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 wouldst talk with me.

Tit. I am not mad; I know thee well enough: Witness this wretched stump, witness these crimson lines;

I will embrace thee in it by and by

[Exit 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;
[care; 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, below.

Witness these trenches made by grief and
Witness the tiring day, and heavy night:
Witness all sorrow, that I know thee weli
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 :

[dom,

Tit. Long have I been forlorn, and all for thee.

I am Revenge; sent from the infernal king-Welcome, dread Fury, to my woful house:
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
[quake.

name,

Revenge, which makes the foul offender
Tit. Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent
To be a torment to mine enemies? [to me,
Tam. I am; therefore come down, and
welcome me.

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 Re-
venge,-

Stab them, or tear them on thy chariot-wheels;
And then I'll come and be thy waggoner,
And whirl along with thee about the globe.
Provide thee two 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 me.
[they call'd?
Tit. Are they thy ministers ? what are
Tam. Rapine and Murder; therefore called

So,

'Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men.
Tit. Good lord, 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,

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, An-
dronicus?

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.

Tam. Show me a thousand that have done thee wrong,

And I will be revengèd on them all.

Tit. Look round about the wicked streets
of Rome;

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;
Well mayst thou know her by thy own pro-
portion,

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 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.

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
heard.

The trumpets show the emperor is at hand.
Enter Saturninus and Tamora, with Æmilius,
Tribunes, Senators, and others.
Sat. What, hath the firmament more suns
than one?
Luc. What boots it thee, to call thyself a
[sun?
Mar. 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, [Rome:
For peace, for love, for league, and good to
Please you, therefore, draw nigh, and take
Sat. Marcus, we will.
[your places.
[Hautboys sound. The company sit
down at table.
Enter Titus, dressed like a cook, Lavinia,
veiled, young Lucius, and others. Titus
places the dishes on the table.
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,

Act v.

Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only
daughter thus ?

They ravish'd her, and cut away her tongue :
Tit. Not I; 'twas Chiron and Demetrius :
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
Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
that pie;
'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp
Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
point.
[Kills Tamora.

Sat. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed!

[Kills Titus. [deed!

Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed?

The Marcus,

There's meed for meed, death for a deadly [Kills Saturninus. A great tumult. people in confusion disperse. Lucius, and their partisans, ascend the steps of Titus' house. Mar. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons [of Rome, Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl O, let me teach you how to knit again [gusts, These broken limbs again into one body; This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf, And she, whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to, Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself, 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, [To Lucius.] Speak, Rome's dear friend: as Cannot induce you to attend my words, erst our ancestor,

To entertain your highness, and your empress.
Tam. We are beholden to you, good An-
dronicus.
Tit. And if your highness knew my heart, To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear,
[you were. When with his solemn tongue he did discourse
My lord the emperor, resolve me this:
Was it well done of rash Virginius,
The story of that baleful burning night [Troy,
To slay his daughter with his own right hand, Tell us what Sinon hath bewitch'd our ears,
When subtle Greeks surpris'd king Priam's
Because she was enforced, stain'd, and de- Or who hath brought the fatal engine in,
Sat. It was, Andronicus.
That gives our Troy, our Rome, the civil

[flower'd?

Tit. Your reason, mighty lord!
Sat. Because the girl should not survive
her shame,

And by her presence still renew his sorrows.
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;
And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die!
[Kills Lavinia.
Sat. What hast thou done, unnatural and
unkind?
Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have
[made me blind.
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?

wound.

My heart is not compact of flint, nor steel;
Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,
And break my very utterance, even i' the time
But floods of tears will drown my oratory,
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,
Were they that murdered our emperor's bro-
That cursed Chiron and Demetrius [ther.
For their fell faults our brothers were be-
And they it were that ravished our sister:

headed;

Our father's tears despis'd, and basely cozen'd
And sent her enemies unto the grave.
Of that true hand that fought Rome's quarrel
Lastly, myself unkindly banished,

[out.

[Kisses Titus.

The gates shut on me, and turn'd weeping out, O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips,
To beg relief among Rome's enemies ;
Who drown'd their enmity in my true tears, These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd
And op'd their arms to embrace me as a The last true duties of thy noble son! [face,
friend :
[you, Mar. Tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss,
And I am the turn'd-forth, be it known to Thy brother Marcus tenders on thy lips :
That have preserv'd her welfare in my blood;O, were the sum of these that I should pay
And from her bosom took the enemy's point, Countless and infinite, yet would I pay them.
Sheathing the steel in my adventurous body. Luc. Come hither, boy; come, come, and
Alas, you know I am no vaunter, I;
My scars can witness, dumb although they are,To melt in showers: thy grandsire lov'd thee
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.

Mar. Now is my turn to speak. Behold this
child,-

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

Of this was Tamora deliverèd ;
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,
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.
Romans. Lucius, all hail! Rome's royal
emperor !

Mar. To Attendants.] Go, go into old
Titus' sorrowful house,

And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering
death,

learn of us

[well:

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: [woe:
Friends should associate friends in grief and
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!
O Lord, I cannot speak to him for weeping;
My tears will choke me, if I ope my mouth.
Re-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
If any one relieves or pities him, [food:
For the offence he dies. This is our doom:
Some stay to see him fasten'd in the earth.

Aar. Ó, 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 em-
peror hence,

And give him burial in his father's grave: My father, and Lavinia, shall forthwith Be closed in our household's monument. As punishment for his most wicked life. As for that heinous tiger, Tamora, [Exit Attendants. No funeral rite, nor man in mournful weeds, Lucius, Marcus, &c., descend. No mournful bell shall ring her burial; Romans. Lucius, all hail! Rome's gracious But throw her forth to beasts and birds of governor ! [so, prey: 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.

Her life was beast-like, and devoid of pity;
And, being so, shall have like want of pity.
See justice done on 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.

Graces her subjects, and her thoughts the king
Of every virtue gives renown to men !

Bad child; worse father! to entice his own Her face the book of praises, where is read