The New Hudson Shakespeare · William Shakespeare
SCENE I. _Rome._ BRUTUS'S _orchard_
BRUTUS. 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 crown'd: 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;-- 15 And then, I grant, we put a sting in him, That at his will he may do danger with. Th' abuse of greatness is when it disjoins Remorse from power; and, to speak truth of Cæsar, I have not known when his affections sway'd 20 More than his reason. But 'tis 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, 25 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, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, And kill him in the shell. [Note 15: /him?--that;/--Camb Globe | him that, Ff | him--that--Rowe.]
_Enter the conspirators_, CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS, CINNA, METELLUS CIMBER, _and_ TREBONIUS. CASSIUS. I think we are too bold upon your rest: Good morrow, Brutus; do we trouble you? BRUTUS. I have been up this hour, awake all night. Know I these men that come along with you? CASSIUS. 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. BRUTUS. He is welcome hither. CASSIUS. This, Decius Brutus. BRUTUS. He is welcome too. 95 CASSIUS. This, Casca; this, Cinna; and this, Metellus Cimber. [Note 86: Scene II Pope.] [Note 95: /Decius Brutus./ See notes, Dramatis Personæ, and p. 40, l. 148.] [Page 50] BRUTUS. They are all welcome. What watchful cares do interpose themselves Betwixt your eyes and night? 99 CASSIUS. Shall I entreat a word? [_They whisper_] DECIUS. Here lies the east: doth not the day break here? CASCA. No. CINNA. 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 deceiv'd. 105 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 110 Stands, as the Capitol, directly here.
BRUTUS. No, not an oath: if not the face of men, The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,-- 115 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, 125 And will not palter? and what other oath Than honesty to honesty engag'd, 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 th' insuppressive mettle of our spirits, To think that or our cause or our performance 135 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 pass'd from him. 140 CASSIUS. But what of Cicero? shall we sound him? I think he will stand very strong with us.
BRUTUS. Peace! count the clock. CASSIUS. The clock hath stricken three. TREBONIUS. 'Tis time to part. [Note 187: 'Think and die,' as in _Antony and Cleopatra_, III, xiii, 1, seems to have been a proverbial expression meaning 'grieve oneself to death'; and it would be much indeed, a very wonderful thing, if Antony should fall into any killing sorrow, such a light-hearted, jolly companion as he is. Cf. _Hamlet_, III, i, 85. 'Thoughtful' (sometimes in the form 'thoughtish') is a common provincial expression for 'melancholy' in Cumberland and Roxburghshire to-day.] [Note 188-189: Here is Plutarch's account in _Marcus Antonius_, of contemporary criticism of Antony's habits: "And on the other side, the noblemen (as Cicero saith), did not only mislike him, but also hate him for his naughty life: for they did abhor his banquets and drunken feasts he made at unseasonable times, and his extreme wasteful expenses upon vain light huswives; and then in the daytime he would sleep or walk out his drunkenness, thinking to wear away the fume of the abundance of wine which he had taken over night."] [Note 190: /no fear:/ no cause of fear. Cf. _The Merchant of Venice_, II, i, 9.] [Note 192: /stricken./ In II, ii, 114, we have the form 'strucken.' An interesting anachronism is this matter of a striking clock in old Rome.]
CASSIUS. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. BRUTUS. By the eighth hour; is that the uttermost? CINNA. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then. METELLUS. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæsar hard, 215 Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey: I wonder none of you have thought of him. [Note 213: /eighth/ F4 | eight F1 F2 F3.] [Note 215: /hard/ F1 | hatred F2 F3 F4.] [Note 204: So in Spenser, _The Faerie Queene_, II, v, 10: Like as a Lyon, whose imperiall powre A prowd rebellious Unicorn defyes, T' avoide the rash assault and wrathful stowre Of his fiers foe, him to a tree applyes, And when him ronning in full course he spyes, He slips aside; the whiles that furious beast His precious home sought of his enimyes, Strikes in the stocke ne thence can be releast, But to the mighty victor yields a bounteous feast.] [Note 205: Bears are said to have been caught by putting looking-glasses in their way; they being so taken with the images of themselves that the hunters could easily master them. Elephants were beguiled into pitfalls, lightly covered over with hurdles and turf.] [Note 206: /toils:/ nets, snares. The root idea of the word is a 'thing woven' (Cf. Spenser's 'welwoven toyles' in _Astrophel_, xvii, 1), and while it seems to have primary reference to a web or cord spread for taking prey, the old Fr. _toile_ sometimes means a 'stalking-horse of painted canvas.' Shakespeare uses the word several times. Cf. _Antony and Cleopatra_, V, ii, 351; _Hamlet_, III, ii, 362.]
PORTIA. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus, Stole from my bed: and yesternight at supper You suddenly arose, and walk'd about, Musing and sighing, with your arms across; 240 And when I ask'd you what the matter was, You star'd upon me with ungentle looks: I urg'd you further; then you scratch'd your head, And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot: Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not, 245 But with an angry wafture of your hand Gave sign for me to leave you. So I did, Fearing to strengthen that impatience Which seem'd 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 prevail'd on your condition, I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord, 255 Make me acquainted with your cause of grief. [Note 233: Scene III Pope.] [Note 237: /You've/ Rowe | Y' have Ff.] [Note 239: /suddenly/ | sodainly Ff.] [Note 246: /wafture/ Rowe | wafter Ff.] [Note 255: /you, Brutus/ F4 | you Brutus F1 F2 F3.]
LUCIUS. Here is a sick man that would speak with you. 310 BRUTUS. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of. Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius! how? LIGARIUS. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. BRUTUS. O, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius, To wear a kerchief! Would you were not sick! 315 LIGARIUS. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand Any exploit worthy the name of honour. [Note 310: _Re-enter ... with_ Dyce | Enter ... and Ff after [Exit Portia].] [Note 313 (and elsewhere): LIGARIUS | Cai. Ff.] [Note 315: /To wear a kerchief./ It was a common practice in England for those who were sick to wear a kerchief on their heads. So in Fuller's _Worthies, Cheshire_, 1662, quoted by Malone: "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."] [Page 65] BRUTUS. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, Had you a healthful ear to hear of it. LIGARIUS. By all the gods that Romans bow before, 320 I here discard my sickness! Soul of Rome! Brave son, deriv'd from honourable loins! Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjur'd up My mortified spirit. Now bid me run, And I will strive with things impossible; 325 Yea, get the better of them. What's to do?
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