BAS. My lord, what I have done, as best I With his own hand did slay his youngest son, may, 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 SAT. What! madam! be dishonour'd openly, And basely put it up without revenge? TAM. Not so, my lord; The gods of Rome forefend, I should be author to dishonour you! My lord, be rul❜d by me, be won at last, Kneel in the streets, and beg for grace in vain. Aside. 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 vail'd. pre 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 you.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, Luc. We do; and vow to heaven, and to his highness, That, what we did, was mildly, as we might, MAR. That on mine honour here I do protest. The tribune and his nephews kneel for grace; 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. Lavinia, though you left me like a churl, I found a friend; and sure as death I swore, TIT. To-morrow, an it please your majesty, jour. SAT. Be it so, Titus, and ACT II. SCENE I." The same. Before the Palace. Enter AARON. AAR. Now climbeth Tamora Olympus' top, Upon her wit' doth earthly honour wait, 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. 7 ' Upon her wit-] We should read-Upon her will. WARBURTON. I think wit, for which she is eminent in the drama, is right. JOHNSON. The wit of Tamora is again mentioned in this scene: "Come, come, our empress with her sacred wit," &c. MALONE. And faster bound to Aaron's charming eyes, 9 Enter CHIRON and DEMETRIUS, braving. DEM. Chiron, thy years want wit, thy wit wants edge, And manners, to intrude where I am grac'd; To serve, and to deserve my mistress' grace; 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. MALONE. 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. |