Does not approve me further, who was wont
To call them woollen vassals, things created
To buy and sell with groats; to show bare heads
In congregations, to yawn, be still, and wonder,
When one but of my ordinance stood up
To speak of peace, or war. I talk of you;
[TO VOL.
Why did you wish me milder? Would you have me
False to my nature? Rather say, I play

The man I am.6

Vol.

O, sir, sir, sir,

I would have had you put your power well on,
Before you had worn it out.

Cor.

Let go."

Vol. You might have been enough the man you are,
With striving less to be so: Lesser had been
The thwartings of your dispositions, if

You had not show'd them how you were dispos'd
Ere they lack'd power to cross you.

Cor.

Vol. Ay, and burn too.

Let them hang.

I muse,] That is, I wonder, I am at a loss. Johnson. So, in Macbeth:

"Do not muse at me, my most noble friends -" Steevens.

my ordinance —] My rank. Johnson.

6 The man I am.] Sir Thomas Hanmer supplies the defect in this line, very judiciously in my opinion, by reading :

Truly the man I am.

Truly is properly opposed to False in the preceding line.

Steevens.

Let go.] Here again, Sir Thomas Hanmer, with sufficient propriety, reads-Why, let it go.-Mr. Ritson would complete the measure with a similar expression, which occurs in Othello: -"Let it go all-Too many of the short replies in this and other plays of Shakspeare, are apparently mutilated. Steevens. 8 The thwartings of your dispositions,] The old copies exhibit it: "The things of your dispositions."

A few letters replaced, that by some carelessness dropped out, restore us the poet's genuine reading:

The thwartings of your dispositions. Theobald.

Mr. Theobald only improved on Mr. Rowe's correction :
The things that thwart your dispositions. Malone.

Enter MENENIUS, and Senators.

Men. Come, come, you have been too rough, something too rough;

You must return, and mend it.

1 Sen. Unless, by not so doing, our good city Cleave in the midst, and perish.

Vol.

There's no remedy;

Pray, be counsel'd:

I have a heart as little apt as yours,
But yet a brain, that leads my use of anger,

To better vantage.

Men.

Well said, noble woman:
Before he should thus stoop to the herd, but that
The violent fit o' the time craves it as physick
For the whole state, I would put mine armour on,.
Which I can scarcely bear.

Cor. What must I do?

Repent what you have spoke.

Cor. For them?-I cannot do it to the gods; Must I then do 't to them?

Vol.

You are too absolute;

Though therein you can never be too noble,

But when extremities speak. I have heard you say,
Honour and policy, like unsever'd friends,

9

Before he should thus stoop to the herd,] [Old copy--stoop to the heart.] But how did Coriolanus stoop to his heart? He rather, as we vulgarly express it, made his proud heart stoop to the ne cessity of the times. I am persuaded, my emendation gives the true reading. So before in this play:

"Are these your herd ?"

So, in Julius Cæsar: “— when he perceived, the common herd was glad he refus'd the crown," &c. Theobald.

Mr. Theobald's conjecture is confirmed by a passage, in which Coriolanus thus describes the people:

"You shames of Rome! you herd of —

Herd was anciently spelt heard. Hence heart crept into the old copy. Malone.

1 You are too absolute;

Though therein you can never be too noble,

But when extremities speak.] Except in cases of urgent necessity, when your resolute and noble spirit, however commendable at other times, ought to yield to the occasion. Malone.

I' the war do grow together: Grant that, and tell me,
In peace, what each of them by th' other lose,
That they combine not there.

Cor.
Men.

Tush, tush!

A good demand.

Vol. If it be honour, in your wars, to seem
The same you are not, (which, for your best ends,
You adopt your policy,) how is it less, or worse,
That it shall hold companionship in peace

With honour, as in war; since that to both
It stands in like request?

Cor.

Why force you? this?

Vol. Because that now it lies on you to speak

To the people; not by your own instruction,

Nor by the matter which your heart prompts you to,3 But with such words that are but roted in

Your tongue, though but bastards, and syllables

Of no allowance, to your bosom's truth.4

you -] Why urge you. Johnson.

So, in King Henry VIII:

"If you will now unite in your complaints,

"And force them with a constancy-" Malone.

3 Nor by the matter which your heart prompts you to,] [Old copy-prompts you,] Perhaps the meaning is, which your heart prompts you to. We have many such elliptical expressions in these plays. See Vol. XI, p. 341, n. 2. So, in Julius Cæsar:

"Thy honourable metal may be wrought
"From what it is dispos'd [to]."

But I rather believe, that our author has adopted the language of the theatre, and that the meaning is, which your heart suggests to you; which your heart furnishes you with, as a prompter furnishes the player with the words that have escaped his memory. So afterwards: "Come, come, we 'll prompt you." The editor of the second folio, who was entirely unacquainted with our author's peculiaritics, reads-prompts you to, and so all the subsequent copies read.

Malone.

I am content to follow the second folio; though perhaps we ought to read:

-for

Nor by the matter which your heart prompts in you. So, in A Sermon preach'd at St. Paul's Crosse, &c. 1589: “. often meditatyon prompteth in us goode thoughtes, begettyng theron goode workes," &c.

Without some additional syllable the verse is defective.

bastards, and syllables

Steevens.

Of no allowance, to your bosom's truth.] I read: "of no al

Now, this no more dishonours you at all,
Than to take in a town with gentle words,
Which else would put you to your fortune, and
The hazard of much blood.-

I would dissemble with my nature, where
My fortunes, and my friends, at stake, requir'd,
I should do so in honour: I am in this,

Your wife, your son, these senators, the nobles;
And you will rather show our general lowts"
How you can frown, than spend a fawn upon them,
For the inheritance of their loves, and safeguard
Of what that wants might ruin.

liance;" therefore bastards. Yet allowance may well enough stand, as meaning legal right, established rank, or settled authority. Johnson.

Allowance is certainly right. So, in Othello, Act II, sc. i:

66

his pilot

"Of very expert and approv'd allowance."

Dr. Johnson's amendment, however, is countenanced by an expression in The Taming of the Shrew, where Petruchio's stirrups are said to be "of no kindred." Steevens.

I at first was pleased with Dr. Johnson's proposed emendation, because "of no allowance, i. e. approbation, to your bosom's truth," appeared to me unintelligible. But allowance has no connection with the subsequent words, "to your bosom's truth." The construction is-though but bastards to your bosom's truth, not the lawful issue of your heart. The words," and syllables of no allowance," are put in opposition with bastards, and are as it were parenthetical. Malone.

5 Than to take in a town -] To subdue or destroy. See p. 20, n. 1. Malone.

Your wife, your son, these senators, the nobles;

And you &c.] Volumnia is persuading Coriolanus that he ought to flatter the people, as the general fortune was at stake; and says, that in this advice, she speaks as his wife, as his son; as the senate and body of the patricians; who were in some measure link'd to his conduct. Warburton.

I rather think the meaning is, I am in their condition, I am at stake, together with your wife, your son. Johnson.

I am in this, means, I am in this predicament. M. Mason. I think the meaning is, In this advice, in exhorting you to act thus, I speak not only as your mother, but as your wife, your son, &c. all of whom are at stake. Malone.

7

8

our general lowts-] Our common clowns. Johnson.
that want-] The want of their loves. Johnson.

Men.

Noble lady!

Come, go with us; speak fair: you may salve so,
Not what is dangerous present, but the loss
Of what is past.

Vol.
I pr'ythee now, my son,
Go to them, with this bonnet in thy hand;1

And thus far having stretch'd it, (here be with them) Thy knee bussing the stones, (for in such business Action is eloquence, and the eyes of the ignorant More learned than the ears,) waving thy head, Which often, thus, correcting thy stout heart,2

9 Not what-] In this place not seems to signify not only. Johnson.

1

with this bonnet in thy hand;] Surely our author wrote -with thy bonnet in thy hand; for I cannot suppose that he intended that Volumnia should either touch or take off the bonnet which he has given to Coriolanus. Malone.

When Volumnia says-" this bonnet," she may be supposed to point at it, without any attempt to touch it, or take it off.

2 waving thy head,

Steevens.

Which often, thus, correcting thy stout heart,] But do any of the ancient or modern masters of elocution prescribe the waving the head, when they treat of action? Or how does the waving the head correct the stoutness of the heart, or evidence humility! Or, lastly, where is the sense or grammar of these words, Which often, thus, &c.? These questions are sufficient to show that the lines are corrupt. I would read therefore:

waving thy hand,

Which soften thus, correcting thy stout heart.

This is a very proper precept of action, suiting the occasion; Wave thy hand, says she, and soften the action of it thus,-then strike upon thy breast, and by that action show the people thou hast corrected thy stout heart. All here is fine and proper.

Warburton.

The correction is ingenious, yet I think it not right. Head or hand is indifferent. The hand is waved to gain attention; the head is shaken in token of sorrow. The word wave suits better to the hand, but in considering the author's language, too much stress must not be laid on propriety, against the copies. I would read thus: waving thy head,

With often, thus, correcting thy stout heart.

That is, shaking thy head, and striking thy breast. The alteration is slight, and the gesture recommended not improper. Johnson. Shakspeare uses the same expression in Hamlet:

"And thrice his head waving thus, up and down." Steevens.

I have sometimes thought that this passage might originally have stood thus: