And since the quarrel28
Will bear no colour29 for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented30,
Would run to these and these extremities:
And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg
Which hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous33,
And kill him in the shell.
Enter Lucius
LUCIUS The taper burneth in your closet35, sir.
Searching the window for a flint, I found
This paper, thus sealed up, and I am sure
It did not lie there when I went to bed.
Gives him the letter
BRUTUS Get you to bed again, it is not day.
Is not tomorrow, boy, the first of March?
LUCIUS I know not, sir.
BRUTUS Look in the calendar, and bring me word.
LUCIUS I will, sir.
Exit
BRUTUS The exhalations44 whizzing in the air
Give so much light that I may read by them.
Opens the letter and reads
‘Brutus thou sleep’st. Awake, and see thyself.
Shall Rome, etc. Speak, strike, redress.’ —
‘Brutus, thou sleep’st. Awake!’
Such instigations have been often dropped
Where I have took them up.
‘Shall Rome, etc.’ Thus must I piece it out51:
Shall Rome stand under one man’s awe? What Rome?
My ancestors did from the streets of Rome
The Tarquin54 drive when he was called a king.
‘Speak, strike, redress.’ Am I entreated
To speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise,
If the redress will follow, thou receivest
Thy full petition58 at the hand of Brutus.
Enter Lucius
LUCIUS Sir, March is wasted fifteen days.
Knock within
BRUTUS ’Tis good. Go to the gate: somebody knocks.—
[Exit Lucius]
Since Cassius first did whet61 me against Caesar,
I have not slept.
Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion64, all the interim is
Like a phantasma65, or a hideous dream:
The genius and the mortal instruments66
Are then in council, and the state67 of man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection69.
Enter Lucius
LUCIUS Sir, ’tis your brother70 Cassius at the door,
Who doth desire to see you.
BRUTUS Is he alone?
LUCIUS No, sir, there are more with him.
BRUTUS Do you know them?
LUCIUS No, sir, their hats are plucked about75 their ears
And half their faces buried in their cloaks,
That by no means I may discover77 them
By any mark of favour78.
BRUTUS Let ’em enter:—
[Exit Lucius]
They are the faction. O conspiracy,
Sham’st thou to show thy dang’rous brow by night,
When evils are most free82? O, then, by day
Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough
To mask thy monstrous visage84? Seek none, conspiracy,
Hide it in smiles and affability
For if thou path thy native semblance on86,
Not Erebus87 itself were dim enough
To hide thee from prevention88.
Enter the conspirators: Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus and Trebonius
CASSIUS I think we are too bold89 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
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.
CASSIUS This, Casca; this, Cinna; and this, Metellus Cimber.
BRUTUS They are all welcome.
What watchful cares103 do interpose themselves
Betwixt your eyes and night104?
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 yon108 grey lines
That fret109 the clouds are messengers of day.
CASCA You shall confess that you are both deceived110:
Here, as111 I point my sword, the sun arises,
Which is a great way growing on112 the south,
Weighing113 the youthful season of the year.
Some two months hence, up higher toward the north
He first presents his fire, and the high east
Stands as the Capitol, directly here.
BRUTUS Give me your hands all over117, one by one.
Comes forward with Cassius
CASSIUS And let us swear our resolution.
BRUTUS No, not an oath: if not the face of men119,
The sufferance120 of our souls, the time’s abuse;
If these be motives weak, break off betimes121,
And every man hence to his idle122 bed.
So let high-sighted tyranny range123 on
Till each man drop by lottery124. But if these —
As I am sure they do — bear fire enough
To kindle cowards, and to steel126 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 secret130 Romans that have spoke the word
And will not palter131? And what other oath
Than honesty to honesty engaged132,
That this shall be, or we will fall133 for it?
Swear priests and cowards, and men cautelous134,
Old feeble carrions135, and such suffering souls
That welcome wrongs: unto bad causes swear
Such creatures as men doubt137. But do not stain
The even138 virtue of our enterprise,
Nor th’insuppressive139 mettle of our spirits,
To think that or140 our cause or our performance
Did need an oath, when every drop of blood
That every Roman bears, and nobly bears,
Is guilty of a several bastardy143
If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath passed from him.
CASSIUS But what of Cicero? Shall we sound146 him?
I think he will stand very strong with us.
CASCA Let us not leave him out.
CINNA No, by no means.
METELLUS O, let us have him, for his silver hairs150
Will purchase us a good opinion,
And buy men’s voices to commend our deeds:
It shall be said his judgement ruled our hands.
Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear,
But all be buried in his gravity155.
BRUTUS O, name him not: let us not break156 with him,
For he will never follow anything
That other men begin.
CASSIUS Then leave him out.
CASCA Indeed, he is not fit.
DECIUS Shall no man else be touched161, but only Caesar?
CASSIUS Decius, well urged.— I think it is not meet162
Mark Antony, so well beloved of Caesar,
Should outlive Caesar. We shall find of him
A shrewd contriver. And you know his means165
If he improve166 them may well stretch so far
As to annoy167 us all: which to prevent,
Let Antony and Caesar fall together.
BRUTUS Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs —
Like wrath in death and envy171 afterwards —
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar.
Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit174 of Caesar,
And in the spirit175 of men there is no blood.
O, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit
And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
Caesar must bleed for it. And, gentle friends,
Let’s kill him boldly, but not wrathfully:
Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds.
And let our hearts, as subtle182 masters do,
Stir up their servants183 to an act of rage
And after seem to chide184 ’em. This shall make
Our purpose185 necessary, and not envious,
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be called purgers187, not murderers.
And for Mark Antony, think not of him,
For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm
When Caesar’s head is off.
CASSIUS Yet I fear him,
For in the ingrafted192 love he bears to Caesar —
BRUTUS Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him:
If he love Caesar, all that he can do
Is to himself; take thought195 and die for Caesar.
And that were much he should196, for he is given
To sports, to wildness and much company.
TREBONIUS There is no fear198 in him; let him not die,
For he will live and laugh at this hereafter.
Clock strikes
BRUTUS Peace! Count the clock.
CASSIUS The clock hath stricken three.
TREBONIUS ’Tis time to part.
CASSIUS But it is doubtful yet
Whether Caesar will come forth today or no,
For he is superstitious grown of late,
Quite from the main206 opinion he held once
Of fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies207.
It may be these apparent208 prodigies,
The unaccustomed terror of this night
And the persuasion of his augurers210,
May hold him from the Capitol today.
DECIUS Never fear that. If he be so resolved,
I can o’ersway him213, for he loves to hear
That unicorns may be betrayed with trees214,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes215,
Lions with toils216 and men with flatterers.
But when I tell him he hates flatterers,
He says he does, being then most flattered.
Let me work,
For I can give his humour the true bent220,
And I will bring him to the Capitol.
CASSIUS Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.
BRUTUS By the eighth hour. Is that the uttermost223?
CINNA Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.
METELLUS Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard225,
Who rated226 him for speaking well of Pompey.
I wonder none of you have thought of him.
BRUTUS Now, good Metellus, go along by228 him:
He loves me well, and I have given him reasons229.
Send him but hither and I’ll fashion him230.
CASSIUS The morning comes upon’s231: we’ll leave you, Brutus.—
And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember
What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.
BRUTUS Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily.
Let not our looks put on235 our purposes,
But bear it as our Roman actors do,
With untired spirits and formal constancy237.
And so good morrow to you every one.—
Exeunt. Brutus remains
Boy! Lucius! Fast asleep? It is no matter.
Calls
Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber:
Thou hast no figures, nor no fantasies241
Which busy242 care draws in the brains of men;
Therefore thou sleep’st so sound.
Enter Portia
PORTIA Brutus, my lord.
BRUTUS Portia, what mean you245? Wherefore rise you now?
It is not for your health thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw cold morning.
PORTIA Nor for yours neither. You’ve ungently248, Brutus,
Stole from my bed: and yesternight, at supper,
You suddenly arose, and walked about,
Musing, and sighing, with your arms a-cross251:
And when I asked you what the matter was,
You stared upon me with ungentle looks.
I urged you further, then you scratched your head,
And too impatiently stamped with your foot:
Yet I insisted, yet you answered not,
But with an angry wafture257 of your hand
Gave sign for me to leave you: so I did,
Fearing to strengthen that impatience
Which seemed too much enkindled, and withal260
Hoping it was but an effect of humour261,
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 shape264
As it hath much prevailed on your condition265,
I should not know266 you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.
BRUTUS I am not well in health, and that is all.
PORTIA Brutus is wise, and were he not in health,
He would embrace the means to come by it.
BRUTUS Why, so I do. Good Portia, go to bed.
PORTIA Is Brutus sick? And is it physical
To walk unbracèd, and suck up the humours273
Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick?
And will he steal out of his wholesome275 bed
To dare276 the vile contagion of the night?
And tempt the rheumy and unpurgèd277 air
To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus,
You have some sick offence279 within your mind
Which by the right and virtue of my place280
I ought to know of: and upon my knees
Kneels
I charm282 you, by my once-commended beauty,
By all your vows of love and that great vow283
Which did incorporate and make us one,
That you unfold to me, your self, your half285,
Why you are heavy286, and what men tonight
Have had resort287 to you, for here have been
Some six or seven who did hide their faces
Even from darkness.
BRUTUS Kneel not, gentle Portia.
Raises her?
PORTIA I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus.
Rises
Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus,
Is it excepted293 I should know no secrets
That appertain to you? Am I your self
But as it were in sort or limitation295?
To keep with you at meals, comfort296 your bed
And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs297
Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus’ harlot299, not his wife.
BRUTUS You are my true and honourable wife,
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops301
That visit my sad heart.
PORTIA If this were true, then should I know this secret.
I grant I am a woman; but withal
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife:
I grant I am a woman; but withal
A woman well-reputed, Cato307’s daughter.
Think you I am no stronger than my sex
Being so fathered and so husbanded?
Tell me your counsels310, I will not disclose ’em.
I have made strong proof of my constancy311,
Giving myself a voluntary wound
Here in the thigh: can I bear that with patience
And not my husband’s secrets?
BRUTUS O ye gods!
Render me worthy of this noble wife!
Knock
Hark, hark one knocks. Portia, go in awhile,
And by and by thy bosom318 shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements I will construe320 to thee,
All the charactery321 of my sad brows:
Leave me with haste.—
Exit Portia
Lucius, who’s that knocks?
Calls
Enter Lucius and Ligarius
Ligarius wears a kerchief
LUCIUS Here is a sick man that would speak with you.
BRUTUS Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.—
Boy, stand aside.— Caius Ligarius, how?
LIGARIUS Vouchsafe327 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!
LIGARIUS I am not sick if Brutus have in hand
Any exploit worthy the name of honour.
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,
I here discard my sickness. Soul of Rome,
Takes off the kerchief
Brave son, derived from honourable loins,
Thou like an exorcist337 hast conjured up
My mortified338 spirit. Now bid me run
And I will strive339 with things impossible,
Yea, get the better of them. What’s to do?
BRUTUS A piece of work that will make sick men whole341.
LIGARIUS But are not some whole that we must make sick?
BRUTUS That must we also. What it is, my Caius,
I shall unfold to thee as we are going
To whom345 it must be done.
LIGARIUS Set on your foot346,
And with a heart new-fired I follow you,
To do I know not what: but it sufficeth
That Brutus leads me on.
Thunder
BRUTUS Follow me, then.
Exeunt
running scene 3
Thunder and lightning. Enter Julius Caesar in his nightgown
CAESAR Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace tonight:
Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out,
‘Help, ho! They murder Caesar!’ Who’s within?
Enter a Servant
SERVANT My lord?
CAESAR Go bid the priests do present sacrifice
And bring me their opinions6 of success.
SERVANT I will, my lord.
Exit
Enter Calpurnia
CALPURNIA What mean you, Caesar? Think you to walk forth?
You shall not stir out of your house today.
CAESAR Caesar shall forth. The things that threatened me
Ne’er looked but on my back: when they shall see
The face of Caesar, they are vanishèd.
CALPURNIA Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies13,
Yet now they fright me. There is one within,
Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch16.
A lioness hath whelpèd17 in the streets,
And graves have yawned18, and yielded up their dead;
Fierce fiery warriors19 fight upon the clouds
In ranks and squadrons, and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol:
The noise of battle hurtled22 in the air,
Horses do neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal24 about the streets.
O Caesar, these things are beyond all use25,
And I do fear them.
CAESAR What can be avoided
Whose end is purposed28 by the mighty gods?
Yet Caesar shall go forth, for these predictions
Are to30 the world in general as to Caesar.
CALPURNIA When beggars die there are no comets seen:
The heavens themselves blaze forth32 the death of princes.
CAESAR Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
Enter a Servant
What say the augurers?
SERVANT They would not have you to stir forth today.
Plucking the entrails of an offering forth41,
They could not find a heart within the beast.
CAESAR The gods do this in shame of43 cowardice:
Caesar should be a beast without a heart
If he should stay at home today for fear.
No, Caesar shall not. Danger knows full well
That Caesar is more dangerous than he.
We are two lions littered48 in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible,
And Caesar shall go forth.
CALPURNIA Alas, my lord,
Your wisdom is consumed in52 confidence.
Do not go forth today: call it my fear
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 today.
Let me upon my knee prevail in this.
Kneels
CAESAR Mark Antony shall say I am not well,
And for thy humour59 I will stay at home.
Raises her?
Enter Decius
Here’s Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so.
DECIUS Caesar, all hail. Good morrow, worthy Caesar,
I come to fetch you to the senate house.
CAESAR And you are come in very happy63 time
To bear my greeting to the senators,
And tell them that I will not come today:
Cannot is false, and that I dare not, falser:
I will not come today. Tell them so, Decius.
CALPURNIA Say he is sick.
CAESAR Shall Caesar send a lie?
Have I in conquest stretched mine arm so far
To be afeared to tell greybeards71 the truth?
Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come.
DECIUS Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause,
Lest I be laughed at when I tell them so.
CAESAR 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, stays79 me at home:
She dreamt tonight she saw my statue,
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
Did run pure blood, and many lusty82 Romans
Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it.
And these does she apply for84 warnings and portents
And evils imminent, and on her knee
Hath begged that I will stay at home today.
DECIUS This dream is all amiss87 interpreted.
It was a vision, fair and fortunate:
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes
In which so many smiling Romans bathed,
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press92
For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance93.
This by Calpurnia’s dream is signified.
CAESAR 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 Caesar.
If you shall send them word you will not come,
Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock100
Apt to be rendered, for someone to say,
‘Break up the senate till another time
When Caesar’s wife shall meet with better dreams.’
If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper
‘Lo, Caesar is afraid’?
Pardon me, Caesar, for my dear, dear love
To our proceeding bids me tell you this,
And reason to my love is liable108.
CAESAR How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia?
I am ashamèd I did yield to them.
Give me my robe, for I will go.
Enter Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca, Trebonius, Cinna and Publius
And look where Publius is come to fetch me.
PUBLIUS Good morrow, Caesar.
CAESAR Welcome, Publius.—
What, Brutus, are you stirred so early too?—
Good morrow, Casca.— Caius Ligarius,
Caesar was ne’er so much your enemy
As that same ague118 which hath made you lean.—
What is’t o’clock?
BRUTUS Caesar, ’tis strucken eight.
CAESAR I thank you for your pains and courtesy.
Enter Antony
See, Antony, that revels long o’nights,
Is notwithstanding up123.— Good morrow, Antony.
ANTONY So to most noble Caesar.
CAESAR Bid them prepare within:
To Calpurnia or to a Servant
I am to blame to be thus waited for.—
[Exit Calpurnia or a Servant]
Now, Cinna, now, Metellus, what, Trebonius,
I have an hour’s talk in store for you.
Remember that you call on me today:
Be near me, that I may remember130 you.
TREBONIUS Caesar, I will:— and so near will I be
Aside
That your best friends shall wish I had been further.
CAESAR Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me,
And we, like friends134, will straightway go together.
BRUTUS That every like is not the same135, O Caesar,
Aside
The heart of Brutus earns136 to think upon.
Exeunt
running scene 4
Enter Artemidorus
Reading a paper
ARTEMIDORUS ‘Caesar, 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 wronged Caius Ligarius.
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