The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

Cor.

Let go.

Go to them, with this bonnet in thy hand;
And thus far having stretch'd it, (here be with them)

Vol. You might have been enough the man you are, Thy knee bussing the stones, (for in such business With striving less to be so: lesser had been

The thwartings of your dispositions, if

You had not show'd them how you were dispos'd,

Ere they lack'd power to cross you.

Cor.

Vol. Ay, and burn too.

Let them hang.

Enter MENENIUS, and Senators.

Action is eloquence, and the eyes of the ignorant
More learned than the ears) waving thy head,
Which often, thus, correcting thy stout heart,
That will not hold the handling. Or say to them,
6 Now's humble as the ripest mulberry
Thou art their soldier, and being bred in broils,
Hast not the soft way, which thou dost confess,

Men. Come, come; you have been too rough, Were fit for thee to use as they to claim,

something too rough:

In asking their good loves; but thou wilt frame
You must return, and mend it.
Thyself, forsooth, hereafter theirs, so far
1 Sen.
There's no remedy; As thou hast power, and person.
Unless, by not so doing, our good city
Cleave in the midst, and perish.
Vol.

Pray be counsell'd.
I have a heart as little apt as yours
4To brook control without the use of anger,
But yet a brain, that leads my use of anger
To better vantage.

Men.
Well said, noble woman!
Before he should thus stoop o' the heart, but that
The violent fit o' the time craves it as physic
For the whole state, I would put mine armor on,
Which I can scarcely bear.

Cor.

What must I do?

Men. Return to the tribunes.
Cor.

Well, what then? what then?
Men. Repent what you have spoke.
Cor. For them ?—I cannot do it to the gods;
Must I then do't to them?

Vol.
You are too absolute;
Though therein you can never be too noble,
But when extremities speak. I have heard you say,
Honor and policy, like unsever'd friends,
I' the war do grow together: grant that, and tell me,
In peace what each of them by th' other lose,
That they combine not there?

Cor. Men.

Tush, tush!

A good demand.
Vol. If it be honor in your wars to seem
The same you are not, (which for your best ends
You adopt your policy) how is it less, or worse,
That it shall hold companionship in peace
With honor, as in war, since that to both
It stands in like request?

Cor.
Why force you this?
Vol. Because that now it lies you on to speak
To the people; not by your own instruction,
Nor by the matter which your heart prompts you,
But with such words that are but roted in
Your tongue, though but bastards, and syllables
Of no allowance to your bosom's truth.
Now, this no more dishonors you at all,
Than to take din a town with gentle words
Which else would put you to your fortune and
The hazard of much blood.-

I would dissemble with my nature, where
My fortunes and my friends at stake, requir'd
I should do so in honor: I am in this,
Your wife, your son, these senators, the nobles;

• Urge.—“Roted," i. e., got by rote.

"To take in," i. e., to subdue.

He must,
Pr'ythee now, say you will, and go about it.
Cor. Must I go show them my unbarbed sconce!
Must I with my base tongue give to my noble heart
Yet were there but this single i plot to lose,
A lie, that it must bear? Well, I will do't:
This mould of Marcius, they to dust should grind it,
And throw't against the wind.-To the market-place!
You have put me now to such a part, which never
I shall discharge to the life.

Com.
Come, come, we'll prompt you
Vol. I pr'ythee now, sweet son: as thou hast said,
My praises made thee first a soldier, so,
To have my praise for this, perform a part
Thou hast not done before.

Away, my disposition, and possess me
Some harlot's spirit! My throat of war be turn'd,
Which quired with my drum, into a pipe
Small as an eunuch, or the virgin voice
That babies lulls asleep! The smiles of knaves
Tent in my cheeks; and school-boys' tears take up
The glasses of my sight! A beggar's tongue
Make motion through my lips; and my arm'd knees,
Who bow'd but in my stirrup, bend like his
That hath receiv'd an alms-I will not do't,
Lest I surcease to honor mine own truth,
And by my body's action teach my mind
A most inherent baseness.

Enter SICINIUS and BRUTUS.

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 prov'd upon you?
Cor.
Men. Lo, citizens! he says, he is content.
The warlike service he has done, consider;

I am content.

Bru. In this point charge him home; that he affects Think upon the wounds his body bears, which show

Tyrannical 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.

Sic. Assemble presently the people hither: And when they hear me say, "It shall be so, I' the right and strength o' 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 their old prerogative And power i' the truth o' the cause. Ed. I shall inform them. Bru. And when such time they have begun to cry, Let them not cease, but with a din confus'd Enforce the present execution

Of what we chance to sentence.

Scratches with briars;

graves i' the holy churchyard. Cor. Scars to move laughter only.

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

Com.

Well, well; no more.
Cor. What is the matter,

That being pass'd for consul with full voice,
I am so dishonor'd, that the very hour
You take it off again?

Sic.

Answer to us.

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

[take

Sic. We charge you, that you have contriv'd to From Rome all season'd office, and to wind Yourself into a power tyrannical;

For which you are a traitor to the people.
Cor. How! Traitor?

Men.

Nay, temperately; your promise. Cor. The fires i' the lowest hell fold in 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 Thy lying tongue both numbers, I would say, Thou liest, unto thee, with a voice as free As I do pray the gods.

Sic.

Mark you this, people? Cit. To the rock! to the rock with him! 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,
Deserves th' extremest death.

Bru.

Serv'd well for Rome,

But since he hath

"Bear the knave," i. e., bear being called a knave."Season'd," i, e., wisely tempered; established by time.

Cor.

What do you prate of service? | Cit. Come, come; let us see him out at gates:

Bru. I talk of that, that know it.

For that he has

Let them pronounce the steep Tarpeian death,
Vagabond exile, flaying, pent to linger
But with a grain a day, I would not buy
Their mercy at the price of one fair word,
Nor check my carriage for what they can give,
To have't with saying, good morrow.
Sic.
(As much as in him lies) from time to time
Envied against the people, seeking means
To pluck away their power; as now at last
Given hostile strokes, and that not in the presence
Of dreaded justice, but on the ministers
That do distribute it; in the name o' 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 gates. I' the people's name,
I say, it shall be so.

Cit. It shall be so, it shall be so: let him away.
He's banish'd, and it shall be so.

'Com. Hear me, my masters, and my common
friends;-

Sic. He's sentenc'd: no more hearing.
Com.

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

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.

Cit.

It shall be so it shall be so.

come.

The gods preserve our noble tribunes !-Come.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.-The Same. Before a Gate of the
City.

Enter CORIOLANUS, VOLUMNIA, VIRGILIA, MENE-
NIUS, COMINIUS, and several young Patricians.
Cor. Come, leave your tears: a brief farewell.
-The beast

With many heads butts me away.-Nay, mother,
Where is your ancient courage? you were us'd
To say, extremity was the trier of spirits;
That common chances common men could bear;
That, when the sea was calm, all boats alike
Show'd mastership in floating; fortune's blows,
When most struck home, being gentle minded cravea
A noble 'cunning. You were us'd to load me
With precepts, that would make invincible
The heart that conn'd them.

Vir. O heavens! O heavens!
Cor.

Nay, I pr'ythee, woman.-
Vol. Now, the red pestilence strike all trades in
And occupations perish!
[Rome,
What, what, what!

Cor.

I shall be lov'd when I am lack'd. Nay, mother,
Resume that spirit, when you were wont to say,
If you had been the wife of Hercules,
Six of his labors you'd have done, and sav'd
Your husband so much sweat.-Cominius,
Droop not: adieu.-Farewell, my wife! my mother!
I'll do well yet.-Thou old and true Menenius,
Thy tears are salter than a younger man's,
And venomous to thine eyes.-My sometime general,
I have seen thee stern, and thou hast oft beheld
Heart-hardening spectacles; tell these sad women,
'Tis fond to wail inevitable strokes,

As 'tis to laugh at 'em.-My mother, you wot well,
My hazards still have have been your solace; and
Believe't not lightly, though I go alone,

Cor. You common cry of curs! whose breath I Like to a lonely dragon, that his fen
hate

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 rumor 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 reservation of yourselves,
(Still your own foes) deliver you as most
Abated captives, to some nation
That won you without blows! Despising,
For you, the city, thus I turn my back.
There is a world elsewhere.

[Exeunt CORIOLANUS, COMINIUS, MENENIUS,
Senators, and Patricians.
Ed. The people's enemy is gone, is gone!
Cit. Our enemy is banish'd! he is gone! Hoo! hoo!
[The People 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 him deserv'd vexation. Let a guard
Attend us through the city.

a "Envied against," i. e., shown hatred to.- Not for not only. Value, Pack. Subdued; overthrown.

Makes fear'd, and talk'd of more than seen, your son
Will or exceed the common, or be caught
With cautelous baits and practice.

Vol.
My first son,
Whither wilt thou go? Take good Cominius
With thee a while: determine on some course
More than a wild 'exposture to each chance,
That starts i' the way before thee.
Cor.
O the gods!
Com. I'll follow thee a month; devise with thee
Where thou shalt rest, that thou may'st hear of us,
And we of thee: so, if the time thrust forth
A cause for thy repeal, we shall not send
O'er the vast world to seek a single man,
And lose advantage, which doth ever cool
I' the absence of the needer.

Cor.
Fare ye well:
Thou hast years upon thee; and thou art too full
Of the wars' surfeits to go rove with one
That's yet unbruis'd: bring me but out at gate.-
Come, my sweet wife, my dearest mother, and
My friends of noble touch, when I am forth,
Bid me farewell, and smile. I pray you, come.
While I remain above the ground, you shall
Hear from me still; and never of me aught

Wisdom.- Foolish.- Know. Insidious. Noblest
Exposure. "Of noble touch," i. e., of true metal,

Sic. They say, she's mad. Bru. They have ta'en note of us: keep on your way; Vol. O! y'are well met. The hoarded plague o' Requite your love! [the gods Men. Peace, peace! be not so loud. Vol. If that I could for weeping, you should hear, Nay, and you shall hear some.-Will you be gone? To BRUTUS. Vir. You shall stay too. [To SICINIUS.] I would, To say so to my husband. [I had the power Sic. Are you a mankind? Vol. Ay, fool; is that a shame ?-Not but this fool.

Was not a man my father? Hadst thou foxship To banish him that struck more blows for Rome, Than thou hast spoken words?

Sic. O, blessed heavens! Vol. More noble blows, than ever thou wise words; And for Rome's good.-I'll tell thee what-yet go:Nay, but thou shalt stay too.-I would my son Were in Arabia, and thy tribe before him, His good sword in his hand.

I would the gods had nothing else to do,
But to confirm my curses. Could I meet 'em
But once a day, it would unclog my heart
Of what lies heavy to't.
Men.
You have told them home,
And, by my troth, you have cause. You'll sup with me?
Vol. Anger's my meat: I sup upon myself,
And so shall starve with feeding.-Come, let's go.
Leave this faint puling, and lament as I do,
In anger, Juno-like. Come, come, come.
Men. Fie, fie, fie!

[Exeunt.

SCENE III-A Highway between Rome and Antium.

Enter a Roman and a Volsce, meeting.

Rom. I know you well, sir; and you know me. Your name, I think, is Adrian.

Vol. It is so, sir: truly, I have forgot you. Rom. I am a Roman; and my services are, as you are, against 'em. Know you me yet?

Vol. Nicanor? No.

Rom. The same, sir.

Vol, You had more beard, when I last saw you; but your favor is well approved by your tongue. What's the news in Rome? I have a note from the Volscian state, to find you out there: you have well sav'd me a day's journey.

Rom. There hath been in Rome strange insurrec tion: the people against the senators, patricians, and nobles.

Vol. Hath been! Is it ended then? Our state thinks not so: they are in a most warlike preparation, and hope to come upon them in the heat of their division.

Rom. The main blaze of it is past, but a small thing would make it flame 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.

Vol. Coriolanus banished?
Rom. Banished, sir.

Vol. You will be welcome with this intelligence,

What then! Nicanor.

Vol. Bastards, and all.-
Good man, the wounds that he does bear for Rome!
Men. Come, come: peace!

Sic. I would he had continued to his country,
As he began; and not unknit himself
The noble knot he made.

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 Tullus Aufidius will appear well in these wars, his great opposer, Coriolanus, being now in no request of his country.

Vol. 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?

Vol. A most royal one; the centurions and their charges distinctly billeted, already in the entertainment, 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

• Countenance.-d "In the entertainment," i. e., taken into pay.

Cor.
Direct if it be your will,
Where great Aufidius lies. Is he in Antium?
Cit. He is, and feasts the nobles of the state
At his house this night.

Cor.

sworn,

Which is his house, beseech you?
Cit. This, here before you.
Cor. Thank you, sir. Farewell, [Exit Citizen.
O world, thy slippery turns! Friends now fast
Whose double bosoms seem to wear one heart,
Whose 1house, whose bed, whose meal, and exercise,
Are still together, who twin, as 'twere, in love
Unseparable, shall within this hour,
On a dissension of a doit, break out
To bitterest enmity: so, fellest foes,

Whose passions and whose plots have broke their sleep
To take the one the other, by some chance,

Some trick not worth an egg, shall grow dear friends,
And interjoin their issues. So with me:-
My birth-place hate I, and my love's upon
This enemy town. I'll enter: if he slay me,
He does fair justice; if he give me way,
I'll do his country service.

[Exit.

SCENE V.-The Same. A Hall in AUFIDIUS'S

House.

Music within. Enter a Servant.

1 Serv. Wine, wine, wine! What service is here?

I think our fellows are asleep.

Enter a second Servant.

[Exit.

2 Serv. Where's Cotus? My master calls for him. Cotus!

Enter CORIOLANUS.

[Exit.

Cor. A goodly house. . The feast smells well; but I Appear not like a guest.

Re-enter the first Servant.

1 Serv. What would you have, friend? Whence are you? Here's no place for you: pray, go to the door.

Cor. I have deserv'd no better entertainment, In being a Coriolanus.

Re-enter second Servant.

2 Serv. Whence are you, sir? Has the porter his eyes in his head, that he gives entrance to such companions? Pray, get you out.

Cor. Away!

2 Serv. Away? Get you away.

Cor. Now, th'art troublesome.

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. What are you?

Cor. A gentleman.

3 Serv. A marvellous poor one.
Cor. True, so I am.

3 Serv. Pray you, poor gentleman, take up some other station; here's no place for you. Pray you, avoid: come.

Cor. Follow your function; go,
And batten on cold bits.

[Pushes him away.

3 Serv. What, will you not? Pr'ythee, tell my master what a strange guest he has here.

2 Serv. And I shall.

3 Serv. Where dwell'st thou ?
Cor. Under the canopy.

3 Serv. Under the canopy?
Cor. Ay.

3 Serv. Where's that?

Cor. I' the city of kites and crows.

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.
Hence!
[Beats him.

Enter AUFIDIUS and the second Servant.
Auf. Where is this fellow?

2 Serv. Here, sir. I'd have beaten him like a dog, but for disturbing the lords within.

Auf. Whence com'st thou? what would'st thou?
Thy name?

Why speak'st not? Speak, man: what's thy name?
Cor.
If, Tullus, [Unmufling.
Not yet thou know'st me, and seeing me, dost not
Think me for the man I am, necessity
Commands me name myself.

Auf.
Say, what's thy name?
Thou hast a grim appearance, and thy face
Bears a command 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
Auf. I know thee not.-Thy name?
Cor. My name is Caius Marcius, 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 thankless country, are requited
But with that surname; a good memory,
And witness of the malice and displeasure [mains:
Which thou should'st bear me. Only that name re-
The cruelty and envy of the people,
Permitted by our dastard nobles, who
Have all forsook me, hath devour'd the rest;
And suffered me by the voice of slaves to be
Whoop'd out of Rome. Now, this extremity

2 Serv. Are you so brave? I'll have you talked Hath brought me to thy hearth: not out of hope,

with anon.

In being Coriolanus," i. e., in having derived that sur. name from the sack of Corioli

Mistake me not, to save my life; for if

I had fear'd death, of all the men i' the world

Feed. Memory for memorial.

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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Comprising His Lays and Poems ...