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This do thou for my love; and fo let him,
As he regards his aged father's life.

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

Hark, wretches, how I mean to martyr you.
This one hand yet is left to cut your throats;
Whilft that Lavinia 'twixt her ftumps doth hold
[Exit. The bafon, that receives your guilty blood.
You know, your mother means to fealt with me,
[me; And calls herfelf Revenge, and thinks me mad,→→
Hark, villains; I will grind your bones to dust,
And with your blood and it I'll make a pafte;
And of the paste a coffin will I rear,

Tam. Now will I hence about thy business,
And take my minifters along with me.

Tit. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with
Or elfe I'll call my brother back again,
And cleave to no revenge but Lucius.

Tam. [to her fons.] What fay you, boys? will And make two pafties of your shameful heads;

you abide with him,

Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor,

How I have govern'd our determin'd jeft?
Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair,
And tarry with him 'till I come again.

Tit. I know them all, though they fuppote me
And will o'er-reach them in their own devices,
A pair of curfed hell-hounds, and their dam.

And bid that trumpet, your unhallow'd dam,
Like to the earth, fwallow her own increate.
This is the feat that I have bid her to,
And this the banquet fhe fhall furfeit on;
[mad;For worfe than Philomel you us'd my daughter,
And worie than Progne I will be reveng'd:
And now prepare your throats.-Lavinia, come,
Receive the blood: and, when that they are dead,
Let me ge grind their bones to powder small,
And with this hateful liquor temper it ;
And in that pafte let their vile heads be bak'd.
Come, come, be every one officious
To make this banquet; which I with might prove
More ftern and bloody than the Centaur's feaft.
[He cuts their throats.

[Afide. Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure, leave us here. Tam. Farewel, Andronicus: Revenge now goes To lay a complot to betray thy foes, [Exit Tamora. Tit. I know, thou doft; and, fweet Revenge, farewel.

[ploy'd

Chi. Tell us, old man, how fhall we b. emTit. Tut, I have work enough for you to do.-So, now bring them in, for I will play the cook, Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine! And fee them ready 'gainst their mother comes. [Exeunt.

Enter Publius, and Servants.

Pub. What is your will?

Tit. Know you these two?

Pub. The emperefs' fons,

I take them, Chiron, and Demetrius.

[ceiv'd;

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prifoner.

Luc. Uncle Marcus, fince it is my father's mind,

Tit. Fye, Publius, fye! thou art too much de-That I repair to Rome, I am content.

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

[Exit Titas. Chi. Villains, for bear; we are the emperets' fons. Pub. And therefore do we what we are commanded.-

Stop close their mouths, let them not speak a word:
Is he fure bound ? look, that you bind them faft.
Re-enter Titus Andronicus with a knife, and Lavinia
with a balen.

Tit. Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are

bound:

(mud;

Sirs, ftop their mouths, let them not fpeak to me;
But let them hear what fearful words I utter.-
O villains, Chiron and Demetrius !
Here ftands the spring whom you have stain'd with
This goodly fummer with your winter mix'd.
You kill'd her husband; and, for that vile fault,
Two of her brothers were condemn'd to death:

My hand cut off, and made a merry jeft: [dear
Both her tweet hands, her tongue, and that, more
Than hands or tongue, her fpotlefs chastity,
Inhuman traitors, you conftrain'd and forc'd.
What would you fay, if I thould let you speak ?
Villains, for fhame you could not beg for grace.

[will.

Goth. And ours with thine, befall what fortune

Lut. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous
This ravenous tiger, this accurfed devil; [Moor,
Let him receive no fuftenance, fetter him,
'Till he be brought unto the emperor's face,
For teftimony of thefe foul proceedings:
And fee the ambuth of our friends be strong;
I fear the emperor means no good to us

Aar. Some devil whifper curfes in mine ear,
And prompt me, that my tongue may utter forth
The venomous malice of my fwelling heart!

Luc. Away, inhuman dog! unhallow'd flave !----
[Exeunt Goths, with Aaron.
Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.— -[Flourish.
The trumpets fhew the emperor is at hand.
Sound trumpets. Enter Saturninus and Tamora, with
Tribunes and others.

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

Luc. What boots it thee to call thyfelf a fun?
Mar. Rome's emperor, and nephew, break the
parle 2;

Thefe quarrels must be quietly debated.
The feaft is ready, which the careful Titus
Hath ordain'd to an honourable end,

For peace, for love, for league, and good to Rome :
Pleafe you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your
places.
Sat. Marcus, we will.

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[Hautboys.

2 i. c. begin the parley. We yet say,

A table

Mar. But if my frofty figns and chaps of age,. Grave witneffes of true experience,

A table brought in. Enter Titus, like a conk, plac-[ Do fhameful execution on herself.
ing the meat on the table, and Lavinia, with a veil
over ber face.
Tit. Welcome, my gracious lord; welcome, Cannot induce you to attend my words,
Speak, Rome's dear friend; as erft our ancestor,
[To Lucius.
When with his folemn tongue he did difcourfe,
To love-fick Dido's fad attending car,
The flory of that baleful burning night,
When fubtle Greeks furpriz'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 Rome, the civil wound.-
My heart is not compact of flint, nor steel;
Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,

dread queen;
Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius;
And welcome, all: although the cheer be poor,
'Twill fill your ftomachs; please you eat of it.
Sat. Why art thou thus attir'd, Andronicus?
Tit. Because I would be fure to have all well,
To entertain your highnefs, and your emperefs.
Tam. We are beholden to you, good Andronicus.
Tit. An if your highness knew my heart, you

were.

My lord the emperor, refolve me this;
Was it well done of rafh Virginius,

To flay his daughter with his own right hand,
Because she was enforc'd, ftain'd, and deflower'd?
Sat. It was, Andronicus.

Tit. Your reafon, mighty lord?

[fhame,

Sat. Because the girl fhould not furvive her And by her prefence ftill renew his forrows.

Tit. A reaton mighty, strong, and effectual;
A pattern, precedent, and lively warrant,
For me moft wretched to perform the like :-
Die, die, Lavinia, and thy fhame with thee;
And, with thy fhame, thy father's forrow die!
[He kills ber.
Sat. What haft thou done, unnatural, and un-
kind?
[me blind.
Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made
I am as woeful as Virginius was:

And have a thousand times more caufe than he
To do this outrage and it is now done.

Sat. What, was the ravished? tell who did the
deed.
[highness feed?
Tit. Will't pleafe you eat? will't please your
Tam. Why haft thou flain thine only daughter
thus ?

Tit. 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.
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 herfelf hath bred.
'Tis true, 'tis true; witnefs my knife's fharp point.
[He flabs Tamara.
Sat. Die, frantick wretch, for this accurfed deed.
[He fabs Titus.
Luc. Can the fon's eye behold his father bleed?
There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.
[Lucius ftabs Saturninus.
Mar. You fad-fac'd men, people and fons of
Rome,

By uproar fever'd, like a flight of fowl
Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gufts,
O, let me teach you how to knit again
This fcatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf,
Thefe broken limbs again into one body.
Goth. Let Rome herself be bane unto herself;
And the, whom mighty kingdoms curtly to,
Like a forlorn and desperate caft-away,

But floods of tears will drown my oratory,
And break my very utterance; even in the time
When it should move you to attend me most,
Lending your kind commiferation :
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 curfed Chiron and Demetrius

Were they that murdered our emperor's brother ;
And they it was, that ravished our fifter:
For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded;
Our father's tears defpis'd; and bafely cozen'd
Of that true hand, that fought Rome's quarrel out,
And fent her enemies unto the grave.
Lastly, myfelf unkindly banished,
The gates fhut on me, and tum'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 preferv'd her welfare in my blood;
And from her bosom took the enemy's point,
Sheathing the steel in my advent'rous body.
Alas! you know, I am no vaunter, I;
My fears can witnefs, dumb although they are,
That my report is juft, and full of truth.
But, foft, methinks, I do digress too much,
Citing my worthlefs praife: O, pardon me;
For when no friends are by, men praise themselves.
Mar. Now is my turn to fpeak; Behold this
child,

Of this was Tamora delivered;
The iffue of an irreligious Moor,
Chief architect and plotter of thefe woes ;
The villain is alive in Titus' house,
And as he is, to witness this is true.
Now judge, what caufe had Titus to revenge
Thefe wrongs, unfpeakable, paft patience,
Or more than any living man could bear.
Now you have heard the truth, what say you,

Romans?

Have we done aught amifs? Shew us wherein,
And, from the place where you behold us now,
The poor remainder of Andronici
Will, hand in hand, all headlong caft us down,
And on the ragged ftones beat forth our brains,
And make a mutual clofure of our house.
Speak, Romans, fpeak: and if you say we shall,
Lo hand in hand, Lucius and I will fall.

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

Mar. Lucius, all hail : Rome's royal emperor !
Go, go into old Titus' forrowful houfe ;
And hither hale that mifbelieving Moor,
To be adjudg'd fome direful flaughtering death,
As punishment for his moft wicked life.
Lucius, all hail, Rome's gracious governor!

'Would I were dead, fo you did live again !-
O Lord, I cannot speak to him for weeping;
My tears will choak me, if I ope my mouth.
Enter Romans, with Aaron,

Rom. You fad Andronici, have done with woes;
Give fentence on this execrable wretch,
That hath been breeder of thefe dire events.

Luc. Set him breaft-deep in earth, and famish
him ;

There let him stand, and rave and cry for food:
If any one relieves or pities him,

Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans; May I govern fo,
To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe!
But, gentle people, give me aim a while,-
For nature puts me to a heavy task ;→
Stand all aloof ;-but, uncle, draw you near,
To fhed obfequious tears upon this trunk :--
O, take this warm kifs on thy pale cold lips,
[Kiles Titus.
Thefe forrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face,
The laft true duties of thy noble fon!
Mar. Ay, tear for tear, and loving kiss for kifs, I do repent it from my very soul.

For the offence he dies. This is our doom:
Some stay to fee him faften'd in the earth.

Aar. O, why fhould wrath be mute, and fury
dumb?

Thy brother Marcus tenders on thy lips;
O, were the fum of thefe that I fhould pay
Countless and infinite, yet would I pay them!

Luc. Come hither, boy; come, come, and learn

of us

I am no baby, I, that, with base prayers,
I fhould repent the evils I have done;
Ten thoufand, 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,

Luc. Some loving friends convey the emperor

hence,

And give him burial in his father's grave:
My father, and Lavinia, fhall forthwith
Be clofed in our houfhold's monument.

To melt in showers: Thy grandfire lov'd thee well: As for that heinous tyger, Tamora,
Many a time he danc'd thee on his knee,
Sung thee afleep, his loving breaft thy pillow;
Many a matter hath he told to thee,

No funeral rites, nor man in mournful weeds,
No mournful bell fhall ring her burial;

Meet, and agreeing with thine infancy;
In that refpect then, like a loving child,

But throw her forth to beafts, and birds of prey:
Her life was beaft-like, and devoid of pity;
And, being fo, fhall have like want of pity.

Shed yet some small drops from thy tender fpring, See juftice done on Aaron, that damn'd Moor,
Because kind nature doth require it fo:
Friends fhould affociate friends in grief and woe:
Bid him farewel; commit him to the grave;
Do him that kindness, and take leave of him. [heart
Boy. O grandfire, grandfire! even with all my

From whom our heavy haps had their beginning:
Then, afterwards, to order well the state;
That like events may ne'er it ruinate.

[Exeunt omnes.

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AGAMEMNON,

ACHILLES,
AJAX,

MENELAUS,

Greeks.

PATROCLUS,

THERSITES,

HELEN, Wife to Menelaus.
ANDROMACHE, Wife to Hector.

CASSANDRA, Daughter to Priam, a

Prophetes.

CRESSIDA, Daughter to Calchas.

ALEXANDER, Creffida's Servant.

Boy, Page to Troilus.

Servant to Diomed.

Trojan and Greek Soldiers, with other Attendants

SCENE, Troy, and the Grecian Camp before it.

PRO

L

IN Troy, there lies the scene. From ifles of Greece
The princes orgillous 2, their high blood chaf'd,
Have to the port of Athens fent their fhips
Fraught with the minifters and inftruments
Of cruel war: Sixty and nine, that wore
Their crownets regal, from the Athenian bay

Put forth toward Phrygia: and their vow is made
To ranfack Troy; within whofe ftrong immures
The ravib'd Helen, Menelaus' queen,

OGU E.

And Antenoridas) with mally faples,
And corresponsive and fulfilling 3 bolts,
Sperrs up the fans of Troy.-

4

Now expectation, tickling skittish fpirits,
On one and other fide, Trojan and Greek,
Sets all on hazard:-And hither am I come
A prologue arm'd,—but not in confidence
Of author's pen, or actor's voice; but fuited
In like conditions as our argument,

With wanton Paris fleeps; And that's the quarrel.To tell you, fair beholders, that our play
To Tenedos they come;

And the deep-drawing barks do there disgorge
Their warlike fraughtage: Now on Dardan plains
The fresh and yet unbruifed Greeks do pitch
Their brave pavilions: Priam's fix-gated city
(Dardan, and Thymbria, Ilias, Chetas, Troyan,

Leaps o'er the vaunt 5 and fiflings of those broils,
Ginning in the middle; farting thence away
To what may be digefled in a play.
Like, or find fault; do as your pleasures are;
Now good, or bad, 'tis but the chance of war.

ACT I.

S C E N E I.
Troy. Priam's palace.

Enter Pandarus and Troilus.

Troi. war without the

ALL here my varlet, I'll unarm again:

of Troy,

That find fuch cruel battle here within ?
Each Trojan, that is mafter of his heart,
Let him to field; Troilus, alas! hath none.
Pan. Will this geer ne'er be mended?
Troi. The Greeks are ftrong, and skilful to their
ftrength,

I Mr. Pope (after Dryden) informs us, that the ftory of Troilus and Creffida was originally the work of one Lollius, a Lombard; but Dryden goes yet further. He declares it to have been written in Latin verfe, and that Chaucer tranflated it. Lollius was a hiftoriographer of Urbino in Italy. Shakspeare received the greatcft part of his materials for the ftructure of this play from the Troy Boke of Lydgate, printed in 1513. Lydgate was not much more than a tranflator of Guido of Columpna, who was of Mcffina in Sicily, and wrote his Hiftory of Troy in Latin, after Dictys Cretenfis, and Dares Phrygius, in 1287. On thefe, as Mr. Warton obferves, he engrafted many new romantic inventions, which the taste of his age dictated, and which the connection between Grecian and Gothic fiction eafily admitted; at the fame time comprehending in his plan the Theban and Argonautic ftories from Ovid, Statius, and Valerius Flaccus. 2 i. e, proud, difdainful. 3 To fulfill in this place means to fill till there be no room for more. 4 To fperre, or Spar, from the old Teutonic word fperen, fignifies to shut up, defend by bars, &c. 5 i, e. the avant, what went before. word anciently fignified a fervant or footman to a knight or warrior.

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