Three or four miles about; else had I, sir,
Half an hour since brought my report.

Com.

Enter MARCIUS.

Who's yonder,

That does appear as he were flay'd? O gods!
He has the stamp of Marcius; and I have.
Before-time seen him thus.

Mar.

Come I too late?

Com. The shepherd knows not thunder from a

tabor,

More than I know the sound of Marcius' tongue From every meaner man's.

Mar.

Come I too late?

Com. Ay, if you come not in the blood of others, But mantled in your own.

Mar.

O! let me clip you

In arms as sound, as when I woo'd; in heart
As merry, as when our nuptial day was done,
And tapers burn'd to bedward2.

Com.

How is't with Titus Lartius?

Flower of warriors,

Mar. As with a man busied about decrees: Condemning some to death, and some to exile; Ransoming him, or pitying3, threat'ning the other; Holding Corioli in the name of Rome,

Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash,
To let him slip at will.

2 i. e. towards bed or rest, or the time of resting. Compounds were formerly made at pleasure, by subjoining ward to the thing towards which the action tended. Tooke makes ward the imperative of the A. S. verb waɲdian, to look out, or to direct the view. We have in the New Testament, to us-ward, and to God-ward; and such compounds as Rome-ward, Paris-ward, &c. were very common. The word in the text is used by Milton, Paradise Lost, iv. 350:

'Couch'd and now fill'd with pasture gazing sat,
Or bedward ruminating.'

3 i. e. remitting his ransom.

He did inform the truth: But for our gentlemen, The common file (A plague !—Tribunes for them!) The mouse ne'er shunn'd the cat, as they did budge From rascals worse than they.

Com.

But how prevail'd you? Mar. Will the time serve to tell? I do not thinkWhere is the enemy? Are you lords o' the field? If not, why cease you till you are so?

Com.

Marcius,

We have at disadvantage fought, and did
Retire, to win our purpose.

Mar. How lies their battle? Know

side

They have plac'd their men of trust?

you on which

Com. As I guess, Marcius, Their bands in the vaward are the Antiates, Of their best trust: o'er them Aufidius,

Their very heart of hope.

Mar.

I do beseech you,

By all the battles wherein we have fought,

By the blood we have shed together, by the vows
We have made to endure friends, that you directly
Set me against Aufidius, and his Antiates:
And that you not delay the present5; but,

Filling the air with swords advanc'd, and darts,

We prove

this very hour.

Com.

Though I could wish

You were conducted to a gentle bath,

And balms applied to you, yet dare I never

4 i. e. in the front are the soldiers of Antium. Shakspeare uses Antiates as a trisyllable, as if it had been written Antiats. 5 i. e. do not let slip the present time.'

Deny your asking; take your choice of those
That best can aid your action.

Mar.

Those are they

That most are willing;-If any such be here
(As it were sin to doubt), that love this painting
Wherein you see me smear'd; if any fear
Lesser his person than an ill report;

If any think, brave death outweighs bad life,
And that his country's dearer than himself;
Let him, alone, or so many, so minded,

Wave thus [waving his hand], to express his disposition,

And follow Marcius.

O me, alone! Make

[They all shout, and wave their swords; take him up in their arms, and cast up their caps. you a sword of me? If these shows be not outward, which of you But is four Volces? None of you but is Able to bear against the great Aufidius A shield as hard as his. A certain number, Though thanks to all, must I select from all: the rest Shall bear the business in some other fight,

As cause will be obey'd. Please you to march; And four shall quickly draw out my command, Which men are best inclin'd7.

6

if any fear

Lesser his person than an ill report.'

The old copy reads Lessen. The reading of the text was introduced by Steevens. His person means his personal danger. We have nearly the same sentiment in Troilus and Cressida :-If there be one among the fair'st of Greece That holds his honour higher than his ease,'

And in King Henry VI. Part III. :

'But thou prefer'st thy life before thine honour.'

In this play we have had already, at p. 139, lesser for less.
Please you to march;

7

And four shall quickly draw out my command,

Which men are best inclin'd.

From the obscurity of this passage there is good reason to sus

Com.

March on, my fellows:

Make good this ostentation, and you shall

Divide in all with us.

[Exeunt.

SCENE VII. The Gates of Corioli.

TITUS LARTIUS, having set a guard upon Corioli, going with a drum and trumpet toward Cominius and Caius Marcius, enters with a Lieutenant, a Party of Soldiers, and a Scout.

Lart. So, let the ports1 be guarded: keep your duties,

As I have set them down. If I do send, despatch Those centuries to our aid; the rest will serve

2

For a short holding: If we lose the field,

We cannot keep the town.

Lieu.

Fear not our care, sir. Lart. Hence, and shut your gates upon us.― Our guider, come; to the Roman camp conduct us.

[Exeunt.

pect its correctness. Perhaps we might read some instead of four, words easily confounded in old MSS.; and then the last line may be interrogative, thus :

Please you to march,

And some shall quickly draw out my command:
Which men are best inclin'd?'

The passage as it stands in the old copy has been thus explained: Coriolanus means to say, that he would appoint four persons to select for his particular, or party, those who are best inclined; and, in order to save time, he proposes to have this choice made while the army is marching forward.' The old translation of Plutarch only says: Wherefore, with those that willingly offered themselves to followe him, he went out of the citie.'

1 Gates.

2 Companies of a hundred men.

SCENE VIII.

A Field of Battle between the Roman and the Volcian Camps.

Alarum. Enter MARCIUS and AUFidius.

Mar. I'll fight with none but thee; for I do hate thee Worse than a promise-breaker.

Auf.

We hate alike; Not Africk owns a serpent, I abhor More than thy fame and envy1: Fix thy foot. Mar. Let the first budger die the other's slave, And the gods doom him after?!

Auf.

Halloo me like a hare.

Mar.

If I fly, Marcius,

Within these three hours, Tullus,

Alone I fought in Corioli walls,

your

And made what work I pleas'd; 'Tis not my blood, Wherein thou seest me mask'd; for thy revenge,

Wrench up thy power to the highest.

Auf. Wert thou the Hector, That was the whip3 of your bragg'd progeny, Thou should'st not scape me here.—

[They fight, and certain Volces come to the aid of AUFIDIUS.

Officious, and not valiant-you have sham'd me your condemned seconds*.

In

[Exeunt fighting, driven in by MARCIUS.

The verb to

The construction here appears to be, Not Africk owns a serpent I more abhor and envy than thy fame.' envy, in ancient language, signified to hate.

2 Thus in Macbeth:

And damn'd be he that first cries, Hold, enough!'

3 i. e. the whip that your bragg'd progenitors were possessed of. Steevens suggests that whip might be used as crack has been since, to denote any thing peculiarly boasted of; as the crack house in the country, the crack boy of the school, &c.

4 You have to my shame sent me help, which I must condemn as intrusive, instead of applauding it as necessary.'