Turn terror into sport: as waves before A vessel under sail, so men obey'd, And fell below his stem:2* his sword (death's stamp) the bawdes, their hostesses, and laughing at the punies they had lurched." I suspect, however, I have not rightly traced the origin of this phrase. To lurch, in Shakspeare's time signified to win a maiden set at cards, &c. See Florio's Italian Dict. 1598: "Gioco marzo. A maiden set, or lurch, at any game." See also Cole's Latin Dict. 1679: “A lurch, Duplex palma facilis victoria." "To lurch all swords of the garland," therefore, was, to gain from all other warriors the wreath of victory, with ease, and incontestable superiority. Malone. 2 as waves before A vessel under sail, so men obey'd, And fell below his stem:] First folio-weeds.] The editor of the second folio, for weeds substituted waves, and this capricious alteration has been adopted in all the subsequent editions. In the same page of that copy, which has been the source of at least one half of the corruptions that have been introduced in our author's works, we find defamy for destiny, sir Coriolanus, for "sit, Coriolanus," trim'd for tim'd, and painting for panting: but luckily none of the latter sophistications have found admis. sion into any of the modern editions, except Mr. Rowe's. Rushes falling below a vessel passing over them is an image as expressive of the prowess of Coriolanus as well can be conceived. A kindred image is found in Troilus and Cressida: there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge, "Fall down before him, like the mower's swath." 66 Malone Waves, the reading of the second folio, I regard as no trivial evidence in favour of the copy from which it was printed. Weeds, instead of falling below a vessel under sail, cling fast about the stem of it. The justice of my remark every sailor or waterman will confirm. But were not this the truth, by conflict with a mean adversary, valour would be depreciated. The submersion of weeds resembles a Frenchman's triumph over a soup aux herbes; but to rise above the threatening billow, or force a way through the watery bulwark, is a conquest worthy of a ship, and furnishes a comparison suitable to the exploits of Coriolanus. Thus, in Troilus and Cressida: "The strong-ribb'd bark through liquid mountains cuts, Bounding between the two moist elements, 66 "Like Perseus' horse." If Shakspeare originally wrote weeds, on finding such an image less apposite and dignified than that of waves, he might have introduced the correction which Mr. Malone has excluded from his text. Where it did mark, it took; from face to foot He was a thing of blood, whose every motion The stem is that end of the ship which leads. From stem to stern is an expression used by Dryden in his translation of Virgil: "Orontes' bark "From stem to stern by waves was overborne." Steevens. * Had Mr. Steevens considered the passage more attentively, he would have found the reading of the first folio justified by the context, and perfectly in unison with that extravagance of comparison, introduced by the friends of Coriolanus, when speaking of him personally, or recounting his deeds. He is never described as one who must contend for victory, but as one who commands it: He conquers without struggle, without effort, for none can withstand his prowess: between him and the rest of mankind the line of comparison is extended to the utmost stretch of imagination. By the alteration, admitted by Mr. Steevens, he, who is represented as leading victory captive, he who rivals the minister of death, is degraded to the contending warrior. The boast of Volumnia (p. 52.) was enough to prevent a mistake of the hero's character: "Death, that dark spirit, in 's nervy arm doth lie; "Which being advanc'd, declines; and then men die." It may be said, this is the foolish vaunt of a doting mother; but when we find the same strain of eulogium persevered in throughout; when we find powers attributed to him, on various occasions, beyond humanity, we must not suppose our author has, in this instance, deviated from a regular display of character, to gratify a freak. Mr. Steevens asserts, that weeds cling fast about the stem of a vessel, instead of falling below it: This assertion is as ridiculous as is his appeal to watermen and seamen to support it. Every child who ever played with toy-boat on a duck-pool knows better. That waves obey and fall beneath a vessel's stem, is not correct; and how Mr. Steevens reconciles it with "a vessel's rising above the threatening billow," I cannot comprehend. The quotation which he adduces as illustrative, is also against his position: "The strong ribb'd bark," &c. Here is no elementary obedience; here is no falling beneath the stem, but, in place of these, stubborn resistance; threatening billows, that must be surmounted; watery bulwarks, that must be overcome. That weeds obey, and fall, or sink, beneath a vessel's stem, is not only true, but conveys at once the mighty contrast, which our author seems to have drawn on every occasion, between Coriolanus and all other men. I must therefore agree with Mr. Malone, and recommend the reading of the first folio: "as weeds before. "A vessel under sail, so men obey'd, 166 And fell below his stem:" Was timed with dying cries:3 alone he entered Men. Worthy man! 1 Sen. He cannot but with measure fit the honours Which we devise him. Com. Our spoils he kick'd at; And look'd upon things precious, as they were Coriolanus is the vessel gliding o'er the deep; his foes, are the floating weeds that sink, unfelt, beneath his stem. The remaining part of the speech continues in a flow of glowing metaphor, awful description, and bold eulogium. Am. Ed. his sword, &c.] Old copy: 3 66 His sword, death's stamp, "Where it did mark, it took from face to foot. This passage should be pointed thus: His sword (death's stamp) Where it did mark, it took; from face to foot He was a thing of blood, &c. Tyrwhitt. I have followed the punctuation recommended. Steevens. every motion Was tim'd with dying cries.] The cries of the slaughter'd regularly followed his motion, as musick and a dancer accompany each other. Johnson. The mortal gate-] The gate that was made the scene of death. Johnson. Corioli, like a planet:] So, in Timon of Athens: "Be as a planetary plague, when Jove "Will o'er some high-vic'd city hang his poison "In the sick air." Steevens. • He cannot but with measure fit the honours ] That is, no ho nour will be too great for him; he will show a mind equal to any elevation. Johnson. The common muck o' the world: he covets less His deeds with doing them; and is content Men. Let him be call'd for. I Sen. Off. He doth appear. He 's right noble; Call for Coriolanus." Re-enter CORIOLANUS. Men. The senate, Coriolanus, are well pleas'd 7 Than misery itself would give;] Misery for avarice; because a miser signifies avaricious. Warburton. To spend the time, to end it.] I know not whether my conceit will be approved, but I cannot forbear to think that our author wrote thus: he rewards His deeds with doing them, and is content To spend his time, to spend it. To do great acts, for the sake of doing them; to spend his life, for the sake of spending it. Johnson. I think the words afford this meaning, without any alteration. Malone. Call for Coriolanus.] I have supplied the preposition-for, to complete the measure. Steevens. 1 It then remains, That you do speak to the people.] Coriolanus was banished U. C. 262. But till the time of Manlius Torquatus, U. C. 393, the senate chose both the consuls: And then the people, assisted by the seditious temper of the tribunes, got the choice of one. But if Shakspeare makes Rome a democracy, which at this time was a perfect aristocracy; he sets the balance even in his Timon, and turns Athens, which was a perfect democracy, into an aristocracy. But it would be unjust to attribute this entirely to his ignorance; it sometimes proceeded from the too powerful blaze of his imagination, which, when once lighted up, made all acquired knowledge fade and disappear before it. For sometimes again we find him, when occasion serves, not only writing up to the truth of history, but fitting his sentiments to the nicest manners of his peculiar subject, as well to the dignity of his characters, or the dictates of nature in general. Warburton. Cor. I do beseech you, Let me o'er-leap that custom; for I cannot For my wounds' sake, to give their suffrage: please you, Sic. Sir, the people Must have their voices; neither will they bate One jot of ceremony. Men. Put them not to 't: Pray you, go fit you to the custom; and Cor. It is a part That I shall blush in acting, and might well Be taken from the people. Bru. Mark you that? Cor. To brag unto them,-Thus I did, and thus;Show them the unaking scars which I should hide, As if I had receiv'd them for the hire Of their breath only : Men. Sen. To Coriolanus come all joy and honour! The inaccuracy is to be attributed, not to our author, but to Plutarch, who expressly says, in his Life of Coriolanus, that “it was the custome of Rome at that time, that such as dyd sue for any office, should for certen dayes before be in the market-place, only with a poor gowne on their backes, and without any coate underneath, to praye the people to remember them at the day of election." North's translation, p. 244. Malore. 2 Your honour with your form.] I believe we should read"Your honour with the form."-That is, the usual form. M. Mason. Your form, may mean the form which custom prescribes to you. Steevens. 3 We recommend to you, tribunes of the people, Our purpose to them;] We entreat you, tribunes of the people, to recommend and enforce to the plebeians, what we propose to them for their approbation; namely the appointment of Coriolanus to the consulship. Malone. This passage is rendered almost unintelligible by the false |