peror.

Clo. "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. Sat. Go, take him away, and hang him presently.

Clo. How much money must I have?
Tam. Come, Sirrah, you must be hang'd.
Clo. Hang'd! By'r lady, then I have brought
up a neck to a fair end. [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 wrong-
fully.-

Go, drag the villain hither by the hair;
Nor age, nor honour, shall shape privilege :-
For this proud mock, I'll be thy slaughter-
[great,
Sly frantic wretch, that holp'st to make me
In hope thyself should govern Rome and me.

man;

Enter EMILIUS.

more cause!

What news with thee, Æmilius?
Emil. Arm, arm, my lords; Rome never had
[power
The Goths have gather'd head; and with a
Of high-resolved men, bent to the spoil,
They hither march amain, under the conduct
Of Lucius, son to old Andronicus;
Who threats, in course of this revenge, to do
As much as ever Coriolanus did.

Sat. 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 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

emperor.

Tum. Why should you fear? is not your city strong?

Sat. Ay, but the citizens favour Lucius;
And will revolt from me, to succour him.
Tum. King, be thy thoughts imperious,t 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 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, [ous,
With words more sweet, and yet more danger.
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.-

Go thou before, be our ambassador;
[To ÆMILIUS.
Say, that the emperor requests a parley
Of warlike Lucius, and appoint the meeting.
Even at his father's house, the old Andronicus.

Sat. Emilius, do this message honourably:
And if he stand on hostage for his safety,
Bid him demand what pledge will please him

best.

lead'st,

Led by their master to the flower'd fields,Like stinging bees in hottest summer's day, And be aveng'd 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.

2 Goth. Renowned Lucius, from your 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,
Villain, thou might'st have been an emperor:
Hud nature lent thee but thy mother's look,
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,
[hither,
Surpris'd him suddenly; and brought him
To use as you think needful of the man.

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'

eye;

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?

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 neṛ And cut her hands; and trimm'd her as tho saw'st.

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

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 thy. self!

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:

word?

A halter, soldiers; hang him on this tree,
And by his side is 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.

[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. 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 mas

sacres,

Acts of black night, abominable deeds,
Complots of mischief, treason; villanies
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. 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, [science, And hast a thing within thee, called conWith 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, [swears; And keeps the oath, which by that god he To that I'll urge him:-Therefore, thou shalt

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 guiletul hole,
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?

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 break their necks;
Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,
And bid the owners quench them with their
[graves,

tears.

Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their 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 1 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.

Luc. Bring down the devil; for he must

not die

So sweet a death, as hanging presently.

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

no more.

Emil. Lord Lucius, and you princes of the
Goths,

The Roman emperor greets you all by me:
And, for he understands you are in armis,
He craves a parley at your father's house,
Willing you to demand your hostages,
And they shall be immediately deliver'd.
1 Goth. What says our general?
Luc. Æmilius, let the emperor give
pledges

Unto my father and my uncle Marcus,
And we will come.-March away."

his

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

Tum. Thus, in this strange and sad habiliI will encounter with Andronicus; And say, I am Revenge, come from below, [ment, 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.

Enter TITUS, above.

[They knock.

Tit. Who doth molest my contemplation? Is it your trick to make me ope the door; That so my sad decrees may fly away, Aud 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 Wanting a hand to give it action? [talk, Thou hast the odds of me, therefore no more. Tam. If thou didst know me, thou would'st 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 Ta-
She is thy enemy, and thy friend: [mora;
I am Revenge; sent from the infernal kingdom,
To ease the knawing 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.
Tit. Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent
To be a torment to mine enemies?

[to

me,

Perhaps this is a stage direction, crept into the text.

919

Tam. I am; therefore come down, and wel

come me.

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 whirl along with thee about the globes.
And then I'll come, and be thy waggoner,
To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away,
Provide thee proper palfries, black as jet,
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 call'd?

So,

Tam. Rapine, and Murder; therefore called 'Cause they take vengeance of 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.

sweet Revenge, now do I come to thee: And, if one arm's embracement will content I will embrace thee in it by and by.

[thee,

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.

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!

irs, help our uncle to convey him in.—

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

Enter SATURNINUS and TAMORA, with Tribunes, Senators, and others.

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

Luc. What boots it thee, to call thyself a

sun?

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 de-
flower'd?

Sat. It was, Andronicus.

Tit. Your reason, mighty lord!
Sat. Because the girl should not survive her
shame,

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;
[He kills LAVINIA.
And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die!
Sat. What hast thou done, unnatural, and

unkind?

Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have

made me blind.

I am as woful as Virginius was:
[he
And have a thousand times more cause than
To do this outrage; and it is now done.
Sat. What, was she ravished? tell, who did

the deed.

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

Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only daugh ter thus?

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.

Sut. 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.
[Killing TAMORA.
Sut. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed
deed.
[Killing TITUS.
Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father
blced?
[deed.
There's meed for meed, death for a deadly
[Kills SATURNINUS. A great Tumult. The
People in confusion disperse. MARCUS,
LUCIUS, and their Partisans ascend the
Steps before TITUS' House.

Mar. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of
Rome,

Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,
By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl

let me teach you how to knit again This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf, These broken limbs again into one body.

Sen. Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself;

And she, whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to,
Like a forlorn and desperate cast-away,
Do shameful execution on herself.
But if my frosty signs and chaps of age,
Cannot induce you to attend my words,-
Grave witnesses of true experience,
Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To LUCIUS.] as
When with his solemn tongue he did discourse,
erst our ancestor,
The story of that baleful burning night,
To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear,
When subtle Greeks surpris'd king Priam's
Tell us, what Sinon hath bewitch'd our ears,
Troy ;
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 i'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.

Luc. Then, noble auditory, be it known to Were they that murdered our emperor's broThat cursed Chiron and Demetrius [you,

ther;