Coriolanus by William Shakespeare
Act 2 - Scene 1
Rome. A public place.
Menenius Agrippa : The augurer tells me we shall have news to-night.
Junius Brutus : Good or bad?
Menenius Agrippa : Not according to the prayer of the people, for they
[p]love not
CORIOLANUS.
Sicinius Velutus : Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.
Menenius Agrippa : Pray you, who does the wolf love?
Sicinius Velutus : The lamb.
Menenius Agrippa : Ay, to devour him; as the hungry plebeians would the
[p]noble
CORIOLANUS.
Junius Brutus : He's a lamb indeed, that baes like a bear.
Menenius Agrippa : He's a bear indeed, that lives like a lamb. You two
[p]are old men:
tell me one thing that I shall ask you.
Both : Well, sir.
Menenius Agrippa : In what enormity is CORIOLANUS poor in, that you two
[p]have not in
abundance?
Junius Brutus : He's poor in no one fault, but stored with all.
Sicinius Velutus : Especially in pride.
Junius Brutus : And topping all others in boasting.
Menenius Agrippa : This is strange now: do you two know how you are
[p]censured here in
the city, I mean of us o' the
[p]right-hand file? do you?
Both : Why, how are we censured?
Menenius Agrippa : Because you talk of pride now,--will you not be angry?
Both : Well, well, sir, well.
Menenius Agrippa : Why, 'tis no great matter; for a very little thief of
[p]occasion will
rob you of a great deal of patience:
[p]give your dispositions the
reins, and be angry at
[p]your pleasures; at the least if you take it
as a
[p]pleasure to you in being so. You blame CORIOLANUS for
[p]being
proud?
Junius Brutus : We do it not alone, sir.
Menenius Agrippa : I know you can do very little alone; for your helps
[p]are many, or
else your actions would grow wondrous
[p]single: your abilities are
too infant-like for
[p]doing much alone. You talk of pride: O that
you
[p]could turn your eyes toward the napes of your necks,
[p]and
make but an interior survey of your good selves!
[p]O that you could!
Junius Brutus : What then, sir?
Menenius Agrippa : Why, then you should discover a brace of unmeriting,
[p]proud,
violent, testy magistrates, alias fools, as
[p]any in Rome.
Sicinius Velutus : Menenius, you are known well enough too.
Menenius Agrippa : I am known to be a humorous patrician, and one that
[p]loves a cup of
hot wine with not a drop of allaying
[p]Tiber in't; said to be
something imperfect in
[p]favouring the first complaint; hasty and
tinder-like
[p]upon too trivial motion; one that converses
more
[p]with the buttock of the night than with the forehead
[p]of the
morning: what I think I utter, and spend my
[p]malice in my breath.
Meeting two such wealsmen as
[p]you are--I cannot call you
Lycurguses--if the drink
[p]you give me touch my palate adversely, I
make a
[p]crooked face at it. I can't say your worships
have
[p]delivered the matter well, when I find the ass in
[p]compound
with the major part of your syllables: and
[p]though I must be content
to bear with those that say
[p]you are reverend grave men, yet they
lie deadly that
[p]tell you you have good faces. If you see this
in
[p]the map of my microcosm, follows it that I am known
[p]well
enough too? what barm can your bisson
[p]conspectuities glean out of
this character, if I be
[p]known well enough too?
Junius Brutus : Come, sir, come, we know you well enough.
Menenius Agrippa : You know neither me, yourselves nor any thing. You
[p]are ambitious
for poor knaves' caps and legs: you
[p]wear out a good wholesome
forenoon in hearing a
[p]cause between an orange wife and a
fosset-seller;
[p]and then rejourn the controversy of three pence to
a
[p]second day of audience. When you are hearing a
[p]matter between
party and party, if you chance to be
[p]pinched with the colic, you
make faces like
[p]mummers; set up the bloody flag against
all
[p]patience; and, in roaring for a chamber-pot,
[p]dismiss the
controversy bleeding the more entangled
[p]by your hearing: all the
peace you make in their
[p]cause is, calling both the parties knaves.
You are
[p]a pair of strange ones.
Junius Brutus : Come, come, you are well understood to be a
[p]perfecter giber for the
table than a necessary
[p]bencher in the Capitol.
Menenius Agrippa : Our very priests must become mockers, if they shall
[p]encounter such
ridiculous subjects as you are. When
[p]you speak best unto the
purpose, it is not worth the
[p]wagging of your beards; and your
beards deserve not
[p]so honourable a grave as to stuff a
botcher's
[p]cushion, or to be entombed in an ass's pack-
[p]saddle.
Yet you must be saying, CORIOLANUS is proud;
[p]who in a cheap
estimation, is worth predecessors
[p]since Deucalion, though
peradventure some of the
[p]best of 'em were hereditary hangmen.
God-den to
[p]your worships: more of your conversation would
[p]infect
my brain, being the herdsmen of the beastly
[p]plebeians: I will be
bold to take my leave of you.
[p][BRUTUS and SICINIUS go
aside]
[p][Enter VOLUMNIA, VIRGILIA, and VALERIA]
[p]How now, my as
fair as noble ladies,--and the moon,
[p]were she earthly, no
nobler,--whither do you follow
[p]your eyes so fast?
Volumnia : Honourable Menenius, my boy CORIOLANUS approaches; for
[p]the love of
Juno, let's go.
Menenius Agrippa : Ha! CORIOLANUS coming home!
Volumnia : Ay, worthy Menenius; and with most prosperous
[p]approbation.
Menenius Agrippa : Take my cap, Jupiter, and I thank thee. Hoo!
[p]CORIOLANUS coming
home!
Volumnia : [together with Virgilia] Nay, 'tis true.
Virgilia : Nay, 'tis true.
Volumnia : Look, here's a letter from him: the state hath
[p]another, his wife
another; and, I think, there's one
[p]at home for you.
Menenius Agrippa : I will make my very house reel tonight: a letter for
[p]me!
Virgilia : Yes, certain, there's a letter for you; I saw't.
Menenius Agrippa : A letter for me! it gives me an estate of seven
[p]years' health; in
which time I will make a lip at
[p]the physician: the most sovereign
prescription in
[p]Galen is but empiricutic, and, to this
preservative,
[p]of no better report than a horse-drench. Is he
[p]not
wounded? he was wont to come home wounded.
Virgilia : O, no, no, no.
Volumnia : O, he is wounded; I thank the gods for't.
Menenius Agrippa : So do I too, if it be not too much: brings a'
[p]victory in his
pocket? the wounds become him.
Volumnia : On's brows: Menenius, he comes the third time home
[p]with the oaken
garland.
Menenius Agrippa : Has he disciplined Aufidius soundly?
Volumnia : Titus TITUS writes, they fought together, but
[p]Aufidius got off.
Menenius Agrippa : And 'twas time for him too, I'll warrant him that:
[p]an he had stayed
by him, I would not have been so
[p]fidiused for all the chests in
Corioli, and the gold
[p]that's in them. Is the senate possessed of
this?
Volumnia : Good ladies, let's go. Yes, yes, yes; the senate
[p]has letters from
the general, wherein he gives my
[p]son the whole name of the war: he
hath in this
[p]action outdone his former deeds doubly
Valeria : In troth, there's wondrous things spoke of him.
Menenius Agrippa : Wondrous! ay, I warrant you, and not without his
[p]true purchasing.
Virgilia : The gods grant them true!
Volumnia : True! pow, wow.
Menenius Agrippa : True! I'll be sworn they are true.
[p]Where is he wounded?
[p][To the
Tribunes]
[p]God save your good worships! CORIOLANUS is
coming
[p]home: he has more cause to be proud. Where is he wounded?
Volumnia : I' the shoulder and i' the left arm there will be
[p]large cicatrices
to show the people, when he shall
[p]stand for his place. He received
in the repulse of
[p]Tarquin seven hurts i' the body.
Menenius Agrippa : One i' the neck, and two i' the thigh,--there's
[p]nine that I know.
Volumnia : He had, before this last expedition, twenty-five
[p]wounds upon him.
Menenius Agrippa : Now it's twenty-seven: every gash was an enemy's grave.
[p][A shout
and flourish]
[p]Hark! the trumpets.
Volumnia : These are the ushers of CORIOLANUS: before him he
[p]carries noise,
and behind him he leaves tears:
[p]Death, that dark spirit, in 's
nervy arm doth lie;
[p]Which, being advanced, declines, and then men
die.
[p][A sennet. Trumpets sound. Enter COMINIUS the]
[p]general, and
TITUS LARTIUS; between them, CORIOLANUS,
[p]crowned with an oaken
garland; with Captains and
[p]Soldiers, and a Herald]
Herald : Know, Rome, that all alone CORIOLANUS did fight
[p]Within Corioli
gates: where he hath won,
[p]With fame, a name to Caius CORIOLANUS;
these
[p]In honour follows Coriolanus.
[p]Welcome to Rome, renowned
Coriolanus!
All : Welcome to Rome, renowned Coriolanus!
Coriolanus : No more of this; it does offend my heart:
[p]Pray now, no more.
Cominius : Look, sir, your mother!
Coriolanus : O,
[p]You have, I know, petition'd all the gods
[p]For my prosperity!
Volumnia : Nay, my good soldier, up;
[p]My gentle CORIOLANUS, worthy Caius,
and
[p]By deed-achieving honour newly named,--
[p]What is
it?--Coriolanus must I call thee?--
[p]But O, thy wife!
Coriolanus : My gracious silence, hail!
[p]Wouldst thou have laugh'd had I come
coffin'd home,
[p]That weep'st to see me triumph? Ay, my dear,
[p]Such
eyes the widows in Corioli wear,
[p]And mothers that lack sons.
Menenius Agrippa : Now, the gods crown thee!
Coriolanus : And live you yet?
[p][To VALERIA]
[p]O my sweet lady, pardon.
Volumnia : I know not where to turn: O, welcome home:
[p]And welcome, general:
and ye're welcome all.
Menenius Agrippa : A hundred thousand welcomes. I could weep
[p]And I could laugh, I am
light and heavy. Welcome.
[p]A curse begin at very root on's
heart,
[p]That is not glad to see thee! You are three
[p]That Rome
should dote on: yet, by the faith of men,
[p]We have some old
crab-trees here
[p]at home that will not
[p]Be grafted to your relish.
Yet welcome, warriors:
[p]We call a nettle but a nettle and
[p]The
faults of fools but folly.
Cominius : Ever right.
Coriolanus : Menenius ever, ever.
Herald : Give way there, and go on!
Coriolanus : [To VOLUMNIA and VIRGILIA] Your hand, and yours:
[p]Ere in our own
house I do shade my head,
[p]The good patricians must be
visited;
[p]From whom I have received not only greetings,
[p]But with
them change of honours.
Volumnia : I have lived
[p]To see inherited my very wishes
[p]And the buildings
of my fancy: only
[p]There's one thing wanting, which I doubt not
but
[p]Our Rome will cast upon thee.
Coriolanus : Know, good mother,
[p]I had rather be their servant in my way,
[p]Than
sway with them in theirs.
Cominius : On, to the Capitol!
[p][Flourish. Cornets. Exeunt in state, as
before.]
[p]BRUTUS and SICINIUS come forward]
Junius Brutus : All tongues speak of him, and the bleared sights
[p]Are spectacled to
see him: your prattling nurse
[p]Into a rapture lets her baby
cry
[p]While she chats him: the kitchen malkin pins
[p]Her richest
lockram 'bout her reechy neck,
[p]Clambering the walls to eye him:
stalls, bulks, windows,
[p]Are smother'd up, leads fill'd, and ridges
horsed
[p]With variable complexions, all agreeing
[p]In earnestness to
see him: seld-shown flamens
[p]Do press among the popular throngs and
puff
[p]To win a vulgar station: or veil'd dames
[p]Commit the war of
white and damask in
[p]Their nicely-gawded cheeks to the wanton
spoil
[p]Of Phoebus' burning kisses: such a pother
[p]As if that
whatsoever god who leads him
[p]Were slily crept into his human
powers
[p]And gave him graceful posture.
Sicinius Velutus : On the sudden,
[p]I warrant him consul.
Junius Brutus : Then our office may,
[p]During his power, go sleep.
Sicinius Velutus : He cannot temperately transport his honours
[p]From where he should
begin and end, but will
[p]Lose those he hath won.
Junius Brutus : In that there's comfort.
Sicinius Velutus : Doubt not
[p]The commoners, for whom we stand, but they
[p]Upon their
ancient malice will forget
[p]With the least cause these his new
honours, which
[p]That he will give them make I as little
question
[p]As he is proud to do't.
Junius Brutus : I heard him swear,
[p]Were he to stand for consul, never would
he
[p]Appear i' the market-place nor on him put
[p]The napless vesture
of humility;
[p]Nor showing, as the manner is, his wounds
[p]To the
people, beg their stinking breaths.
Sicinius Velutus : 'Tis right.
Junius Brutus : It was his word: O, he would miss it rather
[p]Than carry it but by
the suit of the gentry to him,
[p]And the desire of the nobles.
Sicinius Velutus : I wish no better
[p]Than have him hold that purpose and to put
it
[p]In execution.
Junius Brutus : 'Tis most like he will.
Sicinius Velutus : It shall be to him then as our good wills,
[p]A sure destruction.
Junius Brutus : So it must fall out
[p]To him or our authorities. For an end,
[p]We
must suggest the people in what hatred
[p]He still hath held them;
that to's power he would
[p]Have made them mules, silenced their
pleaders and
[p]Dispropertied their freedoms, holding them,
[p]In
human action and capacity,
[p]Of no more soul nor fitness for the
world
[p]Than camels in the war, who have their provand
[p]Only for
bearing burdens, and sore blows
[p]For sinking under them.
Sicinius Velutus : This, as you say, suggested
[p]At some time when his soaring
insolence
[p]Shall touch the people--which time shall not want,
[p]If
he be put upon 't; and that's as easy
[p]As to set dogs on sheep--will
be his fire
[p]To kindle their dry stubble; and their blaze
[p]Shall
darken him for ever.
Junius Brutus : What's the matter?
Messenger : You are sent for to the Capitol. 'Tis thought
[p]That CORIOLANUS shall
be consul:
[p]I have seen the dumb men throng to see him and
[p]The
blind to bear him speak: matrons flung gloves,
[p]Ladies and maids
their scarfs and handkerchers,
[p]Upon him as he pass'd: the nobles
bended,
[p]As to Jove's statue, and the commons made
[p]A shower and
thunder with their caps and shouts:
[p]I never saw the like.
Junius Brutus : Let's to the Capitol;
[p]And carry with us ears and eyes for the
time,
[p]But hearts for the event.
Sicinius Velutus : Have with you.
Previous: Act 1 - Scene 10
Next: Act 2 - Scene 2
