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86 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?
What tributaries follow him to Rome To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels? |
Marullus
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These growing feathers plucked from Caesar’s wing
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch, Who else would soar above the view of men And keep us all in servile fearfulness. |
Flavius
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No, Cassius, for the eye sees not itself
But by reflection, by some other things. |
Brutus
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And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
That you have no such mirrors as will turn Your hidden worthiness into your eye That you might see your shadow. I have heard |
Cassius
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Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear.
And since you know you cannot see yourself So well as by reflection, I, your glass, Will modestly discover to yourself That of yourself which you yet know not of. And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus. Were I a common laugher, or did use To stale with ordinary oaths my love To every new protester, if you know That I do fawn on men and hug them hard And, after, scandal them, or if you know That I profess myself in banqueting To all the rout, then hold me dangerous. |
Cassius
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I was born free as Caesar. So were you.
We both have fed as well, and we can both Endure the winter’s cold as well as he. For once upon a raw and gusty day, The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, Caesar said to me, “Darest thou, Cassius, now Leap in with me into this angry flood And swim to yonder point?” Upon the word, Accoutred as I was, I plungèd in And bade him follow. So indeed he did. The torrent roared, and we did buffet it With lusty sinews, throwing it aside And stemming it with hearts of controversy. But ere we could arrive the point proposed, Caesar cried, “Help me, Cassius, or I sink!” I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor, Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber Did I the tired Caesar. And this man Is now become a god, and Cassius is A wretched creature and must bend his body If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. He had a fever when he was in Spain, And when the fit was on him, I did mark How he did shake. 'Tis true, this god did shake! His coward lips did from their color fly, And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world Did lose his luster. I did hear him groan, Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans Mark him and write his speeches in their books— “Alas,” it cried, “give me some drink, Titinius,” As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me A man of such a feeble temper should So get the start of the majestic world And bear the palm alone. |
Cassius
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Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonorable graves. Men at some time are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars But in ourselves, that we are underlings. Brutus and Caesar—what should be in that “Caesar”? Why should that name be sounded more than yours? Write them together, yours is as fair a name. Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well. Weigh them, it is as heavy. Conjure with 'em, “Brutus” will start a spirit as soon as “Caesar.” Now in the names of all the gods at once, Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed That he is grown so great? Age, thou art shamed! Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods! When went there by an age, since the great flood, But it was famed with more than with one man? When could they say till now, that talked of Rome, That her wide walks encompassed but one man? Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough, When there is in it but one only man. Oh, you and I have heard our fathers say, There was a Brutus once that would have brooked Th' eternal devil to keep his state in Rome As easily as a king. |
Cassius
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Be any further moved. What you have said
I will consider, what you have to say I will with patience hear, and find a time Both meet to hear and answer such high things |
Brutus
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Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this:
Brutus had rather be a villager Than to repute himself a son of Rome Under these hard conditions as this time Is like to lay upon us. |
Brutus
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(aside to ANTONY) Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights. Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous. |
Caesar
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(aside to ANTONY) Would he were fatter! But I fear him not.
Yet if my name were liable to fear, I do not know the man I should avoid So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much. He is a great observer, and he looks Quite through the deeds of men. He loves no plays, As thou dost, Antony. He hears no music |
Caesar
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You are dull, Casca, and those sparks of life
That should be in a Roman you do want, Or else you use not. You look pale, and gaze, |
Cassius
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Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man
Most like this dreadful night, That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars As doth the lion in the Capitol— A man no mightier than thyself or me In personal action, yet prodigious grown, And fearful as these strange eruptions are. |
Cassius
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I know where I will wear this dagger then.
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius. |
Cassius
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Poor man! I know he would not be a wolf
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep. He were no lion were not Romans hinds. |
Cassius
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Come, Casca, you and I will yet ere day
See Brutus at his house. Three parts of him Is ours already, and the man entire Upon the next encounter yields him ours. |
Cassius
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It must be by his death, and for my part
I know no personal cause to spurn at him But for the general. He would be crowned. How that might change his nature, there’s the question. It is the bright day that brings forth the adder And that craves wary walking. Crown him that, And then I grant we put a sting in him That at his will he may do danger with. Th' abuse of greatness is when it disjoins Remorse from power. And, to speak truth of Caesar, I have not known when his affections swayed More than his reason. But ’tis a common proof That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder, Whereto the climber upward turns his face. But when he once attains the upmost round, He then unto the ladder turns his back, Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees By which he did ascend. So Caesar may. Then, lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel Will bear no color for the thing he is, Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented, Would run to these and these extremities. And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg— Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous— And kill him in the shell. |
Brutus
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Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar,
I have not slept. Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma or a hideous dream. The genius and the mortal instruments Are then in council, and the state of man, Like to a little kingdom, suffers then The nature of an insurrection. |
Brutus
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Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, Like wrath in death and envy afterwards, For Antony is but a limb of Caesar. Let us be sacrificers but not butchers, Caius. We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar, And in the spirit of men there is no blood. Oh, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit And not dismember Caesar! But, alas, Caesar must bleed for it. And, gentle friends, Let’s kill him boldly but not wrathfully. Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods, Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds. And let our hearts, as subtle masters do, Stir up their servants to an act of rage And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make Our purpose necessary and not envious, Which so appearing to the common eyes, We shall be called purgers, not murderers. And for Mark Antony, think not of him, For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm When Caesar’s head is off. |
Brutus
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Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily.
Let not our looks put on our purposes, But bear it as our Roman actors do, With untired spirits and formal constancy. |
Brutus
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Nor for yours neither. Y' have ungently, Brutus,
Stole from my bed. And yesternight, at supper, You suddenly arose and walked about, Musing and sighing, with your arms across, And when I asked you what the matter was, You stared upon me with ungentle looks. I urged you further, then you scratched your head And too impatiently stamped with your foot. Yet I insisted; yet you answered not, But with an angry wafture of your hand Gave sign for me to leave you. So I did, Fearing to strengthen that impatience Which seemed too much enkindled, and withal Hoping it was but an effect of humor, Which sometime hath his hour with every man. It will not let you eat nor talk nor sleep, And could it work so much upon your shape As it hath much prevailed on your condition, I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord, Make me acquainted with your cause of grief. |
Portia
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Is Brutus sick? And is it physical
To walk unbracèd and suck up the humors Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick, And will he steal out of his wholesome bed, To dare the vile contagion of the night And tempt the rheumy and unpurgèd air To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus. You have some sick offense within your mind, Which by the right and virtue of my place I ought to know of. (kneels) And upon my knees I charm you, by my once-commended beauty, By all your vows of love and that great vow Which did incorporate and make us one That you unfold to me, your self, your half, Why you are heavy, and what men tonight Have had to resort to you. For here have been Some six or seven who did hide their faces Even from darkness. |
Portia
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Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife. |
Portia
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I grant I am a woman, but withal
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife. I grant I am a woman, but withal A woman well-reputed, Cato’s daughter. Think you I am no stronger than my sex, Being so fathered and so husbanded? Tell me your counsels. I will not disclose 'em. I have made strong proof of my constancy, Giving myself a voluntary wound Here in the thigh. Can I bear that with patience, And not my husband’s secrets? |
Portia
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Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies,
Yet now they fright me. There is one within, Besides the things that we have heard and seen, Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. A lioness hath whelpèd in the streets, And graves have yawned and yielded up their dead. Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol. The noise of battle hurtled in the air. Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan, And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets. O Caesar! These things are beyond all use, And I do fear them. |
Calpurnia
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Yet Caesar shall go forth, for these predictions
Are to the world in general as to Caesar. |
Caesar
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Cowards die many times before their deaths.
The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear, Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come. |
Caesar
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Shall Caesar send a lie?
Have I in conquest stretched mine arm so far To be afraid to tell graybeards the truth? Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come. |
Caesar
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Caesar, I will. (aside) And so near will I be
That your best friends shall wish I had been further. |
Trebonius
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Here will I stand till Caesar pass along,
And as a suitor will I give him this. My heart laments that virtue cannot live Out of the teeth of emulation. If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live. If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive. |
Artemidorus
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would have had thee there and here again
Ere I can tell thee what thou shouldst do there. —O constancy, be strong upon my side, Set a huge mountain ’tween my heart and tongue! I have a man’s mind but a woman’s might. |
Portia
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I must prevent thee, Cimber.
These couchings and these lowly courtesies Might fire the blood of ordinary men And turn preordinance and first decree Into the law of children. Be not fond, To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood That will be thawed from the true quality With that which melteth fools—I mean, sweet words, Low-crookèd curtsies, and base spaniel fawning. Thy brother by decree is banishèd. If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him, I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause Will he be satisfied. |
Caesar
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I could be well moved if I were as you.
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me. But I am constant as the northern star, Of whose true-fixed and resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament. The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks. They are all fire and every one doth shine, But there’s but one in all doth hold his place. So in the world. 'Tis furnished well with men, And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive, Yet in the number I do know but one That unassailable holds on his rank, Unshaked of motion. And that I am he Let me a little show it even in this: That I was constant Cimber should be banished, And constant do remain to keep him so. |
Caesar
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Et tu, Bruté?—Then fall, Caesar.
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Caesar
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Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!
Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. |
Cinna
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Some to the common pulpits, and cry out,
“Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!” |
Cassius
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Fates, we will know your pleasures.
That we shall die, we know. 'Tis but the time, And drawing days out, that men stand upon. |
Brutus
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Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life
Cuts off so many years of fearing death |
Cassius
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His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop,
And let us bathe our hands in Caesar’s blood Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords. Then walk we forth, even to the marketplace, And waving our red weapons o'er our heads Let’s all cry, “Peace, freedom, and liberty!” |
Brutus
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Stoop, then, and wash.
How many ages hence Shall this our lofty scene be acted over In states unborn and accents yet unknown! |
Cassius
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How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport,
That now on Pompey’s basis lies along No worthier than the dust! |
Brutus
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If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony
May safely come to him and be resolved How Caesar hath deserved to lie in death, Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead So well as Brutus living, but will follow The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus Thorough the hazards of this untrod state With all true faith. So says my master Antony. |
Servant
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I wish we may. But yet have I a mind
That fears him much, and my misgiving still Falls shrewdly to the purpose. |
Cassius
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O mighty Caesar! Dost thou lie so low?
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well. —I know not, gentlemen, what you intend, Who else must be let blood, who else is rank. If I myself, there is no hour so fit As Caesar’s death’s hour, nor no instrument Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich With the most noble blood of all this world. I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard, Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke, Fulfill your pleasure. Live a thousand years, I shall not find myself so apt to die. No place will please me so, no mean of death, As here by Caesar, and by you cut off, The choice and master spirits of this age. |
Antony
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Our hearts you see not. They are pitiful.
And pity to the general wrong of Rome— As fire drives out fire, so pity pity— Hath done this deed on Caesar. For your part, To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony. Our arms in strength of malice and our hearts Of brothers' temper do receive you in With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence. |
Brutus
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Only be patient till we have appeased
The multitude, beside themselves with fear, And then we will deliver you the cause, Why I, that did love Caesar when I struck him, Have thus proceeded. |
Brutus
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My credit now stands on such slippery ground
That one of two bad ways you must conceit me, Either a coward or a flatterer —That I did love thee, Caesar, O, ’tis true. If then thy spirit look upon us now, Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death To see thy Antony making his peace, Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes— Most noble!—in the presence of thy corse? Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds, Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood, It would become me better than to close In terms of friendship with thine enemies. Pardon me, Julius! Here wast thou bayed, brave hart; Here didst thou fall; and here thy hunters stand, Signed in thy spoil, and crimsoned in thy lethe. O world, thou wast the forest to this hart, And this indeed, O world, the heart of thee. How like a deer, strucken by many princes, Dost thou here lie! |
Antony
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Friends am I with you all and love you all
Upon this hope: that you shall give me reasons Why and wherein Caesar was dangerous. |
Antony
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By your pardon.
I will myself into the pulpit first, And show the reason of our Caesar’s death What Antony shall speak, I will protest, He speaks by leave and by permission, And that we are contented Caesar shall Have all true rites and lawful ceremonies. It shall advantage more than do us wrong. |
Brutus
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Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar’s body.
You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, But speak all good you can devise of Caesar, And say you do ’t by our permission. Else shall you not have any hand at all About his funeral. And you shall speak In the same pulpit whereto I am going, After my speech is ended. |
Brutus
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O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
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Antony
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With carrion men, groaning for burial.
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Antony
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Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome,
No Rome of safety for Octavius yet. |
Antony
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Then follow me and give me audience, friends.
—Cassius, go you into the other street And part the numbers. —Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here. Those that will follow Cassius, go with him, And public reasons shall be renderèd Of Caesar’s death. |
Brutus
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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 honor, and have respect to mine honor that 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 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. As he was fortunate, I rejoice at it. As he was valiant, I honor him. But, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor for his valor, and death for his ambition. Who is here so base that would be a 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. |
Brutus
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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 offenses enforced for which he suffered death
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 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
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By our permission is allowed to make.
I do entreat you, not a man depart, Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. |
Brutus
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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 interrèd 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 answered 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 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. (weeps) |
Antony
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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. |
Antony
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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, 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—Oh, what would come of it! |
Antony
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I fear I wrong the honorable men
Whose daggers have stabbed Caesar. I do fear it. |
Antony
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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-belovèd Brutus stabbed. And as he plucked his cursèd steel away, Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it, As rushing out of doors, to be resolved If Brutus so unkindly knocked, 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 vanquished 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 flourished over us. Oh, 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, marred, as you see, with traitors. |
Antony
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Good friends, sweet friends! Let me not stir you up
To such a sudden flood of mutiny. |
Antony
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What is my name? Whither am I 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.
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Cinna the poet
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This is a slight, unmeritable man,
Meet to be sent on errands. Is it fit, The threefold world divided, he should stand One of the three to share it? |
Antony
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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, His corporal motion governed by my spirit, And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so. He must be taught and trained and bid go forth, A barren-spirited fellow, one that feeds On objects, arts, and imitations, Which, out of use and staled by other men, Begin his fashion. Do not talk of him But as a property. And now, Octavius, Listen great things. Brutus and Cassius Are levying powers. We must straight make head. Therefore let our alliance be combined, Our best friends made, our means stretched. And let us presently go sit in council How covert matters may be best disclosed, And open perils surest answered |
Antony
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Thou hast described
A hot friend cooling. Ever note, Lucillius, When love begins to sicken and decay, It useth an enforcèd ceremony. There are no tricks in plain and simple faith. But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, Make gallant show and promise of their mettle. But when they should endure the bloody spur, They fall their crests and, like deceitful jades, Sink in the trial. Comes his army on? |
Brutus
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Remember March; the ides of March remember
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? What villain touched his body, that did stab, And not for justice? What, shall one of us That struck the foremost man of all this world But for supporting robbers, shall we now Contaminate our fingers with base bribes, And sell the mighty space of our large honors For so much trash as may be graspèd thus? I had rather be a dog and bay the moon Than such a Roman. |
Brutus
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There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,
For I am armed so strong in honesty That they pass by me as the idle wind, Which I respect not. I did send to you For certain sums of gold, which you denied me, For I can raise no money by vile means. By heaven, I had rather coin my heart And drop my blood for drachmas than to wring From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash By any indirection. I did send To you for gold to pay my legions, Which you denied me. Was that done like Cassius? Should I have answered Caius Cassius so? When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous To lock such rascal counters from his friends, Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts. Dash him to pieces! |
Brutus
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Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come,
Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius, For Cassius is aweary of the world— Hated by one he loves; braved by his brother; Checked like a bondman, all his faults observed, Set in a notebook, learned, and conned by rote To cast into my teeth. Oh, I could weep My spirit from mine eyes. (offers BRUTUS his bared dagger) There is my dagger. And here my naked breast. Within, a heart Dearer than Plutus' mine, richer than gold. If that thou beest a Roman, take it forth. I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart. Strike, as thou didst at Caesar. For I know When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better Than ever thou lovedst Cassius. |
Cassius
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Hath Cassius lived
To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus, When grief and blood ill-tempered vexeth him? |
Cassius
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Good reasons must of force give place to better.
The people ’twixt Philippi and this ground Do stand but in a forced affection, For they have grudged us contribution. The enemy, marching along by them, By them shall make a fuller number up, Come on refreshed, new-added, and encouraged, From which advantage shall we cut him off If at Philippi we do face him there, These people at our back. |
Brutus
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There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves Or lose our ventures. |
Brutus
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Messala,
This is my birthday, as this very day Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala. Be thou my witness that against my will, As Pompey was, am I compelled to set Upon one battle all our liberties. You know that I held Epicurus strong And his opinion. Now I change my mind, And partly credit things that do presage. Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perched, Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands, Who to Philippi here consorted us. This morning are they fled away and gone, And in their steads do ravens, crows, and kites Fly o'er our heads and downward look on us As we were sickly prey. Their shadows seem A canopy most fatal, under which Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost. |
Cassius
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No, Cassius, no. Think not, thou noble Roman,
That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome. He bears too great a mind. But this same day Must end that work the ides of March begun. And whether we shall meet again I know not. Therefore our everlasting farewell take. Forever and forever farewell, Cassius. If we do meet again, why, we shall smile. If not, why then this parting was well made. |
Brutus
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This day I breathed first. Time is come round,
And where I did begin, there shall I end. My life is run his compass. (to PINDARUS) Sirrah, what news? |
Cassius
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Thou shouldst attempt it. Come now, keep thine oath.
(gives his sword to PINDARUS) Now be a free man, and with this good sword That ran through Caesar’s bowels, search this bosom. Stand not to answer. Here take thou the hilts And, when my face is covered, as ’tis now, Guide thou the sword. Caesar, thou art revenged, Even with the sword that killed thee. |
Cassius
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Will do his bidding.
(lays wreath on CASSIUS’s head) Brutus, come apace, And see how I regarded Caius Cassius. —By your leave, gods, this is a Roman’s part. Come, Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart. (stabs himself with CASSIUS’s sword and dies) |
Titinius
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O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet!
Thy spirit walks abroad and turns our swords In our own proper entrails |
Brutus
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A prize no less in worth. Keep this man safe.
Give him all kindness. I had rather have Such men my friends than enemies. Go on, |
Antony
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Farewell to thee too, Strato.—Countrymen,
My heart doth joy that yet in all my life I found no man but he was true to me. I shall have glory by this losing day More than Octavius and Mark Antony By this vile conquest shall attain unto. |
Brutus
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Give me your hand first.
Fare you well, my lord. |
Strato
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Farewell, good Strato.
(runs on his sword) Caesar, now be still. I killed not thee with half so good a will. |
Brutus
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This was the noblest Roman of them all.
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Antony
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And say to all the world, “This was a man.”
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Antony
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According to his virtue let us use him,
With all respect and rites of burial. Within my tent his bones tonight shall lie Most like a soldier, ordered honorably. So call the field to rest, and let’s away To part the glories of this happy day. |
Octavius
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