Tit. "Tis sure enough, an you knew how, But if you hurt 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're 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?
Boy. I say, my lord, that if I were a man, Their mother's bed-chamber should not be safe For these bad bondmen to the yoke of Rome.
But were our witty empress well a-foot,
She would applaud Andronicus' conceit.
But let her rest in her unrest awhile.-
And now, young lords, was't not a happy star
Led us to Rome, strangers, and more than so,
Captives, to be advanced to this height?
It did me good, before the palace-gate
Mar. Ay, that's my boy! thy father hath full oft To brave the tribune in his brother's hearing.
For this ungrateful country done the like.
Boy. And, uncle, so will I, an if I live. Tit. Come, go with me into mine armoury; Lucius, I'll fit thee; and, withal, my boy Shall 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?
Boy. Ay, with my dagger in their bosoms, grand
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.
[Exeunt TITUS, LAVINIA, and Boy.
Mar. O heavens, can you hear a good man groan,
And not relent, or not compassion him?
Marcus, attend him in his ecstacy;
That hath more scars of sorrow in his heart,
Than foemen's marks upon his batter'd shield:
But yet so just, that he will not revenge :-
Revenge the heavens for old Andronicus!
Dem. But me more good, to see so great a lord Basely insinuate, and send us gifts.
Aar. Had he not reason, Lord Demetrius?
Did you not use his daughter very friendly?
Dem. I would, we had a thousand Roman dames
At such a bay, by turn to serve our lust.
Chi. A charitable wish, and full of love.
Aar. Here lacks but your mother for to say
Chi. And that would she for twenty thousand
Dem. Come, let us go: and pray to all the gods For our beloved mother in her pains.
Aar. Pray to the devils; the gods have given us
o'er.
Aside. Flourish.
Dem. Why do 'the emperor's trumpets flourish
thus?
Chi. Belike, for joy the emperor hath a son.
Dem. Soft; who comes here?
Enter a Nurse, with a Black-a-moor Child in her
Arms.
Nur.
Good morrow, lords:
O, tell me, did you see Aaron the Moor?
Aar. Well, more, or less, or ne'er a whit at all,
Here Aaron is: and what with Aaron now?
Nur. O, gentle Aaron, we are all undone !
Now help, or woe betide thee evermore!
Aar. Why, what a caterwauling dost thou keep? What dost thou wrap and fumble in thine arms? Nur. O, that which I would hide from heaven's eye
Our empress' shame, and stately Rome's disgrace ;
She is deliver'd, lords, she is deliver❜d.
Aar. To whom?
Aar. [Aside. Dem. Gramercy, lovely Lucius; What's the
I mean, she's brought to bed.
Well, God Give her good rest! What hath he sent her? A devil. Aar. Why, then she's the devil's dam; a joyful issue.
Dem. I'll broach' the tadpole on my rapier's point;
Nurse, give it me; my sword shall soon despatch it.
Aar Sooner this sword shall plough thy bowels up,
[Takes the Child from the Nurse, and draws.
Stay, murderous villains! will you kill your brother?
Now, by the burning tapers of the sky,
That shone so brightly when this boy was got,
He dies upon my scymetar's sharp point,
That touches this my first-born son and heir!
I tell you, younglings, not Enceladus,
With all his threat'ning band of Typhon's brood,
Nor great Alcides, nor the god of war,
Shall seize this prey out of his father's hands.
What, what; ye sanguine, shallow-hearted boys!
Ye white-lim'd walls! ye alehouse painted signs!
Coal black is better than another hue,
In that it scorns to bear another hue:
For all the water in the ocean
Can never turn a swan's black legs to white,
Although she lave them hourly in the flood."
Tell the emperess from me, I am of age
To keep mine own; excuse it how she can.
Dem. Wilt thou betray thy noble mistress thus?
F
Aar. My mistress is my mistress; this, myself;
The vigour, and the picture of my youth:
This, before all the world, do I prefer;
This, maugre all the world, will I keep safe,
Or some of you shall smoke for it in Rome.
Dem. By this our mother is for ever sham'd.
Chi. Rome will despise her for this foul escape.
Nur. The emperor, in his rage, will doom her
death.
Chi. I blush to think upon this ignomy.4
Aar. Why, there's the privilege your beauty bears:
Fie, treacherous hue! that will betray with blushing
The close enacts and counsels of the heart!"
Here's a young lad fram'd of another leer :6
Look, how the black slave smiles upon the father;
As who should say, Old lad, I am thine own.
He is your brother, lords; sensibly fed
Of that self-blood that first
life to you;
And, from that womb, where you imprison'd were,
He is enfranchised and come to light:
Nay, he's your brother by the surer side,
Although my seal be stamped in his face.
Nur. Aaron, what shall I say unto the empress? Dem. Advise thee, Aaron, what is to be done, And we will all subscribe to thy advice; Save thou the child, so we may all be safe.
Aar. Then sit we down, and let us all consult.
My son and I will have the wind of you:
Keep there: Now talk at pleasure of your safety.
They sit on the Ground.
Dem. How many women saw this child of his?
Aar. Why, so, brave lords; When we all join in
league,
I am a lamb: but if you brave the Moor,
The chafed boar, the mountain lioness,
The ocean swells not so as Aaron storms.-
But, say again, how many saw the child?
Nur. Cornelia the midwife, and myself,
And no one else, but the deliver'd empress.
Aar. O, lord, sir, 'tis a deed of policy:
Shall she live to betray this guilt of ours?
A long-tongu'd babbling gossip? no, lords, no.
And now be it known to you my full intent.
Not far, one Muliteus lives," my countryman,
His wife but yesternight was brought to bed;"
His child is like to her, fair as you are:
Go pack with him, and give the mother gold,
And tell them both the circumstance of all
And how by this their child shall be advanc'd
And be received for the emperor's heir,
And substituted in the place of mine,
To calm this tempest whirling in the court;
And let the emperor dandle him for his own.
|Hark ye, lords, ye see, that I have given her physic,
[Pointing to the Nurse.
And you must needs bestow her funeral;
The fields are near, and you are gallant grooms:
This done, see that you take no longer days,
But send the midwife presently to me.
The midwife, and the nurse, well made away,
Then let the ladies tattle what they please.
Aar. The emperess, the midwife, and yourself: Two may keep counsel, when the third's away:" Go to the empress; tell her, this I said :[Stabbing her. Weke, weke !-so cries a pig, pr par'd to the spit. Dem. What mean'st thou, Aaron? Wherefore didst thou this?
Chi. Aaron, I see, thou wilt not trust the air With secrets. For this care of Tamora,
Herself, and hers, are highly bound to thee.
[Exeunt DEM. and CHI. bearing off the Nurse. Aar. Now to the Goths, as swift as swallow flies;
There to dispose this treasure in mine arms,
And secretly to greet the empress' friends.-
Come on, you thick-lipp'd slave, I'll bear you
hence;
For it is you that puts us to our shifts:
I'll make you feed on berries, and on roots,
And feed on curds and whey, and suck the goat,
And cabin in a cave; and bring you up
To be a warrior, and command a camp.
SCENE III. The same. A public Place. Enter TITUS, bearing Arrows, with Letters at the ends of them; with him MARCUS, Young LUCIUS, and other Gentlemen, with Bows.
Tit. 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 Astræa reliquit:
Be you remember'd, Marcus, she's gone, she's fled.
Sir, take you to your tools. You, cousins, shall
Go sound the ocean, and cast your nets;
Happily you may find 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.
Mar. O, Publius, is not this a heavy case,
To see thy noble uncle thus distract?
Pub. Therefore, my lord, it highly us concerns,
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3 i. e. this foul illegitimate child. So in King John:- Lear :-'No scape of Nature.'
'Snuffs and packings of the duke's.'
If will have revenge
you
from hell, you shall :
Marry, for Justice she is so employ'd,
He thinks, with Jove in heaven, or some where else,
So that perforce you must needs stay a time.
Tit. 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-bon'd fram'd of the Cyclop's size:
But metal, Marcus, steel to the very back;
Yet wrung with wrongs, more than our backs can
And sith there is 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 you when I bid:
O' my word, I have written to effect;
There's not a god left unsolicited.
Clo. From heaven? alas, sir, I never came there: God forbid, I should be so bold to press to heaven in my young days. Why, I am going with my pigeons to the tribunal plebs, to take up a matter of brawl betwixt my uncle and one of the emperial's
Mar. 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.
Tit. Tell me, can you deliver an oration to the emperor with a grace?
Clo. Nay, truly, sir, I could never say grace in all my life.
Tu. 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 ;-mean while, here's money for thy
charges.
Sirrah, can you with a grace deliver a supplication?
Clo. Ay, sir.
Tit. 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, l'î be at hand, sir: see you do it bravely.
Clo. I warrant you, sir; let me alone.
Tit. Sirrah, hast thou a knife? Come, let me
Here, Marcus, fold it in the oration;
For thou hast made it like an humble suppliant :—
And when thou hast given it to the emperor,
Knock at my door, and tell me what he says.
Clo. God be with you, sir; I will.
Tit. Come, Marcus, let's go ;-Publius, follow
[Exeunt.
Mar. Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into the SCENE IV. The same. Before the Palace. Enter
We will afflict the emperor in his pride.
Tit. Now, masters, draw. [They shoot.] O, well said, Lucius!
Good boy, in Virgo's lap; give it Pallas.
Mar. My lord, I aim a mile beyond the moon; Your letter is with Jupiter by this.
Tit. Ha! Publius, Publius, what hast thou done? See, see, thou hast shot off one of Taurus' horns. Mar. This was the sport, my lord: when Pub
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.
SATURNINUS, TAMORA, CHIRON, DEMETRIUS, Lords, and others; SATURNINUS with the Arrows in his Hand that TITUS shot.
Sat. Why, lords, what wrongs are these Was
An emperor of Rome thus overborne,
Troubled, confronted thus: and, for the extent
Of egals justice, us'd in such contempt?
My lords, you know, as do the mightful gods,
However these disturbers of our peace
Buzz in the people's ears, there nought hath pass'd,
But even with law, against the wilful sons
Of old Andronicus. And what an if
His sorrows have so overwhelm'd his wits,
Shall we be thus afflicted in his wreaks,
His fits, his frenzy, and his bitterness?
And now he writes to heaven for his redress:
Tit. Why, there it goes: God give your lord- See, here's to Jove, and this to Mercury;
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Sirrah, what tidings? have you any letters?
Shall I have justice? what says Jupiter?
Clo. Ho! the gibbet-maker? he says, that he
hath taken them down again, for the man must not
be hang'd till the next week.
Tit. But what says Jupiter, I ask thee?
Clo. Alas, sir, I know not Jupiter; I never drank
with him in all my life.
Tit. Why, villain, art not thou the carrier?
Clo. Ay, of my pigeons, sir; nothing else.
Tit. Why, didst thou not come from heaven?
2 Gear is here put for matter, business. 3 Cuius appears to have been one of the kinsmen of Titus. Publius and Caius are again mentioned, Act v. Sc. 2. Steevens would read Calus, as there was a Roman deity of that name.
4 In the ancient ballad, Titus Andronicus's Complaint, is the following passage:
Then past releife I upp and downe did goe,
And with my teares wrote in the dust my woe:
I shot my arrowes towards heaven hie,
And for revenge to hell did often cry.'
This to Apollo; this to the god of war:
Sweet scrolls to fly about the streets of Rome!
What's this, but libelling against the senate,
And blazoning our injustice every where?
A goodly humour, is it not, my lords?
As who would say, in Ronie no justice were.
But, if I live, his feigned ecstasies
Shall be no shelter to these outrages:
But he and his shall know, that justice lives
In Saturninus' health; whom, if she sleep,
He'll so awake, as she in fury shall
Cut off the proud'st conspirator that lives.
Tam. My gracious lord, my lovely Saturnine,
Lord of my life, commander of my thoughts,
Calm thee, and bear the faults of Titus' age,
The effects of sorrow for his valiant sons,
Whose loss hath pierc'd him deep, and scarr'd his
heart;
And rather comfort his distressed plight,
Supposing the ballad to have been written before the play, this may be only a metaphorical expression, taken from Psalm lxiv. 3:-They shoot out their arrows, even
Than prosecute the meanest, or the best,
For these contempts. Why, thus it shall become
High-witted Tamora to gloze with all: [Aside.
But, Titus, I have touch'd thee to the quick,
Thy life-blood out: if Aaron now be wise,
Then is all safe, the anchor's in the port.-
How now, good fellow? would'st thou speak with us?
Clo. Yes, forsooth, an your mistership be imperial.
Tam. Empress I am, but yonder sits the emperor.
Clo. 'Tis he.-God, and saint Stephen, give you
good den:-I have brought you a letter, and a cou-
ple of pigeons here. [SAT. reads the Letter.
Sat. Go, take him away, and hang him presently.
Clo. How much money must I have?
Tam. Come, sirrah, you must be hang'd.
Clo. Hang'd! By'r lady, then I have brought up
[Exit, guarded.
Sat. Despiteful and intolerable wrongs!
Shall I endure this monstrous villany?
I know from whence this same device proceeds;
May this be borne ?-as if his traitorous sons,
That died by law for murder of our brother,
Have by my means been butcher'd wrongfully.-
Go, drag the villain hither by the hair;
Nor age, nor honour, shall shape privilege:
For this proud mock, I'll be thy slaughterman;
Sly frantic wretch, that holp'st to make me great,
In hope thyself should govern Rome and me.
Enter EMILIUS.
What news with thee, Æmilius ?
Emil. Arm, arm, my lords; Rome never had
more cause!
The Goths have gather'd head; and with a power
Of high-resolved men, bent to the spoil,
They hither march amain, under conduct
Of Lucius, son to old Andronicus;
Who threats, in course of this revenge, to do
As much as ever Coriolanus did.
Sat. Is warlike Lucius general of the Goths?
These tidings nip me; and I hang the head
As flowers with frost, or grass beat down with storms.
Ay, now begin our sorrows to approach:
'Tis he the common people love so much;
Myself hath often overheard them say
(When I have walked like a private man,)
That Lucius' banishment was wrongfully,
And they have wish'd that Lucius were their em
Tam. Why should you fear? is not your city strong?
Sat. Ay, but the citizens favour Lucius : And will revolt from me, to succour him.
With golden promises; that were his heart
Almost impregnable, his old ears deaf,
Yet should both ear and heart obey my tongue.-
Go thou before, be our embassador; [To EMIL.
Say, that the emperor requests a parley
Of warlike Lucius, and appoint the meeting,
Even at his father's house, the old Andronicus.
Sat. Æmilius, do this message honourably :
And if he stand on hostage for his safety,
Bid him demand what pledge will please him best.
Emil. Your bidding shall I do effectually.
[Exit EMILIUS.
Tam. Now will I to that old Andronicus;
And temper with him all the art I have,
To pluck proud Lucius from the warlike Goths.
And now, sweet emperor, be blithe again,
And bury all thy fear in my devices.
Sat. Then go successfully, and plead to him.
[Exeunt.
SCENE I. Plains near Rome. Enter Lucius,
and Goths, with Drum and Colours.
Luc. Approved warriors, and my faithful friends,
I have received letters from great Rome,
Which signify, what hate they bear their emperor,
And how desirous of our sight they are.
Therefore, great lords, be, as your titles witness,
Imperious, and impatient of your wrongs;
And, wherein Rome hath done you any scath."
Let him make treble satisfaction.
1 Goth. Brave slip, sprung from the great An-
dronicus,
Whose name was once our terror, now our comfort;
Whose high exploits, and honourable deeds,
Ingrateful Rome requites with foul contempt,
Be bold in us: we'll follow where thou lead'st,-
Like stinging bees in hottest summer's day,
Led by their master to the flower'd fields,-
And be avenged on cursed Tamora.
Goths. And, as he saith, so say we all with him.
Luc. I humbly thank him, and I thank you all.
But who comes here, led by a lusty Goth?
Enter a Goth, leading AARON, with his Child in
his Arms.
2 Goth. Renowned Lucius, from our troops I
To gaze upon a ruinous monastery ;6
stray'd,
And as I earnestly did fix mine eye
Upon the wasted building, suddenly
I heard a child cry underneath a wall:
I made unto the noise; when soon I heard
The crying babe controll'd with this discourse:
Tam. King, be thy thoughts imperious, like thy Peace, tawny slave; half me, and half thy dam!
Is the sun dimm'd, that gnats do fly in it?
The eagle suffers little birds to sing,
And is not careful what they mean thereby ;
Knowing that with the shadow of his wings,
He can at pleasure stint their melody:
Even so may'st thou the giddy men of Rome.
Then cheer thy spirit; for know, thou emperor,
I will enchant the old Andronicus,
With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous,
Than baits to fish, or honey-stalks* to sheep;
When as the one is wounded with the bait,"
The other rotted with delicious feed.
Sat. But he will not entreat his son for us.
Tam. If Tamora entreat him, then he will:
For I can smooth and fill his aged ear
Did not thy hue bewray whose brat thou art,
Had nature lent thee but thy mother's look,
Villain, thou might'st have been an emperor :
But where the bull and cow are both milk-white,
They never do beget a coal-black calf.
Peace, villain, peace!-even thus he rates the babe,
For I must bear thee to a trusty Goth;
Who, when he knows thou art the empress' babe,
With this, my weapon drawn, I rush'd upon him,
Will hold thee dearly for thy mother's sake.
Surpris'd him suddenly; and brought him hither,
To use as you think needful of the man.
Luc. O, worthy Goth! this is the incarnate devil, That robb'd Andronicus of his good hand: This is the pearl that pleas'd your empress' eye;7 chronology, that no very conclusive argument can be deduced from the particular absurdity of these anachroAnd yet the ruined monastery, the popish tricks, &c. 3 i. e. stop their melody. So in Romeo and Juliet:-that Aaron talks of, and especially the French salutait stinted, and cried-ay.'
2 See note on Troilus and Cressida, Act iv. Sc. 5; and nisms relative to the authenticity of Titus Andronicus. Cymbeline, Act iv. Sc. 2.
4 If by honey-stalks clover flowers are meant, it is an error to suppose that they produce the rot in sheep.Cows and oxen will indeed overcharge themselves with clover and die.
tion from the mouth of Titus, are altogether so very
much out of place, that I cannot persuade myself that
even our hasty poet could have been guilty of their
insertion, or would have permitted them to remain, had
he corrected the performance of another.'-Steevens.
7 Alluding to the proverb. A black man is a pearl in
Shakspeare has so perpetually offended against a fair woman's eve.'
And here's the base fruit of his burning lust.-
Say, wall-ey'd slave, whither would'st thou convey
This growing image of thy fiend-like face?
Why dost not speak? What! deaf? No; not
word?
A halter, soldiers; hang him on this tree,
And by his side his fruit of bastardy.
Aar. Touch not the boy, he is of royal blood.
Luc. Too like the sire for ever being good.-
First, hang the child, that he may see it sprawl;
A sight to vex the father's soul withal.
[4 Ladder is brought, which AARON is obliged to ascend. Aar.
And bear it from me to the emperess.
If thou do this, I'll show thee wondrous things,
That highly may advantage thee to hear:
If thou wilt not, befall what may befall,
I'll speak no more; But vengeance rot you all!
Luc. Say on; and, if it please me which thou
speak'st,
Thy child shall live, and I will see it nourish'd.
Aar. An if it please thee? why, assure thee,
Lucius,
"Twill vex thy soul to hear what I shall speak;
For I must talk of murders, rapes, and massacres,
Acts of black night, abominable deeds,
Complots of mischief, treason; villanies
Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd:1
And this shall all be buried by my death,
Unless thou swear to me, my child shall live.
Luc. Tell on thy mind; I say, thy child shall live.
Aar. Swear, that he shall, and then I will begin.
Luc. Who should I swear by? thou believ'st no
god;
That granted, how canst thou believe an oath?
Aar. What if I do not? as, indeed, I do not;
Yet, for I know thou art religious,
And hast a thing within thee, called conscience;
With twenty popish tricks and ceremonies,
Which I have seen thee careful to observe,-
Therefore I urge thy oath:-For that, I know,
An idiot holds his bauble2 for a god,
And keeps the oath, which by that god he swears;
To that I'll urge him:-Therefore, thou shalt vow
By that same god, what god soe'er it be,
That thou ador'st and hast in reverence,-
To save my boy, to nourish and bring him up;
Or else I will discover nought to thee.
Luc. Even by my god, I swear, to thee I will.
Aar. First, know thou, I begot him on the em-
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4 That love of bed-sports. 5 An allusion to bull-dogs; whose generosity and courage are always shown by meeting the bull in front. Amongst the dogs and beares he goes, Where, while he skipping cries-To head,--to head. Davies's Epigrams.
6 Perhaps Young had this speech in his thoughts when he made his Moor say :
'I urg'd Don Carlos to resign his mistress;
I forg'd the letter; I dispos'd the picture;
I hated, I despis'd, and I destroy,
That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me,
As true a dog as ever fought at head."-
Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth.
I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hole,
Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay:
I wrote the letter that thy father found,
And hid the gold within the letter mention'd,
Confederate with the queen and her two sons;
And what not done, that thou hast cause to rue,
Wherein I had no stroke of mischief in it?
I play'd the cheater for thy father's hand;
And, when I had it, drew myself apart,
And almost broke my heart with extreme laughter.
I pry'd me through the crevice of a wall,
When for his hand, he had his two sons' heads;
Beheld his tears, and laugh'd so heartily,
That both mine eyes were rainy like to his;
And when I told the empress of this sport,
She swounded' almost at my pleasing tale,
And, for my tidings gave me twenty kisses.
Goth. What! canst thou say all this, and never
blush?
Aar. Ay, like a black dog, as the saying is.
Luc. Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?
Aar. Ay, that I had not done a thousand more.
Even now I curse the day (and yet, I think,
Few come within the compass of my curse,)
Wherein I did not some notorious ill;
As kill a man, or else devise his death;
Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it;
Accuse some innocent, and forswear myself:
Set deadly enmity between two friends;
Make poor men's cattle break their necks;
Set fire on barns and haystacks in the night,
And bid the owners quench them with their tears.
Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,
And set them upright at their dear friends doors,
Even when their sorrows almost were forgot
And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,
Have with my knife carved, in Roman letters,
Let not your sorrow die though I am dead.
Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things,
As willingly as one would kill a fly;
And nothing grieves me heartily indeed,
But that I cannot do ten thousand more."
Luc. Bring down the devil; for he must not die
So sweet a death as hanging presently.
Aar. If there be devils, 'would I were a devil,
To live and burn in verlasting fire;
So I might have your company in hell,
But to torment you with my bitter tongue!
Luc. Sirs, stop his mouth and let him speak no
Goth. My lord, there is a messenger from Rome,
Desires to be admitted to your presence.
Luc. Let him come near.-
Welcome, Æmilius, what's the news from Rome?
The Roman emperor greets you all by me:
Emil. Lord Lucius, and you princes of the Goths,
And, for he understands you are in arms,
He craves a parley at your father's house,
Willing you to demand your hostages,
And they shall be immediately deliver❜d.
1 Goth. What says our general?
Lac. Æmilius, let the emperor give his pledges
Unto my father and my uncle Marcus,
And we will come.-March away. [Exeunt.
7 The verb to swound, which we now write swoon, was anciently in common use.
S Marlowe has been supposed to be the author of this play; and whoever will read the conversation between Barabas and Ithimore, in the Jew of Malta, Act ii. and compare it with these sentiments of Aaron, will perceive much reason for the opinion.
9 It appears from these words that the audience were entertained with part of the apparatus of an execution, and that Aaron was mounted on a ladder, as ready to be turned off.
10 Perhaps this is a stage direction crept into the text.
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