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 the letter mention'd,
Confederate with the queen, and her two sons;
And what not done, that thou hast cause to rue,
Wherein 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, [ter.
And almost broke my heart with extreme laugh-
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?

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

[die

Aar. If there be devils, 'would I were a devil, But to torment you with my bitter tongue! Luc. Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak

no more.

Enter a Goth.

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
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 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.
Tit. Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to
me,

To be a torment to mine enemies?

[me.

Provide thee 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.
Tam. These are my ministers, and come with
[call'd?

me.

Tit. Are they thy ministers? what are they Tam. Rapine and Murder; therefore call'd so, 'Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men. Tit. Good heaven, 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 TIT. 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.
See, 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 woful 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 would'st thou have us do, Andro-
nicus?

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. [wrong, Tam. Show 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, 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; [tion, Well may'st thou know her by thy own proporFor 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 toc
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. [me; Tit. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with Or else I'll call my brother back again, And cleave to no revenge but Lucius.

Tam. [To her Sons.] 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. {mad;
Tit. I know them all, though they suppose me
And will o'er-reach them in their own devices.
[Aside.

Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure, leave us here. Tam. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes

To lay a complot to betray thy foes. [Exit TAM. Tit. I know thou dost; and, sweet Revenge, farewell.

Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd? [do.Tit. Tut, I have work enough for you to Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine! Enter PUBLIUS, and Others.

Pub. What's your will?

Tit. Pub.

Know you these two?
Th' empress' sons,
[ceiv'd;

I take them, Chiron and Demetrius.
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.

[Exit TIT.-PUB., &c., lay hold on CHI. ana
DEM.

sons.

Chi. Villains, forbear, we are the empress' [manded.Pub. And therefore do we what we are comStop 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; she bearing a Bason, and he a Knife.

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

[me;

Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to
But let them hear what fearful words I utter.-
O villains, Chiron and Demetrius! [with mud;
Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd
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;
Whilst that Lavinia 'tween her stumps doth hold
The bason 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 throat

* Crust of a raised pie.

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 'gainst their mother comes. [Exeunt, bearing the dead Bodies. SCENE III.-A Pavilion, with Tables, &c. Enter LUCIUS, MARCUS, and Goths, with AARON, Prisoner.

Luc. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's That I repair to Rome, I am content. [mind 1 Goth. And ours with thine, befall what fortune will. [Moor, Luc. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous 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.

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!Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.

[Exeunt Goths, with AAR. 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?
[sun?
Luc. What boots it thee to call thyself a
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.

Tit. Welcome, my gracious 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.

Sat. Why art thou thus attir'd, Andronicus? Tit. Because I would be sure to have all well, To entertain your highness, and your empress. Tam. We are beholden to you, good Andronicus. [were. Tit. An if your highness knew my heart, you 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 enfórc'd, stain'd, and deflour'd? Sat. It was, Andronicus.

Tit. Your reason, mighty lord!

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

* Of what advantage is it?

ti. e. Begin the parley.

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 LAV.

And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die ! Sat. What hast thou done, unnatural, and unkind? [me blind.

Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made I am as woful as Virginius was: And have a thousand times more cause than he To do this outrage;-and it is now done.

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

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

Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only daughter 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. Sat. Go, fetch them hither to us presently. Tit. Why, there they are both, baked in that Whereof their mother daintily hath fed; [pie; Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred. 'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point. [Killing TAM.

Sat. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed. [Killing TIT. Luc. Can the son's eve behold his father bleed? There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed. [Kills SAT. A great Tumult. The People in confusion disperse. MARC., Luc., and their Partisans ascend the Steps before TITUS's House.

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

By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fow!
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.

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,
Grave witnesses of true experience,
Cannot induce you to attend my words,-
Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To Luc.] 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 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; [speak.
Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him

Luc. 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 ravish'd 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 And sent her enemies unto the grave. [out,

Lastly, myseif 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:
And I am the turn'd-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 advent'rous 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 them-
selves.

Marc. Now is my turn to speak; Behold this child!

[Pointing to the Child in the arms of an
Attendant.

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,
Wretch that 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 you have 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.

Emil. 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.
Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's
royal emperor! [LUCIUS, &c., descend.
Marc. Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house;
[To an Attendant.
And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering death,
As punishment for his most wicked life.
Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's
gracious governor!
[so,
Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans; May I govern
To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe!
But, gentle people, give me aim a while,-
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 coid lips,
[Kisses TITUS.

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

[face,

Marc. 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! Luc. Come hither, boy; come, come, and learn of us [well:

To melt in showers: Thy grandsire lov'd thee
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.

Boy. O grandsire, grandsire! even with all my heart

'Would I were dead, so you did live again! Good heaven, I cannot speak to him for weeping; My tears will choke me if I ope my mouth.

Enter Attendants, with AARON.

1 Rom. You sad Andronici, have done with woes;

Give sentence on this execrable wretch,
That hath been breeder of these dire events.

Luc. 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.
Aar. O, 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.

Luc. 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 heinous 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 to Aaron, that vile 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.