The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar

1 A crowd of people in the street leading to the Capitol. Flourish. Enter
2 Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Metellus, Trebonius, Cinna,
3 Antony, Lepidus, Artemidorus, Publius, Popilius and the Soothsayer.
4 CAESAR.
5 The Ides of March are come.
6 SOOTHSAYER.
7 Ay, Caesar; but not gone.
8 ARTEMIDORUS.
9 Hail, Caesar! Read this schedule.
10 DECIUS.
11 Trebonius doth desire you to o’er-read,
12 At your best leisure, this his humble suit.
13 ARTEMIDORUS.
14 O Caesar, read mine first; for mine’s a suit
15 That touches Caesar nearer. Read it, great Caesar.
16 CAESAR.
17 What touches us ourself shall be last serv’d.
18 ARTEMIDORUS.
19 Delay not, Caesar. Read it instantly.
20 CAESAR.
21 What, is the fellow mad?
22 PUBLIUS.
23 Sirrah, give place.
24 CASSIUS.
25 What, urge you your petitions in the street?
26 Come to the Capitol.
27 Caesar enters the Capitol, the rest following. All the Senators rise.
28 POPILIUS.
29 I wish your enterprise today may thrive.
30 CASSIUS.
31 What enterprise, Popilius?
32 POPILIUS.
33 Fare you well.
34 [_Advances to Caesar._]
35 BRUTUS.
36 What said Popilius Lena?
37 CASSIUS.
38 He wish’d today our enterprise might thrive.
39 I fear our purpose is discovered.
40 BRUTUS.
41 Look how he makes to Caesar: mark him.
42 CASSIUS.
43 Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention.
44 Brutus, what shall be done? If this be known,
45 Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back,
46 For I will slay myself.
47 BRUTUS.
48 Cassius, be constant:
49 Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes;
50 For look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change.
51 CASSIUS.
52 Trebonius knows his time, for look you, Brutus,
53 He draws Mark Antony out of the way.
54 [_Exeunt Antony and Trebonius. Caesar and the Senators take their
55 seats._]
56 DECIUS.
57 Where is Metellus Cimber? Let him go,
58 And presently prefer his suit to Caesar.
59 BRUTUS.
60 He is address’d; press near and second him.
61 CINNA.
62 Casca, you are the first that rears your hand.
63 CAESAR.
64 Are we all ready? What is now amiss
65 That Caesar and his Senate must redress?
66 METELLUS.
67 Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar,
68 Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat
69 An humble heart.
70 [_Kneeling._]
71 CAESAR.
72 I must prevent thee, Cimber.
73 These couchings and these lowly courtesies
74 Might fire the blood of ordinary men,
75 And turn pre-ordinance and first decree
76 Into the law of children. Be not fond,
77 To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood
78 That will be thaw’d from the true quality
79 With that which melteth fools; I mean sweet words,
80 Low-crooked curtsies, and base spaniel fawning.
81 Thy brother by decree is banished:
82 If thou dost bend, and pray, and fawn for him,
83 I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.
84 Know, Caesar dost not wrong, nor without cause
85 Will he be satisfied.
86 METELLUS.
87 Is there no voice more worthy than my own,
88 To sound more sweetly in great Caesar’s ear
89 For the repealing of my banish’d brother?
90 BRUTUS.
91 I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar;
92 Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may
93 Have an immediate freedom of repeal.
94 CAESAR.
95 What, Brutus?
96 CASSIUS.
97 Pardon, Caesar; Caesar, pardon:
98 As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall,
99 To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber.
100 CAESAR.
101 I could be well mov’d, if I were as you;
102 If I could pray to move, prayers would move me:
103 But I am constant as the northern star,
104 Of whose true-fix’d and resting quality
105 There is no fellow in the firmament.
106 The skies are painted with unnumber’d sparks,
107 They are all fire, and every one doth shine;
108 But there’s but one in all doth hold his place.
109 So in the world; ’tis furnish’d well with men,
110 And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive;
111 Yet in the number I do know but one
112 That unassailable holds on his rank,
113 Unshak’d of motion: and that I am he,
114 Let me a little show it, even in this,
115 That I was constant Cimber should be banish’d,
116 And constant do remain to keep him so.
117 CINNA.
118 O Caesar,—
119 CAESAR.
120 Hence! wilt thou lift up Olympus?
121 DECIUS.
122 Great Caesar,—
123 CAESAR.
124 Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?
125 CASCA.
126 Speak, hands, for me!
127 [_Casca stabs Caesar in the neck. Caesar catches hold of his arm. He is
128 then stabbed by several other Conspirators, and at last by Marcus
129 Brutus._]
130 CAESAR.
131 _Et tu, Brute?_—Then fall, Caesar!
132 [_Dies. The Senators and People retire in confusion._]
133 CINNA.
134 Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!
135 Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets.
136 CASSIUS.
137 Some to the common pulpits and cry out,
138 “Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!”
139 BRUTUS.
140 People and Senators, be not affrighted.
141 Fly not; stand still; ambition’s debt is paid.
142 CASCA.
143 Go to the pulpit, Brutus.
144 DECIUS.
145 And Cassius too.
146 BRUTUS.
147 Where’s Publius?
148 CINNA.
149 Here, quite confounded with this mutiny.
150 METELLUS.
151 Stand fast together, lest some friend of Caesar’s
152 Should chance—
153 BRUTUS.
154 Talk not of standing. Publius, good cheer!
155 There is no harm intended to your person,
156 Nor to no Roman else. So tell them, Publius.
157 CASSIUS.
158 And leave us, Publius; lest that the people
159 Rushing on us, should do your age some mischief.
160 BRUTUS.
161 Do so; and let no man abide this deed
162 But we the doers.
163 Enter Trebonius.
164 CASSIUS.
165 Where’s Antony?
166 TREBONIUS.
167 Fled to his house amaz’d.
168 Men, wives, and children stare, cry out, and run,
169 As it were doomsday.
170 BRUTUS.
171 Fates, we will know your pleasures.
172 That we shall die, we know; ’tis but the time
173 And drawing days out, that men stand upon.
174 CASCA.
175 Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life
176 Cuts off so many years of fearing death.
177 BRUTUS.
178 Grant that, and then is death a benefit:
179 So are we Caesar’s friends, that have abridg’d
180 His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop,
181 And let us bathe our hands in Caesar’s blood
182 Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords:
183 Then walk we forth, even to the market-place,
184 And waving our red weapons o’er our heads,
185 Let’s all cry, “Peace, freedom, and liberty!”
186 CASSIUS.
187 Stoop then, and wash. How many ages hence
188 Shall this our lofty scene be acted over
189 In States unborn, and accents yet unknown!
190 BRUTUS.
191 How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport,
192 That now on Pompey’s basis lies along,
193 No worthier than the dust!
194 CASSIUS.
195 So oft as that shall be,
196 So often shall the knot of us be call’d
197 The men that gave their country liberty.
198 DECIUS.
199 What, shall we forth?
200 CASSIUS.
201 Ay, every man away.
202 Brutus shall lead; and we will grace his heels
203 With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome.
204 Enter a Servant.
205 BRUTUS.
206 Soft, who comes here? A friend of Antony’s.
207 SERVANT.
208 Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel;
209 Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down;
210 And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say:
211 Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest;
212 Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving;
213 Say I love Brutus and I honour him;
214 Say I fear’d Caesar, honour’d him, and lov’d him.
215 If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony
216 May safely come to him, and be resolv’d
217 How Caesar hath deserv’d to lie in death,
218 Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead
219 So well as Brutus living; but will follow
220 The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus
221 Thorough the hazards of this untrod state,
222 With all true faith. So says my master Antony.
223 BRUTUS.
224 Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman;
225 I never thought him worse.
226 Tell him, so please him come unto this place,
227 He shall be satisfied and, by my honour,
228 Depart untouch’d.
229 SERVANT.
230 I’ll fetch him presently.
231 [_Exit._]
232 BRUTUS.
233 I know that we shall have him well to friend.
234 CASSIUS.
235 I wish we may: but yet have I a mind
236 That fears him much; and my misgiving still
237 Falls shrewdly to the purpose.
238 Enter Antony.
239 BRUTUS.
240 But here comes Antony. Welcome, Mark Antony.
241 ANTONY.
242 O mighty Caesar! Dost thou lie so low?
243 Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
244 Shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well.
245 I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
246 Who else must be let blood, who else is rank:
247 If I myself, there is no hour so fit
248 As Caesar’s death’s hour; nor no instrument
249 Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich
250 With the most noble blood of all this world.
251 I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard,
252 Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke,
253 Fulfill your pleasure. Live a thousand years,
254 I shall not find myself so apt to die.
255 No place will please me so, no means of death,
256 As here by Caesar, and by you cut off,
257 The choice and master spirits of this age.
258 BRUTUS.
259 O Antony, beg not your death of us.
260 Though now we must appear bloody and cruel,
261 As by our hands and this our present act
262 You see we do; yet see you but our hands
263 And this the bleeding business they have done.
264 Our hearts you see not; they are pitiful;
265 And pity to the general wrong of Rome—
266 As fire drives out fire, so pity pity—
267 Hath done this deed on Caesar. For your part,
268 To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony;
269 Our arms in strength of malice, and our hearts
270 Of brothers’ temper, do receive you in
271 With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence.
272 CASSIUS.
273 Your voice shall be as strong as any man’s
274 In the disposing of new dignities.
275 BRUTUS.
276 Only be patient till we have appeas’d
277 The multitude, beside themselves with fear,
278 And then we will deliver you the cause
279 Why I, that did love Caesar when I struck him,
280 Have thus proceeded.
281 ANTONY.
282 I doubt not of your wisdom.
283 Let each man render me his bloody hand.
284 First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you;
285 Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand.
286 Now, Decius Brutus, yours; now yours, Metellus;
287 Yours, Cinna; and, my valiant Casca, yours;
288 Though last, not least in love, yours, good Trebonius.
289 Gentlemen all—alas, what shall I say?
290 My credit now stands on such slippery ground,
291 That one of two bad ways you must conceit me,
292 Either a coward or a flatterer.
293 That I did love thee, Caesar, O, ’tis true:
294 If then thy spirit look upon us now,
295 Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death,
296 To see thy Antony making his peace,
297 Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes,
298 Most noble, in the presence of thy corse?
299 Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds,
300 Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood,
301 It would become me better than to close
302 In terms of friendship with thine enemies.
303 Pardon me, Julius! Here wast thou bay’d, brave hart;
304 Here didst thou fall; and here thy hunters stand,
305 Sign’d in thy spoil, and crimson’d in thy lethe.
306 O world, thou wast the forest to this hart;
307 And this indeed, O world, the heart of thee.
308 How like a deer strucken by many princes,
309 Dost thou here lie!
310 CASSIUS.
311 Mark Antony,—
312 ANTONY.
313 Pardon me, Caius Cassius:
314 The enemies of Caesar shall say this;
315 Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty.
316 CASSIUS.
317 I blame you not for praising Caesar so;
318 But what compact mean you to have with us?
319 Will you be prick’d in number of our friends,
320 Or shall we on, and not depend on you?
321 ANTONY.
322 Therefore I took your hands; but was indeed
323 Sway’d from the point, by looking down on Caesar.
324 Friends am I with you all, and love you all,
325 Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons
326 Why, and wherein, Caesar was dangerous.
327 BRUTUS.
328 Or else were this a savage spectacle.
329 Our reasons are so full of good regard
330 That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar,
331 You should be satisfied.
332 ANTONY.
333 That’s all I seek,
334 And am moreover suitor that I may
335 Produce his body to the market-place;
336 And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend,
337 Speak in the order of his funeral.
338 BRUTUS.
339 You shall, Mark Antony.
340 CASSIUS.
341 Brutus, a word with you.
342 [_Aside to Brutus._] You know not what you do. Do not consent
343 That Antony speak in his funeral.
344 Know you how much the people may be mov’d
345 By that which he will utter?
346 BRUTUS.
347 [_Aside to Cassius._] By your pardon:
348 I will myself into the pulpit first,
349 And show the reason of our Caesar’s death.
350 What Antony shall speak, I will protest
351 He speaks by leave and by permission;
352 And that we are contented Caesar shall
353 Have all true rights and lawful ceremonies.
354 It shall advantage more than do us wrong.
355 CASSIUS.
356 [_Aside to Brutus._] I know not what may fall; I like it not.
357 BRUTUS.
358 Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar’s body.
359 You shall not in your funeral speech blame us,
360 But speak all good you can devise of Caesar,
361 And say you do’t by our permission;
362 Else shall you not have any hand at all
363 About his funeral. And you shall speak
364 In the same pulpit whereto I am going,
365 After my speech is ended.
366 ANTONY.
367 Be it so;
368 I do desire no more.
369 BRUTUS.
370 Prepare the body, then, and follow us.
371 [_Exeunt all but Antony._]
372 ANTONY.
373 O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
374 That I am meek and gentle with these butchers.
375 Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
376 That ever lived in the tide of times.
377 Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
378 Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,
379 Which, like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips
380 To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue,
381 A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
382 Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
383 Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;
384 Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
385 And dreadful objects so familiar,
386 That mothers shall but smile when they behold
387 Their infants quartered with the hands of war;
388 All pity chok’d with custom of fell deeds:
389 And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
390 With Ate by his side come hot from Hell,
391 Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
392 Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war,
393 That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
394 With carrion men, groaning for burial.
395 Enter a Servant.
396 You serve Octavius Caesar, do you not?
397 SERVANT.
398 I do, Mark Antony.
399 ANTONY.
400 Caesar did write for him to come to Rome.
401 SERVANT.
402 He did receive his letters, and is coming,
403 And bid me say to you by word of mouth,—
404 [_Seeing the body._] O Caesar!
405 ANTONY.
406 Thy heart is big, get thee apart and weep.
407 Passion, I see, is catching; for mine eyes,
408 Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine,
409 Began to water. Is thy master coming?
410 SERVANT.
411 He lies tonight within seven leagues of Rome.
412 ANTONY.
413 Post back with speed, and tell him what hath chanc’d.
414 Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome,
415 No Rome of safety for Octavius yet.
416 Hie hence, and tell him so. Yet stay awhile;
417 Thou shalt not back till I have borne this corse
418 Into the market-place: there shall I try,
419 In my oration, how the people take
420 The cruel issue of these bloody men;
421 According to the which thou shalt discourse
422 To young Octavius of the state of things.
423 Lend me your hand.
424 [_Exeunt with Caesar’s body._]