Bru. Which the rather We shall be blessed to do, if he remember He hath hereto prized them at. Men. That's off, that's off;1 I would you rather had been silent. Please you Bru. Most willingly; But yet my caution was more pertinent, Men. He loves your people; But tie him not to be their bedfellow.Worthy Cominius, speak.-Nay, keep your place. [CORIOLANUS rises and offers to go away. 1 Sen. Sit, Coriolanus; never shame to hear What you have nobly done. Cor. Your honors' pardon; I had rather have my wounds to heal again, Than hear say how I got them. Bru. My words disbenched you not. Sir, I hope Cor. No, sir; yet oft, When blows have made me stay, I fled from words. You soothed not, therefore hurt not; but your people, I love them as they weigh. Men. Pray now, sit down. Cor. I had rather have one scratch my head i' the sun, When the alarum were struck, than idly sit To hear my nothings monstered. [Exit CORIOLAnus. Masters o' the people, Men. Your multiplying spawn how can he flatter, the Lex Attinia, which is supposed to have been in the time of Quintus Metellus Macedonicus, the tribunes had not the privilege of entering the senate, but had seats placed for them near the door, on the outside of the house. 1 i. e. "that is nothing to the purpose." Com. I shall lack voice; the deeds of Coriolanus The man I speak of cannot in the world I cannot speak him home. He stopped the fliers; A vessel under sail, so men obeyed, And fell below his stem; his sword (death's stamp) 1 When Tarquin, who had been expelled, raised a power to recover Rome. 2 The parts of women were, in Shakspeare's time, represented by the most smooth-faced young men to be found among the players. There were no theatres at Rome for the exhibition of plays until about two hundred and fifty years after the death of Coriolanus. 3 Plutarch says, "seventeen years of service in the wars, and many and sundry battles;" but from Coriolanus's first campaign to his death was only a period of eight years. 4 To lurch is to win or carry off easily the prize or stake at any game. 5 Thus the second folio; the first folio, "as weeds," &c., which Malone adheres to. 6 The cries of the slaughtered regularly followed his motion, as music and a dancer accompany each other. The mortal gate1 o' the city, which he painted When by-and-by the din of war 'gan pierce Men. Worthy man! 1 Sen. He cannot but with measure fit the honors Which we devise him. Com. Our spoils he kicked at ; And looked upon things precious, as they were The common muck o' the world; he covets less Than misery itself would give; rewards 3 His deeds with doing them; and is content Men. The senate, Coriolanus, are well pleased 2 Wearied. 3 Misery for avarice. 4 Coriolanus (as Warburton observes) was banished A. U. C. 262. But till the time of Manlius Torquatus, A. U. C. 393, the senate chose both consuls; and then the people, assisted by the seditious temper of the tribunes, got the choice of one. Shakspeare follows Plutarch. Cor. I do beseech you, Let me o'erleap that custom; for I cannot Put on the gown, stand naked, and entreat them, Sic. Sir, the people Must have their voices; neither will they bate Put them not to't; Pray you, go fit you to the custom; and Cor. It is a part That I shall blush in acting, and might well Be taken from the people. 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 2 Do not stand upon't. We recommend to you, tribunes of the people, Sen. To Coriolanus come all joy and honor! them, As if he did contemn what he requested Should be in them to give. Bru. Come, we'll inform them [Exeunt. Of our proceedings here; on the market-place, I know, they do attend us. 1 "Your form" is the form which custom prescribes to you. 2 "We recommend to you, tribunes of the people, to declare our purpose to them." SCENE III. The same. The Forum. 1 Enter several Citizens. 1 Cit. Once, if he do require our voices, we ought not to deny him. 2 Cit. We may, sir, if we will. 3 Cit. We have power in ourselves to do it, but it is a power that we have no power to do; for if he show us his wounds, and tell us his deeds, we are to put our tongues into those wounds, and speak for them; so, if he tell us his noble deeds, we must also tell him our noble acceptance of them. Ingratitude is monstrous; and for the multitude to be ingrateful, were to make a monster of the multitude; of the which, we, being members, should bring ourselves to be monstrous members. 2 1 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. 3 Cit. We have been called so of many; not that our heads are some brown, some black, some auburn, some bald, but that our wits are so diversely colored; and truly I think, if all our wits were to issue out of one skull, they would fly east, west, north, south; and their consent of one direct way should be at once to all the points o' the compass. 2 Cit. Think you so? Which way, do you judge, my wit would fly? 3 Cit. Nay, your wit will not so soon out as another man's will; 'tis strongly wedged up in a blockhead; but if it were at liberty, 'twould, sure, southward. 2 Cit. Why that way? 1 i. e. once for all. 2 Once signifies here one time, and not as soon as ever, which Malone takes to be its meaning. Rowe inserted when after once, which is, indeed, elliptically understood. 3 Consent is accord, agreement. |