Which, like a taper in fome monument,
Doth fhine upon the dead man's earthy cheeks,
And fhows 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' mifty mouth.

QUIN. Reach me thy hand, that I may help thee out;

Or, wanting ftrength to do thee fo much good,
I may be pluck'd into the fwallowing womb
Of this deep pit, poor Baffianus' grave.
I have no ftrength to pluck thee to the brink.

Again, in the Mufe's Elysium, by Drayton :
"Is that admired, mighty ftone,

"The carbuncle that's named;
"Which from it fuch a flaming light

"And radiancy ejecteth,

"That in the very darkest night

"The eye to it dire&teth.”

Chaucer, in the Romaunt of the Rofe, attributes the fame pro

perties to the carbuncle:

"Soche light yfprang out of the ftone." STEEVENS.

a gem

"To lighten all this ifle."

So alfo, Spenfer's Fairy Queen, B. VI. c. xi:

like diamond of rich regard,

"In doubtful thadow of the darksome night."

MALONE.

all the hole,] The 4to. 1600, reads-all this hole.

TODD.

So pale did fhine the moon &c.] Lee appears to have been indebted to this image in his Majacre of Paris:

“Looks like a midnight moon upon a murder."

MART. Nor I no ftrength to climb without thy help.

QUIN. Thy hand once more; I will not loofe again, Till thou art here aloft, or I below:

Thou canst not come to me, I come to thee.

Enter SATURNINUS and AARON.

[Falls in.

SAT. Along with me I'll fee what hole is here. And what he is, that now is leap'd into it.

Say, who art thou, that lately didft defcend

Into this gaping hollow of the earth?

MART. The unhappy fon of old Andronicus;
Brought hither in a moft unlucky hour,
To find thy brother Baffianus dead.

SAT. My brother dead? I know, thou dost but jeft:

He and his lady both are at the lodge,

Upon the north fide of this pleasant chase; 'Tis not an hour fince I left him there."

MART. We know not where you left him all alive, But, out alas! here have we found him dead.

Enter TAMORA, with Attendants; TITUS ANDRONICUS, and LUCIUS.

TAM. Where is my lord, the king?

SAT. Here, Tamora; though griev'd with killing grief.

TAM. Where is thy brother Baffianus ?

left him there.] Edition 1600 reads :-left them there.

TODD.

SAT. Now to the bottom doft thou fearch my

wound;

Poor Baffianus here lies murdered.

TÂM. 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 fuch murderous tyranny.

SAT. [Reads.] An if we miss to meet him handfomely,

Sweet huntfman, Bafsianus 'tis, we mean,-
Do thou fo much as dig the grave for him;
Thou know'ft our meaning: Look for thy reward
Among the nettles at the elder tree,

Which overfhades the mouth of that fame pit,
Where we decreed to bury Bafsianus.

Do this, and purchafe us thy lafting friends.
O, Tamora! was ever heard the like?
This is the pit, and this the elder-tree :
Look, firs, if you can find the huntfiman out,
That fhould have murder'd Baffianus here.

AAR. My gracious lord, here is the bag of gold. [Showing it. SAT. Two of thy whelps, [To TIT.] 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.
TAM. What, are they in this pit? O wondrous
thing!

How eafily murder is discovered!

timeless-] i. e. untimely. So, in King Richard II: "The bloody office of his timeless end." STEEVENS.

TIT. High emperor, upon my feeble knee I beg this boon, with tears not lightly shed, That this fell fault of my accurfed fons, Accurfed, if the fault be prov'd in them,

SAT. If it be prov'd! you fee, it is apparent.Who found this letter? Tamora, was it you? TAM. Andronicus himself did take it up.

TIT. I did, my lord: yet let me be their bail : For by my father's reverend tomb, I vow, They fhall be ready at your highness' will, To answer their fufpicion with their lives.

SAT. Thou fhalt not bail them; fee, thou follow

me.

Some bring the murder'd body, fome the murderers:

Let them not speak a word, the guilt is plain;
For, by my foul, were there worfe end than death,
That end upon them fhould be executed.

TAM. Andronicus, I will entreat the king;
Fear not thy fons, they fhall do well enough.

TIT. Come, Lucius, come; ftay not to talk with them. [Exeunt feverally.

SCENE V.

The fame.

Enter DEMETRIUS and CHIRON, with LAVINIA, ravished; her Hands cut off, and her Tongue cut

out.

DEM. So, now go tell, an if thy tongue can speak, Who 'twas that cut thy tongue, and ravish'd thee. CHI. Write down thy mind, bewray thy mean

ing fo;

And, if thy stumps will let thee, play the fcribe.

DEM. See, how with figns and tokens fhe can

fcowl.9

CHI. Go home, call for fweet water, wash thy hands.

DEM. She hath no tongue to call, nor hands to wash;

And fo let's leave her to her filent walks.

9

CHI. An 'twere my cafe, I fhould go hang myself.

DEM. If thou hadft ha nds to help thee knit the cord.

[Exeunt DEMETRIUS and CHIRON.

Enter MARCUS.

MAR. Who's this, my niece, that flies

faft?

She can fcowl.] Edition 1600 reads :-she can fcrow!e.

This, I apprehend, is the true reading. ToDD.