Get this No Fear to go!
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And do you now strew flowers in his way
That comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood?
Be gone!
Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague
That needs must light on this ingratitude.
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And now you toss flowers in the path of Caesar, who comes in
triumph over Pompey’s defeated sons? Go home! Run to your
houses, fall on your knees, and pray to the gods to spare you the
pain that you deserve for such ingratitude.
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60 |
FLAVIUS
Go, go, good countrymen, and for this fault,
Assemble all the poor men of your sort,
Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears
Into the channel till the lowest stream
Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.
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FLAVIUS
Go, go, good countrymen, and to make up for having done wrong,
gather up all the poor men like yourselves, lead them to the Tiber,
and weep into the river until it overflows its banks.
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Exeunt CARPENTER,
COBBLER, and all the other commoners |
The CARPENTER,
COBBLER, and all the commoners
exit. |
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65 |
See whether their basest metal be not moved.
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness.
Go you down that way towards the Capitol.
This way will I. Disrobe the images
If you do find them decked with ceremonies.
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Well, that ought to move even the most thickheaded of them. There
they go, feeling so guilty they’re now
tongue-tied—they don’t have a thing to say. You
go down toward the Capitol, and I’ll go this way. Undress
the statues if they’re decorated in honor of Caesar.
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MURELLUS
May we do so?
You know it is the feast of Lupercal.
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MURELLUS
Can we do that? You know it’s the feast of Lupercal.
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70 75 |
FLAVIUS
It is no matter. Let no images
Be hung with Caesar’s trophies. I’ll about
And drive away the vulgar from the streets.
So do you too, where you perceive them thick.
These growing feathers plucked from Caesar’s wing
Will make him fly an ordinary pitch,
Who else would soar above the view of men
And keep us all in servile fearfulness.
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FLAVIUS
It doesn’t matter. Make sure that none of the statues are
decorated in tribute to Caesar. I’ll walk around and force
the commoners off the streets. You do the same, wherever the crowds
are thick. If we take away Caesar’s support, he’ll
have to come back down to earth; otherwise, he’ll fly too
high and keep the rest of us in a state of fear and
obedience.
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Exeunt severally |
They exit in different directions. |
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