Oh no, no blood!
Serving Woman Valeria.
(Enter Valeria. The servant woman goes out)
Valeria How is your little son?
Virgilia Thank you, my dear; he is well, my dear.
Volumnia He would rather look at swords and hear a drum than listen to his teacher.
Valeria Every inch his father. A darling child. On Wednesday I watched him for half an hour on end. What a resolute little boy! I saw him run after a gilded butterfly. And when he caught it, he let it go again. And over and over again he caught it and let it go. Then he fell down. And perhaps because his fall made him angry, or something else, he suddenly set his teeth and tore it apart. My word, he tore it into little pieces!
Volumnia One of his father’s rages!
Virgilia A lively lad, madam.
Valeria You must play grass widow with me this afternoon.
Virgilia No, my dear. I have no wish to go out.
Valeria No wish to go out?
Volumnia She shall. She shall.
Virgilia No, by your leave, I won’t set foot over the threshold until my lord returns from the wars.
Valeria Faugh! It’s not reasonable to shut yourself up like that. She wants to be another Penelope. But they say all the yarn she spun in Ulysses’ absence only filled Ithaca with moths. Leave her alone; in her present mood she would only spoil a pleasant evening.
(All go out)
3*
a)
Before Corioli.
Enter with drums and banners Marcius, Titus Lartius, Captains, and Soldiers. To them a messenger.
Marcius
A messenger. I wager they have met.
Lartius
My horse to yours they haven’t.
Marcius
Done.
Lartius
Agreed.
Marcius
Say, has our general met the enemy?
Messenger
They are in view, but haven’t spoken yet.
(R.M.)
Lartius
Then the good horse is mine.
Marcius
I’ll buy him from you.
Lartius
No, I won’t sell or give him, I’ll lend him to you For fifty years.—Call on the city to yield.
Marcius
How far away are the armies?
Lartius
Less than a mile and a half.
Marcius
Then we shall hear their trumpets, and they ours.
Now Mars, I pray you, help us to work quickly
And then with smoking swords we shall march off
To aid our embattled friends! Come, blow your blast!
(They sound a parley. Enter two Senators, with others on the walls)
Tullus Aufidius, is he within your walls?
First Senator
No, nor any man who fears you less than he,
Which is less than little. (Drum afar off) Hear that!
Our drums
Are calling out our youth. We’ll break the walls
Rather than let them close us in. Our gates
Which still seem shut, are only pinned with rushes;
They’ll open of themselves. (Alarum far off) Listen out there.
That is Aufidius. Hear what he is doing
To your divided army.
Marcius
Ha, they’re at it!
Lartius
Their noise will keep us informed. Ladders, ho!
Marcius
They’re not afraid. They’re coming out to meet us.
Now put your shields before your hearts and fight
With hearts more staunch than shields. Advance, brave Titus!
I never expected to see them despise us so;
It makes me sweat with rage. Come on, men. If
Any of you retreat, I’ll take him for a Volscian,
And he shall feel my sword.
(Alarum. The Romans are beaten back to their trenches. Re-enter Marcius, cursing)
Marcius
All the contagion of the south light on you,
You shame of Rome! You herd of …! Boils and plagues
Plaster you over till you can be smelled
Further than seen, and one infect another
Against the wind a mile! You souls of geese,
That bear the shapes of men, how can you run
From slaves that apes could beat! Pluto and hell!
Wounded behind! Backs red and faces pale
With flight and palsied fear! Turn back and charge,
Or, by the fires of heaven, I’ll leave the foe
And make my war on you. Look to it; come on!
If you’ll stand fast, we’ll beat them to their wives
As they have beaten us to our trenches.
(Another alarum. The Volscians fly, and Marcius follows them to the gates)
The gates are open; now show yourselves good soldiers.
Fortune has widened them for the pursuers,
Not for the fugitives. Watch me, and follow.
(He enters the gate)
First Soldier
The man’s insane; not I.
Second Soldier
Nor I. (Marcius is shut in)
First Soldier
Look, they have shut him in. (Alarum continues)
All
That’s the end of him, I warrant.
(Re-enter Titus Lartius)
Lartius What has become of Marcius?
All
Killed, sir, doubtless.
First Soldier
Pursuing the fugitives at their very heels,
With them he enters; whereupon they
Suddenly slam the gates. He’s left alone
To fight the entire city.
Lartius
O noble soldier!
Who sensibly outdares his senseless sword,
And when it bends stands straight. You are lost, Marcius;
The purest diamond, as big as you are,
Would not be so rich a jewel. You were a soldier
After Cato’s heart, not fierce and terrible
Only in blows; but with your grim looks and
The thunder-like percussion of your sounds,
You made your enemies shake, as if the world
Were feverish and trembling.
(Re-enter Marcius, bleeding, assailed by the enemy)
First Soldier
Look, sir.
Lartius
O, it’s Marcius!
Let’s carry him off, or stay and die with him.
(They fight and all enter the city)
b)
Corioli. A street.
Enter certain Romans with loot.
First Roman I’ll carry this to Rome.
Second Roman And I this.
Third Roman A plague on it! I took this for silver.
(They go out. Alarum continues still far off)
(Enter Marcius and Titus Lartius with a trumpeter)
Marcius
Look at these thieves whose hours are no more worth to them
Than a cracked drachma! Cushions, leaden spoons,
Halfpenny irons, doublets that the hangman would
Bury with those that wore them, these base slaves
Pack up before the fight is done. Cut them down!
But listen to the general’s battle cry!
And there’s the man I hate, Aufidius,
Piercing our Romans; therefore, brave Titus, take
What numbers you may need to hold the city;
While I, with those who have the spirit, will hurry
To help Cominius.
Lartius
Worthy sir, you’re bleeding.
Your exercise has been too violent
To let you fight again.
Marcius
Sir, do not praise me,
My work has not yet warmed me; fare you well,
The blood I drop is far more curative
Than dangerous to me. Now I�
�ll go
To fight Aufidius.
Lartius
May the fair goddess Fortune
Fall deep in love with you, and her great charms
Misguide your opponents’ swords! Brave Marcius, may
Prosperity attend you.
Marcius
And be your friend no less
Than those she places highest. So, farewell.
(Marcius goes out)
Lartius
O worthiest Marcius!
Go, sound your trumpet in the marketplace
And summon all the officials of the town:
There they shall know our mind.
c)
Near the camp of Cominius.
Enter Cominius, as though in retreat, with soldiers.
Cominius
Rest awhile, friends. Well fought. We have come off
Like Romans, neither foolhardy in our standing
Nor cowardly in retreat. Believe me, sirs,
We’ll be attacked again. While we were fighting,
At intervals, borne by the wind, we heard
The battle cry of our friends. O Roman gods!
Lead them to victory and ourselves as well
That both our armies may meet with smiling faces
And give you thankful sacrifice.
(Enter a Messenger)
Cominius
Your news?
Messenger
The citizens of Corioli have sallied
And given battle to Marcius and Titus;
I saw our party driven to their trenches,
And then I came away.
Cominius
The truth perhaps
But most unwelcome. How long ago was that?
Messenger
More than an hour, my lord.
Cominius
It’s not a mile; we heard their drums a moment.
How could you take an hour to cover a mile
And bring your news so late?
Messenger
Volscian scouts
Pursued me, forcing me to make
A three or four mile circuit. Otherwise
I would have been here half an hour since.
(Enter Marcius)
Cominius
Who’s that,
Looking as if they’d flayed him? Gods above!
He has the stamp of Marcius, and I’ve seen
Him looking thus before.
Marcius
Am I too late?
Cominius
A shepherd would sooner take thunder for a tabor
Than I mistake the sound of Marcius’ voice
For that of any lesser man.
Marcius
Am I too late?
Cominius
Yes, if you come not in the blood of others
But mantled in your own.
Marcius
O, let me clasp you
In arms as sound as when I wooed, in heart
As merry as when our wedding day was done
And tapers burned to bedward.
Cominius
Flower of warriors,
How is it with Titus Lartius?
Marcius
As with a man who’s busy with decrees:
Condemning some to death and some to exile;
Mercifully ransoming one, threatening another;
Holding Corioli in the name of Rome,
As one holds a fawning greyhound in the leash,
To let him slip at will.
Cominius
Where is that slave
Who told me that he beat you to your trenches?
Where is he? Call him.
Marcius
Let him alone.
The rank-and-file—a plague! Tribunes for them?
A mouse never fled from a cat as those knaves ran
From rascals worse than they.
Cominius
But how did you come through?
Coriolanus
Is this a time for telling? I think not.
Where is the enemy? Are you lords of the field?
If not, why stop until you are so?
Cominius
Marcius,
We’ve fought at a disadvantage. We retired
To win our purpose.
Marcius
What is their battle order? Do you know
On which side they have placed their trusted men?
Cominius
In the vanguard, Marcius, I believe they’ve placed
The Antiates, their best troops, led by Aufidius,
Their very heart of hope.
Marcius
Then I beseech you,
By all the battles you and I have fought,
By the blood we’ve shed together, by the vows
Of friendship we have made, that you directly
Set me against Aufidius and his Antiates.
Delay no longer, but let us,
Filling the air with clashing swords and darts,
Attempt our chance at once.
Cominius
Although I wish
You might be taken to a gentle bath
And balms applied to you, I would never dare
Refuse your asking. Take your pick of those
Who best can aid your action.
Marcius
Those are the most willing. If any such be here—
It would be a sin to doubt it—who love this paint
You see me smeared with; if any of you fear
Harm to his person less than ignominy;
If any think brave death outweighs bad life,
And that his country’s worth more than himself;
Let him alone, or all that are so minded,
Wave thus to express his disposition,
And follow Marcius.
(They all shout and wave their swords, take him up in their arms and throw up their caps)
O, me alone! Come, make a sword of me!
If this is not an outward show, which of you
Isn’t equal to four Volscians? Each of you
Is able to oppose to the great Aufidius
A shield as hard as his. I thank you all,
Yet I must choose a certain number from
Your ranks; the rest will fight another time
As occasion may require! forward, friends!
And four of you, whichever prove the fittest
Shall be my captains.
Cominius
March off, men,
Make good your boast, and all of you
Shall share with us alike.
(They go out)
d)
The gates of Corioli.
Titus Lartius, having set a guard upon Corioli, going with drum and trumpet toward Cominius and Caius Marcius, enters with a lieutenant, other soldiers, and a scout.
Lartius
So, let the gates be guarded; do your duties
As I have ordered. If I send word, dispatch
Those companies to our aid; the rest will serve
To hold here briefly. If we lose the field,
We cannot keep the city.
Lieutenant
You can trust me.
Lartius
Go then! And shut the gates behind us.
Come, guide; and lead us to the Roman camp.
(They go out)
e)
A battlefield.
Battle cries. Enter Marcius and Aufidius from different directions.