[Drums and trumpets sound, and then enter MARTIUS and MUTIUS. After them two Men bearing a coffin covered with black: then LUCIUS and QUINTUS. After them TITUS ANDRONICUS; and then TAMORA, the Queen of Goths, with ALARBUS, DEMETRIUS, CHIRON, AARON the Moor, and other Goths, prisoners, Soldiers and People following. The Bearers set down the coffin, and TITUS speaks.

TIT. Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning weeds!
Lo, as the bark that hath discharg'd his a fraught,
Returns with precious lading to the bay

From whence at first she weigh'd her anchorage,
Cometh Andronicus, bound with laurel boughs,
To re-salute his country with his tears,—
Tears of true joy for his return to Rome.--
Thou great defender of this Capitol,

Stand gracious to the rights that we intend!-
Romans, of five-and-twenty valiant sons,
Half of the number that king Priam had,
Behold the poor remains, alive and dead!

These that survive, let Rome reward with love;
These that I bring unto their latest home,

With burial amongst their ancestors:

Here Goths have given me leave to sheathe my sword.
Titus, unkind, and careless of thine own,
Why suffer'st thou thy sons, unburied yet,
To hover on the dreadful shore of Styx?
Make way to lay them by their brethren.-b
There greet in silence, as the dead are wont,
And sleep in peace, slain in your country's wars!
O, sacred receptacle of my joys,

Sweet cell of virtue and nobility,

How many sons of mine hast thou in store,

That thou wilt never render to me more!

[They open the tomb.

Luc. Give us the proudest prisoner of the Goths,
That we may hew his limbs, and, on a pile,

Ad manes fratrum, sacrifice his flesh,
Before this earthy * prison of their bones;
That so the shadows be not unappeas'd,

Nor we disturb'd with prodigies on earth.

TIT.. I give him you,-the noblest that survives, The eldest son of this distressed queen.

TAM. Stay, Roman brethren!-Gracious conqueror, Victorious Titus, rue the tears I shed,

A mother's tears in passion for her son:

(*) First folio, earthly.

his fraught." His" is here used for the impersonal pronoun, its.

b — brethren.] To be pronounced as a trisyllable.

c Nor we disturb'd with prodigies on earth.] The ancients, it need hardly be observed held belief that the spirits of the unburied dead importuned their relatives and friends to obtain funereal rites.

And if thy sons were ever dear to thee,
O, think my sons to be as dear to me!
Sufficeth not, that we are brought to Rome
To beautify thy triumphs and return,
Captive to thee and to thy Roman yoke;
But must my sons be slaughter'd in the streets,
For valiant doings in their country's cause?
O, if to fight for king and commonweal
Were piety in thine, it is in these!

Andronicus, stain not thy tomb with blood:
Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods?
Draw near them, then, in being merciful:
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge.

Thrice-noble Titus, spare my first-born son.

*

TIT. Patient yourself, madam, and pardon me.
These are their brethren, whom you Goths beheld
Alive and dead; and for their brethren slain
Religiously they ask a sacrifice:

To this your son is mark'd; and die he must,
To appease their groaning shadows that are gone.
LUC. Away with him! and make a fire straight;

And with our swords, upon a pile of wood,

Let's hew his limbs till they be clean consum'd.

[Exeunt LUCIUS, QUINTUS, MARTIUS, and MUTIUS, with ALARBUS. TAM. O cruel, irreligious piety!

CHI. Was ever Scythia half so barbarous ?

DEMET. Oppose not † Scythia to ambitious Rome.

Alarbus goes to rest; and we survive

To tremble under Titus' threatening looks.

Then, madam, stand resolv'd; but hope withal,

The self-same gods, that arm'd the queen of Troy

With opportunity of sharp revenge

Upon the Thracian tyrant in his tent,

May favour Tamora, the queen of Goths,

(When Goths were Goths, and Tamora was queen)

To quit the bloody wrongs upon her foes.

Re-enter LUCIUS, QUINTUS, MARTIUS, and MUTIUS, with their swords

bloody.

LUC. See, lord and father, how we have perform'd

Our Roman rites: Alarbus' limbs are lopp'd,

And entrails feed the sacrificing fire,

Whose smoke, like incense, doth perfume the sky.

(*) First folio, the.

(†) First folio, me.

Patient yourself,-] Steevens, among other examples of this verb, cites the following from King Edward I. 1599,—

"Patient your highness, 't is but mother's love."

bin his tent,-] Conceiving this to be an allusion to Polymnestor's death, as related in the Hecuba of Euripides, Theobald reads, "in her tent."

Remaineth nought, but to inter our brethren,
And with loud 'larums welcome them to Rome.

TIT. Let it be so; and let Andronicus
Make this his latest farewell to their souls.

a

[Flourish of trumpets, and they lay the coffin in the tomb.

In peace and honour rest you here, my sons;

Rome's readiest champions, repose you here in rest,
Secure from worldly chances and mishaps!

Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells,

Here grow no damned grudges; here are no storms,
No noise, but silence and eternal sleep:

In peace and honour rest you here, my sons!

Enter LAVINIA.

LAV. In peace and honour live lord Titus long;
My noble lord and father, live in fame!

Lo, at this tomb my tributary tears
I render for my brethren's obsequies:
And at thy feet I kneel, with tears of joy
Shed on the earth for thy return to Rome.
O, bless me here with thy victorious hand,
Whose fortunes Rome's best citizens applaud!

TIT. Kind Rome, that hast thus lovingly reserv'd
The cordial of mine age to glad my heart!—

Lavinia, live; outlive thy father's days,

And fame's eternal date, for virtue's praise!

Enter, below, MARCUS ANDRONICUS and Tribunes; re-enter SATURNINUS and BASSIANUS, attended.

MARC. Long live lord Titus, my beloved brother,
Gracious triumpher in the eyes of Rome!

TIT. Thanks, gentle tribune, noble brother Marcus.
MARC. And welcome, nephews, from successful wars,

You that survive, and you that sleep in fame!

Fair lords, your fortunes are alike in all,

That in your country's service drew your swords;
But safer triumph is this funeral pomp,

That hath aspir'd to Solon's happiness,

And triumphs over chance in honour's bed.-
Titus Andronicus, the people of Rome,
Whose friend in justice thou hast ever been,
Send thee by me, their tribune and their trust,
This palliament of white and spotless hue,
And name thee in election for the empire,

A

the coffin-] So the quartos. The folio, 1623, has, "the coffins," but compare the stage direction on the entrance of Titus Andronicus.

b

grudges;] Murmurs of discontent.

And triumphs over chance in honour's bed.-]

With these our late deceased emperor's sons:
Be candidatus, then, and put it on,
And help to set a head on headless Rome.

TIT. A better head her glorious body fits
Than his that shakes for age and feebleness.
What should I don this robe and trouble you?
Be chosen with proclamations to-day,
To-morrow yield up rule, resign my life,
And set abroad" new business for you all?
Rome, I have been thy soldier forty years,
And led my country's strength successfully,
And buried one-and-twenty valiant sons,
Knighted in field, slain manfully in arms,
In right and service of their noble country:
Give me a staff of honour for mine age,
But not a sceptre to control the world:
Upright he held it, lords, that held it last.

MARC. Titus, thou shalt obtain and ask the empery.
SAT. Proud and ambitious tribune, canst thou tell?
TIT. Patience, prince Saturninus.

SAT.
Romans, do me right;-
Patricians, draw your swords, and sheathe them not
Till Saturninus be Rome's emperor.-
Andronicus, would thou wert shipp'd to hell,
Rather than rob me of the people's hearts!

LUC. Proud Saturnine, interrupter of the good

That noble-minded Titus means to thee!

TIT. Content thee, prince, I will restore to thee The people's hearts, and wean them from themselves. BASS. Andronicus, I do not flatter thee,

But honour thee, and will do till I die:

My faction if thou strengthen with thy friends,d

I will most thankful be; and thanks to men

Of noble minds is honourable meed.

TIT. People of Rome, and noble tribunes here,

I ask your voices and your suffrages:

Will you bestow them friendly on Andronicus?
TRIBUNES. To gratify the good Andronicus,

And gratulate his safe return to Rome,

The people will accept whom he admits.

TIT. Tribunes, I thank you: and this suit I make,

• What should I don, &c.] It is customary in cases like the present to print "What" as an exclamation, “What! should I don-" &c. though it is often only equivalent to, For What; or to, Why.

And set abroad-] The folio of 1664 has, "set abroach," &.. and the substitution is adopted by Mr. Collier's annotator.

C

thou shalt obtain and ask-] There is here, as Steevens remarks, somewhat too much of the hysteron proteron. We might, without much violence, read,—

d

"Ask, Titus, and thou shalt obtain the empery."

thy friends,-] A correction from the folio of 1664; the prior copies having

friend.

That you create your emperor's eldest son,
Lord Saturnine, whose virtues will, I hope,
Reflect on Rome as Titan's rays on earth,
And ripen justice in this commonweal:
Then, if you will elect by my advice,
Crown him, and say, Long live our emperor!
MARC. With voices and applause of every sort,
Patricians, and plebeians, we create
Lord Saturninus Rome's great emperor;
And say, Long live our emperor, Saturnine!
SAT. Titus Andronicus, for thy favours done

To us in our election this day,

I give thee thanks in part of thy deserts,
And will with deeds requite thy gentleness:
And, for an onset, Titus, to advance
Thy name and honourable family,
Lavinia will I make my empress,a

Rome's royal mistress, mistress of my heart,
And in the sacred Pantheon her espouse:

Tell me, Andronicus, doth this motion please thee?
TIT. It doth, my worthy lord; and in this match
I hold me highly honour'd of your grace:
And here, in sight of Rome, to Saturnine,—
King and commander of our commonweal,
The wide world's emperor,-do I consecrate
My sword, my chariot, and my prisoners;
Presents well worthy Rome's imperial lord:
Receive them, then, the tribute that I owe,
Mine honour's ensigns humbled at thy feet.
SAT. Thanks, noble Titus, father of my life!
How proud I am of thee and of thy gifts,
Rome shall record; and when I do forget
The least of these unspeakable deserts,

Romans, forget your fealty to me.

*

[A long flourish.

TIT. Now, madam, are you prisoner to an emperor; [To TAMORA. To him that, for your honour and your state,

Will use you nobly and your followers.

SAT. [Aside.] A goodly lady, trust me; of the hue

That I would choose, were I to choose anew.

Clear up, fair queen, that cloudy countenance:

Though chance of war hath wrought this change of cheer,

Thou com'st not to be made a scorn in Rome:

Princely shall be thy usage every way.

Rest on my word, and let not discontent

Daunt all your hopes: madam, he comforts you
Can make you greater than the queen of Goths.-
Lavinia, you are not displeas'd with this?

(*) First folio, my.

A

11

empress,-] To be read as a trisyllable.

Pantheon-] From the second folio; the earlier editions printing, Pathan.