Shakspere, Personal RecollectionsJoyce, John A. (John Alexander)
General
Shakspere, Personal Recollections
Joyce, John A. (John Alexander)
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Fiction
_"Ha! who comes here?
I think it is the weakness of mine eyes,
That shapes this monstrous apparition.
It comes upon me! Art thou anything?
Art thou some god, some angel or some devil,
That makest my blood cold, and my hair to stare?
Speak to me, what thou art."_
The Ghost replies:
_"Thy evil spirit, Brutus!_
_Brutus: Why comest thou?_
_Ghost: To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi._
_Brutus: Well, then I shall see thee again?_
_Ghost: Ay, at Philippi!"_
The armies of Antony and Octavius and Brutus and Cassius meet in crash of
battle.
Cassius is hotly pursued by the enemy, and to prevent capture and
exhibition at Rome, craves the service of Pindrus to run him through with
his sword. He says:
_"Now be a freeman, and with this good sword
That ran through Caesar's bowels, search this bosom.
Stand not to answer; here, take thou the hilt;
And when my face is covered, as 'tis now,
Guide thou the sword; Caesar, thou art revenged,
Even with the sword that killed thee!"_ (Dies.)
Brutus is run to earth, and most of his generals dead or fled. He implores
Strato to assist him to suicide, and says:
_"I pray thee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord;
Thou art a fellow of good respect;
Thy life hath had some smack of honor in it;
Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face,
While I do run upon it!
Farewell, good Strato; Caesar now be still,
I killed not thee with half so good a will!"_
(Runs on his sword and dies.)
Antony and Octavius and his army soon find Brutus slain by his own sword,
and with a most magnificent and undeserved generosity Antony pronounces
this benediction over the dead body of the vilest and most intelligent
conspirator who ever lived!
_"This was the noblest Roman of them all;
All the conspirators, save only he
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;
He only in a general honest thought,
And common good to all made one of them.
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up,
And say to all the world, This was a man!"_
The whole audience, led by Southampton, Essex, Bacon and Drayton gave three
cheers and a lion roar for "Julius Caesar," the greatest historical and
classical play ever composed, and destined to run down the ages for a
million years!
CHAPTER XIII.
TWO TRAMPS. BY LAND AND SEA.
_"Travelers must be content."_
_"Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety."_
The translation of Petrarch, Plutarch, Tacitus, Terence, and particularly
Homer, by Chapman, gave a great impulse to dramatic writers, and inspired a
feverish desire to travel through classic lands where classic authors lived
and died.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account