The Tragedy of Julius Caesar: ACT II , SCENE I. Rome. BRUTUS's orchard.

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar: ACT II


	Introduction

	ACT I

	ACT II

		SCENE I. Rome. BRUTUS's orchard.

		SCENE II. CAESAR's house.

		SCENE III. A street near the Capitol.

		SCENE IV. Another part of the same street, before the house of BRUTUS.

	ACT III

	ACT IV

	ACT V

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SCENE I. Rome. BRUTUS's orchard.

Enter BRUTUS

BRUTUS

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

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

10    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 crown'd:
      How that might change his nature, there's the question.
      It is the bright day that brings forth the adder;
15    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.
      The abuse of greatness is, when it disjoins
      Remorse from power: and, to speak truth of Caesar,
20    I have not known when his affections sway'd
      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.
25    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,
30    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.

Re-enter LUCIUS

LUCIUS

35    The taper burneth in your closet, sir.
      Searching the window for a flint, I found
      This paper, thus seal'd up; and, I am sure,
      It did not lie there when I went to bed.

Gives him the letter

BRUTUS

Get you to bed again; it is not day.
40 Is not to-morrow, 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
45 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, &c. Speak, strike, redress!
      Brutus, thou sleep'st: awake!'
      Such instigations have been often dropp'd
50    Where I have took them up.
      'Shall Rome, &c.' Thus must I piece it out:
      Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, Rome?
      My ancestors did from the streets of Rome
      The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king.
55    '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

LUCIUS

Sir, March is wasted fourteen days.

Knocking within

BRUTUS

60 '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
65    Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream:
      The Genius and the mortal instruments
      Are then in council; and the state of man,
      Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
      The nature of an insurrection.

Re-enter LUCIUS

LUCIUS

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

BRUTUS

Is he alone?

LUCIUS

No, sir, there are moe with him.

BRUTUS

Do you know them?

LUCIUS

75    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
      By any mark of favour.

BRUTUS

Let 'em enter.

Exit LUCIUS

80    They are the faction. O conspiracy,
      Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night,
      When evils are most free? O, then by day
      Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough
      To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy;
85    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 the conspirators, CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS BRUTUS, CINNA, METELLUS CIMBER, and TREBONIUS

CASSIUS

I think we are too bold upon your rest:
90 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?

CASSIUS

      Yes, every man of them, and no man here
      But honours you; and every one doth wish
95    You had but that opinion of yourself
      Which every noble Roman bears of you.
      This is Trebonius.

BRUTUS

He is welcome hither.

CASSIUS

This, Decius Brutus.

BRUTUS

100 He is welcome too.

CASSIUS

This, Casca; this, Cinna; and this, Metellus Cimber.

BRUTUS

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

CASSIUS

105 Shall I entreat a word?

BRUTUS and CASSIUS whisper

DECIUS BRUTUS

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

110   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
115   He first presents his fire; and the high east
      Stands, as the Capitol, directly here.

BRUTUS

Give me your hands all over, one by one.

CASSIUS

And let us swear our resolution.

BRUTUS

      No, not an oath: if not the face of men,
120   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,
125   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
130   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,
135   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,
140   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
145   Of any promise that hath pass'd from him.

CASSIUS

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

CASCA

Let us not leave him out.

CINNA

No, by no means.

METELLUS CIMBER

150   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,
155   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
      That other men begin.

CASSIUS

Then leave him out.

CASCA

160 Indeed he is not fit.

DECIUS BRUTUS

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

CASSIUS

      Decius, well urged: I think it is not meet,
      Mark Antony, so well beloved of Caesar,
      Should outlive Caesar: we shall find of him
165   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 Caesar fall together.

BRUTUS

      Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
170   To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
      Like wrath in death and envy afterwards;
      For Antony is but a limb of Caesar:
      Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
      We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar;
175   And in the spirit of men there is no blood:
      O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit,
      And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
      Caesar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
      Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
180   Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
      Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds:
      And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
      Stir up their servants to an act of rage,
      And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make
185   Our purpose necessary and not envious:
      Which so appearing to the common eyes,
      We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers.
      And for Mark Antony, think not of him;
      For he can do no more than Caesar's arm
190   When Caesar's head is off.

CASSIUS

Yet I fear him;
For in the ingrafted love he bears to Caesar--

BRUTUS

      Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him:
      If he love Caesar, all that he can do
195   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.

TREBONIUS

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

Clock strikes

BRUTUS

200 Peace! count the clock.

CASSIUS

The clock hath stricken three.

TREBONIUS

'Tis time to part.

CASSIUS

      But it is doubtful yet,
      Whether Caesar will come forth to-day, or no;
205   For he is superstitious grown of late,
      Quite from the main opinion he held once
      Of fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies:
      It may be, these apparent prodigies,
      The unaccustom'd terror of this night,
210   And the persuasion of his augurers,
      May hold him from the Capitol to-day.

DECIUS BRUTUS

      Never fear that: if he be so resolved,
      I can o'ersway him; for he loves to hear
      That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
215   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;
220   For I can give his humour the true bent,
      And I will bring him to the Capitol.

CASSIUS

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

BRUTUS

By the eighth hour: is that the uttermost?

CINNA

Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.

METELLUS CIMBER

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

BRUTUS

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

CASSIUS

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

BRUTUS

      Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily;
235   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;
240   Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber:
      Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies,
      Which busy care draws in the brains of men;
      Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.

Enter PORTIA

PORTIA

Brutus, my lord!

BRUTUS

245   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.

PORTIA

      Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus,
      Stole from my bed: and yesternight, at supper,
250   You suddenly arose, and walk'd about,
      Musing and sighing, with your arms across,
      And when I ask'd you what the matter was,
      You stared upon me with ungentle looks;
      I urged you further; then you scratch'd your head,
255   And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot;
      Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not,
      But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
      Gave sign for me to leave you: so I did;
      Fearing to strengthen that impatience
260   Which seem'd too much enkindled, and withal
      Hoping it was but an effect of humour,
      Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
      It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep,
      And could it work so much upon your shape
265   As it hath much prevail'd on your condition,
      I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
      Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.

BRUTUS

I am not well in health, and that is all.

PORTIA

Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health,
270 He would embrace the means to come by it.

BRUTUS

Why, so I do. Good Portia, go to bed.

PORTIA

      Is Brutus sick? and is it physical
      To walk unbraced and suck up the humours
      Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick,
275   And will he steal out of his wholesome bed,
      To dare the vile contagion of the night
      And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
      To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus;
      You have some sick offence within your mind,
280   Which, by the right and virtue of my place,
      I ought to know of: and, upon my knees,
      I charm you, by my once-commended beauty,
      By all your vows of love and that great vow
      Which did incorporate and make us one,
285   That you unfold to me, yourself, your half,
      Why you are heavy, and what men to-night
      Have had to resort to you: for here have been
      Some six or seven, who did hide their faces
      Even from darkness.

BRUTUS

290 Kneel not, gentle Portia.

PORTIA

      I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus.
      Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus,
      Is it excepted I should know no secrets
      That appertain to you? Am I yourself
295   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
      Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
      Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.

BRUTUS

300   You are my true and honourable wife,
      As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
      That visit my sad heart

PORTIA

      If this were true, then should I know this secret.
      I grant I am a woman; but withal
305   A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife:
      I grant I am a woman; but withal
      A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter.
      Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
      Being so father'd and so husbanded?
310   Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em:
      I have made strong proof of my constancy,
      Giving myself a voluntary wound
      Here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience.
      And not my husband's secrets?

BRUTUS

315 O ye gods,
Render me worthy of this noble wife!

Knocking within

      Hark, hark! one knocks: Portia, go in awhile;
      And by and by thy bosom shall partake
      The secrets of my heart.
320   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?

Re-enter LUCIUS with LIGARIUS

LUCIUS

He is a sick man that would speak with you.

BRUTUS

325 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!

LIGARIUS

330 I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand
Any exploit worthy the name of honour.

BRUTUS

Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius,
Had you a healthful ear to hear of it.

LIGARIUS

      By all the gods that Romans bow before,
335   I here discard my sickness! Soul of Rome!
      Brave son, derived from honourable loins!
      Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjured up
      My mortified spirit. Now bid me run,
      And I will strive with things impossible;
340   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
345   To whom it must be done.

LIGARIUS

      Set on your foot,
      And with a heart new-fired I follow you,
      To do I know not what: but it sufficeth
      That Brutus leads me on.

BRUTUS

350 Follow me, then.

Exeunt

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