Auf. No more. Ha! Cor. Measureless liar, thou hast made my heart Too great for what contains it. Boy! O slave! Pardon me, lords, 'tis the first time that ever 1 was forced to scold. Your judgments, my grave lords, Must give this cur the lie and his own notion Who wears my stripes impress'd upon him; that Must bear my beating to his grave-shall join To thrust the lie unto him. 110 First Lord. Peace, both, and hear me speak. Cor. Cut me to pieces, Volsces; men and lads, Stain all your edges on me. Boy! false hound! If you have writ your annals true, 'tis there, That, like an eagle in a dove-cote, I Flutter'd your Volscians in Corioli: Alone I did it. Boy! Auf. Why, noble lords, Will you be put in mind of his blind fortune, Which was your shame, by this unholy brag O that I had him, 130 With six Aufidiuses, or more, his tribe, My rage is gone; And I am struck with sorrow. Take him up. Help, three o' the chiefest soldiers; I'll be one. Beat thou the drum, that it speak mournfully: Trail your steel pikes. Though in this city he Hath widow'd and unchilded many a one, Which to this hour bewail the injury, Yet he shall have a noble memory. Assist. [Exeunt, bearing the body of Coriolanus. A dead march sounded. TIMON OF ATHENS. (WRITTEN ABOUT 1607-1608.) INTRODUCTION. This play is, beyond reasonable doubt, only in part the work of Shakespeare. Whether Shakespeare worked upon materials furnished by an older play, or whether he left his play a fragment to be completed by another hand, is uncertain: the former supposition is perhaps the correct one, and the older writer may possibly have been George Wilkins. There is a substantial agreement among the best critics as to what portions of the play are Shakespeare's and what are not. The following may be distinguished, with some confidence, as the non-Shakespearian parts: Act I., Sc. L., L. 189 240, 258-273 (or? from entrance of Apemantus to end of scene), II. (certainly); Act II., Se. II., L. 45-124; all Act III., except Sc. vI., L.98-115; Act IV., Sc. п., L. 30-50, (?) III., L. 292-362, 399413, 454-543; Act V. (?) Sc. 1., L. 1.-59, 11., III. There is no external evidence which helps to determine the date at which Shakespeare wrote his part of the play, but it was probably later than Macbeth and earlier than Pericles. The year 1607 is a date which cannot be very far astray. The sources of the play were Paynter's Palace of Pleasure, a passage in Plutarch's Life of Mark Antony, and in particular, a dialogue of Lucian. But if Shakespeare worked upon an older play, it may have been through it that he obtained the materials which appear to come through Lucian. Although only a fragment, Shakespeare's part of Timon is written with the highest dramatic energy. Nothing is more intense than the conception and rendering of Timon's feelings when he turns in hatred from the evil world. The rich Lord Timon has lived in a rose-colored mist of pleasant delusions. The conferring of favors has been with him a mode of kindly self-indulgence, and he has assumed that every one is as liberal-hearted and of as easy generosity as himself. Out of his pleasant dream he wakes to find the baseness, the selfishness, the ingratitude of the world; and he passes violently over from his former lax philanthropy to a fierce hatred of mankind. The practical Alcibiades sets at once about righting the wrongs which he has suffered; but Timon can only rage and then die. His rage implies the elements of a possible nobleness in him; he cannot acclimatize himself, as Alcibiades can, to the harsh and polluted air of the world; yet the rage also proceeds from a weakness of nature. The dog-like Apemantus accepts, well-contented, the evil which Alcibiades would punish, and from which Timon flies: he barks and snarls, but does not really suffer. The play is a painful one, unrelieved by the presence of beauty or human worth. TIMANDRA, ( mistresses to Alcibiades. Cupid and Amazons in the mask. Other Lords, Senators, Officers, Soldiers, Banditti, and Attendants. SCENE: Athens, and the neighboring woods. ACT I. SCENE I. Athens. A hall in Timon's house. Enter Poet, Painter, Jeweller, Merchant, and others, at several doors. Poet. Good day, sir. Pain. It wears, sir, as it grows. Ay, that's well known: But what particular rarity? what strange, Which manifold record not matches? See, Magic of bounty! all these spirits thy power Hath conjured to attend. I know the merchant. Pain. I know them both; th' other's a jeweller. Mer. O, 'tis a worthy lord. Nay, that's most fix'd. Mer. A most incomparable man, breathed, as it were, 10 To an untirable and continuate goodness : Jew. I have a jewel here- Upon his good and gracious nature hanging Subdues and properties to his love and tend Timon, sir? Jew. If he will touch the estimate: but, for that press'd In our condition. Nay, sir, but hear me on. Poet. All those which were his fellows but of late, Some better than his value, on the moment Follow his strides, his lobbies fill with tend ance, 80 Rain sacrificial whisperings in his ear, him I will say of it, Drink the free air. More pregnantly than words. Yet you do well To show Lord Timon that mean eyes have seen The foot above the head. Trumpets sound. Enter LORD TIMON, addressing himself courteously to every suitor; a Messenger from VENTIDIUS talking with him; LUCILIUS and other servants following. Tim. Imprison'd is he, say you? Mess. Ay, my good lord: five talents is his debt, His means most short, his creditors most strait: Your honorable letter he desires To those have shut him up; which failing, And being enfranchised, bid him come to me. 'Tis not enough to help the feeble up, But to support him after. Fare you well, Mess. All happiness to your honor! [Exit. Old Ath. Lord Timon, hear me speak. Tim. I have so what of him? Old Ath. Most noble Timon, call the man before thee. Tim. Attends he here, or no? Lucilius! Old Ath. This fellow here, Lord Timon, this thy creature, By night frequents my house. I am a man That from my first have been inclined to thrift; And my estate deserves an heir more raised Old Ath. One only daughter have I, no kin else, On whom I may confer what I have got : Old Ath. She is young and apt: Tim. [To Lucilius] Love you the maid? Luc. Ay, my good lord, and she accepts of it. Old Ath. If in her marriage my consent be missing, I call the gods to witness, I will choose future, all. Tim. This gentleman of mine hath served me long: To build his fortune I will strain a little, ter: What you bestow, in him I'll counterpoise, Luc. Humbly I thank your lordship: never may The state or fortune fall into my keeping, 150 Which is not owed to you! [Exeunt Lucilius and Old Athenian. Poet. Vouchsafe my labor, and long live your lordship ! Tim. I thank you; you shall hear from me anon: Go not away. What have you there, my Your lordship to accept. Painting is welcome. The painting is almost the natural man; ance Till you hear further from me. The gods preserve ye! Tim. A mere satiety of commendations. |