Aar. Some devil whisper curses in my ear,
And prompt me, that my tongue may utter forth
The venomous malice of my fwelling heart!
Luc. Away, inhuman dog, unhallow'd slave.

[Exeunt Goths with Aaron. Sirs, help our uncle to convey him in. The trumpets fhew, the Emperor is at hand.

[Flourish.

Sound trumpets. Enter Emperor and Empress, with
Tribunes and others.

Sat. What, hath the firmament more funs than one?
Luc. What boots it thee to call thy felf a Sun?
Mar. Rome's Emperor, and Nephew, break the
parley;

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:
Please you therefore draw nigh and take your places.
Sat. Marcus, we will.
[Hautboys:
A Table brought in. Enter Titus like a Cook, placing
the meat on the Table, and Lavinia with a veil over
her face.

Tit. Welcome, my gracious lord; welcome, dread .9%. 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 Emprefs.
Tam. We are beholden to you, good Andronicus.
Tit. And 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,
Becaufe fhe was enforc'd, ftain'd, and deflour'd?
Sat. It was, Andronicus.

Tit. Your reafon, mighty lord?

Sat. Because the girl fhould not furvive her shamę, And by her prefence ftill renew his forrows. Tit. A reafon 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 her. Sat. What haft thou done, unnatural and unkind? Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made me blind.

I am as woful as Virginius was,

And have a thoufand times more cause than he

To do this outrage.

And it is now done.

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

Tit. Will't please you eat, will't please your Highness feed?

Tam. Why hast 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 her felf hath bred. 'Tis true, 'tis true; witness, my knife's fharp point. [He ftabs the Empress. Sat. Die, frantick wretch, for this accurfed deed.

[He ftabs Titus. Luc. Can the fon's eye behold his father bleed? There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.

[Lucius ftabs the Emperor. Mar. You fad-fac'd men, people and fons of Rome, By uprore fever'd, like a flight of fowl Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gufts, Oh, let me teach you how to knit again This fcatter'd corn into one mutual fheaf, These broken limbs again into one body.

Goth. Let Rome her self be Bane unto her felf;
And the whom mighty Kingdoms curtfie to,
Like a forlorn and desperate caft-away,

Do fhameful execution on her felf.

Mar. But if my frofty figns and chaps of age,
Grave witnesses of true experience,
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 ear,
The ftory of that baleful burning Night,

When fubtile 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 fteel;
Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,

But floods of tears will drown my oratory,
And break my very utt'rance; 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 were, 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 into the grave.
Laftly, my felf unkindly banished,

The gates fhut 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 t' embrace me as a friend:
And I am turn'd forth, be it known to you,
That have preferv'd her welfare in my blood,
And from her bofom took the enemy's point,

Sheathing

Tit. Your reafon, mighty lord?

Sat. Because the girl fhould not furvive her shame, And by her prefence ftill renew his forrows. Tit. A reafon mighty, ftrong, 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 unkind? Tit. Kill'd her, for whom my tears have made me blind.

I am as woful as Virginius was,

And have a thoufand times more cause than he
To do this outrage. And it is now done.

Sat. What, was fhe ravifh'd? tell, who did the deed?

Tit. Will't please you eat, will't please your Highness

feed?

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 her felf hath bred. 'Tis true, 'tis true; witness, my knife's sharp point. [He ftabs the Empress. Sat. Die, frantick wretch, for this accurfed deed.

[He ftabs Titus. Luc. Can the fon's eye behold his father bleed? There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed.

[Lucius ftabs the Emperor. Mar. You fad-fac'd men, people and fons of Rome, By uprore fever'd, like a flight of fowl Scatter'd by winds and high tempeftuous gufts, Oh, let me teach you how to knit again This scatter'd corn into one mutual fheaf, These broken limbs again into one body.

Goth.

Goth. Let Rome her felf be Bane unto her felf;
And the whom mighty Kingdoms curtfie to,
Like a forlorn and defperate caft away,

Do fhameful execution on her felf.

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

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 ear,
The ftory of that baleful burning Night,
When fubtile 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 fteel;
Nor can I utter all our bitter grief,

But floods of tears will drown my oratory,
And break my very utt'rance; even in the time
When it should move you to attend me moft,
Lending your kind commiferation.

Here is a Captain, let him tell the Tale,

Your hearts will throb and weep to hear him fpeak.
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 were, 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 into the grave.
Laftly, my felf unkindly banished,

The gates fhut 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 t' embrace me as a friend:
And I am turn'd forth, be it known to you,
That have preferv'd her welfare in my blood,
And from her bofom took the enemy's point,

Sheathing