Mar. And welcome, nephews, from successful wars, your swords: You that survive, and you that sleep in fame. And help to set a head on headless Rome. Mar. Titus, thou shalt obtain and ask the empery 11. 8 The maxim alluded to is, that no man can be pronounced happy before his death. 9 A robe. 10 i. e. do on, put it on. 11 Steevens remarks that here is rather too much of the ὕστερον πρότερον. Tit. Patience, Prince Saturnine. Sat. Romans, do me right;Patricians, draw your swords, and sheath them not Till Saturninus be Rome's emperor :Andronicus, 'would thou wert shipp'd to hell, Rather than rob me of the people's hearts. Luc. Proud Saturnine, interrupter of the good That noble-minded Titus means to thee! Tit. Content thee, prince; I will restore to thee The people's hearts, and wean them from themselves. Bas. Andronicus, I do not flatter thee, But honour thee, and will do till I die; My faction if thou strengthen with thy friends, I will most thankful be: and thanks, to men Of noble minds, is honourable meed. Tit. People of Rome, and people's tribunes here, I ask your voices, and your suffrages; Will you bestow them friendly on Andronicus? Trib. To gratify the good Andronicus, And gratulate his safe return to Rome, The people will accept whom he admits. Tit. Tribunes, I thank you: and this suit I make, Lord Saturninus, Rome's great emperor; [A long Flourish. Sat. Titus Andronicus, for thy favours done To us in our election this day, And will with deeds requite thy gentleness: Rome's royal mistress, mistress of my heart, Sat. Thanks, noble Titus, father of my life! Tit. Now, madam, are you prisoner to an em peror; [TO TAMORA. To him, that for your honour and your state, Will use you nobly, and your followers. Sat. A goodly lady, trust me; of the hue That I would choose, were I to choose anew.— Clear up, fair queen, that cloudy countenance; Though chance of war hath wrought this change of cheer, Thou com'st not to be made a scorn in Rome : Lav. Not I, my lord 12; sith true nobility Warrants these words in princely courtesy. Sat. Thanks, sweet Lavinia.-Romans, let us go: Ransomeless here we set our prisoners free: Proclaim our honours, lords, with trump and drum. Bas. Lord Titus, by your leave, this maid is mine. [Seizing LAVINIA. Tit. How, sir? Are you in earnest then, my lord? Bas. Ay, noble Titus; and resolv'd withal, To do myself this reason and this right. [The Emperor courts TAMORA in dumb show. Mar. Suum cuique is our Roman justice: This prince in justice seizeth but his own. Luc. And that he will, and shall, if Lucius live. Tit. Traitors, avaunt! Where is the emperor's guard? Treason, my lord; Lavinia is surpris'd. Sat. Surpris'd! By whom? Bas. By him that justly may Bear his betroth'd from all the world away. [Exeunt MARCUS and BASSIANUS, with LAVINIA. Mut. Brothers, help to convey her hence away, And with my sword I'll keep this door safe. [Exeunt LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and MARTIUS. Tit. Follow, my lord, and I'll soon bring her back. Mut. My lord, you pass not here. 12 It was a pity to part a couple who seem to have corresponded in disposition so exactly as Saturninus and Lavinia. Saturninus, who has just promised to espouse her, already wishes he were to choose again; and she who was engaged to Bassianus (whom she afterward marries) expresses no reluctance when her father gives her to Saturninus. Her subsequent raillery to Tamora is of so coarse a nature, that if her tongue had been all she was condemned to lose, perhaps the author (whoever he was) might have escaped censure on the score of poetic justice.' VOL. IX. STEEVENS. Luc. My lord, you are unjust: and, more than so, In wrongful quarrel you have slain your son. Tit. Nor thou, nor he, are any sons of mine: My sons would never so dishonour me: Traitor, restore Lavinia to the emperor. Luc. Dead, if you will: but not to be his wife, That is another's lawful promis'd love. [Exit. Sat. No, Titus, no; the emperor needs her not, Nor her, nor thee, nor any of the stock: Was there none else in Rome to make a stale 13 of, Agree these deeds with that proud brag of thine, Sat. But go thy ways; go, give that changing piece To him that flourish'd for her with his sword: One fit to bandy with thy lawless sons, To ruffle 14 in the commonwealth of Rome. Tit. These words are razors to my wounded heart. 13 A stale here signifies a stalking-horse. To make a stale of any one seems to have meant to make them an object of mockery.' This is the meaning of Katharine in The Taming of the Shrew, when she says to her father, is it your will to make a stale of me amongst these mates?' I will request the reader to correct my note on that passage, vol. iii. p. 356, accordingly. 14 To ruffle was to be tumultuous and turbulent. Thus Baret:'A trouble or ruffling in the common-weale: procella.' |