University of Virginia Library

SCENE I.

The Scene is Cæsar's Apartment, where he appears Undress'd.
CÆSAR.
Ambition, Oh thou Tyrant of my Soul!
How much a gentler Lord am I to Rome,
Than thou to me! I am the only Slave.
This Day was dully spent in publick Sports,
Things too magnificent for true Delight.
Joy dwells in silent Shades, and private Pleasures;
In Peace, and not in Pomp: then, my long Nights,
Those precious Hours design'd for soft Repose,
Are by unruly Cares thus ravish'd from me.


274

Enter Junius.
JUNIUS.
Brutus and Cassius attend your Pleasure.

CÆSAR.
I tell thee, Junius, my trusty Freed-man,
That melancholic Cassius needs observing.
If e'er I could be capable of Fear,
I think it would be of that pensive Cassius.
He loves not Learning, no not Poetry;
Nor is his sullen humour pleas'd with Musick.
When others laugh, he so demurely smiles
As if he thought it Meanness to be merry
Seldom he likes what others most approve,
And loves to praise what all men else dislike.
Such Men as he are never at their Ease,
While they behold a greater than themselves.
Yet he is brave, and shall have due Preferment.

Exit Junius.