SHORT NIGHTS, LONG DAYS
Short nights, long days.
They’ll make you long and lean
And hungry, like yon Cassius.
They’ll wake your temper short,
Earn distrust from the many.
That long day’s night makes life a fright
Your eyes will be bright, but not your sight;
And so, like Caesar, I sleep unwell at night,
Fearing the omens of Fate a-hovering in the air,
Fearing that my words may be misconstrued,
My intentions misinterpreted, so touchy are
The people in these unquiet days. Their eyes,
I see their eyes a-scanning and their brains
Accounting scores that do not exist. Such
Are the times we live in, dear conscience.
Ah! Beware the readings of the entrails…
Beware of bad-mouthing friends, lest friends
Turn on you. So says my inner think.
Suspicion scorned, suspicion invented,
Suspicion hanging about, despite my better
Thoughts. Ha! Keeping score. A thought
Unwell, my friend. Amend that thought.
Thus runneth amok the thoughts of man
Ever attempting yet ever fighting
Ever contradicting self,
To be the better man.
Long days, short nights.
Beware the ides of life.
Balance. Find the balance…
— CAESAR
(aside to ANTONY) Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look.
(1950) He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.
ACT I scene 2
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