The New Hudson Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar

SCENE I. _Rome._ _A room in_ ANTONY'S _house_

ANTONY, OCTAVIUS, _and_ LEPIDUS, _seated at a table_

Antony. These many then shall die; their names are prick'd.

Octavius. Your brother too must die; consent you, Lepidus?

[Note: _Rome._ _A room ... house_ Ff omit.--ANTONY, OCTAVIUS ... _table_ Malone | Enter Antony, Octawius, and Lepidus. Ff.]

[Note: SCENE I. The Folios give no indication of place, but that Shakespeare intended the scene to be in Rome is clear from ll. 10, 11, where Lepidus is sent to Cæsar's house and told that he will find his confederates "or here, or at the Capitol." In fact, however, the triumvirs, Octavius, Antonius, and Lepidus, met in November, B.C. 43, some nineteen months after the assassination of Cæsar, on a small island in the river Rhenus (now the Reno), near Bononia (Bologna). "All three met together in an island environed round about with a little river, and there remained three days together. Now, as touching all other matters they were easily agreed, and did divide all the empire of Rome between them, as if it had been their own inheritance. But yet they could hardly agree whom they would put to death: for every one of them would kill their enemies, and save their kinsmen and friends. Yet, at length, giving place to their greedy desire to be revenged of their enemies, they spurned all reverence of blood and holiness of friendship at their feet. For Cæsar left Cicero to Antonius's will; Antonius also forsook Lucius Cæsar, who was his uncle by his mother; and both of them together suffered Lepidus to kill his own brother Paulus. Yet some writers affirm that Cæsar and Antonius requested Paulus might be slain, and that Lepidus was contented with it."--Plutarch, _Marcus Antonius_.]

[Note 1: /prick'd./ So in III, i. 217. See note, p. 95, l. 217.]

[Page 117]

Lepidus. I do consent--

Octavius. Prick him down, Antony.

Lepidus. Upon condition Publius shall not live, Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony. 5

Antony. He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn him. But, Lepidus, go you to Cæsar's house; Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine How to cut off some charge in legacies.

Lepidus. What, shall I find you here? 10

Octavius. Or here, or at the Capitol. [_Exit_ LEPIDUS]

Antony. 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?

Octavius. So you thought him; 15 And took his voice who should be prick'd to die, In our black sentence and proscription.

Antony. 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, 25 Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears And graze in commons.

[Note 10: /What/, Johnson | What? Ff.]

[Note 23: /point/ F1 | print F2 F3 F4.]

[Note 4-5: According to Plutarch, as quoted above, this was Lucius Cæsar, not Publius; nor was he Antony's nephew, but his uncle by the mother's side. His name in full was Antonius Lucius Cæsar.]

[Note 6: /with a spot I damn him:/ with a mark I condemn him.]

[Note 12: /slight unmeritable:/ insignificant, undeserving. In Shakespeare many adjectives, especially those ending in _-ful_, _-less_, _-ble_, and _-ive_, have both an active and a passive meaning. See Abbott, § 3.]

[Note 27: /commons./ This is a thoroughly English allusion to such pasture-lands as are not owned by individuals, but occupied by a given neighborhood in common. In 1614 Shakespeare protested against the inclosure of such 'common fields' at Stratford-on-Avon.]

[Page 118]

Octavius. You may do your will; But he's a tried and valiant soldier.

Antony. 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 govern'd by my spirit. And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so; He must be taught, and train'd, and bid go forth: 35 A barren-spirited fellow; one that feeds On objects, arts, and imitations, Which, out of use and stal'd 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 combin'd, Our best friends made, and our best means stretch'd out; And let us presently go sit in council, 45 How covert matters may be best disclos'd, And open perils surest answered.

[Note 37: /objects, arts/ | Objects, Arts Ff | abject orts Theobald | abjects, orts Staunton Camb Globe.--/imitations/, Rowe | Imitations. Ff.]

[Note 38: /stal'd/ F3 | stal'de F1 F2 | stall'd F4.]

[Note 44: /and our best means (meanes) stretch'd out/ F2 F3 F4 | our meanes stretch't F1 | our best means strecht Johnson.]

[Note 32: /wind:/ wheel, turn. We have 'wind' as an active verb in _1 Henry IV_, IV, i, 109: "To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus."]

[Note 34: /in some taste:/ to some small extent. This meaning comes from 'taste' in the sense of 'a small portion given as a sample.']

[Note 37-39: As the textual notes show, modern editors have not been content with the reading of the Folios. The serious trouble with the old text is the period at the close of l. 37. If a comma be substituted the meaning becomes obvious: Lepidus is one who is always interested in, and talking about, such things--books, works of art, etc.--as everybody else has got tired of and thrown aside. Cf. Falstaff's account of Shallow, _2 Henry IV_, III, ii, 340: "'a came ever in the rearward of the fashion; and sung those tunes to the over-scutch'd huswives that he heard the carmen whistle, and sware they were his fancies or his good-nights." 'Stal'd' is 'outworn,' or 'grown stale'; and the reference is not to objects, etc., generally, but only to those which have lost the interest of freshness. 'Abjects' in the Staunton-Cambridge reading, is 'things thrown away'; 'orts,' 'broken fragments.']

[Note 40: /a property:/ a tool, an accessory. The reference is to a 'stage property.' Cf. Fletcher and Massinger, _The False One_, V, iii:

this devil Photinus Employs me as a property, and, grown useless, Will shake me off again.

Shakespeare uses 'property' as a verb in this sense in _Twelfth Night_, IV, ii, 99: "They have here propertied me."]

[Note 41: /Listen./ The transitive use is older than the intransitive.]

[Note 42: /make head:/ raise an armed force. 'Head' has often the meaning of 'armed force' in Shakespeare. So in sixteenth century literature and old ballads. It usually connotes insurrection.]

[Note 44: The reading adopted is that of the later Folios. It makes a normal blank verse line. Cf. II, i, 158-159.]

[Page 119]

Octavius. Let us do so: for we are at the stake, And bay'd about with many enemies; And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, 50 Millions of mischiefs. [_Exeunt_]

[Note 48-49: The metaphor is from bear-baiting. Cf. _Macbeth_, V, vii, 1.]

[Page 120]

Scene Ii. _Before_ BRUTUS'S _tent, in the camp near Sardis_

_Drum._ _Enter_ BRUTUS, TITINIUS, LUCIUS, _and_ Soldiers; LUCILIUS _and_ PINDARUS _meet them_

Brutus. Stand, ho!

Lucilius. Give the word, ho! and stand.

Brutus. What now, Lucilius! is Cassius near?

Lucilius. He is at hand; and Pindarus is come To do you salutation from his master. 5

[PINDARUS _gives a letter to_ BRUTUS]

Brutus. He greets me well. Your master, Pindarus, In his own change, 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.

Pindarus. I do not doubt 10 But that my noble master will appear Such as he is, full of regard and honour.

[Note: SCENE II. _Before ... Sardis_ Rowe | Ff omit.]

[Note: _Enter_ BRUTUS ... _meet them_ | Enter Brutus, Lucillius, and the Army. Titinius and Pindarus meet them Ff.]

[Note 5: [PINDARUS _gives_ ...] | Ff omit.]

[Note 7: /change/ Ff | charge Hanmer.]

[Note: SCENE II. This scene is separated from the foregoing by about a year. The remaining events take place in the autumn, B.C. 42.]

[Note 6: /He greets me well./ A dignified return of the salutation.]

[Note 7: If the Folio reading be retained, 'change' will mean 'altered disposition,' 'change in his own feelings towards me.' Warburton's suggestion 'charge,' adopted by Hanmer and in previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, would give as the meaning of the line, Either by his own command, or by officers, subordinates, who have abused their trust, prostituting it to the ends of private gain.]

[Page 121]

Brutus. He is not doubted. A word, Lucilius, How he receiv'd you: let me be resolv'd.

Lucilius. With courtesy and with respect enough; 15 But not with such familiar instances, Nor with such free and friendly conference, As he hath us'd of old.

Brutus. Thou hast describ'd 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, 25 They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, Sink in the trial. Comes his army on?

Lucilius. They mean this night in Sardis to be quarter'd; The greater part, the horse in general, Are come with Cassius. [_Low march within_]

Brutus. Hark! he is arriv'd. 30 March gently on to meet him.

[Note 13-14: /word, Lucilius/ ... you: F3 F4 | word Lucillius ... you: F1 F2 | word, Lucilius,-- ... you, Rowe.]

[Note 30: [_Low_ ...] in Ff after l. 24.]

[Note 13-14: Mainly the Folio punctuation. A colon after 'Lucilius,' and a comma after 'you,' would give a characteristic inversion.]

[Note 14: /How:/ as to how.--/resolv'd./ See note, p. 90, l. 132.]

[Note 16: /familiar instances:/ marks of familiarity. In Schmidt is a list of the various senses in which Shakespeare uses 'instances.']

[Note 23: /hot at hand:/ spirited or mettlesome when held back.]

[Note 26: /fall:/ let fall.--/deceitful jades:/ horses that promise well in appearance but "sink in the trial." 'Jade' is 'a worthless horse.']

[Page 122]

_Enter_ CASSIUS _and his Powers_

Cassius. Stand, ho!

Brutus. Stand, ho! Speak the word along.

1 SOLDIER. Stand!

2 SOLDIER. Stand! 35

3 SOLDIER. Stand!

Cassius. Most noble brother, you have done me wrong.

Brutus. Judge me, you gods! wrong I mine enemies? And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother?

Cassius. Brutus, this sober form of yours hides wrongs; And when you do them--

Brutus. Cassius, be content; 41 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; 45 Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs, And I will give you audience.

Cassius. Pindarus, Bid our commanders lead their charges off A little from this ground.

Brutus. Lucilius, do you the like; and let no man 50 Come to our tent till we have done our conference. Let Lucius and Titinius guard our door. [_Exeunt_]

[Note 34, 35, 36: SOLDIER |Ff omit.]

[Note 50: /Lucilius/ Ff | Lucius Craik.]

[Note 52: /Let Lucius/ Ff |Lucilius Craik.--/our/ Ff | the Rowe.]

[Note 46: /enlarge your griefs:/ enlarge upon your grievances. This use of 'grief' is not unusual in sixteenth century English.]

[Note 50, 52: In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare was adopted Craik's suggestion that in these lines, as they stand in the Folios, the names Lucius and Lucilius got shuffled each into the other's place; and then, to cure the metrical defect in the third line, that line was made to begin with 'Let.' Craik speaks of "the absurdity of such an association as Lucius and Titinius for the guarding of the door." In Porter and Clarke's 'First Folio,' _Julius Cæsar_, the answer to this criticism is: "But a greater absurdity is involved in sending the page with an order to the lieutenant commander of the army, and the extra length of l. 50 pairs with a like extra length in l. 51. Lucilius, having been relieved by Lucius, after giving the order returns and guards the door again."]

[Page 123]

Scene Iii. BRUTUS'S _tent_

_Enter_ BRUTUS _and_ CASSIUS

Cassius. That you have wrong'd me doth appear in this: You have condemn'd and noted Lucius Pella For taking bribes here of the Sardians; Wherein my letters, praying on his side, Because I knew the man, was slighted off. 5

[Note: SCENE III Pope | Rowe omits.--BRUTUS'S _tent_ Hanmer | Ff omit.]

[Note: _Enter_ BRUTUS ... Capell | Manet Brutus ... F1 | Manent ... F2 F3 F4.]

[Note 4-5: /letters ... man, was/ | Letters ... man was F1 | letter ... man, was, F2 F3 F4 | letters ... man, were Malone.]

[Note: SCENE III. Dowden points out that this scene was already celebrated in Shakespeare's own day, Leonard Digges recording its popularity, and Beaumont and Fletcher imitating it in _The Maid's Tragedy_. "I know no part of Shakespeare that more impresses on me the belief of his genius being superhuman than this scene between Brutus and Cassius."--Coleridge.]

[Note 1: "Now as it commonly happened in great affairs between two persons, both of them having many friends and so many captains under them, there ran tales and complaints between them. Therefore, before they fell in hand with any other matter they went into a little chamber together, and bade every man avoid, and did shut the doors to them. Then they began to pour out their complaints one to the other, and grew hot and loud, earnestly accusing one another, and at length both fell a-weeping. Their friends that were without the chamber, hearing them loud within, and angry between themselves, they were both amazed and afraid also, lest it would grow to further matter: but yet they were commanded that no man should come to them."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Note 2: /noted:/ marked with a stigma. North thus uses the word. See quotation from _Marcus Brutus_ on following page, l. 3.]

[Note 3: "The next day after, Brutus, upon complaint of the Sardians, did condemn and note Lucius Pella.... This judgment much misliked Cassius, because himself had secretly ... warned two of his friends, attainted and convicted of the like offences, and openly had cleared them."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Note 5: /was./ The verb is attracted into the singular by the nearest substantive.--/slighted off/: contemptuously set aside.]

[Page 124]

Brutus. You wrong'd yourself to write in such a case.

Cassius. In such a time as this it is not meet That every nice offence should bear his comment.

Brutus. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm, 10 To sell and mart your offices for gold To undeservers.

Cassius. I an itching palm! You know that you are Brutus that speaks this, Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last.

Brutus. The name of Cassius honours this corruption, And chastisement doth therefore hide his head. 16

[Note 6: /to write:/ by writing. This gerundive use of the infinitive is very common in this play. Cf. 'to have' in l. 10; 'To sell and mart' in l. 11; 'To hedge me in' in l. 30, and so on. See Abbott, §356.]

[Note 8: /nice:/ foolish, trifling.--/his:/ its. The meaning of the line is, Every petty or trifling offense should not be rigidly scrutinized and censured. Cassius naturally thinks that "the honorable men whose daggers have stabb'd Cæsar" should not peril their cause by moral squeamishness. "He reproved Brutus, for that he should show himself so straight and severe, in such a time as was meeter to bear a little than to take things at the worst."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Page 125]

Cassius. Chastisement!

Brutus. Remember March, the Ides of March remember: Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? What villain touch'd 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 25 For so much trash as may be grasped thus? I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, Than such a Roman.

Cassius. Brutus, bait 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.

[Note 27: /bay/ F1 | baite F2 | bait F3 F4.]

[Note 28: /bait/ F3 F4 | baite F1 F2 | bay Theobald Delius Staunton.]

[Note 30: /I/, Ff | ay, Steevens.]

[Note 18: "Brutus in contrary manner answered that he should remember the Ides of March, at which time they slew Julius Cæsar, who neither pilled[A] nor polled[B] the country, but only was a favourer and suborner of all them that did rob and spoil, by his countenance and authority. And if there were any occasion whereby they might honestly set aside justice and equity, they should have had more reason to have suffered Cæsar's friends to have robbed and done what wrong and injury they had would[C] than to bear with their own men."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Note A: i.e. robbed, pillaged.]

[Note B: i.e. taxed, spoiled.]

[Note C: i.e. wished (to do).]

[Note 20-21: "Who was such a villain of those who touched his body that he stabbed from any other motive than justice?"--Clar.]

[Note 28-32: "Now Cassius would have done Brutus much honour, as Brutus did unto him, but Brutus most commonly prevented him, and went first unto him, both because he was the elder man as also for that he was sickly of body. And men reputed him commonly to be very skilful in wars, but otherwise marvellous choleric and cruel, who sought to rule men by fear rather than with lenity: and on the other side, he was too familiar with his friends and would jest too broadly with them."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Page 126]

Brutus. Go to; you are not, Cassius.

Cassius. I am.

Brutus. I say you are not.

Cassius. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself; 35 Have mind upon your health, tempt me no farther.

Brutus. Away, slight man!

Cassius. Is't possible?

Brutus. 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

Cassius. O ye gods, ye gods! must I endure all this?

Brutus. 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 45 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.

[Note 32: /Go to/ | Go too F1.--/not, Cassius/ Hanmer | not Cassius Ff.]

[Note 44: /budge/ F4 | bouge F1 | boudge F2 F3.]

[Note 48: /Though/ F1 | Thought F2.]

[Note 32: 'Go to' is a phrase of varying import, sometimes of reproof, sometimes of encouragement. 'Go till' is its earliest form.]

[Note 45: /observe:/ treat with ceremonious respect or reverence.]

[Note 47: The spleen was held to be the special seat of the sudden and explosive emotions and passions, whether of mirth or anger. Cf. _Troilus and Cressida_, I, iii, 178; _1 Henry IV_, V, ii, 19.]

[Page 127]

Cassius. Is it come to this? 50

Brutus. 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 noble men.

Cassius. You wrong me every way; you wrong me, Brutus; 55 I said an elder soldier, not a better: Did I say 'better'?

Brutus. If you did, I care not.

Cassius. When Cæsar liv'd, he durst not thus have mov'd me.

Brutus. Peace, peace! you durst not so have tempted him.

Cassius. I durst not! 60

Brutus. No.

Cassius. What, durst not tempt him!

Brutus. For your life you durst not.

Cassius. Do not presume too much upon my love; I may do that I shall be sorry for.

[Note 54: /noble/ Ff | abler Collier.]

[Note 55: Two lines in Ff.]

[Note 51-54: This mistake of Brutus is well conceived. Cassius was much the abler soldier, and Brutus knew it; and the mistake grew from his consciousness of the truth of what he thought he heard. Cassius had served as quæstor under Marcus Crassus in his expedition against the Parthians; and, when the army was torn all to pieces, both Crassus and his son being killed, Cassius displayed great ability in bringing off a remnant. He showed remarkable military power, too, in Syria.]

[Page 128]

Brutus. You have done that you should be sorry for. 65 There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats; For I am arm'd 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 75 To you for gold to pay my legions, Which you denied me. Was that done like Cassius? Should I have answer'd 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!

[Note 75: /indirection:/ crookedness, malpractice. In _King John_, III, i, 275-278, is an interesting passage illustrating this use of 'indirection.' Cf. _2 Henry IV_, IV, v, 185.]

[Note 80: The omission of the conjunction 'as' before expressions denoting result is a common usage in Shakespeare.--/rascal counters:/ worthless money. 'Rascal' is properly a technical term for a deer out of condition. So used literally in _As You Like It_, III, iii, 58. 'Counters' were disks of metal, of very small intrinsic value, much used for reckoning. Cf. _As You Like It_, II, vii, 63; _The Winter's Tale_, IV, iii, 38. Professor Dowden comments aptly on what we have here: "Brutus loves virtue and despises gold; but in the logic of facts there is an irony cruel or pathetic. Brutus maintains a lofty position of immaculate honour above Cassius; but ideals, and a heroic contempt for gold, will not fill the military coffer, or pay the legions, and the poetry of noble sentiment suddenly drops down to the prosaic complaint that Cassius had denied the demands made by Brutus for certain sums of money. Nor is Brutus, though he worships an ideal of Justice, quite just in matters of practical detail."]

[Page 129]

Cassius. I denied you not.

Brutus. You did.

Cassius. I did not: he was but a fool that brought My answer back. Brutus hath riv'd my heart: 85 A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.

Brutus. I do not, till you practise them on me.

Cassius. You love me not.

Brutus. I do not like your faults.

Cassius. A friendly eye could never see such faults. 90

Brutus. A flatterer's would not, though they do appear As huge as high Olympus.

[Note 84: /that brought/ | Ff give to l. 85.]

[Note 82-83: "Whilst Brutus and Cassius were together in the city of Smyrna, Brutus prayed Cassius to let him have part of his money whereof he had great store.... Cassius's friends hindered this request, and earnestly dissuaded him from it; persuading him, that it was no reason that Brutus should have the money which Cassius had gotten together by sparing, and levied with great evil will of the people their subjects, for him to bestow liberally upon his soldiers, and by this means to win their good wills, by Cassius's charge. This notwithstanding, Cassius gave him the third part of this total sum."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Page 130]

Cassius. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius, For Cassius is a-weary of the world; 95 Hated by one he loves; brav'd by his brother; Check'd like a bondman; all his faults observ'd, Set in a note-book, learn'd, and conn'd 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, 105 When thou didst hate him worst, thou lov'dst him better Than ever thou lov'dst Cassius.

Brutus. 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.

Cassius. Hath Cassius liv'd To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus, When grief and blood ill-temper'd vexeth him? 115

Brutus. When I spoke that, I was ill-temper'd too.

Cassius. Do you confess so much? Give me your hand.

Brutus. And my heart too.

Cassius. O Brutus!

Brutus. What's the matter?

[Note 102: /Plutus'/ Pope | Pluto's Ff.]

[Note 96: /brav'd:/ defied. The verb connotes bluster and bravado.]

[Note 102: Plutus (for the Folio reading see note on 'Antonio' for Antonius, I, ii, 5) is the old god of riches, who had all the world's gold in his keeping and disposal. Pluto was the lord of Hades.]

[Note 109: Whatever dishonorable thing you may do, I will set it down to the caprice of the moment.--/humour./ See note, p. 60, l. 250.]

[Note 111-113: Cf. the words of Cassius, I, ii, 176-177. See also _Troilus and Cressida_, III, iii, 257. It was long a popular notion that fire slept in the flint and was awaked by the stroke of the steel. "It is not sufficient to carry religion in our hearts, as fire is carried in flintstones, but we are outwardly, visibly, apparently, to serve and honour the living God."--Hooker, _Ecclesiastical Polity_, VII, xxii, 3.]

[Page 131]

Cassius. Have not you love enough to bear with me, When that rash humour which my mother gave me 120 Makes me forgetful?

Brutus. 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 125 They be alone.

Lucilius. [_Within_] You shall not come to them.

Poet. [_Within_] Nothing but death shall stay me.

_Enter_ Poet, _followed by_ LUCILIUS, TITINIUS, _and_ LUCIUS

Cassius. How now! what's the matter?

Poet. For shame, you generals! what do you mean? 130 Love, and be friends, as two such men should be; For I have seen more years, I'm sure, than ye.

Cassius. Ha, ha! how vilely doth this cynic rhyme!

[Note 123: _Enter a Poet_ Ff.]

[Note 124, 127, 128: [_Within_] Ff omit.]

[Note 129: _Enter_ Poet ... LUCIUS Camb Globe | Enter Poet, followed by Lucilius and Titinius Dyce | Enter Poet Theobald | Ff omit.]

[Note 133: /vilely/ F4 | vildely F1 F2 | vildly F3.--doth Ff | does Capell.]

[Note 129-133: "One Marcus Phaonius, that ... took upon him to counterfeit a philosopher, not with wisdom and discretion, but with a certain bedlam and frantic motion; he would needs come into the chamber, though the men offered to keep him out. But it was no boot to let Phaonius, when a mad mood or toy took him in the head: for he was an hot hasty man, and sudden in all his doings, and cared for never a senator of them all. Now, though he used this bold manner of speech after the profession of the Cynic philosophers, (as who would say, _Dogs_,) yet his boldness did no hurt many times, because they did but laugh at him to see him so mad. This Phaonius at that time, in spite of the door-keepers, came into the chamber, and with a certain scoffing and mocking gesture, which he counterfeited of purpose, he rehearsed the verses which old Nestor said in Homer:

My lords, I pray you hearken both to me, For I have seen mo years than suchie three.

Cassius fell a-laughing at him; but Brutus thrust him out of the chamber, and called him dog, and counterfeit Cynic. Howbeit his coming in brake their strife at that time, and so they left each other."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Page 132]

Brutus. Get you hence, sirrah; saucy fellow, hence!

Cassius. Bear with him, Brutus; 'tis his fashion. 135

Brutus. I'll know his humour, when he knows his time: What should the wars do with these jigging fools? Companion, hence!

Cassius. Away, away, be gone! [_Exit_ Poet]

Brutus. Lucilius and Titinius, bid the commanders Prepare to lodge their companies to-night. 140

Cassius. And come yourselves, and bring Messala with you Immediately to us. [_Exeunt_ LUCILIUS _and_ TITINIUS]

Brutus. Lucius, a bowl of wine! [_Exit_ LUCIUS]

Cassius. I did not think you could have been so angry.

Brutus. O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs.

Cassius. Of your philosophy you make no use, 145 If you give place to accidental evils.

[Note 139: Scene IV Pope.--Enter Lucil. and Titin. Rowe.]

[Note 142: [_Exeunt_ ...] Rowe | Ff omit.--[_Exit_ Lucius] Capell | Ff omit.]

[Note 137: /jigging:/ moving rhythmically, rhyming. So in the Prologue to Marlowe's _Tamburlaine the Great_:

From jigging veins of rhyming mother wits, And such conceits as clownage keeps in pay.]

[Note 138: 'Companion' was often used contemptuously. Cf. _Coriolanus_, IV, v, 14; V, ii, 65. Cf. the way 'fellow' is often used to-day.]

[Note 145: In his philosophy, Brutus was a mixture of the Stoic and the Platonist. What he says of Portia's death is among the best things in the play, and is in Shakespeare's noblest style. Profound emotion expresses itself with reserve. Deep grief loves not many words.]

[Page 133]

Brutus. No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead.

Cassius. Ha! Portia!

Brutus. She is dead.

Cassius. How 'scaped I killing when I cross'd you so? 150 O insupportable and touching loss! Upon what sickness?

Brutus. 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, 155 And, her attendants absent, swallow'd fire.

Cassius. And died so?

Brutus. Even so.

Cassius. O ye immortal gods!

[Note 152: Strict harmony of construction would require 'impatience' for 'impatient' here, or 'griev'd' for 'grief' in the next line. Shakespeare is not very particular in such niceties. Besides, the broken construction expresses dramatically the deep emotion of the speaker.]

[Note 155: /distract:/ distracted. So in _Hamlet_, IV, v, 2. 'Distraught' is the form in _Romeo and Juliet_, IV, iii, 49. For the dropping of the terminal _-ed_ of the participle in verbs ending in _t_ or _te_, see Abbott, §342.]

[Note 156: It appears something uncertain whether Portia's death was before or after her husband's. Plutarch represents it as occurring before; but Merivale follows those who place it after. "For Portia, Brutus's wife, Nicolaus the philosopher and Valerius Maximus do write, that she determining to kill herself (her parents and friends carefully looking to her to keep her from it) took hot burning coals, and cast them into her mouth, and kept her mouth so close that she choked herself. There was a letter of Brutus found, written to his friends, complaining of their negligence, that, his wife being sick, they would not help her, but suffered her to kill herself, choosing to die rather than to languish in pain."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Page 134]

_Re-enter_ LUCIUS, _with wine and taper_

Brutus. Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of wine. In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. [_Drinks_]

Cassius. 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_]

Brutus. Come in, Titinius! [_Exit_ LUCIUS]

_Re-enter_ TITINIUS, _with_ MESSALA

Welcome, good Messala. Now sit we close about this taper here, And call in question our necessities. 165

Cassius. Portia, art thou gone?

Brutus. 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

Messala. Myself have letters of the selfsame tenour.

Brutus. With what addition?

[Note 158: _Re-enter_ LUCIUS, ... _taper_ Camb | Enter Boy ... Tapers Ff.]

[Note 162: [_Drinks_] Capell | Ff omit.]

[Note 163: [_Exit_ LUCIUS] Camb | Ff omit.--Scene V Pope.--_Re-enter_ TITINIUS, _with_ ... Dyce | Enter Titinius and ... Ff (after l. 162)]

[Note 171: /tenour/ Theobald | tenure Ff.]

[Note 173: /outlawry/ F4 | Outlarie F1 | Outlary F2 F3.]

[Note 165: /call in question:/ bring up for discussion. 'Question,' both noun and verb, is constantly found in Shakespeare in the sense of 'talk.' So "in question more" in _Romeo and Juliet_, I, i, 235.]

[Note 170: /Bending their expedition:/ directing their march. Cf. 'expedition' in this sense in _Richard III_, IV, iv, 136.]

[Page 135]

Messala. That by proscription and bills of outlawry, Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus, Have put to death an hundred senators. 175

Brutus. Therein our letters do not well agree; Mine speak of seventy senators that died By their proscriptions, Cicero being one.

Cassius. Cicero one!

Messala. Cicero is dead, And by that order of proscription 180 Had you your letters from your wife, my lord?

Brutus. No, Messala.

Messala. Nor nothing in your letters writ of her?

Brutus. Nothing, Messala.

Messala. That, methinks, is strange.

Brutus. Why ask you? hear you aught of her in yours?

Messala. No, my lord. 186

Brutus. Now, as you are a Roman, tell me true.

Messala. Then like a Roman bear the truth I tell: For certain she is dead, and by strange manner.

[Note 179-180: Cicero is ... proscription | One line in Ff.]

[Note 185: Two lines in Ff.--/aught/ Theobald | ought Ff.]

[Note 179: "These three, Octavius Cæsar, Antonius, and Lepidus, made an agreement between themselves, and by those articles divided the provinces belonging to the empire of Rome among themselves, and did set up bills of proscription and outlawry, condemning two hundred of the noblest men of Rome to suffer death, and among that number Cicero was one."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Note 183: Both 'nor nothing' and 'writ' survive to-day as vulgarisms.]

[Note 184: /Nothing, Messala./ This may seem inconsistent with what has gone before (see more particularly ll. 154-155), but we are to suppose that Brutus's friends at Rome did not write to him directly of Portia's death, as they feared the news might unnerve him, but wrote to some common friends in the army, directing them to break the news to him, as they should deem it safe and prudent to do so.]

[Page 136]

Brutus. Why, farewell, Portia. We must die, Messala: With meditating that she must die once, 191 I have the patience to endure it now.

Messala. Even so great men great losses should endure.

Cassius. I have as much of this in art as you, But yet my nature could not bear it so. 195

Brutus. Well, to our work alive. What do you think Of marching to Philippi presently?

Cassius. I do not think it good.

Brutus. Your reason?

Cassius. 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, Are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness.

[Note 191: /once/: at some time or other. So in _The Merry Wives of Windsor_, III, iv, 103:

I thank thee; and I pray thee, once to-night Give my sweet Nan this ring.]

[Note 194: /art:/ theory. This speech may be paraphrased, I am as much a Stoic by profession and theory as you are, but my natural strength is weak when it comes to putting the doctrines into practice.]

[Note 196: /work alive:/ work in which we have to do with the living.]

[Note 197: /presently:/ at once. See note, p. 82, l. 28.]

[Page 137]

Brutus. Good reasons must of force give place to better. The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground Do stand but in a forc'd affection, 205 For they have grudg'd us contribution: The enemy, marching along by them, By them shall make a fuller number up, Come on refresh'd, new-added, and encourag'd; From which advantage shall we cut him off 210 If at Philippi we do face him there, These people at our back.

Cassius. Hear me, good brother.

Brutus. 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: 215 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.

[Note 209: /new-added/ | new added Ff.]

[Note 224: /lose/ Rowe | loose Ff.]

[Note 203: /of force:/ of necessity, necessarily. Plutarch represents this talk as occurring at Philippi just before the battle: "Cassius was of opinion not to try this war at one battle, but rather to delay time, and to draw it out in length, considering that they were the stronger in money, and the weaker in men and armour. But Brutus, in contrary manner, did alway before, and at that time also, desire nothing more than to put all to the hazard of battle, as soon as might be possible; to the end he might either quickly restore his country to her former liberty, or rid him forthwith of this miserable world."--_Marcus Brutus._]

[Note 209: /new-added:/ reënforced. Singer suggested 'new aided.']

[Note 218-221: Cf. _Troilus and Cressida_, V, i, 90; _The Tempest_, I, ii, 181-184. Dr. Wright (Clar) quotes from Bacon a parallel passage: "In the third place I set down reputation, because of the peremptory tides and currents it hath; which, if they be not taken in their due time, are seldom recovered, it being extreme hard to play an after game of reputation."--_The Advancement of Learning_, II, xxiii, 38.]

[Note 224: /ventures:/ what is risked, adventured. The figure of a ship is kept up, and 'venture' denotes whatever is put on board in hope of profit, and exposed to "the perils of waters, winds, and rocks." Cf. _The Merchant of Venice_, I, i, 15, 42; III, ii, 270.]

[Page 138]

Cassius. Then, with your will, go on; We'll along ourselves, and meet them at Philippi. 225

Brutus. 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?

Cassius. No more. Good night: Early to-morrow will we rise, and hence. 230

Brutus. Lucius! [_Re-enter_ LUCIUS] My gown. [_Exit_ LUCIUS]. Farewell, good Messala: Good night, Titinius: noble, noble Cassius, Good night, and good repose.

Cassius. O my dear brother! This was an ill beginning of the night: Never come such division 'tween our souls! 235 Let it not, Brutus.

Brutus. Every thing is well.

Cassius. Good night, my lord.

Brutus. Good night, good brother.

TITINIUS.} Good night, Lord Brutus. MESSALA. }

Brutus. Farewell, every one. [_Exeunt_ CASSIUS, TITINIUS, _and_ MESSALA]

[Note 231: BRUTUS. /Lucius!/ [_Re-enter_ LUCIUS] My Camb | _Enter Lucius_ Bru. Lucius my Ff.]

[Note 231: [_Exit_ LUCIUS] Ff omit.]

[Note 238: [_Exeunt_ CASSIUS ...] Capell | Exeunt Ff.]

[Note 228: /niggard:/ supply sparingly. In _Sonnets_, I, 12, occurs 'niggarding'. In Elizabethan English "almost any part of speech can be used as any other part of speech. Any noun, adjective, or neuter verb can be used as an active verb."--Abbott.]

[Page 139]

_Re-enter_ LUCIUS, _with the gown_

Give me the gown. Where is thy instrument?

Lucius. Here in the tent.

Brutus. What, thou speak'st drowsily? Poor knave, I blame thee not; thou art o'er-watch'd. 241 Call Claudius and some other of my men; I'll have them sleep on cushions in my tent.

Lucius. Varro and Claudius!

_Enter_ VARRO _and_ CLAUDIUS

Varro. Calls my lord? 245

Brutus. 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.

Varro. So please you, we will stand and watch your pleasure.

Brutus. 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 _lie down_]

[Note: _Re-enter_ LUCIUS, ... Capell | Enter Lucius ... Ff (after Brutus, l. 236).]

[Note 242, 244, etc.: /Claudius/ Rowe | Claudio Ff.]

[Note 244, 289: /Varro/ Rowe | Varrus Ff.]

[Note 245: Scene VI Pope.--_Enter_ VARRO _and_ CLAUDIUS Rowe | Enter Varrus and Claudio Ff.]

[Note 253: [VARRO _and_ ...] Ff omit.]

[Note 241: /Poor knave./ Cf. 'Gentle knave,' l. 269. The word 'knave' is here used in the literal sense of 'boy.' It was used as a term of endearment, or of loving familiarity with those of lower rank. So in _King Lear_, I, iv, 107.--/o'er-watch'd:/ worn out with keeping awake. So in _King Lear_, II, ii, 177. Cf. 'o'ershot' in III, ii, 150.]

[Note 252-253: These two simple lines, with the answer of Lucius, "I was sure your lordship did not give it me," are among the best things in the play. Consider how much is implied in them, and what a picture they give of the earnest, thoughtful, book-loving Brutus. And indeed all his noblest traits of character come out, "in simple and pure soul," in this exquisite scene with Lucius, which is hardly surpassed by anything in Shakespeare. Who could be troubled by the anachronism in the book being of modern shape? "Brutus was a careful man, and slept very little, both for that his diet was moderate, as also because he was continually occupied. He never slept in the day-time, and in the night no longer than the time he was driven to be alone, and when everybody else took their rest. But now whilst he was in war, and his head ever busily occupied to think of his affairs and what would happen, after he had slumbered a little after supper, he spent all the rest of the night in dispatching of his weightiest causes, and after he had taken order for them, if he had any leisure left him, he would read some book till the third watch of the night, at what time the captains, petty captains, and colonels, did use to come to him."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]

[Page 140]

Lucius. I was sure your lordship did not give it me.

Brutus. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful. Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile, 256 And touch thy instrument a strain or two?

Lucius. Ay, my lord, an 't please you.

Brutus. It does, my boy: I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing.

Lucius. It is my duty, sir. 260

Brutus. I should not urge thy duty past thy might; I know young bloods look for a time of rest.

Lucius. I have slept, my lord, already.

[Note 262: /bloods./ So in _Much Ado about Nothing_, III, iii, 141: "How giddily a' turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five-and-thirty?" Cf. I, ii, 151: "the breed of noble bloods."]

[Page 141]

Brutus. It was well done; and thou shalt sleep again; I will not hold thee long: if I do live, 265 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; I'll take it from thee; and, good boy, good night. Let me see, let me see; is not the leaf turn'd down Where I left reading? Here it is, I think.

_Enter the_ Ghost _of_ CÆSAR

How ill this taper burns! Ha! who comes here? 275 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 mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to stare? 280 Speak to me what thou art.

[Note 267: /murderous slumber/ | Murd'rous slumbler F1.]

[Note 274: [Sits down] Camb.]

[Note 275: Scene VII Pope.]

[Note 267: /murderous slumber./ The epithet probably has reference to sleep being regarded as the image of death; or, as Shelley put it, "Death and his brother Sleep." Cf. _Cymbeline_, II, ii, 31.]

[Note 268: /thy leaden mace./ Upton quotes from Spenser, _The Faerie Queene_, I, iv, 44:

But whenas Morpheus had with leaden mace Arrested all that courtly company.

Shakespeare uses 'mace' both as 'scepter,' _Henry V_, IV, i, 278, and as 'a staff of office,' _2 Henry VI_, IV, vii, 144.]

[Note 269: The boy is spoken of as playing music to slumber because he plays to soothe the agitations of his master's mind, and put him to sleep. Bacon held that music "hindereth sleep."]

[Note 275: The presence of a ghost was believed to make lights burn blue or dimly. So in _Richard III_, V, iii, 180, when the ghosts appear to Richard, he says: "The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh."]

[Note 277: /this monstrous apparition./ "Above all, the ghost that appeared unto Brutus shewed plainly that the gods were offended with the murder of Cæsar. The vision was thus: Brutus ... thought he heard a noise at his tent-door, and, looking towards the light of the lamp that waxed very dim, he saw a horrible vision of a man, of a wonderful greatness and dreadful look, which at the first made him marvellously afraid. But when he saw that it did no hurt, but stood at his bedside and said nothing; at length he asked him what he was. The image answered him: 'I am thy ill angel, Brutus, and thou shalt see me by the city of Philippes.' Then Brutus replied again, and said, 'Well, I shall see thee then.' Therewithal the spirit presently vanished from him."--Plutarch, _Julius Cæsar_.]

[Note 280: /stare:/ stand on end. 'To be stiff, rigid, fixed' is the primary idea. Cf. _The Tempest_, I, ii, 213; _Hamlet_, I, v, 16-20.]

[Page 142]

Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus.

Brutus. Why com'st thou?

Ghost. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi.

Brutus. Well; then I shall see thee again?

Ghost. Ay, at Philippi. 285

Brutus. 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! Claudius! 290

[Note 286: [_Exit_ Ghost] Ff omit.]

[Note 287: This strongly, though quietly, marks the Ghost as subjective; as soon as Brutus recovers his firmness, the illusion is broken. The order of things is highly judicious here, in bringing the "horrible vision" upon Brutus just after he has heard of Portia's shocking death. With that great sorrow weighing upon him, he might well see ghosts. The thickening of calamities upon him, growing out of the assassination of Cæsar, naturally awakens remorse.]

[Page 143]

Lucius. The strings, my lord, are false.

Brutus. He thinks he still is at his instrument. Lucius, awake!

Lucius. My lord?

Brutus. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst out? 295

Lucius. My lord, I do not know that I did cry.

Brutus. Yes, that thou didst: didst thou see any thing?

Lucius. Nothing, my lord.

Brutus. Sleep again, Lucius. Sirrah Claudius! [_To_ VARRO] Fellow thou, awake! 300

Varro. My lord?

CLAUDIUS. My lord?

Brutus. Why did you so cry out, sirs, in your sleep?

Varro. } CLAUDIUS.} Did we, my lord?

Brutus. Ay: saw you any thing?

Varro. No, my lord, I saw nothing.

CLAUDIUS. Nor I, my lord. 305

Brutus. Go and commend me to my brother Cassius; Bid him set on his powers betimes before, 307 And we will follow.

Varro. } CLAUDIUS.} It shall be done, my lord. [_Exeunt_]

[Note 300: [_To_ VARRO] Globe Camb | Ff omit.]

[Note 304, 308: VARRO, CLAUDIUS | Both Ff.]

[Note 291: /false:/ out of tune. A charming touch in this boy study.]

[Note 306: /commend me to:/ greet from me, remember me kindly to.]

[Note 307: /set on:/ cause to advance.--/betimes:/ early. Formerly 'betime'; "the final 's' is due to the habit of adding '-s' or '-es' to form adverbs; cf. 'whiles' (afterwards 'whilst') from 'while.'"--Skeat.]

[Page 144]