Dec. I have, when you have heard what I can say: If you shall send them word you will not come, 95 mock Apt to be render'd, for some one to say When Cæsar's wife shall meet with better dreams." If Cæsar hide himself, shall they not whisper "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. 100 Cæs. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia! 105 92. I have, etc.] short for "I have expounded it well, and you will see that I have, when, etc." Compare i. 318, 319, and the lines of 2 Henry IV. quoted in the note on these lines. 96, 97. a mock Apt to be rendered] a gibe that will readily suggest itself, and is likely to be uttered. 102. dear] means "deeply felt" as in "dear absence" (Othello, 1. iii. 260). The repetition has the force of a superlative. Compare 111. ii. 232, IV. iii. 231, and Nelson's reference to "dear dear Merton" in his diary, 13th September 1805. 103. To your proceeding] means "with reference to the course you are proposing to take," or perhaps "with reference to your proceeding to the Capitol," and goes with "tell you this." Compare King John, IV. ii. 132: "Now what says the world to your proceedings?" Wright takes "to your proceeding" with "love," which might be supported by reference to King John, v. ii. 11. In this case the meaning would be "the loving interest I take in your course of action." Craik understands " 'proceeding" to mean "advancement." 104. reason, etc.] my prudence is under the sway of my love, has to submit to my love. For this use of "liable,' compare King John, 11. i. 490: "Liable to our crown and dignity"; and for the meaning of the sentence, compare Othello, III. iii. 375-383, where Iago represents himself as lamenting that his love for Othello had led him to forget his wisdom and offend his master: "I'll love no friend, sith love breeds such offence. I should be wise; for honesty's a fool, And loses that it works for." Enter PUBLIUS, BRUTUS, LIGARIUS, METELLUS, And look where Publius is come to fetch me. Pub. Good morrow, Cæsar. Cæs. Bru. Welcome, Publius. What! Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too? Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius, Cæsar was ne'er so much your enemy As that same ague which hath made you lean. ΙΙΟ Cæsar, 'tis strucken eight. 115 Cæs. I thank you for your pains and courtesy. Enter ANTONY. See! Antony, that revels long a-nights, Is notwithstanding up. Ant. So to most noble Cæsar. Cæs. Good morrow, Antony. Bid them prepare within : I am to blame to be thus waited for. 114. a clock] Ff, o'clock Theobald and later editors. 116. a-nights] Ff, o' nights Theobald and later editors. 108. Publius] See III. i. 92, IV. i. 4. The person meant is probably Publius Silicius, who, as Plutarch relates, wept when Brutus was summoned to appear before the judges. He was proscribed by the Triumvirs, and put to death. 113. that same] = Lat. iste, I. Schmidt. 114. a clock] is found in old writers as well as 66 o'clock," and there is no sufficient reason to alter the "a" into an "o," as is done by most editors. The "a" stands for the preposition 'an" (on) or "of." Compare line 116, "a-nights." M. Beljame quotes from 119. to blame] F 3, 4 ; too blame F 1, 2. Swift's Polite and Ingenious Conversation, a play of words upon the expression "a clock," which implies that he regarded “a clock," and not "o'clock," as the proper spelling and pronunciation. "Pray, miss, what's a clock." "Why, you must know; 'tis a thing like a bell, and you a fool that can't tell." 114. strucken] See note on i. 192. 116. a-nights] See 1. ii. 190. 118. So] also. See Abbott, sec. 65. 119. to blame] Abbott, sec. 73, suggests that here and in other passages, where the Folio reads "too blame," "blame" is an adjective, and "too" Now, Cinna; now, Metellus;' what, Trebonius! 120 I have an hour's talk in store for you; Remember that you call on me to-day: Be near me, that I may remember you. Treb. Cæsar, I will: and so near will I be, further. That your best friends shall wish I had been 125 Cas. 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! The heart of Brutus earns to think upon. [Exeunt. SCENE III.-The Same. A Street near the Capitol. Enter ARTEMIDORUS, reading a paper. Cæsar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; come not near Casca; have an eye to 129. earns] Ff, yearns Capell and later editors. means "excessively," as in 1 Henry IV. III. i. 177: "In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame." 120. Now, Cinna, etc.] Cæsar recognises and with princely courtesy addresses by name each of his visitors. 125. shall wish I had been further] This is an instance of the double meaning called dramatic irony. Cæsar is intended to understand that his friends will be envious of the favour shown to Trebonius. But the words bear another meaning to the spectators, who know that Cæsar's best friends will have a stronger and more unselfish reason for wishing that Trebonius had not come so near. The remark is treated as an "aside" by most editors. 128. That every like, etc.] This is an aside,' though not marked as such in the Folio. Brutus means that his heart is grieved at the thought as that all those who are like friends are 129. earns] grieves. Compare Henry V. II. iii. 6: "Falstaff he is dead and we must earn therefore." In this sense it is generally spelt "earne" or "erne" in the Folios, which is unnecessarily altered into "yearn" by later editors. The word takes the form of “erne” in Chaucer. Scene III. Artemidorus is described by Plutarch as "a doctor of rhetoric in the Greek tongue, who by means of his profession was very familiar with certain of Brutus' confederates, and therefore knew the most part of all their practices against Cæsar," Cinna; trust not Trebonius; mark well Metellus mind in all these men, and it is bent against 5 ARTEMIDORUS. ΙΟ Here will I stand till Cæsar pass along, If thou read this, O Cæsar! thou may'st live; 15 [Exit. SCENE IV.—The Same. Another Part of the Enter PORTIA and LUCIUS. Por. I prithee, boy, run to the senate-house; 7, 8. thou . . . you] This irregularity can hardly be explained. 8. security] here, as generally in Elizabethan writers, means not the absence of danger, but the absence of apprehension, which lays a man open to the attacks of conspirators. Compare Macbeth, III. v. 32: "And you all know security 9. lover] as in III. ii. 13, simply means "friend." 14. Out of the teeth of emulation] unassailed by envy. Spenser gives envy "cankred teeth" in F. Q. 1. i. xxx. 16. contrive] plot. Compare i. 158. Scene IV. Is mortal's chiefest enemy"; 2. thee] All through this scene and Massinger's Very Woman, i. 1: Portia is speaking to inferiors. She "To doubt is safer than to be therefore addresses them in the secure." singular, and is addressed by them in 8. gives way to] leaves the path the plural. See note on I. i. 12. open for. 3.] Steevens compares Catesby's Luc. To know thy errand, madam. Por. I would have had thee there, and here again, Luc. Ere I can tell thee what thou should'st do there. 5 Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue; Madam, what should I do? ΙΟ Run to the Capitol, and nothing else? And so return to you, and nothing else? Por. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well, Luc. I hear none, madam. Por. Prithee, listen well; I heard a bustling rumour, like a fray, 18. bustling] Rowe and later editors, bussling Ff. answer to a similar question put by Richard III. :— "First, mighty liege, tell me your highness' pleasure, What from your grace I shall deliver to him." Compare also Lear, v. iii. 248. 6. constancy] See note on II. i. 299. 7. Set a huge mountain] It appears from this scene that Brutus has yielded to her prayer, and told her his secret, although we are not told when he did so. 18. bustling rumour] The spelling of the Folios is "bussling" rumour. In all subsequent editions it is assumed that the second "s" is a misprint for "t." As, however, "buzzing" is spelt "bussing" in 2 Henry IV. III. i. II in the first and second 15 Folios, it is at least equally possible that an "1" has been wrongly inserted in the word by the printers, as in IV. iii. 267, where the first and second Folios read "slumbler." Compare also "alablaster" for "alabaster," in Othello, v. ii. 5. "Bustling" rather expresses hurried movement than indistinct noise. "Buzzing" seems a more natural word to express the indistinct murmurs of a multitude as in the passage quoted in Johnson's Dictionary from Hayward: Herewith arose a buzzing noise among them, as if it had been the rustling sound of the sea afar off." Nevertheless, out of deference to the consensus of all previous editors, I have not ventured to alter the received text. Whether we read buzzing |