The Tragedy Of Titus Andronicus

1 Enter Aaron, alone, carrying a bag of gold.
2 AARON.
3 He that had wit would think that I had none,
4 To bury so much gold under a tree,
5 And never after to inherit it.
6 Let him that thinks of me so abjectly
7 Know that this gold must coin a stratagem,
8 Which, cunningly effected, will beget
9 A very excellent piece of villainy.
10 And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest
11 That have their alms out of the empress’ chest.
12 [_He hides the bag._]
13 Enter Tamora alone to the Moor.
14 TAMORA.
15 My lovely Aaron, wherefore look’st thou sad
16 When everything doth make a gleeful boast?
17 The birds chant melody on every bush,
18 The snakes lie rolled in the cheerful sun,
19 The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind,
20 And make a chequered shadow on the ground.
21 Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,
22 And whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds,
23 Replying shrilly to the well-tuned horns,
24 As if a double hunt were heard at once,
25 Let us sit down and mark their yelping noise;
26 And after conflict such as was supposed
27 The wand’ring prince and Dido once enjoyed,
28 When with a happy storm they were surprised,
29 And curtained with a counsel-keeping cave,
30 We may, each wreathed in the other’s arms,
31 Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber,
32 Whiles hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds
33 Be unto us as is a nurse’s song
34 Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep.
35 AARON.
36 Madam, though Venus govern your desires,
37 Saturn is dominator over mine.
38 What signifies my deadly-standing eye,
39 My silence and my cloudy melancholy,
40 My fleece of woolly hair that now uncurls
41 Even as an adder when she doth unroll
42 To do some fatal execution?
43 No, madam, these are no venereal signs.
44 Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,
45 Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.
46 Hark, Tamora, the empress of my soul,
47 Which never hopes more heaven than rests in thee,
48 This is the day of doom for Bassianus;
49 His Philomel must lose her tongue today,
50 Thy sons make pillage of her chastity,
51 And wash their hands in Bassianus’ blood.
52 Seest thou this letter? Take it up, I pray thee,
53 And give the king this fatal-plotted scroll.
54 Now question me no more; we are espied;
55 Here comes a parcel of our hopeful booty,
56 Which dreads not yet their lives’ destruction.
57 Enter Bassianus and Lavinia.
58 TAMORA.
59 Ah, my sweet Moor, sweeter to me than life!
60 AARON.
61 No more, great empress. Bassianus comes.
62 Be cross with him; and I’ll go fetch thy sons
63 To back thy quarrels, whatsoe’er they be.
64 [_Exit._]
65 BASSIANUS.
66 Who have we here? Rome’s royal empress,
67 Unfurnished of her well-beseeming troop?
68 Or is it Dian, habited like her,
69 Who hath abandoned her holy groves
70 To see the general hunting in this forest?
71 TAMORA.
72 Saucy controller of my private steps!
73 Had I the power that some say Dian had,
74 Thy temples should be planted presently
75 With horns, as was Actaeon’s; and the hounds
76 Should drive upon thy new-transformed limbs,
77 Unmannerly intruder as thou art.
78 LAVINIA.
79 Under your patience, gentle empress,
80 ’Tis thought you have a goodly gift in horning,
81 And to be doubted that your Moor and you
82 Are singled forth to try experiments.
83 Jove shield your husband from his hounds today!
84 ’Tis pity they should take him for a stag.
85 BASSIANUS.
86 Believe me, queen, your swarthy Cimmerian
87 Doth make your honour of his body’s hue,
88 Spotted, detested, and abominable.
89 Why are you sequestered from all your train,
90 Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed,
91 And wandered hither to an obscure plot,
92 Accompanied but with a barbarous Moor,
93 If foul desire had not conducted you?
94 LAVINIA.
95 And, being intercepted in your sport,
96 Great reason that my noble lord be rated
97 For sauciness. I pray you, let us hence,
98 And let her joy her raven-coloured love;
99 This valley fits the purpose passing well.
100 BASSIANUS.
101 The king my brother shall have notice of this.
102 LAVINIA.
103 Ay, for these slips have made him noted long.
104 Good king, to be so mightily abused!
105 TAMORA.
106 Why, I have patience to endure all this.
107 Enter Chiron and Demetrius.
108 DEMETRIUS.
109 How now, dear sovereign, and our gracious mother!
110 Why doth your highness look so pale and wan?
111 TAMORA.
112 Have I not reason, think you, to look pale?
113 These two have ticed me hither to this place,
114 A barren detested vale you see it is;
115 The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean,
116 Overcome with moss and baleful mistletoe.
117 Here never shines the sun, here nothing breeds,
118 Unless the nightly owl or fatal raven.
119 And when they showed me this abhorred pit,
120 They told me, here, at dead time of the night,
121 A thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes,
122 Ten thousand swelling toads, as many urchins,
123 Would make such fearful and confused cries
124 As any mortal body hearing it
125 Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly.
126 No sooner had they told this hellish tale
127 But straight they told me they would bind me here
128 Unto the body of a dismal yew,
129 And leave me to this miserable death.
130 And then they called me foul adulteress,
131 Lascivious Goth, and all the bitterest terms
132 That ever ear did hear to such effect.
133 And had you not by wondrous fortune come,
134 This vengeance on me had they executed.
135 Revenge it, as you love your mother’s life,
136 Or be ye not henceforth called my children.
137 DEMETRIUS.
138 This is a witness that I am thy son.
139 [_Stabs Bassianus._]
140 CHIRON.
141 And this for me, struck home to show my strength.
142 [_Also stabs Bassianus, who dies._]
143 LAVINIA.
144 Ay, come, Semiramis, nay, barbarous Tamora,
145 For no name fits thy nature but thy own!
146 TAMORA.
147 Give me thy poniard; you shall know, my boys,
148 Your mother’s hand shall right your mother’s wrong.
149 DEMETRIUS.
150 Stay, madam, here is more belongs to her.
151 First thrash the corn, then after burn the straw.
152 This minion stood upon her chastity,
153 Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty,
154 And with that painted hope braves your mightiness;
155 And shall she carry this unto her grave?
156 CHIRON.
157 And if she do, I would I were an eunuch.
158 Drag hence her husband to some secret hole,
159 And make his dead trunk pillow to our lust.
160 TAMORA.
161 But when ye have the honey ye desire,
162 Let not this wasp outlive, us both to sting.
163 CHIRON.
164 I warrant you, madam, we will make that sure.
165 Come, mistress, now perforce we will enjoy
166 That nice-preserved honesty of yours.
167 LAVINIA.
168 O Tamora, thou bearest a woman’s face,—
169 TAMORA.
170 I will not hear her speak; away with her!
171 LAVINIA.
172 Sweet lords, entreat her hear me but a word.
173 DEMETRIUS.
174 Listen, fair madam: let it be your glory
175 To see her tears; but be your heart to them
176 As unrelenting flint to drops of rain.
177 LAVINIA.
178 When did the tiger’s young ones teach the dam?
179 O, do not learn her wrath; she taught it thee;
180 The milk thou suck’st from her did turn to marble;
181 Even at thy teat thou hadst thy tyranny.
182 Yet every mother breeds not sons alike.
183 [_To Chiron_.] Do thou entreat her show a woman’s pity.
184 CHIRON.
185 What, wouldst thou have me prove myself a bastard?
186 LAVINIA.
187 ’Tis true the raven doth not hatch a lark.
188 Yet have I heard—O, could I find it now!—
189 The lion, moved with pity, did endure
190 To have his princely paws pared all away.
191 Some say that ravens foster forlorn children,
192 The whilst their own birds famish in their nests.
193 O, be to me, though thy hard heart say no,
194 Nothing so kind, but something pitiful.
195 TAMORA.
196 I know not what it means; away with her!
197 LAVINIA.
198 O, let me teach thee! For my father’s sake,
199 That gave thee life when well he might have slain thee,
200 Be not obdurate, open thy deaf ears.
201 TAMORA.
202 Hadst thou in person ne’er offended me,
203 Even for his sake am I pitiless.
204 Remember, boys, I poured forth tears in vain
205 To save your brother from the sacrifice,
206 But fierce Andronicus would not relent.
207 Therefore away with her, and use her as you will;
208 The worse to her, the better loved of me.
209 LAVINIA.
210 O Tamora, be called a gentle queen,
211 And with thine own hands kill me in this place!
212 For ’tis not life that I have begged so long;
213 Poor I was slain when Bassianus died.
214 TAMORA.
215 What begg’st thou, then? Fond woman, let me go.
216 LAVINIA.
217 ’Tis present death I beg; and one thing more
218 That womanhood denies my tongue to tell.
219 O, keep me from their worse than killing lust,
220 And tumble me into some loathsome pit,
221 Where never man’s eye may behold my body.
222 Do this, and be a charitable murderer.
223 TAMORA.
224 So should I rob my sweet sons of their fee.
225 No, let them satisfy their lust on thee.
226 DEMETRIUS.
227 Away, for thou hast stayed us here too long.
228 LAVINIA.
229 No grace, no womanhood? Ah, beastly creature,
230 The blot and enemy to our general name!
231 Confusion fall—
232 CHIRON.
233 Nay, then I’ll stop your mouth. Bring thou her husband.
234 This is the hole where Aaron bid us hide him.
235 [_They put Bassianus’s body in the pit and exit, carrying off
236 Lavinia._]
237 TAMORA.
238 Farewell, my sons. See that you make her sure.
239 Ne’er let my heart know merry cheer indeed
240 Till all the Andronici be made away.
241 Now will I hence to seek my lovely Moor,
242 And let my spleenful sons this trull deflower.
243 [_Exit._]
244 Enter Aaron with two of Titus’ sons, Quintus and Martius.
245 AARON.
246 Come on, my lords, the better foot before.
247 Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit
248 Where I espied the panther fast asleep.
249 QUINTUS.
250 My sight is very dull, whate’er it bodes.
251 MARTIUS.
252 And mine, I promise you. Were it not for shame,
253 Well could I leave our sport to sleep awhile.
254 [_He falls into the pit._]
255 QUINTUS.
256 What, art thou fallen? What subtle hole is this,
257 Whose mouth is covered with rude-growing briers,
258 Upon whose leaves are drops of new-shed blood
259 As fresh as morning dew distilled on flowers?
260 A very fatal place it seems to me.
261 Speak, brother, hast thou hurt thee with the fall?
262 MARTIUS.
263 O brother, with the dismall’st object hurt
264 That ever eye with sight made heart lament!
265 AARON.
266 [_Aside_.] Now will I fetch the king to find them here,
267 That he thereby may have a likely guess
268 How these were they that made away his brother.
269 [_Exit._]
270 MARTIUS.
271 Why dost not comfort me, and help me out
272 From this unhallowed and blood-stained hole?
273 QUINTUS.
274 I am surprised with an uncouth fear;
275 A chilling sweat o’er-runs my trembling joints.
276 My heart suspects more than mine eye can see.
277 MARTIUS.
278 To prove thou hast a true-divining heart,
279 Aaron and thou look down into this den,
280 And see a fearful sight of blood and death.
281 QUINTUS.
282 Aaron is gone, and my compassionate heart
283 Will not permit mine eyes once to behold
284 The thing whereat it trembles by surmise.
285 O, tell me who it is; for ne’er till now
286 Was I a child to fear I know not what.
287 MARTIUS.
288 Lord Bassianus lies berayed in blood,
289 All on a heap, like to a slaughtered lamb,
290 In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit.
291 QUINTUS.
292 If it be dark, how dost thou know ’tis he?
293 MARTIUS.
294 Upon his bloody finger he doth wear
295 A precious ring that lightens all the hole,
296 Which, like a taper in some monument,
297 Doth shine upon the dead man’s earthy cheeks,
298 And shows the ragged entrails of the pit.
299 So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus
300 When he by night lay bathed in maiden blood.
301 O brother, help me with thy fainting hand,
302 If fear hath made thee faint, as me it hath,
303 Out of this fell devouring receptacle,
304 As hateful as Cocytus’ misty mouth.
305 QUINTUS.
306 Reach me thy hand, that I may help thee out,
307 Or, wanting strength to do thee so much good,
308 I may be plucked into the swallowing womb
309 Of this deep pit, poor Bassianus’ grave.
310 I have no strength to pluck thee to the brink.
311 MARTIUS.
312 Nor I no strength to climb without thy help.
313 QUINTUS.
314 Thy hand once more; I will not loose again,
315 Till thou art here aloft, or I below.
316 Thou canst not come to me. I come to thee.
317 [_Falls in._]
318 Enter the Emperor Saturninus and Aaron the Moor.
319 SATURNINUS.
320 Along with me! I’ll see what hole is here,
321 And what he is that now is leapt into it.
322 Say, who art thou that lately didst descend
323 Into this gaping hollow of the earth?
324 MARTIUS.
325 The unhappy sons of old Andronicus,
326 Brought hither in a most unlucky hour,
327 To find thy brother Bassianus dead.
328 SATURNINUS.
329 My brother dead! I know thou dost but jest.
330 He and his lady both are at the lodge
331 Upon the north side of this pleasant chase;
332 ’Tis not an hour since I left them there.
333 MARTIUS.
334 We know not where you left them all alive;
335 But, out, alas, here have we found him dead.
336 Enter Tamora, Titus Andronicus and Lucius.
337 TAMORA.
338 Where is my lord the king?
339 SATURNINUS.
340 Here, Tamora; though grieved with killing grief.
341 TAMORA.
342 Where is thy brother Bassianus?
343 SATURNINUS.
344 Now to the bottom dost thou search my wound.
345 Poor Bassianus here lies murdered.
346 TAMORA.
347 Then all too late I bring this fatal writ,
348 The complot of this timeless tragedy;
349 And wonder greatly that man’s face can fold
350 In pleasing smiles such murderous tyranny.
351 [_She giveth Saturnine a letter._]
352 SATURNINUS.
353 [_Reads_.] _An if we miss to meet him handsomely,
354 Sweet huntsman, Bassianus ’tis we mean,
355 Do thou so much as dig the grave for him;
356 Thou know’st our meaning. Look for thy reward
357 Among the nettles at the elder-tree
358 Which overshades the mouth of that same pit
359 Where we decreed to bury Bassianus.
360 Do this, and purchase us thy lasting friends._
361 O Tamora, was ever heard the like?
362 This is the pit, and this the elder-tree.
363 Look, sirs, if you can find the huntsman out
364 That should have murdered Bassianus here.
365 AARON.
366 My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold.
367 [_Showing it._]
368 SATURNINUS.
369 [_To Titus_.] Two of thy whelps, fell curs of bloody kind,
370 Have here bereft my brother of his life.
371 Sirs, drag them from the pit unto the prison.
372 There let them bide until we have devised
373 Some never-heard-of torturing pain for them.
374 TAMORA.
375 What, are they in this pit? O wondrous thing!
376 How easily murder is discovered!
377 TITUS.
378 High emperor, upon my feeble knee
379 I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed,
380 That this fell fault of my accursed sons,
381 Accursed if the fault be proved in them—
382 SATURNINUS.
383 If it be proved! You see it is apparent.
384 Who found this letter? Tamora, was it you?
385 TAMORA.
386 Andronicus himself did take it up.
387 TITUS.
388 I did, my lord, yet let me be their bail;
389 For by my fathers’ reverend tomb I vow
390 They shall be ready at your highness’ will
391 To answer their suspicion with their lives.
392 SATURNINUS.
393 Thou shalt not bail them. See thou follow me.
394 Some bring the murdered body, some the murderers.
395 Let them not speak a word; the guilt is plain;
396 For, by my soul, were there worse end than death,
397 That end upon them should be executed.
398 TAMORA.
399 Andronicus, I will entreat the king.
400 Fear not thy sons; they shall do well enough.
401 TITUS.
402 Come, Lucius, come; stay not to talk with them.
403 [_Exeunt severally. Attendants bearing the body._]