Tre. There is no fear in him ; let him not die; For he will live and laugh at this hereafter. Bru, Peace! count the clock. Tre. Tis time to part. [Clock strikes Three. Cas. The clock has stricken three. If Cæsar will come forth to-day, or no ; For I can give his humour the true bent; Cas. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him. Bru. Now, good Metellus, go along to him: He loves me well; and I have given him reasons; Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him. Cas. The morning comes upon 's; we will leave you, Brutus ; And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember What you have said, and show yourselves true Ro mans, Bru. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily; Let not our looks put on our purposes; But bear it, as our Roman actors do, [Exeunt all but BRUTUS. Enter PORTIA. Por. Brutus, my lord! Bru. Portia, what mean you?—wherefore rise you now? It is not for your health, thus to commit Stolen from my bed: and yesternight at supper, Bru. I am not well in health, and that is all. And will he steal out of his wholesome bed, Which, by the right and virtue of my place, Bru. Kneel not, gentle Portia. Por. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus. Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus, Is it excepted, I should know no secrets That appertain to you? am I yourself, But, as it were, in sort or limitation ? To keep with you at meals, consort your bed, And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs 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 se cret. I grant, I am a woman; but withal, A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife. Tell me your counsels; I will not disclose them. Here, in the arm :-Can I bear that with patience, Bru. O ye gods, Render me worthy of this noble wife! [Knock. Hark! hark! one knocks-Portia, go in a while; And, by and by, thy bosom shall partake The secrets of my heart. [Exeunt. SCENE III. CESAR'S Palace. Thunder and Lightning. Enter JULIUS CÆSAR. Cas. Nor heaven, nor earth, have been at peace tonight; Thrice hath Calphurnia in her sleep cry'd out, (6 Help, ho! they murder Cæsar !"Who's within? Serv. My lord. Enter a SERVANT. Cas. Go, bid the priests do present sacrifice; And bring me their opinions of success. Serv. I will, my lord. Enter CALPHURNIA. [Exit. Cal. What mean you, Cæsar? think you to walk' forth? 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 Cal. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies, That graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead. O Cæsar! these things are beyond all use, And I do fear them. Cas. What can be avoided, Whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods? Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets seen? The heav'ns themselves blaze forth the death of princes. Cas. Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once: Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear: Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come, when it will come. Enter a SERVANT. What say the Augurs? Serv. They would not have you to stir forth, today. Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, They could not find a heart within the beast. [Exit SERVANT. Cas. The gods do this in shame of cowardice: Cæsar should be a beast without a heart, If he should stay at home, to-day, for fear. No, Cæsar shall not. Cal. Alas, my lord, Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence: Do not go forth, to-day; call it my fear, That keeps you in the house, and not your own. Cas. Mark Antony shall say, I am not well; |