The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works

by William Shakespeare

  Alarum. The Romans are beat back ⌈and exeunt⌉ to their trenches, ⌈the Volsces following⌉

  1.5 Enter ⌈Roman Soldiers, in retreat, followed by⌉ Martius, cursing

  MARTIUS

  All the contagion of the south light on you,

  You shames of Rome! You herd of—boils and plagues

  Plaster you o’er, that you may be abhorred

  Farther than seen, and one infect another

  Against the wind a mile! You souls of geese

  That bear the shapes of men, how have you run

  From slaves that apes would beat! Pluto and hell:

  All hurt behind! Backs red, and faces pale

  With flight and agued fear! Mend and charge home,

  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 beat them to their wives,

  As they us to our trenches. Follow.⌈The Romans come forward towards the walls.⌉ Another alarum, and ⌈enter the army of the Volsces.⌉ Martius beats them back ⌈through⌉ the gates

  So, now the gates are ope. Now prove good seconds.

  ’Tis for the followers fortune widens them,

  Not for the fliers. Mark me, and do the like.

  He enters the gates

  FIRST SOLDIER

  Foolhardiness! Not I.

  SECOND SOLDIER Nor I.

  Alarum continues. The gates close, and Martius is shut in

  FIRST SOLDIER

  See, they have shut him in.

  ⌈THIRD SOLDIER⌉ To th’ pot, I warrant him.

  Enter Lartius

  LARTIUS

  What is become of Martius?

  ⌈FOURTH SOLDIER⌉

  Slain, sir, doubtless.

  FIRST SOLDIER

  Following the fliers at the very heels,

  With them he enters, who upon the sudden

  Clapped-to their gates. He is himself alone

  To answer all the city.

  LARTIUS

  O noble fellow,

  Who sensibly outdares his senseless sword

  And, when it bows, stand‘st up! Thou art lost, Martius.

  A carbuncle entire, as big as thou art,

  Were not so rich a jewel. Thou wast a soldier

  Even to Cato’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 remain alike.

  They fight, and all exeunt into the city

  1.6 Enter certain Romans with spoils

  FIRST ROMAN This will I carry to Rome.

  SECOND ROMAN And I this.

  THIRD ROMAN A murrain on’t, I took this for silver.

  ⌈He throws it away.⌉

  Alarum continues still afar off. Enter Martius,

  bleeding, and Lartius with a trumpeter. Exeunt

  Romans with spoils

  MARTIUS

  See here these movers that do prize their honours

  At a cracked drachma! Cushions, leaden spoons,

  Irons of a doit, doublets that hangmen 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 general makes. To him.

  There is the man of my soul’s hate, Aufidius,

  Piercing our Romans. Then, valiant Titus, take

  Convenient numbers to make good 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 physical

  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 charms Misguide thy opposers’ swords! Bold gentleman, Prosperity be thy page.

  MARTIUS Thy 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 ⌈severally⌉

  1.7 Enter Cominius, as it were in retire, with soldiers

  COMINIUS

  Breathe you, my friends. Well fought. We are come off

  Like Romans, neither foolish in our stands

  Nor cowardly in retire. Believe me, sirs,

  We shall be charged again. Whiles we have struck,

  By interims and conveying gusts we have heard

  The charges of our friends. The Roman gods

  Lead their successes as we wish our own,

  That both our powers, with smiling fronts

  encount’ring,

  May give you thankful sacrifice!

  Enter a Messenger

  Thy news?

  MESSENGER

  The citizens of Corioles have issued,

  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; briefly we heard their drums.

  How couldst thou in a mile confound an hour,

  And bring thy news so late?

  MESSENGER Spies of the Volsces

  Held me in chase, that I was forced to wheel

  Three or four miles about; else had I, sir,

  Half an hour since brought my report. ⌈Exit⌉

  Enter Martius, bloody

  COMINIUS Who’s yonder,

  That does appear as he were flayed? O gods!

  He has the stamp of Martius, and I have

  Before-time seen him thus.

  MARTIUS Come I too late?

  COMINIUS

  The shepherd knows not thunder from a tabor

  More than I know the sound of Martius’ tongue

  From every meaner 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 clip ye

  In arms as sound as when I wooed, in heart

  As merry as when our nuptial day was done,

  And tapers burnt to bedward!

  ⌈They embrace⌉

  COMINIUS

  Flower of warriors! How is’t with Titus Lartius?

  MARTIUS

  As with a man busied about decrees,

  Condemning some to death and some to exile,

  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 slip 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 file—a plague—tribunes for them?—

  The mouse ne’er shunned the cat as they did budge

  From rascals worse than they.

  COMINIUS

  But how pre
vailed you?

  MARTIUS

  Will the time serve to tell? I do not think.

  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 purpose.

  MARTIUS

  How lies their battle? Know you on which side

  They have placed their men of trust?

  COMINIUS

  As I guess, Martius,

  Their bands i‘th’ vanguard are the Antiates,

  Of their best trust; 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 endure 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 darts,

  We prove this very hour.

  COMINIUS

  Though I could wish

  You were conducted to a gentle bath

  And balms 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 painting

  Wherein you see me smeared; if any fear

  Lesser his person than an ill report;

  If any think brave death outweighs bad life,

  And that his country’s dearer than himself,

  Let him alone, or so many so minded,He waves his sword

  Wave thus to express his disposition,

  And follow Martius.

  They all shout and wave their swords, ⌈then some⌉ take him up in their arms and they cast up their caps

  O’ me alone, make you a sword of me?

  If these shows be not outward, which of you

  But is 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 obeyed. 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 ostentation, and you shall

  Divide in all with us. Exeunt marching

  1.8 Enter Lartius ⌈Through the gates of Corioles⌉, with a drummer and a trumpeter, a Lieutenant, other soldiers, and a scout

  LARTIUS (to the Lieutenant)

  So, let the ports be guarded. Keep your duties

  As I have set them down. If I do send, dispatch

  Those centuries to our aid. The rest will serve

  For a short holding. If we lose the field

  We cannot keep the town.

  LIEUTENANT Fear not our care, sir.

  LARTIUS Hence, and shut your gates upon’s.

  ⌈Exit Lieutenant⌉

  (To the scout) Our guider, come; to th’ Roman camp

  conduct us.

  Exeunt towards Cominius and Caius Martius

  1.9 Alarum, as in battle. Enter Martius, bloody, 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 owns a serpent I abhor

  More than thy fame and envy. Fix thy foot.

  MARTIUS

  Let the first budger die the other’s slave,

  And the gods doom him after.

  AUFIDIUS

  If I fly, Martius,

  Holla 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 seest me masked. For thy revenge,

  Wrench up thy power to th’ highest.

  AUFIDIUS

  Wert thou the Hector

  That was the whip of your bragged progeny,

  Thou shouldst not scape me here.Here they fight, and certain Volsces come in the aid of Aufidius. Martius fights till the Volsces be driven in breathless, ⌈Martius following⌉

  Officious and not valiant, you have shamed me

  In your condemned seconds.

  Exit

  1.10 Alarum. A retreat is sounded. ⌈Flourish.⌉Enter at one door Cominius with the Romans, at another door Martius with his arm in a scarf

  COMINIUS (to Martius)

  If I should tell thee o‘er this thy day’s work

  Thou’lt not believe thy deeds. But I’ll report it

  Where senators shall mingle tears with smiles,

  Where great patricians shall attend and shrug,

  I‘th’ end admire; where ladies shall be frighted

  And, gladly quaked, hear more; where the dull

  tribunes,

  That with the fusty plebeians hate thine honours,

  Shall say against their hearts ‘We thank the gods

  Our Rome hath such a soldier.’

  Yet cam’st thou to a morsel of this feast,

  Having fully dined before.

  Enter Lartius, with his power, from the pursuit

  LARTIUS O general,

  Here is the steed, we the caparison.

  Hadst thou beheld—

  MARTIUS

  Pray now, no more. My mother,

  Who has a charter to extol her blood,

  When she does praise me grieves me. I have done

  As you have done, that’s what I can; induced

  As you have been, that’s for my country.

  He that has but effected his good will

  Hath overta’en mine act.

  COMINIUS

  You shall not be

  The grave of your deserving. Rome must know

  The value of her own. ’Twere a concealment

  Worse than a theft, no less than a traducement,

  To hide your doings and to silence that

  Which, to the spire and top of praises vouched,

  Would seem but modest. Therefore, I beseech you—

  In sign 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 not,

  Well might they fester ‘gainst ingratitude,

  And tent themselves with death. Of all the horses—

  Whereof we have ta’en good, and good store—of all

  The treasure in this field achieved and city,

  We render you the tenth, to be ta’en forth

  Before the common distribution

  At your only choice.

  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 part with those

  That have upheld the doing.A long flourish. They all cry ‘Martius, Martius!’, casting 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 steel grows

  Soft as the parasite’s silk, let him be made

  An overture for th’ wars. No more, I say.

  For t
hat I have not washed my nose that bled,

  Or foiled some debile wretch, which without note

  Here’s many else have done, you shout me forth

  In acclamations hyperbolical,

  As if I loved my little should be dieted

  In praises sauced with lies.

  COMINIUS

  Too modest are you,

  More cruel to your good report than grateful

  To us that give you truly. By your patience,

  If ‘gainst yourself you be incensed we’ll put you,

  Like one that means his proper 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 garland, in token of the which

  My noble steed, known to the camp, I give him,

  With all his trim belonging; and from this time,

  For what he did before Corioles, call him,

  With all th’applause and clamour of the host,

  Martius Caius Coriolanus. Bear th’addition

  Nobly ever!

  Flourish. Trumpets sound, and drums

  ALL Martius Caius Coriolanus!

  CORIOLANUS (to Cominius) I will go wash,

  And when my face is fair you shall perceive

  Whether I blush or no. Howbeit, I thank you.

  I mean to stride your steed, and at all times

  To undercrest your good addition

  To th’ fairness of my power.

  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 articulate

  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 lay here in Corioles,

  And at a poor man’s house. He used me kindly.

  He cried to me; I saw him prisoner;

  But then Aufidius was within my view,