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1 G. Now, Sir, is your name Menenius. 2 G. 'Tis a spell, you see, of much power: You know the way home again.

1 G. Do you hear how we are shent for keeping your greatness back?

2 G. What cause, do you think, I have to

swoon?

Men. I neither care for the world, nor your general: for such things as you, I can scarce think there's any, you are so slight. He that hath a will to die by himself, fears it not from another. Let your general do his worst. For you, be that you are, long; and your misery increase with your age! I say to you, as I was said to, Away! [Exit.

1 G. A noble fellow, I warrant him. 2 G. 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 Volcian lords, how

I have borne this business.

Auf. Only their ends

[plainlyt

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.

[Rome,

Cor. This last old man, Whom with a crack'd heart I have sent to Lov'd me above the measure of a father;

Nay, godded me, indeed. Their latest refuge Was to send him: for whose old love, I have (Though I show'd sourly to him,) once more

offer'd

The first conditions, which they did refuse,
And cannot now accept, to grace him only,
That thought he could do more; a very little
I have yielded too: Fresh embassies, and suits,
Nor from the state, nor private friends, here-
after

Will I lend ear to. -Ha! what shout is this? [Shout within.

Shall I be tempted to infringe my vow
In the same time 'tis made? I will not.-

Enter in mourning habits, VIRGILIA, VOLUMNIA, leading young MARCIUS, VALERIA, and AT

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Vir. The sorrow, that delivers us thus Makes you think so.

[chang'd,

Cor. Like a dull actor now, I have forgot my part, and I am out, Even to a full disgrace. Best of my flesh, Forgive my tyranny; but do not say, For that, Forgive our Romans.-O, a kiss Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge! [kiss Now by the jealous queen of heaven, that I carried from thee, dear; and my true lip Hath virgin'd it e'er since. - You gods! I prate, And the most noble mother of the world Leave unsaluted: Sink, my knee, i'the earth; [Kneels. Of thy deep duty more impression show Than that of common sons.

Vol. O, stand up bless'd! Whilst, with no softer cushion than the flint, I kneel before thee; and unproperly Show duty, as mistaken all the while Between the child and parent.

[Kneels.

Cor. What is this?
Your knees to me? to your corrected son?
Then let the pebbles on the hungry beach
Fillip the stars; then let the mutinous winds
Strike the proud cedars 'gainst the fiery sun;
Murd'ring impossibility, to make
What cannot be, slight work.
Vol. Thou art my warrior;

I holp to frame thee. Do you know this lady?
Cor. The noble sister of Publicola,
The moon of Rome; chaste as the icicle,
That's curded by the frost from purest snow,
And hangs on Dian's temple: Dear Valeria!
Vol. This is a poor epitome of yours,
Which by the interpretation of full time
May show like all yourself.
Cor. The god of soldiers,
With the consent of supreme Jove, inform
Thy thoughts with nobleness; that thou may'st

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Cor. I beseech you, peace: Or, if you'd ask, remember this before; The things, I have forsworn to grant, may Be held by you denials. Do not bid me Dismiss my soldiers, or capitulate Again with Rome's mechanics:-Tell me not

never

Wherein I seem unnatural: Desire not

To allay my rages and revenges, with
Your colder reasons.

Vol. O, no more, no more!
You have said, you will not grant us any thing;
For we have nothing else to ask, but that
Which you deny already: Yet we will ask;
That, if you fail in our request, the blame [us.
May hang upon your hardness: therefore hear
Cor. Aufidius, and you Volces, mark; for
we'll
[request?
Hear nought from Rome in private. Your
Vol. Should we be silent and not speak, our

raiment,

And state of bodies would bewray what life We have led since thy exile. Think with thyself,

How more unfortunate than all living women Are we come hither: since that thy sight which should

† Ovenly. † A young goose.

* Juno.

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Make our eyes flow with joy, hearts dance | Like one i'the stocks. Thou hast never in thy

with comforts, Constrains them weep, and shake with fear and sorrow;

Making thy mother, wife, and child, to see
The son, the husband, and the father, tearing
His country's bowels out. And to poor we,
Thine enmity's most capital: thou barr'st us
Our prayers to the gods, which is a comfort
That all but we enjoy: For how can we,
Alas! how can we for our country pray,
Whereto we are bound; together with thy
victory,
[lose
Whereto we are bound? Alack! or we must
The country, our dear nurse; or else thy per-
find

son,

[thou

Our comfort in the country. We must
An evident calamity, though we had
Our wish, which side should win: for either
Must, as a foreign recreant, be led

With manacles thorough our streets, or else
Triumphantly tread on thy country's ruin;
And bear the palm, for having bravely shed
Thy wife and children's blood. For myself,
I purpose not to wait on fortune, till
[son,
These wars determine:* if I cannot persuade

thee

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son,

The end of war's uncertain; but this certain,
That, if thou conquer Rome, the benefit
Which thou shalt thereby reap, is such a name,
Whose repetition will be dogg'd with curses;
Whose chronicle thus writ, -The man was noble,
But with his last attempt he wip'd it out;
Destroyed his country; and his name remains
To the ensuing age, abhorr'd. Speak to me, son:
Thou hast affected the fine strainst of honour,
To imitate the graces of the gods;

To tear with thunder the wide cheeks o'the air,
And yet to charge thy sulphur with a bolt
That should but rive an oak. Why dost not

speak?

Think'st thou it honourable for a noble man Still to remember wrongs?-Daughter, speak you: [boy: He cares not for your weeping. --Speak thou, Perhaps, thy childishness will move him more Than can our reasons. There is no man in the [prate More bound to his mother; yet here he lets me + The refinements.

Show'd thy dear mother any courtesy; [life When she (poor hen!) fond of no second brood, Has cluck'd thee to the wars, and safely home, Loaden with honour. Say, my request's un. just,

And spurn me back: But, if it be not so, Thou art not honest; and the gods will plague thee,

That thou restrain'st from me the duty, which To a mother's part belongs.-He turns away: Down, ladies; let us shame him with our knees.

To his surname Coriolanus 'longs more pride,
Than pity to our prayers. Down; an end:
This is the last; - So we will home to Rome,
And die among our neighbours. Nay, be-
hold us:

This boy, that cannot tell what he would have,
But kneels, and holds up hands, for fellowship,
Does reason our petition with more strength
Than thou hast to deny't. -Come, let us go:
This fellow had a Volcian to his mother;
His wife is in Corioli, and his child
Like him by chance:-Yet give us our des-
I am hush'd until our city be afire,
And then I'll speak a little.

Cor. O mother, mother!

[patch:

[Holding VOLUMNIA by the Hands, silent. What have you done? Behold, the heavens

do ope,

The gods look down, and this unnatural scene
They laugh at. O my mother, mother! O!
You have won a happy victory to Rome:
But, for your son, -believe it, O, believe it,
Most dangerously you have with him prevail'd,
If not most mortal to him. But, let it come :--
Aufidius, though I cannot make true wars,
I'll frame convenient peace. Now, good Au-
[heard
Were you in my stead, say, would you have
A mother less? or granted less, Aufidius ?
Auf. 1 was mov'd withal.

fidius,

Cor. I dare be sworn, you were: And, Sir, it is no little thing, to make Mine eyes to sweat compassion. But, good Sir, What peace you'll make, advise me; For my

part, [you, I'll not to Rome, I'll back with you; and pray Stand to me in this cause. O mother! wife!

Auf. I am glad, thou hast set thy mercy and

thy honour At difference in thee: out of that I'll work Myself a former fortune. [Aside.

[The ladies make signs to CORIOLANUS. [TO VOLUMNIA, VIRGILIA, &c.

Cor. Ay, by and by;

But we will drink together; and you shall bear

A better witness back than words, which we,
On like conditions, will have counter-seal'd.
Come, enter with us. Ladies, you deserve
To have a temple built you all the swords
In Italy, and her confederate arms,
Could not have made this peace.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-Rome. A public Place.
Enter MENENIUS and SICINIUS.

Men. See you yond' coign* o'the Capitol: yond' corner stone?

Sic. Why, what of that?

Men. If it be possible for you to displace it with your little finger, there is some hope the

world

• Conclude.

* Angle.

ladies of Rome, especially his mother, may | Great cause to give great thanks.
prevail with him. But I say, there is no hope
in't; our throats are sentenced, and stay upon
execution.

Sic. Is't possible, that so short a time can alter the condition of a man?

Men. There is differency between a grub, and a butterfly; yet your butterfly was a grub. This Marcius is grown from man to dragon: he has wings; he's more than a creeping thing.

Sic. He loved his mother dearly.

Men. So did he me and he no more remembers his mother now, than an eight year old horse. The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes. When he walks, he moves like an engine, and the ground shrinks before his treading. He is able to pierce a corslet with his eye; talks like a knell, and his hum is a battery. He sits in his state, as a thing made for Alexander. What he bids be done, is finished with his bidding. He wants nothing of a god but eternity, and a heaven to throne in.

Sic. Yes, mercy, if you report him truly. Men. I paint him in the character. Mark what mercy his mother shall bring from him: There is no more mercy in him, than there is milk in a male tiger; that shall our poor city find and all this is 'long of you.

Sic. The gods be good unto us!

Men. No, in such a case the gods will not be good unto us. When we banished him, we respected not them: and, he returning to break our necks, they respect not us.

Enter a MESSENGER.

Mess. Sir, if you'd save your life, fly to your
house;

The plebeians have got your fellow-tribune,
And hale him up and down; all swearing, if
The Roman ladies bring not comfort home,
They'll give him death by inches.

Enter another MESSENGER.

Sic. What's the news?

Mess. Good news, good news;-The ladies
have prevail'd,

The Volces are dislodg'd, and Marcius gone:
A merrier day did never yet greet Rome,
No, not the expulsion of the Tarquins.

Sic. Friend,

Art thou certain this is true? is it most certain?
Mess. As certain as I know the sun is fire:

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Sic. They are near the city?
Mess.. Almost at point to enter.
Sic. We will meet them,

And help the joy.

[Going.

Enter the Ladies, accompanied b. SENATORS,
PATRICIANS, and People. They pass over the

Stage.

1 Sen. Behold our patroness, the life of

Rome:

Call all your tribes together, praise the gods,
And make triumphant fires; strew flowers be-
fore them:

Unshout the noise that banish'd Marcius,
Repeal* him with the welcome of his mother;
Cry, -Welcome, ladies, welcome!-
All. Welcome, ladies!

Welcome!

[A flourish with Drums and Trumpets.
[Exeunt.

SCENE V.-Antium. -A Public Place.
Enter TULLUS AUFIDIUS, with Attendants.
Auf. Go tell the lords of the city, I am here:
Deliver them this paper: having read it,
Bid them repair to the market-place; where I,
Even in theirs and in the commons' ears,
Will vouch the truth of it. Him I accuse,
The city portst by this hath enter'd, and
Intends to appear before the people, hoping
To purge himself with words: Despatch.
[Exeunt Attendants.

Enter Three or Four CONSPIRATORS of AUFIDIUS'
Faction.

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'Twixt you there's difference; but the fall of
Makes the survivor heir of all.
[either

Auf. I know it;
And my pretext to strike at him admits
A good construction. I rais'd him, and I
pawn'd
[ten'd,
Mine honour for his truth: Who being so heigh
He water'd his new plants with dews of flattery,
Seducing so my friends: and, to this end,
He bow'd his nature, never known before
But to be rough, unswayable, and free.

3 Con. Sir, his stoutness,
When he did stand for consul, which he lost
By lack of stooping,-

Auf. That I would have spoke of:

Being banish'd for't he came unto my hearth;
Presented to my knife his throat: I took him;
Made him joint-servant with me; gave him

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In mine own person; holp to reap the fame,
Which he did end all his; and took some pride
To do myself this wrong: till, at the last.
+ Gates. † Helped.

Stay but for it. + Chair of state. † To resemble,

* Recall,

I seem'd his follower, not partner; and

He wag'd me with his countenance, as if
I had been mercenary.

1 Con. So he did, my lord:

The army marvell'd at it. And, in the last, When he had carried Rome; and that we look'd For no less spoil, than glory,—

Auf. There was it;

For which my sinews shall be stretch'd upon him.

At a few drops of women's rheum, which are As cheap as lies, he sold the blood and labour Of our great action; Therefore shall he die, And I'll renew me in his fall. But, hark!

[Drums and Trumpets sound, with great shouts of the People.

1 Con. Your native town you enter'd like a post,

And had no welcomes home; but he returns, Splitting the air with noise.

2 Con. And patient fools,

Whose children he hath slain, their base throats

tear,

With giving him glory.

3 Con. Therefore, at your vantage, Ere he express himself, or move the people With what he would say, let him feel your sword,

Which we will second. When he lies along, After your way his tale pronounc'd shall bury His reasons with his body.

Auf. Say no more;

Here comes the lords.

Enter the LORDS of the City.

Lords. You are most welcome home.

Auf. I have not deserv'd it,

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Coriolanus in Corioli?

You lords and heads of the state, perfidiously
He has betray'd your business, and given up
For certain drops of salt,* your city Rome
(I say, your city,) to his wife and mother:
Breaking his oath and resolution, like
A twist of rotten silk; never admitting
Counsel o'the war; but at his nurse's tears
He whin'd and roar'd away your victory;
That pages blush'd at him, and men of heart
Look'd wondering each at other.

Cor. Hear'st thou, Mars?
Auf. Name not the god, thou boy of tears,-
Cor. Ha!

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1 Lord. Peace, both, and hear me speak. Cor. Cut me to pieces, Volces; men and lads,

But, worthy lords, have you with heed perus'd Stain all your edges on me.-Boy! False

What I have written to you?

Lords. We have.

1 Lord. And grieve to hear it.

What faults he made before the last, I think, Might have found easy fines: but there to

end,

Where he was to begin; and give away
The benefit of our levies, answering us
With our own charge; making a treaty, where
There was a yielding; This admits no excuse.
Auf. He approaches, you shall hear him.

Enter CORIOLANUS, with Drums and Colours; a
Croud of CITIZENS with him.

Cor. Hail, lords! I am returned your soldier; No more infected with my country's love, Than when I parted hence, but still subsisting Under your great command. You are to know, That prosperously I have attempted, and

With bloody passage, led your wars, even to The gates of Rome. Our spoils we have brought home,

Do more than counterpoise, a full third part, The charges of the action. We have made

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* Thought me rewarded with good look.. + Tears. People of Antium.

† Rewarding us with our own expenses.

hound!

If you have writ your annals true, 'tis there,
That like an eagle in a dove-cote, I
Flutter'd your voices 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 braggart,

'Fore your own eyes and ears?

Con. Let him die for't. [Several speak at once. Cit. [Speaking promiscuously.] Tear him to pieces, do it presently. He killed my son ;my daughter;-He killed my cousin Marcus; - He killed my father.

2 Lord. Peace, ho; -no outrage; peace. The man is noble, and his fame folds in This orb o'the earth. His last offence to us Shall have judiciouss hearing.-Stand, AufiAnd trouble not the peace. [dius,

Cor. O, that I had him,
With six Aufidiuses, or more, his tribe,
To use my lawful sword!
Auf. Insolent villain!

Con. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill him.

[AUFIDIUS and the CONSPIRATORS draw, and kill CORIOLANUS, who falls, and AUFIDIUS stands on him.

Lords. Hold, hold, hold, hold.
Auf. My noble masters, hear me speak.
1 Lord. O Tullus,-

2 Lord. Thou hast done a deed whereat val

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Auf. My lords, when you shall know (as in | 2 Lord. His own impatience this rage,

Provok'd by him, you cannot,) the great danger

Which this man's life did owe you, you'll re-
joice

That he is thus cut off. Please it your honours
To call me to your senate, I'll deliver
Myself your loyal servant, or endure
Your heaviest censure.

1 Lord. Bear from hence his body,
And mourn you for him: let him be regarded
As the most noble corse, that ever herald
Did follow to his urn.

Takes from Aufidius a great part of blame.
Let's make the best of it.

Auf. 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 CORIOLA-
NUS. A dead March sounded,
• Memorial.

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