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Harvard College Library

FROM
 THE PLAYS OF SHAKSPEARE

Julius Cæsar

EDITED BY

H. C. BEECHING
LATE EXHIBITIONER OF BALLIOL COLLEGE , OXFORD
RECTOR OF YATTENDON

"Death makes no conquest of this conqueror"

LONDON
LONGMANS , GREEN , AND CO .
AND NEW YORK
1895

[New Edition]
 E GE
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K26463 OCT 17 1919
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 ADVERTISEMENT

THIS edition is an essay in what has been dis

paragingly called " Sign-post Criticism. " All notes
intended for young students must be of the nature
of sign-posts ; only in annotating an English classic,
and especially a play of Shakespeare, discretion may
be exercised as to what is most worth indicating. A
boy's powers are limited ; and if he has to master
a hundred pages of grammatical notes, he is not
likely to have much attention to spare for the text ;
and the question arises, Which is of greater im
portance, the grammar or the literature ? It is the
design of this edition to help the school-boy to
realize that Shakespeare had some other end to
serve when he wrote plays than the exhibition of
Elizabethan English. At the same time it is hoped
.
that such notes as are grammatical, with the Appen
dices and Glossary, will be found sufficient for their
purpose. Obligations to previous editors are ac
knowledged in their place. The Glossary has been
compiled from Richardson, Nares, Dyce, and Skeat,
iv ADVERTISEMENT.

and the parts already published of the Philological

Society's dictionary, and Dr. Murray has most
courteously given information on several difficult.
words. To Mr. Robert Bridges, of Yattendon ; Mr.
A. C. Bradley, Professor of English Literature at
University College, Liverpool ; and Mr. J. W.
Mackail, of the Privy Council Office, I am deeply
indebted for their kindness in reading and correcting
what I have written to their criticism and sugges
tions this little book owes very much.
H. C. B.

YATTENDON, April, 1886.

 INTRODUCTION

TRAGEDY is a work of representative art. The

A object of such art is to arrange and develope, so far
as its special conditions will permit, some beauty of nature
in some definite, beautiful form, by which it can be easily
presented to the senses, while at the same time it is
heightened by being set free of all disturbing accompani
ments, whether unbeauteous or merely unrelated. It is
not difficult to see how this is so with painting and
sculpture. No pigment on a flat surface can adequately
reproduce the beauty, say, of any landscape ; but still
under the conditions which such means prescribe, it is the
aim of the painter, by selection and exclusion , to present
some beautiful scene which shall be in certain respects
more perfect than anything before his eyes in nature. The
men of Phidias are not men of flesh and blood ; but in so
far as they do resemble them, in form and moving, they
are, beyond life, express and admirable. And in poetry,
where the matter is more subtle, the object aimed at
remains the same, and the same conditions hold : within
the limits of each kind, and by means of its special
instruments, there must be the same truth to nature,
and the same outdoing of nature. The material of the
dramatist is human character- the spirits of men. These
it is his business to represent in perfectly free action, in
accordance with their proper laws ; but in order to do this
vi JULIUS CAESAR.

he must go beyond nature as it is ; he must recreate the

world for himself in such a way that passion and thought
may work without hindrance, and reveal the utmost of
their capability for good and evil. Many of the common
facts of life, however otherwise important, he must ignore,
or employ them only in so far as they may be the emblems
of character, that by which the spirit may make its out
ward sign.
Further, among all the variety of human spirits, Tragedy
in her intention deals only with those which are great, or
have some greatness in them- with Hamlet and Macbeth
and Othello and Brutus, and she deals with them thus :
They are set down in circumstances where the temper of
their spirit is thoroughly tried, where their nobility can be
displayed in all its nobleness, and where their weakness
(for weakness there is in all human character) becomes
prominent and fatal, and ends in catastrophe. In a
perfect state of existence there could be no tragedy, just
as in a world such as that we imagine for the beasts there
could be none, because tragedy implies both the recog
nition of a perfect law, and at the same time a failure in
some point to meet its requirements--a failure which is
symbolised in the hero's death. The purpose which
tragedy thus fulfils has never been better expressed than
in the familiar phrase of Aristotle,* " effecting by pity and
fear the purification of such emotions." As we watch the
progress of the drama, it is not the fortunes of a prince
of Denmark, or a Moorish captain, or a Scotch adven
turer that hold us spell-bound , but the thought-sickness
of Hamlet, and the passion of Othello, and the guilt of
Macbeth, working themselves out before our eyes to their
inevitable catastrophe. In real life we catch only a
glimpse here and there of the reign of law, or the self
* δι᾽ ἐλέου καὶ φόβου περαίνουσα τὴν τῶν τοιούτων παθημάτων
κálaрov. -ARIST. Poet. 1449. b. 27.
 INTRODUCTION . vii

dependence of man's spirit. Chance and appetite seem

to rule. But in the ideal world of tragedy all the super
ficial detail which hinders our recognition of principle is
stripped off, and all accident is excluded , and the spirits
of men are shown us in free and unhindered action after
their kind, succeeding in so far as they approach human
perfection, but doomed to failure when they meet with a
situation with which a character imperfect in the par
ticular way in which they are imperfect cannot cope.
And such catastrophe awakens pity and fear ; pity for
what was noble and great, fear because we are shown
unmistakably that there is a power at work in the
world greater than the greatest of men, a law of things
which even the greatest cannot with impunity break.
And by thus giving a right exercise to our pity and fear,
tragedy purifies them. By seeing a great tragedy we get
clearer insight into what things are really lovely, and
awful, and pitiable. We are raised for a time above the
meanness of our ordinary desires ; and though " a man's
sojourn in this region be short , yet when he falls again
the smell of the divine fire has passed upon him, and he
bears about him, for a time at least, among the rank
vapours of the earth something of the freshness and
fragrance of the higher air." *
When the tragic fable is not constructed by the poet,
but taken from history, as in the present play, the method
of tragedy becomes more distinctly apparent. The first
questions for the historian are how and when the events
happened ; and so our historical estimates of Richard
Crookback and Brutus are liable to constant modification
as new facts become known. But that Richard or Brutus
had ever an historical existence at all is to tragedy an

*
An Estimate of the Value and Influence of Works ofFiction
in Modern Times, p . 9. By T. H. GREEN. (Oxford , 1862. )
viii JULIUS CÆSAR.

accident. The dramatist is interested in them only as

men of a certain character, and from the events narrated
of them chooses only such as bring this into prominence,
not scrupling to add and alter, only taking care that the
spectators shall not be disturbed by glaring historical
inaccuracies. And just as we should never think of
asking whether Hamlet or Othello ever lived, so we
ought never to ask whether Shakespeare's idea of Brutus
agrees with Mommsen's. It may of course happen
that Shakespeare's portrait, being closely studied from
Plutarch, is a good likeness of the historical Brutus ;
but this will be a matter of side interest. The truth at
which tragedy, in common with all poetry, aims is not
historical veracity, but the truth of human nature ; she
refuses to regard man as what he so often appears to be,
a mere bundle of circumstances, but is concerned with
him as spirit ; and she refuses to look upon the world's
life as a mere succession of events, but is concerned only
with what she can see of an orderly progression , a system
of cause and effect underlying them. And for this reason
tragedy, however false to historical fact, has yet, as Mr.
Arnold translates Aristotle, “ a higher truth and a deeper
seriousness " than history.†
Now this being so, we may be sure that everything
Shakespeare wrote in a tragedy is of importance. We
may not skip or pass lightly, as though we were reading
a biography or a novel. If Casca in the play contradicts
himself, we must not put it down to the poet's inad

* In some of the English History plays it is the history itself

which is of prime interest, and the result is a mongrel form of
drama.
† φανερὸν δὲ ὅτι οὐ τὸ τὰ γενόμενα λέγειν, τοῦτο ποιητοῦ ἔργον
ἐστίν ἀλλ᾽ οἷα ἂν γένοιτο καὶ τὰ δυνατὰ κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ τὸ ἀναγ
καῖον · διὸ καὶ φιλοσοφώτερον καὶ σπουδαιότερον ποίησις ἱστορίας
EoTív. -ARIST. Poet. 1451 , a. 35.
 INTRODUCTION. ix

vertence, and propose in one of the two places to read

Cassius. We must not say that Shakespeare introduced
Artemidorus in addition to the soothsayer, or used the
incidents of the poet Cinna and the cynic poet, simply
because he found them in Plutarch . What Shakespeare
took or left, he took or left with a purpose. And not to
look for his purpose is to miss some of his meaning.
To come then to our own play. The hero is Brutus ;
the circumstance which is to try him is the conspiracy to
assassinate Cæsar. Of this conspiracy the master spirit
is Cassius. In the early part of the play it is Cassius
who makes the greatest figure. He wins over Casca
without much difficulty, and lays plans to win Brutus.
On the decision of Brutus the play hinges. He wavers,
and at last joins the conspirators. And in his consent is
the revelation of his great weakness, which will work
itself out into the catastrophe. What is this weakness ?
It is a want of political insight and sure touch with
affairs. He joins the conspirators, acting from a political
principle which does not cover the facts of the case.
And the same defect appears in his subsequent action .
The motive of the play is thus mainly political. It is
the tragedy of a high-souled, but incompetent statesman.
It is possible, as we see every day, for a man of the
utmost integrity of character to be yet incompetent in
public affairs, to make fatal blunders through want of
insight into the true position of things and the true
character of men ; and however we may choose in the
last resort to exalt moral soundness over practical
wisdom, the want of either in a statesman is not con
doned by the presence of the other, and it may happen
that to the State the latter is of the greater moment.
The good will of Brutus does not save the State, but
nearly ruins it. With the best meaning he incurs the
worst.
X JULIUS CÆSAR,

The decision of Brutus to join the conspiracy arose

partly from not recognizing the real greatness of Cæsar's
character, which was obscured to him by such superficial
1
vanities as the desire of the form of kingship, partly
from not understanding the urgent need for some strong,
steady, single will to put an end to the strife of parties,
""
and make a unity of the empire. The " name of king
was abhorrent to him. Kings in Rome, so tradition said,
had been tyrannous . On the other hand, the name of
senate represented the equal government of all. In each
case he regarded the name, the constitutional fiction,
rather than the facts and the crying need of the times.
Instead of seeing in Cæsar the spirit of the age at its
best, the one man capable of doing what all required, he
""
regarded the " spirit of Cæsar as something merely
personal, and so fondly thought to destroy it in the
person of Cæsar. This mistake of Brutus is shown in
two very noticeable ways. He was afraid of tyranny, and
so murdered Cæsar. So soon as Cæsar is dead, tyranny
begins in the proscription of the triumvirs. (Act iv. sc. 1.)
He was blind to the necessity for a strong will like Cæsar's
to ensure peace to the State, and so destroyed the one
bond of cohesion ; whereupon the whole mass is convulsed,
and flies apart in civil war ; and it is only when the spirit
of Cæsar takes flesh again in a person, Octavius, that
peace is restored.
Notice all through the play how little facts weigh with
Brutus in comparison with his political theory. When
he hears the shouting at the Lupercalia, he says, " I do
fear the people choose Cæsar for their king.” And yet the
next day we find him enfranchising them, as though they
were a nation of Brutuses ; and he sees nothing absurd
in having to tell them they are enfranchised and give
them reasons for what he has done. There could scarcely
be a better comment on the abuse of watchwords than
 INTRODUCTION. xi

the part played in the drama by the word “ ambition ,” in

which the 66 reasons ” of Brutus are summed up. Not
only does it grow and swell, but the word which was
originally coined to express fears for the future, casts a
shadow also over the past. We feel a sense of relief
when Antony pricks the bubble.
Part again of this theoretical disposition of Brutus is
his habit of not looking men steadily in the face, and
taking their whole measure. On the one hand he mis
judges Cæsar, on the other he credits the rest of the
conspirators with his own unselfish idealism. He despises
Cicero's vanity and Antony's frivolousness, both super
ficial qualities, which are no clue to a man's real capacity.
But he argues from them as if they were the whole man.
In the former case he may have been right. Cassius, who,
not being a theorist, understands men better, seems to
agrce (ii. 1. 152) . In the latter Cassius dissents, and
the event proves that Brutus was doubly wrong : first, in
saving Antony's life, and then in allowing him to speak at
Cæsar's funeral (ii . 1. 182 ; iii . 1. 232) . And once more,
as the moral dignity of Brutus does not make him a
statesman, so neither does it make him a general. He
cannot raise the money to pay his own soldiers (iv. 3. 76).
He commits a fatal blunder in the last battle (v. 3. 5).
And yet in this case too, as in the other, his moral force
is allowed to outweigh better counsels (iv. 3. 201 ; v. I. 73) .
And in this there is a fit retribution on the conspirators ;
they required his leadership as a cloke for their moral
nakedness ( i. 3. 158), and it was their ruin. " He covered,
but his robe uncovered more."
Such being the shortcoming of Brutus in the career of
practical statesmanship on which he necessarily embarked
by removing Cæsar, when we turn to consider his private
life we feel the force of Antony's praise. Here there was
no disturbance of nature by the overgrowth or defect of
xii JULIUS CÆSAR.
any passion ; all were there, and he was master of all.
And so " his life was gentle." Being quite unselfish, he
is tender to his friends and servants, and courteous to all.
His duty comes naturally to him ; it is only when there
is a collision amongst duties, as between public and
private, that his strength of will requires to be exercised,
and then we find it to be sufficient. He is an affectionate
husband, but yet will not reveal State secrets till he is
convinced they can be kept. His wife dies cruelly, but
this must not hinder the work that is afoot. Cassius, his
brother, is dead ; but the debt of tears must be deferred
a little while till the fighting is done. And so with the
great action of the drama. He is Cæsar's friend,
" Cæsar's angel." (" When thou didst hate him worst,
thou lovedst him better than ever thou lovedst Cassius.")
This for a less balanced nature would be motive enough
for refusing to join the conspiracy, and he has no selfish
envy to come to the aid of political theory ; but when he
has determined that Cæsar's death is for the common
good his private feelings give way. Brutus, in short, is a
philosopher ; his whole life is governed by principle, and
he has reduced the surface of his life to the stillness of the
depths.
From Plutarch Shakespeare got these hints for dis
criminating Brutus and Cassius. "It was said that
Brutus hated tyranny, Cassius tyrants ; yet the latter was
inspired with a universal hatred of tyranny also." And
again, " Cassius being a choleric man , and hating Cæsar
privately more than he did the tyranny openly, incensed
Brutus against him ;" and these distinctions are preserved
in the play. There is a great deal of abuse of Cæsar
from Cassius's bitter tongue, which would be quite impos
sible to Brutus ; but we are apt to do less than justice to
his patriotism from too much regarding the more selfish
elements with which it was certainly mingled. He begins
 INTRODUCTION. xiii

from himself, "I was born free as Cæsar ; " but he wishes
all Rome to be equally free, and he is afraid that the near
ness of Brutus to the throne has made the throne less
irksome to him than it should be to a "noble" Roman
(i. 3. 306). Brutus, who well knew his brother's weak
nesses, nevertheless calls him "the last of all the
Romans ; " and Titinius, when " the sun of Rome is set,"
kills himself rather than survive him. But from whatever
human mixture of patriotism and envy Cassius deter
mined on his end , his true strength comes out in the
analysis into means. A man of shrewd practical judg
ment, however occasionally hot-headed, he saw what was
necessary if the conspiracy was to succeed. It must have
a grievance ; it must have also a comely presentment to
the world, and a band of not too many and not too keen
witted associates. For grievance there was the banish
ment of Publius Cimber ; for dignified exterior there was
his brother- in-law, Brutus ; for likely conspirators there
were several. Having once made up his mind, Cassius
is troubled by no scruples. Success is what he aims
at. The end will justify any means, even forgery and
peculation.
He is thus a striking contrast to Brutus. He has just
that practical gift which Brutus lacks ; on the other hand,
he has none of his stern moral principle and fine sense
of honour. They are contrasted too in temper. Brutus
is naturally mild, gentle, urbane, but his philosophical
creed makes him keep all his feelings well under control
and as hidden as possible ; and this, while it gives him
dignity, makes him also a little stiff and unwieldy.
Cassius practises no such self-restraint. What he feels
deeply comes at once to the top (iii. 1. 19 ; iv. 3. 37 ). He
loves, as he hates, with his whole heart. His Epicu
reanism is less a moral habit than an intellectual
speculation.
xiv JULIUS CÆSAR.

Over against Brutus and Cassius we have the figures

of Antony and Octavius. To see the contrast between
these in its final development we must turn to the play of
Antony and Cleopatra. But in our own play they are
clearly sketched ; we see enough even here to know that
they cannot long be yoked together, and to guess which
will become master of the world. The contrast is a
familiar one ; it is the old contrast of Esau and Jacob.
Antony is the frank, affectionate, engaging child of
impulse, liking life for the colour in it, loving plays and
music, " a masker and reveller." There is no doubt that
he loved Cæsar ; he sheds tears over his body when no
one else is by. When Brutus is dead he speaks his
encomium ungrudgingly. On the other hand, his passions
are not always so well directed. He can be cruel and
revengeful, and he is selfish ; he has a brilliant man's
intolerance of the common-place, and so no genuine
sympathy with the people, however, being a born actor,
he is able to assume it for an occasion. Hence, though
he might make himself tyrant, he could never succeed to
Cæsar's work. Having no principles, he is at any moment
the prey of the stronger passion ; at any moment his
birthright may go for a mess of pottage.
Octavius, though his moral character is rather elastic
than elevated, has this steady advantage over Antony,
that he is governed in all his conduct by an end to be
reached. His temper is cold and calculating. Like
Antony, he can be cruel ; but his cruelty springs not from
revenge, but from policy. Lepidus does not irritate him.
He may be a poor creature compared with the splendid
Antony, but Octavius knows just how serviceable he may
be. " He is a tried and valiant soldier." Octavius is no
orator ; in speech he is short and sententious, loving
blows better than words. To Antony and the rest he is
"young Octavius ; " but he seems already conscious of
 INTRODUCTION. XV

his destiny, and is confident enough to bate no jot of his

pretension as Cæsar's heir, even to leading the right wing
in the battle, a post that, as the event showed, might well
have been left to the experienced soldier.
A few words on Cæsar. We are summoned by the
title to the play of Julius Cæsar, and when we look " an
old man cometh up." But as we listen it is the familiar
voice that speaks. He crosses the stage twice ; each time
the first word he utters is just a quiet word of summons, in
the perfectly calm tone of a man who is always obeyed—
"Calpurnia," " Antonius." Each time we notice that his
eye, however apparently filmed over with infirmity and
conceit, is really as penetrating as ever. Of the Sooth
sayer his judgment is, " He is a dreamer," as he was,
but of men like Cassius, " and therefore are they very
dangerous." But while we notice this, we cannot help
recognizing also an aloofness from other men, as of the
centre of a system from the satellites whom it attracts
and repels. Not only are all else conscious of his great
ness-his wife, his court, " his senate "-but he is con
scious of it. He worships among the rest. He speaks
of his name as something set firm and sure above chance
and change. We notice also that " he is superstitious
grown of late." He bids Calpurnia stand in Antony's
way at the Lupercalia ; he sends to the augurs to know if
the omens are favourable. And yet this is not allowed to
interfere with his considered action. There is no doubt
he is very nervous. He is growing old ; he does not feel
the same buoyancy and happy confidence in his fortune ;
but he will not for all that be false to himself. Whether
the " ceremonies " affect all the world or himself only, if
something is fated, it is fated ; being a coward will not
alter it. And though the voice that speaks is trembling,
it is the real Cæsar who speaks.
The last scene in which he appears in the flesh is
xvi JULIUS CÆSAR.

admirably contrived as a climax. He is all but king, and In the

Monot
his sense of his own greatness is at the full. We see him
at his worst. Still there is not wanting a kingly grace. cloke
("What touches us ourself shall be last served.”) And a time
though the words are big (" Hence, wilt thou lift up be con
Olympus ? "), they are in no sense the words of an arbi great
trary tyrant. It is as the incarnation of right judgment the Te
become law that Cæsar has such reverence for himself. one in
(" Thy brother by decree is banished.” “ But I am constant Cymbe
as the northern star.") We feel, therefore, that Cæsar's ghosts
infirmities, infirm as they may be, are of the flesh, not what i
the spirit. the pla
The justification of the supernatural in tragedy is this, tation
that it is one mode of representing what is spiritual. As isato
the dramatist must leave out of sight ordinary facts of life retrib
which cannot be made an expression of the spirit, so for pany
insta
this purpose he must use others which are extraordinary.
The outward presentation of the supernatural is necessary
in several ways. First, it supplies impressive situations.
No one can be blind to the impressiveness of Hamlet's
receiving his commission from his father's ghost, or the
impressiveness of those powers of evil, the witches in
Macbeth, who supply the temptation to which Macbeth But
yields. In the former case the alternative would be did w
hissp
especially dull. It matters nothing whether ghosts or
witches are anything in the world. In tragedy we are at the
not troubled with such questions, as we should at once be of ext
in a novel. At the same time, the precise form in which showin
the supernatural may be used varies with different ages. write
Shakespeare was near enough to the belief in witches to The
employ them without fear of offending the common-sense refere
of his audience. A modern dramatist could scarcely do by Mu
so. In Greek tragedy the gods came down in the like the d
ness of men. Sophocles introduces Athena sending revisi
infatuation upon Ajax as a punishment for presumption. instea
 INTRODUCTION. xvii

and In the Eumenides Aeschylus employs a chorus of furies.

him Monotheism has made this impossible for us. Under the
race cloke of religion such representations were tolerated for
And a time in miracle-plays and mysteries ; they would now
be considered profane. Of this use, which is the second
up
arbi great use of the supernatural, not counting the visions in
ment the Tempest and the oracle in Winter's Tale, there is just
self. one instance in Shakespeare-the descent of Jupiter in
tant Cymbeline. Lastly, tragedy has always made great use of
ar's ghosts. This is necessary, as the only means ofrepresenting
not what is eternal in man, after death ; it also helps to supply
the place of what is impossible for us, the direct presen
is, tation of Destiny. Where murder has been committed, it
As is at once the simplest and most telling way of suggesting
retribution. Thus Banquo appears to Macbeth, a com
pany of hosts to Richard, Cæsar to Brutus . This last
instance is especially effective. Brutus had said—
y 66
'We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar ;
S. And in the spirit of men there is no blood.
SI Oh that we then could come by Cæsar's spirit,
e And not dismember Cæsar ! "-ii. 1. 167.
1
But in the event what happened was tnis, that all they
did was to dismember Cæsar : they could not come by
his spirit ; that survived the butchery, and asserted itself
at the battle of Philippi. What an effective way, then,
of exhibiting the unconscious irony of that speech, and
showing the terrible blunder of the whole conspiracy, to
write the stage direction, " Enter the ghost of Cæsar."
The date of the play is approximately fixed by two
references brought forward, one by Steevens, the other
by Mr. Halliwell- Phillipps. Steevens' reference brings
the date down to 1603. In that year Drayton, in the
revision of his Mortimeriados, now issued in ottava rima
instead of a seven-line stanza, and called the Barons'
B
xviii JULIUS CÆSAR.

Wars, introduced the following lines, evidently formed

upon Antony's eulogy of Brutus (v. 5. 73) :
"Such one he was, of him we holdely say,
In whose rich soule all soueraigne powres did sute,
In whome in peace th' elements all lay
So mixt, as none could soueraignty impute ;
As all did gouerne, yet all did obey.
His liuely temper was so absolute,
That t'seemde when heauen his modell first began
In him it shewd perfection in a man.”
The stanza remained in this form through four suc
ceeding editions ; but in 1619, after Shakespeare's death,
but before Julius Cæsar was printed, the following verses,
still more like Shakespeare's, were substituted :
"He was a man, then boldly dare to say,
In whose rich soule the vertues well did sute,
In whome so mixt the elements all lay
That none to one could soueraignty impute ;
As all did gouerne, yet did all obey.
He of a temper was so absolute,
As that it seemd when Nature him began
She meantto shew all that might be in man."
It seems quite certain, although some critics think
otherwise, that Drayton was borrowing from Shake
speare ; but the importance of the passage, as evidence
for the date of our play, has been much diminished by
Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps' discovery of the following lines
in Weever's Mirror of Martyrs ( 1601 ) :
" The many-headed multitude were drawne
By Brutus' speech, that Cæsar was ambitious.
When eloquent Mark Antonie had showne
His vertues, who but Brutus then was vicious ? "

Now as the speeches of Brutus and Antony are Shake

speare's own, and not borrowed from Plutarch, this at
 INTRODUCTION. xix

once fixes 1601 as the latest possible date for the play.
And this approximate date is supported by the evidence
of style. Julius Cæsar is evidently the first of the greater
tragedies. It has the marks of a first essay. There is
more elaborate proportion and balance than we find after
wards. The characters are double against each other
Cassius against Brutus, Antony against Octavius, Portia
against Calpurnia. It does not seem possible at present
to fix the date more exactly. If Antony's eulogy on
Brutus was suggested to Shakespeare by the passage
in Cynthia's Revels, quoted on v. 5. 73, the date would
probably be 1600 ; if Ben Jonson borrowed from Shake
speare, it would be earlier.
Shakespeare's sole authority, so far as is known, for the
history of the play was Sir Thomas North's translation
(1579) of the French translation of Plutarch's Lives by
Amyot, bishop of Auxerre ( 1559). The student would do
well to read carefully the lives of Cæsar, Brutus, and
Antony, noting what Shakespeare found useful for his
purpose, and what he rejected. Besides the folio editions
there are two reprints, one by Mr. W. C. Hazlitt, in
vol. iii. of his Shakespeare's Library, and another by
Professor Skeat, in a book called Shakespeare's Plutarch
(Macmillan, 1875).
The play was first printed in the folio of 1623 as " The
Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar." In this edition there is no
list of dramatis persona, and no division into scenes.
The former was first given by Rowe, the present arrange
ment of the scenes has been gradually fixed by succeeding
editors.
The text of this edition is that of the first folio ( 1623),
except where otherwise stated ; but many of the stage
directions are modern, and the spelling has been modern
ised throughout. The numbering of the lines is that of
the Globe Edition.
 DRAMATIS PERSONE

JULIUS CÆSAR .
OCTAVIUS CÆSAR ,
triumvirs after the death of Julius
MARCUS ANTONIUS, Cæsar.
M. ÆMILIUS LEPIDUS,
CICERO,
PUBLIUS, senators.
POPILIUS LENA,
MARCUS BRUtus,
CASSIUS,
CASCA,
TREBONIUS, conspirators against Julius Cæsar.
LIGARIUS,
DECIUS BRUTUS,
METELLUS CIMBER,
CINNA,
" FLAVIUS and MARULLUS, tribunes.
ARTEMIDORUS (of Cnidos, a teacher of Rhetoric).
A Soothsayer.
CINNA, a poet. Another Poet.
LUCILIUS,
TITINIUS,
MESSALA, friends to Brutus and Cassius.
Young CATO,
VOLUMNIUS,
VARRO,
CLITUS,
CLAUDIUS, servants to Brutus.
STRATO,
LUCIUS,
DARDANIUS ,
PINDARUS , servant to Cassius.
CALPURNIA, wife to Cæsar.
PORTIA, wife to Brutus.
Senators, Citizens, Guards, Attendants, &c.
SCENE : Rome : the neighbourhood of Sardis : the neighbourhood
of Philippi.
 JULIUS CESAR

ACT I.
SCENE I. Rome. A street.

Enter FLAVIUS, MARULLUS, and certain Commoners.

FLAV. Hence, home, you idle creatures, get you home :
Is this a holiday ? what ! know you not,
Being mechanical, you ought not walk
Upon a labouring day without the sign
Of your profession ? Speak, what trade art thou ?
FIRST COM. Why, sir, a carpenter.
MAR. Where is thy leather apron and thy rule ?
What dost thou with thy best apparel on ?
You, sir, what trade are you ?
SEC. COM. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I
am but, as you would say, a cobbler. II
MAR. But what trade art thou ? answer me directly.
SEC. COM. A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a
safe conscience ; which is indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.
MAR. What trade, thou knave ? thou naughty knave,
what trade ?
SEC. COM. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with
me : yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you.
MAR. What meanest thou by that ? mend me, thou
saucy fellow !
SEC. COM. Why , sir, cobble you. 20
FLAV. Thou art a cobbler, art thou ?
SEC. COM. Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl :
I meddle with no tradesman's matters , nor women's
matters ; but withal I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon to old
shoes ; when they are in great danger, I recover them.
2 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act I

As proper men as ever trod upon neat's leather have

gone upon my handiwork.
FLAV. But wherefore art not in thy shop to-day?
Why dost thou lead these men about the streets ?
SEC. COM. Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get
myself into more work. But, indeed , sir, we make holiday
to see Cæsar and to rejoice in his triumph. 32
MAR. Wherefore rejoice ? What conquest brings he
home ?
What tributaries follow him to Rome,
To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels?
You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things !
O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
Knew you not Pompey ? Many a time and oft
Have you climbed up to walls and battlements,
To towers and windows, yea, to chimney-tops, 40
Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
The live-long day, with patient expectation,
To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome :
And when you saw his chariot but appear,
Have you not made an universal shout,
That Tiber trembled underneath her banks,
To hear the replication of your sounds
Made in her concave shores ?
And do you now put on your best attire ?
And do you now cull out a holiday? 50
And do you now strew flowers in his way
That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood ?
Be gone ;
Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague
That needs must light on this ingratitude.
FLAV. Go, go, good countrymen , and , for this fault,
Assemble all the poor men of your sort ;
Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears
Into the channel, till the lowest stream 60
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.
[Exeunt all the Commoners.
See, whe'er their basest metal be not moved ;
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness.
Go you down that way towards the Capitol ;
This way will I disrobe the images,
If you do find them decked with ceremonies.
Scene 2] JULIUS CÆSAR. 3
MAR. May we do so ?
You know it is the feast of Lupercal.
FLAV. It is no matter ; let no images
Be hung with Cæsar's trophies. I'll about, 70
And drive away the vulgar from the streets :
So do you too, where you perceive them thick.
These growing feathers plucked from Cæsar's wing
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch,
Who else would soar above the view of men
And keep us all in servile fearfulness. [Exeunt.

SCENE II. A public place.

Flourish. Enter CESAR ; ANTONY, for the course;
CALPURNIA, PORTIA, DECIUS, CICERO, BRUTUS ,
CASSIUS, and CASCA ; a great crowd following, among
them a Soothsayer.
CES. Calpurnia !
CASCA. Peace, ho ! Cæsar speaks.
CES. Calpurnia !
CAL. Here, my lord.
CES. Stand you directly in Antonius' way,
When he doth run his course. Antonius !
ANT. Cæsar, my lord ?
CES. Forget not, in your speed , Antonius,
To touch Calpurnia ; for our elders say,
The barren, touched in this holy chase,
Shake off their sterile curse.
ANT. I shall remember :
When Cæsar says Do this, it is performed. 10
CES. Set on ; and leave no ceremony out. [Flourish.
SOOTH. Cæsar !
CES. Ha ! who calls ?
CASCA. Bid every noise be still : peace yet again !
CES. Who is it in the press that calls on me ?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry Casar! Speak ; Cæsar is turned to hear.
SOOTH. Beware the ides of March.
CES. What man is that?
BRU. A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
CES. Set him before me ; let me see his face. 20
CAS. Fellow, come from the throng ; look upon Cæsar.
 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act I

CES. What say'st thou to me now ? speak once again.

SOOTH. Beware the ides of March.
CAS. He is a dreamer ; let us leave him : pass.
[Sennet. Exeunt. Manent BRUTUS & CASSIUS.
CAS. Will you go see the order of the course ?
BRU. Not I.
CAS. I pray you, do.
BRU. I am not gamesome : I do lack some part
Of that quick spirit that is in Antony.
Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires ; 30
I'll leave you .
CAS. Brutus, I do observe you now of late :
I have not from your eyes that gentleness
And show of love as I was wont to have :
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand
Over your friend that loves you .
BRU. Cassius,
Be not deceived : if I have veiled my look,
I turn the trouble of my countenance
Merely upon myself. Vexed I am
Of late with passions of some difference, 40
Conceptions only proper to myself,
Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviours ;
But let not therefore my good friends be grieved
Among which number, Cassius, be you one
Nor construe any further my neglect,
Than that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
Forgets the shows of love to other men.
CAS. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion ;
By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried
Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations. 50
Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face ?
BRU. No, Cassius ; for the eye sees not itself,
But by reflection by some other things.
CAS. 'Tis just :
And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
That you have no such mirrors as will turn
Your hidden worthiness into your eye,
That you might see your shadow. I have heard,
Where many of the best respect in Rome,
Except immortal Cæsar, speaking of Brutus 60
And groaning underneath this age's yoke,
Have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes.
Scene 2] JULIUS CÆSAR. 5
BRU. Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
That you would have me seek into myself
For that which is not in me?
CAS. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear :
And since you know you cannot see yourself
So well as by reflection, I , your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourself
That of yourself which you yet know not of. 70
And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus :
Were I a common laughter, or did use
To stale with ordinary oaths my love
To every new protester ; if you know
That I do fawn on men and hug them hard
And after scandal them ; or if you know
That I profess myself in banqueting
To all the rout, then hold me dangerous.
[Flourish and shout.
BRU. What means this shouting ? I do fear, the people
Choose Cæsar for their king.
CAS. Ay, do you fear it ? 80
Then must I think you would not have it so.
BRU. I would not, Cassius ; yet I love him well.
But wherefore do you hold me here so long ?
What is it that you would impart to me ?
If it be aught toward the general good ,
Set honour in one eye and death i' th' other,
And I will look on both indifferently,
For let the gods so speed me as I love
The name of honour more than I fear death.
CAS. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, 90
As well as I do know your outward favour.
Well, honour is the subject of my story.
I cannot tell what you and other men
Think of this life ; but, for my single self,
I had as lief not be as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself.
I was born free as Cæsar ; so were you :
We both have fed as well, and we can both
Endure the winter's cold as well as he :
For once, upon a raw and gusty day, 100
The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,
Cæsar said to me, Darest thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angryfiood,
6 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act I

And swim to yonder point ? Upon the word,

Accoutred as I was, I plunged in
And bade him follow ; so indeed he did.
The torrent roared, and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside
And stemming it with hearts of controversy ;
But ere we could arrive the point proposed, IIO
Cæsar cried, Help me, Cassius, or I sink.
I, as Æneas our great ancestor
Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder
The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber
Did I the tired Cæsar : and this man
Is now become a god, and Cassius is
A wretched creature and must bend his body,
If Cæsar carelessly but nod on him.
He had a fever when he was in Spain,
And when the fit was on him, I did mark 120
How he did shake : 'tis true, this god did shake :
His coward lips did from their colour fly,
And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world
Did lose his lustre : I did hear him groan :
Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans
Mark him and write his speeches in their books,
Alas, it cried, Give me some drink, Titinius,
As a sick girl. Ye gods ! it doth amaze me
A man of such a feeble temper should
So get the start of the majestic world 130
And bear the palm alone. [Shout. Flourish.
BRU. Another general shout ?
I do believe that these applauses are
For some new honours that are heaped on Cæsar.
CAS. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates :
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 140
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus and Cæsar : what should be in that Cæsar?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours ?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name ;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well ;
Weigh them, it is as heavy ; con ire with ' em ,
Scene 2] JULIUS CÆSAR. 7
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Cæsar.
Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Cæsar feed,
That he is grown so great ? Age, thou art shamed ! 150
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods !
When went there by an age, since the great flood,
But it was famed with more than with one man ?
When could they say till now, that talked of Rome,
That her wide walls encompassed but one man ?
Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough,
When there is in it but one only man.
O, you and I have heard our fathers say,
There was a Brutus once that would have brooked
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome 160
As easily as a king.
BRU. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous ;
What you would work me to, I have some aim :
How I have thought of this and of these times,
I shall recount hereafter ; for this present,
I would not, so with love I might entreat you,
Be any further moved. What you have said
I will consider ; what you have to say
I will with patience hear, and find a time
Both meet to hear and answer such high things. 170
Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this :
Brutus had rather be a villager
Than to repute himself a son of Rome
Under these hard conditions as this time
Is like to lay upon us.
CAS. I am glad that my weak words
Have struck but thus much show of fire from Brutus.

Re-enter CESAR and his Train.

BRU. The games are done and Cæsar is returning.
CAS. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve ;
And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you 180
What hath proceeded worthy note to-day.
BRU. I will do so. But, look you, Cassius,
The angry spot doth glow on Cæsar's brow,
And all the rest look like a chidden train :
Calpurnia's cheek is pale ; and Cicero
Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes
8 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act I

As we have seen him in the Capitol,

Being crossed in conference by some senators.
CAS. Casca will tell us what the matter is.
CES. Antonius ! 190
ANT. Cæsar?
CES. Let me have men about me that are fat :
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights :
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look ;
He thinks too much such men are dangerous.
ANT. Fear him not, Cæsar ; he's not dangerous ;
He is a noble Roman and well given.
CES. Would he were fatter. But I fear him not :
Yet if my name were liable to fear,
I do not know the man I should avoid 200
So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much ;
He is a great observer and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men ; he loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antony ; he hears no music ;
Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
As if he mocked himself and scorned his spirit
That could be moved to smile at any thing.
Such men as he be never at heart's ease
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
And therefore are they very dangerous. 210
I rather tell thee what is to be feared
Than what I fear ; for always I am Cæsar.
Come on my right hand , for this ear is deaf,
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him.
[Sennet. Exeunt CESAR and his Train. Manet Casca.
CASCA. You pulled me by the cloak ; would you speak
with me ?
BRU. Ay, Casca ; tell us what hath chanced to-day,
That Cæsar looks so sad.
CASCA. Why, you were with him, were you not ? 219
BRU. I should not then ask Casca what had chanced.
CASCA. Why, there was a crown offered him : and being
offered him, he put it by with the back of his hand, thus ;
and then the people fell a-shouting.
BRU. What was the second noise for ?
CASCA. Why, for that too.
CAS. They shouted thrice ; what was the last cry for?
CASCA. Why, for that too.
BRU. Was the crown offered him thrice ?
Scene 2] JULIUS CESAR. 9

CASCA. Ay, marry, was 't, and he put it by thrice, every

time gentler than other, and at every putting-by mine
honest neighbours shouted. 231
CAS. Who offered him the crown ?
CASCA. Why, Antony.
BRU. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca.
CASCA. I can as well be hanged as tell the manner of
it it was mere foolery ; I did not mark it. I saw Mark
Antony offer him a crown ;—yet 't was not a crown neither,
'twas one of these coronets ; —and, as I told you, he put
it by once but, for all that, to my thinking, he would fain
have had it. Then he offered it to him again ; then he
put it by again : but, to my thinking, he was very loath to
lay his fingers off it. And then he offered it the third
time ; he put it the third time by and still as he refused
it, the rabblement hooted and clapped their chopt hands
and threw up their sweaty nightcaps, and uttered such a
deal of stinking breath because Cæsar refused the crown,
that it had almost choked Cæsar ; for he swounded and
fell down at it : and for mine own part, I durst not laugh,
for fear of opening my lips and receiving the bad air. 249
CAS. But, soft, I pray you : what, did Cæsar swound ?
CASCA. He fell down in the market-place, and foamed
at mouth, and was speechless.
BRU. 'Tis very like : he hath the falling sickness.
CAS. No, Cæsar hath it not ; but you and I
And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness.
CASCA. I know not what you mean by that ; but, I am
sure, Cæsar fell down. If the tag-rag people did not clap
him and hiss him, according as he pleased and displeased
them, as they use to do the players in the theatre, Î am no
true man. 260
BRU. What said he when he came unto himself?
CASCA. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceived
the common herd was glad he refused the crown , he
plucked me ope his doublet and offered them his throat to
cut. And I had been a man of any occupation, if I
would not have taken him at a word, I would I might go
to hell among the rogues. And so he fell. When he came
to himself again, he said, If he had done or said any thing
amiss, he desired their worships to think it was his in
firmity. Three or four wenches, where I stood, cried,
Alas, good soul, and forgave him with all their hearts :
10 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act I

but there's no heed to be taken of them ; if Cæsar had

stabbed their mothers, they would have done no less. 273
·BRU. And after that, he came, thus sad, away?
CASCA. Ay.
CAS. Did Cicero say any thing ?
CASCA. Ay, he spoke Greek.
CAS. To what effect ? 278
CASCA. Nay, and I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i'
th' face again : but those that understood him smiled at
one another and shook their heads ; but, for mine own
part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you more news
too Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs off Cæsar's
images, are put to silence. Fare you well . There was
more foolery yet, if I could remember it.
CAS. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca ?
CASCA. No, I am promised forth.
CAS. Will you dine with me to-morrow ?
CASCA. Ay, if I be alive and your mind hold and your
dinner worth the eating. 290
CAS. Good : I will expect you.
CASCA. Do so. Farewell both . [Exit.
BRU. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be !
He was quick mettle when he went to school.
CAS. So is he now in execution
Of any bold or noble enterprise,
However he puts on this tardy form .
This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit,
Which gives men stomach to disgest his words
With better appetite. 300
BRU. And so it is. For this time I will leave you :
To-morrow, if you please to speak with me,
I will come home to you ; or, if you will,
Come home to me, and I will wait for you.
CAS. I will do so : till then, think of the world.
[Exit BRUTUS.
Well, Brutus, thou art noble ; yet, I see,
Thy honourable metal may be wrought
From that it is disposed : therefore it is meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes ;
For who so firm that cannot be seduced ? 310
Cæsar doth bear me hard ; but he loves Brutus :
If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius,
He should not humour me. I will this night,
Scene 3] JULIUS CÆSAR . II

In several hands, in at his windows throw,

As if they came from several citizens ,
Writings all tending to the great opinion
That Rome holds of his name ; wherein obscurely
Cæsar's ambition shall be glanced at :
And after this let Cæsar seat him sure ; 319
For we will shake him, or worse days endure. [Exit.

SCENE III. The same. A street.

Thunder and lightning. Enter, from opposite sides,
CASCA, with his sword drawn, and CICERO.
CIC. Good even, Casca : brought you Cæsar home ?
Why are you breathless ? and why stare you so ?
CASCA. Are not you moved, when all the sway of earth
Shakes like a thing unfirm ? O Cicero,
I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds
Have rived the knotty oaks, and I have seen
Th' ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam,
To be exalted with the threatening clouds :
But never till to-night, never till now,
Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. IO
Either there is a civil strife in heaven,
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods,
Incenses them to send destruction.
CIC. Why, saw you anything more wonderful ?
CASCA. A common slave, you know him well by sight,
Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn
Like twenty torches joined, and yet his hand,
Not sensible of fire, remained unscorched.
Besides I ha' not since put up my sword
Against the Capitol I met a lion, 20
Who glazed upon me, and went surly by,
Without annoying me : and there were drawn
Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women,
Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw
Men all in fire walk up and down the streets.
And yesterday the bird of night did sit
Even at noon-day upon the market-place,
Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies
Do so conjointly meet, let not men say
These are their reasons ; they are natural ; 30
12 JULIUS CESAR. [Act I
For, I believe, they are portentous things
Unto the climate that they point upon.
CIC. Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time :
But men may construe things after their fashion,
Clean from the purpose of the things themselves.
Comes Cæsar to the Capitol to-morrow ?
CASCA. He doth ; for he did bid Antonius
Send word to you he would be there to-morrow.
CIC. Good-night then, Casca : this disturbed sky 39
Is not to walk in.
CASCA. Farewell, Cicero. [Exit CICERO.
Enter CASSIUS.
CAS. Who's there ?
CASCA. A Roman.
CAS. Casca, by your voice.
CASCA. Your ear is good. Cassius, what night is this !
CAS. A very pleasing night to honest men.
CASCA. Who ever knew the heavens menace so ?
CAS. Those that have known the earth so full of faults.
For my part, I have walked about the streets,
Submitting me unto the perilous night,
And thus unbraced, Casca, as you see,
Have bared my bosom to the thunder-stone ;
And when the cross blue lightning seemed to open 50
The breast of heaven, I did present myself
Even in the aim and very flash of it.
CASCA. But wherefore did you so much tempt the
heavens ?
It is the part of men to fear and tremble,
When the most mighty gods by tokens send
Such dreadful heralds to astonish us.
CAS. You are dull, Casca, and those sparks of life
That should be in a Roman you do want,
Or else you use not. You look pale and gaze
And put on fear and cast yourself in wonder, 60
To see the strange impatience of the heavens :
But if you would consider the true cause
Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts,
Why birds and beasts from quality and kind,
Why old men fool and children calculate,
Why all these things change from their ordinance
Their natures and preformed faculties,
Scene 3] JULIUS CESAR . 13
To monstrous quality, why, you shall find
That heaven hath infused them with these spirits,
To make them instruments of fear and warning 70
Unto some monstrous state.
Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man
Most like this dreadful night,
That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars
As doth the lion in the Capitol,
A man no mightier than thyself or me
In personal action, yet prodigious grown
And fearful, as these strange eruptions are.
CASCA. 'Tis Cæsar that you mean ; is it not, Cassius ?
CAS. Let it be who it is : for Romans now 80
Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors ;
But, woe the while, our fathers' minds are dead,
And we are governed with our mothers' spirits ;
Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish.
CASCA. Indeed, they say the senators to-morrow
Mean to establish Cæsar as a king ;
And he shall wear his crown by sea and land,
In every place, save here in Italy.
CAS. I know where I will wear this dagger then ;
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius : 90
Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong ;
Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat :
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit ;
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
If I know this, know all the world besides,
That part of tyranny that I do bear
I can shake off at pleasure. [Thunder still.
CASCA. So can I : 100
So every bondman in his own hand bears
The power to cancel his captivity.
CAS. And why should Cæsar be a tyrant then ?
Poor man ! I know he would not be a wolf,
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep :
He were no lion, were not Romans hinds.
Those that with haste will make a mighty fire
Begin it with weak straws : what trash is Rome,
What rubbish and what offal, when it serves
с
14 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act I. s. 3
For the base matter, to illuminate 110
So vile a thing as Cæsar ! But, O grief,
Where hast thou led me ? I perhaps speak this
Before a willing bondman ; then I know
My answer must be made. But I am armed,
And dangers are to me indifferent.
CASCA. You speak to Casca, and to such a man
That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold, my hand :
Be factious for redress of all these griefs ,
And I will set this foot of mine as far
As who goes farthest.
CAS. There's a bargain made. 120
Now know you, Casca, I have moved already
Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans
To undergo with me an enterprise
Of honourable-dangerous consequence ;
And I do know, by this they stay for me
In Pompey's porch for now, this fearful night,
There is no stir or walking in the streets ;
And the complexion of the element
Is feverous like the work we have in hand,
Most bloody-fiery, and most terrible. 130
Enter CINNA.
CASCA. Stand close awhile, for here comes one in haste.
CAS. 'Tis Cinna ; I do know him by his gait ;
He is a friend. Cinna, where haste you so ?
CIN. To find out you. Who's that ? Metellus Cimber?
CAS. No, it is Casca ; one incorporate
To our attempts. Am I not stayed for, Cinna ?
CIN. I am glad on 't. What a fearful night is this !
There's two or three of us have seen strange sights.
CAS. Am I not stayed for ? tell me.
CIN. Yes, you are.
O Cassius, if you could 140
But win the noble Brutus to our party
CAS. Be you content : good Cinna, take this paper,
And look you lay it in the prætor's chair,
Where Brutus may but find it ; and throw this
In at his window ; set this up with wax
Upon old Brutus' statue : all this done,
Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us.
Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there ?
Act II. s. 1] JULIUS CÆSAR. 15
CIN. All but Metellus Cimber ; and he's gone
To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie, 150
And so bestow these papers as you bade me.
CAS. That done, repair to Pompey's theatre.
[Exit CINNA.
Come, Casca, you and I will yet ere day
See Brutus at his house : three parts of him
Is ours already, and the man entire
Upon the next encounter yields him ours.
CASCA. O, he sits high in all the people's hearts :
And that which would appear offence in us,
His countenance, like richest alchemy,
Will change to virtue and to worthiness . 160
CAS. Him and his worth and our great need of him
You have right well conceited. Let us go,
For it is after midnight ; and ere day
We will awake him and be sure of him. [Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I. Rome. BRUTUS' orchard.

Enter BRUTUS.
BRU. What, Lucius, ho !
I cannot, by the progress of the stars,
Give guess how near to day. Lucius, I say !
I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly.
When, Lucius, when ? awake, I say : what, Lucius !
Enter LUCIUS.
Luc. Called you, my lord ?
BRU. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius :
When it is lighted , come and call me here.
Luc. I will, my lord. [Exit.
BRU. It must be by his death and for my part, 10
I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
But for the general. He would be crowned :
How that might change his nature, there's the question.
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder,
And that craves wary walking. Crown him ?-that ; -
And then, I grant, we put a sting in him,
That at his will he may do danger with.
16 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act II

The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins

Remorse from power : and, to speak truth of Cæsar,
I have not known when his affections swayed 20
More than his reason. But 't is a common proof,
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face ;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds , scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend : so Cæsar may ;
Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus ; that what he is, augmented, 30
Would run to these and these extremities :
And therefore think him as a serpent's egg
Which, hatched, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.
Re-enter LUCIUS.
LUC. The taper burneth in your closet, sir.
Searching the window for a flint I found
This paper thus sealed up, and I am sure
It did not lie there when I went to bed.
[Gives him the letter.
BRU. Get you to bed again ; it is not day.
Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March ? 40
LUC. I know not, sir.
BRU. Look in the calendar, and bring me word.
Luc. I will, sir. [Exit.
BRU. The exhalations whizzing in the air
Give so much light that I may read by them.
[Opens the letter and reads.
"Brutus, thou sleep'st : awake, and see thyself.
Shall Rome, & c. Speak, strike, redress !”
Brutus, thou sleep'st : awake !
Such instigations have been often dropped
Where I have took them up. 50
Shall Rome, & c. Thus must I piece it out :
Shall Rome stand under one man's awe ? What, Rome ?
My ancestors did from the streets of Rome
The Tarquin drive, when he was called a king.
Speak, strike, redress ! Am I entreated
To speak and strike ? O Rome, I make thee promise,
 147
Scene 1] JULIUS CÆSAR.

If the redress will follow, thou receivest

Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus !
Re-enter LUCIUS.
Luc. Sir, March is wasted fourteen days.
[Knocking within.
BRU. 'Tis good. Go to the gate ; somebody knocks. 60
[Exit LUCIUS.
Since Cassius first did whet me against Cæsar,
I have not slept.
Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream :
The Genius and the mortal instruments
Are then in council ; and the state of a man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.
Re-enter LUCIUS.
LUC. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door, 70
Who doth desire to see you.
BRU. Is he alone ?
Luc. No, sir, there are moe with him.
BRU. Do you know them ?
Luc. No, sir ; their hats are plucked about their ears,
And half their faces buried in their cloaks,
That by no means I may discover them
By any mark of favour.
BRU. Let 'em enter. [Exit LUCIUS.
They are the faction . O conspiracy,
Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night,
When evils are most free ? O, then by day
Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough So
To mask thy monstrous visage ? Seek none, conspiracy ;
Hide it in smiles and affability :
For if thou path, thy native semblance on,
Not Erebus itself were dim enough
To hide thee from prevention.
Enter the Conspirators, CASSIUS, CASCA, Decius,
CINNA, METELLUS CIMBER, and TREBONIUS.
CAS. I think we are too bold upon your rest :
Good-morrow, Brutus ; do we trouble you ?
18 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act II

BRU. I have been up this hour, awake all night.

Know I these men that come along with you ?
CAS. Yes, every man of them : and no man here 90
But honours you ; and every one doth wish
You had but that opinion of yourself
Which every noble Roman bears of you.
This is Trebonius.
BRU. He is welcome hither.
CAS. This, Decius Brutus.
BRU. He is welcome too.
CAS. This, Casca ; this, Cinna ; and this , Metellus
Cimber.
BRU. They are all welcome.
What watchful cares do interpose themselves
Betwixt your eyes and night ?
CAS. Shall I entreat a word ? 100
[They whisper.
DEC. Here lies the east : doth not the day break here ?
CASCA. No.
CIN. O, pardon, sir, it doth ; and yon gray lines
That fret the clouds are messengers of day.
CASCA. You shall confess that you are both deceived.
Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises,
Which is a great way growing on the south,
Weighing the youthful season of the year.
Some two months hence up higher toward the north
He first presents his fire ; and the high east IIO
Stands, as the Capitol, directly here.
BRU. Give me your hands all over, one by one.
CAS. And let us swear our resolution.
BRU. No, not an oath : if not the face of men,
The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,
If these be motives weak, break off betimes,
And every man hence to his idle bed ;
So let high-sighted tyranny range on,
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these,
As I am sure they do, bear fire enough 120
To kindle cowards and to steel with valour
The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen,
What need we any spur but our own cause,
To prick us to redress ? what other bond
Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word,
And will not palter ? nd what ther oath
Scene 1] JULIUS CÆSAR. 19

Than honesty to honesty engaged,

That this shall be, or we will fall for it ?
Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous,
Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls 130
That welcome wrongs ; unto bad causes swear
Such creatures as men doubt ; but do not stain
The even virtue of our enterprise,
Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits,
To think that or our cause or our performance
Did need an oath ; when every drop of blood
That every Roman bears, and nobly bears.
Is guilty of a several bastardy,
If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath passed from him. 140
CAS. But what of Cicero ? shall we sound him ?
I think he will stand very strong with us.
CASCA. Let us not leave him out.
CIN. No, by no means.
MET. O, let us have him , for his silver hairs
Will purchase us a good opinion
And buy men's voices to commend our deeds :
It shall be said, his judgement ruled our hands ;
Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear,
But all be buried in his gravity.
BRU. O , name him not let us not break with him :
For he will never follow any thing 151
That other men begin.
CAS. Then leave him out.
CASCA. Indeed he is not fit.
DEC. Shall no man else be touched but only Cæsar ?
CAS. Decius, well urged : I think it is not meet,
Mark Antony, so well beloved of Cæsar,
Should outlive Cæsar : we shall find of him
A shrewd contriver ; and, you know, his means,
If he improve them, may well stretch so far
As to annoy us all which to prevent, 160
Let Antony and Cæsar fall together.
BRU. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius ,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards ;
For Antony is but a limb of Cæsar :
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar ;
20 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act II

And in the spirit of men there is no blood :

O, that we then could come by Cæsar's spirit,
And not dismember Cæsar ! But, alas, 170
Cæsar must bleed for it ! And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully ;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcase fit for hounds :
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make,
Our purpose necessary and not envious :
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be called purgers, not murderers. 180
And for Mark Antony, think not of him ;
For he can do no more than Cæsar's arm
When Cæsar's head is off.
CAS. Yet I fear him ;
For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæsar
BRU. Alas , good Cassius, do not think of him :
If he love Cæsar, all that he can do
Is to himself, take thought and die for Cæsar :
And that were much he should ; for he is given
To sports, to wildness, and much company.
TREB. There is no fear in him ; let him not die ; 190
For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter. [ Clock strikes.
BRU. Peace ! count the clock.
CAS. The clock hath stricken three.
TREB. 'Tis time to part.
CAS. But it is doubtful yet,
Whether Cæsar will come forth to-day, or no ;
For he is superstitious grown of late,
Quite from the main opinion he held once
Öf fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies :
It may be, these apparent prodigies,
The unaccustomed terror of this night,
And the persuasion of his augurers, 200
May hold him from the Capitol to-day.
DEC. Never fear that if he be so resolved,
I can o'ersway him ; for he loves to hear
That unicorns may be betrayed with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils and men with flatterers ;
But when I tell him he hates erers ,
Scene 1] JULIUS CÆSAR. 21

He says he does, being then most flattered.

Let me work ;
For I can give his humour the true bent, 210
And I will bring him to the Capitol.
CAS. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.
BRU. By the eighth hour : is that the uttermost ?
CIN. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.
MET. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæsar hard,
Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey :
I wonder none of you have thought of him.
BRU. Now, good Metellus, go along by him :
He loves me well, and I have given him reasons ;
Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him. 220
CAS. The morning comes upon 's : we'll leave you ,
Brutus.
And, friends, disperse yourselves ; but all remember
What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.
BRU. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily ;
Let not our looks put on our purposes,
But bear it as our Roman actors do,
With untired spirits and formal constancy :
And so good morrow to you every one.
[ Exeunt. Manet BRUTUS.
Boy ! Lucius ! Fast asleep ? It is no matter ;
Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber : 230
Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies,
Which busy care draws in the brains of men ;
Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.
Enter PORTIA.
POR. Brutus, my lord !
BRU. Portia, what mean you ? wherefore rise you now?
It is not for your health thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw cold morning.
POR. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus,
Stole from my bed and yesternight, at supper,
You suddenly arose, and walked about,
Musing and sighing, with your arms across, 240
And when I asked you what the matter was,
You stared upon me with ungentle looks ;
I urged you further ; then you scratched your head,
And too impatiently stamped with your foot ;
Yet I insisted, yet you answered not,
22 JULIUS CESAR. [Act II
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
Gave sign for me to leave you so I did ;
Fearing to strengthen that impatience
Which seemed too much enkindled , and withal
Hoping it was but an effect of humour, 250
Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep,
And could it work so much upon your shape
As it hath much prevailed on your condition,
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.
BRU. I am not well in health, and that is all.
POR. Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health,
He would embrace the means to come by it.
BRU. Why, so I do. Good Portia, go to bed. 260
POR. Is Brutus sick ? and is it physical
To walk unbraced and suck up the humours
Of the dank morning ? What, is Brutus sick,
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed,
To dare the vile contagion of the night
And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
To add unto his sickness ? No, my Brutus ;
You have some sick offence within your mind,
Which, by the right and virtue of my place,
I ought to know of : and , upon my knees, 270
I charm you, by my once commended beauty,
By all your vows of love and that great vow
Which did incorporate and make us one,
That you unfold to me, yourself, your half,
Why you are heavy, and what men to-night
Have had resort to you for here have been
Some six or seven, who did hide their faces
Even from darkness .
BRU. Kneel not, gentle Portia.
POR. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus.
Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, 280
Is it excepted I should know no secrets
That appertain to you ? Am I yourself
But, as it were, in sort or limitation,
To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,
And talk to you sometimes ? Dwell I but in the suburbs
Of your good pleasure ? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.
Scene 1] JULIUS CÆSAR. 23
BRU. You are my true and honourable wife,
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart. 290
POR. If this were true, then should I know this secret.
I grant I am a woman ; but withal
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife :
I grant I am a woman ; but withal
A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter.
Think you I am no stronger than my sex ,
Being so fathered and so husbanded ?
Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em :
I have made strong proof of my constancy ,
Giving myself a voluntary wound 300
Here in the thigh : can I bear that with patience,
And not my husband's secrets ?
BRU. O ye gods,
Render me worthy of this noble wife ! [Knocking within.
Hark, hark ! one knocks : Portia, go in awhile ;
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements I will construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brows :
Leave me with haste. [Exit PORTIA.]
Re-enter LUCIUS followed by LIGARIUS.
Lucius, who's that knocks ?
Luc. Here is a sick man that would speak with you.
BRU. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of. 311
Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius ! how ?
LIG. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue.
BRU. O, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius,
To wear a kerchief ! Would you were not sick !
LIG. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand
Any exploit worthy the name of honour.
BRU. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius,
Had you a healthful ear to hear of it.
LIG. By all the gods that Romans bow before, 320
I here discard my sickness ! Soul of Rome !
Brave son, derived from honourable loins !
Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjured up
My mortified spirit. Now bid me run,
And I will strive with things impossible ;
Yea, get the better of them. What's to do ?
24 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act II

BRU. A piece of work that will make sick men whole.

LIG. But are not some whole that we must make sick ?
BRU. That must we also. What it is, my Caius,
I shall unfold to thee, as we are going 330
To whom it must be done.
LIG. Set on your foot,
And with a heart new-fired I follow you,
To do kn not what but it sufficeth
That Brutus leads me on. [Thunder.
BRU. Follow me, then. [Exeunt.

SCENE II. The same. A room in CÆSAR'S house.

Thunder and lightning. Enter CESAR, in his nightgown.
CAS. Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to- night :
Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out,
Help, ho ! they murder Cæsar ! Who's within ?
Enter a Servant.
SERV. My lord ?
CES. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice
And bring me their opinions of success.
SERV. I will, my lord. [Exit.
Enter CALPURNIA.
CAL. What mean you , Cæsar ? think you to walk forth ?
You shall not stir out of your house to-day.
CES. Cæsar shall forth : the things that threatened me
Ne'er looked but on my back ; when they shall see II
The face of Cæsar, they are vanished .
CAL. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies,
Yet now they fright me. There is one within,
Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.
A lioness hath whelped in the streets ;
And graves have yawned, and yielded up their dead ;
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, 20
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol ;
The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
Scene 2] JULIUS CÆSAR. 25
O Cæsar ! these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them.
CES. What can be avoided
Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods ?
Yet Cæsar shall go forth ; for these predictions
Are to the world in general as to Cæsar.
CAL. When beggars die, there are no comets seen ; 30
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
CES. Cowards die many times before their deaths ;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear ;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.

Re-enter Servant.
What say the augurers ?
SERV. They would not have you to stir forth to-day.
Plucking the entrails of an offering forth,
They could not find a heart within the beast. 40
CAS. The gods do this in shame of cowardice :
Cæsar should be a beast without a heart,
If he should stay at home to-day for fear.
No, Cæsar shall not : danger knows full well
That Cæsar is more dangerous than he :
We are two lions littered in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible :
And Cæsar shall go forth.
CAL. Alas, my lord,
Your wisdom is consumed in confidence.
Do not go forth to-day : call it my fear 50
That keeps you in the house, and not your own.
We'll send Mark Antony to the senate-house ;
And he shall say you are not well to-day :
Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.
CES. Mark Antony shall say I am not well ;
And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.

Enter DECIUS.
Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so.
DEC. Cæsar, all hail ! good morrow, worthy Cæsar :
I come to fetch you to the senate-house.
 =
26 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act II
CES. And you are come in very happy time, 60
To bear my greeting to the senators
And tell them that I will not come to-day :
Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser :
I will not come to-day : tell them so, Decius.
CAL. Say he is sick.
CES. Shall Cæsar send a lie ?
Have I in conquest stretched mine arm so far,
To be afeard to tell graybeards the truth ?
Decius, go tell them Cæsar will not come.
DEC. Most mighty Cæsar, let me know some cause,
Lest I be laughed at when I tell them so. 70
CAS. The cause is in my will : I will not come ;
That is enough to satisfy the senate.
But for your private satisfaction,
Because I love you , I will let you know :
Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home :
She dreamt to-night she saw my statuë,
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
Did run pure blood ; and many lusty Romans
Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it :
And these does she apply for warnings, and portents, 80
And evils imminent ; and on her knee
Hath begged that I will stay at home to-day.
DEC. This dream is all amiss interpreted ;
It was a vision fair and fortunate :
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
In which so many smiling Romans bathed,
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press
For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.
This by Calpurnia's dream is signified.
CAS. And this way have you well expounded it.
DEC. I have, when you have heard what I can say :
And know it now : the senate have concluded
To give this day a crown to mighty Cæsar.
If you shall send them word you will not come,
Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock
Apt to be rendered, for some one to say
Break up the senate till another time,
When Casar's wife shall meet with better dreams.
If Cæsar hide himself, shall they not whisper 100
Lo, Cæsar is afraid?
Scene 3] JULIUS CÆSAR. 27

Pardon me, Cæsar ; for my dear dear love

To your proceeding bids me tell you this,
And reason to my love is liable.
CAS. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia !
I am ashamed I did yield to them.
Give me my robe, for I will go.
Enter PUBLIUS, BRUTUS , LIGARIUS, METellus,
CASCA, TREBONIUS, and CINNA.
And look where Publius is come to fetch me.
PUB. Good morrow, Cæsar.
CES. Welcome, Publius,
What, Brutus, are you stirred so early too ? IIO
Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius,
Cæsar was ne'er so much your enemy
As that same ague which hath made you lean.
What is 't a-clock ?
BRU. Cæsar, 'tis strucken eight.
ES. I thank you for your pains and courtesy.
Enter ANTONY.
See ! Antony, that revels long a-nights,
Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony.
ANT. So to most noble Cæsar.
CES. Bid them prepare within :
I am to blame to be thus waited for.
Now, Cinna : now, Metellus : what, Trebonius ! 120
I have an hour's talk in store for you ;
Remember that you call on me to-day :
Be near me, that I may remember you.
TREB. Cæsar, I will : [Aside] and so near will I be,
That your best friends shall wish I had been further.
CES. Good friends, go in , and taste some wine with me ;
And we, like friends, will straightway go together.
BRU. [Aside] That every like is not the same, O Cæsar,
The heart of Brutus earns to think upon ! [Exeunt.
SCENE III. The same. A street near the Capitol.
Enter ARTEMIDORUS , reading a paper.
ART. " Cæsar, beware ofBrutus; take heed of Cassius;
come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna ; trust not
Trebonius; mark well Metellus Cimber : Decius Brutus
28 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act II. s. 4

loves thee not: thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius. There

is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against
Cæsar. If thou beest not immortal, look about you;
security gives way to conspiracy. The mighty gods
defend thee! Thy lover, ARTEMIDORUS."
Here will I stand till Cæsar pass along, II
And as a suitor will I give him this.
My heart laments that virtue cannot live
Out of the teeth of emulation.
If thou read this, O Cæsar, thou mayst live ;
If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive. [Exit.

SCENE IV. Another part of the same street, before the

house of BRUTUS.
Enter PORTIA and LUCIUS.
POR. I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house ;
Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone :
dost thou stay ?
LUC. To know my errand, madam.
POR. I would have had thee there, and here again,
Ere I can tell thee what thou shouldst do there.
O constancy, be strong upon my side,
Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue !
I have a man's mind, but a woman's might.
How hard it is for women to keep counsel !
Art thou here yet?
LUC. Madam, what should I do ? IO
Run to the Capitol, and nothing else ?
And so return to you, and nothing else ?
POR. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well,
For he went sickly forth and take good note
What Cæsar doth, what suitors press to him.
Hark, boy ! what noise is that ?
LUC. I hear none, madam.
POR. Prithee, listen well ;
I heard a bustling rumour, like a fray,
And the wind brings it from the Capitol.
LUC. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing. 20
Enter the Soothsayer.
POR. Come hither, fellow : which way hast thou been ?
SOOTH. At mine own house, good lady.
Act III. s. 1] JULIUS CÆSAR. 29

POR. What is 't a-clock ?

SOOTH. About the ninth hour, lady.
POR. Is Cæsar yet gone to the Capitol ?
SOOTH. Madam, not yet : I go to take my stand,
To see him pass on to the Capitol.
POR. Thou hast some suit to Cæsar, hast thou not ?
SOOTH. That I have, lady : if it will please Cæsar
To be so good to Cæsar as to hear me,
I shall beseech him to befriend himself. 30
POR. Why, know'st thou any harm's intended towards
him ?
SOOTH. None that I know will be, much that I fear
may chance.
Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow :
The throng that follows Cæsar at the heels,
Of senators, of prætors, common suitors,
Will crowd a feeble man almost to death :
I'll get me to a place more void, and there
Speak to great Cæsar as he comes along. [Exit.
POR. I must go in. Ay me, how weak a thing
The heart of woman is ! O Brutus, 40
The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise !
Sure, the boy heard me : Brutus hath a suit
That Cæsar will not grant. O, I grow faint.
Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord ;
Say I am merry : come to me again,
And bring me word what he doth say to thee.
[Exeunt severally.
ACT III.
SCENE I. Rome. Before the Capitol ; the Senate
sitting above.
A crowd ofpeople; among them ARTEMIDORUS and the
Soothsayer. Flourish. Enter CESAR, BRUTUS ,
CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS, METELLUS, TREBONIUS,
CINNA, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, POPILIUS , Publius, and
others.
CES. [To the Soothsayer] The ides of March are come.
SOOTH. Ay, Cæsar ; but not gone.
ART. Hail, Cæsar ! read this scedule.
DEC. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read,
At your best leisure, this his humble suit.
D
30 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act III

ART. O Cæsar, read mine first ; for mine's a suit

That touches Cæsar nearer : read it, great Cæsar.
CES. What touches us ourself shall be last served.
ART. Delay not, Cæsar ; read it instantly.
CES. What, is the fellow mad ?
PUB. Sirrah, give place. 10
CAS. What, urge you your petitions in the street ?
Come to the Capitol.
[ CÆSAR goes up to the Senate-House, the restfollowing.
POP. I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive.
CAS. What enterprise, Popilius ?
POP. Fare you well.
[Advances to CÆSAR.
BRU. What said Popilius Lena ?
CAS. He wished to-day our enterprise might thrive.
I fear our purpose is discovered.
BRU. Look, how he makes to Cæsar : mark him.
CAS. Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention.
Brutus, what shall be done ? If this be known, 20
Cassius or Cæsar never shall turn back,
For I will slay myself.
BRU. Cassius, be constant :
Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes ;
For, look, he smiles, and Cæsar doth not change.
CAS. Trebonius knows his time ; for, look you, Brutus,
He draws Mark Antony out of the way.
[Exeunt ANTONY and TREBONIUS.
DEC. Where is Metellus Cimber ? Let him go,
And presently prefer his suit to Cæsar.
BRU. He is addressed : press near and second him.
CIN. Casca, you are the rst that rears your hand. 30
CES. Are we all ready ? What is now amiss.
That Cæsar and his senate must redress ?
MET. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant
Cæsar,
Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat
An humble heart : [Kneeling.
CES. I must prevent thee, Cimber.
These couchings and these lowly courtesies
Might fire the blood of ordinary men,
And turn pre-ordinance and first decree
Into the law of children. Be not fond,
To think that Cæsar bears such rebel blood 40
Scene 1] JULIUS CÆSAR. 31
That will be thawed from the true quality
With that which melteth fools ; I mean, sweet words,
Low-crooked court'sies and base spaniel-fawning.
Thy brother by decree is banished :
If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him,
I spurn thee like a cur out of my way..
Know, Cæsar doth not wrong but with just cause,
Nor without cause will he be satisfied.
MET. Is there no voice more worthy than my own,
To sound more sweetly in great Cæsar's ear 50
For the repealing of my banished brother ?
BRU. I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Cæsar ;
Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may
Have an immediate freedom of repeal.
CES. What, Brutus !
CAS. Pardon, Cæsar ; Cæsar, pardon ;
As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall,
To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber.
CES. I could be well moved, if I were as you ;
If I could pray to move, prayers would move me :
But I am constant as the northern star, 60
Of whose true-fixed and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament.
The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks,
They are all fire and every one doth shine,
But there's but one in all doth hold his place :
So in the world ; 'tis furnished well with men,
And men are flesh and blood , and apprehensive ;
Yet in the number I do know but one
That unassailable holds on his rank,
Unshaked of motion : and that I am he, 70
Let me a little show it, even in this ;
That I was constant Cimber should be banished,
And constant do remain to keep him so.
CIN. O Cæsar,
CES. Hence ! wilt thou lift up Olympus ?
DEC. Great Cæsar,—
CES. Do not Brutus bootless kneel.
CASCA. Speak, hands, for me !
[CASCAfirst, then the other Conspirators and last
MARCUS BRUTUS stab CÆSAR.
CES. Et tu Brute ! Then fall, Cæsar ! [Dies.
CIN. Liberty ! Freedom ! Tyranny is dead !
32 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III

Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets.

CAS. Some to the common pulpits, and cry out 80
Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement !
BRU. People and senators be not affrighted ;
Fly not ; stand still : ambition's debt is paid.
CASCA. Go to the pulpit, Brutus.
DEC. And Cassius too.
BRU. Where's Publius ?
CIN. Here, quite confounded with this mutiny.
MET. Stand fast together, lest some friend of Cæsar's
Should chance
BRU. Talk not of standing. Publius, good cheer ;
There is no harm intended to your person, 90
Nor to no Roman else : so tell them, Publius.
CAS. And leave us, Publius ; lest that the people,
Rushing on us, should do your age some mischief.
BRU. Do so : and let no man abide this deed,
But we the doers.
Re-enter TREBONIUS.
CAS. Where is Antony?
TRE. Fled to his house amazed :
Men , wives and children stare, cry out and run
As it were doomsday.
BRU. Fates, we will know your pleasures :
That we shall die, we know ; 'tis but the time
And drawing days out, that men stand upon. 100
CASCA. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life
Cuts off so many years of fearing death.
BRU. Grant that, and then is death a benefit :
So are we Cæsar's friends , that have abridged
His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop ,
And let us bathe our hands in Cæsar's blood
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords :
Then walk we forth, even to the market-place,
And, waving our red weapons o'er our heads,
Let's all cry Peace, freedom, and liberty ! IIO
CAS. Stoop then, and wash. How many ages hence
Shall this our lofty scene be acted over
In states unborn and accents yet unknown !
BRU. How many times shall Cæsar bleed in sport,
That now on Pompey's basis lies along
No worthier than the dust !
Scene 1] JULIUS CÆSAR. 33
CAS. So oft as that shall be,
So often shall the knot of us be called
The men that gave their country liberty.
DEC. What, shall we forth ?
CAS. Ay, every man away :
Brutus shall lead ; and we will grace his heels 120
With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome.
Enter a Servant.
BRU. Soft ! who comes here ? A friend of Antony's.
SERV. Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel ;
Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down ;
And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say :
Brutus is noble, wise, valiant and honest ;
Cæsar was mighty, bold, royal and loving :
Say I love Brutus, and I honour him ;
Say I feared Cæsar, honoured him and loved him.
If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony 130
May safely come to him, and be resolved
How Cæsar hath deserved to lie in death,
Mark Antony shall not love Cæsar dead
So well as Brutus living ; but will follow
The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus
Thorough the hazards of this untrod state
With all true faith. So says my master Antony.
BRU. Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman ;
I never thought him worse.
Tell him, so please him come unto this place, 140
He shall be satisfied, and, by my honour,
Depart untouched.
SERV. I'll fetch him presently. [Exit.
BRU. I know that we shall have him well to friend.
CAS. I wish we may : but yet have I a mind
That fears him much ; and my misgiving still
Falls shrewdly to the purpose.
BRU. But here comes Antony.
Re-enter ANTONY.
Welcome, Mark Antony.
ANT. O mighty Cæsar ! dost thou lie so low ?
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
Shrunk to this little measure ? Fare thee well. 150
I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
34 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act III

Who else must be let blood, who else is rank :

If I myself, there is no hour so fit
As Cæsar's death's hour, nor no instrument
Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich
With the most noble blood of all this world.
I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard,
Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke,
Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand years,
I shall not find myself so apt to die : 160
No place will please me so, no mean of death,
As here by Cæsar, and by you cut off,
The choice and master spirits of this age.
BRU. O Antony, beg not your death of us.
Though now we must appear bloody and cruel,
As, by our hands and this our present act,
You see we do, yet see you but our hands
And this the bleeding business they have done :
Our hearts you see not ; they are pitiful ;
And pity to the general wrong of Rome 170
As fire drives out fire, so pity pity—
Hath done this deed on Cæsar. For your part,
To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony,
Our arms no strength of malice ; and our hearts
Of brothers' temper do receive you in
With all kind love, good thoughts and reverence.
CAS. Your voice shall be as strong as any man's
In the disposing of new dignities.
BRU. Only be patient till we have appeased
The multitude, beside themselves with fear, 180
And then we will deliver you the cause,
Why I, that did love Cæsar when I strook him,
Have thus proceeded.
ANT. • I doubt not of your wisdom.
Let each man render me his bloody hand :
First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you ;
Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand ;
Now, Decius Brutus, yours ; now yours, Metellus ;
Yours, Cinna ; and, my valiant Casca, yours ;
Though last, not least in love, yours, good Trebonius.
Gentlemen all,-alas, what shall I say ? 190
My credit now stands on such slippery ground,
That one of two bad ways you must conceit me,
Either a coward or a flatterer.
Scene 1] JULIUS CAESAR. 35
That I did love thee, Cæsar, O , 'tis true :
If then thy spirit look upon us now,
Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death,
To see thy Antony making his peace,
Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes,
Most noble ! in the presence of thy corse ?
Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds, 200
Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood,
It would become me better than to close
In terms of friendship with thine enemies.
Pardon me, Julius ! Here wast thou bay'd, brave hart ;
Here didst thou fall, and here thy hunters stand,
Signed in thy spoil, and crimsoned in thy lethe.
O world, thou wast the forest to this hart ;
And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee.
How like a deer, stroken by many princes,
Dost thou here lie ! 210
CAS. Mark Antony,—
ANT. Pardon me, Caius Cassius :
The enemies of Cæsar shall say this ;
Then, in a friend , it is cold modesty.
CAS. I blame you not for praising Cæsar so ;
But what compact mean you to have with us ?
Will you be pricked in number of our friends ;
Or shall we on, and not depend on you ?
ANT. Therefore I took your hands, but was indeed
Swayed from the point, by looking down on Cæsar.
Friends am I with you all and love you all, 220
Upon this hope, that you shall give me reasons
Why and wherein Cæsar was dangerous.
BRU. Or else were this a savage spectacle :
Our reasons are so full of good regard
That were you, Antony, the son of Cæsar,
You should be satisfied.
ANT. That's all I seek :
And am moreover suitor that I may
Produce his body to the market-place ;
And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend,
Speak in the order of his funeral. 230
BRU. You shall, Mark Antony.
CAS. Brutus, a word with you.
[Aside to BRUTUS] You know not what you do : do not
consent
36 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act III

That Antony speak in his funeral :

Know you how much the people may be moved
By that which he will utter ?
BRU. By your pardon ;
I will myself into the pulpit first,
And show the reason of our Cæsar's death :
What Antony shall speak, I will protest
He speaks by leave and by permission,
And that we are contented Cæsar shall 240
Have all true rites and lawful ceremonies.
It shall advantage more than do us wrong.
CAS. I know not what may fall ; I like it not.
BRU. Mark Antony, here, take you Cæsar's body.
You shall not in your funeral speech blame us,
But speak all good you can devise of Cæsar,
And say you do 't by our permission ;
Else shall you not have any hand at all
About his funeral : and you shall speak
In the same pulpit whereto I am going, 250
After my speech is ended.
ANT. Be it so ;
I do desire no more.
BRU. Prepare the body then, and follow us.
[Exeunt. Manet ANTONY.
ANT. 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 lived 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, 260
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 quart'red with the hands of war ;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds :
And Cæsar's spirit, ranging for revenge, 270
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Scene 2] JULIUS CÆSAR. 37

Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war ;

That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.
Enter OCTAVIUS' Servant.
You serve Octavius Cæsar, do you not ?
SERV. I do, Mark Antony
ANT. Cæsar did write for him to come to Rome.
SERV. He did receive his letters, and is coming ;
And bid me say to you by word of mouth 280
O Cæsar ! [Seeingthe body.
ANT. Thy heart is big, get thee apart and weep.
Passion, I see, is catching ; for mine eyes,
Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine,
Began to water. Is thy master coming?
SERV. He lies to-night within seven leagues of Rome.
ANT. Post back with speed, and tell him what hath
chanced :
Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome,
No Rome of safety for Octavius yet ;
Hie hence, and tell him so. Yet, stay awhile ; 290
Thou shalt not back till I have borne this corse
Into the market-place : there shall I try,
In my oration, how the people take
The cruel issue of these bloody men ;
According to the which, thou shalt discourse
To young Octavius of the state of things.
Lend me your hand. [Exeunt with CÆSAR's body.

SCENE II. The same. The Forum.

Enter BRUTUS and CASSIUS, and a throng of Citizens.
CITIZENS. We will be satisfied ; let us be satisfied.
BRU. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends.
Cassius, go you into the other street,
And part the numbers.
Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here ;
Those that will follow Cassius, go with him ;
And public reasons shall be rendered
Of Cæsar's death.
FIRST CIT. I will hear Brutus speak.
SEC. CIT. I will hear Cassius ; and compare their reasons,
38 JULIUS CAESAR. [Act III
When severally we hear them rendered. 10
[Exit CASSIUS, with some of the Citizens. BRUTUS
goes into the pulpit.
THIRD CIT. The noble Brutus is ascended : silence !
BRU. Be patient till the last.
Romans, countrymen, and lovers ! hear me for my cause,
and be silent, that you may hear : believe me for mine
honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may
believe : censure me in your wisdom, and awake your
senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any
in this assembly, any dear friend of Cæsar's, to him I
say, that Brutus' love to Cæsar was no less than his. If
then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Cæsar,
this is my answer :-Not that I loved Cæsar less, but
that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Cæsar were
living and die all slaves, than that Cæsar were dead, to
live all freemen ? As Cæsar loved me, I weep for him ;
as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it ; as he was valiant, I
honour him : but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There
is tears for his love ; joy for his fortune ; honour for his
valour ; and death for his ambition. Who is here so
base that would be a bondman ? If any, speak ; for him
have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not
be a Roman? If any, speak ; for him have I offended.
Who is here so vile that will not love his country ? If any,
speak ; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.
ALL. None, Brutus, none.
BRU. Then none have I offended. I have done no
more to Cæsar than you shall do to Brutus. The ques
tion of his death is enrolled in the Capitol ; his glory
not extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences
enforced, for which he suffered death.
Enter ANTONY and others, with CÆSAR's body.
Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony : who,
though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the
benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth ; as
which of you shall not ? With this I depart— that, as I
slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the
same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country
to need my death.
ALL. Live, Brutus ! live, live !
FIRST CIT. Bring him with triumph home unto his house
Scene 2] JULIUS CÆSAR. 39
SEC. CIT. Give him a statue with his ancestors.
THIRD CIT. Let him be Cæsar.
FOURTH CIT. Cæsar's better parts
Shall be crowned in Brutus.
FIRST CIT. We'll bring him to his house with shouts
and clamours.
BRU. My countrymen—
SEC. CIT. Peace, silence ! Brutus speaks.
FIRST CIT. Peace, ho !
BRU. Good countrymen, let me depart alone, 60
And, for my sake, stay here with Antony :
Do grace to Cæsar's corpse, and grace his speech
Tending to Cæsar's glories ; which Mark Antony,
By our permission, is allowed to make.
I do entreat you not a man depart,
Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. [Exit.
FIRST CIT. Stay, ho ! and let us hear Mark Antony.
THIRD CIT. Let him go up into the public chair ;
We'll hear him. Noble Antony, go up.
ANT. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. 70
[Goes into the pulpit.
FOURTH CIT. What does he say of Brutus ?
THIRD CIT. He says, for Brutus' sake,
He finds himself beholding to us all.
FOURTH CIT. 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus
here.
FIRST CIT. This Cæsar was a tyrant.
THIRD CIT. Nay, that's certain :
We are blest that Rome is rid of him.
SEC. CIT. Peace ! let us hear what Antony can say.
ANT. You, gentle Romans
CITIZENS. Peace, ho ! let us hear him.
ANT. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Cæsar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them ; So
The good is oft interred with their bones ;
So let it be with Cæsar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Cæsar was ambitious :
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Cæsar answered it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest
For Brutus is an honourable man ;
So are they all, all honourable men
40 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act III

Come I to speak in Cæsar's funeral.

He was my friend, faithful and just to me : 90
But Brutus says he was ambitious ;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill :
Did this in Cæsar seem ambitious ?
When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept :
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff :
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal 100
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse : was this ambition ?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause :
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him ?
O judgement ! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me ; IIO
My heart is in the coffin there with Cæsar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
FIRST CIT. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.
SEC. CIT. If thou consider rightly of the matter,
Cæsar has had great wrong.
THIRD CIT. Has he, masters ?
I fear there will a worse come in his place.
FOURTH CIT. Marked ye his words ? He would not
take the crown ;
Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious.
FIRST CIT. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.
SEC. CIT. Poor soul ! his eyes are red as fire with weeping.
THIRD CIT. There's not a nobler man in Rome than
Antony.
FOURTH CIT. Now mark him, he begins again to speak.
ANT. But yesterday the word of Cæsar might
Have stood against the world ; now lies he there,
And none so poor to do him reverence.
O masters, if I were disposed to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong,
Scene 2] JULIUS CÆSAR. 4I

Who, you all know, are honourable men :

I will not do them wrong ; I rather choose 130
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
Than I will wrong such honourable men.
But here's a parchment with the seal of Cæsar ;
I found it in his closet, 'tis his will :
Let but the commons hear this testament
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read
And they would go and kiss dead Cæsar's wounds
And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,
Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,
And, dying, mention it within their wills, 140
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue.
FOURTH CIT. We'll hear the will : read it, Mark Antony.
ALL. The will ! the will ! we will hear Cæsar's will.
ANT. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it ;
It is not meet you know how Cæsar loved you.
You are not wood, you are not stones, but men ;
And, being men, hearing the will of Cæsar,
It will inflame you, it will make you mad :
'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs ; 150
For, if you should, O, what would come of it !
FOURTH CIT. Read the will ; we'll hear it, Antony ;
You shall read us the will, Cæsar's will.
ANT. Will you be patient ? will you stay awhile ?
I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it :
I fear I wrong the honourable men
Whose daggers have stabbed Cæsar ; I do fear it.
FOURTH CIT. They were traitors : honourable men !
ALL. The will ! the testament !
SEC. CIT. They were villains, murderers : the will !
read the will. 160
ANT. You will compel me, then, to read the will ?
Then make a ring about the corpse of Cæsar,
And let me show you him that made the will.
Shall I descend ? and will you give me leave ?
ALL. Come down.
SEC. CIT. Descend. [He comes down from the pulpit.
THIRD CIT. You shall have leave.
FOURTH CIT. A ring ; stand round.
FIRST CIT. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body.
SEC. CIT. Room for Antony, most noble Antony. 170
42 JULIUS CÆSAR, [Act III

ANT. Nay, press not so upon me ; stand far off.

SEVERAL CIT. Stand back. Room ! Bear back.
ANT. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
You all do know this mantle : I remember
The first time ever Cæsar put it on ;
'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent,
That day he overcame the Nervii :
Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through :
See what a rent the envious Casca made :
Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed ; 180
And as he plucked his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood of Cæsar followed it,
As rushing out of doors, to be resolved
If Brutus so unkindly knocked , or no ;
For Brutus, as you know, was Cæsar's angel :
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Cæsar loved him !
This was the most unkindest cut of all ;
For when the noble Cæsar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms,
Quite vanquished him : then burst his mighty heart ; 190
And, in his mantle muffling up his face,
Even at the base of Pompey's statuë,
Which all the while ran blood , great Cæsar fell.
O, what a fall was there, my countrymen !
Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,
Whilst bloody treason flourished over us.
O, now you weep, and I perceive you feel
The dint of pity : these are gracious drops.
Kind souls, what weep you when you but behold
Our Cæsar's vesture wounded ? Look you here, 200
Here is himse marred, as you see, with traitors.
FIRST CIT. O piteous spectacle !
SEC. CIT. O noble Cæsar !
THIRD CIT. O woful day ! !
Fourth Cit. O traitors, villains !
FIRST CIT. O most bloody sight !
SEC. CIT. We will be revenged.
ALL. Revenge ! About ! Seek ! Burn ! Fire ! Kill !
Slay ! Let not a traitor live !
ANT. Stay, countrymen . 210
FIRST CIT. Peace there ! hear the noble Antony.
SEC. CIT. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die
with him.
Scene 2] JULIUS CÆSAR, 43
ANT. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up
To such a sudden flood of mutiny.
They that have done this deed are honourable :
What private griefs they have, alas, I know not,
That made them do it : they are wise and honourable,
And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you.
I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts : 220
I am no orator, as Brutus is ;
But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,
That love my friend ; and that they know full well
That gave me public leave to speak of him :
For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,
To stir men's blood : I only speak right on ;
I tell you that which you yourselves do know ;
Show you sweet Cæsar's wounds, poor poor dumb mouths,
And bid them speak for me : but were I Brutus, 230
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony
Would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue
In every wound of Cæsar that should move
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.
ALL. We'll mutiny.
FIRST CIT. We'll burn the house of Brutus.
THIRD CIT. Away, then ! come, seek the conspirators.
ANT. Yet hear me, countrymen ; yet hear me speak.
ALL. Peace ho ! Hear Antony. Most noble Antony.
ANT. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what :
Wherein hath Cæsar thus deserved your loves ? 241
Alas, you know not : I must tell you then :
You have forgot the will I told you of.
ALL. Most true : the will ! Let's stay and hear the will.
ANT. Here is the will, and under Cæsar's seal.
To every Roman citizen he gives,
To every several man, seventy-five drachmas.
SEC. CIT. Most noble Cæsar ! We'll revenge his death.
THIRD CIT. O royal Cæsar !
ANT. Hear me with patience. 250
ALL. Peace, ho !
ANT. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks,
His private arbours and new-planted orchards,
On this side Tiber ; he hath left them you ,
And to your heirs for ever ; common pleasures,
To walk abroad and recreate yourselves.
44 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act III. s. 3
Here was a Cæsar ! when comes such another ?
FIRST CIT. Never, never. Come, away, away !
We'll burn his body in the holy place,
And with the brands fire the traitors' houses. 260
Take up the body.
SEC. CIT. Go fetch fire.
THIRD CIT. Pluck down benches.
FOURTH CIT. Pluck down forms, windows, any thing.
[Exeunt Citizens with the body.
ANT. Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot,
Take thou what course thou wilt !
Enter a Servant.
How now, fellow !
SERV. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome.
ANT. Where is he?
SERV. He and Lepidus are at Cæsar's house.
ANT. And thither will I straight to visit him : 270
He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry,
And in this mood will give us any thing.
SERV. I heard him say, Brutus and Cassius
Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome.
ANT. Belike they had some notice of the people,
How I had moved them. Bring me to Octavius. [Exeunt.
SCENE III . The same. A street.
Enter CINNA the poet.
CIN. I dreamt to-night that I did feast with Cæsar,
And things unluckily charge my fantasy :
I have no will to wander forth of doors,
Yet something leads me forth .
Enter Citizens.
FIRST CIT. What is your name ?
SEC. CIT. Whither are you going ?
THIRD CIT. Where do you dwell ?
FOURTH CIT. Are you a married man or a bachelor ?
SEC. CIT. Answer every man directly. 10
FIRST CIT. Ay, and briefly.
FOURTH CIT. Ay, and wisely.
THIRD CIT. Ay, and truly, you were best.
CIN. What is my name ? Whither am I going ? Where
Act IV. s. 1] JULIUS CÆSAR . 45
do I dwell ? Am I a married man or a bachelor ? Then,
to answer every man directly and briefly, wisely and
truly wisely I say, I am a bachelor.
SEC. CIT. That's as much as to say, they are fools that
marry you'll bear me a bang for that, I fear. Proceed ;
directly. 20
CIN. Directly, I am going to Cæsar's funeral.
FIRST. CIT. As a friend or an enemy?
CIN. As a friend.
SEC. CIT. That matter is answered directly.
FOURTH CIT. For your dwelling, briefly.
CIN. Briefly, I dwell by the Capitol.
THIRD CIT. Your name, sir, truly.
Cin. Truly, my name is Cinna.
FIRST CIT. Tear him to pieces ; he's a conspirator. 30
CIN. I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet.
FOURTH CIT. Tear him for his bad verses, tear him
for his bad verses.
CIN. I am not Cinna the conspirator.
FOURTH CIT. It is no matter, his name's Cinna ; pluck
but his name out of his heart, and turn him going.
THIRD CIT. Tear him, tear him ! Come, brands, ho !
firebrands to Brutus', to Cassius' ; burn all : some to
Decius' house, and some to Casca's ; some to Ligarius' :
away, go ! [Exeunt.

ACT IV.
SCENE I. A house in Rome.
ANTONY, OCTAVIUS, and LEPIDUS, seated at a table.
ANT. These many, then, shall die ; their names are
pricked.
OCT. Your brother too must die ; consent you, Lepidus?
LEP. I do consent
Ост . Prick him down, Antony.
LEP. Upon condition Publius shall not live,
Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony.
ANT. He shall not live ;
But, Lepidus, go you to Cæsar's house ;
Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine
How to cut off some charge in legacies.
LEP. What, shall I find you here ?
E
 US AR
46 JULI CÆS . [Act IV
OCT. Or here, or at the Capitol. [Exit LEPIDUS.
ANT. This is a slight unmeritable man,
Meet to be sent on errands : is it fit,
The three-fold world divided , he should stand
One of the three to share it ?
Ост. So you thought him,
And took his voice who should be pricked to die,
In our black sentence and proscription.
ANT. Octavius, I have seen more days than you :
And though we lay these honours on this man,
To ease ourselves of divers slanderous loads, 20
He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold,
To groan and sweat under the business ,
Either led or driven, as we point the way ;
And having brought our treasure where we will,
Then take we down his load and turn him off,
Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears,
And graze in commons.
Ост. You may do your will ;
But he's a tried and valiant soldier.
ANT. So is my horse, Octavius ; and for that
I do appoint him store of provender : 30
It is a creature that I teach to fight,
To wind, to stop, to run directly on,
His corporal motion governed by my spirit.
And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so ;
He must be taught, and trained, and bid go forth ;
A barren-spirited fellow ; one that feeds
On abject orts and imitations,
Which, out of use and staled by other men,
Begin his fashion : do not talk of him,
But as a property. And now, Octavius, 40
Listen great things : Brutus and Cassius
Are levying powers : we must straight make head :
Therefore let our alliance be combined,
Our best friends made, our means stretched ;
And let us presently go sit in council,
How covert matters may be best disclosed,
And open perils surest answered.
OCT. Let us do so for we are at the stake,
And bayed about with many enemies ;
And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, 50
Millions of mischiefs. [Exeunt.
Scene 2] JULIUS CÆSAR. 47

SCENE II. Camp near Sardis. Before BRUTUS'

tent.
Drum. Enter BRUTUS, TITINIUS , LUCIUS, and Soldiers ;
LUCILIUS and PINDARUS meeting them.
BRU. Stand, ho !
LUCIL. Give the word , ho ! and stand.
BRU. What now, Lucilius ! is Cassius near?
LUCIL. He is at hand ; and Pindarus is come
To do you salutation from his master.
BRU. He greets me well. Your master, Pindarus,
In his own charge, or by ill officers,
Hath given me some worthy cause to wish
Things done, undone : but if he be at hand,
I shall be satisfied.
PIN. I do not doubt 10
But that my noble master will appear
Such as he is, full of regard and honour.
BRU. He is not doubted . A word, Lucilius,
How he received you : let me be resolved.
LUCIL. With courtesy and with respect enough ;
But not with such familiar instances,
Nor with such free and friendly conference,
As he hath used of old.
BRU. Thou hast described
A hot friend cooling : ever note, Lucilius,
When love begins to sicken and decay, 20
It useth an enforced ceremony.
There are no tricks in plain and simple faith ;
But hollow men, like horses hot at hand,
Make gallant show and promise of their mettle ;
But when they should endure the bloody spur,
They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades,
Sink in the trial. Comes his army on ?
LUCIL. They mean this night in Sardis to be quartered ;
The greater part, the horse in general,
Are come with Cassius. [Low march within.
BRU. Hark ! he is arrived. 30
March gently on to meet him.
Enter CASSIUS and his powers.
CAS. Stand, ho !
BRU. Stand, ho ! Speak the word along.
 IUS SA
R
48 JUL CÆ . [Act IV
FIRST SOL. Stand !
SEC. SOL. Stand !
THIRD SOL. Stand !
CAS. Most noble brother, you have done me wrong.
BRU. Judge me, you gods ! wrong I mine enemies ?
And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother ?
CÁS. Brutus, this sober form of yours hides wrongs ; 40
And when you do them—
BRU. Cassius, be content ;
Speak your griefs softly : I do know you well.
Before the eyes of both our armies here,
Which should perceive nothing but love from us,
Let us not wrangle : bid them move away ;
Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs,
And I will give you audience.
CAS. Pindarus,
Bid our commanders lead their charges off
A little from this ground.
BRU. Lucius, do you the like ; and let no man 50
Come to our tent till we have done our conference.
Lucilius and Titinius guard our door. [Exeunt.

SCENE III. BRUTUS' tent.

Enter BRUTUS and CASSIUS.
CAS. That you have wronged me doth appear in this :
You have condemned and noted Lucius Pella
For taking bribes here of the Sardians ;
Wherein my letters, praying on his side,
Because I knew the man, were slighted off.
BRU. You wronged yourself to write in such a case.
CAS. In such a time as this it is not meet
That every nice offence should bear his comment.
BRU. Let me tell you, Cassius , you yourself
Are much condemned to have an itching palm ; IO
To sell and mart your offices for gold
To undeservers.
CAS. I an itching palm !
You know that you are Brutus that speaks this,
Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last.
BRU. The name of Cassius honours this corruption,
And chastisement doth therefore hide his head.
CAS. Chastisement !
 Scene 3] JULIUS CÆSAR. 49

BRU. Remember March, the ides of March remember :

Did not great Julius bleed for justice sake ?
What villain touched his body, that did stab, 20
And not for justice ? What, shall one of us,
That struck the foremost man of all this world
But for supporting robbers, shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes,
And sell the mighty space of our large honours
For so much trash as may be grasped thus ?
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon,
Than such a Roman.
CAS. Brutus, bay not me ;
I'll not endure it : you forget yourself,
To hedge me in ; I am a soldier, I , 30
Older in practice, abler than yourself
To make conditions.
BRU. Go to ; you are not, Cassius.
CAS. I am.
BRU. I say you are not.
CAS. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself ;
Have mind upon your health, tempt me no farther.
BRU. Away, slight man !
CAS. Is 't possible ?
BRU. Hear me, for I will speak.
Must I give way and room to your rash choler ?
Shall I be frighted when a madman stares ? 40
CAS. O ye gods, ye gods ! must I endure all this ?
BRU. All this ? ay, more : fret till your proud heart break ;
Go show your slaves how choleric you are,
And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge,
Must I observe you ? must I stand and crouch
Under your testy humour ? By the gods,
You shall digest the venom of your spleen ,
Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth,
I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter,
When you are waspish.
CAS. Is it come to this ? 50
BRU. You say you are a better soldier :
Let it appear so ; make your vaunting true,
And it shall please me well : for mine own part,
I shall be glad to learn of abler men.
CAS. You wrong me every way ; you wrong me, Brutus ;
I said, an elder soldier, not a better :
50 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act IV

Did I say better ?

BRU. If you did, I care not.
CAS. When Cæsar lived, he durst not thus have moved me.
BRU. Peace, peace ! you durst not so have tempted him.
CAS. I durst not ! 60
BRU. No.
CAS. What, durst not tempt him !
BRU. For your life you durst not.
CAS. Do not presume too much upon my love ;
I may do that I shall be sorry for.
BRU. You have done that you should be sorry for.
There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats ;
For I am armed so strong in honesty
That they pass by me as the idle wind,
Which I respect not. I did send to you
For certain sums of gold, which you denied me : 70
For I can raise no money by vile means :
By heaven, I had rather coin my heart,
And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring
From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash
By any indirection : I did send
To you for gold to pay my legions,
Which you denied me : was that done like Cassius ?
Should I have answered Caius Cassius so ?
When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous,
To lock such rascal counters from his friends, 80
Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts,
Dash him to pieces !
CAS. I denied you not.
BRU. You did.
CAS. I did not he was but a fool
That brought myanswer back. Brutus hath rived myheart :
A friend should bear his friend's infirmities,
But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.
BRU. I do not, till you practise them on me.
CAS. You love me not.
BRU. I do not like your faults.
CAS. A friendly eye could never see such faults. 90
BRU. A flatterer's would not, though they do appear
As huge as high Olympus.
CAS. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come,
Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius,
For Cassius is aweary of the world ;
Scene 3] JULIUS CÆSAR. 51
Hated by one he loves ; braved by his brother ;
Checked like a bondman ; all his faults observed,
Set in a note-book, learned, and conned by rote,
To cast into my teeth. O, I could weep
My spirit from mine eyes ! There is my dagger, 100
And here my naked breast ; within, a heart
Dearer than Plutus' mine, richer than gold :
If that thou be'st a Roman, take it forth ;
I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart :
Strike, as thou didst at Cæsar ; for I know,
When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better
Than ever thou lovedst Cassius.
BRU. Sheathe your dagger :
Be angry when you will, it shall have scope ;
Do what you will, dishonour shall be humour.
O Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb 110
That carries anger as the flint bears fire,
Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark
And straight is cold again.
CAS. Hath Cassius lived
To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus,
When grief and blood ill-tempered vexeth him ?
BRU. When I spoke that, I was ill-tempered too.
CAS. Do you confess so much ? Give me your hand.
BRU. And my heart too.
CAS. O Brutus !
BRU. What's the matter ?
CAS. Have not you love enough to bear with me,
When that rash humour which my mother gave me
Makes me forgetful ? 120
BRU. Yes, Cassius, and from henceforth,
When you are over-earnest with your Brutus,
He'll think your mother chides, and leave you so.
POET. [ Within.] Let me go in to see the generals ;
There is some grudge between ' em ; ' tis not meet
They be alone.
LUCIL. [ Within.] You shall not come to them.
POET. [Within.] Nothing but death shall stay me.
Enter Poet, followed by LUCILIUS, TITINIUS,
and LUCIUS.
CAS. How now! what's the matter ?
POET. For shame, you generals ! what do you mean ?
52 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act IV

Love, and be friends, as two such men should be ;

For I have seen more years, I'm sure, than ye.
CAS. Ha, ha ! how vildly doth this cynic rime !
BRU. Get you hence, sirrah ; saucy fellow, hence !
CAS. Bear with him, Brutus ; 'tis his fashion.
BRU. I'll know his humour, when he knows his time :
What should the wars do with these jigging fools ?
Companion, hence !
CAS. Away, away, be gone ! [Exit Poet.
BRU. Lucilius and Titinius, bid the commanders
Prepare to lodge their companies to-night. 140
CAS. And come yourselves, and bring Messala with you
Immediately to us. [Exeunt LUCILIUS and TITINIUS.
BRU. Lucius, a bowl of wine ! [Exit LUCIUS.
CAS. I did not think you could have been so angry.
BRU. O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs.
CAS. Of your philosophy you make no use,
If you give place to accidental evils.
BRU. No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead.
CAS. Ha ? Portia ?
BRU. She is dead.
CAS. How scaped I killing when I crossed you so ? 150
O insupportable and touching loss !
Upon what sickness ?
BRU. Impatient of my absence,
And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony
Have made themselves so strong : for with her death
That tidings came : with this she fell distract,
And, her attendants absent, swallowed fire.
CAS. And died so ?
BRU. Even so.
CAS. O ye immortal gods !
Re-enter LUCIUS, with wine and tapers.
BRU. Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of wine.
In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. [Drinks.
CAS. My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge. 160
Fill, Lucius, till the wine o'erswell the cup ;
I cannot drink too much of Brutus' love. [Drinks.
[Exit LUCIUS.
Re-enter TITINIUS, with MESSALA.
BRU. Come in, Titinius ! Welcome, good Messala.
Scene 3] JULIUS CÆSAR. 53
Now sit we close about this taper here,
And call in question our necessities.
CAS. Portia, art thou gone?
BRU. No more, I pray you.
Messala , I have here received letters,
That young Octavius and Mark Antony
Come down upon us with a mighty power,
Bending their expedition toward Philippi . 170
MES. Myself have letters of the selfsame tenour.
BRU. With what addition ?
MES. That by proscription and bills of outlawry,
Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus,
Have put to death an hundred senators.
BRU. Therein our letters do not well agree ;
Mine speak of seventy senators that died
By their proscriptions, Cicero being one.
CAS. Cicero one ?
MES. Cicero is dead,
And by that order of proscription. 180
Had you your letters from your wife, my lord ?
BRU. No, Messala.
MES. Nor nothing in your letters writ of her ?
BRU. Nothing, Messala.
MES. That, methinks, is strange.
BRU. Why ask you ? hear you ought of her in yours?
MES. No, my lord.
BRU. Now, as you are a Roman, tell me true.
MES. Then like a Roman bear the truth I tell :
For certain she is dead, and by strange manner.
BRU. Why, farewell Portia. We must die, Messala : 190
With meditating that she must die once
I have the patience to endure it now.
MES. Even so great men great losses should endure.
CAS. I have as much of this in art as you,
But yet my nature could not bear it so.
BRU. Well, to our work alive. What do you think
Of marching to Philippi presently ?
CAS. I do not think it good.
BRU. Your reason ?
CAS. This it is :
'Tis better that the enemy seek us :
So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, 200
Doing himself offence ; whilst we, lying still,
$54 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act IV

Are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness.

BRU. Good reasons must of force give place to better.
The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground
Do stand but in a forced affection ;
For they have grudged us contribution :
The enemy, marching along by them,
By them shall make a fuller number up,
Come on refreshed, new-added , and encouraged ;
From which advantage shall we cut him off, 210
If at Philippi we do face him there,
These people at our back.
CAS. Hear me, good brother.
BRU. Under your pardon. You must note beside,
That we have tried the utmost of our friends,
Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe :
The enemy increaseth every day ;
We, at the height, are ready to decline.
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 220
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat ;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
CAS. Then, with your will, go on ;
We'll along ourselves, and meet them at Philippi.
BRU. The deep of night is crept upon our talk,
And nature must obey necessity ;
Which we will niggard with a little rest.
There is no more to say ?
CAS. No more. Good night :
Early to-morrow will we rise and hence . 230
BRU. Lucius ! [Enter LUCIUS. ] My gown . [Exit
LUCIUS. ] Farewell , good Messala :
Good night, Titinius : noble, noble Cassius,
Good night, and good repose.
CAS. O my dear brother !
This was an ill beginning of the night :
Never come such division 'tween our souls !
Let it not, Brutus.
Re-enter LUCIUS, with the go .
BRU Every thing is well.
 Scene 3] JULIUS CÆSAR. 55

CAS. Good night, my lord.

BRU. Good night, good brother.
TIT. MES. Good night, Lord Brutus.
BRU. Farewell, every one.
[Exeunt.
Give me the gown. Where is thy instrument ?
Luc. Here in the tent.
BRU. What, thou speak'st drowsily?
Poor knave, I blame thee not ; thou art o'erwatched. 241
Call Claudius and some other of my men ;
I'll have them sleep on cushions in my tent.
LUC. Varro and Claudius !
Enter VARRO and CLAUDIUS.
VAR. Calls my lord ?
BRU. I pray you, sirs, lie in my tent and sleep ;
It may be I shall raise you by and by
On business to my brother Cassius.
VAR. So please you, we will stand and watch your pleasure.
BRU. I will not have it so : lie down, good sirs ; 250
It may be I shall otherwise bethink me.
Look, Lucius, here's the book I sought for so ;
I put it in the pocket of my gown.
[VARRO and CLAUDIUS iie down.
LUC. I was sure your lordship did not give it me.
BRU. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful.
Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile,
And touch thy instrument a strain or two ?
Luc. Ay, my lord, an 't please you.
BRU. It does, my boy :
I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing.
1 Luc. It is my duty, sir. 260
BRU. I should not urge thy duty past thy might ;
I know young bloods look for a time of rest.
Luc. I have slept, my lord, already.
BRU. It was well done ; and thou shalt sleep again ;
I will not hold thee long : if I do live,
I will be good to thee. [Music, and a song.
This is a sleepy tune. O murderous slumber,
Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy,
That plays thee music ? Gentle knave, good night ;
I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee : 270
If thou dost nod, thou break’st thy instrument ;
56 JULIUS CÆSAR . [Act IV. s. 3
I'll take it from thee ; and, good boy, good night.
Let me see, let me see ; is not the leaf turned down
Where I left reading ? Here it is, I think.
Enter the Ghost of CESAR.
How ill this taper burns ! Ha ! who comes here?
I think it is the weakness of mine eyes
That shapes this monstrous apparition.
It comes upon me. Art thou any thing ?
Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil,
That makest my blood cold and my hair to stare ? 280
Speak to me what thou art.
GHOST. Thy evil spirit, Brutus.
BRU. Why com'st thou ?
GHOST. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi.
BRU. Well ; then I shall see thee again ?
GHOST. Ay, at Philippi.
BRU. Why, I will see thee at Philippi, then. [Exit Ghost.
Now I have taken heart thou vanishest :
Ill spirit, I would hold more talk with thee.
Boy, Lucius ! Varro ! Claudius ! Sirs, awake ! 290
Claudius !
LUC. The strings, my lord, are false.
BRU. He thinks he still is at his instrument.
Lucius, awake !
Luc. My lord ?
BRU. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst out ?
Luc. My lord, I do not know that I did cry.
BRU. Yes, that thou didst : didst thou see any thing ?
LUC. Nothing, my lord.
BRU. Sleep again, Lucius. Sirrah Claudius ! 300
Fellow thou, awake !
VAR. My lord ?
CLAU. My lord ?
BRU. Why did you so cry out, sirs, in your sleep ?
VAR. CLAU. Did we, my lord ?
BRU. Ay: saw you any thing ?
VAR. No, my lord, I saw nothing.
CLAU. Nor I, my lord.
BRU. Go and commend me to my brother Cassius ;
Bid him set on his powers betimes before,
And we will follow.
VAR. CLAU. It shall be done, my lord. [Exeunt.
Act V. s. 1] JULIUS CÆSAR. 57

ACT V.
SCENE I. The plains of Philippi.
Enter OCTAVIUS, ANTONY, and their army.
OCT. Now, Antony, our hopes are answered :
You said the enemy would not come down,
But keep the hills and upper regions ;
It proves not so : their battles are at hand ;
They mean to warn us at Philippi here,
Answering before we do demand of them.
ANT. Tut, I am in their bosoms, and I know
Wherefore they do it : they could be content
To visit other places ; and come down
With fearful bravery, thinking by this face 10
To fasten in our thoughts that they have courage ;
But 'tis not so.
Enter a Messenger.
MESS. Prepare you, generals :
The enemy comes on in gallant show ;
Their bloody sign of battle is hung out,
And something to be done immediately.
ANT. Octavius, lead your battle softly on,
Upon the left hand of the even field.
OCT. Upon the right hand I ; keep thou the left.
ANT. Why do you cross me in this exigent ? 19
OCT. I do not cross you ; but I will do so. [March.
Drum. Enter BRUTUS, CASSIUS, and their army;
LUCILIUS, TITINIUS, MESSALA, and others.
BRU. They stand, and would have parley.
CAS. Stand fast, Titinius : we must out and talk.
OCT. Mark Antony, shall we give sign of battle ?
ANT. No, Cæsar, we will answer on their charge.
Make forth ; the generals would have some words.
OCT. Stir not until the signal.
BRU. Words before blows : is it so, countrymen?
OCT. Not that we love words better, as you do.
BRU. Good words are better than bad strokes, Octavius.
ANT. In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good words :
Witness the hole you made in Cæsar's heart, 31
58 JULIUS CÆSAR . [Act V

Crying Long live! hail, Cæsar!

CAS. Antony,
The posture of your blows are yet unknown ;
But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees,
And leave them honeyless.
ANT. Not stingless too?
BRU. O, yes, and soundless too ;
For you have stol'n their buzzing, Antony,
And very wisely threat before you sting.
ANT. Villains, you did not so, when your vile daggers
Hacked one another in the sides of Cæsar : 40
You showed your teeths like apes, and fawned like hounds,
And bowed like bondmen, kissing Cæsar's feet ;
Whilst fated Casca, like a cur, behind
Strook Cæsar on the neck. O you flatterers !
CAS. Flatterers ! Now, Brutus, thank yourself :
This tongue had not offended so to-day,
If Cassius might have ruled.
OCT. Come, come, the cause : if arguing make us sweat,
The proof of it will turn to redder drops.
Look ; 50
I draw a sword against conspirators ;
When think you that the sword goes up again ?
Never, till Cæsar's three and twenty wounds
Be well avenged, or till another Cæsar
Have added slaughter to the sword of traitors.
BRU. Cæsar, thou canst not die by traitors' hands,
Unless thou bring'st them with thee.
OCT. So I hope ;
I was not born to die on Brutus' sword.
BRU. O, if thou wert the noblest of thy strain,
Young man, thou couldst not die more honourable. 60
CAS. A peevish schoolboy, worthless of such honour,
Joined with a masker and a reveller!
ANT. Old Cassius still !
Ост. Come, Antony, away!
Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth :
If you dare fight to-day, come to the field ;
If not, when you have stomachs.
[Exeunt OCTAVIUS, ANTONY, and their army.
CAS. Why, now, blow wind, swell billow and swim bark!
The storm is up, and all is on the hazard.
BRU. Ho, Lucilius ! hark, a word with you.
Scene 1] JULIUS CÆSAR. 59

LUCIL. [Standingforth.] My lord ?

[BRUTUS and LUCILIUS converse apart.
CAS. Messala !
MES. [Standingforth.] What says my general ?
CAS. Messala,
This is my birth-day ; as this very day 71
Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala :
Be thou my witness that against my will,
As Pompey was, am I compelled to set
Upon one battle all our liberties.
You know that I held Epicurus strong
And his opinion : now I change my mind,
And partly credit things that do presage.
Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign 80
Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perched,
Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands ;
Who to Philippi here consorted us :
This morning are they fled away and gone ;
And in their steads do ravens, crows and kites
Fly o'er our heads and downward look on us,
As we were sickly prey : their shadows seem
A canopy most fatal, under which
Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost.
MES. Believe not so.
CAS. I but believe it partly : 90
For I am fresh of spirit and resolved
To meet all perils very constantly.
BRU. Even so, Lucilius.
CAS. Now, most noble Brutus,
The gods to-day stand friendly, that we may,
Lovers in peace, lead on our days to age !
But since the affairs of men rests still incertain,
Let's reason with the worst that may befall.
If we do lose this battle, then is this
The very last time we shall speak together :
What are you then determined to do ? 100
BRU. Even by the rule of that philosophy
By which I did blame Cato for the death
Which he did give himself ; I know not how,
But I do find it cowardly and vile,
For fear of what might fall , so to prevent
The time of life : arming myself with patience
To stay the providence of some high powers
60 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act V
That govern us below.
CAS. Then, if we lose this battle,
You are contented to be led in triumph
Thorough the streets of Rome ? IIO
BRU. No, Cassius, no : think not, thou noble Roman,
That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome ;
He bears too great a mind. But this same day
Must end that work the ides of March begun ;
And whether we shall meet again I know not.
Therefore our everlasting farewell take :
For ever and for ever, farewell Cassius !
If we do meet again, why, we shall smile ;
If not, why then this parting was well made.
CAS. For ever and for ever, farewell Brutus ! 120
If we do meet again, we'll smile indeed ;
If not, 'tis true this parting was well made.
BRU. Why, then, lead on. O, that a man might know
The end of this day's business ere it come !
But it sufficeth that the day will end ,
And then the end is known. Come, ho ! away ! [Exeunt.
SCENE II. The same. The field of battle.
Alarum. Enter BRUTUS and MESSALA.
BRU. Ride, ride Messala, ride and give these bills
Unto the legions on the other side. [Loud alarum.
Let them set on at once ; for I perceive
But cold demeanour in Octavius' wing,
And sudden push gives them the overthrow.
Ride, ride Messala : let them all come down. [Exeunt.
SCENE III. Another part of the field.
Alarums. Enter CASSIUS and TITINIUS.
CAS . O, look Titinius, look, the villains fly !
Myself have to mine own turned enemy:
This ensign here of mine was turning back ;
I slew the coward, and did take it from him.
TIT. O Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early ;
Who, having some advantage on Octavius,
Took it too eagerly : his soldiers fell to spoil,
Whilst we by Antony are all enclosed.
Enter PINDARUS .
PIN. Fly further off, my lord, fly further off ;
Scene 3] JULIUS CÆSAR. 61

Mark Antony is in your tents, my lord : 10

Fly therefore noble Cassius, fly far off.
CAS. This hill is far enough. Look, look, Titinius ;
Are those my tents where I perceive the fire ?
TIT. They are, my lord.
CAS. Titinius, if thou lovest me,
Mount thou my horse and hide thy spurs in him,
Till he have brought thee up to yonder troops
And here again ; that I may rest assured
Whether yond troops are friend or enemy.
TIT. I will be here again, even with a thought. [Exit.
CAS. Go, Pindarus, get higher on that hill ; 20
My sight was ever thick ; regard Titinius,
And tell me what thou not'st about the field.
[PINDARUS ascends the hill.
This day I breathed first : time is come round,
And where I did begin, there shall I end ;
My life is run his compass. Sirrah, what news ?
PIN. [Above.] O my !
CAS. What news ?
PIN. [Above.] Titinius is enclosed round about
With horsemen, that make to him on the spur ;
Yet he spurs on. Now they are almost on him. 30
Now, Titinius ! Now some light. O, he lights too.
He's ta'en. [Shout.] And, hark ! they shout for joy.
CAS. Come down, behold no more.
O coward that I am, to live so long,
To see my best friend ta'en before my face !
[PINDARUS descends.
Come hither, sirrah :
In Parthia did I take thee prisoner ;
And then I swore thee, saving of thy life,
That whatsoever I did bid thee do,
Thou shouldst attempt it. Come now, keep thine oath ;
Now be a freeman : and with this good sword, 4I
That ran through Cæsar's bowels, search this bosom.
Stand not to answer : here, take thou the hilts ;
And when my face is covered, as 'tis now,
Guide thou the sword. [ PINDARUS stabs him.] Cæsar,
thou art revenged,
Even with the sword that killed thee. [ Dies.
PIN. So, I am free ; yet would not so have been,
Durst I have done my will. O Cassius !
F
62 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act V
Far from this country Pindarus shall run,
Where never Roman shall take note of him. [Exit.
Re-enter TITINIUS with MESSALA.
MES. It is but change, Titinius ; for Octavius 51
Is overthrown by noble Brutus' power,
As Cassius' legions are by Antony.
TIT. These tidings will well comfort Cassius.
MES. Where did you leave him ?
TIT. All disconsolate,
With Pindarus his bondman, on this hill.
MES. Is not that he that lies upon the ground?
TIT. He lies not like the living. O my heart!
MES. Is not that he ?
TIT. No, this was he, Messala,
But Cassius is no more. O setting sun, 60
As in thy red rays thou dost sink to night,
So in his red blood Cassius' day is set ;
The sun of Rome is set. Our day is gone ;
Clouds, dews, and dangers come ; our deeds are done.
Mistrust of my success hath done this deed.
MES. Mistrust of good success hath done this deed.
O hateful error, melancholy's child,
Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men
The things that are not ? O error, soon conceived,
Thou never com'st unto a happy birth, 70
But kill'st the mother that engendered thee !
TIT. What, Pindarus ! where art thou, Pindarus ?
MES. Seek him, Titinius, whilst I go to meet
The noble Brutus, thrusting this report
Into his ears : I may say, thrusting it ;
For piercing steel and darts envenomed
Shall be as welcome to the ears of Brutus
As tidings of this sight.
TIT. Hie you, Messala,
And I will seek for Pindarus the while. [Exit Messala.
Why didst thou send me forth, brave Cassius? 80
Did I not meet thy friends ? and did not they
Put on my brows this wreath of victory,
And bid me give it thee ? Didst thou not hear their shouts ?
Alas, thou hast misconstrued every thing !
But, hold thee, take this garland on thy brow ;
Thy Brutus bid me give it thee, and I
Scene 4] JULIUS CÆSAR. 63
Will do his bidding. Brutus, come apace ,
And see how I regarded Caius Cassius.
By your leave, gods : this is a Roman's part :
Come Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart.
[Kills himself.
Alarum. Re-enter MESSALA, with BRUTUS, young CATO,
STRATO, VOLUMNIUS, and LUCILIUS.
BRU. Where, where, Messala, doth his body lie ? 91
MES. Lo, yonder, and Titinius mourning it.
BRU. Titinius' face is upward.
CATO. He is slain.
BRU. O Julius Cæsar, thou art mighty yet !
Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords
In our own proper entrails. [Low alarums.
CATO. Brave Titinius!
Look whe'er he have not crowned dead Cassius !
BRU. Are yet two Romans living such as these ?
The last of all the Romans, fare thee ell !
It is impossible that ever Rome 100
Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe moe tears
To this dead man than you shall see me pay.
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time.
Come, therefore, and to Thassos send his body:
His funerals shall not be in our camp,
Lest it discomfort us. Lucilius, come ;
And come, young Cato ; let us to the field.
Labeo and Flavius, set our battles on :
'Tis three a-clock ; and, Romans, yet ere night
We shall try fortune in a second fight. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV. Another part of thefield.

Alarum. Enterfighting, Soldiers of both armies; among
them BRUTUS, young CATO, and LUCILIUS.
BRU. Yet, countrymen, O yet hold up your heads !
CATO. Who will go with me?
I will proclaim my name about the field :
I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho !
A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend ;
I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho !
BRU. And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I ;
64 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act V

Brutus, my country's friend ; know me for Brutus !

[Exit. CATOfalls.
LUCIL. O young and noble Cato, art thou down?
Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius ; IO
And mayst be honoured, being Cato's son.
FIRST SOL. Yield, or thou diest.
LUCIL. Only I yield to die:
There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight ;
[Offering money.
Kill Brutus, and be honoured in his death.
FIRST SOL. We must not. A noble prisoner !
SEC. SOL. Room, ho ! Tell Antony, Brutus is ta'en.
FIRST SOL. I'll tell the news. Here comes the general.
Enter ANTONY.
Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord.
ANT. Where is he ?
LUCIL. Safe, Antony ; Brutus is safe enough : 20
I dare assure thee that no enemy
Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus :
The gods defend him from so great a shame !
When you do find him, or alive or dead,
He will be found like Brutus, like himself.
ANT. This is not Brutus, friend ; but, I assure you,
A prize no less in worth : keep this man safe ;
Give him all kindness : I had rather have
Such men my friends than enemies. Go on,
And see whe'er Brutus be alive or dead ; 30
And bring us word unto Octavius' tent
How every thing is chanced. [Exeunt.

SCENE V. Another part of thefield.

Enter BRUTUS, Dardanius, Clitus, Strato, ana
VOLUMNIUS.
BRU. Come, poor remains of friends, rest on this rock.
CLI. Statilius showed the torch-light, but, my lord,
He came not back : he is or ta'en or slain.
BRU. Sit thee down, Clitus : slaying is the word ;
It is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus. [ Whispering.
CLI. What, I, my lord ? No, not for all the world.
BRU. Peace then, no words.
CLI. I'll rather kill myself.
Scene 5] JULIUS CESAR. 65

BRU. Hark thee, Dardanius. [Whispering.

DAR. Shall I do such a deed?
CLI. O Dardanius !
DAR. O Clitus ! IO
CLI. What ill request did Brutus make to thee ?
DAR. To kill him, Clitus. Look, he meditates.
CLI. Now is that noble vessel full of grief,
That it runs over even at his eyes.
BRU. Come hither, good Volumnius ; list a word.
VOL. What says my lord ?
BRU. Why this, Volumnius :
The ghost of Cæsar hath appeared to me
Two several times by night ; at Sardis once,
And this last night here in Philippi fields :
I know my hour is come.
VOL. Not so, my lord. 20
BRU. Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius .
Thou seest the world, Volumnius , how it goes ;
Our enemies have beat us to the pit : [Low alarums.
It is more worthy to leap in ourselves ,
Than tarry till they push us. Good Volumnius ,
Thou know'st that we two went to school together :
Even for that our love of old, I prithee ,
Hold thou my sword -hilts , whilst I run on it.
VOL. That's not an office for a friend, my lord .
[Alarum still.
CLI. Fly, fly, my lord ; there is no tarrying here. 30
BRU. Farewell to you ; and you ; and you, Volumnius.
Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep ;
Farewell to thee too, Strato. Countrymen,
My heart doth joy that yet in all my life
I found no man but he was true to me.
I shall have glory by this losing day,
More than Octavius and Mark Antony
By this vile conquest shall attain unto .
So, fare you well at once ; for Brutus' tongue
Hath almost ended his life's history : 40
Night hangs upon mine eyes ; my bones would rest,
That have but laboured to attain this hour.
[Alarum. Cry within Fly, fly, fly !
CLI. Fly, my lord, fly!
BRU. Hence ; I will follow.
[Exeunt CLITUS, Dardanius, and VOLUMNIUS.
66 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act V. s. 5
I prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord :
Thou art a fellow of a good respect ;
Thy life hath had some smatch of honour in it :
Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face,
While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato ?
STRA. Give me your hand first. Fare you well, my lord.
BRU. Farewell, good Strato. [Runs on his sword.]
Cæsar, now be still : 50
I killed not thee with half so good a will. [Dies.
Alarum. Retreat. Enter OCTAVIUS, ANTONY,
MESSALA, LUCILIUS, and the army.
OCT. What man is that ?
MES. My master's man. Strato, where is thy master ?
STRA. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala :
The conquerors can but make a fire of him ;
For Brutus only overcame himself,
And no man else hath honour by his death.
LUCIL. So Brutus should be found . I thank thee, Brutus,
That thou hast proved Lucilius' saying true.
OCT. All that served Brutus, I will entertain them. 60
Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me ?
STRÁ. Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you.
OCT. Do so, good Messala.
MES. How died my master, Strato ?
STRA. I held the sword, and he did run on it.
MES. Octavius, then take him to follow thee,
That did the latest service to my master.
ANT. This was the noblest Roman of them all :
All the conspirators, save only he,
Did that they did in envy of great Cæsar ; 70
He, only in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world This was a man !
OCT. According to his virtue let us use him
With all respect and rites of burial.
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie,
Most like a soldier, ord'red honourably.
So call the field to rest ; and let's away, 80
To part the glories of this happy day. [Exeunt omnes.
 NOTES

DRAMATIS PERSONA. - The list is not given in the folios. It

was added by Rowe. The folio spells as follows : Varrus,
Claudio, Antonio, Octavio (twice), Murellus, Calphurnia. The
first two were corrected by Rowe, Antonio by Pope. The
editors of the first folio were players, and so more familiar
with Italian than with Latin names. Murellus was altered
by Theobald from North's Plutarch. These are certain
corrections. North has Calpurnia in the Life of Cæsar,
and Calphurnia in the Life of Brutus ; so that it is uncer
tain which form Shakespeare adopted. The classical word
is Calpurnia. Decius Brutus ought to be Decimus ; but Decius
is from North, who found it in Amyot. " The error, " says
Craik, "is as old as the edition of Plutarch by Henry Stephens'
(1572). Artemidorus is described in Plutarch as a teacher of
rhetoric, but the play says nothing of his profession. Brutus'
servant is called Dardanus in Plutarch ; the alteration may
have been for metrical reasons. The spelling Portia (for Porcia,
which North has) has been retained, because of the reference in
Merchant of Venice quoted on ii. 2. 297.

ACT I. SCENE I.
THE action begins with Cæsar's triumph for his victory over
Pompey's sons at Munda ( 17th March, 45 B.C. ). The intro
ductory scene puts us in possession of the state of feeling in
Rome. It lets us see that Cæsar's absolute power, although
offensive to the tribunes, did not press heavily on the people.
A short dramatic scene like this has several advantages over
the Greek prologue. By beginning on the level, although the
action is soon raised to ideal height, Shakespeare avoids any
suspicion of unnaturalness ; and by keeping back his principal
characters, he feeds expectation. In Greek tragedy the same
height is maintained throughout, and it is often the hero who
prologizes. The prologue to the Agamemnon is exceptional in
both respects. To understand how artistic Shakespeare's most
natural scenes really are, the reader should contrast with this the
introductory scene to such a play as Goethe's Egmont.
68 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act I

3 Ought not walk. " In Early English the present infinitive

was represented by -en, so that ' to speak ' was ' speken . ' The
-en in time became -e, and the -e in time became mute. When
the -en dropped into disuse, and to was substituted for it, several
verbs which we call auxiliary, and which are closely and com
monly connected with other verbs, retained the old licence of
omitting to, though the infinitival inflection was lost. But
naturally, in the Elizabethan period, while this distinction
between auxiliary and non-auxiliary verbs was gradually gaining
force, there was some difference of opinion as to which verbs
did and which did not require the to, and in Early English there
is much inconsistency in this respect. Thus in consecutive lines
'ought' is used without, and ' let ' with 'to.'
'And though we owe the fall of Troy requite,
Yet let revenge thereof from gods to light. '
-Mirrorfor Magistrates."
Abbott, Sh. G. 349, where see other examples.
10 In respect of ' In regard to,' and so ' in comparison
with.' Cf. A. Y. L. I. iii. 2. 68, " Thou worm's meat, in respect
of a good piece of flesh indeed."
II Cobbler. The word may have been in general use for a
bungler.
12 Directly. “ Without ambiguity. " So iii. 3. 10 ; iv. i. 32.
See Glossary.
15 Mar. Capell for fol. Flav. Perhaps rightly. Marullus
certainly takes the answer as addressed to him ; and throughout
the scene he is the more impulsive.
16 Out. Mr. Wright compares Merchant of Venice, iii. 5. 34,
"Launcelot and I are out." Cf. 'to be put out,' ' to fall out."
19 For the scansion of this and other lines see Appendix I.
The tribunes throughout speak in verse, the commoners in prose.
24 But withal Iam. Fol. Steevens reads, “ But with awl.
I am, " perhaps rightly ; Capell, " But with all."
26 Cf. Tempest, ii. 2. 73, “ He's a present for any emperor
that ever trod upon neat's leather."
36 Than. Fol. then, and always. See Glossary.
43 Pass. For omission of prep. cf. Antony and Cleopatra,
i. 4. 20, "Reel the streets at noon.
46 Her. Elizabethan poets, in personifying rivers, made them
male or female, as they pleased. Thus in I Henry IV. i. 3. 106
we have (of the Severn), " Hid his crisp head in the hollow bank."
In Drayton's Polyolbion, song xv. , the Thames weds the Isis.
52 One of Pompey's sons, Cneius, had fallen at Munda.
Mommsen thinks this triumph had reference only to the
Lusitanians in the conquered army. Shakespeare follows Plu
tarch : " But the triumph he made into Rome for the same did
as much offend the Romaines, and more, then anything that
Scene 2] NOTES. 69
ever he had done before, because he had not ouercome captaines
that were strangers, nor barbarous kings, but had destroyed the
sonnes of the noblest man of Rome, whom fortune had ouer
throwne."-N. P. p. 736.
62 Whe'er. ' Whether,' fol. where. So or is a contraction of
other. Cf. Piers Plowman, 284–
" He halt hit a nycete and a foul shame
To beggan other to borwe."
63 Ceremonies. "There were set up images of Cæsar in the
city, with diademes upon their heads, like kings. Those the two
tribunes went and pulled down. "-N. P. p. 738. Cf. i. 2. 283,
'scarfs. '
68 Really the Lupercalia were held on 15th February, and
Cæsar's triumph in the previous October ; but the time in
tragedy is ideal ; it is only concerned to mark the stages in the
development of the action. For other instances of compression
see i. 2. 18 ; iii. 2 ; iv. I ; v. 4.
73 For other metaphors from field sports see ii. 1. 118 ; iii.
I. 271 ; iv. I. 48.
76 Exeunt. The tribunes do not re-appear. We learn the
result of their action in i . 2. 289.

SCENE 2.
In this scene Cæsar crosses the stage twice, each time speaking
to Antony. We gather that he is anxious for an heir, and that
he knows he runs risk of assassination , not from dreamers like
the Soothsayer, but from envious men like Cassius. The rest of
the scene is occupied with the efforts of Cassius to win Brutus to
a conspiracy.
For the course. "At that time the feast Lupercalia was cele
brated, the which in old time, men say, was the feast of
shepheards or heardmen , and is much like unto the feast of the
Lycæians in Arcadia. But howsoever it is, that day there are
diuers noble mens sons, yong men (and some of them magistrates
themselves, that gouern them), which run naked through the
city, striking in sport them they meet on their way, with leather
thongs, haire and all on, to make them give place. Antonius,
who was consull at that time, was one of them that ranne this
holy course. "-N. P. p. 738.
Casca. See 1. 14. Casca is in disposition little more than an
echo, at first of Cæsar, then of Cassius. See i. 3 ; ii. 1. 143, 153.
8 Holy. See quotation from Plutarch above.
9 Sterile curse. 'Curse of sterility. '
18 See i. 1. 68, note, " Furthermore there was a certaine
Soothsayer, that had given Cæsar warning long time afore. "
N. P. p. 739.
70 JULIUS CÆSAR. (Act I
Ides. The Roman month was divided by Kalends (1st),
Nones (5th or 7th), and Ides, eight days after. The Ides of
March was the fifteenth.
19 Brutus. It is a piece of tragic irony that the first time
Brutus speaks he merely reports , without apparent interest , the
oracle he himself is to make good .
21 Look upon Cæsar. This is the first time we hear the voice
of Cassius. There is sarcasm in it.
24 It is characteristic that Cæsar's superstition vanishes when
he can6 deal directly with men. There may be something in
what our elders say, ' but here he can judge for himself. For
the justice of his sentence see ii. 4. 32.
29 Quick (i.e. lively ' ) is sarcasm. Brutus despises Antony,
and pays the penalty.
32 Cassius is very sensitive about Brutus's feelings towards
him. See iv. 3. 89, ff. The mixture of this affectionateness
with his conspirator's nature is half humorous and half pathetic.
34 As. Cf. 1. 174, and see Glossary.
35 Metaphor from horsemanship . Cf. ' bearing-rein. ' See
" Bear me hard, " i. 2. 311 , note.
40 Passions of some difference. ' Conflicting emotions. ' Cf.
1. 46, " With himself at war. "
42 Behaviours. So Much Ado, ii. 3. 100. For the plural
denoting the habit resulting from the particulars cf. ' manners, '
' looks, and perhaps ' favours. ' ( 1 Henry IV. iii. 2. 136. )
45 Construe. So i. 3. 34 ; ii. 1. 307.
49 By means whereof. And by mistaking .'
53 By reflection by. By being reflected by.'
58 Shadow. ' Reflection . ' See 1. 53 and Glossary.
72 Laughter. So fol. Cf. iv. 3. 113. Rowe, laugher. Cf.
i. 2. 205.
74 Protester. See Glossary.
78 Dangerous. See 1. 63.
79 Brutus is startled into revealing the subject of his passion
(1. 40). Cassius follows him up, and comes quickly to the
point.
86 Brutus says he will not turn his eyes away from honour,
because death happens to lie close to it.
In one eye. ' Before one eye. '
92 Cassius's argument is this : It is dishonourable to be
governed by an equal, much more by an inferior ; but in his
speech he takes account of nothing but physical power.
95 Lief. Pronounced live. So Joye, Exposicion of Daniel:
"God saith, ' As verely as I lyve, I wilnot ye death of a sinner,
but had leifer him to be converted and lyve."" Cassius puns
again, line 156.
101 Her. See i. I. 46, note.
Scene 2] NOTES. 71
66
104 Upon the word. Cf. iii. 2. 271 , Upon a wish," and
Macbeth, iii. 4. 55, " The fit is momentary. Upon a thought he
will again be well. " In Spence's Lucian (ii . 176) we have
"Upon the by."
109 Hearts of controversy ; i.e. ' emulous hearts,' or perhaps
it is the stream with which both are in controversy. Cf. line 40,
" Passions of difference. '
110 Arrive. So 3 Hen. VI. v. 3. 8, " Arrived our coast ;"
Coriolanus, ii. 3. 189, “ Arriving a place of potency. " Cf. i. I. 43.
But see Glossary.
112 Virgil, Æneid, ii. 721, ff.
124 His. "Its was not used originally in the A.V. of the
Bible, and is said to have been rarely used in Shakespeare's
time. His still represented the genitive of It as well as of He."
-ABBOTT, Sh. G. 228. Leviticus xxv. 5 used to read, " That
which groweth of it own accord. " In the Bishop's Bible ( 1568)
it was "the own accord."
140 Stars. So Edmund in King Lear, i. 2. 128. Kent thinks
otherwise, iv. 3. 34. We find even Bacon allowing planetary
influence : " The northern track of the world is in nature the
more martial region
"" ; be it in respect of the stars of that hemis
phere, or of . . .' -Essay on Vicissitude of Things. Dr. Abbott
has pointed out to me two other places in Bacon to a similar
effect. In De Augmentis (iii. 4) he lays down certain limits of
an "astrologia sana, " as that all operations of heavenly bodies
affect masses rather than individuals, but may indirectly affect
individuals, whence he allows predictions, not only of storms,
pestilence, drought, and so on, but of wars, seditions, migra
tions ; also of conditions favourable to certain classes of men, as
commons rather than kings, men of learning rather than men of
war, &c. And speaking of himself in a letter to Lord Burghley,
in his 32nd year, he says, " Not as a man born under Sol, that
loveth honour ; nor under Jupiter, that loveth business ; for the
contemplative planet carrieth me away wholly. "
141 Ourselves. Cassius means ' in our wills.' He quietly
ignores any difference in ability.
142 Cassius forgets that Cæsar made the name, not the name
Cæsar.
146 Conjure. The names used by conjurors were such as
these : " I do conjure thee, N., by these holy names of God,
Tetragrammaton, Adonay, Algramay, Saday, Sabaoth, Planaboth,
Panthon, Craton, Neupmaton, Deus, Homo, Omnipotens, " &c.
R. Scor's Discovery of Witchcraft, p. 286. See 2 Henry VI. i. 4.
155 Walls. Rowe for fol. walkes.
156 Rome. Pronounced room. In Lucrece it rhymes with
doom (716). The same pun occurs iii. 1. 290 ; King John, iii.
1. 180.
72 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act I
157 One. Pronounced as in the derivatives alone, atone (i.e.
"' set at one ' ), only. The modern pronunciation does not
appear to be older in literature than about 1500 ; it seems to
have arisen in the West of England . " - SKEAT. For other plays
on the word, see Two Gentlemen, ii. 1. 1 , 2 ; Love's Labour's
Lost, iv. 2. 85, 86.
159 See i. 3. 146.
160 Eternal. Mr. Wright thinks that Shakespeare wrote
eternal for infernal here, and in Hamlet, i. 5. 21 , " This eternal
blazon," Othello, iv. 2. 130, "Some eternal villain," to avoid
coming under the Act of James I. , " to restrain the abuses of
players." He points out that the three plays, Much Ado,
2 Henry IV., Titus Andronicus, which contain infernal, were
printed in 1600. Unfortunately for Mr. Wright's theory, the
Act of James is 1605-6, and " eternall blazon " is the reading of
the Hamlet quarto of 1604. Nor is there any evidence that
infernal was in such common or slang use as to fall under the
censure. There are always some words in general and not quite
accurate use as intensives ; cf. shrewdly (iii . 1. 146) ; old (Merry
Wives, i. 4. 5, " an old abusing of God's patience and the King's
English.")
166 So. Cf. for this use iii. I. 141.
171 Chew upon. ' Ruminate ' ( Two Gentlemen, i. 2. 48).
Mr. Wright quotes from Lyly's Euphues, p. 92 (Arber),
"Philautus went into the fields to walk there, either to digest
his choler or chew upon his melancholy. "
172 Villager. Brutus, so far, seems to have contemplated
self-exile, but not assassination. Cf. ii. 1. 61.
173 To. For another instance of the insertion of to in the
second clause when it has been omitted in the first, see iv.
3. 73.
174 These ... as. See 1. 33, and Glossary, As.
177 Cf. for the metaphor iv. 3. III.
181 Worthy. In Shakespeare sometimes with, sometimes
without,66 a preposition. Cf. ii. 1. 303, 317.
192 As for these fat men and smooth-combed heads, quoth
he, I never reckon of them ; but these pale-visaged and carion
leane people I feare them most. "-N. P. p. 734.
194 We have heard Cassius upon Cæsar ; now we hear Cæsar
upon Cassius-a far truer character.
197 Well given. "Cassius . . . was Brutus' familiar friend,
but not so well giuen and conditioned as he. ” —N. P. p. 991 .
199 My name. To Cæsar his name represents an ideal,
below which he must not fall. See ii. 2. 10.
213 Always . · deaf. He does not cease to be Cæsar
because his bodily presence is weak-a good comment on
Cassius's speech, 11. 90-130.
Scene 2] NOTES. 73
218 Sad. Brutus is much more influenced by his own thoughts
than by the rhetoric of Cassius. He noticed Cæsar's annoyance
(1. 182), and Casca's story confirms his idea that Cæsar wished
to be made king. (1. 274. )
230 Other. Cf. Measurefor Measure, iv. 4. 2, " Every letter
he hath writ hath disvouched other."
244 Hooted. Hanmer, shouted. But see Coriolanus, iv. 6. 130—
"You cast
Your stinking greasy caps in hooting at
Coriolanus' exile."
And cf. iii. 3. 137, " Our enemy is banished, he is gone : Hoo,
oo," immediately after the stage direction, " They all shout, and
throw up their caps. '‫ در‬The fol. spelling howted tells nothing as
to the pronunciation. In i. 3. 28 of this play it has howting.
253 Falling sickness. ' Epilepsy.' The word is North's.
254 Cassius, prompt as ever, tries to tie up the three into a
conspirator's knot.
256 At mouth. Cf. Tempest, ii. 2. 65, " at nostrils. "
ABBOTT, Sh. G. 90.
260 True man. Cf. Much Ado, iii. 3. I, " Are you good
men and true."
264 Doublet. " Tearing open his dublet collar. "-N. P.p. 738.
North in his translation modernised classical dress, and Shake
speare followed him. There is a good example in the Life of
Pompey about the execution of Carbo. "He prayed the execu
tioner to give him a little respite and place to untrusse a point,
for he had a paine. " (p. 636. )
266 At a word. Coriolanus, i. 3. 107 ; Merry Wives, i. 3. 15 ;
2 Henry IV. iii. 2. 317 ; Much Ado, ii. I. 119.
274 Thus sad. See line 218.
276, 8 Cassius meditates bringing Cicero into the conspiracy.
See ii. 1. 141.
277 In a few touches Shakespeare gives an admirable portrait
of Cicero. There is no better instance of his power of historical
divination. See 1. 186.
286 Cassius sees in ' honest, ' ' gentle ' Casca material for a
conspirator, and intends to secure him. Casca has a satirical
tongue, but no depth of character.
294 Quick mettle. Opposed to ' blunt.' It is difficult to say
whether mettle ' here is the literal word used metaphorically,
as in line 307 below, or the metaphorical word, but as the two
are originally the same, the question is unimportant. Both are
spelt mettle in the folios. Cf. the word ' temper.'
295 Cassius will not let Brutus wander far from the point.
297 Tardyform. ' Appearance of sluggishness.'
299 Disgest. So Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 2. 178, fol. ,
"Matters are so well disgested." Frequent in seventeenth
74 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act I

century. Cf. Middleton, Five Gallants, ii."" 3, " It comes like

cheese after a great feast, to disgest the rest.
301 And so it is. Cf. 1 Henry IV. 4. 27, “And so there is, "
and other examples in Abbott , Sh. G. 97.
305 Think of the world. And of yourself as the world's
saviour. For world ( = condition of things) cf. v. 5. 22, “ Thou
seest the world, Volumnius, how it goes.
306 Noble ; i.e. a true Roman, hating tyranny. Cf. 1. 176–296.
'Nobility ' is as often in Cassius' mouth as ' honour ' in Brutus'.
The one is a political, the other a moral virtue.
308 From its true disposition. For omission of relative see
Appendix II. For preposition, cf. i. I. 47 ; iii. 2. 250 ; iv.
I. 41.
311 Bear me hard. The same phrase occurs ii. I. 215 ;
iii. 1. 157. Cf. Ben Jonson, Catiline, iv. 5, " Ay, tho' he bear
me hard, I yet must do him right ; ' quoted by Prof. Hales, and
Beaumont and Fletcher's Scornful Lady, iv. 2—
"If he start well,
Fear not, but cry, St. George, and bear him hard;
When you perceive his wind grow hot and wanting,
Let him a little down ; he's fleet, ne'er doubt him ".
quoted by Mr. A. H. Bullen, in Academy (29th December, 1883).
The metaphor is thus plainly from horsemanship. Cf. also line
35, and Lear, iii. 1. 27, “ The hard rein which both of them
have borne against the old kind king." Mr. Fleay (Shakespeare
Manual, p. 266) thinks that the use of this phrase three times in
this play, and nowhere else in Shakespeare, but in Catiline, as
quoted above, goes to prove that Ben Jonson had a hand in its
authorship. It is difficult to regard such a suggestion as seriously
made, but the reference to The Scornful Lady is sufficient to
prove that the phrase is not purely Jonsonian. And the use of
an expression several times in one play, and not elsewhere, is
not uncommon in Shakespeare. The following are instances :
'Handsome about him ' (Much Ado, iv. 2. 88 ; v. 4. 105) ;
' discandy ' (Antony and Cleopatra, iii. 13. 165 ; iv. 12. 22) ;
'chare ' (Antony and Cleopatra, iv. 15. 75 ; v. 2. 231 ) . The
phrase ' shall (or will) be satisfied ' occurs five times in our own
play.
313 He; i.e. Cæsar. "Cassius' friends prayed him (Brutus)
to beware of Cæsar's sweete enticements , and to flie his tyrannical
fauors, the which , they said, Cæsar gave him not to honor his
vertue, but to weaken his constant minde. " And again, " The
great honors and fauour Cæsar shewed unto him kept him backe,
that of himselfe alone he did not conspire nor consent to depose
him of his kingdome. ” —N. P. p. 739. Some commentators
follow Warburton in taking he of Brutus, but this is quite
impossible. See the word noble in 1. 306, 309, and note.
Scene 3] NOTES. 75
314 Cassius' ' nobility ' does not make him overscrupulous as
to means in what he considers a good cause. See also iv. 3. 7.
317 Obscurely . . . ambition. See ii. I. 47, &c. , and note.
The word ' ambition , ' here first introduced, has a considerable
part to play in the next act.
320 For the rhyme at the end of a scene, cf. ii. 3 ; v. 5 .
SCENE 3.
The third scene shows us Cassius following up the chase of
Casca (as a typical conspirator), and capturing him by rodo
montade. At the end of the act the conspiracy only waits for
Brutus. The storm is a great revealer of character. Casca is
frightened ; Cicero finds it inconvenient ; Cassius makes it serve
his purpose. For the effect on Brutus, see ii. I. 44.
I Brought you Cæsar home ? Cicero was going on to ask if
Cæsar intended coming to the capitol the next day (1. 85), but he
breaks off, seeing Casca's excitement.
, His question is asked in 1.36.
2 Casca's ' tardy form ' (i . 2. 297) has yielded to his fears.
3 Sway. The regular motion.
14 More wonderful. Either than usual, or than you have
described.
15 Shakespeare found the material of this passage in Plutarch.
Notice how admirably it is put into verse : " For touching the
fires in the element and spirits running up and downe in the
night, and also the solitary birds to be seene at noon daies
sitting in the great market-place, are not all these signes perhaps
worth the noting in such a wonderful chance as happened ? But
Strabo, the philosopher, writeth that diuers men were seene
going up and down in fire ; and furthermore, that there was a
slave ofthe soldiers that did cast a maruellous burning flame out
of his hand, insomuch as they that saw it thought he had been
burnt ; but when the fire was out, it was found he had no hurt. ""'
-N. P. p. 739.
21 Glazed. Fol. Rowe, glared. But glazed may be a sur
vival of an old form of glare. Cf. Middle High German glosen
(quoted by Skeat) and glass. I am informed that glaze in this
sense survives in Cornwall, where English was chiefly introduced
in the reign of Elizabeth.
30 Cf. All's Well, ii . 3. 1 .
32 For other descriptions of portents see Richard II. ii. 4. 7 ;
Macbeth, ii. 3. 59 ; Hamlet, i. I. 112.
35 From. ' Away from. ' Cf. 1. 64, ii. 1. 196 ; Coriolanus,
""
iii. 1. 90, " 'Twas from the canon (i.e. illegal).
39 Then. Cicero having obtained his information, has no
wish to hear more of Casca's ghost stories.
41 By your voice. Cf. 1. 132, " I do know him by his gait."
Cassius is a quick observer.
76 JULIUS CESAR. [Act I
42 For this adjectival use of the substantive cf. Cymbeline,""
iv. 2. 207, " Jove knows what man thou mightst have made.
See other instances in Abbott, Sh. G. 86.
48 Unbraced. ii. 1. 262. Explained by Hamlet, ii. 1. 78,
"With his doublet all unbraced." See note on i. 2. 264.
49 Thunder-stone. Cf. Cymbeline, iv. 2. 271
"Fear no more the lightning flash ,
Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone."
50 Cross. 'Zigzag.' So Lear, iv. 7. 39, " Quick cross
‫در‬
lightning.'
58 Roman. See 1. 41.
60 Castyourself in wonder ; i.e. ' throw yourself into a state
of wonder.' Cf. Measure for Measure, iv. 2. 219, " Put not
yourself into amazement. "
64 From. See l. 35. Quality and kind. Mr. Fleay quotes
from E. M. in his Humour, ii. I , "C Spirits of our kind and
quality," as the second proof of seventeen that Jonson had a
hand in this play. Gascoigne has “ But kind hath lent him such
a quality."
65 Mitford's correction of the fol. : " Why old men, fooles,
and children calculate. "" Cf. Plato's description of the demo
cratic state : οἱ μὲν νέοι πρεσβυτέροις ἀπεικάζονται καὶ διαμιλλῶνται
καὶ ἐν λόγοις καὶ ἐν ἔργοις, οἱ δὲ γέροντες ξυγκαθιέντες τοῖς νέοις
εὐτραπελίας τε καὶ χαριεντισμοῦ ἐμπίπλανται. (The young copy
their elders, and compete with them in word and deed, and the
old condescend to the young, and are full of wit and pleasantry).
Rep. 563.
67 Preformed faculties ; i.e. ' faculties as they were originally
formed. ' See iii. 1. 38.
68 Monstrous. 'Unnatural,' like prodigious, 1. 77, enor
mous,' Lear, ii. 2. 176. All three words have come in Modern
English to mean little more than huge.
72 A somewhat clumsy transition ; but Cassius does not feel
the need of much delicacy in handling Casca. Lettsom re
arranges
"Unto some monstrous state. Now could I, Casca,
Name thee a man," &c.
74 That. We should expect who ; but line 73 is treated as
parent ical . On Shakespeare's use of relatives , see Abbott,
het
Sh. G. 259, &c.
75 Lion. Coming in the list of prodigies, this must refer to
the lion of 1. 20. The objection that Casca had not told Cassius
applies equally to the ' gliding ghosts ; but it is an objection of
the critic, not of the audience. Cf. Twelfth Night, ii. 5. 95,
" By my life," says Malvolio, "this is my lady's hand ; these be
her very her Us, and her Ts ; and thus makes she her great
Ps." The critic may object, though the audience would not,
Scene 3] NOTES . 77

that in the superscription of the letter, To the unknown beloved,

this, and my good wishes, there are neither Cs nor great Ps.
But there is perhaps no reason why Cassius should not have met
the lion or heard it, as well as Casca.
76 Me. Than being perhaps treated as a preposition. So
Antony and Cleopatra, iii. 3. 14, " Is she as tall as me ? " Or
euphony may be a sufficient excuse. For other irregularities see
Abbott, Sh. G. 205.
85 We are prepared for this by Cicero's question, 1. 36.
87 “ They (the Senate) were ready willingly to grant him all
things, and to proclaime him king of all his prouinces of the
empire of Rome out of Italy, and that he should weare his
diademe in al other places, both by sea and land. ”—N. P. p. 740.
89 In this fine speech Cassius delivers his soul. Casca's last
speech is news to him.
90 As an Epicurean (v. 1. 76) , Cassius would have no scruple
about suicide. (Contrast Brutus, v. I. 100. ) Epicurus had said,29
"When we are, death is not, and when death is, we are not.
So that the question which should exist, death or Cassius, was
one of convenience.
IOI Casca for the first time discovers that he is a bondman.
102 Cancel. Suggested by a play on the word bond in the
previous line.
116 This final stroke of trusting to his honour has won Casca.
Such . . that. The proper correlative of such (so-like,
swilc, swich) is which (why-like, hwilic, hwilc), as in Winter's
Tale, iv. 4, 783, " There lies such secrets in this fardel and box
which none must know but the king." But it is also used with
other relatives, as, that, where.
117 Hold. Cf. hold thee, v. 4. 85.
118 Be factious ; i.e. conspire, make a party. Cf. ii. 1. 77.
So Richard III. i. 3. 128, “ You and your husband Grey were
factious for the house of Lancaster. "
All these. Notice what grievances have been enumerated.
121 I have moved. Notice this. Cassius is the author of the
conspiracy.
122 Noblest-minded. See i. 2. 306.
123 For undergo in the sense of undertake, cf. Midsummer
Night's Dream, i. 1. 75, “ To undergo such maiden pilgrimage. ”
124 Honourable-dangerous. For other examples of compound
adjectives, see Abbott, Sh. G. 2.
126 Really it was in ' Pompey's porch ' that the murder took
place. " It was one of the porches about the theater (see l. 152),
in the which there was a certaine place full of seates for men to
sit in ; where also was set up the image of Pompey, which the
city had made and consecrated in honour of him, when he did
beautifie that part of the citie with the theater he built with
G
78 JULIUS CÆSAR . [Act II

diuers porches about it."-N. P. p. 996. Shakespeare puts the

murder in the Capitol (cf. Hamlet, iii. 2. 109), perhaps following
tradition, as the same mistake is quoted from Chaucer's Monk's
Tale, 1. 714
128 Element. See passage quoted, i. 3. 15, " The fires in the
element," and see Glossary.
129 Is feverous. Reed. This is the best correction of the
fol. , " Is Fauors.""9 Cf. a parallel passage in Macbeth, ii. 3. 65,
"Some say the earth was feverous, and did shake. " And
Coriolanus, i. 4. 60, “ Thou mad'st thine enemies shake, as if
the world were feverous, and did tremble. " Johnson proposed
" In favour's," but favour adds nothing to complexion.
130 Bloody-fiery. Hyphened by Walker.
132 See 1. 41, and note.
135 Cassius holds Casca firm to his ' bargain ' (1. 120).
136, 9 Am I not stay'd for? i.e. are they all ready, waiting
for me? There is work to be done before morning, and Cassius
has no patience for further remarks on the weather.
138 There's. Cf. 1. 148. The verb is often singular when it
precedes.
140 The lines stand thus in the folio
"Yes, you are. O Cassius,
If you could but winne
"" the Noble Brutus
To our party . . .'
The excellent arrangement in the text is Craik's.
144 i.e. taking care that Brutus may find it.
146 Old Brutus' statue. " Marcus Brutus came of that Iunius
Brutus, for whom the ancient Romaines made his statue of brasse
to be set vp in the Capitoll, with the images of the kings,
holding a naked sword in his hand, because he had valiantly
put downe the Tarquines from the kingdome of Rome."
N. P. p. 991.
148 See l . 138, note.
163 The time up to the death of Cæsar is very carefully
marked. Cf. ii . 1. 3, 101 , 192, 213 ; 3. 114.

ACT II. SCENE 1.

Act ii., like act i. , is an act of preparation and expectancy,
but it is more inward. The interest is shifted from Cassius to
Brutus. Notice how the hesitation of Brutus and the urgency
of Portia are matched against Cæsar's debate with Calpurnia.
SCENE 1. - The scene changes to Brutus' orchard, but the
references to the storm remind us that the time is the same as
in the last act.
5 When. A common expression of impatience. Cf. Richard
II. i. 1. 162, “ When, Harry, when ? "
Scene 1] NOTES. 79

Lucius is a very good instance of the thorough way in which

Shakespeare uses his minor characters. Notice how much the
scene is helped by his going to and fro.
7 Study. A hint of Brutus' bookishness. See iv. 3. 250.
IO It must be by his death. Reasons for this conclusion follow,
but Cassius' reference to Junius Brutus (i. 2. 159 ) has probably
not been without its effect. See l. 53, 61. The emphatic words
in the speech are change ( 13), crown ( 15) , put ( 16), may (27, 28),
augmented (30), grow (33). But as the crown could give Cæsar
no more power than he already possessed as imperator for life
and perpetual dictator, the argument breaks down.
12 The general. ' The common ' (weal). Cf. Hamlet, ii.
2. 457, "'T was caviare to the general.'
He would be crowned. Brutus gathered this from Casca's
story of the Lupercalia, and the look on Cæsar's face. (i. 2.
183, 274.)
15 And that craves. That probably relative pronoun.
Crown him ? that. That is deliberative, like our well.
20 Affections. ' Desires. ' So to affect to desire, frequently.
Swayed, sc. him. "3
21 Common proof. "A matter proved by common experience '
(MASON). So " vulgar proof," Twelfth Night, iii. 1. 135.
28 Since we have no plausible ground of complaint in what
he is.
33 Grow. The may of 1. 17 has become must.
40 Ides. Theobald's correction of fol. first. For Brutus
could scarcely be a fortnight out in his calculation, and he is
remembering the Soothsayer. (i. 2. 19. ) Knight points out that
the first of March comes in Plutarch, from whom Shakespeare
may have copied it. "Cassius asked him if he were determined
to be in the senate house the first day of the moneth of March,
because he heard say that Cæsar's friendes should moue the
councell that day that Cæsar should be called king. ”—N. P.
P. 995.
42 Calendar. Shakespeare had read in Plutarch that Cæsar
had reformed the calendar, and made it accessible.
44 Exhalations. Meteors. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, iii. 5. 13,
"It is some meteor that the sun exhales."
46 See thyself. Brutus might have remembered the phrase,
and guessed its author. See i. 2. 51 .
47-51 &c. Cf. above, 1. 31 , "These and these extremities,"
and i. 3. 118, " All these griefs. " The abstractness of Brutus'
judgment is well typified by the means of his conversion.
54 When he was called. But not for being called a king.
57 If. Note the irony. We hear no more of if.
59 Fourteen. Theobald's correction of fol. fifteen.
62 The number of half-lines in this play is very noticeable.
.80 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act II
Mr. Fleay thinks this " points to the fact that it has been
greatly abridged for the purpose of representation." He does
not show that the half-lines are not effective where they come,
especially in the speeches of Brutus.
65 Like a phantasma. ' An illusion, ' ' imagination.' So
Macbeth, i. 3. 138
" Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings;
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man, that function ""
Is smothered in surmise ; and nothing is but what is not.'
66 The genius is the mind ; the mortal instruments, the bodily
organs. Cf. Coriolanus, i. I. 104—
"The other instruments
Did see and hear, devise, instruct, walk, feel. "
Also Othello, i. 3. 271 , “ My speculative and officed instruments.”
The mind and senses are in council about the future, and so
withdrawn from outward objects in the present, 66 And nothing
is but what is not." For genius, see Twelfth Night, iii. 4. 142,
and quotations on iii. 2. 185.
67 State; i.e. commonwealth, kingdom. Cf. passage quoted
from Macbeth, on 1. 65 ; 2 Henry IV. iv. 3. 118, " This little
kingdom, man ; " King John, iv. 2. 246 ; and Lear, iii. 1. 10,
"Strives in his little world of man." "Tritum est in scholis
esse hominem minorem mundum, in quo mixtum ex elementis
corpus et spiritus coelestis et plantarum anima vegetalis et
brutorum sensus et ratio et angelica mens et Dei similitudo
conspicitur. "-PICUS of MIRANDOLA, quoted by Pater, The
Renaissance, p. 43, second edition. See v. 5. 73.
69 The nature of. Cf. 2 Henry IV. i. 1. 60
"This man's brow, like to a title-leaf,
Foretells the nature of a tragic volume."
70 Brother. "Cassius had married Junia, Brutus' sister. "
N. P. p. 993.
73 Plucked. Cf. Winter's Tale, iv. 4. 665, " Take your
sweetheart's hat, and pluck it o'er your brows."
78 Sham'st thou. Cf. Macbeth, ii. 2. 64, “I shame to wear a
heart so white ."
83 Path. Fol. Southern, put. So Coleridge. Steevens
quotes two passages from Drayton in support of the folio :
"Where from the neighbouring hills her passage Wey doth
path," and " Pathing young Henries vnaduised waies. " Shake
speare (Winter's Tale, iv. 4. 578) has " Unpath'd waters."
There is no reason why a verb should not be formed from
path, as from other nouns. Cf. track, used by Greene, and
amples in Abbott, Sh. G. 290. But the fol. has no comma
after path, so that put may, after all, be the true reading.
Scene 1] NOTES. 81

100 This interlude serves the double purpose of reminding us

that it is still night, and of contrasting Cassius' eagerness and
Brutus' deep solicitude with the light-heartedness of the rest.
It brings the quiet breath of dawn in upon the fevered
debatings and mutterings of the night. Singer well compares
Macbeth, i. 6.
104 Fret. On the meaning of this word here Mr. Ruskin
has written two letters, which are reprinted in Arrows of the
Chace, ii. 257. " The root of the whole matter is that the
reader should have seen what he has often heard of, ' Day
break ;' next it is needful he should think what ' break ' means
in that word- what is broken, and by what. " .. Here "fret
means all manner of things ; primarily the rippling of clouds,
as sea by wind ; secondarily, the breaking it asunder for light
to come through. " There seem originally to have been two
6
words, freten, to eat away ;' and fretien, to ornament.' Mr.
Wright thinks the word has here its architectural sense of lines
interlacing ; he compares Hamlet, ii. 2. 313.
108 Weighing. Not, as we say, considering, but because of.
112 Brutus joins the ' faction, ' and at once ( 114) assumes the
leadership.
114 In the light of his idea Brutus sees the faces of his
countrymen wasted with misery.
118 For the metaphor cf. i. 1. 73. High-sighted. ' Able to
see from on high.'
119 By lottery. Now one, now another, as if by lottery.
123 What. ' Why. ' Cf. Cymbeline, iii. 4. 34. For other
examples see ABBOTT, Sh. G. 253.
124 Redress. See 1. 57.
125 Secret. Cf. Hamlet, i. 5. 122, " But you'll be secret."
130 Such ... that. See note on i. 3. 116.
134 Insuppressive. Passive. Cf. "Piausive manners " (Hamlet,
i. 4. 30) ; " The unexpressive she " (As You Like, iii. 2. 10).
136-8 Cf. Hamlet, iv. 5. 116.
141 See i. 2. 276-8.
150 Break with. Break the matter to, the usual sense in
Shakespeare. Cf. Two Gentlemen, i. 3. 44 ; iii. 1. 59 ; Much
Ado, i. I. 311, 328 ; ii. 1. 310. In Coriolanus, iv. 6. 48, it is
used in the modern meaning.
153 Cf. 1. 142. Casca's convictions are not very deep.
158 A shrewd contriver. A dangerous schemer.
160 Which to prevent. This is Brutus' argument of 1. 28,
but based upon a clearer knowledge of men.
166 Let us. Pope for fol. let's. For scansion see Appendix
10.
169 See Introduction, p . xvii.
82 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act II

175 Elizabeth's relations with her ministers would supply

many instances.
178 For scansion see Appendix I. 10.
184 Ingrafted. Set deep in his nature.
187 Thought. See Glossary.
188 And that for him would be a good deal.
189 See i. 2. 28, note. Cassius is overborne, not convinced
as he was above (1. 152), about Cicero.
190 Trebonius. Plutarch tells a story that Trebonius had
once sounded Antony about the murder of Cæsar, and that
though he had not consented , he had not told Cæsar.
191 Clock strikes. See note, i. 3. 163.
195 It is worth noting that no remark to Cæsar's personal
discredit is made by Brutus.
196 From. See i. 3. 35.
Main opinion. Opinion in general, as in Troilus and Cressida,
i. 3. 373. There is no reason to follow Johnson in taking it to
mean ' strong, ' here6 or in Henry VIII. iv. I. 31.
198 Apparent. Which have appeared ; ' or perhaps ' seem
ing ' prodigies.
200 Augurers. North's word.
203 " It seemeth his favour was so great, as Antonius, in a
letter which is recited verbatim in one of Cicero's Philippiques,
called him venefica, witch, as if he had enchanted Cæsar."
BACON, ESS. 27, " Of Friendship. "
204 Steevens quotes Spenser, Faery Queene, ii. 5, of the
battle between lion and unicorn
"He slips aside ; the whiles that furious beast
His precious horne, sought of his enimyes,
Strikes in the stocke. "
205 "And the same [ Pliny] saith also that there is another
waye that some huntsmen beguile hir [the tiger] with, as to
bestrew and spreade in the way glasse, by ye which she comming
and espying there hir owne shadowe represented, weneth
through such sight that there were of hir young. "-JOHN
MAPLET, A Greene Forest ( 1567. ) " Elephants, " says Steevens,
66 were seduced into pitfalls, lightly covered with hurdles and
turf, on which a proper bait to tempt them was exposed. See
Pliny's Natural History, book viii. " (Chap. 8. ) Mr. Wright
refers to Somerville's Chase, iii. 261-307, for a description of
both these modes of hunting.
212 Cassius, however, does not himself go to fetch Cæsar,
perhaps to avoid suspicion.
213 See ii. 2. 114.
215 Bear Casar hard. Second folio hatred. See i. 2. 311.
224 This seems to be the result of Brutus' cogitation (1. 80).
228 With energy beneath an appearance of repose.
 Scene 1] NOTES. 83

230 Honey-heavy dew. Heavy with honey. Collier altered

this to " heavy honey-dew, " remarking that ' honey-dew ' is a
well-known glutinous deposit upon the leaves of trees, &c.
That being so, the printer or editor would not have been likely
to make the alteration.
231 Figures. Cf. Merry Wives, iv. 2. 231 , " If it be but to
scrape the figures out of your husband's brain. "
246 Wafture. Fol. wafter.
254 Dear my lord. Craik observes that the position of the
adjective here before the pronoun is exactly paralleled by the
French ' cher monsieur, ' the explanation being that the pronoun
and noun have coalesced. But this does not explain an instance
Craik himself quotes from Troilus and Cressida (v. 2. 109),
"Poor our sex.' Such phrases are examples of the greater
freedom used by Elizabethan writers in the arrangement of their
words.
262 Unbraced. i. 3. 48, note.
266 Unpurged air. Cf. Twelfth Night, i. 1. 20, “ Methought
she purged the air of pestilence. "
271 Charm . For the more usual ' Conjure, ' as in Macbeth,
iv. 1. 50, " I conjure you by that which you profess. " Balaam
is called a "subtyle soothsayer and cursed charmer" (i.e.
conjuror).-BALE, quoted in TODD's Johnson.
289 Gray copied this, Bard, 1. 41 , " Dear as the ruddy drops
that warm my heart. "
297 Cf. Merchant of Venice, i . I. 165—
" Her name is Portia, nothing undervalued
To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia. "
305 Thy. For the first time in this dialogue. See Appendix III.
312 How. An expression of surprise at Ligarius' sick
appearance.
313 Vouchsafe ; i.e. to receive. Cf. Two Gentlemen, i. 1. 160,
"I fear my Julia would not deign my lines."
315 Wear a kerchief. Cf. 2 Henry IV. i. I. 147, " Sickly
quoif. " Malone quotes from Fuller's Worthies (Cheshire) :
If any there be sick, they make him a posset, and tye a
kerchief on his head ; and if that will not mend him, then God
be merciful to him."
321 "Throwing away his bandage. " -COLLIER.
324 Mortified. Dead. Cf. Macbeth, v. 2. 5 ; Henry V. i.
I. 26.
328 Metellus must have given Ligarius a hint of what was on
foot.
331 Set on yourfoot. We have set on (i. 2. 11 ; v. 2. 3 ), and
' set foot ' (i. 3. 119) . The expressions are here combined.
333 Thunder. This stage direction is omitted by modern
editors.
84 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act II

SCENE 2.
Nightgown ; i.e. dressing-gown. Cf. Macbeth, v. 1. 5, “ I
have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon
her."
I Have. "Where as here the two singular substantives are
looked at together by the mind, it is more natural to use the
plural verb. "-CRAIK.
10 Cæsar. Notice how often during this scene Cæsar speaks
of himself by name. See i. 2. 199, 212, note.
13 Stood on. Regarded as important. Cf. iii . I. 101 .
17 Cf. Hamlet, i. 1. 115, ff.
19 Fought. Dyce for fol. fight, which, though defensible as
a historical present, is rendered unlikely by the ' right ' in the
next line.
22 Imitated by Gray, Fatal Sisters, 4, " Iron sleet of arrowy
shower Hurtles in the darkened air.'
23 Horses did. Second fol. for first fol. do.
26 Cf. Hamlet, v. 2. 230, "We defy augury," &c.
28 Yet. Refers to what follows. "These predictions," &c.
30 Cf. I Henry VI. i. 1. 2, "Comets importing change of
times and states."
32 Plutarch quotes a saying of Cæsar's : " It was better to
die once than alwayes to be afraid of death.” —N. P. p. 737.
41 Of cowardice ; i.e. my cowardice. The victims had been
consulted (1. 5) expressly for Cæsar.
46 Are. Upton. Theobald, were, for fol. heare.
54 Upon my knee. Contrast Portia, ii. 1. 270.
56 For thy humour. Cæsar is sensibly relieved by this
expedient.
60 Happy time. Lucky (the original sense from hap). So
Othello, iii. 1. 32, Hamlet, v. 2. 213. Shakespeare could use
happily where we should now say haply. (Hamlet, i. 1. 134 ;
Measurefor Measure, iv. 2. 98. ) In Two 66 Gentlemen of Verona,
i. I. 32, he puns
"" on the double sense, If haply won, perhaps a
hapless gain."'
62 Cæsar cannot make the arranged excuse. He feels it
unworthy of him.
76 In Plutarch the dream is of a falling pinnacle. Statuë.
So iii. 2. 186, and Rich. III. iii. 7. 25. Bacon uses the Latin
form statua, but the word came into English through the Old
French statue, pronounced as a trisyllable.
80 For scansion see Appendix I. 10.
88 Decius interprets hurriedly. Great men could scarcely
press for tinctures unless Cæsar were martyred. Cæsar's reply
is ironical.
89 See iii. 2. 130. Tinctures stains come to mean much the
Scene 3, 4] NOTES . 85

same thing, though strictly tincture is a dye, stain (short for

distain), that which takes the colour out, as in Chaucer, Leg.
Good Women, Prol. 255. Cognizance, "that by which anyone
may be known, " then applied to arms. For the pl. form cf.
Merchant of Venice, iv. 1. 255, " Are there balance ?" and other
examples in Abbott, Sh. G. 471.
103 Proceeding; i.e. good fortune, just as success is used for
good success (see v. 3. 65, 6). Cf. Richard III. iv. 4. 402,""
" Be opposite all planets of good luck to my proceeding, if.
104 Reason, which would forbid mentioning fear in the same
breath with Cæsar, yields to my love. For the common contrast
of Reason and Love, cf. ii. 1. 20, and Midsummer Night's
Dream, iii. I. 147, " Reason and Love keep little company
together,"
105 Now. In the light of the Senate's intentions. It is the
mention of the crown that determines Cæsar.
108 Publius. Representing the Senate.
110 Stirred. Cf. Pericles, iii . 2. 12, " Why do you stir so
early?" Romeo and Juliet, iv, 4. 3, " Come, stir, stir, stir, the
second cock hath crowed."
114 See ii. 1. 214, strucken. In ii. 1. 192 we have stricken ;
iii. 1. 209, stroken.
SCENE 3.
Artemidorus. " And one Artemidorus also born in the Ile of
Gnidos, a doctor of Rhetorick in the Greeke tongue, who by
means of his profession was very familiar with certaine of
Brutus' confederates, and therefore knew the most part of al
their practises against Cæsar, came and brought him a little bill
written with his owne hand of all that he meant to tell him ."
N. P. p. 740.
6 Thou .... .you . See Appendix III .
7 Gives way. Opens a path to. In iv. 3. 39 it is used in the
more usual sense.
8 Lover. So iii. 2. 13, 42. Used more generally than in
Modern English. Cf. Coriolanus, v. 2. 14, " I tell thee, fellow,
Thy general is my lover." See Glossary.
16 For the rhyme cf. i. 2. 320 ; v. 3. 96, 5. 80.

SCENE 4.
6 Cf. ii. 1. 299. In Modern English the word has rather the
sense of fidelity than firmness. See also ii. 1. 227 , and constant,
iii. 1. 22, 60, 72, 73.
18, 19 Notice the sound-effect of this couplet. Cf. " Impulit
aures Confusae sonus urbis et illaetabile murmur. "-VIRG. Æn.
xii. 619.
86 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act III
Enter the Soothsayer. Craik says, " Tyrwhitt would substitute
Artemidorus ; but the change is unnecessary. Nevertheless,
there is some apparent want of artifice in what may be almost
described as the distribution of one part between two dramatis
persona, and there may possibly be something wrong." With
regard to Tyrwhitt's suggestion, we might go further, and say
that the change is not only not necessary, but quite impossible.
The vague sententiousness of 1. 32, admirably suited for the
Soothsayer, would be out of place in a man who had all the
conspirators scheduled . In respect of Professor Craik's criticism,
it is sufficient to ask how Artemidorus could take the Soothsayer's
place in act i. sc. 2.
40 For scansion see Appendix I. 10.
42 Brutus ... grant. This is said to the boy as an explana
tion of enterprise. '

ACT III. SCENE I.

The first scene of this act contains the murder of Cæsar, to
which all before has led up, and from which all after follows.
I Cæsar going unto the Senate house, and speaking merily
unto the Soothsayer, told him the Ides of March be come. So
they be, softly answered the Soothsayer, but yet are they not
past."-N. P. p. 739.
4 There is no explanation of this except the reference ii. 2. 121 .
8 Served. Attended to. Cf. As You Like, ii. 7. 89, “ Nor
shalt not till necessity be served." Collier proposed, “ That
touches us ? ourself shall be last served," but quite unnecessarily.
Notice the kingly plural.
18 Brutus is cooler-headed than Cassius.
19 See 1. 30. Be sudden. Cf. Tempest, ii. 1. 306, " Then let
us both be sudden."
21 Or. Malone proposed on, but no change is required.
The sense runs : 66 Either Cassius or Cæsar shall not return ; for
if this be known, I will slay myself."
29 He is addressed. He has directed himself to Cæsar. Or
it may mean simply he is ready. ' Cf. Midsummer Night's
Dream, v. I. 107, " So please your grace, the Prologue is
addressed." 2 Henry IV. iv. 4. 5, " Our navy is addressed."
31 Cæs. Are we all ready? So fol. Ritson gives these
words to Cinna, Dyce and Collier to Casca ; but the balance of
the line requires them to be Caesar's, and coming where they do
they are full of tragic irony.
32 Redress. See before, i. 3. 118 ; ii. 1. 57. Not the word
we should expect from a tyrant.
33 The conspirators feel the sarcasm of the situation, and
flatter inordinately .
 Scene 1] NOTES. 87

36 Couchings. Cf. Genesis xlix. 14, "" " Issachar is a strong ass
couching down between two burdens.
38 Pre-ordinance. What has been ordered from the be
ginning. Cf. Pre-destination, and "pre-formed faculties."
(i. 3. 67. ) For first Craik suggested fixt, a good conjecture,
but perhaps unnecessary.
39 Law. Johnson's correction of fol. lane. Of children, and
so to be easily altered.
40 Such that. See i. 3. 116, note.
43 Low-crooked. Collier conjectured crouched, which would
look almost the same in manuscript, but cf. Hamlet, iii. 2. 66,
"Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee."
47 About this passage Ben Jonson has a curious note in his
Discoveries. Speaking of Shakespeare, he says, 66 Many times
he fell into those things could not escape laughter ; as when he
said in the person of Cæsar, one speaking to him, ' Cæsar, thou
dost me wrong,
999 ' he replied, ' Cæsar did never wrong but with
just cause. Again, in the induction to the Staple of News, he
has Cry you mercy, you never did wrong but with just cause.'
There is no warrant for Jonson's criticism in the folio text,
which stands thus :
"Know, Cæsar doth not wrong, nor without cause
Will he be satisfied."
Assuming from the latter quotation, which coming in a play
must have been intelligible to the audience, that there is truth in
the story, the question arises, Was it a first-night blunder of
some player, or, being originally part of Shakespeare's text,
was it altered by him or by the folio editors, Heminge and
Condell? There can be little doubt that the paradox is Shake
speare's, ' wrong ' being used in the sense of injury. ' (Cf. iv. 2.
37; 3. 270. ) It is not the kind of mistake that an actor would
be likely to make, or Shakespeare to correct. The alteration is
probably due to the editors. The lines are printed in the text
as restored by Tyrwhitt, except in one particular. I have not
given to Metellus the words " Cæsar, thou dost me wrong, " as
Cæsar's reference must have been to the supposed ' wrong ' of
Publius Cimber's banishment. Jonson's memory may easily
have been at fault as to the details.
48 Nor without cause. Nor will he be convinced without
argument.
54 Freedom of repeal ; i.e. free, unconditional recall.
70 Unshaked of motion ; i.e. by any motion.
74 Cæsar, feeling that the decree of banishment was just,
defends it as the law of heaven against mere clamour. Olympus,
cf. iv. 3. 92.
75 Do. So second fol. restored by Johnson. All modern
editors read doth, which is improbable ; first, because Cæsar is
 888

III
[Act
.
CÆSAR
JULIUS
speaking to a Brutus, and then because it is unlikely that
Marcus Brutus
"" knelt. See above, 1. 52, " I kiss thy hand . .
desiring And cf. what Cassius says just after, " As low as to
thy foot ... to beg," which must be meant for a climax. Also
Decius Brutus is a friend of Cæsar's. ( See ii. 1. 202. ) On the
other hand, in ii. 2. 64, Cæsar calls him Decius.
77 Et tu Brute. Commentators have not discovered the
origin of this expression. It is not in Plutarch. Holland's
translation of Suetonius has κal où TÉкVOV ; " and thou, my
sonne . "" Craik says it is found in the True Tragedie of
Richarde Duke of Yorke (printed 1595), on which 3 Henry VI.
is based ; and also in Acolastus his Afterwitte, by S. Nicholson
(1600) . Malone suggests that it may have been borrowed from
the Latin play on Caesar's death acted at Oxford in 1582.
80 Pulpits ; i.e. the rostra. North's word.
81 Enfranchisement. Richard II. i. 3. 90 ; K. John, iv. 2. 52.
83 Ambition has received its due.
97 Cf. the reality with Brutus' imaginative picture (ii. 1. 114).
100 Stand upon. Cf. ii. 2. 13, " I never stood on ceremonies. "
IOI Casca. So fol. Pope gave the speech to Cassius, in
which he is followed by all subsequent editors. But it is much
more in Casca's manner, being an unintentional burlesque of
what Brutus had said. If the speech be given to Cassius, cf.
Sophocles' Ajax, 475—
τί γὰρ παρ᾽ ἦμαρ ἡμέρα τέρπειν ἔχει
προσθεῖσα κἀναθεῖσα τοῦ γε κατθανεῖν ;
( For what joy is there in day after day drawing us on and with
drawing us from death ? ' ) But Ajax was meditating suicide.
III The flatness of these heroics is a good comment on the
need for the conspiracy. The liberators of their country might
presumably look forward to a more immediate recognition.
113 States. Fol. state.
115 Pompey's basis. Cf. sc. ii. 186, " At the base of Pompey's
statuë."
121 For double superlative, cf. iii. 2. 187.
122 Friend. Has a strong and a weak sense.
126 Honest ; i.e. ' honourable. ' See Glossary.
131 Resolved. iii . 2. 177 ; iv. 2. 14. As we speak of the
solution of a problem .
136 State ; i.e. ' state of things. ' Cf. 1. 297.
138 Brutus does not reciprocate the ' noble' and ' honest.' The
two hemistichs in five lines contrast with the elaborate speech of
Antony's servant. Cf. sc. 2. 1. 2 ; and see ii. 1. 62, note. At
the same time,6 it is not true that Brutus never thought Antony
'worse ' than wise. ' He is evidently touched by the flattery of
Antony's message. See also 1. 143. For other instances of
Brutus' unconscious vanity, see l. 182 ; iv. 3. 32 ; v. 1. 59.
Scene 1] NOTES. 89

140 So please him. Provided that (it) please him. For so

see i. 2. 166.
141 Satisfied. See below, iii. 2. 1.
143 To friend. Cf. Cymbeline, i. 4. 116, " Had I admittance
and opportunity to friend." Craik compares " Take to wife.”
Brutus takes Antony at his own estimate (1. 134 and ff. ),
regarding him as a natural parasite. See before, ii . 1. 182.
145 Still. Always. Cf. Tempest, i. 2. 229, " The still-vexed
Bermoothes."
146 Shrewdly. Sharply. Cf. Hamlet, i. 4. I, " The air bites
shrewdly." It is sometimes used more generally, though always
with a disagreeable sense, as in Winter's Tale, v. I. 101 , " Your
verse flowed with her beauty once : ' tis shrewdly ebbed to say
you have seen a better."
153 If I myself. But Antony has been careful not to come
without a safe-conduct. See 1. 131.
158 Purpled hands. See quotation on 1. 207.
160 Apt. ' Ready.' See Glossary.
171 Cf. for this idea King John, iii. 1. 277 ; Two Gentlemen,
ii. 4. 192 ; Romeo and Juliet, i. 2. 46 ; Coriolanus, iv. 7. 54.
174 No. Capell for fol. in, putting semi-colon at malice.
Collier conjectured welcome, which, written welcõe, might easily
have been misread malice ; but the antithesis between arms and
hearts would be feeble. Mr. Wright defends the folio reading
somewhat incomprehensibly. ,
177 Cassius, who ' looks quite through ' men, understands
Antony. See below, 1. 211 , and his speeches following. It is
worth noting that he understands not only the meaner part of
Antony's character, but also the nobler. (ii. 1. 156, 184. )
182 See note on 1. 138.
184 Render. As Craik says "Give me back in return for
mine." See 2. 7.
188 Valiant. Cf. v. I. 43.
189 Malone compares King Lear, i. I. 85 (in the quartos),
"Although the last, not least in our dear love.'
206 Signed. Cf. King John, iv. 2. 221 , "A fellow by the
hand of nature marked, quoted, and signed to do a deed of
shame." The general sense of this line is paralleled by a
passage in King John, ii. 1. 321
" And like a jolly troop of huntsmen come
Our lusty English, all with purpled hands,39
Dyed in the dying slaughter of their foes.'
Signed in thy spoil must mean either decorated with thy
spoils ' (i.e. thy life-blood), or ' dyed with blood by the act of
spoiling thee, ' a reference to the breaking up of the carcase, for
which elaborate directions are given in Turbervile's Noble Artof
Venerie (1611 ). There is no evidence that ' spoil ' was a technical
90 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act III

term, as Mr. Wright suggests ; it seems to bear its ordinary

meaning of plunder stripped from a corpse. ( Richard III. iv. 4.
290 ; King John, iii. 1. 115, "bloody spoil. ") Lethe (first fol.
Lethee, later folios lethe) is more difficult still. Two explana
tions have been offered. Capell asserts that it is "aterm used by
hunters to signify the blood shed by a deer at its fall, with which
it is still a custom to mark those who come in at the death ; " but
he brings forward no proof, and Dr. Murray informs me that he
has no instance of any such use. The word is not in Turbervile,
who gives a list of technical terms. Steevens takes it to mean
death, as if from lethum, and declares it to be used by many of
the old translators of novels ; but even ifproofs were forthcoming,
this gives a very poor sense. The reading ' death, ' conjectured
by Pope, and adopted by Collier and Craik, is impossible for a
further reason, that ' death ' comes at the end of the line only
ten lines before ; and it is too far from the folio reading.
208 Heart. Mr. Wright refers for the same play to As You
Like It, iii. 2. 260, and Twelfth Night, iv. 1. 63.
216 Pricked. As sheriffs are still. See iv. I. 1 , 3, 16 ; 2
Henry IV. iii. 2. 164.
221 Reasons. See below, 1. 225 , 238 ; iii. 2. 7, 9, and above,
1. 132, 181 .
228 Produce his body to. "We now say ' produce to ' with a
person only."-CRAIK.
229 Pulpit. See 1. 80, note.
230 Order. Course.
244 This speech is a fine instance of the simplicity"" of Brutus'
character. No wonder Antony " desires no more.
247 Cf. sc. 2. 86, 224.
257 Tide. The generations being like successive waves.
Times. Cf. King John, iv. 3. 54, " The yet unbegotten sin
of times."
262 Limbs. Commentators have found fault with this word,
and suggested kind (Hanmer), line (Warburton), lives (Johnson),
loins (Collier, adopted by Craik), tombs ( Staunton), minds (Dyce),
sons (Grant White). Johnson also suggests "these lymmes '
(i.e. bloodhounds). But it is the ' limbs ' of Cæsar that have
been mangled, and Antony prophecies in consequence civil war,
which is a curse lighting on the limbs of men as much as on
their tombs, or minds, or loins. The reading limbs ' is sup
ported by cumber (1. 264), infants quartered (1. 268), and carrion
men (1. 275). Mr. Aldis Wright is wrong when he says, " From
bodilyplagues Antony rises to the quarrels of families, and reaches
a climax in fierce civil strife." The lines,
"Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy," &c.,
are a further explanation of " a curse shall light upon the limbs
 Scene 2] NOTES. 91
of men." Antony sees that civil war is the necessary result of
Cæsar's murder, and it is in that sense that his curse is a
' prophecy. ' He is not a beldam uttering general curses.
268 Quartered. So Coriolanus, i. 1. 203.
With. By. See iii. 2. 201 .
270 Cæsar's spirit. See ii. 1. 169, Introd. p. xvii. We get the
first hint of a fulfilment in the stage direction immediately
following. Enter Octavius' servant.
271 Ate. In Shakespeare a fury of discord. Cf. King John,
ii. 1. 63
"With him along is come the mother queen,
An Ate stirring him to blood and strife. "
Love's Labour's Lost, ""v. 2, 694, " More Ates, more Ates ; stir
them on, stir them on.
273 Cry havoc ; i.e. no quarter. So King John, ii. 1. 357,
"Cry havoc, kings. " Coriolanus, iii. 1. 275, " Do ""
not cry havoc
where you should but hunt with modest warrant. See Glossary.
The dogs of war. Steele compared Henry V. Prologue
"Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars ; and at his heels,
Leashed in like hounds, should famine, sword, andfire
Crouch for employment. "
Cf. also 1 Henry VI. iv. 2. 10
"You tempt the fury of my three attendants,
Lean famine, quartering steel, and climbingfire."
Let slip. "We let slippe a greyhound, and caste off a hound. "
-Turbervile's Art of Venerie. Cf. Coriolanus, i. 6. 40 ; Henry
V. iii. 1. 31.
278 This is not from Plutarch.
289 Cassius had made the same play, i. 2. 156.
294 Issue. Cf. Measure for Measure, i. I. 36, " Spirits are
not finely touched But to fine issues. "
296 Young. So Cassius, iv. 3. 93 ; v. I. 61 .

SCENE 2.
Shakespeare omits all mention of the retirement of the con
spirators to the Capitol, and the negotiations with the Senate,
which ended in their receiving provinces. The funeral of Cæsar
took place several days after Brutus' speech. See i. 1. 68, note.
I Satisfied. See iii. 1. 48, 141 .
2 Notice the two hemistichs in seven lines, and cf. iii. 1. 138.
7 Public. See 1. 217.
Rendered. Given as you require. See iii. 1. 184, note.
II Is ascended. With verbs of motion , where stress is laid not
on the action but on the consequent state, the auxiliary is often
be, not have. Cf. 1. 109, 274.
92 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act III
12 Brutus' oration is nicely balanced and argumentative.
First, they must listen if they are to hear ; then, as his sole
reason for addressing them is to explain his motives, they must
take them on his word ; finally, it remains for them to judge
whether they were sufficient to justify the deed. The use ofprose
represents Brutus' wish to be reasonable, and not rhetorical ;
towards the end, as he becomes moved, the language becomes
rhythmical.
13 Lovers. See ii. 3. 8, note.
Censure. Judge. Cf. Hamlet, i. 3. 69, " Take each man's
censure, but reserve thy judgment. "
Not that I loved Cæsar less. Sc. than that friend.
But that I loved Rome more. This is the ' public reason.'
There is tears. See i. 3. 138.
Rude. Barbarous.
"
Question of his death. A question ' is a debatable matter.
So the question of his death' may mean a statement of its
causes and circumstances. Cf. Lear, v. 3. 58, " The question of
Cordelia and her father requires a fitter place," where question
means the consideration of what we are to do with them.
Enrolled. Recorded. The Master of the Rolls is properly
the keeper of the records.
Extenuated ... enforced. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, v. 2. 125,
"We will extenuate rather than enforce." Othello, v. 2. 342,
"Nothing extenuate Nor set down aught in malice. " For enforce,
in the sense of urge, lay stress upon, cf. Coriolanus, ii. 3. 227,
"Enforce his pride. '
55 See i. 3. 146.
56 The third citizen has not followed Brutus' argument very
closely. The fourth is somewhat keener-witted, and apparently
a leader among them. Notice his speeches particularly.
62 Grace. Cf. iii. 1. 121 .
70 Beholding for beholden. 'Obliged. ' Mr. Wright says that
the only exceptions to the use of this form in early copies of
Shakespeare are the fifth and sixth quartos of Richard III.
(iii. I. 107), which have beholden. Bacon also uses beholding,
and Craik quotes an instance from Clarendon,
78 Cæsar's ambition being the alleged ground of the con
spiracy, it is Antony's object to show in every possible way that
Cæsar was not ambitious, and to hint that the conspirators had
less honourable motives than patriotism.
96 When that. That was added, like so and as (whereas,
whenso), to give a relative meaning to words originally interro
gative. (Abbott, Sh. G. 287. )
100 On the Lupercal ; i.e. on the feast of the Lupercal.
There is no reason to suppose with Mr. Wright that Shakes
speare took the Lupercal for a hill.
Scene 2] NOTES. 93
112 Antony pauses to see the effect of his words. "Antonius
making his funerall oration in praise of the dead ...
. perceiving
that his words moved the common people to compassion, ""he
framed his eloquence to make their hearts yearne the more.
N. P. p. 999. "When he saw that the people were very glad
and desirous also to heare Cæsar spoken of and his praises
uttered, he mingled his oration with lamentable words, and by
amplifying of matters did greatly move their hearts and affections
unto pitie and compassion. " —Ñ. P. p. 918.
125 i.e. There is none so poor as, &c. " For a living dog is
better than a dead lion."
126 Masters. Fol. maisters.
138 See ii. 2. 89.
155 O'ershot myself. Gone beyond my intention or my licence.
171 Far. Probably comparative. Cf. v. 3. 11, " Flyfar off."
Antony wants a larger ring, so that all may see, and he and the
body be more impressive.
177 Nervii. " The stoutest warriors of all the Belgae. "
—N. P. p. 721. See Plutarch's account of this battle : " It is
written that of threescore thousand fighting men, there escaped
only but fiue hundred, and of foure hundred gentlemen and
counsellers of the Romaines but three saued."
178 Antony was not present during the murder (iii. 1. 26), so
that his identifications are imaginative.
179 Envious . Cf. iii. 1. 188 ; v. I. 43. Casca gets very
various epithets in the course ofthe play.
185 There is no authority for this in Plutarch. Cæsar had
great respect for Brutus, and had saved his life and taken him
into favour after Pompey's defeat ; but Brutus kept aloof, and
Cæsar partly suspected him.
Angel. See ii. 1. 66. Cf. the scene with the Soothsayer,
Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 3. 16—
ANT. " Whose fortunes shall rise higher, Cæsar's or mine ?
SOOTH . Cæsar's.
Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side :
Thy demon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee, is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable,
Where Cæsar's is not but near him, thy angel
Becomes a fear, as being o'erpowered. "
Compare with this Macbeth, iii. 1. 54—
"There is none but he
Whose being I do fear ; and under him
My Genius is rebuked ; as it is said
Mark Antony's was by Cæsar."
·
So that angel ' and ' genius ' are the same thing. And compare
with this again Troilus and Cressida, iv. 4. 52-
H
94 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act III. s. 3

" Hark, you are called : some say the Genius so

Cries come to him that instantly must die."
Tempest, iv. 1. 27, "The strongst suggestion Our worser genius
can. Cf. Sonnet 144. In Nabbes' Morall Maske, called
Microcosmus, Bellanima appears attended by Bonus and Malus
Genius. ' Angel ' clearly therefore means attendant angel ; and
Antony means that Brutus was inseparable from Cæsar, a second
self. So Comedy of Errors, v. I. 332
"One of these men is Genius to the other ;
Which is the natural man,
And which the spirit ? Who deciphers them ? "
187 For
66 double superlative, cf. iii. 1. 121 .
192 Against the base whereupon Pompey's image stood,
which ran all of a goare bloude till he was slaine. " -N. P.
P. 741.
196 Flourished. Not as Steevens thought, ' flourished a
sword,' but sprang up and grew strong.
198 These are gracious drops. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra,
iv. 2. 37, "Grace grow where these drops fall.'
201 With. By. See iii. 1. 268.
208 All. Cambridge editors. The folio continues these ex
clamations to Sec. Cit.
217 Private. See 1. 7.
223 See iii. 1. 231.
224 Wit. Correction of the second folio for first folio writ,
which Johnson retains.
226 Speak right on. Notice that lines 218, 223, 224 begin in
the same way. The art of his speech is concealed.
265 Mischief. See iii. 1. 271 .
271 Upon a wish. Cf. i. 2. 104, " Upon the word." King
John, ii. 1. 50, " Upon thy wish Our messenger Chatillion is
arrived. "
SCENE 3.
2 Unluckily. Warburton, unlucky ; Collier, unlikely, adopted
by Craik, who calls the old reading nonsense. But the line
means, "My imagination is oppressed in a way not lucky. "
6 Whither. Fol. whether, here and in 1. 14.
10 Answer directly. See i. 1. 12.
12 You were best. You is dative. Cf. ' methinks. ' But this
was forgotten, and so we get " I were best. " ( Cymbeline, iii.
6. 19. )
20 Me; i.e. from me. Not the same me as in i. 2. 267, " He
plucked me ope his doublet."
36 Turn him going. So As You Like, iii. I. 18, " Do this
expediently, and turn him going."
 Act IV. s. 1] NOTES. 95

ACT IV. SCENE I.

The original direction is, " Enter Antony, Octavius, and
Lepidus.' The meeting-place of the triumvirs, according to
Plutarch, was " in an Iland enuironed round about with a litle
riuer " (the Rhenus) ; but Shakespeare clearly puts it in Rome.
This short scene gives an effective contrast between Octavius
and Antony (see Introduction, p. 13 ), and also between their
motives and those of Brutus and Cassius. For Lepidus see also
Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 2. 7 ; iii. 2. 5, 6.
Nothing is said of the first antagonism between Antony and
Octavius. See i. 1. 68, note.
I Pricked. See iii. 1. 216, note.
4 Shakespeare here alters Plutarch, who says, 66 Antonius
forsooke Lucius Cæsar, who was his uncle by his mother."
(N. P. p. 920. )
8 Cf. iii. 2. 245.
12 Slight. So Brutus to Cassius, 3. 37, “ Away, slight
man. 99
Unmeritable. For the active sense, cf. Richard III. iii.
7. 155
" Your love deserves my thanks, but my desert
Unmeritable shuns your high request.
18 Octavius was 21 , Antony 40 or 43 years old.
21 For the metaphor cf. Measure for Measure, iii. 1. 25 ;
Othello, i. I. 44.
23 Either. The th seems to have been sometimes almost
silent. See i. 1. 62, note.
28 In the sequel it is Octavius who turns Lepidus off, but not
until he has used his military skill against Pompey. See Antony
and Cleopatra, iii. 5. 7 ; 6. 27.
34 In some taste. In some measure. Cf. Hamlet, ii. 2. 450,
"Give us a taste of your quality."
37 Abject orts. Cast away scraps. ' Cf. Lear, ii. 2. 14, “ A
knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats. "" Theobald's correc
tion of the fol. objects, arts. Craik defends the folio reading.
66
Antony's assertion is, that Lepidus feeds not on objects, arts,
and imitations generally, but on such of them as are out of use
and staled by other people." This might apply to ' objects,
arts, ' but not to ' imitations. ' So that the clause ' which
fashion ' is what grammarians call co-ordinate, not subordinate ;
which meaning ' and they, ' not ' such as. ' Theobald's correc
tion, which makes excellent sense, is rendered still more probable
by the ' sort and limitation ' of ii . 1. 283 , as the half- recollection
of the one phrase perhaps suggested the other. See both words
in Glossary.
41 Listen great things. Cf. v. 5. 15, " List a word. "
 US R
96 JULI CÆSA . [Act IV

44 The second folio amends " And our best means stretched
out. 99
48 At the stake. A metaphor from bear-baiting. Cf. Lear,
iii. 7. 54 ; Macbeth, v. 7. I.
49 Bayed. See iii. 1. 205 ; iv. 3. 28.
51 Cf. Two Gentlemen, ii. 1. 100, " A million of manners."

SCENE 2.
The fol. reads, Enter Brutus, Lucilius, and the army. Titinius
and Pindarus meete them. But it is Lucilius who has been to
Cassius, and he brings Pindarus back with him.
2 Perhaps this speech should be given to Titinius, as Brutus'
lieutenant.
6 Well. It is uncertain whether this means kindly or oppor
‫ور‬
tunely. Cf. Hamlet, v. 2. 216, " She well instructs me.'
7 In his own charge. By his own order. ' Warburton for
fol. change. If change be read, it cannot signify ' by his own
change of disposition toward me, ' because Brutus would not tell
Pindarus what he only hints to Lucilius ; and such an explana
tion is inconsistent with " If he be at hand, I shall be satisfied, "
and " He is not doubted." It is probable therefore that change
is a misprint for charge, as in Coriolanus, v. 3. 152, where the
folio reads, " And yet to change thy Sulphure with a Boult That
should but riue an Oake."
16 Familiar instances. 'Proofs of familiarity. ' See i. 2. 9.
For this meaning of instance, cf. Two Gentlemen, ii. 4. 16,
"What instance of the contrary. "
23 Hot at hand ; i.e. in hand. The contrast is between the
bridle and the spur. A horse may chafe a good deal at being
held before the start, and yet not be good for much when the
time comes for making an effort. ' At hand ' occurs also in
King John, v. 2. 75, 66 A lion fostered up at hand."
26 Fall. Let fall. So Richard II. iii. 4. 104, " Here did she
fall a tear."
37 Notice how different the meeting is from Brutus' anticipa
tion. (1. 18.)
38 It had not occurred to Brutus that the coldness of Cassius
could spring from resentment at anything he himself had
done.
50 The old texts have Lucilius here, and ' Let Lucius ' in 1. 52.
Craik made the alteration, pointing out "the absurdity of such
an association as Lucius and Titinius, an officer of rank and a
servant boy, for the guarding of the door. " The editors of the
Cambridge text replied that Lucius would, in Shakespeare's
es, be a page of honour. But Craik's correction is put beyond
dispute by 3. 125, " Lucilius. You shall not come to them. "
+D Scene 3] NOTES . 97

retcher Lucius has to enter again before 1. 142, but it may be anywhere
between 1. 127 and 1. 141. The stage direction after 126 is
modern. Craik further remarks, " As Cassius sends his servant
f. Lear,
Pindarus with a message to his division of the force, Brutus
sends his servant Lucius with a similar message to his division."
s Lucilius and Titinius are mentioned together again in l. 139.
manner ."
SCENE 3.
s
army. Titiniu The quarrel scene between Brutus and Cassius is one of the
ho has been to most natural things in Shakespeare. Plutarch's account is as
follows : " Therefore before they fell in hand with any other
s matter, they went into a little chamber together, and bade euery
itiniu , as Brutus' man auoid, and did shut the dores to them. Then they began
is kindly or oppor to poure out their complaints one to the other, and grew hot and
loud, earnestly accusing one another, and at length fell both a
structWsam eu."rton for
rb weeping."-N. P. p. 1005.
n ify by his own I Cassius resumes from 1. 40 of the previous scene. In the
s i
er.›g folios no scenes are marked. The stage direction is Manet
Brutus would not tell Brutus and Cassius.
nd such an explana 2 " Brutus, upon complaint of the Sardians, did condemne and
, I shalolrb ied
ee satisf ,"g
etheref that chan note Lucius Pella for a defamed person. "-N. P. p. 1006.
V. 3. 152, where the Noted. Amyot translated riuwoe by " Nota d'infame " (from
nure with a Boult That Lat. notare, used of the censors), whence North's " Did note."
5 Were. Fol. was.
ity Slighted off. Put aside, and disregarded. Cf. Winter's Tale,
miliar .'enSee i. 2.9 iv. 4. 200, "Puts him off, slights him." Dyce quotes from
m
vo Gentle , ii. 4. 16, Dekker's " If it be not good, the Divel is in it." 1612, Sig. E. 2,
st
contra is between the "Which made us slight them off."
10 Condemned. See 1. 2, as if he said, " You are condemned
afe ad good deal at being for the same thing, though not noted. " (1. 15. )
goo for much when the To have. For having, as "I am glad to have done it."
At hand ' occurs also i II Mart. Used as a verb also in Cymbeline, i. 6. 151 ;
4,d." Winter's Tale, iv. 4. 363.
iip. a4.t h1a0n
- iu " Here did she 23 But for supporting robbers. 66 Brutus answered that he
should remember the Ides of March, at which time they slue
ng is from Brutus ' anticipe Julius Cæsar, who neither pilled nor polled the country, but
ss
that the cgoldne of Cassius onely was favourer and suborner of all them that rob and spoile,
in by his countenance and authoritie. "-N. P. p. 1006. This shows
It anyth he himself h that the emphatic word is not ' robbers, ' but ' supporting.'
27, 28 Bay the moon .. bay not me. Theobald for fol.
ere, and ' Let Luciiutsy' in 1.5 bay ... bait. The second folio reads bait ... bait, which is
ng uosut "the acebrsurd kof suc absurd. Cassius uses Brutus' word in a different sense. See
ini , an offi of ran s and Glossary.
the door. "d The editor aorfethse
cius w oul , ionn Shakespe 30 Hedge me in. Limit my military arrangements ; e.g.
s ti the appointment of officers. (1. 12. ) So ' conditions ' in I. 32
Croauik' aclolrrec t oimseput beyoemnd are military conditions.
Y sh no c to th
98 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act IV

"I am a soldier, I. " Cf. v. 4. 7, " And I am Brutus, Marcus

Brutus, . " It has been suggested that this last I should be
' ay,' which is always spelt ' I ' in Elizabethan plays, but it
would be pointless here. Cassius is saying that he is an older
and abler soldier than Brutus ; not that he is a soldier, and older
besides.
32 Go to. 'Go ' in Elizabethan English simply implied motion,
in whatever direction ; e.g. Bacon has ' going wet ' for wet
walking ' in Essay of Gardens. So that the phrase ' go to " can
be used either for ' come away, ' as in Genesis xi. 6, "Go to let us
build us a city," or for ' be off, ' as in Lear, i. 4. 101, " Away,
go to." From this double use arise many different shades of
meaning. The old form of ' marry come up ' was ' Mary guep,'
which Nares takes to be ' go up.'
You are not. Another instance of Brutus' vanity. His self
respect extends to qualities he has not got. See iii. 1. 138, note.
39-43 Choler. Men reputed him commonly to be very
skilfull in warres, but otherwise maruellous cholericke and
cruell. "-N. P. p. 1003. Choler was one of the four humours.
See humour in Glossary.
44 Budge. Spelt bouge in folio, which shows the derivation
from French bouger.
47 Digest ... spleen. See quotation on i. 2. 171 , and I
Henry VI. iv. I. 167.
48 Split. Cf. Troilus and "" Cressida, i. 3. 178, “ I shall split
all in pleasure of my spleen.'
54 Of. In the sense of ' from, ' not ' about.'
Abler. Collier for fol. noble. Cf. 1. 31. Mr. Wright defends
the old reading. " Brutus says noble,' because it is what he
wishes Cassius to be." But what point is there then in Cassius'
rejoinder, " I said an elder soldier, not a better. Did I say
better?"
65 So far Cassius 6 has been enlarging his griefs ' against
Brutus, and Brutus, armed strong in honesty," has had the
moral advantage of the situation, which he uses to the full.
Now he proceeds to his own complaint against Cassius, that he
has not supplied him with money. It is somewhat inconsistent
to decline to raise money for himself, and yet to ask for a share
of that which Cassius' less scrupulous conscience has allowed
him to raise-twitting him at the same time with dishonesty. It
is characteristic of the reverence and love which Cassius feels for
Brutus that, notwithstanding what has passed (e.g. l. 37–50), he
does not point this out.
67 Honesty. Honour. Cf. ii. 1. 127, and see Glossary.
69 Respect. Regard. Cf. Midsummer Night's Dream, i. I.
160, " She respects me as her only son, " and see i. I. 10.
73 Than to wring. See i. 2. 17.
Scene 3] NOTES . 99
75 Indirection. Crooked course. Cf. Hamlet, ii. 1. 66, “ By
indirections find directions out. " And see directly in Glossary.
80 To lock. Cf. 1. 270, " I will not do thee so much wrong
to wake thee. "
Rascal. Worthless. See Glossary.
88 " I do not look for your faults ; I only see them, and
mention them with vehemence when you force them upon my
notice by practising them on me. "-JOHNSON .
92 Olympus. See iii. 1. 74. Olympus was a mountain in
Thessaly, in Homer the seat of the gods ; hence used by later
poets for heaven.
102 Plutus'. Pope for folio Pluto's. In Timon of Athens,
i. 1. 287, the folio reads, "Plutus, the god of gold. "
109 Humour. See ii. 1. 250, and Glossary.
115, 6 Ill-tempered. Cf. ' distempered, ' Tempest, iv. 1. 145 ;
' mistempered,' King John, v. 1. 12. See elenient in Glossary.
133 Cynic. In Plutarch the interrupter is M. Phaonius, who
counterfeited ' a cynicke philosopher.' He quotes from the
Iliad, i. 259 ,
“ ἀλλὰ πίθεσθ᾽, ἄμφω δὲ νεωτέρω ἐστὸν ἐμεῖο.”
North translates
66"My
Lords, I pray you hearken both to me,
For I haue seene‫ ܕ‬moe yeares then suchie three. "
137 Figging. A ' jig ' was a ballad as well as a dance.
Properly it was the comic entertainment after a play ; ' a ludi
crous composition in rhyme, ' says Collier, ' sung or said by the
clown, and accompanied by dancing and pipe and tabor.' Cf.
Hamlet, ii. 2. 522 ; iii. 2. 131. For this contemptuous use of
'jigging, ' cf. Marlowe, prologue to Tamburlaine, “ Fromjigging
veins of rhyming mother wits."
138 Companion. Term of contempt, like ' fellow. ' (l. 134. )
Brutus' anger with the poet shows the restraint he has been
putting on himself before. Cassius' passion is spent.
145 Your philosophy. See v. I. IOI . Touching the
Grecian philosophers , there was no sect nor philosopher of
them, but he heard and liked it ; but aboue all the rest, he
loued Platoes sect best, and did not much giue himselfe to the
new or meane Academie , but altogether to the old Academie . "
-N. P. p. 992.
146 Accidental. Over which a man himself has no control.
156 " And for Porcia, Brutus' wife . . . she determining to
kill herselfe (her parents and friends carefully looking to keepe
her from it), tooke hote burning coles and cast them into her
mouth, and kept her mouth so close, that she choked herselfe. "
-N. P. p. 1014.
165 Call in question. Examine into. For the phrase used as
here of things, cf. Hamlet, iv. 5. 217.
100 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act IV. s. 3
171 Tenour. Fol. tenure. The words are originally the
same, though usage has differentiated them. Cl. mettle and
metal, i. 3. 294.
173 The triumvirs " did set up bils of proscription and out
lawrie condemning two hundred of the noblest men of Rome to
suffer death, and among that number Cicero was one. "—N. P.
p. 1002.
190 Perhaps Brutus wishes to appear to take his wife's death
impassively in order not to dishearten Messala by seeming to
attach importance to her estimate of the situation.
191 With meditating. From having meditated.
Ónce. At some time. Steevens compares Merry Wives, iii.
4. 103 "I pray thee once to-night
Give my sweet Nan this ring. ”
194 Art ... nature. I could put on an appearance of cool
ness, but not bear up so well.
196 Our work alive. Work that has to do with the living,
or work of us alive, work that the living have to do.
203 Offorce. Cf. 1 Henry IV. ii. 3. 120, " Will this content
you, Kate? It must offorce."
213 " For as Brutus grauitie and constant minde would not
grant all men their requests that sued unto him, but being
mooued with reason and discretion, did alwaies encline to that
which was good and honest ; euen so when it was mooued to
follow any matter, he used a kind of forcible and vehement
perswasion, that calmed not till he had obtained his desire. "
N. P. p. 992.
224 Cassius yields the second time against his judgment.
(v. I. 73. ) See ii. 1. 183.
225 The lines stand thus in folio
" Then with your will go on : wee'l along
Our selues and meet them at Philippi.
Rowe, "We will along. "
Ourselves means Cassius and his army.
231 Gown. See ii. 2, " Enter Cæsar in his nightgown, " and
note.
241 O'erwatched. Also in Lear, ii. 2. 177, "All weary and
o'erwatched."
252 The day before the battle of Pharsalia was spent by
Brutus, according to Plutarch, in writing a breviary of Polybius.
262 Bloods. See before, i. 2. 151 .
268 Leaden mace. Upton quotes Faerie Queen, i. 4, 44,
"But whenas Morpheu29 s had with leaden mace arrested all that
courtly company. For mace, meaning sceptre, Steevens quotes
"Fair Venus' ceston than dame Juno's mace," from Arraignment
of Paris. Cf. Henry V. iv. 1. 273, " The sword, the mace, the
Act V. s. 1] NOTES. IOI

crown imperial." Dyce thinks the epithet ' murderous ' is against
this interpretation .
270 To. Cf. 1. 80.
Enter the ghost of Cæsar. See Introduction, p. xvii. In
66
Plutarch the apparition is not Cæsar's ghost, but merely a
wonderfull, strange, and monstrous shape of a bodie. "-Ń. P.
P. 1006.
279 " Brutus boldly asked what he was, a god or a man, and
what cause brought him thither. The spirit answered him, I am
thy euill spirit, Brutus, and thou shalt see me by the citie of
Philippes. Brutus being no otherwise affraid, replied againe
unto it : Well, then I shall see thee againe. The spirit presently
vanished away, and Brutus called his men unto him, who told
him that they heard no noise, nor saw anything at all. "-N. P.
P. 1006. In the Life of Cæsar Brutus replies, " Well, I shall
see thee then. " (p. 742. ) Shakespeare has combined the
accounts.
ACT V. SCENE 1 .
4 Battles. Battalions. See Glossary.
8 Could be content. Would be glad. Cf. Coriolanus, i. 1. 32,
" And could be content to give him good report for ' t, but that he
pays himselfe with being proud."
10 Fearful. Probably the word here means ' feeling,' not
6 causing,'fear.
14 Bloody sign. " The signal of battle was an arming scarlet
coate. "-N. P. p. 1108. But bloody ' has probably no refer
ence to this. Cf. Coriolanus, ii. 1. 84, " Set up the bloody flag
against all patience, " and Henry V. i. 2. 101 , 66 Unwind your
bloody flag.'
17 Left hand. The right was the position of honour and
responsibility. In Plutarch Octavius has the left wing ; but
Brutus begs the command of the right from Cassius.
Even. Level. Cf. King John, ii. 2. 576, “ Made to run
even upon even ground."
20 I do not cross you ; i.e. I only claim my right. For the
result of this boyish arrogance see sc. ii. sc. iii. 5.
24 i.e. if they ask words we will give words, or perhaps ' we
will await their attack.'
25 Makeforth; i.e. advance in front of the lines. For make
cf. iii. 1. 18, " He makes to Cæsar. " Twelfth Night, i. 5. 65,
" Seven of my people make out for him."
Thegenerals. Brutus and Cassius.
33 Are. Attracted into the plural by blows.
34 Hybla bees. Possibly a recollection of Virgil, Eclogue i.
55, “ Sepes Hyblaeis apibus florem depasta salicti. " Hybla was
in Sicily.
102 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act V

35 Not stingless too ? The folio does not mark the question.
43 Like a cur. See iii. 1. 188.
45 See ii. 1. 185.
53 Twenty. Theobald, from Plutarch, for fol. thirty.
55 Collier conjectured ' word of traitor ; ' but Octavius means,
"Till your traitors' swords have slain another Cæsar ; " i.e.
himself as well as Julius. Cf. King John, ii. 1. 343—
" By this hand I swear
Before we will lay down our just-borne arms
We'll pull thee down, 'gainst whom these arms we bear,
Or add a royal number to the dead,
Gracing the scroll that tells of this war's loss
With slaughter coupled to the name of kings."
60 Honourable. See Abbott, Sh. G. i. , or it may be a
misprint for honourablie, as Craik suggested.
71 As. The as is not redundant, as in Measure for Measure,
v. I. 74, " One Lucio as then the messenger," but used as in the
Christmas Collect, "As at this time, " for this day, but not this
year. '
74 As Pompey was. “ Messala, I protest unto thee, and make
thee my witnesse that I am compelled against my mind and wil
(as Pompey the great was) to ieopard the liberty of our country to
the hazard of a battel. " -N. P. p. 1108.
76 Epicurus had said that if there were gods they must be
happy, and so necessarily unconcerned with the affairs of men ;
so that portents and omens would be impossible.
78 "There was seen a maruellous number of fowls of prey ... .
the which began somewhat to alter Cassius' mind from Epicurus'
opinions. "-N. P. p. 1007.
80 Former. Front. Ritson quotes 'former feete ' from
Adlyngton's Apuleius (1566).
81 Eagles. Cf. Cymbeline, iv. 2. 348.
92 See 1. 69 above.
94 "The gods grant us, O Brutus, that this day we may win
the field, and euer after to liue all the rest of our life quietly one
with another. But sith the gods haue so ordained it, that the
greatest and chiefest things amongst men are most uncertaine,
and that if the battell fall out otherwise to-day than we wish or
looke for, we shall hardly meet againe, what art thou then
determined to doe ?"-N. P. p. 1008.
95 Rests. It is suggested that the verb in such cases as this ,
where it does not precede the subject , as in i. 3. 138, may represent
the old Northern plural in -es ; or that the notion of a collective
noun was more extended than at present . At the same time it
must be remembered that as a final s in writing was indicated
by a mere line at the end of a word , it was often confused with
Scene 1] NOTES. 103
the comma, full stop, dash, or hyphen. ' Hence many misprints.
See Abbott, Sh. G. 332-8.
IOI- III Mr. Wright, attempting to account for the apparent
inconsistency of these two speeches of Brutus, says : " The
passage in North's Plutarch is obscured by being badly printed,
and Shakespeare was misled by it. " The passage as it is
printed stands thus : " Brutus answered him, being yet but a
yong man, and not ouer greatly experieced in the world : I trust
( I know not how) a certain rule of Philosophy by the which I
did greatly blame and reproue Cato for killing himselfe . . . but
being now in the midst ofthe danger, I am of a contrary mind. "
-N. P. p. 1008. Mr. Wright adds that trust, " evidently ""a
past tense, must have been read by Shakespeare as the present
-a somewhat bold supposition," considering what follows-" but
now I am of a contrary mind . ' There is little likelihood that
Shakespeare was misled by such an obvious mispunctuation as
the colon after ' world ; ' and even if he was, that would not
make him write nonsense. The interesting search for the
origines of speeches must not prevent our interpreting those
speeches on their own showing. Brutus says that not only does
his philosophy forbid suicide " for fear of what might fall, """
but it is repugnant to him. " I do find it cowardly and vile.'
On being pressed by Cassius, he owns that victory and death
are necessary alternatives ; but there is still the possibility of
death in battle. See sc. iv., and cf. Plutarch, " Brutus knowing
that he should die, did put himselfe to all hazard in battel, but
yet fighting could not be slaine. So . . . slue himselfe."
N. P. p. 742. The passage (iii. 2. 50) , “ I have the same
dagger for myself," can hardly come in evidence as to Brutus'
feeling about suicide ; he could scarcely contemplate the possi
bility of himself turning tyrant ; and cf. above, " I have done no
more to Cæsar than you shall do to Brutus. " Professor Craik
well remarks that this passage from Plutarch, " compared with
the scene in the play, affords a most interesting and instructive
illustration of the manner in which the great dramatist worked
in such cases, appropriating, rejecting, adding, as suited his
purpose, but refining or elevating everything, though sometimes
by the slightest touch. "
103 know not how. Plutarch wrote, οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἐν
φιλοσοφίᾳ λόγον ἀφῆκα μέγαν. Amyot translated “ ie feis, ne
sçay comment, un discours de philosophie . " North, " I trust
( I know not how)." Shakespeare takes the phrase, but uses it
with what follows.
106 Thetime of life. Collier term.
113 This is explained by the corresponding sentence in
Plutarch, " I gaue up my life for my countrey in the Ides of
March."-N. P. p. 1008.
104 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act V

SCENE 2.
Brutus has the left wing fronting Octavius, Cassius the right
fronting Antony.
Bills. North's word. " In the meane time Brutus sent litle
bils to the colonels and captaines of priuate bands, in the which
he wrote the word of the battel. "—N. P. p. 1009.

SCENE 3.
3, 4 Ensign . . . it. Ensign, used as now, for both the
standard and standard-bearer. Cf. ' trumpet ' for ' trumpeter,'
Henry V. iv. 2. 61.
II Far. Comparative, as in iii. 2. 171 .
19 With a thought. Cf. Tempest, iv. 1. 164, " Come with a
thought."
21 Thick. Cf. 2 Henry IV. iii. 2. 336, " His dimensions to
ary thick sight were invincible."
25 Steevens quotes from Edmund, in Lear, v. 3. 174, “ The
wheel is come full circle, I am here."
42 Search. Used of surgeons probing a wound. Cf. As You
Like It, ii. 4. 44.
43 Hills. Shakespeare uses hilts six times, hilt thrice.
46 Cassius " being ouercome in battel at the iourney of
Philippes, slue himself with the same sword with the which he
strake Cæsar."-N. P. p. 724.
51 Change. Exchange.
65, 6 Success . good success. Success was once a colourless
word. Cf. ii. 2. 103, proceeding. See Glossary.
85 Hold thee. Cf. i. 3. 117, Winter's Tale, iv. 4. 650.
89 Roman's part. Cf. Hamlet, v. 2. 352—
" I am more an antique Roman than a Dane ;
Here's yet some liquor left."
And Macbeth, v. 8. I—
"Why should I play the Roman fool, and die
On mine own sword? "
For the rhymed couplet here and at the close of the scene,
cf. i. 2. 320 ; ii. 3. 16.
95 Thy spirit. See ii. 1. 168.
99 "After he had lamented the death of Cassius, calling him
the last of all the Romanes, being impossible that Rome should
ever breed again so noble and valiant a man as he, he caused his
body to be buried, and sent it to the citie of Thassos, fearing
lest his funerals within his campe should cause great disorder."
-N. P. p. 1010. For this vocative use of the, cf. Lear, i. I.
271 ; and other examples in Abbott, Sh. G. 13 .
 V Scene 4, 5] NOTES . 105
104 Thassos. Theobald for fol. Tharsus.
105 Funerals. From Plutarch. See 1. 99, note. Also in
Titus Andronicus, i . 1. 381.
IIO See 1. 89, note.
litle
hich SCENE 4.
Shakespeare disregards the interval of twenty days between
the two battles, and says nothing of the sea fight, in which the
conspirators were victorious.
the 7 See iv. 3. 30.
eter, 12 Only. I yield on one condition, for one object, to die.
13 Offering money. Added by Johnson.
17 The news. Theobald for fol. thee.
tha 21 "I dare assure thee that no enemie hath taken or shall take
Marcus Brutus alive, and I beseech God keepe him from that
msto fortune ; but where soeuer he be found, alive or dead, he will be
found like himselfe." -N. P. p. 1013.
The 27 "I had rather haue such men as this my friends then mine
enemies."-N. P. p. 1013.
You
SCENE 5.
FY

2 This is from Plutarch. " Furthermore Brutus thought there

2
.

ch he were not many of his men slaine in battell ; and to know the
truth of it, there was one called Statilius that promised to go
through his enemies ; for otherwise it was impossible to go see
rless their campe ; and thereupon if all were well he would lift up a
torch-light in the aire, and then returne againe with speed to
him. "-N. P. p. 1013.
4 The word. Cf. Merchant of Venice, iii. 5. 58 ; Coriolanus,
iii. 3. 142.
22 World. Cf. i. 2. 305 , “ Think of the world."
28 Sword-hilts. As in sc. 3. 1. 43.
30 "One of them said there was no tarrying for them there,
but they must needs flee."-N. P. p. 1014.
33 To thee too. Theobald for fol. to thee, to.
cene, 34 " It rejoyceth my heart that not one of my friends hath
failed me at my need . . . as for me I thinke my selfe happier
then they that haue ouercome, considering that I leaue a per
him petuall fame of vertue of honestie, the which our enemies the
hould conquerors shall neuer attaine unto by force or money ; neither
ed his can let their posteritie to say that they being naughtie and uniust
aring men haue slaine good men to usurpe tyrannicall power not per
der." taining66 to them."-N. P. p. 1014. This explains ' vile conquest. '
iL 66 Messala, that had bene Brutus great friend, reconciled
afterwards to Octauius Cæsar's friend, and shortly after he
106 JULIUS CÆSAR. [Act V. s. 5
brought Strato Brutus friend unto him, and weeping said :
Cæsar, behold here is he that did the last seruice to my Brutus. "
--N. P. p. 1014.
68 " For it was said that Antonius spake it openly diuers
times that he thought that of all them that had slaine Cæsar,
there was none but Brutus onely that was moued to do it as
thinking the act commendable of it selfe ; but that all the other
conspiratours did conspire his death for some priuate malice or
enuie that they otherwise did beare unto him. "—N. P. p. 1003.
71 He, only. This is the folio punctuation, and correct,
though it is altered by modern editors ; the sense being, " He
made one of them, simply in honourable care for the common
wealth."
73 Elements. See Glossary. On this description Malone
quotes 66the portrait of Crites from Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels,
ii. I : A creature of a most perfect and divine temper : one in
whom the humours and elements are peaceably met without
emulation of precedency ; he is neither too fantastically melan
choly, too slowly phlegmatic , too lightly sanguine , or too rashly
choleric ; but in all so composed and ordered as it is clear
Nature went about some full work, she did more than make a
man when she made him. " Cynthia's Revels was acted in 1600,
and this passage occurs in the 1601 4to. (iii . 1. ) Shakespeare
may have remembered the passage from the performance , or have
seen the MS.; or, on the other hand, Ben Jonson may be in
debted to Shakespeare ; or the two passages may be independent .
See Introduction , p. xix.
 GLOSSARY

A
a, in a-clock. (ii. 2. 114 ; v. 3. 109. ) Worn down from of. It
was once the ordinary representative of of in certain phrases ; as
men a war, cloth a gold, inns a court, time a day, out a doors.
So John a Gaunt. (Richard II. i. 3. 76. ) Murray gives refer
ences for a-clock from 1480 ( Plumpton Corr. ) to 1741 (Amhurst,
Terraefilius).
a, in a-nights. (i. 2. 193 ; ii. 2. 116. ) Worn down from O. E.
prep. an, on, which also absorbed the prep. in, and so had the
meanings on, in, unto, into, to. The separate a is now rarely
used, being replaced by the full on, in, &c. , except in a few
verbal constructions, as to go a begging, and in temporal distribu
tive phrases, as once a week ; but it remains, treated as a prefix,
in many compound adverbs ; e.g. abed (on), ashore (on to), aside
(to), asunder (into) , cf. a -pieces (Henry VIII. v. 4. 80 ) ; alive
(in), live being a noun ; cf. asleep. (Words like ablaze, formed
from verbs on a false analogy, are modern. ) This preposition
was very common with the verbal noun, either ( i . ) taken pass
ively, as in I Peter iii. 20, " In the days of Noah, while the ark
was a preparing ; ” or ( ii. ) actively, now vulgar, as in Bunyan's
Pilg., " She is a taking of her last farewell ; "" or (iii. ) with verbs
of motion, as in S. John xxi. 3, "I go a fishing."
a, in a-weary. (iv. 3. 95. ) This word was not in use till the
sixteenth century, when the different meanings of the prefix a,
of which Skeat enumerates thirteen, had been merged in a
general intensive. Murray's first instance is from a sermon of
Latimer's ( 1552).
abide (iii. I. 94, 2. 119 ), for aby, through association of sense
between paying for a deed and awaiting its consequences. Cf.
Marlowe (Edward II. ii. 2. 882), " Dear shall you both abide
this riotous deed. " Aby is a- (out, away) + buy, ' to buy off, '
'pay for,' and so ' pay the penalty for.'
"Thus dere abought is Love in yevynge " (giving. )
-CHAUCER, Compl. Mars. 334.
" Thy false body shall abie,
And suffer that it hath deserved. "
-GOWER, Conf. i. 261.
108 JULIUS CÆSAR,

Sir Walter Scott uses abye in Lord of the Isles, v. 27. In Mid
summer Night's Dream, iii. 2. 175, " Lest thou abile it dear, "
the first quarto has aby.
abject (iv. I. 37), ' cast away, ' from Latin ab +jacere. It has
the senses of ' downcast ' and ' mean-spirited, ' but66 only the latter
in Shakespeare ; e.g. 2‫ ور‬Henry VI. iv. 1. 105, These paltry,
servile, abject drudges. ' Shakespeare once uses the noun (cf.
Psalm xxxv. 15), but accents it on the last syllable (Richard III.
i. I. 106), " We are the queen's abjects and must obey; " so that
I have not followed Staunton in his further alteration of the text
into abjects, orts.'
addressed (iii. 1. 29), through French adresser, from late
popular Latin add(i)rectiare, to make straight. ' See Directly.
Hence various meanings. (i. ) ' Erected, ' " She, like a goodly
beacon, high addrest " (SPENSER, Colin Clout, 563) ; ( ii. ) ' well
ordered,' "Full jolly knight he seemed and well addrest" (Fairy
Queen, i. II. 11 ) ; ( iii. ) ' made ready,' see quotations in note ;
(iv. ) ' dressed, ' " Fair Europa sate With many goodly diadems
addrest" (DANIEL, Civil Wars, vi. 28) ; ( v. ) modern.
aim (i. 2. 163 , i. 3. 52), through
" O. French esmer, from Latin
aestimare. (i. ) Estimate, conjecture, ' as in i. 2. 163 ; e.g.
WYCLIF, I Samuel i. 13, " Heli therefor eymyde hir dronken."
Cf. Two Gentlemen, iii. 1. 45, “ Do it so cunningly that my dis
covery be not aimed at." (ii. ) ' Course,' ' direction, ' as in i. 3.
52. ( iii. ) ' Intention , ' as in Paradise Lost, i. 41 , “ With ambi
tious aim Against the throne and monarchy of God."
alarum, a variant of alarm, due to rolling the r, formerly
used in all the senses of that word. O. French alarme, from
Italian all'arme ! ( ' to arms ' ). Hence first used as an exclama
tion, as in Coverdale (Jeremiah li. 14), “ Which with a corage
shall cry Alarum ! Alarum ! agaynst the ; " then, as a noun, a
' call to arms ; ' and finally of a warning sound of any kind.
and (i. 2. 268, 279) conditional conjunction ( = ' if' ). Skeat
says that this use was derived from that of the Norse enda,
which not only ' moreover,' but ' if. ' Murray thinks this
unlikely, and suggests that there is an ellipsis, as in " I'll cross
the sea, so it please my lord. " Dr. Abbott (Sh. G. 102) regards
the and as merely copulative, the conditional force being in the
subjunctive. Anyhow, the words an, and are the same, an
being written for the copulative not uncommonly from 1100
1500, and for the conditional conjunction occasionally after 1600.
Except in an ' t, an is found only once ( Love's Labour's Lost, v. 2.
232) in the first folio of Shakespeare, the full form and being
used. Sometimes and was strengthened by the addition of iƒ,
as in S. Matthew xxiv. 48, “ But and if that evil servant, " &c.
 GLOSSARY . 109
annoy (i. 3. 22 ; ii. 1. 160) , through O. French anoier, formed
from anoi enui (mod. ennui), from Latin in odio, used in the
phrase, 66 Est mihi in odio. (i. ) To be hateful, distasteful
to, ' as in Wyclif, Numbers xxi. 4 , " It bigan to anoye the puple
of the weie and trauel." (ii. ) ' Hurt, ' ' molest, ' as here,
especially in military sense. Cf. Wyclif, Isaiah xi. 9, " Thei
shuln not anoye in al myn hoeli mounteyn. " See Henry V. ii.
2. 102 ; Cymbeline, iv. 3. 33. Trench ( Select Glossary) quotes
from the Persones Tale some examples of annoyance in the old
sense : " Malignitee, thrugh which a man annoieth his neegh
bour, as for to brenne his house prively, ,; or enpoison him, or sle
his bestes, and semblable things.'
answer. The original meaning is ' to meet a charge by a
counter- affirmation ' (andswerian being = and- ( against ' ) +
swerian, 'to swear ' ) , as in Much Ado, iv. 2. 25, " How answer
you for yourselves ? " Hence, as in i . 3. 114, 66 And then I
know my answer must be made." From this comes the meaning
of to ' suffer the consequences, ' as in iii. 2. 85, “ And grievously
hath Cæsar answered it. In v. 1. 6, 24 the verb has a military
sense, to ' repel an attack. ' Cf. Henry V. ii. 4. 3 ; 2 Henry IV.
iv. 5. 197 ; Coriolanus, i. 2. 19. In Hamlet (v. 2. 176) there is
a play on this and the ordinary sense.
apprehensive (iii . 1. 67) (from Latin apprehendo), ' able to lay
hold of' either thoughts or feelings, sensitive to them ; e.g.
Milton, Samson, 623, " Thoughts, my tormentors armed with
deadly stings Mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts. '"" Hence
it comes to mean sensitive even to what is not yet present, ' the
more usual sense. In Midsummer Night's Dream, v. 1. 5, Shake
speare distinguishes ' apprehension ' from ' comprehension '
" Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends."
And below, line 18
"Such tricks hath strong imagination,
That if it would but apprehend some joy,,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy.'
apt, from Latin aptus, ' fitted. ' Hence ( i. ) ' ready, ' as in iii.
1. 160, " I should not find myself so apt to die. " ( ii. ) ' Suit
able,' Midsummer Night's Dream, v. 1. 65, “ Not one word
apt. ( iii. ) ‘ Likely, ' as in ii. 2. 97, “ It were a mock apt to be
rendered." (iv. ) ' Susceptible, ' as in v. 3. 68, " Why dost thou
show to the apt thoughts of men ?"
arrive (i. 2. 110), through O. French arriver, from Low Latin
adripare (ad- ripam), a seaman's term ' to bring to shore ; ' and
until 1550 this and its reflexive, ' to come to shore, ' were the
I
IIO JULIUS CÆSAR.

usual senses in English. Shakespeare, who knew Latin and

Italian, omits the preposition when the word is used in its ety
mological sense. (Cf. It. arrivare. ) So Milton, Paradise Lost,
ii. 409, "Ere he arrive the happy Ile." Shelley (Cyclops 668)
and Tennyson ( In Mem. 84 ) have imitated them.
as ( 1 ), conjunction and adverb ; ( 2) relative pronoun. The
first of these is worn down from all- so, O.E. all- swá ( = ' just
so '), through the forms al so, alse. Murray says : " The
phonetic weakening in each of its successive stages began with
the relative sense. The correlation in ' The colour is as bright
as gold ' was originally expressed by ' Swá beorht swá gold,' but
.
the antecedent form was also strengthened by all, All swá
beorht swá gold. ' The prefixed all,
6 though originally emphatic,
soon lost its force, and al- swá, also,' came to imply no more
than the simple swá, ' so. ' Hence by 1200 (in the North) alswa
had begun to appear in the subordinate clause also, a construc
tion soon generally adopted, though almost always with the
relative in a phonetically weaker form than the antecedent ; eg.
' Also briht alse gold, ' Alse bright as gold ; ' but
999 finally with
both correlatives worn down, ' As bright as gold.''
(2) The use of as for the relative pronoun may have arisen
from its use by ellipsis of the proper relative after such and
same, such being then sometimes replaced by that and those, or
altogether omitted. But Professor Skeat considers the relative
as a distinct word, a corruption of the Icelandic relative es,
through confusion with the conjunction as. He quotes from
Maundey ( 1366), " The first Soudan [ Sultan] was Zarocon as
was fadre to Sahaladyn."
B
basis (iii. 1. 115 ), the Latin form whence base is derived. So
compare Tempest, ii. 1. 120, Th' shore ; that o'er his wave
worne basis bowed, ' with Henry V. iii. 1. 13, “ As doth a galled
rock O'erhang and jutty his confounded base."
battle (v. I.6 4, 3. 108), through O. French bataille, from Low
Latin batalia, a fight. ' Like bataille, it means ( 1 ) ' a fight, ' (2)
'a battalion,' a word that occurs only once in Shakespeare.
Hamlet, iv. 5. 79. ) It was used also of the whole army or of
the main body as distinguished from the van and rear. "Where
divine blessing leads up the van, and man's valour brings up the
battle, must not victory needs follow in the rear ? " -FULLER,
quoted by TRENCH, Select Glossary. Cf. Richard III. v. 3. 299.
bay (iii. 1. 204 ; iv. I. 49, 3. 28), through French abbayer,
from Latin ad + baubari. Abay, which Skeat quotes from King
Alisaunder, was corrupted into bay, the word meaning ' to bark
as a dog.' Rendre les abbois, to turn upon the hounds, was
 GLOSSARY. III

translated to hold at ' or ' put to a bay.' "When they [the

hounds] have eyther earthed a vermine, or brought a Deare,
Bore, or suche lyke to turne head agaynst them, then we say
They Baye."-TÚRBERVILE'S Art of Venerie, p. 240.
be- (prefix) is the preposition bi, by. Thus (iii. 2. 275),
belike by likelihood ' (though this is not certain) ; (iv. 3, 308)
betimes (formerly betime) = ' by time, ' with the adverbial suffix.
bend. (i. 2. 123 ; iv. 3. 170. ) "Bend means to strain a bow
by fastening the band or string," which explains Henry V. iii. 1 .
16, " Bend up every spirit to his full height ; " and Macbeth, i.
7. 79, "Bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat." But
it is often used for ' to direct,' without the notion of curving, as
in the phrase ' to bend one's course ; ' Lear, ii. 1. 48, " Did all
their thunders bend." For its use of the eyes, as in i. 2. 123,
cf. King John, iv. 2. 90, " Why do you bend such solemn brows
on me ?" I Henry IV. ii. 3. 45, " Why dost thou bend thine
eyes upon the earth ?"
bill (iv. 3. 173 ; v. 2. 1 ), ' a note, ' from Low Latin billa, a
corruption of bulla (whence Papal bull), which came from ' a
seal, ' to mean ' a sealed writing,' then any ' writing. ' Cf. French
billet. North uses the word of the papers put into Brutus'
praetor's chair. See quotation on ii. 3.
bootless. (iii. I. 75. ) Boot, O. English bốt, means ' profit ; '
to boot = 'for profit.'
bring (i. 3. 1 ; iii. 2. 53, 57), ‘ accompany,'6 ' escort.' Bring
in Elizabethan English is used of other than place hither ; ' e.g.
"Come bring us, bring us, where he 6is. " (Twelfth Night, iii. 2.
90. ) It is frequent in the sense of escort ; "" e.g. Two Gentle
men, i. I. 55, And thither will I bring thee ; " Love's Labour's
Lost, v. 2. 883 ; Merry Wives, v. 5. 173 ; Henry V. ii. 3. 2.
brook (i. 2. 159), ' endure, ' originally ' use, ' from the root
seen in Latinfrui, German brauchen. Cf. Coriolanus, i. 1. 266.
с
cautelous (ii. I. 129), from the Roman law-term cautela ( ' a
security '). " Cautious and wary to the point of cowardice, if
not to that of trickery. "-CRAIK. From the two meanings it
thus obtains of ' cautious ' and ' shifty, ' it might be applied to
either ' priests ' or ' cowards. ' Cf. Coriolanus, iv. I. 33
66 Be caught
With cautelous baits and practice."
Hamlet, i. 3. 15
"And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch
The virtue of his will."
112 JULIUS CÆSAR.

ceremonies, from Latin caerimonia, usually ' civil or religious

rites, ' as in i. 2 ; iv. 2 ; iii. I ; but used also in this play of
decorations, "If you do find them decked with ceremonies " (i. I.
66) ; and omens, "Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies " (ii. I.
197) ; " Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies. " (ii. 2. 14. ) There
is another curious use in Merchant of Venice (v. 1. 206) of
Portia's ring
"What man is there . . . wanted the modesty
To urge the thing held as a ceremony. "
In Hakluyt's Voyages a crucifix is called a ceremony. (RICHARDSON. )
charactery (ii. 1. 308), ' what is charactered or written. ' Cf.
Merry Wives, v. 5. 77, " Fairies use flowers for their charactery."
Character in Shakespeare means ' handwriting, ' as in Hamlet,
iv. 7, ""Tis Hamlet's character," and then by a metaphor, ' the
expression of a face ; ' e.g.
"I will believe thou hast a mind that suits
With this thy fair and outward character."
--Twelfth Night, i. 2. 51 .
How it obtained its modern meaning is shown by a passage in
Measurefor Measure, i. 1. 28 66
Angelo,
There is a kind of character in thy life
That to the observer doth thy history
Fully unfold. "
charge. Originally ' to load, ' through French from Latin
carricare, ' to load a carrus, or car. ' In this sense it is used in
iii. 3. 2. From this came the other senses of ( 1 ) ' to load with
a debt,' as in iv. 1. 9 ; (2) ' to load with responsibility, ' ' summon,'
' adjure,' ' I charge you . ;' (3) ' attack, ' whence the noun
'charges ' in iv. 2. 48.
cheer (iii. 1. 89), through O. French chere,from Latin cara, 'the
face, look.' So that ' be of good cheer ' means ' be of a happy
countenance.' Trench compares the Latin vultus, and quotes ""
from Wyclif, " In swoot of thi cheer thou schalt ete thi breed,'
and " Cayn was wrooth greetli, and his cheer felde doun. "" Cf.
Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2. 96, “ Pale of cheer. "
climate (i. 3. 32), through French and Latin from Greek
κλίμα , 66 a region contemplated in its slope or inclination from the
equator toward the pole, and therefore by involved consequence
in respect of its temperature. The mathematical geographers of
antiquity were wont to run imaginary parallel lines to the
equator ; and the successive climates of the earth were the
regions between these lines. "-TRENCH (Select Glossary), who
quotes from The Funeral of King Edward VI.—
66 Almost five climates henceward to the south. "
 GLOSSARY . 113
Hence used for ' region ' of the earth (cf. Richard 11. iv. I. 130,
"In a Christian climate ") or of the sky (King John, ii. 1. 344,
"The earth this climate overlooks ").
cognizance (ii. 2. 89), ' badge, ' an heraldic term. Cf. I
Henry VI. ii. 4. 108—
" This pale and angry rose,
As cognizance of my blood-drinking ""hate,
Will I for ever and my faction wear.
colour (ii. 1. 29. ) Cf. the expression ' to give colour. ' Bacon
wrote a fragment " Of the colours of good and evil ; " i.e. of
their plausible appearances. Hence colour comes to mean a
'pretext.'
companion (iv. 3. 138), through French from Low Latin
companiem, a taking meals together.' "The notion originally
involved in companionship would appear to have been rather
that of inferiority than of equality. "-TRENCH. For this use of
companion, where we should now say fellow, cf. Coriolanus, iv.
5. 14 ; v. 2. 65 ; 2 Henry VI. iv. 10. 33. Craik quotes an
instance from so late a writer as Smollett.
complexion (i. 3. 128). " Quia complexio complectitur totum
statum corporis. "-MINSHEU. It meant ( 1 ) the general state of
the body, then (2) any one of the several ' humours, ' then (3 ) the
expression of the face, especially the colour, as an index of these ;
also (4) the general state of the mind. E.g. ( 1 ) “ A_man of
feeble complexion, and sickly."-BERNER'S Froissart (Richard
son). (2) " By the o'ergrowth of some complexion. " —Hamlet, ""
i. 4. 27. (3) " Ridges horsed with variable complexions."
Coriolanus, ii. I. 228 ; Othello, iv. 2. 62. (4) " It is the com
plexion of them all to leave the dam. "-Merchant of Venice, iii.
I. 26. 66 Charity seeming a part of his complexion. "-FELL's
Life of Hammond ; Measure for Measure, iii. 1. 24.
con (iv. 3. 98), ' to observe closely ' (a secondary verb, O.E.
cunnian, from cunnan, ' to know ' ) frequently in the sense of
'test,' as in the obsolete ale-conner.
conceit (i. 3. 162 ; iii. 1. 192) ' imagine. ' The verb to
conceit for ' conceive ' is used only thrice in Shakespeare (here and
Othello, iii. 3. 149), though he has the noun conceit in the sense
of ' thought,' imagination,' and ' conceited, ' meaning of a
good conceit,' ' to be conceited,' ' to be full of an idea.' (Twelfth
Night, iii. 4. 322. ) The expression " Wise in their own conceit"
shows how the modern meaning arose.
condition (ii. 1. 254) , through French from Latin conditionem,
'temperament, ' as in the phrase ' well-, or ill-conditioned . ' Cf.
Merchant of Venice, i. 2. 143 ; Lear, iv. 3. 35 ; Coriolanus, ii.
3. 104.
114 JULIUS CÆSAR.
contrive (ii. I. 158 ; 3. 16) , late and corrupt for controve,
from O. French controver, to find, ' ' plan, ' scheme.' Cf.
Macbeth, iii. 5. 7 ; As You Like It, i. 1. 151.
cumber (iii. 1. 264), through O. French combrer, from Low
Latin cumbrus, corrupted from cumulus, a heap. ' So that in
this passage the word is used in its strict sense. The only other
place where it occurs is Timon of""Athens, iii. 6. 52, " Let it not
cumber your better remembrance.
D
danger (ii. 1. 17), through O. French dongier, from Low
Latin dominium, ' the absolute authority of a feudal lord. ' Cf.
Tyndale, 66' In danger to lusts " ( Titus, iii. 3 ) ; hence ' power to
harm,' as in Merchant of Venice, iv. 1. 180), " You stand within
his danger, do you not ? " and hence66 ' harm,' as in this passage,
and Romeo and Juliet, v. 2. 20, The neglecting it May do
much danger.'""
dear (iii. 1. 196 ; 2. 119 ), used of strong emotion other than
affection, and hence as a general intensive. Cf. Hamlet, i. 2. 182,
"Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven ; " As You Like It,
i. 3. 31, " My father hated his dearly;" so Hamlet, iv. 3. 43 ;
Henry V. ii. 2. 181 , “ All your dear offences ; ‫ در‬Richard II. i. 3.
151, "The dateless limit of thy dear exile ; " Sonnet 37, " Made
lame by fortune's dearest spite ; " Othello, i. 3. 260 ; Love's
Labour's Lost, v. 2. 874 ; Lear, i. 4. 294 ; iv. 3. 53 ; Cymbeline,
v. 5. 345 ; Tempest, v. 1. 146, &c.
deliver (iii. 1. 181 ) , through O. French delivrer, from Low
Latin deliberare, ' to set free. ' Often used for ' relate. ' Cf.
Coriolanus, i. I. 88 ; iv. 6. 64 ; Othello, i. 3. 90 ; Richard II.
iii. 3. 34.
dint (iii. 2. 198). Middle English dint, dent, dunt, ' blow.'
In the plays only here and 2 Henry IV. , iv. 1. 128, " By dint
of sword." Venus and Adonis 354, " Snow takes any dint."
directly, from Latin directus, p.p. of dirigere, ' to straighten. '
Used in its strict sense of ' straight onward, ' i. 2. 3 ; iv. I. 32,
and by a metaphor, ' straightforward, ' i. 1. 12 ; iii. 3. 10.
E
earn (ii. 2. 129), corruption of Middle English ermen, ' to
grieve.' Also in Henry V. ii. 3. 3, 6. Transitively, Merry
Wives, iii. 5. 45 ; Richard II. v. 5. 76 ; Henry V. iv. 3. 26,
where (" except in the early Quartos of Richard II. , " says Mr.
Wright) it is spelt with a y, as it usually is in modern editions.
Yearn is formed from earn by the O.E. prefix ge-. Cf. ean and
 GLOSSARY. 115
yean. This is not the same word as yearn, ' to desire strongly,'
which represents the O. English gyrnan.
element (i. 3. 128), used for ' sky, ' as in Henry V. iv. I. 107;
2 Henry IV. iv. 3. 58 ; Twelfth Night, i. 1. 26. Cf. Twelfth
Night, iii. 1. 65, " My welkin, I might say element, but the
word is overworn." So Milton, Comus, 299, " Gay creatures of
the element."
(v. 5. 73. ) " The elementes be those originall thinges unmyxt
and uncompounde, of whose temperace and myxture all other
things hauynge corporall substaunce be compacte ; of them be
foure, that is to saye, earthe, water, ayre, and fyre. ”—Sir T.
ELYOT, Castel of Helth, b. i. "The four temperaments or
complexions, " says Nares, " which were supposed immediately
to arise from the four humours ( q.v.), were also more remotely
referred to the four elements. " In Nabbes' " Microcosmus, a
Morall Masque," occurs the following passage
" Enter the four complexions (q.v. ), Choler, Blood, Phlegm,
Melancholy.
Blood. We are sent to be your servants.
Physander. By whom ?
Blood. Our parents the four elements."
Choler then explains that he is the child of Fire, Blood of Air,
Phlegm of Water, and Melancholy of Earth . (Dodsley's Old
Plays, vol. ix. ) Cf. Twelfth Night, ii. 3. 9, 66 Does not our life
consist of the four elements ? " Antony and Cleopatra, v. 2. 292,""
" I am fire and air ; my other elements I give to baser life ;
Henry V. iii. 7. 22 ; Sonnet 44. Of Adam, South says, " The
elements were at perfect union and agreement in his body."
Contrast Beaumont and Fletcher, Nice Valour, " I prithee, thou
four elements ill brewed."
emulation (ii. 3. 14). Used sometimes in a bad sense. Cf.
Troilus and Cressida, ii. 2. 212 ; As You Like It, i. I. 149 ;
Coriolanus, i. 1. 218, " Shouting their emulation . "
engage (ii. 1. 127, 307), ' to bind by a gage or pledge.'
Othello, iii. 3. 461 , " In the due reverence of a sacred vow I
here engage my words ; " Love's Labour's Lost, iv. 3. 178, "To
break the vow I am engaged in. ”
envy (ii. 1. 164), ' hatred. ' Several times in this sense in
Coriolanus (i. 8. 4 ; iii. 3. 3. 57), and common in Shakespeare.
exigent (v. 1. 19)—p.p. of exigere, ' to exact ' - ' a pressing
occasion,' ' extremity.' Also in Antony and Cleopatra, iv. 14. 63.
The other passage where the word is used is 1 Henry VI. ii.
5.9- 66 These eyes, like lamps whose wasting oil is spent,
Wax dim, as drawing to their exigent."
116 JULIUS CÆSAR.

exorcist (ii. 1. 323) , ' conjurer, ' without the original notion
of expelling spirits . ( Greek is, ' away,' opкíše , to adjure, '
"
from 8ρkos, an oath. ') Also in All's Well, v. 3. 305 ; Cym
beline, iv. 2 (song) ; 2 Henry VI. i. 4. 5. Frequent in Reginald
Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft.
expedition (iv. 3. 170), ' march, ' as in Richard III. iv. 4. 136,
"Who intercepts my expedition.".
even (ii. 1. 133 ; v. I. 17). Root unknown. ' Equal,' ‘ level.'
In Piers Plowman ' euene cristene ' = ' fellow Christian.

F
" favour, through French, from Latin favor (i. 2. 91 ; ii. 1. 76),
' countenance, ' especially its expression . Cf. As You Like It,
iv. 3 89 ; Macbeth, i. 5. 73 ; Richard II. iv. 1. 168. Bacon
says, " In beauty that of favour is more than that of colour. "
How it obtained this meaning may be seen from Proverbs xvi . 15,
" In the light of the king's countenance is life ; and his favour
is as a cloud of the latter rain. "
fell (iii. 1. 269) , O. E. fel, ' fierce.'
fleer (i. 3. 117), Scand. , ' to mock,' ' grin. ' Love's Labour's
Lost, v. 2. 109 ; Othello, iv. 1. 83 ; Romeo and Juliet, i. 5. 59 ;
Much Ado, v. I. 58. " Tush, tush, man ; never fleer and jest
at me. "
fond (iii. I. 39), p.p. of fonnen, ' to act foolishly,' from fon,
'a fool.' The sense of affectionate ' is by derivation from this.
formal (ii. 1. 227), " retaining the proper and essential char
acteristic " (JOHNSON), as in Comedy of Errors, V. I. 104—
"With wholesome syrups, drugs, and holy prayers,
,,
To make of him a formal man again.'
So Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 4. 41 ; Twelfth Night, ii. 5. 128,
"This is evident to any formal capacity. " But sometimes the
word means ' given to forms, ' ' ceremonious,' ' dignified ' (as
here), ' pompous ' (As You Like It, ii. 7 ; Taming of Shrew,
iii. 1. 61 , iv. 2. 64 ; 2 Henry IV. v. 2. 133 ; Hamlet, iv. 5. 215) ;
and hence ' hypocritical, ' as in Richard III. iii. 1. 82, “ The
formal Vice, iniquity, " unless this means the ' regular, ' ' ordinary '
Vice.
G
gorge (v. 1. 82), through O. French gorge, from Low Latin
gorgia, throat, ' ' to swallow.'
grief (i. 3. 118 ; iii. 2. 216 ; iv. 2. 42), ' grievance. ' See
2 Henry IV. iv. 2. 59, compared with 113.
 GLOSSARY. 117
H
havoc (iii. 1. ""273). Derivation uncertain. Skeat suggests
that " Cry havoc was a popular exclamation, like " Ware the
hawk," havoc being the O. English hafoc, ' a hawk, ' and that the
phrase was preserved in its military sense when its original
meaning was forgotten. " That noo man be so hardy to crye
havoke upon payne of hym that is so founde begynner, to dye
therefore. "-Henry VIII. Statutes of Warre, in TODD's Johnson.
heap (i. 3. 23 ), E. , ‘ a crowd. ' "A hep of eremites," Piers
Plowman; 66 An hepe of lered men, " Chaucer, Prol. 577. So
Richard III. ii. 1. 53, " Amongst this princely heap, if any here. "
hie (i. 2. 150 ; v. 3. 78), E. , ' hasten. '
honesty (ii. 1. 127 ; iv. 3. 67) , ' honour.' So Lear, ii. 2. 78.
66
Upon those members of the body which we thynke lest honest
put we most honesty on." ( 1 Cor. xii. 23, 1551. )
humour. There were supposed to be four humours or
moistures in the body-blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy
-from the preponderance of which arose four humourous'
dispositions. The classical place on the subject is the Induction
to Ben Jonson's Every Man out of his Humour. Cf. Every Man
in his Humour, iii. 4, and Nym in Henry V. , and Merry Wives.
See complexion and element.
hurtle (ii. 2. 22) . Also in As You Like It, iv. 3. 132. A
frequentative of hurt, meaning ' to butt as a ram , ' ' dash. ' Of
Celtic origin, through O. French hurter (heurter). Hurl is a
contraction of hurtle. Wyclif ( S. Mark ix. ) has " He hurtleth
him down, and he foometh." Often in Chaucer.
I
improve (ii. 1. 159), ' turn to account. ' "The improvement
of the ground is the most natural obtaining of riches . "-BACON ,
Of Riches. " How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining
hour. "-WATTS , quoted by CRAIK.
interim (ii. 1. 64), Latin adverb, ' in the meanwhile. " " At
least fourteen times in Shakespeare."
J
66 jealous (i. 2. 71 , 162) , ' suspicious. ' Cf. Hamlet, iv. 5. 19,
So full of artless jealousy is guilt. "
K
kind (i. 3. 64 ; ii. I. 33), nature, ' 66' species,' fromthe adjective
kind (=' natural, ' ' loving ' ). Cf. Kindly fruits " in Litany.
Launce uses it for kin, which is from the same root. (Two
Gentlemen, ii. 3. 2.) Cf. Hamlet, i. 2. 65.
118 JULIUS CÆSAR .

knave (iv. 3. 241, 269), ' boy.' " If it is a knave child,

sleye him."-WYCLIF, Exodus i. 16. " How many serving
lads," says Trench, "must have been dishonest before knave
acquired the meaning it has now! " Cf. German Bube.
L
liable (i. 2. 199 ; ii . 2. 104), through French lier, from Latin
ligare ( ' to tie,' ' oblige '), ' responsible, ' ' subject.' KingJohn,
ii. 1. 490, " Liable to our crown and dignity."
lie (iii. 1. 286), ' lodge. ' Coriolanus, i. 9. 82 ; 2 Henry IV.
iii. 2. 299.
lover (ii. 3 ; iii. 2. 13, 50 ; v. i. 95). "This word," says
Trench, "has undergone two restrictions of which formerly it
knew nothing. It implies a relation resting on the difference of
sex, and the lover now is always the man.' Cf. Psalm xxxviii.
II ; I Kings v. I.
M
malice (iii. 1. 174), ' ill-will, ' but used of public as well as
private hatred. Cf. King John, v. 2. 37
"Where these two Christian armies might combine
The blood of malice in a vein of league."
marry (i. 2. 265) , an oath, ' By Mary. ' Chaucer writes it
' Mary.'
mechanical. (i. 1. 3. ) Here, as in our mechanic, the word is
used in its simple meaning ; but it had also a bad sense, like the
Greek βάναυσος. " Both words," says Trench, " expressing first
the sitting by the stove, as one plying a handicraft, came after
wards to imply the man ethically illiberal. " Cf. "Thinkest
thou that they be coblers, tapsters, or such like base mechanicall
people, that write these billes and scroles which are found daily
in thy Praetor's chaire ? " -N. P. p. 995. 2 Henry VI. i. 3.
196, " Base dunghill villain and mechanical."
merely (i. 2. 39), from Latin merus, entirely. Cf. Othello,
ii. 2. 3, "The mere perdition of the Turkish fleet. "
mischief (iii. I. 93, 3. 265 ; iv. I. 51 ), opposed in Middle
English to bon-chief(Latin caput), ' ill result. ' Formerly used in
" From all evil and mis
a wider"" sense than now. Cf. Litany,
chief;' Psalm xxxv. 8, " That he may fall into his own
mischief."-Prayer Book.
moe (ii. I. 72 ; v. 3. 101 ), a comparative adjective (allied to
German mehr, Latin magis), generally used for the comparative
of ' many,' as more was of ' much. ' Mr. Wright points out that
it frequently occurred in the Authorized Version of the Bibl
but has been changed in modern editions to ' more.'
 GLOSSARY. 119
morrow. (ii. 1. 87. ) Same as morn, morn being contracted
from morwen, whence morwe, and by change of final -we into
-ow (cf. sparrow) morrow. To-morrow is lit. ' for the morning.'
Cf. Measure for Measure, iv. 2. 109, " Good morrow ; for, as I
take it, it is almost day."
" SHER. Good night, my noble lord .
PRINCE. I think it is good morrow, is it not?
SHER. Indeed, my lord, I think it be two o'clock. "
-1 Henry IV. ii. 4. 572.
motion (ii. 1. 64), ‘ impulse. ' Cf. King John, i. 1. 212 ; iv.
2. 255.
N
napkin (iii. 2. 138 ) —with dimin. suffix from French nappe,
('a tablecloth ')-' handkerchief. ' Cf. Othello, iii. 3. 290.
nice (from Latin nescius) meant (1 ) ' ignorant, ' ' foolish, ' (2)
'fastidious,' ' precise,' (3) ' pleasant. ' In iv. 3. 8 it is used of
things, not persons, in the sense of ' trivial,' as we might say
' foolish.' Cf. Richard III. iii. 7. 175 ; 2 Henry IV. iv. I. 191 .
niggard (iv. 3. 228), Scand., ' miser. ' (Hamlet, iii. 1. 13. )
Mr. Wright says : " No instance of its occurrence as a verb is
recorded out of Shakespeare. It is found intransitively in
Sonnet i. 12."
O
occupation, ' trade.' Thus, in Gonzalo's Republic, was to be
6' no occupation. ' ( Tempest, ii. I. 154. ) Coriolanus, iv. 6. 97,
"You that stood so much upon the voice of occupation " (i.e.
the tradesmen). Cf. occupy in Ezekiel xxvii. 16 ; S. Luke xix. 13.
It is clearly used in i. 2. 265 with some play, but it is not clear
what. The word may have had some slang sense. Cf.
2 Henry IV. ii. 4. 161 , " These villains will make the word as
odious as the word occupy." In Lear (ii. 2. 98) occupation seems
used for ' habit.'
offal (i. 3. 109), off-full, ' waste scraps. ' Hamlet, ii. 2. 607.
orchard (ii. 1 ), wort-yard, ' garden.'
orts (iv. i. 37)-prefix or-, ' out ' (as in ordeal) + Dutch eten,
' to eat '-' scraps left after eating.' Troilus, v. 2. 158 ; Timon,
iv. 3. 400.
P
palter (ii. 1. 126), ' equivocate. ' Macbeth, v. 8. 20 ; Corio
lanus, iii. 1. 58. Skeat thinks the original sense was to haggle
over something worthless,' from palter, ' rags, ' which must have
been in use here, though only the derived adj . paltry has been
recorded.
120 JULIUS CÆSAR.

passion. (i. 2. 48 ; iii. 1. 283. ) Once as general a word as

emotion. King John, iii. 4. 39 ; iv. 2. 79. Cf. Henry V. ii. 2.
132, "Free from gross passion, or of mirth, or anger.'
66 Probably," says Skeat, "from the
peevish. (v. i. 61. )
noise made by fretful children." Cf. peewit. He enumerates
the following senses from old authors : Childish , ' ' silly,' ' way
ward, ' ‘ froward, ' ' uncouth, ' ' ill-natured,' ' perverse ,' even
'witty.' Merry Wives, i. 4. 14 ; Two Gentlemen, iii. 1. 68,
"Peevish, sullen, froward ; " Taming of Shrew, v. 2. 157 (with
same adjectives ) ; Hamlet, i. 2. 100. Wright quotes from
Gosson's School of Abuse, " We have infinite Poets, and Pipers
and such peeuishe cattel among vs in Englande."
physical (ii. 1. 261 ), ' salutary. ' Coriolanus, i. 5. 19. Not
quite the same as medicinal, which Shakespeare also has ;
Othello, v. 2. 351 .
pitch. (i. I. 74. ) " The height to which a falcon soared
before she stooped upon her prey ; also height in general."
NARES. Richard II. i. I. 109, " How high a pitch his resolution
soars!" 1 Henry VI. ii. 4. II.
prefer (v. 5. 62) , ' recommend. ' Cymbeline, iv. 2. 385, 400.
presently (iii. 1. 28, 142 ; iv. I. 45, 3. 197), ' at once. ' By
and-by and anon (on-án ; i.e. ‘ at once ') have suffered the same
deferment. S. Matthew xiii. 20, 21.
press (i. 2. 15), crowd, ' as in S. Mark ii. 4, " When they
could not come nigh him for the press.”
prevent (iii. 1. 19, 35 ; v. 1. 105 )—from Latin p.p. ofprævenire,
'to come or go before'-' to anticipate, ' and so either to help
(as in Collect, " Prevent us, O Lord " ) or hinder. Hamlet, ii. 2.""
305, "So shall my anticipation prevent your discovery ;'
Twelfth Night, iii. 1. 94.
proper (i. 1. 25), through French, from Latin proprium.
(1) ' One's own.' I Chron. xxix. 3 ; Acts i. 19. (2) Unique,'
and so ' handsome." "A proper child, " Hebrews xi. 23. Shake
speare uses both the comparative and superlative.
property (iv. I. 40). Here it seems to mean a ' thing, ' as
opposed to a person. ' Or there may be a reference to stage
properties. Cf. King John, v. 2. 79—
" I am too high-born to be propertied,
To be a secondary at control,
Or useful serving-man and instrument ; "
""
and Twelfth Night, iv. 2. 99, " They have here propertied me
in both of which passages the verb seems to mean ' to appro
priate to one's own use like a thing without will of its own.
 GLOSSARY. 121

protest (i. 2. 74). The word belonged to the fashionable

slang of the period. Cf. Romeo, ii. 4. 183, 189 ; Much Ado,
iv. I. 286 ; Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, i. 2, “ No,
no, you shall not protest, coz.' Dyce compares Donne's Fourth
Satire " He enters, and a lady, which owes
Him not so much as good will, he arrests,
And unto her protests, protests, protests."
Steevens quotes from Sir Giles Goosechap ( 1606), " There is not
the best duke's son in France dares say, I protest, till he be one
and thirty years old at least ; for the inheritance of that word is
not to be possessed before."
purge (ii. 1. 180, 266), a medical word, ' to purify, ' com
monly used of the different humours ; e.g. Pills to Purge Melan
choly. See Richard II. i. 1. 53 ; Winter's Tale, ii. 3. 38. See
Rank.
Q
quarrel (ii. 1. 28)—Middle English querele, through O. French
from Latin querela-meant : ( 1 ) ' A complaint.' (2) ' A plea in
a law court. ' Cf. Psalm xxxv. 23, " Stand up to judge my
quarrel." (3) ' Ground,' ' pretext. Cf. Bacon, Essay 8, “ A
man may have a quarrel to marry when he will."

R
range (ii. 1. 118 ; iii. 1. 270) meant originally ' to set in a
rank ; then, from the movements of soldiers, it came to mean
' to move up and down, ' especially of wild beasts.
rank (iii. 1. 152), medical term for a state of body which
requires bleeding. " It (murrain) commeth of a ranknes of
bloude " (Sir A. Fitzherbert, Boke of Husbandry, 1534) ; " The
66monkes are fatte and ranke as a ratte (Bale, Thre Lawes, 835) ;
Yeelding the rank flesh to the chirurgeon's knife " (Gossen's
School of Abuse) ; As You Like It, i. 1. 91 ; 2 Henry IV.
iv. I. 64 ; Sonnet 118.
rascal (iv. 3. 80), a term (from the French) applied to other
than beasts of chace, especially deer not in condition ; then to
the common people, as we say ' the common herd. ' So
I Henry VI. iv. 2. 48—
"If we be English deer, be then in blood
Not rascal-like, to fall down at a pinch. "
2 Henry IV. v. 4. 34 ; Coriolanus, i. 1. 152 ; As You Like It,
iii. 3. 58 ; Drayton, Polyolbion, Song 13—
"The Bucks and lusty Stags amongst the Rascalls strew'd
As sometimes gallant spirits amongst the multitude. ”
122 JULIUS CÆSAR.

recover (i. 1. 5), through French from Latin recuperare. ""For

its active use cf. 2 Kings v. 3, " Recover him of his leprosy.'
remorse (ii. 1. 19), from Latin remordere, properly a ' biting
again ' of conscience. Cf. Ayenbite of Inwyt ( 1340). But used
sometimes for ' pity.'
repeal (iii. I. 51 , 54) = re-appeal, from O. French rapeler,
' recall.' Coriolanus, iv. I. 41 ; 2 Henry VI. iii. 2. 349.
rive (i. 3. 6 ; iv. 3. 85), Scand. , ' split. ' Coriolanus, v. 3. 153.
rote (iv. 3. 98). By rote means ' along a beaten track. ' The
diminutive of rote was rotine, whence routine. See Rout.
rout (i. 2. 78), through French from Latin rupt-, means ( 1)
the breaking up of a host, 2 Henry VI. v. 2. 31 ; (2) a crowd in
broken ranks. So route is a way broken through a forest.
rumour (ii. 4. 18). The word is originally onomatopoeic, and
so fitly used to express a confused noise. Cf. King John, v. 4.
45, "From forth the noise and rumour of the field."

S
scandal (i. 2. 76)—through French and Latin from σkávdaλov
(' a snare,' ' stumbling-block ' )- ' slander, ' of which it is another
form (scandele, escandele, escandle, escandre, esclandre). Coriolanus,
iii. I. 44.
scedule (iii. 1. 3). So spelt also Love's Labour's Lost, i. 1. 18.
Another spelling was cedule. O. French cedule, Ital. cedola (from
Latin schedula), ‘ a small leaf of paper. ' Merchant of Venice,
ii. 9. 55. In Twelfth Night, i. 5. 263, 2 Henry IV. iv. 1. 168,
it bears the modern meaning of ' inventory.'
security (ii. 3. 6)-Latin se ' free from,' cura, ' care'—
'confidence.' Trench quotes from Quarles, " He never yet
stood safe that stands secure." Macbeth, iii. 5. 32 ; Richard II.
iii. 2. 34 ; Hamlet, i. 5. 61 .
sennet (i. 2. 24). Derivation uncertain. A particular set of
notes on the trumpet, of which nothing is known except that it
is not a flourish ; for Steevens quotes from Dekker's Satiromastix,
66'Trumpets sound a flourish, and then a sennet. "
shadow (i. 2. 58) , ' reflection.' Cf. King John, ii. 1. 498,
"The shadow of myself formed in her eye, " and quotation from
Maplet on ii. I. 205.
>
shrewd (ii. 1. 158 ; iii. I. 147) p.p. of schrewen, to curse,
which is from the adj. schrewe, wicked'—' malicious, ' ' wicked ,'
' cunning.' "The prophete saith, ' Flee shrewednesse, and do
 GLOSSARY. 123
goodnesse.'.”” —CHAUCER, Tale of Melibæus. "An ant is ... a
shrewd thing in an orchard. " -BACON, Essay 23. Gradually
the
66 bad sense passed away, leaving only the meaning of ' acute. '
' It is shrewdly probable. ”—MORE, Immortality of Soul. King
John, v. 5. 4; Merchant of Venice, iii. 2. 46.
sirrah (iii. I. 10) , an extension of sir, used in anger or
contempt .
smatch (v. 5. 46), ' taste. ' Another form of smack. Cf.
ache, aitche ; poach, poke, &c. " He has some smatch of a
scholar."-EARLE'S Microcosmus, quoted by Nares. " We give
some Latin and a smatch of Greek. " -COWPER, Progress of
Error. For smack, cf. 2 Henry IV. i. 2. 111.
stare (iv. 3. 280) , from root sta- in stand. Besides its ordinary
sense, ' to gaze fixedly, ' it means sometimes ' to be stiff. ' Cf.
Tempest, i. 2. 213, "With hair up- staring."
stay (ii. 2. 75 ; iv. 3. 128), ' detain. ' Cf. Hamlet, iv. 5. 136.
(v. I. 107. ) ' Await. ' Hamlet, v. 2. 24.
still (iii. I. 145), ' always. ' Cf. Tempest, i. 2. 229, “ The
still-vexed Bermoothes."
strain (v. 1. 59), E. , ' race. ' Cf. Much Ado, ii. 1. 394.
success (ii. 2. 6 ; v. 3. 66) -from Latin succedere, to follow
after '-' an issue, ' whether good or bad. Cf. All's Well, iii. 6.
86, " I know not what the success will be, but the attempt I
vow." Now used generally of ' good success. '
sufferance, through French from Latin sufferre. (i. 3. 84. )
' Endurance.' Cf. Coriolanus, iii. 1. 24. (ii. 1. 115. ) ' Suffering.'
Cf. Coriolanus, i. 1. 22.
T
tag-rag. (i. 2. 257. ) Tag is ' a point of metal at the end of
a lace.' Tag-rag means 6 every appendage and shred.' Cf.
Coriolanus, iii. 1. 248, “ Will you hence, before the tag return?"
than (conjunction ), the same word as then, but differentiated
by usage. The first folio usually has then for than.
thews (i. 3. 81 ), E. , usually found in Chaucer and old
writers in the sense of ' habits, ' ' manners ' (" Good thews
enforced with pain," Faery Queen, ii. 2), though this of ' sinews '
is the root-meaning. So Hamlet, i. 3. 12 , " Nature crescent
does not grow alone In thews and bulk."
thorough (iii. I. 136 ; v. I. 109), another form of through.
Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. I. 3, " Thorough bush, thorough
brier."
124 JULIUS CÆSAR,

thought (ii. 1. 187 ), E., ' care.' Cf. S. Matthew vi. 25,
"Take no thought ; " 1 Samuel ix. 5 ; Antony and Cleopatra,
iii. 13. 1 , " What shall we do, Enobarbus ? Think and die ;
iv. 6. 35 ; Two Gentlemen, ""i. I. 69 ; Sonnet 44 ; " Thought kills
me, that I am not thought. '
trash (i. 3. 108 ; iv. 3. 74), Scand. , ' bits of sticks,' hence
'refuse.' Tempest, iv. 223 ; Othello, iii. 3. 157.
tributary (i. 1. 34), ' one who pays tribute. ' Hamlet, v. 2. 39.
V
venture (iv. 3. 224) -shortened form of aventure, through
French from Latin advenire-' hazard.' Used for what a mer
chant ventures on board ship . Merchant of Venice, i. 3. 92 ;
iii. 2. 270 ; 2 Henry IV. ii. 4. 69.
vild (iv. 3. 133), a common form of vile. Tempest, i. 2. 358 ;
King John, iii. 4. 19 (folio). So Spenser, Faery Queen, i. 6. 3.
vouchsafe (ii. 1. 313 ; iii. 1. 130), originally in two words,
'to warrant secure, ' then simply ' grant ; ' but the chief idea
being kingly condescension, it could be used either of giving or
receiving. Cf. King John, iii. I. 294, “ Upon which better part
our prayers come in If thou vouchsafe them."
W
warn (v. 1. 5), E. , ' summon.' Richard III. i. 3. 39 ; King
John, ii. 1. 201 .
whiles (i. 2. 209) , genitive case of while ( = ' time ') used
adverbially. Cf. needs.
whit (ii. 1. 148), ' thing. ' Properly wiht, and the same word
as wight; na wiht became naught, and not.
whole (ii. I. 327), ' hale, ' the original sense, whence that of
' entire.' " The spelling with w," says Skeat, " is not older than
about 1500 ; it was prefixed in some dialect, and afterwards
became general."
Y
yond (i. 2. 195 ; v. 3. 18), strictly an adverb (O.E. geon-d),
as in Tempest, i. 2. 409, " Say what thou seest yond," but also
used incorrectly for the adjective yon. Tempest, ii. 2. 20,
"Yond same black cloud, yond huge one."
 APPENDIX I.

On Scansion.

1. A regular Shakespearian blank verse line is made up of ten

syllables, so arranged as to bear five stresses. In a typical verse
the stresses fall on the alternate even syllables. Stress has no
thing to do with quantity ; both stressed and unstressed syllables
may be either long or short. The following is an example of a
regular line :
"Before the eyes of bóth our ármies hére. "
2. One or two of the stresses may be slight, especially that in
the last place.
"The troubled Tíber chafing with her shores." (i. 2. 101).
" That I proféss myself in bánqueting
To all the roút, then hold me dángerous. " (i. 2. 77. )
"And let us sweár our résolútión. " ( ii. 1. 113. )
The character of blank verse rhythm varies very much ac
cording to the use made of such slight stresses.
3. For the sake of emphasis the stress is often shifted back
from the even to the odd syllable. This inversion is most
frequent at the beginning of a line or a sentence.
"We shall be called púrgers, not múrderers." (ii. 1. 180.)
(“ Néver, néver, néver, néver, néver.”—Lear, v. 3. 308. )
66
Ás to annoy us áll : whích to prevént. " (ii. 1. 160. )
""Tis good. Gó to the gate ; sómebody knócks. " (ii. 1. 60.)
"Your ear is goód. Cássius, what night is this ? " (i . 3. 42. )
"When Caesar's head is off. Yet I fear him. " (ii. 1. 183. )
"Caesar has had great wrong. Hás he, másters?" (iii. 2.115 .)
" Lúcius, my gówn. Fárewell, good Messála. " (iv. 3. 231.)
" Strook Casar on the neck . Ó you flátterers. ” (v. I. 44. )
"Bear with me, good boy, I am múch forgétful." (iv. 3. 253.)
K
126 JULIUS CESAR.

4. Sometimes there are (a) more, or (b) fewer, syllables than

ten, the stresses being still five.
(a) A strong stress will carry with it more than one syllable,
and advantage is taken of this to vary the verse. The accom
panying syllables must be short.
"Let me sée, let me sée; is not the leaf turned down. " (iv. 3. 273. )
"A soothsayer bids you beware the ídes of Márch. " (i. 2. 19. )
(?) " That by proscríption and bills of outlawrý. " (iv. 3. 173. )
"I am glád on't. Whát a fearful níght is this ! " (i. 3. 137.)
(b) A stressed syllable may stand without its usual unstressed
syllable.
66
Speák, stríke, redréss ! Am Í entreated . ” (ii. 1. 55. )
" Let me tell you, Cássius, you yourself." (iv. 3. 9. )
Dr. Abbott, Sh. G. 483, scans this line
"Lét me tell yó-u, Cássius. "
But such a scansion does not admit the accent required by the
sense.
5. Occasionally, when the sense is broken, there are fewer
stresses than five.
" Flátterers ! (-) Now, Brútus, thánk yourself." (v. 1. 45. )
“ He's tá’en (—). And , hárk ! they shout for jóy. ” (v. 3. 32. )
"C' Look, how he makes to Cæsar : márk him ( —). ” (iii. 1. 18. )

6. Blank verse allows an extra-metrical syllable at the end

of the line. In Italian blank verse this is the rule. In
English the licence is commoner with some writers than with
others. With Fletcher, for instance, it is habitual. With
Shakespeare it becomes more frequent in later plays. Mr.
Fleay (Manual, p. 135) gives the number of double endings, as
they are called, in Julius Cæsar as 369 against 9 in Love's
Labour's Lost, and 726 in Cymbeline.
"And look where Publius is come to fetch | me." (ii. 2. 108. )
""
Cassius, be sudden, for we fear prevention. " (iii. 1. 19. )
The extra syllable is especially common with proper names.
"An humble heart. I must prevent thee, Cim | ber. " (iii. 1. 35.)
" Trebonius knows his time ; for, look you, Bru | tus. " (iii. 1.25. )
Sometimes two syllables are extra.
66 Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes. " (iii. 1. 23. )
66
Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, An | tony. " (ii. 2. 117.)
 APPENDIX I. 127
As blank verse runs on without a regular pause at the end of
the line, the verse may be supposed to end anywhere. Hence
Shakespeare can use lines of four, five, six, or seven syllables.
(See §7. ) This may explain why the extra -metrical syllable may
occur at any place in the line.
"Messala! What says my general ? Messa | la.” (v. 1. 70. )
" Makes me forget | ful ? Yes, Cassius, and from hence | forth . ”
(iv. 3. 120. )
7. Besides the ten syllable line, Shakespeare admits lines of
six syllables (ii. 2. 101 ; v. 3. 33) , especially in couplets (i. 2.
114 ; ii. 1. 81 , 285 ; 4. 32 ; iii . 2. 71 ; iv. 3. 84 ; v. 3. 83 ) ;
lines of four syllables rarely (iii . 1. 297) ; half lines (iii. 2. 4,
135 ) ; and Alexandrines (ii. 2. 80 ; iv. 3. 198).
8. Such words as " No, my lord " (ii. 2. 4), " Be gone " (i. I.
53 ) , " Peace, ho " (ii. 1. 209), " Sir " (iii. 2. 207 ) , are allowed to
be extra-metrical.

9. When a line is divided between two speakers, various

expedients are often adopted to avoid an insipid regularity ; e.g.
(i) The lines overlap each other. This is very common.
"BRU. Is like to lay | upón's
CASS. I'm glad I that my weak words. "
2. 176. )
So iii. 1. 232 ; or these may be scanned as (iii).
(ii) There is an extra-metrical syllable (6 ).
" CASS. To máke condí | tions.
BRU. Go tó, you are not, Cássius. (iv. 3. 32. )
So iii. 1. 99 ; iv. 3. 222.
(iii) The lines form a six-syllable couplet.
" BRU. Betwixt your eyes and night.
CASS. Shall I entreat a word." ( i. 1. 199. )
So iii. I. I , iii . 2. 71 ; v. 1. 107.
(iv) The last half of a line is regarded as the first half of
another, and completed.
"BRU. That other men begin.
CASS. Then leave him out.
CASCA. Indeed, he is not fit. "
(ii. 1. 152.)
So ii. 1. 59, ii. 4. 16, 22 ; iii. I. 147 ; iv. 3. 201 ; v. I. 49 ;
iv. 3. 280, is a combination of (iii) and (iv).
128 JULIUS CÆSAR.

(v) An interruption is disregarded.

" ANT. Dost thou here lie !
CASS. (Mark Antony. )
ANT. Pardon me, Caius Cassius. " (iii. 1. 210.)
" BRU. Away, slight man !
CASS. ( Is ' t possible ?)
BRU. Hear me ; for I will speak. " (iv. 3. 37.)
(vi) A line is left unfinished.
" THIRD CIT. Let him be Cæsar.
FOURTH CIT. Cæsar's better parts
Shall be crowned in Brutus. " (iii. 2. 48. )
(vii) An Alexandrine.
" CASS. I do not think it good.
BRU. Your reason ?
CASS. This it is. " (iv. 3. 198.)
or this may be scanned as a line with two extra syllables.
(viii) The stress is reversed.
" BRU. When Casar's head is óff.
CASS. Yet I fear him. " (ii. 1. 183. )
" SEC. CIT. Casar has had great wrong.
THIRD CIT. Hás he, másters?" (iii. 2. 115.)
(ix) The lines have only four stresses.
" CASS. Cícero óne ?
MES. Cícero is déad." (iv. 3. 178. )
" CASS. Good night, my lord.
BRU. Good night, good brother. " (iv. 3. 237.)

10. The following lines in the play present some difficulty :

(1) "Lét us be sacrifícers, bút not bútchers, | Caius. " ( ii. 1. 166. )
Here there is both an extra-metrical syllable and a proper name
unscanned, or the line may be scanned as (2) .
(2) " Our purpose necessary and not envious. " (ii. 1. 178. )
This may be scanned
"Our púrpose nécessáry ánd not envious,"
but it would not be so read. It would be read
"Our púrpose nécessáry and nót énvious, "
the last stress being inverted . And verses of this make are not un
common in Shakespeare. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, v. 2. 215—
"Will itch at ús like strúmpets and scáld rhymers."
 APPENDIX II. 129

(3) "And these does she apply for warnings and portents."
(ii. 2. 80.)
Portents is always elsewhere in Shakespeare accented on the
last, so that this line is an Alexandrine.
(4) " The heart of woman is. O Brutus ..." (ii. 4. 41. )
This is a regular line of six syllables, with " O Brutus " extra
metrical .

APPENDIX II.

Omission of the Relative.

THE number of times Shakespeare omits the relative varies

considerably in the different plays. A friend informs me that
in Antony and Cleopatra he has counted thirty-seven, in the
Tempest only nine. The following instances occur in our play :
(0) " I do not know the man I should avoid. " (i. 2. 200. )
(0) “ From that it is disposed. ” [Preposition omitted. ]
(i. 2. 314. )
(A) " There's two or three of us have seen strange sights. "
(i. 3. 138. )
(0) " Will bear no colour for the thing he is. " (ii. 1. 29. )
(0) " For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæsar. " (ii. 1. 185. )
(A) (C) "There is one within
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch."
(ii. 2. 14. )
(A) "But there's but one in all doth hold his place. " (iii. 1. 65. )
(0) " And this the bleeding business they have done. "
(iii. 1. 168. )
(0) " That's all I seek." (iii. 1. 226. )
(0) " But speak all good you can devise of Cæsar. ” ( iii. 1. 246. )
(T) "That day he overcame the Nervii. " (iii . 2. 177. )
66 There were an Antony
(A) (C)
Would ruffle up your spirits. " (iii. 2. 231. )
(0) " You have forgot the will I told you of. " (iii. 2. 243.)
(9) " I may do that I shall be sorry for. " (iv. 3. 64. )
(0) "You have done that you should be sorry for. " (iv. 3. 65. )
(0) " Then like a Roman bear the truth I tell. " (iv. 3. 188. )
130 JULIUS CAESAR.

(0) “ Look, Lucius, here's the book I sought for so. " (iv. 3. 252.)
(T) " The very last time we shall speak together. " (v. I. 99.)
(0) "Must end that work the ides of March begun." (v. I. 114. )
(0) " Free from the bondage you are in, Messala. " (v. 5. 54. )
In three-quarters of these (0) the relative is the object, and in
one or two more (T) it expresses time, and its omission is one of
the commonest English idioms. The omission of the subject is
much less frequent in Shakespeare, and now almost unknown.
The following seem the most usual cases :
(A) When there is or ' Tis precedes, as in four instances above,
and many in other plays, or with there omitted.
"In war was never lion raged more fierce. "
(Richard II. ii. 1. 173. )
Cf. also Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 7. 70—
"I am the man Will give thee all the world. " (c.)
(B) When it is the relative clause which is emphatic, and
really the principal sentence.
" I have a brother is condemned to die."
(Measurefor Measure, ii. 2. 33.)
i.e. my brother is condemned.
" I have a mind presages me such thrift."
(Merchant of Venice, i. I. 175. )
i.e. my mind presages.

(c) When the verb comes at the beginning of a line.

"I'll raise the preparation of a war
Shall stain your brother. "
(Antony and Cleopatra, iii. 4. 26.)
"Or bathe my dying honour in the blood
Shall make it live again. "
(Antony and Cleopatra, iv. 2. 6. )
"What wreck discern you in me
Deserves your pity? " ( Cymbeline, i. 6. 84. )
"You are one of those
Would have him wed again."
(Winter's Tale, v. I. 23.)
 APPENDIX III. 131

APPENDIX III.

Thou and You.

" THOU, " says Dr. Abbott, “ in Shakespeare's time was very
much like du now among the Germans, the pronoun of ( 1 )
affection towards friends, (2) good-humoured superiority to
servants, and (3 ) contempt or anger to strangers. " (Sh. G. 231. )
But it must be remembered that Shakespeare could and did
employ you in all these senses. The general rule seems to
be that thou is used rather than you in heightened passages,
whether they be whole scenes or short intervals.
Thus Brutus and Cassius address each other as you through
out the play, except in Cassius' passionate speech
"When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better
Than ever thou lovedst Cassius. " (iv. 3. 92. )
And in their talk before the battle, where Brutus says
"Think not, thou noble Roman,
That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome. " (v. I. 110. )
Hence thou is used in invocations
" O grief, where hast thou led me ? " (i. 3. 111. )
"O conspiracy, sham'st thou to show . . ." (ii. 1. 77. )
"O mighty Cæsar, dost thou lie so low ? " (iii. I. 148. )
" O pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth. " (iii. 1. 254. )
66 Cæsar, now be still :
I killed not thee with half so good a will. " (v. 5. 50. )
" I thank thee, Brutus,
That thou hast proved Lucilius' saying true. " (v. 5. 59. )
Brutus usually says you to his boy Lucius ; but in ii. 1. 231 ,
finding him asleep, he uses thou-
" Thou hast no figures and no fantasies, " &c. ;
and again in iv. 3, where he is much moved .
Very often thou and you are both employed in the same scene,
the change of pronoun marking some change of feeling. In i. 2 .
Cæsar has been speaking more or less familiarly to Antony and
Calpurnia as you ; but when the Soothsayer calls, the situation is
 132 JULIUS CAESAR.
at once raised, and he uses thou. In iii. I. we have no thou
until Cæsar has said, " Are we "" all ready? " and then thou is
used up to the " Et tu, Brute.
In the scene between Brutus and Portia (ii. 1. 234) you is the
pronoun throughout, until just at the end, when, moved by
Portia's bravery, he rises to thou. (306. ) In iii. Antony
begins by addressing Octavius' servant as you, but when he
weeps changes to thou, closing the scene with, " Lend 'me your
hand. " In v. I. 18 the single thou in the dialogue between
Octavius and Antony represents the sudden touch of hauteur.
In v. 5 Brutus has addressed Dardanius, Clitus, and Volum
nius as thou; then he employs you to them in order to single out
Strato more emphatically by the thee.
Sometimes, when the note of a speech has been struck by the
thou, you, being the more convenient pronoun, follows ; e.g.
" Give me thy hand, Messala :
Be thou my witness that against my will,
As Pompey was, am I compelled to set
Upon one battle all our liberties.
You know," &c. (v. I. 73. )
This may explain ii . 3. 8, ' If thou beest not immortal, look
about you.'
Cf. Measure for Measure, i. I. 28, 52.
The student cannot do better than follow carefully the
changes in the scene between Claudio and Isabella. (Measure
for Measure, iii. 1. 53-151 . )
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