The Complete Tragedies of William Shakespeare - All 12 Books in One Edition. William Shakespeare

I do beseech you,

       By all the battles wherein we have fought,

       By the blood we have shed together, by the 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 advanc’d 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.

       MARCIUS.

       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 smear’d; 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,

       Wave thus [waving his hand], to express his disposition,

       And follow Marcius.

       [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?

       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 obey’d. Please you to march;

       And four shall quickly draw out my command,

       Which men are best inclin’d.

       COMINIUS.

       March on, my fellows;

       Make good this ostentation, and you shall

       Divide in all with us.

       [Exeunt.]

       SCENE VII. 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, a party of Soldiers, and a Scout.]

       LARTIUS.

       So, let the ports be guarded: keep your duties

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

       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.—

       Our guider, come; to the Roman camp conduct us.

       [Exeunt.]

       SCENE VIII. A field of battle between the Roman and the Volscian camps.

       [Alarum. Enter, from opposite sides, MARCIUS and AUFIDIUS.]

       MARCIUS.

       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.

       MARCIUS.

       Let the first budger die the other’s slave,

       And the gods doom him after!

       AUFIDIUS.

       If I fly, Marcius,

       Halloo me like a hare.

       MARCIUS.

       Within these three hours, Tullus,

       Alone I fought in your Corioli walls,

       And made what work I pleas’d: ‘tis not my blood

       Wherein thou seest me mask’d: for thy revenge

       Wrench up thy power to the highest.

       AUFIDIUS.

       Wert thou the Hector

       That was the whip of your bragg’d progeny,

       Thou shouldst not scape me here.—

       [They fight, and certain Volsces come to the aid of AUFIDIUS.]

       Officious, and not valiant,—you have sham’d me

       In your condemned seconds.

       [Exeunt fighting, driven in by MAR.]

       SCENE IX. The Roman camp.

       [Alarum. A retreat is sounded. Flourish. Enter, at one side, COMINIUS and Romans; at the other side, MARCIUS, with his arm in a scarf, and other Romans.]

       COMINIUS.

       If I should tell thee o’er 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 shrug,

       I’ the end admire; where ladies shall be frighted

       And, gladly quak’d, 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 TITUS LARTIUS, with his power, from the pursuit.]

       LARTIUS.

       O general,

       Here is the steed, we the caparison:

       Hadst thou beheld,—

       MARCIUS.

       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 vouch’d,

       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.

       MARCIUS.