empress! But we worldly men
 * Have miserable, mad, mistaking eyes.
 * O sweet Revenge, now do I come to thee;
 * And, if one arm's embracement will content thee,
 * I will embrace thee in it by and by.

[Exit from above.]

TAMORA.
 * This closing with him fits his lunacy:
 * Whate'er I forge to feed his brain-sick fiits,
 * Do you uphold and maintain in your speeches,
 * For now he firmly takes me for Revenge;
 * And, being credulous in this mad thought,
 * I'll make him send for Lucius his son;
 * And whilst I at a banquet hold him sure,
 * I'll find some cunning practice out of hand
 * To scatter and disperse the giddy Goths,
 * Or, at the least, make them his enemies.
 * See, here he comes, and I must ply my theme.

[Enter TITUS.]

TITUS.
 * Long have I been forlorn, and all for thee:
 * Welcome, dread fury, to my woeful house;—
 * Rapine and Murder, you are welcome too:—
 * How like the empress and her sons you are!
 * Well are you fitted, had you but a Moor:
 * Could not all hell afford you such a devil?—
 * For well I wot the empress never wags
 * But in her company there is a Moor;
 * And, would you represent our queen aright,
 * It were convenient you had such a devil:
 * But welcome as you are. What shall we do?

TAMORA.
 * What wouldst thou have us do, Andronicus?

DEMETRIUS.
 * Show me a murderer, I'll deal with him.

CHIRON.
 * Show me a villain that hath done a rape,
 * And I am sent to be reveng'd on him.

TAMORA.
 * Show me a thousand that hath done thee wrong,
 * And I will be revenged on them all.

TITUS.
 * Look round about the wicked streets of Rome,
 * And when thou find'st a man that's like thyself,
 * Good Murder, stab him; he's a murderer.—
 * Go thou with him; and when it is thy hap
 * To find another that is like to thee,
 * Good Rapine, stab him; he is a ravisher.—
 * Go thou with them; and in the emperor's court
 * There is a queen, attended by a Moor;
 * Well mayst thou know her by thine own proportion,
 * For up and down she doth resemble thee;
 * I pray thee, do on them some violent death;
 * They have been violent to me and mine.

TAMORA.
 * Well hast thou lesson'd us; this shall we do.
 * But would it please thee, good Andronicus,
 * To send for Lucius, thy thrice-valiant son,
 * Who leads towards Rome a band of warlike Goths,
 * And bid him come and banquet at thy house;
 * When he is here, even at thy solemn feast,
 * I will bring in the empress and her sons,
 * The emperor himself, and all thy foes;
 * And at thy mercy shall they stoop and kneel,
 * And on them shalt thou ease thy angry heart.
 * What says Andronicus to this device?

TITUS.
 * Marcus, my brother!—'tis sad Titus calls.

[Enter MARCUS.]


 * Go, gentle Marcus, to thy nephew Lucius;
 * Thou shalt inquire him out among the Goths:
 * Bid him repair to me, and bring with him
 * Some of the chiefest princes of the Goths;
 * Bid him encamp his soldiers where they are:
 * Tell him the emperor and the empress too
 * Feast at my house, and he shall feast with them.
 * This do thou for my love; and so let him,
 * As he regards his aged father's life.

MARCUS.
 * This will I do, and soon return again.

[Exit.]

TAMORA.
 * Now will I hence about thy business,
 * And take my ministers along with me.

TITUS.
 * Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with me,
 * Or else I'll call my brother back again,
 * And cleave to no revenge but Lucius.

TAMORA.
 * [Aside to them.] What say you, boys? will you abide with him,
 * Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor
 * How I have govern'd our determin'd jest?
 * Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair,
 * And tarry with him till I come again.

TITUS.
 * [Aside.] I knew them all, though they suppose me mad,
 * And will o'er reach them in their own devices,—
 * A pair of cursed hell-hounds and their dam.

DEMETRIUS.
 * Madam, depart at pleasure; leave us here.

TAMORA.
 * Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes
 * To lay a complot to betray thy foes.

TITUS.
 * I know thou dost; and, sweet Revenge, farewell!

[Exit TAMORA.]

CHIRON.
 * Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd?

TITUS.
 * Tut, I have work enough for you to do.—
 * Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine.

[Enter PUBLIUS and others.]

PUBLIUS.
 * What is your will?

TITUS.
 * Know you these two?

PUBLIUS.
 * The empress' sons, I take them: Chiron, Demetrius.

TITUS.
 * Fie, Publius, fie! thou art too much deceiv'd,—
 * The one is Murder, Rape is the other's name;
 * And therefore bind them, gentle Publius:—
 * Caius and Valentine, lay hands on them:—
 * Oft have you heard me wish for such an hour,
 * And now I find it; therefore bind them sure;
 * And stop their mouths if they begin to cry.

[Exit. PUBLIUS &c., lay hands on CHIRON and DEMETRIUS.]

CHIRON.
 * Villains, forbear! we are the empress' sons.

PUBLIUS.
 * And therefore do we what we are commanded.—
 * Stop close their mouths, let them not speak a word.
 * Is he sure bound? look that you bind them fast.

[Re-enter TITUS ANDRONICUS, with LAVINIA; he bearing a knife and she a basin.]

TITUS.
 * Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are bound.—
 * Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me;
 * But let them hear what fearful words I utter.—
 * O villains, Chiron and Demetrius!
 * Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd with mud;
 * This goodly summer with your winter mix'd.
 * You kill'd her husband; and for that vile fault
 * Two of her brothers were condemn'd to death,
 * My hand cut off and made a merry jest;
 * Both her sweet hands, her tongue, and that, more dear
 * Than hands or tongue, her spotless chastity,
 * Inhuman traitors, you constrain'd and forc'd.
 * What would you say, if I should let you speak?
 * Villains, for shame you could not beg for grace.
 * Hark, wretches! how I mean to martyr you.
 * This one hand yet is left to cut your throats,
 * Whiles that Lavinia 'tween her stumps doth hold
 * The basin that receives your guilty blood.
 * You know your mother means to feast with me,
 * And calls herself Revenge, and thinks me mad:—
 * Hark, villains! I will grind your bones to dust,
 * And with your blood and it I'll make a paste;
 * And of the paste a coffin I will rear,
 * And make two pasties of your shameful heads;
 * And bid that strumpet, your unhallow'd dam,
 * Like to the earth, swallow her own increase.
 * This is the feast that I have bid her to,
 * And this the banquet she shall surfeit on;
 * For worse than Philomel you us'd my daughter,
 * And worse than Progne I will be reveng'd:
 * And now prepare your throats. Lavinia, come

[He cuts their throats.]


 * Receive the blood: and when that they are dead,
 * Let me go grind their bones to powder small,
 * And with this hateful liquor temper it;
 * And in that paste let their vile heads be bak'd.
 * Come, come, be every one officious
 * To make this banquet; which I wish may prove
 * More stern and bloody than the Centaurs' feast.
 * So, now bring them in, for I will play the cook,
 * And see them ready against their mother comes.

[Exeunt, bearing the dead bodies.]

SCENE III. Rome. A Pavilion in TITUS'S Gardens, with tables, &c.
[Enter LUCIUS, MARCUS, and GOTHS, with AARON prisoner.]

LUCIUS.
 * Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's mind
 * That I repair to Rome, I am content.

FIRST GOTH.
 * And ours with thine, befall what fortune will.

LUCIUS.
 * Good uncle, take you in this barbarous Moor,
 * This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil;
 * Let him receive no sustenance, fetter him,
 * Till he be brought unto the empress' face
 * For testimony of her foul proceedings:
 * And see the ambush of our friends be strong;
 * I fear the emperor means no good to us.

AARON.
 * Some devil whisper curses in my ear,
 * And prompt me that my tongue may utter forth
 * The venomous malice of my swelling heart!

LUCIUS.
 * Away, inhuman dog, unhallowed slave!—
 * Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.—

[Exeunt GOTHS with AARON. Flourish within. The trumpets show the emperor is at hand.]

[Enter SATURNINUS and TAMORA, with AEMILIUS, Tribunes, Senators, and others.]

SATURNINUS.
 * What, hath the firmament more suns than one?

LUCIUS.
 * What boots it thee to call thyself the sun?

MARCUS.
 * Rome's emperor, and nephew, break the parle;
 * These quarrels must be quietly debated.
 * The feast is ready, which the careful Titus
 * Hath ordain'd to an honourable end,
 * For peace, for love, for league, and good to Rome:
 * Please you, therefore, draw nigh and take your places.

SATURNINUS.
 * Marcus, we will.

[Hautboys sound. The company sit at table.]

[Enter TITUS, dressed like a cook,LAVINIA, valed,YOUNG LUCIUS, and others. TITUS places the dishes on the table.]

TITUS.
 * Welcome, my lord; welcome, dread queen;
 * Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius;
 * And welcome all: although the cheer be poor,
 * 'Twill fill your stomachs; please you eat of it.

SATURNINUS.
 * Why art thou thus attir'd, Andronicus?

TITUS.
 * Because I would be sure to have all well
 * To entertain your highness and your empress.

TAMORA.
 * We are beholden to you, good Andronicus.

TITUS.
 * An if your highness knew my heart, you were.
 * My lord the emperor, resolve me this:
 * Was it well done of rash Virginius
 * To slay his daughter with his own right hand,
 * Because she was enforc'd, stain'd, and deflower'd?

SATURNINUS.
 * It was, Andronicus.

TITUS.
 * Your reason, mighty lord.

SATURNINUS.
 * Because the girl should not survive her shame,
 * And by her presence still renew his sorrows.

TITUS.
 * A reason mighty, strong, and effectual;
 * A pattern, precedent, and lively warrant
 * For me, most wretched, to perform the like:—
 * Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee;

[Kills LAVINIA.]


 * And with thy shame thy father's sorrow die!

SATURNINUS.
 * What hast thou done, unnatural and unkind?

TITUS.
 * Kill'd her for whom my tears have made me blind.
 * I am as woeful as Virginius was,
 * And have a thousand times more cause than he
 * To do this outrage;—and it now is done.

SATURNINUS.
 * What, was she ravish'd? tell who did the deed.

TITUS.
 * Will't please you eat? will't please your highness feed?

TAMORA.
 * Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus?

TITUS.
 * Not I; 'twas Chiron and Demetrius:
 * They ravish'd her, and cut away her tongue;
 * And they, 'twas they, that did her all this wrong.

SATURNINUS.
 * Go, fetch them hither to us presently.

TITUS.
 * Why, there they are, both baked in that pie,
 * Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
 * Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
 * 'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point.

[Kills Tamora.]

SATURNINUS.
 * Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed!

[Kills TITUS.]

LUCIUS.
 * Can the son's eye behold his father bleed?
 * There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.

[Kills SATURNINUS. A great tumult. LUCIUS, MARCUS, and their partisans, ascend the steps before TITUS'S house.]

MARCUS.
 * You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of Rome,
 * By uproar sever'd, as a flight of fowl
 * Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,
 * O, let me teach you how to knit again
 * This scattered corn into one mutual sheaf,
 * These broken limbs again into one body:
 * Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself,
 * And she whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to,
 * Like a forlorn and desperate castaway,
 * Do shameful execution on herself.
 * But if my frosty signs and chaps of age,
 * Grave witnesses of true experience,
 * Cannot induce you to attend my words,—
 * Speak, Rome's dear friend,[ to Lucius]: as erst our ancestor,
 * When with his solemn tongue he did discourse
 * To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear
 * The story of that baleful burning night,
 * When subtle Greeks surpris'd King Priam's Troy,—
 * Tell us what Sinon hath bewitch'd our ears,
 * Or who hath brought the fatal engine in
 * That gives our Troy, our Rome, the civil wound.
 * My heart is not compact of flint nor steel;
 * Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,
 * But floods of tears will drown my oratory
 * And break my very utterance, even in the time
 * When it should move you to attend me most,
 * Lending your kind commiseration.
 * Here is a captain, let him tell the tale;
 * Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him speak.

LUCIUS.
 * Then, noble auditory, be it known to you
 * That cursed Chiron and Demetrius
 * Were they that murdered our emperor's brother;
 * And they it were that ravished our sister:
 * For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded;
 * Our father's tears despis'd, and basely cozen'd
 * Of that true hand that fought Rome's quarrel out
 * And sent her enemies unto the grave.
 * Lastly, myself unkindly banished,
 * The gates shut on me, and turn'd weeping out,
 * To beg relief among Rome's enemies;
 * Who drown'd their enmity in my true tears,
 * And op'd their arms to embrace me as a friend:
 * I am the turned-forth, be it known to you,
 * That have preserv'd her welfare in my blood;
 * And from her bosom took the enemy's point,
 * Sheathing the steel in my adventurous body.
 * Alas! you know I am no vaunter, I;
 * My scars can witness, dumb although they are,
 * That my report is just and full of truth.
 * But, soft! methinks I do digress too much,
 * Citing my worthless praise: O, pardon me;
 * For when no friends are by, men praise themselves.

MARCUS.
 * Now is my turn to speak. Behold the child.

[Pointing to the CHILD in an Attendant's arms.]


 * Of this was Tamora delivered;
 * The issue of an irreligious Moor,
 * Chief architect and plotter of these woes:
 * The villain is alive in Titus' house,
 * Damn'd as he is, to witness this is true.
 * Now judge what cause had Titus to revenge
 * These wrongs unspeakable, past patience,
 * Or more than any living man could bear.
 * Now have you heard the truth, what say you, Romans?
 * Have we done aught amiss,—show us wherein,
 * And, from the place where you behold us now,
 * The poor remainder of Andronici
 * Will, hand in hand, all headlong cast us down,
 * And on the ragged stones beat forth our brains,
 * And make a mutual closure of our house.
 * Speak, Romans, speak; and if you say we shall,
 * Lo, hand in hand, Lucius and I will fall.

AEMILIUS.
 * Come, come, thou reverend man of Rome,
 * And bring our emperor gently in thy hand,
 * Lucius our emperor; for well I know
 * The common voice do cry it shall be so.

ROMANS.
 * [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail, Rome's royal emperor!

MARCUS.
 * Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house,

[To attendants, who go into the house.]


 * And hither hale that misbelieving Moor
 * To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering death,
 * As punishment for his most wicked life.

[LUCIUS, MARCUS, &c. descend.]

ROMANS.
 * [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail, Rome's gracious governor!

LUCIUS.
 * Thanks, gentle Romans: may I govern so
 * To heal Rome's harms and wipe away her woe!
 * But, gentle people, give me aim awhile,—
 * For nature puts me to a heavy task:—
 * Stand all aloof;—but, uncle, draw you near,
 * To shed obsequious tears upon this trunk.—
 * O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips.

[Kisses TITUS.]


 * These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face,
 * The last true duties of thy noble son!

MARCUS.
 * Tear for tear and loving kiss for kiss
 * Thy brother Marcus tenders on thy lips:
 * O, were the sum of these that I should pay
 * Countless and infinite, yet would I pay them!

LUCIUS.
 * Come hither, boy; come, come, and learn of us
 * To melt in showers: thy grandsire lov'd thee well:
 * Many a time he danc'd thee on his knee,
 * Sung thee asleep, his loving breast thy pillow;
 * Many a matter hath he told to thee,
 * Meet and agreeing with thine infancy;
 * In that respect, then, like a loving child,
 * Shed yet some small drops from thy tender spring,
 * Because kind nature doth require it so:
 * Friends should associate friends in grief and woe:
 * Bid him farewell; commit him to the grave;
 * Do him that kindness, and take leave of him.

YOUNG LUCIUS.
 * O grandsire, grandsire! even with all my heart
 * Would I were dead, so you did live again!—
 * O Lord, I cannot speak to him for weeping;
 * My tears will choke me, if I ope my mouth.

[Re-enter attendants with AARON.]

AEMILIUS.
 * You sad Andronici, have done with woes:
 * Give sentence on the execrable wretch,
 * That hath been breeder of these dire events.

LUCIUS.
 * Set him breast-deep in earth, and famish him;
 * There let him stand and rave and cry for food:
 * If any one relieves or pities him,
 * For the offence he dies. This is our doom:
 * Some stay to see him fasten'd in the earth.

AARON.
 * Ah, why should wrath be mute and fury dumb?
 * I am no baby, I, that with base prayers
 * I should repent the evils I have done:
 * Ten thousand worse than ever yet I did
 * Would I perform, if I might have my will:
 * If one good deed in all my life I did,
 * I do repent it from my very soul.

LUCIUS.
 * Some loving friends convey the emperor hence,
 * And give him burial in his father's grave:
 * My father and Lavinia shall forthwith
 * Be closed in our household's monument.
 * As for that ravenous tiger, Tamora,
 * No funeral rite, nor man in mournful weeds,
 * No mournful bell shall ring her burial;
 * But throw her forth to beasts and birds of prey:
 * Her life was beast-like and devoid of pity;
 * And, being so, shall have like want of pity.
 * See justice done on Aaron, that damn'd Moor,
 * By whom our heavy haps had their beginning:
 * Then, afterwards, to order well the state,
 * That like events may ne'er it ruinate.

[Exeunt.]