JULIUS CAESAR 2.1

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JULIUS CAESAR 2.1

Rome. BRUTUS's orchard.

[Enter BRUTUS]

BRUTUS What, Lucius, ho!

I cannot, by the progress of the stars,

Give guess how near to day. Lucius, I say!

I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly.

When, Lucius, when? awake, I say! what, Lucius! 5

[Enter LUCIUS]

LUCIUS Call'd you, my lord?

BRUTUS Get me a taper in my study, Lucius:

When it is lighted, come and call me here.

LUCIUS I will, my lord.

[Exit]

BRUTUS It must be by his death: and for my part, 10

I know no personal cause to spurn at him,

But for the general. He would be crown'd:

How that might change his nature, there's the question.

It is the bright day that brings forth the adder;

And that craves wary walking. Crown him?--that;-- 15

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

Remorse from power: and, to speak truth of Caesar,

I have not known when his affections sway'd 20

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 upmost round.

He then unto the ladder turns his back, 25

Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees

By which he did ascend. So Caesar 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, 30

Would run to these and these extremities:

And therefore think him as a serpent's egg

Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,

And kill him in the shell.

[Re-enter LUCIUS]

LUCIUS The taper burneth in your closet, sir. 35

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.

[Gives him the letter]

BRUTUS Get you to bed again; it is not day.

Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March? 40

LUCIUS I know not, sir.

BRUTUS Look in the calendar, and bring me word.

LUCIUS I will, sir.

[Exit]

BRUTUS The exhalations whizzing in the air

Give so much light that I may read by them. 45

[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. 50

'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.

'Speak, strike, redress!' Am I entreated 55

To speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise:

If the redress will follow, thou receivest

Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!

[Re-enter LUCIUS]

LUCIUS Sir, March is wasted fourteen days.

[Knocking within]

BRUTUS 'Tis good. Go to the gate; somebody knocks. 60

[Exit LUCIUS]

Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar,

I have not slept.

Between the acting of a dreadful thing

And the first motion, all the interim is

Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream: 65

The Genius and the mortal instruments

Are then in council; and the state of man,

Like to a little kingdom, suffers then

The nature of an insurrection.

[Re-enter LUCIUS]

LUCIUS Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door, 70

Who doth desire to see you.

BRUTUS Is he alone?

LUCIUS No, sir, there are moe with him.

BRUTUS Do you know them?

LUCIUS No, sir; their hats are pluck'd about their ears, 75

And half their faces buried in their cloaks,

That by no means I may discover them

By any mark of favour.

BRUTUS Let 'em enter.

[Exit LUCIUS]

They are the faction. O conspiracy, 80

Shamest 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 mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy;

Hide it in smiles and affability: 85

For if thou path, thy native semblance on,

Not Erebus itself were dim enough

To hide thee from prevention.

[Enter the conspirators, CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS

BRUTUS, CINNA, METELLUS CIMBER, and TREBONIUS]

CASSIUS I think we are too bold upon your rest:

Good morrow, Brutus; do we trouble you? 90

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 95

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. 100

BRUTUS They are all welcome.

What watchful cares do interpose themselves

Betwixt your eyes and night?

CASSIUS Shall I entreat a word?

[BRUTUS and CASSIUS whisper]

DECIUS BRUTUS Here lies the east: doth not the day break here? 105

CASCA No.

CINNA O, pardon, sir, it doth; and yon gray lines

That fret the clouds are messengers of day.

CASCA You shall confess that you are both deceived.

Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises, 110

Which is a great way growing on the south,

Weighing 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. 115

BRUTUS Give me your hands all over, one by one.

CASSIUS And let us swear our resolution.

BRUTUS 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, 120

And every man hence to his idle bed;

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

To kindle cowards and to steel with valour 125

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 secret Romans, that have spoke the word,

And will not palter? and what other oath 130

Than honesty to honesty engaged,

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 135

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 140

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.

CASSIUS But what of Cicero? shall we sound him? 145

I think he will stand very strong with us.

CASCA Let us not leave him out.

CINNA No, by no means.

METELLUS CIMBER O, let us have him, for his silver hairs

Will purchase us a good opinion 150

And buy men's voices to commend our deeds:

It shall be said, his judgment ruled our hands;

Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear,

But all be buried in his gravity.

BRUTUS O, name him not: let us not break with him; 155

For he will never follow any thing

That other men begin.

CASSIUS Then leave him out.

CASCA Indeed he is not fit.

DECIUS BRUTUS Shall no man else be touch'd but only Caesar? 160

CASSIUS Decius, well urged: I think it is not meet,

Mark Antony, so well beloved of Caesar,

Should outlive Caesar: we shall find of him

A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means,

If he improve them, may well stretch so far 165

As to annoy 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 envy afterwards; 170

For Antony is but a limb of Caesar:

Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.

We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar;

And in the spirit of men there is no blood:

O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit, 175

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: 180

And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,

Stir up their servants to an act of rage,

And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make

Our purpose necessary and not envious:

Which so appearing to the common eyes, 185

We shall be call'd purgers, 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; 190

For in the ingrafted 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 thought and die for Caesar:

And that were much he should; for he is given 195

To sports, to wildness and much company.

TREBONIUS There is no fear 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. 200

TREBONIUS 'Tis time to part.

CASSIUS But it is doubtful yet,

Whether 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: 205

It may be, these apparent prodigies,

The unaccustom'd terror of this night,

And the persuasion of his augurers,

May hold him from the Capitol to-day.

DECIUS BRUTUS Never fear that: if he be so resolved, 210

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, 215

He says he does, being then most flattered.

Let me work;

For I can give his humour the true bent,

And I will bring him to the Capitol.

CASSIUS Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. 220

BRUTUS By the eighth hour: is that the uttermost?

CINNA Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.

METELLUS CIMBER Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard,

Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey:

I wonder none of you have thought of him. 225

BRUTUS Now, good Metellus, go along by him:

He loves me well, and I have given him reasons;

Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him.

CASSIUS The morning comes upon 's: we'll leave you, Brutus.

And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember 230

What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.

BRUTUS Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily;

Let not our looks put on our purposes,

But bear it as our Roman actors do,

With untired spirits and formal constancy: 235

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; 240

Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.

[Enter PORTIA]

PORTIA Brutus, my lord!

BRUTUS 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. 245

PORTIA Nor for yours neither. You've 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, 250

You stared upon me with ungentle looks;

I urged 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, 255

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. 260

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,

I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,

Make me acquainted with your cause of grief. 265

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 270

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 275

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, 280

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 to resort to you: for here have been 285

Some six or seven, who did hide their faces

Even from darkness.

BRUTUS Kneel not, gentle Portia.

PORTIA I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus.

Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, 290

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 meals, comfort your bed,

And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs 295

Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,

Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.

BRUTUS You are my true and honourable wife,

As dear to me as are the ruddy drops

That visit my sad heart 300

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, Cato's daughter. 305

Think you I am no stronger than my sex,

Being so father'd and so husbanded?

Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em:

I have made strong proof of my constancy,

Giving myself a voluntary wound 310

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!

[Knocking within]

Hark, hark! one knocks: Portia, go in awhile; 315

And by and by thy bosom shall partake

The secrets of my heart.

All my engagements I will construe to thee,

All the charactery of my sad brows:

Leave me with haste. 320

[Exit PORTIA]

Lucius, who's that knocks?

[Re-enter LUCIUS with LIGARIUS]

LUCIUS He is a sick man that would speak with you.

BRUTUS Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.

Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius! how?

LIGARIUS Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. 325

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, 330

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!

Brave son, derived from honourable loins!

Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjured up 335

My mortified spirit. Now bid me run,

And I will strive with things impossible;

Yea, get the better of them. What's to do?

BRUTUS A piece of work that will make sick men whole.

LIGARIUS But are not some whole that we must make sick? 340

BRUTUS That must we also. What it is, my Caius,

I shall unfold to thee, as we are going

To whom it must be done.

LIGARIUS Set on your foot,

And with a heart new-fired I follow you, 345

To do I know not what: but it sufficeth

That Brutus leads me on.

BRUTUS Follow me, then.

[Exeunt]

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BRUTUS	What, Lucius, ho!
	I cannot, by the progress of the stars,
	Give guess how near to day. Lucius, I say!
	I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly.
	When, Lucius, when? awake, I say! what, Lucius!	5
	[Enter LUCIUS]

BRUTUS		Get me a taper in my study, Lucius:
		When it is lighted, come and call me here.

BRUTUS	It must be by his death: and for my part,	10
	I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
	But for the general. He would be crown'd:
	How that might change his nature, there's the question.
	It is the bright day that brings forth the adder;
	And that craves wary walking. Crown him?--that;--	15
	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
	Remorse from power: and, to speak truth of Caesar,
	I have not known when his affections sway'd	20
	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 upmost round.
	He then unto the ladder turns his back,	25
	Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
	By which he did ascend. So Caesar 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,	30
	Would run to these and these extremities:
	And therefore think him as a serpent's egg
	Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,
	And kill him in the shell.
	[Re-enter LUCIUS]

LUCIUS	The taper burneth in your closet, sir.	35
	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.
	[Gives him the letter]

BRUTUS		Get you to bed again; it is not day.
		Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March?	40

BRUTUS	The exhalations whizzing in the air
	Give so much light that I may read by them.	45
	[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.	50
	'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.
	'Speak, strike, redress!' Am I entreated	55
	To speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise:
	If the redress will follow, thou receivest
	Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!
	[Re-enter LUCIUS]

BRUTUS	'Tis good. Go to the gate; somebody knocks.	60
	[Exit LUCIUS]
	Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar,
	I have not slept.
	Between the acting of a dreadful thing
	And the first motion, all the interim is
	Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream:	65
	The Genius and the mortal instruments
	Are then in council; and the state of man,
	Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
	The nature of an insurrection.
	[Re-enter LUCIUS]

LUCIUS		Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door,	70
		Who doth desire to see you.

LUCIUS	No, sir; their hats are pluck'd about their ears,	75
	And half their faces buried in their cloaks,
	That by no means I may discover them
	By any mark of favour.

BRUTUS	Let 'em enter.
	[Exit LUCIUS]
	They are the faction. O conspiracy,	80
	Shamest 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 mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy;
	Hide it in smiles and affability:	85
	For if thou path, thy native semblance on,
	Not Erebus itself were dim enough
	To hide thee from prevention.
	[Enter the conspirators, CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS
	BRUTUS, CINNA, METELLUS CIMBER, and TREBONIUS]

CASSIUS		I think we are too bold upon your rest:
		Good morrow, Brutus; do we trouble you?	90

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	95
	Which every noble Roman bears of you.
	This is Trebonius.

BRUTUS		They are all welcome.
		What watchful cares do interpose themselves
		Betwixt your eyes and night?

CINNA		O, pardon, sir, it doth; and yon gray lines
		That fret the clouds are messengers of day.

CASCA	You shall confess that you are both deceived.
	Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises,	110
	Which is a great way growing on the south,
	Weighing 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.	115

BRUTUS	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,	120
	And every man hence to his idle bed;
	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
	To kindle cowards and to steel with valour	125
	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 secret Romans, that have spoke the word,
	And will not palter? and what other oath	130
	Than honesty to honesty engaged,
	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	135
	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	140
	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.

CASSIUS		But what of Cicero? shall we sound him?	145
		I think he will stand very strong with us.

METELLUS CIMBER	O, let us have him, for his silver hairs
	Will purchase us a good opinion	150
	And buy men's voices to commend our deeds:
	It shall be said, his judgment ruled our hands;
	Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear,
	But all be buried in his gravity.

BRUTUS	O, name him not: let us not break with him;	155
	For he will never follow any thing
	That other men begin.

CASSIUS	Decius, well urged: I think it is not meet,
	Mark Antony, so well beloved of Caesar,
	Should outlive Caesar: we shall find of him
	A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means,
	If he improve them, may well stretch so far	165
	As to annoy 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 envy afterwards;	170
	For Antony is but a limb of Caesar:
	Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
	We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar;
	And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
	O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit,	175
	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:	180
	And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
	Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
	And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make
	Our purpose necessary and not envious:
	Which so appearing to the common eyes,	185
	We shall be call'd purgers, 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;	190
		For in the ingrafted 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 thought and die for Caesar:
	And that were much he should; for he is given	195
	To sports, to wildness and much company.

TREBONIUS		There is no fear in him; let him not die;
		For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter.
		[Clock strikes]

CASSIUS	But it is doubtful yet,
	Whether 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:	205
	It may be, these apparent prodigies,
	The unaccustom'd terror of this night,
	And the persuasion of his augurers,
	May hold him from the Capitol to-day.

DECIUS BRUTUS	Never fear that: if he be so resolved,	210
	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,	215
	He says he does, being then most flattered.
	Let me work;
	For I can give his humour the true bent,
	And I will bring him to the Capitol.

METELLUS CIMBER	Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard,
	Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey:
	I wonder none of you have thought of him.	225

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

CASSIUS	The morning comes upon 's: we'll leave you, Brutus.
	And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember	230
	What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.