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SHAKESPEARE'S 


TRAGEDY   OF 


CORIOLANUS 


EDITED,  WITH  NOTES 

BY 
WILLIAM   J.    ROLFE,  LiTT.D. 

FORMERLY  HEAD  MASTER  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 
CAMBRIDGE,    MASS. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK  •:•  CINCINNATI  •:•  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1881  AND  1898,  BY 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS. 


COPYRIGHT,  1905  AND  1909, 
WILLIAM  J.  ROLFE. 


BY 


CORIOLANUS. 
K.  P.  6 


£8  OS" 


PREFACE 

THIS  play,  which  I  first  edited  in  1881,  has  now  been 
very  thoroughly  revised  on  the  same  general  plan  as  its 
predecessors  in  the  new  series. 

The  play  is  not  only  one  of  the  longest  that  Shake 
speare  wrote,  but  the  text  abounds  in  obscurities  and 
perplexities  which,  on  account  of  the  various  readings 
and  explanations  adopted  by  the  leading  editors  and 
critics,  and  for  other  reasons,  demand  more  than  usual 
discussion  in  the  Notes. 


CONTENTS 


PACK 

INTRODUCTION  TO  CORIOLANUS     ...:     .       .       •       •  9 

The  History  of  the  Play  ...••••  9 

The  Historical  Sources  of  the  Plot          .        •        •        •  '  9 

General  Comments  on  the  Play       .....  10 

CORIOLANUS  .  .;     .       .'.     •       • 1S 

Act  I  .  .     '"..:"  .....        •        •        .17 

Act  II  .  .        ....     .  .'•.*.  .   . ..'   •       •        •      53 

ActHI  .  ..      .    (    .       ..      *        *,  '   •       •        -83 

Act  IV  .  .        .       .        ,,     •     '  .       ...       •     "3 

ActV  .  ....'.        .       .        .        .M3 

NOTES 173 

APPENDIX 

"  Finding  the  Man  in  the  Book  " 321 

The  Time-Analysis  of  the  Play  .        ...        .  329 

List  of  Characters  in  the  Play 33 » 

INDEX  OF  WORDS  AND  PHRASES  EXPLAINED       .       •       •    335 


KEMBLE  AS  CORIOLANUS 


ROMAN  EAGLE 

INTRODUCTION   TO   CORIOLANUS 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PLAY 

Coriolanus  was  first  printed  in  the  folio  of  1623,  in 
the  division  of  "  Tragedies."  It  is  one  of  sixteen  plays 
in  that  edition  which  are  recorded  in  the  Stationers' 
Registers  as  not  having  been  previously  "  entered  "  to 
other  publishers.  For  the  date  of  its  composition  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. 

THE  HISTORICAL  SOURCES  OF  THE  PLOT 

The  source  from  which  Shakespeare  drew  his  mate 
rials  was  Sir  Thomas  North's  "Lives  of  the  noble 
Grecians  and  Romans,  compared  together  by  that 
grave  learned  Philosopher  and  Historiographer,  Plu- 
tarke  of  Chaeronea,"  translated  from  the  French  ver 
sion  of  James  Amyot,  Bishop  of  Auxerre,  and  first 
published  in  1579.  As  the  poet  was  evidently  ac- 

9 


io  Coriolanus 

quainted  with  the  book  when  he  wrote  the  Midsummer- 
Nighfs  Dream,  which  was  pretty  certainly  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  fable  told  by  Menenius  in  i.  i  may 
have  been  suggested  by  the  version  in  Camden's  Re 
mains,  published  in  1605.  Wright  thinks  it  possible 
that  the  resemblances  to  Camden  —  first  pointed  out 
by  Malon.e  —  may  be  accidental,  but  I  am  inclined, 
with  Ward,  Fleay,  and  others,  to  believe  that  Shake 
speare  was  really  indebted  to  that  author  —  though  the 
obligation  was  at  best  but  a  trifling  one. 

GENERAL  COMMENTS  ON  THE  PLAY 

Not  a  few  critics  have  assumed  that  in  this  play  and 
elsewhere  Shakespeare's  sympathies  were  on  the  patri 
cian  rather  than  the  popular  side.  Hazlitt  says  that 
he  seems  "  to  have  spared  no  occasion  of  baiting  the 
rabble."  In  the  brilliant  but  sophistical  passage  that 
follows  the  critic  says :  "  The  language  of  poetry  natu 
rally  falls  in  with  the  language  of  power.  .  .  .  The 
principle  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 


Introduction  il 

presents  a  dazzling  appearance.  It  shows  its  head 
turreted,  crowned,  and  crested.  Its  front  is  gilt  and 
bloodstained.  Before  it  '  it  carries  noise,  and  behind 
it  leaves  tears.'  It  has  its  altars  and  its  victims,  sac 
rifices,  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  individual  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  mis 
erable  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  is  immediately 
converted  into  contempt  for  their  pusillanimity.  The 
insolence  of  power  is  stronger  than  the  plea  of  neces 
sity.  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 


14  Coriolanus 

right  to  insult  or  oppress  others  that  carries  an  impos 
ing  air  of  superiority  with  it.  ...  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 ;  there 
fore  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  miserable. 
This  is  the  logic  of  the  imagination  and  the  passions.; 
which  seek  to  aggrandize  what  excites  admiration  and 
to  heap  contempt  on  misery,  to  raise  power  into  tyranny, 
and  to  make  tyranny  absolute ;  to  thrust  down  that 
which  is  low  still  lower,  and  to  make  wretches  des 
perate ;  to  exalt  magistrates  into  kings,  kings  into 
gods ;  to  degrade  subjects  to  the  rank  of  slaves,  and 
slaves  to  the  condition  of  brutes." 

Gervinus  takes  direct  issue  with  Hazlitt,  and  answers 
him  effectively:  — 

"  We  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.  .  .  .  But  Shake 
speare's  poetry  is  always  so  closely  connected  with 
morality,  his  imaginative  power  is  so  linked  with  sound 
reason,  his  ideal  is  so  full  of  actual  truth,  that  his 


Introduction  13 

poetry  seemed  to  us  always  distinguished  from  all 
other  poetry  exactly  by  this :  that  there  is  nothing 
exclusive  in  it,  that  candour  and  impartiality  are  the 
most  prominent  marks  of  the  poet  and  his  poetry,  that 
if  imagination  even  with  him  strives  sometimes  after 
effect,  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  prerogative  of  the  truly  wise.  .  .  . 
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  com 
pared  with  one  man  who  is  to  be  the  subject  of  poeti 
cal  representation,  and  who,  on  that  very  account,  must 
stand  alone,  one  single  man  distinguished  from  the 
many.  But  it  may  be  said,  the  representatives  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  in  a  tumult  ?  where  our  sympathy  in  his 


14  Coriolanus 

hero,  if  he  had  placed  a  Marcus  Brutus  in  opposition 
to  him  in  the  tribunate  ?  In  proportion  as  he  had 
raised  our  interest  in  the  tribunes,  he  would  have  with 
drawn  it  from  Coriolanus,  who  had  already  enough  to 
do  to  bear  his  own  burden  of  declension." 

Dowden  also  takes  ground  against  Hazlitt,  char 
acterizing  his  statement  of  the  "  dramatic  moral  of 
Coriolanus ',"  as  "  extravagantly  untrue,  a  piece  of  the 
passionate  injustice  which  breaks  forth  every  now  and 
again  in  Hazlitt's  writings." 

Walt  Whitman,  in  his  Democratic  Vistas,  errs,  like 
Hazlitt,  in  declaring  that  "  Shakespeare  is  incarnated, 
uncompromising  feudalism  in  literature," 


CORIOLANUS 


DRAMATIS  PERSONS 

CAIUS  MARCIUS,  afterwards  CAIUS  MARCIUS  CORIOLANUS. 
CoTM,NiLUAs!{TIUS'  \  generals  against  the  Volscians. 
MENENIUS  AGRIPPA,  friend  to  Coriolanus. 

"ibunes  of  the  people. 


Young  MARCIUS,  son  to  Coriolanus. 

A  Roman  Herald. 

TULLUS  AUFIDIUS,  general  of  the  Volscians. 

Lieutenant  to  Aufidius. 

Conspirators  with  Aufidius. 

A  Citizen  of  Antium. 

Two  Volscian  guards. 

VOLUMNIA,  mother  to  Coriolanus. 
VIRGILIA,  wife  to  Coriolanus. 
VALERIA,  friend  to  Virgilia. 
Gentlewoman  attending  on  Virgilia. 

Roman  and  Volscian  Senators,  Patricians,  ^Ediles,  Lictors,  Sol 
diers,  Citizens,  Messengers,  Servants  to  Aufidius,  and  other 
Attendants. 

SCENE:    Rome  and  the   neighbourhood  ;    Corioli  and  the 
neighbott  rhood  ,'   A  ntium. 


THE  TIBER 

ACT   I 

SCENE  I.     Rome.     A  Street 

Enter  a  company  of  mutinous  Citizens,  with  staves,  clubs, 
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  famish  ? 

All.   Resolved,  resolved. 

i  Citizen.  First,  you  know  Caius  Marcius  is  chief 
enemy  to  the  people. 

All.   We  know  't,  we  know  't. 

i  Citizen.  Let  us  kill  him,  and  we  '11  have  corn  at 
our  own  price.  Is  't  a  verdict  ?  n 

All.  No  more  talking  on  't ;  let  it  be  done.  Away, 
away  1 

CORIOLANUS  —  2  17 


1 8  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

2  Citizen.   One  word,  good  citizens. 

1  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,  we  might  guess  they  re 
lieved  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  revenge.  25 

2  Citizen.   Would  you  proceed  especially  against 
Caius  Marcius  ? 

1  Citizen.   Against  him  first ;  he  's  a  very  dog  to 
the  commonalty. 

2  Citizen.   Consider    you    what    services   he   has 
done  for  his  country?  31 

1  Citizen.   Very  well,  and  could  be  content  to  give 
him  good  report  for  't  but  that  he  pays  himself  with 
being  proud. 

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-con- 
scienced  men  can  be  content  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  altitude  of 
his  virtue.  41 

2  Citizen.   What  he  cannot  help  in  his  nature  you 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  19 

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 
accusations ;  he  hath  faults,  with  surplus,  to  tire  in 
repetition.  \Shovts  within.']  What  shouts  are  these  ? 
The  other  side  o'  the  city  is  risen  ;  why  stay  we  prat 
ing  here  ?  To  the  Capitol ! 

All.   Come,  come.  50 

1  Citizen.    Soft !  who  comes  here  ? 

Enter  MENENIUS,  AGRIPPA 

2  Citizen.    Worthy  Menenius  Agrippa ;   one   that 
hath  always  loved  the  people. 

i  Citizen.  He  's  one  honest  enough  ;  would  all  the 
rest  were  so  1 

Menenius.    What  work  's,  my  countrymen,  in  hand  ? 

where  go  you 
With  bats  and  clubs  ?     The  matter  ?  speak,  I  pray  you. 

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.  62 

Menenius.  Why,  masters,  my  good  friends,  mine  hon 
est  neighbours, 
Will  you  undo  yourselves  ? 

i  Citizen.   We  cannot,  sir,  we  are  undone  already. 

Menenius.  I  tell  you,  friends,  most  charitable  care 
Have  the  patricians  of  you.  For  your  wants, 


2O  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

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  70 

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 

The  helms  o'  the  state,  who  care  for  you  like  fathers, 

When  you  curse  them  as  enemies.  79 

i  Citizen.  Care  for  us !  True,  indeed !  They 
ne'er  cared  for  us  yet,  —  suffer  us  to  famish,  and 
their  store-houses  crammed  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 
restrain  the  poor.  If  the  wars  eat  us  not  up,  they 
will ;  and  there  's  all  the  love  they  bear  us. 

Menenius.    Either  you  must 
Confess  yourselves  wondrous  malicious, 
Or  be  accus'd  of  folly.     I  shall  tell  you  90 

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,  deliver. 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  11 

Menenius.    There  was  a  time  when   all  the  body's 

members 

Rebell'd  against  the  belly,  thus  accus'd  it: 
That  only  like  a  gulf  it  did  remain 
I'  the  midst  o'  the  body,  idle  and  unactive,  100 

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, 

Which  ne'er  came  from  the  lungs,  but  even  thus  — 
For,  look  you,  I  may  make  the  belly  smile  no 

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. 

i  Citizen.  Your  belly's  answer?     Whatl 

The  kingly-crowned  head,  the  vigilant  eye, 
The  counsellor  heart,  the  arm  our  soldier, 
Our  steed  the  leg,  the  tongue  our  trumpeter, 
With  other  muniments  and  petty  helps 
In  this  our  fabric,  if  that  they  — 

Menenius.  What  then  ?  —      120 

Fore  me,  this  fellow  speaks  !  —  What  then  ?  what  then  ? 


22  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

i  Citizen.    Should   by   the   cormorant    belly  be   re- 

strain'd, 
Who  is  the  sink  o'  the  body,  — 

Menenius.  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, 
Not  rash  like  his  accusers,  and  thus  answer'd :  130 

'  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  storehouse  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,      ~ 

The  strongest  nerves  and  small  inferior  veins 
From  me  receive  that  natural  competency  140 

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, 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  23 

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  ? 

Menenius.   The  senators  of  Rome  are  this  good  belly, 
And  you  the  mutinous  members  ;  for  examine  150 

Their  counsels  and  their  cares,  digest  things  rightly 
Touching  the  weal  o'  the  common,  you  shall  find 
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, 

poorest, 

Of  this  most  wise  rebellion,  thou  go'st  foremost. 
Thou  rascal,  thou  art  worst  in  blood  to  run,  160 

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  1 
Marcius.   Thanks.  —  What 's  the  matter,  you  dissen- 

tious  rogues, 

That,  rubbing  the  poor  itch  of  your  opinion, 
Make  yourselves  scabs  ? 

i  Citizen,  We  have  ever  your  good  word. 


24  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

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,  170 
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 
A  sick  man's  appetite,  who  desires  most  that 
Which  would  increase  his  evil.     He  that  depends       180 
Upon  your  favours  swims  with  fins  of  lead 
And  hews  down  oaks  with  rushes.     Hang  ye  1     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 
Would  feed  on  one  another  ?  —  What 's  their  seeking  ? 

Menenius.    For   corn   at   their   own  rates;   whereof, 
they  say,  ,9o 

The  city  is  well  stor'd. 

Marcius.  Hang  'em !     They  say  ! 

They  '11  sit  by  the  fire,  and  presume  to  know 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  25 

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  1 

Would  the  nobility  lay  aside  their  ruth 
And  let  me  use  my  sword,  I  'd  make  a  quarry 
With  thousands  of  these  quarter'd  slaves  as  high        200 
As  I  could  pick  my  lance. 

Menenius.   Nay,   these   are   almost    thoroughly   per 
suaded  ; 

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 

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 —  211 

To  break  the  heart  of  generosity, 
And  make  bold   power  look   pale  —  they  threw  their 

caps 

As  they  would  hang  them  on  the  horns  o'  the  moon, 
Shouting  their  emulation. 


26  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

Menenius.  What  is  granted  them  ? 

Marcius.   Five  tribunes  to  defend  their  vulgar  wis 
doms, 

Of  their  own  choice  ;  one  's  Junius  Brutus, 
Sicinius  Velutus,  and  I  know  not —  'Sdeath  ! 
The  rabble  should  have  first  unroof'd  the  city 
Ere  so  prevail'd  with  me  ;  it  will  in  time  220 

Win  upon  power  and  throw  forth  greater  themes 
For  insurrection's  arguing. 

'Menenius.  This  is  strange. 

Marcius.   Go,  get  you  home,  you  fragments  I 

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. 

Enter  COMINIUS,  TITUS  LARTIUS,  and  other  Senators ; 
JUNIUS  BRUTUS  and  SICINIUS  VELUTUS 

i  Senator.   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.  230 

I  sin  in  envying  his  nobility, 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  1J 

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  wars  with  him  ;  he  is  a  lion 
That  I  am  proud  to  hunt. 

i  Senator.  Then,  worthy  Marcius, 

Attend  upon  Cominius  to  these  wars. 

Cominius.   It  is  your  former  promise. 

Marcius.  Sir,  it  is  ; 

And  I  am  constant.  —  Titus  Lartius,  thou  240 

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  1 

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  1 

i  Senator.  \To  the  Citizens']  Hence  to  your  homes ; 
be  gone  1 

Marcius.  Nay,  let  them  follow. 


28  Coriolanus  CAct  * 

The  Volsces  have  much  corn  ;  take  these  rats  thither 
To  gnaw  their  garners.  —  Worshipful  mutiners,  251 

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  ? 

Sicinius.  Nay,  but  his  taunts. 

Brutus.   Being  mov'd,  he  will  not  spare  to  gird  the 
gods. 

Sicinius.    Bemock  the  modest  moon. 

Brutus.   The  present  wars  devour  him  !  he  is  grown 
Too  proud  to  be  so  valiant. 

Sicinius.  Such  a  nature,  260 

Tickled  with  good  success,  disdains  the  shadow 
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 
To  the  utmost  of  a  man,  and  giddy  censure 
Will  then  cry  out  of  Marcius,  '  O,  if  he  270 

Had  borne  the  business  1 ' 


Scene  II]  Coriolanus  29 

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, 
^  More  than  his  singularity,  he  goes  279 

Upon  this  present  action. 

Brutus.  Let  's  along.  \Exeunt. 

SCENE  II.     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 
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,  10 

The  people  mutinous ;  and  it  is  rumour '</, 
Cominius,  Marcius  your  old  enemy  t 


jo  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

Who  is  of  Rome  worse  hated  than  of  you, 
And  Titus  Lartius,  a  most  valiant  Roman, 
These  three  lead  on  this  preparation 
Whither  V  is  bent.     Most  likely  V  is  for  you. 
Consider  of  iC 

1  Senator.         Our  army  's  in  the  field. 

We  never  yet  made  doubt  but  Rome  was  ready 
To  answer  us. 

Aufidius.          Nor  did  you  think  it  folly 
To  keep  your  great  pretences  veil'd  till  when  20 

They  needs  must  show  themselves,  which  in  the  hatch 
ing 

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. 

Aufidius.  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. 


Scene  III]  Coriolanus  3 1 

All.  The  gods  assist  you ! 

Aufidius.    And  keep  your  honours  safe  ! 

1  Senator.  Farewell. 

2  Senator.  Farewell. 
All.   Farewell.  [Exeunt. 


SCENE  III.     Rome.     A  Room  in  Martins'1  House 

Enter  VOLUMNIA  and  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  honour  than  in  the  embrace- 
ments  of  hjs-hed  where  he  would  show  most  love. 
When  yet  he  was  but  tender-bodied  and  the  only  son 
of  my  womb,  when  youth  with  comeliness  plucked 
all  gaze  his  way,  when  for  a  day  of  kings'  entreaties 
a  mother  should  not  sell  him  an  hour  from  her  be 
holding,  I,  —  considering  how  honour  would  become  10 
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  see 
ing  he  had  proved  himself  a  man. 


32  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

Virgilia.  But  had  he  died  in  the  business,  madam, 
how  then  ?  20 

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  have  eleven  die 
nobly  for  their  country  than  one  voluptuously  sur 
feit  out  of  action. 

Enter  a  Gentlewoman 

Gentlewoman.   Madam,  the  Lady  Valeria  is  come  to 
visit  you. 

Virgilia.    Beseech  you,  give  me  leave  to  retire  myself. 

Volumnia.   Indeed,  you  shall  not.  30 

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. 
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.  39 

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 
Than  Hector's  forehead  when  it  spit  forth  blood 


Scene  ill]  Coriolanus  33 

At  Grecian  sword,  contemning.  —  Tell  Valeria 
We  are  fit  to  bid  her  welcome.         [Exit  Gentlewoman. 
Virgilia.    Heavens  bless  my  lord  from  fell  Aufidius  1 
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.  50 

Volumnia.    Sweet  madam,  — 

Virgilia.    I  am  glad  to  see  your  ladyship. 

Valeria.  How  do  you  both  ?  you  are  manifest 
housekeepers.  What  are  you  sewing  here  ?  A  fine 
spot,  in  good  faith.  —  How  does  your  little  son  ? 

Virgilia.  I  thank  your  ladyship ;  well,  good  madam. 

Volumnia.  He  had  rather  see  the  swords  and 
hear  a  drum  than  look  upon  his  schoolmaster.  58 

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.  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  en 
raged  him,  or  how  't  was,  he  did  so  set  his  teeth  and 
tear  it ;  O,  I  warrant,  how  he  mammocked  it  I 

Volumnia.   One  on  's  father's  moods. 

Valeria.    Indeed,  la,  't  is  a  noble  child. 

Virgilia.   A  crack,  madam.  70 

Valeria.  Come,  lay  aside  your  stitchery ;  I  must 
CORIOLANUS  —  3 


34  Coriolanus  CAct  * 

have  you  play  the  idle  huswife  with  me  this  after 
noon. 

Virgilia.    No,  good  madam  ;  I  will  not  out  of  doors. 

Valeria.    Not  out  of  doors  ! 

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  unreason 
ably.  Come,  you  must  go  visit  the  good  lady  that 
lies  in.  81 

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. 

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.  92 

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. 

Virgilia.    Indeed,  madam  ?  100 


Scene  IV]  Coriolanus  35 

Valeria.  In  earnest,  it  's  true ;  I  heard  a  senator 
speak  it.  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  Lar- 
tius  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. 

Volumnia.  Let  her  alone,  lady  ;  as  she  is  now,  she 
will  but  disease  our  better  mirth.  112 

Valeria.  In  troth,  I  think  she  would.  —  Fare  you 
well  then.  —  Come,  good  sweet  lady.  —  Prithee,  Vir- 
gilia,  turn  thy  solemness  out  o'  door,  and  go  along 
with  us. 

VirgiKa.  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. 


j6  Coriolanus  [Act  * 

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  '11  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.  — 

Now,  Mars,  I  prithee,  make  us  quick  in  work,  10 

That  we  with  smoking  swords  may  march  from  hence, 
To  help  our  fielded  friends  !  —  Come,  blow  thy  blast.  — 

\They  sound  a  parley. 

Enter  two  Senators  with  others  on  the  watts 

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  of.~]     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  o/J\    Hark 

you,  far  off  1 


Scene  IV]  Coriolanus  37 

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  VOLSCES 

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  edge. 

[Alarum.    The  Romans  are  beat  back  to  their  trenches. 

Re-enter  MARCIUS,  cursing 

Marcius.   All   the  contagion  of   the   south   light  on 
you,  3° 

You  shames  of  Rome  1  you  herd  of  —  Boils  and  plagues 
Plaster  you  o'er,  that  you  may  be  abhorr'd 
Further  than  seen,  and  one  infect  another 
Against  the  wind  a  mile  1     You  souls  of  geese, 
That  bear  the  shapes  of  men,  how  have  you  run 
From  slaves  that  apes  would  beat  1     Pluto  and  hell  1 
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 


38  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

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  Mar cius  fol 
lows  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  1  not  I. 

2  Soldier.  Nor  I. 

\Marcius  is  shut  in. 
i  Soldier.   See,  they  have  shut  him  in. 
All.  To  the  pot,  I  warrant  him. 

\Alarum  continues. 

Re-enter  TITUS  LARTIUS 

Lartius.   What  is  become  of  Marcius  ? 

All.  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 


Scene  V]  Coriolanus  39 

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,  bleeding,  assaulted  by  the  enemy 

i  Soldier.  Look,  sir  1 

Lartius.  O,  't  is  Marcius  1 

'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. 

[Alarum  continues  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   fight   be   done,   pack   up.  —  Down   with 

them !  — 

And  hark,  what  noise  the  general  makes  !  —  To  him  j 
There  is  the  man  of  my  soul's  hate,  Aufidius,  10 

Piercing  our  Romans;  then,  valiant  Titus,  take 


4_o  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

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 ; 

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  ! 

Marcius.  Thy  friend  no  less 

Than  those  she  placeth  highest !     So,  farewell. 

Lartius.  Thou  worthiest  Marcius  !  —    [Exit  Marcius. 
Go  sound  thy  trumpet  in  the  ntarket-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  1  we 

are  come  off 

Like  Romans,  neither  foolish  in  our  stands 
Nor  cowardly  in  retire  ;  believe  me,  sirs, 


Scene  vi]  Coriolanus  41 

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  1 
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. 

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.    [  Withiri\  Come  I  too  late  ? 


42  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

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  ? 

Cominius.    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  30 

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. 

Cominius.  Where  is  that  slave 

Which  told  me  they  had  beat  you  to  your  trenches  ?     40 
Where  is  he  ?  call  him  hither. 

Marcius.  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. 


Scene  vi]  Coriolanus  43 

Cominius.  But  how  prevail'd  you  ? 

Marcius.   Will  the  time  serve  to  tell  ?    I  do  not  think. 
Where  is  the  enemy  ?  are  you  lords  o'  the  field  ? 
If  not,  why  cease  you  till  you  are  so  ? 

Cominius.  Marcius, 

We  have  at  disadvantage  fought  and  did 
Retire  to  win  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 

That  most  are  willing.  —  If  any  such  be  here  — 


44 


Coriolanus  [Act  I 


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 ;  70 

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  Aufidius 
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. 

Commius.  March  on,  my  fellows  ; 

Make  good  this  ostentation  and  you  shall 
Divide  in  all  with  us.  [Exeunt. 


Scene  viii]  Coriolanus  45 

SCENE  VII.     The  Gates  of  Corioli 

TITUS  LARTIUS,  having  set  a  guard  upon  Corioli,  going 
with  drum  and  trumpet  toward  COMINIUS  and  CAIUS 
MARCIUS,  enters  with  a  Lieutenant,  other  Soldiers,  and 
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. 

Lieutenant.  Fear  not  our  care,  sir. 

Lartius.   Hence,  and  shut  your  gates  upon  's.  — 
Our  guider,  come  ;  to  the  Roman  camp  conduct  us. 

[Exeunt. 

SCENE  VIII.     A  Field  of  Battle 

Alarum  as  in  battle.     Enter ;  from  opposite  sides,  MAR 
CIUS  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  1 


46  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

Aufidius.  If  I  fly,  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  shouldst  not  scape  me  here.  — • 

\They  fight,  and  certain  Volsces  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. 

SCENE  IX.     The  Roman  Camp 

Flourish.  Alarum.  A  retreat  is  sounded.  Flourish. 
Enter  from  one  side,  COMINIUS  with  the  Romans ; 
from  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  '11  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, 


Scene  IX]  Coriolanus  47 

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,  10 

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 ;  induced 
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, 
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. 

Cominius.  Should  they  not, 


4.8  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

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  lances ;  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  50 

In  acclamations  hyperbolical, 
As  if  I  lov'd  my  little  should  be  dieted 
In  praises  sauc'd  with  lies. 


Scene  IX]  Coriolanus  49 

Cominius.  Too  modest  are  you ; 

More  cruel  to  your  good  report  than  grateful 
To  us  that  give  you  truly.     By  your  patience, 
If  'gainst  yourself  you  be  incens'd,  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, 
WTith  all  the  applause  and  clamour  of  the  host, 
CAIUS  MARCIUS  CORIOLANUS  1  —  Bear 
The  addition  nobly  ever  1 

{Flourish.     Trumpets  sound,  and  drums. 

All.   Caius  Marcius  Coriolanus  I 

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. 

CORIOLANUS  — 4 


jo  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

Marcius.   The  gods  begin  to  mock  me.     I,  that  now 
Refus'd  most  princely  gifts,  am  bound  to  beg  So 

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, 
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.     The  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  delivered  back  on  good  condi 
tion. 
Aufidius.   Condition  1 


Scene  xj  Coriolanus  5 1 

I  would  I  were  a  Roman  ;  for  I  cannot, 

Being  a  Volsce,  be  that  I  am.     Condition  1 

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. 

Aufidius.   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,  would  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  ? 


£2  Coriolanus  [Act  I 

Aufidius.    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 


ISOLA  TlBERINA 


ACT   II 

SCENE  I.     Rome.     A  Public  Place 

Enter  MENENIUS,  with  the  two  Tribunes  of  the  people, 
SICINIUS  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. 

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.  n 

Brutus.  He  's  a  lamb  indeed,  that  baes  like  a  bear. 
53 


j4  Coriolanus  [Act  II 

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.  20 

Sicinius.   Especially  in  pride. 

Brutus.   And  topping  all  others  in  boasting. 

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  ?  do  you  ? 

Both.   Why,  how  are  we  censured  ? 

Menenius.  Because  you  talk  of  pride  now,  —  will 
you  not  be  angry  ? 

Both.   Well,  well,  sir,  well.  29 

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  ? 

Brutus.   We  do  it  not  alone,  sir.  36 

Menenius.  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, 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  55 

and  make  but  an  interior  survey  of  your  good  selves  1 
O  that  you  could  1 

Brutus.   What  then,  sir? 

Menenius.  Why,  then  you  should  discover  a  brace 
of  unmeriting,  proud,  violent,  testy  magistrates,  alias 
fools,  as  any  in  Rome. 

Sicinius.  Menenius,  you  are  known  well  enough 
too.  49 

Menenius.  I  am  known  to  be  a  humorous  patri 
cian,  and  one  that  loves  a  cup  of  hot  wine  with 
not  a  drop  of  allaying  Tiber  in  't ;  said  to  be  some 
thing  imperfect  in  favouring  the  first  complaint ; 
hasty  and  tinder-like  upon  too  trivial  motion;  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  60 
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  micro-  - 
cosm,  follows  it  that  I  am  known  well  enough  too  ? 
what  harm  can  your  bisson  conspectuities  glean 
out  of  this  character,  if  I  be  known  well  enough 
too  ?  70 


56  Coriolanus  [Act  II 

Brutus.  Come,  sir,  come,  we  know  you  well 
enough. 

Menenius.  You  know  neither  me,  yourselves,  nor 
any  thing.  You  are  ambitious  for  poor  knaves'  caps 
and  legs  ;  you  wear  out  a  good  wholesome  forenoon 
in  hearing  a  cause  between  an  orange-wife  and  a 
fosset-seller,  and  then  rejourn  the  controversy  of 
three-pence  to  a  second  day  of  audience.  When 
you  are  hearing  a  matter  between  party  and  party, 
if  you  chance  to  be  pinched  with  the  colic,  you  80 
make  faces  like  mummers,  set  up  the  bloody  flag 
against  all  patience,  and  dismiss  the  controversy 
bleeding,  the  more  entangled  by  your  hearing; 
all  the  peace  you  make  in  their  cause  is  calling 
both  the  parties  knaves.  You  are  a  pair  of  strange 
ones. 

Brutus.  Come,  come,  you  are  well  understood  to 
be  a  perfecter  giber  for  the  table  than  a  necessary 
bencher  in  the  Capitol.  89 

Menenius.  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 
predecessors  since  Deucalion,  though  peradventure 
some  of  the  best  of  'em  were  hereditary  hangmen 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  57 

_  God-den  to  your  worships ;  more  of  your  conversa 
tion  would  infect  my  brain,  being  the  herdsmen  of 
the  beastly  plebeians.  I  will  be  bold  to  take  my 
leave  of  you.  —  \_Brutus  and  Sicinius  go  aside. 

Enter  VOLUMNIA,  VIRGILIA,  and  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? 

Volumnia.  Honourable  Menenius,  my  boy  Marcius 
approaches  ;  for  the  love  of  Juno,  let 's  go. 

Menenius.    Ha  1  Marcius  coming  home  1 

Volumnia.  Ay,  worthy  Menenius,  and  with  most 
prosperous  approbation.  in 

Menenius.  Take  my  cap,  Jupiter,  and  I  thank 
thee.  —  Hoo !  Marcius  coming  home  1 

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. 

Menenius.  I  will  make  my  very  house  reel  to 
night.  —  A  letter  for  me  1 

Virgilia.  Yes,  certain,  there's  a  letter  for  you;  I 
saw 't.  121 

Menenius.   A  letter  for  me !  it  gives  me  an  estate 

of  seven  years'  health,  in  which  time  I  will  make  a 

lip  at  the  physician  :  the  most  sovereign  prescription 

^  in  Galen  is  but  empirictic,  and,  to  this  preservative, 


1  Nay,  't  is  true. 


58  Coriolanus  [Act  II 

of  no  better  report  than  a  horse-drench.     Is  he  not 
wounded  ?  he  was  wont  to  come  home  wounded. 
Virgilia.    O,  no,  no,  no  ! 

Volumnia.  O,  he  is  wounded;  I  thank  the  gods 
for 't.  130 

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. 

Menenius.    Has  he  disciplined  Aufidius  soundly  ? 

Volumnia.  Titus  Lartius  writes  they  fought  to 
gether,  but  Aufidius  got  off. 

Menenius.  And  't  was  time  for  him  too,  I  '11  war 
rant  him  that ;  an  he  had  stayed  by  him,  I  would  not 
have  been  so  fidiused  for  all  the  chests  in  Corioli 
and  the  gold  that's  in  them.  Is  the  senate  pos 
sessed  of  this?  143 

Volumnia.  Good  ladies,  let 's  go.  —  Yes,  yes,  yes  ; 
the  senate  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.  15i 

Virgilia.   The  gods  grant  them  true  I 

Volumnia.    True  !  pow,  waw  ! 

Menenius,  True  1    I  '11  be  sworn  they  are  true. 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  59 

Where  is  he  wounded  ?  —  [To  the  Tribunes}  God  save 
your  good  worships !  Marcius  is  coming  home ; 
he  has  more  cause  to  be  proud.  —  Where  is  he 
wounded  ? 

Volumnia.  I*  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.  162 

Menenius.  One  i'  the  neck,  and  two  i'  the  thigh,  — 
there  's  nine  that  I  know. 

Volumnia.  He  had,  before  this  last  expedition, 
twenty-five  wounds  upon  him. 

Menenius.  Now  it 's  twenty-seven ;  every  gash 
was  an  enemy's  grave.  [A  shout  and  flourish] 
Hark  1  the  trumpets. 

Volumnia.  These  are  the  ushers  of  Marcius ;  be 
fore  him  he  carries  noise,  and  behind  him  he  leaves 
tears.  172 

Death,  that  dark  spirit,  in  's  nervy  arm  doth  lie, 
v  Which,  being  advanc'd,  declines,  and  then  men  die. 

A  sennet.  Trumpets  sound.  Enter  COMINIUS  the  gen 
eral,  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 


60  Coriolanus  [Act  II 

In  honour  follows  Coriolanus.  — 

Welcome  to  Rome,  renowned  Coriolanus  !        [Flourish. 

All.   Welcome  to  Rome,  renowned  Coriolanus  ! 

Coriolanus.    No   more   of   this ;   it  does   offend   my 
heart.  181 

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 ; 

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,         190 
Such  eyes  the  widows  in  Corioli  wear, 
And  mothers  that  lack  sons. 

Menenius.  Now,  the  gods  crown  thee  ! 

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. 

Menenius.   A  hundred  thousand  welcomes  \     I  could 

weep 
And  I  could  laugh,  I  am  light  and  heavy.     Welcome  1 


Scene  ij  Coriolanus  6 1 

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  1     202 

We  call  a  nettle  but  a  nettle  and 

The  faults  of  fools  but  folly. 

Cominius.  Ever  right 

Coriolanus.    Menenius,  ever,  ever  1 

Herald.    Give  way  there,  and  go  on. 

Coriolanus.  \To  Volumnia  and  Virgilid\  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  210 

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 
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  1 

[Flourish.     Cornets.    Exeunt  in  state  as  before. 
Brutus  and  Sicinius  come  forward. 

Brutus.   All  tongues  speak  of  him,  and  the  bleared 
sights 


62  Coriolanus  [Act  n 

Are  spectacled  to  see  him  ;  your  prattling  nurse 
Into  a  rapture  lets  her  baby  cry  220 

While  she  chats  him  ;  the  kitchen  malkin  pins 
Her  richest  lockram  'bout  her  reechy  neck, 
Clambering  the  walls  to  eye  him  ;    stalls,  bulks,  win 
dows, 

Are  smother 'd  up,  leads  fill'd,  and  ridges  hors'd 
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          230 
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, 

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  240 

Upon  their  ancient  malice  will  forget 
With  the  least  cause  these  his  new  honours,  which 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  63 

That  he  will  give  them  make  I  as  little  question 
As  he  is  proud  to  do  't. 

Brutus.  I  heard  him  swear, 

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. 

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  251 
And  the  desire  of  the  nobles  1 

Sicinius.  I  wish  no  better 

Than  have  him  hold  that  purpose  and  to  put  it 
In  execution. 

Brutus.  'T  is  most  like  he  will. 

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,  261 

In  human  action  and  capacity, 
Of  no  more  soul  nor  fitness  for  the  world 
,Than  camels  in  the  war,  who  have  their  provand 
Only  for  bearing  burdens,  and  sore  blows 
For  sinking  under  them. 


64  Coriolanus  [Act  II 

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  270 

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. 
I  have  seen  the  dumb  men  throng  to  see  him  and 
The  blind  to  hear  him  speak ;  matrons  flung  gloves,  - 
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.      280 
I  never  saw  the  like. 

j     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.         \Excunt 

SCENE  II.     The  Same.     The  Capitol 
Enter  two  Officers,  to  lay  cushions 

i  Officer.    Come,  come,  they  are  almost  here. — 
How  many  stand  for  consulships? 


Scene  n]  Coriolanus  65 

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  ven 
geance  proud  and  loves  not  the  common  people.  6 

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  better  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.  15 

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.       23 

2  Officer.    He  hath  deserved  worthily  of  his  coun 
try  ;  and  his  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  in- 

CORIOLANUS — 5 


66  Coriolanus  [Act  n 

grateful  injury;  to  report  otherwise  were  a  malice 
that,  giving  itself  the  lie,  would  pluck  reproof  and 
rebuke  from  every  ear  that  heard  it.  34 

i  Officer.    No  more  of  him ;  he  's  a  worthy  man. 
Make  way,  they  are  coming. 

A  sennet.  Enter,  with  Lictors  before  them,  COMIN- 
lus  the  consul,  MENENIUS,  CORIOLANUS,  Senators, 
SICINIUS,  and  BRUTUS.  The  Senators  take  their 
places  ;  the  Tribunes  take  their  places  by  themselves. 
CORIOLANUS  stands 

Menetrius.    Having  determin'd  of  the  Volsces  and 
To  send  for  Titus  Lartius,  it  remains, 
As  the  main  point  of  this  our  after-meeting, 
To  gratify  his  noble  service  that  40 

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 
A  little  of  that  worthy  work  perlorm'd 
By  Caius  Marcius  Coriolanus,  whom 
We  met  here  both  to  thank  and  to  remember 
With  honours  like  himself. 

i  Senator.  Speak,  good  Cominius ; 

Leave  nothing  out  for  length,  and  make  us  think 
Rather  our  state  's  defective  for  requital  50 

Than  we  to  stretch  it  out.  —  \To  the  Tribunes'}  Masters 

o'  the  people, 
We  do  request  your  kindest  ears,  and  after. 


Scene  H]  Coriolanus  67 

Your  loving  motion  toward  the  common  body, 
To  yield  what  passes  here. 

Sicinius.  We  are  convented 

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. 

Mencnius.  That 's  off,  that 's  off ; 

I  would  you  rather  had  been  silent.     Please  you          61 
To  hear  Cominius  speak  ? 

Brutus.  Most  willingly ; 

But  yet  my  caution  was  more  pertinent 
Than  the  rebuke  you  give  it. 

Menenius.  He  loves  your  people, 

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  70 

My  words  disbench'd  you  not. 

Coriolanus.  No,  sir ;  yet  oft, 

When  blows  have  made  me  stay,  I  fled  from  words. 


68  Coriolanus  [Act  n 

You  sooth'd  not,  therefore  hurt  not ;  but  your  people, 
I  love  them  as  they  weigh. 

Menenius.  Pray  now,  sit  down. 

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, 

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  80 

Than  one  on  's  ears  to  hear  it  ?  —  Proceed,  Cominius. 

Cominius.    I  shall  lack  voice  ;  the  deeds  of  Coriolanus 
Should  not  be  utter'd  feebly.  —  It  is  held 
That  valour  is  the  chiefest  virtue,  and 
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  90 

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 
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 


Scene  II]  Coriolanus  69 

Man-enter'd  thus,  he  waxed  like  a  sea, 

And  in  the  brunt  of  seventeen  battles  since  100 

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 

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  no 

The  mortal  gate  of  the  city,  which  he  painted 

With  shunless  destiny,  aidless  came  off, 

And  with  a  sudden  re-enforcement  struck 

Corioli  like  a  planet.     Now  all  's  his  ; 

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  calPd  120 

Both  field  and  city  ours,  he  never  stood 

To  ease  his  breast  with  panting. 

Menenius.  Worthy  man ! 

i  Senator.   He   cannot    but  with    measure    fit    the 

honours 
Which  we  devise  him. 

Cominius.  Our  spoils  he  kick'd  at, 


jo  Coriolanus  [Act  II 

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.  130 

Officer.    He  doth  appear. 

Re-enter  CORIOLANUS 

Menenius.   The  senate,  Coriolanus,  are  well  pleas'd 
To  make  thee  consul. 

Coriolanus.  I  do  owe  them  still 

My  life  and  services. 

Menenius.  It  then  remains 

That  you  do  speak  to  the  people. 

Coriolanus.  I  do  beseech  you, 

Let  me  o'erleap  that  custom,  for  I  cannot 
Put  on  the  gown,  stand  naked,  and  entreat  them, 
For  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  140 

One  jot  of  ceremony. 

Menenius.  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. 


Scene  ill]  Coriolanus  71 

Coriolanus.  It  is  a  part 

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  1 

Menenius.  Do  not  stand  upon  't. —          150 

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  i 
[Flourish  of  cornets.     Exeunt  all  but  Sicinhis 
and  Brutus. 

Brutus.   You  see  how  he  intends  to  use  the  people. 

Sicinius.   May  they  perceive  's  intent !     He  will  re 
quire  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  ;  159 

I  know  they  do  attend  us.  [Exeunt. 

SCENE  III.     27ie  Same.     The  Forum 
Enter  several  Citizens 

i  Citizen.   Once,  if  he  do  require  our  voices,  we 
ought  not  to  deny  him. 


72  Coriolanus  [Act  n 

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  ingrateful 
were  to  make  a  monster  of  the  multitude,  of   the 
which  we  being  members  should  bring  ourselves  to 
be  monstrous  members.  13 

1  Citizen.   And  to  make  us  no  better  thought  of,  a 
little  help  will  serve  ;  for  once  we  stood  up  about 
the  corn,  he  himself  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.  24 

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 ;    't  is  strongly  wedged  up  in  a 
block-head,  but  if  it  were  at  liberty  't  would,  sure, 
southward. 

2  Citizen.   Why  that  way  ? 


Scene  Hi]  Coriolanus  73 

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.  35 

2  Citizen.   You   are    never   without   your   tricks ; 
you  may,  you  may. 

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.  41 

Enter  CORIOLANUS  in  a  gown  of  humility,  with 
MENENIUS 

Here  he  comes,  and  in  the  gown  of  humility ;  mark 
his  behaviour.  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  par 
ticulars,  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.  49 

All.    Content,  content.  [Exeunt  citizens. 

Menenius.   O  sir,  you  are  not  right;  have  you  not 

known 
The  worthiest  men  have  done  't  ? 

Coriolanus.  What  must  I  say  ?  — 

I  pray,  sir,  —  Plague  upon  't !  I  cannot  bring 
My  tongue  to  such  a  pace.  —  Look,  sir,  my  wounds  1 
I  got  them  in  my  country's  service,  when 


74  Coriolanus  [Act  n 

Some  certain  of  your  brethren  roar'd  and  ran 
From  the  noise  of  our  own  drums. 

Menenius.  O  me,  the  gods  1 

You  must  not  speak  of  that ;  you  must  desire  them 
To  think  upon  you. 

Coriolanus.  Think  upon  me  !  hang  'em  1 

I  would  they  would  forget  me,  like  the  virtues  60 

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. 

1  Citizen.   We  do,  sir  ;  tell  us  what  hath  brought  you 

to  't. 
Coriolanus.    Mine  own  desert. 

2  Citizen.   Your  own  desert ! 
Coriolanus.    Ay,  not  mine  own  desire. 

i  Citizen.    How  !  not  your  own  desire  1  70 

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. 

Coriolanus.  Well,  then,  I  pray,  your  price  o'  the 
consulship  ? 


Scene  Hi]  Coriolanus  75 

1  Citizen.   The  price  is  to  ask  it  kindly. 
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  ?  80 

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.  \Exeunt  the  two  Citizens. 

Re-enter  two  other  Citizens 

Coriolanus.  Pray  you  now,  if  it  may  stand  with  the 
tune  of  your  voices  that  I  may  be  consul,  I  have  here 
the  customary  gown. 

3  Citizen.    You  have  deserved  nobly  of  your  coun 
try,  and  you  have  not  deserved  nobly.  91 

Coriolanus.   Your  enigma  ? 

3  Citizen.  You  have  been  a  scourge  to  her  ene 
mies,  you  have  been  a  rod  to  her  friends ;  you  have 
not  indeed  loved  the  common  people. 

Coriolanus.  You  should  account  me  the  more  vir 
tuous  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  wisdom  of  their  choice  100 
is  rather  to  have  my  hat  than  my  heart,  I  will  prac 
tise  the  insinuating  nod  and  be  off  to  them  most 
counterfeitly ;  that  is,  sir,  I  will  counterfeit  the  be- 


7 6  Coriolanus  [Act  n 

witchment  of  some  popular  man  and  give  it  bounti 
ful  to  the  desirers.  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  country.  no 

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  Dick,  that  do  appear, 

Their  needless  vouches  ?     Custom  calls  me  to  't.         120 

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  office  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 ; 


Scene  Hi]  Coriolanus  77 

Watch 'd  for  your  voices  ;  for  your  voices  bear  130 

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. 

5  Citizen.   He  has  done  nobly,  and  cannot  go  with 
out  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 ! 

Air  Citizens.   Amen,  amen. —  God  save  thee,  noble 

consul !  \Exeunt. 

Coriolanus.   Worthy  voices  I  141 

Re-enter  MENENIUS,  with  BRUTUS  and  SICINIUS 

Menenius.    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    dis- 

charg'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. 


78  Coriolanus  [Act  II 

Coriolanus.   That  I  '11  straight  do,  and.  knowing  my 
self  again,  151 
Repair  to  the  senate-house. 

Menenius.   I  '11  keep  you  company.  —  Will  you  along  ? 
Brutus.   We  stay  here  for  the  people. 
Sidnius.  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 

Sidnius.   How  now,  my  masters  !   have  you  chose 
this  man  ? 

1  Citizen.   He  has  our  voices,  sir.  160 
Brutus.   We   pray  the   gods   he   may  deserve  your 

loves. 

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. 
Sidnius.   Why,  so  he  did,  I  am  sure. 


Scene  ill]  Coriolanus  79 

Citizens.    No,  no  ;  no  man  saw  'em.  170 

3  Citizen.    He  said  he  had  wounds,  which  he  could 

show  in  private  ; 

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  180 

To  yield  your  voices  ? 

Brutus.  Could  you  not  have  told  him 

As  you  were  lesson'd,  when  he  had  no  power, 
But  was  a  petty  servant  of  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  to  the  state, 
If  he  should  still  malignantly  remain 
Fast  foe  to  the  plebeii,  your  voices  might 
Be  curses  to  yourselves  ?     You  should  have  said         190 
That  as  his  worthy  deeds  did  claim  no  less 
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. 


80  Coriolanus  [Act  II 

Sidnius.  Thus  to  have  said, 

As  you  were  fore-ad  vis '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,  200 

Which  easily  endures  not  article 
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  ? 

Sidnius.  Have  you         210 

Ere  now  denied  the  asker  ?  and  now  again 
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  Citizen.   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 


Scene  ill]  Coriolanus  8 1 

Their  liberties,  make  them  of  no  more  voice  aao 

Than  dogs  that  are  as  often  beat  for  barking 
As  therefore  kept  to  do  so. 

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          230 
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  your  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,  240 

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, 
CORIOLANUS — 6 


82  Coriolanus  [Act  II 

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. 

Sicinius.  One  thus  descended,  250 

That  hath  beside  well  in  his  person  wrought 
To  be  set  high  in  place,  we  did  commend 
To  your  remembrances  ;  but  you  have  found, 
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 ;  260 

This  mutiny  were  better  put  in  hazard, 
Than  stay,  past  doubt,  for  greater. 
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. 


ANCIENT  ARCH  NEAR  ROME 


ACT   III 
SCENE  I.     Rome.     A  Street 

Cornets.     Enter  CORIOLANUS,  MENENIUS,  COMINIUS, 
TITUS  LARTIUS,  Senators,  and  Patricians 

Coriolenus.    Tullus  Aufidius  then  had  made  new  head  ? 
Lartius.   He  had,  my  lord ;    and  that  it  was  which 

caus'd 
Our  swifter  composition. 

Coriolanus.    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 
83 


84  Coriolanus  [Act  ill 

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  ic 

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 
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  ? 

Lartius.    At  Antium. 

Coriolanus.   I  wish  I  had  a  cause  to  seek  him  there, 
To  oppose  his  hatred  fully.  —  Welcome  home.  20 

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. 

Coriolanus.   Ha  !  what  is  that  ? 

Brutus.    It  will  be  dangerous  to  go  on  ;  no  further. 

Coriolanus.   What  makes  this  change  ? 

Menenius.    The  matter  ? 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  85 

Cominius.   Hath   he  not  pass'd   the  noble  and   the 
common  ? 

Brutus.   Cominius,  no. 

Coriolanus.  Have  I  had  children's  voices  ? 

i  Senator.   Tribunes,   give   way ;    he   shall    to    the 
market-place.  31 

Brutus.   The  people  are  incens'd  against  him. 

Sicinius.  Stop, 

Or  all  will  fall  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. 

Suffer  't,  and  live  with  such  as  cannot  rule  40 

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. 

Coriolanus.   Why,  this  was  known  before. 

Brutus.  Not  to  them  all. 

Coriolanus.   Have  you  inform 'd  them  sithence  ? 


86  Coriolanus  [Act  in 

Brutus.  How  !  I  inform  them  ! 

Cominius.   You  are  like  to  do  such  business. 

Brutus.  Not  unlike, 

Each  way,  to  better  yours. 

Coriolanus.    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.  Not  in  this  heat,  sir,  now. 

Coriolanus.   Now,   as   I    live,    I   will.  —  My  nobler 

friends, 

I  crave  their  pardons.  — 
For  the  mutable,  rank-scented  many,  let  them 
Regard  me  as  I  do  not  flatter,  and 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  87 

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 

scattered, 

By  mingling  them  with  us,  the  honour'd  number, 
Who  lack  not  virtue,  no,  nor  power,  but  that 
Which  they  have  given  to  beggars. 

Menenius.  Well,  no  more. 

i  Senator.   No  more  words,  we  beseech  you. 

Coriolanus.  How  1  no  more  1 

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 

As  if  you  were  a  god  to  punish,  not  81 

A  man  of  their  infirmity. 

Sicinius.  'T  were  well 

We  let  the  people  know  't. 

Menenius.  What,  what  ?  his  choler  ? 

Coriolanus.    Choler  1 

Were  I  as  patient  as  the  midnight  sleep, 
By  Jove,  't  would  be  my  mind  1 

Sicinius.  It  is  a  mind 

That  shall  remain  a  poison  where  it  is, 
Not  poison  any  further. 

Coriolanus.  Shall  remain  I  — 


88  Coriolanus  [Act  m 

Hear  you  this  Triton  of  the  minnows  ?  mark  you 
His  absolute  '  shall  ? ' 

Cominius.  'T  was  from  the  canon. 

Coriolanus.  Shall  1 

O  good  but  most  unwise  patricians  !  why,  91 

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  ;  if  none,  awake 
Your  dangerous  lenity.     If  you  are  learn'd, 
Be  not  as  common  fools  ;  if  you  are  not,  100 

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 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  89 

The  corn  o'  the  storehouse  gratis,  as  't  was  us'd 
Sometime  in  Greece,  — 

Menenius.  Well,  well,  no  more  of  that. 

Coriolanus.   Though  there  the  people  had  more  abso 
lute  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 
Was  not  our  recompense,  resting  well  assur'd  121 

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  ?  130 

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 


90  Coriolanus  [Act  m 

Break  ope  the  locks  o'  the  senate  and  bring  in 
The  crows  to  peck  the  eagles. 

Menenius.  Come,  enough. 

Brutus.    Enough,  with  over-measure. 

Coriolanus.  No,  take  more  : 

What  may  be  sworn  by,  both  divine  and  human,         141 
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,  150 

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 
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. 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  91 

Coriolanus.  Thou  wretch,  despite  o'erwhelm  thee  !  — 
What  should  the  people  do  with  these  bald  tribunes  ? 
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  1 

Sicinius.  This  a  consul  ?  no  I 

Brutus.     The  aediles,  ho  1  — 


Enter  an 

Let  him  be  apprehended. 
Sicinius.  Go,  call  the  people,  —  \Exit  &dile\  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  I 

Senators,  etc.   We  '11  surety  him. 
Cominius.  Aged  sir,  hands  off. 

Coriolanus.   Hence,  rotten  thing!   or  I   shall  shake 

thy  bones 
Out  of  thy  garments. 

Sicinius.  Help,  ye  citizens  1  180 

Enter  a  rabble  of  Citizens,  with  the 
Menenius.   On  both  sides  more  respect. 


92  Coriolanus  [Act  m 

Sicinius.  Here 's  he  that  would   take  from  you  all 
your  power. 

Brutus.    Seize  him,  sediles  ! 

Citizens.    Down  with  him  1  down  with  him  I 

Senators,  etc.   Weapons,  weapons,  weapons  ! 

\They  all  bustle  about  Coriolanus,  crying 
1  Tribunes  ! '  '  Patricians  ! '  '  Citizens  !  '  '  What,  ho ! ' 
'  Sicinius  ! '  '  Brutus  ! '  '  Coriolanus  !  '  '  Citizens  1 ' 
'  Peace,  peace,  peace  ! '  '  Stay,  hold,  peace  ! ' 

Menenius.   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  ! 

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.  200 

Brutus.   By  the  consent  of  all,  we  were  establish'd 
The  people's  magistrates. 

Citizens.  You  so  remain. 

Menenius.   And  so  are  like  to  do. 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  93 

Cominius.   That  is  the  way  to  lay  the  city  flat, 
To  bring  the  roof  to  the  foundation, 
And  bury  all,  which  yet  distinctly  ranges, 
In  heaps  and  piles  of  ruin. 

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  no 

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.  jiEdiles,  seize  him  I 

Citizens.   Yield,  Marcius,  yield  1 

Menenius.  Hear  me  one  word  ; 

Beseech  you,  tribunes,  hear  me  but  a  word. 

jEdiles.   Peace,  peace  1 

Menenius.   \To  Brutus'}  Be  that  you  seem,  truly  your 

country'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; 


94  Coriolanus  [Act  m 

Come,  try  upon  yourselves  what  you  have  seen  me. 

Menenius.   Down  with  that  sword !  —  Tribunes,  with 
draw  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  1 
\The  Tribunes,  the  sEdiles,  and  the  People  are  beat  in. 

Menenius.    Go,   get   you   to   your   house ;   be   gone, 
away !  230 

All  will  be  naught  else. 

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  1 

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  — 

Menenius.  Be  gone ; 

Put  not  your  worthy  rage  into  your  tongue  ;  241 

One  time  will  owe  another. 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  95 

Coriolanus.  On  fair  ground 

I  could  beat  forty  of  them. 

Mencnius.  I  could  myself 

Take  up  a  brace  o'   the  best  of  them ;  yea,  the  two 
tribunes. 

Cominius.    But  now  't  is  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. 

Mfnenius.  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. 

1  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, 
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  259 

He  heard  the  name  of  death.  —  [A  noise  within. 

Here  's  goodly  work  1 

2  Patrician.  I  would  they  were  a-bed  1 
Menenius.   I  would  they  were  in  Tiber  1  —  What  the 

vengeance  1 
Could  he  not  speak  'em  fair  ? 


96  Coriolanus  [Act  III 

Re-enter  BRUTUS  and  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. 

Citizens.   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  1  what  consul  ? 

Menenius.   The  consul  Coriolanus. 

Brutus.  He  consul  1     280 

Citizens.    No,  no,  no,  no,  no  1 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  97 

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. 

Sicinius.  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. 

Menenius.  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  1 

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. 

CORIOLANUS  — 7 


98  Coriolanus  [Act  III 

Menenius.  The  service  of  the  foot, 

Being  once  gangren'd,  is  not  then  respected 
For  what  before  it  was. 

Brutus.  We  '11  hear  no  more.  — 

Pursue  him  to  his  house,  and  pluck  him  thence, 
Lest  his  infection,  being  of  catching  nature,  310 

Spread  further. 

Menenius.          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  aediles  smote  ?  ourselves  resisted  ?  —  Come. 

Menenius.    Consider  this:    he  has  been  bred  i'  the 
wars  320 

Since  he  could  draw  a  sword,  and  is  ill  school'd 
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 
Unknown  to  the  beginning. 


Scene  II]  Coriolanus  99 

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. 

SCENE  II.     A  Room  in  Coriolanus's  House 
Enter  CORIOLANUS  with  Patricians 

Coriolanus.   Let  them  pull  all  about  mine  ears,  pre 
sent  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 


ioo  Coriolanus  [Act  m 

To  buy  and  sell  with  groats,  to  show  bare  heads          10 
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. 

Enter  MENENIUS  with  the  Senators 

Menenius.    Come,  come,  you  have   been  too  rough, 

something  too  rough ; 
You  must  return  and  mend  it. 

i  Senator.  There  's  no  remedy  ; 


Scene  II]  Coriolanus  101 

Unless,  by  not  so  doing,  our  good  city 
Cleave  in  the  midst  and  perish. 

Volumnia.  Pray,  be  counselPd. 

I  have  a  heart  as  little  apt  as  yours, 
But  yet  a  brain  that  leads  my  use  of  anger  30 

To  better  vantage. 

Menenius.  Well  said,  noble  woman  1 

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  ? 

Volumnia.  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  1 

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 


IO2  Coriolanus  [Act  III 

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,         70 
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  — 


Scene  II]  Coriolanus  103 

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  80 

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. 

Menenius.  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. 

Volumnia.  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. 

Enter  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. 


IO4  Coriolanus  [Act  m 

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 

My  praises  made  thee  first  a  soldier,  so, 
To  have  my  praise  for  this,  perform  a  part 
Thou  hast  not  done  before. 

Coriolanus.  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 


Scene  II]  Coriolanus  105 

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. 

Coriolanus.  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    be- 

lov'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  way  of  flattery  further. 

Volumnia.  Do  your  will.  [Exit. 

Cominius.   Away  1  the  tribunes  do  attend  you :  arm 

yourself 

To  answer  mildly ;  for  they  are  prepar'd 
With  accusations,  as  I  hear,  more  strong  140 

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. 


io6  Coriolanus  [Act  m 

Menenius.  Ay,  but  mildly. 

Coriolanus.   Well,  mildly  be  it  then,  —  mildly ! 

[Exeunt. 

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  ^dile 

What,  will  he  come  ? 

&dile.  He  's  coming. 

Brutus.  How  accompanied  ? 

jEdile.   With  old  Menenius  and  those  senators 
That  always  favour'd  him. 

Sicinius.  Have  you  a  catalogue 

Of  all  the  voices  that  we  have  procur'd 
Set  down  by  the  poll  ? 

&dile.  I  have  ;  't  is  ready.  10 

Sicinius.    Have  you  collected  them  by  tribes  ? 

ALdile.  I  have. 

Sicinius.   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, 


Scene  III]  Coriolanus  107 

If  I  say  fine,  cry  'Fine,'  if  death,  cry  '  Death ;  * 
Insisting  on  the  old  prerogative 
And  power  i'  the  truth  o'  the  cause. 

^Edile.  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. 

JEdile.  Very  well. 

Sidnius.   Make  them  be  strong  and  ready  for  this 

hint 
When  we  shall  hap  to  give  't  them. 

Brutus.  Go  about  it.  —  [Exit  JEdile. 

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. 

Sidnius.  Well,  here  he  comes.       30 

Enter  CORIOLANUS,  MENENIUS,  and  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 


io8  Coriolanus  [Act  in 

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  ^Edile  with  Citizens 

Sicinius.    Draw  near,  ye  people. 

sEdile.   List  to  your  tribunes.     Audience !  peace,  I 
say !  4o 

Coriolanus.   First,  hear  me  speak. 

Both  Tribunes.  Well,  say.  —  Peace,  ho ! 

Coriolanus.    Shall  I  be  charg'd  no  further  than  this 

present  ? 
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 


Scene  III]  Coriolanus  109 

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  ? 

Sidnius.  Answer  to  us. 

Coriolanus.    Say,  then  ;  't  is  true,  I  ought  so. 

Sidnius.   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  1 

Menenius.  Nay,  temperately ;  your  promise. 

Coriolanus.   The  fires  i'  the  lowest  hell  fold  in  the 

people ! 

Call  me  their  traitor  1  —  Thou  injurious  tribune  1 
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. 

Sidnius.  Mark  you  this,  people  ? 

Citizens.   To  the  rock,  to  the  rock  with  him  1 


no  Coriolanus  [Act  m 

Sicinius.  Peace  1 

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. 

Brutus.  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  ? 

Menenius.   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 
Given  hostile  strokes,  and  that  not  in  the  presence 
Of  dreaded  justice,  but  on  the  ministers 


Scene  ill]  Coriolanus  ill 

That  do  distribute  it ;  in  the  name  o'  the  people 

And  in  the  power  of  us  the  tribunes,  we,  100 

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,  — 

Sidnius.   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  — 

Sidnius.          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. 

Coriolanus.   You  common  cry  of  curs  1  whose  breath 
I  hate  120 

As  reek  o'  the  rotten  fens,  whose  loves  I  prize 


H2  Coriolanus  [Act  III 

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  1 

Your  enemies,  with  nodding  of  their  plumes, 

Fan  you  into  despair !     Have  the  power  still 

To  banish  your  defenders  ;  till  at  length 

Your  ignorance,  which  finds  not  till  it  feels, 

Making  but  reservation  of  yourselves,  130 

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  Coriolanus,  Cominius,  Menenius, 
Senators,  and  Patricians. 

^Edile.   The  people's  enemy  is  gone,  is  gone ! 

Citizens.   Our  enemy  is  banish 'd  !  he  is  gone  !    Hoo  1 
Hoo  !       [They  all  shout,  and  throw  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. 

Citizens.    Come,  come,  let 's  see  him  out  at  gates ; 

come.  — 
The  gods  preserve  our  noble  tribunes  !  —  Come. 

[Exeunt. 


ROMAN  HIGHWAY 


ACT   IV 

SCENE  I.    Rome.    Before  a  Gate  of  the  City 

Enter  CORIOLANUS,  VOLUMNIA,  VIRGILIA,  MENENIUS, 
COMINIUS,  with  the  young  Nobility  of  Rome 

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 
CORIOLANUS  —  8          113 


H4  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

A  noble  cunning.     You  were  us'd  to  load  me 

With  precepts  that  would  make  invincible  10 

The  heart  that  conn'd  them. 

Virgilia.   O  heavens  !  O  heavens  ! 

Coriolanus.  Nay,  I  prithee,  woman,  — 

Volumnia.   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  won't  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  —  your  son 
Will  or  exceed  the  common  or  be  caught 
With  cautelous  baits  and  practice. 

Volumnia.  My  first  son, 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  115 

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. 

Coriolanus.  O  the  gods  1 

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  40 

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. 

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.  50 

While  I  remain  above  the  ground  you  shall 
Hear  from  me  still,  and  never  of  me  aught 
But  what  is  like  me  formerly. 

Menenius.  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  Haiti.  — 

Come.  [Exeunt. 


n6  Coriolanus  [Act  iv 

SCENE  II.     The  Same.     A  Street  near  the  Gate 
Enter  SICINIUS,  BRUTUS,  and  an  ^Edile 

Sidnius.   Bid  them  all  home ;  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. 

Sidnius.  Bid  them  home  ; 

Say  their  great  enemy  is  gone,  and  they 
Stand  in  their  ancient  strength. 

Brutus.  Dismiss  them  home.  — 

[Exit  ^Edile. 
Here  comes  his  mother. 

Enter  VOLUMNIA,  VIRGILIA,  and  MENENIUS 

Sidnius.  Let 's  not  meet  her. 

Brutus.  Why  ? 

Sidnius.   They  say  she  's  mad. 

Brutus.   They  have  ta'en  note  of  us ;  keep  on  your 

way.  10 

Volumnia.   O,  ye  're  well  met ;  the  hoarded  plague  ov 

the  gods 

Requite  your^love  ! 

Menenius.  ~"  Peace,  peace  ;  be  not  so  loud. 

Volumnia:  K  that  I  could  for  weeping,  you  should 

hear,  — 


Scene  II]  Coriolanus  117 

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  ? 

Volumnia.   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.     Moe  noble  blows  than  ever  thou  wise 

words ; 
And   for    Rome's   good.      I'll  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. 

Sicinius.  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  Rome  I 

Menenius.    Come,  come,  peace. 

Sicinius.   I  would  he  had  continued  to  his  country 
As  he  began,  and  not  unknit  himself  31 

The  noble  knot  he  made. 

Brutus.  I  would  he  had. 


1 1 8  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

Volumnia.   I  would  he  had  !     '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. 

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  1  {Exeunt. 


Scene  Hi]  Coriolanus  119 

SCENE  III.     A  Highway  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.  12 

Roman.  There  hath  been  in  Rome  strange  insur 
rections  ;  the  people  against  the  senators,  patricians, 
and  nobles. 

Volsce.  Hath  been  1  is  it  ended,  then  ?  Our  state 
thinks  not  so ;  they  are  in  a  most  warlike  prepara 
tion,  and  hope  to  come  upon  them  in  the  heat  of 
their  division.  19 

Roman.  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  glowing,  I  can 


\ 

1 20  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

tell  you,  and  is  almost  mature  for  the  violent  break 
ing  out. 

Volsce.   Coriolanus  banished  1 

Roman.   Banished,  sir. 

Volsce.  You  will  be  welcome  with  this  intelligence, 
Nicanor.  31 

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  hus 
band.  Your  noble  Tullus  Aufidius  will  appear  well 
in  these  wars,  his  great  opposer,  Coriolanus,  being 
now  in  no  request  of  his  country. 

Volsce.  He  cannot  choose.  I  am  most  fortunate, 
thus  accidentally  to  encounter  you ;  you  have  ended 
my  business,  and  I  will  merrily  accompany  you  home.  40 

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  enter 
tainment,  and  to  be  on  foot  at  an  hour's  warning. 

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.  5* 

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  ivj  Coriolanus  121 


SCENE  IV.     An/turn.     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. 

Citizen.   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. 

Coriolanus.  Thank  you,  sir ;  farewell.  — 

[Exit  Citizen. 

O  world,  thy  slippery  turns  !     Friends  now  fast  sworn, 
Whose  double  bosoms  seem  to  wear  one  heart,  13 

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 


122  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

•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 
I  '11  do  his  country  service.  [Exit. 

SCENE  V.     The  Same.     A  Hall  in  Aufidius's  House 
Music  within.     Enter  a  Servingman 

1  Servingman.   Wine,  wine,  wine !  —  What  service 

is  here  1     I  think  our  fellows  are  asleep.  [Exit. 

Enter  a  second  Servingman 

2  Servingman.   Where  's  Cotus  ?  my  master  calls 
for  him.  —  Cotus  1  [Exit. 

Enter  CORIOLANUS 

Coriolanus.   A  goodly  house.     The  feast  smells  well ; 

but  I 
Appear  not  like  a  guest. 

Re-enter  the  first  Servingman 

i  Servingman.  What  would  you  have,  friend  ? 
whence  are  you  ?  Here  's  no  place  for  you ;  pray, 
go  to  the  door.  [Exit. 


Scene  V]  Coriolanus  123 

Coriolanus.   I    have    deserv'd    no   better  entertain 
ment,  10 
In  being  Coriolanus. 

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  1 

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  Servingman.   What  fellow  's  this  ?  20 
i  Servingman.   A  strange  one  as  ever  I  looked  on. 

I  cannot  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. 

Coriolanus.  Let  me  but  stand  ;  I  will  not  hurt 
your  hearth. 

3  Servingman.   What  are  you  ? 

Coriolanus.   A  gentleman. 

3  Servingman.    A  marvellous  poor  one.  30 

Coriolanus.   True,  so  I  am. 

3  Servingman.  Pray  you,  poor  gentleman,  take  up 
some  other  station  ;  here  's  no  place  for  you.  Pray 
you,  avoid  ;  come. 


124  Coriolanusr  [Act  IV 

Coriolanus.  Follow  your  function,  go,  and  batten 
on  cold  bits.  \_Pushes  him  away  from  him. 

3  Servingman.  What,  you  will  not  ?  —  Prithee,  tell 
my  master  what  a  strange  guest  he  has  here. 

2  Servingman.    And  I  shall.  \Exit. 

3  Servingman.   Where  dwellest  thou  ?  40 
Coriolanus.   Under  the  canopy. 

3  Servingman.    Under  the  canopy  1 

Coriolanus.    Ay. 

3  Servingman.   Where  's  that  ? 

Coriolanus.    I'  the  city  of  kites  and  crows. 

3  Servingman.  I' the  city  of  kites  and  crows!  — 
What  an  ass  it  is  1  —  Then  thou  dwellest  with  daws 
too? 

Coriolanus.   No,  I  serve  not  thy  master. 

3  Servingman.    How,  sir  1  do  you  meddle  with  my  50 
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!  \Beats  him  away.  Exit  third  Servingman. 

Enter  AUFIDIUS  with  the  second  Servingman 

Aufidius.   Where  is  this  fellow  ? 

2  Setvingman.  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  ? 


Scene  V]  Coriolanus  125 

Coriolanus.   \Unmuffling\    If,  Tullus,  60 

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, 
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  ?  70 

Coriolanus.   My  name  is  Caius  Marcius,  who  hath 

done 

To  thee  particularly,  and  to  all  the  Volsces, 
Great  hurt  and  mischief ;  thereto  witness  may 
My  surname,  Coriolanus.     The  painful  service, 
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   re 
mains  ; 

The  cruelty  and  envy  of  the  people,  80 

Permitted  by  our  dastard  nobles,  who 
Have  all  forsook  me,  hath  devour 'd  the  rest, 


126  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

And  suffer'd  me  by  the  voice  of  slaves  to  be 

Whoop'd  out  of  Rome.     Now,  this  extremity 

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  90 

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 

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  ioc 

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, 

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  ! 

Each  word  thou  hast   spoke  hath   weeded  from   my 

heart 
A  root  of  ancient  envy.     If  Jupiter 


Scene  V]  Coriolanus  1 27 

Should  from  yond  cloud  speak  divine  things,  no 

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, 

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  120 

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  1  I  tell  thee 

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,  130 

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 

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, 


128  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

Who  now  are  here,  taking  their  leaves  of  me, 

Who  am  prepar'd  against  your  territories,  140 

Though  not  for  Rome  itself. 

Coriolanus.  You  bless  me,  gods  ! 

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  — 
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  150 

Say  yea  to  thy  desires.     A  thousand  welcomes  1 
And  more  a  friend  than  e'er  an  enemy ; 
Yet,  Marcius,  that  was  much.     Your  hand ;  most  wel 
come  1 

[Exeunt  Coriolanus  and  Aufidius.     The  two 
Servingmen  come  forward. 

1  Servingman.   Here  's  a  strange  alteration  ! 

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.  160 

2  Servingman.    Nay,  I  knew  by  his  face  that  there 


Scene  V]  Coriolanus  129 

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. 

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  sol 
dier  than  he,  you  wot  one.  170 

2  Servingman.   Who,  my  master? 

1  Servingman.    Nay,  it 's  no  matter  for  that. 

2  Servingman.   Worth  six  on  him. 

1  Servingman.   Nay,  not  so  neither;   but  I  take 
him  to  be  the  greater  soldier. 

2  Sennngman.   Faith,  look   you,  one   cannot  tell 
how  to  say  that ;  for  the  defence  of  a  town  our  gen 
eral  is  excellent. 

i  Servingman.   Ay,  and  for  an  assault  too. 

Re-enter  third  Servingman 

3  Servingman.   O  slaves,  I  can  tell  you  news,  — 180 
news,  you  rascals ! 

i  and  2  Servingman.  What,  what,  what  ?  let 's  par 
take. 

3  Sennngman.    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,  Caius  Marcius. 
CORIOLANUS  — 9 


I  JO  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

1  Servingman.   Why  do  you  say,  thwack  our  gen 
eral  ?  190 

3  Servingman.    I  do  not  say,  thwack  our  general; 
but  he  was  always  good  enough  for  him. 

2  Servingman.    Come,  we  are  fellows  and  friends  ; 
he  was  ever  too  hard  for  him ;  I  have  heard  him  say 
so  himself. 

1  Servingman.    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  might  have  broiled  and  eaten  him  too.  200 

1  Servingman.    But,  more  of  thy  news  ? 

3  Servingman.   Why,  he  is  so  made  on  here  with 
in  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  gen 
eral  himself  makes  a  mistress  of  him,  sanctifies  him 
self  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  was  yesterday ;   for  the  other  has  half,  by  the  en 
treaty  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  pas 
sage  polled.  214 

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  youvsir, 


Scene  vj  Coriolanus  131 

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?  221 

3  Servingman.  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  ? 

3  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  exe 
cuted  ere  they  wipe  their  lips.  230 

2  Servingman.   Why,  then  we  shall  have  a  stirring 
world  again.     This  peace  is  nothing  but  to  rust  iron, 
increase  tailors,  and  breed  ballad-makers. 

1  Servingman.   Let  me  have  war,  say  I.    It  exceeds 
peace  as  far  as  day  does  night ;  it 's  sprightly,  wak 
ing,  audible,  and  full  of  vent.     Peace  is  a  very  apo 
plexy,  lethargy ;  mulled,  deaf,  sleepy,  insensible ;  a 
getter  of  more  bastard  children   than  war  's  a  de 
stroyer  of  men.  239 

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. 

i  Servingman.  Ay,  and  it  makes  men  hate  one  an 
other. 

3  Servingman.    Reason ;   because  they  then   less 
need  one  another.   The  wars  for  my  money.    I  hope 


Coriolanus  [Act  iv 

to  see  Romans  as  cheap   as   Volscians.     They  are 
rising,  they  are  rising. 

i  and  2  Servingman.    In,  in,  in,  in  1  \Exeunt. 

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.  9 

Brutus.   We  stood  to  't  in  good  time. 

Enter  MENENIUS 

Is  this  Menenius  ? 

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  ? 


Scene  VI]  Coriolanus  133 

Menenius.   Nay,  I  hear  nothing ;  his  mother  and  his 

wife 
Hear  nothing  from  him.  ao 

Enter  three  or  four  Citizens 

Citizens.   The  gods  preserve  you  both  I 

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. 

Sicinius.  Live  and  thrive  1 

Brutus.   Farewell,  kind  neighbours ;  we  wish'd  Cori 
olanus 
Had  lov'd  you  as  we  did. 

Citizens.  Now  the  gods  keep  you  I 

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. 


134  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

Brutus.   The  gods  have  well  prevented  it,  and  Rome 
Sits  safe  and  still  without  him. 

Enter  an  ^Edile 

jEdile.  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. 

Menenius.  '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. 

Menenius.  Cannot  be  1  50 

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. 

Sicinius.  Tell  not  me ; 

I  know  this  cannot  be. 


Scene  VI]  Coriolanus  135 

Brutus.  Not  possible. 

Enter  a  Messenger 

Messenger.   The  nobles  in  great  earnestness  are  going 
All  to  the  senate-house  ;  some  news  is  come  60 

That  turns  their  countenances. 

Sidnius.  '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. 

Sidnius.  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  69 

The  young'st  and  oldest  thing. 

Sidnius.  This  is  most  likely  1 

Brutus.    Rais'd  only  that  the  weaker  sort  may  wish 
Good  Marcius  home  again. 

Sidnius.  The  very  trick  on  't. 

Menenius.   This  is  unlikely ; 
He  and  Aufidius  can  no  more  atone 
Than  violentest  contrariety. 

Enter  a  second  Messenger 

2  Messenger.   You  are  sent  for  to  the  senate ; 
A  fearful  army,  led  by  Caius  Marcius 


136  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

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  daugh 
ters  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  ?  —  90 

If  Marcius  should  be  join'd  with  Volscians,  — 

Cominius.  If  1 

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 


Scene  vij  Coriolanus  137 

Upon  the  voice  of  occupation  and 

The  breath  of  garlic-eaters  !  100 

Cominius.    He  '11  shake  your  Rome  about  your  ears. 

Menenius.   As  Hercules  did  shake  down  mellow  fruit. 
You  have  made  fair  work  1 

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  ? 

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,  120 

You  and  your  crafts  1  you  have  crafted  fair  I 

Cominius,  You  have  brought 


ij 8  Coriolanus  [Act  iv 

A  trembling  upon  Rome  such  as  was  never 
So  incapable  of  help. 

Both  Tribunes.  Say  not  we  brought  it. 

Menenius.    How !     Was  it  we  ?    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 
Is  all  the  policy,  strength,  and  defence,  130 

That  Rome  can  make  against  them. 

Enter  a  troop  of  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  coming, 
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. 

i  Citizen.  For  mine  own  part, 

When  I  said  banish  him,  I  said  't  was  pity. 


Scene  VI]  Coriolanus  139 

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  ban 
ishment,  yet  it  was  against  our  will. 

Cominius.   Ye  're  goodly  things,  you  voices  1 

Menenius.  You  have  made  good  work, 

You  and  your  cry  1  —  Shall 's  to  the  Capitol  ?  150 

Cominius.     O,  ay,  what  else  ? 

[Exeunt  Cominius  and  Menenius. 

Sicinius.     Go,  masters,  get  you   home;  be  not  dis- 

may'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. 

1  Citizen.   The  gods  be  good  to  us  !      Come,  mas 
ters,  let 's  home.     I  ever  said  we  were  i'  the  wrong 
when  we  banished  him. 

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  I 
Sicinius.  Pray,  let  us  go.         \Exeunt. 


140  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

SCENE  VII.     A  Camp,  at  a  small  distance  from  Rome 
Enter  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, 


Scene  vii]  Coriolanus  141 

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  banished ;  but  he  has  a  merit 
To  choke  it  in  the  utterance.     So  our  virtues 
Lie  in  the  interpretation  of  the  time :  50 


142  Coriolanus  [Act  IV 

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. 

\Exeunt. 


PUBLIC  PLACE  IN  ROME 


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 
The  way  into  his  mercy.     Nay,  if  he  coy'd 
To  hear  Cominius  speak,  I  '11  keep  at  home. 


144  Coriolanus  [Act  V 

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.  Why,  so  ;  you  have  made  good  work  1 

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 ; 

Could  he  say  less  ? 

Cominius.    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  J 

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. 


Scene  I]  Coriolanus  145 

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, 
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  ? 

Sicinius.  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  stuff'd 
These  pipes  and  these  conveyances  of  our  blood 
With  wine  and  feeding,  we  have  suppler  souls 

CORIOLANUS  —  IO 


146  Coriolanus  [Act  V 

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.  \Exit. 

Cominius.          He  '11  never  hear  him. 

Sicinius.  Not  ? 

Cominius.    I  tell  you  he  does  sit  in  gold,  his  eye 
Red  as  't  would  burn  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  1  whence  are  you  ? 

2  Sentinel.  Stand,  and  go  back. 


Scene  II]  Coriolanus  147 

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  Sentinel.   You  may  not  pass,  you  must  return  ;  our 

general 
Will  no  more  hear  from  thence. 

2  Sentinel.   You  '11  see  your  Rome  embrac'd  with  fire 

before 
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. 

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. 


148  Coriolanus  [Act  V 

i  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.  3I 

.  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  ? 

Menenius.    I  am,  as  thy  general  is.  39 

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  enemy  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  de 
ceived  ;  therefore,  back  to  Rome,  and  prepare  for 
your  execution.  You  are  condemned,  our  general 
has  sworn  you  out  of  reprieve  and  pardon.  52 


Scene  II]  Coriolanus  149 

Menenius.    Sirrah,  if  thy  captain  knew  I  were  here, 
he  would  use  me  with  estimation. 

i  Sentinel.    Come,  my  captain  knows  you  not. 

Meneniits.    I  mean,  thy  general. 

i  Sentinel.  My  general  cares  not  for  you.  Back, 
I  say,  go,  lest  I  let  forth  your  half-pint  of  blood; 
back,  —  that 's  the  utmost  of  your  having,  —  back. 

Meneniits.    Nay,  but,  fellow,  fellow,  —  60 

Enter  CORIOLANUS  and  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  estima 
tion  ;  you  shall  perceive  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  Coriolanus'}  The  glorious  gods  sit  in  hourly  70 
synod  about  thy  particular  prosperity,  and  love  thee 
no  worse  than  thy  old  father  Menenius  does  1  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 


1 50  Coriolanus  [Act  V 

here,  —  this,  who,  like  a  block,  hath  denied  my  access 
to  thee.  81 

Coriolanus.    Away ! 

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 
Than  pity  note  how  much.     Therefore,  be  gone. 
Mine  ears  against  your  suits  are  stronger  than  90 

Your  gates  against  my  force.     Yet,  for  I  lov'd  thee, 
Take  this  along ;  I  writ  it  for  thy  sake     [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. 

\_Exeunt  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. 

1  Sentinel.    Do   you   hear  how  we  are  shent  for  100 
keeping  your  greatness  back  ? 

2  Sentinel.   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 


Scene  in]  Coriolanus  151 

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  1  I 
say  to  you,  as  I  was  said  to,  Away  1  [Exit. 

1  Sentinel.   A  noble  fellow,  I  warrant  him.  m 

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 
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  more  offer'd 


152  Coriolanus  [Act  V 

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  1  what  shout  is  this  ? 

\Shout  within. 

Shall  I  be  tempted  to  infringe  my  vow  20 

In  the  same  time  't  is  made  ?     I  will  not.  — 

Enter  in  mourning  habits,  VIRGILIA,  VOLUMNIA,  leading 
young  MARCIUS,  VALERIA,  and  Attendants 

My  wife  comes  foremost ;  then  the  honoured  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  '11  never 
Be  such  a  gosling  to  obey  instinct,  but  stand 
As  if  a  man  were  author  of  himself 
And  knew  no  other  kin. 


Scene  ill]  Coriolanus  1 53 

Virgilia.  My  lord  and  husband  1 

Coriolanus.  These  eyes  are  not  the  same  I  wore  in 
Rome. 

Virgilia.   The  sorrow  that  delivers  us  thus  chang'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 ;  50 

[Kneels. 

Of  thy  deep  duty  more  impression  show 
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 


1 54  Coriolanus  [Act  v 

Murthering  impossibility,  to  make 
What  cannot  be,  slight  work. 

Volumnia.  Thou  art  my  warrior ; 

I  holp  to  frame  thee.     Do  you  know  this  lady  ? 

Coriolanus.   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 ! 

Volumnia.   This  is  a  poor  epitome  of  yours, 
Which  by  the  interpretation  of  full  time 
May  show  like  all  yourself. 

Coriolanus.  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  1 

Volumnia.  Your  knee,  sirrah. 

Coriolanus.    That 's  my  brave  boy  ! 

Volumnia.    Even  he,  your  wife,  this  lady,  and  my 
self, 
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 


Scene  ill]  Coriolanus  155 

To  allay  my  rages  and  revenges  with 
Your  colder  reasons. 

Volumnia.  O,  no  more,  no  more  I 

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'll 
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 
Make  our  eyes  flow  with  joy,  hearts  dance  with  comforts, 
Constrains  them  weep  and  shake  with  fear  and  sorrow, 
Making  the  mother,  wife,  and  child  to  see  101 

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 


156  Coriolanus  [Act  V 

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  Martins.  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. 

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 


Scene  III]  Coriolanus  157 

May  say  '  This  mercy  we  have  show'd  ; '  the  Romans, 
'  This  we  receiv'd  ; '  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  chronicle  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,  son  ; 
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, 


158  Coriolanus  [Act  V 

And  spurn  me  back ;  but  if  it  be  not  so, 

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  ;       x8o 

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  1 

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, 


Scene  IV]  Coriolanus  159 

Were  you  in  my  stead,  would  you  have  heard 
A  mother  less  ?  or  granted  less,  Aufidius  ? 

Aufidius.    I  was  mov'd  withal. 

Coriolanus.  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, 
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. 

[The  Ladies  make  signs  to  Coriolanus. 

Coriolanus.    \_To  Volumnia,  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. 
Come,  enter  with  us.     Ladies,  you  deserve 
To  have  a  temple  built  you ;  all  the  swords 
In  Italy,  and  her  confederate  arms, 
Could  not  have  made  this  peace.  [Exeunt. 

SCENE  IV.     Rome.     A  Public  Place 
Enter  MENENIUS  and  SICINIUS 

Menenius.   See   you  yond   coign  o'  the   Capitol, 
yond  corner  stone? 


i  60  Coriolanus  [Act  V 

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,  especially  his  mother,  may  prevail  with 
him.  But  I  say  there  is  no  hope  in  't ;  our  throats 
are  sentenced  and  stay  upon  execution. 

Sicinius.  Is  't  possible  that  so  short  a  time  can 
alter  the  condition  of  a  man  ?  ic 

Menenius.  There  is  differency  between  a  grub 
and  a  butterfly ;  yet  your  butterfly  was  a  grub. 
This  Marcius  is  grown  from  man  to  dragon ;  he 
has  wings,  he  's  more  than  a  creeping  thing. 

Sicinius.    He  loved  his  mother  dearly. 

Menenius.  So  did  he  me  ;  and  he  no  more  remem 
bers  his  mother  now  than  an  eight-year-old  horse. 
The  tartness  of  his  face  sours  ripe  grapes ;  when 
he  walks  he  moves  like  an  engine,  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 
Alexander.  What  he  bids  be  done  is  finished  with 
his  bidding.  He  wants  nothing  of  a  god  but  eter 
nity  and  a  heaven  to  throne  in.  25 

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. 


Scene  IV]  Coriolanus  161 

Sicinius.   The  gods  be  good  unto  us  I  32 

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,  40 

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  prevail'd, 

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  ? 
Ne'er  through  an  arch  so  hurried  the  blown  tide, 
As  the  recomforted  through  the  gates.     Why,  hark  you  1 
\Trumpets;  hautboys;  drums  beat;  all  together. 
The  trumpets,  sackbuts,  psalteries,  and  fifes,  51 

CORIOLANUS — II 


1 62  Coriolanus  [Act  v 

Tabors  and  cymbals  and  the  shouting  Romans, 

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,  60 

Accept  my  thankfulness. 

2  Messenger.  Sir,  we  have  all 

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  with  VOLUMNIA,  VIRGILIA,  VALERIA, 
etc.,  passing  over  the  stage,  followed  by  Patricians 
and  others 

i  Senator.   Behold  our  patroness,  the  life  of  Rome  1 
Call  all  your  tribes  together,  praise  the  gods, 
And  make  triumphant  fires  ;  strew  flowers  before  them ; 
Unshout  the  noise  that  banish'd  Marcius, 


Scene  vi]  Coriolanus  163 

Repeal  him  with  the  welcome  of  his  mother ; 
Cry  *  Welcome,  ladies,  welcome  1 ' 

All.  Welcome,  ladies, 

Welcome  1  \A  flourish  with  drums  and 

trumpets.      Exeunt. 

SCENE  VI.     Antium.     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  AuFiDius's/0*7fo« 

Most  welcome  1 

1  Conspirator.   How  is  it  with  our  general  ? 
Aufidius.  Even  so 

As  with  a  man  by  his  own  alms  empoison'd  n 

And  with  his  charity  slain. 

2  Conspirator.  Most  noble  sir, 
If  you  do  hold  the  same  intent  wherein 
You  wish'd  us  parties,  we  Ml  deliver  you 

Of  your  great  danger. 


164  Coriolanus  [Act  V 

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  heightened, 
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. 

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 


Scene  VI]  Coriolanus  165 

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,  — 

Aufidius.  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  I 

\Drums  and  trumpets  sound,  with  great 
shouts  of  the  People. 

1  Conspirator.    Your  native  town  you  enter'd  like  a 

post,  50 

And  had  no  welcomes  home ;  but  he  returns 
Splitting  the  air  with  noise. 

2  Conspirator.  And  patient  fools, 
Whose  children  he  hath  slain,  their  base  throats  tear 
WTith  giving  him  glory. 

3  Conspirator.  Therefore,  at  your  vantage, 
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. 

Aufidius.  Say  no  more  ; 

Here  come  the  lords.  60 


1 66  Coriolanus  [Act  V 


Enter  the  Lords  of  the  city 

All  the  Lords.   You  are  most  welcome  home. 

Aufidius.  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  CORIOLANUS,  marching  with  drum  and  colours ; 
the  Commoners  being  with  him 

Coriolanus.   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 


Scene  VI]  Coriolanus  167 

With  no  less  honour  to  the  Antiates  80 

Than  shame  to  the  Romans ;  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. 
Coriolanus.   Traitor  1  how  now  1 
Aufidius.  Ay,  traitor,  Marcius  1 

Coriolanus.  Marcius  1 

Aufidius.   Ay,  Marcius,  Caius   Marcius ;    dost  thou 

think 

I  '11  grace  thee  with  that  robbery,  thy  stolen  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  99 

Look'd  wondering  each  at  other. 

Coriolanus.  Hear'st  thou,  Mars  ? 

Aufidius.   Name  not  the  god,  thou  boy  of  tears  1 
Coriolanus.  Ha  J 

Aufidius.   No  more. 


1 68  Coriolanus  [Act  v 

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  Lord.    Peace,  both,  and  hear  me  speak. 
Coriolanus.    Cut   me   to  pieces,  Volsces ;    men  and 

lads, 

Stain  all  your  edges  on  me.  —  Boy !  false  hound ! 
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  ! 

Aufidius.  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  pres 
ently.'  '  He  killed  my  son.'  '  My  daughter.'  '  He 
killed  my  cousin  Marcus.'  '  He  killed  my  father.' 

2  Lord.    Peace,  ho !  no  outrage  !  peace  I 
The  man  is  noble  and  his  fame  folds  in 

This  orb  o'  the  earth.     His  last  offences  to  us 


Scene  VI]  Coriolanus  169 

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  1 

Aufidius.  Insolent  villain  1  130 

All  Conspirators.    Kill,  kill,  kill,  kill,  kill  him  I 

\Thc  Conspirators  draw,  and  kill  Coriolanus  ; 
Aufidius  stands  on  his  body. 

Lords.  Hold,  hold,  hold,  hold  ! 

Aufidius.   My  noble  masters,  hear  me  speak. 

1  Lord.  OTullus,— 

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 
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  '11  deliver  140 

Myself  your  loyal  servant  or  endure 
Your  heaviest  censure. 

i  Lord.  Bear  from  hence  his  body, 

And  mourn  you  for  him  ;  let  him  be  regarded 
As  the  most  noble  corse  that  ever  herald 
DicJ  follow  to  his  urn, 


170  Coriolanus  [Act  v 

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. 

\_Exeunt,  bearing  the  body  of  Coriolanus.     A 
dead  march  sounded. 


NOTES 


ROMAN  VICTORY 


NOTES 

INTRODUCTION 

THE  METRE  OF  THE  PLAY.  —  It  should  be  understood  at  the 
outset  that  metre>  or  the  mechanism  of  verse,  is  something  alto 
gether  distinct  from  the  music  of  verse.  The  one  is  matter  of  rule, 
the  other  of  taste  and  feeling.  Music  is  not  an  absolute  necessity 
of  verse  ;  the  metrical  form  is  a  necessity,  being  that  which  consti 
tutes  the  verse. 

The  plays  of  Shakespeare  (with  the  exception  of  rhymed  pas 
sages,  and  of  occasional  songs  and  interludes)  are  all  in  unrhymed 
or  blank  verse ;  and  the  normal  form  of  this  blank  verse  is  illus 
trated  by  i.  i.  70  of  the  present  play:  "Against  the  Roman  state, 
whose  course  will  on." 

'73 


Notes 


This  line,  it  will  be  seen,  consists  of  ten  syllables,  with  the  even 
syllables  (2d,  4th,  6th,  8th,  and  roth)  accented,  the  odd  syllables 
(ist,  3d,  etc.)  being  unaccented.  Theoretically,  it  is  made  up  of 
five  feet  of  two  syllables  each,  with  the  accent  on  the  second  sylla 
ble.  Such  a  foot  is  called  an  iambus  (plural,  iambuses,  or  the  Latin 
iambi),  and  the  form  of  verse  is  called  iambic. 

This  fundamental  law  of  Shakespeare's  verse  is  subject  to  certain 
modifications,  the  most  important  of  which  are  as  follows :  — 

1.  After  the  tenth  syllable  an  unaccented  syllable  (or  even  two 
such  syllables)  may  be  added,  forming  what  is  sometimes  called  a 
female  line;    as  in  i.  I.  56:  "What  work's,  my  countrymen,  in 
hand  ?  where  go  you  ?  "     The  rhythm  is  complete  with  the  word 
go,  the  you  being  an  extra  eleventh  syllable,  as  it  is  in  the  next  line 
also.     In  i.  3.  45  ("At  Grecian  sword  contemning. — Tell  Vale 
ria")  we   have   two   extra   syllables,  the    rhythm  being  complete 
with  the  first  syllable  of  Valeria;  and  the  same  is  true  of  many 
lines  ending  with  Aufidius,  Cominius,  Volumnia,  etc. 

2.  The  accent  in  any  part  of  the  verse  may  be  shifted  from  an 
even  to  an  odd  syllable  ;   as  in  i.   I.  67:  "Have  the  patricians  of 
you.     P\>r  your  wants;"  and  69  (a  female  line):  "Strike  at  the 
heavens  with  your  staves  as  lift  them."     In  both  lines  the  accent 
is  shifted  from  the  second  to  the  first  syllable.      In  line  72  the 
change  is  in  the  sixth  syllable.     It  occurs  very  rarely  in  the  tenth 
syllable,  and  seldom  in  the  fourth ;   and  it  is  not  allowable  in  two 
successive  accented  syllables. 

3.  An  extra  unaccented  syllable  may  occur  in  any  part  of  the 
line;  as  in  i.  i.  68,  73,  and  100.     In  68  the  second  syllable  of  suf 
fering  is  superfluous,  in  73  the  word  the,  and  in  100  the  same  word 
twice. 

4.  Any  unaccented  syllable,  occurring  in  an  even  place  immedi 
ately  before  or  after  an  even  syllable  which  is  properly  accented,  is 
reckoned  as  accented  for  the  purposes  of  the  verse  ;  as,  for  in 
stance,  lines  56,  66,  and  76.     In  56,  the  third  syllable  of  country 
men,  in  66  the  third  of  charitable,  and  in  76  the  fourth  of  calamity, 


Notes  175 

are  metrically  equivalent  to  accented  syllables.  In  i.  9.  51  ("In 
acclamations  hyperbolical ")  and  iv.  6.  75  ("  In  violentest  contra 
riety  ")  all  the  metrical  accents  occur  in  two  words ;  and  in  v.  6.  go 
("  Coriolanus  in  Corioli  ")  four  of  them  are  in  two  words. 

5.  In  many  instances  in  Shakespeare  words  must  be  lengthened 
in  order  to  fill  out  the  rhythm :  — 

(a)  In  a  large  class  of  words  in  which  e  or  i  is  followed  by 
another  vowel,  the  e  or  *  is  made  a  separate  syllable  ;  as  ocean, 
opinion,  soldier,  patience,  partial,  marriage,  etc.  For  instance, 
in  this  play,  i.  I.  89  ("Confess  yourselves  wondrous  malicious") 
appears  to  have  only  nine  syllables,  but  malicious  is  a  quadri 
syllable  ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  addition  in  i.  9.  72 :  "  To 
undercrest  your  good  addition."  Soldier  is  a  trisyllable  in  i  1. 117 
and  v.  6.  71.  See  also  rebellion  in  iii.  1. 167,  precipitation  (six 
syllables,  with  three  accents)  in  iii.  3.  102,  and  other  instances 
mentioned  in  the  notes.  This  lengthening  occurs  most  frequently 
at  the  end  of  the  line. 

(£)  Many  monosyllables  ending  in  r,  re,  rs,  res,  preceded  by  a 
long  vowel  or  diphthong,  are  often  made  dissyllables  ;  as/are,  fear, 
dear,  fire,  hair,  hour,  more,  your,  etc.  In  i.  I.  192  :  "They  '11  sit 
by  the  fire,  and  presume  to  know,"  fire  is  a  dissyllable,  the  word 
the  being  unaccented  and  superfluous  (see  on  3  above).  If  the 
word  is  repeated  in  a  verse,  it  is  often  both  monosyllable  and 
dissyllable  ;  as  in  M.  of  V.  iii.  2.  20  :  "  And  so,  though  yours,  not 
yours.  Prove  it  so,"  where  either  yours  (preferably  the  first)  is  a 
dissyllable,  the  other  being  a  monosyllable.  In  J.  C.  iii.  I.  172  : 
"  As  fire  drives  out  fire,  so  pity,  pity,"  the  first  fire  is  a  dissyllable. 

(r)  Words  containing  /  or  r,  preceded  by  another  consonant, 
are  often  pronounced  as  if  a  vowel  came  between  or  after  them; 
as  in  T.  of  S.  ii.  I.  158  :  "While  she  did  call  me  rascal  fiddler" 
[fiddl(e)er]  ;  All  V  Well,  iii.  5.  43:  "  If  you  will  tarry,  holy  pil 
grim"  [pilg(e)rim]  ;  C.  of  E.  v.  I.  360:  "These  are  the  parents 
of  these  children  "  (childeren,  the  original  form  of  the  word)  ; 
W.  T.  iv.  4.  76  :  "Grace  and  remembrance  [rememb(e)rance]  be 


176  Notes 

to  you  both  !  "  etc.     In  i.   I.  156  of  this  play  assembly  is  a  quad 
risyllable;   and  in  i.  9.  17  country  is  a  trisyllable. 

(d)  Monosyllabic  exclamations  {ay,  (9,  jj/^a,  «#y,  hail,  etc.)  and 
monosyllables  otherwise  emphasized  are  similarly  lengthened  ;  also 
certain  longer  words;  as  commandement  in  M.  of  V.  iv.  I.  442; 
safety  (trisyllable)  in  Ham.  i.  3.  21  ;  business  (trisyllable,  as  origi 
nally  pronounced)  in  this  play,  v.  3.  4  (as  in  /.  C.  iv.  i.  23,  etc.), 
and  other  words  mentioned  in  the  notes  to  the  plays  in  which  they 
occur. 

6.  Words  are  also  contracted  for  metrical  reasons,  like  plurals 
and  possessives  ending  in  a  sibilant,  as  balance,  horse  (for  horses 
and  horse's),  princess,  sense,    marriage    (plural   and   possessive), 
image,  etc.    So  with  many  adjectives  in  the  superlative  (like  coldest, 
sternest,  kindest,  secret' st,  etc.),  and  certain  other  words. 

7.  The   accent  of  words  is  also  varied   in   many  -instances  for 
metrical  reasons.     Thus  we  find  both  revenue  and  revenue  in  the 
first  scene  of  M.   N.  D.  (lines  6  and  158),  exile  and  exile  (see 
note  on  i.  6.  35),  extreme  and  extreme  (see  on  iii.  3.  82),  plebeian 
and  plebeian  (see  on  i.  9.  7),  record  (noun)  and  recdrd  (see  on  iv. 
6.  51),  pursue  and  pursue,  etc. 

These  instances  of  variable  accent  must  not  be  confounded  with 
those  in  which  words  were  uniformly  accented  differently  in  the 
time  of  Shakespeare;  like  aspect  (see  on  v.  3.  32),  imp6rtune, 
sepulchre  (verb),  humane  (see  on  iii.  I.  327),  per  sever  (never  per 
severe},  perseverance,  rheumatic,  etc. 

8.  Alexandrines,  or  verses  of  twelve  syllables,  with  six  accents, 
occur  here  and  there  in  the  plays.     They  must  not  be  confounded 
with  female  lines  with  two  extra  syllables   (see  on    I   above)   or 
with   other  lines   in   which   two   extra   unaccented   syllables   may 
occur. 

9.  Incomplete  verses,  of  one   or   more  syllables,  are   scattered 
through  the  plays.      See  i.  i.  64,  88,  93,  etc. 

10.  Doggerel  measure    is   used    in   the   very   earliest    comedies 
(L.  L.  L.  and  C.  of  E.  in  particular)   in   the  mouths  of  comic 


Notes  177 

characters,  but  nowhere  else  in  those  plays,  and  never  anywhere 
in  plays  written  after  1598. 

11.  Rhyme  occurs  frequently  in  the  early  plays,  but  diminishes 
with  comparative  regularity  from  that  period  until  the  latest.    Thus, 
in  L.  L.  L.  there  are  about  1 100  rhyming  verses  (about  one-third 
of  the  whole  number),  in  M.  N.  D.  about  900,  in  Kick.  II.  and 
R.  and  '  J.  about  500  each,  while  in  A.  and  C.  there  are  only  about 
40,  in  Temp,  only  two,  and  in  W.  T.  none  at  all,  except  in  the 
chorus   introducing   act    iv.     Songs,  interludes,  and  other  matter 
not  in  ten-syllable  measure  are  not  included  in  this  enumeration. 
In  the   present  play,  out  of  some  2400  ten -syllable  verses,  only 
28  are  in  rhyme. 

Alternate  rhymes  are  found  only  in  the  plays  written  before 
1599  or  1600.  In  L.  L.  L.  there  are  242  lines,  in  M.  N.  D.  96  lines, 
but  in  M.  of  V.  there  are  only  four  lines  at  the  end  of  iii.  2.  In 
Muck  Ado  and  A.  Y.  L.,  we  also  find  a  few  lines,  but  none  at  all  in 
subsequent  plays. 

Rhymed  couplets,  or  "  rhyme-tags,"  are  often  found  at  the  end  of 
scenes.  In  Ham.  14  out  of  20  scenes,  and  in  Macb.  21  out  of 
28,  have  such  "  tags  ;  "  but  in  the  latest  plays  they  are  not  so 
frequent.  The  present  play  has  but  two,  Temp,  one,  and  IV.  T. 
none. 

12.  In  this  edition  of  Shakespeare,  the  final  -ed  of  past  tenses 
and  participles  in  -verse  is  printed  -d  when  the  word  is  to  be  pro 
nounced  in  the  ordinary  way  ;   as  in  accused,  line  90,  and  rebel? d, 
line  98,  of  the  first  scene.      But  when   the  metre  requires  that 
the  -ed  be   made  a   separate   syllable,   the  e  is  retained  ;    as    in 
renowned,  ii.   I.  179,  180,  where  the  word  is  a  trisyllable.      The 
only  variation    from   this   rule  is  in  verbs  like  cry,  die,  sue,  etc., 
the  -ed  of  which  is  very  rarely,  if  ever,  made  a  separate  syllable. 

SHAKESPEARE'S  USE  OF  VERSE  AND  PROSE  IN  THE  PLAYS. — 
This  is  a  subject  to  which  the  critics  have  given  very  little  atten 
tion,  but  it  is  an  interesting  study.  In  the  present  play  we  find 
scenes  entirely  in  verse  or  in  prose,  and  others  in  which  the 

CORIOLANUS  —  12 


178  Notes 


two  are  mixed.  In  general,  we  may  say  that  verse  is  used  for  what 
is  distinctly  poetical,  and  prose  for  what  is  not  poetical.  The  dis 
tinction,  however,  is  not  so  clearly  marked  in  the  earlier  as  in  the 
later  plays.  The  second  scene  of  M.  of  K,  for  instance,  is  in  prose, 
because  Portia  and  Nerissa  are  talking  about  the  suitors  in  a  familiar 
and  playful  way  ;  but  in  T.  G.  of  V.,  where  Julia  and  Lucetta  are 
discussing  the  suitors  of  the  former  in  much  the  same  fashion,  the 
scene  is  in  verse.  Dowden,  commenting  on  Rich.  //.,  remarks: 
"  Had  Shakespeare  written  the  play  a  few  years  later,  we  may  be 
certain  that  the  gardener  and  his  servants  (iii.  4)  would  not  have 
uttered  stately  speeches  in  verse,  but  would  have  spoken  homely 
prose,  and  that  humour  would  have  mingled  with  the  pathos  of  the 
scene.  The  same  remark  may  be  made  with  reference  to  the  sub 
sequent  scene  (v.  5)  in  which  his  groom  visits  the  dethroned  king 
in  the  Tower."  Comic  characters  and  those  in  low  life  generally 
speak  in  prose  in  the  later  plays,  as  Dowden  intimates,  but  in  the 
very  earliest  ones  doggerel  verse  is  much  used  instead.  See  on  10 
above. 

The  change  from  prose  to  verse  is  well  illustrated  in  the  third 
scene  of  M.  of  V.  It  begins  with  plain  prosaic  talk  about  a  busi 
ness  matter  ;  but  when  Antonio  enters,  it  rises  at  once  to  the  higher 
level  of  poetry.  The  sight  of  Antonio  reminds  Shylock  of  his  hatred 
of  the  Merchant,  and  the  passion  expresses  itself  in  verse,  the  ver 
nacular  tongue  of  poetry.  We  have  a  similar  change  in  the  first 
scene  of/.  6'., where,  after  the  quibbling  "  chaff"  of  the  mechanics 
about  their  trades,  the  mention  of  Pompey  reminds  the  Tribune  of 
their  plebeian  fickleness,  and  his  scorn  and  indignation  flame  out  in 
most  eloquent  verse. 

The  reasons  for  the  choice  of  prose  or  verse  are  not  always  so 
clear  as  in  these  instances.  We  are  seldom  puzzled  to  explain  the 
prose,  but  not  unfrequently  we  meet  with  verse  where  we  might 
expect  prose.  As  Professor  Corson  remarks  {Introduction  to  Shake 
speare,  1889),  "Shakespeare  adopted  verse  as  the  general  tenor  of 
his  language,  and  therefore  expressed  much  in  verse  that  is  within 


Notes  179 

the  capabilities  of  prose  ;  in  other  words,  his  verse  constantly  en 
croaches  upon  the  domain  of  prose,  but  his  prose  can  never  be  said 
to  encroach  upon  the  domain  of  verse."  If  in  rare  instances  we 
think  we  find  exceptions  to  this  latter  statement,  and  prose  actually 
seems  to  usurp  the  place  of  verse,  I  believe  that  careful  study  of 
the  passage  will  prove  the  supposed  exception  to  be  apparent 
rather  than  real. 

SOME  BOOKS  FOR  TEACHERS  AND  STUDENTS. — A  few  out  of  the 
many  books  that  might  be  commended  to  the  teacher  and  the  crit 
ical  student  are  the  following:  Halliwell-Phillipps's  Outlines  of  the 
Life  oj  Shakespeare  (yth  ed.  1887) ;  Sidney  Lee's  Life  of  Shake 
speare  (1898;  for  ordinary  students  the  abridged  ed.  of  1899  is 
preferable);  Rolfe's  Life  of  Shakespeare  (1904);  Schmidt's  Shake 
speare  Lexicon  (3d  ed.  1902) ;  Littledale's  ed.  of  Dyce's  Glossary 
(1902);  Bartlett's  Concordance  to  Shakespeare  (1895);  Abbott's 
Shakespearian  Grammar  (1873);  Furness's  "New  Variorum  "  ed. 
of  the  plays  (encyclopaedic  and  exhaustive)  ;  Dowden's  Shakspere : 
His  Alind  and  Art  (American  ed.  1881);  Hudson's  Life,  Art, 
and  Characters  of  Shakespeare  (revised  ed.  1882);  Mrs.  Jameson's 
Characteristics  of  Women  (several  eds. ;  some  with  the  title, 
Shakespeare  Heroines) ;  Ten  Brink's  Five  Lectures  on  Shakespeare 
(1895);  Boas's  Shakespeare  and  His  Predecessors  (1895);  Dyer's 
Folk-lore  of  Shakespeare  (American  ed.  1884);  Gervinus's  Shake 
speare  Commentaries  (Bunnett's  translation,  1875);  Wordsworth's 
Shakespeare's  Knowledge  of  the  Bible  (3d  ed.  1880) ;  Elson's  Shake 
speare  in  Miisic  (1901). 

Some  of  the  above  books  will  be  useful  to  all  readers  who  are 
interested  in  special  subjects  or  in  general  criticism  of  Shakespeare. 
Among  those  which  are  better  suited  to  the  needs  of  ordinary 
readers  and  students,  the  following  may  be  mentioned :  Mabie's 
William  Shakespeare:  Poet,  Dramatist,  and  Man  (1900);  Dow- 
den's  Shakspere  Primer  (1877;  small  but  invaluable);  Rolfe's 
Shakespeare  the  Boy  (1896  ;  not  a  mere  juvenile  book,  but  useful 
for  reference  on  the  home  and  school  life,  the  games  and  sports, 


1 80  Notes 

the  manners,  customs,  and  folk-lore  of  the  poet's  time) ;  Guerber's 
Myths  of  Greece  and  Rome  (for  young  students  who  may  need 
information  on  mythological  allusions  not  explained  in  the  notes). 

H.  Snowden  Ward's  Shakespeare 's  Town  and  Times  (2d  ed.  1902) 
and  John  Leyland's  Shakespeare  Country  (2d  ed.  1903)  are  copiously 
illustrated  books  (yet  inexpensive)  which  may  be  particularly 
commended  for  school  libraries. 

ABBREVIATIONS  IN  THE  NOTES.  —  The  abbreviations  of  the 
names  of  Shakespeare's  plays  will  be  readily  understood ;  as 
T.  N.  for  Twelfth  Night,  Cor.  for  Coriolanus,  3  Hen.  VI.  for 
The  Third  Part  of  King  Henry  the  Sixth,  etc.  P.  P.  refers  to 
The  Passionate  Pilgrim  ;  V.  and  A.  to  Venus  and  Adonis  ;  L.  C. 
to  Lover's  Complaint ;  and  Sonn.  to  the  Sonnets. 

Other  abbreviations  that  hardly  need  explanation  are  Cf.  (confer, 
compare),  Fol.  (following),  Id.  (idem,  the  same),  and  Prol.  (pro 
logue).  The  numbers  of  the  lines  in  the  references  (except  for  the 
present  play)  are  those  of  the  "  Globe  "  edition  (the  cheapest  and 
best  edition  of  Shakespeare  in  one  compact  volume),  which  is  now 
generally  accepted  as  the  standard  for  line-numbers  in  works  of  ref 
erence  (Schmidt's  Lexicon,  Abbott's  Grammar,  Dowden's  Primer t 
the  publications  of  the  New  Shakspere  Society,  etc.). 

THE  HISTORY  IN  THE  PLAY  AS  GIVEN  BY  PLUTARCH.  —  The 
following  are  the  chief  passages  in  North's  Plutarch  (see  p.  9 
above),  which  illustrate  the  play:  — 

"  The  house  of  the  Martians  at  Rome  was  of  the  number  of  the 
Patricians,  out  of  the  which  have  sprung  many  noble  personages, 
whereof  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,  because  the  people  had  chosen  him  Censor  twice.  .  .  . 
Caius  Martius,  whose  life  we  intend  now  to  write,  being  left  an 
orphan  by  his  father,  was  brought  up  under  his  mother  a  widow ; 


Notes  1 8 1 

who  taught  us  by  experience,  that  orphanage  bringeth  many  dis 
commodities  l  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  un- 
manured  bringeth  forth  both  herbs  and  weeds.  For  this  Martius' 
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,  uncivil,  and  altogether 
unfit  for  any  man's  conversation.  Yet  men  marvelling  much  at  his 
constancy,  that  he  was  never  overcome  with  pleasure  nor  money, 
and  how  he  could  endure  easily  all  manner  of  pains  and  travails  :  2 
thereupon  they  well  liked  and  commended  his  stoutness  and  tem- 
perancy.8  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  unpleasant  to  them  by  reason  of  a  certain  insolent  and  stern 
manner  he  had,  which,  because  he  was  too  lordly,  was  disliked.  .  .  . 
ACT  II.  Scene  II.  —  "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  was  driven  out  for  his  pride,  after  many 
attempts  made  by  sundry  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 4  upon  a  battle  by  them,  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 

1  Disadvantages.  8  Moderation.    Cf.  temperance  in  iii.  3.  28. 

2  Labours.  *  To  rely  entirely. 


1 82  Notes 

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  soldier 
being  thrown  to  the  ground  even  hard  by  him,  Martius  straight 
bestrid  him,  and  slew  the  enemy,  with  his  own  hands,  that  had  be. 
fore  overthrown  the  Roman.  Hereupon,  after  the  battle  was  won, 
the  Dictator  did  not  forget  so  noble  an  act,  and  therefore  first  of  all 
he  crowned  Martius  with  a  garland  of  oaken  boughs.  For  whoso 
ever  saveth  the  life  of  a  Roman,  it  is  a  manner  among  them,  to 
honour  him  with  such  a  garland.  .  .  . 

ACT  I.  Scene  I.  —  "  Now  he  being  grown  to  great  credit  and  au 
thority  in  Rome  for  his  valiantness,  it  fortuned  there  grew  sedition 
in  the  city,  because  the  Senate  did  favour  the  rich  against  the  peo 
ple,  who  did  complain  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,  notwithstanding  all  the 
wounds  and  cuts  they  shewed,  which  they  had  received  in  many 
battles,  fighting  for  defence  of  their  country  and  commonwealth  : 
of  the  which,  the  last  war  they  made  was  against  the  Sabines,  where 
in  they  fought  upon  the  promise  the  rich  men  had  made  them,  that 
from  thenceforth  they  would  intreat l  them  more  gently,  and  also 
upon  the  word  of  Marcus  Valerius  chief  of  the  Senate,  who,  by 
authority  of  the  council,  and  in  the  behalf  of  the  rich,  said  th<jy 
should  perform  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  gen 
tly  intreated,  and  that  the  Senate  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 
1  Treat.  Cf.  entreat,  Rich,  III.  iv.  4.  151. 


Notes  1 83 

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  immediately  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 
wars  :  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.  Other  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  a  beginning  of  disobedience,  and  that  the  proud  at 
tempt  of  the  communalty  was,  to  abolish  law,  and  to  bring  all  to 
confusion.  Therefore  he  said,  if  the  Senate  were  wise,  they  should 
betimes  prevent 1  and  quench  this  ill-favoured  and  worst  meant  be 
ginning.  The  Senate  met  many  days  in  consultation  about  it :  but 
in  the  end  they  concluded  nothing.  The  poor  common  people,  see 
ing  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  fight 
ing,  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 
1  Anticipate. 


1 84  Notes 

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 
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,  complaining  of  it,  that  it  only 
remained  in  the  midst  of  the  body  without  doing  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  counsels  thoroughly  examined,  touching  the  benefit  of 
the  commonwealth,  the  Senators  are  cause  of  the  common  com 
modity  l  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  Sicinius  Vel- 
lutus  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  grown  again  to  good  quiet  and  unity,  the  people 
immediately  went  to  the  wars,  shewing  that  they  had  a  good  will 
to  do  better  than  ever  they  did,  and  to  be  very  willing  to  obey  the 
Magistrates  in  that  they  would  command  concerning  the  wars. 

"Martius  also,  though  it  liked  him  nothing2  to  see  the  greatness 
of  the  people  thus  increased,  considering  it  was  to  the  prejudice 
and  imbasing  3  of  the  Nobility,  and  also  saw  that  other  noble  Patri 
cians  were  troubled  as  well  as  himself:  he  did  persuade  the  Patri 
cians  to  shew  themselves  no  less  forward  and  willing  to  fight  for 

1  General  advantage.     2  Did  not  at  all  please  him.     8  Humiliation. 


Notes  185 

their  country  than  the  common  people  were :  and  to  let  them  know 
by  their  deeds  and  acts,  that  they  did  not  so  much  pass J  the  people 
in  power  and  riches,  as  they  did  exceed  them  in  true  nobility  and 
valiant  ness. 

ACT  I.  Scenes  //.  IV.-X.  —  "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,  before  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  Latius2  (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  Martius  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  sudden,  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  cap 
tain  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:  whereat  the  enemies  were  so  afeard 
that  they  gave  back  presently.8  But  Martius,  not  staying  so,  did 
chase  and  follow  them  to  their  own  gates,  that  fled  for  life.  And 

1  Surpass;  as  in  R.  andj.  i.  1.242  :  "who  pass'd  that  passing  fair," 
etc.  2  Lartius.  8  At  once.  Cf.  ii.  3.  258,  etc. 


1 86  Notes 

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 
encourage  his  fellows  with  words  and  deeds,  crying  out  to  them, 
'  that  fortune  had  opened  the  gates  of  the  city,  more  for  the  fol 
lowers  than  the  fliers.'  But  all  this  notwithstanding,  few  had  the 
hearts  to  follow  him.  Howbeit  Martius,  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  seeing  he  was  entered  the 
city  with  very  few  men  to  help  him,  and  perceiving  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  with  a 
wonderful  courage  and  valiantness  he  made  a  lane  through  the 
midst  of  them,  and  overthrew  also  those  he  laid  at : 1  that  some  he 
made  run  to  the  furthest  part  of  the  city,  and  other  for  fear  he  made 
yield  themselves,  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  Mar 
tius  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  themselves,  whilst  the  other  Consul  and  their 
fellow-citizens  peradventure  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 
1  Attacked. 


Notes  187 

city,  and  took  his  way  toward  that  part  where  he  understood  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,1  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  be 
gan  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,  declaring 
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  hearing  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  vaward2  of  their  battle  were  those  of  the  Antiates, 
whom  they  esteemed  to  be  the  warlikest  men,  and  which,  for 

*  Array.    Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  v.  ix.  34 :  — 

"  And  all  the  damzels  of  that  towne  in  ray 

Come  dauncing  forth,"  etc. 
2  Vanguard.    Cf.  i.  6.  53  below. 


1 88  Notes 

valiant  courage,  would  give  no  place  to  any  of  the  host  of  their 
enemies.  Then  prayed  Martius  to  be  set  directly  against  them. 
The  Consul  granted  him,  greatly  praising  his  courage.  Then  Mar 
tius,  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 l  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  the  camp,  because  they  saw  he  was  able  to  do  no 
more,  he  was  already  so  wearied  with  the  great  pain  he  had  taken,2 
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  other  Romans  with  him.  There  the  Consul  Cominius  going  up 
to  his  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  hon- 
1  Battalion.  2  Effort  he  had  made. 


Notes  189 

curable  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  l  to  him  :  which  the  whole 
army  beholding,  did  marvellously  praise  and  commend.  But  Mar- 
tius,  stepping  forth,  told  the  Consul  he  most  thankfully  accepted 
the  gift  of  his  horse,  and  was  a  glad  man  besides,  that  his  service 
had  deserved  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  before  in  great  wealth  in  his  own  country, 
livcth  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,  made  a  marvellous  great  shout  among  them,  and  there  were 
more  that  wondered  at  his  great  contentation2  and  abstinence, 
when  they  saw  so  little  covetousness  in  him,  than  they  were  that 
highly  praised  and  extolled  his  valiantness.  For  even  they  them 
selves  that  did  somewhat  malice 8  and  envy  his  glory,  to  see  him 
thus  honoured  and  passingly4  praised,  did  think  him  so  much  the 
more  worthy  of  an  honourable  recompence  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. 

1  Equipments.  2  Moderation. 

»  Begrudge.    S.  does  not  use  the  verb,  but  we  find  it  in  Jonson, 
Daniel,  Spenser,  and  other  writers  of  the  time. 
4  Surpassingly,  exceedingly. 


190 


Notes 


"After  this  shout  and  noise  of  the  assembly  was  somewhat  ap 
peased,  the  Consul  Cominius  began  to  speak  in  this  sort :  '  we  can 
not  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.  .  .  . 

ACT  I.  Scene  I.  —  "Now  when  this  war  was  ended,1  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  insurrection  against  the  Nobility  and  Patricians  upon 
the  people's  misery  and  misfortune,  that  could  not  but  fall  out,2  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  barren  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  flattering  words,  perceiving  great  scarcity  of  corn  to  be  within 
the  city :  and  though  there  had  been  plenty  enough,  yet  the  com 
mon  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  practised3  and  procured  the  extreme  dearth  among 
them.  Furthermore,  in  the  midst  of  this  stir,  there  came  ambas 
sadors  to  Rome  from  the  city  of  Velitres,  that  offered  up  their  city 

1  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.  182  above. 

2  That/*//  out  here  means  take  place  is  clear  from  Amyot,  who  has  — 
"  qui  estoyent  necessairement  ensuyuis  de  leurs  diuisions,"  etc. 

»  Plotted. 


Notes  1 9 1 

to  the  Romans,  and  prayed  them  they  would  send  new  inhabitants 
to  replenish  the  same :  because  the  plague  had  been  so  extreme 
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.  So  the  wise  men  of  Rome  began  to  think,  that  the  neces 
sity  of  the  Velitrians  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  sedition,  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 1  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  Nobility,  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  Tribunes,  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  colour  the  most 
cruel  and  unnatural  fact2  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  8  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 

1  Marked  down  all  those  in  a  list. 

2  Evil  deed,  crime ;  the  sense  in  which  S.  also  generally  uses  it. 

8  Tutelary  power,  guardianship;  as  in  Much  Ado,  i.  i.  283,  the  only 
instance  of  the  word  in  S. 


192  Notes 

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,  wherewith  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 l 
with  these  words,  would  not  appear  when  the  Consuls  called  their 
names  by  a  bill,  to  prest 2  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.  * 

"  Martius  then,  who  was  now  grown  to  great  credit,  and  a  stout 
man  besides,  and  of  great  reputation  with  the  noblest  men  of  Rome, 
rose  up,  and  openly  spake  against  these  flattering  Tribunes.  And 
for  the  replenishing  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  Martius,  tak 
ing  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 
nothing  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  3  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  Martius, 
they  spited4  to  see  his  credit  and  estimation  increase  still  more  and 
more,  because  they  accounted  him  to  be  a  great  hinderer  of  the 
people. 

ACT  II.  Scene  II, —  "Shortly  after  this,  Martius  stood  for  the 
Consulship  :  and  the  common  people  favoured  his  suit,  thinking  it 
would  be  a  shame  to  them  to  deny  and  refuse  the  chiefest  noble 
1  Insolence.  2  Press.  8  Remained  in.  4  Were  envious. 


Notes  193 

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  custom  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  under 
neath,  to  pray  the  citizens  to  remember  them  at  the  day  of  elec 
tion  :  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  testimonies 
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  sun 
dry  battles,  being  ever  the  foremost  man  that  did  set  out  feet l  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.' 

ACT  III.  Scenes  /.-///.  — "  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 
stance2  and  intreaty  they  could,  or  ever  attempted  for  any  man  or 
matter :  then  the  love  and  good-will  of  the  common  people  turned 
straight  to  an  hate  and  envy  toward  him,  fearing  to  put  this  office 
of  sovereign  authority  into  his  hands,  being  a  man  somewhat  par 
tial  towards  the  Nobility,  and  of  great  credit  and  authority  amongst 
the  Patricians,  and  as  one  they  might  doubt8  would  take  away 
altogether  the  liberty  from  the  people.  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  refusal 
rather  to  redound  to  themselves  than  to  Martius :  but  Martius 

1  Advance.       2  Urgency.       8  Fear,  suspect.    Cf.  iii.  I.  152  below. 
CORIOLANUS — 13 


1 94  Notes 


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,  too 
much  given  over  to  self-will  and  opinion,1  as  one  of  a  high  mind  and 
great  courage,  that  lacked  the  gravity  and  affability  that  is  gotten 
with  judgment  of  learning  and  reason,  which  only  is  to  be  looked 
for  in  a  governor  of  State :  and  that  remembered  not  how  wilful- 
ness  is  the  thing  of  the  world,  which  a  governor  of  a  common 
wealth,  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  for 
saken  of  all  men.  For  a  man  that  will  live  in  the  world  must 
needs  have  patience,  which  lusty  bloods  make  but  a  mock  at.  So 
Martius,  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 :  2  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  inflame  his 
choler  more  and  more,  being  sorry  with  him  for  the  injury  the 
people  offered  him ;  because  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 

1  Self-opinion,  self-conceit.  2  Abscess. 


Notes  195 

civil  dissension  would  also  cease.  The  Senate  sat  in  council  upon 
it  immediately  ;  the  common  people  stood  also  about  the  palace 
where  the  council  was  kept,  gaping  what  resolution l  would  fall 
out :  persuading  themselves  that  the  corn  they  had  bought  should 
be  sold  good  cheap,2  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  Martius,  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.  '  More 
over,'  he  said,  '  they  nourished  against  themselves  the  naughty 8 
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  for6  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  magis 
trates.  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  of  Greece,  where  the  people  had  more 
absolute  power,  did  but  only  nourish  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,  sithence6  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 
rebelled  and  forsaken  their  country  :  neither  for  their  accusations 
which  their  flatterers  have  preferred  unto  them,  and  they  have  re- 

1  Decision.      *  Evil.  6  Professed. 

»  Cheaply.      *  See  on  iii.  x.  70  below.       «  Since.    Cf.  iii.  x,  47  below. 


196  Notes 

ceived,  and  made  good  against  the  Senate  :  but  they  will  rather 
judge,  we  give  and  grant  them  this  as  abasing  ourselves,  and  stand 
ing  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.  There 
fore  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  Tribune- 
ship,  which  most  manifestly  is  the  embasing  of  the  Consulship,  and 
the  cause  of  the  division  of  the  city.  The  state  whereof,  as  it 
standeth,  is  not  now  as  it  was  wont  to  be,  but  becometh  dismem 
bered  in  two  factions,  which  maintains  always  civil  dissension  and 
discord  between  us,  and  will  never  suffer  us  again  to  be  united 
into  one  body.'  Martius  dilating  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,1  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  head2  in  tumult  together,  before 
whom  the  words  that  Martius  spake  in  the  Senate  were  openly 
reported  :  which  the  people  so  stomached,3  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  appear  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  laid  violent 
1  Cried  aloud.  Cf.  x  Hen.  VI.  iv.  2. 41.  2  Ahead.  «  Resented, 


Notes  197 

hands  upon  him.  Howbeit  the  noble  Patricians  gathering  to 
gether  about  him,  made  the  Tribunes  give  back,  and  laid  sore 
upon  the  ^idiles  :  so  far  for  that  time  the  night  parted  them,  and 
the  tumult  appeased.  The  next  morning  betimes,  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,1  to  appease  the  fury  of  the 
people  with  some  gentle  words  or  grateful  decrees  in  their  favour : 
and  moreover,  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  commonalty,  they  being  fallen  to  so  great  an 
extremity,  and  offering  such  imminent  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 
accusations  laid  upon  them,  and  used  great  modesty  2  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  disliking8  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  :  *  Forasmuch  as  the  Senate  yielded  unto  rea 
son,  the  people  also  for  their  part,  as  became  them,  did  likewise  give 
place  unto  them  :  but  notwithstanding,  they  would  that  Martius 
should  come  in  person  to  answer  to  the  articles  they  had  devised. 
First,  whether  he  had  not  solicited  and  procured  the  Senate  to 
change  the  present  state  of  the  commonweal,  and  to  take  the 

1  Concerned  them.    Cf.  iii.  2.  52  below.          *  Displeasure. 

2  Moderation.  4  Being  pleased  with. 


198  Notes 

sovereign  authority  out  of  the  people's  hands  ?  Next,  when  he 
was  sent  for  by  authority  of  their  officers,  why  he  did  contemptu 
ously  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,  either  that  Martius,  against  his  nature, 
should  be  constrained  to  humble  himself  and  to  abase  his  haughty 
and  fierce  mind  :  or  else,  if  he  continued  still  in  his  stoutness,  he 
should  incur  the  people'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  unhap 
pily,  considering  Martius'  nature  and  disposition. 

"  So  Martius  came  and  presented  himself  to  answer  their  accu 
sations  against  him,  and  the  people  held  their  peace,  and  gave  at 
tentive  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  unpleasant,  and  did  more  aggravate  his  accu 
sation,  than  purge  his  innocency)  but  also  gave  himself  in  his  words 
to  thunder,  and  look  therewithal  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 l  and  careless  boldness.  Whereupon  Sicinius,  the  cruellest 
and  stoutest  of  the  Tribunes,  after  he  had  whispered  a  little  with 
his  companions,  did  openly  pronounce,  in  the  face  of  all  the  people, 
Martius  as  condemned  by  the  Tribunes  to  die.  Then  presently  he 
commanded  the  .^Ediles  to  apprehend  him,  and  carry  him  straight 
to  the  rock  Tarpeian,  and  to  cast  him  headlong  down  the  same. 
When  the  ^diles  come  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 
1  Audacity.  See  p.  192  above. 


Notes  199 

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,  besought  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,  weighing  with 
themselves  the  impossibleness  to  convey  Martius  to  execution  with 
out  great  slaughter  and  murder  of  the  nobility,  did  persuade  and 
advise  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  with 
out  law  and  justice  ?  '  Well  then,'  said  Sicinius, '  if  that  be  the 
matter,  let  there  be  no  quarrel  or  dissension  against  the  people  : 
for  they  do  grant  your  demand,  that  his  cause  shall  be  heard  accord 
ing  to  the  law.  Therefore,'  said  he  to  Martius,  '  we  do  will l  and 
charge  you  to  appear  before  the  people,  the  third  day  of  our  next 
sitting  and  assembly  here,  to  make  your  purgation  for  such  articles 
as  shall  be  objected  against  you,  that  by  free  voice  the  people  may 
give  sentence  upon  you  as  shall  please  them.'  The  noblemen  were 
glad  then  of  the  adjournment,  and  were  much  pleased  they  had 
gotten  Martius  out  of  this  danger.  .In  the  mean  space,  before  the 
third  day  of  their  next  session  came  about,  the  same  being  kept 
every  ninth  day  continually  at  Rome,  whereupon2  they  call  it  now 
in  Latin  Nundince :  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,8  or 
1  Require,  3  Wherefore,  *  Assuaged. 


2oo  Notes 

utterly  forgotten,  by  reason  of  the  trouble  of  the  wars.  But  con 
trary  to  expectation,  the  peace  was  concluded  presently  with  the 
Antiates,  and  the  people  returned  again  to  Rome.  Then  the  Patri 
cians  assembled  oftentimes  together,  to  consult  how  they  might 
stand  to1  Martius,  and  keep  the  Tribunes  from  occasion  to  cause 
the  people  to  mutine2  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  authority  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  or  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  because  they  feared,  that  themselves  should  be  contemned  and 
hated  of  the  Nobility.  So  as3  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.'  Martius,  seeing  the  Senate  in 
great  doubt  how  to  resolve,  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  Tribunes,  '  what  matter  they  would 
burden  him  with  ?  '  The  Tribunes  answered  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  thereupon4  he  did  will- 
inglv  offer  himself  to  the  people,  to  be  tried  upon  that  accusation : 
and  that  if  it  were  proved  by5  him,  he  had  so  much  as  once  thought 
of  any  such  matter,  that  he  would  then  refuse  no  kind  of  punish 
ment  they  would  offer  him:  conditionally  (quoth  he)  that  you 

1  Stand  by,  support.  2  Mutiny.  8  So  that. 

4  On  that  count,  5  About,  concerning, 


Notes  201 

charge  me  with  nothing  else  beside,  and  that  ye  do  not  also  abuse 
the  Senate.'  They  promised  they  would  not.  Under  these  condi 
tions  the  judgment  was  agreed  upon,  and  the  people  assembled. 

"And  first  of  all  the  Tribunes  would  in  any  case  (whatsoever 
became  l  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  duti 
fully  serve  the  commonwealth  in  their  wars.  And  then,  when  the 
Tribunes  saw  they  could  not  prove  he  went  about2  to  make  him 
self  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  3  price  unto  the  common  people,  and  persuad 
ing  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  terri 
tories  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,  looking  least  to  have  been  bur 
dened  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,  that  he  could  not  be  heard.  To  conclude, 
when  they  came  to  tell4  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  jocundly 
from  the  assembly,  for  triumph  of  this  sentence. 

l  Came,  2  Endeavoured,  *  Low.  4  Count, 


2O2  Notes 

ACT  IV.  Scenes  I.  II.  IV.  —  "The  Senate  again,  in  contrary 
manner,  were  as  sad  and  heavy,  repenting  themselves  beyond  meas 
ure,  that  they  had  not  rather  determined  to  have  done  and  suf 
fered  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  Martius 
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  passion,  nor  care  at  all  of  himself.  Not  that  he 
did  patiently  bear  and  temper  his  evil  hap  in  respect  of  any  reason 
he  had,  or  by  his  quiet  condition :  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  Martius 
was  even  in  that  taking l  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  shriek 
ing  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  number  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 
1  Fit  of  anger.  Cf.  1?.  of  L.  453. 


Notes  203 

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  Volsces  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  of  the  Ro 
mans.  Now  in  the  city  of  Antium  there  was  one  called  Tullus 
Aufidius,  who  for  his  riches,  as  also  for  his  nobility  and  valiant- 
ness,  was  honoured  among  the  Volsces  as  a  king.  Martius  knew 
very  well  that  Tullus  did  more  malice x  and  envy  him  than  he  did 
all  the  Romans  besides :  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  together.  Insomuch  as,  besides 
the  common  quarrel  between  them,  there  was  bred  a  marvellous 
private  hate  one  against  another.  Yet  notwithstanding,  consider 
ing  that  Tullus  Aufidius  was  a  man  of  great  mind,  and  that  he 
above  all  other  of  the  Volsces  most  desired  revenge  of  the  Ro 
mans,  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 : 2  — 

"•  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.' 

1  Hate.    See  p.  189  above. 

2  Clough  says  it  is  from  Heraclitus,  and  quoted  in  two  other  places 
by  Plutarch,  and  also  by  Aristotle. 


204  Notes 


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,  seeing  him  in  that  apparel  he  had  upon  his  back :  and  as 
Homer  said  of  Ulysses : 1  — 

"  '  So  did  he  enter  into  the  enemies'  town.' 

It  was  even  twilight  when  he  entered  the  city  of  Antium,  and  many 
people  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  all  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  certain  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  unmuffled  himself,  and 
after  he  had  paused  awhile,  making  no  answer,  he  said  unto  him : 
'  If  thouknowestme  not  yet,  Tullus,  and,  seeing  me,  dost  not  perhaps 
believe  me  to  be  the  man  I  am  indeed,  I  must  of  necessity  beray2 
myself  to  be  that  I  am.  I  am  Caius  Martius,  who  hath  done  to  thy 
self  particularly,  and  to  all  the  Volsces  generally,  great  hurt  and 
mischief,  which  I  cannot  deny  for  3  my  surname  of  Coriolanus  that 
I  bear.  For  I  never  had  other  benefit  nor  recompence  of  the  true 
and  painful  4  service  I  have  done,  and  the  extreme  dangers  I  have 
been  in,  but  this  only  surname  :  a  good  memory  and  witness  of  the 
malice  and  displeasure  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  das 
tardly  nobility  and  magistrates,  who  have  forsaken  me,  and  let  me 

1  The  passage  is  from  Helen's  description  of  Ulysses  (Odys.  iv.  246). 

2  Reveal.     Cf.  v.  3.  95  below.  8  Because  of. 
4  Toilsome.    Cf.  iv.  5.  74  below. 


Notes  205 

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,  I  would 
not  have  come  hither  to  have  put  myself  in  hazard :  but  pricked 
forward  1  with  desire  to  be  revenged  of  them  that  thus  have  ban 
ished  me ;  which  now  I  do  begin,  in  putting  my  person  into  the 
hands  of  their  enemies.  Wherefore,  if  thou  hast  any  heart  to 
be  wrecked2  of  the  injuries  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  the  Volsces :  promising  thee,  that  I  will  fight 
with  better  goodwill  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  heretofore  thy  mortal 
enemy,  and  whose  service  now  can  nothing  help  nor  pleasure  thee.' 
Tullus,  hearing  what  he  said,  was  a  marvellous  glad  man,  and  tak 
ing  him  by  the  hand,  he  said  unlo  him :  '  Stand  up,  O  Martius,  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. 

ACT  IV.  Scene  VI.  —  "  Now,  on  the  other  side,  the  city  of  Rome 
was  in  marvellous  uproar  and  discord,  the  nobility  against  the  com 
monalty,  and  chiefly  for  Martius'  condemnation  and  banishment.  .  .  . 

"  Now  Tullus  and  Martius  had  secret  conference  with  the  great 
est  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 
i  Spurred  on.  2  Wreaked.  Cf.  iv.  5.  91  below. 


206  Notes 

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  trum 
pet,  that  all  the  Volsces  should  avoid  1  out  of  Rome  before  sunset. 
Some  think  this  was  a  craft  and  deceit  of  Martius,  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  proclamation  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  Rome,  to  summon  them  to  deliver 
their  lands  and  towns  again,  which  they  had  taken  from  them  in 
times  past,  or  to  look  for  present2  wars.  The  Romans,  hearing 
this,  were  marvellously  nettled  :  and  made  no  other  answer  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 
assembly  general  to  be  made  of  the  Volsces,  and  concluded  to  make 
war  upon  the  Romans.  This  done,  Tullus  did  counsel  them  to 
take  Martius  into  their  service,  and  not  to  mistrust  him  for  the 
remembrance  of  anything  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  displeasure  in  fighting  against  them.  So 
Martius  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  Tul 
lus  as  general  of  the  Volsces,  having  absolute  authority  between 
them  to  follow  and  pursue  the  wars.  .  .  .  After  their  whole  army 

1  Depart.     Cf.  iv.  5.  34  below. 

2  Immediate;  as  in  iii.  i.  212  below. 


Notes  207 

(which  was  marvellous  great,  and  very  forward  to  service)  was  as 
sembled  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  Martius  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  lead 
ing  of  those  that  would  make  the  wars  abroad,  and  himself  would 
keep l  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,2  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  con 
federates,  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  going  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  Bolan- 
ians,  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  be 
cause  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 8  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. 

ACT  IV.  Scene  VII.  —  "The  other  Volsces  that  were  appointed  to 

1  Stay  at.    Cf.  "  keep  house  "  in  Cymb.  iii.  3.  i. 
a  Circeii.  «  Bola  or  Bolla. 


208  Notes 

remain  in  garrison  for  defence  of  their  country,  hearing  this  good 
news,  would  tarry  no  longer  at  home,  but  armed  themselves  and 
ran  to  Martius'  camp,  saying  they  did  acknowledge  no  other  cap 
tain  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. 

ACT  V.  Scenes  I.  //.  —  "  In  this  while,  all  went  still  to  wrack  at 
Rome.  For,  to  come  into  the  field  to  fight  with  the  enemy,  they 
could  not  abide  to  hear  of  it,  they  were  one  so  much  against  an 
other,  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  Lavin- 
ium,  in  the  which  were  all  the  temples  and  images  of  their  gods 
their  protectors,  and  from  whence  came  first  their  ancient  original, 
for  that  y£neas  at  his  first  arrival  into  Italy  did  build  that  city.  Then 
fell  there  out  a  marvellous  sudden  change  of  mind  among  the  peo 
ple,  and  far  more  strange  and  contrary  in  the  nobility.  For  the 
people  thought  it  good  to  repeal  the  condemnation  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  peo 
ple's  desire  :  or  because  Martius  should  not  return  thorough 1  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  mar 
vellous  ill  part,  and  as  if  the  injury  had  been  done  unto  themselves. 
Report  being  made  of  the  Senate's  resolution,  the  people  found 
themselves  in  a  straight  :2  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  :  inasmuch  as  he 
raised  his  siege  incontinently  before  the  city  of  Lavinium,  and  go- 
i  Through ;  as  in  v.  3.  115.  2  Strait. 


Notes  209 

ing  towards  Rome,  lodged  his  camp  within  forty  furlong  of  the  d'y, 
at  the  ditches  called  Cluilioe.  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  people.  For  there  was  no  consul,  senator,  nor  magistrate, 
that  durst  once  contrary  J  the  opinion  of  the  people  for  the  calling 
home  again  of  Martius. 

"  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  bitterly  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  upon2  rather  to  have  gone 
out  and  intreated  him.  So  they  all  agreed  together  to  send  am 
bassadors  unto  him,  to  let  him  understand  how  his  countrymen  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  Martius'  familiar  friends  and  acquaintance,  who 
looked  at  the  least  for  a  courteous  welcome  of  him,  as  of  their 
familiar  friend  and  kinsman.  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  coun 
tenance  and  behaviour  agreeable  to  the  same.  When  they  had 
done  their  message,  for8  the  injury  they  had  done  him,  he  an 
swered  them  very  hotly  and  in  great  choler.  .  .  . 

ACT  V.  Scenes  III.-V. — "Now  the  Roman  ladies  and  gentle: 

1  Oppose.  2  Behooved  them.    See  p.  197  above. 

8  With  regard  to. 

CORIOLANUS— 14 


2io  Notes 

women  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  Valeria  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  fancy,  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,1 
Martius'  mother :  and  coming  in  to  her,  found  her,  and  Martius' 
wife  her  daughter-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  direction  from  the  Senate,  nor 
commandment  of  other  magistrate,  but  through  the  inspiration  (as 
I  take  it)  of  some  god  above :  who,  having  taken  compassion  and 
pity  of  our  prayers,  hath  moved  us  to  come  unto  you,  to  intreat  you 
in  a  matter,  as  well  beneficial  for  us  as  also  for  the  whole  citizens 
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  pro 
cured  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 : 

1  The  name  of  the  mother  of  Coriolanus  was  Veturia,  and  that  of  his 
wife  Volumnia.  Plutarch  misnames  them  Volumnia  and  Virgilia  re 
spectively,  and  S.  follows  him. 


Notes  211 

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  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  what  she  had  said.  Then  Vulum- 
nia  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  exceedeth  yours  the  more,  by  reason  of  our  particular 
misfortune,  to  feel  the  loss  of  my  son  Martius'  former  valiancy  and 
glory,  and  to  see  his  person  environed  now  with  our  enemies  in 
arms,  rather  to  see  him  forthcoming  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  preservation  thereof  is  now  unfortu 
nately  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  safety  of  our  country.'  Her  answer  ended,  she  took 
her  daughter-in-law  and  Martius'  children  with  her,  and  being  ac 
companied  with  all  the  other  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 
Martius  set  then  in  his  chair  of  state,  with  all  the  honours  of  a  gen 
eral,  and  when  he  had  spied  the  women  coming  afar  off,  he  mar 
velled  what  the  matter  meant :  but  afterwards  knowing  his  wife, 
which  came  foremost,  he  determined  at  the  first  to  persist  in  his 
obstinate  and  inflexible  rancour.  But  overcome  in  the  end  with 


212  Notes 

natural  alTection,  and  being  altogether  altered1  to  see  them,  his 
h.  art  \\ould  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  mother  Volum- 
nia  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  easily  bewray2  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  as  that  which  is  th  j  only  com 
fort  to  all  other  in  their  adversity  and  misery,  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  !  together  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 

1  Changed,  overcome.     Cf.  v.  4.  10  below. 

2  Reveal.     See  p.  204  above. 


Notes  213 

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  1  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  honourable,  to  betray  those  that  put  their  trust  in 
thee.  But  my  only  demand  consisteth,  to  make  a  gaol-delivery  of 
all  evils,  which  delivereth  equal  benefit  and  safety  both  to  the  one 
and  the  other,  but  most  honourable  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  them 
selves  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  party.  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  undone  thy  good  friends,  who  did  most  lovingly 
and  courteously  receive  thee.'  Martius  gave  good  ear  unto  his 
mother's  words,  without  interrupting  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  began  again  to  speak  unto 
him,  and  said:  'My  son,  why  dost  thou  not  answer  me?  Dost 
thou  think  it  good  altogether  to  give  place  unto  thy  choler  and 

1  Tarry,  wait.     Cf.  i  Hen.  VI.  iii.  2.  33. 


214  Notes 

desire  of  revenge,  and  think est  thou  it  not  honesty1  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,  acknowledging  the  duty  and  reverence  they  ought  to  bear 
unto  them?  No  man  living  is  more  bound  to  shew  himself  thank 
ful  in  all  parts  and  respects  than  thyself:  who  so  unnaturally  shew- 
est  all  ingratitude.  Moreover  (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  I  defer  my  last  hope?' 
And  with  these  words,  herself,  his  wife,  and  children  fell  down  upon 
their  knees  before  him.  Martius,  seeing  that,  could  refrain  no 
longer,  but  went  straight  and  lift 2  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  remain 
ing  in  camp  that  night,  the  next  morning  he  dislodged,3  and  marched 
homeward  into  the  Volsces'  country  again,  who  were  not  all  of  one 
mind,  nor  all  alike  contented.  For  some  misliked4  him  and  that 
he  had  done :  other,  being  well  pleased  that  peace  should  be  made, 
said  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  deserved  blame  nor  reproach. 
Other,  though  they  misliked  that  was  done,  did  not  think  him  an 

1  An  honour.     So  honest  just  below  =  honourable. 

2  Lifted.    Cf.  i  Hen  VL  i.  i.  16;  and  see  also  Psalms,  xciii.  3,  etc. 
8  Removed  his  camp.    Cf.  v.  4.  43. 

*  Were  displeased  with.    Cf.  M.  of  V.  ii.  i.  i,  etc. 


Notes  215 


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  con- 
traried 1  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  remove,  there  was  not  a  temple  in  the  city  but  was  pres 
ently  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  believe,  that  the 
ladies  only  were  cause  of  the  saving  of  the  city  and  delivering  them 
selves  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  re 
quested  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,  ordained  that  the  temple  and  image 
should  be  made  at  the  common  charge  of  the  city.  .  .  . 

ACT  V.  Scene  VI.  —  "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.  Where 
fore  Tullus,  having  procured  many  other  of  his  confederacy,  required2 
Martius  might  be  deposed  from  his  estate,  to  render  up  account  to 
the  Volsces  of  his  charge  and  government.  Martius,  fearing  to  be 
come  a  private  man  again  under  Tullus  being  general  (whose  au- 

1  Opposed.    See  p.  209  above.       a  Demanded  that.    Cf.  ii.  2.  156. 


2 1 6  Notes 

thority  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  com 
mand  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  hereupon  called  a  common  council,  in  which  assembly  there 
were  certain  orators  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  rev 
erence  they  bare  unto  his  valiantness,  they  quieted  themselves,  and 
gave  him  audience  to  allege  with  leisure  what  he  could  for  his  pur 
gation.1  Moreover,  the  honestest'2  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  con 
science.  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  ser 
vice  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 3  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  enterprise,  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 
1  Defence.  2  Most  honourable.  See  p.  214  above. 

8  Owed, 


Scene  I]  Notes  21 7 

all  fell  upon  him,  and  killed  him  in  the  market-place,  none  of  the 
people  once  offering  to  rescue  him.  .  .  . 

"  Howheit  it  is  a  clear  case,  that  this  murder  was  not  generally 
consented  unto  of  the  most  part  of  the  Volsces  :  for  men  came  out 
of  all  parts  to  honour  his  body,  and  did  honourably  bury  him  ;  set 
ting  out  his  tomb  with  great  store  of  armour  and  spoils,  as  the  tomb 
of  a  worthy  person  and  great  captain."  .  .  . 


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 
"  Actus  Primus.  Scoena  Prima"  There  is  no  list  of  Dramatis 
Persona. 

1 2.    On  V.     Of  it ;  as  in  226  below,  and  often. 

16.  Good.     In  the  mercantile  sense.    There  is  a  play  upon  the 
word,  as  in  M.  of  V.  i.  3.  12  fol. 

1 7.  Yield  us  but.     Only  yield  us. 

1 8.  Guess.     Suppose,  think,  imagine ;    much  like  the  Yankee 
use  of  the  word.     Cf.  I  Hen.  VI.  ii.  i.  29 :  — 

41  Not  all  together;  better  far,  I  guess, 
That  we  do  make  our  entrance  several  ways." 

Schmidt  adds  Hen.  VIII.  i.  I.  47,  but  there  the  word  may  have  its 
ordinary  sense  (=  conjecture,  suspect). 

19.  Too  dear.     That  it  costs  too  much  to  maintain  us. 

20.  Object.     Sight,  spectacle ;  as  in   71  and  C.  ii.  2.  41  :  "  And 
reason  flies  the  object  of  all  harm,"  etc. 

21.  Particularize.     Point  out  in  detail.     S.  uses  the  word  no 
where  else.     Sufferance  =  suffering.     Cf.  J.  C.  ii.  I.    115:    "the 
sufferance  of  our  souls,"  etc. 

23.  Pikes.  There  seems  to  be  a  play  on  the  word,  which  meant 
a  pitchfork  as  well  as  a  spear.  I lanmer,  apparently  not  aware  of 


2i 8  Notes  [Act  I 

this,  substituted  "pitchforks."  "As  lean  as  a  rake"  is  still  a 
familiar  proverb.  Cf.  Chaucer,  C.  T.  287 :  "  And  leene  was  his 
hors  as  is  a  rake;  "  and  Heywood,  Epigrammes,  1577:  "And  yet 
art  thou  skin  and  bone,  leane  as  a  rake." 

28.  A  very  dog.  That  is,  unfeeling,  cruel ;  like  Lear's  "  dog- 
hearted  daughters"  (Lear,  iv.  3.  47). 

32.  To  give  him  good  report.  To  give  him  credit.  Cf.  W.  T. 
v.  2.  162  :  "  to  give  me  your  good  report  to  the  prince  my  master;  " 
that  is,  to  speak  well  of  me  to  him. 

39.  To  please  his  mother.  Cf.  North's  Plutarch  :  "  But  touch 
ing  Martius,  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." 

And  to  be  partly  proud.  "  And  partly  to  be  proud  "  (Hanmer's 
reading). 

41.  Virtue.  Valour  ;  "the  chiefest  virtue"  (ii.  2.  84  below)  in 
Roman  estimation.  Cf.  North,  p.  181  above. 

47.  Repetition.  Recital,  mention ;  as  in  R.  of  L.  1285, 
Rich.  III.  i.  3.  165,  Macb.  ii.  3.  90,  etc.  Cf.  v.  3.  144  below. 

49.  The  Capitol.  Wright  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." 

57.  Bats  —  staves,  or  heavy  sticks  ;  as  inZ.  C.  64  :  "  his  grained 
bat."     In  Lear,  iv.  6.  247,  the  folios  have  "  ballow,"  the  quartos 
"bat." 

58.  Our  business,  etc.     "This  and  all  the  subsequent  plebeian 
speeches  in  this  scene  are  given   in  the  old  copy  to  the  second 
Citizen  ;   but  the  dialogue  at  the  opening  of  the  play  shows  that 
they  ought  to  be  attributed  to  the  Jirst  Citizen.     The  second  is 
rather  friendly  to  Coriolanus  "  (Malone). 

61.   Strong.     For  the  play  upon  the  odorous  allusion,  cf.  A.  W. 


Scene  I]  Notes  219 

v.  2.  5  :  "I  am  now,  sir,  muddied  in  Fortune's  mood,  and  smell 
somewhat  strong  of  her  strong  displeasure." 

67.  For.    As  for  ;  as  often. 

71.  Cracking.  S.  often  uses  crack  =  break,  both  literally  and 
figuratively.  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. 

73.  Your  impediment.  "The  obstacles  opposed  by  you" 
(Schmidt).  Cf.  Oth.  v.  2.  263 :  — 

11 1  have  made  my  way  through  more  impediments 
Than  twenty  times  your  stop." 

75.  Your  knees  to  them.  Cf.  v.  3.  57  below  :  "Your  knees  to 
me  ?  "  See  also  v.  3.  169. 

77.  Thither  where  more  attends  you.     "To  excesses  which  fresh 
sufferings  must  expiate." 

78.  Helms.     Those  at  the  helm  ;  an  instance  of  metonymy. 

85.  Piercing.  Schmidt  is  in  doubt  whether  this  is  =  "  mortify 
ing,  revolting  to  the  feelings,  or  =  sweeping  ;  entering  and  affect 
ing  all  the  interests  of  the  people."  It  may  be  simply  =  sharp, 
severe. 

93.  Stale  V  a  little  more.  Make  it  a  little  staler  ;  referring  to 
you  have  heard  it  just  before.  The  folios  have  "scale  't,"  which 
some  have  tried  to  defend.  For  stale  =  make  stale,  cf.  T.  and  C. 
ii.  3.  201, /.  C.  i.  2.  73,  iv.  I.  38,  and  A.  and  C.  ii.  2.  240. 

95.  Fob  off.     Put  off  with  a  trick.     Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  I.  37,  where 
we   have   "  fubbed   off."     Disgrace  —  ill    treatment,    humiliation. 
Clarke  remarks  that  it  is  =  the  Italian  disgrazia,  misfortune,  un- 
happiness. 

96.  Deliver.     Speak,  tell  your  story.     For  the  intransitive  use, 
cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  3.  24 :  "  and  thus  deliver."     It  is  oftener  transitive, 
as  in  iv.  6.  65  below. 


22O  Notes  [Act  i 

97.  There  was  a  time,  etc.  Cf.  the  extract  from  North,  p.  184 
above.  Camden's  version  of  the  fable  (see  p.  10  above)  is  as  fol 
lows,  the  italics  being  Malone's :  — 

"All  the  members  of  the  body  conspired  against  the  stomackc, 
as  against  the  swallowi ng  gulfe  of  all  their  labors  ;  for  whereas  the 
eies  beheld,  the  eares  heard,  the  handes  labored,  the  feete  traveled,  the 
tongue  spake,  and  all  paries  performed  their  functions,  onely  the 
stomacke  lay  ydle  and  consumed  all.  Hereuppon  they  ioyntly 
agreed  al  to  forbeare  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  Council  ;  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  desired  the  advise  of  the  Heart.  There  Reason  layd  open 
before  them,"  etc. 

99.  Gulf.  Whirlpool ;  the  only  meaning  in  S.  except  in  Macb. 
iv.  i.  123,  where  it  seems  to  be  =  gullet.  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. 

101.  Cupboarding.     In  the  folios  we  have  the  phonetic  spelling 
"  cubbording."     S.  uses  the  verb  only  here,  and  the  noun  only  in 
R.  and  J.  \.  5.  8,  where  the  folios  have  "  cubbord  "  or  "  cubbert." 

Viand  =  food  (like  the  Fr.  la  viande);  the  only  instance  of  the 
singular  in  S.  Richardson  quotes  Sir  Thomas  More,  Workes  : 
"reteyning  of  the  olde  plentie  in  deintie  viande  and  siluer  vessell." 

102.  Where.     Whereas;   as  in  i.  10.  13  below. 

104.  Participate.  "Acting  in  common"  (Schmidt)  ;  or  =  par 
ticipating  or  participant.  For  the  form,  cf.  incorporate  in  123 
below  ;  and  for  the  active  sense,  inhabited  in  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  3.  10, 
studied  in  M.  of  V.  ii.  2.  205,  etc. 


Scene  I]  Notes  221 

105.  Affection.  Inclination,  desire  ;  as  in  1 78  below.  See  also 
ii.  3.  225.  Cf.  L.  L.  /..  v.  i.  93:  "it  is  the  king's  most  sweU 
pleasure  and  affection  to  congratulate  the  princess,"  etc. 

109.  Which   ne'er   came,  etc.     "  With   a  smile   not   indicating 
pleasure,   but  contempt"  (Johnson).      As  Wright  remarks,  "the 
laughter  of  merriment  came  from  the  lungs."     Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  7. 
30:  "My  lungs  began  to  crow  like  chanticleer,"  etc. 

110.  /  may  make  the  belly  smile.     As  in  Plutarch  (see  p.  184 
above)  he  makes  it  "  laugh." 

in.  'J'auntingly.  The  reading  of  the  4th  folio;  the  ist  has 
"  taintingly,"  the  others  "  tantingly."  "Taintingly"  has  been 
defended  as  =  disparagingly  (cf.  "tainting"  in  Oth.  ii.  I.  275). 

113.  His   receipt.      What    he   received.       Cf.   K.   of  L.    703: 
"  Drunken  Desire  must  vomit  his  receipt." 

114.  For  that.     Because  that;    as   in  i.  9.  47  and  iii.  3.  93 
below. 

116.  Kingly-crowned.      Crowned  like  a  king.     The  hyphen  is 
not  in  the   folios,  but   was  inserted  by  Warburton  —  perhaps  un 
necessarily. 

117.  Soldier.    A  trisyllable;  as  in  v.  6.  71  below.     Cf.y.  C.  iv. 
I.  28,  I/am.  i.  5.  141,  Lear,  iv.  5.  3,  etc. 

119.  Muniments.  Defences,  or  defenders  ;  used  by  S.  nowhere 
else. 

121.  Fore  me.  Cf.  A.  W.  ii.  3.  31  :  "fore  me,  I  speak  in  re 
spect."  Wright  suggests  that  the  oath  was  probably  substituted 
for  the  more  common  Fore  God !  (see  Much  Ado,  ii.  3.  192,  iv.  3. 
32,  A.  IV.  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 ;  but  if  so,  the  alteration  was  not  uniformly  made.  Cf.  A. 
W.  ii.  3.  31  and  51,  for  instance. 

127.  You'll.  The  folio  has  "you'st,"  which  Wright  retains,  as 
"  apparently  a  provincialism  which  S.  intentionally  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  Menenius  when  addressing  the  citizens  ;  "  but  in  the 
preceding  line  the  folio  has  you  '//,  and  "  you  'st "  here  may  be  a 


222  Notes  [Act  I 

mere  slip  of  the  compositor  —  an  absent-minded  substitution  of  his 
familiar  provincial  form  for  the  more  correct  one  in  the  "  copy." 

129.  Your.  For  the  colloquial  use,  cf.  Ham.  iv.  3.  24:  "Your 
worm  is  your  only  emperor  for  diet,"  etc. 

131.  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. 

134.  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, /.  C.  i.  i.  31,  etc. 

137.  The  seat  o*  the  brain.     Malone  (followed  by  Clarke)  takes 
this  to  be  in  apposition  with  heart,  and  refers  to  "  the  counsellor 
heart"  in  117  above,  and  to  Camden's  version  of  the  story  (see  on 

97  above),  "they  desired  the  advise  of  the  Heart,"  where  "Reason 
layd  open  before  them  ;  "  but  I  am  disposed  to  agree  with  Wright 
that  it   means  "  the   kingly -crowned  head,  where   reason  has  its 
throne,   while   the   attendant   passions    keep    their    court   in   the 
heart." 

138.  Cranks.      Winding   passages ;     the    only   instance  of  the 
noun  in  S.     For  the  verb,  cf.  i  Hen.  IV.  iii.  i.  98:  "See  how  this 
river  comes  me  cranking  in  ;  "  and    V.  and  A.  682 :  "  He  cranks 
and  crosses  with  a  thousand  doubles."     For  offices  (the  servants' 
quarters  in  a  house),  cf.  Macb.  ii.  I.  14,  Rich.  II.  i.  2.  69,  Oth.  ii. 
2.  9,  T.  of  A.  ii.  2.  167,  etc. 

139.  Nerves.     Sinews  ;   as  elsewhere  in  S.     Cf.  Ham.  i.  4.  83  : 
"as  hardy  as  the  Nemean  lion's  nerve,"  etc. 

146.  Flour.  The  folios  have  "  flowre  "  or  "flowr  ;  "  and  Capell, 
followed  by  some  modern  editors,  has  "  flower  ;  "  but  flour  is  the 
natural  antithesis  to  bran.  It  is  curious,  by  the  way,  that  this  is 
the  only  instance  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." 

151.  Digest.  The  folios  have  "  disgest,"  as  in/.  C.  i.  2.  305  and 
("disgested")  in  A.  and  C.  ii.  2.  179;  and  the  later  folios  have 


Scene  I]  Notes 

"disgestion"  in  Hen.  VIII.  i.  4.  62  ("digestion"  in  ist  folio). 
Both  forms  were  in  use. 

152.  The  common.  For  the  singular,  cf.  iii.  I.  29  below.  Else 
where  S.  uses  the  plural  in  this  sense  ;  as  in  ii.  I.  279,  iii.  3.  14, 
and  v.  6.  4  below.  For  weal,  see  on  ii.  I.  58  below. 

156.    Assembly.     A  quadrisyllable  ;   as  in  Much  Ado,  v.  4.  34. 

1 60.  Rascal.  With  a  play  on  the  original  sense  of  the  word 
=  a  lean  or  worthless  deer  ;  as  in  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  45  and  I 
Hen.  VL  i.  2.  35.  Worst  in  blood  —  in  the  worst  condition.  For 
the  hunting  term  in  Mood  (=  in  health  or  good  condition),  cf. 
iv.  5.  223  below.  See  also  L.  L.  L.  iv.  f .  4  :  "  The  deer  was,  as 
you  know,  sanguis,  in  blood  ;  "  and  I  Hen.  VI.  iv.  2.  48  :  "  If  we 
be  English  deer,  be  then  in  blood,"  etc. 

164.  Must  have  bale.     Must  get  the  worst  of  it.     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  bale  "  was  antiquated  in  Shakespeare's 
time,  being  marked  as  obsolete  by  Bullokar  in  his  English  Exposi 
tor,  1616." 

165.  Dissentious.    Seditious  ;  as  in  iv.  6.  7  below. 

167.  Scabs.  For  the  play  upon  the  word,  which  was  used  as  a 
term  of  extreme  contempt,  cf.  Much  Ado,  iii.  3. 107  and  2  Hen.  IV. 
iii.  2.  296. 

173.  No  surer.  No  more  to  be  depended  on,  no  more  likely  to 
stand  the  test.  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. 

175.  Your  virtue,  etc.  "Your  virtue  is  to  speak  well  of  him 
whom  his  own  offences  have  subjected  to  justice  ;  and  to  rail  at 
those  laws  by  which  he  whom  you  praise  was  punished  "  (John 
son). 


224  Notes  [Act  I 

178.   Affections.     See  on  105  above. 

185.  Vile.  The  early  eds.  have  "vild,"  as  in  sundry  other 
passages.  The  word  was  often  so  spelt. 

188.  Which.     Who  ;   as  often.     Cf.  v.  i.  2  below. 

189.  What's  their  seeking?    The    question    is    addressed    to 
Menenius.     "The  answer   is,  Their  seeking,  or   suit  (to  use  the 
language  of  the  time),  is  for  corn  "  (Malone). 

192.    Fire.     A  dissyllable. 

194.  Side.  Take  sides  with,  join.  S.  uses  the  verb  only  here 
and  in  iv.  2.  2  below,  where  it  is  intransitive. 

196.  Feebling.     The  Verb  occurs  again  in  K.  John,  v.  2.  146  : 
"  Shall  that  victorious  hand  be  feebled  here  ? " 

197.  Below  their  cobbled  shoes.     Treading  them  under  foot. 

198.  Ruth.     Pity.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  4.  106,  T.  and  C.  v.  3.  48, 
etc. 

199.  Quarry.     A  heap  of  slaughtered  game.     Cf.  Macb.  iv.  3. 
206  and  Ham.  v.    2.    375.     Bullokar,    in   his   English   Expositor, 
1 61 6,  says  the  word  "  signifieth  the  reward  given  to  hounds  after 
they  have  hunted,  or  the  venison  which  is  taken  in  hunting." 

200.  Quartered.     Cf./.  C.  iii.  I.  268  :  "Their  infants  quarter'd 
with  the  hands  of  war  ;  "    and    I   Hen.   VI.    iv.  2.    1 1  :    "  Lean 
famine,  quartering   steel,  and   climbing  fire."     The  word  here  is 
"proleptic." 

201.  Pick.     Pitch.     Toilet  remarks  that  in  Staffordshire  "they 
say,  picke  me  such  a  thing,  that  is,  pitch  or  throw  anything  that  the 
demander  wants."    Cf.  Hen.  VIII.  v.  4.  94  :  "I  '11  pick  ["  peck  "  in 
folio]  you  o'er  the  pales  else." 

203.  Abundantly  they  lack  discretion.  Cf.  Ham.  ii.  2.  202  :  "  a 
plentiful  lack  of  wit." 

206.  An-hungry.  Perhaps,  as  Schmidt  suggests,  used  in  imita 
tion  of  the  rustic  language  of  the  plebeians.  Elsewhere  we  find 
a-hungry  in  the  mouth  of  Slender  (M.  W.  \.  I.  280)  and  Sir 
Andrew  Aguecheek  (T.  N.  ii.  3.  136).  Cf.  Matthew,  iv.  2. 

Proverbs.     Wright  quotes  Trench,  Proverbs:   "In  a   fastidious 


Scene  I]  Notes 


age,  indeed,  and  one  of  false  refinement,  they  may  go  nearly  or 
quite  out  of  use  among  the  so-called  upper  classes.  No  gentle 
man,  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." 

212.  To  break  the  heart  of  generosity.  "To  give  the  final  blow 
to  the  nobles.  Generosity  is  high  birth  "  (Johnson).  Steevens  com 
pares  generous  in  Af.  for  M.  iv.  6.  13  :  '*  The  generous  and  gravest 
citizens."  Verplanck  thinks  that  the  word  may  have  its  ordinary 
sense  of  "  bounty,  liberality." 

214.  The  horns  o*  the  moon.     Cf.  A.  and  C.  iv.  12.  45  :  "  Let  me 
lodge  Lichas  on  the  horns  o'  the  moon."     Wright  adds  Heywood, 
Silver  Age  :  "  hang'd  upon  the  high  horns  of  the  moon."     As  —  as 
if;  as  in  i.  6.  22  and  iv.  6.  102  below. 

215.  Emulation.     Envy,  or  envious  contention  ;  as  in  T.andC. 
13.134:  — 

"  An  envious  fever 
Of  pale  and  bloodless  emulation,"  etc. 

218.  'Sdeath!  "Contracted  from  'God's  death  !'  a  favourite 
oath  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  as  "Swounds'  or  'zounds'  from  'God's 
wounds,'  to  avoid  the  penalties  of  Acts  of  Parliament  against  pro 
fanity"  (Wright)  ;  but  even  these  contractions  are  often  omitted 
in  the  folio. 

221.    Win  upon.    Gain  upon,  get  the  better  of. 

223.  Fragments.  For  the  contemptuous  personal  use,  cf.  T.  and 
C.  v.  I.  9  :  "  From  whence,  fragment  ?  " 

226.    Vent.     Find  a  vent  for,  get  rid  of.     Cf.  iii.  I.  258  below. 

228.  Told.  Probably  here  =  "  foretold,  said  would  happen  " 
(Clarke),  as  Coriolanus  has  but  just  heard  from  the  messenger  that 
the  Volsces  are  actually  in  arms. 

CORIOLANUS  —  15 


226  Notes  [Act  i 

230.  Put  you  to  V.  Put  you  to  the  test,  try  you  hard.  Cf.  W.  T. 
u  2.16:  — 

"  We  are  tougher,  brother, 
Than  you  can  put  us  to 't." 

233.  You  have  fought  together.  The  folios  make  this  a  question, 
and  some  retain  that  pointing.  But  just  below  (241)  Marcius  re 
fers  to  having  fought  with  him  before,  and  Cominius  must  have 
known  of  it.  Besides,  if  this  were  a  question,  Marcius  would  nat 
urally  have  answered  it.  Only  he  =  only  him.  Such  confusion 
of  the  cases  of  pronouns  is  common  in  S. 

236.  Only  my  "wars  with  him.  My  wars  only  with  him;  a 
common  transposition. 

240.  Constant.  "  Immovable  in  my  resolution  "  (Steevens).  Cf. 
v.  2.  89  below :  "  You  keep  a  constant  temper." 

242.  Stiff?  Some  explain  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  ?  " 

246.  Lead  you  on.  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  is  addressed  to 
Cominius,  as  the  Cambridge  editors  take  it,  or  to  the  senators,  as 
generally  understood  ;  but  I  incline  to  the  latter  view.  The  Cam 
bridge  ed.  prints  the  passage  thus :  — 

41  Tit.        [70  ComJ]  Lead  you  on. 
[  To  Mar.]  Follow  Cominius ;  we  must  follow  you ; 
Right  worthy  you  priority." 

This  gives  the  precedence  to  Cominius,  as  general-in-chief,  and 
allots  the  next  place  to  Marcius;  but  Lead  you  on  seems  rather 
to  be  a  reply  to  the  senator,  who  has  just  spoken.  He  then  bids 
Cominius  follow  the  senator,  and  says  we  (that  is,  Marcius  and  I) 
must  follow  you,  for  you  are  right  worthy  of  the  precedence. 
248.  Noble  Marcius!  Theobald  changed  Marcius  to  "Lar- 


Scene  I]  .    Notes  2 27 

tius ;  "  but  I  think,  with  Clarke,  that  "  it  is  Cominius's  sentence  of 
courtesy  to  Coriolanus  (intended  probably  to  be  accompanied  by 
an  inclination  of  the  head)  in  passing  to  go  before  him,  according 
to  the  appointed  priority.  It,  as  it  were,  acknowledges  the  speak 
er'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. 

251.  Mutiners.     In  Temp.  iii.  2.  40,  we  find  "mutineer ;"  like 
this,  the  only  instance  of  the  word  in  S.     Cf.  enginer,  pioner,  etc. 

252.  Puts  well  forth.      "Displays  itself  well;  the  blossoms  of 
your  valour  promise  goodly  fruit "  (Wright) ;  sarcastic,  of  course. 

257.  Gird.    Gibe,  jeer;  as  in  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  2.  7:  "Men  of  all 
sorts  take  a  pride  to  gird  at  me." 

258.  The  modest  moon.    The  chaste  Diana.     Cf.  v.  3.  65  below, 
where  Valeria  is  called  "  the  moon  of  Rome."     See  also  M.  of  V. 
v.  I.  109:  "the  moon  sleeps  with  Endymion,"  etc. 

259.  The  present  -wars,  etc.     We  take  this  to  be  the  expression 
of  a  wish,  as  Hanmer  makes  it.     Some  explain  it  as  an  assertion  = 
"the  present  wars  eat  up  his  gentler  qualities  "  (Steevens),  or  "the 
wars  absorb  him  wholly"   (Clarke).     Schmidt   makes   devour  =. 
destroy. 

260.  To  be  so  valiant.     Of  being  so  valiant. 

265.    Whom.     For  who   "personifying  irrational  antecedents," 
cf.  iii.  2.  119  below. 

269.  Giddy  censure.    Inconsiderate  judgment  or  opinion.     For 
censure,  cf.  Macb.  v.  4.  14,  Ham.  i.  3.  69,  i.  4.  35,  iii.  2.  30,  92,  etc. 

270.  Cry  out  of.     Cf.  Hen.  V.  ii.  3.  29:  "They  say  he  cried  out 
of  sack."     Of=  concerning  ;  as  often. 

271.  Had  borne  the  business  !    Cf.  i.  6.  82  below. 

272.  Opinion.      Public  opinion ;    as  in  I  Hen.  IV.  iii.  2.  42 : 
"  Opinion,  that  did  help  me  to  the  crown,"  etc.     Sticks  on  =  is 
fixed  on ;  perhaps  "  like  an  ornament "  (Wright).     Cf.  2  Hen.  IV. 
ii.  3.  18:  — 


228  Notes  [Act  I 

"  There  were  two  honours  lost,  yours  and  your  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." 

273.  Demerits.     Merits  ;   as  in  Oth.  i.  2.  22 :  — 

"  My  demerits 

May  speak  unbonneted  to  as  proud  a  fortune 
As  this  that  I  have  reach'd." 

274.  Are  to.     Will  ba  assigned  to,  or  awarded  to. 

279.  More  than  his  singularity,  etc.  "  We  will  learn  what  he  is 
to  do  besides  going  himself ;  what  are  his  powers  and  what  is  his 
appointment "  (Johnson).  But,  as  Steevens  suggests,  singularity 
"implies  a  sarcasm  on  Coriolanus,  and  the  speaker  means  to  say, 
after  what  fashion,  beside  that  in  which  his  own  singularity  of  dispo 
sition  invests  him,  he  goes  to  the  field." 

SCENE  II.  —  2.  Entered  in.  Have  penetrated  into,  have  got  at 
the  secret  of.  In  =  into  ;  as  often. 

4.  What  ever  have  been  thought  on,  etc.  The  reading  of  the  ist 
folio  ;  the  later  folios  change  have  to  "  hath."  What  seems  to  be 
plural,  referring  to  the  preceding  counsels.  For  on  =  of,  cf.  i.  I.  12 
above. 

6.  Circumvention  ?  The  means  for  circumventing  us  (through 
knowledge  of  our  designs). 

9.  Power.  Force,  army  ;  both  the  singular  and  the  plural  being 
used  in  this  sense,  like  force  and  forces.  Cf.  32  and  iv.  5.  125  be 
low.  For  press"1 >or=  impressed,  levied,  cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  58,  I  Hen. 
IV.  iv.  2.  1 6,  22,  40,  etc. 

13.  Of.  For  of  with  the  agent,  cf.  ii.  I.  24,  ii.  2.  3,  and  ii.  3.  1 8 
below. 

15.  Preparation.  Force  ready  for  action  ;  as  in  Oth.  i.  3.  14 
(cf.  221)  :  "The  Turkish  preparation  makes  for  Rhodes,"  etc. 

1 8.  Made  doubt.  Cf.  v.  4.  48  below.  See  also  T.  G.  of  V.  v.  2. 
20,  L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  101,  etc. 


Scene  III]  Notes  229 

19.    To  answer  us.     To  meet  us  in  combat.     Cf.  i.  4.  52  below. 
See  also  the  play  upon  the  word  in/.  C.  v.  I.  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.  iv.  4.  588,  A.  and  C.  i.  I.  23,  iii.  7.  24,  iii.  13.  83,  etc. 

Ere  almost.  Almost  before.  For  the  transpositiun,  cf.  i.  I.  236 
above.  It  is  common  with  "  adverbs  of  limitation,"  like  almost, 
only,  yet,  etc. 

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  unyielding  heart;"  and  R.  and  J.  v.  3.  237  :  "to 
remove  that  siege  of  grief  from  her."  Some  make  it  =  "  their 
removal." 

32.   Parcels.     Parts  ;  as  in  iv.  5.  229  below.     Cf.  I   Hen.  IV.  iii. 

2.  159  :  "Ere  break  the  smallest  parcel  of  this  vow,"  etc.     Some 
times  it  is  =  party  ;   as  in  L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  160  :  "A  holy  parcel  of  the 
fairest  dames."     See  also  M.  of  V.  i.  2.  119  and  A.  W.  ii.  3.  58. 

SCENE  III.  —  Enter,  etc.  The  stage-direction  in  the  folio  reads  : 
"  Enter  Volumnia  and  Virgilia,  mother  and  wife  to  Martius  :  Thev 
set  them  downe  on  two  lowe  stooles  and  sowe" 

4.    Embracements.     Used  by  S.  oftener  than  embraces. 

7.   Pluck' J.     Drew,  attracted.     A  favourite  word  with  S.     Cf.  i. 

3.  7,  ii.  2.  33,  ii.  3.  197,  iii.  i.  309,  iii.  3.  96,  iv.  3.  24,  etc.,  below. 
12.    To  hang  by  the  wall.     Cf.  Cymb.  iii.  4.  54:  "I  am  richer 

than  to  hang  by  the  walls  ;"  and  M.for  M.  \.  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." 

15.  Bound  with  oak.  "  The  crown  given  by  the  Romans  to  him 
that  saved  the  life  of  a  citizen,  which  was  accounted  more  honoura- 


230  Notes  [Act  i 

ble  than  any  other"  (Johnson).  Coriolanus  had  won  this  crown 
at  the  battle  of  Lake  Regillus.  See  North,  p.  182  above. 

17.  Man-child.  Cf.  Macb.  i.  7.  72  :  "Bring  forth  men-children 
only."  See  also  Revelation,  xii.  5. 

25.   Had  rather.     Good  English  still,  like  had  as  lief,  etc. 

29.  Beseech  you.  I  beseech  you.  Cf.  ii.  3.  105,  iii.  i.  149,  and  iv. 
4.  10  below. 

To  retire  myself.  For  the  reflexive  use,  cf.  Rich.  II.  iv.  I.  96, 
and  for  the  transitive  use,  Id.  ii.  2.  46. 

31.   Hither.     Even  here. 

33.  From  a  bear.  A  "  construction  according  to  sense,"  as  if 
fleeing  had  been  used  for  shunning  (Wright). 

45.  At  Grecian  sword,  contemning.  The  1st  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"  which 
some  eds.  follow.  The  emendation  in  the  text  seems  to  me  the  best 
that  has  been  suggested,  and  is  adopted  by  the  Cambridge  editors 
and  most  of  the  recent  ones. 

47.  Bless  my  lord  from.  That  is,  preserve  him  from.  Cf.  Rich. 
III.  iii.  3.  5  :  "  God  bless  the  prince  from  all  the  pack  of  you !  " 
where  the  quartos  have  "  keep  "  for  bless. 

53.  Manifest  housekeepers.  Evidently  stayers  at  home.  S.  uses 
housekeeper  elsewhere  only  in  Macb.  iii.  I.  97,  where  it  means  a 
watch-dog,  and  in  the  Clown's  talk  in  T.  N.  iv.  2.  10,  where  its 
exact  meaning  is  rather  doubtful ;  but  cf.  keep  house  in  Cymb.  iii. 
3.  i :  "A  goodly  day  not  to  keep  house "  (that  is,  for  not  staying 
in  the  house),  etc. 

55.  Spot.  Figure,  pattern ;  referring  to  the  embroidery  she  is 
sewing  upon.  Schmidt  compares  Oth.  iii.  3.  435,  where  "spotted 
with  strawberries  "  is  =  embroidered  with  that  pattern. 

60.  O1   my  troth.     Equivalent  to  o'  my  word  just  before.     Cf. 
troth  =  truth,  in  iv.  5.  197  below. 

61.  Has.    For  the  ellipsis,  cf.  ii.  2.  15,  iii.  i.  161,  162  below. 


Scene  III]  Notes 

The  folios  print  "  ha's  "  or  "  h'as."  Confirmed  —  determined,  reso 
lute.  Cf.  Much  Ado,  v.  4.  1 7,  where  confirmed  countenance  =  steady 
face. 

65.  Catched.  Elsewhere  S.  has  caught  for  the  past  tense,  as  just 
above ;  but  he  uses  catched  for  the  participle  in  L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  69, 
A.  W.  i.  3.  1 76,  and  /*.  a nd  J.  iv.  5.  48. 

67.  Mammocked.     Tore  it  in  pieces ;  used  by  S.  nowhere  else. 
Wright  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  Suffolk   Words  and  Phrases,  gives  "  Mammuck.     To  cut  and 
hack  victuals  wastefully." 

68.  On  's.     Of  his  ;  as  in  ii.  I.  198  and  ii.  2.  81  below. 

69.  La.    The  use  of  this  expletive  was  one  of  the  little  colloqui 
alisms  of  the  time.     We  find  it  in  addresses  ;  as  "  la  you  "  in  T.  N. 
iii.  4.  in,  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.  108  :  "  Surely,  I  think -you  have  charms,  la! 
yes,  in  truth,"  etc.     See  also  95  below. 

70.  Crack.     Boy;    slightly  contemptuous,  and   used   to  qualify 
the  preceding  compliment.     The  word  occurs  again  in  2  Hen.  IV. 
iii.  2.  34. 

71.  Stitchery.     Stitching,  needlework  ;  used  by  S.  only  here. 

72.  Huswife.    The  usual  spelling  in  the  early  eds.,  indicating 
the  pronunciation.     The  folio  has  "  housewife  "  only  in  A.  Y.  L. 
i.  2.  33,  Hen.   VIII.  iii.  I.  24,  and  Oth.  i.  3.  273;  and  "house 
wifery"  (which  is  found  in  the  quarto  of  Oth.  ii.  I.  113)  not  at  all. 

78.  Wars.  The  plural  for  the  singular  ;  as  often.  Cf.  i.  I.  236, 
259  above,  and  106,  etc.,  below.  See  also  on  iv.  5.  246  below. 

87.   Penelope.     The  poet's  one  allusion  to  the  wife  of  Ulysses. 

89.  Fill  Ithaca  full  of  moths.  By  furnishing  them  food.  As  the 
word  moths  was  pronounced  motts,  Herford  suspects  "  a  play  upon 


232  Notes  [Act  i 

the  cant  meaning  '  lovers,'  a  sense  still  current  in  Ireland ;  "  but 
this  is  extremely  improbable. 

90.  Sensible.  Sensitive.  Cf.  Temp.  ii.  I.  174  :  "  Sensible  and 
nimble  lungs  ;  "  C.  of  E.  iv.  4.  27  :  "  Sensible  in  nothing  but 
blows,"  etc. 

106.   Nothing.     Nowise,  not  at  all ;   as  very  often. 

112.  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. 

Our  better  mirth.  "  Our  mirth,  which  would  be  greater  without 
her  company"  (Schmidt).  For  this  "proleptic"  use  of  the  ad 
jective,  cf.  i.  i.  200  above  ;  also  Macb.  i.  6.  3,  iii.  4.  761,  etc. 

115.  Solemness.  Soberness  ;  the  only  instance  of  the  word  in  S. 
Solemnity  he  uses  in  the  sense  of  ceremony  (especially  of  nuptials) 
or  festivity  ;  the  only  exception  being  I  Hen.  IV.  iii.  2.  59,  where 
it  is  =  stateliness,  dignity. 

117.  At  a  word.  In  a  word,  in  short.  Cf.  Much  Ado,  ii.  I.  119, 
/.  C.  i.  2.  266,  etc. 

SCENE  IV.  —  7.    Summon  the  town.    That  is,  to  surrender. 

8.  This  mile  and  half.     "  The  two  last  words,  which  disturb  the 
measure,  should  be  omitted  ;   as  we  are  told  [in  i.  6.  16]  that  "t  is 
not  a  mile  '  between  the  two  armies"  (Steevens). 

9.  Larum.     Commonly  printed  "  'larum,"  but  not  in  the  early 
eds.,  here  or  elsewhere. 

11.  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.  84.     For 
the  division  of  the  Roman  army  under  Cominius,  cf.  i.  3.  103  above. 

14.  l^hat  fears  you  less  than  he.  Johnson  would  change  less  to 
"  more,"  or  that  to  "  but ;  "  and  Malone  remarks  that  S.  almost 
always  "  entangles  himself "  in  using  less  and  more.  For  such 
peculiar  "  double  negatives,"  see  Schmidt,  p.  1420.  Clarke,  how 


Scene  IV]  Notes  2JJ 

ever,  doubts  whether  the  present  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  up.  Shut  us  up  as  in  a  pound.  Cf.  T.  G.  of  V. 
i.  i.  1 10  :  "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.  i.  !„  164, 
K.  and  J.  i.  i.  126,  A.  and  C.  iv.  10.  7,  etc. 

25.  More  proof.  Of  belter  proof,  or  resisting  power  ;  a  techni 
cal  term  with  regard  to  armour.  Cf.  Rich.  II.  i.  3.  73  :  "Add 
proof  unto  mine  armour  with  thy  prayers  ;  "  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"  (A\  and  J.  i.  4.   103),  "the  spongy  south"  (Cymb.  iv.  2. 
349),  the  "  foggy  south,  puffing  with  wind  and  rain"  (A.  Y.  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  him  !  "     See  also  ii.  3. 
30-35  below.     This  is  all  much  against  the  reading  "  sweet  south  " 
for  sweet  sound  in  T.  N.'\.i.  5. 

31.  You  herd  of — Boils,  etc.     In  the  1st  folio  this  reads:  — 

"  You  Shames  of  Rome:  you  Heard  of  Byles  and  Plagues 
Plaister  you  o'er,"  etc. 

Johnson  was  the  first  to  correct  the  pointing,  and  make  the  pas 
sage  intelligible.  As  Malone  notes,  Coriolanus  is  equally  impetu 
ous  and  abrupt  in  i.  I.  218  above.  Boil  is  spelt  "  byle  "  or  "bile" 
in  all  the  early  eds.  here,  as  in  Lear,  ii.  4.  226,  indicating  the  pro 
nunciation  still  current  among  the  illiterate. 


234  Notes  [Act  I 

38.  Agued  fear.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  190:    "This   ague-fit  of 
fear."     See  also  M.  of  V.  i.  I.  23.     For  agued,  cf.  12  above. 

39.  The  fires  of  heaven.     The  stars,  "  the  stelled  fires  "  of  Lear, 
iii.  7.  61. 

43.  £>/<?.     "Never  joined  to  a  noun  attributively"  (Schmidt). 
Cf.  iii.  i.  138  below. 

44.  ^T  is  for  the  followers,  etc.     This  is  from  North.    See  p.  186 
above. 

47.  To  the  pot.  A  vulgar  metaphor  still  current.  Staunton 
quotes  from  Peele's  Edward  I. :  "  For  goes  this  wretch,  this  trai 
tor,  to  the  pot ;  "  and  Webster's  White  Devil:  "  They  go  to  the 
pot  for  't." 

52.  Answer.     See  on  i.  2.  19  above. 

53.  Sensibly.       Though     endowed    with     feeling.       Whitelaw 
("Rugby"    ed.)    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  ar 
mour." 

54-56.  The  1st  folio  reads  thus :  — 

"  Thou  art  left  Martins ; 
A  Carbuncle  intire :  as  big  as  thou  art 
Weare  not  so  rich  a  Jewell. " 

Lost  for  "  left "  is  Collier's  emendation,  adopted  by  many  editors. 
The  compositor  probably  mistook  the  long  s  in  the  MS.  for  / 
"  Left "  makes  sense  indeed,  but  it  does  not  suit  the  context.  On 
the  passage,  Malone  compares  Oth.  v.  2.  145. 

57.  Gate's.  Cf.  North,  p.  185  above.  To  =  according  to;  as 
in  ii.  i.  259  and  ii.  3.  162  below.  Cf.  M.  W.  iv.  6.  12:  "Even  to 
my  wish." 

60.  As  if  the  world,  etc.     Cf.  Macb.  ii.  3.  66:  — 


Scene  V]  Notes  2J5 

"  Some  say  the  earth 
Was  feverous  and  did  shake." 

62.   Remain.     For  the  noun,  cf.  Cymb.  iii.  I.  87:  "All  the  re- 
main  is  '  welcome ! ' " 


SCENE  V.  —  3.  Murrain.  For  the  use  of  the  word  in  impreca 
tions,  cf.  Temp.  iii.  2.  88  and  T.  and  C.  ii.  I.  20. 

4.  Enter  .  .  .  -with  a  trumpet.     That  is,  a  trumpeter.     Cf.  Hen. 
V.  iv.  2.  61 :  "I  will  the  banner  from  a  trumpet  take."     See  also 
T.  and  C.  iv.  5.  6,  etc. 

These  movers.  Ironically  =  "loafers"  —  the  loiterers  for  plun 
der.  The  word  is  used  without  the  touch  of  contempt  in  V.  and 
A.  368:  **O  fairest  mover  on  this  mortal  round!"  Their  hours 
—  their  time.  Cf.  North,  p.  186  above. 

5.  Drachma!    The   ist   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  un- 
current  gold,  be  not  cracked  within  the  ring."     Such  coins  were 
uncurrent. 

6.  Of  a  doit.     Worth  only  a  doit,  the  smallest  of  coins,  a  com 
mon  metaphor  for  a  trifle.     Cf.  iv.  4.  17  and  v.  4.  59  below. 

7.  Bury.     Instead   of    taking   them   as  their   perquisite ;    the 
hangman  being  entitled  to  the  clothes  of  the  criminal.     For  the 
transfer  of  the  English  doublet  to  Rome,  cf.  /.  C.  i.  2.  267 :  "  he 
plucked  me  ope  his  doublet,"  etc. 

1 2.  Make  good.  Hold,  keep  possession  of.  "  In  this  sense  the 
words  are  never  separated  by  the  object"  (Schmidt).  Cf.  Cymb. 
v.  3.  23 :  "  Made  good  the  passage,"  etc. 

1 8.  Physical.  Like  physic,  wholesome,  salutary.  Cf.  the  only 
other  instance  of  the  word  in  S.,/.  C.  ii.  I.  261 :  — 

"  Is  Brutus  sick  ?  and  is  it  physical 
To  walk  unbraced  and  suck  up  the  humours 
Of  the  dank  morning  ?  " 


23  6  Notes  [Act  i 

24.    Than  those,  etc.     That  is,  than  she  is  the  friend  of  those,  etc. 

26.  Go  sound,  etc.     As  Wright  remarks,  "  the  comma  after  Go, 
which  has  been  inserted  in  most  modern  editions  [his  own  Cam 
bridge  ed.  included],  has  no  right  to  be  there."     The  sound  is 
really  the  infinitive,  like  many  verbs  after  go.     This  is  more  evi 
dent  when  the  go  is  not  imperative  ;   as  in  T.  G.  of  V.  i.  I.  159: 
"I  must  go  send  some  better  messenger  ;  "  Id.  ii.  7.  19:  "Thou 
wouldst  as  soon  go  kindle  fire  with  snow,"  etc. 

SCENE  VI.  —  Enter  .  .  .  as  it  were  in  retire.  The  reading  of 
the  folio.  For  the  noun  retire  —  retreat,  cf.  3  just  below. 

2.  Stands.  That  is,  when  we  "made  the  stand,"  as  it  is  ex 
pressed  in  Cymb.  v.  3.  I. 

4.     Whiles.     Used  interchangeably  with  -while  and  -whilst. 

6.  Ye.  The  folios  all  have  "  The  ;  "  corrected  by  Hanmer. 
Wright  retains  "The,"  comparing  ii.  3.  57  and  iv.  I.  37  (not 
parallel  cases,  being  mere  exclamations)  with  Lear,  i.  i.  271,  J.  C. 
v-  3-  99>  etc-j  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. 

1 6.  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. 
1 06,  etc. 

17.  Confound.     Waste,    spend.      Cf.     I    Hen.   IV.    i.  3.   100  : 
"  confound  the  best  part  of  an  hour,"  etc. 

22.    As.     As  if.     See  on  i.  i.  214  above. 

27.  From  every  meaner  man.     For  the  omission  of  the  posses 
sive  inflection,  cf.  A.  W,  iii.  i.  6:  — 

"  Holy  seems  the  quarrel 
Upon  your  grace's  part  ;  black  and  fearful 
On  the  opposer." 

Wright  compares  Esther,  iii.  8. 

29.    Clip.     Embrace  ;   as  in  iv.  5.  115  below. 

32.    To  btdward.   Toward  bed,  for  bed.     For   the   division   of 


Scene  VI]  Notes  237 

toward,  cf.  Psalms,  xlv.  5  and  Exodus,  xxxvii.  9.  See  also  I  Hen. 
VI.  iii.  3.  30  :  "  Their  powers  are  marching  unto  1'arisward." 
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. 

36.  Him.     For  the   antithesis   to   other,   cf.    ftlacb.  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.  \.  3.  278,  /.  C. 
iii.  I.  273,  etc. 

42.  Inform  the  truth.  Give  true  information.  Cf.  A.  IV.  iv. 
I.9IS  — 

11  Haply  th'ou  mayst  inform 
Something  to  save  thy  life." 

But  for  our  gentlemen.  But  had  it  not  been  fur  our  gentlemen. 
He  was  going  to  say,  "  But  for  the  gentlemen,  the  cowardice  of  the 
common  file  had  lost  the  day."  Some  take  for  as  =  as  for  (see 
on  i.  I.  67  above)  and  gentlemen  as  ironically  =  the  common  file. 
This  may  be  the  better  explanation. 

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  absolute  use  is  peculiar,  and  "it"  or  «'t" 
may  have  dropped  out.  Rowe  prints  "  think — ." 

51.  Battle?  Army.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  iv.  prol.  9  :  "  Each  battle  sees 
the  other's  umber' d  face."  Cf.  p.  188  above. 

53.  Vaward.  Vanguard.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  iv.  3.  130:  "The  lead 
ing  of  the  vaward."  Cf.  p.  187  above. 

55.  Their  very  heart  of  hope.  Cf.  A.  and  C.  iv.  12.  29  :  "the 
very  heart  of  loss  ;  "  T.  of  A.  i.  I.  286  :  "The  very  heart  of  kind- 
ness,"  etc.  "  The  soul  of  hope"  occurs  in  I  Hen.  IV.  iv.  i.  50. 


238  Notes  [Act  I 

Malone  cites  Lust's  Dominion  :  "  thrust  quite  through  the  heart 
of  hope." 

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  not,  cf.  Temp.  ii.  1. 1 21 : 
"  I  not  doubt,"  etc.     On  the  present,  cf.  iii.  3.  42  below. 

61.  Advanced.     Raised,  uplifted  ;   as  often.     Cf.  ii.  1. 174  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  ^/^  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  wilh  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  (=  fearer), 
cf.  i.  7.  5  below. 

73.  So  many  so  minded.     As  many  as  are  so  minded. 

74.  Disposition.     Metrically  five  syllables. 

76.  O,  me  alone !  The  folios  read,  "  Oh  me  alone,  make  you 
a  sword  of  me."  The  line  has  been  variously  explained  and 
emended.  Wright  interprets  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  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  alone,  or  so 
many  so  minded,  wave  thus  ;  '  and,  seeing  them  all  wave  their 
swords  in  reply  and  then  take  himself  up  in  their  arms,  which 


Scene  VIII]  Notes  239 

leaves  him  solely  waving  his  sword,  he  rapturously  exclaims  :  •  Oh, 
Jake  me  alone  for  weapon  among  you  all!  make  yourselves  a 
sword  of  me  ! ' "  Of  the  emendations  the  most  plausible  is  Collier's 
"  Of  me  alone  !  "  especially  if  we  put  it  "  O'  me  alone !  "  but  possi 
bly  we  might  get  the  same  meaning  out  of  the  original  reading  : 
"  What,  me  alone  !  do  you  make  me  your  sword  ?  " 

82.  Bear  die  business.     Cf.  i.  I.  271  above. 

83.  As  cause  will  be  obey'd.     As  occasion  shall  require.     Cf.  ii. 
3.  199  below. 

84.  Four.    The  word  has  been  suspected,  but  perhaps  without 
sufficient  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  pro 
poses  to  have  this  choice  made  while  the  army  is  marching  for 
ward  "  (Mason). 

87.    With  us.    That  is,  with  the  generals. 

SCENE  VII. —  I.  Ports.    Gates ;  as  in  v.  6.  6  below. 

3.  Centuries.     Companies  of  a  hundred  ;  as  in  Lear,  iv.  4.  6  : 
"  A  century  send  forth." 

5.  Fear  not.  Fear  not  for,  be  not  anxious  about  See  on  i.  6. 
69  above. 

SCENE  VIII.  —  3.  AJrie.  Africa;  as  in  Temp.  ii.  i.  69  and 
Cymb.  i.  i.  167.  It  is  used  adjectively  in  T.  and  C.  i.  3.  370. 
Africa  occurs  only  in  2  Hen.  IV.  v.  3.  104. 

4.  Thy  fame  and  envy.     Perhaps  =  "  thy   detested   or  odious 
fame,"  as  Steevens  explains  it  (for   envy  —  hatred,  cf.   iv.  5.   80, 
109)  ;   or  the  meaning  may  be  "  thy  fame  and  hatred  of  me."     Cf. 
North,  p.  203  above  :    "Tullus  did  more  malice  and  envy  him." 

5.  Budger.    Cf.  the  verb  in  i.  6.  44  above. 

8.  Corioli  walls.  Cf.  ii.  I.  176  below  :  "Corioli  gates;  "  and 
Hi.  3.  104  :  "  Rome  gates." 

ii.    Wrench  up,  etc.    Cf.  the  figure  in  Macb.  i.  7.  60  :  "But 


240  Notes  [Act  i 

screw  your  courage  to  the  sticking-place."     See  also  7\  N.  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  bragged  progeny.  That  is,  the  whip  with 
which  your  boasted  ancestors  scourged  their  enemies.  For  prog 
eny  —  race,  cf.  I  Hen.  VI.  v.  4.  38 :  "  issued  from  a  progeny  of 
kings." 

14.  Officious,  etc.     "Aufidius  reproaches  the  Volsces  for  med 
dling  between  him  and  Coriolanus,  and  by  their  cowardice  putting 
him  to  the  shame  of  being  beaten  with  the  advantage  of  numbers 
on  his  side.     Condemned  probably  takes  the  place  of  a   stronger 
word"  (Wright). 

15.  For  seconds,  cf.  i.  4.  43  above. 

SCENE  IX.  —  I.  If  I  should  tell  thee,  etc.  See  extract  from  North, 
p.  188  above. 

2.  Thou  V.  The  reading  of  the  first  three  folios,  and  = 
"  thou  'It,"  which  the  4th  folio  substitutes.  For  should  followed 
by  will,  cf.  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." 

4.  Shall  attend  and  shrug.  Listen  and  shrug  their  shoulders 
incredulously. 

6.  Quattd.  Made  to  quake,  or  quaking.  Steeven?  quotes 
Hey  wood,  Silver  Age,  1613  :  — 

"  We  '11  quake  them  at  that  bar 
Where  all  souls  stmd  for  sentence." 


Scene  IX]  Notes  24! 

7.  Plebeians.  Accented  on  the  first  syllable,  as  in  v.  4.  38  be 
low,  and  probably  also  in  iii.  I.  101  ;  but  the  modern  accent  occurs 
in  Hen.  V.  v.  chor.  27  and  T.  A.  i.  i.  231. 

10.  Yet  cam'st  thou,  etc.  "  Yet  what  I  have  seen  here  and  praise 
was  but  a  morsel  compared  with  thy  full  feast  yonder,  the  capture 
of  Corioli  "  (Whitelaw).  Cf.  Macb.  v.  5.  13  :  "I  have  supp'd  full 
with  horrors." 

12.  Here  is  the  steed,  tte.  Delius  remarks  that  this  comparison 
was  suggested  by  the  mention  in  Plutarch  (see  p.  189  above)  of 
"a  goodly  horse  with  a  caparison  and  all  furniture  with  him," 
given  by  Cominius  to  Coriolanus. 

14.  A  charter  to  extol  her  blood.  "  A  privilege  to  praise  her  own 
son"  (Johnson). 

17.  Country.  A  trisyllable  j  as  in  T.  N.  i.  2.  21  and  2  Hen.  VI. 
i.  i.  206. 

19.  Hath  overtaken  mine  act.  Malone  says:  "That  is,  has  clone 
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. 

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.     S.  uses  spirt 
only  here. 

26.  Not  to  reivard,  etc.     Cf.  Macb.  i.  3.  1 02  :  — 
CORIOLANUS — 1 6 


242  Notes  [Act  i 

"  Only  to  herald  thee  into  his  sight, 
Not  pay  thee." 

29.  Should  they  not.     That  is,  not  be  remembered. 

30.  Well  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."     For  tent  =  probe,  cf. 
Ham.  ii.  2.  626 :  "  I  '11  tent  him  to  the  quick,"  etc. 

31.  Of  all  the  horses.     Cf.  the  extract  from  North,  p.  188  above. 

32.  Good  and  good  store.     Good  ones  and  a  good  many  of  them. 
The  expression  occurs  also  in  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  3.  131. 

33.  Achieved.     Gained,  won  ;  as  often.     Cf.  T.  G.  of  V.  i.  3.  32 : 
"  Experience  is  by  industry  achiev'd,"  etc.     It  is  often  used  with 
reference  to  gaining  the  love  of  a  woman ;   as  in  M.  of  V.  iii.  2. 
210,  T.  of  S.  i.  i.  161,  184,  224,  etc. 

39.  Stand  upon  my  common  part.     That  is,  to  take  my  chance 
in  the  common  distribution. 

40.  That  have  beheld  the  doing.     Those  that  were  present,  even 
though  mere  spectators  of  the  action. 

41-46.  May  these  .  .  .  the   wars !     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, 
Knight's  seems  to  me  on  the  whole  the  most  satisfactory  —  or  the 
least  unsatisfactory.  The  meaning  then  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." 


Scene  IX]  Notes  243 

It  is  a  strong  confirmation  of  this  reading  and  interpretation  that 
so  keen  a  critic  as  White  had  independently  adopted  it.  Claike 
also  has  the  same,  except  that  he  retains  the  "  when  "  in  45,  and 
I  am  not  sure  that  any  change  is  necessary  there.  The  meaning 
may  be,  as  Clarke  gives  it :  "  Let  courts  r.nd  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.  in  the  sense  of  a  musical  prelude  ;  and  Wright  thinks  that 
its  use  =  proposal,  offer  (as  in  T.  N.  i.  5.  225 :  "  I  bring  no  over 
ture  of  war  ;  "  which  Malone  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  over-* 
ture  is  used  in  any  technical  sense  ;  and  to  prevent  misunderstand 
ing,  it  would  be  better  to  avoid  the  use  of  prelude  in  paraphrasing 
the  passage,  and  to  give  it  as  White  does:  "Let  drums  and  trum 
pets  be  used  to  usher  in  war,"  etc.  That  is  really  all  that  it  means, 
and  the  expression  seems  to  me  thoroughly  Shakespearian. 

44.  For  soothing '=  flattery,  cf.  ii.  2.  73  below.  See  also  K.  John 
iii.  i.  I2i:  "thou  art  perjur'd  too,  And  soothest  up  greatness;  " 
also  soother  —  flatterer  in  I  Hen.  IV.  iv.  i.  7. 

47.  For  that.     Because.     Cf.  i.  I.  114  above,  and  iii.  3.  93  below. 

48.  Debile.     Weak  ;  as  in  A.  W.  ii.  3.  39 :  "  debile  minister." 
Cotgrave  gives  it  as  a  translation  of  the  Fr.  debile. 

49.  Here's  many,  etc.     Cf.  ii.  I.  148  below. 

55.    Give  you.     Represent  you  ;  as  in  A.  and  C.  i.  4.  40:  — 

11  and  men's  reports 
Give  him  much  wrong'd." 


244  Notes  [Act  l 

Give  out  is  often  used  in  this  sense.     See  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  i.  23,  Oth. 
iv.  i.  1 16,  etc. 

57.  His  proper  harm.  His  own  harm  ;  a  common  meaning  of 
proper. 

60.  This  war's  garland.  White-law  says  :  "The  corona  trium- 
f halts  of  laurel ;  confounded  in  ii.  i.  135  with  '  the  oaken  garland,' 
the  corona  civica; "  but  here  garland  is  probably  figurative 
(  —  honour). 

62.  With  all  his  trim  belonging.  That  is,  "  with  a  caparison,  and 
all  furniture  belonging  to  him"  (see  p.  189  above).  For  trim,  cf. 
Sonn.  98.  2 :  "  dress'd  in  all  his  trim,"  etc. 

66.   Addition.     Title.     Cf.  Macb.  i.  3.  106,  iii.  i.  100,  etc. 

68.    Go  wash.     See  on  i.  5.  26  above. 

72.  To  under  crest,  etc.  That  is,  to  wear  it  for  a  crest  as  fairly 
as  I  can  ;  "  a  phrase  from  heraldry,  signifying  that  he  would  en 
deavour  to  support  his  good  opinion  of  him"  (Warburton).  Addi 
tion  is  here  a  quadrisyllable. 

77.  The  best.  "  The  chief  men  of  Corioli"  (Johnson).  Articu 
late  =  make  articles  of  peace,  enter  into  negotiations.  The  verb  is 
transitive  in  i  Hen.  IV.  v.  i.  72. 

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  717.  W.  ii. 
i.  187,  2  Hen.  IV.  iii.  2.  299,  etc.  On  the  passage,  cf.  extract  from 
North,  p.  189  above. 

89.    Free  as  is  the  wind.     Cf.  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  Temp.  i.  2.  498 :  — 

"  Thou  shalt  be  as  free 
As  mountain  winds." 

SCENE  X.  —  4.  For  I  cannot,  etc.  Being  a  Volscian  and  van 
quished,  I  cannot  be  really  myself. 


Scene  X]  Notes  245 

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.     For  condition  in  the  latter 
sense,  cf.  ii.  3.  99  and  v.  4.  10  below. 

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  n.y 
sword." 

11.  Beard  to  beard.     Cf.  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  myself  discover  any  germ   of  possible  feeling  which 
could  wax  and  unfold  itself  into  such  a  sentiment  as  this.     However, 
I  presume  that  in  this  speech  is  meant  to  be  contained  a  prevention 
of  shock  at  the  afterchange  in  Aufidius's  character." 

Verplanck  comments  on  this  as  follows :  "  Such  a  criticism  from 
Coleridge  is  worthy  the  reader's  consideration,  but  I  cannot  myself 
perceive  its  justice.  The  varying  feelings  of  Aufidius  are  such  as 
may  be  often  observed  to  arise  in  the  contentions  of  able  and  ambi 
tious  men  for  honour  or  power,  and  are  just  such  as  would,  under 
these  circumstances,  be  natural  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  embitters  his  rivalry  to  hatred. 
When  afterwards  his  banished  rival  appeals  to  his  nobler  nature, 
that  hatred  dies  away,  and  his  generous  feeling  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  alterations  of  such  mixed  motives  and  sentiments,  in 
eminent  men,  in  the  collisions  of  political  life." 

13.  Where.     Whereas.     See  on  i.  I.  102  above. 

14.  In  an  equal  force.     On  equal  terms,  in  a  fair  fight. 


246  Notes  [Act  i 

15.  Patch.     Poke,  thrust;   used  by  S.  only  here.     Toilet  quotes 
Carew's  Survey  of  Cornwall :  "They  use  also  to  poche  them  with 
an  instrument  somewhat  like  a  salmon-speare." 

1 6.  Or  wrath   or  craft,  etc.     "By  which  my  craft,  if  not  my 
wrath,  may  get  the  upper  hand"  (Whitelaw). 

1 8.  With  only  suffering  stain  by  him.  Only  because  eclipsed 
by  his.  Cf.  V.  and  A.  g:  "  Stain  to  all  nymphs "  (that  is,  as 
Schmidt  explains,  "  by  eclipsing  them  ").  Cf.  A.  and  C.  iii.  4.  27  :  — 

"  I  '11  raise  the  preparation  of  a  war 
Shall  stain  your  brother  "  (that  is,  eclipse  him) . 

For  him,  etc.  "To  mischief  him,  my  valour  shall  deviate  from 
its  own  native  generosity  "  (Johnson). 

22.  Embarquements.  Embargoes,  restraints ;  not  found  else 
where  in  this  sense.  According  to  Cotgrave,  one  meaning  of  the 
Fr.  embarquement  is  "  an  imbarguing ;  "  and  Cole,  in  his  Latin 
Diet.,  has  "  to  imbargue,  or  lay  an  imbargo  upon." 

25.  At  home,  upon  my  brother's  guard.     In  my  own  house,  with 
my  brother  protecting  him. 

26.  The  hospitable  canon.     The  sacred  law  of  hospitality. 
28.   How 't  is  held.     That  is,  how  strongly  it  is  garrisoned. 

30.  Attended.     Waited  for.     Cf.  i.  I.  77,  246  above. 

31.  The  city  mills.     Tyrwhitt  asks,  "  Where  could  S.  have  heard 
of  these  mills  at  Antium?"     But,  as  Malone   remarks,  the  poet 
often  introduces  these  minute  local  descriptions ;    as  in  R.  and  J. 

i.  i.  128:  — 

"  underneath  the  grove  of  sycamore 
That  westward  rooteth  from  the  city's  side." 

Wright  suggests  that  S.  had  probably  London  in  his  mind.  "  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 


Scene  I]  Notes  247 

upon  the  Starlings  above  the  bridge '  would  breed  no  annoyance. 
The  « city  mills '  therefore  were  close  to  the  Globe  Theatre." 
33.  May  spur  on,  etc.     May  adopt  my  own  pace  or  course. 


ACT  II 

SCENE  I.  —  I.  Augurer.  Cf.  /.  C.  ii.  I.  200 :  "  the  persuasion  of 
his  augurers."  See  also  Id.  ii.  2.  37,  A.  and  C.  iv.  1 2. 4  ("  auguries  " 
in  the  early  eds.)  and  v.  2.  337.  Augur  occurs  only  in  Sonn.  107.  6 
and  Phccnix  and  Turtle,  7. 

8.  Pray  you,  who  does  the  wolf  love?  "  Implying  that  there  are 
beasts  which  love  nobody,  and  that  among  those  beasts  are  the 
people  "  (Johnson).  For  who  —  whom,  cf.  Macb.  iii.  i.  123 :  "  Who 
I  myself  struck  down,"  etc.  See  on  i.  I.  233  above. 

17.  In.  For  the  duplication  of  the  preposition,  cf.  A.  Y.  L.  ii. 
7.  90:  "Of  what  kind  should  this  cock  come  of,"  etc. 

24.  Censured.  Estimated,  regarded.  See  on  i.  i.  269  above. 
For  of,  see  on  i.  2.  13. 

30.   A  very  little  thief  of  occasion.     That  is,  any  trifling  occasion. 

32.  Dispositions  .  .  .  pleasures.  The  plural  is  used  because  more 
than  one  person  is  referred  to.  Cf.  iii.  i.  7  and  iv.  5.  139  below. 

39.  Single.     With  a  play  upon  the  word  in  its  sense  of  simple  or 
silly  ;   as  in  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  2.  207:   "your  chin  double,  your  wit 
single." 

40.  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  neighbour's  faults,  and  another  behind  him,  in 
which  he  stows  his  own"  (Johnson).     It  may,  however,  mean  sim 
ply  turn  your  eyes  inward;  as  the  following  interior  suggests. 

46.  Unmeriting.  That  is,  as  undeserving.  For  the  ellipsis,  cf. 
iv.  i.  53  and  iv.  5.  20  below. 

50.  Humorous.  Full  of  humours  or  whims.  Cf.  A.  Y.  L,  i.  2. 
278 :  "  The  duke  is  humorous,"  etc. 


248  Notes  [Act  n 

52.   Allaying.     Cooling,  qualifying  ;   as  in  v.  3.  85  below.     Cf. 

M.  of  V.  ii.  2.  195:  — 

"  Pray  thee,  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  Althea  from  Prison  :  — 

"  When  flowing  cups  run  swiftly  round 
With  no  allaying  Thames." 

Something  imperfect,  etc.  That  is,  somewhat  faulty  as  a  magis 
trate  in  forming  an  opinion  of  a  case  before  hearing  the  other  side. 
Wright  remarks:  "It  has  been  objected  to  this  reading  that  Me- 
nenius  would  not  speak  of  himself  in  such  depreciatory  terms,  and 
justify  the  tribunes'  attack.  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." 

54.  Motion.     Motive,  incitement;   as  in  Hen.  VIII.  i.  I.  153: 
"  from  sincere  motions." 

55.  Converses  more  with.     Is  more  conversant  with.     For  the 
figure  \\hich  follows,  Malone  compares  L.  L.  L.  v.  I.  94:  "the 
posteriors  of  the  day,  which  the  rude  multitude  call  the  afternoon." 
The  meaning  of  course  is,  as  Johnson  gives  it,  "  rather  a  late  lier 
down  than  an  early  riser." 

58.  Wealsmen.  Statesmen ;  used  by  S.  nowhere  else.  For 
weal  =  the  commonwealth,  see  ii.  3.  186  below,  and  cf.  iii.  I.  176. 
See  also  i.  I.  152  above. 

62.  When  I  find  the  ass,  etc.  That  is,  when  I  find  your  talk  so 
asinine. 

65.  Deadly.     Adjectives  in  -ly  are  often  used  adverbially. 

66.  Microcosm.     The  "little  world  of  man"  {Lear,  iii.  I.   10), 
regarded  as  the  epitome  of  the  universe  or  macrocosm.     S.  uses 
the  word  only  here. 


Scene  I]  Notes  249 

68.  Bisson  conspectuities.  Purblind  perceptions.  For  bisson 
(folio  "beesome"),  cf.  Ham.  ii.  2.  529:  "With  bisson  rheum." 
See  also  on  iii.  I.  131  below.  S.  uses  the  word  only  in  these  pas 
sages.  It  is  still  heard  in  Lincolnshire  and  Northamptonshire. 
(  onspeduities  seems  to  be  a  word  of  Menenius's  own  coining.  Cf. 
empirictU  in  125  andyW/«j^/in  141  below. 

74.  1 -or  poor  knaves'  caps  and  legs.  "That  is,  for  their  obei 
sance  shown  by  bowing  to  you.  To  make  a  leg  (A.  W.  ii.  2.  10 
and  Rich.  II.  iii.  3.  175)  was  the  phrase  in  our  author's  time  for  a 
bow,  and  it  is  still  used  in  ludicrous  language"  (Malone).  Cf. 
i  I  Jen.  IV.  ii.  4.  427:  "here  is  my  leg."  See  also  Id.  iv.  3.  168: 
"  with  cap  and  knee." 

76.  Hearing  a  cause.     Warburton  remarks :  "  It  appears  from 
this  whole  speech  that  S.  mistook  the  office  of  prcefectus  urbis  for 
the  tribune's  office."     But  he  merely  followed  North  (see  extract 
on  p.  184  above)  in  regarding  the  tribunes  as  magistrates. 

77.  A  fossct- seller.     A  seller  of  faucets,  which  is  the  common 
word  in  this  country  for  what  the  English  call  "  taps."     S.  has  it 
only  here. 

Rejourn.  Adjourn  ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  Burton,  in  his  Anat. 
of  Melan.y  has  it  in  the  sense  of  refer :  "  To  the  scriptures  them- 
s.-lves  I  rejourne  all  such  atheistical  spirits." 

81.  Mummers.  Maskers,  or  performers  in  a  masquerade  ;  an 
other  word  not  found  elsewhere  in  S. 

Set  up  the  bloody  flag.  That  is,  declare  war.  A  red  flag  was  the 
signal  fur  battle.  Cf.  /.  C.  v.  I.  14 :  "Their  bloody  sign  of  battle  is 
hung  out."  See  also  Hen.  V.\.  2.  101.  "The  famous  Dr.  Sachev- 
erell,  in  his  sermon  at  Oxford  in  1702,  on  Proverbs,  viii.  15,  de 
nounced  as  apostates  and  traitors  to  the  Church  of  England  those 
of  her  members  who  were  favourable  to  the  dissenters,  *  Against 
Whom  every  Man,  that  Wishes  Its  Welfare,  ought  to  Hang  out  the 
Bloody  Flag,  and  Banner  of  Defiance  '"  (Wright). 

83.  Bleeding.  "That  is,  without  having,  as  it  were,  dressed  and 
cured  it  "  (Schmidt).  The  figure  is  changed  in  entangled. 


250  Notes  [Act  II 

88.  Perfecter.  The  only  instance  of  the  comparative  in  S.  The 
superlative  occurs  in  Sonn.  51.  10,  Much.  Ado,  ii.  i.  317,  and  Macb. 

1.  5.  2.     Giber  (=  scoffer)  he  uses  only  here. 

95.  A  botcher  was  a  mender  of  old  clothes.  Cf.  T.  N.  i.  5.  51 
and  A.  W.  iv.  3.  211.  For  hair  used  for  stuffing,  cf.  Much  Ado,  iii. 

2.  47,  where  Benedick's  whiskers  are  said  to  have  "  stuffed  tennis 
balls." 

98.  Since  Deucalion.  That  is,  "  since  the  great  flood  "  (/.  C.  i. 
2.  152).  The  Greek  Noah  is  mentioned  again  in  W.  T.  iv.  4.  442. 

100.  God-den.  Good  even.  Cf.  iv.  6.  21,  22  below.  It  is  a 
corruption  of  "  God  give  you  a  good  evening ;  "  and  is  printed 
"  Godgigoden  "  in  the  folio  in  R.  and  J.  i.  2.  58. 

112.  Take  my  cap.  He  throws  up  his  cap  in  thanks  to  Jupiter, 
god  of  the  sky.  Hoo  !  as  "  an  exclamation  of  triumphant  joy " 
occurs  again  in  iii.  3.  137  below,  and  also  in  A.  and  C.  ii.  7.  141. 

125.  Galen.  "An  anachronism  of  near  650  years,"  as  Grey 
says ;  but,  as  Clarke  remarks,  "  that  Galen  was  known  to  his  audi 
ences  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  these  frequent  and  easy  anachro 
nisms  are  of  themselves  a  sufficient  refutation  of  the  theory  that  he 
"wrote  Shakespeare." 

Empirictic.  A  word  coined  by  Menenius  (cf.  68  above),  unless 
it  be  a  printer's  corruption.  The  spelling  of  the  folios  is  "  Em- 
perickqutique "  or  "  Empericktique."  Most  of  the  modern  eds. 
give  "  empericutic."  To  —  compared  to  ;  as  often. 

134.  On  's  brows.     That  is,  he  brings  victory  on  his  brows.     For 
on  'j,  cf.  198  below,  and  on  >t  in  i.  i.  12  above. 

135.  The  oaken  garland.     Cf.  i.  3.  15  above  and  ii.  2.  98  below. 
See  on  i.  9.  60  above. 

141.  Fidiused.     A  word  jocosely  formed  from  Aufidius. 

142.  Possessed  of.    Informed  of.    Cf.  M.  of  V.  iv.  i.  35,  I  Hen.  IV. 
iv.  i.  40,  etc. 


Scene  I]  Notes  251 

151.    True  purchasing.   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  1  " 

153.  Paw,  waw  !    The  folio  reading  =  pooh,  pooh ! 

161.   His  place.     That  is,  the  consulship. 

163.  One  f  the  neck,  etc.  Warburton  says:  "Seven,  —  one, — 
and  two,  and  these  make  but  nine  ?  Surely  we  may  safely  assist 
Menenius  in  his  arithmetic ;  "  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." 

173,  174.  Death,  that  .  .  .  men  die.  Perhaps,  as  White  suggests, 
this  couplet  is  a  mere  playhouse  "  tag,"  added  "  to  please  the  actor 
of  Volumnia  with  a  round,  mouth-filling  speech."  Spirit  is  mono 
syllabic  ;  as  often.  Nervy  (=  sinewy)  is  found  nowhere  else  in 
S.  For  advanced  (  =  lifted),  see  on  i.  6.  6 1  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." 

175.  A  sennet.     A  particular  set   of  notes  on  a  trumpet.     It 
occurs  in  S.  only  in  stage-directions  (in/.  C.,  Macb.,  etc.). 

1 76.  Corioli  gates.     See  on  i.  8.  8  above. 

1 86.  Deed-achieving  honour.  Honour  won  by  his  deeds.  For 
achieve  =  gain,  win,  cf.  i.  9.  33  above.  Active  participles  are  often 
used  in  a  passive  sense.  Cf.  A.  and  C.  iii.  13.  77:  "his  all-obeying 
breath  "  (obeyed  by  all)  ;  R.  of  L.  993 :  "  his  unrecalling  crime  '' 
(that  cannot  be  recalled),  etc. 

1 88.  My  gracious  silence  !  How  impertinent  is  Steevens's  para 
phrase  :  "  thou  whose  silent  tears  are  more  eloquent  and  grateful  to 
me  than  the  clamorous  applause  of  the  rest !  "  But  of  his  illus 
trative  quotations  this  from  Daniel's  Complaint  of  Rosamond^  1599, 
is  apt :  — 


252  Notes  [Act  II 

"Ah,  beauty,  syren,  fair  enchanting  good! 

Sweet  silent  rhetoric  of  persuading  eyes ! 
Dumb  eloquence,  whose  power  doth  move  the  blood 
More  than  the  words  of  wisdom  of  the  wise !  " 

But  Shakespeare  puts  all  that,  and  more,  into  his  three  words.  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  effect  which  her  muteness 
of  love-joy  has  upon  him  who  shrinks  from  noisy  applause  and 
even  frorri  merely  expressed  approbation  ;  and  it  wonderfully  con 
centrates  into  one  felicitous  word  the  silent  softness  that  charac 
terizes  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 
Coriolanus." 

198.  At  very  root.  For  the  omission  of  the  article,  cf.  iv.  1.47 
below  :  "at  gate,"  etc.  On  's  =  of  his.  Cf.  134  above. 

205.  Menenius,  ever,  ever  !  Always  the  same  Menenius  j  blunt 
as  ever  !  Cf.  /.  C.  v.  I.  63 :  "  Old  Cassius  still !  " 

211.  Change  of  honours.     "Variety  of  honours;   as  change  of 
raiment,  among  the  writers  of  that  time,  signified  variety  of  rai 
ment  "    (Warburton).     Schmidt    similarly    explains    it    as   "new 
honours." 

212.  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. 


Scene  I]  Notes  253 

213.  The  buildings  of  my  fancy,  Cf.  Lear,  iv.  2.  85  :  "  all  the 
building  in  my  fancy." 

217.  Sway.  Cf.  Lear,  i.  2.  53 :  "  aged  tyranny,  who  sways,  not  as 
it  hath  power,  but  as  it  is  suffered,"  etc. 

219.  Your.     See  on  i.  I.  129  above. 

220.  Rapture.     Probably  =  a  fit,  a  sense  not  inconsistent  with 
the  primary  one  of  a  violent  seizure.     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,  1692  :  "Your  darling  will  weep  itself 
into  a  rapture,  if  you  take  not  good  heed."     "  Rupture  "  has  been 
suggested  as  an  emendation,  and  Dr.  Ingleby,  in  his  Shakespeare 
Hermeneutics  (p.    149)    cites   Phieravante1  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." 

221.  Chats  him.     Chats  or  gossips  about  him,  or  "  talks  Corio- 
lanus."    This,  as  Schmidt  points  out,  is  not  unlike  the  use  of  speak 
in  ii.  2.  103  below,  Cymb.  i.  i.  24,  Henry   VIII.  iv.  2.  32,  etc. 
"  Claps  "  (but,  as  Wright  asks,  how  could  the  nurse  clap  her  hands 
and  hold  the  baby  at  the  same  time?),  "shouts,"  "chats  of,"  and 
"  cheers  "  have  been  suggested  as  emendations. 

Malkin  =  kitchen-wench  ;  as  in  Per.  iv.  3.  34.  It  was  also  spelt 
mawkin,  as  it  came  to  be  pronounced.  Johnson  derives  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.  Wright  quotes 
the  Promptorium  Parvulorum  :  "  Malkyne,  or  Mawt,  propyr  name 
Matildis." 

222.  Lockram.     A  cheap,  coarse  linen.     Steevens  quotes  Beau 
mont  and  Fletcher,  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 :  — 


254  Notes  [Act  n 

"  Thou  thoughts!  because  I  did  wear  Lokram  shirts, 
Ide  no  wit." 

Reechy.  Dirty  (literally,  smoky).  Cf.  Much  Ado,  iii.  3.  143 :  "  the 
reechy  painting."  By  the  way,  what  a  graphic  picture  of  the 
"  Biddy  "  decking  herself  out  in  her  cheap  finery  to  see  a  proces 
sion  go  by,  does  the  poet  give  us  in  these  few  words !  The  whole 
description  :s  of  the  same  vivid  character,  and  sweeps  us  along  with 
the  motley  crowd  in  spite  of  ourselves.  Cf.  J.  C.  i.  i.  42  fol. 

223.  Bulks.    "The  projecting  parts  of  shops  on  which  goods 
were  exposed  for  sale  ;  generally  used  by  butchers  and  fishmongers. 
Florio  (Ital.  Diet.}  gives  'Banco  ...  a  bulke  or  butchers  stall;' 
and  '  Balcone,  any  window,  namely  a  bay-window.     Also  a  bulke 
or  stall  of  a  shop.'  "     Cf.  Oth.  v.  I.  I :  "  Here,  stand  behind  this 
bulk." 

224.  Ridges  hors'd,  etc.      "  Ridges  of  house-roofs  on  which  men 
of  all  sorts  of  aspects  sit  astride"  (Clarke).     Complexion  is  often 
used  of  external  appearance  in  general. 

226.  Seld-shown.  For  seld=  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,  Humour  out  of  Breath,  1607  :  "  O  seld-seen  metamorphosis !  " 
and  the  old  play  of  Hieronimo  :  "  Why,  is  not  this  a  strange  and 
seldseen  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 
flamen,"  etc. 

228.  A  vulgar  station.     A  standing- place  among  the  rabble. 

229.  The  war  of  white  and  damask.     Cf.  R.  of  L.  71 :  — 

"  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,  Damcetas1  Madrigal,  etc.  :  "  Amidst  her 


Scene  I]  Notes  255 

cheekes  the  rose  and  lilly  strive;"  and  Massinger,  Duke  of  Florencf : 

"  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  I  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." 

No  doubt  many  other  instances  of  the  well-worn  figure  might  be 
found  in  the  old  poets. 

230.  Nicely-gaivded.      Schmidt  considers   this  as   "  probably  = 
scrupulously  treated  as  a  precious  thing,  carefully  guarded  and  pre 
served."      Wright   makes   it   simply  =  "  daintily   adorned."    The 
former  is  perhaps  more  in  keeping  with  the  context. 

231.  Pother.     Spelt  "poother"  in  the  folio.     In  Lear,  iii.  2.  50 
(the  only  other  instance  in  S.)  the  folio  has  "pudder." 

232.  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;"  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.  114  above,  and  iii.  2.  52,  iv.  2.  13,  iv.  4.  5,  and  v.  3.  98  below. 
Malone  compares  A.  and  C.  iv.  8.  24 :  — 

11  he  hath  fought  to-day 
As  if  a  god,  in  hate  of  mankind,  had 
Destroy'd  in  such  a  shape." 

236.    Go  sleep.     See  on  i.  5.  26  and  i.  9.  68  above. 


256 


Notes  [Act  II 


237.  He  cannot,  etc.  "  He  cannot  begin  to  carry  his  honours, 
and  conclude  his  journey,  from  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." 

241.  Upon  their  ancient  malice.     On  account  of  their  old  grudge 
against  him.     Cf.  Rich.  II.  i.   I.  9:  "If  he  appeal  the  duke  on 
ancient  malice." 

242.  Which.     Referring  of  course  to  cause. 
244.   As  he  is.     As  that  he  is. 

247.  Napless.  Threadbare.  The  folios  have  "Naples;"  cor 
rected  by  Rowe.  See  on  ii.  2.  137  below. 

249.    '  T  is  right.     'T  is  true,  't  is  so. 

255.  As  our  good  wills.  "  As  our  dispositions  towards  him  are  " 
(Malone)  ;  or  "as  our  best  endeavours"  (Wright).  On  the  other 
hand,  Mason  (so  Schmidt)  makes  wills  a  verb:  "as  our  advantage 
requires;"  or  "  as  our  advantage  would  have  it"  (Clarke). 

257.  For  an  end.     "To  cut  the  matter  short"  (Schmidt);   or, 
perhaps,  to  bring  it  to  a  crisis. 

258.  Suggest.      Prompt  (Steevens)  ;   as  in  Rich.  II.  \.  I.  101 : 
"  Suggest  his  soon-believing  adversaries." 

259.  Still.     Ever,  constantly  ;   as  in  ii.  2.  133  below,  and  very 
often.     To  's  power  —  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  according  to  his 
power.     Cf.  W.  T.  v.  2.  182:  "I  will  prove  so,  sir,  to  my  power  ;" 
Much  Ado,  iv.  I.  220:  "That  which  we  have  we  prize  not  to  the 
worth  ;"  and  T.  and  C.  i.  I.  7:  "The  Greeks  are  strong  and  skil 
ful  to  their  strength." 

261.  Dispropertied  their  freedoms.  "Made  their  freedom  nc 
freedom  ;  took  from  it  all  the  properties  of  freedom  "  (Whitelaw). 
The  verb  occurs  nowhere  else  in  S. 

264.   Pro-vand  —  "  provender,"    which    Pope    substituted,    and 


Scene  I]  Notes  257 

which  S.  elsewhere  uses  ;  as  in  M.  N.  D.  iv.  I.  35,  Oth.  i.  i.  48, 
etc.  Steevens  cites  examples  of  provand  (oftener  spelt  provant  or 
provaunt)  from  Stow,  Raleigh,  and  other  writers  of  the  time.  On 
the  passage,  cf.  J.  C.  iv.  I.  21  fol. 

268.  Shall  teach  the  people.     The  sentence  is  perhaps  abruptly 
broken   off,  but  the   text   is  doubtful.       I  larmier's    "  touch "    is  a 
very  probable  emendation,  adopted  by  many  editors.     Malone  ex 
plains  teach  as  "instruct  the  people  in  their  duty  to  their  rulers  ;" 
and  Steevens  "  instruct   the  people  in  favour  of  our  purposes." 
Whitelaw  makes  teach  =  "  open  their  eyes." 

269.  Put  upon  V.     Instigated  to  it.     Cf.  ii.  3.  257  below:  "by 
our  putting  on."     See  also  Lear,  ii.  i.  101,  Ham.  iv.  7.  132,  etc. 

275.   Dumb.     That  is,  deaf  and  dumb. 

277.  Handkerchers.      The   folio    spelling,   indicating    the  pro 
nunciation.      In    Oth.  the  quarto   has   "  handkercher,"   the   folio 
"  handkerchief." 

278.  Bended.     S.  uses  bended  and  bent,  both  as  past  tense  and 
participle  ;  but  bent  when  the  latter  is  =  inclined,  prone,  etc. 

280.   A  shower  and  thunder,  etc.     For  the  arrangement,  cf.  v.  3. 
loo  below.     For  the  construction,  cf.  Macb.  i.  3.  60 :  — 
"  Speak  then  to  me,  who  neither  beg  nor  fear 
Your  favours  nor  your  hate ;  " 

W.  T.  Hi.  2.  164:  — 

"  though  I  with  death  and  with 
Reward  did  threaten  and  encourage  him ; " 

and  Id.  iii.  2.  206 :  — 

"  if  you  can  bring 
Tincture  or  lustre  in  her  lip,  her  eye,"  etc. 

The  construction  is  a  favourite  one  with  S.,  and  the  order  of  the 
particulars  is  often  irregular. 

282.  The  time.      That  is,  the   present   time,  the  occasion  ;  as 
hearts  for  the  event  is  courage  to  endure  the  issue.    On  event,  cf. 
Ham.  iv.  4.  41,  50. 

283.  Have  with  you.     I  '11  go  with  you  ;  a  common  idiom. 

CORIOLANUS  — 17 


258  Notes  [Act  n 

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  because,  there  being  no  scenery  in  the  theatres 
of  that  day,  no  representation  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. 

15.   Lets.     For  the  ellipsis  of  the  subject,  see  on  i.  3.  61  above. 

17.  He  waved.  That  is,  he  would  waver.  Cf.  iv.  6.  116  below. 
In  what  follows  there  is  a  "  confusion  of  two  constructions,  '  he 
waved  indifferently  'twixt  good  and  harm,'  and  '  doing  them  neither 
good  nor  harm' "  (Wright).  Cf.  ii.  3.  232  below. 

21.  Opposite.  Opponent.  Cf.  T.  N.  iii.  2.  68,  iii.  4.  253,  293, 
etc.  Affect  —  desire,  seek.  Cf.  iii.  3.  i,  iv.  6.  33,  and  v.  3.  149 
below. 

25.  As  those.  As  that  of  those.  Cf.  i.  5.  24  and  i.  6.  27 
above. 

27.  Bonneted.  That  is,  took  off  their  bonnets,  or  caps.  S.  uses 
the  verb  only  here.  Cf.  iii.  2.  73  below.  See  also  Rich.  II.  i.  4. 
31:  "Off  goes  his  bonnet  to  an  oyster-wench."  Knight  thinks 
that  bonneted  is  =  put  on  their  caps :  "  His  ascent  is  not  by  such 
easy  degrees  as  those  who,  having  been  supple  and  courteous  to 
the  people,  put  on  their  bonnets  without  any  further  deed." 

Without  any  further  deed,  etc.  That  is,  without  doing  anything 
further  to  win  their  good  opinion.  To  have  them  into  =  literally, 
to  get  themselves  into.  Cf.  C.  of  E.  ii.  2.  10,  T.  of  S.  ind.  2.  39, 
M.  N.  D.  iii.  I.  174,  etc. 

31.  In  grateful.  S.  uses  both  ingrateful  and  ungrateful.  Cf.  ii. 
3.  10  and  iv.  5.  136  below. 

37.  Of.  Concerning.  Cf.  Rich.  III.  iii.  4.  2:  "to  determine 
of  the  coronation,"  etc. 

39.    After-meeting.    So  we  have  after-inquiry  (Cymb.v.  4.  189), 


Scene  II]  Notes  259 

after-loss  (Sonn.  90.  4),  after-love  (T.  G.  of  V.  iii.  I.  95,  Rich.  II. 
v.  3.  35),  after-nourishment  (Per.  \.  2.  13),  etc. 

40.  Gratify.  Requite.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  iv.  1.406:  "gratify  this 
gentleman,"  etc. 

44.  Well-found.  Fortunately  won.  In  the  only  other  instance 
of  the  compound  in  S.  (A.  W.  ii.  I.  105)  it  is  =  well-skilled, 
expert. 

47.  Mel.  Cf.  i.  9.  10  above,  for  a  similar  use  of  the  past 
tense. 

49.  Make  us  think,  etc.  "  Rather  say  that  our  means  are  too 
defective  to  afford  an  adequate  reward  for  his  services,  than  sup 
pose  our  wishes  to  stretch  out  those  means  are  defective  "  (Stee- 
vens).  Wright  explains  the  passage  thus:  "make  us  rather  think 
that  our  state  is  deficient  in  the  means  of  requiting  his  services, 
than  that  we  are  slack  in  extending  its  power  for  this  purpose  to 
the  utmost." 

52.  After.     Afterwards;  as  in  Temp.  ii.  2.  10:  "And  after  bite 
me,"  etc. 

53.  Your  loving  motion,  etc.     "Your  kind   interposition  with 
the  common  people  "  (Johnson). 

54.  To  yield  what  passes.     To  grant  whatever  is  enacted  or  de 
cided  upon.     Consented  =  convened  ;   as  in  A!,  for  M.  v.  I.  158 
and  Hen.  VIII.  v.  I.  52. 

55.  Treaty.     "Proposal  tending  to  an  agreement"  (Schmidt). 
Cf.  K.  John,  i».  I.  481:    "This  friendly  treaty  of  our  threaten'd 
town."     See  also  A.  and  C.  iii.  II.  62:  "I  must  .  .  .  send  humble 
treaties." 

57.  Our  assembly.     Warburton  would  read  "your"  for  our,  be 
cause  until  the  passing  of  the   Lex  Atinia  the  tribunes  were  not 
allowed  to  sit  in  the  Senate,  but  had  benches  outside  ;   but  S.  may 
not  have  known  that  fact. 

58.  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." 


260  Notes  [Act  ii 

60.  That"**  off.  "That  is  nothing  to  the  purpose"  (Johnson)  ; 
or  "  a  little  off  the  matter,"  as  Dogberry  puts  it  {Much  Ado,  iii.  5. 
10). 

66.  The  stage-direction  in  the  folios  is,  "Coriolanus  rises,  and 
offers  to  goe  away"    At  the  beginning  of  the  scene  it  is  said  "  Cori~ 
olanus  stands"  but  Brutus's  remark  in  71  indicates  that  he  after 
wards  took  his  seat. 

67.  Shame.     Be  ashamed  ;  as  in  A.  Y.  L.  iv.  3.  136:  — 

"  I  do  not  shame 
To  tell  you  what  I  was,"  etc. 

71.  DisbencKd  you.  Led  you  to  leave  your  seat.  Disbench  is 
used  by  S.  only  here  ;  but  we  find  bench  as  a  verb  in  W.  T.  i.  2. 
314  and  Lear,  iii.  6.  40.  Cf.  bencher  —  senator  in  ii.  I.  89  above. 

73.    Sooth 'd.     Flattered.     Cf.  soothing  in.  i.  9.  44  above. 

76.  Alarum.     The  call  to  arms  (Ital.  alVarme).     Cf.  larum  in 
i.  4.  9  above. 

77.  Monster'd.     Made  monstrous  or  extraordinary.     S.  has  the 
verb  again  in  Lear,  i.  I.  223:  "That  monsters  it." 

78.  How  can  he  flatter,  etc.     "  How  can  he  be  expected  to  prac 
tise  flattery  to  others,  who  abhors  it  so  much  that  he  cannot  hear 
it  even  when  offered  to  himself  ?  "   (Johnson). 

79.  That 's  thousand,  etc.     Among  whom  there  's  not  one  in  a 
thousand  good  for  anything. 

81.    On  's.     Of  his.     Cf.  i.  3.  68  above. 

85.   Haver.     Possessor ;  the  only  instance  of  the  noun  in  S. 

87.  Singly.     By  any  single  man. 

At  sixteen  years.  North  (see  p.  181  above)  says  "a  strip 
ling." 

88.  Made  a  head  for  Rome.     Raised  an  army  to  recover  Rome. 
Cf.  iii.  i.  i  below. 

91.  Amazonian.  Beardless  as  that  of  an  Amazon.  For  chin 
the  ist  and  2d  folios  have  "Shinne  ;  "  and  for  bristled all  the  folios 
have"brizled." 


Scene  II]  Notes  26 1 

92.  Bestrid.  Bestrode ;  that  is,  to  defend  him  when  fallen  in 
battle.  Cf.  C.  of  E.  v.  I.  192:  — 

"  When  I  bestrid  thee  in  the  wars  and  took 
Deep  scars  to  save  thy  life." 

See  also  the  quibble  in  I  Hen.  IV.  v.  I.  122,  and  the  metaphor 
in  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  I.  207  and  Macb.  iv.  3.  4.  Bestrid  is  the  only 
form  of  the  past  tense  and  participle  in  S. 

95.  Struck  him  on  his  knee.     Gave  him  a  blow  that  made  him 
fall  on  his  knee. 

96.  Act  the  woman,  etc.     That  is,  play  female   parts  on  the 
stage.     In  the  time  of  S.  these  parts  were  always  taken  by  boys 
or  young  men.     Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  epil.  1 8,  where  Rosalind  says:  "  If  I 
were  a  woman,"  etc.     See  also  A.  and  C.  v.  2.  220,  Ham.  ii.  2.  444, 
etc. 

98.  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." 

99.  Man-enter' d.     Initiated  into  manhood.     Cf.  A.  W.\\.  1.6: 
"  After  well-enter' d  soldiers ;  "  that  is,  after  being  well  initiated 
as  soldiers. 

101.  Lurched  all  swords  of  the  garland.  That  is,  robbed  them 
all  of  the  prize.  Steevens  quotes  Jonson,  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.  Wright  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,  Corio- 
lanus  must  have  been  written  before  1609,  the  year  in  which  The 
Silent  Woman  appeared. 

103.   Speak  him  home.     Describe  him  thoroughly,  or  as  he  de- 


262  Notes  [Act  n 

serves.     Cf.  iii.  3.  I  below.     See  also  Cymb.  i.  I.  24:  "You  speak 
him  far,"  etc. 

105.  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  Knight  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  bottom."  Verplanck 
adds:  "The  weeds  of  the  flats  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." 

107.  Stem.     Carrying  out  the  comparison  in  vessel. 

108.  //  took.     It  "  told,"  as  we  say ;   it  left  its  impress. 

no.  Was  tinted,  etc.  "The  cries  of  the  slaughtered  regularly 
followed  his  motion,  as  music  and  a  dancer  accompany  each 
other"  (Johnson). 

in.  The  mortal  gate.  The  fatal  gate,  or  that  which  it  was 
death  to  enter.  Cf.  mortal  in  iii.  i.  297  below.  Johnson  explains 
it  as  =  "  made  the  scene  of  death." 

Which  he  painted,  etc.  "That  is,  he  set  his  bloody  mark  upon 
the  gate,  or  upon  the  city,  indicating  its  doom."  Painting  has  been 
suspected ;  but  cf.  i.  6.  68  above,  where  we  have  the  same  figure. 

112.  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  of  fadeless,  "  what  is  a  fade  ?  " 

114.  Like  a  planet.     An   astrological  allusion.     Cf.   Ham.  i.  i. 
162:  "The  nights  are  wholesome ;   then  no  planets  strike." 

115.  Gan.     Began;    but    not   a   contraction   of  that  word,  as 
often  printed. 

117.  Fatigate.  Fatigued;  used  by  S.  nowhere  else.  For  the 
form,  cf.  "  articulate  "  in  i  Hen.  IV.  v.  I.  72,  etc. 

119.  Run  reeking  o'er,  etc.  "  Coriolanus  is  compared  to  a  con 
tinuous  stream  of  reeking  blood,  which  marked  the  course  of  his 


Scene  II]  Notes  263 

slaughtering  sword"  (Wright).  It  does  not  seem  to  me  necessary 
to  suppose  this  metaphor  of  a  river.  The  meaning  may  be  simply 
that  as  he  rushed  on  he  was  reeking  with  the  blood  of  his  foes. 

123.  With  measure.  "  That  is,  no  honour  will  be  too  great  for 
him  ;  he  will  show  a  mind  equal  to  any  elevation  "  (Johnson). 

127.  Misery.  Explained  by  some  as  =  avaiice,  miserliness;  but 
perhaps  simply  =  wretchedness,  miserable  poverty. 

129.  To  end  it.  Johnson  would  read  "to  spend  it,"  explaining 
the  passage  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." 

133.   Still.     Ever.     Cf.  ii.  i.  259  above. 

137.  Put  on  the  gown,  etc.  S.  was  indebted  for  this  (as  for  "  the 
napless  vesture  of  humility"  in  ii.  I.  247)  to  North's  Plutarch, 
there  being  no  such  custom  in  ancient  Rome  that  candidates  for 
an  office  should  appear  in  poor  and  threadbare  garments.  They 
whitened  their  togas  with  pipe-clay  to  give  them  as  good  an  appear 
ance  as  possible,  and  were  hence  called  candidati.  It  is  not  diffi 
cult  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  mistake.  Plutarch  merely  says  that 
it  was  usual  for  candidates  for  an  office  to  stand  in  the  Forum 
dressed  in  a  toga  only,  without  the  tunica  or  close-fitting  garment 
underneath.  Amyot,  in  his  French  translation,  renders  the  ex 
pression  "  une  robbe  simple,  sans  saye  dessoubs,"  but  North  (see 
p.  193  above)  translates  this  "only  with  a  poor  gown  on  their 
backs,  and  without  any  coat  underneath  ;  "  and  just  below  he  has 
"  in  such  mean  apparel "  for  the  French  "  en  si  humble  habit."  S. 
copies  North's  mistake,  and  emphasizes  it.  Bacon  (see  on  ii.  I. 
125  above)  would  have  corrected  it. 

139.  Pass.     Pass  by,  disregard  ;  as  in  K.  John,  ii.  I.  258:  "But 
if  you  fondly  pass  our  proffer 'd  offer." 

140.  Voices.     Votes  ;  as  often  below.     Cf.  Rich.  Iff.  iii.  2.  53, 
iii.  4.  20,  29,  Hen.  VIII.  i.  2.  70,  ii.  2.  94,  etc. 

144.  Your  form.  "The  form  which  custom  prescribes  to  you" 
(Steevens). 


264  Notes  [Act  ii 

151.    We  recommend  to  you,  etc.     We  commit  to  you  the  presen 
tation  of  our  purpose  to  the  people.     For  recommend,  cf.  T.  N.  v. 

J  f    QA   I  — 

"  denied  me  mine  own  purse, 
Which  I  had  recommended  to  his  use 
Not  half  an  hour  before." 

156.   Require  them.     Ask  them,  make  his  request  to  them.     Cf. 
Hen.  VIII.  ii.  4.  144:  "In  humblest  manner  I  require  your  high- 


SCENE  III.— i.  Once.     Once  for  all.     Cf.  C.  of  E.  Hi.  i.  89: 
"  Once  this,  your  long  experience,"  etc. 
IO.    Ingrateful.     See  on  ii.  2.  31  above. 

15.  Once.     Once  when.     White  compares  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. 

1 6.  Stuck   not.     Cf.   Sonn.   10.    6:    "That  'gainst  thyself  thou 
stick'st  not  to  conspire  ;  "  and  Ham.  iv.  5.  93 :  "  will  nothing  stick 
our  person  to  arraign."     See  also  Exodus,  iv.  21.     For  the  many- 
headed  multitude,  cf.  iii.  I.  93  and  iv.  I.  I  below. 

20.  Auburn.  The  first  three  folios  read  "Abram,"  which  was 
one  of  the  forms  of  the  word. 

23.  Consent  of.    Agreement  upon. 

24.  Should  be.     Would  be  j   as  not  unfrequently  in  such  sub 
ordinate  sentences. 

32.   In  a  fog.     See  on  i.  4.  30  above. 

34.  Conscience  sake.  The  possessive  inflection  was  often  omitted 
in  dissyllables  ending  with  a  sibilant  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. 

37.  You  may,  you  may.  That  is,  go  on,  go  on,  make  fun  of  me 
as  you  will.  Cf.  T.  and  C.  iii.  I.  1 18 :  — 

"  Helen.    Ay,  ay,  prithee  now.    By  my  troth,  sweet  lord,  thou  hast  a 

fine  forehead. 
Pandarus,    Ay,  you  may,  you  may." 


Scene  III]  Notes  265 

39.    The  greater  part.     The  majority. 

45.   By  particulars.     One  by  one.     Cf.  iv.  7.  13  below. 

56.  Some  certain.  Cf.  /./../.  v.  i .  1 1 2  :  "  Some  certain  special 
honours."  See  also  Hen.  V.  i.  I.  87,  i.  2.  247,  Rich.  III.  i.  4. 
124,  etc. 

60.  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"  (Theobald).  S.  was  evidently  thinking 
of  modern  preachers  rather  than  ancient  priests. 

6  j.  Wholesome.  Rational.  Cf.  Ham.  iii.  2.  328 :  "  If  it  shall 
please  you  to  make  me  a  wholesome  answer,"  etc. 

82.   A  match.    A  bargain !     Cf.  Cymb.  iii.  6.  30 :  — 

"  Cadwal  and  I 
Will  play  the  cook  and  servant ;  't  is  our  match." 

85.  An  V  were  to  give  again,  etc.  "The  naturalness  of  the  writ 
ing  here  —  with  this  break  in  the  speech,  and  with  the  half- 
expressed  but  most  expressive  sentences  of  puzzled  annoyance 
and  grudged  consent  —  is  inimitable.  There  is  no  one  like  S. 
for  conveying  perfect  »/wpression  through  imperfect  «rpression" 
(Clarke). 

87.  Stand  with.  Be  consistent  with;  as  in  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  4.  91 : 
"  if  it  stand  with  honesty,"  etc. 

98.  My  sworn  brother.     Alluding  to  the  fratres  jurati  of  the 
middle  ages,  who  were  sworn  to  share  each  other's  fortunes.    Cf. 
A.  Y.  L.  v.  4.  107,  Much  Ado,  i.  I.  73,  W.  T.  iv.  4.  607,  etc. 

99.  Condition.     Disposition  ;  as  in  v.  4.  10  below. 
102.   Be  off.    That  is,  off  with  the  hat. 

104.  Bountiful.  For  adjectives  used  as  adverbs,  see  on  ii.  I.  65 
above. 

1 1 6.  Starve.  Spelt  "  sterue  "  in  the  folio  ;  as  in  M.  of  V.  iv.  I. 
38,  R.  and  J.  i.  I.  225,  T.  of  A.  \.  i.  257,  and  Cymb.  i.  4.  180. 

1 1 8.  Wohish  toge.  "Rough  hirsute  gown"  (Johnson).  The 
1st  folio  has  "  Wooluish  tongue,"  changed  in  the  2d  to  "  Woolvish 


266  Notes  [Act  II 

gowne."  "  Tongue  "  is  very  probably  a  misprint  for  togue  or  toge 
(  =  toga)  ;  like  "Tongued"  in  the  folio  reading  of  Oth.  i.  I.  25, 
where  the  quarto  has  "  toged."  Wolvish  may  also  be  a  misprint, 
and  "woollen,"  "woolish,"  "  woolless,"  etc.,  have  been  proposed  as 
emendations.  Wright  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. 

119.  Of  Hob  and  Dick.    As  we  say,  "  of  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry." 
Hob  =  Robert.     Cf.  L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  464 :  "Some  mumble-news,  some 
trencher  knight,  some  Dick." 

1 20.  Vouches  ?     For  the  noun,  cf.  M.  for  M.  ii.  4.  156,  Oth.  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. 

122.  Antique.  Accented  on  the  first  syllable,  as  regularly  in  S. 
See  p.  176  (7). 

128.   Moe.     More;   used  only  with  plural  or  collective  nouns. 

132.  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  mocking  them  (163)  while  begging 
their  voices. 

142.  Your  limitation.     The  time  required  of  you. 

143.  Remains.     It  remains;   as  in  Ham.  ii.  2.  100:  "And  now 
remains,"  etc. 

144.  The  official  marks.     The  insignia  of  consular  office. 

148.  Upon  your  approbation.  That  is,  for  approving  or  confirm 
ing  your  election.  Cf.  256  below;  and  for  upon,  ii.  2.  55  above. 

156.  'T  is  warm  at  's  heart.     Whitelaw  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. 

157.  Weeds.     Garments;   as  often.     Cf.  226  below. 

173.  Aged  custom.  Warburton  notes  that  this  was  but  eighteen 
years  after  the  expulsion  of  the  kings  ;  but  the  poet  was  probably 
misled  by  Plutarch's  reference  to  the  custom  as  one  of  a  former 
time.  See  p.  193  above. 


Scene  III]  Notes  267 

178.  No  further.     Nothing  further  to  do  ;  an  ellipsis  not  unlike 
scores  of  others  in  S. 

179.  Ignorant  to  see't.     "Did  you  want  knowledge  to  discern 
it?"  (Johnson). 

181.  To  yield.    As  to  yield.    See  on  ii.  I.  52  above. 

182.  Lesson' d.     For  the  verb,  cf.  Rich.  III.  i.  4.  246:  "As  he 
lesson'd  us  to  weep,"  etc. 

186.  Weal  "The  weal  o'  the  common"  (i.  I.  144),  or  com 
monwealth.  For  the  transitive  arrive,  cf./.  C.  i.  2.  no:  "arrive 
the  point  propos'd."  See  also  K.  of  L.  781  and  3  Hen.  VI.  v.  3.  8. 

189.   Plebeii.    The  only  instance  of  the  form  in  S. 

193.  Would  think  upon  you,  etc.  "  Would  retain  a  grateful 
remembrance  of  you,"  etc.  (Malone). 

195.  Standing  your  friendly  lord.     Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  3.  89: 
"  Stand  my  good  lord,  pray,  in  your  good  report." 

196.  Touched.    Tested  as  with  a  touchstone.    Cf.  K.John,  iii. 
I.  100,  T.  of  A.  iii.  3.  6,  etc. 

197.  Pluck* d.     See  on  i.  3.  7  above. 

199.    Cause.     Occasion ;  as  in  i.  6.  83  above. 

201.  Article.     Condition,  restriction. 

202.  Putting  him  to  rage.     Cf.  iii.  3.  25  below:  "Put  him  to 
choler." 

205.   Free  contempt.     Open  contempt. 

209.  Heart.     "  Sense,  wisdom  "  (Whitelaw).    Cf.  i.  1. 109  above : 
"  the  counsellor  heart." 

210.  Rectorship.     Guidance,  government ;   used  by  S.  only  here. 
212.    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?" 

217.  To  piece  Jem.  Cf.  Lear,  L  I.  202:  "Or  all  of  it,  with  our 
displeasure  piec'd,"  etc. 

224.  Enforce  his  pride.  "  Object  his  pride,  and  enforce  the 
objection  "  (Johnson)  ;  lay  stress  upon  it. 

226.    Weed.     See  on  157  above. 


268  Notes  [Act  ii 

229.  Portancc.     Bearing,  demeanour  ;   used  by  S.  only  here  and 
in  Oth.  i.  3.  139. 

230.  Ungravely.     Without  dignity  ;  used  by  S.  only  here  ;  and 
gravely  only  in  I  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  478. 

236.   Affections.     Inclinations;   as  in  i.  I.  105  above. 
239.    To  voice.     To  vote.     Cf.  the  use  of  the  noun  in  i,  47,  83, 
etc.,  above. 

241.  Yotmgly.  Cf.  Sonn.  n.  3:  "And  that  fresh  blood  which 
youngly  thou  bestowest." 

248.    And  Censorinus,  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.  180  above)  helps  us  to  supply,  though  the  editors 
do  not  agree  on  the  precise  wording  of  it.  The  reading  in  the 
text  is  that  of  Dyce.  The  Cambridge  editors  had  given,  "And 
Censorinus,  nobly  named  so,"  etc.,  which  Dyce  modified  in  order 
to  preserve  the  "  nam'd  "  of  the  folio.  This  reading  has  the  merit 
of  leaving  the  words  of  the  folio  still  in  their  order,  and  of  intro 
ducing  what  must  have  been  the  significant  fact  that  Censorinus 
was  chosen  by  the  people.  As  Malone  points  out,  Plutarch  does  not 
say  that  any  of  these  persons  was  ancestor  of  Coriolanus,  but  only 
that  they  were  of  the  same  house  or  family.  Caius  Martius  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  Roman 
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. 

254.  Scaling,  etc.  Weighing  his  past  and  present  behaviour. 
Some  find  the  same  sense  in  M.for  M.  iii.  I.  266:  "the  corrupt 
deputy  scaled." 


Scene  I]  Notes  269 

257.    Putting  on.     Instigation.     See  on  ii.  I.  269  above. 
261.    This  mutiny,  etc.     It  would  be  better  to  risk  this  mutiny 
than  to  wait  for  a  worse  one  that  would  unquestionably  come. 

263.  In.     Into.     Cf.  Hi.  I.  33  below:  "fall  in  broil." 

264.  Both  observe,  etc.     "  Mark,  catch,  and  improve  the  oppor 
tunity  which  his  hasty  anger  will  afford  us  "  (Johnson). 


ACT  III 

SCENE  I.  —  I.  Made  new  head?  Raised  a  new  army.  See  on 
ii.  2.  88  above. 

3.  Our  swifter  composition.  Our  making  terms  the  sooner.  For 
composition,  cf.  Macb.  i.  2.  59,  K.John,  ii.  I.  561,  etc. 

5.  Make  road.     Cf.  Hen.  V.  i.  2.  138 :  "  the  Scot,  who  will  make 
road  upon  us."     See  also  i  Samuel,  xxvii.  10. 

6.  Worn.     Worn  out,  exhausted.    Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  4.  38 :  "  Wear- 
ing  thy  hearer  in  thy  mistress'  praise,"  etc. 

7.  In  our  ages.     In  our  day.     We  have  the  plural  in  a  different 
sense  in  W.  T.  iv.  4.  78 :  — 

"  well  you  fit  our  ages 
With  flowers  of  winter." 

9.  On  safeguard.     "  With  a  convoy,  a  guard  appointed  to  pro 
tect  him"  (Steevens). 

10.  For.     Because  ;  as  in  v.  2.  91  below. 

1 6.   To  hopeless  restitution.     Beyond  all  hope  of  restitution. 
19.   /  wish,  etc.     Ironical  of  course. 

23.  Prank  them.     Deck  or  dignify  themselves.     Cf.  T.  N.  ii.  4. 
89  and  W.  T.  iv.  4.  10.     Steevens  compares  M.for  M.  ii.  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.  Cf.  common  in  i.  I.  152;  and 
for  noble,  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  3.  59. 


2  jo  Notes  [Act  in 

43.  When  corn  -was  given,  etc.     See  North,  p.  195  above. 

44.  ScandaVd.     For  the  verb,  cf.  /.   C.  i.  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.  IV.  i.  3.  124,  where  it  is  a  conjunction.     For  silk,  which  he  uses 
often,  see  Ham.  ii.  2.  12,  iv.  4.  45,  iv.  7.  3,  etc.     See  also  p.  195 
above. 

48.  You  are  like,  etc.     You  are  likely,  etc.     Theobald  gives  the 
speech  to  Coriolanus,  as  many  of  the  editors  do,  and  at  first  sight 
the  reply  seems  to  favour  the  change ;    but  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  inter 
ests  of  Coriolanus  :  the  business  of  your  party. 

58.  Abused.  Deceived;  as  often.  Cf.  Temp.  v.  i.  112,  Much 
Ado,  v.  2.  100,  etc. 

Set  on.  It  is  a  question  whether  set  on  here  =  instigated  to  this, 
or  whether  it  should  be  separated  from  what  precedes,  and  made 
imperative  =  go  on ;  as  in  J.  C.\.  2.  1 1  :  "  Set  on  ;  and  leave  no 
ceremony  out."  The  former  is  favoured  by  37  above,  and  the  latter 
by  112  below.  Paltering =  shuffling,  equivocation.  Cf.  J.  C.  ii.  I. 
126,  Macb.  v.  8.  20,  etc. 

60.  Rub.  Impediment,  obstacle  ;  a  metaphor  from  the  bowling- 
green.  Cf.  K.  John,  iiio  4.  128,  Rich.  II.  iii.  4.  4,  etc.  Dishonoured 
•=•  dishonourable  ;  as  in  Lear,  i.  I.  231  :  "  dishonour'd  step."  Cf. 
honour '</in  72  below,  and  deserved  —  deserving  in  292.  Falsely  = 
treacherously.  Cf.  Ham.  ii.  2.  67  :  "  falsely  borne  in  hand,"  etc. 

66.  Many.  The  1st  folio  has  "  Meynie ;  "  the  2d  and  3d  folios 
"  Meyny."  We  find  "meiny"  (=  retinue,  attendants)  in  Lear,  ii. 
4.  35,  but  here  many,  the  reading  of  the  4th  folio,  seems  better. 
Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  91 :  "O  thou  fond  many,  with  what  loud  ap 
plause,"  etc. 

Let  them,  etc.  "  Let  them  look  in  the  mirror  which  I  hold  up  to 
them,  a  mirror  which  does  not  flatter,  and  see  themselves "  (John 
son). 


Scene  I]  Notes 

69.  Soothing.     Flattering.     See  on  ii.  2.  73  above. 

70.  Cockle.     A  weed  {Agrostemma  githago)  which  grows  in  corn 
fields.    The  metaphor  is  taken  from  Plutarch.     See  p.  195  above. 
Cf.  L.  L.  L.  iv.  3.  383 :  "  Sow'd  cockle  reap'd  no  corn." 

78.  Measles.      The    word   originally   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.  \.  5.  71  and  T.  and  C.  v.  I.  27. 

82.    Of  their  infirmity.     As  weak  as  they. 

89.  Triton.    The  only  allusion  in  S.  to  Neptune's  trumpeter. 
Minnmvs  =  "  small  fry."     The  English  editors  think  it  necessary  to 
explain  the  word,  but  it  is  in  familiar  use   in   this  country.     Cf. 
L.  L.  L.  i.  i.  251. 

90.  His  absolute  *  shall?'    Cf.  Macb.  iii.  6.  40 :  "  with  an  absolute 
'  Sir,  not  I.'  "     From  the  canon  is  probably  =  contrary  to  the  estab 
lished  rule  ;  but  Mason  makes  it  =  "  according  to  the  rule  ;   allud 
ing  to  the  absolute  veto  of  the  tribunes,  the  power  of  putting  a  stop 
to  every  proceeding."     "Accordingly,"  he  adds,  "  Coriolanus,  in 
stead  of  disputing  this  power  of  the  tribunes,  proceeds  to  argue 
against  the  power  itself,  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  directly  opposite  sense  which  this 
little  word  from  may  give  to  a  statement.     Cf.  the  play  upon  the 
word  in  Rich.  III.  iv.  4.  258  fol. 

92.  Reckless.     Spelt  "  wreaklesse  "  and  "  wreakless  "  in  the  folios, 
as  in  M.  for  M.  iv.  2.  1 50 :  "  Carelesse,  wreaklesse,  and  fearlesse 
of  what 's  past,  present,  or  to  come." 

93.  Given  Hydra  here  to  choose,   etc.     Allowed   this   "many- 
headed  multitude"  (see  ii.  3.  15  above)  to  choose,  etc.     For  other 
allusions  to  Hydra,  see  I  Hen.  IV.  v.  4.  25,  Hen.  V.\.\.  35,  and 
Oth.  ii.  3.  308.     Cf  iv.  I.  I  below. 

95.   Horn.     Perhaps  carrying  out  the  idea  of  Triton,  blowing 


272  Notes  [Act  in 

"  his  wreathed  horn,"  as  Wordsworth  calls  it.  For  monster's  the 
folios  have  "  Monsters,"  the  regular  form  of  the  possessive  in  the 
printing  of  that  day.  Some  editors  follow  Capell  in  reading 
"  monster  ;  "  but,  as  Wright  notes,  the  construction  is  the  same  as 
\n  Cymb.  ii.  3.  149  :  — 

"  '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.    In.   Into.     See  on  ii.  3.  263  above. 

98.  Vail  your  ignorance.     "  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,"  etc.     The  word  has  no  connection  with 
veil,  but  has  often  been  confounded  with  it,  even  by  editors. 

Awake  Your  dangerous  lenity  =  rouse  yourselves  from  it.  Cf. 
"wake  your  patience"  in  Much  Ado,  v.  I.  102.  See  also  Rich. 
HI.  iii.  i.  248:  "move  our  patience." 

99.  Learned.      So  in   the  folios.      Cf.  T.  N.  i.  5.  279:    "In 
voices  well  divulg'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  p.  176  above.  Cf.  iv. 
6.  70  and  v.  6.  85.  For  palate  as  a  verb,  cf.  T.  and  C.  iv.  i.  59  and 
A.  and  C.  v.  2.  7. 

HO.  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." 

in.  Take  The  one  by  the  other.  Destroy  each  other's  power. 
Cf.  iv.  4.  20  below. 

114.  As  't  was  us'd,  etc.  "As  they  used  to  do  in  the  cities  oi 
Greece  "  (see  p.  194  above). 


Scene  I]  Notes  273 

115.  Sometime.  Formerly;  as  often.  Cf.  v.  I.  2  below.  Sotnt- 
times  was  occasionally  used  in  the  same  way. 

1 20.  More  worthier.     Double  comparatives  are  common  in  S. 

121.  Our  recompense.     A   reward   from   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."  Wright  thinks  that  thread  is  =  file 
through  one  by  one,  in  contrast  to  thronging  to  the  service. 

129.  Motive.  The  folios  have  "native,"  which  the  Cambridge 
ed.  retains.  But  motive,  suggested  by  Heath,  and  adopted  by 
most  of  the  editors,  is  probably  what  S.  wrote.  He  does  not  else 
where  use  native  as  a  noun. 

131.  Bisson  multitude.  The  folios  have  "  Bosome-multiplied," 
which  Clarke  and  Wright  retain  (omitting  the  hyphen),  compar 
ing  Lear,  v.  3.  49  and  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  91  fol.  The  reading  in  the 
text  (due  to  Collier)  is  generally  adopted.  For  bisson,  see  on  ii.  I. 
68  above. 

134.    The  greater  poll.     The  majority.     Cf.  iii.  3.  10  below. 

137.  Call  our  cares  fears.  Ascribe  what  we  do  in  care  of  them 
to  fear. 

142.  Worship.  Dignity,  authority;  as  in  W.  T.  i.  2.  314: 
"reared  to  worship,"  etc. 

144.  Without  all  reason.     Cf.   Macb.  iii.    2.   II  :   "without  all 
remedy,"  etc.     For  gentry  —  gentle  birth,  cf.  R.  of  L.  569  :  "  By 
knighthood,  gentry,  and  sweet  friendship's  oath,"  etc. 

145.  Conclude.     Decide,  settle  a  question.     For  yea  and  no,  cf. 
R.  of  L.  1340  :  "  Receives  the  scroll  without  or  yea  or  no  ;  "  and 
M.  W.  \.  I.  88  :  "  By  yea  and  no,  I  do." 

148.  Slightness.  Weakness  ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  Cf.  slight 
iny.  C.  iv.  i.  12,  iv.  3.  37,  etc.  Unstable  slightness  —  weak  vacilla 
tion. 

150.  Less  fearful  than  discreet.  "  He  does  not  disguise  the 
danger  of  the  course  he  advises,  but  to  be  fearless  here  is  true  dis 
cretion,  for  it  is  the  single  chance  of  safety  "  (Whitelaw). 

CORIOLANUS —  1 8 


274  Notes  [Act  in 

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).  For 
a  somewhat  similar  use  of  the  word,  cf.  Macb.  i.  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." 

156.  The  multitudinous  tongue.  "The  tongues  o'  the  common 
mouth  "  (22  above),  or  the  tribunes. 

159.  Integrity.  "Thoroughness  and  singleness  of  purpose" 
(Whitelaw). 

161.   Has,     See  on  i.  3.  61  above. 

165.  Bald.  Evidently  contemptuous  j  apparently  used  in  the 
same  sense  as  when  applied  to  language  or  reasoning.  Cf.  C.  of  E. 
ii.  2.  1 10:  "a  bald  conclusion;  "  and  i  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  65:  "bald 
unjointed  chat." 

1 70.  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  legisla 
ture"  (Mai-one). 

173.  Let  him  be  apprehended.  See  extract  from  North,  p.  196 
above. 

175.  Attach.  Arrest.  Cf.  C.  of  E.  iv.  i.  6,  73,  iv.  4.  6,  etc. 
Innovator  is  used  by  S.  only  here.  Like  innovation,  which  he  has 
three  times,  it  implies  change  for  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 


Scene  I]  Notes  275 

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  '  All  '  in  the  folios,  are  spoken  by 
some  of  the  elder  senators  endeavouring  to  calm  the  tumult " 
(Cambridge  ed.). 

190.    Confusion.     See  on  1 10  above. 

194.  At  point  to  lose.    Cf.  v.  4.  63  below.     See  also  Lear,  iii.  I. 

"  and  are  at  point 
To  show  their  open  banner,"  etc. 

206.  Distinctly  ranges.      Is  standing  in  line,  upright  and  per 
fect. 

207.  This  deserves  death.    This  does  not  necessarily  refer  to  what 
has  just  been  said  by  Cominius,  though  it  has  been  made  an  argu 
ment  for  transferring  that  speech   to  Coriolanus.      As   Staunton 
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  Cominius. 

210.   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.  50  below. 

213.  The  rock  Tarpeian.     See  extract  from  North,  p.  198. 
231.   Naught.     Lost,  ruined  ;  as  in  A.  and  C.  iii.  I.  10,  etc. 
236.    Tent.     Probe.     See  on  i.  9.  31  above. 

241.  Worthy.     Justifiable,  legitimate  ;  as  in  1C.  John,  ii.  I.  281, 
Oth.  iii.  3.  254,  etc. 

242.  One  time  will  <rwe  another.     "One  time  will  compensate 
for  another.     Our  time  of  triumph  will  come  hereafter.  .  .  .     Let 
us  trust  to  futurity"  (Malone). 

244.  Take  up.    Cope  with.    Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  73,  Hen.  V.  ii. 
4.  V,  etc. 

245.  'T  is  odds  against  arithmetic.    The  odds  against  us  is  be 
yond  calculation. 


276  Notes  [Act  m 

247.  Against.      In   the   way   of;     literally,    opposite    (cf.    over 
against}. 

248.  Tag.     Rabble,   "the  tag-rag  people"  (/.    C.  i.   2.   260). 
"The  lowest  and  most   despicable   of  the  populace  are  still  de 
nominated  by  those  a  little  above  them    Tag,  rag,  and  bobtail" 
(Johnson). 

249*    Overbear.     See  on  iv.  5.  137  below. 

259.    Does.     See  on  i.  3.  61  above. 

275.  Cry  havoc,  etc.  Give  the  signal  for  general  slaughter  when 
you  should  try  more  moderate  measures.  Cf.  K.  John,  ii.  I.  357, 
/.  C.  iii.  i.  273,  etc. 

277.  Holp.  Used  by  S.  oftener  than  helped,  both  as  past  tense 
and  participle.  Cf.  iv.  6.  83  below. 

284.  Turn  you  to.  Cf.  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."  Theobald's 
conjecture  of  "  our  danger "  is  very  plausible.  The  Cambridge 
editors  conjecture  "moe  danger;  "  but  moe  (as  one  of  these  edi 
tors  has  himself  elsewhere  noted)  is  used  only  with  a  plural  or  a 
collective  noun.  See  on  ii.  3.  118  above. 

292.  Deserved.     Deserving.     See  on  60  above. 

293.  Jove's  own  book.     Wright  thinks  that  S.  had  in  mind  either 
Malachi,  iii.  16  or  Exodus,  xxxii.  32.     It  may  refer  to  Revelation, 

XX.  12,   15. 

304.  Clean  kam.  "Clean  from  the  purpose"  (/.  C.  i.  3.  35), 
"clean  out  of  the  way"  {Oth.  i.  3.  366),  quite  irrelevant.  For 
dean,  cf.  oho  Joshua,  iii.  17,  Psalms,  Ixxvii.  8,  etc.  Kam  =  crooked, 
awry.  Wright  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  wrung  way, 
clean  contrarie,  quite  kamme."  The  combination  clean  kam  must 
have  been  a  pet  phrase  with  Cotgrave,  for  Furnivall  adds  yet  an- 


Scene  II]  Notes  277 

other  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.     Cf.  Temp.  i.  I.  50:  "we  are  merely 
cheated  of  our  lives,"  etc. 

306.  l^he  service,  etc.    This  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  added, 
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.  Unscanrfd.  Inconsiderate  ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  The 
accent  is  on  the  first  syllable  because  it  is  before  the  noun. 

317.  What.  Why;  as  in/*,  and  C.  v.  2.  317:  "  What  should 
I  stay  ?  "  etc. 

322.   Bolted.    Sifted,  refined.     Cf.  W.  T.  iv.  4.  375,  Hen.  V.  ii. 

2.  137,  etc.     See  on  i.  I.  146. 

327.  Humane.     Accented  on  the  first  syllable,  as  regularly  in  S. 

328.  The  end,  etc.     Cf.  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.  1 02  below. 

7.  Muse.  Wonder.  Cf.  K.  John,  iii.  1.317:  "I  muse  your 
majesty  doth  seem  so  cold,"  etc. 

9.  Woollen.     Referring  rather  to  the  coarseness  than  to  the 
material  of  their  garments. 

10.  With  groats.    That  is,  fourpences  —  the  largest  coin  (or  its 
Roman  equivalent)  they  could  be  supposed  to  have. 

1 2.  Ordinance.  Order,  rank  ;  the  only  instance  of  this  sense 
inS. 


278  Notes  [Act  m 

1 8.  Let  go.  Let  it  go,  let  it  pass.  Cf.  let  be  in  W.  T.  v.  3.  61, 
A.  and  C.  iv.  4.  6,  etc. 

24.  ;4jj/,  and  burn  too.  Some  have  doubted  whether  this  speech 
belongs  to  Volumnia,  who  is  here  counselling  moderation ;  but 
Dyce  says  that,  as  spoken 'by  Mrs.  Siddons,  it  "seemed  to  come 
quite  naturally  from  the  lips  of  Volumnia  as  a  sudden  spirt  of  con 
tempt  for  that  rabble  whom,  however,  she  saw  the  necessity  of  her 
son's  endeavouring  to  conciliate." 

29.  Apt.  Susceptible,  docile.  Cf.  Ham.  i.  5.  31,  Hen.  V.  v.  2. 
312,  etc. 

41.  But  when  extremities  speak.     "Except   in  cases  of  urgent 
necessity,  when  your  resolute  and  noble  spirit,  however  commend 
able  at  other  times,  ought  to  yield  to  the  occasion  "  (Malone). 

42.  Unse-uer'd.      Not  to  be   severed,  inseparable ;    used   by  S. 
only  here. 

44.  Lose.  Changed  by  Pope  to  "  loses  ;  "  but  such  "  confusion 
of  construction  "  is  not  rare  in  S.  Cf.  Sonn.  28.  5,  etc. 

47.  The  same.  Equivalent  to  the  demonstrative  that ;  as  in 
M.  of  V.  i.  I.  119  :  — 

"  Well,  tell  me  now,  what  lady  is  the  same 
To  whom  you  swore  a  secret  pilgrimage  ?  " 

and  A.  W.  v.  3.  226 :  — 

"  King.   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.  Lies  you  on.     Lies   on   you,  is   incumbent   upon   you.     Cf. 
Rich.  III.  iv.  2.  59 :  "  it  stands  me  much  upon,"  etc. 

55.   Roted.     Learned  by  rote,  spoken  mechanically. 

57.  Of  no  allowance,  etc.  Not  acknowledged  as  the  offspring 
of  your  heart.  For  allowance  =  acknowledgment,  cf.  T.  and  C.  i. 
3  377.  »-  3-  H6,  etc. 


Scene  II]  Notes  279 

59.  Take  in.  Not  in  the  modern  sense,  which  would  seem  per 
tinent  enough,  but  =  take,  capture  ;  as  in  i.  2.  24  above. 

Co.    Put  you  to  your  fortune.     Compel  you  to  go  to  war. 

64.  /  am  in  this,  etc.  I  am  involved  or  at  stake  in  this,  as  your 
wife  and  others  are  ;  but  Warburton  took  it  to  mean  /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.  in 
herited  \r\  ii.  i.  212  above. 

69.  That  want.    The  want  of  that  inheritance. 

71.  Not.  Not  only  ;  as  in  Hi.  3.  97  below.  See  also  M.  for  M. 
iv.  I.  67  and  Per.  iii.  2.  46. 

74.  Here.     At  this  point ;   as  in  ii.  3.  172.     Like  the  thus  it  im 
plies  the  carrying  out  of  the  action  by  gestures.     Staunton  quotes 
Brome,  A  Jovial  Crew,  ii.  I,  where  Springlove,  describing  his  hav 
ing  solicited  alms  as  a  cripple,  says,  "  For  here  I  was  with  him. 
\_Halts." 

75.  Bussing.     Kissing.     For  the  figurative  use  of  the  word,  cf. 
T.  and  C.  iv.  5.  120:  "towers  whose  wanton  tops  do  buss  the 
clouds."     In  K.  John,  iii.  4.  35  (the  only  other  instance  in  S.)  it  is 
used  literally. 

78.  Which  often,  thus,  etc.  A  much  discussed  and  much  tin 
kered  passage.  Which  often  is  probably  =  which  do  often  ;  the 
ellipsis  being  not  unlike  many  others  in  S.  Wright  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 


280  Notes  [Act  m 

seem  to  me  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.  VL  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 
Wright  remarks,  "  S.  was  familiar  with  mulberries  at  least  fifteen 
years  before,  as  is  evident  by  the  mention  of  them  in  V.  and  A. 
1103,  and  M.  N.  D.  iii.  i.  170;  and  a  reference  to  Gerarde's  Her- 
ball  (1597)  will  show  that  the  mulberry-tree  was  well  known  in 
England  before  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  quite  true 
that  in  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  in  many  Shires  of  this  land'  (Stow's 
Annales,  ed.  Howes,  1615,  p.  894).  But  to  assume  that,  in  conse 
quence  of  this,  Shakespeare  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  hung  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  proba 
bility,  however,  he  had  a  mulberry-tree  in  his  own  garden  at  New 
Place,  Stratford,  which  he  bought  in  1597,  whether  it  was  the  tree 
of  which  relics  are  still  shown  or  not." 

83.  As  they.     As  for  them.     Cf.  1 25  below. 

99.  Unbartfd  sconce.  Unarmed  head,  bare  head.  Barb,  or 
barde,  meant  the  armour  used  for  horses  ;  whence  the  "  barbed 
steeds"  of  Rich.  II.  iii.  3.  117  and  Rich.  III.  i.  I.  10.  Cotgrave 
has  "  Bardes :  f.  Barbes,  or  trappings,  for  horses  of  seruice,  or  of 
shew."  But  in  all  these  cases  barb  and  barbed  are  corruptions  of 
bard  (applied  only  to  armour  for  horses)  and  barded  (from  the  Fr. 


Scene  II]  Notes  28 1 

barde).  The  correct  form  (see  New  Eng.  Diet.}  is  found  in  Caxton 
(1480),  Holinshed  (1577),  and  other  old  writers.  Scott  has  it  irf 
Lady  of  the  Lake,  vi.  404  ("  barded  horsemen "),  as  in  the  eds. 
down  to  1821,  but  misprinted  "barbed  "in  all  other  eds.  before 
mine  (1883).  See  also  Lay  of  Last  Minstrel,  i.  311.  Browning 
has  barded  in  James  Lee :  "  a  war-horse  barded."  Sconce  is  a  half- 
comic  word,  used  with  intentional  contempt  by  Coriolanus.  See 
Cotgrave  :  "  Teste :  f.  A  head,  pate,  skonce,  nole,  costard,  noddle." 

102.  Plot.  Used  figuratively  of  his  body.  Delius  strangely  takes 
it  to  mean  the  ground  he  stands  on. 

105.  Such  .  .  .  which.  Cf.  W.  T.  i.  I.  26,  iv.  4.  783,  M.  for  M. 
iv.  2.  in,  etc.  The  metaphor  in  part  is  taken  from  the  theatre, 
and  Cominius  keeps  it  up  in  we '//  prompt  you. 

113.  Quired.     Chimed,  sounded  in  unison.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  v.  i. 
62 :  "  Still  quiring  to  the  young-eyed  cherubins."     For  the  pas 
sage,  cf.  Tennyson,  Princess  :  — 

"  Modulate  me,  soul  of  mincing  mimicry; 
Make  liquid  treble  of  that  bassoon,  my  throat." 

114.  Small.    Cf.  T.  N.  i.  4.  32 :  — 

"  thy  small  pipe 
Is  as  the  maiden's  organ,  shrill  and  sound." 

Hanmer  reads  "  eunuch's  ;  "  but  cf.  i.  6.  27  above.  White  remarks 
of  virgin  that  it  is  "  the  most  infelicitous  use  of  epithet "  that  he 
remembers  to  have  noticed  in  S.  But  here  it  is  simply  =  girlish, 
and  of  course  has  no  reference  to  the  parentage  of  the  babies. 

1 1 5.  Lulls.    The  folios  have  "  lull,"  which  may  be  what  S.  wrote. 
Such  "  confusion  of  construction  "  is  not  rare  in  the  plays. 

116.  Tent.     Lodge  as  in  a  tent,  encamp  ;  a  natural  figure  for  a 
soldier. 

1 1 7.  The  glasses  of  my  sight !    Cf.  Rich.  II.  i.  3.  208 :  "  even  in 
the  glasses  of  thine  eyes." 

119.  Who.  Often  used  of  "  irrational  antecedents  personified." 
Cf.  i.  i.  258  above. 


282  Notes  [Act  m 

1 20.  An  alms!    For  the  singular,  cf.  Much  Ado,  ii.  3.  164:  "it 
were  an  alms  to  hang  him  ;  "    T.  of  S.  iv.  3.  5  :  "a  present  alms," 
etc.     See  also  Acts,  iii.  3.     The  word  was  originally  singular,  the  s 
belonging  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Early  English  word,  as  well  as 
the  Greek  one  from  which  these  are  derived. 

121.  Surcease.     Cease.     Cf.  R.  of  L.  1766:  "If  they  surcease 
to  be  that  should  survive."     For  the  noun,  see  Macb.  i.  7.  4. 

124.  More.     Cf.  K.  John,  ii.  I.  34  :    "a  more  requital,"  etc. 

125.  Than  thou,  etc.     See  on  83  above. 

127.  Stoutness.  Pride.  See  on  78  above.  Johnson  paraphrases 
the  passage  thus  :  "  Go  do  thy  worst ;  let  me  rather  feel  the  utmost 
extremity  that  thy  pride  can  bring  upon  us  than  live  thus  in  fear  of 
thy  dangerous  obstinacy." 

129.  "So  Cassius,  in/.  C.  iv.  3.  120,  attributes  his  hasty  temper 
to  his  mother  :    'That  rash  humour  which  my  mother  gave  me.' 
And  the  influence  of  the  mother  in  the  formation  of  the  child's 
character  is  again  referred  to  in  Macb.  i.  7.  72-74"  (Wright). 

130.  Owe.     Own,  possess  ;   as  often. 

132.  Mountebank.  Play  the  mountebank  to  win  ;  the  only  in 
stance  of  the  verb  in  S. 

I33-  C°g-  Cheat,  cozen.  Cf.  Much  Ado,  v.  I.  95,  M.  W.  iii. 
3.  76,  etc. 

134.    Of.     By  ;  as  in  i.  2.  13  above. 

141.  Upon  you.     Cf.  iii.  3.  47  below. 

142.  The  word.     The  watchword;    as  in  M.  of  V.  iii.  5.  58, 
T.  N.  iii.  4.  263,  A.  and  C.  i.  2.  139,  etc. 

SCENE  III.  —  i.  Affects.     See  on  ii.  2.  21  above. 

3.  Enforce.     Urge  ;   as  in  ii.  3.  224  above.     For  envy  =  malice, 
hatred,  see  on  i.  8.  4  above. 

4.  Got  on.     Got  of,  won  from.     For  on  =  of,  see  on  i.  I.  12 ;  and 
for  of=.  from,  on  v.  6.  15. 

7.  With.  Regularly  used  by  S.  with  accompanied.  Cf.  2  Hen, 
JV.  iv.  4.  52  :  — 


Scene  III]  Notes  283 

"  King.  And  how  accompanied  ?  canst  thou  tell  that  ? 
Clarence.  With  Poins  and  other  his  continual  followers.** 

See  also  Rich.  III.  iii.  5.  99,  T.  A.  ii.  3.  78,  etc. 

10.   By  the  poll?    By  the  head,  individually. 

12.   Presently.     Immediately;   as  in  ii.  3.  258  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  o1  the  cause.    In  the  justice  of  the  procedure. 

21.   Present.     Instant.     See  on  iii.  I.  212  above. 

25.  Put  him  to  choler.     Cf.  ii.  3.  202  above. 

26.  His  -worth.     "  His   full   quota   or   proportion "    (Malone)  ; 
"his  pennyworth  in  a    dispute"   (Dyce).     Schmidt    explains   the 
passage  :  "  To  gain  high  reputation  by  contradiction  ;  "   but  this 
does  not  suit  the  context  as  well. 

27.  Chafd.     Irritated,  angered.    Cf.  T.  of  S.  i.  2.   203,  Hen. 
VIII.  iii.  2.  206,  etc. 

28.  Temperance.     Self-restraint.     Cf.  Hen.   VIII.  i.  I.  124:  — 

"  What,  are  you  chaf 'd  ? 
Ask  God  for  temperance." 

30.    With  us.     As  we  shall  use  it,  or  take  advantage  of  it. 

33.    Bear  the  knave.     Bear  being  called  knave. 

36.  Throng,  etc.  Wright  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.  Cf.  require  in  ii.  2.  156  above. 

45.  Allow.    Acknowledge.     Cf.  allowance  in  iii.  2.  57  above. 

50.  Show.     Appear;  as  in  iv.  5.  68  below. 

51.  Graves  f  the  holy  churchyard.     English  rather  than  Roman 


284  Notes  [Act  in 

of  course.     Could  Bacon  have  written  that  ?     See  on  ii.  I.    125 
above. 

57.    Envy  you.     Show  ill-will  to  you.     Cf.  the  noun  in  3  above. 

63.  Contriv'd.     Plotted;    as  often.     Cf.  A.    Y.   L.   iv.   3.    135, 
M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  196,  etc. 

64.  Seasoned.     Johnson  explains  this  as  "  established  and  settled 
by  time,  and  made  familiar  to  the  people  by  long  use ;  "  Wright 
as  "  well  ripened-  or  matured  and  rendered  palatable  to  the  people 
by  time."     Schmidt  makes  it  =  "  qualified,  tempered,"  which  seems 
favoured  by  the  context.     Such  limited  power  is  the  natural  an 
tithesis  to  power  tyrannical.     Besides,  the  office  of  the  tribunes, 
against  which  the  opposition  of  Coriolanus  was  specially  directed, 
was  not  a  long-established  one. 

68.  Fold  in.     Infold,  enclose.     Cf.  v.  6.  125  below. 

69.  Their  traitor  !    A  traitor  to  them.    Injurious  —  insolent,  in 
sulting.     Cf.  3  Hen.  VI.  iii.  3.  78  :  "  Injurious  Margaret  !  "   Cymb. 
iv.  2.  86  :  "Thou  injurious  thief,"  etc. 

71.    Clutch? d.     That  is,  were  there  clutched. 

82.  Extremest.  S.  always  accents  the  positive  extreme  on  the 
first  syllable,  except  in  Bonn.  129.  4,  10 ;  but  the  superlative 
extremest,  as  here.  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  I.  42,  Lear,  v.  3.  136,  etc.  See 
also  iv.  5.  75  below,  and  note  on  iv.  5.  no. 

89.  Pent  to  linger.  "We  may  either  take  pent,  like  clutc,Vd\n 
71,  as  equivalent  to  were  I  pent,  or  as  connected  with  pronounce  • 
let  them  pronounce  the  sentence  of  being  pent,  etc."  (Wri-ht), 
The  latter  seems  better  on  the  whole,  as  continuing  the  construc 
tion,  though  somewhat  loosely,  instead  of  breaking  it  with  a  new 
one 

92.  Courage.  From  the  context  this  seems  to  be  =  fearless  ut 
terance.  Collier  considers  it  "  inconsistent  with  the  noble  char 
acter  of  the  hero  to  represent  him  vanting  his  own  courage ;  " 
but  he  simply  says  "I  will  not  restrain  my  boldness  of  speech," 
just  as  he  had  said  above  (70  fol.)  that  he  will  fearlessly  tell  the 
tribune  that  he  lies,  even  at  the  risk  of  twenty  thousand  deaths. 


Scene  III]  Notes  285 

95.  Envied  against.     Shown  his  enmity  to.     See  on  57  above. 

96.  As  now  at  last.     As  he  has  now  at  last,  etc. 

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  K. 
and  J.  prol.  8 ;  and  Abbott  ( Grammar,  334)  recognizes  it  as  a 
"  third  person  plural  in  -//4." 

104.   Rome  gates.     See  on  i.  8.  8  above,  and  cf.  ii.  I.  176. 

106.  //  shall  be  so,  etc.  Note  how  promptly  here  the  plebeians 
take  their  cue  from  the  tribune's  //  shall  be  so ;  as  he  had  drilled 
them  to  do  in  13  fol.  above. 

114.    Estimate.     Estimation,  reputation. 

120.  Cry.     Pack;  as  in  iv.  6.  150  below.     Cf.  also  Oik.  ii.  3. 
370 :  "  not  like  a  bound  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  ciy  more  tuneable 
Was  never  holla'd  to,  nor  cheer'd  tf-ith  horn." 

121.  Reek.    Vapour,  exhalation  ;  used  again  in  M.  W.  iii.  3.  86: 
"  the  reek  of  a  lime-kiln."     On  the  rotten  fens,  Steevens  quotes 
Temp.  ii.  1.47:  — 

"  Sebastian.   As  if  it  had  lungs,  and  rotten  ones. 
Antonio.  Or  as  't  were  perfumed  by  a  fen." 

123.  I  banish  you.    Cf.  Rich.  II.  \.  3.  280:  — 

"  Think  not  the  king  did  banish  thee, 
But  thou  the  king." 

127.   Fan  you.     Cf.  Macb.  \.  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 


286  Notes  [Act  iv 

the  prudence  to  make  reservation  of  themselves,  they  cannot  with 
any  propriety  be  said  to  be  in  that  respect  still  their  own  foes ;  " 
but,  as  Whitelaw  remarks,  "  Coriolanus  says  that  the  mischief  is 
just  this  :  that  they  spare  none  but  themselves,  their  own  worst 
enemies."  Staunton  paraphrases  the  passage  thus  :  "  Banish  all 
your  defenders  as  you  do  me,  till  at  last,  your  ignorance,  having 
reserved  only  your  impotent  selves,  always  your  own  foes,  deliver 
you  the  humbled  captives  to  some  nation,"  etc. 

132.  Abated.  Beaten  down,  humiliated  ;  "  the  French  a battu " 
(Steevens). 

137.   Hoo  !  hoo  !    See  on  ii.  I.  113  above. 

140.  Vexation.  As  Wright  notes,  both  vex  and  vexation  had  a 
stronger  meaning  in  the  time  of  S.  than  now.  In  the  Bible  vex  is 
frequently  =  torment ;  as  in  Matthew,  xv.  22.  Cf.  Deuteronomy, 
xxviii.  20,  where  vexation  translates  the  word  rendered  destruction 
in  Deuteronomy,  vii.  23. 


ACT  IV       • 

SCENE  I.  —  I.    The  beast,  etc.   Cf.  ii.  3.  1 6  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  1st  has  "  Ex- 
treamities,"  which  Delius  explains  as  collective,  or  expressing  one 
idea  ;   but  it  is  probably  a  misprint. 

5.  That  common  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 !  " 


Scene  I]  Notes  287 

7.  Fortune's  blows,  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  philosophy"  (Clarke).  For  home, 
cf.  iii.  3.  I  above. 

9.  Cunning.  Knowledge,  wisdom,  or  "  philosophy,"  as  Clarke 
has  it  above.  Cf.  Oth.  iii.  3.  49 :  "  in  ignorance,  and  not  in  cun 
ning,"  etc. 

12.  O  heavens !    O  heavens !     "  Be  it  observed  that  after  this 
one  irrepressible  burst  of  anguish,  when  her  husband  has  bidden 
her  to  check  it,  Virgilia  utters  no  further  syllable  during  this  part 
ing  scene  "  (Clarke). 

13.  The  red  pestilence.     Cf.  Temp.\.  2.  364:  "The  red  plague 
rid  you!  "  and  T.  and  C.  ii.  I.  20:  "A  red  murrain  o*  thy  jade's 
tricks !  "     The  physicians  of  the  time  recognized   three  different 
kinds  of  the  plague-sore,  the  red,  the  yellow,  and  the  black. 

15.  Lacked.  Missed.  Cf.  Macb.  iii.  4.  84,  A.  and  C.  i.  4.  44, 
etc. 

23.  Sometime.  Former.  For  the  adjective  use,  cf.  Ham.  i.  2. 
8 :  "  our  sometime  sister,"  etc. 

26.  Fond.     Foolish ;  as  very  often.     For  the  ellipsis  of  as,  cf. 
53  below,  and  see  on  ii.  i.  45  above. 

27.  Wot.   Know ;  used  only  in  the  present  and  the  participle 
wotting. 

28.  Still.     Ever,  constantly  ;   as  in  ii.  I.  259,  etc. 

30.  Fen.  Grey  conjectured  "  den  ;  "  but  Wright  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  Mountains,"  etc. 

33.  Cautelous.  Crafty,  deceitful ;  as  in/.  C  ii.  I.  129:  "Swear 
priests  and  cowards  and  men  cautelous."  For  the  noun  cautel 
(=  craft,  deceit),  cf.  Ham.  i.  3.  15:  "no  soil  nor  cautel,"  etc. 
Practice  —  artifice,  stratagem;  as  in  M.  for  M.  v.  I.  123  (cf. 


288  Notes  [Act  iv 

239)  :  "  This  needs  must  be  a  practice,"  etc.  First  probably  =  first 
born,  not  "  noblest,"  as  Warburton  explains  it. 

36.  Exposture.  The  reading  of  all  the  folios,  changed  by  Rowe 
to  "  exposure,"  which  S.  elsewhere  (twice)  uses.  As  we  have  corn- 
posture  in  T.  of  A.  iv.  3.  444,  though  composure  elsewhere  (three 
times),  it  is  probable  that  the  old  text  may  be  right.  The  form  is 
analogous  to  imposture. 

41.  Repeal.  Recall  from  banishment;  as  in  J.  C.  iii.  I.  54: 
"an  immediate  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  advantage  of  which  there  is  a  prospect,  and  of  the  man  needed 
home  by  the  friends  who  want  him  to  profit  by  it"  (Clarke). 

49.  Of  noble  touch.  Of  tested  nobility.  See  on  ii.  3.  196  above. 
Am  forth  —  have  gone  away.  Cf.  M.  W.  ii.  2.  278 :  "  her  husband 
will  be  forth." 

SCENE  II.  —  2.  Whom.  Cf.  Temp.  iii.  3.  92:  "Young  Ferdi 
nand,  whom  they  suppose  is  drown'd  ;  "  and  see  also  K.  John,  iv. 
2.  165,  etc. 

ii.  The  hoarded  plague  o1  the  gods.  The  punishment  which  they 
reserve.  Cf.  Lear,  ii.  4.  1 64 :  — 

"  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. 


Scene  II]  Notes  289 

16.  Mankind?  "The  word  mankind '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  aggra 
vated  sense,  a  woman  ferocious,  violent,  and  eager  to  shed  blood. 
In  this  sense  Sicinius  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  !  "  In  S.  the  word  is  gener 
ally  accented  on  the  first  syllable,  as  here. 

1 8.  Hadsi  thou  foxship,  etc.  "  Hadst  thou,  fool  as  thou  art, 
cunning  enough  to  banish  Coriolanus?"  (Johnson).  Schmidt 
notes  that  the  fox  is  the  symbol  of  ingratitude  as  well  as  of  cun 
ning.  Cf.  Lear,  iii.  6.  24 :  "  Now,  you  she-foxes ;  "  and  Id.  in.  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  chang 
ing  her  mind  —  Nay,  but  you  shall  stay.      Too  =  after  all  ;  and  yet 
I  see  reasons  too  why  you  should  stay  "  (Whitelaw). 

24.  In  Arabia.    That  is,  where  none  could  part  them.    Cf.  Macb. 
iii.  4.  104  and  Cymb.  i.  2.  167. 

Thy  tribe.  Contemptuously  ;  as  in  v.  6.  129  below.  Cf.  Lear, 
i.  2.  14:  "the  whole  tribe  of  fops."  For  the  technical  Roman 
sense,  cf.  iii.  3.  ii  and  v.  5.  2. 

25.  What  then  ?  etc.     Hanmer  gives  this  speech  to  Volumnia, 
as  not  in  keeping  with  the  gentle  character  of  Virgilia  ;  but  the 
latter  might  not  unnaturally  follow  up  what  Volumnia  has  said,  as 
the  reference  is  to  her  husband. 

32.  The  noble  knot.  The  honourable  tie  that  bound  him  to  his 
country.  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. 
CORIOLANUS —19 


290  Notes  [Act  iv 

44.    With.    By  ;  as  often.     Cf.  its  use  in  iii.  3.  7. 

48.  Lies  heavy  to  V.     Cf.  Macb.  v.  3.  44 :  — 

"Cleanse  the  stuff 'd  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff 
Which  weighs  upon  the  heart." 

For  homey  see  on  ii.  2.  103  above. 

49.  Troth.     Faith  ;  literally  truth,  as  in  iv.  5.  197  below. 

51.  Starve.     The  ist  folio  has  "  sterue."     See  on  ii.  3.  1 16  above. 

52.  This  faint  puling.      "  By   this   slight   touch,   and   by   the 
epithet  faint,  how  well  is  indicated  the  silent  agony  of  weeping  in 
which  Virgilia  is  lost !  "  (Clarke). 

53.  Juno-like.     The  "  queen  of  heaven  "  is  often  alluded  to  by 
S. ;  as  in  ii.  I.  108  above  and  v.  3.  46  below.     Cf.   Temp.  iv.  I.  IO2 
fol.,  A.  W.  iii.  4.  13,  W.  T.  iv.  4.  121,  etc. 

SCENE  III.  —  9.  Favour.  Face,  look  ;  as  often.  Cf.  Much  Ado, 
ii.  i.  97,  iii.  3.  19,  etc. 

Is  well  appeared.  Wright  says  that  if  this  be  the  true  reading, 
appeared  must  be  used  in  a  "  transitive  "  sense,  and  Abbott  (  Gram 
mar,  295,  296)  considers  this  possible  ;  but  an  explanation  so 
improbable  should  be  admitted  only  as  a  last  resort.  It  is  better, 
with  Schmidt,  to  take  appeared  as  an  adjective  =  apparent  (cf. 
dishonoured—  dishonourable,  in  iii.  I.  60  above)  or  to  take  is 
appeared  as  =  has  appeared.  For  this  latter,  it  is  true,  we  have 
only  Dogberry's  authority  in  Much  Ado,  iv.  2.  I  ;  but  on  the  face 
of  it  is  appeared 'is  as  allowable  as  is  arrived,  is  come,  etc.  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  of  have — as  in  the  French 
est  arrive,  the  German  ist gekommen,  etc.  Apparaitre,  by  the  way, 
is  conjugated  with  etre  as  well  as  avoir. 

13.  Hath.  For  the  singular  verb  preceding  a  plural  subject,  cf. 
i.  9.  49  above. 

22.   Receive  so  to  heart.     We  still  say  "  take  to  heart." 


Scene  IV]  Notes  29! 

23.   Ripe  aptness.     Perfect  readiness. 

25.  Glowing.  Carrying  on  the  metaphor  in  blaze  and  flame 
above. 

34.  She  *s  fallen  out.  A  contraction  of  either  she  is  or  she  has. 
Cf.  Lear,  ii.  4.  1 1  :  "am  fallen  out ;  "  and  Jt.  and  J.  iii.  4.  i  : 
"Things  have  fallen  out,"  etc.  See  on  is  appeared  above. 

38.  He  cannot  choose.  He  has  -no  alternative,  he  cannot  do 
otherwise.  Cf.  T.  N.  ii.  5.  188,  Temp.  i.  2.  186,  ii.  2.  24,  etc. 

46.  Their  charges.  Cf.  /.  C.  iv.  2.  48  :  "  Bid  our  commanden 
lead  their  charges  off,"  etc.  In  the  entertainment  =  engaged  foi 
the  service.  Cf.  A.  W.  iv.  i.  17  :  "some  band  of  strangers  i'  the 
adversary's  entertainment." 


SCENE  IV.  —  3.  Fore  my  wars.  To  be  connected,  I  think  .vith 
what  follows ;  but  \Vhitelaw  says  "  many  a  one  who  before  my 
wars  was  heir."  For  fore,  cf.  i.  I.  121  above. 

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 
artful  introduction  to  the  sudden  league  which  the  poet  made  him 
enter  into  with  Aufidius,  and  no  less  artful  an  apology  for  his  com 
mencing  enemy  to  Rome"  (Warburton). 

13.  Whose  double  bosoms,  etc.     Steevens  compares  M.  N.  D.  iii. 
2.  212  :  "  So  with  two  seeming  bodies,  but  one  heart,"  etc. 

14.  House.    The  reading  adopted  by  nearly  all  the  editors.    The 
folio  has  "  hours,"  which  has  been  defended  by  comparing  T.  G. 
if  V.  ii.  4.  62  :  — 

"  I  knew  him  as  myself;  for  from  our  infancy 
We  have  convened  and  spcMit  our  hours  together  ; 


292  Notes  [Act  iv 

and  the  similar  passage  in  M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  198  fol.;   but  the  context 
here  is  very  different  and  seems  to  demand  house. 

1 6.  Unseparable.     Used  by  S.  only  here.     Inseparable  occurs  in 
A.  Y.  L.  i.  3.  78  and  K.  John,  iii.  4.  66.     So  we  find  incapable  and 
uncapable,  incertain  and  uncertain,  etc.     See  on  ingrateful,  ii.  2. 
31  above, 

17.  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. 
in  above. 

21.  Trick.    Trifle.     Cf.  T.  of  S.  iv.  3.  67:  "a  knack,  a  toy,  a 
trick  ;  "  Ham.  iv.  4.  61  :  "a  fantasy  and  trick  of  fame,"  etc. 

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?  " 

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.  —  n.  In  being  Coriolanus.  For  having  obtained 
that  name  by  the  capture  of  Corioli. 

14.  Companions?  Fellows.  For  the  contemptuous  use,  cf.  v.  2. 
62  below.  See  also/.  C.  iv.  3.  138,  Oth.  iv.  2.  141,  etc. 

21.  A  strange  one,  etc.  For  the  ellipsis  of  as,  see  on  ii.  I.  46 
above. 

25.  Avoid.  Leave,  quit ;  as  in  Hen.  VIII.  v.  i.  86 :  "  Avoid  the 
gallery."  In  34  below  it  is  used  intransitively ;  as  in  W.  T.  i.  2. 
462  :  "  let  us  avoid." 

35.  Batten.  Fatten,  gorge  yourself.  Cf.  Ham.  iii.  4.  67 :  "batten 
on  this  moor  ;  "  the  only  other  instance  in  S.  On  the  passage,  cf. 
Cymb.  ii.  3.  119:  — 


Scene  V]  Notes  293 

"  that  base  wretch, 

One  bred  of  alms  and  foster'd  with  cold  dishes, 
With  scraps  o'  the  court." 

39.  And  I  shall.  Yes,  I  will.  Cf.  A.  and  C.  ii.  7.  134:  "And 
shall,  sir." 

41.  The  canopy.  "This  most  excellent  canopy,  the  air,  look 
you,  this  brave  o'erhanging  firmament"  (Ham.  ii.  2.  311). 

47.  //  is  !  Contemptuous  ;  as  in  M.  of  V.  iii.  3.  18, Ihn.  V.  iii 
6.  70,  etc.  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." 

60.   If,  Tullus,  etc.     See  extract  from  North,  p.  204  above. 

62.  Think  me  Jor.     Think  me  to  be. 

63.  Commands  me  name.     For  the  construction,  cf.  T.  of  S.  v. 
2.  96 :  "  Say,  I  command  her  come  to  me,"  etc. 

,  66.  Appearance.  Spelt  "  apparance "  in  the  ist  folio,  as  in 
Hen.  V.  ii.  2.  76,  and  not  unfrequently  in  writers  of  the  time. 

68.   Show1  st.     Appearest.     Cf.  iii.  3.  50  above. 

75.   Extreme.     For  the  accent,  see  on  iii.  3.  82  above. 

77.  Memory.  Memorial.  Cf.  v.  6.  154  below.  Here  the  word 
is  taken  from  North  (see  p.  204  above). 

80.   Envy.     Hatred.     Cf.  iii.  3.  3  above. 

82.  Hath  devoured.  The  singular  verb  with  two  singular  sub 
jects  is  not  uncommon.  Here  the  two  may  be  regarded  as  virtually 
single  =  envious  cruelty. 

84.  Whoopd.  Spelt,  "  Hoop'd "  in  the  folios;  and  we  find 
"  hooping  "  in  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  2.  203,  as  sometimes  in  other  writers  of 
the  time. 

88.  Voided.  Avoided.  The  folio  spell  it  "  voided,"  and  I  think 
that  form  should  be  retained.  In  Golding's  Ccesar  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  25  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  prejudices ;  "  that  is,  avoiding  them. 


294  Notes  [Act  iv 

The  same  author  has  voidance  =  avoidance :    "  the  voidance   of 
fond  conceits,"  etc. 

89.  Full  quit  of.  Fully  even  with,  thoroughly  revenged  upon. 
Cf.  7'.  of  S.  iii.  i.  92:  "  Hortensio  will  be  quit  with  thee,"  etc. 

91.  Wreak.     Vengeance  ;   as  in.  T.  A.  iv.  3.  33:  "Take  wreak 
on  Rome  for  this  ingratitude  ;  "  and  Id.  iv.  4.  u  :  "Shall  we  be 
thus  afflicted  in  his  wreaks  ? "     Steevens  quotes  Chapman,  Iliad, 
v. :  "  Or  take  his  friend's  wreake  on  his  men."      Wilt  is  probably 
to   be   explained   by  the   thee  immediately  preceding  it.      Cf.  71 
above :  "  My  name  is  Caius  Marcius,  who  hath  done,"  etc. 

92.  Particular.     Private,  personal  ;   as  in  v.  2.  71  below. 
A/aims  of  shame  —  "  disgraceful  diminutions  of  territory"  (John 
son);   or  shameful  injuries. 

97.  Canker1  d.     "Canker-bit"  (Lear,  v.  3.  122),  or  "unsound  at 
heart,    ill-conditioned"   (Whitelaw).     We  find  it  associated  with, 
the  idea  of  ingratitude  in  I  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  137:  "this  ingrate  and 
canker'd  Bolingbroke." 

98.  The  under  fiends.     Probably  =  the  fiends  below  ;    not  the 
"  subordinate  fiends,"  as  Steevens  explained  it.     For  what  follows, 
cf.  extract  from  North,  p.  205  above. 

99.  And  that.    And  if  that. 

102.  Ancient  malice.     Cf.  ii.  i.  241  above. 

109.   Envy.     Hatred.     See  on  80  above. 

no.  Divine.  Accented  on  the  first  syllable;  as  in  Cymb.  ii 
I.  62,  iv.  2.  170,  etc.  For  many  dissyllabic  adjectives  and  parti- 
ciples  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. 

113.  Where-against.    Against  which  ;   a  compound  like  whereat, 
whereby,  whereinto  (Otk.  iii.  3.  137),  zvhereout  (T.  and  C.  iv.  5. 
245),  where-through  (Sonn.  24.  n),  etc. 

114.  Grained.     Probably  =  hard-grained.     Cf.  L.  C.  64:   "his 
grained  bat." 

115.  Scarr'd.     Changed  by  Rowe  (2d  ed.)  to  "scar'd,"  in  sup- 


Scene  V]  Notes  295 

port  of  which  Malone  quotes  Rich.  III.  v.  3.  341 :  "Amaze  the 
welkin  with  your  broken  staves."  On  the  other  hand,  Delius  cites 
in  favour  of  scarr'd  the  hyperbole  in  IV.  T.  iii.  3.  92 :  "  the  ship 
boring  the  moon  with  her  mainmast."  Clip  =  embrace ;  as  in 
i.  6.  29  above. 

1 1 6.  Anvil.  Aufidius  is  compared  to  the  anvil  on  which  the 
strokes  of  Coriolanus's  sword  have  fallen  like  repeated  blows  of  a 
hammer.  Steevens  quotes  Ham.  ii.  2.  511 :  — 

"  And  never  did  the  Cyclops'  hammers  fall 
On  Mars's  armour  forg'd  for  proof  eterne 
With  less  remorse  than  Pyrrhus'  bleeding  sword 
Now  falls  on  Priam." 

121.  Sigtfd  truer  breath.  Malone  quotes  V.  and  A.  189:  "I'll 
sigh  celestial  breath,"  etc. 

124.  Bestride  my  threshold.     Cross  my  threshold,  enter  my  house. 
Some  see  an  allusion  to  the  Roman  custom  of  carrying  the  bride 
over  the  threshold  of  her  husband's  house. 

Thou  Mars  !  Cf.  Rich.  II.  ii.  3.  101 :  "  the  Black  Prince,  that 
young  Mars  of  men." 

125.  Power.     Army;  as  in  i.  2.  9  above.     On  had  purpose,  cf. 
W.  T.  iv.  4.  152. 

126.  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." 

127.  Out.    Thoroughly,  out  and  out.     Some  think  it  refers  to 
what  follows,  but  it  seems  better  to  connect  it  with  beat.     For  the 
former  use  of  the  word,  cf.  Temp.  i.  2.  41 :  "  Out  three  years  old  " 
(  =  full  three  years  old). 

133.  No  quarrel  else.  For  to  after  quarrel,  cf.  Much  Ado,  ii.  I, 
243:  "The  Lady  Beatrice  hath  a  quarrel  to  you;"  and  T.  N.  iii. 
4.  248 :  "  no  man  hath  any  quarrel  to  me." 

137.  Overbear.  For  other  instances  of  the  verb  applied  to  a 
flood  of  waters,  see  Oth.  i.  3.  56,  Ham.  iv.  5. 102,  and  Per.  v.  1. 195. 


296 


Notes  [Act  iv 


The  folios  have  "o're-beate  "  or  "  o' re-beat"  ;  but  overbear  is  con 
firmed  by  iii.  i.  249  above.  Neither  tier-beat  or  over-beat  is  found 
elsewhere  in  S. 

142.  Most  absolute  sir.  Cf.  A.  and  C.  iv.  14.  117:  "Most  abso 
lute  lord  ; "  and  sportively  in  Id.  i.  2.  2  :  "  most  anything  Alexas, 
almost  most  absolute  Alexas,"  etc.  See  also  Ham.  v.  2.  1 1 1  :  "an 
absolute  gentleman  ;"  that  is,  a  perfect  gentleman. 

149.  Ere  destroy.     For  the  construction,  cf.  i.  i.  220,  244. 

150.  Commend.     Recommend,  introduce  ;   as  in  Cymb.  i.  4.  32: 
"  I  beseech  you  all,  be  better  known  to  this  gentleman,  whum  I 
commend  to  you  as  a  noble  friend  of  mine,"  etc. 

156.  Strucken.  The  spelling  of  the  3d  and  4th  folios;  the  1st 
and  2d  have  "stroken."  Other  old  forms  of  the  participle  are 
stricken,  strooken,  strook,  stroke,  etc. 

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." 

165.  I  thought  there  was  more  in  him  than  I  could  think.  "One 
of  Shakespeare's  humorously  paradoxical  speeches"  (Clarke).  Cf. 
ii.  3.  5  above. 

170.    Wot.     See  on  iv.  i.  27  above. 

173.  Worth  six  on  him.  Delius  interprets  this  as  meaning  that 
Aufidius  is  worth  six  of  Coriolanus,  but  it  is  not  consistent  with 
what  follows  (191,  192).  On  =  of ;  as  in  202  below,  i.  I.  226, 
etc. 

185.  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  on  i.  3.  25  above. 


Scene  V]  Notes  297 

196.  Directly.    To  be  direct  or  plain  about  it.     Cf.  simply  in 
178  above.     For  troth,  see  on  iv.  2.  49  above. 

197.  Scotched.     Cut;  as  in  Macb.  iii.  2.  13  :  "We  have  scotch'd 
the  snake,  not  kill'd  it  ;"  where  the  folios  have  "  scorch'd,"  which 
seems    to    have  had  the    same   meaning.      We  find    the  noun  in 
A.  and  C.  iv.  7.  10 :  "  six  scotches  more." 

198.  Carbonado.     A  slice  of  meat  prepared   for  broiling.     Cf. 
I  Hen.  IV.  v.  3.  61,  and  the  verb  in  W.  T.  iv.  4.  268,  /.ear,  ii.  2. 
41,  etc. 

206.  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). 

212.  Sowl.  Pull  by  the  ears  ;  an  old  word  not  used  elsewhere 
by  S.  It  is  still  provincial  in  some  parts  of  England.  Steevens 
quotes  Heywood,  Love's  Mistress,  iv.  I  :  "  Venus  will  sowle  me  by 
the  eares  for  this."  For  Rome  gates,  cf.  iii.  3.  104  above. 

214.  Polled.  "  Bared,  cleared  "  (Johnson).  "  To  poll  a  person 
anciently  meant  to  cut  off  his  hair"  (Steevens).  Cf.  Wooton, 
Damcetas*  Madrigall,  etc.  :  "  Like  Nisus'  golden  hair  that  Scilla 
pol'd."  See  also  2  Samuel,  xiv.  26. 

221.  Directitude!  Whether  this  is  a  blunder  of  the  servant  or  a 
corruption  of  the  text  is  uncertain.  The  fact  that  his  companion 
does  not  understand  it  does  not  settle  the  question. 

223.  In  blood.     In  good  condition.     See  on  i.  I.  160  above. 

224.  Conies.     Rabbits  ;  as  in  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  2.  357,  3  Hen.  VI.  i. 
4.  62,  and  V.  and  A.  687.     See  also  Psalms,  civ.  18. 

227.   Presently.     At  once.     See  on  iii.  3.  12  above. 

229.  Parcel.  Part.  Cf.  i.  2.  32  above.  Audible  is  used  actively 
=  quick  of  hearing,  attentive,  on  the  alert. 

236.  Full  of  vent.  Explained  by  Johnson  as  =  "  full  of  rumour, 
full  of  materials  for  discourse ;"  and  by  Clarke  as  =  full  of  "  im 
pulse,  unrestrained  speech  and  action  "  (cf.  vent  in  iii.  i.  258)  ;  but, 
according  to  Baynes  {Edinburgh  Rev.  for  October,  1872),  it  is  a 
hunting  term  =  keenly  excited,  full  of  pluck  and  courage.  "  When 


298  Notes  [Act  iv 

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." 
Wright  criticises  this  explanation  as  follows  :  "  According  to  this 
view,  war  is  compared  to  a  pack  of  hounds  in  full  cry.  But  I  think 
it  scarcely  in  accordance  with  what  follows  in  the  description  of 
peace,  where  the  epithets  appear  to  correspond  to  the  epithets  ap 
plied  to  war,  but  in  an  inverted  order  ;  insensible  corresponding  to 
sprite  ly,  sleepy  to  waking,  deafto  audible,  and  mulled  to  full  of  vent. 
If  this  view  is  correct,  the  figure  involved  in  full  of  vent  is  not  from 
the  hunting  field,  but  the  expression  must  be  descriptive  of  some 
thing  in  wine  which  is  the  'opposite  to  that  conveyed  by  mulled. 
And  as  mulled  signifies  flat,  insipid,  full  of  vent  would  seem  to  be 
effervescent,  working,  ready  to  burst  the  cask,  or  full  of  scent. 
Cotgrave  indeed  gives  '  Odorement  ...  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  equiv 
alent  to  what  is  now  termed  the  bouquet  of  wine."  Madden, 
however  {Diary  of  Master  William  Silence,  1897),  is  confident  that 
Baynes  is  right.  He  remarks  that  vent  (  =  scent)  occurs  in  Spenser 
(Shep.  AW.)  and  Drayton  (Polyolbion}.  It  is  the  Norman-French 
equivalent  for  wind  used  in  the  same  sense  in  A.  W.  iii.  6.  123,  v. 
2.  10,  Ham.  iii.  2.  362,  etc. 

Mulled.  "  An  expressive  epithet ;  suggesting  the  idea  of  soft 
ness  and  drowsy  quality,  as  that  of  wine  warmed,  spiced,  and 
sweetened"  (Clarke). 

245.  Reason.  Elliptical  for  "  There  is  reason  for  it."  Cf. 
M.  W.  ii.  2.  15,  K.John,  v.  2.  130,  etc. 

SCENE  VI.  —  2.  Tame.  "  Ineffectual  in  times  of  peace  like 
these  "  (Steevens).  As  Steevens  says,  tame  seems  designedly  op 
posed  to  wild. 

5.  Rather  had.  Had  rather ;  as  in  L.  L.  L.  ii.  I.  147,  etc.  Pope 
changes  behold  to  "  beheld ;  "  but  the  construction  plainly  is  had 
rather  behold  than  see,  etc. 


Scene  VI]  Notes  299 

7.  Pestering.  Thronging,  crowding ;  the  original  sense  of  the 
word.  Cf.  Milton,  Comus,  7  :  "  Confin'd  and  pester'd  in  this  pin 
fold  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.  100  above. 

30.    Confusion.     See  on  Hi.  I.  no  above. 

32.  Ambitious,  etc.    The  pointing  is  that  of  the  4th  folio ;  the 
earlier  folios  connect  past  all  thinking  with  what  follows. 

33.  Affecting.     Desiring,  aiming  at.     See  on  ii.  2.  21  above. 

34.  Without  assistance.     With  no  one  to  share  it  with  him. 

35.  We  should  .  .  .  found.    A  "  confusion  of  construction."     To 
all  our  lamentation  —  to  the  sorrow  of  all  of  us.     Cf.  K.  John,  iv. 
2.  102  :  "To  all  our  sorrows." 

40.   Powers.     Annies.     See  on  iv.  5.  125  above. 

45.  Horns.    The  metaphor  is  taken  from  the  snail,  as  insheWd 
also  shows. 

46.  Stood  for  Rome.    Stood  up  in  its  defence.    Cf.  ii.  2.  41  above. 
51.   Record.     S.  accents  the  noun  on  either  syllable. 

53.    Age.     Lifetime  ;  as  in  iii.  I.  7  above.     Reason  —  talk  ;  as  in 

i.  9-  58- 

55.  Information.  Informant ;  the  abstract  for  the  concrete,  as 
in  ii.  i.  1 88  above. 

57.    Tell  not  me.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  2.  I  :  "  But  tell  not  me,"  etc. 

60.   Is  come.     See  on  iv.  3.  9  above. 

64.  More,  More  fearful.  Cf.  K.  John,  iv.  2.  42  :  "  and  more, 
more  strong ;  "  and  I^ear,  v.  3.  302  :  "  If  there  be  more,  more 
woful,  hold  it  in."  Deliver* d=.  reported  ;  as  in  i.  I.  96  above. 

69.  Revenge   as   spacious,   etc.      Revenge   upon   all,  from  the 
youngest  to  the  oldest. 

70.  Youngest.     For  contracted  superlatives,  see  on  iii.  I.  103 
above. 

72.    Good.     Ironical,  of  course. 


300  Notes  [Act  iv 

74.  Atone.     Be  at  one,  be  reconciled.     Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  v.  4.  116; 
and  for  the  transitive  use,  Oth.  iv.  I.  244,  A.  and  C.  ii.  2.  102,  etc. 
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.     And  they  have. 

80.  Overborne  their  way.     Like  a  river  that  has  "  overborne  "  its 
"  continents  "  (Af.  N.  D.  ii.  I.  92)  or  banks.    See  on  iv.  5.  137  above. 

83.  Holp.     See  on  iii.  I.  277  above. 

84.  City  leads.     The  leaden  roofs  of  the  houses;   as  in  ii.  I.  224 
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"  (Whitelaw). 

89.  Into.     For  its  use  after  confine,  cf.  Temp.\.  2.  361:  "con- 
fin'd  into  this  rock."     On  the  passage,  cf.  Macb.  ii.  3.  128:  "our 
fate,  Hid  in  an  auger-hole,"  etc. 

90.  I  fear  me.     I  have  my  fears.     Cf.  Temp.  v.  I.  283,  T.  A7",  iii. 
I.  125,  etc. 

96.  Butterflies.  Walker  says  this  is  to  be  pronounced  butter- 
flees,  on  account  of  the  following  flies ;  and  he  quotes  Drayton, 
Muses  Elysium,  viii. :  — 

"  Of  lilies  shall  the  pillows  be, 
With  down  stuft  of  the  butter/**." 

98.  Apron-men.     That  is  (A.  and  C.  v.  2.  210), — 

"  Mechanic  slaves 
With  greasy  aprons,  rules,  and  hammers. " 

Cf./.  C.  i.  i.  7. 

99.  The  voice  of  occupation.     The  vote  of  the  woikingmen. 
See  on  55  above. 


Scene  VI]  Notes  30 1 

100.  Garlic-eaters.  For  the  contemptuous  allusion,  cf.  M.forM. 
iii.  2.  195  and  I  Hen.  IV.  iii.  I.  162.  Note  also  Bottom's  admoni 
tion  to  his  fellow  "  mechanicals  "  in  M.  N.  D.  iv.  2.  43. 

102.  As.  As  if.  Steevens  considers  the  passage  "  a  ludicrous 
allusion  to  the  apples  of  the  Hesperides." 

105.  Other.     Otherwise;   as  in  Oth.  iv.  2.  13:  "If  you  think 
other,"  etc. 

106.  Smilingly.     As    if   with   a  smile   of   contempt  for    your 
authority. 

107.  Valiant  ignorance.    For  the  contemptuous  use,  cf.  7\  ana'  C. 
iii.  3.  315 :  "I  had  rather  be  a  tick  in  a  sheep  than  such  a  valiant 
ignorance." 

115.    Charged.     Would  charge.     Cf.  ii.  2.  17  above. 
117.    Shoitfd.     Would  appear.     See  on  iii.  3.  50  above. 

1 20.  Made  fair  hands.     Equivalent  to  made  good  work  in  97, 
and  made  fair  work  in  103  above.     Cf.  Hen.  VIII.  v.  4.  74:  "  Ye 
have  made  a  fine  hand,  fellows !  " 

121.  Crafted.     A  verb  of  Menenius's  own  coining. 

122.  A  trembling.    An  "ague-fit  of  fear  "  {Rich.  II.  iii.  2.  190), 
a  panic. 

125.  Clusters.  Swarms,  mobs;  contemptuous,  and  used  by  S. 
only  here. 

127.  Roar  him  in  again.     "  As  they  hooted**,  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  command  {Temp.  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.  iv.  12.  12). 

137.  Coxcombs.  With  a  play  upon  the  word  as  applied  to  the 
fool's  cap.  Cf.  Lear,  ii.  4.  125:  "she  knapped  'em  o'  the  cox 
combs." 


302  Notes  [Act  iv 

148.    Yet  it  was  against  our  will.     See  on  iv.  5.  165  above. 

150.  Cry  !  Pack  ;  as  in  iii.  3.  120  above.  Shall 's  =  shall  us  ;  a 
colloquialism,  for  which  cf.  W.  T.  i.  2.  178,  Cymb.  iv.  2.  233,  v.  5. 
228,  etc. 

153.   Side.     Party.     Cf.  iv.  2.  2  above. 

SCENE  VII.  —  4.    At  end.     See  on  ii.  i.  198  above. 

6.  Your  own.  Your  own  soldiers.  Cf.  i.  9.  21  and  iii.  I.  294 
above. 

8.  More  proudlier.  The  reading  of  the  1st  folio ;  changed  in 
the  2d  to  "more  proudly."  Cf.  iii.  I.  120  above. 

13.  For  your  particular.  For  your  own  part,  so  far  as  you  per 
sonally  are  concerned.  Cf.  7\  and  C.  ii.  2.  9,  Lear,  ii.  4.  295, 
etc. 

15.  Of  yourself '=  by  yourself.  For  bear,  cf.  21  below,  and  i.  i. 
271  above. 

22.  Husbandry.     Management ;   as  in  M.  of  V.  iii.  4.  25  :  "The 
husbandry  and  manage  of  my  house,"  etc.     Cf.  husband  in  T.  of  S. 
v.  i.  71. 

23.  Dragon-like.     Cf.  K.  John,  ii.  i.  68  and  Rich.  HI.  v.  3.  350. 
25.   Break  his  neck.     Cf.  iii.  3.  30  above. 

28.  All  places  yield,  etc.  "  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  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  revenging  himself  upon  his  rival  for  that  very  superiority" 
(Verplanck). 

Sits  down.  Besieges  them.  In  i.  2.  28  and  i.  3.  105  above  we 
find  set  down. 

32.   Repeal.     See  on  iv.  i.  41  above. 

34.    Osprey.    The   allusion   is   to   the   popular   belief  that   the 


Scene  VII]  Notes 

osprey  had  the  power  of  fascinating  the  fish.     Cf.  Drayton,  Polyol- 
bion,  xxv.  1 34  :  — 

"  The  Ospray  oft  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" 

See  also  The  Two  Noble  Kinsmen,  i.  I.  138  :  — 

"  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  them 
selves  ! " 

Whether  V  was  pride,  etc.  "  Aufidius  assigns  three  probable 
reasons  of  the  miscarriage  of  Coriolanus  :  pride,  which  easily 
follows  an  uninterrupted  train  of  success  ;  unskilfulness  to  regu 
late  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  {M.  for  M.  iv.  4.  5). 

43.  The  cushion.     Cf.  iii.  i.  101  above. 

44.  Garb.     Form,  manner,  mode  of  action  ;  the  only  senses  in 
which  S.  uses  the  word.     Cf.  Hen.   V.  v.   I.  80,  Ham.  ii.  2.  390, 
Lear,  ii.  2.  103,  etc. 

46.   Spices.     Touches;    still  a  familiar   metaphor.    Cf.   W.   T 


304  Notes  [Act  iv 

Hi.  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    destroys   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."     Wright  paraphrases 
the  passage   thus  :    "  One  of  these   faults,  says  Aufidius,  which  I 
have  enumerated,  was  the  cause  of  his  banishment ;   but  his  merit 
was   great  enough  to  have   prevented  the    sentence   from  being 
uttered."     Sundry  other  interpretations  have  been  proposed.     To 
my  thinking,  the  choice  must  lie  between  Clarke's  and  Boswell's. 
The  former  is  supported  by  what  seems  to  be  the  drift  of  the  re 
mainder,  of  the  speech  ;   but  the  latter  is  perhaps  on  the  whole  to 
be  preferred.     Whitelaw  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  transcend 
ent  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  de 
served  well,  could  to  itself  commend  itself,  but  the  chair  of  authority, 
which  irritated  the  people  by  seeming  to  do  nothing  else  but  com 
mend  his  past  exploits  to  them,  proved  just  the  tomb  —  the  evident, 
inevitable  tomb  —  that  swallowed  up  the  power  it  was  intended  to 
display.     So  he  offended  the  Romans  when  he  had  taken  Corioli ; 
much  more  will  he  offend  the  Volscians  when  he  has  taken  Rome  " 
(Whitelaw). 

Taking  the  passage  as  it  stands,  this  interpretation  may,  I  think, 
be  accepted.     Clarke  gives  the  meaning  thus  :  "  Our  virtues  lie  at 


Scene  VII]    .  Notes  305 

the  mercy  of  popular  interpretation  in  our  own  day  ;  and  power, 
ever  anxious  to  exact  commendation,  has  no  tomb  so  sure  as  the 
pulpit  of  eulogium  which  extols  its  deeds."  But  this  explanation 
(which  was  first  proposed  by  Warburton)  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  he  has  already  been  de 
scribed  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."  Verplanck  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  them 
selves  to  anybody  else. 

54.  One  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  burn 
ing  ;  "  and  K.  John,  iii.  I.  277  :  — 

"  And  falsehood  falsehood  cures,  as  fire  cools  fire 
Within  the  scorched  veins  of  one  new-burn'd." 

55.  Rights  by  rights  falter.     For  falter  the  folios  have  "fouler," 
which  makes  sense,  indeed,  but  it  is  clear  to  me  that  rights  by 
rights   is   the   full   counterpart   in    the   antithesis  to    strengths  by 
strengths,  and  that  a  verb  is  required  to  balance  fail.     Falter  seems 
the  best  of  the  various  emendations.     If  written  "  faulter,"  as  it 
often  was,  it  might  easily  be  misprinted  "  fouler." 


CORIOLANUS  — 


jo6 


Notes  [Act  v 


ACT  V 


SCENE  I. —  2.    Which.     Equivalent  to  who,  as  often. 

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.     The  ordinary  meaning  of  the  adjective 
coy  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  (J/.  N.  D.  iv.  I.  2)  it  is  = 
fondle,  caress. 

1 6.  Racked.     Strained   every  nerve,  exerted  yourselves   to   the 
utmost.     Many  changes  have  been  proposed,  but  none  seems  to  be 
needed.     "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.  77  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 
consequence  of  verbal  supplication  against  that  of  actual  punish 
ment"  (Steevens). 

23.  Offend.  Attempted ;  as  in  T.  and  C.  ii.  3.  67  :  "  Aga 
memnon  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  moon.  Delius  compares,  for  the  hyperbole,  Ham. 
iii.  3.  36  :  "  O,  my  offence  is  rank,  it  smells  to  heaven." 

34.   So  never-needed.     We  should  say  "  never  so  needed." 


Scene  I]  Notes  307 

37.   Instant.    That  is,  instantly  or  hastily  levied. 

41.  Towards  Marcius.  Cf.  ii.  2.  53  above,  and  Cymb.  ii.  3.  68: 
44 To  employ  you  towards  this  Roman." 

44.    Grief-shot.     Sorrow-stricken. 

46.  That  thanks,  etc.  Such  gratitude  as  is  proportionate  to 
your  good  intentions. 

49.  Hum.     That  is,  contemptuously  or  angrily.    Cf.  the  noun  in 
v.  4.  2O  below  ;   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.1 " 

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.  51  above),  appears  to  judge  Coriolanus  by 
himself. 

56.  Watch  him.  Wright  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.  iv.  i.  198,  or  Oth.  iii.  3.  23),  while  here  all  that  Menenius 
intends  to  say  is  that  he  will  watch  for  the  opportunity  of  making 
his  appeal  to  Coriolanus  wh.-n  he  is  dieted  to  it  —  that  is,  put  in 
good  humour  for  it  by  a  good  dinner. 

61.  Speed.  Turn  out,  result.  Cf.  T.  of  S.  ii.  I.  283,  285, 
M.  IV.  ii.  2.  278,  iii.  5.  137,  K'.John,  iv.  2.  141,  etc. 

63.  Sit  in  gold.  That  is,  "  in  his  chair  of  state,  with  a  marvellous 
and  unspeakable  majesty"  (North).  See  p.  209  above.  Steevens 


308  Notes  [Act  v 

quotes  Pope's  Iliad:  "Th'  eternal  Thunderer  sat  thron'd  in  gold." 
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 
Coriulanus  was  bound  by  an  oath  as  to  what  he  would  not,  unless 
the  Romans  should  yield  to  his  conditions,  whatever  those  may 
have  been.  Whitelaw  puts  it  thus  :  "  Sent  after  me  in  writing 
what  he  would,  what  he  would  not,  consent  to  do ;  confirming  this 
with  an  oath  which  only  our  acceptance  of  his  terms  can  cancel." 
This  is  not  perfectly  satisfactory,  but  it  seems  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."  Many  emendations  have  been 
proposed,  but  no  one  of  them  is  satisfactory. 

71.  Unless  his  noble  mother,  etc.  That  is,  unless  it  be  his  mother, 
etc.  Changes  have  been  suggested,  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  II.  —  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  lottery  (cf.  the  Fr.  lot},  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.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  4.  7,  17,  /.  C.  ii. 
3.  9,  iii.  2.  13,  49,  v.  I.  95,  etc. 

15.  Book.    Cf.  Rich.  III.  iii.  5.  27 :  — 


Scene  II]  Notes  309 

11  Made  him  my  book,  wherein  my  soul  recorded 
The  history  of  all  my  secret  thoughts." 

See  also  Macb.  i.  5.  63,  R.  of  L.  615,  etc. 

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-Shake- 
spearian.  Whitelaw  paraphrases  the  passage  thus :  "  I  have  always 
told  the  truth  about  my  friends'  good  acts  —  always  the  \vhole 
truth  —  sometimes  perhaps  a  little  mure  than  the  truth." 

20.  Subtle.  "  So  smooth  and  deceptive  that  the  bowl  moves 
over  it  more  rapidly  than  the  bowler  intends,  and  goes  beyond  the 
mark  "  (Wright).  For  another  allusion  to  bowling,  see  on  iii.  I. 
60  above.  Steevens  quotes  Jonson,  Chloridia  :  "Tityus's  breast, 
that  ...  is  counted  the  subtlest  bowling  ground  in  all  Tartarus." 

22.  Stamped  the  leasing.  Given  the  falsehood  the  stamp  of 
truth  ;  a  metaphor  taken  from  coining.  Cf.  Oth.  ii.  I.  247,  and  see 
i.  6.  23  above.  P'or  leasing,  see  T.  N.  i.  5.  105.  S.  uses  the  word 
only  twice. 

30.  Factionary  on  the  party.  Taking  part  on  the  side.  S.  uses 
factionary  nowhere  else.  For  party  =  part,  side,  see  K.  John,  ii. 
i.  359,  v.  6.  2,  etc. 

41.    Out.     Out  from.     Cf.  forth  in  i.  4.  23  above. 

44.  Front.  Confront ;  as  in  A.  and  C.  i.  4.  79 :  "  To  front  this 
present  time,"  etc. 

45'  Virginal.  Virgin,  maidenly  ;  as  in  2  Hen.  VI.  v.  2.  52  and 
Per.  iv.  6.  32. 

47.  Dotant.  "  Dotard  "  (the  reading  of  the  4th  folio)  ;  used  by 
S.  only  here. 

59.  Your  having.  What  you  have  ;  as  in  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  2.  396  : 
"  your  having  in  beard."  See  also  M.  IV.  iii.  2.  73,  Cymb.  i.  2. 
19,  etc. 

62.  Companion.  See  on  iv.  5.  14  above.  Errand  is  spelt 
"  arrant "  in  the  first  three  folios,  indicating  the  old  pronuncia 
tion,  still  a  vulgar  one  in  New  England. 


310  Notes  [Act  v 

64.  A  Jack  guardant.     A  Jack  on  guard.     Steevens  compares 
"  a  Jack  in  office."     For  the  contemptuous  use  of  Jack,  see  Mitch 
Ado,  v.  i.  91,  R.  and J.  ii.  4.  160,  iii.  1. 12,  iv.  5.  149,  etc.     Guardant 
occurs  again  in  i  Hen.  VI.  iv.  7.  9  :  "  But  when  my  angry  guardant 
stood  alone." 

65.  Office  me  from.     Use   your   office    to   keep  me  from.     Cf. 
offlcedin  A.  W.  iii.  2.  129. 

71.  Synod.  Used  by  S.  in  six  passages,  in  five  of  which  it  refers 
to  an  assembly  of  the  gods. 

73.  Look  tJiee.     Here   thee   is   apparently  =  thou.     The    phrase 
occurs  again  in   W.    7\  iii.  3.   116. 

74.  Hardly.     With  difficulty;  as  in  T.  G.  of  V.  ii.  I.  115  :  "it 
came  hardly  off,"  etc. 

76.  Our.  The  folios  have  "your,"  which  the  Cambridge  ed. 
retains.  If  the  second  person  were  used,  we  should  expect  "  thy." 

78.  Petitionary.  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  iii.  2.  199 :  "  with  most  petition 
ary  vehemence." 

85.    Servanted  to.     Subject  to,  under  the  control  of. 

Though  I  owe,  etc.  "The  Volscians  have  charged  me  with  the 
execution  of  my  own  revenge  ;  it  is  mine  therefore  to  execute,  but 
not  to  remit"  (Whitelaw).  For  owe,  see  on  iii.  2.  130  above. 
Properly  —  as  my  property,  as  mine  personally.  Cf.  proper  in  i.  9. 
57  above. 

88.  Ingrate.  "  Ingrateful "  (ii.  2.  31  above).  Cf.  T.  N.  v.  i. 
116,  K.John,  v.  2.  151,  etc.  Poison  =  destroy. 

91.  For.     Because  ;  as  in  iii.  i.  10  above. 

92.  Writ.     For  the  past  tense  S.  uses  writ  oftener  than  wrote  ; 
for  the  participle  he  has  usually  writ  or  written,  sometimes  wrote. 

96.    Constant.     See  on  i.  I.  240  above. 

100.  Shent.  Reproved,  rated.  Cf.  T.  N.  iv.  2.  112:  "I  am 
shent  for  speaking  to  you,"  etc. 

106.  Slight.  Insignificant,  worthless  ;  as  in  L.  L.  L.  v.  2.  463: 
"slight  zany  ;  "  J.  C.  iv.  i.  12:  "a  slight,  unmeritable  man,"  etc. 

113.    Wind-shaken.     We  have  wind-shaked 'in  Oth.  ii.  i.  13. 


Scene  III]  Notes  3 1  1 

SCENE  III. —  2.    Set  down.     Cf.  i.  2.  28  above. 

3.  I I<nv plainly.     "  That  is,  how  openly,  how  remotely  from  arti 
fice  or  concealment"  (Johnson). 

4.  I  have  borne  this  business.     See  on  i.  I.  271  above. 

9.  A  cracKd  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. 

n.    Godded.     Idolized;  used  by  S.  only  here. 

13.    ShovJd.     Appeared.     See  on  iii.  3.  50  above. 

15.  To  grace  him.  To  do  honour  to  him.  Cf.  i  Hen.  VI.  ii.  4. 
8 1  :  "  We  grace  the  yeoman  by  conversing  with  him,"  etc. 

23.   In  her  hand.     Cf.  Rich.  III.  iv.  1. 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, 
35.    To  obey.     As  to  obey.     Cf.  Temp.  ii.  i.  167:  — 

"  I  would  with  such  perfection  govern,  sir, 
To  excel  the  golden  age." 

Instinct,  like  aspect,  is  accented  by  S.  on  the  last  syllable. 

39.  The  sorrow,  etc.     "  Virgilia  interprets  her  husband's  speech 
literally,  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  everything  in  a  different  light"  (Wright). 
Delivers  —  shows  ;  as  in  v.  6.  140  below. 

40.  Like  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  =  at  a  loss,  cf.  A.  Y.  L.  iv.  i.  76 :  "  Very  good  orators,  when 
they  are  out,  they  will  spit." 

46.  The  jealous  queen  of  heaven.  Juno,  who  presided  over  mar 
riage,  and  punished  conjugal  infidelity.  Cf.  Temp.  iv.  I.  103  fol., 
A.  Y.  L.  v.  5.  147,  and  Per.  ii.  3.  30. 


3 1 2  Notes  [Act  v 

48.  Virgin* d  it.  Been  as  a  virgin.  For  the  it,  cf.  fool  it  in  ii.  3. 
124  above. 

54.  Unproperly.  Used  by  S.  only  here  ;  improperly  not  at  all. 
Improper  occurs  only  in  Lear,  v.  3.  221,  and  unproper  only  in  Oth. 
iv.  i.  69.  See  on  iv.  4.  16  above. 

57.  Corrected.     "  Rebuked  by  the  sight "  (Whit elaw). 

58.  Hungry.     Defined   by  some    as  —  barren  ;    by  others   as  — 
eager  for  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.     Strike,  hit.     Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  2.  255:  "If  I   do, 
fillip  me  with  a  three-man  beetle." 

60.  Strike  the  proud  cedars,  etc.     It  is  singular  that  the  critics 
who  think  it  necessary  to  tone  down  the  hyperbole  in  iv.  5.  112 
have  not  "  emended  "  this  line.     Is  scarring  the  moon  a  more  pre 
posterous  rhetorical  achievement  than  striking  against  the  sun  ? 

61.  Murthering  impossibility.     Putting  an  end  toil:  after  this, 
let  nothing  be  impossible. 

63.    Help.     See  on  iii.  I.  277  above. 

65.  The  moon  of  Rome,  etc.     Cf.  i.  I.  258  and  ii.  I.  105  above. 

66.  Curded.     Congealed.      The   folios   have    "curdied,"  which 
some  editors  retain  ;   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. 

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  before  the  noun.  See  on  divine,  iv.  5.  no  above. 

74.  Flaw.  " That  is,  every  gust,  every  storm  "  (Johnson).  Cf. 
Ham.  v.  i.  239:  "The  winter's  flaw."  Sea-mark  occurs  again  in 
Oth.  v.  2.  268.  Cf.  Sonn.  1 16.  5  :  — 

"  O  no !  it  is  an  ever-fixed  mark, 
That  looks  on  tempests  and  is  never  shaken." 

80.    Forsworn  to  grant.     Sworn  not  to  grant.     Cf.  R.andJ.  i.  I. 


Scene  III]  Notes  JIJ 

229 :    "  She  hath  forsworn  to  love  ;  "   and  T.  N.  iii.  4.  276 :  "  or 
forswear  to  wear  iron  about  you." 

81.  Denials.    The  plural  is  used   because  it  refers  to  several 
persons.     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.  52  above. 

90.   If  you  fail  in.     Either  =  fail  us  in,  or  =  fail  in  granting; 
probably  the  former. 

93.   Nought.     The  usual  folio  spelling  when  =  nothing. 

95.  Bewray.     Betray,  show.    Cf.  Lear,  ii.  I.  109,  iii.  6.  iiS,  etc. 

96.  Exile.    See  on  i.  6.  35  above. 

97.  Unfortunate.     In  the  editions  of  North's  Plutarch  published 
in   1579,  I595i  and    1603,  this   adjective    is   misprinted  "unfortu 
nately."    The  error  is  corrected   in   the  ed.  of  1612,  from  which 
Halliwell-Phillipps    (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 
it.     One  argument  is  just  as  good  as  the  other ;    but  S.  probably 
wrote    unfortunate   for   metrical   reasons.      He    does   not    follow 
North  closely  here. 

100.    Constrains  them  weep.     For  the  ellipsis  of  to,  see  on  iv.  5. 
63  above.     Shake  refers,  of  course,  to  hearts. 

103.  To  poor  we.     Cf.  "  between  you  and  I "  in  M.  of  V.  iii.  2. 
321,  etc.     For  we  —  us  in  other  constructions,  see  J.  C.  iii.  I.  95, 
Ham.  \.  4.  54,  and  Cymb.  v.  3.  72. 

104.  Capital.     Deadly,  mortal.     Cf.  "  capital  punishment." 
107.   Alas,  how  can  we,  etc.     Cf.  K.  John,  iii.  I.  331  fol. :   "  Hus 
band,  I  cannot  pray  that  thou  mayst  win,"  etc. 

109.   Alack,   or  we  must  lose,  etc.     See   extract   from   North, 
p.  212  above. 


3  H  Notes  [Act  v 

115.  Thorough.  The  folios  have  "  through  "  here,  but  thorough, 
which  Johnson  substituted  for  the  sake  of  the  measure,  is  often 
used  by  S. 

1 20.   Determine.     Terminate.     See  on  iii.  3.  43  above. 

122.    Thou  shalt  no  sooner,  etc.     See  North,  p.  213  above. 

138.  In  either  side.     Elsewhere  we  have  on;  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. 
145.    Writ.     See  on  v.  2.  92  above. 

149.  The  fine  strains.     "The  niceties,  the  refinements"  (John 
son)  ;   "  the  emotions  or  impulses "  (Wright)  ;    "  the  aspirations, 
high  Teachings,  lofty  attempts"  (Clarke). 

150.  To  imitate,  etc.    "  The  divine  graces  that  Coriolanus  affected 
to  imitate  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  mankind  is  as  little  hurt  by  them  as  they  commonly  are 
by  thunder,  which  mostly  spends  its  rage  on  oaks  "  (Capell). 

151.  The  wide  cheeks  o>  the  air.     Cf.  Temp.  i.  2.  4:  "the  wel 
kin's  cheek ;"    and  Rich.  77.  iii.  3.  57:    "the   cloudy  cheeks  of 
heaven."     "  The  meaning  of  the  passage  is,  to  threaten  much,  and 
yet  be  merciful"  (Warburton). 

155.  Daughter,  speak  you.  "With  what  exquisitely  artistic 
touches  S.  finishes  his  character-portraits !  Here,  in  two  half-lines, 
he  paints  Virgilia's  habitual  silence,  and  Volumnia's  as  habitual 
torrent  of  words.  She  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  own,  and  so  thoroughly  accounting  for 
his  inherited  disposition"  (Clarke). 

1 60.  Like  one  ?  the  stocks.  "Keep  me  in  a  state  of  ignominy 
talking  to  no  purpose  "  (Johnson). 


Scene  III]  Notes  3 1 5 

163.  ClucVd.    The  1st  folio  has  "clock'd,"   which  appears  to 
have  been  a  form  of  the  word.     For  the  barnyard  figure,  cf.  Sonn. 

143- 

164.  Loaden.     Used  by  S.  interchangeably  with  laden.     Cf.  Cot- 
grave,  Fr.  Diet.,  under  lavilier  :  " .  .  .  wherewith  sheaves  of  corne 
be  loaden  or  unloaded." 

170.  Longs.  Belongs;  generally  printed  '"longs,"  but  incor 
rectly. 

176.  Reason.  Reason  or  argue  for.  Cf.  the  somewhat  similar 
transitive  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.     See  also  Matthew,  iii.  9. 

179.  His  child.    Changed  by  Theobald  (followed  by  White)  to 
"  this  child  ;  "  but,  in  my  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  adjective  used  adverbially,  but  here  the  adverbial  termination 
may  perhaps  be  carried  on  from  dangerously.     Cf.  "  cheerfully  and 
smooth"  {Rich.  III.  iii.  4.  50),  "bitterly  and  strange"  (Af.  for 
Af.v.  i.  36),  etc. 

190.  True  wars.     For  the  plural,  cf.  i.  3.  106  above. 
199.   Stand  to.     Standby.     Cf.  iii.  i.  208  above. 

202.  A  former  fortune.    That  is,  such  as  I  had  before  I  shared 
my  power  with  Coriolanus. 

203.  Drink   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." 

207.  A  temple.  According  to  Plutarch  "  a  temple  of  Fortune  " 
was  built  to  commemorate  the  occasion.  It  is  said  to  have  stood 


3 1 6  Notes  [Act  v 

at  the  fourth  milestone  on  the  Via  Latina,  where  Coriolanus  met 
his  mother. 

SCENE  IV.  —  I  Coign.  Corner.  Cf.  Macb.  i.  6.  7  :  "  coign  of 
vantage  ;  "  the  only  other  instance  of  the  word  in  S.  Per.  iii. 
prol.  1 7  is  not  his. 

8.    Stay  upon.     Wait  but  for.     Cf.  C.  of  E.  v.  I.  20,  etc. 

10.  Condition.     See  on  ii.  3.  99  above. 

11.  Differency.     The  reading  of  the  ist  folio,  changed  in  the 
2d  to  "difference."     So  in  Oth.  iii.  4.  149,  the  ist  folio  has  "obser- 
vancie,"  the  2d  "  observance." 

21.  Hum.     See  on  v.  i.  49  above.     State  —  chair  of  state  ;  as  in 
Macb.  iii.  4.  5  :  "  Our  hostess  keeps  her  state,"  etc. 

22.  Made  for.     Made  to  represent  ;   that  is,  a  statue. 

25.  Throne.  Not  elsewhere  used  intransitively  by  S.  For 
throned '  =  enthroned,  see  M.  N.  D.  ii.  i.  158,  T.  N.  ii.  4.  22,  etc. 

27.    In  the  character.     To  the  life,  as  he  is. 

31.  Long  of  you.  Owing  to  you.  Long  is  commonly  printed 
"  'long  ;  "  but  it  is  not  a  contraction. 

38.  Plebeians.     For  the  accent,  see  on  i.  9.  7  above. 

39.  Hale.     Haul,  drag.     Cf.    T.  N.  iii.  2.  64,  Much  Ado,  ii.  3. 
62,  etc. 

48.  Make  doubt.     Cf.  i.  2.  1 8  above. 

49.  Blown.      Perhaps  =:  swollen  ;    as  in  Lear,  iv.  4.  27  :  "  No 
blown  ambition  doth  our  arms  incite ;  "  but  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. 

51.  The  trumpets,  etc.  Wright  remarks  that  S.  probably  had 
in  mind  the  list  of  instruments  in  Daniel,  iii.  7. 

53.    Make  the  sun  dance.     It  was  a  popular  superstition  that  the 


Scene  VI]  Notes  ,317 

sun  dances  on  Easter  Sunday.     Cf.  Suckling,  Ballad  upon  a  Wed 
ding: — 

11  But,  O,  she  dances  such  a  way, 

No  sun  upon  an  Easter  Day 

Is  half  so  fine  a  sight  I  " 

59.   Doit.     See  on  i.  5.  6  above. 

63.   At  point.     See  on  iii.  i.  194  above. 

SCENE  V.  —  Dyce  was  the  first  to  make  this  a  new  scene.  The 
early  eels,  add  it  to  Scene  4. 

4.  Unshout,  etc.     "  Annul  the  former  noise  with  shouts  of  wel 
come  to  his  mother  "  (Whitelaw).     Wright  compares  unspeak  in 
Macb.  iv.  3.   123,  unsay  in  M.  N.  £>.  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  edi 
tors.  A  few  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.  See  p.  215  above. 

5.  Him.     He  whom.     Cf.  iv.  2.  2  above. 

6.  Ports.     Gates  ;  as  in  i.  7.  i  above. 

15.  Of.  From;  as  in  K.John,  iii.  4.  55:  "  deliver'd  of  these 
woes." 

20.  Pretext.    Accented  on  the  last  syllable  ;  used  by  S.  nowhere 
else. 

21.  Pawned.    Pledged.     Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  I.  153,  167,  171,  hr. 
2.  112,  etc. 

22.  Who.    For  the  construction,  cf.  Temp.  i.  2.  162,  iii.  2.  53, 
etc. 

27.    Stoutness.     Cf.  iii.  2.  78,  127  above. 
32.    Gave  him  way.     Gave  way  to  him.     Cf.  iv.  4.  25  above. 
35.   Designments.     Designs;  used  again  in  Oth.  ii.  I.  22:  "their 
designment  halts." 


3 1 8  Notes  [Act  v 

36.  Help.     See  on  v.  3.  63  above. 

37.  End  all  his.     Made  all  his  own  at  last.     The  use  of  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, 
an  1  elsewhere.     Arrowsmith  (quoted  by  Dyce)  cites  advertisements 
from  the  Hereford  Times  of  Jan.  23,  1858,  in  which  "  well-ended 
hay-ricks"  and  "well-ended  wheat-ricks"  are  mentioned  among 
things  for  sale  at  auction. 

40.  Wag'd  me  with  his  countenance.  "  Paid  me  with  his  patron 
age  ;  made  me  feel  that,  when  he  approved  me,  he  was  paying  me 
wages"  (Whitelaw).  S.  uses  wage  in  this  sense  nowhere  else. 
Steevens  quotes  Holinshed:  "to  levie  and  wage  thirtie  thousand 
men." 

43.  Had  carried.  That  is,  had  in  effect  done  so.  And  that  — 
and  when  that.  Cf.  iv.  5.  99  above. 

45.  For  which  my  sinews,  etc.     "  This  is  the  point  on  which  I 
will  attack  him  with  my  utmost  abilities  "  (Johnson) . 

46.  At.     At  the  price  of.     Cf.  i.  5.  5  above.     Rheum  —  tears ; 
as  often  in  S. 

50.    Post.     A  mere  messenger  bringing  news  of  the  war. 
54.    At  your   vantage.     When   you    find    the    opportunity.     Cf. 
Cymb.  i.  3.  24 :  "  With  his  next  vantage,"  etc. 

58.  After  your  way,  etc.     After  your  version  of  his  story. 

59.  His  reasons.     His  arguments,  or  what  he  would  say  in  de 
fence  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." 

67.  Answering  us,  etc.  "  Instead  of  spoils  and  victory,  bringing 
back  the  bill  —  for  ourselves  to  pay"  (Whitelaw).  For  answer, 
cf.  i  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  185 :  "To  answer  all  the  debt,"  etc. ;  and  for 
charge  —  cost,  cf.  79  below. 

71.   Soldier.     A  trisyllable.     Cf.  i.  I.  117  above. 

73.   Parted.     Departed  ;  as  often. 

78.   A  full  third  part.    That  is,  by  a  full  third. 


Scene  VI]  Notes  3 1 9 

84.  Compounded.    Agreed.    Cf.  K.John,  ii.  I.  281,  Hen.  V.  iv. 
3.  80,  iv.  6.  33,  etc. 

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.     Cf.  T.  N.  i.  5.  6l  :  **  Misprision  in  the  high 
est  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?  Qarke,  in  remarking  upon  the  locality  of  this 
scene,  connects  these  words  with  stolen,  not  with^rar*,  the  empha 
sis  being  thrown  upon  /.•  "Dost  thou  think  7'11  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  mo 
ment  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.  Cf.  M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  239 :  "  Wink  each  at 
other."  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  —  in  reply  to  the  protest  implied  in  the  exclamation  of 
Coriolanus. 

105.  The  first  time.  Coriolanus  forgets  how  he  berated  the 
tribunes  in  iii.  i  and  iii.  3. 

107.  Notion.     Understanding,  mind  ;  as  in  Macb.  iii.  I.  83:  "a 
notion  craz'd,"  etc. 

108.  Who.     The  antecedent  is  implied  in  his.    Cf.  iii.  2.  119 
above. 

116.  In  Corioli.  Surely  he  would  not  have  said  this  in  Corioli, 
but  rather  "  in  this  city  here,"  or  to  that  effect  ;  but  I  believe  that 
no  commentator  has  referred  to  this  as  a  reason  for  not  placing  the 
scene  in  Corioli.  See  note  at  beginning  of  this  scene. 

121.  All  the  People.  Cf.  iii.  I.  1 86-1 88  above.  Presently  =  at 
once.  See  on  iii.  3.  12  above. 


Notes  [Act  v 

125.    Folds  in.     Cf.  iii.  3.  68  above. 

127.  Judicious.     Judicial ;  the  only  instance  of  this  sense  in  S. 
Stand  =  stop  ;   as  in  T.  and  C.  v.  6.  9,  etc. 

138.   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  un 
known,  I  believe,  to  the  ancients,  but  observed  in  the  public  funerals 
of  English  princes,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  a  herald  proclaims 
':he  style  [rank]  of  the  deceased"  (Steevens). 

145.  His.     Referring  of  course  to  Coriolanus. 
152.    Unchilded.     Used  by  S.  only  here. 
154.  Memory.     See  on  iv.  5.  77  above. 


APPENDIX 

"  FINDING  THE  MAN  IN  THE  BOOK  " 

IN  the  introduction  to  the  play  I  have  referred  to  the  opinion  of 
certain  critics  that  Shakespeare  had  no  sympathy  with  the  lower 
classes,  an<l  that  he  delights  in  holding  them  up  to  ridicule.  The 
sneers  at  the  plebeian  rabble  which  he  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Casca, 
Coriolanus,  and  others  are  assumed  to  be  the  expression  of  his  own 
contempt  for  his  poorer  brethren  in  England.  But  here  it  is  not 
Shakespeare  who  speaks,  but  the  Roman  patricians,  whom  he  rep 
resents  as  they  were  —  as  some  of  them  were,  the  great  majority  no 
doubt,  but  not  like  his  ideal  Roman,  Brutus,  whose  treatment  of 
the  slave-buy  Lucius  is  marked  by  an  almost  paternal  gentleness 
and  tenderness.  That  was  the  poet's  way  of  adding  a  new  grace 
to  a  character  otherwise  singularly  gracious  and  noble. 

Very  similar  is  the  bearing  of  Theseus,  another  of  his  favourite 
characters,  though  but  slightly  sketched,  towards  the  clowns  in  the 
Midsummer -NighCs  Dream  who  have  got  up  the  play  in  honour 
of  his  nuptials.  The  master  of  the  revels  laughs  at  it,  but  Theseus, 
when  he  learns  who  have  prepared  it,  declares  that  he  "  will  hear 
it/'  though  Philostrate  declares  that  it  is  not  worth  listening  to, 
unless  he  can  "  find  sport"  in  the  blundering  attempts  of  the  per 
formers.  Theseus  replies :  — 

"  I  will  hear  that  play ; 

For  never  anything  can  be  amiss 

When  simpleness  and  duty  tender  it. 

***»*» 

Our  sport  shall  be  to  take  what  they  mistake; 

And  what  poor  duty  cannot  do, 

Noble  respect  takes  it  in  might  not  merit ; " 

CORIOLANUS  —  21  321 


322  Appendix 

that  is,  judges  it  by  the  ability  of  the  actors,  not  by  its  intrinsic 
merit.  This  is  far  enough  from  "conceitedly  patronizing"  the 
clowns,  as  a  recent  critic  calls  it. 

When  the  play  is  performed  others  of  the  noble  company  make 
fun  of  it  at  intervals,  but  Theseus  is  careful  to  avoid  any  comment 
that  could  be  taken  by  the  players  as  uncomplimentary;  and  when 
Hippolyta  says  that  she  is  weary  of  it,  he  replies,  "  But  yet  in  cour 
tesy,  in  all  reason,  we  must  stay  the  time  "  —  must  see  it  through, 
out  of  courtesy,  due  even  to  the  humblest. 

Here  we  have  the  true  gentleman ;  that  indescribable  and  inde 
finable  ideal  —  though  another  has  approximated  to  a  definition  in 
calling  it  "  that  complete  formation  of  artistic  and  civilized  human 
ity,  that  philanthropist  of  courtesy,  who  shows  that  courtesy  is  as 
permanent  as  charity  —  as  permanent  because  it  is  in  manner  what 
charity  is  in  spirit" 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  some  of  Shakespeare's  most  admirable 
characters — delineated  with  evident  appreciation  and  sympathy  — 
are  in  humble  life ;  like  Adam,  the  faithful  and  devoted  old  ser 
vant  in  As  You  Like  It,  —  whom  we  have  good  evidence  that  the 
poet  personated  on  the  stage,  —  and  the  old  Shepherd  in  The  Win 
ter's  Tale,  whom  no  commentator  has  deigned  to  notice  except  in 
the  most  casual  way,  but  who  is  as  truly  a  gentleman,  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  term,  as  Brutus  or  Theseus. 

It  is  a  subtle  touch  in  the  delineation  of  the  Shepherd  that  he 
sees  the  difference  between  the  real  and  the  sham  gentleman. 
When  the  rogue  Autolycus  is  disguised  as  a  courtier,  he  deceives 
the  Clown,  but  not  the  Shepherd.  "  This  cannot  but  be  a  great 
courtier,"  says  the  Clown  aside  to  his  father.  "  His  garments  are 
rich,"  is  the  reply,  " but  he  wears  them  not  handsomely"  When 
the  Shepherd  finds  the  babe  on  the  shore,  and  the  store  of  gold 
with  it,  he  says  to  his  son,  "  'Tis  a  lucky  day,  boy,  and  we  '11  do  good 
deeds  on 't ;  "  and  later,  when  the  discovery  that  the  foundling  is 
a  princess  has  brought  him  into  high  favour  at  court,  he  says  to 
the  Clown,  "  We  must  be  gentle,  now  we  are  gentlemen."  He  rec- 


Appendix  323 

ognizes  the  principle  of  noblesse  oblige,  but  he  had  always  been 
faithful,  even  in  his  low  estate,  to  the  nobility  of  true  manhood. 
These  characters,  and  others  like  them  in  the  plays,  show  what  was 
Shakespeare's  real  estimate  of  the  poor  and  lowly,  if  they  had  this 
inherent  and  intrinsic  manliness. 

It  is  noticeable,  by  the  way,  that  his  mean  and  contemptible 
characters,  like  his  villains,  are  almost  invariably  taken  from  the 
higher  classes,  and  so  are  his  worst  fools.  The  amusing  side  of  low 
life  is  depicted  humorously,  not  satirically ;  and  humour  is  always 
sympathetic.  The  compensations  of  humble  life  as  compared  with 
high  life  are  often  dwelt  upon  most  impressively :  as  in  soliloquies 
in  Henry  IT.  and  Henry  V.  that  will  be  readily  recalled  ;  in  young 
Arthur's  pathetic  wish  that  he  "  were  low  laid  in  the  grave,"  when 
the  queens  are  quarrelling  over  his  claims  to  the  throne ;  and  in 
many  similar  passages  in  the  plays. 

Shakespeare's  broad  and  all-embracing  humanity  is  one  of  the 
most  distinctive  features  in  his  character.  In  this,  as  in  so  many 
other  respects,  he  was  far  in  advance  of  his  age,  which  was  an  age  of 
inhumanity  and  cruelty  —  an  age  when  even  poets  could  be  hard 
hearted  and  pitiless.  "  Spenser  tells,  without  a  tear,  of  miseries 
inflicted  on  the  Irish  which  would  have  caused  Attila  to  weep ;  he 
praises  the  measures  that  inflicted  the  sufferings,  recommends  their 
continuance  and  an  increase  in  their  severity."  But  Shakespeare, 
with  his  marvellous  insight  into  human  nature,  had  a  vast  and  com 
prehensive  sympathy  for  his  fellow-men.  As  nothing  human  was 
unknown  to  him,  so  nothing  human  was  indifferent  to  him.  Some 
one  has  said  that  "  the  fulness  of  his  knowledge  came  by  the  ful 
ness  of  his  sympathy  ; "  but  it  might  as  truly  be  said  that  the  ful 
ness  of  his  sympathy  came  by  the  fulness  of  his  knowledge.  With 
his  keen  insight  into  character,  he  saw  what  was  good  in  the  worst 
and  what  was  bad  in  the  best.  He  is  never  afraid  to  present  both 
sides  of  the  mingled  nature.  He  delights,  indeed,  to  show  that 
there  is  "some  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil;  "  and  his  absolute 
impartiality  forbids  him  to  conceal  the  single  defect  or  stain  in  ar 


324  Appendix 

otherwise  faultless  or  spotless  character  —  like  the  good  Antonio's 
brutality  towards  the  Jew,  which  was  common  to  the  best  Christians 
of  that  time.  Shakespeare  here,  as  everywhere  and  always,  holds 
the  mirror  up  to  nature,  reflecting  men  and  women  as  they  are,  not 
a  partial  or  distorted  picture  of  them. 

And  because  these  men  and  women  are  depicted  as  they  are  — 
with  a  distinct  individuality  of  their  own  —  they  speak  for  them 
selves  and  not  as  mere  mouthpieces  for  expressing  the  personal 
opinions  and  sentiments  of  the  dramatist.  It  is  often  asserted  that 
"  Shakespeare  says  "  this  or  that ;  but  it  may  be  as  far  from  what 
he  himself  would  think  or  feel  or  say  as  it  is  from  what  the  actor 
who  recites  it  on  the  stage  would  really  think  or  feel  or  say  in  his 
own  person. 

But  though  Shakespeare  is  the  most  impersonal  of  writers,  we 
may  sometimes  "  find  the  man  in  the  book."  As  Ten  Brink  has 
said,  "  the  most  objective  poet  is  at  the  same  time  the  most  subjec 
tive.  The  greater  the  poet,  the  more  clearly  does  he  reveal  himself 
in  his  productions;  the  more  perfectly  will  his  individuality  be 
stamped  upon  them."  Dowden,  in  his  admirable  book,  Shake 
speare:  His  Mind  and  Art,  which  aims  to  connect  the  study  of  the 
works  with  an  inquiry  after  the  personality  of  the  writer,  recognizes 
the  risks  and  difficulties  that  accompany  the  attempt  "to  pass 
through  the  creations  of  a  great  dramatic  poet  to  the  mind  of  the 
creator  ; "  but  1  believe  he  is  right  in  maintaining  that  "  a  product 
of  mind  so  large  and  manifold  as  the  writings  of  Shakespeare  can 
not  fail  in  some  measure  to  reveal  its  origin  and  cause."  As  he 
says  elsewhere, "  the  great  ideal  artist  —  a  Milton,  a  Michael  Angelo, 
a  Dante  —  betrays  himself  in  spite  of  the  haughtiest  reserve." 
Shakespeare  hides  himself  behind  his  work,  but  we  can  neverthe 
less  see  him  through  it.  If  we  knew  more  about  his  life,  it  would 
be  easier  to  do  this ;  but  what  we  do  know  can  be  compared  and 
combined  with  what  we  can  learn  from  the  works  to  throw  light 
upon  the  character,  habits  of  thought,  tastes,  ideals,  —  all,  indeed, 
that  makes  up  the  man. 


Appendix  325 

I  will  add  a  single  illustration  of  what  seems  to  me  the  right 
and  the  wrong  way  in  this  line  of  study  and  criticism.  According 
to  a  Stratford  tradition,  the  fever  which  carried  the  poet  off  at  the 
very  beginning  of  his  fifty-third  year  was  caused  by  over-indulgence 
in  wine  at  a  "  merry  meeting  "  with  Ben  Jonson  and  Drayton  ;  and 
there  are  other  traditions  (none  of  which  can  be  traced  back  to  a 
date  within  a  hundred  years  of  his  death)  which  represent  him  as 
similarly  intemperate  in  his  habits.  That  he  was  a  "  teetotaler  "  of 
course  no  one  supposes.  We  know  what  the  habits  of  the  day 
were  ;  and  we  are  not  surprised  that,  in  the  spring  of  1614,  when 
a  Puritan  preacher,  who  had  been  invited  to  the  town  by  the  cor 
poration,  was  hospitably  entertained  at  Shakespeare's  house,  an 
item  in  the  town  records  reads :  "  For  one  quart  of  sack  and  one 
quart  of  clarett  wine  given  to  a  preacher  at  the  New  Place,  xx.  a?' 
The  poet,  who  was  then  residing  in  Stratford,  would  not  have 
refused  to  help  the  godly  man  dispose  of  the  wine  ;  and  he  may 
sometimes  have  been  equally  convivial  in  less  reputable  company. 
But  that  he  was  intemperate,  judged  by  the  strictest  standards  of 
the  day,  I  do  not  believe.  Again  and  again  he  goes  out  of  his 
way  to  denounce  drunkenness  and  to  show  up  its  evil  results,  or  to 
commend  the  opposite  virtue  with  its  wholesome  fruits  ;  and  when 
moral  lessons  are  introduced  in  that  unnecessary  manner  by  Shake 
speare,  we  cannot  doubt  that  they  are  introduced  for  their  own 
sake.  For  example,  the  long  speech  of  Hamlet  (i.  4.  17  fol.)  on 
'  the  "  heavy-headed  revel "  of  the  Danes  has  no  direct  bearing 
upon  the  action  of  the  play.  It  is  purely  episodical,  and  its  only 
conceivable  raison  d'etre  is  its  indirect  moral  significance.  So  in 
As  You  Like  It  (ii.  2.  47)  when  Adam  says  "  Though  I  look  old, 
yet  I  am  strong  and  lusty,"  there  was  no  imaginable  reason  except 
this  moral  one  for  his  adding :  — 

"  For  in  my  youth  I  never  did  apply 
Hot  and  rebellious  liquors  in  my  blood, 
Nor  did  not  with  unbashful  forehead  woo 
The  means  of  weakness  and  debility ; 


326  Appendix 

Therefore  my  age  is  as  a  lusty  winter, 
Frosty,  but  kindly." 

This  is  not  said  to  Orlando,  who  was  in  no  need  of  the  admonition 
it  involves,  but  to  the  London  audience  for  whom  the  play  was 
written  ;  and  it  is  Shakespeare  who  speaks,  as  surely  as  when  he 
acted  the  part  of  Adam  on  the  stage. 

Similarly  in  T%velfth  Night  (i.  5.  123)  Olivia  asks  Feste,  "  What's 
a  drunken  man  like,  fool  ?  "  and  he  replies :  "  Like  a  drowned 
man,  a  fool,  and  a  madman.  One  draught  above  heat  makes  him 
a  fool ;  the  second  mads  him  ;  and  a  third  drowns  him." 

Note  also  the  comments  of  Caesar  on  the  drunken  revel  in 
Antony  and  Cleopatra  (ii.  7.  95  fol.)  :  — 

"  Pompey.    This  is  not  yet  an  Alexandrian  feast. 

Antony.     It  ripens  towards  it.  —  Strike  the  vessels,  ho! 
Here  is  to  Caesar ! 

Ccesar.  I  could  well  forbear  't. 

It 's  monstrous  labour,  when  I  wash  my  brain, 
And  it  grows  fouler. 

Antony.  Be  a  child  o*  the  time. 

Ccesar.     Possess  it,  I  '11  make  answer; 
But  I  had  rather  fast  from  all  four  days 
Than  drink  so  much  in  one." 

Even  more  striking,  from  the  same  point  of  view,  is  Cassio's 
bitter  remorse  for  his  drunkenness  {Othello,  ii.  3.  254  fol.).  It  is 
not  so  much  the  loss  of  his  office  that  he  laments  as  the  personal 
degradation  and  disgrace :  — 

"  Cassia.  Reputation,  reputation,  reputation !  O,  I  have  lost  my 
reputation !  I  have  lost  the  immortal  part  of  myself,  and  what  remains 
is  bestial.  My  reputation,  lago,  my  reputation ! 

lago.  As  I  am  an  honest  man,  I  thought  you  had  received  some 
bodily  wound ;  there  is  more  sense  in  that  than  in  reputation.  .  .  . 

Cassio.  O  God,  that  men  should  put  an  enemy  in  their  mouths  to 
steal  away  their  brains !  that  we  should,  with  joy,  pleasance,  revel,  and 
applause,  transform  ourselves  into  beasts!  .  .  . 


Appendix  327 

lago.    Come,  you  are  too  severe  a  moraler.  .  .  . 

Cassio.  I  will  ask  him  for  my  place  again;  he  shall  tell  me  I  am  a 
drunkard!  Had  I  as  many  mouths  as  Hydra,  such  an  answer  would 
stop  them  all.  To  be  now  a  sensible  man,  by  and  by  a  fool,  and  pres 
ently  a  beast !  O,  strange !  Every  inordinate  cup  is  unblest,  and  the 
ingredient  is  a  devil." 

No  one  who  observes  how  much  space  is  given  to  these  self- 
reproaches  of  Cassio  will  regard  them  as  the  mere  conventional 
work  of  a  playwright  on  a  minor  incident  of  his  plot.  There  is  a 
deeper  ethical  meaning  in  them. 

If  I  remember  right,  no  critic  has  referred  to  this  intemperance 
of  Cassio  as  having  any  bearing  upon  Shakespeare's  own  tastes  and 
habits  except  Mr.  Frank  Harris,  who,  in  an  article  in  the  London 
Saturday  Review,  furnishes,  I  think,  a  good  illustration  of  the 
wrong  way  of  attempting  to  "find  the  man  in  the  book."  He 
takes  the  ground  that  the  dramatist  was  a  "  neuropath,"  or  "  physi 
cally  weak  and  abnormally  sensitive."  He  says :  — 

"  I  find  proof  of  Shakespeare's  neuropathic  weakness  in  his  fear 
of  drink  and  hatred  of  drunkenness.  The  main  proof  of  this  is  to 
be  found  in  the  Cassio  episode  in  Othello.  Cassio's  drunkenness 
was  invented  by  Shakespeare,  and  was  in  itself  unnecessary  to  the 
unfolding  of  the  drama.  Let  us  consider  briefly  the  very  words 
used  by  the  Moor's  lieutenant.  First  of  all,  when  pressed  by  lago 
to  drink  to  the  health  of  Othello,  he  says:  'Not  to-night,  good 
lago.  I  have  very  poor  and  unhappy  brains  for  drinking.  I  could 
well  wish  courtesy  would  invent  some  other  custom  of  entertain 
ment.'  And  when  lago  insists,  he  goes  into  curious  detail :  '  I 
have  drunk  but  one  cup  to-night,  and  that  was  craftily  qualified 
too,  and,  behold,  what  innovation  it  makes  here.  I  am  unfortunate 
in  the  infirmity,  and  dare  not  task  my  weakness  with  any  more.' 

"  Now  this  detail  of  the  '  one  cup '  is  to  me  astonishing  if  it  be 
not  a  personal  revelation  of  Shakespeare's  feeling.  Why  should 
he  insist  on  excusing  Cassio?  Drinking,  one  would  have  thought, 
is  a  soldierly  sin  and  needs  little  or  no  explanation.  Then,  too, 


328  Appendix 

lago  declares  that  '  one  cup '  more  will  be  enough  for  Cassio,  and 
he  drags  in  the  unnecessary  taunt  that  no  people  drink  like  the 
English.  The  scene  carries  conviction  to  me  that  Shakespeare  in 
the  person  of  Cassio  is  speaking  of  himself.  ...  It  may  be  that 
my  opinion  will  not  commend  itself  to  others  ;  I  can  only  regret 
the  fact  and  admit  that  the  proofs  are  not  so  strong  as  they  might 
be.  But  for  me,  as  I  have  said,  they  are  strong  enough,  and  they 
are  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  these  railings  against  drink  only 
occur  when  Shakespeare  had  already  won  to  middle  life.  At  all 
times  probably  he  drank  but  little,  and  this  little  in  youth  he  was 
able  to  stand ;  but  when  he  came  to  mid-life,  and  the  vigour  of 
youth  had  departed,  he  was  forced  to  confess  that  he  had  '  very 
poor  and  unhappy  brains  for  drinking.'" 

It  would  be  quite  as  reasonable  to  infer  that  Shakespeare  was 
equal  to  such  unlimited  potations  of  sack  as  Falstaff  was  addicted 
to,  or  that  he  could  have  held  his  own  in  a  drinking  bout  with  Sir 
Toby  Belch.  Why  assume  that  he  had  "  poor  and  unhappy  brains  " 
like  Cassio  rather  than  those  of  such  sturdy  rcysterers,  or  of  Antony 
and  his  Egyptian  revellers,  who  could  "  cup  "  it  "  till  the  world  go 
round?" 

I  may  add  that  Mr.  Harris  finds  other  evidence  of  the  dramatist's 
neuropathic  delicacy  of  physical  constitution  in  the  insomnia  of 
Henry  IV.  and  Macbeth.  He  says :  "  There  is  no  bodily  peculiarity 
of  Shakespeare  more  surely  attested  than  sleeplessness.  Early  in 
life,  at  an  age  when  most  men  sleep  like  children,  without  effort 
and  almost  without  consciousness  of  the  blessings  that  sleep  brings, 
Shakespeare  knew  all  the  miseries  of  habitual  insomnia."  After 
adducing  in  proof  of  this  view  the  long  soliloquy  of  the  King  in  the 
opening  speech  of  the  third  act  of  2  Henry  IV.,  Mr.  Harris  con 
tinues  thus :  — 

"  Or  let  us  take  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  which  was  probably 
written  when  Shakespeare  was  twenty-six  or  twenty-seven  years 
old.  In  the  very  first  act  Valentine,  who  is  heart-whole,  rallies 
Proteus  on  his  love,  declaring  that  in  love  '  one  fading  moment's 


Appendix  329 

mirth'  is  bought  'with  twenty  watchful,  weary,  tedious  nights.' 
Now  why  does  Valentine  pitch  on  sleeplessness  as  one  of  the  con 
sequences  of  love  before  he  has  experienced   the   passion?     And 
how  comes  it  that,  when  life  is  altered  to  him,  when  he  has  done 
*  penance  for  contemning  love,'  he  exclaims  again  :  — 
41 '  Love  hath  chas'd  sleep  from  my  enthralled  eyes, 
And  made  them  watchers  of  mine  own  heart's  sorrow.' 

"  And  as  we  pass  from  this  early  work  to  the  drama  of  Shake 
speare's  ripest  achievement,  to  Macbeth,  we  find  the  same  praise 
of  sleep  iterated  and  reiterated  till  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in 
somnia  was  one  of  the  torments  of  the  poet's  life.     Nothing  more 
perfect  than  Macbeth's  praise  of  sleep  has  ever  been  written :  — 
" '  Methought  I  heard  a  voice  cry,  "  Sleep  no  more !  — 
Macbeth  does  murder  sleep  "  —  the  innocent  sleep; 
Sleep,  that  knits  up  the  ravel'd  sleave  of  care, 
The  death  of  each  day's  life,  sore  labour's  bath, 
Balm  of  hurt  minds,  great  nature's  second  course, 
Chief  nourisher  in  life's  feast' 

"  Intense  sensitiveness  in  Shakespeare's  case  we  do  not  need  to 
prove.  His  soul  was  a  sort  of  yEolian  harp,  lyrically  responsive  to 
every  breath  of  emotion.  And  no  doubt  the  sensitiveness  was  in 
creased  by  that  physical  delicacy  which  sleeplessness  presupposes." 

One  might  at  first  take  this  to  be  a  capital  burlesque  of  the  type 
of  criticism  which  it  illustrates,  but  it  is  written  in  all  seriousness. 
It  seems  to  me  an  amusing  and  instructive  example  of  "  how  not  to 
do  it "  if  we  hope  to  "  find  the  man  in  the  book  "  in  our  study  of 
Shakespeare. 

THE  TIME-ANALYSIS  OF  THE  PLAY 

This  is  summed  up  by  Mr.  P.  A.  Daniel  (Trans,  of  New  Shaks. 
Soc.  1877-79,  p.  1 88)  as  follows:  — 

"Time  of  this  play,  eleven  days  represented  on  the  stage,  with 
intervals. 


330  Appendix 

Day  i.    Act  I.  sc.  i. 

Interval  [time  for  news  from  Rome  to  reach  Corioli], 
Day  2.    Act  I.  sc.  ii. 

Interval  [time  for  news  from  the  Roman  army  to  reach 
Rome]. 

Day  3.    Act  I.  sc.  iii.  —  x. 

Interval  [Cominius  and  Marcius  return  to  Rome]. 
Day  4.  Act  II.  sc.  i.  (to  '  On,  to  the  Capitol ! '). 

[Mr.  Daniel  believes  that  the  scene  should  end  here,  as  it 
appears  to  do  in  the  folio,  where  only  the  acts  are  numbered,  but 
where  we  have  at  this  point  (the  bottom  of  the  page)  the  stage- 
directions  :  — 

"  Flourish.     Cornets. 
Exeunt  in  State,  as  before" 
and  (at  top  of  next  page)  :  — 

"  Enter  Brutus  and  Sicinius" 

Theobald  is  responsible  for  the  change  of  stage-directions,  and  has 
been  followed  by  all  the  more  recent  editors.  Mr.  Daniel  says: 
"There  seems  to  me  no  sufficient  reason  for  setting  aside  the 
authority  of  the  Folio  in  this  case,  and  there  is  this  considerable 
objection,  that  by  so  doing  Coriolanus  is  made  to  arrive  in  Rome 
and  to  be  banished  on  one  and  the  same  day.  The  scene  between 
the  two  Tribunes  is  not  necessarily  connected  with  the  day  of 
Marcius's  entry  into  Rome,  but  it  is  inseparably  connected  with 
the  day  of  his  Consulship  ;  and  that  these  are  two  distinct  days  is 
to  some  extent  proved  by  the  fact  that  Titus  Lartius  is  not  present 
during  the  entry,  but  is  present  during  the  Consulship."] 

Interval  [ambassadors  from  Corioli  have  arrived  in  Rome 
since  the  return  of  Cominius  and  Coriolanus]. 

Day  5.     Act  II.  sc.  i.  (remainder  of  scene) — Act  IV.  sc.  ii. 

Interval  [a  few  days,  including  the  journey  of  Coriolanus  to 
Antium], 

Day  6.    Act  IV.  sc.  iii. 
Interval. 


Appendix  33 1 

Day  7.    Act  IV.  sc.  iv.  and  v. 

Interval. 
Day  8.    Act  IV.  sc.  vi. 

Interval. 
Day  9.    Act.  IV.  sc.  vii. 

Interval. 
Day  10.     Act  V.  sc.  i.  — v. 

Interval. 

Day  ii.     Act  V.  sc.  vi. 

The  actual  historical  time  represented  by  this  play  comprehends 
a  period  of  about  four  years,  commencing  with  the  secession  to  the 
Mons  Sacer  in  the  year  of  Rome  262,  and  ending  with  the  death 
ot  Coriolanus  in  the  year  266." 


LIST  OF  CHARACTERS  IN  THE  PLAY 

The  numbers  in  parentheses  indicate  the  lines  the  characters 
have  in  each  scene. 

Coriolanus:  i.  1(75),  4(34),  5(l8),  6(5°),  8(9),  9(45);  "• 
1(20),  2(24),  3(67);  iii.  i(i47),  2(58),  3(50)  ;  iv-  i(45)»4(25), 
5(64)  ;  v.  2(14),  3(106),  6(35).  whole  no-  886« 

Titus  Lartius :  i.  1(6),  4(19),  5(")»  7(7),  9(5)  J  "»•  K"). 
Whole  no.  60. 

Cominius:  i.  1(3),  6(44),  9(55)  ;  »-  '(3).  *(47)  ;  «•  '(3°)» 
2(10),  3(11)  ;  iv.  1(7),  6(40)  ;  v.  1(31).  Whole  no.  281. 

Menenius:  i.  1(92);  ii.  1(130),  2(39),  3(13);  i«-  '(88), 
2(20),  3(14)  ;  iv.  1(5),  2(5),  6(56)  ;  v.  1(40),  2(58),  4(38)- 
Whole  no.  598. 

Sieinius:  i.  1(16)  ;  ii.  i (34),  2(10),  3(54)  ;  "»•  i(60»3(54)> 
iv.  2(16),  6(43)  ;  v.  i(u),  4(14)-  Whole  no.  313. 

Brutus:  i.  1(19)  ;  ii.  l(6l),  2(14),  3(56)  ;  iii.  1(44),  3(25)  » 
iv.  2(10),  6(22)  ;  v.  1(4).     Whole  no.  255. 
Young  Marcius  :  v.  3(2).     Whole  no.  2. 


33  2  Appendix 

Aufidius:  i.  2(30),  8(10),  10(32);  iv.  5(56),  7(48);  v.  2(1), 
3(9),  6(88).  Whole  no.  274. 

Herald:  ii.  1(6).     Whole  no.  6. 

Lieutenant:  i.  7(1);   iv.  7(11).     Whole  no.  12. 

1st  Citizen  :  i.  I (72) ;  ii.  3(13);  iii.  i (3);  iv.  4(4),  6(7).  Whole 
no.  96. 

2d  Citizen:  i.  1(11);  ii.  3(17);  iv.  6(2).     Whole  no.  30. 

3^  Citizen:  ii.  3(57);  iv.  6(5).     Whole  no.  62. 

^th  Citizen:  ii.  3(7).     Whole  no.  7. 

$th  Citizen:  ii.  3(2).     Whole  no.  2. 

6//&  Citizen  :  ii.  3(2).     Whole  no.  2. 

7/#  Citizen  :  ii.  3(3).     Whole  no.  3. 

1st  Messenger  :  i.  1(2),  4(2),  6(9);  ii.  1(9);  iv.  6(11);  v.  4(5). 
Whole  no.  38. 

2d Messenger:  iv.  6(6);  v.  4(14).     Whole  no.  20. 

1st  Senator:  i.  1(7),  2(7),  4(8);  ii.  2(13);  iii.  1(17),  2(3), 
3(0;  v.  5(6).  Whole  no.  62. 

2d  Senator  :  i.  2(7);   iii.  1(6).     Whole  no.  13. 

1st  Soldier  :  i.  4(7),  10(4).     Whole  no.  II. 

2d  Soldier  :  i.  4(1).     Whole  no.  I. 

1st  Roman  :  i.  5(1);   iv.  3(33).     Whole  no.  34. 

2d  Roman:  i.  5(1).     Whole  no.  I. 

$d Roman:  i.  5(2).     Whole  no.  2. 

1st  Officer  :  ii.  2(17).     Whole  no.  17. 

2d  Officer :  ii.  2(24).     Whole  no.  24. 

^dile:  iii.  1(1),  3(9);   iv.  6(6).     Whole  no.  1 6. 

1st  Patrician  :  iii.  1(1),  2(2).     Whole  no.  3. 

2d  Patrician  :  iii.  1(1).     Whole  no.  i. 

Volsce  :  iv.  3(24).     Whole  no.  24. 

1st  Servingman  :  iv.  5(41).     Whole  no.  41. 

2.d  Servingman :  iv.  5(42).     Whole  no.  42. 

T^d  Servingman :  iv.  5(57).     Whole  no.  57. 

1st  Sentinel :  v.  2(35).     Whole  no.  35. 

2.d  Sentinel :  v.  2(14).     Whole  no.  14. 


Appendix  333 

1st  Conspirator :  v.  6(10).     Whole  no.  IO. 

2d  Conspirator :  v.  6(9).     Whole  no.  9. 

$d  Conspirator  :  v.  6(14).     Whole  no.  14. 

1st  Lord:  v.  6(15).     Whole  no.  15. 

zd Lord :  v.  6(11).     Whole  no.  n. 

3</  Lord:  v.  6(4).     Whole  no.  4. 

Volumnia:  i.  3(52);  ii.  1(42);  iii.  2(77);  iv.  1(7),  2(34);  v. 
3(103).  Whole  no.  315. 

rirgilio:  i.  3(25);  "•  1(5);  ".  1(1),  2(4);  v.  3(6).  Whole 
no.  41. 

Gentlewoman:  i.  3(1).     Whole  no.  i. 

Valeria:  i.  3(46);   ii.  1(2).     Whole  no.  48. 

"All":  i.  1(8),  2(2),  4(2),  9(0;  ii- 1  (0.3(6);  »i. '(9),  3(7); 
iv.  6(3);  v.  5(2),  6(4).  Whole  no.  45. 

In  the  above  enumeration,  parts  of  lines  are  counted  as  whole 
lines,  making  the  total  in  the  play  greater  than  it  is.  The  actual 
number  of  lines  in  each  scene  (Globe  edition  numbering)  is  as 
follows :  i.  1(283),  2(38),  3(I24),  4(63),  5(29),  6(87),  7(7),  8(15), 
9(94),  10(33);  »•  1(286),  2(164),  3(271);  iii.  1(336),  2(145), 
3(143);  iv.  1(58),  2(54),  3(57),  4(26),  5(251),  6(161),  7(57); 
v.  1(74),  2(117),  3(209),  4(65).  5(7)»  6(I56)-  whole  number  in. 
the  play,  3410. 


INDEX   OF  WORDS   AND   PHRASES 
EXPLAINED 


abated,  286 

Arabia,  289 

bestrid,  261 

abrain  (=  auburn),  264 

arrive  (transitive),  267 

bestride     my    threshold, 

absolute,  271,  296 

article  (=  condition),  267 

*95 

abused  (=  deceived)  ,  270 

articulate,  244 

better  (proleptic),  233 

accompanied  with,  282 
achieved,  242,  251 

as  (=  as  if)  ,  225,  236,  301 
as  cause  will  be  obeyed, 

bewray,  204,  212,  313 
bisson,  249,  273 

act  the  woman,  261 

239 

bless  from,  230 

addition  (=  title),  244 

as    (omitted),    247,    267, 

blest  to  do,  259 

advanced  (=  raised)  ,  238, 

292,  311 

blown,  316 

as  our  good  wills,  256 

boil  (spelling),  233 

affect  (=  desire),  258,  282, 

aspect  (accent),  311 

bolted,  277 

299 

assembly  (metre),  223 

bonneted,  258 

affection  (=  desire),  221, 

at  a  word,  232 

book  (figurative),  308 

268 

at  end,  302 

botcher,  250 

Afric,  239 

at    Grecian    sword,  con 

bound  with  oak,  229 

after  (=  afterwards),  259 

temning,  230 

bountiful  (adverb),  265 

after-meeting,  258 

at  mercy,  245 

bravery      (=  insolence)  , 

after  your  way,  318 

at  point,  275,  317 

192,  198 

against  all   noble  suffer 
ance,  269 

at  your  vantage,  318 
atone,  300 

brawn,  295 
briefly  (=  lately),  236 

against  (=  in  the  way  of), 

attach  (=  arrest),  274 

budge,  237 

276 

attend,  240,  277  _ 

budger,  239 

age  (=  lifetime),  299 

attended  (=  waited  for), 

buildings  of  my  fancy,  253 

aged  custom,  266 

246 

bulks,  254 

ages,  in  our,  269 
agued  fear,  234 
alarum,  260 
allaying,  248,  313 
all-hail,  314 

augurer,  247 
avoid  (=  depart)  ,  206 
avoid  (=  quit)  ,  292 
awake  your  lenity,  273 

bussing,  279 
butterflies,  300 
by  (=  concerning)  ,  200 
by  particulars,  264 
by  the  poll,  283 

allow,  283 

bald  (contemptuous)  ,  274 

allowance,  278 
almost  (transposed),  229 
alms  (singular),  282 

bale  (=  injury),  223 
barbed,  280 
bare  petition,  306 

call  our  cares  fears,  273 
cankered,  294 
cannot  choose,  291 

Amazonian,  260 
ancient    (=  former),  256, 

bats  (=  staves),  218 
batten,  292 

capital  '(=  deadly),  313 

a86,  294 

battle  (=  army),  188,  237 

capitulate,  312 

an-hungry,  224 

bear    the    business,   239, 

caps  and  legs,  249 

answer  (=meet  in  com 

302 

carbonado,  297 

bat)  ,  229,  234 

bear  the  knave,  283 

catched,  251 

antique  (accent),  266 
Antium,  317 

beard  to  beard,  245 
became  of  (=  came  of),  201 

Cato's,  234 
cats  (personal),  289 

anvil,  295 

bedward,  to,  236 

cause  (=  occasion),  239, 

apparance,  293 

bended,  257 

267 

apron-men,  300 

beseech  you,  230 

cautelous,  287 

apt  (-  docile),  278 

bestow  of,  267 

cement  (accent),  300 

335 

336 


Index  of  Words  and  Phrases 


censure     (=  judgment), 

227,  320 

censured  (= judged),  247 
centuries,  239 
chafed,  283 

change  of  honours,  252 
charge  (=  cost),  318 
charges  (=  forces) ,  291 
charter  to  extol  her  blood, 

241 

chats  him,  253 
cheeks  o'  the  air,  314 
circumvention,  228 
city  leads,  300 
city  mills,  246 
clean  (=  quite),  276 
clip  (=  embrace) ,  236 
clucked,  314 
clusters,  301 
cockle,  195,  271 
cog  (=  cheat),  282 
coign,  316 
commend,  296 
commodity,  184 
common      (=  commons), 

223 

companions,  292,  309 
complexion,  254 
compounded,  319 
conclude  (=  decide),  273 
condition  (=  disposition) , 

265,  316 
condition     (play    upon) , 

confine  into,  300 
confirmed,  231 
confound  (=  waste) ,  236 
confusion  (=  ruin) ,    272, 

275,  299 
conies,  297 
conscience  sake,  264 
consent  of,  264 
conspectuities,  249 
constant,  226,  310 
contentation,  189 
contrary  (verb),  209,  215 
contrived        (=  plotted), 

284 

convented,  259 
converses  with,  248 
Corioli  gates,  251 
Corioli  walls,  239 
corrected,  312 
country  (trisyllable),  241 
courage,  284 
coxcombs  (play  upon) ,  301 


coyed,  306 
crack  (=boy),  231 

each  at  other,  319 
either,  283 

crack  (=  break),  219,  311 

embarquements,  246 

crafted,  301 

embracements,  229 

cranks,  222 

empirictic,  250 

cry  havoc,  276 

emulation  (=  envy),  225 

cry  (=  pack),  285,  302 

end  all  his,  318 

cunning  (=  wisdom),  287 

end  (=  spend),  263 

cupboarding,  220 

endure  (=  remain),  238 

curded,  312 

enemy  (adjective),  292 

enforce,  267,  282 

daw,  293 

entertainment,  in  the,  291 

deadly  (adverb),  248 
debile,  243 

envied  against,  285 
envy  (=  hatred),  239,  293, 

deed-achieving      honour, 

294 

251 

envy     (=  show     ill-will), 

defer  (=  wait),  213 

284 

deliver    (=show),      311, 

errand  (spelling),  300 

320 

estimate,  285 

deliver    (=  speak),     219, 

even  (=  equably),  303 

299 

exile  (accent),  236,  312 

demand  (=  ask)  ,  283 

exposture,  288 

demerits    (=  merits),  228 

extreme      (accent),     293, 

deserved     (=  deserving), 

294 

276 
designments,  317 
determine    (=end),   283, 

fact  (=deed),  191 
factionary,  309 

314 

fail  in,  313 

Deucalion,  250 

fall  out,  190 

differency,  316 

falsely,  270 

directitude,  297 

fatigate,  262 

directly,  297 

faults  he  made,  318 

disbenched,  260 

favour  (=  face)  ,  290 

discommodities,  180 

fear  (=  fear  for),  238,  «3f 

disease  (=  trouble),  232 
disgest,  222 

fear  (reflexive),  300 
feebling,  224 

disgrace,  219 

fidiused,  250 

dishonoured,  270 

fielded,  232 

disliking,  197 

fillip,  3" 

dislodged,  214 
disposition  (metre),  238 

fine  strains,  314 
fire  (dissyllable),  224 

dispropertied,  256 

fires  of  heaven,  234 

dissentious,  223 

first,  288 

distinctly  ranges,  275 

flamens,  254 

divine  (accent),  294 

flaw  (=gust),  313 

dog  (metaphor),  218 
doit,  235,  292,  317 

flour,  222 
fob  off,  219 

dotant,  309 
doublet,  235 

fold  in,  284,  320 
fond  (=  foolish),  287 

doubt  (=  dread)  ,  274 

for  an  end,  256 

doubt  (=  suspect)  ,  193 
drachma,  235 

for  (=  as  for),  219 
for  (=  because),  204,  269, 

dragon-like,  302 
drink  together,  315 
drops  of  salt,  319 

310 
for   (=  with    regard    to), 
209 

dumb,  256 

for  that,  221,  243 

Index  of  Words  and  Phrases         337 


for  your  particular,  303 

has  (=  he  has),  230 

inherited      (.obtained), 

force  (•  urge),  278 

have  them  into,  258 

253 

fore  me,  221,  291 

have  with  you,  257 

injurious,  284 

forsworn  to  grant,  312 

haver,  260 

innovator,  274 

forth  (=  away),  288 

having,  309 

in  our  ages,  269 

forth  (=  out  of)  ,  233 

he  (=  nim),  226 

instance  (=  urgency),  193 

Cosset-seller,  249 

heart  of  hope,  237 

instant,  307 

foxship,  289 

heart  (=  sense),  267 

instinct  (accent),  311 

fragments  (personal),  225 
free  contempt,  267 

held  (=  garrisoned).  246 
helms  (=  steersmen)  ,  219 

integrity,  274 
interjoin  their  issues,  292 

from  the  canon,  271 

here  (with  gesture),  279 

intreat  (=  treat),  182 

front  (=  confront)  ,  309 

high'st,  319 

is  come,  299 

full  of  vent,  297 

him  (=  he  whom),  317 

is  well  appeared,  290 

furniture,  189 

Hob  and  Dick,  266 

it  is  (contemptuous),  293 

holp,  276,  312 

Galen,  250 
gan,  262 
garb,  303 

holy  churchyard,  283 
home  (adverb),  287 
honest     (=  honourable), 

Jack  guardant,  310 
ove's  own  book,  276 
idicious,  320 

garland,  244,  250 
garlic-eaters,  301 

2XO 

honesty  (=  honour),  214 
hoo  1  250,  286 

jump  (=  risk),  274 
Juno-  like,  290,  3x1 

generosity,  225 

horn   271   290 

gentry,  273 
giddy  censure,  227 
gird  (=  gibe),  227 
give  him  good  report,  218 

hospitable  canon,  246 
hours  (=  time),  235 
housekeepers,  230 
hum    707    ^16 

kam,  276 
keep  (=  stay  at),  192,  207 
kingly-crowned,  221 
knee  (verb),  306 

give  me  way,  292,  317 
give  (=  represent),  243 

iiuiu,  yJ/j  j11' 

humane  (accent),  277 
humorous,  247 

la,  231 

giver,  250 
glasses  of  my  sight,  281 
go  about  (=  endeavour), 

hungry  (beach),  312 
husbandry,  302 
huswife,  231 

lacked  (=  missed),  287 
laid  at  (=  attacked),  186 
larum,  232 

2OZ 

go  sound,  236 

Hydra,  271 

lean  as  a  rake,  218 
learn'd,  272 

godded,  311 

I  am  in  this,  270 

leash,  237 

god-den,  250,  299 
good  and  good  store,  242 
good  cheap,  194 
good  (mercantile),  217 
grace  (=  do  honour),  311 

ignorant  to  see  t,  267 
imbasing,  184 
impediment,  your,  219 
impostume,  194 
in  (=  about)  ,  258 

leasing,  309 
less  fearful  than  discreet, 
273 
lessoned,  267 
let  go,  278 

grained,  294 
gratify  (=  requite)  ,  259 
greater  part,  the,  265 
greater  poll,  the,  273 
great'st,  272 
grief-shot,  307 

in  an  equal  force,  245 
in  blood,  223,  297 
in  (=by),  275 
in  (duplicated),  247 
in  either  side,  314 
in  her  hand,  267 

let  slip,  237 
lie  (=  lodge),  244,  291 
lies  heavy  to  't,  290 
lies  you  on,  278 
lieve,  296 
lift  (=  lifted),  214 

groats,  277 
guardant,  310 

in    hopeless    restitution, 
269 

like  (=  likely},  270 
liked  him  nothing,  184 

guess  (=  think),  217 
gulf  (=  whirlpool),  220 

in  (=  into),  228,  269,  272 
in  the  character,  310 

liking  well  of,  197 
limitation,  266 

incorporate,  222 

loaden,  315 

had  carried,  318 

inform  the  truth,  237 

lock  ram,  253 

had  rather,  230 

information      (concrete), 

long  of  you,  316 

hale(=haul),  316 

299 

longs  (=  belongs),  315 

handkcrchers,  257 
tang  by  the  wall,  229 
hardly,  310 

mgrate,  310 
ingrateful,  258,  264 
inheritance,  279 

look  thee,  310 
lots  to  blanks,  308 
lover,  308 

CORIOLANUS— 22 


3J 8         Index  of  Words  and  Phrases 


lurched  all  swords  of  the 

muse  (=  wonder),  277 

opposite     (=  opponent). 

garland,  261 

mutine,  200 

258 

mutiners,  227 

ordinance,  277 

made  a  head,  260,  269 

my  gracious  silence,  251 

osprey,  302 

made  doubt,  228,  316 

other  (=  otherwise)  ,  300 

made  fair  hands,  301 

napless,  256 

ought  (=owed),  216 

made  faults,  318 

naught,  275 

our  (subjective)  ,  273 

made  for,  316 
maims  of  shame,  294 

naughty,  195 
needer,  288 

out  (=  at  a  loss),  311 
out  (=  out  from),  309 

make  good,  235 

needless,  266 

out  (=  thoroughly),  295 

make  road,  269 

nerves  (=  sinews),  222 

overta'en  my  act,  241 

make  the  sun  dance,  316 

nervy,  251 

overture,  243 

malice  (verb),  189,  203 

nicely-gawded,  255 

owe  (=  expose  to)  ,  320 

malkin,  253 

noble  (=  nobles)  ,  269 

owe  (=  own),  282,  310 

mammocked,  231 

nose  (verb),  306 

man  child,  230 

not  (=  not  only),  279,  284 

pain  (=  pains),  181 

man-entered,  261 
mankind,  289 

not  (transposed)  ,  238 
nothing  (adverb),  232 

painful  (=  toilsome),  204 
painting  (of  blood),  238, 

many  (noun),  270 

notion  (=  mind),  319 

262 

Mars,  295 

nought,  313 

palate  (verb),  272 

match  (=  bargain),  265 

now  (=but  now),  244 

paltering,  270 

mean  (of  price),  201 

parcels     (=  parts),     229, 

measles,  271 

O,  me  alone  !  238 

297 

memory      (=  memorial), 

o'  my  troth,  230 

part  (metaphor),  281 

293,  3°6,  320 

oaken  garland,  250 

parted  (=  departed),  318 

merely,  277 

object  (=  sight),  217 

participate,  220 

microcosm,  248 

occupation,  300 

particular  (noun),  306 

mind  gave  me,  my,  296 
minded  (=  reminded),  306 

odds    against   arithmetic, 
275 

particular  (=  private)  ,  294 
particularize,  217 

minnows,  271 

o  erbear,  276,  295,  300 

part  (=  side)  ,  245 

misery,  263 
misliked,  214 

of  (=  by),  258,  282,  302 
of    (=  concerning),    227, 

party  (=part),  309 
pass  (=  pass  by),  263 

modesty  (=  moderation), 

258 

pass  (=  surpass),  185 

197 

of  (=from),  317 

passed  for,  195 

moe,  266,  289 

of  noble  touch,  288 

passingly,  189 

monstered,  260 

of  their  infirmity,  271 

patch  (=poke),  246 

moon  (=  Diana)  ,  227 

of  (with  agent),  228 

pawned,  317 

moon  of  Rome,  312 
more,  more  fearful,  299 

offered  (=  attempted)  ,  306 
office  me  from,  310 

Penelope,  231 
pent  to  linger,  284 

more  proudlier,  302 

official  marks,  266 

perfecter,  250 

more  worthier,  273 

on  head  (=  ahead)  ,  196 

pestering,  299 

mortal  (adverb),  315 

on  's  (=  on  his)  ,  250,  252, 

petitionary,  310 

mortal  gate,  262 
moth  (pronunciation)  ,  231 

260 
on  (=of)»  217,  228,  231, 

physical,  234 
pick  (=  pitch),  224 

motion  (=  motive),  248 

282,  296 

piercing,  219 

motive,  873 
mountebank  (verb),  282 

on  safeguard,  269 
once  (=  once  for  all),  264 

pikes  (play  upon),  217 
pitying,  237 

movers,  235 

once  (=  once  when),  264 

planet,  like  a,  262 

mulberry,  280 

one  time  will  owe  another, 

plebeians    (accent),   241, 

mulled,  298 

275 

316 

multitudinous  tongue,  274 

only  (transposed),  226 

plebeii,  267 

mummers,  249 

ope,  234 

plot  (figurative),  281 

muniments,  221 

opinion    (=  public    opin 

pluck,  229,  267 

murrain,  235 
murthering  impossibility, 

ion),  227 
opinion   (=  self-conceit), 

points,  301 
poison  (=  destroy),  310 

312 

194 

polled,  297 

Index  of  Words  and  Phrases        339 


portance,  269 

rapture  (=  fit),  253 

set   up  the  bloody  flag, 

ports  (=*  gates),  239,  317 

rascal,  223 

249 

possessed  of,  250 
post  (=  messenger),  318 
potch,  946 

rather  had,  298 
ray  (=  array),  187 
reason  (=  reason  for),  315 

shall  s,  302 
shame   (=  be   ashamed), 
260 

pother,  255 

reason  (=  talk),  299 

shent,  3x0 

pound  us  up,  233 

reason    (=  there    is    rea 

•hop  (=  workshop)  ,  222 

pow,  waw!  251 

son),  298 

should  (=  would).  264 

power  (=  army),  228,  295, 
299 
practice  (=  artifice)  ,  287 
practised  (=  plotted),  190 

receipt,  221 
receive  to  heart,  290 
reckless  (spelling)  ,  271 
record  (accent),  299 

show     (=  appear),    283, 

»93.  301.  3" 
shrug,  240 
shunless,  262 

prank  them,  269 

rectorship,  267 

side  (=  party),  3oa 

precipitation,  277 

red  pestilence,  287 

side  (verb),  224 

preparation  (=  army),  228 

reechy,  254 

silence  (concrete)  ,  251 

present     (=   immediate), 

reek,  285 

single  (play  upon),  247 

206,275,283 
presently  (=  at  once),  283, 
297t  3*9 

rejourn,  249 
remain  (noun),  235 
remains    (=  it   remains)  , 

singly,  260 
singularity,  228 
sit  in  gold,  307 

press  (=  impress),  228 

266 

sithence,  195,  270 

prest  (=  press),  192 

remove  (noun),  229 

sits  down,  302 

pretext  (accent),  317 
prevent      (=  anticipate), 

repeal,  288,  302,  317 
repetition,  218 

slight  (=  worthless),  310 
slightness  (=  weakness). 

pricked  forward,  205 
pricked  out,  191 

require  (=  ask),  264 
required,  215 
resolution,  195 

273 
small  (voice)  ,  281 
so  as  (=  so  that),  200 

progeny  (=  race),  240 
proof  (of  armour)  ,  233 

retire  (noun),  236 
retire  (reflexive),  230 

so  never-needed,  306 
soldier  (trisyllable),,  221, 

proper  (=  own)  ,  244 

rheum  (=  tears),  318 

318 

properly,  310 

ridges  horsed,  etc.,  354 

solemness,  232 

provand,  256 
prove  (=  put  to   proof)  » 

ripe  aptness,  291 
roar  him  in,  301 

some  certain,  265 
sometime,  244,  273,  287 

338 

Rome  gates,  285 

soothed  (=  flattered),  260 

proverbs,  224 

rated,  278 

soothing  (=  flattery),  243, 

pupil  age,  261 

rotten  fens,  285 

271 

purchasing,  251 

rub  (=  obstacle),  270 

south  (wind),  233 

purgation,  216 

ruth  (=  pity),  224 

sowl,  297 

put  him  to  choler,  283 

speak  him  home,  261 

put  upon,  257 

sanctifies  himself,  297 

speed  (  =  result),  307 

put  you  to  't,  226 

save  you  !  291 

spices  (  =  touches)  ,  303 

put  you  to  your  fortune, 

scabs  (play  upon),  223 

spire  and  top  of  praises, 

279 
puts  well  forth,  227 

scaling  (=  weighing)  ,  268 
scandaled,  270 

*v 

spint  (monosyllable),  251 

putting  him  to  rage,  267 
putting  on,  269 

sconce,  280 
scotched,  297 

spited,  193 
spot  (  =  pattern)  ,  230 

'sdeath,  225 

stale  (verb),  219 

quaked,  240 
quarrel  to,  295 

seasoned,  284 
seat  o'  the  brain,  229 

stamped  the  leasing,  300 
standing     your    friendly 

quarry,  224 

seld-shown,  254 

lord,  267 

quartered,  224 

sennet,  250 

stand  for,  299 

queen  of  heaven,  311 

sensible  (=  sensitive),  232 

stand  (=  stop)  ,  320 

quired,  281 
quit  of,  294 

sensibly,  234 
servanted  to,  310 

stand  to,  200,  315 
stand  upon  (  =  concern), 

set  on,  270 

197,  209 

racked,  306 

set  out  feet,  193 

stand  upon  my   common 

rang  it  out,  196 

set  up  his  rest,  181 

part,  249 

340         Index  of  Words  and  Phrases 


stand  with,  265 

thereupon,  200 

unstable,  273 

stands  (noun),  236 
stand'st  out  ?  226 

think  (absolute),  237 
think  me  for,  293 

upon  my  brother's  guard, 
246 

state  (=  chair),  316 

think  upon,  267 

upon  their  ancient  malice, 

stay  upon,  316 

thorough       (=  through), 

256 

sterve  (=  starve)  ,  265 

208,  314 

upon    your   approbation. 

sticks  on,  227 

thou  t,  240 

266 

stiff,  226 

thread  the  gates,  273 

still    (=ever),  256,  263, 

throne  (intransitive),  316 

vail  your  ignorance,  272 

287 
stitchery,  231 

thus  (with  gesture),  279 
time  (=  occasion),  257 

valiant  ignorance,  301 
vaward,  187,  237 

stomached    (=  resented), 

't  is  right  (=  't   is  true), 

vengeance  (adverb)  ,  258 

196 

256 

vent  (=  get  rid  of)  ,  225 

stout  (=  proud),  280 

to  (=  according  to),  234 

vent  (noun),  225,  297 

stoutness,  282,  317 

to    all    our    lamentation, 

verified,  309 

straight  (=  strait),  208 

299 

vexation,  286 

strong  (play  upon),  218 
struck  him  on  his  knee, 

to  (=  compared  to)  ,  250 
to  (=  for),  315 

viand,  220 
vild,  224 

261 

to     hopeless    restitution, 

virginal,  309 

strucken,  296 

269 

virgined  it,  312 

struck  not,  264 
suaged,  199 
subtle,  309 

to  's  power,  256 
to  (omitted),  293,  313 
to  the  pot,  234 

virtue  (=  valour),  218 
voice  of  occupation,  300 
voice  (verb),  268 

such  .  .  .  which,  282,  314 

toge,  265 

voices  (=  votes)  ,  263 

suffer  stain  by  him,  246 

told  (=  foretold),  225 

voided  (=  avoided)  ,  293 

sufferance,  217 
suggest  (=  prompt)  ,  256 

too  (=  after  all)  ,  289 
took    (=left    its    mark), 

vouches  (noun),  266 

supreme  (accent),  312 

262 

waged  me  with  his  counte 

surcease,  282 

top  (=  acme)  ,  241 

nance,  318 

surety  (verb),  274 

touched  (=  tested),  267 

war  of  white  and  damask, 

sway,  253 

traducement,  241 

2S4 

swifter  composition,  269 

travails,  181 

warm  at  's  heart,  266 

sworn  brother,  265 

treaty,  259 

war's  garland,  231,  244 

synod,  310 

tribe,  289 

wars  (=  war),  315 

trick  (=  trifle),  292 

watch,  307 

tag  (=  tag-rag),  276 

trim  belonging,  244 

waved  (=  would  waver), 

take  in,  229,  279 

Triton,  271 

258 

take  my  cap,  250 

troth  (=  truth),  290 

we  (=  us),  313 

take  the  one  by  the  other, 

true  purchasing,  251 

weal,  267 

272,  292 

trumpet      (=  trumpeter), 

wealsmen,  248 

take    up  (=cope    with), 

235 

weeds  (=  garments)  ,  266, 

275 

tuition,  191 

267 

taking    (=  fit  of  anger)  , 

turn  you  to,  276 

well-found,  259 

202 

what  (=  why),  277 

tame,  298 

unbarbed,  280 

when  extremities   speak, 

teach  the  people,  257 

unchilded,  320 

278 

tell  (=  count)  ,  201 

undercrest,  244 

where   (=  whereas)  ,   220, 

tell  not  me,  299 

under  fiends,  294 

245 

temperance,  283 

unfortunate,  313 

where-against,  295 

temperancy,  181 

ungravely,  268 

whereupon,  199 

tent  (=  encamp),  281 

unhearts,  307 

which  (=  who),  224,  306 

tent  (=  probe)  ,  242,  275 
tetter  (verb)  ,  271 
that  's  off,  260 
the  same  (=  that),  278 

unproperly,  312 
unscanned,  277 
unseparable,  292 
unsevered,  278 

whiles,  236 
who  (=  which),  227,  281 
who  (=  whom)  ,  247 
wholesome     (=  rational), 

thee  (=  thou)  ,  310 

unshout,  317 

265 

Index  of  Words  and  Phrases         341 


whom  (=  who)  ,  288 
whooped.  293 
will  you  be  gone  ?  288 
win  upon.  225 
wind-shaken,  311 
with  (=  by),  282,  290 
with  us,  283 
without  all  reason,  273 
without  assistance,  299 
wives  (=  women),  291 

wolvish  toge,  265 
woollen,  277 
word  (=  watchword)  ,  282 
worn  (=  worn  out),  269 
worship  (=  dignity),  273 
worth  (=  auota),  283 
worthy  (=  justifiable),  275 
wot,  287,  296 
wreak  (noun),  294 
wrecked  (=  wreaked),  205 

wrench  up,  239 
writ,  310 

yea  and  no,  273 
yield  what  passes,  259 
you  may,  you  may,  264 
youngly,  268 
young'st.  209 
your  (colloquial),  222 
you  'st,  321 

Shakespeare,   William 
2805  Tragedy  of  Coriolanus 

A2R6 


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