Aar. If there be devils, 'would I were a devil, Stab them, or tear them on thy chariot wheels; To live and barn 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 no more.

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

Geth. My lord, there is a messenger from Trot, like a servile footman, all day long !

[Exeunt.I

To scatter and disperse the giddy Goths,
Or, it the feast, make them his enemies.
See, here be comes, and I must ply my theme.
Enter TITUS.

Tit. Long have I been forlorn, and all for
thee:

Welcome, dread fairy, to my woful house ;~
Rapine, and Murder, you are welcome too :→
How like the empress and her sons you are!
Well are you fitted, had you but a Moor;-
Could not all heil afford you such a devil ?→→
'For, well I wot, the empress never wags,
But in her company there is a Moor;
And, would you represent our queen aright,
It were convenient you had such a devil:
'But welcome, as you are. What shall we do?
Tam. What would'st thou have us do, An-
dronicus ?

Dem. Show me a murderer, I'll deal with him.
Chi. Show me a villain, that hath done a rape.
And I am sent to be reveng'd ou him.

Tam. Show me a thonsand that hath done
And I will be revenged on them all. [thee wrong,
Tit. Look round about the wicked streets of
Roine,

And when thou find'st a man that's like thyself,
Good Murder, stab him he's a murderer.-
Go thon with him; and when it is thy hap,
To find another that is like to thee,
Good Rapine, stab him! he is a ravisher.-
Go thou with them! and, in the emperor's court,
There is a queen, attended by a Moor;
Well may'st thou know her by thy own pro-
portion,

For up and down she doth resemble thee:
I pray thee, do on them some violent death,
They have been violent to me and mine.

Tam. Well hast thou lesson'd us; this shall
we do.

Bnt would it please thee, good Andronicus,
To send for Lucius, thy thrice valiant sou,
Who leads towards Rome a band of warlike Goths,
And bid him come and banquet at thy house:
When he is here, even at thy soleinn feast,
I will bring in the empress and her sons,
The emperor himself, and all thy foes,
And at thy mercy shall they stoop and kneel,
Aud on them shalt thou ease thy angry heart.
What says Andronicus to this device?
Tit. Marcus, my brother!-'tis sad Titus calls.
Enter MARCUS.

Go, gentle Marcus, to thy nephew Lucius!
Thou shalt inquire him out among the Goths:
Bil him repair to me, and bring with him
Some of the chiefest princes of the Goths:
Bid him encamp his soldiers where they are:
Tell him, the emperor and the empress too
Feast at my house: and he shall teast with them.
This do thou for my love; and so let him,
As he regards his aged father's life.

Mar. This will I do, and soon return again.

Exit.

Tum. Now will I hence about thy business,
And take my ministers along with me.
Tit. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with
Or else I'll call my brother back again, [me;
And cleave to no revenge but Lucius.

Tam. What say you, boys? will you abide
Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor, [with him,
How I have govern'd our determin'd jest?
Yield to his humour, sinooth aud speak him fair,
[Aside.

And tarry with him, till I come again.
Tit. I know them all, though they suppose
me mad,
And will o'er-reach them in their own devices;
A pair of cursed hell-hounds, and their dam.
(A side.

Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure, leave us
here.
Tom. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes
To lay a complot to betray thy sons.

[Et TAMORA.

Tit. Tut, I have work enough for you to doPublius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine 11

Enter PUBLIUs, and others.

Pub. What's your will?
Tit. Know you these two?
Pub. Th' empress' sons,

I take them, Chiron and Demetrius.

Tit. Fie, Publius, fie! thou art too much de-
ceiv'd ;

The one is Murder, Rape is the other's name:
And therefore bind them, gentle Publius;
Cains and Valentine, lay hands on them:
Oft have you heard me wish for such an hour,
And now I find it: therefore bind them stre;
And stop their mouths, if they begin to cry.

[Exit TITUS.-PUBLIUS, &c. lay hold on
CHIRON and DEMETRIUS.

Chi. Villains, forbear: we are the empress' sons. Pub. And therefore do we what we are commanded.[Word: Stop close their mouths, let them not speak a Is he sure bound ↑ look that you bind their fast. Re-enter TITUS ANDRONICUS, with LAVINIA; she bearing a basin, and he a knife. Tit. Come, come, Lavinia! look, thy foes are bound;

1

Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me;
But let them hear what fearful words I utter.—
O villains, Chiron and Demetrius!

Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd
with mud;

This goodly summer with your winter mix'd.
You kill'd her husband; and, for that vile fanlt,
Two of her brothers were condemn'd to death;
My hand cut off, and made a merry jest ;
Both her sweet hands, her tongue, and that,
more dear

Than hands or tongue, her spotless chastity,
Inhuman traitors, you constrain'd and fore'd.
What would you say, if I should let you speak?
Villains, for shame you could not beg for grace.
Hark, wretches, how I mean to martyr you.
This one hand yet is left to cut your throats;
Whilst that Lavinia 'tween her stumps doth bold
The basin that receives your guilty blood.
You know your mother means to feast with me,
And calls herself Revenge, and thinks me mad,-
Hark, villains; I will grind your boues to dust,
And with your blood and it, I'll make a paste;
And of the paste a coflin I will rear,
And make two pasties of your shameful heads;
And bid that strumpet, your unhallow'd dam,
Like to the earth, swallow her own increase.
This is the feast that I have bid her to,
And this the banquet she shall surfeit on;
For worse than Philomel you us'd my daughter,
And worse than Progue I will be reveng'd:
And now prepare your throats,-Lavinia, cone,
[He cuts their Throats.
Receive the blood, and, when that they are dead,
Let me go grind their bones to powder small,
And with this hateful liquor temper it;
Aud in this paste let their vile heads be bak'd.
Come, come, be every one officious
To make this banquet; which I wish may prove
More stern and bloody than the Centaur's feast.
So, now bring them in, for I will play the cook,
And see them ready 'gainst their mother co es.
[Excunt, bearing the dead bodies.
SCENE III.-The same.-A Pavilion, with
Tables, &c.

Enter LUCIUS, MARCUS, and Gorus, with
AARON, prisoner.

Late. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's mind
That I repair to Rome, I am content.

• Crust of a raised pje.

Scene III.

TITUS ANDRONICUS.

1 Goth. And our's, with thine, befall what
fortune will.

Luc." Good uncle take you in this barbarous
Moor,

This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil;
Let him receive no sustenance, fetter him,
Till he be brought unto the empress' face,
For testimony of her foul proceedings:

And see the ambush of our friends be strong:
I fear the emperor means no good to us.

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

Luc. Away, inhuman dog! unhallow'd slave!Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.

[Exeunt GOTHS, with AARON. Flourish. The trumpets show, the emperor is at hand. Eater SATURNINUS and TAMORA, with

bunes, Senators, and others.

99

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.
'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp
point.
[Killing TAMORA.
Sat. Die, frantic 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.
[Kills SATURNINUS. A great tumult. The
People in confusion disperse. MARCUS,
LUCIUS, and their Partisans, ascend the
steps before TITUS' house.

Mar. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of
Rome,
Tri-By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl

Sat. What, hath the firmament more suns than one?

Lue. What boots it thee, to call thyself a

sun?

Mar. Rome's emperor, and nephew, break +
the parle;

These quarrels must be quietly debated.
The feast is ready which the careful Titus
Hah ordain'd to an honourable end,

For peace, for love, for league, and good to

. Rome:

Please you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your places.

Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,
O let me teach you how to knit again.
This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
These broken limbs again into one body.

Sen. Lest Rome herself be bane unto her-
self;

And she, whom mighty kingdoms curt'sy to,
Like a forlorn and desperate cast-away,
Do shameful execution on herself.
But if my frosty signs and chaps of age,
Grave witnesses of true experience,
Cannot induce you to attend my words,-
Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To Lucius.] as erst
our ancestor,

When with his solemn tongue he did discourse

Sat. Marcus, we will.
[Hautboys sound. The Company sit down To love-sick Dido's sad attending ear,

at table.

Eater TITUS, dressed like a cook, LAVINIA, veiled, young LUCIUS, and others. TITUS places the dishes on the table.

Tit. Welcome, my gracious lord: welcome,
dread queen:

Welcome, ye warlike Goths: welcome, Lucius :
Aud welcome, all: although the cheer be poor,
Twill fill your stomachs; please you eat of it.
Set. 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 beholden to you, good An-
dronicus.

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

flower'd?

Sat. It was, Andronicus.
Tit. Your reason, mighty lord!

de

Sat. Because the girl should not survive her

shame,

And by her presence still renew his sorrows.

Tit. A reason mighty, strong, and effectual;
A pattern, precedent, and lively warraut,
For me, most wretched to perform the like:-
Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee;
He 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 woful as Virginius was:
And have a thousand times more canse than be
To do this outrage; and it is now done.

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

Ti. Wiil't please you eat? will't please your
highness feed?

Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only daughter
thas ?

Tit. Not 1, 'twas Chiron and Demetrius :
They ravishi'd her, and cut away her tongue,
And they, 'twas they, that did her all this wrong.

The story of that baleful burning nicht,
When subtle Greeks surpris'd 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 Roine, 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 were that ravished our sister:
For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded;
Our father's tears despis'd; and busely cozen'd
Of that true hand, that fought Rome's quarrel
out,

And sent her enemies unto the grave.
Lastly, myself uukindly 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;
Aud from her bosom took the enemy's point,
Sheathing the steel in my advent'rous body.
Alas; you know, I am no vaunter, 1;
My scars can witness, dumb although they are,
That my report is just, and full of truth.
ut, soft: methinks I do digress too much,
Citing my worthless praise: O pardon me;
For when no friends are by, men praise them-
selves.

Mur. Now is my turn to speak: Beheld this
child,

[Pointing to the child in the arms of un
attendant.

Of this was Tamora delivered ;
The issue of an irreligions Moor,
Chief architect aud plotter of these woes;

• Read he.

Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; That hath been breeder of these dire events. Rome's royal emperor !

LITERARY AND HISTORICAL NOTICE.

THIS tragedy was written about the year 1602, and Shakspeare is supposed to have taken the greatest part of its materials from the Troye Boke of Lydgate, an author who derived many of his particulars from a History of Troy, in Latin, by Guido of Columpua. Chancer had previously celebrated the loves of Troilus and Cressida, in a translation from a Latin poem of one Lollius, an old Lombard author. The characters in this play (which was not originally divided into acts) are strikingly assimilated to the portraits which history has preserved of them---the aged loquacity of Nestor---the iusinuating eloquence of Ulysses--the boasting confidence of Ajax---the sullen self-importance of Achilles---the conscious dignity of Agamemnon, and the sneaking insignificance of the cuckold Menelaus, are excellently displayed in the development of the piece; whilst the scurrile malignity of Thersites most humorously and ingeniously advances its interest throughout. The mode of Hector's death is, however, at variance with historical record, and was probably accompanied with such baseness on the part of Achilles, to perfect the amiable attributes in which the poet chose to invest the character of his Trojan opponent. Troilus, the hero of the play, has little to recommend him beyond persoual intrepidity, and the sincerity of a youthful attachment---some authors rank him among the elder of Priam's sons: others (and among them Virgil, who describes in the 1st book of the Eneid, line 474, the manner of his death by the hand of Achilles) call him the youngest. Anachronisms are of frequent occurrence in this play; such as Hector's citing Aristotle, and Ulysses alluding to the “bull-bearing Milo," who did not live till many years after the Trojan war. It must, nevertheless, be remembered, that the greater part of Shakspeare's library consisted of ancient romances; and nothing could be less correct than their computation of dates. The language of the piece is greatly tinctured with the peculiarities of the age in which he lived ; and although Dr. Johnson considers it more correctly written than many of its companions, he exenipts it from any extent of view or elevation of fancy. “The vicious characters (says that discriminating critic) sometimes disgust, but cannot corrupt ; for both Cressida and Pandarus are detested and condemned. The comic characters seem to have been the favourites of the writer: they are of the superficial kind, and‹exhibit more of manners that nature; but they are copiously filled, and powerfully impressed.”

*

Their brave pavilions: Priam's six-gated city,
Dardan, and Tynibria, Ilias, Chetas, Trojan,
And Antenorides, with massy staples,
And corresponsive and fulfilling bolts,
Sperr up the sons of Troy.

Now expectation, tickling skittish spirits,
On one and other side, Trojan and Greek,
Sets all on hazard:-And hither am 1 come
A prologue arm'd,-but not in confidence
Of author's pen, or actor's voice; but suited
In like conditions as our argument,-
To tell you, fair beholders, that our play
Leaps o'er the vaunt and firstlings of those
broils,

'Ginning in the middle; starting thence away
To what may be digested in a play
Like, or find fault; do as your pleasures are;
Now good, or bad, 'tis but the chance of war.