Julius Caesar

by William Shakespeare

  We shall be called purgers187, not murderers.

  And for Mark Antony, think not of him,

  For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm

  When Caesar’s head is off.

  CASSIUS Yet I fear him,

  For in the ingrafted192 love he bears to Caesar —

  BRUTUS Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him:

  If he love Caesar, all that he can do

  Is to himself; take thought195 and die for Caesar.

  And that were much he should196, for he is given

  To sports, to wildness and much company.

  TREBONIUS There is no fear198 in him; let him not die,

  For he will live and laugh at this hereafter.

  Clock strikes

  BRUTUS 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 today or no,

  For he is superstitious grown of late,

  Quite from the main206 opinion he held once

  Of fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies207.

  It may be these apparent208 prodigies,

  The unaccustomed terror of this night

  And the persuasion of his augurers210,

  May hold him from the Capitol today.

  DECIUS Never fear that. If he be so resolved,

  I can o’ersway him213, for he loves to hear

  That unicorns may be betrayed with trees214,

  And bears with glasses, elephants with holes215,

  Lions with toils216 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 bent220,

  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 uttermost223?

  CINNA Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.

  METELLUS Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard225,

  Who rated226 him for speaking well of Pompey.

  I wonder none of you have thought of him.

  BRUTUS Now, good Metellus, go along by228 him:

  He loves me well, and I have given him reasons229.

  Send him but hither and I’ll fashion him230.

  CASSIUS The morning comes upon’s231: 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.

  Let not our looks put on235 our purposes,

  But bear it as our Roman actors do,

  With untired spirits and formal constancy237.

  And so good morrow to you every one.—

  Exeunt. Brutus remains

  Boy! Lucius! Fast asleep? It is no matter.

  Calls

  Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber:

  Thou hast no figures, nor no fantasies241

  Which busy242 care draws in the brains of men;

  Therefore thou sleep’st so sound.

  Enter Portia

  PORTIA Brutus, my lord.

  BRUTUS Portia, what mean you245? 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 ungently248, Brutus,

  Stole from my bed: and yesternight, at supper,

  You suddenly arose, and walked about,

  Musing, and sighing, with your arms a-cross251:

  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 wafture257 of your hand

  Gave sign for me to leave you: so I did,

  Fearing to strengthen that impatience

  Which seemed too much enkindled, and withal260

  Hoping it was but an effect of humour261,

  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 shape264

  As it hath much prevailed on your condition265,

  I should not know266 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,

  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 unbracèd, and suck up the humours273

  Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick?

  And will he steal out of his wholesome275 bed

  To dare276 the vile contagion of the night?

  And tempt the rheumy and unpurgèd277 air

  To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus,

  You have some sick offence279 within your mind

  Which by the right and virtue of my place280

  I ought to know of: and upon my knees

  Kneels

  I charm282 you, by my once-commended beauty,

  By all your vows of love and that great vow283

  Which did incorporate and make us one,

  That you unfold to me, your self, your half285,

  Why you are heavy286, and what men tonight

  Have had resort287 to you, for here have been

  Some six or seven who did hide their faces

  Even from darkness.

  BRUTUS Kneel not, gentle Portia.

  Raises her?

  PORTIA I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus.

  Rises

  Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus,

  Is it excepted293 I should know no secrets

  That appertain to you? Am I your self

  But as it were in sort or limitation295?

  To keep with you at meals, comfort296 your bed

  And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs297

  Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,

  Portia is Brutus’ harlot299, not his wife.

  BRUTUS You are my true and honourable wife,

  As dear to me as are the ruddy drops301

  That visit my sad heart.

  PORTIA If this were true, then should I know this secret.

  I grant I am a woman; but withal

  A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife:

  I grant I am a woman; but withal

  A woman well-reputed, Cato307’s daughter.

  Think you I am no stronger than my sex

  Being so fathered and so husbanded?

  Tell me your counsels310, I will not disclose ’em.

  I have made strong proof of my constancy311,

  Giving myself a voluntary wound

  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!

  Knock

  Hark, hark one knocks. Portia, go in awhile,

  And by and by thy bosom318 shall partake

  The secrets of my heart.

  All my engagements I will construe320 to thee,

  All the charactery321 of my sad brows:

  Leave me with haste.—

  Exit Portia

  Lucius, who’s that knocks?

  Calls

  Enter Lucius and Ligarius

  Ligarius wears a kerchief

  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 Vouchsafe327 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 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,

  I here discard my sickness. Soul of Rome,

  Takes off the kerchief

  Brave son, derived from honourable loins,

  Thou like an exorcist337 hast conjured up

  My mortified338 spirit. Now bid me run

  And I will strive339 with things impossible,

  Yea, get the better of them. What’s to do?

  BRUTUS A piece of work that will make sick men whole341.

  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

  To whom345 it must be done.

  LIGARIUS Set on your foot346,

  And with a heart new-fired I follow you,

  To do I know not what: but it sufficeth

  That Brutus leads me on.

  Thunder

  BRUTUS Follow me, then.

  Exeunt

  [Act 2 Scene 2]

  running scene 3

  Thunder and lightning. Enter Julius Caesar in his nightgown

  CAESAR Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace tonight:

  Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out,

  ‘Help, ho! They murder Caesar!’ Who’s within?

  Enter a Servant

  SERVANT My lord?

  CAESAR Go bid the priests do present sacrifice

  And bring me their opinions6 of success.

  SERVANT I will, my lord.

  Exit

  Enter Calpurnia

  CALPURNIA What mean you, Caesar? Think you to walk forth?

  You shall not stir out of your house today.

  CAESAR Caesar shall forth. The things that threatened me

  Ne’er looked but on my back: when they shall see

  The face of Caesar, they are vanishèd.

  CALPURNIA Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies13,

  Yet now they fright me. There is one within,

  Besides the things that we have heard and seen,

  Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch16.

  A lioness hath whelpèd17 in the streets,

  And graves have yawned18, and yielded up their dead;

  Fierce fiery warriors19 fight upon the clouds

  In ranks and squadrons, and right form of war,

  Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol:

  The noise of battle hurtled22 in the air,

  Horses do neigh, and dying men did groan,

  And ghosts did shriek and squeal24 about the streets.

  O Caesar, these things are beyond all use25,

  And I do fear them.

  CAESAR What can be avoided

  Whose end is purposed28 by the mighty gods?

  Yet Caesar shall go forth, for these predictions

  Are to30 the world in general as to Caesar.

  CALPURNIA When beggars die there are no comets seen:

  The heavens themselves blaze forth32 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,

  Seeing that death, a necessary end,

  Will come when it will come.

  Enter a Servant

  What say the augurers?

  SERVANT They would not have you to stir forth today.

  Plucking the entrails of an offering forth41,

  They could not find a heart within the beast.

  CAESAR The gods do this in shame of43 cowardice:

  Caesar should be a beast without a heart

  If he should stay at home today for fear.

  No, Caesar shall not. Danger knows full well

  That Caesar is more dangerous than he.

  We are two lions littered48 in one day,

  And I the elder and more terrible,

  And Caesar shall go forth.

  CALPURNIA Alas, my lord,

  Your wisdom is consumed in52 confidence.

  Do not go forth today: call it my fear

  That keeps you in the house, and not your own.

  We’ll send Mark Antony to the senate house,

  And he shall say you are not well today.

  Let me upon my knee prevail in this.

  Kneels

  CAESAR Mark Antony shall say I am not well,

  And for thy humour59 I will stay at home.

  Raises her?

  Enter Decius

  Here’s Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so.

  DECIUS Caesar, all hail. Good morrow, worthy Caesar,

  I come to fetch you to the senate house.

  CAESAR And you are come in very happy63 time

  To bear my greeting to the senators,

  And tell them that I will not come today:

  Cannot is false, and that I dare not, falser:

  I will not come today. Tell them so, Decius.

  CALPURNIA Say he is sick.

  CAESAR Shall Caesar send a lie?

  Have I in conquest stretched mine arm so far

  To be afeared to tell greybeards71 the truth?

  Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come.

  DECIUS Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause,

  Lest I be laughed at when I tell them so.

  CAESAR 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.

  Calpurnia here, my wife, stays79 me at home:

  She dreamt tonight she saw my statue,

  Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,

  Did run pure blood, and many lusty82 Romans

  Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it.

  And these does she apply for84 warnings and portents

  And evils imminent, and on her knee

  Hath begged that I will stay at home today.

  DECIUS This dream is all amiss87 interpreted.

  It was a vision, fair and fortunate:

  Your statue spouting blood in many pipes

  In which so many smiling Romans bathed,

  Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck

  Reviving blood, and that great men shall press92

  For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance93.

  This by Calpurnia’s dream is signified.

  CAESAR And this way have you well expounded it.

  DECIUS I have, when you have heard what I can say:

  And know it now, the senate have concluded

  To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar.

  If you shall send them word you will not come,

  Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock100

  Apt to be rendered, for someone to say,

  ‘Break up the senate till another time

  When Caesar’s wife shall meet with better dreams.’

  If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper

  ‘Lo, Caesar is afraid’?

  Pardon me, Caesar, for my dear, dear love

  To our proceeding bids me tell you this,

  And reason to my love is liable108.

  CAESAR How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia?

  I am ashamèd I did yield to them.

  Give me my robe, for I will go.

  Enter Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca, Trebonius, Cinna and Publius

  And look where Publius is come to fetch me.

  PUBL
IUS Good morrow, Caesar.

  CAESAR Welcome, Publius.—

  What, Brutus, are you stirred so early too?—

  Good morrow, Casca.— Caius Ligarius,

  Caesar was ne’er so much your enemy

  As that same ague118 which hath made you lean.—

  What is’t o’clock?

  BRUTUS Caesar, ’tis strucken eight.

  CAESAR I thank you for your pains and courtesy.

  Enter Antony

  See, Antony, that revels long o’nights,

  Is notwithstanding up123.— Good morrow, Antony.

  ANTONY So to most noble Caesar.

  CAESAR Bid them prepare within:

  To Calpurnia or to a Servant

  I am to blame to be thus waited for.—

  [Exit Calpurnia or a Servant]

  Now, Cinna, now, Metellus, what, Trebonius,

  I have an hour’s talk in store for you.

  Remember that you call on me today:

  Be near me, that I may remember130 you.

  TREBONIUS Caesar, I will:— and so near will I be

  Aside

  That your best friends shall wish I had been further.

  CAESAR Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me,

  And we, like friends134, will straightway go together.

  BRUTUS That every like is not the same135, O Caesar,

  Aside

  The heart of Brutus earns136 to think upon.

  Exeunt

  [Act 2 Scene 3]

  running scene 4

  Enter Artemidorus

  Reading a paper

  ARTEMIDORUS ‘Caesar, beware of Brutus, take heed of Cassius,

  come not near Casca, have an eye to Cinna, trust not

  Trebonius, mark well Metellus Cimber, Decius Brutus loves

  thee not, thou hast wronged Caius Ligarius. There is but

  one mind in all these men, and it is bent5 against Caesar. If

  thou be’st not immortal, look about you: security gives way6

  to conspiracy. The mighty gods defend thee. Thy lover7,

  Artemidorus.’

  Here will I stand till Caesar pass along,

  And as a suitor10 will I give him this.

  My heart laments that virtue cannot live

  Out of the teeth of emulation12.

  If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayst live;

  If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive14.

  Exit

  [Act 2 Scene 4]

  running scene 5

  Enter Portia and Lucius