The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works

by William Shakespeare

  SATURNINUS

  Be it so, Titus, and gramercy, too. ⌈Flourish. Exeunt⌉

  2.1 ⌈Enter Aaron alone.⌉

  AARON

  Now climbeth Tamora Olympus’ top,

  Safe out of fortune’s shot, and sits aloft,

  Secure of thunder’s crack or lightning flash,

  Advanced 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 zodiac 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 fettered in amorous chains,

  And faster bound to Aaron’s charming eyes

  Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus.

  Away with slavish weeds and servile thoughts!

  I will be bright, and shine in pearl and gold

  To wait upon this new-made empress.

  To wait, said I?—to wanton with this queen,

  This goddess, this Semiramis, this nymph,

  This siren that will charm Rome’s Saturnine

  And see his shipwreck and his commonweal’s.

  Hollo, what storm is this?

  Enter Chiron and Demetrius, braving

  DEMETRIUS

  Chiron, thy years wants wit, thy wits wants edge

  And manners to intrude where I am graced

  And may, for aught thou knowest, affected be.

  CHIRON

  Demetrius, thou dost overween 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, or 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.

  AARON (aside)

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

  DEMETRIUS

  Why, boy, although our mother, unadvised,

  Gave you a dancing-rapier by your side,

  Are you so desperate grown to threat your friends?

  Go to, have your lath 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?

  They draw

  AARON

  Why, how now, lords?

  So near the Emperor’s palace dare ye draw

  And maintain such a quarrel openly?

  Full well I wot 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.

  DEMETRIUS

  Not I, till I have sheathed

  My rapier in his bosom, and withal

  Thrust those 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 undo us all.

  Why, lords, and think you not how dangerous

  It is to jet upon a prince’s right?

  What, is Lavinia then become so loose,

  Or Bassianus so degenerate,

  That for her love such quarrels may be broached

  Without controlment, justice, or revenge?

  Young lords, beware; and should the Empress know

  This discord’s ground, the music would not please.

  CHIRON

  I care not, I, knew she and all the world,

  I love Lavinia more than all the world.

  DEMETRIUS

  Youngling, learn thou to make some meaner 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 brook competitors in love?

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

  By this device.

  CHIRON

  Aaron, a thousand deaths

  Would I propose to achieve her whom I love.

  AARON

  To achieve her how?

  DEMETRIUS

  Why makes thou it so strange?

  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 shive, we know.

  Though Bassianus be the Emperor’s brother,

  Better than he have worn Vulcan’s badge.

  AARON (aside)

  Ay, and as good as Saturninus may.

  DEMETRIUS

  Then why should he despair that knows to court it

  With words, fair looks, and liberality?

  What, hast not thou full often struck a doe

  And borne her cleanly by the keeper’s nose?

  AARON

  Why then, it seems some certain snatch or so

  Would serve your turns.

  CHIRON

  Ay, so the turn were served.

  DEMETRIUS

  Aaron, thou hast hit it.

  AARON

  Would you had hit it too,

  Then should not we be tired with this ado.

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

  To square for this? Would it offend you then

  That both should speed?

  CHIRON

  Faith, not me.

  DEMETRIUS

  Nor me, so I were one.

  AARON

  For shame, be friends, and join for that you jar.

  ‘Tis policy and stratagem must do

  That you affect, and so must you resolve

  That what you cannot as you would achieve,

  You must perforce accomplish as you may.

  Take this of me: Lucrece was not more chaste

  Than this Lavinia, Bassianus’ love.

  A speedier course than ling’ring languishment

  Must we pursue, and I have found the path.

  My lords, a solemn hunting is in hand;

  There will the lovely Roman ladies troop.

  The forest walks are wide and spacious,

  And many unfrequented plots there are,

  Fitted by kind for rape and villainy.

  Single you thither then this dainty doe,

  And strike her home by force, if not by words,

  This way or not at all stand you in hope.

  Come, come; our Empress, with her sacred wit

  To villainy and vengeance consecrate,

  Will we acquaint with all what we intend,

  And she shall file our engines with advice

  That will not suffer you to square yourselves,

  But to your wishes’ height advance you both.

  The Emperor’s court is like the house of Fame,

  The palace full of tongues, of eyes and ears,

  The woods are ruthless, dreadful, deaf, and dull.

  There speak and strike, brave boys
, and take your turns.

  There serve your lust, shadowed from heaven’s eye,

  And revel in Lavinia’s treasury.

  CHIRON

  Thy counsel, lad, smells of no cowardice.

  DEMETRIUS

  Sit fas aut nefas, till I find the stream

  To cool this heat, a charm to calm these fits,

  Per Styga, per manes vehor. Exeunt

  2.2 Enter Titus Andronicus and his three sons (Quintus, Lucius, and Martius), and Marcus, making a noise with hounds and horns

  TITUS

  The hunt is up, the morn is bright and grey,

  The fields are fragrant and the woods are green.

  Uncouple here, and let us make a bay

  And wake the Emperor and his lovely bride,

  And rouse the Prince, and ring a hunter’s peal,

  That all the court may echo with the noise.

  Sons, let it be your charge, 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.

  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 lustily, my lords,

  Somewhat too early for new-married ladies.

  BASSIANUS

  Lavinia, how 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,

  And to our sport. (To Tamora) Madam, now shall ye see

  Our Roman hunting.

  MARCUS

  I have dogs, my lord,

  Will rouse the proudest panther in the chase,

  And climb the highest promontory top.

  TITUS

  And I have horse will follow where the game

  Makes way, and run like swallows o’er the plain.

  DEMETRIUS (aside)

  Chiron, we hunt not, we, with horse nor hound,

  But hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground. Exeunt

  2.3 Enter Aaron alone, with gold

  AARON

  He that had wit would think that I had none,

  To bury so much gold under a tree

  And never after to inherit it.

  Let him that thinks of me so abjectly

  Know that this gold must coin a stratagem

  Which, cunningly effected, will beget

  A very excellent piece of villainy.

  And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest

  That have their alms out of the Empress’ chest.

  He hides the gold.

  Enter Tamora alone to the Moor

  TAMORA

  My lovely Aaron, wherefore look‘st thou sad

  When everything doth make a gleeful boast?

  The birds chant melody on every bush,

  The snakes 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 yellowing noise,

  And after conflict such as was supposed

  The wand’ring prince and Dido once enjoyed

  When with a happy storm they were surprised,

  And curtained with a counsel-keeping 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 Venus govern your desires,

  Saturn is dominator over mine.

  What signifies my deadly-standing 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 venereal 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 hopes more heaven than rests in thee,

  This is the day of doom for Bassianus.

  His Philomel must lose her tongue today,

  Thy sons make pillage of her chastity

  And wash their hands in Bassianus’ blood.

  Seest thou this letter? (Giving a letter) Take it up, 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 hopeful booty,

  Which dreads not yet their lives’ destruction.

  Enter Bassianus and Lavinia

  TAMORA (aside to Aaron)

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

  AARON (aside to Tamora)

  No more, great Empress; Bassianus comes.

  Be cross with him, and I’ll go fetch thy sons

  To back thy quarrels, whatsoe’er they be. Exit

  BASSIANUS

  Who have we here? Rome’s royal empress

  Unfurnished of her well-beseeming troop?

  Or is it Dian, habited like her

  Who hath abandoned her holy groves

  To see the general hunting in this forest?

  TAMORA

  Saucy controller of my private steps,

  Had I the power that some say Dian had,

  Thy temples should be planted presently

  With horns, as was Actaeon’s, and the hounds

  Should drive upon thy new-transformed limbs,

  Unmannerly intruder as thou art!

  LAVINIA

  Under your patience, gentle Empress,

  ‘Tis thought you have a goodly gift in horning,

  And to be doubted that your Moor and you

  Are singled forth to try experiments.

  Jove shield your husband from his hounds today—

  ‘Tis pity they should take him for a stag.

  BASSIANUS

  Believe me, Queen, your swart Cimmerian

  Doth make your honour of his body’s hue,

  Spotted, detested, and abominable.

  Why are you sequestered from all your train,

  Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed,

  And wandered hither to an obscure plot,

  Accompanied but 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 rated

  For sauciness. (To Bassianus) I pray you, let us hence,

  And let her joy her raven-coloured love.

  This valley fits the purpose passing well.

  BASSIANUS

  The King my brother shall have note of this.

  LAVINIA

  Ay, for these slips have made him noted long.

  Good King, to be so mightily abused!

  TAMORA

  Why have I 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 ‘ticed me hither to this place.

  A barr
en detested vale you see it is;

  The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean,

  Overcome with moss and baleful mistletoe.

  Here never shines the sun, here nothing breeds

  Unless the nightly owl or fatal raven,

  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, as many urchins

  Would make such fearful and confused cries

  As any mortal body hearing it

  Should straight fall mad or else die suddenly.

  No sooner had they told this hellish tale

  But straight they told me they would bind me here

  Unto the body of a dismal yew

  And leave me to this miserable death.

  And then they called me foul adulteress,

  Lascivious Goth, 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 henceforward called my children.

  DEMETRIUS

  This is a witness that I am thy son.

  He stabs Bassianus

  CHIRON

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

  He stabs Bassianus, who dies.

  ⌈Tamora turns to Lavinia⌉

  LAVINIA

  Ay, come, Semiramis—nay, barbarous Tamora,

  For no name fits thy nature but thy own.

  TAMORA (to Chiron)

  Give me the poniard. 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 thresh the corn, then after burn the straw.

  This minion stood upon her chastity,

  Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty,

  And with that quaint hope braves your mightiness.

  And shall she carry this unto her grave?

  CHIRON

  An if 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 honey ye desire

  Let not this wasp outlive, us both to sting.

  CHIRON

  I warrant you, madam, we will make that sure.

  Come, mistress, now perforce we will enjoy

  That nice-preserved honesty of yours.

  LAVINIA

  O Tamora, thou bearest a woman’s face—