CORIOLANUS.

"No more I prayyou—and, he is a steward."

"If not a usuring kindness, and, as rich men deal gifts."

It was the opinion of the sagacious Tyrwhitt that 'If not' is a mere insertion of the printer's, suggested by 'Is not' in the preceding line. I have, however, little doubt but it should be, as I have printed it, "Is itnot a usuring kindness?"

"Exchangeitfor this one wish, that you had power."

"To load our purposes, with what they travel for."

Collier's folio readspurses. In that case 'they' should bewe.

"When the day serves, before black-corner'd night."

For 'corner'd' some readconed,crowned,cover'd. Singer and Dycecurtain'd. I have givencover'd.

"Know his gross patchery, love him, feed him,and."

"You have workedfor me, there is payment. Hence!"

Malone, who is usually followed, reads 'donework.'

"To stop affliction let him take his haste."

Perhaps 'take' should bemake.

"On those that are revenges; crimes like landsAre not inherited."

"On those that are revenges; crimes like lands

Are not inherited."

"But shall be remedied to your public laws."

For 'remedied' Singer readremitted. I adoptrender'd, the reading of M. Mason.

2 Cit."Our business is not unknown to the Senate."

So it stands in the folio here and in the subsequent speeches; but as Malone rightly saw, it should be1 Cit.

"But, since it serves my purpose, I will ventureTo scale it a little more."

"But, since it serves my purpose, I will venture

To scale it a little more."

All attempts to make sense of 'scale' having been most complete failures, it only remains to read, with Theobald,stale.

"I'll notstalethe jestBy my relation."

"I'll notstalethe jest

By my relation."

Massinger, Unnat. Comb. iv. 2.

"Our disgrace with a tale. But an't please you deliverit."

"Even to the courtofthe heart, to the seat of the brain."

So perhaps it were better to read.

"With every minutes you do change a mind."

Theyour, for 'a,' of Collier's folio seems preferable.

"Of their own choice. One's Junius Brutus,another."

"The present wars devour him! He is grownToo proud to be so valiant."

"The present wars devour him! He is grown

Too proud to be so valiant."

Such also is the punctuation of Warburton. 'To be' to bein being. See Introd. p.70.

"What ever have been thought on in this state."

We should either readhathfor 'have,' orwefor 'been.'

"At Grecian sword contenning ..."

So the folio reads; an evident misprint forcontemning. The aposiopesis removes all need of alteration. The usual reading iscontending, that of 2nd folio.

"Catched it again; or whether his fall enraged him."

The usual substitution oforforand.

"No, nor a man that fears you less than he,That's lesser than a little."

"No, nor a man that fears you less than he,

That's lesser than a little."

I read, with Johnson,butfor 'nor.'

"Fool-hardiness! not I.—Nor I.—Nor I."

"And, when it bows, stands up. Thou art left, Marcius ...A carbuncle entire, as big as thou art,Were not so rich a jewel."

"And, when it bows, stands up. Thou art left, Marcius ...

A carbuncle entire, as big as thou art,

Were not so rich a jewel."

A line at least has, I think, been left out after the first; or there may be an aposiopesis.

"The Roman godsLead their successes," etc.

"The Roman gods

Lead their successes," etc.

It is evident from the context that the poet wroteYe, not 'The,' as in Ant. and Cleop. v. 2. They were written alike.

"The mouse ne'er shunn'd the cat as they did budgeFrom rascals worse than they."

"The mouse ne'er shunn'd the cat as they did budge

From rascals worse than they."

'Budge' in its present sense seems to be a very feeble term; but in Cole's Dictionary we have "To budge,pedem referre;" and in 3 Hen. VI. i. 4,

"With that we charg'd again; but out, alas!Webodg'dagain."

"With that we charg'd again; but out, alas!

Webodg'dagain."

There seems to be an allusion to deer in 'rascals.' We had the same allusion above in

"Thou rascal, that art worst in blood to run,Leadest first to win some vantage."

"Thou rascal, that art worst in blood to run,

Leadest first to win some vantage."

"And four shall quickly draw out my commandWhich men are best inclined."

"And four shall quickly draw out my command

Which men are best inclined."

I readforthfor 'four'; 'command' is the nom. to 'draw.'

"Hence,then, and shut your gates upon us."

"That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny."

Here 'bragg'd' is, bragged of, that you brag of; 'progeny' progenitors, and 'whip' the implement with which they scourged their foes. Chaucer (Tr. and Cr. ii.) terms Hector the "Grekisyerd."

"When steel growsSmooth as the parasite's silk, let him be madeAn overture for the wars."

"When steel grows

Smooth as the parasite's silk, let him be made

An overture for the wars."

By 'him' in the second line can only be meant the parasite, and what is the meaning of his being an 'overture for the wars'? I feel convinced that it is a printer's error for a noun; and I readpipes, which might be thus mistaken. The meaning then would be, when things are so, let pipes and tabors, not trumpets and drums, be used in our armies, grown thus effeminate.

"My throat of war be turn'd,Which quired with my drum, into a pipeSmall as a eunuch's," etc.—iii. 2.

"My throat of war be turn'd,

Which quired with my drum, into a pipe

Small as a eunuch's," etc.—iii. 2.

"At a poor man's house; he used meverykindly."

"Where I find him, were itAt home, upon my brother's guard, even there,Against the hospitable canon, would IWash my fierce hand in his heart."

"Where I find him, were it

At home, upon my brother's guard, even there,

Against the hospitable canon, would I

Wash my fierce hand in his heart."

With the fullest conviction I read for 'brother's guard'household hearth; for that was the very place where hedidfind him. "He got him up straight to thechimney hearth, and sate him down" (North's Plutarch, p. 232). Besides, we never hear that Aufidius had a brother; and it should beunder, notupon, the guard; a man is, or stands, on his own not on another's guard. In Rich. II. iv. 1 we have "under hishousehold roof;" andhousehold hearthoccurs in Campbell's Gertrude of Wyoming, iii. 17.

"What harm can your beesome conspectuities glean out of this character?"

Regarding 'beesome' as a corruption, the editors have all adopted Theobald's reading,bisson, which occurs in Hamlet (ii. 2) in the sense of blinding. Mr. Singer, however, quotes from Huloet's Dictionary "Blynde orBeasomborne, cæcigenus," which proves the text to be right.

"Forthese in honour follows Coriolanus."

"I have livedTo see inherited my very wishes,And the buildings of my fancy * * *"

"I have lived

To see inherited my very wishes,

And the buildings of my fancy * * *"

We might supplyturn'd to sense.

"Whiles she chatsofhim. The kitchen malkin pins."

"At some time when his soaring influenceShall teach the people."

"At some time when his soaring influence

Shall teach the people."

There is perhaps an aposiopesis here; otherwise I should incline to readtouch, as Mr. Knight and Collier's folio also read.

"The blind to hear him speak. Matrons flungtheirgloves."

"We met here, both to thank and to remember."

Editors in general readmeet. I read 'Wearemet.'

"We shall be blest to do, if he remember."

Collier's folio readprest, i.e. ready; but no change is needed. "And thenwe shall be bless'dTo do your pleasure" (King John iii. 1). It is the same ashappyof the present day.

"Alone he enteredThe mortal gate of the city, which he paintedWith shunless destiny."

"Alone he entered

The mortal gate of the city, which he painted

With shunless destiny."

I do not see the meaning of 'painted' here. Perhaps the right word isparted, i.e. burst open, as it had been closed on him, i. 5. In Rom. and Jul. ii. 5 we have the same change ofartoain.

"Some brown, some black, some auburn."

For 'auburn' the folio hasabraham.

"The priceof itis to ask it kindly.—Kindly?"

"Why in this woolvish tongue should I stand here."

As, in Othello (i. 1), the folio reads "tonguedconsuls" for "togedconsuls" of the 4to, editors here properly readtogefor 'tongue'; the 2nd folio hasgown. As 'woolvish' offers very little sense, we should, with Collier's folio, readwoolless; for it has been already (ii. 1) termed "thenaplessvesture of humility."

"I have seen and heard of; for your voicesIHave done many things, some less, some more. Your voices."

"I have seen and heard of; for your voicesI

Have done many things, some less, some more. Your voices."

"That our best water brought by conduits hither,And nobly nam'd so, twïce being Censor."

"That our best water brought by conduits hither,

And nobly nam'd so, twïce being Censor."

That a line has been lost here is beyond doubt. Pope, who is generally followed, added, "And Censorinus, darling of the people." But as the words in North's Plutarch are "so surnamed because the people had chosen him censortwice," it might be better to read "And Censorinus, he that was so nam'd."

Com."You are like to do such business."

With Malone I readCor., to whom it is better suited. The names are often given wrong in this play.

"Which we disdain'dshould tetter us."

"O good, but most unwise Patricians!"

The folio reads 'O God!' the judicious alteration is Theobald's, as usual. See on Ham. ii. 2.

"They know the cornWas not our recompense, resting well assuredThey ne'er did service for 't."

"They know the corn

Was not our recompense, resting well assured

They ne'er did service for 't."

For 'our' Southern readtheir, which seems to have been the poet's word.

"Could never be the nativeOf our so frank donation."

"Could never be the native

Of our so frank donation."

As I have never met with 'native' in the sense of origin, source, I think, and so did Mason, that the right word ismotive.

"How shall this bosom multiplied digestThe senate's courtesy."

"How shall this bosom multiplied digest

The senate's courtesy."

I do not think that the text is, in any place in these plays, more certainly correct than it is here; yet some late editors adopt without hesitationbisson multitude, the reading of Collier's folio. By 'bosom multiplied' the poet means the union or complex of the bosoms,i.e.hearts, affections, of the people. In his next speech Cor. uses in a similar manner "multitudinous tongue;" and in ii. 2 we meet "multiplying spawn." In Lear (v. 3) we have "thecommon bosom;" and in our poet's Lover's Complaint "That he did in thegeneral bosomreign."

"To jump a body with a dangerous physic."

For 'Jump' Pope readvamp, Singerimp. 'Jump' is risk, hazard, and the verb seems, like so many others, to be here causative.

"Go call the people; in whose nameImyself."

2. Sen."Weapons, weapons," etc.

So the speech is given in the folio. In the Globe Shakespeare it is givenSenators, etc., and what follows as the discordant cries of the various parties, which certainly seems to be more effective.

"Come, try upon yourselves what you have seen medo."

"Lay hands upon him.—Help Marcius, help,help!"

Com."Stand fastWe have as many friends as enemies."

Com."Stand fast

We have as many friends as enemies."

I think this should beCor., and I have so given it.

Cor."Come, sir, along with us."

This speech evidently belongs toCom.

"Leave us to cure this cause.—For 'tis a sore upon us,You cannot tent yourself."

"Leave us to cure this cause.—For 'tis a sore upon us,

You cannot tent yourself."

I think we should either omit 'upon us,' or for 'us' readyou.

Cor."I would they were barbarians, as they are,Though in Rome litter'd, not Romans, as they are not,Though calv'd in the porch o' the Capitol!...Men.Begone,Put not your worthy rage into your tongue."

Cor."I would they were barbarians, as they are,Though in Rome litter'd, not Romans, as they are not,Though calv'd in the porch o' the Capitol!...

Cor."I would they were barbarians, as they are,

Though in Rome litter'd, not Romans, as they are not,

Though calv'd in the porch o' the Capitol!...

Men.Begone,Put not your worthy rage into your tongue."

Men.Begone,

Put not your worthy rage into your tongue."

So, I think judiciously, Tyrwhitt arranges, and he has been generally and properly followed. The folio gives the whole to Menenius, to whom it is not at all suited.

"Or Jove for 's power to thunder. His heart 's his mouth."

I would read 'inhis mouth.' "My voice is in my sword" (Macb. v. 7). "He wears his tongue in his arms" (Tr. and Cress. iii. 3).

"To eject him henceWere but one danger, and to keep him hereOur certain death."

"To eject him hence

Were but one danger, and to keep him here

Our certain death."

I readourfor 'one,' as Theobald also proposed. In Ant. and Cleop. (i. 4) we have "Onegreat competitor," where the sense demandsour; and in Son. xcix. "Ourblushing shame," where editors read, as sense requires,One.

"Form [in peace] to his utmost peril."

I omit 'in peace,' as it had just occurred, is needless, and disturbs the metre.

"I talk of you."

Here Collier's folio places the entrance of Volumnia, and I think rightly.

"O sir, sir, sir!"

Theson, son, son!of Collier's folio is much better. She never elsewhere saysSirto him. See on Meas. for Meas. iii. 1.

"The thwartings of your dispositions."

'Thwartings' is the emendation of Theobald forthingsof the folio.

"I have a heart as little apt as yours,But yet a brain," etc.

"I have a heart as little apt as yours,

But yet a brain," etc.

There is, I think, either an aposiopesis at the end of the first line; or a line is lost, as Volumnia is speaking quite calmly; or,to stoop,to yield, or something of that sort is omitted.

"Before he should thus stoop to the heart."

Here again Theobald emended,herdfor 'heart.'

"You are too absolute;Though therein you can never be too noble.But when extremities speak ... I have heard you say."

"You are too absolute;

Though therein you can never be too noble.

But when extremities speak ... I have heard you say."

So I think we should point to make sense.

"Nor by the matter which your heart prompts youwith."

The metre requires a syllable; the 2nd folio readsto.

"But with such words that are but roated in."

'Roated' is probablyroted; but no such verb occurs elsewhere asrote. Boswell proposedrooted.

"Notonlywhat is dangerous present butThe loss of what is past."

"Notonlywhat is dangerous present but

The loss of what is past."

There can be little doubt thatonlywas the word omitted.

"Often thus; which correcting thy stout heart,Now humble as the ripest mulberry,That will not hold the handling, [or] say to them."

"Often thus; which correcting thy stout heart,

Now humble as the ripest mulberry,

That will not hold the handling, [or] say to them."

By these slight corrections this place gains sense—a thing it never had before. All through the speech, it may be observed, Volumnia acts the part she would have her son perform. The transposition he had made in the first line—where the folio has 'Which often thus'—having perplexed the printer, he took 'humble' for a verb, and so introduced 'or' to try to make sense. (Introd. p.67.) Mr. Dyce says "the passage now stands as Shakespeare wrote it." Why, then, has he not given us the sense of it?

"Even as she speaks, whyalltheir hearts were yours."

"Must I with my base tongue give to my noble heart."

It might be better to omit the first 'my' and 'to.'

"Well, mildly be it then; mildlybe it then."

For an exactly similar effacement at the end of a scene see on Temp. iii. 1.

"He has been usedEver to conquer and to have his worthOf contradiction."

"He has been used

Ever to conquer and to have his worth

Of contradiction."

I do not well understand 'worth' here. Rowe readword; but I cannot approve of it;wreakwould seem better. We have "a heart of wreak" (iv. 5); also Tit. And. iv. 3, 4. See on M. for M. ii. 1.

"Rather than envytoyou.—Well, well, no more."

"Given hostile strokes, and that notonlyin the present."

"I have been consul, and can show from RomeHer enemies' marks upon me."

"I have been consul, and can show from Rome

Her enemies' marks upon me."

The preposition should be'fore,for, orto.

"That won you without blows! Despising for youThe City, thus I turn my backupon it.There is a world elsewhere."

"That won you without blows! Despising for you

The City, thus I turn my backupon it.

There is a world elsewhere."

"You were usedTo say extremities was the trier of spirits."

"You were used

To say extremities was the trier of spirits."

The 2nd folio reads 'extremity,' and it is usually followed, and is perhaps right; yet the text is not wrong. See Introd. p.72.

"ThatFortune's blows,When most struck home, being gentle wounded, cravesA noble cunning."

"ThatFortune's blows,

When most struck home, being gentle wounded, craves

A noble cunning."

Though this may seem devoid of sense, it is, I think, what the poet wrote. If so, we must take 'wounded' actively, like "Under my burdengroan'd" (Temp. i. 2). "It is twiceblessed" (M. of Ven. v. 1) etc.; and then 'gentle' will denotethat the blows were open and honourable ones. (See the parallel passage in Tr. and Cress, i. 3.) If this should not satisfy, we might perhaps readin the gentle-minded. Pope read 'gentle-warded.' 'Cunning' here is skill taken in a good sense, as in "May my right-hand forget hercunning" (Ps. cxxxvii).

"Like to a lonely dragon that his fenMakes feared."

"Like to a lonely dragon that his fen

Makes feared."

Perhaps the right reading would beden.

"Will ornotexceed the common, or be caught."

The negative seems required to make sense.

"My first son,Whither wilt thou go?"

"My first son,

Whither wilt thou go?"

She had, according to herself, no other son (see i. 3); and again she says of herself (v. 3), "While she, poor hen, fond of no second brood." I have never met with 'first' in the sense of noblest, that given it here by the critics. I would therefore readfairest. In Tr. and Cr. we have "fairLord Æneas"(i. 3); "fairPrince" (iii. 1, v. 1); "fairDiomed" (iv. 1);fairbeholders (Prol.).

"More than a wild exposture to each chance."

Southern readexposure, which probably the poet wrote.

Cor."Oh, the gods!"

I give this speech toVir., to whom it is better suited. Her only other speech in this scene is "O Heavens! O Heavens!"

"But your favour is well appeared by your tongue."

Steevens readapproved, Singerappayed. The poet probably wrotehas, pronouncedas, of which the printer made 'is.'

"My birth-place have I, and my love's upon."

With Steevens, I readhatefor 'have.' This change of adjacent letters is a common error with printers.

"All-noble Marcius. Let meentwineMine arms about that body."

"All-noble Marcius. Let meentwine

Mine arms about that body."

"Unbuckling helms, fisting each other's throat,And waked half-dead with nothing."

"Unbuckling helms, fisting each other's throat,

And waked half-dead with nothing."

A line is apparently lost here; or there is an aposiopesis.

"Like a bold flood o'erbearher. O! come, go in."

"To fright 'em ere destroy'em. But come in."

"This peace isgood fornothing but to rust iron."

Steevens, without being aware of the metric requirement, made the same addition.

"than War's a destroyer of men.—'Tis so, and asWar[s] in some sort may be said to be a ravisher," etc.

"than War's a destroyer of men.—'Tis so, and as

War[s] in some sort may be said to be a ravisher," etc.

"If he had gone forth Consul,havefound it so."

"And who resistAre mocked fortheirvaliant ignorance."

"And who resist

Are mocked fortheirvaliant ignorance."

"Which he was lord of; or whether naturein him."

"And Power, unto itself most commendable,Hath not a tomb so evident as a chairTo extol what it hath done."

"And Power, unto itself most commendable,

Hath not a tomb so evident as a chair

To extol what it hath done."

I agree with Steevens in regarding this passage and the comments on it as being equally unintelligible. The meaning seems to be one which Shakespeare frequently expresses (see Tr. and Cr. i. 3, ii. 3, iii. 3)—self-praise is no praise. 'Unto itself commendable' is, then, standing high in thepossessor's estimation. The sense yielded by 'tomb' and 'chair' is most trivial, and I would therefore venture to propose

"Hath not a tongue so evident as a charmer's."

Charms and spells, we know, were murmured or muttered in a low tone ("wizards that peep and that mutter" Is. viii. 19); and if the final letters ofcharmer'shad been effaced—likein hima few lines higher—and onlycharleft, the printer might easily have taken it for 'chair,' and so have made 'tomb' to correspond. For 'chair' Singer readshair; Collier's foliocheer.Charmeroccurs in Oth. iii. 4, and the poet had met with it in his Bible. I have introduced it again in Ant. and Cl. iv. 8.

"One fire drives out one fire; one nail one nail;Rights by rights fouler, strengths by strengths do fail."

"One fire drives out one fire; one nail one nail;

Rights by rights fouler, strengths by strengths do fail."

For 'fouler' Dyce readsfaulter, Singerfoil'd are. We might also conjecturefall, and; the finaldin this last not being sounded.Fallandfailcome thus together in "Fall Greeks, fail fame; honour or go or stay" (Tr. and Cr. v. 1). It seems, however, safest to read, with Malone, as I have done,founder. We have "All his tricksfounder" (H. VIII. iii. 2). What is said of fire in the first line is a favourite idea with our poet. We have it again in Two Gent. ii. 4, K. John, iii. 1. It is an allusion to the homœopathic mode of curing a burn by holding it to the fire. By the fires, etc., he means Coriolanus and himself.

"It was a bare petition of a StateTo one whom they had punish'd."

"It was a bare petition of a State

To one whom they had punish'd."

I do not well understand 'bare' here. Mason readbase, which is not quite satisfactory.

"Pray you, go to him.—What should I dothere?"

"Unheard, what then? * * *But as a discontented friend, grief-shot."

"Unheard, what then? * * *

But as a discontented friend, grief-shot."

I would supplyHow, then, should I return?

"Good faith, I'll prove him.Speed how it will, I shall ere long have knowledgeOf my success."

"Good faith, I'll prove him.

Speed how it will, I shall ere long have knowledge

Of my success."

This is also the punctuation of Delius.

"I tell you he does sit in gold."

For 'in gold' we might reada god: "He sits 'mongst men, like a descended god" (Cymb. i. 7). But it may be his chair of state that is meant.

"What he would doHe sent in writing after me; what he would not· · · ·Bound with an oath to yield to his conditions."

"What he would do

He sent in writing after me; what he would not

· · · ·

Bound with an oath to yield to his conditions."

A line is lost between the two last lines.

"For I have ever verified my friends—Of whom he's chief—with all the size that verityWould without lapsing suffer."

"For I have ever verified my friends—

Of whom he's chief—with all the size that verity

Would without lapsing suffer."

As 'verified' would seem to have been suggested by the following 'verity,' we might read, with Hanmer,magnified, or perhaps repeat 'amplified.'

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