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 waggoner,
And whirl along with thee about the globes.
Provide thee proper palfreys, 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
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 Murder there.
Tam. These are my ministers, and come with
[call'd?
Tit. Are they thy ministers? what are they
Tem. Rapine, and Murder; therefore call'd so,]
Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men.
Tit. Good lord, how like the enpress' sons

me.

they are!

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
I will embrace thee in it by and by. [thee,
[Exit Tirus, from above.
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 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, Andro-
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.

[Rome; Tit. Look round about the wicked streets of 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: [tion, Well may'st thou know her by thy own proporFor 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 coine 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:
Feast at my house; and he shall feast with them.
Tell him, the emperor and the empress too
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 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,
[4side.

And tarry with him till I come again.
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. [goes

Tam. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now To lay a complot to betray thy foes. [Exit. Tit. I know, thou dost; and, sweet Revenge,

farewell. [ploy'd? Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be emTit. 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.

Pub.

Know you these two?

Th' empress' sons, I take them, Chiron and Demetrius. Tit. Fye, Publius, fye! 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.
[Exit TITUS.-PUBLIUS, &c. lay hold on
CHIRON and DEMETRIUS.
Chi. Villains, forbear: we are the empress
[manded.---

sons.

Pub. And therefore do we what we are comStop 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 fees are bound;

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 a 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 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 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 Goths, with AARON, Prisoner.

tune will.

Luc. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's mind, That I repair to Rome, I am content. 1 Goth. And ours with thine, befall what for[Moor, Lue. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous 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.

[shame.

Tit. Your reason, mighty lord! Sat. Because the girl should not survive her 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 unkind? [ine blind.

Tit Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made I am as woful as Virginius was: 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?

[ter thus? Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only daugh 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 Whereof their mother daintily hath fed, [pie; 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? 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's 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 herself; And she, whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to, Like a forlorn and desperate castaway,

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,
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: speak.
Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him
Luc. Then, noble anditory, 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
And sent her enemies unto the grave. [out.
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 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.
Bat, soft; methinks, I do digress too much,
Citing my worthless praise. O, pardon me;
For when no friends are by, men praise them-
selves.
[child,
Mar. Now is my turn to speak: Behold this
[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 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.
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
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.
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.
Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; 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!

To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe!
Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans; May I govern so,
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.
[Kisses TITUS.
These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd
The last true duties of thy noble son!
[face,

Mar. 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 well:

To melt in showers: Thy grandsire lov'd thee
Many a time he dane'd thee on his knee,
Many a matter hath he told to thee,
Sung thee asleep, his loving breast thy pillow;
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.

1 Rom. 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;

[hence,

Art First.

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 of their lives
Have read it for restoratives:
The purpose is to make men glorious;
E: bonum quo antiquius 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 city then, Antiochus the Great
Built up this city for his chiefest seat;
The fairest in all Syria;

(I tell you what mine authors say :)
This king unto him took a pheere,
Who died and left a female heir,
So buxom, blithe, 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 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 bed-fellow,
In marriage-pleasures play-fellow :
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 now ensues, to the judgment of your eve I give, my cause who best can justify. [Exit. SCENE I. Antioch. A Room in the Palace. Enter ANTIOCHUS, PERICLES, and Attendants. Ant. Young prince of Tyre, you have at large

receiv'd