And of the paste a coffin I will rear,

And make two pafties of your fhameful heads;
And bid that ftrumpet, your unhallow'd dam,
Like to the earth, fwallow her own increase.
This is the feaft that I have bid her to,

And this the banquet fhe fhall furfeit 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 that paste let their vile heads be bak'd.
Come, come, be every one officious

To make this banquet; which I wish may prove
More ftern and bloody than the Centaurs' 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 fame. A Pavilion, with tables, &c. Enter LUCIUS, MARCUS, and GOTHS, with AARON,

prifoner.

Luc. Uncle Marcus, fince 'tis my

father's mind,

That I repair to Rome, I am content.

I GOTH. And ours with thine, befall what fortune will. Luc. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous Moor, This ravenous tiger, this accurfed devil; Let him receive no fuftenance, fetter him, Till he be brought unto the empress' face, For teftimony of her foul proceedings: And fee the ambush of our friends be ftrong:

I fear, the emperor means no good to us.

AAR. Some devil whifper curfes in mine ear, And prompt me, that my tongue may utter forth The venomous malice of my fwelling heart!

Luc. Away, inhuman dog! unhallow'd slave !— Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.—

[Exeunt GOTHS, with AARON. Flourish. The trumpets fhow, the emperor is at hand.

Enter SATURNINUS, and TAMORA, with Tribunes,
SENATORS, and Others.

SAT. What, hath the firmament more funs than one?
Luc. What boots it thee, to call thyself a fun?
MAR. Rome's emperor, and nephew, break the parle;
These quarrels must be quietly debated.

The feaft is ready, which the careful Titus

Hath órdain'd to an honourable end,

For peace, for love, for league, and good to Rome : Pleafe you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your places. SAT. Marcus, we will.

[Hautboys found. The company fit down at table. Enter TITUS, drefs'd like a cook, LAVINIA, veiled, young Lucius, and Others. TITUS places the dishes on the table. TIT. Welcome, my gracious lord; welcome, dread Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius; [queen; And welcome, all: although the cheer be poor, 'Twill fill your ftomachs; please you eat of it.

SAT. Why art thou thus attir'd, Andronicus? TIT. Because I would be fure to have all well, To entertain your highness, and your emprefs. TAM. We are beholden to you, good Andronicus. TIT. An if your highness knew my heart, you were. My lord the emperor, refolve me this ;

Was it well done of rafh Virginius,

To flay his daughter with his own right hand,
Because she was enforc'd, ftain'd, and deflour'd?

SAT. It was, Andronicus.

TIT. Your reafon, mighty lord!

SAT. Because the girl fhould not furvive her fhame, And by her prefence ftill renew his forrows. TIT. A reafon mighty, ftrong, and effectual; A pattern, precedent, and lively warrant, For me, moft wretched, to perform the like:Die, die, Lavinia, and thy fhame with thee;

[He kills LAVINIA.

And, with thy fhame, thy father's forrow die!

SAT. What haft thou done, unnatural, and unkind? Tır. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made me

I am as woful as Virginius was:

And have a thoufand times more cause than he

To do this outrage ;-and it is now done.

[blind.

SAT. What, was fhe ravifh'd? tell, who did the deed. TIT. Will't please you eat? will't please your highness

feed?

TAM. Why haft thou flain 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.
SAT. Go, fetch them hither to us prefently.

TIT. Why, there they are both, baked in that pie ; Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,

Eating the flesh that fhe herself hath bred.

'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's fharp point.

[Killing TAMORĂ.

SAT. Die, frantick wretch, for this accurfed deed.

[Killing TITUS.

Luc. Can the fon's eye behold his father bleed? There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.

[Kills SATURNINUS. A great tumult. The people in confufion difperfe. MARCUS, LUCIUS, and their partifans afcend the steps before Titus's bouse.

MAR. You fad-fac'd men, people and fons of Rome, By uproar fever'd, like a flight of fowl Scatter'd by winds and high tempeftuous gufts, 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. Left Rome herself be bane unto herself; And she, whom mighty kingdoms court'fy to, Like a forlorn and defperate caft-away,

Do fhameful execution on herself.

But if my frofty figns and chaps of age,

Grave witneffes of true experience,

Cannot induce you to attend my words,

[ceftor,

Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To LUCIUS.] as erft our anWhen with his folemn tongue he did discourse,

To love-fick Dido's fad attending ear,

The story of that baleful burning night,

When fubtle Greeks furpriz'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 civil wound.-
My heart is not compact of flint, nor fteel;

Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,

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 commiferation :

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 curfed Chiron and Demetrius

Were they that murdered our emperor's brother;
And they it were that ravished our fifter:

For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded;
Our father's tears despis'd; and bafely cozen'd
Of that true hand, that fought Rome's quarrel out,
And fent her enemies unto the grave.

Laftly, myself unkindly banished,

The gates fhut 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 bofom took the enemy's point,
Sheathing the steel in my advent'rous body.
Alas! you know, I am no vaunter, I;

My fcars can witness, dumb although they are,
That my report is juft, and full of truth.
But, foft, methinks, I do digress too much,
Citing my worthlefs praife: O, pardon me;

For when no friends are by, men praise themselves.
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 iffue 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, unfpeakable, paft patience,

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