Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
Act 2 - Scene 1
Rome. Before the Palace.
Aaron : Now climbeth Tamora Olympus' top,
[p]Safe out of fortune's shot; and
sits aloft,
[p]Secure of thunder's crack or lightning
flash;
[p]Advanced above pale envy's threatening reach.
[p]As when the
golden sun salutes the morn,
[p]And, having gilt the ocean with his
beams,
[p]Gallops the zodiac in his glistering coach,
[p]And overlooks
the highest-peering hills;
[p]So Tamora:
[p]Upon her wit doth earthly
honour wait,
[p]And virtue stoops and trembles at her frown.
[p]Then,
Aaron, arm thy heart, and fit thy thoughts,
[p]To mount aloft with thy
imperial mistress,
[p]And mount her pitch, whom thou in triumph
long
[p]Hast prisoner held, fetter'd in amorous chains
[p]And faster
bound to Aaron's charming eyes
[p]Than is Prometheus tied to
Caucasus.
[p]Away with slavish weeds and servile thoughts!
[p]I will
be bright, and shine in pearl and gold,
[p]To wait upon this new-made
empress.
[p]To wait, said I? to wanton with this queen,
[p]This
goddess, this Semiramis, this nymph,
[p]This siren, that will charm
Rome's Saturnine,
[p]And see his shipwreck and his
commonweal's.
[p]Holloa! what storm is this?
Demetrius : Chiron, thy years want wit, thy wit wants edge,
[p]And manners, to
intrude where I am graced;
[p]And may, for aught thou know'st,
affected be.
Chiron : Demetrius, thou dost over-ween in all;
[p]And so in this, to bear me
down with braves.
[p]'Tis not the difference of a year or two
[p]Makes
me less gracious or thee more fortunate:
[p]I am as able and as fit as
thou
[p]To serve, and to deserve my mistress' grace;
[p]And that my
sword upon thee shall approve,
[p]And plead my passions for Lavinia's
love.
Aaron : [Aside] Clubs, clubs! these lovers will not keep
[p]the peace.
Demetrius : Why, boy, although our mother, unadvised,
[p]Gave you a dancing-rapier
by your side,
[p]Are you so desperate grown, to threat your
friends?
[p]Go to; have your lath glued within your sheath
[p]Till you
know better how to handle it.
Chiron : Meanwhile, sir, with the little skill I have,
[p]Full well shalt thou
perceive how much I dare.
Demetrius : Ay, boy, grow ye so brave?
Aaron : [Coming forward] Why, how now, lords!
[p]So near the emperor's palace
dare you draw,
[p]And maintain such a quarrel openly?
[p]Full well I
wot the ground of all this grudge:
[p]I would not for a million of
gold
[p]The cause were known to them it most concerns;
[p]Nor would
your noble mother for much more
[p]Be so dishonour'd in the court of
Rome.
[p]For shame, put up.
Demetrius : Not I, till I have sheathed
[p]My rapier in his bosom and
withal
[p]Thrust these reproachful speeches down his throat
[p]That he
hath breathed in my dishonour here.
Chiron : For that I am prepared and full resolved.
[p]Foul-spoken coward, that
thunder'st with thy tongue,
[p]And with thy weapon nothing darest
perform!
Aaron : Away, I say!
[p]Now, by the gods that warlike Goths adore,
[p]This
petty brabble will undo us all.
[p]Why, lords, and think you not how
dangerous
[p]It is to jet upon a prince's right?
[p]What, is Lavinia
then become so loose,
[p]Or Bassianus so degenerate,
[p]That for her
love such quarrels may be broach'd
[p]Without controlment, justice, or
revenge?
[p]Young lords, beware! and should the empress know
[p]This
discord's ground, the music would not please.
Chiron : I care not, I, knew she and all the world:
[p]I love Lavinia more than
all the world.
Demetrius : Youngling, learn thou to make some meaner choice:
[p]Lavinia is thine
elder brother's hope.
Aaron : Why, are ye mad? or know ye not, in Rome
[p]How furious and impatient
they be,
[p]And cannot brook competitors in love?
[p]I tell you,
lords, you do but plot your deaths
[p]By this device.
Chiron : Aaron, a thousand deaths
[p]Would I propose to achieve her whom I
love.
Aaron : To achieve her! how?
Demetrius : Why makest thou it so strange?
[p]She is a woman, therefore may be
woo'd;
[p]She is a woman, therefore may be won;
[p]She is Lavinia,
therefore must be loved.
[p]What, man! more water glideth by the
mill
[p]Than wots the miller of; and easy it is
[p]Of a cut loaf to
steal a shive, we know:
[p]Though Bassianus be the emperor's
brother.
[p]Better than he have worn Vulcan's badge.
Aaron : [Aside] Ay, and as good as Saturninus may.
Demetrius : Then why should he despair that knows to court it
[p]With words, fair
looks and liberality?
[p]What, hast not thou full often struck a
doe,
[p]And borne her cleanly by the keeper's nose?
Aaron : Why, then, it seems, some certain snatch or so
[p]Would serve your
turns.
Chiron : Ay, so the turn were served.
Demetrius : Aaron, thou hast hit it.
Aaron : Would you had hit it too!
[p]Then should not we be tired with this
ado.
[p]Why, hark ye, hark ye! and are you such fools
[p]To square for
this? would it offend you, then
[p]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:
[p]'Tis policy and
stratagem must do
[p]That you affect; and so must you resolve,
[p]That
what you cannot as you would achieve,
[p]You must perforce accomplish
as you may.
[p]Take this of me: Lucrece was not more chaste
[p]Than
this Lavinia, Bassianus' love.
[p]A speedier course than lingering
languishment
[p]Must we pursue, and I have found the path.
[p]My
lords, a solemn hunting is in hand;
[p]There will the lovely Roman
ladies troop:
[p]The forest walks are wide and spacious;
[p]And many
unfrequented plots there are
[p]Fitted by kind for rape and
villany:
[p]Single you thither then this dainty doe,
[p]And strike her
home by force, if not by words:
[p]This way, or not at all, stand you
in hope.
[p]Come, come, our empress, with her sacred wit
[p]To villany
and vengeance consecrate,
[p]Will we acquaint with all that we
intend;
[p]And she shall file our engines with advice,
[p]That will
not suffer you to square yourselves,
[p]But to your wishes' height
advance you both.
[p]The emperor's court is like the house of
Fame,
[p]The palace full of tongues, of eyes, and ears:
[p]The woods
are ruthless, dreadful, deaf, and dull;
[p]There speak, and strike,
brave boys, and take
[p]your turns;
[p]There serve your lusts,
shadow'd from heaven's eye,
[p]And revel in Lavinia's treasury.
Chiron : Thy counsel, lad, smells of no cowardice,
Demetrius : Sit fas aut nefas, till I find the stream
[p]To cool this heat, a
charm to calm these fits.
[p]Per Styga, per manes vehor.
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Next: Act 2 - Scene 2
