MART. Nor I no ftrength to climb without thy help.

QUIN. Thy hand once more; I will not loose again, Till thou art here aloft, or I below:

Thou canst not come to me, I come to thee.

Enter SATURNINUS and AARON.

[Falls in.

SAT. Along with me :-I'll fee what hole is here.
And what he is, that now is leap'd into it.
Say, who art thou, that lately didst descend
Into this gaping hollow of the earth?

MART. The unhappy fon of old Andronicus;
Brought hither in a moft unlucky hour,
To find thy brother Baffianus dead.

SAT. My brother dead? I know, thou dost but jeft:

He and his lady both are at the lodge,

Upon the north fide of this pleasant chase; 'Tis not an hour fince I left him there."

MART. We know not where you left him all alive, But, out alas! here have we found him dead.

Enter TAMORA, with Attendants; TITUS ANDRONICUS, and LUCIUS.

TAM. Where is my lord, the king?

SAT. Here, Tamora; though griev'd with killing grief.

TAM. Where is thy brother Baffianus ?

left him there.] Edition 1600 reads left them there.

TODD.

SAT. Now to the bottom doft thou fearch my, wound;

Poor Baffianus here lies murdered.

TAM. Then all too late I bring this fatal writ, [Giving a Letter. The complot of this timeless tragedy;

And wonder greatly, that man's face can fold
In pleafing fmiles fuch murderous tyranny.

SAT. [Reads.] An if we miss to meet him handfomely,

Sweet huntfman, Bafsianus 'tis, we mean,-
Do thou fo much as dig the grave for him;
Thou know'
ft our meaning: Look for thy reward
Among the nettles at the elder tree,.

Which overfhades the mouth of that fame pit,
Where we decreed to bury Bassianus.
Do this, and purchafe us thy lafting friends.
O, Tamora! was ever heard the like?
This is the pit, and this the elder-tree :
Look, firs, if you can find the huntsman out,
That fhould have murder'd Baffianus here.

AAR. My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold. [Showing it. SAT. Two of thy whelps, [To TIT.] fell curs of bloody kind,

Have here bereft my brother of his life :-
Sirs, drag them from the pit unto the prison;
There let them bide, until we have devis'd
Some never-heard-of torturing pain for them.
TAM. What, are they in this pit? O wondrous
thing!

How eafily murder is discovered!

• — timeless — i. e. untimely. So, in King Richard II: "The bloody office of his timeless end." STEEVENS.

TIT. High emperor, upon my feeble knee I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed, That this fell fault of my accurfed fons, Accurfed, if the fault be prov'd in them,

SAT. If it be prov'd! you fee, it is apparent. Who found this letter? Tamora, was it

you

TAM. Andronicus himself did take it up.

?

TIT. I did, my lord: yet let me be their bail: For by my father's reverend tomb, I vow, They shall be ready at your highnefs' will, To answer their fufpicion with their lives.

SAT. Thou shalt not bail them; fee, thou follow

me.

Some bring the murder'd body, fome the mur

derers:

Let them not speak a word, the guilt is plain;
For, by my foul, were there worfe end than death,
That end upon them fhould be executed.

TAM. Andronicus, I will entreat the king;
Fear not thy fons, they fhall do well enough.

TIT. Come, Lucius, come; ftay not to talk with them. [Exeunt feverally.

SCENE V.

The fame.

Enter DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, with LAVINIA, ravished; her Hands cut off, and her Tongue cut

out.

DEM. So, now go tell, an if thy tongue can speak, Who 'twas that cut thy tongue, and ravifh'd thee. CHI. Write down thy mind, bewray thy mean

ing fo;

And, if thy ftumps will let thee, play the scribe.

DEM. See, how with figns and tokens she can

fcowl.9

CHI. Go home, call for fweet water, wash thy hands.

DEM. She hath no tongue to call, nor hands to wash;

And fo let's leave her to her filent walks.

CHI. An 'twere my cafe, I fhould go hang my

felf.

DEM. If thou hadft hands to help thee knit the

cord.

[Exeunt DEMETRIUS and CHIRON.

Enter MARCUS.

MAR. Who's this,-my niece, that flies

faft?

-She can fcowl.] Edition 1600 reads :-she can ferowle.

This, I apprehend, is the true reading. TODD.

Coufin, a word; Where is your husband ?—

If I do dream, 'would all my wealth would wake me !!

If I do wake, fome planet ftrike me down,
That I may flumber in eternal fleep!—

Speak, gentle niece, what ftern ungentle hands
Have lopp'd, and hew'd, and made thy body bare
Of her two branches? thofe fweet ornaments,
Whofe circling fhadows kings have fought to fleep
in;

And might not gain fo great a happiness,

As half thy love? Why doft not speak to me?-
Alas, a crimfón river of warm blood,

Like to a bubbling fountain stirr'd with wind,
Doth rife and fall between thy rofed lips,
Coming and going with thy honey breath.
But, fure, fome Tereus hath defloured thee;
And, left thou should'st detect him, cut thy tongue.*
Ah, now thou turn'ft away thy face for fhame!
And, notwithstanding all this lofs of blood,-
As from a conduit with three iffuing spouts,3-
Yet do thy cheeks look red as Titan's face,
Blushing to be encounter'd with a cloud.
Shall I fpeak for thee? fhall I say, 'tis fo?
O, that I knew thy heart; and knew the beast,
That I might rail at him to ease my mind!

I

If I do dream, 'would all my wealth would wake me!] If this be a dream, I would give all my poffeffions to be delivered from it by waking. JOHNSON.

2

left thou should ft detect him, &c.] Old copies-detect them. The fame mistake has happened in many other old plays. The correction was made by Mr. Rowe.

Tereus having ravished Philomela, his wife's fifter, cut out her tongue, to prevent a difcovery. MALONE.

3

three iuing Spouts,] Old copies-their illuing &c. Corrected by Sir Thomas Hanmer. STEEVENS.