PR £8os1 Fil »i *LH U !f »1 *J !&£ < OOffiQLAMIJS :':':';■ iilliil to ! Hi lit' n™ TR 2>gQ S BnoV , A Z_ W 4 - Cpisyrigiit W COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS flacmtlian's PocM American ants ISnglisli Classics A Series of English Texts, edited for use in Elementary and Secondary Schools, with Critical Introductions, Notes, etc. Addison's Sir Roger de Coverley. American Democracy from Washington to Wilson. American Patriotism in Prose and Verse. Andersen's Fairy Tales. Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Arnold's Sohrab and Rustum. Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Bacon's Essays. Baker's Out of the Northland. Bible (Memorable Passages). Blackmore's Lorna Doone. Boswell's Life of Johnson. Abridged. Browning's Shorter Poems. Mrs. Browning's Poems (Selected). Bryant's Thanatopsis, etc. Bryce on American Democracy. Bulwer-Lytton's Last Days of Pompeii. Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Burke's Speech on Conciliation. Burns' Poems (Selections). 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Wordsworth's Shorter Poems. •s* •The THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO - DALLAS ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limited LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO 91919 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/tragedyofcoriola01shak You have, I know, petition'd all the gods For nry prosperity ! IL i. 190 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY H. D. WEISEB, A.B. FORMER MASTER OF ENGLISH NEW YORK MILITARY ACADEMY CORNWALL, NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN" COMPANY 1919 All rights reserved £0* ^Kak P Copyright, 1919, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1919. Ncrincoti press J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. ©C!.A5857t)4 'Wo \ PREFATORY NOTE Coriolanus presents especial difficulties to an editor because of the many obscure passages which it contains, and because of the various emendations which have been suggested by pre- vious editors in the attempt to elucidate certain perplexing phrases. In this edition, the text is mainly that of the Temple, although other readings are frequently given in the Notes. ' Because this edition is intended primarily for the use of young students, the Notes have been made fuller and more interpretative than may seem necessary. For the same reason, other features that are commonly found in school editions are either omitted or treated very briefly. The editor acknowledges his indebtedness to many noted editors, particularly to Rolfe, Dowden, Chambers, Hudson, and Wright ; while for much valuable assistance in the labor of prep- aration, and for helpful criticism in the solving of doubtful problems, he is deeply indebted to his wife. H. D. W. CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON, June, 1918. vii CONTENTS INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare The Date of the Play The Source of the Plot The Subject Matter of Coriolanus Critical Comment The Stage History of the Play The Structure of the Verse Shakespeare's English . Bibliography . CORIOLANUS NOTES SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS TOPICS FOR THEMES PAGE xi xi xix xx xxii xxxi xxxvi xxxix xli xliv 1 197 277 287 IX INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare Birthplace. — The quaint, interesting town of Stratford-on-Avon is inseparably associated with the name and fame of England's greatest drama- tist, William Shakespeare. Situated in the beau- tiful county of Warwick about one hundred and twenty miles from London, it was in Shakespeare's day typical of the thriving market towns of the Tudor period, and had a population of about two thousand inhabitants. Since that time it has not grown rapidly, and has become a veritable Mecca for tourists in England, especially for literary students. For it was here that Shakespeare was born on April 26, 1564 ; here he spent the early years of his life ; and here he returned to spend the closing years of his life, after he had become William Shakespeare, Gentleman. It was here also that he died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the village church ; and it is here that in recent years a Memorial Theater was erected to honor his memory. Parentage. — His father, John Shakespeare, was one of Stratford's leading citizens and was xi xii INTRODUCTION engaged at various times in farming, in making gloves, and in trading in leather, wool, meat, and all kinds of farm produce. He married Mary Arden, the daughter of a former employer, who brought him a handsome dowry consisting of an estate of sixty acres and the reversion of part of another. As he had already acquired two estates by purchase before his marriage, he had by this time come to be a man of considerable importance in the eyes of his fellow-citizens, — a fact which they recognized by electing him successively to the offices of ale-taster, burgess, constable, af- feeror, chamberlain, and finally high bailiff. The last, the highest municipal office, he held when his son, William, was four years old and marks the zenith of his public career. Education. — Neither John Shakespeare nor his wife had any education worth mentioning, but as Stratford boasted of a Free Grammar school, Wil- liam was entered in this institution probably at the age of seven. In such schools, pupils studied Latin grammar, and read Latin works ranging from simple stories and fables to the works of such authors as the poets Ovid, Horace, and Virgil, the orator Cicero, and the playwrights Terence and Plautus, and Shakespeare here began his acquaintance with classic lore. It must not be supposed, however, that his wide knowledge of Roman history and of Roman character came WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Xlii from these youthful studies, but rather that it was derived from his extensive reading in later years of translations of works in Latin and Greek with which Europe was flooded during the Renascence. In 1577, Shakespeare's father seems to have met with business reverses which forced him to sell some of his property and mortgage the estate which had been part of his wife's dowry. Owing to this and later ill-fortune, the son was withdrawn from school at the age of thirteen. Concerning his life during the next five years, we have no authentic information. One tradition tells us that he worked for his father, another that he was apprenticed to a butcher, and still another that he became a lawyer's clerk. There is some reason for accept- ing each one of these accounts ; but nevertheless they seem to be based more upon conjecture than upon actual knowledge. Marriage. — The first definite knowledge of William Shakespeare's doings after his school days is based on his marriage license, issued to him in 1582. His wife was Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a prosperous farmer of the neighbor- ing village of Shottery. She was eight years his senior, and the marriage seems to have been rather hasty and not altogether a happy one. Three children were born to the couple, Susanna xiv INTRODUCTION in 1583, and Hamnet and Judith, twins, in 1585. The son, Hamnet, died in 1596 at the age of eleven, but the two daughters survived the poet, and both were married before his death, Susanna to Dr. Thomas Hall, and Judith to Thomas Quincy. The former is supposed to have been the original of Miranda in " The Tempest." Departure for London. — In 1586, the future poet left Stratford on foot and went to London. The real reason for this step is not definitely known. According to an old tradition, he was caught poaching on the estate of Sir Thomas Lucy, an irate landlord who owned the pre- tentious manor at Stratford called Charlecote Hall. Having lampooned the old squire after- wards in a satiric ballad, it is said that he found it desirable to leave the vicinity of Stratford and find an occupation elsewhere. As he was fond of outdoor sports, and also showed some signs of poetic genius even at this time, the tale is not improbable. Nevertheless, some of his biographers think it more likely that he went to London in search of work, as his family at this time numbered five persons, including him- self. This seems the more probable when we observe that in London he at once became attached to the theaters. The Theaters in Shakespeare's Day. — The theater was an institution that was growing WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE XV rapidly in popular favor in those days, and young Shakespeare was not altogether lacking in knowledge of it. He had undoubtedly seen performances of the miracle plays, the mystery plays, and the moralities, which were presented from time to time in the county of Warwick- shire. Besides, traveling bands of actors came to Stratford occasionally, and at least one of these, the Earl of Leicester's Company, was entertained by Shakespeare's father during the time that he held the office of high bailiff. One of the men in this company, James Burbage, built a wooden building in 1576 just outside Bishopsgate, London, and called it "The Theater." Although it was only a crude structure, it was the first permanent London playhouse, and with it began English stage tradition. In the same year, the dismantled Blackfriars' monastery was remodeled to give the Queen's choir boys a place to play before the public, but as these were not professional actors, their work has less interest for us. Another theater, " The Curtain," was built a few months after " The Theater " and was fairly successful. At least six more were built during Shakespeare's lifetime, all of them outside of the city's walls because of a Puritan prejudice against the theatrical profession. Early Employment in London. — Whether Shakespeare had any definite plans for his future XVI INTRODUCTION work, or whether he accidentally drifted into the theatrical profession, we have no means of knowing. However, we read in traditional ac- counts that he became a general servitor at a theater, holding horses of gentlemen, acting as call-boy, etc. His ability did not, however, per- mit him to remain in such menial occupations very long, and we soon find him as an actor taking minor parts, and later on as a reviser of plays that had been unsuccessful. Numerous plays called ' The Doubtful Plays of Shake- speare " are very likely plays which he rewrote or in the writing of which he collaborated with other playwrights. During his first six years in London, he revised at least half a dozen such plays. His Growing Reputation. — Although his fame as an actor brought him to the notice of a limited circle, he first gained a reputation among the nobility by the publication in 1593 of a poem entitled Venus and Adonis. He followed this with a second poem in the following year, The Rape of Lucrece, which firmly established his reputation as a poet. Meanwhile, he had been writing original plays, the first of which, Love's Labour's Lost, had been produced several years earlier, and he continued to write and produce comedies, tragedies, and historical plays for a period of sixteen years. In all, some twenty- WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE xvil eight plays came from his pen, but as they were not printed and, therefore, only known to those who saw them acted, they brought him less literary fame during his lifetime than the two poems already named. He wrote also a large number of beautiful sonnets which were not published until 1609, seven years before his death. Retirement. — In 1612, after the production of The Tempest, Shakespeare carried out a plan that apparently he had formulated long before and settled down to live the life of a landed gentleman. He had made frequent visits to Stratford during his busy years in London, and ki 1597 had bought New Place, the largest house in Stratford. Being of an economical nature, he had accumulated a considerable sum of money both by his acting and by the royalties from his plays, and now in sharp contrast to many of his con- temporaries was a man of means who could spend the remaining years of his life in peace and comfort. His income at one time, according to Sidney Lee's estimate, was at least six hundred pounds a year, a sum which would have had a purchasing power of at least twenty thousand dollars in our day. He was a large shareholder in the Globe Theater where most of his plays were acted, and had a small interest in the Blackfriars. At his death in 1616, his elder daughter, Mrs. Hall, received most of his possessions. xviii INTRODUCTION His Plays. — His plays are usually divided into four groups, each of which corresponds to a period in his life. His art developed ~s time went on, and there is naturally a great diff* >*enee between the dramas of his youth anJ ^iose of his maturer years. In the first period, we find him writing such plays as Loves Labour's Lost, Romeo and Juliet, Comedy of Errors, Richard II, Richard III, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Tjwo Gentlemen of Verona. In the second period, we find his finest comedies, such as The Taming of the Shrew, Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Much Ado about Nothing, Twelfth Night, and Merry Wives of Windsor, as well as several fine historical plays, Henry V, and I Henry IV and II Henry IV. In the third period, he dealt with problems of human destiny in such plays as Hamlet, Julius Ccesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Othello, and Antony and Cleopatra, the first four of which are among the best dramas ever written. In the final period, we find him in a less somber mood. Such plays as The Tempest, Cymbeline, and The Winter's Tale show how cheerful and serene his mind had become after years of meditation over the problems of evil and sin. For a fuller study of the poet's life and works, the student should consult one or more of the works listed in the Bibliography on page xlvi. the date of the play xix The Date of the Play Although the precise date of the composition of CoV-^ohus cannot be determined, nevertheless, scholars^ nave agreed that it was written during the later years of Shakespeare's life, and un- doubtedly was the third of his trilogy based upon Roman history. Attempts to define the date more accurately by external evidence, such as a supposed reference to the play in Jonson's The Silent Woman, the mulberry planting in 1609, and the dearth that prevailed in England in 1608-1609, are generally considered incon- clusive. However, the internal evidence, such as the absence of rime, the numerous feminine and weak endings, the severity of the style, the infrequent use of humorous by-play, and similar features that characterize his later and more serious work, quite conclusively prove that this drama was written during his great tragic period. Modern editors have quite agreed that Coriolanus was written soon after Antony and Cleopatra, prob- ably in the years 1608 to 1610. It was first printed in the First Folio in 1623, and with slight changes in the text, was reprinted in the Second, Third, and Fourth Folios in 1632, 1664, and 1685, respectively. XX INTRODUCTION The Source of the Plot Shakespeare undoubtedly found the historical material for Coriolanus in Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans. This work seems to have furnished him also with the material for Julius Ccssar, Antony and Cleopatra, and, to some extent, for Timo?i of Athens. First printed in 1579, it be- came so popular that no less than seven editions appeared between 1579 and 1676, — a fact which shows the reason for the great interest Shake- speare's audiences took in his plays on Roman history. While Shakespeare closely followed Plutarch's biography of Coriolanus as far as the main in- cidents are concerned, he did not hesitate to alter certain minor ones nor to add others when- ever dramatic technique demanded it. He com- pressed the story of the three revolts into one and changed the time of the one which was caused by a demand for free corn. He added scenes to delineate more fully the characters of Volumnia, Aufidius, etc., or, as in the battle scenes, to lend more realism to the action. Again, he omitted many details which Plutarch con- sidered important, but which would have re- tarded the action. Among these are the embassy of priests that preceded Volumnia's Intercession THE SOURCE OF THE PLOT Xxi in Act V, the omens which fell when Rome re- ceived the news that Coriolanus was advancing against her with an army, the colonization of Velitres, and the forays against the Antiates. Many other variations between the two versions can be found by any diligent student. On the pther hand, the dramatist added various details that give a picturesque and dramatic touch to the story, and he gave greater individ- uality and vitality to the minor characters of the play than Plutarch did. Examples of the former are the humorous repartee between Menenius and the tribunes in Act I, Scene i, and that be- tween Menenius and the sentinels in Act V, Scene ii ; the wager of a horse in Act I, Scene iv ; the reply of Aufldius in Act IV, Scene v ; while the latter is exemplified throughout the play in the masterly delineation of Volumnia, Menenius, Virgilia, and the tribunes. In some parts of the play, Shakespeare has followed North's translation so closely that the speeches of the characters appear to be a poetical paraphrase of the splendid prose of the original. Examples may be found in Act V, Scene iii, 11. 94-98, or in Act I, Scene iv, 11. 55-60. The fable of the belly, as it is related by Menenius in the play differs in minor respects from the version given in North's Plutarch. This has led to the belief that Shakespeare may also have xxii INTRODUCTION had before him a version of the fable that ap- peared in 1605 in Camden's Remaines. The legend itself is an ancient and widely-circulated one and appears in the writings of the Greeks and Egyptians as well as in those of the Romans. The Subject Matter of Coriolanus In studying Coriolanus, we find two subjects of absorbing interest : first, the political struggle between the patrician and the plebeian classes in ancient Rome, and secondly, the struggle within Coriolanus himself against his haughty self-pride and his passionate prejudice against the lower classes. Of these, the second is the more im- portant and the first only serves as a background. We are not to suppose that Shakespeare was writ- ing an historical play, nor that he was, as some critics, notably Hazlitt, have declared, giving a final verdict upon the social and political struggle that took place in early Roman days. On the contrary, he merely went to Plutarch's Lives a third time to obtain material for a drama in which he could present the ruin of a noble man through the sin of egotism and pride. The primary interest of the play is not centered in the contest for municipal rights, but in the in- evitable fate that overtakes one who acts as if he were a god and not a mere mortal. SUBJECT MATTER OP CORIOLANUS xxiil It is never well to consider that Shakespeare was at any time attempting to point a moral or to express an opinion on the merits of any move- ment or any cause. Hardly any author was more self-effacing in his work, and we can rarely feel certain that he is stepping out of the background to make a character a mouthpiece for his per- sonal opinions. If he can be considered as a critic of political questions at all, we must seek his views on these in his earlier plays on English history ; for at the time he wrote Coriolanus, he was confining himself to a profound study of human life and character, to the solution of the deeper problems of our destiny. Macbeth, Julius Coesar, Hamlet, and Antony and Cleo- patra had been written by this time, all somber tragedies with a political background, but with our attention focused on the deterioration in the leading characters who have committed wrongs. His general method of treatment has been well stated by Bradley, whom Professor Matthews quotes in his admirable work, Shake- speare as a Playwright, and it deserves quoting here : " When Shakespeare moved to put forth his full powers as playwright and as poet, as psychologist and as philosopher, he sets before us a tale of suffering and calamity conducting to the death of the hero, who is always a con- spicuous person, prominent in the state. The XXIV INTRODUCTION part of the hero's career which is shown in action on the stage is that which immediately precedes his death, he having been introduced to us at first in a fairly happy condition, and the later calamity and sufferings are unexpected, excep- tional, and striking. As a whole, the tragedy brings home to us an abiding sense of the power- lessness of man and it makes us feel that the fatal end follows inevitably and inexorably from the deeds of men, and that the main source of these deeds is character. The hero, who is always of heroic size, is destroyed by his own failing, which is his ruling quality, at once his strength and his weakness. He is not the victim of the merely external forces against which he struggles in vain, rather he is betrayed by him- self. He goes down because he is what he is. And, as a result, his downfall and his death may be pitiful but they are not painful. We under- stand the reasons and we are reconciled to the result. The spectacle of the hero's self-destruc- tion is not depressing, since there is nothing petty in it and nothing accidental." This is precisely the method Shakespeare used in writing Coriolanus. Plutarch furnished him with incidents, traits, hints, etc., which by his vitalizing imagination, Shakespeare combined into a powerful drama. The story is largely a legend- ary one, and even as Plutarch relates it, full of SUBJECT MATTER OF CORIOLANUS XXV incongruities. But even so, it contained elements which, in the hands of a man who had such re- markably clear insight into problems of character and such a complete command of the resources of dramatic art, could be converted into an absorb- ing play. In writing Coriolanus, the dramatist followed the original version in North's Plutarch more closely than he did in his other Roman plays. Nevertheless, in adapting the legend to dramatic purposes, he pruned it considerably and retained the essential ideas of the story rather than the literal facts. As historians are not in agreement as to how much can be accepted as fact, nor even as to the exact names of the characters, young students may concern themselves little with this divergence, but should study the political situa- tion as Shakespeare presents it to us. The only historical fact referred to which is authentic is the secession of the plebeians to Mons Sacer in 495 B.C. because of agricultural distress and usury, a secession which was followed by the election of the tribunes. Rome at the time of Coriolanus was split up into two contending factions, the patricians and the plebeians. The former had become rich and powerful and considered themselves " the city." They led luxurious lives and looked upon their prosperity as their natural due. All the civil XXVI INTRODUCTION power of the state was in their hands and they exercised it in an autocratic manner for their own benefit. Their chief occupation was war, and prowess in battle was regarded as the highest of all mortal attainments. Whenever their power became endangered by any popular clamor for a more just division of the fruits of labor, they either provoked a war or welcomed one begun by some hostile neighbor in order to divert attention from such domestic problems. The warrior was idolized, and his deeds extolled and rehearsed on every suitable occasion. As has been the custom in all militaristic nations, the young men were trained to be soldiers from their childhood, and a contempt was engendered in them for all those who had not been trained and disciplined in a like manner. The plebeians, on the other hand, were the tradesmen, the craftsmen, etc., who comprised the majority of the inhabitants of the city. Eventually becoming tired of continual wars, of heavy levies, of usury, and of a lack of corn, they seceded from the city. Instead of giving them redress from their wrongs, the patricians appeased them by the appointment of certain magistrates, called tribunes, who were to safe- guard their rights. By this apparent concession, the patricians felt they could still the popular clamor, and, although granting to the commoners SUBJECT MATTER OF CORIOLANUS XXVll a semblance of power, really retain the actual power for themselves. Many of the nobles, among whom Coriolanus was a leader, strongly opposed such a compromise and insisted that such a policy formed a dangerous precedent which would be " the seed of political anarchy and dissolution." Others, however, of whom Cominius is an example, were more moderate and foresaw that the populace was too powerful to be successfully opposed in all things. Yet when Coriolanus is finally banished, they have no reply to his taunts when he declares that they have lost their power to the crafty tribunes whom they created. Even as Shakespeare has portrayed the good and bad qualities of the patricians, so does he show us the good and bad qualities among the plebeians. The latter are ready and willing to reward Coriolanus for his brave deeds with the highest office of the state, but they realize that he scorns to accept anything which they have power to bestow and " pays himself with being proud." They are not so blind that they cannot see that his valiant deeds are done not so much for the glory of Rome as to feed his unlimited pride and to prove the superior virtues of the patrician class. At no time does he lose an opportunity to show his contempt for them. He despises them in battle, he calls them " a common xxviii INTRODUCTION cry of curs," and even while he begs their votes, he does it more as a command than as a request. Yet even when they might have him executed, they modify the sentence to banishment. On the whole, the plebeians appear, however, in an unfavorable light. Neither they nor their leaders arouse our admiration. In political af- fairs, they are fickle and irrational, easily led by the crafty tribunes. They are made to appear dirty and unkempt, greedy and ungrateful. Throughout his Roman plays, the dramatist usually presents the people as a mob without opinions, except such as a clever demagogue can inject into them. Still, in spite of the same sweaty caps and stinking breaths, the people in Coriolanus are less disreputable and less fickle than the rabble in Julius Caesar. Their position in this conflict is correctly stated in the conversa- tion between the two officers at the beginning of the second scene of Act II. If we would assume that Shakespeare in any way expressed an opinion in this play on the rights of democracy vs. aristocracy, we must remember what the conditions of the lower classes were in his day. England had been well- governed under the wise rule of Elizabeth and was still fairly prosperous under James I. How- ever, during the entire Tudor period, the social structure of England had been in a ferment. The SUBJECT MATTER OF CORIOLANUS XXIX Wars of the Roses had left the nobles in an im- poverished state and much of the largess formerly given by them to the poor had ceased. Soon after Elizabeth's reign began, wars temporarily ceased too, and as a result, a multitude of ex-soldiers, idle, profligate, and unwilling to work, descended upon the towns of England, especially London, and demanded support gratis. London became so filled with shiftless people that laws were passed making any person without visible means of support a vagabond and subjecting him to severe punishment. Some of them roved from town to town in groups of a hundred or more, stealing, carousing, and terrifying the people. Undoubtedly, many were among the "under- standers " in the pits of the theaters where they demanded buffoonery rather than serious drama, horse-play rather than poetry. It is to these that Shakespeare refers in Hamlet when he says that they are " fit only for dumb shows and noise." And as his lower classes are always English because local color was unknown by the writers of his day, is it not surprising that he should be so moderate in his treatment of them when he had evidences every day of their ingrati- tude, their lack of perception, their tractableness ? In fact, what he did seem to condemn was " the violence and irrationality of untrained men," and not the men themselves. Coriolanus is found XXX INTRODUCTION wanting and suffers death ; the plebeians put Rome in danger by their irrational act. The curse of the world then is inefficiency and fickle- ness. The poet does not condemn the common people merely because they are common, nor is he, on the other hand, any democratic senti- mentalist. If he seems inclined to favor the rule of the aristocracy, he does so only when the aristocracy lives up to its possibilities. The word " aristocracy " literally means, " the rule by the best " or by those who because of real merit are deserving of power. That this was a natural conclusion for him to arrive at is apparent when we remember his own experience. He himself became a man of means because he was industrious and frugal, and because of his prosperity and growing fame, became the envy of many minor playwrights. While many of these, some of them university men, were de- crying the public taste or else catering to its lowest demands and thereby hastening the Puritan agitation against the theater, he was profitably producing plays that were not only well-received but were educating the public taste, enlightening the people about the past history of their country, and enlarging their views oi life. He, therefore, had scant sympathy witMr the inefficient. CRITICAL COMMENT XXXI Critical Comment Coriolanus " Coriolanus himself stands out, in Shakespeare, yet more than in Plutarch, as a giant among pigmies. He has the surpassing excellencies of the true aristocrat and seems to embody at once the aristocratic ideals of heroic Greece and of feudal chivalry. He scorns money and pain; he has a natural eloquence always at command, and everything he says is impressed with an indefinable greatness. 1 Less 'churlish and soli- tary ' than in Plutarch, for I Shakespeare gives him the adoring friendship of Menenius and Cominius, he is at bottom more ' uncivil,' less fit for citizenship, more impracticable in his passionate self-will. This aspect of his character Shakespeare has emphasized with a series of admirably imagined strokes. It is only in the drama that Coriolanus revolts against the tradi- tional ceremony of displaying his wounds, and declaims, with the naive unreason of a head- strong nature, against the authority of ' custom,' -on which his own patrician privilege ultimately rested. His vengeance is far more sweeping and uncompromising. He comes to burn Rome, not to get reasonable concessions for his allies ; far from *■ keeping the noblemen's lands and goods XXX11 INTRODUCTION safe from harm and burning,' he sternly dis- misses the appeal of his noble friends for dis- crimination ; he cannot stay to pick a few grains of wheat in a pile ' Of noisome musty chaff.' Political partisanship is effaced in the fury of personal vengeance." Herford : The Eversley Shakespeare. " A haughty passionate feeling, a superb egotism, are with Coriolanus the sources of weakness and of strength. . . . The pride of Coriolanus is not that which comes from self- surrender to and union with some power or person or principle higher than one's self. It is two- fold — a passionate esteem which is essentially egoistic, and, secondly, a passionate prejudice of class. His nature is the reverse of cold and selfish; his sympathies are warm, deep, and generous ; but a line, hard and fast, has been drawn for him by the aristocratic tradition, and it is only within that line that he permits his sympathies to play. To the surprise of the tribunes, he can accept, well pleased, a sub- ordinate command under Cominius. He yields with kindly condescension to accept the devotion and fidelity of Menenius, and cherishes towards the old man a filial regard — the feeling of a son CRITICAL COMMENT XXX111 who has the consciousness that he is greater than his father. He must dismiss Menenius disap- pointed from the Volscian camp ; but he con- trives an innocent fraud by means of which the old senator will fancy that he has effected more for the peace of Rome than another could. For Virgilia, the gentle woman in whom his heart finds rest, Coriolanus has a manly tenderness and constant freshness of adhesion : " ' O, a kiss Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge ! Now, by the jealous queen of heaven, that kiss I carried it from thee, dear ; and my true lip Hath virgin' d it e'er since !' "... The weakness, the inconstancy, and the incapacity of apprehending facts which are the vices of the people, reflect and repeat themselves in the great patrician ; his aristocratic vices counterbalance their plebeian. He is rigid and obstinate ; but under the influence of an angry egoism he can renounce his principles, his party, and his native city. He will not bear away to his private use the paltry booty of the Volsces ; but to obtain the consulship he is urged by his proud mother and his patrician friends to stand bareheaded before the mob, to expose his wounds, to sue for their votes, to give his heart the lie, to bend the knee like a beggar asking an alms. XXXIV INTRODUCTION The judgment and the blood are ill commingled ; he desires the end, but can only half submit to the means which are necessary to obtain that end ; he has not sufficient self-control to enable him to dispose of those chances of which he is lord. And so he mars his fortune. The pride of Coriolanus, as Mr. Hudson has observed, is ' rendered altogether inflammable and uncon- trollable by passion ; insomuch that if a spark of provocation is struck into the latter, the former instantly flames up beyond measure, and sweeps away all the regards of prudence, decorum, and even of common sense.' Now, such passion as this Shakespeare knew to be weakness, and not strength ; and by this uncontrollable violence of temper Coriolanus draws down upon himself his banishment from Rome and his subsequent fate." Dowden : Shakespeare. Menenius " The most striking personage next to Corio- lanus is Menenius Agrippa. . . . He has none of Coriolanus' thirst for fame ; he rather rejoices in the fame of his friend ; he idolizes him and ( it gives him an estate of seven years' health ' when Coriolanus condescends to write to him. He calls himself ' the book of his good acts, CRITICAL COMMENT XXXV whence men have read his fame unparalleled, haply amplified.' Even with the will to speak the truth of his hero he involuntarily oversteps its bounds. It is easy to him to be his unselfish admirer because his own talents lie in quite another direction. Age has broken his warlike strength, though his brave mind still looks out here and there, when in extremity he calls the nobles to help Coriolanus, and says he could himself ' take up a brace of the best of the ple- beians.' But his true strength lies rather in mental superiority ; his excellence is that of a clever orator. Shakespeare has given him the propitiatory office of a mediator, in contrast to Coriolanus' blunt party spirit, but he has wisely avoided giving him any power to act, because that would have thrown Coriolanus too much in the shade. Instead of energy and wisdom, he has given him zeal, and the experience belonging to age, figurative oratory, and prudent, whole- some sense ; his wit and skill in persuasion he mostly uses with those who have none of their own. He is as expert in the office of mediator as Coriolanus is inexpert. Instead of making lofty pretensions, he has a respect for human weakness ; compared with that overstrained na- ture he is indolent and easy, and where the other is rigid and unbending, Menenius is yielding, good-humored, sociable, and friendly ; instead of XXXvi INTRODUCTION gloomy seriousness, he indulges in a broad, pleasant humor. He is a good sleeper, he likes his wine unmixed; behind his back they say of him that he is ' something imperfect in favouring the first complaint.' There is not in him a vein of Coriolanus' pride, but only a little conceit in his gift of speaking, which seldom fails to succeed with the people, and which, in a case of extreme difficulty, he hopes to turn to good account with Coriolanus ; and his v anity feels itself wounded when the shallow trib unes think they ' know ' him because he is open and honest. If his pride is little compared to the haughtiness of Corio- lanus, Menenius' passionateness is in the same proportion. He can be hasty, and rage out with the good nature of choleric old age and on trifling occasions ; but in great matters, where Corio- lanus loses his temper, he is patient, calm, full of the greatest discretion, and perfectly master of himself." Gervinus : Shakespeare Commentaries. The Stage History of the Play Practically nothing is known of the stage pro- duction of Coriolanus in Shakespeare's time nor in the period immediately following his death. The first mention of it in English stage history appears in a remodeled version by Nahum Tate, STAGE HISTORY OF THE PLAY XXXV11 entitled The Ingratitude of a Commonwealth, or The Fall of Caius Martins Coriolanus. Tate admitted his indebtedness to Shakespeare upon whose work he attempted to improve by adding to the last act such crude horrors as the suicide of Virgilia, the killing of Aufidius, a mad scene for Volumnia, the murder of Menenius, and the torture of young Martins. Tate produced the play at the Theater Royal in 1682 with the avowed purpose of teaching the public a lesson in sub- mission to established authority, but it was not very well received. The next English adaptation of which we have a record was the unsuccessful version of John Dennis, entitled The Invader of His Country, or The Fatal Resentment. This play, in which Booth played the leading role, was produced at the Drury Lane Theater, London, but was with- drawn after a few performances. The play had very little merit as Dennis had " outrageously mangled Shakespeare " in his efforts to improve upon him, but the author blamed the actors for its failure with the public. Thomson, the author of The Seasons, also wrote a tragedy on the same story which was produced after his death in 1749 at the Covent Garden Theater. For this play, the author ob- tained his material not from Plutarch but from the historians, Livy and Dionysius of Halicar- XXXV111 INTRODUCTION nassus. It was withdrawn after ten perform- ances, as it made but a small appeal even to audiences accustomed to long, pompous passages of wearisome declamation which formed a large part of it. In 1789, however, a notable series of produc- tions of a different version, consisting partly of Thomson's work but mostly of Shakespeare's, was presented at the Drury Lane Theater with Kemble as Coriolanus and his sister, Mrs. Sid- dons, as Volumnia. Kemble repeatedly revived the play and used it for his farewell appearance on the stage in 1817. Noted men of letters, as Scott, Lamb, and Hazlitt, have given us lavish praise of these representations. Edmund Kean and William Macready also essayed presentations of the play with the original text of the play, but neither added much to his reputation by doing so. Of the two, Macready was the more successful and played the part on numerous occasions. Edwin Forrest scored a notable success in America in his productions of the play in 1828 and the years following, while Edwin Booth, John McCullough, and Lawrence Barrett appeared in it at various times. In 1901, Sir Henry Irving, after a long period of preparation, attempted an elaborate revival, but his impersonation of the hero was rather unsatis- factory. Aside from this unsuccessful attempt at STRUCTURE OF THE VERSE xxxix revival, no important production of the play has been given in the present generation. The Structure of the Verse Like Shakespeare's other plays, Coriolanus is written partly in prose and partly in verse. The number of lines which are rimed is considerably less than in his earlier plays, as he seemed to prefer to use blank verse almost exclusively toward the end of his dramatic career. Shakespeare seems to have composed his lines less by rules of meter and more by ear. Conse- quently, the student should read the verse aloud before attempting to scan it, for he will then realize the need for some short lines consisting of but one or two metrical feet and for the pauses that occur from time to time when the thought ends at or near the middle of a poetic line. The verse generally employed by Shakespeare in his dramas consists of ten-syllable lines, the even syllables of which are stressed. Such lines are said to be written in iambic pentameter. The following is an example : / s s s Against | the wind | a mile! | You souls | of geese." | — Act I, Sc. iv, 1. 54. 'Variations from this form are, however, very common, and in the case of some lines, even xl INTRODUCTION cultivated readers are not in entire agreement as to the correct scansion. Some of our diffi- culties in this respect are doubtless due to the different way in which Elizabethans accented certain words, a few of which are referred to in the Notes. Most of them, however, have little interest for the average student, and a detailed analysis of them would only detract from the enjoyment of the more important features of the play. A few of these variations are : (a) the use of a spondee ; e.g. "All hurt | behind; | backs red, \ and fa|ces pale." | — Act I, Sc. iv, 1. 57. (b) The use of a trochee ; e.g. / / / / / " Long as | my ex|ile, sweet | as my | revenge. "| — Act V, Sc. iii, 1. 54. (c) The use of an anapest ; e.g. / / / / "I was forced \ to scold. | Your judg|ments, my | / grave lords." | — Act V, Sc. vi, 1. 135. (d) The addition of an extra unstressed syllable, producing what is termed a feminine ending ; e.g. STRUCTURE OF THE VERSE xli / / / / "Hear you | this Tri|ton of | the min|nows? Mark (you) His absolute shall?" —Act III, Sc. i, 11. 130-131. For a fuller discussion of the peculiarities of Shakespeare's verse, the student should consult Gummere's " Book of Verse " or Mayor's " Chap- ters on English Metre." Prose is used largely for comedy, such as the scenes in which Menenius appears ; in simple conversation pertaining to domestic life such as the conversation between the three women in Act I, Scene iii ; and, in general, in scenes of " low life," such as the scene in the kitchen in Act IV in which the servingmen are conversing. However, it must be observed that when a char- acter who speaks in prose becomes emotional, he invariably breaks into blank verse. As an ex- ample, note how Marcius turns from prose to poetry in Act II, Scene iii. Shakespeare's English In reading any of Shakespeare's plays, the student must bear in mind the fact that the lan- guage of the Elizabethans was not as fixed and as standardized as ours is to-day. The spelling of words was full of variations, even proper xlii INTRODUCTION names showing numerous differences. Besides, words were not always accented on the same syllable, words which we consider necessary were often omitted, and inflections of certain words now rarely used, but common in Old English, were retained. Some of these differences between Shakespeare's English and our modern speech have been referred to in the Notes, but a student who wishes to study them more fully should consult Abbott's Shakesperian Grammar. The student beginning the study of Shakespeare need not attempt to master all the intricate de- tails of this subject, but may rest content with a knowledge of the more common differences such as : (a) The use of one part of speech for another, usually the adjective as an adverb or the noun used as a verb ; e.g. "Our tradesmen singing in their shops and going About their functions friendly." — IV, vi, 10. "Who . . . bonneted, without any further deed to have them at all into their estimation and report." — II, ii, 29-32. (b) The omission of words because of the desire for brevity. The ellipsis may be the omission of to before the infinitive, or even of the infinitive itself ; ' it may be th6 omission of the pronoun, especially the relative ; it may be the omission SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLISH xliii of the verb, usually when the verb denotes motion; or it may be the still more common omission of the preposition. The following are examples of each of these : " I will go wash." — I, ix, 83. "What, art thou stiff? stand' st .out? " — I, i, 307. "I will not out of doors." — I, iii, 81. "While she chats him." — II, i, 243. (c) Inflections of various parts of speech are often misused and frequently not used at all. Personal pronouns, relative pronouns, and adjec- tives should be carefully watched to detect these variations from modern usage. Besides, ex- amples of the double comparative, which are easily detected, occur frequently. xliv INTRODUCTION Bibliography Biographical. Sidney Lee : Life of Shakespeare. W. J. Rolfe : Shakespeare, the Boy. Halliwell-Phillips : Life of Shakespeare. James Walter : True Life of Shakespeare. A. S. Thorndike : Facts about Shakespeare. Critical. H. N. Hudson : Shakespeare's Life, Art, and Characters. H. W. Mabie : Shakespeare : Poet, Dramatist, and Man. R. G. Moulton : Shakespeare as a Dramatic Artist. Brander Matthews : Shakespeare as a Play- wright. Georg Brandes : William Shakespeare. G. G. Gervinus : Shakespeare Commentaries. Edward Dowden : Shakspere, His Mind and Art. Anna Jamieson : Shakespeare' 's Heroines. M. W. MacCallum : Shakespeare's Roman Plays. R. G. White : Studies in Shakespeare. BIBLIOGRAPHY xlv Linguistic. Clarke : A Concordance to Shakespeare. Abbott : A Shakesperian Grammar. Schmidt : Shakespeare Lexicon. Historical. Shakespeare's England (Oxford University Press). A. W. Ward : The History of English Dramatic Literature. T. F. Ordish: Early London Theatres. Thomas North: Plutarch' s* Lives (Skeat Edi tion) . Any History of Rome. CORIOLANUS DRAMATIS PERSONS Caius Marcius, afterwards Caius Marcitjs Coriolanus. Titus Lartius, / , . , ,. , r . . ~ / generals against the Volscians. Cominius, ) Menenius Agrippa, friend to Coriolanus. Sicinius Velutus, / . .. tll , _, > tribunes ol the people. Junius Brutus, ) Young Marcius, son of Coriolanus. A Roman Herald. Tullus Aufidius, general of the Volscians. Lieutenant to Aufidius. Conspirators with Aufidius. A Citizen of Antiuni. Two Volscian Guards. Volumnia, mother to Coriolanus. Virgilia, wife to Coriolanus. Valeria, friend to Virgilia. Gentlewoman attending on Virgilia. Roman and Volscian Senators, Patricians, iEdiles, Lictors, Sol- diers, Citizens, Messengers, Servants to Aufidius, and other Attendants. Scene: Rome and the neighbourhood; Corioli and the neighbour- hood; Antium. THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS ACT FIRST. — Scene I Rome. A street. Enter a company of mutinous Citizens, with staves, clubs, and other weapons. First Cit. Before we proceed any further, hear me speak. All. Speak, speak. First Cit. You are all resolved rather to die than to famish ? 5 All. Resolved, resolved. First Cit. First, you know Caius Marcius is chief enemy to the people. All. We know't, we know't. First Cit. Let us kill him, and we'll have corn 10 at our own price. Is't a verdict? b 1 2 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. All. No more talking on't ; let it be done : away, away ! Sec. Cit. One word, good citizens, is First Cit. 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 relieved us humanely ; but they think 20 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 25 I speak this in hunger for bread, not in thirst for revenge. Sec. Cit.° Would you proceed especially against Caius Marcius ? All. Against him first; he's a very dog° to 30 the commonalty. Sec. Cit. Consider you what services he has done for his country? First Cit. Very well ; and could be content to give him good report for't, but that he pays 35 himself with being proud. Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 3 Sec. Cit. Nay, but speak not maliciously. First Cit. I say unto you, what he hath done famously, he did it to that end : though sof t- conscienced men can be content to say it was for his country, he did it to please his mother and 40 to be partly proud; which he is, even to the altitude of his virtue. Sec. Cit. What he cannot help in his nature, you account a vice in him. You must in no way say he is covetous. 45 First Cit. If I must not, I need not be barren of accusations ; he hath faults, with surplus, to tire in repetition. [Shouts within.] What shouts are these ? The other side o' the city is risen : why stay we prating here ? to the Capitol ! so All. Come, come. First Cit. Soft ! who comes here ? Enter Menenius Agrippa. Sec. Cit. Worthy Menenius Agrippa; one that hath always loved the people. First Cit. He's one honest enough : would all 55 the rest were so ! 4 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. Men. What work's, my countrymen, in hand ? where go you With bats° and clubs ? the matter ? speak, I pray 6o you. First Cit. Our business is not unknown to the senate ; they have had inkling, this fortnight, what we intend to do, which now we'll show 'em in deeds. They say poor suitors have strong 65 breaths ; they shall know we have strong arms too. Men. Why, masters, my good friends, mine honest neighbours, Will you undo yourselves ? 70 First Cit. We cannot, sir, we are undone already. Men. I tell you, friends, most charitable care Have the patricians of you. For your wants, Your suffering in this dearth, you may as well 75 Strike at the heaven with your staves as lift them Against the Roman state ; whose course will on The way it takes, cracking ten thousand curbs Of more strong link asunder than can ever Appear in your impediment. For the dearth, 80 The gods, not the patricians, make it, and Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 5 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 85 fathers, When you curse them as enemies. First Cit. Care for us ! True, indeed ! They ne'er cared for us yet : suffer us to famish, and their store-houses crammed with grain ; make 90 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. 95 Men. Either you must Confess yourselves wondrous malicious, Or be accused of folly. I shall tell you A pretty tale : it may be you have heard it ; But, since it serves my purpose, I will venture 10c To stale't a little more. First Cit. Well, I'll hear it, sir : yet you must not think to fob off° our disgrace with a tale : but, an't please you, deliver. i 6 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. 105 Men. There was a time when all the body's members Rebell'd against the belly ; thus accused it : That only like a gulf it did remain I' the midst o' the body, idle and unactive, no Still cupboarding the viand, never bearing Like labour with the rest; where the other in- struments Did see and hear, devise, instruct, walk, feel, And, mutually participate, did minister 115 Unto the appetite and affection common Of the whole body. The belly answer'd — First Cit. Well, sir, what answer made the belly ? Men. Sir, I shall tell you. With a kind of 120 smile, Which ne'er came from the lungs, but even thus — For, look you,° I may make the belly smile As well as speak — it tauntingly replied 125 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. t Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 7 First Cit.° Your belly's answer ? What ! The kingly-crowned head, the vigilant eye, 130 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 — Men. What then ? 13s 'Fore me,° this fellow speaks ! what then ? what then? First Cit. Should by the cormorant belly be restrain'd, Who is the sink o' the body, — 140 Men. Well, what then ? First Cit. The former agents, if they did complain, What could the belly answer ? Men. I will tell you ; 145 If you'll bestow a small — of what you have little — Patience awhile, you'st hear the belly's answer. First Cit. You're long about it. Men. Note me° this, good friend ; 150 Your most grave belly was deliberate, Not rash like his accusers, and thus answer'd : 8 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. 'True is it, my incorporate friends/ quoth he, ' That I receive the general food at first, iS5 Which you do live upon ; and fit it is, Because I am the store-house and the shop Of the whole body : but, if you do remember, I send it through the rivers of your blood, Even to the court, the heart, to the seat o' the 1 60 brain ; And, through the cranks and offices of man, The strongest nerves and small inferior veins From me receive that natural competency Whereby they live : and though that all at once, 165 You, my good friends,' — this says the belly, mark me, — First Cit. Ay, sir ; well, well. Men. ' Though all at once cannot See what I do deliver out to each, 170 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 ? First Cit. It was an answer : how apply you this? 175 Men. The senators of Rome are this good belly, Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 9 And you the mutinous members : for examine Their counsels and their cares, digest things rightly Touching the weal o' the common, you shall find 180 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? 185 First Cit. I the great toe ! why the great toe ? Men. For that, being one o' the lowest, basest, poorest, Of this most wise rebellion, thou go'st foremost : Thou rascal, that art worst in blood to run, 190 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 ! 19s Mar. Thanks. What's the matter, you dis- sentious rogues, 10 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. That, rubbing the poor itch of your opinion, Make yourselves scabs ? 200 First Cit. We have ever your good word. Mar. He that will give good words to thee will flatter Beneath abhorring. What would you have, you curs, 205 That like nor peace nor war ? the one affrights you, The other makes you proud. He that trusts to you, Where he should find you lions, finds you hares, 210 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 215 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 Upon your favours swims with fins of lead 220 And hews down the oaks with rushes. Hang ye ! Trust ye ? Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 11 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, 22S 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 seek- ing ? 2 3° Men. For corn at their own rates ; whereof, they say, The city is well stored. Mar. Hang 'em ! They say ! They'll sit by the fire, and presume to know 23s What's done i' the Capitol; who's like to rise, W T ho thrives and who declines ; side factions and give out Conjectural marriages ; making parties strong, 240 And feebling such as stand not in their liking Below their cobbled shoes. They say there's grain enough ! Would the nobility lay aside their ruth,° And let me use my sword, I'ld make a quarry 245 12 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. With thousands of these quarter' d slaves, as high As I could pick my lance. Men. Nay, these are almost thoroughly per- suaded ; 250 For though abundantly they lack discretion, Yet are they passing cowardly. But, I beseech you, What says the other troop ? Mar. They are dissolved : hang 'em ! 255 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 260 Corn for the rich men only : with these shreds They vented their complainings ; which being answer'd, And a petition granted them, a strange one — To break the heart of generosity 265 And make bold power look pale — they threw their caps As they would hang them on the horns o' the moon, Shouting their emulation, Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 13 Men. What is granted them ? 270 Mar. Five tribunes to defend their vulgar wisdoms, Of their own choice : one's Junius Brutus, Sicinius Velutus, and I know not — 'Sdeath ! The rabble should have first unroof d the city, 275 Ere so prevail'd with me : it will in time Win upon power and throw forth greater themes For insurrection's arguing. Men. This is strange. Mar. Go get you home, you fragments ! 280 Enter a Messenger, hastily. Mess. Where's Caius Marcius ? Mar. Here : what's the matter ? Mess. The news is, sir, the Volsces are in arms. Mar. I am glad on't : then we shall ha' means to vent 285 Our musty superfluity. See, our best elders. Enter Cominius, Titus Lartius, and other Senators; Junius Brutus and Sicinius Velutus. 14 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. First Sen. Marcius, 'tis true that you have lately told us ; The Volsces are in arms. 290 Mar. They have a leader, Tullus Aufidius, that will put you to't.° I sin in envying his nobility ; And were I any thing but what I am, I would wish me only he. 295 Com. You have fought together ? Mar. Were half to half the world by the ears, and he Upon my party, Fid revolt, to make Only my wars with him : he is a lion 300 That I am proud to hunt. First Sen. Then, worthy Marcius, Attend upon Cominius to these wars. Com. It is your former promise. Mar. Sir, it is ; 305 And I am constant. Titus Lartius, thou Shalt see me once more strike at Tullus' face. What, art thou stiff ? stand'st out° ? Tit. No, Caius Marcius ; I'll lean upon one crutch, and fight with t'other, 310 Ere stay behind this business. Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 15 Men. O, true-bred ! First Sen. Your company to the Capitol ; where, I know, Our greatest friends attend us. Tit. [To Com.] Lead you on.° 315 [ To Mar.] Follow Cominius ; we must follow you; Right worthy you priority. Com. Noble Marcius ! First Sen. [To the Citizens] Hence to your 320 home, be gone ! Mar . Nay, let them follow : The Volsces have much corn; take these rats thither Tc gnaw their garners. Worshipful mutiners, 325 Your valour puts well forth : pray, follow. [Citizens steal away. Exeunt all but Sicinius and Brutus. Sic. Was ever man so proud as is this Mar- cius? Bru. He has no equal. Sic. When we were chosen tribunes for the 330 people, — Bru. Mark'd you his lip and eyes? 16 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. Sic. Nay, but his taunts. Bru. Being moved, he will not spare to gird° 335 the gods. Sic. Bemock the modest moon.° Bru. The present wars devour him° ! he is grown Too proud to be so valiant. 340 Sic. Such a nature, 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. 345 Bru. Fame, at the which he aims, In whom already he's well graced, 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 per- 35° form To the utmost of a man ; and giddy censure Will then cry out of Marcius ' O, if he Had borne the business ! ' Sic. Besides, if things go well, 355 Opinion, that so sticks on Marcius, shall Of his demerits rob Cominius. Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 17 Bru. Come : Half all Cominius' honours are to Marcius, Though Marcius earn'd them not; and all his faults 3 6o To Marcius shall be honours, though indeed In aught he merit not. Sic. Let's hence, and hear How the dispatch is made ; and in what fashion, More than his singularity, he goes 365 Upon this present action. Bru. Let's along. [Exeunt. Scene II. Corioli. The Senate-house. Enter Tullus Aufidius, with Senators of Corioli. First Sen. So, your opinion is, Aufidius, That they of Rome are enter'd in°our counsels, And know how we proceed. Auf. Is it not yours ? What ever have been thought on in this state, 5 That could be brought to bodily act° ere Rome Had circumvention ? 'Tis not four days gone Since I heard thence : these are the words : I think 18 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. I have the letter here : yes, here it is : 10 [Reads] 'They have press'd a power, but it is not known Whether for east or west : the dearth is great ; The people mutinous : and it is rumour' d, Cominius, Marcius your old enemy, is Who is of Rome worse hated than of you, And Titus Lartius, a most valiant Roman, These three lead on this preparation Whither 'tis bent : most likely 'tis for you : Consider of it.' 20 First Sen. Our army's in the field : We never yet made doubt but Rome was ready To answer us.° Anf. Nor did you think it folly To keep your great pretences veil'd till when 25 They needs must show themselves ; which in the hatching, It seem'd, appear'd to Rome. By the discovery We shall be shorten' d in our aim, which was To take in° many towns ere almost Rome 30 Should know we were afoot. Sec. Sen. Noble Aufidius, Take your commission ; hie you to your bands : Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 19 Let us alone to guard Corioli : If they set down before's, for the remove Bring up your army; but, I think, you'll find 35 They've not prepared for us. Auf. O, doubt not that ; I speak from certainties. Nay, more, Some parcels of their power are forth already, And only hitherward. I leave your honours. 40 If we and Caius Marcius chance to meet, 'Tis sworn between us, we shall ever strike Till one can do no more. All. The gods assist you ! Auf. And keep your honours safe ! 45 First Seii. Farewell. Sec. Sen. Farewell. All. Farewell. [Exeunt. Scene III. Rome. A room in Marcius' house. Enter Volumnia and Virgilia : they set them down on two low stools, and sew. Vol. I pray you, daughter, sing, or express yourself in a more comfortable sort : if my son 20 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. were my husband, I should freelier rejoice in that absence wherein he won honour than in the s embracements where he would show most love. . When yet he was but tender-bodied, and my only son ; when youth with comeliness plucked all gaze his way ; when, for a day of kings' en- treaties, a mother should not sell him an hour 10 from her beholding ; I, considering how honour would become such a person ; that it was no better than picture-like to hang by the wall, if renown made it not stir, was pleased to let him seek danger where he was like to find fame. To a 15 cruel war° I sent him ; from whence he returned, his brows bound with oak.° I tell thee, daughter, I sprang not more in joy at first hearing he was a man-child than now in first seeing he had proved himself a man. 20 Vir. But had he died in the business, madam : how then? Vol. 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 25 my love alike, and none less dear than thine and my good Marcius, I had rather had eleven die Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 21 nobly for their country than one voluptuously surfeit out of action. Enter a Gentlewoman. Gent. Madam, the Lady Valeria is come to visit you. 30 Vir. Beseech you, give me leave to retire myself. ' Vol. Indeed, you shall not. Methinks I hear hither your husband's drum ; See him pluck Aufidius down by the hair ; 35 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 4 o 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. Vir. His bloody brow ! O Jupiter, no blood ! 45 Vol. Away, you fool ! it more becomes a man Than gilt his trophy. 22 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. Tell Valeria We are fit to bid her welcome. [Exit Gent. 50 Vir. Heavens bless my lord from fell Aufldius ! Vol. He'll beat Aufldius' head below his knee, And tread upon his neck. Enter Valeria, with an Usher and Gentlewoman. Val. My ladies both, good day to you. 55 Vol. Sweet madam. Vir. I am glad to see your ladyship. Val. How do you both? you are manifest housekeepers. What are you sewing here? A fine spot, in good faith. How does your little 6o son ? Vir. I thank your ladyship ; well, good madam. Vol. He had rather see the swords and hear a drum than look upon his schoolmaster. 65 Val. O' my word, the father's son ; I'll swear, 'tis a very pretty boy. O' my troth, I looked upon him o' Wednesday half an hour together; has Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 23 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 70 and over he comes, and up again; catched it again : or whether his fall enraged him, or how it was, he did so set his teeth, and tear it ; O, I warrant, how he mammocked it ! Vol. One on's father's moods. 75 Vol. Indeed, la,° 'tis a noble child. Vir. A crack, madam. Vol. Come, lay aside your stitchery ; I must have you play the idle huswife with me this after- noon. 80 Vir. No, good madam ; I will not out of doors. Vol. Not out of doors ! Vol. She shall, she shall. Vir. Indeed, no, by your patience; I'll not over the threshold till my lord return from the 85 wars. Val. Fie, you confine yourself most un- reasonably: come, you must go visit the good lady that lies ill. Vir. I will wish her speedy strength, and visit 90 her with my prayers ; but I cannot go thither. 24 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. Vol. Why, I pray you ? Vir. 'Tis not to save labour, nor that I want love. 95 Vol. 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, iooyou shall go with us. Vir. No, good madam, pardon me; indeed, I will not forth. Vol. In truth, la, go with me, and I'll tell you excellent news of your husband. 105 Vir. O, good madam, there can be none yet. Vol. Verily, I do not jest with you; there came news from him last night. Vir. Indeed, madam ? Vol. In earnest, it's true ; I heard a senator no speak it. Thus it is : the Volsces have an army forth; against whom Cominius the general is gone, with one part of our R,oman power : your lord and Titus Lartius are set down before their city Corioli ; they nothing doubt prevailing, and 115 to make it brief wars. This is true, on mine honour ; and so, I pray, go with us. Scene 4.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 25 Vir. Give me excuse, good madam ; I will obey you in every thing hereafter. Vol. Let her alone, lady ; as she is now, she will but disease our better mirth. 120 Vol. In troth, I think she would. Fare you well, then. Come, good sweet lady. Prithee, Virgilia, turn thy solemness out o' door, and go along with us. Vir. No, at a word, madam ; indeed, I must 125 not. I wish you much mirth. Vol. Well then, farewell. [Exeunt. Scene IV. Before Corioli. Enter, with drum and colours, Marcius, Titus Lartius, Captains and Soldiers. To them a Messenger. Mar. Yonder comes news ; a wager they have met. Lart. My horse to yours, no. Mar. Tis done. 26 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. 5 Lart. Agreed. Mar. Say, has our general met the enemy ? Mess. They lie in view ; but have not spoke as yet. Lart. So, the good horse is mine. 10 Mar. I'll buy him of you. Lart. No, I'll nor sell nor give him : lend you him I will For half a hundred years. Summon the town. Mar. How far off lie these armies ? is Mess. Within this mile and half. Mar. Then shall we hear their 'larum,° and they ours. Now, Mars, I prithee, make us quick in work, That we with smoking swords may march from 20 hence, To help our fielded friends ! Come, blow thy blast. They sound a parley. Enter two Senators with others, on the walls. Tullus Aufidius, is he within your walls ? First Sen. No, nor a man that fears you less 25 than he, Scene 4.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 27 That's lesser than a little. Hark, our drums [Drums afar off. Are bringing forth our youth ! we'll break our walls, Rather than they shall pound us up° : our gates, Which yet seem shut, we have but pinn'd with 30 rushes ; They'll open of themselves. Hark you^ far off ! [Alarum far off. There is Aufidius ; list, what work he makes Amongst your cloven army. Mar. O, they are at it ! 35 hart. Their noise be our instruction. Lad- ders, ho ! Enter the army of the Volsces. Mar. They fear us not, but issue forth their city. Now put your shields before your hearts, and fight 4° 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 : 45 28 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. He that retires, I'll take him for a Volsce, And he shall feel mine edge. Alarum. The Romans are beat back to their trenches. Re-enter Marcius, cursing. Mar. All the contagion of the south light on you, so You shames of Rome ! you herd of — Boils and plagues Plaster you o'er ; that you may be abhorr'd Farther than seen, and one infect another Against the wind a mile ! You souls of geese, 55 That bear the shapes of men, how have you run From slaves that apes would beat ! Pluto and hell ! All hurt behind ; backs red, and faces pale With flight and agued° fear ! Mend, and charge 60 home, Or, by the fires of heaven, I'll leave the foe, And make my wars on you : look to't ! come on ; If you'll stand fast, we'll beat them to their wives, 65 As they us to our trenches followed. Scene 4.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 29 Another alarum. The Volsces fly, and Marcius follows them to the gates. So, now the gates are ope : now prove good seconds : 'Tis for the followers fortune widens them, Not for the fliers : mark me, and do the like. [Enters the gates. First Sol. Fool-hardiness ; not I.° 70 Sec. Sol. Nor I. [Marcius is shut in. First Sol. See, they have shut him in. All. To the pot,° I warrant him. [Alarum continues. Re-enter Titus Lartius. Lart. What is become of Marcius ? All. Slain, sir, doubtless. 75 First Sol. Following the fliers at the very heels, With them he enters ; who, upon the sudden, Clapp'd to their gates : he is himself alone, To answer all the city. Lart. O noble fellow ! 80 Who sensibly outdares his senseless sword, 30 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act 1. And, when it bows, stands up ! Thou art left, Marcius : A carbuncle entire, as big as thou art, 8s Were not so rich a jewel. Thou wast a soldier Even to Cato's wish, not fierce and terrible Only in strokes ; but, with thy grim looks and The thunder-like percussion of thy sounds, Thou madest thine enemies shake, as if the world go Were feverous and did tremble. Re-enter Marcius, bleeding, assaulted by the enemy. First Sol. Look, sir. Lart. O, 'tis Marcius ! Let's fetch him off, or make remain alike. [ They fight, and all enter the city. Scene V. Within Corioli. A street. Enter certain Romans, with spoils. First Rom. This will I carry to Rome. Sec. Rom. And I this. Third Rom. A murrain on't ! I took this for silver. [Alarum continues still afar off. Scene 5.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 31 Enter Marcius and Titus Lartius with a trumpet. Mar. See here these movers that do prize 5 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, 10 Ere yet the fight be done, pack up : down with them ! And hark, what noise the general makes ! To him ! There is the man of my soul's hate, Aufidius, 15 Piercing our Romans : then, valiant Titus, take Convenient numbers to make good the city ; Whilst I, with those that have the spirit, will haste To help Cominius. 20 Lart. Worthy sir, thou bleed'st ; Thy exercise hath been too violent For a second course of fight. Mar. Sir, praise me not ; My work hath yet not warm'd me : fare you well : 25 32 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. The blood I drop is rather physical Than dangerous to me : to Aufidius thus I will appear, and fight. Lart. Now the fair goddess, Fortune, 30 Fall deep in love with thee ; and her great charms Misguide thy opposers' swords ! Bold gentleman, Prosperity be thy page ! Mar. Thy friend no less Than those she placeth highest ! So farewell. 35 Lart. Thou worthiest Marcius ! [Exit Marcius. Go sound thy trumpet in the market-place ; Call thither all the officers o' the town, Where they shall know our mind. Away ! [Exeunt. Scene VI. Near the camp of Cominius. Enter Cominius, as it were in retire, with Soldiers. Com. Breathe you, my friends : well fought ; we are come off Like Romans, neither foolish in our stands, Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 33 Nor cowardly in retire : believe me, sirs, We shall be charged again. Whiles we have 5 struck, By interims and conveying gusts we have heard The charges of our friends. Ye Roman gods, Lead their successes as we wish our own, That both our powers, with smiling fronts en- 10 countering, May give you thankful sacrifice ! Enter a Messenger. Thy news ? Mess. The citizens of Corioli have issued, And given to Lartius and to Marcius battle : 15 I saw our party to their trenches driven, And then I came away. Com. Though thou speak'st truth, Methinks thou speak'st not well. How long is't since ? 20 Mess. Above an hour, my lord. Com. 'Tis not a mile ; briefly we heard their drums : How couldst thou in a mile confound an hour, And bring thy news so late ? 25 34 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. Mess. Spies of the Volsces Held me in chase, that I was forced to wheel Three or four miles about ; else had I, sir, Half an hour since brought my report. Enter Marcius. 30 Com. Who's yonder, That does appear as he were flay'd ? gods ! He has the stamp of Marcius ; and I have Before-time seen him thus. Mar. Come I too late ? 35 Com. The shepherd knows not thunder from a tabor More than I know the sound of Marcius' tongue From every meaner man. Mar. Come I too late ? 40 Com. Ay, if you come not in the blood of others, But mantled in your own. Mar. O, let me clip ye In arms as sound as when I woo'd ; in heart 45 As merry as when our nuptial day was done. Com. Flower of warriors, How is't with Titus Lartius ? Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 35 Mar. As with a man busied about decrees : Condemning some to death, and some to exile ; Ransoming him or pitying, threatening the 50 other ; Holding Corioli in the name of Rome, Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash, To let him slip at will. Com. Where is that slave 55 Which told me they had beat you to your trenches ! Where is he ? call him hither. Mar. Let him alone ; He did inform the truth : but for our gentlemen, 60 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. 65 Com. But how prevail'd you ? Mar. 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 ? 70 Com. Marcius, 36 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. We have at disadvantage fought, and did Retire to win our purpose. Mar. How lies their battle ? know you on 75 which side They have placed their men of trust? Com. As I guess, Marcius, Their bands i' the vaward are the Antiates, Of the best trust ; o'er them Aufidius, 80 Their very heart of hope. Mar. 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 85 Set me against Aufidius and his Antiates ; And that you not delay the present, but, Filling the air with swords advanced and darts, We prove this very hour. Com. Though I could wish 90 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. Mar. Those are they 9 5 That most are willing. If any such be here — Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 37 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 ; If any think brave death outweighs bad life, And that his country's dearer than himself ; ioo 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 105 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, Though thanks to all, must I select from all : the rest no 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 inclined. Com. March on, my fellows : 115 Make good this ostentation, and you shall Divide in all with us. [Exeunt. 38 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. 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. Lart. 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 5 For a short holding : if we lose the field, We cannot keep the town. Lieu. Fear not our care, sir. Lart. Hence, and shut your gates upon's. Our guider, come ; to the Roman camp conduct 10 us. [Exeunt. Scene 8.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 39 Scene VIII. A field of battle between the Roman and the Volscian camps. Alarum as in battle. Enter, from opposite sides, Marcius and Aufidius. Mar. I'll fight with none but thee ; for I do hate thee Worse than a promise-breaker. Auf. We hate alike : Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor 5 More than thy fame and envy.° Fix thy foot. Mar. Let the first budger die the other's slave, And the gods doom him after ! Auf. If I fly, Marcius, Holloa me like a hare. io Mar. Within these three hours, Tullus, Alone I fought in your Corioli walls, And made what work I pleased : 'tis not my blood Wherein thou seest me mask'd ; for thy revenge Wrench up° thy power to the highest. IS Auf. Wert thou the Hector 40 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny, Thou shouldst not 'scape me here. [ The y fight, and certain Volsces come in the aid of Aufidius. Martins fights till they are driven in breathless. Officious, and not valiant, you have shamed me 20 In your condemned seconds. [Exeunt. Scene IX. The Roman camp. Flourish. Alarum. A retreat is sounded. Enter, from one side, Cominius with the Romans; from the other side, Marcius, with his arm in a scarf. Com. If I should tell thee o'er this thy day's work, Thou'lt not believe thy deeds : but I'll report it, Where senators shall mingle tears with smiles ; 5 Where great patricians shall attend, and shrug, I' the end admire ; where ladies shall be frighted, And, gladly quaked, hear more ; where the dull tribunes, Scene 9] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 41 That, with the fusty plebeians, hate thine honours, IO Shall say against their hearts 'We thank the gods Our Rome hath such a soldier.' Yet earnest thou to a morsel of this feast, Having fully dined before. Enter Titus Lartius, with his power, from the pursuit. Lart. O general, 15 Here is the steed, we the caparison : Hadst thou beheld — Mar. Pray now, no more ; my mother, Who has a charter to extol her blood, When she does praise me grieves me. I have done 20 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.° Com. You shall not be 25 The grave of your deserving ; Rome must know The value of her own : 'twere a concealment Worse than a theft, no less than a traducement, To hide your doings ; and to silence that, 42 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. 30 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. 35 Mar. I have some wounds upon me, and they smart To hear themselves remember'd. Com. Should they not,° W T ell might they fester 'gainst ingratitude, 40 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 achieved and city, We render you the tenth ; to be ta'en forth, Before the common distribution, at 45 Your only choice. Mar. 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 50 That have beheld the doing. [A long flourish. They all cry 'Marcius! Marcius!' cast up their caps and lances : Cominius and Lartius stand bare. Scene 9.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 43 Mar. 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 55 Made all of false-faced soothing ! When steel grows soft as the parasite's silk, Let him 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, 60 Which without note here's many else have done, You shout me forth In acclamations hyperbolical ; As if I loved my little should be dieted In praises sauced with lies. 65 Com. 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 incensed, we'll put you, Like one that means his proper harm, in manacles, 70 Then reason safely with you. Therefore, be it known, As to us, to all the world, that Caius Marcius W T ears this war's garland : in token of the which, 44 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. 75 My noble steed, known to the camp, I give him, With all his trim belonging ; and from this time, For what he did before Corioli, call him, With all the applause and clamour of the host, Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Bear 80 The addition nobly ever ! [Flourish. Trumpets sound, and drums. All. Caius Marcius Coriolanus ! Cor. I will go wash ; And when my face is fair, you shall perceive Whether I blush, or no : howbeit, I thank you : 85 I mean to stride your steed ; and at all times To undercrest your good addition To the fairness of my power. Com. So, to our tent ; Where, ere we do repose us, we will write 90 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. Lart. I shall, my lord. 95 Cor. The gods begin to mock me. I, that now Refused most princely gifts, am bound to beg Of my lord general. Scene 10.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 45 Com. Take't; 'tis yours. What is't? Cor. I sometime lay° here in Corioli At a poor man's house ; he used me kindly : ioo 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. Com. O, well begg'd ! 105 Were he the butcher of my son, he should Be free as is the wind. Deliver him, Titus. Lart. Marcius, his name? Cor. By Jupiter, forgot : I am weary; yea, my memory is tired. no Have we no wine here ? Com. Go we to our tent : The blood upon your visage dries ; 'tis time It should be look'd to : come. [Exeunt. Scene X. The camp of the Volsces. A flourish. Cornets. Enter Tullus Aufidius, bloody, with hvo or three Soldiers. Auf. The town is ta'en ! 46 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act I. First Sol. 'Twill be deliver'd back on good condition. Auj. Condition ! S I would I were a Roman ; for I cannot, Being a Volsce, be that I am.° Condition I What good condition can a treaty find V the part that is at mercy ? Five times, Marcius, I have fought with thee ; so often hast thou beat 10 me; And wouldst do so, I think, should we encounter As often as we eat. By the elements, If e'er again I meet him beard to beard, He's mine, or I am his : mine emulation 15 Hath not that honour in't it had ; for where I thought to crush him in an equal force, True sword to sword, I'll potch at him some way, Or wrath or craft may get him.° First Sol. He's the devil. 20 Auj. 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, 25 The prayers of priests nor times of sacrifice, Scene 10.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 47 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 30 Wash my fierce hand in's heart. Go you to the city ; Learn how 'tis held, and what they are that must Be hostages for Rome. First Sol. Will not you go ? 35 Auf. I am attended at the cypress grove : I pray you — "lis south the city mills — bring me word thither How the world goes, that to the pace of it I may spur on my journey. 40 First Sol. I shall, sir. [Exeunt. ACT SECOND. — Scene I. Rome. A public place. Enter Menenius, with the two Tribunes of the people, Sicinius and Brutus. Men. The augur er tells me we shall have news to-night. Bru. Good or bad ? Men. Not according to the prayer of the 5 people, for they love not Marcius. Sic. Nature teaches beasts to know their friends. Men. Pray you, who does the wolf love ? Sic. The lamb. 10 Men. Ay, to devour him ; as the hungry plebeians would the noble Marcius. Bru. He's a lamb indeed, that baes like a bear. Men. He's a bear indeed, that lives like a lamb. 48 Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 49 You two are old men : tell me one thing that x s I shall ask you. Both. Well, sir. Men. In what enormity is Marcius poor in, that you two have not in abundance ? Bra. He's poor in no one fault, but stored with 20 all. Sic. Especially in pride. Bru. And topping all others in boasting. Men. This is strange now : do you two know how you are censured here in the city, I mean of 25 us o' the right-hand file ? do you ? Both. Why, how are we censured ? Men. Because you talk of pride now, — will you not be angry ? Both. Well, well, sir, well. 30 Men. Why, 'tis 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 35 blame Marcius for being proud ? Bru. We do it not alone, sir. Men. I know you can do very little alone ; for E 50 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. your helps are many, or else your actions would 40 grow wondrous single : your abilities are too infantlike for doing much alone. You talk of pride : O that you could turn your eyes toward the napes of your necks, and make but an interior survey of your good selves ! O that you could ! 45 Both. What then, sir? Men. Wiry, then you should discover a brace of unmeriting, proud, violent, testy magistrates, alias fools, as any in Rome. Sic. Menenius, you are known well enough too. 5° Men. I am known to be a humorous patrician, and one that loves a cup of hot wine with not a drop of allaying Tiber, in't ; said to be something imperfect in favouring the first complaint, hasty and tinder-like upon too trivial motion ; one that 55 converses more with the night than with the morning : what I think I utter, and spend my malice in my breath. Meeting two such weals- men as you are, — I cannot call you Lycurguses — if the drink you give me touch my palate 60 adversely, I make a crooked face at it. I can't say your worships have delivered the matter well, when I find the ass in compound with the major Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 51 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 65 you you have good faces. If you see this in the map of my microcosm, follows it that I am known well enough too ? what harm can you bisson con- spectuities glean out of this character, if I be known well enough too ? 7° Bru. Come, sir, come, we know you well enough. Men. You know neither me, yourselves, nor any thing. You are ambitious for poor knaves' caps and legs : you wear out a good wholesome 7s 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 be- tween party and party, if you chance to be pinched 8o with the colic, you make faces like mummers ; set up the bloody flag against all patience ; and dismiss the controversy bleeding, the more entan- gled by your hearing : all the peace you make in their cause is, calling both the parties knaves. 85 You are a pair of strange ones. 52 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Bru. Come, come, you are well understood to be a perfecter giber for the table than a necessary bencher in the Capitol. 90 Men. Our very priests must become mockers, if they shall encounter such ridiculous subjects as you are. When you speak best unto the pur- pose, it is not worth the wagging of your beards ; and your beards deserve not so honourable a 95 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 100 best of 'em were hereditary hangmen. God-den° to your worships : more of your conversation would infect my brain, being the herdsmen of the beastly plebeians : I will be bold to take my leave of you. [Brutus and Sicinius go aside. Enter Volumnia, Virgilia, a?rd Valeria. 105 How now, my as fair as noble ladies, — and the moon, were she earthly, no nobler — whither do you follow your eyes so fast? Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 53 Vol. Honourable Menenius, my boy Marcius approaches ; for the love of Juno, let's go. Men. Ha! Marcius coming home? no Vol. Ay, worthy Menenius ; and with most prosperous approbation. Men. Take my cap, Jupiter, and I thank thee: Hoo ! Marcius coming home ? Vif ' I XT , • v , ) Nay, tis true. us Vol. I^ook, here's a letter from him : the state hath another, his wife another; and, I think, there's one at home for you. Men. I will make my very house reel to-night : a letter for me? 120 Vir. Yes, certain, there's a letter for you; I saw't. Men. 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 pre- 125 scription in Galen is but empiricutic, and, to this preservative, of no better report than a horse-drench. Is he not wounded? he was wont to come home wounded. Vir. O, no, no, no. I 3° 54 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Vol. O, he is wounded ; I thank the gods for't. Men. So do I too, if it be not too much : bring a' victory in his pocket? the wounds become him 135 Vol. On's brows : Menenius, he comes the third time home with the oaken garland. Men. Has he disciplined Aufidius soundly? Vol. Titus Lartius writes, they fought to- gether, but Aufidius got off. 140 Men. And 'twas time for him too, I'll warrant 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 possessed of° this? 145 Vol. 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. 150 Vol. In troth, there's wondrous things spoke of him. Men. Wondrous ! a,y, I warrant you, and not without his true purchasing. Vir. The gods grant them true ! Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 55 Vol. True ! pow, wow.° 155 Men. True ! I'll be sworn they are true. 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 ? 160 Vol. 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. Men. One i' the neck, and two i' the thigh ; 16s there's nine that I know. Vol. He had, before this last expedition, twenty-five wounds upon him. Men. Now it's twenty-seven : every gash was an enemy's grave. [A shout and flourish.] Hark ! 170 the trumpets. Vol. These are the ushers of Marcius : before him he carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears : Death, that dark spirit, in's nervy arm doth 175 lie ; Wlrich, being advanced, declines, and then men die.° 56 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. A sennet. Trumpets sound. Enter Cominius and Titus Lartius ; between them, Coriolanus, crowned with an oaken garland; with Captains and Soldiers, and a Herald. Her. Know, Rome, that all alone Marcius did 1 80 fight Within Corioli gates : where he hath won, With a fame, a name to Cams Marcius ; these In honour follows Coriolanus. Welcome to Rome, renowned Coriolanus ! [Flourish. 185 All. Welcome to Rome, renowned Coriolanus ! Cor. No more of this, it does offend my heart ; Pray now, no more. Com. Look, sir, your mother ! Cor. O, 190 You have, I know, petition'd all the gods For my prosperity ! [Kneels. Vol, Nay, my good soldier, up ; My gentle Marcius, worthy Caius, and By deed-achieving honour newly named, — 195 What is it ? — Coriolanus must I call thee ? — But, O, thy wife ! Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 57 Cor. My gracious silence, hail ! Wouldst thou laugh'd had I come coffin'd home, Thou weep'st to see me triumph ? Ah, my dear, Such eyes the widows in Corioli wear, 200 And mothers that lack sons. Men. Now, the gods crown thee ! Cor. And live you yet? [To Valeria] O my sweet lady, pardon. Vol. I know not where to turn : O, welcome 205 home : And welcome, general : and ye're welcome all. Men. A hundred thousand welcomes. I could weep, And I could laugh ; I am light and heavy. Wei- 210 come : 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, 215 We have some old crab-trees° here at home that will not Be grafted to your relish. Yet welcome, warriors : We call a nettle but a nettle, and The faults of fools but folly. 220 58 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Com. Ever right. Cor. Menenius, ever, ever. Her. Give way there, and go on. Cor. [To Volumnia and Virgilia] Your hand, 225 and yours : Ere in your own house I do shade my head, The good patricians must be visited ; From whom I have received not only greetings, But with them change of honours. 230 Vol. I have lived 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. 235 Cor. Know, good mother, I had rather be their servant in my way Than sway° with them in theirs. Com. On, to the Capitol ! [Flourish. Cornets. Exeunt in state, as before. Brutus and Sicinius come forward. Bru. All tongues speak of him, and the bleared 240 sights Are spectacled to see him : your prattling nurse Into a rapture lets her baby cry Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 59 While she chats him : the kitchen malkin pins Her richest lockram 'bout her reechy neck, Clambering the walls to eye him : stalls, bulks, 245 windows, Are smother'd up, leads fill'd and ridges horsed With variable complexions, all agreeing In earnestness to see him : seld-shown flamens Do press among the popular throngs, and puff 250 To win a vulgar station : our veil'd dames Commit the war of white and damask in Their nicely -gawded cheeks to the wanton spoil Of Phoebus' burning kisses : such a pother, As if that whatsoever god who leads him 255 Were slily crept into his human powers, And gave him graceful posture. Sic. On the sudden, I warrant him consul. Bru. Then our office may, 260 During his power, go sleep. Sic. He cannot temperately transport his honours From where he should begin and end, but will Lose those he hath won. 265 Bru. In that there's comfort. 60 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Sic. Doubt not The commoners, for whom we stand, but they Upon their ancient malice will forget 270 With the least cause these his new honours ; which That he will give them make I as little question As he is proud to do't. Bru. I heard him swear, Were he to stand for consul, never would he 275 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. Sic. 'Tis right. 280 Bru. It was his word : O, he would miss it rather Than carry it but by the suit of the gentry to him, And the desire of the nobles. Sic. I wish no better 285 Than have him hold that purpose and to put it In execution. Bru. 'Tis most like he will. Sic. It shall be to him then, as our good wills, A sure destruction. 290 Bru. So it must fall out Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 61 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, silenced their pleaders and 2 95 Dispropertied their freedoms ; holding them, In human action and capacity, Of no more soul nor fitness for the world Than camels in the war, who have their provand Only for bearing burthens, and sore blows 300 For sinking under them. Sic. This, as you say, suggested At some time when his soaring insolence Shall touch the people — which time shall not want, 305 If he be put upon't ; and that's as easy As to set dogs on sheep — will be his fire To kindle their dry stubble ; and their blaze Shall darken him for ever. Enter a Messenger. Bru. What's the matter? 310 Mess. You are sent for to the Capitol. 'Tis thought 62 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. That Marcius shall be consul : I have seen the dumb men throng to see him and 315 The blind to hear him speak: matrons flung gloves, Ladies and maids their scarfs and handkerchers, Upon him as he pass'd : the nobles bended, As to Jove's statue, and the commons made 520 A shower and thunder with their caps and shouts : I never saw the like. Bru. Let's to the Capitol, And carry with us ears and eyes for the time, But hearts for the event. 325 Sic. Have with you.° [Exeunt. Scene II. The same. The Capitol. Enter two Officers, to lay cushions. First Off. Come, come, they are almost here. How many stand for consulships ? Sec. Off. Three, they say : but 'tis thought of every one Coriolanus will carry it. Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 63 First Off. That's a brave fellow ; but he's 5 vengeance proud, and loves not the common people. Sec. Off. Faith, there have been many great men that have flattered the people, who ne'er loved them ; and there be many that they have 10 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 ; 15 and out of his noble carelessness lets them plainly see't. First Off. 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 20 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, 25 to flatter them for their love. Sec. Off. He hath deserved worthily of his country : and his ascent is not by such easy 64 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. degrees as those who, having been supple and 30 courteous to the people, bonneted, without any further deed to have them at all into their estima- tion 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 35 confess so much, were a kind of ingrateful injury ; to report otherwise were a malice that, giving itself the lie, would pluck reproof and rebuke from every ear that heard it. First Off. No more of him ; he's a worthy 40 man : make way, they are coming. A sennet. Enter, with Lictors before them, Cominius the Consul, Menenius, Coriolanus, Senators, Sicinius and Brutus. The Sen- ators take their places ; the Tribunes take their places by themselves. Coriolanus stands. Men. Having determined 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 45 Hath thus stood for his country : therefore, please you, Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 65 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 perform' d so By Caius Marcius Coriolanus ; whom We met here, both to thank and to remember With honours like himself. First Sen. Speak, good Cominius : Leave nothing out for length, and make us think 55 Rather our state's defective for requital Than we to stretch it out.° [To the Tribunes] Masters o' the people, We do request your kindest ears, and after, Your loving motion toward the common body, 6o To yield what passes here. Sic. We are convented Upon a pleasing treaty, and have hearts Inclinable to honour and advance The theme of our assembly. 65 Bru. Which the rather We shall be bless'd to do, if he remember A kinder value of the people than He hath hereto prized them at. Men. That's off, that's off° ; 70 F 66 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. I would you rather had been silent. Please you To hear Cominius speak ? Bru. Most willingly : But yet my caution was more pertinent 75 Than the rebuke you give it. Men. He loves your people ; But tie him not to be their bedfellow. Worthy Cominius, speak. [Coriolanus offers to go away.] Nay, keep your place. 80 First Sen. Sit, Coriolanus ; never shame to hear What you have nobly done. Cor. Your honours' pardon : I had rather have my wounds to heal again, 85 Than hear say how I got them. Bru. Sir, I hope My words disbench'd you not. Cor. No, sir : yet oft, When blows have made me stay, I fled from 90 words. You sooth'd not, therefore hurt not : but your people, I love them as they weigh. Men. Pray now, sit down. Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 67 Cor. I had rather have one scratch my head 95 i' the sun When the alarum were struck than idly sit To hear my nothings monster'd. [Exit. Men. Masters of the people, Your multiplying spawn how can he natter — ioo That's thousand to one° good one— when you now see He had rather venture all his limbs for honour Than one on's ears to hear it? Proceed, Co- minius. Io5 Com. I shall lack voice : the deeds of Coriola- nus Should not be utter'd feebly. It is held That valour is the chiefest virtue and Most dignifies the haver : if it be, no The man I speak of cannot in the world Be singly counterpoised. 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, us 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 68 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Slew three opposers : Tarquin's self he met, 1 20 And struck him on his knee° : in that day's feats, When he might act the woman in the scene, He proved best man i' the field, and for his meed Was brow-bound with the oak. His pupil age Man-enter'd thus, he waxed like a sea ; 125 And, in the brunt of seventeen battles since, He lurch'd all swords of the garland. For this last, Before and in Corioli, let me say, I cannot speak him home : he stopp'd the fliers ; 130 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 135 He was a thing of blood, whose every motion Was timed with dying cries : alone he enter'd The mortal gate of the city, which he painted With shunless destiny ; aidless came off, And with a sudden re-enforcement struck 140 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 Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 69 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 45 'Twere a perpetual spoil : and till we call'd Both field and city ours, he never stood To ease his breast with panting. Men. Worthy man ! First Sen. He cannot but with measure fit the 150 honours Which we devise him. Com. Our spoils he kick'd at, And look'd upon things precious, as they were The common muck of the world : he covets less 15s Than misery itself would give ; rewards His deeds with doing them, and is content To spend the time to end it.° Men. He's right noble : Let him be call'd for. 160 First Sen. Call Coriolanus. Off. He doth appear. Re-enter Coriolanus. Men. The senate, Coriolanus, are well pleased To make thee consul. 70 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. 165 Cor. I do owe them still My life and services. Men. It then remains That you do speak to the people. Cor. I do beseech you, 170 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. 175 Sic. Sir, the people Must have their voices ; neither will they bate One jot of ceremony. Men. Put them not to't : Pray you, go fit you to the custom, and 182 Take to you, as your predecessors have, Your honour with your form. Cor. It is a part That I shall blush in acting, and might well Be taken from the people. 185 Bru. Mark you that? Cor. To brag unto them, thus I did, and thus : Show them the unaching scars which I should hide, As if I had received them for the hire Of their breath only ! Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 71 Men. Do not stand upon't. 195 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!- Igs [Flourish of cornets. Exeunt all but Sicinius and Brutus. Bru. You see how he intends to use the people. Sic. May they perceive's intent! He will require them, As if he did contemn what he requested Should be in them to give. 2 ° c Bru. Come, we'll inform them Of our proceedings here : on the market-place, I know, they do attend us. [Exeunt. Scene III. The same. The Forum. Enter seven or eight Citizens. First Cit. Once,° if he do require our voices, we ought not to deny him. 72 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Sec. Cit. We may, sir, if we will. Third Cit. We have power in ourselves to do 5 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 10 them. Ingratitude is monstrous : and for the multitude to be ingrateful, were to make a mon- ster of the multitude ; of the which we being members, should bring ourselves to be monstrous members. 15 First Cit. 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. Third Cit. We have been called so of many ; not 20 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 25 of° one direct way should be at once to all the points o' the compass. Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 73 Sec. Cit. Think you so? Which way do you judge my wit would fly? Third Cit. Nay, your wit will not so soon out as another man's will ; 'tis strongly wedged up in 30 a blockhead ; but if it were at liberty, 'twould, sure, southward. Sec. Cit: Why that way? Third Cit. To lose itself in a fog ; where being three parts melted away with rotten dews, the 35 fourth would return for conscience sake, to help to get thee a wife. Sec. Cit. You are never without your tricks : you may, you may.° Third Cit. Are you all resolved to give your 40 voices? But that's no matter, the greater part carries it. I say, if he would incline to the people, there was never a worthier man. Enter Coriolanus in a gown of humility, with Menenius. Here he comes, and in the gown of humility : mark his behaviour. We are not to stay all 45 together, but to come by him where he stands, by ones, by twos, and by threes. He's to make 74 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. his requests by particulars ; wherein every one of us has a single honour, in giving him our 50 own voices with our own tongues : therefore follow me, and I'll direct you how you shall go by him. All. Content, content. [Exeunt Citizens. Men. O sir, you are not right : have you not known 55 The worthiest men have done't ? Cor. What must I say ? — 'I pray, sir,' — Plague upon't ! I cannot bring My tongue to such a pace. 'Look, sir, my wounds ! 60 I got them in my country's service, when Some certain of your brethren roar'd, and ran From the noise of our own drums.' Men. O me, the gods ! You must not speak of that : you must desire them 65 To think upon you. Cor. Think upon me ! hang 'em ! I would they would forget me, like the virtues Which our divines lose by 'em.° Men. You'll mar all : 70 I'll leave you : pray you, speak to 'em, I pray you, In wholesome manner. [Exit. Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 75 Cor. Bid them wash their faces, And keep their teeth clean. [Re-enter two of the Citizens.] So, here comes a brace. Re-enter a third Citizen. You know the cause, sir, of my standing here. 75 Third Cit. We do, sir; tell us what hath brought you to't. Cor. Mine own desert. Sec. Cit. Your own desert ! Cor. Ay, but not mine own desire. 80 Third Cit. How ! not your own desire ! Cor. No, sir, 'twas never my desire yet to trouble the poor with begging. Third Cit. You must think, if we give you any thing, we hope to gain by you. 85 Cor. Well then, I pray, your price o' the consulship ? First Cit. The price is, to ask it kindly. Cor. Kindly! Sir, I pray, let me ha't : I have wounds to show you, which shall be yours 90 in private. Your good voice, sir; what say you? Sec. Cit. You shall ha't, worthy sir. 76 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Cor. A match, sir. There's in all two worthy 95 voices begged. I have your alms : adieu. Third Cit. But this is something odd. Sec. Cit. An 'twere to give again, — but 'tis no matter. [Exeunt the three Citizens. Re-enter two other Citizens. Cor. Pray you now, if it may stand with the ioo tune of your voices that I may be consul, I have here the customary gown. Fourth Cit. You have deserved nobly of your country, and you have not desired nobly. Cor. Your enigma ? 105 Fourth Cit. You have been a scourge to her enemies, you have been a rod to her friends ; you have not indeed loved the common people. Cor. You should account me the more virtu- ous, that I have not been common in my love. no I will, sir, flatter my sworn brother, the people, to earn a dearer estimation of them ; 'tis a con- dition they account gentle : and since the wis- dom of their choice is rather to have my hat than my heart, I will practise the insinuating us nod, and be off to them most counterfeitly ; that Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 77 is, sir, I will counterfeit the bewitchment of some popular man, and give it bountiful to the. desirers. Therefore, beseech you, I may be consul. Fifth Cit. We hope to find you our friend ; and 120 therefore give you our voices heartily. Fourth Cit. You have received many wounds for your country. Cor. I will not seal your knowledge with showing them. I will make much of your voices, 125 and so trouble you no farther. Both Cit. The gods give you joy, sir, heartily ! [Exeunt. Cor. Most sweet voices ! Better it is to die, better to starve, Than crave the hire which first we do deserve. 130 Why in this woolvish toge° should I stand here ; To beg of Hob and Dick that do appear, Their needless vouches ? Custom calls me to't : What custom wills, in all things should we do't, The dust on antique time would lie unswept, 135 And mountainous error be too highly heap'd For truth to o'er-peer. Rather than fool it so, Let the high office and the honour go 78 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. To one that would do thus. I am half through : 140 The one part suffer' d, the other will I do. Re-enter three Citizens more. Here come moe° voices. Your voices : for your voices I have fought ; Watch'd for your voices ; for your voices bear Of wounds two dozen odd ; battles thrice six 145 I have seen, and heard of ; for your voices have Done many things, some less, some more : your voices : Indeed, I would be consul. Sixth Cit. He has done nobly, and cannot go 150 without any honest man's voice. Seventh Cit. Therefore let him be consul : the gods give him joy, and make him good friend to the people ! All. Amen, amen. God save thee, noble 1 55 consul ! [Exeunt. Cor. Worthy voices ! Re-enter Menenius, with Brutus and Sicinius. Men. You have stood your limitation ; and the tribunes Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 79 Endue you with the people's voice : remains That in the official marks invested you 160 Anon do meet the senate. Cor. Is this done ? Sic. The custom of request you have dis- charged : The people do admit you, and are summon'd 165 To meet anon upon your approbation. Cor. Where ? at the senate-house ? Sic. There, Coriolanus. Cor. May I change these garments ? Sic. You may, sir. 170 Cor. That I'll straight do, and, knowing my- self again, Repair to the senate-house. Men. I'll keep you company. Will you along? I75 Bru. We stay here for the people. Sic. Fare you well. [Exeunt Coriolanus and Menenius. He has it now ; and, by his looks , methinks 'Tis warm at's heart. Bru. With a proud heart he wore 180 His humble weeds. Will you dismiss the people ? 80 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Re-enter Citizens Sic. How now, my masters ! have you chose this man? First Cit. He has our voices, sir. I 8s Bru. We pray the gods he may deserve your loves. Sec. Cit. Amen, sir : to my poor unworthy notice, He mock'd us when he begg'd our voices. 190 Third Cit. Certainly He flouted us downright. First Cit. No, 'tis his kind of speech ; he did not mock us. Sec. Cit. Not one amongst us, save yourself, 195 but says He used us scornfully : he should have show'd us His marks of merit, wounds received for's country. Sic. Why, so he did, I am sure. Citizens. No, no ; no man saw 'em. 200 Third Cit. 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 ; Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 81 Your voices therefore.' When we granted that, 205 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? 2I ° Sic. Why, either were you ignorant to see't, Or, seeing it, of such childish friendliness To yield your voices ? Bru. Could you not have told him, As you were lesson' d, when he had no power, 215 But was a petty servant to the state, He was your enemy ; ever spake against Your liberties and the charters that you bear I' the body of the weal° : and now, arriving A place of potency and sway o' the state, 220 If he should still malignantly remain Fast foe to the plebeii, your voices might Be curses to yourselves ? You should have said, That as his worthy deeds did claim no less Than what he stood for, so his gracious nature 225 Would think upon you for your voices, and Translate his malice towards you into love, Standing your friendly lord. 82 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Sic. Thus to have said, 230 As you were fore-advised, 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, 235 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. Bra. Did you perceive 240 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 245 No heart among you ? or had you tongues to cry Against the rectorship of judgment ? Sic. Have you, Ere now, denied the asker ? and now again, Of him that did not ask but mock, bestow 250 Your sued-for tongues ? Third Cit. He's not confirm'd ; we may deny him yet.° Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 83 Sec. Cit. And will deny him : I'll have five hundred voices of that sound. First Cit. I twice five hundred, and their 255 friends to piece 'em. Bru. Get you hence instantly, and tell those friends, They have chose a consul that will from them take Their liberties, make them of no more voice 260 Than dogs that are as often beat for barking, As therefore kept to do so. Sic. Let them assemble ; And, on a safer judgment, all revoke Your ignorant election : enforce his pride 265 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, 270 Which most gibingly, ungravely, he did fashion After the inveterate hate he bears you. Bru. Lay A fault on us, your tribunes ; that we labour'd, No impediment between, but that you must 275 Cast your election on him. 84 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act II. Sic. Say, you chose him More after our commandment than as guided By your own true affections ; and that your 280 minds, Pre-occupied with what you rather must do Than what you should, made you against the grain To voice him consul : lay the fault on us. Bru. Ay, spare us not. Say we read lectures 285 to you, How youngly he began to serve his country, How long continued ; and what stock he springs of, The noble house o' the Marcians, from whence 290 came That Ancus Marcius, Numa's daughter's son, Who, after great Hostilius, here was king ; Of the same house Publius and Quintus were, That our best water brought by conduits hither ; 295 And [Censorinus] nobly named so, Twice being [by the people chosen] censor, Was his great ancestor. Sic. One thus descended, That hath beside well in his person wrought 300 To be set high in place, we did commend Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 85 » 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. Bru. Say, you ne'er had done't — 305 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 310 Repent in their election. [Exeunt Citizens. Bru. Let them go on ; This mutiny were better put in hazard, Than stay, past doubt, for greater : If, as his nature is, he fall in rage 31s With their refusal, both observe and answer The vantage of his anger. Sic. To the Capitol, come : We will be there before the stream o' the people ; And this shall seem, as partly 'tis, their own, 320 Which we have goaded onward. [Exeunt. ACT THIRD. — Scene I. Rome. A street. Cornets. Enter Coriolanus, Menenius, all the Gentry, Cominius, Titus Lartius, and other Senators. Cor. Tullus Aufidius then had made new head ? Lart. He had, my lord ; and that it was which caused 5 Our swifter composition. Cor. So then the Volsces stand but as at first; Ready, when time shall prompt them, to make road 10 Upon's again. Com. They are worn, lord consul, so, That we shall hardly in our ages see Their banners wave again. 86 Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 87 Cor. Saw you Aufidius ? Lart. On safe-guard lie came to me ; and did 15 curse Against the Volsces, for they had so vilely Yielded the town : he is retired to Antium. Cor. Spoke he of me ? Lart He did, my lord. 2Q Cor. How? what? Lart. 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 25 fortunes To hopeless restitution, so he might Be call'd your vanquisher. Cor. At Antium lives he ? Lart. At Antium. 30 Cor. I wish I had cause to seek him there, To oppose his hatred fully. Welcome home. Enter Sicini us and Brutus. Behold these are the tribunes of the people, The tongues o' the common mouth : ( I do despise them; 3S 88 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. For they do prank them in authority, Against all noble sufferance. Sic. Pass no further. Cor. Ha ! what is that ? 40 Bru. It will be dangerous to go on : no further. Cor. What makes this change ? Men. The matter ? Com. Hath he not pass'd the noble and the common? 45 Bru. Cominius, no. Cor. Have I had children's voices ? First Sen. Tribunes, give way ; he shall to the market-place. Bru. The people are incensed against him. 50 Sic. Stop, Or all will fall in broil. Cor. Are these your herd ? Must these have voices, that can yield them now,° And straight disclaim their tongues ? What are 55 your offices ? You being their mouths, why rule you not their teeth? Have you not set them on ? Men. Be calm, be calm. Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 89 Cor. It is a purposed thing, and grows by plot, 60 To curb the will of the nobility : Suffer' t, and live with such as cannot rule, Nor ever will be ruled. Bru. Call't not a plot : The people cry you mock'd them ; and of late, 65 When corn was given them gratis, you repined, Scandal'd the suppliants for the people, call'd them Time-pleasers, flatterers, foes to nobleness. Cor. Why, this was known before. Bru. Not to them all. 70 Cor. Have you inform'd them sithence ? Bru. How ! I inform them ! Com. You are like to do such business. Bru. Not unlike, Each way, to better yours. 75 Cor. Why then should I be consul? By yond clouds, Let me deserve so ill as you, and make me Your fellow tribune. Sic. You show too much of that 80 For which the people stir : if you will pass To where you are bound, you must inquire your way, 90 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Which you are out of, with a gentler spirit ; 8s Or never be so noble as a consul, Nor yoke with him° for tribune. Men. Let's be calm. Com. The people are abused ; set on. This paltering 90 Becomes not Rome ; nor has Coriolanus Deserved this so dishonour'd rub,° laid falsely I' the plain way of his merit. Cor. Tell me of corn ! This was my speech, and I will speak' t again — 95 Men. Not now, not now. First Sen. Not in this heat, sir, now. Cor. Now, as I live, I will. My nobler friends, I crave their pardons : For the mutable, rank-scented many, let them 100 Regard me as I do not natter, and Therein behold themselves : I say again, In soothing them, we nourish 'gainst our senate The cockle of rebellion, insolence, sedition, Which we ourselves have plough'd for, sow'd 105 and scatter'd, By mingling them with us, the honour'd number ; Who lack not virtue, no, nor power, but that Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 91 Which they have given to beggars. Men. - Well, no more. First Sen. No more words, we beseech you. no Cor. How ! no more ! As for my country I have shed my blood. Not fearing outward force, so shall my lungs Coin words till their decay against those measles, Which we disdain should tetter us, yet sought 115 The very way to catch them. Bru. You speak o' the people, As if you were a god to punish, not A man of their infirmity. Sic. 'Twere well 120 We let the people know't. Men. W 7 hat, what? his choler? Cor. Choler ! Were I as patient as the midnight sleep, By Jove, 'twould be my mind ! 125 Sic. It is a mind That shall remain a poison where it is, Not poison any further. Cor. Shall remain? Hear you this Triton of the minnows ? mark you 130 His absolute ' shall ' ? 92 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Com. ' Twas from the canon. Cor. 'Shall'! O good, but most unwise patricians ! why, i3S You grave but reckless senators, have you thus Given Hydra here to choose an officer, That with his peremptory 'shall,' begin but The horn and noise o' the monster's, wants not spirit i 4 o To say he'll 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, 145 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 150 Most palates theirs. They choose their magis- trate ; 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, 155 It makes the consuls base ! and my soul aches Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 93 To know, when two authorities are up, Neither supreme, how soon confusion May enter ' twixt the gap of both and take The one by the other. Com. Well, on to the market-place. 160 Cor. Whoever gave that counsel, to give forth The corn o' the storehouse gratis, as ' twas used Sometime in Greece, — Men. Well, well, no more of that. Cor. Though there the people had more 165 absolute power, I say, they nourish'd disobedience, fed The ruin of the state. Bru. Why, shall the people give One that speaks thus their voice? 170 Cor. I'll give my reasons, More worthier than their voices. They know the corn Was not our recompense, resting well assured They ne'er did service for't : being press'd to the 175 war, Even when the navel of the state was touch'd, They would not thread the gates. This kind of service 94 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. 1 80 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 native 185 Of our so frank donation. Well, what then ? How shall this bosom multiplied 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 190 They gave us our demands.' Thus we debase The nature of our seats, and make the rabble Call our cares fears ; which will in time Break ope the locks o' the senate, and bring in The crows to peck the eagles. 195 Men. Come, enough. Bru. Enough, with over measure. Cor. No, take more : What may be sworn by, both divine and human, Seal what I end withal ! This double worship, 200 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 Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 95 Of general ignorance, — it must omit Real necessities, and give way the while 205 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 ; 210 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 215 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 220 Of that integrity which should become' t ; Not having the power to do the good it would, For the ill which doth control' t. Bru. Has said enough. Sic. Has spoken like a traitor, and shall 225 answer As traitors do. 96 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Cor. Thou wretch, despite o'erwhelm thee ! What should the people do with these bald° 230 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, 235 Then were they chosen : in a better hour, Let what is meet be said it must be meet, And throw their power i' the dust. Bru. Manifest treason ! Sic. This a consul ? no. 240 Bru. The sediles, ho ! Enter an ^Edile. Let him be apprehended. Sic. Go, call the people : [Exit Mdi\e\ in whose name myself Attach thee as a traitorous innovator, 245 A foe to the public weal : obey, I charge thee, And follow to thine answer. Cor. Hence, old goat ! Senators, &c. We'll surety him. Com. Aged sir, hands off. Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 97 Cor. Hence, rotten thing ! or I shall shake thy 250 bones Out of thy garments. Sic. Help, ye citizens ! Enter a rabble of Citizens, with the ^Ediles. Men. On both sides more respect. Sic. Here's he that would take from you all 25s your power. Bru. Seize him, sediles ! Citizens. Down with him ! down with him ! Senators, &c. Weapons, weapons, weapons ! [They all bustle about Coriolanus, crying, 1 Tribunes ! ' ' Patricians ! ' ' Citizens ! ' ' What, 260 ho!' ' Sicinius ! ' ' Brutus ! ' ' Coriolanus ! ' ' Citizens ! ' ' Peace, peace, peace ! ' ' Stay ! hold ! peace ! ' Men. What is about to be? I am out of breath. 265 Confusion's near. I cannot speak. You, trib- unes To the people ! Coriolanus, patience ! Speak, good Sicinius. Sic Hear me, people ; peace ! 270 H 98 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Citizens. Let's hear our tribune : peace ! — Speak, speak, speak. Sic. You are at point to lose your liberties : Marcius would have all from you ; Marcius, 275 Whom late you have named for consul. Men. Fie, fie, fie ! This is the way to kindle, not to quench. First Sen. To unbuild the city, and to lay all flat. 280 Sic. What is the city but the people ? Citizens. True, The people are the city. Bru. By the consent of all, we were establish' d The people's magistrates. 285 Citizens. You so remain. Men. And so are like to do. Com. That is the way to lay the city flat, To bring the roof to the foundation, And bury all which yet distinctly ranges, 290 In heaps and piles of ruin. Sic. This deserves death. Bru. 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 Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 99 We were elected theirs, Marcius is worthy 295 Of present death. Sic. Therefore lay hold of him ; Bear him to the rock Tarpeian, and from thence Into destruction cast him. Bru. iEdiles, seize him ! 300 Citizens. Yield, Marcius, yield ! Men. Hear me one word ; Beseech you, tribunes, hear me but a word. Mdiles. Peace, peace ! Men. [To Brutus] Be that you seem, truly 305 your country's friend, And temperately proceed to what you would Thus violently redress. Bru. Sir, those cold ways, That seem like prudent helps, are very poisonous 310 Where the disease is violent. Lay hands upon him, And bear him to the rock. Cor. No, I'll die here. [Drawing his sword. There's some among you have beheld me fighting : 315 Come, try upon yourselves what you have seen me. Men. Down with that sword ! Tribunes, withdraw awhile. 100 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Bru. Lay hands upon him. 320 Men. Help Marcius, help, You that be noble ; help him, young and old ! Citizens. Down with him, down with him ! [In this mutiny, the Tribunes, the Mdiiles, and the People, are beat in. Men. Go, get you to your house ; be gone, away ! 325 All will be naught else. Sec. Sen. Get you gone. Com. Stand fast ; We have as many friends as enemies Men. Shall it be put to that ? 330 First Sen. The gods forbid ! I prithee, noble friend, home to thy house ; Leave us to cure this cause. Men. For 'tis a sore upon us You cannot tent° yourself : be gone, beseech you. 335 Com. Come, sir, along with us. Cor. I would they were barbarians — as they are, Though in Rome litter' d — not Romans — as they are not, 340 Though calved i' the porch o' the Capitol, — Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 101 Men. Be gone : Put not your worthy rage into your tongue : One time will owe another. Cor. On fair ground I could beat forty of them. 34s Men. I could myself Take up a brace o' the best of them ; yea, the two tribunes. Com. But now 'tis odds beyond arithmetic ; And manhood is call'd foolery, when it stands 350 Against a falling fabric. Will you hence Before the tag° return ? whose rage doth rend Like interrupted waters, and o'erbear What they are used to bear. Men. Pray you, be gone : 355 I'll try whether my old wit be in request With those that have but little : this must be patch'd With cloth of any colour. Com. Nay, come away. 360 [Exeunt Coriolanus, Cominius, and others. First Patrician. This man has marr'd his fortune. Men. His nature is too noble for the world : 102 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. He would not flatter Neptune for his trident, 365 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 He heard the name of death. [A noise within. 37° Here's goodly work ! Sec. Pat. I would they were a-bed ! Men. I would they were in Tiber ! What, the vengeance, Could he not speak 'em fair ? Re-enter Brutus and Sicinius, with the rabble. 3 7 5 Sic. Where is this viper, That would depopulate the city, and Be every man himself? Men. You worthy tribunes — Sic. He shall be thrown down the Tarpeian 380 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. 385 First Cit. He shall well know Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 103 The noble tribunes are the people's mouths, And we their hands. Citizens. He shall, sure on't. Men. Sir, sir, — Sic. Peace ! 390 Men. Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt With modest warrant. Sic. Sir, how comes' t that you Have holp to make this rescue ? 395 Men. Hear me speak : As I do know the consul's worthiness, So can I name his faults, — Sic. Consul ! what consul ? Men. The consul Coriolanus. 4°° Bru. He consul ! Citizens. No, no, no, no, no. Men. If, by the tribunes' leave, and yours, good people, I may be heard, I would crave a word or two ; 405 The which shall turn you to no further harm Than so much loss of time. Sic. Speak briefly then ; For we are peremptory to dispatch 104 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. 410 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. Men. Now the good gods forbid 41s 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 ! Sic. He's a disease that must be cut away. 420 Men. 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 4 2 5 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. 430 Sic. This is clean kam.° Bru. Merely awry : when he did love his country, It honour'd him. Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 105 Men. The service of the foot Being once gangrened, is not then respected 435 For what before it was. Bru. We'll hear no more. Pursue him to his house, and pluck him thence ; Lest his infection, being of catching nature, Spread further. 440 Men. 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 ; 445 Lest parties, as he is beloved, break out, And sack great Rome with Romans. Bru. If it were so — Sic. What do ye talk? Have we not had a taste of his obedience ? 450 Our aediles smote? ourselves resisted? Come. Men. Consider this : he has been bred i' the wars Since he could draw a sword, and is ill school'd In bolted language ; meal and bran together 455 He throws without distinction. Give me leave, I'll go to him, and undertake to bring him 106 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Where he shall answer, by a lawful form, In peace, to his utmost peril. 460 First Sen. Noble tribunes, It is the humane way : the other course Will prove too bloody ; and the end of it Unknown to the beginning. Sic. Noble Menenius, 465 Be you then as the people's officer. Masters, lay down your weapons. Bru. Go not home. Sic. Meet on the market-place. We'll attend you there : 470 Where, if you bring not Marcius, we'll proceed In our first way. Men. I'll bring him to you. [ To the Senators] Let me desire your company : he must come, 475 Or what is worst will follow. First Sen. Pray you, let's to him. [Exeunt. Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 107 Scene II. A room in Coriolanus's house. Enter Coriolanus with Patricians. Cor. 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 5 Below the beam of sight ; yet will I still Be thus to them. A Patrician. You do the nobler. Cor. I muse my mother Does not approve me further, who was wont 10 To call them woollen vassals, things created To buy and sell with groats, to show bare heads In congregations, to yawn, be still and wonder, When one but of my ordinance stood up To speak of peace or war. It . Enter Vclumnia. I talk of you : Why did you wish me milder ? would you have me 108 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. False to my nature ? Rather say, I play The man I am. 20 Vol. 0, sir, sir, sir, I would have had you put your power well on, Before you had worn it out. Cor. Let go.° Vol. You might have been enough the man 25 you are, With striving less to be so : lesser had been The thwartings of your dispositions, if You had not show'd them how ye were disposed, Ere they lack'd power to cross you. 30 Cor. Let them hang. Vol. Aye, and burn too.° Enter Menenius with the Senators. Men. Come, come, you have been too rough, something too rough ; You must return and mend it. ss First Sen. There's no remedy ; Unless, by not so doing, our good city Cleave in the midst, and perish. Vol. Pray, be counsell'd : I have a heart as little apt as yours, Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 109 But yet a brain that leads my use of anger 40 To better vantage. Men. Well said, noble woman ! Before he should thus stoop to the herd, but that The violent fit o' the time craves it as physic For the whole state, I would put mine armour on, 45 Which I can scarcely bear. Cor. What must I do ? Men. Return to the tribunes. Cor. W^ell, what then? what then? Men. Repent what you have spoke. 50 Cor. For them ! I cannot do it to the gods ; Must I then do't to them? Vol. You are too absolute ; Though therein you can never be too noble, But when extremities speak. I have heard you 55 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, 60 That they combine not there. Cor. Tush, tush ! Men. A good demand. 110 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Vol. If it be honour in your wars to seem 65 The same you are not, which, for your best ends, You adopt your policy, how is it less or worse, That it shall hold companionship in peace With honour, as in war, since that to both It stands in like request ? 70 Cor. Why force you this ? Vol. 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, 75 But with such words that are but roted° in Your tongue, though they may be but 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, 80 Which else would put you to your fortune and The hazard of much blood. I would dissemble with my nature, where My fortunes and my friends at stake required, I should do so in honour. I am in this, 85 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, Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 111 For the inheritance of their loves and safeguard Of what that want might ruin. Men. Noble lady ! 90 Come, go with us ; speak fair : you may salve so, Not what is dangerous present, but the loss Of what is past. Vol. I prithee now, my son, Go to them, with this bonnet in thy hand ; 95 And thus far° having stretch' d it — here be with them — Thy knee bussing the stones — for in such business Action is eloquent, and the eyes of the ignorant 100 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 : or say to them, Thou art their soldier, and being bred in broils 105 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. no Men. This but done, 112 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Even as she speaks, why, their hearts were yours ; For they have pardons, being ask'd, as free As words to little purpose. 115 Vol. Prithee now, Go, and be ruled : although I know thou hadst rather Follow thine enemy in a fiery gulf Than flatter him in a bower. Enter Cominius. 120 Here is Cominius. Com. I have been i' the market-place ; and, sir, 'tis fit You make strong party, or defend yourself By calmness or by absence : all's in anger. 125 Men. Only fair speech. Com. I think 'twill serve, if he Can thereto frame his spirit. Vol. He must, and will. Prithee now, say you will, and go about it. 130 Cor. Must I go show them my unbarb'd sconce ? must I, With my base tongue, give to my noble heart A lie, that it must bear? Well, I will do't : Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 113 Yet, were there but this single plot to lose, This mould of Marcius, they to dust should grind 13s 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. 140 Com. Come, come, we'll prompt you. Vol. 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 145 Thou hast not done before. Cor. Well, I must do't : 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 150 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 155 Make motion through my lips, and my arm'd knees 1 114 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Who bow'd but in my stirrup, bend like his That hath received an alms ! I will not do't ; 1 60 Lest I surcease to honour mine own truth, And by my body's action teach my mind A most inherent baseness. Vol. At thy choice then : To beg of thee, it is my more dishonour 165 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 a heart as thou. Do as thou list. Thy valiantness was mine, thou suck'dst it from 170 me, But owe thy pride thyself. Cor. Pray, be content : Mother, I am going to the market-place ; Chide me no more. I'll mountebank their loves, 175 Cog° their hearts from them, and come home beloved Of all the trades in Rome. Look, I am going : Commend me to my wife. I'll return consul ; Or never trust to what my tongue can do 180 1' the way of flattery further. Vol. Do your will. [Exit. Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 115 Com. Away ! the tribunes do attend you : arm yourself To answer mildly ; for they are prepared With accusations, as I hear, more strong 185 Than are upon you yet. Cor. The word is ' mildly.' Pray you, let us go: Let them accuse me by invention, I Will answer in mine honour. I 9° Men. Ay, but mildly. Cor. Well, mildly be it then. Mildly ! [Exeunt. Scene III. The same. The Forum. Enter Sicinius and Brutus. Bru. In this point charge him home, that he affects Tyrannical power : if he evades us there, Enforce him with his envy° to the people ; And that the spoil got on the Antiates Was ne'er distributed. 116 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Enter an tEdile. What, will he come ? Md. He's coming. Bru. How accompanied? 10 Md. With old Menenius and those senators That always favour' d him. Sic. Have you a catalogue Of all the voices that we have procured, Set down by the poll ? 15 Md. I have ; 'tis ready. Sic. Have you collected them by tribes ? Md. I have. Sic. Assemble presently the people hither : And when they hear me say ' It shall be so 20 1' the right and strength o' the commons,' be it either For death, for fine, or banishment, then let them, If I say fine, cry ' Fine,' if death, cry ' Death,' Insisting on the old prerogative 25 And power i' the truth o' the cause. Md. I shall inform them. Bru. And when such time they have begun to cry, Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 117 Let them not cease, but with a din confused Enforce the present execution 30 Of what we chance to sentence. JEd. Very well, Sic. Make them be strong, and ready for this hint, When we shall hap to give't them. 35 Bru. Go about it. [Exit /Edile. Put him to choler straight : he hath been used Ever to conquer and to have his worth Of contradiction : being once chafed, he cannot Be rein'd again to temperance ; then he speaks 4° What's in his heart ; and that is there which looks With us to break his neck.° Sic. Well, here he comes. Enter Coriolanus, Menenius, and Cominius, with Senators and Patricians. Men. Calmly, I do beseech you. Cor. Ay, as an ostler, that for the poorest 45 piece Will bear the knave by the volume. The honour'd gods Keep Rome in safety, and the chairs of justice 118 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. 50 Supplied with worthy men ! plant love among's ! Throng our large temples with the shows of peace, And not our streets with war ! First Sen. Amen, amen. 55 Men. A noble wish. Re-enter ^Edile, with Citizens. Sic. Draw near, ye people. M&. List to your tribunes ; audience : peace, I say ! Cor. First, hear me speak. Co Both Tri. Well, say. Peace, ho ! Cor. Shall I be charged no further than this present ? Must all determine here ? Sic. I do demand, 65 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 proved upon you. Cor. I am content. 70 Men. Lo, citizens, he says he is content : The warlike service he has done, consider ; think Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 119 Upon the wounds his body bears, which show Like graves i' the holy churchyard. Cor. Scratches with briers, Scars to move laughter only. 75 Men. Consider further, That when he speaks not like a citizen, You find him like a soldier : do not take His rougher accents for malicious sounds, But, as I say, such as become a soldier 8o Rather than envy you.° Com. Well, well, no more. Cor. What is the matter That being pass'd for consul with full voice, I am so dishonour' d that the very hour 8s You take it off again ? Sic. Answer to us. Cor. Say, then : 'tis true, I ought so. Sic. We charge you, that you have contrived to take 9 o From Rome all season'd office, and to wind Yourself into a power tyrannical ; For which you are a traitor to the people. Cor. How ! traitor ! Men. Nay, temperately ; your promise. 95 120 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act III. Cor. The fires i' the lowest hell fold-in the people ! Call me their traitor ! Thou injurious tribune ! Within thine eyes sat° twenty thousand deaths, iooln 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. Sic. Mark you this, people ? 105 Citizens. To the rock, to the rock with him ! Sic. Peace ! We need not put new matter to his charge : What you have seen him do and heard him speak, no Beating your officers, cursing yourselves, Opposing laws with strokes, and here defying Those whose great power must try him ; even this, So criminal and in such capital kind, ns Deserves the extremest death. Bru. But since he hath Served well for Rome — Cor. What do you prate of service ? Bru. I talk of that, that know it. Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 121 Cor. You? 1 20 Men. Is this the promise that you made your mother ? Com,. Know, I pray you, — Cor. I'll know no further : Let them pronounce the steep Tarpeian death, 125 Vagabond exile, flaying, pent to linger But with a grain a day, I would not buy Their mercy at the price of one fair word, Nor check my courage for what they can give, To hav't with saying ' Good morrow.' 130 Sic. 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 135 Of dread justice, but on the ministers That do distribute it ; in the name o ' the people, And in the power of us the tribunes, we, Even from this instant, banish him our city, In peril of precipitation 140 From off the Tarpeian, never more To enter our Rome gates : i' the people's name, I say it shall be so. 122 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act HI. Citizens. It shall be so, it shall be so ; let him 14s away : He's banish'd, and it shall be so. Com. Hear me, my masters, and my common friends, — Sic. He's sentenced ; no more hearing. 150 Com. Let me speak : I have been consul, and can show for Rome 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, 155 My dear wife's estimate : then if I would Speak that — Sic. We know your drift : — speak what ? Bru. There's no more to be said, but he is banish'd, 160 As enemy to the people and his country : It shall be so. Citizens. It shall be so, it shall be so. Cor. You common cry° of curs ! whose breath I hate . 165 As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize As the dead carcasses of unburied men That do corrupt my air, I banish you ; And here remain with your uncertainty ! Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 123 Let every feeble rumour shake your hearts ! Your enemies, with nodding of their plumes, 17° 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, Still your own foes, deliver you as most 175 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, Sen- ators and Patricians. Ma 1 . The people's enemy is gone, is gone ! 180 Citizens. Our enemy is banish'd ! he is gone ! Hoo ! hoo° ! [They all shout, and throw up their caps. Sic. Go, see him out at gates, and follow him, As he hath follow'd you, with all despite ; Give him deserved vexation. Let a guard 185 Attend us through the city. Citizens. Come, come, let's see him out at gates ; come, The gods preserve our noble tribunes ! Come. [Exeunt. ACT FOURTH. — Scene I. Rome. Before a gate of the city. Enter Coriolanus, Volumnia, Virgilia, Me- nenius, Cominius, with the young Nobility of Rome. Cor. Come, leave your tears ; a brief farewell : the beast With many heads butts me away. Nay, mother, Where is your ancient courage ? you were used 5 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, to craves A noble cunning : you were used to load me With precepts that would make invincible The heart that conn'd them. Vir. O heavens ! O heavens ! 124 Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 125 Cor. Nay, I prithee, woman, — 15 Vol. Now the red pestilence strike all trades in Rome, And occupations perish ! Cor. What, what, what ! I shall be loved when I am lack'd. Nay, mother, 20 Resume that spirit, when you were wont to say, If you had been the wife of Hercules, Six of his labours you'ld have done, and saved Your husband so much sweat. Cominius, Droop not ; adieu. Farewell, my wife, my 25 mother, I'll 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, 3° I have seen thee stern, and thou hast oft beheld Heart-hardening spectacles ; tell these sad women, 'Tis fond to wail inevitable strokes, As 'tis to laugh at 'em. My mother, you wot° well 35 My hazards still have been your solace : and Believe't not lightly — though I go alone, Like to a lonely dragon, that his fen° 126 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Makes fear'd and talk'd of more than seen — your 40 son Will or exceed the common, or be caught With cautelous baits and practice. Vol. My first son, Whither wilt thou go ? Take good Cominius 45 With thee awhile : determine on some course, More than a wild exposture to each chance That starts i' the way before thee. Cor. O the gods° ! Com. I'll follow thee a month, devise with thee so Where thou shalt rest, that thou mayst hear of us And we of thee : so, if the time thrust forth 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 55 F the absence of the needer. Cor. 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 unbruised : bring me but out at gate. 63 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. Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 127 While I remain above the ground, you shall Hear from me still, and never of me aught But what is like me formerly. 65 Men. 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'ld with thee every foot. 70 Cor. Give me thy hand : Come. [Exeunt. Scene II. The same. A street near the gate. Enter the two Tribunes, Sicinius and Brutus, with the ^Edile. Sic. Bid them all home ; he's gone, and we'll no further. The nobility are vex'd, whom we see have sided In his behalf. Bru. Now we have shown our power, 5 Let us seem humbler after it is done Than when it was a-doing. 128 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Sic. Bid them home : Say their great enemy is gone, and they io Stand in their ancient strength. Bru. Dismiss them home. [Exit Mdile. Here comes his mother. Enter Volumnia, Virgilia, and Menenius. Sic. Let's not meet her. Bru. Why? is Sic. They say she's mad. Bru. They have ta'en note of us : keep on your way. Vol. O, ye're well met : the hoarded plague o' the gods° 20 Requite your love ! Men. Peace, peace ; be not so loud. Vol. If that I could for weeping, you should hear, — Nay, and you shall hear some. [To Brutus] Will 2 S you be gone ? Vir. [ To Sicinius] You shall stay too : I would I had the power To say so to my husband. Sic. Are you mankind ? Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 129 Vol. Ay, fool ; is that a shame ? Note but 30 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 ? Sic. O blessed heavens ! 35 Vol. 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 40 Were in Arabia, and thy tribe before him, His good sword in his hand. Sic. What then? Vir. What then He'ld make an end of thy posterity. 45 Men. Come, come, peace. Sic. I would he had continued to his country As he began, and not unknit himself The noble knot he made. Bru. I would he had. 50 Vol. 'I would he had!' 'Twas you incensed the rabble ; Cats, that can judge as fitly of his worth 130 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. As I can of those mysteries which heaven 55 Will not have earth to know. Bru. Pray, let us go. Vol. Now, pray, sir, get you gone : You have done a brave deed. Ere you go, hear this : 60 As far as doth the Capitol exceed The meanest house in Rome, so far my son — This lady's husband here, this, do you see ? — Whom you have banish'd, does exceed you all. Bru. Well, well, we'll leave you. 65 Sic. Why stay we to be baited With one that wants her wits ? Vol. 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 70 But once a-day, it would unclog my heart Of what lies heavy to't. Men. You have told them home And, by my troth, you have cause. You'll sup with me ? 75 Vol. Anger's my meat ; I sup upon myself, And so shall starve with feeding. Come, let's go : Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 131 Leave this faint puling, and lament as I do, In anger, Juno-like. Come, come, come. [Exeunt Vol. and Vir. Men. Fie, fie, fie ! [Exit. Scene III. A highway between Rome and Antium. Enter a Roman and a Volsce, meeting. Rom. I know you well, sir, and you know me : your name, I think, is Adrian. Vols. It is so, sir ; truly, I have forgot you. Rom. I am a Roman ; and my services are, as you are, against 'em° : know you me yet ? s Vols. Nicanor? no. Rom. The same, sir. Vols. 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 10 note from the Volscian state, to find you out there : you have well saved me a day's journey. Rom. There hath been in Rome strange in- surrections ; the people against the senators, patricians and nobles. 15 132 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Vols. Hath been! is it ended then? Our state thinks not so : they are in a most warlike preparation, and hope to come upon them in the heat of their division. 20 Rom. 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 25 their tribunes for ever. This lies glowing, I can tell you, and is almost mature for the violent breaking out. Vols. Coriolanus banished ! Rom. Banished, sir. 30 Vols. You will be welcome with this intelli- gence, Nicanor. Rom. The day serves well for them now. Your noble Tullus Aufidius will appear well in these wars, his great opposer, Coriolanus, being 35 now in no request of his country. Vols. He cannot choose. I am most for- tunate, thus accidentally to encounter you : you have ended my business, and I will merrily accompany you home. Scene 4.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 133 Rom. I shall, between this and supper, tell 40 you most strange things from Rome ; all tend- ing to the good of their adversaries. Have you an army ready, say you ? Vols. A most royal one ; the centurions and their charges, distinctly billeted, already in the 45 entertainment, and to be on foot at an hour's warning. Rom. 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 50 most glad of your company. Vols. You take my part from me, sir ; I have the most cause to be glad of yours. Rom. Well, let us go together. [Exeunt. Scene IV. Antium. Before Aufidius's house. Enter Coriolanus in mean apparel, disguised and muffled. Cor. A goodly city is this Antium. City, 'Tis I that made thy widows : many an heir 134 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Of these fair edifices 'fore my wars Have I heard groan and drop : then know me 5 not ; Lest thy wives with spits, and boys with stones, In puny battle slay me. Enter a Citizen. Save you, sir. Cit. And you. 10 Cor. Direct me, if it be your will, Where great Aufidius lies : is he in Antium ? Cit. He is, and feasts the nobles of the state At his house this night. Cor. Which is his house, beseech you ? 15 Cit. This, here, before you. Cor. Thank you, sir : farewell. [Exit Citizen. O world, thy slippery turns ! Friends now fast sworn, Whose double bosoms seem to wear one heart, 20 Whose hours, whose bed, whose meal and exercise Are still together, who twin, as 'twere, in love Unseparable, shall within this hour, On a dissension of a doit,° break out Scene 5.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 135 To bitterest enmity : so, fellest foes, Whose passions and whose plots have broke their 25 sleep To take the one the other, by some chance, Some trick not worth an egg, shall grow dear friends And inter join their issues. So with me : 30 My birth-place hate I, and my love's upon This enemy town. I'll enter : if he slay me, He does fair justice ; if he give me way,° I'll do his country service. [Exit. Scene V. The same. A hall in Aufidius's house. Music within. Enter a Servingman. First Serv. Wine, wine, wine ! — What service is here ! I think our fellows are asleep. [Exit. Enter another Servingman. Sec. Serv. Where's Cotus°? my master calls for him. Cotus ! [Exit. 136 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Enter Coriolanus. s Cor. A goodly house : the feast smells well ; but I Appear not like a guest. Re-enter the first Servingman. First Serv. What would you have, friend? whence are you ? Here's no place for you : pray, 10 go to the door. [Exit. Cor. I have deserved no better entertainment, In being Coriolanus. Re-enter second Servingman. Sec. Serv. Whence are you, sir? Has the porter his eyes in his head, that he gives en- 15 trance to such companions ? Pray, get you out. Cor. Away ! Sec. Serv. 'Away !' get you away. Cor. Now thou'rt troublesome. 20 Sec. Serv. Are you so brave? I'll have you talked with anon. Scene 5.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 137 Enter a third Servingman. The first meets him. Third Sen. What fellow's this ? First Serv. A strange one as ever I looked on : I cannot get him out o' the house : prithee, call my master to him. [Retires. 25 Third Serv. What have you to do here, fellow ? Pray you, avoid the house. Cor. Let me but stand ; I will not hurt your hearth. Third Serv. What are you ? 30 Cor. A gentleman. Third Serv. A marvellous poor one. Cor. True, so I am. Third Serv. Pray you, poor gentleman, take up some other station ; here's no place for you ; 35 pray you, avoid : come. Cor. Follow your function, go, and batten on cold bits. [Pushes him aicay from him. Third Serv. What, you will not ? Prithee, tell my master what a strange guest he has here. 40 Sec. Serv. And I shall. [Exit. Third Serv. Where dwell'st thou ? Cor. Under the canopy. Third Serv. Under the canopy ! 138 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. 45 Cor. Ay. Third Serv. Where's that ? Cor. F the city of kites and crows. Third Serv. F the city of kites and crows ! What an ass it is ! Then thou dwell'st with daws° 50 too ? Cor. No, I serve not thy master. Third Serv. How, sir ! do you meddle with my master ? Cor. Thou pratest, and pratest; serve with 55 thy trencher, hence ! [Beats him away. Exit third Servingman. Enter Aufidius with the second Servingman. Auf. Where is this fellow? Sec. Serv. Here, sir : Fid have beaten him like a dog, but for disturbing the lords within. [Retires. Auf. Whence comest thou? what wouldst 60 thou ? thy name ? Why speak'st not ? speak, man : what's thy name? Cor. [Unmuffling] If, Tullus, Not yet thou knowest me, and, seeing me, dost not Scene 5.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 139 Think me for the man I am, necessity 6s Commands me name myself. Auf. What is thy name ? Cor. A name unmusical to the Volscians' ears, And harsh in sound to thine. Auf. Say, what's thy name? 70 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 ? Cor. Prepare thy brow to frown : — know'st thou me yet? 75 Auf. I know thee not : — thy name ? Cor. My name is Gaius Marcius, who hath done To thee particularly, and to all the Volsces, Great hurt and mischief ; thereto witness may 80 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 85 Which thou shouldst bear me : only that name remains : The cruelty and envy of the people, 140 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Permitted by our dastard nobles, who 93 Have all forsook me, hath devour'd the rest ; And suffer'd me by the voice of slaves to be Hoop'd out of Rome. Now, this extremity Hath brought me to thy hearth : not out of hope — 95 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 ioo A heart of wreak in thee, thou wilt revenge Thine own particular wrongs, and stop those maims Of shame seen through thy country, speed thee straight, 105 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 no Thou darest not this, and that to prove more fortunes Thou'rt tired, then, in a word, I also am Scene 5.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 141 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, us 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. Auf. O Marcius, Marcius ! 120 Each word thou hast spoke hath weeded from my heart A root of ancient envy.° If Jupiter Should from yond cloud speak divine things, And say "Tis true,' I'ld not believe them more 125 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 130 As hotly and as nobly with thy love As ever in ambitious strength I did Contend against thy valour. Know thou first, I loved the maid I married ; never man Sigh'd truer breath ; but that I see thee here, 135 Thou noble thing ! more dances my rapt heart 142 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Than when I first my wedded mistress saw Bestride my threshold. Why, thou Mars ! I tell thee, 140 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 ; 145 We have been down together in my sleep, Unbuckling helms, fisting each other's throat ; And waked half dead with nothing. Worthy Marcius, Had we no quarrel else to Rome but that 150 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'er-beat. O, come, go in, And take our friendly senators by the hands, 15s Who now are here, taking their leaves of me, Who am prepared against your territories, Though not for Rome itself. Cor. You bless me, gods ! Auf. Therefore, most absolute sir, if thou 160 wilt have Scene 5.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 143 The leading of thine own revenges, take The one half of my commission, and set down — As best thou art experienced, since thou know'st Thy country's strength and weakness — thine own ways; 165 Whether to knock against the gates of Rome, Or rudely visit them in parts remote, To fright them, ere destroy. But come in : Let me commend thee first to those that shall Say yea to thy desires. A thousand welcomes ! 17° And more a friend than e'er an enemy ; Yet, Marcius, that was much. Your hand : most welcome ! [Exeunt Coriolanus and Aufidius. The two Ser- vingmen come forward. First Serv. Here's a strange alteration ! Sec. Serv. By my hand, I had thought to have 17s strucken him with a cudgel ; and yet my mind gave me° his clothes made a false report of him. First Serv. What an arm he has ! he turned me about with his finger and his thumb, as one 180 would set up a top. Sec. Serv. Nay, I knew by his face that there 144 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. was something in him : he had, sir, a kind of face, me thought, — I cannot tell how to term it. 185 First Serv. He had so; looking as it were — Would I were hanged, but I thought there was more in him than I could think. Sec. Serv. So did I, I'll be sworn : he is simply the rarest man i' the world. 190 First Serv. I think he is : but a greater soldier than he, you wot one.° Sec. Serv. Who ? my master ? First Serv. Nay, it's no matter for that. Sec. Serv. Worth six on him. 195 First Serv. Nay, not so neither : but I take him to be the greater soldier. Sec. Serv. Faith, look you, one cannot tell how to say that : for the defence of a town, our general is excellent. 200 First Serv. Ay, and for an assault too. Re-enter third Servingman. Third Serv. O slaves, I can tell you news ; news, you rascals ! First and Sec. Serv. What, what, what ? let's partake. Scene 5.] THE TRAGEDY OF COHIOLANUS 145 Third Serv. I would not be a Roman, of all 205 nations ; I had as lieve be a condemned man. First and Sec. Serv. Wherefore ? wherefore ? Third Serv. Why, here's he that was wont to thwack our general, Caius Marcius. First Serv. Why do you say, thwack our 2 io general ? Third Serv. I do not say, thwack our general ; but he was always good enough for him . Sec. Serv. Come, we are fellows and friends he was ever too hard for him ; I have heard him 215 say so himself. First Serv. He was too hard for him directly to say the troth on't : before Corioli he scotched him and notched him like a carbonado. Sec. Serv. An he had been cann bally given, 220 he might have broiled and eaten him too. First Serv. But, more of thy news ? Third Serv. Why, he is so made on here within as if he were son and heir to Mars ; set at upper endo' the table ; no question asked him by any 22 - of the senators, but they stand bald before him. Our general himself makes a mistress of him ; sanc- tifies himself with's hand, and turns up the white L 146 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. o' the eye° to his discourse. But the bottom of 230 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 entreaty and grant of the whole table. He'll go, he says, and sowl° the porter of Rome gates by the ears : he will mow all down 235 before him, and leave his passage poll'd. Sec. Serv. And he's as like to do't as any man I can imagine. Third Serv. Do't ! he will do't ; for, look you, sir, he has as many friends as enemies ; which 240 friends, sir, as it were, durst not, look you, sir, show themselves, as we term it, his friends whilst he's in directitude. First Serv. Directitude! what's that? Third Serv. But when they shall see, sir, his 24s crest up again and the man in blood, they will out of their burrows, like conies after rain, and revel all with him. First Serv. But when goes this forward ? Third Serv. To-morrow ; to-day ; presently : 250 you shall have the drum struck up this afternoon : 'tis, as it were, a parcel of their feast, and to be executed ere they wipe their lips. Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 147 Sec. Serv. Why, then we shall have a stirring world again. This peace is nothing, but to rust iron, increase tailors, and breed ballad-makers. 255 First Serv. Let me have war, say I ; it exceeds peace as far as day does night ; it's spritely, wak- ing, audible, and full of vent.° Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy, mull'd, deaf, sleepy, insen- sible. 260 Sec. Serv. 'Tis so. First Serv. Ay, and it makes men hate one another. Third Serv. Reason ; because they then less need one another. The wars for my money. 1 265 hope to see Romans as cheap as Volscians. They are rising, they are rising. First and Sec. Serv. In, in, in, in ! [Exeunt. Scene VI. Rome. A Public Place. Enter the two Tribunes, Sicinius and Brutus. Sic. We hear not of him, neither need we fear him; 148 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. His remedies are tame i' the present peace And quietness of the people, which before s 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 10 About their functions friendly. Bru. We stood to't in good time. Enter Menenius. Is this Menenius ? Sic. 'Tis he, 'tis he : O, he is grown most kind Of late. Hail, sir ! 15 Men. Hail to you both ! Sic. 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. 20 Men. All's well ; and might have been much better, if He could have temporized. Sic. Where is he, hear you ? Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 149 Men. Nay, I hear nothing : his mother and his wife 2 S Hear nothing from him. Enter three or four Citizens. Citizens. The gods preserve you both ! Sic. God-den,° our neighbours. Bru. God-den to you all, god-den to you all. First Cit. Ourselves, our wives, and children, 30 on our knees, Are bound to pray for you both. Sic. Live, and thrive ! Bru. Farewell, kind neighbours : we wish'd Coriolanus 35 Had loved you as we did. Citizens. Now the gods keep you ! Both Tri. Farewell, farewell. [Exeunt Citizens. Sic. This is a happier and more comely time Than when these fellows ran about the streets, 4° Crying confusion. Bru. Caius Marcius was A worthy officer i' the war, but insolent, O'ercome with pride, ambitious past all thinking, Self -loving, — 45 150 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Sic. And affecting one sole throne ; ° Without assistance. Men. I think not so. Sic. We should by this, to all our lamentation, 50 If he had gone forth consul, found it so. Bru. The gods have well prevented it, and Rome Sits safe and still without him. Enter an ^Edile. JEd. Worthy tribunes, 55 There is a slave, whom we have put in prison, Reports, the Volsces with two several powers Are enter' d in the Roman territories, And with the deepest malice of the war Destroy what lies before 'em. 60 Men. 'Tis Aufidius, Who, hearing of our Marcius' banishment, Thrusts forth his horns again into the world ; Which were inshell'd when Marcius stood for Rome, 65 And durst not once peep out Sic. Come, what talk you Of Marcius? 70 Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF C0RI0LANUS 151 Bru. Go see this rumourer whipp'd. It cannot be The Volsces dare break with us. Men. Cannot be ! We have record that very well it can, And three examples of the like have been Within my age. But reason with the fellow, Before you punish him, where he heard this, 75 Lest you shall chance to whip your information, And beat the messenger who bids beware Of what is to be dreaded. Sic. Tell not me : I know this cannot be. 8o Bru. Not possible. Enter a Messenger. Mess. The nobles in great earnestness are going All to the senate-house : some news is come That turns their countenances. 85 Sic. 'Tis this slave; Go whip him 'fore the people's eyes : his raising ; Nothing but his report. Mess. Yes, worthy sir, 152 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. go The slave's report is seconded ; and more, More fearful, is deliver'd. ^ Sic. What more fearful ? Mess. It is spoke freely out of many mouths — How probable I do not know — that Marcius, 95 Join'd with Aufidius, leads a power 'gainst Rome, And vows revenge as spacious as between The young'st and oldest thing. Sic. This is most likely ! Bru. Raised only, that the weaker sort may ioo wish Good Marcius home again. Sic. The very trick on't. Men. This is unlikely. He and Aufidius can no more atone 105 Than violentest contrariety. Enter a second Messenger. Sec. Mess. You are sent for to the senate : A fearful army, led by Caius Marcius Associated with Aufidius, rages Upon our territories ; and have already no O'erborne their way, consumed with fire, and took What lay before them. Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 153 Enter Cominius. Com. O, you have made good work ! Men. What news ? what news ? Com. You have holp to ravish your own daughters, and 115 To melt the city leads upon your pates ; To see your wives dishonour' d to your noses, — Men. What's the news ? what's the news ? Com. Your temples burned in their cement, and 1 20 Your franchises, whereon you stood, confined Into an auger's bore.° Men. Pray now, your news ? — You have made fair work, I fear me. — Pray, your news? — 125 If Marcius should be join'd with Volscians, — Com. If! 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, 130 Against us brats, with no less confidence Than boys pursuing summer butterflies, Or butchers killing flies. Men. You have made good work, 154 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. 135 You and your apron-men° ; you that stood so much Upon the voice of occupation and The breath of garlic-eaters ! Com. He'll shake your Rome about your ears. 140 Men. As Hercules Did shake down mellow fruit. You have made fair work ! Bru. But is this true, sir? Coin. Ay ; and you'll look pale 14s 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? 150 Your enemies and his find something in him. Men. We are all undone, unless The noble man have mercy. Com. Who shall ask it? The tribunes cannot do't for shame ; the people 155 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 charged him even Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 155 As those should do that had deserved his hate, And therein show'd like enemies. 160 Men. 'Tis 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, 165 You and your crafts ! you have crafted fair ! Com. You have brought A trembling upon Rome, such as was never So incapable of help. Both Tri. Say not, we brought it. 17° Men. How ! was it we ? we loved him ; but, like beasts And cowardly nobles, gave way unto your clusters, Who did hoot him out o' the city. Com. But I fear 17s They'll 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, That Rome can make against them. 180 Enter a troop of citizens. 156 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Men. 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 185 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 they threw caps up will he tumble down, And pay you for your voices. 'Tis no matter; 190 If he could burn us all into one coal, We have deserved it. Citizens. Faith, we hear fearful news. First Cit. For mine own part, When I said, banish him, I said, 'twas pity. 19s Sec. Cit. And so did I. Third Cit. And so did I ; and, to say the truth, so did very many of us : that we did, we did for the best; and though we willingly consented to his banishment, yet it was against our will. 200 Com. Ye're goodly things, you voices ! Men. You have made Good work, you and your cry° ! Shall' s to the Capitol ? Com. O, ay, what else? [Exeunt Cominius and Menenius. Scene 7.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 157 Sic. Go, masters, get you home ; be not dis- 205 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. First Cit. The gods be good to us ! Come, 210 masters, let's home. I ever said we were i' the wrong when we banished him. Sec. Cit. So did we all.° But, come, let's home. [Exeunt Citizens. Bru. I do not like this news. 215 Sic. Nor I. Bru. Let's to the Capitol : would half my wealth Would buy this for a lie ! Sic. Pray, let us go. [Exemit. 220 Scene VII. A camp, a small distance from Rome. Enter Aufidius with his Lieutenant. Auf. Do they still fly to the Roman ? Lieu. I do not know what witchcraft's in him, but 158 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. Your soldiers use him as the grace 'fore meat, 5 Their talk at table and their thanks at end ; And you are darken'd in this action, sir, Even by your own.° Auf. I cannot help it now, Unless, by using means, I lame the foot 10 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 In that's no changeling ; and I must excuse What cannot be amended. 15 Lieu. 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. 20 Auf. 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 25 To the vulgar eye, that he bears all things fairly, And shows good husbandry for the Volscian state, Scene 7.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 159 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, 30 Whene'er we come to our account. Lieu. Sir, I beseech you, think you he'll carry Rome? Auf. All places yield to him ere he sits down ; And the nobility of Rome are his : 35 The senators and patricians love him too : The tribunes are no soldiers ; and their people Will be as rash in the repeal, as hasty To expel him thence. I think he'll be to Rome As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it 40 By sovereignty of nature. First he was A noble servant to them ; but he could not Carry his honours even : whether 'twas pride, Which out of daily fortune ever taints The happy man° ; whether defect of judgment, 4S To fail in the disposing of those chances 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 so Even with the same austerity and garb° 160 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act IV. 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, 55 So hated, and so banish'd : but he has a merit, A To choke it in the utterance. So our virtues Lie in the interpretation of the time ; And power, unto itself most commendable, Hath not a tomb so evident as a chair 60 To extol what it hath done. One fire drives out one fire° ; one nail, one nail ; Rights by rights fouler, strengths by strengths do fail. Come, let's away. When, Caius, Rome is thine, 65 Thou art poor'st of all ; then shortly art thou mine. [Exeunt. ACT FIFTH. — Scene I. Rome. A public place. Enter Menenius, Cominius, Sicinius and Bru- tus, the two Tribunes, with others. Men. No, I'll not go : you hear what he° hath said Which was sometime his general, who loved him In a most dear particular. He call'd me father : But what o' that ? Go, you that banish'd him ; s A mile before his tent fall down, and knee° The way into his mercy : nay, if he coy'd° To hear Cominius speak, I'll keep at home. Com. He would not seem to know me. Men. Do you hear ? 10 Com. Yet one time he did call me by my name : I urged our old acquaintance, and the drops That we have bled together. Coriolanus m 161 162 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. ] 5 He would not answer to : forbad all names ; He was a kind of nothing, titleless, Till he had forged himself a name o' the fire Of burning Rome. Men. Why, so : you have made good work ! 20 A pair of tribunes that have rack'd for Rome, To make coals cheap : a noble memory ! Com. I minded him how royal 'twas to pardon When it was less expected : he replied, It was a bare petition of a state 25 To one whom they had punish'd. Men. Very well : Could he say less ? Com. I offer' d° to awaken his regard For's private friends : his answer to me was, 30 He could not stay to pick them in a pile Of noisome musty chaff : he said, 'twas folly, For one poor grain or two, to leave unburnt, And still to nose° the offence. Men. For one poor grain or two ! :5 1 am one of those ; his mother, wife, his child, And this brave fellow too, we are the grains : You are the musty chaff, and you are smelt Above the moon : we must be burnt for you. Scene 1.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 163 Sic. Nay, pray, be patient : if you refuse your aid 4° 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, 45 Might stop our countryman. Men. No, I'll not meddle. Sic. Pray you, go to him. Men. What should I do ? Bru. Only make trial what your love can do 50 For Rome, towards Marcius. Men. Well, and say that Marcius Return me, as Cominius is return'd, Unheard ; what then ? But as a discontented friend, grief-shot° 55 With his unkindness ? say't be so ? Sic. Yet your good will Must have that thanks from Rome, after the measure As you intended well. 60 Men. I'll undertake't : I think he'll hear me. Yet, to bite his lip 164 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. And hum° at good Cominius, much unhearts me. He was not taken well ; he had not dined : 65 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 70 Than in our priest-like fasts : therefore I'll watch him Till he be dieted to my request, And then I'll set upon him. Bru. You know the very road into his kind- 75 ness, And cannot lose your way. Men. Good faith, I'll prove him, Speed how it will. I shall ere long have knowl- edge 8o Of my success. [Exit. Com. He'll never hear him. Sic. Not? Com. I tell you, he does sit in gold, his eye Red as 'twould burn Rome ; and his injury 85 The gaoler to his pity. I kneel'd before him ; 'Twas very faintly he said ' Rise ; ' dismiss'd me Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 165 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 :° 90 So that all hope is vain, 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. 95 [Exeunt. Scene II. Entrance to the Volscian camp before Rome. Two Sentinels on guard. Enter to them, Menenius. First Sen. Stay : whence are you-? Sec. Sen.* Stand, and go back. Men. You guard like men ; 'tis well : but, by your leave, I am an officer of state, and come 5 To speak with Coriolanus. 166 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. First Sen. From whence ? Men. From Rome. First Sen. You may not pass, you must re- 10 turn : our general Will no more hear from thence. Sec. Sen. You'll see your Rome embraced with fire, before You'll speak with Coriolanus. 15 Men. Good my friends, If you have heard your general talk of Rome, And of his friends there, it is lots to blanks My name hath touch'd your ears : it is Menenius. First Sen. Be it so ; go back : the virtue of 20 your name Is not here passable. Men. I tell thee, fellow, Thy general is my lover : I have been The book of his good acts, whence men have read 25 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, 30 1 have tumbled past the throw, and in his praise Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 167 Have almost stamp'd the leasing : therefore, fellow, I must have leave to pass. First Sen. Faith, sir, if you had told as many lies in his behalf as you have uttered words in your 35 own, you should not pass here ; no, though it were as virtuous to lie as to live chastely. There- fore go back. Men. Prithee, fellow, remember my name is Menenius, always factionary on the party of your 4° general. Sec. Sen. Howsoever you have been his liar, as you say you have, I am one that, telling true under him, must say, you cannot pass. There- fore go back. 45 Men. Has he dined, canst thou tell? for I would not speak with him till after dinner. First Sen. You are a Roman, are you ? Men. I am, as thy general is. First Sen. Then you should hate Rome, as he 50 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 168 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. 55 of old women, the virginal palms of your daugh- ters, 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 ? 60 No, you are deceived ; therefore, back to Rome, and prepare for your execution : you are con- demned ; our general has sworn you out of re- prieve and pardon. Men. Sirrah, if thy captain knew I were here, 65 he would use me with estimation. First Sen. Come, my captain knows you not. Men. I mean, thy general. First Sen. My general cares not for you. Back, I say, go; lest I let forth your half-pint° 70 of blood ; — back, — that's the utmost of your having : — back. Men. Nay, but, fellow, fellow, — ■ Enter Coriolanus and Aufidius. Cor. What's the matter ? Men. Now, you companion, I'll say an 75 errand for you : you shall know now that I am in estimation ; you shall perceive that a Jack Scene 2.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 169 guardant cannot office me° from my son Corio- lanus : 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 80 crueller in suffering; behold now presently, and swoon for what's to come upon thee. The glorious gods sit in hourly synod about thy particular prosperity, and love thee no worse than thy old father Menenius does ! O my son, 85 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 my- self could move thee, I have been blown out of your gates with sighs; and conjure thee to par- 93 don Rome and thy petitionary countrymen. The good gods assuage thy wrath, and turn the dregs of it upon this varlet here, — this, who, like a block, hath denied my access to thee. Cor. Away ! 95 Men. How ! away ! Cor. Wife, mother, child, I know not. My affairs Are servanted to others : though I owe My revenge properly, my remission lies 10c 170 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. 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 1 35 Your gates against my force. Yet, for I loved thee, Take this along ; I writ it for thy sake, And would have sent it. [Gives him a letter.] Another word, Menenius, 11 3 1 will not hear thee speak. This man, Aufidius, Was my beloved in Rome : yet thou behold'st. Auf. You keep a constant temper. [Exeunt Coriolanus and Aufidius. First Sen. Now, sir, is your name Menenius ? Sec. Sen. 'Tis a spell, you see, of much power : 115 you know the way home again. First Sen. Do you hear how we are shent° for keeping your greatness back ? Sec. Sen. What cause, do you think, I have to swoon ? 120 Men. I neither care for the world nor your general : for such things as you, I can scarce think there's any, ye're so slight. He that hath a will to die by himself fears it not from another : Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 171 i let your general do his worst. For you, be that you are, long; and your misery increase withes your age ! I say to you as I was said to, away ! [Exit. First Sen. A noble fellow, I warrant him. Sec. Sen. 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. Cor. 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. 5 Auf. 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. IO 172 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. Cor. This last old man, Whom with a crack' d heart I have sent to Rome, Loved me above the measure of a father, Nay, godded me indeed. Their latest refuge 15 Was to send him ; for whose old love I have, Though I show'd sourly to him, once more offer'd The first conditions, which they did refuse And cannot now accept ; to grace him° only That thought he could do more, a very little 20 I have yielded to : fresh embassies and suits, Nor from the state nor private friends, hereafter Will I lend ear to. [Shout within.] Ha ! what shout is this ? Shall I be tempted to infringe my vow 25 In the same time 'tis made ? I will not. Enter in mourning habits, Virgilia, Volumnia leading young Marcius, Valeria, and Attend- ants. My wife comes foremost; then the honour'd mould Wherein this trunk was framed, and in her hand The grandchild to 'her blood. But out, affection ! 30 All bond and privilege of nature, break ! Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 173 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 ; 35 As if Olympus to a molehill should In supplication nod : and my young boy Hath an aspect of intercession, which Great nature cries 'Deny not.' Let the Volsces Plough Rome, and harrow Italy : I'll never 40 Be such a gosling to obey instinct ; but stand, As if a man were author of himself And knew no other kin. Vir. My lord and husband ! Cor. These eyes are not the same I wore in 45 Rome. Vir. The sorrow that delivers us thus changed Makes you think so. Cor. Like a dull actor now I have forgot my part and I am out,° 5° 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 ! 174 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. 55 Now, by the jealous queen of heaven, that kiss I carried from thee, dear, and my true lip Hath virgin'd it° e'er since. You gods ! I prate, And the most noble mother of the world Leave unsaluted : sink, my knee, i' the earth ; [Kneels. 60 Of thy deep duty more impression show Than that of common sons. Vol. O, stand up blest ! Whilst, with no softer cushion than the flint, I kneel before thee, and unproperly 65 Show duty, as mistaken all this while Between the child and parent. [Kneels. Cor. What is this ? Your knees to me ? to your corrected son ? Then let the pebbles on the hungry beach 70 Fillip the stars ; then let the mutinous winds Strike the proud cedars 'gainst the fiery sun, Murdering impossibility, to make W T hat cannot be, slight work. Vol. Thou art my warrior ; 75 1 holp to frame thee. Do you know this lady ? Cor. The noble sister of Publicola, The moon of Rome ; chaste as the icicle Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 175 That's curdied by the frost from purest snow And hangs on Dian's temple : dear Valeria ! Vol. This is a poor epitome of yours, 80 Which by the interpretation of full time May show like all yourself. Cor. The god of soldiers, With the consent of supreme Jove, inform Thy thoughts with nobleness, that thou mayst8s prove To shame unvulnerable, and stick i' the wars Like a great sea-mark, ° standing every flaw And saving those that eye thee ! Vol. Your knee,° sirrah. 90 Cor. That's my brave boy ! Vol. Even he, your wife, this lady and myself Are suitors to you. Cor. I beseech you, peace : Or, if you'ld ask, remember this before : 95 The thing I have forsworn to grant may never 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 10c To allay my rages and revenges with 176 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. Your colder reasons. Vol. 0, no more, no more ! You have said you will not grant us any thing ; 105 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 May hang upon your hardness : therefore hear us. Cor. Aufidius, and you Volsces, mark; for no we'll Hear nought from Rome in private. Your request ? Vol. Should we be silent and not speak, our raiment us 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 120 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 125 The son, the husband and the father, tearing Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 177 His country's bowels out. And to poor we Thine enmity's most capital : thou b air's t us Our prayers to the gods, which is a comfort That all but we enjoy ; for how can we, x\las, how can we for our country pray, 130 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, Our comfort in the country. We must find An evident calamity, though we had 13s Our wish, which side should win ; for either thou Must, as a foreign recreant, be led With manacles through our streets, or else Triumphantly tread on thy country's ruin, And bear the palm° for having bravely shed 140 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 Rather to show a noble grace to both parts Than seek the end of one, thou shalt no sooner 145 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. N 178 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. 150 Vir. Ay, and mine, That brought you forth this boy, to keep your name Living to time. Boy. A' shall not tread on me ; 155 I'll run away till I am bigger, but then I'll fight. Cor. Not of a woman's tenderness to be, Requires nor child nor woman's face to see. I have sat too long. . [Rising. Vol. Nay, go not from us thus. 16 -j If it were so that our request did tend To save the Romans, thereby to destroy The Volsces whom you serve, you might con- demn us, As poisonous of your honour : no ; our suit 165 Is, that you reconcile them : while the Volsces May say 'This mercy we have show'd,' the Romans, ' This we received ; ' and each in either side Give the all-hail to thee, and cry 'Be blest 170 For making up this peace!' Thou know'st, great son, The end of war's uncertain, but this certain, That if thou conquer Rome, the benefit Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 179 Which thou shalt thereby reap is such a name Whose repetition will be dogg'd with curses ; 175 Whose chronicle thus writ : ' The man was noble, But with his last attempt he wiped 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, 180 To imitate the graces of the gods ; 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 ? x85 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 190 world More bound to's mother, yet here he lets me prate Like one i' the stocks. Thou hast never in thy life Show'd thy dear mother any courtesy ; 195 When she, poor hen, fond of no second brood, Has cluck'd thee to the wars, and safely home, 180 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. Loaden with honour. Say my request's unjust, And spurn me back : but if it be not so, 200 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. 205 To his surname Coriolanus 'longs more pride 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, 210 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 215 Like him by chance. Yet give us our dispatch : I am hush'd until our city be a-fire, And then I'll speak a little. Cor. [After holding her by the hand, silent] O mother, mother ! 220 What have you done? Behold, the heavens do ope, Scene 3.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 181 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, 225 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, I'll frame convenient peace. Now, good Aufidius, Were you in my stead, would you have heard 230 A mother less ? or granted less, Aufidius ? Auf. I was moved withal. Cor. I dare be sworn you were : And, sir, it is no little thing to make Mine eyes to sweat compassion. But, good sir, 235 What peace you'll make, advise me : for my part, I'll not to Rome, I'll back with you; and pray you, Stand to me in this cause. O mother ! wife ! 240 Auf. [Aside] I am glad thou hast set thy mercy and thy honour At difference in thee : out of that I'll work Myself a former fortune. [The ladies make signs to Coriolanus. 182 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. 245 Cor. [To Volumnia, Virgilia, &c.\ 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. 250 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. Men. See you yond coign o' the Capitol, yond corner-stone ? Sic. Why, what of that ? Men. If it be possible for you to displace it 5 with your little finger, there is some hope the ladies of Rome, especially his mother, may pre- vail with him. But I say there is no hope in't : our throats are sentenced, and stay upon ex- ecution. '" Scene 4.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 183 Sic. Is't possible that so short a time can alter ic the condition of a man? Men. 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. 15 Sic. He loved his mother dearly. Men. 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 20 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, a3 a thing made for° iUexander. What he bids be done, is finished with his bidding. He wants 25 nothing of a god° but eternity and a heaven to throne in. Sic. Yes, mercy, if you report him truly. Men. I paint him in the character. Mark what mercy his mother shall bring from him : 30 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. 184 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. Sic. The gods be good unto us ! 35 Men. 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. Mess. Sir, if you'ld save your life, fly to your 40 house : The plebeians have got your fellow-tribune, And hale° him up and down, all swearing, if The Roman ladies bring not comfort home, They'll give him death by inches. Enter another Messenger. 45 Sic. What's the news ? Sec. Mess. Good news, good news ; the ladies have prevail'd, The Volscians are dislodged, and Marcius gone : A merrier day did never yet greet Rome, 50 No, not the expulsion of the Tarquins. Sic. Friend, Art thou certain this is true ? is it most certain ? Sec. Mess. As certain as I know the sun is fire : Scene 4.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 185 Where have you lurk'd, that you make doubt of it? 55 Ne'er through an arch so hurried the blown tide, As the recomforted through the gates. Why, hark you ! [Trumpets; hautboys ; drums beat; all together. The trumpets, sackbuts , psalteries , and fifes, Tabors and cymbals and the shouting Romans, 6o Make the sun dance. Hark you ! [A shout within. Men. 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, 65 A sea and land full. You have pray'd well to- day : This morning for ten thousand of your throats I'ld not have given a doit. Hark, how they joy ! [Music still, with shouts. Sic. First, the gods bless you for your tidings ; 70 next, Accept my thankfulness. Sec. Mess. Sir, we have all Great cause to give great thanks. 186 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. 75 Sic. They are near the city? Sec. Mess. Almost at point to enter. Sic. 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, &c. passing over the stage, followed by Patricians and others. First Sen. Behold our patroness, the life of Rome ! Call all your tribes together, praise the gods, And make triumphant fires ; strew flowers before s them : Unshout the noise that banish'd Marcius, Repeal him with the welcome of his mother ; Cry 'Welcome, ladies, welcome !' All. Welcome, ladies, io Welcome ! [A flourish with drums and trumpets. Exeunt. Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 187 Scene VI. Corioli. A public place. Enter Tullus Aufidius, with Attendants. Auf. 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' faction. Most welcome ! First Con. How is it with our general ? Auf. Even so As with a man by his own alms empoison'd, And with his charity slain. Sec. Con. Most noble sir, If you do hold the same intent wherein 15 10 188 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. You wish'd us parties, we'll deliver you Of your great danger. Auf. Sir, I cannot tell : We must proceed as we do find the people. 20 Third Con. The people will remain uncertain whilst 'Twixt you there's difference ; but the fall of either Makes the survivor heir of all. 25 Auf. I know it, And my pretext to strike at him admits A good construction. I raised him, and I pawn'd Mine honour for his truth : who being so height- 30 en'd, He water 'd his new plants with dews of flattery, Seducing so my friends ; and, to this end, He bow'd his nature, never known before But to be rough, unswayable and free. 35 Third Con. Sir, his stoutness When he did stand for consul, which he lost By lack of stooping, — Auf. That I would have spoke of : Being banish'd for't, he came unto my hearth ; Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 189 Presented to my knife his throat : I took him, 40 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, served his designments In mine own person, holp to reap the fame 45 Which he did end° all his ; and took some pride To do myself this wrong : till at the last I seem'd his follower, not partner, and He waged me° with his countenance, as if I had been mercenary. 50 First Con. 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 — Auf. There was it : 55 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, 60 And I'll renew me in his fall. But hark ! [Drums and trumpets sound, with great shouts of the people. 190 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. First Con. Your native town you enter'd like a post, And had no welcomes home ; but he returns, 65 Splitting the air with noise. Sec. Con. And patient fools, Whose children he hath slain, their base throats tear With giving him glory. 70 Third Con. 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 pronounced shall bury 75 His reasons with his body. Auf. Say no more : Here come the lords. Enter the Lords of the city. All the Lords. You are most welcome home. Auf. I have not deserved it. 8o But, worthy lords, have you with heed perused What I have written to you ? Lords. We have. First Lord. And grieve to hear't. Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 191 What faults he made before the last, I think Might have found easy fines : but there to end 85 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. Auf. He approaches : you shall hear him. 93 Enter Coriolanus, marching with drum and colours; the commoners being with him. Cor. 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 95 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, ioo With no less honour to the Antiates Than shame to the Romans : and we here deliver, Subscribed by the consuls and patricians, Together with the seal o' the senate, what 192 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. 105 We have compounded on.° Auf. Read it not, noble lords ; But tell the traitor, in the highest degree He hath abused your powers. Cor. Traitor ! how now ! no Auf. Ay, traitor, Marcius ! Cor. Marcius i Auf. Ay, Marcius, Caius Marcius : dost thou think I'll grace thee with that robbery, thy stol'n name 115 Coriolanus, in Corioli? 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; 120 Breaking his oath and resolution, like A twist of rotten silk ; never admitting Counsel o' the war° ; but at his nurse's tears He whined and roar'd away your victory ; That pages blush'd at him, and men of heart 125 Look'd wondering each at other. Cor. Hear'st thou, Mars ? Auf. Name not the god, thou boy of tears ! Cor. Ha ! Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 193 Auf. No more. Cor. Measureless liar, thou hast made my 130 heart Too great for what contains it. ' Boy ! ' O slave ! Pardon me, lords, 'tis the first time that ever I was forced to scold. Your judgments, my grave lords, 135 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. First Lord. Peace, both, and hear me speak. 140 Cor. Cut me to pieces, Volsces ; men and lads, Stain all your edges on me. ' Boy ! ' false hound ! If you have writ your annals true, 'tis there, That, like an eagle in a dove-cote, I 145 Flutter' d your Volscians in Corioli ; Alone I did it. 'Boy!' Auf. Why, noble lords, Will you be put in mind of his blind fortune, Which was your shame, by this unholy braggart, 150 'Fore your own eyes and ears ? All Consp. Let him die for't. 194 THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS [Act V. All the People. 'Tear him to pieces.' 'Do it presently.' 'He killed my son.' 'My daugh- 155 ter.' ' He killed my cousin Marcus.' ' He killed my father.' Sec. Lord. Peace, ho ! no outrage : peace ! The man is noble, and his fame folds-in° This orb o' the earth. His last offences to us l6o Shall have judicious hearing. Stand, Aufidius, And trouble not the peace. Cor. O that I had him, With six Aufidiuses, or more, his tribe, To use my lawful sword ! 1 65 Auf. Insolent villain ! All Consp. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill him ! [ The Conspirators draw, and kill Coriolanus : Aufidius stands on his body. Lords. Hold, hold, hold, hold ! Auf. My noble masters, hear me speak. First Lord. O Tullus, — iyo Sec. Lord. Thou hast done a deed whereat valour will weep. Third Lord, Tread not upon him. Masters all, be quiet ; Put up your swords. Scene 6.] THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 195 Auf. My lords, when you shall know — as in 17s this rage Provoked by him, you cannot — the great danger Which this man's life did owe° you, you'll rejoice That he is thus cut off. Please it your honours To call me to your senate, I'll deliver 180 Myself your loyal servant, or endure Your heaviest censure. First Lord. Bear from hence his body ; And mourn you for him : let him be regarded As the most noble corse that ever herald 185 Did follow to his urn. Sec. Lord. His own impatience Takes from Aufidius a great part of blame. Let's make the best of it. Auf. My rage is gone, 190 And I am struck with sorrow. Take him up : Help, three o' the chief est soldiers ; I'll be one. Beat thou the drum, that it speak mournfully : Trail your steel pikes. Though in this city he Hath widow'd and unchilded many a one, 195 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 EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL The text of this edition follows in the main that used in the Temple Edition. Since the numbering of the lines would in any case vary from other editions in the prose portions of the text, on account of type and length of line differences ; and since the inequalities of the poetic lines of the text as we have it suggest varia- tions, the convenience of the pupil has been consid- ered in the line numbering rather than conformity to previous editions. Act I. As our chief interest lies in the personality of Corio- lanus, Shakespeare devotes the first act to portraying the heroic qualities of the leading character. We see the hero as an intrepid warrior, who saves his city when it is attacked by foreign toes, and who then unselfishly refuses to share in the spoils of the victory. We learn that he regards himself as a man of the highest sense of honor, that he is self-sacrificing in his devotion to the state, and that he shows the most " high-bred courtesv" 197 198 NOTES [Act I. towards his own class, the patrician. On the other hand, in order that we may see him in his true great- ness, the defects and weaknesses in his character are barely hinted at in this act. This is necessary so that his eventual fall may be more deeply tragic. Scene I. This scene, and the two following, are introductory. They acquaint us with "conditions precedent" to the action of the play, introduce the leading characters, and lead up to the ascending action of the play. The first scene sets forth the political unrest in Rome, which arose from the growing friction between the patricians and the plebeians. In this antagonism lie the seeds of eventual danger to the city, unless the two parties can be reconciled. Coriolanus, as a leader among the patricians, is not likely to achieve this much- to-be-desired result, for the rabble regards him as " chief enemy to the people." At the same time, the leaders of the plebeians, the tribunes, are selfish, narrow- minded men, who, likewise, have hardly any of the qualities necessary to statesmanship or successful government. Consequently, it becomes evident at once that misunderstandings will arise, which will lead to conflict between the two parties, more especially be- tween Coriolanus and the tribunes. While the struggle between the two parties is the more important his- torically, the supreme struggle between Coriolanus and his fate is the more important dramatically. The Scene I.] NOTES 199 class struggle should, therefore, be considered only as a background for this drama of the soul. 8. Chief enemy. In this opinion lies the chief interest, and therefore the dramatist states it at once. The First Citizen is opposed to Coriolanus throughout the play and easily persuades the rabble to look at the situation from his viewpoint. Notice, also, that here, as in others of his great tragedies, Shakespeare directs our attention to the central figure before the latter enters. 10. Corn. The dearth of corn is given as the chief reason for the unrest of the plebeians although Plutarch mentions two seditions, one on account of the oppres- sion of usurers, and another because of the shortage of corn. The former is merely hinted at in 11. 90-91 of this scene. The second, which occurred after the war with Corioli, resulted in the distribution of corn to the plebeians. This action was opposed by Coriola- nus, a fact which is referred to in Act III, Scene i, 11. 65-68. 16. Good. Used in the sense of rich. Note the play on the word. Authority. Those in authority. 21. Object. Sight, spectacle. 22. Particularize. Emphasize, point out in detail. Sufferance. Suffering. Lines 17-22 may be paraphrased as follows : ." They will not give us, even of their superfluity, for we are too precious to them as we are ; our poverty, and the sight of our misery, enable them, by contrast, to realize their own happiness in detail." 200 NOTES [Act I. 24. Pikes. Lances or spears in one sense, pitch- forks in the other. Note the play on words in "pikes " and "rakes." A well-known proverb was, "As lean as a rake." 27. Observe that the Second Citizen is always in- clined to be charitable towards Coriolanus and does not share the animosity of the First Citizen. 29. Dog. Lacking in pity, brutal, cruel. 30. Commonalty. The plebeians. 34. Give him good report. " Speak well of him." 40. To please his mother. " But touching 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 everybody praise and commend him, that she might always see him with a crown upon his head, and that she might still embrace him with tears running down her cheeks for joy." — Plutarch. 41. To be partly proud. Partly to be proud. Other examples of such transposition are common in Shakespeare. 42. Virtue. Courage, valor. Plutarch says, " Now in those days valiantness was honoured in Rome above all other virtues : which they call virtus, by the name of virtue itself , as including . . . all other virtues besides." 45. Covetous. Compare this statement with the magnanimity of Coriolanus in Act I, Sc. ix, 11. 46-50, and his contempt for those who prefer pillage to fight- ing in Act I, Sc. v, 11. 5-12. Scene I.] NOTES 201 , 48. Repetition. Mention, utterance. 50. Capitol. " The temple of Jupiter Optimus Maxi- mus, on the Capitoline Hill, where the Senate is repre- sented as being assembled." 54. Loved the people. Menenius is a clever, good- natured patrician who is popular with the people be- cause of his affable manner. His sincerity is question- able, but the rabble considers him a true friend. When the plebeians seceded, Plutarch says that the Senate sent as emissaries to treat with them " certain of the pleasantest old men, and the most acceptable to the people among them. Of these Menenius Agrippa was he who was sent for chief man of the message from the Senate." 59. Bats. Heavy sticks. 61. The Folios gave this and the succeeding speeches to the Second Citizen. Most modern editors have made the change used here because the First Citizen has been the leader in the attacks on Coriolanus and the patricians. 65. Strong breaths. Strong-smelling breaths. Shakespeare often refers to the foul breath of the common people. In Julius Ccesar, Cassius says, " The rabblement hooted, . . . and uttered such a deal of stinking breath." 79. Impediment. " Hindrance on your part." 81. Your knees, etc. " You must fall on your knees and pray to the gods for help rather than bear arms against the state." 202 NOTES [Act I. 84. Thither . . . you. "To excesses which fresh sufferings must expiate." 85. Helms. Helmsmen, i.e. the patricians. 91. Usurers. " There grew sedition in the city, because the Senate did favour the rich against the people, who did complain of the sore oppression of usurers, of whom they borrowed money." — Plutarch. Cf. note on 1. 10. 101. Stale't a little more. Make it more stale. The use of an adjective as a verb. 103. Fob off. To put aside by deceit or trickery. 110. Still cupboarding the viand. Continually storing up food as if putting it into a cupboard. 111. Where. Whereas. Often used in this sense. 114. Mutually participate. Participating in each other's functions. 115. Affection. Inclination, desire. 118. What answer, etc. The interest shown, even by the First Citizen, in this fable proves that Menenius knew how to obtain a hearing from the lower classes. He is not in sympathy with them, but instead of openly declaring so, he attempts by a homely illustration to convince them of the error of their ways, and thus con- ciliate them. He believes in compromise, and flatters himself on his cleverness in meeting such a situation as that which now confronts him. 121. Lungs. In Shakespeare's day, the functions of the various organs of the body were not understood as well as they are to-day, and consequently many of the Scene I.] NOTES 203 functions ascribed to various organs by the characters in " Coriolanus " will seem absurd to the modern student. We must bear in mind, however, that medical science was still largely a matter of guesswork, and numerous false theories of the ancients were accepted almost without question. Surgery in England was still in its infancy in Elizabethan days and consisted largely of blood-letting by "leeches" and barbers. Towards the close of the sixteenth century, physicians began to study the "subject" rather than books and began to make strides towards disproving many accepted theories of bodily functions. Perhaps the most important of these was the discovery of the circulation of the blood by William Harvey, which was fully demonstrated by him in a lecture given before the College of Physi- cians just a week before Shakespeare's death. It is well to remember that Shakespeare's son-in- law, Dr. Hall, was a famous physician, and, therefore, he may have obtained much of his medical knowledge from the latter. He seems to accept the theory that the heart is the source of the supply of the blood (I, i, 159), and that the veins are filled by nourishment directly (V, i, 65-70). He also holds to the concep- tion of the lungs as the seat of merriment (I, i, 121), an idea that is more fully expressed in As You Like It, II, vii, 30, where Jacques says, "My lungs began to crow like chanticleer," etc. Throughout his plays, Shakespeare uses the word "nerves" to mean sinews and shows that the functions 204 NOTES [Act I. of the nervous system were entirely unknown to him. In fact, in Act I, Sc. i, 1. 159, we might assume that he thought that "the seat of the brain" was in the heart. This supposition seems to be supported by the expression "the counsellor heart" (I, i, 131), but some editors have come to the conclusion that Shake- speare considered the heart as the seat of the emotions and "the kingly-crowned head" as the seat of reason. This idea is still quite prevalent in many everyday expressions and has not been entirely discarded by modern writers even though medical science has re- jected it. Lines 186-187 in Sc. i of Act III seem to lend additional support to the belief that he con- sidered the "bosom" as the seat of the feelings as do lines 121-123 in Act IV, Sc. v, where Aufidius says to Coriolanus, " Each word thou hast spoke hath weeded from my heart A root of ancient envy." The angry emotions were, however, thought to have their seat in the spleen, and the word "spleen" is used as synonymous with anger and malice. An example of this is found in Act IV, Sc. v, 11. 107-109, where Coriolanus declares, "For I will fight Against my canker' d country with the spleen Of all the under fiends." 123. Look you. Note how Menenius is becoming interested in his treatment of the fable, instead of Scene I.] NOTES 205 keeping the attention of his audience focused on the moral of it. 129. First Citizen. Hitherto the First Citizen has spoken in prose, but now as he becomes agitated, he speaks in blank verse. Note that Menenius and the other nobles talk in blank verse throughout this scene. 133. Muniments. Defences. Supplies of war. (Temple Ed.) 136. 'Fore me. A very mild oath, probably a short- ened form of " God before me " as Chambers suggests. The abuse of God's name in stage plays was forbidden by an Act of Parliament in 1606. Menenius is sur- prised at the interruption and cannot disguise his vexa- tion. 148. You' st. You'll. A provincial form. 150. Case of me, and why. 153. Incorporate. Forming one body. 160. The seat of the brain. See note to line 121. 161. Cranks and offices. Winding passages and rooms. 162. Nerves. Sinews. 171. Flour. In contrast to bran in the next line. Flour is the flower or finest part of the ground grain. 173. The First Citizen recognizes that the belly made a good answer, but demands that Menenius should apply it to the affairs in the Roman state. 185. Great toe. Notice how Menenius, when he sees the shallowness of his unconvincing arguments, now singles out his chief heckler for a personal attack. 206 NOTES [Act I. He has not succeeded in reconciling the patrician and plebeian viewpoints largely because of the shrewdness of his antagonist. 190. Rascal. A lean, young deer. Shakespeare, according to Fortesque, seems to have conceived of a "rascal" as " a deer with a great head and a small body, who would neither fight nor run." Such a deer might very likely be in the front of the herd, as the young males and the hinds always move in front while the big stags bring up the rear. 194. Must have bale. " Must get the worst of it." Menenius is dissembling no longer as a tactful politi- cian, but is expressing his real opinions now. 199. Scabs. A term of abuse. Note the play on the word, and note also its modern use. Coriolanus at his first appearance vindicates the assertion of the First Citizen in line 8, where he is first mentioned. To him, it seems undesirable that the commoners should be doing any thinking whatsoever. They are always hate- ful to him, but especially so when they form opinions of dissent. 210. Surer. To be relied upon. 212. Your virtue is, 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." 216. Affections. See note on line 115. 224. Your garland. "Whom you honored with a garland." Scene I.] NOTES 207 230. Their seeking. Coriolanus will not even deign to learn of their demands from the plebeians themselves, but prefers to seek information from one of his own class. 238. Side. Take sides with. 241. Feebling. Treating as feeble. 244. Ruth. Pity. 245. Quarry. A pile of slaughtered game, often given as a reward to the dogs after the hunt. The meaning is, "I would quarter thousands of these slaves and make them a heap of dead." \ 247. Pick. Pitch, hurl. 249. Persuaded. Is this true? Have the citizens been persuaded by the arguments of Menenius or frightened by the insolence of Coriolanus? 256. Proverbs. Wright, the Clarendon Press editor, quotes the following comment from Archbishop Trench, Proverbs and their Lessons: " In a fastidious age, in- deed, and one of false refinement, they may go nearly or quite out of use among the so-called upper classes. ' No gentleman,' says Lord Chesterfield, or ' no man of fashion,' as I think is his exact phrase, ' ever uses a proverb.' And with how fine a touch of nature Shake- speare 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." 264. Generosity. Nobility. Used in its original Latin sense. Generosi were men of noble birth. 208 NOTES [Act I. 266. Caps. Cf. Julius Caesar, I, ii, 246, "the rabblement . . . threw up their sweaty night caps." 269. Shouting their emulation. " Rivalling each other in their shouting." 274. 'S death. A contraction from " God's death ! '' A mild oath. 277. Win upon power. " Get the better of those in power " and then make fresh demands. 286. Vent our musty superfluity. Get rid of our superfluity of plebeians who have deteriorated through peace. Cf . this remark with that of Menenius in 1. 192. 291. Put you to it. A colloquialism meaning "put you to the test." Mark the change in Coriolanus's atti- tude when he converses with men of his own class. 295. Our attention is at once called to the personal rivalry between Coriolanus and Aufidius. 299. What should only modify? 307. Stand' st out? Do you stand aside? Will you not join us? 315. Lead you on. Cominius leads because he is consul. 319. Noble Marcius. Some editors contend that Cominius by this courteous remark, accompanied perhaps with a bow, acknowledges the right of Corio- lanus to lead even though as general-in-chief he does so himself. Throughout the remainder of the act, the emphasis is placed on the noble and heroic qualities of Coriolanus. 326. Your valour, etc. Plutarch says that when the Scene II.] NOTES 209 sedition was over, the plebeians went bravely forth to battle. What dramatic purpose is served by making them seem cowardly? 330. Tribunes. Cf. 1. 271. "So Junius Brutus and Sicinius Velutus were the first Tribunes of the people that were chosen who had only been causers and procurers of this sedition." — Plutarch. 334. Gird. Jeer, taunt. 336. Modest moon. Chaste Diana. 337. The present wars devour him. Not to be regarded as an assertion in view of the fears expressed in the remainder of Brutus's words. 351. Giddy censure. Thoughtless judgment. 356. Demerits. Merits, the Latin meaning. 364. How the dispatch is made. " With what form of commission the generals are sent to war." 365. More than his singularity. More than his own peculiar disposition, i.e. his usual superior atti- tude. This brief colloquy between the tribunes shows that they understand Coriolanus quite as little as the latter understands the plebeians. These misunderstandings, in addition to the rivalry of Aufidius, are sources of danger which contain great dramatic possibilities. Scene II. The action in the first scene revolves about Corio- lanus, that of the second about Aufidius, his great rival. The first scene arouses our fears for the safety p 210 NOTES [Act I. of Rome because of the prevailing internal dissension ; the second directs our attention to imminent danger from external war. Sufficient time must have elapsed since the close of the first scene for the news of the mutiny in Rome to have reached Corioli. 2. Enter' d in. Have become acquainted with. 6. Bodily act. Accomplishment. 7. Had circumvention. Had found the means for circumventing us. 10. Pressed a power. Levied an army. 14. Enemy. Note the effect of the frequent use of this word. 22. To answer us. I.e. to meet us in battle. 29. Take in. Seize, capture. 34. For the remove. For raising the siege. 42. Sworn. Aufidius also calls attention to the deadly rivalry existing between Coriolanus and him- self. Shakespeare keeps this fact prominently before us so that we may be prepared for the events which follow. Scene III. This scene, which is mostly Shakespeare's own, is the last of the introductory scenes. As the leading character and his chief opponent have now been in- troduced, the dramatist brings forward Volumnia, who is to play such an important part in the descend- ing action. As the stern Roman mother she is effec- Scene III.] NOTES 211 tively contrasted with the gentle, timid, but appealing, Virgilia. This domestic and human scene also serves to relieve the tension produced by the two preceding scenes, which have been so largely concerned with political strife and impending foreign war. The time interval between this scene and the pre- ceding one is short, merely long enough for the Romans to obtain news from their army in the field. The re- maining scenes of this act follow each other in direct succession. 7. Plucked. Drew. 15. Cruel War. The battle of Lake Regillus. 16. Brows bound with oak. " 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 whosoever saveth the life of a Roman, it is a manner among them, to honour him with such a garland." — Plutarch. What military decorations of the present day are given for a similar act of heroism? 31. Beseech. I beseech. 32. Retire myself. A reflexive use, common in Shakespeare's day. 34. Hither. Either here or coming hither. 50. Bless from. Preserve from. Notice how Vir- gilia and Volumnia represent respectively the feminine and masculine types of women. 58. Manifest housekeepers. Manifestly stayers at home. 212 NOTES [Act I. 59. Spot. Figure, pattern. 68. Confirmed. Determined. 69. Gilded butterfly. Note that the boy chased no ordinary butterfly, even as he now pursues no commonplace ideal. What butterfly might be re- ferred to? 74. Mammocked. Tore it to pieces. 76. La. A colloquialism, often used by Shake- speare. Cf. 1. 103. 77. Crack. A boy (slightly contemptuous). 97. Moths. Some editors see a play on words here. " The ' Moths ' are the suitors that gathered about Penelope, the word suggesting also her long waiting for the return of Ulysses." 98. Sensible. Sensitive. 114. Nothing. Not at all. 120. Disease. Rob of ease, spoil. Our better mirth. "Our mirth which would be better if she would not accompany us." 125. At a word. In a word, once for all. Scene IV. Throughout the remaining scenes of this act, the dramatist aims to build up a truly heroic figure in the person of Coriolanus. In the crisis at hand, the latter becomes the champion of Rome, who by his dauntless valor twice saves the day, and thereby arouses the city to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. His weaknesses are forgotten for the moment, and betray themselves Scene IV.] NOTES 213 only to a keen observer. The dramatist has made him tower so high above his fellows that his later fall through successive blunders may be the more tragic. Aufidius is again brought in as a rival who is destined to play an ever larger part in the life of Coriolanus. 7. Spoke. Probably the usual parley before the battle. Cf. Julius Ccesar, Act V, Sc. i. 13. Summon the town. I.e. to surrender. ] 6. 'Larum. Alarum, call to arms. 21. Fielded friends. Friends in the field. Stage direction. The Elizabethan stage had an upper gallery or balcony, which would represent in this case the walls or battlements of the city of Corioli. 23. Aufidius. Coriolanus's first question concerns his rival. His desire to meet Aufidius seems uppermost in his mind, overshadowing his duties as a commander of the forces of Rome. 29. Pound us up. Shut us up as in a pound. 34. Cloven army. Cominius had divided his army into two parts : one, of which he took command, ad- vanced towards the enemy in the open field ; the other, under the command of Coriolanus and Titus Lartius, he left in camp to resist " those that would make any sally out of the city against them." 43. Beyond our thoughts. "More than we ex- pected." 48. Contagion of the south. The south wind is always referred to by Shakespeare as foggy, damp, etc. Does this invective seem deserved ? Note how Corio- 214 NOTES [Act I. lanus looms up as a hero against the background of such evident cowardice. His agitation shows itself also in the choppy sentences. 59. Agued. Like an ague in effect. 70. Fool-hardiness. Note the dramatic purpose of this remark. 73. To the pot. Cf. the current slang phrase, " gone to pot." 81. Sensibly outdares, etc. "Who, though pos- sessed of feeling, outdares his sword which has none." 86. Cato's wish. " For he was even such another as Cato would have a soldier and captain to be, not only terrible and fierce to lay about him, but to make the enemy afeard with the sound of his voice, and grim- ness of his countenance." — Plutarch. An anachro- nism, because Cato lived two centuries later. 93. Make remain alike. "Share the same fate." Scene V. The common soldiers have already shown themselves cowardly while their leader was performing prodigious feats of valor ; this contrast is heightened when they turn to looting as soon as an opportunity affords itself, while Coriolanus disdains to stoop to so base a practice. As the Second Citizen said in Scene i, Coriolanus is not "covetous" ; at least, not of material wealth. 3. A murrain. An imprecation common in Eliza- bethan days. The murrain was the bubonic plague. 5. Movers. Ironical, meaning loafers in search for plunder. Scene VI.] NOTES 215 7. Drachma. A silver Greek coin worth about twenty cents. 8. Of a doit. Worth half a farthing. 9. Wore them. Hangmen were entitled to the garments of those they executed. 17. Make good. Hold, defend. 26. Physical. Like physic or medicine and, there- fore, wholesome. 27. To Aufidius. Notice the constant reminder of his desire to meet Aufidius face to face in combat. 34. Than those. That is, than the friend of those, etc. Scene VI. 7. Conveying gusts. " Now and then as gusts conveyed the noise." 22. Not a mile. Compare Sc. iv, 1. 15. Briefly. A short while ago. 24. Confound. Spend, waste. 43. Clip. Clasp, embrace. 50. Ransoming him or pitying. Releasing one for a ransom or not demanding any because of pity. 54. Let slip at will. The slips or cords b}^ which greyhounds were held at a hunt were so constructed that they could be let loose at will. Is this speech rather too boastful? 62. The common file, etc. Note how incoherent the remarks of Coriolanus become when he recalls the be- havior of " the common file " which he led into battle. / 216 NOTES [Act I. He evidently meant to say, "Had it not been for the valor of our gentlemen, the common file would have lost us the battle." 74. Battle. Army drawn up in battle array. 78. Vaward. Vanguard. " Those of the Antiates whom they esteemed to be the warlikest men." — Plutarch. 86. Delay not the present. " Remain any longer in our present condition of retreat." 87. Advanced. Swords and standards were lifted up during an advance. 88. Prove. Put to the proof. 97. If any fear, etc. " If any fear less for his person than he fears an ill report." Coriolanus here stands forth as a fine type of soldier. Throughout this speech, he voices the highest ideals of the military hero. He now appeals to the better instincts of the " common file," and the response is hearty and immediate. 104. O, me alone! Make you a sword of me? This line has been variously interpreted by different editors. The best interpretation seems to be that of Wright, who says : " Coriolanus is taken by surprise at the eagerness with which the soldiers rush forward in answer to his appeal. Instead of waving their swords as he had directed, they make a sword of him. In- stead of volunteers coining 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, Scene VIII.] NOTES 217 ' Make you a sword of me? ' brandish me as if I were a sword? " 112. As cause will be obeyed. As occasion shall de- mand. 113. Four. Four subordinate officers whom he will choose to select a party from the volunteers. 117. You shall divide, etc. Cominius supplements the emotional appeal of Coriolanus with more practical assurances. Compare the promise of Cassius to An- tony in Julius Ccesar, III, i, 177-178 : " Your voice shall be as strong as any man's In the dispensing of new dignities." Scene VII. 1. Ports. Portals or gates. 4. Centuries.. Companies of a hundred men. Scene VIII. The difficulty of effective^ representing a battle on the stage is very great. Shakespeare's method of doing so is to give us glimpses of the action at those parts of the battlefield where some important incidents are taking place. This helps us to get the effect of the bustle and excitement incident to a battle, it keeps us informed of how the battle is progressing, and it creates for us the impression of the passing of time. In Scene viii, the dramatist finally brings together the two lead- ing antagonists in personal conflict and focuses our attention on them solely. 218 NOTES [Act I. Ancient dramatists did not attempt to represent a, battle on the stage, but had some character, sometimes a messenger, sometimes a participant, relate the story of the battle after it was over. Because the audience was required to draw too much on the imagination, that method was hardly as effective as Shakespeare's. 6. Fame and envy. Plutarch says, " Tullus did . . . malice and envy him." Some editors, however, construe this expression as an example of hendiadys, and, therefore, to mean, "envied (or hated) fame." Cf. "horn and noise," Act III, Sc. i, 1. 138. 10. Holloa. Cry hollo ! after me, pursue. 15. Wrench up. Screw up, exert. Cf. Macbeth, Act I, Sc. vii, 1. 60. " But screw your courage to the sticking place." 17. Bragged progeny. Boasted ancestors. The Romans believed themselves to be descendants of the Trojans, of whom Hector was the bravest or " the whip." 20. Officious . . . seconds. These words are ad- dressed to his supporters and show his extreme anger at being defeated, especially with superior numbers on his side. They may be freely paraphrased thus : " Officious, but not valiant, 'in your interference, you have shamed me by seconding me in such a weak manner." Scene IX. The action of this scene is placed by Shakespeare upon the day of the battle so that we may observe Scene IX.] NOTES 219 Coriolanus more closely when the excitement of the battle has passed. He refuses the rewards commonly coveted by soldiers of his time, and can hardly contain his scorn for those who fight for spoil. He is a typical product of militarism, even in his pretended magna- nimity. 5. Shrug. That is, incredulously. 7. Gladly quaked. Glad to be made to quake. 9. Fusty. Mouldy. From O. F. fuste, tasting of the cask. On what syllable is plebeians accented in this line? 13. Morsel. " The fight with Aufidius is but a trifle compared with the taking of Corioli." 19. Charter. Privilege, right. 24. Hath overta'en mine act. "He that hath accomplished his object, has done just as much as I." Is this speech of Coriolanus to be taken as sincere, or does it indicate a subtler pride in that he does not wish them to consider such deeds as unusual ones for him to perform? 28. Traducement. Calumny, slander. 37. To hear. When they hear. 38. Should they not. That is, "should they not hear themselves remembered." 40. Tent themselves. Probe themselves. The meaning of 11. 38-40 is, "If they should not hear them- selves remembered, they might well fester because of ingratitude and refuse to be probed except by the probe of death." 220 NOTES [Act I. 48. Bribe. Coriolanus again shows his aversion to accepting a material reward for his services. His ideas of military conduct would not permit him to do so. 51-58. May these . . . the wars. This is the most perplexing passage in the play and, therefore, has been variously emended and explained. The reading here adopted is that of the First Folio, which seems to be the most satisfactory one. Hudson explains these lines thus : " Martius has been fighting in his country's cause (line 22), and deprecates bribery (line 48) and flattery, which only unfit the soldier for duty. When drums and trumpets on the field of battle shall prove flatterers, well may courts and cities be naught else. When steel loses its power (because the soldier's arm has become effeminate) then let the parasite (who accepts gifts and wins his way by flattery) take the place of the warrior in beginning wars." 56. Soothing. Flattery. 60. Debile. Weak. 63. In acclamations hyperbolical. With exaggerated applause. 64. Dieted. Fed up. 68. Give you truly. " Estimate your virtues cor- rectly." 70. Proper. His own. 74. Garland. Probably meaning not the crown of laurel, but merely honor. 80. Addition. Title. Scene X.] NOTES 221 86. To undercrest. To wear as a crest. A phrase from heraldry, signifying that he would support Cominius's good opinion of him. 92. The best. The leading citizens of Corioli. Articulate. Enter into negotiations, arrange articles of peace. 99. Sometime lay. Lodged at a certain time. 106. Butcher. This extravagant remark on the part of Cominius shows how completely Coriolanus has won the hearts of the patricians. From the dramatic standpoint, the man to be released is not important, but the willingness of Cominius to grant even the slightest wish of Coriolanus is very significant. Scene X. This scene does not advance the action, but serves to keep Aufidius and the Volscians before us. Al- though the latter have been defeated, they will again play a large part in the life of the hero, and must there- fore be kept in mind. Besides, Aufidius's declaration of undying enmity arouses our sense of expectancy, and creates the necessary feeling of dramatic suspense. 6. Be that I am. Be satisfied to be a defeated man. 7. Good condition. In the double sense of good terms and good character. The pun is ironical. 14. Mine emulation, etc. Coleridge made the following comment on these words : "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 ; 222 NOTES [Act II. although I cannot in myself discover any germ of pos- sible 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 after-change in Aufidius's character." 15. Where. Whereas. 18. Or wrath or craft may get him. " So that either my wrath or my craft may get him." 26. Embarquements. Restraints, hindrances. 29. Upon my brother's guard. With my brother as his guard. 30. The hospitable canon. The sacred law of hos- pitality. 36. Attended. Waited for. 38. The city mills. A bit of detail added by Shake- speare and of which there is no mention in Plutarch, but which adds " an air of truth." There were mills close to the Globe Theatre. 38-40. Let me hear the condition of things that I may adapt my course accordingly. Act II. The chief purpose in the second act is to reveal more fully the ingrained weaknesses of the character of Coriolanus by placing him in situations where they will at once become apparent. Just as the first act showed us his nobility of character when he defended Scene L] NOTES 223 his country and its people against the aggression of a foreign foe, so this act discloses his lack of sympathy for one class of people in the state, and his inability to understand their viewpoint when domestic problems call for solution. These deficiencies have been hinted at before, but they are now fully revealed when Corio- lanus essays the difficult role of politician. Although he tries to hide his sovereign contempt for the plebeians for the time being, his overweening pride soon asserts itself, and, in canvassing for the consulship, he soon loses by his arrogant manner and his surly language the temporary popularity which he had gained by his bravery. Scene I. This scene serves to prepare the way for the transi- tion from military to civil affairs. We are informed of the state of affairs in Rome now that the war is over, and are shown the contrast between the welcome which Coriolanus receives from the patricians and that which is given him by the plebeians. Adherents of autocratic rule have always resorted to wars to pacify the masses, whether the latter have demanded bread or a larger share in the government. The Roman patricians followed this traditional custom with the usual result, — they have smothered, but not extin- guished, the fires of discontent. The hostility between the two classes is as irreconcilable as that between the tribunes and Coriolanus. 224 NOTES [Act II. 25. Censured. Estimated, regarded. 26. The right-hand file. The 'place of honor to military men has always been the right of the line, and accordingly, a captain always placed his choicest and best men in the right-hand files of his company. A file in the sixteenth century consisted of ten men. Menenius here refers to the patricians. Cf . " The common file," Act I, Sc. vi, 1. 61. 32. A very little thief of occasion. Any trifling provocation. 40. Single. Simple, insignificant. A play on the word. 42-44. Survey of your good selves. " With an allusion to the fable, which says that every man has a bag hanging before him in which he puts his neigh- bour's faults, and another behind him in which he stows his own." — Johnson. 50 ff . With a feeling of infinite superiority, Mene- nius admits his imperfections, but implies that they are merely those which any man of good breeding is apt to have. He prides himself on being a good fellow, a bon vivant, a hale fellow well met whose code of prin- ciples could naturally not be understood by such com- moners as the tribunes are. That he may impress upon them more effectively the fact that they are men of lesser degree, he uses as high-sounding language as he can command. Neither his irony nor his sarcasm, however, has much effect on the tribunes, as can be seen from Brutus's reply in 11. 87-89. Scene I.] NOTES 225 50. Humorous. Full of whims or humors. 52. Allaying. Cooling, diluting. 52 ff . Said to be, etc. Menenius seems merely to suggest that this is the worst fault the populace finds in him. 54. Motion. Occasion. 58. Wealsmen. Statesmen. Used in an ironical sense. Lycurguses. Lycurgus was the renowned law- giver of Sparta. What figure? 62. The ass in compound with. So much stupidity mixed with. 67. Map of my microcosm. Face. Elizabethans spoke of man as the microcosm, and the universe as the macrocosm. 69. Bisson conspectuities. Purblind powers of sight. 72. We know you well enough. The inference seems to be, we know your character as well as your reputa- tion and we do not think too highly of either. This seems to irritate Menenius, — something which always happens when his specious remarks do not prove con- vincing. 75. For poor knaves' caps and legs. To have poor knaves doff their caps and bow to you. 77. You wear . . . fosset-seller. These lines refer to Elizabethan, and not to Roman customs. Magis- trates in Shakespeare's day heard lawsuits, but not so the tribunes. An orange-wife was a woman who sold oranges on the street. A fosset-seller was a vender of faucets or taps for wine casks. Q 226 NOTES [Act II, 77. Rejourn. Adjourn. 81. Mummers. The absurdly masked actors in a masquerade or in a Christmas play. 82. Set up the bloody flag. Declare war. The red flag was a signal for battle even as the white flag was a sign of peace. 89. Perfecter . . . than a necessary, etc. Brutus here hints that even the patricians do not attach any weight to the opinions of Menenius. Notice how this angers him, especially because he wants the com- moners to be impressed by his abilities as a statesman. 95. Botcher. A mender of old clothes. 96. Ass's pack saddle. Menenius chooses the poorest kind of saddle for the figure. 99. Since Deucalion. That is, "since the days of Deucalion, the Greek Noah." 100. God-den. Good even, a contraction of "God give you good even." 102. Being. That is, "you being." 113. Take my cap, Jupiter. Menenius's mood, which had immediately changed at the sight of the women, because they belong to his class, now becomes one of exaltation. He forgets his dignity and throws his cap to Jupiter, the god of the sky. 126. Galen. An anachronism. Galen, a celebrated Greek physician, was born in 131 a.d. Empiricutic. Quackish (probably a coined word) . 136. The oaken garland. Cf. I, iii, 16. 142. Fidiused. Facetiously coined from " Au-fidius." Scene I.] NOTES 227 144. Possessed of. Informed of. 147. Name. Credit, honor. 155. Pow, wow. Pooh, pooh ! What is Volumnia's feeling towards her daughter-in-law? 163. Place. The consulship. 166. Nine that I know. Menenius does some add- ing also and corrects Volumnia. 175-178. Death . . . men die. "This ranting couplet is probably an actor's interpolation." — Hud- son. 175. Nervy. Sinewy. Stage Direction. Sennet. A set of notes played on a trumpet as a signal for the approach or departure of a procession. 194. Deed-achieving honour. Honour from deeds achieved. 197. My gracious silence. Clarke's comment is worth quoting : " This name for his wife, who, while all the others are receiving him with loud rejoicings, meets and welcomes him with speechless happiness looking out from swimming eyes, is conceived in the very fulness of poetical and Shakespearian perfection. It comprises the gracefulness of the beauty which distinguishes her, and the gracious effect which the muteness of her love-joy has upon him who shrinks from noisy applause and even from merely expressed approbation ; and it wonderfully concentrates into one felicitous word the silent softness that characterizes Virgilia throughout. She is precisely the woman — 228 NOTES [Act II. formed by nature gentle in manner, and rendered by circumstances sparing in speech — to inspire the fond- est affection in such a man as Coriolanus." 216. Crab-trees. That is, the tribunes. 219. A nettle. Menenius classes the tribunes with obnoxious weeds which one must accustom one's self to seeing but which should not be permitted to be a source of annoyance. 222. Ever, ever. May be taken to mean a hearty assent to the words of Cominius or "ever the same Menenius." 229. Change of honours. Different honors, new honors. 231. Inherited. Realized, obtained. 237. Sway. Bear sway. This remark should be borne in mind, for it is prophetic of the eventual downfall of Coriolanus. In the moment of his greatest triumph, he admits his lack of sympathy with those who alone can give him the further honors which his mother covets for him. Note, also, that even when he seems most secure, the tribunes are laying plans to bring about his downfall. 242. Rapture. Fit. 243. Chats him. Gossips about him. Malkin. a wench ; probably a contraction of Mathilda. 244. Lockram. A cheap, coarse linen. Reechy. Dirty (literally, smoky). 245. Bulks. The projecting parts of a shop on which goods were exposed for sale. Scene I.] NOTES 229 248. Horsed with variable complexions. Be- stridden by people of all sorts. 249. Seld-shown flamens. Seldom-seen priests. 251. Vulgar station. A standing-place among the people of the lower class. 253. Nicely-gawded. Daintily bedecked. 254. Pother. Uproar. 258. On the sudden. That is, in his sudden rise to favor. 262. Transport. Bear, carry. The meaning of these hues is, "He cannot bear his honors throughout his whole course without giving offence, but will lose even those which he has won." 276. The napless vesture of humility. Plutarch says of this custom : " 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 underneath, to pray the citizens to remember them at the day of election; which was thus devised, either to move the people the more, by requesting them in such mean apparel, or else because they might show them their wounds they had gotten in the wars in the service of the Commonwealth, as manifest marks and testimonies of their valiantness." 288 As our good wills. " Either (1) ' as our dis- positions towards him are ' or (2) ' as our advantage requires.' " 291. For an end. To bring matters to a crisis. 230 NOTES [Act II. 293. Still. Always, constantly. To's power. To the fullest extent of his power. 298. Dispropertied their freedoms. Robbed their freedom of its qualities, made it no freedom. 299. Provand. Provender, food. 306. Put upon't. Incited to it. 315-317. Matrons . . . handkerchers. An Eng- lish custom during the days of chivalry, not a Roman one. 324. Hearts for the event. Courage to face the outcome. 325. Have with you. A common idiom equivalent to " I'll go with you." Scene II. Coriolanus now rapidly approaches the parting of the ways. Although the tribunes do not conceal their hostility towards him, he has, nevertheless, two impor- tant factors to aid him in his candidacy for the consul- ship, — the admiration and good-will of the Senate, and the popular acclaim given a successful general. An excellent opportunity is now afforded him of re- gaining and retaining a safe place in the affections of the common people, but he at once shows his instinc- tive dislike to asking the plebeians for any favor what- soever. As he regards the method of canvassing as humiliating, and as his attitude towards the people has apparently undergone no change, we cannot expect his canvassing to advance his fortunes. Scene II.] NOTES 231 The action of this scene follows closely after that of the preceding one, sufficient time having elapsed for ambassadors from Corioli to reach Rome. 6. Vengeance proud. Immoderately proud or proud with a vengeance. 15. In. Of, concerning. 19. Waved. Would waver. 23. Discover him their opposite. Reveal him as their opponent. 24. Affect. Desire, seek. 30-32. Bonneted . . . report. Took off their caps and bonnets to them but failed to do anything further to win their esteem and good opinion. Plutarch, in comparing Alcibiades with Coriolanus, says concern- ing this point : " He is less to be blamed, that seeketh to please and gratify the common people than he that despiseth and disdaineth them, and therefore offereth them wrong and injury, because he would not seem to flatter them, to win the more authority." 41. Having determined of the Volsces. Having come to a decision concerning the Volsces. 44. Gratify. Requite. 49. Well-found. Fortunately met with. 55-57. Make us . . . stretch it out. "Make us think rather that the state's means to fittingly reward him for his services are defective, than that our desire to use them for such a purpose is lacking." 60. Your loving motion, etc. " Your kind inter- oosition with the common people." 232 NOTES [Act II. 62. Convented. Convened, assembled. 63. Treaty. Proposal tending to an agreement. 67. Blessed. Happy, glad. 70. Off. "Off the subject." Menenius is in- censed at the tribunes for not submissively doing what they are directed to do. 87. Disbench'd. Caused you to leave your bench. This remark indicates that Coriolanus had taken his seat, although the stage-direction at his entrance states that he remained standing. The stage-direction for 1. 78 is given in the Folios, as, " Coriolanus rises, and offers to go away." It must, therefore, be assumed that he sat down soon after Menenius began to speak. 91. Soothed. Flattered. 93. Weigh. Are worthy. Coriolanus proudly as- serts his indifference to the opinion of Brutus and his followers. 98. Monster'd. Exaggerated, made extraordinary. 99. Masters. Is his use of this term sincere? Cf. 1. 58. 101. That's . . . one. Of whom not one in a thousand is a good one. 112. Singly. By any single man. 113. Made a head for Rome. Raised an army to attack Rome. 116. Amazonian chin. A chin as beardless as that of an Amazon. 120. On Ms knee. That is, so that Tarquin fell on his knees. Scene II.] NOTES 233 121. Act the woman, etc. That is, young enough to play the parts of women on the stage. On the Eliza- bethan stage, female parts were always played by men. 124. Man-enter' d thus. Thus passed into that of manhood. 126. Lurched. Robbed, deprived. 129. Speak him home. Describe his deeds as they deserve. 134. Took. Took effect. 137. Mortal. Fatal, deadly. 138. Painted with shunless destiny. Hudson ob- serves " plague-stricken houses were painted with a red cross, but there may be here a reminiscence of Exo- dus xii, 22-23." 140. Struck .... planet. An allusion to the astro- logical belief that adverse planets had a harmful influ- ence upon human destiny. Perhaps the dramatist also had in mind the picture of a city destroyed by thunder- bolts or meteors. 143. Fatigate. Fatigued. 150. With measure. " That is, no honour will be too great for him ; he will show a mind equal to any elevation." — Johnson. Some editors point to this as an example of dramatic irony, because the honors to which the Senator refers are those which cause his eventual downfall. 156. Misery. Wretchedness, poverty. It is worth noticing that this eulogy by Cominius is the last summing up of the virtues of the hero. Henceforth, 234 NOTES [Act II. his weaknesses and deficiencies appear with increasing rapidity. 158. To end it. For the sake of spending it thus. 165. Still. Always. Coriolanus is quite willing to place his services at the command of the patricians, but in his following speech, he again shows his strong aversion to asking any favors of the plebeians. 170. Custom. Candidates for office in ancient Rome whitened their togas with pipe-clay to make a good appearance, and stood in the Forum dressed in this toga only. They did not appear, however, in poor and worn garments as Shakespeare seems to indicate in the phrase, " the napless vesture of humility," in II, i, 1. 276, nor did they " stand naked." 174. Pass. Pass by, omit. 176. Must have their voices. Must have the privi- lege of voting. The tribunes at once seize the oppor- tunity to put Coriolanus into a false position. 181. Your form. The form (formality) which you must go through. 190. Do not stand upon't. Do not object to it so stubbornly. 191. We recommend to you . . . our purpose to them. We commit to you the announcing of our purpose to them. 198. Require them. Make his request of them. Scene III.] NOTES 235 Scene III. In this scene, Coriolanus quite alienates the affections of the plebeians, — the first of several blunders which finally cause his banishment. Haughty in his bearing, insolent and ironical in his speech, he proves himself totally unfitted for the office to which he aspires. His lack of sympathy with the commoners and his lack of self-control, both of which were partly re- vealed in the previous scenes, are now made evident with such clarity that the people cannot help but be resentful. Hence, they readily fall in with the schemes of the wily tribunes. We necessarily feel that the troubles of Coriolanus, instead of being practically ended as he assumed, have in reality just begun. 1. Once. Once for all. 16. Once. Once when. 18. Many-headed multitude. An allusion to the Hydra and its nine heads, which was slain by Hercules. 21. Auburn. Some editors retain ' abram,' the reading of the first three Folios, but most modern edi- tors follow the reading of the fourth Folio. Both words mean practically the same. 25. Consent of. Agreement about. 39. You may, you may. You may chaff me as much as you please. 44. Gown of humility. Cf . II, i, 1. 276. 48. By particulars. To each of us separately. 68. Virtues ... by 'em. The virtues which our 236 NOTES [Act II. divines preach to them, but which are wasted because the people neglect to practise them. The reference was evidently to the Elizabethan clergy. 71. Wholesome. Reasonable, suitable. 88. To ask it kindly. The First and Second Citizens are open-minded and easily impressed, but the Third Citizen seems to be an especial source of annoyance to Coriolanus. 91. In private. Coriolanus considers it very vulgar to exhibit his wounds in public, or to have anyone think that he attached any importance to them. 95. Adieu. No sooner had he obtained the neces- sary pledge than he deliberately walked away. He plainly shows his intense distaste for the whole per- formance. The citizens are astonished, and seem to regret their ready acquiescence. 101. Customary. Coriolanus enters into the form of the ceremony, but not into the spirit of it. 110. Sworn brother. Shakespeare frequently refers to the fratres jurati of the Middle Ages, who swore to share each other's fortunes. 112. Condition. Disposition. 115. Be off. That is, be off with my cap, doff it. 124. Seal. Confirm. 131. Woolvish toge. " Rough, hirsute gown." — Johnson. 133. Needless vouches. Needless attestations. Coriolanus still fails to see the need of these "vouches" when, as he thinks, the Senate has already chosen him as consul. Scene III.] NOTES 237 141. Moe. More. 145. Your voices, etc. A speech of irony, but not so understood by the people. The needless repetition of voices, the thinly-veiled sneer in heard of, and the mocking insinuation in some less, some more, are all intentional bits of burlesque, which fortunately pass over the heads of his simple-minded hearers. 157. Limitation. Required time. 160. Official marks. The insignia of the consular office. 166. Upon your approbation. For the purpose of confirming your election. 186. May deserve your loves. Brutus appears to be disgruntled because the people, contrary to instruc- tions from the tribunes, have chosen Coriolanus. It is Sicinius who perceives that the situation is still hope- ful, and who encourages the citizens to believe that they have been flouted. 203. Aged custom. An error by the dramatist, as the consulship had been established only eighteen years before. 218. Charters. Rights, privileges. 219. Weal. State, commonwealth. Arriving. Ar- riving at. 230. Touch'd. Tested, as by a touchstone. 233. Cause. Occasion. 234. Gall'd. A metaphor pertaining to a horse of high spirits. 240. Free. Open. 238 NOTES [Act III. 246. Rectorship. Against the guidance of your judgment. 252. Deny him yet. The Third Citizen, whom Coriolanus disliked from the first, sees a way to fore- stall the latter even now. " This is a point," Chambers says, " to which the tribunes wished to bring the people without themselves appearing to suggest it. The] ' confirmation ' is apparently the formal voting by tribes which followed the open acceptance of the candidate in the market-place, just as in a modern election the voting by ballot follows the show of hands at a nomination." 265. Enforce. Lay stress on. 267. Humble weed. The garment which signified humility. 270. Portance. Bearing, demeanor. 295. This arrangement of these lines, which have caused so much trouble to editors, is that adopted most widely by modern editors. 302. Scaling. Weighing, comparing. 306. Purring on. Instigation. 308. Drawn your number. " Assembled those who think as you do." — Hudson. j 313. This mutiny, etc. It would be better to hazard this mutiny than to wait for a greater one which would undoubtedly come. 317. Anger. Take advantage of the opportunity which his anger will afford. Scene I.] NOTES Act III. 239 Having antagonized the plebeians, Coriolanus now commits the still graver blunder of turning against the patricians as well. With characteristic obtuseness, he does not seek for the cause of his predicament within himself, but places the blame upon his friends who have yielded to the demands of the commoners on previous occasions. Too short-sighted to realize the inevitable consequences of his haughty bearing during the can- vassing, and underestimating the power and influence of the tribunes, he believes himself assured of election at the opening of the act ; but, by the end of the act, he has succeeded in turning all classes against himself, and is exiled in disgrace. The complication is com- pleted and the climax, or turning point of the action, occurs in the third scene of this act, 11. 87-143. Scene I. The reference to Aufidius and the Volscians at the opening of this scene is intended to remind us that though they have suffered a defeat, they are still to be reckoned with. The remainder of the scene concerns itself with the astute manner in which the tribunes bait Coriolanus until he exposes his real self. Refusing to profess an interest in, or a sympathy for, the com- moners which was totally foreign to him, but which his fellow-patricians considered it both prudent and necessary publicly to avow, he is cleverly tricked 240 NOTES [Act III. into a passionate outburst against the plebeians, and finally ends with an attack upon his own friends. The attempts of Menenius to save the situation delay mat- ters temporarily, but hardly presage a satisfactory solution of the difficulties. 2. Made new head. Raised a fresh army. 5. Our swifter composition. Our arranging of terms more swiftly than we had expected. 15. On safe-guard. With a guard to protect him. 27. To hopeless restitution. Beyond all hope of restitution. 31. Ironical. " Coriolanus does not know how soon he will go to Antium, nor what his cause to seek Aufidius will be." 36. Prank them. Deck themselves (used contemp- tuously). 37. Against all noble sufferance. Beyond the en- durance of the nobility. 53. Now. At one time. 71. Sithence. Since then. 75. To better yours. To surpass you in sharpness. Coriolanus has become doubly enraged through the suspicion that the tribunes have deliberately stirred up the people to oppose his election. At first, they are evasive when he charges them with doing so, but now Brutus openly admits the truth of the accusation. Of the two tribunes, it is Brutus who despises Corio- lanus the most ; however, the latter appears to hate one tribune as much as he does the other. As his next Scene I.] NOTES 241 speech shows, he considers the office of tribune one that would reduce any man to a degraded position. 80. That. That is, the arrogance of the patrician. 86. Him. Brutus. 88. Abused. Deceived. 91. Dishonoured rub. Dishonourable impediment. In the game of bowls, which is played on a smooth grass plot, any slight unevenness or "rub" will deflect the bowl from its true course. Shakespeare's meta- phors frequently refer to sports and games. 101. Behold themselves. " Let them look in the mirror which I hold up to them, a mirror which does not flatter, and see themselves." — Johnson. Coriolanus, in spite of the urgent protests of his fellow-patricians, breaks forth into a tirade in the exact manner that the tribunes had foreseen. Their plans have borne fruit, and the entanglement now in- creases rapidly. He not only reiterates his contempt for the people, but even blames his fellow-patricians for yielding to the plebeians at an earlier time. 103. Cockle. A weed among corn. 114. Measles. Scurvy wretches. The word orig- inally meant both leprosy and lepers. 115. Tetter. Infect with tetter, a disease of the skin. 119. Of their infirmity. As weak as- they. 130. Triton. The trumpeter of the sea, who by his blast upon a sea shell could stir or calm the waves. 132. From the canon. Some editors interpret this to mean "according to rule" or, in other words, that R 242 NOTES [Act III. the tribunes had the authority indicated by Sicinius's use of ' ' shall ' ' ; others, however, explain it as meaning "contrary to the canon," — that is, contrary to the powers granted to the tribunes. Sicinius's speech in Scene hi, 11. 18-25, of this act supports the latter opinion. 136. Hydra. The plebeians. Cf . II, iii, 18. 138. The horn and noise. Hendiadys, meaning "the noisy horn." 142. Vail. Let fall, lower. The meaning is, "If he have power, then let your ignorance, which gave it to him, lower itself before him." 143. Dangerous lenity. Mildness dangerous to you. 145. Cushions by you. Seats near you (i.e. in the Senate) . 149. The great' st taste. The predominant flavor. 154. Greece. The Greek cities were pure democra- cies. 159. Take the one by the other. Destroy each other's power. 162. Give forth corn . . . gratis. We are led to infer that the distribution of corn referred to happened at an earlier date and was opposed by Coriolanus However, Plutarch says that it occurred after Corio- lanus's rejection as consul. 174. Our recompense. A reward from us. 178. Thread. File through one by one. 184. Native. Origin, source. Some editors have suggested "motive." Scene I.] NOTES 243 186. Bosom multiplied. " The bosom of that many- headed monster, the people." Some modern editors substitute here, "bisson multitude," i.e. "the blind multitude." The reading here adopted is that of the Folios because there seems to be no need for emenda- tion. The word "bosom" as the seat of the feelings is frequently used by Shakespeare. 187. Let deeds, etc. " Let their past and present deeds be taken as an indication of what they are likely to say openly." 192. Call our cares fears. Attribute our anxiety for their welfare to fear. 199. Worship. Authority. Beyond. Gentry. Gentle birth. Come to a decision, agree upon 201. Without. 203. Conclude. terms. 206. Slightness 210. You, etc. Weakness. Barr'd. Thwarted. Coriolanus can not comprehend the leniency of the patricians, and now proposes that while there is yet time, they should retrieve their errors by abolishing the tribunate. He is a warrior, not a poli- tician, and hence believes in overcoming opposition to his views by sweeping measures. 212. Dread the change on't. Fear the change of it. 215. Jump. Risk, hazard. 219. Lick the sweet. That is, have the pleasure of interfering in state affairs. 221. Integrity. Oneness, wholeness. 244 NOTES [Act III. 229. Bald. Evidently an epithet of contempt meaning senseless, witless. 240. Aediles. Officers who assisted the tribunes. 244. Attach. Arrest. 266. Confusion. Ruin. 280. What is the city, etc. This question brings out the fundamental difference between the two classes and their representatives. The tribunes, as well as Coriolanus, consider that their class makes up the city, and out of this irreconcilable difference grow the pres- ent and future clashes. 289. Distinctly ranges. Stands upright and perfect 291. This. That is, the attack by Coriolanus on the rights and liberties of the plebeians. This speech has been given by some editors to Coriolanus, but most modern editors agree with Keightley's suggestion that he "is standing apart, in proud and sullen rage." 296. Present. Immediate. 298. The rock Tarpeian. A precipitous cliff from which criminals, especially traitors, were cast down. 334. Tent. Probe. 342. Worthy. Justifiable. 343. Will owe another. "This defeat will be com- pensated by a future success." 349. Beyond arithmetic. Beyond calculation. 352. Tag. The rabble. " The lowest and most despicable of the populace are still denominated by those a little above them, Tag, rag and bobtail." — Johnson. Scene I.] NOTES 245 356. I'll try, etc. Once again Menenius feels that it is time for him to step into the breech. He feels that diplomacy can regain what has been lost, and that with his "old wit" he can undoubtedly accomplish much. He fails to remember his former failures. 391. Cry havoc. Give the signal for merciless de- struction. " To • give to an army the order havoc [was] the signal for the seizure of spoil, and so of gen- eral spoliation or pillage." — Murray. 393. Warrant. Measures. 411. But one danger. " Nothing but a continual source of danger." — Hudson. Later events proved that the tribunes showed considerable political sagac- ity at this point. 416. Deserved. Deserving. 417. Jove's own book. The book of life. 430. Clean kam. Altogether wrong. " Kam " is of Celtic origin and means " crooked." 431. Merely. Absolutely, entirely. 434-435. The service, etc. This speech rightly be- longs to Menenius because it is a continuation of his argument, but several editors gave it to Sicinius. Malone explains the whole argument thus : " You allege 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 gan- grened. 'Is this just?' he would have added, if the tribune had not interrupted him." 443. Unscann'd. Inconsiderate. 246 NOTES [Act III. 445. Process. Legal methods. 455. Bolted language. Refined language. Bolting is the process of sifting the "meal" from the "bran." 466. Lay down your weapons. Sicinius consents to the proposal, but retains his superiority by naming Menenius as "the people's officer." He is still in control of the situation, and while yielding temporarily in a spirit of compromise, reminds the latter that he still holds the upper hand. Scene II. The issue of the struggle is now delayed to bring in a second time the powerful influence which Volumnia wields over her son. Deaf to the repeated admoni- tions of his other advisers, he is, however, completely submissive to his mother's advice and partially regains our respect by his promises to exercise tact and self- control in the future. This compliance with the wishes of his mother prepares us for the outcome of the dramatic conflict between Coriolanus and her in Act V, Scene hi, in which she saves Rome from capture. 3. Death on the wheel, etc. " Shakespeare may have been thinking of his own time, but he was evi- dently acquainted with the classics. Punishment on the wheel is suggested in the Greek myth of Ixion, although apparently not used in ancient Rome. Tul- lus Hostilius had Metius Suffetius torn to pieces by horses (Aeneid, VIII, 642), which Livy informs us was Scene II.] NOTES 247 the only instance of such punishment in Roman history down to the end of the Republic." — Hudson. Such punishments were common during the Middle Ages. 5. Precipitation. Precipitousness, sheerness. 6. Beam of sight. The range of sight. 11. Woolen vassals. A contemptuous slur at the coarse clothing of the working people. 12. Groats. Fourpences. 14. Ordinance. Order, rank. 23. Let go. Let it go, let us have done with it. 31. Burn too. This remark seems inconsistent with Volumnia's preceding counsel, but must be considered as an outburst of her real feelings, which prudence warns her must not appear at the present time. Cf. 11. 9-15 above. 39. Apt. Amenable, docile. 53. Absolute. Uncompromising, arbitrary. 70. Force. Urge. 71. It lies you on. It is incumbent upon you. 75. Roted. Learned by rote. 77. Of no allowance, etc. That is, not acknowl- edge as true in your bosom. 80. Put you to your fortune. Compel you to risk the fortunes of war. 84. I am in this. I am at stake in this. 88. Inheritance. Possession, obtaining. 89. That want. The want of their "loves." 96. Thus far. Volumnia lowers it to the ground. 248 NOTES [Act III. 98. Bussing. Kissing. 113-114. For they have pardons, etc. " To win their pardons costs no more than to speak idle words to them." — Hudson. 131. Unbarb'd sconce. Bare or unarmed head. A barb was an armour for the breast and the flanks of a war horse. 134. Plot. My own person, body. This speech is to arouse in us a momentary sympathy for the leading character. 150. Quired with. Sounded in harmony with. 153. Tent. Encamp, lodge as in a tent. 162. Inherent. Abiding, i.e. one that will remain. 165. Than thou of them. Than for thee to beg of them. 166. Feel thy pride. Endure all that thy pride may bring upon us. 175. Cog. Cheat, cozen. 187. The word. Pass-word, watch-word. Scene III. The supreme moment is now at hand. Coriolanus can retrieve his past blunders if self-mastery can triumph over passion and aristocratic prejudice long enough to convince the people that a change in his attitude has really taken place. The element of sus- pense is thus introduced again, and we await the result of the new test with considerable trepidation. For, as one editor says, "he is not a fine enough man to Scene III.] NOTES 249 meet the people with a real humility ; too fine to per- severe in his affected one." The accusations which he expected and which he was prepared to refute are not made, but in their stead the tribunes bring forth new ones, which because of their injustice arouse his extreme anger. So that when they openly call him traitor, all his pent-up hatred bursts forth, and his doom is sealed. Brandes, the Danish critic, thinks that this fierce tirade proves that Shakespeare looked upon treason as an unpardonable crime. 4. Enforce him with his envy. Charge him with his hatred. Envy. Hatred, malice. 5. Spoil got on the Antiates. Plutarch says that Coriolanus took great spoil in some forays against the Antiates, that took place after the siege, but that he reserved none for himself. Such an obviously unjust accusation, Coriolanus will hardly be able to overlook. 14. By the poll. By the head, individually. 16. Tribes. The voting in each tribe (a division of the Romans) was by counting heads, i.e. by the poll, but afterwards the tribes voted as a unit. Originally, there were only three tribes, but the number increased very much later on. 25. I' the truth o' the cause. In the justice of our cause. 30. Enforce. Urge. Present. Immediate. 37. Put him to choler. Stir him up to anger. 38. His worth. His full proportion. 40. Temperance. Self-control, self-restraint. 250 NOTES [Act III. 41-42. That is, etc. " And in him is that which seems likely, as we shall take advantage of it, to break his neck." 47. Bear the knave. Permit himself to be callea knave. 62. This present. The former charge, which he is now prepared to answer. 66. Allow. Acknowledge. 73. The holy churchyard. An anachronism. Why? 81. Envy you. Indicate malice toward you. Cominius, as a soldier, also dislikes to hear Menenius repeatedly referring to Coriolanus's wounds and making apologies for his military airs even though the wounds would win favor with the populace, and the apologies show tact. 85. The very hour. The very same hour. 91. Season' d office. " Established and settled by time, and made familiar to the people by long use." — Johnson. 98. Their traitor. A traitor to them. Coriolanus has not acuteness enough to see that he has been led into a trap and so loses his self-control just as the tribunes had expected. 99. Sat. Conditional use of subjunctive, "if there sat." 100. Clutched. Passive. "If there were clutched." 114. Capital. Deserving death. 126. Pent. The sentence of being confined. Used as an object of pronounce. Scene III.]' NOTES 251 129. Courage. Plain-speaking, not bravery, as he has not been accused of lacking that quality, nor is it consistent with his previous modesty for him to boast of his valor now. 133. Envied against. Cf. 11. 61-63 above. 135. Not. Not merely. 144-145. Cf. 11. 12-35. Why is the voting not by poll? 155. Estimate. Worth, reputation. 163. Cry. Pack. Realizing that his fortunes are irretrievably lost, Coriolanus gives vent to his real feelings without check. Hitherto, he has usually ex- pressed these frank opinions only in the presence of the patricians. 174. Making but reservation of yourselves. Many editors adopt the reading of Capell, who substituted " not " for " but." The meaning, however, is clear without the change. Coriolanus reminds the people that although the plebeians may retain the power to banish their defenders, even as they do him, the time will eventually come when their stupidity, which can see no peril until it actually feels it, will keep only themselves, their own worst foes, in the city ; so that, lacking any real leaders, they will probably be cap- tured without blows by soime nation, and led away as humiliated captives. 176. Abated. Down-trodden, beaten-down, humil- iated. 179. A world elsewhere. This remark looks forward 252 NOTES [Act IV. to future action. He still wants to emphasize the fact that he is not dependent upon their ungrateful and fickle plaudits. In 1. 167, he has plainly told them that he is doing the banishing, not they. 182. Hoo ! hoo ! " After declaration of the sen- tence, 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." — Plutarch. 185. Vexation. Mortification. The term had a stronger meaning than it has now. Note how the tribunes glory in their triumph. Act IV. When Coriolanus defiantly shouts to the mob which is insistently calling for his banishment (III, hi, 177-179) " Despising, For you, the city, thus I turn my back : There is a world elsewhere," it is obvious that he is not a broken or crushed man, but one who feels that he, and not the people, is doing the banishing, and who already has a scheme in mind, not fully formed perhaps, whereby he will still conquer his fate. We have already been led to feel that his misfortune is not wholly deserved because of the false charges Scene I.] NOTES 253 made against him. Our sympathy for him is still further elicited in the first three scenes of this act. In a dignified and unassuming manner, he takes his soli- tary departure, and we are ready to share the righteous wrath of Volumnia when she attacks the craven trib- unes. In the third scene, the Volscians are again brought in. This time, however, they are no more possible aggressors, but very probable ones as soon as the least sign of weakness appears in Rome. In the fourth scene we hear for the first time what plan of revenge Coriolanus has been concocting, and in the fifth we see him taking the initial step in execut- ing it. So daring has been the plan that it excites our interest and introduces an element of suspense as to both its wisdom and its chances of success. And even when Coriolanus and Aufidius become reconciled, and the latter even offers the former a share in the command of the new armies, we cannot help but feel uneasy about the future of our hero. That our fears are not ground- less is shown by Scene vii, for here we see Aufidius regretting his generosity, and pondering with jealous emotions upon the popularity of his rival and the reason therefor. Scene vi effectively pictures the consternation in Rome when the news of Coriolanus 's alliance with the Volscians becomes known. This scene is well placed because the audience knows what is about to befall Rome. 254 NOTES [Act IV. Scene I. 7-8. When the sea, etc. Same metaphor used by Shakespeare in Troilus and Cressida, I, iii, 33 ff. 9-11. Being gentle wounded, craves a noble cun- ning. " To be gentle, although wounded, demands a noble philosophy." — Clarke. 14. O heavens ! O heavens ! Virgilia, after this single cry of anguish, remains silent during the re- mainder of this pathetic scene. 16. The red pestilence. " The bubonic plague, the name arising from the colored swelling, sometimes red, winch was one of its earliest signs." — Dor an. There were outbreaks of the plague in London in 1582 and in 1606. 20. Lacked. Missed. 29. Sometime. Former. Cominius is referred to. 33. Fond. Foolish. 34. Wot. Know. 38. His fen. His concealed retreat in the marshes. The Cambridge editor quotes Topsell, History of Ser- pents : "Of the Indian Dragons there are also said to be two kindes, one of them fenny, and living in marishes . . . the other in the mountains." 42. Cautelous. Crafty. 46. Exposture. Exposure. 48. O the gods ! Chambers suggests that " Corio- lanus suddenly realizes how the revenge, which is already beginning to shape itself in his mind, must inevitably Scene I.] NOTES 255 bring him into conflict with all that he holds most dear." 52. Repeal. Recall from exile. 61. Of noble touch. Of "touched" or tested nobility. Metals, especially gold, were tested or tried by the touchstone. Cf. II, iii, 230. 65. Like me formerly. In what sense does Corio- lanus mean this? Scene II. 19. The hoarded plague o' the gods. Cf. King Lear, II, iv, 164-165 : " All the stor'd vengeances of heaven fall On her ingrateful top ! " 29. Mankind. " The word mankind is used mali- ciously by the first speaker, and taken perversely by the second. A mankind woman is a woman with the roughness of a man, and, in an aggravated sense, a woman ferocious, violent, and eager to shed blood. In this sense Sicinius asks Volumnia if she be mankind. She takes mankind for human creature, and accordingly cries out, ' Note but this fool. Was not a man my father? ' " — Johnson. 32. Foxship. Cunning. The fox was also symboli- cal of ingratitude. 41. In Arabia. That is, in a land where they could fight to a finish. 49. The noble knot. That is, the noble tie that bound him to his country. 256 NOTES [Act IV. 65. Baited with. Worried by. The metaphor is from the sport of bear-baiting, in which dogs were made to bite the bear. 77. 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. Scene III. 5. Against 'em. Nicanor, who is a Roman, acts as a spy for the Volscians. 9. Favour. Countenance, look. Appeared. Ap- parent. The meaning of the clause is "your counte- nance is recalled to me by your voice." 32. Them. The Volscians. 36. He cannot choose. He cannot do otherwise, but he would prefer another combat with Coriolanus. 45. Distinctly billeted. Assigned to their respec- tive quarters. 46. In the entertainment. Engaged for service. Scene IV. 3. 'Fore my wars. To be joined with "groan" and "drop." 6. Wives. Women. 17. O world, thy slippery turns, etc. Coriolanus has not been given much to philosophizing before this. Is this speech intended to indicate a change in his character springing from his adversity? Scene V.] NOTES 257 23. Of a doit. About a doit ; i.e. about a mere trifle. 27. Take. Destroy. 28. Trick. Trifle. 30. Interjoin their issues. Rolfe's explanation is, " let their children intermarry." A rather remarkable explanation is that of Chambers, " unite their de- signs." 33. If he give me way. If he permits it. Scene V. 3. Cotus. A name not found in Plutarch. 7. Not like a guest. Coriolanus is still in disguise. 12. In being Coriolanus. In having obtained that name by capturing Corioli. 15. Companions. Fellows. 27. Avoid. Leave, get out of. 32. Poor. A play on words. The Servant uses "poor" in the sense of "inferior," Coriolanus uses the word in the usual sense. 37. Batten. Gorge yourself. Literal^, " fatten up." 43. Canopy. Cf. Hamlet, II, iii, 311-312 : "This most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament." 49. Daws. The daw was always considered a fool- ish bird. 53. Meddle with, etc. " Do you bring my master's name into the question? " 73. What's thy name. Is it probable that Aufidius s 258 NOTES [Act IV. would not recognize a man with whom he had fought so often? 84. Memory. Memorial. 89. Dastard nobles. Coriolanus's wrath against the nobles, which he had already shown, sprung from the fact that he felt he had been sacrificed by them in order to save the remnants of their power. 92. Hoop'd. Whooped, hooted. 98. Full quit of. Fully revenged upon. 100. A heart of wreak. A heart desiring vengeance. 103. Maims of shame. Shameful injuries. 108. Canker'd. Corrupted, polluted. Spleen. See note to I, i, 121. 123. Envy. Hatred. 127. Where against. Against which. 129. Scarr'd. Some editors change this hyperbole to scar'd, but Delius's quotation in defence of the Folio reading seems most satisfactory : "The ship boring the moon with her mainmast." — The Winter's Tale, III, hi, 93. Clip. Embrace. 130. The anvil of my sword. That is, he who re- ceived the blows of my sword as the anvil receives those of the hammer. 138. Bestride my threshold. Enter my house. 140. Power on foot. An army under way. 142. Out. Out and out, thoroughly. 159. Absolute. Perfect. 177. My mind gave me. My mind made me sus- pect. Scene V.] NOTES 259 191. You wot one. You know the one to whom I refer. 196. The greater soldier. From what follows, we can readily see that the servants agree that Coriolanus is the greater soldier, but the Second Serving-man does not deem it wise to say anything so definite that it would be derogatory to his master. 219. Scotched. Cut, gashed. Carbonado. " A piece of fish, flesh, or fowl, scored across and grilled or broiled upon the coals." — ■ Murray. 220. Cannibally given. Given or inclined to canni- balism. 225. Set at the upper end of the table. Figuratively, shown especial favor. In an Elizabethan mansion, the halls where the meals were served was furnished with an upper table capable of extension and known as a draw-top table. At this table the family sat, chairs being set for the master and mistress of the house, and stools for the younger members of the household and ordinary guests ; along the sides of the hall were ranged plain, long tables and forms for the servants and dependents. When guests could not find room at the high table, the upper ends of the side tables were used for their ac- commodation, a salt being placed where the distinction of class commenced. 228. Sanctifies . . . hand. Regards the touch of his hand as holy. 229. The white o' the eye. An expression of pious rapture. 260 NOTES [Act IV. 233. Sowl. Pull by the ears. A provincialism still used in some parts of England. 235. Poll'd. Bared, cleared (originally, cut the hair). 242. Directitude. Generally considered a humor- ous blunder for some word, probably decrepitude or discredited. 245. In blood. In good condition. 246. Conies. Rabbits. 258. Audible. Quick of hearing, alert. A passive adjective used in an active sense. Full of vent. This phrase has caused much discussion, and has been ex- plained in several ways. Some editors follow Baynes, who regards it as the hunting term, meaning "the scenting of the game " ; others follow Wright, who thinks that it is an allusion to the fermentation of wine, meaning "effervescent, working, ready to burst the cask," and as used antithetically with mulled, which means "insipid," "lifeless," a term used to refer to spiced or sweetened wine. Scene VI. 8. Pestering. Thronging, crowding to discomfort. 28. God-den. Good even. A shortened form of "God give ye good even." Cf. II, i, 100. 41. Confusion. Ruin. 46. Sole throne. The tribunes still contend that the charge made against Coriolanus in III, hi, 89-93 was the cause of his punishment, even though they knew it to be a false one. Scene VI.] NOTES 261 49. To all our lamentation. To the sorrow of all of us. 53. Safe and still. This expression of a feeling of unwarranted security helps to heighten the dramatic effect of what so rapidly follows. 55. Put in prison. " This touch, showing how in- credible the truth appeared, is perhaps the most ironi- cal thing in the scene." — Chambers. 62. Thrusts forth his horns. A figure from the snail. 63. Stood. Stood as its defender. 76. Information. Informant. 87. His raising. "It is a rumor invented by him." 91. Delivered. Reported. 96-97. As spacious . . . thing. "As boundless in extent as from the beginning of time until the present." White's explanation is, " Revenge that shall embrace* all, from the youngest to the oldest." 101. Good. Used ironically. 104. Atone. Be at one, agree. 116. The city leads. The leaden roofs of the houses. 121. Whereon you stood. For which you contended so stubbornly. 122. Into an auger's bore. That is, into the small- est possible limits. 135. Apron-men. Artisans and trades-people wore aprons. 137. The voice of occupation. The vote of the working men. 138. The breath of garlic-eaters. The lower classes 262 NOTES [Act IV. of Shakespeare's day were evidently very fond of onions and garlic. Bottom, in Midsummer Night's Dream, IV, ii, 43, says to his fellow " mechanicals," " Most dear actors, eat no onions nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath." 141. Mellow fruit. An allusion to the golden apples of the Hesperides. 146. Smilingly. Smiling with scorn for your au- thority. 157. Charged. Would charge, or, in other words, implore him, as his enemies should do. 165. Made fair hands. Done fine work. 173. Clusters. Swarms of people, mobs. 176. Roar him in again. " As he went out with scoffs, he will come back with lamentations." — Johnson. 177. Second name. Second in renown after Corio- lanus. Points. Commands. Ordinarily, " a point of war " was a signal given by a trumpet. 182. And is Aufidius, etc. Menenius still seems only half convinced that his opinion expressed in 11. 103- 105 can be incorrect. 187. Coxcombs. " With a play on the word as applied to the fool's cap." 202. Cry. Pack of hounds. 213. So did we all. Here, as elsewhere, the com- moners are not willing to bear the blame for the results of their own actions. They show the evidences of the fickleness with which Shakespeare always characterizes the common people. Scene VII.] NOTES 263 Scene VII. 7. Your own. Your own soldiers. 16. For your particular. For your own part, as far as you personally are concerned. 22. What I can urge against him. What this charge may be, we never find out. It is sufficient to know that Aufidius has been laying plans to deprive Coriolanus of his popularity. 34-66. All places, etc. Of this passage Coleridge says, " I have always thought this the least explicable from the mood and the full intention of the speaker of any in the whole works of Shakespeare." Can you perceive any inconsistency? 40. Osprey. An allusion to the belief that the osprey had the power of fascinating fish so that they turned over on their backs, and became helpless prey. 43. Carry his honours even. " Carry his honours without losing his equilibrium." A figure from bal- ancing. 43-52. Whether 'twas pride, etc. " Aufidius as- signs three probable reasons of the miscarriage of Corio- lanus : pride, which easily follows an uninterrupted train of success ; unskillfulness to regulate the conse- quences 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. 264 NOTES [Act V. 44-45. Which . . . man. Which springing from continuous success always taints the good judgment of the fortunate man. 51. Garb. Manner. 53. Not all. Aufidius will not say that Coriolanus has any of these defects in full measure. Spices. Touches, samples. 55-56. But he . . . utterance. Aufidius suddenly breaks off in his enumeration of the faults of Coriolanus, and remarks, " But he has merit enough to make his accusers choke while mentioning his faults." 56 ff. So our virtues, etc. Whitelaw interprets the meaning of this passage as follows : " 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 space is seen, his fitness for war is not seen." 59. Evident. Certain. Chair. Curule chair, the seat of the magistrates. 61. One fire drives out one fire. "An allusion to the old idea of curing a burn by applying heat." — Hudson. 62. Fouler. Falter and founder have been proposed as emendations. Which seems to be preferable? Act V. The last act sets forth the tragic failure of the plan which had its inception in the previous act. The Scene I.] NOTES 265 ambitious plans of Coriolanus come to grief because he remained the same Coriolanus that he had always been. Change of environment had not been accom- panied by change of character, and, therefore, failure is inevitable. The first two scenes picture the dismay of the Romans because of the unsuccessful mission of Cominius, and the iron resolve which Coriolanus exhibits when Mene- nius with real humility makes his appeal. Thus, the stage is set for Volumnia, and the importance of her effort is naturally intensified by such a background. The third scene is without question the most dramatic and most powerful in the play. Here is a conflict of souls which is worthy of the master hand of the great dramatist. When the mother finally triumphs, we can look forward to the inescapable doom of the son. Scene I. 1. He. Cominius. 4. In a most dear particular. With a very close personal affection. 6. Knee. Make your way upon your knee. 7. Coy'd. Disdained. Look up the early meanings of this word. 20.' Rack'd. Strained to the utmost, exerted every effort. 21. To make coals cheap. A sneer at the efforts of the tribunes, for when Rome is burning, the demand for coals will cease. Memory. Memorial. 266 NOTES [Act V. 24. A bare petition. A mere petition. Coriolanus reminded Cominius that the state which had actually punished him had now the audacity to entreat for pardon for itself. 28. Offered. Tried, attempted. 33. Nose. Scent, smell. One poor grain, etc. Menenius is deeply surprised that Coriolanus could have so forgotten his personal friends. 41. So never-needed help. Help never needed so much as now. 45. Instant. Hastily collected or levied. 55. Grief-shot. Sorrow-stricken. 58-60. That thanks . . . well. Such thanks as are proportionate to your good intentions. 61-62. I'll undertake't, etc. Although Menenius is highly pleased to be urged to undertake the com- mission, he is, however, little pleased when he thinks of the very probable failure of it. Still as an epicure, he, in his usual short-sighted way, flatters himself that he can succeed where others have failed by taking Coriolanus after his dinner. 63. Hum. That is, say "hum" in a tone of scorn or contempt. 64. Taken well. Approached at an appropriate time ; that is, when he was in the right mood. 72. Be dieted to my request. That is, has eaten himself into a mood in which he will look at my request with favor. 78. Speed. Turn out, fare. Scene II.] NOTES 267 83. In gold. On a throne of gold. 84-85. His injury, etc. The wrong done him re- strains his pity. 90. What he . . . conditions. This passage seems incomplete, but no emendations have been offered which are altogether satisfactory. The meaning prob- ably is : What he agreed to do, he had set down in the written terms of surrender, and he bound us with an oath to yield to the conditions to which he refused to agree. Scene II. 15. Good my friends. My good friends. 17. Lots to blanks. " A thousand to one." — Murray. The lots are the prizes in a lottery ; the blank is nothing. However, the figure derives its force from the relative value of the two, and not the relative number. 18. It is Menenius. In his self-conceit, Menenius announces his name as if the very mention of it should serve as a countersign anywhere. 23. Lover. Loving friend. A term often used of close male friends. 26. Verified. Stood up for, or spoken the truth about. Whitelaw paraphrased 11. 26-31 as follows: " I have always spoken the truth about my friends' good acts — always the whole truth — sometimes perhaps a little more than the truth." 29. Subtle. Deceptively smooth. 268 NOTES [Act V. 30. Tumbled past the throw. Overshot the mark. 31. Stamp'd the leasing. Given untruth the stamp of good coin. Leasing. Falsehood. 40. Factionary on the party of your general. Tak- ing my stand in a quarrel on the side of your general. 54. Front. Confront. Easy. That is, easy to call up. 57. Dotant. Dotard : that is, one who is in his dotage or second childhood and is given to foolish affection. 69. Your half pint of blood. " All there is in an old man's veins." — Chambers. 74. Companion. A term of deprecation. Say an errand. Have you sent on an errand. 77. Jack guardant. A Jack on guard. The term Jack was often used contemptuously, while guardant was a heraldic term. The expression may be compared with the well-known phrase, " Jack in office." Office me. Use his office to keep me from. 78. Entertainment with. Reception from. 83. Synod. Assembly, council. 87. Water. That is, tears. Hardly. With diffi- culty. 99. Servanted to. Subject to. 100. Properly. As my own personal matter. The meaning of these lines is, " Though I possess the power to execute my revenge, the power to remit it remains with the Volscians." 101-103. That . . . much. "Ungrateful forgetful- Scene III.] NOTES 269 ness shall destroy our former familiarity rather than pity shall show how (great) it was." 112. Constant temper. Cf. I, i, 305. Does Aufidius see any signs of weakening in Coriolanus ? 116. Shent. Rebuked, reproved. 122. Slight. Insignificant, worthless. 123. By himself. By his own hands. 127. A noble fellow. The First Sentinel seems touched by the manner in which Menenius bears his repulse. Scene III. 4. plainly. Straightforwardly, without concealment. 14. godded. Idolized, made a god of. Noun used as a verb. 16. showed. Appeared. 18. To grace him. To do him honor. 29. But out, affection ! Note how Vehemently Coriolanus reaffirms his determination not to yield to any plea based on affection. Is this a sign that he fears he will? 36. Olympus. A mountain in Thessaly, where the gods were supposed to dwell. 47. Delivers. Shows. How does she misunder- stand him? 50. Am out. A technical phrase of the theatre, meaning "have forgotten my part." 51. Best of my flesh. Virgilia. 55. Jealous queen of heaven. Juno, who was ever 270 NOTES [Act V. jealous of Jupiter, and was supposed to punish conju- gal infidelity among mortals. 57. Virgin' d it. Been as a virgin. 68. Corrected. " Rebuked for his delay in greeting her." 70. Fillip. Strike, beat. What figure? Find other examples. 72. Murdering impossibility. Putting an end to the impossible. 78. Curdied. Congealed. 79. Dian's temple. The goddess of the moon, Diana, was always symbolical of modesty among the Romans. 80. This is a poor epitome, etc. This boy (mean- ing young Marcius), is yourself on a small scale. 83. The god of soldiers. Mars, the Roman god of war. 88. Sea-mark. Beacon. Flaw. Gust or storm. 90. Your knee. The boy had evidently not knelt when the women did so, but remains standing, and is commended here by his father for his show of spirit. In 1. 210, however, he does kneel. 98. The thing, etc. " What I have sworn not to grant cannot be held by you as refusals." — Hudson. 98. Capitulate. Treat with. 107. Fail in. Fail in granting. 115. Bewray. Betray, make known. 127. Capital. Deadly, fatal. 140. The palm. That is, the symbol of victory. Scene III.] NOTES 271 143. Determine. Come to an end, terminate. 180-184. Thou hast affected, etc. " Volumnia suggests that Coriolanus has brought Rome to her knees to save his honour, never meaning really to in- jure her, just as Jove when he thunders injures nothing more important than a tree." — Chambers. The "fine strains of honour" may be freely rendered as "the finest or loftiest impulses or aspirations of a man of honour." 193. Like one i' the stocks. Like one who has been shamed by being imprisoned in the stocks and can- not effect his release by mere words. 197. Has clucked thee. " Caius Martius, . . . being left an orphan by his father, was brought up under his mother, a widow." — Plutarch. 213. To. For. •Observe how Volumnia has appealed to her son's feeling of patriotism, to his reason, to his love of mother, wife, and child, to his sense of honor as a soldier, and now has recourse, just as the tribunes had done, to a palpably false charge. Appeals to his reason may have affected him, appeals to his feelings (perhaps ac- companied by tears) have doubtless moved him greatly, but it is the final act of disowning him that causes him to yield. 222. Unnatural. " The whole situation is unnatu- ral ; a Roman making war on Rome ; a mother pleading with her son for mercy; a conqueror melted by a woman." 272 NOTES [Act V. 227. Mortal. Used adverbially. 244. A former fortune. That is, regain such power as I had before I shared it with Coriolanus. 247. Drink together. Symbolical of peace and amity. 251. A temple. " Whereupon the Senate ordained that the magistrates, to gratify and honour these ladies, should grant them all they would require. And they only requested that they would build a temple of For- tune for the women." — Plutarch. This temple is said to have stood at the fourth milestone on the Via Latina, where the women met Coriolanus. Scene IV. I. Coign. Corner. 8. Stay upon. Wait for. II. Condition. Disposition. 20. Engine. That is, of war. 24. A thing made for. An image or statue made to represent Alexander. 26. Wants nothing of a god. Lacks nothing req- uisite to a god. 29. In the character. In his true character, as he really is. 33. Long of. Because of, through. 42. Hale. Haul, drag. 50. Expulsion of the Tarquins. For the part Coriolanus played in that episode, see Act II, Sc. ii, 11. 112-123. 56. A fine metaphor. Shakespeare may have derived Scene VI.] NOTES 273 it from the rapidity with which the Thames flowed through the arches of the London Bridge. 58-60. Hautboys. Wooden double-reed wind instru- ments of high pitch. Psalteries. Ancient and mediae- val stringed instruments, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or with a plectrum. Sackbut. A bass trumpet with a slide like that of a trombone for altering the pitch. Tabor. A small drum, used chiefly as an accompaniment for a pipe, for festive oc- casions. 61. Make the sun dance. It was a popular belief that the sun danced on Easter Sunday. 76. At point to enter. On the point of entering. Scene V. 6. Unshout. Nullify by shouts of welcome to his mother the tumult with which you banished Marcius. Referring to this celebration, Plutarch says : " There was not a temple in the city but was presently set open, and full of men wearing garlands 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 the ladies." Scene VI. Coriolanus has finally become enmeshed in the tangles of his own web. Having chosen to recoup his T 274 NOTES [Act V. former failure by a scheme from which he could not escape at its fulfilment but by showing a want of natural affection or by proving treacherous to his newly-made friends, he arouses our pity for his want of foresight, but by his death satisfies our idea of dramatic justice. 5. Him. He whom. The antecedent was fre- quently merged with the relative. Vid. Abbot, § 246. Stage direction. Attendants. These attendants are introduced merely as a stage service to make a stately entry. 28. Pawned. Pledged. 31. Flattery. Surely a conscious falsehood. 35. Stoutness. Pride. Cf. Ill, ii, 133. May per- haps mean obstinacy or stubbornness. 46. End all his. Gather in for himself, make all his own. 49. Waged me. Paid me wages, made me feel dependent. 50. Mercenary. That is, a mercenary or paid soldier. 56. Sinews. Abilities. 58. Rheum. Tears. Compare this speech with Aufidius's admission in the third scene of this act, 1. 232, " I was moved withal." 63. Like a post. Like a mere messenger bringing news of the success of Coriolanus. 74. After your way. After your version of his action. 75. Reasons. That is, arguments defending his conduct. Scene VI.] NOTES 275 87-88. Answering us, With our own charge. "Re- turning us nothing, but the costs of the war." 91. Hail, lords ! Note how the dramatist again makes us feel a certain respect for his hero by having him face matters in a bold and unapologetic manner. Later, this respect is increased by the false explanation of his conduct made by Aufidius, in 112 ff. 99. A full third part. That is, by a full third part. 105. Compounded on. Agreed upon. 107. Traitor. Note that Aufidius, like the tribunes, knows the weak point in the armor of Coriolanus. The Folios did not have a comma after the word traitor. Would the omission of the comma intensify the accusation? 121-122. Never admitting counsel o' the war. "Never accepting any advice from me, his fellow- general." Does this charge prove him a traitor? 129. No more. That is, no better than a boy of tears. 133. The first time. Is he correct? 136. Notion. Understanding, consciousness. 154. Presently. Immediately. 158. Folds-in. Extends beyond and around. 160. Judicious. Judicial, impartial. 178. Owe you. Had in store for you. 185. Herald. In Elizabethan, not in Roman days, did heralds accompany funerals of nobles, and pro- claim the rank of the deceased. SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS Act I. 1. Why does the play open with a scene presenting common people? 2. What is the plebeians' opinion of Coriolanus? 3. What is their attitude toward the patricians as a class? 4. What is the dramatic purpose of having some of the people speak in defence of Coriolanus? 5. What opinion of Menenius is held by the citizens? 6. What application does he make of the fable of The Belly and the Members f 7. Are the citizens convinced by the arguments of Menenius? What is the latter's real opinion of them? 8. Mention some of the reasons which Coriolanus gives at his first appearance for his lack of sympathy with the plebeians. 9. What is foreshadowed by his complaints about the leniency of the patricians ? 10. Why does he welcome the news that the Vol- scians are making war on Rome? 11. What is indicated by the willingness of Corio- lanus to serve under Cominius? Are the tribunes correct in the reason they assign for it ? 277 278 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS [Act I. 12. Is Coriolanus really patriotic ? 13. What is the comment on Marcius made by the tribunes after his withdrawal ? 14. What is the dramatic purpose of Scene ii? 15. How is Volumnia portrayed in the third scene as the typical Roman mother ? 16. What are the important characteristics brought out in the personality of Virgilia ? 17. Which of the two women wields the stronger influence over Coriolanus? Why? 18. Is the condemnation of the common people by Coriolanus in Scene iv excusable on any ground? 19. In what ways does the dramatist arouse our admiration for the hero in this scene? 20. How is this admiration increased by the inci- dents of Scene v ? 21. Were the common soldiers to be blamed for collecting spoil? 22. What difference do you note between the atti- tude of Cominius towards his defeated soldiers and that of Coriolanus towards his ? 23. What is the effect gained by Scene vii? Could this scene be omitted in a presentation of the play ? 24. Comment on the realism of Scene viii. Does this boasting of the two antagonists add to or detract from our interest in them ? 25. How does Coriolanus receive the honors heaped upon him ? Is his modesty real or feigned ? 26. What is the dramatic purpose of introducing the Act II.] SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 279 incident of the prisoner whose release is requested by Coriolanus ? Is the latter really magnanimous or does he merely wish to appear to be so ? 27. How does Cominius impress us as a true noble- man? 28. What terms are granted to Corioli ? 29. What is the attitude of Aufidius towards Corio- lanus as revealed in Scene x? What action is fore- shadowed by the former's words ? 30. What title might be given to this act? Act II. 1. What object does Menenius have in mind in his conversation with the tribunes? Does he accomplish it? 2. Are the accusations of the tribunes against Corio- lanus just? 3. Which is the better representative of the patrician order, Menenius or Coriolanus? Why? 4. What is the effect on Menenius of Brutus's hint that the former is not taken seriously even by the patricians ? 5. What is the purpose of the scene between him and the women? 6. Contrast the welcome which Coriolanus receives from his mother with that which he receives from his wife. Which is the more sincere? 7. Discuss the hero's courtesy to women. 280 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS [Act II. 8. What is indicated by the fact that Coriolanus first desires to visit the patricians at the Capitol? Is he disdainful of any honors which might proceed from the common people? Is his mother? 9. Does Brutus show any sympathy with the com- moners in his speech, Scene i, 11. 239-257 ? In what spirit does he describe the crowd? 10. Which of the two tribunes shows the keener understanding of the effect that the present popularity of Coriolanus will have on his future? Explain. 11. What do the tribunes fear from the probable elevation of Coriolanus to the consulship? What plans do they formulate to defeat him ? 12. What is the dramatic purpose of the conversa- tion between the two officers in Scene ii? Why are they not given names by Shakespeare ? 13. What had Coriolanus said about the manner of canvassing for the consulship ? Has his attitude under- gone any change? 14. Which of the two patricians, Menenius or Co- minius, proves more helpful in presenting Coriolanus's cause to the people? Give reasons. • 15. Show how Brutus provokes Coriolanus to dis- close his real self before the Senators. To what does he particularly object? 16. How does the reasoning of the citizens at the beginning of Scene iii contrast with that of the trib- unes? How does this prepare for the public appear- ance of Coriolanus? Act III.] SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 281 17. What are Coriolanus's real feelings towards the people as shown here? Does he hesitate to show his wounds because of real modesty or because of his per- sonal contempt for the people? 18. Show how the three scenes of petitioning are differentiated. 19. How are the plebeians persuaded to withdraw the promises they have given ? Are we led to approve of or to condemn their action? 20. What was the Roman method of voting at this time? 21. In what requisite for true statesmanship has Coriolanus shown himself lacking? Explain. 22. How do the closing speeches of this act prepare for future action ? Act III. 1. What is the dramatic purpose of mentioning the preparations for war by the Volscians? 2. Is there any indication that Coriolanus is more incensed at the tribunes than at the people ? 3. What justification for the action of the tribunes can you find ? 4. How is the brawl fomented ? 5. Are the criticisms made in this act by Coriolanus against the actions of the people justified? 6. Show how and why Coriolanus turns against his fellow patricians. Do any of them ever utter a word of criticism of him ? 282 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS [Act III. 7. What does he say concerning the free distribu- tion of corn? 8. Are the tribunes right when they say that he has spoken like a traitor and should suffer accordingly? 9. What is the result of Menenius's attempts at mediation ? 10. In view of what happens in this scene, show how the tribunes had shown a keen knowledge of the hero's character. 11. Does Volumnia give her son sound and sage advice? Is her real attitude towards the plebeians different from his? 12. Which shows itself more admirable, the mother who would temporize to gain an end, or the son who has no sympathy for the people and defiantly boasts of it? 13. Was Coriolanus right in yielding to his mother's wishes against his own convictions? Does this sub- mission presage success ? 14. What future action is prepared for by the second scene of this act ? 15. Show how Sicinius prepares for the reappear- ance of Coriolanus. 16. What is the climax of the play? 17. What is the dramatic purpose of the false accu- sations against the hero ? 18. Was there any consideration in the sentence passed upon him? What does this snow concerning the real temper of the people? Act IV.] SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 283 19. With what feeling are we left at the end of this act as to the future of Rome ? 20. What is the effect of the final speech of Coriola- nus, particularly of the last two lines of it ? Act IV. 1. How does Coriolanus accept his defeat? Does he retain our sympathy ? 2. Does Volumnia curse the commoners because of her love for her son or because of her blighted hopes ? 3. What is accomplished by having Coriolanus go into exile unaccompanied by any of the friends who wish to share it with him ? 4. What fears of the wisdom of their course come upon the tribunes in the second scene ? 5. How does this scene present Volumnia ? To what do the tribunes attribute her angry taunts ? 6. Is the action advanced by Scene hi? Could it be omitted or combined with any other scene ? 7. What purpose does Coriolanus reveal in his solilo- quy at the end of the fourth scene of this act? Why is this purpose made known here ? What do you think of his train of reasoning ? 8. Discuss the humor of the fifth scene. 9. What contrast appears here between the nobility of the two leading characters, Coriolanus and Aufidius? 10. What injustice does Coriolanus do to the nobles of Rome in his account of his wrongs ? 11. Is it credible that the Volscian soldiers should 284 SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS [Act V. admire him, if the citizens of his native city hate him enough to banish him ? 12. Point out the humor in the servants' talk which follows the meeting of the two leaders. Does their chatter bear out Coriolanus's opinion of the common people ? 13. What truth and irony do you find in the speech of Sicinius at the opening of Scene vi? 14. Discuss the mood and thought of old Menenius in this scene. Does he misunderstand Coriolanus? 15. What is the effect upon the nobles when the news reaches Rome that the Volscians are again approaching ? 16. What is the effect upon the tribunes and the citizens? Are we led to expect such conduct from them? Explain. 17. What complaint does Aufidius make against Coriolanus? Is it a just one? 18. What two main purposes did the dramatist have in Scene vii? Act V. 1. On what grounds had Cominius appealed to Coriolanus to spare Rome? What was the reply of Coriolanus to each appeal? 2. Why does Menenius feel that he can succeed where Cominius failed ? What is his plan ? 3. How do the Volscians receive him? How does Coriolanus treat him? What sign of yielding does Coriolanus show ? Act V.] SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS 285 4. Was Coriolanus influenced in his actions towards these men by his promises to Aufidius? Would he have done what he did if he had feared treachery on the part of Aufidius ? 5. How is he affected by the appearance of his wife and mother? ■ 6. Outline Volumnia's appeal. 7. Does Coriolanus regain our admiration by yield- ing to her plea? What does he surrender by his yielding ? 8. What purpose do the comments of Menenius in Scene iv serve ? 9. What cover has Aufidius for his jealous perfidy? 10. What trait is exhibited in Coriolanus 's resent- ment at Aufidius 's insult implied in the word, Boy? TOPICS FOR THEMES 1. Coriolanus as a Military Leader. 2. Volumnia as a Type of the Roman Mother. 3. Coriolanus as a Statesman. 4. The Plot of the Tribunes against Coriolanus. 5. The Fickleness of the Roman Populace. 6. The Various Embassies to Coriolanus. 7. Volumnia and Virgilia : a Contrast. 8. Coriolanus and Aufidius : a Contrast. 9. The Humor of the Play. 10. The Play as a Commentary on Democracy. 11. Menenius. 12. The Underlying Philosophy of the Play. 13. The Attitude of the Plebeians towards Coriolanus at Various Times. 14. The Influence of Volumnia over her Son. 15. The Terror in Rome at the Approach of the Volscian Army. 16. The Perfidy of Aufidius. 17. A Comparison of Plutarch's Version with that of Shakespeare. 18. The Political Situation in Rome at the Opening of the Play. 287 288 TOPICS FOR THEMES 19. Roman Ideals. 20. The Failure of Coriolanus's Canvassing for the Consulship. 21. The Ingratitude of Republics. 22. The Most Dramatic Scene in the Play. 23. The Structure of the Play. 24. Coriolanus as a " Star " Play. 25. A Comparison of Coriolanus with Julius Ccesar. Printed in the United States of America. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 067 483 7 iml 5 Si! ! ! til iiilf i It) I I ill