Death stood up, throwed on his robe… had him a white robe with a hood on it. At the end of the third night we done weakened each other to where we can’t hardly move. I wrestled with Death for three days and three nights and I’m standing here to tell you about it. Every time it seemed like he was gonna get the best of me, I’d reach way down deep inside myself and find the strength to do him one better. I can’t say where I found the strength from. We wrestled for three days and three nights. I reached down and grabbed that sickle and threw it just as far as I could throw it… and me and him commenced to wrestling. Finally he say, “You want bound over for another year?” See, just like that… “You want bound over for another year?” I told him, “Bound over hell! Let’s settle this now!” It seem like he kinda fell back when I said that, and all the cold went out of me. Death standing there staring at me… carrying that sickle in his hand. Death? You be wanting me? You done brought your army to be getting me? I looked him dead in the eye. I got cold as ice and Death standing there grinning at me. It seem like Death himself reached out and touched me on the shoulder. Like Soldiers on Parade! The Army of Death was marching straight at me. Look here, Bono… I looked up one day Death was marching straight at me. So don’t you worry about me drinking myself to death.

I’m gonna drink just enough to where I can handle it. Ain’t that right, Bono? You know I don’t drink this but one night out of the week.

Now, am I lying? If I’m lying… that 450 feet worth of lying!Īin’t nothing wrong with talking about death.

And you know what I’ll do to that! Lookee here, Bono… am I lying? You get one of them fastballs, about waist high, over the outside corner of the plate where you can get the meat of the bat on it… and good god! You can kiss it goodbye. Death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.

Fences monologue