Com.
But I fear
They 'll roar him in again. Tullus Ausidius,
The second name of men, obeys his points
As if he were his officer : desperation
Is all the policy, strength and defence,
That Rome can make against them.
Enter a troop of Citizens.
Men.
Here come the clusters.
And is Aufidius with him ? You are they
That made the air unwholesome, when you cast
Your stinking greasy caps in hooting at
Coriolanus' exile. Now he's coming ;
And not a hair upon a soldier's head
Which will not prove a whip: as many coxcombs
As you threw caps up will he tumble down,
And pay you for your voices.
'Tis no matter ;
If he could burn us all into one coal,
We have deserved it.
Citizens. Faith, we hear fearful news.
First Cit.
For mine own part,
When I said, banish him, I said, 'twas pity.
Sec. Cit. And so did I.
Third Cit. And so did I; and, to say the truth, so did very many of us: that we did, we did for the best ; and though we willingly consented to his banishment, yet it was against our will.
Com. Ye're goodly things, you voices ?
Men.
You have made
Good work, you and your cry! Shall's to the
Capitol ?
Com. O, ay, what else?
[Exeunt Cominius and Menenius. Sic. Go, masters, get you home; be not dismay'd :
118
These are a side that would be glad to have
This true which they so seem to fear. Go home,
And show no sign of fear.
First Cit. The gods be good to us! Come, masters, let's home. I ever said we were i' the wrong when we banished him. Sec. Cit. So did we all. But, come, let's home.
[Exeunt Citizens. Bru. I do not like this news. Sic. Nor I. Bru. Let's to the Capitol Would half my
wealth Would buy this for a lie ! Sic.
Pray, let us go
[Exeunt.
SCENE VII. A camp, at a small distance
from Rome.
Enter AUFIDIUS and his Lieutenant.
Auf. Do they still fly to the Roman?
Lieu. I do not know what witchcraft's in him,
but
Your soldiers use him as the grace 'fore meat,
Their talk at table, and their thanks at end;
And you are darken'd in this action, sir,
Even by your own.
Auf.
I cannot help it now,
Unless, by using means, I lame the foot
Of our design. He bears himself more proudlier,
Even to my person, than I thought he would
When first I did embrace him : yet his nature
In that 's no changeling; and I must excuse
What cannot be amended.
Lieu.
Yet I wish, sir,-
I mean for your particular,----you had not
Join'd in commission with him ; but either
Had borne the action of yourself, or else
To him had left it solely.
Auf. I understand thee well; and be thou sure,
When he shall come to his account, he knows not
What I can urge against him. Although it seems,
And so he thinks, and is no less apparent
To the vulgar eye, that he bears all things fairly,
And shows good husbandry for the Volscian state,
Fights dragon-like, and does achieve as soon
As draw his sword; yet he hath left undone
That which shall break his neck or hazard mine,
Whene'er we come to our account.
Lieu. Sir, I beseech you, think you he 'll carry
Rome?
Auf. All places yield to him ere he sits down ;
And the nobility of Rome are his :
The senators and patricians love him too:
The tribunes are no soldiers; and their people
Will be as rash in the repeal, as hasty
To expel him thence. I think he 'll be to Rome
As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it
By sovereignty of nature.
First he was
A noble servant to them; but he could not
Carry his honours even : whether 'twas pride,
Which out of daily fortune ever taints
The happy man; whether defect of judgement,
To fail in the disposing of those chances
Which he was lord of; or whether nature,
Not to be other than one thing, not moving
From the casque to the cushion, but commanding
Even with the same austerity and garb
As he controllid the war; but one of these-
As he hath spices of them all, not all,
For I dare so far free him-made him fear'd,
So hated, and so banish'd; but he has a merit,
To choke it in the utterance. So our virtues
Lie in the interpretation of the time:
And power, unto itself most commendable,
Hath not a tomb so evident as a chair
To extol what it hath done.
One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail ;
Rights by rights falter, strengths by strengths do fail.
Come, let's away. When, Caius, Rome is thine,
Thou art poor'st of all; then shortly art thou
mine.
[Exeunt.
Enter MENENIUS, COMINIUS, SICINIUS, BRUTUS,
and others.
Men. No, I'll not go : you hear what he hath said Which was sometime his general, who loved him
49-53. our virtues lie, etc. ; prefer to understand the whole our reputation for virtue is in
tribute to Coriolanus, the hands of our contemporaries; taking 'tomb' in the sense of and power, confident of its own ·monument.' merits, has no more obvious 55. falter. So Dyce for the road to ruin than by proclaiming unintelligible 'fouler' of Ff. them. This I think the clear The emendation cannot be sense. But some commentators called certain,
In a most dear particular. He call’d me father :
But what o' that? Go, you that banish'd him;
A mile before his tent fall down, and knee
The way into his mercy: nay, if he coy'd
To hear Cominius speak, I 'll keep at home.
Com. He would not seem to know me.
Men.
Do
you
hear?
Com. Yet one time he did call me by my name :
I urged our old acquaintance, and the drops
That we have bled together. Coriolanus
He would not answer to : forbad all names ;
He was a kind of nothing, titleless,
Till he had forged himself a name o' the fire
Of burning Rome.
Men. Why, so : you have made good work !
A pair of tribunes that have rack'd for Rome,
To make coals cheap: a noble memory!
Com. I minded him how royal 'twas to pardon
When it was less expected: he replied,
It was a bare petition of a state
To one whom they had punish'd.
Men.
Very well :
Could he say less ?
Com. I offer'd to awaken his regard
For's private friends : his answer to me was,
He could not stay to pick them in a pile
Of noisome musty chaff: he said 'twas folly,
For one poor grain or two, to leave unburnt,
And still to nose the offence.
Men.
For one poor grain or two !
I am one of those; his mother, wife, his child,
And this brave fellow too, we are the grains :
You are the musty chaff; and you are smelt
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