TITUS ANDRONICUS 5.3

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TITUS ANDRONICUS 5.3

Court of TITUS's house. A banquet set out.

[Enter LUCIUS, MARCUS, and Goths, with AARON prisoner]

LUCIUS Uncle Marcus, since it is my father's mind

That I repair to Rome, I am content.

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

LUCIUS Good uncle, take you in this barbarous Moor,

This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil; 5

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. 10

AARON Some devil whisper curses in mine ear,

And prompt me, that my tongue may utter forth

The venomous malice of my swelling heart!

LUCIUS Away, inhuman dog! unhallow'd slave!

Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in. 15

[Exeunt Goths, with AARON. Flourish within]

The trumpets show the emperor is at hand.

[Enter SATURNINUS and TAMORA, with AEMILIUS,

Tribunes, Senators, and others]

SATURNINUS What, hath the firmament more suns than one?

LUCIUS What boots it thee to call thyself a sun?

MARCUS ANDRONICUS Rome's emperor, and nephew, break the parle;

These quarrels must be quietly debated. 20

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.

SATURNINUS Marcus, we will. 25

[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]

TITUS ANDRONICUS Welcome, my gracious lord; welcome, dread queen;

Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius;

And welcome, all: although the cheer be poor,

'Twill fill your stomachs; please you eat of it.

SATURNINUS Why art thou thus attired, Andronicus? 30

TITUS ANDRONICUS Because I would be sure to have all well,

To entertain your highness and your empress.

TAMORA We are beholding to you, good Andronicus.

TITUS ANDRONICUS An if your highness knew my heart, you were.

My lord the emperor, resolve me this: 35

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?

SATURNINUS It was, Andronicus.

TITUS ANDRONICUS Your reason, mighty lord? 40

SATURNINUS Because the girl should not survive her shame,

And by her presence still renew his sorrows.

TITUS ANDRONICUS A reason mighty, strong, and effectual;

A pattern, precedent, and lively warrant,

For me, most wretched, to perform the like. 45

Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee;

[Kills LAVINIA]

And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die!

SATURNINUS What hast thou done, unnatural and unkind?

TITUS ANDRONICUS Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made me blind.

I am as woful as Virginius was, 50

And have a thousand times more cause than he

To do this outrage: and it now is done.

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

TITUS ANDRONICUS Will't please you eat? will't please your

highness feed? 55

TAMORA Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus?

TITUS ANDRONICUS 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.

SATURNINUS Go fetch them hither to us presently. 60

TITUS ANDRONICUS 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]

SATURNINUS Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed! 65

[Kills TITUS]

LUCIUS Can the son's eye behold his father bleed?

There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed!

[Kills SATURNINUS. A great tumult. LUCIUS, MARCUS,

and others go up into the balcony]

MARCUS ANDRONICUS You sad-faced men, people and sons of Rome,

By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl

Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts, 70

O, let me teach you how to knit again

This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,

These broken limbs again into one body;

Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself,

And she whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to, 75

Like a forlorn and desperate castaway,

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, 80

[To LUCIUS]

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 night

When subtle Greeks surprised King Priam's Troy, 85

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, 90

But floods of tears will drown my oratory,

And break my utterance, even in the time

When it should move you to attend me most,

Lending your kind commiseration.

Here is a captain, let him tell the tale; 95

Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him speak.

LUCIUS 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: 100

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 the grave.

Lastly, myself unkindly banished, 105

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 forth, be it known to you, 110

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, 115

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.

MARCUS ANDRONICUS Now is my turn to speak. Behold this child: 120

[Pointing 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 as he is, to witness this is true. 125

Now judge what cause had Titus to revenge

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,--show us wherein, 130

And, from the place where you behold us now,

The poor remainder of Andronici

Will, hand in hand, all headlong cast us down.

And on the ragged stones beat forth our brains,

And make a mutual closure of our house. 135

Speak, Romans, speak; and if you say we shall,

Lo, hand in hand, Lucius and I will fall.

AEMILIUS Come, come, thou reverend man of Rome,

And bring our emperor gently in thy hand,

Lucius our emperor; for well I know 140

The common voice do cry it shall be so.

All Lucius, all hail, Rome's royal emperor!

MARCUS ANDRONICUS Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house,

[To Attendants]

And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,

To be adjudged some direful slaughtering death, 145

As punishment for his most wicked life.

[Exeunt Attendants]

[LUCIUS, MARCUS, and the others descend]

All Lucius, all hail, Rome's gracious governor!

LUCIUS Thanks, gentle Romans: may I govern so,

To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe!

But, gentle people, give me aim awhile, 150

For nature puts me to a heavy task:

Stand all aloof: but, uncle, draw you near,

To shed obsequious tears upon this trunk.

O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips,

[Kissing TITUS]

These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face, 155

The last true duties of thy noble son!

MARCUS ANDRONICUS Tear 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! 160

LUCIUS 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, 165

Meet and agreeing with thine 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: 170

Bid him farewell; commit him to the grave;

Do him that kindness, and take leave of him.

Young LUCIUS O grandsire, grandsire! even with all my heart

Would I were dead, so you did live again!

O Lord, I cannot speak to him for weeping; 175

My tears will choke me, if I ope my mouth.

[Re-enter Attendants with AARON]

AEMILIUS You sad Andronici, have done with woes:

Give sentence on this execrable wretch,

That hath been breeder of these dire events.

LUCIUS Set him breast-deep in earth, and famish him; 180

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.

AARON O, why should wrath be mute, and fury dumb? 185

I am no baby, I, that with base prayers

I should repent the evils 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, 190

I do repent it from my very soul.

LUCIUS Some loving friends convey the emperor hence,

And give him burial in his father's grave:

My father and Lavinia shall forthwith

Be closed in our household's monument. 195

As for that heinous tiger, Tamora,

No funeral rite, nor man m mourning weeds,

No mournful bell shall ring her burial;

But throw her forth to beasts and birds of prey:

Her life was beast-like, and devoid of pity; 200

And, being so, shall have like want of pity.

See justice done on Aaron, that damn'd Moor,

By whom our heavy haps had their beginning:

Then, afterwards, to order well the state,

That like events may ne'er it ruinate. 205

[Exeunt]

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

LUCIUS	Good uncle, take you in this barbarous Moor,
	This ravenous tiger, this accursed devil;	5
	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.	10

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

LUCIUS	Away, inhuman dog! unhallow'd slave!
	Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.	15
	[Exeunt Goths, with AARON. Flourish within]
	The trumpets show the emperor is at hand.
	[Enter SATURNINUS and TAMORA, with AEMILIUS,
	Tribunes, Senators, and others]

MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Rome's emperor, and nephew, break the parle;
	These quarrels must be quietly debated.	20
	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.

SATURNINUS	Marcus, we will.	25
	[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]

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

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

TITUS ANDRONICUS	An if your highness knew my heart, you were.
	My lord the emperor, resolve me this:	35
	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?

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

TITUS ANDRONICUS	A reason mighty, strong, and effectual;
	A pattern, precedent, and lively warrant,
	For me, most wretched, to perform the like.	45
	Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee;
	[Kills LAVINIA]
	And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die!

TITUS ANDRONICUS	Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made me blind.
	I am as woful as Virginius was,	50
	And have a thousand times more cause than he
	To do this outrage: and it now is done.

TITUS ANDRONICUS		Will't please you eat? will't please your
		highness feed?	55

TITUS ANDRONICUS		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.

TITUS ANDRONICUS		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]

SATURNINUS		Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed!	65
		[Kills TITUS]

LUCIUS		Can the son's eye behold his father bleed?
		There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed!
		[Kills SATURNINUS. A great tumult. LUCIUS, MARCUS,
		and others go up into the balcony]

MARCUS ANDRONICUS	You sad-faced men, people and sons of Rome,
	By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl
	Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,	70
	O, let me teach you how to knit again
	This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
	These broken limbs again into one body;
	Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself,
	And she whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to,	75
	Like a forlorn and desperate castaway,
	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,	80
	[To LUCIUS]
	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 night
	When subtle Greeks surprised King Priam's Troy,	85
	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,	90
	But floods of tears will drown my oratory,
	And break my utterance, even in the time
	When it should move you to attend me most,
	Lending your kind commiseration.
	Here is a captain, let him tell the tale;	95
	Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him speak.

LUCIUS	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:	100
	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 the grave.
	Lastly, myself unkindly banished,	105
	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 forth, be it known to you,	110
	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,	115
	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.

MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Now is my turn to speak. Behold this child:	120
	[Pointing 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 as he is, to witness this is true.	125
	Now judge what cause had Titus to revenge
	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,--show us wherein,	130
	And, from the place where you behold us now,
	The poor remainder of Andronici
	Will, hand in hand, all headlong cast us down.
	And on the ragged stones beat forth our brains,
	And make a mutual closure of our house.	135
	Speak, Romans, speak; and if you say we shall,
	Lo, hand in hand, Lucius and I will fall.

AEMILIUS	Come, come, thou reverend man of Rome,
	And bring our emperor gently in thy hand,
	Lucius our emperor; for well I know	140
	The common voice do cry it shall be so.

MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house,
	[To Attendants]
	And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
	To be adjudged some direful slaughtering death,	145
	As punishment for his most wicked life.
	[Exeunt Attendants]
	[LUCIUS, MARCUS, and the others descend]

LUCIUS	Thanks, gentle Romans: may I govern so,
	To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe!
	But, gentle people, give me aim awhile,	150
	For nature puts me to a heavy task:
	Stand all aloof: but, uncle, draw you near,
	To shed obsequious tears upon this trunk.
	O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips,
	[Kissing TITUS]
	These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face,	155
	The last true duties of thy noble son!

MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Tear 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!	160

LUCIUS	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,	165
	Meet and agreeing with thine 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:	170
	Bid him farewell; commit him to the grave;
	Do him that kindness, and take leave of him.

Young LUCIUS	O grandsire, grandsire! even with all my heart
	Would I were dead, so you did live again!
	O Lord, I cannot speak to him for weeping;	175
	My tears will choke me, if I ope my mouth.
	[Re-enter Attendants with AARON]

AEMILIUS		You sad Andronici, have done with woes:
		Give sentence on this execrable wretch,
		That hath been breeder of these dire events.

LUCIUS	Set him breast-deep in earth, and famish him;	180
	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.

AARON	O, why should wrath be mute, and fury dumb?	185
	I am no baby, I, that with base prayers
	I should repent the evils 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,	190
	I do repent it from my very soul.

LUCIUS	Some loving friends convey the emperor hence,
	And give him burial in his father's grave:
	My father and Lavinia shall forthwith
	Be closed in our household's monument.	195
	As for that heinous tiger, Tamora,
	No funeral rite, nor man m mourning weeds,
	No mournful bell shall ring her burial;
	But throw her forth to beasts and birds of prey:
	Her life was beast-like, and devoid of pity;	200
	And, being so, shall have like want of pity.
	See justice done on Aaron, that damn'd Moor,
	By whom our heavy haps had their beginning:
	Then, afterwards, to order well the state,
	That like events may ne'er it ruinate.	205
	[Exeunt]