Act II, Scene 2, Lines 58-107
DECIUS BRUTUS
Caesar, all hail! good morrow, worthy Caesar:
I come to fetch you to the senate-house.
CAESAR
And you are come in very happy time,
To bear my greeting to the senators
And tell them that I will not come today:
Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser:
I will not come today: tell them so, Decius.
CALPURNIA
Say he is sick.
CAESAR
Shall Caesar send a lie?
Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far,
To be afraid to tell graybeards the truth?
Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come.
DECIUS BRUTUS
Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause,
Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so.
CAESAR
The cause is in my will: I will not come;
That is enough to satisfy the senate.
But for your private satisfaction,
Because I love you, I will let you know:
Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home:
She dreamt tonight she saw my statue,
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
Did run pure blood: and many lusty Romans
Came smiling, and did bathe their hands in it:
And these does she apply for warnings, and portents,
And evils imminent; and on her knee
Hath begg'd that I will stay at home today.
DECIUS BRUTUS
This dream is all amiss interpreted;
It was a vision fair and fortunate:
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
In which so many smiling Romans bathed,
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press
For tinctures, stains, relics and cognizance.
This by Calpurnia's dream is signified.
CAESAR
And this way have you well expounded it.
DECIUS BRUTUS
I have, when you have heard what I can say:
And know it now: the senate have concluded
To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar.
If you shall send them word you will not come,
Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock
Apt to be render'd, for some one to say
'Break up the senate till another time,
When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams.'
If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper
'Lo, Caesar is afraid'?
Pardon me, Caesar; for my dear dear love
To our proceeding bids me tell you this;
And reason to my love is liable.
CAESAR
How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia!
I am ashamed I did yield to them.
Give me my robe, for I will go.
CONTEXT
This is the Ides of March. Caesar is in his house having a conversation with his wife Calpurnia about her dreams and Caesar not going to the Senate. Finally they come to a decision that Caesar would not go to the Senate. But at that time Decius enters to take Caesar to the Senate house. At that time he gets to know about the dream. But knowing that Caesar would not come to the Senate, Decius reinterprets Calpurnia’s dreams as a fortunate dream. This convinces Caesar to go to the Senate. To help Decius, Brutus, Publius and the other conspirators come except for Cassius. Finally Mark Antony enters to take Caesar to the Senate.
SIGNIFICANCE
The significance of this passage is to show how cunning, intelligent, and persuasive Decius is. Decius already knew how to convince Caesar to attend his crowing, by using flattery. All Decius has to do is interpret the dream in a good way and Caesar is already convinced that he should go to get crowned. "This dream is all amiss interpreted; It was a vision fair and fortunate". This passage shows how Decius can easily convince Caesar with flattery.
