Monologue

Sejanus Monologue from Sejanus His Fall

From Sejanus His Fall by Ben Jonson

male · defiant · 1:48 min

Rehearse this freeFind more monologues
Swell, swell, my joys; and faint not to declare Yourselves as ample as your causes are. I did not live till now; this my first hour; Wherein I see my thoughts reach’d by my power. But this, and gripe my wishes. Great and high, The world knows only two, that’s Rome and I. My roof receives me not; ’tis air I tread; And, at each step, I feel my advanced head Knock out a star in heaven! rear’d to this height, All my desires seem modest, poor, and slight, That did before sound impudent: ’tis place, Not blood, discerns the noble and the base. Is there not something more than to be Cæsar? Must we rest there? it irks t’ have come so far, To be so near a stay. Caligula, Would thou stood’st stiff, and many in our way! Winds lose their strength, when they do empty fly, Unmet of woods or buildings; great fires die, That want their matter to withstand them: so, It is our grief, and will be our loss, to know Our power shall want opposites; unless The gods, by mixing in the cause, would bless Our fortune with their conquest. That were worth Sejanus’ strife; durst fates but bring it forth.

About this piece

Sejanus stands at the height of his power, reflecting on his ambitions and the nature of greatness, while grappling with the emptiness of his achievements and the desire for greater challenges.

40s · anticipation · power · ambition · fate · identity

Rehearse Sejanus's monologue

Run it out loud with a spotlight that follows your voice, line by line, until it's off the page. Free to start, no credit card.

Rehearse freeStart rehearsing

More from Sejanus His Fall