II. i. 50. Took: the preterite form used for the participle. Owing to the tendency to drop the inflection -en the Elizabethan authors frequently used the curtailed forms of past participles which are common in Early English. Cf. Coriolanus, II. iii. 163, "Have you chose this man; also Henry VIII., II. iv. 30, "have I not strove to love." See also later, 1. 125 of this scene.

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II. i. 65. phantasma = =a ghost or apparition: existing only in the fancy. Cf. Milton, Paradise Lost, IV. 813, "forge illusions as he list, phantasms and dreams." Cf. Bullokar, English Expositor, on the term. II. i. 66. The genius and the mortal instruments the soul and the physical powers. "Genius" in Shakespeare has many diverse significations, as for example in Antony and Cleopatra, II. iii. 19, where it is spoken of as an angel" or "dæmon," viz., "thy demon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee; in Macbeth, III. i. 56, it is equivalent to devil," while in The Tempest, IV. i. 27, "the strong'st suggestion our worser genius can," it is synonymous with our evil passions.

II. i. 67. the state of man= the whole organism known as man. King Lear, III. i. 10, "his little world of man.

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Cf.

II. i. 70. Your brother Cassius. He had married the sister of Brutus, Junia, surnamed Tertia. She survived her husband sixty-four years. II. i. 75. may: originally meant "to be able." A.S. magan and German mogen. Cf. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, “ Knight's Tale,” l. 1453, "Now helpe me, ladye, sith ye may and kan," meaning if you have the power and knowledge or skill.

66

II. i. 76. mark of favour=any visible distinction in feature or dress.

II. i. 78. shamest thou art thou ashamed. Note the intransitive sense here of the verb. The A.S. sceamian was rarely used save in an intransitive sense.

II. i. 83. If thou path = if thou walk. The intransitive use of a very rare verb. Drayton uses it in the Polyolbion, Bk. ii. l. 55, “her passage Wey doth path; also transitively in his Heroical Epistles-“ Duke Humphrey to Elinor Cobham,” “ 'Pathing Young Henry's unadvised ways." II. i. 86. Too bold upon your rest = too bold in intruding on your rest. II. i. 104. That fret the clouds that mark them with interlacing lines like fretwork.

II. i. 112. all over without exception.

II. i. 115 Sufferance . . . abuse = the suffering we are enduring and the political wrong doing that prevails at this time.

II. i. 118. high-sighted tyranny: tyranny with lofty and supercilious looks.

II. i. 119. each man drop by lottery: draw the lot assigned by fate.

Perhaps Shakespeare alluded to the custom of decimation, the selection by lot for death of every tenth soldier, when punishment was being meted out for mutiny. Cf. Timon of Athens, V. iv. 31.

II. i. 129. swear: note the transitive sense of swear when it implies to take an oath: cautelous, craftily cautious. Cautel, in the sense of deceit, is found in Hamlet, I. iii. 15, "no soil nor cautel doth besmirch."

II. i. 130, 131. old feeble carrions . . . welcome wrongs = carcases, a contemptuous description. Cf. Henry V., IV. ii. 39.

II. i. 133. even: stainless, flawless, always maintaining the same standard. Cf. Pope's Eloisa to Abelard, "desires composed affections ever even." II. i. 134. insuppressive: that cannot be suppressed. Note the passive sense contained in this word. Other adjectives ending in -ive, which have a passive signification, are “incomprehensive,” that cannot be comprehended, Troilus and Cressida, III. iii. 198; "plausive," worthy of being applauded, Hamlet, I. iv. 30; "inexpressive," that cannot be expressed, As You Like It, III. ii. 10; “respective," worthy of respect, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, IV. iv. 200.

II. i. 135. To think by thinking. The infinitive here stands for the gerund. "To" was originally used not with the infinitive but the gerund in e, and like the Latin ad with the gerund in -dum of the accusative denoted a purpose; thus, to love was to lovene. Gradually, as to" superseded the proper infinitival inflection, "to" was used in other senses, and for any form of the gerund as well as the infinitive. Thus, I will not shame myself to give(by giving) you this,” Merchant of Venice, IV. i. 431.

II. i. 136. Did need = could need.

II. i. 150. break with him: break the matter to him. Cf. Macbeth, I. vii. 48, "What beast was't then, that made you break this enterprise to me.'

II. i. 164. Envy : here has the sense of ill-will and hatred. Coriolanus, III. iii. 3, "Enforce him with his envy to the people.' Cf. 1. 178.

II. i. 187. take thought: become sad, give way to melancholy.
II. i. 190. No fear=no cause for fear.

II. i. 192. The clock hath stricken three: the Romans had clepsydras or water-clocks, but these had no mechanism for striking hours.

II. i. 196. The main opinion: the confident or fixed opinion. II. i. 198. Those apparent prodigies: those prodigies apparent to all. II. i. 204. Unicorns: In Topsell's History of Beasts the following information is given, which explains the reference. "He (the unicorn) is an enemy to lions, wherefore, as soon as ever a lion seeth a unicorn, he runneth to a tree for succour, that so when the unicorn maketh force at him, he may not only avoid his horn but also destroy him. For the unicorn .. runneth against the tree wherein his sharp horn sticketh fast, and the lion

then falleth upon him and killeth him." For a metrical paraphrase of this passage cf. Spenser, Færie Queen, II. v. 87, or stanza 10; also Chapman's Bussy D'Ambois, I. i. 121.

II. i. 204, 205. bears with glasses, elephants with holes: this refers to the manner of catching bears and leopards with mirrors, and elephants

by digging great pits in the ground, mentioned in Batman Uppon Bartholeme (Ed. 1582), p. 384, and Pliny VIII., canto 8. Also, for an example of this method of capturing leopards, see the illustration below taken from Somerville's Chase, Bk. III. 261.

II. i. 215. Caius Ligarius: his real name was Quintus, but the mistake is North's, not Shakespeare's. II. i. 218. along by him: along by his house.

II. i. 219. fashion him: shape him to our designs.

II. i. 224. fresh and merrily : in the case where two adverbs come together it is not uncommon in Shakespeare to find that one only has an adverbial termination. Cf. Richard 11., I. iii. 3, "Spright fully and bold; " Measure for Measure, V. i. 36, "bitterly and strange;" Richard III., III. iv. 50, "cheerfully and smooth."

II. i. 227. formal constancy: dignified self-possession. Cf. Macbeth, II. ii. 68.

II. i. 255. Dear my lord: In this transposition the pronoun, as in the case of the French monsieur, milord, becomes almost one with the noun. Cf. The Tempest, IV. i. 204, "Good my lord ; Romeo and Juliet, III. v. 200, "Sweet my mother;" Troilus and Cressida, V. ii. 109, "poor our sex.' II. i. 261. physical: healthy. Cf. Coriolanus, I. v. 19.

II. i, 268. Sickoffence: cause of hurtful malady.

II. i. 271. I charm you: I appeal to you by the charms of my beauty, as magicians by the charms of their art. Cf. Lucrece, 1681.

II. i. 307. construe: explain; often pronounced "conster."

II. i. 308. charactery: the written characters, Merry Wives of Windsor, V. v. 77.

II. i. 312. how: an expression of surprise at seeing him so soon. Cf. King Lear, I. i. 96, and Othello, III. iv. 84.

II. i. 313. Vouchsafe good morrow, etc. : note the ellipsis here. The sentence should read, “vouchsafe to receive good morrow." Cf. Cymbeline, I. i. 124, "When shall we see again '=see one another again."

II. i. 315. Kerchief: it was a common practice in Shakespeare's time for the sick to wear a kerchief tied round the head, and he of course described the customs of his own age. Cf. Fuller's Worthies.

II. i. 323. Like an exorcist: the accent here is on the first syllable. II. i. 324. mortified spirit = spirit that was dead in me. Cf. Macbeth, V. 25.

II. i. 326. whats to do: note the infinitive active used for the passive. This is often the case in Shakespeare. Cf. Sonnets, 129, also later in this same scene, 1. 119.

II. i. 331. To whom : i.e, to him to whom. In 308, "Who's that knocks" who's that who knocks, there was an instance of the relative absorbed in the demonstrative: we have here an instance of the demonstrative absorbed in the relative.

SCENE II. Interview between Cæsar and Calpurnia.

A Roman Augur (II. ii, 37).

II. ii. 5. present sacrifice= do sacrifice immediately. Measure for Measure, II. iv. 152, “Sign me a present pardon."

cere

II. ii. 13. stood on monies: attached superstitious regard to prodigies.

II. ii. 18. yielded up their dead. Cf. Shakespeare's reference to this circumstance in Hamlet, I. i. 113

"C ... ere the mighty Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead

Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets."

The ghosts of the departed were not supposed to be endowed with a voice that could be raised above a whisper. Cf. Odyssey, Bk. xxiv. 11. 5-8, and Matthew xxvii. 51-53.

II. ii. 37. augurer = correct form augur-those who foretold the future from the entrails of animals. See Glossary. For example, see illustration.

II. ii. 42-43. should ... should: for the first of these "shoulds" we

now would read "would." Were the clause conditional, the second one ought then to be read "would."

II. ii. 76. statuë: this word must be scanned as a trisyllable, as in Act III. Sc. ii. 186 and Richard III., III. vii. 25.

II. ii. 89. tinctures: Malone explains this by saying that at the execution of several of our ancient nobility, martyrs, etc., handkerchiefs were "tinctured" or stained with their blood, and preserved as affectionate memorials of the deceased. This also occurred at the execution of both the Earls of Argyll in Edinburgh in 1661 and 1685.

II. ii. 89. cognizance = a term in heraldry meaning a distinguishing or device. The Romans would wear their handkerchiefs dipped in Cæsar's blood as badges to indicate they were his followers. Cf. 1 Henry VI., II. iv. 108.

II. ii. 96. A mock apt to be rendered: a taunt likely to be cast. Cf. Much Ado About Nothing, II. i. 213.

II. ii. 103. Proceeding: your welfare or success. The true meaning of procedo was to go on ahead, then to advance, make progress, or increase. II. ii. 104. Reason to my love is liable: my reason is subject to my love and is therefore apt to be influenced unduly by it. Cf. for this signification of liable, Act I. Sc. ii. 199.

II. ii. 110. Are you stirred: are you astir.

II. ii. 121. Hour's: must be scanned as a dissyllable, as is the case in Love's Labour's Lost, II. i. 68. In the same way the pronunciation of "fire," "year,' ," "more," etc., vary in accordance with the exigencies of

the verse.

II. ii. 128. Every like is not the same: mere resemblances are not absolute identities; in other words, "All that glitters is not gold."

SCENE III. The attempt of Artemedorus, the soothsayer, to warn Cæsar.

II. iii. 8. Gives way affords an opportunity to. Cf. later, IV. iii. 39 and 2 Henry IV., V. ii. 82, “I gave bold way to my authority."

II. iii. 14. Emulation: maliciously jealous rivalry. Cf. Troilus and Cressida, I. iii. 134, "An envious fever of pale and bloodless emulation." II. iii. 15. Fates: the three sisters, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. II. iii. 15. Contrive: plot.

SCENE IV. We have seen the form which the anxiety of Calpurnia, the wife of Cæsar, took. In this scene we are shown how it affected Portia, the wife of Brutus. As Dr Aldis Wright says, Portia is agitated by possessing what she desired, for she is no Lady Macbeth.