But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.
BRU. I do not, till you practise them on me.
You love me not.

CAS.
BRU.

I do not like your faults. CAS. A friendly eye could never see such faults.

BRU. A flatterer's would not, though they do appear As huge as high Olympus.

CAS. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come, Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius,

For Cassius is aweary of the world:

Hated by one he loves; braved by his brother;
Check'd like a bondman; all his faults observed,
Set in a note-book, learn'd, and conn'd by rote,
To cast into my teeth. O, I could weep

My spirit from mine eyes! There is my dagger,
And here my naked breast; within, a heart
Dearer than Plutus' mine, richer than gold:
If that thou be'st a Roman, take it forth;
Strike, as thou didst at Caesar; for, I know,
I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart:
When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better
Than ever thou lovedst Cassius.

BRU.

Sheathe your dagger:

Be angry when you will, it shall have scope;
Do what you will, dishonour shall be humour.

O Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb
That carries anger as the flint bears fire;
Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark,
And straight is cold again.

CAS.

Hath Cassius lived

To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus,
When grief, and blood ill-temper'd, vexeth him

BRU. When I spoke that, I was ill-temper'd too.
CAS. Do you confess so much? Give me your hand.
BRU. And my heart too.

100

110

BRU.
CAS.

What's the matter?
Have not you love enough to bear with me,

When that rash humour which my mother gave me

120

Makes me forgetful?

BRU.

Yes, Cassius; and, from henceforth,

When you are over-earnest with your Brutus.

He'll think your mother chides, and leave you so.

A few words of introduction are first necessary. We should understand the play as a whole, and be conversant with the events that lead up to this particular scene; further, we should bear in mind the tense, splenetic character of Cassius, and the calm, controlled, stoical disposition of Brutus.

1. 1.-In Scene 2 we get the keynote to Cassius' manner. He is so full of his supposed wrong that he pays no heed to the surroundings, and bluntly plunges into the matter in hand. Brutus restrains him, and together they move to the former's tent. No sooner do they enter than again Cassius bursts forth.

1. 4.—Cassius is piqued that his letters should have failed to shield Lucius Pella from the punishment for his wrongdoing. 1. 5.

Subordinate and explanatory.

1. 6. Brutus's answer is simple and direct, yet without feeling.

1. 8.-Nice is equivalent to unimportant, small. There is a touch of contempt in this speech.

1. 9.-Again we note the directness of Brutus's statement, and the absence of feeling. Note, too, that he in no way seeks to soften his charges.

1. 12. Imagine the surprise and rage of Cassius. There will be a sweeping upward inflection on I. It is only with the utmost effort that the fiery Cassius can control himself.

1. 15-16.-Paraphrased, these lines mean, The name of Cassius is associated with this corruption, and hence the hands of justice are tied. For, to bring the corrupters to trial would be to drag in Cassius with them.

1. 17.-Do you dare to use the term chastisement in connection with my name?

1. 18. Unmoved by the anger of Cassius, Brutus proceeds calmly and perhaps too ruthlessly to arraign his friend.

1. 21.—Observe the high moral standard of Brutus.

1. 21-26.-Rising inflections throughout.

1. 27. Observe the contempt.

1. 28.—During the speech of Brutus, Cassius can scarcely contain himself. Never has any one dared to arraign him.

Now he is even forgetting the deference he has been wont to show to one whom he recognizes as his superior.

1. 32-34.-Rapidly, as the passion of the men rises.

1. 35-36.-Now Cassius begins to threaten.

1. 37. There is no anger in this. Brutus knows that Cassius is beside himself, and brushes him aside as one would brush an insignificant dust speck from his clothing.

The

It is equiv

1. 38. Such treatment Cassius cannot understand. line is exclamatory rather than interrogative. alent to, Can I believe my ears?

It is a new

1. 38.—Brutus now begins to assert himself. aspect of his character, which we can comprehend only when we learn, as we do later, that Portia is dead.

1. 40.-Brutus must be greatly moved to call his dearest friend a madman.

1. 41. The strain of listening to such words is becoming too great for Cassius to bear.

1. 42. Brutus seems almost to enjoy the terrible lesson he is reading Cassius. It is well-nigh incredible that the thoughtful, loving husband of Portia, and the considerate master of Lucius, should speak thus to any one, let alone his best friend.

1. 50.-There seems to be no feeling but surprise in this,

surprise verging on bewilderment. As Brutus grows more passionate Cassius seems to subside.

1. 51-54.—It is Brutus now who appears to lose selfcontrol Cassius never said he was a better soldier.

1. 55-57.--Anger and bewilderment give way to a sense of having been wronged the last sentence is almost pathetic in its humility.

1. 57.-Anger and contempt.

1. 58.-Cassius' passion is again beginning to rise.

1. 59-62. Note the increasing astonishment in the speeches of Cassius, and the superciliousness of Brutus.

ì. 63-64.-A threat uttered not so much in anger as in fear that he may not be able to control his feelings.

1. 65. Have and should are the emphatic words.

1. 65-82.-This speech needs no commentary. It is a plain and unmistakable arraignment, uttered in unequivocal language, and in simple, direct manner.

1. 82.-Cassius is pained that his friend should so misunderstand him From now to line 93 Cassius seems to throw himself upon the mercy of his friend, while the latter repels his advances, each time with greater harshness.

1 93-107.-Cassius' heart is broken. If his best friend can so wantonly misunderstand him, what can he hope from his enemies? There is nothing left to live for, and he would eagerly welcome death even at the hands of Antony. The passage is overflowing with heartbreak, and gains our sympathy for one who else would seem but a crafty, self-seeking schemer. 1. 107. The speech of Cassius brings Brutus back to himHere is the real Brutus, full of tenderness and love. To understand fully the unusual display of feeling in this scene we should read further to the stage direction, Re-enter Lucius, with wine and taper.

self.

INDEX TO SUBJECTS

Imagination and quality, 84.
Imitation, 227; not art, 189, ten-
dency toward, 191.
Inflections, meaning of, 57; rising,
57; falling, 63; circumflex,
examples of, 67.

Central idea, 138; study of, a log-Intangibility, defined, 11.