Name: _________________________________________________ Date: ___________
Julius Caesar: Act III, Scene 1
Paraphrase: Antony’s Soliloquy
Directions: Read Antony’s soliloquy. Then paraphrase the speech line by line in the
space provided.
Soliloquy:
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 times1.
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 cumber2 all the parts of Italy;
Blood and destruction shall be so in use3
And dreadful objects so familiar
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds4:
And Caesar's spirit, ranging5 for revenge,
With Ate6 by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines7 with a monarch's voice
Cry 'Havoc,'8 and let slip9 the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion10 men, groaning for burial.
1. course of all history 2.distress, burden 3. customary 4. being used to cruel acts
5. roaming like a wild beast in search of prey 6. Greek goddess personifying criminal folly or reckless
ambition in people 7. boundaries 8. a signal for general slaughter
9. release from a leash 10. dead and rotting
Paraphrase:
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
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Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
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Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
________________________________________________________________________
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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 quarter'd with the hands of war
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________________________________________________________________________
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
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________________________________________________________________________
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.
________________________________________________________________________
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