Whither wilt thou go? Take good Cominius That starts i' the way before thee *. COR. O the gods! COM. I'll follow thee a month, devise with thee Where thou shalt rest, that thou may'st hear of us, And we of thee: so, if the time thrust forth A cause for thy repeal, we shall not send O'er the vast world, to seek a single man ; And lose advantage, which doth ever cool I' the absence of the needer. Fare ye - COR. well:Thou hast years upon thee; and thou art too full Of the wars' surfeits, to go rove with one That's yet unbruis'd: bring me but out at gate.Come, my sweet wife, my dearest mother, and My friends of noble touch 5, when I am forth, Bid me farewell, and smile. I pray you, come. While I remain above the ground, you shall Hear from me still; and never of me aught But what is like me formerly. Mr. Heath would read: 66 My fierce son." STEEVENS. 4 More than a wild EXPOSTURE to each chance That starts i' the way before thee.] I know not whether the word exposture be found in any other author. If not, I should incline to read exposure. We have, however, other words of a similar formation in these plays. So, in Timon of Athens: 66 The earth's a thief "That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen We should certainly read—exposure. So, in Macbeth : "That suffer in exposure, Again, in Troilus and Cressida : "To weaken and discredit our exposure—.” Exposture is, I believe, no more than a typographical error. STEEVENS. WARBURTON. 5 My friends of noble touch,] i. e. of true metal unallayed. Metaphor from trying gold on the touchstone. MEN. That's worthily As any ear can hear.-Come, let's not weep.- From these old arms and legs, by the good gods, COR. Come. Give me thy hand : [Exeunt. SCENE II. The Same. A Street near the Gate. Enter SICINIUS, BRUTUS, and an Edile. SIC. Bid them all home; he's gone, and we'll no further. The nobility are vex'd, who, we see, have sided Say, their great enemy is gone, and they SIC. They say, she's mad. BRU. They have ta'en note of us: keep on your way. VOL. O, you're well met: The hoarded plague o' the gods Requite your love! MEN. Peace, peace; be not so loud. VOL. If that I could for weeping, you should Nay, and you shall hear some.-Will you be gone? [TO BRUTUS. VIR. You shall stay too: [TO SICIN.] I would, I had the power To say so to my husband. SIC. Are you mankind? VOL. Ay, fool; Is that a shame ?—Note but this fool. Was not a man my father? Hadst thou foxship" To banish him that struck more blows for Rome, Than thou hast spoken words? SIC. O blessed heavens! VOL. More noble blows, than ever thou wise words; And for Rome's good.-I'll tell thee what ;-Yet go: Nay, but thou shalt stay too :-I would my son 6 Sic. Are you MANKIND? Vol. Ay, fool; Is that a shame ?-Note but this fool. Was not a man my father?] The word mankind is used maliciously by the first speaker, and taken perversely by the second. A mankind woman is a woman with the roughness of a man, and, in an aggravated sense, a woman ferocious, violent, and eager to shed blood. In this sense, Sicinius asks Volumnia, if she be mankind. She takes mankind for a human creature, and accordingly cries out : 66 Note but this fool. "Was not a man my father?" JOHNSON. So, Jonson in The Silent Woman: "O mankind generation!" Shakspeare himself, in The Winter's Tale, Act II. Sc. II.: 66 -a mankind witch." Fairfax, in his translation of Tasso : 66 See, see, this mankind strumpet; see, she cry'd, "This shameless whore." STEEVENS. 7 Hadst thou foxship] Hadst thou, fool as thou art, mean cunning enough to banish Coriolanus? JOHNSON. Were in Arabia, and thy tribe before him, SIC. VIR. What then? What then! He'd make an end of thy posterity. VOL. Bastards, and all. Good man, the wounds that he does bear for Rome! MEN. Come, come, peace. SIC. I would he had continu'd to his country, As he began; and not unknit himself The noble knot he made 8. BRU. I would he had. VOL. I would he had! 'Twas you incens'd the rabble : Cats, that can judge as fitly of his worth, BRU. Pray, let us go. VOL. Now, pray, sir, get you gone : You have done a brave deed. this: As far as doth the Capitol exceed Ere you go, hear The meanest house in Rome: so far, my son, SIC. Why stay we to be baited With one that wants her wits? VOL. Take my prayers with you. I would the gods had nothing else to do, [Exeunt Tribunes. But to confirm my curses! Could I meet them The noble KNOT he made.] So, in King Henry IV. Part I.: 66 will you again unknit "This churlish knot," &c. STEEVENS. But once a day, it would unclog my heart MEN. You have told them home 9. And, by my troth, you have cause. with me? You'll sup VOL. Anger's my meat; I sup upon myself, And so shall starve with feeding 1.-Come, let's go: Leave this faint puling, and lament as I do, In anger, Juno-like. Come, come, come. MEN. Fye, fye, fye! SCENE III. [Exeunt. A Highway between Rome and Antium. Enter a Roman and a Volce, meeting. ROM. I know you well, sir, and you know me: your name, I think, is Adrian. VOL. It is so, sir: truly, I have forgot you. ROM. I am a Roman; and my services are, as you are, against them: Know you me yet? VOL. Nicanor? No. ROM. The same, sir. VOL. You had more beard, when I last saw you; but your favour is well appeared by your tongue 2. 9 You have told them home,] So, again, in this play: "I cannot speak him home." MALONE. And so shall STARVE WITH FEEDING.] This idea is repeated in Antony and Cleopatra, Act II. Sc. II. and in Pericles : "Who starves the ears she feeds," &c. STEEvens. 2 but your favour is well APPEARED by your tongue.] This is strange nonsense. We should read: is well appealed." i. e. brought into remembrance, WARBURTON. is well affeared." That is, strengthened, attested, a word used by our author. "His title is affear'd." Macbeth. |