1 Goth. And ours, 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. Enter SATURNINUS and TAMORA, with Tribunes, Senators, and others. Sat. What, hath the firmament more suns than one? Luc. 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 Hath 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. Sat. Marcus, we will. [Hautboys sound. The Company sit down at Table. Enter 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 JOHNSON. 02 -My lord the emperor, resolve me this; To slay his daughter with his own right hand, Tit. Your reason, mighty lord! Sat. Because the girl should not survive her shame, [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 cause than he To do this outrage ;-and it is now done. Sat. What, was she ravish'd? tell, who did the deed. Tit. Will't please you eat? will't please your highness feed? Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus ? They ravish'd her, and cut away her tongue, Tit. Why, there they are both, baked in that pye ; [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 Partizans ascend the steps before TITUS's house. Mar. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of Rome, Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts, These broken limbs again into one body. Sen. Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself; Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To LUCIUS.] 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 night, When subtle Greeks surpriz'd king Priam's Troy ; Or who hath brought the fatal engine in, That gives our Troy, our Rome, the civil wound.— But floods of tears will drown my oratory, And break my very utterance; even i'the time Here is a captain, let him tell the tale; Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him speak. Were they that murdered our emperor's brother; The gates shut on me, and turn'd weeping out, My scars can witness, dumb although they are, That my report is just, and full of truth. The issue of an irreligious Moor, Chief architect and plotter of these woes; Damn'd as he is, to witness this is true. Now judge, what cause had Titus to revenge Now you have heard the truth, what say you, Romans? The poor remainder of Andronici Will, hand in hand, all headlong cast us down, Speak, Romans, speak; and, if you say, we shall, Emil. Come, come, thou reverend man of Rome, Lucius our emperor; for, well I know, The common voice do cry, it shall be so. Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's royal emperor ! LUCIUS, &c. descend. Mar. Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house; And hither hale that misbelieving Moor, [To an Attendant. To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering death, As punishment for his most wicked life. Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's gra cious governor! Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans; May I govern so, O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips, [Kisses TITUS. These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face, Mar. Tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss, pay them! Luc. Come hither, boy; come, come, and learn of us Meet, and agreeing with thine infancy; Shed yet some small drops from thy tender spring, Friends should associate friends in grief and woe : 1 Rom. 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? I am no baby, I, that, with base prayers, I should repent the evils I have done ; I do repent it from my very soul. Luc. Some loving friends convey the emperor hence, And give him burial in his father's grave: My father, and Lavinia, shall forthwith |