Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Act 1 - Scene 2
A public place.
Caesar : Calpurnia!
Casca : Peace, ho! Caesar speaks.
Caesar : Calpurnia!
Calpurnia : Here, my lord.
Caesar : Stand you directly in Antonius' way,
[p]When he doth run his course.
Antonius!
Caesar : Forget not, in your speed, Antonius,
[p]To touch Calpurnia; for our
elders say,
[p]The barren, touched in this holy chase,
[p]Shake off
their sterile curse.
Caesar : Set on; and leave no ceremony out.
Soothsayer : Caesar!
Caesar : Ha! who calls?
Casca : Bid every noise be still: peace yet again!
Caesar : Who is it in the press that calls on me?
[p]I hear a tongue, shriller
than all the music,
[p]Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.
Soothsayer : Beware the ides of March.
Caesar : What man is that?
Brutus : A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
Caesar : Set him before me; let me see his face.
Cassius : Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
Caesar : What say'st thou to me now? speak once again.
Soothsayer : Beware the ides of March.
Caesar : He is a dreamer; let us leave him: pass.
Cassius : Will you go see the order of the course?
Brutus : Not I.
Cassius : I pray you, do.
Brutus : I am not gamesome: I do lack some part
[p]Of that quick spirit that is
in Antony.
[p]Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires;
[p]I'll leave
you.
Cassius : Brutus, I do observe you now of late:
[p]I have not from your eyes
that gentleness
[p]And show of love as I was wont to have:
[p]You bear
too stubborn and too strange a hand
[p]Over your friend that loves
you.
Brutus : Cassius,
[p]Be not deceived: if I have veil'd my look,
[p]I turn the
trouble of my countenance
[p]Merely upon myself. Vexed I am
[p]Of late
with passions of some difference,
[p]Conceptions only proper to
myself,
[p]Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors;
[p]But let
not therefore my good friends be grieved--
[p]Among which number,
Cassius, be you one--
[p]Nor construe any further my neglect,
[p]Than
that poor Brutus, with himself at war,
[p]Forgets the shows of love to
other men.
Cassius : Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion;
[p]By means whereof
this breast of mine hath buried
[p]Thoughts of great value, worthy
cogitations.
[p]Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?
Brutus : No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself,
[p]But by reflection, by
some other things.
Cassius : 'Tis just:
[p]And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
[p]That you have
no such mirrors as will turn
[p]Your hidden worthiness into your
eye,
[p]That you might see your shadow. I have heard,
[p]Where many of
the best respect in Rome,
[p]Except immortal Caesar, speaking of
Brutus
[p]And groaning underneath this age's yoke,
[p]Have wish'd that
noble Brutus had his eyes.
Brutus : Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
[p]That you would have
me seek into myself
[p]For that which is not in me?
Cassius : Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear:
[p]And since you know you
cannot see yourself
[p]So well as by reflection, I, your
glass,
[p]Will modestly discover to yourself
[p]That of yourself which
you yet know not of.
[p]And be not jealous on me, gentle
Brutus:
[p]Were I a common laugher, or did use
[p]To stale with
ordinary oaths my love
[p]To every new protester; if you know
[p]That
I do fawn on men and hug them hard
[p]And after scandal them, or if
you know
[p]That I profess myself in banqueting
[p]To all the rout,
then hold me dangerous.
Brutus : What means this shouting? I do fear, the people
[p]Choose Caesar for
their king.
Cassius : Ay, do you fear it?
[p]Then must I think you would not have it so.
Brutus : I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well.
[p]But wherefore do you
hold me here so long?
[p]What is it that you would impart to me?
[p]If
it be aught toward the general good,
[p]Set honour in one eye and
death i' the other,
[p]And I will look on both indifferently,
[p]For
let the gods so speed me as I love
[p]The name of honour more than I
fear death.
Cassius : I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,
[p]As well as I do know your
outward favour.
[p]Well, honour is the subject of my story.
[p]I
cannot tell what you and other men
[p]Think of this life; but, for my
single self,
[p]I had as lief not be as live to be
[p]In awe of such a
thing as I myself.
[p]I was born free as Caesar; so were you:
[p]We
both have fed as well, and we can both
[p]Endure the winter's cold as
well as he:
[p]For once, upon a raw and gusty day,
[p]The troubled
Tiber chafing with her shores,
[p]Caesar said to me 'Darest thou,
Cassius, now
[p]Leap in with me into this angry flood,
[p]And swim to
yonder point?' Upon the word,
[p]Accoutred as I was, I plunged
in
[p]And bade him follow; so indeed he did.
[p]The torrent roar'd,
and we did buffet it
[p]With lusty sinews, throwing it aside
[p]And
stemming it with hearts of controversy;
[p]But ere we could arrive the
point proposed,
[p]Caesar cried 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink!'
[p]I,
as Aeneas, our great ancestor,
[p]Did from the flames of Troy upon his
shoulder
[p]The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber
[p]Did I
the tired Caesar. And this man
[p]Is now become a god, and Cassius
is
[p]A wretched creature and must bend his body,
[p]If Caesar
carelessly but nod on him.
[p]He had a fever when he was in
Spain,
[p]And when the fit was on him, I did mark
[p]How he did shake:
'tis true, this god did shake;
[p]His coward lips did from their
colour fly,
[p]And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world
[p]Did
lose his lustre: I did hear him groan:
[p]Ay, and that tongue of his
that bade the Romans
[p]Mark him and write his speeches in their
books,
[p]Alas, it cried 'Give me some drink, Tintinius,'
[p]As a sick
girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me
[p]A man of such a feeble temper
should
[p]So get the start of the majestic world
[p]And bear the palm
alone.
Brutus : Another general shout!
[p]I do believe that these applauses are
[p]For
some new honours that are heap'd on Caesar.
Cassius : Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
[p]Like a Colossus, and we
petty men
[p]Walk under his huge legs and peep about
[p]To find
ourselves dishonourable graves.
[p]Men at some time are masters of
their fates:
[p]The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
[p]But in
ourselves, that we are underlings.
[p]Brutus and Caesar: what should
be in that 'Caesar'?
[p]Why should that name be sounded more than
yours?
[p]Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
[p]Sound them,
it doth become the mouth as well;
[p]Weigh them, it is as heavy;
conjure with 'em,
[p]Brutus will start a spirit as soon as
Caesar.
[p]Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
[p]Upon what
meat doth this our Caesar feed,
[p]That he is grown so great? Age,
thou art shamed!
[p]Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble
bloods!
[p]When went there by an age, since the great flood,
[p]But it
was famed with more than with one man?
[p]When could they say till
now, that talk'd of Rome,
[p]That her wide walls encompass'd but one
man?
[p]Now is it Rome indeed and room enough,
[p]When there is in it
but one only man.
[p]O, you and I have heard our fathers say,
[p]There
was a Brutus once that would have brook'd
[p]The eternal devil to keep
his state in Rome
[p]As easily as a king.
Brutus : That you do love me, I am nothing jealous;
[p]What you would work me
to, I have some aim:
[p]How I have thought of this and of these
times,
[p]I shall recount hereafter; for this present,
[p]I would not,
so with love I might entreat you,
[p]Be any further moved. What you
have said
[p]I will consider; what you have to say
[p]I will with
patience hear, and find a time
[p]Both meet to hear and answer such
high things.
[p]Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this:
[p]Brutus
had rather be a villager
[p]Than to repute himself a son of
Rome
[p]Under these hard conditions as this time
[p]Is like to lay
upon us.
Cassius : I am glad that my weak words
[p]Have struck but thus much show of fire
from Brutus.
Brutus : The games are done and Caesar is returning.
Cassius : As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve;
[p]And he will, after his
sour fashion, tell you
[p]What hath proceeded worthy note to-day.
Brutus : I will do so. But, look you, Cassius,
[p]The angry spot doth glow on
Caesar's brow,
[p]And all the rest look like a chidden
train:
[p]Calpurnia's cheek is pale; and Cicero
[p]Looks with such
ferret and such fiery eyes
[p]As we have seen him in the
Capitol,
[p]Being cross'd in conference by some senators.
Cassius : Casca will tell us what the matter is.
Caesar : Antonius!
Caesar : Let me have men about me that are fat;
[p]Sleek-headed men and such as
sleep o' nights:
[p]Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
[p]He
thinks too much: such men are dangerous.
Caesar : Would he were fatter! But I fear him not:
[p]Yet if my name were
liable to fear,
[p]I do not know the man I should avoid
[p]So soon as
that spare Cassius. He reads much;
[p]He is a great observer and he
looks
[p]Quite through the deeds of men: he loves no plays,
[p]As thou
dost, Antony; he hears no music;
[p]Seldom he smiles, and smiles in
such a sort
[p]As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit
[p]That
could be moved to smile at any thing.
[p]Such men as he be never at
heart's ease
[p]Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
[p]And
therefore are they very dangerous.
[p]I rather tell thee what is to be
fear'd
[p]Than what I fear; for always I am Caesar.
[p]Come on my
right hand, for this ear is deaf,
[p]And tell me truly what thou
think'st of him.
Casca : You pull'd me by the cloak; would you speak with me?
Brutus : Ay, Casca; tell us what hath chanced to-day,
[p]That Caesar looks so
sad.
Casca : Why, you were with him, were you not?
Brutus : I should not then ask Casca what had chanced.
Casca : Why, there was a crown offered him: and being
[p]offered him, he put
it by with the back of his hand,
[p]thus; and then the people fell
a-shouting.
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.
Brutus : Was the crown offered him thrice?
Casca : Ay, marry, was't, and he put it by thrice, every
[p]time gentler than
other, and at every putting-by
[p]mine honest neighbours shouted.
Cassius : Who offered him the crown?
Casca : Why, Antony.
Brutus : Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca.
Casca : I can as well be hanged as tell the manner of it:
[p]it was mere
foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark
[p]Antony offer him a
crown;--yet 'twas not a crown
[p]neither, 'twas one of these
coronets;--and, as I told
[p]you, he put it by once: but, for all
that, to my
[p]thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he
[p]offered
it to him again; then he put it by again:
[p]but, to my thinking, he
was very loath to lay his
[p]fingers off it. And then he offered it
the third
[p]time; he put it the third time by: and still as
he
[p]refused it, the rabblement hooted and clapped their
[p]chapped
hands and threw up their sweaty night-caps
[p]and uttered such a deal
of stinking breath because
[p]Caesar refused the crown that it had
almost choked
[p]Caesar; for he swounded and fell down at it:
and
[p]for mine own part, I durst not laugh, for fear of
[p]opening my
lips and receiving the bad air.
Cassius : But, soft, I pray you: what, did Caesar swound?
Casca : He fell down in the market-place, and foamed at
[p]mouth, and was
speechless.
Brutus : 'Tis very like: he hath the failing sickness.
Cassius : No, Caesar hath it not; but you and I,
[p]And honest Casca, we have
the falling sickness.
Casca : I know not what you mean by that; but, I am sure,
[p]Caesar fell down.
If the tag-rag people did not
[p]clap him and hiss him, according as
he pleased and
[p]displeased them, as they use to do the players
in
[p]the theatre, I am no true man.
Brutus : What said he when he came unto himself?
Casca : Marry, before he fell down, when he perceived the
[p]common herd was
glad he refused the crown, he
[p]plucked me ope his doublet and
offered them his
[p]throat to cut. An I had been a man of
any
[p]occupation, if I would not have taken him at a word,
[p]I would
I might go to hell among the rogues. And so
[p]he fell. When he came
to himself again, he said,
[p]If he had done or said any thing amiss,
he desired
[p]their worships to think it was his infirmity.
Three
[p]or four wenches, where I stood, cried 'Alas, good
[p]soul!'
and forgave him with all their hearts: but
[p]there's no heed to be
taken of them; if Caesar had
[p]stabbed their mothers, they would have
done no less.
Brutus : And after that, he came, thus sad, away?
Casca : Ay.
Cassius : Did Cicero say any thing?
Casca : Ay, he spoke Greek.
Cassius : To what effect?
Casca : Nay, an I tell you that, Ill ne'er look you i' the
[p]face again: but
those that understood him smiled at
[p]one another and shook their
heads; but, for mine own
[p]part, it was Greek to me. I could tell you
more
[p]news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling scarfs
[p]off
Caesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you
[p]well. There was more
foolery yet, if I could
[p]remember it.
Cassius : Will you sup with me to-night, Casca?
Casca : No, I am promised forth.
Cassius : Will you dine with me to-morrow?
Casca : Ay, if I be alive and your mind hold and your dinner
[p]worth the
eating.
Cassius : Good: I will expect you.
Casca : Do so. Farewell, both.
Brutus : What a blunt fellow is this grown to be!
[p]He was quick mettle when
he went to school.
Cassius : So is he now in execution
[p]Of any bold or noble
enterprise,
[p]However he puts on this tardy form.
[p]This rudeness is
a sauce to his good wit,
[p]Which gives men stomach to digest his
words
[p]With better appetite.
Brutus : And so it is. For this time I will leave you:
[p]To-morrow, if you
please to speak with me,
[p]I will come home to you; or, if you
will,
[p]Come home to me, and I will wait for you.
Cassius : I will do so: till then, think of the world.
[p][Exit BRUTUS]
[p]Well,
Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see,
[p]Thy honourable metal may be
wrought
[p]From that it is disposed: therefore it is meet
[p]That
noble minds keep ever with their likes;
[p]For who so firm that cannot
be seduced?
[p]Caesar doth bear me hard; but he loves Brutus:
[p]If I
were Brutus now and he were Cassius,
[p]He should not humour me. I
will this night,
[p]In several hands, in at his windows throw,
[p]As
if they came from several citizens,
[p]Writings all tending to the
great opinion
[p]That Rome holds of his name; wherein
obscurely
[p]Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at:
[p]And after this
let Caesar seat him sure;
[p]For we will shake him, or worse days
endure.
Previous: Act 1 - Scene 1
Next: Act 1 - Scene 3
