Part 11
[Note 2: In Plutarch the scene is thus graphically described: "Then going to bed the same night, as his manner was, and lying with his wife Calpurnia, all the windows and doors of his chamber flying open, the noise awoke him, and made him afraid when he saw such light; but more, when he heard his wife Calpurnia, being fast asleep, weep and sigh, and put forth many fumbling lamentable speeches: for she dreamed that Cæsar was slain.... Cæsar rising in the morning, she prayed him, if it were possible, not to go out of the doors that day, but to adjourn the session of the Senate until another day. And if that he made no reckoning of her dream, yet that he would search further of the soothsayers by their sacrifices, to know what should happen him that day. Thereby it seemed that Cæsar did likewise fear or suspect somewhat, because his wife Calpurnia until that time was never given to any fear and superstition; and that then he saw her so troubled in mind with this dream she had. But much more afterwards, when the soothsayers having sacrificed many beasts one after another, told him that none did like[A] them: then he determined to send Antonius to adjourn the session of the Senate."--_Julius Cæsar._]
[Note A: i.e. satisfy.]
[Page 67]
_Enter a_ Servant
SERVANT. My lord?
CÆSAR. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, 5 And bring me their opinions of success.
SERVANT. I will, my lord. [_Exit_]
_Enter_ CALPURNIA
CALPURNIA. What mean you, Cæsar? think you to walk forth? You shall not stir out of your house to-day. 9
CÆSAR. Cæsar shall forth: the things that threaten'd me Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see The face of Cæsar, they are vanished.
CALPURNIA. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies, Yet now they fright me. There is one within, Besides the things that we have heard and seen, 15 Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. A lioness hath whelped in the streets; And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead; Fierce fiery warriors fight 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. O Cæsar, these things are beyond all use, 25 And I do fear them!
[Note 22: /hurtled/ F1 | hurried F2 F3 F4.]
[Note 23: /did neigh/ F2 F3 F4 | do neigh F1.]
[Note 6: /success:/ the result. The root notion of the word. See note, p. 65, l. 324. But in V, iii, 65, the word is used in its modern sense.]
[Note 13: 'Ceremonies' is here put for the ceremonial or sacerdotal interpretation of prodigies and omens, as in II, i, 197.]
[Note 16-24: Cf. _Hamlet_, I, i, 113-125; Vergil, _Georgics_, I, 465-488.]
[Note 22: /hurtled:/ clashed. The onomatopoetic 'hurtling' is used in _As You Like It_, IV, iii, 132, to describe the clashing encounter between Orlando and the lioness. Chaucer, in _The Knightes Tale_ l. 1758, uses the verb transitively, suggesting a diminutive of 'hurt':
And he him hurtleth with his horse adown.]
[Page 68]
CÆSAR. What can be avoided Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods? Yet Cæsar shall go forth; for these predictions Are to the world in general as to Cæsar.
CALPURNIA. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; 30 The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
CÆSAR. 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; 35 Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come.
[Note 33: /taste of death./ This expression occurs thrice in the New Testament (King James version). Plutarch relates that, a short time before Cæsar fell, some of his friends urged him to have a guard about him, and he replied that it was better to die at once than live in the continual fear of death. He is also said to have given as his reason for refusing a guard, that he thought Rome had more need of him than he of Rome. "And the very day before, Cæsar, supping with Marcus Lepidus, sealed certain letters, as he was wont to do, at the board: so, talk falling out amongst them, reasoning what death was best, he, preventing their opinions, cried out aloud, 'Death unlooked for.'"--Plutarch, _Julius Cæsar_.]
[Page 69]
_Re-enter_ Servant
What say the augurers?
SERVANT. 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
CÆSAR. 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: 45 We are two lions litter'd in one day, And I the elder and more terrible; And Cæsar shall go forth.
CALPURNIA. Alas, my lord, Your wisdom is consum'd 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.
CÆSAR. Mark Antony shall say I am not well; 55 And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.
_Enter_ DECIUS
Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so.
DECIUS. Cæsar, all hail! good morrow, worthy Cæsar: I come to fetch you to the senate-house.
[Note 37: _Re-enter_ ... | Enter a ... Ff.]
[Note 46: /are/ Capell | heare F1 F2 | hear F3 F4 | heard Rowe.]
[Note 57: Scene V Pope.]
[Note 42: /should:/ would. The present-day usage is post-Elizabethan.]
[Page 70]
CÆSAR. 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.
CALPURNIA. Say he is sick.
CÆSAR. Shall Cæsar send a lie? 65 Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far, To be afeard to tell graybeards the truth? Decius, go tell them Cæsar will not come.
DECIUS. Most mighty Cæsar, let me know some cause, Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so. 70
CÆSAR. 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. 75 She dreamt to-night she saw my statue, 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 begg'd that I will stay at home to-day.
[Note 67: /afeard/ F1 F2 F3 | afraid F4--/truth?/ | truth: Ff.]
[Note 76: /statue/ Ff | statua Steevens | statuë Camb.]
[Note 76: /to-night:/ last night. So in _The Merchant of Venice_, II, v, 18.--/statue./ In Shakespeare's time 'statue' was pronounced indifferently as a word of two syllables or three. Bacon uses it repeatedly as a trisyllable, and spells it 'statua,' as in his _Advancement of Learning_: "It is not possible to have the true pictures or statuaes of Cyrus, Alexander, Cæsar, no, nor of the kings or great personages."]
[Page 71]
DECIUS. This dream is all amiss interpreted: It was a vision fair and fortunate. Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, 85 In which so many smiling Romans bath'd, 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. 90
CÆSAR. And this way have you well expounded it.
DECIUS. 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, 95 Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock Apt to be render'd, for some one to say 'Break up the senate till another time, When Cæsar's wife shall meet with better dreams.' If Cæsar hide himself, shall they not whisper, 100 'Lo, Cæsar is afraid'? Pardon me, Cæsar; for my dear dear love To your proceeding bids me tell you this; And reason to my love is liable. 104
[Note 88-89: In ancient times, when martyrs or other distinguished men were executed, their friends often pressed to stain handkerchiefs with their blood, or to get some other relic, which they might keep, either as precious memorials of them, or as having a kind of sacramental virtue. 'Cognizance' is here used in a heraldic sense, meaning any badge to show whose friends the wearers were.]
[Note 94: The Roman people were specially yearning to avenge the slaughter of Marcus Crassus and his army by the Parthians, and Cæsar was at this time preparing an expedition against them. But a Sibylline oracle was alleged, that Parthia could only be conquered by a king; and it was proposed to invest Cæsar with the royal title and authority over the foreign subjects of the state. It is agreed on all hands that, if his enemies did not originate this proposal, they at least craftily urged it on, in order to make him odious, and exasperate the people against him. To the same end, they had for some time been plying the arts of extreme sycophancy, heaping upon him all possible honors, human and divine, hoping thereby to kindle such a fire of envy as would consume him.]
[Note 96-97: /it were a mock Apt to be render'd:/ it were a sarcastic reply likely to be made. Cf. the expression, 'make a mock of.']
[Note 104: /liable:/ subject. Cf. _King John_, II, i, 490. The thought here is that love stands as principal, reason as second or subordinate. "The deference which reason holds due from me to you is in this instance subject and amenable to the calls of personal affection."]
[Page 72]
CÆSAR. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia! I am ashamed I did yield to them. Give me my robe, for I will go.
[Note 107: Plutarch thus describes the scene: "But in the mean time Decius Brutus, surnamed Albinus, in whom Cæsar put such confidence, that in his last will and testament he had appointed him to be his next heir, and yet was of the conspiracy with Cassius and Brutus: he, fearing that if Cæsar did adjourn the session that day, the conspiracy would be betrayed, laughed at the soothsayers, and reproved Cæsar, saying, 'that he gave the Senate occasion to mislike with him, and that they might think he mocked them, considering that by his commandment they were assembled, and that they were ready willingly to grant him all things, and to proclaim him king of all his provinces of the Empire of Rome out of Italy, and that he should wear his diadem in all other places both by sea and land. And furthermore, that if any man should tell them from him they should depart for that present time, and return again when Calpurnia should have better dreams, what would his enemies and ill-willers say, and how could they like of his friends' words? And who could persuade them otherwise, but that they should think his dominion a slavery unto them and tyrannical in himself? And yet if it be so,' said he, 'that you utterly mislike of this day, it is better that you go yourself in person, and, saluting the Senate, to dismiss them till another time.' Therewithal he took Cæsar by the hand, and brought him out of his house."--_Julius Cæsar._]
[Page 73]
_Enter_ PUBLIUS, BRUTUS, LIGARIUS, METELLUS, CASCA, TREBONIUS, _and_ CINNA
And look where Publius is come to fetch me.
PUBLIUS. Good morrow, Cæsar.
CÆSAR. Welcome, Publius. What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too? 110 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 o'clock?
BRUTUS. Cæsar, 't is strucken eight.
CÆSAR. I thank you for your pains and courtesy. 115
_Enter_ ANTONY
See! Antony, that revels long o' nights, Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony.
ANTONY. So to most noble Cæsar.
CÆSAR. 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.
[Note 108: Scene VI Pope.--_Enter_ PUBLIUS ... | Ff have Publius after Cinna.]
[Note 114: /o'clock/ Theobald | a Clocke Ff.]
[Note 116: /o' nights/ Theobald | a-nights Ff.]
[Note 108: This was probably Publius Silicius, not a conspirator. See III, i, 87, where he is described as "quite confounded with this mutiny."]
[Note 113: This is a graphic and charming touch. Here, for the first time, we have Cæsar speaking fairly in character; for he was probably the most finished gentleman of his time, one of the sweetest of men, and as full of kindness as of wisdom and courage. Merivale aptly styles him "Cæsar the politic and the merciful."]
[Page 74]
TREBONIUS. Cæsar, I will. [_Aside_] And so near will I be, That your best friends shall wish I had been further. 125
CÆSAR. Good friends, go in and taste some wine with me; And we, like friends, will straightway go together.
BRUTUS. [_Aside_] That every like is not the same, O Cæsar, The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon! [_Exeunt_]
[Note 124: [_Aside_] Rowe | Ff omit.]
[Note 128: [_Aside_] Pope | Ff omit.]
[Note 129: /yearns/ Capell | earnes F1 F2.]
[Note 129: /yearns:/ grieves. The Folios read 'earnes.' Skeat considers _earn_ (_yearn_) 'to grieve' of distinct origin from _earn_ (_yearn_) 'to desire.' Shakespeare uses the verb both transitively and intransitively. The winning and honest suavity of Cæsar here starts a pang of remorse in Brutus. Drinking wine together was regarded as a sacred pledge of truth and honor. Brutus knows that Cæsar is doing it in good faith; and it hurts him to think that the others seem to be doing the like, and yet are doing a very different thing.]
[Page 75]
## SCENE III. _A street near the Capitol_
_Enter_ ARTEMIDORUS, _reading a paper_
ARTEMIDORUS. Cæsar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna; trust not Trebonius; mark well Metellus Cimber; Decius Brutus loves thee not; thou hast wrong'd 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, And as a suitor will I give him this. 10 My heart laments that virtue cannot live Out of the teeth of emulation. If thou read this, O Cæsar, thou mayest 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
PORTIA. I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house; Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone. Why dost thou stay?
[Note: SCENE III Rowe | Scene VII Pope.--_A street_ ... Ff omit.]
[Note: _reading a paper_ Rowe | Ff omit.]
[Note: SCENE IV Capell.--_Another part_ ... Capell | Ff omit.]
[Note: _Enter_ ARTEMIDORUS ... In Plutarch, _Julius Cæsar_, Artemidorus is thus introduced: "And one Artemidorus also, born in the isle of Gnidos, a doctor of rhetoric in the Greek tongue, who by means of his profession was very familiar with certain of Brutus' confederates, and therefore knew the most part of all their practices against Cæsar, came and brought him a little bill, written with his own hand, of all that he meant to tell him. He, marking how Cæsar received all the supplications that were offered him, and that he gave them straight to his men that were about him, pressed nearer to him, and said: 'Cæsar, read this memorial to yourself, and that quickly, for they be matters of great weight, and touch you nearly.'"]
[Note 6-7: /security gives way to:/ false confidence opens a way for.]
[Note 8: /lover:/ friend. See note, p. 100, l. 13.]
[Note 12: /emulation:/ envious rivalry. So in _Troilus and Cressida_, I, iii, 134: "an envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation."]
[Note 14: /contrive:/ plot, conspire. Cf. _The Merchant of Venice_, IV, i, 360.]
[Note 1: The anxiety of Portia is thus described by Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_: "For Porcia, being very careful and pensive for that which was to come, and being too weak to away with so great and inward grief of mind, she could hardly keep within, but was frighted with every little noise and cry she heard, as those that are taken and possessed with the fury of the Bacchantes; asking every man that came from the market-place what Brutus did, and still sent messenger after messenger, to know what news."]
[Page 76]
LUCIUS. To know my errand, madam.
PORTIA. I would have had thee there, and here again, Ere I can tell thee what thou shouldst do there. 5 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?
LUCIUS. Madam, what should I do? 10 Run to the Capitol, and nothing else? And so return to you, and nothing else?
PORTIA. 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. 15 Hark, boy! what noise is that?
LUCIUS. I hear none, madam.
PORTIA. Prithee, listen well: I heard a bustling rumour, like a fray, And the wind brings it from the Capitol.
LUCIUS. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing. 20
[Note 18: /bustling/ Rowe | bussling Ff.]
[Note 6: /constancy:/ firmness. Cf. II, i, 299. So in _Macbeth_, II, ii, 68.]
[Note 18: A loud noise, or murmur, as of stir and tumult, is one of the old meanings of 'rumor.' So in _King John_, V, iv, 45: "the noise and rumour of the field." Since the interview of Brutus and Portia, he has unbosomed all his secrets to her; and now she is in such a fever of anxiety that she mistakes her fancies for facts.]
[Note 20: /Sooth:/ in truth. Cf. _The Merchant of Venice_, I, i, 1. See Skeat, and cf. note on 'soothsayer,' p. 10, l. 19.]
[Page 77]
_Enter the_ SOOTHSAYER
PORTIA. Come hither, fellow: which way hast thou been?
SOOTHSAYER. At mine own house, good lady.
PORTIA. What is 't o'clock?
SOOTHSAYER. About the ninth hour, lady.
PORTIA. Is Cæsar yet gone to the Capitol?
SOOTHSAYER. Madam, not yet: I go to take my stand, 25 To see him pass on to the Capitol.
PORTIA. Thou hast some suit to Cæsar, hast thou not?
SOOTHSAYER. 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
PORTIA. Why, know'st thou any harm's intended towards him?
SOOTHSAYER. 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, 35 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_]
[Note 21: _Enter the_ SOOTHSAYER Ff | Enter Artemidorus Rowe.]
[Note 23: /o'clock/ Theobald | a clocke F1.]
[Note 32: Two lines in Ff.]
[Note 39: Two lines in Ff.]
[Note 21: _Enter the_ SOOTHSAYER. Rowe substituted 'Artemidorus' for 'the Soothsayer' here, and many modern editors have adopted this change. But North's Plutarch furnishes a source for the Soothsayer as distinct from Artemidorus, and the reading of the Folios has a dramatic edge and effectiveness which Rowe's change destroys.]
[Page 78]
PORTIA. 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, 45 And bring me word what he doth say to thee. [_Exeunt severally_]
[Note 39: /Ay/ | Aye Ff | ah Johnson.]
[Note 46: [_Exeunt severally_] Theobald | Exeunt F1.]
[Note 42-43: /Brutus hath a suit That Cæsar will not grant./ These words Portia speaks aloud to the boy, Lucius, evidently to conceal the true cause of her uncontrollable flutter of spirits.]
[Page 79]
## ACT III
## SCENE I. _Rome. Before the Capitol; the_ Senate _sitting_
_A crowd of people; among them_ ARTEMIDORUS _and the_ Soothsayer. _Flourish._ _Enter_ CÆSAR, BRUTUS, CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS, METELLUS, TREBONIUS, CINNA, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, POPILIUS, PUBLIUS, _and others_
CÆSAR. The Ides of March are come.
SOOTHSAYER. Ay, Cæsar; but not gone.
ARTEMIDORUS. Hail, Cæsar! read this schedule.
DECIUS. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read, At your best leisure, this his humble suit. 5
ARTEMIDORUS. O Cæsar, read mine first; for mine's a suit That touches Cæsar nearer: read it, great Cæsar.
CÆSAR. What touches us ourself shall be last serv'd.
[Note: _Rome. Before_ ... PUBLIUS, _and others_ Capell (substantially) | Flourish. Enter Cæsar ... Artimedorus, Publius, and the Soothsayer Ff | Ff omit Popilius.]
[Note 3: /schedule/ F3 F4 | Scedule F1 F2.]
[Note 1-2: Cf. Plutarch, _Julius Cæsar_: "There was a certain soothsayer, that had given Cæsar warning long time afore, to take heed of the day of the Ides of March, which is the fifteenth of the month; for on that day he should be in great danger. That day being come, Cæsar, going unto the Senate-house, and speaking merrily unto the soothsayer, told him 'the Ides of March be come.'--'So they be,' softly answered the soothsayer, 'but yet are they not past.'" Note Shakespeare's development of his material.]
[Note 8: /us ourself./ The plural of modern English royalty transferred to ancient Rome. Another of the famous anachronisms.]
[Page 80]
ARTEMIDORUS. Delay not, Cæsar; read it instantly.
CÆSAR. What, is the fellow mad?
PUBLIUS. Sirrah, give place. 10
CASSIUS. What, urge you your petitions in the street? Come to the Capitol.
CÆSAR _goes up to the Senate-house, the rest following_
POPILIUS. I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive.
CASSIUS. What enterprise, Popilius?
POPILIUS. Fare you well.
[_Advances to_ CÆSAR]
BRUTUS. What said Popilius Lena? 15
CASSIUS. He wish'd to-day our enterprise might thrive. I fear our purpose is discovered.
BRUTUS. Look, how he makes to Cæsar: mark him.
CASSIUS. 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.
[Note 13: CÆSAR _goes_ ... | Ff omit.]
[Note 14: _Advances_ ... | Ff omit.]
[Note 9: See quotation from Plutarch, _Julius Cæsar_, above, p. 74.]