Tullus Aufidius, is he within your walls? 1 SEN. No, nor a man that fears you less than he, That's lesser than a little. Hark! our drums [Drums afar off. Are bringing forth our youth! we'll break our walls, Rather than they shall pound us up: our gates, Which yet seem shut, we have but pinn'd with rushes; They'll open of themselves. Hark you, far off! [Alarum afar off. There is Aufidius; list, what work he makes Amongst your cloven army. MAR. O, they are at it! LART. Their noise be our instruction.-Ladders, ho! you herd of-Boils and plagues Plaster you o'er ;] The old text has, you Heard of Byles and Plagues Plaister you o're," The Volsces enter and pass over the Stage. MAR. They fear us not, but issue forth their city. Now put your shields before your hearts, and fight With hearts more proof than shields.-Advance, brave Titus: They do disdain us much beyond our thoughts, Which makes me sweat with wrath.-Come on, my fellows; He that retires, I'll take him for a Volsce, To the pot, I warrant him.] Mr. Collier's annotator reads,"To the port, I warrant him," and Mr. Collier defends the substitution in this wise,-"In the folio, 1623, the letter had dropped out in port,' and it was always ridiculously misprinted pot,To the pot, I warrant him.' To what pot? To go to pot,' is certainly an old vulgarism, but here it is not to pot,' but to the pot,' as if some particular pot were intended." This is strange oblivion. "To the pot," as Mr. Collier, better than anyone else, ought to know, was one of the most familiar expressions in our early dramatists. Take only the following examples, from plays which that gentleman must be familiar with:"Thou mightest sweare, if I could, I would bring them to the pot.""New Custome," Act II. Sc. 3. "For goes this wretch, this traitor, to the pot " с Thou wast a soldier Even to Cato's wish :] In the old text, "Even to Calues wish;" the correction, Theobald's, is established by the relative passage in North's Plutarch: -"But Martius being there [before Corioli] at that time, ronning out of the campe with a fewe men with him, he slue the first enemies he met withall, and made the rest of them staye upon a sodaine, crying out to the Romaines that had turned their backes, and calling them againe to fight with a lowde voice. For he was even such another, as Cato would have a souldier and a captaine to be not only terrible and fierce to laye about him, but to make the enemie afeard with the sounde of his voyce, and grimnes of his countenaunce." d that do prize their hours-] Pope changed the word "hours" to honours, but, as Steevens pointed out, Shakespeare followed his authority, Plutarch.-"The cittie being taken in this sorte, the most parte of the souldiers beganne incontinently to spoyle, to carie away, and to looke up the bootie they had wonne. But Martius was marvelous angry with them, and cried out on them, that it was no time now to looke after spoyle, and to ronne stragling here and there to enriche themselves." stand'st up." And given to Lartius and to Marcius battle: I saw our party to their trenches driven, And then I came away. COM. Though thou speak'st truth, Methinks thou speak'st not well. How long is 't since? MESS. Above an hour, my lord. COM. 'Tis not a mile; briefly we heard their drums: How couldst thou in a mile confound an hour, MAR. [without.] Who's yonder, Come I too late? COм. The shepherd knows not thunder from a tabor, More than I know the sound of Marcius' tongue From every meaner man. Where 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 you on which side They have plac'd their men of trust ? As I guess, Marcius, MAR. By all the battles wherein we have fought, [They all shout, and wave their swords; O me, alone! make you a sword of me! COM. March on, my shall fellows [Exeunt and you COM. ? SCENE VII.-The Gates of Corioli. TITUS LARTIUS, having set a guard upon Corioli, going with drum and trumpet toward COMINIUS and CAIUS MARCIUS, enters with a Lieutenant, a party of Soldiers, and a Scout. LART. So, let the ports be guarded: keep your duties, As I have set them down. If I do send, dispatch LIEU. us. MAR. If I fly, Marcius, [blood Within these three hours, Tullus, Alone I fought in your Corioli walls, And made what work I pleas'd: 't is not my Wherein thou seest me mask'd; for thy revenge Wrench up thy power to the highest. AUF. Wert thou the Hector, That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny, Thou shouldst not scape me here.— [They fight, and certain Volsces come to the aid of AUFIDIUS. Officious, and not valiant, you have sham'd me In your condemned seconds. [Exeunt fighting, driven out by MARCIUS. SCENE IX.-The Roman Camp. Alarum. A Retreat is sounded. Flourish. Enter at one side, COMINIUS and Romans; at the other side, MARCIUS, with his arm in a scarf, and other Romans. a Thou'lt not believe thy deeds: but I'll report it, That, with the fusty plébeians, hate thine honours, Shall say, against their hearts,-We thank the gods, Our Rome hath such a soldier !— The grave of your deserving; Rome must know (In sign of what you are, not to reward The treasure in this field achiev'd and city, I thank you, general; But cannot make my heart consent to take A bribe to pay my sword: I do refuse it; Coм. If I should tell thee o'er this thy day's And stand upon my common part with those work, Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor More than thy fame and envy.] There is probably some corruption in the second line, which would That have beheld the doing. better read,-"More than thy fame I hate and envy." So in Plutarch-"Martius knew very well that Tullus did more malice and envy him than he did all the Romains besides." |