Julius Caesar (1919) Yale/Text/Act II
ACT SECOND
Scene One
Enter Brutus in his Orchard.
Bru. What, Lucius! ho!
I cannot, by the progress of the stars,
Give guess how near to day. Lucius, I say!
I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly.4
When, Lucius, when? Awake, I say! what, Lucius!
Enter Lucius.
Luc. Call'd you, my lord?
Bru. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius:
When it is lighted, come and call me here.8
Luc. I will, my lord.Exit.
Bru. It must be by his death: and, for my part,
I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
But for the general. He would be crown'd:12
How that might change his nature, there's the question:
It is the bright day that brings forth the adder;
And that craves wary walking. Crown him that,
And then, I grant, we put a sting in him16
That at his will he may do danger with.
The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins
Remorse from power; and, to speak truth of Cæsar,
I have not known when his affections sway'd20
More than his reason. 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,24
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend. So Cæsar may:
Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel28
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus; that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities;
And therefore think him as a serpent's egg32
Which hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.
Enter Lucius.
Luc. The taper burneth in your closet, sir.
Searching the window for a flint, I found36
This paper, thus seal'd up; and I am sure
It did not lie there when I went to bed.
Bru. Get you to bed again; it is not day.
Is not to-morrow, boy, the ides of March?40
Luc. I know not, sir.
Bru. Look in the calendar, and bring me word.
Luc. I will, sir.Exit.
Bru. The exhalations whizzing in the air44
Give so much light that I may read by them.
Opens the letter, and reads.
'Brutus, thou sleep'st: awake, and see thyself.
Shall Rome, &c. Speak, strike, redress!
Brutus, thou sleep'st: awake!'48
Such instigations have been often dropp'd
Where I have took them up.
'Shall Rome, &c.' Thus must I piece it out:
Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, Rome?52
My ancestors did from the streets of Rome
The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king.
'Speak, strike, redress!' Am I entreated
To speak, and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise:56
If the redress will follow, thou receivest
Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!
Enter Lucius.
Luc. Sir, March is wasted fourteen days.59
Bru. 'Tis good. Go to the gate: somebody knocks.
[Exit Lucius.]
Since Cassius first did whet me against Cæsar,
I have not slept.
Between the acting of a dreadful thing
And the first motion, all the interim is64
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 then68
The nature of an insurrection.
Enter Lucius.
Luc. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door,
Who doth desire to see you.
Bru. Is he alone?
Luc. No, sir, there are moe with him.
Bru. Do you know them?72
Luc. No, sir; their hats are pluck'd about their ears,
And half their faces buried in their cloaks,
That by no means I may discover them
By any mark of favour.
Bru. Let 'em enter.76
[Exit Lucius.]
They are the faction. 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 enough80
To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy;
Hide it in smiles and affability:
For if thou path, thy native semblance on,
Not Erebus itself were dim enough84
To hide thee from prevention.
Enter the Conspirators, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna, Metellus, and Trebonius.
Cas. I think we are too bold upon your rest:
Good morrow, Brutus; do we trouble you?
Bru. I have been up this hour, awake all night.88
Know I these men that come along with you?
Cas. Yes, every man of them; and no man here
But honours you; and every one doth wish
You had but that opinion of yourself92
Which every noble Roman bears of you.
This is Trebonius.
Bru. He is welcome hither.
Cas. This, Decius Brutus.
Bru. He is welcome too.
Cas. This, Casca; this, Cinna;96
And this, Metellus Cimber.
Bru. They are all welcome.
What watchful cares do interpose themselves
Betwixt your eyes and night?
Cas. Shall I entreat a word?100
Dec. Here lies the east: doth not the day break here?
Casca. No.
Cin. O pardon, sir, it doth; and yon grey lines
That fret the clouds are messengers of day.104
Casca. You shall confess that you are both deceiv'd.
Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises;
Which is a great way growing on the south,
Weighing the youthful season of the year.108
Some two months hence up higher toward the north
He first presents his fire; and the high east
Stands, as the Capitol, directly here.
Bru. Give me your hands all over, one by one.112
Cas. And let us swear our resolution.
Bru. No, not an oath: if not the face of men,
The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,—
If these be motives weak, break off betimes,116
And every man hence to his idle bed;
So let high-sighted tyranny range on,
Till each man drop by lottery. But if these,
As I am sure they do, bear fire enough120
To kindle cowards and to steel with valour
The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen,
What need we any spur but our own cause
To prick us to redress? what other bond124
Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word
And will not palter? and what other oath
Than honesty to honesty engag'd,
That this shall be, or we will fall for it?128
Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous,
Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls
That welcome wrongs: unto bad causes swear
Such creatures as men doubt; but do not stain132
The even virtue of our enterprise,
Nor th' insuppressive mettle of our spirits,
To think that or our cause or our performance
Did need an oath; when every drop of blood136
That every Roman bears, and nobly bears,
Is guilty of a several bastardy,
If he do break the smallest particle
Of any promise that hath pass'd from him.140
Cas. But what of Cicero? Shall we sound him?
I think he will stand very strong with us.
Casca. Let us not leave him out.
Cin. No, by no means.
Met. O let us have him; for his silver hairs
Will purchase us a good opinion145
And buy men's voices to commend our deeds:
It shall be said his judgment rul'd our hands;
Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear,
But all be buried in his gravity.149
Bru. O name him not: let us not break with him;
For he will never follow anything
That other men begin.
Cas. Then leave him out.152
Casca. Indeed he is not fit.
Dec. Shall no man else be touch'd but only Cæsar?
Cas. Decius, well urg'd. I think it is not meet,
Mark Antony, so well belov'd of Cæsar,156
Should outlive Cæsar: we shall find of him
A shrewd contriver; and you know, his means,
If he improve them, may well stretch so far
As to annoy us all; which to prevent,160
Let Antony and Cæsar fall together.
Bru. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards;164
For Antony is but a limb of Cæsar.
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
We all stand up against the spirit of Cæsar;
And in the spirit of men there is no blood:168
O then that we could come by Cæsar's spirit,
And not dismember Cæsar! But, alas,
Cæsar must bleed for it. And, gentle friends,
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;172
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds:
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage,176
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make
Our purpose necessary and not envious;
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers.180
And, for Mark Antony, think not of him;
For he can do no more than Cæsar's arm
When Cæsar's head is off.
Cas. Yet I fear him;
For in the ingrafted love he bears to Cæsar—184
Bru. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him.
If he love Cæsar, all that he can do
Is to himself: take thought, and die for Cæsar.
And that were much he should, for he is given
To sports, to wildness, and much company.189
Treb. There is no fear in him; let him not die:
For he will live, and laugh at this hereafter.
Bru. Peace! count the clock.
Cas. The clock hath stricken three.192
Treb. 'Tis time to part.
Cas. But it is doubtful yet
Whether Cæsar will come forth to-day or no;
For he is superstitious grown of late,
Quite from the main opinion he held once196
Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies.
It may be, these apparent prodigies,
The unaccustom'd terror of this night,
And the persuasion of his augurers,200
May hold him from the Capitol to-day.
Dec. Never fear that: if he be so resolv'd,
I can o'ersway him; for he loves to hear
That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,204
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils, and men with flatterers;
But when I tell him he hates flatterers,
He says he does, being then most flattered.208
Let me work;
For I can give his humour the true bent,
And I will bring him to the Capitol.
Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.212
Bru. By the eighth hour: is that the uttermost.
Cin. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.
Met. Caius Ligarius doth bear Cæsar hard,
Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey:216
I wonder none of you have thought of him.
Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along by him:
He loves me well, and I have given him reasons;
Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him.220
Cas. The morning comes upon 's: we'll leave you, Brutus.
And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember
What you have said, and show yourselves true Romans.
Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily;224
Let not our looks put on our purposes,
But bear it as our Roman actors do,
With untir'd spirits and formal constancy:
And so good morrow to you every one.228
Exeunt. Manet Brutus.
Boy! Lucius! Fast asleep? It is no matter;
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.233
Enter Portia.
Por. Brutus, my lord!
Bru. Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rise you now?
It is not for your health thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw cold morning.236
Por. Nor for yours neither. You've ungently, Brutus,
Stole from my bed; and yesternight at supper
You suddenly arose, and walk'd about,
Musing and sighing, with your arms across,240
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;244
Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not,
But with an angry wafture of your hand
Gave sign for me to leave you. So I did,
Fearing to strengthen that impatience248
Which seem'd too much enkindled, and withal
Hoping 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,252
And could it work so much upon your shape
As it hath much prevail'd on your condition,
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.256
Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all.
Por. Brutus is wise, and were he not in health,
He would embrace the means to come by it.
Bru. Why, so I do. Good Portia, go to bed.260
Por. Is Brutus sick, and is it physical
To walk unbraced and suck up the humours
Of the dank morning? What! is Brutus sick,
And will he steal out of his wholesome bed264
To dare the vile contagion of the night,
And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus;
You have some sick offence within your mind,268
Which, by the right and virtue of my place,
I ought to know of; and, upon my knees,
I charm you, by my once-commended beauty,
By all your vows of love, and that great vow272
Which did incorporate and make us one,
That you unfold to me, your self, your half,
Why you are heavy, and what men to-night
Have had resort to you; for here have been276
Some six or seven, who did hide their faces
Even from darkness.
Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia.
Por. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus.
Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus,280
Is it excepted I should know no secrets
That appertain to you? Am I yourself
But, as it were, in sort or limitation,
To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,284
And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs
Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.
Bru. You are my true and honourable wife,288
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart.
Por. If this were true then should I know this secret.
I grant I am a woman, but, withal,292
A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife;
I grant I am a woman, but, withal,
A woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter.
Think you I am no stronger than my sex,296
Being so father'd and so husbanded?
Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em.
I have made strong proof of my constancy,
Giving myself a voluntary wound,300
Here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience
And not my husband's secrets?
Bru. O ye gods,
Render me worthy of this noble wife!
Knock [within].
Hark, hark! one knocks. Portia, go in awhile;304
And by and by thy bosom shall partake
The secrets of my heart.
All my engagements I will construe to thee,
All the charactery of my sad brows.308
Leave me with haste.Exit Portia.
Lucius, who's that knocks?
Enter Lucius and Ligarius.
Luc. Here is a sick man that would speak with you.
Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spoke of.
Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius! how?312
Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue.
Bru. O what a time have you chose out, brave Caius,
To wear a kerchief! Would you were not sick!
Lig. I am not sick if Brutus have in hand
Any exploit worthy the name of honour.317
Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius,
Had you a healthful ear to hear of it.
Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before,
I here discard my sickness! Soul of Rome,321
Brave son, deriv'd from honourable loins,
Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjur'd up
My mortified spirit. Now bid me run,
And I will strive with things impossible;325
Yea, get the better of them. What's to do?
Bru. A piece of work that will make sick men whole.
Lig. But are not some whole that we must make sick?328
Bru. That must we also. What it is, my Caius,
I shall unfold to thee as we are going
To whom it must be done.
Lig. Set on your foot,
And with a heart new-fir'd I follow you,332
To do I know not what; but it sufficeth
That Brutus leads me on.Thunder.
Bru. Follow me then.Exeunt.
Scene Two
[Cæsar's House]
Thunder and lightning. Enter Julius Cæsar in his night-gown.
Cæs. 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?
Enter a Servant.
Serv. My lord!4
Cæs. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice,
And bring me their opinions of success.
Serv. I will, my lord.Exit.
Enter Calpurnia.
Cal. What mean you, Cæsar? Think you to walk forth?8
You shall not stir out of your house to-day.
Cæs. 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.12
Cal. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies,
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 watch.
A lioness hath whelped in the streets;17
And graves have yawn'd and yielded up their dead;
Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;21
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.24
O Cæsar, these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them.
Cæs. What can be avoided
Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods?
Yet Cæsar shall go forth; for these predictions28
Are to the world in general as to Cæsar.
Cal. When beggars die there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
Cæs. Cowards die many times before their deaths;32
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,36
Will come when it will come.
Enter a Servant.
What say the augurers?
Serv. 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
Cæs. 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 well44
That Cæsar is more dangerous than he:
We are two lions litter'd in one day,
And I the elder and more terrible:
And Cæsar shall go forth.
Cal. Alas, my lord,48
Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence.
Do not go forth to-day: call it my fear
That keeps you in the house, and not your own.
We'll send Mark Antony to the senate-house,52
And he shall say you are not well to-day:
Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.
Cæs. Mark Antony shall say I am not well;
And, for thy humour, I will stay at home.56
Enter Decius.
Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so.
Dec. Cæsar, all hail! Good morrow, worthy Cæsar:
I come to fetch you to the senate-house.
Cæs. And you are come in very happy time60
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.64
Cal. Say he is sick.
Cæs. Shall Cæsar send a lie?
Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far
To be afeard to tell greybeards the truth?
Decius, go tell them Cæsar will not come.68
Dec. Most mighty Cæsar, let me know some cause,
Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so.
Cæs. The cause is in my will: I will not come;
That is enough to satisfy the senate:72
But for your private satisfaction,
Because I love you, I will let you know:
Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home:
She dreamt to-night she saw my statue,76
Which, like a fountain with a 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.
Dec. This dream is all amiss interpreted;
It was a vision fair and fortunate:84
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
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.89
This by Calpurnia's dream is signified.
Cæs. And this way have you well expounded it.
Dec. I have, when you have heard what I can say;92
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,
Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock96
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
Cæs. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia!
I am ashamed I did yield to them.
Give me my robe, for I will go.
Enter Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca, Trehonius, Cinna, and Publius.
And look where Publius is come to fetch me.108
Pub. Good morrow, Cæsar.
Cæs. Welcome, Publius.
What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too?
Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius,
Cæsar was ne'er so much your enemy112
As that same ague which hath made you lean.
What is 't o'clock?
Bru. Cæsar, 'tis strucken eight.
Cæs. I thank you for your pains and courtesy.
Enter Antony.
See, Antony, that revels long o' nights,116
Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony.
Ant. So to most noble Cæsar.
Cæs. Bid them prepare within:
I am to blame to be thus waited for.
Now, Cinna; now, Metellus; what, Trebonius,
I have an hour's talk in store for you;121
Remember that you call on me to-day:
Be near me, that I may remember you.
Treb. Cæsar, I will:—[Aside.] and so near will I be,124
That your best friends shall wish I had been further.
Cæs. Good friends, go in, and taste some wine with me;
And we, like friends, will straightway go together.
Bru. [Aside.] That every 'like' is not 'the same,' O Cæsar,128
The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon.Exeunt.
Scene Three
[A Street near the Capitol]
Enter Artemidorus [reading a paper].
Art. 'Cæsar, beware of Brutus; take heed of
Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to
Cinna; trust not Trebonius; mark well Metel-
lus Cimber; Decius Brutus loves thee not; thou
hast wronged Caius Ligarius. There is but one
mind in all these men, and it is bent against
Cæsar. If thou beest not immortal, look about
you: security gives way to conspiracy. The
mighty gods defend thee! Thy lover,9
Artemidorus.'
Here will I stand till Cæsar pass along,
And as a suitor will I give him this.12
My heart laments that virtue cannot live
Out of the teeth of emulation.
If thou read this, O Cæsar, thou mayest live;
If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive.Exit.
Scene Four
[Another part of the same Street, before the house of Brutus]
Enter Portia and Lucius.
Por. I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house;
Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone.
Why dost thou stay?
Luc. To know my errand, madam.
Por. I would have had thee there, and here again,4
Ere I can tell thee what thou shouldst do there.
O constancy, be strong upon my side;
Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue;
I have a man's mind, but a woman's might.8
How hard it is for women to keep counsel!
Art thou here yet?
Luc. Madam, what shall I do?
Run to the Capitol, and nothing else?
And so return to you, and nothing else?12
Por. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well,
For he went sickly forth; and take good note
What Cæsar doth, what suitors press to him.
Hark, boy! what noise is that?16
Luc. I hear none, madam.
Por. Prithee, listen well:
I heard a bustling rumour, like a fray,
And the wind brings it from the Capitol.
Luc. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing.20
Enter the Soothsayer.
Por. Come hither, fellow: which way hast thou been?
Sooth. At mine own house, good lady.
Por. What is 't o'clock?
Sooth. About the ninth hour, lady.
Por. Is Cæsar yet gone to the Capitol?24
Sooth. Madam, not yet: I go to take my stand,
To see him pass on to the Capitol.
Por. Thou hast some suit to Cæsar, hast thou not?
Sooth. That I have, lady: if it will please Cæsar28
To be so good to Cæsar as to hear me,
I shall beseech him to befriend himself.
Por. Why, know'st thou any harm's intended towards him?
Sooth. None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance.32
Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow:
The throng that follows Cæsar at the heels,
Of senators, of prætors, common suitors,
Will crowd a feeble man almost to death:36
I'll get me to a place more void, and there
Speak to great Cæsar as he comes along.Exit.
Por. I must go in. Ay me! how weak a thing
The heart of woman is. O Brutus,40
The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise!
Sure, the boy heard me.—Brutus hath a suit
That Cæsar will not grant.—O, I grow faint.—
Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord;44
Say I am merry: come to me again,
And bring me word what he doth say to thee.
Footnotes to Act II
Scene One
Scene One S. d. Orchard: garden
5 When: exclamation of impatience
11 spurn at: oppose vindictively
12 general: people's sake, public welfare
15 Crown him that; cf. n.
19 Remorse: mercy, conscience
20 affections: passions
21 proof: proved experience
26 degrees: steps, rungs
28 prevent: be beforehand
quarrel: attack on him, accusation
29 colour: justification
30 Fashion: put, formulate
31 these and these: such and such
33 as his kind: as is the nature of his species
35 closet: study
44 exhalations: meteors
58 Thy full petition: full measure of what thou askest
59 fourteen; cf. n.
61, 62 Cf. n.
64 motion: instigation, inception
65 phantasma: vision, phantasmagoria
66 genius: the guardian spirit, within man
mortal instruments: human faculties
70 brother: he had married Brutus' sister, Junia
72 moe: more, others
76 mark of favour: trait of countenance
77 faction: band of conspirators
83 path: walk, proceed
native: natural
on: being on
84 Erebus: gloomy region leading to Hades (the name signifies 'darkness')
85 prevention: being forestalled
86 bold: i.e., in intruding
90 and no: and there is no
104 fret: chequer
106 as: where
107 growing on: tending toward
108 Weighing: on account of
112 all over: successively
114 face of men: mute appeal in the people's looks
115 sufferance: suffering, distress
the . . . abuse: abuses of the time
116 betimes: before it's too late
118 high-sighted: haughty
119 lottery: arbitrary decree
123 What: why
125 Than secret: than that of resolute
126 palter: play fast and loose
129 cautelous: crafty, deceitful
130 carrions: wretches no better than soulless carcasses
suffering: long-suffering
133 even: just
134 insuppressive: irrepressible
135 or . . . or: either . . . or
138 Is individually condemned as illegitimate
150 break with: broach our plan to
157 of: in
158 shrewd contriver: malevolent plotter
159 improve: make the most of
160 annoy: seriously injure
164 envy: vindictiveness
184 ingrafted: deeply rooted
187 Is to: concerns, affects, only
take thought: despond
188 that . . . should: even that would be more than might be expected
190 fear: cause for fear
196 from . . . main: changed from the general
198 apparent: manifest
204 trees: by luring them to drive their horns too firmly into trees
205 glasses: mirrors, to distract their attention
holes: pitfalls
206 toils: nets, snares
210 humour: disposition; cf. n. on line 250
213 uttermost: latest
216 rated: berated, reprimanded
218 by him: by his house
220 fashion: like modern 'whip into shape'
227 formal constancy: dignified self-possession
231 figures: pictures created by imagination
250 humour; cf. n.
253, 254 (outward) shape, (inward) condition
261 physical: healthful
266 rheumy: causing rheumatic diseases
unpurged: unpurified by the sun
268 sick offence: unhealthy trouble
271 charm: conjure, entreat
283 in . . . limitation: only after a fashion or with restrictions
292 withal: with this saving reservation
295 Cato: Marcus Porcius Cato, 'of Utica'
307 engagements: undertakings that I stand committed to
construe: explain
308 charactery: writing, message
309 who's: who is it
313 Vouchsafe: vouchsafe to receive
315 kerchief: swathing for the head of the sick
323 exorcist: magician
324 mortified: deadened
331 To whom: to him to whom
Scene Two
Scene Two S. d. night-gown: dressing-gown
5 present: immediate
6 success: the future
13 stood on ceremonies: laid stress on omens
20 right form: regular formations
22 hurtled: emitted sounds of conflict, clashed
25 use: previous experience
27 end: accomplishment
29 Are to: are as applicable to
49 confidence: over-confidence
56 humour: whim, caprice
75 stays: keeps
88 press: crowd about
89 tinctures: healing medicines; cf. n.
stains: assimilable traces (tinges) of Cæsar's qualities
relics: i.e., religious benefits
cognizance: heraldic emblems, i.e., social benefits
96 mock: gibe
103 proceeding: career
104 liable: subservient
128 Cf. n.
129 yearns: grieves
Scene Three
8 security gives way: unguardedness yields opportunity
9 lover: friend
14 Out . . . teeth: free from the bite
emulation: grudging jealousy
Scene Four
20 Sooth: in truth
37 void: open