The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works

by William Shakespeare

  By that which he will utter?

  BRUTUS (aside to Cassius) 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.

  CASSIUS (aside to Brutus)

  I know not what may fall. I like it not.

  BRUTUS

  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.

  ANTONY Be it so;

  I do desire no more.

  BRUTUS

  Prepare the body then, and follow us.Exeunt all but Antony

  ANTONY

  O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,

  That I am meek and gentle with these butchers.

  Thou art the ruins of the noblest man

  That ever lived in the tide of times.

  Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!

  Over thy wounds now do I prophesy—

  Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips

  To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue—

  A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;

  Domestic fury and fierce civil strife

  Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;

  Blood and destruction shall be so in use,

  And dreadful objects so familiar,

  That mothers shall but smile when they behold

  Their infants quartered with the hands of war,

  All pity choked with custom of fell deeds;

  And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,

  With Ate by his side come hot from hell,

  Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice

  Cry ‘havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war,

  That this foul deed shall smell above the earth

  With carrion men, groaning for burial.

  Enter Octavius’ Servant

  You serve Octavius Caesar, do you not?

  SERVANT I do, Mark Antony.

  ANTONY

  Caesar did write for him to come to Rome.

  SERVANT

  He did receive his letters, and is coming,

  And bid me say to you by word of mouth—

  (Seeing the body) O Caesar!

  ANTONY

  Thy heart is big. Get thee apart and weep.

  Passion, I see, is catching, for mine eyes,

  Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine,

  Began to water. Is thy master coming?

  SERVANT

  He lies tonight within seven leagues of Rome.

  ANTONY

  Post back with speed and tell him what hath

  chanced.

  Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome,

  No Rome of safety for Octavius yet.

  Hie hence and tell him so.—Yet stay awhile.

  Thou shalt not back till I have borne this corpse

  Into the market-place. There shall I try

  In my oration how the people take

  The cruel issue of these bloody men;

  According to the which thou shalt discourse

  To young Octavius of the state of things.

  Lend me your hand.

  Exeunt with Caesar’s body

  3.2 Enter Brutus and Cassius, with the Plebeians

  ALL THE PLEBEIANS

  We will be satisfied! Let us be satisfied!

  BRUTUS

  Then follow me, and give me audience, friends.

  (Aside to Cassius) Cassius, go you into the other street,

  And part the numbers.

  (To the Plebeians)

  Those that will hear me speak, let ’em stay here;

  Those that will follow Cassius, go with him;

  And public reasons shall be rendered

  Of Caesar’s death.Brutus ascends to the pulpit

  FIRST PLEBEIAN I will hear Brutus speak.

  SECOND PLEBEIAN

  I will hear Cassius, and compare their reasons

  When severally we hear them rendered.Exit Cassius, with some Plebeians Enter⌉ Brutus ⌈above⌉in the pulpit

  THIRD PLEBEIAN

  The noble Brutus is ascended. Silence.

  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

  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 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

  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.

  ALL THE PLEBEIANS None, Brutus, none.

  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 enforced for which he suffered death.Enter Mark Antony, with ⌈others bearing⌉ Caesar’s body ⌈in a coffin⌉‪‪‪‫‎

  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.

  ALL THE PLEBEIANS Live, Brutus, live, live!

  FIRST PLEBEIAN

  Bring him with triumph home unto his house.

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  Give him a statue with his ancestors.

  THIRD PLEBEIAN

  Let him be Caesar.

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ PLEBEIAN Caesar’s better parts

  Shall be crowned in Brutus.

  FIRST PLEBEIAN

  We’ll bring him to his house with shouts and

  clamours.

  BRUTUS

  My countrymen.

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN Peace, silence. Brutus speaks.

  FIRST PLEBEIAN Peace, ho!

  BRUTUS

  Good countrymen, let me depart alone,

  And, for my sake, stay here with Antony.

  Do grace to Caesar’s corpse, and grace his speech

  Tending to Caesar’s glories, which Mark Antony,

  By our permission, is allowed to make.

  I do entreat you, not a man depart

  Save I alone till Antony have spoke. Exit

  FIRST PLEBEIAN

  Stay, ho, and let us hear Mark Antony.

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sp; THIRD PLEBEIAN

  Let him go up into the public chair.

  We’ll hear him. Noble Antony, go up.

  ANTONY

  For Brutus’ sake I am beholden to you.

  Antony ascends to the pulpit

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  What does he say of Brutus?

  THIRD PLEBEIAN He says, for Brutus’ sake

  He finds himself beholden to us all.

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  ’Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here!

  FIRST PLEBEIAN

  This Caesar was a tyrant.

  THIRD PLEBEIAN Nay, that’s certain.

  We are blessed that Rome is rid of him.⌈Enter⌉ Antony in the pulpit

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  Peace, let us hear what Antony can say.

  ANTONY

  You gentle Romans. ALL THE PLEBEIANS 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 answered 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 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,

  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 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 him?

  O judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts,

  And men have lost their reason!He weeps Bear with me.

  My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,

  And I must pause till it come back to me.

  FIRST PLEBEIAN

  Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.

  ⌈FOURTHmlk,⌉ PLEBEIAN

  If thou consider rightly of the matter,

  Caesar has had great wrong.

  THIRD PLEBEIAN Has he not, masters?

  I fear there will a worse come in his place.

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  Marked ye his words? He would not take the crown,

  Therefore ’tis certain he was not ambitious.

  FIRST PLEBEIAN

  If it be found so, some will dear abide it.

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with weeping.

  THIRD PLEBEIAN

  There’s not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  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 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.

  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.

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  We’ll hear the will. Read it, Mark Antony.

  ALL THE PLEBEIANS

  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?

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ ‪PLEBEIAN

  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 a while?

  I have o’ershot myself to tell you of it.

  I fear I wrong the honourable men

  Whose daggers have stabbed Caesar; I do fear it.

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ PLEBEIAN They were traitors. Honourable men?

  ALL THE PLEBEIANS The will, the testament!

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN They were villains, murderers. The will, read the will!

  ANTONY

  You will compel me then to read the will?

  Then make a ring about the corpse of Caesar,

  And let me show you him that made the will.

  Shall I descend? And will you give me leave?

  ALL THE PLEBEIANS

  Come down.

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN Descend.

  THIRD PLEBEIAN

  You shall have leave.

  Antony descends from the pulpit

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ PLEBEIAN A ring.

  Stand round.

  FIRST PLEBEIAN

  Stand from the hearse. Stand from the body.

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  Room for Antony, most noble Antony!⌈Enter Antony below⌉

  ANTONY

  Nay, press not so upon me. Stand farre off.

  ALL THE PLEBEIANS 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 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.

  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, marred, as you see, with traitors.

  He uncovers Caesar’s body

  FIRST PLEBEIAN

  O piteous spectacle!

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN O noble Caesar!

  THIRD PLEBEIAN O woeful day!

  ⌈FIFTH⌉ PLEBEIAN

  O traitors, villains!

  FIRST PLEBEIAN O most bloody sight!

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN We will be revenged.

  ⌈ALL THE PLEBEIANS⌉

  Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay!

  Let not a traitor live !

  ANTONY Stay, countrymen.

  FIRST PLEBEIAN Peace there, hear the noble Antony.

  ⌈FOURTH⌉ PLEBEIAN 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 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 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

  The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.

  ALL THE PLEBEIANS

  We’ll mutiny.

  FIRST PLEBEIAN We’ll burn the house of Brutus.

  THIRD PLEBEIAN

  Away then! Come, seek the conspirators.

  ANTONY

  Yet hear me, countrymen, yet hear me speak.

  ALL THE PLEBEIANS