Chapter 6

_Thunder and lightning._ _Enter_ CÆSAR, _in his night-gown_

CÆSAR. Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night: Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out, 'Help, ho! they murder Cæsar!' Who's within?

[Note: SCENE II Rowe | Scene IV Pope.] [Note: --CÆSAR'S _house_ | Ff omit.] [Note: _Enter_ CÆSAR ... | Enter Julius Cæsar ... Ff.--_in his night-gown_ Pope omits.]

[Note 1: Two lines in Ff.]

[Note: This scene, taken with the preceding, affords an interesting study in contrasts: Cæsar and Brutus; Calpurnia the yielding wife, and Portia the heroic.]

[Note: _Enter_ CÆSAR _in his night-gown_.' Night-gown' here, as in _Macbeth_, II, ii, 70, V, 1, 5, means 'dressing-robe' or 'dressing-gown.' This is the usual meaning of the word in English from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth. So Addison and Steele use it in _The Spectator_.]

[Note 2: In Plutarch the scene is thus graphically described: "Then going to bed the same night, as his manner was, and lying with his wife Calpurnia, all the windows and doors of his chamber flying open, the noise awoke him, and made him afraid when he saw such light; but more, when he heard his wife Calpurnia, being fast asleep, weep and sigh, and put forth many fumbling lamentable speeches: for she dreamed that Cæsar was slain.... Cæsar rising in the morning, she prayed him, if it were possible, not to go out of the doors that day, but to adjourn the session of the Senate until another day. And if that he made no reckoning of her dream, yet that he would search further of the soothsayers by their sacrifices, to know what should happen him that day. Thereby it seemed that Cæsar did likewise fear or suspect somewhat, because his wife Calpurnia until that time was never given to any fear and superstition; and that then he saw her so troubled in mind with this dream she had. But much more afterwards, when the soothsayers having sacrificed many beasts one after another, told him that none did like[A] them: then he determined to send Antonius to adjourn the session of the Senate."--_Julius Cæsar._]

[Note A: i.e. satisfy.]

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_Enter a_ Servant

SERVANT. My lord?

CÆSAR. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, 5 And bring me their opinions of success.

SERVANT. I will, my lord. [_Exit_]

_Enter_ CALPURNIA

CALPURNIA. What mean you, Cæsar? think you to walk forth? You shall not stir out of your house to-day. 9

CÆSAR. Cæsar shall forth: the things that threaten'd me Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see The face of Cæsar, they are vanished.

CALPURNIA. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies, Yet now they fright me. There is one within, Besides the things that we have heard and seen, 15 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, 20 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 squeal about the streets. O Cæsar, these things are beyond all use, 25 And I do fear them!

[Note 22: /hurtled/ F1 | hurried F2 F3 F4.]

[Note 23: /did neigh/ F2 F3 F4 | do neigh F1.]

[Note 6: /success:/ the result. The root notion of the word. See note, p. 65, l. 324. But in V, iii, 65, the word is used in its modern sense.]

[Note 13: 'Ceremonies' is here put for the ceremonial or sacerdotal interpretation of prodigies and omens, as in II, i, 197.]

[Note 16-24: Cf. _Hamlet_, I, i, 113-125; Vergil, _Georgics_, I, 465-488.]

[Note 22: /hurtled:/ clashed. The onomatopoetic 'hurtling' is used in _As You Like It_, IV, iii, 132, to describe the clashing encounter between Orlando and the lioness. Chaucer, in _The Knightes Tale_ l. 1758, uses the verb transitively, suggesting a diminutive of 'hurt':

And he him hurtleth with his horse adown.]

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CÆSAR. What can be avoided Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods? Yet Cæsar shall go forth; for these predictions Are to the world in general as to Cæsar.

CALPURNIA. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; 30 The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

CÆSAR. 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; 35 Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come.

[Note 33: /taste of death./ This expression occurs thrice in the New Testament (King James version). Plutarch relates that, a short time before Cæsar fell, some of his friends urged him to have a guard about him, and he replied that it was better to die at once than live in the continual fear of death. He is also said to have given as his reason for refusing a guard, that he thought Rome had more need of him than he of Rome. "And the very day before, Cæsar, supping with Marcus Lepidus, sealed certain letters, as he was wont to do, at the board: so, talk falling out amongst them, reasoning what death was best, he, preventing their opinions, cried out aloud, 'Death unlooked for.'"--Plutarch, _Julius Cæsar_.]

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_Re-enter_ Servant

What say the augurers?

SERVANT. They would not have you to stir forth to-day. Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, They could not find a heart within the beast. 40

CÆSAR. The gods do this in shame of cowardice: Cæsar should be a beast without a heart, If he should stay at home to-day for fear. No, Cæsar shall not: danger knows full well That Cæsar is more dangerous than he: 45 We are two lions litter'd in one day, And I the elder and more terrible; And Cæsar shall go forth.

CALPURNIA. Alas, my lord, Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence! Do not go forth to-day: call it my fear 50 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 to-day: Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.

CÆSAR. Mark Antony shall say I am not well; 55 And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.

_Enter_ DECIUS

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

DECIUS. Cæsar, all hail! good morrow, worthy Cæsar: I come to fetch you to the senate-house.

[Note 37: _Re-enter_ ... | Enter a ... Ff.]

[Note 46: /are/ Capell | heare F1 F2 | hear F3 F4 | heard Rowe.]

[Note 57: Scene V Pope.]

[Note 42: /should:/ would. The present-day usage is post-Elizabethan.]

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CÆSAR. And you are come in very happy time, 60 To bear my greeting to the senators And tell them that I will not come to-day. Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser; I will not come to-day. Tell them so, Decius.

CALPURNIA. Say he is sick.

CÆSAR. Shall Cæsar send a lie? 65 Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far, To be afeard to tell graybeards the truth? Decius, go tell them Cæsar will not come.

DECIUS. Most mighty Cæsar, let me know some cause, Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so. 70

CÆSAR. 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, stays me at home. 75 She dreamt to-night she saw my statue, Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts, Did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it: And these does she apply for warnings and portents 80 And evils imminent, and on her knee Hath begg'd that I will stay at home to-day.

[Note 67: /afeard/ F1 F2 F3 | afraid F4--/truth?/ | truth: Ff.]

[Note 76: /statue/ Ff | statua Steevens | statuë Camb.]

[Note 76: /to-night:/ last night. So in _The Merchant of Venice_, II, v, 18.--/statue./ In Shakespeare's time 'statue' was pronounced indifferently as a word of two syllables or three. Bacon uses it repeatedly as a trisyllable, and spells it 'statua,' as in his _Advancement of Learning_: "It is not possible to have the true pictures or statuaes of Cyrus, Alexander, Cæsar, no, nor of the kings or great personages."]

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DECIUS. This dream is all amiss interpreted: It was a vision fair and fortunate. Your statue spouting blood in many pipes, 85 In which so many smiling Romans bath'd, Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck Reviving blood, and that great men shall press For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance. This by Calpurnia's dream is signified. 90

CÆSAR. 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 Cæsar. If you shall send them word you will not come, 95 Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock Apt to be render'd, for some one to say 'Break up the senate till another time, When Cæsar's wife shall meet with better dreams.' If Cæsar hide himself, shall they not whisper, 100 'Lo, Cæsar is afraid'? Pardon me, Cæsar; for my dear dear love To your proceeding bids me tell you this; And reason to my love is liable. 104

[Note 88-89: In ancient times, when martyrs or other distinguished men were executed, their friends often pressed to stain handkerchiefs with their blood, or to get some other relic, which they might keep, either as precious memorials of them, or as having a kind of sacramental virtue. 'Cognizance' is here used in a heraldic sense, meaning any badge to show whose friends the wearers were.]

[Note 94: The Roman people were specially yearning to avenge the slaughter of Marcus Crassus and his army by the Parthians, and Cæsar was at this time preparing an expedition against them. But a Sibylline oracle was alleged, that Parthia could only be conquered by a king; and it was proposed to invest Cæsar with the royal title and authority over the foreign subjects of the state. It is agreed on all hands that, if his enemies did not originate this proposal, they at least craftily urged it on, in order to make him odious, and exasperate the people against him. To the same end, they had for some time been plying the arts of extreme sycophancy, heaping upon him all possible honors, human and divine, hoping thereby to kindle such a fire of envy as would consume him.]

[Note 96-97: /it were a mock Apt to be render'd:/ it were a sarcastic reply likely to be made. Cf. the expression, 'make a mock of.']

[Note 104: /liable:/ subject. Cf. _King John_, II, i, 490. The thought here is that love stands as principal, reason as second or subordinate. "The deference which reason holds due from me to you is in this instance subject and amenable to the calls of personal affection."]

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CÆSAR. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia! I am ashamed I did yield to them. Give me my robe, for I will go.

[Note 107: Plutarch thus describes the scene: "But in the mean time Decius Brutus, surnamed Albinus, in whom Cæsar put such confidence, that in his last will and testament he had appointed him to be his next heir, and yet was of the conspiracy with Cassius and Brutus: he, fearing that if Cæsar did adjourn the session that day, the conspiracy would be betrayed, laughed at the soothsayers, and reproved Cæsar, saying, 'that he gave the Senate occasion to mislike with him, and that they might think he mocked them, considering that by his commandment they were assembled, and that they were ready willingly to grant him all things, and to proclaim him king of all his provinces of the Empire of Rome out of Italy, and that he should wear his diadem in all other places both by sea and land. And furthermore, that if any man should tell them from him they should depart for that present time, and return again when Calpurnia should have better dreams, what would his enemies and ill-willers say, and how could they like of his friends' words? And who could persuade them otherwise, but that they should think his dominion a slavery unto them and tyrannical in himself? And yet if it be so,' said he, 'that you utterly mislike of this day, it is better that you go yourself in person, and, saluting the Senate, to dismiss them till another time.' Therewithal he took Cæsar by the hand, and brought him out of his house."--_Julius Cæsar._]

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_Enter_ PUBLIUS, BRUTUS, LIGARIUS, METELLUS, CASCA, TREBONIUS, _and_ CINNA

And look where Publius is come to fetch me.

PUBLIUS. Good morrow, Cæsar.

CÆSAR. Welcome, Publius. What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too? 110 Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius, Cæsar was ne'er so much your enemy As that same ague which hath made you lean. What is 't o'clock?

BRUTUS. Cæsar, 't is strucken eight.

CÆSAR. I thank you for your pains and courtesy. 115

_Enter_ ANTONY

See! Antony, that revels long o' nights, Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony.

ANTONY. So to most noble Cæsar.

CÆSAR. Bid them prepare within: I am to blame to be thus waited for. Now, Cinna; now, Metellus: what, Trebonius! 120 I have an hour's talk in store for you; Remember that you call on me to-day. Be near me, that I may remember you.

[Note 108: Scene VI Pope.--_Enter_ PUBLIUS ... | Ff have Publius after Cinna.]

[Note 114: /o'clock/ Theobald | a Clocke Ff.]

[Note 116: /o' nights/ Theobald | a-nights Ff.]

[Note 108: This was probably Publius Silicius, not a conspirator. See III, i, 87, where he is described as "quite confounded with this mutiny."]

[Note 113: This is a graphic and charming touch. Here, for the first time, we have Cæsar speaking fairly in character; for he was probably the most finished gentleman of his time, one of the sweetest of men, and as full of kindness as of wisdom and courage. Merivale aptly styles him "Cæsar the politic and the merciful."]

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TREBONIUS. Cæsar, I will. [_Aside_] And so near will I be, That your best friends shall wish I had been further. 125

CÆSAR. Good friends, go in and taste some wine with me; And we, like friends, will straightway go together.

BRUTUS. [_Aside_] That every like is not the same, O Cæsar, The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon! [_Exeunt_]

[Note 124: [_Aside_] Rowe | Ff omit.]

[Note 128: [_Aside_] Pope | Ff omit.]

[Note 129: /yearns/ Capell | earnes F1 F2.]

[Note 129: /yearns:/ grieves. The Folios read 'earnes.' Skeat considers _earn_ (_yearn_) 'to grieve' of distinct origin from _earn_ (_yearn_) 'to desire.' Shakespeare uses the verb both transitively and intransitively. The winning and honest suavity of Cæsar here starts a pang of remorse in Brutus. Drinking wine together was regarded as a sacred pledge of truth and honor. Brutus knows that Cæsar is doing it in good faith; and it hurts him to think that the others seem to be doing the like, and yet are doing a very different thing.]

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