Tit. 'Tis sure enough, and you knew how, But if you hurt these bear-whelps, then beware: The damn will wake; and, if she wind you once, She's with the lion deeply still in league, And lulls him while 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 sinds, like Sibyl's leaves, abroad, And where's your lesson then?-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.

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

Boy. And uncle, so will I, an if I live. Til. Come, go with me into mine armory; 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, grand

sire.

Tit. 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 Boy. Marc. 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 the heavens for old Andronicus! [Exit.

SCENE II-A Room in the Palace. Enter AARON, CHIRON, and DEMETRIUS, at one Door; at another Door, young LUCIUS and an Attendant, with a bundle of Weapons, and Verses writ upon them.

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

Aar. Ay, some mad message from his mad grandfather.

Boy. My lords, with all the humbleness I may, I greet your honors from Andronicus;-And pray the Roman gods confound you both.

[Aside. Dem. Gramercy,5 lovely Lucius: What's the news? Boy. That you are both decipher'd, that's the news, 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 armory,

To gratify your honorable 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?

Dem. But me more good, to see so great a lord Basely insinuate, and send us gifs.

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 amen Chi. And that would she for twenty thousand

more.

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 ns
o'er.
[Aside. Flourish
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 Chill in her
Arms.

Nur.

Good-morrow, lords:
O, tell me, did you see Aaron the Moor?
Aar. Well, more or less, or ne'er a whit at all,
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. 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.
Aar. To whom?

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; Nurse, give it me; my sword shall soon despatch it. Aar. 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 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 ale-house 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 emperess 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, myself;
The vigor and the picture of my youth:
This, before all the world, do I prefer;
This, maugre7 all the world, will I keep safe,
Or some of you shall smoke for it in Rome.
• Spit.
In spite of

Dem. By this our mother is for ever shamed. 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.8 Aar. Why, there's the privilege your beauty bears: Fye, treacherous hue! that will betray with blushing The close enacts and counsels of the heart! Here's a young lad framed of another leer:9 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 that womb, where you imprison'd were, He is enfranchised and come to light: Nay, he's your brother by the surer side, Although my seal be stamped in his face.

Nur. Aaron, what shall I say unto the empress? Dem. 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.

Aar. 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 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 deliver'd 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 prepared 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-tongued 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 advanced,
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.

sic,

Be you remember'd, Marcus, she's gone, she's fled.
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 litile 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.
Marc. O, Publius, is not this a heavy case,

To see thy noble uncle thus distract?
Pub. Therefore, my lord, it highly us concerns,
By day and night to attend him carefully;
And feed his humor kindly as we may,
Till time beget some careful remedy.

Marc. 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 masters?
What,

Have you met with her?

Pub. 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.

Tit. 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, framed of the Cyclops' size: But, metal, Marcus, steel to the very back;

Yet wrung with wrongs, more than our backs can bear:

And sith3 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 Apollinem:-
Ad Martem, that's for myself:-
Here, boy, to Pallas:-Here, to Mercury:

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.

the Nurse.

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;-Kinsman, this is the

way:

Sir boy, now let me see your archery;

Marc. Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into the court;

We will afflict the emperor in his pride. Tit. Now, masters, draw. [They shoot.] 0, well said, Lucius!

Good boy, in Virgo's lap; give it Pallas.

Your letter is with Jupiter by this.
Mare. My lord, I am a mile beyond the moon;

Tit. Ha! Publius, Publius, what hast thou done? See, see, thou hast shot off one of Taurus' horns. Marc. This was the sport, my lord: when Pub

lius 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.
Tit. Why, there it goes: God give your lordship
joy.

Enter a Clown, with a Basket and two Pigeons.
News, news from heaven! Marcus, the post is

come.

Ignominy. Complexion. 1 Contrive, bargain with.

2 Strained.

• Revenge.

SCENE I-Plains near Rome.

Enter LUCIUS and Goths, with Drum and Colors.

Luc. Approved warriors, and my faithful friends, I have received letters from great Rome, Which signify 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,9 Let him make treble satisfaction.

1 Goth. Brave slip, sprung from the great Andronicus,

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.

Whose name was once our terror, now our comfort;
Whose high exploits, and honorable 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 avenged on cursed Tamora.

Goths. 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.

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?
Aur. 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;
Which I have seen thee careful to observe,-
With twenty popish tricks and ceremonies,
An idiot holds his bauble for a god,
Therefore I urge thy oath;-For that, I know,

2 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

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."

Luc. Even by my god, I swear to thee, I will. Aar. First, know thou, I begot him on the empress.

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; and trimm'd her as thou saw'st.

Luc. O, détestable villain! call'st thou that trimming?

Aar. Why, she was wash'd, and cut, and trimm'd;

and 'twas

Trim sport for them that had the doing of it.

The crying babe controll'd with this discourse:
Peace, tawny slave; half me, and half thy dum!
Did not thy hue bewray whose brat thou art,
Had nature lent thee but thy mother's look,
Villain, thou mightst have been un 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.
Luc. O worthy Goth! this is the incarnate devil
That robb'd Audronicus of his good hand:
This is the pearl that pleas'd your empress' eye;1
And here's the base fruit of his burning lust.-
Say, wall-eyed 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.

Aur. 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 sprawl;
A sight to vex the father's soul withal.
Get me a ladder.

Aar.

Luc. O, barbarous, beastly villains, like thyself! Aar. 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: As true a dog as ever fought at head.That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me, Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth. I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hoie, Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay: I wrote the letter that thy father found, And hid the gold within the 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 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 empress of this sport, She swounded almost at my pleasing tale, And, for my tidings, gave me twenty kisses. Goth. What! canst thou say all this, and never blush!

[A ladder brought, which AARON is obliged to ascent.

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,
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; villanies
Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd:

• Harm.

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 il: As kill a man, or else devise his death; Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself; Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it; Set deadly enmity between two friends; Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night, Make poor men's cattle break their necks; 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.

As willingly as one would kill a fly:

SCENE II.-Rome. Before Titus's House.

Enter TAMORA, CHIRON, and DEMETRIUS,
disguised.

Tam. 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.

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 action?

Thou hast the odds of me, therefore no more. Tam. If thou didst know me, thou wouldst talk with me.

Tit. I am not mad; I know thee well enough: Witness this wretched stump, 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?

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, or lurking-place,
No vast obscurity, or misty vale,
Where bloody murder, or detested rape,
Can couch for fear, but I will find thein out;
And in their ears tell them my dreadful name,
Revenge, which makes the foul offender quake.
Tit. Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to me,
To be a torment to mine enemies?

Tam. I am; therefore come down and welcome

me.

Tit. Do me some service, ere I come to thee. Lo, by thy side, where Rape and Murder stand; 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 thee proper palfries, black as jet, To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away, And find out murderers in their guilty cave: 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.
Tam. These are my ministers, and come with me.
Tit. Are they thy ministers? what are they call'd?
Tam. Rapine, and Murder; therefore called so,
'Cause they take vengeance on such kind of men.
Tit. 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 Tirus, from above.
Tam. This closing with him fits his lunacy:
Whate'er I forge, to feed his brain-sick fits,
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.
Sce, here he comes, and I must ply my theme.

Enter TITUS.

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. Show me a murderer, I'll deal with him. Chi. Show me a villain, that hath done a rape, And I am sent to be reveng'd on him.

Tam. Show me a thousand, that hath done thee wrong,

And I will be revenged on them all.

Tit. 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's 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 thee, do on them some violent death,
They have been violent to me and mine.

Tam. 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?
Tit. 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.
Marc. This will I do, and soon return again.

[Exit

Tam. Now will I hence about thy business, And take my ministers along with me. Tit. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with

me;