Tit. Fear her not, Lucius:-Somewhat doth | What God will have discover'd for revenge :
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. *
Canst thou not guess wherefore she plies thee thus?
Boy. My lord, I know not, I, nor can I guess, Unless some it or frenzy do possess her: For I have heard my grandsire say full oft, Extremity of griefs would make mea mad; And I have read that Hecuba of Troy Ran mad through 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 willinlgy attend your ladyship. Mar. Lucius, I will.
[LAVINIA turns over the books which LUCIUS has let fall.
Tit. 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 ? Mar. I think she means, that there was more
Confederate in the fact :-Ay, more there was :- Or else to heaven she heaves them for revenge. Tit. Lucius, what book is that she tosseth so? Boy. Grandsire, 'tis Ovid's Metamorphosis; My mother gave't me.
Mar. For love of her that's gone, Perhaps she cull'd it from among the rest.
Tit. Soft! see, how 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 thine annoy.
Mar. See, brother, see! note, how she quotes the leaves.
Tit. 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, (Oh! had we never, never, hunted there !) Pattern'd by that the poet here describes. By nature made for murders and for rapes. Mar. Oh! why should nature build so foul a den.
Unless the gods delight in tragedies! Tit. 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? Mar. 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, and guides it with his feet and mouth. Curs'd be that heart, that forc'd us to this shift!Write thou, good niece; and here display, at last,
Tully's Treatise on Eloquence entitled Orater. Pitiless. 4 Succession. * Observes.
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, and guides it with her stumps, and writes. Tit. Oh! do you read, my lord, what she hath Stuprum-Chiron-Demetrius. [writ ? Mar. What, what-the lustful sons of Ta-
Performers of this heinous, bloody deed? Tit. Magne Dominator poli,
Tam lentus audis scelera? tam lentus vides? Mar. Oh! 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 feere, 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. Tit. 'Tis sure enough, and you knew how, But if you hurt 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're a young huntsman, Marcus; let it 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 Sybil's leaves, abroad, And where's your lesson then 1-Boy, what say you?
Boy. I say, my lord, that if I were a man, Their mother's bed-chamber should not be safe For these bad-bondmen to the yoke of Rome. Mar. Ay, that's my boy! thy father hath
For this ungrateful country done the like. Boy. And, uncle, so will 1, an if I live.
Tit. 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 thy message, wilt thou not?
Boy. Ay, with my dagger in their bosoms, grandsire.
Tit. No, boy, not so; I'll teach thee another
I greet your honours from Andronicus ;- And pray the Roman gods, confound you both. [Aside. Dem. Gramercy, lovely Lucius: What's the
Boy. That you are both decipher'd that's the
For villains mark'd with rape. [Aside.] 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 bade 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 BOY and Attendant. Dem. What's here? A scroll; and written round about?
Integer vite, scelerisque purus, Non eget Mauri jaculis, nec arcu.
Chi. Oh! 'tis a verse in Horace; I know it
[well: Aar. Ay, just!-a verse in Horace :-right, you have it.
I read it in the grammar long ago.
[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 the weapons wrapp'd about with lines, That wound, beyond their feeling, to the quick. But were our witty empress well-a-foot, 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, Dem. But me more good, to see so great a lord Basely insinuate, and send us gifts
Aar. Had he not reason, lord Demetrius ? Did you not use his daughter very friendly? Dem. I would we had a thousand Roman dames
At such a bay, by turn to serve our lust. Chi. A charitable wish, and full of love. Aar. Here lacks but your mother for to say
Chi. And that would she for twenty thousand
Dem. Come, let us go; and pray to all the [gods For our beloved mother in her pains. Aar. Pray to the devils; the gods have given [Aside. Flourish. us o'er. Dem. Why do the emperor's trumpets flourish thus?
Chi. Belike for joy the emperor hath a son. Dem. Soft; who comes here?
Enter a NURSE, with a black-a-moor Child in her arms.
Nur. Good morrow, lords: Oh! tell me, did you see Aaron the Moor.
Aar. Well, more or less, or ne'er a whit at
Here Aaron is: and what with Aaron now?
Nur. O gentle Aaron, we are all undone ! Now help or woe betide thee evermore! Aar. Why, what a caterwauling dost thou keep!
What dost thou wrap and fumble in thine arms? Nur. Oh that which I would hide from ven's eye,
Nur. A joyless, dismal, black, and sorrowfu. 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.
Aar. Out, out, you whore! is black so base a hue ?-
Sweet blowse, you are a beauteous blossom, sure. Dem. Villain, what hast thou done? Aar. Done! that which thou
Chi. Thou hast undone our mother. Aar. Villain, I have done thy mother.
Dem. 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!
Chi. It shall not live.
Aar. It shall not die.
Nur. Aaron, it must; the mother wills it so. Aar. What, must it, nurse? then let no man but I,
Do execution on my flesh and blood.
Dem. I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point:
[it. Nurse, give it me; my sword shall soon despatch Aar. Sooner this sword shall plough thy bowels up.
[Takes the Child from the NURSE and draws.
Stay, murderons 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 threat'ning 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 a 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. Dem. Wilt thou betray thy noble mistress thus ? Aar. My mistress is my mistress; this my-
The vigour and the picture of my youth: This, before all the world, do 1 prefer; This maugre all the world, will I keep safe, Or some of you shall smoke for it in Rome.
Dem. By this our mother is for ever sham'd. Chi. Rome will despise her for this foul escape. Nur. The emperor, in his rage, will doom her death.
Chi. I blush to think upon this ignomy, Aar. Why, there's the privilege your beauty
Fie, treacherous hue! that will betray with blush- ing
The close enacts and counsels of the heart! Here's a young lad fram'd of another leer : ¶ Look, how the black slave smiles upon the fa-
As who should say, Old lad, I am thine own. hea-He is your brother, lords; sensibly fed Of that self-blood that first gave life to you; [grace ;Our empress' shame, and stately Rome's dis- And, from that womb where you imprison'd were, He is enfranchised and come to light: She is deliver'd, lords, she is deliver'd. Nay, he's your brother by the surer side, Although my seal be stamped in his face.
Dem. Advise thee, Aaron, what is to be done, | And pierce the inmost centre of the earth: And we will all subscribe to thy advice: Save thou the child, so we may all be safe. Aar. Then sit we down, and let us all con- suit.
My son and I will have the wind of you: Keep there: Now talk at pleasure of your safety. [They sit on the Ground. Dem. How many women saw this child of his? Aar. Why, so, brave lords: When we all 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?
Nur. Cornelia the midwife, and myself, And no one else, but the delivered empress. Aar. The emperess, the midwife, and yourself: Two may keep counsel, when the third's away : Go to the empress; tell her, this I said :- [Stabbing her. Weke, weke !-so cries a pig prepar'd to the spit. Dem. What mean'st thou, Aaron? Wherefore didst thou this ?
Aar. 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 iny full intent. Not far, one Mulitens 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, that 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. Chi. Aaron, I see, thou wilt not trust the air With secrets.
Dem. For this care of Tamora, Herself, and her's, are highly bound to thee. [Exeunt DEM. and CH1. beuring of the
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.—The same.-A Public Place. Enter TITUS, bearing arrows, with letters at the ends of them; with him MARCUS, young LUCIUS, and other Gentlemen with bows.
Tit. Come, Marcus, come; Kinsmen, this is the way :-
Sir boy, now let me see your archery: Look ye draw home enough, and 'tis there straight: Terras Astraa reliquit :
Be you remember'd, Marcus, she's gone, she's
Sir, take you to your tools. You, cousins, shall Go sound the ocean, and cast your nets; Happily you may find 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,
Then, when you come to Pluto's region, 1 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 tyrannise o'er ine.- 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. Mar. O Publius, is not this a heavy case, To see thy noble uncle thus distract?
Pub. Therefore, my lord, it highly us con
By day and night to attend him carefully; And feed his humour kindly as we may, Till time beget some careful remedy.
Mar. 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.
Tit. Publius, how now? how now, my mas. ters! What,
Have you inet with her?
Pub. No, my good lord; but Plutos sends you
If you will have revenge from hell, you shall: Marry, for Justice, she is so employ'd, [else, He thinks, with Jove in heaven, or somewhere So that perforce you must needs stay a time.
Tit. He doth me wrong, to feed me with de- I'll dive into the burning lake below, [lays. 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 Cyclop's size: But metal, Marcus, steel to the very back; Yet wrung with wrongs, more than our backs
And sith there is 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 Apolli- Ad Martem, that's for myself ;- [nem :- 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; O' my word, I have written to effect; There's not a god left unsolicited. Mar. Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into the
Clo. Ho! the gibbet-maker? he says that he | The effects of sorrow for his valiant sons, hath taken them down again, for the man must Whose loss hath pierc'd him deep, and scari'd not be hanged till the next week.
Tit. But what says Jupiter, I ask thee? Clo. Alas, Sir, I know not Jupiter; I never drank with him in all my life.
Tit. Why, villain, art not thou the carrier? Clo. Ay, of my pigeons, Sir; nothing else. Tit. Why, didst thou not come from heaven? Clo. 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 emperial's men.
Mar. Why, Sir, that is as fit as can be, to serve for your oration; and let him deliver the pigeous to the emperor from you.
Tit. Tell me, can you deliver an oration to the emperor with a grace?
Clo. Nay, truly, Sir, I could never say grace in all my life.
Tit. 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-mean while, here's money for thy charges.
And rather comfort his distressed plight, Than prosecute the meanest, or the best, For these contempts. Why, thus it shall become High-witted Tamora to gloze with all:
Clo. Yes, forsooth, an your mistership be imperial.
Tam. Empress I am, but yonder sits the emperor.
Clo. 'Tis he.-God and saint Stephen give you good den:-1 have brought you a letter, and a couple of pigeons here.
[SATURNINUS reads the Letter. Sat. Go, take him away, and hang him presently.
Give me a pen and ink.- Sirrah, can you with a grace deliver a supplica-up a neck to a fair end. Clo. Ay, Sir.
Tit. 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.
Clo. I warrant you, Sir; let me alone. Tit. Sirrah, hast thou a knife? Come, let me Here, Marcus, fold it in the oration; [see it. For thou hast made it like an humble suppli-
And when thou hast given it to the emperor, Knock at my door, and tell me what he says. Clo. God be with you, Sir; I will. Tit. Come, Marcus, let's go :-Publius, follow me. [Exeunt. SCENE IV.—The same.-Before the Palace. Enter SATURNINUS, TAMORA, CHIRON. DEME TRIUS, LORDS, and others: SATURNINUS with the arrows in his hand, that TITUS shot. Sat. Why, lords, what wrongs are these? Was
An emperor of Rome thus overborne, Troubled, confronted thus: and, for the extent Of egal + justice, us'd in such contempt? My lords, you know, as do the mightful gods, However these disturbers of our peace Buz in the people's ears, there nought 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 wreaks, His fits, his frenzy, and his biterness ? 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 every where ? A goodly humour, is it not, my lords? As who would say, in Rome no justice were. But, if I live, his feigned ecstacies 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 she in fury shall Cut off the proud'st conspirator that lives.
Tam. My gracious lord, my lovely Saturnine, Lord of my life, commander of my thoughts, Calm thee, and bear the faults of Titus' age,
The Clown means to say plebeian tribune, i, e. tribune of the tople. + Equil.
Clo. How inuch money must I have? Tam. Come, Sirrah, you must be bang'd. Clo. Hang'd! by'r lady, then I have brought [Exit guarded Sat. Despiteful and intolerable wrongs! Shall I endure this monstrous villany? 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 butcher'd wrongfully.Go, drag the villain hither by the hair; Nor age, nor honour, shall shape privilege :For this proud mock, I'll be thy slaughterman; Sly frantic wretch, that holp'st to make me great, In hope thyself should govern Rome and me. Enter EMILIUS.
What news with thee, Æmilius ?
Emil. Arin, 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, Of Lucius, son to old Andronicus; They hither march amain, under the conduct Who threats, in course of this revenge, to do
As much as ever Coriolanus did.
Sat. Is warlike Lucius general of the Goths 1 These tidings nip me; and I hang the head As flowers with frost, or grass beat down with storms.
Ay, now begin our sorrows to approach: 'Tis he the common people love so much; Myself hath often over-heard them say, (When I have walked like a private man,) That Lucius' banishment was wrongfully, And they have wish'd that Lucius were their empeior.
Tam. Why should you fear? is not your city
Sat. Ay, but the citizens favour Lucius; And will revolt from me, to succour him. Tam. King, be thy thoughts imperious, † like
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 wings, He can at pleasure stint their melody: Even so may'st 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 tish, or honey-stalks ý to sheep; When as the one is wounded with the bait, The other rotted with delicious feed.
Sat. But he will not entreat his son for us. Tam. If Tamora entreat him, then he will:
For I can smooth, and fill his aged ear With golden promises; that were his heart Almost inpregnable, his old ears deaf, Yet should both ear and heart obey my tongue. Go thou before, be our ambassador;
[To EMILIUS. Say, that the emperor requests a parley Of warlike Lucius, and appoint the meeting Even at his father's house, the old Andronicus'. Sat. Æmilius, do this message honourably : And if he stand on hostage for his safety, Bid him demand what pledge will please him best. Emil. Your bidding shall I do effectually. [Exit EMILIUS. Tam. 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.
Sat. Then go successfully, and plead to him.
SCENE I.-Plains near Rome. Enter LUCIUS and GOTHS, with drum and colours.
Luc. Approved warriors, and my faithful friends,
I have received letters from great Rome, Which signify, what hate they bear their em- And how desirous of our sight they are. [peror, Therefore, great lords, he, as your titles witness, Imperious, and impatient of your wrongs; And, wherein Rome hath done you any scath," Let him make treble satisfaction.
1 Goth. Brave slip, sprung from the great Andronicus, [fort, Whose name was once our terror, now our comWhose 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 flower'd fields, And be aveng'd on cursed Tamora. Goths. And, as he saith, so say we all with
Luc. I humbly thank him, and I thank you
But who comes here, led by a lusty Goth? Enter a GOTH, leading AARON, with his child in his arms.
Luc. 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'
And here's the base fruit of his burning lust.Say, wall-ey'd slave, whither would'st thou convey
This growing image of thy fiend-like face { Why dost not speak? What! deaf? No; not a word ?
A halter, soldiers; bang him on this tree, And by his side his fruit of bastardy.
Aar. Touch not the boy, he is of royal blood. Luc. Too like the sire for ever being good.--- First hang the child, that he may see it sprawi A sight to vex the father's soul withal. Get ine a ladder.
[A ladder brought, which AARON is obliged to ascend.
Aar. Lucius, save the child;
And bear it from me to the emperess. 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 Luc. Say on; and, if it please me which thou speak'st,
Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish'd. Aar. An if it please thee? why, assure thee
'Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak; For I must talk of murders, rapes, and mas
Aar. Swear that he shall, and then I will begin.
Luc. Who should I swear by thou believ'st no god :
That granted, how canst thou believe an oath ? Aar. 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
By that same god, what god soe'er it be,
2 Goth. Renowned Lucius, from our troops I That thou ador'st and hast in reverence,
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 might'st 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
To save my boy, to nourish, and bring him up; Or else I will discover nought to thee.
Luc. Even by my god, I swear to thee, I will. Aar. First, know thou, I begot him on the
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