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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 fish, or honey-stalks' 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 impregnable, his old ears deaf,

Yet should both ear and heart obey my tongue.—|

5

Go thou before, be our ambassador: [ToÆmilius.
Say, that the emperor requests a parley
Of warlike Lucius, and appoint the meeting.
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. [Ex.
Tam. Now will I to that old Andronicus;
And temper him with all the art I have,
10To 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.
[Exeunt.

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I have received letters from great Rome,
Which signify, what hate they bear their emperor, 30
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 scathe,
Let him make treble satisfaction.

Goth. Brave slip, sprung from the great An-
dronicus,

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 flower'd fields,-
And be aveng'd on cursed Tamora.

Omn. And, as he saith, so say we all with him.
Luc. 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.

[stray'd

"They never do beget a coal-black caff.
"Peace, villain, peace!"-even thus he rates the
babe,-

"For I must bear thee to a trusty Goth;
Who,whenheknowsthou art the emperess'babe,
Will hold thee dearly for thy mother's sake.'
With this, my weapon drawn, I rush'd upon
him,
Surpriz'd him suddenly; and brought him hither,
To use as you think needful of the man. [vil,

Luc. O worthy Goth! this is the incarnate de-
That robb'd Andronicus of his good hand:
This is the pearl that pleas'd your emperess' eye;
35 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?

40 A halter, soldiers; hang him on this tree,
And by his side his fruit of bastardy.

45

Goth. Renowned Lucius, from our troops 150 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 controul'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,

Aur. Touch not the boy, he is of roval blood.
Luc. 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 2.

Aar. Lucius, save the child;
And bear it from me to the emperess.
If thou do this, I'll show thee wond'rous 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,

55 Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish'd.
Aur. 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, 60 Acts of black night, abominable deeds, Complots of mischief, treason; villainies

1 Honey-stalks are clover-flowers, which contain a sweet juice.It is common for cattle to overcharge themselves with clover, and die. Get me a ladder, has been in most of the editions given

to Aaron, and properly, as meaning hưng me.

Ruthful

Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd:
And this shall all be buried by my death,
Unless thou swear to me, my child shall live.

Luc.Tell on thy mind; I say,thy child shall live.
Aar. Swear that he shall, and then I will begin.
Luc. Whom 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 ideot 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, 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
emperess.

5

Aar. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.
Luc. Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?
Aar. 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;
10 Set deadly enmity between two friends;
Make poor men's cattle 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,
15 And set them upright at their dear friends' doors,
Even when the sorrow almost was 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.
20 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.
Luc. Bring down the devil'; for he must not die
25 So sweet a death, as hanging presently.

Luc. O most insatiate, luxurious woman!
Aar. 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 off; and trimm'd her as thou 30
saw'st.
[ming?

Luc.O, detestable villain! call'st thou that trim-
Aar. Why, she was wash'd, and cut, and
trimm'd; and 'twas
Trim sport for them that had the doing of it.

Luc. O, barbarous beastly villains, like thyself!
Aar. Indeed, I was the tutor to instruct them;
That codding' spirit had they from their mother,
As sure a card as ever won the set;

35

Aar. 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!
Luc. Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak

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The Roman emperor greets you all by me

That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me, 40 And, for he understands you are in arms,

As true a dog as ever fought at head.

45

50

He craves a parley at your father's house;.
Willing you to demand your hostages,
And they shall be immediately deliver'd.
Goth. What says our general?

Luc. Æmilius, let the emperor give his pledges
Unto my father and my uncle Marcus,
And we will come. March away.

SCENE II.

Titus' Palace in Rome.

Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth.
I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hole,
Where the dead corps of Bassianus lay;
I wrote the letter that thy father found,
And hid the gold within the letter mentioned,
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 it?
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 emperess 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 60 And work confusion on his enemies.

blush?

[Exeunt.

Enter Tamora, Chiron, and Demetrius, disguis'd.
Tam. Thus, in this strange and sad habiliment.
I will encounter with Andronicus;

55 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,

[They knock, and Titus opens his study d or.

2 Mr. Steevens

1i. e. that love of bed-sports.-Cod is a word still used in Yorkshire for a pillow. here observes, that it appears, from these words, that the audience were entertained with part of the apparatus of an execution, and that Aaron was mounted on a ladder, as ready to be turned off.

312

Tit.

Tit. 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.

Tam. Titus, I am come to talk with thee.
Tit. No, not a word: How can I grace my talk,
Wanting a hand to give it that accord?
Thou hast the odds of me, therefore no more.
Tam. If thou didst know me, thou would'st
talk with me.

will embrace thee in it by-and-by.

[Exit Titus from abote.

Tam. This closing with him fits his lunacy:
Whate'er I forge, to feed his brain-sick fits,
5 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,
10I'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.

Tit. I am not mad: I know thee well enough: Witness this wretched stump, these crimson lines; 15 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 emperess, mighty Tamora: Is not thy coming for my other hand?

Tam. 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, nor 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 cars tell them my dreadful name,
Revenge, which makes the foul offenders quake.
Tit.Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to me,
To be a torment to mine enemies?

Tum. I am; therefore come down, and wel

come me.

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25

30

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40

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Tit. 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? Tam. What wouldst thou have us do, Andronicus? Dem. Shew me a murderer, I'll deal with him. Chi. Shew me a villain, that hath done a rape, And I am sent to be reveng'd on him. [wrong, Tam. Shew me a thousand, that have done thee And I will be revenged on them all. [Rome; Tit. Look round about the wicked streets of 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,

Tit. 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 globes.
Provide 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 downfal in the sea:
And day by day I'll do this heavy task,
So thou destroy Rapine and Murder there.
Tam.These are my ministers, and come with me.
Tit. Are they thy ministers? what are they 55

call'd?

Tam. Rapine, and Murder; therefore called so, 'Cause they take vengeance on such kind of men. Tit. Good lord, how like the emp'ress' sons they are!

And you, the emp'ress! 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,

50

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 may'st thou know her by thy own proportion,
For up and down she doth resemble thee;

I pray thec, do on them some violent death,
They have been violent to me and mine.

[do

Tum. Well hast thou lesson'd us; this shall we
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 emp'ress 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?

Fit. Marcus, my brother!-'tis sad Titus calls
Enter Marcus.

Go, gentle Marcus, to thy nephew Lucius; Thou shalt enquire him out among the Goths: 60 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 emperess too
Feast at my house; and he shall feast with them.

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Hark, wretches, how I mean to martyr you. This one hand yet is left to cut your throats; Whilst that Lavinia 'twixt her stumps doth hold The bason, that receives your guilty blood. 5You know, your mother means to feast with me, And cal's 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 will I rear,

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Tam. [to her sons.] What say you, boys? will 10And make two pasties of your shameful heads;

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 hum 'till I come again.

[mad; 15
Tit. I know them all, though they suppose me
And will o'er-reach them in their own devices,
A pair of cursed hell-hounds, and their dam!

[Aside.

Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure, leave us here. 20
Tam. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes
To lay a complot to betray thy foes. [Exit Tumora.
Tit. I know, thou dost; and, sweet Revenge,

farewell

[ploy'd

Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be em-25
Tit. Tut, I have work enough for you to do.-
Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine!
Enter Publius, and Servants,

Pub. What is your will?
Tit. Know you these two?
Pub. The emperess' sons,

I take them, Chiron, and Demetrius.

[ceiv'd;

Tit. Fye, Publius, fye! thou art too much de-
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.

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 Prognè I will be reveng'd:
And now prepare your throats.-Lavinia, come,
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 theirvile heads be bak'd.
Come, come, be every one officious
To make this banquet; which I wish might prove
More stern and bloody than the Centaur's feast.
[He cuts their throats.
So, now bring them in, for I will play the cook.
And see them ready 'gainst their mother comes.
[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

30 Enter Lucius, Marcus, and Gochs, with Aaron prisoner.

351

[Exit Titus. 40 Chi. Villains, forbear; we are the em❜press' sons. Pub. 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-enterTitus Andron.cus with a knife,and Lavinia
with a bason.

Tit. Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are
bound:-

45

Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me ;50
But let them hear what fearful words I utter.—
O villains, Chiron and Demetrius !
[mud;
Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd with
This goodly summer with your winter mix'd.
You kill'd her husband; and, for that vile fault, 55
Two of her brothers were condemn'd to death;}
My hand cut off, and made a merry jest ; [dear
Both her sweet hands, her tongue, and that, more
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.

Luc.Uncle Marcus, since it is my father's mind, That I repair to Rome, I am content.

[will.

Goth. And ours with thine, befall what fortune
Luc. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous
This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil; [Moor,
Let him receive no sustenance, fetter him,
"Till he be brought unto the emperor's face,
For testimony of these foul proceedings:
And see the ambush of our friends be strong;
I fear the emperor means no good to us.

Aar. Some devil whisper curses in mine ear,
And prompt me, that my tongue may utter forth
The venomous malice of my swelling heart!
Luc. Away, inhuman dog! unhallow'd slave!—
[Exeunt Goths, with Aaron.
Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.-[Flourish.
The trumpets shew the emperor is at hand.
Sound trumpets. Enter Saturninus and Tamora,
with Tribunes and others.

Sat. What, hath the firmament more suns than one?

Luc. What boots it thee to call thyself a sun?
Marc. 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: 60 Please you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your places.

Sat. Marcus, we will,

A coffin is the term of art for the cavity of a raised pye. be breaks his mind, 313

[Hautboys.

2i, e. begin the parley.-We yet say A table

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Tit. Your reason, mighty lord? Sat. Because the girl should not survive her And by her presence still renew his sorrows.

Tit. 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; And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die! [He kills her.

Sat. What hast thou done, unnatural, and unkind?

[me blind. 30

Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made I am as woeful as Virginius was;

Luc. Then, noble aud That cursed Chiron and Were they that murder 25 And they it was, that ra For their fell faults our bi Our father's tears despis Of that true hand, that fo And sent her enemies un Lastly, myself unkindly The gates shut on me, a To beg relief among Ro Who drown'd their enm And op'd their arms to en And I am the turn'd-for That have preserv'd her And from her bosom too Sheathing the steel in m Alas! you know, I am n 40 My scars can witness, du That my report is just, an But, soft, methinks, I do Citing my worthless prais For when no friends are by Marc. Now is my turi child,

And have a thousand times more cause than he To do this outrage ;—and it is now done. Sat. What, was she ravished? tell, who did the 35 [highness feed? Tit. Will 't please you eat? will 't please your Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus?

deed?

Tit. 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. Sat. Go fetch them hither to us presently. Tit. Why, there they are both, baked in that pye;

Whereof their mother daintily hath fed, Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred. 'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point. [He stabs Tamora.

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Sat. Die,frantick wretch, for this accursed deed. 50 [He stabs Titus.

Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed? There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed. [Lucius stabs Saturninus. Marc. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of Rome,

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By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl
Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,
O, let me teach you how to knit again
This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limbs again into one body.
Goth. Let Rome herself be bane unto herself:
And she, whom mighty kingdoms curtsy to,
Like a torlorn and desperate cast-away,..

55

Of this was Tamora deliv The issue of an irreligious Chief architect and plotte The villain is alive in Titu And as he is, to witness th Now judge, what cause h These wrongs, unspeakabl Or more than any living Now you have heard the Romans? Have we done ought amis And, from the place where The poor. remainder of An 60 Will, hand in hand, all he And on the ragged stones And make a mutual closur Speak, Romans, speak: an Lo, hand in hand, Lucius a

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