What watchful cares do interpose themselves
Betwixt your eyes and night?

Cas. Shall I entreat a word?

[Brutus and Cassius whisper.

Dec. Here lies the east: doth not the day break here?

Casca. No.

Cin. 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,
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.

Bru. Give me your hands all over, 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;
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
The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen,
What need we any spur but our own cause,

100

ΙΙΟ

120

115. the time's abuse, the grievous plight of the age.

117. idle bed, bed of idle

ness.

118. high-sighted, haughtily supercilious.

118. range, roam.

To 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 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
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.

No, by no means.

Cin.
Met. 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 judgement ruled our hands
Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear,
But all be buried in his gravity.

130

140

Bru. O, name him not let us not break with him ; 150 For he will never follow any thing

Dec. Shall no man else be touch'd but only Cæsar? Cas. Decius, well urged: I think it is not meet, Mark Antony, so well beloved of Cæsar, Should outlive Cæsar: we shall find of him A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means, If he improve 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 not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
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;
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 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,
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 fear him ; For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæsar

Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him:

160

170

180

158. shrewd, dangerous.

160. annoy, harm.

་.

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; 190 For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter.

Bru. Peace! count the clock.
Cas.

[Clock strikes.

The clock hath stricken three.

But it is doubtful yet

Treb. 'Tis time to part.
Cas.
Whether Cæsar 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,
May hold him from the Capitol to-day.

Dec. Never fear that if he be so resolved,
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,

200

204. unicorns may be betray'd with trees. The classical procedure of the Lion when charged by the Unicorn was to stand against a tree and then slip aside so that his enemy plunged his horn into the trunk and was securely held fast.

205. bears were said to be taken by displaying mirrors which beguiled them with their own images.

205. elephants were seduced into pitfalls, lightly covered over with hurdles and turf, on which a proper bait to tempt them was exposed' (Steevens).

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 his 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 but hither, and I'll fashion him.

Cas. The morning comes upon 's: 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 on our purposes,
But bear it as our Roman actors do,

With untired 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.

212. fetch, escort.
227. formal, grave, dignified.

Brutus, my lord!

210

220

230

honey, steeped in sweetness. 231. figures, idle but dis