He whin'd and roar'd away your victory, That pages blush'd at him, and men of heart Cor. Hear'st thou, Mars? Auf Name not the god, thou boy of tears. Cor. Auf. No more. Ha! Cor. Measureless liar, thou hast made my heart Too great for what contains it. Boy! O slave! Pardon me, lords, 'tis the first time that ever I was forc'd to scold. Your judgments, my grave lords, Must give this cur the lie (Who wears my stripes that and his own notion impress'd upon him, Must bear my beating to his grave) shall join 1 Lord. Peace, both, and hear me speak. 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 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, 'Fore your own eyes and ears? Conspirators. Let him die for 't. -he kill'd my Citizens. Tear him to pieces; do it presently. He kill'd my son; - my daughter: cousin Marcus: -he kill'd my father. 2 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 Shall have judicious hearing. -Stand, Aufidius, Cor. O, that I had him, Auf. Insolent villain! Conspirators. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill him! [AUFIDIUS and the Conspirators draw, and kill CORIOLANUS, who falls: AUFIDIUS stands on Lords. him. Hold, hold, hold, hold! O Tullus! Auf. My noble masters, hear me speak. Thou hast done a deed whereat valour 1 Lord. 2 Lord. Auf. My lords, when you shall know (as in this rage, Provok'd by him, you cannot) the great danger Myself your loyal servant, or endure Your heaviest censure. 1 Lord. And mourn you for him. Bear from hence his body, Let him be regarded, As the most noble corse that ever herald Did follow to his urn. 2 Lord. His own impatience Takes from Aufidius a great part of blame. Let's make the best of it. Auf. My rage is gone, -Take him up: And I am struck with sorrow. — Help, three o' the chiefest soldiers; I'll be one. Yet he shall have a noble memory. Assist. [Exeunt, bearing the body of CORIOLANUS. A dead march sounded. NOTES ON CORIOLANUS. p. 173. P. 174. ACT FIRST. SCENE I. "Our business is not unknown to th' Senate' This and the remaining replies to Menenius on the part of the Citizens in this Scene have the prefix "2 Cit." in the folio. But as the Second Citizen is plainly a friend of Coriolanus and an admirer of Menenius, which appears by all his previous speeches, Malone, who first assigned those in question to the First Citizen, seems to have done well in trusting rather to Shakespeare's consistency of characterization than to the typographical accuracy of this very incorrectly printed play, upon a point in which error might so easily be committed. "To stale't a little more : - The folio, "To scale it," &c. Some editors interpret "scale," to disperse; but granting the word that meaning, what sense does it afford in the place it holds ? Menenius tells the people that it may be that they have heard his story; but, since it serves his purpose, he will venture to use it, old as it is, and make it even staler. Can there be the least doubt that Theobald was right in changing one letter, and reading as in the text? So "I'll not stale the jest by my relation," Massinger's Unnatural Combat, Act IV. Scene 2. The old fable that Menenius recounts is put into his mouth by Plutarch, and the language of the play is very nearly that of North's translation. See p. 240, ed. 1579. I may make the belly smile":— So in North's Plutarch: "And so the bellie, all this notwithstanding, laughed at their follie, and sayed, It is true that I first receyve all the meates that norishe mans bodie," &c., p. 240. |