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Knowing that with the shadow of his wing

He can at pleasure stint their melody.
Even so may'st thou the giddy men of Rome!
Then cheer thy spirit: for know, thou emperor,
I will enchant the old Andronicus,

With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous
Than baits to fish, or honey-stalks to sheep;
When as the one is wounded with the bait,
The other rotted with delicious feed.

Sat. But he will not entreat his son for us.
Tam. If Tamora entreat him, then he will;
For I can smooth and fill his aged ear
With golden promises, that, were his heart
Almost impregnable, his old ears deaf,
Yet should both ear and heart obey my tongue.
Go thou before to be our embassador;

[To Æmilius.

Say that the emperor requests a parley
Of warlike Lucius, and appoint the meeting,
Even at his father's house, the old Andronicus.
Sat. Æmilius, do this message honourably:
And if he stand on hostage for his safety,
Bid him demand what pledge will please him best.
Emil. Your bidding shall I do effectually.
[Exit Amilius.
Tam. Now will I to that old Andronicus;
And temper him, with all the art I have,
To pluck proud Lucius from the warlike Goths.
And now, sweet emperor, be blithe again,
And bury all thy fear in my devices.
Sat. Then go successantly, and plead to him.

ACT V.

SCENE I.-Plains near Rome.

[Exeunt.

[blocks in formation]

Luc. Approved warriors, and my faithful friends,
I have received letters from great Rome,
Which signify what hate they bear their emperor,
And how desirous of our sight they are.
Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness,
Imperious and impatient of your wrongs;
And wherein Rome hath done you any scathe,
Let him make treble satisfaction.

[nicus,
Goth. Brave slip, sprung from the great Andro-
Whose name was once our terror, now our comfort;
Whose high exploits, and honourable deeds,
Ingrateful Rome requites with foul contempt,
Be bold in us; we 'll follow where thou lead'st,
Like stinging bees in hottest summer's day,
Led by their master to the flower'd fields,
And be aveng'd on cursed Tamora:
And, as he saith, so say we all with him.
Luc. I humbly thank him, and I thank you all.
But who comes here, led by a lusty Goth?

Enter a Goth, leading Aaron with his child in his arms.

Why dost not speak? what, deaf? not a word?
A halter, soldiers; hang him on this tree,
And by his side his fruit of bastardy.

Aaron. Touch not the boy, he is of royal blood.
Luc. Too like the sire for ever being good.
First hang the child that he may see it sprawl,
A sight to vex the father's soul withal.

Aaron. Get me a ladder! Lucius, save the child,
And bear it from me to the empress :

If thou do this, I'll show thee wond'rous things,
That highly may advantage thee to hear;
If thou wilt not, befall what may befall,

I'll speak no more, but vengeance rot you all.
Luc. Say on, and if it please me which thou
speak'st,

Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish’d. Aaron. An if it please thee? why, assure thee,

Lucius,

'T will vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak;
For I must talk of murthers, rapes, and massacres,
Acts of black night, abominable deeds,
Complots of mischief, treason, villainies
Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd;
And this shall all be buried by my death,
Unless thou swear to me my child shall live.
Luc. Tell on thy mind; I say thy child shall live.
Aaron. Swear that he shall, and then I will begin,
Luc. Who should I swear by? thou believ'st no
God;

That granted, how canst thou believe an oath?
Aaron. What if I do not, as indeed I do not:
Yet, for I know thou art religious,

And hast a thing within thee called conscience,
With twenty popish tricks and ceremonies,
Which I have seen thee careful to observe,
Therefore I urge thy oath; for that I know
An idiot holds this bauble for a God,
And keeps the oath which by that God he swears;
To that I'll urge him: therefore thou shalt vow
By that same God, what God soe'er it be,
That thou ador'st, and hast in reverence,
To save my boy, to nourish, and bring him up;
Or else I will discover nought to thee.

Luc. Even by my God I swear to thee I will.
Aaron. First know thou, I begot him on the em-
Luc. Oh most insatiate, luxurious woman! [press.
Aaron. Tut, Lucius, this was but a deed of charity,
To that which thou shalt hear of me anon.
'T was her two sons that murther'd Bassianus;
They cut thy sister's tongue, and ravish'd her,
And cut her hands off, and trimm'd her as thou
[ming?
Luc. Oh, detestable villain! call'st thou that trim-
Aaron. Why she was wash'd, and cut, and trimm'd,
And 't was trim sport for them that had the doing
of it.

sawest.

Luc. Oh, barbarous, beastly villains, like thyself!
Aaron. Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct them:
That codding spirit had they from their mother,

Goth. Renowned Lucius, from our troops I stray'd, As sure a card as ever won the set:

To gaze upon a ruinous monastery,
And as I earnestly did fix mine eye
Upon the wasted building, suddenly
I heard a child cry underneath a wall:

I made unto the noise, when soon I heard
The crying babe controll'd with this discourse:
'Peace, tawny slave, half me, and half thy dam!
Did not thy hue bewray whose brat thou art,
Had nature lent thee but thy mother's look,
Villain, thou might'st have been an emperor.
But where the bull and cow are both milk-white,
They never do beget a coal-black calf:

[babe,

Peace, villain, peace!'-even thus he rates the
'For I must bear thee to a trusty Goth,
Who, when he knows thou art the empress' babe,
Will hold thee dearly for thy mother's sake.'
With this, my weapon drawn, I rush'd upon him,
Surpris'd him suddenly, and brought him hither
To use as you think needful of the man.

Luc. Oh worthy Goth, this is the incarnate devil
That robb'd Andronicus of his good hand:
This is the pearl that pleas'd your empress' eye;
And here's the base fruit of his burning lust.
Say, wall-eyed slave, whither would'st thou convey
This growing image of thy fiendlike face?

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 laughter.
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?
Aaron. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.
Luc. Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?
Aaron. 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 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 iny 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.
Aaron. 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! [more.
Luc. Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no
Enter a Goth.

Goth. My lord, there is a messenger from Rome
Desires to be admitted to your presence.
Luc. Let him come near.

Enter Æmilius.

Welcome, Æmilius: What's the news from Rome?
Amil. Lord Lucius, and your 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,
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.

Flourish. Exeunt.

SCENE II.-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.

No vast obscurity or misty vale,
Where bloody Murther, 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 offenders quake.
Tit. Ärt 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. [me.
Lo, by thy side where Rape, and Murther, 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 waggoner,
And whirl along with thee about the globes.
Provide thee two proper palfreys, as black as jet,
To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away,
And find our murtherers 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 Murther there.
Tam. These are my ministers, and come with me.
Tit. Are they thy ministers? what are they call'd?
Tam. Rape and Murther; therefore called so,
'Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men.
Tit. Good lord, how like the empress' sons they
And you the empress! but worldly men
Have miserable, mad, mistaking eyes.
Oh, 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.

[are,

[Titus closes the door.
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.
Enter Titus.

Tit. Long have I been forlorn, and all for thee.
Welcome, dread fury, to my woful house;
Rapine, and Murther, you are welcome too.
How like the empress and her sons you are!
Well you are fitted, had you but a Moor!
Could not all hell afford you such a devil?
For well I wot the empress never wags

[They knock, and Titus opens his Study door. But in her company there is a Moor;

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, witness 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 murther and of death.
There's not a hollow cave or lurking-place,

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, Andronicus?
Demet. Show me a murtherer: 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
And I will be revenged on them all.
[wrong,
Tit. Look round about the wicked streets of Rome,
And when thou find'st a man that 's like thyself,
Good Murther, stab him; he's a murtherer.
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 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 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?

Enter Marcus.

Tit. Marcus, my brother, 't is sad Titus calls.
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.

This is the feast that I have bid her to,
And this the banquet she shall surfeit on:
For worse than Philomel you used my daughter;
And worse than Progné I will be reveng'd.
And now prepare your throats: Lavinia, come,
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 vild 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.
[He cuts their throats.
So; now bring them in, for I'll play the cook,

Marc. This will I do, and soon return again. [Exit. And see them ready against their mother comes.

Tam. Now will I hence about my business, And take my ministers along with me.

[me.

Tit. Nay, nay; let Rape and Murther stay with
Or else I'll call my brother back again,
And cleave to no revenge but Lucius.
Tam. What say you, boys? will you bide 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 turn again. [Aside.
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.
Demet. Madam, depart at pleasure: leave us here.
Tam. Farewell, Andronicus; Revenge now goes
To lay a complot to betray thy foes. [Exit Tam.
Tit. I know thou dost; and, sweet Revenge, fare-

well.

Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd?
Tit. Tut! I have work enough for you to do.
Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine.
Enter Publius and others.

Pub. What is your will?
Tit.

Know you these two?

Pub. The empress' sons, I take them, Chiron,
Demetrius.

Tit. Fie, Publius, fie; thou art too much deceiv'd:
The one is Murther, 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 commanded. Stop close their mouths; let them not speak a word; Is he sure bound? look that you bind them fast. Enter Titus Andronicus with a knife, and Lavinia with a basin.

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.
Oh, villains, Chiron and Demetrius!
[mud;
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 vild 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
Than hands or tongue, her spotless chastity, [dear
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 inake two pasties of your shameful heads,
And bid that strumpet, your unhallow'd dain,
Like to the earth, swallow her own increase.

[Exeunt.
SCENE III.-Titus's House. A Pavilion.
Enter Lucius, Marcus, and the Goths, with Aaron.
Luc. Uncle Marcus, since 't is my father's mind
Goth. And ours, with thine; befall what fortune
That I repair to Rome, I am content.
[will.
Luc. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous Moor,
This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil;
Let him receive no sustenance, fetter him,
For testimony of her foul proceedings:
Till he be brought unto the empress' face,
fear the emperor means no good to us.
And see the ambush of our friends be strong
Aaron. 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!
The trumpets show the emperor is at hand.
Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.

I

[Flourish.

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queen;

Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius;
T will fill your stomachs; please you eat of it.
And welcome, all; although the cheer be poor,
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 Andronicus.
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,
And with thy shame thy father's sorrow die.

[He kills her.
Sat. What hast thou done, unnatural and unkind?
Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made me
I am as woful as Virginius was,
[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?

Tit. Not I; 't was Chiron and Demetrius.
hey ravish'd her, and cut away her tongue,
And they, 't was they, that did her all this wrong.
St. Go fetch them hither to us presently.
7. Why, there they are both, baked in that pie,
Whyreof their mother daintily hath fed,
Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
'T is tue, 't is true, witness my knife's sharp point.
[He stabs Tamora.
Sat. De, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed!
[He kills Titus.
Luc. Can.the son's eye behold his father bleed?
There's meed for meed; death for a deadly deed.
[Hetills Saturninus. The people disperse

in terror.

Marc. Yousal-fac'd men,people and sons of Rome,
By uproars sever'd, like a flight of fowl
Scatter'd by wirds and high tempestuous gusts,
Oh, let me teach you how to knit again
This scatter'd cori into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limb, again into one body;
Lest Rome herself de bane unto herself;
And she whom might kingdoms curtsy to,
Like a forlorn and desperate castaway,
Do shameful execution on herself.
But if my frosty signs aid chaps of age,
Grave witnesses of true experience,
Cannot induce you to attend my words, [ancestor,
Speak, Rome's dear friend, [To Lucius] as erst our
When with his solemn torgue he did discourse
To love-sick Dido's sad atending ear,
The story of that baleful burning night,
When subtle Greeks surpri'd king Priam's Troy.
Tell us what Sinon hath bevitch'd our ears,
Or who hath brought the fatal engine in
That gives our Troy, our Ramne, the civil wound.
My heart is not compact of fint nor steel,
Nor can I utter all our bitter grief;
But floods of tears will drowniny oratory,
And break my very utterance, even in 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 murthered our emperor's brother,
And they it was 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 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 amongst 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. Oh, pardon me,
For, when no friends are by, men praise themselves.
Marc. Now is my turn to speak: behold this child;
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. [mans?
Now you have heard the truth, what say you, Ro-
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.
Amil. 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.
Marc. Lucius, all hail, Rome's royal emperor !
Go, go, into old Titus' sorrowful house,
And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering death,
As punishment for his most wicked life.
[To Attendants.
Lucius, all hail to 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.
Oh, 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.
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
To melt in showers. Thy grandsire lov'd thee 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:
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.
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.

[us

Roman. 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 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.
Aaron. Ah! why should wrath be mute, and fury
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.

[dumb?

Luc. Some loving friends convey the emperor
hence,

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 fun'ral 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 beastly 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.

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ACT I.

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-eves, and holy-ales;
And lords and ladies, in their lives,
Have read it for restoratives.

The purchase is to make men glorious;
Et bonum, quo antiquins, eo 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 Antioch then, Antiochus the Great
Built up, this city, for his chiefest seat;
The fairest in all Syria;

(I tell you what mine authors say :)
The king unto him took a pheere,
Who died and left a female heir,
So buxom, blythe, and full of face,
As Heaven had lent her all his grace:
With whom the father liking took,
And her to incest did provoke ;

Bad child, worse 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 bedfellow,
In marriage-pleasures playfellow :
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 ensues, to the judgment of your eye
I give, my cause who best can justify.

[Exit.

SCENE I.-The Palace of Antioch. Enter Antiochus, Pericles, and Attendants. Ant. Young prince of Tyre, you have at large reThe danger of the task you undertake. [ceiv'd Per. I have, Antiochus, and with a soul Embolden'd with the glory of her praise, Think death no hazard, in this enterprise. [Music. Ant. Bring in our daughter, clothed like a bride, For the embracements, even of Jove himself; At whose conception (till Lucina reign'd) Nature this dowry gave, to glad her presence; The senate-house of planets all did sit, To knit in her their best perfections.

Enter the Daughter of Antiochus.

Per. See where she comes, apparel'd like the spring,

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

Her face the book of praises, where is read
Nothing but curious pleasures, as from thence
Sorrow were ever 'ras'd, and testy wrath
Could never be her mild companion.

Ye gods that made me man, and sway in love,
That hae inflam'd desire in my breast
To taste ne fruit of you celestial tree,
Or die in the adventure, be my helps,
As I am son and servant to your will,
To compass such a boundless happiness!
Ant. Prince Pericles

Per. That would be son to great Antiochus.
Ant. Before thee stands this fair Hesperides,
With golden fruit, but dangerous to be touch'd;
For death-like dragons here affright thee hard:
Her face, like heav'r, enticeth thee to view
Her countless glory which desert must gain:
And which, without desert, because thine eye
Presumes to reach, all thy whole heap must die.
Yon sometime famous princes, like thyself,
[pale,
Drawn by report, adventurous by desire,
Tell thee with speechless tongues, and semblance
That, without covering save yon field of stars,
Here they stand martyrs, slain in Cupid's wars;
And with dead cheeks advise thee to desist
For going on Death's net, whom none resist.
Per. Antiochus, I thank thee, who hast taught
My frail mortality to know itself,

And by those fearful objects to prepare
This body, like to them, to what I must:

For death remember'd should be like a mirror,
Who tells us, life 's but breath, to trust it error.
I'll make my will then; and, as sick men do
Who know the world, see heav'n, but feeling woe,
Gripe not at earthly joys, as erst they did;
So I bequeath a happy peace to you
And all good men, as every prince should do ;
My riches to the earth from whence they came;
But my unspotted fire of love to you.

[To the Daughter of Antiochus. Thus ready for the way of life or death, I wait the sharpest blow.

Ant. Scorning advice; read the conclusion then; Which read and not expounded, 't is decreed, As these before, so thou thyself shalt bleed. Daugh. Of all 'say'd yet, may'st thou prove pros. Of all 'say'd yet, I wish thee happiness! [perous! Per. Like a bold champion I assume the lists, Nor ask advice of any other thought, But faithfulness, and courage.

THE RIDdle.

'I am no viper, yet I feed

On mother's flesh which did me breed:

I sought a husband, in which labour,

I found that kindness in a father. He's father, son, and husband mild, I mother, wife, and yet his child. How they may be, and yet in two, As you will live, resolve it you.' Sharp physic is the last: but O, ye powers!

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