That appertain to you? Am I yourself But, as it were, in sort or limitation, To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed, suburbs Dwell I but in the 285 Of your good pleasure? If it be no more, Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife. Bru. You are my true and honourable wife, 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 A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife; I grant I am a woman; but withal Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em. 290 295 300 Here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience, 295. reputed,] reputed: Ff, reputed Warburton. 282. yourself] another way of saying that husband and wife are one. See 273. 283. in sort or limitation] in a particular way, or not entirely according to the full meaning of the words. Possibly the true reading may be "sort of limitation." 285. suburbs] an allusion to the fact that women of bad character lived in the suburbs of London. 286. good pleasure] affection. 289. ruddy drops] Gray is indebted to this passage for a well-known line in his Bard: "Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart." 297. father'd... husbanded] Com pare the use of "woman'd" in Othello, III. iv. 200, and for other instances of passive participles formed from nouns, see Abbott, sec. 294. 299. made strong proof] proved my firmness by the severest test. 299. constancy] See 227. Re-enter LUCIUS with LIGARIUS. Luc. Here is a sick man that would speak with you. 310 Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of. Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius! how? 305. thy] The change to the singular pronoun indicates how deeply his heart is moved by the revelation of his wife's devotion. We are not told when the promise now made was fulfilled. At the end of the scene Brutus goes out with Ligarius, apparently to the Capitol, so that he has no opportunity of speaking again to his wife before Cæsar's death. Nevertheless, in Scene iv. Portia evidently knows the object of the conspiracy. 307. construe] goes so much better with "charactery," that its government of "engagements" may be regarded as an instance of zeugma. The peculiarity of the instance is that the verb suits the more distant object and suggests another verb, "tell," to go with the nearer one. It is, however, to be expected that a poet who composed rapidly, and whose mind was so crowded with thoughts, should often think in advance of what he was actually writing. Compare II. i. 8. 308. charáctery of my sad brows] His sad brows are regarded as symbols which have to be construed or interpreted by revealing the thoughts which they express. For charactery as a collective term for symbols compare Merry Wives, v. v. 77: "Fairies use flowers for their charactery." For the idea I. Schmidt compares Macbeth, I. v. 63: "Your face, my thane, is as a book, where men May read strange matters." Compare also Lucrece, 807: "The light will show character'd in my brow The story of sweet chastity's decay. 309. knocks] has for subject the relative pronoun understood. Compare 1. iii. 138. 311. Caius] is given by Plutarch as the prænomen of this conspirator, although his real prænomen Quintus. Plutarch represents Cæsar as visiting him in his sickroom. was 312. how?] an expression of surprise at seeing how ill he looked. As Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. Any exploit worthy the name of honour. I here discard my sickness. Soul of Rome! Brutus had sent for him (line 220), he 313. Vouchsafe] which generally means "deign to grant," here means "deign to receive." Compare King John, III. i. 294: "Our prayers come in, if thou vouchsafe them. 315. wear a kerchief] be ill. Compare such expressions as "trail a pike" (= be a soldier) in Henry V. IV. i. 40. Fuller relates that in Cheshire "if any there be sick, they make him a posset and tie him a kerchief on his head." "Kerchief" has always in Shakespeare the meaning of the French word couvrechef (covering for the head), from which it is derived. 316. I am not sick] Here and in the answer of Brutus we have the subjunctive mood in the conditional clause, and the indicative in the principal clause. The irregularity must be explained differently in the two cases. In the first case the principal clause is a true consequent. Ligarius means that he is to all intents and purposes not sick, that he can act with the vigour of a healthy man, if 320 325 Brutus has any honourable deed for him to do. But by a change of thought he uses the subjunctive in the conditional clause to indicate that he can hardly venture to hope that Brutus has such a deed for him to do. We may therefore compare with this the conditional sentence in III. ii. 87. In the reply of Brutus, on the contrary, the principal clause is not a true consequent. The true consequent is not that Brutus has such an exploit in hand, for that is absolutely true, but that Ligarius might take part in the exploit. We may therefore compare with this sentence, iv. 28, 29, Virgil's "Numeros memini, si verba tenerem" and 2 Henry IV. v. ii. 66: "I am assured, if I be measured rightly, Your majesty hath no just cause to hate me"; where the true consequent is "your majesty would see that your majesty has no just cause to hate me." See also ii. 92. 324. mortified] dead. Ligarius thinks that the words of Brutus are 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? Bru. That must we also. What it is, my Caius, Lig. Bru. I shall unfold to thee, as we are going To whom it must be done. Set on your foot, 330 Follow me then. [Exeunt. Cæsar's House. SCENE II.-The Same. Thunder and lightning. Enter CÆSAR, in his night-gown. Cas. 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? 330. going] Craik, going, Ff. such as might create a soul beneath the ribs of death." 326. get the better of them] achieve them. 327. make sick men whole] heal them. 328. make sick] a euphemism for "kill." 331. To whom it must be done] on the way to him against whom our action has to be directed. "To whom" is elliptical for "to him to whom." Compare Eneid, ii. 648, ex quo = "ex eo tempore in quo." 334. Brutus leads me on. This is another proof of the influence of the high character of Brutus. Scene II. night-gown] a loose undress gown worn, not in bed, but out of bed, as is evident from Macbeth, v. i. 5: "I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her night-gown upon her." The Elizabethan night gown was rather a dressing-gown than a nightshirt, and might be of considerable value, like the night-gown furred with lamb (lambskin) and faced with foynes (fur of the foin or beechmarten)," bequeathed by a London citizen in 1580. 3. Help, ho] Compare the ominous dreams of Andromache in Troilus and Cressida, v. iii. Serv. My lord! Enter a Servant. Cas. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice, Serv. I will, my lord. 5 [Exit. Enter CALPURNIA. Think you to walk Cal. What mean you, Cæsar? forth? IO 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. 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, 15 5. do present sacrifice] offer sacrifice immediately. 6. their opinions of success] whether they think the sacrifice favourable or not. In Shakespeare's time "success" was a neutral term meaning "result," so that Ascham in his Schoolmaster can speak of "good or ill success. 10. shall forth] See note on I. i. I. 10. me] For the sudden change of person, compare IV. iii. 98. 12. are vanished] Compare 1. iii. 156. 13. stood on ceremonies] attached much importance to ceremonies. Calpurnia is thinking of the ceremonies practised by the augurs and other soothsayers when they interpreted sacrifices and prodigies. Compare i. 197. Plutarch relates that "Calpurnia, until that time, was never given to any fear or superstition." 16. Recounts] The relative is understood. Compare 1. iii. 138. 16. horridsights] Compare Georgies, i. 465-488, where Virgil gives an account of the prodigies that occurred at the time of Caesar's death; and Hamlet, I. i.: "In the most high and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the mighty Julius fell, Did squeak and gibber in the As stars with trains of fire and Disasters in the sun." 16. the watch] the watchmen. |