Coriolanus
Page 5
From slaves that apes would beat! Pluto41 and hell:
All hurt behind42, backs red, and faces pale
With flight and agued fear! Mend and charge home43,
Or, by the fires of heaven, I'll leave the foe
And make my wars on you: look to't. Come on:
If you'll stand fast, we'll beat46 them to their wives,
As they us to our trenches followed.
Another alarum, and Martius follows [the Volsces] to [the] gates
So, now the gates are ope48: now prove good seconds:
'Tis for the followers49 fortune widens them,
Not for the fliers: mark me, and do the like.
[He] enter[s] the gates
FIRST SOLDIER Foolhardiness: not I.
SECOND SOLDIER Nor I.
[The gates close and Martius] is shut in
FIRST SOLDIER See, they have shut him in.
Alarum continues
ALL To th'pot54, I warrant him.
Enter Titus Lartius
LARTIUS What is become of Martius?
ALL Slain, sir, doubtless.
FIRST SOLDIER Following the fliers at the very heels,
With them he enters, who upon the sudden
Clapped to59 their gates: he is himself alone,
To answer60 all the city.
LARTIUS O noble fellow!
Who sensibly62 outdares his senseless sword,
And when it bows63, stand'st up. Thou art left, Martius:
A carbuncle entire64, as big as thou art,
Were not so rich a jewel. Thou wast a soldier
Even to Cato66's wish, not fierce and terrible
Only in strokes: but with thy grim looks, and
The thunder-like percussion of thy sounds,
Thou mad'st thine enemies shake, as if the world
Were feverous and did tremble.
Enter Martius, bleeding, assaulted by the enemy
FIRST SOLDIER Look, sir.
LARTIUS O, 'tis Martius!
Let's fetch him off, or make remain73 alike.
They fight, and all enter the city
[Act 1 Scene 5]
running scene 4 continues
Enter certain Romans with spoils
FIRST ROMAN This will I carry to Rome.
SECOND ROMAN And I this.
THIRD ROMAN A murrain3 on't, I took this for silver.
Exeunt
Alarum continues still afar off
Enter Martius and Titus [Lartius] with a Trumpet
MARTIUS See here these movers that do prize4 their honours
At a cracked drachma5: cushions, leaden spoons,
Irons of a doit, doublets that hangmen6 would
Bury with those that wore them, these base slaves,
Ere yet the fight be done, pack up: down with them!
And hark, what noise the general9 makes: to him.
There is the man of my soul's hate, Aufidius,
Piercing our Romans: then, valiant Titus, take
Convenient numbers to make good12 the city,
Whilst I, with those that have the spirit, will haste
To help Cominius.
LARTIUS Worthy sir, thou bleed'st:
Thy exercise hath been too violent
For a second course of fight.
MARTIUS Sir, praise me not:
My work hath yet not warmed me. Fare you well:
The blood I drop is rather physical20
Than dangerous to me: to Aufidius thus
I will appear, and fight.
LARTIUS Now the fair goddess, Fortune,
Fall deep in love with thee, and her great charms24
Misguide thy opposers'25 swords! Bold gentleman,
Prosperity be thy page26.
MARTIUS Thy27 friend no less
Than those she placeth highest. So farewell.
LARTIUS Thou worthiest Martius!
[Exit Martius]
Go sound thy trumpet in the market-place:
Call thither all the officers o'th'town,
Where they shall know our mind. Away.
Exeunt
[Act 1 Scene 6]
running scene 4 continues
Enter Cominius, as it were in retire, with Soldiers
COMINIUS Breathe you1, my friends: well fought: we are come off
Like Romans, neither foolish in our stands2,
Nor cowardly in retire: believe me, sirs,
We shall be charged again. Whiles we have struck4,
By interims and conveying gusts5 we have heard
The6 charges of our friends. The Roman gods
Lead their successes as we wish our own,
That both our powers, with smiling fronts8 encount'ring,
May give you thankful sacrifice.
Enter a Messenger
Thy news?
MESSENGER The citizens of Corioles have issued10,
And given to Lartius and to Martius battle:
I saw our party to their trenches driven,
And then I came away.
COMINIUS Though thou speak'st truth,
Methinks thou speak'st not well. How long is't since?
MESSENGER Above an hour, my lord.
COMINIUS 'Tis not a mile: briefly17 we heard their drums.
How couldst thou in a mile confound18 an hour,
And bring thy news so late?
MESSENGER Spies of the Volsces
Held me in chase, that21 I was forced to wheel
Three or four miles about, else had I, sir,
Half an hour since brought my report.
Enter Martius [bleeding]
COMINIUS Who's yonder,
That does appear as25 he were flayed? O gods,
He has the stamp26 of Martius, and I have
Before-time27 seen him thus.
MARTIUS Come I too late?
COMINIUS The shepherd knows not thunder from a tabor29
More than I know the sound of Martius' tongue
From every meaner31 man.
MARTIUS Come I too late?
COMINIUS Ay, if you come not in the blood of others,
But mantled in your own.
MARTIUS O, let me clip35 ye
In arms as sound as when I wooed in heart,
As merry as when our nuptial day was done,
He embraces Cominius
And tapers burned to bedward38.
COMINIUS Flower of warriors, how is't with Titus Lartius?
MARTIUS As with a man busied about decrees40:
Condemning some to death, and some to exile,
He embraces Cominius
Ransoming him, or pitying, threat'ning th'other;
Holding Corioles in the name of Rome,
Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash,
To let him slip45 at will.
COMINIUS Where is that slave
Which told me they had beat you to your trenches?
Where is he? Call him hither.
MARTIUS Let him alone:
He did inform the truth: but for our gentlemen,
The common file51 -- a plague -- tribunes for them! --
The mouse ne'er shunned the cat as they did budge52
From rascals worse than they.
COMINIUS But how prevailed you?
MARTIUS Will the time serve to tell? I do not think55.
Where is the enemy? Are you lords o'th'field?
If not, why cease you till you are so?
COMINIUS Martius, we have at disadvantage fought
And did retire to win our purpose59.
MARTIUS How lies their battle60? Know you on which side
They have placed their men of trust?
COMINIUS As I guess, Martius,
Their bands i'th'vanguard are the Antiates63,
Of their best trust64: o'er them Aufidius,
Their very heart of hope.
MARTIUS I do beseech you,
By all the battles wherein we have fought,
By th'blood we
have shed together, by th'vows
We have made to endure69 friends, that you directly
Set me against Aufidius and his Antiates,
And that you not delay the present, but,
Filling the air with swords advanced and darts72,
We prove73 this very hour.
COMINIUS Though I could wish
You were conducted to a gentle bath
And balms76 applied to you, yet dare I never
Deny your asking: take your choice of those
That best can aid your action.
MARTIUS Those are they
That most are willing: if any such be here,
As it were sin to doubt, that love this painting81
Wherein you see me smeared, if any fear
Lesser his person than an ill report83:
If any think brave84 death outweighs bad life,
And that his country's dearer than himself,
Let him alone86, or so many so minded,
Wave thus to express his disposition,
And follow Martius.
They all shout and wave their swords, take him up in their arms, and cast up their caps
O, me alone, make you a sword of me?89
If these shows be not outward90, which of you
But is91 four Volsces? None of you but is
Able to bear against the great Aufidius
A shield as hard as his. A certain number,
Though thanks to all, must I select from all.
The rest shall bear the business in some other fight,
As cause will be obeyed96. Please you to march,
And I shall quickly draw out my command,
Which men are best inclined.
COMINIUS March on, my fellows:
Make good this ostentation100, and you shall
Divide in all101 with us.
Exeunt
[Act 1 Scene 7]
running scene 4 continues
Titus Lartius, having set a guard upon Corioles, going with Drum and Trumpet toward Cominius and Caius Martius, enters with a Lieutenant, other Soldiers and a Scout
LARTIUS So, let the ports1 be guarded: keep your duties
To the Lieutenant
As I have set them down. If I do send, dispatch
Those centuries3 to our aid: the rest will serve
For a short holding4: if we lose the field,
We cannot keep the town.
LIEUTENANT Fear not our care6, sir.
LARTIUS Hence, and shut your gates upon's:
Our guider, come; to th'Roman camp conduct us.
Exeunt
[Act 1 Scene 8]
running scene 4 continues
Alarum, as in battle. Enter Martius and Aufidius at several doors
MARTIUS I'll fight with none but thee, for I do hate thee
Worse than a promise-breaker.
AUFIDIUS We hate alike:
Not Afric owns4 a serpent I abhor
More than thy fame and envy. Fix thy foot5.
MARTIUS Let the first budger6 die the other's slave,
And the gods doom him after.
AUFIDIUS If I fly, Martius, holla8 me like a hare.
MARTIUS Within these three hours, Tullus,
Alone I fought in your Corioles' walls,
And made what work I pleased: 'tis not my blood
Wherein thou see'st me masked: for thy revenge
Wrench up13 thy power to th'highest.
AUFIDIUS Wert thou the Hector
That was the whip of your bragged progeny15,
Thou shouldst not scape16 me here.
Here they fight, and certain Volsces come in the aid of Aufidius.
Martius fights till they be driven in breathless
Officious, and not valiant, you have shamed me
In your condemned seconds18.
[Exit]
[Act 1 scene 9]
running scene 4 continues
Alarum. Flourish. A retreat is sounded. Enter at one door Cominius with the Romans: at another door Martius, with his arm in a scarf
COMINIUS If I should tell thee o'er1 this thy day's work,
Thou't not believe thy deeds: but I'll report it
Where senators shall mingle tears with smiles,
Where great patricians shall attend and shrug4,
I'th'end admire5: where ladies shall be frighted,
And, gladly quaked, hear more: where the dull6 tribunes,
That with the fusty7 plebeians, hate thine honours,
Shall say against their hearts8, 'We thank the gods
Our Rome hath such a soldier.'
Yet cam'st10 thou to a morsel of this feast,
Having fully dined before.
Enter Titus [Lartius] with his power, from the pursuit
LARTIUS O general,
Here is the steed, we the caparison13:
Hadst thou beheld--
MARTIUS Pray now, no more: my mother,
Who has a charter to extol her blood16,
When she does praise me, grieves me. I have done
As you have done: that's what I can, induced18
As you have been, that's for my country:
He that has but effected20 his good will
Hath overta'en21 mine act.
COMINIUS You shall not be the grave of your deserving22:
Rome must know the value of her own:
'Twere a concealment worse than a theft,
No less than a traducement25,
To hide your doings, and to silence that
Which, to the spire and top of praises vouched27,
Would seem but modest: therefore, I beseech you
In sign29 of what you are, not to reward
What you have done, before our army hear me.
MARTIUS I have some wounds upon me, and they smart
To hear themselves remembered.
COMINIUS Should they not33,
Well might they fester gainst34 ingratitude,
And tent35 themselves with death. Of all the horses,
Whereof we have ta'en good and good store36, of all
The treasure in this field achieved and city37,
We render you the38 tenth, to be ta'en forth,
Before the common distribution,
At your only choice40.
MARTIUS I thank you, general:
But cannot make my heart consent to take
A bribe to pay my sword: I do refuse it,
And stand upon my common part44 with those
That have beheld the doing45.
A long flourish. They all cry 'Martius, Martius!' cast up their caps and lances: Cominius and Lartius stand bare
May these same instruments, which you profane,
Never sound more: when drums and trumpets shall
I'th'field prove flatterers, let courts and cities be
Made all of false-faced soothing: when steel49 grows
Soft as the parasite's silk, let him50 be made
An overture51 for th'wars: no more, I say,
For that52 I have not washed my nose that bled,
Or foiled some debile wretch, which, without note53,
Here's many else have done, you shout me forth54
In acclamations hyperbolical,
As if I loved my little should be dieted56
In praises sauced57 with lies.
COMINIUS Too modest are you:
More cruel to your good report than grateful
To us that give you truly: by your patience60,
If gainst yourself you be incensed, we'll put you,
Like one that means his proper62 harm, in manacles,
Then reason safely with you: therefore be it known,
As to us, to all the world, that Caius Martius
Wears this war's garland65: in token of the which,
My noble steed, known to the camp, I give him,
With all his trim belonging67: and from this time,
For what he did before Corioles, call him,
Martius Caius Coriolanus. Bear th'addition70 nobly ever!
Flourish. Trumpets sound, and Drums
ALL Martius Caius Coriolanus!
CORIOLANUS I will go wash:
To Cominius
And when my face is fair73, you shall perceive
Whether I blush or no: howbeit74, I thank you:
I mean to stride75 your steed, and at all times
To undercrest76 your good addition
To th'fairness of my power77.
COMINIUS So, to our tent,
Where, ere we do repose us, we will write
To Rome of our success. You, Titus Lartius,
Must to Corioles back: send us to Rome
The best, with whom we may articulate82,
For their own good and ours.
LARTIUS I shall, my lord.
CORIOLANUS The gods begin to mock me: I, that now
Refused most princely gifts, am bound to beg
Of my lord general.
COMINIUS Take't, 'tis yours: what is't?
CORIOLANUS I sometime lay89 here in Corioles
At a poor man's house: he used90 me kindly:
He cried91 to me: I saw him prisoner:
But then Aufidius was within my view,
And wrath o'erwhelmed my pity: I request you
To give my poor host freedom.
COMINIUS O, well begged!
Were he the butcher of my son, he should
Be free as is the wind. Deliver97 him, Titus.
LARTIUS Martius, his name?
CORIOLANUS By Jupiter, forgot:
I am weary: yea, my memory is tired:
Have we no wine here?
COMINIUS Go we to our tent:
The blood upon your visage103 dries: 'tis time
It should be looked to: come.
Exeunt
[Act 1 Scene 10]
running scene 4 continues
A flourish. Cornets. Enter Tullus Aufidius, bloody, with two or three Soldiers
AUFIDIUS The town is ta'en.
FIRST SOLDIER 'Twill be delivered back on good condition2.
AUFIDIUS Condition?
I would I were a Roman, for I cannot,
Being a Volsce, be that5 I am. Condition?
What good condition6 can a treaty find
I'th'part that is at mercy7? Five times, Martius,
I have fought with thee: so often hast thou beat me,
And wouldst do so, I think, should we encounter9
As often as we eat. By th'elements,
If e'er again I meet him beard to beard,
He's mine, or I am his: mine emulation12
Hath not that honour in't it had: for where13
I thought to crush him in an equal force,
True sword to sword, I'll potch15 at him some way
Or wrath or craft16 may get him.
FIRST SOLDIER He's the devil.
AUFIDIUS Bolder, though not so subtle18: my valour's poisoned
With only suff'ring stain19 by him: for him
Shall fly out of itself20: nor sleep nor sanctuary,
Being naked, sick, nor fane21 nor Capitol,