Davin, Katia duet

Act II, Scene 2, lines 8-37

Calpurnia- What mean you, Caesar?
Think you to walk forth?
You shall not stir out of your house today?

Caesar- Caesar shall walk forth.
The things that threaten'd me
Ne'er look but on my back; when they shall see
The face of Caesar, they are vanished.

Calpurnia- Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies,
Yet now they fright me.
There is one within,
Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.
A lioness hath whelped in the streets,
And graves have yawn’d and yielded up their dead;
Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;
The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
O Caesar, these things are beyond all use,
And I do fear them.

Caesar- What can be avoided
Whose end is purpos’d by the mighty gods?
Yet Caesar shall go forth; for these predictions
Are to the world in general as to Caesar.

Calpurnia- When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavans themselves blaze forth the death of princes.

Caesar- Cowards die many tiems before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.


During this scene, Calpurina is trying to warn Caeser that he shouldn't leave the house because she had dreamt of Caeser's statue spouting blood and all the conspirators bathing their hands in his blood happily. Caeser didn't listen to her at first saying that will not happen, but at last he decided to not go to Senate when Calpurina begged on her knees. This passage is really significant because it was the last warning before Caeser's death. He had ignored all the warnings from people on his side. It was his last chance to avoid being killed. This also creates tension and makes us notice that he will probably end his life in the Capitol, by conspirators.