A goodly city is this Antium. City,
'Tis I that made thy widows: many an heir
Of these fair edifices 'fore my wars
Have I heard groan and drop: then know me not,
Lest that thy wives with spits and boys with stones
In puny battle slay me.
'Tis I that made thy widows: many an heir
Of these fair edifices 'fore my wars
Have I heard groan and drop: then know me not,
Lest that thy wives with spits and boys with stones
In puny battle slay me.
-Coriolanus
Coriolanus Act IV, Scene iv, Line 1 - 6
And a goodly six lines is this. It's Coriolanus about to enter the city of his enemies and talking about how he's killed a lot of guys from this city. He hopes they don't recognize him or else the woman and kids will go after him.
I'm not sure what I find so captivating about these few lines, but for whatever reason, I thought them to be pretty good. I mean, basically all he's saying is "Here's Antium. I killed a bunch of guys from here in the wars. I hope no one recognizes me." But of course Will does it with a lot more flair than that and with meaningful flair.
He didn't just kill guys, he 'made thy widows'. And they weren't just guys, they were 'heirs of these fair edifices'. And if the wives and kids find him out they won't just go after him, they will 'In puny battle slay me'. Honestly, who's better than Will?
This is the edifice I see from my office window. I don't know who the heir of this edifice is, or if there is one at all. And I'm not sure you would consider this edifice fair. It is, nonetheless, an edifice.
