Act I. Scene VIII. Coriolanus. Craig, W.J., ed. 1914. The Oxford Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564–1616). The Oxford Shakespeare. 1914.

Coriolanus

Act I. Scene VIII.

A Field of Battle between the Roman and the Volscian Camps.

Alarum. Enter from opposite sides MARCIUS and AUFIDIUS.
Mar. I’ll fight with none but thee; for I do hate thee
Worse than a promise-breaker.	4
Auf. We hate alike:
Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor
More than thy fame and envy. Fix thy foot.
Mar. Let the first budger die the other’s slave,	8
And the gods doom him after!
Auf. If I fly, Marcius,
Halloo me like a hare.
Mar. Within these three hours, Tullus,	12
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.	16
Auf. 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	20
In your condemned seconds. [Exeunt fighting, all driven in by MARCIUS.