Part 7
CASSIUS. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men 136 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; 145 Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with 'em, '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 sham'd! 150 Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods! When went there by an age, since the great flood, But it was fam'd with more than with one man? When could they say, till now, that talk'd of Rome, That her wide walks encompass'd but one man? 155 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 brook'd That he is grown so great? Age, thou art sham'd! 150 Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods! When went there by an age, since the great flood, But it was fam'd with more than with one man? When could they say, till now, that talk'd of Rome, That her wide walks encompass'd but one man? 155 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 brook'd Th' eternal devil to keep his state in Rome 160 As easily as a king.
[Note 155: /walks/ F4 | Walkes F1 F2 F3 | walls Rowe.]
[Note 135: Observe the force of 'narrow' here; as if Cæsar were grown so enormously big that even the world seemed a little thing under him. Some while before this, the Senate had erected a bronze statue of Cæsar, standing on a globe, and inscribed to "Cæsar the Demigod," but this inscription Cæsar erased.]
[Note 136: It is only a legend that the bronze Colossus of Rhodes bestrode the entrance to the famous harbor. The story probably arose from the statement that the figure, which represented Helios, the national deity of the Rhodians, was so high that a ship might sail between its legs.]
[Note 140: In Shakespeare are many such allusions to the tenets of the old astrology and the belief in planetary influence upon the fortunes and characters of men which Scott describes in the Introduction to _Guy Mannering_ and makes the atmosphere of the story.]
[Note 142: /should be:/ can be. So in _The Tempest_, I, ii, 387: "Where should this music be? i' the air or the earth?"]
[Note 146-147: The allusion is to the old custom of muttering certain names, supposed to have in them "the might of magic spells," in raising or conjuring up spirits.]
[Note 152: /the great flood./ By this an ancient Roman would understand the universal deluge of classical mythology, from which only Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha escaped alive. The story is told in Ovid's _Metamorphoses_, I. Shakespeare mentions Deucalion twice.]
[Note 155: /walks./ The reasons why Rowe's emendation, 'walls,' is almost universally accepted, are that 'walls' would be easily corrupted into 'walks' from the nearness of 'talk'd,' and that there is a disagreeable assonance in 'talk'd' and 'walks' in successive lines. But 'walks' is picturesque and poetical; compared with it, 'walls' is commonplace and obvious. Cf. _Paradise Lost_, IV, 586.]
[Note 156: A play upon 'Rome' and 'room,' which appear to have been sounded more alike in Shakespeare's time than they are now. So again in III, i, 289-290: "A dangerous Rome, No Rome of safety for Octavius yet." Cf. also _King John_, III, i, 180.]
[Note 159: The allusion is to Lucius Junius Brutus, who bore a leading part in driving out the Tarquins and in turning the kingdom into a republic. Afterwards, as consul, he condemned his own sons to death for attempting to restore the kingdom. The Marcus Junius Brutus of the play, according to Plutarch, supposed himself to be descended from him. His mother, Servilia, also derived her lineage from Servilius Ahala, who slew Spurius Mælius for aspiring to royalty. Merivale remarks that "the name of Brutus forced its possessor into prominence as soon as royalty began to be discussed."--/brook'd:/ endured, tolerated. See Murray for the history of this word.]
[Note 160: /eternal./ Johnson suggested 'infernal.' Dr. Wright (Clar.) points out that in three plays printed in 1600 Shakespeare uses 'infernal,' but substitutes 'eternal' in _Julius Cæsar_, _Hamlet_, and _Othello_, in obedience probably to the popular Puritan agitation against profanity on the stage. This has been used as evidence to determine dates of composition. See Introduction, page xx. Cf. with this use of 'eternal' the old Yankee term 'tarnal' in such expressions as 'tarnal scamp,' 'tarnal shame,' etc.]
[Page 20]
BRUTUS. 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, 165 I would not, so with love I might entreat you, Be any further mov'd. 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. 175
[Note 166: /not, so with ... you/ | not so (with ... you) Ff.]
[Note 162: /am nothing jealous:/ do not doubt. Cf. l. 71. 'Jealous' and 'zealous' are etymologically the same word. See Skeat.]
[Note 163: /work me to:/ prevail upon me to do. Cf. _Hamlet_, IV, vii, 64.--/aim:/ guess. Cf. _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_, III, i, 28. Similarly with the verb in _Romeo and Juliet_, I, i, 211; _Othello_, III, iii, 223.]
[Note 171: 'To chew' is, literally, in the Latin equivalent, 'to ruminate.' Cf. _As You Like It_, IV, iii, 102: "Chewing the food of sweet and bitter fancy." In Bacon's Essays, _Of Studies_, we have, with reference to books: "Some few are to be chewed and digested." So in Lyly's _Euphues_: "Philantus went into the fields to walk there, either to digest his choler, or chew upon his melancholy."]
[Note 174: /these ... as./ See note, l. 34; Abbott, §§ 112, 280.]
[Page 21]
CASSIUS. I am glad that my weak words Have struck but thus much show of fire from Brutus.
_Enter_ CÆSAR _and his train_
BRUTUS. The games are done, and Cæsar is returning.
CASSIUS. 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.
BRUTUS. 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 185 Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes As we have seen him in the Capitol, Being cross'd in conference by some senators.
[Note 178: Scene IV Pope.]
[Note 178-179: Four lines in Ff.]
[Note 177: In _Troilus and Cressida_, III, iii, 256, Thersites says of the wit of Ajax: "It lies as coldly in him as fire in a flint, which will not show without knocking." The same figure is found in the description which Brutus gives of his unimpassioned nature, IV, iii, 112-114.]
[Note 181: /proceeded:/ happened, come to pass. So in _All's Well that Ends Well_, IV, ii, 62.--/worthy note./ Cf. _All's Well that Ends Well_, III, v, 104. For the ellipsis of the preposition, see Abbott, § 198 a.]
[Note 186: One of the marked physical characteristics of the albinotic ferret is the red or pink eye. Shakespeare turns the noun 'ferret' into an adjective. The description of Cicero is purely imaginary; but the angry spot on Cæsar's brow, Calpurnia's pale cheek, and Cicero with fire in his eyes when kindled by opposition in the Senate, make an exceedingly vivid picture.]
[Page 22]
CASSIUS. Casca will tell us what the matter is.
CÆSAR. Antonius! 190
ANTONY. Cæsar?
CÆSAR. Let me have men about me that are fat, Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights: Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. 195
ANTONY. Fear him not, Cæsar; he's not dangerous; He is a noble Roman, and well given.
[Note 191: /Cæsar/? Theobald | Cæsar. Ff.]
[Note 193: /o' nights/ Capeli | a-nights F1 F2.]
[Note 192-195: "Another time when Cæsar's friends complained unto him of Antonius and Dolabella, that they pretended some mischief towards him, he answered them again, As for those fat men, and smooth-combed heads, quoth he, I never reckon of them; but these pale visaged and carrion lean people, I fear them most; meaning Brutus and Cassius."--Plutarch, _Julius Cæsar_. There are similar passages in Plutarch's _Life of Brutus_ and in the _Life of Marcus Antonius_. Cf. _Antony and Cleopatra_, III, xi, 37. Falstaff's famous cry was for 'spare men.' See _2 Henry IV_, III, ii, 288. 'Sleek-headed' recalls Lamb's wish that the baby son of the tempestuous Hazlitt should be "like his father, with something of a better temper and a smoother head of hair."]
[Note 197: /well given:/ well disposed. So in _2 Henry VI_, III, i, 72.]
[Page 23]
CÆSAR. 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 205 As if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his spirit That could be mov'd 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 fear'd 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_ CÆSAR _and all his train but_ CASCA]
CASCA. You pull'd me by the cloak; would you speak with me? 215
BRUTUS. Ay, Casca; tell us what hath chanc'd to-day, That Cæsar looks so sad.
CASCA. Why, you were with him, were you not?
BRUTUS. I should not then ask Casca what had chanc'd.
[Note 215: Scene V Pope.]
[Note 203: /he loves no plays./ "In his house they did nothing but feast, dance, and masque; and himself passed away the time in hearing of foolish plays, and in marrying these players, tumblers, jesters, and such sort of people."--Plutarch, _Marcus Antonius_.]
[Note 204: The power of music is repeatedly celebrated by Shakespeare, and sometimes in strains that approximate the classical hyperboles about Orpheus, Amphion, and Arion. What is here said of Cassius has an apt commentary in _The Merchant of Venice_, V, 1, 83-85:
The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils.]
[Note 213: This is one of the little touches of invention that so often impart a fact-like vividness to Shakespeare's scenes.]
[Note 217: /sad./ The word is used here probably in its early sense of 'weary' (as in Middle English) or 'resolute' (as in Chaucer and old Ballads). In _2 Henry IV_, V, i, 92, is the expression "a jest with a sad brow," where 'sad' evidently means 'wise,' 'sage.']
[Page 24]
CASCA. Why, there was a crown offer'd him; and being offer'd him, he put it by with the back of his hand, thus; and then the people fell a-shouting. 222
BRUTUS. What was the second noise for?
CASCA. Why, for that too.
CASSIUS. They shouted thrice: what was the last cry for?
CASCA. Why, for that too. 226
BRUTUS. Was the crown offer'd him thrice?
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. 230
CASSIUS. Who offer'd him the crown?
CASCA. Why, Antony.
BRUTUS. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca.
CASCA. I can as well be hang'd as tell the manner of it: it was mere foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark Antony offer him a crown--yet 'twas 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 offer'd it to him again; then he put it by again: but, to my thinking, he was very loth to lay his fingers off it. And then he offer'd it the third time; he put it the third time by: and, still, as he refus'd it, the rabblement hooted and clapp'd their chopp'd hands, and threw up their sweaty nightcaps and utter'd such a deal of stinking breath because Cæsar refus'd the crown, that it had almost chok'd 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. 248
[Note 222: /a-shouting/ Dyce | a shouting Ff | a' shouting Capell.]
[Note 235: /it was/ F1 | it were F2 F3 F4.]
[Note 242: /hooted/ Johnson | howted F1 F2 F3 | houted F4.]
[Note 243: /chopp'd/ | chopt Ff.]
[Note 246: /swounded/ | swoonded Ff | swooned Rowe.]
[Note 220: /there was a crown offer'd him./ In the _Life of Marcus Antonius_ Plutarch gives a detailed and vivid description of this scene.]
[Page 25]
CASSIUS. But, soft! I pray you: what, did Cæsar swound?
CASCA. He fell down in the market-place, and foam'd at mouth, and was speechless.
BRUTUS. 'Tis very like; he hath the falling-sickness.
CASSIUS. No, Cæsar hath it not; but you, and I, And honest Casca, we have the falling-sickness. 254
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 pleas'd and displeas'd them, as they use to do the players in the theatre, I am no true man.
BRUTUS. What said he when he came unto himself? 260
[Note 249: /swound/ Ff | swoon Rowe.]
[Note 252: /like; he/ Theobald | like he Ff.]
[Note 249: /soft!/ This is an elliptical use of the adverb 'soft' and was much used as an exclamation for arresting or retarding the speed of a person or thing; meaning about the same as 'hold!' 'stay!' or 'not too fast!' So in _Othello_, V, ii, 338: "Soft you; a word or two before you go"; and _The Merchant of Venice_, IV, i, 320: "Soft! The Jew shall have all justice; soft! no haste."]
[Note 252: /falling-sickness./ An old English name for epilepsy (Lat. _morbus caducus_, German _fallende Sucht_) used by North in translating Plutarch. Another form of the word is 'falling-evil,' also used by North (see quotation, p. 26, l. 268). It is an interesting fact that the best authorities allow that Napoleon suffered from epileptic seizures towards the close of his life.]
[Note 256: /tag-rag people:/ Cf. 'the tag' in _Coriolanus_, III, i, 248.]
[Note 259: /true:/ honest. Shakespeare frequently uses 'true' in this sense, especially as opposed to 'thief.' Cf. _Cymbeline_, II, iii, 76; _Venus and Adonis_, 724: "Rich preys make true men thieves."]
[Page 26]
CASCA. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceiv'd the common herd was glad he refus'd the crown, he pluck'd me ope his doublet and offer'd 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 desir'd their worships to think it was his infirmity. Three or four wenches, where I stood, cried, 'Alas, good soul!' and forgave him with all their hearts. But there's no heed to be taken of them: if Cæsar had stabb'd their mothers, they would have done no less. 272
[Note 263: /And/ Ff | an (an') Theobald.]
[Note 270: /no/ omitted in F2.]
[Note 261: /Marry./ The common Elizabethan exclamation of surprise, or asseveration, corrupted from the name of the Virgin Mary.]
[Note 263: /me./ The ethical dative. Cf. III, iii, 18; _The Merchant of Venice_, I, iii, 85; _Romeo and Juliet_, III, i, 6. See Abbott, § 220.--/doublet./ This was the common English name of a man's outer body-garment. Shakespeare dresses his Romans like Elizabethan Englishmen (cf. II, i, 73-74), but the expression 'doublet-collar' occurs in North's Plutarch (see quotation in note on ll. 268-270).--/And:/ if. For 'and' in this sense, see Murray, and Abbott, § 101.]
[Note 264: /a man of any occupation./ This probably means not only a mechanic or user of cutting-tools, but also a man of business and of action, as distinguished from a gentleman of leisure, or an idler.]
[Note 265-266: /to hell among the rogues./ The early English drama abounds in examples of such historical confusion. For example, in the Towneley Miracle Plays Noah's wife swears by the Virgin Mary.]
[Note 268-270: "Thereupon Cæsar rising departed home to his house; and, tearing open his doublet-collar, making his neck bare, he cried out aloud to his friends, that his throat was ready to offer to any man that would come and cut it.... Afterwards, to excuse his folly, he imputed it to his disease, saying that their wits are not perfect which have this disease of the falling-evil."--Plutarch, _Julius Cæsar_.]
[Page 27]
BRUTUS. And after that, he came, thus sad, away?
CASCA. Ay.
CASSIUS. Did Cicero say any thing? 275
CASCA. Ay, he spoke Greek.
CASSIUS. To what effect?
CASCA. Nay, and I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i' the face again: but those that understood him smil'd 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.
CASSIUS. Will you sup with me to-night, Casca? 285
CASCA. No, I am promis'd forth.
CASSIUS. Will you dine with me to-morrow?
CASCA. Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, and your dinner worth the eating.
CASSIUS. Good; I will expect you. 290
CASCA. Do so: farewell, both. [_Exit_]
[Note 273: /away?/ Theobald | away F1.]
[Note 278: /and/ Ff | an (an') Theobald.]
[Note 275-281: A charming invention, though in his _Life of Cicero_ Plutarch refers to the orator's nicknames, 'Grecian' and 'scholer,' due to his ability to "declaim in Greek." Cicero had a sharp, agile tongue, and was fond of using it; and nothing was more natural than that he should snap off some keen, sententious sayings, prudently veiling them, however, in a foreign language from all but those who might safely understand them.--/Greek to me./ 'Greek,' often 'heathen Greek,' was a common Elizabethan expression for unintelligible speech. In Dekker's _Grissil_ (1600) occurs "It's Greek to him." So in Dickens's _Barnaby Rudge_: "this is Greek to me."]
[Note 286: /I am promis'd forth:/ I have promised to go out. 'Forth' is often used in this way in Elizabethan literature without any verb of motion. Cf. _The Merchant of Venice_, II, v, 11. See Abbott, § 41.]
[Page 28]
BRUTUS. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be! He was quick mettle when he went to school.
CASSIUS. So is he now, in execution Of any bold or noble enterprise, 295 However he puts on this tardy form. This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit, Which gives men stomach to digest his words With better appetite.
BRUTUS. And so it is. For this time I will leave you: 300 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.
[Note 298: /digest/ F3 F4 | disgest F1 F2.]
[Note 299: /appetite/ F1 | appetites F2 F3 F4.]
[Note 300: Ff print as two lines.]
[Note 292: /blunt:/ dull, slow. Or there may be a quibble involved in connection with 'mettle' in the next line. Brutus alludes to the 'tardy form' (l. 296) Casca has just 'put on' in winding so long about the matter before coming to the point.]
[Note 293: /quick mettle:/ lively spirit. Collier conjectured 'quick-mettl'd.' 'Mettlesome' is still used of spirited horses. Cf. I, i, 63.]
[Note 296: /However:/ notwithstanding. Cf. _Troilus and Cressida_, I, iii, 322.--/tardy form:/ appearance of tardiness. The construction in this expression is common in Shakespeare, as 'shady stealth' for 'stealing shadow,' in _Sonnets_, LXXVII, 7; 'negligent danger' for 'danger from negligence,' in _Antony and Cleopatra_, III, v, 81.]
[Page 29]
CASSIUS. I will do so: till then, think of the world.
[_Exit_ BRUTUS]
Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see, 305 Thy honourable metal may be wrought From that it is dispos'd: therefore it is meet That noble minds keep ever with their likes; For who so firm that cannot be seduc'd? Cæsar doth bear me hard, but he loves Brutus: 310 If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius, He should not humour me. I will this night, In several hands, in at his windows throw, As if they came from several citizens, Writings, all tending to the great opinion 315 That Rome holds of his name; wherein obscurely Cæsar's ambition shall be glanced at: And after this let Cæsar seat him sure; For we will shake him, or worse days endure. [_Exit_]
[Note 306: /metal/ F3 F4 | mettle F1 | mettall F2.]
[Note 307: /that it is dispos'd:/ that which it is disposed to. For the omission of prepositions in Shakespeare, see Abbott, §§ 198-202. Cassius in this speech is chuckling over the effect his talk has had upon Brutus.]
[Note 310: /bear me hard:/ has a grudge against me. This remarkable expression occurs three times in this play, but nowhere else in Shakespeare. Professor Hales quotes an example of it from Ben Jonson's _Catiline_, IV, v. It seems to have been borrowed from horsemanship, and to mean 'carries tight rein,' or 'reins hard,' like one who distrusts his horse. So before, ll. 35, 36:
You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand Over your friend that loves you.]