University of Virginia Library

ACT V.

SCENE I.

—The Street before Caius's House—lamps at a distance.
Citizens discovered lying asleep in various postures, armed— others watching.
Enter Titus.
Tit.
Almost the morning dawns. What! rouse ye, friends!
Up, drowsy comrades, up! 'Tis time—'tis time!

[They rise.
Enter Caius Gracchus from the house.
Caius.
Ha! is it time, my friends?

Tit.
It is, good Caius.

Caius.
What noise of steps is that?

Tit.
A band of citizens,
Crossing the end of the street.

Caius.
Go on before, my friends; I'll follow you.
[Titus and Citizens go out.
I will but take a last look of the house.
To think of what I leave within that house!
I left her sleeping. Gods! upon the brink
Of what a precipice!—and she must down,—
I cannot save her. As I stole away,
She breathed my name, withal, so plaintively,
It tax'd my manhood not to turn again!
'Tis done!—My thought must look another way!
Tiberius—I am coming! Art thou here,
My brother, waiting for me? Yes, I feel
Thou art! I am ready! Mighty shade, lead on!

[Going.
Enter Licinia, hastily.
Lici.
[Rushing towards him.]
Caius!—Oh! have I found you?

Caius.
My Licinia,
Why do you quit your bed?

Lici.
To seek you, Caius.
To bring you back with me! Come into the house.

Caius.
What fear you, love?

Lici.
I know not what I fear,
But well I know that I have cause to fear!
Your putting off your journey yesterday—
Your going to the Forum, as you did—
Your making it so late ere you came back—
Your looks, I now recall, when you did come back—
Your rising now, at this unwonted hour,—
A thousand thousand things that I could name,
Had I the time to number them, forewarn me
You go not forth for good!

Caius.
Licinia! wife!
Collect yourself, and listen. Be content
That I go forth, and may not be prevented.
Why, what's the matter with you? Can't a man
Get up a little hour or two, before
His wonted time, and take a walk, but he
Must run into a lion's mouth? For shame!
If this were told of Caius' wife! Go in;
Get thee to bed again; and take this kiss
Along with thee.

Lici.
I cannot quit you, Caius,—
I cannot let you go! Spite of myself,
I cling to you as though it were a spell
That bound my arms around you. I am ill, love;
I'm very ill! in sooth, I am so ill,
It is not kind of you to leave me, Caius.
Caius, you would not leave me when I'm ill?
You surely never would! Let me lean on you,
And take me into the house. I thank you, Caius.

Caius.
[Conducting her to the door, and stopping.]
There!

Lici.
Would you quit me at the threshold? Won't you
Come in, too? Do come in!—You will come in!
You can go forth by-and-by.

Caius.
I must go forth
At once, love.

Lici.
Must? In truth you must not—shall not!

Caius.
[Going.]
Farewell!

Lici.
Stop, Caius—stop! [Following him, catching hold of his robe, and discovering a sword under his arm.]
Is it to use
That sword you go abroad? Is it, my husband?
It is!—I see it all! You would go forth
To sell your life for an ungrateful people;
To quit your wife and child for cowards who
Look'd tamely on and saw your brother murder'd,
And now will play the craven game with you.
You trust the faith of men that have no faith
Except when trial is not near. My Caius!
My lord! my husband! father of my child!
Go not, but hear your poor distracted wife!

Caius.
Licinia, now, is it perverse in you
To fancy danger. I have business forth.
Is it a time to walk the streets unarm'd,
When drunken revellers from breaking up
Of banquets are abroad? No more of this!
In—in! my love. Be sure I'll make all haste.
Thy thin robe suits not, Sweet, the morning air.
In, my Licinia, in! Dismiss your fears!

[Trumpet without.
Lici.
What's that? [Trumpet again.]
Again! Speaks not that summoner
To thee?

Caius.
Dear wife—

Lici.
Come into the house—come in!
If I'm thy wife, whose interest in thee
Shall push by mine? Whose claim to hold thy pledge
Calls on thee with a right that cancels mine?
Thou shalt not go!

[Trumpet.
Caius.
Licinia—

Lici.
Nay, thou shalt not!

Caius.
Let go my robe!

Lici.
I will not let it go!
You hurt me, Caius!—Know you, you do hurt me?
For Juno's sake, dear husband! Caius—oh!
You gripe my wrist till I am sick with the pain!—
If any one had told it! Promise one thing,
And I will let thee go.

Caius.
What is it?

Lici.
Kill me!

Caius.
[Catching her to his breast.]
Licinia!

Lici.
[Nearly fainting in his arms.]
Ah!

Caius.
Gods! I have killed thee!

Lici.
No!
Or, if you have, 'tis with a sudden draught
Of too sweet life! Bless thee, my Caius—bless thee!
You will not go—you'll stay with me—you'll come with me—
You'll live for me! Come in! come in! come in!

Enter Licinius.
Lic.
What keeps you, Caius?

Caius.
[Apart to him.]
Take her from about
My neck.

Lici.
I hear you, Caius! There! Myself
Will do that kindness for thee. Thou art free
To go. Stay, husband! Give me from about
Thy neck that collar which thou wear'st, to keep it
As thy last gift.

Caius.
Here, my Licinia.

Lici.
What!
Nothing about me I can give thee in
Exchange for't? Oh! I have a token yet,
That hath the virtue of an amulet
To him that values it. I have been told,
Steel, at its sight, hath all as harmless turn'd
As point of down, that cannot stand against
The tender breath. Swear only, you will stay
Until I fetch it.

[She goes out hurriedly.
Caius.
Go!—I swear it, love!

Lic.
Now Caius,
Now is your time! wait not till she returns.

Caius.
I have sworn to her.

Lic.
And if you swore to her
To pluck an eye out, would you think it kinder
To do't than leave't undone? Away, at once!
The cause—the cause!

Re-enter Licinia, hastily, with her Child.
Lici.
Thy boy, my Caius!

Caius.
Ha!

Lici.
Nay, if thou look'st so cold upon thy child,
I'm satisfied no hope remains for me!

Caius.
Now, was this kind?

Lici.
I do not know that word.
It stands for nothing—worse! 'tis found the thing
It says it is not! Husbands are call'd kind,
That break the foolish hearts which treasure them;
And fathers, who make orphans of their children!
And brothers, who are worse than bloodless strangers!
And friends, whose actions prove them deadliest foes!
More kind are foes that don't pretend they're kind!

[Kneels.
Lic.
Come, Caius! Caius, come!

Caius.
Why dost thou kneel?

Lici.
To beg the gods for mercy on my child,
Since thou hast none for him, nor yet for me!

[Trumpets without.
Caius.
Tear me away! More blessings light upon you
Than I feel pangs, who curse the things I'd bless!

[Caius Gracchus and Licinius go out—alarums continue.
Enter Cornelia from the house, followed by Lucilla and Lucius.
Cor.
How's this? Licinia!

Lici.
Take the child from me,
Until I lay me down and die.

Cor.
And die!
Rise, rise, my daughter!

Lici.
Rather thou fall down
Along with me, and pray the gods they send
A thunderbolt to strike us both together!
For both already they have smitten so,
To spare is mocking mercy!

Cor.
Rise!—Nay rise.
[Lifts Licinia up.
We may not tempt the gods! Come into the house,
And show thy tears to it—'twon't tell upon thee.
This is the common street, and thou but lend'st
The essence of thy grief to vilest tongues,
Who will but jest at it. Come in! Come in!

Lici.
You counsel me, and do not know the cause
Whereon you counsel me.

Cor.
My son is dead?

Lici.
No, no! Yet—

Cor.
Yet! Why wouldst thou say he lives,
And but that little word 'twixt him and death?
He is the same as dead;—then think him dead,
As I do!

Lici.
And art thou a mother?

Cor.
Yes;
The mother of the virtue of my child!
The fashion of his body nature fix'd;—
I had no choice in't—was not ask'd how high
The stature on't should grow—gave not my voice
As to the shape of limb or lineament,
Nor pick'd the shade and texture of the skin;—
But, of his worth, the modelling was mine:
Say, that is dead, and he and I are dead!

Lici.
I cannot answer this. I can but marvel,
The weight which bows me down should seem so light
To you.

[Alarums without.
Enter Livia, hurriedly.
Livia.
Cornelia!

Cor.
What's to fear, Livia.

Livia.
Those dreadful noises! Listen—you will hear
The rush of feet on every side. I've pass'd
Such groups of angry-looking men—some pale—
Some flush'd—some mute, and others muttering
To one another—hurrying all one way,
As all on one momentous object bent.
I came to thee, that we might seek some sanctuary;
For houses are not safe in times like these.

Cor.
The Temple of Diana is at hand;
We shall go thither. See, my Livia,
How lost Licinia is! Take hold of her,
And lead the way. Nobly, ye gods! oh, nobly!

[They go out.

SCENE II.

—Mount Aventine.
Enter groups of armed Citizens, Caius Gracchus, Fulvius Flaccus, and Licinius.
Caius.
You see—you see! Their very trumpets shake
Your ranks. How will they stand the blows of those
Whose only breath can stagger?

Lic.
What! No truce?

Fla.
Twice have we offer'd terms of peace, which they
Have twice refused, and into prison cast
Our herald, my own son; and not content
With this, they have proclaim'd reward to him
Who brings your brother's head, its weight in gold!

Caius.
Then shall they have it at a dearer price—
The safety of my friends!

Enter Pomponius.
Pom.
Why stand you here?
Advance! A rumour spreads among our ranks,
That pardon is proclaim'd to those who quit us;
And many friends fall off.

Caius.
It shall be so!
Call back the runaways, and let them save
The honour of their manhood! Husbands! drive out
Your sad foreboding thoughts; your wives shall hear
Your feet to-night upon the threshold. Sons!
Check not your pious tears, but let them flow
For joy; your mothers have not lost their props!
Cowards! relax not your strain'd sinews yet,
But live redoubted! Brave hearts! rein your courage,
To give it course upon a fairer field:
Caius alone shall bleed!

Vet.
What mean you, Caius?

Caius.
To yield myself into the consul's hands,
And save these veins their stores!

Vet.
No, by the gods,
You shall not do it!

Caius.
Not! Why should I live
At such a price as half these lives, which I
Can, singly dying, spare? I cannot live
To give my country freedom: let me die
To save her blood!

Enter Vettius.
Lic.
What are your swords about?
Sheathe them or use them.

Caius.
Friends, draw off our force;
I'll meet them singly!

Lic.
Never!
We'll live or die together! Or, take your course,—
Yield yourself to the tyrant, if you will!
My sword is out, and shall not quit my grasp,
So long as it can strike a link away
From the vile chains that gall us! Leave us, Caius,—
Desert us—fly us—carry with thee half
Our strength! With the remaining half we'll struggle,
Nor vilely live the thralls of tyranny!

Caius.
Oh, Rome, my country!—Oh, my mother Rome!
Is it to shed thy blood I use my sword?
To fill thy matrons' and thy daughters' eyes
With tears, and drain the spirits of thy sons?
Should I not rather turn it 'gainst myself,
And, by the timely sacrifice of one,
Preserve the many? They will not let me do it;
They take from me the rule of mine own acts,
And make me Freedom's slave! What! is it so?
Come, then, the only virtue that is left me,—
The fatal virtue of necessity.
Upon them!
Give them stout hearts, ye gods! to enable them
To stand the flashing of their tyrants' swords!
Deaf to the din of battle let them be!
Senseless to wounds, and without eyes for blood;
That, for this once, they may belie themselves;
Make tyranny to cower, and, from her yoke,
Lift prostrate Liberty, to fall no more.

[They go out.

SCENE III.

—The Interior of the Temple of Diana—the Statue of the Goddess—a large Portal.
Licinia, kneeling by the Statue—Cornelia, Livia, Lucilla (with Gracchus's Child), Lucius, and numerous Females, who had fled for safety to the Temple, discovered.
Cor.
[To Lucius.]
Go, boy; look out, and tell me what thou see'st.
If all is quiet, run to the end of the street,
But venture not beyond—and listen if
Thou hear'st the sound of tumult. Use thy senses,
And hurry back; and, mind, keep bounds.

[Lucius goes out.
Livia.
[To one of the Females.]
Observe
Cornelia! Now what kind of soul is hers
That in this hour of trembling can be calm,
As nought but common things were passing round her?
But note her!

Cor.
Livia, you did say just now,
Your brother told you there had come a herald
Proposing terms of peace.

Livia.
He did; but thought
They would not be accepted.

Cor.
He thought right;
No more they will. Opimius hath the gust
Too strong for blood, when he hath snuff'd it, not
To taste. He'll lap it: matters not whose veins
'Twill cost the emptying of, so they belong
To honest men. Then will he offer sacrifice!
Oh, man! man! man!—most sacrilegious and
Profane!—that, with thy lips, dost laud the gods,
Whose ordinance thou tearest with thy hands!
The path to whom thou hast so thick beset
With peril, he who seeks may find it out
By many a grave which marks the spot, whereon
The truly noble fell! Why clasp you me,
My Livia?

Livia.
Do you hear the clash of swords?

Cor.
Indeed I do not. 'Tis your fancy, Livia.

Livia.
Nay, 'tis your talking of men's graves.

Cor.
Men's graves
Are but men's beds; whereon we lay them, not
For one hard day of toil to follow on
Another! Thankless labour, Livia—sweat,
To him expends it profitless—that goes
To nourish others, and they take, as though
The using were a boon! How fares it with
Licinia?

Livia.
All abstracted, as she were
Alive to naught without her. I can draw
No word nor sign from her. There kneels she to
The statue of the goddess, mute as silence,
And in so fix'd a stillness, you might ask,
Which is the marble?

A Soldier.
[Without.]
Way, there! Let me in!

Cor.
Open the gates, and let him in.

Livia.
Who is it?

Cor.
One is wounded from the fray. 'Tis going on!
I fear that Lucius has gone nearer to it
Than I commanded.

Livia.
And thou hast a son
Is in it.

Cor.
Livia! Livia! I'm a mother
Although I do not wail to let you know it!
Re-enter Lucius.
Now, sir, where have you been? Your face is flush'd;
Finely you've mark'd my orders! Tell me what
You've seen and heard?

Luc.
The battle is begun.

Cor.
I know it already. Can you tell which side
Is like to win?

Luc.
The citizens, they say,
Give ground.

Livia.
They do!

Cor.
I could have told it you,
Without the aid of augury. How learn'd
You this?

Luc.
From some that carried to his house
The young Valerius, wounded mortally.

Cor.
That's right; you speak not out of breath, as though
The house were on fire. Valerius, say you?

Luc.
Yes.
I scarcely knew him as they bore him by,
His face so gash'd.

Livia.
Oh!

Cor.
Hear you, sir! Now know
Yourself a man! You have been nearer to
The fray than you like to tell. You're a fine boy!
What rush of feet is that? Go see.

[Lucius goes out and returns.
Luc.
The citizens
Fly every way; and from the windows and
The houses' top, the women look and wring
Their hands, and wail, and clamour. Listen! you
Will hear them.

Cor.
I can hear them without ears.

Caius Gracchus.
[Without.]
Shut to the gates!

[Lucius goes out.
Lici.
[Starting up.]
'Tis Caius!

Caius.
[Without.]
Thankless hearts!
Not one presents himself to aid my sword,
Or lend a charger to assist my flight;
But as I were a racer in the games,
They cry “Make haste!” and shout as I pass by!
Enter Caius Gracchus.
May they remain the abject things they are,
Begging their daily pittance from the hands
Of tyrant lords that spurn them! May they crawl
Ever in bondage and in misery,
And never know the blesséd rights of freemen!
Here will I perish!

Lici.
[Rushing to him.]
Caius!

Caius.
My Licinia!
My mother, too!—My child, too!

Enter Vettius.
Vet.
Caius here!
Alas! my friend, you are lost! Pomponius and
Licinius, striving to keep back the consul,
And give you time for flight, have fallen beneath
His hirelings' blows. They have the scent of you:
Another minute, they're upon you!

Cor.
Caius, embrace me!
The gods do bare no sword 'gainst virtue!

Caius.
No!
My mother! My Licinia! give me my child.
[Aside to Cornelia.]
Mother, be you a parent to my wife,
A tutor to my boy. The lessons you
Did make me con, teach him—none else; he cannot
Learn better. [Places the child in Cornelia's arms.]
My Licinia, pardon me! [Embraces her.]


Cor.
She scarcely heeds thee! Son, what feel you for
Beneath your cloak?

Caius.
Nothing, will hurt me, mother;
But only balk our tyrants. Rome! O Rome!

[A dagger drops from beneath Caius's robe—he falls dead—Licinia, shrieking, throws herself on the body —Cornelia, with difficulty, supports herself—the Consul and his troops are heard approaching—she makes a violent effort to recover her self-possession. Enter Opimius and his party, with Guards, Lictors, &c. Cornelia holds up the child in one hand, and with the other points to the body of Caius—Opimius and the rest stand fixed in amazement—Flourish, and the curtain falls.