William Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Coriolanus

ACT I. 8. 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.]