Aar.

Why, how now, lords !
So near the emperor's palace dare you draw,
And maintain such a quarrel openly?
Full well I wot the ground of all this grudge:
I would not for a million of gold,
The cause were known to them it most concerns ;
Nor would your noble mother for much more
Be so dishonour'd in the court of Rome.
For shame! put up.
Dem.

Not I; till I have sheath'd
My rapier in his bosom, and, withal,
Thrust those reproachful speeches down his throat,
That he hath breath'd in my dishonour here.

Chi. For that I am prepar'd and full resolv'd,
Foul-spoken coward, that thunder'st with thy tongue,
And with thy weapon nothing dar’st perform.

Aar. Away, I say !
Now by the gods that warlike Goths adore,
This petty brabble will undo us all. -
Why, lords,—and think you not how dangerous
It is to jet upon a prince's right'?
What! is Lavinia then become so loose,
Or Bassianus so degenerate,
That for her love such quarrels may be broach'd
Without controlment, justice, or revenge
Young lords, beware an should the empress know
This discord's ground, the music would not please.

Chi. I care not, I, knew she and all the world :
I love Lavinia more than all the world.

Dem. Youngling, learn thou to make some meaner choice : Lavinia is thine elder brother's hope.

Aar. 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.
Chi.

Aaron, a thousand deaths
Would I propose, to achieve her whom I love.

Aar. To achieve her!-How?

• It is to get upon a prince's right?] The folio reads, “ It is to set,” &c. ; but both the 4tos: have " jet,” which is doubtless the true word. See Vol. ii. p. 676, and Vol. iv. p. 274, where this passage is quoted, and explained to mean boldly to encroach upon a prince's right.

Dem.

Why mak'st thou it so strange? She is a woman, therefore may be woo'd; She is a woman, therefore may be won'; She is Lavinia, therefore must be lov'd. What, man! more water glideth by the mill, Than wots the miller of; and easy it is Of a cut loaf to steal a shiveo : we know, Though Bassianus be the emperor's brother, Better than he have worn Vulcan's badge.

Aar. Ay, and as good as Saturninus may. [ Aside.

Dem. Then, why should he despair, that knows to court it
With words, fair looks, and liberality ?
What! hast thou not full often struck a doe,
And borne her cleanly by the keeper's nose ?

Aar. Why then, it seems, some certain snatch or so
Would serve your turns.
Chi.

Ay, so the turn were sery'd.
Dem. Aaron, thou hast hit it.
Aar.

Would you had hit it too;
Then should not we be tir'd 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'?
Chi.

Faith, not me. Dem. Nor me, so I were one.

5 She is a woman, therefore may be woo'd ;

She is a woman, therefore may be won;] These two lines, with a slight change, are found in “Henry VI., Part I.” (Vol. iii, p. 726), and the second line is inserted in Robert Greene's “ Planetomachia," 1585. (See Introduction to “ Henry VI., Part III.," Vol. iv. p. 112.) Ritson inferred that “ Henry VI., Part I." and "Titus Andronicus,” might be by the same author, and that author, Greene. The lines in " Henry VI., Part I.,” stand thus :

“She's beautiful, and therefore to be woo'd;

She is a woman, therefore to be won." 6 — to steal a shive:] A "shive" or sheeve (as it is sometimes spelt), is a slice. Warner, in a passage quoted by Steevens from his “ Albion's England,” has "A sheeve of bread as brown as nut;" and " It is safe taking a shive of a cat loaf” is a Scottish proverb. The same remark will apply to the allusion, just above, to the water and the mill; and both proverbs are employed in “The Cobbler of Canterbury,” 4to, 1590, and 1608, Sign. B, 4 b, where it is said, -—"Thus the Prior and the Smithes wife contented and enjoying their harts desire, the poore Smith loved her not a whit the worse, neither did he suspect anything, for the blind eates many a flie, and much water runnes by the mill that the miller wots not on. . . . By this the Prior perceived, that the scull had cut a shive on his loafe."

7 That both should speed ?] In the two 4tos, but omitted in the folio, though absolutely necessary to the sense.

Aar. 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 lingering languishmento
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 that 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, shadow'd from heaven's eye,
And revel in Lavinia's treasury.

Chi. Thy counsel, lad, smells of no cowardice.

Dem. 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. 8 A speedier course than lingering languishment] All the old copies, viz. the two 4tos, and the four folios, read," this lingering languishment,” but it is amended to “ than lingering languishment" in the corr. fo. 1632.

"- of eyes, and ears :] So the 4to, 1600. The 4to, 1611, and the folio, “ of ears." Chaucer in his " House of Fame" describes the goddess as herself all eyes, ears, and tongues.

1 The woods are ruthless, DREADFUL,] Dreadless in the corr. fo. 1632, in the sense, perhaps, of not being to be dreaded for discovery; but we leave the old text undisturbed.

: - THESE fits,] The folio, “ their fits,” and, in the preceding line, streams for "stream." The 4tos. give the text correctly, and the same necessary emendations are made in the corr. fo. 1632.

SCENE II.

A Forest near Rome. Horns, and cry of hounds heard.

Enter Titus ANDRONICUS, with Hunters, fc. MARCUS, Lucius,

QUINTUS, and MARTIUS. Tit. 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 our's, To attend the emperor's person carefully: I have been troubled in my sleep this night, But dawning day new comfort hath inspir'd'. [Horns wind.

Enter SATURNINUS, TAMORA, BASSIANUS, LAVINIA, DEMETRIUS,

CHIRON, and Attendants.
Tit. Many good morrows to your majesty :-
Madam, to you as many and as good.-
I promised your grace a hunter's peal.

Sat. And you have rung it lustily, my lords,

3 - the morn is bright and grey,] The 4to, 1600, reads moon for “morn." In “The Taming of the Shrew," A. ii. sc. 1, Vol. ii. p. 479, “morn” (according to the corr. fo. 1632) is a misprint for moon.

4 But the dawning day new comfort hath inspir'd.] We subjoin the manner in which this speech is exhibited in the corr. fo. 1632, showing, probably, that at one time the whole of it was in rhyme :

“ The hunt is up, the morn is bright and gay,

The fields are fragrant, and the woods are wide :
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 round,
That all the court may echo with the sound.
Sons, let it be your charge, and so will I,
To attend the emperor's person carefully :
I have been troubled in my sleep this night,

But dawning day brought comfort and delight."
To these emendations are added this stage-direction : “ Horns wind : they sing
The hunt is up." “ The hunt is up” was a well-known composition often used
for a morning salutation : for farther information regarding it, see “Romeo and
Juliet,” A. iii. sc. 5, and Chappell's “ English Minstrelsy," 2nd edit. p. 60.

Somewhat too early for new-married ladies.

Bas. Lavinia, how say you ?
Lav.

I say, no;
I have been broad awakes two hours and more.

Sat. Come on, then : horse and chariots let us have,
And to our sport.—Madam, now shall ge see
Our Roman hunting.

[To TAMORA. Mar.

I have dogs, my lord, Will rouse the proudest panther in the chase, And climb the highest promontory top.

Tit. And I have horse will follow where the game Makes way, and run like swallows o'er the plain.

Dem. Chiron, we hunt not, we, with horse nor hound; But hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground. [Exeunt.

SCENE III.

A desert part of the Forest.

Enter AARON, with a bag of gold. Aar. 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 [Hides the gold. That have their alms out of the empresa' chest.

Enter TAMORA.

Tam. My lovely Aaron, wherefore look’st thou sad,
When every thing doth make a gleeful boast ?
The birds chaunt melody on every bush ;
The snake lies coiled in the cheerful sun;

5 I have been BROAD awake] The folio injuriously omits “ broad.”

6 The snake lies COILED in the cheerful sun ;] In the 4tos, and folios "coiled" is printed rolled, and doubtless misprinted, since the proper word is “coiled," and that word we find in the margin of the corr. fo. 1632. Surely the whole of this beautiful description of natural scenery must have come from Shakespeare's pen ;