Auf.

Where is this fellow?

Sec. Serv.

Here, sir: I'ld have beaten him like a dog, but for disturbing the lords within.

Auf.
Whence comest thou? what wouldst ^note thou ^note? thy name?
Why speak'st not? speak, man: what's ^note thy name?

Cor. [Unmuffling ^note]
If, Tullus,
Not yet thou knowest me, and, seeing me, dost not
Think me for ^note the man I am, necessity ^note
Commands me name myself. ^note

Auf.
What is thy name?

Cor.
A name unmusical to the Volscians' ^note ears,
And harsh in sound to thine.

Auf.
Say, what's thy name?
Thou hast a grim appearance, and thy face
Bears a command ^note in't; though thy tackle's torn,
Thou show'st a noble vessel: what's thy name?

Cor.
Prepare thy brow to frown:—know'st thou me yet?

Auf.
I know thee not:— ^notethy name?

Cor.
My name is Caius Marcius ^note, who hath done
To thee particularly, and to all the Volsces,
Great hurt and mischief; thereto witness may
My surname, Coriolanus: the painful service,
The extreme dangers, and the drops of blood
Shed for my ^note thankless country, are requited
But with that surname; a good memory ^note,
And witness of the malice and displeasure
Which thou shouldst ^note bear me: only that name remains:
The cruelty and envy of the people, ^note
Permitted by our dastard nobles, who
Have all forsook me, hath devour'd the rest;
And suffer'd me by the voice of slaves to be
Whoop'd ^note out of ^note Rome. Now, this extremity
Hath brought me to thy hearth: not out of hope—
Mistake me not—to save my life, for if
I had fear'd death, of all the men i' the world
I would have 'voided ^note thee; but in mere spite,
To be full quit of those my banishers,
Stand I before thee here. Then if thou hast
A heart of wreak in thee, that wilt ^note revenge
Thine own particular wrongs and stop those maims
Of shame ^note seen through thy country, speed thee straight,
And make my misery serve thy turn: so use it
That my revengeful services may prove
As benefits to thee; for I will fight
Against my canker'd country with the spleen
Of all the under fiends. But if so be
Thou darest not this and that to prove more fortunes
Thou'rt ^note tired, then, in a word, I also am

Longer to live most weary, and present
My throat to thee and to thy ancient malice;
Which not to cut would show thee but a fool ^note,
Since I have ever follow'd thee with hate,
Drawn tuns of blood out of thy country's breast,
And cannot live but to thy shame, unless
It be to do thee service.

Auf.
O Marcius ^note, Marcius!
Each word thou hast ^note spoke hath weeded from my heart
A root of ancient envy. If ^note Jupiter
Should from yond cloud ^note speak divine things ^note,
And say ‘Tis true,’ I'ld not believe them ^note more
Than thee, all noble Marcius. Let me twine ^note
Mine arms about that body, where against ^note
My grained ash an hundred times hath broke,
And scarr'd ^note the moon with splinters: here I clip ^note
The anvil of my sword, and do contest
As hotly and as nobly with thy love
As ever in ambitious strength I did
Contend against thy valour. Know thou first,
I ^note loved the maid I married; never man
Sigh'd truer breath; but that I see thee here,
Thou noble thing! more dances my rapt heart
Than when I first my wedded mistress saw
Bestride ^note my threshold. Why, thou Mars! I tell thee,
We have a power on foot; and I had purpose
Once more to hew thy target from thy brawn,
Or lose mine ^note arm for't: thou hast beat me out

Twelve several times, and I have nightly since
Dreamt of encounters 'twixt thyself and me;
We have been down together in my sleep,
Unbuckling helms, fisting each other's throat;
And waked half dead with nothing. Worthy Marcius,
Had we no quarrel else ^note to Rome but that
Thou art thence banish'd, we would muster all
From twelve to seventy, and pouring war
Into the bowels of ungrateful Rome,
Like a bold flood o'er-beat ^note. O, come, go in,
And take our friendly senators by the hands,
Who now are here, taking their leaves of me,
Who am prepared against your territories,
Though not for Rome itself.

Cor.
You bless me, gods!

Auf.
Therefore, most absolute sir, if thou wilt have
The leading of thine own revenges, take
The one ^note half of my commission, and set down—
As best thou art experienced, since thou know'st
Thy country's strength and weakness—thine own ways;
Whether to knock against the gates of Rome,
Or rudely visit them in parts remote,
To fright them, ere destroy ^note. But come ^note in:
Let me commend ^note thee first to those that shall
Say yea to thy desires. A thousand welcomes!
And more a friend than e'er an enemy;
Yet, Marcius, that was much. Your hand: most welcome! [Exeunt ^note Coriolanus and Aufidius. The two Servingmen come forward. ^note

^note

First Serv. ^note

Here's a strange alteration!

Sec. Serv.

By my hand, I had thought to have strucken ^note him with a cudgel; and yet my mind gave ^note me his clothes made a false report of him.

First Serv.

What an arm he has! he turned me about with his finger and his thumb, as one would set up a top.

Sec. Serv.

Nay, I knew by his face that there was something in him: he had, sir, a kind of face, methought,— ^note I cannot tell how to term it.

First Serv.

He had so; looking as it were— ^noteWould I were hanged, but I thought there was more in him than I could think.

Sec. Serv.

So did I, I'll be sworn: he is simply the rarest man i' the world.

First Serv.

I think he is: but a greater soldier than he, you wot one ^note.

Sec. Serv.

Who? my ^note master?

First Serv.

Nay, it's no matter for that.

Sec. Serv.

Worth six on him.

First Serv.

Nay, not so neither: but I take him to be the greater soldier.

Sec. Serv.

Faith, look you, one cannot tell how to say that: for the defence of a town, our general is excellent.

First Serv.

Ay, and for an assault too.

Third Serv. ^note

O slaves, I can tell you news; news, you rascals!

First and Sec. Serv. ^note

What, what, what? let's partake.

Third Serv.

I would not be a Roman, of all nations; I had as lieve ^note be a condemned man.

First and Sec. Serv. ^note

Wherefore? wherefore?

Third Serv.

Why, here's he that was wont to thwack our general, Caius Marcius.

First Serv.

Why do you say, thwack our general?

Third Serv.

I do not say, thwack our general; but he was always good enough for him.

Sec. Serv.

Come, we are fellows and friends: he was ever too hard for him; I have heard him say so himself.

First Serv.

He was too hard for him directly, to say the troth ^note on't: before ^note Corioli he scotched him and notched him like a carbonado ^note.

Sec. Serv.

An he had ^note been cannibally given, he might have broiled ^note and eaten him too.

First Serv.

But, more of thy news? ^note

Third Serv.

Why, he is so made on here within as if he were son and heir to Mars; set at upper end o' the table; no question asked him by any of the senators, but they stand bald before him. Our general himself makes a mistress of him; sanctifies himself with's hand ^note, and turns up the white o' the eye to his discourse. But the bottom of the news is, our general is cut i' the middle, and but one half of what he was yesterday; for the other has half, by the entreaty and grant of the whole table. He'll go, he says, and sowl ^note the porter of Rome gates by the ears: he will mow all down ^note before him, and leave his passage poll'd ^note.

Sec. Serv.

And he's as like to do't as any man I can imagine.

Third Serv.

Do't! he will do't; for, look you, sir, he has as many friends as enemies; which friends, sir, as it were, durst not, look you, sir, show themselves, as we term it, his friends whilst he's ^note in directitude ^note.

First Serv.

Directitude ^note! what's that?

Third Serv.

But when they shall see, sir, his crest up again and the man in blood, they will out of their burrows, like conies after rain, and revel ^note all with him.

First Serv.

But when goes this forward?

Third Serv.

To-morrow; to-day; presently: you shall have the drum struck up this afternoon: 'tis, as it were, a parcel of their feast, and to be executed ere they wipe their lips.

Sec. Serv.

Why, then we shall have a stirring world again. This peace is nothing ^note, but to rust iron, increase tailors and breed ballad-makers.

First Serv.

Let me have war, say I; it exceeds peace as far as day does night; it's spritely, waking ^note, audible, and full of vent ^note. Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy ^note, mull'd ^note, deaf, sleepy ^note, insensible; a getter of more bastard children than war's ^note a destroyer of men.

Sec. Serv.

'Tis so: and as war ^note, in some sort, may be said to be a ravisher, so it cannot be denied but peace is a great maker of cuckolds.

First Serv.

Ay, and it makes men hate one another.

Third Serv.

Reason; because they then less need one another. The wars for my money. I hope to see Romans as cheap as Volscians. They are rising, they are rising.

First and Sec. Serv. ^note

In, in, in, in!

^note Scene VI. [Footnote: Rome. ^note A public place. ^note Enter the two Tribunes, Sicinius and Brutus.

Sic.
We hear not of him, neither need we fear him;
His remedies are tame i' the ^note present peace
And quietness of the people, which before
Were in wild hurry. Here do we make ^note his friends
Blush that the world goes well; who rather had,
Though they themselves did suffer by't, behold ^note
Dissentious numbers pestering streets than see
Our tradesmen singing in their shops and going
About their functions friendly.

Bru.
We stood to't in good time. Enter Menenius. ^note
Is this Menenius?

Sic.
'Tis he, 'tis he: O, he is grown most kind
Of late ^note. Hail, sir! ^note

Men.
Hail to you both!

Sic.
Your Coriolanus is not much miss'd,
But with his friends: the commonwealth doth stand;
And so would do, were he more angry at it.

Men.
All's well; and might have been much better, if
He could have temporized ^note.

Sic.
Where is he, hear you?

Men.
Nay, I hear nothing: his mother and his wife
Hear nothing from him ^note. Enter three or four Citizens.

Citizens. ^note
The gods preserve you both!

Sic.
God-den ^note, our ^note neighbours.

Bru.
God-den ^note to you all, god-den to you all.

First Cit.
Ourselves, our wives, and children, on our knees,
Are bound to pray for you both.

Sic.
Live ^note, and thrive!

Bru.
Farewell, kind neighbours: we wish'd Coriolanus
Had loved you as we did ^note.

Citizens. ^note
Now the gods keep you!

Both Tri.
Farewell, farewell. [Exeunt Citizens.

Sic.
This is a happier and more comely time
Than when these fellows ran about the streets,
Crying confusion.

Bru.
Caius Marcius was
A worthy officer i' the war, but insolent,
O'ercome with pride, ambitious past all thinking, ^note
Self-loving,— ^note

Sic.
And affecting one sole ^note throne,
Without assistance ^{note note}.

Men.
I think ^note not so.

Sic.
We should ^note by this, to all our lamentation ^note,

If he had gone forth consul ^note, found ^note it so.

Bru.
The gods have well prevented it, and Rome
Sits safe and still without him. Enter an Ædile.

Æd.
Worthy tribunes,
There is a slave, whom we have put in prison,
Reports, the Volsces with two several powers
Are enter'd in the Roman territories,
And with the deepest malice of the war
Destroy ^note what lies before 'em.

Men.
'Tis Aufidius,
Who, hearing of our Marcius' banishment,
Thrusts forth his horns again into the world;
Which were inshell'd when Marcius stood for Rome,
And durst not once peep out.

Sic.
Come, what talk you
Of Marcius ^note?

Bru.
Go see this rumourer whipp'd. It ^note cannot be
The Volsces dare break with us.

Men.
Cannot be!
We have record that very well it can,
And three examples of the like have ^note been
Within my age. But reason with the fellow,
Before you punish him, where he heard this,
Lest you shall chance to whip your information
And beat the messenger who bids beware
Of what is to be dreaded.

Sic.
Tell not me:
I know this cannot be ^note.

Bru.
Not possible.

Enter a Messenger.

Mess.
The nobles in great earnestness are going
All to the senate-house: some ^note news is come ^note
That turns their countenances.

Sic.
'Tis this slave;
Go whip him 'fore the people's eyes: his raising;
Nothing but his report.

Mess.
Yes, worthy sir,
The slave's report is seconded; and more,
More fearful, is deliver'd ^note.

Sic.
What more fearful?

Mess.
It is spoke freely out of many mouths—
How probable I do not know—that Marcius,
Join'd with Aufidius, leads a power 'gainst Rome,
And vows revenge as spacious as between
The young'st ^note and oldest thing.

Sic.
This is most likely!

Bru.
Raised only, that the weaker sort may wish
Good ^note Marcius home again.

Sic.
The ^note very trick on't.

Men.
This is unlikely:
He and Aufidius can no more atone ^note
Than violentest ^note contrariety ^note. Enter ^note a second Messenger.

Sec. Mess. ^note
You are sent for the senate:
A fearful army, led by Caius Marcius
Associated with Aufidius, rages
Upon our territories; and have ^note already

O'erborne their way, consumed with fire, and took
What lay before them. Enter Cominius.

Com.
O, you have made good work!

Men.
What news? what news?

Com.
You have holp to ravish your own daughters, and
To melt the city leads upon your pates;
To see your wives dishonour'd to your noses,— ^note

Men.
What's the news? what's the news?

Com.
Your temples burned in their cement ^note, and
Your franchises, whereon you stood, confined
Into an auger's bore ^note.

Men.
Pray now, your ^note news?—
You have made fair work, I fear me.—Pray, your news?—
If Marcius should be join'd with ^note Volscians,— ^note

Com.
If!
He is their god: he leads them like a thing ^note
Made by some other deity than nature,
That shapes man better; and they follow him,
Against us brats, with no less confidence
Than boys pursuing summer butterflies,
Or butchers killing flies ^note.

Men.
You have ^note made good work,
You and your apron-men; you that ^note stood so much
Upon the voice of occupation and
The breath of garlic-eaters!

Com.
He'll ^note shake your Rome about your ears.

Men.
As Hercules
Did shake down mellow fruit. You have made fair work ^note!

Bru.
But is this true, sir?

Com.
Ay; and you'll look pale
Before you find it other. All the regions ^note
Do smilingly ^note revolt; and who resist ^note
Are mock'd for ^note valiant ignorance,
And perish constant fools. Who is't can blame him?
Your enemies and his find something in him.

Men.
We are ^note all undone, unless ^note
The noble man have mercy.

Com.
Who shall ask it?
The tribunes cannot do't for shame; the people
Deserve such pity of him as the wolf
Does of the shepherds: for his ^note best friends, if they
Should say ‘Be good to Rome,’ they charged him even
As those should do that had deserved his hate,
And therein show'd ^note like enemies.

Men.
'Tis true:
If he were putting to my house the brand ^note
That should ^note consume it, I have not the face
To say ‘Beseech you, cease.’ You have made fair hands,
You and your crafts! you ^note have crafted fair!

Com.
You have ^note brought
A trembling upon Rome, such as was never
So ^note incapable of help.

Both Tri. ^note
Say not, we brought it.

Men.
How! was it ^note we? we loved him; but, like beasts

And cowardly ^note nobles, gave way unto ^note your clusters,
Who did hoot ^note him out o' the city ^note.

Com.
But I fear
They'll roar him in again. Tullus Aufidius,
The second name of men, obeys his points
As if he were his officer: desperation
Is all the policy, strength and defence,
That Rome can make against them. ^noteEnter a troop of Citizens.

Men.
Here come the clusters.
And is Aufidius with him? You are they
That made the air unwholesome, when you cast ^note
Your stinking greasy caps in hooting at
Coriolanus' ^note exile. Now ^note he's coming ^note;
And not a hair upon a soldier's head
Which will not prove a whip: as many coxcombs
As you threw caps up will he tumble down,
And pay you for your voices. 'Tis no matter;
If he could ^note burn us all into one coal,
We have deserved it.

Citizens. ^note
Faith, we hear fearful news.

First Cit.
For mine own part,
When I said, banish him, I said, 'twas pity.

Sec. Cit.

And so did I.

Third Cit. ^note

And so did I; and, to say the truth, so did very many of us: that we did, we did for the best; and though we willingly consented to his banishment, yet it was against our will.

Com.
Ye're ^note goodly things, you ^note voices ^note!

Men.
You have made ^note
Good work, you and your cry! Shall's to the Capitol ^note?

Com.
O, ay, what else? [Exeunt ^note Cominius and Menenius.

Sic.
Go, masters, get you home; be not dismay'd:
These are a side that would be glad to have
This true which they so seem to fear. Go home,
And show no sign of fear.

First Cit.

The gods be good to us! Come, masters, let's home. I ever said we were i' the wrong when we banished him.

Sec. Cit.

So did we all. But, come, let's home.

Bru.

I do not like this news.

Sic.

Nor I.

Bru.
Let's to the Capitol: would half my wealth
Would buy ^{note note} this for a lie!

Sic.
Pray, let us ^note go. [Exeunt. ^{note note} Scene VII. [Footnote: A camp ^note, at a small distance from Rome. Enter ^note Aufidius with his Lieutenant.

Auf.
Do they still fly to the Roman?

Lieu. ^note
I do not know what witchcraft's in him, but
Your soldiers use him as the grace 'fore meat,

Their talk at table and their thanks at end;
And you are darken'd in this action, sir,
Even by your own.

Auf.
I cannot help it now,
Unless ^note, by using means, I lame the foot
Of our design. He bears himself more proudlier ^note,
Even to my person, than I thought he would
When first I did embrace him: yet his nature
In that's no changeling; and I must excuse
What cannot be amended.

Lieu.
Yet I wish, sir—
I mean for your particular—you had not
Join'd in commission with him; but either
Had borne ^note the action of yourself, or else
To him had left it solely ^note.

Auf.
I understand thee well; and be thou sure,
When he shall come to his account, he knows not
What I can urge against him. Although ^note it seems,
And so he thinks, and is no less apparent
To the vulgar eye, that he bears all things fairly,
And shows good husbandry for the Volscian state,
Fights dragon-like, and does achieve as soon
As draw his sword, yet he hath left undone
That which shall break his neck or hazard mine,
Whene'er we come to our account.

Lieu.
Sir, I beseech you ^{note note}, think you he'll carry Rome?

Auf.
All places yield ^note to him ere he sits down;
And the nobility of Rome are his:
The senators ^note and patricians love him too:
The tribunes are no soldiers; and their people

Will be as rash in the repeal, as hasty
To expel him thence. I think he'll be to Rome
As is the osprey ^note to the fish, who takes it
By sovereignty of nature. First he was
A noble servant to them; but he could not
Carry his honours even: whether 'twas ^note pride,
Which out of daily fortune ever taints
The happy man; whether defect ^note of judgement,
To fail in the disposing of those chances ^note
Which he was lord of ^note; or whether nature ^note,
Not to be other than one thing, not moving
From the casque ^note to the cushion, but commanding peace
Even with the same austerity and garb
As he controll'd the war; but one of these—
As he hath spices of them all, not all ^note,
For I dare so far free him—made him ^note fear'd,
So hated, and so banish'd ^note: but he has a merit ^note,
To choke it ^note in the utterance. So our virtues ^note
Lie ^note in the interpretation of the time;
And power, unto ^note itself most commendable ^note,
Hath not a tomb so evident as a chair ^{note note}

To extol what it hath done.
One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail;
Rights by rights fouler ^note, strengths by strengths do fail.
Come, let's away. When, Caius, Rome is thine,
Thou art ^note poor'st of all; then shortly art thou mine. [Exeunt.

Previous section

Next section