Call Claudius and some other of my men ; I'll have them sleep on cushions in my tent. Luc. Varro! and Claudius!

Enter VARRO and CLAUDIUS.

Var. Calls my lord?

Bru. I pray you, sirs, lie in my tent and sleep:
It may be I shall raise you by and by
On business to my brother Cassius.

245

Var. So please you, we will stand and watch your pleasure.
Bru. I will not have it so; lie down, good sirs;

It may be I shall otherwise bethink me.
Look, Lucius, here's the book I sought for so;

I put it in the pocket of my gown.

250

[Varro and Claudius lie down.

Luc. I was sure your lordship did not give it me.

241, 243, 288, 289, 298. Claudius] Claudio Ff. 243, 288. Varro]

Varrus Ff.

of the first Folio makes excellent sense. The second Folio follows the first, but instead of "not" gives the misprint "art. It is probable that

two names being misspelt in opposite ways. As the wrong spelling is not traceable to North, we may alter it. 250. otherwise bethink me] change my mind.

the editors of the third Folio followed the second, but omitted the mean-251. Look, Lucius] The conversaingless "art." The fourth Folio tion between Brutus and his attendant followed the third. It is, however, may be compared with that between possible with little alteration to get Desdemona and her attendant, Bianca, good sense and metre out of the read- which has a similar position in the ing of the third and fourth Folios, if we end of the fourth act of Othello. Both read: Poor knave, I blame thee ! scenes are pervaded with a feeling of Thou art over-watched." For the con- drowsiness and peaceful tranquillity, struction, compare Othello, v. ii. 219: which agreeably relieves the strain to ""Twill out, 'twill out. I peace!" and which our feelings are subjected by Swift's indignant exclamation: "I the highly-wrought scene that has to such blockheads set my wit!' gone before, and by the tragic conclusion of the drama which we know to be imminent. In both cases the ease and natural simplicity of the conversation conceal the dramatist's consummate art,

240. o'erwatched] wearied out with watching, as in P. Ž. ii. 288: Seafaring men o'erwatched."

243. Varro and Claudius] appear in the Folio as Varrus and Claudio, the

Bru. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful.

Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile,
And touch thy instrument a strain or two?

Luc. Ay, my lord, an 't please you.

Bru.

255

It does, my boy.

I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing. Luc. It is my duty, sir.

Bru. I should not urge thy duty past thy might;

I know young bloods look for a time of rest.

Luc. I have slept, my lord, already.

Bru. It was well done, and thou shalt sleep again;

I will not hold thee long: if I do live,

260

I will be good to thee. [Music, and a Song. 265
This is a sleepy tune: O murderous slumber!
Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy,
That plays thee music? Gentle knave, good
night;

I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee.

266. slumber] F 3, 4; slumbler F 1, 2:

254. Bear with me] be patient with

"But whenas Morpheus with his leaden mace

Arrested all that courtly company."

66

In that passage, as in this, the metaphor compares sleep to an officer making an arrest with the mace, his symbol of authority, like the sergeant in the Comedy of Errors, IV. iii. 28, that when gentlemen are tired, gives them a sob and 'rests them," and sets up his rest to do more exploits with his mace than a morris pike." Dromio's play upon the different meanings of "rest" and rest suggests the same comparison, which is also applied to death in Hamlet, v. ii. 348, where the "fell sergeant, Death, is strict in his arrest.'

269.] Compare the story of

If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument; 270
I'll take it from thee; and, good boy, good night.
Let me see, let me see; is not the leaf turn'd down
Where I left reading? Here it is, I think.

Enter the Ghost of CÆSAR.

How ill this taper burns!

here?

Ha! who comes

275

I think it is the weakness of mine eyes

That shapes this monstrous apparition.
It comes upon me. Art thou any thing?

Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil,
That mak'st my blood cold and my hair to stare ?
Speak to me what thou art.

Ghost. Thy evil spirit, Brutus.

Bru.

280

Why com'st thou ?

Ghost. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi.

Bru. Well; then I shall see thee again? Ghost. Ay, at Philippi.

Mahomet and the cat which was sleeping on the skirt of his robe when he had to go to prayers. Rather than disturb the cat, he cut off from his robe the piece of cloth on which the cat was lying.

272. leaf turn'd down] Ancient books were in the form of rolls and had no leaves to turn down.

274. How ill this taper burns] "The light of the lamp that waxed very dim" (Plutarch).

276. apparition] The apparition that appears is described in the stagedirection as "the ghost of Cæsar," and this is confirmed by v. v. 18. In Plutarch we are told that "a horrible vision of a man, of a wonderful greatness and dreadful look," appeared to

Brutus, but it is not called Cæsar's ghost.

277. Art thou any thing?] In Plutarch, Cassius discussing the vision tells Brutus that according to the Epicureans the senses, when idle, "are induced to imagine they see and conjecture that which in truth they do not.'

279. stare] stand on end. Compare Tempest, 1. ii. 213: "With hair upstaring." In Hamlet, I. v. 18, the ghost says that the tale of the secrets of his prison-house would make his hearer's "knotted and combined locks to part,

And each particular hair to stand

on end,

Like quills upon the fretful porpentine,"

Bru. Why, I will see thee at Philippi then.

285 [Ghost vanishes.

Now I have taken heart thou vanishest:

Ill spirit, I would hold more talk with thee.

Boy! Lucius! Varro! Claudius! Sirs, awake!
Claudius!

Luc. The strings, my lord, are false.

Bru. He thinks he still is at his instrument.

290

Lucius, awake!

Luc. My lord!

Bru. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst out?

Luc. My lord, I do not know that I did cry.

Bru. Yes, that thou didst.

295

Didst thou see anything?

Bru. Why did you so cry out, sirs, in your sleep?

Var., Clau. Did we, my lord?

Bru.

Ay: saw you any thing?

Nor I, my lord.

Var. No, my lord, I saw nothing.

Clau.

Bru. Go and commend me to my brother Cassius; 305

Bid him set on his powers betimes before,

And we will follow.

Var., Clau.

285. I will see thee] This composed remark indicates the absence of fear.

285. then] in that case. Brutus is

It shall be done, my lord.

[Exeunt.

not alarmed with vague fears on
account of the apparition.
306. powers] forces.

ACT V

SCENE I-The Plains of Philippi.

Enter OCTAVIUS, ANTONY, and their Army.
Oct. Now, Antony, our hopes are answered:

You said the enemy would not come down,
But keep the hills and upper regions;
It proves not so; their battles are at hand;
They mean to warn us at Philippi here,
Answering before we do demand of them.
Ant. Tut! I am in their bosoms, and I know

Wherefore they do it: they could be content
To visit other places; and come down
With fearful bravery, thinking by this face
To fasten in our thoughts that they have courage;
But 'tis not so.

5

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