Sc. 8, 10,

66

Strike, fellows, strike; this is the man I seek." "Empale him with your weapons-exercise your arms," i.e. close him round with your weapons, use your arms in fellest manner. To exercise arms, compare Catiline,

Act v.,

"And I am proud to have so brave a cause

To exercise your arms in."

1 Hy. IV. v. 2, 55,—

"Unless a brother should a brother dare
To gentle exercise and proof of arms.”

Here if "fellest" were substituted for "gentle," the
passages would be parallel. The old eds. have "exe-
cute," but execute is never used by Shakespeare in a
sense applicable here. Capell accordingly corrected
"execute your aims," which is adopted by Dyce,
Staunton, and the Camb. eds. But the Myrmidons
had no aims, they are receiving orders, viz. having
hemmed Hector in with their swords, to use them in the
direst manner,-
-it is necessary that the swords not
only surround Hector, but that they be used, if
"Hector the great must die." Achilles' order (scene 8),
when Hector is found, is simply "Strike "exercise
your arms-use your weapons. The old eds. have a
colon after "round about: -an error which has
caused the passage to be misunderstood. The folio
has "arme", the quarto "armes". Delius and Singer
print as the quarto.

CORIOLANUS.

Note (1.) Act I. Scene 6, Line 46,—

"Will the time serve to tell? I do not think."

An inversion for "I do think not."

Note (2.) Ib. Line 76,

"If any think brave death outweighs bad life,

And that his country's dearer than himself;

Let him alone, or so many so minded, [Raises his sword.
Wave thus, t'express his disposition,

And follow Marcius.

[They all shout, and wave their swords; take him up in their arms, and cast up their caps.

O me alone? make you a sword of me?"

That is, "Do you raise but me only? I called for your swords, make you a sword of me?" For "alone"

but only, compare A. and C. iii. 11, 38,—

Singer prints" Come! along! Make-me," Staunton, “ —alone !—me ! " The other compared eds. print, after Capell,

"O, me alone! make you a sword of me?” The reading adopted is suggested by Lloyd.

Note (3.)

Ib. Line 84,

"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;

[To Cominius.

March on, my fellows: " &c.

And you shall quickly draw out my command,
Which men are best inclin'd.

Com.

The speech of Marcius to the men ends with " obey'd.” "Please you," &c., is addressed solely to Cominius, who, as general, best knew who were the fittest men. Marcius acts also with propriety, for he had no command. He had previous addressed Cominius (line 55),

"I do beseech you ;- -that you directly

Set me against Aufidius and his Antiates."

The folio has "And foure." Singer substitutes "some." The other compared eds. retain "four." The Camb. eds. mark the text as corrupt. "from all" is probably, as Steevens supposed, an interpolation, the transcriber having carried the words on from "to all."

Note (4.) Act I. Scene 8, Line 4,—

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

Auf.

Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor

We hate alike:

More than thy fame, and envy 't. Fix thy foot."

For the mutual feelings of these men, compare Act i.

1,234,

"Mar.

They have a leader,

Tullus Aufidius, that will put you to 't.

I sin in envying his nobility;
And were I any thing but what I am,
I'd wish me only he."

Act i. 10, 12,

"Five times, Marcius,

I have fought with thee; so often hast thou beat me;
And wouldst do so, I think, should we encounter
As often as we eat. By the elements,

If e'er again I meet him beard to beard,
He's mine, or I am his: mine emulation
Hath not that honour in 't it had; for where
I thought to crush him in an equal force,
True sword to sword, I'll poach at him some way,
Or wrath or craft may get him."

Aufidius is speaking after the present encounter with
Marcius. The folio has,-

66

"More then thy Fame and Enuy: Fix thy foot."

"'" having dropped out, the transcriber probably mistaking "envy" for a noun. Dyce prints "More than thy fame I envy.” The other compared eds. retain the old text. Staunton proposed "fame I hate and envy" but this, beside making the line over measure, does not harmonize with the comparison: Tullus hates Marcius' fame, as he hates a serpent, and he envies it.

Note (5.)

Ib. Line 11,

"Wert thou the Hector

That was the hope of your bragg'd progeny,
Thou shouldst not scape me here."

Compare 3 Hy. VI. ii. 1, 51,———

"And stood against them, as the hope of Troy
Against the Greeks."

Ib. iv. 8, 25,

66

Farewell, my Hector, and my Troy's true hope."

Lucrece, 1430,-

"And from the walls of strong-besieged Troy

When their brave hope, bold Hector, march'd to field."

Compare also Act i. 6, 55,—

"Their bands i' the vaward are the Antiates,

Of their best trust; o'er them Aufidius,

Their very heart of hope.”

The folio misprints "the whip "-this would mean the whipper of. So 1 Hy. VI. i. 2, 129,—

"La Pucelle. Assign'd am I to be the English scourge."

Ib. ii. 3, 15,

"Is this the scourge of France?

Is this the Talbot?"

L. L. L. iii. 1, 176,

"I, that have been love's whip!”

Tim. iv. 3, 446,

"The laws, your curb and whip.”

The exception is when applied to heaven. So Tim. v. 1, 64, "all the whips of heaven;" or to deities and personified powers, as (Ham. iii. 1, 70), “the whips and scorns of time." So Attila is "The Scourge of God;" but Edward I., " Malleus Scotorum." All the compared eds. retain "whip."

Note (6.)

Act I. Scene 9, Line 44,

6

“[A long flourish. They all cry, Marcius, Marcius!' cast up their caps and lances: Cominius and Lartius stand bare. Mar. May these same instruments, which you profane, Never sound more! When drums and trumpets shall I' the field prove flatterers, let courts and cities be