titus, messala.
titus.
She must not go:
On peril of my life I’ll keep her here.
messala.
You would not—
titus.
No: I’ll not betray my country:
Rome may divide her from me, but she never
Can disunite our fate; I live, and breathe
For Tullia only, and for her will die.
Messala, haste, have pity on my woes,
Gather our troops, assemble all our friends.
Spite of the senate I will stop her; say
She must remain a hostage here at Rome;
I’ll do it, Messala.
messala.
To what desperate means
Doth passion urge you? What will it avail
To make this fond avowal of your love?
titus.
Go to the senate, and appeal to them,
Try if thou canst not soften the proud hearts
Of these imperious kings. Messala, tell them
The interest of Brutus, of the state—
Alas! I rave, ’tis idle, and all in vain.
messala.
I see you’re hurt, my lord, and I will serve you.
I go—
titus.
I’ll see her: speak to her, Messala,
She passes by this way, and I will take
My last farewell of her.
messala.
You shall.
titus.
’Tis she
Now I am lost indeed.
SCENE III.
titus, messala, tullia, algina.
algina.
Madam, they wait.
tullia.
Pity my hard, my cruel fate, Algina;
This base ungrateful man still wounds my heart;
And Brutus, like a vengeful god, appears
To torture us: love, fear and grief, at once
Distract my soul: let us begone.
titus.
O no!
Stay, Tullia, deign at least—
tullia.
Barbarian, hence!
Thinkest thou with soothing words—
titus.
Alas! my Tullia,
I only know in this disastrous hour
What duty bids me do, not what I would:
Reason no longer holds her empire here,
For thou hast torn her from me, and usurpest
The power supreme o’er this distracted mind:
Reign, tyrant, stretch thy cruel power; command
Thy vassal; bid thy Titus rush on guilt;
Dictate his crimes, and make him wretched; No;
Sooner than Titus shall betray his country,
Give up his friends, his fellow citizens,
Those whom his valor saved to fire and slaughter,
Sooner than leave his father to the sword
Of Tarquin, know, proud woman—
tullia.
Shield me, heaven!
Thou pleadest the cause of nature, and her voice
Is dear to me as to thyself: thou, Titus,
Taughtest me long since to tremble for a father;
Brutus is mine; our blood united flows:
Canst thou require a fairer pledge than love
And truth have given thee: if I stay with thee,
I am his daughter, and his hostage here.
Canst thou yet doubt? thinkest thou in secret Brutus
Would not rejoice to see thee on a throne?
He hath not placed indeed a diadem
On his own brows, but is he not a king
Beneath another name? and one year’s reign
Perhaps may bring—but these are fruitless reasons.
If thou no longer lovest me—one word more,
Farewell: I leave, and I adore thee, Titus:
Thou weepest, thou tremblest; yet a little time
Is left for thee. Speak, tell me, cruel man,
What more canst thou desire?
titus.
Thy hatred; that
Alone remains to make me truly wretched.
tullia.
It is too much to bear thy causeless plaints;
To hear thee talk of fancied injuries,
With idle dreams of visionary ties:
Take back thy love, take back thy faithless vows,
Worse than thy base refusal: I despise them.
Think not I mean to search in Italy
The fatal grandeur which I sacrificed
To Titus’ love, and in another’s arms
Lament the weakness which I felt for thee;
My fate’s determined: learn, proud Roman, thou
Whose savage virtue rises but to oppress
A helpless woman, coward, when I ask
Thy aid, and only valiant to destroy me,
Fickle and wavering in thy faith, of me
Learn to fulfill thy vows; thou shalt behold
A Woman, in thy eyes however contemned,
However despised, unshaken in her purpose,
And by her firmness see how much she loved thee.
Titus, beneath these walls, the reverend seat
Of my great ancestors, which thou defendest
Against their rightful lord; this fatal spot
Where thou hast dared to insult and to betray me;
Where first thy faithless vows deceived me; there,
Even there, by all the gods who store up vengeance
For perjured men, I swear to thee, O Titus,
This arm, more just than thine, and more resolved,
Shall punish soon my fond credulity,
And wash out all my injuries in my blood:
I go—
titus.
No, Tullia, hear and then condemn me;