Original: My lovely Aaron, wherefore look’st thou sad,
Modern: My darling Aaron, why do you look so sad,

Original: When every thing doth make a gleeful boast?
Modern: When everything around us seems so joyful and proud?

Original: The birds chant melody on every bush,
Modern: The birds are singing beautifully on every branch,

Original: The snake lies rolled in the cheerful sun,
Modern: The snake lies curled up happily in the warm sunlight,

Original: The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind
Modern: The green leaves tremble in the refreshing breeze

Original: And make a chequer’d shadow on the ground:
Modern: And create a pattern of light and shadow on the ground:

Original: Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,
Modern: Under their pleasant shade, Aaron, let’s sit down,

Original: And, whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds,
Modern: And while the chattering echo makes fun of the hunting dogs,

Original: Replying shrilly to the well-tuned horns,
Modern: Answering with sharp sounds to the musical hunting horns,

Original: As if a double hunt were heard at once,
Modern: As if we could hear two hunts happening at the same time,

Original: Let us sit down and mark their yelping noise;
Modern: Let’s sit down and listen to their barking sounds;

Original: And, after conflict such as was supposed
Modern: And after the kind of passionate encounter that people say

Original: The wandering prince and Dido once enjoy’d,
Modern: The traveling prince Aeneas and Queen Dido once shared,

Original: When with a happy storm they were surprised
Modern: When they were caught by a fortunate storm

Original: And curtain’d with a counsel-keeping cave,
Modern: And sheltered by a cave that kept their secrets,

Original: We may, each wreathed in the other’s arms,
Modern: We can, wrapped in each other’s arms,

Original: Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber;
Modern: After our lovemaking is finished, enjoy a perfect sleep;

Original: Whiles hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds
Modern: While the hunting dogs and horns and sweetly singing birds

Original: Be unto us as is a nurse’s song
Modern: Will be like a nursemaid’s song to us

Original: Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep.
Modern: A lullaby to put her baby to sleep.

In Act II, Scene 3 of “Titus Andronicus,” Aaron the Moor leads Chiron and Demetrius, the sons of Tamora, to a secluded pit in the forest where they plan to assault Lavinia. Aaron has orchestrated this location as part of a larger scheme, burying a bag of gold nearby and preparing the scene for multiple crimes. When Bassianus and Lavinia arrive, Bassianus confronts Tamora about her secret meeting with Aaron, calling her conduct shameful. Tamora summons her sons, who emerge and immediately kill Bassianus, throwing his body into the pit that Aaron had prepared.

After murdering Bassianus, Chiron and Demetrius drag Lavinia away to carry out their planned assault, despite her desperate pleas for mercy and death rather than dishonor. Aaron then brings Quintus and Martius, two of Titus’s sons, to the scene under the pretense of hunting. The brothers discover Bassianus’s body in the pit, and Martius falls into it while trying to help his brother climb out. Aaron departs to fetch the Emperor Saturninus, returning with him and a guard to discover the scene. Saturninus finds the bag of gold and a forged letter that appears to implicate Quintus and Martius in Bassianus’s murder for payment, leading to their immediate arrest despite Titus’s protests of their innocence.

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.