'Hell is full of such discord
That there may be no loveday.'
I. i. 493. To hunt the panther. The same type of imagination which infested the Roman forest with panthers introduced the lioness to the forest of Arden, and brought the bear to the seacoast of Bohemia and to the woods of Crete.
II. i. 14. mount her pitch. Pitch = point. A technical expression in falconry denoting the height to which a falcon soars before attacking the prey. Cf. Romeo's remarks, Romeo and Juliet, I. iv. 19 ff.
'I am too sore enpierced with his shaft,
To soar with his light feathers; and so bound,
I cannot bound a pitch above dull woe.'
Aaron means that he will soar to whatever height Tamora attains.
II. i. 17. Prometheus tied to Caucasus. No other play of Shakespeare's is so full of allusions to classical mythology, or contains so many Latin expressions and Latinized forms as Titus Andronicus.
II. i. 22. Semiramis. This legendary queen of Assyria was famous alike for her cruelty and her voluptuousness.
II. i. 37. Clubs, clubs! A call for men armed with clubs to put down a disturbance. It was a familiar cry in the streets of Elizabethan London. Originally the rallying cry of the apprentices, it became later the regular call for the policemen.
II. i. 41. lath. The stage sword or dagger used by the Vice in the old moralities was made of a lath, and the latter term came quite naturally to be used for an ineffective weapon. Cf. Twelfth Night, IV. ii. 138 ff.
II. i. 53. Not I. Warburton suggested that this speech be given to Chiron, and the following to De-
