Enter TITUS below.

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 cmpress 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,
Andronicus ?

90

Dem. Show me a murderer, I'll deal with him.

Chi. Show me a villain that hath done a rape,

And Tam.

am sent to be revenged on him.

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. 100
Go thou with him; and when it is thy hap
To find another that is like to thee,
Good Rapine, stab him; he's 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 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.

110

Marc. 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. Tam. [Aside to her sons] What say you, boys? will you bide with him, Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor How I have govern'd our determined jest? Yield to his humor, smooth and speak him fair, 140

And tarry with him till I turn again.

suppose me mad,

Tit. [Aside] I know them all, though they And will o'erreach them in their own devices: A pair of cursed hell-hounds and their dam ! Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure; leave us here.

Tam. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes

To lay a complot to betray thy foes.

Tit. I know thou dost; and, sweet Revenge, farewell. [Exit Tamora. Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd?

149

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 and Demetrius.

Tit. Fie, Publius, fie! thou art too much deceived;

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,
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And now I find it; therefore bind them sure,
And stop their mouths, if they begin to cry.

Chi.

[Exit.

[Publius, &c. lay hold on Chiron and Demetrius. 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.

Re-enter TITUS, with LAVINIA; he bearing a knife, and she a basin.

Tit. Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are bound.

Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me;

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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 forced. What would you say, if I should let you speak? 179 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 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,

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[Exeunt, bearing the dead bodies. SCENE III. Court of Titus's house. A banquet set out.

Enter LUCIUS, MARCUS, and Goths, with
AARON prisoner.

Luc. Uncle Marcus, since it is my father's mind

That I repair to Rome, I am content.

First Goth. And ours with thine, befall what fortune will.

Luc. Good uncle, take you in this bar. barous Moor,

This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil;
Let him receive no sustenance, fetter him,
Til he be brought unto the empress' face,
For testimony of her foul proceedings:

nd see the ambush of our friends be strong;

10

I fear the emperor means no good to us. Aar. Some devil whisper curses in mine ear, [forth And prompt me, that my tongue may utter 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 within. 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?

Marc. Rome's emperor, and nephew, break the parley;

These quarrels must be quietly debated.
The feast is ready, which the careful Titus
Hath ordain'd to an honorable end,

20

For peace, for love, for league, and good to Rome :

Please you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your places.

Sat. Marcus, we will.

[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 attired, Andronicus? 30

Tit. Because I would be sure to have all well,

To entertain your highness and your empress. Tam. We are beholding to you, good An

dronicus.

Sat. What hast thou done, unnatural and unkind?

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

50

I am as woful as Virginius was, And have a thousand times more cause than he

To do this outrage and it now is 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.

Sat. Go fetch them hither to us presently. Tit. Why, there they are both, baked in that pie;

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Whereof their mother daintily hath fed, Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred. 'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point. [Kills Tamora.

Sat. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed! Kills Titus. Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed ?

There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed!

[Kills Saturninus. A great tumult. Lucius, Marcus, and others go up into the balcony.

Marc. You sad-faced men, people and sons

of Rome,

By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous

gusts,

70

O, let me teach you how to knit again
This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limbs again into one body;
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,
[To Lucius] Speak, Rome's dear friend, as
erst our ancestor,

80
When with his solemn tongue he did discourse
To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear
The story of that baleful burning night
When subtle Greeks surprised 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
wo:ind.

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

But floods of tears will drown my oratory, 90
And break my 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 murdered our emperor's brother;

And they it were that ravished our sister : For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded; 100

Our father's tears despised, 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 among Rome's enemies:
Who drown'd their enmity in my true tears,
And oped their arms to embrace me as a
friend.

I am the turned forth, be it known to you,
That have preserved her welfare in my blood;
And from her bosom took the enemy's point,
Sheathing the steel in my adventurous 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.

Marc. 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 and plotter of these woes :
The villain alive in Titus' house,

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150

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.
O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips,
[Kissing 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 :
O, 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

160

To melt in showers: thy grandsire loved thee well :

Many a time he danced 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:

169

Bid him farewell; commit him to the grave;

Do him that kindness, and take leave of him. Young Luc. 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.

Em. 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; 180

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.
Aar. O, 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 en-
peror hence,

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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 funeral rite, nor inau in mourning 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 on Aaron, that damn'd Moo:.
By whom our heavy haps had their beginning.
Then, afterwards, to order well the state,
That like events may ne'er it ruinate. [Exeun)