 | The Death of Caesar |  |
SCENE III.
BRUTUS, CASSIUS, CINNA, CASCA, DECIMUS, Attendants.CASSIUS.
This, Brutus, is our last embrace. The hour
Is come, my friends, and we must fall beneath
The ruin of our laws; henceforth from Cæsar
No favour I expect; he knows my thoughts;
He is not ignorant how far we dare.
Our souls, invincible by base corruption,
Have with astonishment his plans o'erwhelm'd.
But soon will he awake; our deaths succeed,
340
The fated time complete; the love of country,
Of honour, of the laws, exists no more;
From her foundations Rome herself is torn;
This day she sinks beneath his feet; he triumphs
Over mankind, he triumphs over Rome.
For him alone our thoughtless ancestors
Thro' danger rush'd to conquest. The proud spoils
Of hostile kings, the sceptre of the world,
Six hundred years of virtue, toils, and war,
Were but a stake for Cæsar, he hath won
All at a cast, and with rank appetite
Devours those precious fruits, which scarce six ages,
Ages of matchless glory, could produce.
Oh, Brutus! Wert thou born for servitude?
Freedom is lost,—quench'd is its vital flame.
BRUTUS.
Rather it is prepared again to rise,
And more intensely blaze.
CASSIUS.
What dost thou say?—
Hark!—Whence these sudden shouts!
BRUTUS.
The worthless herd—
It is their clamorous voice. Regard them not.
CASSIUS.
Did'st thou not say that freedom—Hark! the shouts
Are louder still.
| The Death of Caesar | |