READ STUDY GUIDE: Act II, Scenes i-iii |
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Act II, Scene iii:
A lonely part of the Forest.
A lonely part of the Forest.
| [Enter AARON with a bag of 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 |
| [Hides the gold.] |
| That have their alms out of the empress' chest. |
| [Enter TAMORA.] |
| TAMORA : |
| My lovely Aaron, wherefore look'st thou sad |
| When everything does make a gleeful boast? |
| The birds chant melody on every bush; |
| The snakes lie rolled in the cheerful sun; |
| The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind, |
| And make a chequer'd 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-tun'd horns, |
| As if a double hunt were heard at once, |
| Let us sit down and mark their yelping noise; |
| And,—after conflict such as was suppos'd |
| The wandering prince and Dido once enjoy'd, |
| When with a happy storm they were surpris'd, |
| And curtain'd 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 to-day, |
| Thy sons make pillage of her chastity, |
| And wash their hands in Bassianus' blood. |
| Seest thou this 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. |
| TAMORA : |
| Ah, my sweet Moor, sweeter to me than life! |
| AARON : |
| 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.] |
| [Enter BASSIANUS and LAVINIA.] |
| BASSIANUS : |
| Who have we here? Rome's royal empress, |
| Unfurnish'd 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! |
| 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 to-day! |
| 'Tis pity they should take him for a stag. |
| BASSIANUS : |
| Believe me, queen, your swarth Cimmerian |
| Doth make your honour of his body's hue, |
| Spotted, detested, and abominable. |
| Why are you sequester'd from all your train, |
| Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed, |
| And wander'd 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.—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 notice of this. |
| LAVINIA : |
| Ay, for these slips have made him noted long: |
| Good king, to be so mightily abus'd! |
| TAMORA : |
| Why have I patience to endure all this? |
| [Enter DEMETRIUS and CHIRON.] |
| DEMETRIUS : |
| How now, dear sovereign, and our gracious mother! |
| 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, |
| O'ercome with moss and baleful mistletoe: |
| Here never shines the sun; here nothing breeds, |
| Unless the nightly owl or fatal raven:— |
| And when they show'd 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 call'd 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 henceforth call'd my children. |
| DEMETRIUS : |
| This is a witness that I am thy son. |
| [Stabs BASSIANUS.] |
| CHIRON : |
| And this for me, struck home to show my strength. |
| [Also stabs BASSIANUS, who dies.] |
| LAVINIA : |
| Ay, come, Semiramis,—nay, barbarous Tamora, |
| For no name fits thy nature but thy own! |
| TAMORA : |
| Give me thy poniard;—you shall know, my boys, |
| Your mother's hand shall right your mother's wrong. |
| DEMETRIUS : |
| Stay, madam; here is more belongs to her; |
| First thrash the corn, then after burn the straw: |
| This minion stood upon her chastity, |
| Upon her nuptial vow, her loyalty, |
| And with that painted 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. |
| TAMORA : |
| But when ye have the honey we desire, |
| 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. |
| LAVINIA : |
| O Tamora! thou bear'st a woman's face,— |
| TAMORA : |
| I will not hear her speak; away with her! |
| LAVINIA : |
| Sweet lords, entreat her hear me but a word. |
| DEMETRIUS : |
| Listen, fair madam: let it be your glory |
| To see her tears; but be your heart to them |
| As unrelenting flint to drops of rain. |
| LAVINIA : |
| When did the tiger's young ones teach the dam? |
| O, do not learn her wrath,—she taught it thee; |
| The milk thou suck'dst from her did turn to marble; |
| Even at thy teat thou hadst thy tyranny.— |
| Yet every mother breeds not sons alike: |
| [To CHIRON.] Do thou entreat her show a woman's pity. |
| CHIRON : |
| What, wouldst thou have me prove myself a bastard? |
| LAVINIA : |
| 'Tis true, the raven doth not hatch a lark: |
| Yet have I heard,—O, could I find it now!— |
| The lion, mov'd with pity, did endure |
| To have his princely paws par'd all away. |
| Some say that ravens foster forlorn children, |
| The whilst their own birds famish in their nests: |
| O, be to me, though thy hard heart say no, |
| Nothing so kind, but something pitiful! |
| TAMORA : |
| I know not what it means:—away with her! |
| LAVINIA : |
| O, let me teach thee! for my father's sake, |
| That gave thee life, when well he might have slain thee, |
| Be not obdurate, open thy deaf ears. |
| TAMORA : |
| Hadst thou in person ne'er offended me, |
| Even for his sake am I pitiless.— |
| Remember, boys, I pour'd forth tears in vain |
| To save your brother from the sacrifice; |
| But fierce Andronicus would not relent: |
| Therefore away with her, and use her as you will; |
| The worse to her the better lov'd of me. |
| LAVINIA : |
| O Tamora, be call'd a gentle queen, |
| And with thine own hands kill me in this place! |
| For 'tis not life that I have begg'd so long; |
| Poor I was slain when Bassianus died. |
| TAMORA : |
| What begg'st thou, then? fond woman, let me go. |
| LAVINIA : |
| 'Tis present death I beg; and one thing more, |
| That womanhood denies my tongue to tell: |
| O, keep me from their worse than killing lust, |
| And tumble me into some loathsome pit, |
| Where never man's eye may behold my body: |
| Do this, and be a charitable murderer. |
| TAMORA : |
| So should I rob my sweet sons of their fee: |
| No, let them satisfy their lust on thee. |
| DEMETRIUS : |
| Away! for thou hast stay'd us here too long. |
| LAVINIA : |
| No grace? no womanhood? Ah, beastly creature! |
| The blot and enemy to our general name! |
| Confusion fall,— |
| CHIRON : |
| Nay, then I'll stop your mouth:—bring thou her husband. |
| This is the hole where Aaron bid us hide him. |
| [DEMETRIUS throws BASSIANUS'S body into the pit; then exit with CHIRON, dragging off LAVINIA.] |
| TAMORA : |
| Farewell, my sons: see that you make her sure:— |
| Ne'er let my heart know merry cheer indeed |
| Till all the Andronici be made away. |
| Now will I hence to seek my lovely Moor, |
| And let my spleenful sons this trull deflower. |
| [Exit.] |
| [Re-enter AARON, with QUINTUS and MARTIUS.] |
| AARON : |
| Come on, my lords, the better foot before: |
| Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit |
| Where I espied the panther fast asleep. |
| QUINTUS : |
| My sight is very dull, whate'er it bodes. |
| MARTIUS : |
| And mine, I promise you; were't not for shame, |
| Well could I leave our sport to sleep awhile. |
| [Falls into the pit.] |
| QUINTUS : |
| What, art thou fallen?—What subtle hole is this, |
| Whose mouth is cover'd with rude-growing briers, |
| Upon whose leaves are drops of new-shed blood |
| As fresh as morning dew distill'd on flowers? |
| A very fatal place it seems to me.— |
| Speak, brother, hast thou hurt thee with the fall? |
| MARTIUS : |
| O brother, with the dismallest object hurt |
| That ever eye with sight made heart lament! |
| AARON : |
| [Aside] Now will I fetch the king to find them here, |
| That he thereby may have a likely guess |
| How these were they that made away his brother. |
| [Exit.] |
| MARTIUS : |
| Why dost not comfort me, and help me out |
| From this unhallow'd and blood-stained hole? |
| QUINTUS : |
| I am surprised with an uncouth fear; |
| A chilling sweat o'er-runs my trembling joints; |
| My heart suspects more than mine eye can see. |
| MARTIUS : |
| To prove thou hast a true divining heart, |
| Aaron and thou look down into this den, |
| And see a fearful sight of blood and death. |
| QUINTUS : |
| Aaron is gone; and my compassionate heart |
| Will not permit mine eyes once to behold |
| The thing whereat it trembles by surmise: |
| O, tell me who it is; for ne'er till now |
| Was I a child to fear I know not what. |
| MARTIUS : |
| Lord Bassianus lies embrewed here, |
| All on a heap, like to a slaughter'd lamb, |
| In this detested, dark, blood-drinking pit. |
| QUINTUS : |
| If it be dark, how dost thou know 'tis he? |
| MARTIUS : |
| Upon his bloody finger he doth wear |
| A precious ring that lightens all the hole, |
| Which, like a taper in some monument, |
| Doth shine upon the dead man's earthy cheeks, |
| And shows the ragged entrails of the pit: |
| So pale did shine the moon on Pyramus |
| When he by night lay bath'd in maiden blood. |
| O brother, help me with thy fainting hand,— |
| If fear hath made thee faint, as me it hath,— |
| Out of this fell devouring receptacle, |
| As hateful as Cocytus' misty mouth. |
| QUINTUS : |
| Reach me thy hand, that I may help thee out; |
| Or, wanting strength to do thee so much good, |
| I may be pluck'd into the swallowing womb |
| Of this deep pit, poor Bassianus' grave. |
| I have no strength to pluck thee to the brink. |
| MARTIUS : |
| Nor I no strength to climb without thy help. |
| QUINTUS : |
| Thy hand once more; I will not lose again, |
| Till thou art here aloft, or I below: |
| Thou canst not come to me,—I come to thee. |
| [Falls in.] |
| [Enter SATURNINUS with AARON.] |
| SATURNINUS : |
| Along with me: I'll see 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? |
| MARTIUS : |
| The unhappy sons of old Andronicus, |
| Brought hither in a most unlucky hour, |
| To find thy brother Bassianus dead. |
| SATURNINUS : |
| My brother dead! I know thou dost but jest: |
| He and his lady both are at the lodge |
| Upon the north side of this pleasant chase; |
| 'Tis not an hour since I left them there. |
| MARTIUS : |
| We know not where you left them all alive; |
| But, out, alas! here have we found him dead. |
| [Re-enter TAMORA, with Attendants; TITUS ANDRONICUS and LUCIUS.] |
| TAMORA : |
| Where is my lord the king? |
| SATURNINUS : |
| Here, Tamora; though griev'd with killing grief. |
| TAMORA : |
| Where is thy brother Bassianus? |
| SATURNINUS : |
| Now to the bottom dost thou search my wound; |
| Poor Bassianus here lies murdered. |
| TAMORA : |
| 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 pleasing smiles such murderous tyranny. |
| SATURNINUS : |
| [Reads] 'An if we miss to meet him handsomely,— |
| Sweet huntsman, Bassianus 'tis we mean,— |
| Do thou so much as dig the grave for him: |
| Thou know'st our meaning. Look for thy reward |
| Among the nettles at the elder-tree |
| Which overshades the mouth of that same pit |
| Where we decreed to bury Bassianus. |
| Do this, and purchase us thy lasting friends.' |
| O Tamora! was ever heard the like?— |
| This is the pit and this the elder-tree:— |
| Look, sirs, if you can find the huntsman out |
| That should have murder'd Bassianus here. |
| AARON : |
| My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold. |
| [Showing it.] |
| SATURNINUS : |
| [To TITUS] Two of thy whelps, 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. |
| TAMORA : |
| What, are they in this pit? O wondrous thing! |
| How easily murder is discovered! |
| TITUS : |
| High emperor, upon my feeble knee |
| I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed, |
| That this fell fault of my accursed sons,— |
| Accursed if the fault be prov'd in them,— |
| SATURNINUS : |
| If it be prov'd! You see it is apparent.— |
| Who found this letter? Tamora, was it you? |
| TAMORA : |
| Andronicus himself did take it up. |
| TITUS : |
| I did, my lord: yet let me be their bail; |
| For, by my fathers' reverend tomb, I vow |
| They shall be ready at your highness' will |
| To answer their suspicion with their lives. |
| SATURNINUS : |
| Thou shalt not bail them: see thou follow me.— |
| Some bring the murder'd body, some the murderers: |
| Let them not speak a word,—the guilt is plain; |
| For, by my soul, were there worse end than death, |
| That end upon them should be executed. |
| TAMORA : |
| Andronicus, I will entreat the king: |
| Fear not thy sons; they shall do well enough. |
| TITUS : |
| Come, Lucius, come; stay not to talk with them. |
| [Exeunt severally. Attendants bearing the body.] |
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