Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Cæsar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Cæsar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Cæsar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest,
(For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men)
Come I to speak in Cæsar'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,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Cæsar seem ambitious?

When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
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;
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

[blocks in formation]

Το wrong the dead, to wrong myself, and you,
Than I will wrong such honourable men.
But here's a parchment with the seal of Cæsar,-
I found it in his closet,-'t is 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 Cæsar'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.

4 CIT. We'll hear the will! read it, Mark Antony.

CITIZENS. The will, the will! we will hear

Cæsar's will!

[read it: ANT. Have patience, gentle friends; I must not It is not meet you know how Cæsar lov'd you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men ; And, being men, hearing the will of Cæsar, 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!

4 CIT. Read the will; we'll hear it, Antony; You shall read us the will;-Cæsar's will!

ANT. Will you be patient? Will you stay a while?

I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it:
I fear I wrong the honourable men
Whose daggers have stabb'd Cæsar; I do fear it.
4 CIT. They were traitors! honourable men!
CITIZENS. The will! the testament!

2 CIT. They were villains, murderers! the will! read the will! [will? ANT. You will compel me then, to read the Then make a ring about the corpse of Cæsar, And let me show you him that made the will. Shall I descend? and will you give me leave? CITIZENS. Come down.

2 CIT. Descend.

3 CIT. You shall have leave. 4 CIT. A ring; stand round.

[ANTONY descends.

1 CIT. Stand from the hearse! stand from the

body!

2 CIT. Room for Antony, most noble Antony. ANT. Nay, press not so upon me; stand far off. CITIZENS. Stand back! room! bear back! ANT. If you have tears, prepare to shed them

now.

You all do know this mantle: I remember
The first time ever Cæsar put it on ;

"T was 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:

napkins-] Handkerchiefs. They are still so named in

Scotland.

[graphic]

Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd;
And, as he pluck'd his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood of Cæsar follow'd it,
As rushing out of doors, to be resolv'd
If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no;
For Brutus, as you know, was Cæsar's angel:
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Cæsar lov'd him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all;
For when the noble Cæsar 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,*
Which all the while ran blood, great Cæsar 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

(*) Old text, statue.

[blocks in formation]

ANT. Stay, countrymen.

1 CIT. Peace, there!-hear the noble Antony. 2 CIT. We'll hear him, we 'll follow him, we'll die with him!

ANT. 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,

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 Cæsar'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 Cæsar, that should move
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.
CITIZENS. We'll mutiny!

1 CIT. We'll burn the house of Brutus !
3 CIT. Away, then! come, seek the con-
spirators!

ANT. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me speak.

CITIZENS. Peace, ho! hear Antony, most noble Antony.

ANT. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what:

Wherein hath Cæsar thus deserv'd your loves?
Alas, you know not, I must tell you then :-
You have forgot the will I told you of.

:

CITIZENS. Most true;-the will!-let's stay and hear the will!

ANT. Here is the will; and, under Cæsar's seal,

To every Roman citizen he gives,―

Το

every several man,-seventy-five drachmas. 2 Cır. Most noble Cæsar!-we'll revenge his

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

2 CIT. Go fetch fire.

3 CIT. Pluck down benches.

4 CIT. Pluck down forms, windows, anything!(4) [Exeunt Citizens with the body. ANT. Now let it work!-Mischief, thou art

afoot,

Take thou what course thou wilt !—

Enter a Servant.

How now, fellow?

SERV. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome. ANT. Where is he?

SERV. He and Lepidus are at Cæsar's house. ANT. And thither will I straight to visit him: He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry, And in this mood will give us anything.

SERV. I heard him say, Brutus and Cassius Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome. ANT. Belike they had some notice of the people,

How I had mov'd them. Bring me to Octavius. [Exeunt.

[blocks in formation]

inauspicious; and in North's Plutarch (Life of Brutus) we
have the restored word "unlucky" used precisely as here:-
"The first and chiefest, was Cæsars long tarying, who came very
late to the Senate: for, because the signes of the sacrifices ap-
peared unluckie, his wife Calphurnia kept him at home," &c.
e I have no will to wander forth, &c.] I have no inclination to
wander out, &c.: so Shylock, in "The Merchant of Venice," Act
II. Sc. 5,-

"I have no mind of feasting forth to-night:
But I will go."

going? Where do I dwell? Am I a married man or a bachelor? Then, to answer every man directly and briefly, wisely and truly;-wisely, I say, I am a bachelor.

2 Crr. That's as much as to say, they are fools that marry:-you'll bear me a bang for that, I fear. Proceed; directly.

CIN. Directly, I am going to Cæsar's funeral.
1 CIT. As a friend or an enemy?
CIN. As a friend.

2 CIT. That matter is answered directly.
4 Cır. For your dwelling,-briefly.
CIN. Briefly, I dwell by the Capitol.
3 CIT. Your name, sir,-truly.

-and turn him going.] So in "As You Like It," Act III. Sc. 1,

[blocks in formation]

poet.

4 CIT. Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad verses!

CIN. I am not Cinna the conspirator.

2 CIT. It is no matter, his name's Cinna; pluck but his name out of his heart, and turn him going."

3 CIT. Tear him, tear him! Come, brands, ho! firebrands! To Brutus', to Cassius'; burn all! Some to Decius' house, and some to Casca's; some to Ligarius'! away! go! [Exeunt.

"Do this expediently, and turn him going."

[graphic]
[graphic][merged small][merged small]

ANTONY, OCTAVIUS, and LEPIDUS, seated at a table.

ANT. These many, then, shall die; their names are prick'd.

OCT. Your brother too must die; consent you, Lepidus?

LEP. I do consent,

Ост.
Prick him down, Antony.
LEP. Upon condition Publius shall not live,
Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony.
ANT. He shall not live: look, with a spot I
damn him.

But, Lepidus, go you to Cæsar's house;
Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine
How to cut off some charge in legacies.
LEP. What, shall I find you here?
OCT. Or here, or at the Capitol.

[Exit LEPIDUS. ANT. This is a slight unmeritable man, Meet to be sent on errands: is it fit,

a Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony.] This is, historically, an error. The individual meant, Lucius Cæsar, was the brother of Mark Antony's mother. Upton, therefore, concludes that Shakespeare wrote,

The three-fold world divided, he should stand
One of the three to share it?

Ост.
So you thought him;
And took his voice who should be prick'd to die,
In our black sentence and proscription.

ANT. Octavius, I have seen more days than you: And though we lay these honours on this man, To ease ourselves of divers slanderous loads, He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold, To groan and sweat under the business, Either led or driven, as we point the way; And having brought our treasure where we will, Then take we down his load, and turn him off, Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears, And graze in commons. Ост.

You may do your will; But he's a tried and valiant soldier.

ANT. So is my horse, Octavius; and for that I do appoint him store of provender:

It is a creature that I teach to fight,

To wind, to stop, to run directly on,

"You are his sister's son," &c.

DI damn him.] I condemn him. So, quoted by Steevens, in "Promos and Cassandra," Part II.,

"Vouchsafe to give my dampned husband lyfe."

« AnteriorContinua »