The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare

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And we will come.-March away.'

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-Rome. Before Titus's house. En-
ter Tamora, Chiron, and Demetrius, disguised.
Tam. Thus, in this strange and sad habiliment,
I will encounter with Andronicus;

And say, I am Revenge, sent from below,
To join with him, and right his heinous wrongs.
Knock at his study, where, they say, he keeps,
To ruminate strange plots of dire revenge;
Tell him, Revenge is come to join with him,
And work confusion on his enemies. [They knock.
Enter Titus, above.

Tit. 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 deceiv'd: for what I mean to do,
See here, in bloody lines I have set down;
And what is written shall be executed.

Tam. Titus, I am come to talk with thee.
Tit. 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.
Tam. If thou didst know me, thou would'st talk

with me.

Tit. I am not mad; I know thee well enough: Witness this wretched stump, 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?

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

Tam. I am; therefore come down, and welcome

me.

Tit. Do me some service, ere I come to thee. Lo, by thy side where Rape, and Murder, stand; Now give 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 globes. Provide thee proper palfries, 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 tnou destroy Rapine and Murder there. Tam. These are my ministers, and come with me. Tit. Are they thy ministers? what are they call'd? Tam. Parine, and Murder; therefore called so, 'Cause they take vengeance of such kind of men.

(1) Perhaps this is a stage-direction, crept into the text. ebbiolí obou yer kan kolluk yai oh,

Tit. 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.

[Exit Titus, from above.
Tam. This closing with him fits his lunacy:
Whate'er I forge, to feed his brain-sick fits,
Do you uphold and maintain in your speeches.
For now he firmly takes me for Revenge;
And, being credulous in this mad thought,
I'll make him send for Lucius, his son;
And, whilst I at a banquet hold him sure,
I'll find some cunning practice out of hand,
To scatter and disperse the giddy Goths,
Or, at the least, make them his enemies.
See, here he comes, and I must ply my theme.
Enter Titus.

Tit. 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? Tam. What would'st thou have us do, Androni. cus ?

Dem. Show me a murderer, I'll deal with him. Chi. Show me a villain, that hath done a rape, And I am sent to be reveng'd on him.

Tam. Show me a thousand, that hath done thee

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 is a ravisher.-
Go thou with them; and in the emperor's court
There is a queen, attended by a Moor;
Well may'st 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.

Tam. 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 shall they stoop and kneel,
And on them shalt thou ease thy angry heart.
What says Andronicus to this device?

Tit. 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 there.

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

Whilst that Lavinia 'tween her stumps doth hold
The bason, 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,

Tam. What say you, boys? will you abide with Like to the earth, swallow her own increase.

him,

Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor,

How I have govern'd our determin'd jest?
Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair,

[Aside.

And tarry with him, till I come again.
Tit. I know them all, though they suppose me
mad;

And will o'er-reach them in their own devices,
A pair of cursed hell-hounds, and their dam.

[Aside. Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure, leave us here. Tam. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes To lay a complot to betray thy foes. [Exit Tam. Tit. I know, thou dost; and, sweet Revenge, farewell.

Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd? Tit. Tut, I have work enough for you to do.Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine! Enter Publius, and others. Pub. What's your will? Til.

Pub.

Know you these two? Th'empress' sons, Tit. Fie, Publius, fie! thou art too much deceiv'd;

I take them, Chiron and Demetrius.

Chi. Villains, forbear; we are the empress' sons. Pub. 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 Andronicus, with Lavinia; she bear-
ing a bason, and he a knife.

Tit. 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 forc'd.
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;

VOL. II.

(1) Crust of a raised pye.

This is the feast that I have bid her to,
And this the banquet she shall surfeit on;
For worse than Philomel you us'd my daughter,
And worse than Progne I will be reveng'd:
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 bak'd.
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 will play the cook,
And see them ready 'gainst their mother comes.
[Exeunt, bearing the dead bodies.
SCENE III.-The same. A pavilion, with tables,
&c. Enter Lucius, Marcus, and Goths, with
Aaron, prisoner.

Luc. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's mind, That I repair to Rome, I am content.

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

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

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.

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

Luc. Away, inhuman dog! unhallow'd slave!Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in.

[Exeunt Goths, with Aaron. Flourish. The trumpets show, the emperor is at hand. Enter Saturninus and Tamora, with Tribunes, Senators, and others.

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

Luc. What boots2 it thee, to call thyself a sun? Mar. Rome's emperor, and nephew, break3 the

parle ;

These quarrels must be quietly debated.
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.

Sat. 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.

Tit. Welcome, my gracious lord: welcome, dread queen;

|(2) Advantage, benefit. (3) i. e. Begin the parley. 3 I

Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius;
And welcome, all; although the cheer be poor,
'Twill fill your stomachs; please you eat of it.
Sat. Why art thou thus attir'd, Andronicus?
Tit. Because I would be sure to have all well,
To entertain your highness, and your empress.
Tam. We are beholden to you, good Andronicus.
Tit. 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 enforc'd, stain'd, and deflour'd?

Sat. It was, Andronicus.

Til. Your reason, mighty lord?

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,

But floods of tears will drown my oratory,
And break my very utterance; even i'the time
When it should move you to attend me most,
Lending your kind commiseration:

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 cursed Chiron and Demetrius

Were they that murdered our emperor's brother;
And they it were that ravished our sister:

Sat. Because the girl should not survive her For their fell faults our brothers were beheaded; shame,

I am as woful as Virginius was:

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

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

Tit. Will't please you eat; will't please your highness feed?

Tam. Why hast thou slain 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
pve;

Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.
'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point.
[Killing Tamora.
Sat. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed.
[Killing Titus.
Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed?
There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.
[Kills Saturninus. A great tumult. The people
in confusion disperse. Marcus, Lucius,
and their partisans, ascend the steps be-
fore Titus's house.

Mar. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons
Rome,

By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl
Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts,
O, let me teach you how to knit again
This scatter'd corn into one mutual sheaf.
These broken limbs again into one body.

Sen. Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself;
And she, whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to,
Like a forlorn and desperate cast-away,
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,-
Speak, Rome's dear friend; [To Lucius.] 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,

Our father's tears despis'd; 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,

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 op'd their arms to embrace me as a friend:
And I am the turn'd-forth, be it known to you,
That have preserv'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 scars can witness, dumb although they are,
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.
Mar. Now is my turn to speak; Behold this
child,

[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,
Damn'd as he is, to witness this is true.
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, Ro-

mans?

Have we done aught amiss? Shew us wherein,
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.
Speak, Romans, speak; and, if you say, we shall,
Lo, hand in hand, Lucius and I will fall.

Emil. 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 shall be so.
Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's
royal emperor!

Lucius, &c. descend.
Mar. Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house;
To an Attendant.
And hither hale that misbelieving Moor,
To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering death,
As punishment for his most wicked life.

Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's
gracious governor!

Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans; May I govern so, To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her wo

When subtle Greeks surpris'd king Priam's Troy; But, gentle people, give me aim awhile,

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,

[Kisses Titus. These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face, The last true duties of thy noble son!

Mar. 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!
Luc. Come hither, boy; come, come, and learn
of us

To melt in showers: Thy grandsire lov'd thee well:
Many a time he danc'd thee on his knee,
Sung thee asleep, his loving breast thy pillow;
Many a matter hath he told to thee,
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 wo:
Bid him farewell; commit him to the grave;
Do him that kindness, and take leave of him.
Boy. O grandsire, grandsire! even with all my By whom our heavy haps had their beginning:

heart

No funeral rite, nor man in mournful 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;
And, being so, shall have like want of pity.
See justice done to Aaron, that damn'd Moor,
Then, afterwards, to order well the state;
That like events may ne'er it ruinate.

[Exeunt.

PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE.

Antiochus, king of Antioch.

Pericles, prince of Tyre.

Helicanus,

two lords of Tyre.

Simonides, king of Pentapolis.

Escanes,

Cleon, governor of Tharsus.

Lysimachus, governor of Mitylene. Cerimon, a lord of Ephesus.

Thaliard, a lord of Antioch.

Philemon, servant to Cerimon.

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

Leonine, servant to Dionyza. Marshal.

A Pandar, and his Wife. Boult, their servant. Gower, as chorus.

The Daughter of Antiochus.

Dionyza, wife to Cleon.

Thaisa, daughter to Simonides.

Lords, Ladies, Knights, Gentlemen, Sailors, Pirates, Fishermen, and Messengers, &c.

Scene, dispersedly in various countries.1

(1) That the reader may know through how many regions the scene of this drama is dispersed, it is necessary to observe, that Antioch was the metropolis of Syria; Tyre a city of Phoenicia, in Asia; Tarsus, the metropolis of Cilicia, a country of Asia Minor; Mitylene, the capitol of Lesbos, an island in the Egean sea; and Ephesus, the capitol of Ionia, a country of the Lesser Asia.

Enter Gower.

ACT I.

Before the palace of Antioch.

Το
O sing a song of old was sung,
From ashes ancient Gower is come;
Assuming man's infirmities,

To glad your ear, and please your eyes.
It hath been sung at festivals,
On ember-eyes, and holy ales;
And lords and ladies of their lives

Have read it for restoratives:
'Purpose to make men glorious;
Et quo antiquius, eo melius.

If you, born in these latter times,

When wit's more ripe, accept my rhymes
And that to hear an old man sing,
May to your wishes pleasure bring,
I life would wish, and that I might
Waste it for you, like taper-light.-
This city then, Antioch the great
Built up for his chiefest seat;
The fairest in all Syria;

(I tell you what mine authors say :)
This king unto him took a pheere,4
Who died and left a female heir,
So buxom, blithe, and full of face,
As heaven had lent her all his grace;
With whom the father liking took,
And her to incest did provoke:
Bad father! to entice his own
To evil, should be done by none.
By custom, what they did begin,
Was, with long use, accounts no sin.

(1) Chorus, in the character of Gower, an ancient English poet, who has related the story of this play in his Confessio Amantis.

The beauty of this sinful dame
Made many princes thither frame,
To seek her as a bed-fellow,
In marriage-pleasures play-fellow:
Which to prevent, he made a law
(To keep her still, and men in awe,)
That whoso ask'd her for his wife,
His riddle told not, lost his life:
So for her many a wight did die,
As yon grim looks do testify.

What now ensues, to the judgment of your eye
I give, my cause who best can justify.

[Exit.

SCENE I-Antioch. A room in the palace.
Enter Antiochus, Pericles, and Attendants.
Ant. Young prince of Tyre, you have at large
receiv'd

The danger of the task you undertake.

Per. I have, Antiochus, and with a soul Embolden'd with the glory of her praise,

Think death no hazard, in this enterprize. [Music.
Ant. Bring in our daughter, clothed like a bride,
For the embracements even of Jove himself;

At whose conception (till Lucina reign'd,)
Nature this dowry gave, to glad her presence,
The senate-house of planets all did sit,
To knit in her their best perfections.

Enter the Daughter of Antiochus.

Per. See, where she comes, apparell'd like the

spring,

Graces her subjects, and her thoughts the king
Of every virtue gives renown to men!
Her face, the book of praises, where is read
Nothing but curious pleasures, as from thence

(5) Accounted.

(6) Pointing to the scene of the palace gate al Antioch, on which the heads of those unfortunate

(2) i. e. That of old. (3) Whitsun-ales, &c.
(4) Wife, the word signifies a mate or companion. I wights were fixed.

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The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare, Band 2