Beware the ides of March!

Shakespeare's language has always fascinated me. I'm amazed at his wit, his wealth of words, his possession of grammar, and his craftsmanship for double meaning. Furthermore, there isn't another author as much quoted as is Shakespeare. His poetic way of expressing thoughts and ideas make him immortal.

I fell in love with Shakespeare when I was nine. I read him in Albanian. I'm to this day grateful to those amazing translators who tried very hard to stay true to Shakespeare's individuality of writing. After studying English for a few years, I tempted to read his plays in his own original language, unabridged and not suited for easy reading. I wanted Shakespeare in his greatness; I wanted to read his plays the way there were meant to be read. I was hooked for life. I memorized many sayings, but my first real monologue out of Shakespeare's plays was Mark Anthony's speech at Julius Caesar's funeral. Since today is March 15th, the day that Julius Caesar died, I thought I would share with you that particular piece:

William Shakespeare - Friends, Romans, countrymen (from Julius Caesar 3/2)

Friends, 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 Brutus
Hath 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 Rome
Whose 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 Lupercal
I 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.