William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (89 page)
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Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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AARON
Why, are ye mad? Or know ye not in Rome
How furious and impatient they be,
And cannot brook competitors in love?
I tell you, lords, you do but plot your deaths
By this device.
How furious and impatient they be,
And cannot brook competitors in love?
I tell you, lords, you do but plot your deaths
By this device.
CHIRON
Aaron, a thousand deaths
Would I propose to achieve her whom I love.
AARON
To achieve her how?
DEMETRIUS
Why makes thou it so strange?
She is a woman, therefore may be wooed;
She is a woman, therefore may be won;
She is Lavinia, therefore must be loved.
What, man, more water glideth by the mill
Than wots the miller of, and easy it is
Of a cut loaf to steal a shive, we know.
Though Bassianus be the Emperor’s brother,
Better than he have worn Vulcan’s badge.
She is a woman, therefore may be won;
She is Lavinia, therefore must be loved.
What, man, more water glideth by the mill
Than wots the miller of, and easy it is
Of a cut loaf to steal a shive, we know.
Though Bassianus be the Emperor’s brother,
Better than he have worn Vulcan’s badge.
AARON (
aside
)
aside
)
Ay, and as good as Saturninus may.
DEMETRIUS
Then why should he despair that knows to court it
With words, fair looks, and liberality?
What, hast not thou full often struck a doe
And borne her cleanly by the keeper’s nose?
With words, fair looks, and liberality?
What, hast not thou full often struck a doe
And borne her cleanly by the keeper’s nose?
AARON
Why then, it seems some certain snatch or so
Would serve your turns.
Would serve your turns.
CHIRON
Ay, so the turn were served.
DEMETRIUS
Aaron, thou hast hit it.
AARON
Would you had hit it too,
Then should not we be tired with this ado.
Why, hark ye, hark ye, and are you such fools
To square for this? Would it offend you then
That both should speed?
Why, hark ye, hark ye, and are you such fools
To square for this? Would it offend you then
That both should speed?
CHIRON
Faith, not me.
DEMETRIUS
Nor me, so I were one.
AARON
For shame, be friends, and join for that you jar.
‘Tis policy and stratagem must do
That you affect, and so must you resolve
That what you cannot as you would achieve,
You must perforce accomplish as you may.
Take this of me: Lucrece was not more chaste
Than this Lavinia, Bassianus’ love.
A speedier course than ling’ring languishment
Must we pursue, and I have found the path.
My lords, a solemn hunting is in hand;
There will the lovely Roman ladies troop.
The forest walks are wide and spacious,
And many unfrequented plots there are,
Fitted by kind for rape and villainy.
Single you thither then this dainty doe,
And strike her home by force, if not by words,
This way or not at all stand you in hope.
Come, come; our Empress, with her sacred wit
To villainy and vengeance consecrate,
Will we acquaint with all what we intend,
And she shall file our engines with advice
That will not suffer you to square yourselves,
But to your wishes’ height advance you both.
The Emperor’s court is like the house of Fame,
The palace full of tongues, of eyes and ears,
The woods are ruthless, dreadful, deaf, and dull.
There speak and strike, brave boys, and take your turns.
There serve your lust, shadowed from heaven’s eye,
And revel in Lavinia’s treasury.
‘Tis policy and stratagem must do
That you affect, and so must you resolve
That what you cannot as you would achieve,
You must perforce accomplish as you may.
Take this of me: Lucrece was not more chaste
Than this Lavinia, Bassianus’ love.
A speedier course than ling’ring languishment
Must we pursue, and I have found the path.
My lords, a solemn hunting is in hand;
There will the lovely Roman ladies troop.
The forest walks are wide and spacious,
And many unfrequented plots there are,
Fitted by kind for rape and villainy.
Single you thither then this dainty doe,
And strike her home by force, if not by words,
This way or not at all stand you in hope.
Come, come; our Empress, with her sacred wit
To villainy and vengeance consecrate,
Will we acquaint with all what we intend,
And she shall file our engines with advice
That will not suffer you to square yourselves,
But to your wishes’ height advance you both.
The Emperor’s court is like the house of Fame,
The palace full of tongues, of eyes and ears,
The woods are ruthless, dreadful, deaf, and dull.
There speak and strike, brave boys, and take your turns.
There serve your lust, shadowed from heaven’s eye,
And revel in Lavinia’s treasury.
CHIRON
Thy counsel, lad, smells of no cowardice.
DEMETRIUS
Sit fas aut nefas,
till I find the stream
To cool this heat, a charm to calm these fits,
Per Styga, per manes vehor. Exeunt
2.2till I find the stream
To cool this heat, a charm to calm these fits,
Per Styga, per manes vehor. Exeunt
Enter Titus Andronicus and his three sons
(
Quintus, Lucius, and Martius), and Marcus, making a noise with hounds and horns
TITUS
The hunt is up, the morn is bright and grey,
The fields are fragrant and the woods are green.
Uncouple here, and let us make a bay
And wake the Emperor and his lovely bride,
And rouse the Prince, and ring a hunter’s peal,
That all the court may echo with the noise.
Sons, let it be your charge, as it is ours,
To attend the Emperor’s person carefully.
I have been troubled in my sleep this night,
But dawning day new comfort hath inspired.
The fields are fragrant and the woods are green.
Uncouple here, and let us make a bay
And wake the Emperor and his lovely bride,
And rouse the Prince, and ring a hunter’s peal,
That all the court may echo with the noise.
Sons, let it be your charge, as it is ours,
To attend the Emperor’s person carefully.
I have been troubled in my sleep this night,
But dawning day new comfort hath inspired.
Here a cry of hounds, and wind horns in a peal;
then enter Saturninus, Tamora, Bassianus, Lavinia,
Chiron, Demetrius, and their attendants
Many good-morrows to your majesty.
Madam, to you as many, and as good.
I promised your grace a hunter’s peal.
Madam, to you as many, and as good.
I promised your grace a hunter’s peal.
SATURNINUS
And you have rung it lustily, my lords,
Somewhat too early for new-married ladies.
Somewhat too early for new-married ladies.
BASSIANUS
Lavinia, how say you?
LAVINIA
I say no.
I have been broad awake two hours and more.
SATURNINUS
Come on then, horse and chariots let us have,
And to our sport. (
To Tamora
) Madam, now shall ye see
Our Roman hunting.
And to our sport. (
To Tamora
) Madam, now shall ye see
Our Roman hunting.
MARCUS
I have dogs, my lord,
Will rouse the proudest panther in the chase,
And climb the highest promontory top.
And climb the highest promontory top.
TITUS
And I have horse will follow where the game
Makes way, and run like swallows o’er the plain.
Makes way, and run like swallows o’er the plain.
DEMETRIUS (
aside
)
aside
)
Chiron, we hunt not, we, with horse nor hound,
But hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground.
Exeunt
2.3But hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground.
Exeunt
Enter Aaron alone, with gold
AARON
He that had wit would think that I had none,
To bury so much gold under a tree
And never after to inherit it.
Let him that thinks of me so abjectly
Know that this gold must coin a stratagem
Which, cunningly effected, will beget
A very excellent piece of villainy.
And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest
That have their alms out of the Empress’ chest.
To bury so much gold under a tree
And never after to inherit it.
Let him that thinks of me so abjectly
Know that this gold must coin a stratagem
Which, cunningly effected, will beget
A very excellent piece of villainy.
And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest
That have their alms out of the Empress’ chest.
He hides the gold.
Enter Tamora alone to the Moor
TAMORA
My lovely Aaron, wherefore look‘st thou sad
When everything doth make a gleeful boast?
The birds chant melody on every bush,
The snakes lies rolled in the cheerful sun,
The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind
And make a chequered shadow on the ground.
Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,
And whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds,
Replying shrilly to the well-tuned horns,
As if a double hunt were heard at once,
Let us sit down and mark their yellowing noise,
And after conflict such as was supposed
The wand’ring prince and Dido once enjoyed
When with a happy storm they were surprised,
And curtained with a counsel-keeping cave,
We may, each wreathed in the other’s arms,
Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber
Whiles hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds
Be unto us as is a nurse’s song
Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep.
When everything doth make a gleeful boast?
The birds chant melody on every bush,
The snakes lies rolled in the cheerful sun,
The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind
And make a chequered shadow on the ground.
Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,
And whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds,
Replying shrilly to the well-tuned horns,
As if a double hunt were heard at once,
Let us sit down and mark their yellowing noise,
And after conflict such as was supposed
The wand’ring prince and Dido once enjoyed
When with a happy storm they were surprised,
And curtained with a counsel-keeping cave,
We may, each wreathed in the other’s arms,
Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber
Whiles hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds
Be unto us as is a nurse’s song
Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep.
AARON
Madam, though Venus govern your desires,
Saturn is dominator over mine.
What signifies my deadly-standing eye,
My silence, and my cloudy melancholy,
My fleece of woolly hair that now uncurls
Even as an adder when she doth unroll
To do some fatal execution?
No, madam, these are no venereal signs.
Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,
Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.
Hark, Tamora, the empress of my soul,
Which never hopes more heaven than rests in thee,
This is the day of doom for Bassianus.
His Philomel must lose her tongue today,
Thy sons make pillage of her chastity
And wash their hands in Bassianus’ blood.
Seest thou this letter? (
Giving a letter
) Take it up, I pray thee,
And give the King this fatal-plotted scroll.
Now question me no more. We are espied.
Here comes a parcel
of our hopeful booty,
Which dreads not yet their lives’ destruction.
Saturn is dominator over mine.
What signifies my deadly-standing eye,
My silence, and my cloudy melancholy,
My fleece of woolly hair that now uncurls
Even as an adder when she doth unroll
To do some fatal execution?
No, madam, these are no venereal signs.
Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,
Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.
Hark, Tamora, the empress of my soul,
Which never hopes more heaven than rests in thee,
This is the day of doom for Bassianus.
His Philomel must lose her tongue today,
Thy sons make pillage of her chastity
And wash their hands in Bassianus’ blood.
Seest thou this letter? (
Giving a letter
) Take it up, I pray thee,
And give the King this fatal-plotted scroll.
Now question me no more. We are espied.
Here comes a parcel
of our hopeful booty,
Which dreads not yet their lives’ destruction.
Enter Bassianus and Lavinia
TAMORA (
aside to Aaron
)
aside to Aaron
)
Ah, my sweet Moor, sweeter to me than life!
AARON (
aside to Tamora
)
aside to Tamora
)
No more, great Empress; Bassianus comes.
Be cross with him, and I’ll go fetch thy sons
To back thy quarrels, whatsoe’er they be. Exit
Be cross with him, and I’ll go fetch thy sons
To back thy quarrels, whatsoe’er they be. Exit
BASSIANUS
Who have we here? Rome’s royal empress
Unfurnished of her well-beseeming troop?
Or is it Dian, habited like her
Who hath abandoned her holy groves
To see the general hunting in this forest?
Unfurnished of her well-beseeming troop?
Or is it Dian, habited like her
Who hath abandoned her holy groves
To see the general hunting in this forest?
TAMORA
Saucy controller of my private steps,
Had I the power that some say Dian had,
Thy temples should be planted presently
With horns, as was Actaeon’s, and the hounds
Should drive upon thy new-transformed limbs,
Unmannerly intruder as thou art!
Had I the power that some say Dian had,
Thy temples should be planted presently
With horns, as was Actaeon’s, and the hounds
Should drive upon thy new-transformed limbs,
Unmannerly intruder as thou art!
LAVINIA
Under your patience, gentle Empress,
‘Tis thought you have a goodly gift in horning,
And to be doubted that your Moor and you
Are singled forth to try experiments.
Jove shield your husband from his hounds today—
‘Tis pity they should take him for a stag.
‘Tis thought you have a goodly gift in horning,
And to be doubted that your Moor and you
Are singled forth to try experiments.
Jove shield your husband from his hounds today—
‘Tis pity they should take him for a stag.
BASSIANUS
Believe me, Queen, your swart Cimmerian
Doth make your honour of his body’s hue,
Spotted, detested, and abominable.
Why are you sequestered from all your train,
Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed,
And wandered hither to an obscure plot,
Accompanied but with a barbarous Moor,
If foul desire had not conducted you?
Doth make your honour of his body’s hue,
Spotted, detested, and abominable.
Why are you sequestered from all your train,
Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed,
And wandered hither to an obscure plot,
Accompanied but with a barbarous Moor,
If foul desire had not conducted you?
LAVINIA
And being intercepted in your sport,
Great reason that my noble lord be rated
For sauciness. (To Bassianus) I pray you, let us hence,
And let her joy her raven-coloured love.
This valley fits the purpose passing well.
Great reason that my noble lord be rated
For sauciness. (To Bassianus) I pray you, let us hence,
And let her joy her raven-coloured love.
This valley fits the purpose passing well.
BASSIANUS
The King my brother shall have note of this.
LAVINIA
Ay, for these slips have made him noted long.
Good King, to be so mightily abused!
Good King, to be so mightily abused!
TAMORA
Why have I patience to endure all this?
Enter Chiron and Demetrius
DEMETRIUS
How now, dear sovereign and our gracious mother,
Why doth your highness look so pale and wan?
Why doth your highness look so pale and wan?
TAMORA
Have I not reason, think you, to look pale?
These two have ‘ticed me
hither
to this place.
A barren detested vale you see it is;
The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean,
Overcome with moss and baleful mistletoe.
Here never shines the sun, here nothing breeds
Unless the nightly owl or fatal raven,
And when they showed me this abhorred pit
They told me here at dead time of the night
A thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes,
Ten thousand swelling toads, as many urchins
Would make such fearful and confused cries
As any mortal body hearing it
Should straight fall mad or else die suddenly.
No sooner had they told this hellish tale
But straight they told me they would bind me here
Unto the body of a dismal yew
And leave me to this miserable death.
And then they called me foul adulteress,
Lascivious Goth, and all the bitterest terms
That ever ear did hear to such effect.
And had you not by wondrous fortune come,
This vengeance on me had they executed.
Revenge it as you love your mother’s life,
Or be ye not henceforward called my children.
These two have ‘ticed me
hither
to this place.
A barren detested vale you see it is;
The trees, though summer, yet forlorn and lean,
Overcome with moss and baleful mistletoe.
Here never shines the sun, here nothing breeds
Unless the nightly owl or fatal raven,
And when they showed me this abhorred pit
They told me here at dead time of the night
A thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes,
Ten thousand swelling toads, as many urchins
Would make such fearful and confused cries
As any mortal body hearing it
Should straight fall mad or else die suddenly.
No sooner had they told this hellish tale
But straight they told me they would bind me here
Unto the body of a dismal yew
And leave me to this miserable death.
And then they called me foul adulteress,
Lascivious Goth, and all the bitterest terms
That ever ear did hear to such effect.
And had you not by wondrous fortune come,
This vengeance on me had they executed.
Revenge it as you love your mother’s life,
Or be ye not henceforward called my children.
DEMETRIUS
This is a witness that I am thy son.
He stabs Bassianus
CHIRON
And this for me, struck home to show my strength
.
.
He stabs Bassianus, who dies.
⌈
Tamora
turns to
Lavinia
⌉
LAVINIA
Ay, come, Semiramis—nay, barbarous Tamora,
For no name fits thy nature but thy own.
For no name fits thy nature but thy own.
TAMORA (
to Chiron
)
to Chiron
)
Give me the poniard. You shall know, my boys,
Your mother’s hand shall right your mother’s wrong.
Your mother’s hand shall right your mother’s wrong.
DEMETRIUS
Stay, madam, here is more belongs to her.
First thresh the corn, then after burn the straw.
This minion stood upon her chastity,
Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty,
And with that quaint hope braves your mightiness.
And shall she carry this unto her grave?
First thresh the corn, then after burn the straw.
This minion stood upon her chastity,
Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty,
And with that quaint hope braves your mightiness.
And shall she carry this unto her grave?
CHIRON
An if she do I would I were an eunuch.
Drag hence her husband to some secret hole,
And make his dead trunk pillow to our lust.
Drag hence her husband to some secret hole,
And make his dead trunk pillow to our lust.
TAMORA
But when ye have the honey ye desire
Let not this wasp outlive, us both to sting.
Let not this wasp outlive, us both to sting.
CHIRON
I warrant you, madam, we will make that sure.
Come, mistress, now perforce we will enjoy
That nice-preserved honesty of yours.
Come, mistress, now perforce we will enjoy
That nice-preserved honesty of yours.
LAVINIA
O
Tamora, thou
bearest
a woman’s
face
—
Tamora, thou
bearest
a woman’s
face
—
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