And whirl along with thee about the globes. Goth. My lord, there is a messenger from Rome, Provide thee proper palfries, black as jet, Desires to be admitted to your presence. Luc. Let him come near.-
Enter ÆMILIUS. Welcome, Æmilius, what's the news from Rome? Emil. Lord Lucius, and you princes of the Goths, The Roman emperor greets you all by me: And, for he understands you are in arms, 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 his pledges
Unto my father and my uncle Marcus, And we will come.-March away.
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.
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 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?
Tam. I am; therefore come down, and welcome
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,
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 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
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 TITUS, 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.
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 revenged on him.
Tam. Show me a thousand, that have done thee wrong,
And I will be revenged on them all.
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's a ravisher.- Go thou with them; and in the emperor's court There is a queen, attended by a Moor; Well mayst 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 da 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.
Tam. Now will I hence about thy business,
And take my ministers along with 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.
Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd with
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 forced. 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,
Tam. [To her Sons.] What say you, boys? will And this the banquet she shall surfeit on;
you abide with him, Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor, How I have govern'd our determin'd jest? Yield to his humor, smooth and speak him fair,
And tarry with him, till I come again.
Tit. I know them all, though they suppose me mad; And will o'er-reach them in their own devices, A pair of cursed hell-hounds, and their dam.
[Aside. Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure, leave us here. Tam. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes To lay a complot to betray thy foes. [Exit TAMORA.
Tit. I know, thou dost; and, sweet Revenge,
I take them, Chiron and Demetrius.
Tit. Fye, Publius, fye! thou art too much de- ceiv'd;
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 TITUS. PUBLIUS, &c. lay hold on CHIRON and DEMETRIUS.
Chi. Villains, forbear: we are the empress' sons. Pub. And therefore do we what we are com- manded.-
Stop 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;-
Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me: But let them hear what fearful words I utter.- O villains, Chiron and Demetrius!
For worse than Philomel you used my daughter, And worse than Progne I will be revenged:
And now prepare your throats,-Lavinia, come, [He cuts their Throats. 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,
Luc. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's mind, That I repair to Rome, I am content.
1 Goth. And ours, with thine, befall what fortune will.
Luc. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous Moor,
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 AARON. Flourish. The trumpets show the emperor is at hand. Enter SATURNINUS and TAMORA, with Tribunes, Senators, and others.
The feast is ready which the careful Titus,
Hath ordain'd to an honorable end,
For peace, for love, for league, and good to Rome: Please you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your places.
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.
Sat. Marcus, we will. [Hautboys sound. The Company sit down But if my frosty signs and chaps of age, at Table. Grave witnesses of true experience, Cannot induce you to attend my words,-
Enter TITUS dressed like a Cook, LAVINIA, veiled,
Young Lucius, and others. TITUS places the Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To Lucius.] as erst
Tit. Welcome, my gracious lord: welcome, dread
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 attired, 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. 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 enforced, stain'd, and deflour'd?
Sat. It was, Andronicus.
Tit. Your reason, mighty lord?
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;
Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him speak. Luc. Then, noble auditory, be it known to you, That cursed Chiron and Demetrius
Were they that murdered our emperor's brother;
Sat. Because the girl should not survive her And they it were that ravished our sister:
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 pie; 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. Sat. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed. [Killing TITUS.
Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed? There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.
[Kills SATURNINUS. A great Tumult. The People in confusion disperse. MARCUS, LUCIUS, and their Partisans, ascend the Steps before Titus's House.
Marc. You sad-faced men, people and sons of Rome, By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts, O, let me teach you how to knit again
For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded; Our father's tears despised; and basely cozen'd Of that true hand, that fought Rome's quarrel out, And sent her enemies unto the grave. Lastly, myself 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: 0, pardon me; For when no friends are by, men praise themselves 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, Damn'd as 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, Ro- mans?
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!
Boy. O grandsire, grandsire! even with all my heart
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!
Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans, may I govern so, To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe! But, gentle people, give me aim awhile,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 cold lips,
[Kisses TITUS. These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face, The last true duties of thy noble son!
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
To melt in showers: Thy grandsire lov'd thee well:
Many a time he danced 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.
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 damn'd 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.
That the reader may know through how many regions the scene of this drama is dispersed, it is necessary to observe, that Antioch was the metropolis of Syria; Tyre a city of Phoenicia, in Asia: Tharsus, the metropolis of Cilicia, a country of Asia Minor; Mitylene, the capital of Lesbos, an island in the Ægean sea; and Ephesus, the capital of Ionia, a country of the Lesser Asia.
Enter Gower. Before the Palace of Antioch.
To sing a song of old was sung, From ashes ancient Gower is come: Assuming man's infirmities, To glad your ear, and please your eyes. It hath been sung at festivals, On ember-eyes, and holy ales;" And lords and ladies of their lives Have read it for restoratives: 'Purpose to make men glorious; Et quo antiquius, co melius. If you, born in these latter times, When wit's more ripe, accept my rhymes; And that to hear an old man sing, May to your wishes pleasure bring, I life would wish, and that I might Waste it for you, like taper-light- This city then, Antioch the great Built up for his chiefest seat; The fairest in all Syria; (I tell you what mine authors say :) This king unto him took a pheere, Who died and left a female heir, So buxom, blithe, and full of face, As heaven had lent her all his grace;
1 Chorus, in the character of Gower, an ancient English poet, who has related the story of this play in his Confessio Amantis.
• Wife, the word signifies a mate or companion.
With whom the father liking took, And her to incest did provoke: Bad father! to entice his own To evil, should be done by none. By custom, what they did begin, Was, with long use, account no sin. The beauty of this sinful dame Made many princes thither frame, To seek her as a bed-fellow, In marriage-pleasures play-fellow: Which to prevent, he made a law, (To keep her still, and men in awe,) That whoso ask'd her for his wife, His riddle told not, lost his life: So for her many a wight did die, As yon grim looks do testify. What now ensues, to the judgment of your eve I give, my cause who best can justify. [En SCENE I-Antioch. A Room in the Palace.
Enter ANTIOCHUS, PERICLES, and Attendants Ant. Young prince of Tyre, you have at large
The danger of the task you undertake.
Per. I have, Antiochus, and with a soul Embolden'd with the glory of her praise, Think death no hazard, in this enterprize. [Music.
• Pointing to the scene of the palace gate at Antioch, on which the heads of those unfortunate wights were fixed
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