Sat. And therefore, lovely Tamora, queen of Goths,-- Speak, queen of Goths, dost thou applaud my choice? I will not re-salute the streets of Rome, Or climb my palace, till from forth this place I lead espous'd my bride along with me. Tam. And here, in sight of heaven, to Rome I swear, If Saturnine advance the queen of Goths, She will a handmaid be to his desires, Sat. Ascend, fair queen, Pantheon:-Lords, accompany Your noble emperor, and his lovely bride, [Exeunt SAT. and his followers; TAM. and her Sons; AARON and Goths. Tit. I am not bid to wait upon this bride ;— Titus, when wert thou wont to walk alone, Dishonour'd thus, and challenged of wrongs? Re-enter MARCUS, LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and MARTIUS. Mar. O, Titus, see, O, see, what thou hast done! 7 That, like the stately Phoebe 'mongst her nymphs, Dost overshine the gallant'st dames of Rome,] Micat inter omnes "Julium sidus, velut inter ignes "Luna minores." Hor. Malone. From Phaer's Virgil, 1573: [Eneid, B. I.] "Most like unto Diana bright when she to hunt goth out "Whom thousands of the ladie nymphes awaite to do her will; "She on her armes her quiuer beres, and al them ouershynes." Ritson. 3 I am not bid - i. e. invited. Malone. In a bad quarrel slain a virtuous son. Tit. No, foolish tribune, no; no son of mine,- Luc. But let us give him burial, as becomes; Tit. Traitors, away! he rests not in this tomb. Here none but soldiers, and Rome's servitors, My nephew Mutius' deeds do plead for him; Quin. Mart. And shall, or him we will accompany. To pardon Mutius, and to bury him. Tit. Marcus, even thou hast struck upon my crest, And, with these boys, mine honour thou hast wounded: My foes I do repute you every one; So trouble me no more, but get you gone. Mart. He is not with himself; let us withdraw.? [MAR. and the sons of TIT. kneel.. 'Mar. Suffer thy brother Marcus to interr His noble nephew here in virtue's nest, He is not with himself; let us withdraw.] Read: He is not now himself; Ritson. Perhaps the old reading is a mere affected imitation of Reman phraseology. See Æneid XI, 409, though the words there are otherwise applied: habitet tecum, & sit pectore in isto." Steevens. Thou art a Roman, be not barbarous. Let not young Mutius then, that was thy joy, Tit. Rise, Marcus, rise: The dismall'st day is this, that e'er I saw, [MUT. is put into the Tomb. Luc. There lie thy bones, sweet Mutius, with thy friends, Till we with trophies do adorn thy tomb!— All. No man shed tears for noble Mutius;2 He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause. Mar. My lord,-to step out of these dreary dumps,*How comes it, that the subtle queen of Goths Is of a sudden thus advanc'd in Rome? Tit. I know not, Marcus; but, I know, it is; That brought her for this high good turn so far? 1 The Greeks, upon advice, did bury Ajax That slew himself; and wise Laertes' son Did graciously plead for his funerals.] This passage alone would sufficiently convince me, that the play before us was the work of one who was conversant with the Greek tragedies in their original language. We have here a plain allusion to the Ajax of Sophocles, of which no translation was extant in the time of Shakspeare. In that piece, Agamemnon consents at last to allow Ajax the rites of sepulture, and Ulysses is the pleader, whose arguments prevail in favour of his remains. Steevens. 2 No man shed tears &c.] This is evidently a translation of the distich of Ennius: "Nemo me lacrumeis decoret: nec funera fletu "Facsit, quur? volito vivu' per ora virûm." Steevens. * See Mr. Steevens's note on doleful dumps. Vol. II. p. 205, n. 6. Am. Ed. 3 Yes, &c.] This line is not in the quarto. I suspect, when it was added by the editor of the folio, he inadvertently omitted to prefix the name of the speaker, and that it belongs to Marcus. In the second line of this speech the modern editors read -If by device, &c. Malone, Flourish. Re-enter, at one side, SATURNINUS, attended; TAMORA, CHIRON, DEMETRIUS, and AARON: At the other, BASSIANUS, LAVINIA, and Others. Sat. So Bassianus, you have play'd your prize;4 God give you joy, sir, of your gallant bride. Bas. And you of yours, my lord: I say no more, Nor wish no less; and so I take my leave. Sat. Traitor, if Rome have law, or we have power, Thou and thy faction shall repent this rape. Bas. Rape, call you it, my lord, to seize my own, Sat. 'Tis good, sir: You are very short with us; Bas. My lord, what I have done, as best I may, With his own hand did slay his youngest son, 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 And basely put it up without revenge? Tam. Not so, my lord; The gods of Rome forefend, I should be author to dishonour you! play'd your prize;] A technical term in the ancient fencing-school. See Vol. IV, p. 346, n. 4. Steevens. But, on mine honour, dare I undertake Aside. Come, come, sweet emperor,-come, Andronicus, Sat. Rise, Titus, rise; my empress hath prevail'd. And must advise the emperor for his good. Luc. We do; and vow to heaven, and to his highness, That, what we did, was mildly, as we might, 5 supplant us-] Edition 1600-supplant you. Todd. |