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.
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
