LART. I shall, my lord. COR. The gods begin to mock me. I that now Refus'd most princely gifts, am bound to beg Of my lord general. Сом. Take it: 'tis yours. - What is't? COR. I sometime lay, here in Corioli, At a poor man's house; he us'd me kindly : 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. Сом. O, well begg'd! Were he the butcher of my son, he should LART. Marcius, his name? COR. 1 By Jupiter, forgot : I am weary; yea, my memory is tir'd.- Сом. Go we to our tent: The blood upon your visage dries: 'tis time It should be look'd to: come. [Exeunt. 5 At a poor man's house;] So, in the old translation of Plutarch: "Only this grace (said he) I craue, and beseeche you to grant me. Among the Volces there is an old friende and hoste of mine, an honest wealthie man, and now a prisoner, who liuing before in great wealthe in his owne countrie, liueth now a poore prisoner in the handes of his enemies: and yet notwithstanding all this his miserie and misfortune, it would doe me great pleasure if I could saue him from this one daunger; to keepe him from being solde as a slaue." STEEVENS. r free, as is the wind.] So, in As you like it : "I must have liberty, " Withal, as large a charter as the wind." MALONE. SCENE X. The Camp of the Volces. A Flourish. Cornets. Enter TULLUS AUFIDIUS, bloody, with Two or Three Soldiers. AUF. The town is ta'en! 1 SOL. 'Twill be deliver'd back on good condi tion. AUF. Condition? I would, I were a Roman; for I cannot, I' the part that is at mercy? Five times, Marcius, me; And would'st do so, I think, should we encounter * Being a Volce, &c.] It may be just observed, that Shakspeare calls the Volci, Volces, which the modern editors have changed to the modern termination [Volcian.] I mention it here, because here the change has spoiled the measure ; Being a Volce, be that I am.-Condition! JOHNSON. The Volci are called Volces in Sir Thomas North's Plutarch, and so I have printed the word throughout this tragedy. 8 STEEVENS. meet him beard to beard,] So, in Macbeth: "We might have met them dareful, beard to beard-." STEEVENS. -for where-] Where is used here, as in many other places, for whereas. MALONE. I thought to crush him in an equal force, (True sword to sword,) I'll potch at him some way;1 Or wrath, or craft, may get him. 1 SOL. He's the devil. AUF. Bolder, though not so subtle: My valour's poison'd, 3 With only suffering stain by him; for him The prayers of priests, nor times of sacrifice, Embarquements all of fury, shall lift up 1 I'll potch at him some way;) Mr. Heath readspoach; but potch, to which the objection is made as no English word, is used in the midland counties for a rough, violent push. STEEVENS. Cole, in his DICTIONARY, 1679, renders " to poche," fundum explorare. The modern word poke is only a hard pronunciation of this word. So to eke was formerly written to ech. MALONE. In Carew's Survey of Cornwall, the word potch is used in almost the same sense, p. 31: "They use also to poche them (fish) with an instrument somewhat like a salmon-speare." TOLLET. 2 - My valour's poison'd, &c.] The construction of this passage would be clearer, if it were written thus: my valour, poison'd With only suffering stain by him, for him Shall fly out of itself. TYRWHITT. The amendment proposed by Tyrwhitt would make the construction clear; but I think the passage will run better thus, and with as little deviation from the text: 3 -my valour's poison'd; Which only suffering stain by him, for him -for him Shall fly out of itself: To mischief him, my valour should deviate from its own native generosity. JOHNSON. 1 4 nor sleep, nor sanctuary, &c. Embarquements all of fury, &c.] The word, in the old Their rotten privilege and custom 'gainst 5 Wash my fierce hand in his heart. Go you to the city; Learn, how 'tis held; and what they are, that must Be hostages for Rome. 1 SOL. Will not you go? AUF. I am attended at the cypress grove : I pray you, ('Tis south the city mills,1) bring me word thither copy, is spelt embarquements, and, as Cotgrave says, meant not only an embarkation, but an embargoing. The rotten privilege and custom that follow, seem to favour this explanation, and therefore the old reading may well enough stand, as an embargo is undoubtedly an impediment. STEEVENS. In Sherwood's English and French Dictionary at the end of Cotgrave's, we find " To imbark, to imbargue. Embarquer. " An imbarking, an imbarguing. Embarquement." Cole, in his Latin Dictionary, 1679, has "to imbargue, or lay an imbargo upon." There can be no doubt therefore that the old copy is right. If we derive the word from the Spanish, embargar, perhaps we ought to write embargement; but Shakspeare's word certainly came to us from the French, and therefore is more properly written embarquements, or embarkments. MALONE. * At home, upon my brother's guard,] In my own house, with my brother posted to protect him. JOHNSON. So, in Othello : " and on the court of guard, -." STEEVENS. - attended-] i. e. waited for. So, in Twelfth-Night: "-thy intercepter-attends thee at the orchard end." STEEVENS. ' ('Tis south the city mills,)] But where could Shakspeare have heard of these mills at Antium? I believe we ought to read: ('Tis south the city a mile.) The old edition reads mils. TYRWHITт. How the world goes; that to the pace of it 1 SOL. I shall, sir. [Exeunt. Shakspeare is seldom careful about such little improprieties. Coriolanus speaks of our divines, and Menenius of graves in the holy churchyard. It is said afterwards, that Coriolanus talks like a knell; and drums, and Hob, and Dick, are with as little attention to time or place, introduced in this tragedy. STEEVENS. Shakspeare frequently introduces those minute local descrip tions, probably to give an air of truth to his pieces. So, in Romeo and Juliet : Again : "-underneath the grove of sycamore, " That westward rooteth from the city's side." " It was the nightingale and not the lark- Mr. Tyrwhitt's question, "where could Shakspeare have heard of these mills at Antium?" may be answered by another question: Where could Lydgate hear of the mills near Troy ? " And as I ride upon this flode, " When nede was their graine and corne to grinde," &c. : |