Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods! When went there by an age, since the great flood, 150 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 encompass'd but one man? Now is it Rome indeed and room enough, 153. walks] Ff, walls Rowe. 149. bloods] men of spirit. Generally in the plural it means young men of spirit, as in Much Ado About Nothing, III. iii. 141: "All the hot bloods between fourteen and five-and-thirty.' 150. since the great flood] This reference to "the great flood" as the beginning of the history of the world seems rather in accordance with Jewish or Christian than with Roman thought. Compare line 158. It may be justified as a reference to the flood described in classical mythology as having taken place in the time of Deucalion and distinctly referred to in Coriolanus, II. i. 102. This classic deluge was not, however, such an important and well-known mythological event that a Roman or Greek could refer to it simply as "the great flood." When Juvenal refers to it in.Satire, i.81, he clearly specifies what flood he means. 153. walks the reading of the Folio has been plausibly altered into "walls" by later editors. It is certainly more natural to talk of walls than of walks encompassing a man or men. Although "wide at first sight is not quite applicable to "walls," we find the word similarly employed to express extent of compass in As You Like It, 11. vii. 161: "His youthful hose a world too wide for his shrunk shanks." Still "wide" is more naturally applied to "walks," as in Titus Andronicus, II. i.: forest walks are wide and spacious"; where, as in this passage and in 111. The ii. 254, "walks" means tracts of garden, park, or forest. The populous part of ancient Rome was almost entirely surrounded by a green girdle of gardens and pleasure grounds, as the cities of New Zealand now are and as modern Rome will presently be. It was proposed in Elizabeth's time that a permanent green girdle should be secured for London, and Shakespeare may have learnt that this desirable object had been achieved long ago in ancient Rome. We may therefore retain the reading of the Folio. 154. Rome indeed] "Rome" was pronounced like "room," which gives occasion to the play of words here, in III. i. 289, and in King John, III. i. 180: "I have room with Rome to curse a while." Wright compares the similar pun on the name "Pole" in 2 Henry VI. IV. i. 70. On the other hand, it would appear from 1 Henry VI. III. i. 51, where Warwick plays upon the similarity of sound between "Rome" and "roam," that even in Shakespeare's time "Rome" was sometimes pronounced as it is pronounced now. The old pronunciation survives in Rum, the Oriental name of Constanti nople, which was so called as being the capital of the Roman Empire. The tendency to pronounce "o" as "oo" is exemplified in many English words, e.g. "tomb," "whom," "do," move. In some provincial dialects of English "come is pronounced coom." For Shakespeare's punning When there is in it but one only man. O! you and I have heard our fathers say, 155 There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome, As easily as a king. Bru. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous; What you would work me to, I have some aim: I will with patience hear, and find a time 158. eternal] Ff, infernal Johnson. (with... you) Ff. in serious passages see the first chapter of Trench's Study of Words. 155. man] For the rhetorical repetition of 66 man at the conclusion of lines 153, 155, compare King John, II. i. 427, 429, 431. 157. a Brutus once] namely, the old Lucius Junius Brutus, who played the principal part in the expulsion of the kings from Rome. 158. the eternal devil] The epithet "eternal" rather expresses the extent of the devil's wickedness than his deathlessness. Compare "eternal villain" (Othello, IV. ii. 129) and the colloquial use of "tarnal" (short for "eternal") and "everlasting" in this sense in America. Perhaps Shakespeare originally wrote "infernal," and the word was altered into "eternal" by the editors of the first Folio, on account of the statute passed in 1605 against profane language in plays. "Eternal" appears to be still used in provincial English as euphemism for "infernal," as "darn" in English and "morbleu" in French a 160 165 164. not, so with you] not so are used respectively for "damn" and "mort dieu." See Halliwell's Archaic and Provincial Dictionary. If we take "eternal" in the ordinary sense of the word, we may compare "auld Hangie," "auld Hornie," "auld Cloots," and "auld Nickie Ben" in Burns's Address to the Deil. For the anachronism by which a Roman speaks of the Jewish or Christian devil, compare line 150. 160. That you do love me, etc.] I do not at all doubt your affection for me. See line 70 for "jealous." 161. work me to] Compare line 314. 161. aim] conjecture, as in the Folio reading of Othello, 1. iii. 6: "Where the aim reports." 163. for this present] sc. time. Compare the English Prayer-Book, "that those things may please Him which we do at this present." 164. so with love, etc.] provided I might in a spirit of affection make this request of you. 165.] For Brutus's brief antithetical manner of speech, see note on III. ii. 13. Cas. Both meet to hear and answer such high things. Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this: Brutus had rather be a villager Than to repute himself a son of Rome Under these hard conditions as this time Is like to lay upon us. I am glad 170 That my weak words have struck but thus much show Bru. The games are done and Cæsar is returning. Re-enter CESAR and his Train. Bru. I will do so. But, look you, Cassius, The angry spot doth glow on Cæsar's brow, In 169. chew] ponder. Compare Pope's Moral Essays, i. 228: "Old politicians chew on wisdom past." this metaphorical sense we employ "ruminate," as Shakespeare does except in this passage. 170. a villager] the inhabitant of a small village as opposed to a Roman citizen. The story of St. Paul illustrates the proud position of the civis Romanus. 171. to repute] Compare King John, I. i. 134: "Whether had'st thou rather be a Faulconbridge And like thy brother to enjoy thy land." See Abbott, sec. 350, where other in 175 180 stances are quoted in which "to" is omitted in the former and inserted in the latter of two clauses after the same verb. 172. as] See note on 33. 174. struck] By this metaphor Cassius compares his words to the steel and Brutus to the flint from which sparks are struck. Compare IV. iii. IIO. 181. The angry spot, etc.] With a few graphic touches the poet places the group before our eyes individually and collectively. The angry spot on Cæsar's brow would be red. Compare "red-look'd anger," Winter's Tale, 11. ii. 34. As we have seen him in the Capitol, Being cross'd in conference by some senators. Cas. Casca will tell us what the matter is. 185 Cas. Let me have men about me that are fat; Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights. 190 Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. Ant. Fear him not, Cæsar, he's not dangerous; He is a noble Roman, and well given. 188. Antonius] Antonio Ff. o' nights Capell and later editors. 190. a-nights] F 1, 2; a nights F 3, 4; 185. As] Here we have a blending of two constructions, "with ferret and fiery eyes as we have seen," etc., and "with such ferret and fiery eyes as he has been seen to have," etc. Ferrets' eyes are red. 190. Sleek-headed men] men with smooth, glossy, unwrinkled faces. Cassius is called the "lean and wrinkled Cassius" in Antony and Cleopatra, III. xi. 37. 190. a-nights] This is a combination of two ways of expressing time, (1) the preposition "on or "an weakened into "a" as in such words as "aboard," and (2) the genitive suffix "s" forming a temporal adverb as in "whiles," line 206. Compare "nowadays" and "of yore" for the redundancy in the phrase. 191. Yond] survives, slightly altered, in the Scotch "yon"= that. Plutarch says that Cæsar was thinking of Brutus as well as Cassius when he expressed his fear of lean men. Hearing that Antony and Dolabella were plotting against him, he said, "As for these fat men and smooth-combed heads, I never reckon of them; but these pale-visaged and carrion-lean people, I fear them most "—meaning Brutus and Cassius. On another occasion Plutarch represents Cæsar as saying with special reference to Cassius, "What will Cassius do, think you? I like not his pale looks." Warburton remarks that Ben Jonson is parodying this passage in his Bartholomew Fair, when Knockham says to the pigwoman, "Come, there's no malice in fat folks; I never fear thee, if I can 'scape thy lean moon calf there." The Earl of Sterline transforms Cæsar's expression of the harmless. ness of fat men into the pompous line: "No corpulent sanguinians make me fear." Fat men are indeed generally regarded as merry and good-natured. Hence the proverb "Laugh and grow fat." Wilkie Collins, however, in his Woman in White, describes Count Fosco as "immensely fat." There are few, if any, other fat villains in fiction. 194. well given] of an excellent disposition. The expression occurs in North's Plutarch, where, however, we are told that Cassius was not so well given and conditioned" as Brutus. Elsewhere in Shakespeare we find "virtuously given," "lewdly given," and "cannibally given.' Cæs. Would he were fatter! But I fear him not: 195 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; Quite through the deeds of men; he loves no As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music; 200 205 210 I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd Casca. You pull'd me by the cloak; would you speak with me? 196. my name] is merely a periphrasis for "I." The confusion between names and persons is natural and common in poetry. Compare Eneid, vi. 763, Revelation xi. 13 (margin), P. L. ii. 964, 965, and Othello, IV. ii. 117: "Am I that name. 200. through the deeds of men] sc. to their characters. 201. no music] Compare the Merchant of Venice, v. i. 83: "The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils." 209. I am Cæsar] In Plutarch, Balbus prevents him from rising in honour of the Senate, saying, "What, do you not remember that you are Cæsar ?" 210. this ear is deaf] This is intended for the information of the audience. The remark is not dramatically appropriate, as Antony, being Cæsar's familiar friend, must have been well |