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Whenas the one is wounded with the bait, They never do beget a coal-black calf.
The other rotted with delicious feed.

Peace, villain, peace !' even thus he rates the Sat. But he will not entreat his son for us.

babe, Tam. If Tamora entreat him, then he will : For I must bear thee to a trusty Goth; For I can smooth and fill his aged ear

Who, when he knows thou art the empress' babe, With golden promises, that, were his heart Will hold thee dearly for thy mother's sake.' Almost impregnable, his old ears deaf,

With this, my weapon drawn, I rushd upon him, Yet should both ear and heart obey my tongue. Surpris'd him suddenly, and brought him hither, TO ÆMILIUS. Go thou before, be our ambassador: To use as you think needful of the man. Say that the emperor requests a parley

Luc. O worthy Goth, this is the incarnate Of war-like Lucius, and appoint the meeting

devil Even at his father's house, the old Andronicus. That robb’d Andronicus of his good hand :

Sat. Æmilius, do this message honourably : This is the pearl that pleas'd your empress' ere, And if he stand on hostage for his safety, And here's the base fruit of his burning lust. Bid him demand what pledge will please him Say, wall-eyed slave, whither would'st thou best.

convey Æmil. Your bidding sball I do effectually, This growing image of thy fiend-like face !

Exit. Why dost not speak? What! deaf? not a word? Tam. Now will I to that old Andronicus, A halter, soldiers ! hang him on this tree, And temper him with all the art I have, 110 And by his side his fruit of bastardy. To pluck proud Lucius from the war-like Goths. Aur. Touch not the boy ; he is of royal blood. And now, sweet emperor, be blithe again,

Luc. Too like the sire for ever being good. And bury all thy fear in my devices.

First hang the child, that he may see it sprawl; Sat. Then go successantly, and plead to him. A sight to vex the father's soul withal.

E.ccunt. Get me a ladder!

A ladder brought, which AARON is made ACT V.

to ascend. Aar.

Lucius, save the child; SCENE I.—Plains near Rome.

And bear it from me to the empress.

If thou do this, I'll show thee wondrous things Enter LUCIUS and an army of Goths, with drum

That highly may advantage thee to hear : and colours.

If thou wilt not, befall what may befall, Luc. Approved warriors, and my faithful I'll speak no more but “Vengeance rot you all!' friends,

Luc. Say on; an if it please me which thou I have received letters from great Rome,

speak'st, Which signify what hate they bear their emperor, Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish d. And how desirous of our sight they are.

Aar. An if it please thee! why, assure thee, Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness, Lucius, Imperious and impatient of your wrongs ; 'Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak; And wherein Rome hath done you any scath, For I must talk of murders, rapes, and massacres, Let him make treble satisfaction.

Acts of black night, abominable deeds, First Goth. Brave slip, sprung from the great Complots of mischief, treason, villanies Andronicus,

Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd: Whose name was once our terror, now our com- And this shall all be buried in my death, fort ;

Unless thou swear to me my child shall lire. Whose high exploits and honourable deeds Luc. Tell on thy mind; I say thy child shall Ingrateful Rome requites with foul contempt,

live. Be bold in us: we'll follow where thou lead'st, Aar. Swear that he shall, and then I will Like stinging bees in hottest summer's day

begin. Led by their master to the flower'd fields, Luc. Who should I swear by! thou believ'st And be aveng'd on cursed Tamora.

no god : Goths. And, as he saith, so say we all with him. That granted, how canst thou believe an oath!

Luc. I humbly thank him, and I thank you all. Aar. What if I do not ? as, indeed, I do not; But who comes here, led by a lusty Goth? Yet, for I know thou art religious,

And hast a thing within thee called conscience, Enter a Goth, leading AARON, with his Child in his arms.

With twenty popish tricks and ceremonies,

Which I have seen thee careful to observe, Second Goth. Renowned Lucius, from our | Therefore I urge thy oath ; for that I know troops I stray'd

An idiot holds his bauble for a god, To gaze upon a ruinous monastery ;

And keeps the oath which by that god he swears And as I earnestly did fix mine ere

To that I'll urge him : therefore thou shalt Upon the wasted building, suddenly I heard a child cry underneath a wall.

By that same god, what god soe'er it be, I made unto the noise ; when soon I heard That thou ador'st and hast in reverence, The crying babe controllid with this discourse: To save my boy, to nourish and bring him up: • Peace, tawny slave, half me and half thy dam! Or else I will discover nought to thee. Did not thy hue bewray whose brat thou art, Luc. Even by my god I swear to thee I will. Had nature lent thee but thy mother's look, Aar. First know thou, I begot him on the Villain, thou might'st have been an emperor : 30 em press. But where the bull and cow are both milk-white, Luc. O most insatiate and luxurious woman!

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March away.

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Aar. Tut! Lucius, this was but a deed of Aar. If there be devils, would I were a devil, charity

To live and burn in everlasting fire, To that which thou shalt hear of me anon. 90 So I might have your company in hell, 'Twas her two sons that murder'd Bassianus ; But to torment you with my bitter tongue! 150 They cut thy sister's tongue and ravish'd her, Luc. Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak And cut her hands and trimm'd her as thou no more. saw'st.

Enter a Goth. Luc. O detestable villain ! call'st thou that trimming ?

Goth. My lord, there is a messenger from Aar. Why, she was wash'd, and cut, and

Rome trimm'd, and 'twas

Desires to be admitted to your presence.

Luc. Let him come near.
Trim sport for them that had the doing of it.
Luc. O barbarous, beastly villains, like thy-

Enter ÆMILIUS. self! Aar. Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct Welcome, Æmilius! what's the news from Rome? them.

mil. Lord Lucius, and you princes of the That codding spirit had they from their mother, Goths, As sure a card as ever won the set ;

100 The Roman emperor greets you all by me; That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me, And, for he understands you are in arms, As true a dog as ever fought at head.

He craves a parley at your father's house,
Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth. Willing you to demand your hostages,
I train'd thy bret bren to that guileful hole And they shall be immediately deliver'd.
Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay;

First Goth. What says our general ?
I wrote the letter that thy father found,

Luc. Æmilius, let the emperor give his pledges And hid the gold within the letter mention'd, Unto my father and my uncle Marcus, Confederate with the queen and her two sons: And we will come.

Exeunt. 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,

SCENE II. - Rome. Before Titus's House. And, when I had it, drew myself apart, And almost broke my heart with extreme

Enter TAMORA, DEMETRIUS, and Chiron, laughter.

disguised. I pry'd me through the crevice of a wall

Tam. Thus, in this strange and sad habili. When, for his hand, he had his two sons' heads; ment, Beheld his tears, and laugh'd so heartily, I will encounter with Andronicus, That both mine eyes were rainy like to his : And say I am Revenge, sent from below And when I told the empress of this sport, To join with him and right his heinous wrongs. She swooned almost at my pleasing tale, Knock at his study, where they say he keeps, And for my tidings gave me twenty kisses. 120 To ruminate strange plots of dire revenge ; First Goth. What! canst thou say all this, Tell him, Revenge is come to join with bim, and never blush ?

And work confusion on his enemies. Aar. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.

They knock. Luc. Art thou not sorry for these heinous

Enter Titus, above. deeds! Aar. Ay, that I had not done a thousand more. Tit. Who doth molest my contemplation ? Even now I cnrse the day, and yet, I think, Is it your trick to make me ope the door, Few come within the compass of my curse, That so my sad decrees may fly away, Wherein I did not some notorious ill :

And all my study be to no effect? As kill a man, or else devise his death;

You are deceiv'd; for what I mean to do, Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it; See here, in bloody lines I have set down; Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself ; And what is written shall be executed. Set deadly enmity between two friends;

Tam. Titus, I am come to talk with thee. Make poor men's cattle break their necks;

Tit. No, not a word ; how can I grace my talk, Set fire on barns and bay-stacks in the night, Wanting a hand to give it action ? And bid the owners quench them with their Thou hast the odds of me; therefore no more. tears.

Tam. If thou didst know me, thou would'st Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their

talk with me. graves,

Tit. I am not mad; I know thee well enough : And set them upright at their dear friends' Witness this wretched stump, witness these doors,

crimson lines ; Even when their sorrows almost were forgot ; Witness these trenches made by grief and care ; And on their skins, as on the bark of trees, Witness the tiring day and heavy night ; Have with my knife carved in Roman letters, Witness all sorrow, that I know thee well • Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.' For our proud empress, mighty Tamora. Tut! I have done a thousand dreadful things Is not thy coming for my other hand ? As willingly as one would kill a fly,

Tam. Know, thou sad man, I am not Tamora; And nothing grieves me heartily indeed

She is thy enemy, and I thy friend : But that I cannot do ten thousand more. I am Revenge, sent from the infernal kingdom,

Luc. Bring down the devil, for he must not die To ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind, So sweet a death as hanging presently.

By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes.

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come me.

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with me.

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Come down and welcome me to this world's Chi. Show me a villain that hath done a rape, light;

And I am sent to be reveng'd on him. Confer with me of murder and of death.

Tam. Show me a thousand that have done There's not a hollow cave or lurking-place,

thee wrong, No vast obscurity or misty vale,

And I will be revenged on them all. Where bloody murder or detested rape

Tit. Look round about the wicked streets of Can couch for fear, but I will find them out;

Rome, And in their ears tell them my dreadful name, And when thou find'st a man that's like thyself, Revenge, which makes the foul offender quake. Good Murder, stab him ; he's a murderer.

a Tit. Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent Go thou with him; and when it is thy hap to me,

To find another that is like to thee, To be a torment to mine enemies?

Good Rapine, stab him ; he's a ravisher. Tam. I am; therefore come down, and wel. Go thou with them; and in the emperor's court

There is a queen attended by a Moor; Tit. Do me some service ere I come to thee. Well may'st thou know her by thine own proLo, by thy side where Rape and Murder stands; portion, Now give some surance that thou art Revenge: For up and down she doth resemble thee: Stab them, or tear them on thy chariot-wheels, I pray thee, do on them some violent death; And then I'll come and be thy waggoner, They have been violent to me and mine. And whirl along with thee about the globe. Tam. Well hast thou lesson'd us; this shall Provide two proper palfreys, black as jet, To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away, But would it please thee, good Andronicus, And find out murderers in their guilty caves : To send for Lucius, thy thrice-valiant son, And when thy car is loaden with their heads, Who leads towards Rome a band of war-like I will «lismount, and by the waggon-wheel

Goths, Trot like a servile footman all day long,

And bid him come and banquet at thy house : Even from Hyperion's rising in the east

When he is here, even at thy solemn feast, Until his very downfall in the sea :

I will bring in the empress and her sons, And day by day I'll do this heavy task,

The emperor himself, and all thy foes, So thou destroy Rapine and Murder there. And at thy mercy shall they stoop and kneel, l'am. These are my ministers, and come And on them shalt thou ease thy angry heart.

What says Andronicus to this device? T'it. Are these thy ministers ? what are they Tit. Marcus, my brother! 'tis sad Titus calls. call'd ?

Enter MARCUS. Tam. Rapine and Murder; therefore called so, 'Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men. Go, gentle Marcus, to thy nephew Lucius ; Tit. Good Lord, how like the empress' sons Thou shalt inquire him out among the Goths: they are,

Bid him repair to me, and bring with him And you the empress! but we worldly men Some of the chiefest princes of the Goths ; Have miserable, mad, mistaking eyes.

Bid him encamp his soldiers where they are : O sweet Revenge! now do I come to thee; Tell him, the emperor and the empress too And, if one arm's embracement will content thee, Feast at my house, and he shall feast with I will embrace thee in it by and by. Exit above. them.

Tam. This closing with him fits his lunacy. 70 This do thou for my love : and so let him, Whate'er I forge to feed his brain-sick fits, As he regards his aged father's life. Do you uphold and maintain in your speeches, Marc. This will I do, and soon return again. For now he firmly takes me for Revenge ;

Erit. And, being credulous in this mad thought, Tam. Now will I hence about thy business, I'll make him send for Lucius his son ;

And take my ministers along with me. And, whilst I at a banquet hold him sure,

T'it. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with I'll find some cunning practice out of hand To scatter and disperse the giddy Goths, Or else I'll call my brother back again, Or, at the least, make them his enemies. And cleave to no revenge but Lucius. See, here he comes, and I must ply my theme. 80 Tam. Aside to her sons. What say you, boys!

will you abide with him, Enter Titus.

Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor T'it. Long have I been forlorn, and all for thee : How I have govern'd our determin'd jest? Welcome, dread Fury, to my woeful house: Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair. Rapine and Murder, you are welcome too. And tarry with him till I turn again. How like the empress and her sons you are ! Tit. Aside. I know them all, though thes Well are you fitted had you but a Moor:

suppose me mad, Could not all hell afford you such a devil ? And will o'erreach them in their own devices; For well I wot the empress never wags

A pair of cursed hell-hounds and their dam. But in her company there is a Moor;

Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure; leave us here. And would you represent our queen aright, Tam. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes It were convenient you had such a devil. To lay a complot to betray thy foes. But welcome as you are. What shall we do? Tit. I know thou dost; and, sweet Revenge. Tam. What would'st thou have us do, An- farewell.

Erit TAMORA. dronicus ?

Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be emDem. Show me a murderer, I 'll deal with him. ploy'd ?

me;

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Pub. What is your will?

Tit. Know you these two?

Pub. The empress' sons

I take them, Chiron and Demetrius.

Tit. Fie, Publius, fie! thou art too much deceiv'd;

More stern and bloody than the Centaurs' feast.
So, now bring them in, for I'll play the cook,
And see them ready 'gainst their mother comes.
Exeunt, bearing the dead bodies.

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. 162
Exit.
PUBLIUS, etc., lay hold on CHIRON and
DEMETRIUS.
Chi. Villains, forbear! we are the empress'

SCENE III. The Same. Court of TITUS's House.
A banquet set out.

sons.

Pub. And therefore do we what we are commanded.

Stop close their mouths, let them not speak a word.

Is he sure bound? look that you bind them fast. Re-enter TITUS, with LAVINIA; she bearing a basin, 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 !
Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd
with mud,

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Enter LUCIUS, MARCUS, and Goths; with AARON,
prisoner.

Luc. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's
mind

That I repair to Rome, I am content.

First 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.

10

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. Trumpets sound. The trumpets show the emperor is at hand. Enter SATURNINUS and TAMORA, with ÆMILIUS, Senators, Tribunes, and Others.

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

Luc. What boots it thee to call thyself a sun?
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,

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

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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. 181
This one hand yet is left to cut your throats,
Whilst that Lavinia 'tween her stumps doth hold
The basin 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 Procne I will be reveng'd.
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

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For peace, for love, for league, and good to
Rome:

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places. Please you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your

Sat. Marcus, we will.

Hautboys sound.

young LUCIUS, and Others. TITUS places the Enter TITUS, dressed like a cook, LAVINIA, veiled, dishes on the table.

Tit. Welcome, my gracious lord; welcome, dread queen ;

Welcome, ye war-like Goths; welcome, Lucius ; And welcome, all. Although the cheer be poor, 'Twill fill your stomachs; please you eat of it. 29

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 beholding to you, good Andro

nicus.

Tit. An if your highness knew my heart, 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?

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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:

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