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Speeches (Lines) for Titus Andronicus
in "Titus Andronicus"

Total: 117

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# Act, Scene, Line
(Click to see in context)
Speech text

1

I,1,86

Captain. Romans, make way: the good Andronicus.
Patron of virtue, Rome's best champion,
Successful in the battles that he fights,
With honour and with fortune is return'd
From where he circumscribed with his sword,
And brought to yoke, the enemies of Rome.
[Drums and trumpets sounded. Enter MARTIUS and]
MUTIUS; After them, two Men bearing a coffin
covered with black; then LUCIUS and QUINTUS. After
them, TITUS ANDRONICUS; and then TAMORA, with
ALARBUS, DEMETRIUS, CHIRON, AARON, and other Goths,
prisoners; Soldiers and people following. The
Bearers set down the coffin, and TITUS speaks]

Titus Andronicus. Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning weeds!
Lo, as the bark, that hath discharged her fraught,
Returns with precious jading to the bay
From whence at first she weigh'd her anchorage,
Cometh Andronicus, bound with laurel boughs,
To re-salute his country with his tears,
Tears of true joy for his return to Rome.
Thou great defender of this Capitol,
Stand gracious to the rites that we intend!
Romans, of five and twenty valiant sons,
Half of the number that King Priam had,
Behold the poor remains, alive and dead!
These that survive let Rome reward with love;
These that I bring unto their latest home,
With burial amongst their ancestors:
Here Goths have given me leave to sheathe my sword.
Titus, unkind and careless of thine own,
Why suffer'st thou thy sons, unburied yet,
To hover on the dreadful shore of Styx?
Make way to lay them by their brethren.
[The tomb is opened]
There greet in silence, as the dead are wont,
And sleep in peace, slain in your country's wars!
O sacred receptacle of my joys,
Sweet cell of virtue and nobility,
How many sons of mine hast thou in store,
That thou wilt never render to me more!


2

I,1,119

Lucius. Give us the proudest prisoner of the Goths,
That we may hew his limbs, and on a pile
Ad manes fratrum sacrifice his flesh,
Before this earthy prison of their bones;
That so the shadows be not unappeased,
Nor we disturb'd with prodigies on earth.

Titus Andronicus. I give him you, the noblest that survives,
The eldest son of this distressed queen.


3

I,1,138

Tamora. Stay, Roman brethren! Gracious conqueror,
Victorious Titus, rue the tears I shed,
A mother's tears in passion for her son:
And if thy sons were ever dear to thee,
O, think my son to be as dear to me!
Sufficeth not that we are brought to Rome,
To beautify thy triumphs and return,
Captive to thee and to thy Roman yoke,
But must my sons be slaughter'd in the streets,
For valiant doings in their country's cause?
O, if to fight for king and commonweal
Were piety in thine, it is in these.
Andronicus, stain not thy tomb with blood:
Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods?
Draw near them then in being merciful:
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge:
Thrice noble Titus, spare my first-born son.

Titus Andronicus. Patient yourself, madam, and pardon me.
These are their brethren, whom you Goths beheld
Alive and dead, and for their brethren slain
Religiously they ask a sacrifice:
To this your son is mark'd, and die he must,
To appease their groaning shadows that are gone.


4

I,1,168

Lucius. See, lord and father, how we have perform'd
Our Roman rites: Alarbus' limbs are lopp'd,
And entrails feed the sacrificing fire,
Whose smoke, like incense, doth perfume the sky.
Remaineth nought, but to inter our brethren,
And with loud 'larums welcome them to Rome.

Titus Andronicus. Let it be so; and let Andronicus
Make this his latest farewell to their souls.
[Trumpets sounded, and the coffin laid in the tomb]
In peace and honour rest you here, my sons;
Rome's readiest champions, repose you here in rest,
Secure from worldly chances and mishaps!
Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells,
Here grow no damned grudges; here are no storms,
No noise, but silence and eternal sleep:
In peace and honour rest you here, my sons!


5

I,1,187

Lavinia. In peace and honour live Lord Titus long;
My noble lord and father, live in fame!
Lo, at this tomb my tributary tears
I render, for my brethren's obsequies;
And at thy feet I kneel, with tears of joy,
Shed on the earth, for thy return to Rome:
O, bless me here with thy victorious hand,
Whose fortunes Rome's best citizens applaud!

Titus Andronicus. Kind Rome, that hast thus lovingly reserved
The cordial of mine age to glad my heart!
Lavinia, live; outlive thy father's days,
And fame's eternal date, for virtue's praise!
[Enter, below, MARCUS ANDRONICUS and Tribunes;]
re-enter SATURNINUS and BASSIANUS, attended]


6

I,1,195

Marcus Andronicus. Long live Lord Titus, my beloved brother,
Gracious triumpher in the eyes of Rome!

Titus Andronicus. Thanks, gentle tribune, noble brother Marcus.


7

I,1,211

Marcus Andronicus. And welcome, nephews, from successful wars,
You that survive, and you that sleep in fame!
Fair lords, your fortunes are alike in all,
That in your country's service drew your swords:
But safer triumph is this funeral pomp,
That hath aspired to Solon's happiness
And triumphs over chance in honour's bed.
Titus Andronicus, the people of Rome,
Whose friend in justice thou hast ever been,
Send thee by me, their tribune and their trust,
This palliament of white and spotless hue;
And name thee in election for the empire,
With these our late-deceased emperor's sons:
Be candidatus then, and put it on,
And help to set a head on headless Rome.

Titus Andronicus. A better head her glorious body fits
Than his that shakes for age and feebleness:
What should I don this robe, and trouble you?
Be chosen with proclamations to-day,
To-morrow yield up rule, resign my life,
And set abroad new business for you all?
Rome, I have been thy soldier forty years,
And led my country's strength successfully,
And buried one and twenty valiant sons,
Knighted in field, slain manfully in arms,
In right and service of their noble country
Give me a staff of honour for mine age,
But not a sceptre to control the world:
Upright he held it, lords, that held it last.


8

I,1,227

Saturninus. Proud and ambitious tribune, canst thou tell?

Titus Andronicus. Patience, Prince Saturninus.


9

I,1,235

Lucius. Proud Saturnine, interrupter of the good
That noble-minded Titus means to thee!

Titus Andronicus. Content thee, prince; I will restore to thee
The people's hearts, and wean them from themselves.


10

I,1,242

Bassianus. 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.

Titus Andronicus. People of Rome, and people's tribunes here,
I ask your voices and your suffrages:
Will you bestow them friendly on Andronicus?


11

I,1,248

Tribunes. To gratify the good Andronicus,
And gratulate his safe return to Rome,
The people will accept whom he admits.

Titus Andronicus. Tribunes, I thank you: and this suit I make,
That you create your emperor's eldest son,
Lord Saturnine; whose virtues will, I hope,
Reflect on Rome as Titan's rays on earth,
And ripen justice in this commonweal:
Then, if you will elect by my advice,
Crown him and say 'Long live our emperor!'


12

I,1,270

Saturninus. Titus Andronicus, for thy favors done
To us in our election this day,
I give thee thanks in part of thy deserts,
And will with deeds requite thy gentleness:
And, for an onset, Titus, to advance
Thy name and honourable family,
Lavinia will I make my empress,
Rome's royal mistress, mistress of my heart,
And in the sacred Pantheon her espouse:
Tell me, Andronicus, doth this motion please thee?

Titus Andronicus. It doth, my worthy lord; and in this match
I hold me highly honour'd of your grace:
And here in sight of Rome to Saturnine,
King and commander of our commonweal,
The wide world's emperor, do I consecrate
My sword, my chariot and my prisoners;
Presents well worthy Rome's imperial lord:
Receive them then, the tribute that I owe,
Mine honour's ensigns humbled at thy feet.


13

I,1,284

Saturninus. Thanks, noble Titus, father of my life!
How proud I am of thee and of thy gifts
Rome shall record, and when I do forget
The least of these unspeakable deserts,
Romans, forget your fealty to me.

Titus Andronicus. [To TAMORA] Now, madam, are you prisoner to
an emperor;
To him that, for your honour and your state,
Will use you nobly and your followers.


14

I,1,306

(stage directions). [Seizing LAVINIA]

Titus Andronicus. How, sir! are you in earnest then, my lord?


15

I,1,312

Lucius. And that he will, and shall, if Lucius live.

Titus Andronicus. Traitors, avaunt! Where is the emperor's guard?
Treason, my lord! Lavinia is surprised!


16

I,1,321

(stage directions). [Exeunt LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and MARTIUS]

Titus Andronicus. Follow, my lord, and I'll soon bring her back.


17

I,1,323

Mutius. My lord, you pass not here.

Titus Andronicus. What, villain boy!
Barr'st me my way in Rome?


18

I,1,333

Lucius. My lord, you are unjust, and, more than so,
In wrongful quarrel you have slain your son.

Titus Andronicus. Nor thou, nor he, are any sons of mine;
My sons would never so dishonour me:
Traitor, restore Lavinia to the emperor.


19

I,1,348

Saturninus. No, Titus, no; the emperor needs her not,
Nor her, nor thee, nor any of thy stock:
I'll trust, by leisure, him that mocks me once;
Thee never, nor thy traitorous haughty sons,
Confederates all thus to dishonour me.
Was there none else in Rome to make a stale,
But Saturnine? Full well, Andronicus,
Agree these deeds with that proud brag of thine,
That said'st I begg'd the empire at thy hands.

Titus Andronicus. O monstrous! what reproachful words are these?


20

I,1,354

Saturninus. But go thy ways; go, give that changing piece
To him that flourish'd for her with his sword
A valiant son-in-law thou shalt enjoy;
One fit to bandy with thy lawless sons,
To ruffle in the commonwealth of Rome.

Titus Andronicus. These words are razors to my wounded heart.


21

I,1,379

(stage directions). [Exeunt all but TITUS]

Titus Andronicus. I am not bid to wait upon this bride.
Titus, when wert thou wont to walk alone,
Dishonour'd thus, and challenged of wrongs?


22

I,1,385

Marcus Andronicus. O Titus, see, O, see what thou hast done!
In a bad quarrel slain a virtuous son.

Titus Andronicus. No, foolish tribune, no; no son of mine,
Nor thou, nor these, confederates in the deed
That hath dishonour'd all our family;
Unworthy brother, and unworthy sons!


23

I,1,391

Lucius. But let us give him burial, as becomes;
Give Mutius burial with our brethren.

Titus Andronicus. Traitors, away! he rests not in this tomb:
This monument five hundred years hath stood,
Which I have sumptuously re-edified:
Here none but soldiers and Rome's servitors
Repose in fame; none basely slain in brawls:
Bury him where you can; he comes not here.


24

I,1,401

Quintus. And shall, or him we will accompany.

Titus Andronicus. 'And shall!' what villain was it that spake
that word?


25

I,1,404

Quintus. He that would vouch it in any place but here.

Titus Andronicus. What, would you bury him in my despite?


26

I,1,407

Marcus Andronicus. No, noble Titus, but entreat of thee
To pardon Mutius and to bury him.

Titus Andronicus. Marcus, even thou hast struck upon my crest,
And, with these boys, mine honour thou hast wounded:
My foes I do repute you every one;
So, trouble me no more, but get you gone.


27

I,1,416

Quintus. Father, and in that name doth nature speak,—

Titus Andronicus. Speak thou no more, if all the rest will speed.


28

I,1,428

Marcus Andronicus. Suffer thy brother Marcus to inter
His noble nephew here in virtue's nest,
That died in honour and Lavinia's cause.
Thou art a Roman; be not barbarous:
The Greeks upon advice did bury Ajax
That slew himself; and wise Laertes' son
Did graciously plead for his funerals:
Let not young Mutius, then, that was thy joy
Be barr'd his entrance here.

Titus Andronicus. Rise, Marcus, rise.
The dismall'st day is this that e'er I saw,
To be dishonour'd by my sons in Rome!
Well, bury him, and bury me the next.


29

I,1,440

Marcus Andronicus. My lord, to step out of these dreary dumps,
How comes it that the subtle Queen of Goths
Is of a sudden thus advanced in Rome?

Titus Andronicus. I know not, Marcus; but I know it is,
Whether by device or no, the heavens can tell:
Is she not then beholding to the man
That brought her for this high good turn so far?
Yes, and will nobly him remunerate.
[Flourish. Re-enter, from one side, SATURNINUS]
attended, TAMORA, DEMETRIUS, CHIRON and AARON; from
the other, BASSIANUS, LAVINIA, and others]


30

I,1,473

Bassianus. My lord, what I have done, as best I may,
Answer I must and shall do with my life.
Only thus much I give your grace to know:
By all the duties that I owe to Rome,
This noble gentleman, Lord Titus here,
Is in opinion and in honour wrong'd;
That in the rescue of Lavinia
With his own hand did slay his youngest son,
In zeal to you and highly moved to wrath
To be controll'd in that he frankly gave:
Receive him, then, to favor, Saturnine,
That hath express'd himself in all his deeds
A father and a friend to thee and Rome.

Titus Andronicus. Prince Bassianus, leave to plead my deeds:
'Tis thou and those that have dishonour'd me.
Rome and the righteous heavens be my judge,
How I have loved and honour'd Saturnine!


31

I,1,511

Saturninus. Rise, Titus, rise; my empress hath prevail'd.

Titus Andronicus. I thank your majesty, and her, my lord:
These words, these looks, infuse new life in me.


32

I,1,542

Saturninus. Marcus, for thy sake and thy brother's here,
And at my lovely Tamora's entreats,
I do remit these young men's heinous faults: Stand up.
Lavinia, though you left me like a churl,
I found a friend, and sure as death I swore
I would not part a bachelor from the priest.
Come, if the emperor's court can feast two brides,
You are my guest, Lavinia, and your friends.
This day shall be a love-day, Tamora.

Titus Andronicus. To-morrow, an it please your majesty
To hunt the panther and the hart with me,
With horn and hound we'll give your grace bonjour.


33

II,2,697

(stage directions). [Enter TITUS ANDRONICUS, with Hunters, &c., MARCUS,]
LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and MARTIUS]

Titus Andronicus. The hunt is up, the morn is bright and grey,
The fields are fragrant and the woods are green:
Uncouple here and let us make a bay
And wake the emperor and his lovely bride
And rouse the prince and ring a hunter's peal,
That all the court may echo with the noise.
Sons, let it be your charge, as it is ours,
To attend the emperor's person carefully:
I have been troubled in my sleep this night,
But dawning day new comfort hath inspired.
[A cry of hounds and horns, winded in a peal. Enter]
SATURNINUS, TAMORA, BASSIANUS, LAVINIA, DEMETRIUS,
CHIRON, and Attendants]
Many good morrows to your majesty;
Madam, to you as many and as good:
I promised your grace a hunter's peal.


34

II,2,726

Marcus Andronicus. I have dogs, my lord,
Will rouse the proudest panther in the chase,
And climb the highest promontory top.

Titus Andronicus. And I have horse will follow where the game
Makes way, and run like swallows o'er the plain.


35

II,3,1041

Tamora. What, are they in this pit? O wondrous thing!
How easily murder is discovered!

Titus Andronicus. High emperor, upon my feeble knee
I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed,
That this fell fault of my accursed sons,
Accursed if the fault be proved in them,—


36

II,3,1048

Tamora. Andronicus himself did take it up.

Titus Andronicus. I did, my lord: yet let me be their bail;
For, by my father's reverend tomb, I vow
They shall be ready at your highness' will
To answer their suspicion with their lives.


37

II,3,1059

Tamora. Andronicus, I will entreat the king;
Fear not thy sons; they shall do well enough.

Titus Andronicus. Come, Lucius, come; stay not to talk with them.


38

III,1,1126

(stage directions). [Enter Judges, Senators and Tribunes, with MARTIUS]
and QUINTUS, bound, passing on to the place of
execution; TITUS going before, pleading]

Titus Andronicus. Hear me, grave fathers! noble tribunes, stay!
For pity of mine age, whose youth was spent
In dangerous wars, whilst you securely slept;
For all my blood in Rome's great quarrel shed;
For all the frosty nights that I have watch'd;
And for these bitter tears, which now you see
Filling the aged wrinkles in my cheeks;
Be pitiful to my condemned sons,
Whose souls are not corrupted as 'tis thought.
For two and twenty sons I never wept,
Because they died in honour's lofty bed.
[Lieth down; the Judges, &c., pass by him, and Exeunt]
For these, these, tribunes, in the dust I write
My heart's deep languor and my soul's sad tears:
Let my tears stanch the earth's dry appetite;
My sons' sweet blood will make it shame and blush.
O earth, I will befriend thee more with rain,
That shall distil from these two ancient urns,
Than youthful April shall with all his showers:
In summer's drought I'll drop upon thee still;
In winter with warm tears I'll melt the snow
And keep eternal spring-time on thy face,
So thou refuse to drink my dear sons' blood.
[Enter LUCIUS, with his sword drawn]
O reverend tribunes! O gentle, aged men!
Unbind my sons, reverse the doom of death;
And let me say, that never wept before,
My tears are now prevailing orators.


39

III,1,1157

Lucius. O noble father, you lament in vain:
The tribunes hear you not; no man is by;
And you recount your sorrows to a stone.

Titus Andronicus. Ah, Lucius, for thy brothers let me plead.
Grave tribunes, once more I entreat of you,—


40

III,1,1160

Lucius. My gracious lord, no tribune hears you speak.

Titus Andronicus. Why, tis no matter, man; if they did hear,
They would not mark me, or if they did mark,
They would not pity me, yet plead I must;
And bootless unto them [—]
Therefore I tell my sorrows to the stones;
Who, though they cannot answer my distress,
Yet in some sort they are better than the tribunes,
For that they will not intercept my tale:
When I do weep, they humbly at my feet
Receive my tears and seem to weep with me;
And, were they but attired in grave weeds,
Rome could afford no tribune like to these.
A stone is soft as wax,—tribunes more hard than stones;
A stone is silent, and offendeth not,
And tribunes with their tongues doom men to death.
[Rises]
But wherefore stand'st thou with thy weapon drawn?


41

III,1,1180

Lucius. To rescue my two brothers from their death:
For which attempt the judges have pronounced
My everlasting doom of banishment.

Titus Andronicus. O happy man! they have befriended thee.
Why, foolish Lucius, dost thou not perceive
That Rome is but a wilderness of tigers?
Tigers must prey, and Rome affords no prey
But me and mine: how happy art thou, then,
From these devourers to be banished!
But who comes with our brother Marcus here?


42

III,1,1191

Marcus Andronicus. Titus, prepare thy aged eyes to weep;
Or, if not so, thy noble heart to break:
I bring consuming sorrow to thine age.

Titus Andronicus. Will it consume me? let me see it, then.


43

III,1,1193

Marcus Andronicus. This was thy daughter.

Titus Andronicus. Why, Marcus, so she is.


44

III,1,1195

Lucius. Ay me, this object kills me!

Titus Andronicus. Faint-hearted boy, arise, and look upon her.
Speak, Lavinia, what accursed hand
Hath made thee handless in thy father's sight?
What fool hath added water to the sea,
Or brought a faggot to bright-burning Troy?
My grief was at the height before thou camest,
And now like Nilus, it disdaineth bounds.
Give me a sword, I'll chop off my hands too;
For they have fought for Rome, and all in vain;
And they have nursed this woe, in feeding life;
In bootless prayer have they been held up,
And they have served me to effectless use:
Now all the service I require of them
Is that the one will help to cut the other.
'Tis well, Lavinia, that thou hast no hands;
For hands, to do Rome service, are but vain.


45

III,1,1221

Marcus Andronicus. O, thus I found her, straying in the park,
Seeking to hide herself, as doth the deer
That hath received some unrecuring wound.

Titus Andronicus. It was my deer; and he that wounded her
Hath hurt me more than had he killed me dead:
For now I stand as one upon a rock
Environed with a wilderness of sea,
Who marks the waxing tide grow wave by wave,
Expecting ever when some envious surge
Will in his brinish bowels swallow him.
This way to death my wretched sons are gone;
Here stands my other son, a banished man,
And here my brother, weeping at my woes.
But that which gives my soul the greatest spurn,
Is dear Lavinia, dearer than my soul.
Had I but seen thy picture in this plight,
It would have madded me: what shall I do
Now I behold thy lively body so?
Thou hast no hands, to wipe away thy tears:
Nor tongue, to tell me who hath martyr'd thee:
Thy husband he is dead: and for his death
Thy brothers are condemn'd, and dead by this.
Look, Marcus! ah, son Lucius, look on her!
When I did name her brothers, then fresh tears
Stood on her cheeks, as doth the honey-dew
Upon a gather'd lily almost wither'd.


46

III,1,1246

Marcus Andronicus. Perchance she weeps because they kill'd her husband;
Perchance because she knows them innocent.

Titus Andronicus. If they did kill thy husband, then be joyful
Because the law hath ta'en revenge on them.
No, no, they would not do so foul a deed;
Witness the sorrow that their sister makes.
Gentle Lavinia, let me kiss thy lips.
Or make some sign how I may do thee ease:
Shall thy good uncle, and thy brother Lucius,
And thou, and I, sit round about some fountain,
Looking all downwards to behold our cheeks
How they are stain'd, as meadows, yet not dry,
With miry slime left on them by a flood?
And in the fountain shall we gaze so long
Till the fresh taste be taken from that clearness,
And made a brine-pit with our bitter tears?
Or shall we cut away our hands, like thine?
Or shall we bite our tongues, and in dumb shows
Pass the remainder of our hateful days?
What shall we do? let us, that have our tongues,
Plot some deuce of further misery,
To make us wonder'd at in time to come.


47

III,1,1269

Marcus Andronicus. Patience, dear niece. Good Titus, dry thine eyes.

Titus Andronicus. Ah, Marcus, Marcus! brother, well I wot
Thy napkin cannot drink a tear of mine,
For thou, poor man, hast drown'd it with thine own.


48

III,1,1273

Lucius. Ah, my Lavinia, I will wipe thy cheeks.

Titus Andronicus. Mark, Marcus, mark! I understand her signs:
Had she a tongue to speak, now would she say
That to her brother which I said to thee:
His napkin, with his true tears all bewet,
Can do no service on her sorrowful cheeks.
O, what a sympathy of woe is this,
As far from help as Limbo is from bliss!


49

III,1,1288

Aaron. Titus Andronicus, my lord the emperor
Sends thee this word,—that, if thou love thy sons,
Let Marcus, Lucius, or thyself, old Titus,
Or any one of you, chop off your hand,
And send it to the king: he for the same
Will send thee hither both thy sons alive;
And that shall be the ransom for their fault.

Titus Andronicus. O gracious emperor! O gentle Aaron!
Did ever raven sing so like a lark,
That gives sweet tidings of the sun's uprise?
With all my heart, I'll send the emperor My hand:
Good Aaron, wilt thou help to chop it off?


50

III,1,1309

Lucius. By heaven, it shall not go!

Titus Andronicus. Sirs, strive no more: such wither'd herbs as these
Are meet for plucking up, and therefore mine.


51

III,1,1315

Marcus Andronicus. And, for our father's sake and mother's care,
Now let me show a brother's love to thee.

Titus Andronicus. Agree between you; I will spare my hand.


52

III,1,1319

(stage directions). [Exeunt LUCIUS and MARCUS]

Titus Andronicus. Come hither, Aaron; I'll deceive them both:
Lend me thy hand, and I will give thee mine.


53

III,1,1327

(stage directions). [Re-enter LUCIUS and MARCUS]

Titus Andronicus. Now stay your strife: what shall be is dispatch'd.
Good Aaron, give his majesty my hand:
Tell him it was a hand that warded him
From thousand dangers; bid him bury it
More hath it merited; that let it have.
As for my sons, say I account of them
As jewels purchased at an easy price;
And yet dear too, because I bought mine own.


54

III,1,1343

(stage directions). [Exit]

Titus Andronicus. O, here I lift this one hand up to heaven,
And bow this feeble ruin to the earth:
If any power pities wretched tears,
To that I call!
[To LAVINIA]
What, wilt thou kneel with me?
Do, then, dear heart; for heaven shall hear our prayers;
Or with our sighs we'll breathe the welkin dim,
And stain the sun with fog, as sometime clouds
When they do hug him in their melting bosoms.


55

III,1,1355

Marcus Andronicus. O brother, speak with possibilities,
And do not break into these deep extremes.

Titus Andronicus. Is not my sorrow deep, having no bottom?
Then be my passions bottomless with them.


56

III,1,1393

Marcus Andronicus. Alas, poor heart, that kiss is comfortless
As frozen water to a starved snake.

Titus Andronicus. When will this fearful slumber have an end?


57

III,1,1405

Marcus Andronicus. Now, farewell, flattery: die, Andronicus;
Thou dost not slumber: see, thy two sons' heads,
Thy warlike hand, thy mangled daughter here:
Thy other banish'd son, with this dear sight
Struck pale and bloodless; and thy brother, I,
Even like a stony image, cold and numb.
Ah, now no more will I control thy griefs:
Rend off thy silver hair, thy other hand
Gnawing with thy teeth; and be this dismal sight
The closing up of our most wretched eyes;
Now is a time to storm; why art thou still?

Titus Andronicus. Ha, ha, ha!


58

III,1,1407

Marcus Andronicus. Why dost thou laugh? it fits not with this hour.

Titus Andronicus. Why, I have not another tear to shed:
Besides, this sorrow is an enemy,
And would usurp upon my watery eyes
And make them blind with tributary tears:
Then which way shall I find Revenge's cave?
For these two heads do seem to speak to me,
And threat me I shall never come to bliss
Till all these mischiefs be return'd again
Even in their throats that have committed them.
Come, let me see what task I have to do.
You heavy people, circle me about,
That I may turn me to each one of you,
And swear unto my soul to right your wrongs.
The vow is made. Come, brother, take a head;
And in this hand the other I will bear.
Lavinia, thou shalt be employ'd: these arms!
Bear thou my hand, sweet wench, between thy teeth.
As for thee, boy, go get thee from my sight;
Thou art an exile, and thou must not stay:
Hie to the Goths, and raise an army there:
And, if you love me, as I think you do,
Let's kiss and part, for we have much to do.


59

III,2,1445

(stage directions). [Enter TITUS, MARCUS, LAVINIA and Young LUCIUS, a boy]

Titus Andronicus. So, so; now sit: and look you eat no more
Than will preserve just so much strength in us
As will revenge these bitter woes of ours.
Marcus, unknit that sorrow-wreathen knot:
Thy niece and I, poor creatures, want our hands,
And cannot passionate our tenfold grief
With folded arms. This poor right hand of mine
Is left to tyrannize upon my breast;
Who, when my heart, all mad with misery,
Beats in this hollow prison of my flesh,
Then thus I thump it down.
[To LAVINIA]
Thou map of woe, that thus dost talk in signs!
When thy poor heart beats with outrageous beating,
Thou canst not strike it thus to make it still.
Wound it with sighing, girl, kill it with groans;
Or get some little knife between thy teeth,
And just against thy heart make thou a hole;
That all the tears that thy poor eyes let fall
May run into that sink, and soaking in
Drown the lamenting fool in sea-salt tears.


60

III,2,1468

Marcus Andronicus. Fie, brother, fie! teach her not thus to lay
Such violent hands upon her tender life.

Titus Andronicus. How now! has sorrow made thee dote already?
Why, Marcus, no man should be mad but I.
What violent hands can she lay on her life?
Ah, wherefore dost thou urge the name of hands;
To bid AEneas tell the tale twice o'er,
How Troy was burnt and he made miserable?
O, handle not the theme, to talk of hands,
Lest we remember still that we have none.
Fie, fie, how franticly I square my talk,
As if we should forget we had no hands,
If Marcus did not name the word of hands!
Come, let's fall to; and, gentle girl, eat this:
Here is no drink! Hark, Marcus, what she says;
I can interpret all her martyr'd signs;
She says she drinks no other drink but tears,
Brew'd with her sorrow, mesh'd upon her cheeks:
Speechless complainer, I will learn thy thought;
In thy dumb action will I be as perfect
As begging hermits in their holy prayers:
Thou shalt not sigh, nor hold thy stumps to heaven,
Nor wink, nor nod, nor kneel, nor make a sign,
But I of these will wrest an alphabet
And by still practise learn to know thy meaning.


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III,2,1495

Marcus Andronicus. Alas, the tender boy, in passion moved,
Doth weep to see his grandsire's heaviness.

Titus Andronicus. Peace, tender sapling; thou art made of tears,
And tears will quickly melt thy life away.
[MARCUS strikes the dish with a knife]
What dost thou strike at, Marcus, with thy knife?


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III,2,1500

Marcus Andronicus. At that that I have kill'd, my lord; a fly.

Titus Andronicus. Out on thee, murderer! thou kill'st my heart;
Mine eyes are cloy'd with view of tyranny:
A deed of death done on the innocent
Becomes not Titus' brother: get thee gone:
I see thou art not for my company.


63

III,2,1506

Marcus Andronicus. Alas, my lord, I have but kill'd a fly.

Titus Andronicus. But how, if that fly had a father and mother?
How would he hang his slender gilded wings,
And buzz lamenting doings in the air!
Poor harmless fly,
That, with his pretty buzzing melody,
Came here to make us merry! and thou hast
kill'd him.


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III,2,1515

Marcus Andronicus. Pardon me, sir; it was a black ill-favor'd fly,
Like to the empress' Moor; therefore I kill'd him.

Titus Andronicus. O, O, O,
Then pardon me for reprehending thee,
For thou hast done a charitable deed.
Give me thy knife, I will insult on him;
Flattering myself, as if it were the Moor
Come hither purposely to poison me.—
There's for thyself, and that's for Tamora.
Ah, sirrah!
Yet, I think, we are not brought so low,
But that between us we can kill a fly
That comes in likeness of a coal-black Moor.


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III,2,1528

Marcus Andronicus. Alas, poor man! grief has so wrought on him,
He takes false shadows for true substances.

Titus Andronicus. Come, take away. Lavinia, go with me:
I'll to thy closet; and go read with thee
Sad stories chanced in the times of old.
Come, boy, and go with me: thy sight is young,
And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle.


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Marcus Andronicus. Stand by me, Lucius; do not fear thine aunt.

Titus Andronicus. She loves thee, boy, too well to do thee harm.


67

IV,1,1545

Marcus Andronicus. What means my niece Lavinia by these signs?

Titus Andronicus. Fear her not, Lucius: somewhat doth she mean:
See, Lucius, see how much she makes of thee:
Somewhither would she have thee go with her.
Ah, boy, Cornelia never with more care
Read to her sons than she hath read to thee
Sweet poetry and Tully's Orator.


68

IV,1,1568

Marcus Andronicus. Lucius, I will.
[LAVINIA turns over with her stumps the books which]
LUCIUS has let fall]

Titus Andronicus. How now, Lavinia! Marcus, what means this?
Some book there is that she desires to see.
Which is it, girl, of these? Open them, boy.
But thou art deeper read, and better skill'd
Come, and take choice of all my library,
And so beguile thy sorrow, till the heavens
Reveal the damn'd contriver of this deed.
Why lifts she up her arms in sequence thus?


69

IV,1,1579

Marcus Andronicus. I think she means that there was more than one
Confederate in the fact: ay, more there was;
Or else to heaven she heaves them for revenge.

Titus Andronicus. Lucius, what book is that she tosseth so?


70

IV,1,1584

Marcus Andronicus. For love of her that's gone,
Perhaps she cull'd it from among the rest.

Titus Andronicus. Soft! see how busily she turns the leaves!
[Helping her]
What would she find? Lavinia, shall I read?
This is the tragic tale of Philomel,
And treats of Tereus' treason and his rape:
And rape, I fear, was root of thine annoy.


71

IV,1,1591

Marcus Andronicus. See, brother, see; note how she quotes the leaves.

Titus Andronicus. Lavinia, wert thou thus surprised, sweet girl,
Ravish'd and wrong'd, as Philomela was,
Forced in the ruthless, vast, and gloomy woods? See, see!
Ay, such a place there is, where we did hunt—
O, had we never, never hunted there!—
Pattern'd by that the poet here describes,
By nature made for murders and for rapes.


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IV,1,1600

Marcus Andronicus. O, why should nature build so foul a den,
Unless the gods delight in tragedies?

Titus Andronicus. Give signs, sweet girl, for here are none
but friends,
What Roman lord it was durst do the deed:
Or slunk not Saturnine, as Tarquin erst,
That left the camp to sin in Lucrece' bed?


73

IV,1,1621

Marcus Andronicus. Sit down, sweet niece: brother, sit down by me.
Apollo, Pallas, Jove, or Mercury,
Inspire me, that I may this treason find!
My lord, look here: look here, Lavinia:
This sandy plot is plain; guide, if thou canst
This after me, when I have writ my name
Without the help of any hand at all.
[He writes his name with his staff, and guides it]
with feet and mouth]
Cursed be that heart that forced us to this shift!
Write thou good niece; and here display, at last,
What God will have discover'd for revenge;
Heaven guide thy pen to print thy sorrows plain,
That we may know the traitors and the truth!
[She takes the staff in her mouth, and guides it]
with her stumps, and writes]

Titus Andronicus. O, do ye read, my lord, what she hath writ?
'Stuprum. Chiron. Demetrius.'


74

IV,1,1625

Marcus Andronicus. What, what! the lustful sons of Tamora
Performers of this heinous, bloody deed?

Titus Andronicus. Magni Dominator poli,
Tam lentus audis scelera? tam lentus vides?


75

IV,1,1639

Marcus Andronicus. O, calm thee, gentle lord; although I know
There is enough written upon this earth
To stir a mutiny in the mildest thoughts
And arm the minds of infants to exclaims.
My lord, kneel down with me; Lavinia, kneel;
And kneel, sweet boy, the Roman Hector's hope;
And swear with me, as, with the woful fere
And father of that chaste dishonour'd dame,
Lord Junius Brutus sware for Lucrece' rape,
That we will prosecute by good advice
Mortal revenge upon these traitorous Goths,
And see their blood, or die with this reproach.

Titus Andronicus. 'Tis sure enough, an you knew how.
But if you hunt these bear-whelps, then beware:
The dam will wake; and, if she wind you once,
She's with the lion deeply still in league,
And lulls him whilst she playeth on her back,
And when he sleeps will she do what she list.
You are a young huntsman, Marcus; let it alone;
And, come, I will go get a leaf of brass,
And with a gad of steel will write these words,
And lay it by: the angry northern wind
Will blow these sands, like Sibyl's leaves, abroad,
And where's your lesson, then? Boy, what say you?


76

IV,1,1657

Young Lucius. And, uncle, so will I, an if I live.

Titus Andronicus. Come, go with me into mine armoury;
Lucius, I'll fit thee; and withal, my boy,
Shalt carry from me to the empress' sons
Presents that I intend to send them both:
Come, come; thou'lt do thy message, wilt thou not?


77

IV,1,1663

Young Lucius. Ay, with my dagger in their bosoms, grandsire.

Titus Andronicus. No, boy, not so; I'll teach thee another course.
Lavinia, come. Marcus, look to my house:
Lucius and I'll go brave it at the court:
Ay, marry, will we, sir; and we'll be waited on.


78

IV,3,1882

(stage directions). [Enter TITUS, bearing arrows with letters at the]
ends of them; with him, MARCUS, Young LUCIUS,
PUBLIUS, SEMPRONIUS, CAIUS, and other Gentlemen,
with bows]

Titus Andronicus. Come, Marcus; come, kinsmen; this is the way.
Sir boy, now let me see your archery;
Look ye draw home enough, and 'tis there straight.
Terras Astraea reliquit:
Be you remember'd, Marcus, she's gone, she's fled.
Sirs, take you to your tools. You, cousins, shall
Go sound the ocean, and cast your nets;
Happily you may catch her in the sea;
Yet there's as little justice as at land:
No; Publius and Sempronius, you must do it;
'Tis you must dig with mattock and with spade,
And pierce the inmost centre of the earth:
Then, when you come to Pluto's region,
I pray you, deliver him this petition;
Tell him, it is for justice and for aid,
And that it comes from old Andronicus,
Shaken with sorrows in ungrateful Rome.
Ah, Rome! Well, well; I made thee miserable
What time I threw the people's suffrages
On him that thus doth tyrannize o'er me.
Go, get you gone; and pray be careful all,
And leave you not a man-of-war unsearch'd:
This wicked emperor may have shipp'd her hence;
And, kinsmen, then we may go pipe for justice.


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IV,3,1916

Marcus Andronicus. Kinsmen, his sorrows are past remedy.
Join with the Goths; and with revengeful war
Take wreak on Rome for this ingratitude,
And vengeance on the traitor Saturnine.

Titus Andronicus. Publius, how now! how now, my masters!
What, have you met with her?


80

IV,3,1923

Publius. No, my good lord; but Pluto sends you word,
If you will have Revenge from hell, you shall:
Marry, for Justice, she is so employ'd,
He thinks, with Jove in heaven, or somewhere else,
So that perforce you must needs stay a time.

Titus Andronicus. He doth me wrong to feed me with delays.
I'll dive into the burning lake below,
And pull her out of Acheron by the heels.
Marcus, we are but shrubs, no cedars we
No big-boned men framed of the Cyclops' size;
But metal, Marcus, steel to the very back,
Yet wrung with wrongs more than our backs can bear:
And, sith there's no justice in earth nor hell,
We will solicit heaven and move the gods
To send down Justice for to wreak our wrongs.
Come, to this gear. You are a good archer, Marcus;
[He gives them the arrows]
'Ad Jovem,' that's for you: here, 'Ad Apollinem:'
'Ad Martem,' that's for myself:
Here, boy, to Pallas: here, to Mercury:
To Saturn, Caius, not to Saturnine;
You were as good to shoot against the wind.
To it, boy! Marcus, loose when I bid.
Of my word, I have written to effect;
There's not a god left unsolicited.


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IV,3,1945

Marcus Andronicus. Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into the court:
We will afflict the emperor in his pride.

Titus Andronicus. Now, masters, draw.
[They shoot]
O, well said, Lucius!
Good boy, in Virgo's lap; give it Pallas.


82

IV,3,1951

Marcus Andronicus. My lord, I aim a mile beyond the moon;
Your letter is with Jupiter by this.

Titus Andronicus. Ha, ha!
Publius, Publius, what hast thou done?
See, see, thou hast shot off one of Taurus' horns.


83

IV,3,1960

Marcus Andronicus. This was the sport, my lord: when Publius shot,
The Bull, being gall'd, gave Aries such a knock
That down fell both the Ram's horns in the court;
And who should find them but the empress' villain?
She laugh'd, and told the Moor he should not choose
But give them to his master for a present.

Titus Andronicus. Why, there it goes: God give his lordship joy!
[Enter a Clown, with a basket, and two pigeons in]
it]
News, news from heaven! Marcus, the post is come.
Sirrah, what tidings? have you any letters?
Shall I have justice? what says Jupiter?


84

IV,3,1969

Clown. O, the gibbet-maker! he says that he hath taken
them down again, for the man must not be hanged till
the next week.

Titus Andronicus. But what says Jupiter, I ask thee?


85

IV,3,1972

Clown. Alas, sir, I know not Jupiter; I never drank with him
in all my life.

Titus Andronicus. Why, villain, art not thou the carrier?


86

IV,3,1974

Clown. Ay, of my pigeons, sir; nothing else.

Titus Andronicus. Why, didst thou not come from heaven?


87

IV,3,1983

Marcus Andronicus. Why, sir, that is as fit as can be to serve for
your oration; and let him deliver the pigeons to
the emperor from you.

Titus Andronicus. Tell me, can you deliver an oration to the emperor
with a grace?


88

IV,3,1986

Clown. Nay, truly, sir, I could never say grace in all my life.

Titus Andronicus. Sirrah, come hither: make no more ado,
But give your pigeons to the emperor:
By me thou shalt have justice at his hands.
Hold, hold; meanwhile here's money for thy charges.
Give me pen and ink. Sirrah, can you with a grace
deliver a supplication?


89

IV,3,1993

Clown. Ay, sir.

Titus Andronicus. Then here is a supplication for you. And when you
come to him, at the first approach you must kneel,
then kiss his foot, then deliver up your pigeons, and
then look for your reward. I'll be at hand, sir; see
you do it bravely.


90

IV,3,1999

Clown. I warrant you, sir, let me alone.

Titus Andronicus. Sirrah, hast thou a knife? come, let me see it.
Here, Marcus, fold it in the oration;
For thou hast made it like an humble suppliant.
And when thou hast given it the emperor,
Knock at my door, and tell me what he says.


91

IV,3,2005

Clown. God be with you, sir; I will.

Titus Andronicus. Come, Marcus, let us go. Publius, follow me.


92

V,2,2315

(stage directions). [Enter TITUS, above]

Titus Andronicus. Who doth molest my contemplation?
Is it your trick to make me ope the door,
That so my sad decrees may fly away,
And all my study be to no effect?
You are deceived: for what I mean to do
See here in bloody lines I have set down;
And what is written shall be executed.


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V,2,2323

Tamora. Titus, I am come to talk with thee.

Titus Andronicus. No, not a word; how can I grace my talk,
Wanting a hand to give it action?
Thou hast the odds of me; therefore no more.


94

V,2,2327

Tamora. If thou didst know me, thou wouldest talk with me.

Titus Andronicus. I am not mad; I know thee well enough:
Witness this wretched stump, witness these crimson lines;
Witness these trenches made by grief and care,
Witness the tiring day and heavy night;
Witness all sorrow, that I know thee well
For our proud empress, mighty Tamora:
Is not thy coming for my other hand?


95

V,2,2347

Tamora. Know, thou sad man, I am not Tamora;
She is thy enemy, and I thy friend:
I am Revenge: sent from the infernal kingdom,
To ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind,
By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes.
Come down, and welcome me to this world's light;
Confer with me of murder and of death:
There's not a hollow cave or lurking-place,
No vast obscurity or misty vale,
Where bloody murder or detested rape
Can couch for fear, but I will find them out;
And in their ears tell them my dreadful name,
Revenge, which makes the foul offender quake.

Titus Andronicus. Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to me,
To be a torment to mine enemies?


96

V,2,2350

Tamora. I am; therefore come down, and welcome me.

Titus Andronicus. Do me some service, ere I come to thee.
Lo, by thy side where Rape and Murder stands;
Now give me some surance that thou art Revenge,
Stab them, or tear them on thy chariot-wheels;
And then I'll come and be thy waggoner,
And whirl along with thee about the globe.
Provide thee two proper palfreys, black as jet,
To hale thy vengeful waggon swift away,
And find out murderers in their guilty caves:
And when thy car is loaden with their heads,
I will dismount, and by the waggon-wheel
Trot, like a servile footman, all day long,
Even from Hyperion's rising in the east
Until his very downfall in the sea:
And day by day I'll do this heavy task,
So thou destroy Rapine and Murder there.


97

V,2,2367

Tamora. These are my ministers, and come with me.

Titus Andronicus. Are these thy ministers? what are they call'd?


98

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Tamora. Rapine and Murder; therefore called so,
Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men.

Titus Andronicus. Good Lord, how like the empress' sons they are!
And you, the empress! but we worldly men
Have miserable, mad, mistaking eyes.
O sweet Revenge, now do I come to thee;
And, if one arm's embracement will content thee,
I will embrace thee in it by and by.


99

V,2,2389

(stage directions). [Enter TITUS below]

Titus Andronicus. Long have I been forlorn, and all for thee:
Welcome, dread Fury, to my woful house:
Rapine and Murder, you are welcome too.
How like the empress and her sons you are!
Well are you fitted, had you but a Moor:
Could not all hell afford you such a devil?
For well I wot the empress never wags
But in her company there is a Moor;
And, would you represent our queen aright,
It were convenient you had such a devil:
But welcome, as you are. What shall we do?


100

V,2,2406

Tamora. Show me a thousand that have done thee wrong,
And I will be revenged on them all.

Titus Andronicus. Look round about the wicked streets of Rome;
And when thou find'st a man that's like thyself.
Good Murder, stab him; he's a murderer.
Go thou with him; and when it is thy hap
To find another that is like to thee,
Good Rapine, stab him; he's a ravisher.
Go thou with them; and in the emperor's court
There is a queen, attended by a Moor;
Well mayst thou know her by thy own proportion,
for up and down she doth resemble thee:
I pray thee, do on them some violent death;
They have been violent to me and mine.


101

V,2,2429

Tamora. Well hast thou lesson'd us; this shall we do.
But would it please thee, good Andronicus,
To send for Lucius, thy thrice-valiant son,
Who leads towards Rome a band of warlike Goths,
And bid him come and banquet at thy house;
When he is here, even at thy solemn feast,
I will bring in the empress and her sons,
The emperor himself and all thy foes;
And at thy mercy shalt they stoop and kneel,
And on them shalt thou ease thy angry heart.
What says Andronicus to this device?

Titus Andronicus. Marcus, my brother! 'tis sad Titus calls.
[Enter MARCUS]
Go, gentle Marcus, to thy nephew Lucius;
Thou shalt inquire him out among the Goths:
Bid him repair to me, and bring with him
Some of the chiefest princes of the Goths;
Bid him encamp his soldiers where they are:
Tell him the emperor and the empress too
Feast at my house, and he shall feast with them.
This do thou for my love; and so let him,
As he regards his aged father's life.


102

V,2,2444

Tamora. Now will I hence about thy business,
And take my ministers along with me.

Titus Andronicus. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with me;
Or else I'll call my brother back again,
And cleave to no revenge but Lucius.


103

V,2,2453

Tamora. [Aside to her sons] What say you, boys? will you
bide with him,
Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor
How I have govern'd our determined jest?
Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair,
And tarry with him till I turn again.

Titus Andronicus. [Aside] I know them all, though they suppose me mad,
And will o'erreach them in their own devices:
A pair of cursed hell-hounds and their dam!


104

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Tamora. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes
To lay a complot to betray thy foes.

Titus Andronicus. I know thou dost; and, sweet Revenge, farewell.


105

V,2,2462

Chiron. Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd?

Titus Andronicus. Tut, I have work enough for you to do.
Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine!


106

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Publius. What is your will?

Titus Andronicus. Know you these two?


107

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Publius. The empress' sons, I take them, Chiron and Demetrius.

Titus Andronicus. Fie, Publius, fie! thou art too much deceived;
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 wish for such an hour,
And now I find it; therefore bind them sure,
And stop their mouths, if they begin to cry.


108

V,2,2483

Publius. And therefore do we what we are commanded.
Stop close their mouths, let them not speak a word.
Is he sure bound? look that you bind them fast.
[Re-enter TITUS, with LAVINIA; he bearing a knife,]
and she a basin]

Titus Andronicus. Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are bound.
Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me;
But let them hear what fearful words I utter.
O villains, Chiron and Demetrius!
Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd with mud,
This goodly summer 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 jest;
Both her sweet hands, her tongue, and that more dear
Than hands or tongue, her spotless chastity,
Inhuman traitors, you constrain'd and forced.
What would you say, if I should let you speak?
Villains, for shame you could not beg for grace.
Hark, wretches! how I mean to martyr you.
This one hand yet is left to cut your throats,
Whilst that Lavinia 'tween her stumps doth hold
The basin that receives your guilty blood.
You know your mother means to feast with me,
And calls herself Revenge, and thinks me mad:
Hark, villains! I will grind your bones to dust
And with your blood and it I'll make a paste,
And of the paste a coffin I will rear
And make two pasties of your shameful heads,
And bid that strumpet, your unhallow'd dam,
Like to the earth swallow her own increase.
This is the feast that I have bid her to,
And this the banquet she shall surfeit on;
For worse than Philomel you used my daughter,
And worse than Progne I will be revenged:
And now prepare your throats. Lavinia, come,
[He cuts their throats]
Receive the blood: and when that they are dead,
Let me go grind their bones to powder small
And with this hateful liquor temper it;
And in that paste let their vile heads be baked.
Come, come, be every one officious
To make this banquet; which I wish may prove
More stern and bloody than the Centaurs' feast.
So, now bring them in, for I'll play the cook,
And see them ready 'gainst their mother comes.


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Saturninus. 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]

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.


110

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Saturninus. Why art thou thus attired, Andronicus?

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


111

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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:
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?


112

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Saturninus. It was, Andronicus.

Titus Andronicus. Your reason, mighty lord?


113

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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.
Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee;
[Kills LAVINIA]
And, with thy shame, thy father's sorrow die!


114

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


115

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

Titus Andronicus. Will't please you eat? will't please your
highness feed?


116

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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.


117

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Saturninus. Go fetch them hither to us presently.

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.


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