Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

ACT IV SCENE III	The same. A public place.
	Enter TITUS, bearing arrows with letters at theends of them; with him, MARCUS, Young LUCIUS,PUBLIUS, SEMPRONIUS, CAIUS, and other Gentlemen,with bows
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Come, Marcus; come, kinsmen; this is the way.
	Sir boy, now let me see your archery;
	Look ye draw home enough, and 'tis there straight.
	Terras Astraea reliquit:	5
	Be you remember'd, Marcus, she's gone, she's fled.
	Sirs, take you to your tools. You, cousins, shall
	Go sound the ocean, and cast your nets;
	Happily you may catch her in the sea;
	Yet there's as little justice as at land:	10
	No; Publius and Sempronius, you must do it;
	'Tis you must dig with mattock and with spade,
	And pierce the inmost centre of the earth:
	Then, when you come to Pluto's region,
	I pray you, deliver him this petition;	15
	Tell him, it is for justice and for aid,
	And that it comes from old Andronicus,
	Shaken with sorrows in ungrateful Rome.
	Ah, Rome! Well, well; I made thee miserable
	What time I threw the people's suffrages	20
	On him that thus doth tyrannize o'er me.
	Go, get you gone; and pray be careful all,
	And leave you not a man-of-war unsearch'd:
	This wicked emperor may have shipp'd her hence;
	And, kinsmen, then we may go pipe for justice.	25
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	O Publius, is not this a heavy case,
	To see thy noble uncle thus distract?
PUBLIUS	Therefore, my lord, it highly us concerns
	By day and night to attend him carefully,
	And feed his humour kindly as we may,	30
	Till time beget some careful remedy.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Kinsmen, his sorrows are past remedy.
	Join with the Goths; and with revengeful war
	Take wreak on Rome for this ingratitude,
	And vengeance on the traitor Saturnine.	35
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Publius, how now! how now, my masters!
	What, have you met with her?
PUBLIUS	No, my good lord; but Pluto sends you word,
	If you will have Revenge from hell, you shall:
	Marry, for Justice, she is so employ'd,	40
	He thinks, with Jove in heaven, or somewhere else,
	So that perforce you must needs stay a time.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	He doth me wrong to feed me with delays.
	I'll dive into the burning lake below,
	And pull her out of Acheron by the heels.	45
	Marcus, we are but shrubs, no cedars we
	No big-boned men framed of the Cyclops' size;
	But metal, Marcus, steel to the very back,
	Yet wrung with wrongs more than our backs can bear:
	And, sith there's no justice in earth nor hell,	50
	We will solicit heaven and move the gods
	To send down Justice for to wreak our wrongs.
	Come, to this gear. You are a good archer, Marcus;
	He gives them the arrows
	'Ad Jovem,' that's for you: here, 'Ad Apollinem:'
	'Ad Martem,' that's for myself:	55
	Here, boy, to Pallas: here, to Mercury:
	To Saturn, Caius, not to Saturnine;
	You were as good to shoot against the wind.
	To it, boy! Marcus, loose when I bid.
	Of my word, I have written to effect;	60
	There's not a god left unsolicited.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Kinsmen, shoot all your shafts into the court:
	We will afflict the emperor in his pride.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Now, masters, draw.
	They shoot
	O, well said, Lucius!	65
	Good boy, in Virgo's lap; give it Pallas.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	My lord, I aim a mile beyond the moon;
	Your letter is with Jupiter by this.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Ha, ha!
	Publius, Publius, what hast thou done?	70
	See, see, thou hast shot off one of Taurus' horns.
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	This was the sport, my lord: when Publius shot,
	The Bull, being gall'd, gave Aries such a knock
	That down fell both the Ram's horns in the court;
	And who should find them but the empress' villain?	75
	She laugh'd, and told the Moor he should not choose
	But give them to his master for a present.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Why, there it goes: God give his lordship joy!
	Enter a Clown, with a basket, and two pigeons init
	News, news from heaven! Marcus, the post is come.
	Sirrah, what tidings? have you any letters?	80
	Shall I have justice? what says Jupiter?
Clown	O, the gibbet-maker! he says that he hath taken
	them down again, for the man must not be hanged till
	the next week.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	But what says Jupiter, I ask thee?	85
Clown	Alas, sir, I know not Jupiter; I never drank with him
	in all my life.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Why, villain, art not thou the carrier?
Clown	Ay, of my pigeons, sir; nothing else.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Why, didst thou not come from heaven?	90
Clown	From heaven! alas, sir, I never came there God
	forbid I should be so bold to press to heaven in my
	young days. Why, I am going with my pigeons to the
	tribunal plebs, to take up a matter of brawl
	betwixt my uncle and one of the emperial's men.	95
MARCUS ANDRONICUS	Why, sir, that is as fit as can be to serve for
	your oration; and let him deliver the pigeons to
	the emperor from you.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Tell me, can you deliver an oration to the emperor
	with a grace?	100
Clown	Nay, truly, sir, I could never say grace in all my life.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Sirrah, come hither: make no more ado,
	But give your pigeons to the emperor:
	By me thou shalt have justice at his hands.
	Hold, hold; meanwhile here's money for thy charges.	105
	Give me pen and ink. Sirrah, can you with a grace
	deliver a supplication?
Clown	Ay, sir.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Then here is a supplication for you. And when you
	come to him, at the first approach you must kneel,	110
	then kiss his foot, then deliver up your pigeons, and
	then look for your reward. I'll be at hand, sir; see
	you do it bravely.
Clown	I warrant you, sir, let me alone.
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Sirrah, hast thou a knife? come, let me see it.	115
	Here, Marcus, fold it in the oration;
	For thou hast made it like an humble suppliant.
	And when thou hast given it the emperor,
	Knock at my door, and tell me what he says.
Clown	God be with you, sir; I will.	120
TITUS ANDRONICUS	Come, Marcus, let us go. Publius, follow me.
	Exeunt