Chapter: ACT II. SCENE I.
Rome. Before the palace

Enter AARON

  AARON. Now climbeth Tamora Olympus' top,
    Safe out of Fortune's shot, and sits aloft,
    Secure of thunder's crack or lightning flash,
    Advanc'd above pale envy's threat'ning reach.
    As when the golden sun salutes the morn,
    And, having gilt the ocean with his beams,
    Gallops the zodiac in his glistening coach
    And overlooks the highest-peering hills,
    So Tamora.
    Upon her wit doth earthly honour wait,
    And virtue stoops and trembles at her frown.
    Then, Aaron, arm thy heart and fit thy thoughts
    To mount aloft with thy imperial mistress,
    And mount her pitch whom thou in triumph long
    Hast prisoner held, fett'red in amorous chains,
    And faster bound to Aaron's charming eyes
    Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus.
    Away with slavish weeds and servile thoughts!
    I will be bright and shine in pearl and gold,
    To wait upon this new-made empress.
    To wait, said I? To wanton with this queen,
    This goddess, this Semiramis, this nymph,
    This siren that will charm Rome's Saturnine,
    And see his shipwreck and his commonweal's.
    Hullo! what storm is this?

            Enter CHIRON and DEMETRIUS, braving

  DEMETRIUS. Chiron, thy years wants wit, thy wits wants edge
    And manners, to intrude where I am grac'd,
    And may, for aught thou knowest, affected be.
  CHIRON. Demetrius, thou dost over-ween in all;
    And so in this, to bear me down with braves.
    'Tis not the difference of a year or two
    Makes me less gracious or thee more fortunate:
    I am as able and as fit as thou
    To serve and to deserve my mistress' grace;
    And that my sword upon thee shall approve,
    And plead my passions for Lavinia's love.
  AARON.  [Aside]  Clubs, clubs! These lovers will not keep the
    peace.
  DEMETRIUS. Why, boy, although our mother, unadvis'd,
    Gave you a dancing rapier by your side,
    Are you so desperate grown to threat your friends?
    Go to; have your lath glued within your sheath
    Till you know better how to handle it.
  CHIRON. Meanwhile, sir, with the little skill I have,
    Full well shalt thou perceive how much I dare.
  DEMETRIUS. Ay, boy, grow ye so brave?              [They draw]
  AARON.  [Coming forward]  Why, how now, lords!
    So near the Emperor's palace dare ye 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 dishonoured in the court of Rome.
    For shame, put up.
  DEMETRIUS. 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.
  CHIRON. For that I am prepar'd and full resolv'd,
    Foul-spoken coward, that thund'rest with thy tongue,
    And with thy weapon nothing dar'st perform.
  AARON. Away, I say!
    Now, by the gods that warlike Goths adore,
    This pretty 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.
  CHIRON. I care not, I, knew she and all the world:
    I love Lavinia more than all the world.
  DEMETRIUS. Youngling, learn thou to make some meaner choice:
    Lavina is thine elder brother's hope.
  AARON. 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.
  CHIRON. Aaron, a thousand deaths
    Would I propose to achieve her whom I love.
  AARON. To achieve her- how?
  DEMETRIUS. 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 shive, we know.
    Though Bassianus be the Emperor's brother,
    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
    With words, fair looks, and liberality?
    What, hast not thou full often struck a doe,
    And borne her cleanly by the keeper's nose?
  AARON. Why, then, it seems some certain snatch or so
    Would serve your turns.
  CHIRON. Ay, so the turn were served.
  DEMETRIUS. Aaron, thou hast hit it.
  AARON. 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?
  CHIRON. Faith, not me.
  DEMETRIUS. Nor me, so I were one.
  AARON. 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 ling'ring languishment
    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 what 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, shadowed from heaven's eye,
    And revel in Lavinia's treasury.
  CHIRON. Thy counsel, lad, smells of no cowardice.
  DEMETRIUS. 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





SCENE II.
A forest near Rome

Enter TITUS ANDRONICUS, and his three sons, LUCIUS, QUINTUS,
MARTIUS,
making a noise with hounds and horns; and MARCUS

  TITUS. 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 ours,
    To attend the Emperor's person carefully.
    I have been troubled in my sleep this night,
    But dawning day new comfort hath inspir'd.

         Here a cry of hounds, and wind horns in a peal.
       Then enter SATURNINUS, TAMORA, BASSIANUS LAVINIA,
            CHIRON, DEMETRIUS, and their attendants
    Many good morrows to your Majesty!
    Madam, to you as many and as good!
    I promised your Grace a hunter's peal.
  SATURNINUS. And you have rung it lustily, my lord,--
    Somewhat too early for new-married ladies.
  BASSIANUS. Lavinia, how say you?
  LAVINIA. I say no;
    I have been broad awake two hours and more.
  SATURNINUS. Come on then, horse and chariots let us have,
    And to our sport.  [To TAMORA]  Madam, now shall ye see
    Our Roman hunting.
  MARCUS. I have dogs, my lord,
    Will rouse the proudest panther in the chase,
    And climb the highest promontory top.
  TITUS. And I have horse will follow where the game
    Makes way, and run like swallows o'er the plain.
  DEMETRIUS. Chiron, we hunt not, we, with horse nor hound,
    But hope to pluck a dainty doe to ground.             Exeunt





SCENE III.
A lonely part of the forest

Enter AARON alone, 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 alone, to the Moor

  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 while 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 wand'ring prince and Dido once enjoyed,
    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.

                Enter BASSIANUS and LAVINIA

  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
  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 pow'r 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 thy 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 sequest'red from all your train,
    Dismounted from your snow-white goodly steed,
    And wand'red 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 abused!
  TAMORA. Why, I have patience to endure all this.

                  Enter CHIRON and DEMETRIUS

  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,
    Overcome 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]
  LAVINIA. Ay, come, Semiramis- nay, barbarous Tamora,
    For no name fits thy nature but thy own!
  TAMORA. Give me the 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 bearest 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 beg'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 the body
           of BASSIANUS into the pit; then exeunt
         DEMETRIUS and 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 two
             of TITUS' sons, 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 it 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 covered 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 dismal'st 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 beray'd in blood,
    All on a heap, like to a slaughtered 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 this hole,
    Which, like a taper in some monument,
    Doth shine upon the dead man's earthy cheeks,
    And shows the ragged entrails of this 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 loose again,
    Till thou art here aloft, or I below.
    Thou canst not come to me- I come to thee.        [Falls in]

            Enter the EMPEROR and AARON the Moor

  SATURNINUS. Along with me! I'll see what hole is here,
    And what he is that now is leapt 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,
    The complot of this timeless tragedy;
    And wonder greatly that man's face can fold
    In pleasing smiles such murderous tyranny.
                                 [She giveth SATURNINE a letter]
    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 murdered Bassianus here.
  AARON. My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold.
  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 murdered 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





SCENE IV.
Another part of the forest

Enter the Empress' sons, DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, with LAVINIA,
her hands cut off, and her tongue cut out, and ravish'd

  DEMETRIUS. So, now go tell, an if thy tongue can speak,
    Who 'twas that cut thy tongue and ravish'd thee.
  CHIRON. Write down thy mind, bewray thy meaning so,
    An if thy stumps will let thee play the scribe.
  DEMETRIUS. See how with signs and tokens she can scrowl.
  CHIRON. Go home, call for sweet water, wash thy hands.
  DEMETRIUS. She hath no tongue to call, nor hands to wash;
    And so let's leave her to her silent walks.
  CHIRON. An 'twere my cause, I should go hang myself.
  DEMETRIUS. If thou hadst hands to help thee knit the cord.
                                     Exeunt DEMETRIUS and CHIRON

           Wind horns. Enter MARCUS, from hunting

  MARCUS. Who is this?- my niece, that flies away so fast?
    Cousin, a word: where is your husband?
    If I do dream, would all my wealth would wake me!
    If I do wake, some planet strike me down,
    That I may slumber an eternal sleep!
    Speak, gentle niece. What stern ungentle hands
    Hath lopp'd, and hew'd, and made thy body bare
    Of her two branches- those sweet ornaments
    Whose circling shadows kings have sought to sleep in,
    And might not gain so great a happiness
    As half thy love? Why dost not speak to me?
    Alas, a crimson river of warm blood,
    Like to a bubbling fountain stirr'd with wind,
    Doth rise and fall between thy rosed lips,
    Coming and going with thy honey breath.
    But sure some Tereus hath deflowered thee,
    And, lest thou shouldst detect him, cut thy tongue.
    Ah, now thou turn'st away thy face for shame!
    And notwithstanding all this loss of blood-
    As from a conduit with three issuing spouts-
    Yet do thy cheeks look red as Titan's face
    Blushing to be encount'red with a cloud.
    Shall I speak for thee? Shall I say 'tis so?
    O, that I knew thy heart, and knew the beast,
    That I might rail at him to ease my mind!
    Sorrow concealed, like an oven stopp'd,
    Doth burn the heart to cinders where it is.
    Fair Philomel, why she but lost her tongue,
    And in a tedious sampler sew'd her mind;
    But, lovely niece, that mean is cut from thee.
    A craftier Tereus, cousin, hast thou met,
    And he hath cut those pretty fingers off
    That could have better sew'd than Philomel.
    O, had the monster seen those lily hands
    Tremble like aspen leaves upon a lute
    And make the silken strings delight to kiss them,
    He would not then have touch'd them for his life!
    Or had he heard the heavenly harmony
    Which that sweet tongue hath made,
    He would have dropp'd his knife, and fell asleep,
    As Cerberus at the Thracian poet's feet.
    Come, let us go, and make thy father blind,
    For such a sight will blind a father's eye;
    One hour's storm will drown the fragrant meads,
    What will whole months of tears thy father's eyes?
    Do not draw back, for we will mourn with thee;
    O, could our mourning case thy misery!                Exeunt

 Aaron the Moor, standing alone on the stage, declares that he plans to catch a ride on Tamora's coattails: she has gone from being a lowly prisoner to one of the most important people in Rome, and Aaron, her lover, plans to use her newfound leverage for his own betterment. Suddenly, Chiron and Demetrius rush in, fighting with one another about which of them is more worthy of Lavinia's love: it seems they have both fallen for Bassianus' new wife. Aaron, quickly seeing through their clichAd declarations of love, hatches a plot so that they might both rape Lavinia during the scheduled hunt, and the boys readily agree to the idea. On to the hunt, then, where Titus and his sons meet with the emperor and his attendants. Aaron, meanwhile, hides a bag of gold under a tree in the forest . Tamora soon breaks off from the main hunting party to meet Aaron. She tries to initiate sex with him, but he resists; he's more in the mood for murder. Suddenly, Bassianus and Lavinia come upon the lovers. They mock Tamora for lusting after a black man, and Bassianus tells Tamora that he is going to tell Saturninus all about what he has witnessed. Just as Bassanius and Lavinia are about to leave to tell the emperor about the tryst, Chiron and Demetrius happen along. Tamora tells her sons that Bassianus and Lavinia enticed her to the spot in order to torment her, and Chiron and Demetrius fatally stab Bassianus in retribution. Tamora then moves to stab Lavinia, but her sons stop her, explaining that they want to rape her instead. Lavinia, horrified at the prospect of such a violation, begs Tamora to intervene with her sons, but Tamora refuses, reminding Lavinia that Titus was deaf to her own pleas for Alarbus' life. When Lavinia begs Tamora to kill her rather than allow her to be raped, Tamora leaves her to be dealt with at her sons' discretion. Chiron and Demetrius, following Aaron's orders, throw Bassianus' body in a hole and drag Lavinia offstage. Just then, Aaron enters with Quintus and Martius, two of Titus' sons, in tow. He leads them to the pit where Chiron and Demetrius placed Bassianus' body, saying that a panther lies there asleep. The hole is concealed, and Martius stumbles in only to find Bassianus' body, which he recognizes because of a distinctive ring that shines in the darkness. Quintus, in an effort to save his brother, falls into the hole himself. Aaron leads Saturninus to the hole, where he is informed that his brother has been found dead. Aaron's plot unfolds further when Tamora and Titus enter with a letter insinuating that Martius and Quintus murdered Bassianus for the bag of gold. Aaron then "finds" the bag of gold in question, which is still lying in the very place that he hid it. Saturninus is thus convinced of the Andronici's guilt and orders them to be executed without a trial, despite Titus' pleas. A ghastly scene follows, as Chiron and Demetrius drag the wretched Lavinia onstage. She is still alive, but her tongue has been cut out and her hands chopped off to prevent her from identifying her rapists. They mock her hideous condition, and then exit. Marcus enters and, in a long-winded speech, laments Lavinia's mutilated appearance. He finally gathers that she has been raped, and exits with her in search of Titus.

