The lamentable tragedy of Titus Andronicus. Edited by H. Bellyse ...

sc.i.] TITUS ANDRONICUS 31Dem. Not I, till I have sheath'dMy rapier in his bosom, and withalThrust those reproachful speeches down his throat 55That he hath breath'd in my dishonour here.Chi. For that I am prepar'd and full resolv'd,Foul-spoken coward, that thunder'st with thy tongue,And with thy weapon nothing dar'st perform !Aar. Away, I say ! 60Now, by the gods that war-like Goths adore,This petty brabble will undo us all.Why, lords, and think you not how dangerousIt is to jet upon a prince's right ?What! is Lavinia then become so loose, 65Or Bassianus so degenerate,That for her love such quarrels may be broach'dWithout controlment, justice, or revenge?Young lords, beware ! an should the empress knowThis discord's ground, the music would not please. 70Chi. I care not, I, knew she and all the world :I love Lavinia more than all the world.Dem. Youngling, learn thou to make some meaner choice :Lavinia isthine elder brother's hope.53. Not 7] It seems likely, as War- 62. brabble] wrangle, squabble. Cf.burton suggests, that this speech should Merry Wives, I. i. 56, and Henry V.be given to Chiron and the next to IV. viii. 69, "pribbles and prabbles,Demetrius. Aaron's speech being in- being the Welsh dialect for "bribblesterjected, it is natural that Chiron and brabbles." Both these wordsshould reply to his brother's taunt, seem formed by onomatopcea, though"Ay, boy, grow ye so brave?" they may be connected with "babble"58. thunder'st} Steevens, who seems (Babel), "prattle," "brattle," andto think no Elizabethan can have words of that class. Milton, Churcha phrase or idea not borrowed from Dis."ii., 1851, 54> a surplice-Latin or Greek, quotes from Virgil's brabble."&ncid) xi. 383. One would like to 64. jet] to encroach on. Some ediknowwhence comes"the phrase thun- tors gloss "jut," which is quite under'stin the index," Hamlet^ in. iv. 52! necessary. Richard III. 11. iv. 51.