Reading Help THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CAESAR
SECOND CITIZEN. Peace! Silence! Brutus speaks. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. Peace, ho! `
` BRUTUS. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, `
` And, for my sake, stay here with Antony. `
` Do grace to Caesar's corse, 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. Exit. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. Stay, ho, and let us hear Mark Antony. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. Let him go up into the public chair; `
` We'll hear him. Noble Antony, go up. `
` ANTONY. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. `
` Goes into the pulpit. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. What does he say of Brutus? `
` THIRD CITIZEN. He says, for Brutus' sake, `
` He finds himself beholding to us all. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. This Caesar was a tyrant. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. Nay, that's certain. `
` We are blest that Rome is rid of him. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Peace! Let us hear what Antony can say. `
` ANTONY. You gentle Romans- `
` ALL. Peace, ho! Let us hear him. `
` ANTONY. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! `
` 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; `
` 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 honorable man; `
` So are they all, all honorable men- `
` 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 honorable man. `
` He hath brought many captives home to Rome, `
` 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, `
` And Brutus is an honorable 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, `
` And sure he is an honorable 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? `
` O judgement, 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. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. If thou consider rightly of the matter, `
` Caesar has had great wrong. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. Has he, masters? `
` I fear there will a worse come in his place. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the `
` crown; `
` Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. If it be found so, some will dear abide it. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with `
` weeping. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. Now mark him, he begins again to speak. `
` 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, `
` I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong, `
` Who, you all know, are honorable men. `
` I will not do them wrong; I rather choose `
` To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, `
` Than I will wrong such honorable men. `
` 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 `
` 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. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. We'll hear the will. Read it, Mark Antony. `
` ALL. The will, the will! We will hear Caesar's will. `
` 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; `
` And, being men, hearing 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! `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. Read the will; we'll hear it, Antony. `
` You shall read us the will, Caesar's will. `
` ANTONY. Will you be patient? Will you stay awhile? `
` I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it. `
` I fear I wrong the honorable men `
` Whose daggers have stabb'd Caesar; I do fear it. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. They were traitors. Honorable men! `
` ALL. The will! The testament! `
` SECOND CITIZEN. They were villains, murtherers. The will! `
` Read the will! `
` ANTONY. You will compel me then to read the will? `
` Then make a ring about the corse of Caesar, `
` And let me show you him that made the will. `
` Shall I descend? And will you give me leave? `
` ALL. Come down. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Descend. `
` He comes down from the pulpit. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. You shall have leave. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. A ring, stand round. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Room for Antony, most noble Antony. `
` ANTONY. Nay, press not so upon me, stand far off. `
` ALL. Stand back; room, bear back! `
` 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. `
` 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, `
` 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; `
` 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 statue, `
` 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 `
` 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. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. O piteous spectacle! `
` SECOND CITIZEN. O noble Caesar! `
` THIRD CITIZEN. O woeful day! `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. O traitors villains! `
` FIRST CITIZEN. O most bloody sight! `
` SECOND CITIZEN. We will be revenged. `
` ALL. Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! `
` Slay! Let not a traitor live! `
` ANTONY. Stay, countrymen. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. Peace there! Hear the noble Antony. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die `
` with `
` him. `
` 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 honorable. `
` What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, `
` That made them do it. They are wise and honorable, `
` 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 `
` 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; `
` Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, 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 `
` The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. `
` ALL. We'll mutiny. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. We'll burn the house of Brutus. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. Away, then! Come, seek the conspirators. `
` ANTONY. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me speak. `
` ALL. Peace, ho! Hear Antony, most noble Antony! `
` ANTONY. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what. `
` Wherein hath Caesar thus deserved your loves? `
` Alas, you know not; I must tell you then. `
` You have forgot the will I told you of. `
` ALL. Most true, the will! Let's stay and hear the will. `
` ANTONY. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. `
` To every Roman citizen he gives, `
` To every several man, seventy-five drachmas. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Most noble Caesar! We'll revenge his death. `
`
` FIRST CITIZEN. Peace, ho! `
` BRUTUS. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, `
` And, for my sake, stay here with Antony. `
` Do grace to Caesar's corse, 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. Exit. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. Stay, ho, and let us hear Mark Antony. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. Let him go up into the public chair; `
` We'll hear him. Noble Antony, go up. `
` ANTONY. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. `
` Goes into the pulpit. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. What does he say of Brutus? `
` THIRD CITIZEN. He says, for Brutus' sake, `
` He finds himself beholding to us all. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. This Caesar was a tyrant. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. Nay, that's certain. `
` We are blest that Rome is rid of him. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Peace! Let us hear what Antony can say. `
` ANTONY. You gentle Romans- `
` ALL. Peace, ho! Let us hear him. `
` ANTONY. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! `
` 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; `
` 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 honorable man; `
` So are they all, all honorable men- `
` 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 honorable man. `
` He hath brought many captives home to Rome, `
` 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, `
` And Brutus is an honorable 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, `
` And sure he is an honorable 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? `
` O judgement, 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. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. If thou consider rightly of the matter, `
` Caesar has had great wrong. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. Has he, masters? `
` I fear there will a worse come in his place. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the `
` crown; `
` Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. If it be found so, some will dear abide it. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with `
` weeping. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. Now mark him, he begins again to speak. `
` 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, `
` I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong, `
` Who, you all know, are honorable men. `
` I will not do them wrong; I rather choose `
` To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, `
` Than I will wrong such honorable men. `
` 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 `
` 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. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. We'll hear the will. Read it, Mark Antony. `
` ALL. The will, the will! We will hear Caesar's will. `
` 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; `
` And, being men, hearing 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! `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. Read the will; we'll hear it, Antony. `
` You shall read us the will, Caesar's will. `
` ANTONY. Will you be patient? Will you stay awhile? `
` I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it. `
` I fear I wrong the honorable men `
` Whose daggers have stabb'd Caesar; I do fear it. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. They were traitors. Honorable men! `
` ALL. The will! The testament! `
` SECOND CITIZEN. They were villains, murtherers. The will! `
` Read the will! `
` ANTONY. You will compel me then to read the will? `
` Then make a ring about the corse of Caesar, `
` And let me show you him that made the will. `
` Shall I descend? And will you give me leave? `
` ALL. Come down. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Descend. `
` He comes down from the pulpit. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. You shall have leave. `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. A ring, stand round. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Room for Antony, most noble Antony. `
` ANTONY. Nay, press not so upon me, stand far off. `
` ALL. Stand back; room, bear back! `
` 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. `
` 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, `
` 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; `
` 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 statue, `
` 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 `
` 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. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. O piteous spectacle! `
` SECOND CITIZEN. O noble Caesar! `
` THIRD CITIZEN. O woeful day! `
` FOURTH CITIZEN. O traitors villains! `
` FIRST CITIZEN. O most bloody sight! `
` SECOND CITIZEN. We will be revenged. `
` ALL. Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! `
` Slay! Let not a traitor live! `
` ANTONY. Stay, countrymen. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. Peace there! Hear the noble Antony. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die `
` with `
` him. `
` 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 honorable. `
` What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, `
` That made them do it. They are wise and honorable, `
` 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 `
` 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; `
` Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, 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 `
` The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. `
` ALL. We'll mutiny. `
` FIRST CITIZEN. We'll burn the house of Brutus. `
` THIRD CITIZEN. Away, then! Come, seek the conspirators. `
` ANTONY. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me speak. `
` ALL. Peace, ho! Hear Antony, most noble Antony! `
` ANTONY. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what. `
` Wherein hath Caesar thus deserved your loves? `
` Alas, you know not; I must tell you then. `
` You have forgot the will I told you of. `
` ALL. Most true, the will! Let's stay and hear the will. `
` ANTONY. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. `
` To every Roman citizen he gives, `
` To every several man, seventy-five drachmas. `
` SECOND CITIZEN. Most noble Caesar! We'll revenge his death. `
`