I have not slept.”[[107]]
Since the shade of Pompey appeared to him, Pescetti’s Brutus exclaims that his thoughts, like those of the Greek Milthiades,
“Non mi lascian dormir, nè prender posa.”—P. 15.
When Portia reminds him that fortune often opposes merit he replies:
“Hà ben fortuna per antica usanza
Di contrastar alla virtù; ma quello
Addopra contra lei, che l’onda insana
Del tempestoso mar nel fermo scoglio.”—P. 49.
This is the same spirit that prompts Shakespeare’s Brutus to reject the oath:
“What other oath