The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 6 of 9]

by William Shakespeare

NOTES.

Note I.

I. 1. 108-117. In Singer's edition of 1826 these speeches were distributed in the following manner:

'Men. The kingly-crowned ...
... if that they—

1 Cit. What then?

Men. 'Fore me ...
... body,—

1 Cit. Well, what then?
The former ...
... answer?

In his edition of 1856 the ordinary arrangement is silently given.

Note II.

I. 3. 41. The first Folio reads:

'At Grecian sword. Contenning, tell Valeria' &c.

as if 'Contenning' were the name of the gentlewoman in attendance.

The second has:

'At Grecian swordes Contending: tell Valeria' &c.

The third:

'At Grecian swords Contending: tell Valeria' &c.

The fourth:

'At Grecian swords contending: tell Valeria' &c.

which is followed substantially by all editors before Capell.

Capell reads:

'At Grecian swords' contending.—Tell Valeria' &c.

which is adopted in subsequent editions down to that of Mr Knight, inclusive.

Mr Collier, in his first edition, gave:

'At Grecian sword's contending.—Tell Valeria' &c.

at the same time offering as a conjecture:

'At Grecian swords, contemning.'

This was afterwards found among the MS. corrections of his second Folio and adopted by Mr Singer, as well as by Mr Collier himself in his second edition.

The reading we have given in the text was first adopted by Dr Leo. He, however, puts no comma after 'sword.'

Mr Keightley gives the same reading, marking, however, a break in the sense, thus:

'At Grecian sword, contemning.... Tell Valeria' &c.

Mr Lettsom conjectures:

'As Grecian swords contemning.'

Perhaps we might read:

'At Grecian sword, contemning 't.'

It has also been suggested to us that 'Contenning' is the remnant of a stage-direction [containing herself]. But we know of no similar instance in any old edition.

Note III.

I. 4. 31. A copy of the second Folio, which was in the possession of Mr Singer, is said to have 'a Heard,' not 'you Heard.'

Malone, in his Supplement to Steevens's edition of 1778, proposed to read:

'You shames of Rome, you! hoards of boils and plagues
Plaister you o'er.'

Note IV.

I. 9. 41-53. Theobald, at Warburton's suggestion, read the whole speech as follows:

'Mar. May these same Instruments, which you profane,
Never sound more! when drums and trumpets shall
I' th' field prove flatterers, let camps, as cities,
Be made of false-fac'd soothing! When Steel grows
Soft, as the parasite's silk, let Hymns be made
An overture for th' wars!—No more, I say;
For that I have not wash'd my Nose that bled,
Or foil'd some debile wretch, which, without note
Here's many else have done; you shout me forth
In acclamations hyperbolical;
As if I lov'd, my little should be dieted
In praises, sauc'd with lies.'

Subsequent editors partly followed Theobald's arrangement, without adopting his readings.

Mr Knight printed as follows:

'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
Made all of false-fac'd soothing, where steel grows soft
As the parasite's silk!
Let them be made an overture for the wars!' &c.

Hudson follows Knight, but reads where steel ... silk as one line. Singer proposed to read and print thus:

'May these same instruments, which you profane,
Never sound more! shall drums and trumpets, when
I' the field, prove flatterers? (Let courts and cities be
Made all of false-faced soothing,
When steel grows soft as the Parasite's silk)—
Let them be made an overture for the wars!—
No more! I say,' &c.

In his Text of Shakespeare Vindicated, &c. (1853) he arranged the first four lines as in our text, and in the two following read silks ... them.

Note V.

II. 3. 236-238. The Folios here read:

'hither,
And Nobly nam'd, so twice being Censor,
Was his great Ancestor.'

Rowe, in his first edition, reads:

'hither,
And, nobly nam'd Martius, so, twice being Censor,
Was his great Ancestor.'

In his second edition he reads:

'hither
And nobly nam'd; so, twice being Censor,
Was his great Ancestor.'

Pope reads:

'hither.
†And Censorinus, darling of the people
(And nobly nam'd so for twice being censor)
Was his great ancestor.'

In his note on the passage he says, "This verse I have supply'd. A line having been certainly left out in this place, as will appear to any one who consults the beginning of Plutarch's life of Coriolanus, from whence this passage is directly translated."

Notwithstanding that the words 'darling of the people' are not in the passage referred to, the line inserted by Pope was accepted by all subsequent editors down to Singer.

Steevens, in his edition of 1773, omitted 'for' in the second line; and in his edition of 1793, instead of 'twice being censor' read 'being censor twice.'

Singer (ed. 1856) reads:

'hither;
[One of that family nam'd Censorinus]
And nobly nam'd so, twice being chosen Censor,
Was his great ancestor.'

Mr Grant White adopts Pope's insertion, and follows Singer in reading 'chosen' in the next line.

Dr Delius reads:

'hither;
[And Censorinus, that was so surnam'd,]
And nobly named so, twice being censor,
Was his great ancestor.'

He remarks that 'darling of the people' does not sound like Shakespeare.

Dr Leo reads:

'hither;
[And Censorinus, nam'd so by the people,]
And nobly named so, twice being censor,
Was his great ancestor.'

Mr Keightley reads:

'hither;
And Censorinus, he that was so nam'd,
—And nobly nam'd so, twice being Censor—
Was his great ancestor.'

Dr Nicholson conjectures that the line omitted was:

'And he that was surnamed Censorinus.'

The passage from Plutarch, to which Pope refers, stands as follows in North's translation of the Lives, p. 235, (ed. 1595): 'Of the same house were Publius, & Quintus, who brought to Rome their best water they had by conduites. Censorinus also came of that familie, that was so surnamed, because the people had chosen him Censor twise.'

The reading we have given in the text was first adopted by us in the Globe Edition. It leaves the words of the Folios still in their order, and introduces what must have been the significant fact that Censorinus was chosen 'by the people.' A stain or rent in the copy might have rendered parts of two lines illegible, the remainder being unskilfully pieced together by transcriber or printer.

Note VI.

III. 1. 97-101. Hanmer, followed by Capell, reads:

'If they have power,
Let them have cushions by you: if none, awake
Your dang'rous lenity: if you are learned,
Be not as common fools: if you are not,
Then vail your ignorance.'

In line 98, where Mr Collier, from his MS. corrector, reads 'impotence' for 'ignorance', Warburton interprets 'ignorance' as 'impotence; because it makes impotent.'

Note VII.

III. 1. 185-188. All editors follow the Folios in assigning the words 'Weapons, weapons, weapons!' to the second senator, and all, except Capell, continue the words 'Tribunes ... citizens!' to the same speaker. Capell assigned them to the First Senator. But surely the words are intended to express the tumultuous cries of the partisans on both sides, who are bustling about Coriolanus. The following words 'Peace, peace, peace' ... attributed to 'All' in the Folios, are spoken by some of the elder Senators endeavouring to calm the tumult.

Compare also Act V. Sc. 6. 121-123. There is a similar stage direction of the Folio, which was similarly misinterpreted, in The Tempest, I. 1. 57-59.

Note VIII.

III. 2. 105. Malone (1790) says 'The word as has been substituted for which by the modern editors in the passage before us.' We have been unable to find it in Rowe, Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, Johnson, Capell, or Steevens. It is probably a printer's emendation in some of the numerous reprints of the play.

Note IX.

IV. 5. 130. Mr Collier, in a note to this passage, says that the Earl of Ellesmere's copy of the first Folio has 'o'er-beare.' Mr Staunton, to whom the volume has been lent, has kindly consulted it for us, and says that the reading there is 'o're beate' or 'o're beare.' He adds 'It is difficult to say which. There are other cases in the Folio where the t and r so nearly resemble each other that I can hardly decide between them.'

Note X.

V. 1. 17. Mr Collier explains his reading by the following note: 'Menenius intends to say that the tribunes have wrecked a noble memory for Rome by occasioning its destruction.'

Note XI.

V. 3. 75. Dr Nicholson writes to us: 'The stage action here to which Coriolanus replies is this: the boy refuses to kneel, but interposes between the kneeling ladies and Coriolanus. See his after speech 'A' shall not tread on me,' &c. This, if not introduced as a stage direction, ought to be explained in a note.' To us Coriolanus seems rather to commend the boy for doing as he was bid. To refuse to kneel would suit ill with his 'aspect of intercession' (line 32). Besides, he kneels, without being specially told to do so, afterwards (line 175).

---