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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-

ter.

I pry'd me through the crevice of a wall,
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 I 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 bay-stacks 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 carved 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.

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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
Wanting a hand to give it action?
[talk,
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 Ta-
She is thy enemy, and I thy friend: [mora ;
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
To be a torment to mine enemies?
[me,
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 stand;
Now give some 'surance that thou art Revenge :

Aar. If there be devils, 'would I were a devil, Stab them, or tear them on thy chariot wheels;

To live and burn in everlasting fire;
So I might have your company in hell,
But to torment you with my bitter tongue!
Luc. Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak

no more.

Enter a GOTH.

And then I'll come, and be thy waggoner,
And whirl along with thee about the globes.
Provide thee proper palfries, 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

Goth. My lord, there is a messenger from Trot, like a servile footman, all day long!

Rome,

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

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E'en 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

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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 :
What'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 sou;
And, whilst I at a banquet hold him sure,
I'll find some cunning practice out of hand,

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To scatter and disperse the giddy Goths,
Or, at the least, make them his enemies.
See, here he comes, and I must ply iny 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 ?—
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, 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 hath done And I will be revenged on them all. [thee wrong, 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 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.
Tum. 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.
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.

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

Tam. What say you, boys? will you abide Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor, [with him, How I have govern'd our determin'd jest ? Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair, [Aside.

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, farewell.

Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be em ploy'd.

Tit. Tut, I have work enough for you to do.-Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine! Enter PUBLIUS, and others.

Pub. What's your will?
Tit. Know you these two?
Pub. Th' empress' sons,

I take them, Chiron and Demetrius.

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

manded.

[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[word: Stop close their mouths, let them not speak a Is he sure bound? look that you bind them fast. Re-enter TITUS ANDRONICUS, 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;

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 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.
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 Progne 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 this 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 Centaur's 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.-The same.-A Pavilion, with
Tables, &c.

Enter LUCIUS, MARCUS, and GоTHS, with
AARON, prisoner.
Luc. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's mind
That I repair to Rome, I am content.

• Crust of a raised pye.

1 Goth. And our's, 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.

Sat. What, bath 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.

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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' house.

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 her-
self:

And she, whom mighty kingdoms curt'sy to,
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,
Cannot induce you to attend my words,-
Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To LUCIUS.] as erst
our ancestor,

Sat. Marcus, we will.
[Hautboys sound. The Company sit down To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear,

When with his solemn tongue he did discourse

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,
To entertain your highness and your empress.
Tam. We are beholden to you, good An-
dronicus.

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, she was enforc'd, stain'd, and flower'd ?

Because

Sat. It was, Andronicus.
Tit. Your reason, mighty lord!

de

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 i
Sat. What hast thou done, unnatural, and
unkind?

Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made
I am as woful as Virginius was: [me blind.

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?

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.

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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

wound.

My heart is not compact of flint nor steel;
Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,

civil

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;
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 band, that fought Rome's quarrel
out,

And sent her enemies unto the grave.
Lastly, myself uukindly 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: 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 delivered;
The issue of an irreligious Moor,
Chief architect aud plotter of these woes;

• Read he.

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 maù 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)

We'll 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.

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.

Enter Attendants, with AARON.

1 Rom. You sad Audronici, have done with woes;

Give sentence on this execrable wretch,

Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; That hath been breeder of these dire events.
Rome's royal emperor !

LUCIUS, &c. descend.
Mar. 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

50,

To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe!
Brt, 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!

Mar. Tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss,
Thy brother Marcus tenders on thy lips:
Oh! 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 of us

To melt in showers: Thy grandsire lov'd thee
well:

Luc. Set him breast-deep in earth, and fa-
mish him;

There let him stand, and rave and cry for food;
If any one relieves or pities him,
For the offence he dies. This is our doom:
Some stay, to see him fasten'd in the earth.
Aur. Oh 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 that 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 empero
hence,

And give him burial in bis 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,

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