Luc. O most insatiate, luxurious woman! 2 Goth. Renowned Lucius, from our troops I Aar. Tut, Lucius! this was but a deed of

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.

That codding spirit had they from their mother, |To join with him, and right his henions wrongs
As sure a card as ever won the set:
That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me,
As true a dog as ever fought at head.-
Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth.
I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hole,
Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay:"
I wrote the letter that thy father found,
And hid the gold within the letter mention'd,
Confederate with the queen, and her two sons;
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;
And, when I had it, drew myself apart,
And almost broke my heart with extreme laugh-
I pry'd me through the crevice of a wall, [ter.
When, for his hand, he had his two sons' heads;
Beheld his tears, and laugh'd so heartily,
That both mine eyes were rainy like to his ;
And when I told the empress of this sport,
She swounded almost at my pleasing tale,
And, for my tidings, gave me twenty kisses.
Goth. What! canst thou say all this, and never

blush?

Aar. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.
Luc. Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?
Aar. Ay, that 1 had not done a thousand more,
Even now I curse the day (and yet, I think,
Few come within the compass of my curse,)
Wherein I did not some notorious ill;
As kill a man, or else devise his death;
Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it;
Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself;
Set deadly enmity between two friends;
Make poor men's cattle break their necks;
Set fire on barns and haystacks in the night,
And bid the owners quench them with their tears.
Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,
And set them upright at their dear friends' doors,
Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;
And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,
Have with my knife carv'd, in Roman letters,
Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.
Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things,
As willingly as one would kill a fly :
And nothing grieves me heartily indeed,
But that I cannot do ten thousand more.
Luc. Bring down the devil; for he must not die
So sweet a death, as hanging presently.

Aar. If there be devils, 'would I were a devil,
To live and burn in everlasting fire;
So I might have your company in hell,
But to torment you with my bitter tongue!

Enter Titus, above.
Tit. Who doth molest my contemplation 7
That so my sad decrees may fly away,
Is it your trick, to make me ope the door;
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 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 would'st

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 wel

come me.

Tit. Do me some service, ere I come to thee.
Lo, by thy side where Rape, and Murder, stands;
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 wagoner,
And whirl along with thee about the globes.

Luc. Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no Provide thee proper palfreys, black as jet,

more.

Enter a Goth.

To hale thy vengeful wagon swift away,
And find out murderers in their guilty caves:
And, when thy car is loaden with their heads,

Goth. My lord, there is a messenger from 1 will dismount, and by the wagon wheel

Rome,

Desires to be admitted to your presence.
Luc. Let him come near.-

Trot, like a servile footman, all day long;
Even from Hyperion's rising in the east,
Until his very downfal 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.

And, being oredulous 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.
Enter Titus.

Tit. Long have I been forlorn, and all for thee:
Welcome, dread fury, to my woful 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 3-
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 would'st thou have us do, Andro-I
nicus?

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 revenged 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 may'st thou know her by thy own propor-
tion,

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 case 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;
Thon 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.

Mar. This will I do, and soon return again.

[Exit.

Tam. Now will I hence about thy business,
And take my ministers along with me.
Tit. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with

me;

Or else I'll call my brother back again,
And cleave to no revenge but Lucius.

Tit. I know them all, though they suppose me
mad;

And will o'erreach 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. [Eril
Tit. I know, thou dest; and, sweet Revenge,
farewell.

Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd?

Tut. Tut, I have work enough for you to doPublius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine! Enter Publius, and Others.

Know you these two 7

Pub. What's your will 7
Tit.
Pub.
Th' empress' sons,
take them, Chiron and Demetrius.
Tit. Fie, Publius, fie! 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 !

Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd
with mud ;-

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 fore'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.
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,
And this the banquet she shall surfeit on;
For worse than Philomel you us'd my daughter,
And worse than Progne I will be reveng'd:
And now prepare your throats -Lavinia, corns,
[He cuts their throats

Tam. What say you, boys? will you abide Receive the blood: and, when that they are dead,

with him,

Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor,
How I have govern'd our determin'd jest?
Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair,

And tarry with him, till I come again.

[Aside.

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 prow
More stern and bloody than the Centaur's feast

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.

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,

For peace, for love, for league, and good to Rome:
Please you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your
places.

Sat. Marens, we will.

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, frantick wretch, for this accursed
deed.
[Killing Titus.
Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed 7
There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.
[Kills Saturninus. A great Tumult
People in confusion disperse. Marcus,
Lucius, and their Partisans, ascend the
Steps before Titus's House.

The

Mar. You sad-fac'd 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
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 castaway,
Do shameful execution on herself.
But if my frosty signs, and chaps of age,
Grave witnesses of true experience,
Cannot induce you to attend my words,-
Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To Lucius.] as
erst our ancestor,

When with his solemn tongue he did discourse
To lovesick Dido's sad attending ear,

[Hautboys sound. The Company sit The story of that baleful burning night,
down at Table.
When subtle Greeks surpris'd King Priam's
Troy ;

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;

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,

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,Lending your kind commiseration:
To entertain your highness and your empress.
Tum. We are beholden to you, good Andro-
nicus.

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,

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 deflour'd?
Sat. It was, Andronicus.

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;
[He kills Lavinia.
And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die!
Sat. What hast thou done, unnatural and un-
kind?

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;
And they it were that ravished our sister:
For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded;
Our father's tears despis'd; and basely cozen'd
Of that true hand, that fought Rome's quarrel

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, And have a thousand times more cause than he Citing my worthless praise: O, pardon me;

Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made me blind.

I am as woful as Virginius was: