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The Lamentable and Tragicall Hiſtory of Titus Andronicus, with the fall of his five and twenty ſons in the wars of•he Goaths, with the raviſhment of his daughter Lavinia by the Empreſſe•wo ſons, through the means of a bloody Moor, taken by the ſwor•of Titus in the war, with his revenge upon them for their cruell an in humane act.

To the tune of Fortune my Foe.

[illustration]

YOu noble minds and fomous martial wights
 That in defence of Native Country fights:
 Give ere to me that ten years fought for Rome,
 Yet reapt diſgrace at my returning home. 

In Rome I liv'd in fame full thrée ſcore years,
 My name beloved was of all my Péers:
 And five and twenty valiant ſons I had,
 Whoſe forward vertues maid their father glad. 

For when Romes foes their warlike forces felt,
 Againſt them ſtill my ſons and I were ſent:
 Againſt•he Goaths full ten yoars weary war
 We ſpent, receiving many a bloody ſcar. 

Iuſt two and twenty of my ſons were ſlain,
 Before I did return to Rome again:
 Of five and twenty ſo is I brought but thrée,
 Alſoe the ſtately Towers of Rome to ſée. 

when wars were done, I conqueſt home did bring
 And did preſent my priſoners to the King:
 The quéen of Goths her ſons and eke a More,
 Who did ſuch murders like was none before. 

The Emperour did make the Quéen his wife,
 Which bred in Rome debate and deadly ſtrife:
 The Moor with her two ſons did grow ſo proud,
 That none like them in Rome was then allowd. 

The Moor ſo pleaſ'd the now made Empreſs eye
 That ſhe conſented with him ſecretly:
 For to abuſe her huſbands marriage bed,
 And ſo in time a Blackamore ſhe bred. 

when ſhe whoſe thoughts to murder was inc•in'd
 Conſented with the Moor with bloody mind:
 Againſt my ſelf my kind and all my friends,
 In cruell ſort to bring them to their ends. 

So when in age I thought to live in peace,
 Both woe and grief began then to increaſe:
 Amongſt my Sons I had one daughter bright,
 Which joy'd and pleaſed beſt my aged ſight. 

My Lavinia was betrothed then
 To Ceſars ſon, a young and noble man:
 Who in a hunting by the Emperours wife,
 And her two ſons bereaved was of life,

He being ſlain was caſt in cruell wiſe,
 Into a darkſome den from light of skies,
 The cruell Moor did come that way as then,
 With my thrée ſons, who fell into that den. 

The Moor then fetcht the Emperour with ſpéed,
 For to accuſe them of that murdrous déed:
 And when my ſons within the den were found,
 In wrongfull priſon they were caſt and bound. 

[illustration]

BVt now behold that wounded moſt my mind
 The Empre••two ſons of Tygers kind:
 My daughter raviſhed without remorce,
 And took a way her honour quite perforce. 

When they had taſted of ſo ſwéet a flower,
 Fearing ſo ſwéet ſhould quickly turn to ſower:
 They cut her tongue whereby ſho could not tell,
 How that diſhonor unto her befell. 

Then both her hands they baſely cut off quite,
 Whereby their wickneſs ſhe could not write:
 Nor with néedle on her Sampler ſow,
 The bloody workers of her diſmall woe. 

My brother Marcus found her in the wood,
 St•n•ing the graſſy ground with purple blood:
 That trickled from her ſtumps & handleſs arms,
 No tongue at all ſhe had to tell her harms. 

But when I ſaw her in that wofull caſe,
 With tears of blood I wet my aged face:
 For my Lavinia I lamented more,
 Then for my two and twenty ſons before. 

When as I ſaw ſhe could not writ nor ſpeak,
 With grief my aged heart began to break:
 We ſpred a heap of ſand upon the ground,
 Whereby theſe bloody tyrants we out found. 

For with a ſtaffe without the help of hand,
 She writ theſe words upon a plot of ſand:
 The luſtfull ſons of the proud Empereſſe,
 Are doers of this hatefull wickedneſſe. 

I tore the milk white hairs from off my head,
 I curſt the hour wherein I firſt was bred:
 I wiſht the hand that fought for Countries fame
 In cradle rockt has firſt béen ſtrucken lame. 

The Moor delighting ſtill in villany,
 Did ſay to ſet my ſons from priſon frée:
 I ſhou•d unto the King my right hand give,
 And then my thrée impriſoned ſons ſhould live. 

The Moor I caus'd to ſtrike it off with ſpéed,
 Whereat I grieved not to ſée it bléed:
 But for my ſons would willingly impart,
 And for their randſome ſend my bléeding heart. 

But as my life did linger then in vain,
 They ſent to me my bootleſſe hand again:
 And there withall the heads of my thrée ſons,
 Which fild my dying heart with freſher groans. 

Then paſt relief I up and down did go,
 And with my tears writ in the duſt my wo,
 I ſhot my arrow towards heaven high,
 And for revenge to hell did ſometimes cry. 

The Empreſſe thinking then that I was mad,
 Like Furies ſhe and both her ſons were glad:
 So nam'd revenge, and rape and murder they,
 To undermine and know what I would ſay. 

I fed their fooliſh veins a little ſpace,
 Vntill my friends and I did fired a ſpace:
 Where both her ſons unto a poſt were bound,
 Where juſt revenge in cruell ſort was found. 

I cut their throats my daughter held the pan
 Betwixt her ſtumps, wherein the blood did ran:
 And then I ground their bones to powder ſmall,
 And made a paſte for Pies ſtraight there withall. 

Then with their fleſh I made two mighty Pies,
 And at a banquet ſerv'd in ſtately wiſe:
 Before the Empreſſe ſet this loathſome meat,
 So of her ſons own fleſh ſhe well did eat. 

My ſelf bereav'd my daughter then of life,
 The Empreſſe then I ſlew with bloody knife:
 And ſtab'd the Emperour immediately,
 And then my ſelf, and ſo did Titus dye. 

Then this revenge againſt the Moor was ſound,
 Alive they ſet him half into the ground:
 Whereas he ſtood untill ſuch time he ſtarv'd. 
And ſo God find all murderers may be ſerv'd. 

Printed for F. Coles T Vece and VV Gilbertſon,

About this transcription

TextThe lamentable and tragicall history of Titus Andronicus with the fall of his five and twenty sons in the wars of [t]he Goaths, with the ravishment of his daughter Lavinia by the empresse [t]wo sons, through the means of a bloody Moor, taken by the swor[d] of Titus in the war, with his revenge upon them for their cruell an in humane [sic] act. To the tune of Fortune my foe.

Author[unknown]

Extent Approx. 8 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 6 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images.

Edition1658-1664

SeriesEarly English books online.

Additional notes

(EEBO-TCP ; phase 2, no. A88365)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 154241)

Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 2407:4)

About the source text

Bibliographic informationThe lamentable and tragicall history of Titus Andronicus with the fall of his five and twenty sons in the wars of [t]he Goaths, with the ravishment of his daughter Lavinia by the empresse [t]wo sons, through the means of a bloody Moor, taken by the swor[d] of Titus in the war, with his revenge upon them for their cruell an in humane [sic] act. To the tune of Fortune my foe. 1 sheet ([1] p.) : ill. (woodcuts) Printed for F, Coles T Vere and VV Gilbertson,[London] :[1661]. (Wing (CD-ROM edition) reports date of publication as [1658-64].) (Verse - "You noble minds and fomous [sic] martial wights".) (Reproduction of original in the Folger Shakespeare Library.)

Languageeng

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Publication information

Publisher

Text Creation Partnership,

ImprintAnn Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2011-04 (EEBO-TCP Phase 2).

Identifiers

DLPS A88365
STC Wing L252A
STC ESTC R226670
EEBO-CITATION 99896354
PROQUEST 99896354
VID 154241

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