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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at |http: //books .google .com/I giiizcdt* Google 7^ v.? sl^./o- i ^ ^arbarD College l-ibraig .-ijUlmAAjtJlJll.«L.,.lA.«vvl_.-. ...ldu,.£diij:^tLgrt-lurt.ajut.. ..gLic yk n giiizcdt* Google t* Google giiizcdt* Google .^. HE LIVES?^ vatoF THE NOBLE GRE- frciANSANDROMAlNl'S,COMPAKED illaieJoutofGrKlicmcoFrendiUyl.HES A-doi At.. ■ndgKuAmiKrDfjTaiicc. VVijKhelnKjcFHiKHiiftLuJo'Scjpi't ^ ' MunanflncdoaofLuDeiDnFrfncbby CrijLiii.li ic l-ElclKi, md out offlcrKli into EodlOi, i—. , om— «.^iJtJ*t-><r|0(nbB™Li,^Hiip«-v;r.- -■- -rr" — <--■- " Tit e Page f Norths Pl t\rch. Third Edition Rep oduced from the copy n the Boston Public Library c* Google giiizcdt* Google t* Google V 3 >c?i, /o. sr A «tt glfctMaaw »tt«« c* Google The text of this edition of Julius Casar is based upon a collation of the seventeenth century Folios, the Globe edi- tion, and that of Delius. As compared with the text of the earlier editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, it is conservative. Exclusive of changes in spelling, punctuation, and stage directions, very few emendations by eighteenth century and nineteenth century editors have been adopted ; and these, with every variation from the First Folio, are indicated in the textual notes. These notes are printed immediately below the text so that a reader or student may see at a glance the evidence in the case of a disputed reading and have some definite understanding of the reasons for those differences in the text of Shakespeare which frequently surprise and very often annoy. A consideration of the more poetical, or the more dramatically effective, of two variant readings will often lead to rich results in awakening a spirit of discriminating interpretation and in developing true creative criticism. In no sense is this a textual variorum edition. The variants given are only those of importance and high authority. The spelling and the punctuation of the text are mod- em, except in the case of verb terminations in -ed, which, when the e is silent, are printed with the apostrophe in its place. This is the general usage in the First Folio. Modem c* Google spelling has to a certain extent been foUoved in the text variants ; but the original speUing has been retained wherever its peculiarities have been the basis for impor- tant textual criticism and emendation. With the excepticm of the position of the textual vari- ants, the plan of this edition is similar to that of the old ' Hudson Shakespeare. It is impossible to specify the vari- ous instances of revision and rearrangement in the matter of the Introduction and the interpretative notes, but the endeavor has been to retain all that gave the old edition its unique place and to add the results of what seems vital and permanent in later inquiry and research. While it is important that the principle of suum cuique be attended to so far as is possible in matters of research and scholarship, it is becoming more and more difficult to give every man his own in Shakespearian annotation. The amount of material accumulated is so great that the iden- tity-origin of much important comment and suggestion is either wholly lost or so crushed out of shape as to be beyond recognition. Instructive significance perhaps attaches to this in editing the works of one who quietly made so much of materials gathered by others. But the list of authorities given on page li will indicate the chief source of much that has gone to enrich the value of this edition. Pro- fessor W. P. Trent, of Columbia University, has offered valuable suggestions and given important advice; and to Mr. M. Grant Daniell's patience, accuracy, and judgment this volume owes both its freedom from many a blunder and its possession of a carefully arranged index. DigilizMC* Google CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. Sources The Main Story North's Plutaxck APPIAN'S RoiaAN iVAKS .... Earlier Flays The Scene of the Assassination "Et TV, Bkute" Brutus's Speech, III, ii .... II. Date or Composition External Evidence Internal Evidence III. Early Editions Folios The Quarto of 1691 Rowe's Editions IV. The Title _ . . , . V. Dramatic Construction VI. Management of Time and Place Historic Time Dramatic Time c* Google vi CONTENTS Fagi VII. Versification and Diction xxviii Blank Verse xxviii Rhyme xxix VIII. The Characters xxx Julius Cj«sar xxx Brutus xxxvii Brutus and Cassiub xliii Portia xlv Antony xlvii The People xlix IX. General Characteristics xlix Authorities (with Abbreviations) li Chronological Chart THE TEXT Act 1 3 Act n 42 Act III 79 Act IV 116 Act V 144 INDEX I. Words and Phrases .' 169 II. Quotations from Plutarch 173 lb, Google INTRODUCTION Note. In citalions from Shakespeare's plays and nondramatic poems the numbering has reference to the Globe edition, except in the case of this play, where the reference is to this edition. I. SOURCES No event in the history of the world has made a more profound impression upon the popular imagination than the assassination of Julius Csesar. Apart from its over- whelming interest as a personal catastrophe, it was re- garded in the sixteenth century as a happening of the greatest historical moment, fraught with significant public lessons for all time. There is ample evidence that in England from the beginning of Elizabeth's reign it was the subject of much literary and dramatic treatment, and in making the murder of '* the mightiest Julius " the cli- max of a play, Shakespeare was true to that instinct which drew him for material to themes of universal and eternal interest. The Main Story 1. North's Plularck. There is no possible doubt that in Julius Cesar Shakespeare derived the great body of his historical material from The Life of Julius Casar, The Life of Marcus Brutus, and The Life of Marcus Antonius D:,-:c.Jt,G00J^|i: viii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE in Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch.' This work was first printed in 1579 in a massive folio dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. A second edition appeared in 15951 aid in all probability this was the edition read by Shakespeare. The title-page is here shown in facsimile. This interest- ing title-page gives in brief the literary history of North's translation, which was made not directly from the original Greek of Plutarch, but from a French version by Jacques Amyot, bishop of Auxerre.'' In 1603 appeared a third edition with additional Lives and new matter on the title- page.* There were subsequent editions in 1612,* i63r, 1656, and 1676. The popularity of this work attested by these reprintings was thoroughly deserved, for North's Plu- tarch is among the richest and freshest monuments of Eliza- bethan prose literature, and, apart altogether from the use made of it by Shakespeare, is in itself an invaluable reper- tory of honest, manly, idiomatic English. No abstract of the Plutaichian matter need be given here, as all the more important passages drawn upon for the play are quoted in 1 Professor W. W. Skeat's Shaktspeari's Plutarch (The Mac- millan Company) gives these Lives in convenient form with a text baaed upon the edition of 1612. ' Despite the assertion on North's title-page, Amyot, whose ver- sion appeared in 1559, probably translated from a Latin text. ' This title-page is given in facsimile as the frontispiece of this vol- ume. The facsimile shows an interesting bit of seventeenth century handwriting containing what some experts have regarded as 2 genuine Shakespeare auld^raph. See Justin Winsor's Notes on Some Writing vihiih may he by Shakespeare in Boslen Public Library, iSSg. * There is a famous copy of this edition in the Greenock Library with the initials " W. S." at the top of the title-page and seven- teenth century manuscripl notes in The Life of Julius Ciesar. See Skeat's Shakespeare's Plutarch, Introduction, p. xii. c* Google THE LIVES OF THE NOBLE Gre- cians AND ROMANES, COMPARED TOGETHER BY THAT GRAVE LEARNED PHIIOSOFMEK AND HISTORIOGSAPUEB. 'Flmrl^iofOi.tronta-.-- T^iDOtfcdooiofGicckeiocoFrenchEif Iiuit Ami or. Abbot ofBell»> uiM^BilhopoI Auccrre , (mi« ofthe Kingi piitiie counTell, and groa AiiinerofBinn,aDdoniorFiendiiinoEii^i0^by Tbi}miuU*(mb, bynntcd « London b^Ridiaid Belli fin BaabanNonoa. giiizcdt* Google X THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE' the footnotes to the text. These will show that in most o{ the leading incidents the great Greek biographer is closely followed, though in many cases these incidents are worked out and developed with rare fertility of invention and art. It is very significant that in the second half of The Life of Julius Cmsar, which Shakespeare draws upon very heav- ily, Plutarch emphasizes those weaknesses of Csesat which are made so prominent in the play. Besides this, in many places the Plutarchian form and order of thought, and also the very words of North's racy and delectable English are retained, with such an embalming for immortality as Shake- ■ speare alone could give.^ In Julius Ceesar Shakespeare's indebtedness to North's Plutarch may be summed up as extending to ( i ) the general story of the play ; (2) minor incidents and happeoings, as Caesar's falling- sickness, the omens before his death, and the writings thrown in Brutus's way ; (3) touches of detail, as in the description of Cassius's " lean and hungry look " and of Antony's tastes and persona! habits ; and (4) note- worthy expressions, phrases, and single words, as in III, ii, 240-241, 246-248 ; IV, iii, 2 ; IV, iii, 178 ; V, i, 80-81 ; V, iii, 109. On the other hand, Shakespeare's alteration of Plu- tarchian material is along the lines of (i) idealization, as in the characters of Brutus and Cassius; (2) amplifica- tion, as in the use Antony makes of Caesar's rent and bloody mantle ; and (3) simplification and compression of the action for dramatic effect, as in making Cesar's 1 See Trench's Licturtt on Plutarch, Leo's Four Chapttrs of North's Plutarch, and Delius's Shakespeari' s Julius Citsar nnd sehie QuclUu in Plutarch (Shakesfearc fahrbuc/i, XVII. 67). c* Google AN AVNCIENT Hiftoric and cxquifite Chronicle ofthe'R^anes VfaTres,botb QufleandForen* ^Written in Giceke bv the nobU Orator and Hiflcx CeunTellio the mod mighttt Empcidur*!, 7'na<«w and Miru^t, Tn ilie which b JkIikJ t Ti^ pf^ it^t* mt^irtiritri. r*m^it'vyf""i '■/'"""'*•"•■ jlBil»JtprtitjS4iiiitm,faiimB llitrfftSiif^mtitiat, ^firmt iiitrmiiudm ^fmli,iknitmi nUlit ttMrfU \rith a continuarion, bicaiHe that pane oE«4r/ffM ii not exUnt,frofn d» death oCstxtm gtm/iii'MoMi6>nnctaf$mfij theCrea^ tiS Ai luriir^tf AntoaiedMdCitO' Xrmnuim, 3HPIII1ITBD AT LONDON Hemic Bjmniman. Xil THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE triumph take place at the time of " the feast of Lupercal," in the treatment of the quarrel between Brutus and Cas- sius, which in Plutarch lasts for two days, and in making the two battles of Philippi occur on the same day. See note, p. 159, 11. 109-110. See also below, The Scene of the Assassination. 2. Appian's Roman Wars. In 1578 there was published in London an English translation of the extant portions of K'^\i\an\ History of the Roman Wars both Civil and Foreign, with the interesting title page shown here in facsimile. In this translation of Appian the events before andafter Caesar's death are described minutely and with many graphic touches. Compare, for example, with the quotation from Plutarch given in the note, p. 68, 1. 33, this account of the same incident in Appian : " The day before that Csesar should go to the senate, he had him at a banquet with Lepidus . . . and talking merrily what death was best for a man, some saying one and some another, he of all praised sudden death." Here are some of the marginal summaries in Appian : "Caesar refuseth the name of King," "A crown upon Ctesar's image by one that was apprehended of the tribunes MaruUus and Sitius," " Ciesar hath the Falling- Sickness," "Caesat's Wife (hath) a fearful Dream," "Cassar contemneth sacrifices of evil Luck," " Csesar giveth over when Brutus had stricken him," "The fear of the Con- spirators," "The bad Angel of Brutus." What gives interest and distinction to Appian's transla- tion as a probable source for material in Julius Cmsar is that in it we have speeches by Antony, Brutus, and Lepidus at the time of the reading of Csesar's will. In this transla- tion Antony's first speech begins, " They that would have c* Google INTRODUCTION xiii voices tried upon Csesat must know afore that if he ruled as an officer lawfully chosen, then all his acts and decrees must stand in force. . . ." On Antony's second speech the comment is, "Thus wrought Antony artificially." His speech to the Senate begins, "Silence being commanded, be said thus, ' Of the citizens offenders (you men of equal honour) in this yout consultation I have said nothing. . . .' " The speech of Lepidus to the people has this setting; "When he was come to the place of speech he lamented, weeping, and thus said, ' Here 1 was yesterday with Caesar, and now am I here to inquire of Caesar's death. , , . Ciesar is gone from us, an holy and honourable man in deed.' " The effect of this speech is commented on as follows: "Han- dling the matter thus craftily, the hired men, knowing that he was ambitious, praised him and exhorted him to take the office of Csesar's priesthood." A long speech by Brutus follows the reading of Caesar's will. It begins: "Now, O citizens, we be here with you that yesterday were in the common court not as men fleeing to the temple that have done amiss, nor as to a fort, having committed all we have to you. . . , We have heard what hath been objected against us of our enemies, touching the oath and touching cause of doubt. ..." The effect of this speech is thus described : " Whiles Brutus thus spake, all the hearers con- sidering with themselves that he spake nothing but right, did like them well, and as men of courage and lovers of the people, had them in great admiration and were turned into their favour." 3. Earlier Plays. As already mentioned, England had plays on the subject of Julius Cfesar from the first years of Elizabeth's reign. As not one of these earlier plays is DigilizMC* Google xiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE extant, there can be no certainty as to whether Shake- speare drew upon them for materials or inspiration, but, as . Professor Herford says, " he seems to be cognisant of their existence." His opening scene is addressed to a public familiar with the history of Pompey and Pompey's sons. Among these earlier plays was one almost contemporary with the first production of Gorboduc, the first English tragedy. It is referred to under the name of Julyus Sesar in an entry in Machyn's Diary under February i, 1562. In Fiays eonfuied in five Actions, printed probably in 1582, Stephen Gosson mentions the history of Casar and Himpey as a contemporary play. A Latin play on CESar's death was acted at Oxford in 1582, and for it Dr. Richard Eedes (Eades, Edes) of Christ Church wrote the epilogue {Epilogus Casaris InUrfecW). In Henslowe's Diary under November 8, 1594, a Seser and pompie is mentioned as a new play. Mr. A. W. Verity {Julius Ccesar, The Pitt Press edition) makes the interesting suggestion that in III, i, rii-ii6, there may be an allusion to these earlier pla)^, Cf. also ffamlet. III, ii, 107-111, quoted below. The Scene of the Assassination In transferring the assassination of Caesar from the Curia Pompeiana (" Pompey's porch," I, iii, 1 26) to the Capitol, Shakespeare departed from Plutarch and historical accuracy to follow a popular tradition that had received the signal imprimatur of Chaucer : This lulius to the Capitohe wenie Upon a day, as he was wont to goon,^ c* Google INTRODUCTION xv And in the Capitolie anon him hente ^ This false Brutus, and his othere foon ' And stikede him with boydekins" anoon With many a wounde, and thus they lele him lye ; But never gronte ' he at no strook but oon, Or elles at two, but-if » his atone lye. rii Mpiiies Tall, II. 715-718. (Skeal's Ciaucir.) This literary and poptilar tradition is followed in Hamlet, III, ii, 107-111 : Hamlet. What did you enact > PoLONius. I did enact Julius Cxsar: I was kill'd i' the Capitol: Brutus kill'd tne. Hamlet. It was a brute part of hitn to kill so capital a calf there. So also in Antony and Cleopatra : Since Julius Caesar, Who at Fhilippi Che good Brutus ghosted. There saw you labouring for him. What was 't That mov'd pale Cassius to conspire ; and what Made the all-honour'd, honest Roman, Brutus, With the arm'd test, courtiers of beauteous freedom, To drench the Capitol; but that they would Have one man but a man? [II, vi, 12-19.] We have the same popular tradition in the first scene of the last act of Fletcher's TAe Noble Gentleman. So. too, in the Prologue to Beaumont and Fletcher's, or Fletcher and Massinger's, The False One, a tragedy dealing with Cssar and Cleopatra : To tell Of Cesar's am. orous heals, and how he fell r the Capitol. reference is to 1 Shake spear e's play. s foes. ' 1 daggers. * groaned. « unless. D,„„z..^ Google xvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE "Et TV, Brute" Dyce ind other researchers have made clear that in Shakespeare's day "£t tu. Brute" was a familiar phrase which had special reference to a wound from a supposed friend. It probably owed its popularity to having been used in the earlier plays on the subject of Julius Ctcsar. In The Tru( Tragedte of Richard Duke of York (1595), upon which Shakespeare's j Henry VI is based, occurs the line, Bt tu. Bruit f wilt thou stab Csesar Coo P This line is repeated in S. Nicholson's poem, Acolastus, kis Afterwitte (1600). In Ben Jonson's Every Man out of His Humour (1599), BufEone uses "J?/ tu. Brute" in speaking to Macilente (V, iv). In the Myrroure for Magistrates (1587) we find, And Brutus thou, my sonne, quoth I, whom erst 1 toved best. The Latin form of the phrase possibly originated, as Malone suggested, in the Latin play refened to above (Earlier Plays) which was acted at Oxford in 1582. It is easy to see how the Elizabethan tendency to word-quibble and equivoque would help to give currency to the Latin form. Cf . Hamlet's joke on ' brute ' quoted above. Brutus's Speech, III, ii In view of the close connection between Julius Ccesar and Hamlet as regards date of composition and the char- acterization of Brutus and Hamlet, interest attaches to Pro- fessor Gallancz's theory (/iilius Cssar, Temple Shakespeare) c* Google INTRODUCTION xvii that the original of the famous speech of Brutus to the assembled Romans (III, ii) may be found in Belleforest's History of Hamlet, in the oration which Hamlet makes to the Danes after he has slain his uncle, "The situation of Hamlet is almost identical with that of Brutus after he has dealt the blow, and the burden of Hamlet's too lengthy speech finds an echo in Brutus's sententious utterance. The verbose iteration of the Dane has been compressed to suit ' the brief compendious manner of speech of the I^cedas- monians.' " — Gallancz. As the English translation from which Professor Gallancz quotes in support of his theory is dated j6o8, and is the earliest known,^ it cannot have been from this that Shakespeare drew any suggestions or material. The question arises, Did Shakespeare read the speech in the original French ? The volume of Belle- forest's Histoires Tragiques, which contained the story of Hamlet, was first published in 1570, and there were many reprintings of it before 1600. II. DATE OF COMPOSITION Modern editors fix the date of composition of Julius Cmsar within 1601, the later time limit (terminus ante queni), and 1598, the earlier time limit (terminus post quern). The weight of evidence is in favor of 1600-1601. • Reprinted in Collier's Shakapeare' s Library. This translation shows in more than one place the influence of Shakespeare's play. For example, Hamlet's exclamation before he kills Polonius, " A rat I a rat ! " is in the English version, but there is no suggestion of it in the French original. c* Google xviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE External Evidence 1. Negative. Julius Cmsar is not mentioned by Meres in the Palladis Tamia, published in 1598, which gives a list of twelve noteworthy Shakespeare plays in existence at that time. This establishes 1598 as a probable /iwwwwj/oj'j'ywem, 2. Positive. In John Weever's Mirror of A^artyrs or the Life and Death of Sir John Oldcastle Knight, Lord Cobham, printed in 1601, are the following lines : The many-headed multitude were drawne By Brutus speech that Cttsar was ambitious. When eloquent Mark Antonie had showne His vertues, who but Brutus (hen was vicious ? Man's memorie, with new, forgets the old, One tale is good, until another's told. H alii well- Phil] ipps was the first to note that here is a very pointed reference to the second scene of the third act of Julius Ciesar, as the antithesis brought out is not indicated in any of Shakespeare's historical sources. The fact that Weever states in his Dedication that the Mirror "some two years agoe was made fit for the print" has been held by Mr, Percy Simpson' to indicate that the play was not brought out later than 1599, a conclusion supported, he thinks, by a passage in Ben Jonson's Every Man out of His Humour, produced in that year, where Clove (III, i) says, " Then coming to the pretty animal, as Reason long since is fled to animals, you know," which may be a sneering allusion to Antony's " O judgment ! thou art fled to brutish beasts " (III, ii, 104). The "Et tu. Brute" quotation in the same play has been used to strengthen the argument. But the ' In Notts and Queries, February, 1899. DigilizMC* Google INTRODUCTION xix lines from the Mirror of Martyrs quoted above may easily have been inserted by Weever into his poem in consequence of the popularity of Shakespeare's play. This contemporary popularity is well attested. Leonard Digges,^ in his verses Upon Master William Shakespeare prefixed to the 1640 edition of Shakespeare's Poems, thus compares it with that of Ben Jonson's Roman plays : So have I seene, when Cesar would appeare. And on the Stage at halfe-sword parley were Brutus AnA Cassius: oh how the Audience Were ravish'd. with what new wonder they went thence, When some new day they would not brooke a line Of tedious (though well laboured) CatUine ; Sejanus too was irkesome, they priz'de more Honest lago, or the jealous Moore. " Fustian " Clove's quotation may apply to references to the Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration of souls in Shakespeare's earlier plays and other Elizabethan literature ; and little can be based upon the "Et tu. Brute " quotation, as Ben Jonson may have drawn it from the same source as Shakespeare did. On the other hand, Henslowe in his Z^jary under May zz, i6o2, notes that he advanced five pounds " in earneste of a Boocke called sesers Falle " which the dramatists Monday, Drayton, Webster, Middleton "and the Rest" were com- posing for Lord Nottingham's Company, Casar's Fallyiax, plainly intended to outshine Shakespeare's popular play, but, as Professor Herford comments, " the lost play , . , ' I^onard Digges also wrote verses " To the Memorie of the de. ceased Authour Maister W. Shakespeare," prefixed to Che First Folio. c* Google XX THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE for the rival company would have been a somewhat tardy counterblast to an old piece of 1599." He adds : ^^ Julius Casar was certainly not unconcerned in the revival of the fashion for tragedies of revenge with a ghost in them, which suddenly set in with Marston's Antonio and Mellida and Chettle's Hoffman in 1601." Dr. Furnivall, a strong advocate for 1601 as the date of composition, has suggested' that Essex's ill-judged rebellion against Queen Elizabeth, on Sunday, February 8, 1601, was the reason of Shakespeare's producing his Julius Ctesar in that year. "Assuredly," he says, "the citizens of London in that year who heard Shakespeare's play must have felt the force of ^Et tu, Brute,' and must have seen Brutus's death, with keener and more home-felt influence than we feel and hear the things with now." Drayton's revised version of his Mortimeriados (1596— iS97)> published in 1603 under the title of The Barons' Wars, has a passage which strongly resembles some lines in Antony's last speech (V, v, 73-74), but common prop- erty in the idea that a well-balanced mixture of the fotir elements (earth, air, fire, and water) produces a perfect man invalidates any argument for the date of the play based upon this evidence. See note, p. 167, 1, 73, Internal Evidence Dr. W. A. Wright * has argued against an earlier date than 1600 for the composition oi Julius Caesar from the use of ' eternal ' for ' infernal ' in I, i, 1 60. See note, p. zo, 1. 1 60. ' In The Academy, September 18, 1875. See also The Leopold Shakspere, Introduction. ^Julius C/csar, The Clarendon Press, Introduction, p. viii. INTRODUCTION xxi Of course there is no certainty that Shakespeare wished to use the word ' infernal,' and, besides, if any substitution was made, it may have been at a later date. But adumbra- tions of Hamlet everywhere in Julius Casar, the frequent references to Cffisar in Hamlet, the kinship in character of Brutus and Hamlet {see note, p. 46, 1. 65), the treat- ment of the supernatural, and the development of the re- venge motive give strong cumulative evidence that the composition ai Julius Cissar is in time very near to that of Hamlet, the first Shakespearian draft of which is now generally conceded to date from the first months of 1602. The diction oi Julius Casar, the quality of the blank verse, the style generally (see below, Versification and Diction), all point to 1601 as the probable date of composition. It has been said that a true taste for Shakespeare is like the creation of a special sense ; and this saying is nowhere better approved than in reference to his subtile variations of language and style. He began with what may be de- scribed as a preponderance of the poetic element over the dramatic. As we trace his course onward, we may dis- cover a gradual rising of the latter element into greater strength and prominence, until at last it had the former in complete subjection. Now, where positive external evi- dence is wanting, it is mainly from the relative strength of these elements that the probable date of the writing may be argued. In Julius Casar the diction is more gliding and continuous, and the imagery more round and ampli- fied, than in the earlier dramas or in those known to belong to Shakespeare's latest period. These distinctive notes are of a nature more easily to be felt than described, and to make them felt examples will best DigilizMC* Google xxii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE serve. Take then a passage from the soliloquy of Brutus just after he has pledged himself to the conspiracy: '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 Chen unto the ladder turns his back, Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees By which he did ascend. [II, i, 21-27.] Here we have a full, rounded period in which all the ele- ments seem to have been adjusted, and the whole expres- sion set in order, before any part of it was written down. The beginning foresees the end, the end remembers the beginning, and the thought and image are evolved together in an even, continuous flow. The thing is indeed perfect in its way, still it is. not in Shakespeare's latest and highest style. Now take a passage from TAe Winter's Tale; When you speak, sweet, I'M have you do it ever; when you sing, I'ld have you buy and sell so, so give alms, Pray so ; and, for the ordering your affairs, To sing them too : when you do dance, I wish you A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do Nothing but that ; move still, still so, And own no other function. [IV, iv, 136-I43.] Here the workmanship seems to make and shape itself as it goes along, thought kindling thought, and image prompting image, and each part neither concerning itself with what has gone before, nor with what is coming after. The very sweet- ness has a certain piercing quality, and we taste it from clause to clause, almost from word to word, as so many keen darts ib,Gooj^k' INTRODUCTION xxiii of poetic rapture shot forth in rapid succession. Vet the passage, notwithstanding its swift changes of imagery and motion, is perfect in unity and continuity. III. EARLY EDITIONS Folios On November 8, 1623, Edward Blount and Isaac Jaggard obtained formal license to print " Mt. William Shakespeere's Comedyes, Histories, and Tragedyes, soe many of the said copies as are not formerly entered to other men." This is the description -en try in The Stationers' Registers of what is now known as the First Folio (1623), designated in the textual notes of this edition Fj. Julius Cmsar is one of the plays "not formerly entered,"' and it was first printed, so far as is known, in this famous volume. It is more correctly printed than perhaps any other play in the First Folio and, as the editors of the Cambridge Shakespeare suggest, " may perhaps have been (as the preface falsely implied that all were ') printed from the original manuscript of the author." ' It stands between Timon of Athens and Macbeth, two very badly printed plays. The running title is The Tragedte of ^ This is strong evidence that the play had not been printed at an earlier date. ^ ". . . Absolute in their numbers, as he conceiued them, . . . His mind and heart went together ; And what he thought, he vttered with that easinesse, that wee haue scarse receiued from him a blot in his papers" (Heminge and Condell's Address "To the great Variety of Readers," First Folio). » Mr. F. G. Fleay in his Shakespeare Manual (1876) argues that " this play as we have it is an abridgement of Shakespeare's play made by Ben Jonson." c* Google xxiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE Julius Ccesar, but in the " Catalogve of the seuerall Come- dies, Histories, and Tragedies contained in this Volume," the title is given as The Life and Death of Julius Casar. The Second Folio, F, (1632), the Third Folio, F8(i663, 1664), and the Fourth Folio, F, (1685), show few variants in the text oi Julius Cmsar and none of importance. The Quarto of 1691 In 1691 Julius Casar appeared in quarto form. This Quarto contained one famous text variant, ' hath ' for ' path ' in II, i, 83. Though the Folio text here offers difficulties, and modern editors have suggested many emendations, no one has been inclined to accept the commonplace reading of the Quarto, Rowe's Editions In the Folios and in the Quarto of 1691 the play is divided into acts, but not into scenes, though the first act is headed Actus Primus, Scana Prima. The first system- atic division into scenes was made by Nicholas Rowe, poet laureate to George I, in the edition which he issued in six octavo volumes in 1709. In this edition Rowe, an experienced playwright, marked the entrances and exits of the characters and introduced many stage directions and the list of dramatis personas which has been the basis for all later lists. A second edition in eight volumes was pub- lished in 1714. Rowe followed very closely the text of the Fourth Folio, but modernized spelling, punctuation, and occasionally grammar. These are the first critical editions of Shakespeare's plays. c* Google INTRODUCTION IV. THE TITLE It has been justly observed that Shakespeare shows much judgment in the naming of his plays. From this observation several critics have excepted Julius Ccesar, pronouncing the title a misnomer, on the ground that Brutus, and not Csesar, is the hero of it. It is indeed true that Brutus is the heio, but the play is rightly named, for Cxsai is not only the subject but also the governing power of it through- out. He is the center and springhead of the entire action, giving law and shape to everything that is said and done. This is manifestly true in what occurs before his death ; and it is true in a still deeper sense afterwards, since his genius then becomes the Nemesis or retributive Providence, presiding over the whole course of the drama. V. DRAMATIC CONSTRUCTION Julius Ciesaris a tragedy of a normal Shakespearian type, in which is represented a conflict between an individual, or group of individuals, and certain forces which environ, antagonize, and overwhelm. The unity of action and of in- terest is the personality of Julius Caesar, In dramatic tech- nique the play is simple and eFfectivf. Out of masses of detail and historical incident the dramatist has shaped a symmetrical and well-defined plot marked by (i) the expo- sition or introduction, (z) the complication or rising action, (3) the climax or turning point, (4) the resolution or fall- ing action, and (5) the catastrophe or conclusion. It is almost a commonplace of criticism that the opening scene of a Shakespeare play strikes the keynote of the action. It certainly does in a remarkable way in Julius Casar, c* Google xxvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE introducing, on the one side, a group of excited citizens friendly to Caesar and, on the other, two tribunes hostile to him. It foreshadows the character- contrasts in the play and the conflict between the state and the individual. The exposition continues through the second scene, in which are introduced the leading characters in significant action and interaction. At the close of this scene Cassius lays his plans to win Brutus over to the conspiracy, and the complication, or rising action, of the drama begins. Through the last scene of the first act and the four scenes of the second act the growth of the complication is con- tinued with brief intervals of suspense, until the climax is reached in the first scene of the third act in the assassina- tion of Csesar and the wild enthusiasm of the conspirators. With the entry of Antony's servant begins the resolution or falling action (see note, p. 89, 1. 123), and from now, through intervals of long suspense and many vicissitudes,' the fortunes of the chief conspirators fall inevitably to the catastrophe. VI. MANAGEMENT OF TIME AND PLACE I. Historic Time. Csesar's triumph over the sons of Pom- pey was celebrated in October, B.C. 45. Shakespeare makes this coincident with "the feast of Lupercal" on February 15, B.C. 44. In the play Antony delivers his funeral oration im- mediately after Csesar's death ; historically, there was an in- terval of days. Octavius did not reach Rome until upwards ' For an inleiesting defense of the so^:aIled 'dragging' tendency and episodical character of the third scene of the fourth act, see Professor A. C. Bradley's Shakispeanan Tragedy, pp. 55-61. c* Google INTRODUCTION xxvii of two months after the assassination ; in III, ii, 261, Antony is told by bis servant immediately after the funeral oration that "Octavius is already come to Rome." In November, B.C. 43, the triumvirs met to make up their bloody proscrip- tion, and in the autumn of the following year" were fought the two battles of Phllippi, separated historically by twenty days, but represented by Shakespeare as taking place on the same day. ,. 2. Dramatic Time. Historical happenings that extended over nearly three years are represented in the stage action ■ as the occurrences of six days, distributed over the acts and scenes as follows : Day I. — I, i, ii. Interval. Day 2. — I, iii. Day 3. — II, III. Interval. Day 4. — IV, i. Interval. Day 5. — IV, ii, iii. Interval. Day 6. — V. This compression for the purposes of dramatic unity results in action that is swift and throbbing with human and ethical interest, 3. Place. Up to the second scene of the fourth act Rome is the natural place of action. The second and third scenes of the fourth act are at Sardis in Asia Minor; the last act shifts to Philippi in Macedonia. The only noteworthy c* Google xxviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE deviation from historical accuracy is in making the confer- ence of the triumvirs take place at Rome and not at Bononia. See note, p. ii6. But there is peculiar dramatic effectiveness in placing this fateful colloquy in the city that was the center of the political unrest of the time. VII. VERSIFICATION AND DICTION Blank Verse The characteristics of Shakespeare's blank verse — the rhymeless, iambic five-stress (decasyllabic) verse, or iambic pentameter, introduced into England by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, about 1540 — and its proportion to rhyme and to prose have been much used in recent years to detfermine the chronological order of the plays and the de- velopment of the poet's art. In blank verse as used by Shakespeare we have really an epitome of the development of the measure in connection with the English drama. In his earlier plays the blank verse is often similar to that of Gorboduc, the first English tragedy. The tendency is to adhere to the syllable -counting principle, to make the line the unit, the sentence and phrase coinciding with the line (end-stopped verse), and to use five perfect iambic feet to the line. In plays of the middle period, such as The Mer- chant of Venice and As You Like It, written between 1596 and 1600, the blank verse is more like that of Kyd and Marlowe, with less monotonous regularity in the structure and an increasing tendency to carry on the sense from one line to another without a syntactical or rhetorical pause at the end of the line (run-on verse, enjambement). Redun- dant syllables now abound and the melody is richer and c* Google INTRODUCTION xxix fuller. In Shakespeare's later plays the blank verse breaks away from all bondage to formal line limits, and the organic continuity is found in a succession of great metrical periods. The verse of Julius dxsar is less monotonously regular than that of the earlier plays ; it is more flexible and varied, more musical and sonorous, but it lacks the superb move- ment of the verse in Othello, The Winter's Tale, and The Tempest. End-stopped, normally regular iambic pentam- eter lines often occur (as, for instance, I, i, 37, 41, 44, 6a, 76), but everywhere are variations and deviations from the norm, and there is an unusual number of short lines and interjectional lines of two or three stresses. See Abbott's A Shakespearian Grammar, §§ 511, 512. Apart from the use of rhyme in songs, lyrics, and portions of masques (as in The Tempest, IV, i, 60—138), a progress from more to less rhyme is a sure index to Shakespeare's development as a dramatist and a master of expression. In the early Love's Labour 's Lost are more than one thousand rhyming five-stress iambic lines ; in The Tempest are only two; in The Winter's Tale not one. la Julius Caisar ays, found only thirty-four rhyming lines. Prose If " of the soule the bodie forme doth take," it is small wonder that attempts have been made to explain Shake- speare's distinctive use of verse and prose. Of recent years there have been interesting discussions of the question " whether we are justified in supposing that Shakespeare c* Google XXX THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE was guided by any fixed principle in his employment of veise and prose, or whether he merely employed them, as fancy suggested, for the sake of variety and relief." ' It is a significant fact that in many of Shakespeare's earlier plays there is httle or no prose, and that the proportion of prose to blank verse increases with the decrease of rhyme. In Julius Casar three kinds of prose may be distinguished ; (i) The prose of homely dialogue, as in the talk of the com- mon people in I, i, and III, iii. (2) The prose of serious ' information as to the nature of a situation, as in Casca's description of the offer of the crown to Cresar. This kind of prose reaches its highest development in Brutus's famous speech. III, ii, with its dignified defense and laconic exposi- tion of his honesty of purpose. {3) The prose of formal documents, as in the letter of Artemidorus, II, iii, 1-8, VIII. THE CHARACTERS JuLrus C^sAR The characterization of this drama in some of the parts is not a little perplexing. Hardly one of the speeches put into Ciesar's mouth can be regarded as historically characteris- tic ; taken all together, they seem little short of a caricature. I As here represented, Csesar appears little better than a brag- I gart ; and when he speaks, it is in the style of a glorious ' vapouter, full of lofty airs and mock thunder. Nothing could > Professor ]. Churton CoUins's Shaktspiare as a Frost Writer. See Delius's Die Praia in Shakespeares Dramen (Skaktspiari Jakr- buck, V, 227-273); Janssen's Dii Prosa in Skakespearis Dramen ; Professor Hiram Corson's ^i Introduction te the Study of Shake- speare, pp, 83-98. giiizcdt* Google INTRODUCTION xxxi be further from the truth of the man, whose character, even in his faults, was as compact and solid as adamant, and at the same time as limber and ductile as the finest gold. Certain critics have seized and worked upon this, as proving Shake- speare's lack of classical knowledge, or carelessness in the use of his authorities. It proves neither the one nor the other. I It is true, Caesar's ambition was gigantic, but none too I much so for the mind it dwelt in; for his character in all its features was gigantic. And no man ever framed his am- bition more in sympathy with the great forces of nature, or built it upon a deeper foundation of political wisdom .and insight. Now this "last infirmity of noble minds" is / the only part of him that the play really sets before us; and even this we do not see as it was, because it is here severed from the constitutional peerage of his gifts and virtues ; alt those transcendent qualities which placed him at the sum- mit of Roman intellect and manhood being either withheld from the scene or thrown so far into the background that the proper effect of them is lost. Yet we have ample proof that Shakespeare understood Ciesar thoroughly, and that he regarded him as "the noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times." For example, in Hamlet, he makes Horatio, who is one of his calmest and most right-thinking characters, speak of him as " the might- iest Julius," In Antony and Cleopatra, again, the heroine is made to describe him as " broad-fronted Csesar"; and in King Richard Ike Third the young Prince utters these lines : Thai Julius Czesar was a famous man : With what his valour did enrich his wit. Hia wit set down to make his valour live; Death makes no conquest of this conqueror. [111, i, 84-87.] c* Google xxxii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE In fact, we need not go beyond Shakespeare to gather that Julius Caesar's was the deepest, the most versatile, and the most multitudinous head that ever figured in the political affairs of mankind. Indeed, it is clear from this play itself that Shakespeare did not proceed at a!l from ignorance or misconception of the man. For it is remarkable that, though Cfesar deliv- ers himself so out of character, yet others, both foes and friends, deliver him much nearer the truth; so that, while we see almost nothing of him directly, we nevertheless get, upon the whole, a just reflection of him. Especially in the marvelous speeches of Antony and in the later events of the drama, both his inward greatness and his right of mastership over the Roman world are fully vindicated. For in the play as in the history, Ctesar's blood hastens and cements the empire which the conspirators thought to prevent. They soon find that in the popular sympathies, and even in their own dumb remorses, he has " left behind 1 powers that will work for him." He proves, indeed, far 1 mightier in death than in life ; as if his spirit were become at once the guardian angel of his cause and an avenging angel to his foes. And so it was in fact. Nothing did so much to set the people in love with royalty, both name and thing, as the reflection that their beloved Oesar, the greatest of their national heroes, the crown and consummation of Roman genius and character, had been murdered for aspiring to it. Thus their hereditary aversion to kingship was all subdued by the remembrance of how and why their Ctesar fell ; and they who, before, would have plucked out his heart rather than he should wear a crown, would now have plucked out DigilizMbvCoOJ^Ic INTRODUCTION xxxiii their own, to set a crown upon his bead. Such is the natural result, when the intensities of admiration and compassion meet together in the human breast. From all which it may well be thought that Cxsar was too great for the hero of a drama, since his greatness, if brought forward in full measure, would leave no room for anything else, at least would preclude any proper dramatic balance I and equipoise. It was only as a sort of underlying potency, or a force withdrawn into the bacl^ound, that his presence was compatible with that harmony and reciprocity of sev- eral characters which a well-ordered drama requires. At all events, it is pretty clear that, where he was, such figures as Brutus and Cassius could never be very considerable, save as his assassins. They would not have been heard of in after times, if they had not " struck the foremost tnan of all this world "; in other words, the great sun of Rome had to be shorn of his beams, else so ineffectual a fire as Brutus could nowise catch the eye. Be this as it may, there is no doubt that Shakespeare knew the whole height and compass of Cfesar's vast and varied capacity. It may be regretted that he did not render him as he evidently saw him, inasmuch as he alone, perhaps, of all the men who ever wrote could have given an adequate expression of that colossal man. It is possible that the policy of the drama may have been to represent Ca;sar not as he was indeed, but as he must have appeared to the conspirators ; to make us see him as L they saw him, in order that they too might have fair and ' equal judgment at our hands. For Cresar was literally too great to be seen by them, save as children often see bug- bears by moonlight, when their inexperienced eyes are c* Google xxxiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE mocked with air. And Shakespeare may well have judged that the best way to set us right towards them was by iden- tifying us more or less with them in mental position, and making us shaie somewhat in their delusion. Foi there is scaice anything wherein we are so apt to err as in reference to the characters of men, when time has settled and cleared up the questions in which they lost their way : we blame them for not having seen as we see ; while in truth the things that are so bathed in light to us were full ol dark- ness to them, and we should have understood them better, bad we been in the dark along with them. Csesar, indeed, was not bewildered by the political ques- tions of his time ; but all the rest were, and therefore he seemed so to them ; and while their own heads were swim- ming they naturally ascribed his seeming bewilderment to a dangerous intoxication. As for his marvelous career of suc- cess, they attributed this mainly to his good luck, such being the common refuge of inferior minds when they would escape the sense of their inferiority. Hence, as generally happens with the highest order of men, his greamess had to wait the approval of later events. He indeed, far beyond any other man of his age, " looked into the seeds of time "; but this was not, and could not be known, till time had developed those seeds into theit fruits. Why then may not Shake- speare's idea have been so to order things that the full strength of the man should not appear in the play, as it did not in fact, till after his fall ? This view will both ex- plain and justify the strange disguise — a sort of falsetto greatness — under which Caesar exhibits himself. Now the seeming contradiction between Csesar as known and Caesar as rendered by Shakespeare is what, more than c* Google INTRODUCTION xxxv anything else, perplexes. But a very refined, subtile, and I peculiar irony pervades this, more than any other of Shake- speare's plays ; fiot intended as such, indeed, by the speak- I ers, but a sort of historic irony, — the irony of Providence, so to speak, or, if you please, of Fate ; much the same as is implied in the proverb, " A haughty spirit goeth before a fall." This irony crops out in many places. Thus we have I Caisar most blown with arrogance and godding it in the \ loftiest style when the daggers of the assassins are on the very point of leaping at him. So too, all along, we find I Brutus most confident in those very things where he is most I at fault, or acting like a man " most ignorant of what he 's most assured "; as when he says that "Antony can do no more than Csesar's arm when Csesar's head is off." This, to be sure, is not meant ironically by him, but it is turned into irony by the fact that Antony soon tears the cause of the conspirators all to pieces with his tongue. But, indeed, this sort of honest guile tuns all through the piece as a per- fusive and permeating efficacy. A still better instance of it .occurs just after the murder, when the chiefs of the con- spiracy are exulting in the transcendent virtue and benefi- /cence of their deed, and in its future stage celebrity; and Cassius says, — So often shall the knot of us be call'd The men that gave their countiy liberty. [Ill, i, 11S-119.] I and again, a little later, when Brutus says of Antony, " I know I that we shall have him well to friend." Not indeed that the men themselves thought any irony in those speeches ; it was natural, no doubt, that they should utter such things in all seriousness ; but what they say is interpreted into irony by c* Google xxxvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE the subsequent events. And when such a shallow idealist as 1 Brutus is made to overtop and outshine the greatest practi- cal genius the world ever saw, what is it but a refined and subtile irony at work on a much larger scale, and diffusing itself, secretly, it may be, but not the less vitally, into the texture? It was not the frog that thought irony, when he tried to make himself as big as the ox; but there was a pretty decided spice of irony jn the mind that conceived the fable. It is to be noted further that Brutus uniformly speaks of Cresar with respect, almost indeed with admiration. It is his ambition, not his greatness, that Brutus resents ; the thought that his own consequence is impaired by Caesar's elevation having no influence with him. With Cassius, on the con- trary, impatience of his superiority is the ruling motive r he is all the while thinking of the disparagement he suffers by Csesar's exaltation. This man la now become a god. and Cassius is A wretched creature, and must bend his body If Ciesar carelessly but nod on him. [I, ji, 115-118.] Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs. [I, ii, l3S-'37.] Thus he overflows with mocking comparisons, and finds his [pastime in flouting at Caesar as having managed by a sham (heroism to hoodwink the world. And yet Shakespeare makes Ca:sar characterize himself very much as Cassius, in his splenetic temper, describes him. Csesar gods it in his talk, as if on purpose to approve the style in which Cassius mockingly gods him. This, taken cjt.Gooj^k"- INTRODUCTION xxxvii by itself, would look as if the dramatist sided with Cassius ; yet one can hardly help feeling that he sympathized rather in Antony's great oration. And the sequel, as we have seen, justifies Antony's opinion of Csesar. The subsequent course Jof things has the effect of inverting the mockery of Cassius 'against himself. The final issue of the conspiracy, as represented by Shake- speare, is a pretty conclusive argument of the blunder, not to say the crime, of its authors. Cjesar, dead, tears them an.d their cause all to pieces. In effect, they did but stab him into a mightier life ; so that Brutus might well say, as indeed he does at last, — O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yetl Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns oui swords In our own proper entrails, [V, iii, 94-96.] iThe Nemesis which asserts itself so sternly in the latter part ' of the play may be regarded as a reflex of irony on some of ' the earlier scenes. This view infers the disguise of Cssar to be an instance of the profound guile with which Shakespeare sometimes plays upon his characters, humoring their bent, and then leaving them to the discipline of events. Brutus Coleridge has a shrewd doubt as to what sort of a charac- ter Shakespeare meant his Brutus to be. For, in his think- ing aloud just alter the breaking of the conspiracy to him, 1 Brutus avowedly grounds his purpose, not on anything Ctesar :haa done, rior on what he is, but simply on what he may be- ■come when crowned. He " knows no personal cause to spurn at him"; nor has he "known when his affections sway'd c* Google xxxviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE moie than his reason "; but " he would be crown'd : how that might change his nature, there's the questioD"; 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 Which, hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous. And kill him in the shell. [II, i, zS-j4.] So then Brutus heads a plot to assassinate the man who^be- I sides being clothed with the sanctions of law as the highest ; representative of the state, has been his personal friend and } benefactor ; all this, too, not on any ground of fact, but on I an assumed probability that the crown will prove a sacra- ! ment of evil, and transform him into quite another man. A strange piece of casuistry indeed ! but nowise unsuited to the spirit of a man who was to commit the gravest of crimes, I purely from a misplaced virtue. And yet the character of Brutus is full of beauty and sweetness. In all the relations of life he is upright, gentle, ) and pure ; of a sensitiveness and delicacy of principle that cannot bosom the slightest stain ; his mind enriched and fortified with the best extractions of philosophy ; a man adorned with all the virtues which, in public and private, at home and in the circle of friends, win respect and charm the heart. Being such a man, of course he could only do what he did under some sort of delusion. And so indeed it is. Yet this very delusion serves, apparently, to ennoble and beautify him, as it takes him and works upon him through his virtues. At heart he is a real patriot, every inch of him. But his c* Google INTRODUCTION xxxix ! patriotism, besides being somewhat hidebound with patrician piide, is of the speculative kind, and dwells, where his whole character has been chiefly formed, in a world of poetical and , philosophic' ideals. He is an enthusiastic student of books, Plato is his favorite teacher ; and he has studiously framed his life and tuned his thoughts to the grand and pure con- ceptions won from that all but divine source : Plato's genius walks with him in the Senate, sits with him at the fireside, goes with him to the wars, and still hovers about his tent. His great fault, then, lies in supposing it his duty to be meddling with things that he does not understand. Con- Iscious of high thoughts and just desires, but with no gift of Iptactical insight, he is ill fitted to "grind among the iron facts of life." In truth, he does not really see where he is; the actual circumstances and tendencies amidst which he lives are as a book written in a language he cannot read. The characters of those who act with him are too far below the region of his principles and habitual thinkings for him to take the true cast of them. Himself incapable of such mo- tives as govern them, he just projects and suspends his ideals in them, and then misreckons upon them as realizing the . men of his own brain. So also he clings to the idea of the j great and free republic of his fathers, the old Rome that has ever stood to his feelings touched with the consecrations of time and glorified with the high virtues that have grown up under her cherishing. But, in the long reign of tearing fac- ! tion and civil butchery, that which he worships has been sub- 1 stantially changed, the reality lost. Csesar, already clothed with the title and the power of Imperator for life, would change the form so as to agree with the substance, the name so as to fit the thing. But Brutus is so filled with the idea c* Google xl THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE of that which has thus passed away never to return that he thinks to save or recover the whole by preventing such formal and nominal change. ; And so his whole course is that of one acting on his 1 own ideas, not on the facts that are before and around him. I Indeed, he does not see them ; he merely dreams his own I meaning into them. He is swift to do that by which he thinks his country ought to be benefited. As the killing of Caesar stands in his purpose, he and his associates are to be " sacrificers, not butchers." But that the deed may have the effect he hopes for, his countrymen generally must regard it in the same light as he does. That they will do this is the very thing which he has in fad no reason to conclude ; notwithstanding, because it is so in his idea, therefore he trusts that the conspirators will " be called purgers, not mur- derers." Meanwhile, the plain truth is, that if his country- men had been capable of regarding the deed as a sacrifice, they would not have made nor permitted any occasion for it. It is certain that, unless so construed, the act must prove fruitful of evil ; all Rome is full of things proving that it cannot be so construed ; but this is what Brutus has no eye to see. So too, in his oration " to show the reason of our Csesar's death," he speaks, in calm antl dispassionate manner, just those things which he thinks ought to set the people right and himself right in their eyes, forgetting all the while that the deed cannot fail to make the people mad, and that pop- ular madness is not a thing to be reasoned with. And for the same cause he insists on sparing Antony, and on per- mitting him to speak in Ccesar's funeral. To do otherwise would be unjust, and so would overthrow the whole nature c* Google INTRODUCTrON" xli of the enterprise as it lives in his mind. And because in his idea it ought so to be, he trusts that Antony will make Csesar's death the occasion of strengthening those who killed Ihim, not perceiving the strong likelihood, which soon passes into a fact, that in cutting off Caesar they have taken away the only check on Antony's ambition. He ought to have foreseen that Antony, instead of being drawn to their side, would rather make love to Csesar's place at their expense. Thus the course of Brutus serves no end but to set on loot another civil war, which naturally hastens and assures the very thing he sought to prevent. He confides in the goodness of his cause, not considering that the better the cause, the worse its chance with bad men. He thinks it safe to trust others because he knows they can safely trust him ; the singleness of his own eye causing him to believe that others will see as he sees, the purity of his own heart, that others will feel as he feels. Here then we have a strong instance of a very good man 1 doing a very bad thing; and, withal, of a wise man acting / most unwisely because his wisdom knew not its place ; a right noble, just, heroic spirit bearing directly athwart the virtues he worships. On the whole, it is not wonderful that Brutus should have exclaimed, as he is said to have done, that he had worshiped virtue and found her at last but a shade. So worshiped, she may well prove a shade indeed ! Admiration of the man's character, reprobation of his pro- ceedings, — which of these is the stronger with us? And there is much the same irony in the representation of Brutus as in that of Caesar; only the order of it is here reversed. As if one shoukl say, " O yes, yes ! in the practi- cal affairs of mankind your charming wisdom of the closet c* Google xlii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE will doubtless put to shame the workings of mere practical insight and sagacity." Shakespeare's exactness in the minutest details of charac- ter is well shown in the speech already referred to ; which is the utterance of a man philosophizing most unphilosophi- cally ; as if the Academy should betake itself to the stump, and this too without any sense of the incongruity. Plutarch has a short passage which served as a hint, not indeed for the matter, but for the style of that speech. " They do note," says he, " in some of his epistles that he counterfeited that brief compendious manner of speech of the Lacedemonians. As, when the war was begun, he wrote unto the Pergamenians in this sort ; ' I understand you have given Dolabella money : if you have done it willingly, you confess you have offended me; if against your wills, show it then by giving me will- ingly.' . . . These were Brutus' manner of letters, which were honoured for their briefness." The speech in question is far enough indeed from being a model of style either for oratory or anything else, but it is finely characteristic ; while its studied primness and epigrammatic finish contrast most unfavorably with the frank-hearted yet artful eloquence of Antony. And what a rare signiticance attaches to the brief scene of Brutus and his drowsy boy Lucius in camp a little before the catastrophe ! There, in the deep of the night, long after al! the rest have lost themselves in sleep, and when the anxieties of the issue are crowding upon him, — there we have the earnest, thoughtful Brutus hungering intensely for the repasts of treasured thought. Look, Lucius, here 's the book I sought for so; I put it in the pocket of my gown. [IV, iii, 252, 2J3.] c* Google INTRODUCTION xliii What the man is, and whete he ought to be, is all signified in these two lines. And do we not taste a dash of benig- nant irony in the implied repugnance between the spirit of the man and the stuff of his present undertaking? The idea of a bookworm riding the whirlwind of war! The thing is most like Brutus ; but how out of his element, how un- sphered from his right place, it shows him ! There is a touch of drollery in the contrast, which the richest steeping of poetry does not disguise. And the irony is all the more delectable for being so remote and un pronounced ; like one of those choice arrangements in the background of a f)ainting, which, without attracting conscious notice, give a zest and relish to what stands in front. The scene, whether for charm of sentiment or felicity of conception, is one of the finest in Shakespeare. Brutus and Cassius The characters of Brutus and Cassius are nicely discrimi- nated, scarce a word falling from either but what smacks of the man. Cassius is much the better conspirator, but much the worse man ; and the better in that because the worse in this. For Brutus engages in the conspiracy on grounds of abstract and ideal justice ; while Cassius holds it both a wrong and a blunder to go about such a thing without mak- ing success his first care. This, accordingly, is what he works for, being reckless of all other considerations in his choice and use of means. Withal he is more impulsive and (quick than Brutus, because less under the self-discipline of moral principle. His motives, too, are of a much more mixed and various quality, because his habits of thinking and acting have grown by the measures of experience ; he c* Google xliv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE \ studies to understand men as they ate ; Brutus, as he thinks I they ought to be. Hence, in every case where Brutus crosses him, Brutus is wrong, and he is right, — right, that is, if success be their aim. Cassius judges, and rightly, I think, that the end should give law to the means ; and that *' the honorable men whose daggers have stabb'd Csesar" should not be hampered much with conscientious scruples. 'i Still Brutus overawes him by his moral energy and eleva- tion of character, and by the open-faced rectitude and purity [ of his principles. Brutus has no thoughts oi aims that he is afraid or ashamed to avow ; Cassius has many which he would fain hide even from himself. And he catches a sort of inspiration and is raised above himself by contact with Brutus. And Cassius, moreover, acts very much from per- sonal hatred of Csesai, as remembering how, not long before, he and Brutus had stood for the chief prastorship of the city, and Brutus through Ciesar's favor had got the election. And so Shakespeare read in Plutarch that " Cassius, being a choleric man, and hating Csesar privately more than he did the tyranny openly, incensed Brutus against htm." The effect of this is finely worked out by the dramatist in the man's affected scorn of Cssar, and in the scoffing humor in which he loves to speak of him. For such is the natural language of a masked revenge. The tone of Cassius is further indicated, and with exqui- site art, in his soliloquy where, after tempering Brutus to his purpose, and finding how his " honorable metal may be wrought," he gently slurs him for being practicable to flatteries, and then proceeds to ruminate the scheme for working upon his vanity, and thereby drawing him into the conspiracy ; thus spilling the significant fact, that his own c* Google INTRODUCTION xlv honor does not stick to practice the arts by which he thinks it is a shame to be seduced. It is a noteworthy point also that Cassius is too practical and too much of a politician to see any ghosts. Acting on far lower principles than his leader, and such as that leader would spurn as both wicked and base, he therefore does no violence to his heart in screwing it to the work he takes in hand ; his heart is even more at home in the work than his head ; whereas Brutus, from the wrenching his heart has suffered, keeps reverting to the moral complexion of his first step. The remembrance of this is a thorn in his side ; while Cassius has no sensibilities of nature for such com- punctions to stick upon. Brutus is never thoroughly himself I after the assassination ;, that his heart is ill at ease is shown I in a certain dogged tenacity of honor and overstraining of j rectitude, as if he were struggling to make atonement with ' his conscience. The stab he gave Csesar planted in his own [upright andgentle nature a germ of remorse, which, gather- ing strength from every subsequent adversity, came to em- body itself in imaginary sights and sounds ; the spirit of justice, made an ill angel to him by his own sense of wrong, hovering in the background of his after life, and haunting his solitary moments in the shape of Caesar's ghost. And so it is well done, that he is made to see the " monstrous apparition" just after his heart has been pierced through with many sorrows at hearing of Portia's shocking death. Portia The delineation of Portia is completed in a few brief masterly strokes. Once seen, the portrait ever after lives an old and dear acquaintance of the reader's inner man. c* Google xlvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE Portia has strength enough to do and suffer for others, but very little for herself. As the daughter of Cato and the wife of Brutus, she has set in her eye a pattern of how she ought to think and act, being "so father'd and so husbanded "; but still her head floats merged over the ears in her heart ; and it is only when affection speaks that her spirit is hushed into the listening which she would fain yield only to the speech of reason. She has a clear idea of the stoical calm- ness and fortitude which appears so noble and so graceful . in her Bnitus ; it all lies faithfully reproduced in her mind ; she knows well how to honor and admire it ; yet she can- not work it into the texture of her character ; she can talk it like a book, but she tries in vain to live it. Plutarch gives one most touching incident respecting her which Shakespeare did not use, though he transfused the sense of it into his work. It occurred some time after Caesar's death, and when the civil war was growing to a head : " Brutus, seeing the state of Rome would be utterly overthrown, went . . . unto the city of Elea standing by the sea. There Portia, being ready to depart from her husband Brutus and to return to Rome, did what she could to dis- semble the grief and sorrow she felt at her heart. But a certain painted table (picture) bewrayed her in the end. . . . The device was taken out of the Greek stories, how Androm- ache accompanied her husband Hector when he went out of the city of Troy to go to the wars, and how Hector de- livered her his little son, and how her eyes were never off him. Portia, seeing this picture, and likening herself to be in the same case, she fell a-weepingi and coming thither oftentimes in a day to see it, she wept still." The force of this incident is reproduced in the Portia of the play; we c* Google INTRODUCTION xlvii have its full effect in the matter about her self-inflicted wound as compaied with her subsequent demeanor. Portia gives herself that gash without flinching, and bears it without a murmur, as an exercise and proof of fortitude ; and she translates her pains into smiles, all to comfort and support her husband. So long as this purpose lends her strength, she is fully equal to her thought, because here her heart keeps touch perfectly with her head. But, this motive gone, the weakness, U it be not rather the strength, of her woman's nature rushes full upon her ; her feelings rise into an uncontrollable flutter, and run out at every joint and motion of her body ; and nothing can arrest the inward mutiny till affection again whispers her into composure, lest she say something that may hurt or endanger her Brutus. Antony Shakespeare's completed characterization of Antony is in Antony and Cleopatra. In the later play Antony is delin- eated with his native aptitudes for vice warmed into full de- velopment by the great Egyptian sorceress, \n Julius Cesar Shakespeare emphasizes as one of Antony's characteristic traits his unreserved adulation of Caesar, shown in reckless purveying to his dangerous weakness, — the desire to be called a king. Already Ctesar had more than kingly power, and it was the obvious part of a friend to warn him against this ambition. Here and there are apt indications of his proneness to those vicious levities and debasing luxuries which afterwards ripened into such a gigantic profligacy. He has not yet attained to that rank and full-blown com- bination of cruelty, perfidy, and voluptuousness, which the world associates with his name, but he is plainly on the c* Google xlviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE . way to it. His profound and wily dissimulation, while knit- ting up the hollow truce with the assassins on the very spot where " great Csesar fell," is managed with admirable I skill ; his deep spasms of grief being worked out in just the right way to quench their suspicions, and make them run into the toils, when he calls on them to render him their bloody hands. Nor have they any right to complain, for he is but paying them in their own coin ; and we think none the worse of him that he fairly outdoes them at their own practice. But Antony's worst parts as here delivered are his exultant treachery in proposing to use his colleague Lepidus as at once the pack-horse and the scape-goat of the Triumvirate, and his remorseless savagery in arranging for the slaughter of all that was most illustrious in Rome, bartering away his own uncle, to glut his revenge with the blood of Cicero ; though even here his revenge was less hideous than the cold-blooded policy of young Octavius. Vet Antony has in the play, as he had in fact, some right noble streaks in him ; for his character was a very mixed one ; and there was to the last a fierce war of good and evil within him. Especially he had an eye to see, a heart to feel, and a soul to honor the superb structure of manhood which Rome possessed in Julius Csesar, who stood to him, indeed, as a kind of supe- rior nature, to raise him above himself. He "fear'd Caesar, honour'd him, and lov'd him"; and with the murdered Caesar for his theme, he was for once inspired and kindled to a rapture of the truest, noblest, most overwhelming elo- quence. Noteworthy also is the grateful remembrance at last of his obligations to Brutus for having saved him from the daggers of the conspirators. c* Google INTRODUCTION The People That many-headed, but withal big-souled creature, the multitude, is charmingly characterized in Julius Casar. The common people, it is true, are rather easily swayed hither and thither by the contagion of sympathy and of persuasive speech ; yet their feelings are in the main right, and even their judgment in the long run is better than that of the pampered Roman aristocracy, inasmuch as it pro- ceeds more from the instincts of manhood. Shakespeare evidently loved to play with the natural, unsophisticated, though somewhat childish heart of the people ; but his play- ing is always genial and human-hearted, with a certain an- gelic humor in it that seldom fails to warm us towards the subject. * On the whole, he understood the people well, and they have well repaid him in understanding him better than the critics have often done. The cobbler's droll humor, at the opening of this play, followed as it is by a strain of the loftiest poetry, is aptly noted by Campbell as showing that the dramatist, " even in dealing with classical subjects, laughed at the classic fear of putting the ludicrous and sublime into juxtaposition." IX. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS As a whole, Julius Casar is inferior to Coriolanus, but it abounds in scenes and passages fraught with the highest virtue of Shakespeare's genius. Among these may be spe- cially mentioned the second scene of the first act, where Cassius lays the egg of the conspiracy in Brutus's mind, warmed with such a wrappage of instigation as to assure its being quickly hatched ; also the first scene of the second c* Google 1 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act, unfolding the birth of the conspiracy, and winding up Iwith the interview, so charged with domestic glory, of Brutus and Portia, The oration of Antony in Caesar's funeral is such an interfusion of art and passion as realizes the very perfec- tion of its kind. Adapted at once to the comprehension of the lowest mind and to the delectation of the highest, and running its pathos into the very quick of them that hear it, it tells with terrible effect on the people ; and when it is done we feel that Caesar's bleeding wounds are might- ier than ever his genius and fortune were. The quarrel of Brutus and Cassius is deservedly celebrated. Dr. John- son thought it " somewhat cold and unaftecting." Coleridge thought otherwise. See note, p. 123, But there is nothing in the play that is more divinely touched than the brief scene, already noticed, of Brutus and his boy Lucius — so gentle, so dutiful, so loving, so thoughtful and careful for his master, and yet himself no more conscious of his virtue than a flower of its fragrance. There is no more exquisite I passage in all Shakespeare than that which tells of the boy's ' falling asleep in the midst of his song and exclaiming on being aroused, "The strings, my lord, are false," giiizcdt* Google AUTHORITIES {With the more important abbreviations used in the notes) Fi = First Folio, 1623. Fj = Second Folio, 1632. Fa = Third Folio, 1664. F4 = Fourth Folio, 1685, Ff = all the seventeenth century Folios. Rowe = Rowe's editions, 1709, 1714. Pope = Pope's editions, 1723, 1728. Theobald = Theobald's editions, 1733. 1740. Johnson = Johnson's edition, 1765. Capell = Capell's edition, 1768. Malone = Malone's edition, 1790. Sleevens = Steevens's edition, 1793- Giobe = Globe edition (Clark and Wright), 1864. Clar= Clarendon Press edition (W. A, Wright), 1869. Dyce = Dyce's (third) edition, 1875. Delius = Delius's (fifth) edition, 1882. Camb = Cambridge (third) edition (W. A. Wright), 1891. Abbott = E. A. Abbott's A Shakispcarian Grammar. Schmidt = Schmidt's Shakespeare LexiiCn, Skeat = Skeat's An Etymological Dictionary. Murray = A New English Dictionary ( The Oxford Diclionnry). Century = The Century Dictionary. Plutarch = North's Plutarch, 1579, lb, Google giiizcdt* Google c.jt,t.O(.»^lc ki m ; liJli m. m m m iiii m ill 11 if! 5 i ?is. J « '?' ? i 1 i 1 '^ ^1 s* 1' 6 s Ul {■ 1 } 1 IJill a hi J 1 ; i ~ — i 1 ' 1 1 II J ~^ 1 U i i 1:1 4 M I' 1% ill sir' Sf II 5 1 1 „i,C.ofiglc t.GoJglc ' JULIUS C^SAR giiizcdt* Google DRAMATIS PERSON^' Julius Cmsar, octavius cxsah, Marcus Anto- M. ^MILIUS Lepi- PUBLIUS, PoPiLius Lena, Marcus Brutus, Cassius, Trebonius, ligarius, Decius Brutus,' MeTELLUS ClMEER, ClNNA, Flavius and Maruli conspirators against Ju- lius Cxsar. Artemidorus of Cnidos, a teacher of Rhetoric.' A Soothsayer. CiNNA, a poet. Another Poet. Luc I LI us, TiTlNIUS, Mbssala, Voung Cato, Strato, f Brutus. Dardanius, j PiNDARUS, servant to Cassius. Senators, Commoners, Guards, Attendants, &c. Scene: Rami ; the neigkborhood of Sardis ; the neighborhood of Pkilippi. 1 Dramatis Persons. Rowe was the first to give a list of Dramatis Persons. His list was imperfect and Theobald enlarged it. 5 Antoncus. In 1, ii, 3, 4, 6, the First Folio gives the name in the Italian form, ■ Antonio.' See note, p. 9, 1. 3. ■ DeciuS Brutus. The true classical name was Decimus Brutus. In Amyot'siw Vies dis hammes illuslrts grtcs el lalini {\t,Yj) and in North's Plutarch (1579) the name is given as in Shakespeare. < Marullus. Theobald's emendation for the Murellus (Murrellus, I, ii, 281) of the First Folio. Marullus is the spelling in North's Piutarch. > Artemidorus. Rowe (1709) had 'Arlimedorus (Arlemidonis, 1714) a Soothsayer.' This Theotaid altered to 'Artemidorus, a Sophist of Cnidos,' and made the Soothsayer a separate character. • Calpurnia. Occasionally in North's Plutarch (twice in /H«nj6<rjar) and alK'ays in the First Folio the name is given as 'Calphumia.' c* Google Scene I. Rome. A street Enter Fuavius, Marullus, and certain Commoners over the stage Flavius. Hence! home, you idlecreatures.getyouhome : Is this a holiday? what \ know you not, Being mechanical, you ought not walk Upon a labouring day without the sign Of your profession? Speak, what trade art thou? 5 Carpenter. Why, sir, a carpenter. Marullus. Where is thy leather apron and thy rule? What dost thou with thy best apparel on? You, sir, what trade are you? 9 ACT 1, Scene 1 1 Actus Primus. Commoners Ff I Plebeians Hanmet. Scosna Prima Yi— Ramc. A siml 6. Cari>enter | Car. Ff I First Capell I Rome Rowe | Ff tmiil.— Com. Camb I i Pleb. Hanmer. AcTT I. In the First Folio T/ie Tragedie of Julius Cirsar is divided into acts but nol inio scenes, though ■ Scosna (so spelled in the Folios) Prima' is given here after 'Actus Primus.' — over the stage. This, the Folio stage direction, suggests a mob. 3, Being mecbanical : being mechanics. Shakespeare often uses adjectives with the sense of plural substantives. Cf. 'subject' in Hamlet. I, i.72. Twice in North's Plutarch occurs "base mechanical people." — ought not walk. See Abbott, § 349. 4-5. Shakespeare transfers to ancient Rome the English customs and usages of his own lime. In Porter and Clarke's ' First Folio ' Julius Cssar, it is mentioned that Shakespeare's uncle Henry, a farmer in Spittetfield, according to a court order of October 35, 1 583, WBTflTied " viii d for not havinge and wearinge cappes on Son- day es and holly dayes." p. You. On ' you ' as distinct from ' thou,' see Abbott, § 232. c* Google 4 THE NEW HUDSON S-HAKESPEARE act I Cobbler. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am but, as you would say, a cobbler. 1 1 Marullus, But what trade art thou? answer me directly. Cobbler, A trade, sir, that I hope I may use with a safe conscience; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles. 1 5 Flavius. What trade, thou knave? thou naughty knave, what trade ? Cobbler. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me : yet, if you be out, sir, I can mend you. i8 ' Marullus. What mean'st thou by that? mend me, thou saucy fellow? Cobbler, Why, sir, cobble you. Flavius, Thou art a cobbler, art thou? zi Cobbler. Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl : I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's I}, Mies I soules FiFs I soals F4. 10. in leapsct of ^ in comparison wilh. So in TSe /Va/Zw- {Book o£ Common Prayer), ixxix, 6. Cf. HamUt, V, ii, 120. 11. cobbler. This nord was used of a coarse workman, or a bungler, in any mechanical trade. So tlie Cobbler's answer does not give the information required, though it contains a quibble. 13. directly : in a straightforward manner, without evasion. 15. Kites. The First Folio spelling, ' soules,' brings out the pun. This 'immemorial quibble,' as Craik calls it, is found also in The Merihant of Venici, IV, i, 123: " Not on thy sole, but on thy soul." 16. Modem editors give this speech lo Marullus, but the Folio arrangement is more natural and dramatic, the two Tribunes altar- nately rating the people, aa Knight puts it, like two smiths smiting on (he same anvil. 17-18. A quibble upon two common meanings of 'out '— {') 'at variance,' as in " Ijuncelot and I are out," Tht Merchant of Venice, III, V, 34; and (2) as in 'out at heels,' or 'out al toes.' c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 5 matters, but withal I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes ; when they are in great danger, I recover them. As proper men as ever trod upon neat's-leather have gone upon my handiwork. 2S Flavius. But wherefore art not in thy shop to-day? Why dost thou lead these men about the streets? Cobbler. Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get myself into more work. But, indeed, sir, we make holiday, to see Caesar and to rejoice in his triumph. J3 Marullus. Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? What tributaries follow him to Rome, 3S To grace in captive bonds his chariot-wheels? You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things ! O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome, Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft ij. withal 1 Fi I Hithall 1 FjFalwIthawl. 1 (Farmer'sconj.) ^^. .„™^j Catnb Globe I with all. 1 Capell. Kowe | Pompey in 35. The text of the First Folio needs no emendation. It is good prose and involves a neat pun. 36. proper: goodly, handsome. This word has often this meaning inEliiabethanlitetature.andisstill soused in provincial England. Cf. Tie Teinfim,Il,ii,6y, AV*rnuj (King James version), xi.zj; Bums's Thi Jelly Btggars : "And still my delight is in proper young men." 37. trod upon neat'i-leatliet. This expression and "as proper a man as" are repealed in the second scene of the second act of Tkt Tempest. — neat's-leather: ox-hide. 'Neat' is Anglo-Saxon nedl, 'ox,' 'cow,' 'cattle,' and is still used In 'neat-herd,' 'neat's-foot oil.' See The Winter's Tale, I, ii, 125. The torm'nowt'is still in com- mon use in'Ihe North of England and the South of Scotland. Cf. Bums's The Twa Dogs: "To thrum guitars an' fecht wi nowte." 39. Many a time aod oft. This form of emphasis occurs also in The Merchant of Venice, I, iii, 107. Cf- Tiinen of Athens, III, 1, c* Google 6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I. Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements, 40 To towers and windows, yea, to chimney -tops, Your infants in your arms, and there have sat The live-long day, with patient expectation. To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome : And when you saw his chariot but appear, 45 Have you not made an universal shout, That Tiber trembled underneath her banks To hear the replication of your sounds Made in her concave shores? And do you now put on your best attire? 50 And do you now cull out a holiday? And do you now strew flowers in his way That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood? Be gone I Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, 55 Ff. 47. That: so that. For the otnission of 'so' before 'that,' see Abbott, §383. — her. In Latin usage rivers are masculine, and ' Father ' is a common appellation of • Tiber.' In Elizabethan litera- ture Drayton generally makes rivers feminine, wtiile Spenser tends to make them masculine. 48. To hear: at hearing. A gerundive use of the infinitive. — leplicatjon : echo, repetition (Lat. replkarc, to roll back). 51. Is this a day to pick out for a holiday ? 53. The reference is to the great battle of Munda, in Spain, which took place in March of the preceding year, B.C. 45. Cxsar was now celebrating his fifth triumph, which was in honor of his final victoiy over the Pompeian, or conservative, faction. Cnlus and Sextus, the two sons of Pompey the Great, were leaders in that battle, and Cn^eus perished. " And because he had plucked up his race by the roots, men did not think it meet for him to triumph so for the calami- ties of his country." — Plutarch, /h/jhj Cicsar. c* Google ^SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 7 Pray to the gods to intermit the plague That needs must light on this ingratitude. Flavius. Go, go, good countrymen, and, for this fault, Assemble all the poor men of your sort ; Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears 60 Into the channel, till the lowest stream Do kiss the most exalted shores of all, \_Exeunl all the Commoners] See, where their basest metal be not mov'd I They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness. Go you down that way towards the Capitol ; 65 This way will I : disrobe the images, fa. \Extunt . . . ] Ff I Exeunt 63. where Ff 1 whe're Theobald I Citizens Capell. whgr Dyce I whether Camb. 57. " It is evident from Che opening scene, that Shakespeare, even in dealing with classical subjects, laughed at the classic fear of put- ting the ludicrous and sublime into juxtaposition. After the low and farcical jests of tiie saucy cobbler, the eloquence of Marultus ' springs upwards like a pyramid of fire.' " — Campbell. 61-61. Till the river rises from the extreme low-water mark to the extreme high-water mark. flj where; whether. As in V, iv, 30, the 'where ' of the Folios represents the monosyllabic pronunciation of this word common in the sixteenth century. In Shakespeare's verse Ihe ' th ' between two vowels, as in 'brother,' 'other,' 'whither,' is frequently mute.— baseBt metBl. — The Folio spelling is 'mettle,' and the word here may connole ' spirit,' ' temper.' If it be taken literally, the reference may be to 'lead.' Cf, 'base lead,' The Aferchanl k/ Venice. U.ix, 19. In this case the meaning may be that even these men. though as dull and heavy as lead, have yet the sense to be tongue-lied with shame at their conduct. ' Mettle ' occurs again in I, ii, 293: 'metal ' (First Folio, ' mettle ') in I, ii, 306, 66. inugei. These images were the busts and statues of Cisar, ceremoniously decked with scarfs and badges in honor of his triumph. c* Google 8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies. Marullus. May we do so? You know it is the feast of Lupercal. Flavius. It is no matter ; let no images 70 Be hung with Caesar's trophies. I 'II about, And drive away the vulgar from the streets : So do you too, where you perceive them thick. These growing feathers pluck'd from Oesar's wing ' Will make him fly an ordinary pitch, 75 Who else would soar above the view of men, And keep us all in servile fearfulness. [^Exeunt'] if]. CBremonies : ceremonial symbols, festal ornaments. Cf. 'tro- phies' in 1. 71 and 'scarfs' in I, ii, 282. Shakespeare employs the word in the same way, as an abstract term used for the concrete thing, in Henry V, IV, i, 109; and, in the singular, in Measure for Measure, 11, ii, 59. "After that, there were set up images of Cxsar in the city, with diadems on their heads tike kings. Those the two tribunes, Flavius and Marullus, went and pulled down." — Plutarch, Julius Casar. 69. Lupercai. The Lupersalia, originally a shepherd festival, were held in honor of Lupercus, the Roman Pan. on the 1 5lh of February, the month being named from Feiruus, a surname of the god. Lu- percus was, primarily, the god of shepherds, said to have been so called because he protected Ihe flocks from wolves. Hia wife Lu- percawas the deified she-wolf that suckled Romulus. The festival, in its original idea, was concerned with purification and fertilization. 71. Csur's tTophiea. These are the scarfs and badges mentioned in note on 1. 66, as appears from II. aSl-zSs in the next scene, where it is said that the Tribunes "for pulling scarfs ofF Cxsar's images, are put to silence," 71. the TUlgW: the common people. So in Love's Labour's Lost, I. ii, 51: //irBr/ r, IV, vii, 80. 75. pitcb. A technical term in falconry, denoting the height to which a hawk or falcon flies. Cf. / Henry VI, II, iv, 11; " Between two hawks, which flies the higher pitch," c* Google SCENE II JULIUS CyESAR 9 Scene II. A public place Enter C^SAR ; Antony, for the course; Calpurnia, Portia, Decius, Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, and Casca ; a great crowd following, among them a Soothsayer. C'CSAR. Calpumia ! Casca. Peace, ho! Csesar speaks. Cesar. Calpumia ! Calpurnia. Here, my lord. Cesar, Stand you directly in Antonius' way. When he doth run his course. Antonius ! Antonv. Caesar, my lord ? 5 Cesar. Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, To touch Calpumia ; for our elders say, The barren, touched in this holy chase, Shake ofE their sterile curse. Antony. I shall remember : When CJEsar says ' Do this,' it is perform'd. lo ScENE...//<i»|F(ainII. i, 6. Antonius Pope | Antonio Ff 3- AntonioC Pope I Antonio's Ff. (and so elsewhere). 3. Antooiaa'. The 'Antonio's' of Che Folios is the Italian form with which both actors and audience would be more familiar. So in IV, iii, 102, the Folios read ■' dearer than Pluto's (i.e. Piutus') mine." Antonius was at this lime Consul, as Cxsar himself also was. Each Roman ^fff/ had its own priesthood, and also its peculiar religious rites. The priests of the Julian gens (so named from lulus the son of i^neas) had lately been advanced Co the same rank with those of the god Lupercus ; and Antony was at this time at their head. It was probably as chief of the Julian Lupercj that he ofRcialed on this occasion, stripped, as the old stage direction has it, " for the course." »-<(, It was an old custom at these festivals for the priests, naked except for a girdle about the loins, to run through the streets of c* Google lO THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i C/ESAR. Set on ; and leave no ceremony out. \_Flourish'\ SoOTHSAVER. Cfesar ! C-BSAR. Ha ! who calls? Casca. Bid every noise be still. Peace yet again ! C-esAE. Who is it in the press that calls on me? 15 I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music, Cry ' Ciesar ! ' Speak ; Cassar is turn'd to hear. Soothsayer. Beware the Ides of March. Cesar. What man is that? Brutus, A soothsayer bids you beware the Ides of March. CiiSAK. Set him before me ; let me see his face. 20 Cassius, Fellow, come from the throng ; look upon Caesar. C«SAR. What say'st thou to me now? speak once again. Soothsayer. Beware the Ides of March. C«SAR. He is a dreamer ; let us leave him. Pass. [^Sennet. Exeunt all but Brutus and CassiusJ Cassius. Will you go see the order of the course? 25 II. [Flourish] Ff omit. as- Scene III Pope, the city, waving in the hand a thong of goat's hide, and striking with it such women as offered themselves for the blow, in Che belief that this would prevent or avert '■ the sterile curse," Cssar was at this time childless ; his only daughter. Julia, married to Pompey the Great, having died some years before, upon the birth of her first child, who also died soon after. iS, theTdes of Match : March 15th. ip. Coleridge has a remark on this line, which, whether true to the subject or not, is veiy characteristic of the writer: "If my ear does not deceive me. the metre of this line was meant to express that sort of mild philosophic contempt, characterizing Brutus even in his first casual speech." — Boothsayet. By derivation. ' truth teller." 14. Sennet. This is an expression occurring repeatedly in old stage direcrions. It is of uncertain origin (but cf. 'signature' in musical notation) and denotes a peculiar succession of notes on a trumpet, used, as here, to signal the match of a procession. c* Google SCENE It JULIUS C^SAR II. Brutus. Not I. Cassius. I pray you, do. Brutus. I am not gamesome : I do lack some part Of that quick spirit that is in Antony. Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires ; 30 I 'U leave you. Cassius. Brutus, I do observe you now of late : I have not from your eyes that gentleness And show of love as I was wont to have ; You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand 35 Over your friend that loves you. Brutus. Cassius, Be not deceiv'd : if I have veil'd my look, I turn the trouble of my countenance Merely upon myself. Vexed I am 36. friend Fi | Friends FaFa. 28. gameidine : fond of games. Here as in Cymbilint, I, vi, 60, the word seems to be used in a literal and restricted sense. . 39. quick spirit: lively humor. The primary meaning of 'quick' is ' alive,' as in the phrase " the quick and the dead." See Skeat. 34, as. The three forms 'that,' 'who' ('which'), and 'as' are often interchangeable in Elizabethan usage. So in line 174. See Abbott, §§111, i8o, 35. Vou hold me too hard on the bit, like a strange rider who is doubtful of his steed, and not like one who conlides in his faithful horse, and so rides him with an easy rein. See note on 1. 310. 3O. Caius Cassius Longitius had married Junia, a sister of Bru- tus. Both had lately stood for the chief pifetorship of the city, and Brutus, through Cesar's favor, had won it ; though Cassius was at the same time elected otie of the sixteen prxtors or judges of the city. This is said to have produced a coldness between Brutus and Cassius, so that ihey did not speak to each other, till this extraordinary flight of patriotism brought ihem together. 3Q. Merely : altogether, entirely. So in Tin Temptst, I, i, 59. c* Google 12 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i Of late with passions of some difference, 40 Conceptions only proper to myself, Which give some soil, perhaps, to my behaviours ; But let not therefore my good friends be griev'd — Among which number, Cassius, be you one — Nor construe any further my neglect, 45 Than that poor Enitus, with himself at war, Forgets the shows of love to other men. Cassius. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion; By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations. 50 Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face? Brutus. No, Cassius ; for the eye sees not itself But by reflection, by some other things. s in Ff. I himself, Fa I himself: F4. >3' Bome F( I from some Pope. 40. psasioDB of Bome diHerence: conflicting emotions. 41. oDly proper to myself : belonging exclusively to myself. 4a_ give some loll to: to a certain extent tarnish, — bebBTioius. Shakespeare often uses abstract nouns in the pluial. This usage is common in Carlyle, Here, howevei, and elsewhere in Shakespeare, as in Much Ado About loathing, II, iii, 100, the plural ' behaviours ' may be regarded as denoting the particular acts which make up what we call 'behavior.' See Clar. 4*. mistook The n of the termination of the past participle of strong verbs is often dropped, and when the resulting word might be mistaken for Ihe infinitive, the form of the past tense is fre- quently substituted. — pasBion. Shakespeare uses ' passion ' for any feeling, sentiment, or emotion, whether painful or pleasant. So in Henry V, II, ii. 132 : " Free from gross passion Or of mirlh or anger." 49. By means whereof : and because of my mistakmg tt. ' Means ' was somelimes used in Ihe sense of ' cause.' 53- Except by an image or' shadow' (I. 68; cf. Venus and Adonis, 162) reflected from a mirror, or from water, or some polished sur- ftice. Cf. Troilus and Crcssidn, III, iii, 105-111. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS ca:sar 13 Cassius. 'Tisjust: And it is very much lamented, Brutus, 55 That you have no such mirrors as will turn Your hidden worthiness into yoiir eye, That you might see your shadow. I have heard, Where many of the best respect in Rome, Except immortal Csesar, speaking of Brutus, 60 And groaning underneath this age's yoke. Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes. Brutus. Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, That you would have me seek into myself For that which is not in me? 65 Cassius. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepar'd to hear : And, since you know you cannot see yourself So well as by reflection, I, your glass. Will modestly discover to yourself That of yourself which you yet know not of. 70 And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus : Were I a common laughter, or did use jB. Two iinea in F(. 70. yon yet FiFj I yet you FiF<, 63. Two lines in Ff . — Cauiaa, 7>- UBEHtei I Laughter F£ 1 Pope Camb Globe | Cassius 1 Ff, laugher Rowe Camb Globe. 54, 'TiB ]U8t: Ihat's so, exactly so. Cf. All'i IVeU that Ends Wtlt, II, iii, 21 i As Ybu Like It, III, ii, z8l ; 3 Henry IV. Ill, ii, 89. 5p, Wbeie. The adverb is here used of occasion, not of place. — of the best respect : held in the highest estimation. Do, Escept Immortal CEeaar, Keen, double-edged irony. 71. jealous on: suspicious of. In Shakespeare we find >on' and ' of ' used indifferently, even in the same sentence, as in Hamlet, IV, v,200, Cf. ^atAf/^f. I, iii. 84; .^owHrfj, Lxxxiv, 14. See Abbott, § 181. 73. laughter: laughing-stock. Although most modem editors have adopted Rowe's emendation, 'laugher,' the reading of the Folios is perfectly intelligible and thoroughly Shakespearian. Cf. IV, iii, 114, c* Google 14 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i ^To stale with ordinary oaths my love To every new protester ; if you know That 1 do fawn on men and hug them hard, 75 And after scandal them ; or if you know That I profess ihyself in banqueting To all the rout, then hold me dangerous. [^Fiourisk andskouf\ Brutus. What means this shouting? I do fear, the people Choose Ciesar for their king. Cassius. , Ay, do you fear it? 80 Then must I think you would not have it so. Bruitjs. 1 would not, Cassius ; yet I love htm well. But wherefore do you hold me here so long? What is it that you would impart to me? If it be aught toward the general good, 85 Set honour in one eye and death i' the other, And I will look on both indifferently ; 7j. myself | my selfe Fi | omitted 85, aught Theobald I ought Ff. in F2F3F1. 87. botb Ff I death Theobald 79-80. Three irregular lines in Ff. |Warburton). 73. To stale : lo make common by frequent repetition, to cheapen. So again in IV, i, 38. Cf. Antony and CUopatra, II, ii, 240, 74. ' To protest ' is used by Shakespeare in the sense of ' to pro- fess,' ■ to declare,' ' to vow,' as in All U Will that Ends Well, IV, ii, 28, and A Midsummer Nigkt'sDream, I, i, 89. The best com- mentary on 11. 72-74 is Hamlet, I, iii, 64-65 : '■ But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade." 715-78. If you know that, when banqueting, I make professions of friendship lo all the crowd. &;. ■' Warburton would read ' death ' for ' both ' ; but I prefer the old text. There are here three things, the public good, the indi- vidual Brutus' honour, and his death. The latter two so balanced each other, that he could decide for the first by equipoise; nay — the thought growing — that honour had more weight than death." ^Coleridge. — indifterently : without emotion. 'Impartially,' — Clar. c* Google SCENE 11 JULIUS C^SAR 15 For let the gods so speed me as I love The name of honour more than I fear death. Cassius. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, 90 As well as I do know your outward favour. Well, honour is the subject of my story. I cannot tell what you and other men Think of this life ; but, for my single self, I had as lief not be as live to be 95 In awe of such a thing as I myself. I was born free as Ctesar ; so were you ; We both have fed as well ; and we can both Endure the winter's cold as well as he : For once, upon a raw and gusty day, 100 The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores, Csesar said to me, ' Dar'st thou, Cassius, now Leap in with me into this angry flood. And swim to yonder point? ' Upon the word. Accoutred as I was, I plunged in, 105 M- tm F| I omitted in FiFsFt. iia. said | saide Fi | saies F2F3. 101. ctaaBDS FiF* I chasing F2F3. 105. Accoutred Fi | Accounted Fj. 88. speed; prosper, bless. So inll,iv, 41. "Thenotionof 'haste' which now belongs to the word is apparently a derived sense. It is thus curiously parallel to the Latin exfedio, with which some would conned it elymologically. .. . The proverb "more haste, worse speed' shows that haste and speed are not the same." — Clar. Qi. favour: appearance. The word has often this meaning in Shakespeare. Cf. 'well-favored,' 'ill-favored,' and such a provin- cial expression as 'the child favors his father.' 95. lief: readily. The pronunciation of the y as v brings out the quibble. From the Anglo-Saxon leff, 'dear.' See Murray. 101, chaflng. See Skeal for the interesting development of the meanings of the verb 'chafe (Fr. .-/maysr),' which Shakespeare uses cjt.Gooj^k' l6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i And bade hira follow : so indeed he did. The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it With lusty sinews, throwing it aside And stemming it with hearts of controversy ; But ere we could arrive the point propos'd, no Cffisar cried, ' Help me, Cassius, or I sink ! ' I, as ^neas, our great ancestor, Did from the ftames of Troy upon his shoulder The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber Did I the tired Ccesar : and this man 115 Is now become a god, and Cassius is A wretched creature, and must bend his body If Csesar carelessly but nod on him. He had a fever when he was in Spain ; And, when the fit was on him, I did mark iso How he did shake : 't is true, this god did shake : His coward lips did from their colour fly ; 109. hearts of coDtioreisy : conlioversial hearts, emulation. In Shakespeare are many similar constructions and eupressions. Cf. 'passions of some difference,' 1. 40, and ' mind of love ' for ' loving mmd,' TAi Merchant of Venice, II. viij, 42. no. aitlve the point. In sixteenth and early seventeenth century literature the omission of the preposition wilh verbs of motion is common. Cf. 'pass the streets' in I, i, 44. up. In Elizabethan literature 'fever' is often used for sickness in general as well as for what is now specifically called a fever. Csesar had three several campaigns in Spain at different periods of his life, and the text does not show which of these Shakespeare had in mind. One passage in Plutarch indicates that Cisarwas first taken with the 'falling-sickness' during his third campaign, which closed with the great battle of Munda, March 17, B.C. 45. See note, p. 25, L !SJ, and quotation from Plutarch, p. zd, 1. z68. 133. The image, very bold, somewhat forced, and not altogether happy, b of ft cowardly soldier running away from his flag. c* Google SCENE n JULIUS C^SAR 17 And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world Did lose his lustre. I did hear him groan : Ayi and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans 125 Mark him and write his speeches in their books, Alas, it cried, ' Give me some drink, Titinius,' As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me A man of such a feeble temper should So get the start of the majestic world 130 And bear the palm alone. [^SAout. J^lourish^ Brutus. Another general shout ! I do believe that these applauses are For some new honours that are heap'd on Csesar. iH- hwe \ loose Fi. iij. bads Theobald I bad Ff. 133. bend:look. So'\-n Antony and Cleopatra, II, \\,2\2:"\e-ad.eA her i' the eyes, And made their bends idomings." In Shakespeare the vetb 'bend,' when used of the eyes, has usually the sense of 'direct,' as mHamltl, II, i, 100; "bended Iheir light on me"; III, iv, 117: "That you do bend your eye on vacancy." 1J14. Ub: its. 'Its' was just creeping into use at the dose of the sixteenth century. It does not occur once in the King James vet> sion of the Bible as originally printed; it occurs ten times in the First Folio, generally in the form 'it's'; it occurs Only three times in Milton's poeliy. See Masson's Essay an Milton's English ; Abbott, 5 228; Sweet's N'fui English Grammar, % iioi. 139. temper : temperament, constitution. " The lean and wrinkled Cassius" venting his spite'atCxsar, by ridiculing his liability to sick- ness and death, is charmingly characteristic. The mighty Ciesar, with all his electric energy of mind and will, was of a rather fragile and delicate make ; and his countenance, as we have it in authentic busts, is of almost feminine beauty, Cicero, who did not love him at all, in one of his Letters applies to him the Greek word that is used for ' miracle ' or ' wonder ' in the New Testament ; the English of the passage being, " This miracle (monster ?) is a thing of terrible energy, swiftness, diUgence." c* Google l8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i (_ 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 Caesar : what should be in that ' Ctesar ? ' 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 ' Cjesar.' Now, in the names of all the gods at once, Upon what meat doth this our Ciesar feed, 135. Observe the force of ' narrow ' here ; as if Cisar were grown so enormously big that even ihe woild seemed a liltle thing under him. Some while before this, the Senate had erected a bronze statue of Cassar, standing on a globe, and inscribed Co " Caesar the Demigod," but this inscription Cisar erased. 136. It is only a legend that the bronze Colossus of Rhodes bestrode the entrance to the famous harbor. The stoiy 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. 14a. 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 ManntringxcA makes the atmosphere of the story. 141. Bhould be : can be. So in The Tempest, I. li. 387 : " Where should this music be ? i' the air or the earth ? " 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. c* Google SCENE 11 JULIUS C^SAR ig That he is grown so great? Age, thou art shatn'd I 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 I5S. walks Ft I Walkes FiFiFj | walls Rone. 151. the gnat flood. By this an ancient Roman would understand the universal deluge of classical mythology^ from which only Deuca- lion and his wife Pyrrha escaped alive. The story is told in Ovid's Mclamorfkoiii, I. Shakespeare mentions Deucalion twice. 155. walka. The reasons why Rowe's emendation, 'walls,' is almost universally accepted, are that 'walls' would be easily cor- rupted 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 Last. IV, 586. iS6. 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 Johti, III, L, 180. 15SI. The allusion is to Lucius Junius Brutus, who bore a leading part in driving out Ihe Tarquins and in turning the kingdom into a republic. Afterwards, as consul, he condemned his own sons to death for attempting to restore Ihe kingdom. The Marcus Junius Brutus of the play, according 10 Plularch, supposed himself to be descended from him. His mother. Servilia, also derived her lineage from Servihus Ahala, who slew Spurius Milius for aspiring to royalty. Merivale remarks Ihat "the name of Brutus forced its pos- sessor into prominence as soon as royalty began to be discussed." — btDok'd : endured, tolerated. See Murray for the history of this word. c* Google THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i Th' eternal devil to keep his state in Rome i6o As easily as a king. 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 yoii 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 1G6. not, 10 with . , . you | not so (with . , . jou) Ff. 160. eteinal. Johnson suggested 'infernal.' Dr. Wright (Clar.) points out thai in three plays printed in 1600 Shakespeare uses 'infernal,' but substitutes 'eternal' m Julius Casar, Hamlet, and Olhtllo, in ol>edience probably to the popular Puritan agitation against profanity on the stage. This has been used as evidence to determine dates of composition. See Introduclion, page xx. Cf. with this use of ' eternal ' Ihe old Yankee term ' tamal ' in such ex- pressions as ' tatnal scamp,' ' lamal shame,' etc, ifa. am nothing jealous: do not doubt. Cf. 1. 71. 'Jealous' and ' zealous ' are etymologically the same word. See SkeaC. 163. wotk me to : prevail upon me to do, Cf. Hamlet, IV, vii. 64. — aim: guess, Cf, The Twa Gentlemen of Verona, III, i, 28. Simi- lariy with the verb in Romeo and Juliet, I, i, 211 ; Othello, III, iii, 223. 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 refer- ence to books : " Some few are 10 be chewed and digested." So in I.yly's Euphues : " Philantus went into the fields to walk there, either to digest his choler, or chew upon his melancholy." c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C^SAR 21 Under these hard conditions as this time Is like to lay ujx>n us. 175 Cassius. I am glad that my weak words Have struck but thus much show of fire from Brutus. Enter Cesar and his train Brutus. The games are done, and Cfesar is returning. Cassius. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve ; And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you iSo What hath proceeded worthy note to-day. Brutus. I will do so. But, look you, Cassius, The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow. And all the rest look like a chidden train : Calpumia'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. 178. Scene IV Pope. 178-179. Four lines in Ff. T74- these ... as. See note, I. 34; Abboit, §§112, j8o. 177. In 7Vi'«'»j-ij«rfCr«i/fl'i(, III, iii. 256, Thersites says of ihe wit of Ajax : " It lies as coldly in him as tire 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. i8t. proceeded: happened, come to pass. So in All's Well that End! Will. IV, ii, 6i. — worthy note. Cf, AUU Well that Ends Will, III, V, 104. For ihe ellipsis of the preposition, see Abboli, g 19S a. iSS. One of (he marked physical chaiac lens tics 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 Che angry spot on Cxsar's brow, Calpumia's pale cheek, and Cicero with fire in his eyes when kindled by opposition in Ihe Senate,. make an exceedingly vivid pictuie. c* Google 22 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i Cassius. Casca will tell us what the matter is. C'CSAR. Antonius ! 190 Antony. Ciesar ? C.^AR. 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 Antonv. Fear him not, Oesar ; he 's not dangerous ; He is a noble Roman, and well given. Cesar. 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, tgi. CsBar? Theobald I Cxsar. 193. 0' nJtlit* Capell I a-nlghts Ff. FiFi 192-195. "Another time when Cisar's friends complained unto him of Antonius and Dolabella, thai they pieiended some mischief towards him, he answered them again. As for those fat men, and smooth-combed heads, quoth he, I never reckon of Ihem ; but these pale visaged and carrion lean people, I fear them most ; meaning Brutus and Cassius."— Plutarch. /«/; hi Casar. There are similar passages in Plutarch's Li/c of Brutus and in the Life of Marcus Antonius. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, III, xi, 37. Falstaff's famous ciy was for 'spare men." See s 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." 197. well given : well disposed. So in 3 Henry VI, 111, i, 72. 203, he lorea no plays. " In his house they did nothing bul 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. c* Google SCENE 11 JULIUS C^SAR 23 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. iio I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd Than what I fear, for always 1 am Cfesar, Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf, And tell me truly what thou think'st of him. [^Sennet. Exeunt C:'esar and ail his train but Casca] Casca. You puU'd me by the cloak ; would you speak Brutus. Ay, Casca ; tell us what hath chanc'd to-day, That Cssar looks so sad. Casca. Why, you were with him, were you not? Brutus, I should not then ask Casca what had chanc'd. 115. Scene V Pope. H14. The power of music is repeatedly celebrated by Shakespeare, and sometimes in strains that approximate the classical hypertuies about Orpheus. Amphion. and Arion. What is here said of Cassius has an apt commentary in The Mirtkanl of Vinice, V, 1,83-85: The man that hath no music In himself, Not is not mov'd with toneord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils. 113. This is one of the little touches of invention thai so often impart a fact-like vividness to Shakespeare's scenes. 317. B«d. 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, gi, is the expression ■' a jest with a sad brow," where ' sad ' evidently means ' wise,' ' sage,' c* Google 24 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 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. zaz 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. 326 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 hon- est 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 ; hut, 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 Csesar refus'd the crown, that it had almost chok'd Cresar ; snouting Dye* a shouting 149, hooted Johnson outing Capell. FiFjFb I hoiited Fi. w«8 F, 1 U we re FsF»F,. .«. cbopp'd 1 chopt Ff 330. there was a down offer'd him, IniheLi/iof Marcut Anieniu Pluiarch gives a detailed and vivid description of this scene. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C^SAR 25 foi 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 ait. 248 Cassicjs. But, soft ! I pray you : what, did Caesar swound? Casca. He fell down in the market-place, and foam'd at mouth, and was speechless. Brutus. 'T is very like; he hath the falling-stckness, Cassius. No, Caesar 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 Cassar fell down. If the tj^-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 swooned Rows. 3^g. soft! This is an elliptical use of Itie 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 1 ' ' stay I ' or 'not too fasti' So in OtktUo.'^, ii, 338: "Soft you; 1 word ot two before you go " ; and Thi Merchant of Vmice, IV, i, 320 ; " Soft I The Jew shall have all justice ; soft ! no haste." 353. falUng-gickuBBB. An old English name for epilepsy (Lat. morbus caduius. German fatlinde suckt) used by North in trans- lating Plutarch. Another form of the word is ' falling-evil,' also used by North (see quotation, p. 26, 1. 268). It is an interesting fact that the best authorities allow that Napoleon suffered from epileptic seizures towards the close of his life. 356. tsg-rsg people : Cf. 'the tag ' in Corialanus, III, i, 248. 15J^ true: honest. Shakespeare frequently uses 'true' in this sense, especially as opposed to 'thief.' Cf. Cymbeline, II, iii, 76; Vitus and Adonis, 724 r " Rich preys make true men thieves." c* Google 26 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 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 ofler'd them his throat to cut. And I bad 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 for- gave him with all their hearts. But there 's no heed to be taken oi them : if Caesar had stabb'd their mothers, they would have done no less. 171 163. And Ff I ao (an') Theobald. 170. no omitted in Fa. 261. Hany. The common Elizabelhan exclamation of surprise, or asseveration, corrupted from the name of the Vit^in Mary. aSj. me. The ethical dative. Cf. Ill, iii, 18; TAe Mirchant of Viniii, I, iii, 85 ; Romeo anil Juliet, III, i. 6. See Abbott, § zio. — doublet. This was the common English name of a man's outer body-garment. Shakespeare dresses his Romans like Elizabethan Englishmen fcf. II, i, 73-74). but the expression 'doublet-collar' occurs in North's Plutarch (see quotation in note on II. 368-270). — Aod: if- For 'and' in this sense, see Murray, and Abbott, §101. 21)4. B man of aoy occupatioD- 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. a65~KW. to hell among the rogaeB. Theearly English dramaabounds in examples of such historical confusion. For example, in the Towne- ley Miracle Plays Noah's wife swears by the Virgin Mary. 168-170- " Thereupon Cisar rising departed home to his house ; and, tearing open his doublet-collar, making his neck bare, he ciiedout aloud to his friends, that his throat was ready to offer to any man that would come and cut it. . . . Afterwards, to excuse his foily, he im- puted it to his disease, saying that their wits are not perfect which have this disease of the falling-evil." — Plutarch, Juliiis Casar. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C^SAR 27 Brutus. And after that, he came, thus sad, away? Casca. Ay. Cassius. Did Cicero say any thing? !7S Casca. Ay, he spoke Greek, Cassius. To what effect? Casca. Nay, and I tell you that, I '11 ne'er look you i' the face again ; but those that undeTStood 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 : Marul- lus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs off Caesar'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. [Exi/] STJ. away P Theobald t away Fi, ajB. and Ff I an 375-iSi. A charming invention, though m his Li/e of Cieiro Plu- tarch refers lo 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, pru- dently veiling them, however, in a foreign language from all but those who might safely understand them, — Greek to ms. 'Greek,' often 'heathen Greek,' was a common Elizabethan expression for unintelligible speech. In Dekker's G rissii (\6oo) occurs "It 's Greek to him." So in Dickens's Baritaby Rudgi: "this is Greek to me." 386. I sm promia'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 Mtrckant of Vtnici. II, v, i r. See Abbott, § 41. c* Google 28 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I 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-monow, 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, 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 agl. dlicit FgFi | disgest FiFa. ya. Ff print as two lines. iM. appetite Fi | appetites FaFa 306. metal FsF4 I mettle Fi I met- Pi. Call Fa. 393. blunt : dull, slow. Or there may be a quibble involved in connection with 'mettle' in the next line. Bculus alludes to the 'tardy form' (1. 296) Casca has just 'put on' in winding so long about the matter before coming to the point. liQ. quick mettle: lively spirit. Collier conjectured 'quick-mettl'd.' ' Mettlesome ' is still used of spirited horses. Cf. I, i, 63. 396. 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 Sonntfs, iJtxvii, 7; 'negligent danger' for ' danger from negligence,' in Antony and Cleopaira, III, v, 81. 307. that it Is dispas'd : that which it is disposed to. For the omis- aionotprepositionsinShakespeare.see Abbott, §§198-202. Cassius in this speech is chuckling over the efFect his talk has had upon Brutus. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C^SAR 29 That noble minds keep ever with their likes ; For who so firm that cannot be seduc'd ? Oesar doth bear me hard, but he loves Brutus : 310 If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius, He should not humour me. 1 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 Cesar's ambition shall be glanced at : And after this let Csesar seat him sure ; For we will shake him, or worse days endure. ^BxiiJ 310. beai me haid: 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 Jonaon'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, 11. 35, 36 : 31J. humour. To ' humor ' a man, aa the word is here used, is to turn and wind and manage him by watching his moods and crotchets, and to touch him accordingly. It is somewhat in doubt whether the 'he' in the preceding line refers to Brutus or lo Ciesar. If lo Brutus, the meaning of course is : he should not play upon my humors and fancies as I do upon his. And this sense is fairly required by the context, for the whole speech is occupied with the speaker's success in cajoling Brutus, and with plans for cajoling and shaping him still further. Johnson refers 'he' to CiEsar. 313. hands: handwritings. Sothe word is used colloquially to-day. 319. We will either shake him, or endure worse days in suffer- ing the consequences of our attempl. — Shakespeare makes Cassius overflow with intense personal spite against Cxsar. This is in accordance with what he read in North's Plutarch. c* Google THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE ACT I Scene III. The same. A street Thunder and lightning. Enter, from opposite sides, Casca, with his sword drawn, and Cicero Cicero. Good even, Casca: brought you Csesar home? Why are you breathless? and why stare you so? Casca. Are you not mov'd, when all the sway of earth Shakes like a thing unfirm? O Cicero, I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds S Have riv'd the knotty oaks, and I have seen Th' ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, To be exalted with the threatening clouds ; But never till to-night, never till now. Did I go through a tempest dropping (ire. lo Either there is a civil strife in heaven, Scene III Capell | Scene VI and Cicero Ff. Pope. 10. tempest dropping Are Bowe | Entir, from . . . | Enter Caska, tempesl-dropping-fire Ff. Scene III, Rowe added "with his sword drawn" to ihe Folio stage direction, basing the note on 1, 19. A month has passed since the machinery of the conspiracy was set in motion. The action in the preceding scene took place on the day of the Lupercalia; the action in this is on the eve of the Ides of March. I. brought: accompanied. Cf. Riihard II. I, iv, 2. 3-4. HVBy of earth; established order. "The balanced swing of earth." — Craik. " The whole weight or momentum of this globe." — Johnson. In such a raging of the elements, it seems as if the whole world were going 10 pieces, or as if the earth's steadfastness were grow- ing 'unfirm.' " 'Unfirm' is not firm; while 'infirm' is weak." — Clar. 11-13. Either the gods are fighling among themselves, or else they are making war on (he world for being overbearing In its altitude towards them. For Shakespeare's use of 'saucy,' see Century. c* Google SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR 31 Or else the world, too saucy with the gods, Incenses them to send destruction. Cicero. Why, saw you any thing more wonderful? Casca. a common slave — you know him well by sight — ' 15 Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn Like twenty torches join'd, and yet his haod, Not sensible of fire, remain'd unscorch'd. Besides — I ha' not since put up my sword — Against the Capitol I met a lion, 30 13. dBBtmetioii, Musi be pronounced as a quadrisyllable. 14. anything more wonderful. This may be interpreted as 'any- thing that was more wonderful,' or 'anything more that was wonderful.' The former seems the true interpretation. Kor the 'wonderful ' things that Casca describes, Shakespeare was indebted to the following passage from Plutarch's Julius Casar, which North in the margin entitles "Predictions and foreshews of Cisar's death " : "Cert^nly destiny may easier be foreseen than avoided, considering the strange and wonderful signs that were said to be seen before Caesar's death. For, touching the fires in the element, and spirits running up and down in the night, and also the solitary birds to be seen at noondays silting hi the great market-place, are not all these signs perhaps worth the noting, in such a wondeiful chance as happened ? But Strabo the philosopher writeth, that diveis men were seen going up and down in fire, and furthermore, that there was a slave of the soldiers thai did cast a marvellous burning flame out of his hand, insomuch as they that saw il thought he had been burnt; but when the fire was out, it was found he had no hurt. Ciesar self also, doing sacrifice unto the gods, found that one of the beasts which was sacrificed had no heart : and that was a strange thing in nature, how a beast could live without a heart." This passage is worth special attention, as Shakespeare uses many of the details again in II, ii, 17-24, 39-40. Cf. Hamlet, I, i, 113-125. 15. yOD know. Dyce suggested "you 'd know'; Craik, 'you knew.' Bui the text as it stands is dramatically vivid and realistic. c* Google 32 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I Who glaz'd upon me and went surly by ' Without annoying me : and there were drawn Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women, Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw Men all in fire walk up and down the streets. 25 And yesterday the bird of night did sit Even at noon-day upon the market-place, Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies Do so conjointly meet, let not men say, ' These are their reasons ; they are natural ; ' 30 11. El*i'd Ff I glar'd Rowe.— iS. Hooting Johnson I Howting »iirly FiFi | surely FjFs. FiFiFs | Houting Ft. 11. Who. See Abbott, § 264. — glai'd, Rowe's change to 'glar'd' is usuially adopted as Ihe reading here, but ' glaze ' is used intransi- tively in Middle English in the sense of ' shine brilliantly,' and Dr. Wright (Clar.) says : " 1 am infonned by a conespondenC that (he word ' glaze ' in the sense of ' sCare ' is common in some parts of Devonshire, and that ' glazing like a conger ' is a familiar expression in Cornwall." See Murray for additional examples, 33. Upon a heap: together in a crowd. 'Heap' is often used in this sense in Middle English as it is colloquially to-day. The Anglo- Saxon Aeiifi almost always refers to persons. In Riihard III. II, i, S3, occurs "princely heap." So " Let us on heaps go offer up our lives "in Htnry F, IV, v, 18. 16. tbe bird of sight. The old Roman horror of the owl is well shown in this passage (spelling modernized) of Holland's Pliny, quoted by Dr. Wright (Clar) ; "The screech-owl betokeneth always some heavy news, and is most execrable ... in the presages of public affairs. ... In sum, he is the very monster of the night. . . . There fortuned one of them to enter the very sanctuary of the Capitol, in that year when Sextus Papellio Ister and Lucius Pedanius were Consuls ; whereupon, at the Nones of March, the city of Rome that year made general processions, to appease Ihe wrath of the gods, and was solemnly purged by sacrifices," 30. Thaae ; such and such. Cf, " these and these " in II, i, 31. Casca refers to the doctrine of the Epicureans, who were slow to c* Google SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR 33 For, I believe, they are portentous things Unto the climate that they point upon. Cicero. Indeed, it is a strange -disposed time : But men may construe things after their fashion. Clean from the purpose of the things themselves. 35 Comes Csesar to the Capitol to-morrow? Casca. He doth ; for he did bid Antonius Send word to you he would be there to-morrow. Cicero. Good night then, Casca ; this disturbed sky 39 Is not to walk in. Casca. Farewell, Cicero. [.^xit Cicero] Sttter Cassius Cassius. Who's there? Casca. a Roman. Cassius. Casca, by your voice. Casca. Vour ear is good. Cassius, what night is this 1 3S. toFiFslupFaFj. 4t. TwolinesinFf— tlilal Dyce | 41. Scene VII Pope. this I Ft. believe that such pranks of the elements had any moral significance in them, or that moral causes had anything to do with Ihem, and held that the explanation of Ihem was to be sought for in the simple working of natural laws and forces. Shakespeare deals humorously with these views in Ali 'j JViU thai Ends IVtII. II, iii, 1-6. 33. cllniftt«: region, country. So Siciar J //, IV , i, 130. Cl.Jfam- ttl, I, i, 125: "Unto our climatures and countrymen." 3;^. Clean : quite, completely. From the fourteenth century to the seventeenth ' clean ' was often used in this sense, usually with verbs of removal and the like, and so it is still used colloquially. For 'from' withoul a verb of motion, see Abbott, § 158, 43. what : whal a. For the omission of the indefinite article, com- mon in Shakespeare, see Abbott, g 86, In the Folios the interroga- tion mark and the exclamation mark are often interchanged. c* Google 34 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I Cassius. a very pleasing night to honest men, Casca. Who ever knew the heavens menace so? Cassius. Those that have known the earth so full of faults. For my part, I have walk'd about the streets, 46 Submitting me unto the perilous night. And thus unbraced, Casca, as you see, Have bar'd my bosom to the thunder-stone : And when the cross blue lightning seem'd to op>en 50 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 SS Such dreadful heralds to astonish us. Cassius. You are dull, Casca ; and those sparks of life That should be in a Roman you do want, Or else you use not. You look pale and gaze And put on fear and cast yourself in wonder, 60 so. blae I blew Fi. iJ-to. Five lines in Pf. 48. unbraced : unbuttoned, with open doublet. For such anachro- nisms see note, p. i6, 1. 263; also p. 43, 1. 73. 41). thunder-atones thunder-bolt. It is still a common belief in Scotland and Ireland that a stone or bolt falls with lightning. Cf. Cymbtlini. IV, ii, 271 : " Nor ihe all-dreaded thunde .-stone." SO. eroSB: zigzag. So in A'ingLear,l\,v\\, 33-35: To stand against the deep, dread-bolted thunder? In the most terrible and nimble stroke Of quick, cross lightning i da. cast youiself in ; throw yourself into a stale of. In previous edi- tions of Hudson's Shakespeare Jervis's conjecture 'case ' for 'cast ' was adopted. The change is unnecessary. Cf. CFinfe//'/.r, III, ii, 38 : " Though forfeilers you cast in prison." c* Google SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR To see the strange impatience of the heavens : But if you would consider the true cause Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts. Why birds and beasts from quality and kind. Why old men, fools, and children calculate ; Why all these things change from their ordinance, Their natures and preformed 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 03-68. The consttuction here is involved, and the grammar con- fused, but the meaning is cleat enough. The genetal idea is that of elements and animals, and even human beings, acting in a manner out of or against their nature, or changing their natures and origi- nal faculties from the course in which they were ordained to move, to monslious ot unnatural modes of action, 64. from quality and kiiid; turn from their disposition and nature. Emeison and Browning use ' quality ' (cf. 1, 68) in this old sense of ' disposition.' ' Kind," meaning ' nature,' is common in Shakespeare. O5. There seems no necessity for changing the reading of the Folios. This conjunction of old men, fools, and children is found in country sayings in England to-day. So in a Scottish proverb: "Auld fowks, fules, and bairns should never see wark half dune." White's reading was first suggested by Miiford, 67. piefoimed : originally created for some special purpose. 71. motutrooB state: abnormal condition of things, 'Enormous stale 'occurs with probably the same general meaningin A'ln^Zfur, II, ii, 1 76, As Cassius is an avowed Epicurean, it may seem out of charac- ter to make him speak thus. But he is here talking for effect, his aim being to kindle and instigate Casca into the conspiracy; and to this end he does not hesitate to say what he does not himself believe. c* Google 36 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i Most like this dreadful night. That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars As doth the lion in the Capitol, 75 A man no mightier than thyself or me In personal action, yet prodigious grown, And fearful, as these strange eruptions are. Casca. Tis Caesar that you mean, is it not, Cassius? Cassius. Let it be who it is ; for Romans now 80 Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors; But, woe the while 1 our fathers' minds are dead, And we are govem'd with our mothers' spirits ; Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish. Casca. Indeed, they say the senators b Mean to establish Csesar as a king ; And he shall wear his crown by sea and land. In every place save here in Italy. 79. Two lines in Ff. 75. This reads as if a lion were kept in the Capitol. But tlie meaning probably is that Cxsar roars in the Capitol, like a lion. Perhaps Cassius has the idea of Cxsar's claiming or aspiring to be among men what the lion is among beasts. Dr. Wright suggests that Shakespeare had in mind the lions kept in the Tower of London, "which there is reason to believe from indications in the play repre- sented the Capitol to Shakespeare's mind." Ii is possible, too, that we have here a reference to the lion described by Casca in 11. 20-22. 77. prodigious: portentous. K%\ti A Midsummer Night's Dream, V, i, 419 t "Never mole, hare tip, nor scar, Nor mark prodigious." 80. Let it be wbo it Is : "no matter who it is." — Clar. 81. thews: muscles. So in HamUl, I, ill, u, and a Henry IV, III, ii, 276. In Chancer and Middle English the word means ' man- ners,' though in Layamon's Brut (1. 6361). in the singular, it seems to mean 'sinew' or 'strength.' See Skeat for a suggestive discussion. 83. with: by. So in III, ii, 196. See Abbott, § 193. c* Google SCENE m JULIUS C-«SAR 37 Cassius. I know where I will wear this dagger then ; Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius. 90 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 ; 95 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. [Thunder still'\ Casca. So can 1 : 100 So every bondman in his own hand bears The power to cancel his captivity. Cassius. And why should Ciesar be a tyrant then? Poor man ! I know he woukl not be a wolf. But that he sees the Romans are but sheep : 105 He were no lion, were not Romans hinds. Those that with haste will make a mighty fire Begin it with weak straws : what trash is Rome, What rubbish and what offal, when it serves 95- Can repress by force man's energy of soul. 101. bODdniaD. The word 'cancel' in the next line shows that Casca plays on the two senses of ' bond.' Cf. CymMine, V, iv, 28, 107-10S. The idea seems to be that, as men start a huge fire with worthless straws or shavings, so Ccesar is using the degenerate Ro- mans of the lime to set the whole world ablaze with his own glory. Cassius's enthusiastic hatred of "the mightiest Julius" is irresistibly delightful. For a good hater is the next best thing to a true friend; and Cassius's honesi gushing malice is surely better than Brutus's slabbing sentimefitalism. c* Google 38 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I For the base matter to illuminate no So vile a thing as Csesar ! 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. 115 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. Cassius. There's a bargain made, no Now know you, Casca, I have mov'd already Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans To undergo with me an enterprise Of honourable-dangerous consequence ; And I do know, by this they stay for me 125 112-115. The meaning is, Peihaps you will go and tell Cisar all I have said about him, and Chen he will call me to account for il. Very well; go tell him; and let him do his worst. I care not. 117. Fleering. This word of Scandinavian origin seems to unite the senses of ' grinning,' ' flattering ' (see Lime's Labour 'i Lost, V, ii, 109. and Ben Jonson's "fawn and fleer" in i'olpone. III, i, 20), and ' sneering.' and so is just the right epithet for a telltale, who flatters you into saying that of another which you ought not to say, and then mocks you by going (0 that other and telling what you have said. — Hold, my hand; stayT here is my hand. As men clasp hands in sealing a bargain. In Rowe's text the comma is omitted. 118. Be factioDs: be active. Or it may mean, 'form aparly,* 'join a conspiracy.' — griefs : grievances. The effect put for the cause. A common Shakespearian metonymy. Cf. Ill, ii, 21 1 ; IV, ii, 42, 46. 123, undergo; undertake. So in 2 Henry IV, I, iii, 54; The Win- ilr-s Tall. II. iii, 164; IV. iv, 554. MS. by this : by this time. So in King Lear, IV, vi, 45. c* Google SCENE in JULIUS C^SAR 39 In Pompey's porch : for now, this fearful night, There is no stir or walking in the streets. And the complexion of the element In favour 's like the work we have in hand. Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible. 130 Enter Cinna. Casca. Stand close awhile, for here comes one in haste. Cassius, 'Tis Cinna; I do know him by his gait; He is a friend. Cinna, where haste you so? Cinna, To find out you. Who'sthat? MetellusCimber? Cassius. No, it is Casca ; one incorporate 135 To our attempts. Am I not stay'd for, Cinna? ug. In iavaiu 'a liks Camb | In like Rowe. favour's, like Johnson i Is Favors, ijo. bloody, flety | Hoodie, fierie like FiFi I Is Favours, like FgF< | Ff | bloody-fiery Dyce. Is favour'd like Capell I la feav'rous, 131. e&it Johnson j gate Ff, ii6. Pompey's porcb. This was a spacious adjunct lo the huge theater that Pompey had built in the Campus Martius, outside of the city proper; and there, as Plutarch says in Marcus Brutus, "was set up the image of Pompey, which tlie city had made and consecrated in honour of him. when he did beautify that part of the city with the theatre he built, with divers porches about il." Here it was that Cisar was stabbed to death; and though Shakespeare transfers the assassination to the Capitol, he makes Cjesar's blood stain the statue of I'ompey. See III, ii, 187, 18S. ' i^. element: sky. Twice Shakespeare seems to poke fun at the way in which the Elizabethans overdid the use of ' element ' in this sense, in Tioilfik Night, III, i, 65, and in g Hmry JV. IV, iii, 58. 11^. favour: appearance. So in I, ii, 91. Johnson's emendation, though pleonastic, makes least change upon the text of the Folios. 131. close : hidden. So in / Ckronulcs, xii, i : " He yet kept him- self close because of Saul the son of Kish." 135. iDCorpoiate: closely united. Shakespeare uses this word nine times, — four times as an adjective and live times as a verb. With regard to the omission of -cd in participial forms, see Abbott, § 34:. c* Google 40 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act I CiNHA. I 'm glad on 't. What a fearful night is this ! There's two or three of us have seen strange sights, Otssius. Am I not stay'd for? tell me. CiNNA. Ves, you are. O, Cassius, if you could 140 But win the noble Brutus to our party — Cassius. Be you content. Good Cinna, take this paper. And look you lay it in the praetor's chair, Where Brutus may but find it ; and throw this In at his window ; set this up with wax 145 Upon old Brutus' statue : all this done, Repair to Pompey's porch, where you shall find us. Is Decius Bnttus and Trebonius there? 137- Two lines in Ff. 141, tbe DObls Btutns | PI print 14a, 0,CasiiDa | Ff print in line 139. in line 14a. 143. In the prstoi'a chair. " But for Brutus, his friends and country- men, both by divers procurements and sundry rumours of the city, and by many bills ' also, did openly call and procure him to do that he did. For under the image of his ancestor Junius Brutus, (that drave the kings out of Rome) they wrote ; 'O, (hat it pleased the gods thou wert now alive, Brulus 1 ' and again, ' that thou wert here among ua now I ' His tribunal or chair, where he gave audience dur- ing the time he was Prxtor, was full of such bills : < Brutus, thou art asleep, and art not Brutus indeed.'" — Plutarch. Marcus Brutus. 144. Bratus may but find it : only Brutus may find it. 148. For a discussion of singular verbs with plural subjects, see Abbott,§333. Cf. I. 138, 1. 155; III, ii, 26.— Decius Brntus. As indicated in the notes to the Dramatis Personx, this should be ' Decimus Brutus.' Shakespeare found the form ' Decius' in North's Plutarch, who translated from Amyol, in whose French version (he blunder was originally made- Decimus Brutus is said to have been cousin to the other Brutus of the play. He had been one of Cfesar's ablest, most favored, and most trusted lieutenants, and had scrolls, SCENE m JULIUS C^SAR 41 CiNNA. An but Metellus Cimber; and he's gone To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie, 150 And so bestow these papers as you bade mc. Cassius. That done, repair to Pompey's theatre. l£xi/ 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 155 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 alchemy. Will change to virtue and to worthiness. 160 Cassius. 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 163 We will awake him and be sure of him. {Exeunt'] iSi. bade Rowe I bad Ff. particularly distinguished himself in his naval service at Vsnetia and Massilia. After the murder of Cisat, he was found to be written down in his will as second heir. 159. coaatauanca : support. — alchemy : the old ideal art of turn- ing base metals into gold. So in Simneli, xxxill, 4: "Gilding pale streams with heavenly alcheinj." C(. King John, III. i, 78. ifii. conceltsd : foimed an idea of, conceived, judged. ' Conceit ' as a verb occurs again in III, i, 193, and in Othello, III, iii, 149. J b, Google Scene I. Rome. Brvtiss'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 1 what, Lucius I 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, ^OBK. ..£«r?r Brutus Malonel j. when? F( I when! Delias Ealei Brutus in his Occhacd Ff. vhat, Lucius ! | what Lucius t Ff. orchard. Shakespeare generally uses 'orchard' in its original sense of ' garden ' (literally ' herb-garden,' Anglo-Saxon orl-geard\ I. What- A common exclamation frequent in Shakespeare. So in V, iii, 72. The 'when ' of !. 5 shows increasing impatience. 10. Brutus has heen casting about on all sides to find some means to prevent Caesar's being king, and here admits that it can be done only by killing him. Thus the soliloquy opens in just the right way to throw us back upon his antecedent meditations. In e^tpression and in feelingit anticipates //^m/i^ 111,1, 56-88. From now onwards the speeches of Brutus stiangely adumbrate those of Hamlet. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 43 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. Th' abuse of greatness is when it disjoins Remorse from power ; and, to speak tmth of Csesar, 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, 33. dimbCT upward Ff | climber- 13. the geneial : the general public, the community at large. Cf. HamUt, II, ii, 457, "pleas'd not the million; 'twas caviare to the general" See III, ii, 7-8, and V, v, 7 1-72. 14. Thesunshmeof royaltywillkindlelhesetpentinCassar, The figure in 32-34 suggests that 'bring forth' may here mean ' hatch.' 17. do daneer with ; do mischief with, prove dangerous. Ci. Romeo and Juliet, V, ii, 20: "neglecting it May do much danger." ig. Remoiae. Constantly in Shakespeare ' remorse ' is used for 'pity' or 'compassion.' Here it seems to mean something more, n QtheUo, 1.11, iii, 468 : Let him command, And to obey shall be in me remorse, What bloody business ever. The possession of dictatorial power is apt to stifle or sear the con- science, so as to make a man literaliy remorseless. ao. affectioDS sway'd : passions (inclinations) governed. 31. ptoof: experience. So in Tiuelfth Night, III, i, 135. 33. Warburton put ahyphen between 'climber'and'upward.' De- lius, however, would connect 'upward' with 'whereto' and 'turns.' c* Google 44 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii He then unto the ladder tums his back, 25 Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees By which he did ascend. So Cssar 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 seai'd up ; and I am sure It did not lie there when I went to bed. \Gives him the letter\ iB. iMt FaFeF) I least Fi, 35. 59: TO- Si-tnter | Enter Ff. »6. bus degrMB ; lower steps. ' Degrees' is here used in its ariginal, literal sense for the rounds, or steps, of the ladder, aS. pierent; anticipate. — qnanel : cause of complaint. 3p-34. colour : preteit, plausible appearance. The general mean- ing of this somewhat obscure passage is, Since we have no show or pretext of a cause, no assignable ground or apparent ground of complaint, against Csesar, in what he is, or in anything he has yet done, let us assume that the further addition of a crown will quite upset his nature, and metamorphose him into a serpent. The strain of casuistry used in this speech is very remarkable. Coleridge found it perplexing. On the supposition thai Shakespeare meant Brutus for a wise and good man, the speech seems unintelligible. But Shakespeare must have regarded him simply as a well-meaning but conceited and shallow idealist ; and such men are always cheat- ing and puffing themselves with the thinnest of sophisms, feeding c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C-ESAR 45 Brutus. Get you to bed again ; it is not day. Is not to-morrow, boy, the first 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 Utter and reads] Brutus, thou sleep'st ; awake, and see thyself. Shall Rome, etc. Speak, strike, redress t Brutus, thou sleep'st: awake I Such instigations have been often dropp'd Where I have took them up. 5° ift. flrat Ff I Ides Theotald, <t9. dropp'd I dropt, FiFj. on air and conceiving themselves inspired, or "mistaking the giddi- ness of the head for the illumination of the Spirit." 40. The Folio reading 'first of March' cannot be right chrono- logically, though it is undoubtedly what Shakespeare wrote, for in Plutarch, Marcus Brutus, he read : " Cassius asked him if he were determined to be in the Senate-house the first day of the month of March, because he heard say that Cxsar's friends should move the Council that day that Cssar should be called king by the Senate." This inconsistency is not without parallels in Shakespeare. Cf. the "four strangers" in The Merchant of Venice, I, ii, 135. when six have been mentioned. In Scott, too, are many such inconsistencies. 44. eihalationa: meteors. In PI a larch's Opinions of PkilasBphers, Holland's translation, is this passage (spelling modernized) : " Aris- totle supposeth that all these meteors come of a dry exhalation, which, being gotten enclosed within a moist cloud, seeketh means, and striveth forcibly to get forth." Shakespeare uses 'meteor' repeatedly in the same way. So in Romio and Juliet, III, v, 13. 45. The Folios give this line as it is here. Some editors arrange it as the beginning of the letter repeated ponderingly by Brutus. 49-50. See quotation from Plutarch in note, p. 40, 1. 143. c* Google 46 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii ' Shall Rome, etc' 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 cali'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 tec ei vest Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus ! Re-enter Lucius Lucius. Sir, March is wasted fifteen days. {^Knocking within'\ Brutus. 'T is good. Goto the gate; somebody knocks. [Exit Lucius] Since Cassius first did whet me against Cffisar, 6t I have not slept. Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasms or a hideous dream : 6s 51. What, Rome ? Rowe I What j6. thee FiFi | the FaFs. Rome Ff. S9- Olteen Ff I fourteen Theobald. 53. ancMtOrt Ff I ancestor Dyce, 60, j6. {Ezil Lucius] F( omit. 5!). flfteen. This, the Folio reading, is undoubtedly correct, LJnea 103-104 and 19Z-193 show that it is past midnight, and Lucius is including in bis computation the dawn of Ihe fifteenth day, a natural thing for any one to do, especially a Roman- ia, motion : prompting of impulse. Cf, A'hig John, IV, ii. ;55. 65, phantasms : a vision oE things that are not. " Shakespeare seems to use it (' phantasma ' ) in this passage in the sense of night- mare, which it bears in Italian," — Clar. What Brutus sap here is in the very spirit of Hamlet's speeches. Cf. also the King's speech 10 Laertes, Hamltf, IV, vii, 115-124, and Maibeth, I, vii, 1-28. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 47 The Genius and the mortal instruments Are then in council ; and the state of a man, Like to a little kingdom, suffers then The nature of an insurrection. 67. a man Fi I man FiFgFi. 66. Comraentatora differ about ' Genius' here ; some taking it for the 'conscience,' others for the 'anti-conscience.' Shakespeare uses ' genius,' 'spirit.' and ' demon.' as synonymous, and all three, appar. enlly, both in a good sense and in a bad, as every man was supposed to have a good and a bad angel So, in this play, IV, iii, 284, we have "thy evil spirit"; in Thi Tempest. IV, i, 27, "our worser genius"; in Treilas and Crtssida, IV, iv, 52, "some say (he Genius so Cries 'come' to him that instantly must die"; m Antony and C/eofialra, Il,'m, ig, "Thy demon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee"; where, as often, 'keeps' is 'guards.' In these and some other cases the words have some epithet or context thai delermines their mean- ing, but not so with 'Genius' in the text. But, in all such cases, the words indicate the directive power of the mind. And so we often speak of a man's 'belter self,' or a man's 'worser self,' ac- cording as one is in fact directed or drawn to good or to evil. — The sense of ' mortal ' here is also somewhat in question. Shake- speare sometimes uses it for 'perishable,' or that which dies; but oftener foi ' deadly,' or that which kills. ' Mortal instruments' may well be held to mean what Macbeth refers to when he says, "I 'm settled, and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat."— As Brutus is speaking with reference to his own case, he probably intends ' Genius ' in a good sense, for the spiritual or immortal part of himself. If so, then he would naturally mean fay 'mortal' his perishable part, or his ministerial faculties, which shrink from execut- ing what the directing power is urging them to. The late Professor Ferrier of St. Andrews seems to take a somewhat different view of the passage. He says, " In this speech of Brutus, Shakespeare gives a fine description of the unsettled stale of Ihe mind when the will is hesitating about the perpetration of a great crime, and when the passions are threatening to overpower, and eventually do over- power, the reason and the conscience." »j-6g. Cf. I, ii, 39-47; Macbeth, I, iii, 137-142. c* Google 48 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act u He-enter Lucius Iajcius. Sir, 't is your brother Cassius at the door, 70 Who doth desire to see you. Brutus. Is he abne? Lucius. No, sir, there are moe with him, Brutus. Do you know them ? Lucius, No, sir ; their hats are pluck'd about their ears, And half their faces buried in their cloaks. That by no means I may discover them 75 By any mark of favour. Brutus. Let 'em enter. [_Exit Lucius] They are the faction. O conspiracy, Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night. When evils ate most free ? O, then, by day Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough 80 To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy; Hide it in smiles and affability : Fs I cloalhs FbFi. 70. brother. Casaiua was married to Junia, the sister of Brutus. 71. moe ; more. The old comparative of ' many.' In Middle English 'moe,' or 'mo,' was used of number and with collective nouns ; ' more ' had reference specifically to size. See Slteat. 73. Pope was evidently so disgusted with Shakespeare's tendency to dress his Romans liiie Elizabethans, that in his two editions he omit^ ' hats ' altogether, indicating the omission by a dash t 16. favoQi: countenance. So in I, ii, 91 ; I, iii. 129. 79- btIIs: evil things. So in Zu<rr;ir<r, 1250, we have 'cave-keeping evils.' The line in the te;tt means. When crimes and mischiefs, and evil and mischievous men, are most free from the restraints of law or of shame. So Hamlet speaks of night as the time "when hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world." Cf. I. 265. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 49 For if thou path, thy native semblance on, Not Erebus itself were dim enough To hide thee from prevention. 85 Enter the conspirators, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus Cimber, and Trebonius. Cassius, I think we are too bold upon your rest ; Good morrow, Brutus ; do we trouble you ? Brotus, 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 90 But honours you ; and every one doth wish You had but that opinion of yourseU Which every noble Roman bears of you. This is Trebonius. Brutus. He is welcome hither. Cassius. This, Decius Brutus. Brutus. He is welcome too. 95 Cassius. This, Casca; this, Cinna; and this, Metellus Cimber. Brutus. They are all welcome. 83. path : take thy way. Dmyton employs ' path ' as a verb, both transitively and intransitively, literally and figuratively, in England's J/eraicnil EpislUs (\^i)-]-\ $()&). The verb seems to have been in use from the fourteenth century to the close of the seventeenth. 84. Enbus : the region of tieiher darkness between Earth and Hades. Cf. Thi Merchant of Venice. V, i, 87 : '■ dark as Erebus." Ss- prevention : discovery, anticipation. This, the original sense, would lead to 'prevention,' as the term is used lo-day. 95. DecluB Bratui. See notes, Dramatis PeisonK, and p. 40, 1. 148. c* Google so THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii What watchful cares do interpose themselves Betwixt your eyes and night? 99 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 yon gray lines That fret the clouds are messengers of day. Casca. You shall confess that you are both deceiv'd, 105 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 no Stands, as the Capitol, directly here. Brutus. Give me your hands all over, one by one. Cassius. And let us swear our resolution. loi-iii. This little side-talk on a theme so different from the main one of the scene, is finely conceived, and aptly marks the men as seeking to divert anxious thoughts of the moment by any casual chat. It also serves the double purpose of showing that they are not listening, and of preventing suspicion if any were listening 10 them. In itself it is thoroughly Shakespearian ; and the descrip- tion of the dawn-light flecking the clouds takes high place among Shakespeare's great sky pictures. 104. fret :" mark with interlacing lines like fretwork." — Clar. There are two distinct verbs spelled 'fret,' one meaning 'to eat away,' the other 'to ornament." See Site at. In iVam/ri, II, 11,313, we have " this majestical roof fretted with golden fire." 107. growing on; encroaching upon, tending towards. 108. Weighing : if you lake into consideration. 110. high; full, perfect. Cf. 'high day,' ■ high noon,' etc. 113. all over: one after the other until all have been included. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C-ESAR 51 I ■ Bkutus. No, not an oath ; if not the face of men. The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse, — 115 If these be motives weak, break oH 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 120 To kindle cowards and to steel with valour The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen. What need we any spur but our own cause 114. No, not an oath. This is based on Plutarch's statement in AfariuJ Brutus: " Furthennore, the only name and great calling of Brulus did bring on the most of them to give consent to (his Con- spiracy : who having never taken oaths together, nor taken or given any caution or assurance, nor binding themselves one to another by any religious oaths, they all kept the matter so secret to themselves, and could so cunningly haitdle it, that notwithstanding the gods did reveal It by manifest signs<and tokens from above, and by predic- tions of sacrifices, yef all this would not be believed." — If not the face of men. This ipears, probably, the shame and self-reproach with which Romans must now look each other in the face under the consciousness of having fallen away from the republican spirit of their forefathers. The change in the construction of Che sentence gives it a more colloquial cast, without causing any real obscurity. Modern editors have offered strange substitutes for ' face ' here, — 'faith,' 'faiths,' 'fate,' 'fears,' 'yoke,' etc. 115. suBerance : suffering. So in Measuri for Measure, III, i, 80 ; Corielanus, I, i, 21. In I, iii, i^, ' sufferance ' is used in its ordinary modem sense. — the time's abnae : the miserable condition of things in the present. Such 'time's abuse' in his own day Shakespeare describes in detail in Sonnets. LXVI. 118-119. Brutus seems to have in mind the capriciousness of a high- looking and heaven-daring Oriental tyranny, where men's lives hung upon the nod and whim of the tyrant, as on the hazards of a lottery, 133. What need we : why need we. So in Antony and Cleopatra, V, ii, 317 ; Titus Anifronkus, I, i, 189. Cf. Afnrt, xiv, 63. c* Google 52 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE To prick us to redress? what other bond Than secret Romans, that have spoke the v And will not palter? and what other oath / Than honesty to honesty engag'd, That this shall be, or we will fall. Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous, Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls 130 That welcome wrongs ; unto bad causes swear Such creatures as men doubt; but do not stain The even virtue of our enterprise. Nor th' insuppressive mettle of our spirits, To think that or our cause or our performance 13s 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. 140 Cassius. But what of Cicero? shall we sound htm? I think he will stand very strong with us, 125. secret Romana : Romans who had promised secrecy. 1x6. palter: equivocate, quibble. The idea is of shuffling as in mak- ing a promise with what is called a " mental reservation." '■ Paller with us in a double sense " is the famous expression in Macbeth, V, viii, :o, and it brings out clearly the meaning implicit in the term. liQ. canteloui^ deceitful. The original meaning is 'wary,' 'cir- cumspect.' It is the older English adjective for 'cautious.' "The transition from caution to suspicion, and from suspicion to craft and deceit, is not very abrupt." — Clar. Cf. 'cautel' in Hamlet, I, iii, 15. 130. carrlouB ; carcasses, men as good as dead. 133. The «TeD virtue : the virtue that holds an equable and uniform tenor, always keeping the same high level. Cf. Henry Vl!I,'U.\,'i,yi- 134. iDsuppiessive : not to be suppressed. The active form with the passive sense, Cf. ' unexpressive,' in As You Like It. HI, ii, 10. 135. Totblnk: by thinking. The infinitive used gerundively. c* Google SCENE 1 ■ JULIUS C^SAR 53 Casca. Let us not leave him out. CiNNA. No, by no means, Metellus. O, let us have him, for his silver hairs Will purchase us a good opinion, 145 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, Brutus. O, name him not; let us not break with him. For he will never follow any thing 151 That other men begin. Cassius. Then leave him out. Casca. Indeed he is not fit. Decius. Shall no man else be touch'd but only Caesar? Cassius. Decius, well urg'd : I think it is not meet, 155 Mark Antony, so well belov'd of Csesar, Should outlive Caesar : we shall find of him 145. opinion : reputalion. So in The Merchant of Venice, I, i, gi. 150. break with him : broach the matter to him. This bit of dialogue is very charming. Brutus knows full well Ihat Cicero ia not the man to talie a subordinate position ; that if he have any- thing I0 do with the enterprise it must be as the leader of it; and that is just what Brutus wants to be himself. Merivale thinks it a great honor to Cicero that the conspirators did not venture to pro- pose the matter to him. In Plutarch, Marcus Brains, the attitude of the conspirators to Cicero is described thus : " For this cause they durst not acquaint Cicero with their conspiracy, although he was a man whom they loved dearly and trusted best; for they were afraid Ihat he, being a coward by nature, and age also having in- creased his fear, he would quite turn and alter all their purpose, and quench the heat of their enterprise (the which specialty required hot and earnest execution), seeking by persuasion to bring all things to such safety, as there should be no peril." 157. of Mm; in him. The '"appositional genitive." SeeAbbott,§ 17J. c* Google 54 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 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, i6o 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 ; For Antony is but a limb of Ctesar. 165 Let's be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. We all stand up against the spirit of Csesar, And in the spirit of men there is no blood : 0, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit. And not dismember Caesar ! But, alas, 170 Caesar mast 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, 175 Stir up their servants to an act of rage. And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make Our purpose necessary a Which so appearing to tl We shall be call'd purgers, not murdere 166. Let'tFf ILet u: iCt. men Ff | man Pv 164. «nvy: maJice. CommoalyaoiaSha.'kespea.te.asiaTAeJtferciatii ofl'mice, IV, 1, 10. So ' envious' in the sense of ' malicious ' in 1. 178. 173-177. So the King proceeds with Hubert in King Jckn. And so men often proceed when they wish to have a thing done, and to shirk the responsibility; setting it on by darli hints and allusions, and then, after it is done, affecting to blame or to scold the doers of it. iSo. piugeis: healers, cleansers of the land from tyranny. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 55 And for Mark Antony, think not of him ; For he can do no more than Csesar's arm When Cassat's head is off. Cassics. Yet I fear him. For in the ingrafted love he bears to Csesar — Brutus. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him : 185 If he love Ciesar, all that he can do Is to himself, take thought and die for Caesar : And that were much he should, for he is given To sports, to wildness, and much company. 189 Trebonius. There is no fear in him ; let him not die ; For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter. [^Cloek strikes'\ Brutus. Peace ! count the clock. Cassius. The clock hath stricken three. Tbebonius. 'Tis time to part. Cassius. But it is doubtful yet i»7. 'Think and die,' as in Antony and Cleopatra, III, xiii, i, seems to have been a proverbial expression meaning ' grieve oneself to death': and it would be much indeed, a very wonderful thing, if Antony should fall into any killing sorrow, such a light-hearted, jolly companion as he is. Cf. HamUi, III, i, 85. 'Thoughtful' (sometimes in the form ' thoughtish ' ) is a common provincial ex- pression for ' melancholy ' in Cumberland and Roxburghshire to-day. 1SB-189. Here is Plutarch's account in Marcus Antanias, of con- temporary criticism of Antony's habits : "And on the other side, the noblemen (as Cicero saith), did not only mislike him, but also hate him for his naughty life: for they did abhor his banquets and drunken feasts he made at unseasonable times, and his extreme wasteful ex- penses upon vain light huswives ; and then in the daytime he would sleep or walk out his drunkenness, thinking to wear away the fume of the abundance of wine which he had taken over night." 190. nofeal: no cause of fear, Zi. The Merekani of Veniei,\\:\,^. 192. stricken. In II, ii, 114, we have the form 'strucken.' An in- teresting anachronism is this matter of a striking clock in old Rome. c* Google 56 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Whether Cassar will come forth to-day or no ; For he is superstitious grown of late, 195 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, zoo May hold him from the Capitol to-day. Decius, 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, 105 194. Wbetber. So in the Folios. Cf. the form 'where' in I, i, 63. 196. For -from' without a verb of motion see Abbott, g tfS. ' Main ' is often found in sixteentli century literature in the sense of ' great,' ' strong,' ' mighty.' Cxs2.i was, in his philosophy, an Epi- curean, like most of the educated Romans of the time. Hence he was, in opinion, strongly skeptical about dreams and ceremonial auguries. But his conduct, especially in his later years, was char- acterized by many gross instances of superstitious practice. 19B. appuent prodigicB : evident portents, 'Apparent' in this sense of ' plainly manifest,' and so ' undeniable,' is found more than once in Shakespeare. Cf. A".™^ JuAn, IV, ii, 93 ; /iiUarJ 11, I. i, 13. 3lt4. So in Spenser, The Faerie Queeite, II, v, 10 : Like as a Lyon, whose imperiall powre A prowd rebellious Unicom defyes, T' avoide the rash assauK and wrathful stowre Of his fiers foe, him to a tree applyes, And when him ronning in full course he apyes, He slips aside: the whiles that furious beast His precious home sought of his enimyes, Strikes in the stocks ne thence can be releast, But to the mighty victor yields a bounteous feast. 305. Bears are said to have been caught by putting looking-glasses in their way ; they being so taken with the images of themselves c* Google SCEKE I JULIUS C^SAR 57 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, jio And I will bring him to the Capitol. CASsrus. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. Brutus. By the eighth hour ; is that the uttermost? CiNNA. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then. Metellus. Caius Ligarius doth bear Ciesar hard, 215 Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey : I wonder none of you have thought of him. aij. elEhtb Ft | eight FiFoFi. sij. hard Fi I hatted FiFiFi. that the hunters could easily master them. Elephants were be- guiled into pitfalls, lightly covered over with hurdles and turf. 300. tolls : nets, snares. The root idea of the word is a 'thing woven' (Cf. Spenser's 'welwoven toyles' in Aitrirpkel, jtvii, 1), and while it seems to have primary reference to a web or cord spread for taking prey, Ihe old Fr. loiU sometimes means a 'stalking-horse of painted canvas." Shakespeare uses the word several times. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, V, ii, 351 ; Hamlet, III, ii, 362. ' 115. doth bear CEeaai hard. For a discussion of this interesting eipression see note, p. 2% 1, 310. "Now amongst Pompey's friends (here was one called Caius Ligarius. who had been accused unto Csesar for taking part with Pompey, and Cisar discharged him. But Ligarius thanked not Caesar so much for his discharge, as he was offended wilh him for thai he was brought in danger by his tyrannical power: and therefore in his heart he was always his mor- tal enemy, and was besides very familiar wilh Brutus, who went to see him being sick in his bed, and said unto him : ' Ligarius, in what a time art thou sick ? ' Ligarius, rising up in his bed, and taking him by the right hand, said unto him: 'Brutus,' said he, 'if thou hast any great enterprise in hand, worthy of thyself, I am whole.' "— PluUrch, Marcus Brutus. c* Google 58 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 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. zzo Cassius. The moming comes upon 's : we '11 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 on oui purposes; 235 But bear it as our Roman actors do. With untir'd spirits and formal constancy : And so, good morrow to you every one. \^Exeun/ all but Brutus] Boy ! Lucius 1 Fast asleep? It is no matter ; Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber : 230 Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies. Which busy care draws in the brains of men; Therefore thou sleep'st so sound. «i. Two lines in Ft. 530. honey-heavy dew I hony- »g. [£in-ii/..,] lEieiint. Ma- heavy-Dew Ff I honey heavy deW net Brutus Ff. Johnson | heavy honey-dew Collier. iiS. by him ; by his house. Make your way home that way. I3S- Let not our looks betray our purposes by wearing, or being attired with, any indication of them. Cf. Macbeth, I, vii, Si. 130. The compound epithet, ' honey-heavy,' is very expressive and apt. The ' dew of slumber ' is called ' heavy ' because it makes the subject feel heavy, and 'honey-heavy,' because the heaviness it induces is sweet. But there may be a reference to the old belief that the bee gathered its honey from falling dew. So in Vergil's Georgiis, IV, i, we have " the heavenly gifts of honey born in air." Brutus is naturally led to contrast the free and easy state of the boy's mind with that of his own, which the excitement o£ his present undertaking is drawing full of visions and images of trouble, c* Google SCENE 1 JI/LIUS C^SAR 59 Enter Portia Portia. Brutus, my lord ! Brutib. Portia, what mean you ? wherefore rise you now? It is not for your health thus to commit 235 Your weak condition to the raw cold morning. Portia. Nor for yours neither. Vou '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 ; 240 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 scratcb'd your head. And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot : Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not, 245 But with an angry wafture of your hand Gave sign for me to leave you. So I did. aj7. Ton 've Rowe I Y' have Ff. tifi. wafture Rowe | waiter Ff. 333. Similarities and differences between this scene with Brutus and Portia and that between Hotspur and his wife in / KingUinry IV, II, iii, will prove a suggestive study. The description of the develop- ment of Portia's suspicion here is taken directly from Plutarch. "Out of his house he (Brutus) did so frame and fashion his countenance and looks that no man could discern he had anything to trouble his mind. But when night came that he was in his own house, then he was clean changed ; for either care did wake him against his will when he would have slept, or else oftentimes of himself he fell into such deep thoughts of this enterprise, casting in his mind alt the dangers that might happen -. that his wife, lying by him, found that there was some marvellous great matter that troubled his mind, not being wont to be in that taking, and that he could not well deter- mbe with himself." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. 237. Double negatives abound in Shakespeare. See Abbott, § 406. c* Google 6o THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Fearing to strengthen that impatience Which seera'd too much enkindled, and withal Hoping it was but an effect of humour, 250 Which sometime hath his hour with every man. It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep, And, couki 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, 255 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. z6o Portia. 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, ass. you, Brutus Fi | you Brutus 363. dank | danke Fi | darke Fi F1F3F8. I daik FbF(. 150. humoDi: moody caprice. The word comes to have this meaning fiom the theory of the old physiologists thai four cardinal humors^blood, choler or yellow bile, phlegm, and melancholy or black bile — determine, by theii conditions and proportions, a per- son's physical and mental qualities. The influence of this theory survives in the application of the terms 'sanguine.' 'choleric,' 'phlegmatic,' and 'melancholy' to disposirion and temperament. 254. condition: disposition, temper. So in The Merchant cf Vtniee, I, ii, 143: "If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, 1 had rather he should shrive me than wive me." Cf. the terra 'ill-conditioned,' still in use to describe an irascible or quarrel- some disposition. In 1. 236 ' condition ' refers to bodily health. 355. Deal my lord. This transposition, common in earnest address, is due to close association of possessive adjective and noun. 261. physical: wholesome, salutary. Cf. Coriolauui, I, v, 19. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 6 To dare the vile contagion of the night, a 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, 2; 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 2; Have had resort to you ; for here have been 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, 2! ; FiFi irge Pope. iM. ' Rheumy ' here means that stale of the air which causes the unhealthy issue of ' rheum,' a word which was specially used of the fluids that issue from the eyes or mouth. So in Hamlil, II, ii, 529, we have 'bisson rheum' for 'blinding tears.' So in A Midsummer Night's Dream, II. i, 105, Titania speaks of the moon as washing "all the air, That rheumatic diseases do abound." J71. charm: conjure, appeal by charms. So in Lucrect, 1. 16S1. JTO- This speech, and that beginning with 1. 291. follow Plutarch very closely : " His nife Porcia' . . . was the daughter of Calo, whom Brutus married being his cousin, not a maiden, but a young widow after the death of her first husband Bibulus. by whom she had also a young son called Bibulus, who afterwards wrote a book of the acts and gests of Brutus. . . . This young lady, being excellently well seen' in philosophy, loving her husband well, and being of a 1 the correct cbssical spelling. ' i.e. versed. c* Google 62 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act 1 1 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 285 noble courage, a3 she was also wise : because she would not ask her husband what he ailed before she had made some proof by her self: siie toolt a little razor, such as barbers occupy to pare men's nails, and, causing her maids and women Co go out of het chamber, gave herself a great gash withal in her thigh, (hat she was straight all of a gore blood ; and incontinently after a vehement fever took her, by reason of the pain of her wound. Then perceiving her hus- band was marvellously out of quiet, and that he could take no rest, even in her greatest pain of all she spake in this sort unto him : ' I being, O Brutus,' said she, 'the daughter of Cato, was married unto thee ; not to be thy bed-fellow and companion in bed and at board only, like a harlot, but to be partaker also with thee of thy good and evil fortune. Now for thyself, I can find no cause of fault in thee touching our match : but for my part, how may I shew my duty towards thee and how much I would do for thy sake, if I can- not constantly bear a secret mischance or grief with thee, which requireth secrecy and fidelity ? I confess that a woman's wit com- monly is too weak (o keep a secret safely : but yet, Brutus, good education, and the company of virtuous men, have some power to reform the defect of nature. And for my self, I have this benefit moreover, that I am the daughter of Cato, and wife of Brutus, This notwithstanding, I did not trust to any of these things before, until that now I have found by experience, that no pain or grief whatsoever can overcome me.' With those words she shewed him her wound on her thigh, and told him what she had done to prove herself. Brutus was amazed to hear what she said unto him, and lifting up his hands to heaven, he besought the gods to give him the grace he might bring his enterprise to so good pass, that he might be found a husband, worthy of so noble a wife as Porcia : so he then did comfort her the best he could." — Marcus Brutus. ^-386. In the outskirts or borders, and not at the center or near the heart. The image is exceeding apposite and expressive. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 63 Of youi good pleasure? If it be no more, Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife, BRtn'us. You aie my tiue and honourable wife, As dear to me as arc the ruddy drops That visit my sad heart. 290 Portia. If this were true, then should I know this secret. I grant I am a woman ; but withal A woman that Lord Biutus took to wife 1 I grant I am a woman ; but withal A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter. 295 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 300 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 a while ; And by and by thy bosom shall partake J05 303. [Knocking iiiilhiri] Malooe I Knocke FiK-i, 289-190. This embodies what was known about the circulation of the blood at the close of the sixteenth century. In 1616, the year of Shakespeare's death, William Harvey, bom in 1 578, lectured on his great discovery, but his celebrated treatise was not published until 162S. The general fact of the citculalion was known in ancient times, and Harvey's discovery lay in ascertaining the maiius pfirandi of it. and in reducing it lo matter of strict science. apS. Cf. Tkt Mirchant 0/ Vmice, I, i, 166: To Cato's daiighter, Brutus' Portia. c* Google 64 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act U The secrets of my heart : All my engagements I will construe to thee. All the charactery of my sad brows. Leave me with haste. [Exit Portia} Lucius, who 's that knocks? 309 Re-enter Lucius with Ligarius 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. Vouchsafe 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 ! 315 Ligarius. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand Any exploit worthy the name of honour. 310, Reenter ...with I>yce I En- 313 (and elsewhere). LicakIUsI ter...andFf after [Exit Portia]. Cai. Ff. 308. chUBCtery^ "writing by characters or strange marks." Brutus therefore means that he will divulge to her the secret cause of the sadness marked on his countenance. 'Charactery' seems to mean simply ' writing ' in the well-knovn passage in Tht Merry tVives of Windsor, V , V, 77: " Fairies use flowers for their charactery." So in Keats: "Before high.piled books in charactery Hold Uke rich gamers the full-ripen 'd grain." 309. Editors from Pope down have been busy trying to mend the grammar and the rhythm of this line. But in Shakespeare the full pause has often the value of a syllable, and the omission of the relative is common in Elizabethan literature. See Abbott, § 244. 315, la wear a kerchief It was a common practice in England for those who were sick to wear a kerchief on their heads. So in Fuller's Warfkiii, Cheshire, 1662, quoted by Malone: "If any there be sick, they make him a posset and tje a kerchief on his head : and if that will not mend him, then God be merciful to faim." c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 6$ 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, 310 I here discard my sickness 1 Soul of Rome I 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 ; 323 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? Brutus, That must we also. What it is, my Caius, I shall unfold to thee, as we are going 330 To whom it must be done. Ligarius. Set on your foot, And with a heart new-fir'd I follow you. To do I know not what ; but it sufficeth That Brutus leads me on. Brutus. Follow me, then. \_Exeuni'\ jjj. Two lines in Ff. 314. Thunder Ff. 311. I here dieeatd my sIcknesB. Ligarius here pulls off the ker- chief. Cf. Northumberland's speech, j lltnry IV, I, i, 147, "hence, thou sickly quoif ! Thou art a guard too wanton for the head." 333. In Shakespeare's time, 'exorcist ' and 'conjurer' were used indifferently. The former has since come 10 mean only 'one who drives awaf spiritEi ' ; the tatter, ' one who calls (hem up.' 314. Hy moTtifled spirit : my spirit thai was dead in me. So'mor- tifying groans' in The Merchant of Venice, I, i, 82, and 'mortified man ' in Macbeth, V. ii, 5. Words directly derived from Latin are often used, by Shakespeare and sixteenth century writers, in a signification peculiarly close to the root notion of the word. c* Google 66 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act li Scene II. C/ESAr's /louse Thunder and lightning. Enter C*sar, in his night-gown CffiSAR, Nor heavep nor earth have been at peace to- night: Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out, ' Help, ho ! they murder Csesar ! ' Who 's within ? Scene II Rowe I Scene IV Pope. Csesat . . . Ff. — in Ah nis'il-ginm — Cesar's hnusi I Ff omit. Pope omits, Enlii- CssAR ... I Enter Julius i. Two lines in Ff. This scene, taken with the preceding, affords an interesting study in contraslst Cxsar and Brutus; Calpurnia the yielding wife, and Portia tbe heroic. Enter CtSAR in his night-gown. ' Night-gown ' here, as in Macbeth, II, ii, 70. V, 1 , 3, means • dresaing-robe ' or ' dressing-gown.' This is the usual meaning of the word in English from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth. So Addison and Steele use it in The SfeOator. 2. In Plularch the scene is thus graphically described : "Then going lo bed the same night, as his manner was, and lying with his wife Calpurnia, all the windows and doors of his chamber flying open, the noise awoke him, and made him afraid when he saw such light; but more, when he heard his wife Calpurnia, being fast asleep, weep and sigh, and put forth many fumbling lamentable speeches -. for she dreamed that Ca:sar was slain Cssar rising in the morning, she prayed him, if it were possible, not to go out of the doors (hat day, but to adjourn the session of the Senate until another day. And if that he made no reckoning of her dream, yet that he would search further of the soothsayers by their sacrifices, to know what should happen him that day. Thereby it seemed that Czesar did likewise fear or suspect somewhat, because his wife Calpurnia until that time was never given to any fear and superstition ; and that then he saw her so troubled in mindwith this dream she had. But much more afterwards, when the soothsayers having sacrificed many beasts one after another, told him that none did like' them : then he determined to send Anto- nius lo adjourn the session of the Senate."— y«//«J Ca-sar. ■jtyGoogk SCENE ir JULIUS C^SAR 67 Enter a Servant Servant. My lord ? CtSAR. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, 5 And bring me their opinions of success. Servant. I will, my lord. [-^■^''] Enter Calpurnea Calpurnea. What mean you, Ciesar? think you to walk forth? You shall not stic out oE your house to-day. 9 C*SAR. Csesar shall forth : the things that threaten'd me Ne'er look'd but on my back ; when they shall see The face of Ciesar, they are vanished. Calpornia. CJGsar, I never stood on ceremonies. Yet now they fright me. There is one within, Besides the things that we have heard and seen, 15 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, 20 Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol ; The noise of battle hurtled in the air, aa. hnrtlea Fi I hurried FiFaFj- 6. success : the result. The root notion of (he word. See not«, p. 65, I. 324. But in V, iii, 65, the word is used in its inodeni sense. 13. ' Ceremonies ' is here put for the ceremonial or sacerdotal in- terpretation of prodigies and omens, as in II, i, 197. 16-34. Cf. llnmtet, I, i. 113-125; Vergil, Georgin, I, 465-488. 32, hnitled: clashed. The onomatopoetic 'hurtling'isusedin,,4j- Yeu Like /I, IV, iil, 1 ji, to describe the clashing encounter between c* Google 68 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan ; And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets. O Cffisar, these things are beyond all use, 15 And I do fear them ! C/ESAR. What can be avoided Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods? Vet Ceesar shall go forth ; for these predictions Are to the world in general as to Ciesar. Calpurnia. When beggars die, there are no comets seen ; 30 The heavens themselves blaze forth 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 ; 35 Seeing that death, a necessary end. Will come when it will come. J3. aid Migh FiFsF, | do neigh Fi. ■Orlando and ihe lioness. Chaucer, in Tki Knigktis Tale, \. 1758, uses the verb transitively, suggesting a diminutive of ' hurt ' : And he him hurtleth with his horse adown. 33. taste of death. This expression occurs thrice in Ihe New Testament (King James version). Plutarch relates that, a short time before Cssar fell, some of his friends urged him to have a guard about him, and he replied that it was better to die at once than live in the continual fear of death. He is also said lo have given as his reason for refuFiing a guard, that he thought Rome had more need of him than he of Rome. "And the very day before, Caesar, supping with Marcus Lepidus, sealed certain letters, as he was wont to do, at the board : so, talk falliiig out amongst them, reasoning what death wis best, he, preventing Iheir opinions, cried out aloud, ' Death unlocked for.' " — Plutarch, Julius Casar. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C;€SAR 69 Re-mier Servant What say the augurers? Servant. 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. 40 CAESAR. The gods do this in shame of cowardice : Caesar should be a beast without a heart, If he should stay at home to-day for fear. No, Ciesar shall not : danger knows full well That Csesar is more dangerous than he ; 45 We are two lions litter'd in one day. And I the elder and more terrible ; And Cxsar shall go forth. Calpurnia. Alas, my lord. Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence ! Do not go forth to-day : call it my fear 50 That keeps you in the house, and not your own. We '11 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. Ca:sar. Mark Antony shall say I am not well ; 55 And, for thy humour, I will stay at home. Enter Decius Here 's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so, Decius. Csesar, all hail ! good morrow, worthy Caesar ; I come to fetch yoo to the senate-house. 37. Re-enttr . . . | Enter a . . . Ff. FsF) I heard Rowe, 46. are Capell I hears F1F3 | hear si- Scene V Pope, 43. should : would. The present-day usage is post- Elizabethan. c* Google 70 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Cjesar. And you are come in very happy time, 60 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 wiU not come to-day. Tell them so, Decius. Calpurnia, Say he is sick. CxSAR. Shall Cfesar send a lie? 65 Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far. To be afeard to tell graybeards the truth? Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come. Decius. Most mighty Cfesar, let me know some cause. Lest I he laugh'd at when I tell them so. 70 C-5SAR. 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 ; Calpumia here, ray wife; stays me at home. 75 She dreamt to-night she saw my statue. Which, like a fountain with an 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 and portents 80 And evils imminent, and on her knee Hath begg'd that I will stay at home to-day. "I 76. to-night: last night. So in TA^ Merchant 0/ Vttiice, II, v, 18. — statue. In Shakespeare's time ' statue ' was pronounced indiffer- ently as a word of two syllables 01 three. Bacon uses it repeatedly aa^ trisyllable, and spells it 'statua,' as in his Advancement of Liarn- ing: " It is not possible to have the true pictures or slaluaes of Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar, no, nor of the kings or great personages." c* Google SCENE II JULIUS CitSAR 71 Decius. This dream is all amiss interpreted : It was a vision fair and fortunate. Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, . 85 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 Calpuinia's dream is signified. 90 C«SAR. And this way have you well expounded it. Decius. I have, when you have heard what I can say ; And know it now 1 the senate have concluded To give this day a crown to mighty Csesar. If you shall send them word you will not come, 95 Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock Apt to be render'd, for some one to say 8S-8p. In ancient times, when martyrs or other distinguished men were executed, their friends often pressed to stain handkerchiefs with their blood, or to gel some other jelic, which they mighl keep, either as precious memorials of them, or as having a kind of sacra- mental virtue. ' Cognizance ' is here used in a heraldic sense, mean- ing any badge to show whose friends the wearers were. i>4. The Roman people were specially yearning to avenge the slaughter of Marcus Crassus and his army by the Parthians, and Cisar was at this time preparing an expedition against them. But a Sibylline oracle was alleged, that Parthia could only be conquered by a king; and it was proposed to invest Czesar with the royal title and authority over the foreign subjects of the state. It is agreed on all hands that, if his enemies did not originate this proposal, they at least craftily urged it on, in order to make him odious, and exasper- ate the people against him. To the same end, they had for some time been plying the arts of extreme sycophancy, heaping upon him all possible honors, human and divine, hoping thereby to kindle such a tire of envy as would consume him. 96-1)7. It were a mock Apt to be lendei'd : it were a sarcastic reply likely to be made. Cf. the expression, ' make a mock of,' c* Google 72 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii ' Break up the senate till another time. When Casar's wife shall meet with better dreams,' If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper, loo ' Lo, Ceesar is afraid ' ? Pardon me, Csesar ; for my dear dear love To your proceeding bids me tell you this ; And reason to my love is liable. 104 C.5SAR. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia I I am ashamed I did yield to them. Give me my robe, for I will go. 104. liable.: subject. Cf. King John, II, i, 490. The thought here is that love stands as principal, reason as second or subordinate. " The deference which reason holds due from me to you is in this instance subject and amenable to the calls of personal affection." 107. Plutarch thus describes the scene : " But in the mean time Decius Bnitus, sumamed Albinus, in whom Cxsar put such con- fidence, tliat in his last will and testament he had appointed bim to be hia next heir, and yei was of the conspiracy with Cassius and Brutus : he, fearing that if Cxsar did adjourn the session that day, the conspiracy would be betrayed, laughed at the soothsayers, and reproved Ciesar, saying, ■ that he gave the Senate occasion 10 mis- like with him, and that they might think he mocked them, consider- ing that by his commandment they were assembled, and that they were ready willingly to grant him all things, and to proclaim him king of all his provinces of the Empire of Rome out of Italy, and that he should wear his diadem in all other places both by sea and land. And furthermore, that if any man should tell them from him they should depart for that present time, and return agab when Calpurnia should have better dreams, what would his enemies and ill-nillers say, and how could they like of his friends' words > And uho could persuade them otherwise, but that they should think his dominion a slavery unto them and tyrannical in himself? And yet if it be so,' said he, ' that you utterly mislike of this day, it is belter that you go yourself in person, and. saluting the Senate, to dismiss them till another time.' Theiewilhal he took C^sar by the hand, and brought him out of his house." — /alius Ociar. c* Google SCENE 11 JULIUS C^SAR ;3 Enter Pubuus, Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca, Tre- BONius, and Cinna And look where Publius is come to fetch me. Pubuus. Good morrow, Caesar. C-ESAR. • Welcome, Publius. What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too? no Good moriow, Casca. Caius Ligarius, Cjesar was ne'er so much your enemy As that same ague which hath made you lean. What is 't o'clock? Brutus. Csesar, 'tis stnicken eight, C«SAR. I thank you for your pains and courtesy. iij Enter Antonv See ! Antony, that revels long o' nights, Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony. Antonv, So to most noble Caesar. C'esar. Bid them prepare within ; I am to blame to be thus waited for. Now, Cinna ; now, Metellus : what, Trebo'hius ! 120 I have an hour's talk in store for you ; loB. SceneVlPope.— £n<«rPiiB- 114 UUS . . . I Ff have Publius after tie Cinna. Ff. 108. This was probably Publius Siltcius, notaconspiratar. Seelll, i, 87, where he is described as " quite confounded with this mutiny." 113. This is a graphic and charming touch. Here, for the first time, we have Cxsar speaking fairly in character ; for he was prob- ably the most finished gentleman of his time, one of the sweetest of men, and as full of kindness as of wisdom and courage. Merivale aptly styles him "Cisar the politic and the merciful." c* Google 74 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act u Remember that you call on me to^iay. Be near me, that I may remember you. Trebonius. Ceesar, I will. \_Asid€'\ And so near will I be, That your best friends shall wish I had been further. 125 C*SAR. Good friends, go in and taste some wine with me ; And we, like friends, will straightway go together. Brutus. [Aside] That every like is not the same, O Caesar, The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon ! [Exeunf] Scene III. A street near the Capitol Enter Artemidorus, reading a fafer Artemidorus. Casar, beware of Brutus ; take heed of Cassius ; come not near Casca ; have an eye to Cinna ; trust 134. [Aside] Rowe I Ff omit. Scene III Rowe | Scene VII Pope, laS, [Aiid,] Pope | Fi omit. —A striit . . , Ff omit. Ill), yearns Cap;]] | eatnes F1F2, reading a papir Rowe | Ff omit. 129. yearns : grieves. The Folios read ' eames.' Skeat considers earn {yearn) 'to grieve' of distinct origin from earn {yearn) "to desire.' Sha]cespeate uses tlie verb both transitiveiy and intran- sitively. The winning and honest suavity of Caesar here starts a pang of remorse in Brutus. Drinking wine together was regarded as a sacred pledge of truth and honor. Brutus knows that Cxsar is doing it in good faith ; and it hurts him to think that the others seem to be doing the like, and yet are doing a very different thing. Enter Artemcdorus ... In Plulircli, /k/ikj Cmar, Artemido- rus is thus introduced: "And one Artemidorus also, born in the isle of Gnidos, a doctor of rhetoric in the Greek tongue, who by means of his profession was very familiar with certain of Brutus' confederates, and therefore knew the most pari of all tlieir practices against Cxsar, came and brought him a little bill, written with his own hand, of all that he meant to tell him. He, marking how Cxsar received all the supplications that were offered him. and that he gave them straight to his men that were about him, pressed nearer c* Google SCENE IV JULIUS OESAR 75 not Trebonius ; mark well Metellus Cimber ; Decius Brutus loves thee nol ; thou hast wrong'd Caius Ligarius. There is but one mind in all these men, and it is bent against Cxsar. If thou beest not immortal, look about you : security gives way to conspiracy. The mighty gods defend Ihee ! Thy lover, Artemidorus. Here will I stand till Csesar pass along, And as a suitor will I give him this. lo My heart laments that virtue cannot live Out of the teeth of emulation. If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayest live ; If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive. {^Mxif] Scene IV. Another part of the same street, before the house of Brutus Enter Portia and Lucius Portia, I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house ; Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone. Why dost thou stay? Scene IV Capell. — Another fart . . . Capell | Ff omit, to him, and said : ' Ciesar, read this memorial to yourself, and that quickly, for they be matters of great weight, and touch you nearly.' " 6-7. security givea way to: false confidence opens a way for. 8, lover : friend. See note, p. 100, 1. 13. 13. emulatioD ; envious rivalry. So in Troiliis and Cnssida, I, iii, 134:." an envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation." 14. contrive: plot, conspire. Ci. The Merchant of Vemie,W,\,'^fx>. I. The anxiety of Portia is thus described by Plutarch, Marcus Brutus: "For Porcia, being very careful and pensive for that which was to come, and being too weak to away with so great and inwaid grief of mind, she could hardly keep within, but wa.s frighted willi every little noise and cty she heard, as [hose that are taken and c* Google ^6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act u Lucius. To know my erraod, madam. Portia. I would have had thee there, and bere again, Ere I can tell thee what thou shouidst do there. 5 constancy, be strong upon my side 1 Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue ! 1 have a man's mind, but a woman's might. How hard it is for women to keep counsel 1 Art thou here yet? Luaus. Madam, what should I do? 10 Run to the Capitol, and nothing else? And so return to you, and nothing else? Portia. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well. For he went sickly forth : and take good note What Csesar doth, what suitors press to him. 15 Hark, boy ! what noise is that ? Lucius. I hear none, madam. Portia. Prithee, listen well : I heard a busding rumour, like a fray. And the wind brings it from the Capitol. Lucius. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing, 20 iB. bnstlliiE Rovte I bussLing Ff. possessed viith the fury of ihe Bacchanles ; asking every man that came from the market-place what Brutus did, and still seni messen- ger after messenger, to know whal news," 6. MDStancy: firmness. Cf. II, i, 299. So in Macbttk, II, ii, 68. tS. A loud noise, or murmur, as of stir and tumult, is one of the old meanings of ' rumor.' So in King John, V, iv, 45 : " the noise and rumour of the field." Since the interview of Brutus and Portia, he has unbosomed all bis secrets 10 her; and now she is in such a fever of anxiety that she mistakes her fancies for facts. 30. Sooth: in truth. CL The Merchant of Venice,\X \ . See Sk eat, and cf. note on 'soothsayer,' p. 10, 1. 19. c* Google suENE IV JULIUS C;ESAR Ti Enter the Soothsayer Portia. Come hither, fellow : which way hast thou been ? Soothsayer. At mine own house, good lady. Portia. What is 't o'clock? Soothsayer. About the ninth hour, lady. Portia. Is Cfesar yet gone to the Capitol? Soothsayer. Madam, not yet : I go to take my stand, 25 To see him pass on to the Capitol, Portia. Thou hast some suit to Ctesar, hast thou not? Soothsayer. That I have, lady : if it will please Ceesar To be so good to Cjesaras to hear me, I shall beseech him to befriend himself. 30 Portia. Why, know'st thou any harm 's intended towards him? Soothsayer. None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance. Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow : The throng that follows Csesar at the heels, Of senators, of prjetors, common suitors, JS Will crowd a feeble man almost to death ; I '11 get me to a place more void, and there Speak to great Caesar as he comes along. \_Exif\ Portia. I must go in. Ay me, how weak a thing The heart of woman is ! O Brutus, 40 II. Enter lit Soothsayer Ff 31. Two lines in Ff. I Enter Artemldorus Rowe. 39. Two lines in Ff. i3.o'ClockTheobald|aclockeFi. 39- Ay I Aye Ff | ah Jofinson. 31. Enttr thi Soothsayer. Rowe substituted 'Anemidorus ' for ' the Soothsayer ' here, and many modern editors have adopted this change. But North's Plutarch furnishes a source for the Soothsayer as distinct from Artemidorus, and the reading of the Folios has a dramatic edge and effectiveness which Rowe's change destroys. c* Google 78 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii ITie heavens speed thee in thine enterprise ! Sure, the boy heard me. Brutus hath a suit That Csesar will not grant, O, I grow faint. Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord ; Say I am merry ; come to me again, 45 And bring me word what he doth say to thee. l£xeutti severally'] 46. [Excuiil in'eraily] Theobald I Exeunt Fi. 42-43. BrntnB h"th a aalt that Cebsu will not grant. These words Portia speaks aloud to the boy, Lucius, evidently to conceal the true cause of her uncontrollable flutter of spirits. giiizcdt* Google Scene I, Rome. Before the Capitol : the Senate sitting A crowd of people; among them Artemidorus and the Soothsayer. Flourish. Enter C.tsar, Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Metellus, Trebonius, Cinna, Antony, Lepidus, Popiuus, PuBLius, and others Cesar. The Ides of March are come. SooTHSAVER. Ay, Ciesar ; but not gone. Artemidorus, Hail, Csesar ! read this schedule. Decius. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read, At your best leisure, this his humble suit. S Artemidorus. O Csesar, read mine first ; for mine 's a suit That touches Ca;sar nearer : read it, great Csesar. C.TSAR. What touches us ourself shall be last serv'd. Rsmi. Bi/oi-i . . . PuBLiL's, flHrf Publius, and the Soothsayer Ff | sihers Capell (substantUlly) I Flout- Ff omit Popilius, ish. Enter Cxsai . , . Artimedorus, j. achedale FgFj | SceduLe FiFj, i-i. Cf. Plutaich, Juliu! CiTsar: "There was a certain sooth- sayer, that had given Caesat warning long time afore, to take heed of- the day of the Ides of March, which is the iifleenlh of the month; for on that day he should be in great danger. That day being come, Clsar, going unto the Senate-house, and speaking merrily unto the soothsayci, told him 'the Idea of March be come.' — "So they be,' softly answered the soothsayer, 'but yet are they not past.' " Note Shakespeare's development of his material. 8. ui ODfielf. The plural of modem English royalty transferred (o ancient Rome. Another of the famous anachronisms. 79 8o THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Artemidorus. Delay not, Caesar ; read it instantly. C^SAR. What, is the fellow mad? PuBLiUS. Sirrah, give place. lo Cassius, What, urge you your petitions in the street? Come to the Capitol, C^SAR goes up lo the Seriate-house, the rest following PoPlLius. I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive. Cassius. What enterprise, Fopilius? PowLius. Fare you well. \^Advances to C«Sar] Brutus. What said Popilius Lena? 15 Cassius. He wish'd to-day our enterprise might thrive, I fear our purpose is discovered. Brutus, Look, how he makes to C^sar : mark him. Cassius, Casea, be sudden, for we fear prevention. Brutus, what shall be done? If this be known, 20 Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back, For I will slay myself. 13. C^SAR £«).,, I Ff omit. 14. Advancii . . . | Ff omil. 9. See quotation from Plutarch, y«/jHj Caiar, above, p. 74. II. As already indicated (see nole, p. 39, 1. i!6), the murder of Cxsac did not take place in the Capitol, but Shakespeare, departing from Plutarch, followed a famous literary tradition. So in Chaucer, Thi Manifi Tali, 11. 713-7!°. Cf. the speech of Polonius, Hamlet, III, ii. 108-109: "I did enact Julius Caesar; I was kill'd i' the Capitol 1 Brutus kill'd me." See Introduction, Sources, p. xv. 13. This is mainly Steevens's (1773) stage direction. Capell's (1768) is interesting; "Artemidorus is push'd back, Cisar, and the rest, enter the Senate -. The Senate rises. Fopilius presses forward to speak to Cxsar; and passing Cassius, says, , . ." tS. makestoi advancesto, presses towards. — roatk. Nonecesslty to pronounce this as dissyllabic. The pause has the effect of a syllable. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS CyESAR 8l Brutus. Cassius, be constant : Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes ; Foi, look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change. Cassius. Tcebonius knows his time; for, look you, Brutus, 25 He draws Mark Antony out of the way. \£xeunl Antonv and Trebonius] 32. conatant: firm. So in 11. 60, ^^, 73. Cf. II, i, 227, 299; iv, 6. 13-J6. So ia 'P\Mt,iai, Marcus Brutus : ■' Another senator called Popilius Lxna after he had saluted Brutus and Cassius more friendly than he was wont to do, he rounded^ softly in their eais, and told them, '1 pra.y the gods you may go through with that you have taken in band; but. withal, dispatch. I read' you. for your entetprise is bewiayed.' When he had said, he presently departed from them, and left them both afraid that their conspiracy would Out. . . . When Cisar came out of his litter, Popilius Lzena went ... and kept him a long time with a talk. Caesar gave good ear unto him ; wherefore the conspirators . . . conjecturing . . . that his talk was none other but the very discovery of their conspiracy, they were afraid every man of them ; and one looking in another's face, it was easy to see that they all were of a mind, that it was no tarrying for them till they were apprehended, but rather that they should kill Ihemaelves with their own hands. And when Ca-ssius and certain other clapped their hands on theii swards under their gowns, to draw them, Brutus marking the countenance and gesture of Lxna, and considering that he did use himself rather like an humble and earnest suitor than like an accuser, he said nothing to his companion (because there were many amongst them that were not of the con- spiracy), but with a pleasant countenance encouraged Cassius; and immediately after. L^ena went from Ca:sar, and kissed his hand. . . . Trebonius on the other side drew Antonius aside, as he came into the house where the Senate sat, and held him with a long talk without." In the Julius Ciesar Plutarch makes Decius detain Antony in talk. 1 \x. whbpered. * i.e. advise. c* Google 82 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in Decius. Where is Metellus Cimber? Let him go. And presently prefer his suit to Csesar. Brutus. He is address'd : press near and second him, CiNNA, Casca, you are the first that rears your hand. 30 C,€SAR, Are we all ready? What is now amiss That Cfesar and his senate must redress? Metellus. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Cfesar, Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat An humble heart, — {^Kneeling] C^SAR, I must prevent thee, Cimber. 35 These couchings and these lowly courtesies Might fire the blood of ordinary men, And turn pre-ordinance and first decree 28. pre»ently; immediately, at once. So Shakespeare and other Elizabethan writers always use the word. See 1. 143 ; IV, i, 45. 39. addielB'd: prepared. Often so in sixteenth century literature. Cf. As You Like It, V, iv, 162 ; Hinry V, III, iii, 58; z Henry IV, IV, iv, 5. This old meaning survives in a well-known golf term. 36. couctiiDgs : stoopings. 'Couch' is used in the sense of 'bend' or ' sloop ' as under a burden, in Spenser, Tkt faerie Queetu, III, i, 4 ; An aged Squire there tode, That seemd to couch under his shield three-square. So in Genesis, ^\\x. 14: " Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens." The verb occurs six times in the Bible (King James version). In Foisler Doister, I, iv, 90, we have "Couchei On your marybones. . . Down to the ground I" 38. pre-ardinance and fiiBt decree : the ruling and enactment of the highest authority in the state. " What has been pre-ordained and decreed from the beginning." — Clar. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C.ESAR 83 Into the law of children. Be not fond. To think that Csesar bears such rebel blood 40 That will be thaw'd from the true quality With that which melteth fools, I mean, sweet words, Low-crooked curtsies, and base spaniel-fawning. Thy brother by decree is banished : If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him, 45 I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. Know, Ciesar doth not wrong, nor without cause Will he be satisfied. 3}. l«w I lane Ff . crooked-cuctsles Ff . — ipanlel-lawn- 4J. Low-crooked cuitiiei | Low- ing Johnson I Spaniell fawning Fi. 39. law. This is one of the textual cruets of the play. ' Law ' is Johnson's conjecture for the • lane ' of the Folios, It was adopted by Malone. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, Mason's conjecture, 'play,' was adopted. 'Line,' 'bane,' ' vane ' have each been proposed. Fleay defends the Folio reading and interprets 'lane ' in the sense of ' narrow conceits.' < Law of children' would mean 'law at (he mercy of whim or caprice.' 39-40. Be not foDd, To think : be not so foohsh as to think. ^-48. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare was adopted, with a slight change, Tyrwhitt's suggested restoration of these lines to the form indicated by Ben Jonson in the famous passage in his Discoverits, wlien, speaking of Shakespeare, he says : " Many times he fell into those things could not escape laughter: as when he said in the person of Csesar, one speaking to him, 'Cfesar, thou dost me wrong,' he replied, ' Ciesar did never wrong but with jtist cause.' and such like; which were ridiculous." Based upon thb note the Tyrwhitt restoration of the text was: Metkllus. Cffisar, thou dost mew rong. C«SAR, Know, Casar doth not wro .ng, but with jus Nor without cause will he 1 « satisfied. In the old Hudson Shakespeare text the first line of Cxsar's reply was: "Cxsar did never wrong but with just cause." Jonson has c* Google $4 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ill Metellus. Is there no voice more worthy than my own, To sound more sweetly in great Ctesar's ear 50 For the repealing of my banish'd brother? Brutus. I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Ctesar, Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may Have an immediate freedom of repeal, C-fSAR. What, Bmtns ! Cassius. Pardon, Caesar ; Csesar, pardon : As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall, S^ To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber. CiESAR. I could be well mov'd, if I were as you ; If I could pray to move, prayers would move me : But I am constant as the northern star, 60 Of whose tnie-fix'd and resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament. The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks ; They are all fite and every one doth shine ; But there 's but one In all doth hold his place : 65 So in the world ; 't is furnlsh'd well with men, 61. tniB-fli'd 1 true fixt Ff. another gird at what he deemed Shakespeare's blunder, for in ihe Induction to The Staple of Nevis is, ^'Prologue. Cry you mercy, you never did wrong, but with just cause," Either Jonson must have misquoted what he heard at the theater, or the passage n-as altered to the form in the text of the Folios on his remonstrance. This way of conveying meanings by suggestion rather than direct expression was intolerable to Jonson, Jonson must have known that 'wrong' could mean 'injury' and 'punishment' as well as 'wrong-doing.' 'Wrong'meamng'harm'occursbelow, 1.143. See note, p. 105,1. no. 51. repealing: recall. So 'repeal' in 1. 54. Often so tn Shakespeare, 59. If I could seek 10 move, or change, others by prayers, then I were capable of being myself moved by the prayers of others. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS CvESAR 85 And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive ; Vet in the number I do know but one That unassailable holds on his tank, Unshak'd of motion : and that I am he, 70 Let me a little show it, even in this ; That I was constant CJmber should be banish'd. And constant do remain to keep him so. 73 CiNNA, O Cffisar, — C'GSAR. Hence ! wilt thou lift up Olympus? Decius. Great Cffisar, — Cjesar. Doth not Brutus bootless kneel? Casca. Speak, hands, for me I \_They stab Casar] Cjtsar. Ettu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar ! [Dies] 75. IXttbnotPil Do not F2FSF4. n- iZ>ies} Dycj Fi i FaFsFiomit, frj, appreheiiBiTB : capable of apprehending, intelligent. 73-73. All through thU scene, Cxsar is made to speak quite out of character, and in a strain of hateful arrogance, in order, appar- ently, to soften the enormity of his murder, and to grind the daggers of the assaasins to a sharper point. Perhaps, also, it is a pa.rt of the irony which so marks this play, to put the haughtiest words in Cxsar's mouth just before his fa]]. 75. The ' Do not ' of the three later Folios was adopted by John- son because Marcus Brutus would not have knelt. 70. The simple stage direction of the Folios is retained. Thai of the Cambridge and the Globe editions is, " Casca Aist, then the other Conspirators and Marcus Brutus stab Caesar." 77. Et tu, Bnte? There is no classical authority for putting this phrase into (he mouth of Cxsar. It seems to have been an Eliza- bethan proverb or ' gag,' and it is found in at least three works published earlier than Julius Cissar. (See Introduction, Sources, p. ivi.) Ca^ar had been as a father to Brutus, who was fifteen years his junior; and the Greek, lal ait. ritne, "and thou, my son 1 " which Dion and Suetonius put into his mouth, though prob- ably unauthentic, is good enough to be true. In Plutarch are two c* Google 86 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iir CiNNA. Liberty ! Freedom ! Tyranny is dead ! Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. Cassius. Some to the common pulpits, and cry out, 80 ' Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement ! ' detailed accounts of the asaassination, that in Marcus Brutus dif- fering somewhat from that in Julius Casar with regard to the nomenclature of the persons involved. The following is from Marcus Brutus : " Trebonius on the other side diew Antonius aside, as he came into the house where the Senate sat, and held him with a long talk without. When Cxsa,r was come into the house, all the Senate rose to honour him at his coming in. So when he was set, the con- spirators flocked about him, and amongst them they presented one Tullius Cimber, who made humble suit for the calling home again of his biother that was banished. They all made as though they were intercessors for him, and took Cxsar by the hands, and kissed his head and breast. Cxsar at the first simply refused their kindness and entreaties ; but afterwards, perceiving they still pressed on him, he violently thrust them from him. Then Cimber with both his hands plucked Cassar's gown over his shoulders, and Casca, that Stood behind him, drew his dagger first and strake Cf sar upon the shoulder, but gave him no great wound, Cxsar, feeling himself hurt, took him straight by the hand he held his dagger in, and cried out in Latin : ' O traitor Casca, what dost thou ? ' Casca on the other side cried in Greek, and called his brother to help him. So divers running on a heap together to fly upon Cxsar, he, looking about him to have fled, saw Brutus with a sword drawn in his hand ready to strike at him ; then he let Casca's hand go, and casting his gown over his face, suffered every man to strike at him that would. Then the conspirators thronging one upon another, because every man was desirous to have a cut at him, so many swords and daggers lighting upon one body, one of them hurt another, and among them Brutus caught a blow on his hand, because he would make one In murther- ing of him, and all the rest also were every man of them bloodied." So. common pulpits : rostra, the public platforms in the Forum. St. This is somewhat in the style of Caliban, when he gets glo- rious with "celestial liquor," Thi Timpesl, II, ii, rgo, I9I ; "Freedom, hey-day! hey-day, freedom! freedom, hey-day, freedom!" c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 87 Brutus, People, and senators, be not affrighted ; Fly not ; stand still : ambition's debt is paid. Casca. Go to the pulpit, Brutus. Decius, And Cassius too. 85 Brutus. Where 's Publius? CiNNA. Here, quite confounded with this mutiny. Metellus. Stand fast together, lest some friend of Cssai's Should chance — Brutus, Talk not of standing. Publius, good cheer; 90 There is no harm intended to your person. Nor to no Roman else : so tell them, Publius. Cassius, And leave us, Publius ; lest that the people, Rushing on us, should do your age some mischief. Brutus. Do so ; and let no man abide this deed 95 But we the doers. Re-enter Trebonius Cassius. Where is Antony ? Trebonius. Fled to his house amaz'd. 07. Scene II Pope. — ^e-en/fr . . . Capell I Enter... Ff. 81-83. " Cxsar being slain in this manner, Brutus, standing in the middest of the house, would have spoken, and stayed the other Sen- ators (hat were nol of the conspiracy, to have told them the reason why they had done this fact. But they, as men both afraid and amazed, fled one upon another's neck in haste (o get out at the door, and no man followed them." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. 95, abide: pay for, suffer for. So in III, ii, 1 14. "Through con- fusion of form with ' abye,' when Ihal verb was becoming archaic, and through association of sense between abyc (pay tor) a dud, and abidt the constquencis of a deid, ' abide ' has been erroneously used for ' abye ' = pay for, atone for, suffer for." — Murray. 97. " But Antonius and Lepidus, which were two of Cxsar's chief est friends, secretly conveying themselves away, fled into other men's houses and forsook their own." — Plutarch, Julius Casar. c* Google 88 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act jii Men, wives, and children stare, cry out, and run As it were doomsday. Bkutus. Fates, we will know your pleasures : That we shall die, we know ; 't is but the time, loo And drawing days out, that men stand upon. Casca. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life Cuts off so many years of fearing death. Brutus. Grant that, and then is death a benefit : So we are Cesar's friends, that have abridg'd 105 His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop. And let us bathe out hands in Caesar's blood Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords ; Then walk we forth, even to the market-place. And, waving our red weapons o'er our heads, no Let 's all cry ' Peace, freedom, and liberty ! ' Cassiijs. Stoop, then, and wash. How many ages hence Shall this our lofty scene be acted over In states unborn and accents yet unknown 1 Brutus. How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport, nj : 114. Mates FiFgFi [ State F]. iij. Brutus 1 Case. Pope. 98. " When the murder was newly done, there were sudden outcries of people that ran up and down." — Plutarch, Marius Brutus, loi. stand npon : concern themselves with. Ci. II, U, 13. What men are chiefly concerned aboul is how long they cap draw out their little period of mortal life. Cf, Sophocles, Ajax, 475-476: "What joy is there in day following day, as each but draws us on towards or keeps us back from death ? " — J. Chorion Collins. ioa-103. Many modem editors have followed Pope and given Ihia speech to Cassius. But there is no valid reason for this change from the text of the Folios. In the light of Casca's sentiments ex- pressed in I, iii, 100-102, this speech is more characteristic of him than of Cassius. Pope also gave Casca II. 106-1 1 r , c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 89 That now on Pompey's basis lies along No worthier than the dust ! Cassius. So oft as that shall be, So often shall the knot of us be call'd The men that gave their country liberty. Decius. What, shall we forth? Cassius. Ay, every man away ; uo Brutus shall lead ; and we will grace his heels With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome. Enter a Servant Brutus. Soft ! who comes here? A friend of Antony's. Servant. Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel ; Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down ; 115 And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say : Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest ; Csesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving : Say I love Brutus and I honour him ; iifi. lies FjFi I lye Fl 117. Cassius I Bru. Pope. 116. " Cxsar . . . was driven ... by the counsel of the con- spirators, against the base whereupon Pompey's image stood, which ran all of a gore-blood till he was slain." — Plutarch, yu/iui Cusar. 117--11Q. This speech and the two preceding, vaingloriously antici- pating the stage celebrity of the deed, are very strange ; and, unless there be a shrewd irony lurking in them, it is hard 10 understand the puipose of them. Their effect is to give a very ambitious air to the work of these professional patriots, and to cast a highly theatri- cal color on their alleged virtue, as if they had sought to immortalize themselves by "striking the foremost man of all this worliL" 133. most boldest. See Abbott, § n. So in III, ii, 1S2. 133. Enter a Servant. "This simple stage direction is the , . . turning-round of the whole action; the arch has reached its apex and the Re-action has begun." — Moulton. c* Google go THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in Say I feai'd Caesar, honour'd him, and lov'd him. 130 If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony May safely come to him, and be resolv'd How Cfesar hath deserv'd to lie in death, Mark Antony shall not love Cssar dead So well as Brutus living; but will follow 135 The fortunes and afEairs of noble Brutus Thorough the hazards of this untrod state With all trae faith. So says my master Antony. Brutus. Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman ; I never thought him worse. 140 Tell him, so please him come unto this place, He shall be satisfied, and, by my honour, Depart un touch' d. Servant. I '11 fetch him presently. [^£xi/] Brutus. I know that we shall have him well to friend. Cassius. I wish we may : but yet have I a mind 145 That fears him much, and my misgiving still Falls shrewdly to the purpose. 131. lesolv'd: informed. This meaning is probably connected with the primary one of 'loosen,' 'set free,' through the idea of setting free from peipleiily. ' Resolve ' continued to be used in the sense of ' inform ' and 'answer' until the beginning of ihe nine- teenth century. Shakespeare uses the word in the three tnain senses of (1) 'relai,' 'dissolve,' tfam/rf, I, ii, 130; {2) 'inform, 'as here ; and (3) ' determine," _y Henry VI, III, iii, 219. 137. Thorough. Shakespeare uses ' through ' or ■ thorough ' indif- ferently, as suits his verse. The two are but different forms of Ihe same word. ' Thorough," the adjective, is later than the preposition, 141. ao please him corns: provided Ihat it please him 10 come. 'So' is used with the future and subjunctive %a denote ' provided that,' 146-147. still Falla Bhrewdly to the purpose : always comes cleverly near the mark. See Skeat under 'shrewd' and 'shrew.' c* Google JULIUS CESAR Re-enter Antony Brutus. But here comes Antony. Welcome, Mark An- tony. Antony, O mighty Cjesar ! dost thou lie so low? Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, 150 Shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well ! I know not, gentlemen, what you intend. Who else must be let blood, who else is rank : H I myself, there is no hour so fit As Ciesar's death's hour, nor no instrument 155 Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich With the most noble blood of all this world, I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard. Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke. Fulfil your pleasure. Live a thousand years, 160 I shall not find myself so apt to die : No place will please me so, no mean of death. As here by Csesar, and by you cut off, The choice and master spirits of this age. BRUTtra. O Antony, beg not your death of us. 165 Though now we must appear bloody and cruel. As, by our hands and this our present act, 14B. Scene III Pope. — Two lines In Ff. 153. be let blood: be put 10 deal ti. So in Richard III. Ill, i, 1S3. — la rink: has grown grossly full-blooded. The idea is of one who has overtopped his equals, and grown too high for the public safety. So in the speech of Oliver \a As You Like It, I, i, 90, when incensed at the high bearing of Orlando : " Is it even so ? begin you lo grow upon me? I will physic your rankness." ilSo. Live: if lUve. Ci. The Merchant of Vinki,l\\, v., dx. xf^ In this line 'by' is used (1) in the sense of 'near,' 'beside,' and (2) in its ordinary sense to denote agency. c* Google 92 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ill You see we do ; yet see you but our hands And this the bleeding business they have done : Our hearts you see not ; they are pitiful ; 170 And pity to the general wrong of Rome — As fire drives out fire, so pity pity — Hath done this deed on C;esar, For your part, To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony : Our arms in strength of malice, and our hearts 17J Of brothers' temper, do receive you in With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence. Cassius. Your voice shall be as strong as any man's In the disposing of new dignities. 17a, The firei 'fire' is dissyllabic. The allusion is to Ihe old notion that if a bum be held to the fire the pain will be drawn or driven out. Shakespeare has four other very similar allusions to this belief — ^.JOTM and Juliet, I, 11, 46; CoriBlanu!,\S , vii, 54; The Theo Gentletnen of Virona, II, iv, 192 ; King John, III, i, 277. 175. In strength of malice : strong as they have shown themselves to be in malice towards tyranny. Though the Kolio text may be corrupt, and at least twelve emendations have been suggested, the figure as it stands ia intelligible, though elliptically obscure. Grant White has indicated how thoroughly the expression is in Ihe spirit of what Brutus has just said. In previous editions of Hud- son's Shakespeare. Singer's conjecture of 'amity' for 'malice' was adopted. What makes this conjecture plausible is Shakespeare's frequent use of 'amity,' and "strength of their amity" occurs in Antony and Cleopatra, II, vi, 137. itS-itp- Brutus has been talking about " our liearts," and " kind love, good thoughts, and reverence." To Cassius, all that is mere rose-waierhumbug.andheknowsit isso to Antonytoo. He hastens to put in such motives as he knows will have weight with Antony, as they also have with himself. And it is remarkable that several of these patriots, especially Cassius, the two Brutuses, and Trebo- nius, afterwards accepted the governorship of fat provinces for which they had been prospectively named by C:esar. c* Google SCENE 1 JULIUS C^SAR 93 Brutus. Only be patient till we have appeas'd i8o The multitude, beside themselves with fear, And then we will deliver you the cause Why I, that did love Csesar when I struck him, Have thus proceeded, Antony. I doubt not of your wisdom. Let each man render me his bloody hand : 1S5 First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you ; Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand ; Now, Decius Brutus, yours ; now yours, Metellus ; Yours, Cinna ; and, my valiant Casca, yours ; Though last, not least in love, yours, good Trebonius. 190 Gentlemen all, — alas, what shall I say ? My credit now stands on such slippery ground. That one of two bad ways you must conceit me. Either a coward or a flatterer. That I did love thee, Caesar, O, 't is true : 195 If, then, thy spirit look upon us now. Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death, To see thy Antony making his peace. Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes. Most noble ! in the presence of thy corse? 200 183. atruck I slrooke FiFa I stroolt 1B4. wisdom FsFi | Wisedome Fi FiFi. Fa 181. " When Cisar was slain, the Senate — though Bruius stood in the middest amongst Ihem, as though he would have said some- thing touching this fact — presently ran out of the house, and, fly- ing, tilled all the city with marvellous fear and tumult. Insomuch as some did shut to the doors." — Plutarch, y«//it[ Catar. 193. CODCeit: conceive of, think of. So in I, iii, 162. 197. dealer: more intensely. This emphatic or intensive use of 'dear' is very common in Shakespeare, and is used in the expression of strong emotion, either of pleasure or of pain. c* Google 94 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds, Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood, It would become me better than to close In terms of friendship with thine enemies. Pardon me, Julius ! Here wast thou bay'd, brave hart ; 205 Here didst thou fall, and here thy hunters stand, Sign'd in thy spoil and crimson'd in thy lethe. O world, thou wast the forest to this hart ; And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee. How like a deer, stnicken by many princes, 210 Dost thou here lie ! Cassius. Mark Antony, — Antony. Pardon me, Caius Cassius : The enemies of Caesar shall say this ; Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty. Cassius. I blame you not for praising Caesar so ; 315 But what compact mean you to have with us? Fi I death Pope. Fi I stricken FaFgFi, IDJ. bay'd: brought to bay. The expression connotes being barked at and worried as a deer by hounds. Cf. A Midsumvter Nights Driam, IV, 1, 118. "Cisar turned him no where but he was stricken at by some . . . and was hackled and mangled among them, as a wild beast taken of hunters." — Plutarch. Julius Cxsar. 307. Sign'd in thy apoiL This may have reference to the custom still prevalent in England and Europe of hunters smearing their hands and faces with the blood of the slain deer, — lethe. This puizling term is certainly the reading of the FoUos, and may mean either ' violent death ' (Lat. lelum), as ' lethal ' means ' deadly,' or, as White interprets the passage, 'the stream which bears to oblivion.' 314. modesty: moderation. So in Henry Vfll, V, iii, 64. This is the original meaning of the word. See illustrative quotation from Sir T. Elyot's The Governour, 1531, in Century. c* Google SCENE 1 JULIUS C^SAR 95 Will you be prick'd in number of our friends, Or shall we on, and not depend on you? Antony. Therefore I took your hands, but was indeed Sway'd from the point by looking down on Csesar. z2o Friends am I with you all, and love you all, Upon this hope that you shall give me reasons Why and wherein Caesar was dangerous, Brutus. Or else were this a savage spectacle : Our reasons are so full of good regard *i5 That, were you, Antony, the son of Caesar, Vou should be satisfied. Antony. That 's all I seek : And am moreover suitor that I may Produce his body to the market-place ; And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend, 230 Speak in the order of his funeral. ja6. you, Antony Theobald | you Antony Ff. 117. prick'd ; marked on the list. The image is of a list of names wntten out, and some of them having holes pricked in the paper against them. Cf. IV, i, i. See Century under 'pricking fgr sheriffs.' 22$- fuU of £<>o* regard : the result of noble considerations. 229. 'Produce' here implies 'motion towards' — the original Latin sense. Hence the preposition ' to.' — market-place. Here, and else- where in the play, 'the mark el-place ' is the Forum, and the rasira provided there for the purposes of public speaking Shakespeare calls ' pulpits.' In this, as in so much else, he followed North. 331. the order of Ms funeral : the course of the funeral ceremonies. "Then Anionius, thinking good . . . that his body should be Hon. ourably buried, and not in hugger-mugger,' lest the people might thereby lake occasion to be worse offended if they did otherwise : Cassius stoutly spake against it. But Brutus went with the motion, and agreed unto it," — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. c* Google 96 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ill Brutus. You shall, Mark Antony. Cassius. Brutus, a word with you. [Aside to Brutus] You know not what you do ; do not consent That Antony speak in his funeral : Know you how much the people may be mov'd 135 By that which he will utter? Brutus. By your pardon : I will myself into the pulpit first, And show the reason of our Csesar's death : What Antony shall speak, I will protest He speaks by leave and by permission, 140 And that we are contented Cjesar shall Have all true rites and lawful ceremonies. It shall advantage more than do us wrong. Cassius. I know not what may fall ; I like it not. Brutus. Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar's body. 245 You shall not in your funeral speech blame us, But speak all good you can devise of Ciesar, And say you do 't by our permission ; Else shall you not have any hand at all About his funeral : and you shall speak iy> In the same pulpit whereto I am going, After my speech is ended. aja-t-^iW^/fl Brutus] Ffomil. 343. wrong : harm. Ct. 1. 47. Note Ihe high self-apprecialion of Brutus here, in supposing that if he can but have a chance to speak to the people, and to air his nisdom before them, all will go right. Here, again, he overhears Cassius, who now begins to find the effects of having stuffed him with ftatleries, and served as a mirror to " turn his hidden worthiness into his eye " (I, ii, 57-58). c* Google SCENE 1 JULIUS C-€SAR 97 Antony. Be it so ; I do desire no more. Brutus. Prepare the body, then, and follow us, \_£xeune all but Antony] Antony. O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, 255 That I am meek and gentle with these butchers ! Thou art the ruins of the noblest man That ever lived in the tide of times. Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood I Over thy wounds now do I prophesy, »6o Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips, To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue, A curse shall light upon the limbs of men ; Domestic fury and fierce civil strife Shall cumber all the parts of Italy ; 265 Blood and destruction shall be so in use. And dreadful objects so familiar. That mothers shall but smile when they behold Their infants quartered with the hands of war ; All pity chok'd with custom of fell deeds ; 270 1S4. r£wii>i'..OCapell I Exeunt. 15s. Scene IV Pope. Uuet Antony Ff. 963. llmlM F«F4 | limbes FiFi. 3SJ-3S8' Cf. Antony's eulogy of Brutus, V, v, 68-75. 303. limba. Thirteen different words ('kind,' 'line,' 'lives,' 'loins,' 'lombs,' 'sons,' 'times.' etc.) have been offered by editors as substi- tutes for the plain, direct ' limbs ' of the Folios. One of Johnson's suggestions was " these lymmes," taking ' lymmes ' in the sense of 'lime-hounds,' i.e. 'leash -hounds.' 'Lym' is on the list of dogs in King Lear. Ill, vi, 72. In defence of the Folio text Dr. Wright quotes Timon's curse on ihe senators of Athens and says, " Lear's curses were certainly levelled at his daughter's limbs." »<S9. with: by. So in III, ii, 196. See Abbott, % 193. c* Google g8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in And Cassar's spirit, ranging for revenge. With Ate by his side come hot from hell. Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice Cry ' Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war ; That this foul deed shall smell above the earth 275 With carrion men, groaning for burial. Enter a Servant You serve Octavius Csesar, do you not? Servant. I do, Mark Antony. Antony, Csesar did write for him to come to Rome. Servant, He did receive his letters, and is coming ; 2S0 And bid me say to you by word of mouth — O Caesar ! \Seeing the body\ Antonv. Thy heart is big ; get thee apart and weep. Passion, I see, is catching ; for mine eyes, an- Snfer ... I Enter Octavio's Ff omit. Servant Ff. 9S4. ottcbingifaiFsFaFi | catch- aSa. \SeiiHg the body\ Rowe | ing from Fi. 271. Ale was the Greek goddess of vengeance, discord, and mis- chief. Shakespeare refers to her in King John, II, i, 63, as " stirring to blood and strife." In Love's Labour 's Lost, V, ii, 694, and Much Ado About Nothing, II, i, 263, the references to her are humorous. 374. ' Havoc ' was anciently the word of signal for giving no quarter in a battle. It was a high crime for any one to give Ihe sig- nal without authority from the general in chief; hence the peculiar force of ' monarch's voice.' — To ' let slip ' a dog was a term of the chase, for releasing the hounds from the ' slip ' or leash of leather whereby they were held in hand till it was time to let Ihem pursue the animal. — The 'dogs of war' are lire, sword, and famine. So in Kit^ Henry V, First Chorus, 6-8 : cjcGoOJ^Ic SCENE II JULIUS C^SAR 99 Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine, 285 Began to water. Is thy master coming? Servant, He lies to-night within seven leagues of Rome. Antony. Post back with speed, and tell him what hath chanc'd. Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome, No Rome of safety for Octavius yet ; 290 Hie hence, and tell him so. Yet stay awhile ; Thou shall not back till I have borne this corse Into the market-place : there shall I try. In my oration, how the people take The cruel issue of these bloody men ; 295 According to the which, thou shall discourse To young Octavius of the state of things. Lend me your hand. {^Exeuni with Cesar's body'] Scene II. The Forum £«j5fr Brutus <!«</ CASSiira, and a throng 0/ C\t\z^n% Citizens. We will be satisfied ; let us be satisfied. Brutus. Then follow me, and give me audience, friends. Cassius, go you into the other street, And part the numbers. Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here ; 5 Those that will follow Cassius, go with him ; agi. awhile Fi I i-while F]Fi. Eitltr Brutus . , . Citizens Ma- 391. cor»e Pope I course F1F3 I lone | Enter Brutusandgoesinlothe coatw FaPi. Fulpit, and Cassius. with the Fie- agS. [Exmnl . . .] Exeunt. F(. beians Ff. Scene II Rowel Scene V Pope. i. Citizens Capell | Pie. (Pte- — Tie Forum Rowe 1 Ff omil, beians) Ff. 19D. A pun may lurk in this 'Rome.' See note, p. 19, 1. 156. DigilizMC* Google lOO THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi And public reasons shall be rendered Of Caesar's death. 1 Citizen. . I will hear Brutus speak. 2 Citizen. I will hear Cassius; and compare their reasons, When severally we hear them rendered. lo \_£xil Cassius, tvitk some of the Citizens. Brutus goes into the pulpit'\ 3 Citizen. The noble Brutus is ascended : silence ! Brutus. Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers I hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear : believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe ; censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say that Brutus' love to Oesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Bnitus rose against Cfesar, this is my 7, 10- renaered Pope I rendred F[. lo. \Exit . . . /ulfi/] Ff omit. II. " The resi followed in troupe, but Brutus went foremost, very honourably compassed in round about with the noblest men of the city, which broughl him from the Capitol, through the market-place, to Ihe pulpit for orations- When the people saw him in the pulpit, although they were a multitude of rakehels of all sorts, and had a good will to make some stir; yet, being ashamed to do il, for Ihe reverence they bare unto Biutus, they kept silence lo hear what he would say. When Brutus began to speak, (hey gave him quiet audi- ence : howbeit, immediately after, they shewed that they were nol all contented with the murther." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutui. 13. lovers. Pope changed this to -friends.' But in Ihe sixteenth century 'lover' and 'friend' were synonymous- In 1. 44 Brutus speaks of Cassar as 'my best lover.' So ' Thy lover' in II, iii, 8. 16. MQBnre: judge. The word may have been chosen for the euphuistic jingle it makes here with 'senses-' c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C^SAR lOI answer : Not that I lov'd Caesar less, but that I lov'd Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live al! free-men? As Ctesar lov'd me, I weep for him ; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it ; as he was valiant, I honour him : but as he was ambi- tious, I slew him. There is tears for his love ; joy for his fortune ; honour for his valour ; and death for his ambi- tion. Who is here so base that would be a bondman ? If any, speak ; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak ; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. 3Z All. None, Brutus, none. Brutus. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enroU'd in the Capitol ; his glory not exten- uated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences enforc'd, for which he suffer'd death. 39 Enter Antony and others, with Cesar's body Here comes his body, moum'd by Mark Antony ; who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the 2*. I> Ff I are Pope, lone I Enter Mark Antony with Cie- 40. Eniir Antony . . . bsdy Ma- sar'i body Ff. 16. There is teait. So in I, iii, 138. See Abbott, § 335. 36-39. The reason of his death is made a matter of solemn official record in the books of Ihe Senate, as showitig that the act of killing him was done for public ends, and not from private hate. His fame is not lessened or whittled down in those points wherein he was worthy. 'Enforc'd' is in antithesis to 'extenuated,' Exactly the same antithesis is found in Antony and CUopalra,\, ii, 115. c* Google 102 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth ; as which of you shall not? With this I depart, — that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country to need my death. 46 All. Live, Brutus ! live, live ! 1 Citizen. Bring him with triumph home unto his house. 2 Citizen. Give him a statue with his ancestors. 3 Citizen. Let him be Oesar. 4 Citizen. Csesar's better parts 50 Shall be crown'd in Brutus. I Citizen. We 'II bring him to his house with shouts and clamours. Brutus, My countrymen, — 3 Citizen. Peace ! silence ! Brutus speaks. I Citizen. Peace, ho ! Brutus, Good countrymen, let me depart alone, js And, for my sake, stay here with Antony : Do grace to Csesar's corpse, ajid grace his speech Tending to Caesar's glories ; which Mark Antony, 47,7«,etc. ALL Ff | Cit. (Citizens) 48, 49, etc. Citizen | Ff omit. Capell. Si- Two lines in Ff. 43-4O. In this speech Shakespeare seems to have ^med at imitating the manner actually ascribed to Brutus. "In some of his Epistles, he counterfeiled that brief compendious manner of speech of Che Lace- dEemonians." — Plutarch, Marcus Bruins. Shakespeare's idea is sustained by the Dialsgus dt Oraisribus, ascribed to Tacitus, wherein it is said that Brutus's style of eloquence was censuied as otiosum et rfiJ7«nrfam, Verplanck remarks, "the rfjj/HBrtuBi, the broken-up style, without oratorical continuity, is precisely that assumed by (he drama- list." Gollancz linds a probable original of this speech in Belleforesl's Histcirts Tragigues (Hamlet'): Dowden thinks Shakespeare received hints from the English version (1578) of Appian's Roman Wars. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS CvESAR 103 By our permission, is allow'd to make. I do entreat you, not a man depart, 60 Save I alone, till Antony have spoke. [_£xii^ I Citizen. Stay, ho ! and let us hear Mark Antony. 3 Citizen. Let him go up into the public chair ; We 'II hear him. Noble Antony, go up. Antonv. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you. 65 4 Citizen. What does he say of Brutus? 3 Citizen. He says, for Brutus' sake, He linds himself beholding to us all. 4 Citizen, 'T were best he speak no harm of Brutus here. 1 Citizen. This Cassar was a tyrant. 3 Citizen. Nay, that 's certain : We are blest that Rome is rid of him. 70 2 Citizen, Peace ! let us hear what Antony can say. Antony. You gentle Romans, — All. Peace, ho ! Let us hear him. Antony. Friends, Ronians,countrymen, lend me your ears: 61. Scene VI Pope. 70- Me" Fl I glad FjFbFi. SS- beholding. This Elizabethan corruption of 'beholden ' occurs constantly in the Folios of 1623, 1633, and 1664. The Fourth Folio usually has 'beholden.' Mere Camb has 'Goes into the pulpit.' 73. "Afterwards when Cxsar's body was brought into Che market- place, Antonius making his funeral oration in praise of the dead, according to the ancient custom of Rome, and perceiving that his words moved the common people to compassion, he framed his elo- quence to make their hearts yeain the more ; and taking Cesar's gonn all bloody in his hand, he laid it open to the sight of them all. shewing what a number of cuts and holes it had upon it. There- withal the people fell presently into such a rage and mutiny, that there was no more order kept amongst the common people." — Plutarch, Marcus BrutusA How Shakespeare elaborates this I ■ There is a wmilar passage in Plutarch, Marcus Anfonius. c* Google I04 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi I come to bury Csesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them : 75 The good is oft interred with their bones ; So let it be with Cesar, The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesai was ambitious : If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Csesar answer'd it. So Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, — For Brutus is an honourable man ; So are they all, all honourable men, — Come I to speak in Csesar's funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me : S; But Brutus says he was ambitious ; And Brutus is an honourable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill : Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? 90 When that the poor have cried, Csesar hath wept : Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: Vet Brutus says he was ambitious ; And Brutus is an honourable man. You all did see that on the Lupercal 95 I thrice presented him a kingly crown, 74. bury. A characteristic anachronUm. Cf. ' coffin ' b I. 106. 75-76. So in Hinry VllI, IV, ii, 45; "Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues We wrile in waler." 89. Caesar's campaigns in Gaul put vast sums of money into his hands, a large part of which he kept to hla own use, as he might have kept it all; but he did also, in fact, make over much of it to the public treasury. This was a very popular act, as it lightened the taxation of the city. 95. on the Lupsrcal ; at the festival of the Lupercal. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C^SAR 105 Which he did thrice refuse : was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; And, sure, he Is an honourable man, I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, 100 But here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause : What cause withholds you then to mourn for him? judgment ! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason. Bear with me ; 105 My heart is in the coffin there with Csesar, And I must pause till it come back to me. I Citizen. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings. z Citizen. If thou consider rightly of the matter, Caesar has had great wrong. 3 Citizen. Has he, masters? no 1 fear there will a worse come in his place. 104- art FiFgFt | are Ft. iio. Km be, | Ha's hee Fi. 99. These repetitions of 'honourable man' are intensely ironical; and for that very reason th« irony should be studiously kept out of the voice in pronouncing them. Speakers and readers utterly spoil the effect of the speech by specially emphasizing the irony. For, from the extreme delicacy of his position. Antony is obliged to pro- ceed with the utmost caution, until he gets the autUence thoroughly in his power. The consummate adroitness which he uses to this end is one of the greatest charms of this oration. 103. tomoani: from mourning. The gerundive use of the infinitive. K14. 'Brutish' is by no means tautological here, the antithetic sense of human brutes being most artfully implied. no. It was here, as the first words of the reply of the Third Citizen, that Pope would have inserted the quotation preserved in Jonson's Z>iictn/erui, discussed in note, p. 33.11.47-48. Pope's note is; " Cxsar has had great wroi 3 Fleb. Cxsar had nerer wrong, bu c* Google I06 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE actiii 4 Citizen. Mark'd ye his words ? He would not take the Therefore 't is certain he was not ambitious. 1 Citizen. If it be found so, some will dear abide it. 2 Citizen. Poorsoull his eyes are red as fire with weeping. 3 Citizen. There 's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony. ii6 4 Citizen. Now mark him ; he begins again to speak. Antony. But yesterday the word of Caesar might Have stood against the world ; now lies he there. And none so poor to do him reverence. no masters, if I were dispos'd to stir Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, 1 should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong, Who, you all know, are honourable men ; 1 will not do them wrong ; I rather choose 125 To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, Than I will wrong such honourable men. But here 's a parchment with the seal of Csesar ; 1 found it in his closet ; 't is his will : Let but the commons hear this testament — 130 Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read — And they would go and kiss dead Csesar's wounds. And dip their napkins in his sacred blood. If ever there was such a line written by Shakespeare, I should fancy It might have its place here, and very humorously in the character of a Plebeian." Craik inserted 'not' after ' Has he.' 114. abide it : suffer for it, pay for it. See note, p. S7, 1. 95. 130. And there are none so humble but that the great Cassar is now beneath their reverence, or too low for their regard. 133. napldiiB : handkerchiefs. In the third scene of the third act of OthtlU the two words are used interchangeably. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS OESAR 107 Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, And, dying, mention it within their wills, 135 BequeathiDg it as a rich legacy Unto their issue. 4 Citizen, We '11 hear the will : read it, Mark Antony, All. The will, the will ! we will hear Csesar's will. Antony. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it ; It is not meet you know how Caesar lov'd you, 141 You are not wood, you are not stones, but men ; And, being men, hearing the will of Ciesar, It will inflame you, it will make you mad. 'T is good you know not that you are his heirs ; 145 For if you should, O, what would come of it ! 4 Citizen. Read the will; we'll hear it, Antony; You shall read us the will, Csesar's will. Antony. Will you be patient? will you stay awhile? I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it : 150 I fear I wrong the honourable men Whose daggers have stabb'd Csesar ; I do fear it. 4 Citizen. They were traitors : honourable men I All. The will ! the testament ! 2 Citizen. They were villains, murderers : the will ! read the will. 155 Antony. You will compel me, then, to read the will? Then make a ring about the corpse of Csesar, And let me show you him that made the will. Shall I descend? and will you give me leave? 150. o'ershot myaelf to tell : gone Coo far in iGllmg. Another ex- ample of the infinitive used as a gerundi Cf. I. 103 and II, i, 135. 152. Antony now sees that he has the people wholly with him, so thai he is perfectly safe in stabbing the stabbers with these words. c* Google lo8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act III All. Coine down, 160 2 Citizen, Descend. 3 Citizen. You shall have leave. [Antony comes down from the pulpif^ 4 Citizen. A ring, stand round. 1 Citizen. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body. 2 Citizen. Room for Antony, most noble Antony, 165 Antony. Nay, press not so upon me : stand far off. All. Stand back; room; bear back ! Antony. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. You all do know this mantle 1 I remember The first time ever Ciesar put it on ; 170 Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent. That day he overcame the Netvii, * iGi. [Ahtonv cmnei . . .] Ff omit. 166. ttx: farther. The old comparative of 'fat' b 'farrer' (some- times 'ferrar') still heard in dialect, and the final -ir will naturally tend to be slurred. So Tki Wintit's Talt, IV, iv, 441, " Far than Deucalion off." So 'near' for -neater' in j?K*orrf//, III, ii, 64. 173, This is the artfullesi and most telling stroke in Antony's speech. The Romans prided themselves most of all upon (heir military virtue and renown : Cxsar was their greatest militaiy hero ; and his victory ovet the Nervii was his most noted military exploit. It occurred during his second campaign in Gaul, in the summer of the year B.C. 57, and is narrated with surpassing vividness in the second book of his Gallic War. Plutarch, in \af, Julius Cusar, gives graphic details of this famous victory and the effect upon the Roman people of the news of Cisar's personal prowess, when "flying in amongst the barbarous people," he "made a lane through them that fought before him." Of course the matter about the 'mantle' is purely fictitious: Cacsar had on the civic gown, not the military cloak, when killed ; and it was, in fact, the mangled toga that Antony displayed on this occasion; but the fiction has the effect, of making the allusion to the victory seem perfectly artless and incidental. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C^SAR 109 Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through : See what a rent the envious Casca made : Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd ; 175 And, as he pluck'd his cursed steel away, Mark how the blood of Ctesar follow'd it. As rushing out of doors, to be resolv'd If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no ; For Brutus, as you know, was Ctesar's angel : 180 Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar lov'd him ! This was the most unkindest cut of all ; For when the noble Csesar saw him stab, Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms. Quite vanquish'd him ; then burst his mighty heart ; 185 And, in his mantle muffling up his face. Even at the base of Pompey's statue. Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. O, what a fall was there, my countrymen I Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, 190 Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us, O, now you weep ; and I perceive you feel The dint of pity : these are gracious. drops. Kind souls, what, weep you when you but behold Our Csesar's vesture wounded? Look you here, 195 Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors. iST. lUtnft Ff I slatua Steevens Globe | statue Camb. 174. enviooB : malicious. See note on ' envy,' p. 54, 1. 164. 178. teaolv'd: informed, assured. See note, p. 90, 1. T32. 180. 'Angel' here seems to mean his counterpart, his good genius, or a kind of better and dearer self. See note, p. 47, ]. 66. 193. 'Dint' (Anglo-Saxon dynt; cf. provincial ' dunt ') originally means 'blow '; th« text has it in the secondary meaning of 'impres- sion ' made by a blow. Shakespeare uses th« word in both senses. c* Google no THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ill 1 Citizen. O piteous spectacle ! 3 Citizen. O noble Caesar ! 3 Citizen. O woful day ! 4 Citizen. O traitors, villains I aoo 1 Citizen. O most bloody sight 1 2 Citizen. We will be reveng'd. All. Revenge ! About ! Seek I Burn ! Fire I Kill ! Slay ! Let not a traitoi live ! Antony. Stay, countrymen. 205 1 Citizen. Peace there ! Hear the noble Antony. 2 Citizen. We '11 hear him, we '11 follow him, we 'U die with him. Antony. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up To such a sudden flood of mutiny. They that have done this deed are honourable; no What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, That made them do it ; they are wise and honourable. And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you. I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts : I am no orator, as Brutus is j Z15 But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love my friend ; and that they know full well That gave me public leave to speak of him : For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, »i^«4< All Globe Camb (White aiS. give Fi I give FiFgFt. Delius conj.) I Ff contiaiie to 2 Citi- iig. wit FiiFaFt | writ Fi. 107. The Folioa give this speech like that in 203-204 to 'Second Citizen,' but it should surely be given to 'All.' 319. Johnson suggests that the 'writ' of the First Folio may not be a printer's slip but used in the sense of a 'penned or premeditated oration.' Malone adopted and defended the First Folio reading. c* Google SCENE u JULIUS C-€SAR III. Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, no To stir men's blood : 1 only speak right on ; I tell you that which you yourselves do know ; Show you sweet Csesai's wounds, poor poor dumb mouths. And bid them speak for me : but were I Brutus, And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony S25 WoukJ ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue In every wound of Caesar, that should move The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny. All. We 'U mutiny, I Citizen. We '11 burn the house of Brutus. 230 3 Citizen, Away, then ! come, seek the conspirators. Antony. Yet hear me, countrymen ; yet hear me speak. All. Peace, ho ! hear Antony, most noble Antony ! Antony. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what. Wherein hath Caesar thus deserv'd your loves? 235 Alas, you know not ; I must tell you then : You have forgot the will I told you of. All. Most true. The will ! Let 's stay and hear the will. Antonv. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. To every Roman citizen he gives, 240 To every several man, seventy-five drachmas. 339. "For first of all, when Cxsar's testament was openly read among them, whereby it appeared that he bequeathed unto every citizen of Rome seventy five drachmas a man ; and that he left his gardens and atbots unto the people, which he had on this side of the rivei Tiber, in the place where now the temple of Fortune is built: the people then loved him, and were marvellous sorry for him."— Plutarch. Marcus Brutus. 241. The drachma (lit. 'what c. the piincipal silver coin of the anci c* Google 112 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 3 Citizen. Most noble Csesar ! We '11 revenge his death. 3 Citizen, O royal Caesar ! Antony. Hear me with patience. All. Peace, ho ! 245 Antony. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks, His private arbours and new-planted orchards. On this side Tiber ; he hath left them you, And to your heirs for ever ; common pleasures. To walk abroad and recreate yourselves. 250 Here was a Caesar ! when comes such another? I Citizen. Never, never. Come, away, away ! We '11 burn bis body in the holy place. And with the brands fire the traitors' houses. Take up the body. 255 JH. the Fi I all the FiFaFi. value of it was about that of the modem drachma (by law of the same value as the French franc) its purchasing power was much greater. CaEsar left to each citizen three hundred sesterces; Plutarch gives seventy-five drachmas as the Greek equivalent. 34S. As this scene lies in the Forum, near the Capitol, Cxsar's gardans are, in fact, on the other side of the Tiber. But Shakespeare wrote as he read in Plularcb. See quotation, p. 111, 1. ijg. 353. "Therewithal the people fell presently into such a rage and mutiny, that there w-as no more order kept amongst the common people. For some of them cried out ■ Kill the murderers '; others plucked up forms, tables, and stalls about the market-place, as they had done before at the funerals of Clodius, and having laid them all on a heap together, they set them on fire, and thereupon did put the body of Caesar, and burnt it bi the midsi of the most holy places. When the fire was throughly kindled, some took burning firebrands, and ran with them to the murderers' houses that killed him, to set them on fire." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. 154. flte. Cf. Ill, i, 172. Monosyllables ending in 'r' or 're,' preceded by a long vowel or diphthong, are often pronounced as dissyllabic c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C/ESAR 113 2 Citizen, Go fetch fire. 3 Citizen. Pluck down benches. 4 Citizen. Pluck down forms, windows, any thing. \_Exeunt Citizens with the body] Antonv. Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot. Take thou what course thou wilt I Enter a Servant How now, fellow ! 260 Servant. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome. Antonv. Where is he? Servant. He and Lepidus are at Csesar's house. Antony. And thither will I straight to visit him : He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry, 265 And in this mood will give us any thing. Servant. 1 heard him say, Brutus and Cassius Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome. Antonv. Belike they had some notice of the people 269 How I had mov'd them. Bring me to Octavius. \_£xeunt] 158. [ExtunI Citizens . . .] [ Exit Plebeians Ff. 358. fnnni: benches. The word used in preceding quotation from Plutarch. The Old Vr.formi, mediaeval Lat./orma, was sometimes applied to choir-stalU, with back, and book-rest. " For the origin of this use of the word, cf. Old French s'asseoir en formi, to sit in a row or in fixed order." — Murray. Nowhere in literature is there a more realistic study and interpretation of the temperof amob(aword that has come into use since Shakespeare's time) than in this scene and the short one which follows. Here is the true mob-spirit, tickle. inBammable, to be worked on by any demagogue with promises in bis mouth. 1(5. npon a wlA : as soon as wished for. Cf. T, ii, 104. 368. ridr ridden. So 'writ ' for -wrilten,' IV, iii, 183. c* Google 114 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii Scene III. A street Enter Cinna the poet CiNNA. I dreamt to-night that I did feast with Cfesar, And things unluckily charge my fantasy : I have no will to wander forth of doors, Yet something leads me forth. Enter Citizens 1 Citizen. What is your name? 2 Citizen. Whither are you going? 3 Citizen. Where do you dwell? 4 CrrizEN. Are you a married man or a bachelor? 2 Citizen. Answer every man directly. Ihi Ptibiian,. Fa. I. ".There was one of Cesar's friends called Cinna, thai had a marvellous strange and terrible dream the night before. He dreamed that Caesar bad him to supper, and that he refused and would not go : (hen that Cxsar took him by (he hand, and led him against his ivill. Now Cinna, hearing at that time that they burnt CsEsar's body in the market-place, notwithstanding that he feared his dream, and had an ague on him besides, he went into the mariiet-place to honour his funerals. When he came thither, one of the mean sort aslied him what his name was ? He was straight called by his name. The first man told it to another, and that other unto another, so that it ran straight through them all, that he was one of them that murthered Csesar: (for indeed one of the traitors to Csesar was also called Cinna as himself) wherefore tailing him for Cinna the murtherer, they fell upon him with such fury that they presently dispatched him in the market-place." — Plutarch, yH/iHj Cssar. — to-night: last night. So in II, ii, 76, and The Mirchant of Vtnicc, II, v, 18. 3. Things that forbode evil fortune burden my imagination. c* Google SCENE in JULIUS C^SAR 115 I Citizen. Ay, and briefly. 10 4 Citizen. Ay, and wisely, 3 Citizen. Ay, and truly, you were best. CiNNA. What is my name? Whither am I going? Where do I dwell? Am I a married man or a bachelor? Then, to answer every man directly and briefly, wisely and truly : wisely I say, I am a bachelor, 16 3 Citizen. That 's as much as to say, they are fools that marry : you '11 bear me a bang for that, I fear. Pro- ceed ; directly. C[nna, Directly, I am going to Caesar's funeral. 20 1 Citizen. As a friend or an enemy? CiNNA. .^s a friend. 2 Citizen, That matter is answered directly. 4 Citizen. For your dwelling, briefly. C[NNA. Briefly, I dwell by the Capitol. 2$ 3 Citizen. Your name, sir, truly. CiNNA. Truly, my name is Cinna. I Citizen. Tear him to pieces ; he 's a conspirator. Cinna. I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet. 29 4 Citizen. Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad verses. Cinna. I am not Cinna the conspirator. 4 Citizen. It is no matter, his name 's Cinna ; pluck but his name out of his heart, and turn him going. 34 3 Citizen. Tear him, tear him ! Come, brands, ho ! firebrands ! to Brutus', to Cassius' ; burn all : some to Decius' house, and some to Casca's ; some to Ligarius' : away, go I [^JSxewii^ II. you wet« best : it were best for you. See Abbott, % 230. I3. you'll beiiiiu: I'll give you. For 'me' see note, p. a6, 1. 16;^. c* Google Scene I. Rome. A room in Antony's house Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, seated at a table Antony. These many then shall die; their names are Octavius. Your brother too must die ; consent you, Lepidus? ??<.»« . A T^m . . . bOH6 * 1 Ff Ms ilone 1 Enter Antoi ny, OcUi V, Octavius. , .tabU 1 Lepidus. Ff. Scene I. The Folios give no indication of place, but that Shake- speare intended the scene to be in Rome is clear from II. lo, ii, where Lepidus is sent to Cxsar's house and told that he will find his confederates " or here, or at the Capitol." In fact, however, the triumvirs, Octavius, Antonius, and Lepidus, met in November, B.C. 43, some nineteen months after the assassination of Caesar, on a small island in the river Rhenus (now the Reno), near Bononia (Bologna), "All three met together in an island environed round about with a little river, and there remained three days together. Now, as touch- ing all other matters they were easily agreed, and did divide all the empire of Rome between them, as if it had been their own inherit- ance. But yet they could hardly agree whom they would put to death ; for every one of them would kill their enemies, and save their kinsmen and friends. Vet, at length, giving place to their greedy desire to be revenged of their enemies, they spumed all rev- erence of blood and holiness of friendship at their feet. For Cssar left Cicero to Anlonius's will ; Antonius also forsook Lucius Cxsar, who was his uncle by his mother; and both of them together suf- fered Lepidus to kill his own brother Paulus. Yet some writers affirm that Cxsarand Antonius requested Paulus might be slain, and that Lepidus was contented with it," — Plutarch, Marcus Antonius. I. pilck'd. So in III, i, 217. See note, p. 95, L 817. , 116 c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR li; Lepidus, I do consent — OcTAvius. Prick him down, Antony. Lepidus. Upon condition Publius shall not live, Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony. 5 Antony. He shall not live ; look, with a spot I damn him. But, Lepidus, go. you to Cassar's house ; Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine How to cut off some charge in legacies. Lepidus. What, shall I find you here? lo OcTAVius. Or here, or at the Capitol. [^Exif Lepidus] Antony. This is a slight unmeritable man, Meet to be sent on errands : is it fit. The three-fold world divided, he should stand One of the three to share it? OcTAvius. So you thought him ; 15 And took his voice who should be prick'd to die, In our black sentence and proscription. Antony. Octavius, I have seen more days than you : And though we lay these honours on this man, To ease ourselves of divers slanderous loads, 20 He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold, To groan and sweat under the business. Either led or driven, as we point the way; And having brought our treasure where we will, 10. What, Johnson | What P FI. 13. paint Fi | print FjFsFj. 4-5. According to Plutarch, as quoted above, this was Lucius Caesar, not Publius ; nor was he Antony's nephew, but hia uncle by the mother's side. His name in full was Antonius Lucius Cxsar. 6. with a ipot I damn him : with a mark I condemn him. 11. Blight nnmeiltable: insignificant, undeserving. In Shakespeare many adjectives, especially those ending in -/u/, -less, -6lt, and -ivt, have botti an active and a passive meaning. See Abbott, § 3. c* Google Il8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Then take we down bis load and turn him off, 25 Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears And graze in commons. OcTAvius. You may do your will ; But he 's a tried and valiant soldier. Antony, So is my horse, Octavius ; and for that I do appoint him store of provender : 30 It is a creature that I teach to fight, To wind, to stop, to run directly on, His corporal motion govern'd by my spirit. And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so ; He must be taught, and train'd, and bid go forth ; 35 A barren -spirited fellow ; one that feeds On objects, arts, and imitations. Which, out of use and stal'd by other men. Begin his fashion : do not talk of him 37. 0l>]ectB,«rtBlObi«cl5,Art3Ft Rowc I Imitations. Ff. I abject orts Theobald I abjeits, orts 38. Bt«ra Fs I stal'de F1F3 | Staunton Camb Globe. — Imitation^ stali'd F4. 17. commODS. ThisisathoroughlyEnglishallusionlo such pasture- lands as are not owned by individuals, but occupied by a given neigh- borhood in common. In 1614 Shakespeaie piolesied against the inclosure of such ' common fields ' at Stralford-on-Avon. 31. wind: wheel, turn. We have 'wind' as an active verb in / Htnry IV, IV, i, 109 : " To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus." 34. in Mine taste: to some small extent. This meaning comes from ' taste ' in the sense of ' a small portion given as a sample.' 37-39. As the textual notes show, modem edilors have not been content with the reading of the Folios. The serious ttouhle with the old lexl is the period at the close of 1. 37. If a comma be substituted the meaning becomes obvious : Lepidus is one who is always inter- ested in, and talking about, such things — books, works of art, etc. — as everybody else has got tired of and thrown aside. Cf. FalstafF's account of Shallow, j //«/rj'/r, III, ii, 340: '"a came ever in the c* Google SCENE I JULIUS Cy€;SAR 119 But as a property. And now, Octavius, 4° Listen great things : Brutus and Cassius Are levying powers : we must straight make head : Therefore let our alhance be combin'd, Our best friends made, and our best means stretch'd out ; And let us presently go sit in council, 45 How covert matters may be best disclos'd. And open perils surest answered. Octavius. Let us do so ; for we are at the stake. And bay'd about with many enemies ; And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear, 50 Millions of mischiefs. [^Bxeunt] «. and oar but means (meinei) «tretch't Fi I our best meani strechl itietcli'd ont FaFaF) | our meanes Johnson. rearward of the fashion ; and sung those tunes to the over-scutch'd huswives that he heard the carmen whistle, and sware they were his fancies or his good-nights." 'Stal'd' is 'outworn,' or 'grown stale'; and the reference is not to objects, etc., generally, but only to those which have lost the interest of freshness. ' Abjects ' in the Staunlon-Cambridge reading, is 'things (hrou-n away'; ' orts,' 'broken fragments.' 40. a property; a tool, an acces.sory. The reference is to a 'stage property.' Cf, Fletcher and Massinger, TAt False Oni, V, iii ; Shakespeare uses 'property' as a verb in this sense in TTotlflk Night, IV, ii, 99 ; " They have here propertied me." 41. Lliten. The transitive use is older than the intransitive. 43. make head : raise an armed force. ' Head ' has often the meaning of ' armed force ' in Shakespeare. So in sixteenth century literature and old ballads. It usually connotes insurrection. 44. The reading adopted is that of the later Folios. . It makes a normal blank vetse line. Cf. II, i, 15S-159. 48.^49. The metaphor b from bear-bailing. Cf. Maebtth, V, vit, t. c* Google I20 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Scene II. Before Brutus's tent, in the camp near Sardis Drum. Enter Brutus, Titinius, Lucius, and Soldiers ; LuciLius and Pindarus meet them Brutus. Stand, ho ! LuciLius. Give the word, ho ! and stand. Brutus. What now, Lucilius ! is Cassius near? LuciLius. He is at hand ; and Pindarus is come To do you salutation from his master. 5 [Pindarus gives a letter to Brutus] Brutus. He greets me well. Your master, Pindarus, In his own change, or by ill officers. Hath given me some worthy cause to wish Things done undone : but, if he be at hand, I shall be satisfied. Pindarus. I do not doubt 10 But that my noble master will appear Such as he is, full of regard and honour. SctNE II. Before . . . Sardis Army. Titinius and Pindarus meet Rovm I Ff omit. them Ff. Enter Brutus . . . m«I th,m I 5. [Pindarus give, . . .1 1 F( omit. Enter Brutus, Lucillius, and the 7. change Fi | charge Hanmer. Scene II. This scene is separated from the foregoing by about a year. The remaining events take place in (he aututnn, B.C. 42. 6. He greets me well. A dignified return of the salutation. 7, If the Folio reading be retained, ■ change ' will mean ' altered disposition,' 'change in his own feelings louards me.' Warburlon's suggestion ' charge,' adopted by Hanmer and in previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare, would give as the meaning of the line. Either by his own command, or by officers, subordinates, who have abused their trust, prostituting it to the ends of private gain. c* Google SCENE II JULIUS C^SAR 121 Brutus. He is not doubted. A word, Lucilius, How he receiv'd you ; Jet me be resolv'd. LuciLius. With courtesy and with respect enough; 15 But not with such familiar instances, Nor with such free and friendly conference, As he hath us'd of old. Brutus. Thou hast describ'd A hot fiiend cooling ; ever note, Lucilius, When love begins to sjcken and decay, 10 It useth an enforced ceremony. There are no tricks in plain and simple faith : But hollow men, like horses hot at hand, Make gallant show and promise of their mettle j But when they should endure the bloody spur, 25 They fall their crests, and, like deceitful jades, Sink in the trial. Comes his army on? Lucilius. They mean this night in Sardis to be quar- ter'd ; The greater part, the horse in general, Are come with Cassius. \_Low march withitt] Brutus. Hark ! he is arriv'd. 30 March gently on to meet him. 13-14. wocd, Lncillni . . . yon : Fg woid. Lucilius, — , ■ . you, Roue. Fj I word Lucillius ... you : FiFj | 30. [Low . . .J in Ff after 1. 24. 13-14. Mainly the Folio punctuation. A colon after ' Lucilius,' and a comma after ' you,' would give a characf eristic inversion. 14. How : as to how. — lesolT'd. See note. p. 90, 1. 132. 10. fuuiliar iiiBtance* : marks of familiarity. In Schmidt is a list of the various senses in which Shakespeare uses ' instances,' 13. bat at baud : spirited or mettlesome when held back. 26. fall: let fall. — deceitful jades: horses thai promise well in appearance but " sink in the (rial." 'Jade ' is ' a worthless horse.' c* Google 122 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE activ Enter CasSIUS and his Powers Cassius, Stand, ho ! ' , Brutus. Stand, ho ! Speak the word along. I Soldier. Stand ! 3 Soldier. Stand ! 35 3 Soldier. Stand ! Cassius. Most noble brother, you have done me wrong. Brutus, Judge me, you gods ! wrong I mine enemies? And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother? Cassius. Brutus, this sober form of yours hides wrongs ; And when you do them — Brutus. Cassius, be content ; 41 Speak your griefs softly : I do know you well. Before the eyes of both our armies here, Which should perceive nothing but love from us. Let us not wrangle : bid them move away ; 45 Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs, And I will give you audience. Cassius, Pindarus, Bid our commanders lead their charges off A little from this ground, Brutus, Lucilius, do you the like ; and let no mam 50 Come to our tent till we have done our conference. Let Lucius and Titinius guard our door, [Exeunt] 46. enlatge your griefs : enlarge upon your grievances. This use of 'grief is not unusual in sixteentli century English. 50, 53. In previous editions of Hudson's Shakespeare was adopted Cralk's suggestion that in these lines, as they stand in the Folios, the names Lucius and Lucilius got shuffled each into the other's place; c* Google SCENE III JULIUS C;ESAR 123 Scene HI. Brutus's /e«^ Enter Brutus and Cassius Cassius. That you have wrong'd me doth appear in this : You have condemn'd and noted Lucius Pella IFfoi. and Ihen, to cure the meirical defect in (he third line, that line was made to begin with ' Let.' Ctaik speaks of "(he absurdity of such an association as Lucius and Titinius for the guarding of the door." In Porter and Clarice's ' First Folio/yWiW Ca'jaf, the answerlo this criticism is : '• But a greater absurdity is involved in sending the page wilh an order to the lieutenant commander of (he army, and (he eitra length of I. 50 pairs with a lilte extra length in I. 5r, Lucilius, having been relieved by Lucius, after giving (he order returns and guards (he door again." ScEHK III. Dowden points out that this scene was already cele. brated in Shakespeare's own day, Leonard Digges recording its popularity, and Beaumont and Fletcher imitating it in Tkt Maid's Tragedy. " I know no part of Shakespeare that more impresses on me the belief of his genius being superhuman than (his scene between Brutus and Cassius." — Coleridge. I. " Now as if commonly happened in great affairs between two persons, both of them having many friends and so many captains under them, there ran tales and complaints between them. There- fore, before they fell in hand with any other matter they went into a little chamber together, and bade every man avoid, and did shut the doors to them. Then they began to pour out their complaints one to the other, and grew hot and loud, earnestly accusing One another, and at length both fell a-weeping. Their friends that were without the chamber, hearing them loud within, and angry between themselves, they were both amazed and afraid also, lest it would grow to further matter : but yet they were commanded that no man should come 10 them." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. 1. noted : marked with a stigma. North thus uses the word. See quotation from Marcus Brutus on following page, 1. 3. c* Google 124 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv For taking bribes here of the Sardians ; Wherein my letters, praying on his side, Because I knew the man, was slighted off. 5 Brutus, You wrong'd yourself to write in such a case. Cassius. In such a time as this it is not meet That every nice offence should bear his comment, Brutus, Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm, 10 To sell and mart your offices for gold To undeservers. Cassius. I an itching palm ! You know that you are Brutus that speaks this. Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last. Brutus. The name of Cassius honours this corruption, And chastisement doth therefore hide his head. 16 4-j. letter* . . . nun, wai I Let. was, F^FsFi I letters . . . man, were 3. "The next day after, Bnitua, upon complain! of Ihe Sardians, did condemn and note Lucius Pella. . . . This judgment much mis- liked Cassius. because himself had secretly , . . warned Iwo of his friends, attainted and convicted of the like offencei. and openly had cleared them." — Plutarch. Marcus Brutus. 5. waa. The verb is atttacted into the singular by (he nearest substantive. — alighted off: contemptuously set aside. 6. to write: by writing. This gerundive use of the infinitive is very common in this play. Cf. ' 10 have ' in 1. 10 ; ' To sell and mart ' inl. n ; 'To hedge me in' in 1. 30, and so on. See Abbott, §356. 8. nice: foolish, trifling. — hia: its. The meaning of the line is. Every petty or trifling offense should not be rigidly scrutinized and censured. Cassius naturally thinks that "the honorable men whose daggers have stabb'd Cisar" should not peril their cause by moral squeamish ness. " He reproved Brutus, for that he should show him- self so straight and severe, in such a time as was meeter 10 bear a little than 10 take things at the worst." — Plutarch. Marcus Bruliis. c* Google SCENE 111 JULIUS C^SAR 125 Cassius. Chastisement ! Brutus. Remember March, the Ides of March remember : Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, 20 And not for justice? What ! shall one of us, That struck the foremost man of all this world But for supporting robbers, shall we now Contaminate our fingers with base bribes. And sell the mighty space of our large honours 25 For so much trash as may be grasped thus? I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, Than such a Roman. Cassius. Brutus, bait not me ; I'll not endure it. You forget yourself. To hedge me in ; I am a soldier, I, 30 18. " Brutus in contrary manner answered thai he should remem- ber the Ides of March, at which lime Ihey slew Julius Casar, who" neither pilled' nor polled^ Ihe country, but only was a favourer and suborner of all them Ihat did rob and spoil, by his countenance and authority, ^nd if there were any occasion whereby they might hon- estly set aside justice and equity, they should have had more reason to have suffered Cesar's friends (o have robbed and done what wrong and injury they had would' than to bear with their own men." ~ Plutarch. Marcus Brutus. 2c»-ii. " Who was such a villain of those who touched his body that he stabbed from any other motive than justice ? " — -Clar. 2S-33. " Now Cassius would have done Brutus much honour, as and went litst unto him. both because he was the elder man as also for that he was sickly of body. And men reputed him commonly to be very skilful in wars, but otherwise marvellous choleric and cruel, 1 i.e. i-ohbed, pillaged. a i.e. taxed, spoiled, b j^e. wished (to do) . c* Google 126 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Older in practice, abler than yourself To make conditions. Brutus. Go to; you are not, Cassius. Cassius. I am. Brutus, I say you are not. Cassius, Urge me no more, I shall forget myself ; 35 Have mind upon your health, tempt me no farther. Brutus. Away, slight man ! Cassius. Is 't possible? Brutik. Hear me, for I will speak. Must I give way and room to your rash choler? Shall I be frighted when a madman stares? 40 Cassius. O ye gods, ye gods ! must I endure all this? Brutus. All this ! ay, more : fret till your proud heart Go show your slaves how choleric you are, And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge? Must I observe you? must I stand and crouch 45 Under your testy humour? By the gods. You shall digest the venom of your spleen. Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth, 31. Go to I Go too Fi. — not, FaFs. CaiBlns Hanni« | not Cassius Ff. 4i. ThouEb Fi I Thought Pi. 44. budge F( I bouge Fi | boudge who sought to rule men by fear rather than with lenity: and on the other side, he was loo familiar with his friends and would jest too broadly with them." — Plutarch, Marcus Bruins. 31. ' Go to ' is a phrase of varying import, sometimes of reproof, sometimes of encouragement. 'Go till ' is its earliest form, 45. obserre : treat with ceremonious respect or reverence, 47. The spleen was held to be the special seal of the sudden and explosive emotions and passions, whether of mirth or anger. Cf. Troilus and Crissida. I, iii, 178 ; / Hmry IV, V, ii, 19. c* Google SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR 127 I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter, When you axe waspish. Cassius. Is it come to this? 50 Brutus. You say you are a better soldier : Let it appear so; make your vaunting true. And it shall please me well : for mine own part, I shall be glad to learn of noble men. Cassius. Vou wrong me every way; you wrong me, Brutus ; 55 I sajd an elder soldier, not a better : Did I say ' better ' ? Brutus, If you did, I care not, Cassfus, When Csesar liv'd, he durst not thus have mov'd me. Brutus, Peace, peace ! you durst not so have tempted him. Cassius, I durst not ! 60 Brutus. No. Cassius. What, durst not tempt him ! Brutus. For your life you durst not. Cassius. Do not presume too much upon my love ; I may do that I shall be sorry for. Brutus. Vou have done that you should be sorry for, 65 There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats ; M, noble Ff I abler Collier. 55- T»o lines in Ff. 51-54. This mistake of Brutus is well conceived, Cassius was much the abler soldier, and Brutus knew it ; and the mistake grew from his consciousness of the truth of what he thought he heard. Cassius had served as QuaEsior under Marcus Crassus in his expedition against the Parthians; and, when the army was tom all to pieces, both Crassus and his son being killed, Cassius displayed great ability in bringing of£ a remnant. He showed remarkable military power, too, in Syria. c* Google 128 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv For I am arm'd so strong in honesty. That they pass by me as the idle wind. Which I respect not. I did send to you For certain sums of gold, which you denied me : 70 For I can raise no money by vile means : By heaven, I had rather coin my heart, And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash By any indirection. I did send 75 To you for gold to pay my legions. Which you denied me. Was that done like Cassius? Should I have answer'd Caius Cassius so? When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, To lock such rascal counters from his friends, 80 Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts, Dash him to pieces ! •JS- Indirectiini : crookedness, malpractice. In King John, III, i, 275^278,15 an interesting passage illustradng this use of 'indirection.' Q.t.2 Hmry IV,\y,y, 185. 80. The omission of the conjunction ' as ' before expressions de- noting result is a common usage in Shakespeare. — taBcal counters : worthless money. 'Rascal' is properly a technical term for a deer out of condition. So used literally in As You Like It, III, iii, 58. ' Counters ' were disks of metal, of very small intrinsic value, much used for reckoning. Cf. As You Like It, II, vii, 63; The Winter's Tale, IV, iii, 38. Professor Dowden comments aptly on what we have here: "Brutus loves virtue and despises gold ; but in the logic of facts there is an irony cruel or pathetic. Brutus maintains a lofty position of immaculate honour above Cassius ; but ideals, and a heroic contempt for gold, will not fill the military coffer, or pay the legions, and the poetry of noble sentiment suddenly drops down to the prosaic complaint that Cassius had denied the demands made by BrDlus for certain sums of money. Nor is Brutus, though he worships an ideal oiJmttke, quite just in matters of practical detail." cjt.Gooj^k"- SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR 129 Cassius. I denied you not. Brutus. You did. Cassius. I did not : he was but a fool that brought My answer back. Brutus hath riv'd my heart : 85 A friend should bear his friend's infirmities, But Brutus makes mine greater than they are, Brutus. I do not, till you practise them on me. Cassius. You love me not. Brutus. I do not like your faults, Cassius. .A friendly eye could never see such faults. 90 Brutus. A flatterer's would not, though they do appear As huge as high Olympus. Cassius. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius, For Cassius is a-weary of the world ; 95 Hated by one he loves ; brav'd by his brother ; . Check'd like a bondman ; all his faults observ'd, Set in a note-book, leam'd, and conn'd by rote. To cast into my teeth. O, I could weep My spirit from mine eyes I There is my dagger, loo And here my naked breast ; within, a heart B4. that brombt | Ff give to 1. 8;. 81-83. " Whilst Brutus and Casaius were together in the city of Smyrna, Brutus prayed Cassius to let him have part of his money whereof he had great store. . . . Caasius's friends hindered this request, and eainestly dissuaded him from it ; persuading him, that it was no reason that Brutus should have the money which Cassius had gotten together by sparing, and levied with great evil will of the people their subjects, for him to bestow liberally upon his soldiers, and by this means to win their good wills, by Cassius's charge. This notwithstanding, Cassius gave him the third part of this loUl sum." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutui. 96. blav'd: defied. The verb connotes bluster and bravado. c* Google 130 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Dearer than Plutus' mine, richer than gold : If that thou be'at a Roman, take it forth ; I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart : Strike, as thou didst at Caesar ; for I know, 105 When thou didst hate him worst, thou lov'dst him better Than ever thou lov'dst Cassius. Brutus. Sheathe your dagger ; Be angry when you will, it shall have scope ; Do what you will, dishonour shall be humour. O Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb _ no That carries anger as the flint bears fire ; Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark, And straight is cold again. Cassius. Hath Cassius liv'd To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus, When grief and blood ill-temper'd vexeth him? 115 Brutus. When I spoke that, I was ill-temper'd too, Cassius. Do you confess so much? Give me your hand. Brutus. And my heart too, Cassius. O Brutus ! Brutus. What 's the matter? loa. Plutua' Pope | Pluto's Ff. loi. Plutus (for the Folio reading see note on 'Antonio' for Anto- nius, I, ii, 5) is the old god of riches, who had all (he world's gold in his keeping and disposal, Pluto was the lord of Hades. 109, Whatever dishonorable thing you may do, I will set it down to the caprice of the moment. — humane. See note, p. 60, 1. 250. 111-113. Cf. the words of Cassius, I, ii, 176-177. See also Troilus and Crtssida, III, ill, 257. It was long a popular notion that fire slept in the flint and was awaked by the stroke of the steel. "Il is not sufficient to carry religion in our hearts, as fire is carried in flint- stones, but we are outwardly, visibly, apparently, to serve and honour the livmg God." — Hooker, Ecdesiasticat Polity, VII, xxii, 3. c* Google SCENE m JULIUS C^SAR 131 Cassius. Have not you love enough to bear with me, When that rash humour which my mother gave me :2o Makes me forgetful? Brutus. Ves, Cassius ; and from henceforth, When you are over-earnest with your Brutus, He'll think your mother chides, and leave you so. Poet. [ Wit/n»2 Let me go in to see the generals ; There is some grudge between 'em; 'tis not meet 125 They be alone. LuciLius. [ Within] You shall not come to them. Poet. [ Within] Nothing but death shall stay me. Enter '^otX, followed by Lucilius, Titinius, and Lucius Cassius. How now ! what's the matter? Poet. For shame, you generals ! what do you mean? 130 Love, and be friends, as two such men should be ; For I have seen more years, I 'm sure, than ye. Cassius. Ha, ha ! how vilely doth this cynic rhyme ! id Titinius Dyce I Enter Poet 114, 117, »e. \WUhiK\ Ff omit, lig. fin/cr Poet ...Lucius Cimb ijj. vilely F< I vildely FiFs I Globe I Enter Poet, followed by Lu- vildly Ft — ioth Ff | does Capell. (39-133. "One Marcus Phaonius, that , . . look upon him to counterfeit a philosopher, not with wisdom and discretion, but with a certain bedlam and frantic motion ; he would needs come into the chamber, though the men offered to keep him out. But it was no boot to let Phaonius, when a mad mood or toy tool! him in the head : for he was an hot hasty man. and sudden in all his doings, and cared for never a senator of them all. Now, (hough he used this bold manner of speech after [he profession of the Cynic philos- ophets, (as who would say, Dogs^ yet his boldness did no hurt many times, because they did but laugh at him to see him so mad. This Phaonius at that time, in spite of the door-keepers, came into the chamber, and with 3 certain scoffing and mocking gesture, which he c* Google 132 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Brutus. Get you hence, sirrah ; saucy fellow, hence ! Cassius. Bear with him, Brutus ; 't is his fashion. 135 Brutus, I '11 know his humour, when he knows his time : What should the wars do with these jigging fools? Companion, hence ! Cassius. Away, away, be gone ! l^xtt PoetJ Brutus. Lucilius and Titinius, bid the commanders Prepare to lodge their companies to-night. 140 Cassius. And come yourselves, and bring Messala with you Immediately to us. [£xeunl Lucilius an/i Titinius] Brutus, Lucius, a bowl of wine 1 [£xit Lucius] Cassius. I did not think you could have been so angry. Brutus, O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs. Cassius. Of your philosophy you make no use, '45 If you give place to accidental evils. counterfeited ofpurpose.he rehearsed the veises which oldNestorsaid My lords, I pray you hearlten both to me, For I have seen mo years (han suchie three. Cassius fell a-laughing at him ; but Brutus thrust him out of the chamber, and called him dog, and counterfeit Cynic. Howbeit his coining in brake Iheir strife at that time, and so they left each other."— Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. '77- !'££'''£' moving rhythmically, rhyming. So in the Prologue to Marlowe's Tamburlatne the Great: npay. 13S. 'Companion' was often used contemptuously, d. Cerisianus, IV, V, 14 ; V, ii, 65, Cf. the way ■ fellow ' is often used to-day. 145. In his philosophy, Brutus was a mixture of the Stoic and the Platonist. What he says of Portia's death is among the best things c* Google SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR 13; Brutus. No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead. Cassius. Ha ! Portia ! Brutus. She is dead. Cassius. How 'scaped I killing when I cross'd you so ? i s< O insupportable and touching loss ! Upon what sickness? Brutus. Impatient of my absence, And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony Have made themselves so strong, — for with her death That tidings came, — with this she fell distract, 15; And, her attendants absent, swallow'd ilre. Cassius. And died so? Brutus. Even so. Cassius. O ye immortal gods 1 in Ihe play, and is in Shakespeare's noblest style. Pitrfound ei expresses itself with reserve. Deep grief loves not many words. 153. Strict harmony of construction would require 'impatience' for 'impatient' here, or 'griev'd' for 'grief in the next line. Shake- speare is [lot very particular in such niceties. Besides, the broken construction expresses dramatically the deep emotion of the speaker, 155. digttact: distracted. So in Hamlet, IV, v, 2. 'Distraught' is the fonn in Romes and Juliet, IV, iii, 49. For the dropping of the terminal ^ri/ of the participle inverbsendinginf or fit, see Abbott, §342. 156. It appears something uncertain whether Portia's death was before or after her husband's, Plutarch represents it as occurring before ; but Meriyale follows those who place it after, " For Portia, Brutus's wife, Nicolaus the philosopher and Valerius Maximus do write, that she determining to kilt heiself (her parents and friends carefully looking to her to keep her from it) took hot burning coals, and cast them into her mouth, and kept her mouth so close that she choked herself. There was a letter of Brutus found, written to his friends, complaining of their negligence, that, his wife being sick, they would not help her, but suffered her to kill herself, choosing to die rather than to languish in pain," — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. c* Google 134 I'HE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Re-enter Luous, with wine and taper Brutus. Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of wine. In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius. \^Drinks'\ Cassius, My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge. 160 Fill Lucius, till the wine o'erswell the cup ; I cannot drink too much of Brutus' love. \_Drinks'\ Brutus. Come in, Titinjus ! \_Exit Lucms] Re-enter Titinius, with Messala Welcome, good Messala. Now sit we close about this taper here. And call in question our necessities. 165 Cassius, Portia, art thou gone? Brutus. No more, I pray you. Messala, I have here received letters. That young Octavius and Mark Antony Come down upon us with a mighty power, Bending their expedition toward Philippi. 170 Messala. Myself have letters of the selfsame tenour. Brutus. With what addition? Messala. That by proscription and bills of outlawry, iSS. RetnUr Lucius, . . . latir T:tin1us, 'a-ith . . . Dyce I Enter Ti- Camb I Enter Boy . . . Tapers f/. tinius and ... Ff (after I. 162). 161. mriMii] Capell I Ff omit. 171. tenour Theobald I tenure Ff. 163. \BxU Lucius] Camb I Ff 173. ootlawty Fi I Outlarie Fi | omit. — Scene V Pope. -— St-iHlcr Oullary FaFj. 165. call in question: bring up for discussion, 'Question,' both noun and verb, is consWntly found in Shakespeare in Ihe sense of 'talk.' So "in question more" in RonuB atiil Jiiliil. I, 1, 235. 170. Bending their expedition : directing their march. Cf. 'expedi- tion' in this sense in ^iV/,«r^ ///, IV, iv, 136. ib,Gooj^lc SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR 135 Octavius, Antony, and I-epidus, Have put to death an hundred senators. 175 Brutus. Therein our letters do not well agree ; Mine speak of seventy senators that died By their proscriptions, Cicero being one. Cassius, Cicero one 1 Messala. Cicero is dead. And by that order of proscription. iSo Had you your letters from your wife, my lord? Brutus. No, Messala. Messala. Nor nothing in your letters writ of her? Brutus. Nothing, Messala. MessALA. That, methinks, is strange, Brutus. Why ask you? hear you aught of her in yours? Messala. No, my lord. 186 Brutus. Now, as you are a Roman, tell me true. Messala. Then like a Roman bear the truth I tell : For certain she is dead, and by strange maimer. 179-180. Cicero ia ... prwcriptlon I iSj. Two lines in Ff. — aught One line in Ff. Thepbald 1 ouglxt Ff. 179. "These three, Octavius Csesar. Anionius, and Lepidus, made an agreement between themselves, and by those articles divided ihe provinces belonging lo the empire of Rome among themselves, and did set up bills of proacriplion and outlawry, condemning two hun- dred of the noblest men of Rome to suffer death, and among that number Cicero was one." — Plutarch. Marcus Brutus. 183. Both ' nor nothing ' and ' writ ' survive to-day as vulgarisms. 184. Sothing, Messala. This may seem inconsistent with what has gone before {see more particularly 11. 1 54-1 55), but we are to suppose that Bnitus's friends at Rome did not write 10 him directly of Portia's death, as they feared the news might unnerve him, but wrote to some n friends in the array, directing them lo break Ihe news to IS they should deem it safe and prudent to do so. c* Google 136 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Brutus. Why, farewell, Portia, We must die, Messala : With meditating that she must die once, 191 I have the patience to endure it now. Messala. Even so great men great losses should endure. Cassius. I have as much of this in art as you. But yet ray nature could not bear it so, 195 Brutus. Well, to our work alive. What do you think Of marching to Philippi presently? Cassius. I do not think it good. Brutus. Your reason? Cassius. This it is : 'Tis better that the enemy seek us : So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers, 200 Doing himself offence ; whilst we, lying still. Are full of rest, defence, and nimbleness. Brutus. Good reasons must of force give place to better. 191. ODce : at some lime or other. So in TAe Merry Wives of Windsor, III, iv, 103 : I thank thee ; and I pray thee, once to-night Give my sweet Nan this ring. 194. art : theory. This speech may be paraphrased, I am as much a Stoic by profession and theory as you are, but my natural strength is weak when it comes to putting the doctrines into practice. 196. work ilivs: work in which we have to do with the living. 197. presGDtly: a( once. See note, p. S2, 1, ■>,%. 303. of force : of necessity, necessarily. Plutarch represents this talk as occurring at Philippi just before the battle : "Cassius was of opinion . not to try this war at one battle, but rather to delay time, and to draw it out in length, considering that they were the stronger in money, and the weaker in men and armour. But Brutus, in contrary manner, did alway before, and at that time also, desire nothing more than to put all to the hazard of battle, as soon as might be possible; to the end he might either quickly restore his country to her former liberty, or rid him forthwith of this miserable world." — jWarcuj- Bruins. c* Google SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR 137 The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground Do stand but in a forc'd affection, 205 For they .have grudg'd us contribution : The enemy, marching along by them. By them shall make a fuller number up, Come on refresh'd, new-added, and encourag'd ; From which advantage shall we cut him off Jio If at Philippi we do face him there, These people at our back. Cassius. Hear me, good brother. Brutus, Under your pardon. You must note beside. That we have tried the utmost of our friends. Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe : . 215 The enemy increaseth every day ; We, at the height, are ready to decline. There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; Omitted, all the voyage of their life no Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat ; And we must take the current when it serves. Or lose our ventures, xg. new-added | new added Ff. aa«. loe« Rowe | loose Ff. MO- new-added: reenforced. Slngersuggested 'new aided.' 3t8-ui. Cf, Trdilus and Crissida, V, i, 90; The Temptst, I, ii, 181-184- Dr. Wright (Clar.) quotes from Bacon a parallel passage : " In the third place I set down reputation, because of the peremptory tides and currents it hath ; which, if they be not talien in their due time, are seldom recovered, it being extreme hard lo play an after game of tepulalion." — The Advancement 0/ Learning, II, xxiii. 38. 314. venturea : what is risked, adventured. The figure of a ship is kept up, and ' venture' denotes whatever is put on board in hni" c* Google 138 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act rv Cassius. Then, with your will, go on ; We '11 along ourselves, and meet them at Philippi. 225 Brutus. The deep of night is crept upon our talk. And nature must obey necessity ; Which we will niggard with a little rest. There is no more to say ? Cassius. No more. Good night : Early to-morrow will we rise, and hence. 230 Brutus. Lucius ! ^Re-enter Lucius] My gown. \_Exit Lucius]. Farewell, good Messala : Good night, Titinius : noble, noble Cassius, Good night, and good repose. Cassius. O my dear brother ! This was an ill beginning of the night : Never come such division 'tween our souls ! 235 Let it not, Brutus. Brutus. Every thing is well. Cassius. Good night, my lord. Brutus. Good night, good brother. lOood night, Lord Brutus, Messala. J Brutus. Farewell, every one. \_Ex€iint Cassius, Titinius, atnf Messala] 331. Brutus. Lncinal [Kt-enter iji, [fii' Lucius] Ff oniil. Lucius] My Camb | Enlir Lucius i^. [Exeunt CAssrus , . .] Capell Bni, Lucius my Ff. 1 Exeunt Ff. of profit, and exposed to " the perils of waters, winds, and rocks." Cf. The Merikant of Venire, I, i, 15, 4! ; HI, ii, 270. 228. niggard; supply sparingly. In Sonnets, I, I!, occurs 'nig- gaiding.' In Elizabethan English "almost any part of speech can be used as any other part of speech. . . . Any noun, adjective, or neuter verb can be used as an active verb." — Abbott. c* Google SCENE 111 JULIUS C^SAR 139' He-enter I.ucius, with the gown Give me the gown. Where is thy instrument? Lucius. Here in the tent. Brutus. What, thou speak'st drowsily? Poor knave, I blame thee not ; thou art o'er-watch'd. 241 Call Claudius and some other of my men ; I 'It have them sleep on cushions in my tent. Lucius. Varro and Claudius ! Enter Varro and CLAUDiira Varro, Calls my lord? 245 Brutus. I pray you, sirs, lie in my tent and sleep ; It may be I shall raise you by-and-by On business to my brother Cassius. Varro. So please you, we will stand and watch your pleasure. Brutus. I will not have it so : lie down, good sirs ; 250 It may be I shall otherwise bethink me. Look, Lucius, here 's the book I sought for so ; I put it in the pocket of my gown. [Varro and Claudius lie down'\ Re-enter Lucius, , . . Capell I 144, 189. Varro Rowe I Vamis Ff. Enter Lucius . ; . Ff (after Brutus, a4S. Scene VI Pope. — Enlir 1. 136). Varbo and Claudius Rowe I En- 941. 944, etc. CUndina Rowel ter Vamisand Claudio Ff. Claudio Ff. 253. [Varro and . . .] Ff omit. 141. Poor kn«Te, Cf. 'Gentle knave," 1. z6g. The word 'knave' is here used in the literal sense of ' boy.' I( was used as a term of endearment, or of loving familiaiity with those of lower rank. So in King Lear, !, iv, 107. — o'er-watch'd: worn out with keeping awake. So in Kif^ Lear.\\,\\, 177. Cf. 'o'ershofin III. ii. 150. 351-153. These two simple lines, with the answer of Lucius, " I was sure your lotdship did not give it me." are among the best c* Google 140 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv Lucius. I was sure your lordship did not give it me. Brutus. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful. Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile, 256 And touch thy instrument a strain or tivo? Lucius. Ay, my lord, an 't please you. Brutus. It does, my boy : I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing. Lucius. It is my duty, sir. !6o Brutus. I should not urge thy duty past thy might ; I know young bloods look for a time of rest. Lucius. I have slept, my lord, already. Brutus. It was well done ; and thou shalt sleep again ; I will not hold thee long : if I do live, 265 I will be good to thee, [Afusie, and a st>ng] things in the play. Consider how much is implied in them, and what a picture thef give of the earnest, thoughtful, book-loving Brutus. And indeed all his noblest traits of character come out, "in simple and pure soul," in this exquisite scene with Lucius, which is hardly surpassed by anything in Shakespeare. Who could be troubled by the anachronism in the book being of modem shape? " Brutus was a careful man, and slept veiy little, both for (hat his diet was moderate, as also because he was continually occupied. He never slept in the day-time, and in the night no longer than the time he was driven to be alone, and when everybody else took their rest. But now whilst he was in war, and his head ever busily occu- pied to think of his affairs and what would happen, after he had slumbered a little after supper, he spent all the rest of the night in dispatching of his weightiest causes, and after he had taken order for Ihem, if he had any leisure left him, he would read some book till the third watch of the night, at what time the captains, petty captains, and colonels, did use to come to him," — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. 36a. bloods. So in Jlfiici Ado About Nothing. IH, iii, 141 ; " How giddily a' turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five- and-thirty ?" Cf. I, ii, 151 : " the breed of noble blootls." cjt.Gooj^k"- SCENE III JULIUS CvESAR 141 This is a sleepy tunc. O murderous slumber, Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, That plays thee music? Gentle knave, good night; I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee : 270 If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument ; I 'II take it from thee ; and, good boy, good night. Let me see, let me see ; is not the leaf turn'd down Where I left reading? Here it is, I think. Enter the Ghost ij/'C/esar How ill this taper burns ! Ha ! who comes here? 275 I think it is the weakness of mine eyes That shapes this monstrous apparition. i Mur- 574. [Sits down] Cainb. ijj. Scene VII Pope. Hffj. munleroui slumber. The epithet probably has reference lo sleep being regarded as the image of death; or, as Shelley put It, " Death and his brother Sleep." Cf, Cymheline, II, ii, 31. 368. tbjr leaden mace. Uptoti quotes from Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I, iv, 44 : But whenas Morpheus had »ith leaden mace Arrested all that courtly company. Shakespeare uses ' mace ' both as ' scepter,' Henry V., IV, i, 278, and as ' a staff of office,' i Henry VI, IV, vii, 144. l6(). The boy ts spoken of as playing music to slumber because he plays to soothe the agitations of his master's mind, and put him to sleep. Bacon held that music "hindereth sleep." 375. The presence of a ghost was believed to make lights bum blue or dimly. So in Richard III, V, iii, 180, when the ghosts ap- pear to Richard, he says : " The lights bum blue. It is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh." a77. this mongttoas appaiitlOD. "Aboveall,theghost thatappeared unto Brutus shewed plainly that the gods were offended with the murder of Cxsar. The vision was thus : Brutus . . , thought he c* Google 142 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv It comes upon me. Art thou any thing? Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil. That mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to stare? 280 Speak to me what thou art. Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus. Brutus. Why com'st thou? Ghost. To tell thee thou shall see me at Philippi. Brutus. Well ; then I shall see thee again? Ghost. Ay, at Philippi. 285 Brutus. Why, I will see thee at Philippi then. lExit Ghost] Now I have taken heart thou vanishest ; 111 spirit, I would hold more talk with thee. Boy, Lucius ! Vano 1 Claudius 1 Sirs, awake ! Claudius I 290 ,B6.[£irf Ghost] Ffomil. heard a noise at his tent-door, and. looking towards the tight of the lamp thai waxed very dim, he saw a horrible vision ot a man, of a wonderful greatness and dreadful look, which at the first made him marvellously afraid. Bui when he saw that it did no hurt, but stood at his bedside and said nothing ; at length he asked him what he was. The image answered him : 'I am thy ill angel, Brutus, and thou shalt see me by the cily of Philippes,' Then Brutus replied ■ again, and said. ' Well, I shall see thee then,' Therewithal the spirit presently vanished from him." — Plutarch, y«//nj Cicsar. 280. atare: stand on end. 'To stand fixed' (Lat. slare) is the primary idea. Cf. The Temptst, I, ii, 213; Hamlet, I. v, 16-20. aft?. This strongly, though quietly, marks the Ghost as subjective ; as soon as Brutus recovers his firmness, the illusion U broken. The order of things is highly judicious here, in bringing the " horrible vision " upon Brutus just after he has heard of Portia's shocking death. With that great sorrow weighing upon him, he might well see ghosts. The thickening of calamities upon him, growing out of the assassination of Cicsar, naturally awakens remorse. c* Google SCENE III JULIUS CJESAR 143 Lucius. The strings, my lord, are false, Brutus. He thinks he still is at his instrument. Lucius, awake ! Lucius. My lord ? Brutus. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst out ? 29 s Lucius. My lord, I do not know that I did cry. Brutus. Yes, that thou didst : didst thou see any thing? Lucius. Nothing, my lord. Brutus. Sleep again, Lucius. Sirrah Claudius ! [7> Varro] Fellow thou, awake 1 300 Varro. My lord? Claudius, My lord ? Brutus, Why did you so cry out, sits, in your sleep? Varro. 1 ^. , , , , „ i-Dia we, my lord? Claudius, j Brutus. Ay: saw you any thing? Varro. No, my lord, I saw nothing, Claudius. Nor I, my lord. 305 Brutus, Go and commend me to my brother Cassius ; Bid him set on his powers betimes before, 307 And we will follow. Varro. t Claudius. J It shall be done, my lord. [^Exe L [7b Varro] Globe Camb I 304, soB. Varro, Claui agi. falBe : out of tune. A chatming touch in Ihis boy study. 306. commeDd me to: greet from me, remember me kindly to. 307. seton: cause toadvancc. — betimBs: early. Formerlybetime'! "the final 's' is due to Ihe habit of adding '-s' or '-es' to form adverbs; cf. ' whiles ' (afterwards 'whilst') from 'while,'" — Skeat. c* Google Scene I. The plains of Philippi Enter Octavius, Antony, and their Army OcTAVius. Now, Antony, our hopes are answered : Vou said the enemy would not come down, But keep the hills and upper regions. It proves not so : their battles are at hand ; They mean to warn us at Philippi here, Answering before we do demand of them. Antony. Tut, I am in their bosoms, and I know Wherefore they do it : they could be content To visit other places, and come down With fearful bravery, thinking by this face To fasten in our thoughts that they haye courage ; But 't is not so. 4, battles: Uoops, battalions. 'Battle' was used for an 'army,' especially an army embattled, or ordered in bailie array. The plural is here used wiih historical correctness, as Brutus and Cassius had each an arniy ; the two armies of course cooperating, and acting together as one. Cf. 'battle' in 1. 16 and 'battles' in V, iii, 108. 5. warn : summon to fight. Cf. King John, II, i, 201 . In Richard III, I, iii, 39, we have "warn them to his royal presence." 7. am la their bosoms : am familiar with their intention. 10. bravery: bravado, defiance. The epithet 'fearful' probably means that fear is behind the attempt to intimidate by display and brag. Dr. Wright interprets ' bravery ' as ' ostentation,' ' display.' c* Google SCENE 1 JULIUS C^SAR I4S Enter a Messenger Messenger. Prepare you, generals : The enemy comes on in gallant show ; Their bloody sign of battle is hung out, And something to be done immediately. 15 Antony. Octavius, lead your battle softly on. Upon the left hand of the even field. Octavius. Upon the right hand I ; keep thou the left. Antonv, Why do you cross me in this exigent? 19 Octavius, I do not cross you ; but I will do so. \_MarcA'] 14. bloody BigD. "Th« next morning, by break of day, the signal of battle was set out in Brums' and Cassius' camp, which was an arm- ing scarlet coal." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. 17. Plularch tells that Cassius, though (he tnore experienced soldier, allowed Brutus to lead the right wing. " Shakespeare made use of this incident, but transferred to the opposite camp, in order to bring out the character of Octavius which made Antony yield. Octavius really commanded the left wing." — Clar. 19. eiigent; exigency. So in AHlony and Cleopatra, IV, xiv, 63. 10. I will do BO : I will do as f have said. Not ■ I will cross you.' At this time Octavius was but twenty-one years old, and Antony was old enough to be his father. At the time of Cxsar's death, when Octavius was in his nineteenth year, Antony thought he was going to manage him easilyandhaveit all his own way with him; but he found the youngster as stiS as a crowbar, and could do nothing with him. Cesar's youngest sister, Julia, was married to Marcus Alius Balbus, and their daughter Alia, again, was married to Caius Octavius, a nobleman of the plebeian order. From this marriage sprang the present Octavius, who afterwards became the Emperor Augustus, He was mainly educated by his great-uncle, was advanced to the patrician order, and was adopted as his son and heir; so that his full and proper designation at this time was Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus. The text gives a right taste of the man, who always stood firm as a post against Antony, till the latter finally knocked himself to pieces against him. c* Google 146 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Drum. Enter Brutus, Cassius, and their Army ; LuciLius, TiTiNius, MesSaIa, anil ethers Brutus. They stand, and would have parley, Cassius. Stand fast, Titinius : we must out and talk. OcTAVius, Mark Antony, shall we give sign of battle? Antonv. No, Ceesar, we will answer on their charge. Make forth ; the generals would have some words. 25 OcTAvius. Stir not until the signal. Brutus. Words before blows : is it so, countrymen? OcTAvius. Not that we love words better, as you do. i8 Brutus. Good words are better than bad strokes, Octavius. Antonv. In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good words. Witness the hole you made in Csesar's heart. Crying, ' Long live ! hail, Cassar ! ' Cassius. Antony, The posture of your blows are yet unknown ; But, for your words, they rob the Hybla bees. And leave them honeyless, Antonv. Not stingless too. 35 Brutus. O, yes, and soundless too ; For you have stol'n tbeir buzzing, Antony, And very wisely threat before you sting. ai. Scene II Pope. — Lucilcus, Titcntus . . . | Ff omit. 33. The posture o£ yonr blows : where your blows are to fall. — axe. The verb is attracted into the plural by the nearest substantive. Cf. ' was,' IV, iii, 5. Abbott calls this idiom ' confusion of proximity.' 34. Hybla, a hill in Sicily, was noted for its thyme and its honey. So Vergil, Eclogues, I, 54-55 ; " the hedge whose willow bloom is quaffed by Hybla's bees." Cf 1 Henry IV, I, ii, 47 : '• As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle." Antony could not be so ' honey- tongued ' unless he had quite exhausted thyme-flavored Hybla. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 147 Antonv. Villains, you did not so, when your vile daggers Hack'd one another in the sides of Csesar : 40 You show'd your teeth like apes, and fawn'd like hounds. And bow'd like bondmen, kissing Cassai's feet ; Whilst damned Casca, like a cur, behind Struck Csesar on the neck. O you flatterers ! Cassius. Flatterers ! Now, Brutus, thank yourself : 45 This tongue had not ofiended so to-day, If Cassius might have nil'd. OcTAvms. Come, come, the cause : if arguing make us The proof of it will turn to redder drops. Look; 50 I draw a sword against conspirators ; When think you that the sword goes up again? Never, till Csesar's three and thirty wounds Be well aveng'd ; or till another Csesar Have added slaughter to the sword of traitors. 55 'g M. StniCk FgFt I SIrooke FiF:i. 3p-4f, These graphic details are from Plutarch's two accounts (in Julius Caiar and Marcus Brutus) of the assassination of Cisar. 48. Oclavlus has been a standing puzzle and enigma to the histo- rians, from the seeming contradictions of his character. Merivale declares that the one principle that gave unity to his life and recon- ciled those contradictions, was a steadfast, inflexible purpose to avenge the murder of his illustrious uncle and adoptive father. S3, goes up; is put into its sheath. Cf.yi>:4», xvill, 11. 53. The number of Caesar's wounds, according to Plutarch, was three and twenty, and to "three and twenty' Theobald, ciaving his- torical accuracy, changed the ' three and thirty ' of the text. 55. Till you, traitors as you are, have added the slaughtering of me, another Cxsar, to that of Julius. See note, p. I^J, I :o. c* Google 148 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Brutus. Ciesar, thou canst not die by traitors' hands, Unless thou biing'st them with thee. OcTAvius. So I hope ; I was not bom to die on Brutus' swoid. Brutus, O, if thou wert the noblest of thy strain. Young man, thou couldst not die more honourable, 60 Cassius. a peevish schoolboy, worthless of such honour, Join'd with a masker and a reveller ! Antonv. Old Cassius.still ! OcTAvius. Come, Antony ; away ! Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth ; If you dare fight to-day, come to the field ; 65 If not, when you have stomachs. \Exeunt Octavius, Antony, and their Army] Cassius. Why, now, blow wind, swell billow, and swim bark! The stoim is up, and all is on the hazard. Brutus, Ho, Lucilius I hark, a word with you. LuciLius. {Standing fortK\ My lord ? 70 [Brutus and Lucilius convene aparf] «. [Exeunt . . . Ihiir Army] | jo. {Standing fcr1h\Z».To!D \\Mr Exit . . . ArinyFf. cilliusand Mess^standfoith Ff.— 67. Scene III Pope. [Brutus and . . .] Ff omit. 50. Btraiii: stock, lineage, race. So in /I'linrv F, II, iv, 51: And he b bied out of that bloody strain That haunted us in our familiat paths. 61. Shakespeare often uses 'peevish' in the sense of 'silly,' 'foolish.' So in The Comedy gf Errors, IV, i, 93. A foolish schoolboy, joined with a ma.iker and reveler (for Antony's reputation, see I, ii, S04 ; II, i, 188. 189; n, ii, 116), and unworthy even of that honor. M. Btomachs: appelite, inclination, courage. So in Ilinry V, IV, ill, 35 : ■■ He which halh no stomach to (his fight." c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 149 CdSsius. Messala I Messala. What says my general? Cassius. Messala, This is my birth-day ; as this very day Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala ; Be thou my witness that, against my will, As Pompey was, am I compell'd to set 75 Upon one battle all our liberties. You know that I held Epicurus strong, And his opinion ; now I change my mind, And partly credit things that do presage. Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign So Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perch'd, 71. UeMUa, I Ff add to 1. ;i. Bo, fonner Ff | foremast Rowe, 7a. > As ' is often used redundantly with deRnitions of time. This is atill a provincialism. See Abljoll, § 1 14. '• Messala writelh, that Cassius having spoken these last words unto him, he bade him fare- well, and willed him to come (o supper to him (he next night following, because it was his birthday." — Plutarcii, Marcus Bruliis. 75, Alluding to the battle of Pharsalia, which took place in the year B.C. 48. Pompey was forced into that battle, against his better judgment, by the inexperienced and impatient men about him, who, inasmuch as they had more than twice Cfesar's number of troops, fancied they could easily defeat him if they could but meet him. So they tried it, and he quickly defeated (hem. 77. I was strongly attached to the doctrines of Epicurus. "Cassius being in opinion an Epicurean, and reasoning thereon with Brutus, spake to him touching the vision thus: 'In our sect, Bruius,wehave an opinion, that we do not always feel or see that which we suppose we do both see and feel, but that our senses, being credulous and therefore easily abused . . . imagine they see and conjecture that which in (ruth (hey do not.' "^Plutarch, Marcus Brittus. 80. foimer: first. Cf. "former things passed away." "When they raised theircamp there came two eagles, that, flying with a marvellous c* Google 150 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE ACn Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands ; Who to Philippi here consorted us : This morning are they fled away and gone ; And in their steads do ravens, crows, and kites. Fly o'er our heads and downward look on us. As we were sickly prey : their shadows seem A canopy most fatal, under which Our army Hes, ready to give up the ghost. Messai^. Believe not so. Cassius. I but believe it partly ; For I am fresh of spirit, and resolv'd To meet all perils very constantly, Brutus. Even so, Lucilius. Cassius. Now, most noble Brutus, The gods to-day stand friendly, that we may, Lovers in peace, lead on our days to age ! But, since the affairs of men rests still incertain, Let 's reason with the worst that may befall. If we do lose this battle, then is this The very last time we shall speak together : What are you then determined to do ? i BRtn'US. Even by the rule of that philosophy By which I did blame Cato for the death Which he did give himself : I know not how. But I do find it cowardly and vile. force, lighted upon two of the foremost ensigns, and always folloved the soldiers, which gave them meat and fed them, until they came near to the city of Philippes ; and there, one day only before the battle, Ihey both flew away." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. c* Google SCENE I JULIUS C^SAR 151 For fear of what might fall, so to prevent 105 The time of life ; arming myself with patience To stay the providence of some high powers That govern us below. Cassius. Then, if we lose this battle. You are contented to be led in triumph Thorough the streets of Rome? no Brutus. No, Cassius, no : think not, thou noble Roman, That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome ; He bears too great a mind. But this same day K? Theobald I Rome Ff. HI. Two lines in F(. 105-104. pievent The time : anticipate the full, natural period. To the undersiandiiig of this speech, it must be observed that the sense of the words, 'arming myself,' etc., follows next after the woids, 'which he did give himself.' In this passage, as Dr. Wright (Clat.) has pointed out, Shakespeare was misled by an error in North's version of Amyot's Plutarch, where we have /e/j (=/j-) translated as if it were from/^r ; " Brutus answered him, being yet but a young man, and not over greatly experienced in the world ; ' I trust {I know not how) a certain rule of philosophy, by the which I did greatly blame . . . Cato for killing himself, as being no lawful nor goiy act, touching the gods ; nor, concerning men, valiant ; but, being now in the midst of the danger, I am of a contrary mind.'"^ — -Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. Wright, in his note on this passage, shows how the true meaning is obscured by bad printing and punctuation. Brutus's answer begins really with, ' Being yet but a young man'; and 'I trust ' is evidently a past tense (Old English ' truste ') which must have been read by Shakespeare as the present. 113. " The philosopher indeed renounced all confidence in his own principles. He had adopted them from reading or imitation ; they were not the natural growth of instinct or genuine reflection ; and, as may easily happen in such a case, his faith in them failed when they were tested by adversity. As long as there seemed a chance that the godlike stroke would be justified by success, Brutua c* Google 152 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Must end that work the Ides of March begun ; And whether we shall meet again I know not. 115 Therefoie our everlasting farewell take. For ever, and for ever, farewell, Cassius ! If we do meet again, why, we shall smile j If not, why then this parting was well made, Cassius. For ever, and for ever, farewell, Brutus 1 120 If we do meet again, we '11 smile indeed ; If not, 't is true this parting was well made. Brutus. Why, then, lead on. O, that a man might know The end of this day's business ere it come ! But it sufficeth that the day will end, 125 And then the end is known. Come, ho ! away ! [Exeunil Scene II. The field of battle Alarum. Enter Brutus and Messala Brutus. Ride, ride, Messala, ride, and give these bills Unto the legions on the other side ; \_Loud alarum'] 114. tbeldu Fi I that Ides FaFsFi. Scene II Capell I Scene IV Pope, claimed the glory of maintaining a righteous cause; but, when all hope fled, he could take leave of philosophy and life logether, and exclaim, ' I once dreamed that virtue was a thing ; I find her only a name, and the mere slave of fortune.' He had blamed Cato for flying from misery by self-murder; but he learnt to justify the same desperate act when he contemplated committing it himself." — Merivale. I. bills; writteninstructions.dispalches. " In the meantime Brutus, that led the right wing, sent Utile bills to the colonels and captains of private bands, in the which he wrote the word of the battle." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. I. 'The legions on the other side' are those commanded by Cassius, the left wing of the joint army of Brutus and Cassius. Brutus wants Cassius to attack the enemy at the same time that he c* Google SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR 153 . Let them set on at once ; for I perceive But cold demeanour in Octavius' wing, And sudden push gives them the overthrow, S Ride, lide, Messala : let them all come down. [Sxeunf] Scene III. Another part of tke field Alarums. Enter Cassius and TiTiNius Cassius. O, look, Titinius, look, the villains fly ! Myself have to mine own turn'd enemy. TTiis ensign here of mine was turning back ; I slew the coward, and did take it from him. Titinius. O Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early ; 5 Who, having some advantage on Octavius, Took it too eagerly ; his soldiers fell to spoil, Whilst we by Antony are all enclos'd. Enter Pindarus PiNDARUS. Fly further off, my lord, fly further off ; Mark Antony is in your tents, my lord : lo Fly, therefore, noble Cassius, fly far off. Cassius. This hill is far enough. Look, look, Titinius; Are those my tents where I perceive the fire? 4. OcUtIiib' Pope I Octavio's Ff. Scene III Capell ] Scene contin- ued in Pope. himself does. In (lie next scene, Messala and his escort are met by Titinius coining from Cassius. 3. ' Ensign' was used in the Elizabethan time, as it is still, either for the flag (cf. V, i, So) or for the bearer of it : here it is used for both at once. Cf. the form 'ancient,' Olkello. I, i, 33. ll was in killing the cowardly ensign that Cassius "to his own tum'd enemy." c* Google IS4 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v TiTiNiUS. They are, my lord. Cassius. Titinius, if thou lovest me, Mount thou my horse, and hide thy spurs in him, 15 Till he have brought thee up to yonder troops. And here again ; that I may rest assur'd Whether yond troops are friend or enemy, Titinius. Iwillbehereagain, even with a thought. [£j;»V] Cassius. Go, Pindarus, get higher on that hill ; 20 My sight was ever thick j regard Titinius, And tell me what thou not'st about the field. [Pindarus ascends the AiW] This day I breathed first : time is come round, And where I did begin, there shall I end ; My life is run his compass. Sirrah, what news? 25 Pindarus. [Aiove'] O my lord ! Cassius. What news? Pindarus. [^^ut'^] Titinius is enclosed round about With horsemen, that make to bim on the spur ; Yet he spurs on. Now they are almost on him. 30 Now, Titinius ! Now some light. O, he lights too : He'sta'en. [^Shouf] And, hark! they shout for joy. Cassius. Come down ; behold no more. O, coward that I am, to live so long. To see my best friend ta'en before my face ! 35 10. blgbsr F] I thither FiFsFi. at. [Aimii] Ff amit. !n.[PiNDARUSfli«ii^j...]Camb 31, B« '» ta'en I Ff print a» sep- I Ff omit. arate line. 16. yonder troops. Messala and his escort coming from Brutus. 19. with a thought : quick as thought. Cf. The Tempest, IV, i, 64. 10-11. " Cassius himself was at length compelled to fly . . . into a little hill from whence they might see . . . howbeit Cassius saw nothing, for his sight was very bad." — Plutarch, Marcui Brutus. c* Google SCENE 111 JULIUS CAESAR 155 PiNDARUs descends Come hither, sirrah : In Paithia did 1 take thee prisoner \ And then I swore thee, saving of thy life. That whatsoever I did bid thee do, Thou shouldst attempt it. Come now, keep thine oath ; 40 Now be a freeman ; and with this good sword. That ran through Cjesar's bowels, search this bosom. Stand not to answer : here, take thou the hilts ; And, when my face is cover'd, as 't is now. Guide thou the sword. [Pindarus stabs him\ Cfesar, thou art reveng'd, 45 Even with the sword that kill'd thee. [Z)/«] Pindarus. So, I am free ; yet would not so have been. Durst I have done my will. O Cassius ! Far from this country Pindarus shall run, 49 Where never Roman shall take note of him. \_Extf\ je. Pindarus descends Dyce | kills him FiPsFi (after I. 46). Enter Pindarus F(, 46. \DUs\ Capell I Ff omit. 3637. One line in F(. 47. Two lines In Ff. 45- [Pindarus . . .] I Fi omits 1 so, [£«(J Rowe I Ff omit. 3S. BBTing of thy life : when I saved thy life. The usual interpre- tation, but ' saving ' may qualify ' Thou ' in 1. 40, and then the expres- sion would mean, ' Except for endangering thy life." 43, hilts. Shakespeare uses both the singular and the plural form of this word to describe a single weapon, the plural more often. 46. It was a dagger, not a sword, that Cassius slabbed Csesar with. But by acommon figure of speech the same weapon is put for the same owner. The 'sword' is taken from Plutarch. "Forhe,beingovercome in battle at the journey of Philippes, slewhimself with the same sword with the which he strake Cssar." — Flutarch,/«/ij« Casar. 50. " Cassius, thinking indeed that Titinius was taken of the enemies, he then spake these words: 'Desiring too much to live. c* Google 156 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Re-enter Titinius, with Messala Messala. It is but change, Titinius ; for Octavius Is overthrown by noble Brutus' power, As Cassius' legions are by Antony. Titinius. These tidings will well comfort Cassius. Messala. Where did you leave him? Titinius. All disconsolate, 55 With Pindarus his bondman, on this hill. Messala, Is not that he that lies upon the ground? Titinius. He lies not like the living. O my heart ! Messala. Is not that he? Titinius, No, this was he, Messala, But Cassius is no more. O setting sun, 60 As in thy red rays thou dost sink to night. So in his red blood Cassius' day is set; The sun of Rome is set ! Our day is gone ; Clouds, dews, and dangers come ; our deeds are done 1 Mistrust of my success hath done this deed. 65 ji. Scene V Pope. — ^^^hM'..., 6». is Mt Fi I LI set FaFBF4. ■(vUh Capell | Enter ... and ... Fi. 63. sun I Sunne Fi | Sonne Fl S 61. to uleUt Kf I tc-night Knight. Son FjFi. I have lived to see one of my best friends taken, for my sake, before my face.' After that, he got into a tent where tiobody nas, and took Pindams with him, one of his bondsmen whom he reserved ever for such 3 pinch, since the cursed battle of the Parlhians, where Crassus was slain, though he notwithstanding scaped from thai overthrow : but then, casting his cloak over his head, and holding out his bare neck unto Pindarus. he gave him his head to be stricken off. So the head was found severed from the body; but after that time Pindarus was never seen more." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. 51. chanee : interchange of loss and gain in the fight. 60-61. Cf. jyoilus and Crcssida, V, viii, y&. c* Google SCENE III JULIUS CESAR 157 Messala. Mistrust of good success hath done this deed. O hateful error, melancholy's child. Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men The things that are not? O error, soon conceiv'd,. Thou never com'st unto a happy birth, 70 But kill'st the mother that engender'd thee ! TiTiNius. What, Pindarus! where art thou, Pindarus? Messala. Seek him, Titinius, whilst I go to meet The noble Brutus, thrusting this report Into his ears : I may say, ' thrusting ' it ; 75 For piercing steel and darts envenomed Shall be as welcome to the ears of Brutus As tidings of this sight. TiTiNius. Hie you, Messala, And I will seek for Pindarus the while. \^£xit Messala] Why didst thou send me forth, brave Cassius? 80 Did I not meet thy friends? and did not they Put on my brows this wreath of victory, And bid me give it thee? Didst thou not hear their shouts? Alas, thou hast misconstrued every thing ! But, hold thee, take this garland on thy brow ; 8; Thy Brutus bid me give it thee, and I Will do his bidding. Brutus, come apace. And see how I regarded Caius Cassius. By your leave, gods ; this is a Roman's part : 89 Come, Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart. ' [Z>/m] 71. engenaerM | engendred Ff. 79. [Exil Messala] | Ff omil. (rj~6g. Cassius is said to have been of a highly choleric or bilious temperament, and as such, predisposed to melancholy views of life. go. ■' By-and-by they knew the horsemen (hat came towards them, and might see Titinius crowned with a garland of triumph, who came c* Google 158 THE NEW Hudson shakespeare act v Alarum. He-enter Messala, with Brutus, young Cato, Stkato, Volumnius, and Lucilius Brutus. Where, where, Messala, doth his body lie? Messala. Lo, yonder, and Titinius mourning it. Brutus. Titinius' face is upward. Cato. He is slain. Brutus. O Julius Cffisar, thou art mighty yet ! Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords 95 In our own proper entrails. [Zfic alarums'^ Cato. Brave Titinius ! Look, where he have not crown'd dead Cassius ! Brutus. Are yet two Romans living such as these? gi. Scene VI Pope. — Reenter 97. wb«e Ff [ if Pope I whether Messala. n-iV* Brutus . . . | Enter Camb Globe I wh'er Capell | wh^r BTutus, Messala . . . F(. Dyce. before with great speed unto Cassius. But nhen he perceived, by the cries and tears of his friends which tormented ihemaelves, the miEfortune that had chanced lo his captain Cassius by inistaking, be drew out his sword, cursing himself a thousand times that he had tarried so long, and so slew himself presently in the field. Brutus in the meantime came forward still, and understood also that Cassius had been overthrown ; but he knew nothing of his death till he came very near to hL"! camp." — Plutarch, Afarais Brutus. i>4-pe. Brutus here strikes again, full and strong, the proper key- note of the play. The facts involved are well stated by Froude : "The murderers of Cssar, and those who had either instigated them secretly or applauded Ihem afterwards, were included in a proscription list, drawn by retributive justice on the model of Sulla's. Such of them as were in Italy were immediately kilted. Those in the prov- inces, as if with the curse of Cain upon their heads, came one by one to miserable ends. In three years the tyrannicides of the Ides of March, with their aiders and abettors, were all dead ; some killed in battle, some in prison, some dying by their own hand." 91- Where : whether. So in V, iv, 30. See note, p. 7, 1. 63. c* Google SCENE III JULIUS C^SAR 159 The last of all the Romans, fare thee well ! It is impossible that ever Rome loo Should breed thy fellow. Fiiends, I owe raoe tears To this dead man than you shall see me pay, I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time. Come, therefore, and to Thasos send his body : His funerals shall not be in our camp, 103 Lest it discomfort us. Lucilius, come; ' And come, young Cato ; let us to the field. Labeo and Flavins, set our battles on 1 'Tis three o'clock; and, Romans, yet ere night 109 We shall try fortune in a second fight. [^Exeunf] 99. the Ff I Thou Rowe. — faie | conj.) { Thassas Theobald { Tharsus fir Fi. Ff. i«. moe FsFi { mo FiFi | more toB. Labco Hanmer { LaUo Ff.— Rows. FUvlne, Ft I Flauio Fi I Flaviua 104. ThMOSCamb Globe (Walker FiFa. loi. moe : more. See note, p. 48, I. 72. See Skeat under ' more,' 104- Thasoi. A large island oS the coast of Thrace. " So when he was come thither, after he had lamented the death of Cassius, call- ing him the last of all the Romans, being unposaible that Rome should ever breed again so noble and valiant a man as he, he caused his body to be buried, and sent it to the city of Thassos, fearing lest his funerals within his camp should cause great disorder. Then he called his soldiers together, and did encourage them again." — Plutarch, Marcus Brului. 105. Labeo and Flaviua. These two men are not named among the persons of the drama, because they speak nothing. Labeo was one of the stabbets of C^sai; and it is related that when he saw that all was lost, having dug his own grave, he enfranchised a slave, and then he thrust a weapon into his hand ordering him to kill htm. log-iio. Shakespeare with dramatic effectiveness represents both t>at ties as occurring the same day. Theywere separated by an interval of twenty days. The ' three o'clock ' is from Plutarch. " He suddenly caused his army to march, being past three of the clock in the after- noon, " — Marcus Brutus. c* Google l6o THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Scene IV. Another part of the field Alarum. EnUr Brutus, young Cato, Lucilius, and others Brutus. Yet, countrymen, O, yet hold up your heads I Cato. What bastacd doth not? Who will go with me? I will proclaim my name about the field. I am the son ot Marcus Cato, ho ! A foe to tyratits, and my country's friend ; 5 I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho ! Enter Soldiers, and fight Luatius, And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I ; Brutus, my country's friend ; know me for Brutus ! O young and noble Cato, art thou down? Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius ; 10 And mayst be honour'd, being Cato's son. I Soldier. Yield, or thou diest. LuciLius. Only I yield to die : Scene IV Capell ISceneVIl Pope. FUuius Ff. —Anotkit pari ...Zv^\\¥loaiX. ^. LiiciLiua | Bru. Rowe I Ff Enlcr Brutus ... I Enter Bru- omit, tua, Messala, Cato, Lucillius and 9-11. Ff give to Luc. (LucUius). 3. Wliat bastard doth not : who is so base-born as nol to do so ? 7-8. The Folios omit the speaker's name. Rowe gave the hnes lo Brutus, but they are utterly uncharacteristic of him. Plutarch (see quotation below, 1. 29) says that Lucilius impersonated Brutus, and Shakespeare follows this, as 1. 14 indicates. The Folios, have no ' Exit ■ or stage direction after 1, 8. Professor Michael Macmillan says : " It seems probable that the printers of the Folio by mistake put the heading ' Luc' two lines too low down." II. " There was the son of Marcus Cato slain . . . telling aloud his name, and also his father's name." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. c* Google SCENE IV JULIUS CtSAR l6r There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight ; [ Offering money\ Kill Brutus, and be honour'd In his death. 1 Soldier, We must not. A noble prisoner ! 15 2 Soldier. Room, ho ! Tell Antony, Brutus is ta'en. I Soldier. I '11 tell the news. Here comes the general. Enter Antomv Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord. Antonv. Where is he? LuciLius,- Safe, Antony ; Brutus is safe enough : 20 I dare assure thee that no enemy Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus : The gods defend him from so great a shame ! When you do find htm, or alive or dead. He will be found hke Brutus, like himself. 23 Antonv. This is not Brutus, friend ; but, I assure you, A prize no less in worth : keep this man safe. Give him all kindness : I had rather have Such men my friends than enemies. Go on. S-m=-^j.]IFfomil, IS. Enter Antohv | in Ff after ER 1 Soli Ff. L.5. !pope(ed..7i8)|lhBe 16. Brutua, ftiena Fi 1 Brutus friend 1 FiFaFs, newes Ff. 39. " There was one of Brutus' friends called Lucilius, who seeing a troop of barbarous men making no reckoning of all men else they met in Iheir way, but going all together right against Brutus, he deter- mined to stay them with the hazard of his life ; and being left behind, told them that he was Brutus : and because they should believe him, he prayed them to bring him to Antonius, for he Said he was afraid of Cxsar, and tliat he did trust Antonius better. These barbar- ous men, being very glad of this gOod hap, and thinking themselves happy men, they carried him in the night, and sent some before unto c* Google l62 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v And see where Brutus be alive or dead ; 30 And bring us word unto Octavius' tent How every thing is chanc'd. . \^Exeunt] Scene V. Another part of ike fieid Enter Brutus, Dardanius, Clitus, Strato, anti Volumnius Brutus. Come, poor remains of friends, rest on this rock. Clitus. Statilius show'd the torch-light, but, my lord. He came not back. He is or ta'en or slain. 30. wMre Ff I whether Camb Scene V CapelM Scene VIII Globe I wh'er Capell. Pope. — ^Ho*A(r ... Ff omit. Antonius, to Cell him of their coming. He was marvellous glad of it and went out to meet them that brought him. . . . When they came near together, Antonius stayed awhile bethinking himself how he should use Brutus. In the meantime Lucihus was brought to him, who stoutly with a bold countenance said ; ' Antonius, I dare assure ihee, that no enemy hath taken or shall take Marcus Brutus alive, and I beseech God keep him from that forlune : for whereso- ever he be found, alive or dead, he will be found like himself. And now for myself. I am come unto thee, having deceived these men of arms here, bearing them down Ihat I was Brutus, and do not refuse to suffer any torment thou wilt put me to.' , . . Antonius on the other side, looking upon all them that had brought him, said unto (hem: 'My companions, I think ye are sorry you have failed of your purpose, and that you think this man hath done you great wrong: but I assure you, you have taken a better booty than that you followed. For instead of an enemy you have brought ma a friend : and for my part, if you had brought me Brutus aiive, truly I cannot tell what I should have done to him. For I had rather have such men my friends, as this man here, than mine enemies.' Then he embraced Lucilius, and at that time delivered him lo one of his friends in custody ; and Lucilius ever after served him faithfully, even to his death." — Plutarch, Marcus Brutus. 3. " Brutus thought thai there was no great number of men slain in battle ; and, to know the truth of it, there was one called Statilius c* Google SCENE V JULIUS C^SAR 163 Brutus. Sit thee' down, Ciitus: slaying is the word ; 4 It is a. deed in fashion. Hark thee, Chtus. [IVAispering'] Clitus. What, 1, my lord? No, not for all the world. Brutus. Peace then ! no words. Clitus. I 'It rather kill myself. ■ Brutus. Hark thee, Dardanius. [ Whispering] Dardanius.. Shall I do such a deed? Clitus. O Dardanius ! Dardanius. O Clitus ! 10 CuTus. What ill request did Brutus make to thee? Dardanius. To kill him, Clitus. Look, he meditates. Clitus. Now is that noble vessel full of grief. That it runs over even at his eyes. Brutus. Come hither, good Volumnius ; list a word. 15 S, 8. {Whijferiag\ Ff omit. 8. Shall Ff | Pope omits. that promised to go through his enemies, for otherwise it was impos- sible to go see their camp ; and from thence, if all were well, that he would lift up a torch-light in the air, and then return again with speed lo him. The torch-light was lift up as he had promised, for Statilius went thither. Now, Brutus seeing Statilius tarry long after that, and that he came not again, he said, 'If Statilius be alive, he will come again.' But his evil fortune was such that, as he came back, he lighted in his enemies' hands and was slain. Now the night being far spent, Brutus as he sat bowed towards Clitus, one of his men, and told him somewhat in his ear: the other answered htm not, but fell a-weeping. Thereupon he proved' Dardanus, and said somewhat also to him : at length he came to Volumnius himself, and speaking to him in Greek, prayed him for the studies' sake which brought them acquainted together, that he would help bin put his hand to his sword, to thrust it in him denied his request, and so did many other 13. nobis Teasel full. Cf. The IVinler'i TaU, III, iii e. tried. Cf. / Snwicl. xvit, 39. c* Google l64 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v VoLUMNius. What says my lord? Brutus. Why, this, Volumnius ; The ghost of Caesar hath appear'd to me- 1 7 Two several times by night ; at Sardis once, And, this last night, here in Philjppi fields : 1 know my hour is come. Volumnius. Not so, my lord. 30 Brutus. Nay, I am sure it is, Volumnius. Thou seest the world, Volumnius, how it goes ; Our enemies have beat us to the pit : \_Low aiarums'\ It is more worthy to leap in ourselves Than tarry till they push us. Good Volumnius, 15 Thou know'st that we two went to school together : Even for that our love of old, I prithee. Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it. VoLUMNii;s. That's not an office for a friend, ray lord. \^Alarum stiif] Clitus, Fly, fly, my lord ; there is no tarrying here. 30 Brutus, Farewell to you ; and you ; and you, Volumnius. Strato, thoa hast been all this while asleep ; s Fi 17. "The second battle being at hand, this spirit appeared again unto him, but spake never a word. Thereupon Brutus, knowing that he should die, did put himself to all haiard m battle, but yet fighting could not be slain." — Plutarch, Julius Cirsar. Merivale has a strong sentence on this: "The legend that when preparing for the encounter with the triumvirs he was visited by the ghost of Cassar, which summoned him to meet again at Fhilippi, marks the conviction of the ancients that in the crisis of his fate he was slung \>y guilty remorse, and haunted by the presentiment of final retribution." J6. See quotation from Plutarch, Marcus Brutus, p. 163, c* Google SCENE V JULIUS C^SAR 165 Farewell to thee, too, Strato, Countrymen, My heart doth joy that yet in all my life I found no man but he was true to me. 35 I shall have glory by this losing day. More than Octavius and Mark Antony By this vile conquest shall attain unto. So, fare you well at once ; for Brutus' tongue Hath almost ended his life's history : 40 Night hangs upon mine eyes ; my bones would rest, That have but labour'd to attain this hour. [Aiarum. Cry within, ' Fly, fly, fly ! '] Clitus. Fly, my lord, fly ! Brutus. Hence ! I will follow. \_Exeunt C\.YYUS, Dardanius, «H(/ Volumnius] I prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord : 33. thee, too, Stiato. Conntc;- 30. IosIdi Rowe I loosing Ff. men, Theobald | thee, lo Sttato, 40. Ufe'a Rowe | Uvea Fif. Countrymen : F(. 43- [Exei^nl Clitus . . . ] Capell 34. in Fi I FaFgF, omit. ! Ff omit. 43. "Amongst the rest, one of them said, there was no tarrying for them there, but that Ihey must needs fly. Then Brutus, rising up. ' We must fly indeed,' said he, 'but it must be with our hands, not with our feel.' Then, taking every man by the hand, he said these words unto them with a cheerful countenance ; ' It rejoiceth my heart, thai not one of my friends hath failed me at my need, and I do not com- plain of my fortune, but only for my country's sake : for, as for me, I think myself happier than they that have overcome, considering that I leave a perpetual fame of virtue and honesty, the which our enemies the conquerors shall never attain unto by force or money.' Having so said, he prayed every man to shift for himself, and then he went a tittle aside with two or three only, among the which Strato was one, with whom he came first acquainted by the study of rhet- oric. Strato, at his request, held the sword in his hand, and turned his head aside, and Drutus fell down upon it, and so ran himself through . . . and died presently." — Plutarch, ^/artai ffru/aj. c* Google l66 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v Thou art a fellow of a good respect ; 45 Thy life hath had some smatch of honour in it : Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face, While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato? Strato. Give me your hand first : fare you well, my lord. Brutus. Farewell, good Strato. [Kuns on his sward] Caesar, now be still : 50 I kill'd not thee with half so good a will, [Z);«] Alarum. Retreat. Enter Antony, Octavius, Messala, LuciLius, and the Army Octavius. What man is that? Messala. My master's man. Strato, where is thy master? Strato. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala ; The conquerors can but make a fire of him ; S5 For Brutus only overcame himself, And no man else hath honour by his death. LuciLitis. So- Brutus should be found. I thank thee. That thou hast prov'd Lucilius' saying true. S9 JO. \Runs . . .] I Ff omit. 51. Scene IX Pope. ^ 45. at a good respect : of good reputation, well-esteemed. Cf.I.ii,59. 46. BDUtcb : smack, lasle. " With the forms ' smack ' for the verb and ' smatch ' for the noun, compare ' ake ' and ' ache ' as used in the First Folio of Shakespeare." — Clar. Cf. ^ Henry IV. I, ii, in. 47. "Scarcely any of those who were accessory to hLs murder survived him more than three years, or died a natural death. They were all condemned by the Senate ; some were taken off by one accident, some by another. Part of them perished at sea, others fell in tiattle \ and some slew themselves with the same poniard with which they had stabbed Csesar." — Suetonius, yw/ZHi Caiar. c* Google SCENE V JULIUS C^SAR 167 OCTAVius. All that serv'd Brutus, I will entertain them. Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me? Strato. Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you. OcTAVius, Do so, good Messala. Messala, How died my master, Strato? Strato, I held the sword, and he did run on it, 65 Messala, Octavius, then take him to follow thee, That did the latest service to my master, Antony. This was the noblest Roman of them all : All the conspirators, save only he, Did that they did in envy of great Csesar ; 70 He only, in a general honest thought And common good to all, made one of them. His life was gentle, and the elements So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, ' This was a man ! ' 75 &«. my master Fi | my Lord F). 71-73- gennsl . . . And F( | gen- 71. Be only, In I He, anely in Ff. erous Of Craik. 60. wlU entertain them : will take them into my service. 62. prefer: recommend. Cf. Tki Merchant oj Venice, II, ii, 155. 68, Cf. Antony's soliloquy on Csesar, III, i, 257-258. ffy^. "Antonius spake . . . that of all them Ihat had slain Casar, there was none but Bruius only Ihat was moved . . . thinking the act commendable of itself; but that all the other conspirators did con. spire his death for some private malice or envy that they otherwise did bear unto him." — Plutarch, Marcus Bruius. 73-74. This refers to the old doctrine of the foui elements, earth. water, air, and fite, a right proportion of which was supposed to be the principle of all excellence in nature. Shakespeare has many allusions to the doctrine, which was a commonplace of the sixteenth cemury. Il is this common property in the idea which invalidates the importance of the argument for the date of Julius Qf^iir drawn from a similar passage in Drayton's revised version of his Moriimeriados (1596-1597) published in 1603 under the title of The Baroni' IVars. ib,Gooj^k' l68 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v OcTAvius. According to his virtue let us use him, With all respect and rites of burial. Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie, Most like a soldier, ordered honourably. So call the field to rest ; and let 's away 80 To part the glories of this happy day. [^£xeunQ :apell I Exeunt 79. Host like a ■oldlet. Cf with these words of Octavius the speech of Fortinbras with which Hamlet closes : Let four captains Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage; For he was likely, had he been put on, To have prov'd most royally, 80. call the field to rest : give the signal to cease fighting. ' Field,' by metonymy, is occasionally used in sixteenth century literature as synonymous with 'battle' or 'order of battle.' Cf. the expression ' to gather a field,' meaning ' to collect an armed force,' So in Hall's Chronidcs, 1548; "my lorde of Winchester intended to gather any feld or assemble people." Cf., too, ' field ' as a hunting term. 81. partt distribute. A specific meaning of 'part' used to be 'share one with another,' Thb sense is now obsolete or provincial ib,C.OOgIc . INDEX I. WORDS AND PHRASES abide: 87 95,106 114. base degrees : 44 ae. brought: 30 1. >bD»: SI lis. basest metal : T S3. bnitish: 105 104. added glangbtei to th« bastard : 160 a. Bmtns hath a suit: ■word: 147 55. batUea: 144 4. 78 42. ■ddreu'd: 83 ». bay'd: 94 305,119 48. BTDtuamaybntfindit: aOMtlMii iway'd: 48 be let blood : 91 153. 40 144. 90. be not fond, to think: bury: 104 74. aim: 20 m 83 39, by: 91m alchemy: 41 isa. bear hard: 39 310. 57 bybim: 58SI8. ftlloTei: SOiia. and lif ) : 2« Si3. beaimsabang^llSis. UlgfA: 109 180. bears with glasses : by this: 38 IS5. Antonins: »3. 66 205. Cassat doth not wrong: any thing more woader- behaviours: 12 42. 83 47. fnl: 81 H. beholding : 108 ea. CEoaai'B BUOganoe; 88 apparent piodigiee: 86 bend;17lS3. 72. bending their eipedi- CiesBi's trophies: 8 71. tion: 134 no. call in question: 184 88 IS7. betimes: 143 307. betray: 6i 025. Cains CassluB Longl- are (is): 148 33. bills: 152 1. nns: 1136. aniYB the point: 16110. bird of night: 32 as. Capitol : 80 ia. art: 136 194. bloods: 140 369. carrione : 62 130. as (omitted): 138 89. bloody sign: 146 14. Caaca's sentlmentB: a8(redundant):1197S. blunt; aBaoa, 88 102. ae(thaO: 1134. bondman: 37 lOl. cast yourself in: 34 60. at the stake and bay'd brav'd: 129 9«. Cato'edaughter:6339S. about: 119 48. bravery: 144 lo. cautelous: 83 189. Ate: 98sTa- bieakwithhimiSSiso. censure: 100 le. attractioD of verb to blight day: 43 14. ceremonies: 8 67, 67 13. nearest iubjeetiiai biook'd : 19 iss. chafing: 16 101. ^ lie 23. brother ; 48 TO. .69 change: 1307,18651. c* Google 170 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE cluractsiy; 64 81971. chew : «0 171, Cicero (his 'agile tongue'): S7 aBI. CiceiQ (his opinion of Cisar); 17 1S9. Clnna the poet : 114 ]. clean: 33 35. climber upward : 43 S3. clock: BO 192. close : 39 lai. cobbler: 4 11. cognizance : 71 89. ColOBiusof Rhodes: IS diihononr ahall be hn- mout: 130 109, distiact : 133 iss. : do danger with : 43 n, dogs of war : 93 a;4. doth not Brutus boot' less kneel ? SG 7S. double comparatives and superlatives: 39 double negativeB: SS ■S37, 133 183. doublet : 26 sea. drachma; III 341. eagles: 140 laU; ISlae. falling-iickneaa : 16 119, 25 959. follB ahrewdly to the pnipose: 90 117. false: 143 991. familiar inatances: 121 1«. favc : IS 91, 39 11 :: 39 II 48 ?e. fenet: 91 isfi. fever: 16 11R. field: 163 80. fifteen : 46 S9. fire: 93 173. IIS 954. first of Harch: 4S 40. SB 117. Bint: 130 111. former: 149 80. forma: 113 S5B. forth: S7 3ae. fret : 60 104. 33 35, 3S fiS dear my lord : 60 955. dearer: 93 197. deceitful Jadee: 12196. DeciusBlDtDS: 40 148. degrees : 44 96. destructlDn ; 31 13. dew of slumber : G B dint : 109 193. directly: 4 19. discard my aicknesa : 6S391. _ _ _n. Brute : 8B 7 eternal: 20 I6D. ethical dative: 86 ai 18 60. exhalations : 4B 44. eiieeot: 14G ]». eiorciet: 6G 3S3, extenuated: 10137. face of men: Bl 114. factious: 38 lie. full of good regard : 96 glai'd: 32 91. : 136 3! : 147 51 got : goes Bl good respect: 186 4; great flood: 19 159. Greek to me: ST 9bi. greets me well : 120 6. griefs: 38 iib, 1S2 46. growing on; SO lOl. c* Google INDEX 171 bud: 39310,91315. indlnctloti : 128 ts. make head: 119 49. hats: 48 T3. Infinitive aied gemn- makssto: BO is. bavoc; 98 S74. dively: B4tj. AS 135, man of aDyoccDpatlon: lieap:32!3. 107 ISO, 124 s. 86 s«4. hearts of contioveny: InBappresaive : S8 134. many ■ tiroe and oft: 1 6 109. it must be by hia dsatb ; S 39. held EplCDTDS BtTODg: '" " . — - 149 77. jadea:121s6. market-place: 98 229. her (of the Tiber): 6 jeoloua: 30 isa. 47. jealouaon: 18 71. me (eth. dat.): 86 S83, here's the book: 139 jigging: 132 137. 252. juat:l8 54. lis IB. roeana : 12 49. high: 60 110. keRblet: 64 3IS. maehaaJeal: 8 s. merely: 11 3B. SI lis. 1S8R4. metal: 7 63. hUta : ISfi 43, IdDd : SB 64. mettle : 7 63, 28 993. hia(its): 17194,1848. knave: 199 941. miatook; 12 48. hold.myliand: 38 iiT. LabeoandFlaviua: ISO mockapttobetender'd: holychaae: 9 6. 108. 7196. honejr-heary dew: S8 laughter: 13 72. modeaty: 94 914. 330. law ot children: 8339. moe: 48 79, 1S9 101. honourable man: 106 leaden mace: 141268. monatrona apparition: 99. leaji: 22 m. 141977. hotathand: 121 93. legions on the other iiiDD8tiaiisstate:3S7i. how: 121 14. aide: 182 3. mortal instruments: ha will this taper bums: let it be who it la : 36 4T 66. 141 9T5. 80. mortlfledBplrit:6S394. however: 28 996. let slip: 08 274. most boldest: 89 199. humour (v.) : 29 319. lethe : 94 907. most like a soldier: 188 humour (n.) : 60 sm, liable: TS 104. 79. 130 109. . Uef : IB M. motion : 46 64. hurtled : 67 99. limbs : 97 263. murderoua ainmber : Hybla: 14634. lion in the Capitol: 36 141 267. Ides of March: 10 is, n. muaic: 83 904. TO 1. listen: 11941. naphina: 106 133. Images : 7 go. live (if I live) : 01 160, nanow: 18 13S. Impatient of my ab- lover : 7S 8, 100 13. nature of : 47 69. aence: 133 159. loves no playa : 83203. neat's-leather; B 97. in our stars: 18 140. Lucilius: 161 99. new-added: 137 909. In respect of: 4 19, Lacilius and Tltiuini: nice: 134 s. in some taste: 118 34. 183 59. niggard: 138 998. in strength of malice: Lucius Junius Brutus : night-gown : 66 1. 92 175. 19 159. nofear:S6iM. in their bosoms: 144 7. Lupercal : 8 69, 104 95. no, notanoath: 61 IH. Incorporate: 39 135. mace: 141968. noble vessel full : 163 indifferently: 14 87. main: S8 ise. 13. c* Google 172 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE . DDiM BO poor : 106 lao. patb : 4S S3. qaanel : 44 as. nor ... neither : S9 S3T. peevish: 148 ei. queBtion: 131 ibs. nor nothing : 1 30 1S3. phaotaBoui : 46 a3. queatioti of Us duth : noted ; 123 s. philoaophy i 13S Its. 101 36. nothing, Hessala: ISS physical; 60 S6I. ' quickspiilt: lias. IM- pitch: B 7S, rank: Bl isa. nothing jsalons: 20 169. playstheemualc: 141 isscal : 128 80. nowt : 6 9T. 369. regard : 9fi »15. oath: CI 114. Flatus: ISO loa. temotse: 43 i9. obserrs: 120 43. Pompey(atPharsalia): repealing: 84m. Octaviaa : 14S 90, 14T 14B ts. replication: 6 48. 4S. PDmfey'BbBSis:89ii6. reaolVd: 00 139,109 o'ershot myself to tell; Fompey'e porch: 39 126. its, 121 14. 107 ISD. poorknare: 130 341. letentire to the O'er-watch'd : 139 ail. posture o( your blows: strength: 37 96. Of force : 1 30 903. 146 33. rheumy : 61 966. of him: S3 167. pnetoi's chair: 40 143. rid : 113 368. of the best respect: prefei: 167 69. Some: 10 ISB. 99 390. 13 69. preformed: 3S 67. ruddy drops: 63 as9. old men, fools, and pre-ordinBDCe and first rumour : TS 18. children: 3S as. decree: 82 3B. sad: 23 917. omission of indefinite presently: ^2 98, 136 saucy: 30 11. article: 33 43. 197. saTingofthylife : IBS omission of the lelS' prevent: 44 98. 38. tive: 04 309. prevent the time : 151 secret Romans: S2 iss. on: 1371. 106. security gives way to: on the Lapercal : 1 04 prevention : 49 8S. 7S 6. »y prick'd: 06917, UOl. sennet; 10 94. onthlasideTiber: 112 proceeded: 21 isi. set on : 143 30T. 948. prodigies: SO 198. should: 18 14a. once: 136 191. prodigbus: 36 77. shoald(wauld): 6O49. only proper to myself: produce: 9S 999. slgn'd in thy spoil: 94 12 41. promlg'd forth : 2798" opinion; S3 i46. proof; 43 91. orchard: 42 1. proper (goodly, ham order of his funeral ; OS some): S 26. i4e. 931. propertomyself;1241. slighted off : 124 5. ought not walk : S 3. property: 119 4a. amatch: 166 4e. out: 4 17, 18. protest: 14 74. sopleasehimcome: 90 palter: 62 196. Pnbliua(Cxsar);llT4. 141. part: 168 81. Publins SUIclns: 73 soft: 2S S49. passion: 12 48. IDS. soil; 12 49. passions of some differ- pulpits: 86 80. soles: 4 is, ence: 12 40. purgers : 64 I8O. sooth : 78 so. past tense for past pntan(betray): 68 99s. soothsayer; 1019,7791. participle: 12 48. quality: 36 64. speed: IS 88. DigilizMC* Google ■piMn: 186 47. thews: 36 81. walks : 18 155. HpoU: 94 307. WBtn: 144 5. Stale : 11 ?3. things unluckily was (were): 184 s. Btal-d: 118 38. charge: 114 9. weua kerchief: 64315. stoDdapon: 88 101. thorough; 80 13T. weighing : 80 108. sure: 142 aao. three and thirty : 147 well given: 22 197. Statiliaa: 162 3. what : S3 43, 42 1. . statue : TO 76. thunder-stone: !4 4b. whatneodwe: 81 ib3. stomachs: 148 6a. tide In the aSairB of what Tillain toucb'd : BtraiD ; 148 S9. 18S90. Btricksii; SS i«. timeB«baK: 81 115. where : 18 so. Bubaibs: 62 9sa. 'tis just: 13 54. where (whether): 7 sueons : «7 a. 63, 1S8 97. ■uffMancsrSlliy to hell among the whether: BB i»4. sway of earth : 30 3. rogues : 26 365. who: 32 31. ■word: IBS 46. wind (v.): 118 33. tag-rag people; 28356. to-night: 70 76,114]. wit: 110 31». take tbougbt and die; to think: 88 135. with: 38 83. 97 969. 66 187. to write : 184 6. with a spot I danm .Urdy (onn : 28 a96. toils: 87 806. him: 117 a. taste: 118 m. trod upon neat's- withBtbought:184i». tane of death : 68 33. leather: 8 ST. wonderfol: 31 u. temper: 17 IM. trophiee: 8 71. workalive: 136 196. Thawie: 169 104. true : 28 35B. work me to : 20 16^. tliat! «47. unbrwed; 34 «. worthy note: 21 isi. that it is disposed: S8 andergo: 38 133. writ: 138 183. uofirm: 30 4. wrong (harm) : 96 mx there Is tears : 10196. unmeritable: 117 12. yeama : 74 iss. there was a crown of- upon a heap: 32 as. yonder troops; 164 is. fered bim: 24!»o. upon a wish: 113 Ses. you; 3fl. thesefsuch and such): UB ourself : 78 s. 82 io. yenturea: 137 SHI. ymwerrboBt; 11813. these... as: 31m. vulgar (n.): 879, yon'Ubeaime;lieiB. II. QUOTATIONS FROM PLUTARCH Antony, Octavius, and Antony's eulogy Of Brutus, StatllluB, and Lepldus: 116 I. Brotua: 167 69. Dardanus: 162 3. Antony a lover of plays: Antony's oration ; 103 Brutus and Casslua ; 73. 123 1, 124 8, 186 Antony's personal I8. 38. 189 83, 136 habits ; S6 188. 303. Artemidorua and C»- Brutus and Lucius sar: 74 1. PeUa: 1843. 22 103. Antony and Czsar'. burial; 9G 93]. Antony and Lepidos c* Google 174 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE BiutuB iBd Popitiua Cxsm'b deicriptiDii of earleB on the eosigns; Lcena: 8193. Caasins: S2 199. 149 80. BrutuB and the appaii- Cxaar'a falliog-sick- effect of the murder tioa:14l97T,164i7. neai: 26 968. upon the people: S8 BiutuB and tbe Sena- Caeai'a images : 8 S7. 98. toes: 8TS3, 93 18J. CSBai'a piOweM ; 108 ezhalatianB : 48 44. BrutDB and wtitlngaoB 179. flrat of Harcb ; i6 40. hJBchoii: 40 143. CxBai'a BupeistitioDs: hoar of the battle: BrutuBiB Ptstoi: 40 T3 107. 1S9 109. M3. Cxsar's testament : Idee of Haicb : 79 1. BrutoB Imperaonated 111939, Ligailua : ST 9ia. by Lucllius ; 16199. Cxsbt'b triumph over LaciliuB ImperaoDate* Brutus on Caasias'B thePompeiaiiB; 853. Bratus; 161 99. death: ISO 104. Casar'a views on mob's violence: 113 BrutuB sends tbe Toid death: 6833. * 959. of battle: ISS 1. Calpuniia pleads with Hunds (battle of): 6 BrutuB'B death: 186 Czsar : 669. 53. 13. Caasins an Epicurean : Fhaonius quotes Ho- Brutus's habits: 140 140 77. met: 131 198. 959. CassiuB and Pindarua: Foet'a Inteiinption: BnituB's influence: SI 1S8 ao. 131 vm. 114. Caaalus and Tltlniua : Pompey'e porch; 39 Brutus's manner of 1ST 90. I9e. speech: 1 Oil 43, Cassius deacribed by Portia's (Porcia) anx- BrutuS'B philosophy of Csaai: 22 192. iety: TS I. life: 1 til IDS, Cassius's birthday; Portia's courage: 61 Brutus's speech: 100 140 79. 379. 11, Cassias's character: Portia's death: 133 Caaar and Calpumia: S2 903. 156. 50 9. CasBius'B sword : 15S Portia's suspicion : S9 Cxsar and Seclue : T2 4a. 933. 107. CaasiuB'a weak sight: signal of battle; 145 Csaal and the Sooth- 1S4 91. 14. sayer: 79 1. Cicero and theconspii- soothsayer's warning: Cssar Btdchen like a ators: B3 iso. 70 1. huntedbea8t;94 90.^. Cicero's death: 13S Titinius killB himself : Csaar'a blood on Pom- 179. 1S7 90. pey'simage: 80 116, Cinna's dream and triumvirs meet near Cssar'B death: 86 77. death: 114 1. Bononia: 116 1. Cssar'a death omens : Decius pleads with Young Cato's death: 51 14. CxBU: T2io7. 160 n. giiizcdt* Google giiizcdt* Google giiizcdt, Google giiizcdt* Google t, Google giiizcdt* Google giiizcdt* Google