Without the help of any hand at all. [He writes his name with his Staff, and guides Curs'd be that heart, that forc'd us to this shift !— [She takes the Staff in her Mouth, and guides it Tit. O, do you read, my lord, what she hath writ ?Stuprum-Chiron-Demetrius. Mar. What, what !-the lustful sons of Tamora Performers of this heinous, bloody deed? Tit. Magne Dominator poli, Tam lentus audis scelera ? tam lentus vides ? To stir a mutiny in the mildest thoughts, And arm the minds of infants to exclaims. My lord, kneel down with me ;-Lavinia, kneel; And with a gad of steel will write these words, Will blow these sands, like Sybil's leaves, abroad, Their mother's bed-chamber should not be safe [2] Feere-signifies a companion, and here metaphorically a husband. The proceeding of Brutus, which is alluded to, is described at lengh, in our author's Rape of Lucrece, as putting an end to the lamentations of Collatinus and Lucretius, the husband and father of Lucretia. TYRWHITT. For these bad-bondmen to the yoke of Rome. Mar. Ay, that's my boy! thy father hath full oft Come, come; thou'lt do thy message, wilt thou not? 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 ecstasy; That hath more scars of sorrow in his heart, SCENE II. [Exit. The same. A Room in the Palace. Enter AARON, CHIRON, and DEMETRIUS, at one door; at another door, young LUCIUS, and an Attendant, with a bundle of weapons, and verses writ upon them. Chi. Demetrius, here's the son of Lucius ; He hath some message to deliver to us. Aar. Ay,some mad message from his mad grandfather. Boy. My lords, with all the humbleness I may, I greet your honours from Andronicus ; And pray the Roman gods, confound you both. [Aside. To gratify your honourable youth, The hope of Rome; for so he bade me say ; Your lordships, that whenever you have need, [3] It should be, Revenge, ye heavens !- JOHNS. STEEV. You may be armed and appointed well : And so I leave you both, [Aside.] like bloody villains. [Ex. Boy and Attendant. Dem.What's here? A scroll; and written round about? Let's see; Integer vita, scelerisque purus, Non eget Mauri jaculis, nec arcu. Chi. O, 'tis a verse in Horace; I know it well: I read it in the grammar long ago. Aar.Ay, just!- -a verse in Horace;-right, you have it. Now, what a thing it is to be an ass! Here's no sound jest! the old man hath found their guilt; And sends the weapons wrapp'd about with lines, Aar. Had he not reason, lord Demetrius? Aside. 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 amen. Chi. And that would she for twenty thousand more. 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. Enter a Nurse, with a Black-a-Moor Child in her arms. 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 ! New 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? Nur. I mean, she's brought to bed. Give her good rest! What hath he sent her? Aar. Why, then she is the devil's dam; a joyful issue. Nur. A joyless, dismal, black, and sorrowful issue : Here is the babe, as loathsome as a toad Amongst the fairest breeders of our clime. The empress sends it thee, thy stamp, thy seal, Aar. Done! that which thou Canst not undo. Chi. Thou hast undone our mother. Aar. Villain, I have done thy mother. Dem. And therein, hellish dog, thou hast undone. Woe to her chance, and damn'd her loathed choice! Accurs'd the offspring of so foul a fiend! Chi. It shall not live. Aar. It shall not die. Nur. Aaron, it must: the mother wills it so. Aar. What, must it, nurse? then let no man, Do execution on my flesh and blood. but I, Dem. I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point, 5 That shone so brightly when this boy was got, 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, [5] A broach is a spit. I'll spit the tadpole. JOHNS. Shall seize this prey out of his father's hands. In that it scorns to bear another hue: Can never turn a swan's black legs to white, Dem. By this our mother is forever sham'd. Aar. Why, there's the privilege your beauty bears: Look, how the black slave smiles upon the father ; He is your brother, lords; sensibly fed Of that self-blood that first gave life to you; And, from that womb, where you imprison'd were, Nur. Aaron, what shall I say unto the empress? Aar. Then sit we down, and let us all consult. Dem. How many women saw this child of his? I am a lamb ; but if you brave the Moor, The chafed boar, the mountain lioness, |