Titus Andronicus & Timon of Athens Read online

  Titus' sons kneel

  LUCIUS We do, and vow to heaven and to his highness That what we did was mildly as we might,

  Tend'ring479 our sister's honour and our own.

  Kneels

  MARCUS That on mine honour here I do protest.480

  SATURNINUS Away, and talk not: trouble us no more.

  TAMORA Nay, nay, sweet emperor, we must all be friends: The tribune and his nephews kneel for grace,

  I will not be denied: sweet heart, look back.

  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.--

  [Marcus and Titus' sons] stand up

  Lavinia, though you left me like a churl,488

  I found a friend489, 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,493 Tamora.

  TITUS Tomorrow, an494 it please your majesty To hunt the panther and the hart495 with me, With horn and hound we'll give your grace bonjour496.

  SATURNINUS Be it so, Titus, and gramercy497 too.

  Flourish. Exeunt

  Act 2 [Scene 1]

  running scene 1 continues

  Enter Aaron alone

  AARON Now climbeth Tamora Olympus1' top, Safe out of fortune's shot, and sits aloft,

  Secure of3 thunder's crack or lightning flash, Advanced above pale envy's threat'ning reach.

  As when the golden sun salutes the morn,

  And, having gilt6 the ocean with his beams, Gallops the zodiac in his glistering7 coach And overlooks8 the highest-peering hills, So Tamora.

  Upon her wit10 doth earthly honour wait, And virtue stoops and trembles at her frown.

  Then, Aaron, arm thy heart and fit thy thoughts

  To mount aloft with thy imperial mistress,

  And mount her pitch whom thou in triumph14 long Hast prisoner held, fettered in amorous chains

  And faster bound to Aaron's charming16 eyes Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus.17

  Away with slavish weeds and idle18 thoughts: I will be bright, and shine in pearl and gold

  To wait upon this new-made emperess.

  To wait, said I? -- To wanton with this queen,21

  This goddess, this Semiramis22, this nymph, This siren23 that will charm Rome's Saturnine And see his shipwreck and his commonweal's.

  Hallo! What storm is this?

  Enter Chiron and Demetrius, braving

  DEMETRIUS Chiron, thy years want wit, thy wit wants edge26

  And manners to intrude where I am graced27

  And may, for aught thou know'st, affected28 be.

  CHIRON Demetrius, thou dost overween29 in all, And so in this, to bear me down with braves.30

  'Tis not the difference of a year or two

  Makes me less gracious or thee more fortunate:

  I am as able and as fit as thou

  To serve34, and to deserve my mistress' grace, And that my sword upon thee shall approve,35

  And plead my passions for Lavinia's love.

  Aside

  AARON Clubs, clubs!37 These lovers will not keep the peace.

  DEMETRIUS Why, boy, although our mother, unadvised,38

  Gave you a dancing-rapier39 by your side, Are you so desperate grown to threat your friends?40

  Go to: have your lath41 glued within your sheath Till you know better how to handle it.

  CHIRON Meanwhile, sir, with the little skill I have, Full well shalt thou perceive how much I dare.

  DEMETRIUS Ay, boy, grow ye so brave?45

  They draw

  Comes forward

  AARON Why, how now, lords?

  So near the emperor's palace dare you draw47

  And maintain such a quarrel openly?

  Full well I wot49 the ground of all this grudge: I would not for a million of gold

  The cause were known to them it most concerns,

  Nor would your noble mother for much more

  Be so dishonoured in the court of Rome.

  For shame, put up.54

  DEMETRIUS Not I, till I have sheathed

  My rapier in his bosom and withal

  Thrust these reproachful speeches down his throat

  That he hath breathed in my dishonour here.

  CHIRON For that I am prepared and full resolved, Foul-spoken coward, that thund'rest with thy tongue,

  And with thy weapon nothing dar'st perform!

  AARON Away, I say.

  Now, by the gods that warlike Goths adore,

  This petty brabble will undo64 us all.

  Why, lords, and think you not how dangerous

  It is to jet66 upon a prince's right?

  What, is Lavinia then become so loose,67

  Or Bassianus so degenerate,

  That for her love such quarrels may be broached

  Without controlment70, justice, or revenge?

  Young lords, beware! And should the empress know

  This discord's ground72, the music would not please.

  CHIRON I care not, I, knew she73 and all the world: I love Lavinia more than all the world.

  DEMETRIUS Youngling, learn thou to make some meaner75 choice: Lavinia is thine elder brother's hope.

  AARON Why, are ye mad? Or know ye not in Rome How furious and impatient they be,

  And cannot brook79 competitors in love?

  I tell you, lords, you do but plot your deaths

  By this device.81

  CHIRON Aaron, a thousand deaths would I propose82

  T'achieve her whom I do love.

  AARON T'achieve her how?

  DEMETRIUS Why mak'st thou it so strange?85

  She is a woman, therefore may be wooed:

  She is a woman, therefore may be won:

  She is Lavinia, therefore must be loved.

  What, man, more water glideth by the mill

  Than wots the miller of, and easy it is

  Of a cut loaf to steal a shive91, we know: Though Bassianus be the emperor's brother,

  Better than he have worn Vulcan's badge.93

  Aside

  AARON Ay, and as good as Saturninus may.

  DEMETRIUS Then why should he despair that knows to court it95

  With words, fair looks and liberality?

  What, hast not thou full often struck a doe97

  And borne her cleanly by the keeper's nose?

  AARON Why then, it seems some certain snatch99 or so Would serve your turns.100

  CHIRON Ay, so the turn were served.

  DEMETRIUS Aaron, thou hast hit it.102

  AARON Would you had hit it too, Then should not we be tired with this ado.104

  Why, hark ye, hark ye, and are you such fools

  To square for106 this? Would it offend you then That both should speed?

  CHIRON Faith, not me.

  DEMETRIUS Nor me, so109 I were one.

  AARON For shame, be friends, and join for that you jar:110

  'Tis policy111 and stratagem must do That you affect112, and so must you resolve That what you cannot as you would achieve,113

  You must perforce accomplish as you may.

  Take this of me: Lucrece115 was not more chaste Than this Lavinia, Bassianus' love.

  A speedier course than ling'ring languishment117

  Must we pursue, and I have found the path.

  My lords, a solemn119 hunting is in hand: There will the lovely Roman ladies troop:120

  The forest walks are wide and spacious,

  And many unfrequented plots122 there are Fitted by kind123 for rape and villainy.

  Single you thither then this dainty124 doe, And strike her home125 by force, if not by words: This way or not at all stand126 you in hope.

  Come, come, our empress, with her sacred127 wit To villainy and vengeance consecrate,

  Will we acquaint with all that we intend,<
br />
  And she shall file our engines130 with advice That will not suffer you to square yourselves,131

  But to your wishes' height advance you both.

  The emperor's court is like the house of Fame,133

  The palace full of tongues, of eyes, of ears.

  The woods are ruthless, dreadful135, deaf and dull: There speak and strike, brave boys, and take your turns:136

  There serve your lusts, shadowed from heaven's eye,

  And revel in Lavinia's treasury.138

  CHIRON Thy counsel, lad, smells of no cowardice.

  DEMETRIUS Sit fas aut nefas140, till I find the streams To cool this heat, a charm to calm their fits,

  Per Stygia, per manes vehor.142

  Exeunt

  [Act 2 Scene 2]

  running scene 2

  Enter Titus Andronicus and his three sons, making a noise with hounds and horns, and Marcus

  TITUS The hunt is up1, the morn is bright and grey, The fields are fragrant and the woods are green:

  Uncouple here, and let us make a bay3

  And wake the emperor and his lovely bride,

  And rouse the prince, and ring a hunter's peal,5

  That all the court may echo with the noise.

  Sons, let it be your charge7, 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.

  Wind horns. Here a cry of hounds and wind horns in a peal, then enter Saturninus, Tamora, Bassianus, Lavinia, Chiron, Demetrius and their Attendants

  Many good morrows to your majesty:

  Madam, to you as many and as good.

  I promised your grace a hunter's peal.

  SATURNINUS And you have rung it lustily14, my lords, Somewhat too early for new-married ladies.

  BASSIANUS Lavinia, how16 say you?

  LAVINIA I say, no:

  I have been broad awake two hours and more.

  SATURNINUS Come on then, horse and chariots let us have,

  To Tamora

  And to our sport.-- Madam, now shall ye see

  Our Roman hunting.

  MARCUS I have dogs, my lord,

  Will rouse the proudest panther in the chase23

  And climb the highest promontory24 top.

  TITUS And I have horse will follow where the game Makes way and runs like swallows o'er the plain.

  DEMETRIUS Chiron, we hunt not, we, with horse nor hound, But hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground.

  Exeunt

  [Act 2 Scene 3]

  running scene 3

  Enter Aaron alone

  With a bag of gold

  AARON He that had wit would think that I had none, To bury so much gold under a tree

  And never after to inherit3 it.

  Let him that thinks of me so abjectly

  Know that this gold must coin5 a stratagem Which, cunningly effected, will beget6

  A very excellent piece of villainy:

  Hides the gold

  And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest

  That have their alms out of the empress' chest.9

  Enter Tamora to the Moor

  TAMORA My lovely Aaron, wherefore10 look'st thou sad When everything doth make a gleeful boast?11

  The birds chant melody on every bush,

  The snake lies rolled in the cheerful sun,

  The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind

  And make a chequered shadow on the ground:

  Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,

  And whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds,

  Replying shrilly to the well-tuned horns

  As if a double hunt were heard at once,

  Let us sit down and mark their yelping noise,

  And after conflict21 such as was supposed The wand'ring prince and Dido22 once enjoyed, When with a happy23 storm they were surprised And curtained with a counsel-keeping24 cave, We may, each wreathed in the other's arms,

  Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber,

  Whiles hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds

  Be unto us as is a nurse's song

  Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep.

  AARON Madam, though Venus30 govern your desires, Saturn is dominator31 over mine: What signifies my deadly-standing32 eye, My silence and my cloudy melancholy,

  My fleece of woolly hair that now uncurls

  Even as an adder when she doth unroll

  To do some fatal execution?

  No, madam, these are no venereal37 signs: Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,

  Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.

  Hark Tamora, the empress of my soul,

  Which never hopes41 more heaven than rests in thee, This is the day of doom for Bassianus:

  His Philomel43 must lose her tongue today, Thy sons make pillage of her chastity

  And wash their hands in Bassianus' blood.

  See'st thou this letter? Take it up46, I pray thee, And give the king this fatal-plotted scroll.

  Now question me no more: we are espied.

  Here comes a parcel of our hopeful49 booty, Which dreads not yet their lives' destruction.

  Enter Bassianus and Lavinia

  At a distance

  TAMORA Ah, my sweet Moor, sweeter to me than life!

  AARON No more, great empress: Bassianus comes.

  Be cross53 with him, and I'll go fetch thy sons To back thy quarrels, whatsoe'er they be. [Exit]

  BASSIANUS Whom have we here? Rome's royal emperess, Unfurnished of her well-beseeming troop?56

  Or is it Dian, habited57 like her, Who hath abandoned her holy groves

  To see the general59 hunting in this forest?

  TAMORA Saucy controller60 of our private steps, Had I the power that some say Dian had,

  Thy temples should be planted presently62

  With horns, as was Actaeon's63, and the hounds Should drive64 upon thy new-transformed limbs, Unmannerly intruder as thou art.

  LAVINIA Under your patience, gentle66 emperess, 'Tis thought you have a goodly gift in horning,67

  And to be doubted68 that your Moor and you Are singled forth to try experiments:69

  Jove70 shield your husband from his hounds today --

  'Tis pity they should take him for a stag.

  BASSIANUS Believe me, queen, your swarth Cimmerian72

  Doth make your honour of his body's hue,

  Spotted, detested and abominable.

  Why are you sequestered from all your train,75

  Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed,

  And wandered hither to an obscure plot,

  Accompanied with a barbarous Moor,

  If foul desire had not conducted you?

  LAVINIA And being intercepted in your sport, Great reason that my noble lord be rated81

  To Bassianus

  For sauciness.-- I pray you let us hence,

  And let her joy83 her raven-coloured love: This valley fits the purpose passing84 well.

  BASSIANUS The king my brother shall have note of this.

  LAVINIA Ay, for these slips have made him noted86 long: Good king, to be so mightily abused.

  TAMORA Why, I have patience to endure all this.

  Enter Chiron and Demetrius

  DEMETRIUS How now, dear sovereign and our gracious mother, Why doth your highness look so pale and wan?

  TAMORA Have I not reason, think you, to look pale?

  These two have 'ticed92 me hither to this place: A barren detested vale you see it is.

  The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean,

  O'ercome with moss and baleful95 mistletoe: Here never shines the sun, here nothing breeds

  Unless the nightly owl or fatal raven.97

  And when they showed me this abhorred pit,

  They told me here at dead time of the night,

  A thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes,

  Ten thousand swelling toads, a
s many urchins,101

  Would make such fearful and confused cries

  As any mortal body hearing it

  Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly.104

  No sooner had they told this hellish tale,

  But straight they told me they would bind me here

  Unto the body of a dismal107 yew And leave me to this miserable death.

  And then they called me foul adulteress,

  Lascivious Goth110, and all the bitterest terms That ever ear did hear to such effect:

  And had you not by wondrous fortune come,

  This vengeance on me had they executed.

  Revenge it as you love your mother's life,

  Or be ye not henceforth called my children.

  DEMETRIUS This is a witness that I am thy son.

  Stab him

  CHIRON And this for me, struck home to show my strength.

  He also stabs Bassianus

  LAVINIA Ay, come, Semiramis118, nay, barbarous Tamora, For no name fits thy nature but thy own.

  TAMORA Give me thy poniard120: you shall know, my boys Your mother's hand shall right your mother's wrong.

  DEMETRIUS Stay, madam, here is more belongs to her: First thrash123 the corn, then after burn the straw.

  This minion stood upon124 her chastity, Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty,

  And with that painted126 hope braves your mightiness.

  And shall she carry this unto her grave?

  CHIRON An if128 she do, I would I were an eunuch.

  Drag hence her husband to some secret hole

  And make his dead trunk pillow to our lust.

  TAMORA But when ye have the honey131 we desire, Let not this wasp outlive132, us both to sting.

  CHIRON I warrant133 you, madam, we will make that sure.--

  Come, mistress, now perforce134 we will enjoy That nice-preserved honesty135 of yours.

  LAVINIA O Tamora, thou bear'st a woman's face--

  TAMORA I will not hear her speak, away with her!

  LAVINIA Sweet lords, entreat her hear me but a word.

  To Tamora

  DEMETRIUS Listen, fair madam: let it be your glory To see her tears, but be your heart to them

  As unrelenting flint to drops of rain.

  LAVINIA When did the tiger's young ones teach the dam?142

  O, do not learn143 her wrath: she taught it thee.

  The milk thou suck'st from her did turn to marble:

  Even at thy teat thou hadst thy tyranny.145

  Yet every mother breeds not sons alike:146--

  To Chiron

  Do thou entreat her show a woman pity.

  CHIRON What, wouldst thou have me prove myself a bastard?

  LAVINIA 'Tis true, the raven doth not hatch a lark.149

  Yet have I heard -- O, could I find it150 now! --

  The lion moved with pity did endure

  To have his princely paws152 pared all away.

  Some say that ravens foster forlorn153 children The whilst their own birds154 famish in their nests: O, be to me though thy hard heart say no,