BRUTUS | |
Be patient till the last. | |
| | Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my | |
| | cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me | |
| | for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that | 15 |
| | you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and | |
| | awake your senses, that you may the better judge. | |
| | If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of | |
| | Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar | |
| | was no less than his. If then that friend demand | 20 |
| | why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: | |
| | --Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved | |
| | Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and | |
| | die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live | |
| | all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; | 25 |
| | as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was | |
| | valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I | |
| | slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his | |
| | fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his | |
| | ambition. Who is here so base that would be a | 30 |
| | bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. | |
| | Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If | |
| | any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so | |
| | vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; | |
| | for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. | 35 |
BRUTUS | |
Then none have I offended. I have done no more to | |
| | Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of | |
| | his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not | |
| | extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences | 40 |
| | enforced, for which he suffered death. | |
| | [Enter ANTONY and others, with CAESAR's body] |
| | Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony: who, | |
| | though he had no hand in his death, shall receive | |
| | the benefit of his dying, a place in the | |
| | commonwealth; as which of you shall not? With this | 45 |
| | I depart,--that, as I slew my best lover for the | |
| | good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, | |
| | when it shall please my country to need my death. | |
BRUTUS | |
Good countrymen, let me depart alone, | |
| | And, for my sake, stay here with Antony: | 60 |
| | Do grace to Caesar's corpse, and grace his speech | |
| | Tending to Caesar's glories; which Mark Antony, | |
| | By our permission, is allow'd to make. | |
| | I do entreat you, not a man depart, | |
| | Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. | 65 |
| | [Exit] |
ANTONY | |
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; | 80 |
| | I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. | |
| | The evil that men do lives after them; | |
| | The good is oft interred with their bones; | |
| | So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus | |
| | Hath told you Caesar was ambitious: | 85 |
| | If it were so, it was a grievous fault, | |
| | And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it. | |
| | Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest-- | |
| | For Brutus is an honourable man; | |
| | So are they all, all honourable men-- | 90 |
| | Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. | |
| | He was my friend, faithful and just to me: | |
| | But Brutus says he was ambitious; | |
| | And Brutus is an honourable man. | |
| | He hath brought many captives home to Rome | 95 |
| | Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: | |
| | Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? | |
| | When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept: | |
| | Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: | |
| | Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; | 100 |
| | And Brutus is an honourable man. | |
| | You all did see that on the Lupercal | |
| | I thrice presented him a kingly crown, | |
| | Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? | |
| | Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; | 105 |
| | And, sure, he is an honourable man. | |
| | I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, | |
| | But here I am to speak what I do know. | |
| | You all did love him once, not without cause: | |
| | What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him? | 110 |
| | O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, | |
| | And men have lost their reason. Bear with me; | |
| | My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, | |
| | And I must pause till it come back to me. | |
ANTONY | |
But yesterday the word of Caesar might | |
| | Have stood against the world; now lies he there. | |
| | And none so poor to do him reverence. | |
| | O masters, if I were disposed to stir | |
| | Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, | 130 |
| | I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, | |
| | Who, you all know, are honourable men: | |
| | I will not do them wrong; I rather choose | |
| | To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, | |
| | Than I will wrong such honourable men. | 135 |
| | But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar; | |
| | I found it in his closet, 'tis his will: | |
| | Let but the commons hear this testament-- | |
| | Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read-- | |
| | And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds | 140 |
| | And dip their napkins in his sacred blood, | |
| | Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, | |
| | And, dying, mention it within their wills, | |
| | Bequeathing it as a rich legacy | |
| | Unto their issue. | 145 |
ANTONY | |
Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; | |
| | It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you. | |
| | You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; | 150 |
| | And, being men, bearing the will of Caesar, | |
| | It will inflame you, it will make you mad: | |
| | 'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs; | |
| | For, if you should, O, what would come of it! | |
ANTONY | |
If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. | |
| | You all do know this mantle: I remember | |
| | The first time ever Caesar put it on; | |
| | 'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, | |
| | That day he overcame the Nervii: | 180 |
| | Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through: | |
| | See what a rent the envious Casca made: | |
| | Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd; | |
| | And as he pluck'd his cursed steel away, | |
| | Mark how the blood of Caesar follow'd it, | 185 |
| | As rushing out of doors, to be resolved | |
| | If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no; | |
| | For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel: | |
| | Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him! | |
| | This was the most unkindest cut of all; | 190 |
| | For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, | |
| | Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms, | |
| | Quite vanquish'd him: then burst his mighty heart; | |
| | And, in his mantle muffling up his face, | |
| | Even at the base of Pompey's statua, | 195 |
| | Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. | |
| | O, what a fall was there, my countrymen! | |
| | Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, | |
| | Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us. | |
| | O, now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel | 200 |
| | The dint of pity: these are gracious drops. | |
| | Kind souls, what, weep you when you but behold | |
| | Our Caesar's vesture wounded? Look you here, | |
| | Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors. | |
ANTONY | |
Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up | |
| | To such a sudden flood of mutiny. | |
| | They that have done this deed are honourable: | |
| | What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, | |
| | That made them do it: they are wise and honourable, | 220 |
| | And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. | |
| | I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts: | |
| | I am no orator, as Brutus is; | |
| | But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, | |
| | That love my friend; and that they know full well | 225 |
| | That gave me public leave to speak of him: | |
| | For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, | |
| | Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, | |
| | To stir men's blood: I only speak right on; | |
| | I tell you that which you yourselves do know; | 230 |
| | Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor poor dumb mouths, | |
| | And bid them speak for me: but were I Brutus, | |
| | And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony | |
| | Would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue | |
| | In every wound of Caesar that should move | 235 |
| | The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. | |
ANTONY | |
Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, | |
| | His private arbours and new-planted orchards, | 255 |
| | On this side Tiber; he hath left them you, | |
| | And to your heirs for ever, common pleasures, | |
| | To walk abroad, and recreate yourselves. | |
| | Here was a Caesar! when comes such another? | |
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