DEMETRIUS, Son to Tamora. Appears, Act I. sc. 2. Act II. sc. 1; sc. 2; sc. 3; sc. 5. Appears, Act I. sc. 2. LAVINIA, daughter to Titus Andronicus. Act IV. sc. 4. Act II. sc. 2; sc. 3; sc. 5. Act III. sc. 1; sc. 2 Act IV. sc. 1. Act V. sc. 2; sc. 3. A Nurse. Appears, Act IV. sc. 2. A Black Child. Appears, Act IV. sc. 2. Act V. sc. 1. Kinsmen of Titus, Senators, Tribunes, Officers, Soldiers, and Attendants. SCENE,-ROME, AND THE COUNTRY NEAR IT. The earliest edition, of which any copy is at present known, of Titus Andronicus,' appeared in quarto, in 1600, under the following title:— "The most lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus. As it hath sundry times been playde by the Right Honourable the Earle of Pembroke, the Earle of Darbie, the Earle of Sussex, and the Lord Chamberlaine theyre Servants. At London, printed by J. R. for Edward White, 1600.' In the folio collection of 1623 it appears under the title of "The lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus.' TITUS ANDRONICUS. ACT I. SCENE I.-Rome. Flourish. Enter the Tribunes and Senators, aloft: and then enter SATURNINUS and his Followers at one door, and BASSIANUS and his Followers at the other, with drum and colours. SAT. Noble patricians, patrons of my right, BASS. Romans, friends, followers, favourers of my right, If ever Bassianus, Cæsar's son, Were gracious in the eyes of royal Rome, And, Romans, fight for freedom in your choice. Enter MARCUS ANDRONICUS, aloft, with the crown. Know that the people of Rome, for whom we stand In election for the Roman empery, For many good and great deserts to Rome: Lives not this day within the city walls. From weary wars against the barbarous Goths, And now at last, laden with honour's spoils, Whom you pretend to honour and adore,— Plead your deserts in peace and humbleness. SAT. How fair the tribune speaks to calm my thoughts! BASS. Marcus Andronicus, so I do affy In thy uprightness and integrity, And so I love and honour thee and thine, Thy noble brother Titus and his sons, And her to whom my thoughts are humbled all, Gracious Lavinia, Rome's rich ornament, That I will here dismiss my loving friends; [Exeunt Followers of BASSIANUS [Exeunt Followers of SATURNINUS Rome, be as just and gracious unto me, Open the gates and let me in. BASS. Tribunes, and me, a poor competitor. [Flourish. They go up into the Senate-house. SCENE II.-The same Enter a Captain, and others. CAP. Romans, make way: the good Andronicus, [Sound drums and trumpets, and then enter two of TITUS' Sons. After them two Men bearing a coffin covered with black : then two other Sons. After them TITUS ANDRONICUS; and then TAMORA, the queen of Goths, and her two Sons, CHIRON and DEMETRIUS, with AARON the Moor, and others, as many as can be. They set down the coffin, and TITUS speaks. TIT. Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning weeds! With burial amongst their ancestors. Here Goths have given me leave to sheath my sword. Titus, unkind, and careless of thine own, Why suffer'st thou thy sons, unburied yet, To hover on the dreadful shore of Styx? [They open the tomb. There greet in silence, as the dead are wont, Sweet cell of virtue and nobility, How many sons of mine hast thou in store, That thou wilt never render to me more! LUC. Give us the proudest prisoner of the Goths, TIT. I give him you, the noblest that survives, TAM. Stay, Roman brethren, gracious conqueror, A mother's tears in passion for her son: TIT. Patient yourself, madam, and pardon me. To this your son is mark'd, and die he must, "T appease their groaning shadows that are gone. |