Cas. A very pleasing night to honest men.
Casca. Who ever knew the heavens menace so?
Cas. Those, that I have known the earth so full of
faults.

For my part, I have walk'd about the streets,
Submitting me unto the perilous night;
And, thus unbraced, Casca, as you see,
Have bar'd my bosom to the thunder-stone:1
And, when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open
The breast of heaven, I did present myself
Even in the aim and very flash of it.

Casca. But wherefore did you so much tempt the heavens ?

It is the part of men to fear and tremble,
When the most mighty gods, by tokens, send
Such dreadful heralds to astonish us.

So vile a thing as Cæsar? But, O grief!
Where hast thou led me? I, perhaps, speak this
Before a willing bondman: then I know
My answer must be made: But I am arm'd,
And dangers are to me indifferent.

Casca. You speak to Casca; and to such a man,
That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold my hand:
Be factious" for redress of all these griefs;
And I will set this foot of mine as far,
As who goes farthest.

Cas.

That should be in a Roman, you do want,

Or else you use net: You look pale, and gaze,
And put on fear, and cast yourself in wonder,
To see the strange impatience of the heavens:
But if von would consider the true cause,
Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts,
Why birds, and beasts, from quality and kind;2
Why old men fools, and children calculate;
Why all these things change, from their ordi-

nance,

Their natures and pre-formed faculties,
To monstrous quality; why, you shall find,
That heaven hath infus'd them with these spirits,
To make them instruments of fear, and warning,
Unto some monstrous state. Now could I, Casca,
Name to thee a man most like this dreadful night:
That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars
As doth the lion in the Capitol:

A man no mightier than thyself, or me,
In personal action; yet prodigious grown,
And fearful, as these strange eruptions are.

Casca. 'Tis Cæsar that you mean: Is it not,
Cassius!

Cas. Let it be who it is: for Romans now Have thewes and limbs like to their ancestors; But wo the wile! our fathers' minds are dead, And we are govern'd with our mothers' spirits; Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish. Casca. Indeed, they say, the senators to-morrow Mean to establish Cæsar as a king: And he shall wear his crown by sea, and land, In every place, save here in Italy.

Cas. I know where I will wear this dagger then ;

Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius:
Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong
Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat:

Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit ;
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.

If I know this, know all the world besides,
That part of tyranny, that I do bear,
I can shake off at pleasure.

Casca.

So can I:

To undergo, with me, an enterprise
Of honourable-dangerous consequence;
And I do know, by this, they stay for me
In Pompey's porch for now, this fearful night,
There is no stir, or walking in the streets;
And the complexion of the element

Is favour'd, like the work we have in hand,
Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible.

Enter Cinna.

Casca. Stand close a while, for here comes one in haste.

Cas. 'Tis Cinna, I do know him by his gait; He is a friend.-Cinna, where haste you so? Cin. To find out you: Who's that? Metellus Cimber?

Cas. No, it is Casca; one incorporate
To our attempts. Am I not staid for, Cinna?
Cin. I am glad on't. What a fearful night is this?
There's two or three of us have seen strange
sights.

Cas. Am I not staid for, Cinna? Tell me.
Cin.

You are O Cassius, If you could but win
The noble Brutus to our party-

Yes,

Cas. Be you content: Good Cinna, take this paper,

And look you lay it in the prætor's chair,
Where Brutus may but find it; and throw this
In at his window: set this up with wax
Upon old Brutus' statue: all this done,
Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us.
Is Decius Brutus, and Trebonius, there?

Cin. All but Metellus Cimber; and he's gone To seek you at your house. Well, I will hic, And so bestow these papers as you bade me.

Cas. That done, repair to Pompey's theatre.
[Exit Cinna.

Come Casca, you and I will, yet, ere day,
See Brutus at his house: three parts of him
Is ours already; and the man entire,
Upon the next encounter, yields him ours.
Casca. O, he sits high, in all the people's
hearts:

And that, which would appear offence in us,

His countenance, like richest alchymy,

Will change to virtue, and to worthiness.

Cas. Him and his worth, and our great need of him,

You have right well conceited. Let us go,
For it is after midnight; and, ere day,

We will awake him, and be sure of him. [Exeun!.

That;

And then, I grant, we put a sting in him,
That at his will he may do danger with.
The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins
Remorse2 from power: And, to speak truth of
Cæsar,

I have not known when his affections sway'd
More than his reason. But 'tis a common proof,
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face:
But when he once attains the utmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend: So Cæsar may;
Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus; that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these, and these extremities:
And therefore think him as a serpent's egg,

They are the faction. O conspiracy!
Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night.
When evils are most free? O, then, by day,
Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough

To mark thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy;

Hide it in smiles, and affability:

For if thou path thy native semblance on,*

chievous;

And kill him in the shell.

Re-enter Lucius.

Luc. The taper burneth in your closet, sir. Searching the window for a flint, I found This paper' thus seal'd up; and, I am sure, It did not lie there, when I went to-bed.

Bru. Get you to-bed again, it is not day. Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March? Luc. I know not, sir.

Bru. Look in the calendar, and bring me word. Luc. I will, sir.

[Exit.

Bru. The exhalations, 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, &c. Speak, strike, redress!
Brutus, thou sleep'st; awake-

Such instigations have been often dropp'd

Where I have took them up.

Shall Rome, &c. Thus, must I piece it out;
Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What!
Rome?

My ancestors did from the streets of Rome
The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king.

(1) An esclamation of impatience. (2) Pite tenderness.

(3) Dva dne. (4) Low steps. (5) Nature.

To hide thee from prevention.

Enter Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metullus Cimber, and Trebonius.

Cas. I think we are too bold upon your rest: Good-morrow, Brutus; Do we trouble you? Brut. I have been up this hour: awake, all night. Know I these men, that come along with you? Cas. 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.

Bru.

He is welcome hither. Cas. This, Decius Brutus. Bru.

He is welcome too.

ceiv'd.

Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises; Which is a great way growing on the south, Weighing the youthful season of the year.

O, that we then could come by Cæsar's spirit,
And not dismember Cæsar! But, alas,
Cæsar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;

north

He first presents his fire; and the high east
Stands, as the Capitol, directly here.

Bru. Give me your hands all ever, one by one.
Cas. And let us swear our resolution.

Bru. No, not an oath: If not the face' of men, The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,If these be motives weak, break off betimes, And every man hence to his idle bed;

2

So let high-sighted tyranny range on,
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these,
As I am sure they do, bear fire enough
Te kindle cowards, and to steel with valour
The melting spirits of women; then, countrymen,
What need we any spur, but our own cause,
fo prick us to redress ? what other bond,
Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word,
And will not palter ? and what other oath,
Than honesty to honesty engag'd,
That this shall be, or we will fall for it?
Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous,*
Old feeble carrions, and such suffering souls
That welcome wrongs; unto bad causes swear
Such creatures as men doubt: but do not stain
The even virtue of our enterprise,

Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits,
To think, that, or 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 bastardy,

If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath pass'd from him.

Cas. But what of Cicero? Shall we sound him?
I think, he will stand very strong with us.
Casca. Let us not leave him out.
Cin.
No, by no means.
Mel. O let us have him; for his silver hairs
Will purchase us a good opinion,

And buy men's voices to commend our deeds:
It shall be said, his judgment rul'd our hands;
Our youths, and wildness, shall no whit appear,
But all be buried in his gravity.

Bru. O, name him not; let us not break with him;

For he will never follow any thing
That other men begin.

Cas.

Then leave him out.

Casca. Indeed, he is not fit.

Dec. Shall no man else be touch'd, but only Cæsar?

Cas. Decius, well urg'd:-I think it is not meet, Mark Antony, so well belov'd of Cæsar. Should outlive Cæsar: We shall find of him A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means, If he improves them, may well stretch so far, As to annoy us all: which to prevent, Let Antony, and Cæsar, fall together.

Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius
Cassius,

To cut the head off, and then hack the limbs;
Like wrath in death, and envy' afterwards:
For Antony is but a limb of Cæsar.

Let us be sacrificers, but no butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar;

Not hew him as a carcase fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide them. This shall make
Our purpose necessary, and not envious:
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers.
And for Mark Antony, think not of him;
For he can do no more than Cæsar's arm,
When Cæsar's head is off.

Cas.
Yet I do fear him:
For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæsar,-
Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him:
If he love Cæsar, all that he can do

Is to himself; take thought, and die for Cæsar: And that were much he should; for he is given To sports, to wildness, and much company.

Treb. There is no fear in him; let him not die ; For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter.

Bru. Peace, count the clock.
Cas.

[Clock strikes

The clock hath stricken three.
Treb. 'Tis time to part.
Cas.
But it is doubtful yet,
Whe'r Caesar will come forth to-day, or no:
For he is superstitious grown of late;
Quite from the main opinion he held once
Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies:"
It may be, these apparent prodigies,
The unaccustom'd terror of this night,
And the persuasion of his augurers, 10
May hold him from the Capitol to-day.

Dec. Never fear that: If he be so resolv'd,
I can o'ersway him: for he loves to hear,
That unicorns may be betray'd with trees.
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils, 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 this humour the true bent;
And I will bring him to the Capitol.

Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.
Bru. By the eighth hour; Is that the uttermost?
Cin. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.
Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæsar hard,
Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey;
I wonder, none of you have thought of him.

Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him:" He loves me well, and I have given him reasons; Send him hither, and I'll fashion him,

Cas. The morning comes upon us: We'll leave you, Brutus:

And, friends, disperse yourselves: but all remember What you have said, and show yourselves true

Romans.

Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily; Let not our looks put on12 our purposes; But bear it as our Roman actors do, With untir'd spirits, and formal constancy: And so, good-morrow to you every one.

[Exeunt all but Brutus. Boy! Lucius!-Fast asleep? It is no matter, Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber:

Thou hast no figures,' nor no fantasies, Which busy care draws in the brains of men ; Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.

Por.

Enter Portia.

Brutus, my lord!

Bru. Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rise you now?

It is not for your health, thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw-cold morning.
Por. Nor for yours neither. You have ungently,
Brutus,

Stole from my bed: And yesternight, at supper,
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about,
Musing, and sighing, with your arms across:
And when I ask'd you what the matter was,
You star'd upon me with ungentle looks:

I urg'd you further; then you scratch'd your head,
And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot:
Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not;
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
Gave sign for me to leave you: "So I did;"
Fearing to strengthen that impatience,
Which seem'd too much enkindled; and, withal,
Hoping it was but an effect of humour,
Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep;
And, could it work so much upon your shape,
As it hath much prevail'd on your condition,2
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.

Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all.
Por. Brutus is wise, and were he not in health,
He would embrace the means to come by it.
Bru. Why, so I do:-Good Portia, go to bed.
Por. Is Brutus sick? and is it physical
To walk unbraced, and suck up the humours
Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick;
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed,
To dare the vile contagion of the night?
And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus ;
You have some sick offence within your mind,
Which, by the right and virtue of my place,
I ought to know of: And, upon my knees,
I charm you, by my once-commended beauty,
By all your vows of love, and that great vow
Which did incorporate and make us one,
That you unfold to me, yourself, your half,
Why you are heavy; and what men to-night
Have had resort to you: for here have been
Some six or seven, who did hide their faces
Even from darkness.

Bru.

Kneel not, gentle Portia. Por. I should not need, if you were gentle

Brutus,

Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus,
Is it excepted, I should know no secrets
That appertain to you? Am I yourself,
But, as it were, in sort, or limitation;

To keep with you at your meals, comfort your bed, And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs

Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.

Bru. You are my true and honourable wife;
As dear to me, as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart.

Por. If this were true, then should I know this

you.

Bru. Čaius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.Boy, stand aside.-Caius Ligarius! how? Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue.

Bru. O, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius,

To wear a kerchief? 'Would you were not sick! Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand Any exploit worthy the name of honour.

Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, Had you a healthful ear to hear of it.

Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before, I here discard my sickness. Soul of Rome! Brave son, deriv'd from honourable loins! Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjur'd up My mortified spirit. Now bid me run, And I will strive with things impossible; Yea, get the better of them. What's to do? Bru. A piece of work, that will make sick men

whole.

You shall not stir out of your house to-day. Cas. 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.

Cal. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies,'
Yet now they fright me. There one within,
Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
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,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol:
The noise of battle hurtled' in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan;
And gosts did shriek, and squeal' about the streets.
O Cæsar! these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them.

Cæs.
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.

Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

Ces. Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,

Decius, go tell them, Caesar will not come.
Dec. Most mighty Cæsar, let me know sor!

cause;

Lest I be laughed at, when I tell them so.

Cæs. 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.
Calphurnia here, my wife, stays me at home:
She dreamt to-night she saw my statue,
Which like a fountain with a 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, potents,
And evils imminent; and on her knee
Hath begg'd that I will stay at home to-day.

Dec. This dream is all amiss interpreted;
It was a vision, fair and fortunate:
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
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 Calphurnia's dream is signified.

Cas. And this way have you well expounded it.
Dec. 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.

Re-enter a Servant.

What say the augures? Serv. 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.

Cas. 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. We were two lions litter'd in one day, And I the elder and more terrible; And Cæsar shall go forth.

Cal.

Alas, my lord,
Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence.
Do not go forth to-day: 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 to-day:
Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.

Cas. Mark Antony shall say, I am not well;
And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.
Enter Decius.

Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so.
Dec. Cæsar, all hail! Good morrow, worthy
Cæsar:

I come to fetch you to the senate-house.

Cas. And you are come in very happy time,
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 rot come to-day: Tell them so, Decius.
Cal. Say, he is sick.

Cæs.
Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far,
To be afeard to tell grey-beards the truth?

Shall Cæsar send a lie?

(1) Never paid a regard to prodigies or omens. (2) Encountered (3) Cry with pain.

(4) As to a saint for relics.

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 Casar's wife shall meet with better dreams.
If Cæsar hide himself, shall they not whisper,
Lo, Cæsar is afraid?

Pardon me, Caesar: for my dear, dear love
Το your proceeding bids me tell you this;
And reason to my love is liable."

Cas. How foolish do your fears seem now, Cal phurnia?

I am ashamed I did yield to them.-
Give me my robe, for I will go :-

Enter Publius, Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca
Trebonius, and Cinna.

And look where Publius is come to fetch me.
Pub. Good morrow, Cæsar.

Cæs.

Welcome, Publius. What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too? Good-morrow, Casca,-Caius Ligaríus, Caesar was ne'er so much your enemy, As that same ague which hath made you lean.What is't o'clock?

Ant.

So to most noble Cæsar. Cos. Bid them prepare within:

I am to blame to be thus waited for.-
Now, Cinna :-Now, Metellus:-What, Trebonius!
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.
Treb. Cæsar, I will: and so near will I be,

[Aside That your best friends shall wish I had been further.

(5) As to a prince, for honours.
(6) Subordinate.