War! War! Do ye know what ye are shouting about? That it should slip glibly from your tongue is natural enough; but what wretched work it is for us, I have not words to tell you. To be stunned the whole year round by the beating of the drum; to hear of nothing except how one troop marched here, and another there; how they came over this height, and halted near that mill; how many were left dead on this field, and how many on that; how they press forward, and how one wins, and another loses, without being able to comprehend what they are fighting about; how a town is taken, how the citizens are put to the sword, and how it fares with the poor women and innocent children. This is a grief and a trouble, and then one thinks every moment, "Here they come! It will be our turn next." (Soest: Therefore every citizen must be practised in the use of arms.) Fine talking, indeed, for him who has a wife and children. And yet I would rather hear of soldiers than see them. (Buyck: I might take offence at that.) It was not intended for you, countryman. When we got rid of the Spanish garrison, we breathed freely again.

Jetter Monologue from Egmont

Rehearse Jetter's monologue