Welcome! [A Flourish with Drums and Trum-After your way his tale pronoune'd shall bury
pets.
[Exeunt. His reasons with his body.

SCENE V. Antium. A Publick Place.
Enter Tallus Aufidius, with Attendants.
Auf. Go tell the lords of the city, I am here:
Deliver them this paper: having read it,
Bid them repair to the market place; where I,
Even in theirs, and in the common's ears,
Will vouch the truth of it. Him I accuse,
The city ports by this hath enter'd, and
Intends to appear before the people, hoping
To purge himself with words: Despatch.
[Exeunt Attendants.
Enter Three or Four Conspirators of Aufidius'
Faction.

Most welcome!

1 Con. How is it with our general? Auf.

Even so,

As with a man by his own alms empoison'd,
And with his charity slain.

2 Con.

Most noble sir,

If you do hold the same intent wherein
You wish'd us parties, we'll deliver you
Of your great danger.
Auf.

Sir, I cannot tell;
We must proceed, as we do find the people.
3 Con. The people will remain uncertain, whilst
"Twixt you there's difference; but the fall of
either

Makes the survivor heir of all.
Auf.

Auf.

Here come the lords.

Say no more;

Enter the Lords of the City.
Lords. You are most welcome home.
Auf.
I have not deserv'd it
But, worthy lords, have you with heed perus'd
What I have written to you?

Lords. 1 Lord.

We have.

And grieve to hear it.
What faults he made before the last, I think,
Might have found easy fines: but there to end
Where he was to begin; and give away
The benefit of our levies, answering us
With our own charge: making a treaty, where
There was a yielding; This admits no excuse.
Auf. He approaches, you shall hear him.
Enter Coriolanus, with Drums and Colours;
a Crowd of Citizens with him.
Cor. Hail, lords! I am return'd your soldier,
No more infected with my country's love,
Than when I parted hence, but still subsisting
Under your great command. You are to know,
That prosperously I have attempted, and
With bloody passage, led your wars, even to
The gates of Rome. Our spoils we have brought
home,

Do more than counterpoise, a full third part,
The charges of the action. We have made peace
With no less honour to the Antiates,
Than shame to the Romans: And we here de-
liver,

I know it;
And my pretext to strike at him admits
A good construction. I rais'd him, and I pawn'd
Mine honour for his truth: Who being so height-Subscrib'd by the consuls and patricians,
Together with the seal o' the senate, what
We have compounded on.
Auf.

en'd,

He water'd his new plants with dews of flattery,
Seducing so my friends: and, to this end,
He bow'd his nature, never known before"
But to be rough, unswayable, and free.

3 Con. Sir, his stoutness,

When he did stand for consul, which he lost
By lack of stooping,-
Auf.
"That I would have spoke of:
Being banish'd for't, he came unto my hearth;
Presented to my knife his throat: I took him ;'
Made him joint servant with me; gave him way
In all his own desires: nay, let him choose
Out of my files, his projects to accomplish,
My best and freshest men; serv'd his design-

ments

In mine own person; holp to reap the fame,
Which he did end all his; and took some pride
To do myself this wrong: till, at the last,
I seem'd his follower, not partner; and
He wag'd me with his countenance, as if
I had been mercenary.

1 Con.

So he did, my lord:
And, in the last,

The army marvell'd at it.
When he had carried Rome; and that we look'd
For no less spoil, than glory,-
Auf.
There was it :-
For which my sinews shall be stretch'd upon him.
At a few drops of women's rheum, which are
As cheap as lies, he sold the blood and labour
Of our great action; Therefore shall be die,
And I'll renew me in his fall. But, hark!

[Drums and Trumpets sound, with great
Shouts of the People.

1 Con. Your native town you enter'd like a
post,

And had no welcomes home; but he returns,
Splitting the air with noise.

I'll grace thee with that robbery,thy stol'n name
Coriolanus in Corioli ?-

You lords and heads of the state, perfidiously
He has betray'd your business, and given up,
For certain drops of salt, your city Rome
(I say, your city,) to his wife and mother:
Breaking his oath and resolution, like
A twist of rotten silk; never admitting
Counsel o' the war; but at his nurse's tears
He whin'd and roar'd away your victory:
That pages blush'd at him, and men of heart
Look'd wondering each at other.

Cor.
Hear'st thou, Mars?
Auf. Name not the god, thou boy of tears,-
Cor.
Ha!
Auf. No more.

Cor. Measureless liar, thou hast made my heart
Too great for what contains it. Boy! O slave!--
Pardon me, lords, 'tis the first time that ever
I was forc'd to scold. Your judgments, my
grave lords,

Must give this eur the lie: and his own notion
(Who wears my stripes impress'd on him: that

must bear

My beating to his grave) shall join to thrust
The lie unto him.
1 Lord. Peace, both, and hear me speak
Cor. Cut me to pieces, Volces; men and ads
Stain all your edges on me.-Boy! False bound!
If you had writ your annals true, 'tis there,
That like an eagle in a dovecote, I
Flutter'd your Volces in Corioli:
Alone I did it.-Boy!
Auf.
Why, noble lords.
Will you be put in mind of his blind fortune,
Which was your shame,by this unholy braggart

SCENE during a great part of the Play, at Rome; afterwards at Sardis; and near Philippi.

2 Cit. Nay, I heseech you, sir, be not out with me: yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you. Mar. What mean'st thou by that? Mend me, thou saucy fellow?

Flav. Hence; home, you idle creatures, get you 2 Cit. Why, sir, cobble you.

What tributaries follow him to Rome,
To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels?
You blocks, you stones, you worse than sense-
less things!

O, you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft
Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops,
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
The live long day, with patient expectation,
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome;
And when you saw his chariot but appear,
Have you not made an universal shout,
That Tyber trembled underneath her banks,
To hear the replication of your sounds,
Made in her concave shores?

And do you now put on your best attire?
And do you now cull out a holiday?
And do you now strew flowers in his way,
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood?
Be gone;

Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague
That needs must light on this ingratitude.

Cas. Fellow, come from the throng: Look upon
Cæsar.

Caes. What say'st thou to me now ? Speak once
again.

Sooth. Beware the ides of March.
Cæs. He is a dreamer; let us leave him ;-pass
[Sennet. Exeunt all but Bru. and Cas

Cas. Will

Bru. Not You go see the order of the course?
Cas. I pray you, do.

Bru. I am not gamesome; I do lack some part
Of that quick spirit that is in Antony,
Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires;
I'll leave you.

Cas. Brutus, I do observe you now of late:
I have not from your eyes that gentleness,
And show of love, as I was wont to have:
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand
Over your friend that loves you.

Bru.
Cassius,
Be not deceiv'd; if I have veil'd my look,
I turn the tronble of my countenance
Merely upon myself. Vexed I am,
Of late, with passions of some difference,

Flav. Go, go, good countrymen, and, for this Conceptions only proper to myself,

Which give some soil, perhaps, to my behaviours;
But let not therefore my good friends be griev'd

Draw them to Tyber banks, and weep your tears (Among which number, Cassius, be you one ;)
Into the channel, till the lowest stream
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.

[Exeunt Citizens.
See, whe'r their basest metal be not mov'd:
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness
Go you down that way towards the Capitol:
This way will I: Disrobe the images,
If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies.
Mar. May we do so?

You know it is the feast of Lupercal.
Flav. It is no matter; let no images
Be hung with Cæsar's trophies. I'll about,
And drive away the vulgar from the streets:
So do you too, where you perceive them thick.
These growing feathers pluck'd from Cæsar's
wing,

Will make him fly an ordinary pitch;
Who else would soar above the view of men,
And keep us all in servile fearfulness. [Exeunt.
SCENE II. The same. A publick Place.
Enter, in Procession, with Musick, Cæsar;
Antony, for the course: Calphurnia, Portia,
Decius, Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, and Casca, á
great Crowd following, among them a Sooth-
sayer.

Cas. Calphurnia,-
Casca.

Cas.

Peace, ho! Cæsar speaks.
[Musick ceases.
Calphurnia,

Cal. Here, my lord.
Cas. Stand you directly in Antonius' way,
When he doth run his course.-Antonius.
Ant. Cæsar, my lord.

Cæs. Forget not, in your speed, Antonius,
To touch Calphurnia: for our elders say,
The barren, touched in this holy chase,
Shake off their steril curse.

Ant.
I shall remember:
When Cesar says, Do this, it is perform'd.
Cæs. Set on; and leave no ceremony out.

Sooth. Cæsar.

[Musick.

Cas. Ha! who calls?
Casca. Bid every noise be still-Peace yet
again.
[Musick ceases.
Cas. Who is it in the press. that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the musick,
Cry, Cæsar: Speak; Cesar is turn'd to hear.
Sooth. Beware the ides of March.
Cas.

What man is that?
Bru. A soothsayer, bids you beware the ides of

March.

Cas. Set him before me, let me see his face.

Nor construe any further my neglect,
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.

Cas. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your
passion,

By means whereof, this breast of mine hath buried
Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations.
Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?
Bru. No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself,
But by reflection, by some other things.
Cas. "Tis just:

And it is very much lamented, Bratus,
That you have no such mirrors, as will turn
Your hidden worthiness into your eye,
That you might see your shadow. I have heard,
Where many of the best respect in Rome
(Except immortal Cæsar,) speaking of Brutus,
And groaning underneath this age's yoke,
Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes
Bru. Into what dangers would you lead me,
Cassius,

That you would have tne seek into myself
For that which is not in me?
Cas. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepar'd s
hear:
And, since you know you cannot see yourself
So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourself
That of yourself which you yet know not of
And be not jealous of me, gentle Brutus:
Were I a common laugher, or did use
To stale with ordinary oaths my love
To every new protester: if you know
That I do fawn on men, and hug them hard,
And after scandal then; or if you know
That I profess myself in banqueting
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous
[Flourish and Short
Bru. What means this shouting? I do fear, the
people
Choose Cesar for their king.
Cas.
Ay, do you fear à?
Then must I think you would not have it so.
Bru. I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well-
But wherefore do you hold me here so long?
What is it that you would impart to me?
If it be aught toward the general good,
Set honour in one eye, and death' the other,
And I will look on both indifferently:
For, let the gods so speed me, as I love
The name of honour more than I fear death.
Cas. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,
As well as I do know your outward favour.
Well, honour is the subject of my story.-

Be any further mov'd. What you have said,
I will consider; what you have to say,
I will with patience hear: and find a time
Both meet to hear, and answer, such high things.
Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this;
Brutus had rather be a villager,

mark it. I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown; | For who so firm, that cannot be seduc'd? -yet 'twas not a crown neither, 'twas one of these Cæsar doth bear me hard; but he loves Brutus coronets; and, as I told you, he put it by once; If I were Brutus now, and he were Cassius, but, for all that, to my thinking, he would fain He should not humour me. I will this night, have had it. Then he offered it to him again; In several hands, in at his windows throw, then he put it by again: but, to my thinking, he As if they came from several citizens, was very loath to lay his fingers off it. And then Writings all tending to the great opinion he offered it the third time; he put it the third That Rome holds of his name: wherein obscurely time by and still as he refused it, the rabblement Cæsar's ambition shall be glanced at: hooted, and clapped their chopped hands, and And, after this, let Cæsar seat him sure; threw up their sweaty night-caps, and uttered For we will shake him, or worse days endure. such a deal of stinking breath because Cæsar re[Eril fused the crown, that it had almost choked Cæsar; SCENE III. The same. A Street. for he swooned, and fell down at it: And for mine Thunder and Lightning, Enter, from oppo site sides, Casca, with his sword drawn, and Cicero.

own part, I durst not laugh, for fear of opening my lips, and receiving the bad air.

Cas. But, soft, I pray you; What? did Cæsar

swoon?

Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and foamed at mouth, and was speechless.

Cic. Good even, Casca: Brought you Cæsar
home?

Why are you breathless? and why stare you sol
Casca. Are not you mov'd, when all the sway

of earth

But never till to-night, never till now,
Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.
Either there is a civil strife in heaven;
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods,
Incenses them to send destruction.
Cic. Why, saw you any thing more wonderful?
Casca. A common slave (you know him well
by sight,)

Bru. 'Tis very like: he hath the falling sickness. Cas. No, Cæsar hath it not; but you, and 1, And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness. Shakes, like a thing unfirm? O Cicero, Casca. I know not what you mean by that; I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds but, I am sure, Cæsar fell down. If the tag-rag Have riv'd the knotty oaks; and I have seen people did not clap him, and hiss him, according The ambitious ocean swell, and rage, and foam, as he pleased, and displeased them, as they use to To be exalted with the threat'ning clouds: do the players in the theatre, I am no true man. Bru. What said he, when he came unto himself? Casca. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceiv'd the common herd was glad he refused the crown, he plucked me ope his doublet, and offered them his throat to cut.-An I had been. a man of any occupation, if I would not have taken him at a word, I would I might go to hell among the rogues:-and so he fell. When he Held up his left dand, which did flame and bara came to himself again, he said, If he had done, Like twenty torches join'd; and yet his hand, or said any thing amiss, he desired their worships Not sensible of fire, remain'd unscorch'd. to think it was his infirmity. Three or four Besides (I have not since put up my sword,) wenches, where I stood, cried, Alas, good soul! Against the Capitol I met a lion, -and forgave him with all their hearts: But Who glar'd upon me, and went surly by, there's no heed to be taken of them; if Cæsar Without annoying me! And there were drawn had stabbed their mothers, they would have Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women, done no less. Transformed with their fear: who swore, they

Bru. And after that, he came, thus sad, away?
Casca. Ay.

Cas. Did Cicero say any thing?
Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek.
Cas. To what effect?

Casca. Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i' the face again: But those, that understood him, smiled at one another, and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs off Cæsar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well. There was more foolery yet, if I could remember it.

Cas. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca ?
Casca. No, I am promised forth.
Cas. Will you dine with me to-morrow?
Casca. Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold,
and your dinner worth the eating.
Cas. Good; I will expect you.
Casca. Do so; Farewell, both.
Bru. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be?
He was quick mettle, when he went to school.
Cas. So he is now, in execution

Of any bold or noble enterprise,

[Erit Casca.

However he puts on this tardy form.
This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit,
Which gives men stomach to digest his words
With better appetite.

Bru. And so it is. For this time I will leave you:
To-morrow, if you please to speak with me,
I will come home to you: or, if you will,
Come home to me, and I will wait for you.
Cas. I will do so:-till then, think of the world.
[Exit Brutus.

Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see,
Thy honourable metal may be wrought
From that it is disposed: Therefore 'tis meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes:

Men, all in fire, walk up and down the streets.
And yesterday, the bird of night did sit,
Even at noon day, upon the market-place,,
Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies
Do so conjointly meet, let not men say,
These are their reasons,―They are natural;
For, I believe, they are portentous things
Unto the climate that they point upon.
Cic. Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time:
But men may construe things after their fashion,
Clean from the purpose of the things themselves
Comes Cæsar to the Capitol to-morrow?

Casca. He doth; for he did bid Antonius
Send word to you, he would be there to-morrow.
Cic. Good night then, Casca: this disturbed sky
Is not to walk in.
Casca.

Farewell, Cicero. [Erit Cio
Enter Cassius.

Cas. Who's there?
Casca
Cas.

A Roman.

Casca, by your voice Casca. Your ear is good. Cassius, what night is this?

Cas. A very pleasing night to honest men.
Casca. Who ever knew the heavens menace so?
Cas. Those, that have known the earth so full
of faults,

For my part, I have walk'd about the streets,
Submitting me unto the perilous night:
And, thus unbraced, Casca, as you see,
Have bar'd my bosom to the thunder stone:
And, when the cross blue lightning seem'd to oper
The breast of heaven, I did present myself
Even in the aim and very flash of it.
Casca. But wherefore did you so much tempt
the heavens ?