BAS. 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 mov'd to wrath
To be control'd in that he frankly gave:
Receive him then to favour, Saturnine;
That hath express'd himself, in all his deeds,
A father, and a friend, to thee, and Rome.
TIT. 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 lov'd and honour'd Saturnine!
TAM. My worthy lord, if ever Tamora
Were gracious in those princely eyes of thine,
Then hear me speak indifferently for all;
And at my suit, sweet, pardon what is past.
SAT. What! madam! be dishonour'd openly, And basely put it up without revenge?
TAM. Not so, my lord; The gods of Rome fore-
fend,
I should be author to dishonour you!
But, on mine honour, dare I undertake
For good lord Titus' innocence in all,
Whose fury, not dissembled, speaks his griefs:
Then, at my suit, look graciously on him;
Lose not so noble a friend on vain suppose,
Nor with sour looks afflict his gentle heart.-
My lord, be rul'd by me, be won at last,
Díssemble all your griefs and discontents:
You are but newly planted in your throne;
Lest then the people, and patricians too,
Upon a just survey, take Titus' part,
And so supplant us for ingratitude,
(Which Rome reputes to be a heinous sin,)
Yield at entreats, and then let me alone:
I'll find a day to massacre them all,
And raze their faction, and their family,
The cruel father, and his traitorous sons,
To whom I sued for my dear son's life ;
And make them know, what 'tis to let a
queen
Kneel in the streets, and beg for grace in
Come, come, sweet emperor,come, Andronicus, Take up this good old man, and cheer the heart That dies in tempest of thy angry frown.
SAT. Rise, Titus, rise; my empress hath prevail'd.
TIT. I thank your majesty, and her, my lord: These words, these looks, infuse new life in me.
TAM. Titus, I am incorporate in Rome,
A Roman now adopted happily,
And must advise the emperor for his good.
This day all quarrels die, Andronicus;
And let it be mine honour, good my lord,
That I have reconcil'd your friends and
For you, prince Bassianus, I have pass'd'
My word and promise to the emperor,
That you will be more mild and tractable.—
And fear not, lords,-and you, Lavinia ;—
supplant us-] Edition 1600:-supplant you. TODD.
By my advice, all humbled on your knees,
You shall ask pardon of his majesty.
Luc. We do; and vow to heaven, and to his
highness,
That, what we did, was mildly, as we might,
Tend'ring our sister's honour, and our own.
MAR. That on mine honour here I do protest.
SAT. Away, and talk not; trouble us no more.
TAM. 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.
SAT. 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.
TIT. 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
jour.
SAT. Be it so, Titus, and gramercy too.
The same. Before the Palace.
AAR. Now climbeth Tamora Olympus' top,
Safe out of fortune's shot; and sits aloft,
Secure of thunder's crack, or lightning's flash;
Advanc'd above pale envy's threat'ning reach.
As when the golden sun salutes the morn,
And, having gilt the ocean with his beams,
Gallops the zodiack in his glistering coach,
And overlooks the highest-peering hills;
So Tamora.
Upon her wit' 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 triumph
long
Hast prisoner held, fetter'd in amorous chains;
"In the quarto, the direction is, Manet Aaron, and he is before made to enter with Tamora, though he says nothing. This scene ought to continue the first Act. JOHNSON.
In the edit. 1600, the stage-direction is-" Sound trumpets,' manet Moore." TODD.
"Upon her wit-] We should read-Upon her will.
I think wit, for which she is eminent in the drama, is right.
The wit of Tamora is again mentioned in this scene: “Come, come, our empress with her sacred wit," &c.
And faster bound to Aaron's charming eyes,
Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus.
Away with slavish weeds, and idle 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,
This goddess, this Semiramis ;-this queen,"
This syren, that will charm Rome's Saturnine,
And see his shipwreck, and his commonweal's.
Holla! what storm is this?
Enter CHIRON and DEMETRIUS, braving.
DEM. Chiron, thy years want wit, thy wit wants edge,
And manners, to intrude where I am grac'd;
And
may, for aught thou know'st, affected be.
CHI. Demetrius, thou dost over-ween in all;
And so in this to bear me down with braves.
'Tis not the difference of a year, or two,
Makes me less gracious, thee more fortunate:
I am as able, and as fit, as thou,
To serve, and to deserve my mistress' grace;
And that my sword upon thee shall approve,
And plead my passions for Lavinia's love.
idle thoughts!] Edit. 1600:-servile thoughts, the better reading, I think. TODD.
this queen,] The compositor probably repeated the word queen inadvertently; [see the preceding line:] what was the poet's word, it is hardly worth while to conjecture.
This goddess, this Semiramis;-this queen,] Mr. Malone' notices the inadvertent repetition of queen, but thinks the poet's word not worth a conjecture. The edition 1600 saves the trouble, as it reads:
This goddesse, this Semerimis, this nymph. TODD.
|