Original: Why, I have not another tear to shed:
Modern: Look, I have no more tears left to cry:

Original: Besides, this sorrow is an enemy,
Modern: Besides, this grief is attacking me,

Original: And would usurp upon my watery eyes
Modern: And it’s trying to take over my tear-filled eyes

Original: And make them blind with tributary tears:
Modern: And make me blind with streams of tears:

Original: Then which way shall I find Revenge’s cave?
Modern: So how can I find where Revenge lives?

Original: For these two heads do seem to speak to me,
Modern: Because these two severed heads seem to be speaking to me,

Original: And threat me I shall never come to bliss
Modern: And they’re warning me I’ll never find peace

Original: Till all these mischiefs be return’d again
Modern: Until all these evil crimes are paid back

Original: Even in their throats that have committed them.
Modern: Right back at the people who committed them.

Original: Come, let me see what task I have to do.
Modern: Come on, let me figure out what I need to do.

Original: You heavy people, circle me about,
Modern: You sad people, gather around me,

Original: That I may turn me to each one of you,
Modern: So that I can turn to each one of you,

Original: And swear unto my soul to right your wrongs.
Modern: And swear on my soul to avenge the wrongs done to you.

Original: The vow is made. Come, brother, take a head;
Modern: I’ve made my promise. Come, brother, take one of the heads;

Original: And in this hand the other I will bear.
Modern: And I’ll carry the other one in this hand.

Original: Lavinia, thou shalt be employ’d: these arms!
Modern: Lavinia, you’ll help too: use your arms!

Original: Bear thou my hand, sweet wench, between thy teeth.
Modern: Carry my severed hand, dear girl, between your teeth.

Original: As for thee, boy, go get thee from my sight;
Modern: As for you, boy, get out of my sight;

Original: Thou art an exile, and thou must not stay:
Modern: You’re banished, and you can’t stay here:

Original: Hie to the Goths, and raise an army there:
Modern: Hurry to the Goths, and gather an army there:

Original: And, if you love me, as I think you do,
Modern: And, if you love me, which I think you do,

Original: Let’s kiss and part, for we have much to do.
Modern: Let’s kiss goodbye and separate, because we have a lot of work to do.

In Act III, Scene 1 of Titus Andronicus, Titus Andronicus encounters his brother Marcus, who has discovered Titus’s daughter Lavinia in a horrific state—her hands have been cut off and her tongue cut out, preventing her from speaking or writing the names of her attackers. Titus is overwhelmed with grief at the sight of his mutilated daughter, and the scene builds upon the family’s accumulated suffering. A messenger then arrives from the Emperor with a proposition: if Titus, Marcus, or Titus’s son Lucius will cut off one of their own hands and send it to the court, the Emperor will return Titus’s two sons, Quintus and Martius, who are imprisoned and sentenced to death.

Titus immediately volunteers his own hand for the sacrifice, hoping to save his sons’ lives. After Marcus and Lucius each argue they should be the one to lose a hand instead, Titus tricks them by sending them away and having Aaron the Moor cut off his hand while they are gone. However, the messenger soon returns with Titus’s severed hand along with the severed heads of his two sons—revealing that the Emperor’s promise was false and his sons have been executed anyway. This brutal betrayal pushes Titus further toward thoughts of revenge. The scene ends with Titus beginning to laugh at the absurdity of his suffering, while he, Marcus, and Lucius vow to give the dead sons proper burial and plan their vengeance against those who have wronged their family.

Titus Andronicus opens with the Roman general Titus returning victorious from war against the Goths, bringing with him prisoners including Tamora, Queen of the Goths, and her three sons. Despite Tamora’s pleas, Titus sacrifices her eldest son Alarbus in revenge for his own sons killed in battle. The Emperor Saturninus chooses Tamora as his bride, and she secretly plots revenge against Titus. Meanwhile, Titus’s daughter Lavinia is betrothed to Bassianus, the Emperor’s brother, though Saturninus had wanted to marry her himself.

Tamora’s sons Demetrius and Chiron, aided by the villainous Aaron the Moor, murder Bassianus and brutally assault Lavinia, cutting off her hands and tongue to prevent her from identifying them. Aaron tricks two of Titus’s sons, Quintus and Martius, into falling into the pit where Bassianus’s body lies, and they are arrested for his murder. Aaron then deceives Titus into believing that if he cuts off his own hand and sends it to the Emperor, his sons will be spared. Titus complies, but receives back his severed hand along with the heads of his executed sons.

Lavinia manages to reveal her attackers’ identities by writing in the dirt with a stick held in her mouth. Titus feigns madness while plotting revenge and sends weapons with threatening messages to Tamora’s sons. When Tamora gives birth to Aaron’s child, Aaron flees with the baby but is eventually captured. In the final act, Titus kills Tamora’s sons and serves them to her baked in a pie at a banquet. He then kills Lavinia to end her suffering, murders Tamora, and is immediately killed by Saturninus. Titus’s surviving son Lucius kills Saturninus and is proclaimed the new Emperor, ordering Aaron to be buried alive and vowing to restore order to Rome.