First, hang the child, that he may see it sprawl; A sight to vex the father's soul withal. Get me a ladder. Aar. [A ladder brought, which AARON And bear it from me to the emperess. Thy child shalt live, and I will see it nourish'd. Aar. What if I do not? as, indeed, I do not: Luc. Even by my god, I swear to thee I will. Aar. Tut, Lucius! this was but a deed of charity, To that which thou shalt hear of me anon. 'Twas her two sons, that murder'd Bassianus: They cut thy sister's tongue, and ravish'd her, And cut her hands; and trimm'd her as thou saw'st. Luc. O, détestable villain! call'st thou that trimming? [and 'twas Aar. Why, she was wash'd, and cut, and trimin'd; Trim sport for them that had the doing of it. Luc. O, barbarous, beastly villains, like thyself! Aar. Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct them; That codding spirit had they from their mother, As sure a card as ever won the set; That bloody mind, I think, they learn'd of me, As true a dog as ever fought at head. Well, let my deeds be witness of my worth. I train'd thy brethren to that guileful hole, Where the dead corpse of Bassianus lay: I wrote the letter that thy father found, And hid the gold within the letter mention'd, Confederate with the queen, and her two sons; And what not done, that thou hast cause to rue, Wherein I had no stroke of mischief in it? I play'd the cheater for thy father's hand; And, when I had it, drew myself apart, And almost broke my heart with extreme laughter. I pry'd me through the crevice of a wall, When, for his hand, he had his two sons' heads; Beheld his tears, and laugh'd so heartily, That both mine eyes were rainy like to his; And when I told the empress of this sport, She swounded almost at my pleasing tale, Goth. My lord, there is a messenger from Rome, Enter EMILIUS. Welcome, Emilius, what's the news from Rome! [Ereunt. SCENE II.-Rome. Before Titus's House. Enter TAMORA, CHIRON, and DEMETRIUS, disguised. Enter TITUS, above. Tam. Titus, I am come to talk with thee. Tit. No; not a word: How can I grace my talk, Wanting a hand to give it action? Thou hast the odds of me, therefore no more. Tam. If thou did'st know me, thou would'st talk with me. Tit. I am not mad; I know thee well enough: Witness this wretched stump, these crimson lines; Witness these trenches, made by grief and care; Witness the tiring day, and heavy night; Witness all sorrow, that I know thee well For our proud empress, mighty Tamora: Is not thy coming for my other hand? Tam. Know thou, sad man, I am not Tamora; I am Revenge; sent from the infernal kingdom, Tam. I am; therefore come down, and welcome me. [Exit TITUS, from above. Tam. This closing with him fits his lunacy: Whate'er I forge, to feed his brain-sick fits, Do you uphold and maintain in your speeches. For now he firmly takes me for Revenge; And, being credulous in this mad thought, I'll make him send for Lucius, his son; And, whilst I at a banquet hold him sure, I'll find some cunning practice out of hand, To scatter and disperse the giddy Goths, Or, at the least, make them his enemies. See, here he comes, and I must ply my theme. How like the empress and her sons you are! Tam. Well hast thou lesson'd us; this shall we do. Tit. Marcus, my brother!-'tis sad Titus calls. Go, gentle Marcus, to thy nephew Lucius; Mar. This will I do, and soon return again. [Exit. Tit. Nay, nay, let Rape and Murder stay with me; Or else I'll call my brother back again, And cleave to no revenge but Lucius. Tam. What say you, boys? will you abide with him, Whiles I go tell my lord the emperor, How I have govern'd our determin'd jest? Yield to his humour, smooth and speak him fair? [Aside. And tarry with him, till I come again. Tit. I know them all, though they suppose me mad; And will o'er-reach them in their own device, A pair of cursed hell-hounds, and their dam. [Aside. Dem. Madam, depart at pleasure, leave us here. Tam. Farewell, Andronicus: Revenge now goes To lay a complot to betray thy foes. [Exit TAMORA. Tit. I know thou dost; and, sweet Revenge, fare well. Chi. Tell us, old man, how shall we be employ'd? Tit. Tut, I have work enough for you to do.Publius, come hither, Caius, and Valentine! Enter PUBLIUS and others. Pub. What's your will? Tit. Know you these two? Th' empress' sons, [Exit TITUS.-PUBLIUS, &c. lay hold on Chu. Villains, forbear; we are the empress' sons. are 1 Goth. And ours, with thine, befall what fortune Luc. Good uncle, take you in this barbarous Moor, Aar. Some devil whisper curses in mine ear. [Exeunt, Goths, with AARON. Flourish. Sat. What, hath the firmament more suns than one! [Hautboys sound. The company sit down at table. Enter TITUS, dressed like a cook, LAVINIA, veiled, young Lucius, and others. TITUS places the dishes on the table. Tit. Come, come, Lavinia: look, thy foes bound ;Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me; But let them hear what fearful words I utter.O villains, Chiron and Demetrius ! For [mud; peace, for love, for league, and good to Rome: Here stands the spring whom you have stain'd with Please you, therefore, draw nigh, and take your places. This goodly summer with your winter mix'd. Sat. Marcus, we will. You kill'd her husband; and, for that vile fault, Two of her brothers were condemn'd to death: My hand cut off, and made a merry jest: Both her sweet hands, her tongue, and that, more dear Than hands or tongue, her spotless chastity, Inhuman traitors, you constrain'd and forc'd. What would you say, if I should let you speak? Villains, for shame you could not beg for grace. Hark, wretches, how I mean to martyr you. This one hand yet is left to cut your throats; Whilst that Lavinia 'tween her stumps doth hold The bason, that receives your guilty blood. You know, your mother means to feast with me, And calls herself, Revenge, and thinks me mad,— Hark, villains; I will grind your bones to dust, And with your blood and it, I'll make a paste; And of the paste a coffin I will rear, And make two pasties of your shameful heads; To make this banquet; which I wish may prove SCENE III.-The same. A Pavilion, with Tables, &c. Luc. Uncle Marcus, since 'tis my father's mind, Tit. Welcome, my gracious lord; welcome, dread queen; Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius; Sat. Why art thou thus attir'd, Andronicus? To slay his daughter with his own right hand, Tit. Your reason, mighty lord! Sat. Because the girl should not survive her shame, [He kills LAVINIA. Sat. What, was she ravish'd? tell, who did the deed. Tam. Why hast thou slain thine only daughter thus? Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred. 'Tis true, 'tis true; witness my knife's sharp point. [Killing TAMORA. Sat. Die, frantic wretch, for this accursed deed. [Killing Tirus. Luc. Can the son's eye behold his father bleed? There's meed for meed, death for a deadly deed. [Kills SATURNINUS. A great tumult. The people in confusion disperse. MARCUS, LUCIUS, and their partisans ascend the steps before TITUS's house. Mar. You sad-fac'd men, people and sons of Rome, By uproar sever'd, like a flight of fowl Scatter'd by winds and high tempestuous gusts, O, let me teach you how to knit again This scatter'd corn into one mutal sheaf, These broken limbs again into one body. Sen. Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself; Here is a captain, let him tell the tale : Were they that murdered our emperor's brother; The gates shut on me, and turn'd weeping out, Of this was Tamora delivered: Now judge, what cause had Titus to revenge Now you have heard the truth, what say you, Romans? Emil. Come, come, thou reverend man of Rome, Mar. Go, go into old Titus' sorrowful house; [To an Attendant. And hither hale that misbelieving Moor, To be adjudg'd some direful slaughtering death, As punishment for his most wicked life. Rom. [Several speak.] Lucius, all hail; Rome's gracious governor! Luc. Thanks, gentle Romans; May I govern so, To heal Rome's harms, and wipe away her woe! But, gentle people, give me aim awhile,For nature puts me to a heavy task;— Stand all aloof;--but uncle draw you near, To shed obsequious tears upon this trunk : O, take this warm kiss on thy pale cold lips. [Kisses TITUS. These sorrowful drops upon thy blood-stain'd face, The last true duties of thy noble son! Mar. Tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss, Thy brother Marcus tenders on thy lips? O, were the sum of these that I should pay Countless and infinite, yet would I pay them! [of us Luc. Come hither, boy; come, come, and learn To melt in showers: Thy grandsire lov'd thee well Many a time he danc'd thee on his knee, Sung thee asleep, his loving breast thy pillow; Many a matter hath he told to thee, Meet, and agreeing with thine infancy; In that respect then, like a loving child, Shed yet some small drops from thy tender spring, Because kind nature doth require it so : Friends should associate friends in grief and woe: Bid him farewell; commit him to the grave; Do him that kindness, and take leave of him. Boy. O grandsire, grandsire! even with all my Would I were dead, so you did live again! [heart O lord, I cannot speak to him for weeping; My tears will choke me, if I ope my mouth. Enter Attendants, with AARON. 1 Rom. You sad Andronici have done with woes; Give sentence on this execrable wretch, That hath been breeder of these dire events. Luc. Set him breast-deep in earth, and famish him; There let him stand, and rave and cry for food: If any one relieves or pities him, For the offence he dies. This is our doom. Some stay, to see him fasten'd in the earth. [dumb? Aar. O, why should wrath be mute, and fury I am no baby, I, that with base prayers, I should repent the evils I have done; Ten thousand, worse than ever yet I did, Would I perform, if I might have my will; If one good deed in all my life I did, I do repent it from my very soul. Luc. Some loving friends convey the emperor And give him burial in his father's grave: [hence My father, and Lavinia, shall forthwith ALL the editors and critics agree with Mr. Theobald in supposing this play spurious. I see no reason for differing from them for the colour of the style is wholly different from that of the other plays, and there is an attempt at regular versifi cation, and artificial closes, not always inelegant, yet seldom pleasing. The barbarity of the spectacles, and the general mas. sacre which are here exhibited, can scarcely be conceived tolerable to any audience; yet we are told by Jonson, that they were not only borne but praised. That Shakspeare wrote any part, though Theobald declares it incontestable, I see no reason for believing. The testimony by which it is ascribed to Shakspeare, is by no means equal to the argument against its authenticity, arising from the total difference of conduct, language, and sentiments, by which it stands apart from all the rest. Meres had probably no other evidence than that of a title page, which, though in our time it be sufficient, was then of no great authority, for all the plays which were rejected by the first collectors of Shakspeare's works, and admitted in later editions, and again rejected by the critical editors, had Shakspeare's name on the title, as we must suppose by the fraudulence of the printers, who, while there were yet no gazettes, nor advertisements, nor any means of circulating literary intelligence, could usurp at pleasure any celebrated name. Nor had Shakspeare any interest in detecting the imposture, as none of his fame or profit was produced by the press.-JOHNSON. PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE. THIS play was entered at Stationers' Hall, May 2, 1608, by Edward Blount, one of the printers of the first folio edition of Shakspeare's works; but it did not appear in print till the following year, and then it was published not by Blount, but by Henry Gosson, who had probably anticipated the other, by getting a hasty transcript from a play-house copy. There is no play of the author's, perhaps not in the English language, of which the text is as corrupted as that of this tragedy. The most corrupt of Shakspeare's other dramas is purity itself compared with Pericles. The story on which this play is formed, is of great antiquity. It is found in a book, once very popular, entitled Gesta Romanorum, which is supposed by Mr. Tyrwhitt, the learned editor of The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer, 1775, to have been written five hundred years ago. The earliest impression of that work (which I have seen) was printed in 1488; in that edition the history of Appolonius King of Tyre makes the 153d chapter. It is likewise related by Gower in his Confessio Amantis, lib. viii. p. 175-185, edit. 1554. The Rev. Dr. Farmer has in his possession a fragment of a MS. poem on the same subject, which appears, from the hand-writing and the metre, to be more ancient than Gower. There is also an ancient Romance on this subject, called Kyng Appolyn of Thyre, translated from the French by Robert Copland, and printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1510. In 1576 William How had a licence for printing The most excellent, pleasant, and variable Historie of the strange Adventures of Prince Appolonius, Lucine his wyfe, and Tharsa his daughter. The author of Pericles having introduced/Gower in his piece, it is reasonable enough to suppose that he chiefly followed the work of that poet. It is observable, that the hero of this tale is, in Gower's poem, as in the present play, called Prince of Tyre; in the Geta Romanorum, and Copland's prose Romance, he is entitled King. Most of the incidents of the play are found in the Conf. Amant, and a few of Gower's expressions are occasionally bor rowed. However, I think it is not unlikely, that there may have been (though I have not met with it) an early prose translation of this popular story from the Gest. Roman, in which the name of Appolonius was changed to Pericles; to which, likewise, the author of this drama may have been indebted. In 1607 was published at London, by Valentine Sims, "The patterne of painful adventures, containing the most excellent, pleasant, and variable Historie of the strange Acci dents that befell unto Prince Appolonius, the lady Lucina his wife, and Tharsia his daughter, wherein the uncertaintie of this world and the fickle state of man's life are lively described. Translated into English by T. Twine, Gent." I have never seen the book, but it was without doubt a re-publication of that published by W. Howe in 1577. This play seems to have been particularly successful. In the four quarto editions it is called the" much admired" play of Pericles, prince of Tyre, and is mentioned by many ancient writers as a popular performance.-MALONE. Rowe, in his first edition of Shakspeare, says, "It is owned that some part of Pericles certainly was written by him, particularly the last act. Farmer thinks the hand of Shakspeare may be sometimes seen in the latter part of the play, but there only. " ACT I. Enter GowEr. Before the Palace of Antioch. To glad your ear, and please your eyes. On ember-eves, and holy-ales; And lords and ladies of their lives Have read it for restoratives: If you, born in these latter times, (I tell you what mine authors say ;) |