Do
they still fly to the Roman?
-Coriolanus
Tullus Afidius Act IV, scene vii, line 1
Tullus is the leader of the Volscians, and the ‘they’ that he
speaks of are the men of his army. The Roman he refers to is Coriolanus, whom
Tullus has co-opted into the Volscian army. The answer to the question is ‘Ya,
you betcha.’ Well, that’s not exactly what his lieutenant says, he wasn’t a
Minnesotan, but that’s the gist of it. He says
Your
soldiers use him as the grace ‘fore meat,
Their talk at table,
and their thanks at end.
If that’s not a ‘Ya, you betcha’ I don’t know what is.
I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t help but repeat
myself. This is a really, really interesting, and in many ways currently
relevant, play. Upon consideration, though, I think I’d rather not get into it
as that would lead to a discussion of the current geo-political situation and
climate. And I’ve no desire to go there right now. It’s too early in the morning, and I’m feeling pretty good about life right now; no need to spoil it.
Let’s just end with a second consideration of Will’s lines
about how the men feel about Coriolanus.
Your
soldiers use him as the grace ‘fore meat,
Their talk at table,
and their thanks at end.
How would you like to be the grace ‘fore meat, the talk at
table, and the thanks at end?
Kind of the be all and end all, but
it’s a pretty good two-lined way of putting it. Just a bit more poetic than ‘Ya,
you betcha.’
Here's a Minnesotan. If you said, 'Hey Jon, did you catch that all by yourself?' he might say 'Ya, you betcha!'
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