To stale with ordinary oaths my love To every new protester; if you know That I do fawn on men and hug them hard, 75 [Flourish and shout. means this shouting? I do fear the Choose Cæsar for their king. Ay, do you fear it? Then must I think you would not have it so. 80 Bru. I would not, Cassius; yet I love him well. But wherefore do you hold me here so long? Shakespeariana that "talker" is the true reading. "Talker" occurs in three other passages, in all of which it is used as a term of blame, while "laugher" is found nowhere else in Shakespeare's plays. Also a talker ("a fleering tell-tale," iii. 117) would be more dangerous in a conspiracy than a laugher. On the other hand, "He seldom smiles" (line 202), gives some support to the reading "laugher." 72. stale] here, as in IV. i. 38, is a verb meaning "make common or worthless." The adjective "stale" is connected with "stall," a standing place, and expresses the fact that meat or drink kept long standing in one place loses its savour. "Stale" meaning "a decoy" is a different word connected with "steal." 73. every new protester] every 85 successive person that solemnly declares his love for me. Compare Troilus and Cressida, III. ii. 182. where lovers' rhymes are described as "Full of protest, of oath and big compare." " 74. Brutus was not like Casca. See line 2. 75. after scandal] afterwards defame. 76. profess myself] make profession of friendship. Compare Othello, I. iii. 342, "I have professed me thy friend." 77. then] in that case, if these conditions are fulfilled. Cassius means that, as these conditions are not fulfilled, he is not to be considered dangerous. 85. Set honour, etc.] Honour requires him to promote the public good, and the fear of death will not And I will look on both indifferently; As well as I do know your outward favour. I was born free as Cæsar; so were you : For once, upon a raw and gusty day, 00 95 100 Upon the 86. both] Ff, death Theobald. F 4. 101. said] saide F 1; saies F 2, 3; says deter him from following honour. He can contemplate indifferently (i.e. composedly, with equanimity) "an enterprise of honourable-dangerous consequence" (iii. 124), because his love of honour is stronger than his fear of death. 86. both] honour and death_together, a course of action prescribed by honour and leading to death. 90. outward favour] looks. Compare "ill-favoured," ""well-favoured" and the provincial use of "favour" for "resemble in appearance." 95. such a thing as I myself]namely, Cæsar, who was only a man as Cassius himself was. "Thing" has a contemptuous sense when applied to persons. 99. once] This incident is not to be found in Plutarch or Suetonius; but both these writers relate how Cæsar saved his life and his Commentaries by swimming in the harbour of Alexandria, from which it is clear that he was a good swimmer. 100. chafing] Compare pontem indignatus Araxes, Eneid, viii. 728. 100. her] See note on i. 50. Accoutred as I was, I plunged in And bade him follow; so indeed he did. I, as Æneas, our great ancestor, Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder 105 110 The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber Is now become a god, and Cassius is A wretched creature and must bend his body If Cæsar carelessly but nod on him. He had a fever when he was in Spain, And when the fit was on him, I did mark 115 How he did shake; 'tis true, this god did shake; 120 104. accoutred] F 1; accounted F 2, 3, 4. 104. In like manner Horatius in Macaulay's lay: "With his harness on his back Plunged headlong in the tide." 108. hearts of controversy] emulous, combative hearts. Compare "man of valour" (valiant man). They had to contend not only against each other, but also against the strong current. 109. arrive] used transitively as in P. L. ii. 409. 111. as Eneas] See Eneid, ii. 721. This comparison occurs also in 2 Henry VI. v. ii. 63. Æneas was considered to be the ancestor of the Romans generally, on which account they were poetically called Æneade, descendants of Æneas. The Julian Gens especially claimed descent from Iulus or Julus, the son of Æneas. 121. coward] used adjectivally. Compare I. i. 63, and for the inversion compare The eyes fly from their lights." Lucrece, 461. "To wring the widow from her customed right." 2 Henry VI. v. i. 188. "This Gloster should be quickly rid this world." 2 Henry VI. III. i. 233. "You to your former honour I bequeath." As You Like It, v. iv. 192; and other instances collected in the Appendix to Schmidt's Lexicon. Many such inversions will be found pointed out in Conington's Virgil, e.g. Eneid, vi. 229. Compare also Electra, 119, Medea, 35. No doubt, in this Bru. And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans As a sick girl. Ye gods, it doth amaze me So get the start of the majestic world, [Shout. Flourish. Another general shout! 130 I do believe that these applauses are For some new honours that are heap'd on Cæsar. Cas. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus; and we petty men instance, as suggested by Steevens, the inversion is prompted by the desire to play on the word "colour," which in the plural means a flag. This enables Shakespeare by a conceit to compare the eyes to cowardly soldiers deserting their colours. The same play upon words is found in Lucrece,476-481, and in Daniel's Complaint of Rosamond: "And nought-respecting death, the last of pains, Placed his pale colours, the ensign of his might, Upon his new-got spoil before his right. 122. bend] look, glance, as in Antony and Cleopatra, II. ii. 213: "made their bends adornings.' "Bent" is used in this sense in Henry V. v. ii. 16 and Troilus and Cressida, IV. v. 282. In Hamlet, v. i. 238, dead Cæsar is called "earth which kept the world in awe." 123. his] the neuter possessive. See Abbott, 228. "Its" is rare in Shakespeare, occurs thrice in Milton's poetry, and never in the Authorised Version of the Bible. 124. that tongue of his] This doubly marked genitive appears to be due to the confusion of two constructions, "that his tongue" and "that tongue of him." 125. books] writing tablets. 126. Alas] had best be put in inverted commas as Cæsar's exclamasion of distress and weakness. If it is not reported speech, then it expresses Cassius' ironical affectation of sorrowful surprise at Cæsar's weak ness. 129. get the start of ] outstrip in the competition for power, honour, and glory. 133. Why, man] Here Cassius in his excitement adopts a tone of familiar expostulation. 133. narrow] is proleptic. Cæsar makes the world seem narrow by bestriding it. 134. a Colossus] Shakespeare is thinking of the famous Colossus at Rhodes, which was popularly sup posed to bestride the entrance of the harbour so that ships could sail under its huge legs. Walk under his huge legs, and peep about 135 The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, Brutus and Cæsar: what should be in that "Cæsar"? 140 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; Upon what meat doth this our Cæsar feed, 137. masters of their fates] Compare IV. iii. 217, and the song of Fortune in Enid: "For man is man and master of his fate." 138. The fault, etc.] Compare Edmund's reflections in Lear, 1. ii.: "This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune (often the surfeit of our own behaviour) we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars"; and Odyssey, i. 32-34. The use of "ill-starred" and "disastrous" in the sense of "unfortunate" gives evidence of the prevalence of this tendency. 139. underlings] in a position of inferiority. "Underling" is formed by adding the diminutive termination "ling" to "under." 140. what should be] This is the interrogative use of the inferential "should," which we find in such sentences as Othello, IV. i. 148: "By |