The composition begins with a dedication to the Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley,

and is followed by " The Argument", a historical prose summary provided here verbatim:
"ucius Tar!uinius "a legendary Etruscan #ing$, for his e%cessive pride surnamed
Superbus "The &roud$, after he had caused his own father'in'law Servius Tullius to be
cruelly murdered, and, contrary to the (oman laws and customs, not re!uiring or staying
for the people)s suffrages, had possessed himself of the #ingdom, went, accompanied
with his sons and other noblemen of (ome, to besiege Ardea* +uring which siege the
principal men of the army meeting one evening at the tent of Se%tus Tar!uinius, the
#ing)s son, in their discourses after supper every one commended the virtues of his own
wife: among whom ,ollatinus e%tolled the incomparable chastity of his wife ucretia
"ucrece$* -n that pleasant humour they posted to (ome. and intending, by their secret
and sudden arrival, to ma#e trial of that which every one had before avouched, only
,ollatinus finds his wife, though it were late in the night, spinning amongst her maids: the
other ladies were all found dancing and revelling, or in several disports* Whereupon the
noblemen yielded ,ollatinus the victory, and his wife the fame* At that time Se%tus
Tar!uinius being inflamed with ucrece) beauty, yet smothering his passions for the
present, departed with the rest bac# to the camp. from whence he shortly after privily
withdrew himself, and was, according to his estate, royally entertained and lodged by
ucrece at ,ollatium* The same night he treacherously stealeth into her chamber,
violently ravished her, and early in the morning speedeth away* ucrece, in this
lamentable plight, hastily dispatcheth messengers, one to (ome for her father, another to
the camp for ,ollatine* They came, the one accompanied with /unius 0rutus, the other
with &ublius 1alerius. and finding ucrece attired in mourning habit, demanded the cause
of her sorrow* She, first ta#ing an oath of them for her revenge, revealed the actor, and
whole manner of his dealing, and withal suddenly stabbed herself* Which done, with one
consent they all vowed to root out the whole hated family of the Tar!uins. and bearing the
dead body to (ome, 0rutus ac!uainted the people with the doer and manner of the vile
deed, with a bitter invective against the tyranny of the #ing: wherewith the people were
so moved, that with one consent and a general acclamation the Tar!uins were all e%iled
"234 0,$, and the state government changed from #ings to consuls "(oman (epublic$*"
56 The lust'driven Se%tus Tar!uinius 7called "Tar!uin" in the poem6 snea#s away from the
siege at Ardea 7and ucrece)s husband6 to ,ollatium where the chaste ucrece and her
husband ,ollatine live* ,ollatine should have #ept his treasure to himself and not
bragged about her so much* Tar!uin was welcomed hospitably at her home, since he is
the son of the #ing and seemed to bear news about her husband* 286 Se%tus contrasts
her white purity and red beautiful blushing* ,ollatine has actually underpraised her
virtues and beauty* She suspects nothing in him, and he gives no sign of his intentions
that her ine%perienced eyes can detect* He praises ,ollatine and ma#es e%cuses for
being there at her home* 5596 He goes to bed, pretending weariness* He lies awa#e
debating the ris#s of obtaining his will with her* He worries that he will pawn his honor to
satisfy his lust* 5:;6 -t is dead of night, and he is tormented between desire and dread of
its conse!uences* He lights a torch using flint against his falchion 7curved sword6, and
continues the debate with himself between "fro<en conscience and hot'burning will"*
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Should he instead !uench his unhallowed thoughts and =ust go to sleep> ;336 How can a
martial man be slave to soft fancy 7infatuation6> ,ollatinus has been his friend, so he can
not even have the e%cuse of enmity to go after his wife* ;956 &erhaps he can beg for her
love''but no, she is not free to grant hers even if she were so inclined* ;2?6 She had
been so concerned about her husband)s welfare* ;:86 Why hunt for a =ustification,
"desire is my pilot and beauty my pri<e*"
;@?6 He steals toward her room* He must force the many loc#s that stand in the way*
The wind tries to blow out his torch* ?5:6 He sees her glove lying on the floor, still holding
a needle in it which pric#s his finger* He arrives at her chamber door* His will is bac#ed
by firm resolution* He thin#s about praying for success, then reali<es that the eternal
powers are opposed to his act, resolving finally that only "ove and Aortune be my gods"*
The blac#est sin is cleared with absolution* ?2@6 He enters and sees the "dove" that this
owl will catch* He ga<es on her enclosed within her curtain* +rawing her curtain, he is
blinded by her beauty or his shame* He sees her lily'white hands, her closed eyes, her
golden hair playing wantonly with her breath, her breasts, her veins, her alabaster s#in,
her coral lips* 9;56 He fawns over her as a lion over her prey, and his lust is temporarily
moderated* His beating heart gives the charge* 9?26 He places his hand on her bare
breast, the nipple li#e a turret flan#ed by ran#s of blue veins* She #nows she is beset and
opens her eyes in fright* He feels her heart beating* He begins his parley with her* She
wants to #now why he is there* -t is her fault, her beauty has ensnared her* He tells her
how he has debated whether to do this, but nothing can control affection)s course* He
sha#es his falchion at her, telling her that either she give in or he will #ill her and one of
her slaves and claim that he caught the two together embracing* He recounts how history
will be un#ind to her reputation, and for the sa#e of her husband and children, she should
give in without resistance* 22@6 He is immune to her appeals* She appeals to his honor,
to the rules of hospitality, to his friendship for her husband, to his sense of pity, to the
shame he will endure, to his need as a prince to set a good e%ample, the need to be in
control of his passions, how it would loo# to him to see another man behave this way,
etc* :926 0ut he cannot ignore the huge fire within him* Bield or suffer the conse!uences*
:8?6 He puts the torch out and rapes her, muffling her voice with her own nightwear,
cooling his hot face in her tears*
:@86 She has lost a dearer thing than life, ,hastity, and ust is no richer for the theft''as
li#e digestion souring after an e%cess of eating* 85@6 He #nows he is eternally disgraced*
She is thrall now to living death and perpetual pain* 8?:6 i#e a dog he creeps away* He
hopes for day, she prays to never again see the day, hoping to have her unseen guilt
remain hidden* She invo#es Cight: "Duster thy mists against the day"* She thin#s ahead
to when her story will be told by nurses to children and by orators* She thin#s of sparing
her husband the shame by suicide* @956 She did not resist the attac# for the sa#e of her
husband)s honor* @896 She apostrophi<es Epportunity "chance or circumstance$, the
series of events that improbably have led to this attac#, and to other tragic
circumstances* 4;26 She addresses Time, whom she wants to murder her* 4956 She
wants Time to allow her attac#er time to tear his hair, rave, despair, see his friends turn to
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foes* She wants to learn how to curse Se%tus* The law cannot help her case* 53;46 Her
only recourse is suicide, and she wants her hand, that could not resist the prior attac# on
her, to perform this act* How can she #ill herself> 532@6 She imagines a conversation
with her husband* She will tell him the full story first*
53846 +ay is brea#ing: the nightingale 7&hilomel6 has stopped singing* The =oyful singing
birds seem to moc# her* She wishes &hilomel would resume singing her descant on
Tereus) rape* Which is better, to live or die after life is shamed> 552:6 She worries that
her suicide will add to the pollution of her soul, as the rape has polluted its temple, her
body* 0ut she will in any event wait until her husband has come* She has lost her dear
=ewel 7her chastity6*
5;596 She calls her maid, who weeps in sympathy though ignorant of the cause of
ucrece)s despair''the wea#er se% is often willing to weep* Den are marble, women
wa%en. men can conceal their crimes while "women)s faces are their own fault)s boo#s"*
She as#s when Se%tus left, and the maid says it was before she was up* She as#s for
paper and pen and prepares a letter to her husband* She hoards further e%pression of
her feelings until he arrives* 5??@6 A messenger ta#es the letter, and she suspects he
can discern her shame*
5?::6 Awaiting her husband, she contemplates a tapestry wall hanging depicting the fall
of Troy, an event which was also prompted by a rape* She views A=a%)s rage and
Flysses) slyness, sober Cestor, bold Hector, the despairing Hecuba, her life imprisoned
in a dead body, &riam and his murderer &yrrhus* 59@?6 Why should so many fall for one
man)s offense, one man)s lust> At last she discerns Sinon, the Gree# who deceived the
Tro=ans and thereby won admission for the horse to the city* The painter has s#illfully
hidden his deceit and his evil, =ust as Se%tus hid his to her* How could the Tro=ans have
been so unwise as to believe him> She tears the image of Sinon with her nails*
52@?6 The messenger returns with her husband, her father and ucius /unius 0rutus*
Why is she attired in mourning, he wonders* 5:5@6 She tells her sad tale briefly, how she
was threatened if she did not comply* Her mind was immaculate though her body
violated* ,ollatine strives in vain to spea#, simply sighing and breathing in and out
speechlessly* She notes his sorrow and says it adds further sorrow to her own "and seem
to depict his concern for his own violated honor$* She demands revenge on her foe: let
him die* The assembled men pledge to do this* 58336 She as#s how the stain can be
wiped from her, how can she be ac!uitted> They answer that her mind is untainted*
58586 She names Se%tus Tar!uinius as the rapist, then stabs herself to death* The men
are astonished* 0rutus draws the #nife out and her father throws himself on her body*
Her body is surrounded by a pool of blood, and the tainted blood is blac#* Her father
mourns her death. she was his image, the means by which he would have lived on past
his death* ,ollatine as#s the father to grant the right to his own sorrow over her death*
He falls to her blood, then rises to swear vengeance* He and her father weep e!ually,
and compete for the right to be the greater mourner* 0rutus pluc#s the #nife, throws off
the mantle of feigned madness he had been forced to affect 7after his brother had been
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put to death by Se%tus) father6, and rallies them to action* ucrece should have slain
Se%tus* He as#s them to #neel and pledge themselves to rouse the (oman gods,
revenge her death, and chase the Tar!uins from rule* They subse!uently bear her body
to (ome to prove the foul offense and cause the Tar!uin)s banishment*
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