University of Virginia Library

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