QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: Julius Caesar ACT/SCENE: 3.1 SPEAKER: Antony CONTEXT: 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 livèd in the tide of times.
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 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 quartered with the hands of war,
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds,
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. DUTCH: En Caesar’s geest, naar wrake snuivend, zal,
Verzeld van Ate, heet der hel ontstegen,
Met heerschersstem hier: ,,Slachting! slachting!” roepen,
En ‘s krijgs bloedhonden hitsen door heel ‘t land,
Dat doze schanddaad stinke tot den hemel,
Door ‘t menschenaas, dat om begraving kreunt. MORE: CITED IN US LAW:
Block 175 Corporation v. Fairmont Hotel Management Company, 648 F.Supp. 450, 451 (D.Colo. 1986); Carlisle v. State, 295 Ala. 396, 326 So.2d 776, 777 (1976)(”The whole subject of bail needs a thorough examination by the legislature, the courts, and the people of this state. When I say ‘people,’ I mean the whole body politic. The people should not stand idly by, ‘cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of
war.’ );
Fiscal Court of Jefferson County v. City of Windy Hills, Kentucky, 559 S.W.2d
478, 481 (Ky. 1977).

Cry havoc. Old French ‘crier havot’, originally a signal to plunder, assumes in English. In Shakespeare it is a general call to battle and slaughter (Julius Caesar) and may have the same meaning in Hamlet.

Piece of earth=Corpse
Times=History
Costly=Precious, expensive
Light=Fall, alight
Cumber=Oppress
Custom of=Familiarity with
Fell=Fierce
Ranging=Pacing, searching
Atë=The ancient Greek goddess of discord, destruction and folly
Confines=Regions
Havoc=Military order to slaughter and privilege
Compleat:
Costly=Kostelyk, staatelyk
To cumber=Beslommeren, bekommeren
Custom=Gewoonte, gebruik
Fell=Fel, wreed
To range up and down=Heen en weer loopen
Confines=Grenzen
Havock=Roof, plundering, deurbrenging

Burgersdijk notes:
Verzeld van Ate. Ate is de Furie van de Tweedracht, ook vermeld in “Veel Leven om niets” en in “Koning Jan”; hier wordt zij voorgesteld als ter jacht, en op het punt van de honden van den krijg, tot nog toe aan de lijn gehouden, los te laten. Wat Sh. onder deze honden verstaat, blijkt uit Koning Hendrik V: “Voor zjjn voeten kropen, Als honden aangekoppeld, vuur en zwaard En honger rond om
werk.” Topics: cited in law, reputation, legacy, death, betrayal