Luc.
Uncle ^note Marcus, since it is ^note my father's mind
That I repair to Rome, I am content.

First Goth. ^note
And ours with thine, befall ^note what fortune will.

Luc.
Good uncle, take you in this barbarous Moor,
This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil;
Let him receive no sustenance ^note, fetter him,
Till ^note he be brought unto the empress' ^note face,
For testimony of her ^note foul proceedings:
And see the ambush of our friends be strong;
I fear ^note the emperor means no good to us.

Aar. ^note
Some devil whisper curses in mine ^note ear,
And prompt me, that my tongue may utter forth
The venomous malice of my swelling heart!

Luc.
Away, inhuman dog! unhallow'd ^note slave!
Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in. [Exeunt Goths, with Aaron. ^note Flourish within. ^note

The trumpets show the emperor is at hand. Enter ^note Saturninus and Tamora, with Æmilius, ^note Tribunes, Senators, and others. ^note

Sat. ^note
What, hath the firmament moe ^note suns than one?

Luc.
What boots it thee ^note to call thyself a sun?

Marc.
Rome's emperor, and nephew, break the parle ^note;
These quarrels must be quietly debated.
The feast is ready, which the careful Titus
Hath ordain'd ^note to an honourable end,
For peace, for love, for league and good to Rome:
Please you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your places.

Sat. ^note
Marcus, we will. [Hautboys sound. The Company sit down at table. ^note Enter Titus, like a Cook, placing the meat on the table, and Lavinia with a veil over her face, young Lucius, and others. ^note

Tit.
Welcome, my gracious lord; welcome, dread queen; ^note
Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius ^note;
And welcome, all: although the cheer be poor,
'Twill fill your stomachs; please you eat of it.

Sat. ^note
Why art thou thus attired, Andronicus?

Tit.
Because I would be sure to have all well,
To entertain your highness and your empress.

Tam.
We are beholding ^note to you, good Andronicus.

Tit.
An ^note 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 enforced, stain'd, and deflower'd?

Sat. ^note
It was, Andronicus.

Tit.
Your reason, mighty lord? ^note

Sat. ^note
Because the girl should not survive her shame,
And by her presence still renew his sorrows.

Tit.
A reason mighty ^note, strong and ^note effectual,
A pattern, precedent ^note, and lively warrant,
For me, most wretched, to perform the like.
Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee,
And with thy shame thy father's sorrow die ^note! [Kills Lavinia. ^note

Sat. ^note
What hast thou ^note done, unnatural and unkind? ^note

Tit.
Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made me blind.
I am as woful as Virginius was,
And have a thousand times more cause than he
To do this outrage, and it now is ^note done. ^note

Sat. ^note
What, was she ravish'd ^note? tell who did the deed.

Tit.
Will't ^note please you eat? will't please your highness feed? ^note

Tam.
Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus? ^note

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. ^note
Go fetch them hither ^note to us presently.

Tit.
Why, there they are both, baked in that pie;

Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point. [Kills Tamora. ^note

Sat. ^note
Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed! [Kills Titus. ^note

Luc.
Can the son's eye behold his father bleed?
There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed! [Kills Saturninus. ^note A great tumult. Lucius, Marcus, and others go up into the balcony. ^note

Marc.
You sad-faced men, people and sons of Rome,
By uproars ^note sever'd, as ^note a flight of fowl
Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous ^note gusts ^note,
O, let me teach you how to ^note knit again
This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limbs again into one body;
Lest Rome ^note herself be bane unto herself,
And she whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to ^note,
Like a forlorn and desperate castaway ^note,
Do shameful execution on herself.
But if ^note my frosty signs and chaps of age,
Grave witnesses of true experience,
Cannot induce you to attend my words,— [To Lucius ^note]
Speak, Rome's dear friend: as erst our ancestor,
When with his solemn tongue he did discourse
To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear

The story of that baleful burning ^note night
When subtle Greeks surprised King Priam's Troy;
Tell us what Sinon hath bewitch'd our ears,
Or who hath brought the fatal engine in
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 ^note utterance, even in the ^note time
When it should move you to attend me most,
Lending your kind ^note commiseration.
Here is a captain ^note, let him tell the tale;
Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him speak.

Luc.
Then ^note, noble auditory, be it known to you,
That cursed Chiron and Demetrius
Were they that murdered ^note our emperor's brother;
And they it were ^note that ravished our sister:
For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded,
Our father's tears despised, and basely cozen'd
Of that true hand that fought Rome's quarrel out
And sent her enemies unto ^note 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 oped their arms to embrace me as a friend.
I am the turned ^note forth, be it known to you,
That have preserved her welfare in my blood,
And from her bosom took the enemy's point,

Sheathing the steel in my adventurous 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.

Marc.
Now is my turn ^note to speak. Behold the ^note child: [Pointing ^note 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,
And ^note as he is, to ^note witness this is true.
Now judge what cause ^note had Titus to revenge ^note
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, ^note show us wherein,
And, from the place where you behold us now,
The poor remainder of Andronici ^note
Will ^note, hand in hand, all headlong cast us down
And on the ragged stones beat forth ^note 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.

Æmil.
Come, come, thou reverend ^note man of Rome ^note,
And bring our emperor gently in thy hand,

Lucius our emperor; for well I know
The common voice do ^note cry it shall be so.

All. ^note
Lucius, all hail, Rome's royal emperor!

Marc. ^note
Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house, [To Attendants. ^note
And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudged ^note some direful slaughtering ^note death,
As punishment for his most wicked life. [Exeunt Attendants. ^note Lucius ^note, Marcus, and the others descend.

All. ^note
Lucius, all hail, Rome's ^note gracious governor!

Luc.
Thanks, gentle Romans: may I govern so,
To heal Rome's harms ^note and wipe ^note away her woe!
But, gentle people, give me aim ^note awhile,
For nature puts me to a heavy task ^note;
Stand all aloof; but, uncle, draw you near, ^note
To shed obsequious tears upon this trunk ^note.
O, take this warm kiss on thy ^note pale cold ^note lips, [Kissing Titus. ^note
These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd ^note face,
The last true duties of thy noble son! ^note

Marc.
Tear ^note 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
To melt in showers: thy grandsire loved thee well:
Many a time he danced 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 ^note 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 ^{note note}.

Boy. ^note
O grandsire, grandsire! even with all my heart ^note
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. Re-enter Attendants ^note with Aaron. ^note

A Roman. ^note
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.
O, why should wrath be mute, and fury dumb? ^note
I am no baby, I, that with base prayers

I should repent the evils ^note 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.

Luc.
Some loving friends convey the emperor ^note hence,
And give him burial in his father's ^note grave:
My father and Lavinia shall forthwith
Be closed in our household's monument.
As for that heinous ^note tiger ^note, Tamora,
No funeral rite ^note, nor man in mourning ^note weeds,
No mournful bell ^note shall ring her burial;
But throw her forth to beasts ^note and birds of prey ^note:
Her life was beastly ^note and devoid of pity,
And, being so, shall ^note have like want of pity.
See justice done on Aaron ^note, that damn'd Moor,
By ^note whom our heavy haps ^note had their beginning:
Then ^note, afterwards, to order ^note well the state,
That like events may ne'er it ruinate. [Exeunt. ^note

NOTES. ^note