and Ladies.

The troop pass once about the stage, and Garter speaks.

Gart. Heaven, from thy endless goodness, send prosperous life, long, and ever happy, to the high and mighty princess of England, Elizabeth! Flourish.-Enter KING, and Train.

Cran. [Kneeling.] And to your royal grace, and the good queen,

My noble partners, and myself, thus pray;-
All comfort, joy, in this most gracious lady,
Heaven ever laid up to make parents happy,
May hourly fall upon thee!

K. Hen.

Thank you, good lord archbishop;

What is her name?
Cran.
K. Hen.

Elizabeth.

Stand up, lord.[The KING kisses the Child. With this kiss take my blessing; God protect

thee!

Into whose hands I give thy life.
Cran.

Amen. [prodigal:
K. Hen. My noble gossips, ye have been too
I thank ye heartily; so shall this lady,
When she has so much English.
Cran.
Let me speak, sir,
For Heaven now bids me; and the words I utter
Let none think flattery, for they'll find them
truth.

This royal infant, (heaven still move about her!)
Though in her cradle, yet now promises
Upon this land a thousand thousand blessings,
Which time shall bring to ripeness: She shall be
(But few now living can behold that goodness)
A pattern to all princes living with her,
And all that shall succeed: Sheba was never
More covetous of wisdom, and fair virtue,
Than this pure soul shall be: all princely graces
That mould up such a mighty piece as this is,
With all the virtues that attend the good, [her,
Shall still be doubled on her: truth shall nurse
Holy and heavenly thoughts still counsel her:
She shall be lov'd, and fear'd: Her own shall

In her days, every man shall eat in safety Under his own vine, what he plants; and sing The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours: [her, God shall be truly known; and those about From her shall read the perfect ways of honour, And by those claim their greatness, not by blood. [when [Nor shall this peace sleep with her: But as The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix, Her ashes new create another heir,

This and the following seventeen lines were probably written by B. Jonson, after the accession of King James.

B

| As great in admiration as herself;
So shall she leave her blessedness to one,
(When heaven shall call her from this cloud of
darkness,)

Who, from the sacred ashes of her honour,
Shall star-like rise, as great in fame as she was,
And so stand fix'd: Peace, plenty, love, truth,
terror,

That were the servants to this chosen infant,
Shall then be his, and like a vine grow to him;
Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine,
His honour and the greatness of his name
Shall be, and make new nations: He shall
flourish,

And, like a mountain cedar, reach his branches To all the plains about him :-Our children's children

Shall see this, and bless heaven.
K. Hen.
Thou speakest wonders.]
Cran. She shall be, to the happiness of Eng-
land,

An aged princess; many days shall see her,
And yet no day without a deed to crown it.
'Would I had known no more! but she must die,
She must, the saints must have her; yet a virgin,
A most unspotted lily shall she pass
To the ground, and all the world shall mourn her.
K. Hen. O lord archbishop,

Thou hast made me now a man; never, before
This happy child, did I get any thing:
This oracle of comfort has so pleas'd me,
That, when I am in heaven, I shall desire
To see what this child does, and praise my
Maker.-

I thank ye all,-To you, my good Lord Mayor,
And your good brethren, I am much beholden;
I have receiv'd much honour by your presence,
And ye shall find me thankful. Lead the way,

lords;

[ye;

Ye must all see the queen, and she must thank She will be sick else. This day, no man think He has business at his house; for all shali stay: This little one shall make it holiday. [Exeunt.

EPILOGUE.

'Tis ten to one this play can never please
All that are here: Some come to take their ease,
And sleep an act or two; but those, we fear,
We have frighted with our trumpets; so, 'tis
clear,
They'll say, 'tis naught: others, to hear the city
Abus'd extremely, and to cry," that's witty !"
Which we have not done neither; that, I fear
All the expected good we are like to hear
For this play at this time, is only in
The merciful construction of good women:
For such a one we show'd them; If they smile,
And say, 'twill do, I know, within a while
All the best men are ours; for 'tis ill hap,
If they hold, when their ladies bid them clap.

nat no man can is death.

Act First.

SCENE I.-Rome. Before the Capitol. The Tomb of the Andronici appearing; the Tribunes and Senators aloft, as in the Senate. Enter, below, SATURNINUS and his Followers, on one side; and BASSIANUS and his Followers on the other; with Drum and Colours. Sat. Noble patricians, patrons of my right, Defend the justice of my cause with arms; And, countrymen, my loving followers, Plead my successive title with your swords: I am his first-born son, that was the last That ware the imperial diadem of Rome; Then let my father's honours live in me, Nor wrong mine age with this indignity. Bas. Romans,-friends, followers, favourers of If ever Bassianus, Cæsar's son, [my right, Were gracious in the eyes of royal Rome, Keep then this passage to the Capitol ; And suffer not dishonour to approach The imperial seat, to virtue consecrate, To justice, continence, and nobility: But let desert in pure election shine; And, Romans, fight for freedom in your choice. Enter MARCUS ANDRONICUS, aloft, with the Crown.

Marc. Princes that strive by factions, and by Ambitiously for rule and empery,- [friends, Know, that the people of Rome, for whom we stand

A special party, have, by their common voice,
In election for the Roman empery,
Chosen Andronicus, surnamed Pius
For many good and great deserts to Rome;
A nobler man, a braver warrior,
Lives not this day within the city walls:
He by the senate is accited † home,
From weary wars against the barbarous Goths;
That, with his sons, a terror to our foes,
Hath yok'd a nation strong, train'd up in arms.
Ten years are spent, since first he undertook
This cause of Rome, and chastised with arms
Our enemies' pride: Five times he hath return'd
Bleeding to Rome, bearing his valiant sons
In coffins from the field;

And now at last, laden with honour's spoils,
Returns the good Andronicus to Rome,

i. e. My title to the succession.
+ Summoned.

Renowned Titus, flourishing in arms.
Let us entreat,-By honour of his name,
Whom, worthily, you would have now succeed,
Whom you pretend to honour and adore,-
And in the Capitol and senate's right,
Dismiss your followers, and, as suitors should,
That you withdraw you, and abate your strength;
Plead your deserts in peace and humbleness.

Sat. How fair the tribune speaks to calm my
thoughts!

Bas. Marcus Andronicus, so I do affy
In thy uprightness and integrity,
And so I love and honour thee and thine,
Thy nobler 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;
And to my fortunes, and the people's favour,
Commit my cause in balance to be weigh'd.
[Exeunt the Followers of BAs.
Sat. Friends, that have been thus forward in
my right,

I thank you all, and here dismiss you all;
And to the love and favour of my country
Commit myself, my person, and the cause.

[Exeunt the Followers of SAT.
Rome, be as just and gracious unto me,
As I am confident and kind to thee.-
Open the gates, and let me in.

Bas. Tribunes! and me, a poor competitor. [SAT, and BAs. go into the Capitol, and exeunt with Senators, MARC., &c.

SCENE II.-The same.

Enter a Captain, and Others.

Cap. Romans, make way; The good AndroniPatron of virtue, Rome's best champion, [cus, Successful in the battles that he fights, With honour and with fortune is return'd, From where he circumscribed with his sword, And brought to yoke, the enemies of Rome. Flourish of Trumpets, &c.; enter MUTIUS and MARTIUS: after them, two Men bearing a Coffin covered with black; then QUINTUS and LUCIUS. After them, TITUS ANDRONICUS; and then TAMORA, with ALARBUS, CHIRON, DEMETRIUS, AARON, and other Goths, prisoners; Soldiers and People following. The Bearers set down the Coffin, and TITUS speaks.

Tit. Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning

weeds!

From whence at first she weigh'd her anchorage,
Cometh Andronicus, bound with laurel boughs,
To re-salute his country with his tears;
Tears of true joy for his return to Rome.-
Thou great defender of this Capitol,*
Stand gracious to the rights that we intend!—
Romans, of five-and-twenty valiant sons,
Half of the number that King Priam had,
Behold the poor remains, alive, and dead!
These, that survive, let Rome reward with love;
These, that I bring unto their latest home,
With burial amongst their ancestors: [sword.
Here Goths have given me leave to sheath my
Titus, unkind, and careless of thine own,
Why suffer'st thou thy sons, unburied yet,
To hover on the dreadful shore of Styx?.
Make way to lay them by their brethren.

[The Tomb is opened.
There greet in silence, as the dead are wont,
And sleep in peace, slain in your country's wars!
O sacred receptacle of my joys,
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,

That we may hew his limbs, and, on a pile,
Ad manes fratrum sacrifice his flesh,
Before this earthly prison of their bones;
That so the shadows be not unappeas'd,
Nor we disturb'd with prodigies on earth.+

Tit. I give him you; the noblest that survives,
The eldest son of this distressed queen.
Tam. Stay, Roman brethren ;-Gracious con-
queror,

Victorious Titus, rue the tears I shed,
A mother's tears in passion for her son :
And, if thy sons were ever dear to thee,
O, think my son to be as dear to me.
Sufficeth not, that we are brought to Rome,
To beautify thy triumphs, and return,
Captive to thee, and to thy Roman yoke;
But must my sons be slaughter'd in the streets,
For valiant doings in their country's cause?
O if to fight for king and common weal
Were piety in thine, it is in these.
Andronicus, stain not thy tomb with blood :
Wilt thou draw near the nature of the gods?
Draw near them then in being merciful:
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge;
Thrice-noble Titus, spare my first-born son.
Tit. Patient yourself, madam, and pardon
[beheld
These are their brethren, whom you Goths
Alive, and dead; and for their brethren slain,
Religiously they ask a sacrifice :

me.

To this your son is mark'd; and die he must, To appease their groaning shadows that are gone. [straight; Luc. Away with him! and make a fire And with our swords, upon a pile of wood, Let's hew his limbs, till they be clean consum'd.

[Exeunt Luc., QUIN., MART., and MUT., with ALAR.

Tam. O cruel, irreligious piety!

Chi. Was ever Scythia half so barbarous ? Dem. Oppose not Scythia to ambitious Rome. Alarbus goes to rest; and we survive

Jupiter, to whom the Capitol was sacred. + It was supposed that the ghosts of unburied people appeared to solicit the rites of funeral.

[Troy The self-same gods, that arm'd the Queen of With opportunity of sharp revenge Upon the Thracian tyrant in his tent, May favour Tamora, the Queen of Goths, (When Goths were Goths, and Tamora was queen,)

To quit the bloody wrongs upon her foes.
Re-enter LUCIUS, QUINTUS, MARTIUS, and
MUTIUS, with their Swords bloody.

Luc. See, lord and father, how we have perform'd

Our Roman rites: Alarbus' limbs are lopp'd,
And entrails feed the sacrificing fire, [sky.
Whose smoke, like incense, doth perfume the
Remaineth nought, but to inter our brethren,
And with loud 'larums welcome them to Rome.
Tit. Let it be so, and let Andronicus
Make this his latest farewell to their souls.
[Trumpets sounded, and the Coffins laid in the
Tomb.

In peace and honour rest you here, my sons;
Rome's readiest champions, repose you here,
Secure from worldly chances and mishaps!
Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells,
Here grow no inward grudges; here are no
storms,

No noise, but silence and eternal sleep:

Enter LAVINIA.

In peace and honour rest you here, my sons!
Lav. In peace and honour live Lord Titus long;
My noble lord and father, live in fame!
Lo! at this tomb my tributary tears

I render, for my brethren's obsequies;
And at thy feet I kneel with tears of joy
Shed on the earth, for thy return to Rome:
O, bless me here with thy victorious hand,
Whose fortunes Rome's best citizens applaud.
Tit. Kind Rome, that hast thus lovingly
reserv'd

The cordial of mine age to glad my heart!—
Lavinia, live; outlive thy father's days,
And fame's eternal date, for virtue's praise!
Enter MARCUS ANDRONICUS, SATURNINUS, BAS-
SIANUS, and Others.

Marc. Long live Lord Titus, my beloved brother,

Gracious triumpher in the eyes of Rome!
Tit. Thanks, gentle tribune, noble brother
Marcus.
[wars,
Marc. And welcome, nephews, from successful
You that survive, and you that sleep in fame.
Fair lords, your fortunes are alike in all,
That in your country's service drew your swords:
But safer triumph is this funeral pomp,
That hath aspired to Solon's happiness,?
And triumphs over chance, in honour's bed.-
Titus Andronicus, the people of Rome,
Whose friend in justice thou hast ever been,
Send thee by me, their tribune, and their trust,
This palliament of white and spotless hue;
And name thee in election for the empire,
With these our late-deceased emperor's sons:
Be candidatus then, and put it on,
And help to set a head on headless Rome.
Tit. A better head her glorious body fits,

Tit. These words are razors to my wounded heart. [Goths,

Sat. And therefore, lovely Tamora, Queen of
That, like the stately Phoebe 'mongst her nymphs,
Dost overshine the gallant'st dames of Rome,-
If thou be pleas'd with this my sudden choice,
Behold, I choose thee, Tamora, for my bride,
And will create thee emperess of Rome.
Speak, Queen of Goths, dost thou applaud my
choice?

And here I swear by all the Roman gods,-
Sith priest and holy water are so near,
And tapers burn so bright, and every thing
In readiness for Hymeneus stand,-

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,
A loving nurse, a mother to his youth.

Sat. Ascend, fair queen, Pantheon :-Lords, accompany

TAM.,

Your noble emperor, and his lovely bride,
Sent by the heavens for Prince Saturnine,
Whose wisdom hath her fortune conquered :
There shall we consúmmate our spousal rites.
[Exeunt SAT., and his Followers;
and her Sons; AAR. and Goths.
Tit. I am not bid to wait upon this bride ;-
Titus, when wert thou wont to walk alone,
Dishonour'd thus, and challeng'd of wrongs?

Re-enter MARCUS, LUCIUS, QUINTUS, and
MARTIUS.

Marc. O, Titus, see, O, see, what thou hast In a bad quarrel slain a virtuous son. [done! Tit. No, foolish tribune, no; no son of mine,Nor thou, nor these, confederates in the deed That hath dishonour'd all our family; Unworthy brother, and unworthy sons!

Luc. But let us give him burial, as becomes; Give Mutius burial with our brethren.

that word?

Tit. Traitors, away; he rests not in this tomb. This monument five hundred years hath stood, Which I have sumptuously re-edified: Here none but soldiers, and Rome's servitors, Repose in fame; none basely slain in brawls:Bury him where you can, he comes not here. Marc. My lord, this is impiety in you: My nephew Mutius' deeds do plead for him; He must be buried with his brethren. [pany. Quin., Mart. And shall, or him we will accomTit. And shall? What villain was it spoke [but here. Quin. He that would vouch't in any place Tit. What, would you bury him in my despite? Marc. No, noble Titus; but entreat of thee To pardon Mutius, and to bury him. Tit. Marcus, even thou hast struck upon my crest, [wounded: And, with these boys, mine honour thou hast 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. Quin. Not I, till Mutius' bones be buried. [MARC. and the Sons of TIT. kneel. Marc. Brother, for in that name doth nature plead. [speak. Quin. Father, and in that name doth nature Tit. Speak thou no more, if all the rest will speed. [soul,Marc. Renowned Titus, more than half my + Forbid.

• Invited.

Luc. Dear father, soul and substance of us all,

Marc. Suffer thy brother Marcus to inter His noble nephew here in virtue's nest, That died in honour and Lavinia's cause. Thou art a Roman, be not barbarous. The Greeks, upon advice, did bury Ajax That slew himself; and wise Laertes' son Did graciously plead for his funerals. Let not young Mutius then, that was thy joy, Be barr'd his entrance here. Tit. Rise, Marcus, rise;The dismall'st day is this that e'er I saw, To be dishonour'd by my sons in Rome !— Well, bury him, and bury me the next.

[MUTIUS 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;
He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause.
Marc. 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;
Whether by device, or no, the heavens can tell:
Is she not then beholden to the man
That brought her for this high good turn so far?
Yes, and will nobly him remunerate.
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 played your prize;

Jove give you joy, sir, of your gallant bride.
Bas. And you of yours, my lord: I say no

own,

My true-betrothed love, and now my wife?
But let the laws of Rome determine all;
Meanwhile I am possess'd of that is mine.

Sat. 'Tis good, sir: You are very short with
But, if we live, we 'll be as sharp with you. [us,
Bas. My lord, what I have done, as best I may,
Answer I must, and shall do with my life.
Only thus much I give your grace to know,
By all the duties that I owe to Rome,
This noble gentleman, Lord Titus here,
Is in opinion, and in honour, wrong'd;
That, in the rescue of Lavinia,
With his own hand did slay his youngest son,
In zeal to you, and highly mov'd to wrath
To be controll'd in that he frankly gave:
Receive him then to favour, Saturnine;
That hath express'd himself, in all his deeds,
A father, and a friend, to thee and Rome.

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 Were gracious in those princely eyes of thine, Then hear me speak indifferently for all; And at my suit, sweet, pardon what is past.

Sat. What! madam! be dishonour'd openly, And basely put it up without revenge? Tam. Not so, my lord; The gods of Rome forefend, f