Titus habited like a Cook, places the Dishes.
Tit.
Welcome, my gracious lord;—welcome, dread queen;
Welcome, ye warlike Goths—Lucius, welcome;—
And welcome, all: although the cheer be poor,
'Twill fill your stomachs; please you, eat of it.
Sat.
Why art thou thus attir'd, Andronicus?
Tit.
Because I would be sure to have all well,
To entertain your highness, and your empress.
Tam.
We are beholding to you, good Andronicus.
Tit.
An if your highness knew my heart, you were.—
My lord the emperor, resolve me this;
Was it well done of rash Virginius,
To slay his daughter with his own right hand,
Because she was enforc'd, stain'd, and deflour'd?
Sat.
It was, Andronicus.
Tit.
Your reason, mighty lord?
Sat.
Because the girl should not survive her shame.
And by her presence still renew his sorrows.
-- 74 --
Tit.
A mighty reason, 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;
[kills Lavinia.
And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die!
Sat.
What hast thou done, unnatural, and unkind?
Tit.
Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made me blind.
I am as woeful 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.
Wilt please you eat, wilt 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 pye,
Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred* note.
'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.
[killing Saturnine.
Company in Confusion. A great Tumult: the Andronici,
and their Friends, gain the Steps of Titus' house: Tumult ceases.
Mar.
You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of Rome,
By uproars sever'd, like a flight of fowl
Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,
O, let me teach you how to knit again
-- 75 --
This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limbs again into one body:
Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself;
&blquo;And she, whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to,
&blquo;Like a forlorn and desperate cast-away,
&blquo;Do shameful execution on herself.
&blquo;But if my frosty signs and chaps of age,
&blquo;Grave witnesses of true experience,
&blquo;Cannot induce you to attend my words,—
&blquo;Speak, Rome's dear friend; as erst our ancestor,
&blquo;When with his solemn tongue he did discourse,
&blquo;To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear,
&blquo;The story of that baleful burning night,
&blquo;When subtle Greeks surpriz'd king Priam's Troy;
&blquo;Tell us, what Sinon hath bewitch'd our ears,
&blquo;Or who hath brought the fatal engine in,
&blquo;That gives our Troy, our Rome, the civil wound.—
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;
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 was 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 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 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,
-- 76 --
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.
But, soft, methinks, I do digress too much,
Citing my worthless praise: O, pardon me;
For, when no friends are by, men praise themselves.
Mar.
Now is my turn to speak; Behold this child,
[shewing it 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? Shew us wherein,
And, from the place where you behold us now,
The poor remainder of the 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.
1. R.
Come down, come down, thou reverent man of Rome,
And bring our emperor gently in thy hand,
Lucius our emperor; for, well I know,
The common voice doth cry, it shall be so.
Rom.
Lucius, all hail; Rome's royal emperor!
Mar.
Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house;
[to Attendants.
And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering death,
As punishment for his most wicked life.
Lucius, and the rest, come down; with them, young Lucius.
Rom.
Lucius, all hail; Rome's gracious governor!—
Luc.
Thanks, gentle Romans; May I govern so,
To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe!
-- 77 --
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:—
[kneels over Titus' Body.
O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips,
These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face,
The last true duties of thy noble son!
Mar.
A tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss,
[kneeling by him.
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
To melt in showers: Thy grandsire lov'd thee well:
Many a time he danc'd 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:
Bid him farewel; commit him to the grave,
Do him that kindness, and take leave of him.
Boy.
O grandsire, grandsire, e'en 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 choak me, if I ope my mouth.
Enter Attendants with Aaron.
2. R.
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:
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.
Ah, why should wrath be mute, and fury dumb?
I am no baby, I, that, with base prayers,
-- 78 --
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* note.
Luc.
Some loving friends convey the emperor hence,
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 man in mournful 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 Moor,
By whom our heavy haps had their beginning:
Then, afterwards, to order well the state;
That like events may ne'er it ruinate.
[Exeunt.
