Page:Coriolanus (1924) Yale.djvu/41

The Tragedy of Coriolanus, I. ix

'We thank the gods our Rome hath such a soldier!'

Yet cam'st thou to a morsel of this feast,

Having fully din'd before.

Titus Lartius. O general,

Here is the steed, we the caparison:

Hadst thou beheld—

Mar. Pray now, no more: my mother,

Who has a charter to extol her blood,

When she does praise me grieves me. I have done

As you have done; that's what I can: induc'd

As you have been; that's for my country:

He that has but effected his good will

Hath overta'en mine act.

Com. You shall not be

The grave of your deserving; Rome must know

The value of her own: 'twere a concealment

Worse than a theft, no less than a traducement,

To hide your doings; and to silence that,

Which, to the spire and top of praises vouch'd,

Would seem but modest. Therefore, I beseech you,—

In sign of what you are, not to reward

What you have done,—before our army hear me.

Mar. I have some wounds upon me, and they smart

To hear themselves remember'd.

Com. Should they not,

Well might they fester 'gainst ingratitude,

And tent themselves with death. Of all the horses,

 12 caparison: the mere accoutrements

14 charter: privilege

her blood: him whose blood she shares

18 effected: exhibited in action

20 The grave of: that which buries or conceals

23 silence: ignore with silence

24 to vouch'd: testified to with utmost praise

29 Should they not: i.e. hear themselves remembered

31 tent: cleanse, cure; cf. n.

