Bru.
In this point charge him home, that he affects
Tyrannical ^note power: if he evade us there,
Enforce him with his envy to the people;
And that the spoil got on the Antiates
Was ne'er distributed. Enter an Ædile. ^note
What, will he come? ^note

Æd.
He's coming.

Bru.
How accompanied?

Æd.
With old Menenius and those senators
That always favour'd him.

Sic.
Have you a catalogue
Of all the voices that we have procured,
Set down by the poll? ^{note note}

Æd.
I have; 'tis ready ^note.

Sic.
Have you collected them by tribes?

Æd.
I have ^note.

Sic.
Assemble presently the people hither:
And when they hear me say ‘It shall be so
I' the right and strength o' ^note the commons,’ be it either
For death, for fine, or banishment, then let them,
If I say fine, cry ‘Fine,’ if death, cry ‘Death,’
Insisting on the old ^note prerogative
And power i' the truth ^note o' the cause.

Æd.
I shall ^note inform them ^note.

Bru.
And when such time they have begun to cry,
Let them not cease, but with a din confused
Enforce the present execution
Of what we chance to sentence.

Æd.
Very well.

Sic.
Make them be strong, and ready for this hint,
When we shall hap to give't them.

Bru.
Go about ^note it. [Exit Ædile. ^note
Put him to choler straight: he hath been used
Ever to conquer ^note and to have his worth ^note
Of ^note contradiction: being ^note once chafed, he cannot
Be rein'd again to temperance; then he speaks
What's in his heart; and that is there which looks ^note
With us to break his neck.

Sic.
Well, here he comes. Enter Coriolanus, Menenius, and Cominius, with Senators and Patricians ^note. ^note

Men.
Calmly, I do beseech you.

Cor.
Ay, as an ostler ^note, that for the ^note poorest piece
Will bear the knave ^note by the volume. The honour'd gods ^note
Keep Rome in safety, and the chairs of justice
Supplied ^note with worthy men! plant love among 's! ^note
Throng ^note our large temples with the shows of peace,
And not our streets with war! ^note

First Sen.
Amen, amen.

Men.
A noble wish. Re-enter ^note Ædile, with Citizens.

Sic.
Draw near, ye people.

Æd.
List to your tribunes; audience: peace, I say ^note!

Cor.
First, hear me speak.

Both Tri.
Well, say. ^note Peace, ho! ^note

Cor.
Shall I be charged no further than this present?
Must all determine here?

Sic.
I do demand,
If you submit you to the people's voices,
Allow their officers, and are content
To suffer lawful censure for such faults
As shall be proved upon you?

Cor.
I am content.

Men.
Lo, citizens, he says he is content:
The warlike service he has done, consider; think
Upon ^note the wounds his body bears, which show
Like graves i' the holy churchyard ^note.

Cor.
Scratches with briers,
Scars to move laughter only ^note.

Men.
Consider further,
That when he speaks not like a citizen,
You find him like a soldier: do not take
His rougher accents ^note for malicious sounds,
But, as I say, such as become a soldier
Rather than envy you. ^note

Com.
Well, well, no more. ^note

Cor.
What ^note is the matter
That being pass'd for consul with full voice,
I am ^note so ^note dishonour'd that the ^note very hour
You take it off again?

Sic.
Answer to us.

Cor.
Say, then: 'tis true, I ought so.

Sic.
We charge you, that you have contrived to take
From Rome all season'd office and to wind
Yourself into ^note a power tyrannical;
For which you are a traitor to the people.

Cor.
How! traitor!

Men.
Nay, temperately; your promise.

Cor.
The fires ^note i' the lowest hell fold-in ^note the people!
Call me their traitor! Thou injurious tribune!
Within thine eyes sat twenty thousand deaths,
In thy hands clutch'd as many millions, in ^note
Thy lying ^note tongue both numbers, I ^note would say
‘Thou liest’ unto thee with a voice as free
As I do ^note pray the gods.

Sic.
Mark you this, people ^note?

Citizens. ^note
To the rock, to the rock with him ^note!

Sic.
Peace!
We need not put new matter to his charge:
What you have seen him do and heard him speak,
Beating your officers, cursing yourselves,
Opposing laws with strokes, and here defying
Those whose great power must try him; even this,
So criminal and in such capital kind ^note,
Deserves the extremest death.

Bru.
But since he hath
Served well for Rome ^note— ^note

Cor.
What do you prate of service?

Bru.
I talk of that, that know it.

Cor.
You?

Men.
Is this the promise that you made your mother? ^note

Com.
Know, I pray you,— ^note

Cor.
I'll know ^note no further ^note:
Let them pronounce the steep Tarpeian death,
Vagabond exile, flaying, pent ^note to linger
But with a grain a day, I would not buy
Their mercy at the price of one fair word,
Nor check my courage ^note for what they can give,
To have't with saying ‘Good morrow.’

Sic.
For that he has,
As much as in him lies, from time to time
Envied ^note against the people, seeking means
To pluck away their power, as now ^note at last

Given hostile strokes, and that not in the ^note presence ^note
Of dreaded justice ^note, but on the ministers
That do ^note distribute it; in ^note the name o' ^note the people,
And in the power of us the tribunes, we,
Even from this instant, banish him our city,
In peril of precipitation
From off the rock Tarpeian, never more
To enter our Rome ^note gates: i' the people's name,
I say it shall be so.

Citizens. ^note
It shall be so, it shall be so; let him away:
He's banish'd, and it shall be so ^note.

Com.
Hear me, my masters, and my common friends,— ^note

Sic.
He's sentenced; no more hearing.

Com.
Let me speak:
I have been consul, and can show for ^note Rome
Her enemies' marks upon me. I do love
My country's ^note good with a respect more tender,
More holy and profound, than mine own life,
My dear wife's ^note estimate, her womb's increase
And treasure of my loins; then if I would
Speak that— ^note

Sic.
We know your drift:—speak what?

Bru.
There's no more to be said, but he is banish'd,
As enemy to the people and his country:
It shall be so.

Citizens. ^note
It shall be so, it shall be so.

Cor.
You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate ^note
As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize
As the dead carcasses of unburied men
That do corrupt my air, I banish you;

And here remain with your uncertainty!
Let every feeble rumour shake your hearts!
Your enemies, with nodding of their plumes,
Fan you into despair! Have the power still
To banish your defenders; till at length
Your ignorance, which finds not till it feels,
Making not ^note reservation of yourselves,
Still your own foes ^note, deliver you as most
Abated captives to some nation ^note
That won you without blows! Despising,
For you, the city, thus ^note I turn my back ^note:
There is a world elsewhere. ^note [Exeunt ^note Coriolanus, Cominius, Menenius, Senators and Patricians.

Æd.
The people's enemy is gone, is gone!

Citizens.
Our enemy is ^note banish'd! he is gone! Hoo! hoo! ^note [They all ^note shout, and throw up their caps.

Sic.
Go, see him out at gates, and follow him,
As he hath follow'd you, with all despite;
Give ^note him deserved vexation. Let a guard
Attend us through the city.

Citizens. ^note
Come, come, let's ^note see him out at gates ^note; come. ^note
The gods preserve our noble tribunes! Come. [Exeunt.

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