Farewell to thee too, Strato. Countrymen, So, fare you well at once; for Brutus' tongue 40 Night hangs upon mine eyes; my bones would rest, That have but labor'd to attain this hour. Alarum. Cry within. 'Fly, fly, fly!' Cli. Fly, my lord, fly. Bru. Hence! I will follow. [Exeunt Clitus, Dardanius, and Volumnius.] I prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord. Thy life hath had some smatch° of honor in it. While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato? Stra. Give me your hand first. Fare you well, my lord. Bru. Farewell, good Strato.- [Runs on his sword.] Cæsar, now be still.1 50 I kill'd not thee with half so good a will. Dies. Alarum. Retreat. Enter OCTAVIUS, ANTONY, MESSALA, LUCILIUS, and the army. Oct. What man is that? Mes. My master's man. Strato, where is thy master? 1 The ghost of Cæsar may now rest in his grave. Stra. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala. And no man else hath honor by his death. That thou hast prov'd Lucilius' saying true. Mes. How died my master, Strato? Stra. I held the sword, and he did run on it. That did the latest service to my master. Did that they did in envy of great Cæsar; 3 So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, 'This was a man!' Oct. According to his virtue let us use him, With all respect and rites of burial. Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie,* 1 Burn his body on a funeral pyre. 60 70 2 Even Octavius has grown merciful. Why didn't Shakespeare make Antony and Octavius, thorough-going villains, hateful to the last? Who is really to blame for the defeat of Brutus and Cassius? 3 Learn this speech of Antony over the body of Brutus. 4 What is the stage reason for this line? So call the field to rest, and let's away, 80 Exeunt omnes. 1 Would you be better pleased to have Brutus and Cassius successful? Is your feeling one of disappointment or merely regret? How has this effect been produced? What scene in the play has pleased you most? Which scenes do you think would be most effective on the stage? Who is the hero of the play? The "villain"? What provides the "opposing force"? Where did the climax occur? Good ones Why not stage certain scenes in the classroom? for this purpose are Act I, Scene 1; Act II, Scene 1; Act II, Scenes III and Iv; Act III, Scene II; and Act IV, Scene III. No upper stage, or balcony, will be needed for any of these scenes; and an inner stage can be provided for the first scene of Act II by placing screens on either side of the platform which supports the teacher's desk. For most scenes the usual right and left entrances are sufficient. APPENDIX I. SHAKESPEARE'S VERSE Julius Cæsar is written for the most part in tensyllable, unrhymed lines, which, taken collectively, have received the name of blank verse. There are occasional passages in prose, a few short lines, and rhyming couplets, or "tags," at the end of some scenes; but in this, as in the other plays of Shakespeare, blank verse is the prevailing measure. The accents fall pretty regularly on every other syllable. This regularity of accent, or meter, as it is called, is more necessary to poetry than rhyme. It is, in fact, just as important in poetry as it is in music. There ye gods, you make | the weak | most strong; There in, | ye gods, || you ty | rants do de feat. | 3 Mount thou | my horse || and hide | thy spurs | in him, Absolute regularity of accent is maintained in these lines, the stresses falling on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th syllables in each line. The unit of measurement which repeats itself is therefore made up of an unaccented and an accented syllable; and there are five such units or feet in each line. Such a foot (~') is called an iambus, and since there are five feet in the line, the verse is described as iambic pentameter. Absolute regularity of accent would soon become tiresome, however; so to avoid "sing-song" the poet frequently varies the accent. Some of the most usual variations are given here: 1. Accenting the first syllable of the foot instead of the second: Where fore | rejoice? || What con | quest brings | he home? I, i, 37 Lov ers | in peace, || lead on | our days | to age. 2. Accenting two syllables in succession: V, i, 95 Fly further off, my lord, || Áy fur | ther off. V, iii, 9 Ríde, ride, | Měs sa | La, || ride, and give | these bills 3. An extra syllable at the end of the line: The very last | time || we | shall speak | to geth | er V, ii, I III,ii,95 V, i, 99 Have added slaugh | ter || to | the sword | of trai | tors. V, i, 55 4. An extra syllable slurred in pronunciation. I had rather be | a dog || and bay | the moon IV, iii, 27 But since the af fairs | of men || rest still | in cer | tain V, i, 96 The casura, or pause, occurring somewhere near the middle of the line, should be noted as a means of securing variety in the verse. It is here marked with the double line (I), and is independent of the foot division. By reading aloud in the most effective way to bring out the meaning you will find other variations than those given here. But the irregular feet in any passage taken together will be considerably less in number than |