University of Virginia Library

ACT III.

SCENE I.

Rome.
The Capitol. Equestrian Statue of Tarquinius Superbus. Night. Thunder and Lightning.
Enter Brutus.
Br.
(alone)
Slumber forsakes me and I court the horrors
Which night and tempest swell on every side.
Launch forth thy thunders, capitolian Jove!
Put fire into the languid souls of men,
Let loose thy ministers of wrath amongst them
And crush the vile oppressor! Strike him down
Ye lightnings! Lay his trophies in the dust!
(Storm encreases)
Ha! this is well!—flash, ye blue forked fires!
Loud-bursting thunders, roar! and tremble earth!
A violent crash of thunder, and the statue of Tarquin, struck by a flash, is shatter'd to pieces.
What! fallen at last, proud idol! struck to earth!
I thank you, gods! I thank you! When you point
Your shafts at human pride, it is not chance,
'Tis wisdom levels the commission'd blow.
But I—a thing of no account—a slave—
I to your forked lightnings bare my bosom
In vain—for what's a slave a dastard slave?
A fool, a Brutus? (Storm encreases)
Mark! the storm rides on!
The scolding winds drive through the clattering rain,
And loudly screams the haggard witch of night.
Strange hopes possess my soul. My thoughts grow wild,
Engender with the scene and pant for action.
With your leave, majesty, I'll sit beside you.
(Sits on a fragment of the statue.)
Oh, for a cause! A cause, ye mighty gods!

Enter Valerius, followed by a Messenger.
Val.
What! Collatinus sent for, didst thou say?

Mes.
Aye, Collatinus, thou, and all her kinsmen,
To come upon the instant to Collatia,
She will take no denial. Time is precious
And I must hasten forth to bring her husband.
[Exit Messenger.

Br.
(apart)
Ha! Collatinus and Lucretia's kinsmen!
There's something dark in this—Valerius too—
Well met—Now will I put him to the test—
Valerius—Hoa!

Val.
Who calls me?

Br.
Brutus.

Val.
Go,
Get thee to bed!

[Valerius is departing.
Br.
Valerius!

Val.
Peace, I say,
Thou foolish thing! Why dost thou call so loud?

Br.
Because I will be heard. The time may come
When thou shalt want a fool.

Val.
Pr'ythee, begone!
I have no time to hear thy prattle now.

Br.
By Hercules, but you must hear.

[Seizing his arm
Val.
You'll anger me.

Br.
Waste not your noble anger on a fool.
'Twere a brave passion in a better cause.

Val.
Thy folly's cause enough.

Br.
Rail not at folly—
There's but one wise,
And him the gods have kill'd.

Val.
Kill'd! Whom?

Br.
Behold!
Oh, sight of pity!—Majesty in ruins!
Down on your knees—down to your kingly idol!

Val.
Let slaves and sycophants do that; not I.

Br.
Wilt thou not kneel?

Val,
Begone; you trouble me.
Valerius kneels not to the living Tarquin.

Br.
Indeed!—Belike you wish him laid as low.

Val,
What if I do?

Br.
Jove tells thee what to do—
Strike!—Oh! the difference 'twixt Jove's wrath and thine!
He, at the crowned tyrant aims his shaft,
Thou, mighty man, would'st frown a fool to silence
And spurn poor Brutus from thee

Val.
What is this?
Let me look nearer at thee. Is thy mind,
That long lost jewel, found,—and Lucius Junius,
Dear to my heart, restor'd? or art thou Brutus,
The scoff and jest of Rome, and this a fit
Of intermit tent reason?

Br.
I am Brutus.
Folly, be thou my goddess! I am Brutus,
If thou wilt use me so!—If not, farewell.
Why dost thou pause? look on me! I have limbs,
Muscles and sinews, shoulders strong to bear,
And hands not slow to strike. What more than Brutus
Could Lucius Junius do?

Val.
A cause like ours
Asks both the strength of Brutus and the wisdom
Of Lucius Junius.

Br.
No more. We're interrupted.

Val.
Farewell. Hereafter we'll discourse
And may the gods confirm the hope you've waken'd.
[Exit Valerius.

Br.
(alone)
My soul expands! my spirit swells within me
As if the glorious moment were at hand!
Sure this is Sextus—why has he left the camp?
Alone—and muffled!—
Enter Sextus wrapped in a mantle.
Welcome, gentle prince!

Sex.
Ha! Brutus here!—Unhous'd amid the storm?

Br.
Whence com'st thou, prince? from battle? from the camp?

Sex.
Not from the camp, good Brutus—from Collatia—
The camp of Venus,—not of Mars, good Brutus.

Br.
Ha!

Sex.
Why dost thou start?—thy kinswoman, Lucretia—

Br.
(eagerly)
Well—what of her? speak!

Sex.
Aye, I will speak,—
And I'll speak that shall fill thee with more wonder,
Than all the lying oracle declar'd.

Br.
Nay, prince, not so,—you cannot do a deed
To make me wonder.

Sex.
Indeed! Dost think it?—
Then let me tell thee, Brutus,—wild with passion
For this fam'd matron,—tho' we met but once,—
Last night I stole in secret from the camp
Where, in security, I left her husband.
She was alone. I said affairs of consequence
Had brought me to Collatia. She receiv'd me
As the king's son, and as her husband's friend—

Br.
(apart)
Patience, oh heart—a moment longer, patience!

Sex.
When midnight came, I crept into her chamber—

Br.
(apart)
Inhuman monster!

Sex.
Alarm'd and frantic
She shriek'd out “Collatinus! Husband! Help!”
A slave rush'd in—I sprung upon the caitiff,
And drove my dagger through his clamourous throat;
Then, turning to Lucretia, now half dead
With terror, swore, by all the gods at once
If she resisted, to the heart I'd stab her,
Yoke her fair body to the dying slave
And fix pollution to her name for ever

Br.
And—and—the matron?—

Sex.
Was mine!

Brutus
(with a burst of frenzy)
The furies curse you then!—Lash you with snakes!
When forth you walk may the red, flaming, sun
Strike you with livid plagues!—
Vipers that die not slowly knaw your heart!
May earth be to you but one wilderness!
May mankind shun you—may you hate yourself—
For death pray hourly, yet be in tortures
Millions of years expiring!

Sex.
Amazement! What can mean this sudden frenzy?

Br.
What? Violation! Do we dwell in dens
In cavern'd rocks.—or amongst men in Rome?
[whunder and lightning become very violent.
Hear the loud curse of heaven! 'Tis not for nothing
The thunderer keeps this coil above your head!
[Points to the fragments of the statue.
Look on that ruin! See your father's statue
Unhors'd and headless! Tremble at the omen!

Sex.
This is not madness. Ha!—my dagger lost!—
Wretch!—thou shalt not escape me!—Ho! a guard!—
The rack shall punish thee!—A guard, I say!
[Exit Sextus.

Br.
(alone)
The blow is struck!—The anxious messages
To Collatinus and his friends explain'd,
And now, Rome's liberty or loss is certain!
I'll hasten to Collatia—join my kinsmen—
To the moon folly!—Vengeance, I embrace thee!
[Exit Brutus

SCENE II.

An Apartment in the house of Collatinus. Collatinus enters wildly, a bloody dagger in his hand, followed by Valerius and Lucretius.
Col.
She's dead. Lucretia's dead! I pluck'd this steel
From my Lucretia's heart! This is her blood!
Howl, howl, ye men of Rome. Look! there she lies
That was your wonder.
Ye mighty gods, where are your thunders now?
Ye men and warriors, have you human hearts?
But who shall dare to mourn her loss like me!

Enter Brutus.
Br.
I dare,—and so dare every honest Roman.

Luc.
Whence comes this mad intrusion! hence, begone!

Br.
The noble spirit fled! How died Lucretia?

Val.
By her own hand she died!

Br.
Heroic matron!
Now, now the hour is come! By this one blow
Her name's immortal and her country sav'd!
Hail! dawn of glory! (snatching the dagger)
Hail, thou sacred weapon!
Virtue's deliverer, hail! This fatal steel
Empurpled with the purest blood on earth,
Shall cut your chains of slavery asunder!
Hear, Romans, hear! did not the Sybil tell you
A fool should set Rome free? I am that fool;
Brutus bids Rome be free!

Val.
What can this mean?

Br.
It means that Lucius Junius has thrown off
The mask of madness and his soul rides forth
On the destroying whirlwind, to avenge
The wrongs of that bright excellence and Rome!

Luc.
Can this be Lucius Junius?

Val.
Ha! The voice
Of inspiration speaks!

Col.
Oh, glorious Brutus,
Let me in tears adore the bounteous gods
Who have restor'd thee to redress my woes:
And in my woes, my country.

Br.
No more of this.
Stand not in wonder. Every instant now
Is precious to your cause. Rise! Snatch your arms!
(Brutus kneels)
Hear me, great Jove! and thou, paternal Mars,
And spotless Vesta! To the death I swear
My burning vengeance shall pursue these Tarquins!
Ne'er shall my limbs know rest till they are swept
From off the earth, which groans beneath their infamy!
This, from the bottom of my soul I swear!
(He rises)
Valerius, Collatine, Lucretius,—all—
Here, I adjure ye by this fatal dagger,
All stain'd and reeking with her sacred blood,
Be partners in my oath, revenge her fall!

All.
We swear!

Br.
Well have ye said: and, oh! methinks I see
The hovering spirit of the murder'd matron,
Look down and bow her airy head to bless you!
Summon your slaves, and bear the body hence
High in the view, through all the streets of Rome,
Up to the Forum!—On! The least delay,
May draw down ruin and defeat our glory!
On, Romans, on! The fool shall set you free!

[Exeunt omnes.

SCENE III.

The Palace of Tullia.
Enter Flavius Corunna, in haste, meeting Horatius
Cor.
My lord, my lord! Quick, tell me, where's the queen?

Hor.
Whence this alarm? what would'st thou?

Cor.
Rebellion rages—

Hor.
Rebellion!

Cor.
Lucretia,
The wife of Collatinus, is no more.
The furious multitude have borne her body
With shouts of vengeance through the streets of Rome,
And “Sextus Tarquin,” is the general cry.

Hor.
Where are thy troops? why dost thou dally here,
When thou should'st pay their insolence with death.

Cor.
The soldiers join the throng—the gates are clos'd,
And the mad crowd exclaim, “We banish Tarquin.”
Brutus all wild with vengeance leads them on.

Hor.
What miracle is this? How sayst thou, Brutus?

Cor.
Aye, the fool Brutus. Now before the rostrum
The body of Lecretia is expos'd,
And Brutus there harrangues assembled Rome.
He waves aloft
The bloody dagger; all the people hear him
With wildest admiration and applause;
He speaks as if he held the souls of men
In his own hand, and moulded them at pleasure.
They look on him as they would view a god,
Who, from a darkness which invested him,
Springs forth, and knitting his stern brow in frowns,
Proclaims the vengeful will of angry Jove.

Hor.
Fly thro' the city; gather all the force
You can assemble, and straight hasten hither.
I'll to the Queen—Lose not a moment. Hence!
tremble for Rome's safety!—haste—begone!

[Exeunt at opposite sides.

SCENE IV.

The Forum.
The populace fill the stage. Brutus is discovered upon the Forum. The dead body of Lucretia is on a bier beneath. Collatinus Lucretius and the Female Attendants of Lucretia, stand around her corpse. Valerius and others are seen.
Br.
Thus, thus, my friends, fast as our breaking hearts
Permitted utterance, we have told our story:
And now, to say one word of the imposture,—
The mask necessity has made me wear.
When the ferocious malice of your king,—
King do I call him?—When the monster, Tarquin.
Slew, as you most of you may well remember,
My father Marcus and my elder brother,
Envying at once their virtues and their wealth,
How could I hope a shelter from his power,
But in the false face I have worn so long?

1st. Rom.
Most wonderful!

2d. Rom.
Silence! he speaks again.

Br.
Would you know why I summon'd you together?
Ask ye what brings me here? Behold this dagger,
Clotted with gore! Behold that frozen corse!
See where the lost Lucretia sleeps in death!
She was the mark and model of the time,
The mould in which each female face was form'd,
The very shrine and sacristy of virtue!
Fairer than ever was a form created
By youthful fancy when the blood strays wild
And never resting thought is all on fire!
The worthiest of the worthy! Not the nymph
Who met old Numa in his hallow'd walks
And whisper'd in his ear her strains divine
Can I conceive beyond her;—the young choir
Of vestal virgins bent to her. 'Tis wonderful
Amid the darnel, hemlock, and base weeds
Which now spring rise from the luxurious compost
Spread o'er the realm, how this sweet lily rose,—
How from the shade of those ill neighbouring plants
Her father shelter'd her, that not a leaf
Was blighted, but array'd in purest grace,
She bloom'd unsullied beauty. Such perfections
Might have call'd back the torpid breast of age
To long forgotten rapture; such a mind
Might have abash'd the boldest libertine,
And turn'd desire to reverential love
And holiest affection! Oh, my countrymen!
You all can witness when that she went forth
It was a holiday in Rome; old age
Forgot its crutch, labour its task, all ran,
And mothers turning to their daughters, cried,
“There, there's Lucretia!” Now, look ye where she lies!
That beauteous flower, that innocent sweet rose
Torn up by ruthless violence—gone! gone!

All.
Sextus shall die!

Br.
But then—the king—his father—

1st R.
What shall be done with him?

2d R.
Speak Brutus!

3d R.
Tell us!

Br.
Say, would ye seek instruction? would ye ask
What ye should do? Ask ye yon conscious walls
Which saw his poison'd brother, saw the incest
Committed there, and they will cry, Revenge!
Ask yon deserted street, where Tullia drove
O'er her dead father's corse, 'twill cry, Revenge!
Ask yonder senate house, whose stones are purple
With human blood, and it will cry, Revenge!
Go to the tomb where lies his murder'd wife,
And the poor queen, who lov'd him as her son,
Their unappeased ghosts will shriek, Revenge!
The temples of the gods, the all viewing heavens,
The gods themselves, shall justify the cry
And swell the general sound, Revenge, Revenge!

All.
Revenge! Revenge!

Br.
And we will be reveng'd, my countrymen!
Brutus shall lead you on; Brutus, a name
Which will, when you're reveng'd, be dearer to him
Than all the noblest titles earth can boast.

1st R.
Live, Brutus!

2d R.
Valiant Brutus!

3d R.
Down with Tarquin!

2d R.
We'll have no Tarquins!

1st R.
We will have a Brutus!

3d R.
Let's to the capitol, and shout for Brutus.

Br.
I, your king!
Brutus your king!—No, fellow-citizens!
If mad ambition in this guilty frame
Had strung one kingly fibre,—yea, but one—
By all the gods, this dagger which I hold
Should rip it out, though it entwin'd my heart.

Val.
Then I am with thee, noble, noble Brutus!
Brutus, the new restor'd! Brutus, by Sybil,
By Pythian prophetess foretold, shall lead us!

Br.
Now take the body up. Bear it before us
To Tarquin's palace; there we'll light our torches,
And, in the blazing conflagration, rear
A pile for these chaste relics, that shall send
Her soul amongst the stars. On! Brutus leads you!

[Exeunt; the mob shouting.