"Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak; Luc. Tell on thy mind; I say, thy child shall live. Aar. What if I do not? as, indeed, I do not; And hast a thing within thee, called conscience; And keeps the oath, which by that god he swears; Or else I will discover nought to thee. Luc. Even by my god, I swear to thee, I will. Aar. Tut, Lucius! this was but a deed of charity, 'Twas her two sons that murder'd Bassianus : They cut thy sister's tongue, and ravish'd her, And cut her hands; and trimm'd her as thou saw'st. Luc. O, barbarous, beastly villains, like thyself! That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me, [2] An allusion to bull-dogs, whose generosity and courage are always shown by meeting the bull in front and seizing his nose. VOL. VIII. JOHNSON. -Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth. And almost broke my heart with extreme laughter. Goth. What! canst thou say all this, and never blush ? Aar. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.3 Luc. Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds? Aar. 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 hay-stacks 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 my 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. [3] To blush like a black dog, appears from Ray, to have been proverbial. REED. Luc. Bring down the devil; for he must not die So sweet a death, as hanging presently. Aar. 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! Luc. Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no more. Goth. My lord, there is a messenger from Rome, Enter EMILIUS Welcome, Æmilius, what's the news from Rome? Luc. Emilius, let the emperor give his pledges And we will come.-March away. SCENE II. [Exeunt. Rome. 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, Enter TITUS above. Tit. Who doth molest my contemplation? Is it your trick, to make me ope the door; [They knock. [4] It appears from these words, that the audience were entertained with part of the apparatus of an execution, and that Aaron was mounted on a ladder, as ready to be turned off. STEEVENS. And all my study be to no effect? You are deceiv'd: for what I mean to do, 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, 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 ; I am Revenge; sent from the infernal kingdom, By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes. Come down, and welcome me to this world's light; No vast obscurity, or misty vale, Where bloody murder, or detested rape, Tit. Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to me, To be a torment to mine enemies? Tam. I am; therefore come down, and welcome me. Tit. Do me some service, ere I come to thee. Lo, by thy side where Rape, and Murder, stand; 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 palfries, 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, Tam. These are my ministers, and come with me. Tit. Good lord, how like the empress' sons 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 thee, [Exit TITUS, from above. Enter TITUS. Tit. Long have I been forlorn, and all for thee: and ra [5] I do not know of any instance that can be brought to prove that rape pine were ever used as synonymous terms. The word rapine has always been em ployed for a less fatal kind of blunder, and means the violent act of deprivation of any good, the honour here alluded to being always excepted. STEEVENS. |