And to be doubted, that your Moor and you Jove shield your husband from his hounds to-day ! Bas. Believe me, queen, your swarth Cimmerian Why are you séquester'd from all your train? Bas. The king, my brother, shall have note of this.2 Lav. Ay, for these slips have made him noted long :* Good king! to be so mightily abus'd! Tam. Why have I patience to endure all this? Enter CHIRON and DEMETRIUS. Dem. How now, dear sovereign, and our gracious mother, Why doth your highness look so pale and wan? 9 swarth Cimmerian -] Swarth is black. The Moor is called Cimmerian, from the affinity of blackness to darkness. Johnson. swarth Cimmerian -] Edition 1600:-swartie Cymerion. Todd. 1 Accompanied with a barbarous Moor,] Edition 1600 reads: Accompanied but with a barbarous Moore. Todd. 2 have note of this,] Old copies-notice. Steevens. Thus also the 4to. 1600. Todd. 3 made him noted long:] He had yet been married but one night. Johnson. The true reading may be-made her, i. e. Tamora. Steevens. 4 A barren detested vale,] As the versification of this play is The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean, And, when they show'd me this abhorred pit, Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly.7 But straight they told me, they would bind me here And leave me to this miserable death. And then they call'd me, foul adulteress, And, had you not by wondrous fortune come, strength. by no means inharmonious, I am willing to suppose the author wrote: A bare detested vale, Steevens. 5 Here never shines the sun; &c.] Mr. Rowe seems to have thought on this passage in his Jane Shore: 6 "This is the house where the sun never dawns, 7 Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly.] This is said in fabulous physiology; of those that hear the groan of the mandrake torn up. Johnson. The same thought and almost the same expressions occur in Romeo and Juliet. Steevens. 8 Ay come, Semiramis,] The propriety of this address will be best understood from the following passage in P. Holland's For no name fits thy nature but thy own! Tam. Give me thy poniard; you shall know, my boys, Your mother's hand shall right your mother's wrong. Dem. Stay, madam, here is more belongs to her; First, thrash the corn, then after burn the straw: This minion stood upon her chastity, Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty, And with that painted hope braves your mightiness :9 Chi. An if she do, I would I were an eunuch. Chi. I warrant you madam; we will make that sure.— Lav. O Tamora! thou bear'st a woman's face,— Tam. I will not hear her speak; away with her. Lav. Sweet lords, entreat her hear me but a word. Dem. Listen, fair madam: Let it be your glory To see her tears; but be your heart to them, As unrelenting flint to drops of rain. Lav. When did the tiger's young ones teach the dam? O, do not learn her wrath; she taught it thee: The milk, thou suck'dst from her, did turn to marble; Even at thy teat thou hadst thy tyranny.— translation of the 8th. Book of Pliny's Nat. Hist. ch. 42: " Queen Semiramis loved a great horse that she had, so farre forth, that she was content he should doe his kind with her." The incontinence of this lady has been already alluded to in the Induction to the Taming of a Shrew, scene the second. Steevens. 9 And with that painted hope braves your mightiness:] Painted hope is only specious hope, or ground of confidence more plausible than solid. Johnson. The ruggedness of this line persuades me that the word- hope is an interpolation, the sense being complete without it: And with that painted, braves your mightiness. So, in King Richard III: "Poor painted queen," &c. 1 you desire,] Old copies-we desire. Corrected in the second folio. Malone. The edit. 1600, reads, with the other old copies-we desire. Todd. Yet every mother breeds not sons alike; [To CHI. Chi. What! would'st thou have me prove myself a bastard? Lav. 'Tis true; the raven doth not hatch a lark: Tam. I know not what it means; away with her. Tam. Hadst thou in person ne'er offended me, Even for his sake am I pitiless :— Remember, boys, I pour'd forth tears in vain, To save your brother from the sacrifice; Therefore away with her,2 and use her as you will; Lav. O Tamora, be call'd a gentle queen, Poor I was slain, when Bassianus died. Tam. What begg'st thou then; fond woman, let me go, Lav. 'Tis present death I beg; and one thing more, That womanhood denies my tongue to tell: O, keep me from their worse than killing lust, Tam. So should I rob my sweet sons of their fee: No, let them satisfy their lust on thee. Dem. Away; for thou hast staid us here too long. Lav. No grace? no womanhood? Ah beastly crea ture! The blot and enemy to our general name! 2 with her,] These useless syllables, which hurt the metre, might well be omitted. Steevens. Confusion fall Chi. Nay, then I'll stop your mouth :-Bring thou her husband; [Dragging off Lav. This is the hole where Aaron bid us hide him. [Exeunt. Tam. Farewel, my sons: see, that you make her sure : Ne'er let my heart know merry cheer indeed, Till all the Andronici be made away. Now will I hence to seek my lovely Moor, [Exit. SCENE IV. The same. Enter AARON, with QUINTUS and MARTIUS. Aar. Come on, my lords; the better foot before: Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit, Where I espy'd the panther fast asleep. Quin. My sight is very dull, whate'er it bodes. Mart. And mine, I promise you; wer't not for shame, Well could I leave our sport to sleep awhile. [MART. falls into the Pit.- Speak, brother, hast thou hurt thee with the fall? That ever eye, with sight, made heart lament. Aar. [aside] Now will I fetch the king to find them here; That he thereby may give a likely guess, How these were they that made away his brother. [Exit AAR.. Mart. Why dost not comfort me, and help me out From this unhallow'd and blood-stained hole? Quin. I am surprized with an uncouth fear: |