Dear learners, kindly refer the notes and links and come prepared to share /clear your doubts if any related to [LITERARY WEEK]You can choose either a SONNET / SOLILOQUY; try not to repeat as I have given various sonnets and soliloquies.

William Shakespeare SonnetsSonnets are fourteen-line lyric poems, traditionally written in iambic pentameter - that is, in lines ten syllables long, with accents falling on every second syllable, as in: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?". Sonnets originated in Italy and were introduced to England during the Tudor period by Sir Thomas Wyatt. Shake-speare followed the more idiomatic rhyme scheme of sonnets that Sir Philip Sydney used in the first great Elizabethan sonnets cycle, Astrophel and Stella (these sonnets were published posthumously in 1591). Sonnets are formal poems and consist of 14 lines (3 quatrains and a couplet) Poems may be accessed by clicking the above  Poems link for texts of the poems of William Shakespeare - Venus and Adonis, Rape of Lucrece, Lover's Complaint and Phoenix and the Turtle

The Most Popular William Shakespeare Sonnets!The most popular sonnets are: 

126   William Shakespeare Sonnet - O thou my lovely boy 130   William Shakespeare Sonnet - My Mistress' eyes 029 William Shakespeare Sonnet - When in disgrace with fortune 116 William Shakespeare Sonnet   - Let me not to the marriage of

true minds 18 William Shakespeare Sonnet - Shall I compare thee to a Summer's

day?

Sonnets 1 - 10

William Shakespeare Sonnet 01 From fairest creatures we desire increaseWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 02 When forty winters shall besiege thy brow William Shakespeare Sonnet 03 Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest William Shakespeare Sonnet 04 Unthrifty loveliness why dost thou spendWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 05 Those hours that with gentle work did frameWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 06 Then let not winter's ragged hand defaceWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 07 Lo in the Orient when the gracious lightWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 08 Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly?

William Shakespeare Sonnet 09 Is it for fear to wet a widows eyeWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 10 For shame deny that thou bear'st love to any

Sonnets 11 - 2011 As fast as thou shalt wane so fast thou grow'st12 When I do count the clock that tells the time13 O that you were yourself, but love you are14 Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck15 When I consider everything that grows16 But wherefore do not you a mightier way17 Who will believe my verse in time to comeShakespeare's sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?Shakespeare sonnet 19 Devouring time blunt thou the lion's pawsShakespeare sonnet 20 A woman's face with nature's own hand

Sonnets 21 - 30William Shakespeare Sonnet 21 So is it not with me as with that MuseWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 22 My glass shall not persuade me I am oldWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 23 As an unperfect actor on the stageWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 24 Mine eye hath played the painter and hath William Shakespeare Sonnet 25 Let those who are in favour with their stars William Shakespeare Sonnet 26 Lord of my love, to whom in vassalageWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 27 Weary with toil, I haste me to my bedWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 28 How can I then return in happy plightWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 29 When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyesWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 30 When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

Sonnets 31 - 4031 Thy bosom is endeared with all hearts32 If thou survive my well contented day33 Full many a glorious morning have I seen34 Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day35 No more be grieved at that which thou hast 36 Let me confess that we two must be twain37 As a decrepit father takes delight38 How can my Muse want subject to invent39 Oh how thy worth with manners may I sing40 Take all my loves, my love, yea take them all

Sonnets 41 - 50

William Shakespeare Sonnet 41 Those pretty wrongs that liberty commitsWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 42 That thou hast her it is not all my griefWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 43 When most I wink then do mine eyes best see William Shakespeare Sonnet 44 If the dull substance of my flesh were thoughtWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 45 The other two, slight air and purging fireWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 46 Mine eye and heart are at a mortal warWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 47 Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is tookWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 48 How careful was I when I took my wayWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 49 Against that time, if ever that time comeWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 50 How heavy do I journey on my way

Sonnets 51 - 60William Shakespeare's Sonnet 51 Thus can my love excuse the slow offenceWilliam Shakespeare's Sonnet 52 So am I as the rich whose blessed keyWilliam Shakespeare's Sonnet 53 What is your substance, whereof are you madeWilliam Shakespeare's Sonnet 54 Oh how much more doth beauty beauteous seemWilliam Shakespeare's Sonnet 55 Not marble nor the gilded monumentsWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 56 Sweet love renew thy force, be it not saidWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 57 Being your slave what should I do but tendWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 58 That God forbid, that made me first your slave William Shakespeare Sonnet 59 If there be nothing new, but that which is William Shakespeare Sonnet 60 Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore

Sonnets 61 - 7061 Is it thy will thy image should keep open62 Sin of self-love possesseth all mine eye63 Against my love shall be as I am now64 When I have seen by Time's fell hand defaced65 Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea66 Tired with all these for restful death I cry67 Ah wherefore with infection should he live68 Thus is his cheek the map of days outworn69 Those parts of thee that the world's eye doth view70 That thou art blamed shall not be thy defect

Sonnets 71 - 80William Shakespeares Sonnet 71 No longer mourn for me when I am dead

William Shakespeares Sonnet 72 O lest the world should task you to reciteWilliam Shakespeares Sonnet 73 That time of year thou mayst in me beholdWilliam Shakespeares Sonnet 74 But be contented when that fell arrestWilliam Shakespeares Sonnet 75 So are you to my thoughts as food to lifeWilliam Shakespeares Sonnet 76 Why is my verse so barren of new prideWilliam Shakespeares Sonnet 77 Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wearWilliam Shakespeares Sonnet 78 So oft have I invoked thee for my museWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 79 Whilst I alone did call upon thy aidWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 80 O how I faint when I of you do write

Sonnets 81 - 9081 Or I shall live your epitaph to make82 I grant thou wert not married to my muse83 I never saw that you did painting need84 Who is it that says most, which can say more85 My tongue-tied muse in manners holds her still86 Was it the proud full sail of his great verse 87 Farewell, thou art too dear for my possessing88 When thou shalt be disposed to set me light89 Say that thou didst forsake me for some faultWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 90 Then hate me when thou wilt, if ever, now

Sonnets 91 - 100William Shakespeare Sonnet 91 Some glory in their birth, some in their skillWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 92 But do thy worst to steal thyself awayWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 93 So shall I live, supposing thou art trueWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 94 They that have power to hurt, and will do noneWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 95 How sweet and lovely dost thou make the shameWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 96 Some say thy fault is youth, some wantonness William Shakespeare Sonnet 97 How like a winter hath my absence beenWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 98 From you I have been absent in the springWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 99 The forward violet thus did I chide William Shakespeare Sonnet 100 Where art thou muse, that thou forget'st so long

Sonnets 101 - 110101 O truant muse, what shall be thy amends 102 My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming

103 Alack what poverty my muse brings forth104 To me, fair friend, you never can be old105 Let not my love be called idolatry106 When in the chronicle of wasted time107 Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic soul108 What's in the brain that ink may character109 O never say that I was false of heart110 Alas 'tis true, I have gone here and there

Sonnets 111 - 120111 William Shakespeare Sonnet O for my sake do you with fortune chide112 William Shakespeare Sonnet Your love and pity doth th'impression fill113 William Shakespeare Sonnet Since I left you, mine eye is in my mind114 William Shakespeare Sonnet Or whether doth my mind, being crowned with you115 William Shakespeare Sonnet Those lines that I before have writ do lieWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 116 Let me not to the marriage of true mindsWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 117 Accuse me thus: that I have scanted allWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 118 Like as to make our appetites more keenWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 119 What potions have I drunk of siren tearsWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 120 That you were once unkind befriends me now

Sonnets 121 - 130William Shakespeare Sonnet 121 'Tis better to be vile than vile esteemedWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 122 Thy gift, thy tables, are withing my brainWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 123 No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do changeWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 124 If my dear love were but the child of stateWilliam Shakespeare Sonnet 125 Were't aught to me I bore the canopyWilliam Shakespear Sonnet 126 O thou, my lovely boy, who in thy powerWilliam Shakespear Sonnet 127 In the old age black was not counted fairWilliam Shakespear Sonnet 128 How oft when thou, my music, music play'stWilliam Shakespear Sonnet 129 Th'expense of spirit in a waste of shameWilliam Shakespear Sonnet 130 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun

Sonnets 131 - 140William Shakespear Sonnet 131 Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art132 Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me133 Beshrew that heart that makes my heart to groan134 So, now I have confessed that he is thine

135 Whoever hath thy wish, thou hast thy Will 136 If thy soul check thee that I come so near137 Thou blind fool Love, what dost thou to mine eyes138 When my love swears that she is made of truth139 O call not me to justify the wrong140 Be wise as thou art cruel, do not press

Sonnets 141 - 154141 In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes142 Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate143 Lo, as a careful housewife runs to catch144 Two loves I have, of comfort and despair145 Those lips that Love's own hand did makeWilliam Shake-speare - 146 Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earthWilliam Shake-speare - 147 My love is like a fever, longing stillWilliam Shake-speare - 148 O me, what eyes hath love put in my head William Shake-speare - 149 Canst thou, O cruel, say I love thee not William Shake-speare - 150 O, from what power hast thou this powerful mightWilliam Shake-speare - 151 Love is too young to know what conscience isWilliam Shake-speare - 152 In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn William Shake-speare - 153 Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleepWilliam Shake-speare - 154 The little love-God lying once asleep

Shakespeare soliloquies by play:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream soliloquies in modern EnglishHamlet soliloquies in modern EnglishKing Lear soliloquies in modern EnglishMacbeth soliloquies in modern EnglishThe Merchant of Venice soliloquies in modern EnglishOthello   soliloquies  in modern EnglishRomeo & Juliet soliloquies in modern EnglishThe Tempest soliloquies in modern English

 

Most popular Shakespeare soliloquies:

O, she doth teach the torches to burn brightWhat light through yonder window breaks?The clock struck nine when I did send the nurseGallop apace, you fiery-footed steedsHow oft when men are at the point of deathIt is the East, and Juliet is the sunWhat’s in a name?To be or not to beNow might I do it patHow all occasions do inform against meMy offence is rank, it smells to heavenWhat rogue and peasant slave am IThat this too solid felsh would meltIs this a dagger which I see before me?If it were done when ’tis doneThe raven himself is hoarseTomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrowO God of battles! Steel my soldier’s heartsThe feast of St CrispinOh for a muse of fireOnce more into the breach, dear friendsTo horse you gallant princes, stright to horse

Shakespeare’s plays are full of soliloquies and monologues (many of which we’ve translated into modern English in our soliloquies section), though they aren’t actually the same thing. This page explains both the definition of a soliloquy and the definition of a monologue in the context of Shakespeare’s plays.

What Is A Soliloquy?

A soliloquy is a word taken from Latin and it means ‘talking by oneself.’ It’s a device that dramatists – and Shakespeare to great effect – used to allow a character to communicate his or her thoughts directly to the audience. The character may be surrounded by other characters but the convention is that they can’t hear the soliloquy because it is essentially a piece in which the character is thinking rather than actually speaking to anyone. Audiences in Elizabethan times took the convention for granted. Modern playwrights use a whole range of devices to communicate the thoughts of a character to the audience as the soliloquy has become old fashioned: modern audiences generally expect something more realistic, although they relate to the soliloquies when they attend performances of Elizabethan plays.

To be or not to be – original text, translation, analysis, facts and performances

‘To be or not to be, that is the question’. Read Hamlet’s famous soliloquy by Shakespeare below, along with a modern translation and explanation of what ‘To be or not to be’ is about. We’ve also pulled together a bunch of facts about the famous soliloquy, and have the 5 most famous film performances of ‘to be or not to be’.

To be or not to be’ is the most famous soliloquy in the works of Shakespeare – probably, even, the most famous soliloquy anywhere. That is partly because the opening words are so interesting, memorable and intriguing but also because Shakespeare ranges around several cultures and practices to borrow the language for his images, and because he’s dealing here with profound concepts, putting complex philosophical ideas into the mouth of a character on a stage, communicating with an audience with a wide range of educational levels.

‘To Be Or Not To Be’: Original Words Spoken by Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 1

To be, or not to be: that is the question:Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;No more; and by a sleep to say we endThe heart-ache and the thousand natural shocksThat flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummationDevoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;For in that sleep of death what dreams may comeWhen we have shuffled off this mortal coil,Must give us pause: there’s the respectThat makes calamity of so long life;For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,The insolence of office and the spurnsThat patient merit of the unworthy takes,When he himself might his quietus makeWith a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,To grunt and sweat under a weary life,But that the dread of something after death,The undiscover’d country from whose bournNo traveller returns, puzzles the willAnd makes us rather bear those ills we haveThan fly to others that we know not of?Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;And thus the native hue of resolutionIs sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,And enterprises of great pith and momentWith this regard their currents turn awry,And lose the name of action.–Soft you now!

The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisonsBe all my sins remember’d.‘To Be Or Not To Be’: Translation

The below translation of Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy is taken from the NoSweatShakespeare Hamlet ebook.The question for him was whether to continue to exist or not – whether it was more noble to suffer the slings and arrows of an unbearable situation, or to declare war on the sea of troubles that afflict one, and by opposing them, end them. To die. He pondered the prospect. To sleep – as simple as that. And with that sleep we end the heartaches and the thousand natural miseries that human beings have to endure. It’s an end that we would all ardently hope for. To die. To sleep. To sleep. Perhaps to dream. Yes, that was the problem, because in that sleep of death the dreams we might have when we have shed this mortal body must make us pause. That’s the consideration that creates the calamity of such a long life. Because, who would tolerate the whips and scorns of time; the tyrant’s offences against us; the contempt of proud men; the pain of rejected love; the insolence of officious authority; and the advantage that the worst people take of the best, when one could just release oneself with a naked blade? Who would carry this load, sweating and grunting under the burden of a weary life if it weren’t for the dread of the after life – that unexplored country from whose border no traveller returns? That’s the thing that confounds us and makes us put up with those evils that we know rather than hurry to others that we don’t know about. So thinking about it makes cowards of us all, and it follows that the first impulse to end our life is obscured by reflecting on it. And great and important plans are diluted to the point where we don’t do anything.

What do you think of the modern translation of Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy above? Let us know in the comments below.

‘To Be Or Not To Be’ Analysis

The first six words establish a balance. There is a direct opposition – to be, or not to be. Hamlet is thinking about life and death and pondering a state of being versus a state of not being – being alive and being dead.

The balance continues with a consideration of the way one deals with life and death. Life is a lack of power: the living are at the mercy of the blows of

outrageous fortune. The only action one can take against the things he lists among those blows is to end one’s life. That’s the only way of opposing them. Death is therefore empowering: killing oneself is a way of taking action, taking up arms, opposing and defeating the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Living is a passive state; dying is an active state. But in order to reach the condition of death one has to take action in life – charge fully armed against Fortune – so the whole proposition is circular and hopeless because one does not really have the power of action in life.

Death is something desirable – devoutly  to be wished, a consummation – a perfect closure. It’s nothing more than a sleep. But there’s a catch, which Hamlet calls a rub. A ‘rub’ is a bowls term meaning an obstacle on the bowls lawn that diverts the bowl, so the fear of the life hereafter is the obstacle that makes us pause and perhaps change the direction of our thinking. We don’t control our dreams so what dreams may come in that sleep in which we have shuffled off all the fuss and bother of life? He uses the word ‘coil,’ which is an Elizabethan word for a big fuss, such as there may be in the preparations for a party or a wedding – a lot of things going on and a lot of rushing about. With that thought Hamlet stops to reconsider. What will happen when we have discarded all the hustle and bustle of life? The problem with the proposition is that life after death is unknown and could be worse than life. It’s a very frightening thought. That’s the obstacle on the lawn and it diverts his thoughts to another direction.

And now Hamlet reflects on a final end. A ‘quietus’ is a legal word meaning a final definitive end to an argument. He opposes this Latin word against  the Celtic ‘sweating’ and ‘grunting’ of a living person as an Arab beneath an overwhelmingly heavy load – a fardel, the load carried by a camel. Who would bear that when he could just draw a line under life with something as simple as a knitting needle – a bodkin? It’s quite a big thought and it’s fascinating that this enormous act – drawing a line under life – can be done with something as simple as a knitting needle. And how easy that seems.

Hamlet now lets his imagination wander on the subject of the voyages of discovery and the exploratory expeditions. Dying is like crossing the border between known and unknown geography. One is likely to be lost in that

unmapped place, from which one would never return. The implication is that there may be unimagined horrors in that land.

Hamlet now seems to make a decision. He makes the profound judgment that ‘conscience does make cowards of us all,’ This sentence is probably the most important one in the soliloquy. There is a religious dimension to it as it is a sin to take one’s life. So with that added dimension the fear of the unknown after death is intensified.

But there is more to it than that. It is not just about killing himself but also about the mission he is on – to avenge his father’s death by killing his father’s murderer. Throughout the action of the play he makes excuses for not killing him and turns away when he has the chance. ‘Conscience does make cowards of us all.’ Convention demands that he kill Claudius but murder is a sin and that conflict is the core of the play.

At the end of the soliloquy he pulls himself out of this reflective mode by deciding that too much thinking about it is the thing that will prevent the action he has to rise to.

This is not entirely a moment of possible suicide. It’s not that he’s contemplating suicide as much as reflecting on life, and we find that theme all through the text. In this soliloquy life is burdensome and devoid of power. In another it’s ‘weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,’ like a garden overrun with weeds. In this soliloquy Hamlet gives a list of all the things that annoy him about life: the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,the pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, the insolence of office and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes. But there’s a sense of agonised frustration in this soliloquy that however bad life is we’re prevented from doing anything about it by fear of the unknown.Facts About ‘To Be Or Not To Be’

1. The first performance of Hamlet was by the King’s Men at the Globe theatre between 1600 and 1601.

2. The first actor to perform the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy was Richard Burbage (1567-1619), the famous Elizabethan tragic actor, for whom Shakespeare wrote most of his tragic roles.

3. The first American performance of ‘to be or not to be’ was by Lewis Hallam, who played Hamlet in The American Company’s production of the play in Philadelphia in 1759.

4. The ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy is 33 lines long, and consists of 262 words. Hamlet, the play in which ‘to be or not to be’ occurs is Shakespeare’s longest play with 4,042 lines.

5. It takes four hours to perform Hamlet on the stage, with the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy taking anywhere from 2 to 4 minutes.

6. There is evidence that William Shakespeare played the ghost of Hamlet’s father in the play.

7. Hamlet is the most frequently performed play around the world.  It has been calculated that a performance begins somewhere in the world every minute of every day.8. Edwin Booth, the older brother of John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, performed ‘to be or not to be’ for one hundred nights in his role of Hamlet at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York, in the 1864/65 season.

9. The castle, Elsinor, where ‘to be or not to be’ is spoken, really exists. It is called Kronborg Castle and is in the Danish port of Helsingør. It was built in 1423 by the Danish king, Eric of Pomerania.

10. The opening line of the soliloquy, ‘to be or not to be, that is the question,’ is the most searched for Shakespeare quote on the internet.

11. More than 200 women have performed ‘to be or not to be’ in the role of Hamlet on the professional stage.

12. The first woman to have performed ‘to be or not to be’ on the stage was Sarah Siddons, the toast of Dury Lane, and famous in her time for her Lady Macbeth. She first played Hamlet in 1776.

13. The ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy has appeared in over 50 film adaptations of Hamlet since 1900.14. The storyline of Disney film The Lion King is based on Hamlet.15. Tom Stoppard’s  acclaimed play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, features two minor characters in Hamlet.16. At least two films have been named after quotes from the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy – 1991’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (line 24, “The undiscovered Country, from whose bourn“) and 1998’s What Dreams May Come (line 11 “For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come“)

17. In a 1963 debate in Oxford, Malcolm X quoted the first few lines of the ‘to be or not to be’ to make a point about “extremism in defence of liberty.”

Any ‘to be or not to be’ facts we’re missing? Let us know in the comments below

Read the “Friends, Romans, countrymen” Julius Caesar soliloquy below with a modern English translation & analysis:

Spoken by Marc Antony, Julius Caesar, Act 3 Scene 2Friends, 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 BrutusHath told you Caesar was ambitious:If it were so, it was a grievous fault,And grievously hath Caesar answer’d 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 RomeWhose 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 LupercalI 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 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.

“Friends, Romans, countrymen” Soliloquy Translation

Friends, Romans and countrymen, please give me your close attention. I’ve come to attend Caesar’s funeral, not to praise him. I would like to say that the bad things one does live on in people’s memories; the good is often buried with their bodies. Let that be the Case with Caesar.

The noble Brutus has told you that Caesar was ambitious. If that was so it was a very serious failing, and it has had a serious consequence for him.

With Brutus and the others’ permission – for Brutus is an honourable man, and all the others are too – I have come to speak at Caesar’s funeral

He was a faithful and honest friend to me: but Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man. He brought many captive prisoners back to Rome, whose ransoms filled the treasury. Does that seem like ambition?

When the poor have cried, Caesar has wept. Ambition is supposed to be something harder than that. Yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and Brutus is an honourable man.

You all saw how, on the Lupercal public holiday, I offered him a royal crown three times, which he rejected each time. Was that ambition? And yet Brutus says he was ambitious, and one sure thing is that Brutus is an honourable man.

I’m not trying to contradict the things Brutus said, but I’m here to speak about what I know.

You all loved him once, with good reason. What reason now stops you from mourning for him? Oh, what’s happened to judgment? It’s gone to wild animals and men have lost their reason. Excuse me, give me a moment. My emotions are overwhelming at the sight of Caesar’s body and I must pause till I’ve recovered.