Bru. Why com'st thou? Ghost. To tell thee, thou shalt see me at Philippi. Bru. Well; then I shall see thee again? Ghost. Ay, at Philippi. [Ghost vanishes. Bru. Why, I will see thee at Philippi then.— Ill spirit, I would hold more talk with thee.- Luc. The strings, my lord, are false. Bru. He thinks, he still is at his instrument.Lucius, awake! Luc. My lord. Bru. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst out? Luc. My lord, I do not know that I did cry. Bru. Yes, that thou didst. Didst thou see any thing? Luc. Nothing, my lord. Bru. Sleep again, Lucius.—Sirrah, Claudius! Fellow thou: awake! Var. My lord. Clau. My lord. Bru. Why did you so cry out, sirs, in your sleep? Var. Clau. Did we, my lord? Bru. Ay: saw you any thing? Nor I, my lord. Var. No, my lord, I saw nothing. Clau. Bru. Go, and commend me to my brother Cassius: Bid him set on his powers betimes before, And we will follow. Var. Clau. It shall be done, my lord. [Exeunt. ACT V. SCENE I. The Plains of Philippi. Enter OCTAVIUS, ANTONY, and their Army. 8 Ant. Tut! I am in their bosoms, and I know Enter a Messenger. Mess. Prepare you, generals; The enemy comes on in gallant show: Upon the left hand of the even field. Oct. Upon the right hand I; keep thou the left. Oct. I do not cross you; but I will do so. [March. Drum. Enter BRUTUS, CASSIUS, and their Army; LUCILIUS, TITINIUS, MESSALA, and Others. Bru. They stand, and would have parley. WARN US] To warn is to summon. The use of the word in this sense was not uncommon. See "King John," Vol. iv. p. 24, &c. Cas. Stand fast, Titinius: we must out and talk. Bru. Words before blows; is it so, countrymen? Ant. In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good words: Witness the hole you made in Cæsar's heart, Cas. Ant. Not stingless, too. Bru. O yes, and soundless too; For you have stol'n their buzzing, Antony, And very wisely threat before you sting. Ant. Villains! you did not so when your vile dag gers Hack'd one another in the sides of Cæsar: You show'd your teeth like apes, and fawn'd like hounds, And bow'd like bondmen, kissing Cæsar's feet; Whilst damned Casca, like a cur, behind Struck Cæsar on the neck. O, you flatterers! Cas. Flatterers!-Now, Brutus, thank yourself: This tongue had not offended so to-day, If Cassius might have rul'd. Oct. Come, come, the cause: if arguing make us sweat, The proof of it will turn to redder drops. Look; I draw a sword against conspirators; When think you that the sword goes up again?— Never, till Cæsar's three and thirty wounds" Bru. Cæsar, thou canst not die by traitors' hands, Oct. So I hope: I was not born to die on Brutus' sword. Bru. O! if thou wert the noblest of thy strain, Young man, thou could'st not die more honourable. Cas. A peevish schoolboy, worthless of such honour, Join'd with a masker and a reveller. Ant. Old Cassius still. Oct. Come, Antony; away!— Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth. If you dare fight to-day, come to the field; If not, when you have stomachs. [Exeunt OCTAVIUS, ANTONY, and their Army. Cas. Why now, blow wind, swell billow, and swim bark! The storm is up, and all is on the hazard. Bru. Ho! Lucilius; hark, a word with you. Luc. Cas. Messala, Mes. Cas. My lord. This is my birth-day; as this very day Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala: Be thou my witness, that against my will, three and THIRTY Wounds] This is the reading of all the old copies. Theobald changed it to three and twenty, and he was certainly supported by Plutarch, Suetonius, &c.; but we are not thereby warranted in changing the text as it has come down to us, and as it was probably written by Shakespeare: as Ritson showed, Beaumont and Fletcher committed a similar error in their "Noble Gentleman," where they spoke of Cæsar's two and thirty wounds. Our great dramatist probably considered historical accuracy in such a matter of no importance. VOL. VII. G You know, that I held Epicurus strong, This morning are they fled away, and gone, Our army lies ready to give up the ghost. Mes. Believe not so. I but believe it partly, Cas. Bru. Even so, Lucilius. Now, most noble Brutus, Cas. Bru. Even by the rule of that philosophy, For fear of what might fall, so to prevent 1 I know not how, &c.] Warburton thought that something had been lost here, but the sentence is only inverted: "Arming myself with patience to stay (or await) the providence, &c. I do find it cowardly and vile," &c. |