We both have fed as well; and we can both
Endure the winter's cold, as well as he.
For once, upon a raw and gusty* day,
The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,
Cesar said to me, Dar'st thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angry flood,
And swim to yonder point? Upon the word,
Accouter'd as I was, I plunged in,

And bade him follow: so, indeed, he did.
The torrent roar'd; and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews; throwing it aside
And stemming it with hearts of controversy.
But ere we could arrive the point propos'd,
Cesar cry'd, Help me, Cassius, or I sink.
I, as Æneas, our great ancestor,

Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder
The old Anchises bear, so, from the waves of Tiber
Did I the tired Cesar: And this man

Is now become a god; And Cassius is

A wretched creature, and must bend his body,
If Cesar carelessly but nod on him.

He had a fever when he was in Spain,

And, when the fit was on him, I did mark,

How he did shake: 'tis true, this god did shake:
His coward lips did from their colour fly;

And that same eye, whose bend doth awe the world,
Did lose his lustre: I did hear him groan:

Ay, and that tongue of his, that bade the Romans
Mark him, and write his speeches in their books;
Alas! it cried, Give me some drink, Titinius,
As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me,
A man of such a feeble tempert should
So get the start of the majestic world,
And bear the palm alone.

Bru. Another general shout!

[Shout. Flourish.

I do believe, that these applauses are

For some new honours that are heap'd on Cesar. Cas. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world,

* Windy.

Temperament, constitution.

Like a Colossus: and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates;
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Brutus, and Cesar: What should be in that Cesar?
Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure them,
Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Cesar. [Shout.
Now in the names of all the gods at once,
Upon what meat doth this our Cesar feed, -
That he is grown so great? Age, thou art sham'd:
Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods!
When went there by an age, since the great flood,
But it was fam'd with more than with one man?
When could they say, till now, that talk'd of Rome,
That her wide walks encompassed but one man?

CESAR'S DISLIKE OF CASSIUS.

'Would he were fatter:-But I fear him not: Yet if my name were liable to fear,

I do not know the man I should avoid

So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much:
He is a great observer, and he looks

Quite through the deeds of men: he loves no plays.
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music:
Seldom he smiles; and smiles in such a sort.
As if he mock'd himself, and scorn'd his spi
That could be mov'd to smile at any thing;
Such men as he be never at heart's ease,
Whiles they behold a greater than themselves
And therefore are they very dangerous.
I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd,
Than what I fear, for always I am Cesar.

SPIRIT OF LIBERTY.

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.

ACT II.

AMBITION CLOTHED IN SPECIOUS HUMILITY.

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 degreest
By which he did ascend.

CONSPIRACY DREADFUL TILL EXECUTED.

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 council; and the state of man,
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
The nature of an insurrection.

BRUTUS'S APOSTROPHE TO CONSPIRACY.

O conspiracy!

Sham'st 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, conspi-

racy;

Hide in it smiles, and affability:

For if thou path thy native semblance§ on,

Not Erebus itself were dim enough

To hide thee from prevention.

* Experience.

+ Low steps.

+ Visionary.

Il Hell.

§ Walk in thy true form.

AGAINST CRUELTY.

Gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcase 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 them.

SLEEP.

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.

PORTIA'S SPEECH TO BRUTUS.

You have ungently, Brutus,

Stole from my bed; and yesternight at supper,
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 star'd upon me with ungentle looks:
I urg'd you further; then you scratch'd your head,
And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot:
Yet I insisted, yet you answered not;
But, with an angry wafture of your hand,
Gave sign for me to leave you: So I did;
Fearing to strengthen that impatience,
Which seeem'd too much enkindled; and withal,
Hoping that 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,
As it hath much prevail'd on your condition,T
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.

CALPHURNIA'S ADDRESS TO CESAR ON THE PRODI-
GIES SEEN THE NIGHT BEFORE HIS DEATH.

Cal. Cesar, I never stood on ceremonies,‡ Yet now they fright me. There is one within,

* Shapes created by imagination. + Temper. Never paid a regard to prodigies or omens.

Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.
A lioness hath whelped in the streets;

And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead:
Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds,

In ranks, and squadrons, and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol:

The noise of battle hurtled* in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan;

And ghosts did shriek, and squealt about the streets.
O Cesar! these things are beyond all use,

And I do fear them.

Ces.

What can be avoided,

Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods?
Yet Cesar shall go forth: for these predictions
Are to the world in general, as to Cesar.

Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets seen, The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

AGAINST THE FEAR OF DEATH.

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.

DANGER.

Danger knows full well

That Cesar is more dangerous than he.
We were two lions litter'd in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible.

ENVY.

My heart laments that virtue cannot live Out of the teeth of emulation.‡

ACT III.

ANTONY'S ADDRESS TO THE CORPSE OF CESAR.

O, mighty Cesar! Dost thou lie so low?

*Encountered. † Cry with pain. + Envy.