The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Upon discovering Sejanus’s deception, Coriolanus turns his attention back to Lucy Gray; he doesn’t like that she can “freely roam the night” while he’s “trapped here on base” (410). This entrapment is exacerbated by Dr. Kay, one of Dr. Gaul’s own who recognizes him. When Dr. Kay asks him of jabberjays and mockingjays, his response is immediate: “We should kill them all,” he says (416), citing their “unnatural” origins (417). He also learns how jabberjays once functioned as “spies” for the Capitol, being able to record and replay human speech. However, mockingjays can only reproduce song, not speech.

Coriolanus and Sejanus return to the Hob to see Lucy Gray sing, and she invites them on a sojourn to the lake the next day. Onstage, she performs a ballad based on a poem by “some man named Wordsworth” (423) about the disappearance of a young girl named Lucy Gray. While Coriolanus contemplates the meaning of the song, Sejanus disappears from the crowd.

When Coriolanus finds him, Sejanus makes a feeble excuse that he left to relieve himself—but Coriolanus knows this is a lie. Irritated and worried, he nevertheless goes ahead with their plans with Lucy Gray, for he needs a traveling companion.