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How comes it, that the subtle queen of Goths
Is of a sudden thus advanc'd in Rome?

Tit. I know not, Marcus; but, I know, it is; Whether by device or no, the heavens can tell : Is she not then beholden to the man

That brought her for this high good turn so far? Yes, and will nobly him remunerate.

Flourish. Re-enter, at one side, SATURNINUS, attended; TAMORA, CHIRON, DEMETRIUS, and AARON at the other, BASSIANUS, LAVINIA, and

others.

Sat. So, Bassianus, you have play'd your prize; Jove give you joy, sir, of your gallant bride.

Bas. And you of yours, my lord: I say no more, Nor wish no less; and so I take my leave.

Sat. Traitor, if Rome have law, or we have power, Thou and thy faction shall repent this rape.

Bas. Rape, call you it, my lord, to seize my own, My true-betrothed love, and now my wife? But let the laws of Rome determine all; Mean while I am possess'd of that is mine.

Sat. 'Tis good, sir: You are very short with us; But, if we live, we'll be as sharp with you.

Bas. My lord, what I have done, as best I may,
Answer I must, and shall do with my life.
Only thus much I give your grace to know,
By all the duties that I owe to Rome,
This noble gentleman, lord Titus here,
Is in opinion, and in honour, wrong'd;
That, in the rescue of Lavinia,

With his own hand did slay his youngest son,
In zeal to you, and highly mov'd to wrath
To be controll'd in that he frankly gave:
Receive him then to favour, Saturnine;
That hath express'd himself, in all his deeds,
A father, and a friend, to thee, and Rome.

Tit. Prince Bassianus, leave to plead my deeds; 'Tis thou, and those, that have dishonour'd me: Rome and the righteous heavens be my judge, How I have lov'd and honour'd Saturnine!

Tam. My worthy lord, if ever Tamora Were gracious in those princely eyes of thine, Then hear me speak indifferently for all; And at my suit, sweet, pardon what is past.

Sat. What! madam! be dishonour'd openly,

And basely put it up without revenge?

My lord, be rul'd by me, be won at last,
Dissemble all your griefs and discontents:
You are but newly planted in your throne;
Lest then the people and patricians too,
Upon a just survey, take Titus' part,
And so supplant us for ingratitude,
(Which Rome reputes to be a heinous sin,)
Yield at entreats, and then let me alone:
I'll find a day to massacre them all,
And raze their faction, and their family,
The cruel father, and his traitorous sons,
To whom I sued for my dear son's life;
And make them know, what 'tis to let a queen
Kneel in the streets, and beg for grace in
vain.

Asile

Come, come, sweet emperor, come, Andronicus, Take up this good old man, and cheer the heart That dies in tempest of thy angry frown.

Sat. Rise, Titus, rise; my empress hath prevail'd. Tit. I thank your majesty, and her, my lord: These words, these looks, infuse new life in me. Tam. Titus, I am incorporate in Rome, A Roman now adopted happily, And must advise the emperor for his good. This day all quarrels die, Andronicus; And let it be mine honour, good my lord, That I have reconcil'd your friends and you. For you, prince Bassianus, I have pass'd My word and promise to the emperor, That you will be more mild and tractable. And fear not, lords, and you Lavinia ; By my advice, all humbled on your knees, You shall ask pardon of his majesty.

Luc. We do, and vow to heaven and to his highness, That, what we did, was mildly, as we might, Tend'ring our sister's honour, and our own.

Marc. That on mine honour here I do protest.
Sat. Away, and talk not; trouble us no more. —
Tam. Nay, nay, sweet emperor, we must all be
friends:

The tribune and his nephews kneel for grace;
I will not be denied. Sweet heart, look back.
Sat. Marcus, for thy sake, and thy brother's here,
And at my lovely Tamora's entreats,

I do remit these young men's heinous faults.
Stand up.

Lavinia, though you left me like a churl,

Tam. Not so, my lord: The gods of Rome fore- I found a friend; and sure as death I swore,

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To mount aloft with thy imperial mistress,
And mount her pitch; whom thou in triumph long
Hast prisoner held, fetter'd in amorous chain,
And faster bound to Aaron's charming eyes,
Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus.
Away with slavish weeds, and idle thoughts!
I will be bright, and shine in pearl and gold,
To wait upon this new-made emperess.
To wait, said I? to wanton with this queen,
This goddess, this Semiramis ;- this queen,
This syren, that will charm Rome's Saturnine,
And see his shipwreck, and his common-weal's.
Holla! what storm is this?

Enter CHIRON and DEMETRIUS, braving.
Dem. Chiron,thy years want wit, thy wit wants edge,
And manners, to intrude where I am grac'd;
And may, for aught thou know'st, affected be.

Chi. Demetrius, thou dost overween in all;
And so in this to bear me down with braves.
'Tis not the difference of a year, or two,
Makes me less gracious, thee more fortunate:
I am as able, and as fit, as thou,

To serve, and to deserve my mistress' grace;
And that my sword upon thee shall approve,
And plead my passions for Lavinia's love.

Aar. Clubs, clubs! 6 these lovers will not keep

the peace.

Dem. Why, boy, although our mother, unadvis'd, Gave you a dancing-rapier by your side, Are you so desperate grown, to threat your friends? Go to; have your lath glued within your sheath, Till you know better how to handle it.

Aar.

lords?

Chi. Mean while, sir, with the little skill I have, Full well shalt thou perceive how much I dare. Dem. Ay, boy, grow ye so brave? [They draw. Why, how now, So near the emperor's palace dare you draw, And maintain such a quarrel openly? Full well I wot 7 the ground of all this grudge; I would not for a million of gold,

The cause were known to them it most concerns : Nor would your noble mother, for much more, Be so dishonour'd in the court of Rome.

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Or Bassianus so degenerate,

That for her love such quarrels may be broach'd,
Without controlment, justice, or revenge?
Young lords, beware!-an should the empress know
This discord's ground, the musick would not please.
Chi. I care not, I, knew she and all the world;
I love Lavinia more than all the world.

Dem. Youngling, learn thou to make some meaner choice:

Lavinia is thine elder brother's hope.

This was the usual outcry for assistance, when any riot in the street happened. 7 Know.

Aar. Why, are ye mad? or know ye not, in Rome
How furious and impatient they be,
And cannot brook competitors in love?

I tell you, lords, you do but plot your deaths
By this device.

Chi.
Aaron, a thousand deaths
Would I propose, to achieve her whom I love.
Aar. To achieve her! - How?
Dem.

Why mak'st thou it so strange?
She is a woman, therefore may be woo'd;
She is a woman, therefore may be won;
She is Lavinia, therefore must be lov'd.
Though Bassianus be the emperor's brother,
Better than he have yet worn Vulcan's badge.
Aar. Ay, and as good as Saturninus may.

[Aside. Dem. Then why should he despair, that knows to court it

With words, fair looks, and liberality?
What, hast thou not full often struck a doe,
And borne her cleanly by the keeper's nose?

Aar. Why, hark ye, hark ye,—And are you such fools,

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Aar. For shame, be friends; and join for that you jar.

'Tis policy and stratagem must do

That

you affect; and so must you resolve; That what you cannot, as you would, achieve, You must perforce accomplish as you may. Take this of me, Lucrece was not more chaste

Than this Lavinia, Bassianus' love.

A speedier course than lingering languishment
Must we pursue, and I have found the path.
My lords, a solemn hunting is in hand;
There will the lovely Roman ladies troop:
The forest walks are wide and spacious;
And many unfrequented plots there are,
Fitted by kind 9 for rape and villainy :
Single you thither then this dainty doe,
And strike her home by force, if not by words:
This way, or not at all, stand you in hope.
Come, come, our empress, with her sacred 1 wit,
To villainy and vengeance consecrate,
Will we acquaint with all that we intend;
That will not suffer you to square yourselves,
And she shall file our engines with advice,
But to your wishes' height advance you both.
The emperor's court is like the house of fame,
The palace full of tongues, of eyes, of ears:
The woods are ruthless, dreadful, deaf, and dull;
There speak, and strike, shadow'd from heaven's eye,
And revel with Lavinia.

Chi. Thy counsel, lad, smells of no cowardice.
Dem. Sit fas aut nefas, till I find a charm
To calm these fits, per Styga, per manes vehor.

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[Exeunt.

A Forest near Rome. A Lodge seen
Horns, and Cry of Hounds heard.

Enter TITUS ANDRONICUS, with Hunters, &c. MAR-
CUS, LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and MARTIUS.
Tit. The hunt is up, the morn is bright and grey,
The fields are fragrant, and the woods are green :
8 Quarrel.
9 By nature.
Sacred here signifies accursed; a Latinism.

Uncouple here, and let us make a bay,

And wake the emperor and his lovely bride,
And rouse the prince; and ring a hunter's peal,
That all the court may echo with the noise.
Sons, let it be your charge, as it is ours,
To tend the emperor's person carefully:
I have been troubled in my sleep this night,
But dawning day new comfort hath inspir'd.

Horns wind a Peal. Enter SATURNINUS, TAMORA,
BASSIANUS, LAVINIA, CHIRON, DEMETRIUS, and

Attendants.

Tit. Many good-morrows to your majesty ; ·
Madam, to you as many and as good!
I promised your grace a hunter's peal.
Sat. And you have rung it lustily, my lords,
Somewhat too early for you ladies.

Lav.

I say, no;

I have been broad awake two hours and more.
Sat. Come on then, horse and chariots let us have,
And to our sport: -
Madam, now shall ye see
Our Roman hunting.
[TO TAMORA.
Marc.
I have dogs, my lord,
Will rouse the proudest panther in the chase,
And climb the highest promontory top.

Tit. And I have horse will follow where the game
Makes way, and run like swallows o'er the plain.
Dem. Chiron, we hunt not, we, with horse nor
hound,

But hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground. [Exeunt.

SCENE III. A desert Part of the Forest.

Enter AARON, with a Bag of Gold.

Hark, Tamora, the empress of my soul,
Which never hopes more heaven than rests in thee,-
This is the day of doom for Bassianus ;
His Philomel 4 must lose her tongue to-day:
Thy sons make pillage of her chastity,
And wash their hands in Bassianus' blood.
Seest thou this letter? take it up, I pray thee,
And give the king this fatal-plotted scroll:
Now question me no more, we are espied;
Here comes a parcel 5 of our hopeful booty,
Which dreads not yet their lives' destruction.

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Tam. Ah, my sweet Moor, sweeter to me than life!
Aar. No more, great empress, Bassianus comes:
Be cross with him and I'll go fetch thy sons
To back thy quarrels, whatsoe'er they be.

Enter BASSIANUS and LAVINIA.

[Erit.

Bas. Who have we here? Rome's royal emperess,
Unfurnish'd of her well-beseeming troop?
Or is it Dian, habited like her;
Who hath abandoned her holy groves,
To see the general hunting in this forest?

Tam. Saucy controller of our private steps?
Had I the power, that, some say, Dian had,
Thy temples should be planted presently
With horns, as was Acteon's; and the hounds
Should drive upon thy new-transformed limbs,
Unmannerly intruder as thou art!

Lav. Under your patience, gentle emperess,
'Tis to be doubted, that your Moor and you
Are singled forth to try experiments :
Jove shield your husband from his hounds to-day!
'Tis pity they should take him for a stag.

Bas. Believe me, queen, your swarth Cimmerian

Aar. He that had wit, would think that I had none, Doth make your honour of his body's hue.

To bury so much gold under a tree,

And never after to inherit? it.

Let him, that thinks of me so abjectly,
Know, that this gold must coin a stratagem;
Which, cunningly effected, will beget
A very excellent piece of villainy;
And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest 3,
[Hides the Gold.
That have their alms out of the empress' chest.

Enter TAMORA.

Tam. My lovely Aaron, wherefore look'st thou sad,
When every thing doth make a gleeful boast?
The birds chaunt melody on every bush;
The snake lies rolled in the cheerful sun;
The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind,
And make a checquer'd shadow on the ground:
Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,

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And whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds,
Replying shrilly to the well-tun'd horns,

As if a double hunt were heard at once, -
Let us sit down, and mark their yelling noise :
Whiles hounds and horns, and sweet melodious birds,
Be unto us, as is a nurse's song

Of lullaby, to bring her babe asleep.

Why are you sequester'd from all your train ?
Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed,
And wander'd hither to an obscure plot,
Accompanied with a barbarous Moor?

Lav. My noble lord, I pray you let us hence
And let her 'joy her raven-coloured love.

Bas. The king, my brother, shall have note of this.
Lav. Ay, for these slips have made him noted long:
Good king! to be so mightily abus'd!

Tam. Why have I patience to endure all this?

Enter CHIRON and DEMETRIUS.
Dem. How now, dear sovereign, and our gracious
mother,

Why doth your highness look so pale and wan?
Tam. Have I not reason, think you, to look pale?
These two have 'tic'd me hither to this place,
A barren and detested vale, you see it is:
The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean,
O'ercome with moss, and baneful misletoe.
Here never shines the sun; here nothing breeds,
Unless the nightly owl, or fatal raven.
And, when they show'd me this abhorred pit,
They told me, here, at dead time of the night,
A thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes,

Aar. Madam, though Venus govern your desires, Ten thousand swelling toads, as many urchins 6,

Saturn is dominator over mine:

What signifies my deadly-standing eye,
My silence, and my cloudy melancholy?
My fleece of woolly hair that now uncurls,
Even as an adder, when she doth unroll
To do some fatal execution?
Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,
Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.
3 Disquiet.

2 Possess.

Would make such fearful and confused cries,
As any mortal body, hearing it,

Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly.
No sooner had they told this hellish tale,

But straight they told me, they would bind me here
Unto the body of a dismal yew;

And leave me to this miserable death.

* See Ovid's Metamorphoses, book vi.
6 Hedge-hogs.

5 Part.

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