An aged princess; many days shall see her,
And yet no day without a deed to crown it.
Would I had known no more! but she must die,
She must, the saints must have her; yet a virgin,
A most unspotted lily shall she pass

To the ground, and all the world shall mourn her.
King. O lord archbishop,

Thou hast made me now a man! never, before
This happy child, did I get any thing:
This oracle of comfort has so pleased me,
That when I am in heaven I shall desire

To see what this child does, and praise my Maker.
I thank ye all. To you, my good lord mayor,
And your good brethren, I am much beholding;
I have received much honour by your presence,
And ye shall find me thankful.
Lead the way,

lords:

Ye must all see the queen, and she must thank ye,
She will be sick else. This day, no man think
'Has business at his house; for all shall stay:
This little one shall make it holiday.

Exeunt.

60

70

EPILOGUE.

'Tis ten to one this play can never please
All that are here: some come to take their ease,
And sleep an act or two; but those, we fear,
We have frighted with our trumpets; so, 'tis clear,
They'll say 'tis naught: others, to hear the city
Abused extremely, and to cry 'That's witty!'
Which we have not done neither: that, I fear,
All the expected good we're like to hear

71. brethren, i.e. the aldermen.

76. 'Has, he has. So Ff.

For this play at this time, is only in

The merciful construction of good women ;
For such a one we show'd 'em : if they smile,
And say 'twill do, I know, within a while
All the best men are ours; for 'tis ill hap,
If they hold when their ladies bid 'em clap.

ΤΟ

TITUS ANDRONICUS

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

SATURNINUS, son to the late Emperor of Rome, and after
wards declared Emperor.

BASSIANUS, brother to Saturninus; in love with Lavinia.
TITUS ANDRONICUS, a noble Roman, general against the
Goths.

MARCUS ANDRONICUS, tribune of the people, and brother
to Titus.

}

sons to Tamora.

AARON, a Moor, beloved by Tamora.

A Captain, Tribune, Messenger, and Clown; Romans.
Goths and Romans.

TAMORA, Queen of the Goths.

LAVINIA, daughter to Titus Andronicus.

A Nurse.

Senators, Tribunes, Officers, Soldiers, and Attendants.

SCENE: Rome, and the country near it

DURATION OF TIME

Four days represented on the stage, with, possibly, two intervals.

Dramatis Persona. First supplied, imperfectly, by Rowe. The Ff mark the Acts but not the Scenes. The Qq mark neither Acts nor Scenes.

INTRODUCTION

THE first known edition of Titus Andronicus appeared in 1600, with the following title-page :

'The most lamenta-| ble Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus. | As it hath sundry times been playde by the Right Honourable the Earl of Pembrooke, the | Earl of Darbie, the Earle of Sussex, and the Lorde Chamberlaine theyr Seruants. | AT LONDON, Printed by I. R. for Edward White | and are to be solde at his shoppe, at the little | North doore of Paules, at the signe of the Gun. 1600. Another Quarto (Q), printed from this, appeared

in 1611.

The First Folio text was printed from a copy of the Second Quarto, in which a few MS. alterations and additions seem to have been made for stage purposes. The Folio text also contains a whole scene (iii. 2.) not found in the Quartos, and probably, since it does not contribute to the action, omitted in performance.

An adaptation of the play by Ravenscroft was published in 1687 under the title Titus Andronicus, or the Rape of Lavinia.

Our first explicit evidence of an 'Andronicus' play belongs to the year 1594. On January 23 Henslowe recorded the performance of a 'tittus and ondronicus' as a 'new' play. In February a play Titus Andronicus was entered in the Stationers' Register, as well