Dur enemies have beat us to the pit:
It is more worthy to leap in ourselves,

Than tarry till they push us.

[Low alarums.

Good Volumnius,

Thou know'st that we two went to school together:
Even for that our love of old, I prithee,

Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it.
Vol. That's not an office for a friend, my lord.
[Alarum still.
Cli. Fly, fly, my lord; there is no tarrying here. 30
Bru. Farewell to you; and you; and you, Volum-

nius.

Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep;
Farewell to thee too, Strato. Countrymen,
My heart doth joy that yet in all my life
I found no man but he was true to me.
I shall have glory by this losing day
More than Octavius and Mark Antony
By this vile conquest shall attain unto.

So fare you well at once; for Brutus' tongue
Hath almost ended his life's history:

Night hangs upon mine eyes; my bones would rest,
That have but labour'd to attain this hour.

Cli. Fly, my lord, fly.

Bru.

40

[Alarum. Cry within, "Fly, fly, fly!"

Hence! I will follow.

[Exeunt Clitus, Dardanius, and Volumnius.

I prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord:
Thou art a fellow of a good respect;

Thy life hath had some smatch of honour in it:
Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face,
While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato?

23. [have beat us to the pit, i. e. like beasts of the chase.] 46. smatch. We should probably read “smack,” of which the "smatch" of the folio seems to be merely an irregular spelling.

Stra. Give me your hand first. Fare you well, my

lord.

Bru. Farewell, good Strato. [Runs on his sword.] Cæsar, now be still:

I kill'd not thee with half so good a will.

50

[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?

Stra. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala: The conquerors can but make a fire of him; For Brutus only overcame himself,

And no man else hath honour by his death.

Lucil. So Brutus should be found. I thank thee, Brutus,

That thou hast prov'd Lucilius' saying true.

59

Oct. All that serv'd Brutus, I will entertain them. Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me? Stra. Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you. Oct. Do so, good Messala.

Mes. How died my master, Strato?

Stra. I held the sword, and he did run on it. Mes. Octavius, then take him to follow thee, That did the latest service to my master.

Ant. This was the noblest Roman of them all.

All the conspirators save only he

Did that they did in envy of great Cæsar;
He only, in a general honest thought

And common good to all, made one of them.

62. [prefer

70. envy

70

commend.]

- hatred.

72. And common good to all. Loosely written: =

and

for the common good of all.

His life was gentle, and the elements

So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up
And to all the world "This was a man!"
say

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,
Most like a soldier, order'd honourably.
So call the field to rest; and let's away
To part the glories of this happy day.

80

[Exeunt.

73. the elements, etc.: a reference to the old physiological notion that man was composed of the four elements, air, earth, fire, and water.

POLONIUS'S ADVICE TO LAERTES.

From Hamlet, Act i, Scene 3.

Give thy thoughts no tongue,

Nor any unproportion'd' thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar."
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 3
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,

Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;

Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;

For the apparel oft proclaims the man,

And they in France of the best rank and station
Are most select and generous in that.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry."
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

1 unproportion'd unshaped, crude.

2 vulgar = common, in the way set forth in the next four lines.

"Do not make thy palm callous by shaking every man by the hand."-Dr. Johnson.

4 censure=judgment, not necessarily adverse; see the verb in Julius Cæsar, Act III, sc. ii, 1. 16.

5 husbandry=thrift.

STUDY HELPS

THE LADY OF THE LAKE

SETTING. Bring to class whatever pictures you can find to illustrate the dress, weapons, musical instruments, houses, life, etc., of the 16th century in the Scottish Highlands, and also views of the Highlands. Perhaps you can send to Frame's Shipping and Tourist Office, 63 Princes Street, Edinburgh, for Through the Trossachs," and to John Menzies & Co., Ltd., Rose Street, Edinburgh, for postal cards of “ The Lady of the Lake" region.

66

The stag hunt takes place in the Western Highlands of Perthshire, a territory almost unknown until "The Lady of the Lake" forced the farmers of the neighboring towns to change their cottages into inns to accommodate tourists.

Study the map a little, before beginning the poem, so that you feel acquainted with the region. Notice what mountains, what lakes, etc., there are, and where the wild, wooded valley called the Trosachs (or Trossachs) lies. The town of Aberfoyle lies between the Highlands and the Lowlands; from that point, the Forth flows with rapid current down to the sea. Loch Katrine takes its name from the old secret hold on "Ellen's Isle" of the caterans (freebooters). Learn to pronounce the names in the list correctly and easily.

FOR STUDY:

Monan (mônăn).

Glenartney (glen ärt'ní).
Benvoirlich (běn voil' ĭk).

Uam-Var (ū å vär′).
Menteith (měn tēth').
Lochard (lök ärd').
Aberfoyle (ăb er foil').
Loch Achray (lŏk åk rā').
Benvenue (bèn vẻ nữ).

Cambusmore (kăm bus mōr').
Vennachar (ven' å kär).
Trosachs (tros'ǎks).

Roderick Dhu (rod'er ik doo').
Clan-Alpine (klǎn ǎl'pin).
Coilantogle (koil ăn tog’1).
lair (lâr), the couch of a wild
beast.

Ben (Ben), mountain.