Antony. A man may easier make his friend his foe.
Cæsar. Good deeds the cruel'st heart to kindness bring.
Antony. But resolution is a deadly thing.
Cæsar. If citizens my kindness have forgot,
Whom shall I then not fear?
Antony. Those that are not.
Cæsar. What, shall I slay then all that I suspect?
Antony. Else cannot Cæsar empery endure.
Cæsar. Rather I will my life and all neglect.
Nor labour I my vain life to assure;
But so to die, as dying I may live,
And, leaving off this earthly tomb of mine,
Ascend to heaven upon my winged deeds.
And shall I not have lived long enough,
That in so short a time am so much fam'd?
Can I too soon go taste Cocytus' flood?
No, Antony, death cannot injure us,
"For he lives long that dies victorious."
Antony. Thy praises show thy life is long enough,
But for thy friends and country all too short.
Should Cæsar live as long as Nestor did,
Yet Rome may wish his life eternised.
Cæsar. Heaven sets our time; with heaven may nought dispense.