And therefore think him as a serpent's egg,
Which, hatched, would, as his kind, grow mischievous ;
And kill him in the shell.
Re-enter LUCIUS.
Luc. The taper burneth in your closet, Sir.
Searching the window for a flint, I found
This paper, thus sealed up; and, I am sure,
It did not lie there when I went to bed. [Gives him the letter.
Bru. Get you to bed again, it is not day. Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March? 50. Luc. I know not, Sir.
Bru. Look in the calendar, and bring me word.
Luc. I will, Sir.
[Exit.
Bru. The exhalations, whizzing in the air,
Give so much light, that I may read by them.
[Opens the letter, and reads.
“ Brutus, thou sleep'st; awake, and see thyself.
Shall Rome, fc. Speak, strike, redress !".
Brutus, thou sleep'st; awake.
Such instigations have been often dropped
Where I have took them up.
Shall Rome, fc. 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 called a king.
Speak, strike, redress!
Am I entreated
To speak, and strike ? O Rome! I make thee promise,
If the redress will follow, thou receivest
Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus.
Re-enter LUCIUS. Luc. Sir, March is wasted fourteen days. [Knock within. 155. Bru. 'Tis good. Go to the gate; somebody knocks.
[Exit Lucius.
Since Cassius first did whet me against Cæsar,
I have not slept.
Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream :
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.
Re-enter LUCIUS.
Luc. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door,
Who doth desire to see you.
Bru. Is he alone ?
Luc. No, Sir, there are moe with him.
Bru. Do you know them ?
160. Luc. No, Sir; their hats are pluckt about their ears,
And half their faces buried in their cloaks,
That by no means I may discover them
By any mark of favour.
Bru. Let 'em enter.
[Exit LUCIUS.
They are the faction. O Conspiracy!
Sham'st thou to show thy dangerous brow by night,
When evils are most free! O, then, by day,
Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough
To mask thy monstrous visage ? Seek none, Conspiracy;
Hide it in smiles, and affability :
For, if thou path thy native semblance on,
Not Erebus itself were dim enough
To hide thee from prevention.
Enter Cassius, CASCA, DECIUS, CINNA, METELLUS CIMBER,
and TREBONIUS.
Cas. I think we are too bold upon your rest :
Good morrow, Brutus ; Do we trouble you?
Bru. I have been up this hour ; awake, all night.
Know I these men, that come along with you ?
Cas. Yes, every man of them ; and no man here,
But honours you ; and every one doth wish,
You had but that opinion of yourself,
Which every noble Roman bears of you.
This is Trebonius.
165. Bru. He is welcome hither.
Cas. This Decius Brutus.
Bru. He is welcome too.
Cas. This, Casca; this, Cinna ; and this, Metellus Cimber.
Bru. They are all welcome.
What watchful cares do interpose themselves
Betwixt your eyes and night? 170. Cas. Shall I entreat a word ?
[They whisper.
Dec. Here lies the east: Doth not the day break here?
Casca. No.
Cin. 0, pardon, Sir, it doth ; and yon grey lines,
That fret the clouds, are messengers of day.
Casca. You shall confess, that you are both deceived.
Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises ;
Which is a great way growing on the south,
Weighing the youthful season of the year,
Some two months hence, up higher toward the north
He first presents his fire; and the high east
Stands, as the Capitol, directly here.
5. Bru. Give me your hands all over, one by one.
Cas. And let us swear our resolution.
Bru. No, not an oath : If not the face of men,
The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,
If these be motives weak, break off betimes,
And every man hence to his idle bed ;
So let high-sighted tyranny range on,
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these,
As I am sure they do, bear fire enough
To kindle cowards, and to steel with valour
The melting spirits of women ; then, countrymen,
What need we any spur, but our own cause,
To prick us to redress ? what other bond,
Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word,
And will not palter ? And what other oath,
Than honesty to honesty engaged
That this shall be, or we will fall for it?
Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous,
Old feeble carrions, and such suffering souls
That welcome wrongs ; unto bad causes swear
Such creatures as men doubt: but do not stain
The even virtue of our enterprise,
Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits,
To think, that or our cause or our performance
Did need an oath ; when every drop of blood,
That every Roman bears, and nobly bears,
Is guilty of a several bastardy,
If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath passed from him.
Cas. But what of Cicero? Shall we sound him ?
I think, he will stand very strong with us.
Casca. Let us not leave him out. 180. Cin. No, by no means.
Met. O let us have him ; for his silver hairs
Will purchase us a good opinion,
And buy men's voices to commend our deeds :
It shall be said, his judgment ruled our hands ;
Our youths, and wildness, shall no whit appear,
But all be buried in his gravity.
Bru. O, name him not ; let us not break with him ;
For he will never follow anything
That other men begin.
Cas. Then leave him out.
Casca. Indeed, he is not fit. 185. Dec. Shall no man else be touched but only Cæsar?
Cas. Decius, well urged :- I think it is not meet,
Mark Antony, so well beloved of Cæsar,
Should outlive Cæsar: We shall find of him
A shrewd contriver; and, you know, his means,
If he improve them, may well stretch so far,
As to annoy us all: which to prevent,
Let Antony and Cæsar fall together.
Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off, and then hack the limbs
Like wrath in death, and envy afterwards :
For Antony is but a limb of Cæsar.
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar ;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood :
O, that we then could come by Cæsar's spirit,
And not dismember Cæsar! But, alas,
Cæsar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully ;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds :
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall mark
Our purpose necessary, and not envious :
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be called purgers, not murderers.
And for Mark Antony, think not of him;
For he can do no more than Cæsar's arm,
When Cæsar's head is off.
Cas. Yet I do fear him :
For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæsar,--
Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him :
If he love Cæsar, all that he can do
Is to himself, take thought, and die for Cæsar :
And that were much he should ; for he is given
To sports, to wildness, and much company.
190. Treb. There is no fear in him ; let him not die;
For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter. [Clock strike
Bru. Peace, count the clock.
Cas. The clock hath stricken three.
Treb. 'Tis time to part.
Cas. But it is doubtful yet,
Whether Cæsar will come forth to-day or no:
For he is superstitious grown of late ;
Quite from the main opinion he held once
Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies;
It may be, these apparent prodigies,
The unaccustomed terror of this night,
And the persuasion of his augurers,
May hold him from the Capitol to-day.
195. Dec. Never fear that: If he be so resolved,
I can o'ersway him : for he loves to hear,
That unicorns may be betrayed with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils, and men with flatterers;
But, when I tell him, he hates flatterers,
He says, he does ; being then most flattered.
Let me work :
For I can give his humour the true bent;
And I will bring him to the Capitol.
Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.
Bru. By the eighth hour : Is that the uttermost ?
Cin. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.
Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæsar hard,
Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey ;
I wonder, none of you have thought of him. 10._Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him :
He loves me well, and I have given him reasons ;
Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him.
Cas. The morning comes upon us : We'll leave you, Brutus :-
And, friends, disperse yourselves : but all remember
What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.
Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily;
Let not our looks put on our purposes :
But bear it as our Roman actors do,
With untired spirits, and formal constancy :
And so, good morrow to you every one.
[Exeunt all but Brutus.
Boy! Lucius !-Fast asleep? It is no matter;
Enjoy the heavy honey-dew of slumber :
Thou hast no figures, nor no fantasies,
Which busy care draws in the brains of men ;
Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.
Enter PORTIA.
Por. Brutus, my lord !
Bru. Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rise you now? It is not for your health, thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw-cold morning.
205. Por. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus,
Stole from my bed : And yesternight, at supper,
You suddenly arose, and walked about,
Musing, and sighing, with your arms across :
And, when I asked you what the matter was,
You stared upon me with ungentle looks :
I urged you further; then you scratched your head,
And too impatiently stamped with your foot :
Yet I insisted, yet you answered not ;
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
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