Cas. The morning comes upon us. you, Brutus; We'll leave And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember [Exeunt all but BRUTUS. Por. Enter PORTIA. Brutus, my lord! Bru. Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rise you now? It is not for your health, thus to commit Your weak condition to the raw-cold morning. Por. Nor for yours, neither. You have ungently, Stole from my bed; and yesternight, at supper, I urged you further; then you scratched your head, Which seemed too much enkindled; and, withal, 1 "Let not our faces put on, that is, wear or show our designs." 2 Shapes created by imagination. Hoping it was but an effect of humor, Bru. Why, so I do.-Good Portia, go to bed. 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, comfort your bed, 1 Condition is temper, disposition, demeanor. 2 "I charm you." This is the reading of the old copy, which Pope and Hanmer changed to "I charge you," without necessity. To charm is to invoke or entreat by words or other fascinating means. 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 honorable 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. Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose them. Here in the thigh. Can I bear that with patience, Bru. O ye gods, Render me worthy of this noble wife! [Knocking within. Hark, hark! one knocks. Portia, go in a while; And by and by thy bosom shall partake The secrets of my heart. All my engagements I will construe to thee, All the charactery1 of my sad brows. Leave me with haste. [Exit PORTIA. Enter LUCIUS and LIGARIUS. Lucius, who is that knocks? Luc. Here is a sick man, that would speak with you. Bru. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.Boy, stand aside.-Caius Ligarius! how? Lig. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue. 1 Charactery is defined "writing by characters or strange marks." In The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act v. Sc. 1, it is said, “Fairies use flowers for their charactery." Bru. O, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius, To wear a kerchief! 'Would you were not sick! Lig. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand Any exploit worthy the name of honor. Bru. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius, Had you a healthful ear to hear of it. Lig. By all the gods that Romans bow before, Brave son, derived from honorable loins! 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, I shall unfold to thee, as we are going, To whom it must be done. Lig. Set on your foot; And, with a heart new-fired, I follow you, Bru. Follow me, then. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. A Room in Cæsar's Palace. Thunder and lightning. Enter CESAR, in his night-gown. Cæs. Nor heaven, nor earth, have been at peace to-night; Thrice hath Calphurnia in her sleep cried out, 1 Here, and in all other places, Shakspeare uses exorcist for one who raises spirits, not one who lays them. But it has been erroneously said that he is singular in this use of the word. 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 threat ened me, Ne'er looked but on my back; when they shall see Cal. Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies,1 And graves have yawned, and yielded up their dead; The noise of battle hurtled in the air; And ghosts did shriek, and squeal about the streets. And I do fear them. Cæs. What can be avoided, Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods? Yet Cæsar shall go forth; for these predictions Are to the world in general, as to Cæsar. Cal. When beggars die, there are no comets seen; The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.3 1 Never paid a regard to prodigies or omens. 2 To hurtle is to clash, or move with violence and noise. 3 Henry Howard, earl of Northampton, in his Defensative against the |