Rom. The main blaze of it is past, but a small thing would make it blaze again. For the nobles receive so to heart the banishment of that worthy Coriolanus, that they are in a ripe aptness to take all power from the people, and to pluck from them their tribunes for ever. This lies glowing, I can tell you, and is almost mature for the violent breaking out. Volce. Coriolanus banished? Rom. Banished, sir. Volce. You will be welcome with this intelligence, Nicanor. Rom. The day serves well for them now. I have heard it said, the fittest time to corrupt a man's wife, is when she's fallen out with her husband. Your noble Tallus Autidius will appear well in these wars, his great opposer, Coriolanus, being now in no request of his country. Volce. He cannot choose. I am most fortunate, thus accidentally to encounter you: You have ended my business, and I will merrily accompany you home. Rom. I shall, between this and supper, tell you most strange things from Rome; all tending to the good of their adversaries. Have you an army ready, say you? eyes in his head, that he gives entrance to such companions? Cor. A way, get you out. 2 Serv. Away ? Get you away. Cor. Now thou art troublesome. 2 Serv. Are you so brave? I'll have you talk'd with anon. Enter a third Servant. The first meets him. 3 Serv. What fellow's this? 1 Serv. A strange one as ever I looked on: I cannot get him out o'the house: Pr'ythee, call my master to him. 3 Serv. What have you to do here, fellow? Pray you, avoid the house. Cor. Let me but stand; I will not hurt your hearth. 3 Serv. A marvellous poor one. other station; here's no place for you; pray you, Cor. Follow your functions, go [Pushes him away. 3 Serv. What, will you not? Pr'ythee, tell my mas Rom. A most royal one: the centurions, and their charges, distinctly billetted, already in the entertain-ter what a strange guest he has here. ment, and to be on foot at an hour's warning. Rom. I am joyful to hear of their readiness, and am the man, I think, that shall set them in present action. So, sir, heartily well met, and most glad of your company. Volce. You take my part from me, sir; I have the most cause to be glad of yours. Rom. Well, let us go together. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. Antium. Before Aufidius's House. Enter Coriolanus, in mean Apparel, disguised and muffled. Cor. A goodly city is this Antium: City, Have I heard groan, and drop: then know me not; In puny battle slay me.-Save you, sir. Cor. Cor. Which is his house, 'beseech you? Thank you, sir; farewell. [Exit. SCENE V. The same. A Hall in Aufidius's House. 1 Serv. Wine, wine, wine! What service is here? I think our fellows are asleep. [Exit. 2 Serv. And I shall. 3 Serv. Where dwellest thou? 3 Serv. Under the canopy? 3 Serv. Where's that? Cor. l'the city of kites and crows. [Exit. 3 Serv. I'the city of kites and crows?-What an ass it is Then thou dwellest with daws too? Cor. No, I serve not thy master. 3 Serv. How, sir! Do you meddle with my master? Cor. Ay; 'tis an honester service, than to meddle with thy mistress : Thou prat'st, and prat'st; serve with thy trencher Enter Aufidius and the second Servant. 2 Serv. Here, sir; I'd have beaten him like a dog, but for disturbing the lords within. Auf. Whence comest thon? what wouldest thou? Why speak'st not? Speak, man: What's thy name? Auf. I know thee not:-Thy name? Cor. My name is Caius Marcius, who hath done 2 Serv. Where's Cotus? my master calls for him. Whoop'd out of Rome. Now, this extremity Cotus! Enter another Servant. Enter Coriolanus. [Exit. Hath brought me to thy hearth; Not out of hope, I had fear'd death, of all the men i'the world. I would have 'voided thee: but in mere spite, heart of wreak in thee, that will revenge As benefits to thee; for I will fight 2 Serv. Whence are you, sir? Has the porter his Against my canker'd country with the spleen Of all the under fiends. But if so be 3 Serv. I would not be a Roman, of all nations; 1 Thou dar'st not this, and that to prove more fortunes had as lieve be a condemned man. Thou art tir'd, then, in a word, I also am Auf. Should from yon cloud speak divine things, and say, Mine arms about that body, where against Like a bold flood o'er-beat. O, come, go in, Cor. You bless me, gods! Auf. Therefore, most absolute sir, if thou wilt have ways: 1, 2 Serv. Wherefore? wherefere? 3 Serv. Why, here's he that was wont to thwack our general,-Caius Marcius. 1 Serv. Why do you say, thwack our general? 3 Serv. I do not say, thwack our general; but he was always good enough for him. 2 Serv. Come, we are fellows, and friends: he was ever too hard for him; I have heard him say so himself. 1 Serv. He was too hard for him directly, to say the truth on't before Corioli, he scotched him and notched him like a carbonado. 2 Serv. An he had been cannibally given, he might have broiled and eaten him too. 1 Serv. But more of thy news? 3 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, 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 sowle the porter of Rome gates by the ears: He will mow down all before him, and leave his passage polled. 2 Serv. And he's as like to do it, as any man I can imagine. 3 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 in directitude. 1 Serv. Directitude! what's that? 3 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 all with him. 1 Serv. But when goes this forward? 3 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. 2 Serv. Why, then we shall have a stirring world again. This peace is nothing, but to rust iron, increase tailors, and breed ballad-makers. I Serv. Let me have war, say I; it exceeds peace, as far as day does night; it's sprightly, waking, audible, and full of vent. Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; muiled, deaf, sleepy, insensible; a getter of more bastard children, than war's a destroyer of men. Whether to knock against the gates of Rome; 2 Serv. 'Tis so and as war, in some sort, may be said to be a ravisher; so it cannot be denied, but 1 Serv. What an arm he has! He turned me about with his finger and his thumb, as one would set up a top. 2 Serv. Nay, I knew by his face that there was something in him: He had, sir, a kind of face, methought, I cannot tell how to term it. 1 Serv. He had so: looking, as it were,Would I were hanged, but I thought there was more in him than I could think. 2 Serv. So did I, I'll be sworn: He is simply the rarest man i'the world. 1 Serv. I think, he is: but a greater soldier than he, you wot one. 2 Serv. Who? my master? 1 Serv. Nay, it's no matter for that. 2 Serv. Worth six of him. 1 Serv. Nay, not so, neither; but I take him to be the greater soldier. 2 Serv. 'Faith, look yon, one cannot tell how to say that for the defence of a town, our general is excellent. 1 Serv. Ay, and for an assault too." Re-enter third Servant. 3 Serv. O, slaves, I can tell you news; news, you rascals. 1, 2 Serv. What, what, what? let's partake. 1 Serv. Ay, and it makes men hate one another. 3 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. All. In, in, in, in. SCENE VI. [Exeunt. Rome. A public Place. Enter Sicinius and Brutus. Sic. We hear not of him, neither need we fear him; Sic. Enter three or four Citizens. Cit. The gods preserve you both! Sic. Good e'en, our neighbours. Bru. Good e'en to you all, good e'en to you all. 1 Cit. Ourselves, our wives, and children, on our Are bound to pray for you both. [knees, Live, and thrive! Bru. Farewell, kind neighbours: we wish'd CorioHad loy'd you as we did." [lanus Cit. Now the gods keep you! Both Tri. Farewell, farewell. [Exeunt Citizens. Sic. This is a happier and inore comely time, Than when these fellows ran about the streets, Crying, Confusion. Bru. Caius Marcius was Men. If! You have made good work, You, and your apron men; you that stood so much Upon the voice of occupation, and The breath of garlic-eaters! Com. Your Rome about your ears. Men. He will shake As Hercules Did shake down mellow fruit: You have made fair Ay; and you'll look pale Before you find it other. All the regions Do smilingly revolt; and, who resist, And perish constant fools. Who is't can blame him? The noble man have mercy. Com. Does of the shepherds: for his best friends, if they Men. If he were putting to my house the brand Com. Tri. Say not, we brought it, Men. How! Was it we? We lov'd him; but, like beasts, And cowardly nobles, gave way to your clusters, But, I fear, Com. 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. Men. Enter a Troop of Citizens. Here come the clusters.And is Aufidius with him?-You are they That made the air anwholesome, when you cast Your stinking, greasy caps, in hooting at Coriolanus' exile. Now he's coming; And not a hair upon a soldier's head, Which will not prove a whip; as many coxcombs, Cit. 'Faith, we hear fearful news. 1 Cit. For mine own part, When I said, Banish him, I said, 'twas pity. 2 Cit. And so did I. 3 Cit. 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. You are goodly things, you voices! [and 1 Cit. The gods be good to us! Come, masters, let's home. I ever said, we were i'the wrong, when we banished him. 2 Cit. So did we all. But come, let's home. [Exeunt Citizens. Bru. I do not like this news. Sic. Nor I. Bru. Let's to the Capitol :-'Would, half my wealth Would buy this for a lie! Sic. Pray, let us go. [Exeunt. SCENE VII. A Camp; at a small Distance from Rome. Enter Aufidius and his Lieutenant. Auf Auf. I understand thee well; and be thon sure, Lieut. Sir, I beseech you, think you he'll carry Auf. All places vield to him ere he sits down; And the nobility of Rome are his The senators, 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, For one poor grain Men. Or two? I am one of those; his mother, wife, His child, and this brave fellow too, we are the grains: You are the musty chaff; and you are smelt Above the moon: We must be burnt for you. Sic. Nay, pray, be patient: If you refuse your aid In this so never-heeded help, yet do not Upbraid us with our distress. But, sure, if you Would be your country's pleader, your good tongue, More than the instant army we can make, Might stop our countryman. Men. Sic. I pray you, go to him. Men. No; I'll not meddle. What should I do? I'll undertake it. Yet to bite his lip, I think, he'll hear me. To give or to forgive; but when we have stuff'd And then I'll set upon him. From the casque to the cushion, but commanding peace And cannot lose your way. Not to be other than one thing, not moving 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, For I dare so far free him), made him fear'd, So hated, and so banish'd: But he has merit, To choke it in the utterance. So our virtues One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail; Rights by rights fouler, strengths by strengths, do fail. Coine, let's away. When, Caius, Rome is thine, Thou art poor'st of all; then shortly art thou mine. [Exeunt. ACT V. SCENE I. Rome. A public Place. Enter Menenius, Cominius, Sicinius, Brutus, and others. Men. No, I'll not go you hear, what he hath said, Which was sometime his general; who lov'd him In a most dear particular. He call'd me, father: But what o'that? Go, you that banish'd him, A mile before his tent fall down, and kneel The way into his mercy: Nay, if he coy'd To hear Cominius speak, I'll keep at home. Com. He would not seem to know me. Men. Do you hear? Com. Yet one time he did call me by my name: I urg'd our old acquaintance, and the drops That we have bled together. Coriolanus Men. Bru. You know the very road into his kindness, Good faith, I'll prove him, Speed how it will. I shall ere long have knowledge Of my success. [Exit. Com. Sic. He'll never hear him. Not? Unless his noble mother, and his wife; 1 Guard. Stay: Whenee are you? 2 Guard. Stand, and go back. Men. You guard like men; 'tis weil: But, by your I am an officer of state, and come To speak with Coriolanus. And of his friends there, it is lots to blanks, (Of whom he's chief), with all the size that verity I have tumbled past the throw; and in his praise 1 Guard. 'Faith, sir, if you had told as many lies 1 Guard. A noble fellow, I warrant him. 2 Guard. The worthy fellow is our general: He is the rock, the oak not to be wind-shaken. [Exeunt. SCENE III. The Tent of Coriolanus. Enter Coriolanus, Aufidius, and others. Cor. We will before the walls of Rome to-morrow Set down our host.-My partner in this action, You must report to the Volscian lords, how plainly I have borne this business. Auf. Only their ends You have respected; stopp'd your ears against The general suit of Rome; never admitted A private whisper, no, not with such friends That thought them sure of you. This last old man, 1 Guard. Then you should hate Rome, as he does. Whom with a crack'd heart I have sent to Rome, Can you, when you have pushed out your gates the Lov'd me above the measure of a father; very defender of them, and, in a violent popular ig-Nay, godded me, indeed. Their latest refuge, Was to send him for whose old love, I have norance, given your enemy your shield, think to front bis revenges with the easy groans of old women, the virginal palms of your daughters, or with the paisied intercession of such a decayed dotant as you seem to be? Can you think to blow out the intended fire your city is ready to flame in, with such weak breath as this? No, you are deceived; therefore, back to Rome, and prepare for your execution: you are condemned, our general has sworn you out of reprieve and par 1 Guard. You are a Roman, are you? Men. I am as thy general is. don. Men. Sirrah, if thy captain knew I were here, he would use me with estimation. 2 Guard. Come, my captain knows you not. Men. I mean, thy general. 1 Guard. My general cares not for you. Back, I say, go, lest I let forth your half pint of blood; back, that's the utmost of your having:--back. Men. Nay, but fellow, fellow, Enter Coriolanus and Aufidius. Cor. What's the matter? Men. Now, you companion, I'll say an errand for you; you shall know now, that I am in estimation; you shall perceive that a Jack guardant cannot office me from my son Coriolanus: guess, but by my entertainment with him, if thou standest not i'the state of hanging, or of some death more long in spectatorship, and crueller in suffering; behold now presently, and swoon for what's to come upon thee.-The glorious gods sit in hourly synod about thy particular prosperity, and love thee no worse than thy old father Menenius does! O, my son! my son! thou art preparing tire for us; look thee, here's water to quench it. I was hardly moved to come to thee; but being assured, none but myself could move thee, I have been blown out of your gates with sighs; and conjare thee to pardon Rome, and thy petitionary countrymen. The good gods assuage thy wrath, and turn the dregs of it upon this variet here; this, who, like a block, hath denied my access to thee. Cor. Away! Men. How away! Cor. (Though I show'd sourly to him), once more offer'd In the same time 'tis made? I will not. Enter, in mourning Habits, Virgilia, Volumnia, lead- Vir. My lord and husband! Cor. Like a dull actor now, Cor. Wife, mother, child, I know not. My affairs Hath virgin'd it e'er since.-You gods! I prate, Are servanted to others: Though I owe In Volscian breasts. That we have been familiar, [Exeunt Coriolanus and Aufidius. And the most noble mother of the world Of thy deep duty more impression show Vol. O, stand up bless'd! [ Kneels. |