Difference in Accentuation.-S.'s accentuation, or method of pronunciation, was not the same as ours. Thus we find 'porténts' (I. ii. 80); 'compact,' (subst.) in III. i. 215; 'miscónstrued' (v. iii. 84); and 'charáctery' (II. i. 308).

Ed final is indifferently mute or sonant. Cf. IV. i. 46-7—

How covert mátt | ers máy | be bést | disclosed, |

And óp en pér | ils súr | est answered.

Cf. also II. i. 208; 1. i. 17; г. ii. 10.

Alexandrines.—Though S. most commonly used a verse of five accents, yet sometimes (though very rarely) he seems to have admitted six. This kind of verse is called an Alexandrine, as in Dryden's line : And now by winds and wáves | my life | less limbs are tossed .' The last line of the Spenserian stanza is an Alexandrine; and, as Spenser published his Faerie Queene in 1590, S. must have been familiar with the metre. The following lines in Julius Cæsar conform to this metre

(a) Cass. And beár | the pálm | alóne. | Bru.

Another gén | eral shoút..-I. ii. 131. (b) And these does shé | applý | for warnings and | porténts.-II. ii. 80. (c) Is like to láy | upón us (=upon's). |

Cass.

and possibly

I am glad that mý | weak wórds.-
.-I. ii. 175.

(d) Took it too eág | erlý: | his sóld | iers féll | to spoíl.-v. iii. 7.

SOME NOTES ON OLD OR UNUSUAL GRAMMAR

N.B.-Most of the following grammatical peculiarities have already been commented on in the general notes. The various instances are here collected together under separate heads.]

A—a corrupted form of the preposition on. In this play we find the ordinary forms, awhile,' asleep,' alive,' etc., and in 1. ii. 222, 'The people fell a-shouting' (=on shouting, shouting' being the verbal noun). We still preserve (as a vulgar idiom) 'I was a-doing of it.' This is exactly paralleled in v. iii. 38, And then I swore thee, saving of thy life" (=a-saving of thy life).

Adjective used for Adverb.

'Some will dear abide it' (III. ii. 115).

'Thou couldst not die more honourable' (v. i. 60).

'I held Epicurus strong' (v. i. 77), etc.

So in honourable-dangerous,' 'strange-disposed,' and generalhonest,' the first adjective serves as an adverb to the second.

Anacolouthon (a Greek word which means 'inconsequent') is a construction in which the grammatical sequence is not preserved, as in II. i. 114-16, 'If not the face of men, The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse,-If these be motives weak.' Cf. III. ii. 126-30, 'I had rather choose to wrong the dead than I will wrong such honourable men. See also IV. iii. 220, and Iv. iii. 152-3.

NOTES ON OLD OR UNUSUAL GRAMMAR

125

As as a relative pronoun used for which.—This use again is preserved in the vulgar idiom, 'That's the man as I saw.' The regular correlations are 'such-as' and 'that-which.' But S. also used 'suchwhich,' and thus naturally uses 'that-as,' where 'as' is used for ' which.'

'I have not from your eyes that gentleness

And show of love as I was wont to have.'-I. ii. 33.

Under these hard conditions as this time

Is like to lay on us.'-I. ii. 174-5.

N.B.-'As' is still used regularly as a relative pronoun after 'such,' and so often in S.

Be-the verb 'to be' used with perfect participles instead of 'have.' We still say he is gone,' he has gone.' The is expresses the present state, the has the activity necessary to cause the present state (Abbott, par. 295).

'The noble Brutus is ascended.'-II. ii. 11.

'Brutus and Cassius Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome.'-III. ii. 270.

'My life is run his compass.'-v. iii. 25.

'How everything is chanced.'-v. iv. 32.

Double Negative. This use is very common in S., and was employed (as it still is colloquially) for the sake of greater emphasis. Chaucer used as many as four negatives in one couplet—

'He never yit no vilanye ne saide

In all his life unto no maner wight.'

And S. has in this play, II. i. 231-Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies,' and six lines below-'Nor for yours neither.' In III. i. 91 -'Nor to no Roman else,' etc.

Double Superlative is also used for emphasis' sake. Cf. 'most boldest' (III. i. 121), and 'most unkindest' (III. ii. 184).

Ethic Dative.-See note on I. ii. 264. Instances: 'He plucked me ope his doublet (1. ii. 266); 'You'll bear me a bang for that' (III. iii. 19).

Had rather be. Had is a subjunctive, and the phrase I would have rather (i.e. I would prefer) to be.

His for its.

'Brutus had rather be a villager.'-1. ii. 172.

'Had you rather Cæsar were living.'—III. ii. 23.

pronoun neuter.

His is simply the original genitive of the third personal
The use of its' in S.'s time was rare.

'That same eye whose bend doth awe the world Did lose his lustre.'-
I. ii. 122.

'Humour Which sometime hath his hour with every man.'-II. i. 251. 'That every nice offence should bear his comment.'-IV. iii. 8.

K

Infinitive, Indefinite or Gerundial use of.-See Abbott, par. 356. Instances are very frequent; amongst others are:

'This disturbed sky is not to walk in' (=fit for walking in).—I. iii. 39, 40.

'I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it' (=by telling).-III. ii. 151.

Cf. also III. i. 39, 40, г. ii. 253, Iv. iii. 10 and 30, etc.

96

Participles, Irregular Forms of.—In S.'s time inflections were being rapidly got rid of, and there was a tendency to drop them whenever they occurred, especially the -en of the perfect participles. Thus we find in this play 'took' for 'taken,' 'spoke' for 'spoken,' 'stole' for 'stolen,' 'rid' for 'ridden.' On the other hand, we find the -en retained in 'stricken,' and 'strucken' for 'struck'; and also 'unshaked' irregularly used for 'unshaken.' There is also the curious form (III. ii. 68) beholding' for 'beholden'; where it appears S. fancied that -ing was equivalent to -en, the old affix of the Passive Participle (A.S.G., 372).

Participle, used with Be.--See under Be.

Plural Subject used with Singular Verb.-I. iii. 138, 'There's two or three of us'; and III. ii. 27, 'There is tears for his love.' (In these two the subject 'is as yet future, and, as it were, unsettled,' and the speaker is uncertain whether he is going to follow on with a singular or plural noun. Cf. 1. iii. 148. Again, 1. iii. 155, 'Three parts of him is ours already.' (The three parts are regarded as one whole.)

Save I, Save he (III. ii. 62, and v. v. 69). These phrases are nominatives absolute, and 'save I'I being saved or excepted. But cf. III. i. 94-5, 'Let no man abide this deed but we the doers.' Here probably the nominative is used erroneously after the preposition but.' The confusion arises from the fact that 'but' is a conjunction, as well as a preposition.

Singular Subject used with Plural Verb.-Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace to-night' (II. ii. 1). That is, they both have been disturbed, and so the plural is logically, though not grammatically, correct. Cf. also IV. iii. 154-5, 'Young Octavius with Mark Antony have made themselves so strong. The idea here is a plural one, and therefore, logically again, takes a plural verb. But in v. i. 33, 'The posture of your blows are yet unknown '-we have a sheer grammatical blunder, due to the fact that a plural (blows) immediately precedes the verb.

So and Such followed by that.—

I. ii. 312-'Who so firm that cannot be seduced?'

I. iii. 116-17-'To such a man That is no fleering tell-tale.'

Than me. This is now usually accounted bad grammar. But in I. iii. 76 we find—' A man no mightier than thyself or me.'

=

That that which, what.-Cf. in the Prayer Book, 'Do always that is righteous in thy sight,' and 1. ii. 310-'From that it is disposed.' IV. iii. 64-‘You have done that you should be sorry for.' Cf. also v. v. 69, 70.

Verbal Noun.-See under A.

You were best (III. iii. 12).-The original idiom was 'it were you best,' where 'you' is the dative and="for you.' (So we now say if you please,' 'you' being again the dative.) But as most people think that 'you' is the subject of 'please,' so S. misunderstood the real case of you,' and used it as the nominative to 'were.'

ANACHRONISMS

1. Of Dress. He plucked me ope his doublet' (1. ii. 265). A doublet (which after S.'s time became a waistcoat) was a short coat or

jacket worn by Elizabethan men and women. Twice in this play (1. iii. 48 and II. i. 262) S. speaks of a man being 'unbraced,' i. e. having his doublet open and unbuttoned. A Roman could not 'walk unbraced,' first, because the toga, the Roman dress, had no buttons; and secondly, because, being somewhat of the nature of a blanket, it would, if loosened from off the body, be in danger of falling off altogether.-'Pocket of my gown' (Iv. iii. 253). Togas had no pockets. Hats plucked about their ears' (II. i. 73). S. is thinking of the slouched hats of his own time. See note on this passage. 2. Of Time. The clock hath stricken three' (II. i. 192). Striking clocks were not invented till after the eleventh century A.D. The Romans told the time either from a sun-dial or from a water-clock, called a clepsydra, which was constructed on the principle of an hourglass.-Eighth hour' and 'ninth hour' (II. i. 213 and II. iv. 23). This is the modern way of reckoning. The Romans counted their hours from 6 A.M., and the above-mentioned hours would therefore be 2 and 3 P. M. respectively.

3. The watch (II. ii. 16).—S. is thinking of London watchmen. Night-watchmen were only established in Rome by Augustus (Octavius) after Cæsar's death.

4. 'Leaf turned down' (IV. iii. 273).—The liber, or book, of the Romans was a long roll of papyrus, which had to be unwound to be read (hence our word volume,' from volumen, a roll), and of which you could not therefore turn down a leaf. The libellus, or little book, did, however, consist of a few leaves of parchment or papyrus bound together. Still it would be difficult (supposing Brutus' book were a libellus) to 'dog's-ear' papyrus or parchment.

HISTORICAL INACCURACIES

1. Cæsar celebrated his triumph for the victory of Munda (in which Pompey's sons were defeated) in October 45 B.C. S. makes the date of the triumph coincide with the festival of Lupercalia, in February

44 B.C.

2. The death of Cæsar took place in Pompey's Curia, which lay in the Campus Martius. S. puts it in the Capitol. (See III. i., stage directions, and 1. 12.)

At

3. That day he overcame the Nervii' (III. ii. 174)—at which battle Antony is represented as being present. Cæsar won his victory over the Nervii (a tribe who inhabited the modern Belgium) in 57 B.C. that time Antony was in Greece, where he had taken refuge from his creditors, and he did not join Cæsar in Gaul till 54 B.C.

4. S. makes the triumvirs (Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus) meet for the first time in Rome (see IV. i., stage directions, and 1. 11). They really met near the town of Bolonia (Bologna).

5. Portia's death (1v. iii. 157).-Portia only killed herself after the death of Brutus in 42 B.C.

6. S. confines the battle of Philippi to one day, though dividing the battle into two engagements (Iv. iii. 110), and makes Brutus and Cassius die on the same day. There were two battles of Philippi, and the second was not fought till twenty days after the first. Cassius died in the course of the first; Brutus after the second.

7. Cæsar's gardens 'on this side Tiber' (III. ii. 251). They were really on the other side of the river. See note on the passage.

EXAMINATION PAPERS

I

1. What were the sights' to be seen in the streets of Rome just before Cæsar's death? Illustrate by short quotations.

2. Sketch the character of Cæsar as presented to us by S.

3. By whom, to whom, and on what occasion were the following lines uttered?

(i) You cruel men of Rome, knew you not Pompey?

(ii) He is a noble Roman and well given.

(iii) If these be motives weak, break off betimes.
(iv) Brutus, as you know, was Cæsar's angel.

(v) Be angry when you will, it shall have scope.

4. In what sense does S. use the following words in this play?— Commend, entertain, physical, success, ventures, and vouchsafe. Quote the lines in which they occur.

5. Give the meaning and derivation of the following: Yearns, cautelous, bootless, rascal, trash.

6. Explain the points of grammar in the following passages:—
(i) There's two or three of us.

(ii) Every nice offence should bear his comment.
(iii) The posture of your blows are yet unknown.
(iv) So please you come.

(v) Myself have letters of the selfsame tenour.

7. Write notes on Plutus, Anchises, Lupercal, Pompey's porch, Até.

II

1. Who were Strato, Messala, and the two Cinnas, and what part does each take in the action of the play?

2. Give some instances of anachronisms that occur in this play. 3. By whom, to whom, and on what occasion were the following lines uttered?

(i) Our legions are brim-full.

(ii) This was the noblest Roman of them all.

(iii) All pity choked with custom of fell deeds.

(iv) You have some sick offence within your mind.
(v) Accoutred as I was, I plunged in.

Continue any two of these lines.