LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 
 UNITES STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
SHAKESPEARE'S 
 
 TRAGEDY OF 
 
 CORIOLANUS 
 
 Edited, with Notes, 
 
 WILLIAM J. ROLFE, A.M., 
 
 FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 
 
 / WITH ENGRA VINGS. 
 
 f 
 
 
 MAY 16 1S81, 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 FKANKLIN SQUARE. 
 
 I88I. 
 
J-a. 17 i 
 
 ENGLISH CLASSICS. 
 
 Edited by WM. J. ROLFE, A.M. 
 
 Illustrated. i6nio, Cloth, 60 cents per voluitie ; Paper, 40 cents per volume. 
 
 Shakespea 
 
 re's Plays. 
 
 Othello. 
 
 The Winter's Tale. 
 
 Julius Csesar. 
 
 King John. 
 
 The Merchant of Venice. 
 
 Richard IL 
 
 A Midsummer-Night's Dream. 
 
 Henry IV. Part I. 
 
 Macbeth. 
 
 Henry IV. Part II. 
 
 Hamlet. 
 
 Henry V. 
 
 Much Ado about Nothing. 
 
 Richard III. 
 
 Eomeo and Juliet. 
 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 As You Like It. 
 
 King Lear. 
 
 The Tempest. 
 
 The Taming of the Shrew 
 
 Twelfth Night. 
 
 All's Well that Ends Well 
 
 Corio 
 
 lanus. 
 
 Goldsmith's 
 
 Select Poems. 
 
 Gray's Sei 
 
 ECT Poems. 
 
 Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. 
 
 Any of the above works will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part 
 of the United States, on receipt of the price. 
 
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 1A' 
 
 Copyright, 1881, by Harper & Brothers. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The present volume is prepared on the same plan as its predecessors 
 in the series, and this may be as good an opportunity as any for summing 
 up and supplementing what I have said of the main features of the plan 
 in former prefaces. 
 
 The text is based on that of the folio of 1623, collated with the early 
 quartos and the other folios, and with all the more recent editions that 
 seem to me of any value for this purpose. It is a "conservative" text, 
 because it is my own, the result of my own studies and my own judgment 
 and taste. In this matter every editor must be a law unto himself. The 
 "inalienable right" of deciding when to adhere to the folio and when 
 not, I claim for myself, as I concede it to others. For many of the plays 
 that first collected edition is our only authority, for others it is the best 
 authority, but it abounds in misprints and other corruptions of the text. 
 The correction of many of these is obvious and indisputable ; that of 
 others has been, and very likely will always be, rnatter of doubt and con- 
 troversy. After all has been said that can be said on both sides, or all 
 sides, conclusions will differ because the men differ who form them. We 
 may argue with those who differ from us, but we have no right to dictate 
 to them. No man, however eminent as a critic, may set himself up as 
 the one " Sir Oracle " here, or arrogate to himself the authority to " or- 
 dam" a select hierarchy of" Shakespearians " who shall be the sole arbi- 
 ters of these textual disputes. The " republic of letters " does not recog- 
 nize the dictatorship of a "Boss." 
 
 The expurgation of the text is also my own, and is "conservative" in 
 that it is limited to the minimum required {me judice), and that it never 
 changes a word that Shakespeare wrote. It omits a few words, phrases, 
 or sentences from the text, but never substitutes others. Neither does it 
 call attention to what is omitted, as the manner of some editors is, by 
 means of dashes, asterisks, or brackets. No part of my work has been 
 done more carefully than this, and it is gratifying to know that it has 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 been generally approved by the best critics as well as by teachers and 
 parents. In a matter on which opinions and tastes differ so widely, it 
 was not to be expected that I should satisfy everybody. 
 
 The notes, as I have said more than once before, are meant to err, if at 
 all, on the side of fulness. It is better that the student or reader should 
 find a dozen notes he does not need, than that he should fail to find the 
 one he does need. Every one of the dozen may be as useful to others as 
 that one is to him. 
 
 I hope no teacher needs to be told that the notes are not intended to 
 be assigned as lessons to be learned and recited. They are to be used 
 precisely as the notes in a school edition of a Greek or Latin author are 
 used. I take it that no teacher requires a pupil to commit these all to 
 memory, or calls them all up in the recitation. The text of the author is 
 the lesson, and the pupil is expected to show that he understands the 
 text. He is to use the notes in preparing for the recitation, so far as he 
 needs their help, just as he uses his grammar and lexicon, and other 
 books of reference. The teacher may of course, at his discretion, require 
 the pupil to study certain specified topics or points in the notes, and to 
 be ready to answer questions upon them; but, if he does this, it will be 
 as a means of elucidating and illustrating the text. 
 
 It is perhaps superfluous to add that there is to be no *' parsing " of 
 Shakespeare. This may be a useful exercise with the Greek or Latin 
 authors — though, to my thinking, it is generally overdone in our schools 
 — but never in the study of English authors. This hint cannot be needed 
 by many teachers, if indeed by any ; but the author of an essay on " How 
 to Use Shakespeare in School," printed in a school edition of some of 
 the plays, devotes six or seven pages to showing up the pedantry of 
 teachers who "parse Shakespeare." Where these preposterous peda- 
 gogues are to be found, I know not. Can any reader tell me of even one 
 such? I suspect that this educational monstrosity is a "man of straw," 
 evolved from the consciousness of the venerable editor, a bugbear to 
 frighten teachers from using an edition that gives occasional references 
 to Abbott's Gramviar, not as an aid to "parsing" (for which, as anybody 
 who has looked into the book knows well enough, it is neither intended 
 nor suited), but simply to show that certain expressions and constructions 
 in Shakespeare are not anomalous, but in strict keeping with English 
 usage in the Elizabethan period. There was a time, thirty or forty years 
 ago, when teachers used to boast that their classes had " parsed through " 
 Paradise Lost or Thomson's Seasons : but that was partly because there 
 were no annotated school editions of those works to give a more rational 
 direction to the study of them ; and if teachers in backwoods districts are 
 driven to such flat, stale, and unprofitable exercises nowadays, it will be 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 because Ihe meagre notes of certain school editions do not furnish ma- 
 terial enough for broader and more varied work. 
 
 And this reminds me to say that in the notes I have always kept in 
 view the wants of teachers, students, and readers who have access to few 
 Shakespearian books, and for whom a concise summary of the illustra- 
 tive material in the leading editions and commentaries will to a certain 
 extent supply the deficiency. When I first began to teach Shakespeare 
 in school, the one edition I had was Moxon's in one volume, with Camp- 
 bell's introduction, but no notes at all ; and no better or fuller editions, 
 and no Shakespearian commentaries or criticisms whatever, were accessi- 
 ble to me. I know how thankful I should have been for an edition like 
 this, how much I should have learned from it myself, how much it would 
 have helped me to teach others ; and I know that thousands of teachers 
 and students are to-day no better off for books than I was then. I believe 
 they will thank me for bringing within their reach the condensed results 
 of the research and criticism of many editors, the substance of many big 
 and costly volumes in cheap little ones like this. Many teachers who 
 have no lack of books are hard pressed for time, and will be grateful to 
 me for saving them the trouble of hunting through volume after volume 
 for what they want. In schools, moreover, even if there is a good library, 
 it is impossible for all the members of a large class to make systematic 
 use of it. Each pupil needs many of the books all the time he is prepar- 
 ing his lesson, but there are perhaps twenty or thirty others who want 
 them at the same time. It is a great convenience for the pupil, as for the 
 teacher, to be comparatively independent of books of reference. 
 
 The editor from whom I have already quoted thinks it necessary to 
 warn teachers that a profound critical knowledge of Shakespeare is not 
 to be gained or given in the time allotted to the study in school. He re- 
 fers to "a sort of cant phrase" about "knowing Shakespeare in an 
 eminent sense," as current somewhere or other among teachers. I do 
 not know from whom this is quoted, but I suspect that he is own brother 
 to the pedagogue who " parses Shakespeare." If he has an objective ex- 
 istence (which I shrewdly doubt), he must be, like the other, a unique 
 specimen. He serves, however, the same purpose of a bugbear to be set 
 up and elaborately demolished in five duodecimo pages. 
 
 Those of us who have had experience as teachers know only too well 
 how little can be accomplished in the study of Shakespeare in the most 
 liberal allowance of time that can be got for it in an ordinary school or 
 college course. A little taste of the "sweetness," a little glimpse of the 
 " light," which are the reward of long and loving devotion to our Poet, 
 are the utmost that we can give our young friends before they have to 
 leave us ; and our aim must be to make this little so enjoyable that they 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 will not be willing to drop the study after they have left us. But we are 
 told that there should be neither study nor recitations in school classes in 
 Shakespeare ; that the pupils should not even be required to read the 
 play before the exercise ; that it is enough to have them " breathe, think, 
 feel with the author while his words are on their lips and in their ears ;" 
 enough to be "simply growmg, or getting the food of growth" — being 
 fed, as it were, with a spoon. To require them to study the poet will, it 
 is feared, prevent their enjoying him. On the contrary, I believe that the 
 road to a genuine appreciation and enjoyment of him is through study. 
 It is better to travel it on foot than to be carried over it in a " coach." 
 In walking over a mountain path in Switzerland, where the " pansied 
 turf is air to winged feet," all exertion forgotten in its own exhilaration, 
 and only giving a keener zest to the enjoyment of every thing in earth and 
 air, you may sometimes see a tourist " doing " the region, borne along in 
 a chaise a porteurs, listless and half asleep while a professional guide or 
 commissionnaire drones out to him the well-worn description of the route. 
 Would you change places with him ? Would you give your enjoyment 
 won and heightened by labor for his lazy, somnolent, stupidly absorptive 
 satisfaction ? " The study of Shakespeare," says our critic (using " study " 
 in his no-study sense), " should be a pastime, a recreation, a delight." A 
 delight it should, indeed, always be ; and if really a study, it will prove a 
 delight with which no mere pastime or recreation can ever compare. If 
 these books of mine, rightly used, do not help to bring this about, they 
 fail of their purpose. 
 
 Cambridge, March 22, 1881. 
 
 Note. — Since the above was in type I have seen a very friendly no- 
 tice of this edition in which it is suggested that the notes in each volume 
 ought to be complete in themselves and not to require reference to pre- 
 ceding volumes. Each of the books is essentially complete in itself and 
 does not require such reference to others. As I said in the preface to 
 King John, in 1879, "the references to other volumes of the series are 
 for the most part to longer notes which it did not seem best to reprint, 
 though they may be of interest to the teacher or student who will take 
 the trouble to look them up." In other words, the note is practically 
 complete without the reference, which is merely supplementary. If, in 
 rare instances, the note is only a reference, it is because no explanation 
 seems necessary, and the illustrative matter in the other note is not of 
 sufficient importance to justify its being repeated. The reader who has 
 all the volumes can soon decide for himself whether the references are 
 worth the trouble of looking up. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction to Coriolanus 9 
 
 I. The History of the Play 9 
 
 11. The Historical Sources of the Plot . lo 
 
 III. Critical Comments on the Play 1 1 
 
 CORIOLANUS 43 
 
 Act I • ; . . 45 
 
 " " • n 
 
 ""1 97 
 
 " IV 121 
 
 " V 144 
 
 Notes ■ 167 
 
KEMBLE AS CORIOLANUS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 I. THE HISTORY OF THE PLAY. 
 
 Coriolaniis was first printed in the folio of 1623, where it 
 occupies pages 1-30 in the division of " Tragedies," though 
 Troilus and Cressida (which was at first intended, as the 
 paging shows, to follow Romeo and Juliet) is placed before 
 it. It is one of sixteen plays in the folio which are recorded 
 
lo * CORIOLANUS. 
 
 in the Stationers' Registers as not having been previously 
 "entered" to other publishers. For the date of its compo- 
 sition we have only the internal evidence of style and metre, 
 which indicate that it was one of the latest of the plays. It 
 was probably written between 1607 and 1610. Malone and 
 Stokes make the date 1610; Ward, 1610 or "perhaps rather 
 earlier;" Chalmers and Drake, 1609; Fleay (in his Intro- 
 duction to Shakespearian Study) and Dowden, "about 1608;" 
 Delius, "before May, 1608 ;" and Furnivall, 1607-8. Halli- 
 well sees in v. 3. 97 evidence that Shakespeare used the 161 2 
 edition of North's Plutarch — in which the misprint of " un- 
 fortunately" for "unfortunate" is first corrected — while 
 Fleay believes that the correction in North was got from the 
 play. One argument is just as good as the other, both in 
 our opinion (see our note on the passage below) being good 
 for nothing ; and the same may be said of any inferences 
 concerning the date based upon the allusion to the " mul- 
 berry " in iii. 2. 79.* 
 
 II. THE HISTORICAL SOURCES OF THE PLOT. 
 
 The source from which Shakespeare drew his materials 
 was Sir Thomas North's " Lives of the noble Grecians and 
 Romans, compared together by that grave learned Philoso- 
 pher and Historiographer, Plutarke of Chaeronea," trans- 
 lated from the French version of James Amyot, Bishop of 
 Auxerre, and first published in 1579. As the poet was evi- 
 dently acquainted with the book when he wrote the Midsum- 
 mer-Nighfs Dream (see our ed. p. 15), which was pretty cer- 
 tainly before the appearance of the 2d edition of North in 
 1595, he probably used the ist edition in Coriolanus also. 
 The extracts in the Notes will show how freely he drew from 
 North, and how closely in many instances he followed even 
 the phraseology of his authority. Some expressions in the 
 
 * See our note below ; and for another passage which has been 
 thought to bear on the date, see on ii. 2. 97. 
 
INTRODUCTION. u 
 
 fable told by Menenius in i. i may have been suggested 
 by the version in Camden's Remains^ published in 1605. 
 Wright thinks it possible that the resemblances to Camden 
 — first pointed out by Malone — may be accidental, but we 
 are inclined, with Ward, Fleay, and others, to believe that 
 Shakespeare was really indebted to that author — though the 
 obligation was at best but a trifling one. 
 
 III. CRITICAL COMMENTS ON THE PLAY. 
 {From HazliWs " Characters of Shakespear''s /Y^jj/j-,"*] 
 Shakespear has in this play shown himself well versed in 
 history and state affairs. Coriolanus is a storehouse of polit- 
 ical commonplaces. . . . The arguments for and against 
 aristocracy or democracy, on the privileges of the few and 
 the claims of the many, on liberty and slavery, power and 
 the abuse of it, peace and war, are here very ably handled, 
 with the spirit of a poet and the acuteness of a philosopher. 
 Shakespear himself seems to have had a leaning to the ar- 
 bitrary side of the question, perhaps from some feeling of 
 contempt for his own origin, and to have spared no occasion 
 of bating the rabble. What he says of them is very true ; 
 what he says of their betters is also very true, though he 
 dwells less upon it. The cause of the people is indeed 
 but little calculated as a subject for poetry: it admits of 
 rhetoric, which goes into argument and explanation, but it 
 presents no immediate or distinct images to the mind, 
 
 "no'jutty, frieze, 
 Buttress, nor coign of vantage," 
 
 for poetry " to make its pendent bed and procreant cradle " 
 in. The language of poetry naturally falls in with the lan- 
 guage of power. The imagination is an exaggerating and 
 exclusive faculty: it takes from one thing to add to another; 
 
 * Characters of Shakespear' s Plays, by William Hazlitt, edited by W. 
 Carew Hazlitt (London, 1869), p. 49 fol. 
 
12 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 it accumulates circumstances together to give the greatest 
 possible effect to a favourite object. The understanding is 
 a dividing and measuring faculty ; it judges of things, not 
 according to their immediate impression on the mind, but 
 according to their relations to one another. The one is a 
 monopolizing faculty, which seeks the greatest quantity of 
 present excitement by inequality and disproportion ; the 
 other is a distributive faculty, which seeks the greatest quan- 
 tity of ultimate good by justice and proportion. The one is 
 an aristocratical, the other a republican faculty. The prin- 
 ciple of poetry is a very anti-levelling principle. It aims at 
 effect, it exists by contrast. It admits of no medium. It is 
 everything by excess. It rises above the ordinary standard 
 of sufferings and crimes. It presents a dazzling appearance. 
 It shows its head turreted, crowned, and crested. Its front 
 is gilt and blood-stained. Before it "it carries noise, and 
 behind it leaves tears." It has its altars and its victims, 
 sacrifices, human sacrifices. Kings, priests, nobles, are its 
 train-bearers, tyrants and slaves its executioners. " Carnage 
 is its daughter." Poetry is right royal. It puts the individ- 
 ual for the species, the one above the infinite many, might 
 before right. A lion hunting a flock of sheep or a herd of 
 wild asses is a more poetical object than they ; and we even 
 take part with the lordly beast, because our vanity or some 
 other feeling makes us disposed to place ourselves in the 
 situation of the strongest party. So we feel some concern 
 for the poor citizens of Rome when they meet together to 
 compare their wants and grievances, till Coriolanus comes 
 in, and with blows and words drives this set of " poor rats," 
 this rascal scum, to their homes and beggary before him. 
 There is nothing heroical in a multitude of miserable rogues 
 not wishing to be starved, or complaining that they are like 
 to be so ; but when a single man comes forward to brave 
 their cries and to make them submit to the last indignities, 
 from mere pride and self-will, our admiration of his prowess 
 
INTRODUCTION. I^ 
 
 is immediately converted into contempt for their pusillanim- 
 ity. The insolence of power is stronger than the plea of ne- 
 cessity. The tame submission to usurped authority, or even 
 the natural resistance to it, has nothing to excite or flatter 
 the imagination ; it is the assumption of a right to insult or 
 oppress others that carries an imposing air of superiority 
 with it. We had rather be the oppressor than the oppressed. 
 The love of power in ourselves and the admiration of it in 
 others are both natural to man ; the one makes him a ty- 
 rant, the other a slave. Wrong, dressed out in pride, pomp, 
 and circumstance, has more attraction than abstract right. 
 Coriolanus complains of the fickleness of the people j yet, 
 the instant he cannot gratify his pride and obstinacy at their 
 expense, he turns his arms against his country. If his coun- 
 try was not worth defending, why did he build his pride on 
 its defence t He is a conqueror and a hero : he conquers 
 other countries, and makes this a plea for enslaving his own ; 
 and when he is prevented from doing so, he leagues with his 
 enemies to destroy his country. He rates the people "as if 
 he were a God to punish, and not a man of their infi'rmity." 
 He scoffs at one of the tribunes for maintaining their rights 
 and franchises : "Mark you his absolute shallV not marking 
 his own absolute will to take everything from them, his im- 
 patience of the slightest opposition to his own pretensions 
 being in proportion to their arrogance and absurdity. If the 
 great and powerful had the beneficence and wisdom of gods, 
 then all this would have been well ; if with a greater knowl- 
 edge of what is good for the people, they had as great a care 
 for their interest as they have themselves, if they were seated 
 above the world, sympathizing with the welfare, but not feel- 
 ing the passions of men, receiving neither good nor hurt 
 from them, but bestowing their benefits as free gifts on them, 
 they might then rule over them like another Providence. 
 But this is not the case. Coriolanus is unwilling that the 
 Senate should show their "cares" for the people, lest their 
 
14 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 " cares " should be construed into " fears," to the subversion 
 of all due authority; and he is no sooner disappointed in 
 his schemes to deprive the people, not only of the cares of 
 the state, but of all power to redress themselves, than Vo- 
 lumnia is made madly to exclaim, 
 
 " Now the red pestilence strike all trades in RomCj 
 And occupations perish." 
 
 This is but natural : it is but natural for a mother to have 
 more regard for her son than for a whole city ; but then the 
 city should be left to take some care of itself The care of 
 the state cannot, we here see, be safely intrusted to maternal 
 affection, or to the domestic charities of high life. The great 
 have private feelings of their own, to which the interests of 
 humanity and justice must courtesy. Their interests are so 
 far from being the same as those of the community, that they 
 are in direct and necessary opposition to them: their power 
 is at the expense of our weakness ; their riches of our pov- 
 erty; their pride of 02ir degradation; their splendour oi our 
 wretchedness ; their tyranny of our servitude. If they had 
 the superior knowledge ascribed to them (which they have 
 not), it would only render them so much more formidable, 
 and from gods would convert them into devils. The whole 
 dramatic moral of Coriolanus is that those who have little 
 shall have less, and that those who have much shall take all 
 that others have left. The people are poor; therefore they 
 ought to be starved. They are slaves : therefore they ought 
 to be beaten. They work hard ; therefore they ought to be 
 treated like beasts of burden. They are ignorant ; therefore 
 they ought not to be allowed to feel that they want food, or 
 clothing, or rest— that they are enslaved, oppressed, and mis- 
 erable. This is the logic of the imagination and the pas- 
 sions ; which seek to aggrandize what excites admiration 
 and to heap contempt on misery, to raise power into tyranny, 
 and to make tyrarfny absolute ; to thrust down that which is 
 
INTRODUCTION. i^ 
 
 low still lower, and to make wretches desperate ; to exalt 
 magistrates into kings, kings into gods ; to degrade subjects 
 to the rank of slaves, and slaves to the condition of brutes. 
 The history of mankind is a romance, a mask, a tragedy, 
 constructed upon the principles oi poetical justice ; it is a noble 
 or royal hunt, in which what is sport to the few is death to 
 the many, and in which the spectators halloo and encourage 
 the strong to set upon the weak, and cry havoc in the chase 
 though they do not share in the spoil. We may depend 
 upon it that what men delight to read in books, they will put 
 in practice in reality. 
 
 \^Fro7n Gervinus' s '' Shakespeare Commentaries.'''' ^1 
 It is by no means unimportant, in forming a judgment on 
 this play, whether we take the political or the psychological 
 idea as the basis for our consideration. If we take the po- 
 litical struggle between the two orders to be the main point, 
 we shall readily arrive at wrong conclusions. To instance 
 only one : (\Ve see Coriolanus, as the chief representative of 
 the aristocracy, in strong opposition to the people and the 
 tribunes ; hence we naturally take up the view expressed by 
 Hazlitt, that Shakespeare had a leaning to the arbitrary side 
 of the question, to the aristocratical principle, inasmuch as 
 he does not dwell on the truths he tells of the nobles in the 
 same proportion as he does on those he tells of the people. 
 Hazlitt has added excellent grounds for proving even the 
 naturalness and need of this inclination in the poet. He 
 shows that the poetic imagination is an exaggerating, ex- 
 clusive, aristocratic faculty, that the principle of poetry is 
 everywhere an anti-levelling principle, that we feel more ad- 
 miration for the proud arbitrary man than for the humble 
 crowd that bow before him, for the oppressor than for the 
 oppressed. AH this is very true, and seems to gain more 
 
 * Shakespeare Commentaries, by Dr. G. G. Gervinus, translated by F. 
 L. Bunnett : revised ed. (London, 1875), p. 748 fol. 
 
1 6 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 force by its application to Coriolanus. But Shakespeare's 
 poetry is always so closely connected with morality, his im- 
 aginative power is so linked with sound reason, his ideal is 
 so full of actual truth, that his poetry seemed to us always 
 distinguished from all other poetry exactly by this : that 
 there is nothing exclusive in it, that candour and impartial- 
 ity are the most prominent marks of the poet and his poetry, 
 that if imagination even with him strives sometimes after ef- 
 fect, exists by contrasts, and admits no middle course, yet 
 in the very placing, describing, and colouring of the highest 
 poetical contrasts there appears ever for the moral judgment 
 that golden mean of impartiality which is the precious pre- 
 rogative of the truly wise. Shakespeare has depicted the 
 man of freedom, Brutus, nay, even the harder master-spirit 
 of the revolution, Cassius, far nobler and with much more 
 love than the man of the aristocracy, Coriolanus. It will be 
 allowed that, from the example of Brutus, many more would 
 be won over to the cause of the people than would be won 
 over to aristocratic principles by Coriolanus. If we regard 
 Coriolanus not merely in reference to the many, but if we 
 weigh his character in itself and with itself, we must confess, 
 after the closest consideration, that personified aristocracy 
 is here represented in its noblest and in its worst side, with 
 that impartiality which Shakespeare's nature could scarcely 
 avoid. It may be replied, the people are not so depicted. 
 Yet even on the nobles as a body our poet has just as little 
 thrown a favourable light at last ; for it lies in the nature of 
 things that a multitude can never be compared with one man 
 who is to be the subject of poetical representation, and who, 
 on that very account, must stand alone, one single man dis- 
 tinguished from the many. But it may be said, the repre- 
 sentatives of the people, the tribunes, are not thus impartially 
 depicted. Yet where would have been the poetic harmony, 
 if Shakespeare had made these prominent? Where the truth, 
 if he had given dignity and energy to a new power created 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 in a tumult? where our sympathy in his hero, if he had 
 placed a Marcus Brutus in opposition to him in the tribu- 
 nate? In proportion as he had raised our interest in the 
 tribunes, he would have withdrawn it from Coriolanus, who 
 had already enough to do to bear his own burden of declen- 
 sion. 
 
 If we observe closely, we cannot even find that the people 
 are here represented as so very bad. We must distinguish 
 between the way in which they really act and the way in 
 which the mockers and despisers of the people represent 
 them; we may then soon find that the populace in Julius 
 Ccesar appear much worse than in Coriolanus. Great atten- 
 tion is here paid to the character of the age. In Antony and 
 Cleopatra, where the people had ceased to be of any impor- 
 tance, they no longer appear \ in Julius Ccesar, where their 
 degeneracy ruined the republic, they are shown in all their 
 weakness; in Coriolanus, where they can oppose but not 
 stop the progress of Rome's political career, they appear 
 equally endowed with good and bad qualities. . . . 
 
 If, however, we would find out the poet's estimate of dem- 
 ocratic and aristocratic principles, we must, as intimated 
 above, compare the highest representatives of both princi- 
 ples, Coriolanus with Brutus and Cassius ; not the popu- 
 lace with Coriolanus, who is intended by the poet, expressly 
 and in accordance with history, to tower like a hero above 
 them. . . . The poet has taken great pains to make the ex- 
 ceptional pride and greatness of his hero possible. He has 
 given him a mother glowing with patriotism, early left a 
 widow, who has centred all her pride, her strength, and her 
 love on making her only and early distinguished son the 
 chief hero and ruler of his country. ... He has been trained 
 from childhood to an elevation above the ordinary and the 
 vulgar; he has, says Volumnia, "affected the fine strains of 
 honour, to imitate the graces ofthegods'^ These overstrained 
 demands on himself and others, springing from pride and 
 
 B 
 
1 8 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 begetting a greater pride, made him in time unfit for every 
 thing and ruinous to himself, because with them every good 
 and every bad quality rose to a height that could not, as it 
 ^were, support itself; he strove for a degree of merit " that 
 stifled itself by its own excess." No idle dream of honour 
 impels him to seek for renown ; he wishes to be, not to seem^ 
 the first. In this sense he is an aristocrat in the simplest 
 and noblest meaning of the word; with him the name and 
 the rank are nothing, but every thing consistent with true 
 pride lies in real merit. It would not satisfy him, like Caesar, 
 to be the first in the smallest place in the world, but rather 
 to be second in the greatest ; he wishes to be, not the first 
 in rank, but the greatest in deeds in the whole earth. 
 
 What induced Shakespeare to endow the hero of this play 
 with this superhuman, demi-godlike greatness? History im- 
 posed upon the poet a catastrophe of the rarest kind. Cori- 
 olanus, after his banishment, fights against his country, for 
 which before he would have striven in the hardest battles 
 without requiring any reward ; he enters into a league with 
 his bitterest enemy from a cold unfeeling thirst for ven- 
 geance; then, at the certain peril of his life, he suddenly aban- 
 dons this revenge at the entreaty of his mother. These con- 
 tradictions, Shakespeare thought, could only be imputed to 
 a man who, from nature and education, had carried his vir- 
 tues and his faults to extremes, which rendered natural the 
 change of his different qualities into their opposites. This 
 is managed with an art and a delicacy which can scarcely be 
 suspected in the apparently coarse strokes of this delinea- 
 tion. 
 
 First, his unmeasured thirst for glory, which in an heroic 
 age can only seek its satisfaction in the praise bestowed on 
 the highest valour. If valour be "the chiefest virtue," it is 
 said of him that he is then " singly counterpoised in the 
 world." Coriolanus so considered valour. Nowhere is his 
 whole being so over-excited as in battle ; not his blows only, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 19 
 
 but his voice and his looks are dreadful. He suffers none 
 to approach him in this point, unless it be old Titus Lartius, 
 who, fighting on crutches, cannot hurt his glory. There is 
 but one who rivals him in valour, Tullus Aufidius; towards 
 whom his ambition rises into envy. If he were " any thing 
 but what he is," Coriolanus would wish to be iVufidius. He 
 confesses that he "sins in envying his nobility.". . . 
 
 Next to his military virtues we will examine his political 
 qualities. That a man of his disposition and education must 
 be an aristocrat on principle, if not so by birth, is very evi- 
 dent. He dislikes the representation of the people by the 
 tribunate; he opposes every innovation which interferes with 
 the sole rule of the senate; he is jealous against any conces- 
 sion as a proof of weakness and as a wanton encouragement 
 of rebellion ; he is convinced that where two powers rule to- 
 gether, unless one has the upper hand, confusion will intro- 
 duce discord between them, and one will overturn the other. 
 But with these strict aristocratic principles he would have 
 ruled like a wise statesman, if regard had been had to his 
 nature and he had been left in peace. The poet has en- 
 dowed him with that knowledge of state affairs and those 
 high political views which seem peculiar to aristocratic bod- 
 ies, in addition to the blamelessness of his private character. 
 He possesses the first quality of a statesman — disinterested- 
 ness : even the populace allow that he is not greedy of gain ; 
 in the war he will not take a greater share of booty than any 
 of the others. He would not distribute corn gratis among 
 the rebellious crowd, but neither would he oppress the peo- 
 ple; so long as he was not offended, he would be towards 
 the people, as Menenius says, " a bear that lives like a lamb." 
 He is, moreover, free from all petty and punishable ambition. 
 Dictatory as he is, he would never aim at tyrannical power; 
 the scandal-loving tribunes themselves could not hope to 
 have such a report of him as this believed. As he would 
 not descend from the aristocratic sphere, so neither would 
 
20 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 he step beyond it. Jealous as he is of true honour and true 
 pre-eminence, the posts of external honour are indifferent to 
 him. He does not smooth the road to honour like those 
 who flatter the people; he strives to advance the labours of 
 actual merit. He does not covet the consulate, any more 
 than the chief command of the army. But here prudence 
 may be mixed with modesty, and modesty with pretension. 
 He feels that he deserves the consulate, but he is not willing 
 to use the usual means of suing for it; he will rather be the 
 slave of the people in his own way than rule over them in 
 theirs. But as, through the entreaties of his mother and his 
 friends, he has once been induced to try for the consulate, 
 he is bent upon obtaining it as a point of honour, as the re 
 ward of his deservings. If on these points his aristocratic 
 feelings are free from egotism and a petty love of place, they 
 are also free from petty conservatism, the usual principle of 
 this class of politicians. He is not afraid of revolutions and 
 cutting remedies, when in his wrath he has to pursue a party 
 aim; but even in calmness and in the leisure of considera- 
 tion he would not hesitate to apply " a dangerous physic " 
 against an infirmity of the state which will cause death with- 
 out it. He utters in the calmest manner the excellent max- 
 im, adverse to the petty principles of conservatism : 
 
 " What custom wills, in all things should we do 't, 
 The dust of antique time would lie unswept, 
 And mountainous error be too highly heap'd 
 For truth to overpeer." 
 
 ■j With such principles Coriolanus would have been a distin- 
 I guished statesman if he had employed the charm of his su- 
 / periority to lead the people gently to goodness. Thus his 
 mother teaches him. In war, she says, he is content to unite 
 prudence and policy with honour, but he should also do so 
 in peace. She can endure his absolute disposition, in which 
 to her " he can never be too noble ;" but when extremities 
 speak, "when fortune and friends are at stake, he should 
 
INTR OD UC TION. 2 1 
 
 tame his proud heart, and let the mouth only speak." " She 
 has," she says, " a heart as little apt as his to be counselled, 
 but yet a brain that leads her use of anger to better vantage." 
 This he should learn. \ He does, indeed, indifferently under- 
 stand it, under new conditions, when the unsociability of his 
 nature has not yet brought him into difficulties, and when 
 great aims make him prudent and discreet. When he has 
 to propitiate the people of Antium he is at once loved and 
 prized by them all. The senators stand bareheaded before 
 him ; Aufidius shares his power with him, and submits to his 
 authority ; the soldiers follow him to battle, as boys pursue 
 butterflies ; he is their god ! But all these qualities suddenly 
 disappear when he is angry, and when he experiences con- 
 tradiction, especially from those whom he despises. When 
 the people rebel in the famine, he will heap up mountains of 
 their bodies; when, at his election to the consulate, he has 
 to suffer for his changeableness and the malice of the trib- 
 unes, he resents the peremptory shall of the popular leaders, 
 while his absolute will never endured the smallest contradic- 
 tion. . . . 
 
 If Goriolanus's warlike ambition and aristocratic presump- 
 tion of ruling were rooted in the great, proud, exaggerated 
 claims which he makes on himself, in the high opinion he 
 had of himself, and in the great merit which he knew he pos- 
 sessed, the passionateness by which he is hurried along was 
 so likewise. Brought up with haughty manners, accustomed 
 to no contradiction, he can endure none; yet he himself 
 seeks his glory in contradiction. Those who in this way are 
 spoiled by fortune, who appear everywhere as conquerors, 
 who rule over all, are usually least able to rule themselves, 
 and to be master of their fortune. To oppose Coriolanus is 
 the way to irritate him; when thus irritated he cannot re- 
 cover himself; when angry he forgets "that ever he heard 
 the name of death;" when moved he "will not spare to gird 
 the gods, and to bemock the modest moon.". . . 
 
22 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 The extremity of his pride is seen when he casts back upon 
 his condemners the sentence of banishment, "I banish you," 
 as if the one condemned weighed more than all the con- 
 demners in the world. And yet it may be asked whether 
 this monstrous insolence indicates the actual pitch of Cori- 
 olanus's pride more than that modesty with which he con- 
 temns and rejects all reward, all praise, and all flattery. 
 That his modesty has its origin partly in sincere endeavours 
 after self-approval, and that, therefore, he will not have his 
 mother's praise, although "she has a charter to extol her 
 blood," this shows that his self-reliance is noble in principle 
 and his pride justified in a great degree by his merits and 
 his actions. Nevertheless, this feature bears also the stamp 
 of excessive pride; there is mixed up with it that highest 
 arrogance which thinks itself superior to all praise, with 
 which he avoids all acclamation and every laudatory report, 
 with which the man begs not to hear "his nothings mon- 
 stered," while he believed as much as any in the gigantic 
 greatness of his importance. 
 
 This peculiarity in Coriolanus of being unable to listen to 
 flattery is connected with another, that of being still less able 
 to express it. He is true and plain ; he has been "bred i' 
 the wars, and is ill schooled in boulted language;" "meal 
 and bran together he throws out without distinction ;" he 
 speaks the truth in spite of every danger ; he can also listen 
 to the truth, if it be without degradation and abuse ; what he 
 thinks, he utters, and what he says, he does ; promise-break- 
 ers are hateful to him. He strives, therefore, to avoid apply- 
 ing for the consulship in the customary manner by humbly 
 suing the people ; he would not, they say, " flatter Neptune 
 for his trident," how then should he flatter the people ? . . . 
 And yet afterwards among the Antiates, when his plans of 
 revenge and wrath against the Romans demand it, this ex- 
 traordinary man can suddenly use the arts he never would 
 condescend to employ ; he can do violence to his own nat- 
 
INTR OD UCTION. 2 3 
 
 ure, flatter the furtherers of his plans, and act towards his 
 enemies out of thirst for vengeance as he never could towards 
 his friends out of public-spiritedness and patriotism. 
 
 The intractableness of his disposition, the inflexibility of 
 his character, and the stubbornness of his will, which display 
 themselves in his proud demeanour, are, like this pride it- 
 self, partly founded in his nature and partly in the principles 
 of his exaggerated aspirations. Seriousness, severity, unso- 
 ciableness, we must acknowledge to be in his disposition ; 
 the. people themselves and Aufidius excuse much of his pride 
 on account of the unconquerable power of his natural dis- 
 position. The habits of the soldier helped to condense 
 these qualities into a rigid, repelling unapproachableness ; 
 Aufidius says of his nature that he could not move " from 
 the casque to the cushion," that he was " no other than one 
 thing," one-sided and obstinate, as Plutarch also character- 
 izes him. ... To tower above all in acts, in power, and in 
 unbending will, to appear, as was said of him, like an oak, 
 like a rock, to be shaken by no wind, is evidently the most 
 significant mark of his aspiring pride. . . . When these no- 
 tions of proud, manly heroism are put to the highest trial, 
 they find also their boldest expression. When mother, wife, 
 and son stand up between him and his revenge, and "great 
 nature cries Deny ftot," he prepares with a shudder to do 
 the last violence to nature : " Out, aflection !" he exclaims, 
 
 " All bond and privilege of nature, break ! 
 Let it be virtuous to be obstinate. 
 * * * Let the Volsces 
 
 Plough Rome and harrow Italy ; I 'II never 
 Be such a gosling to obey instinct, but stand 
 As if a man were author of himself, 
 And knew no other kin." 
 
 His proud self-will drives him to the assumption of a god- 
 like power of self-determination, staking his will against 
 every natural impulse and feeling. But under this violent 
 
24 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 strain nature gives way ; stifled instinct revenges itself; and 
 while abjuring all natural emotions, he feels he is not of 
 stronger earth than other men. And the man who made it 
 his pride to outdo humanity pleases us best when he con- 
 descends to be human. 
 
 This change does not take place in him by virtue of an 
 arbitrary machinery. We may, on other occasions also, ob- 
 serve in him the traces of this suppressed humanity, and on 
 these occasions we like him best. . . . These features betray 
 a fund of real good-nature in his character, and a share of 
 the inalienable requirements of the heart, which in his over- 
 strained notions of noble manhood he has only attempted to 
 extinguish. This is seen in his domestic affections, the last 
 vulnerable spot in the horny hide of his selfishness. Like 
 Othello, he is attached to a wife whom we know to be do- 
 mestic, not remarkably intellectual, not to be seduced from 
 her work, silent, reserved, but of the utmost feminine sweet- 
 ness. The poet has given her a quiet but powerful influence 
 over Coriolanus ; to her alone he is gentle and tender ; " my 
 gracious silence " he calls her when she greets his triumph 
 with tears j and when she comes with Volumnia to petition 
 against the siege of Rome, he is first moved by " those doves' 
 eyes, which can make gods forsworn," and he addresses her 
 in words of real feeling. Filial piety goes hand in hand with 
 this conjugal love. It is said among the people that his love 
 for his mother is equal to his pride, and that both are dearer 
 to him than his country. According to a practice already 
 familiar to us, the poet has prepared us for the decisive 
 scene, where maternal influence prevails, by an example 
 preceding it, so that one may explain the other. j^He shows 
 her to us first persuading him to present himself repentant 
 before the tribunes. This is a harder task than the later 
 one, where she attunes him to human feeling, whereas here 
 she impels him to act contrary to his nature, to renounce his 
 intention, to humble his spirit. He agrees to do what she 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 25 
 
 asks for her sake, but for his own he would rather be ground 
 to dust than do it; he paints the scene in self-despising lan- 
 guage; overcome with shame, he recalls his promise, but his 
 mother pledges her honour for its performance. " To beg 
 of thee," she says, " it is more my dishonour than thou of 
 them ;" this compels him to make the effort which fails. T 
 The skill displayed in this scene is as great as in the sub- 
 sequent one, the real task which history placed before the 
 poet. [After the first proof of Volumnia's power over her 
 son it is easy to comprehend the second. In the first the 
 consulship only was in question, here the fate of Rome; 
 there his outward honour, here his true glory; if he over- 
 throws Rome, his mother tells him, his name will be "dogged 
 with curses," and the chronicle will add, 
 
 " The man was noble, 
 But with his last attempt he wip'd it out; 
 * * * His name remains 
 
 To the ensuing age abhorred." 
 
 On the first occasion she pledged her honour ; here, with 
 Virgilia, she pledges her life: he shall not assault his coun- 
 try without treading on their bodies. There the mother's 
 ambition spoke, here her love of country, which outweighs 
 even the enthusiastic love of the mother; she rises to a 
 magnanimous heroism on the grand occasion which restores 
 to him his human feelings. The appearance of his friend 
 Menenius has given him the first shock. The sight of his 
 mother on her knees before him shows him how unnatural 
 is his position towards his country. J His boy's droll remark 
 completes the shock ; his own Blood threatens to rise up 
 against him in defence of his country. . . . 
 
 On two great occasions in his history we see him fall from 
 want of self-government, from overstrained passion and ir- 
 ritability; once on the occasion of his banishment, and again 
 at his death. On both occasions a single word, the oppro- 
 brious epithet of traitor, brings on the fatal outbreak of his 
 
26 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 fury. This shows in a very remarkable manner the fine 
 turning-point by which he missed the result of all his striv- 
 ings. If this name were rightly bestowed on him, then no 
 reproach could be thought of which would so immediately 
 shatter the noble work of Volumnia, and overturn the object 
 of all the proud endeavours of Coriolanus, as this. If he 
 were a traitor, then his glory was turned into shame, his 
 bravery misapplied, his pride dishonoured, his civic virtue 
 changed into selfishness, his truth and fidelity into their re- 
 verse, his most honourable efforts covered with the coarsest 
 stains. And it cannot be denied that he became a traitor to 
 Rome after he first heard this word of reproach, and he was 
 one t® the Antiates when he heard it for the second time. 
 This mother, the giver and the shaper of his life, had brought 
 him into both situations ; she, therefore, meets her punish- 
 ment with him. The first time, in a movement of motherly 
 weakness, she had tempted him, contrary to a right instinct, 
 into a false path, and thereby drawn down upon him the 
 unmerited reproach of being a traitor, which he then hast- 
 ened to deserve ; this fault she and he also repaired when, 
 in a noble spirit of patriotism, she allured him back from his 
 mistaken search after vengeance into the path of humanity, 
 which he trod with death before his eyes. The name of 
 traitor suits him now, indeed, but rather to his glory than to 
 his disgrace, and his death atones for his life. 
 
 [From Mrs. Jameson^ s " Characteristics of Worn en. '''"^'\ 
 In Volumnia, Shakspeare has given us the portrait of a 
 Roman matron, conceived in the true antique spirit, and 
 finished in every part. Although Coriolanus is the hero of 
 the play, yet much of the interest of the action and the final 
 catastrophe turn upon the character of his mother, Volumnia, 
 and the power she exercised over his mind, by which, accord- 
 ing to the story, "she saved Rome and lost her son." Her 
 * American ed. (Boston, 1857), p. 345 fol. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 27 
 
 lofty patriotism, her patrician haughtiness, her maternal pride, 
 her eloquence, and her towering spirit, are exhibited with the 
 utmost power of effect; yet the truth of female nature is beau- 
 tifully preserved, and the portrait, with all its vigour, is without 
 harshness. 
 
 I shall begin by illustrating the relative position and feel- 
 ings of the mother and son; as these are of the greatest im- 
 portance in the action of the drama, and consequently most 
 prominent in the characters. Though Volumnia is a Roman 
 matron, and though her country owes its salvation to her, it 
 is clear that her maternal pride and affection are stronger 
 even than her patriotism. Thus when her son is exiled, she 
 bursts into an imprecation against Rome and its citizens : 
 
 "Now the red pestilence strike all trades in Rome, 
 And occupations perish !" 
 
 Here we have the impulses of individual and feminine 
 nature, overpowering all national and habitual influences. 
 Volumnia would never have exclaimed like the Spartan 
 mother, of her dead son, " Sparta has many others as brave 
 as he;" but in a far different spirit she says to the Romans, 
 
 "Ere you go, hear this: 
 As far as doth the Capitol exceed 
 The meanest house in Rome, so far my son, 
 Whom you have banish'd, does exceed you all." 
 
 In the very first scene, and before the introduction of the 
 principal personages, one citizen observes to another that 
 the military exploits of Marcius were performed, not so much 
 for his country's sake " as to please his mother." By this 
 admirable stroke of art, introduced with such simplicity 
 of effect, our attention is aroused, and we are prepared in 
 the very outset of the piece for the important part assign- 
 ed to Volumnia, and for her share in producing the catas- 
 trophe. 
 
 In the first act we have a very graceful scene [i. 3], in 
 
28 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 which the two Roman ladies, the wife and mother of Coriola- 
 nus, are discovered at their needle-work, conversing on his 
 absence and danger, and are visited by Valeria : 
 
 "The noble sister of Publicola, 
 The moon of Rome, chaste as the icicle 
 That 's curded by the frost from purest snow, 
 And hangs on Dian's temple !" 
 
 Over this little scene Shakspeare, without any display of 
 learning, has breathed the very spirit of classical antiquity. 
 (The haughty temper of Volumnia, her admiration of the 
 valour and high bearing of her son, and her proud but unself- 
 ish love for him, are finely contrasted with the modest sweet- 
 ness, the conjugal tenderness, and the fond solicitude of his 
 wife Virgilia. 
 
 This distinction between the two females is as interesting 
 and beautiful as it is well sustained. Thus when the victory 
 of Coriolanus is proclaimed, Menenius asks, " Is he wound- 
 ed ?" 
 
 " Virgilia. O, no, no, no ! 
 
 Volu7nnia. O, he is wounded — I thank the gods for 't !" 
 
 And when he returns victorious from the wars, his high- 
 spirited mother receives him with blessings and applause 
 — his gentle wife with "gracious silence" and with tears. 
 
 The resemblance of temper in the mother and the son, 
 modified as it is by the difference of sex, and by her greater 
 age and experience, is exhibited with admirable truth. Vo- 
 lumnia, with all her pride and spirit, has some prudence and 
 self-command; in her language and deportment all is ma- 
 tured and matronly. The dignified tone of authority she as- 
 sumes towards her son, when checking his headlong impetu- 
 osity, her respect and admiration for his noble qualities, and 
 her strong sympathy even with the feelings she combats, are 
 all displayed in the scene in which she prevails on him to 
 soothe the incensed plebeians [iii. 2. 28-130]. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 When the spirit of the mother and the son are brought 
 into immediate collision, he yields before her; the warrior 
 who stemmed alone the whole city of Corioli, who was ready 
 to face " the steep Tarpeian death, or at wild horses' heels — 
 vagabond exile — flaying," rather than abate one jot of his 
 proud will, shrinks at her rebuke. The haughty, fiery, over- 
 bearing temperament of Coriolanus is drawn- in such forcible 
 and striking colours, that nothing can more impress us with 
 the real grandeur and power of Volumnia's character than 
 his boundless submission to her will — his more than filial 
 tenderness and respect. 
 
 "You gods! I prate, 
 
 And the most noble mother of the world 
 
 Leave unsaluted. Sink, my knee, i' the earth ; 
 
 Of thy deep duty more impression show 
 
 Than that of common sons !" 
 
 When his mother appears before him as a suppliant, he 
 
 exclaims : 
 
 *'My mother bows; 
 As if Olympus to a molehill should 
 In supplication nod." 
 
 Here the expression of reverence, and the magnificent image 
 in which it is clothed, are equally characteristic both of the 
 mother and the son.. 
 
 Her aristocratic haughtiness is a strong trait in Volumnia's 
 manner and character; and her supreme contempt for the 
 plebeians, whether they are to be defied or cajoled, is very 
 like what I have heard expressed by some high-born and 
 high-bred women of our own day : 
 
 "I muse my mother 
 Does not approve me further, who was wont 
 To call them woollen vassals, things created 
 To buy and sell with groats, to show bare heads 
 In congregations, to yawn, be still, and wonder 
 When one but of my ordinance stood up 
 To speak of peace or war." 
 
 And Volumnia reproaching the tribunes: 
 
^o CORIOLANUS. 
 
 " 'T was you incens'd the rabble — 
 Cats, that can judge as fitly of his worth, 
 As I can of those mysteries which Heaven 
 Will not have earth to know." 
 
 There is all the Roman spirit in her exultation when the 
 trumpets sound the return of Coriolanus : 
 
 " Hark ! the trumpets ! 
 These are the ushers of Marcius ; before him 
 He carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears." 
 
 And in her speech to the gentle Virgilia, who is weeping her 
 husband's banishment : 
 
 " Leave this faint puling ! and lament as I do. 
 In anger — Juno-like !" 
 
 But the triumph of Volumnia's character, the full display of 
 all her grandeur of soul, her patriotism, her strong affections, 
 and her sublime eloquence, are reserved for her last scene, 
 in which she pleads for the safety of Rome, and wins from 
 her angry son that peace which all the swords of Italy and 
 her confederate arms could not have purchased. The strict 
 and even literal adherence to the truth of history is an ad- 
 ditional beauty. 
 
 Her famous speech, beginning " Should we be silent and 
 not speak" [v. 3. 94], is nearly word for word from Plutarch, 
 with some additional graces of expression, and the charm of 
 metre superadded. The last lines of this address [v. 3. 
 148-182] illustrate that noble and irresistible eloquence 
 which was the crowning ornament of the character. One 
 exquisite touch of nature was beyond the rhetorician and 
 historian, and belongs only to the poet : 
 
 " When she (poor hen !) fond of no second brood, 
 Has cluck'd thee to the wars, and safely home. 
 Laden with honour." 
 
 It is an instance of Shakspeare's fine judgment, that after 
 this magnificent and touching piece of eloquence, which 
 saved Rome, Volumnia should speak no more, for she could 
 
INTR on UC TION. 
 
 31 
 
 say nothing that would not deteriorate from the effect thus 
 left on the imagination. She is at last dismissed from our 
 admiring gaze amid the thunder of grateful acclamations : 
 "Behold, our patroness — the life of Rome." 
 
 [From Dowden's " Skakspere.''''*'\ 
 The subject of Coriolanus is the ruin of a noble life 
 through the sin of pride. If duty be the dominant ideal 
 with Brutus, and pleasure of a magnificent kind be the ideal 
 of Antony and Cleopatra, that which gives tone and colour 
 to Coriolanus is an ideal of self-centred power. The great- 
 ness of Brutus is altogether that of the moral conscience; 
 his external figure does not dilate upon the world through a 
 golden haze like that of Antony, nor bulk massively and 
 tower like that of Coriolanus. Brutus venerates his ideals, 
 and venerates himself, but this veneration of self is in a 
 certain sense disinterested. A haughty and passionate per- 
 sonal feeling, a superb egoism, are with Coriolanus the 
 sources of weakness and of strength. Brutus is tender and 
 considerate to all — -to his household servants, to the boy Lu- 
 cius, to the poor peasantry from whom he will not wring 
 their petty hard-earned gains. The Theseus of A Midsum- 
 mer-Nighfs Dream, the great lord and conqueror, now in his 
 mood of leisure and enjoyment, is graciously indulgent to 
 the rough-handed and thick-witted mechanicals of Athens. 
 In Henry V. Shakspere had drawn the figure of a man right, 
 royal, who yet keeps his sympathies in living contact with 
 the humblest of his subjects, and who, by his real rising 
 above self, his noble disinterestedness, is saved from arro- 
 gance and haughty self-will. On the ground of common 
 manhood he can meet John Bates and Michael Williams; 
 and the great King, strong, because he possesses in himself 
 so large a fund of this plain, sound manhood, finds comfort 
 
 * Shakspere : a Critical Study of his Mind and Art, by Edward Dow- 
 den (2d ed. London, 1876), p. 317 fol. 
 
32 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 and support in his sense of equality with his subjects and 
 fellow-soldiers. " For though I speak it to you," says Henry, 
 while playing the private soldier on the night before the 
 battle, " I think the king is but a man as I am ; the violet 
 smells to him as it doth to me ; the element shows to him 
 as it doth to me ; all his senses have but human conditions; 
 his ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a 
 man; and though his affections are higher mounted than 
 ours, yet when they stoop, they stoop with the like wing." 
 Only the greatness of a high responsibility distinguishes the 
 king, and gives him weightier cares and nobler toil. -Such 
 is the spirit, neither aristocratic nor, in the modern doctri- 
 naire sense, democratic, of Shakspere's Henry V. 
 
 "The whole dramatic moral of Coriolanus^^ Hazlitt wrote, 
 " is that those who have little shall have less, and that those 
 who have much shall take all that others have left. The 
 people are poor, therefore they ought to be starved. They 
 are slaves, therefore they ought to be beaten. They work 
 hard, therefore they ought to be treated like beasts of bur- 
 den. They are ignorant, therefore they ought not to be al- 
 lowed to feel that they want food or clothing or rest; that 
 they are enslaved, oppressed, and miserable."* This is 
 simply impossible; this is extravagantly untrue, a piece of 
 the passionate injustice which breaks forth every now and 
 again in Hazlitt's writings. The dramatic moral of Corio- 
 laniis lies far nearer to the very opposite of Hazlitt's state- 
 ment. Had the hero of the play possessed some of the hu- 
 man sympathies of Henry V., the tragic issue would have 
 become impossible. 
 
 " Shakspere," a great modern poet has said, " is incar- 
 nated, uncompromising feudalism in literature."! Shakspere 
 is certainly something more human and permanent than 
 feudalism ; but it is true that he is not in a modern sense 
 
 * Characters of Shakespear's Plays, p. 74 (ed. 1818). 
 t Walt Whitman, Democratic Vistas, p. 81. 
 
INTRODUCTION. -i^Z 
 
 democratic. That he recognized the manly worth and vigour 
 of the common English character is evident. It cannot be 
 denied, however, that when the people are seen in masses in 
 Shakspere's plays, they are nearly always shown as factious, 
 fickle, and irrational. To explain this fact, we need not sup- 
 pose that Shakspere wrote to flatter the prejudice of the 
 jeunesse doree of the Elizabethan theatre.* How could Shak- 
 spere represent the people otherwise ? In the Tudor period 
 the people had not yet emerged. The people, like Milton's 
 half- created animals, is still pawing to get free its hinder 
 parts from the mire. The mediaeval attempts to resist op- 
 pression, the risings of peasants or of citizens, inaugurated 
 commonly by the murder of a lord or of a bishop, were for 
 the most part desperate attempts, rash and dangerous, sus- 
 tained by no sense of adequate moral or material power. 
 It is only after such an immense achievement as that of 
 1789, such a proof of power as the French Revolution af- 
 forded, that moral dignity, the spirit of self-control and self- 
 denial, the heroic devotion of masses of men to ideas, and 
 not merely interests, could begin to manifest themselves. 
 Shakspere studied and represented in his art the world which 
 lay before him." If he prophesied the future, it was not in 
 the ordinary manner of prophets, but only by completely em- 
 bodying the present, in which the future was contained. . . . 
 What were Shakspere's political views? It is matter 
 of congratulation that Shakspere approached history, not 
 through political theories or philosophies, but through a 
 wide and deep sympathy with human action and human 
 suffering. That a poet of the nineteenth century should 
 disregard political theories, and philosophies of history, 
 would prove that he was lacking in that very sympathy with 
 humanity which made Shakspere what he was. But the 
 seventeenth century was one in which, in the world of poli- 
 tics, nation struggled with nation, and man with man, rather 
 * See Rumelin, Shakespeare-Stiidien,^^. 222. • 
 
 c 
 
34 COKIOLANUS, 
 
 than idea with idea. Shakspere has no political doctrine to 
 apply to the civil contest of the houses of Lancaster and 
 York by which to resolve the claims of the contending par- 
 ties. If we discover any principle in which he had faith, it 
 is that of the right of the kingliest nature to be king. The 
 divine right of Richard II., gallantly urged by the Bishop of 
 Carlisle, is hardly as sacred in Shakspere's eyes as the di- 
 vine right of the son of the usurping Bolingbroke. It is 
 Henry VI. whose over-irritable conscience suggests to him 
 doubts respecting the title of his house. Happily we are 
 not afflicted by Shakspere with doctrinaire utterances, with 
 sentiments liberal or reactionary uttered by the heroes of 
 monarchy or of republicanism. A time will perhaps come, 
 more favourable to true art than the present, when ideas are 
 less outstanding factors in history than they have been in 
 this century; when thought will be obscurely present in in- 
 stinctive action and in human emotion, and will vitalize and 
 inspire these joyously rather than tyrannically dominate them. 
 And then men's sympathy with the Elizabethan drama will 
 be more prompt and sure than in our day it can be. 
 
 Party spirits are baffled by the great human poet. They 
 can, with entire ease and self-satisfaction, read their several 
 creeds, political and religious, into the poetry of Shakspere; 
 hxiXjind them there they cannot. Only if we look for what 
 is truly human and of permanent interest to man, we shall 
 not be disappointed. " Many reproaches have been uttered 
 against Shakspere. But the hypocrite whom his poetry does 
 not unmask and cover with confusion, the tyrant who does 
 not suffer in himself the pangs of conscience and earn the 
 general hatred, the coward who is not made a laughing-stock, 
 the dressed-up imposition who, discovered in his nakedness, 
 does not experience the poet's annihilating scorn, is in vain to 
 be sought for among the historical figures of these dramas."* 
 
 * F. Kreyssig, Shakespeare- Frageii, pp. 97, 98. The discussion of this 
 
 subject bv Kreyssig is excellent. 
 
IN TR on L/C TION. 3 5 
 
 That the people should appear at all in the histories of 
 Shakspere is worthy of note. In French tragedy the people 
 plays no part; and naturally, for "French history does not 
 speak of the people before the nineteenth century."* Shak- 
 spere's representation of the people is by no means harsh 
 or ungenial. He does not discover in them heroic virtues; 
 he does not think that a crowd of citizens is invariably very 
 wise, patient, or temperate; and he has a certain aversion, 
 quite under control, however, to the sweaty caps and grimy 
 hands and stinking breath of garlic-eaters and men of occu- 
 pation.! Nevertheless, Shakspere recognizes that the heart 
 of the people is sound; their feelings are generally right, 
 but their view of facts is perverted by interests, by passions, 
 by stupidity. In the play of Coriolaniis the citizens -are not 
 insensible to the virtues of the great Consul; they appreciate 
 the humorous kindliness of the patrician Menenius. But 
 they are as wax in the hands of their demagogues. Is Shak- 
 spere's representation so wholly unjust to the seventeenth 
 century, or even to the nineteenth ? He had no political 
 doctrinaire philosophy, no humanitarian idealism, to put be- 
 tween himself and the facts concerning the character of the 
 people. His age did not supply him with humanitarian 
 idealism ; but man delighted Shakspere, and woman also. 
 Thersites was not beyond the range of his sympathy. And 
 to Shakspere the people did not appear as Thersites; at 
 worst it appeared as Caliban. 
 
 Further, if Shakspere exposes the vices of a mob, he 
 shrinks as little from exposing the vices of a court. The 
 wisdom of the populace is not inferior to the wisdom of a 
 Polonius. The manners of handicraftsmen are as truly 
 
 * A. Mezieres, Shakespeare, ses CEuvres et ses Critiques, p. 154. M. 
 Mezieres studies the historical dramas of Shakspere in a highly interest- 
 ing manner, throwing the characters into groups — the women, the chil- 
 dren, the people, the lords, the prelates, the kings. 
 
 t Kreyssig, Shakespeare- Fragen, p. 95. 
 
36 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 gentle as the manners of Osric. Of ceremony Shakspere 
 was no lover; but he was deeply in love with all that is 
 sound, substantial, honest. Prince Henry flies from the in- 
 animate, bloodless, and insincere world of his father's court 
 to the society of drawers and carriers in Eastcheap. In the 
 play of Coriolanus^ the intolerant haughtiness and injustice 
 of the patrician is brutal and stupid, not less, but rather 
 more, than the plebeian inconstancy and turbulence. . . . 
 
 Although the play of Coriolamis almost inevitably suggests 
 a digression into the consideration of the politics of Shak- 
 spere, it must once again be asserted that the central and 
 vivifying element in the play is not a political problem, but 
 an individual character and life. The tragic struggle of the 
 play is not that of patricians with plebeians, but of Coriola- 
 nus with his own self. It is not the Roman people who 
 bring about his destruction ; it is the patrician haughtiness 
 and passionate self- will of Coriolanus himself. Were the 
 contest of political parties the chief interest of Shakspere's 
 drama, the figures of the tribunes must have been drawn 
 upon a larger scale. They would have been endowed with 
 something more than "foxship." As representatives of a 
 great principle, or of a power constantly tending in one di- 
 rection, they might have appeared worthy rivals of the lead- 
 ers of the patrician party; and the fall of Coriolanus would 
 be signalized by some conquest and advance of the tide of 
 popular power.* Shakspere's drama is the drama of individ- 
 uality, including under this name all those bonds of duty 
 and of affection which attach man to his fellow-man, but not 
 impersonal principles and ideas.f The passion of patriot- 
 
 * I owe this 6bservation to Professor H. Th. Rotscher, Shakespeare in 
 seinen hochsten Charactergebilden, etc. (Dresden, 1864), p. 20. 
 
 t " His [Shakspere's] drama is the drama of individuality. . . . Shak- 
 spere shows neither the consciousness of law nor of humanity ; the future 
 is mute in his dramas, and enthusiasm for great principles unknown. His 
 genius comprehends and sums up the past and the present ; it does not 
 initiate the future. He interpreted an epoch ; he announced none" (Jo- 
 
INTR on UC TION. 3 7 
 
 ism, high-toned and enthusiastic, stands with Shakspere in- 
 stead of general political principles and ideas; and the life 
 of the individual is widened and elevated by the national 
 life, to which the individual surrenders himself with gladness 
 and with pride. 
 
 The pride of Coriolanus is, however, not that which comes 
 from self-surrender to and union with some power or person 
 or principle higher than one's self It is twofold — a pas- 
 sionate self-esteem which is essentially egoistic, and, second- 
 ly, a passionate prejudice of class. His nature is the reverse 
 of cold or selfish; his sympathies are deep, warm, and gen- 
 erous ; but a line, hard and fast, has been drawn for him by 
 the aristocratic tradition, and it is only within that line that 
 he permits his sympathies to play. To the surprise of the 
 tribunes, he can accept, well pleased, a subordinate com- 
 mand under Cominius. He yields with kindly condescen- 
 sion to accept the devotion and fidelity of Menenius, and 
 cherishes towards the old man a filial regard — the feeling of 
 a son who has the consciousness that he is greater than his 
 father. He must dismiss Menenius disappointed from the 
 Volscian camp; but he contrives an innocent fraud by 
 means of which the old senator will fancy that he has effect- 
 ed more for the peace of Rome than another could. For 
 Virgilia, the gentle woman in whom his heart finds rest, 
 Coriolanus has a manly tenderness and constant freshness 
 of adhesion : 
 
 '' O, a kiss 
 
 Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge ! 
 
 Now, by the jealous queen of heaven, that kiss 
 
 I carried from thee, dear ; and my true lip 
 
 Hath virgin'd it e'er since !" 
 
 In his boy he has a father's joy, and yields to an ambitious 
 hope, and a yearning forward to his son's possible future of 
 
 seph Mazzini, Life and Writings, vol. ii. pp. 133, 134). See Riimelin, 
 Shake speare-Studieu, pp. 1 69, 1 70. 
 
38 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 heroic action, in which there is something of touching pater- 
 nal weakness: 
 
 "The god of soldiers, 
 With the consent of supreme Jove, inform 
 Thy thoughts with nobleness ; that thou may'st prove 
 To shame unvulnerable, and stick i' the wars 
 Like a great sea-mark, standing every flaw, 
 And saving those that eye thee !" 
 
 His wife's friend Valeria is the " moon of Rome," 
 
 " Chaste as the icicle 
 .That's curdled by the frost from purest snow, 
 And hangs on Dian's temple."* 
 
 In his mother, Volumnia, the awful Roman matron, he re- 
 joices with a noble enthusiasm and pride; and while she is 
 present always feels himself, by comparison with this great 
 mother, inferior and unimportant. 
 
 But Cominius, Menenius, and Virgilia, Valeria and Vo- 
 lumnia, and his boy belong to the privileged class; they are 
 patrician. Beyond this patrician class neither his sympathies 
 nor his imagination find it possible to range. The plebeians 
 are "a common cry of curs" whose breath Coriolanus hates. 
 He cannot, like Bolingbroke, flatter their weakness while he 
 despises them inwardly. He is not even indifferent towards 
 them; he rather rejoices in their malice and displeasure; if 
 the nobihty would let him use his sword, he would make a 
 quarry "with thousands of these quarter'd slaves" as high 
 as he could pick his lance. Sicinius the Tribune is "the 
 Triton of the minnows." When Coriolanus departs from 
 Rome, as though all the virtue of the city were resident in 
 himself, he reverses the apparent fact and pronounces a sen- 
 
 * Observe the extraordinary vital beauty and illuminating quality of 
 Shakspere's metaphors and similes. A commonplace poet would have 
 written " as chaste as snow ;" but Shakspere's imagination discovers de- 
 grees of chastity in ice and snow, and chooses the chastest of all frozen 
 things. On this subject, see an excellent study by Rev. H. N. Hudson, 
 Shakespeare: his Life, Art, and Characters, vol. i. pp. 217-237. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 39 
 
 tence of banishment against those whom he leaves behind — 
 " / banish you'' Brutus is warranted by the fact when he 
 
 "You speak o' the people, 
 As if you were a god to punish, not 
 A man of their infirmity." 
 
 And yet the weakness, the inconstancy, and the inca- 
 pacity of apprehending facts which are the vices of the peo- 
 ple, reflect and repeat themselves in the great patrician ; his 
 aristocratic vices counterbalance their plebeian. He is rigid 
 and obstinate : but under the influence of an angry egoism 
 he can renounce his principles, his party, and his native city. 
 He will not bear away to his private use the paltry booty of 
 the Volsces; but to obtain the consulship he is urged by his 
 proud mother and his patrician friends to stand bareheaded 
 before the mob, to expose his wounds, to sue for their votes, 
 to give his heart the lie, to bend the knee like a beggar ask- 
 ing an alms. The judgment and blood of Coriolanus are ill 
 commingled; he desires the end, but can only half submit to 
 the means which are necessary to attain that end; he has 
 not sufficient self-control to enable him to dispose of those 
 chances of which he is lord. And so he mars his fortune. 
 The pride of Coriolanus, as Mr. Hudson has observed, is 
 " rendered altogether inflammable and uncontrollable by pas- 
 sion; insomuch that if a spark of provocation is struck into 
 the latter, the former instantly flames up beyond measure, 
 and sweeps away all the regards of prudence, of decorum, 
 and even of common-sense."* Now, such passion as this 
 Shakspere knew to be weakness, and not strength; and by 
 this uncontrollable violence of temper Coriolanus draws 
 down upon himself his banishment from Rome and his sub- 
 sequent fate. 
 
 At the moment when he passes forth through the gates of 
 the city, and only then, his passion, instead of breaking vio- 
 * Shakespeare : his life, Art, and Characters, vol. ii. p. 473. 
 
^o CORIOLANUS. 
 
 lently forth, subdues his nature in a more evil fashion, and 
 becomes dark and deadly. He feels that he has been de- 
 serted by " the dastard nobles," and given over as a prey to 
 the mob. He, who had been so warm, so generous, so loyal 
 towards his class, now feels himself betrayed; and the dead- 
 ly need of revenge, together with the sense that he is in soli- 
 tude and must depend upon his own strength and prudence, 
 makes him calm. He endeavours to pacify his mother and 
 to check the old man's tears; he utters no violent speech. 
 Only one obscure and formidable word escapes his lips : 
 
 " I go alone 
 Lik© to a lonely dragon that his fen 
 Makes fear'd and talk'd of more than seen." 
 
 And in this spirit he strides forward towards Corioli. . . . 
 
 But Coriolanus has found in Antium no second home. 
 Honoured and deferred to, tended on, and treated as almost 
 sacred, he is still the "lonely dragon that his fen makes 
 fear'd." Cut off from his kindred and his friends, wronged 
 by his own passionate sense of personality, his violent ego- 
 ism, he resolves to stand 
 
 " As if a man were author of himself. 
 And knew no other kin." 
 
 But the loves and loyalties to which he has done violence 
 react against him. The struggle, prodigious and pathetic, 
 begins between all that is massive, stern, inflexible, and all 
 that is tender and winning in his nature; and the strength 
 is subdued by the weakness. It is as if an oak were rent 
 and uprooted not by the stroke of lightning, but by some 
 miracle of gentle yet irresistible music. And while Corio- 
 lanus yields under the influence of an instinct not to be con- 
 trolled, he possesses the distinct consciousness that such 
 yielding is mortal to himself He has come to hate and to 
 conquer, but he must needs perish and love: 
 
INTR on UC TIQN. 4 1 
 
 " My wife comes foremost ; then the honour'd mould 
 Wherein this trunk was fram'd, and in her hand 
 The grandchild to her blood. But out, affection ! 
 All bond and privilege of nature, break ! 
 Let it be virtuous to be obstinate ! 
 What is that curt'sy worth? Or those doves' eyes, 
 Which can make gods forsworn? I melt, and am not 
 Of stronger earth than others. My mother bows, 
 As if Olympus to a molehill should 
 In supplication nod ; and my young boy 
 Hath an aspect of intercession, which 
 Great nature cries 'Deny not.'" 
 
 The convulsive efforts to maintain his hardness and rigid- 
 ity are in vain ; Coriolanus yields ; his obstinacy and pride 
 are broken ; he is compelled to learn that a man cannot 
 stand as if he were author of himself And so the fortunes 
 of Coriolanus fall, but the man rises with that fall. 
 
 Delivered from patrician pride and his long habit of ego- 
 ism, Coriolanus cannot be. The purely human influences 
 have reached him through the only approaches by which he 
 was accessible — through his own family. To the plebeian 
 class he must still remain the intolerant patrician. Never- 
 theless, he has undergone a profound experience ; he has 
 acknowledged purely human influences in the only way in 
 which it was possible for him to do so. No single experi- 
 ence, Shakspere was aware, can deliver the soul from the long 
 habit of passionate egoism. And, accordingly, at the last it 
 is this which betrays him into the hands of the conspirators. 
 His conduct before Rome is about to be judicially inquired 
 into at Antium. But the word " boy," ejaculated against him 
 by Aufidius, "touches Coriolanus into an ecstasy of passion- 
 ate rage :" 
 
 «' Boy ! O slave ! 
 Pardon me, lords, 't is the first time that ever 
 I was forc'd to scold. 
 
 Boy ! false hound ! 
 
42 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 If you have writ your annals true, 't is there 
 That, like an eagle in a dove-cote, I 
 Flutter'd your Volscians in Corioli; 
 Alone, I did it. Boy !" 
 
 And in a moment the swords of the conspirators have 
 pierced him. A Volscian lord, reverent for fallen greatness, 
 protects the body : 
 
 " Tread not upon him. Masters all, be quiet ; 
 Put up your swords." 
 
 So suddenly has he passed from towering passion to the 
 helplessness of death, the victim of his own violent egoism 
 and uncontrollable self-will. We remain with the sense that 
 a great gap in the world has been made; that a sea-mark 
 "standing every flaw" has for all time disappeared. We 
 see the lives of smaller men still going on ; we repress all 
 violence of lamentation, and bear about with us a memory 
 in which pride and pity are blended. 
 
CORIOLANUS, 
 
DRAMATIS PERSONS. 
 
 Caius Makcius, afterwards Caius Marcius 
 
 COKIOLANUS. 
 
 Titus Lartius, ) generals against the Vol- 
 
 CoMiNius, ) scians. 
 
 Menenius Agrippa, friend to Coriolanus. 
 
 SiciNius Velutus, I tribunes of the people. 
 
 JUNIUS Brutus, J 
 
 Young Marcius, son to Coriolanus. 
 
 A Roinan Herald. 
 
 TuLLus AuFiDius, general of the Volscians. 
 
 Lieutenant to Aufidius. 
 
 Conspirators with Aufidius. 
 
 A Citizen of Antium. 
 
 Two Volscian guards. 
 
 Voi.UMNiA, mother to Coriolanus. 
 ViRGiLiA, wife to Coriolanus. 
 Valeria, friend to Virgilia. 
 Gentlewoman attending on Virgilia. 
 
 Roman and Volscian Senators, Patricians, 
 iEdiles, Lictors, Soldiers, Citizens, Mes- 
 sengers, Servants to Aufidius, and other 
 Attendants. 
 
 Scene : Roine and the yiei^hboiirhood; Co- 
 rioli and the neighbourhood ; Antium. 
 
ISOLA TIBERINA, ROME- 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. Rome. A Street. 
 
 Enter a company of mutinous Citizens, with staves, dubs, and 
 
 other weapons. 
 
 I Citizen. Before we proceed any further, hear me speak. 
 
 All. Speak, speak. 
 
 I Citizen. You are all resolved rather to die than to fam- 
 ish ? 
 
 All. Resolved, resolved. 
 
 I Citizen. First, you know Caius Marcius is chief enemy 
 to the people. 
 
 All. We know 't, we know 't. 
 
 1 Citizen. Let us kill him, and we '11 have corn at our own 
 price. Is 't a verdict ? lo 
 
 All. No more talking on 't ; let it be done : away, away ! 
 
 2 Citizen. One word, good citizens. 
 
 I Citizen. We are accounted poor citizens, the patricians 
 good. What authority surfeits on would relieve us : if they 
 would yield us but the superfluity, while it were wholesome. 
 
46 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 we might guess they relieved us humanely; but they think we 
 are too dear : the leanness that afflicts us, the object of our 
 misery, is as an inventory to particularize their abundance ; 
 our sufferance is a gain to them. Let us revenge this with 
 our pikes, ere we become rakes; for the gods know I speak 
 this in hunger for bread, not in thirst for vengeance. 21 
 
 2 Citizen. Would you proceed especially against Caius 
 Marcius ? 
 
 1 Citizen. Against him first; he 's a very dog to the com- 
 monalty. 
 
 2 Citizen. Consider you what services he has done for his 
 country ? 
 
 1 Citizen. Very well ; and could be content to give him 
 good report for 't, but that he pays himself with being 
 proud. 30 
 
 2 Citizen. Nay, but speak not maliciously. 
 
 1 Citizen. I say unto you, what he hath done famously, he 
 did it to that end : though soft-conscienced men can be con- 
 tent to say it was for his country, he did it to please his 
 mother, and to be partly proud ; which he is, even to the al- 
 titude of his virtue. 
 
 2 Citizen. What he cannot help in his nature, you account 
 a vice in him. You must in no way say he is covetous. 
 
 I Citizen. If I must not, I need not be barren of accusa- 
 tions; he hath faults, with surplus, to tire in repetition. 
 \Shouts within.'\ What shouts are these ? The other side o' 
 the city is risen ; why stay we prating here ? to the Capitol I 
 
 All. Come, come. 43 
 
 1 Citizen. Soft ! who comes here ? 
 
 Enter Menenius Agrippa. 
 
 2 Citizen. Worthy Menenius Agrippa; one that hath al- 
 ways loved the people. 
 
 I Citizen. He 's one honest enough ; would all the rest 
 were so ! 
 
ACT I. SCENE I. 47 
 
 Metienius. What work 's, my countrymen, in hand ? where 
 go you 
 With bats and clubs ? The matter ? speak, I pray you. 50 
 
 I Citizen. Our business is not unknown to the senate ; 
 they have had inkling this fortnight what we intend to do, 
 which now we '11 show 'em in deeds. They say poor suitors 
 have strong breaths; they shall know we have strong arms 
 too. 
 
 Menenius. Why, masters, my good friends, mine honest 
 neighbours, 
 Will you undo yourselves .'' 
 
 I Citize7t. We cannot, sir, we are undone already. 
 
 Menejiius. I tell you, friends, most charitable care 
 Have the patricians of you. For your wants, 60 
 
 Your suffering in this dearth, you may as well 
 Strike at the heaven with your staves as lift them 
 Against the Roman state, whose course will on 
 The way it takes, cracking ten thousand curbs 
 Of more strong link asunder than can ever 
 Appear in your impediment. For the dearth. 
 The gods, not the patricians, make it, and 
 Your knees to them, not arms, must help. Alack ! 
 You are transported by calamity 
 
 Thither where more attends you ; and you slander 70 
 
 The helms o' the state, who care for you like fathers, 
 When you curse them as enemies. 
 
 I Citizen. Care for us ! True, indeed ! They ne'er cared 
 for us yet : — suffer us to famish, and their store-houses cram- 
 med with grain ; make edicts for usury, to support usurers ; 
 repeal daily any wholesome act established against the rich, 
 and provide more piercing statutes daily to chain up and re- 
 strain the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will ; and 
 there 's all the love they bear us. 
 
 Menenius. Either you must 80 
 
 Confess yourselves wondrous malicious, 
 
48 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Or be accus'd of folly. I shall tell you 
 A pretty tale; it may be you have heard it, 
 But, since it serves my purpose, I will venture 
 To stale 't a little more. 
 
 I Citizen. Well, I '11 hear it, sir : yet you must not think to 
 fob off our disgrace with a tale; but, an 't please you, de- 
 liver. 
 
 Menenius. There was a time when all the body's mem- 
 bers 
 Rebell'd against the belly, thus accus'd it : 90 
 
 That only like a gulf it did remain 
 I' the midst o' the body, idle and unactive, 
 Still cupboarding the viand, never bearing 
 Like labour with the rest, where the other instruments 
 Did see and hear, devise, instruct, walk, feel, 
 And, mutually participate, did minister 
 Unto the appetite and affection common 
 Of the whole body. The belly answer'd— 
 
 I Citizen. Well, sir, what answer made the belly.? 
 
 Menenius. Sir, I shall tell you. — With a kind of smile, 100 
 Which ne'er came from the lungs, but even thus — 
 For, look you, I may make the belly smile 
 As well as speak — it tauntingly replied 
 To the discontented members, the mutinous parts 
 That envied his receipt; even so most fitly 
 As you malign our senators for that 
 They are not such as you. 
 
 \ Citizen. Your belly's answer ? What! 
 
 The kingly-crowned head, the vigilant eye. 
 The counsellor heart, the arm our soldier, 
 Our steed tne leg, the tongue our trumpeter, no 
 
 With other muniments and petty helps 
 In this our fabric, if that they — 
 
 Menenius. What then ? — 
 
 Fore me, this fellow speaks !— What then ? what then ? 
 
ACT I. SCENE I. 49 
 
 I Citizen. Should by the cormorant belly be restrain'd, 
 Who is the sink o' the body, — 
 
 Meneniiis. Well, what then ? 
 
 I Citizen. The former agents, if they did complain, 
 What could the belly answer ? 
 
 Menenius. I will tell you ; 
 
 If you '11 bestow a small — of what you have little — 
 Patience awhile, you '11 hear the belly's answer. 
 
 I Citizen. Ye 're long about it. 
 
 Menenius. Note me this, good friend ; 
 
 Your most grave belly was deliberate, 121 
 
 Not rash like his accusers, and thus answer'd : 
 * True is it, my incorporate friends,' quoth he, 
 ' That I receive the general food at first. 
 Which you do live upon; and fit it is. 
 Because I am the store-house and the shop 
 Of the whole body : but, if you do remember, 
 I send it through the rivers of your blood. 
 Even to the court, the heart, to the seat o' the brain ; 
 And, through the cranks and offices of man, 130 
 
 The strongest nerves and small inferior veins 
 From me receive that natural competency 
 Whereby they live. And though that all at once. 
 You, my good friends,' — this says the belly, mark me, — 
 
 I Citizen. Ay, sir; well, well. 
 
 Menenius. 'Though all at once cannot 
 
 See what I do deliver out to each, 
 Yet I can make my audit up, that all 
 From me do back receive the flour of all. 
 And leave me but the bran.' What say you to 't ? 
 
 I Citizen. It was an answer; how apply you this? 140 
 
 Menenius. The senators of Rome are this good belly, 
 And you the mutinous members; for examine 
 Their counsels and their cares, digest things rightly 
 Touching the weal o' the common, you shall find 
 
 D 
 
so 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 No public benefit which you receive 
 
 But it proceeds or comes from them to you, 
 
 And no way from yourselves. — What do you think, 
 
 You, the great toe of this assembly ? 
 
 I Citizen. I the great toe ! why the great toe ? 
 
 Menenius, For that, being one o' the lowest, basest, poor- 
 est, 150 
 Of this most wise rebellion, thou go'st foremost. 
 Thou rascal, that art worst in blood to run, 
 Lead'st first to win some vantage. — 
 But make you ready your stiff bats and clubs : 
 Rome and her rats are at the point of battle; 
 The one side must have bale. — 
 
 Enter Caius Marcius. 
 
 Hail, noble Marcius ! 
 Marcius. Thanks. — What 's the matter, you dissentious 
 rogues, 
 That, rubbing the poor itch of your opinion, 
 Make yourselves scabs ? 
 
 I Citizen. We have ever your good word. 159 
 
 Marcius. He that will give good words to thee will flatter 
 Beneath abhorring. — What would you have, you curs. 
 That like nor peace nor war? the one affrights you. 
 The other makes you proud. He that trusts to you, 
 Where he should find you lions, finds you hares; 
 Where foxes, geese : you are no surer, no. 
 Than is the coal of fire upon the ice. 
 Or hailstone in the sun. Your virtue is 
 To make him worthy whose offence subdues him, 
 And curse that justice did it. Who deserves greatness 
 Deserves your hate; and your affections are 170 
 
 A sick man's appetite, who desires most that 
 Which would increase his evil. He that depends 
 Upon your favours swims with fins of lead 
 
ACT /. SCENE I. 
 
 51 
 
 And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye ! Trust ye ? 
 
 With every minute you do change a mind, 
 
 And call him noble that was now your hate, 
 
 Him vile that was your garland. What 's the matter. 
 
 That in these several places of the city 
 
 You cry against the noble senate, who. 
 
 Under the gods, keep you in awe, which else 180 
 
 Would feed on one another ? — What 's their seeking ? 
 
 Menenius. For corn at their own rates; whereof, they 
 say. 
 The city is well stor'd. 
 
 Marcius. Hang 'em ! "They say ! 
 
 They '11 sit by the fire, and presume to know 
 What 's done i' the Capitol ; who 's like to rise, 
 Who thrives and who declines ; side factions, and give out 
 Conjectural marriages ; making parties strong. 
 And feebling such as stand not in their liking 
 Below their cobbled shoes. They say there 's grain enough ! 
 Would the nobility lay aside their ruth, 190 
 
 And let me use my sword, I 'd make a quarry 
 With thousands of these quarter'd slaves, as high 
 As I could pick my lance. 
 
 Mejienius. Nay, these are almost thoroughly persuaded ; 
 For though abundantly they lack discretion, 
 Yet are they passing cowardly. But, I beseech you, 
 What says the other troop ? 
 
 Marcius. They are dissolv'd. Hang 'em ! 
 
 They said they were an-hungry; sigh'd forth proverbs, — 
 That hunger broke stone walls, that dogs must eat. 
 That meat was made for mouths, that the gods sent not 200 
 Corn for the rich men only : with these shreds 
 They vented their complainings ; which being answer'd, 
 And a petition granted them, a strange one — 
 To break the heart of generosity. 
 And make bold power look pale — they threw their caps 
 
52 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 As they would hang them on the horns o' the moon, 
 Shouting their emulation. 
 
 Menenius. What is granted them ? 
 
 Marcius. Five tribunes to defend their vulgar wisdoms, 
 Of their own choice ; one 's Junius Brutus, 
 Sicinius Velutus, and I know not — 'Sdeath ! 210 
 
 The rabble should have first unroof'd the city, 
 Ere so prevail'd with me; it will in time 
 Win upon power and throw forth greater themes 
 For insurrection's arguing. 
 
 Menenius. This is strange. 
 
 Marcius. Go, get you home, you fragments ! 
 
 Enter a Messenger, hastily. 
 
 Messenger. Where 's Caius Marcius ? 
 Marcius. Here. What 's the matter? 
 
 Messenger. The news is, sir, the Volsces are in arms. 
 Marcius. I am glad on 't; then we shall ha' means to 
 vent 
 Our musty superfluity. — See, our best elders. 219 
 
 jS/^/^r CoMiNius, Titus IuKRIIVS, and other Senators; Junius 
 Brutus and Sicinius Velutus. 
 
 I Se?iator. Marcius, 't is true that you have lately told us ; 
 The Volsces are in arms. 
 
 Marcius. They have a leader, 
 
 Tullus Aufidius, that will put you to 't. 
 I sin in envying his nobility, 
 And were I any thing but what I am, 
 I would wish me only he. 
 
 Cominius. You have fought together. 
 
 Marcius. Were half to half the world by the ears and he 
 Upon my party, I 'd revolt, to make 
 Only my w^ars with him ; he is a lion 
 That I am proud to hunt. 
 
ACT I. SCENE I. 53 
 
 I Senator. Then, worthy Marcius, 
 
 Attend upon Cominius to these wars. 230 
 
 Cominius. It is your former promise. 
 
 Marcius. Sir, it is ; 
 
 And I am constant. — Titus Lartius, thou 
 Shalt see me once more strike at Tullus' face. 
 What, art thou stiff.? stand'st out ? 
 
 Titus. No, Caius Marcius ; 
 
 I '11 lean upon one crutch and fight with t' other 
 Ere stay behind this business. 
 
 Menenius. O, true bred ! 
 
 I Senator. Your company to the Capitol ; where, I know, 
 Our greatest friends attend us. 
 
 Titus. Lead you on. — 
 
 Follow, Cominius ; we must follow you ; 
 Right worthy you priority. 
 
 Cominius. Noble Marcius ! 240 
 
 I Senator. [To the Citizens^ Hence to your homes ; be gone ! 
 
 Marcius. Nay, let them follow. 
 
 The Volsces have much corn ; take these rats thither 
 To gnaw their garners. — Worshipful mutiners, 
 Your valour puts well forth ; pray, follow. 
 
 [Citizens steal away. Exeunt all but 
 Sicinius and Brutus. 
 
 Sicinius. Was ever man so proud as is this Marcius.? 
 
 Brutus. He has no equal. 
 
 Sicinius. When we were chosen tribunes for the people, — 
 
 Brutus. Mark'd you his lips and eyes ? 
 
 Sici7iius. Nay, but his taunts. 
 
 Brutus. Being mov'd, he will not spare to gird the gods. 
 
 Sicinius. Bemock the modest moon. 250 
 
 Brutus. The present wars devour him ! he is grown 
 Too proud to be so valiant. 
 
 Sicinius. Such a nature. 
 
 Tickled with good success, disdains the shadow 
 
54 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Which he treads on at noon ; but I do wonder 
 His insolence can brook to be commanded 
 Under Cominius. 
 
 Brutus. Fame, at the which he aims, 
 
 In whom already he 's well grac'd, cannot 
 Better be held nor more attain'd than by 
 A place below the first ; for what miscarries 
 Shall be the general's fault, though he perform 260 
 
 To the utmost of a man, and giddy censure 
 Will then cry out of Marcius, *' O, if he 
 Had borne the business!' 
 
 Sicinius. Besides, if things go well, 
 
 Opinion that so sticks on Marcius shall 
 Of his demerits rob Cominius. 
 
 Brutus. Come : 
 
 Half all Cominius' honours are to Marcius, 
 Though Marcius earn'd them not ; and all his faults 
 To Marcius shall be honours, though indeed 
 In aught he merit not 
 
 Sicinius. Let 's hence and hear 
 
 How the dispatch is made, and in what fashion, 270 
 
 More than his singularity, he goes 
 Upon this present action. 
 
 Brutus. Let 's along. {Exeunt. 
 
 Scene 1 1. Corioli. The Senate-house. 
 Enter Tullus Aufidius with Senators of Corioli. 
 I Senator. So, your opinion is, Aufidius, 
 That they of Rome are enter'd in our counsels 
 And know how we proceed. 
 
 Aufidius. Is it not yours ? 
 
 What ever have been thought on in this state. 
 That could be brought to bodily act ere Rome 
 Had circumvention ? 'T is not four days gone 
 
ACT I. SCENE IL 
 
 55 
 
 Since I heard thence ; these are the words : — I think 
 
 I have the letter here ; yes, here it is : 
 
 [Reads] * They have press'' d a power^ but it is not known 
 
 Whether for east or west : the dearth is great, lo 
 
 The people mutinous ; and it is 7'umour^d, 
 
 Cominius, Marcius your old enemy, 
 
 Who is of Rome worse hated than of you. 
 
 And Titus Lartius, a most valiant Roman, 
 
 These three lead 07i this preparation 
 
 Whither V is bent : most likely His for you. 
 
 Consider of it.'' 
 
 1 Senator. Our army 's in the field. 
 
 We never yet made doubt but Rome was ready 
 To answer us. 
 
 Auftdius. Nor did you think it folly 
 To keep your great pretences veil'd till when 20 
 
 They needs must show themselves; which in the hatching, 
 It seem'd, appear'd to Rome. By the discovery 
 We shall be shorten'd in our aim, which was 
 To take in many towns ere almost Rome 
 Should know we were afoot. 
 
 2 Senator. Noble Aufidius, 
 Take your commission ; hie you to your bands. 
 Let us alone to guard Corioli : 
 
 If they set down before 's, for the remove 
 Bring up your army ; but, I think, you '11 find 
 They 've not prepar'd for us. 
 
 Aufiditis. O, doubt not that; 30 
 
 I speak from certainties. Nay, more. 
 Some parcels of their power are forth already, 
 And only hitherward. I leave your honours. 
 If we and Caius Marcius chance to meet, 
 'T is sworn between us we shall ever strike 
 Till one can do no more. 
 
 All. The gods assist you ! 
 
2 5 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Aufldius. And keep your honours safe ! 
 
 1 Senator. Farewell. 
 
 2 Senator. Farewell. 
 All. Farewell. {Exeunt. 
 
 Scene III, Rome. A Room in Mar ems' House. 
 
 Enter Volumnia a7td Virgilia; they set them down on two 
 
 low stools, and sew. 
 
 Volumnia. I pray you, daughter, sing ; or express yourself 
 in a more comfortable sort. If my son were my husband, I 
 should freelier rejoice in that absence wherein he won hon- 
 our than in the embracements of his bed where he would 
 show most love. When yet he was but tender-bodied and 
 the only son of my womb, when youth with comeliness pluck- 
 ed all gaze his way, when for a day of kings' entreaties a 
 mother should not sell him an hour from her beholding, I, — 
 considering how honour would become such a person, that it 
 was no better than picture-like to hang by the wall, if renown 
 made it not stir, — was pleased to let him seek danger where 
 he was like to find fame. To a cruel war I sent him ; from 
 whence he returned, his brows bound with oak. I tell thee, 
 daughter, I sprang not more in joy at first hearing he was a 
 man-child than now in first seeing he had proved himself a 
 man. ' i6 
 
 Virgilia. But had he died in the business, madam ; how 
 then? 
 
 Volumnia. Then his good report should have been my son; 
 I therein would have found issue. Hear me profess sincerely : 
 had I a dozen sons, each in my love alike and none less dear 
 than thine and my good Marcius, I had rather had eleven die 
 nobly for their country than one voluptuously surfeit out of 
 action. 24 
 
 Enter a Gentlewoman. 
 
 Gentlewoman. Madam, the Lady Valeria is come to visit you. 
 
ACT I. SCENE III. 
 
 57 
 
 Virgilia. Beseech you, give me leave to retire myself. 
 
 Volumnia. Indeed, you shall not. 
 Methinks I hear hither your husband's drum, 
 See him pluck Aufidius down by the hair ; 
 As children from a bear, the Volsces shunning him. 30 
 
 Methinks I see him stamp thus, and call thus : 
 * Come on, you cowards ! you were got in fear. 
 Though you were born in Rome.' His bloody brow 
 With his mail'd hand then wiping, forth he goes. 
 Like to a harvest-man that 's task'd to mow 
 Or all or lose his hire. 
 
 Virgilia. His bloody brow ! O Jupiter, no blood ! 
 
 Volumnia. Away, you fool ! it more becomes a man 
 Than gilt his trophy; the breasts of Hecuba, 
 When she did suckle Hector, look'd not lovelier 40 
 
 Than Hector's forehead when it spit forth blood 
 At Grecian sword, contemning. — Tell Valeria 
 We are fit to bid her welcome. \^Exit Gentlewoman. 
 
 Virgilia. Heavens bless my lord from fell Aufidius ! 
 
 Volumnia. He '11 beat Aufidius' head below his knee 
 And tread upon his neck. 
 
 Enter Valeria with an Usher, and a Gentlewoman. 
 
 Valeria. My ladies both, good day to you. 
 
 Volumnia. Sweet madam, — 
 
 Virgilia. I am glad to see your ladyship. 
 
 Valeria. How do you both ? you are manifest housekeep- 
 ers. What are you sewing here 1 A fine spot, in good faith. 
 — How does your little son ? 52 
 
 Virgilia. I thank your ladyship ; well, good madam. 
 
 Volumnia. He had rather see the swords, and hear a drum, 
 than look upon his schoolmaster. 
 
 Valeria. O' my word, the father's son ; I '11 swear, 't is a very 
 pretty boy. O' my troth, I looked upon him o' Wednesday 
 half an hour together ; has such a confirmed countenance. 
 
58 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 I saw him run after a gilded butterfly ; and when he caught 
 it, he let it go again ; and after it again ; and over and over 
 he comes, and up again; catched it again; or whether his 
 fall enraged him, or how 't was, he did so set his teeth and 
 tear it ; O, I warrant, how he mammocked it 1 63 
 
 Volumnia. One on 's father's moods. 
 
 Valeria. Indeed, la, 't is a noble child. 
 
 Virgilia, A crack, madam. 
 
 Valeria. Come, lay aside your stitchery ; I must have you 
 play the idle huswife with me this afternoon. 
 
 Virgilia. No, good madam ; I will not out of doors. 
 
 Valeria. Not out of doors ! 70 
 
 Volumnia. She shall, she shall. 
 
 Virgilia. Indeed, no, by your patience ; I '11 not over the 
 threshold till my lord return from the wars. 
 
 Valeria. Fie, you confine yourself most unreasonably. 
 Come you must go visit the good lady that lies in. 
 
 Virgilia. I will wish her speedy strength, and visit her with 
 my prayers ; but I cannot go thither. 
 
 Volumnia. Why, I pray you ? 
 
 Virgilia. 'T is not to save labour, nor that I want love. 79 
 
 Valeria. You would be another Penelope ; yet, they say, 
 all the yarn she spun in Ulysses' absence did but fill Ithaca 
 full of moths. Come ; I would your cambric were sensible 
 as your finger, that you might leave pricking it for pity. 
 Come, you shall go with us. 
 
 Virgilia. No, good madam, pardon me ; indeed, I will not 
 forth. 
 
 Valeria. In truth, la, go with me ; and I '11 tell you excellent 
 news of your husband. 
 
 Virgilia. O, good madam, there can be none yet. 
 
 Valeria. Verily, I do not jest with you ; there came news 
 from him last night 91 
 
 Virgilia. Indeed, madam ? 
 
 Valeria. In earnest, it 's true ; I heard a senator speak it. 
 
ACT L SCENE IV. 59 
 
 Thus it is : the Volsces have an army forth, against whom 
 Cominius the general is gone, with one part of our Roman 
 power ; your lord and Titus Lartius are set down before their 
 city Corioli ; they nothing doubt prevailing, and to make it 
 brief wars. This is true, on mine honour ; and so, I pray, go 
 with us. 
 
 Virgilia. Give me excuse, good madam ; I will obey you 
 in every thing hereafter. 101 
 
 Volumnia. Let her alone, lady ; as she is now, she will but 
 disease our better mirth. 
 
 Valeria. In troth, I think she would. — Fare you well then. 
 —Come, good sweet lady.— Prithee, Virgilia, turn thy solem- 
 ness out o' door, and go along with us. 
 
 Virgilia. No, at a word, madam ; indeed, I must not. I 
 wish you much mirth. 
 
 Valeria. Well, then, farewell. {Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IV. Before Corioli. 
 Enter, with drum and colours, Marcius, Titus Lartius, 
 
 Captains, and Soldiers. 
 Marcius. Yonder comes news. A wager they have met. 
 Lartius. My horse to yours, no. 
 Marcius. 'T is done. 
 
 Lartius. Agreed. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 Marcius. Say, has our general met the enemy ? 
 Messenger. They lie in view, but have not spoke as yet. 
 Lartius. So, the good horse is mine. 
 Marcius. I 'H buy him of you. 
 
 Lartius. No, I '11 nor sell nor give him; lend you him I will 
 For half a hundred years. — Summon the town. 
 Marcius. How far off lie these armies ? 
 Messenger. Within this mile and half. 
 
 Marcius. Then shall we hear their larum, and they ours.— 
 
6o CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Now, Mars, I prithee, make us quick in work, lo 
 
 That we with smoking swords may march from hence, 
 To help our fielded friends ! — Come, blow thy blast. — 
 
 [ Tkey sound a parley. 
 
 Eftter two Senators with others on the walls. 
 Tullus Aufidius, is he within your walls ? 
 
 I Senator. No, nor a man that fears you less than he. 
 That 's lesser than a little. \^Drum afar off.~\ Hark ! our 
 
 drums 
 Are bringing forth our youth. We '11 break our walls, 
 Rather than they shall pound us up : our gates. 
 Which yet seem shut, we have but pinn'd with rushes; 
 They '11 open of themselves. [Alarum afar off.] Hark you, 
 
 far off! 
 There is Aufidius; list, what work he makes • 20 
 
 Amongst your cloven army. 
 
 Marcius. O, they are at it! 
 
 Lartius. Their noise be our instruction. — Ladders, ho ! 
 
 Enter the army of the Vol sees. 
 Marcius. They fear us not, but issue forth their city. 
 Now put your shields before your hearts, and fight 
 With hearts more proof than shields.— Advance, brave Titus; 
 They do disdain us much beyond our thoughts. 
 Which makes me sweat with wrath.— Come on, my fellows; 
 He that retires, I '11 take him for a Volsce, 
 And he shall feel mine edgfe. 
 
 [Alarum. The Romans are beat back to their trenches. 
 
 , Re-enter Marcius, cursiitg. 
 Marcius. All the contagion of the south light on you, 30 
 You shames of Rome ! you herd of— Boils and plagues 
 Plaster you o'er, that you may be abhorr'd 
 Further than seen, and one infect another 
 
ACT L SCENE IV. 6 1 
 
 Against the wind a mile ! You souls of geese, 
 
 That bear the shapes of men, how have you run 
 
 From slaves that apes would beat! Pluto and hell! 
 
 All hurt behind; backs red, and faces pale 
 
 With flight and agued fear ! Mend and charge home, 
 
 Or, by the fires of heaven, I '11 leave the foe 
 
 And make my wars on you! Look to 't: come on; 40 
 
 If you '11 stand fast, we '11 beat them to their wives. 
 
 As they us to our trenches followed. 
 
 \_Another alarum. The Volsces fly, and Marcius 
 follows them to the gates. 
 So, now the gates are ope; now prove good seconds. 
 'T is for the followers fortune widens them. 
 Not for the fliers ; mark me, and do the like. 
 
 \Enters the gates. 
 
 1 Soldier. Fool-hardiness! not I. 
 
 2 Soldier. Nor I. 
 
 \Marcius is shut in. 
 I Soldier. See, they have shut him in. 
 AIL To the pot, I warrant him. 
 
 \Alarum continues. 
 
 Re-enter Titus Lartius. 
 
 Lartius. What is become of Marcius.'* 
 
 AIL Slain, sir, doubtless. 
 
 I Soldier. Following the fliers at the very heels. 
 With them he enters; who, upon the sudden, 50 
 
 Clapp'd to their gates: he is himself alone. 
 To answer all the city. 
 
 Lartius. O noble fellow! 
 
 Who sensibly outdares his senseless sword, 
 And, when it bows, stands up. Thou art lost, Marcius; 
 A carbuncle entire, as big as thou art, 
 Were not so rich a jewel. Thou wast a soldier 
 Even to Cato's wish, not fierce and terrible 
 
62 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Only in strokes; but, with thy grim looks and 
 
 The thunder-like percussion of thy sounds, 
 
 Thou mad'st thine enemies shake, as if the world 60 
 
 Were feverous and did tremble. 
 
 Re-enter Marcius, bleedings assaulted by the ejiemy. 
 I Soldier. Look, sir ! 
 
 Lartius: O, 't is Marcius ! 
 
 Let 's fetch him off, or make remain alike. 
 
 \They fight, and all enter the city. 
 
 Scene V. Corioli. A Street. 
 Enter certain Romans, with spoils. 
 
 1 Roman. This will I carry to Rome. 
 
 2 Roman. And I this. 
 
 3 Roman. A murrain on 't! I took this for silver. 
 
 \Alariim cotitiniies still afar off. 
 
 Enter Marcius, and Titus Lartius with a trumpet. 
 
 Marcius. See here these movers that do prize their hours 
 At a crack'd drachma! Cushions, leaden spoons, 
 Irons of a doit, doublets that hangmen would 
 Bury with those that wore them, these base slaves. 
 Ere yet the light be done, pack up. — Down with them ! — 
 And hark, what noise the general makes! — To him! 
 There is the man of my soul's hate, Aufidius, 10 
 
 Piercing our Romans; then, valiant Titus, take 
 Convenient numbers to make good the city, 
 Whilst I, with those that have the spirit, will haste 
 To help Cominius. 
 
 Lartius. Worthy sir, thou bleed'st; 
 
 Thy exercise hath been too violent 
 For a second course of fight 
 
 Marcius. Sir, praise me not; 
 
ACT I. SCENE VI. 
 
 63 
 
 My work hath yet not warm'd me. Fare you well. 
 The blood I drop is rather physical 
 Than dangerous to me; to Aufidius thus 
 I will appear, and fight. 
 
 Lartius. Now the fair goddess, Fortune, 20 
 
 Fall deep in love with thee, and her great charms 
 Misguide thy opposers' swords! Bold gentleman. 
 Prosperity be thy page ! 
 
 Marciiis. Thy friend no less 
 
 Than those she placeth highest ! So, farewell. 
 
 Lartius, Thou worthiest Marcius ! — \Exit Marcius. 
 
 Go sound thy trumpet in the market-place ; 
 Call thither all the officers o' the town. 
 Where they shall know our mind : away! \Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VI. Near the Camp of Cominius, 
 Enter Cominius, as it were in retire, with Soldiers. 
 Cominius. Breathe you, my friends. Well fought! we are 
 come off 
 Like Romans, neither foolish in our stands, 
 Nor cowardly in retire ; believe me, sirs, 
 We shall be charg'd again. Whiles we have struck, 
 By interims and conveying gusts we have heard 
 The charges of our friends. — Ye Roman gods! 
 Lead their successes as we wish our own. 
 That both our powers, with smiling fronts encountering. 
 May give you thankful sacrifice ! — 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Thy news ? 
 Messenger. The citizens of Corioli have issued, 10 
 
 And given to Lartius and to Marcius battle ; 
 I saw our party to their trenches driven, 
 And then I came away. 
 
64 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Cominius. Though thou speak'st truth 
 
 Methinks thou speak'st not well. How long is 't since ? 
 
 Messenger. Above an hour, my lord. 
 
 Cominius. 'T is not a mile ; briefly we heard their drums. 
 How couldst thou in a mile confound an hour, 
 And bring thy news so late ? 
 
 Messenger. Spies of the Volsces 
 
 Held me in chase, that I was forc'd to wheel 
 Three or four miles about, else had I, sir, 20 
 
 Half an hour since brought my report. 
 
 Cominius. Who 's yonder, 
 
 That does appear as he were flay'd ? O gods ! 
 He has the stamp of Marcius, and I have 
 Beforetime seen him thus. 
 
 Marcius. [ Within?^ Come I too late ? 
 
 Cominius. The shepherd knows not thunder from a tabor 
 More than I know the sound of Marcius' tongue 
 From every meaner man. 
 
 Enter Marcius. 
 
 Marcius. Come I too late? 
 
 Comi?tius. Ay, if you come not in the blood of others, 
 But mantled in your own. 
 
 Marcius. O, let me clip ye 
 
 In arms as sound as when I woo'd, in heart 3° 
 
 As merry as when our nuptial day was done, 
 And tapers burn'd to bedward ! 
 
 Cominius. Flower of warriors, 
 
 How is 't with Titus Lartius ? 
 
 Marcius. As with a man busied about decrees : 
 Condemning some to death, and some to exile ; 
 Ransoming him, or pitying, threatening the other; 
 Holding Corioli in the name of Rome, 
 Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash, 
 To let him slip at will. 
 
ACT /. SCENE VI. 65 
 
 Cominius. Where is that slave 
 
 Which told me they had beat you to your trenches ? 4p 
 
 Where is he ? call him hither. 
 
 Mar cms. Let him alone ; 
 
 He did inform the truth : but for our gentlemen, 
 The common file — a plague ! tribunes for them ! — 
 The mouse ne'er shunn'd the cat as they did budge 
 From rascals worse than they. 
 
 Cominius. But how prevail'd you ? 
 
 Marciiis. Will the time serve to tell ? I do not think. 
 Where is the enemy ? are you lords o' the field t 
 If not, why cease you till you are so ? 
 
 Cominius. Marcius, 
 
 We have at disadvantage fought, and did 
 Retire to mn our purpose. 50 
 
 Marcius. How lies their battle ? know you on which side 
 They have plac'd their men of trust ? 
 
 Cominius. As I guess, Marcius, 
 
 Their bands i' the vaward are the Antiates, 
 Of their best trust ; o'er them Aufidius, 
 Their very heart of hope. 
 
 Marcius. I do beseech you, 
 
 By all the battles wherein we have fought. 
 By the blood we have shed together, by the vows 
 We have made to endure friends, that you directly 
 Set me against Aufidius and his Antiates; 
 And that you not delay the present, but, 60 
 
 Filling the air with swords advanc'd and darts, 
 We prove this very hour. 
 
 Cominius. Though I could wish 
 
 You were conducted to a gentle bath 
 And balms applied to you, yet dare I never 
 Deny your asking ; take your choice of those 
 That best can aid your action. 
 
 Marcius. Those are they 
 
 E 
 
66 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 That most are willing. — If any such be here — 
 
 As it were sin to doubt — that love this painting 
 
 Wherein you see me smear'd ;. if any fear 
 
 Lesser his person than an ill report ; 7° 
 
 If any think brave death outweighs bad life, 
 
 And that his country 's dearer than himself; 
 
 Let him alone, or so many so minded, 
 
 Wave thus, to express his disposition. 
 
 And follow Marcius. 
 
 {They all shout and wave their swords, take him up 
 in their arms, and cast up their caps. 
 O, me alone ! make you a sword of me ? 
 If these shows be not outward, which of you 
 But is four Volsces ? none of you but is 
 Able to bear against the great Auiidius 
 A shield as hard as his. A certain number, 80 
 
 Though thanks to all, must I select from all ; the rest 
 Shall bear the business in some other fight, 
 As cause will be obey'd. Please you to march ; 
 And four shall quickly draw out my command. 
 Which men are best inclin'd. 
 
 Cominius, March on, my fellows; 
 
 Make good this ostentation, and you shall 
 Divide in all with us. \_Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VII. The Gates of Corioli. 
 
 Titus I^kv.tw^^, having set a guard upon Corioli, going tvith 
 drum and trmnpet toward Cominius and Caius Marcius, 
 enters with a Lieutenant, <^M^r Soldiers, a?id a Scout. 
 Lartius. So, let the ports be guarded; keep your duties, 
 
 As I have set them down. If I do send, dispatch 
 
 Those centuries to our aid ; the rest will serve 
 
 For a short holding : if we lose the field, 
 
 We cannot keep the town. 
 
ACT I. SCENE VI I I. 67 
 
 Lieutenant. Fear not our care, sir. 
 
 Lartius. Hence, and shut your gates upon 's. — 
 
 Our guider, come ; to the Roman camp conduct us. 
 
 S^Exeimt. 
 
 Scene VIII. A Field of Battle, 
 Alarum as in battle. Enter, from opposite sides, Marcius and 
 
 AUFIDIUS. 
 
 Marcius. I '11 fight with none but thee ; for I do hate thee 
 Worse than a promise-breaker. 
 
 Aufidius. We hate alike ; 
 
 Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor 
 More than thy fame and envy. Fix thy foot. 
 
 Marcius. Let the first budger die the other's slave, 
 And the gods doom him after ! 
 
 Aufidius. If I fiy, Marcius, 
 
 Holla me like a hare. 
 
 Marcius. Within these three hours, Tullus, 
 
 Alone I fought in your Corioli walls, 
 And made what work I pleas'd : 't is not my blood 
 Wherein thou seest me mask'd; for thy revenge 10 
 
 Wrench up thy power to the highest. 
 
 Aufidius. Wert thou the Hector 
 
 That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny, 
 Thou shouklst not scape me here. — 
 
 \They fight, and certain Vols ces come in the aid of Aufidius. 
 Marcius fights till they be driven in breathless. 
 Officious, and not valiant, you have sham'd me 
 In your condemned seconds. [Exeunt. 
 
68 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scene IX. The Roman Camp. 
 Flourish. Alarum. A retreat is soimded. Flourish. Enter 
 
 from one side, Cominius with the Romans |yr^/^ the other 
 
 side., Marcius, with his arm in a scarf. 
 
 Cominius. If I should tell thee o'er this thy day's work, ~ 
 Thou 't not believe thy deeds : but I 'U report it 
 Where senators shall mingle tears with smiles ; 
 Where great patricians shall attend and shrug, 
 I' the end admire ; where ladies shall be frighted, 
 And, gladly quak'd, hear more ; where the dull tribunes, 
 That with the fusty plebeians hate thine honours. 
 Shall say against their hearts ' We thank the gods 
 Our Rome hath such a soldier.' 
 
 Yet cam'st thou to a morsel of this feast, lo 
 
 Having fully din'd before. 
 
 Enter Titus Lartius, with his power, from the pursuit.. 
 
 Lartius. O general, 
 
 Here is the steed, we the caparison. 
 Hadst thou beheld — 
 
 Marcius. Pray now, no more ; my mother, 
 
 Who has a charter to extol her blood. 
 When she does praise me grieves me. I have done 
 As you have done ; that 's what I can : induc'd 
 As you have been ; that 's for my country. 
 He that has but effected his good will 
 Hath overta'en mine act. 
 
 Cominius. You shall not be 
 
 The grave of your deserving; Rome must know 20 
 
 The value of her own. 'T were a concealment 
 Worse than a theft, no less than a traducement, 
 To hide your doings; and to silence that, 
 Which, to the spire and top of praises vouch'd, 
 
ACT I. SCENE IX. 69 
 
 Would seem but modest. Therefore, I beseech you — 
 
 In sign of what you are, not to reward 
 
 What you have done — before our army hear me. 
 
 Marcius. I have some wounds upon me, and they smart 
 To hear themselves remember'd. 
 
 Commius. Should they not. 
 
 Well might they fester 'gainst ingratitude, 30 
 
 And tent themselves with death. Of all the horses, 
 Whereof we have ta'en good and good store, of all 
 The treasure in this field achiev'd and city. 
 We render you the tenth, to be ta'en forth. 
 Before the common distribution, at 
 Your only choice. 
 
 Marcius. I thank you, general, 
 
 But cannot make my heart consent to take 
 A bribe to pay my sword ; I do refuse it. 
 And stand upon my common part with those 
 That have beheld the doing. 40 
 
 \A long flourish. They all cry ^Marcius! Marcius!' 
 cast up their caps and lafices ; Cominius and Lartius 
 stand bare. 
 
 Marcius. May these same instruments, which you profane, 
 Never sound more, when drums and trumpets shall 
 I' the field prove flatterers ! Let courts and cities be 
 Made all of false-fac'd soothing, 
 Where steel grows soft as the parasite's silk ! 
 Let them be made an overture for the wars ! 
 No more, I say ! For that I have not wash'd 
 My nose that bled, or foil'd some debile wretch, — 
 Which, without note, here 's many else have done, — 
 You shout me forth 
 In acclamations hyperbolical ; 
 As if I lov'd my little should be dieted 
 In praises sauc'd with lies. 
 
 Cominius. Too modest are you ; 
 
 so 
 
yo CORIOLANUS. 
 
 More cruel to your good report than grateful 
 
 To us that give you truly. By your patience, 
 
 If 'gainst yourself you be incens'cl, we '11 put you, 
 
 Like one that means his proper harm, in manacles. 
 
 Then reason safely with you. — Therefore, be it known. 
 
 As to us, to all the world, that Caius Marcius 
 
 Wears this war's garland : in token of the which, 60 
 
 My noble steed, known to the camp, I give him, 
 
 With all his trim belonging ; and from this time. 
 
 For what he did before Corioli, call him, 
 
 With all the applause and clamour of the host, 
 
 Caius Marcius Coriolanus ! — Bear 
 
 The addition nobly ever ! 
 
 [^Flourish. Trumpets soufid, and drums. 
 
 All. Caius Marcius Coriolanus ! 
 
 Marcius. I will go wash ; 
 And when my face is fair, you shall perceive 
 Whether I blush or no : howbeit, I thank you. — 70 
 
 I mean to stride your steed, and at all times 
 To undercrest your good addition 
 To the fairness of my power. 
 
 Cominius. So, to our tent ; 
 
 Where, ere we do repose us, we will write 
 To Rome of our success. — You, Titus Lartius, 
 Must to Corioli back ; send us to Rome 
 The best, with whom we may articulate, 
 For their own good and ours. 
 
 Lartius. I shall, my lord. 
 
 Marcius. The gods begin to mock me. I, that now 
 Refus'd most princely gifts, am bound to beg 80 
 
 Of my lord general. 
 
 Cominius. Take 't; 't is yours. What is 't? 
 
 Marcius. I sometime lay here in Corioli 
 At a poor man's house ; he us'd me kindly. 
 He cried to me ; I saw him prisoner ; 
 
ACT I. SCENE X. 
 
 n 
 
 But then Aufidius was within my view, 
 
 And wrath o'erwhelm'd my pity. I request you 
 
 To give my poor host freedom. 
 
 Cominius. O, well begg'd ! 
 
 Were he the butcher of my son, he should 
 Be free as is the wind. — Deliver him, Titus. 
 
 Lartius. Marcius, his name. ^ 
 
 Marcius. By Jupiter, forgot ! — 90 
 
 I am weary ; yea, my memory is tir'd. — 
 Have we no wine here ? 
 
 Cominius. Go we to our tent. 
 
 The blood upon your visage dries ; 't is time 
 It should be look'd to : come. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene X. I'^he Camp of the Volsces. 
 
 A flourish. Cornets. Enter Tullus Aufidius, bloody^ with 
 
 two or three Soldiers. 
 
 Aufidius. The town is ta'en ! 
 
 I Soldier. 'T will be deliver'd back on good condition. 
 
 Aufidius. Condition ! 
 I would I were a Roman ; for I cannot, 
 Being a Volsce, be that I am. Condition I 
 What good condition can a treaty find 
 I' the part that is at mercy ? Five times, Marcius, 
 I have fought with thee ; so often hast thou beat me, 
 And wouldst do so, I think, should we encounter 
 As often as we eat. By the elements, 10 
 
 If e'er again I meet him beard to beard, 
 He 's mine, or I am his ! Mine emulation 
 Hath not that honour in 't it had; for where 
 I thought to crush him in an equal force, 
 True sword to sword, I '11 potch at him some way 
 Or wrath or craft may get him. 
 
 I Soldier. He 's the devil. 
 
72 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Aiifidius. Bolder, though not so subtle. My valour 's 
 poison'd 
 With only suffering stain by him, for him 
 Shall fly out of itself Nor sleep nor sanctuary, 
 Being naked, sick, nor fane nor Capitol, 20 
 
 The prayers of priests nor times of sacrifice, 
 Embarquements all of fury, shall lift up 
 Their rotten privilege and custom 'gainst 
 My hate to Marcius. Where I find him, were it 
 At home, upon my brother's guard, even there. 
 Against the hospitable canon, w^ould I 
 Wash my fierce hand in 's heart. Go you to the city ; 
 Learn how 't is held, and what they are that must 
 Be hostages for Rome. 
 
 I Soldier. Will not you go ? 
 
 Aujidius. I am attended at the cypress grove. I pray 
 you — 30 
 
 'T is south the city mills — bring me word thither 
 How the world goes, that to the pace of it 
 I may spur on my journey. 
 
 I Soldier. I shall, sir. \Exeunt. 
 
ACT II. 
 
 Scene I. Rome. A Public Place. 
 Enter Menenius, with the two Tribunes of the people, SiciN- 
 lus and Brutus. 
 Menenius. The augurer tells me we shall have news to- 
 night. 
 
 Brutus. Good or bad ? 
 
 Menenius. Not according to the prayer of the people, for 
 they love not Marcius. 
 
74 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Sicinius. Nature teaches beasts to know their friends. 
 
 Menenius. Pray you, who does the wolf love ? 
 
 Sicinius. The lamb. 
 
 Menenius. Ay, to devour him ; as the hungry plebeians 
 would the noble Marcius. lo 
 
 Brutus. He 's a lamb indeed, that baes like a bear. 
 
 Menenius. He 's a bear indeed, that lives like a lamb. You 
 two are old men; tell me one thing that I shall ask you. 
 
 Both. Well, sir. 
 
 Menenius. In what enormity is Marcius poor in, that you 
 two have not in abundance .'' 
 
 Brutus. He 's poor in no one fault, but stored with all. 
 
 Sicinius. Especially in pride. 
 . Brutus. And topping all others in boasting. 19 
 
 Menenius. This is strange now. Do you two know how 
 you are censured here in the city, — I mean of us o' the right- 
 hand file 1 do you ? 
 
 Both. Why, how are we censured .'' 
 
 Mene7iius. Because you talk of pride now, — will you not 
 be angry ? 
 
 Both. Well, well, sir, well. 
 
 Menenius. Why, 't is no great matter; for a very little thief 
 of occasion will rob you of a great deal of patience : give 
 your dispositions the reins, and be angry at your pleasures; 
 at the least, if you take it as a pleasure to you in being so. 
 You blame Marcius for being proud.? 31 
 
 Brutus. We do it not alone, sir. 
 
 Mejienius. I know you can do very little alone; for your 
 helps are many, or else your actions would grow wondrous 
 single : your abilities are too infant-like for doing much 
 alone. You talk of pride; O that' you could turn your eyes 
 toward the napes of your necks, and make but an interior 
 survey of your good selves ! O that you could ! 
 
 Brutus. What then, sir ? 39 
 
 Menenius. Why, then you should discover a brace of un- 
 
ACT IL SCENE /. 75 
 
 meriting, proud, violent, testy magistrates, alias fools, as any 
 in Rome. 
 
 Sicmiiis. Menenius, you are known well enough too. 
 
 Mefieniiis. I am known to be a humorous patrician, and 
 one that loves a cup of hot wine with not a drop of allaying 
 Tiber in 't; said to be something imperfect in favouring the 
 first complaint; hasty and tinder-like upon too trivial mo- 
 tion; one that converses more with the buttock of the night 
 than with the forehead of the morning. What I think I 
 utter, and spend my malice in my breath. Meeting two such 
 wealsmen as you are — I cannot call you Lycurguses — if the 
 drink you give me touch my palate adversely, I make a 
 crooked face at it. I can 't say your worships have delivered 
 the matter well, when I find the ass in compound with the 
 major part of your syllables; and though I must be content 
 to bear with those that say you are reverend grave men, yet 
 they lie deadly that tell you you have good faces. If you see 
 this in the map of my microcosm, follows it that I am known 
 well enough too ? w^iat harm can your bisson conspectuities 
 glean out of this character, if I be known well enough too ? 
 • Brutus. Come, sir, come, we know you well enough. 61 
 
 Menenius. You know neither me, yourselves, nor any thing. 
 You are ambitious for poor knaves' caps and legs ; you w^ear 
 out a good wholesome forenoon in hearing a cause between 
 an orange-wife and a fosset-seller, and then rejourn the con- 
 troversy of three-pence to a second day of audience. When 
 you are hearing a matter betv/een party and party, if you 
 chance to be pinched with the colic, you make faces like 
 mummers, set up the bloody flag against all patience, and 
 dismiss the controversy bleeding, the m.ore entangled by 
 your hearing; all the peace you make in their cause is, call- 
 ing both the parties knaves. You are a pair of strange ones. 
 
 Brutus. Come, come, you are well understood to be a per- 
 fecter giber for the table than a necessary bencher in the 
 Capitol. 75 
 
^6 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Mene?tius. Our very priests must become mockers, if they 
 shall encounter such ridiculous subjects as you are. When 
 you speak best unto the purpose, it is not worth the wagging 
 of your beards; and your beards deserve not so honourable 
 a grave as to stuff a botcher's cushion, or to be entombed in 
 an ass's pack-saddle. Yet you must be saying, Marcius is 
 proud; who, in a cheap estimation, is worth all your prede- 
 cessors since Deucalion, though perad venture some of the 
 best of 'em were hereditary hangmen. God-den to yoifr 
 worships; more of your conversation would infect my brain, 
 being the herdsmen of the beastly plebeians. I will be bold 
 to take my leave of you. — \Brutus and Siciniiis go aside. 
 
 Enter Volumnia, Virgilia, a7id Valeria. 
 How now, my as fair as noble ladies, — and the moon, were 
 she earthly, no nobler, — whither do you follow your eyes so 
 fast ? 90 
 
 Voluniftia. Honourable Menenius, my boy Marcius ap- 
 proaches ; for the love of Juno, let 's go. 
 
 Menenius. Ha ! Marcius coming home ! 
 
 Volumnia. Ay, worthy Menenius, and with most prosper-* 
 ous approbation. 
 
 Menenius. Take my cap, Jupiter, and I thank thee. — Hoo ! 
 Marcius coming home ! 
 
 Volumnia. 
 
 Virgilia. 
 
 Volumnia. Look, here 's a letter from him ; the state hath 
 another, his wife another, and, I think, there 's one at home 
 for you. loi 
 
 Menenius. I will make my very house reel to-night. — A 
 letter for me ! 
 
 Virgilia. Yes, certain, there 's a letter for you; I saw 't. 
 
 Menenius. A letter for me ! it gives me an estate of seven 
 years' health, in which time I will make a lip at the physi- 
 cian ; the most sovereign prescription in Galen is but em- 
 
 y Nay, 't is true. 
 
A CT 11. SCENE I. 
 
 77 
 
 pirictic, and, to this preservative, of no better report than a 
 horse-drench. Is he not wounded ? he was wont to come 
 home wounded. no 
 
 Virgilia. O, no, no, no ! 
 
 Volumnia. O, he is wounded ; I thank the gods for 't. 
 
 Menenius. So do I too, if it be not too much. Brings a' 
 victory in his pocket? the wounds become him. 
 
 Volumnia. On 's brows. Menenius, he comes the third 
 time home with the oaken garland. 
 
 Metienius. Has he disciplined Aufidius soundly ? 
 
 Volumnia. Titus Lartius writes, they fought together, but 
 Aufidius got off ng 
 
 Menejiius. And 't was time for him too, I '11 warrrant him 
 that; an he had stayed by him, I would not have been so 
 Jidiused for all the chests in Corioli, and the gold that 's in 
 them. Is the senate possessed of this? 
 
 Volumnia. Good ladies, let 's go. — Yes, yes, yes ; the sen- 
 ate has letters from the general, wherein he gives my son 
 the whole name of the war. He hath in this action outdone 
 his former deeds doubly. 
 
 Valeria. In troth, there 's wondrous things spoke of him. 
 
 Menenius. Wondrous! ay, I warrant you, and not without 
 his true purchasing. 130 
 
 Virgilia. The gods grant them true ! 
 
 Volumnia. True ! pow, waw ! 
 
 Menenius. True! I 'II be sworn they are true. Where is 
 he wounded? — [To the T?ibunes'] God save your good wor- 
 ships ! Marcius is coming home ; he has more cause to be 
 proud. — Where is he wounded ? 
 
 Volumnia. V the shoulder and i' the left arm; there will 
 be large cicatrices to show the people, when he shall stand 
 for his place. He received in the repulse of Tarquin seven 
 hurts i' the body. 14° 
 
 Menenius. One i' the neck, and two i' the thigh, — there 's 
 nine that I know. 
 
78 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Volumnia. He had, before this last expedition, twenty-five 
 wounds upon him. 
 
 Menenius. Now it 's twenty-seven; every gash was an en- 
 emy's grave. \A shout and flourish^ Hark! the trumpets. 
 
 Volumnia. These are the ushers of Marcius; before him 
 he carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears. 
 Death, that dark spirit, in 's nervy arm doth lie; 
 Which, being advanc'd, declines, and then men die. 150 
 
 A sennet. Trumpets sotmd. Enter Cominius the general, and 
 
 Titus Lartius; between them, Coriolanus, crowned with an 
 
 oaken garland ; with Captains and Soldiers, and a Herald. 
 
 Herald. Know, Rome, that all alone Marcius did fight 
 Within Corioli gates, where he hath won. 
 With fame, a name to Caius Marcius; these 
 In honour follows Coriolanus. — 
 Welcome to Rome, renowned Coriolanus! [Flourish. 
 
 All. Welcome to Rome, renowned Coriolanus! 
 
 CoriolaJius. No more of this; it does offend my heart: 
 Pray now, no more. 
 
 Cominius. Look, sir, your mother! 
 
 Coriolanus. O, 
 
 You have, I know, petition'd all the gods 
 For my prosperity! \Kneels. 
 
 Volumnia. Nay, my good soldier, up ; 160 
 
 My gentle Marcius, worthy Caius, and 
 By deed-achieving honour newly-nam'd, — 
 What is it? — Coriolanus must I call thee? — 
 But, O, thy wife ! 
 
 Coriolanus. My gracious silence, hail ! 
 
 Wouldst thou have laugh'd had I come coffin'd home, 
 That weep'st to see me triumph? Ah, my dear, 
 Such eyes the widows in Corioli wear, 
 And mothers that lack sons. 
 
 Menenius. Now, the gods crown thee ! 
 
. ^ ACT II. SCENE L yg 
 
 Coriolanus. And live you yet? — {To Valeria] O my sweet 
 lady, pardon. 
 
 Volumnia. I know not where to turn. — O, welcome home ! 
 
 And welcome, general, — and ye're welcome all. 171 
 
 , Menenius. A hundred thousand welcomes! I could weep 
 And I could laugh, I am light and heavy. Welcome ! 
 A curse begin at very root on 's heart, 
 That is not glad to see thee! You are three 
 That Rome should dote on; yet, by the faith of men, 
 We have some old crab-trees here* at home that will not 
 Be grafted to your relish. Yet welcome, warriors ! 
 We call a nettle but a nettle, and 
 The faults of fools but folly. 
 
 Cominius. Ever right. 180 
 
 Coriolanus. Menenius, ever, ever. 
 
 Herald. Give way there, and go on. 
 
 Coriolanus. [To Volumnia and Virgilia^ Your hand, — and 
 yours. 
 Ere in our own house I do shade my head, 
 The good patricians must be visited; 
 From whom I have receiv'd not only greetings, 
 But with them change of honours. 
 
 Volumnia. I have liv'd 
 
 To see inherited my very wishes 
 And the buildings of my fancy; only 
 
 There 's one thing wanting; which I doubt not but 190 
 
 Our Rome will cast upon thee. 
 
 Coriolanus. Know, good mother, 
 
 I had rather be their servant in my way 
 Than sway with them in theirs. 
 
 Cominius. On, to the Capitol! 
 
 {Flourish, Cornets. Exeufit in state as before. 
 Brutus and Sicinius come forzvard. 
 Brutus. All tongues speak of him, and the bleared sights 
 Are spectacled to see him ; your prattling nurse 
 
8o COKIOLANUS. , . 
 
 Into a rapture lets her baby cry 
 
 While she chats him ; the kitchen malkin pins 
 
 Her richest lockram 'bout her reechy neck, 
 
 Clambering the walls to eye him ; stalls, bulks, windows, 
 
 Are smother'd up, leads fill'd, and ridges hors'd 200 
 
 With variable complexions, all agreeing 
 
 In earnestness to see him ; seld-shown flamens 
 
 Do press among the popular throngs, and puff 
 
 To win a vulgar station; our veil'd dames 
 
 Commit the war of white and damask in 
 
 Their nicely-gawded cheeks to the wanton spoil 
 
 Of Phoebus' burning kisses : such a pother 
 
 As if that whatsoever god who leads him 
 
 Were slyly crept into his human powers, 
 
 And gave him graceful posture. 
 
 Sicinius. On the sudden, 210 
 
 I warrant him consul. 
 
 Brutus. Then our office may, 
 
 During his power, go sleep. 
 
 Sicinius. He cannot temperately transport his honours 
 From where he should begin and end, but will 
 Lose those he hath won. 
 
 Brutus. In that there 's comfort. 
 
 Sicinius. Doubt not 
 
 The commoners, for whom we stand, but they 
 Upon their ancient malice will forget 
 With the least cause these his new honours, which 
 That he will give them make I as little question 
 As he is proud to do 't. 
 
 Brutus. I heard him swear, 220 
 
 Were he to stand for consul, never would he 
 Appear i' the market-place nor on him put 
 The napless vesture of humility; 
 Nor, showing, as the manner is, his wounds 
 To the people, beg their stinking breaths. 
 
ACT 11. SCENE I. 8 1 
 
 Sicinius. 'T is right. 
 
 Brutus. It was his word. O, he would miss it rather 
 Than carry it but by the suit of the gentry to him 
 And the desire of the nobles. 
 
 Sicinius. I wish no better 
 
 Than have him hold that purpose and to put it 
 In execution. 
 
 Brutus. 'T is most like he will. 230 
 
 Sicinius. It shall be to him then, as our good wills, 
 A sure destruction. 
 
 Brutus. So it must fall out 
 
 To him or our authorities. For an end, 
 We must suggest the people in what hatred 
 He still hath held them ; that to 's power he would 
 Have made them mules, silenc'd their pleaders, and 
 Dispropertied their freedoms, holding them. 
 In human action and capacity, 
 Of no more soul nor fitness for the world 
 Than camels in the war, who have their provand 240 
 
 Only for bearing burdens, and sore blows 
 For sinking under them. 
 
 Sicinius. This, as you say, suggested 
 
 At some time when his soaring insolence 
 Shall teach the people — which time shall not want, 
 If he be put upon 't, and that 's as easy 
 As to set dogs on sheep — will be his fire 
 To kindle their dry stubble; and their blaze 
 Shall darken him for ever. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 Brutus. What 's the matter ? 
 
 Messenger. You are sent for to the Capitol. 'T is thought 
 That Marcius shall be consul : 250 
 
 I have seen the dumb men throng to see him and 
 The blind to hear him speak ; matrons flung gloves, 
 
 F 
 
82 CORIOLANlfS. 
 
 Ladies and maids their scarfs and handkerchers, 
 Upon him as he passed; the nobles bended, 
 As to Jove's statue, and the commons made 
 A shower and thunder with their caps and shouts. 
 I never saw the Hke. 
 
 Brutus. Let 's to the Capitol, 
 
 And carry with us ears and eyes for the time, 
 But hearts for the event. 
 
 Sicinius. Have with you. \Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IL The Same. The Capitol. 
 Enter two Officers, to lay cushions. 
 
 1 Officer. Come, come, they are almost here. How many 
 stand for consulships ? 
 
 2 Officer. Three, they say ; but 't is thought of every one 
 Coriolanus will carry it. 
 
 1 Officer. That 's a brave fellow; but he 's vengeance 
 proud, and loves not the common people. 
 
 2 Officer. Faith, there have been many great men that 
 have flattered the people, who ne'er loved them ; and there 
 be many that they have loved, they know not wherefore : so 
 that, if they love they know not why, they hate upon no bet- 
 ter a ground. Therefore, for Coriolanus neither to care 
 whether they love or hate him manifests the true knowledge 
 he has in their disposition, and out of his noble carelessness 
 lets them plainly see 't. u 
 
 1 Officer. If he did not care whether he had their love or 
 no, he waved indifferently 'twixt doing them neither good nor 
 harm ; but he seeks their hate with greater devotion than 
 they can render it him, and leaves nothing undone that may 
 fully discover him their opposite. Now, to seem to affect 
 the malice and displeasure of the people is as bad as that 
 which he dislikes, to flatter them for their love. 21 
 
 2 Officer. He hath deserved worthily of his country; and his 
 
ACT II. SCENE II %2i 
 
 ascent is not by such easy degrees as those who, having been 
 supple and courteous to the people, bonneted, without any 
 further deed to have them at all into their estimation and 
 report: but he hath so planted his honours in their eyes, and 
 his actions in their hearts, that for their tongues to be silent, 
 and not confess so much, were a kind of ingrateful injury; 
 to report otherwise were a malice, that, giving itself the lie, 
 would pluck reproof and rebuke from every ear that heard it. 
 I Officer. No more of him; he 's a worthy man. Make 
 way, they are coming. 32 
 
 A senneL Enter, with Lictors before them, Cominius the con- 
 sul, Menenius, Coriolanus, Senators, Sicmius, and Bru- 
 tus. The Senators take their places; the Tribunes take their 
 places by themselves. Coriolanus stands. 
 
 Menenius. Having determin'd of the Volsces and 
 To send for Titus Lartius, it remains, 
 As the main poii^t of this our after-meeting. 
 To gratify his noble service that 
 
 Hath thus stood for his country; therefore, please you. 
 Most reverend and grave elders, to desire 
 The present consul, and last general 
 
 In our well-found successes, to report 40 
 
 A little of that worthy work perform'd 
 By Caius Marcius Coriolanus, whom 
 We met here both to thank and to remember 
 With honours like himself 
 
 I Se7iator. Speak, good Cominius ; 
 
 Leave nothing out for length, and make us think 
 Rather our state 's defective for requital 
 Than we to stretch it out. — \To the Tribunes'] Masters o' the 
 
 people, 
 We do request your kindest ears, and after. 
 Your loving motion toward the common body. 
 To yield what passes here. 
 
84 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Siciniiis. We are con vented so 
 
 Upon a pleasing treaty, and have hearts 
 Inclinable to honour and advance 
 The theme of our assembly. 
 
 Brutus. Which the rather 
 
 We shall be blest to do, if he remember 
 A kinder value of the people than 
 He hath hereto priz'd them at. 
 
 Mejtenius. That 's off, that 's off; 
 
 I would you rather had been silent. Please you 
 To hear Cominius speak ? 
 
 Brutus. Most willingly; 
 
 But yet my caution was more pertinent 
 Than the rebuke you gave it. 
 
 Menenius. He loves your people ; 60 
 
 But tie him not to be their bedfellow. — 
 Worthy Cominius, speak. — \Coriolanus offers to go away.] 
 Nay, keep your place. 
 
 I Senator. Sit, Coriolanus ; never shame to hear 
 What you have nobly done. 
 
 Coriolanus. Your honours' pardon ; 
 
 I had rather have my wounds to heal again 
 Than hear say how I got them. 
 
 Brutus. Sir, I hope 
 
 My words disbench'd you not. 
 
 Coriolanus. No, sir ; yet oft, 
 
 When blows have made me stay, I fled from words. 
 You sooth'd not, therefore hurt not ; but your people, 
 I love them as they weigh. 
 
 Menenius. Pray now, sit down. 70 
 
 Coriolanus. I had rather have one scratch my head i' the 
 sun 
 When the alarum were struck than idly sit 
 To hear my nothings monster'd. \Exit. 
 
 Menenius. Masters of the people. 
 
ACT 11. SCENE 11. 85 
 
 Your multiplying spawn how can he flatter — 
 That 's thousand to one good one — when you now see 
 He had rather venture all his limbs for honour 
 Than one on 's ears to hear it ? — Proceed, Cominius. 
 
 Cofninius. I shall lack voice; the deeds of Coriolanus 
 Should not be uttered feebly. — It is held 
 That valour is the chiefest virtue, and 80 
 
 Most dignifies the haver; if it be, 
 The man I speak of cannot in the world 
 Be singly counterpois'd. At sixteen years, 
 When Tarquin made a head for Rome, he fought 
 Beyond the mark of others; our then dictator, 
 Whom with all praise I point at, saw him fight, 
 When with his Amazonian chin he drove 
 The bristled lips before him. He bestrid 
 An o'er-press'd Roman, and i' the consul's view 
 Slew three opposers ; Tarquin's self he met, 90 
 
 And struck him on his knee. In that day's feats. 
 When he might act the woman in the scene. 
 He prov'd best man i' the field, and for his meed 
 Was brow-bound with the oak. His pupil age 
 Man-enter'd thus, he waxed like a sea. 
 And in the brunt of seventeen battles since 
 He lurch'd all swords of the garland. For this last. 
 Before and in Corioli, let me say, 
 I cannot speak him home ; he stopp'd the fliers, 
 And by his rare example made the coward 100 
 
 Turn terror into sport. As weeds before 
 A vessel under sail, so men obey'd 
 And fell below his stem : his sword, death's stamp. 
 Where it did mark, it took; from face to foot 
 He was a thing of blood, whose every motion 
 Was tim'd with dying cries. Alone he enter'd 
 The mortal gate of the city, which he painted 
 With shunless destiny, aidless came off. 
 
86 - CORIOLANUS. 
 
 And with a sudden re-enforcement struck 
 
 Corioli like a planet. Now all 's his ; no 
 
 When, by and by, the din of war gan pierce 
 
 His ready sense. Then straight his doubled spirit 
 
 Re-quicken'd what in flesh was fatigate, 
 
 And to the battle came he : where he did 
 
 Run reeking o'er the lives of men, as if 
 
 'T were a perpetual spoil ; and till we call'd 
 
 Both field and city ours, he never stood 
 
 To ease his breast with panting. 
 
 Meneniiis. Worthy man ! 
 
 I Senator. He cannot but with measure fit the hon- 
 ours 
 Which we devise him. 
 
 Cominiiis. Our spoils he kick'd at, 120 
 
 And look'd upon things precious as they were 
 The common muck o' the world ; he covets less 
 Than misery itself would give, rewards 
 His deeds with doing them, and is content 
 To spend the time to end it. 
 
 Menenius. He 's right noble ; 
 
 Let him be call'd for. 
 
 I Senator. Call Coriolanus. 
 
 Officer. He doth appear. 
 
 Re-enter Coriolanus. 
 
 Menenius. The senate, Coriolanus, are well pleas'd 
 To make thee consul. 
 
 Coriolafius. I do owe them still 
 
 My life and services. 
 
 Menenius. It then remains 13° 
 
 That you do speak to the people. 
 
 Coriolafius. I do beseech you, 
 
 Let me o'erleap that custom, for I cannot 
 Put on the gown, stand naked, and entreat them. 
 
ACT 11. SCENE 11. 3y 
 
 P'or my wounds' sake, to give their suffrage ; please you 
 That I may pass this doing. 
 
 Sicinius. Sir, the people 
 
 Must have their voices ; neither will they bate 
 One jot of ceremony. 
 
 Menejiins. Put them not to 't; 
 
 Pray you, go fit you to the custom and 
 Take to you, as your predecessors have. 
 Your honour with your form. 
 
 Coriolanus. It is a part 140 
 
 That I shall blush in acting, and might well 
 Be taken from the people. 
 
 Brutus. Mark you that ? 
 
 Coriolanus. To brag unto them, thus I did, and thus. 
 Show them the unaching scars which I should hide. 
 As if I had receiv'd them for the hire 
 Of their breath only ! 
 
 Menenius. Do not stand upon 't. — 
 
 We recommend to you, tribunes of the people, 
 Our purpose to them ; — and to our noble consul 
 Wish we all joy and honour. 
 
 Senators. To Coriolanus come all joy and honour ! 150 
 
 {Flourish of cornets. Exeimt all but Sicinius 
 a7id Brutus. 
 Brutus. You see how he intends to use the people. 
 Sicinius. May they perceive 's intent! He will require 
 them. 
 As if he did contemn what he requested 
 Should be in them to give. 
 
 Brutus. Come, we '11 inform them 
 
 Of our proceedings here, on the market-place ; 
 I know they do attend us. {Exeunt. 
 
88 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scene III. The Same. The Forum. 
 Enter several Citizens. 
 
 1 Citizen. Once, if.he do require our voices, we ought not 
 to deny him. 
 
 2 Citizen. We may, sir, if we will. 
 
 3 Citizen. We have power in ourselves to do it, but it is a 
 power that we have no power to do : for if he show us his 
 wounds and tell us his deeds, we are to put our tongues into 
 those wounds and speak for them ; so, if he tell us his noble 
 deeds, we must also tell him our noble acceptance of them. 
 Ingratitude is monstrous, and for the multitude to be ingrate- 
 ful, were to make a monster of the multitude ; of the which 
 we being members, should bring ourselves to be monstrous 
 members. 12 
 
 1 Citizen. And to make us no better thought of, a little 
 help will serve ; for once we stood up about the corn, he him- 
 self stuck not to call us the many-headed multitude. 
 
 3 Citizen. We have been called so of many; not that our 
 heads are some brown, some black, some auburn, some bald, 
 but that our wits are so diversely coloured; and truly I think 
 if all our wits were to issue out of one skull, they would fly 
 east, west, north, south, and their consent of one direct way 
 should be at once to all the points o' the compass. 21 
 
 2 Citizen. Think you so? Which way do you judge my 
 wit would fly ? 
 
 3 Citizen. Nay, your wit will not so soon out as another 
 man's will ; \ is strongly wedged up in a block-head, but if 
 it were at liberty, 't would, sure, southward. 
 
 2 Citizen. Why that way ? 
 
 3 Citizen. To lose itself in a fog, where being three parts 
 melted away with rotten dews, the fourth would return for 
 conscience sake, to help to get thee a wife. 30 
 
 2 Citizen. You are never without your tricks; you may, 
 you may. 
 
ACT 11. SCENE III. 89 
 
 3 Citizen. Are you all resolved to give your voices ? But 
 that 's no matter, the greater part carries it. I say, if he 
 would incline to the people, there was never a worthier man. 
 
 Enter Coriolanus in a gown of humility^ with Menenius. 
 Here he comes, and in the gown of humility; mark his be- 
 haviour. We are not to stay all together, but to come by him 
 where he stands, by ones, by twos, and by threes. He 's to 
 make his requests by particulars ; wherein every one of us 
 has a single honour, in giving him our own voices with our 
 own tongues : therefore follow me, and I '11 direct you how 
 you shall go by him. 42 
 
 All. Content, content. [Exeunt citizens. 
 
 Menenius. O sir, you are not right; have you not known 
 The worthiest men have done 't 1 
 
 Coriolanus. What must I say ? — 
 
 I pray, sir, — Plague upon 't ! I cannot bring 
 My tongue to such a pace. — Look, sir, my wounds ! 
 I got them in my country's service, when 
 Some certain of your brethren roar'd and ran 
 From the noise of our own drums. 
 
 Menenius. O me, the gods ! so 
 
 You must not speak of that ; you must desire them 
 To think upon you. 
 
 Coriolanus. Think upon me ! hang 'em ! 
 
 I would they would forget me, like the virtues 
 Which our divines lose by 'em. 
 
 Menenius. You '11 mar all ; 
 
 I '11 leave you. Pray you, speak to 'em, I pray you, 
 In wholesome manner. \Exit. 
 
 Coriolanus. Bid them wash their faces 
 
 And keep their teeth clean. — {Re-enter two of the Citizens?^ 
 
 So, here comes a brace. — 
 You know the cause, sir, of my standing here. 
 
 I Citizen. We do, sir; tell us what hath brought you to 't. 
 
90 CORIOLANUS, 
 
 Coriolanus. Mine own desert. 60 
 
 2 Citizen. Your own desert! 
 
 Coriolanus. Ay, not mine own desire. 
 
 I Citizen. How! not your own desire! 
 
 Coriolanus. No, sir, 't was never my desire yet to trouble 
 the poor with begging. 
 
 I Citizen. You must think, if we give you any thing, we 
 hope to gain by you. 
 
 CoriolaJtus. Well, then, I pray, your price o' the consul- 
 ship? 
 
 1 Citizen. The price is to ask it kindly. 70 
 Coriolanus. Kindly, sir, I pray, let me ha 't; I have wounds 
 
 to show you, which shall be yours in private. — Your good 
 voice, sir; what say you? 
 
 2 Citizen. You shall ha 't, worthy sir. 
 
 Coriolanus. A match, sir. — There 's in all two worthy voices 
 begged. — I have your alms ; adieu. 
 
 1 Citizen. But this is something odd. 
 
 2 Citizen. An 't were to give again, — but 't is no matter, 
 
 S^Exeunt the two Citizens. 
 
 Re-enter two other Citizens. 
 Coriolatius. Pray you now, if it may stand with the tune 
 of your voices that I may be consul, I have here the custom- 
 ary gown. 81 
 
 3 Citizen. You have deserved nobly of your country, and 
 you have not deserved nobly. 
 
 Coriolanus. Your enigma? 
 
 3 Citizen. You have been a scourge to her enemies, you 
 have been a rod to her friends; you have not indeed loved 
 the common people. 
 
 Coriolanus. You should account me the more virtuous that 
 I have not been common in my love. I will, sir, flatter my 
 sworn brother, the people, to earn a dearer estimation of 
 them; 't is a condition they account gentle: and since the 
 
ACT n. SCENE II L gi 
 
 wisdom of their choice is rather to have my hat than my 
 heart, I will practise the insinuating nod and be off to them 
 most counterfeitly; that is, sir, I will counterfeit the bewitch- 
 ment of some popular man and give it bountiful to the de- 
 sirers. Therefore, beseech you, I may be consul. 
 
 4 Citizen. We hope to find you our friend, and therefore 
 give you our voices heartily. 
 
 3 Citizen. You have received many wounds for your coun- 
 try. lOO 
 
 Coriolanus. I will not seal your knowledge with showing 
 them. I will make much of your voices, and so trouble you 
 no farther. 
 
 Both Citizens. The gods give you joy, sir, heartily ! {^Exeunt. 
 
 Coriolanus. Most sweet voices! — 
 Better it is to die, better to starve, 
 Than crave the hire which first we do deserve. 
 Why in this wolvish toge should I stand here, 
 To beg of Hob and Djck, that do appear. 
 Their needless vouches? Custom calls me to 't. no 
 
 What custom wills, in all things should we do 't, 
 The dust on antique time would lie unswept, 
 And mountainous error be too highly heap'd 
 For truth to o'erpeer. — Rather than fool it so. 
 Let the high ofiice and the honour go 
 To one that would do thus. — I am half through; 
 The one part suffer'd, the other will I do. — 
 
 Re-enter three Citizens more. 
 Here come moe voices. — 
 Your voices : for your voices I have fought ; 
 Watch'd for your voices ; for your voices bear 120 
 
 Of wounds two dozen odd ; battles thrice six 
 I have seen, and heard of; for your voices have 
 Done many things, some less, some more: your voices. 
 Indeed, I would be consul. 
 
92 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 5 Citizen. He has done nobly, and cannot go without any 
 honest man's voice. 
 
 6 Citizen. Therefore let him be consul ; the gods give him 
 joy, and make him good friend to the people ! 
 
 All Citizefis. Amen, amen.— God save thee, noble consul ! 
 
 \Exeunt. 
 Coriolanus. Worthy voices! 130 
 
 Re-enter Menenius, with Brutus and Sicmius. 
 
 Meneniiis. You have stood your limitation ; and the tribunes 
 Endue you with the people's voice : remains 
 That, in the official marks invested, you 
 Anon do meet the senate. 
 
 Coriolanus. Is this done.? 
 
 Sicinius. The custom of request you have discharg'd ; 
 The people do admit you, and are summon'd 
 To meet anon, upon your approbation. 
 
 Coriolanus. Where? at the senate-house? 
 
 Sicinius. There, Coriolanus. 
 
 Coriolanus. May I change these garments? 
 
 Sicinius. You may, sir. 
 
 Coriolanus. That I '11 straight do, and, knowing myself 
 again, 140 
 
 Repair to the senate-house. 
 
 Menenius. I '11 keep you company. — Will you along? 
 
 Brutus. We stay here for the people. 
 
 Sicinius. Fare you well. — 
 
 [Exeunt Coriolanus and Menenius. 
 He has it now, and by his looks methinks 
 'T is warm at 's heart. 
 
 Brutus. With a proud heart he wore his humble weeds. 
 Will you dismiss the people? 
 
 Re-enter Citizens. 
 Sicinius. How now, my masters ! have you chose this man ? 
 
ACT II. SCENE III 
 
 93 
 
 1 Citizen. He has our voices, sir. 
 
 Brutus. We pray the gods he ma}^ deserve your loves. 150 
 
 2 Citizen. Amen, sir; to my poor unworthy notice, 
 He mock'd us when he begg'd our voices. 
 
 3 Citizen. Certainly 
 He flouted us downright. 
 
 1 Citizen. No, 't is his kind of speech; he did not mock us. 
 
 2 Citizen. Not one amongst us, save yourself, but says 
 He us'd us scornfully; he should have show'd us 
 
 His marks of merit, wounds receiv'd for 's country. 
 Sicinius. Why, so he did, I am sure. 
 Citizens. No, no ; no man saw 'em. 
 
 3 Citizen. He said he had wounds, which he could show in 
 
 private ; 160 
 
 And with his hat, thus waving it in scorn, 
 ' I would be consul,' says he : ' aged custom. 
 But by your voices, will not so permit me; 
 Your voices therefore.' When we granted that, 
 Here was ' I thank you for your voices, — thank you, — 
 Your most sweet voices; now you have left your voices, 
 I have no further with you.' — Was not this mockery ? 
 
 Sicinius. Why either were you ignorant to see 't, 
 Or, seeing it, of such childish friendliness 
 To yield your voices? 
 
 Brutus. Could you not have told him 170 
 
 As you were lesson'd, when he had no power, 
 But was a petty servant to the state. 
 He was your enemy, ever spake against 
 Your liberties and the charters that you bear 
 I' the body of the weal ; and now, arriving 
 A place of potency and sway o' the state, 
 If he should still malignantly remain 
 -Fast foe to the plebeii, your voices might 
 Be curses to yourselves? You should have said 
 That as his worthy deeds did claim no less 180 
 
94 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Than what he stood for, so his gracious nature 
 Would think upon you for your voices and 
 Translate his malice towards you into love, 
 Standing your friendly lord. 
 
 Sicifiius. Thus to have said, 
 
 As you were fore-advis'd, had touch'd his spirit 
 And tried his inclination ; from him pluck'd 
 Either his gracious promise, which you might, 
 As cause had call'd you up, have held him to. 
 Or else it would have gall'd his surly nature, 
 Which easily endures not article 190 
 
 Tying him to aught ; so putting him to rage. 
 You should have ta'en the advantage of his choler 
 And pass'd him unelected. 
 
 Brutus. Did you perceive 
 
 He did solicit you in free contempt 
 When he did need your loves? and do you think 
 That his contempt shall not be bruising to you 
 When he hath power to crush ? Why, had your bodies 
 No heart among you ? or had you tongues to cry 
 Against the, rectorship of judgment? 
 
 Sicinius. Have you 
 
 Ere now denied the asker? and now again 200 
 
 Of him that did not ask, but mock, bestow 
 Your sued-for tongues? 
 
 3 Citizen. He 's not confirm'd ; we may deny him yet. 
 
 2 Citizen. And will deny him ; 
 I '11 have five hundred voices of that sound. 
 
 I Citizeji. I twice five hundred and their friends to piece 
 'em. 
 
 Brutus. Get you hence instantly, and tell those friends 
 They have chose a consul that will from them take 
 Their liberties ; make them of no more voice 
 Than dogs that are as often beat for barking 210 
 
 As therefore kept to do so. 
 
ACT IL SCENE III. 
 
 Sicinius. Let them assemble, 
 
 And on a safer judgment all revoke 
 Your ignorant election. Enforce his pride, 
 And his old hate unto you; besides, forget not 
 With what contempt he wore the humble weed, 
 How in his suit he scorn 'd you ; but your loves, 
 Thinking upon his services, took from you 
 The apprehension of his present portance, 
 Which most gibingly, ungravely, he did fashion 
 After the inveterate hate he bears you. 
 
 Brutus. Lay 
 
 A fault on us, your tribunes ; that we labour'd, 
 No impediment between, but that you must 
 Cast your election on him. 
 
 Sicinius. Say, you chose him 
 
 More after our commandment than as guided 
 By 3^our own true affections ; and that your minds, 
 Preoccupied with what you rather must do 
 Than what you should, made you against the grain 
 To voice him consul : lay the fault on us. 
 
 Brutus. Ay, spare us not. Say we read lectures to you, 
 How youngly he began to serve his country, 
 How long continued ; and what stock he springs of. 
 The noble house o' the Marcians, from whence came 
 That Ancus Marcius, Numa's daughter's son, 
 Who, after great Hostilius, here was king; 
 Of the same house Publius and Quintus were, 
 That our best water brought by conduits hither ; 
 And Censorinus, who was nobly nam'd so, 
 Twice being by the people chosen censor. 
 Was his great ancestor. ''^ 
 
 Sicifiius. One thus descended, 
 
 That hath beside well in his person wrought 2 
 
 To be set high in place, we did commend 
 To your remembrances ; but you have found, 
 
 95 
 
96 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scaling his present bearing with his past, 
 That he 's your fixed enemy, and revoke 
 Your sudden approbation. 
 
 Brutus. Say, you ne'er had done 't — - 
 
 Harp on that still — but by our putting on ; 
 And presently, when you have drawn your number, 
 Repair to the Capitol. 
 
 Citizens. We will so ; almost all 
 
 Repent in their election. \Exeunt Citizens. 
 
 Brutus. Let them go on ; 
 
 This mutiny were better put in hazard, 250 
 
 Than stay, past doubt, for greaten 
 If, as his nature is, he fall in rage 
 With their refusal, both observe and answer 
 The vantage of his anger. 
 
 Sicinius. To the Capitol, come : 
 
 We will be there before the stream o' the people; 
 And this shall seem, as partly 't is, their own, 
 Which we have goaded onward. \Exeunt. 
 
ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. Rojue. A Street. 
 
 Cornets. Eiiter Coriolanus, Menenius, Cominius, Titus 
 
 Lartius, Senators, and Patricians. 
 
 Coriolanus. Tullus Aufidius then had made new head ? 
 
 Lartius. He had, my lord j and that it was which caus'd 
 Our swifter composition. 
 
 Coriolanits. So then the Volsces stand but as at first, 
 Ready, when time shall prompt them, to make road 
 Upon 's again. 
 
 Cominius. They are worn, lord consul, so, 
 
 That we shall hardly in our ages see 
 Their banners wave again. 
 
 Coriolanus. Saw you Aufidius ? 
 
 Lartius. On safeguard he came to me, and did curse 
 Against the Volsces, for they had so vilely lo 
 
 Yielded the town ; he is retir'd to Antium'. 
 
 Coriolanus. Spoke he of me ? 
 
 Lartius. He did, my lord. 
 
 Coriolanus. How? what.? 
 
 Lartius. How often he had met you, sword to sword ; 
 That of all things upon the earth he hated 
 
 G 
 
98 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Your person most; that he would pawn his fortunes 
 To hopeless restitution, so he might 
 Be call'd your vanquisher. 
 
 Coriolanus. At Antium lives he ? 
 
 La7'tius. At Antium. 
 
 Coriolanus. I wish I had a cause to seek him there, 
 To oppose his hatred fully. — Welcome home. =o 
 
 Enter Sicinius and Brutus. 
 Behold, these are the tribunes of the people, 
 The tongues o' the common mouth. I do despise them, 
 For they do prank them in authority, 
 Against all noble sufferance. 
 
 Sicinius. Pass no further. 
 
 Coriola7iiis. Ha! what is that? 
 
 Brutus. It will be dangerous to go on ; no further. 
 
 Coriolanus. What makes this change? 
 
 Menenius. The matter ? 
 
 Cominius. Hath he not pass'd the noble and the com- 
 mon ? 
 
 Brutus. Cominius, no. 
 
 Coriolamis. Have I had children's voices ? 30 
 
 I Senator. Tribunes, give way; he shall to the market- 
 place. 
 
 Brutus. The people are incens'd against him. 
 
 Sicinius. Stop, 
 
 Or all will ^all in broil. 
 
 Coriolanus. Are these your herd ? 
 
 Must these have voices, that can yield them now 
 And straight disclaim their tongues? What are your offices? 
 You being their mouths, why rule you not their teeth ? 
 Have you not set them on ? 
 
 Menenius. Be calm, be calm. 
 
 Coriolanus. It is a purpos'd thing, and grows by plot. 
 To curb the will of the nobility. - 
 
ACT III. SCENE I. f,g 
 
 Suffer 't, and live with such as cannot rule 4° 
 
 Nor ever will be rul'd. 
 
 Brutus. Call 't not a plot : 
 
 The people cry you mock'd them, and of late, 
 When corn was given them gratis, you repin'd, 
 Scandal'd the suppliants for the people, call'd them 
 Time-pleasers, flatterers, foes to nobleness. 
 
 Coriolaiius. Why, this was known before. 
 
 Brutus. Not to them all. 
 
 Coriolarius. Have you inform'd them sithence ? 
 
 Brutus. How ! I inform them ! 
 
 Couiifiius. You are like to do such business. 
 
 Brutus. Not unlike, 
 
 Each way, to better yours. 
 
 CorioiaJius. Why then should I be consul.^ By yond 
 clouds, 50 
 
 Let me deserve so ill as you, and make me 
 Your fellow tribune. 
 
 Sicinius. You show too much of that 
 
 For which the people stir. If you will pass 
 To where you are bound, you must inquire your way, 
 Which you are out of, with a gentler spirit. 
 Or never be so noble as a consul, 
 Nor yoke with him for tribune. 
 
 Menenius. Let 's be calm. 
 
 Cominius. The people are abus'd. — Set on. — This paltering 
 Becomes not Rome, nor has Coriolanus 
 Deserv'd this so dishonour'd rub, laid falsely 60 
 
 I' the plain way of his merit, 
 
 Coriolanus. Tell me of corn ! 
 
 This was my speech, and I will speak 't again — 
 
 Menenius. Not now, not now. 
 
 I Senator. Npt in this heat, sir, now. 
 
 Coriolanus. Now, as I live, I will. — My nobler friends, 
 I crave their pardons. — 
 
lOo CORIOLANUS. 
 
 For the mutable, rank-scented many, let them 
 
 Regard me as I do not flatter, and 
 
 Therein behold themselves. I say again. 
 
 In soothing them, we nourish 'gainst our senate 
 
 The cockle of rebellion, insolence, sedition, 70 
 
 Which we ourselves have plough'd for, sow'd, and scatter'd, 
 
 By mingling them with us, the honour'd number, 
 
 Who lack not virtue, no, nor power, but that 
 
 Which they have given to beggars. 
 
 Meneniiis. Well, no more. 
 
 I Senator. No more words, we beseech you. 
 
 Coriolanus. How ! no more ! 
 
 As for my country I have shed my blood. 
 Not fearing outward force, so shall my lungs 
 Coin words till their decay against those measles, 
 Which we disdain should tetter us, yet sought 
 The very way to catch them. 
 
 Brutus. You speak o' the people, 80 
 
 As if you were a god to punish, not 
 A man of their infirmity. 
 
 Sicinius. 'T were well 
 
 We let the people know 't. 
 
 Meneitius. What, what ? his choler ? 
 
 Coriolanics. Choler ! 
 Were I as patient as the midnight sleep, 
 By Jove, 't would be my mind ! 
 
 Sicinius. It is a mind 
 
 That shall remain a poison where it is. 
 Not poison any further. 
 
 Coriolanus. Shall remain ! — 
 
 Hear you this Triton of the minnows ? mark you 
 His absolute ' shall ?' 
 
 Cominius. 'T was from the canon. 
 
 Coriolanus. Shall ! 50 
 
 O good but most unwise patricians ! why. 
 
ACT III. SCENE /. 10 1 
 
 You grave but reckless senators, have you thus 
 
 Given Hydra here to choose an officer, 
 
 That with his peremptory ' shall,' being but 
 
 The horn and noise of the monster's, wants not spirit 
 
 To say he '11 turn your current in a ditch, 
 
 And make your channel his ? If he have power, 
 
 Then vail your ignorance j if none, awake 
 
 Your dangerous lenity. If you are learn'd, 
 
 Be not as common fools ; if you are not, loo 
 
 Let them have cushions by you. You are plebeians, 
 
 If they be senators; and they are no less, 
 
 When, both your voices blended, the great'st taste 
 
 Most palates theirs. They choose their magistrate. 
 
 And such a one as he, who puts his ' shall,' 
 
 His popular ' shall,' against a graver bench 
 
 Than ever frown'd in Greece. By Jove himself! 
 
 It makes the consuls base; and my soul aches 
 
 To know, when two authorities are up, 
 
 Neither supreme, how soon confusion no 
 
 May enter 'twixt the gap of both, and take 
 
 The one by the other. 
 
 Cominius. Well, on to the market-place. 
 
 Coriolanus. Whoever gave that counsel, to give forth 
 The corn o' the storehouse gratis, as 't was us'd 
 Sometime in Greece, — 
 
 Meneniiis. Well, well, no more of that. 
 
 Coriolanus, Though there the people had more absolute 
 power, 
 I say, they nourish'd disobedience, fed 
 The ruin of the state. 
 
 Brutus. Why, shall the people give 
 
 One that speaks thus their voice ? 
 
 Coriolanus. I '11 give my reasons. 
 
 More worthier than their voices. They know the corn 120 
 Was not our recompense, resting well assur'd 
 
I02 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 They ne'er did service for 't. Being press'd to the war, 
 
 Even when the navel of the state was touch'd, 
 
 They would not thread the gates; this kind of service 
 
 Did not deserve corn gratis. Being i' the war, 
 
 Their mutinies and revolts, wherein they show'd 
 
 Most valour, spoke not for them. The accusation 
 
 Which they have often made against the senate, 
 
 All cause unborn, could never be the motive 
 
 Of our so frank donation. Well, what then ? 
 
 How shall this bisson multitude digest 
 
 The senate's courtesy ? Let deeds express 
 
 What 's like to be their words: 'We did request it; 
 
 We are the greater poll, and in true fear 
 
 They gave us our demands.' Thus we debase 
 
 The nature of our seats and make the rabble 
 
 Call our cares fears; which will in time 
 
 Break ope the locks o' the senate and bring in 
 
 The crows to peck the eagles. 
 
 Menenius. Come, enough. 
 
 Briitiis. Enough, with over-measure. 
 
 Coriolanus. No, take more : 
 
 What may be sworn by, both divine and human. 
 Seal what I end withal ! This double worship, — 
 Where one part does disdain with cause, the other 
 Insult without all reason; where gentry, title, wisdom, 
 Cannot conclude but by the yea and no 
 Of general ignorance,- — it must omit 
 Real necessities, and give way the while 
 To unstable slightness. Purpose so barr'd, it follows, 
 Nothing is done to purpose. Therefore, beseech you, — 
 You that will be less fearful than discreet, 
 That love the fundamental part of state 
 More than you doubt the change on 't, that prefer 
 A noble life before a long, and wish 
 To jump a body with a dangerous physic 
 
ACT HL SCENE I. 103 
 
 That 's sure of death without it, — at once pluck out 
 
 The multitudinous tongue; let them not lick 
 
 The sweet which is their poison. Your dishonour 
 
 Mangles true judgment and bereaves the state 
 
 Of that integrity which should become 't, 
 
 Not having the power to do the good it would, 160 
 
 For the ill which doth control 't. 
 
 Brutus. Has said enough. 
 
 Sicinius. Has spoken like a traitor, and shall answer 
 As traitors do. 
 
 Coriolanus. Thou wretch, despite o'erwhelm thee ! — 
 What should the people do with these bald tribunes t 
 On whom depending, their obedience fails 
 To the greater bench. In a rebellion, 
 When what 's not meet, but what must be, was law, 
 Then were they chosen ; in a better hour, 
 Let what is meet be said it must be meet, 170 
 
 And throw their power i' the dust. 
 
 Brutus. Manifest treason ! 
 
 Sicmius. This a consul ? no. 
 
 Brutus. The aediles, ho ! — 
 
 Enter an ^dile. 
 
 Let him be apprehended. 
 
 Sicinius. Go, call the people,— [^^//^^//^] in whose name 
 myself 
 Attach thee as a traitorous innovator, 
 A foe to the public weal. Obey, I charge thee, 
 And follow to thine answer. 
 
 Coriolanus. Hence, old goat ! 
 
 Senators, etc. We '11 surety him. 
 
 Comi?iius. Aged sir, hands off. 
 
 CoriolaJius. Hence, rotten thing ! or I shall shake thy bones 
 Out of thy garments. 
 
 Sicinius. Help, ye citizens ! 180 
 
I04 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Enter a rabble of Citizens, with the ^diles. 
 
 Menenius. On both sides more respect. 
 
 Sicinius. Here's he that would take from you all your power. 
 
 Brutus. Seize him, aediles ! 
 
 Citizens. Down with him ! down with him ! 
 
 Senators, etc. Weapons, weapons, weapons ! 
 
 \They all bustle about Coriolanus, crying 
 'Tribunes !' ' Patricians !' ' Citizens !' ' What, ho !' 
 'Sicinius!' 'Brutus!' ' Coriolanus !' 'Citizens!' 
 ' Peace, peace, peace !' ' Stay, hold, peace !' 
 
 MeJienius. What is about to be? I am out of breath; 
 Confusion 's near; I cannot speak. — You, tribunes 190 
 
 To the people ! — Coriolanus, patience ! — 
 Speak, good Sicinius. 
 
 Sicinius. Hear me, people; peace I 
 
 Citizens. Let 's hear our tribune. — Peace ! Speak, speak, 
 speak. 
 
 Sicinius. You are at point to lose your liberties. 
 Marcius would have all from you; Marcius, 
 Whom late you have nam'd for consul. 
 
 Menenius. Fie, fie, fie ! 
 
 This is the way to kindle, not to quench. 
 
 I Senator. To unbuild the city and to lay all flat. 
 
 Sicinius. What is the city but the people ? 
 
 Citizens. True, 
 
 The people are the city. 2c« 
 
 Brutus. By the consent of all, we were establish'd 
 The people's magistrates, 
 
 Citizens. You so remain. 
 
 Mene?iius. And so are like to do. 
 
 Cominius. That is the way to lay the city fiat; 
 To bring the roof to the foundation, 
 And bury all, which yet distinctly ranges^ 
 In heaps and piles of ruin. 
 
ACT III. SCENE I. 105 
 
 Sicinius. This deserves death. 
 
 Brutus. Or let us stand to our authority, 
 Or let us lose it. — We do here pronounce, 
 Upon the part o' the people, in whose power 210 
 
 We were elected theirs, Marcius is worthy 
 Of present death. 
 
 Sicinius. Therefore lay hold of him ; 
 
 Bear him to the rock Tarpeian, and from thence 
 Into destruction cast him. 
 
 Brutus. ^diles, seize him ! 
 
 Citizens. Yield, Marcius, yield ! 
 
 Menenius. Hear me one word ; 
 
 Beseech you, tribunes, hear me but a word. 
 
 yEdiles. Peace, peace ! 
 
 Menenius. [To Brutus'] Be that you seem, truly your coun- 
 try's friend. 
 And temperately proceed to what you would 
 Thus violently redress. 
 
 Brutus. Sir, those cold ways, 220 
 
 That seem like prudent helps, are very poisonous 
 Where the disease is violent. — Lay hands upon him, 
 And bear him to the rock. 
 
 Coriolanus. No, I '11 die here. 
 
 [Drawing his sword. 
 There 's some among you have beheld me fighting; 
 Come, try upon yourselves what you have seen me. 
 
 Menetiius. Down with that sword ! — Tribunes, withdraw 
 awhile. 
 
 Brutus. Lay hands upon him. 
 
 Menenius. Help Marcius, help. 
 
 You that be noble ; help him, young and old ! 
 
 Citizens. Down with him, down with him ! 
 
 [The Tribunes, the ^diles, and the People are beat in. 
 
 Menenius. Go, get you to your house j be gone, away i 230 
 All will be naught else. 
 
lo6 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 2 Senator. Get you gone. 
 
 Coriolanus. Stand fast; 
 
 We have as many friends as enemies. 
 
 Menenius. Shall it be put to that ? 
 
 I Senator. The gods forbid ! 
 
 I prithee, noble friend, home to thy house; 
 Leave us to cure this cause. 
 
 Menenius. For 't is a sore upon us, 
 
 You cannot tent yourself. Be gone, beseech you. 
 
 Cominius. Come, sir, along with us. 
 
 Coriolanus. I would they were barbarians — as they are, 
 Though in Rome litter'd — not Romans — as they are not. 
 Though calv'd i' the porch o' the Capitol — 
 
 Me?ienius. Be gone ; 240 
 
 Put not your worthy rage into your tongue : 
 One time will owe another. 
 
 Coriolanus. On fair ground 
 
 I could beat forty of them. 
 
 Menenius. I could myself 
 
 Take up a brace o' the best of them ; yea, the two tribunes. 
 
 Cominius. But now 'tis odds beyond arithmetic; 
 And manhood is call'd foolery, when it stands 
 Against a falling fabric. — Will you hence, 
 Before the tag return ? whose rage doth rend 
 Like interrupted waters and o'erbear 
 What they are us'd to bear. 
 
 Menenius. Pray you, be gone. 250 
 
 I '11 try whether my old wit be in request 
 With those that have but little; this must be patch'd 
 With cloth of any colour. 
 
 Cominius. Nay, come away. 
 
 \Exeunt Coriolanus.^ Cominius, and others. 
 
 I Patrician. This man has marr'd his fortune. 
 
 Menenius. His nature is too noble for the world; 
 He would not flatter Neptune for his trident, 
 
ACT III. SCENE I. J 07 
 
 Or Jove for 's power to thunder. His heart 's his mouth; 
 What his breast forges, that his tongue must vent, 
 And, being angry, does forget that ever ■ ^^g 
 
 He heard the name of death. \A noise within. 
 
 Here 's goodly work ! 
 
 2 Patrician. I would they were a-bed ! 
 
 Me7ienius. I would they were in Tiber ! — What the ven- 
 geance! 
 Could he not speak 'em fair ? 
 
 Re-enter Brutus a?id Sicinius, with the rabble. 
 
 Sicinius. Where is this viper 
 
 That would depopulate the city and 
 Be every man himself? 
 
 Menenius. You worthy tribunes, — 
 
 Sicinius. He shall be thrown down the Tarpeian rock 
 With rigorous hands ; he hath resisted law, 
 And therefore law shall scorn him further trial 
 Than the severity of the public power 
 Which he so sets at nought. 
 
 I Citizen. He shall well know 270 
 
 The noble tribunes are the people's mouths, 
 And we their hands. 
 
 Citizefzs, He shall, sure on 't. 
 
 Menenius. Sir, sir, — 
 
 Sicinius. Peace! 
 
 Menenius. Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt 
 With modest warrant. 
 
 Sicinius. Sir, how comes 't that you 
 
 Have holp to make this rescue ? 
 
 Menenius. Hear me- speak.— 
 
 As I do know the consul's worthiness, 
 So can I name his faults, — 
 
 Sicinius. Consul ! what consul > 
 
 Menenius. The consul Coriolanus. 
 
jo8 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Brutus. He consul ! 280 
 
 - Citizens. No, no, no, no, no. 
 
 Menenius. If, by -the tribunes' leave, and yours, good people, 
 I may be heard, I would crave a word or two ; 
 The which shall turn you to no further harm 
 Than so much loss of time. 
 
 Sicifiius. Speak briefly then ; 
 
 For we are peremptory to dispatch 
 This viperous traitor. To eject him hence 
 Were but one danger, and to keep him here 
 Our certain death ; therefore it is decreed 
 He dies to-night. 
 
 MeJtenius. Now the good gods forbid .290 
 
 That our renowned Rome, whose gratitude 
 Towards her deserved children is enroll'd 
 In Jove's own book, like an unnatural dam 
 Should now eat up her own ! 
 
 Sicinius. He 's a disease that must be cut away. 
 
 Menenius. O, he 's a limb that has but a disease; 
 Mortal, to cut it off; to cure it, easy. 
 What has he done to Rome that 's worthy death ? 
 Killing our enemies, the blood he hath lost — 
 Which, I dare vouch, is more than that he hath, 300 
 
 By many an ounce — he dropp'd it for his country ; 
 And what is left, to lose it by his country, 
 Were to us all, that do 't and suffer it, 
 A brand to the end o' the world. 
 
 Sicinius. This is clean kam. 
 
 Brutus. Merely awry. When he did love his country, 
 It honour'd him. 
 
 Mene7%ius. The service of the foot 
 
 Being once gangren'd, is not then respected 
 For what before it was. 
 
 Brutt^s. We '11 hear no more. — 
 
 Pursue him to his house, and pluck him thence, 
 
ACT III. SCENE I. 109 
 
 Lest his infection, being of catching nature, 310 
 
 Spread further. 
 
 Meneniiis. One word more, one word. 
 
 This tiger-footed rage, when it shall find 
 The harm of unscann'd swiftness, will too late 
 Tie leaden pounds to 's heels. Proceed by process; 
 Lest parties, as he is belov'd, break out. 
 And sack great Rome with Romans. 
 
 Brutus. If it were so, — 
 
 Sicinius. What do ye talk? 
 Have we not had a taste of his obedience ? 
 Our ffidiles smote,? ourselves resisted.? — Come. 
 
 Menenius. Consider this : he has been bred i' the wars 320 
 Since he could draw a sword, and is ill schooFd 
 In bolted language; meal and bran together 
 He throws without distinction. Give me leave, 
 I '11 go to him, and undertake to bring him 
 Where he shall answer, by a lawful form. 
 In peace, to his utmost peril. 
 
 I Senator. Noble tribunes. 
 
 It is the humane way; the other course 
 Will prove too bloody, and the end of it 
 LTnknown to the beginning. 
 
 Sicinius. Noble Menenius, 
 
 Be you then as the people's officer, — ■ 330 
 
 Masters, lay down your weapons. 
 
 Brutus. Go not home. 
 
 Sicinius, Meet on the market-place. — We '11 attend you 
 there ; 
 Where if you bring not Marcius, we '11 proceed 
 In our first way. 
 
 Menenius. I '11 bring him to you. — 
 
 \To the Senators] Let me desire your company; he must come. 
 Or what is worst will follow. 
 
 I Senator. Pray you, let 's to him. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
1 10 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scene II. A Room in Coriolanus's House. 
 Enter Coriolanus with Patricians. 
 
 CofHolanus. Let them pull all about mine ears, present me 
 Death on the wheel or at wild horses' heels, 
 Or pile ten hills on the Tarpeian rock, 
 That the precipitation might down stretch 
 Below the beam of sight, yet will I still 
 Be thus to them. 
 
 I Patrician. You do the nobler. 
 
 Coriolanus. I muse my mother 
 Does not approve me further, who was wont 
 To call them woollen vassals, things created 
 To buy and sell with groats, to show bare heads ro 
 
 In congregations, to yawn, be still, and wonder, 
 When one but of my ordinance stood up 
 To speak of peace or war. — 
 
 Enter Volumnia. 
 
 I talk of you. 
 Why did you wish me milder ? would you have me 
 False to my nature? Rather say I play 
 The man I am. 
 
 Volumnia. O, sir, sir, sir, 
 I would have had you put your power well on. 
 Before you had worn it out. 
 
 Coriolanus. Let go. 
 
 Volumnia. You might have been enough the man you are, 
 With striving less to be so; lesser had been 20 
 
 The thwartingS of your dispositions, if 
 You had not show'd them how you were dispos'd 
 Ere they lack'd power to cross you. 
 
 Coriolanus. Let them hang. 
 
 Volumnia. Ay, and burn too. 
 
ACT III. SCENE 11. Ill 
 
 Enter Menenius with the Senators. 
 
 Menenius. Come, come, you have been too rough, some- 
 thing too rough ; 
 You must return and mend it. 
 
 I Senator. There 's no remedy; 
 
 Unless, by not so doing, our good city 
 Cleave in the midst, and perish. 
 
 Voliimnia. Pray, be counsell'd. 
 
 I have a heart as little apt as yours. 
 
 But yet a brain that leads my use of anger 3°. 
 
 To better vantage. 
 
 Menenius. Well said, noble woman! 
 
 Before he should thus stoop to the herd, but that 
 The violent fit o' the time craves it as physic 
 For the whole state, I would put mine armour on, 
 Which I can scarcely bear. 
 . Coriolanus. What must I do? 
 
 Menenius. Return to the tribunes. 
 
 Coriolanus. Well, what then? what then? 
 
 Menenius. Repent what you have spoke. 
 
 Coriolanus. For them ! I cannot do it to the gods; 
 Must I then do 't to them ? 
 
 Volum7iia. You are too absolute; 
 
 Though therein you can never be too noble, 40 
 
 But when extremities speak. I have heard you say, 
 Honour and policy, like unsever'd friends, 
 I' the war do grow together; grant that, and tell me. 
 In peace what each of them by the other lose. 
 That they combine not there. 
 
 Coriolanus. Tush, tush ! 
 
 Menenius. A good demand. 
 
 Volumnia. If it be honour in your wars to seem 
 The same you are not — which, for your best ends. 
 You adopt your policy — how is it less or worse, 
 
JJ2 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 That it shall hold companionship in peace 
 
 With honour, as in war, since that to both 50 
 
 It stands in like request? 
 
 Coriolanus. Why force you this ? 
 
 Volumnia. Because that' now it lies you on to speak 
 To the people; not by your own instruction, 
 Nor by the matter which your heart prompts you, 
 But with such words that are but roted in 
 Your tongue, though but bastards and syllables 
 Of no allowance to your bosom's truth. 
 Now, this no more dishonours you at all 
 Than to take in a town with gentle words, 
 Which else would put you to your fortune and 60 
 
 The hazard of much blood. 
 I would dissemble with my nature where 
 My fortunes and my friends at stake requir'd 
 I should do so in honour. I am in this, 
 Your wife, your son, these senators, the nobles; 
 And you will rather show our general louts 
 How you can frown, than spend a fawn upon 'em 
 For the inheritance of their loves and safeguard 
 Of what that want might ruin. 
 
 Menenius. Noble lady !— 
 
 Come, go with us : speak fair ; you may salve so, 7° 
 
 Not what is dangerous present, but the loss 
 Of what is past. 
 
 Volumnia. I prithee now, my son. 
 
 Go to them, with this bonnet in thy hand ; 
 And thus far having stretch'd it — here be with them— 
 Thy knee bussing the stones — for in such business 
 Action is eloquence, and the eyes of the ignorant 
 More learned than the ears— waving thy head, 
 Which often, thus, correcting thy stout heart, 
 Now humble as the ripest mulberry 
 That will not hold the handling,— say to them, So 
 
ACT III. SCENE IL 1 13 
 
 Thou art their soldier, and being bred in broils 
 
 Hast not the soft way which, thou dost confess, 
 
 Were fit for thee to use as they to claim, 
 
 In asking their good loves ; but thou wilt frame 
 
 Thyself, forsooth, hereafter theirs, so far 
 
 As thou hast power and person, 
 
 Menetiius. This but done, 
 
 Even as she speaks, why, their hearts were yours ; 
 For they have pardons, being ask'd, as free 
 As words to little purpose. 
 
 VoIum?iia. Prithee now. 
 
 Go, and be rul'd ; although I know thou hadst rather 90 
 
 Follow thine enemy in a fiery gulf 
 Than flatter him in a bower. Here is Cominius. 
 
 E?tter Cominius. 
 
 Cominius. I have been i' the market-place; and, sir, 't is fit 
 You make strong party, or defend yourself 
 By calmness or by absence; all 's in anger. 
 
 Menenius. Only fair speech. 
 
 Cominius. I think 't will serve, if he 
 
 Can thereto frame his spirit. 
 
 Volumnia. He must, and will. — 
 
 Prithee now, say you will, and go about it. 
 
 Coriolanus. Must I go show them my unbarb'd sconce? 
 Must I 
 With my base tongue give to my noble heart 100 
 
 A lie that it must bear.? Well, I will do 't; 
 Yet, were there but this single plot to lose, 
 This mould of Marcius, they to dust should grind it 
 And throw 't against the wind. — To the market-place! 
 You have put me now to such a part, which never 
 I shall discharge to the life. 
 
 Cominius. Come, come, we '11 prompt you. 
 
 Volumnia. I prithee now, sweet son, as thou hast said 
 H 
 
114 CORIOLANUS, 
 
 My praises made thee first a soldier, so, 
 To have my praise for this, perform a part 
 Thou hast not done before. 
 
 Coriolamis. Well, I must do 't. no 
 
 Away, my disposition, and possess me 
 Some harlot's spirit ! my throat of war be turn'd. 
 Which quired with my drum, into a pipe 
 Small as an eunuch, or the virgin voice 
 That babies lulls asleep ! the smiles of knaves 
 Tent in my cheeks, and schoolboys' tears take up 
 The glasses of my sight! a beggar's tongue 
 Make motion through my lips, and my arm'd knees. 
 Who bow'd but in my stirrup, bend like his 
 That hath receiv'd an alms ! — I will not do 't, 120 
 
 Lest I surcease to honour mine own truth 
 And by my body's action teach my mind 
 A most inherent baseness. 
 
 Volumnia. At thy choice, then. 
 
 To beg of thee, it is my more dishonour 
 Than thou of them. Come all to ruin ; let 
 Thy mother rather feel thy pride than fear 
 Thy dangerous stoutness, for I mock at death 
 With as big heart as thou. Do as thou list. 
 Thy valiantness was mine, thou suck'dst it from me, 
 But owe thy pride thyself 
 
 Coriola?tus. Pray, be content. 130 
 
 Mother, I am going to the market-place ; 
 Chide me no more. I '11 mountebank their loves. 
 Cog their hearts from them, and come home belov'd 
 Of all the trades in Rome. Look, I am going ; 
 Commend me to my wife. I '11 return consul, 
 Or never trust to what my tongue can do 
 I' the w^ay of flattery further. 
 
 Volumnia. Do your will. {Exit. 
 
 Cominius. Away ! the tribunes do attend you : arm yourself 
 
ACT III. SCENE III. I'l^ 
 
 To answer mildly ; for they are prepar'd 
 
 With accusations, as I hear, more strong i^o 
 
 Than are upon you yet. 
 
 Coriolanus. The word is, mildly. — Pray you, let us go: 
 Let them accuse me by invention, I 
 Will answer in mine honour. 
 
 Menenius. Ay, but mildly. 
 
 Coriolanus. Well, mildly be it then, — mildly! \Exeimt. 
 
 Scene III. The Same. The Forum. 
 Enter Sicinius and Brutus. 
 Brutus. In this point charge him home, that he affects 
 Tyrannical power; if he evade us there. 
 Enforce him with his envy to the people, 
 And that the spoil got on the Antiates 
 Was ne'er distributed. — 
 
 Enter an y^dile. 
 What, will he come ? 
 
 jEdile. He 's coming. 
 
 Brutus. How accompanied ? 
 
 yEdile. With old Menenius, and those senators 
 That always favour'd him. 
 
 Sicmms. Have you a catalogue 
 
 Of all the voices that we have procur'd 
 Set down by the poll.'* 
 
 yEdile. I have ; 't is ready. lo 
 
 Sicinius. Have 3^ou collected them by tribes ? 
 
 ^dile. I have. 
 
 Sici7iius. Assemble presently the people hither; 
 And when they hear me say ' It shall be so 
 I' the right and strength o' the commons,' be it either 
 For death, for fine, or banishment, then let them, 
 If I say fine, cry ' Fine,' if death, cry ' Death ;' 
 
1 1"6 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Insisting on the old prerogative 
 And power i' the truth o' the cause. 
 
 yEdile. I shall inform them. 
 
 Brutus. And when such time they have begun to cry, 
 Let them not cease, but with a din confus'd 20 
 
 Enforce the present execution 
 Of what we chance to sentence. 
 
 yEdile. Very well. 
 
 Siciniiis. Make them be strong and ready for this hint, 
 When we shall hap to give 't them. 
 
 Brutus. Go about it. — \^Exit yEdik. 
 
 Put him to choler straight. He hath been us'd 
 Ever to conquer, and to have his worth 
 Of contradiction. Being once chaf'd, he cannot 
 Be rein'd again to temperance : then he speaks 
 What 's in his heart; and that is there which looks 
 With us to break his neck. 
 
 Sicinius. Well, here he comes. 30 
 
 E?iter CoRiOLANUS, Menenius, a7id Cominius, with 
 Senators and Patricians. 
 
 Menenius. Calmly, I do beseech you. 
 
 Coriolanus. Ay, as an ostler, that for the poorest piece 
 Will bear the knave by the volume. — The honour'd gods 
 Keep Rome in safety, and the chairs of justice 
 Supplied with worthy men! plant love among us! 
 Throng our large temples with the shows of peace, 
 And not our streets with war ! 
 
 I Senator. Amen, amen. 
 
 Menenius. A noble wish. 
 
 Re-enter ^dile, with Citizens. 
 Sicinius. Draw near, ye people. 
 
 ^dile. List to your tribunes. Audience ! peace, I say! 40 
 CoriolaJius. First, hear me speak. 
 
ACT III. SCENE III. 1 17 
 
 Both T?'ibiines. Well, say. — Peace, ho ! 
 
 Coriolanus. Shall I be charg'd no further than this pres- 
 ent? 
 Must all determine here ? 
 
 Sicinius. I do demand, 
 
 If you submit you to the people's voices, 
 Allow their officers and are content 
 To suffer lawful censure for such faults 
 As shall be prov'd upon you? 
 
 Coriolanus. I am content. 
 
 Menenius. Lo, citizens, he says he is content. 
 The warlike service he has done, consider! think 
 Upon the wounds his body bears, which show • 50 
 
 Like graves i' the holy churchyard. 
 
 Coriolanus. Scratches with briers, 
 
 Scars to move laughter only. 
 
 Menenius. Consider further. 
 
 That when he speaks not like a citizen, 
 You find him like a soldier ; do not take 
 His rougher accents for malicious sounds. 
 But, as I say, such as become a soldier, 
 Rather than envy you. 
 
 Cominius. Well, well, no more. 
 
 Coriolanus. What is the matter 
 That being pass'd for consul with full voice, 
 I am so dishonour'd that the very hour 60 
 
 You take it off again ? 
 
 Sicinius. Answer to us. 
 
 Coriolanus. Say, then ; 't is true, I ought so. 
 
 Sicinius. We charge you, that you have contriv'd to take 
 From Rome all season'd office and to wind 
 Yourself into a power tyrannical; 
 For which you are a traitor to the people. 
 
 Coriolanus. How ! traitor ! 
 
 Menenius. Nay, temperately ; your promise. 
 
n8 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Coriolaniis. The fires i' the lowest hell fold in the people ! 
 Call me their traitor ! — Thou injurious tribune ! 
 Within thine eyes sat twenty thousand deaths, 70 
 
 In thy hands clutch'd as many millions, in 
 Thy lying tongue both numbers, I would say 
 ' Thou liest ' unto thee with a voice as free 
 As I do pray the gods. 
 
 Sicinius. Mark you this, people ? 
 
 Citizens, To the rock, to the rock with him ! 
 
 Siciniits. Peace ! 
 
 We need not put new matter to his charge; 
 What you have seen him do and heard him speak, 
 Beating your officers, cursing yourselves. 
 Opposing laws with strokes and here defying 
 Those whose great power must try him, even this, 80 
 
 So criminal and in such capital kind, 
 Deserves the extremest death. 
 
 Brithis. But since he hath 
 
 Serv'd well for Rome, — 
 
 Coriolanus. What do you prate of service ? 
 
 Brutus. I talk of that, that know it. 
 
 Coriolanus, You ? 
 
 Meneniiis, Is this the promise that you made your mother? 
 
 Cominius. Know, I pray you, — 
 
 Coriolanus. I '11 know no further : 
 
 Let them pronounce the steep Tarpeian death, 
 Vagabond exile, flaying, pent to linger 
 
 But with a grain a day, I would not buy 90 
 
 Their mercy at the price of one fair word. 
 Nor check my courage for what they can give. 
 To have 't with saying good morrow. 
 
 Sicinius. For that he has, 
 
 As much as in him lies, from time to time 
 Envied against the people, seeking means 
 To pluck away their power, as now at last 
 
ACT III. SCENE III. iig 
 
 Given hostile strokes, and that not in the presence 
 
 Of dreaded justice, but on the ministers 
 
 That do distribute it ; in the name o' the people 
 
 And in the power of us the tribunes, we, loo 
 
 Even from this instant, banish him our city. 
 
 In peril of precipitation 
 
 From off the rock Tarpeian, never more 
 
 To enter our Rome gates. I' the people's name, 
 
 I say it shall be so. 
 
 Citizens. It shall be so, it shall be so ; let him away. 
 He 's banish'd, and it shall be so. 
 
 Cominius. Hear me, my masters, and my common friends,— 
 Sicinius. He 's sentenc'd ; no more hearing. 
 Cominius. Let me speak. ; 
 
 I have been consul, and can show for Rome no 
 
 Her enemies' marks upon me. I do love 
 My country's good with a respect more tender. 
 More holy and profound, than mine own life. 
 My dear wife's estimate, her womb's increase. 
 And treasure of my loins ; then if I would 
 Speak that — 
 
 Sicinius. We know your drift ; speak what.? 
 Brutus. There 's no more to be said, but he is banish'd, 
 As enemy to the people and his country ; 
 It shall be so. 
 
 Citizens. It shall be so, it shall be so. 
 
 Coriolatius. You common cry of curs ! whose breath I hate 
 As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize 121 
 
 As the dead carcasses of unburied men 
 That do corrupt my air, I banish you ; 
 And here remain with your uncertainty ! 
 Let every feeble rumour shake your hearts ! 
 Your enemies, with nodding of their plumes, 
 Fan you into despair ! Have the power still 
 To banish your defenders ; till at length 
 
J20 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Your ignorance, which finds not till it feels. 
 
 Making but reservation of yourselves, 150 
 
 Still your own foes, deliver you as most 
 
 Abated captives to some nation 
 
 That won you without blows ! Despising, 
 
 For you, the city, thus I turn my back. 
 
 There is a world elsewhere. 
 
 [Exeunt Coriolaftus, Conwiius, Mene?iius, 
 Senators and Patricians. 
 
 ^dile. The people's enemy is gone, is gone ! 
 
 Citizens. Our enemy is banish'd ! he is gone ! Hoo ! Hoo ! 
 \They all shout., and thr'ow up their caps. 
 
 Sicinius. Go, see him out at gates, and follow him. 
 As he hath follow'd you, with all despite ; 
 Give him deserv'd vexation. Let a guard 140 
 
 Attend us through the city. 
 
 Citize?is. Come, come ; let 's see him out at gates ; come. — 
 The gods preserve our noble tribunes ! — Come. [Exeunt. 
 
ACT IV. 
 
 Scene I. Rome. Before a Gate of the City. 
 
 Enter Coriolanus, Volumnia, Virgilia, Menenius, 
 CoMiNius, with the young Nobility of Ro7ne. 
 
 Coriolanus. Come, leave your tears; a brief farewell: the 
 beast 
 With many heads butts me away. — Nay, mother, 
 Where is your ancient courage ? you were us'd 
 To say extremity was the trier of spirits; 
 That common chances common men could bear; 
 That when the sea was calm all boats alike 
 Show'd mastership in floating; fortune's blows. 
 When most struck home, being gentle wounded, craves 
 A noble cunning : you were us'd to load me 
 With precepts that would make invincible lo 
 
 The heart that conn'd them. 
 
 Virgilia. O heavens ! O heavens ! 
 
 Coj'iolajius. Nay, I prithee, woman, — 
 
122 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Voliimiiia. Now the red pestilence strike all trades in Rome, 
 And occupations perish ! 
 
 Coriolanus. What, what, what ! 
 
 I shall be lov'd when I am lack'd. Nay, mother, 
 Resume that spirit, when you were wont to say, 
 If you had been the wife of Hercules, 
 Six of his labours you 'd have done, and sav'd 
 Your husband so much sweat. — Cominius, 
 Droop not ; adieu. — Farewell, my wife, my mother. 20 
 
 I '11 do well yet. — Thou old and true Menenius, 
 Thy tears are Salter than a younger man's 
 And venomous to thine eyes. — My sometime general, 
 I have seen thee stern, and thou hast oft beheld 
 Heart-hardening spectacles ; tell these sad women 
 'T is fond to wail inevitable strokes, 
 As 't is to laugh at 'em. — My mother, you wot well 
 My hazards still have been your solace ; and 
 Believe 't not lightly— though I go alone. 
 Like to a lonely dragon, that his fen 30 
 
 Makes fear'd and talk'd of more than seen — yom son 
 Will or exceed the common, or be caught 
 With cautelous baits and practice. 
 
 Volumnia. My first son. 
 
 Whither wilt thou go ? Take good Cominius 
 With thee awhile; determine on some course, 
 More than a wild exposture to each chance 
 That starts i' the way before thee. 
 
 Coriolamis. O the gods ! 
 
 Cominius. I '11 follow thee a month, devise with thee 
 Where thou shalt rest, that thou mayst hear of us, 
 And we of thee ; so, if the time thrust forth 4c 
 
 A cause for thy repeal, we shall not send 
 O'er the vast world to seek a single man. 
 And lose advantage, which doth ever cool - 
 I' the absence o' the needer. 
 
ACT IV. SCENE II. 
 
 123 
 
 Coriolanus. Fare ye well ; 
 
 Thou hast years upon thee, and thou art too full 
 Of the wars' surfeits, to go rove with one 
 That 's yet unbruis'd : bring me but out at gate. — 
 Come, my sweet wife, my dearest mother, and 
 My friends of noble touch, when I am forth. 
 Bid me farewell, and smile. I pray you, come. 5c 
 
 While I remain above the ground, you shall 
 Hear from me still, and never of me aught 
 But what is like me formerly. 
 
 Meneniiis. That 's worthily 
 
 As any ear can hear. — Come, let 's not weep. — 
 If I could shake off but one seven years 
 From these old arms and legs, by the good gods, 
 I 'd with thee every foot. 
 
 Coriolanus. Give me thy hand.— 
 
 Co"ie. lExeunt 
 
 Scene II. The Same. A Street near the Gate. 
 Enter Sicmius, Brutus, and an ^dile. 
 Siciniiis. Bid them all homej he 's gone, and we '11 no 
 further. 
 The nobility are vex'd, whom we see have sided 
 In his behalf. 
 
 Brutus. Now we have shown our power. 
 
 Let us seem humbler after it is done 
 Than when it was a-doing. 
 
 Sicmius. Bid them home ; 
 
 Say their great enemy is gone, and they 
 Stand in their ancient strength. 
 Brutus. Dismiss them home.— 
 
 \^Exit ^dile. 
 Here comes his mother. 
 
124 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Enter VoLUMNiA, Virgilia, and Menenius. 
 
 Sicijiiiis. Let 's not meet her. 
 
 Brutus. Why ? 
 
 Sicinius. They say she 's mad. 
 
 Brutus. They have ta'en note of us ; keep on your way. lo 
 
 Volumnia. O, ye 're well met ; the hoarded plague o' the 
 gods 
 Requite your love ! 
 
 Menenius. Peace, peace; be not so loud. 
 
 Volumnia. If that I could for weeping, you should hear, — 
 Nay, and you shall hear some. — \To Brutus'] Will you be 
 gone? 
 
 Virgilia. [To Sicinius] You shall stay too; I would I had 
 the power 
 To say so to my husband. 
 
 Sicinius. Are you mankind 1 
 
 Voluin7iia. Ay, fool; is that a shame? — Note but this 
 fool.— 
 Was not a man my father? Hadst thou foxship 
 To banish him that struck more blows for Rome 
 Than thou hast spoken words ? 
 
 Sicinius. O blessed heavens ! 20 
 
 Volumnia. More noble blows than ever thou wise words; 
 And for Rome's good. I '11 tell thee what; — yet go. — 
 Nay, but thou shalt stay too. — I would my son 
 Were in Arabia, and thy tribe before him, 
 His good sword in his hand. 
 
 Sici?iius. What then ? 
 
 Virgilia. What then ! 
 
 He 'd make an end of thy posterity. 
 
 Volumnia. Bastards and all. — 
 Good man, the wounds that he does bear for Pvome ! 
 
 Menenius. Come, come, peace. 
 
 Sicinius. I would he had continued to his country 30 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IT. 125 
 
 As he began, and not unknit himself 
 The noble knot he made. 
 
 Brutus. I would he had. 
 
 Volumnia. I would he had ! 'T was you incens'd the rab- 
 ble; 
 Cats, that can judge as fitly of his worth 
 As I can of those mysteries which heaven 
 Will not have earth to know. 
 
 Brutus. Pray, let us go. 
 
 Volumnia. Now, pray, sir, get you gone; 
 You have done a brave deed. Ere you go, hear this^ 
 As far as doth the Capitol exceed 
 
 The meanest house in Rome, so far my son — 40 
 
 This lady's husband here, this, do you see ? — 
 Whom you have banish'd, does exceed you all. 
 
 Brutus. Well, well, we '11 leave you. 
 
 Sicinius. Why stay we to be baited 
 
 With one that wants her wits ? 
 
 Volumnia. Take my prayers with you. 
 
 \^Exeunt Tribunes. 
 I would the gods had nothing else to do 
 But to confirm my curses ! Could I meet 'em 
 But once a-day, it would unclog my heart 
 Of what lies heavy to 't. 
 
 Menenius. You have told them home ; 
 
 And, by my troth, you have cause. You '11 sup with me ? 
 
 Volumnia. Anger 's my meat; I sup upon myself, 50 
 
 And so shall starve with feeding. — Come, let 's go. 
 Leave this faint puling, and lament as I do. 
 In anger, Juno-like. Come, come, come. 
 
 Menenius. Fie, fie, fie ! {Exeunt. 
 
J 26 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scene III. A HigMvay between Rome and Antium. 
 Enter a Roman and a Volsce, meeting. 
 
 Roman. I know you well, sir, and you know me; your 
 name, I think, is Adrian. 
 
 Volsce. It is so, sir ; truly, I have forgot you. 
 
 Roman. I am a Roman ; and my services are, as you are, 
 against 'em. Know you me yet ? 
 
 Volsce. Nicanor ? no. 
 
 Roman. The same, sir. 
 
 Volsce. You had more beard when I last saw you ; but your 
 favour is well appeared by your tongue. What 's the news in 
 Rome ? I have a note from the Volscian state, to find you 
 out there; you have well saved me a day's journey. n 
 
 Roman. There hath been in Rome strange insurrections; 
 the people against the senators, patricians, and nobles. 
 
 Volsce. Hath been ! is it ended, then ? Our state thinks 
 not so ; they are in a most warlike preparation, and hope to 
 come upon them in the heat of their division. 
 
 Rojna7t. The main blaze of it is past, but a small thing 
 would make it flame again ; for the nobles receive so to 
 heart the banishment of that worthy Coriolanus, that they 
 are in a ripe aptness to take all power from the people and 
 to pluck from them their tribunes for ever. This lies glow- 
 ing, I can tell you, and is almost mature for the violent 
 breaking out. 23 
 
 Volsce. Coriolanus banished ! 
 
 Roman. Banished, sir. 
 
 Volsce. You will be welcome with this intelligence, Nicanor. 
 
 Roman. The day serves well for them now. I have heard 
 it said, the fittest time to corrupt a man's wife is when she 's 
 fallen out with her husband. Your noble Tullus Aufidius 
 will appear well in these wars, his great opposer, Coriolanus, 
 being now in no request of his country. 31 
 
ACT IV. SCENE IV. 
 
 127 
 
 Volsce. He cannot choose. I am most fortunate, thus ac- 
 cidentally to encounter you; you have ended my business, 
 and I will merrily accompany you home. 
 
 Roman. I shall, between this and supper, tell you most 
 strange things from Rome, all tending to the good of their 
 adversaries. Have you an army ready, say you ? 
 
 Volsce. A most royal one ; the centurions and their charges, 
 distinctly billeted, already in the entertainment, and to be on 
 foot at an hour's warning. 40 
 
 Roman. I am joyful to hear of their readiness, and am the 
 man, I think, that shall set them in present action. So, sir, 
 heartily well met, and most glad of your company. 
 
 Volsce. You take my part from me, sir ; I have the most 
 cause to be glad of yours. 
 
 Roman. Well, let us go together. \Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IV. Antium. Before Aufidius's House. 
 
 Enter Coriolanus in mean apparel, disguised and muffled. 
 
 Coriolanus. A goodly city is this Antium. — City, 
 'T is I that made thy widows; many an heir 
 Of these fair edifices fore my wars 
 Have I heard groan and drop : then know me not, 
 Lest that thy wives with spits, and boys with stones, 
 In puny battle slay me. — 
 
 Enter a Citizen. 
 
 Save you, sir. 
 
 Citizeii. And you. 
 
 Coriolanus. Direct me, if it be your will. 
 
 Where great Aufidius lies. Is he in Antium ? 
 
 Citizen. He is, and feasts the nobles of the state 
 At his house this night. 
 
 Coriolanus. Which is his house, beseech you ? 
 
 Citizen. This, here before you. 
 
128 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Coriolaniis. Thank you, sir; farewell. 
 
 \Exit CitizeJt. 
 
 world, thy slippery turns ! Friends now fast sworn, 12 
 Whose double bosoms seem to wear one heart, 
 
 Whose house, whose bed, whose meal and exercise, 
 
 Are still together, who twin, as 't were, in love 
 
 Unseparable, shall within this hour, 
 
 On a dissension of a doit, break out 
 
 To bitterest enmity ; so, fellest foes, 
 
 Whose passions and whose plots have broke their sleep 
 
 To take the one the other, by some chance, 20 
 
 Some trick not worth an egg, shall grow dear friends, 
 
 And interjoin their issues. So with me; 
 
 My birthplace hate I, and my love 's upon 
 
 This enemy town. I '11 enter : if he slay me. 
 
 He does fair justice; if he give me way, 
 
 1 '11 do his country service, \_Exit 
 
 Scene V. The Same. A Hall in Aufidius's House. 
 Music within. Enter a Servingman. 
 
 1 Servingman. W^ine, wine, wine ! — What service is here ! 
 I think our fellows are asleep. \Exit. 
 
 Enter a second Servingman. 
 
 2 Servingman. Where 's Cotus ? my master calls for him. — 
 Cotus ! \Exit. 
 
 Enter Coriolanus. 
 
 Coriolanus. A goodly house. The feast smells well ; but I 
 Appear not like a guest. 
 
 Re-enter the first Servingman. 
 
 I Serving7nan. What would you have, friend } whence are 
 you ? Here 's no place for you ; pray, go to the door. \Exit. 
 
 Coriolanus. I have deserv'd no better entertainment, 
 In being Coriolanus. 1° 
 
ACT IV. SCENE V. 129 
 
 Re-enter second Servingman. 
 
 2 Servingman. Whence are you, sir? Has the porter his 
 eyes in his head, that he gives entrance to such companions ? 
 Pray, get you out. 
 
 Coriolanus. Away ! 
 
 2 Servingman. Away ! get you away. 
 
 Coriolanus. Now thou 'rt troublesome. 
 
 2 Servingman. Are you so brave .'' I '11 have you talked 
 with anon. 
 
 Enter a third Servingman. The first meets him. 
 
 3 Servi7igman. What fellow 's this ? 19 
 
 1 Servingman. A strange one as ever I looked on. I can- 
 not get him out o' the house ; prithee, call my master to 
 him. {Retires. 
 
 3 Servingman. What have you to do here, fellow ? Pray 
 you, avoid the house. 
 
 Coriolatiiis. Let me but stand j I will not hurt your hearth. 
 
 3 Servingman. What are you ? 
 
 Coriolanus. A gentleman. 
 
 3 Servingman. A marvellous poor one. 
 
 Coriolanus. True, so I am. 29 
 
 3 Servingman. Pray you, poor gentleman, take up some 
 other station ; here 's no place for you. Pray you, avoid ; 
 come. 
 
 Coriolanus. Follow your function, go, and batten on cold 
 bits. \Pushes him away from him. 
 
 3 Servingman. What, you will not? — Prithee, tell my mas- 
 ter what a strange guest he has here. 
 
 2 Servingfnan. And I shall. {Exit. 
 
 3 Servingman. Where dwell est thou ? 
 Coriolanus. Under the canopy. 
 
 3 Servingman. Under the canopy ! 40 
 
 Coriolanus. Ay. 
 
 I 
 
j^Q CORIOLANUS. 
 
 3 Servingman. Where 's that? 
 
 Coriolanus. I' the city of kites and crows. 
 
 Ty Servingman. I' the city of kites and crows! — What an 
 ass it is ! — Then thou dwellest with daws too ? 
 
 Coriolanus. No, I serve not thy master. 
 
 3 Servingman. How, sir ! do you meddle with my master? 
 
 Coriolanus. Ay; 't is an honester service than to meddle 
 with thy mistress. 
 
 Thou prat'st and prat'st; serve with thy trencher, hence ! 50 
 \_Beafs him away. Exit third Servingman. 
 
 Enter Aufidius wzV^ the second Servingman. 
 
 Aufidius. Where is this fellow ? 
 
 2 Servingman. Here, sir. I 'd have beaten him like a dog, 
 but for disturbing the lords within. {Retires. 
 
 Aufidius. Whence com'st thou? what wouldst thou? thy 
 name? 
 Why speak'st not? speak, man ; what 's thy name ? 
 
 Coriolanus. [ Unmuffling\ If, Tullus, 
 Not yet thou knowest me, and, seeing me, dost not 
 Think me for the man I am, necessity 
 Commands me name myself. 
 
 Aufidius. What is thy name ? 
 
 Coriolanus. A name unmusical to the Volscians' ears, 60 
 And harsh in sound to thine. 
 
 Aufidius. Say, what 's thy name ? 
 
 Thou hast a grim appearance, and thy face 
 Bears a command in 't; though thy tackle 's torn, 
 Thou show'st a noble vessel. What 's thy name ? 
 
 Coriolanus. Prepare thy brow to frown. Know'st thou me 
 yet? 
 
 Aufidius. I know thee not; thy name? 
 
 Coriolanus. My name is Caius Marcius, who hath done 
 To thee particularly, and to all the Volsces, 
 Great hurt and mischief; thereto witness may 
 
ACT IV. SCENE V. 
 
 131 
 
 My surname, Coriolanus. The painful service, 70 
 
 The extreme dangers, and the drops of blood 
 
 Shed for my thankless country are requited 
 
 But with that surname; a good memory. 
 
 And witness of the malice and displeasure 
 
 Which thou shouldst bear me. Only that name remains ; 
 
 The cruelty and envy of the people, 
 
 Permitted by our dastard nobles, who 
 
 Have all forsook me, hath devour'd the rest, 
 
 And suffer'd me by the voice of slaves to be 
 
 Whoop'd out of Rome. Now, this extremity 80 
 
 Hath brought me to thy hearth ; not out of hope — 
 
 Mistake me not — to save my life, for if 
 
 I had fear'd death, of all the men i' the world 
 
 I would have voided thee ; but in mere spite, 
 
 To be full quit of those my banishers, 
 
 Stand I before thee here. Then if thou hast 
 
 A heart of wreak in thee, that wilt revenge 
 
 Thine own particular wrongs, and stop those maims 
 
 Of shame seen through thy country, speed thee straight, 
 
 And make my misery serve thy turn : so use it 90 
 
 That my revengeful services may prove 
 
 As benefits to thee ; for I will fight 
 
 Against my canker'd country with the spleen 
 
 Of all the under fiends. But if so be 
 
 Thou dar'st not this, and that to prove more fortunes 
 
 Thou 'rt tir'd, then, in a word, I also am 
 
 Longer to live most weary, and present 
 
 My throat to thee and to thy ancient malice; 
 
 Which not to cut would show thee but a fool, 
 
 Since I have ever follow'd thee with hate, 100 
 
 Drawn tuns of blood out of thy country's breast, 
 
 And cannot live but to thy shame, unless 
 
 It be to do thee service. 
 
 Aufidius. O Marcius, Marcius ! 
 
132 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Each word thou hast spoke hath weeded from my heart 
 
 A root of ancient envy. If Jupiter 
 
 Should from yond cloud speak divine things, '' 
 
 And say ' 'T is true,' I 'd not believe them more 
 
 Than thee, all-noble Marcius. Let me twine , 
 
 Mine arms about that body, where-against 
 
 My grained ash an hundred times hath broke, no 
 
 And scarr'd the moon with splinters. Here I clip 
 
 The anvil of my sword, and do contest 
 
 As hotly and as nobly with thy love. 
 
 As ever in ambitious strength I did 
 
 Contend against thy valour. Know thou first, 
 
 I lov'd the maid I married; never man 
 
 Sigh'd truer breath ; but that I see thee here, 
 
 Thou noble thing ! more dances my rapt heart 
 
 Than when I first my wedded mistress saw 
 
 Bestride my threshold. Why, thou Mars ! I tell thee, 120 
 
 We have a power on foot; and I had purpose 
 
 Once more to hew thy target from thy brawn, 
 
 Or lose mine arm for't. Thou hast beat me out 
 
 Twelve several times, and I have nightly since 
 
 Dreamt of encounters 'twixt thyself and me ; 
 
 We have been down together in my sleep. 
 
 Unbuckling helms, fisting each other's throat, 
 
 And wak'd half dead with nothing. Worthy Marcius, 
 
 Had we no other quarrel else to Rome, but that 
 
 Thou art thence banish'd, we would muster all 130 
 
 From twelve to seventy, and pouring war 
 
 Into the bowels of ungrateful Rome, 
 
 Like a bold flood o'erbear. O, come, go in. 
 
 And take our friendly senators by the hands. 
 
 Who now are here, taking their leaves of me, 
 
 W^ho am prepar'd against your territories, 
 
 Though not for Rome itself 
 
 Coriolaniis. You bless me, gods ! 
 
ACT IV. SCENE V. 
 
 133 
 
 Aufidius. Therefore, most absolute sir, if thou wilt have 
 The leading of thine own revenges, take 
 The one half of my commission ; and set down — 140 
 
 As best thou art experienc'd, since thou know'st 
 Thy country's strength and weakness, — thine own ways; 
 Whether to knock against the gates of Rome, 
 Or rudely visit them in parts remote, 
 To fright them, ere destroy. But come in ; 
 Let me commend thee first to those that shall 
 Say yea to thy desires. A thousand welcomes ! 
 And more a friend than e'er an enemy; 
 Yet, Marcius, that was much. Your hand ; most welcome ! 
 \Exeunt Coriolanus and Aufidius. The two 
 Servingmen come forward. 
 
 1 Servingman. Here 's a strange alteration ! 150 
 
 2 Servingman. By my hand, I had thought to have strucken 
 him with a cudgel ; and yet my mind gave me his clothes 
 made a false report of him. 
 
 1 Servingman. What an arm he has ! he turned me about 
 with his finger and his thumb, as one would set up a top. 
 
 2 Servingman. Nay, I knew by his face that there was 
 something in him ; he had, sir, a kind of face, methought, — I 
 cannot tell how to term it. 
 
 1 Servingman. He had so ; looking as it were — would I 
 were hanged, but I thought there was more in him than I 
 could think. ' 161 
 
 2 Servingman. So did I, I '11 be sworn ; he is simply the 
 rarest man i' the world. 
 
 1 Servingman. I think he is ; but a greater soldier than he, 
 you wot one. 
 
 2 Serviftgman. Who, my master? 
 
 1 Servingman. Nay, it 's no matter for that. 
 
 2 Servingman. Worth six on him. 
 
 I Servingman. Nay, not so neither ; but I take him to be 
 the greater soldier. 170 
 
134 CORIOLANUS, 
 
 2 Servingman. Faith, look you, one cannot tell how to say 
 that ; for the defence of a town, our general is excellent. 
 
 I Servingmatu Ay, and for an assault too. 
 
 Re-enter third Servingman. 
 
 3 Servingman. O slaves, I can tell you news, — news, you 
 rascals ! 
 
 I and 2 Servingman. What, what, what ? let 's partake. 
 
 3 Servingman. I would not be a Roman, of all nations ; I 
 had as lieve be a condemned man. 
 
 I and 2 Servingman. Wherefore.? wherefore? 
 
 3 Servingman. Why, here 's he that was wont to thwack 
 our general, CaiusMarcius. iSi 
 
 1 Servingman. Why do you say, thwack our general ? 
 
 3 Servingman. I do not say, thwack our general ; but he 
 was always good enough for him. 
 
 2 Servingman.- ComQ,yNQ are fellows and friends: he was 
 ever too hard for him ; I have heard him say so himself. 
 
 1 Servi7igman. He was too hard for him directly, to say the 
 troth on 't; before Corioli he scotched him and notched him 
 like a carbonado. 
 
 2 Servingman. An he had been cannibally given, he mig:ht 
 have broiled and eaten him too. igi 
 
 I Servingman. But, more of thy news ? 
 
 3 Servingman. Why, he is so made on here within, as if he 
 were son and heir to Mars ; set at upper end o' the table ; no 
 question asked him by any of the senators, but they stand 
 bald before him. Our general himself makes a mistress of 
 him ; sanctifies himself with 's hand, and turns up the white 
 o' the eye to his discourse. But the bottom of the news is, 
 our general is cut i' the middle and but one half of what he 
 w^as yesterday ; for the other has half, by the entreaty and 
 grant of the whole table. He '11 go, he says, and sowl the 
 porter of Rome gates by the ears ; he will mow all down 
 before him, and leave his passage polled. 20s 
 
ACT IV. SCENE V. 135 
 
 2 Servingman. And he 's as like to do 't as any man I can 
 imagine. 
 
 3 Servingman. Do 't ! he will do 't ; for, look you, sir, he has 
 as many friends as enemies : which friends, sir, as it were, 
 durst not, look you, sir, show themselves, as we term it, his 
 friends whilst he 's in directitude. 
 
 I Servingman. Directitude! what 's that? 210 
 
 3 Servingmafi. But when they shall see, sir, his crest up 
 
 again, and the man in blood, they will out of their burrows, 
 
 like conies after rain, and revel all with him. 
 
 1 Servingman. But when goes this forward? 
 
 2t Servingman. To-morrow, — to-day, — presently; you shall 
 have the drum struck up this afternoon : 't is, as it were, a 
 parcel of their feast, and to be executed ere they wipe their 
 lips. 
 
 2 Servingman. Why, then we shall have a stirring world 
 again. This peace is nothing, but to rust iron, increase tai- 
 lors, and breed ballad-makers. 221 
 
 1 Servingman. Let me have war, say I: it exceeds peace 
 as far as day does night; it 's sprightly, waking, audible, and 
 full of vent. Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; mulled, 
 deaf, sleepy, insensible; a getter of more bastard children 
 than war 's a destroyer of men. 
 
 2 Servingman. 'T is so : and as war, in some sort, may be 
 said to be a ravisher, so it cannot be denied but peace is a 
 great maker of cuckolds. 229 
 
 I Servingman. Ay, and it makes men hate one another. 
 
 3 Servingman. Reason ; because they then less need one 
 another. The wars for my money. I hope to see Romans 
 as cheap as Volscians. They are rising, they are rising. 
 
 I and 2 Servingman. In, in, in, in ! \Exeunt. 
 
136 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scene VI. Rome. A Public Place. 
 Enter the two Tribunes^ Sicinius and Brutus. 
 
 Sicinius. We hear not of him, neither need we fear him; 
 His remedies are tame i' the present peace 
 And quietness of the people, which before 
 Were in wild hurry. Here do we make his friends 
 Blush that the world goes well, who rather had. 
 Though they themselves did suffer by 't, behold 
 Dissentious numbers pestering streets- than see 
 Our tradesmen singing in their shops, and going 
 About their functions friendly. 
 
 Brutus. We stood to 't in good time. 
 
 Ejtter Menenius. 
 
 Is this Menenius? 10 
 
 Sicinius. 'T is he, 't is he. O, he is grown most kind of 
 late!— Hail, sir! 
 
 Menenius. Hail to you both ! 
 
 Sicinius. Your Coriolanus is not much miss'd, 
 But with his friends ; the commonwealth doth stand, 
 And so would do, were he more angry at it. 
 
 Menenius. All 's well; and might have been much better, if 
 He could have temporiz'd. 
 
 Sicinius. Where is he, hear you? 
 
 Menenius. Nay, I hear nothing; his mother and his wife 
 Hear nothing from him. 20 
 
 Etiter three or four Citizens. 
 
 Citizens. The gods preserve you both ! 
 Sicinius. God-den, our neighbours. 
 
 Brutus. God-den to you all, god-den to you all. 
 I Citizen. Ourselves, our wives, and children, on our knees, 
 Are bound to pray for you both. 
 
ACT IV. SCENE VL 
 
 137 
 
 Sicinius. Live, and thrive ! 
 
 Brutus. Farewell, kind neighbours; we wish'd Coriolanus 
 Had lov'd you as we did. 
 
 Citizens. Now the gods keep you! 
 
 Both Tribunes. Farewell, farewell. [Exeunt Citizens. 
 
 Sicinius. This is a happier and more comely time 
 Than when these fellows ran about the streets, 
 Crying confusion. 
 
 Brutus. Caius Marcius was 30 
 
 A worthy officer i' the war, but insolent, 
 O'ercome with pride, ambitious past all thinking, 
 Self-loving, — 
 
 Sicinius. And affecting one sole throne. 
 Without assistance. 
 
 Menenius. I think not so. 
 
 Sicinius. We should by this, to all our lamentation. 
 If he had gone forth consul, found it so. 
 
 Brutus. The gods have well prevented it, and Rome 
 Sits safe and still without him. 
 
 Enter an ^dile. 
 
 ^dile. Worthy tribunes, 
 
 There is a slave, whom we have put in prison. 
 Reports, the Volsces with two several powers . 40 
 
 Are enter'd in the Roman territories. 
 And with the deepest malice of the war 
 Destroy what lies before 'em. 
 
 Menefiius. 'T is Aufidius, 
 
 Who, hearing of our Marcius' banishment. 
 Thrusts forth his horns again into the world; 
 Which were inshell'd when Marcius stood for Rome, 
 And durst not once peep out. 
 
 Sicinius. Come, what talk you of Marcius? 
 
 Brutus. Go see this rumourer whipp'd. — It cannot be 
 The Volsces dare break with us. 
 
i3« 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Mefieftius. Cannot be ! 
 
 We have record that very well it can, 
 And three examples of the like hath been 
 Within my age. But reason with the fellow, 
 Before you punish him, where he heard this, 
 Lest you shall chance to whip your information, 
 And beat the messenger who bids beware 
 Of what is to be dreaded. 
 
 Siciniiis. Tell not me; 
 
 I know this cannot be. 
 
 Brutus. Not possible. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Messenger. The nobles in great earnestness are going 
 All to the senate-house ; some news is come 
 That turns their countenances. 
 
 Sicinius. 'T is this slave; 
 
 Go whip him fore the people's eyes: — his raising; 
 Nothing but his report. 
 
 Messenger. Yes, worthy sir. 
 
 The slave's report is seconded; and more, 
 More fearful, is deliver'd. 
 
 Sicinius. What more fearful? 
 
 Messenger. It is spoke freely out of many mouths — 
 How probable I do not know — that Marcius, 
 Join'd with Aufidius, leads a power 'gainst Rome, 
 And vows revenge as spacious as between 
 The young'st and oldest thing. 
 
 Sicinius. This is most likely! 
 
 Brutus. Rais'd only, that the weaker sort may wish 
 Good Marcius home again. 
 
 Sicinius. The very trick on 't. 
 
 Menenius. This is unlikely; 
 He and Aufidius can no more atone 
 Than violentest contrariety. 
 
ACT IV. SCENE VI. 139 
 
 Enter a second Messenger. 
 2 Messenger. You are sent for to the senate ; 
 A fearful army, led by Caius Marcius 
 Associated with Aufidius, rages 
 Upon our territories, and have already 
 
 O'erborne their way, consum'd with fire, and took 80 
 
 What lay before them. 
 
 Enter Cominius. 
 
 Cominius. O, you have made good work ! 
 
 Menenius. What news ? what news ? 
 
 Cominius. You have holp to ravish your own daughters 
 and 
 To melt the city leads upon your pates, 
 To see your wives dishonour'd to your noses, — 
 
 Menenius. What 's the news ? what 's the news ? 
 
 Cominius. Your temples burned in their cement, and 
 Your franchises, whereon you stood, confin'd 
 Into an auger's bore. 
 
 Menenius. Pray now, your news ? — 
 
 You have made fair work, I fear me.— Pray, your news ? — 
 If Marcius should be join'd with Volscians, — 
 
 Cominius. If! gi 
 
 He is their god : he leads them like a thing 
 Made by some other deity than nature. 
 That shapes man better; and they follow him, 
 Against us brats, with no less confidence 
 Than boys pursuing summer butterflies, 
 Or butchers killing flies. 
 
 Menenius. You have made good work. 
 
 You and your apron-men ; you that stood so much 
 Upon the voice of occupation and 
 The breath of garlic-eaters! 100 
 
 Cominius. He '11 shake your Rome about your ears. 
 
I40 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Mefienius. As Hercules did shake down mellow fruit. 
 You have made fair work ! 
 
 Brutus. But is this true, sir ? 
 
 Cominius. Ay ; and you '11 look pale 
 
 Before you find it other. All the regions 
 Do smilingly revolt, and who resist 
 Are mock'd for valiant ignorance, 
 And perish constant fools. Who is 't can blame him? 
 Your enemies and his find something in him. 
 
 Menenius. We are all undone, unless no 
 
 The noble man have mercy. 
 
 Cominius. Who shall ask it t 
 
 The tribunes cannot do 't for shame; the people 
 Deserve such pity of him as the wolf 
 Does of the shepherds : for his best friends, if they 
 Should say ' Be good to Rome,' they charg'd him even 
 As those should do that had deserv'd his hate, 
 And therein show'd like enemies. 
 
 Menenius. 'T is true. 
 
 If he were putting to my house the brand 
 That should consume it, I have not the face 
 To say, 'Beseech you, cease.' — You have made fair hands, 
 You and your crafts ! you have crafted fair ! 
 
 Cominius. You have brought 
 
 A trembling upon Rome, such as was never 122 
 
 So incapable of help. 
 
 Both Tribunes. Say not we brought it. 
 
 Menenius. How ! Was it we t we lov'd him ; but, like 
 beasts 
 And cowardly nobles, gave way unto your clusters. 
 Who did hoot him out o' the city. 
 
 Cominius. But I fear 
 
 They '11 roar him in again. Tullus Aufidius, 
 The second name of men, obeys his points 
 As if he were his officer; desperation 
 
ACT IV. SCENE VL 14 t 
 
 Is all the policy, strength, and defence, 130 
 
 That Rome can make against them. 
 
 Enter a troop ^Citizens. 
 
 Menenius. Here come the clusters. — 
 
 And is Aufidius with him ? — You are they 
 That made the air unwholesome, when you cast 
 Your stinking greasy caps in hooting at 
 Coriolanus' exile. Now he 's comingr : 
 And not a hair upon a soldier's head 
 Which will not prove a whip: as many coxcombs 
 As you threw caps up will he tumble down, 
 And pay you for your voices. 'T is no matter; 
 If he could burn us all into one coal, 140 
 
 We have deserv'd it. 
 
 Citizens. Faith, we hear fearful news. 
 
 1 Citizen. For mine own part, 
 When I said, banish him, I said, 't was pity. 
 
 2 Citizen. And so did I. 
 
 3 Citizen. And so did I; and, to say the truth, so did very 
 many of us. That we did, we did for the best; and though 
 we willingly consented to his banishment, yet it was against 
 our will. 
 
 Cominius. Ye 're goodly things, you voices ! 
 
 Menenius. You have made good work, 
 
 You and your cry !— Shall 's to the Capitol t 150 
 
 Comifiius. O, ay, what else 1 
 
 [^Exeunt Cominius and Menenius. 
 
 Sicinius. Go, masters, get you home; be not dismay'd: 
 These are a side that would be glad to have 
 This true which they so seem to fear. Go home. 
 And show no sign of fear. 
 
 I Citizen. The gods be good to us ! Come, masters, let 's 
 home. I ever said we were i' the wrong when we banished 
 him. 
 
142 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 2 Citizen. So did we all. But, come, let 's home. 
 
 \Exeunt Citizens. 
 Brutus. I do not like this news. 160 
 
 Sicinius. Nor I, 
 
 Brutus. Let 's to the Capitol. — Would half my wealth 
 Would buy this for a lie ! 
 
 Sicinius. Pray, let us go. \Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VII. A Camp, at a small distance from Rome. 
 jEftter AuFiDius with his Lieutenant. 
 
 Aufidius. Do they still fly to the Roman ? 
 
 Lieutenant. I do not know what witchcraft 's in him, but 
 Your soldiers use him as the grace fore meat, 
 Their talk at table, and their thanks at end; 
 And you are darken 'd in this action, sir, 
 Even by your own. 
 
 Aufidius. I cannot help it now, 
 
 Unless, by using means, I lame the foot 
 Of our design. He bears himself more proudlier, 
 Even to my person, than I thought he would 
 When first I did embrace him ; yet his nature 10 
 
 In that 's no changeling, and I must excuse 
 What cannot be amended. 
 
 Lieutenant. Yet I wish, sir, — 
 
 I mean for your particular, — you had not 
 Join'd in commission with him; but either had borne 
 The action of yourself, or else to him 
 Had left it solely. 
 
 Aufidius. I understand thee well; and be thou sure, 
 When he shall come to his account, he knows not 
 What I can urge against him. Although it seems. 
 And so he thinks, and is no less apparent 20 
 
 To the vulgar eye, that he bears all things fairly. 
 And shows good husbandry for the Volscian state. 
 
ACT IV. SCENE VI I. 143 
 
 Fights dragon-like, and does achieve as soon 
 As draw his sword, yet he hath left undone 
 That which shall break his neck or hazard mine. 
 Whene'er we come to our account. 
 
 Lieutenant. Sir, I beseech you, think you he '11 carry Rome ? 
 
 Aufidius. All places yield to him ere he sits down ; 
 And the nobility of Rome are his: 
 
 The senators and patricians love him too. 30 
 
 The tribunes are no soldiers ; and their people 
 Will be as rash in the repeal, as hasty 
 To expel him thence. I think he '11 be to Rome 
 As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it 
 By sovereignty of nature. First he was 
 A noble servant to them, but he could not 
 Carry his honours even. Whether 't was pride. 
 Which out of daily fortune ever taints 
 The happy man; whether defect of judgment, 
 To fail in the disposing of those chances 40 
 
 Which he was lord of; or whether nature, 
 Not to be other than one thing, not moving 
 From the casque to the cushion, but commanding peace 
 Even with the same austerity and garb 
 As he controll'd the war ; but one of these — 
 As he hath spices of them all, not all. 
 For I dare so far free him — made him fear'd, 
 So hated, and so banish'd : but he has a merit, 
 To choke it in the utterance. So our virtues 
 Lie in the interpretation of the time : 50 
 
 And power, unto itself most commendable, 
 Hath not a tomb so evident as a chair 
 To extol what it hath done. 
 One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail; 
 Rights by rights falter, strengths by strengths do fail. 
 Come, let 's away. When, Caius, Rome is thine, 
 Thou art poor'st of all ; then shortly art thou mine. \Exeiwf. 
 
ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. Rome. A Public Place. 
 Enter Menenius, Cominius, Sicinius, Brutus, and others. 
 
 Menenius. No, I '11 not go ; you hear what he hath said 
 Which was sometime his general, who lov'd him 
 In a most dear particular. He call'd me father; 
 But what o' that ? Go, you that banish'd him ; 
 A mile before his tent fall down, and knee 
 
ACT V. SCENE /. 1 45 
 
 The way into his mercy. Nay, if he coy'd 
 To hear Cominius speak, I '11 keep at home. 
 
 Cominius. He would not seem to know me. 
 
 Menenius. Do you hear ? 
 
 Cominius. Yet one time he did call me by my name. 
 I urg'd our old acquaintance, and the drops 10 
 
 That we have bled together. Coriolanus 
 He would not answer to, forbade all names ; 
 He was a kind of nothing, titleless. 
 Till he had forg'd himself a name o' the fire 
 Of burning Rome. 
 
 Menenius. AVhy, so ; you have made good work ! 
 
 A pair of tribunes that have rack'd for Rome, 
 To make coals cheap, — a noble memory ! 
 
 Cominius. I minded him how royal 't was to pardon 
 When it was less expected ; he replied, 
 
 It was a bare petition of a state 20 
 
 To one whom they had punish'd. 
 
 Menenius. " Very well 5 
 
 Could he say less ? 
 
 Cotninius. I offer'd to awaken his regard 
 For 's private friends; his answer to me was, 
 He could not stay to pick them in a pile 
 Of noisome musty chaff. He said 't was folly, 
 For one poor grain or two, to leave unburnt, 
 And still to nose the offence. 
 
 Menenius. For one poor grain or two ! 
 
 I am one of those ; his mother, wife, his child, 
 And this brave fellow too, we are the grains: 30 
 
 You are the musty chaff; and you are smelt 
 Above the moon. We must be burnt for you. 
 
 Sicinius. Nay, pray, be patient ; if you refuse your aid 
 In this so never-needed help, yet do not 
 Upbraid 's with our distress. But, sure, if you 
 Would be your country's pleader, your good tongue, 
 
 K 
 
146 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 More than the instant army we can make, 
 Might stop our countryman. 
 
 Menenius. No, I '11 not meddle. 
 
 Sicinius. Pray you, go to him. 
 
 Menenius. What should I do ? 
 
 Brutus. Only make trial what your love can do 40 
 
 For Rome, towards Marcius. 
 
 Menenius. Well, and say that Marcius 
 
 Return me, as Cominius is return'd. 
 Unheard; what then? — 
 But as a discontented friend, grief-shot 
 With his unkindness ? say 't be so ? 
 
 Sichiius. Yet your good will 
 
 Must have that thanks from Rome, after the measure 
 As you intended well. 
 
 Menenius. I '11 undertake 't; 
 
 I think he '11 hear me. Yet, to bite his lip 
 And hum at good Cominius, much unhearts me. 
 He was not taken well; he had not din'd. 50 
 
 The veins unfill'd, our blood is cold, and then 
 We pout upon the morning, are unapt 
 To give or to forgive : but when we have stufPd 
 These pipes and these conveyances of our blood 
 With wine and feeding, we have suppler souls 
 Than in our priest-like fasts : therefore I '11 watch him 
 Till he be dieted to my request, 
 And then I '11 set upon him. 
 
 Brutus. You know the very road into his kindness. 
 And cannot lose your way. 
 
 Menenius. Good faith, I '11 prove him, 60 
 
 Speed how it will. I shall ere long have knowledge 
 Of my success. \Exii, 
 
 Cominius. He 'II never hear him. 
 
 Sicinius. Not.? 
 
 Cominius. I tell you he does sit in gold, his eye 
 
ACT V. SCENE II. 
 
 147 
 
 Red as 't would bum Rome; and his injury 
 
 The gaoler to his pity. I kneel'd before him : 
 
 'T was very faintly he said 'Rise;' dismiss'd me 
 
 Thus, with his speechless hand. What he would do, 
 
 He sent in writing after me; what he would not. 
 
 Bound with an oath to yield to his conditions. 
 
 So that all hope is vain, 70 
 
 Unless his noble mother and his wife, 
 
 Who, as I hear, mean to solicit him 
 
 For mercy to his country. Therefore, let 's hence. 
 
 And with our fair entreaties haste them on. \^Exeunt. 
 
 Scene II. Entrance of the Volscian Camp before Rome. Two 
 Sentinels on guard. 
 Enter Menenius. 
 
 1 Sentinel. Stay ! whence are you ? 
 
 2 Sentinel. Stand, and go back. 
 Menenius. You guard like men ; 't is well : but, by your leave, 
 
 I am an officer of state, and come 
 To speak with Coriolanus. 
 
 I Sentinel. From whence ? 
 
 Menenius. From Rome. 
 
 1 Setitinel. You may not pass, you must return ; our gen- 
 
 eral 
 Will no more hear from thence. 
 
 2 Sentinel. You '11 see your Rome embrac'd with fire be- 
 
 fore 
 You '11 speak with Coriolanus. 
 
 Menenius. Good my friends, 
 
 If you have heard your general talk of Rome, 
 And of his friends there, it is lots to blanks, 10 
 
 My name hath touch'd your ears ; it is Menenius. 
 
 I Sentinel. Be it so, go back; the virtue of your name 
 Is not here passable. 
 
148 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Menenius. I tell thee, fellow, 
 
 Thy general is my lover: I have been 
 The book of his good acts, whence men have read 
 His fame unparallel'd, haply amplified; 
 For I have ever verified my friends, 
 Of whom he 's chief, with all the size that verity 
 Would without lapsing suffer: nay, sometimes, 
 Like to a bowl upon a subtle ground, 20 
 
 I have tumbled past the throw, and in his praise 
 Have almost stamp'd the leasing. Therefore, fellow, 
 I must have leave to pass. 
 
 1 Sentinel. Faith, sir, if you had told as many lies in his 
 behalf as you have uttered words in your own, you should 
 not pass here ; no, though it were as virtuous to lie as to 
 live chastely. Therefore, go back. 
 
 Menenius. Prithee, fellow, remember my name is Menenius, 
 always factionary on the party of your general. 29 
 
 2 Sentinel. Howsoever you have been his liar, as you say 
 you have, I am one that, telling true under him, must say, 
 you cannot pass. Therefore, go back. 
 
 Menenius. Has he dined, canst thou tell ? for I would not 
 speak with him till after dinner. 
 
 I Sentinel. You are a Roman, are you.-* 
 
 Menejiius. I am, as thy general is. 
 
 I Sentinel. Then you should hate Rome, as he does. Can 
 you, when you have pushed out your gates the very defender 
 of them, and, in a violent popular ignorance, given your ene- 
 my your shield, think to front his revenges with the easy 
 groans of old women, the virginal palms of your daughters, 
 or with the palsied intercession of such a decayed dotant as 
 you seem to be ? Can you think to blow out the intended 
 fire your city is ready to flame in, with such weak breath as 
 this? No, you are deceived; therefore, back to Rome, and 
 prepare for your execution : you are condemned, our general 
 has sworn you out of reprieve and pardon. 
 
ACT V. SCENE 11. 149 
 
 Mejienius. Sirrah, if thy captain knew I were here, he 
 would use me with estimation. 
 
 I Setttijiel. Come, my captain knows you not. 50 
 
 Menenius. I mean, thy general. 
 
 I Se?iti7iel. My general cares not for you. Back, I say, go, 
 lest I let forth your half-pint of blood ; back, — that 's the ut- 
 most of your having, — back. 
 
 Mejienius. Nay, but, fellow, fellow, — 
 
 Enter Coriolanus a7id Aufidius. 
 
 Coriolanus. What 's the matter ? 
 
 Menenius. Now, you companion, I '11 say an errand for you : 
 you shall know now that I am in estimation ; you shall per- 
 ceive that a Jack guardant cannot office me from my son 
 Coriolanus. Guess, but by my entertainment with him, if 
 thou standest not i' the state of hanging, or of some death 
 more long in spectatorship, and crueller in suffering; behold 
 now presently, and swoon for what 's to come upon thee. — 
 \To Coriola?tus] The glorious gods sit in hourly synod 
 about thy particular prosperity, and love thee no worse 
 than thy old father Menenius does ! O my son, my son ! 
 thou art preparing fire for us; look thee, here 's water to 
 quench it. I was hardly moved to come to thee ; but being 
 assured none but myself could move thee, I have been blown 
 out of our gates with sighs, and conjure thee to pardon Rome, 
 and thy petitionary countrymen. The good gods assuage 
 thy wrath, and turn the dregs of it upon this varlet here, — 
 this, who, like a block, hath denied my access to thee. 
 
 Coriolanus. Away! 74 
 
 Menenius. How ! away ! 
 
 Coriolanus. Wife, mother, child, I know not. My affairs 
 Are servanted to others; though I owe 
 My revenge properly, my remission lies 
 In Volscian breasts. That we have been familiar, 
 Ingrate forgetfulness shall poison, rather So 
 
150 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Than pity note how much. Therefore, be gone. 
 Mine ears against your suits are stronger than 
 Your gates against my force. Yet, for I lov'd thee, 
 Take this along ; I writ it for th}'- sake, S^Gives a letter. 
 
 And would have sent it. Another word, Menenius, 
 I will not hear thee speak. — This man, Aufidius, 
 Was my belov'd in Rome ; yet thou behold'st ! 
 Aufidius. You keep a constant temper. 
 
 \Exeimt Coriolanus and Aufidius. 
 
 1 Sentinel. Now, sir, is your name Menenius ? 
 
 2 Sentinel 'T is a spell, you see, of much power. You 
 know the way home again. 91 
 
 1 Sentinel. Do you hear how we are shent for keeping your 
 greatness back ? 
 
 2 Se?itinel. What cause, do you think, I have to swoon ? 
 Menenius. I neither care for the world nor your general ; 
 
 for such things as you, I can scarce think there 's any, ye 're 
 so slight. He that hath a will to die by himself fears it not 
 from another ; let your general do his worst. For you, be 
 that you are long ; and your misery increase with your age ! 
 I say to you, as I was said to, Away ! [^Exit. 
 
 1 Sentinel. A noble fellow, I warrant him. loi 
 
 2 Sentinel. The worthy fellow is our general ; he 's the 
 rock, the oak not to be wind-shaken. ^Exeunt. 
 
 Scene III. The Tent of Coriolanus. 
 Enter Coriolanus, Aufidius, and others. 
 Coriolanus. We will before the walls of Rome to-morrow 
 Set down our host. My partner in this action. 
 You must report to the Volscian lords, how plainly 
 I have borne this business. 
 
 Aufidius. Only their ends 
 
 You have respected; stopp'd your ears against 
 The general suit of Rome; never admitted 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. 
 
 151 
 
 A private whisper, no, not with such friends 
 That thought them sure of you. 
 
 Coriolanus. This last old man, 
 
 Whom with a crack'd heart I have sent to Rome, 
 Lov'd me above the measure of a father, 10 
 
 Nay, godded me, indeed. Their latest refuge 
 Was to send him ; for whose old love I have, 
 Though I show'd sourly to him, once npre ofifer'd 
 The first conditions, which they did refuse 
 And cannot now accept. To grace him only 
 That thought he could do more, a very little 
 I have yielded to; fresh embassies and suits. 
 Nor from the state nor private friends, hereafter 
 Will I lend ear to. — Ha ! what shout is this ? [^Shoiit within. 
 Shall I be tempted to infringe my vow 20 
 
 In the same time 't is made ? I will not. — 
 
 Enter, in mou?'f ling habits, Virgilia, Volumnia, leading young 
 
 Marcius, Valeria, and Attendants. 
 My wife comes foremost ; then the honour'd mould 
 Wherein this trunk was fram'd, and in her hand 
 The grandchild to her blood. But, out, affection ! 
 All bond and privilege of nature, break ! 
 Let it be virtuous to be obstinate ! — 
 What is that curtsy worth ? or those doves' eyes. 
 Which can make gods forsworn ? — I melt, and am not 
 Of stronger earth than others. — My mother bows. 
 As if Olympus to a molehill should 30 
 
 In supplication nod ; and my young boy 
 Hath an aspect of intercession, which 
 Great nature cries 'Deny not.' — Let the Volsces 
 Plough Rome, and harrow Italy; I'll never 
 Be such a gosling to obey instinct, but stand,. 
 As if a man were author of himself 
 And knew no other kin. 
 
152 
 
 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Virgilia. My lord and husband ! 
 
 Coriolanus. These eyes are not the same I wore in Rome. 
 
 Virgilia. The sorrow that delivers us thus chaiig'd 
 Makes you think so. 
 
 Coriolanus. Like a dull actor now, 40 
 
 I have forgot my part, and I am out, 
 Even to a full disgrace. Best of my flesh, 
 Forgive my tyranny ; but do not say 
 For that 'Forgive our Romans.' — O, a kiss 
 Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge ! 
 Now, by the jealous queen of heaven, that kiss 
 I carried from thee, dear ; and my true lip 
 Hath virgin'd it e'er since. — You gods ! I prate, 
 And the most noble mother of the world 
 Leave unsaluted. Sink, my knee, i' the earth; [Kneels. 
 
 Of thy deep duty more impression show 51 
 
 Than that of common sons. 
 
 Volumnia. O, stand up blest ! 
 
 Whilst, with no softer cushion than the flint, 
 I kneel before thee and unproperly 
 Show duty, as mistaken all this while 
 Between the child and parent. [Kneels. 
 
 Coriolanus. What is this ? 
 
 Your knees to me ? to your corrected son .? 
 Then let the pebbles on the hungry beach 
 Fillip the stars; then let the mutinous winds 
 Strike the proud cedars 'gainst the fiery sun, 60 
 
 Murthering impossibility, to make 
 What cannot be, slight work. 
 
 Volu?nnia. Thou art my warrior; 
 
 I holp to frame thee. Do you know this lady ? 
 
 Coriola?tus. The noble sister of Publicola, 
 The moon of Rome, chaste as the icicle 
 That 's curded by the frost from purest snow. 
 And hangs on Dian's temple, — dear Valeria ! 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. 
 
 153 
 
 Volumnia. This is a poor epitome of yours, 
 Which by the interpretation of full time 
 May show like all yourself. 
 
 Coriolafius. The god of soldiers, 70 
 
 With the consent of supreme Jove, inform 
 Thy thoughts with nobleness, that thou mayst prove 
 To shame unvulnerable, and stick i' the wars 
 Like a great sea-mark, standing every flaw, 
 And saving those that eye thee ! 
 
 Volumnia. Your knee, sirrah. 
 
 Coriolanus. That 's my brave boy ! 
 
 Volumnia. Even he, your wife, this lady, and myself. 
 Are suitors to you. 
 
 Coriolanus. I beseech you, peace; 
 
 Or, if you 'd ask, remember this before : 
 The thing I have forsworn to grant may never 80 
 
 Be held by you denials. Do not bid me 
 Dismiss my soldiers, or capitulate 
 Again with Rome's mechanics; tell me not 
 Wherein I seem unnatural; desire not 
 To allay my rages and revenges with 
 Your colder reasons. 
 
 Volumnia. O, no more, no more ! 
 
 You have said you will not grant us any thing, 
 For we have nothing else to ask but that 
 Which you deny already ; yet we will ask, 
 That, if you fail in our request, the blame 90 
 
 May hang upon your hardness : therefore hear us. 
 
 Coriolanus. Aufidius, and you Volsces, mark; for we '11 
 Hear nought from Rome in private. — Your request? 
 
 Volumnia. Should we be silent and not speak, our raiment 
 And state of bodies would bewray what life 
 We have led since thy exile. Think with thyself 
 How more unfortunate than all living women 
 Are we come hither : since that thy sight, which should 
 
154 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Make our eyes flow with joy, hearts dance with comforts, 
 
 Constrains them weep and shake with fear and sorrow; loo 
 
 Making the mother, wife, and child to see 
 
 The son, the husband, and the father tearing 
 
 His country's bowels out. And to poor we 
 
 Thine enmity 's most capital : thou barr'st us 
 
 Our prayers to the gods, which is a comfort 
 
 That all but we enjoy; for how can we, 
 
 Alas, how can we for our country pray, 
 
 Whereto we are bound, together with thy victory 
 
 Whereto we are bound ? alack, or we must lose 
 
 The country, our dear nurse, or else thy person, no 
 
 Our comfort in the country. We must find 
 
 An evident calamity, though we had 
 
 Our wish, which side should win ; for either thou 
 
 Must, as a foreign recreant, be led 
 
 With manacles thorough our streets, or else 
 
 Triumphantly tread on thy country's ruin, 
 
 And bear the palm for having bravely shed 
 
 Thy wife and children's blood. For myself, son, 
 
 I purpose not to wait on fortune till 
 
 These wars determine; if I cannot persuade thee 120 
 
 Rather to show a noble grace to both parts 
 
 Than seek the end of one, thou shalt no sooner 
 
 March to assault thy country than to tread — 
 
 Trust to 't, thou shalt not — on thy mother's womb. 
 
 That brought thee to this world. 
 
 Virgilia. Ay, and mine. 
 
 That brought you forth this boy, to keep your name 
 Living to time. 
 
 Young Marcius. A' shall not tread on me; 
 I '11 run away till I am bigger, but then I '11 fight. 
 
 Coriolanus. Not of a woman's tenderness to be, 
 Requires nor child nor woman's face to see. 130 
 
 I have sat too long. [Rising. 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. 
 
 155 
 
 Volumnia. Nay, go not from us thus. 
 
 If it were so that our request did tend 
 To save the Romans, thereby to destroy 
 The Volsces whom you serve, you might condemn us 
 As poisonous of your honour. No, our suit 
 Is, that you reconcile them : while the Volsces 
 May say 'This mercy we have show'd;' the Romans, 
 'This we receiv'dj' and each in either side 
 Give the all-hail to thee, and cry, ' Be blest 
 For making up this peace !' Thou know'st, great son, 140 
 The end of war 's uncertain, but this certain. 
 That, if thou conquer Rome, the benefit 
 Which thou shalt thereby reap is such a name 
 Whose repetition will be dogg'd with curses, 
 Whose chronicles thus writ: 'The man was noble, 
 But with his last attempt he wip'd it out, 
 Destroy'd his country, and his name remains ^ 
 To the ensuing age abhorr'd.' Speak to me, sonT 
 Thou hast affected the fine strains of honour. 
 To imitate the graces of the gods; 150 
 
 To tear with thunder the wide cheeks o' the air. 
 And yet to charge thy sulphur with a bolt 
 That should but rive an oak. Why dost not speak ? 
 Think'st thou it honourable for a noble man 
 Still to remember wrongs ? — Daughter, speak you ; 
 He cares not for your weeping. — Speak thou, boy; 
 Perhaps thy childishness will move him more 
 Than can our reasons. There 's no man in the world 
 More bound to 's mother ; yet here he lets me prate 
 Like one i' the stocks. — Thou hast never in thy life 160 
 
 Show'd thy dear mother any courtesy. 
 When she, poor hen, fond of no second brood. 
 Has cluck'd thee to the wars and safely home, 
 Loaden with honour. Say my request 's unjust. 
 And spurn me back; but if it be not so, 
 
156 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Thou art not honest, and the gods will plague thee, 
 
 That thou restrain'st from me the duty which 
 
 To a mother's part belongs. — He turns away : 
 
 Down, ladies; let us shame him with our knees. 
 
 To his surname Coriolanus longs more pride 170 
 
 Than pity to our prayers. Down! an end; 
 
 This is the last: so we will home to Rome, 
 
 And die among our neighbours. — Nay, behold 's; 
 
 This boy, that cannot tell what he would have. 
 
 But kneels and holds up hands for fellowship, 
 
 Does reason our petition with more strength 
 
 Than thou hast to deny 't. — Come, let us go: 
 
 This fellow had a Volscian to his mother; 
 
 His wife is in Corioli, and his child 
 
 Like him by chance. — Yet give us our dispatch; 180 
 
 I am hush'd until our city be a-fire. 
 
 And then I '11 speak a little. 
 
 Coriolanus. [After holding her by the hand, silent^ O mother, 
 mother ! 
 What have you done ? Behold, the heavens do ope, 
 The gods look down, and this unnatural scene 
 They laugh at. O my mother, mother ! O ! 
 You have won a happy victory to Rome; 
 But, for your son, — believe it, O, believe it ! — 
 Most dangerously you have with him prevail 'd, 
 If not most mortal to him. But, let it come. — 
 Aufidius, though I cannot make true wars, 190 
 
 I '11 frame convenient peace. Now, good Aufidius, 
 Were you in my stead, would you have heard 
 A mother less .? or granted less, Aufidius ? 
 
 Aufidius. I was mov'd withal. 
 
 Coriola?tiis. I dare be sworn you were ; 
 
 And, sir, it is no little thing to make 
 Mine eyes to sweat compassion. But, good sir, 
 What peace you '11 make, advise me. For my part, 
 
ACT V. SCENE IV. ' 157 
 
 I '11 not to Rome, I '11 back with you ; and pray you, 
 Stand to me in this cause. — O mother ! — wife ! 
 
 Aufidius. [Aside] I am glad thou hast set thy mercy and 
 thy honour 200 
 
 At difference in thee ; out of that I '11 work 
 Myself a former fortune. [TAe Ladies make signs to CoriolaJius. 
 
 Coriolaniis. \To Volujnnia,Virgilia, etc.] Ay, by and by: — 
 But we will drink together; and you shall bear 
 A better witness back than words, which we. 
 On like conditions, will have counter-seal'd. 
 Gome, enter with us. Ladies, you deserve 
 To have a temple built you j all the swords 
 In Italy, and her confederate arms. 
 Could not have made this peace. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IV. Rome. A Public Place. 
 Enter Menj^ius and Sicinius. 
 
 Menenius. See you yond coign o' the Capitol, yond corner 
 stone 1 
 
 Sicinius. Why, what of that ? 
 
 Menenius. If it be possible for you to displace it with your 
 little finger, there is some hope the ladies of Rome, especial- 
 ly his mother, may prevail with him. But I say there is no 
 hope in 't ; our throats are sentenced and stay upon execu- 
 tion. 
 
 Sicinius. Is 't possible that so short a time can alter the 
 condition of a man ? 10 
 
 Menenius. There is differency between a grub and a but- 
 terfly; yet your butterfly was a grub. This Marcius is grown 
 from man to dragon; he has wings, he 's more than a creep- 
 ing thing. 
 
 Sicinius. He loved his mother dearly. 
 
 Menenius. So did he me; and he no more remembers his 
 mother now than an-eiglit-year-old horse. . The tartness -of his 
 
1^8 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 face sours ripe grapes ; when he walks, he moves like an en- 
 gine, and the ground shrinks before his treading; he is able 
 to pierce a corslet with his eye, talks like a knell, and his hum 
 is a battery. He sits in his state, as a thing made for Alex- 
 ander. What he bids be done is finished with his bidding. 
 He wants nothing of a god but eternity and a heaven to 
 throne in. 24 
 
 Sicinius. Yes, mercy, if you report him truly. 
 
 Menenius. I paint him in the character. Mark what mercy 
 his mother shall bring from him : there is no more mercy in 
 him than there is milk in a male tiger; that shall our poor 
 city find: and all this is long of you. 
 
 Sicinius. The gods be good unto us ! 30 
 
 Menenius. No, in such a case the gods will not be 
 good unto us. When we banished him, we respected not 
 them ; and, he returning to break our necks, they respect 
 
 not us. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Messenger. Sir, if you 'd save your life, fly to your house. 
 The plebeians have got your fellow-tribune 
 And hale him up and down, all swearing, if 
 The Roman ladies bring not comfort home, 
 They '11 give him death by inches. 
 
 Enter a second Messenger. 
 
 Sicinius. What 's the news ? 
 
 2 Messenger. Good news, good news; the ladies have pre- 
 vail'd, 40 
 
 The Volscians are dislodg'd, and Marcius gone. 
 A merrier day did never yet greet Rome, 
 No, not the expulsion of the Tarquins. 
 
 Sicinius. Friend, 
 
 Art thou certain this is true ? is it most certain ? 
 
 2 Messenger. As certain as I know the sun is fire. 
 Where have you lurk'd, that you make doubt of it ? 
 
ACT F. SCEA'E V. 
 
 ^59 
 
 Ne'er through an arch so hurried the blown tide, 
 
 As the recomforted through the gates. Why, hark you ! 
 
 [Trumpets; hautboys; drums beat ; all together. 
 The trumpets, sackbuts, psalteries, and fifes. 
 Tabors and cymbals and the shouting Romans, 50 
 
 Make the sun dance. Hark you ! [^A shout within. 
 
 Menenius. This is good news. 
 
 I will go meet the ladies. This Volumnia 
 Is worth of consuls, senators, patricians, 
 A city full ; of tribunes, such as you, 
 A sea and land full. You have pray'd well to-day ; 
 This morning for ten thousand of your throats 
 I 'd not have given a doit. Hark, how they joy ! 
 
 \Music still, with shouts. 
 
 Sicinius. First, the gods bless you for your tidings ; next, 
 Accept my thankfulness. 
 
 2 Messenger. Sir, we have all 59 
 
 Great cause to give great thanks. 
 
 Sicinius. They are near the city ? 
 
 2 Messenger. Almost at point to enter. 
 
 Sicinius. We will meet them, 
 
 And help the joy. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene V. The Same. A Street near the Gate. 
 Enter two Senators tvith Volumnia, Virgilia, Valeria, etc., 
 
 passing over the stage, followed by Patricians and others. 
 
 I Senator. Behold our patroness, the life of Rome ! 
 Call all your tribes together, praise the gods. 
 And make triumphant fires; strew flowers before them; 
 Unshout the noise that banish'd Marcius, 
 Repeal him with the welcome of his mother ; 
 Cry ' Welcome, ladies, welcome !' 
 
 All. Welcome, ladies, 
 
 Welcome ! \ A flourish with drtcms and trumpets. Exeunt. 
 
i6o CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Scene VI. Antiiim. A Public Place. 
 Enter Tullus Aufidius, with Attendants. 
 Aufidius. Go tell the lords o' the city I am here. 
 Deliver them this paper; having read it, 
 Bid them repair to the market-place, where I, 
 Even in theirs and in the commons' ears. 
 Will vouch the truth of it. Him I accuse 
 The city ports by this hath enter'd and 
 Intends to appear before the people, hoping 
 To purge himself with words. Dispatch. — 
 
 ^Exeunt Attendants. 
 
 Enter three or four Conspirators of k.\5¥iv>\\5'6'?> faction. 
 
 Most welcome ! 
 
 1 Cotispirator. How is it with our general 1 
 
 Aufidius. Even so lo 
 
 As with a man by his own alms empoisoned, 
 And with his charity slain. 
 
 2 Conspirator. Most noble sir, 
 If you do hold the same intent wherein 
 You wish'd us parties, we '11 deliver you 
 
 Of your great danger. 
 
 Aufidius. Sir, I cannot tell ; 
 
 We must proceed as we do find the people. 
 
 3 Conspirator. The people will remain uncertain whilst 
 'Twixt you there 's difference ; but the fall of either 
 Makes the survivor heir of all. 
 
 Aufidius. I know it; 
 
 And my pretext to strike at him admits 20 
 
 A good construction. I rais'd him, and I pawn'd 
 Mine honour for his truth : who being so heighten'd, 
 He water'd his new plants with dews of flattery, 
 Seducing so my friends; and, to this end, 
 He bow'd his nature, never known before 
 But to be rough, unswayable, and free. 
 
ACT V. SCENE VI. i6i 
 
 3 Conspirator. Sir, his stoutness 
 When he did stand for consul, which he lost 
 By lack of stooping, — 
 
 Aufidius. That I would have spoke of. 
 
 Being banish'd for 't, he came unto my hearth, 30 
 
 Presented to my knife his throat ; I took him, 
 Made him joint-servant with me, gave him way 
 In all his own desires, nay, let him choose 
 Out of my files, his projects to accomplish. 
 My best and freshest men, serv'd his designments 
 In mine own person, holp to reap the fame 
 Which he did end all his, and took some pride 
 To do myself this wrong ; till, at the last, 
 I seem'd his follower, not partner, and 
 
 He wag'd me with his countenance, as if 40 
 
 I had been mercenary. 
 
 I Conspirator. So he did, my lord ; 
 
 The army marvell'd at it, and, in the last, 
 When he had carried Rome and that we look'd 
 For no less spoil than glory, — 
 
 Aiifidiiis. There was it: 
 
 For which my sinews shall be stretch'd upon him. 
 At a few drops of women's rheum, which are 
 As cheap as lies, he sold the blood and labour 
 Of our great action ; therefore shall he die, 
 And I '11 renew me in his fall. — But, hark ! 
 
 \_Dru7ns and tru?npets sound, with great shouts 
 of the People. 
 
 1 Conspirator. Your native town you enter'd like a post. 
 And had no welcomes home ; but he returns, 51 
 Splitting the air with noise. 
 
 2 Conspirator. And patient fools, 
 Whose children he hath slain, their base throats tear 
 With giving him glory. 
 
 3 Coftspirator. Therefore, at your vantage, 
 
 L 
 
1 62 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 Ere he express himself, or move the people 
 With what he would say, let him feel your sword, 
 Which we will second. When he lies along, 
 After your way his tale pronounc'd shall bury 
 His reasons with his body. 
 
 Aufidiiis. Say no more ; 
 
 Here come the lords. 60 
 
 Enter the Lords of the city. 
 
 All the Lords. You are most welcome home. 
 
 Aiifidiiis. I have not deserv'd it. 
 
 But, worthy lords, have you with heed perus'd 
 What I have written to you ? 
 
 Lords. We have. 
 
 I Lord. And grieve to hear 't. 
 
 What faults he made before the last, I think 
 Might have found easy fines ; but there to end 
 Where he was to begin, and give away 
 The benefit of our levies, answering us 
 With our own charge, making a treaty where 
 There was a yielding, — this admits no excuse. 
 
 Aufidius. He approaches ; you shall hear him. 70 
 
 Enter CoRioi^k^vs, marchifig with driwi and colours ; 
 the Commoners being with him. 
 Coriolamis. Hail, lords ! I am return'd your soldier, 
 No more infected with my country's love 
 Than when I parted hence, but still subsisting 
 Under your great command. You are to know 
 That prosperously I have attempted and 
 With bloody passage led your wars even to 
 The gates of Rome. Our spoils we have brought home 
 Do more than counterpoise a full third part 
 The charges of the action. We have made peace 
 With no less honour to the Antiates 80 
 
AC 7^ V. SCENE VI. 163 
 
 Than shame to the Romans j and we here deliver, 
 Subscrib'd by the consuls and patricians, 
 Together with the seal o' the senate, what 
 We have compounded on. 
 
 Aufidius. Read it not, noble lords, 
 
 But tell the traitor, in the high'st degree 
 He hath abus'd your powers. 
 
 CoriolaJtus. Traitor ! how now ! 
 
 Aufidius. Ay, traitor, Marcius ! 
 
 CoriolaJius. Marcius 1 
 
 Aufidius. Ay, Marcius, Caius Marcius ; dost thou think 
 I '11 grace thee with that robbery, thy stol'n name 
 Coriolanus in Corioli ? 9^ 
 
 You lords and heads o' the state, perfidiously 
 He has betray'd your business, and given up, 
 For certain drops of salt, your city Rome, 
 I say your city, to his wife and mother ; 
 Breaking his oath and resolution like 
 A twist of rotten silk, never admitting 
 Counsel o' the war, but at his nurse's tears 
 He whin'd and roar'd away your victory. 
 That pages blush'd at him, and men of heart 
 Look'd wondering each at other. 
 
 Coriolanus. Hear'st thou. Mars ? 100 
 
 Aufidius. Name not the god, thou boy of tears ! 
 
 Coriolamis. Ha ! 
 
 Aufidius. No more. 
 
 Coriolanus. Measureless liar, thou hast made my heart 
 Too great for what contains it. Boy ! O slave ! — 
 Pardon me, lords, 't is the first time that ever 
 I was forc'd to scold. Your judgments, my grave lords, 
 Must give this cur the lie ; and his own notion — 
 Who wears my stripes impress'd upon him, that 
 Must bear my beating to his grave — shall join 
 To thrust the lie unto him. no 
 
1 64 CORIOLANUS. 
 
 I Lord. Peace, both, and hear me speak. 
 
 Coriolanus. Cut me to pieces, Voisces ; men and lads, 
 Stain all your edges on me. — Boy ! false hound ! 
 If you have writ your annals true, 'tis there, 
 That, like an eagle in a dove-cote, I 
 Flutter'd your Volscians in Corioli ; 
 Alone I did it. — Boy ! 
 
 Aufidiiis. Why, noble lords, 
 
 Will you be put in mind of his blind fortune. 
 Which was your shame, by this unholy braggart, 
 Fore your own eyes and ears ? 
 
 All Conspirators. Let him die for 't. 120 
 
 All the People. ' Tear him to pieces.' ' Do it presently.' 
 ' He killed my son.' ' My daughter.' ' He killed my cousin 
 Marcus.' 'He killed my father.' 
 
 •2 Lord. Peace, ho ! no outrage ! peace ! 
 The man is noble and his fame folds in 
 This orb o' the earth. His last offences to us 
 Shall have judicious hearing. — Stand, Aufidius, 
 And trouble not the peace. 
 
 Coriolanus. O that I had him, 
 
 With six Aufidiuses, or more, his tribe, 
 To use my lawful sword ! 
 
 Aufidius. Insolent villain ! 130 
 
 All Conspirators. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill him ! 
 
 \The Conspirators draw, and kill Coriolanus ; 
 Aufidius stands on his body. 
 
 Lords. Hold, hold, hold, hold ! 
 
 Aufidius. My noble masters, hear me speak. 
 
 1 Lord. O Tullus,— 
 
 2 Lord. Thou hast done a deed whereat valour will weep. 
 
 3 Lord. Tread not upon him. — Masters all, be quiet ; 
 Put up your swords. 
 
 Aufidius. My lords, when you shall know — as in this rage^ 
 Provok'd by him, you cannot — the great danger 
 
ACT V. SCENE VI. l6r 
 
 Which this man's life did owe you, you '11 rejoice 
 
 That he is thus cut off. Please it your honours 
 
 To call me to your senate, I 'II deliver 140 
 
 Myself your loyal servant, or endure 
 
 Your heaviest censure. 
 
 1 Lord. Bear from hence his body, 
 And mourn you for him ; let him be regarded 
 
 As the most noble corse that ever herald 
 Did follow to his urn. 
 
 2 Lord. His own impatience 
 Takes from Aufidius a great part of blame. 
 Let 's make the best of it. 
 
 Aufidius. My rage is gone ; 
 
 And I am struck with sorrow. — Take him up. — 
 Help, three o' the chiefest soldiers ; I '11 be one. — 
 Beat thou the drum, that it speak mournfully. — 150 
 
 Trail your steel pikes.— Though in this city he 
 Hath widow'd and unchilded many a one. 
 Which to this hour bewail the injury. 
 Yet he shall have a noble memory. — 
 Assist. 
 
 [Exeimt, bearing the body of Coriolajius. A dead 
 march sowided. 
 
Then let the pebbles on the hungry beach 
 Fillip the stars (v. 3. 58). 
 
NOTES 
 
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES. 
 
 Abbott (or Gr.), Abbott's Shakespeariaii, Grammar (third edition). 
 A. S., Anglo-Saxon. 
 
 A. v., Authorized Version of the Bible (1611). 
 
 B. and F., Beaumont and Fletcher. 
 B. J., Ben Jonson. 
 
 Camb. ed., " Cambridge edition" of Shakespeare, edited by Clark and Wright. 
 
 Cf. {coiifer), compare. 
 
 Clarke, "Cassell's Illustrated Shakespeare," edited by Charles and Mary Cowden 
 Clarke (London, n. d.). 
 
 Coll., Collier (second edition). 
 
 Coll. MS., Manuscript Corrections of Second Folio, edited by Collier. 
 
 D., Dyce (second edition). 
 
 H., Hudson (first edition). 
 
 Halliwell, J. O. Halliwell (folio ed. of Shakespeare). 
 
 Id. {idem), the same. 
 
 K., Knight (second edition). 
 
 Nares, Glossary, edited by Halliwell and Wright (London, 1859). 
 
 Prol., Prologue. 
 
 S., Shakespeare. 
 
 Schmidt, A. Schmidt's Shakespeare- Lexicon (Berlin, 1874). • 
 
 Sr., Singer. 
 
 St., Staunton. 
 
 Theo. , Theobald. 
 
 v., Verplanck. 
 
 W., R. Grant White. 
 
 Walker, Wm. Sidney Walker's Critical Examination of the Text of Shakespeare 
 (London, i860). 
 
 Warb., Warburton. 
 
 Wb., Webster's Dictionary (revised quarto edition of 1879). 
 
 Wh., R. Whitelaw's "Rugby" edition oi Coriolanus (London, 1872). 
 
 Wore, Worcester's Dictionary (quarto edition). 
 
 Wr., W. A. Wright's " Clarendon Press" edition of Coriolanus (Oxford, 1879). 
 
 The abbreviations of the names of Shakespeare's Plays will be readily understood ; as 
 T. N. for Twelfth Night, Cor. for Coriolanus, 3 Heri. VI. for The Third Part of King 
 Henry the Sixth, etc. P. P. refers to The Passionate Pilgrim ; V. and A . to VeJitis 
 andAdojtis; L. C. to Lover'' s Complaint ; and Sonn. to the Sonnets. 
 
 When the abbreviation of the name of a play is followed by a reference to page, 
 Rolfe's edition of the play is meant. 
 
 The numbers of tlie lines (except for the present play) are those of the " Globe " ed. 
 or of the "Acme" reprint of that ed. 
 
NOTES, 
 
 
 THE TAKPEIAN ROCK. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The following are the chief passages in North's Plutarch (see p. lo 
 above), as given by Skeat/ which illustrate the play : 
 
 "The house of the Martians at Rome was of the number of the Patri- 
 cians, out of the which have sprung many noble personages, where- 
 "■ \q\^^ of Ancus Martius was one, King Numa's daughter's son, who was 
 King of Rome after Tullus Hostilius. Of the same house were 
 Publius and Quintus, who brought to Rome their best water they had, by 
 conduits. Censorinus also came of that family, that was so surnamed, be- 
 cause the people had chosen him Censor twice. , . . Caius Martius, whose 
 life we intend now to write, being left ^o orphan by his father, was brought 
 
 1 Shakespeare^ s Plutarch, being a Selection from the Lives in North's Plutarch which 
 illustrate Shakespeare's Plays, edited by Rev. W. W. Skeat, M.A. (London, 1875), p. i fol. 
 
I70 NOTES. 
 
 up under his mother a widow ; who taught us by experience, that orphan- 
 age bringeth many discommodities^ to a child, but doth not hinder him 
 to become an honest man, and to excel in virtue above the common 
 sort : as they that are meanly born wrongfully do complain, that it is the 
 occasion of their casting away, for that no man in their youth taketh 
 any care of them to see them well brought up, and taught that were 
 meet. This man also is a good proof to confirm some men's opinions : 
 That a rare and excellent wit, untaught, doth bring forth many good and 
 evil things together : as a fat soil that lieth unmanured bringeth forth 
 both herbs and weeds. For this Martins' natural wit and great heart 
 did marvellously stir up his courage to do and attempt notable acts. But 
 on the other side, for lack of education, he was so choleric and impatient, 
 that he would yield to no living creature : which made him churlish, un- 
 civil, and altogether unfit for any man's conversation. Yet men marvel- 
 ling much at his constancy, that he was never overcome with pleasure 
 nor money, and how he would endure easily all manner of pains and trav- 
 ails:" thereupon they well liked and commended his stoutness and tem- 
 perancy.^ But for all that they could not be acquainted with him, as 
 one citizen useth to be with another in the city : his behaviour was so un- 
 pleasant to them by reason of a certain insolent and stern manner he 
 had, which, because he was too lordly, was disliked. And to say truly, 
 the greatest benefit that learning bringeth unto men is this : that it 
 teacheth men that be rude and rough of nature, by compass* and rule 
 of reason, to be civil and courteous, and to like better the mean state 
 than the higher. Now in those days, valiantness was honoured in Rome 
 above all other virtues : which they call vh-tiis, by the name of virtue it- 
 self, as including in that general name all other special virtues besides. 
 So that vh'tus in the Latin was as much as valiantness. But Martins 
 being more inclined to the wars than any other gentleman of his time, 
 began from his childhood to give himself to handle weapons, and daily 
 did exercise himself therein : and he esteemed outward armour to no pur- 
 pose, unless one were naturally armed within. Moreover he did so ex- 
 ercise his body to hardness^ and all kind of activity, that he was very 
 swift in running, strong in wrestling, and mighty in griping,*' so that no 
 man could ever cast' him. Insomuch as those that would try masteries 
 with him for strength and nimbi eness, would say when they were over- 
 come : that all was by reason of his natural strength and hardness of 
 ward,^ that never yielded to any pain or toil he took upon him. 
 
 " The first time he went to the wars, being but a stripling, was when 
 Tarquin surnamed the proud (that had been King of Rome, and 
 "foi^^ was driven out for his pride, after many attempts made by sun- 
 dry battles to come in again, wherein he was ever overcome) did 
 come to Rome with all the aid of the Latins, and many other people of 
 Italy : even as it were to set up his whole rest^ upon a battle by them, 
 
 1 Disadvantages. ^ Labours. ^ Moderation. Cf. temperattce in iii. 3. 38. 
 
 * Restraint. ^ Hardship. See 0th. p. 166. 
 
 c Grappling. Cf. Cymb. iii. i. 40. ' Throw. Cf. Macb. ii. 3. 46. 
 
 s Sturdiness of defence. For ward, see W. T. p. 149. 
 9 To rely entirely. See M. of V. p. 139. ' 
 
INTRODUCTION-. 1 7 j 
 
 who with a great and mighty army had undertaken to put him into his 
 kingdom again, not so much to pleasure him, as to overthrow the power 
 of the Romans, whose greatness they both feared and envied. In this 
 battle, wherein were many hot and sharp encounters of either party, 
 Martius valiantly fought in the sight of the Dictator : and a Roman sol- 
 dier being thrown to the ground even hard by him, Martius straight be- 
 strid him, and slew the enemy, with his own hands, that had before over- 
 thrown the Roman. Hereupon, after the battle was won, the Dictator 
 did not forget so noble an act, and therefore first of all he crowned Mar- 
 tius with a garland of oaken boughs. For whosoever saveth the life 
 of a Roman, it is a manner among them, to honour him with such a gar- 
 land. . . . 
 
 " Now he being grown to great credit and authority in Rome for his 
 valiantness, it fortuned there grew sedition in the city, because 
 the Senate did favour the rich against the people, who did com- 
 plain of the sore oppression of usurers, of whom they borrowed money. 
 For those that had little, were yet spoiled of that little they had by their 
 creditors, for lack of ability to pay the usury : who offered their goods to 
 be sold to them that would give most. And such as had nothing left, 
 their bodies were laid hold on, and they were made their bondmen, not- 
 withstanding all the wounds and cuts they shewed, which they had re- 
 ceived in many battles, fighting for defence of their country and com- 
 monwealth: of the which, the last war they made was against the Sa- 
 bines, wherein they fought upon the promise the' rich men had made 
 them, that from thenceforth they would intreat^ them more gently, and 
 also upon the word of Marcus Valerius chief of the Senate, who, by au- 
 thority of the council, and in the behalf of the rich, said they should per- 
 form that they had promised. But after that they had faithfully served 
 in this last battle of all, where they overcame their enemies, seeing they 
 were never a whit the better, nor more gently intreated, and that the Sen- 
 ate would give no ear to them, but made as though they had forgotten 
 the former promise, and suffered them to be made slaves and bondmen 
 to their creditors, and besides, to be turned out of all that ever they had: 
 they fell then even to flat rebellion and mutiny, and to stir up dangerous 
 tumults within the city. The Romans' enemies hearing of this rebellion, 
 did straight enter the territories of Rome with a marvellous great power, 
 spoiling and burning all as they came. Whereupon the Senate immedi- 
 ately made open proclamation by sound of trumpet, that all those that 
 were of lawful age to carry weapon, should come and enter their names 
 into the muster-master's book, to go to the wa^ : but no man obeyed 
 their commandment. Whereupon their chief magistrates and many of 
 the Senate began to be of divers opinions among themselves. For some 
 thought it was reason, they should somewhat yield to the poor people's 
 request, and that they should a little qualify the severity of the law. Oth- 
 er held hard against that opinion, and that was Martius for one. For he 
 alleged, that the creditors' losing their money they had lent was not the 
 worst thing that was herein : but that the lenity that was favoured was 
 
 1 Treat. See Rich. III. p. 231, note on Entreat. 
 
1^2 NOTES. 
 
 a beginning of disobedience, and that the proud attempt of the commu- 
 nalty was, to abolish law, and to bring all to confusion. Therefore he 
 said, if the Senate were wise, they should betimes prevent^ and quench 
 this ill-favoured and worse meant beginning. The Senate met many 
 days in consultation about it : but in the end they concluded nothing. 
 The poor common people, seeing no redress, gathered themselves one 
 day together ; and one encouraging another, they all forsook the city, 
 and encamped themselves upon a hill, called at that day the Holy Hill, 
 along the river of Tiber, offering no creature any hurt or violence, or 
 making any shew of actual rebellion, saving that they cried as they went 
 up and down, that the rich men had driven them out of the city, and that 
 throughout all Italy they might find air, water, and ground to bury them 
 in. Moreover, they said, to dwell at Rome was nothing else but to be 
 slain, or hurt with continual wars and fighting, for defence of the rich 
 men's goods. 
 
 " The Senate, being afraid of their departure, did send unto them certain 
 of the pleasantest old men, and the most acceptable to the people among 
 them. Of those Menenius Agrippa was he, who was sent for chief man 
 of the message from the Senate. He, after many good persuasions and 
 gentle requests made to the people, on the behalf of the Senate, knit up 
 his oration in the end with a notable tale, in this manner: That 'on a 
 time all the members of man's body did rebel against the belly, com- 
 plaining of it, that it only remained in the midst of the body without do- 
 ing any thing, neither did bear any labour to the maintenance of the rest : 
 whereas all other parts and members did labour painfully, and were very 
 careful, to satisfy the appetites and desires of the body. And so the belly, 
 all this notwithstanding, laughed at their folly, and said : It is true, I first 
 receive all meats that nourish man's body : but afterwards I send it 
 again to the nourishment of other parts of the same. Even so (quoth 
 he) O you, my masters, and citizens of Rome, the reason is alike between 
 the Senate and you. For matters being well digested, and their coun- 
 sels thoroughly examined, touching the benefit of the commonwealth, the 
 Senators are cause of the common commodity^ that cometh unto every 
 one of you.' These persuasions pacified the people conditionally, that 
 the Senate would grant there should be yearly chosen five Magistrates, 
 which they now call Tribuni plebis, whose office should be to defend the 
 poor people from violence and oppression. So Junius Brutus and Si- 
 cinius Vellutus were the first tribunes of the people that were chosen, 
 who had only been the causers and procurers of this sedition. Here- 
 upon the city being gro^^n again to good quiet and unity, the people im- 
 mediately went to the wars, shewing that they had a good will to do bet- 
 ter than ever they did, and to be very willing to obey the Magistrates in 
 that they would command concerning the wars. 
 
 "Martins also, though it liked him nothing^ to see the greatness of the 
 people thus increased, considering it was to the prejudice and imbasing* 
 
 ^ Anticipate. See Hain. p. 205. 
 
 ^ General advantage. See 2 Hen. IV. p. 157. 
 
 ^ Did not at all please him. See Havi. pp. 178 (on Nothmg^, 202 (on Likes). 
 
 * Humiliation. 
 
INTRO D UCTION. 1 7 3 
 
 of the Nobility, and also saw that other noble Patricians were troubled 
 as well as himself: he did persuade the Patricians to shew themselves 
 no less forward and willing to fight for their country than the common 
 people were : and to let them know by their deeds and acts, that they 
 did not so much pass^ the people in power and riches, as they did ex- 
 r , ceed them in true nobility and valiantness. In the country of 
 
 ^'^ ° ■ the Volsces, against whom the Romans made war at that time, 
 there was a principal city and of most fame, that was called Corioles, be- 
 fore the which the Consul Cominius did lay siege. Wherefore all the other 
 Volsces, fearing lest that city should be taken by assault, they came from 
 all parts of the country to save it, intending to give the Romans battle 
 before the city, and to give an onset on them in two several places. The 
 Consul Cominius, understanding this, divided his army also into two 
 parts ; and taking the one part with himself, he marched towards them 
 that were drawing to the city out of the country: and the other part of 
 his army he left in the camp with Titus Latins'^ (one of the valiantest men 
 the Romans had at that time) to resist those that would make any sally 
 out of the city upon them. So the Coriolans, making small account of 
 them that lay in camp before the city, made a sally out upon them, in the 
 which at the first the Coriolans had the better, and drave the Romans 
 back again into the trenches of their camp. But Martins being there at 
 that time, running out of the camp with a few men with him, he slew the 
 first enemies he met withal, and made the rest of them stay upon the sud- 
 den, crying out to the Romans that had turned their backs, and calling 
 them again to fight with a loud voice. For he was even such 
 
 ^' ^' •^^' another, as Cato would have a soldier and a captain to be, not 
 only terrible and fierce to lay about him, but to make the enemy afeard 
 with the sound of his voice, and the grimness of his countenance. Then 
 there flocked about him immediately a great number of Romans ; where- 
 at the enemies were so afeard that they gave back presently.^ But Mar- 
 tius, not staying so, did chase and follow them to their own gates, that 
 fled for life. And there perceiving that the Romans retired back, for 
 the great number of darts and arrows which flew about their ears from 
 the walls of the city, and that there was not one man amongst them that 
 durst venture himself to follow the flying enemies into their city, for that 
 it was full of men of war very well armed and appointed, he did encour- 
 age his fellows with words and deeds, crying out to them, 'that 
 
 1- 4- 44- fortune had opened the gates of the city, more for the followers 
 than the fliers.' But all this notwithstanding, few had the hearts to fol- 
 low him. Howbeit Martins, being in the throng amongst the enemies, 
 thrust himself into the gates of the city, and entered the same among 
 them that fled, without that any one of them durst at the first turn their 
 face upon him, or offer to stay him. But he, looking about him, and see- 
 ing he was entered the city with very few men to help him, and per- 
 ceiving he was environed by his enemies that gathered round about to 
 set upon him, did things, as it is written, wonderful and incredible, as 
 well for the force of his hand, as also for the agility of his body ; and 
 
 1 Surpass ; as in R. and J. i. i. 242: "who pass'd that passing fair," etc. 
 
 ^ Lartius. ' 3 At once. See Ham. p. 204. 
 
iy4 NOTES. 
 
 with a wonderful courage and valiantness he made a lane through the 
 midst of them, and overthrew also those he laid at •} that some he made 
 run to the furthest part of the city, and other for fear he made yield them- 
 selves, and to let fall their weapons before him. By this means Martius, 
 that was gotten out, had some leisure to bring the Romans with more 
 safety into the city. The city being taken in this sort, the most part 
 of the soldiers began incontinently to spoil, to carry away, and to look 
 up the booty they had won. But Martius was marvellous angry 
 
 ^' ^' ^' with them, and cried out on them, that it was no time now to 
 look after spoil, and to run straggling here and there to enrich them- 
 selves, whilst the other Consul and their fellow -citizens peradyenture 
 were fighting with their enemies : and how that, leaving the spoil, they 
 should seek to wind themselves out of danger and peril. Howbeit, cry 
 and say to them what he could, very few of them would hearken to him. 
 Wherefore taking those that willingly offered themselves to follow him, 
 he went out of the city, and took his way toward that part where he un- 
 derstood the rest of the army was, exhorting and intreating them by the 
 way that followed him, not to be fainthearted ; and oft holding up his 
 hands to heaven, he besought the gods to be gracious and favourable 
 unto him, that he might come in time to the battle, and in a good hour to 
 hazard his life in defence of his countrymen. Now the Romans when 
 they were put in battle ray,^ and ready to take their targets on their 
 arms, and to gird them upon their arming-coats, had a custom to make 
 their wills at that very instant, without any manner of writing, naming 
 him only whom they would make their heir in the presence of three or 
 four witnesses. Martius came just to that reckoning, whilst the soldiers 
 were doing after that sort, and that the enemies were approached so 
 near, as one stood in view of the other. When they saw him at his first 
 coming all bloody, and in a sweat, and but with a few men following him, 
 some thereupon began to be afeard. But soon after, when they saw him 
 run with a lively cheer to the Consul, and to take him by the hand, de- 
 claring how he had taken the city of Corioles, and that they saw the Con- 
 sul Cominius also kiss and imbrace him, then there was not a man but 
 took heart again to him, and began to be of good courage ; some hear- 
 ing him report, from point to point, the happy success of this exploit, and 
 other also conjecturing it by seeing their gestures afar off. Then they all 
 began to call upon the Consul to march forward, and to delay no_ longer, 
 but to give charge upon the enemy. Martius asked him how 
 
 ^' ^' ^^' the order of their enemy's battle was, and on which side they 
 had placed their best fighting men. The Consul made him answer, that 
 he thought the bands which were in the vaward^ of their battle were 
 those of the Antiates, whom they esteemed to be the warlikest men, and 
 which, for valiant courage, would give no place to any of the host of their 
 enemies. Then prayed Martius to be set directly against them. The Con- 
 
 1 Attacked. 
 
 2 Array. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. n. 34 = 
 
 " And all the damzels of that towne in ray 
 Come dauncing forth," etc. 
 
 3 Vanguard. Cf. i. 6. 53 below. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 175 
 
 sul granted him, greatly praising his courage. Then Martins, when both 
 armies came almost to join, advanced himself a good space before his 
 company, and went so fiercely to give charge on the vaward that came 
 right against him, that they could stand no longer in his hands : he made 
 such a lane through them, and opened a passage into the battle^ of the 
 enemies. But the two wings of either side turned one to the other, to 
 compass him in between them : which the Consul Cominius perceiving, 
 he sent thither straight of the best soldiers he had about him. So the 
 battle was marvellous bloody about Martius, and in a very short space 
 many were slain in the place. But in the end the Romans were so 
 strong, that they distressed the enemies, and brake their array : and 
 scattering them, made them fly. Then they prayed Martius that he 
 would retire to the camp, because they saw he was able to do no more, 
 he was already so wearied with the great pain he had taken,^ and so 
 faint with the great wounds he had upon him. But Martius answered 
 them, that it was not for conquerors to yield, nor to be fainthearted: and 
 thereupon began afresh to chase those that fled, until such time as the 
 army of the enemies was utterly overthrown, and numbers of them slain 
 and taken prisoners. 
 
 " The next morning betimes, Martius went to the Consul, and the oth- 
 er Romans with him. There the Consul Cominius going up to 
 
 ^"foi ^ ^^^ chair of state, in the presence of the whole army, gave thanks 
 to the gods for so great, glorious, and prosperous a victory : 
 then he spake to Martius, whose valiantness he commended beyond the 
 moon, both for that he himself saw him do with his eyes, as also for that 
 Martius had reported unto him. So in the end he willed Martius, that 
 he should choose out of all the horses they had taken of their enemies, 
 and of all their goods they had won (whereof there was great store) ten 
 of every sort which he liked best, before any distribution should be made 
 to other. Besides this great honourable offer he had made him, he gave 
 him, in testimony that he had won that day the price of prowess above 
 all other, a goodly horse with a caparison, and all furniture^ to him : which 
 the whole army beholding, did marvellously praise and commend. But 
 Martius, stepping forth, told the Consul he most thankfully accepted the 
 gift of his horse, and was a glad man besides, that his service had de- 
 served his General's commendation : and as for his other offer, which 
 was rather a mercenary reward than a honourable recompence, he would 
 have none of it, but was contented to have his equal part with the other 
 soldiers. ' Only, this grace (said he) I crave and beseech you 
 '■ ^' ^' to grant me. Among the Volsces there is an old friend and 
 host of mine, an honest wealthy man, and now a prisoner ; who, living be- 
 fore in great wealth in his own country, liveth now a poor prisoner, in the 
 hands of his enemies : and yet notwithstanding all this his misery and 
 misfortune, it would do me great pleasure if I could save him from this one 
 danger, to keep him from being sold as a slave.' The soldiers hearing 
 Martius' words, m.ade a marvellous great shout among them, and there 
 
 1 Battalion. See i Hen. IV. p. 189, or Rich. III. p. i8g. 
 
 2 Effort he had made. See M. of V. p. 140, note on Take pain. 
 
 3 Equipments. 
 
176 NOTES. 
 
 were more that wondered at his great contentation^ and abstinence, when 
 they saw so little covetousness in him, than they were that highly praised 
 and extolled his valiantness. For even they themselves that did some- 
 what malice- and envy his glory, to see him thus honoured and passing- 
 ly^ praised, did think him so nmch the more worthy of an honourable rec- 
 ompence for his valiant service, as the more carelessly he refused the 
 great offer made unto him for his profit ; and they esteemed more the 
 virtue that was in him, that made him refuse such rewards, than that 
 which made them to be offered to him, as unto a worthy person. For 
 it is far more commendable, to use riches well, than to be valiant : and 
 yet it is better not to desire them than to use them well. 
 
 " After this shout and noise of the assembly was somewhat appeased, 
 the Consul Cominius began to speak in this sort : ' we cannot compel 
 Martius to take these gifts we offer him if he will not receive 
 ^■^' ^' them, but we will give him such a reward for the noble service 
 he hath done, as he cannot refuse. Therefore, we do order and decree, 
 that henceforth he be called Coriolanus, unless his valiant acts have won 
 him that name before our nomination.' And so ever since, he still bare 
 the third name of Coriolanus. . . . 
 
 *' Now when this war was ended, the flatterers of the people began to 
 . ^ stir up sedition again, without any new occasion, or just matter 
 ^" ^' offered of complaint. For they did ground this second insur- 
 rection against the Nobility and Patricians upon the people's misery and 
 misfortune, that could not but fall out,^ by reason of the former discord 
 and sedition between them and the Nobility. Because the most part of 
 the arable land, within the territory of Rome, was become heathy and bar- 
 ren for lack of ploughing, for that they had no time nor mean to cause 
 corn to be brought them out of other countries to sow, by reason of their 
 wars ; which made the extreme dearth they had among them. Now 
 those busy prattlers that sought the people's good-will by such flatter- 
 ing words, perceiving great scarcity of corn to be within the city : and 
 though there had been plenty enough, yet the common people had no 
 money to buy it : they spread abroad false tales and rumours against the 
 Nobility, that they, in revenge of the people, had practised^ and procured 
 the extreme dearth among them. Furthermore, in the midst of this stir, 
 there came ambassadors to Rome from the city of Velitres, that offered 
 up their city to the Romans, and prayed them they would send new in- 
 habitants to replenish the same : because the plague had been so ex- 
 treme among them, and had killed such a number of them, as there was 
 not left alive the tenth person of the people that had been there before. 
 
 1 Moderation. 
 
 2 Begrudge. S. does not use the verb, but we find it in B. J., Daniel, Spenser, and 
 other writers of the time._ 
 
 3 Surpassingly, exceedingly. 
 
 * As Wright remarks, the description of the condition of the Roman people at the 
 opening of the play seems to have been taken in part from Plutarch's account of this 
 later insurrection as well as from that referred to in the passage on p. 171 above. 
 
 5 That /a// out here means take place is clear from Amyot, who has— "qui estoyent 
 necessairement ensuyuis de leurs diuisions," etc. 
 
 6 Plotted. See A. Y.L. p. 140. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 177 
 
 So the wise men of Rome began to think, that the necessity of the Ve- 
 litrians fell out in a most happy hour ; and how, by this occasion, it was 
 very meet, in so great a scarcity of victuals, to disburden Rome of a great 
 number of citizens : and by this means as well to take away this new se- 
 dition, and utterly to rid it out of the city, as also to clear the same of 
 many mutinous and seditious persons, being the superfluous ill humours 
 that grievously fed this disease. Hereupon the Consuls pricked out' all 
 those by a bill, whom they intended to send to Velitres, to go dwell there 
 as in form of a colony: and they levied out all the rest that remained in 
 the city of Rome, a great number to go against the Volsces, hoping, by 
 mean of foreign war, to pacify their sedition at home. Moreover they 
 imagined, when the poor with the rich, and the mean sort with the No- 
 bility, should by this device be abroad in the wars, and in one camp, and 
 in one service, and in one like danger : that then they would be more 
 quiet and loving together. But Sicinius and Brutus, two seditious Trib- 
 unes, spake against either of these devices, and cried out upon the noble 
 men, that under the gentle name of a Colony, they would cloak and col- 
 our the most cruel and unnatural fact^ as might be : because they sent 
 their poor citizens into a sore infected city and pestilent air, full of dead 
 bodies unburied, and there also to dwell under the tuition' of a strange 
 god, that had so cruelly persecuted his people. ' This were (said they) 
 even as much, as if the Senate should headlong cast down the people into 
 a most bottomless pit ; and are not yet contented to have famished some 
 of the poor citizens heretofore to death, and to put other of them even to 
 the mercy of the plague : but afresh they have procured a voluntary war, 
 to the end they would leave behind no kind of misery and ill, where- 
 with the poor silly people should not be plagued, and only because they 
 are weary to serve the rich.' The common people, being set on a broil 
 and bravery* with these words, would not appear when the Consuls called 
 their names by a bill, to prest^ them for the wars, neither would they be 
 sent out to this new colony : insomuch as the Senate knew not well what 
 to say or to do in the matter. 
 
 " Martins then, who was now grown to great credit, and a stout man be- 
 sides, and of great reputation with the noblest men of Rome, rose up, and 
 openly spake against these flattering Tribunes. And for the replenish- 
 ing of the city of Velitres, he did compel those that were chosen, to go 
 thither and to depart the city, upon great penalties to him that should 
 disobey : but to the wars the people by no means would be brought or 
 constrained. So Martins, taking his friends and followers with him, and 
 such as he could by fair words intreat to go with him, did run certain 
 forays into the dominion of the Antiates, where he met with great plenty 
 of corn, and had a marvellous great spoil, as well of cattle as of men he 
 had taken prisoners, whom he brought away with him, and reserved noth- 
 
 _^ Marked down all those in a list. The French text is — "Parquoy les Consulz 
 feirent une rolle de ceux qu'ilz entendoient enuoyer k Velitres, pour y habiter en forme 
 de Colonie, et feirent aussi tout ensemble une leuee des autres, qui demeuroient i 
 Rome," etc. 2 Deed. See ^. r. p. 175. 
 
 ^ Tutelary power, guardianship. See Much Ado, p. 124. 
 
 * Insolence. See Ham. ^.270. * Press. 
 
 M 
 
lyS NOTES. 
 
 ing for himself. Afterwards, having brought back again all his men that 
 went out with him, safe and sound to Rome, and every man rich and 
 loaden with spoil : then the home-tarriers and house-doves that kept^ 
 Rome still, began to repent them that it was not their hap to go with 
 him, and so envied both them that had sped so well in this journey ; and 
 also, of malice to Martins, they spited^ to see his credit and estimation 
 increase still more and more, because they accounted him to be a great 
 hinderer of the people. Shortly after this, Martins stood for the 
 "■^* Consulship: and the common people favoured his suit, think- 
 ing it would be a shame to them to deny and refuse the chiefest noble 
 man of blood, and most worthy person of Rome, and specially him that 
 had done so great service and good to the commonwealth. For the cus- 
 tom of Rome was at that time, that such as did sue for any office, should 
 for certain days before be in the market-place, only with a poor gown on 
 their backs, and without any coat underneath, to pray the citizens to re- 
 member them at the day of election : which was thus devised, either to 
 move the people the more, by requesting them in such mean apparel, or 
 else because they might shew them their wounds they had gotten in the 
 wars in the service of the commonwealth, as manifest marks and testi- 
 monies of their valiantness. . . . Now Martius, following this custom, 
 shewed many wounds and cuts upon his body, which he had received in 
 seventeen years' service at the wars, and in many sundry 'battles, being 
 ever the foremost man that did set out feet^ to fight. So that there was not 
 a man among the people but was ashamed of himself, to refuse so valiant 
 a man : and one of them said to another, ' we must needs choose him 
 Consul, there is no remedy.' But when the day of election was come, 
 and that Martius came to the market-place with great pomp, 
 "^' ^~^' accompanied with all the Senate and the whole Nobility of the 
 city about him, who sought to make him Consul with the greatest in- 
 stance* and intreaty they could, or ever attempted for any man or matter : 
 then the love and goodwill of the common people turned straight to an 
 hate and envy toward him, fearing to put this office of sovereign author- 
 ity into his hands, being a man somewhat partial towards the Nobility, 
 and of great credit and authority amongst the Patricians, and as one 
 they might doubt^ would take away altogether the liberty from the peo- 
 ple. Whereupon, for these considerations, they refused Martius in the 
 end, and made two other that were suitors. Consuls. The Senate, being 
 marvellously offended with the people, did account the shame of this re- 
 fusal rather to redound to themselves than to Martius : but Martius took 
 it in far worse part than the Senate, and was out of all patience. For 
 he was a man too full of passion and choler, and too much given over 
 to self-will and opinion,^ as one of a high mind and great courage, that 
 lacked the gravity and affability that is gotten with judgment of learn- 
 ing and reason, which only is to be looked for in a governor of State : 
 and that remembered not how wilfulness is the thing of the world, which 
 
 1 Remained in. ^ Were envious. 
 
 3 Advance. Cf. J. C. ii. i. 331 : " Set on your foot," etc. 
 
 4 Urgency. 5 Fear, suspect. Cf. iii. 1-152 below. 
 6 Self-opinion, self-conceit. See i Hen. IV. p. 175. 
 
INTR OD UCTION. 1 7 9 
 
 a governor of a commonwealth, for pleasing, should shun, being that 
 which Plato called 'solitariness ;' as in the end, all men that are wilfully 
 given to a self-opinion and obstinate mind, and who will never yield to 
 other's reason but to their own, remain without company, and forsaken 
 of all men. For a man that will live in the world must needs have pa- 
 tience, which lusty bloods make but a mock at. So Martins, being a 
 stout man of nature, that never yielded in any respect, as one thinking 
 that to overcome always and to have the upper hand in all matters, was 
 a token of magnanimity and of no base and faint courage, which spitteth 
 out anger from the most weak and passioned part of the heart, much like 
 the matter of an impostume:^ went home to his house, full freighted 
 with spite and malice against the people, being accompanied with all the 
 lustiest young gentlemen, whose minds were nobly bent, as those that 
 came of noble race, and commonly used for to follow and honour him. 
 But then specially they flocked about him, and kept him company to his 
 much harm, for they did but kindle and inflaine his choler more and 
 more, being sorry with him for the injury the people offered him ; be- 
 cause he was their captain and leader to the wars, that taught them all 
 martial discipline, and stirred up in them a noble emulation of honour 
 and valiantness, and yet, without envy, praising them that deserved best. 
 " In the mean season there came great plenty of corn to Rome, that 
 had been bought, part in Italy, and part was sent out of Sicily, as given 
 by Gelon the tyrant of Syracusa : so that many stood in great hope, that 
 the dearth of victuals being holpen, the civil dissension would also cease. 
 The Senate sat in council upon it inmiediately ; the common people 
 stood also about the palace where the council was kept, gaping what res- 
 olution^ would fall out : persuading themselves that the corn they had 
 bought should be sold good cheap,- and that which was given should be 
 divided by the poll, without^ paying any penny; and the rather, because 
 certain of the Senators amongst them did so wish and persuade the 
 same. But Martins, standing upon his feet, did somewhat sharply take 
 up those who went about to gratify the people therein : and called them 
 people-pleasers, and traitors to the Nobility. ' Moreover,' he said, 'they 
 nourished against themselves the naughty* seed and cockle^ of insolence 
 and sedition, which had been sowed and scattered abroad amongst the 
 people, which they should have cut off, if they had been wise, in their 
 growth: and not (to their own destruction) have suffered the people to 
 establish a magistrate for themselves, of so great power and authority as 
 that man had to whom they had granted it. Who was also to be feared, 
 because he obtained what he would, and did nothing but what he listed, 
 neither passed for« any obedience to the Consuls, but lived in all liberty ; 
 acknowledging no superior to command him, saving the only heads and 
 authors of their faction, whom he called his magistrates. Therefore,' 
 said he, ' they that gave counsel and persuaded, that the corn should be 
 given out to the common people gratis, as they used to do in the cities 
 
 1 Abscess. See Ham. p. 245. ^ Decision. 
 
 ^ CheaplY- See i Hen. IV. p. 183. * Evil. See M. nf V. p. 152. 
 
 s See on iii. i. 70 below. * Professed. 
 
l8o NOTES. 
 
 of Greece, where the people had more absolute power, did but only nour- 
 ish their disobedience, which would break out in the end, to the utter 
 ruin and overthrow of the whole state. For they will not think it is 
 done in recompence of their service past, sithence^ they know well enough 
 they have so oft refused to go to the wars when they were commanded : 
 neither for their mutinies when they went with us, whereby they have re- 
 belled and forsaken their country : neither for their accusations which 
 their flatterers have preferred unto them, and they have received, and made 
 good against the Senate : but they will rather judge, we give and grant 
 them this as abasing ourselves, and standing in fear of them, and glad to 
 flatter them every way. By this means their disobedience will still grow 
 worse and worse : and they will never leave to practise new sedition 
 and uproars. Therefore it were a great folly for us, methinks, to do it : 
 yea, shall I say more .'' we should, if we were wise, take from them their 
 Tribuneship, which most manifestly is the embasing of the Consulship, 
 and the cause of the division of the city. The state whereof, as it stand- 
 eth, is not now as it was wont to be, but becometh dismembered in two 
 factions, which maintains always civil dissension and discord between us, 
 and will never suffer us again to be united into one body.' Martins di- 
 lating the matter with many such like reasons, won all the young men, 
 and almost all the rich men to his opinion : insomuch as they rang it 
 out,^ that he was the only man, and alone in the city, who stood out 
 against the people, and never flattered them. There were only a few 
 old men that spake against him, fearing lest some mischief might fall out 
 upon it, as indeed there followed no great good afterward. For the 
 Tribunes of the people, being present at this consultation of the Senate, 
 when they saw that the opinion of Martius was confirmed with the more 
 voices, they left the Senate, and went down to the people, crying out for 
 help, and that they would assemble to save their Tribunes. Hereupon 
 the people ran on head^ in tumult together, before whom the words that 
 Martius spake in the Senate were openly reported : which the people so 
 stomached,* that even in that fury they were ready to fly upon the whole 
 Senate. But the Tribunes laid all the fault and burthen wholly upon 
 Martius, and sent their sergeants forthwith to arrest him, presently to ap- 
 pear in person before the people, to answer the words he had spoken in 
 the Senate. Martius stoutly withstood these officers that came to arrest 
 him. Then the Tribunes in their own persons, accompanied with the 
 ^diles, went to fetch him by force, and so laid violent hands upon him. 
 Howbeit the noble Patricians gathering together about him, made the 
 Tribunes give back, and laid sore upon the ^diles : so for that time the 
 night parted them, and the tumult appeased. The next morning be- 
 times, the Consuls seeing the people in an uproar, running to the market- 
 place out of all parts of the city, they were afraid lest all the city would 
 together by the ears : wherefore assembling the Senate in all haste, they 
 declared how it stood them upon,^ to appease the fury of the people 
 
 1 Since. Cf. iii. i. 47 below. - Cried aloud. Cf. i Hen. VI. iv. 2. 4i.___ 
 
 3 Ahead. See Gr. 24. * Resented. Ci. A. and C. iv. 2. 9 and iii. 4. 12. 
 
 * Concerned them. See Ham. p. 269 ; and cf. iii. 2. 52 below. 
 
INTRODUCTION. i8i 
 
 with some gentle words or grateful decrees in their favour : and more- 
 over, like wise men they should consider, it was now no time to stand at 
 defence and in contention, nor yet to fight for honour against the com- 
 monalty, they being fallen to so great an extremity, and offering such im- 
 minent danger. Wherefore they were to consider temperately of things, 
 and to deliver some present and gentle pacification. The most part of 
 the Senators that were present at this council, thought this opinion best, 
 and gave their consents unto it. Whereupon the Consuls rising out of 
 council, went to speak unto the people as gently as they could, and they 
 did pacify their fury and anger, purging the Senate of all the unjust ac- 
 cusations laid upon them, and used great modesty^ in persuading them, 
 and also in reproving the faults they had committed. And as for the 
 rest, that touched the sale of corn, they promised there should be no dis- 
 liking^ offered them in the price. So the most part of the people being 
 pacified, and appearing so plainly by the great silence that was among 
 them, as yielding to the Consuls and liking well of^ their words : the 
 Tribunes then of the people rose out of their seats, and said: 'Foras- 
 much as the Senate yielded unto reason, the people also for their part, 
 as became them, did likewise give place unto them : but notwithstand- 
 ing, they would that Martins should come in person to answer to the ar- 
 ticles they had devised. First, whether he had not solicited and pro- 
 cured the Senate to change the present state of the commonweal, and 
 to take the sovereign authority out of the people's hands } Next, when 
 he was sent for by authority of their officers, why he did contemptuously 
 resist and disobey .'' Lastly, seeing he had driven and beaten the ^diles 
 into the market-place before all the world ; if, in doing this, he had not 
 done as much as in him lay, to raise civil wars, and to set one citizen 
 against another ?' And this was spoken to one of these two ends, ei- 
 ther that Martins, against his nature, should be constrained to humble 
 himself and to abase his haughty and fierce mind : or else, if he contin- 
 ued still in his stoutness, he should incur the ])eople's displeasure and 
 ill-will so far, that he should never possibly win them again. Which 
 they hoped would rather fall out so, than otherwise: as indeed they 
 guessed unhappily, considering Martins' nature and disposition. 
 
 "So Martins came and presented himself to answer their accusations 
 against him, and the people held their peace, and gave attentive ear, to 
 hear what he would say. But where they thought to have heard very 
 humble and lowly words come from him, he began not only to use his 
 wonted boldness of speaking (which of itself was very rough and un- 
 pleasant, and did more aggravate his accusation, than purge his inno- 
 cency) but also gave himself in his words to thunder, and look there- 
 withal so grimly, as though he made no reckoning of the matter. This 
 stirred coals among the people, who were in wonderful fury at it, and 
 their hate and malice grew so toward him, that they could hold no 
 longer, bear, nor endure his bravery* and careless boldness. Whereupon 
 Sicinius, the cruellest and stoutest of the Tribunes, after he had whis- 
 
 1 Moderation. See T. of S. p. 127. 2 Displeasure. 
 
 ^ Being pleased with. See Much Ado, p. 171, note on Like of me. 
 * Audacity. See p. 177 above. 
 
.i82 , NOTES. 
 
 pered a little with his companions, did openly pronounce, in the face of 
 all the people, Martins as condemned by the Tribunes to die. Then 
 presently he commanded the ^diles to apprehend him, and carry him 
 straight to the rock Tarpeian, and to cast him headlong down the same. 
 When the ^diles came to lay hands upon Martius to do that they were 
 commanded, divers of the people themselves thought it too cruel and 
 violent a deed. The noblemen, being much troubled to see so much 
 force and rigour used, began to cry aloud, 'help Martius :' so those that 
 laid hands on him being repulsed, they compassed him in round among 
 themselves, and some of them, holding up their hands to the people, be- 
 sought them not to handle him thus cruelly. But neither their words 
 nor crying out could aught prevail, the tumult and hurlyburly was so 
 great, until such time as the Tribunes' own friends and kinsmen, weigh- 
 ing with themselves the impossibleness to convey Martius to execution 
 without great slaughter and murder of the nobility, did persuade and ad- 
 vise not to proceed- in so violent and extraordinary a sort, as to put such 
 a man to death without lawful process in law, but that they should refer 
 the sentence of his death to the free voice of the people. Then Sicinius, 
 bethinking himself a little, did ask the Patricians, for what cause they 
 took Martius out of the officers' hands that went to do execution ? The 
 Patricians asked him again, why they would of themselves so cruelly 
 and wickedly put to death so noble and valiant a Roman as Martius 
 was, and that without law and justice? 'Well then,' said Sicinius, 'if 
 that be the matter, let there be no quarrel or dissension against the peo- 
 ple : for they do grant your demand, that his cause shall be heard accord- 
 ing to the law. Therefore,' said he to Martius, ' we do wilP and charge 
 you to appear before the people, the third day of our next sitting and as- 
 sembly here, to make your purgation for such articles as shall be ob- 
 jected against you, that by free voice the people may give sentence upon 
 you as shall please them.' The noblemen were glad then of the adjourn- 
 ment, and were much pleased they had gotten Martius out of this dan- 
 ger. In the mean space, before the third day of their next session came 
 about, the same being kept every ninth day continually at Rome, where- 
 upon^ they call it now in Latin Niindmce : there fell out war against the 
 Antiates, which gave some hope to the nobility that this adjournment 
 would come to little effect, thinking that this war would hold them so 
 long, as that the fury of the people against him would be well suaged,^ 
 or utterly forgotten, by reason of the trouble of the wars. But contrary 
 to expectation, the peace was concluded presently with the Antiates, and 
 the people returned again to Rome. Then the Patricians assembled 
 oftentimes together, to consult how they might stand to* Martius, and 
 keep the Tribunes from occasion to cause the people to mutine^ again, 
 and rise against the Nobility. And there Appius Claudius (one that 
 was taken ever as an heavy enemy to the people) did avow and protest, 
 that they would utterly abase the authority of the Senate, and destroy 
 the commonweal, if they would suffer the common people to have au- 
 
 1 Require. ^ Wherefore. _ ^ Assuaged. * Stand by, support, 
 
 s Mutiny. StQ Ham. -g. 227- 
 
INTRODUCTION, 183 
 
 thority by voices to give judgment against the Nobility. On the other 
 side again, the most ancient Senators, and such as were given to favour 
 the common people, said ; ' that when the people should see they had 
 authority of life and death in their hands, they would not be so cruel and 
 fierce, but gentle and civil. More also, that it was not for contempt of 
 Nobility or the Senate that they sought to have the authority of justice 
 in their hands, as a pre-eminence and prerogative of honour : but be- 
 cause they feared, that themselves should be contemned and hated of the 
 Nobility. So as^ they were persuaded, that so soon as they gave them 
 authority to judge by voices, they would leave all envy and malice to 
 condemn any.' Martins, seeing the Senate in great doubt how to re- 
 solve, partly for the love and goodwill the nobility did bear him, and 
 partly for the fear they stood in of the people : asked aloud of the Trib- 
 unes, 'what matter they would burden him with?' The Tribunes an- 
 swered him, ' that they would shew how he did aspire to be King, and 
 would prove that all his actions tended to usurp tyrannical power over 
 Rome.' Martius with that, rising upon his feet, said: ' that thereupon'^ 
 he did willingly offer himself to the people, to be tried upon that accusa- 
 tion : and that if it were proved by^ him, he had so much as once thought 
 of any such matter, that he would then refuse no kind of punishment 
 they would offer him: conditionally {quoth he) that you charge me with 
 nothing else beside, and that ye do not also abuse the Senate.' They 
 promised they would not. Under these conditions the judgment was 
 agreed upon, and the people assembled. 
 
 "And first of all the Tribunes would in any case (whatsoever became* 
 of it) that the people should proceed to give their voices by Tribes, and 
 not by hundreds: for by this means the multitude of the poor needy 
 people (and all such rabble as had nothing to lose, and had less regard 
 of honesty before their eyes) came to be of greater force (because their 
 voices were numbered by the poll) than the noble honest citizens, whose 
 persons and purse did dutifully serve the commonwealth in their wars. 
 And then, when the Tribunes saw they could not prove he went about^ 
 to make himself King, they began to broach afresh the former words that 
 Martius had spoken in the Senate, in hindering the distribution of the 
 corn at mean^ price unto the common people, and persuading also to 
 take the office of Tribuneship from them. And for the third, they 
 charged him anew, that he had not made the common distribution of the 
 spoil he had gotten in the invading the territories of the Antiates : but 
 had of his own authority divided it among them who were with him in 
 that journey. But this matter was most strange of all to Martius, look- 
 ing least to have been burdened with that as with any matter of offence. 
 Whereupon being burdened on the sudden, and having no ready excuse 
 to make even at that instant : he began to fall a praising of the soldiers 
 that had served with him in that journey. But those that were not with 
 him, being the greater number, cried out so loud, and made such a noise, 
 
 1 So that. ^ On that count. 
 
 ^ About, concerning. Gr. 145. * Came. 
 
 5 Endeavoured. See M. N. D. p. 177, or Ham. p. 230. ^ Low. 
 
1 84 NOTES. 
 
 that he could not be heard. To conclude, when they came to telP the 
 voices of the Tribes, there were three voices odd, which condemned him 
 to be banished for ever. After declaration of the sentence, the people 
 made such joy, as they never rejoiced more for any battle they had won 
 upon their enemies, they were so brave and lively, and went home so jo- 
 cundly from the assembly, for triumph of this sentence. The Senate 
 again, in contrary manner, were as sad and heavy, repenting 
 'and /' themselves beyond measure, that they had not rather deter- 
 mined to have done and suffered anything whatsoever, before 
 the common people should so arrogantly and outrageously have abused 
 their authority. There needed no difference of garments, I warrant you, 
 nor outward shows, to know a Plebeian from a Patrician, for they were 
 easily discerned by their looks. For he that was on the people's side 
 looked cheerfully on the matter : but he that was sad and hung down 
 his head, he was sure of the noblemen's side : saving Martins alone, who 
 neither in his countenance nor in his gait did ever shew himself abashed, 
 or once let fall his great courage : but he only, of all other gentlemen 
 that were angry at his fortune, did outwardly shew no manner of pas- 
 sion, nor care at all of himself. Not that he did patiently^bear and tem- 
 per his evil hap in respect of any reason he had, or by his quiet condi- 
 tion : but because he was so carried away with the vehemency of anger 
 and desire of revenge, that he had no sense nor feeling of the hard state 
 he was in : which the common people judge not to be sorrow, although 
 indeed it be the very same. For when sorrow (as you would say) is set 
 on fire, then it is converted into spite and malice, and driveth away for 
 that time all faintness of heart and natural fear. And this is the cause 
 why the choleric man is so altered and mad in his actions, as a man set 
 on fire with a burning ague : for when a man's heart is troubled within, 
 his pulse will beat marvellous strongly. Now that Martins was even in 
 that taking^ it appeared true soon after by his doings. For when he was 
 come home to his house again, and had taken his leave of his mother 
 and wife, finding them weeping and shrieking out for sorrow, and had 
 also comforted and persuaded them to be content with his chance: he 
 went immediately to the gate of the city, accompanied with a great num- 
 ber of Patricians, that brought him thither, from whence he went on his 
 way with three or four of his friends only, taking nothing with him, nor 
 requesting anything of any man. So he remained a few days in the 
 country at his houses, turmoiled with sundry sorts and kinds of thoughts, 
 such as the fire of his choler did stir up. 
 
 "In the end, seeing he could resolve no way to take a profitable or 
 honourable course, but only was pricked forward still to be revenged of 
 the Romans : he thought to raise up some great wars against them, by 
 their nearest neighbours. Whereupon he thought it his best way, first 
 to stir up the Voisces against them, knowing they were yet able enough 
 in strength and riches to encounter them, notwithstanding their former 
 losses they had received not long before, and that their power was not so 
 much impaired, as their malice and desire was increased to be revenged 
 
 1 Count. See Ham. p. i86. 2 Y\\. of anger. Cf. R. 0/ L, 453. 
 
introduction: 185 
 
 of the Romans. Now in the city of Antium there was one called Tullus 
 Aufidius, who for his riches, as also for his nobility and valiantness, was 
 honoured among the Volsces as a king. Martius knew very well that 
 Tullus did more malice^ and envy him than he did all the Romans be- 
 sides : because that many times, in battles where they met, they were 
 ever at the encounter one against another, like lusty courageous youths 
 striving in all emulation of honour, and had encountered many times to- 
 gether. Insomuch as, besides the common quarrel between them, there 
 was bred a marvellous private hate one against another. Yet notwith- 
 standing, considering that Tullus Aufidius was a man of great mind, and 
 that he above all other of the Volsces most desired revenge of the Romans, 
 for the injuries they had done unto them : he did an act that confirmed 
 the words of an ancient poet to be true, who said •? 
 
 It is a thing full hard, man's anger to withstand, 
 
 If it be stiffly bent to take an enterprise in hand. 
 
 For then most men will have the thing that they desire. 
 
 Although it cost their lives therefore, such force hath wicked ire. 
 
 And so did he. For he disguised himself in such array and attire, as he 
 thought no man could ever have known him for the person he was, see- 
 ing him in that apparel he had upon his back : and as Homer said of 
 Ulysses •} 
 
 So did he enter into the enemies' town. 
 
 It was even twilight when he entered the city of Antium, and many peo- 
 ple met him in the streets, but no man knew him. So he went directly 
 to Tullus Aufidius' house, and when he came thither, he got him up 
 straight to the chimney-hearth, and sat him down, and spake not a word 
 to any man, his face ail muffled over. They of the house spying him, 
 wondered what he should be, and yet they durst not bid him rise. For 
 ill-favouredly muffled and disguised as he was, yet there appeared a cer- 
 tain majesty in his countenance and in his silence: whereupon they went 
 to Tullus, who was at supper, to tell him of the strange disguising of this 
 man. Tullus rose presently from the board, and coming towards him, 
 asked him what he was, and wherefore he came. Then Martius unmuf- 
 fled himself, and after he had paused awhile, making no answer, he said 
 unto him : ' If thou knowest me not yet, Tullus, and, seeing me, dost not 
 perhaps believe me to be the man I am indeed, I must of necessity 
 bewray* myself to be that I am. I am Caius Martius, who hath done to 
 thyself particularly, and to all the Volsces generally, great hurt and mis- 
 chief, which I cannot deny for^ my surname of Coriolanus that I bear. 
 For I never had other benefit nor recompence of the true and painful® 
 service I have done, and the extreme dangers I have been in, but this 
 
 1 Hate. Seep. 176 above. 
 
 2 The original Greek runs thus: Qv/jluj ij.dxecr9ai xo'^eTroi/* o y()p av Oe\r), ^vxns 
 wve'nai. Clough says it is from Heraclitus, and quoted in two other places by Plu- 
 tarch, and also by Aristotle. 
 
 3 This passage is from Helen's description of Ulysses {Octys. iv. 246), where she says: 
 
 hLvhpihv dvajjievioov Karedv noXiv eupvciyviav] 
 * Reveal. Cf. v. 3. 95 below. ^ Because of. ^ Toilsome. Cf. iv. 5. 69 below. 
 
1 86 NOTES. 
 
 only surname : a good memory and witness of the malice and displeas- 
 ure thou shouldest bear me. Indeed the name only remaineth with me : 
 for the rest the envy and cruelty of the people of Rome have taken from 
 me, by the sufferance of the dastardly nobility and magistrates, who have 
 forsaken me, and let me be banished by the people. This extremity hath 
 now driven me to come as a poor suitor, to take thy chimney-hearth, not 
 of any hope I have to save my life thereby : for if I had feared death, 
 1 would not have come hither to have put myself in hazard : but pricked 
 forward^ with desire to be revenged of them that thus have banished 
 me ; which now I do- begin, in putting my person into the hands of their 
 enemies. Wherefore, if thou hast any heart to be wrecked^ of the in- 
 juries thy enemies have done thee, speed thee now, and let my misery 
 serve thy turn, and so use it as my service may be a benefit to tlxe 
 Volsces : promising thee, that I will fight with better good will for all 
 you than I did when I was against you, knowing that they fight more 
 valiantly who know the force of the enemy, than such as have never 
 proved it. And if it be so that thou dare not, and that thou art weary 
 to prove fortune any more, then am I also weary to live any longer. And 
 it were no wisdom in thee, to save the life of him, who hath been hereto- 
 fore thy mortal enemy, and whose service now can nothing help nor 
 pleasure thee.' Tullus, hearing what he said, was a marvellous glad 
 man, and taking him by the hand, he said unto him : ' Stand up, O Mar- 
 tins, and be of good cheer, for in proffering thyself unto us thou doest us 
 great honour: and by this means thou mayest hope also of greater 
 things at all the Volsces' hands.' So he feasted him for that time, and 
 entertained him in the honourablest manner he could, talking with him 
 of no other matter at that present : but within few days after they fell to 
 consultation together, in what sort they should begin their wars. 
 
 " Now, on the other side, the city of Rome was in marvellous uproar 
 and discord, the nobility against the commonalty, and chiefly for 
 
 '^" ■ Martins' condemnation and banishment. . . . 
 
 " Now Tullus and Martins had secret conference with the greatest 
 personages of the city of Antium, declaring unto them that now they had 
 good time offered them to make war with the Romans, while they were 
 in dissension one with another. They answered them, they were ashamed 
 to break the league, considering that they were sworn to keep peace for two 
 years. Howbeit, shortly after, the Romans gave them great occasion to 
 make war with them. For on a holy day, common plays being kept in 
 Rome, upon some suspicion or false report, they made proclamation by 
 sound of trumpet, that all the Volsces should avoid^ out of Rome before 
 sunset. Some think this was a craft and deceit of Martins, who sent one 
 to Rome to the Consuls to accuse the Volsces falsely, advertising them 
 how they had made a conspiracy to set upon them while they were busy 
 in seeing these games, and also to set their city on fire. This open proc- 
 lamation made all the Volsces more offended with the Romans than ever 
 they were before : and Tullus, aggravating the matter, did so inflame the 
 Volsces against them, that in the end they sent their ambassadors to 
 
 1 Spurred on. ^ Wreaked. Cf. iv. 5. 86 below. 3 Depart. Cf. iv. 5. 31 below. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 187 
 
 Rome, to summon them to deliver their lands and towns again, which 
 they had taken from them in times past, or to look, for present^ wars. The 
 Romans, hearing this, were marvellously nettled : and made no other an- 
 swer but this : ' If the Volsces be the first that begin war, the Romans 
 will be the last that will end it.' Incontinently upon return of the Volsces' 
 ambassadors and delivery of the Romans' answer, Tullus caused an as- 
 sembly general to be made of the Volsces, and concluded to make war 
 upon the Romans. This done, Tullus did counsel them to take Martins 
 into their service, and not to mistrust him for the remembrance of any- 
 thing past, but boldly to trust him in any matter to come ; for he would 
 do them more service in fighting for them than ever he did them dis- 
 pleasure in fighting against them. So Martins was called forth, who 
 spake so excellently in the presence of them all, that he was thought no 
 less eloquent in tongue than warlike in show : and declared himself 
 both expert in wars, and wise with valiantness. Thus he was joined in 
 commission with Tullus as general of the Volsces, having absolute au- 
 thority between them to follow and pursue the wars. . . . After their 
 whole army (which was marvellous great, and very forward to service) 
 was assembled in one camp, they agreed to leave part of it for garrison 
 in the country about, and the other part should go on and make the war 
 upon the Romans. So Martins bade Tullus choose, and take which of 
 the two charges he liked best. Tullus made him answer, he knew by 
 experience that Martius was no less valiant than himself, and how he 
 ever had better fortune and good hap in all battles than himself had. 
 Therefore he thought it best for him to have the leading of those that 
 would make the wars abroad, and himself would keep^ home, to provide 
 for the safety of the cities of his country, and to furnish the camp also of 
 all necessary provision abroad. 
 
 "So Martius, being stronger than before, went first of all unto the city 
 of Cercees,^ inhabited by the Romans, who willingly yielded themselves, 
 and therefore had no hurt. From thence he entered the country of the 
 Latins, imagining the Romans would fight with him there to defend the 
 Latins, who were their confederates, and had many times sent unto the 
 Romans for their aid. But on the one side, the people of Rome were 
 very ill willing to go : and on the other side, the Consuls being upon go- 
 ing out of their office, would not hazard themselves for so small a time : 
 so that the ambassadors of the Latins returned home again, and did no 
 good. Then Martius did besiege their cities, and having taken by force 
 the town of the Tolerinians, Vicanians, Pedanians, and the Bolanians, who 
 made resistance, he sacked all their goods and took them prisoners. Such 
 as did yield themselves willingly unto him, he was as careful as possible 
 might be to defend them from hurt : and because they should receive no 
 damage by his will, he removed his camp as far from their confines as 
 he could. Afterwards, he took the city of Boles* by assault, being but 
 an hundred furlong from Rome, where he had a marvellous great spoil, 
 and put every man to the sword that was able to carry weapon. The 
 
 ^ Immediate ; as in iii. i. 212 below. 
 
 2 Stay at. Cf. "keep house" in Cymb. iii. 3. i ; and see p. 178 above. 
 
 ^ Circeii. * Bola or BoHa. 
 
1 88 NOTES. 
 
 other Volsces that were appointed to remain in garrison for defence of 
 their country, hearing this good news, would tarry no longer at 
 ^^' ^' home, but armed themselves and ran to Marti us' camp, saying 
 they did acknowledge no other captain but him. Hereupon his fame 
 ran through all Italy, and every one praised him for a valiant captain, 
 for that, by change of one man for another, such and so strange events 
 fell out in the state. In this while, all went still to wrack at Rome. For, 
 to come into the field to fight with the enemy, they could not 
 V. I and a|jj(jg to hear of it, they were one so much against another, and 
 full of seditious words, the nobility against the people, and the 
 people against the nobility. Until they had intelligence at the length, 
 that the enemies had laid siege to the city of Lavinium, in the which 
 were all the temples and images of their gods their protectors, and from 
 whence came first their ancient original, for that ^neas at his first ar- 
 rival into Italy did build that city. Then fell there out a marvellous 
 sudden change of mind among the people, and far more strange and con- 
 trary in the nobility. For the people thought it good to repeal the con- 
 demnation and exile of Martius. The Senate, assembled upon it, would 
 in no case yield to that : who either did it of a selfwill to be contrary to 
 the people's desire : or because Martius should not return thorough' 
 the grace and favour of the people. Or else, because they were throughly 
 angry and offended with him, that he would set upon the whole, being 
 offended but by a few, and in his doings would shew himself an open 
 enemy besides unto his country : notwithstanding the most part of them 
 took the wrong they had done him in marvellous ill part, and as if the 
 injury had been done unto themselves. Report being made of the Sen- 
 ate's resolution, the people found themselves in a straight -.^ for they 
 could authorise and confirm nothing by their voices, unless it had been 
 first propounded and ordained by the Senate. But Martius, hearing this 
 stir about him, was in a greater rage with them than ever before : inas- 
 much as he raised his siege incontinently before the city of Lavinium, 
 and going towards Rome, lodged his camp within forty furlong of the 
 city, at the ditches called Cluiliae. His incamping so near Rome did put 
 all the whole city in a wonderful fear : howbeit for the present time it 
 appeased the sedition and dissension betwixt the nobility and the peo- 
 ple. For there was no consul, senator, nor magistrate, that durst once 
 contrary^ the opinion of the people for the calling home again of Mar- 
 tius. 
 
 " When they saw the women in a marvellous fear, running up and 
 down the city : the temples of the gods full of old people, weeping bit- 
 terly in their prayers to the gods : and finally, not a man either wise or 
 hardy to provide for their safety : then they were all of opinion, that the 
 people had reason to call home Martius again, to reconcile themselves 
 to him, and that the Senate, on the contrary part, were in marvellous 
 great fault to be angry and in choler with him, when it stood them upon* 
 rather to have gone out and intreated him. So they all agreed together 
 
 > Through ; as in v. 3. 115 below. ^ Strait. 
 
 3 Oppose. See R. and y. p. i6i. * Behooved them. See p. 180 above. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 189 
 
 to send ambassadors unto him, to let him understand how his country- 
 men did call him home again, and restored him to all his goods, and be- 
 sought him to deliver them from this war. The ambassadors that were 
 sent were Martins' familiar friends and acquaintance, who looked at the 
 least for a courteous welcome of him, as of their familiar friend and kins- 
 man, Howbeit they found nothing less : for at their coming they were 
 brought through the camp to the place where he was set in his chair of 
 state, with a marvellous and an unspeakable majesty, having the chiefest 
 men of the Volsces about him : so he commanded them to declare openly 
 the cause of their coming. Which they delivered in the most humble 
 and lowly words they possibly could devise, and with all modest counte- 
 nance and behaviour agreeable to the same. When they had done their 
 message, for^ the injury they had done him, he answered them very hotly 
 and in great choler. . . , 
 
 " Now the Roman ladies and gentlewomen did visit all the temples 
 ^ and gods of the same, to make their prayers unto them : but 
 
 the greatest ladies (and more part of them) were continually 
 about the altar of Jupiter Capitolin, among which troup by name, was 
 Valeria, Publicola's own sister ; the self-same Publicola, who did such 
 notable service to the Romans, both in peace and wars, and was dead 
 also certain years before, as we have declared in his life. His sister Va- 
 leria was greatly honoured and reverenced among all the Romans : and 
 did so modestly and wisely behave herself, that she did not shame nor 
 dishonour the house she came of. So she suddenly fell into such a fan- 
 cy, as we have rehearsed before, and had (by some god, as I think) taken 
 hold of a noble device. Whereupon she rose and the other ladies with 
 her, and they all together went straight to the house of Volumnia,'^ Mar- 
 tins' mother : and coming in to her, found her, and Martius' wife her daugh- 
 ter-in-law, set together, and having her husband Martius' young children 
 in her lap. Now all the train of these ladies sitting in a ring round about 
 her, Valeria first began to speak in this sort unto her ; ' We ladies are 
 come to visit you ladies (my lady Volumnia and Virgilia) by no direc- 
 tion from the Senate, nor commandment of other magistrate, but through 
 the inspiration (as I take it) of some god above : who, having taken com- 
 passion and pity of our prayers, hath moved us to come unto you, to in- 
 treat you in a matter, as well beneficial for us as also for the whole citi- 
 zens in general, but to yourselves in special (if it please you to credit 
 me), and shall redound to your more fame and glory, than the daughters 
 of the Sabines obtained in former age, when they procured loving peace, 
 instead of hateful war, between their fathers and their husbands. Come 
 on, good ladies, and let us go altogether unto Martius, to intreat him to 
 take pity upon us, and also to report the truth unto him, how much you 
 are bound unto the citizens : who notwithstanding they have sustained 
 great hurt and losses by him, yet they have not hitherto sought revenge 
 upon your persons by any discourteous usage, neither ever conceived 
 any such thought or intent against you, but to deliver you safe into his 
 
 1 With regard to. Gr. 149. 
 
 2 The mother of Coriolanus \yas Veturia, and that of liis wife Volumnia. Plutarch 
 misnames them Volumnia and Virgilia respectively, and Shakespeare follows him. 
 
190 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 hands, though thereby they look for no better grace or clemency from 
 him.' When Valeria had spoken this unto them, all the other ladies to- 
 gether, with one voice, confirmed that she had said. Then Volumnia in 
 this sort did answer her : ' My good ladies, we are partakers with you 
 of the common misery and calamity of our, country, and yet our grief ex- 
 ceedeth yours the more, by reason of our particular misfortune, to feel 
 the loss of my son Marti us' former valiancy and glory, and to see his 
 person environed now with our enemies in arms, rather to see him forth- 
 coming and safe kept than of any love to defend his person. But yet 
 the greatest grief of our heaped mishaps is to see our poor country 
 brought to such extremity, that all the hope of the safety and preserva- 
 tion thereof is now unfortunately cast upon us simple women : because 
 we know not what account he will make of us, since he hath cast from 
 him all care of his natural country and commonweal, which heretofore 
 he hath holden more dear and precious than either his mother, wife, or 
 children. Notwithstanding, if ye think we can do good, we will willingly 
 do what you will have us ; bring us to him, I pray you. For if we 
 cannot prevail, we may yet die at his feet, as humble suitors for the safe- 
 ty of our country.' Her answer ended, she took her daughter-in-law 
 and Martins' children with her, and being accompanied with all the oth- 
 er Roman ladies, they went in troup together unto the Volsces' camp : 
 whom when they saw, they of themselves did both pity and reverence 
 her, and there was not a man among them that once durst say a word 
 unto her. Now was Martins set then in his chair of state, with all the 
 honours of a general, and when he had spied the women coming afar off, 
 he marvelled what the matter meant : but afterwards knowing his wife, 
 which came foremost, he determined at the first to persist in his obsti- 
 nate and inflexible rancour. But overcome in the end with natural af- 
 fection, and being altogether altered^ to see them, his heart would not 
 serve him to tarry their coming to his chair, but coming down in haste 
 he went to meet them, and first he kissed his mother and embraced her 
 a pretty while, then his wife and little children. And nature so wrought 
 with him that the tears fell from his eyes, and he could not keep himself 
 from making much of them, but yielded to the affection of his blood, as if 
 he had been violently carried with the fury of a most swift running stream. 
 After he had thus lovingly received them, and perceiving that his moth- 
 er Volumnia would begin to speak to him, he called the chiefest of the 
 council of the Volsces to hear what she would say. Then she spake in 
 this sort : ' If we held our peace, my son, and determined not to speak, 
 the state of our poor bodies, and present sight of our raiment, would eas- 
 ily bewray'^ to thee what life we have led at home, since thy exile and 
 abode abroad ; but think now with thyself, how much more unfortunate^ 
 than all the women living, we are come hither, considering that the sight 
 which should be most pleasant to all other to behold, spiteful fortune 
 had made most fearful to us : making myself to see my son, and my 
 daughter here her husband, besieging the walls of his native country: so 
 
 ^ Changed, overcome. Cf. v. 4. g below. ^ Reveal. See p. 185 above. 
 
 3 " Unfortunately" in ed. 1603. See on v. 3. 97 below. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 191 
 
 as that which is the only comfort to all other in their advei=sity and mis- 
 ery, to pray unto the gods and to call to them for aid, is the only thing 
 which plungeth us into most deep perplexity. For we cannot, alas ! to- 
 gether pray both for victory to our country and for safety of thy life also : 
 but a world of grievous curses, yea, more than any mortal enemy can 
 heap upon us, are forcibly wrapt up in our prayers. For the bitter sop 
 of most hard choice is offered thy wife and children, to forego one of the 
 two : either to lose the person of thyself, or the nurse of their native 
 country. For myself, my son, I am determined not to tarry till fortune, 
 in my lifetime, do make an end of this war. For if I cannot persuade 
 thee, rather to do good unto both parties than to overthrow and destroy 
 the one, preferring love and nature before the malice and calamity of 
 wars, thou shalt see, my son, and trust unto it, thou shalt no sooner 
 march forward to assault thy country, but thy foot shall tread upon thy 
 mother's womb, that brought thee first into this world. And I may not 
 defer^ to see the day, either that my son be led prisoner in triumph by 
 his natural countrymen, or that he himself do triumph of them, and of his 
 natural country. For if it were so, that my request tended to save thy 
 country, in destroying the Volsces, I must confess, thou wouldest hardly 
 and doubtfully resolve on that. For as, to destroy thy natural country, 
 it is altogether unmeet and unlawful, so were it not just, and less hon- 
 ourable, to betray those that put their trust in thee. But my only de- 
 mand consisteth, to make a gaol-delivery of all evils, which delivereth 
 equal benefit and safety both to the one and the other, but most hon- 
 ourable for the Volsces. For it shall appear, that, having victory in 
 their hands, they have of special favour granted us singular graces, peace, 
 and amity, albeit themselves have no less part of both than we. Of 
 which good, if so it came to pass, thyself is the only author, and so hast 
 thou the only honour. But if it fail and fall out contrary, thyself alone 
 deservedly shall carry the shameful reproach and burthen of either par- 
 ty. So, though the end of war be uncertain, yet this notwithstanding is 
 most certain, that, if it be thy chance to conquer, this benefit shalt thou 
 reap of thy goodly conquest, to be chronicled the plague and destroyer 
 of thy country. And if fortune overthrow thee, then the world will say, 
 that, through desire to revenge thy private injuries, thou hast for ever un- 
 done thy good friends, who did most lovingly and courteously receive 
 thee,' Martius gave good ear unto his mother's words, without inter- 
 rupting her speech at all, and after she had said what she would, he held 
 his peace a pretty while, and answered not a word. Hereupon she be- 
 gan again to speak unto him, and said : ' My son, why dost thou not an- 
 swer me ? Dost thou think it good altogether to give place unto thy 
 choler and desire of revenge, and thinkest thou it not honesty^ for thee to 
 grant thy mother's request, in so weighty a cause? Dost thou take it 
 honourable for a noble man to remember the wrongs and injuries done 
 him, and dost not in like case think it an honest noble man's part, to be 
 thankful for the goodness that parents do shew to their children, ac- 
 
 1 Tarry, wait. Cf. i Hen. VI. iii. 3. 33. 
 
 2 An honour. So honest ]\xt\. below=honourable. 
 
192 NOTES. 
 
 knowledging the duty and reverence they ought to bear unto them ? No 
 man living is more bound to shew himself thankful in all parts and re- 
 spects than thyself: who so unnaturally' shewest all ingratitude. More- 
 over (my son) thou hast sorely taken of thy country, exacting grievous 
 payments upon them, in revenge of the injuries offered thee; besides, 
 thou hast not hitherto shewed thy poor mother any courtesy. And 
 therefore it is not only honest, but due unto me, that without compulsion 
 I should obtain my so just and reasonable request of thee. But since 
 by reason I cannot persuade thee to it, to what purpose do T defer my 
 last hope ?' And with these words, herself, his wife, and children fell 
 down upon their knees before him. Martins, seeing that, could refrain 
 no longer, but went straight and lift^ her up, crying out, ' Oh mother, 
 what have you done to me ?' And holding her hard by the right hand, 
 * Oh mother,' said he, ' you have won a happy victory for your country, 
 but mortal and unhappy for your son : for I see myself vanquished by 
 you alone.' These words being spoken openly, he spake a little apart 
 with his mother and wife, and then let them return again to Rome, for 
 so they did request him ; and so remaining in camp that night, the next 
 morning he dislodged,^ and marched homeward into the Volsces' coun- 
 try again, who were not all of one mind, nor all alike contented. For 
 some misliked* him and that he had done : other, being well pleased 
 that peace should be made, said that neither the one nor the other de- 
 served blame nor reproach. Other, though they misliked that was done, 
 did not think him an ill man for that he did, but said he was not to be 
 blamed, though he yielded to such a forcible extremity. Howbeit no 
 man contraried^ his departure, but all obeyed his commandment, more 
 for respect of his worthiness and valiancy than for fear of his authority. 
 
 " Now the citizens of Rome plainly shewed in what fear and danger 
 their city stood of this war, when they were delivered. For so soon as 
 the watch upon the walls of the city perceived the Volsces' camp to re- 
 move, there was not a temple in the city but was presently set open, and 
 full of men wearing garlands of flowers upon their heads, sacrificing to 
 the gods, as they were wont to do upon the news of some great obtained 
 victory. And this common joy was yet more manifestly shewed by the 
 honourable courtesies the whole Senate and people did bestow on their 
 ladies. For they were all thoroughly persuaded, and did certainly be- 
 lieve, that the ladies only were cause of the saving of the city and deliv- 
 ering themselves from the instant danger of the war. Whereupon the 
 Senate ordained that the magistrates, to gratify and honour these ladies, 
 should grant them all that they would require. And they only request- 
 ed that they would build a temple of Fortune for the women, unto the 
 building whereof they offered themselves to defray the whole charge of 
 the sacrifices and other ceremonies belonging to the service of the gods. 
 Nevertheless the Senate, commending their goodwill and forwardness, 
 
 1 So ed. 1603; "universally" in ed. 1612. 
 
 2 Lifted. Cf. I Hen. VI. i. i. 16 ; and see also Gen. vii. 17, xiv. 22, Ps. xciu. 3, etc. 
 
 3 Removed his camp. Cf. v. 4. 41. , ^ ... 
 
 * Were displeased with- Cf. M. 0/ V. li. i.x,A. and C. m. 13- 147. etc. 
 6 Opposed. See p. 188 above. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 193 
 
 ordained that the temple and image should be made at the common 
 charge of the city. . . . 
 
 "Now when Martius was returned again into the city of Antium from 
 his voyage, Tullus, that hated and could no longer abide him for the fear 
 
 he had of his authority, sought diverse means to make him away ; 
 
 thinking, if he let slip that present time, he should never recover 
 the like and fit occasion again. Wherefore Tullus, having procured many 
 other of his confederacy, required^ Martius might be deposed from his 
 estate, to render up account to the Volsces of his charge and govern- 
 ment. Martius, fearing to become a private man again under Tullus be- 
 ing general (whose authority was greater otherwise than any other among 
 all the Volsces), answered : he was willing to give up his charge, and 
 would resign it into the hands of the lords of the Volsces, if they did all 
 command him, as by all their commandment he received it. And more- 
 over, that he would not refuse even at that present to give up an account 
 unto the people, if they would tarry the hearing of it. The people here- 
 upon called a common council, in which assembly there were certain ora- 
 tors appointed that stirred up the common people against him : and when 
 they had told their tales, Martius rose up to make them answer. Now, 
 notwithstanding the mutinous people made a marvellous great noise, 
 yet when they saw him, for the reverence they bare unto his valiantness, 
 they quieted themselves, and gave him audience to allege with leisure 
 what he could for his purgation. ^ Moreover, the honestest men of the 
 Antiates, and who most rejoiced in peace, shewed by their countenance 
 that they would hear him willingly and judge also according to their 
 conscience. Whereupon Tullus, fearing that, if he did let him speak, he 
 would prove his innocency to the people, because amongst other things 
 he had an eloquent tongue ; besides that the first good service he had 
 done to the people of the Volsces did win him more favour than these 
 last accusations could purchase him displeasure : and furthermore, the 
 offence they laid to his charge was a testimony of the goodwill they 
 ought* him ; for they would never have thought he had done them 
 wrong for that they took not the city of Rome, if they had not been very 
 near taking of it by means of his approach and conduction. For these 
 causes Tullus thought he might no longer delay his pretence and enter- 
 prise, neither to tarry for the mutining and rising of the common people 
 against him : wherefore those that were of the conspiracy began to cry 
 out that he was not to be heard, and that they would not suffer a traitor 
 to usurp tyrannical power over the tribe of the Volsces, who would not 
 yield up his state and authority. And in saying these words, they all 
 fell upon him, and killed him in the market-place, none of the people 
 once offering to rescue him. . . . 
 
 " Howbeit it is a clear case, that this murder was not generally con- 
 sented unto of the most part of the Volsces : for men came out of all 
 parts to honour his body, and did honourably bury him ; setting out his 
 tomb with great store of armour .and spoils, as the tomb of a worthy per- 
 son and great captain." ... 
 
 \ P/majided that. Cf. ii. 2. 152. 2 Defence. See /4. Y. L. p. 147. 
 
 3 Most honourable. See p. 191 above. * Owed. See i He7i. IV. p. 184. 
 
 N 
 
194 NOTES. 
 
 As Wright notes, the jealousy of Aufidius, which Shakespeare makes 
 use of with such admirable dramatic effect, appears only incidentally in 
 Plutarch, in whose narrative the Volscian leader fills a much less promi- 
 nent part. When Coriolanus encamped within a few miles of Rome he 
 gave the ambassadors who came to treat of peace an interval of thirty 
 days to consider his terms, and in the meanwhile withdrew from the Ro- 
 man territories, "This," says Plutarch, "was the first matter where- 
 with the Volsces (that most envied Martins' glory and authority) did 
 charge Martius with. Among those, Tullus was chief: who though he 
 had received no private injury or displeasure of Martius, yet the com- 
 mon fault and imperfection of man's nature wrought in him, and it 
 grieved him to see his own reputation blemished through Martius' great 
 fame and honour, and so himself to be less esteemed of the Volsces than 
 he was before. This fell out the more, because every man honoured 
 Martius, and thought he only could do all, and that all other governors 
 and captains must be content with such credit and authority as 
 ^' ■ ^°' he would please to countenance them with. From hence they 
 derived all their first accusations and secret murmurings against Mar- 
 tius." 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene I. In the folio the play is divided into acts, but not into 
 scenes, though the heading of act i., as usual in that edition, is " Achis 
 Primus. SccEiia Prima.'''' There is no list of Dramatis Personae (cf. 
 O/'Z/.p. 153). 
 
 6. Chief enetny. Abbott (Gr. 84) quotes North's Phitarch : " having 
 now shown himself open enemy to Alcibiades ;" and Wr. quotes K. 
 John, ii. I. 243 : " no further enemy to you." 
 
 II, On 't. Of it ; as in 218 below. For other examples, see Gr. 182. 
 
 14. Good. " Here used in the mercantile sense " (Farmer). There is 
 a play upon the word, as in M. of V. i. 3, 12 fol. 
 
 15. Yield us but. Only yield us. 
 
 16. Guess. Suppose, think, imagine ; much like the Yankee use of the 
 word. Cf, I Hen. VI. ii. i. 29 : 
 
 "Not all together; better far, I guess, 
 That we do make our entrance several ways." 
 
 Schmidt also adds Hen. VIII. i. i. 47, but there the word may have its 
 ordinary sense ( — conjecture, suspect). 
 
 17. Too dear. " They think that the charge of maintaining us is more 
 than we are worth " (Johnson). 
 
 Object. Sight, spectacle ; as in T. and C. ii. 2. 41 : " And reason flies 
 the object of all harm," etc. 
 
 18. Particularize. " Point out in detail and more emphatically" (Wr). 
 S. uses the word nowhere else. 
 
 20. Pikes. There seems to be a play on the word, which meant a 
 pitchfork as well as a spear. Hanmer, apparently not aware of this, sub- 
 
ACT L SCENE L 
 
 195 
 
 stituted "pitchforks." Wr. quotes Cotgrave, Fr. Diet: "laveiier: m. 
 A corne-pike, or pitchforke, wherewith sheaues of come be loaden, and 
 vnloaded." Cf. Tusser, Fine htnidred pointes of good Husbandrie (Eng. 
 Dialect Society), p. 37 : 
 
 " A rake for to hale vp the fitchis that lie, 
 a pike for to pike them vp handsom to drie." 
 
 "As lean as a rake" is still a familiar proverb. Johnson thought that 
 rake was the Icelandic " rcekel, a cur-dog," and that the proverb means 
 " as lean as a dog too worthless to be fed ;" but, as Steevens says, the 
 reference is doubtless " to the thin taper form of the instrument made 
 use of by hay-makers." He cites Chaucer, C. T. 287 : " And leene was 
 his hors as is a rake." Wr. adds from Cotgrave: "Maigres comme 
 pies. As leane as Rakes (we say)." Cf. Heywood, Epigrammes, 1577 : 
 " And yet art thou skin and bone, leane as a rake." 
 
 24. Against /mn, etc. In the folio this speech has the prefix ^'^ All f 
 but Malone is clearly right in transferring it to the first Citizen. 
 
 A very dog. That is, unfeeling, cruel ; like Lear's " dog-hearted daugh- 
 ters " {Lear, iv. 3. 47). On canine comparisons not so appropriate, see i 
 Hen. IV. p. 156. 
 
 28. To give him good report. To give him credit. Wr. compares W. 
 T. V. 2. 162 : "I humbly beseech you, sir, ... to give me your good re- 
 port to the prince my master ;" that is, to speak well of me to him. 
 - 31. Nay, but speak, etc. The folio gives this speech also to ^^ All ;''^ 
 corrected by Malone. Wr. retains ^'- AW'' in 24 above, but not here. 
 
 34. To please his mother. Cf. North's Plutarch: "But touching Mar- 
 tins, the only thing that made him to love honour was the joy he saw his 
 mother did take of him. For he thought nothing made him so happy 
 and honourable, as that his mother might hear every body praise and 
 commend him, that she might always see him return with a crown upon 
 his head, and that she might still embrace him with tears running down 
 her cheeks for joy." 
 
 35. And to be partly proud. "And partly to be proud" (Hanmer's 
 reading). For the transposition, see Gr. 420. Capell puts the partly be- 
 fore to please ; and St. conjectures " to be portly." 
 
 36. Virtue. Valour ; " the chiefest virtue " (ii. 2. 80 below) in Roman 
 estimation. Cf. North, p. 170 above. See also Lear, p. 254. 
 
 40. Repetition. " Utterance, recital, mention " (Schmidt) ; as in R. of 
 L. 1285, Rich. III. i. 3. 165, Macb. ii. 3. 90, etc. Cf. v. 3. 144 below. 
 
 42. The Capitol. Wr. remarks that " in all probability S. had in his 
 mind the topography of London and not of Rome, and the Tower was to 
 him the Capitol." 
 
 49, 50. What zvork -s . . . pray you. Arranged as by Theo. The fo- 
 lio has three lines, ending with hand, matter, and you. Pope gives the 
 passage as prose. 
 
 Bats—%\.2iV&'&, or heavy sticks ; as in L. C 64: "his grained bat." In 
 Lear, iv. 6. 247, the folios have " ballow " (see our ed. p. 248), the quartos 
 " bat." 
 
 51. Our business, etc. "This and all the subsequent plebeian speeches. 
 
IC)6 NOTES. 
 
 in this scene are given in the old copy to the second Citizen ; but the dia- 
 logue at the opening of the play shows that they ought to be attributed 
 to \}t\t first Citizen. The second is rather friendly to Coriolanus" (Ma- 
 lone). The change was first made by Capell. K. follows the folio, and 
 says : "Theyfrj-/ citizen is a hater of public men, — the second of public 
 measures ; the first would kill Coriolanus, — the second would repeal the 
 laws relating to corn and usury. He says not one word against Corio- 
 lanus." 
 
 54. Strong. For the play upon the odorous allusion, cf. A. lV.v.2.^: 
 "I am now, sir, muddied in Fortune's mood, and smell somewhat strong 
 of her strong displeasure." 
 
 56, 57. IV/ty, masters, . . . yourselves ? As prose in the folio ; correct- 
 ed by Theo. 
 
 60. For. As for. Gr. 149. The folios read "of you for " or "of you, 
 for." 
 
 64. Cracking. S. often uses crack^hxe^k, both literally and figurative- 
 ly. Cf. Temp. iii. i. 26 : "I had rather crack my sinews;" Rich. II. iv. i. 
 235: "cracking the strong warrant of an oath;" Lear, i. 2. 118: "the 
 bond cracked 'twixt son and father ;" Cymb. v. 5. 207 : " her bond of 
 chastity quite crack'd," etc. See also v. 3. 9 below. 
 
 66. Your im.pediment. "The obstacles opposed by you" (Schmidt). 
 M alone quotes 0th. v. 2. 263 : 
 
 " I have made my way through more impediments 
 Than twenty times your stop." 
 
 68. Your knees to them. Cf. v. 3. 57 below : " Your knees to me ?" 
 See also v. 3. 169. 
 
 70. Thither where more attends you. " To excesses which fresh suffer- 
 ings must expiate" (Wh.). 
 
 71. Helms. "By metonymy for those at the helm, the steersmen or 
 pilots" (Wr.). 
 
 77. Piercing. Schmidt is in doubt whether this is = " mortifying, re- 
 volting to the feelings, or = sweeping; entering and affecting all the in- 
 terests of the people." It may be simply =sharp, severe. 
 
 85. Stale V a little more. Make it a little staler ; referring \.o you have 
 heard zV just before. The folios have "scale 't ;" corrected by Theo. 
 Steevens defended "scale" as a provincialism = " disperse ;" explain- 
 ing the passage thus : " Though some of you have heard the story, I 
 will spread it yet wider, and diffuse it among the rest." Other desperate 
 attempts have been made to sustain the old reading. For stale— xazk^ 
 stale, cf. T. and C. ii. 3. 201, J. C. i. 2. 73, iv. i. 38 (see our ed. p. 130), 
 and A. and C. ii. 2. 240. Wr. quotes Massinger, Unnatural Combat^ 
 
 iv. 2 : 
 
 " I '11 not stale the jest 
 By my relation." 
 
 86. Well, I 7/ hear it, etc. The speech is arranged as four lines of 
 verse in the folios ; as prose first by Capell. 
 
 87. Fob off. Put off with a trick. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. I. 37, where we 
 have " fubbed off," and see our ed. p. 160, See also 0th. p. 202. " Dis- 
 
ACT I. SCENE L 197 
 
 grace— SSi treatment, humiliation" (Schmidt). Clarke remarks that it 
 is=the Italian disgrazia, misfortune, unhappiness. 
 
 Deliver, Speak, tell your story. For the intransitive use, cf. Rich. 
 II. iii. 3. 34: "and thus deliver;" and see our ed. p. 190. It is oftener 
 transitive, as in iv. 6. 65 below. Cf. Ham. p. 186. 
 
 89. There was a tt?ne, etc. Cf. the extract from North, p. 172 above. 
 Camden's version of the fable (see p. 11 above) is as follows, the italics 
 being Malone's : 
 
 "All the members of the body conspired against the stomacke, as 
 against the swallowing gulfe of all their labors; for whereas the eies be- 
 held, the eares heard, the handes labored, the feete traveled, the tongue spake, 
 and all partes performed their functions, onely the stomacke lay ydle and 
 consumed all. Hereuppon they ioyntly agreed al to forbeaie their labors, 
 and to pine away their lasie and publike enemy. One day passed over, the 
 second followed very tedious, but the third day was so grievous to them 
 all, that they called a common Counsel ; The eyes waxed dimme, the feete 
 could not support the body, the armes waxed lasie, the tongue faltered, 
 and could not lay open the matter ; Therefore they all with one accord de- 
 sired the advise of the Heart. There Reason layd open before them, etc." 
 
 91. Gulf Whirlpool ; the only meaning in S. except in Macb. iv. I. 
 123, where it seems to be=gullet. Schmidt gives it that sense here. Cf. 
 R. of L. 557 : " A swallowing gulf that even in plenty wanteth ;" Hen. V. 
 iv. 3. 82 : 
 
 "thou art so near the gulf 
 Thou needs must be englutted" 
 
 (cf. Id. ii. 4. 10) ; Rich. III. iii. 7. 128 : " the swallowing gulf," etc. 
 
 93. Cnpboarding. In the folios we have the " phonetic " spelling " cub- 
 bording." S. uses the verb only here, and the noun only in R. a7td J. i. 
 5. 8, where the folios have " cubbord " or (in the 4th) " cubbert." 
 
 Viand. Food (like the Fr. la viande) ; the only instance of the singu- 
 lar in S. Richardson quotes Sir Thomas More, IVorhes: " reteyning of 
 the olde plentie in deintie viande and siluer vessell." 
 
 94. Where. Whereas ; as in i. 10. 13 below. See Lear^ p. 179, or i 
 Hen. IV. p. 187. Gr. 134. 
 
 96. Participate. "Acting in common" (Schmidt); ox = participating 
 or participant. Cf. reverberate — reverberant, in T. N. i. 5. 291. For the 
 form (cf. incorporate in 123 below), see Gr. 342 ; and for the active sense, 
 cf. Gr. 294, 374 (also 3). K. takes participate to be the verb, in the same 
 construction as see and hear, etc. 
 
 97. Affection. Inclination, desire ; as in 170 below. See also ii, 3. 225. 
 Cf. L. L. L.w. I. 93 : " it is the king's most sweet pleasure and affection 
 to congratulate the princess," etc. 
 
 loi. Which ne'er came, etc. " With a smile not indicating pleasure, 
 but contempt " (Johnson). As Wr. remarks, " the laughter of merriment 
 came from the lungs." Cf. A. Y. L. ii. 7. 30: "My lungs began to crow 
 like chanticleer," etc. See also Tetnp. ii. i. 174. 
 
 102. I may make the belly smile. As in Plutarch (see p. 172 above) he 
 makes it " laugh." 
 
 103. Tauntingly. The reading of the 4th folio; the ist has "taint-. 
 
198 
 
 AZOTES. 
 
 ingly," the others '' tantingly." "Taintingly" has been defended as = 
 disparagingly (cf. " tainting " in Ot/i. ii. I. 275). 
 
 105. His receipt. What he received. Cf. R. of L. 703 : " Drunken De- 
 sire must vomit his receipt." 
 
 106. For that. Because that ; as in i. 9. 47 and iii. 3. 93 below. Gr. 
 287 (cf. 151). 
 
 108. Kingly-crowned. Crowned like a king. The hyphen is not in the 
 folios, but was inserted by Warb. — perhaps unnecessarily. 
 
 109. Soldier. A trisyllable ; as in v. 6. 71 below. Cf. J. C. iv. i. 28, 
 Ham. i. 5. 141, Lear, iv. 5. 3, etc. Gr. 479. 
 
 III. Mimiments. Defences, or defenders ; used by S. nowhere else. 
 
 113. Fo7'e me. Cf. A. W. ii. 3. 31: "fore me, I speak in respect." 
 Wr. suggests that the oath was probably substituted for the more com- 
 mon Fore God! (see Much Ado, ii. 3. 192, iv. 3. 32, A. W. ii. 3. 51, etc.) to 
 avoid the penalties imposed by the statute of James I. against the use of 
 the name of God on the stage (cf. 0th. p. 11); but if so, the alteration was 
 not uniformly made. Cf. A. IV. ii. 3. 31 and 51, for instance. 
 
 1 19. Yon II. The folio has " you'st," which Wr. retains, as " apparent- 
 ly a provincialism which S. intentionally puts into the mouth of Mene- 
 nius when addressing the citizens ;" but in the preceding line the folio 
 \i-AS you '//, and " you'st" here may be a mere slip of the compositor — an 
 absent-minded substitution of his familiar provincial form for the more 
 correct one in the " copy." 
 
 120. Ye ''re. The folio has " Y' are," for which Capell substituted 
 "You 're." 
 
 121. Your. For the colloquial use, see A. Y. L. p. 180 (note on Your 
 chestnut), or M. N. D. p. 156 (on Your lion). Gr. 221. 
 
 123. Incorporate. Forming one body; as in C. of E. ii. 2. 124, M. N". 
 D. iii. 2. 208, Hen. V. v. 2. 394, etc. For the form, see on 96 above. 
 
 126. Shop. Workshop ; the ordinary meaning of the word in New 
 England. Cf. iv. 6. 8 below; and see also C. of E. iii. i. 3, iv. i. 82, 
 iv- 3. 7, J' C. i. I. 31, etc. Wr. remarks that "the same homely figure 
 is found in Davies of Hereford's Microcosmos (1603), p. 27 (ed. Grosart), 
 where he describes the breast, 
 
 ' Which is the Shoppe of all the Instruments 
 Wherewith the vitall Vertue operates.'" 
 
 129. The seat <?' the brain. Malone (followed by Clarke) takes this to 
 be in apposition with heart, z.\\^ refers to "the counsellor heart" in 109 
 above, and to Camden's version of the story (see on 89 above), "they de- 
 sired the advise of the Heart," where ''Reason layd open before them ;" 
 but we are disposed to agree with Wr. that it means " the kingly -crowned 
 head, where reason has its throne, while the attendant passions keep their 
 court in the heart." 
 
 130. Cranks. Winding passages; the only instance of the noun in S. 
 For the verb, see l He7t. IV. p. 173. Halliwell quotes Holland, Ammi- 
 anus Marcellinus : " With departing speedily by the lake Sunonensis, 
 and the winding cranks of the river Gallus, he deluded the enemie hard 
 at hand at his heeles." For offices, cf. Rich. II. p. 159. 
 
ACT I. SCENE I. 
 
 199 
 
 131. Nerves. Sinews; as elsewhere in S. See Ham. p. 195. Wr. 
 quotes Cotgrave : "Nerf: m. A Synnow." 
 12)T,. A 7td though, ttc. The folio reads : 
 
 "And though that all at once 
 (You my good Friends, this sayes the Belly) marke me." 
 
 The arrangement in the text is due to Rowe, and is generally adopted. 
 Wr. prefers to make the whole of 134 the parenthetical interruption. 
 
 138. Flour. The folios have "flowre" or "flowr;" and Capell, fol- 
 lowed by some modern editors, has "flower;" h\\\. flotir is the natural 
 antithesis to bran. It is curious, by the way, that this is the only in- 
 stance of the word in S. In iii. i. 322 below he has the same figure 
 in " meal and bran ;" as also in Cymb. iv. 2. 27 : " Nature hath meal 
 and bran, contempt and grace." 
 
 143. Digest. The folios have " disgest," as in J. C. i. 2. 305 and (" dis- 
 gested") in A. aitd C.\\.2. 179; and the later folios have "disgestion" 
 in Hen. VIII. i. 4. 62 ("digestion" in 1st folio). Both forms were in use. 
 See Nares, s. v. Disgest ; and cf. Wb. 
 
 144. The comjnon. For the singular, cf. iii. I. 29 below. Elsewhere 
 S. uses the plural in this sense ; as in ii. i. 255, iii. 3. 14, and v. 6. 4 be- 
 low. 
 
 148. Assembly. A quadrisyllable ; as in Mtcch Ado, v. 4. 34. See our 
 ed. p. 171, or Gr. 477. 
 
 152. Rascal. With a play on the original sense of the word = a lean 
 or worthless deer. See A. Y. L. p. 179. Worst in blood --m the worst 
 condition. For the hunting term in blood { — m health or good condi- 
 tion), cf. iv. 5. 212 below. See also L. L. L. iv. 2. 4 : " The deer was, as 
 you know, sanguis, in blood ;" and I He7i. VI. iv. 2. 48: " If we be Eng- 
 lish deer, be then in blood," etc. 
 
 156. Must have bale. " Must get the worst of it " (Wr.). For bale — 
 injury, calamity, cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. I. 16 : " For light she hated as the 
 deadly bale ;" Id. ii. 2. 45 : " That we may pitty such unhappie bale," 
 etc. We find the plural in Id. vi. 10. 3 : " T' entrap unwary fooles in 
 their eternall bales." Baleful is still in use ; but Malone states that 
 hale " was antiquated in Shakespeare's time, being marked as obsolete 
 by Bullokar in his English Expositor, 1616." 
 
 157. Dissentious. Seditious. See Rich. III. p. 188. 
 
 159, Scabs. For the play upon the word, which was used as a term of 
 extreme contempt, cf. Much Ado, p. 146, and 2 Hen. IV. p. 179. 
 
 160. Thee. Changed by D. to "ye ;" but, as Clarke notes, Coriolanus 
 " first replies in particular to the demagogue leader who is daring enough 
 to tell him the bold, reproachful truth, and then gives a general retort to 
 the assembled mob." 
 
 165. No surer. No more to be depended on, no more likely to stand 
 the test. Wr. compares M. W. i. 3, 90 : " Rogues, hence, avaunt ! Van- 
 ish like hailstones, go !" Professor Hales [Academy, Aug. 10, 1878) sug- 
 gests that S. may have had in mind the great frost of January 1607-8, 
 when the Thames was frozen over and fires were lighted on it. 
 
 167. Your virtue, etc. " Your virtue is to speak well of him whom his 
 
200 NOTES. 
 
 own ofifences have subjected to justice; and to rail at those laws by 
 which he whom you praise was punished '' (Johnson). For the ellipsis 
 of the relative in 169, see Gr. 244. 
 170. Affections. See on 97 above. 
 
 180. Which. Who ; as often. Gr. 265. 
 
 181. What 'j their seeking? The question is addressed to Menenius. 
 "The answer is, Their seeking, or suit (to use the language of the time), 
 \sfor corn " (Malone). 
 
 184. Fire. A dissyllable. Gr. 480. 
 
 186. Who thrives. " Omitted by Hanmer as superfluous both in sense 
 and verse" (Wr.). 
 
 Side—i2i\it sides with, join. S. uses the verb only here and in iv. 2. 2 
 below, where it is intransitive. 
 
 188. Feebling. The verb occurs again in K. John, v, 2. 146: "Shall 
 that victorious hand be feebled here ?" 
 
 189. Below their cobbled shoes. " So as to trample them under foot " 
 (Wr.). 
 
 190. Ruth. Pity. See Rich. II. p. 199. 
 
 191. Quarry. A heap of slaughtered game. Cf. Macb. p. 244. Bul- 
 lokar, in his English Expositor, 1616 (as quoted by Malone), says the 
 word " signifieth the reward given to hounds after they have hunted, or 
 the venison which is taken in hunting." 
 
 192. Quarter'' d. Cf. J. C. iii. i. 268 : " Their infants quarter'd with the 
 hands of war ;" and I Hen. VI. iv. 2. II : " Lean famine, quartering steel, 
 and climbing fire." _ _ ■ 
 
 193. Pick. Pitch. Toilet remarks that in Staffordshire " they say, 
 picke me such a' thing, that \s, pitch or throw anything that the demander 
 wants." Wr. says that the word is given in Dickinson's Cumberland 
 Glossary and in Atkinson's Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect. 
 
 194. Almost. The Coll. MS. has " all most," which Sr. and W. adopt. 
 
 195. Abundantly they lack discretiojt. Cf. IIa7n. ii. 2. 202 : " a plentiful 
 lack of wit." 
 
 198. An-hungry. Perhaps, as Schmidt suggests, used in imitation of 
 the rustic language of the plebeians. Elsewhere we find a-himgry in the 
 mouth of Slender {M. W. i. i. 280) and Sir Andrew Aguecheek {T. N. 
 ii. 3. 136). Cf. Matt. iv. 2. 
 
 Proverbs. Wr. quotes Trench, Provej-bs : " In a fastidious age, indeed, 
 and one of false refinement, they may go nearly or quite out of use among 
 the so-called upper classes. No gentleman, says Lord Chesterfield, or 
 ' no man of fashion,' as I think is his exact phrase, ' ever uses a proverb.' 
 And with how fine a touch of nature Shakespeare makes Coriolanus, the 
 man who, with all his greatness, is entirely devoid of all sympathy for 
 the people, to utter his scorn of them in scorn of their proverbs, and of 
 their frequent employment of these." 
 
 204. To break the heart of gejierosity. " To give the final blow to the 
 nobles. Getierosity is high birth " (Johnson). Steevens compares gen- 
 erous \y\ M.for M. iv. 6. 13 : "The generous and gravest citizens," See 
 also 0th. p. 188. V. thinks that the word may have its ordinary sense of 
 " bounty, liberality." 
 
ACT I. SCENE /. 201 
 
 206. As. As if; the if, according to Abbott (Gr. 107), being "implied 
 in the subjunctive." 
 
 The horns 0' the moon. Wr. quotes A. and C. iv. 12. 45 : " Let me 
 lodge Lichas on the horns o' the moon;" and Heywood, Silver Age: 
 " hang'd upon the high horns of the moon." 
 
 207. Shotiting. The folios have " Shooting;" corrected by Pope. Rov^'e 
 (2d ed.) has "Suiting." 
 
 Ejmdaiion=Qnvy, or envious contention ; as in T and C. i. 3. 134 : 
 
 " An envious fever 
 Of pale and bloodless emulation." 
 
 See also J. C. p. 153. 
 
 210. 'Sdeath! "Contracted from 'God's death!' a favourite oath of 
 Queen Elizabeth, as ' 'Svvounds ' or 'zounds' from 'God's wounds,' to 
 avoid the penalties of Acts of Parliament against profanity " (Wr.). Cf. 
 also 'Sblood {Ham. p. 208, or I Hen. IV. p. 144/ ; but even these oaths 
 are often omitted in the folio. See 0th. p. 11. 
 
 211. Um-oofd-. -The folios have " vnroo'st ;" corrected by Theo. 
 213. Win uJ)on. Gain upon, get the better of. W. conjectures " open" 
 
 for tipon. 
 
 215. Fragments. For the contemptuous personal use, cf T. and C.w 
 1.9: " From whence, fragment V 
 
 218. Vent. Find a vent for, get rid of Cf iii. i. 258 below. 
 
 220. Told. Probably here=" foretold, said would happen" (Clarke), 
 as Coriolanus has but just heard from the messenger that the Volsces 
 are actually in arms. 
 
 222. Put you to 't. Put you to the test, try you hard. Cf W. T. i. 2. 16: 
 
 "We are tougher, brother, 
 Than you can put us to 't." 
 
 225. You have fought together. The folios make this a question, and 
 Wr. retains that pointing. Only he — on\y him. See Gr, 206. 
 
 228. 07ily my wars with him. My wars only with him. See Mtich 
 Ado, p. 130, note on Ojily his gift is. Gr. 420. 
 
 232. Constant. "Immovable in my resolution" (Steevens). Cf v._2. 
 89 below : " You keep a constant temper." For Lartius the folios mis- 
 print " Lucius ;" corrected by Rowe. 
 
 234. Stiff. Wr. explains this as " obstinate ;" but it probably refers 
 to his crippled condition. The reply seems to favour this explanation. 
 
 Stand' St out? Do you not take part.? Are you to be "counted 
 out?" 
 
 238. Lead you on. It is doubtful whether this is addressed to Comin- 
 ius, as the Camb. editors take it, or to the senators, as generally under- 
 stood ; but we incline to the latter view. The Camb. ed. prints the pas- 
 sage thus : 
 
 " Tit. [To Com.] Lead you on. 
 
 [To Mhr.] Follow Cominius ; we must follow you; 
 Right worthy you priority." 
 
 This gives the precedence to Cominius, as general-in-chief, and allots the 
 
202 NOTES. 
 
 next place to Marcius ; but Lead y on on seems rather to be a reply to 
 the senator, who has just spoken. He then bids Cominius follow the 
 senators, and says we (that is, Marcius and I) must folloiu yon, for you are 
 right worthy of the precedence. 
 
 240. N'oble Marcius I Theo. changed Marcius to " Lartius ;" but we 
 think, with Clarke, that " it is Cominius's sentence of courtesy to Corio- 
 lanus (intended probably to be accompanied by an inclination of the 
 head) in passing to go before him, according to the appointed pri- 
 ority. It, as it were, acknowledges the speaker's sense of Coriolanus's 
 right of precedence, even while he takes it himself in deference to the 
 Senate's decree." For the form of the address, cf. Hen. VIII. ii. 3. 
 80 : " My honour'd lord !" — a farewell, probably accompanied by a 
 curtsy. 
 
 243. Mutiners. In Temp. iii. 2. 40, we find " mutineers ;" like this, the 
 only instance of the word in S. See Hain. p. 241, note on Enginer ; and 
 cf. Gr. 443. 
 
 244. Puts well forth. " Displays itself well ; the blossoms of your val- 
 our promise goodly fruit " (Wr.), 
 
 249. Gird. Gibe, jeer ; as in 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 7 : '^ Men of all sorts 
 take a pride to gird at me." For the noun, see T. of S. p. 169. For the 
 original meaning of the word ( = strike, hit), cf. Wb. 
 
 250. Bemock. For the " intensive " and other uses of the prefix be-, 
 see Gr. 438. 
 
 The modest moon. The chaste Diana. Cf. v. 3. 65 below, where Va- 
 leria is called " the moon of Rome." See also M. of V. v. i. 109 : " the 
 moon sleeps with Endymion," etc. 
 
 251. The present wars, etc. We take this to be the expression of a 
 wish, as Hanmer makes it. Some explain it as an assertion=c"the pres- 
 ent wars eat up his gentler qualities " (Steevens), or " the wars absorb 
 him wholly " (Clarke). Schmidt makes devozir— destroy. 
 
 252. Such a nature, etc. This speech is given as prose in the folios; 
 as verse first by Pope. 
 
 256. The which. See Gr. 270. Wr. compares Gen. i. 29. 
 
 257. Whom. Yox who " personifying irrational antecedents," see Gr. 
 264. Cf. iii. 2. 119 below. 
 
 261. Giddy censure. Inconsiderate judgment or opinion. Yox censuj-e, 
 see Ham. p. 190, or Macb. p. 251. 
 
 262. Cry out of. Wr. quotes Hen. V. ii. 3. 29 : " They say he cried out 
 of sack." For ^= concerning, see Gr. 174. 
 
 263. Had borne the business. Cf. i. 6. 82 below. 
 
 264. Opinion. Public opinion ; as in i Hen. IV. iii. 2. 42 : " Opinion, 
 that did help me to the crown," etc. See our ed. p. 179. 
 
 Sticks on— \s fixed on; perhaps "like an ornament" (Wr.). Cf. 2. 
 ^^//./r.ii. 3. 18: 
 
 "There were two honours lost, yours andyour son's. 
 For yours, the God of- heaven brighten it! 
 For his, it stuck upon him as the sun 
 In the grey vault of heaven." 
 
 265. Demerits. Merits ; as in 0th. i. 2. 22 : 
 
ACT I. SCENE II. 203 
 
 "My demerits 
 May speak unbonneted to as proud a fortune 
 As this that I have reach' d." 
 
 See our ed. p. 159. 
 
 266. Are to. Will be assigned to, or awarded to. 
 
 271. More than his singularity, etc. " We will learn what he is to do 
 besides going himself ; what are his powers and what is his appoint- 
 ment " (Johnson). But, as Steevens suggests, singularity "implies a sar- 
 casm on Coriolanus, and the speaker means to say, after what fashion, 
 beside that in which his own singularity of disposition invests hitn, he goes 
 to the field." 
 
 Scene II. — 2. Entered in. Have penetrated into, have got at the se- 
 cret of. For in—\\-\\.o, see Gr. 159. 
 
 4. What ever have been thoicght on, etc. The reading of the ist folio ; 
 the later folios change have to " hath." What seems to be plural, refer- 
 ring to the preceding counsels. For f;z = of, cf. i. i. ii above. 
 
 6. Circumvention. The means for circumventing us (through knowl- 
 edge of our designs). 
 
 9. Power. Force, army ; both the singular and the plural being used 
 in this sense, like y't'rr*? 2iX\.A forces. Cf. 32 and iv. 5. 121 below. See also 
 y. C. p. 168, note on Are levying powers. For /r<?j-jV=z: impressed, levied, 
 see Rich. II. p. 190. 
 
 13. Of For ^with the agent, see Gr. 170. Cf. ii. i. 21, ii. 2. 3, and ii. 
 3. 16 below. 
 
 15. Preparation. Force ready for action ; as in 0th. i. 3. 14 (cf. 22l) : 
 " The Turkish preparation makes for Rhodes," etc. 
 
 18. Made doubt. Cf. v. 4. 46 below. See also T. G. of V. v. 2. 20, 
 Z. Z. Z. V. 2. loi, etc. 
 
 19. To answer us. To meet us in combat. Cf. i. 4. 52 below. See 
 also the play upon the word in J. C.v. 1.6 : 
 
 " their battles are at hand ; 
 They mean to warn us at Philippi here. 
 Answering before we do demand of them." 
 
 24. Take in. Take, subdue ; as in iii. 2. 59 below. See also W. T. 
 p. 203. Wr. quotes Chapman, Iliad, ii. 119 : 
 
 "for now, nor ever, shall 
 Our utmost take in broad-way'd Troy;" 
 
 and Massinger, New Way to Pay Old Debts, v. i : 
 
 "An army of whole families, who yet alive. 
 And but enroll' d for soldiers, were able 
 To take in Dunkirk." 
 
 Ere almost. Almost before. For the transposition, cf. i. i . 228 above. 
 Gr. 420. 
 
 27. Corioli. The ist folio has "Corioles" (cf. North, p. 173 above); 
 the later folios have " Coriolus." 
 
 28. For the remove. For the raising of the siege. Schmidt compares 
 the use of the verb in V. and A. 423 : " Remove your siege from my un- 
 
204 NOTES. 
 
 yielding heart ;" and R. and J. v. 3. 237 : " to remove that siege oi grief 
 from her." Warb. gave " 'fore they remove," and Johnson conjectm-ed 
 " for their remove." 
 
 32. Parcels. Parts ; as in iv. 5. 217 below. Cf. i Hen. IV. iii. 2. 159 : 
 " Ere break the smallest parcel of this vow," etc. Sometimes it is = 
 party; as in L. L. L. v. 2. 160: "A holy. parcel of the fairest dames." 
 See also M.ofV. i. 2. 119 and A. W. ii. 3. 58. 
 
 Scene III. — Enter, etc. The stage- direction in the folio reads : " En- 
 ter Volumnia and Virgilia, mother and wife to Martins : They set them 
 downe on two lowe stooles and sowe.^'' 
 
 4. Embracements. Used by S. oftener than embraces. See W. T. 
 p. 209, or Rich. III. p. 198. 
 
 6. Thick' d. A favom-ite word with S. Cf. ii. 2. 30, ii. 3. 186, iii. 3. 
 96, iv. 3. 21, etc., below. See also Lear, p. 238, or Rich. III. p. 199. 
 
 10. To hang by the wall. Wr. quotes Cymb. iii. 4. 54 : "I am richer 
 than to hang by the walls ;" and M. for M. i. 2. 171 : 
 
 "all the enrolled penalties 
 Which have, like unscour'd armour, hung by the wall 
 So long that nineteen zodiacs have gone round 
 And none of them been worn." 
 
 13. Bound zvith oak. "The crown given by the Romans to him that' 
 saved the life of a citizen, which was accounted more honourable than 
 any other" (Johnson). Coriolanus had won this crown at the battle of 
 Lake Regillus. See North, p. 171 above. 
 
 15. Man-child. Cf. Macb. i. 7. 72: "Bring forth men-children only." 
 See also Rev. xii. 5. 
 
 22, Had rather. Good English, like had as lief (see A. Y. L. p. 139), 
 etc. Cf. M. of V. p. 132. 
 
 26. Beseech you. Cf. ii. 3. 96, iii. I. 149, and iv. 4. 10 below. Gr. 401. 
 
 To retire myself. For the reflexive use, cf. Rich. II. p. 203 (Gr. 296), 
 and for the transitive use, Id. p. 181 (Gr. 291). 
 
 28. Hither. Even here. 
 
 30. From a bear. A "construction according to sense," as M fleeing 
 had been used for shinning (Wr.). 
 
 37. His bloody brow ! Cf. p. 28 above. 
 
 42. At Grecian sword, contemning. The ist folio reads : "At Grecian 
 sword. Contenning, tell Valeria ;" as if the italicized Contenning were 
 the name of the gentlewoman addressed. The 2d folio has "At Grecian 
 swordes Contending: tell Valeria'" (adopted by W.) ; and the later eds. 
 followed this substantially until Capell printed "swords' " for "swords." 
 Coll. in his iir3t ed. changed "swords'" to "sword's," but offered the 
 conjecture "At Grecian swords, contemning," which appears in the Coll. 
 MS., and is adopted by Coll. in his 2d ed,, also by Sr. and (with sword iox 
 "swords") by the Camb. editors. It is on the whole the best emenda- 
 tion that has been proposed. " Contending " merely serves to fill out 
 the line, while contemning adds to the meaning as well. Lettsom con- 
 jectures very plausibly "As Grecian swords contemning." 
 
 44. Bless my lord from. That is, preserve him from. . Cf. Rich. Ill, 
 
ACT I. SCENE in. 
 
 205 
 
 iii. 3. 5 : " God bless the prince from all the pack of you !" where the 
 quartos have " keep " for bless. See also W. T. p. 198. 
 
 50. Manifest housekeepers. Evidently stayers at home. S. uses house- 
 keeper elsewhere only in Macb. iii. i. 97, where it means a watch-dog (see 
 our ed. p. 209^ and in the Clown's talk in T. N. iv. 2. 10, where its exact 
 meaning is rather doubtful ; but cf keep house \\\ Cymib. iii. 3. i : "A 
 goodly day not to keep house " (that is, for not staying in the house), etc. 
 
 51. Spot. Figure, pattern; referring to the embroidery she is sewing 
 upon. Schmidt compares 0th. iii. 3. 435, where "spotted with strawber- 
 ries " is =: embroidered with that pattern. 
 
 57. O' my troth. Equivalent to d' 77iy word just before. Cf. troths 
 truth, in iv. 5. 188 below ; and see M. N. D.^. 151. 
 
 58. Has. For the ellipsis, cf ii. 2. 14, iii. i. 161, 162 below. The folios 
 print " ha's " or h'as." See Gr. 400, and cf 402. 
 
 Confirmed— ditX.txm\x\zdi, resolute. Cf Much Ado, v. 4. 17, where <:c/z- 
 firm'd co7mte7ta?ue=:st&?Ldy face. See our ed. p. 170. 
 
 61. Catched. Elsewhere S. has caught iox the past tense, as just above ; 
 but he uses catched for the participle in Z. L. L. v. 2. 69, A. W. i. 3. 176, 
 and R. and J. iv. 5. 48. See A. W. p. 144. 
 
 63. Mam7nocked. Tore it in pieces ; used by S. nowhere else. Wr. 
 cites Cotgrave, Fr. Diet.: "Morcelet: m. A bit, small mammocke, or 
 
 .morsell ;" and again: "Miettes; f Crummes, scraps, small fragments, 
 or mammockes of bread, etc." Moor, in his Sufi'olk Words and Phrases, 
 gives " Mammuck. To cut and hack victuals wastefully." 
 
 64. On 's. Of his ; as in ii. i. 174 and ii. 2. 77 below. Cf Gr. 182. 
 
 65. La. The use of this expletive was one of the little colloquialisms 
 of the time. We find it in addresses ; as "la you" in T. N. iii, 4. iii, 
 and " la you now " in W. T. ii. 3. 50 ; but oftener, as here, to emphasize 
 a statement. Cf M. W. i. i. 86 : "I thank you always with my heart, la ! 
 with my heart;" Id. i. i. 322 : "Truly, I will not go first ; truly, la !" 
 Id. i. 4. 90 : " This is all, indeed, la !" Id. ii. 2. io3 : " Surely, I think you 
 have charms, la ! yes, in truth," etc. See also 87 below. 
 
 66. Crack. Boy ; slightly contemptuous, and used by Valeria to qual- 
 ify the compliments of her visitor (Wr.). The word occurs again in 2 
 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 34. See our ed. p. 176. 
 
 67. Stitchery. Stitching, needlework ; used by S. only here. 
 
 68. Huswife. The usual spelling in the early eds., indicating the pro- 
 nunciation. The folio has "housewife" only in A. Y. L. i. 2. 33, Hen. 
 VIII. iii. I. 24, and 0th. i. 3. 273 ; and " housewifery" (which is found in 
 the quarto of 0th. ii. i. 113) not at all. 
 
 73. Wars. The plural for the singular; as often. Cf i. I. 230, 251 
 above, and 98, etc., below. See also on iv. 5. 226 below. 
 
 80. Pe7ielope. The poet's one allusion to the wife of Ulysses. 
 
 82. Sensible. Sensitive. Cf Temp. p. 125, or M. N.D. p. 184. 
 
 97. Nothing. Nowise, not at all ; as very often. Gr. 55. 
 
 103. Disease. Dis-ease, trouble ; the only instance of the verb in S., 
 unless we read, as we probably should, " Will cheer me ever, or disease 
 me now," in Macb. v. 3. 21. See our ed. p. 249. 
 
 Our better mirth. " Our mirth, which would be greater without her 
 
2o6 NOTES. 
 
 company" (Schmidt). For this "proleptic" use of the adjective, cf. 
 Macb. pp. 162 (note on The insane root), 174 (on i. 6. 3.), and 218 (on iii. 
 4. 76). 
 
 105. Solemness. Soberness ; the only instance of the word in S. 
 Soleinnity he uses in the sense of cerernony (especially of nuptials) or 
 festivity; the only exception being i Hen. IV. iii. 2. 59, where it is = 
 stateliness, dignity. 
 
 107. At a word. In a word, in short. See Much Ado, p. 130. 
 
 Scene IV. — 7. Summon the town. That is, to surrender. 
 
 8. This mile and half. " The two last words, which disturb the meas- 
 ure, should be omitted ; as we are told [in i. 6. 16] that ' 't is not a mile ' 
 between the two armies" (Steevens). 
 
 9. Lamm. Commonly printed " 'larum," but not in the early eds., here 
 or elsewhere. See 2 Hen. IV. p. 173. 
 
 1 1. Smoking swords. Cf. Rich. III. i. 2. 94 : " Thy murtherous falchion 
 smoking in his blood." 
 
 12. Fielded. In the field, fighting ; the only instance of the word in S. 
 Cf. agued in 38 below and servanted in v. 2. 78. Gr. 294. 
 
 "Marcius refers to the division of the Roman army under Cominius 
 mentioned in i. 3. 95 " (Wr.). 
 
 14. That fears yon less than he. Johnson would change less to " more," 
 or that to " but ;" and M alone remarks that S. almost always " entangles 
 himself" in using less and more. For such peculiar "double negatives," 
 see Lear, p. 210 (note on You less know how, etc.), or A. V. L. p. 156 (on 
 No more do yours). Cf. Schmidt, p. 1420. Clarke, however, doubts 
 whether the pixsent is an instance of this kind, and explains the passage 
 thus : " ' No, he is not within the walls, nor is there a man that fears 
 you less than he, who fears you less than next to nothing.' _ No man 
 can fear less than one who fears less than a little; and this is one of 
 those simple verities which S. often gives under the form of an apparent 
 antithesis." 
 
 17. Pound us 7ip. Shut us up as in a pound. Cf T. G.ofV.i. i. no : 
 " Nay, in that you are astray ; 't were best pound you." We find impound 
 in Hen. V. i. 2. 160. 
 
 23. Forth. Forth from, out of; as in M. N. D.\.\. 164, R. and J. i. i. 
 126, A. and C. iv. 10. 7, etc. Gr. 156. 
 
 25. More proof. Of better proof or resisting power ; a technical term 
 with regard to armour. Cf. Rich. II. i. 3. 73 : " Add proof unto mine 
 armour with thy prayers " (see our ed. p. 162) ; V. and A. 626 : 
 
 " His brawny sides, with hairy bristles arm'd, 
 Are better 'proof than thy spear's point can enter," etc. 
 
 30. The south. The south wind in S. is always associated with fog, 
 rain, and unwholesome vapours. It is " the dew-dropping south " {R. 
 and J. i. 4. 103), " the spongy south" {Cymb. iv. 2. 349), the "foggy south, 
 puffing with wind and rain " {A. V. L. iii. 5. 50), " the south borne with 
 black vapour" (2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 392), etc. Cf. T. and C. v. i. 21 : "the 
 rotten diseases of the south ;" and Cymb. ii, 3. 136 : "The south fog rot 
 
ACT I. SCENE IV. 
 
 207 
 
 him !" See also ii. 3. 26-30 below. This is all much against the reading 
 " sweet south " for sweet sound in T. N. i. i. 5 (see our ed. p. 118). 
 31. Yozi herd of— Boils, etc. In the ist folio this reads : 
 
 "You Shames of Rome: you Heard of Byles and Plagues 
 Plaister you o're," etc. 
 
 Johnson was the first to correct the pointing, and make the passage in- 
 telligible. As Malone notes, Coriolanus is equally impetuous and abrupt 
 in i. I. 210 above. Hanmer reads : " You shames of Rome, you herds, 
 you ! boils," etc. Coll. adopts the reading of the Coll. MS. : " Unheard 
 of boils," etc. 
 
 Boil is spelt " byle " or " bile " in all the early eds, here, as in Lear, ii. 
 4. 226 (see our ed. p. 213), indicating the pronunciation still current among 
 the illiterate. 
 
 38. Agtiedfear. Cf Rich. II. iii. 2. 190 : " This ague-fit of fear." See 
 also M. of V.\. I. 23. For agued, cf 12 above. 
 
 39. The fires of heaven. The stai's, " the stelled fires " oi Lear, iii. 7. 61. 
 
 42. Followed. The reading of the 2d folio; the ist has "followes." 
 Wr. omits the word, believing it to have crept into the text from the 
 stage-direction just below. Coll. has the imperative " Follow !" 
 
 43. Ope. "Never joined to a noun attributively" (Schmidt). Cf. iii. 
 
 I. 138 below. 
 
 44. '' Tis for the followers, etc. This is from North. See p. 173 above. 
 47. To the pot. A vulgar metaphor still current. St. quotes from 
 
 Peek's Edward I. : " For goes this wretch, this traitor, to the pot ;" and 
 Webster's White Devil: "They go to the pot for 't." The Coll. MS. 
 has "port" iox pot. 
 
 52. Answer. See on i. 2. 19 above. 
 
 53. Sensibly. Though endowed with feeling. Theo. adopted Thirlby's 
 conjecture of "sensible, outdoes;" and Johnson accepted the "sensible." 
 No change is called for. Wr. compares, among other passages, Sonn. 
 
 II. 3: 
 
 "And that fresh blood which youngly thou bestowest 
 Thou mayst call thine when thou from youth convertest." 
 
 Wh. says : " The endurance of the man is more wonderful than that of 
 the sword, because he can feel and the sword cannot, and yet he endures 
 the longer." Steevens quotes Sidney's Arcadia: "Their very armour 
 by piecemeal fell away from them : and yet their flesh abode the wounds 
 constantly, as though it were less sensible of smart than the senseless 
 armour." 
 
 54-56. The 1st folio reads thus : 
 
 "Thou art left Martms, 
 A Carbuncle intire: as big as thou art 
 Weare not so rich a lewell." 
 
 Lost for "left" is Collier's emendation, adopted by Sr., D., W., and 
 others. The compositor probably mistook the long s in the MvS. (or f 
 " Left " makes sense indeed, but, as W. remarks, it does not suit the con- 
 text. On the passage, Malone compares 0th. v. 2. 145. 
 
2o8 NOTES, 
 
 57. Cato's. The 1st folio has '' CalnesT the later folios "Calves;", 
 corrected by Theo. Cf. North, p. 173 above. 
 
 7b = according to ; as in ii. I. 235 and ii. 3. 151 below. Cf. M. W. iv. 
 6. 12 : " Even to my wish." 
 
 60. As if the world, etc. Cf. Macb. ii. 3. 66 : 
 
 "Some say the earth 
 Was feverous and did shake." 
 
 See our ed. p. 199. 
 
 62. Reinain. For the noun, cf. Cymb. iii. i. 87 : "All the remain is 
 'welcome !'" 
 
 Scene V. — 3. Murrain. For the use of the word in imprecations, cf. 
 Temp. iii. 2. 88 and T. and C. ii. I. 20. 
 
 4. Enter . . . with a trumpet. That is, a trumpeter. See Ham. p. 176. 
 These movers. "These active, stirring fellows; contemptuously used 
 
 of the loiterers for plunder" (Wr.). The word is used without the touch 
 of contempt in V. and A. 368 : " O fairest mover on this mortal round !" 
 Wh. thinks it means " these clamourers for their rights, these disturbers 
 of the state." 
 
 l^heir hours. That is, their time. Cf. North, p. 174 above. Malone 
 says : " Mr. Pope arbitrarily changed the word hours to honours, and 
 Dr. Johnson, too hastily I think, approves of the alteration ;" to which 
 Johnson retorts: "A modern editor who had made such an improvement 
 would have spent half a page in ostentation of his sagacity," 
 
 5. Drachma. The 1st and 2d folios have " drachme," the others 
 "drachm," like some modern eds. in spite of the metre. Cf. Ham. ii. 2, 
 448: "Pray God, your voice, like a piece of nncurrent gold, be not 
 cracked within the ring ;" and see our ed. p. 210. 
 
 6. Of a doit. Worth only a doit, the smallest of coins, a common meta- 
 phor for a trifle. Cf. iv. 4. 17 and v. 4. 57 below. 
 
 7. Bury. " Instead of taking them as their lawful perquisite" (Malone). 
 As Wr. notes, S. transfers both English dress and English customs to 
 Rome. 
 
 12. Make good. Hold, keep possession of. "In this sense the words 
 are never separated by the object" (Schmidt). Cf. Cyjnb. v. 3. 23 : " Made 
 good the passage," etc. 
 
 18. Physical. Like physic, wholesome, salutary. Cf. the only other 
 instance of the word in S., J. C. ii. i. 261 : 
 
 "Is Brutus sick? and is it physical 
 To walk unbraced and suck up the humours 
 Of the dank morning?" 
 
 24. Tha7i those, etc. That is, than she\s the friend of those, etc. 
 
 26. Go sound, etc. As Wr. remarks, " the comma after Go, which has 
 been inserted in most modern editions [his own Camb. ed. included], has 
 no right to be there." The sound is really the infinitive, like many verbs 
 after go. This is more evident when the go is not imperative ; as in T. 
 G. of V. i. 1. 159 : "I must go send some better messenger ;" Id. ii. 7. 19 : 
 
ACT L SCENE VI. 209 
 
 " Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow," etc. See also A. Y. L. 
 p. 137, note on Go buy. 
 
 Scene VI. — Enter . . . as it were in retire. The reading of the folio. 
 For the noun retire =xt\x^2i\., cf. 3 just below. See also K. John, pp. 145, 
 146, 178. 
 
 2. Stands. That is, when we " made the stand," as it is expressed in 
 Cymb. V. 3. i. 
 
 4. Whiles. Used interchangeably with while and whilst. Gr. 137. 
 
 6. Ye. The folios have " The ;" corrected by Hanmer. Wr. retains 
 "The," comparing ii. 3. 50 and iv. i. 37 (not parallel cases, being mere 
 exclamations) with Lear, i. I. 271, J. C. v. 3. 99, etc. ; but here the direct 
 address seems in better keeping with the context. The misprint is, 
 moreover, an easy one, on account of the old fashion of writing "ye" for 
 the. 
 
 16. Briefly. Lately; the only example of this sense in S. It is = quickly 
 in Macb. ii, 3. 139, A. and C. iv. 4. 10, Cymb. v. 5. 106, etc. 
 
 I']. Confound. Waste, spend. See i I/en. IK p. 1^2. 
 
 22. As. As if See on i. i. 206 above. 
 
 27. From every meaner man. Hanmer reads " man's ;" but cf. A. W. 
 iii. I. 6 : 
 
 " Holy seems the quarrel 
 Upon your grace's part ; black and fearful 
 On the opposer ;" 
 
 and see our ed. p. 157. Wr. compares Esther, iii. 8. 
 
 29. Clip. Embrace ; as in iv. 5. iii below. See W. T. p. 210, or 0th. 
 p. 192. Yox ye, see Gr. 236. 
 
 32. To bedward. Toward bed, for bed. Wr. remarks that the "A. V. 
 furnishes many instances of this splitting up oi toward ; as in Ps. xlv. 5, 
 I Sam. xix. 4, Exod. xxxvii. 9, Eph. iii. 2, 2 Cor. iii. 4, etc. Schmidt com- 
 pares I Hen. VI. iii. 3. 30: "Their powers are marching unto Paris- 
 ward." Malone cites Peacham, Complete Gentleman, 1627 : " Leaping, 
 upon a full stomach, or to bedward, is very dangerous." 
 
 35. Exile. S. accents both the noun and the verb on either syllable. 
 Cf. iii. 3. 89 and v. 3. 96 below. See also A. Y. L. p. 149, or Gr. 490. 
 
 36. Him. For the antithesis to other, cf. Macb. iv. 3. 80 : " Desire his 
 jewels and this other's house." 
 
 Pitying. " That is, remitting his ransom " (Johnson). 
 
 38. Leash. The cord by which a greyhound was led or held. To let 
 slip was to loose the hound. See i Hen. IV. pp. 155, 163, and Hen. V. 
 p. 163. 
 
 42. Inform the truth. Cf. A.W.'w. i. 91 : 
 
 " Haply thou mayst inform 
 Something to save thy life;" 
 
 and see our ed. p. 166. 
 
 But for our gentlemen. But had it not been for our gentlemen. As 
 Wh. remarks, " he was going to say, ' But for the gentlemen, the cow- 
 ardice of the common file had lost the day.' " Some one has suggested 
 
 O 
 
2IO NOTES. 
 
 pointing it thus : " He did inform the truth but for our gentlemen." 
 Some take /or as = as for (see on i. i. 60 above) avid ge7ttleme7i as ironi- 
 cally = the common file. 
 
 44. Budge. Run away. Cf. M. of V. ii. 2. 20 : " well, my conscience 
 says, ' Launcelot, budge not.' ' Budge,' says the fiend. ' Budge not,' says 
 my conscience." 
 
 46. Think. The Coll. MS. has " think 't." Cf. Ham. v. 2. 306 : " I do 
 not think 't." Rowe prints " think — ." 
 
 51. Battle. Army. Cf. Hen. V. iv. prol. 9: "Each battle sees the 
 other's umber'd face ;" and see our ed. p. 171. Cf. p. 175 above. 
 
 53. Vaward. Vanguard. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 3. 130 : " The leading of the 
 vaward." See our ed. p. 178. Cf. p. 174 above. 
 
 Antiates. The folios misprint " Antients " or "Ancients;" corrected 
 by Pope. Cf. North, p. 174 above. 
 
 55. Thei}' very heart of hope. Wr. compares A. and C iv. 12. 29 : " the 
 very heart of loss ;" T. of A. i. I. 286 : " The very heart of kindness ;" and 
 I Hen. IV. iv. i. 50: "The very bottom and the soul of hope." Malone 
 cites Lusfs Dominion : " thrust quite through the heart of hope." 
 
 57-59- By the blood . . . Antiates. Pope's arrangement of the lines, 
 and perhaps no great improvement on that of the folio with its four irreg- 
 ular and limping verses. 
 
 58. Endure. Remain, continue ; as in R. of L. 1659 : 
 
 "but still pure 
 Doth in her poison'd closet yet endure." 
 
 60. Not delay. For the transposition of ;/^/, see Gr. 305. O^ the present, 
 cf. iii. 3. 42 below. 
 
 61. Advanced. Raised, uplifted; as often. Cf. ii. i. 150 below. See 
 also Temp. i. 2. 408, iv. I. 177, T. N. ii. 5. 36, Hen. V. v. 2. 382, Rich. III. 
 i. 2. 40, etc. 
 
 62. Prove. Put it to the proof, make the trial ; or hour may be the 
 direct object, as Schmidt makes it. Cf. iv. 5. 95 and v. i. 60 below. 
 
 68. This painting. For the metaphor, cf. K. John, iv. 2. 253 : ' painted 
 with the crimson drops of blood ;" Hen. V. iii. 5. 49 : " With pennons 
 painted in the blood of Harfleur," etc. 
 
 69. Fear, etc. Fear less for his person than he fears an ill report. 
 Fear is used in a double sense. For the first ( = fear_/2?r) cf. i. 7. 5 below ; 
 and see Ham. p. 188, or Rich. III. p. 183. Gr. 200. 
 
 70. For lesser (cf. i. 4. 15 above) the ist and 2d folios have "Lessen," 
 and Rowe reads "less for." 
 
 73. So many so minded. As many as are so minded. Pope reads " or 
 many if so minded." 
 
 74. Disposition. Metrically five syllables. Gr. 479. 
 
 76. O, 7ne alone! The folios read, " Oh me alone, make you a sword 
 of me :" The line has been variously explained and emended. Wr. in- 
 terprets it thus : " Coriolanus is taken by surprise at the eagerness with 
 which the soldiers rush forward in answer to his appeal. Instead of 
 waving their swords in the air as he had directed, they make a sword of 
 him. Instead of volunteers coming forward singly the whole mass would 
 
ACT I. SCENES VIL AND VI H. 211 
 
 follow Coriolanus only; none would stay behind. When he saw this he 
 exclaimed, 'Oh, me alone !' and then when they raised him aloft 'make 
 you a sword of me ?' brandish me as if I were a sword ?" Clarke makes 
 the whole imperative : " Marcius has said * Let him a/oue, or so many so 
 mmded, wave thus;' and, seeing them a// wave their swords in reply and 
 then take himself up in their arms, which leaves him solely wavino- his 
 sword he rapturously exclaims : ' Oh, take me alone for weapon among 
 you all ! make yourselves a sword of me !' " Capell points, " O me, alone '" 
 and says : "The first part of this line should be utter'd in a tone of sur- 
 prise, expressive of the speaker's taking shame upon him for having 
 thought that but one man might oifer." Heath would read " Let me 
 alone ! Sr. " Come along !" or " O, come along !" Coll. " Of me alone ?" 
 Leo, " O, me aloft !" and Schmidt " O me ! all one ;" with the following 
 clause imperative. Of these conjectures that of Coll. seems most prob- 
 able, especially if we put it "O' me alone !" but possibly we might get 
 the same meamng out of the original reading: "What, me alone! do you 
 make me your sword ?" Any interpretation of the first clause which 
 makes it independent of the second seems to us inadmissible. 
 82. Bear the business. Cf i. i. 263 above. 
 
 .. ^^' ^J^^^^^^^ ^^'^^ be obeyed. As occasion shall require. Wr. compares 
 11.3. 188 below. ^ 
 
 _ 84. Four. The word has been suspected, but perhaps without suffi- 
 cient reason. "Coriolanus means only to say that he would appoint 
 four persons to select for his particular command or party those who 
 were best inclined ; and in order to save time, he proposes to have this 
 choice made while the army is marching forward " (Mason). Sr. conject- 
 ures " some," Capell " I," Lettsom " we," and Crosby " And forth I '11 " 
 Z']. With us. That is, with the generals. 
 
 Scene VIL— i. Ports. Gates ; as in v. 6. 6 below. See also 2 Hen. IV 
 p. 192. 
 
 3. Centuries. Companies of a hundred ; as in Lear, iv. 4. 6 : " A century 
 send forth." See our ed. p. 240. ^ 
 
 5. Fear not. Fear not for, be not anxious about. See on i. 6. 69 above. 
 
 Scene VIIL— 3 Afric Africa; as in Temp. ii. i. 69 and Cymb. i. i. 
 &■' rfr "'^"^ ^djectively in T. and C. i. 3. 370. Africa occurs only in 
 2 Hen. IV. V. 3. 104. Wr. quotes Heywood, Silver Age : 
 
 "Fly Into Affricke, from the mountaines there 
 Chuse me two venemous serpents." 
 
 4. Thy fame and envy. Perhaps-- "thy detested or odious fame," as 
 Steevens explains it (for ^//e/^ = hatred, see Rich. IL p. 172) ; or the mean- 
 ing may be " thy fame and hatred of me " (Clarke). The Coll. MS has 
 
 thy fame I envy." St. conjectures " thy fame I hate and envy." Cf. 
 North, p. 185 above : "Tullus did more malice and envy him " etc 
 
 5. Budger. Cf. the verb in i. 6. 44 above. 
 
 8. Corioli walls Cf. ii. i. 152 below : " Corioli gates ;" and iii. 3. 104 • 
 Rome gates." See also J. C. p. 128, note on Tiber banks. Gr. 22. 
 
212 NOTES. 
 
 11. Wrench up, etc. Wr. compares the figure in Macb. i. 7. 60 : " But 
 screw your courage to the sticking- place." See also Z! A^ v. i. 125 : 
 
 "And that I partly know the instrument 
 That screws me from my true place in your favour." 
 
 12. The whip of your bragg'd progeny. That is, the whip with which 
 your boasted ancestors scourged their enemies. Y ox progeny— X2s:^, cf. 
 I Hen. VI. V, 4. 38 : "issued from a progeny of kings" (Schmidt). 
 
 14. Officious, etc. " Aufidius reproaches the Volsces for meddling be- 
 tween him and Coriolanus, and by their cowardice putting him to the 
 shame of being beaten with the advantage of numbers on his side. Con- 
 demned probably takes the place of a stronger word " (Wr.). 
 
 15. For seconds, cf. i. 4. 43 above. 
 
 Scene IX. — i. If I should tell thee, etc. See extract from North, 
 p. 175 above. 
 
 2. Thou V. The reading of the first three folios, and = " thou 'It," 
 which the 4th folio substitutes. Capell and W. read " Thou 'dst ;" but 
 elsewhere we find should followed by will. D. quotes Hen. VIII. i. 2. 134 : 
 
 " that if the king 
 Should without issue die, he '11 carry it so 
 To make the sceptre his ;" 
 
 and C. ofE. i. 2. 85 : 
 
 " If I should pay your worship those again, 
 Perchance you will not bear them patiently." 
 
 Wr. adds John, viii. 55. 
 
 4. Shall attend and shrug. " Shall listen and shrug their shoulders in- 
 credulously" (Wr.). 
 
 6. Quak'd. Made to quake, or quaking. Steevens quotes Heywood, 
 
 Silver Age, 161^ : ,,„^ ,„ , . . ., . , 
 
 ^ ' "* "We '11 quake them at that bar 
 
 Where all souls stand for sentence." 
 
 7. Plebeians. Accented on the first syllable, as in v. 4. 36 below, and 
 probably also in iii. i. loi ; but, as Wr. notes, we find the modern ac- 
 centuation in Hen. V. v. chor. 27 and 7". A.\. i. 231. 
 
 10. Yet earnest thou, etc. " Cominius appears to mean that the pre- 
 vious reputation of Marcius was so little increased by his present achieve- 
 ment that he was like one who took but a morsel of a feast, having fully 
 dined before" (Wr.). Wh. paraphrases it thus: "Yet what I have 
 seen here and praise was but a morsel compared with thy full feast yon- 
 der, the captu'-e of Corioli." 
 
 12. Here is 'the steed, etc. Delius remarks that this comparison was 
 suggested by the mention in Plutarch (see p. 175 above) of "a goodly 
 horse with a caparison and all furniture with him," given by Cominius to 
 Coriolanus. 
 
 13, 14. My mother . . . blood. Arranged as in Pope ; one line in the 
 folios. Lines 15-17 are arranged as by Hanmer; in the folios they 
 end with grieves me, can, and country. 
 
ACT I. SCENE IX. 
 
 213 
 
 • A charter to extol her blood. " A privilege to praise her own son " 
 (Johnson). 
 
 17. Country. A trisyllable; as in T.N. i. 2. 21 and 2 Hen. VL i. i. 206. 
 Gr. 477. 
 
 19. Hath overta'en my act. Malone says : "That is, has done as much 
 as I have done, insomuch as my ardour to serve the state is such that I 
 have never been able to effect all that I wished." The meaning seems 
 rather to be : he that has done his best has come up with me, for that is 
 all I have done. 
 
 22. Traducement. Defamation, calumny ; used by S. nowhere else. 
 Wr, quotes Bacon, Adv. of Learning: "Thus have I gone over these 
 three diseases of learning : besides the which there are some other rath- 
 er peccant humours than formed diseases, which nevertheless are not so 
 secret and intrinsic but that they fall under a popular observation and 
 traducement, and therefore are not to be passed over." 
 
 24. To the spire and top of praises. Cf. Temp. iii. i. 38 : 
 
 "Admir'd Miranda! 
 Indeed the top of admiration!" 
 K. John, iv. 3. 45 : 
 
 "This is the very top, 
 The height, the crest, or crest unto the crest, 
 Of murther's arms ;" 
 
 2 Hen. VI. i. 2. 49 : " From top of honour," etc. 
 
 26. Not to reward, etc. Steevens quotes Macb. i. 3. 102 : 
 
 " Only to herald thee into his sight, 
 Not pay thee." 
 
 29. Should they not. " That is, not be remembered " (Johnson). 
 
 30. JVell might they fester, etc. " Well might they (in protest against 
 such ingratitude) fester themselves past healing — refuse to be probed but 
 with the probe of death" (Wh.). For tent=prohe, cf. Ham. ii. 2. 626: 
 " I '11 tent him to the quick ;" and see our ed. p. 215. 
 
 31. Of all the horses. Cf the extract from North, p. 175 above. 
 
 32. Good and good store. Good ones and a good many of them. 
 
 39. Stand upon my common part. That is, to take my chance in the 
 common distribution. 
 
 40. That have beheld the doing. " He is too proud to be rewarded, 
 too proud to be praised ; too proud also to praise others, at least plebei- 
 ans " (Wh.). 
 
 41-46. May these . . . the wars I This perplexing passage stands thus 
 in the folio : 
 
 "Mar. May these same Instruments, which you prophane, 
 Neuer sound more : when Drums and Trumpets shall 
 I'th'field proue flatterers, let Courts and Cities be 
 Made all of false-fac'd soothing : 
 When Steele growes soft, as the Parasites Silke, 
 Let him be made an Ouerture for th' Warres:" 
 
 Of the various emendations and explanations that have been given, we 
 adopt Knight's as on the whole the most satisfactory — or the least 
 
214 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 unsatisfactory. The usual reading follows the folio, with the substitution 
 of exclamation points for the colons. After quoting this, K. remarks : 
 
 " The commentators have long notes of explanation ; and they leave 
 the matter more involved than they found it. The stage-direction of the 
 original, which precedes this speech, is, '■A long flourish.^ The drums 
 and trumpets have sounded in honour of Coriolanus ; but, displeased as 
 he may be, it is somewhat unreasonable of him to desire that these in- 
 struments may 'never sound more.' We render his desire, by the slight- 
 est change of punctuation, somewhat more rational : 
 
 ' May these same instruments, which you profane, 
 Never sound more, when drums and trumpets shall 
 r the field prove flatterers !' 
 
 The difficulty increases with the received reading ; for, according to this, 
 when drums and trumpets prove flatterers, courts and cities are to be 
 made of false-faced soothing. Courts and cities are precisely what a 
 soldier would describe as invariably so made. But Coriolanus contrasts 
 courts and cities with the field ; he separates them : 
 
 ' Let courts and cities be 
 Made all of false-fac'd soothing;' 
 
 and he adds, as we believe — 
 
 ' Where steel grows soft 
 As the parasite's silk.' 
 
 The difficulties with the received reading are immeasurable. Whe7t steel 
 grows soft as the parasite's silk, the commentators say that him (the 
 steel), used for it, is to be made an overture for the wars ; but what over- 
 ture means here they do not attempt to explain. The slight change we 
 have made gives a perfectly clear meaning. The whole speech has now 
 a leading idea : 
 
 ' Let them be made an overture for the wars.' 
 
 Let them, the instruments which you profane, be the prelude to our 
 wars. 
 
 " Thus the whole sum is : ' Let trumpets and drums cease to sound 
 when they become flatterers in the field. Let falsehood and flatterers 
 have the rule in courts and cities, where even steel becomes soft as the 
 parasite's silk. But let martial music be the prelude only to war.' " 
 
 It is a strong confirmation of this reading and interpretation that so 
 keen a critic as W. had independently adopted it. Clarke also has the 
 same, except that he retains the " when " in 45, and we are not sure that 
 any change is necessary there. The meaning may be, as Clarke gives it : 
 "Let courts and cities be made all of false-fac'd adulation, when thus 
 martial steel grows soft as the parasite's silken attire !" — that is, let it be 
 taken as a matter of course, let us not wonder at it. Cf. Ham. iii. 4. 82 : 
 
 "O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell, 
 If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones. 
 To flaming youth let virtue be as wax. 
 And melt in her own fire!" 
 
 It has been objected to overture that it was not used in the time of S. 
 
ACT I. SCENE IX. 215 
 
 in the sense of a musical prelude; and Wr. thinks that its use = propo- 
 sal, offer (as in T. N. i. 5. 225 : " I bring no overture of war ;" which Ma- 
 lone quotes in defence of the old reading here), is " entirely different." 
 On the contrary, the sound of the trumpet as the signal for beginning the 
 battle is virtually an offer of battle. Of course, it is not at all necessary 
 to suppose that overture is used in any technical sense ; and to prevent 
 misunderstanding, it would be better to avoid the use oi prelude in para- 
 phrasing the passage, and to give it as W. does : " Let drums and trum- 
 pets be used to tisher in war," etc. That is really all that it means, and 
 the expression seems to us thoroughly Shakespearian. 
 
 W. remarks : " The only objection to the reading of the text (and it 
 is a great one) is its rhythm, which is, in my judgment, both un-Shake- 
 spearian and unsuited to the mood of Coriolanus. There must be a pause 
 after Never sound more ; and it would be in Shakespeare's manner of 
 versification, and especially appropriate to Coriolanus, that the exclama- 
 tion should come there to a full period. The prolongation of the first 
 sentence of the speech, by an accessory clause, into the middle of the 
 next line, enfeebles both the protest and the verse ; and the next sen- 
 tence is measurably open to the same objection. But the rhythm of the 
 whole speech, with any arrangement, is far from being unexceptionable." 
 
 It would be a waste of space to add the various desperate attempts at 
 emendation ; like Warburton's " camps as cities," and " let hymns be 
 made," etc. Tyrwhitt's ''coverture for the wars " (also in the Coll. MS.) 
 deserves to be noted as having been adopted by the Cambridge editors 
 and others ; and Schmidt's rearrangement of the lines is curious for its 
 combined audacity and ingenuity ; 
 
 " When drums and trumpets shall 
 I' th' field prove flatterers, let 'em be made 
 An overture for th' wars no more, I say! 
 When steel grows soft as th' parasite's silk, let courts 
 And cities be made all of false-fac'd soothing!" 
 
 Wh. points and explains the passage thus : 
 
 " May these same instruments which you profane 
 Never sound more! When drums and trumpets shall 
 I' the field prove flatterers, let courts and cities be 
 Made all of false-fac'd soothing: when steel grows 
 Soft as the parasite's silk — Let them be made 
 An overture for the wars no more, I say!" 
 
 That is, " Let your drums and trumpets, profaned to vulgar uses of flat- 
 tery, never sound more ! If even they must learn to flatter — if the sol- 
 dier in his coat of steel must ape the parasite in his silk — let truth van- 
 ish out of the earth, and courts and cities go their own way undisturbed : 
 let your drums and trumpets, I say, henceforth be silent." There are 
 some very good points in this interpretation. 
 
 In his Lexicon, Schmidt suggests " overseer " for overture, referring to 
 the " him " (that is, \h^ parasite) of the folio. 
 
 For soothing =i^2X\txy, cf ii. 2. 69 below. See also K. John, p. 154 
 (note on Soothest tip), and I Hen. IV. p. 185 (note on Soothers). 
 
 47. For that. Because. Cf. i. i. 106 above, and iii. 3. 93 below. 
 
2i6 NOTES. 
 
 48. Debile. Weak ; as in A. W. ii. 3. 39 : " debile minister." Cot- 
 grave gives it as a translation of the Fr. debile. 
 
 49. Here 'j- many, etc. Cf. ii. I. 128 below, and see Gr. 335. 
 
 50. 51. Arranged as by K. ; one line in the folios, which (except the 
 4th) have " shoot " for shout. See on i. i. 207 above. 
 
 55! Give you. Represent you ; as in A. and C. i. 4. 40: 
 
 " and men's reports 
 Give him much wrong'd." 
 
 Give out is often used in this sense. See 2 Hen. IV. p. 180. 
 
 57. His proper harm. His own harm. See W. T. p. 172, note on My 
 proper. 
 
 60. This war^s garland. *' The corona triumphalis of laurel ; con- 
 founded elsewhere with 'the oaken garland,' the corona civica " (Wh.). 
 
 62. With all his trim belonging. That is, " with a caparison, and all fur- 
 niture belonging to him " (see p. 175 above). For trim, cf. Sonn. 98. 2: 
 " dress'd in all his trim," etc. 
 
 65. Cains Marcius. The folios have "Marcus (or "Martins") Caius;" 
 corrected by Rowe. 
 
 66. Addition. Title. See Macb. p. 164, or Lear, p. 171. 
 68. Go wash. See on i. 5. 26 above. 
 
 72. 71? undercrest, etc. That is, to wear it for a crest as fairly as I 
 can ; " a phrase from heraldry, signifying that he would endeavour to 
 support his good opinion of him " ( Warb.). 
 
 77. The best. " The chief men of Corioli " (Johnson). 
 
 Articulate. Make ar/zV/^j of peace, enter into negotiations. The verb 
 is transitive in i Hen. IV. v .1. 72. See our ed. p. 197. 
 
 79. Now. But now, just now. 
 
 82. Sometime lay. Once lodged. For sometime, cf. iv. i. 23 and v. i. 2 
 below ; and for lay, iv. 4. 8 below. See also 2 Hen. IV. p. 185, note on 
 Lie. 
 
 On this passage, cf extract from North, p. 175 above. 
 
 89. Free as is the wind. Malone quotes A. Y. L. ii. 7. 47 : 
 
 " I must have liberty 
 Withal, as large a charter as the wind, 
 To blow on whom I please ;" - 
 
 and Wr. adds Temp. i. 2. 498 : 
 
 " Thou shalt be as free 
 As mountain winds." 
 
 Scene X. — 4. For I cannot, etc. " I cannot, as a Volscian and one of 
 the vanquished, show myself in my real character " (Wr.). 
 
 6. Good condition. There is a play upon the two senses of the phrase : 
 the one in which the soldier has used it (=:good terms), and that of 
 "good quality or character" (Wr.). For condition in the latter sense, 
 cf. ii. 3. 91 and v. 4. 10 below. See also K. John, p. 158. 
 
 7. The part that is at mercy. The side that is beaten, or at the mercy 
 of the other. Cf. T. and C. iv. 4. 116 : "at mercy of my sword." See 
 also Lear, p. 194, note on In mercy. 
 
ACT L SCENE X. 217 
 
 11. Beard to beard. Steevens quotes Macb. v. 5. 6 : " We might have 
 met them dareful, beard to beard." 
 
 12. Mine emulation, etc. Coleridge remarks upon this speech : " I have 
 such deep faith in Shakespeare's heart-lore, that I take it for granted 
 that this is in nature, and not a mere anomaly ; although I cannot in my- 
 self discover any germ of possible feeling which could wax and unfold it- 
 self into such a sentiment as this. However, I presume that in this 
 speech is meant to be contained a prevention of shock at the after- 
 change in Aufidius's character." 
 
 V. comments on this as follows : " Such a criticism from Coleridge is 
 worthy the reader's consideration, but I cannot myself perceive its jus- 
 tice. The varying feelings of Aufidius are such as may be often ob- 
 served to arise in the contentions of able and ambitious men for honour 
 or power, and are just such as would, under these circumstances, be nat- 
 ural in a mind like that of Aufidius — ambitious, proud, and bold, with 
 many noble and generous qualities, yet not above the influence of selfish 
 and vindictive emotions and desires. The mortification of defeat em- 
 bitters his rivalry to hatred. When afterwards his banished rival ap- 
 peals to his nobler nature, that hatred dies away, and his generous feel- 
 ing revives. Bitter jealousy and hatred again grow up, as his glories are 
 eclipsed by his former adversary ; yet this dark passion, too, finally yields 
 to a generous sorrow at his rival's death. I think that I have observed 
 very similar alternations of such mixed motives and sentiments, in emi- 
 nent men, in the collisions of political life." 
 
 13. Where. Whereas (Malone). See on i. i. 94 above. 
 
 14. In an equal force. On equal terms, in a fair fight. 
 
 15. Potch. Poke, thrust; used by S. only here. Toilet quotes Ca- 
 rew's Survey of Cornwall: "They use also to poche them with an in- 
 strument somewhat like a salmon-speare." W. reads " poach." 
 
 16. Or wrath or craft, etc. " By which my craft, if not my wrath, may 
 get the upper hand " (Wh.). 
 
 18. With only sufferiitg stain by him. Only because it is eclipsed by 
 his. Cf. V. and A. 9 : " Stain to all nymphs " (that is, as Schmidt ex- 
 plains, "by eclipsing them"). Wr. quotes Lyly, Euphues : "Yet his 
 daughter . . . stayned ye beautie of them al." 
 
 For him, etc. "To mischief him, my valour should deviate from its 
 own native generosity " (Johnson). 
 
 22. Embarquements. Embargoes, restraints ; not found elsewhere in 
 this sense. Hanmer reads " Embankments," and Warb. " Embarrments." 
 According to Cotgrave, one meaning of the Fr. embarquement is "an im- 
 barguing ;" and Cole, in his Latin Diet, (cited by Malone), has " to im- 
 bargue, or lay an imbargo upon." 
 
 25. At home, upon my brother'' s guard. " In my own house, with my 
 brother posted to protect him " (Johnson). 
 
 26. The hospitable canon. The sacred law of hospitality. 
 
 28. How H is held. " That is, the strength of the Roman garrison " 
 (Wh.). 
 
 30. Attended. Waited for. Cf. i. i. 70, 238 above ; and see 0th. ^p. 188. 
 
 31. The city mills. The folio has "mils," for which Tyrwhitt would 
 
2iS NOTES. 
 
 read " a mile." He asks, " Where could S. have heard of these viills at 
 Antium ?" But, as Malone remarks, the poet often introduces these mi- 
 nute local descriptions ; as in K. and J. i. i. 128: 
 
 " underneath the grove of sycamore 
 That westward rooteth from the city's side." 
 
 Wr. adds : " It is worth while observing, as an indication that in such 
 cases of local colouring Shakespeare had probably London in his mind, 
 that in the year 1588 the Mayor and Corporation of the City petitioned 
 the Queen that they might build four corn mills on the river Thames 
 near the Bridge, and the Masters of the Trinity House certified that the 
 erection of these mills ' on the south side of the Thames upon the Star- 
 lings above the bridge ' would breed no annoyance. The ' city mills ' 
 therefore in Shakespeare's time were close to the Globe Theatre." 
 
 ACT n. 
 
 Scene I. — i. Attgurer. Cf. J. C. ii. i. 200 : " the persuasion of his au- 
 gurers." See also Id. ii. 2. 37, A. and C. iv. 12. 4 {" auguries " in the ear- 
 ly eds.) and v. 2. 337. Augur occurs only in Sonn. 107. 6 and Phoenix 
 and Turtle, 7. 
 
 7. Pray you, who does the wolf love? " Implying that there are beasts 
 which love nobody, and that among those beasts are the people" (John- 
 son). For who=:whom, cf. Macd. iii. i. 123: "Who I myself struck 
 down," etc. Gr. 274. 
 
 15. /fi. For the duplication of the preposition, cf. A. V. Z. ii. 7.90: 
 " Of what kind should this cock come of;" and see our ed. p. 165. Gr. 
 407. 
 
 21. Censured. Estimated, regarded. See on i. i. 261 above. See also 
 Much Ado, p, 139. For of, see on i. 2. 13 above. 
 
 27. A very little thief of occasion. That is, any trifling occasion. 
 
 29. Dispositioits . . . pleasures. As Wr. remarks, " the plural was more 
 commonly used in Shakespeare's time than now to describe a feeling or 
 attribute which is common to a number of individuals." Cf. iii. I. 7 and 
 iv. 5. 135 below. See also Rich. II. p. 206, note on Sights. 
 
 35. Single. With a play upon the word in its sense of simple or silly ; 
 as in 2 Hot. IV. i. 2. 207 : " your chin double, your wit single." See our 
 ed. p. 172. 
 
 36. O that you could turn your eyes, etc. " With allusion to the fable 
 which says that every man has a bag hanging before him, in which he 
 puts his iieighbour's faults, and another behind him, in which he stows 
 his own " (Johnson). 
 
 40. Unmeriting. That is, as undeserving. For the ellipsis, cf. iv. i. 53 
 and iv. 5. 20 below. Gr, 276. 
 
 44. Humorous. Full of humours or whims. Cf. A. V. L. i. 2. 278 : 
 " The duke is humourous ;" and see our ed. p. 146, or 2 Hen. IV. p. 
 
ACT 11. SCENE I. 219 
 
 45. Allaying. Cooling, qualifying ; as in v. 3. 85 below. Cf. M. of K 
 11. 2. 195 : i. pj.^y ^Yiee, take pain 
 
 To allay with some cold drops of modesty 
 Thy skipping spirit." 
 
 Steevens points out that Lovelace imitated the passage in his Verses to 
 Altheafrom Priso7i : 
 
 "When flowing cups run swiftly round 
 "With no allaying Thames." 
 
 Wr. quotes Baret, Alvearie : " Alaied : tempered with water. Dilutus. 
 ... He alaieth wine with water. Lympha temperat merum ;" also Hu- 
 loet's Abcedarium, 1552 : " Alaye wyne._ Diluo." 
 
 46. Something ituperfect, etc. That is, somewhat faulty as a magis- 
 trate in forming an opinion of a case before hearing the other side. Wr. 
 remarks : " It has been objected to this reading that Menenius would not 
 speak of himself in such depreciatory terms, and justify the tribunes' at- 
 tack. But it is his humour to say of himself the worst that popular opinion 
 says of him, and so to disarm his opponents ; that he is quick in temper 
 and hasty of tongue, that his bark is worse than his bite, that he never 
 stops to think whether his outspokenness will give offence. There ap- 
 pears to be no necessity for change, and certainly none for reading with 
 Collier 'the thirst complaint,' or with Leo 'savouring the feast (or fish) 
 of Lent.'" 
 
 47. Motion. Motive, incitement ; as in Hen. VIII. i. i. 153: "from 
 sincere motions." 
 
 Converses more with. Is more conversant with. For the figure which 
 follows, Malone compares L. L. Z. v. i. 94. The meaning of course is, as 
 Johnson gives it, " rather a late lier down than an early riser." 
 
 51. Wealsmeii. Statesmen ; used by S. nowhere else. Yoxweal—i^x^ 
 commonwealth, see ii.3. 175 below, and cf. iii. i. 176. 
 
 53. I can ''t say. The folios have " can " for can '/; corrected by Theo. 
 
 54. When I find the ass, etc. That is, when I find your talk so asinine. 
 
 57. Deadly. Adjectives in -ly are often used adverbially. Cf. Gr. i. 
 Tell yon you have. The second jj/m/ was supplied by Pope. 
 
 58. Microcosm. The "little world of man," regarded as the epitome of 
 the universe or macrocosm. Cf. Lear, p. 215, note on His little world of 
 man. 
 
 59. Bisson conspecttiities. Purblind perceptions. For bisson (which 
 Theo. substituted for the " beesome " of the folio), cf. Ham. ii. 2. 529 : 
 "With bisson rheum;" and see our ed. p. 212. See also on iii. I. 131 
 below. Wr. remarks : " Skinner [Etyjnologicoti Linguce Anglicance) gives 
 as a Lincolnshire word ' Beesen, Bison, vel Beezen, csecus,' and Ray re- 
 cords ' Bizen'd, blind ' among his No7'th Country Provincialisms. ' Bee- 
 sen ' is still familiar in Lincolnshire (see Brogden's Provincial Words, etc., 
 used i7t Lincolnshire), and ' Bizzen blind, purblind,' is in Miss Baker's 
 No7-thamptonshire Glossary.'''' Conspectuities seems to be a word of Me- 
 nenius's own coining. 
 
 63. For poor knaves^ caps aitd legs. " That is, for their obeisance shown 
 by bowing to you. To make a leg [see I Hen. IV. p. 169, note on My leg] 
 
2 20 NOTES. 
 
 was the phrase in our author's time for a bow, and it is still used in ludi- 
 crous language" (Malone). Cf. i Hen. IV. iv. 3. 168: "The more and 
 less came in with cap and knee." See also A. W. ii. 2. 10 and T. of A. 
 iii. 6. 107. 
 
 64. Hearing a cause. Warb. remarks : " It appears from this whole 
 speech that S. mistook the office oi prcefectiis iirbis for the tribune's of- 
 fice." But, as Wr. notes, he merely followed North (see extract on p. 172 
 above) in regarding the tribunes as magistrates, 
 
 65. A fosset-seller. A seller of faucets, which is the common word in 
 this country for what the English call " taps." Wr. quotes Palsgrave : 
 " Faucet to drawe Wiwe—faiccet z, m. ; broche a estavper le tiin ;" and Cot- 
 grave : " Guille : f. The quill, or faucet of a wine vessell." The French 
 forms given in Cotgrave are Faiilset and Fausset. 
 
 Rejourn. Adjourn ; used by S. only here. Burton, in his Anat. of 
 Melan., has it in the sense of refer : " To the scriptures themselves I re- 
 journe all such atheistical spirits." 
 
 69. Mummers. Maskers, or performers in a masquerade. Cotgrave 
 (quoted by Wr.) has *' Mommeur : m. A Mummer ; one that goes a 
 mumming." 
 
 Set up the bloody flag. That is, declare war. A red flag was the signal 
 for battle. Cf. J. C. v. i. 14 : " Their bloody sign of battle is hung out." 
 See also Hen. V. i. 2. loi. "The famous Dr. Sacheverell, in his sermon 
 at Oxford in 1702, on Proverbs, viii. 15, denounced as apostates and trai- 
 tors to the Church of England those of her members who were favour- 
 able to the dissenters, ' Against Whom every Man, that Wishes Its Wel- 
 fare, ought to Hang out the Bloody Flag, and Banner of Defiance.' " 
 (Wr.). 
 
 70. Bleeding. "That is, without having, as it were, dressed and cured 
 it" (Schmidt). The Coll. MS. has "pleading." 
 
 73. Fe?fecter. The only instance of the comparative in S. The super- 
 lative occurs in Sonn. 51. 10, Muck Ado, ii. i. 317, and Macb. i. 5. 2. 
 Giber ( = scoffer) he uses only here. 
 
 80. A botcher was a mender of old clothes. See T. N. p. 128, 
 
 83. Since Deucalion. That is, "since the great flood" {J. C. i. 2. 152). 
 The Greek Noah is mentioned again in W. T. iv. 4. 442. 
 
 84. God-defi. Good even. Cf. iv. 6. 21, 22 below ; and see R. and J. 
 p. 148, or Hen. V. p. 164. 
 
 96. Take my cap. Warb. proposed to read " cup" for cap. Of course, 
 as Johnson notes, he throws up his cap in thanks to Jupiter. Wr. sees 
 a reference to Jupiter as " the god of the sky." 
 
 Hoo 1 as "an exclamation of triumphant joy" (Schmidt) occurs again 
 in iii. 3. 137 below, and also in A. and C. ii. 7. 141. 
 
 107. Galen. " An anachronism of near 650 years," as Grey says ; but, 
 as Clarke remarks, " that Galen was known to his audiences as one of the 
 most celebrated medical authorities of antique times was quite sufficient 
 for Shakespeare's purpose." But the scholarly Bacon could never have 
 tolerated such an introduction of Galen "out of due time ;" and to our 
 mind these frequent and free-and-easy anachronisms are of themselves a 
 sufficient refutation of the theory that " Bacon wrote Shakespeare." 
 
ACT II. SCENE I 221 
 
 Empiridic. A word coined by Menenius (cf. 59 above), unless it 
 be a printer's corruption. The spelling of the folios is "Emperick- 
 qutique" or " Empericktique." Most of the modern eds. give "em- 
 pericutic." Pope has "emperic," and the Coll. MS. "empiric physic," 
 which is a very plausible emendation. 
 
 To. Compared to. Gr. 187. 
 
 115. On 'j brows. That is, he brings victory on his brows. For on V, 
 cf. 174 below, and on V in i. i. 11 above. 
 
 wd. The oaken garland. Cf. i. 3. 13 above and ii. 2. 94 below. See on 
 i. 9. 60 above. 
 
 122. Fiditised. A word jocosely formed from Aufidizis. 
 
 123. Possessed of. Informed of. See i Hen. IV. p. 186, or T. N. p. 139. 
 130. True pitrchasitig. Honest earning. Cf. M. of V. ii. 9. 43 : 
 
 " O, that estates, degrees, and offices 
 Were not deriv'd corruptly, and that clear honour 
 Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer!" 
 
 132. Pow, waw ! The folio readings pooh, pooh ! 
 
 139. His place. That is, the consulship. 
 
 141. One V the neck, etc. Warb. says : " Seven,— one,— and two, and 
 these make but nine ? Surely we may safely assist Menenius in his arith- 
 metic ;" and so he reads, " one too i' the thigh." But Upton interprets 
 the passage better : *' Seven wounds ? let me see ; one in the neck, two 
 in the thigh— nay, I'm sure there are more, there are nine that I know 
 of." 
 
 149, 150. Death, that . . . men die. We cannot but agree with W. that 
 this couplet is a mere playhouse " tag," added " to please the actor of 
 Volumnia with a round, mouth-filling speech." 
 
 Spirit (^= sprite) is monosyllabic ; as often. Gr. 463. 7V^rz/jj/( = sinewy) 
 is found nowhere else in S. For advanced {=^\\ii^d), see on i. 6. 6i above ; 
 and for declines (^falls), cf. T. and C. iv. 5. 189 : 
 
 "When thou hast hung thy advanc'd sword i' the air, 
 Not letting it decline on the declin'd." 
 
 151. ^ sennet. A particular set of notes on a trumpet. See Hen. VIII. 
 p. 176. 
 
 152. Co7'ioh gates. See on i. 8. 8 above. 
 
 153. Caius Marcius. The folios have *' Martins Caius," as in i. 9. 65 
 above. In i. 9. 59 they read " Caius Martins." 
 
 154. In the folios the line reads : " These in honour followes Martins 
 Caius Coriolanus.'''' 
 
 162. Deed -achieving honour. "The honour which springs from the 
 achievement of deeds" (Wr.). Wh. less happily explains it "Honour 
 that, by inciting men to, may be said itself to achieve great deeds." The 
 expression is thoroughly Shakespearian in its poetical condensation, as 
 forcible as it is "illogical." The sense is unmistakable, and any para- 
 phrase weakens if it does not obscure it. 
 
 _ 164. My gracious silence! And this is like unto it. How impertinent 
 IS Steevens's paraphrase : " thou whose silent tears are more eloquent 
 and grateful to me than the clamorous applause of the rest !" But of his 
 
222 NOTES. 
 
 illustrative quotations this from Daniel's Complaint of Rosamond, 1599, 
 is apt : 
 
 "Ah, beauty, syren, fair enchanting good! 
 Sweet silent rhetoric of persuading eyes ! 
 Dumb eloquence, whose power doth move the blood 
 More than the words or wisdom of the wise!" 
 
 But Shakespeare puts all that, and more, into his three words. Warb. 
 praises them, but evidently without understanding them : " The epithet 
 to silence shows it not to proceed from reserve or sullenness, but to be 
 the effect of a virtuous mind possessing itself in peace. The expression 
 is extremely sublime ; and the sense of it conveys the finest praise that 
 can be given to a good woman." For gracious, as expressing all that is 
 lovely and lovable, cf. K. John, iii. 4. 81 : " There was not such a gracious 
 creature born" (see also 96 just below), etc. 
 
 Clarke remarks on this passage : " This name for his wife, who, while 
 the others are receiving him with loud rejoicings, meets and welcomes 
 him with speechless happiness looking out from her swimming eyes, is 
 conceived in the very fulness of poetical and Shakespearian perfection. 
 It comprises the gracefulness of beauty which distinguishes her, and the 
 gracious efiect which her muteness of love-joy has upon him who shrinks 
 from noisy applause and even from merely expressed approbation ; and 
 it wonderfully concentrates into one felicitous word the silent softness 
 that characterizes Virgilia throughout. She is precisely the woman — 
 formed by nature gentle in manner, and rendered by circumstances spar- 
 ing in speech — to inspire the fondest affection in such a man as Corio- 
 lanus ; and we accordingly find him a passionately attached husband. 
 The few words he addresses to her in the course of the play are among 
 the most intense utterances of spousal enamouredness that even Shake- 
 speare has written. The dramatic portrait of Virgilia we have always, 
 considered to be one of the very finest of the poet's sketch-productions. 
 It is put in with the most masterly touches ; it paints her by very few 
 strokes, very few colours ; but they are so true, so exquisitely artistic, 
 that they present her to the life. She is supremely gentle, and, like most 
 women whose gentleness is their chief characteristic, singularly immov- 
 able, not to say obstinate, when once resolved ; she is habitually silent, 
 as the wife of such a man as Coriolanus and the daughter-in-law of such 
 a woman as Volumnia would assuredly become, being naturally of a gen- 
 tle disposition ; and this combination of gentleness and silence is won- 
 derfully drawn by Shakespeare throughout the character-portrait, and as 
 wonderfully condensed here into one expressive name." 
 
 170-180. I kjww not . . . folly. Arranged as by Pope ; fifteen irregu- 
 lar lines in the folios. 
 
 174. At very root. For the omission of the article, see Gr. 90. Cf. iv. 
 I. 47 below : " at gate," etc. 6>« 'j-=of his. Cf. 115 above. 
 
 l?>i. Afefienitis, ever, ever. "Always the same Menenius ; blunt as 
 ever" (Wh.). Cf. J. C. v. i. 63 : " Old Cassius still !" 
 
 187. Change of honojtrs. " Variety of honours ; 2.'& change of raiment, 
 among the writers of that time, signified variety of raiment" (Warb.). 
 Schmidt similarly? explains it as " new honours." Clarke thinks it means 
 
ACT II. SCENE I. 
 
 223 
 
 "exchange of titles," referring to his new surname of Coriolanus by 
 which he is to be known in place of Caius Marcius. For change = ex- 
 change, cf. Miu/i Ado, iv. I. 185, Hen. V. iv. 8. 30, J. C. v. 3. 51, etc. 
 Theo. has "charge" for change. 
 
 188. Inherited. Obtained, enjoyed. Cf. R. and J. i. 2. 30: 
 
 "even such delight 
 Among fresh female buds shall you this night 
 Inherit at my house," etc. 
 
 189. The buildings of my fancy. Cf. Lear, iv. 2. 85 : "all the building 
 in my fancy." 
 
 193. Sway. Cf. Lear, \. 2. 53 : "aged tyranny, who sways, not as it 
 hath power, but as it is suffered," etc. 
 
 195. Yotir. See on i. i. 121 above. 
 
 196. Rapture. Probably = a fit, a sense not inconsistent with the pri- 
 mary one of a violent seizure. Wh. explains it as "passion." "Rupt- 
 ure" is the conjecture of some anonymous critic — "probably Sairey 
 Gamp, or some other good woman who 'monthlies'" (W.). That a 
 child will " cry itself into fits " is still a common phrase among nurses, 
 as Steevens notes; and that rapture was sometimes = fit, he shows by 
 quoting The Hospital for London'' s Follies, 1602 : " Your darling will weep 
 itself into a rapture, if you take not good heed." On the other hand, it 
 must be admitted that excessive crying may cause rupture in infants ; 
 and Dr. Ingleby, in his Shakespeare Hermeneutics (p. 149) cites Phiora- 
 vante''s Secrets, 1582: "To helpe yong Children of the Rupture. The 
 Rupture is caused two waies, the one through weaknesse of the place, and 
 the other through much criying." 
 
 197. Chats him. Chats or gossips about him, or "talks Coriolanus" 
 (Wh.). This, as Schmidt points out, is not unlike the use of speak in 
 ii. 2. 99 below, Cymb. i. i. 24, Hen. VII I. iv. 2. 32, etc. " Claps " (but, as 
 Wr. asks, how could the nurse clap her hands and hold the baby at the 
 same time ?), " shouts," " chats of," and " cheers " (Coll. MS.) have been 
 suggested as emendations. 
 
 i^a//&m= kitchen- wench ; as in Per. iv. 3. 34. It was also spelt mawkin, 
 as it came to be pronounced. Wb. follows Johnson in deriving it from 
 Mall (cf. Temp. ii. 2. 50 and T. N. i. 3. 135) or Mary ; but it was also — 
 perhaps originally — a diminutive of Matilda. Wr. cites the Promptori- 
 Jim Parvulornm : " Malkyne, or Mawt, propyr name Matildis.''^ 
 
 198. Lockram. A cheap, coarse linen. Steevens quotes B. and F., 
 Spanish Curate, iv. 5 : 
 
 " I give per annum two hundred ells of lockram, 
 That there be no straight dealings in their linnens;" 
 
 and Glapthorne, Wit in a Constable, iv. i : 
 
 " Thou thoughtst because I did wear Lokram shirts. 
 Ide no wit." 
 
 Wr. states that by an act of Parliament, 21 Henry 8, c. 14, linen-drapers 
 were forbidden to import "lynnen clothe called Dowlas and Lockeram 
 of the Comodites wrought and made in Brytayne in the partes beyond 
 the See." This was repealed by 28 Henry 8, c. 4, which allows the im- 
 
224 NOTES. 
 
 portation of "Doulas or Lokerams." For the derivation of the word 
 (from Locrenan, in Brittany), see Wb. 
 
 Reechy. Dirty (literally, smoky). Cf Much Ado, iii. 3. 143 : " the 
 reechy painting ;" and see our ed, p. 147, or Ham. p. 240. By the way, 
 what a graphic picture of the " Biddy" decking herself out in her cheap 
 finery to see a procession go by, does the poet give us in these few words ! 
 The whole description is of the same vivid character, and sweeps us 
 along with the motley crowd in spite of ourselves. Cf. J. C. i. i. 42 fol. 
 
 199. Bulks. "The projecting parts of shops on which goods were ex- 
 posed for sale ; generally used by butchers and fishmongers. Florio 
 \ltal. Diet.) gives ' Banco ... a bulke or butchers stall ;' and * Balcone, 
 any window, namely a bay-window. Also a bulke or stall of a shop ' " 
 (Wr.). Cf. 0th. V. I. I : " Here, stand behind this bulk." Halliwell de- 
 fines it as " the front of a butcher's shop where the meat is laid." 
 
 200. Ridges hors''d, etc. " Ridges of house-roofs on which men of all 
 sorts of aspects sit astride" (Clarke). 
 
 202. Seld-shozim. For j^/^=seldom, cf P. P. 175: "And as goods 
 lost are seld or never found ;" and T. and C. iv. 5. 150 : "As seld I have 
 the chance." For the compound, Steevens compares Day, Humotir out 
 of Breath, 1607 : " O seld-seen metamorphosis !" and the old play of Hie- 
 ronimo : " Why, is not this a strange and seld-seen thing ?" Spenser has 
 selcouth (==seldom known) in F. Q. iv. 8. 14 : " But wondred much at his 
 so selcouth case." 
 
 For flamens (Roman priests), cf T. of A. iv. 3. 155 : "hoar the fla- 
 men," etc. 
 
 204. A vulgar station. A standing-place among the rabble. 
 
 205. The war of white and damask. Warb. thought it necessary to 
 change war to " ware ;" whereupon Johnson asks : " Has the commen- 
 tator never heard of roses contending v^'iih. lilies for the empire of a lady's 
 cheek.?" Steevens quotes R. of L.^i'. 
 
 " Their silent war of lilies and of roses 
 Which Tarquin viewed in her fair face's field;" 
 
 T of S. iv. 5. 30 : " Such war of white and red within her cheeks ;" 
 Chaucer, C. T 1040 (Tyrwhitt) : " For with the rose colour strof hire 
 hewe ;" Wooton, Damcetas' Madrigal, etc. : " Amidst her cheekes the 
 rose and lilly strive ;" and Massinger, Dtike of Florence : 
 
 "the lillies 
 Contending with the roses in her cheek." 
 
 Farmer cites Cleaveland's quaint variation : 
 
 "her cheeks, 
 Where roses mix: no civil war 
 Between her York and Lancaster." 
 
 To these we may add V. and A. 345, and Gascoigne, Praise of the Fair 
 Bridges : 
 
 "Upon whose lively cheeke, 
 To prove my judgment true, 
 The rose and lillie seeme to strive 
 For equall change of hewe." 
 
ACT 11. SCENE I. 
 
 225 
 
 No doubt many other instances of the well-worn figure might be found 
 in the old poets. 
 
 206. Nicely-gatvded. Schmidt considers this as "probably — scrupu- 
 lously treated as a precious thing, carefully guarded and preserved." 
 Wr. makes it simply = " daintily adorned." The former is perhaps more 
 in keeping with the context. 
 
 207. Pother, Spelt "poother" in the folios. Cf. Lear^ p. 217, note on 
 Pudder. 
 
 208. As if that. Johnson takes that to be the demonstrative ("as if 
 that god who leads him, whatsoever god he be ") ; but it is probably the 
 "conjunctional affix" (Gr. 287) ; as in Rich. III. iv. 4. 221 : " You speak 
 as if that I had slain my cousins ;" T. and C. v. 5. 41 : " As if that luck, 
 in very spite of cunning," etc. See also i. i. 112 above, and iii. 2. 52, iv. 
 2. 13, iv. 4. 5, and v. 3. 98 below. 
 
 Malone compares A. ajid C. iv. 8. 24 : 
 
 "he hath fought to-day 
 As if a god, in hate of mankind, had 
 Destroyed in such a shape." 
 
 212. Go sleep. See on i. 5. 26 and i. 9. 68 above. 
 
 213. He cannot, etc. " He cannot begin to carry his honours, and con- 
 clude his journey, /?'(?;?? the spot where he should begin, and to the spot 
 where he should end'''' (Malone). Cf. Cymb. iii. 2. 65 : 
 
 "How we may steal from hence, and for the gap 
 That we shall make in time, from our hence-going 
 And our return, to excuse." 
 
 217. Upon their ancient malice. On account of their old grudge against 
 him. Gf. Rich. 11. i. i. 9 : " If he appeal the duke on ancient malice." 
 
 218. Which. Referring of course to ^az^j-^, 
 
 220. As he is. As that he is. Gapell thought that we should read 
 " As that." 
 
 223. Napless. Threadbare. The folios have " Naples ;" corrected by 
 Rowe. See on ii. 2, 133 below. 
 • 22.^.'' T is right. 'T is true, 't is so- 
 
 231. As our good wills . "As our dispositions towards him are" (Ma-- 
 lone) ; or "as our best endeavours" (Wr.). On the other hand. Mason 
 (so Schmidt) makes wills a verb : " as our advantage requires ;" or " as 
 our advantage would have it" (Clarke). The latter is perhaps to be pre- 
 ferred. 
 
 233. For an end. "To cut the matter short" (Schmidt) ; or, perhaps, 
 " to bring matters to a crisis " (Wr.). The folios join the words to what 
 precedes, 
 
 234. Suggest. Prompt (Steevens) ; as in Rich. IT. i. i. loi : " Suggest 
 his soon-believing adversaries." See our ed. p. 153 (cf. p. 198). 
 
 235. Still. Ever, constantly; as in ii. 2. 129 below. Gr. 69. 
 
 To ''s power. To the utmost of his power, according to his power.^ Cf. 
 IV. T. v. 2. 182 : " I will prove so, sir, to my power;" Much Ado, iv. i. 
 220 : " That which we have we prize not^^o the worth ;" and T. and C. 
 i. I. 7 : " The Greeks are strong and skilful to their strength." Gr. 187. 
 
 P 
 
226 NOTES. 
 
 237. Dispropertied their freedoms. " Made their freedom no freedom ; 
 took from it all the properties of freedom" (Wh.). The verb occm's no- 
 where else in S. 
 
 240. The war. The folio has " their Warre ;" corrected by Hanmer. 
 A few editors retain " their." Mason conjectured " their way." 
 
 /'r^z'(«;/(^--" provender," which Pope substituted, and which S. else- 
 where uses ; as in M. JSl. D. iv. i. 35, 0th. i. i. 48, etc. Steevens cites 
 examples of provand {ohenev spelt provant or provau7it) from Stow, Ra- 
 leigh, and other writers of the time. Wr. remarks that Jamieson, in his 
 Scottish Dictionary^ gives the word in the {oxvas proviant and prowan, and 
 readers of ^ Legend of Mo7ttrose will remember that "provant" was fre- 
 quently in the mouth of the famous Captain Dugald Dalgetty. 
 
 On the passage, cf. J. C. iv. i. 21 fol. 
 
 244. Shall teach the people. " \i teach be the true reading, the sentence 
 is perhaps abruptly broken off" (Wr.). Hanmer's "touch" is a very 
 probable emendation, adopted by many editors. Malone explains teach 
 as "instruct the people in their duty to their rulers;" and Steevens "in- 
 struct the people in favour of our purposes." The latter, however, is 
 strongly inclined to read "reach," as Theo. does. Wh. makes teach — 
 " open their eyes." Mr. Crosby favours Seymour's conjecture of " tech " 
 = irritate (cf. tetchy). 
 
 245. Put upon V. Cf. ii. 3. 246 below: " by our putting on." See also 
 Lear, pp. 190, 199, or Ham. p. 257. 
 
 246. His. Needlessly changed by Pope to " the," and by Capell to " as." 
 249-252. You . . . gloves. Arranged as by D. The lines end Capitoll 
 
 . . . Consult . . . him . . . Clones in the folios. 
 251. Dumb. That is, deaf 2iX\^dL dumb. 
 
 253. Handkerchers. The folio spelling, indicating the pronunciation. 
 In 0th. the quarto has " handkercher," the folio "handkerchief." 
 
 254. Bended. S. uses bended and bent, both as past tense and parti- 
 ciple ; but bent when the latter is = inclined, prone, etc. 
 
 256. A shower and thunder, etc. Wr. compares for the arrangement 
 v. 3. 100 below. See also Macb. i. 3. 60 : 
 
 " Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear 
 Your favours nor your hate ;" 
 
 W. T. iii. 2. 164: 
 and Id. iii. 2. 206 : 
 
 "though I with death and with 
 Reward did threaten and encourage him ;" 
 
 "if you can bring 
 Tincture or lustre in her lip, her eye," etc. 
 
 258. The time. That is, the present time, the occasion ; as hearts for 
 the event is "courage to abide the issue" (Wr.). On event, cf. Ham. iv. 
 4. 41, 50. 
 
 259. Have with you. I '11 go with you. See A. Y.L. p. 146. 
 
 Scene II. — The stage-direction in the folio is ^^ Enter two Officers, to 
 lay Cushions, as it were, in the Capitoll.'''' This as it were was inserted 
 
ACT 11. SCENE I L 227 
 
 because, there being no scenery in the theatres of that day, no representa- 
 tion of the interior of the Capitol could be given (Malone). 
 
 3. Of. By. See on i. 2. 13 above. 
 
 5. Vengeance. The only instance of this colloquial adverb in S. It 
 grows out of its use as a curse ; as in iii. i. 262 below. 
 
 13. In. In regard to, about. Cf. Gr. 162. 
 
 14. Lets. For the ellipsis of the subject, see on i. 3. 58 above. 
 
 16. He waved. That is, he ivould waver. See Gr. 361, and cf. iv 6 
 1 15 below. Wr. cites M. of V. ii. i. 20 fol. He adds that in what follows 
 there is a "confusion of two constructions, 'he waved indifferently 'twixt 
 good and harm,' and/doing them neither good nor harm.'" Cf ii -x 221 
 below. ■ ^' 
 
 19. Opposite. Opponent. See T. N. p. 145. 
 
 Affect. Desire, seek. Cf. iii. 3. i, iv. 6. 33, and v. 3. 149 below. 
 
 23. As those. As that ^those. Cf. i. 5. 24 and i. 6. 27 above. 
 
 24. Bonneted. That is, took <?^ their bonnets, or caps. S. uses the verb 
 only here. Wr. quotes Cotgrave : " Bonneter. To put of his cap vnto " 
 Cf. m. 2. -]!, below. See also Rich. II. i. 4. 31 = *' Off goes his bonnet to 
 an oyster- wench ;" and the note in our ed. p. 169. Delius (followed by 
 Wh.) connects into their estimation and report with bonneted; that is 
 I' bonneted their way, made their way by dint of bonneting and ^servility' 
 into the favour of the people." K. thinks that bonjieted is:=:put on their 
 caps : " His ascent is not by such easy degrees as those who, having been 
 supple and courteous to the people, //// on their bonnets withozitanv fur- 
 ther deed.'''' " "^ 
 
 Without any further deed, etc. That is, without doing anything further 
 to win their good opinion. To have them z«/^ = literally, to get themselves 
 into. Wr. compares C. of E. ii. 2. 10 and T. ofS. ind. 2. 39. 
 _ 28. Ingrateful. S. uses both ingrateful and ungrateful. Cf. ii. i q and 
 IV. 5. 132 below. See also K. John, p. 180. 
 
 33. Of Concerning. Cf. Rich. III. iii. 4. 2 : " to determine of the 
 coronation." See also 2 Hen. IV. p. 183, note on Determine. 
 
 35. After-meeting. So we have after-inquiry {Cy?nb. v. 4. 189), after-loss 
 (Sonn. 90. 4), after-love [T G. of V. iii. I. 95, Rich. II v. 3. t,k), after-jiour- 
 ishment {Per. i. 2. 13), etc. "^ 
 
 36. Gratify. Requite. See T ofS. p. 141, or M. of V. p. 160. 
 
 40. Well-found. " Fortunately met with " ( Wr.) ; "found to be as great 
 as they were reported" (Schmidt). In the only other instance of the 
 compound in S. {A. W. ii. i. 105) it is = well-skilled, expert. See our ed. 
 p. 148. 
 
 42. Caius Marcius. The names are transposed in the folio, as in ii. i. 
 153 above. 
 
 43.^ Met. ^ Changed by Hanmer to " meet," and by Capell to " are 
 met." Cf. i. 9. 10 above. For a somewhat similar use of the past tense, 
 see Gr. 347. 
 
 45. Make tis think, etc. " Rather say that our means are too defective 
 to afford an adequate reward for his services, than suppose our wishes to 
 stretch out those means are defective" (Steevens). Wr. explains the 
 passage thus : " make us rather think that our state is deficient in the 
 
2 28 NOTES. 
 
 means of requiting his services, than that we are slack in extending its 
 power for this purpose to the utmost." 
 
 48. After. Afterwards ; as in Temp. ii. 2. 10 : " And after bite me," etc. 
 
 49. Your loving motion, etc. " Your kind interposition with the com- 
 mon people" (Johnson). 
 
 50. To yield what passes. To grant whatever is enacted or decided upon. 
 50-62. We are . . . your place. Arranged as by Pope ; prose in the 
 
 folios. 
 
 Convented. Convened; as in M.for M. v. i. 158 and Hen. VIII. v. i. 
 52. Cf. r.TV.p. 169. 
 
 51. Treaty. "Proposal tending to an agreement" (Schmidt). See K. 
 John, p. 149. Wr. remarks that entreaty was used in the same sense, and 
 cites Stow's Sumtnarie, 1595: " Dyuers entreatyes of peace were made 
 betwene the kyng of Englande & Fraunce, by meane of the byshoppe of 
 Rome, but none was concluded." 
 
 53. Our assembly. Warb. would read "your" for our, because until 
 the passing of the Lex Atinia the tribunes were not allowed to sit in the 
 Senate, but had benches outside ; " a fact no doubt of which Shakespeare 
 was either ignorant or to which he was indifferent" (Wr.). 
 
 54. Blest to do. Happy to do ; as in K. John, iii. i. 251 : 
 
 "and then we shall be blest 
 To do your pleasure, and continue friends." 
 
 56. That 's off. "That is nothing to the purpose" (Johnson); or "a 
 little off the matter," as Dogberry puts it {Much Ado, iii. 5. 10). 
 
 62. The stage-direction in the folios is, " Coriolanus rises, and offers to 
 goe away.^'' At the beginning of the scene it is said " Coriolanus stands,^^ 
 But from Brutus's remark in 67, it appears that he must afterwards have 
 taken his seat (Wr.). 
 
 63. Shame. Be ashamed ; as in A. Y. L. iv. 3. 136 ; 
 
 "I do not shame 
 To tell you what I was," etc. 
 See our ed. p. 192. 
 
 67. Disbench'd. Used by S. only here ; but we find bettch as a verb in 
 W. T. i. 2. 314 and Lear, iii. 6. 40. Cf bencher — %t\-\zXox in ii. i. 74 above. 
 69. Soothed. Flattered. Cf. soothing in i. 9. 44 above. 
 
 72. Alarum. The call to arms (Ital. alVarme). See Macb. p. 187, note 
 on Alarum'' d. 
 
 73. Monster'd. Made monstrotis or extraordinary. S. has the verb 
 again in Lear, i. I. 223 : " That monsters it." 
 
 74. How can he platter, etc. " How can he be expected to practise 
 flattery to others, who abhors it so much that he cannot hear it even when 
 oifered to himself?" (Johnson). 
 
 75. Thai V thousand, etc. Among whom there 's not one in a thousand 
 good for anything. 
 
 77. On 's. Of his. Cf. i. 3. 64 above. 
 
 81. Haver. Possessor; the only instance of the noun in S. 
 
 83. Singly. By any single man. 
 
 At sixteen years. North (see p. 170 above) says "a stripling." 
 
ACT 11. SCENE IL 229 
 
 84. Made a head for Rome. Raised an army to recover Rome. See 
 I Hen. IV. p. 173, note on Made head. Cf. also iii. i. i below. 
 
 87. Amazonian. Beardless as that of an Amazon. For chin the ist 
 and 2d folios have " Shinne ;" and for bristled all the folios have *"' brizled" 
 (corrected by Rowe). 
 
 88. Bestrid. Bestrode; that is, to defend him when fallen in battle^ 
 Cf. C.^/^.v. I. 192: 
 
 "When I bestrid thee in the wars and took 
 Deep scars to save thy life." 
 
 See also the quibble in i Heti. IV. v. i. 122, and the metaphor in 2 Hen. 
 IV. i. I. 207 and Macb. iv. 3. 4. Bestrid is the only form for the past tense 
 and participle in S. 
 
 91. Struck him on his knee. "This does not mean that he gave Tar- 
 quin a blow on his knee, but gave him such a blow as occasioned him to 
 fall on his knee : ' ad terram duplicato poplite Turnus ' " (Steevens). 
 
 92. Act the wo?nan, etc. That is, play female parts on the stage. In 
 the time of S. these parts were always taken by boys or young men. See 
 M. JV. D. p. 134, note on Let me not play a woman; and cf. A. Y. L. p. 201, 
 note on If I were a tuoman. 
 
 94. Pupil age. Minority ; now written as one word, pupilage. Cf. i 
 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 106: "to the pupil age of this present twelve o'clock at 
 midnight." 
 
 95. Man-enter'' d. Initiated into manhood. Cf. A. W. ii. i. 6: "After 
 well-enter'd soldiers ;" that is, after being well initiated as soldiers. 
 
 97. Lurch'' d all swords of the garland. That is, robbed them all of the 
 prize. For the derivation oihcrch, see Wb. or Skeat. Cf. also Edinburgh 
 Review., July, 1869, article on " Shakespearian Glossaries." Steevens quotes 
 B. J., Silent Woman, v. i : " Well, Dauphine, you have lurch'd your friends 
 of the better half of the garland, by concealing this part of the plot." 
 Malone at one time thought that this might be a sneer at the passage in 
 the text ; but on finding a similar phrase in a pamphlet by Thomas Nash, 
 he came to the conclusion that it was a common expression of the time. 
 Wr. is inclined to attach more weight to the coincidence than Malone felt 
 justified in doing, and to see in Jonson a reminiscence of Shakespeare. 
 If he is right, Coriolanus must have been written before 1609, the year in 
 which The Silent Woman appeared. Cf. p. 10 above. 
 
 99. Speak him home. Describe him thoroughly, or as he deserves. Cf. 
 iii. 3. I below. See also Cymb. i. i. 24: " You speak him far," etc. 
 
 loi. Weeds. The reading of the ist folio, changed in the 2d, as in some 
 modern eds., to "waves." Steevens says that ''weeds, instead of falling 
 below a vessel under sail, cling fast about the stem of it ;" but K. replies 
 that " S. was not thinking of the weed floating on the billow ; the Avon 
 or the Thames supplied him with the image of weeds rooted at the bot- 
 tom." V. adds: "The weeds oi \\i& fiats of the Hudson, and the inlets 
 of Long Island Sound, have so often furnished the American editor with 
 a practical illustration of this image, that he has no hesitation in adopting 
 this as the true reading." 
 
 103. Stem. Carrying out the comparison in vessel. 
 
230 NOTES. 
 
 104. It took. It "told," as we say; it left its impress. The folios read 
 "it tooke from face to foot: He," etc. Tyrwhitt corrected the pointing. 
 
 106. Was tini'd, etc. "The cries of the slaughtered regularly followed 
 his motion, as music and a dancer accompany each other" (Johnson). 
 
 107. The mortal gate. The fatal gate, or that which it was death to 
 enter. Cf. mortal in iii. I. 297 below. It inay be = "made the scene of 
 death," as Johnson explains it. 
 
 Which he painted, etc. " The figure of his sword being death's stamp 
 and marking his victims is here carried on. Coriolanus set his bloody 
 mark upon the gate, or upon the city, indicating that it was his by an in- 
 evitable fate, as plague-stricken houses were painted with a red cross " 
 (Wr.). 
 
 108. Shunless. Used by S. only here. It belongs to a class of words 
 to which some modern critics have made objection; asking, for instance, 
 in the case oi fadeless, " what is difade .?" 
 
 no. Like a planet. An astrological allusion. Cf Ham. i. i, 162: "The 
 nights are wholesome; then no planets strike ;" and see our ed. p. 177. 
 
 III. Gajt. Began; but not a contraction of that word. See Macb. 
 p. 153, note on Gitts. 
 
 113. Fatigate. Fatigued; used by S. nowhere else. Wr. quotes Min- 
 sheu. Guide into Tongues, 161 7 : " To fatigate or make wearie." For the 
 form, cf. " articulate " in i Hen. IV. v. i. 72, etc. Gr. 342. 
 
 115. Rtm reeking o''er, etc. " Coriolanus is compared to a continuous 
 stream of reeking blood, which marked the course of his slaughtering 
 sword" (Wr.). 
 
 1 19. With measure. " That is, no honour will be too great for him ; 
 he will show a mind equal to any elevation " (Johnson). 
 
 123. Misery. Explained by Warb. and others as = avarice, miserli- 
 ness ; but perhaps simply = wretchedness, miserable poverty. 
 
 125. To end it. Johnson would read " to spend it," explaining the pas- 
 sage thus : " To do great acts for the sake of doing them ; to spend his 
 life for the sake of spending it." But, as Malone remarks, "the words 
 afford this meaning without any alteration." 
 
 129, Still. Ever. Cf ii. I. 235 above. 
 
 133. Put on the gown, etc. As Wr. notes, S. was indebted for this (as 
 for " the napless vesture of humility " in ii. I. 223) to North's translation 
 of Plutarch, there being no such custom in ancient Rome that candidates 
 for an office should appear in poor and threadbare garments. Rather 
 they whitened their togas with pipeclay to give them as good an appear- 
 ance as possible, and were hence called candidati. It is not difficult to 
 trace the origin of the mistake. Plutarch, in his life of Coriolanus (c. 14) 
 merely says that it was usual for candidates for an office to stand in the 
 Forum dressed in a toga (Ijuanov) only, without the tunica [xitmv) or 
 close-fitting garment underneath. In the QucEstiones Romajice, 49, he 
 makes the same statement on the authority of Cato. Now Amyot, in his 
 French translation, renders the expression correctly enough, " une robbe 
 simple, sans saye dessoubs," but North (see p. 178 above) translates this 
 " only with a poor gown on their backs, and without any coat under- 
 neath ;" and just below he has " in such mean apparel " for the French 
 
ACT 11. SCENE III. 
 
 231 
 
 " en si humble habit." Shakespeare copies North's mistake, and em- 
 phasizes it. Bacon (see on ii. i. 107 above) would have corrected it. 
 
 134-139. For my wounds^ . . . have. Arranged as by Capell ; in the 
 folios the lines end siifferage . . . doing . . . Voyces . . . Ceremonie . . . 
 too V . . . Custome . . . haiie. 
 
 135. Pass. Pass by, disregard ; as in K. John^ ii. i. 258 : " But if you 
 fondly pass our proffer 'd offer." 
 
 136. Voices. Votes ; as often below. Cf Rich. III. iii. 2. 53, iii. 4. 20, 29, 
 Hen. VIII. \. 2. 70, ii. 2. 94, etc. 
 
 140. Your form. Hanmer substituted "the form;" hvA. your form 
 means "the form which custom prescribes to you " (Steevens). 
 
 144. Unaching. The folios have "unaking;" the verb being spelt 
 ake^ the noun ache. See Temp. p. 119, note on Aches. 
 
 147. We recommend to yozi, Qic. We commit to you the presentation 
 of our purpose to the people. For recommend, cf T. N. v. i. 94 : 
 
 " denied me mine own purse, 
 Which I had recommended to his use 
 Not half an h&ur before." 
 
 152. Require them. Ask them, make his request to them. Cf Hen, 
 VIII. ii. 4. 144: " In humblest manner I require your highness," etc. 
 
 155. Here, oit the market-place. The folio has " heere on," etc. Many 
 eds. follow Theo. in putting a colon after here, connecting what follows 
 with the next line. 
 
 Scene III. — i. Once. " Once for all " (Warb.). Steevens cites C. of E. 
 iii. I. 89 : "Once this, your long experience," etc. Farmer quotes Gas- 
 zo\gxi^, Supposes : " Once, twenty-four ducattes he cost me." See also 
 Much Ado, p. 125, note on '' T is once. The folios have "Once if," etc., 
 which might be explained as an instance of the transposition of the ad- 
 verb (cf Gr. 420), but on the whole it seems better to follow Theo. in the 
 insertion of the comma. 
 
 9. Ingrateful. See on ii. 2. 28 above. 
 
 14. Once. " Once when " (Rowe's reading). See Gr. 244. W. com- 
 pares the modern British barbarism of " immediately I did thus he did 
 so (meaning as soon as or when I did, etc.)." Directly is used in the same 
 bad way. 
 
 15. Stuck not. Wr. remarks that the expression was once in very good 
 use and had nothing colloquial about it. In i Esdras, iv, 21 we find, " He 
 sticketh not to spend his hfe with his wife." Cf. Sonn. 10. 6 : " That 
 'gainst thyself thou stick'st not to conspire." 
 
 The many-headed multittide. Cf iii. i. 93 and iv. I. i below. 
 
 17. Auburn. The first three folios read " Abram," which was one of 
 the forms of the word. See R. and J. p. 163, note on Young Abraham 
 Cupid. 
 
 20. Consent of. Agreement upon. 
 
 2\. Should be. Would be. Cf Gr. 326. 
 . 28. In a fog. See on i. 4. 30 above. 
 
 30. Conscience sake. The possessive inflection was often omitted in 
 
232 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 dissyllables ending with a sibilant (Gr. 217, 471), and sometimes before 
 sake in other cases. Cf. " sentence end " in A. Y. L. iii. 2. 144, " fashion 
 sake " in Id. iii. 2. 271, " heaven sake " in K. John, iv. i. 78, etc. 
 
 31. You may, you may. That is, go on, go on, make fun of me as you 
 will. Steevens quotes T. and C. iii. i. 118: 
 
 *' Helen. Ay, ay, prithee now. By my troth, sweet lord, thou hast a fine forehead. 
 Pandarus. Ay, you may, you may." 
 
 34. The greater part. The majority. The folio points "carries it, I 
 say ;" corrected by Theo. 
 
 39. By particulars. One by one. Cf. iv. 7. 13 below. 
 
 45. What must, etc. Arranged as in Pope. The folio reads ; 
 
 " Wliat must I say, I pray Sir ? 
 Plague vpon't, I cannot bring 
 My tougne," etc. 
 
 49. Some certain. Cf. L. L. L. v. i. 112 : " Some certain special hon- 
 ours." See also Hen. V. \. i. 87, i. 2. 247, Rich. III. i. 4. 124, etc. 
 
 53. Like the virtues, etc. " Those virtuous precepts, which the divines 
 preach up to them, and lose by them as it were, by their neglecting the 
 practice" (Theo.). S. was evidently thinking of modern preachers rather 
 than ancient priests. Hanmer reads " advices " for virtues, and " on 'em " 
 for by ''em. 
 
 56. Wholesome. Rational. Steevens compares Ham. iii. 2. 328 : " If 
 it shall please you to make me a wholesome answer," etc. 
 
 Bid them, etc. Perhaps a question, as Mr. Crosby suggests. 
 
 57. Re-enter two of the Citizejts. The folios have Enter three of the Citi- 
 zens ;'' corrected by Rowe, who also changed the old "3 C?/." before 59, 
 63, and 66 to " I OV." 
 
 62. Ay, not mine own desire. The 1st folio has *' I, but mine owne de- 
 sire ;" the 2d changes " but " to " no," and the 3d and ,4th to ". not." 
 The reading in the text is Rowe's. 
 
 71. Kindly, sir, I pray. The reading of the 4th folio ; the others have 
 " Kindly sir, I pray," etc. Johnson reads " Kindly, sir V and Capell 
 " Kindly } Sir," etc. 
 
 75. A match. A bargain ! Cf. Cy7nb. iii. 6. 30 : 
 
 " Cadwal and I 
 Will play the cook and servant ; 't is our match." 
 
 78. An V were to give again, etc. *' The naturalness of the writing here — 
 with this break in the speech, and with the half-expressed but most ex- 
 pressive sentences of puzzled annoyance and grudged consent — is inimi- 
 table. There is no one like S. for conveying perfect zV/^pression through 
 imperfect ^^cpression " (Clarke). 
 
 79. Stand with. Be consistent with ; as in A. Y. L. ii. 4. 91 : " if it 
 stand witlr honesty," etc. 
 
 89. My 'sworn brother. Alluding to the fratres pirati of the middle 
 ages, who were sworn to share each other's fortunes. See A. Y. Z. p. 
 199, or Rich. II. p. 208. 
 
ACT II. SCENE III 
 
 233 
 
 91. Condition. Disposition; as in v. 4. 10 below. See Hen. V. pp. 183, 
 186. 
 
 93. Be off. That is, off with the hat. 
 
 95. BountifuL Changed by Rowe to " bountifully ;" but adjectives 
 are often used as adverbs. See on ii. i. 57 above. Gr. I. 
 
 106. Stai've. Spelt " sterue " in the folio ; as in M. of V. iv. i. 38, R. and 
 y. i. I. 225, T. of A. i. I. 257, and Cymb. i. 4. 180. See M. of V. p. 158. 
 
 107. Hire. The 1st folio has " higher ;"' either the mistake of a copy- 
 ist writing from dictation (Malone), or, as Wr. suggests, that of the com- 
 positor from " carrying several words in his mind and so spelling as he 
 pronounced them to himself" 
 
 108. Wolvish toge. " Rough hirsute gown " (Johnson). The 1st fo- 
 lio has " Wooluish tongue," changed in the 2d to " Woolvish gowne." 
 "Tongue" is very probably a misprint for togue or toge ( = toga) ; like 
 " Tongued " in the folio reading of 0th. i. i, 25, where the quarto has 
 " toged." See Olh. p. 155. Wolvish may also be a misprint, and "wool- 
 len," "woolish," " woolless " (Coll. MS.), "foolish," etc., have been pro- 
 posed as emendations. Clarke suggests that the word may be " wool- 
 'nish," an abbreviation of " wooUenish." Wr. thinks that " Coriolanus 
 the soldier in his citizen's gown of humility felt like a wolf in sheep's 
 clothing ;" but the explanation seems rather forced. 
 
 109. Of Hob and Dick. As we say, "of Tom, Dick, and Harry." Wr. 
 quotes Cotgrave : " Pied gri. A clowne, boore, hinde, swaine; a coun- 
 trey hob." ZT^j/^ = Robert. Cf L. L. L. v. 2. 464: " Some mumble-news, 
 some trencher knight, some Dick." 
 
 no. Vouches. For the noun, cf. M.for M. ii. 4. 156, 0th. ii. i. 147, etc. 
 By needless he seems to mean that they ought not to be needed when the 
 senate has once settled the question. 
 
 112. Antiqjt-e. Accented on the first syllable, as regularly in S. See 
 A. V. L. p. 152, or Macb. p. 234. On the passage, see p. 20 above. 
 
 118. Moe. More. See A. Y. L. p. 176. 
 
 122-124. I have . . . Consul. Arranged as by Pope ; in the folios the 
 lines end Voyces . . . more . . . Consult. 
 
 And heard of . This must be thrown in contemptuously, like the some 
 less, some more in the next line. The plebeians do not see at the time 
 that he is mockiiig them (152) while begging their voices. 
 
 131. Your limitation. The time required of you. Lines 131-134 are 
 arranged as by Pope ; in the folios they end Limitation . . . Voyce . . . 
 inuested . . . Senate. 
 
 132. Remains. It remains ; as in Hajfi. ii. 2. 100 : " And now re- 
 mains," etc. Gr. 404. 
 
 133. The official marks. " The insignia of office " (Wr.). 
 
 137. Upon your approbation. That is, for approving or confirming your 
 election. Cf. 245 below ; and for upon, ii. 2. 51 above. 
 
 145. ''T is warin at ''s heart. Wh. explains this " There is rage in his 
 heart ;" but it more likely refers to the gratification he evidently feels, 
 though too proud to express it. 
 
 i^d. Weeds. Garments. See J/. iV; Z>. p. 149, Cf 215 below. 
 
 162. Aged custom. Warb. notes that this was but eighteen years after 
 
234 NOTES. 
 
 the expulsion of the kings ; but the poet was probably misled by Plu- 
 tarch's reference to the custom as one of a former time. See p. 178 
 above. 
 
 167. No further. Nothing further to do; an ellipsis not unlike scores 
 of others in S. 
 
 168. Ignorant to see ''t. "Did you want knowledge to discern it?" 
 (Johnson). 
 
 \']0. To yield, ^j- to yield. Cf. Gr. 281. 
 
 171. Lesson' d. For the verb, cf. Rich. III. i. 4. 246: "As he lesson'd 
 us to weep ;" and see our ed. p. 196. 
 
 175. Weal. " The weal o' the common " (i. I. 144), or commonwealth. 
 For the transitive arrive, cf. J. C. i.2. iio: "arrive the point propos'd." 
 See also R. of L. 781 and 3 Hen. VI. v. 3. 8. 
 
 178. Plebeii. The only instance of the form in S. 
 
 182. Would think tipon yoti, etc. " Would retain a grateful remem- 
 brance of you, etc." (Malone). 
 
 184. Statiding your friendly lord. Wr. compares 2 Hen. IV. iv. 3. 89 : 
 " Stand my good lord, pray, in your good report." 
 
 185. Touch'' d. Tested as with a touchstone. See K. John, p. 153. 
 
 186. Pluck' d. See on i. 3. 6 above, and add i. 3. 29 and iii. 1.309 to 
 the examples there given. 
 
 188. Cause. Occasion; as in i. 6.83 above. 
 
 190. Article. Condition, restriction. 
 
 191. Putting him to rage. Cf. iii. 3. 25 below : " Put him to choler." 
 194. Free contempt. " Contempt open and unrestrained " (Johnson). 
 
 198. Heart. " Sense, wisdom " (Wh.). Cf. i. 1. 109 above : " the coun- 
 sellor heart." 
 
 199. Rectorship. Guidance, government ; used by S. only here. 
 199-202. Have you . . . tongues? As arranged by Pope; three lines 
 
 in the folios, ending ^j/J'^r . . . mock . . , to7/gues ? 
 
 Of him bestow. Cf. A. W. iii. 5. 113 : "I will bestow some precepts of 
 this virgin ;" and T. N. iii. 4. 2 : " what bestow of him V Gr. 175. 
 
 206. / twice, etc. The reading of the folios (" I, twice " in the 4th fo- 
 lio), which Rowe took to be = " Ay, twice," etc. 
 
 To piece ''em. Cf. Lear, \. i. 202: "Or all of it, with our displeasure 
 piec'd," etc. 
 
 213. Enforce his pride. " Object his pride, and enforce the objection " 
 (Johnson) ; lay stress upon it. 
 
 215. Weed. See on 146 above. 
 
 218. Portance. Bearing, demeanour; used by S. only here and in 0th. 
 
 i. 3- 139- 
 
 219. Most. Omitted by Pope. Ungj-avely =.yi\\\\o\x\. dignity. 
 
 220-226. Lc:y . . . do. Arranged as by Capell ; six lines in the fo- 
 lios, ending Tribunes . . . betweene . . . him . . . commandment . . . 
 that . . . do. 
 
 222. But is " unnecessary, and inserted only in consequence of the pre- 
 ceding parenthetical clause " (Wr.). 
 
 225. Affections. Inclinations ; as in i. i. 97 above. 
 
 228. To voice. To vote. Cf. the use of the noun in i, 33, 73, etc., above. 
 
ACT III. SCENE/. 
 
 235 
 
 230. Youngly. C{. Sonn. ii. 3 : " And that fresh blood which youngly 
 thou bestowest." It is an adjective in Gower, Conf. Am. : " with a 
 yongly face." 
 
 237. And Censorinns, etc. The folios read : 
 
 " hither 
 And Nobly nam'd, so twice being Censor, 
 Was his great Ancestor." 
 
 Something has evidently been lost, which the corresponding passage in 
 North (see p. 169 above) helps us to supply, though the editors do not 
 agree on the precise wording of it. Pope pieced it out thus : 
 
 " And Censorinus, darling of the people 
 (And nobly nam'd so for twice being censor), 
 Was," etc. 
 
 Sr. reads : " One of that family nam'd Censorinus ;" Delius : " And Cen- 
 sorinus, that was so surnam'd ;" Leo : " And Censorinus, nam'd so by 
 the people ;" and Keightley : " And Censorinus, he that was so nam'd." 
 Dr. Nicholson proposes : " And he that was surnamed Censorinus." The 
 reading in the text is that of D. The Camb. editors had given, " And 
 Censorinus, nobly named so," etc., which D. modified in order to pre- 
 serve the "nam'd" of the folio. This reading has the merit of leaving 
 the words of the folio still in their order, and of introducing what must 
 have been the significant fact that Censorinus was chosen by the people ; 
 and it does not lug in darling in a way entirely unlike the poet's use of 
 the word elsewhere. 
 
 As Malone points out, Plutarch does not say that any of these persons 
 was ancestor of Coriolanus, but only that they were oi the same house or 
 family. Caius Martins Rutilius did not obtain the name of Censorinus 
 till the year of Rome 487, and the Marcian aqueduct was not built until 
 the year 613, nearly 350 years after the death of Coriolanus. The ruins 
 of the Aqua Marcia are still one of the most striking features of the Ro- 
 man Campagna. A modern aqueduct, 33 miles long, has been built to 
 bring the same waters to the city. It was completed in September, 1870, 
 and the water is considered to-day the best in Rome. 
 
 243. Scaling, etc. " That is, weighing Mx's, past and present behaviour" 
 (Johnson). 
 
 246. Putting on. Instigation; as in 0th. ii. i. 313, etc. See also on 
 ii. I. 245 above. 
 
 250. This mutiny, etc. It would be better to risk this mutiny than 
 to wail for a worse one that would unquestionably come. 
 
 252. Iti. Into. Cf iii. I. 33 below: "fall in broil." Gr. 159. 
 
 253. Both observe, etc. " Mark, catch, and improve the opportunity 
 which his hasty anger will afford us" (Johnson). 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene I. — i. Made netv head. Raised a new army. See on ii. 2. 
 above. 
 
236 NOTES. 
 
 3. Our swifter composition. Our making terms the sooner. For com- 
 position, cf. Macb. p. 156. 
 
 5. Make road. Cf. Hen. V. i, 2. 138: "the Scot, who will maice road 
 upon us," Wr. cites I Sam. xxvii. 10. 
 
 6. Worn. Worn out, exhausted. Cf. A. V. L. ii. 4. 38 : " Wearing thy 
 hearer in thy mistress' praise;" and see our ed. p. 158. Cf. A. W. p. 
 
 175. 
 
 7. In our ages. In our day, " the age of any of tts " (Wh.). We have 
 the plural in a different sense m W. T. iv. 4. 78: 
 
 "well you fit our ages 
 With flowers of winter." 
 
 9. On safe -guard. "With a convoy, a guard appointed to protect 
 him" (Steevens). 
 
 10. For. Because ; as in v. 2, 84 below. Gr. 151. 
 
 16. To hopeless restitution. Beyond all hope of restitution. 
 
 23. Prank them. " Plume, deck, dignify themselves " (Johnson). See 
 T. N. p. 141. Wr. cites Cotgrave: " Ajolier. To pranke, tricke vp, set 
 out, make fine." Steevens compares M.forM.\\.2. 118: "Drest in a 
 little brief authority." 
 
 24. Against all noble sufferance. Past the endurance of the nobility. 
 29. The noble and the common. The folio reading ; changed by Rowe 
 
 to " the nobles and the commons." Cf. com?non in i. i. 144 ; and for noble, 
 2 Hen. IV. iv. 3. 59. 
 
 43. When corn was given, etc. See North, p. 179 above. 
 
 44. ScandaPd. For the verb, cf. J. C.\. 2. 76: "And after scandal 
 them." See also Cymb. iii. 4. 62. 
 
 47. Sithence. Since ; an old form used by S. only here and in A. W. 
 i. 3. 124, where it is a conjunction. For sith, which he uses often, see 
 Ham. pp. 201, 246,253. Gr. 132. See also p. 180 above. 
 
 48. You are like, etc. You are likely, etc. Theo. gives the speech to 
 Coriolanus, as many of the editors do, and at first sight the reply seems 
 to favour the change; but, as K. remarks, the interruption by Cominius 
 gives spirit and variety to the scene. The yours in the reply might be 
 addressed to Cominius as identified with the interests of Coriolanus : 
 the business oi your party. 
 
 49. Each way to better yours. If this were given to Coriolanus, Clarke's 
 explanation might be accepted: "In all respects to improve upon your 
 method of informing the people, which it would be your busines* to do 
 were you to become consul." 
 
 50. Yo7td. Not a contraction oi yonder, as often printed. See Temp. 
 p. 121. 
 
 58. Abus'd. Deceived ; as often. See Ham. p. 215, or Oth. p. 158. 
 Set on. It is a question whether set on here = instigated to this, or 
 
 whether it should be separated from what precedes, and made impera- 
 tive =go on ; as in J. C. \. 2. 11 : " Set on ; and leave no ceremony out." 
 The former is favoured by 37 above, and the latter by 112 below. 
 
 Paltering. Shuffling, equivocation. See J. C. p. 145, or Macb. p. 254. 
 
 59. Rome. Steevens would read " Romans," for the measure. 
 
ACT III. SCENE L 237 
 
 60. Rub. Impediment, obstacle ; *' a metaphor from the bowling- 
 green " (Malone). See Rich. II. p. 197 ; and cf. K. John, iii. 4. 128. 
 
 Dishonour' d. An adjective = dishonourable (Schmidt); as in Lear,'\. 
 I. 231: "dishonour'd step." Cf. honour' d in 72 below, and desei'ved= 
 deserving in 292. See Gr. 374 (cf. 294). 
 
 iP(2/j^/>'= treacherously (Johnson). 
 
 61-62. Tell . . . again. As in Pope; in the folios the first line ends 
 with speech. 
 
 64-68. Now . . . again. Arranged as by Capell ; in the folios the lines 
 end will . . . pardons . . . Meyrjie . . . flatter . . • againe. 
 
 66. Many. The ist folio has "Meynie ;" the 2d and 3d folios " Meyny." 
 We find "meiny" ( = retinue, attendants) in Lear, ii. 4. 35 (see our ed. 
 p. 208), but here many, which is the reading of the 4th folio, seems bet- 
 ter. Cf 2 Hen. IV. i. 3. 91 : " O thou fond many, with what loud ap- 
 plause, etc. See our ed. p. 159. 
 
 Let them, etc. " Let them look in the mirror which I hold up to them, 
 a mirror which does not flatter, and see themselves" (Johnson). 
 
 69. Soothijtg. Flattering. See on ii. 2. 69 above. 
 
 70. Cockle. A weed {Agrostemma githago) which grows in cornfields. 
 The metaphor is taken from Plutarch. See p. 179 above. Cf L. L. L. 
 iv. 3. 383 : " Sow'd cockle reap'd no corn." 
 
 78. Measles. The word originally (see Wb.) meant both leprosy and 
 lepers ; and here, as Clarke notes, the two senses appear to be combined. 
 S. uses the word nowhere else. 
 
 79. Tetter. The only instance of the verb in S. Compare the noun 
 (^eruption) in Ham. i. 5. 71 and T. and C. v. i. 27. 
 
 80-85. ^'^'^ speak . . . sleep. Arranged as by Capell ; in the folios the 
 lines end God . . . Infirmity . . . know V . . . his . . . Choller ? . . . sleep. 
 82. Of their iytfirmity. As weak as they. 
 
 89. Triton. The only allusion in S. to Neptune's trumpeter. Mi7i- 
 ?«ciwj=" small fry" (Warb.). The English editors think it necessary to 
 explain the word, but it is in familiar use in this country. Ci.L.L. L. i. 
 I. 251. 
 
 90. Hts absohde ' shall.'' Wr. compares Macb. iii. 6. 40. See pp. 13, 21 
 above. 
 
 From the canon. Johnson explained this as "contrary to the estab- 
 lished rule;" but Mason makes it=" according to the rule; alluding to 
 the absolute veto of the tribunes, the power of putting a stop to every 
 proceeding." "Accordingly," he adds, "Coriolanus, instead of disput- 
 ing this power of the tribunes, proceeds to argue against the power it- 
 self, and to inveigh against the patricians for having granted it." The 
 latter explanation, as Clarke remarks, is favoured by what Sicinius says 
 in iii. 3. 13 fol. below. The passage is a curious illustration of the di- 
 rectly opposite sense which this little vioxdfrom may give to" a statement. 
 Cf the play upon the word in Rich. III. iv. 4. 258 fol. 
 
 91. O good. The folios have " O God !" The correction was made 
 by Pope (suggested by Theo.). 
 
 92. Reckless. Wr. notes that the word is spelt "wreaklesse" and 
 " wreakless " in the folios, as in M.for M. iv. 2. 150 ; " Carelesse, wreak- 
 
238 NOTES. 
 
 lesse, and fearlesse of what 's past, present, or to come ;" and 3 Hen. VI. 
 V. 6. 7 : " So flies the wreaklesse shepherd from y® Wolfe." 
 
 93. Given Hydra here to choose, etc. Allowed this " many-headed mul- 
 titude " (see ii. 3. 15 above) to choose, etc. Here is changed to "leave" 
 in the Coll. MS. ; and to "heart" by D. (Leo's conjecture); but no al- 
 teration is required by either sense or syntax. 
 
 For other allusions to Hydra, see i Hen. IV. p. 201, note on Like Hy 
 dra^s heads. Cf. Hen. V. i. i. 35. See also iv. 1. 1 below. 
 
 95. Horn. Carrying out the idea of Triton, blowing "his wreathed 
 horn," as Wordsworth calls it. 
 
 Monster'' s. The folios have " Monsters," the regular form of the pos- 
 sessive in the printing of that day. Some editors follow Capell in read- 
 ing "monster;" but, as Wr. notes, the construction is the same as in 
 
 6>/;z^. ii. 3. 149 : .,_, 
 
 ■^ vj -r> t< Shrew me, 
 
 If I would lose it for a revenue 
 
 Of any king's in Europe ;" 
 
 and Rich. II. iii. 4. 70 : 
 
 " Letters came last night 
 To a dear friend of the good duke of York's." 
 
 96. /;/. Into. See on ii. 3. 252 above. 
 
 98. Vail your ignorance. "Cause your ignorance, which has allowed 
 him to have this power, to sink before it " (Wr.) ; or " let your admitted 
 ignorance take a lower tone and defer to their admitted superiority " 
 (Clarke). For vail— lower, let fall, cf. M. of V. i. i. 28: "Vailing her 
 high-top lower. than her ribs ;" and see our ed. p. 128. Cf. Ham. p. 179. 
 The Coll. MS. has "impotence" for ignorance, and St. conjectures "sig- 
 norie " or " signories." 
 
 For awake your lenity, cf. " wake your patience " in Much Ado, v. i. 
 102 ; and see our ed. p. 164. Cf. also Rich. III. p. 191, note on Move our 
 patience. 
 
 99. Learn'' d. So in the folios. Cf T. N. i. 5. 279 : " Invoices well di- 
 vulg'd, free, learn'd, and valiant." The usual form in S. is learned, as 
 now. Cf iii. 2. 77 below. 
 
 103. The greafst taste, etc. The predominant flavour is most like 
 theirs. For contracted superlatives, see Gr. 473. Cf. iv. 6. 70 below. 
 YoY palate as a verb, cf. T. and C. iv. I. 59 and A. and C. v. 2. 7. 
 
 no. Confusion. Ruin, destruction; as often. Cf 190 below. Here 
 the word is a quadrisyllable, as in M. N. D. i. i. 149 : " So quick bright 
 things come to confusion." Gr. 479. 
 
 112. Take the one by the other. " Mutually destroy each other's power " 
 (Clarke). Cf. iv. 4. 20 below. 
 
 1 14. As "'twas us''d, etc. " As they used to do in the cities of Greece " 
 (see p. 179 above). 
 
 115. Sofnetime. Formerly; as often. Cf. v. i. 2 below. Sometimes 
 was occasionally used in the same way. See Gr. (i%a. 
 
 120. More worthier. The 2d folio has " vvorthie " (the 3d and 4th 
 "worthy") for worthier; but double comparatives are common in S. 
 SeeGr. II. 
 
ACT III. SCENE I. 239 
 
 121. Our recompense. A reward /r^»? us ; the our being "subjective," 
 not " objective." 
 
 124. Thread the gates. Cf. Rich. II. v. 5. 17 : "To thread the postern 
 of a needle's eye." Wr. thinks that thread is = file through one by one, 
 in contrast to thronging to the service. 
 
 129. Motive. The folios have "native," which the Camb. ed., Wr., 
 and Clarke retain. Capell explains it as "native cause," getting the hint 
 from unborti. But motive, suggested by Heath, and adopted by Sr., D., 
 W., and others, is probably what S. wrote. He does not elsewhere use 
 native as a noun. 
 
 131. Bisson multitude. The folios have " Bosome-multiplied," which 
 Clarke and Wr. retain (omitting the hyphen), comparing Lear, v, 3. 49, 
 and 2 Hen. IV. i. 3. 91 fol. The reading in the text is from the Coll. MS., 
 and is generally adopted. For bisson, see on ii. i. 59 above. 
 
 134. The greater poll. The majority. Cf. iii. 3. 10 below. 
 
 137. Call our cares fears. " Attribute all we do in care of them to our 
 fear" (Wr.). 
 
 142. Worship. Dignity, authority; as in W. T. i. 2. 314: "rear'd to 
 worship," etc. 
 
 143. Where one. The folios have " Whereon ;" corrected by Rowe. 
 
 144. Without all reason. Cf. Macb. iii. 2. 11 : "without all remed)^" 
 etc. Wr. cites Hebrews, vii. 7. For ^^/z/rj/— gentle birth, cf. R. of L. 569: 
 " By knighthood, gentry, and sweet friendship's oath," etc. 
 
 145. Conclude. Decide, settle a question. 
 
 Yea and no. Wr. remarks : "According to Sir Thomas More's rule, 
 yea and nay go together, and yes and 7to ; the former being the answers 
 to questions framed in the affirmative, and the latter to those framed in 
 the negative. But this was a rule which was not strictly observed, and 
 Shakespeare neglected it both here and elsewhere. CL R.of L. 1340: 
 ' Receives the scroll without or yea or no ;' and M. fF. i. i. 88 : 'By yea 
 and no, I do.' " 
 
 148. Slightness. Weakness ; used by S. only here. Cf. slight m y. C. 
 iv. I. 12, iv, 3. 37, etc. Wh. well paraphrases Unstable slightness by " the 
 feebleness of vacillation." 
 
 150. Less fearful than discreet. "He does not disguise the danger of 
 the course he advises, but to be fearless here is true discretion, for it is 
 the single chance of safety" (Wh.). 
 
 152. Doubt. Dread, fear. Johnson paraphrases the passage thus : 
 "You whose zeal predominates over your terrors; you who do not so 
 much fear the danger of violent measures, as wish the good to which 
 they are necessary, the preservation of the original constitution of our 
 government." 
 
 154. To jump. "To put to stake, to hazard" (Schmidt). Ql Macb.\. 
 7. 7 : " We 'd jump the life to come ;" and Cymb. iv. 4. 188 : " Jump the 
 after inquiry on your own peril." Steevens quotes Holland's Pliny, xxv. 
 5: "for certainly it putteth the patient to a jumpe or great hazard." 
 Pope reads "vamp," Sr. "imp," and St. conjectures "purge;" but, as 
 Clarke remarks, " the argument throughout the passage, as well as the 
 sentence in immediate juxtaposition, requires that the original word sig- 
 
240 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 nifying risk should be retained and not altered to one that means patch 
 up by attempted cicre^ 
 
 156. The multitudinous tongue. *' The tongues o' the common mouth " 
 (22 above), or the tribunes. 
 
 159. Integrity. "Thoroughness and singleness of purpose" (Wh.). 
 
 161. Has. See on i. 3. 58 above. 
 
 165. Bald. Evidently contemptuous ; apparently used in the same 
 sense as when applied to language or reasoning. Cf. C. of E. ii. 2. no: 
 "a bald conclusion;" and i Hen. IV. i. 3. 65 : "bald unjointed chat." 
 Wr. quotes Cotgrave : "Chauve d'esprit. Bauld-spirited : that hath as 
 little wit in, as he hath haire on his head." 
 
 167. In a rebellion. The folios join these words to what precedes ; the 
 pointing here is Pope's. 
 
 170. let what is meet., etc. " Let it be said by you that what is meet 
 to be done must be meet, that is, shall be done, and put an end at once to 
 the tribunitian power, which was established when irresistible violence, 
 not a regard to propriety, directed the legislature " (Malone). 
 
 173. Let him be apprehended. See extract from North, p. 180 above. 
 
 175. Attach. Arrest. See R. and J. p. 217. 
 
 htnovator. Used by S. only here. Like innovation, which he has three 
 times, it implies change_/2?r the worse (Schmidt). 
 
 178. Surety. For the verb, cf. A. W. v. 3. 298 : " he shall surety me." 
 
 185. Weapons, etc. The editors generally follow the folios in assigning 
 this line to the 2d Senator, and most of them give the next two lines to 
 the same speaker. " But surely the words are intended to express the 
 tumultuous cries of the partisans on both sides, who are bustling about 
 Coriolanus. The following words. Peace, peace, etc., attributed to M//' 
 in the folios, are spoken by some of the elder senators endeavouring to 
 calm the tumult " (Camb. ed.). 
 
 190. Confusion. See on no above. 
 
 194. At point to lose. Cf. v. 4. 61 below. See also Lear, iii. i. 33 ; 
 
 "and are at point 
 To show their open banner," etc. 
 
 204. That is the way, etc. Pope gave this speech to Coriolanus ; but, 
 as K. remarks, " Coriolanus is standing apart, in proud and sullen rage ; 
 and yet the modern editors put these four lines in his mouth, as if it was 
 any part of his character to argue with the people about the prudence of 
 their conduct." 
 
 206. Distinctly ranges. Is standing in line, upright and perfect. 
 
 207. This deserves death. This does not necessarily refer to what has 
 just been said by Cominius, though it has been made an argument for 
 transferring that speech to Coriolanus. As St. remarks, it may refer to 
 what the latter has previously said. Even if it were a comment on the 
 preceding speech, it would not justify our taking that away from Co- 
 minius. 
 
 2\o. In whose power. By whose power. Cf. i. 10. 14 above. 
 212. Present. Instant, immediate ; as very often. Cf. iii. 3. 21 and iv. 
 3. 42 below. See also p. 187 above. 
 
ACT III. SCENE L 
 
 241 
 
 213. The rock Tarpeian. See extract from North, p. 182 above. 
 215, 216. Prose in the folios, like 227, 228 below. 
 
 230. Your. The folios have " our ;" corrected by Rowe. 
 
 231. Natight. So spelt in the folios, but generally nought in this sense. 
 See A. Y. L. p. 142. 
 
 Stand fast^ etc. The folios give the speech to Cominius. Warb. trans- 
 ferred it to Coriolanus, Capell to a senator. K. remarks : " Amidst all 
 this tumult the first words which Coriolanus utters, according to the 
 original copy, are, ' No, I '11 die here.' He again continues silent ; but 
 the modern editors must have him talking : and so they put into his 
 mouth the calculating sentence, ' We have as many friends as enemies,' 
 and the equally characteristic talking of Menenius — ' I would they were 
 barbarians.' " But Cominius does not want to make a stand against the 
 mob, as his next three speeches clearly show ; and that the other speech 
 to which K. refers (238-242) should be divided between Coriolanus and 
 Menenius, as Tyrwhitt first suggested, appears from 241, which, as Wr. 
 notes, implies that Coriolanus has just spoken. 
 
 236. Tent. Probe. See on i. 9. 30 above. 
 
 237. Come, sir, etc. The ist folio gives this speech to Coriolanus ; 
 corrected in the 2d folio. 
 
 241^. Worthy. Justifiable, legitimate ; as in A^ John, ii. i. 281, 0th. iii. 
 3. 254, etc. 
 
 242. 07te time will owe another. " One time will compensate for an- 
 other. Our time of triumph will come hereafter. . . . Let us trust to 
 futurity" (Malone). 
 
 244. Take up. Cope with. See 2 Hen. IV. p. 159. 
 
 245. 'Z'/j- odds against arithmetic. The odds against us is beyond cal- 
 culation. 
 
 247. Against. In the way of; literally, opposite (cf ozier against). 
 
 248. Tag. Rabble, " the tag-rag people " {j. C. i. 2. 260). " The low- 
 est and most despicable of the populace are still denominated by those a 
 little above them Tag, rag, and bobtaiP'' (Johnson). 
 
 259, Does. See on i. 3- 58 above. 
 
 268. Scorn him. "Disdain to allow him" (Wr,). 
 
 273. Shall, sure on '/. The 1st folio has "shall sure ont ;" the other 
 folios change "ont" to "out." Pope reads "shall be sure on 't," and 
 Theo. " shall, be sure on 't." 
 
 275. Cry havoc, etc. Give the signal for general slaughter when you 
 should try more moderate measures. See K. John, p. 147, 
 
 277. Holp. Used by S. oftener than helped, both as past tense and 
 participle. Cf. iv. 6. 83 below. 
 
 284. Turn you to, C£ Temp. i. 2. 64 : " the teen that I have turn'd you 
 to," etc. 
 
 288, One danger. If this be what S. wrote, we must accept Clarke's 
 explanation : " To eject him hence were but one danger ; and to keep 
 him here another — our certain death." Perhaps it would be better to 
 read " our danger " (Theo.). The Camb. editors conjecture " moe dan- 
 ger ;" but moe (as one of these editors has himself elsewhere noted) is 
 used only with a plural or a collective noun. See A. Y. L. p. 176. 
 
 Q 
 
242 NOTES. 
 
 292. Deserv'd. Deserving. See on 60 above. Cf. 0th, p. 168, note on 
 Delighted, or R. and J. p. 204, on Becotrud. 
 
 293. Jove's own book. Wr. thinks that S. had in mind either Malachi, 
 iii. 16 or Exodus, xxxii. 32. 
 
 304. Clean kam. " Clean from the purpose " {J. C \. 3. 35), " clean out 
 of the way " {0th. i. 3. 366), quite irrelevant. For clea7i, cf. also Josh. iii. 
 17, Ps. Ixxvii. 8, etc. A7;w = crooked, awry. Wr. quotes Cotgrave ; 
 " Escorcher les anguilles par la queue. To doe a thing cleane kamme, 
 out of order, the wrong way ;" and " a contrepoil. Against the wooll, 
 the wrong way, clean contrarie, quite kamme." The combination clean 
 kam must have been a pet phrase with Cotgrave, for Furnivall adds yet 
 another instance of it from his Fr. Diet. : " Brider son cheval par la 
 queue. To goe the wrong way to worke ; or, to doe a thing cleane 
 kamme." 
 
 305. Merely. Absolutely. See Temp. p. iii, note on We are merely 
 cheated, etc. 
 
 306. The service, etc. Warb. gives this speech to Sicinius ; but it is a , 
 following up of Menenius's former speech and argument. "You allege, 
 says Menenius, that being diseased he must be cut away. According to 
 your argument, the foot, being once gangrened, is not to be respected for 
 what it was before it was gangrened. ' Is this just ?' he would have add- 
 ed, if the tribune had not interrupted him ; and, indeed, without any such 
 addition, from his state of the argument these words are understood" 
 (Malone). 
 
 313. Ujtscann'd. Inconsiderate; used by S. only here. The accent 
 is on the first syllable because it is before the noun (Schmidt). Cf. A. 
 W. p. 150, note on Resolv''d. 
 
 317. What. Why ; as in A. and C. v. 2. 317 : " What should I stay ?" 
 See also 2 Hen. IV. pp. 148, 155, 161. Gr. 253. 
 
 322. Bolted. Sifted, refined. Cf. Hen. V. p. 157. 
 
 324. Bring him. The folios add " in peace," which was doubtless 
 caught from 326 below ; corrected by Pope. 
 
 327. Humane. Accented on the first syllable, as regularly in S. See 
 Macb. p. 218, note on Human. 
 
 328. The end, etc. Steevens quotes Temp. ii. I. 157 : "The latter end 
 of his commonwealth forgets the beginning." 
 
 332. Attend. Wait for. See on i. 10. 30 above. 
 
 • Scene II. — 4. Precipitation. Used by S. only here and in iii. 3. 102 
 below. 
 
 7. Mtise. Wonder. See IC. John, p. 158, or Macb. p. 219. 
 
 9. Woollen. Referring rather to the coarseness than to the material of 
 their garments. Wr. compares the "hempen homespuns" oi M. N. D. 
 iii. I. 79. 
 
 10. With groats. That is, fourpences — the largest coin they could be 
 supposed to have. 
 
 12. Ordinance. Order, rank. 
 
 18. Let go. Let it go, let it pass. Cf. let be in W. T. v. 3. 61, A. and C. 
 iv. 4. 6, etc. 
 
ACT III. SCENE 11. 
 
 243 
 
 21. Thwartings. The folios have "things;" emended by Theo. Rowe 
 gives "the things that thwart." 
 
 23. Lack'd. Had lost (Wr.). 
 
 24. Ay, and burn too. Some have doubted whether this speech be- 
 longs to Volumnia, who is here counselling moderation ; but D. says that, 
 as spoken by Mrs. Siddons, it '* seemed to come quite naturally from the 
 lips of Volumnia as a sudden spirt of contempt for that rabble whom, 
 however, she saw the necessity of her son's endeavouring to conciliate." 
 Wr. thinks it should be marked "Aside." 
 
 29. Apt. Susceptible, docile. Cf Ha7n. i. 5. 31, Hen. V. v. 2. 312, etc. 
 
 After this line the Coll. MS. inserts " To brook control without the use 
 of anger." 
 
 32. Herd. The folios have " heart ;" corrected by Theo, at the sug- 
 gestion of Warb. Herd was often spelt "heard," as in i. 4. 31 above. 
 The Coll. MS. has "stoop o' the heart." 
 
 41. But when extremities speak. " Except in cases of urgent necessity, 
 when your resolute and noble spirit, however commendable at other 
 times, ought to yield to the occasion " (Malone). 
 
 42. Unsever'd. Not to be severed, inseparable. See Gr. 375. 
 44. Lose. Changed by Pope to " loses ;" but cf Sonn. 28. 5 (quoted 
 
 by Wr.) 
 
 " And each, though enemies to either's reign. 
 Do in*consent shake hands to torture me;" 
 
 and Crabbe, Tales of the Hall, iv. 71 : 
 
 "Sounds too delight us. — Each discordant tone 
 Thus mingled please, that fail to please alone." 
 
 47, The same. Equivalent to the demonstrative that ; as in M. of V. 
 i. I. 119 : 
 
 "Why tell me now, what lady is the same 
 To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage?" 
 
 and A. W. v. 3. 226 : 
 
 " Kifig. What ring was yours, I pray you? 
 Diana. Sir, much like 
 
 The same upon your finger." 
 
 51. Force. Urge ; as in Hen. VIII. iii, 2. 2, etc. 
 
 52-56. Because . . . syllables. Arranged as by Malone ; in the folios 
 they make six lines, ending that . . . people . . . matter . . . words . . . 
 Tongue . . . Syllables. 
 
 52. Lies you on. Lies on you, is incumbent upon you. Cf. Rich. III. 
 iv. 2. 59 : "it stands me much upon," etc. See our ed. p. 225, or Ham. 
 p. 269. Gr. 204. 
 
 55. Roted. Learned by rote, spoken mechanically. The folios have 
 "roated," and Johnson reads "rooted." In two of the four instances of 
 the noun rote, the folio has "roate." 
 
 57. Of no allowance, etc. Not acknowledged as the offspring of your 
 heart. For «//^wa;z<:^— acknowledgment, cf T. and C. i. 3. TfTJ, ii. 3. 146, 
 etc. 
 
244 NOTES. 
 
 59, Take in. Not in the modern sense, which would seem pertinent 
 enough, but^^take, capture ; as in i. 2. 24 above, 
 
 60. Put you to your fortune. "Force you to try the chances of war" 
 (Wr.). 
 
 64. / am in this. I am involved or at stake in this ; but Warb. took it 
 to mean I am^ in this, your wife, etc., that is, "in this advice she speaks 
 as his wife," etc. Clarke also explains it, " I represent, in this appeal," 
 etc. 
 
 68. Inheritance. Possession ; as in Ham. i. i. 92, etc. Cf. inherited \\\ 
 ii. I. 188 above. 
 
 69. That want. The want of that inheritance. 
 
 71. Not. Not only ; as in iii. 3. 97 below. Gr. 54. Wr. quotes J/. /^^^ 
 J/, iv. 1.67. See also 7"^r. iii. 2. 46, 
 
 74. Here. " At this point, suiting the action to the word, as in ii. 3. 165 " 
 (Wr.). St. quotes Brome, A Jovial Crew, ii. i, where Springlove, describ- 
 ing his having solicited alms as a cripple, says, "For here I was with him. 
 IHalts:' 
 
 75. Busshtg. Kissing. Cf. K. John, p. 160. 
 
 78. Which often, thus, etc A much discussed and much tinkered pas- 
 sage. Johnson would read, " With often, thus," etc. (that is, " shaking 
 thy head, and striking thy heart ") ; Capell has " And often ;" and Tyr- 
 whitt conjectured, 
 
 "(Which humble thus;) correcting thy stout heart, 
 Now soften'd as the ripest mulberry." 
 
 St. suggests " While often ;" and Dr. Nicholson " Whiles-often." Delius 
 and Schmidt take htimble to be a verb. W. (who, by the way, joins thus 
 to correcting) and Clarke are probably right in making Which often^ 
 which do often ; the ellipsis being not unlike many others in S. Wr. 
 says : " The two lines describe two different gestures, one indicated by 
 thus and the other by Now. While uttering the former Volumnia raises 
 her head to a position of command, in which ' the kingly crowned head,' 
 where the reason is enthroned, corrects and controls the passions which 
 are seated in the heart. Having curbed his pride he is to lower his head 
 to the people in token of humility, as if it were the ripest mulberry just 
 ready to fall. As regards the construction. Which is used loosely, as the 
 relative often is in Shakespeare, and is either redundant or equivalent to 
 the personal pronoun." He compares v. 6. 22 below, where who is thus 
 used ; but it does not seem to us necessary to resort to that explanation 
 here, or to assume that Now implies a second gesture. Now humble— 
 now made humble. 
 
 Stout. Proud ; as in 2 Hen. VI. i. i. 187 : " As stout and proud as he 
 were lord of all," etc. Cf. stoutness in 127 and v. 6. 27 below. 
 
 79. Mulberry. Malone infers from this allusion that the play could not 
 have been written before 1609, assuming that mulberries were not much 
 known in England until that year. " But," as Wr. remarks, " S. was fa- 
 miliar with mulberries at least fifteen years before, as is evident by the 
 mention of them in V. and A. 1 103, and M. N D. iii. I. 170 ; and a refer- 
 ence to Gerarde's Her ball (1597) will show that the mulberry-tree was 
 
ACT in. SCENE II. 245 
 
 well known in England before the end of 'the sixteenth century It is 
 quite true that m 1609 especial attention was called to it by an attempt 
 made by the King to encourage the breeding of silkworms, and 'there 
 were many hundred thousands of young Mulberrie trees brought out of 
 France, and planted 111 many Shires of this land' (Stow's Annales, ed. 
 Howes, 1615, p. 894). But to assume that, in consequence of this Shkke 
 speare wrote the line which has just been quoted is to infer too much • 
 for if mulberry-trees were first planted in England in 1609, he would have 
 had very little opportunity of observing how the fruit ripened and hun^ 
 before writing his play or even before his own death seven years after 
 for the mulberry does not bear fruit till the tree is of a certain age In 
 all probability, however, he had a mulberry-tree in his own garden at 
 New Place Stratford which he bought in 1597, whether it wal the tree 
 of which relics are still shown or not." 
 
 ZZ' ^/i^^y- , As for them. Cf. 125 below. See also Gr. 216. 
 
 99- Un^^rb d sconce. Unarmed head, bare head. Barb, or barde [set 
 \yb.\ meant the armour used for horses; whence the "barbed steeds" 
 oiRtch II. m. 31 1 7 (see our ed p. 196) and liick. Ill i. i. 10. Cotgrave 
 (quoted by Wr.) has " Bardes : f. Barbes, or trappings, for horses of seruice, 
 or of shew ;" and " Desbarder. To vnload a ship, or boat ; . . . also to 
 vnbarbe or disarme a horse of seruice." Scojzce is a half-comic wo'rd 
 used with intentional contempt by Coriolanus. See Cotgrave • " Teste • 
 
 u \^^d' P^te, skonce, nole, costard, noddle." Some make unbarb'd^ 
 unbarbered. 
 
 102. Plot. Used figuratively of his body (Warb.). Delius strangely 
 takes It to mean the ground he stands on. ^ 
 
 in S/iff t • V '^^Ji\ ^'^ ^-.^P- '4^' ^"^ ^^- 278. The metaphor 
 in^part is taken from the theatre, and Cominius keeps it up in we Ul prompt 
 
 1 13. Qtiired. Chimed, sounded in unison. Cf. M.ofV.v i 62- '' Still 
 quiring to the young-eyed cherubins." Wh. quotes Tennyson, Princess: 
 
 " Modulate me, soul of mincing mimicry ; 
 Make liquid treble of that bassoon, my throat." 
 
 114. Small. Cf. T. IV. \. 4. 32 : 
 
 T ^u -J , "^^y ^™3^1 pipe 
 
 Is as the maiden's organ, shrill and sound." 
 tw"Tf 'f^l^ " eunuch's ;"_ but cf. i. 6. 27 above. W. remarks o{ virgin 
 have noticed fnS^ "'^'^^'^^°"' "^" °^ ^P^^^^^" that he remembers to 
 ^iiS^ Lulls. The folios have "lull," which may be what S. wrote. See 
 
 j;^* tTI'i ^""^^l ^' in a tent, encamp ; a natural figure for a soldier. 
 117. The glasses of my sight. Wr. quotes i?/r^ //. i. 3. 208 : "even in 
 the glasses of thine eyes." ^ 
 
 -y^X^' ^J'-' O^^^V'^"^ of "irrational antecedents personified" (Gr. 
 H^ii' ^ K •■ ^? ^}'^^^' ^" t^^ P^^'^^* passage, however, the antece- 
 dent may be implied in »zjj/. -Cf. Gr. 218. ^' ' 
 
 120. An alms. For the singular, see Wb. ; and cf. Much Ado, ii. 3. 164: 
 
246 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 " it were an alms to hang him ;" T. of S. iv. 3. 5 : "a present ahus," etc. 
 Wr. cites Acts, iii. 3. 
 
 121. Surcease. Cease. Cf. R. of L. 1766 : " If they surcease to be that 
 should survive." See also R. and J. p. 202 ; and for the noun, Macb. 
 p. 177. 
 
 124. More. Cf. K. John, ii. i. 34 : "a more requital ;" and see our ed. 
 p. 140. 
 
 125. Than thou, etc. See on %■}, above. 
 
 127. Stoutness, Pride. See on 78 above. Johnson paraphrases the 
 passage thus : " Go do thy v^^orst ; let me rather feel the utmost extremi- 
 ty that thy pride can bring upon us, than live thus in fear of thy danger- 
 ous obstinacy." 
 
 129. " So Cassius, in J. C. iv. 3. 120, attributes his hasty temper to his 
 mother : ' That rash humour which my mother gave me.' And the in- 
 fluence of the mother in the formation of the child's character is again 
 referred to in Macb. i. 7. 72-74" (Wr.). 
 
 130. Owe. Own, possess ; as often. See Rich. II. p. 204. 
 
 132. Mountebank. Play the mountebank to win. 
 
 133. Cog. Cheat, cozen. See Mtcch Ado, p. 164. 
 
 134. Of. By ; as in i. 2. 13 above. 
 
 141. Upon you. Cf. iii. 3. 47 below. 
 
 142. The word. The watch-word ; as in M. of V. iii. 5. 58, T. N. iii. 4. 
 263, 4- <^nd C. i. 2. 139, etc. 
 
 Scene III. — i. Affects. See on ii. 2. 19 above. 
 
 3. Enforce. Urge; as in ii. 3. 213 above. For ^«?7jj/ = malice, hatred, 
 see on i. 8. 4 above. 
 
 7. With. Regularly used by S. with accompanied. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. 4. 
 
 52. '■^ King. And how accompanied? canst thou tell that? 
 
 Clarence. With Poins and other his continual followers." 
 
 See also Rich. Ill iii. 5. 99, T. A. ii. 3. 78, etc. 
 
 10. By the poll. By the head, individually. 
 
 12. Presently. Immediately ; as in ii. 3. 247 above. 
 
 14. Either. For its use of more than two things, cf. M.for M. iii. 2. 149: 
 " Either this is envy in you, folly, or mistaking." See also M. W. v. I. 4. 
 
 18. /' the truth 0' the cause. " In the justice of the procedure " (Clarke). 
 
 21. Present. Instant. See on iii. I. 212 above. 
 
 25. Put him to choler. Cf ii. 3. 191 above. 
 
 26. His worth. " His full quota or proportion " (Malone). Schmidt 
 explains the passage : " To gain high reputation by contradiction ;" but 
 this does not suit the context as well. Wh. paraphrases it thus : " Not 
 to have the worst of the quarrel ; to give as good as he gets." 
 
 ■21. Chafd. Irritated, angered. See y. C. p. 131. 
 
 22,. Temperance. Self-restraint. Ci. Hen. VIII.l i. 12^: 
 
 "What, are you chafd? 
 Ask God for temperance." 
 
 See also Macb. p. 240. 
 30. With 2is. As we shall use it, or take advantage of it. 
 
ACT in. SCENE in. 247 
 
 33. Bear the knave. " Bear being called knave " (Steevens). 
 
 35. Among us. The ist folio has "amongs," the later fo]ios "amongst 
 you." We adopt Capell's reading, which is generally followed. D. has 
 "among 's." 
 
 36. Throng. The folios have " through ;" corrected by Theo. and Warb. 
 Wr. suggests that S. may have had in mind some occasion like that of 
 Nov. 24, 1588, when Queen Elizabeth went to St. Paul's to return thanks 
 for the victory over the Spanish Armada. 
 
 43. Determine. Terminate, end ; as in v. 3. 120 below. Cf. also A. and 
 C. iii. 13. 161 and iv. 3. 2. 
 
 Demand. Ask ; the more common meaning in S. See Ham. p. 243. 
 Cf. require in ii. 2. 152 above. 
 
 45. Allow. Acknowledge. Cf. allowafice in iii. 2. 57 above. 
 
 50. Show. Appear ; as in iv. 5. 61 below. See also A. V. L. p. 148. 
 
 51. Graves in the holy churchyard. English rather than Roman, of 
 course. Could Bacon have written that.? See on ii. i. 107 above. 
 
 55. Accents. The folios have " actions ;" corrected by Pope, at the 
 suggestion of Theo. 
 
 57. Envy you. Show ill-will to you. Cf the noun in 3 above. 
 
 63. Contriv''d. Plotted ; as often. See A. Y. L. p. 191. 
 
 64. Season'' d. Johnson explains this as " established and settled by time, 
 and made familiar to the people by long use ;" Wr. as "well ripened or 
 matured and rendered palatable to the people by time." Schmidt makes 
 it = " qualified, tempered," which seems to us favoured by the context. 
 Such limited power is the natural antithesis to pozver tyrannical. Besides, 
 the office of the tribunes, against which the opposition of Coriolanus was 
 specially directed, was not a long-established one. 
 
 68. Fold iit. Infold, enclose. Cf. v. 6. 125 below. 
 
 69. Their traitor. A traitor to them. 
 
 Injurious. Insolent, insulting. Cf. 3 Hen. VI. iii. 3. 78: "Injurious 
 Margaret !" Cymb. iv. 2. 86 : " Thou injurious thief," etc. 
 
 71. Chitch''d. That is, were there clutched. 
 
 82. Extremest. S. always accents the positive extreme on the first syl- 
 lable, except in Sonn. 129. 4, 10 ; but the superlative extremest, as here. 
 Cf. A. V. L. ii. 1. 42, Lear, v. 3. 136, etc. See also iv. 5. 71 below, and note 
 on iv. 5. 106. 
 
 89. Pejit to linger. "We may either i-sik^ pent, like clutch' din 71, as 
 equivalent to were I pent, or as connected with, pronoujtce : let them pro- 
 nounce the sentence of being pent, etc." (Wr.). The latter seems better 
 on the whole, as continuing the construction, though somewhat loosely, 
 instead of breaking it with a new one. 
 
 92. Courage. From the context this seems to be = fearless utterance. 
 The Coll. MS. changes it to " carriage ;" and D. and Schmidt make it = 
 heart, disposition ; as in 3 Hen. VI. ii. 2. 57, T. of A. iii. 3. 24, etc. Coll. 
 considers it "inconsistent with the noble character of the hero to repre- 
 sent him vaunting his own courage f but he simply says "I will not re- 
 strain my boldness of speech," just as he has said above (70 fol.) that he 
 will fearlessly tell the tribune that he lies, even at the risk of twenty thou- 
 sand deaths. 
 
248 NOTES. 
 
 95. Envied against. Shown his enmity to. See on 57 above. 
 
 96. As now at last. As he has now at last, etc. (Clarke). 
 
 97. Not. Not only. See on iii. 2. 71 above. 
 
 99. Do. The reading of the 2d folio; the ist has "doth." The latter 
 occurs with a plural subject in M. of V. iii. 2. 33 and R. and J. prol. 8 ; 
 and Abbott (Gr. 334) recognizes it as a " third person plural in -//z." See 
 also R. and J. p. 140. 
 
 104. Rome gates. See on i. 8. 8 above, and cf. ii. i. 152. 
 
 106. It shall be so, etc. Note how promptly here the plebeians take 
 their cue from the tribune's It shall be so ; as he had drilled them to do 
 in 13 fol. above. 
 
 no. For. The folios have "from ;" corrected by Theo. 
 
 114. Estimate. Estimation; or " the rate at which I value her" (Wh.). 
 
 120. Cry. Pack ; as in iv. 6. 150 below. Cf. also 0th. ii. 3. 370 : " not 
 like a hound that hunts, but one that fills up the cry." This is probably 
 the meaning of cry in M. N. D. iv. i. 129 : 
 
 " Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouth like bells, 
 Each under each. A cry more tuneable 
 Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn." 
 
 121. Reek. Vapour, exhalation; used again in M. W. iii. 3. 86: "the 
 reek of a lime-kiln." 
 
 The rotten fens. Steevens quotes Temp. ii. i. 47 : 
 
 " Sebastian. As if it had lungs, and rotten ones. 
 Antonio. Or as 't were perfumed by a fen." 
 
 123. I banish you. Malone quotes Rich. II. i. 3. 280 : 
 
 "Think not the king did banish thee, 
 But thou the king." 
 
 127. Fan you. Wr. cites Macb. i. 2. 50 : 
 
 . "Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky 
 And fan our people cold." 
 
 130. But, The folio reading, changed by Capell to " not," which is 
 generally adopted. Malone says : " If the people have the prudence to 
 make reservation of themselves, they cannot with any propriety be said 
 to be in that respect still their own foes f but, as Wh. remarks, "Coriola- 
 nus says that the mischief is just this : that they spare none but them- 
 selves, their own worst enemies." St. paraphrases the passage thus : 
 " Banish all your defenders as you do me, till at last, your ignorance, hav- 
 ing reserved only your impotent selves, always your own foes, deliver you 
 the humbled captives to some nation, etc." 
 
 132. Abated. Beaten down, humiliated ; "the Fr. abattu'''' (Steevens). 
 
 137. Hool hoo ! See on ii. 1.96 above. 
 
 140. Vexation. As Wr. notes, both vex and vexation had a stronger 
 meaning in the time of S. than now. In the A. V. vex is frequently = tor- 
 ment ; as in Matt. xv. 22. Cf. Deut. xxviii. 20, where vexation translates 
 the word rendered destruction in Deut. vii. 23. 
 
ACT IV. SCENE I. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 249 
 
 Scene I. — i. The beast, etc. Cf. ii. 3. 15 above. Steevens quotes 
 Horace, Epist. i. i. 76 : " Bellua multorum es capitum." 
 
 3. Ancient. Former. Cf. T. of S. ind. 2. 33 : " Call home thy ancient 
 thoughts from banishment," etc. 
 
 4. Extremity. The reading of the 2d folio; the ist has "Extreami- 
 ties," which Delius explains as collective, or expressing one idea ; but it 
 is probably a misprint. 
 
 5. That commoji chances, etc. Steevens quotes T. and C. i. 3. 33 : 
 
 "In the reproof of chance 
 Lies the true proof of men : the sea being smooth, 
 How many shallow bauble boats dare sail 
 Upon her patient breast, making their way 
 With those of nobler bulk!" 
 
 7. Fortune'' s blozus, etc. The construction here is not according to the 
 books of grammar, and sundry attempts have been made to mend it ; but 
 as it stands it may be explained thus : " When Fortune's blows are most 
 struck home, to be gentle, although wounded, demands a noble philos- 
 ophy " (Clarke) . Pope reads " gently warded, craves ;" Hanmer, " great- 
 ly warded, crave ;" and Capell, " gently wounded craves." The Coll. MS. 
 has "gentle-minded craves." For ho?ne, cf. iii. 3. I above. 
 
 9. Cunning. Knowledge, wisdom, or " philosophy," as Clarke has it 
 above. See 0th. p. 183. 
 
 12. O heavens! O heavens! "Be it observed that after this one irre- 
 pressible burst of anguish, when her husband has bidden her to check it, 
 Virgilia utters no further syllable during this parting scene" (Clarke). 
 
 13. The red pestilence. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 364 : " The red plague rid you !" 
 and T. and C. ii. i. 20 : " A red murrain o' thy jade's tricks !" The phy- 
 sicians of the time recognized three different kinds of the plague-sore, 
 the red, the yellow, and the black. 
 
 On the passage see p. 184 above. 
 
 15. Lacked. Missed. See Macb. p. 218. Wr. quotes Much Ado, iv. 
 I. 220 fol. and A. and C. i. 4. 44. 
 
 23. Sometime. Former. For the adjective use, see Ham. p. 177. 
 
 26. Fond. Foolish; as very often. See M.of V. pp. 146, 152. For 
 the ellipsis oi as, cf. 53 below, and see on ii. i. 40 above. 
 
 2.^. Wot. Know. See yJ/. iV. Z>. p. 171. 
 
 28. Still. Ever, constantly. 
 
 30. Fen. Grey conjectured "den ;" but Wr. quotes Topsell, Hist, of 
 Serpents : " Of the Indian Dragons there are also said to be two kindes, 
 one of them fenny, and living in the marishes ... the other in the Moun- 
 tains," etc. 
 
 33. Cautelous. Crafty, deceitful ; as in J. C. ii. i. 129 : " Swear priests 
 and cowards and men cautelous." For the noun cautel ( = craft, deceit), 
 see Ha?n. p. 187. 
 
 Practice. Artifice, stratagem ; as in M.for M.y. i. 123 (cf 239) : " This 
 needs must be a practice." See also Ham. pp. 255, 257, 275. 
 
250 NOTES. 
 
 First. Probably = first-born, not "noblest," as Warb. explains it. 
 Heath conjectured "fierce," and Keightley would read "fairest." 
 
 36. Expostiire. The reading of all the folios, changed by Rowe to 
 " exposure," which S. elsewhere (twice) uses. As we have coijipostiire 
 in T. of A. iv. 3. 444, though composure elsewhere (three times), it is 
 possible that the old text may be right. As Wr. suggests, the word 
 may be framed on the analogy oi imposture. Cf. Lear, p. 198, note on Re- 
 posal. 
 
 41. Repeal. Recall from banishment ; as in J. C. iii. i. 54 : " an im- 
 mediate freedom of repeal," etc. See also iv. 7. 32 below ; and cf. the 
 verb in v. 5. 5. 
 
 44. Needer. The word " gives the effect of the man needing the ad- 
 vantage of which there is a prospect, and of the man needed home by 
 the friends who want him to profit by it. Moreover, what golden wisdom 
 and practical truth are comprised in a line or two !" (Clarke). 
 
 49. Of noble touch. Of tested nobility. vSee on ii. 3. 185 above; and 
 cf. I Hen. IV. p. 193, note on Miist bide the touch. 
 
 Am forth ■=\\?i\% gone away. Wr. quotes M. IV. ii. 2. 278 : "her hus- 
 band will be forth." 
 
 Scene II. — 2. Whom. Changed by Rowe to " who ;" but cf. Temp. 
 iii. 3. 92 : " Young Ferdinand, whom they suppose is drown'd ;" and see 
 also K. John, p. 166. Gr. 410. 
 
 5. A-doing. See Mtich Ado, p. 145 (note on A talkijtg of), or Gr. 140. 
 
 II. The hoarded plague o' the gods. "The punishment which the gods 
 reserve for some special vengeance " (Wr.). Cf. Lear, ii. 4. 164 : 
 
 " All the stor'd vengeances of heaven fall 
 On her ingrateful top!" 
 
 and Rich. III. i. 3. 217 : 
 
 " If heaven have any grievous plague in store 
 Exceeding those that_ I can wish upon thee, 
 O, let them keep it till thy sins be ripe, 
 And then hurl down their indignation 
 On thee, the troubler of the poor world's peace!" 
 
 14. Will you be gone ? " Not meaning ' Will you go when I bid you ?' 
 but ' Are you going, when I say you shall hear me .?' " (Clarke). The 
 context shows that this must be the correct explanation. 
 
 16. Mankind. " The word mankiiid is used maliciously by the first 
 speaker, and taken perversely by the second. A mankind woman is a 
 woman with the roughness of a man, and, in an aggravated sense, a 
 woman ferocious, violent, and eager to shed blood. - In this sense Sicin- 
 ius asks Volumnia if she be mankind. She takes mankind for a human 
 creature, and accordingly cries out, ' Note but this fool. — Was not a man 
 my father ?' " (Johnson)'. Cf. W. T. ii. 3. 67 : "A mankind witch !" and 
 see our ed. p. 169. 
 
 17. Note but this fool. St. points " Note but this, fool ;" but Johnson's 
 explanation is probably correct. 
 
 18. Hadst thou foxship, etc. " Hadst thou, fool as thou art, cunning 
 enough to banish Coriolanus ?" (Johnson). Schmidt notes that the fox 
 
AC 2^ IV. SCENE III. 251 
 
 is the symbol of ingratitude as well as of cunning. Cf. Lear, iii. 6. 24: 
 " Now, you she-foxes ;" and Id. iii. 7. 28 : " Ingrateful fox !" 
 
 21. Moe. See on ii. 3. 118 and iii. i. 288 above. 
 
 22. Yet go. " She will leave it unsaid ; then— once more changing her 
 mmd— Nay, but you shall stay. Too = 2&&x all ; and yet I see reasons 
 too why you should stay" (Wh.). 
 
 24. In Arabia. " In the desert, where none could part them " (Wr ) 
 Cf. Macd. iii. 4. 104 and Cj/mk i. 2. 167. 
 
 T/ij/ tribe. "Contemptuously; not in the Roman sense " (Wh.). 
 
 25. What then ! etc. Hanmer is perhaps right in giving this speech to 
 Volumnia, as not in keeping with the gentle character of Virgilia. Wr. 
 is inclined to rearrange the dialogue thus : 
 
 J'Vohmmia. What then! 
 
 He d make an end of thy posterity, 
 Bastards and all. 
 
 Virgilia. Good man, the wounds that he does bear for Rome ! " 
 The last line certainly seems more appropriate to Virgilia pleading for 
 her husband than to the sterner Volumnia. Delius takes it to refer iron- 
 ically to Sicinius. 
 
 32. The noble knot. " The knot of noble service that bound him to his 
 countrymen " (Wh.). Steevens quotes i Hen. IV. v. i. 16 : 
 
 . " Will you again unknit 
 
 This churlish knot of all-abhorred war?" 
 
 ^ 34. Cats. A term of contempt, repeatedly used by Bertram of Parolles 
 in A. W. IV. 3. Cf. also M. N. D. iii. 2. 260, etc. The Coll. MS. changes 
 It here to " Curs," and St. conjectures " Bats." 
 44. With. By ; as often. See Gr. 193. 
 
 48. Lies heavy to V. Wr. quotes Macb. v. 3. 44 : 
 
 " Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff 
 Which weighs upon the heart." 
 
 For the construction, Schmidt compares Ham. i. 2. 124: 
 
 "This gentle and unforc'd accord of Hamlet 
 Sits smiling to my heart." 
 
 For home, see on ii. 2. 99 above. 
 
 49. Troth. Faith ; literally truth, as in iv. 5. 188 below. Cf. M. N D 
 p. 151. • • • 
 
 51. Starve. The ist folio has "sterue." See on ii. 3. 106 above 
 
 52. This famt puling. " By this slight touch, and by the epithet 'faint 
 
 1 y.,y^.A,'^'^'^'^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^g^^y of weeping in which Virgilia is 
 lost !" (Clarke). ° 
 
 _ 53. Jjino-like. The " queen of heaven " is often alluded to by S. • as 
 m u. I. 92 above and v. 3. 46 below. Cf. Temp. iv. i. 102 fol., A W. iii 
 4. 13, W. T. iv. 4. 121, etc. 
 
 Scene III.— 9. Favour. Face, look. See Much Ado, p. 129, ox Ham. 
 p. 263. 
 
 Is zvell appeared. Wr. says that if this be the true reading, appeared 
 
252 NOTES. 
 
 must be used in a "transitive" sense, and Abbott (Gr. 295, 296) con- 
 siders this possible ; but an explanation so improbable should be admit- 
 ted only as a last resort. It is better, with Schmidt, to take appear' d as 
 an adjective = apparent (cf. ^zj/^cw^wrV^ dishonourable, in iii. i. 60 above) 
 or to take is appear' d as = has appeared. For this latter, it is true, we 
 have only Dogberry's authority in Mtcch Ado, iv. 2. i ; but on the face of 
 it is appeared is as allowable as is arrived, is come, etc. See Gr. 295, 
 where Abbott calls these forms "passive verbs ;" though they are simply 
 active "perfects" (or "present perfects," or whatever the grammars may 
 call them), with the auxiliary be instead oi have — as in the French est ar- 
 rive, the German ist gekommen, etc. Apparaitre, by the way, is conju- 
 gated with et7'e as well as avoir. Hanmer reads " affeer'd," Warb. " ap- 
 peal'd," and Coll, "approv'd" (Steevens's conjecture). 
 
 12. Hath. For the singular verb preceding a plural subject, see Gr. 
 335. Cf. i. 9. 49 above. 
 
 18. Receive so to heart. We still say " take to heart." 
 
 20. Ripe aptness. Perfect readiness. 
 
 21. Glowing. Carrying on the metaphor in blaze Z-vA flame above. 
 28. She ''s fallen out. As Wr. notes, this may be a contraction of either 
 
 she is or she has. Cf. Lear, ii. 4. 1 1 : " am fallen out ;" and R. and J. iii. 
 4. I : "Things have fallen out," etc. See on is appeared above. 
 
 32. He cannot choose. He has no alternative, he cannot do otherwise. 
 See T. of S. p. 126, or i Hen. IV. p. 174. 
 
 38. Their charges. Cf. J. C. iv. 2. 48 : " Bid our commanders lead their 
 charges off," etc. 
 
 39. In the entertainment. Engaged for the service. Cf. A. W. iv. i. 
 17: "some band of strangers i' the adversary's entertainment;" and 
 see our ed. p. 165. 
 
 Scene IV. — 3. Fore jny wars. To be connected, we think, with what 
 follows ; but Wh. says " many a one who before my wars was heir." 
 Y ox fore, see Hen. V. p. 155. 
 
 5. Wives. Women ; as often. Cf. M. of V. iii. 2. 58 : " the Dardanian 
 wives ;" Hen. V. v. chor. 10 : " with men, with wives, and boys," etc. 
 
 6. Save you. That is, God save you ! For the full form, see Much 
 Ado, iii. 2. 82, V. I. 327, etc. 
 
 8. Lies. See on i. 9. 82 above. 
 
 12. O world, etc. " This fine picture of common friendship is an art- 
 ful introduction to the sudden league which the poet made him enter 
 into with Aufidius, and no less artful an apology for his commencing 
 enemy to Rome" (Warb.). 
 
 13. Seem. The ist folio has " seemes," probably a misprint. Steevens 
 compares M. N. D. iii. 2. 212: "So with two seeming bodies, but one 
 heart," etc. 
 
 14. House. The reading of the Coll. MS., adopted by nearly all the 
 editors. The folio has " hours," which has been defended by comparing 
 T.G.ofV. ii. 4. 62 : 
 
 " I knew him as myself ; for from our infancy 
 We have convers'd and spent our hours together;" 
 
ACT IV. SCENE V. 253 
 
 and the similar passage in M, N. D. iii. 2. 198 fol. ; but the context here 
 is very different and seems to demand house. 
 
 16. Unseparable. Used by S. only here. Inseparable occurs in A. Y. L. 
 \. 3. 78 and K. John, iii. 4. 66. So we find incapable and uncapable, incer- 
 tain and tmcertai7t, etc. See on ingrateful, ii. 2. 28 above. 
 
 I'j. Of a doit. About a doit (see on i. 5. 6 above), or the value of a 
 doit. 
 
 20. To take the one the other. To destroy each other. Cf. iii. I. iii 
 above. 
 
 21. Trick. Trifle. See Ham. p. 246, note on Trick of fame. 
 
 22. Interjoin their issues. Let their children intermarry. 
 
 23. My love 's upon, etc. Cf. V. and A. 158 : " Can thy right hand seize 
 love upon thy left?" For hate, the folios read "haue" or "have," cor- 
 rected by Capell. 
 
 24. Enemy. For the adjective use, cf. Lear, v. 3. 220 : " his enemy 
 king ;" and A. and C. iv. 14. 71 : 
 
 " Shall 's do that which all the Parthian darts, 
 Though enemy, lost aim, and could not?" 
 
 25. If he give me way. If he yields to me, lets me do it. Cf. v. 6. 32 
 below. 
 
 Scene V. — 10. In being Coriolanus. "In having obtained that name 
 by the capture of Corioli " (Clarke). 
 
 12. Companions. Fellows. For the contemptuous use, cf. v. 2. 57 be- 
 low, and see Temp. p. 131, note on Yonr fellow. 
 
 20. A strange one, etc. For the ellipsis oi as, see on ii. i. 40 above. 
 24. Avoid. Leave, quit ; as in Heji. VIII. v. i. 86 : "Avoid the gallery." 
 In 31 below it is used intransitively ; as in /^ 7^ i. 2. 462 : " let us avoid." 
 See our ed. p. 163. 
 
 33. Batten. Fatten, gorge yourself. See Ham. p. 236. Delius com- 
 pares Cymb. ii. 3. 119 : 
 
 "that base wretch, 
 One bred of alms and foster'd with cold dishes, 
 With scraps o' the court." 
 
 37. And I shall. Yes, I will. See Gr. 97. 
 
 39. The canopy. " This most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this 
 brave o'erhanging firmament " {Ham. ii. 2. 311). 
 
 45. It is. Contemptuous ; as in M. of V. iii. 3, 18, Hen. V. iii. 6. 70, etc. 
 
 Daws. The daw, or jackdaw, was reckoned a foolish bird. Cf. i Hen. 
 VI. ii. 4. 18 : " Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw." 
 
 56. If, Tullus, etc. See extract from North, p. 185 above. 
 
 58. Think me for. Think me to be. Wr. compares "know him for" 
 in M.for M. v. i. 144, and " reputed for " in Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 45. Capell 
 thought it necessary to read " take me to be." 
 
 59. Commands me name. For the construction, cf. T. of S. v. 2. 96: 
 " Say, I command her come to me," etc. Gr. 349. 
 
 62. Appearance. Spelt " apparance " in the ist folio ; as in Hen. V. ii. 
 2. 76 : 
 
254 NOTES. 
 
 "Why, what reade you there, 
 That haue so cowarded and chac'd your blood 
 Out of apparance." 
 
 As Wr. notes, it was probably a recognized form of the word, and repre- 
 sented the pronunciation, for Cotgrave gives, " Apparence : f. An appar- 
 ance, or appearance." In Florio's Worlde of Wordes, 1598, we find, 
 " Appariscenza, comelines, seemlines, apparance ;" and Huloet, Abceda- 
 rium, 1552, has, "Apparance. Species.'''' 
 
 64. Show'st. Appearest. Cf iii. 3. 50 above. 
 
 71. Extreine. For the accent, see on iii. 3. 82 above. 
 
 73. Memory. Memorial. Cf. v. 6. 154 below; and see also A. Y. L. 
 p. 155. Here the word is taken from North (see p. 186 above). 
 
 76. Envy. Hatred. Cf. iii. 3. 3 above. 
 
 78. Hath devour d. For the singular verb with two singular nouns as 
 subject, see Gr. 336. Here, as Wr. remarks, the two may be regarded as 
 expressing a single idea = envious cruelty. Cf Ps. Ixxxiv. 2. 
 
 80. Whoop'd. Spelt " Hoop'd" in the folios ; and we find "hooping" 
 in A. Y. L. iii. 2. 203. Wr. cites Sherwood's English-French supplement 
 to Cotgrave's Er. Diet., 1632 : " To hoope, or hallow." He finds " whoope " 
 in Palsgrave, 1530. 
 
 84. Voided. Avoided. The folios spell it " voided," and we think that 
 form should be retained. In Golding's Ccssar we read : " they decreed 
 that all such as eyther by sicknes or age were vnnecessary for the warres, 
 should void the towne ;" that is, leave the town (cf avoid in 24 above), 
 not clear the town, make it void or empty, as they were but a part of the 
 population. Cf Barrow: "watchful application of mind in voiding preju- 
 dices ;" that is, avoiding them (not casting them out, as Wb, defines it). 
 The same author has J7cz^a;z<r<? = avoidance: "the voidance of fond con- 
 ceits," etc. 
 
 85. Eull quit of. Fully even with, thoroughly revenged upon. Cf T. 
 of S. iii. I. 92 : "Hortensio will be quit with thee." See also Much Ado, 
 p. 156, note on To quit me of them. 
 
 87. Wreak. Vengeance ; as in T A. iv. 3. 33 : " Take wreak on Rome 
 for this ingratitude ;" and Id. iv. 4. 11 : " Shall we be thus afflicted in his 
 wreaks ?" Steevens quotes Chapman, Iliad, v. : " Or take his friend's 
 wreake on his men." 
 
 Wilt. Changed by Hanmer to " will ;" but probably to be explained 
 by the thee immediately preceding it. Wr. compares 67 above : " My 
 name is Caius Marcius, who hath done," etc. 
 
 88. Partictilar. Private, personal ; as in v. 2. 65 below. See Lea7', 
 p. 252. 
 
 Maims of shame. " That is, disgraceful diminutions of territory" (John- 
 son) ; or simply "disgraceful injuries" (Wr.). 
 
 93. Cankered. "Canker-bit" {Iear,w. 3. 122), or "unsound at heart, 
 ill-conditioned" (Wh.). We find it associated with the idea of ingrati- 
 tude in I Heit. IF. i. 3. 137 : " this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke." 
 
 94. The under fieiids. Probably:=the fiends below; not the "subordi- 
 nate fiends," as Steevens explained it. 
 
 But if so be, etc. See extract from North, p. 186 above. 
 
ACT JV. SCENE V. 
 
 255 
 
 ^$. A}id that. And z/ that. Gr. 285. 
 98. Ancient malice. Cf. ii. I. 217 above. 
 
 105. Envy. Hatred. See on 76 above. 
 
 106. Divine. Accented on the first syllable ; as in Cymb. ii. i, 62, iv. 
 2. 170, etc. For many dissyllabic adjectives and participles which are 
 thus accented before a noun (never otherwise), see Schmidt, pp. 1413-1415. 
 Extreme (see on iii. 3. 82 above) is among the number, but divine is 
 omitted. 
 
 109. Where- against. Against which ; a compound like whereat, where- 
 by, whereinto {0th. iii. 3. 137), whereoiit ( T. and C. iv. 5. 245), where-throngh 
 (So7in. 24. 1 1 ), etc. 
 
 111. Scarr'd. Changed by Rowe (2d ed.) to "scar'd," in support of 
 which Malone quotes Rich. III. v. 3. 341 : "Amaze the welkin with your 
 broken staves," On the other hand, Delius cites in favour oi scan-'d the 
 hyperbole in W. T. iii. 3. 92 : " the ship boring the moon with her main- 
 mast." 
 
 Clip. Embrace ; as in i. 6. 29 above. 
 
 112. Anvil. Green {S. and the Emblem Writers, p. 327, qudted by Wr.), 
 not seeing that Aufidius is compared to the anvil on which the strokes 
 of Coriolauus's sword have fallen like repeated blows of a sledge-ham- 
 mer, would change a^ivil to "handle." Steevens quotes Ham. ii. 2. 511 ; 
 
 "And never did the Cyclops' hammers fall 
 On Mars's armour forged for proof eterne 
 With less remorse than Pyrrhus' bleeding sword 
 Now falls on Priam." 
 
 117. Sigh'd truer breath. Malone quotes V. and A. 189: "I '11 sigh 
 celestial breath," etc. 
 
 120. Bestride my threshold. " A Roman bride was carried over the 
 threshold of her husband's house. We know nothing of the custom of 
 Antium in this respect, nor did Shakespeare" (Wr.). 
 
 Thou Mars! Delius quotes Rich. II. ii. 3. loi : "the Black Prince, 
 that young Mars of men." 
 
 121. Power. Army ; as in i. 2. 9 above. On had piirpose, cf. W. T. iv. 
 4. 152. 
 
 122. From thy brawn. From thy brawny arm. Cf. T. and C. i. 3. 297: 
 "And in my vantbrace put this wither'd brawn;" and Cymb. iv. 2. 311 : 
 " The brawns of Hercules." 
 
 123. Out. Thoroughly, out and out. Wr. thinks it refers to what fol- 
 lows, but we prefer (as Wh. does) to connect it with beat. Steevens cites 
 Temp. i. 2. 41 : 
 
 "for then thou wast not 
 Out three years old." 
 
 129. No quarrel else. The ist and 2d folios read "no other quarrel 
 else." For to after qtiarrel, cf. Much Ado, ii. i. 243 : " The Lady Beatrice 
 hath a quarrel to you ;" and see our ed. p. 132. 
 
 133. Cerbear. The folios have " o're-beate " or " o're-beat." Rowe's 
 emendation of o''erbear is confirmed by iii. i. 249 above. For other in- 
 stances of the verb applied to a flood of waters, see 0th. i. 3. 56, Ham. iv. 
 
256 NOTES. 
 
 5. 102, and Per. v. 1. 195. Neither d'er-beat or over-beat is found elsewhere 
 in S. 
 
 138. Most absolute sir. For fl!^jf/z//^=faultless, perfect, see Hen. V. 
 p. 170. " Preceded by most, it serves as an appellation expressing the high- 
 est veneration" (Schmidt). Cf A. and C. iv. 14. 117: " Most absolute 
 lord ;" and sportively in Id. i. 2. 2 : " most anything Alexas, almost most 
 absolute Alexas," etc. 
 
 145. Ere destroy. For the construction, Wr. compares i. i. 212, 236. 
 
 146. Commend. Recommend, introduce ; as in Cymb. i. 4. 32 : "I be- 
 seech you all, be better known to this gentleman, whom I commend to 
 you as a noble friend of mine," etc. 
 
 151. Strucken. The spelling of the 3d and 4th folios ; the ist and 2d 
 have "stroken." See J. C. p. 146 (note on Hath stricken^, ox Gr. 344. 
 
 152. My mind gave me. I suspected. Cf Hen. VIII. v. 3. 109 : 
 
 "My mind gave me, 
 In seeking tales and information 
 Against this man, whose honesty the devil 
 And his disciples only envy at, 
 Ye blew the fire that burns ye." 
 
 160. I tJioiight there zuas more in him than I could think. "One of 
 Shakespeare's humorously paradoxical speeches " (Clarke). Cf. ii. 3. 4 
 above. 
 
 165. Wot. See on iv. i. 27 above. D. changes one to "on." 
 
 168. Worth six on hitn. " Delius interprets this as meaning that Au- 
 fidius is worth six of Coriolanus, and so we should infer from the first 
 Servingman's reply, but it is not consistent with what follows (183, 184), 
 and perhaps Shakespeare did not intend that the servants should in their 
 admiration for Coriolanus always express the same opinion of their mas- 
 ter" (Wr.). On=^ol; as in i. I. 218, etc. 
 
 178. Lieve. Lief; indicating the popular pronunciation, still common 
 among the uneducated. It often becomes " live," which is the spelling 
 of the first three folios here. Had as lief is still good English — the best 
 English, because the old established form. See A. V. L. p. 139. 
 
 187. Directly. To be direct or plain about it. Cf simply in 162 above. 
 For troth, see on iv. 2. 49 above. 
 
 188. Scotched. Cut ; as in Macb. iii. 2. 13 : " We have scotch'd the 
 snake, not kill'd it ;" where the folios have " scorch'd." We find the 
 noun in A. and C. iv. 7. 10 : " six scotches more." 
 
 189. Carbonado. A slice of meat prepared for broiling. See i Hen. IV. 
 p. 201, and W. T. p. 198 (on Carbonadoed). 
 
 191. Broiled. The folios have " boyld ;" corrected by Pope, on ac- 
 count of carbonado. 
 
 193. On. Cf 168 above. 
 
 197. Sanctifies himself, etc. *' Considers the touch of his hand as holy ; 
 clasps it with the same reverence as a lover would clasp the hand of his 
 mistress " (Malone). Johnson thought it to be an allusion " to the act 
 oi crossing wgioxi any strange event." 
 
 201. Sowl. Pull by the ears; an old word not used elsewhere by S. 
 Wr. quotes Moor, Suffolk Words and Phrases : " Sowle. To seize a swine 
 
ACT IV. SCENE V. 
 
 257 
 
 by the ear. ' Wool 'a sowle a hog?' is a frequent inquiry into the qualifi- 
 cations of a dog . . . Shakespeare happily uses the word in the exact 
 Suffolk sense." It is found also in other provincial dialects ; as in Nor- 
 folk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, etc. Steevens quotes Hey wood, Love's 
 Mistress, iv. I : "Venus will sole me by the eares for this." Cole in his 
 Latin Diet., 1679, renders it by "aurem summa vi vellere." 
 
 202. Rome gates. Cf. iii. 3. 104 above. 
 
 203. Polled. " Bared, cleared" (Johnson). " To poll 2, person anciently 
 meant to cut off his hair" (Steevens). Cf Wooton, Damcetas'' Madrigall, 
 etc.: "Like Nisus' golden hair that Scilla pol'd." Wr. cites 2 Sam. 
 xiv. 26. 
 
 209. Directitude. " The third servant, wishing to use a fine long word 
 and intending to coin some such term as discreditiide from discredit, or 
 dejectitiuie from dejected ness (S. using the words discredit, deject, and dejected 
 in such a way as to countenance either of these suggestions), blunders out 
 his grandiloquent directitude. The author's relish of the joke is pleasant- 
 ly indicated lay his making the first servant repeat the word amazedly, as 
 if not knowing what to make of it, and ask its meaning ; and then making 
 the third servant avoid the inconvenient inquiry by not noticing it, but 
 running on with his own harangue " (Clarke). The commentators have, 
 however, tried to mar the joke by substituting " discreditude " and "de- 
 jectitude," the latter being found in the Coll. MS. 
 
 212. In blood. In good condition. See on i. i. 152 above. 
 
 213. Conies. Rabbits. See A. Y. L. p. 177. Wr. quotes Cotgrave: 
 " Connil : m. A Conie, a Rabbit." See also Ps, civ. 18. 
 
 215. Presently. At once. See on iii. 3. 12 above. 
 217. Parcel. Part. Cf i. 2. 32 above. 
 
 223. Sprightly, waking. Pope's emendation of the " sprightly walk- 
 ing" of the folios, and generally adopted. St. retains the folio reading, 
 which he makes = " quick moving, or marchiitg.^'' 
 
 Audible is used actively = quick of hearing, attentive, on the alert. See 
 Gr. 3. 
 
 224. Full of vent. Explained by Johnson as = " full of rumour, full of 
 materials for discourse f and by Clarke as=full of "impulse, unrestrained 
 speech and action " (cf vent in iii. i. 258) ; but, according to a writer in 
 the Edinburgh Rev. for Oct., 1872, it is a hunting term = keenly excited, 
 full of pluck and courage. " When the hound vents anything, he pauses 
 to verify the scent, and then, full of eager excitement, strains in the leash 
 to be after the game." Schmidt remarks that \ivent could be proved to 
 have been used in this technical way in the time of S., the explanation 
 would be undoubtedly preferable to any other. Wr. criticises it as fol- 
 lows : " According to this view, war is compared to a pack of hounds in 
 full cry. But I think it is scarcely in accordance with what follows in 
 the description of peace, where the epithets appear to correspond to the 
 epithets applied to war, but in an inverted order ; inseitsible correspond- 
 ing to spritely, sleepy to zvaking, deaf to audible, and midled to full of vent. 
 If this.view is correct, the figure involved \\\ full of vent is not from the 
 hunting field, but the expression must be descriptive of something in wine 
 which is the opposite to that conveved bv mulled. And as mulled signi- 
 
 k 
 
258 NOTES. 
 
 fies flat, insipid,y5///^Z'^;/^ would seem to be either effervescent, working, 
 ready to burst the cask, or full of scent. Cotgrave indeed gives ' Odore- 
 ment ... a smell, waft, sent, vent ;' but it does not appear from this that 
 vent means scent except as a hunting term, and I therefore hesitate to 
 suggest that it is equivalent to what is now termed the bouquet of wine." 
 
 Mulled. " An expressive epithet ; suggesting the idea of softness 
 and drowsy quality, as that of wine warmed, spiced, and sweetened " 
 (Clarke). 
 
 226. IVar^s. The ist and 2d folios have " warres," the others " Warrs " 
 and " Wars ;" and so also in the next line. The correction is due to 
 Rowe. Some would retain the plural (see on i. 3. 73 above). 
 
 231. Reason. Elliptical for "there is reason for it" (Schmidt). See 
 K. John, p. 174, or W. T. p. 199. 
 
 Scene VI. — 2. Tame. " Ineffectual in times of peace like these " 
 (Steevens). Johnson wished to read " ta'en," and Mason "lame." The 
 Coll. MS. has "tam'd by the," etc. As Steevens says, tame seems de- 
 signedly opposed to w-//d. 
 
 5. Rather had. Had rather; as in L. L. L. ii. i. 147, etc. See also 
 A. Y. L. p. 158, or AI. of V. p. 132. Pope changes behold to "beheld;" 
 but the construction plainly is had rather behold than see, etc. 
 
 7. Pestering. Thronging, crowding; the original sense of the word. 
 Cf. Milton, Comiis, 7 : " Confin'd and pester'd in this pinfold here ;" and 
 Webster, Malcontent, v. 2 : " the hall will be so pestered anon." Schmidt 
 does not recognize this sense in his Lexicon, giving only the secondary 
 one of " annoy, harass, infest." See Macb. v. 2. 23, Ham. i. 2. 22, etc. 
 
 21. God-den. See on ii. i. 84 above. 
 
 30. Confusion. See on iii. i. iio above. 
 
 32. Ambitious, etc. The pointing is that of the 4th folio; the earlier 
 folios connect past all thinking with what follows. 
 
 2^T^. Affecting. Desiring, aiming at. See on ii. 2. 19 above. 
 
 34. Without assistance. With no one to share it with him. Hanmer 
 reads "assistant," and Walker conjectures " assistancy." 
 
 35. We should . . . found. A " confusion of construction." See Gr. 
 411. 
 
 To all our lamentation. To the sorrow of all of us. Cf. K. John, iv. 
 2. 102 : " To all our sorrows ;" and see Gr. 219. Cf. also i. 9. 36 above. 
 
 40. Powers. Armies. See on iv. 5. 121 above. 
 
 41. Entei-'d in. Wr. quotes M. of V. ii. 8. 42 : " enter in your mind." 
 Gr. 159. 
 
 45. Horiis. The metaphor is taken from the snail, as insheWd also 
 shows. 
 
 46. Stood for Rome. "Stood up in its defence" (Steevens). Cf. ii. 2. 
 37 above. 
 
 51. Record. For the accent, see Ham. p. 197. 
 
 53. Age. Lifetime ; as in iii. i. 7 above. Reason — \.2l\\i ; as in i. 9. 58. 
 55. information. Informant ; tlie abstract for the concrete, as in ii. I. 
 164 above. 
 
 57. Tell not me. Cf. M. of V. iii. 2. I : " But tell not me," etc. 
 
ACT IV. SCENE V I. 259 
 
 60. Come. Rowe's correction of the "comming" or "coming" of the 
 folios. For is co?ne^ see on iv. 3. 9 above. 
 
 65. More, jnore fearful. Cf. K. John, iv. 2. 42 : " and more, more 
 strong ;" and Lear, v. 3. 202: " If there be more, more woful, hold it in." 
 
 Z>^/zz/^rV-- reported ; as in i. i. 87 above. 
 
 69. Revenge as spacious, etc. " Revenge that shall embrace all, from 
 the youngest to the oldest" (Wh.). 
 
 70. Young' St. For contracted superlatives, see on iii. 1. 103 above. 
 72. Good. Ironical, of course. The Coll. MS. has "God," which 
 
 Clarke adopts, comparing T. and C. i. iii. 169: " Vet god Achilles still 
 cries 'Excellent!'" where many editors read "good." 
 
 74. Atone. Be at one, be reconciled. See A. V. L. p. 199 ; and for 
 the transitive use, 6>///. p. 198. Steevens quotes Sidney's Arcadia: "a 
 common enemie sets at one a civil warre." Boswell adds from Hall's 
 Satires: " Which never can be set at onement more." 
 
 75. Contrariety. Hanmer reads " contrarieties ; but it " takes two to 
 make " a contrariety. 
 
 79. And have. Hanmer reads " and they 've," which is of course what 
 is meant, but probably not what S. wrote. 
 
 _ 80. Overborne their way. Like a river that has "overborne" its "con- 
 tinents " {M. N. D. ii. I. 92) or banks. See on iv. 5. 133 above. 
 
 %1. Holp. See on iii. i. 277 above. 
 
 84. City leads. The leaden roofs of the houses ; as in ii. i. 200 above. 
 
 87. Cement. Accented on the first syllable, as elsewhere in S. ; and 
 so with the one instance of the verb, A. and C. ii. i. 48. In their cement^ 
 "the very walls penetrated and crumbled by the fire" (Wh.). 
 
 89. Into. For its use after confine, cf Temp. i. 2. 277 ; and see our ed. 
 p. 118. Steevens quotes Macb.W.T,. 128: "our fate. Hid in an auger- 
 hole," etc. ^ 
 
 90. I fear me. I have my fears. Cf. Temp. v. i. 283, T. N. iii. i 121; 
 etc. ■" 
 
 98. Apron-men. That is [A. and C. v. 2. 2ro), 
 
 " Mechanic slaves 
 With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers." 
 
 Cf.y.c.i. 1.7. 
 
 99. The voice of occupation. "The vote of the workingmen" (Wr ) 
 See on 55 above. '' 
 
 100. Garlic-eaters. For the contemptuous allusion, cf. M.for M. iii. 2. 
 195 and I Hen. IV. iii. i. 162. Note also Bottom's admonition to his 
 fellow " mechanicals" in M. N. D. iv. 2. 43. 
 
 102. As. As if. Gr. 107. Steevens considers the passage "a ludi- 
 crous allusion to the apples of the Hesperides." 
 
 105. Other. Otherwise ; as in 0th. iv. 2. 13 : " If you think other " etc 
 Gr. 12. 
 
 _ Regions. The woid has been suspected, and W. adopts Backet's con- 
 jecture of "legions;" to which Lettsom objects that Rome had then no 
 army on. foot, and consequently no legions. It is doubtful whether S. 
 would have thought of that ; but there does not seem sufficient reason for 
 altering the old text. 
 
26o NOTES. 
 
 io6. Smilingly. As if with a smile of contempt for your authority. 
 Warb. reads " seemingly." Resist is Hanmer's correction of the " re- 
 sists" of the folios. 
 
 107. Valiant ignorance. For the contemptuous use, cf. T. and C. iii. 3. 
 315 : "I had rather be a tick in a sheep than such a valiant ignorance." 
 
 ii^.Charg'd. Would charge. Cf. ii. 2. 16 above. Gr. 361. 
 
 117. Show'd. Would appear. See on iii. 3. 50 above. _ 
 
 120. Made fair Jiands. Equivalent to made good work in 97, and made 
 fair work in 103 above. Wr. quotes Hen. VIII. v. 4. 74: "Ye have 
 made a fine hand, fellows !" 
 
 121. Crafted. A verb of Menenius's own coining. As Wr. notes, we 
 are already indebted to him for empirictic,fidiiised, and cojispectnities. 
 
 122. A trembling. An "ague-fit of fear" {Rich.II.m. 2. 190), a panic. 
 125. Clusters. Swarms, mobs; contemptuous, and used by S. only 
 
 here. 
 
 127. Roar him in again. " As they hooted at his departure, they will 
 roar at his return ; as he went out with scoffs, he will come back with 
 lamentations " (Johnson). 
 
 128. Points. A "point of war" (see 2 Hen. IV. iv. i. 52) was a signal 
 given by a trumpet ; hence point here for commands in general. It is 
 possible, however, that obeys his points is— does all points of his com- 
 mand {Teifip. i. 2. 500), obeys him "to the point" {M.for M. iii. i. 254). 
 
 133. Cast. That is, " cast their caps up " {A. and C. iy. 12. 12). 
 
 137. Coxco77ibs. With a play upon the word as applied to the fool's 
 cap. See Lear, p. 186. 
 
 147. Yet it ivas against our zvill. See on iv. 5. 160 above. 
 
 150. O7. Pack ; as in iii. 3. 120 above. 
 
 Shall 's. Shall us ; a colloquialism, for which see IV. T. p. 156, or Gr. 
 215. 
 
 153. Side. Party. Cf. iv. 2. 2 above. 
 
 Scene VII.— 6. Yonr own. Your own soldiers. Cf. i. 9. 21 and iii. i. 
 294 above. Clarke takes it to mean "your own action, or act." 
 
 8. More proudlier. The reading of the ist folio; changed in the 2d to 
 "more proudly." Cf iii. i. 120 above. 
 
 13. For yotir particular. For your own part, so far as you personally 
 are concerned. See Lear, p. 214 (note on For his particular), ox A. IV. 
 p. 1 56 (on On my particular). 
 
 16. Had. The folios read " have ;" corrected by Malone. Of your- 
 self =hy yourself. For bear, cf 21 below, and i. i. 263 above. 
 
 22. Husbandry. Management ; as in M. of V. iii. 4. 25 : " The hus- 
 bandry and manage of my house," etc. Cf. husba7id in T. of S. v. i. 71, 
 and see our ed. p. 167. 
 
 23. Dragon-like. Wr. quotes K. John, ii. I. 68 and Rich. III. v. 3. 350. 
 25. Break his neck. Cf. iii. 3. 30 above. 
 
 28. Yield. The ist folio has "yeelds," probably a misprint. 
 
 "Coleridge remarks that he always thought 'this in itself so beautiful 
 speech the "least explicable, from the mood and full intention of the 
 speaker, of any in the whole works of Shakespeare.' I cannot perceive 
 
ACT IV. SCENE VII. 261 
 
 the difficulty — the speech corresponds with the mixed character of the 
 speaker, too generous not to see and acknowledge his rival's merit, yet 
 not sufficiently magnanimous to be free from the malignant desire of re- 
 venging himself upon his rival for that very superiority" (V.). 
 
 Sits down. Besieges them. In i. 2. 28 and i. 3. 96 above we find set 
 down, for which see Macb. p. 250. 
 
 32. Repeal. See on iv. i. 41 above. 
 
 34. Osprey. Spelt " Aspray " in the folios. The allusion is to the 
 popular belief that the osprey had the power of fascinating the fish. 
 Langton quotes Drayton, Polyolbio7i, xxv. 134 : 
 
 "The Ospray oi^. here seen, though seldom here it breeds, 
 Which over them the fish no sooner do espy, 
 But (betwixt him and them, by an antipathy) 
 Turning their bellies up, as though their death they saw, 
 They at his pleasure lie, to stuff his glutt'nous maw." 
 
 Steevens quotes Peele's Battle of Alcazar, 1594 (ii. 3): 
 
 " I will provide thee of a princely osprey. 
 That as she flieth over fish in pools, 
 The fish shall turn their glistering bellies up, 
 And thou shalt take thy liberal choice of all." 
 
 Wr. adds The Two Noble Kinsmen, i. i : 
 
 " Your actions 
 Soon as they move, as ospreys do the fish. 
 Subdue before they touch." 
 
 37. Even. Equably, without losing his equilibrium. Cf. Hen. V. ii. 2. 
 3 : " How smooth and even they do bear themselves !" 
 
 Whether ''t tvas pride, etc. "Aufidius assigns three probable reasons 
 of the miscarriage of Coriolanus : pride, which easily follows an uninter- 
 rupted train of success ; unskilfulness to regulate the consequences of 
 his own victories ; a stubborn uniformity of nature, which could not make 
 the proper transition from the casque or helmet to the cushion or chair of 
 civil authority, but acted with the same despotism in peace as in war." 
 (Johnson). 
 
 38. Taints. That is, taints his wisdom {Al.for M. iv. 4. 5). 
 
 43. The cushion. Cf. iii. i. loi above. 
 
 44. Garb. Demeanour, ^tt. Lear, '^.20if,'!X0\.t ow Constrains the garb, 
 etc. 
 
 46. Spices. Touches; still a familiar metaphor. Cf. W. T. iii. 2. 185: 
 "Thy bygone fooleries were but spices of it ;" and Hen. VIII. ii. 3. 26 : 
 " For all this spice of your hypocrisy." 
 
 48. He has a merit, etc. " He has a merit for no other purpose than 
 to destroy it by boasting of it" (Johnson) ; or "he has a merit which de- 
 stroys its own power by striving to assert that power" (Clarke). Boswell 
 explains it: "But such is his merit as ought to choke the utterance of 
 his faults." Wr. paraphrases the passage thus: "One of these faults, 
 says Aufidius, which I have enumerated, was the cause of his banish- 
 ment ; but his merit was great enough to have prevented the sentence 
 from being uttered." Sundry other interpretations have been proposed. 
 To our thinking, the choice must lie between Clarke's and Boswell's. 
 
262 NOTES. 
 
 The former is supported by what seems to be the drift of the remainder 
 of the speech ; but the latter is perhaps on the whole to be preferred. 
 Wh. puts it thus : " He did noble service as a soldier ; and though, as a 
 statesman, promoted for his service in the wars, he fell into disgrace, yet, 
 confronted with the transcendent merit of the man [which only waits its 
 opportunity, war, not peace] the very name of his fault must stick in the 
 throats of his accusers." 
 
 49. So our virtues, etc. " Our virtues are virtues no longer if the time 
 interprets them as none. The soldier who is all soldier is misinterpreted 
 in time of peace ; for his unfitness for peace is seen, his fitness for war is 
 not seen. So Coriolanus — the power he had won in war but wielded in 
 peace, conscious of having deserved well, could to /V-r^//" commend itself, 
 but the chair of authority, which irritated the people by seeming to do 
 nothing else but commend his past exploits to them, proved just the tomb 
 — the evident, inevitable tomb — that swallowed up the power it was in- 
 tended to display. So he offended the Romans when he had taken Cori- 
 oli ; much more will he offend the Volscians when he has taken Rome " 
 (Wh.). 
 
 Taking the passage as it stands, this interpretation may, we think, be 
 accepted. Clarke gives the meaning thus : " Our virtues lie at the mercy 
 of popular interpretation in our own day ; and power, ever anxious to ex- 
 act commendation, has no tomb so sure as the pulpit of eulogium which 
 extols its deeds ;" and Wr. similarly: "The orator's chair from which a 
 man extols his own actions is the inevitable tomb of that power, however 
 deserving, which is the subject of praise." But this explanation (which 
 was first proposed by Warb.) is open to the objection urged by Malone 
 that "if S. meant to put Coriolanus in this chair, he must have forgot his 
 character ; for, as Mr, M. Mason has justly observed, he has already been 
 described as one who was so far from being a boaster that he could not 
 endure to hear his 'nothings monstered,' " Coriolanus was proud, but 
 he was no boaster. 
 
 Steevens says that the passage and the comments upon it are to him 
 " equally unintelligible." V. remarks : " It seems to me one continuous 
 and inexplicable misprint." The emendations that have been proposed 
 are many — because most of them, though unto their authors "most 
 commendable," do not commend themselves to anybody else. For 
 chair, Sr. proposes "hair," the Coll. MS. "cheer," Leo "claim," Mitford 
 "care," etc. W, conjectures " tongue so eloquent as a chair," H, " tomb 
 as eloquent as a tear," Keightley "tongue so evident as a charmer's," 
 etc, 
 
 54. Ojte fire, etc. A proverbial expression. Cf J. C. iii. i. 171 ; "As 
 fire drives out fire, so pity pity ;" T. G. of V. ii. 4, 192 : 
 
 , " Even as one heat another heat expels, 
 
 Or as one nail by strength drives out another;" 
 
 R. and J. i. 2. 46 : " Tut, man, one fire burns out another's burning ;" 
 and K. John, iii. i. 277 : 
 
 "And falsehood falsehood cures, as fire cools fire 
 Within the scorched veins of one new-burn' d." 
 
ACT V. SCENE I. 263 
 
 55. Rights by rights falter. Y ox falter the folios have "fouler," which 
 Wr. defends as = worse. It makes sense, indeed, but it is clear to us that 
 rights by rights is the full counterpart in the antithesis to strengths by 
 sti-engths, and that a verb is required to balance/?//. Falter, proposed 
 by D. and adopted by W., seems to us the best of the various emenda- 
 tions. If written "faulter," as it often was, it might easily be misprinted 
 "fouler." Johnson conjectured "founder," Ritson "foul are," Sr. "foii'd 
 are," etc. The Coll. MS. has "suffer." Pope reads "Right 's by right 
 fouler," Hanmer " Right 's by right foiled," and Warb. " Right 's by rights 
 fouled." 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene I. — 2. Which. Equivalent to zvho, as often. See Gr. 265, and 
 cf. 266. 
 
 3. Particular. Personal relation. Cf. the use of the word in iv. 7. 13 
 above. See also Hen. VIII. iii. 2. 189: " As 't were in love's particular." 
 
 5. Knee. For the verb, cf. Lear, ii. 4. 217 : " To knee his throne." 
 
 6. Coy'd. " Disdained " (Schmidt). The ordinary meaning of the ad- 
 jective in S. is disdainful, contemptuous. See V. and A. 96, 112, T. G. of 
 V. \. I. 30, iii. I. 82, T. of S. ii. i. 245, etc. In the only other instance in 
 which he has the verb {M. N. D. iv. i. 2) it is = fondle, caress. 
 
 16. Racked. Strained every nerve, exerted yourselves to the utmost. 
 Steevens, defining rack as " to harass by exactions," explains the pas- 
 sage : " You that have been such good stewards for the Roman people, 
 as to get their houses burned over their heads, to save them the expense 
 of coals." The folios read "wrack'd," which Coll. retains in the form 
 " wreck'd," and explains : " Menenius intends to sav that the tribunes 
 have wrecked a noble memory for Rome, by occasioning its destruction." 
 Others read, " sack'd fair Rome," " reck'd for Rome," " wrack'd poor 
 Rome," "wreck'd fair Rome," "work'd for Rome," etc. 
 
 " The sneer involved in the words to make coals cheap refers to the fire 
 of burning Rome, which is to bring hot coals of vengeance on them all " 
 (Clarke). 
 
 17. Memory. Cf iv. 5. 73 above. 
 
 18. Minded. Reminded ; as in W. T. iii. 2. 226 : 
 
 " Let me be punish'd, that have minded you 
 Of what you should forget ;' ' 
 
 Hen. V. iv. 3. 13 : "I do thee wrong to mind thee of it," etc. 
 
 20. A bare petition. "A mere petition. Coriolanus weighs the con- 
 sequence of verbal supplication against that of actual punishment " 
 (Steevens). Mason would read "base petition." 
 
 23. Offered. Attempted ; as in T. and C. ii. 3. 6-] : "Agamemnon is a 
 fool to offer to command Achilles," etc. 
 
 28. Nose. For the verb, cf Ham. iv. 3. 38 ; "you shall nose him," etc. 
 
 32. Above the tnoon. Delius compares, for the hyperbole, Ham. iii. 3. 
 36 : " O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven." 
 
264 AZOTES. 
 
 34. So never-needed. We should say "never so needed." 
 
 37. Instant. That is, instantly or hastily levied. 
 
 41. Towards Marcms. Wr. compares ii. 2, 49 above, and Cymb. ii. 3. 
 68: "To employ you towards this Roman." 
 
 44. Grief-shot. " Sorrow-stricken " (Schmidt). 
 
 46. That thanks, etc. _ Such gratitude as is proportionate to your good 
 intentions. For essentially similar constructions, see Gr. 280. 
 
 49. Hum. That is, contemptuously or angrily. Cf. the noun in v. 4. 
 20 belov; ; and see also Macb. iii. 6. 42 : 
 
 "The cloudy messenger turns me his back, 
 And hums, as who should say 'You '11 rue the time 
 That clogs me with this answer.'" 
 
 In T. and C. i. 3. 165 ("Now play me Nestor; hem and stroke thy 
 beard"), the folios have "hum," the quartos "hem," which suits the con- 
 text better. 
 
 Unhearts = " disheartens," which S. elsewhere (twice) uses. Discourage 
 does not occur in his works. 
 
 50. Well. That is, at a favourable time. Menenius, who loved good 
 cheer (cf. ii. i. 45 above), appears to judge Coriolanus by himself. 
 
 56. Watch him. Wr. says that "the figure is taken from the language 
 of falconry, although the treatment prescribed by Menenius is different 
 from that practised by Petruchio." See T. of S. iv. i. 206 : 
 
 " Another way I have to man my haggard, 
 To make her come and know her keeper's call. 
 That is, to watch her, as we watch these kites 
 That bate and beat and will not be obedient." 
 
 But watch in that technical sense means to keep one from sleep (see T. 
 of S. p. 158, or 0th. p. 182), while here all that Menenius intends to say is 
 that he will watch for the o]Dportunity of making his appeal to Coriolanus 
 when he is dieted to it — that is, put in good humour for it by a good 
 dinner. 
 
 61. Speed. Turn out, result. Delius connects Speed how it will with 
 what follows. 
 
 63. Sit ill gold. That is, " in his chair of state, with a marvellous and 
 unspeakable majesty" (North). See p. 189 above. Steevens quotes 
 Pope's Iliad: " Th' eternal Thunderer sat thron'd in gold;" where the 
 original (viii. 442) has 
 
 Alitor de XP'^<^^'0V eTTt 2^p6vov evpvona ZeiT 
 "eCcto. 
 
 Cf. A. and C. iii. 6. 4 : 
 
 " Cleopatra and himself in chairs of gold 
 Were publicly enthron'd." 
 
 64. His injury, etc. His sense of wrong restraining his pity. 
 
 69. Bound with an oath, etc. A perplexing passage, perhaps corrupt or 
 incomplete. As it stands, it appears to mean that Coriolanus was bound 
 by an oath as to what he would not, unless the Romans should yield to his 
 conditions, whatever those may have been. Wh. puts it thus : " Sent after 
 
ACT V. SCENE II. 
 
 265 
 
 me in writing what he would, what he would not, consent to do ; confirm- 
 ing this with an oath which only our acceptance of his terms can cancel." 
 This is not perfectly satisfactory, but to our thinking it is the best that 
 has been offered. Farmer says: "I suppose Coriolanus means that he 
 had sworn to give way to the conditions into which the ingratitude of his 
 country had forced him." Delius understands that Coriolanus bound 
 Cominius by an oath to yield to his conditions ; and K. also makes his 
 conditions — those, imposed upon Coriolanus by the Volscians. Johnson 
 
 proposed to read 
 
 "What he would not. 
 Bound by an oath. To yield to his conditions," — 
 
 supposing something to be lost. Malone conjectured that two half-lines 
 were lost, Bound by an oath being the beginning of one, and to yield to his 
 conditions the end of the other. W. thinks a line is lost after not. Sr. 
 proposed to read "to no conditions." For other emendations, see the 
 Camb. ed. 
 
 71. Unless his noble mother, etc. That is, unless it be his mother, etc. 
 Capell reads " unless from his," and W. " unless in 's." If any change is 
 necessary, the latter is to be preferred ; but as the passage stands it is no 
 unnatural inversion of " His mother and wife are our only hope." If 
 there is any corruption, it is probably in the imperfect line 70, not in 71. 
 
 Scene IT. — 10. It is lots to blanks. That is, it is pretty certain, it 's a 
 hundred to one. Steevens compares Rich. III. i. 2. 238 : " And yet to 
 win her, — all the world to nothing !" The lots are the prizes in the lot- 
 tery (cf the Fr. lot, and see also Wb.), as Johnson explained. Malone 
 disputed this, because there are many more blanks than prizes, but the 
 reference is to the value of the latter compared with the former. 
 
 14. Lover. Loving friend. See M. of V. p. 153. 
 
 15. Book. Wr. compares, for the metaphor. Rich. III. iii. 5. 27 : 
 
 "Made him my book, wherein my soul recorded 
 The history of all my secret thoughts." 
 
 Steevens quotes Per. i. 1. 15 and Macb. i. 5. 63. See also R. of L. 615, etc. 
 
 16. Haply. The folios have " happely " or "happily." See T. of S. 
 p. 138, or Gr. 42. 
 
 17. Verified. "Supported the credit of" (Schmidt), or "spoken the 
 truth of" (Malone). The word has been suspected on account of the 
 verity that follows; but the repetition is not un-Shakespearian. Wh. 
 paraphrases the passage thus : " I have always told the truth about my 
 friends' good acts — always the whole truth — sometimes perhaps a little 
 more than the truth." Hanmer reads "magnified," and Warb. "narri- 
 fied " (!). Edwards conjectures "varnished," St. "rarefied," Leo "glori- 
 fied," and Jervis "certified." Wr. suggests that "amplified" might be 
 repeated from the preceding line. Coll., D., and W. adopt "magnified." 
 
 20. Subtle. " So smooth and deceptive that the bowl moves over it 
 more jrapidly than the bowler intends, and goes beyond the mark" (Wr.). 
 For another allusion to bowling, see on iii. I. 60 above. Steevens quotes 
 B. J., Chloridia: " Tityus's breast, that ... is counted the subtlest bowl- 
 ing ground in all Tartarus." 
 
266 NOTES. 
 
 22. Stamp'd the leasing. Given the falsehood the stamp of truth ; a 
 metaphor taken from coining, Cf. 0th. ii. i. 247, and see i. 6. 23 above. 
 For leasing, see T. N. p. 129. Wr. quotes Ps. v. 6, 
 
 29. Factionary on the party. Taking part on the side. S. uses faction- 
 ary nowhere else. For /r!;r(-i/ = part, side, see K. John, p. 133. 
 
 38. Out. Out from. See 2 Hen. IV. p. 163, note on Bawl out. Cf. 
 forth in i. 4. 23 above. 
 
 40. Front. Confront ; as in A. and C. i. 4. 79 : " To front this present 
 time," etc. 
 
 41. Virginal. Virgin, maidenly ; as in 2 Hen. VI. v. 2. 52 and Per. iv. 
 6. 32. 
 
 42. Dotant. " Dotard ;" the reading of the 4th folio. 
 
 54, Your having. What you have; as in A. Y. L. iii. 2. 396 : "your 
 having in beard." See also M. W. iii. 2. ']Ty, Cymb. i. 2. 19, etc. 
 
 57. Companion. See on iv. 5. 12 above. 
 
 Errand. Spelt "arrant" in the first three folios, indicating the old 
 pronunciation, still a vulgar one in New England. 
 
 59. A Jack gitardant. A Jack on guard. Steevens compares " a Jack 
 in office." For the contemptuous use of Jack, see Much Ado, p. 164. 
 Guardant occurs again in i Hen. VI. iv. 7. 9 : " But when my angry 
 guardant stood alone." 
 
 Office me from. Use your office to keep me from. Cf. officed in A. W. 
 iii. 2. 129. 
 
 60. But by. The folios omit by ; inserted by Malone. Hanmer omits 
 but. 
 
 64. Synod. Used by S. in six passages, in five of which it refers to an 
 assembly of the gods. See A. Y. L. p. 173. 
 
 67. Look thee. Here thee is apparently ==//^£'?/. See Gr. 212. 
 
 68. Hardly. With difficulty; as in T. G. of V. ii. i. 115: "it came 
 hardly off," etc. 
 
 70. Our. The folios have "your," which the Camb. ed. retains. If 
 the second person were used, we should expect " thy." 
 
 71. Petitionary. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 199: "with most petitionary vehe- 
 mence." 
 
 77. Servanted to. Subject to, under the control of. Gr. 294. 
 
 Though I owe, etc. " The Volscians have charged rne with the execu- 
 tion of my own revenge; it is mine therefore to execute, but not to re- 
 mit" (Wh.). For owe, see on iii. 2. 130 above. Properly =^2^% my prop- 
 erty, as mine personally. Ci.proper in i. 9. 57 above. 
 
 80. Ingrate. " Ingrateful" (ii. 2. 28 above). See K. John, p. 174. 
 Poison = destroy. 
 
 83. For. Because ; as in iii. i. 10 above. 
 
 84. Writ. For the past tense S. uses writ oftener than wrote ; for 
 the participle he has usually writ or zuritten, sometimes wrote. 
 
 88. Constant. See on i. i. 232 above. 
 
 92. Shent. Reproved, rated. Cf. T. N. iv. 2. 112: "I am shent for 
 speaking to you." See our ed. p. 159, or Ham. p. 231. 
 
 c)^. Slight. Insignificant, worthless ; as in Z. Z. Z. v. 2. 463 : "some 
 slight zany ;" y. C. iv. I. 12 : "a slight, unmeritable man," etc. 
 
ACT V. SCENE III. 267 
 
 103. Wind-shaketi. We have wvid-skaked in Otk. ii. i. 13. See our 
 ed. p. 170. 
 
 Scene III. — 2. Set down. Cf. i. 2. 28 above. 
 
 3. How plainly. "That is, how openly, how remotely from artifice or 
 concealment" (Johnson). 
 
 4. I have borne this bnsiness. See on i. i. 263 above. 
 
 9. A crack'd heart. Cf. Lear, ii. I. 92: "O madam, my old heart is 
 crack'd, — it 's crack'd !" See also A. and C. iv. 14. 41. 
 
 II. Godded. Idolized ; used by S. only here. 
 
 13. Show'd. Appeared. See on iii. 3. 50 above. 
 
 15. To grace him. To do honour to him. Cf i Hen. F/. ii. 4. 81 : 
 *' We grace the yeoman by conversing with him," etc. 
 
 17. To. The ist folio has "too." 
 
 23. In her hand. Wr. quotes Rich. III. iv. i. 12 : 
 
 "Who meets us here? My niece Plantagenet 
 Led in the hand of her kind aunt of Gloucester?" 
 
 32. Aspect. Accented on the last syllable, as always in S. See A. Y. L. 
 p. 190. Or. 490. 
 
 35. To obey. As to obey. Cf Tejjip. ii. i. 167 : 
 
 "I would with such perfection govern, sir, 
 To excel the golden age." 
 
 Cf. the ellipsis oi as after so (Or. 281). 
 
 Instinct, like aspect, is accented by S. on the last syllable. See 2 Hen. 
 
 IV. p. 149. 
 
 39. The sorrow, etc. " Virgilia interprets her husband's speech literal- 
 \y, as if it referred to the altered appearance of the suppliants, which was 
 caused by their sorrow. Coriolanus merely says that in his banishment 
 he saw every thing in a different light" (Wr.). Delivers^shows, ; as in 
 
 V. 6. 140 below. 
 
 40. Lihe a dull actor. Malone quotes Sonn. 23. i : 
 
 "As an unperfect actor on the stage, 
 Who with his fear is put beside his part." 
 
 On out—2X a loss, cf A. V. L. iv. i. 76 : "Very good orators, when they 
 are out, they will spit ;" and see our ed. p. 186. 
 
 46. The jealous queeii of heaven. "Juno, who ])resided over marriage, 
 and punished conjugal infidelity" (Clarke). Cf Temp. iv. i. 103 fol., 
 A. Y. L. V. 5. 147, and Per. ii. 3. 30. 
 
 48. Vi)'gin''d it. Been as a virgin. For the //, zL fool it in ii. 3. 114 
 above. Gr. 226. 
 
 Prate. The folios have "pray;" corrected bv Pope (the conjecture of 
 Theo.). 
 
 54. Unproperly. Used by S. only here ; improperly not at all. Im- 
 proper occurs only in Lear, v. 3. 221, and zinproper only in 0th. iv. i. 69. 
 See on iv. 4. 16 above. 
 
 57. Corrected. " Rebuked by the sight " (Wh.). 
 
 58. Hungry. Defined by some as=barren; by others as = eager for 
 
268 IVOTES. 
 
 shipwrecks. It is perhaps suggested by the same epithet as applied to 
 the sea. Cf. T. N. ii. 4. 103 : " as hungry as the sea." 
 
 59. Fillip. Cf. 2 Heji. IV. i. 2. 255 : "If I do, fillip me with a three- 
 man beetle ;" and see our ed. p. 157. 
 
 60. Strike the pi'oud cedars, etc. It is singular that the critics who 
 think it necessary to tone down the hyperbole in iv, 5. iii have not 
 "emended" this line. Is scarring the moon a more preposterous rhetor- 
 ical achievement than striking against the sun ? 
 
 61. Murthering impossibility. Putting an end to it : after this, let noth- 
 ing be impossible. 
 
 63. Holp. See on iii. i. 277 above. 
 
 65. The 7noon of Rome, etc. See pp. 28, 38 above. Cf. i. i. 250 and ii. 
 I. 88 above. 
 
 66. Curded. Congealed. The folios have " curdled," which some ed- 
 itors retain. Schmidt also gives " curdy," but curd is the form in A. W. 
 i. 3. 155 and Ham. i. 5. 69. Rowe (2d ed.) reads "curdled," which S. 
 nowhere uses. 
 
 68. This is, etc. Steevens proposed to give this speech to Valeria, 
 who has nothing to say in the scene; but, as Wr. remarks, Volumnia 
 first presents Valeria and then young Marcius whom she holds by the 
 hand. For of yours Johnson would read " of you." Cf. iii. i. 95 above. 
 
 71. Supreme. Accented on the first syllable everywhere in S. except 
 iii. I. no above, which is the only instance in which it does not come be- 
 fore the noun. See on divine, iv. 5. 106 above. 
 
 74. Flaw. " That is, every gust, every storm " (Johnson). See Ham, 
 p. 264. Malone quotes Souri. 116. 5: 
 
 " O no ! it is an ever-fixed mark, 
 That looks on tempests and is never shaken." 
 
 80. Forstvorn to grant. Sworn not to grant. Wr. cites R. and J. i. I. 
 229: " She hath forsworn to love ;" and 7". yV. iii. 4. 276 : "or forswear 
 to wear iron about you." 
 
 81. Denials. "The plural is used because the refusal affected several 
 persons" (Wr.). Cf 85 below. 
 
 82. Capitulate. Treat, make terms ; not now used of the victor. In 
 the only other instance of the verb in S. (i Hen. IV. iii. 2. 120) it means 
 to conspire, form a league, 
 
 85. Allay. Cf. ii. I. 45 above. 
 
 90. If you fail in. Either =fail us in, or = fail in granting; probably 
 the former. Rowe (2d ed) changed jj/^?/ to "we." 
 93. Nought. See on iii. I. 231 above. 
 
 95. Bewray. Betray, show. See Lear, p. 199. 
 
 96. Exile. See on i. 6. 35 above. 
 
 97. Unfortunate. In the editions of North's Plutarch published in 
 1579, 1595, and 1603, this adjective is misprinted "unfortunately." The 
 error is corrected in the ed. of 1612, from which Halliwell {Trans. New 
 Shaks. Soc. for 1874, p. 367) infers that S. must have used this edition, and 
 that the date of the play must therefore be put as late as 1612. On the 
 other hand, Fleay {Shaks. Manual, p. 52) argues that the play must have 
 been written before 1612, because the correction in North was got from 
 
ACT K SCENE III. 269 
 
 it. One argument is just as good as the other ; but, as Wr. remarks, a 
 moment's comparison of the passage in North with that in Coriolamcs 
 will show that S., in turning the former into verse, " had recourse to 
 omission anri transposition, and may therefore have written unfortunate 
 instead of tinfortunately for metrical reasons, without having had the 
 word in the printed copy before him." 
 
 100. Constrains them weep. For the ellipsis of /<?, see Gr. 349. Shake 
 refers, of course, to hearts. 
 
 103. To poor zve. Cf. " between you and I " in M. of V. iii. 2. 321, etc. 
 See Gr. 205, 206, 209, 211. For we— .us in other constructions, see J. C. 
 iii. I. 95, Ham. i. 4. 54, and Cymb. v. 3. 72. 
 
 104. Capital. Deadly, mortal. Cf. "capital punishment." For the 
 double object of ban-'st, Wr. compares A. Y. L. i. i. 20: "bars me the 
 place of a brother." 
 
 107. Alas, ho7v can we, etc. Cf. K. John, iii. I, 331 fol. : " Husband, I 
 cannot pray that thou mayst win," etc. 
 
 109. Alack! or we ??mst lose, etc. See extract from North, p. 191 
 above. 
 
 115. Thoro2igh. The folios have "through" here, but thorough, \\\\\c\\ 
 Johnson substituted for the sake of the measure, is often used by S. See 
 M. of V. p. 144 (note on Throughfares) or M. N. D. p. 136. Gr. 478. 
 
 120. Determine. Terminate. See on iii. 3. 43 above. 
 
 122. Thou shalt no sooner, etc. See North, p. 191 above. 
 
 127. A'' shall not, etc. See p. 25 above. 
 
 138. In either side. Elsewhere we have 071; as in i. 6. 51 and iii. I. 181 
 above. 
 
 139. All-hail. Cf. Macb. i. 5. 56 : " Greater than both, by the all-hail 
 hereafter," etc. 
 
 143. Such . . . whose. Cf. iii. 2. 55 above. Gr. 279. 
 145. Writ. See on v, 2. 84 above. 
 
 149. The fine strains. " The niceties, the refinements " (Johnson) ; 
 "the emotions or impulses" (Wr.); "the aspirations, high reachings, 
 lofty attempts" (Clarke). Y ox fine, the folios have "fine" or "five;" 
 corrected by Johnson. 
 
 150. To imitate, tic. ^^ The divine graces i\\ziCox\6\2iX\\x's, affected to imi- 
 tate are — terror and mercy, both attributes of their gods : to express this, 
 he is said to thunder as they do ; but so to temper his terrors that man- 
 kind is as little hurt by them as they commonly are by thunder, which 
 mostly spends its rage on oaks" (Capell). 
 
 151. The wide cheeks 0' the air. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 4 : " the welkin's cheek ;" 
 and Rich. II. iii. 3. 57 : "the cloudy cheeks of heaven." 
 
 152. Charge. The folios have "change;" corrected by Warb. and 
 Theo. Schmidt makes "change with "==; exchange for, as in Hen. V. iii. 
 7. 12. 
 
 " The meaning of the passage is, to threaten much, and yet be merci- 
 ful " (Warb.). 
 
 155. Daughter, speak you. "With what exquisitely artistic touches S. 
 finishes his character-portraits ! Here, in two half-lines, he paints Vir- 
 gilia's habitual silence, and Volumnia's as habitual torrent of words. She 
 
2^0 NOTES. 
 
 bids her daughter-in-law plead, yet waits not for her to speak. And 
 then how consistently has he depicted Volumnia's mode of appeal to 
 her son throughout, in iii. 2 and here ; beginning with remonstrance, 
 and ending with reproach : her fiery nature so like his «wn, and so 
 thoroughly accounting for his inherited disposition" (Clarke). ' 
 
 i6o. Like one i" the stocks. "Keep me in a state of ignominy talking 
 to no purpose " (Johnson). 
 
 163. Cluck' d. The 1st folio has "clock'd," which appears to have 
 been a form of the word. Wr. quotes Cotgrave : "Glosser. To cluck, 
 or clocke, as a Henne." 
 
 On the passage, see p. 30 above. 
 
 164. Loaden. Used by S. interchangeably with laden. See I Hen. IV. 
 p. 140. Cf. quotation from Cotgrave in note on i. i. 20 above. 
 
 170. Lon^s. Belongs; generally printed "'longs," but incorrectly. 
 See Wb. or Hen. VI 11. p. 162. 
 
 176. Reason. Reason or argue for. Cf. the somewhat similar transi- 
 tive use in Lear, ii. 4. 267 : " reason not the need," 
 
 178. To his mother. For his mother. Cf. Lear, iii. 6. 14 : " that has a 
 gentleman to his son ;" Temp. ii. I. 75 : " a paragon to their queen," etc. 
 Gr. 189. See also Matt. iii. 9. 
 
 179. His child. Changed by Theo. (followed by W.) to "this child ;" 
 but, in our opinion, quite unnecessarily. Volumnia does not think of the 
 apparent inconsistency ; or we might say that his child is = this child that 
 passes for his, or that we call his. 
 
 189. Mortal. Mortally, fatally. It is common enough to find an ad- 
 jective used adverbially (Gr. i), but here we might perhaps say, as Wr. 
 and Clarke do, that " the adverbial termination is carried on from danger- 
 ously:' Cf. Gr. 397. 
 
 190. True wars. For the plural, cf. i. 3. 98 above. 
 
 192. Were you. Capell reads " If you were " for the sake of the meas- 
 ure ; and Walker conjectures " An were you." 
 199. Stand to. Stand by. Cf. iii. I. 208 above. 
 
 202. A former fortune. That is, such as I had before I shared my 
 power with Coriolanus. 
 
 203. Brink together. In token of peace. Steevens quotes 2 Hen. IV. 
 
 iv. 2. 63 : 
 
 "And here between the armies 
 Let 's drink together friendly and embrace, 
 That all their eyes may bear those tokens home 
 Of our restored love and amity." 
 
 Farmer would read " think" for dj^ink. 
 
 207. A temple. According to Plutarch "a temple of Fortune " was 
 built to commemorate the occasion. It is said to have stood at the fourth 
 milestone on the Via Latina, where Coriolanus met his mother. 
 
 Scene IV.— i. Coign. Corner. See Macb. p. 174. 
 7. Stay upon. Wait but for. Cf. C. of E. v, i. 20, etc. 
 
 10. Condition. See on ii. 3. 91 above. 
 
 11. Difereucy. The reading of the ist folio, changed in the 2d to 
 
ACT V. SCENES V. AND VL 
 
 271 
 
 "difference." So in 0th, iii. 4. 149, the ist folio has "observancie," the 
 2d " observance." 
 
 20. Hian. See on v. I. 49 above. State = q\-\-^\x of state ; as in Macb. 
 iii. 4. 5 : " Our hostess keeps her state," etc. See our ed. p. 214. 
 
 21. Made for. Made to represent ; that is, a statue. 
 
 24. Throne. Not elsewhere used intransitively by S. For throned= 
 enthroned, see M. N. D. ii. i. 158, T. N. ii. 4. 22, etc. 
 
 26. In the character. To the life, as he is. 
 
 29. Long of yotc. Owing to you. Long is commonly printed " 'long ;" 
 but see M. N. 'D. p. 168. 
 
 36. Plebeians. For the accent, see on i. 9. 7 above. 
 
 37. Ha/e. Haul, drag. See Mttch Ado, p. 137. 
 
 46. Make doubt. Cf. i. 2. 18 above. 
 
 47, Blown. Perhaps =swo]len ; as in Lear, iv. 4. 27 : " No blown am- 
 bition doth our arms incite ;" but it had occurred to us before we saw 
 Collier's note on the word that it probably refers to the effect of the wind 
 upon the tide. Malone quotes R. of L. 1667 : 
 
 "As through an arch the violent roaring tide 
 Outruns the eye that doth behold his haste." 
 
 Both passages were doubtless suggested by the tide rushing through the 
 arches of Old London Bridge. See i He7i. IV. p. 29, foot-note. 
 
 49. The trumpets, etc. Wr. remarks that S. probably had in mind the 
 list of instruments in Dan. iii. 7. 
 
 51. Make the sun dance. It was a popular superstition that the sun 
 dances on Easter Sunday. Cf SuckVingy Ba//ad upofi a Wedding: 
 
 " But, O, she dances such a way, 
 No sun upon an Easter Day 
 Is half so fine a sight!" 
 
 57. Doit. See on i. 5. 6 above. 
 
 61. At point. See on iii. i. 194 above. 
 
 Scene V. — D. was the first to make this a new scene. Coll. follows 
 the early eds. in adding it to Scene 4. 
 
 4. Unshout, etc. " Annul the former noise with shouts of welcome to 
 his mother" (Wh.). Wr. compares unspeak in Macb. iv. 3. 123, luisay in 
 M. N.D.'i. I. 181, and unpay in 2 Hen. IV. ii. i. 130. 
 
 5. Repeal. Recall. See on iv. i. 41 above. 
 
 Scene VI. — Antium. The locality is not marked in the folios. Rowe 
 made it Antium, and has been followed by most of the editors ; but Sr., 
 D., Coll., and St. substitute Corioli on account of 90 below. But we 
 should infer from 116 that the scene is not in Corioli. According to 
 Plutarch, Antium should be the place. 
 
 5. Him. He whom. Cf iv. 2. 2 above, and see Gr. 208. 
 
 6. Ports. Gates ; as in i. 7. I above. 
 
 15. Of. From; as in K. John, iii. 4. 55 : "deliver'd of these woes." 
 Gr. 166. 
 
 20. Pretext. Accented on the last syllable ; used by S. nowhere else. 
 
272 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 21. Pawn\i. Pledged. See 2 Hen. IV. p. 185. 
 
 22. Who. For the construction, cf. Temp. i. 2. 162, iii. 2. 53, etc. Gr. 
 249. 
 
 27. Stoutness. Cf. iii. 2. 78, 127 above. 
 
 32. Cf-zz'-f /zzV/i! KWjj/. Gave way to him. Cf. iv. 4. 25 above. 
 
 35. Designments. Designs ; used again in 0th. ii. i. 22 : " their de- 
 signment halts." 
 
 36. Holp. See on v. 3. 63 above. 
 
 37. End all his. Made all his own at last. The use oi end would not 
 be singular, even if it had not been shown that it is a provincial term for 
 getting in a harvest, still used in Surrey, Sussex, and elsewhere. Arrow- 
 smith (quoted by D.) cites advertisements from the Hereford Times of 
 Tan. 23, 1858, in which "well-ended hay-ricks" and "well-ended wheat- 
 ricks " are mentioned among things for sale at auction. The 4th folio 
 has "make" for end, and the Coll. MS. "ear" (see Rich. II. p. 192, or 
 A. W. p. 141). St. conjectures "bind," and Keightley "inn" (see A. W. 
 
 P- HO- 
 
 40. Wag'd me with his corintenance. " Paid me with his patronage ; 
 made me feel that, when he approved me, he was paying me wages '' (Wh.). 
 S. uses wage in this sense nowhere else. Steevens quotes Holinshed : 
 " to levie and wage thirtie thousand men." For countenance, see Ham. 
 p. 243. 
 
 43. Had carried. That is, had in eifect done so. Wr. thinks it may 
 be = might have carried (Gr. 361). 
 
 And that. And zvhen that. Gr. 285. Cf. iv. 5. 95 above. 
 
 45. For which mv sinews, etc. "This is the point on which I will at- 
 tack him with my utmost abilities " (Johnson). 
 
 46. At. At the price of. Cf. i. 5. 5 above. 
 Ehenm—itdiXS ; as often in S. See K. John, p. 152. ^ 
 
 50. Post. "A messenger, bringing the news of the victories of Corio- 
 lanus" (Wr.). Cf. r. tV. p. 133. 
 
 54. At your vantage. When you find the opportunity. Cf. Cymb. i. 3. 
 24: " With his next vantage," etc. 
 
 57. Which zue will second. The pointing is that of Theo. The folios 
 
 read : 
 
 "Which we will second, when he lies along 
 After your way. His Tale pronounc'd, shall bury," etc. 
 
 58. After your way, etc. After your version of his story. 
 
 59. His reasojis. His arguments, or what he would say in defence of 
 himself. 
 
 64. What faults he made. Cf. W. T. iii. 2. 220 : " What faults I make ;" 
 and just before (218) : "you have made fault." See our ed. p. 178. 
 
 67. Answering us, etc. " Instead of spoils and victory, bringing back 
 the bill— for ourselves to pay" (Wh.). For answer, cf i Hen. IV. i. 3. 
 185 : "To answer all the debt," etc. ; and for charge— zq>s,\., see K. John, 
 p. 133. Cf. 79 below. 
 
 71. Soldier. A trisyllable. Cf. i. I. 109 above. 
 
 73. Parted. Departed. See M. of V. p. 145. 
 
 78. A full third part. That is, by a full third. Gr. 420. 
 
ACT V. SCENE VI. 2 7" 
 
 84. Compoimded. Agreed. See K. John, p. 145. 
 
 85. In the highest degree. The folio has no comma after traitor, and it 
 is possible, though not probable, that in the highest degree qualifies that 
 word. Wr. quotes T. N. i. 5. 61 : " Misprision in the highest degree ;" 
 and Rich. III. v. 3. 196 : " Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree !" For 
 the contracted superlative, see on iii, i. 103 above. 
 
 90. In Corioli. Clarke, in remarking upon the locality of this scene, 
 connects these words with stolen, not with g7'ace, the emphasis being 
 thrown upon /; " Dost thou think / '11 grace thee with that robbery, thy 
 name of Coriolanus, stolen in Corioli ?" This seems rather forced ; it is 
 more probable that S. forgot for the moment that the scene was not in 
 Corioli. 
 
 93. Drops of salt. Often used of tears ; as in Temp. i. 2. 55 : "drops 
 full salt ;" M. N. D. ii. 2. 92 : " Salt tears," etc. Cf iv. i. 22 above. 
 
 100. Each at other. The folios have "others;" corrected by Rowe. 
 Cf. M. N. D. iii. 2. 239 : "Wink each at other ;" and see our ed. p. 166. 
 So " each on other " in Rich. III. iii. 7. 26. 
 
 102. No more. Probably to be explained as = no more than a boy of 
 tears. Tyrwhitt conjectured that the speech should be given to the first 
 Lord. 
 
 ^ 105. The first time. Coriolanus forgets how he berated the tribunes 
 m iii. I and iii. 3. 
 
 107. Notion. Understanding, mind ; as in Mncb. iii. i. 2>-i: "a notion 
 craz'd," etc. See also Lear, p. 191, note on His notion weakens. 
 
 108. Who. The antecedent is implied in his. Cf iii. 2. 119 above. 
 Or. 218. For that, see Gr. 260, 262. 
 
 116. In Corioli. Surely he would not have said this in Corioli, but 
 rather "in this city here," or to that effect; but we believe that none of 
 the commentators have referred to this as a reason for not following Sr. 
 in placing the scene in Corioli. 
 
 Y ox flutter' d, the ist and 2d folios have "flatter'd." 
 
 121. All the People. Cf iii. i. 186-188 above. 
 
 Presently. At once. See on iii. 3. 12 above. 
 
 125. Folds in. Cf iii. 3. 68 above. 
 
 127. Jiidicions. Judicial ; the only instance of this sense in S. Stand 
 =stop ; as in T. and C. v. 6. 9, etc. 
 
 \1^. Did owe you. Had for you, exposed you to. 
 
 140. Deliver. Show ; as in v. 3. 39 above. 
 
 142. Censure. Judgment, sentence. Cf iii. 3. 46 above. 
 
 144. That ever herald, etc. "This allusion is to a custom unknown, I 
 believe, to the ancients, but observed in the public funerals of English 
 princes, at the conclusion of which a herald proclaims the style of the 
 deceased" (Steevens). 
 
 145. His. Referring of course to Coriolanus. 
 152. Unchilded. Used by S only here. 
 
 154. Me?nory. See on iv. 5. "jt, above. 
 
 155. Assist. Omitted by Pope, 
 
 S 
 
ROMAN CONSUL. 
 
INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES 
 EXPLAINED. 
 
 abated, 248. 
 
 abram (^auburn), 231. 
 
 absolute, 256. 
 
 abused (=deceived), 236. 
 
 accompanied witla, 246. 
 
 act the woman, 229. 
 
 addition (=title), 216. 
 
 a-doing, 250. 
 
 advanced (=raised), 210. 
 
 affect (=desire), 227, 246, 
 
 258. 
 affection (=desire), 197, 200, 
 
 234- 
 Afric, 211. 
 
 after (=afterwards), 22S. 
 after-meeting, 227. 
 against all noble sufferance, 
 
 236. 
 against (=in the way of), 
 
 241. 
 age (=lifetime), 258. 
 ages, in our, 236. 
 agued fear, 207. 
 alarum, 228. 
 allaying, 219, 268. 
 all-hail, 269. 
 allow, 247. 
 allowance, 243. 
 almost (transposed), 203. 
 alms (singular), 245. 
 Amazonian, 229. 
 ancient (=former), 249. 
 ancient malice, 225, 255. 
 an-hungry, 200. 
 answer (=meet in combat), 
 
 203, 207. 
 Antiates, 210. 
 antique (accent), 233. 
 Antium, 271. 
 anvil, 255. 
 apparance, 253. 
 apron-men, 259. 
 apt (=docile), 243. 
 Arabia, 251. 
 arrive (transitive), 234. 
 article (=condition), 234. 
 articulate, 216. 
 as (=as if), 201, 209, 259. 
 
 as cause will be obeyed, 211. 
 
 as (omitted), 218, 234, 249, 
 253, 267. 
 
 as our good wills, 225. 
 
 aspect (accent), 267. 
 
 assembly (metre), 199. 
 
 at a word, 206. 
 
 at Grecian sword, contem- 
 ning, 204. 
 
 at mercy, 216. 
 
 at point, 240, 271. 
 
 at your vantage, 272. 
 
 atone, 259. 
 
 attach (=arrest), 240. 
 
 attend, 190. 
 
 attended (=waited for), 217, 
 242. 
 
 audible, 257. 
 
 augurer, 2 1 8. 
 
 avoid (=depart), 186. 
 
 avoid (=quit), 253. 
 
 awake your lenity, 238. 
 
 bald (contemptuous), 240. 
 
 bale (=injury), 199. 
 
 bare petition, 263. 
 
 bats (=staves), 195. 
 
 batten, 253. 
 
 battle (=army), 175, 210. 
 
 bear the business, 202, 211, 
 
 267. 
 bear the knave, 247. 
 beard to beard, 217. 
 became of (=came of), 183. 
 bedward, to, 209. 
 bemock, 202. 
 bended, 226. 
 beseech you, 204. 
 bestow of, 234. 
 bestrid, 229. 
 
 bestride my threshold, 255. 
 better (proleptic), 205. 
 bewray, 185, 190, 268. 
 bisson, 219, 239. 
 bless from, 204. 
 blest to do, 22S. 
 blown, 271. 
 boil (spelling), 207. 
 
 I Boles, 187. 
 bolted, 242. 
 bonneted, 226. 
 book (figurative), 265. 
 botcher, 220. 
 bound with oak, 204. 
 bountiful (adverb), 233. 
 bravery (=insolence), 177. 
 brawn, 255. 
 briefly (=lately), 209. 
 budge, 210. 
 budger, 211. 
 
 buildings of my fancy, 223. 
 bulks, 224. 
 bussing, 244. 
 by (^concerning), 183. 
 by particulars, 232. 
 by the poll, 246. 
 
 call our cares fears, 239. 
 
 cankered, 254. 
 
 cannot choose, 252. 
 
 canopy, 253. 
 
 capital (=deadly), 269. 
 
 capitulate, 268. 
 
 caps and legs, 219. 
 
 carbonado, 256. 
 
 cast (in wrestling), 170. 
 
 catched, 205. 
 
 Cato's, 208. 
 
 cats (personal), 251. 
 
 cause (=occasion), 211, 234. 
 
 cautelous, 249. 
 
 cement (accent), 259. 
 
 censure (^judgment), 202, 
 
 273- 
 censured (=jtidged), 218. 
 centuries, 211. 
 Cercees, 187. 
 chafed, 246. 
 
 change of honours, 222. 
 charge (=cost), 272. 
 charter to extol her blood, 
 
 213. 
 chats him, 223. 
 cheeks o' the air, 269. 
 circumvention, 203. 
 city leads, 259. 
 
276 INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED. 
 
 city mills, 217. 
 
 clean {=;quite), 242. 
 
 clip (= embrace), 209, 255. 
 
 clucked, 270. 
 
 clusters, 260. 
 
 cockle, 179, 237. 
 
 cog (=cheat), 246. 
 
 coign, 270. 
 
 commend, 256. 
 
 commodity, 172. 
 
 common (=commons), 199, 
 
 236. 
 companions, 253, 266. 
 compass (=restraint), 170. 
 compounded, 273. 
 conclude (=decide), 239. 
 condition ( = disposition ), 
 
 233, 270. 
 condition (play upon), 216. 
 confine into, 259. 
 confirmed, 205. 
 confound (=waste), 209. 
 confusion (=:ruin), 238, 240, 
 
 258. 
 conies, 257. 
 conscience sake, 231. 
 consent of, 231. 
 conspectuities, 219. 
 constant, 201, 266. 
 contentation, 176. 
 contrary (verb), 188, 192. 
 contrived (=plotted}, 247. 
 convented, 228. 
 converses with, 219. 
 Corioli walls, 21 r. 
 corrected, 267. 
 country (trisyllable), 213. 
 courage, 247. 
 
 coxcombs (play upon), 260. 
 coyed, 263. 
 crack (=boy), 205. 
 crack (=break), ig6, 267. 
 crafted, 260. 
 cranks, 19S. 
 cry havoc, 241. 
 cry (=pack), 248, 260. 
 cunning (=wisdom\ 249. 
 cupboarding, 197. 
 curded, 268. 
 
 deadly (adverb), 219. 
 debile, 216. 
 
 deed-achieving honour, 221. 
 defer (=wait), 191. 
 deliver (=show), 207, 273. 
 deliver (=speak), 197, 259. 
 demand (=ask), 247. 
 demerits (^merits), 202. 
 deserved (=deserving), 242. 
 designments, 272. 
 determine (=end), 247, 269. 
 Deucalion, 220. 
 differency, 270. 
 
 directitude, 257. 
 directly, 256. 
 disbenched, 228. 
 discommodities, 170. 
 disease (=troubIe), 205. 
 disgest, 199. 
 disgrace, 196. 
 dishonoured, 237. 
 disliking, 181. 
 dislodged, 192. 
 disposition (metre), 211. 
 dispropertied, 226. 
 dissentious, 199. 
 distinctly ranges, 240. 
 divine (accent), 255. 
 dog (metaphor), 195. 
 doit, 20S, 253, 271. 
 dotant, 266. 
 doubt (=dread), 239. 
 doubt (=suspect), 178. 
 drachma, 208. 
 drink together, 270. 
 drops of salt, 273. 
 dumb, 226. 
 
 each at other, 273. 
 either, 246. 
 embarquements, 217. 
 embracements, 204. 
 empirictic, 221. 
 emulation (=envy), 201. 
 end all his, 272. 
 end (=spend), 230. 
 endure (=remain), 210. 
 enemy (adjective), 253. 
 enforce, 234, 246. 
 entertainment, in the, 252. 
 envied against, 248. 
 envy ( = hatred), 211, 254, 
 
 255- 
 envy (=show ill-will), 247. 
 errand (spelling), 266. 
 estimate, 248. 
 even (= equably), 261. 
 exile (accent), 209, 268. 
 exposture, 250. 
 extreme (accent), 247. 
 
 fact (=deed), 178. 
 
 factionary, 266. 
 
 fail in, 268. 
 
 fall out, 176. 
 
 falsely, 237. 
 
 fatigate, 230. 
 
 faults he made, 272. 
 
 favour (=::face), 251. 
 
 fear (=fear for), 210, 211. 
 
 fear (reflexive), 259. 
 
 feebling, 200. 
 
 fidiused, 221. 
 
 fielded, 206. 
 
 fillip, 268. 
 
 fine strains, 269. 
 
 fire (dissyllable), 200. 
 
 fires of heaven, 207. 
 
 first, 250. 
 
 flamens, 224. 
 
 flaw (=gust), 268. 
 
 flour, 199. 
 
 fob off, 196. 
 
 fold in, 247, 273. 
 
 fond (=foolish), 249. 
 
 for an end, 225. 
 
 for (=as for), 196. 
 
 for (=because), 236, 266. 
 
 for (=because of), 185. 
 
 for (=with regard to), 189. 
 
 for that, 198, 215. 
 
 for your particular, 260. 
 
 force (=urge), 243. 
 
 fore me, 198. 
 
 forsworn to grant, 268. 
 
 forth (=away), 250. 
 
 forth (=out of), 206. 
 
 fosset-seller, 220. 
 
 foxship, 250. 
 
 fragments (personal), 201. 
 
 free contempt, 234. 
 
 from the canon, 237. 
 
 front (= confront), 266. 
 
 full of vent, 257. 
 
 furniture, 175. 
 
 Galen, 220. 
 
 gan, 230. 
 
 garb, 261. 
 
 garlic-eaters, 259. 
 
 generosity, 200. 
 
 giddy censure, 202. 
 
 gird (=gibe), 202. 
 
 give him good report, 195. 
 
 give me way, 253, 272. 
 
 give (=represent), 216. 
 
 glasses of my sight, 245. 
 
 go about (=endeavour), 18 
 
 go sound, 208. 
 
 godded, 267. 
 
 god-den, 220, 258. 
 
 good and good store, 213. 
 
 good cheap, 179. 
 
 good (mercantile), 194. 
 
 grace (=do honour), 267. 
 
 gratify (=requite), 227. 
 
 greater part, the, 232. 
 
 greater poll, the, 239. 
 
 great' St, 238. 
 
 grief-shot, 264. 
 
 griping (=: grappling), 170. 
 
 groats, 242. 
 
 guardant, 266. 
 
 guess (=think), 194. ■ 
 
 gulf (=whirlpool), 197. 
 
 had rather, 204. 
 hale (=:haul), 271. 
 handkerchers, 226. 
 
INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED. 
 
 277 
 
 hang by the wall, 204. 
 haply, 265. 
 hardly, 266. 
 
 hardness (=hardship), 170. 
 hardness of ward, 170. 
 has (=he has), 205. 
 have them uito, 227. 
 have with you, 226. 
 haver, 228. 
 having 266. 
 he (=him', 2or. 
 heart of hope, 210. 
 heart (=sense), 234. 
 helms (=steersmen), 196. 
 herd (spelling), 243. 
 here, 244. 
 high'st, 273. 
 him (=he whom), 271. 
 Hob and Dick, 233. 
 holp, 241, 259, 268, 272. 
 home (adverb), 229. 
 honest (=honourable), 193. 
 honesty (=honour), 19 r. 
 hoo ! 220, 248. 
 hospitable canon, 217. 
 housekeepers, 205. 
 hum, 264, 271. 
 humane (accent), 242. 
 humorous, 218. 
 hungry (beach), 267. 
 husbandry, 260. 
 huswife, 205. 
 Hydra, 238. 
 
 I am in this, 244. 
 
 ignorant to see 't, 234. 
 
 imbasing, 172. 
 
 impediment, your, 196. 
 
 impostume, 179. 
 
 in (--about), 227. 
 
 in an equal force, 217. 
 
 in blood, 257. 
 
 in (duplicated), 218. 
 
 in either side, 269. 
 
 in her hand, 267. 
 
 in (=into), 203, 235, 238. 
 
 in the character, 271. 
 
 incorporate, 198. 
 
 inform the truth, 209. 
 
 information (concrete), 258. 
 
 ingrate, 266. 
 
 ingrateful, 227, 231. 
 
 inheritance, 244. 
 
 inherited (=obtained), 223. 
 
 injurious, 247. 
 
 innovator, 240. 
 
 instance (=urgency), 178. 
 
 instant, 264. 
 
 instinct (accent), 267. 
 
 integrity, 240. 
 
 intreat (=trfeat), 171. 
 
 is well appeared, 251. 
 
 it is (contemptuous), 253. 
 
 Jack guardant, 266. 
 Jove's own book, 242. 
 judicious, 273. 
 jump (=risk), 239. 
 Juno-like, 251. 
 
 kam, 242. 
 
 keep (=stay at), 178, 187. 
 kingly-crowned, 198. 
 knee (verb), 263. 
 
 la. 205. 
 
 lacked (=had lost), 243. 
 lacked (=missed), 249. 
 laid at (^attacked), 174. 
 larum, 206. 
 lean as a rake, 195. 
 learn'd, 238. 
 leash, 209. 
 leasing, 266. 
 
 less fearful than discreet, 239. 
 lessoned, 234. 
 let go, 242. 
 lie (=lodge), 216. 
 lies heavy to 't, 251. 
 lies you on, 243. 
 lieve, 256. 
 lift (=lifted), 192. 
 like (=likely), 236. 
 liked him nothing, 172. 
 liking well of, 181. 
 limitation, 233. 
 loaden, 270. 
 lockram, 223. 
 long of you, 271. 
 longs (=belongs), 270. 
 lots to blanks, 265. 
 lover, 265. 
 
 lurched all swords of the 
 garland, 229. 
 
 made a head, 229, 235. 
 
 made doubt, 203, 271. 
 
 made fair hands, 260. 
 
 made for, 271. 
 
 maims of shame, 254. 
 
 make good, 208. 
 
 make road, 236. 
 
 make the sun dance, 271. 
 
 malice (verb), 176, 185. 
 
 malkin, 223. 
 
 mammocked, 205. 
 
 man-child, 204. 
 
 man-entered, 229. 
 
 mankind, 250. 
 
 many (noun), 237. 
 
 match (=bargain), 232. 
 
 mean (of price), 183. 
 
 measles, 237. 
 
 memory (=memorial), 254, 
 
 263, 273. 
 merely, 242. 
 microcosm, 219. 
 
 mind gave me, my, 256. 
 
 minded (=reminded), 263, 
 
 minnows, 237. 
 
 misery, 230. 
 
 misliked, 192. 
 
 modesty ( = moderation ), 
 
 181. 
 moe, 233, 251. 
 monstered, 228. 
 moon (=Diana), 202. 
 moon of Rome, 268. 
 more, more fearful, 259. 
 more proudlier, 260. 
 more worthier, 238. 
 mortal (adverb), 270, 
 mortal gate, 230. 
 motion (=motive), 219. 
 motive, 239. 
 
 mountebank (verb), 246. 
 movers, 208. 
 mulberry, 244. 
 mulled, 258. 
 
 multitudinous tongue, 240. 
 mummers, 220. 
 muniments, 198. 
 murrain, 208. 
 murthering impossibility, 
 
 268. 
 muse (=wonder), 242. 
 mutine, 182. 
 mutiners, 202. 
 my gracious silence, 211. 
 
 napless, 225. 
 
 naught, 241. 
 
 naughty, 179. 
 
 needer, 250. 
 
 needless, 233. 
 
 nerves (=sinews). 199. 
 
 nicelj'-gawded, 225. 
 
 noble (—nobles), 236. 
 
 not (=not only), 244, 248. 
 
 not (transposed), 210. 
 
 nothing (adverb), 172, 205. 
 
 notion (=niind), 273. 
 
 nought, 268. 
 
 now (=but now), 216. 
 
 O, me alone! 210. 
 
 o' my troth, 205. 
 
 object (=sight), 194. 
 
 occupation, 259. 
 
 odds against arithmetic, 241. 
 
 of (=concerning), 202. 
 
 of (=from), 271. 
 
 of noble touch, 250. 
 
 of their infirmity, 237. 
 
 offered (=attempted), 263. 
 
 office me from, 266. 
 
 on head (=ahead), 180. 
 
 on 's (=on his), 221, 222, 228. 
 
 on (=of), 194, 203, 205, 256. 
 
 on safe-guard, 237. 
 
278 INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED. 
 
 once (=once for all), 231. 
 once (=once when), 231. 
 one time will owe another, 
 
 241. 
 only (transposed), 201. 
 ope, 207. 
 opinion (=:public opinion), 
 
 202. 
 opinion (=self-conceit), 178. 
 opposite (=opponent), 227. 
 ordinance, 242. 
 osprey, 261. 
 
 other (=otherwise), 259. 
 ought (=owed), 193. 
 our (subjective), 239. 
 out (=at a loss), 267. 
 out (=out from), 266. 
 out (^thoroughly), 255. 
 o'erbear, 255, 259. 
 overta'en my act, 213. 
 overture, 214. 
 owe (=own), 246. 
 
 pain (=pains), 175. 
 painful (=toilsome), 185. 
 painting (of blood), 210. 
 palate (verb), 238. 
 paltering, 236. 
 parcels '(=parts), 204, 257. 
 parted (^departed), 272. 
 participate, 197. 
 particular (noun), 263. 
 particular (=private), 254. 
 particularize, 194. 
 party (=part), 266. 
 pass (^pass by), 231. 
 pass (=surpass), 173. 
 passed for, 179. 
 pawned, 272. 
 Penelope, 205. 
 pent to linger, 247. 
 perfecter, 220. 
 pestering, 258. 
 petitionary, 266. 
 physical, 208. 
 pick (=pitch), 200. 
 piercing. 196. 
 pikes (play upon), 194. 
 pitying, 209. 
 planet, like a, 230. 
 plebeians (accent), 212. 
 plebeii, 234. 
 plot (figurative), 245. 
 pluck, 204, 234. 
 points, 260. 
 
 ■poison (=destroy), 266. 
 polled, 257. 
 portance, 234. 
 ports (=gates), 211, 271. 
 possessed of, 221. 
 post (=messenger), 272. 
 potch, ^17. 
 pother, 225. 
 
 pound us up, 206. 
 
 pow, waw! 221. 
 
 power ( = army), 203, 255, 
 
 258, 
 practice (=artifice), 249. 
 practised (—plotted), 176. 
 prank them, 236. 
 precipitation, 242. 
 preparation ( = army), 203. 
 present (^immediate), 187, 
 
 240, 246. 
 presently ( ^=at once), 173, 
 
 246, 257, 273. 
 pressed (^impressed), 203. 
 prest (=press), 177. 
 pretext (accent), 271. 
 prevent (=anticipate), 172. 
 pricked forward, 186. 
 pricked out, 177. 
 progeny (=race), 212. 
 proof (of armour', 206. 
 proper (=own), 216. 
 properly, 266. 
 provand, 226. 
 
 prove (=put to proof), 210. 
 pupil age, 229. 
 purchasing, 221. 
 purgation, 193. 
 put him to choler, 246. 
 put upon, 226. 
 put you to 't, 201. 
 put you to your fortune, 244. 
 putting him to rage, 234. 
 putting on, 235. 
 
 quaked, 212. 
 quarrel to, 255. 
 quarry, 200. 
 quartered, 200. 
 queen of heaven, 267. 
 quired, 245. 
 quit of, 254. 
 
 racked, 263. 
 rang it out, 180. 
 rapture (=fit), 223. 
 rascal, 199. 
 rather had, 258. 
 ray (=array), 174. 
 reason (=reason for), 270. 
 reason ( =there is reason ), 
 
 258. 
 receipt, 198. 
 receive to heart, 252.' 
 reckless (spelling), 237. 
 record (accent), 258. 
 rectorship, 234. 
 red pestilence, 249. 
 reechy, 224. 
 reek, 248. 
 rejourn, 220. 
 remain (noun), 208. 
 remains (=it remains), 233. 
 
 I remove (noun), 203. 
 I repeal, 250, 261, 271. 
 ■ repetition, 195. 
 \ require (=ask), 231. 
 I required, 193. 
 I resolution, 179. 
 
 retire (noun), 209. 
 
 retire (reflexive), 204- 
 I rheum (=tears), 272. 
 I ridges horsed, etc., 224. 
 i ripe aptness, 252. 
 i Rome gates, 257. 
 I roted, 243. 
 
 rotten fens, 248. 
 
 rub (=obstade), 237. 
 
 ruth (=pity), 200. 
 
 save 3'ou! 252. 
 
 scabs (play upon), 199. 
 
 scaling (^weighing), 235. 
 
 scandaled, 236. 
 
 sconce, 245. 
 
 scotched, 256. 
 
 'sdeath, 201. 
 
 seasoned, 247. 
 
 seat o' the brain, 198. 
 
 seld-shown, 224. 
 
 sennet. 221. 
 
 sensible (=sensitive), 205. 
 
 sensibly, 207. 
 
 servanted to, 266. 
 
 set on, 236. 
 
 set out feet, 178. 
 
 set up his rest, 170. 
 
 set up the bloody flag, 220. 
 
 shall 's, 260. 
 
 shame (=be ashamed), 228. 
 
 shent, 266. 
 
 should (^would), 231. 
 
 show (=appear), 247,254,267. 
 
 shunless, 230. 
 
 side (=party), 260. 
 
 side (verb), 200. 
 
 single (play upon), 218. 
 
 singly, 228. 
 
 singularity, 203. 
 
 sit in gold, 264. 
 
 sithence, 180, 236. 
 
 sits down, 261. 
 
 slight (=worthless), 266. 
 
 slightness (=weakness), 239. 
 
 so as (=so that), 183. 
 
 so never-needed, 264. 
 
 soldier (trisyllable), 198, 272. 
 
 solemness, 206. 
 
 some certain, 232. 
 
 sometime, 216, 238, 249. 
 
 soothed (^flattered), 228. 
 
 soothing ( = flattery), 215, 
 
 237- . ,^ 
 south (wmd), 206. 
 sowl, 256. 
 speak him home. 229. 
 
INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED. 
 
 279 
 
 speed (=result\ 264. 
 spices (=touches), 261. 
 spire and top of praises, 213. 
 spirit (monosyllable), 221. 
 spited, 178. 
 spot (=:pattern), 205. 
 sprightly, waking, 257. 
 stale (verb), 196. 
 stamped the leasing, 266. 
 standing your friendly lord, 
 
 234- 
 stand to, 182, 270. 
 stand upon (=concern), 180, 
 
 188. 
 stand upon my common 
 
 part, 213. 
 stand with, 232. 
 stand' s't out? 201. 
 state (=chair), 271. 
 stay upon, 270. 
 sterve (=starve), 233, 251. 
 sticks on, 202. 
 stiff, 201. 
 
 still (=ever), 225, 230, 249. 
 stitchery, 205. 
 
 stomached (=resented), 180. 
 stood for Rome, 25S. 
 stout (=proud), 244. 
 stoutness, 246, 272. 
 straight (=strait), 188. 
 strong (play upon), 196. 
 struck him on his knee, 229. 
 strucken, 256. 
 stuck not, 231. 
 suaged, 182. 
 subtle, 265. 
 
 such . . . which, 245, 269. 
 suffering stain by him, 2 1 7. 
 suggest (=prompt), 225. 
 supreme (accent), 268. 
 surcease, 246. 
 surety (verb), 240. 
 swifter composition, 236. 
 sworn brother, 232. 
 synod, 266. 
 
 tag (=tag-rag), 241. 
 
 take in, 203, 244. 
 
 take my cap, 220. 
 
 take the one by the other, 
 
 238, 253. 
 take up (=cope with), 241. 
 taking (=fit of anger), 184. 
 tame, 258. 
 
 teach the people, 226. 
 tell (=count), 184. 
 tell not me, 258. 
 temperance, 246. 
 temperancy, 170. 
 tent (=encamp), 245. 
 tent (=probe), 213,241. 
 
 tetter (verb), 237. 
 
 that 's off, 228. 
 
 the same (=that), 243. 
 
 the which, 202. 
 
 thee (^tliou), 266. 
 
 thereupon, 183. 
 
 think me for, 253. 
 
 think upon, 234. 
 
 thorough (=;through), 1S8, 
 
 269. 
 thou 't, 212. 
 thread the gates, 239. 
 throne (intransitive), 271. 
 time (= occasion), 226. 
 't is right (='t is true), 225. 
 to (^according to), 208. 
 to all our lamentation, 258. 
 to (=compared to), 221. 
 to (=for), 270. 
 to hopeless restitution, 236. 
 to 's power, 225. 
 to (omitted), 253, 269. 
 to the pot, 207. 
 toge, 233. 
 
 too (=after all), 251. 
 took (^left its mark), 230. 
 touched (=tested), 234. 
 traducement, 213. 
 travails, 170. 
 treaty, 228. 
 tribe, 251. 
 trick (=trifle), 253. 
 trim belonging, 216. 
 Triton, 237. 
 
 troth (=truth), 205, 251. 
 true purchasing, 221. 
 trumpet (=trumpeter), 208. 
 tuition, 177. 
 turn you to, 241. 
 
 unbarbed, 243. 
 unchilded, 273. 
 inider fiends, 254. 
 ungravely, 234. 
 unhearts, 264. 
 unproperly, 267. 
 unscanned, 242. 
 unseparable, 253. 
 unsevered, 243. 
 unshout, 271. 
 
 upon my brother's guard,2 1 7. 
 upon their ancient malice, 
 
 225. 
 upon your approbation, 233. 
 
 vail your ignorance, 238. 
 valiant ignorance, 260. 
 vaward, 174, 210. 
 vengeance (adverb), 227. 
 vent (=get rid of), 201. 
 vent (noun), 257. 
 
 verified, 265. 
 vexation, 248. 
 viand, 197. 
 virginal, 266. 
 virgined it, 267. 
 virtue (—valour), 195. 
 
 voice of occupation, 259. 
 
 voice (verb), 234. 
 
 voices (=votes), 231. 
 
 voided (= avoided), 254. 
 
 vouches (noun), 233. 
 
 waged me with his counte- 
 
 r.ance, 272. 
 war of white and damask, 224. 
 warm at 's heart, 't is, 233. 
 war's garland, 216. 
 wars (=war), 205. 
 watch, 264. 
 
 waved (=would waver), 227. 
 we (—us), 269. 
 wealsmen, 219. 
 weeds (—garments), 233. 
 well-found, 227. 
 what (= why), 242. 
 when extremities speak. 243. 
 where (—whereas), 197, 217. 
 where- against, 255. 
 whereupon, 182. 
 which (=who), 200, 263. 
 whiles, 209. 
 
 who (= which), 202, 245. 
 wholesome (= rational), 232. 
 whom (=who), 250. 
 whooped, 254. 
 will you be gone? 250. 
 win upon, 201. 
 wind-shaken, 267. 
 with (—by), 251. 
 with us, 246. 
 without all reason, 239. 
 without assistance, 258. 
 wives (=women), 252. 
 wolvish toge, 233. 
 woollen, 242. 
 vi'ord (=watchword), 246. 
 worn (=worn out), 236. 
 worship (= dignity), 239. 
 worth (=quota), 246. 
 worthy (=justifiable), 241. 
 wot, 249, 256. 
 wreak (noun), 254. 
 wrecked (=wreaked), 186. 
 writ, 266, 269. 
 
 yea and no, 239. 
 
 yield what passes, 228. 
 
 yond, 236. 
 
 you may, you may, 232. 
 
 youngly, 235._ 
 
 your (colloquial), 198. 
 

 ANCIENT ARCH ON ROAD LEADING INTO ROME. 
 
SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 WITH NOTES BY WM. J. ROLFE, A.M. 
 
 The Merchant of Venice. 
 
 
 Much Ado About Nothing-. 
 
 The Tempest. 
 
 
 Romeo and Juliet. 
 
 Julius Caesar. 
 
 
 OtheUo. 
 
 Hamlet. 
 
 
 Twelfth Niglit. 
 
 As You Lilce It. 
 
 
 The Winter's Tale. 
 
 Henry the Fifth. 
 
 
 King John. 
 
 Macheth. 
 
 
 Henry IV. Part I. 
 
 Henry the Eiglith. 
 
 
 Henry IV. Part II. 
 
 Midsummer-Night's Bream. 
 
 
 King Lear. 
 
 Kichard III. 
 
 
 Taming of the Shrew. 
 
 Eichard tlie Second. 
 
 
 AU's WeU That Ends Well 
 
 Coriolanus. 
 
 Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth, 60 
 
 Cents per Volume ; Paper, 40 Cei 
 
 PER Volume. 
 
 In the preparation of this edition of the English Classics it has been 
 the aim to adapt them for school and home reading, in essentially the 
 same way as Greek and Latin Classics are edited for educational pur- 
 poses. The chief requisites of such a work are a pure text (expurgated, 
 if necessary), and the notes needed for its thorough explanation and il- 
 lustration. 
 
 Each of Shakespeare's plays is complete in one volume, and is pre- 
 ceded by an Introduction containing the "History of the Play," the 
 " Sources of the Plot," and "Critical Comments on the Play." 
 
 From Horace Howard Furness, Ph.D., LL.D., Editor of the ^'JVeio Vario- 
 7'um /Shakespem^e.'''' 
 In my opinion Mr. Rolfe's series of Shakespeare's Plays is tlioroughly 
 admirable. No one can examine these volumes and fail to be impressed 
 with the conscientious accuracy and scholarly completeness with which 
 they are edited. The educational purposes for which the notes are writ- 
 ten Mr. Rolfe never loses sight of, but like " a well-experienced archer 
 hits the mark his eye doth level at." 
 
Rolfe^s Shakespeare. 
 
 From F. J. Furnivall, Director of the New Shakspere Society, London. 
 
 The merit I see in Mr. Rolfe's school editions of Shakspere's Plays 
 over those most widely used in England is that Mr. Rolfe edits the plays 
 as works of a poet, and not only as productions in Tudor English. Some 
 editors think that all they have to do with a play is to state its source 
 and explain its hard words and allusions ; they treat it as they would a 
 charter or a catalogue of household furniture, and then rest satisfied. 
 But Mr. Rolfe, while clearing up all verbal difficulties as carefully as any 
 Dryasdust, always adds the choicest extracts he can find, on the spirit 
 and special " note " of each play, and on the leading characteristics of its 
 chief personages. He does not leave the student without help in getting 
 at Shakspere's chief attributes, his characterization and poetic power. 
 And every practical teacher knows that while every boy can look out 
 hard words in a lexicon for himself, not one in a score can, unhelped, 
 catch points of and realize character, and feel and express the distinctive 
 individuality of each play as a poetic creation. 
 
 From Prof. Edward Dowden, LL.D., of the University of Dublin, 
 Author of '•'' Shakspere : His Mind and Art.'''' 
 I incline to think that no edition is likely to be so useful for school and 
 home reading as yours. Your notes contain so much accurate instruc- 
 tion, with so little that is superfluous; you do not neglect the aesthetic 
 study of the play ; and in externals, paper, type, binding, etc., you make 
 a book "pleasant to the eyes" (as well as "to be desired to make one 
 wise ") — no small matter, I think, with young readers and with old. 
 
 From Edwin A. Abbott, M.A., Author of '' Shakespearian Grammar.'" 
 I have not seen any edition that compresses so much necessary infor- 
 mation into so small a space, nor any that so completely avoids the com- 
 mon faults of commentaries on Shakespeare — needless repetition, super- 
 fluous explanation, and unscholar-like ignoring of difficulties. 
 
 From Hiram Corson, M.A., Professor of Anglo-Saxon and English 
 Literature, Cornell University, Ithaca, N'. Y. 
 In the way of annotated editions of separate plays of Shakespeare, for 
 educational purposes, I know of none quite up to Rolfe's. 
 
Rolfe^s Shakespeare. 
 
 From Prof, F. J. Child, of Harvard University. 
 
 I read your " Merchant of Venice" with my class, and found it in every 
 respect an excellent edition. I do not agree with my friend White in the 
 opinion that Shakespeare requires but few notes — that is, if he is to be 
 thoroughly understood. Doubtless he may be enjoyed, and many a hard 
 place slid over. Your notes give all the help a young student requires, 
 and yet the reader for pleasure will easily get at just what he wants. 
 You have indeed been conscientiously concise. 
 
 Under date of July 25, 1879, Prof. Child adds : Mr. Rolfe's editions 
 of plays of Shakespeare are very valuable and convenient books, whether 
 for a college class or for private study. I have used them with my 
 students, and I welcome every addition that is made to the series. They 
 show care, research, and good judgment, and are fully up to the time in 
 scholarship. I fully agree with the opinion that experienced teachers 
 have expressed of the excellence of these books. 
 
 From Rev. A. P. Peabody, D.D., Professor in Harvard University. 
 
 I regard your own work as of the highest merit, while you have turned 
 the labors of others to the best possible account. I want to have the 
 higher classes of our schools introduced to Shakespeare chief of all, and 
 then to other standard English authors ; but this cannot be done to ad- 
 vantage, unless under a teacher of equally rare gifts and abundant leisure, 
 or through editions specially prepared for such use. I trust that you 
 will have the requisite encouragement to proceed with a work so hap- 
 pily begun. 
 
 From the Examiner and Chronicle, N. Y. 
 We repeat what we have often said, that there is no edition of Shake- 
 speare's which seems to us preferable to Mr. Rolfe's. As mere specimens 
 of the printer's and binder's art they are unexcelled, and their other 
 merits are equally high. Mr. Rolfe, having learned by the practical ex- 
 perience of the class-room what aid the average student really needs in 
 order to read Shakespeare intelligently, has put just that amount of aid 
 into his notes, and no more. Having said what needs to be said, he stops 
 there. It is a rare virtue in the editor of a classic, and we are propor- 
 tionately grateful for it. 
 
Rolfe^s Shakespeare. 
 
 From the N. Y. Times. 
 This work has been done so well that it could hardly have been done 
 better. It shows throughout knowledge, taste, discriminating judgmentj 
 and, what is rarer and of yet higher value, a sympathetic appreciation of 
 the poet's moods and purposes. 
 
 Fro7?i the Pacific School Journal, San Francisco. 
 This edition of Shakespeare's plays bids fair to be the most valuable 
 aid to the study of English literature yet published. For educational pur- 
 poses it is beyond praise. Each of the plays is printed in large clear type 
 and on excellent paper. Every difficulty of the text is clearly explained 
 by copious notes. It is remarkable how many new beauties one may dis- 
 cern in Shakespeare with the aid of the glossaries attached to these books. 
 . . . Teachers can do no higher, better work than to inculcate a love 
 for the best literature, and such books as these will best aid them in 
 cultivating a pure and refined taste. 
 
 From the Christian Union, N. V. 
 Mr. W. J. Rolfe's capital edition of Shakespeare — by far the best edi- 
 tion for school and parlor use. We speak after some practical use of it 
 in a village Shakespeare Club. The notes are brief but useful ; and the 
 necessary expurgations are managed with discriminating skill. 
 
 From the Academy, Londoii. 
 Mr. Rolfe's excellent series of school-editions of the Plays of Shake- 
 speare. ... Mr. Rolfe's editions diff"er from some of the English ones 
 in looking on the plays as something more than word-puzzles. They give 
 the saident helps and hints on the characters and meanings of the plays, 
 while the word-notes are also full and posted up to the latest date. . . . 
 Mr. Rolfe also adds to each of his books a most useful " Index of Words 
 and Phrases explained." 
 
 Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. 
 
 ill^r=" Any of the above works will be se7it by mail, postage prepaid, to atty part of the 
 United States, on 7'eceipt of the price. 
 
OLIVER GOLDSMITH. 
 
 SELECT POEMS OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH. Edited, 
 with Notes, by William J. Rolfe, A.M., formerly Head 
 Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Illus- 
 trated. i6mo, Paper, 40 cents ; Cloth, 60 cents. {U7ii- 
 form with Rolfe's Shakespeare.) 
 
 The carefully arranged editions of " The Merchant of Venice " and 
 other of Shakespeare's plays prepared by Mr, William J. Rolfe for the 
 use of students will be remembered with pleasure by many readers, and 
 they will welcome another volume of a similar character from the same 
 source, in the form of the " Select Poems of Oliver Goldsmith," edited 
 with notes fuller than those of any other known edition, many of them 
 original with the editor. — Boston Transcript. 
 
 Mr. Rolfe is doing very useful work in the preparation of compact 
 hand-books for study in English literature. His own personal culture, 
 and his long experience as a teacher, give him good knowledge of what 
 is wanted in this way,- — The Congregationalist, Boston. 
 
 Mr. Rolfe has prefixed to the Poems selections illustrative of Gold- 
 smith's character as a man and grade as a poet, from sketches by Ma- 
 caulay, Thackeray, George Colman, Thomas Campbell, John Forster, 
 and Washington Irving. He has also appended, at the end of the 
 volume, a body of scholarly notes explaining and illustrating the poems, 
 and dealing with the times in which they were written, as well as the 
 incidents and circumstances attending their composition. — Christian 
 Intelligencer, N. Y. 
 
 The notes are just and discriminating in tone, and supply all that is 
 necessary either for understanding the thought of the several poems, or 
 for a critical study of the language. The use of such books in the school- 
 room cannot but contribute largely toward putting the study of English 
 literature upon a sound basis ; and many an adult reader would find in 
 the present volume an excellent opportunity for becoming critically ac- 
 quainted with one of the greatest of last century's poets. — Appletoii's 
 Journal, N. Y. 
 
 Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. 
 
 IS^^ Sent by -mail, postage prepaid-, to ajry part of tJie United States, on receipt of 
 
 the price. 
 
THOMAS GRAY. 
 
 SELECT POEMS OF THOMAS GRAY. Edited, with 
 Notes, by William J. Rolfe, A.M., formerly Head 
 Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Illus- 
 trated. Square i6mo, Paper, 40 cents; Cloth, 60 cents. 
 {^Uniform with Rolfe' s Shakespeare.) 
 
 Mr. Rolfe has done his work in a manner that comes as near to per- 
 fection as man can approach. He knows his subject so well that he is 
 competent to instruct all in it ; and readers will find an immense amount 
 of knowledge in his elegant volume, all set forth in the most admirable 
 order, and breathing the most liberal and enlightened spirit, he being a 
 warm appreciator of the divinity of genius. — Boston Traveller. 
 
 The great merit of these books lie in their carefully-edited text, and in 
 the fulness of their explanatory notes, Mr. Rolfe is not satisfied with 
 simply expounding, but he explores the entire field of English literature, 
 and therefrom gathers a multitude of illustrations that are interesting in 
 themselves and valuable as a commentary on the text. He not only in- 
 structs, but stimulates his readers to fresh exertion ; and it is this stimu- 
 lation that makes his labors so productive in the school-room. — Saturday 
 EveniJig Gazette, Boston, 
 
 Mr, William J, Rolfe, to whom English literature is largely indebted 
 for annotated and richly-illustrated editions of several of Shakespeare's 
 Plays, has treated the " Select Poems of Thomas Gray" in the same way 
 — ^just as he had previously dealt with the best of Goldsmith's poems. — 
 The Press, Phila, 
 
 Mr. Rolfe's edition of Thomas Gray's select poems is marked by the 
 same discriminating taste as his other classics. — Springfield Republican. 
 
 Mr, Rolfe's rare abilities as a teacher and his fine scholarly taistes ena- 
 ble him to prepare a classic like this in the best manner for school use. 
 There could be no better exercise for the advanced classes in our schools 
 than the critical study of our best authors, and the volumes that Mr, Rolfe 
 has prepared will hasten the time when the study of mere form will give 
 place to the study of the spirit of our literature, — Louisville Courier- 
 Journal. 
 
 An elegant and scholarly little volume. — Christian Intelligencer, N. Y. 
 
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