Cæs.
Nor heav'n, nor earth, have been at peace to-night;
Thrice hath Calphurnia in her sleep cry'd out,
Help, ho; they murder Cæsar. Who's within?

Enter a Servant.

Ser.
My lord.

Cæs.
Go bid the priests do present sacrifice,
And bring me their opinions of success.

Ser.
I will my lord. [Exit. Enter Calphurnia.

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 threatned me,
Ne'er lookt but on my back: when they shall see
The face of Cæsar, they are vanished.

Cal.
Cæsar, I never stood on ceremonies,
Yet now they fright me: there is one within,
(Besides the things that we have heard and seen)
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.
A lioness hath whelped in the streets,
And graves have yawn'd and yielded up their dead;
Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds,
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol:
The noise of battel † ^notehurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
O Cæsar! these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them.

Cæs.
What can be avoided,
Whose end is purpos'd 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 heav'ns themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

&plquo;Cæs.
&plquo;Cowards die many times before their deaths,
&plquo;The valiant never taste of death but once:
&plquo;Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
&plquo;It seems to me most strange that men should fear:
&plquo;Seeing that death, a necessary end,
&plquo;Will come, when it will come. Enter a Servant.
What say the Augurs?

Ser.
They would not have you to stir forth to-day.
Plucking the entrails of an offering forth,
They could not find a heart within the beast.

Cæs.
The Gods do this in shame of cowardise:
Cæsar should be a beast without a heart,
If he should stay at home to-day for fear.* ^note

Cal.
Alas, my lord,
Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence:
Do not go forth to-day; call it my fear,
That keeps you in the house, and not your own.
We'll send Mark Antony to the Senate- house,
And he will say you are not well to-day:
Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.

Cæs.
Mark Antony shall say I am not well,
And for thy humour, I will stay at home.

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