William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (290 page)
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Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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CICERO
Indeed it is a strange-disposed time;
But men may construe things after their fashion,
Clean from the purpose of the things themselves.
Comes Caesar to the Capitol tomorrow?
But men may construe things after their fashion,
Clean from the purpose of the things themselves.
Comes Caesar to the Capitol tomorrow?
CASCA
He doth, for he did bid Antonio
Send word to you he would be there tomorrow.
Send word to you he would be there tomorrow.
CICERO
Good night then, Casca. This disturbed sky
Is not to walk in.
Is not to walk in.
CASCA
Farewell, Cicero.
Exit Cicero
Exit Cicero
Enter Cassius
, ⌈
unbraced
⌉
CASSIUS
Who’s there?
CASCA A Roman.
CASSIUS Casca, by your voice.
CASCA
Your ear is good. Cassius, what night is this?
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 walked about the streets,
Submitting me unto the perilous night;
And thus unbracèd, Casca, as you see,
Have bared my bosom to the thunder-stone;
And when the cross blue lightning seemed to open
The breast of heaven, I did present myself
Even in the aim and very flash of it.
For my part, I have walked about the streets,
Submitting me unto the perilous night;
And thus unbracèd, Casca, as you see,
Have bared my bosom to the thunder-stone;
And when the cross blue lightning seemed to open
The breast of heaven, I did present myself
Even in the aim and very flash of it.
CASCA
But wherefore did you so much tempt the heavens?
It is the part of men to fear and tremble
When the most mighty gods by tokens send
Such dreadful heralds to astonish us.
It is the part of men to fear and tremble
When the most mighty gods by tokens send
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,
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 infused them with these spirits
To make them instruments of fear and warning
Unto some monstrous state. Now could I, Casca,
Name to thee a man most like this dreadful night,
That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars
As doth the lion in the Capitol;
A man no mightier than thyself or me
In personal action, yet prodigious grown,
And fearful, as these strange eruptions are.
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,
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 infused them with these spirits
To make them instruments of fear and warning
Unto some monstrous state. Now could I, Casca,
Name to thee a man most like this dreadful night,
That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars
As doth the lion in the Capitol;
A man no mightier than thyself or me
In personal action, yet prodigious grown,
And fearful, as these strange eruptions are.
CASCA
‘Tis Caesar that you mean, is it not, Cassius?
CASSIUS
Let it be who it is; for Romans now
Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors.
But woe the while! Our fathers’ minds are dead,
And we are governed with our mothers’ spirits.
Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish.
Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors.
But woe the while! Our fathers’ minds are dead,
And we are governed with our mothers’ spirits.
Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish.
CASCA
Indeed they say the senators tomorrow
Mean to establish Caesar as a king,
And he shall wear his crown by sea and land
In every place save here in Italy.
Mean to establish Caesar as a king,
And he shall wear his crown by sea and land
In every place save here in Italy.
CASSIUS (
drawing his dagger
)
drawing his dagger
)
I know where I will wear this dagger then:
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius.
Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong;
Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat.
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
If I know this, know all the world besides,
That part of tyranny that I do bear
I can shake off at pleasure.
Thunder still
Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius.
Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong;
Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat.
Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron,
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;
But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
If I know this, know all the world besides,
That part of tyranny that I do bear
I can shake off at pleasure.
Thunder still
CASCA So can I.
So every bondman in his own hand bears
The power to cancel his captivity.
The power to cancel his captivity.
CASSIUS
And why should Caesar be a tyrant then?
Poor man, I know he would not be a wolf
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep.
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
For the base matter to illuminate
So vile a thing as Caesar! 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 armed,
And dangers are to me indifferent.
Poor man, I know he would not be a wolf
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep.
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
For the base matter to illuminate
So vile a thing as Caesar! 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 armed,
And dangers are to me indifferent.
CASCA
You speak to Casca, and to such a man
That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold. My hand.
Be factious for redress of all these griefs,
And I will set this foot of mine as far
As who goes farthest.
They join hands
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.
They join hands
CASSIUS There’s a bargain made.
Now know you, Casca, I have moved 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
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.
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
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.
Enter Cinna
CASCA
Stand close a while, 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?
He is a friend.—Cinna, where haste you so?
CINNA
To find out you. Who’s that? Metellus Cimber?
CASSIUS
No, it is Casca, one incorporate
To our attempts. Am I not stayed for, Cinna?
To our attempts. Am I not stayed for, Cinna?
CINNA
I am glad on’t. What a fearful night is this!
There’s two or three of us have seen strange sights.
There’s two or three of us have seen strange sights.
CASSIUS Am I not stayed for? Tell me.
CINNA Yes, you are.
O Cassius, if you could
But win the noble Brutus to our party—
But win the noble Brutus to our party—
CASSIUS
Be you content. Good Cinna, take this paper,
He gives Cinna letters
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
Upon old Brutus’ statue. All this done,
Repair to Pompey’s Porch where you shall find us.
Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there?
He gives Cinna letters
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
Upon old Brutus’ statue. All this done,
Repair to Pompey’s Porch where you shall find us.
Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there?
CINNA
All but Metellus Cimber, and he’s gone
To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie,
And so bestow these papers as you bade me.
To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie,
And so bestow these papers as you bade me.
CASSIUS
That done, repair to Pompey’s Theatre.
Come, Casca, you and I will yet ere day
See Brutus at his house. Three parts of him
Is ours already, and the man entire
Upon the next encounter yields him ours.
Exit Cinna
See Brutus at his house. Three parts of him
Is ours already, and the man entire
Upon the next encounter yields him ours.
CASCA
O, he sits high in all the people’s hearts,
And that which would appear offence in us
His countenance, like richest alchemy,
Will change to virtue and to worthiness.
And that which would appear offence in us
His countenance, like richest alchemy,
Will change to virtue and to worthiness.
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
We will awake him and be sure of him.
Exeunt
2.1You have right well conceited. Let us go,
For it is after midnight, and ere day
We will awake him and be sure of him.
Exeunt
Enter Brutus in his orchard
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 soundty.—
When, Lucius, when? Awake, I say! What, Lucius!
Give guess how near to day.—Lucius, I say!—
I would it were my fault to sleep so soundty.—
When, Lucius, when? Awake, I say! What, Lucius!
Enter Lucius
LUCIUS Called 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
I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
But for the general. He would be crowned.
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!
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 truth of Caesar,
I have not known when his affections swayed
More than his reason. But ’tis a common proof
That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend. So Caesar may.
Then lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities;
And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg,
Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.
I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
But for the general. He would be crowned.
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!
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 truth of Caesar,
I have not known when his affections swayed
More than his reason. But ’tis a common proof
That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend. So Caesar may.
Then lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities;
And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg,
Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.
Enter Lucius, with a letter
LUCIUS
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.
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.
He gives him the letter
BRUTUS
Get you to bed again; it is not day.
Is not tomorrow, boy, the ides of March?
Is not tomorrow, boy, the ides of March?
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.
He opens the letter and reads
‘Brutus, thou sleep’st. Awake, and see thyself.
Shall Rome, et cetera? Speak, strike, redress.‘—
‘Brutus, thou sleep‘st. Awake.’
Such instigations have been often dropped
Where I have took them up.
‘Shall Rome, et cetera?’ 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.
Give so much light that I may read by them.
He opens the letter and reads
‘Brutus, thou sleep’st. Awake, and see thyself.
Shall Rome, et cetera? Speak, strike, redress.‘—
‘Brutus, thou sleep‘st. Awake.’
Such instigations have been often dropped
Where I have took them up.
‘Shall Rome, et cetera?’ 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.
Enter Lucius
LUCIUS
Sir, March is wasted fifteen days.
Knock within
Knock within
BRUTUS
‘Tis good. Go to the gate; somebody knocks.
Exit Lucius
Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar
I have not slept.
Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion, all the interim is
Like a phantasma or a hideous dream.
The genius and the mortal instruments
Are then in counsel, and the state of man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.
Enter Lucius
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 counsel, and the state of man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.
Enter Lucius
LUCIUS
Sir, ’tis your brother Cassius at the door,
Who doth desire to see you.
Who doth desire to see you.
BRUTUS
Is he alone?
LUCIUS
No, sir, there are more with him.
BRUTUS Do you know them?
LUCIUS
No, sir; their hats are plucked about their ears,
And half their faces buried in their cloaks,
That by no means I may discover them
By any mark of favour.
And half their faces buried in their cloaks,
That by no means I may discover them
By any mark of favour.
BRUTUS Let ’em enter.
Exit Lucius
Exit Lucius
They are the faction. O conspiracy,
Sham‘st thou to show thy dang’rous 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 put thy native semblance on,
Not Erebus itself were dim enough
To hide thee from prevention.
Sham‘st thou to show thy dang’rous 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 put thy native semblance on,
Not Erebus itself were dim enough
To hide thee from prevention.
Enter the conspirators, muffled: Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus, and Trebonius
CASSIUS
I think we are too bold upon your rest.
Good morrow, Brutus. Do we trouble you?
Good morrow, Brutus. Do we trouble you?
BRUTUS
I have been up this hour, awake all night.
Know I these men that come along with you?
Know I these men that come along with you?
CASSIUS
Yes, every man of them; and no man here
But honours you; and every one doth wish
You had but that opinion of yourself
Which every noble Roman bears of you.
This is Trebonius.
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.
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