_Alarums. Enter_ CASSIUS _and_ TITINIUS
CASSIUS. O, look, Titinius, look, the villains fly!
Myself have to mine own turn'd enemy.
This ensign here of mine was turning back;
I slew the coward, and did take it from him.
TITINIUS. O Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early; 5
Who, having some advantage on Octavius,
Took it too eagerly: his soldiers fell to spoil,
Whilst we by Antony are all enclos'd.
_Enter_ PINDARUS
PINDARUS. Fly further off, my lord, fly further off;
Mark Antony is in your tents, my lord: 10
Fly, therefore, noble Cassius, fly far off.
CASSIUS. This hill is far enough. Look, look, Titinius;
Are those my tents where I perceive the fire?
[Note: SCENE III Capell | Scene continued in Pope.]
[Note 3: 'Ensign' was used in the Elizabethan time, as it is
still, either for the flag (cf. V, i, 80) or for the bearer of
it: here it is used for both at once. Cf. the form 'ancient,'
_Othello_, I, i, 33. It was in killing the cowardly ensign
that Cassius "to his own turn'd enemy."]
[Page 154]
TITINIUS. They are, my lord.
CASSIUS. Titinius, if thou lovest me,
Mount thou my horse, and hide thy spurs in him, 15
Till he have brought thee up to yonder troops,
And here again; that I may rest assur'd
Whether yond troops are friend or enemy.
TITINIUS. I will be here again, even with a thought. [_Exit_]
CASSIUS. Go, Pindarus, get higher on that hill; 20
My sight was ever thick; regard Titinius,
And tell me what thou not'st about the field.
[PINDARUS _ascends the hill_]
This day I breathed first: time is come round,
And where I did begin, there shall I end;
My life is run his compass. Sirrah, what news? 25
PINDARUS. [_Above_] O my lord!
CASSIUS. What news?
PINDARUS. [_Above_] Titinius is enclosed round about
With horsemen, that make to him on the spur;
Yet he spurs on. Now they are almost on him. 30
Now, Titinius! Now some light. O, he lights too:
He's ta'en. [_Shout_] And, hark! they shout for joy.
[Note 20: /higher/ F1 | thither F2 F3 F4.]
[Note 22: [PINDARUS _ascends_...] Camb | Ff omit.]
[Note 28: [_Above_] Ff omit.]
[Note 32: /He's ta'en/ | Ff print as separate line.]
[Note 16: /yonder troops./ Messala and his escort coming from
Brutus.]
[Note 19: /with a thought:/ quick as thought. Cf. _The
Tempest_, IV, i, 64.]
[Note 20-21: "Cassius himself was at length compelled to fly
... into a little hill from whence they might see ... howbeit
Cassius saw nothing, for his sight was very bad."--Plutarch,
_Marcus Brutus_.]
[Page 155]
CASSIUS. Come down; behold no more.
O, coward that I am, to live so long,
To see my best friend ta'en before my face! 35
PINDARUS _descends_
Come hither, sirrah:
In Parthia did I take thee prisoner;
And then I swore thee, saving of thy life,
That whatsoever I did bid thee do,
Thou shouldst attempt it. Come now, keep thine oath; 40
Now be a freeman; and with this good sword,
That ran through Cæsar's bowels, search this bosom.
Stand not to answer: here, take thou the hilts;
And, when my face is cover'd, as 'tis now,
Guide thou the sword. [PINDARUS _stabs him_] Cæsar, thou art
reveng'd, 45
Even with the sword that kill'd thee. [_Dies_]
PINDARUS. So, I am free; yet would not so have been,
Durst I have done my will. O Cassius!
Far from this country Pindarus shall run, 49
Where never Roman shall take note of him. [_Exit_]
[Note 36: PINDARUS _descends_ Dyce | Enter Pindarus Ff.]
[Note 36-37: One line in Ff.]
[Note 45: [PINDARUS ...] | F1 omits | kills him F2 F3 F4
(after l. 46).]
[Note 46: [_Dies_] Capell | Ff omit.]
[Note 47: Two lines in Ff.]
[Note 50: [_Exit_] Rowe | Ff omit.]
[Note 38: /saving of thy life:/ when I saved thy life. The
usual interpretation, but 'saving' may qualify 'Thou' in l.
40, and then the expression would mean, 'Except for
endangering thy life.']
[Note 43: /hilts./ Shakespeare uses both the singular and the
plural form of this word to describe a single weapon, the
plural more often.]
[Note 46: It was a dagger, not a sword, that Cassius stabbed
Cæsar with. But by a common figure of speech the same weapon
is put for the same owner. The 'sword' is taken from Plutarch.
"For he, being overcome in battle at the journey of Philippes,
slew himself with the same sword with the which he strake
Cæsar."--Plutarch, _Julius Cæsar_.]
[Note 50: "Cassius, thinking indeed that Titinius was taken of
the enemies, he then spake these words: 'Desiring too much to
live, I have lived to see one of my best friends taken, for my
sake, before my face.' After that, he got into a tent where
nobody was, and took Pindarus with him, one of his bondsmen
whom he reserved ever for such a pinch, since the cursed
battle of the Parthians, where Crassus was slain, though he
notwithstanding scaped from that overthrow: but then, casting
his cloak over his head, and holding out his bare neck unto
Pindarus, he gave him his head to be stricken off. So the head
was found severed from the body; but after that time Pindarus
was never seen more."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]
[Page 156]
_Re-enter_ TITINIUS, _with_ MESSALA
MESSALA. It is but change, Titinius; for Octavius
Is overthrown by noble Brutus' power,
As Cassius' legions are by Antony.
TITINIUS. These tidings will well comfort Cassius.
MESSALA. Where did you leave him?
TITINIUS. All disconsolate, 55
With Pindarus his bondman, on this hill.
MESSALA. Is not that he that lies upon the ground?
TITINIUS. He lies not like the living. O my heart!
MESSALA. Is not that he?
TITINIUS. No, this was he, Messala,
But Cassius is no more. O setting sun, 60
As in thy red rays thou dost sink to night,
So in his red blood Cassius' day is set;
The sun of Rome is set! Our day is gone;
Clouds, dews, and dangers come; our deeds are done!
Mistrust of my success hath done this deed. 65
[Note 51: Scene V Pope.--_Re-enter_ ..., _with_ Capell | Enter
... and ... Ff.]
[Note 61: /to night/ Ff | to-night Knight.]
[Note 62: /is set/ F1 | it set F2 F3 F4.]
[Note 63: sun | Sunne F1 | Sonne F2 | Son F3 F4.]
[Note 51: /change:/ interchange of loss and gain in the
fight.]
[Note 60-62: Cf. _Troilus and Cressida_, V, viii, 5-8.]
[Page 157]
MESSALA. Mistrust of good success hath done this deed.
O hateful error, melancholy's child,
Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men
The things that are not? O error, soon conceiv'd,
Thou never com'st unto a happy birth, 70
But kill'st the mother that engender'd thee!
TITINIUS. What, Pindarus! where art thou, Pindarus?
MESSALA. Seek him, Titinius, whilst I go to meet
The noble Brutus, thrusting this report
Into his ears: I may say, 'thrusting' it; 75
For piercing steel and darts envenomed
Shall be as welcome to the ears of Brutus
As tidings of this sight.
TITINIUS. Hie you, Messala,
And I will seek for Pindarus the while. [_Exit_ MESSALA]
Why didst thou send me forth, brave Cassius? 80
Did I not meet thy friends? and did not they
Put on my brows this wreath of victory,
And bid me give it thee? Didst thou not hear their shouts?
Alas, thou hast misconstrued every thing!
But, hold thee, take this garland on thy brow; 85
Thy Brutus bid me give it thee, and I
Will do his bidding. Brutus, come apace,
And see how I regarded Caius Cassius.
By your leave, gods: this is a Roman's part: 89
Come, Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart. [_Dies_]
[Note 71: /engender'd/ | engendred Ff.]
[Note 79: [_Exit_ MESSALA] | Ff omit.]
[Note 67-69. Cassius is said to have been of a highly choleric
or bilious temperament, and as such, predisposed to melancholy
views of life.]
[Note 90: "By-and-by they knew the horsemen that came towards
them, and might see Titinius crowned with a garland of
triumph, who came before with great speed unto Cassius. But
when he perceived, by the cries and tears of his friends which
tormented themselves, the misfortune that had chanced to his
captain Cassius by mistaking, he drew out his sword, cursing
himself a thousand times that he had tarried so long, and so
slew himself presently in the field. Brutus in the meantime
came forward still, and understood also that Cassius had been
overthrown; but he knew nothing of his death till he came very
near to his camp."--Plutarch, _Marcus Brutus_.]
[Page 158]
_Alarum._ _Re-enter_ MESSALA, _with_ BRUTUS, _young_ CATO,
STRATO, VOLUMNIUS, _and_ LUCILIUS
BRUTUS. Where, where, Messala, doth his body lie?
MESSALA. Lo, yonder, and Titinius mourning it.
BRUTUS. Titinius' face is upward.
CATO. He is slain.
BRUTUS. O Julius Cæsar, thou art mighty yet!
Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords 95
In our own proper entrails. [_Low alarums_]
CATO. Brave Titinius!
Look, where he have not crown'd dead Cassius!
[Note 91: Scene VI Pope.--_Re-enter_ MESSALA, _with_ BRUTUS
... | Enter Brutus, Messala ... Ff.]
[Note 97: /where/ Ff | if Pope | whether Camb Globe | wh'er
Capell | whêr Dyce.]
[Note 94-96: Brutus here strikes again, full and strong, the
proper keynote of the play. The facts involved are well stated
by Froude: "The murderers of Cæsar, and those who had either
instigated them secretly or applauded them afterwards, were
included in a proscription list, drawn by retributive justice
on the model of Sulla's. Such of them as were in Italy were
immediately killed. Those in the provinces, as if with the
curse of Cain upon their heads, came one by one to miserable
ends. In three years the tyrannicides of the Ides of March,
with their aiders and abettors, were all dead; some killed in
battle, some in prison, some dying by their own hand."]
[Note 97: /where:/ whether. So in V, iv, 30. See note, p. 7,
l. 63.]
[Page 159]
BRUTUS. Are yet two Romans living such as these?
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!
It is impossible that ever Rome 100
Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe moe tears
To this dead man than you shall see me pay.
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time.
Come, therefore, and to Thasos send his body:
His funerals shall not be in our camp, 105
Lest it discomfort us. Lucilius, come;
And come, young Cato; let us to the field.
Labeo and Flavius, set our battles on:
'T is three o'clock; and, Romans, yet ere night 109
We shall try fortune in a second fight. [_Exeunt_]
[Note 99: /The/ Ff | Thou Rowe.--fare | far F1.]
[Note 101: /moe/ F3 F4 | mo F1 F2 | more Rowe.]
[Note 104: /Thasos/ Camb Globe (Walker conj.) | Thassos
Theobald | Tharsus Ff.]
[Note 108: /Labeo/ Hanmer | Labio Ff.--Flavius, F4 | Flauio F1
| Flavius F2 F3.]
[Note 101: /moe:/ more. See note, p. 48, l. 72. See Skeat
under 'more.']
[Note 104. /Thasos./ A large island off the coast of Thrace.
"So when he was come thither, after he had lamented the death
of Cassius, calling him the last of all the Romans, being
unpossible that Rome should ever breed again so noble and
valiant a man as he, he caused his body to be buried, and sent
it to the city of Thassos, fearing lest his funerals within
his camp should cause great disorder. Then he called his
soldiers together, and did encourage them again."--Plutarch,
_Marcus Brutus_.]
[Note 108: /Labeo and Flavius./ These two men are not named
among the persons of the drama, because they speak nothing.
Labeo was one of the stabbers of Cæsar; and it related that
when he saw that all was lost, having dug his own grave, he
enfranchised a slave, and then he thrust a weapon into his
hand ordering him to kill him.]
[Note 109-110: Shakespeare with dramatic effectiveness
represents both battles as occurring the same day. They were
separated by an interval of twenty days. The 'three o'clock'
is from Plutarch. "He suddenly caused his army to march, being
past three of the clock in the afternoon."--_Marcus Brutus._]
[Page 160]