A thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes, Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly. But straight they told me they would bind me here And leave me to this miserable death. DEMET. This is a witness that I am thy son. CHI. And this for me, struck home to show my strength. [They stab BASSIANUS, who dies. LAV. Ay, come, Semiramis,-nay, barbarous Tamora! For no name fits thy nature but thy own. TAM. Give me thy poniard ;-you shall know, my boys, Your mother's hand shall right your mother's Yet have I heard,-O, could I find it now!— TAM. I know not what it means:-away with her! LAV. O, let me teach thee! For my father's sake, That gave thee life, when well he might have slain thee, Be not obdurate, open thy deaf ears. TAM. Had'st thou in person ne'er offended me, Even for his sake am I pitiless.Remember, boys, I pour'd forth tears in vain, To save your brother from the sacrifice; But fierce Andronicus would not relent: Therefore, away with her, and use her as you will; The worse to her, the better lov'd of me. LAV. O, Tamora, be call'd a gentle queen, And with thine own hands kill me in this place! For 't is not life that I have begg'd so long; Poor I was slain when Bassianus died. TAM. What begg'st thou then? fond woman, let me go. LAV. 'Tis present death I beg; and one thing DEMET. Away! for thou hast stay'd us here | too long. LAV. No grace? no womanhood? Ah, beastly creature! The blot and enemy to our general name! CHI. Nay, then I'll stop your mouth.-Bring thou her husband: This is the hole where Aaron bid us hide him. [Exeunt CHIRON and DEMETRIUS, the former dragging off LAVINIA, and the latter the body of BASSIANUS. TAM. Farewell, my sons; see that you make her sure:- Ne'er let my heart know merry cheer indeed, 611 SCENE IV.-The same. Enter AARON, with QUINTUS and MARTIUS. AARON. Come on, my lords, the better foot before: Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit QUINT. My sight is very dull, whate'er it bodes. MART. And mine, I promise you; were 't not for shame, Well could I leave our sport to sleep awhile. [Falls into the pit. QUINT. What, art thou fallen ?-What subtle hole is this, Whose mouth is cover'd with rude-growing briers, Upon whose leaves are drops of new-shed blood, RR 2 As fresh as morning's dew distill'd on flowers? That ever eye with sight made heart lament! AARON. [Aside.] Now will I fetch the king to find them here, That he thereby may givet a likely guess, How these were they that made away his brother. [Exit. MART. Why dost not comfort me and help me out From this unhallow'd and blood-stained hole? QUINT. I am surprised with an uncouth" fear; A chilling sweat o'erruns my trembling joints; My heart suspects more than my eye can see. MART. To prove thou hast a true-divining heart, Will not permit mine eyes once to behold MART. Lord Bassianus lies embrued here, MART. Upon his bloody finger he doth wear A precious ring, that lightens all the hole; (2) Which, like a taper in some monument, Doth shine upon the dead man's earthy ‡ cheeks, And shows the ragged entrails of the pit: So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus, When he by night lay bath'd in maiden blood. O, brother, help me with thy fainting hand,— If fear hath made thee faint, as me it hath,— Out of this fell-devouring receptacle, As hateful as Cocytus' § misty mouth. QUINT. Reach me thy hand, that I may help thee out; Or, wanting strength to do thee so much good, QUINT. Thy hand once more; I will not loose again, Till thou art here aloft, or I below: Thou canst not come to me,-I come to thee. (*) First folio omits, hurt. (1) First folio, earthly. Enter SATURNINUS and AARON. SAT. Along with me:-I'll see what hole is here, And what he is that now is leap'd into it.— MART. The unhappy son of old Andronicus; SAT. My brother dead! I know thou dost but jest: He and his lady both are at the lodge, Upon the north side of this pleasant chase; 'Tis not an hour since I left him there. MART. We know not where you left him all alive, But out, alas! here have we found him dead. Enter TAMORA, ANDRONICUS, and Lucius. TAM. Where is my lord the king? SAT. Here, Tamora; though griev'd with killing grief. TAM. Where is thy brother Bassianus ? SAT. Now to the bottom dost thou search my wound; Poor Bassianus here lies murdered. TAM. Then all too late I bring this fatal writ, The complot of this timeless tragedy; SAT. [Reads.] An if we miss to meet him handsomely,— Which overshades the mouth of that same pit, O, Tamora, was ever heard the like? This is the pit, and this the elder-tree: Look, sirs, if you can find the huntsman out, That should have murder'd Bassianus here. AARON. My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold. [Showing it. SAT. [TO TITUS.] Two of thy whelps, fell curs of bloody kind, Have here bereft my brother of his life. [Falls in. (+) First folio, have. (§) First folio, Ocitus. Sirs, drag them from the pit unto the prison; How easily murder is discovered! TIT. High emperor, upon my feeble knee, I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed, That this fell fault of my accursed sons,Accursed, if the fault* be prov'd in them— SAT. If it be prov'd! you see it is apparent.— Who found this letter? Tamora, was it you? TAM. Andronicus himself did take it up. TIT. I did, my lord: yet let me be their bail; For, by my father's reverend tomb, I vow They shall be ready at your highness' will, To answer their suspicion with their lives. SAT. Thou shalt not bail them: see thou follow Enter MARCUS, from hunting. MARC. Who is this, my niece,—that flies away so fast?— Cousin, a word; where is your husband ?— And might not gain so great a happiness Ah, now thou turn'st away thy face for shame! (*) Old text, halfe. Corrected by Theobald, (t) Old text, them. Corrected by Rowe. (1) Old text, their. Corrected by Hanmer. (§) First folio adds, withall. [Exeunt. Enter Senators, Tribunes, and Officers of Justice, with MARTIUS and QUINTUS bound, passing on to the place of execution; TITUS going before, pleading. TIT. Hear me, grave fathers! noble tribunes, stay! For pity of mine age, whose youth was spent In dangerous wars, whilst you securely slept ; For all my blood in Rome's great quarrel shed; For all the frosty nights that I have watch'd; And for these bitter tears, which now you see Filling the aged wrinkles in my cheeks; Be pitiful to my condemned sons, For these, tribunes,-] The metrical deficiency in this line is supplied in the second folio by a repetition of the word "these," "For these, these tribunes," &c. Malone thought It more likely some epithet of respect was given to the tribunes, and accordingly he printed, Whose souls are not corrupted, as 't is thought. [Casting himself down. [Exeunt Senators, Tribunes, and Prisoners. O, earth, I will befriend thee more with rain, That shall distil from these two ancient urns,* Than youthful April shall with all his showers: In summer's drought I'll drop upon thee still; (*) Old text, ruines. Corrected by Hanmer. "For these, good tribunes," &c. But query, "For these, 0, tribunes," &c.? |