and Others.

That we have bled together. Coriolanus,
He would not answer to: forbad all names;
He was a kind of nothing, titleless,
Till he had forg'd himself a name i' the fire
Of burning Rome.

MEN. Why, so! you have made good work: A pair of tribunes that have rack'd for Rome, To make coals cheap,-a noble memory!

COм. I minded him how royal 'twas to pardon When it was less expected: he replied,

a

It was a bare petition of a state

To one whom they had punish'd.

but, even with this amendment, it is questionable if we have got what the poet wrote.

Coм. I offer'd to awaken his regard
For's private friends: his answer to me was,
He could not stay to pick them in a pile
Of noisome musty chaff: he said, 'twas folly
For one poor grain or two, to leave unburnt,
And still to nose the offence.

MEN.
For one poor grain or two!
I am one of those; his mother, wife, his child,
And this brave fellow too, we are the grains:
You are the musty chaff; and you are smelt
Above the moon. We must be burnt for you.
SIC. Nay, pray, be patient: if you refuse

aid

your

I think he'll hear me. Yet to bite his lip,
And hum at good Cominius, much unhearts me.
He was not taken well; he had not din'd:
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
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.

Good faith, I'll prove him: Speed how it will, I shall ere long have knowledge Of my success.]

As this is invariably pointed,

"Good faith, I'll prove him, Speed how it will. I shall ere long," &c.

some critics have proposed to read,—

"You shall ere long," &c.

but the meaning of Menenius is,-I'll try him, and come what
may, I shall not long be kept in suspense. "Success" has here
the signification of successo in Italian, i.e. event, consequence.
b tell you, he does sit in gold,-] The same idea, it has been
noted, occurs in Homer (Iliad, viii. 442),-

• Αὐτὸς δὲ χρύσειον ἐπὶ θρόνον εὐρύοπα Ζεὺς
*Εζετο.”

COм. I tell you, he does sit in gold," his eye Red as 't would burn Rome;. and his injury The gaoler to his pity. I kneel'd before him; 'Twas very faintly he said, Rise; dismiss'd me Thus, with his speechless hand: what he would do, He sent in writing after me; what he would not, Bound with an oath to yield to his conditions: So, that all hope is vain, 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.

с

[Exeunt.

SCENE II. An advanced Post of the Volscian Camp before Rome. The Guard at their Stations.

Enter to them, MENENIUS.

1 G. Stay whence are you?
2 G.
Stand, and back.
go
MEN. You guard like men; 'tis well: but, by
your leave,

I am an officer of state, and come
To speak with Coriolanus.

1 G. MEN.

From whence?

From Rome.

And of his friends there, it is lots to blanks,"
My name hath touch'd your ears; it is Menenius.
1 G. Be it so, go back; the virtue of 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
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,

I have tumbled past the throw; and in his praise Have almost stamp'd the leasing: therefore, fellow, I must have leave to pass.

1 G. Faith, sir, if you had told as many lies in his behalf as you have uttered words in your own, you should not pass here; no, though it were as virtuous to lie as to live chastely. Therefore, go back.

MEN. Pr'ythee, fellow, remember my name is Menenius, always factionary on the party of your general.

a1 lots to blanks,-] Prizes to blanks, everything to nothing: so in "Romeo and Juliet," Act III. Sc. 5,

" and all the world to nothing That he cares ne'er come back."

o For I have ever verified my friends, &c.] Hanmer gave magnified, and Mr. Collier's annotator has the same emendation; but perhaps the true word is rarefied, that is, stretched out. See Love's Labour's Lost," Act IV. Sc. 2, where, for "ratified,"-

2 G. Howsoever you have been his liar, (as you say you have) I am one that, telling true under him, must say, you cannot pass. Therefore, go back.

MEN. Has he dined, canst thou tell? for I would not speak with him till after dinner. 1 G. You are a Roman, are you? MEN. I am as thy general is.

1 G. Then you should hate Rome, as he does. Can you, when you have pushed out your gates the very defender of them, and, in a violent popular ignorance, given your enemy your shield, think to front his revenges with the easy groans of old women, the virginal palms of your daughters, or with the palsied intercession of such a decayed dotant as you seem to be? Can you think to blow out the intended fire your city is ready to flame in, with such weak breath as this? No, you are deceived; therefore, back to Rome, and prepare for your execution you are condemned; our general has sworn you out of reprieve and pardon.

:

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

"Here are only numbers ratified," we should also probably read rarefied.

ca subtle ground.-] A smooth, slippery ground. d-stamp'd the leasing:] "I have almost given the lie such a sanction as to render it current."-MALONE.

e-the easy groans-] "Easy groans" may mean the slight, inconsiderable groans; but query, wheezy groans?

fa decayed dotant-] So the old text. Many editors, how ever, read dotard.

COR. What's the matter?

MEN. Now, you companion," I'll say an errand for you; you shall know now that I am in estimation; you shall perceive that a Jack guardant cannot office me from my son Coriolanus: guess, but by my entertainment with him, if thou standest not i'the state of hanging, or of some death more long in spectatorship, and crueller in suffering; behold now presently, and swoon for what's to come upon thee. The glorious gods sit in hourly synod about thy particular prosperity, and love thee no worse than thy old father Menenius does! O, my son, my son! thou art preparing fire for us; look thee, here's water to quench it. I was hardly moved to come to thee; but being assured none but myself could move thee, I have been blown out of your gates with sighs; and conjure thee to pardon Rome, and thy petitionary countrymen. The good gods assuage thy wrath, and turn the dregs of it upon this varlet here;-this, who, like a block, hath denied my access to thee.

COR. Away!

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

[Gives a letter. And would have sent it. Another word, Menenius, I will not hear thee speak.-This man, Aufidius, Was my belov'd in Rome: yet thou behold'st!— AUF. You keep a constant temper.

[Exeunt CORIOLANUS and AUFIDIUS. 1 G. Now, sir, is your name Menenius? 2 G. "Tis a spell, you see, of much power: you know the way home again.

с

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

2 G. What cause, do you think, I have to swoon?

(*) Old text omits, by.

- companion,-] That is, as we now say, fellow.

Set down our host.-My partner in this action, You must report to the Volscian lords, how plainly I have borne this business.

Only their ends

AUF.
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.

COR.
This last old man,
Whom with a crack'd heart I have sent to Rome,
Lov'd me above the measure of a father;
Nay, godded me, indeed. Their latest refuge
Was to send him; for whose old love, I have
(Though I show'd sourly to him) once more offer'd
The first conditions, which they did refuse,
And cannot now accept; to grace him only
That thought he could do more, a very little
I have yielded to: fresh embassies and suits,
Nor from the state nor private friends, hereafter
Will I lend ear to.-Ha! what shout is this?
[Shout without.

Shall I be tempted to infringe my vow
In the same time 'tis made? I will not.—

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

My wife comes foremost; then the honour'd mould
Wherein this trunk was fram'd, and in her hand
The grandchild to her blood. But, out, affection
All bond and privilege of nature, break!
Let it be virtuous to be obstinate.-
What is that court'sy worth? or those doves' eyes,

b properly,-] Peculiarly, personally.
C— shent-] Disgraced.

N 2

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

VIRG. The sorrow that delivers us thus chang'd Makes think so.

COR.

you

Like a dull actor now, I have forgot my part, and I am out, Even to a full disgrace.-Best of my flesh, Forgive my tyranny; but do not say, For that, Forgive our Romans.-O, a kiss Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge! Now, by the jealous queen of heaven, that kiss I carried from thee, dear; and my true lip Hath virgin'd it e'er since.-You gods! I prate,* And the most noble mother of the world Leave unsaluted: sink, my knee, i' the earth;

(*) Old text, pray, corrected by Theobald.

[Kneels.

-the hungry beach--] The sterile, unprolific beach; or as

Of thy deep duty more impression show
Than that of common sons.

VOL.
O, stand up bless'd!
Whilst, with no softer cushion than the flint,
I kneel before thee; and unproperly
Show duty, as mistaken all this while
Between the child and parent.

COR.

[Kneels

What is this?

a

Your knees to me? to your corrected son?
Then let the pebbles on the hungry beach
Fillip the stars; then let the mutinous winds
Strike the proud cedars 'gainst the fiery sun;
Murd'ring impossibility, to make
What cannot be, slight work.