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 Copyright, 1901 
 
 By 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY SOCIETY
 
 COLLEGE 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. !r '^ 
 
 n i- 
 
 Preface. ^"^'0 f 
 
 The First Edition. Antony and Cleopatra was 'first 
 printed in the First Folio. It is mentioned among the 
 plays entered by Blount in 1623 on the Stationers' Reg- 
 isters as " not formerly entered to other men." A play 
 on the same subject was registered by the same publisher 
 on May 20th, 1608; it was probably the present drama, 
 but for some reason or other no Quarto was issued. 
 
 The text of the play, as printed in the First Folio, was 
 probably derived from a carefully written manuscript 
 copy, and is on the whole most satisfactory. 
 
 The Date of Composition. There is almost unanimity 
 among scholars in assigning Antony and Cleopatra to 
 1607-8, i.e. during the year preceding the entry referred 
 to above. This date is corroborated by internal and ex- 
 ternal evidence. Particularly striking are the results ar- 
 rived at from the application of the metrical tests. In 
 Antony and Cleopatra the Poet seems for the first time 
 to have allowed himself the freedom of using the unem- 
 phatic weak monosyllables at the end of his lines — a 
 characteristic peculiar to the plays of the Fourth Period."^ 
 The rhyme test and the feminine ending test similarly 
 stamp the play as belonging to the same late period, f So 
 far as " date " of composition is concerned, Antony and 
 
 * Antony and Cleopatra numbers 28 "weak endings"; Corio- 
 ianus 44, Cymbeline 52. Winter's Tale 43, Tempest 25, while Mac- 
 beth contains but 2 instances, Hamlet none ; no play before 
 Antony has more than 2; most of them have none at all. 
 
 '\ Antony and Cleopatra and Cnriolanus have each 42 rhymes.
 
 Preface ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Cleopatra links itself, therefore, with Coriolaniis rather 
 than with Julius Cccsar, with Macbeth rather than with 
 Hamlet. The same is true of its " ethical " relations to 
 these plays. "^ 
 
 Macbeth III. i. 54-57 should be compared with Antony 
 and Cleopatra, II. iii. 19-22; Cyrnbeline, II. iv. 69-73 with 
 Act II. ii. 189-221 ; while the subject of Tinion was in 
 all probability suggested to the dramatist in reading for 
 the present play {vide Preface to Timon). 
 
 The Source of the Plot. Antony and Cleopatra was 
 directly derived from Sir Thomas North's famous version 
 of Plutarch's " Lives of the Noble Grecians and Ro- 
 mans," the book to which Shakespeare was indebted also 
 for his Coriolanus, Julius Cccsar, and, to some extent, for 
 Timon of Athens {vide Prefaces to these plays for Shake- 
 speare's obligations to Plutarch). In the present play the 
 dramatist follows the historian closely, but not to the same 
 extent as in the former productions;! the glamour of the 
 play is all the Poet's ; the prose Life does not dazzle the 
 reader; the facts of Cleopatra's history are those Shake- 
 speare found in his original ; the superb portraiture of the 
 *' enchanting queen " is among the great triumphs of the 
 Poet's matured genius ; " he paints her," wrote Campbell, 
 " as if the gipsy herself had cast her spell over him, and 
 given her own witchcraft to his pencil." 
 
 Plays on the Subject of *' Antony and Cleopatra." 
 
 Cleopatra has been among the most popular of subjects 
 
 * The spiritual material dealt with by Shakespeare's imagination 
 in the play of Julius Ccesar lay wide apart from that which forms 
 the centre of the Antony and Cleopatra. Therefore the Poet was 
 not carried directly forward from one to the other. But having 
 in Macbeth studied the ruin of a nature which gave fair promise 
 in men's eyes of greatness and nobility, Shakespeare, it may be, 
 proceeded directly to a similar study in the case of Antony. 
 
 t A detailed analysis of the relation of Antony and Cleopatra to 
 Plutarch's "Life of Antony" is to be found in Vol. XXI. of the 
 Shakespeare Jahrhuch, contributed by Dr. Fritz Adler.
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Preface 
 
 for the modern drama, and some thirty plays are extant, 
 in Latin, French, ItaHan, and EngHsh, deaHng with her 
 fascinating story ; the French dramatists contribute no 
 less than sixteen items to the catalogue, starting with the 
 Cleopatra of Jodelle, the first regular French tragedy. 
 Two English productions preceded Shakespeare's play, 
 Lady Pembroke's Ajitonie, translated from Garnier, and 
 Daniel's companion drama Cleopatra (1594) called forth 
 by the former : — 
 
 " thy well-graced Anthony 
 (Who all alone remained long) 
 Required his Cleopatra's company." 
 
 Dryden's "All for Love.'; Dryden's "^// for Love; 
 or, The World Well Lost," " written in imitation of 
 Shakespeare's style " (pub. 1678, 1692, 1703, 1709) was 
 its author's favourite production, — " the only play he 
 wrote for himself " ; its popularity was great ; and the 
 older critics were fond of praising its regularity and 
 poetic harmony, though they generously recognized that 
 it fell short of its first model in fire and originality {cf. 
 Baker's Bibliographia Dramatica). It held the stage for 
 a century, and has in all probability been acted ten times 
 oftener than Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. 
 Campbell evidenced this fact as a proof of England's neg- 
 lect of Shakespeare, as a disgrace to British taste. " Dry- 
 den's Adarc Antony is a weak voluptuary from first to last. 
 . A queen, a siren, a Shakespeare's Cleopatra 
 alone could have entangled Shakespeare's Antony, while 
 an ordinary wanton could have enslaved Dryden's hero." 
 
 Duration of Action. The Time of the Play, as repre- 
 sented on the stage, covers twelve days, with intervals : — 
 
 Day I, Act i. Sc. i.-iv. Interval of twenty days. Day 
 2, Act I. Sc. V. ; Act IL Sc. i.-iii. Day 3, Act IL Sc. iv. 
 Interval Day 4, Act II. Sc. v.-vii. [Act III. Sc. iii-l 
 Interval (?). Day 5, Act III. Sc. i. and ii. Interval. 
 Day 6, Act III. Sc. iv. and v. Interval Day 7, Act III. 
 
 3
 
 Preface ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Sc. vi. Day 8, Act III. Sc. vii. Day 9, Act III. Sc. 
 viii.-x. Interval. Day 10, Act III. Sc. xi.-xiii. ; Act IV. 
 Sc. i.-iii. Day 11, Act IV. Sc. iv.-ix. Day 12, Act IV. 
 Sc. x.-xv. ; Act V. Sc. i. and ii. (cp. Trans. A^czc Shak. 
 Soc, 1877-79). 
 
 The historic period embraces as many years as there are 
 days in the play, stretching from about B.C. 42 to 30 ; that 
 is, from the events immediately following the deaths of 
 Brutus and Cassius at Philippi to the deaths of Antony 
 and Cleopatra in Egypt. 
 
 (€be soroeouitf <iEast, toitb liberal banb, 
 ;^bottJEr? on bcr ftin0g barbaric pearl and golb/*
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Critical Comments. 
 I. 
 
 Argument. 
 
 I. After the defeat of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, 
 the Roman Empire had been divided among the triumvirs, 
 Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus. Antony having sum- 
 moned a vassal of his Eastern dominions — Cleopatra, 
 queen of Egypt — to answer for her conduct in aiding 
 Brutus and Cassius, is himself taken captive by her 
 charms. He goes with her to Alexandria, where they 
 give themselves over to the voluptuous life of her court. 
 A messenger arrives to inform Antony of the death of 
 his deserted wife Fulvia. Another messenger brings him 
 word of an attack upon Italy by the maritime forces of 
 Sextus Pompeius. Antony shakes off his amorous chains 
 and hastens back to the seat of the empire. 
 
 II. Antony reaches Rome just in time to patch up 
 serious dift"erences with the other two triumvirs, to whgm 
 he explains the attack upon Italy as merely a feint on the 
 part of his late wife Fulvia to recall him from Egypt. 
 He renews alliance with the other triumvirs by marrying 
 Octavia, the sister of Octavius. A treaty of peace is made 
 between the triumvirate and Pompey. 
 
 III. Octavia, instead of serving as a bond to the 
 friendship of Octavius and Antony, becomes a knot to 
 strangle it ; for Octavius soon breaks his peace with Pom- 
 pey, defeats him in battle, and presently seizes Lepidus, 
 whom he holds in prison. None now remains between 
 Octavius and absolute dominion save Antony, who might 
 have proved a strong rival had not the enticements of
 
 Comments ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Cleopatra lured him once more over sea, while his wife 
 is on a mission of peace to Octavius, who, no doubt, is 
 incensed because of the treatment his sister has received, 
 but is also glad to have this pretext for attacking Antony. 
 The hostile fleets engage near Actium, where the defec- 
 tion of Cleopatra's admiral gives the victory to Octavius. 
 Antony seeks to make terms with the victor, and being 
 unsuccessful, hurls defiance at him. 
 
 IV. The forces now encounter upon land, and An- 
 tony wins the first day's fight. But on the second day 
 the Egyptian admiral yields Antony's fleet to the foe, and 
 the desertion of other of Antony's forces leaves him de- 
 feated, disheartened, and dishonoured. In a stormy scene 
 he upbraids Cleopatra with treachery, and soon after falls 
 upon his sword. He dies in her presence, begging to lay 
 his last kiss upon her lips. 
 
 V. Cleopatra, who, despite her duplicity, has been pas- 
 sionately engrossed with Antony and his fortunes, deter- 
 mines to follow him to speedy death. Her purpose is 
 strengthened by the fact that Octavius makes her a hos- 
 tage of w^ar, and reserves her to grace his triumph. She 
 flees to a monument, and there perishes by the bite of an 
 asp secretly brought to her in a basket of figs. 
 
 McSpadden : Shakespearian Synopses. 
 
 II. 
 
 Antony. 
 
 The tragic interest evidently centres not in Cleopatra, 
 but in the victim of her " strong toil of grace." In tracing 
 the operation of her spell" upon Antony, Shakespeare on 
 the whole follows Plutarch'^ facts as far as they go ; but 
 he interprets and expands them in the light of his own 
 finer psychology and humaner ethics. Some coarser and 
 duller touches in both characters he effaces. The hoyden 
 disappears in her ; the vulgar debauchee, the sour misan- 
 thrope, and the gull, in him. In her most wilful and wan- 
 
 6
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Comments 
 
 ton moods she is still the queen ; and Antony, revelling 
 or raging, blindly rushing on his fate or desperately suc- 
 cumbing to it, is still the great-hearted man of genius. 
 His subjection to Cleopatra is even more absolute in pro- 
 portion as it acts through subtler and more complicated 
 sources of attraction. It is just as fatal to his judgement 
 and, for a moment, to his instinct of military honour. His 
 fatuous decision to " fight at sea," and his unmanly flight 
 in the train of Cleopatra and her fugitive galleys, seal his 
 fate as surely in the play as in the history ; and Shake- 
 speare exposes them, through the mouth of Enobarbus, as 
 incisively as Plutarch. But for Plutarch the whole rela- 
 tion of Antony to Cleopatra, and indeed of lovers in gen- 
 eral, is typified in this fatuous oblivion of his better self. 
 Antony's doings in the Parthian wars are 
 wholly omitted ; his long sojourn in Rome becomes a brief 
 visit. Of his two wives, Fulvia is only heard of as a 
 troublesome thorn in his flesh, and Octavia's " holy, cold, 
 and still conversation " is denuded of charm for us as for 
 Antony. He has an exquisite phrase for her stillness, as 
 for everything else ; but his marriage is purely diplomatic, 
 even nominal, and it hardly needed the shrewdness of 
 Enobarbus to foresee that " the band that seems to tie their 
 friendship together will be the very strangler of their 
 amity." Herford : The Eversley Shakespeare. 
 
 III. 
 
 Cleopatra. 
 
 I have not the slightest doubt that Shakspeare's Cleo- 
 patra is the real historical Cleopatra — the " Rare Egyp- 
 tian " — individualized and placed before us. Her mental 
 accomplishments, her unequalled grace, her woman's wit 
 and woman's wiles, her irresistible allurements, her starts 
 of irregular grandeur, her bursts of ungovernable temper, 
 her vivacity of imagination, her petulant caprice, her 
 fickleness and her falsehood, her tenderness and her truth,
 
 Comments ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 l:er childish susceptibihty to flattery, her magnificent spirit, 
 her royal pride, the gorgeous Eastern colouring of the 
 character ; all these contradictory elements has Shak- 
 speare seized, mingled them in their extremes, and fused 
 them into one brilliant impersonation of classified ele- 
 gance. Oriental voluptuousness, and gypsy sorcery. 
 
 What better proof can we have of the individual truth 
 of the character than the admission that Shakspeare's 
 Cleopatra produces exactly the same effect on us that is 
 recorded of the real Cleopatra? She dazzles our faculties, 
 perplexes our judgement, bewilders and bewitches our 
 fancy ; from the beginning to the end of the drama, we 
 are conscious of a kind of fascination against which our 
 moral sense rebels, but from which there is no escape. 
 The epithets applied to her perpetually by Antony and 
 others confirm this impression : '' enchanting queen ! " — 
 " witch " — '' spell " — " great fairy " — " cockatrice " — 
 " serpent of old Nile " — " thou grave charm ! " are only a 
 few of them ; and who does not know by heart the famous 
 quotations in which this Egyptian Circe is described with 
 all her infinite seductions? 
 
 To these traits we must add, that with all her violence, 
 perverseness, egotism, and caprice, Cleopatra mingled a 
 capability for warm affections and kindly feeling, or 
 rather what we should call, in these days, a constitutional 
 good-nature ; and was lavishly generous to her favourites 
 and dependents. These characteristics we find scattered 
 through the play ; they are not only faithfully rendered 
 by Shakspeare, but he has made the finest use of them in 
 his delineation of manners. Hence the occasional free- 
 dom of her women and her attendants, in the midst of 
 their fears and flatteries, becomes most natural and con- 
 sistent : hence, too, their devoted attachment and fidelitv. 
 proved even in death. But as illustrative of Cleopatra's 
 disposition, perhaps the finest and most characteristic 
 scene in the whole play is that in which the messeno^er 
 irrives from Rome with the tidings of Antony's marriage 
 with Octavia. She perceives at once with quickness that 
 
 3
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Comments 
 
 all is not well, and she hastens to anticipate the worst, that 
 she may have the pleasure of being disappointed. Her 
 impatience to know what she fears to learn, the vivacity 
 with which she gradually works herself up into a state of 
 excitement, and at length into fury, is wrought -out with 
 a force of truth which makes us recoil. . . . The 
 pride and arrogance of the Egyptian queen, the blandish- 
 ment of the woman, the unexpected but natural transitions 
 of temper and feeling, the contest of various passions, and 
 at length — when the wild hurricane has spent its fury — 
 the melting into tears, faintness, and languishment, are 
 portrayed with the most astonishing power, and truth, 
 and skill in feminine nature. More wonderful still is 
 the splendour and force of colouring which is shed over 
 this extraordinary scene. The mere idea of an angry 
 woman beating her menial, presents something ridiculous 
 or disgusting to the mind ; in a queen or a tragedy heroine 
 it is still more indecorous ; yet this scene is as far as pos- 
 sible from the vulgar or the comic. 
 
 Shakspeare has shown profound judgement and feel- 
 ing in adhering closely to the classical authorities ; and 
 to say that the language and sentiments worthily fill up 
 the outline is the most magnificent praise that can be 
 given. The magical play of fancy and the overpowering 
 fascination of the character are kept up to the last : and 
 when Cleopatra, on applying the asp, silences the lamenta- 
 tions of her women — 
 
 Peace ! peace ! 
 Dost thou not see my baby at my breast. 
 That sucks the nurse to sleep? — 
 
 these few words — the contrast between the tender beauty 
 of the image and the horror of the situation — produce an 
 effect more intensely mournful than all the ranting in the 
 world. The generous devotion of her women adds the 
 moral charm which alone was wanting : and when Octa- 
 vius hurries in too late to save his victim, and exclaims, 
 when gazing on her, —
 
 Comments ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 She looks like sleep- 
 As she would catch another Antony 
 in her strong toil of grace, — 
 
 the image of her beauty and her irresistible arts, trium- 
 phant even in death, is at once brought before us, and one 
 masterly and comprehensive stroke consummates this most 
 wonderful, most dazzling delineation. 
 
 I am not here the apologist of Cleopatra's historical 
 character, nor of such women as resemble her : I am con- 
 sidering her merely as a dramatic portrait of astonishing 
 beauty, spirit, and originality. She has furnished the sub- 
 ject of two Latin, sixteen French, six English, and at least 
 four Italian tragedies ; yet Shakspeare alone has availed 
 himself of all the interest of the story, without falsifying 
 the character. He alone has dared to exhibit the Egyp- 
 tian queen with all her greatness and all her littleness — 
 all her frailties of temper — all her paltry arts and disso- 
 lute passions — yet preserved the dramatic propriety and 
 poetical colouring of the character, and awakened our pity 
 for fallen grandeur, without once beguiling us into sym- 
 pathy with guilt and error. 
 
 Mrs. Jameson : Characteristics of Women. 
 
 Pascal says in his Pcnsees : '' Si le nez de Cleopatre 
 c\xt ete plus court, toute la face de la terre aurait change." 
 But her nose was, as the old coins show us, exactly what it 
 ought to have been ; and in Shakespeare we feel that she 
 is not only beauty itself, but charm, except in one single 
 scene, where the news of Antony's marriage throws her 
 into a paroxysm of unbeautiful rage. Her charm is of 
 the sense-intoxicating kind, and she has, by study and art, 
 developed those powers of attraction v/hich she possessed 
 from the outset, till she has become inexhaustible in inven- 
 tiveness and variety. She is the woman who has passed 
 from hand to hand, from her husband and brother to Pom- 
 pey, from Pompey to the great Caesar, from Caesar to 
 countless others. She is the courtesan by temperament, 
 
 10
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Comments 
 
 but none the less does she possess the genius for a single, 
 undivided love. She, like Antony, is complex, and being 
 a woman, she is more so than he. J'^ir duplex, femina 
 triplex. 
 
 From the beginning and almost to the end of the trag- 
 edy she plays the part of the great coquette. What she 
 says and, does is for long only the outcome of the co- 
 quette's desire and power to captivate by incalculable ca- 
 prices. She asks where Antony is, and sends for him 
 (I. ii.). He comes. She exclaims: " We will not look 
 upon him," and goes. Presently his absence irks her, and 
 again she sends a messenger to remind him of her and 
 keep him in play (I. iii.) : — 
 
 " If you find him sad, 
 Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report 
 That I am sudden sick ..." 
 
 He learns of his wife's death. She would have been be- 
 side herself if he had shown grief, but he speaks with 
 coldness of the loss, and she attacks him because of this : — 
 
 " Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill 
 With sorrowful water ? Now I see, I see. 
 In Fulvia's death, how mine received shall be." 
 
 This incalculability, this capriciousness of hers extends to 
 the smallest matters. She invites Mardian to play a game 
 of billiards with her (an amusing anachronism), and, 
 finding him ready, she turns him off with : " I '11 none 
 now." 
 
 But all this mutability does not exclude in her the most 
 real, most passionate love for Antony. The best proof of 
 its strength is the way in which she speaks of him when he 
 is absent. Nor is it irony when Enobarbus, in reply to 
 Antony's complaint (I. ii.), " She is cunning past man's 
 thought," makes answer, " Alack, sir, no ; her passions 
 are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love." 
 This is literally true — only that the love is not pure in the 
 
 II
 
 Comments ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 sense of being sublimated or unegoistic, but in the sense 
 of being quintessential erotic emotion, chemically free 
 from all the other elements usually combined with it. 
 
 And outward circumstances harmonize with the char- 
 acter and vehemence of this passion. He lays the king- 
 doms of the East at her feet ; wath reckless prodigality, 
 she lavishes the wealth of Africa on the festivals she holds 
 in his honour. 
 
 Brandes : William Shakespeare. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Octavia. 
 
 Octavia has furnishings enough for the heroine of a 
 great tragedy; but she is not fitted to shine in the same 
 sphere with Cleopatra, as her mild, stead}^ serene light 
 would needs be paralyzed by the meteoric showers of the 
 Egyptian enchantress. The Poet has not done justice to 
 her sweet and solid qualities, and indeed, from the nature 
 of the case, the more justice they had received, the more 
 had they suffered by contrast with the perilous brilliancv 
 of her rival. Yet he shows that he fully knew and felt 
 her beauty and elevation of character, by the impression 
 others take of her. Her behaviour is always most dig- 
 nified, discreet, and womanly ; while her " holy, cold, and 
 still conversation," the dreaded chastisements of her sober 
 eye, her patience, modesty, and silent austerity of reproof, 
 as these are reflected from the thoughts of those who have 
 given themselves most cause to wish her other than she 
 is, gain her something better than our admiration. The 
 Poet's good judgement in never bringing her and Cleo- 
 patra together is deservedly celebrated. 
 
 Hudson : The Works of Shakespeare. 
 
 I do not understand the observation of a late critic 
 [Hazlitt] that in this play " Octavia is only a dull foil to
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Comments 
 
 Cleopatra." Cleopatra requires no foil, and Octavia is not 
 dull, though in a moment of jealous spleen her accom- 
 plished rival gives her that epithet. It is possible that her 
 beautiful character, if brought more forward and col- 
 oured up to the historic portrait, would still be eclipsed by 
 the dazzling splendour of Cleopatra's ; for so I have seen 
 a flight of fireworks blot out for a while the silver moon 
 and ever-burning stars. But here the subject of the 
 drama being the love of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavia 
 is very properly kept in the background, and far from 
 any competition with her rival : the interest would other- 
 wise have been tmpleasantly divided, or rather Cleopatra 
 herself must have served but as a foil to the tender, virtu- 
 ous, dignified, and generous Octavia, the very beau ideal 
 of a noble Roman lady. 
 
 Dryden has committed a great mistake in bringing Oc- 
 tavia and her children on the scene, and in immediate 
 contact with Cleopatra. To have thus violated the truth 
 of history might have been excusable, but to sacrifice the 
 truth of nature and dramatic propriety, to produce a mere 
 stage effect, was unpardonable. In order to preserve the 
 unity of interest, he has falsified the character of Octavia 
 as w^ell as that of Cleopatra : he has presented us with a 
 regular scolding-match between the rivals, in wdiich they 
 come sw^eeping up to each other from opposite sides of 
 the stage, with their respective trains, like two peahens 
 in a passion. Shakspeare would no more have brought 
 his captivating, brilliant, but meretricious Cleopatra into 
 immediate comparison with the noble and chaste simplicity 
 of Octavia, than a connoisseur in art would have placed 
 Canova's Dansatrice, beautiful as it is, beside the Athenian 
 Melpomene, or the Vestal of the Capitol. 
 
 The character of Octavia is merely indicated in a few 
 touches, but every stroke tells. We see her wdth " down- 
 cast eyes sedate and sweet, and looks demure — wdth her 
 modest tenderness and dignified submission — the very an- 
 tipodes of her rival ! Nor should we forget that she has 
 furnished one of the most graceful similes in the whole 
 
 13
 
 Comments ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 compass of poetry, where her soft equanimity in the midst 
 of grief is compared to — 
 
 The swan's down-feather, 
 That stands upon the swell at full of tide 
 And neither way inclines. 
 
 Mrs. Jameson : Characteristics of Women, 
 
 Enobarbus. 
 
 On the whole, after Octavia, Enorbarbus is rather the 
 noblest character in the play. His blunt, prompt, rough- 
 spoken sagacity, mingled with a certain slyness of thought, 
 a racy infusion of humour, and a pungent, searching irony 
 of discourse, interpret with remorseless fidelity the moral 
 import of the characters and movements about him ; while 
 the splitting of his heart with grief and remorse for hav- 
 ing deserted the ship of his master, which he knew to be 
 sinking, shows him altogether a noble vessel of manhood. 
 That Antony's generosity kills him, approves, as nothing 
 else could do, how generous he is himself. The character 
 is almost entirely the Poet's own creation, Plutarch fur- 
 nishing but one or two unpregnant hints towards it. In 
 the play, he seems designed in part to serve as the organ 
 and mouthpiece of the author's judgement respecting the 
 other persons ; so that in him we have at once a character 
 and a commentary. 
 
 Hudson : The Works of Shakespeare. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Shakespeare's Way and Dryden's. 
 
 If I were to select any historical play of Shakespeare, 
 in which he has combined an almost literal fidelity to his- 
 tory with an equal faithful adherence to the truth of na- 
 ture, and in which he superinduces the merit of skilful 
 dramatic management, it would be [Antony and Cleo- 
 patra]. In his portraiture of Antony there is, perhaps, 
 
 14.
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Comments 
 
 a flattered likeness of the original by Plutarch ; but the 
 similitude loses Httle of its strength by Shakespeare's soft- 
 ening and keeping in the shade his traits of cruelty. In 
 Cleopatra, we can discern nothing materially different 
 from the vouched historical sorceress ; she nevertheless 
 has a more vivid meteoric and versatile play of enchant- 
 ment in Shakespeare's likeness of her than in a dozen of 
 other poetical copies in which the artists took much greater 
 liberties with historical truth : he paints her as if the 
 gypsy herself had cast her spell over him, and given her 
 own w^itchcraft to his pencil. 
 
 At the same time, playfully interesting to our fancy as 
 he makes this enchantress, he keeps us far from a vicious 
 sympathy. The asp at her bosom, that lulls its nurse 
 asleep, has no poison for our morality. A single glance 
 at the devoted and dignified Octavia recalls our homage 
 to virtue ; but with delicate skill he withholds the purer 
 woman from prominent contact with the w^anton queen, 
 and does not, like Dry den, bring the two to a scolding- 
 match. The latter poet's All for Love w^as regarded by 
 himself as his masterpiece, and is by no means devoid of 
 merit ; but so inferior is it to the prior drama, as to make 
 it disgraceful to British taste for one hundred years that 
 the former absolutely banished the latter from the stage. 
 A French critic calls Great Britain the island of Shake- 
 speare's idolaters ; yet so it happens, in this same island, 
 that Dryden's All for Love has been acted ten times 
 oftener than Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. 
 
 Dryden's Marc Antony is a weak voluptuary from first 
 to last. Not a sentence of manly virtue is ever uttered 
 by him that seems to come from himself ; and whenever 
 he expresses a moral feeling, it appears not to have grown 
 up in his own nature, but to have been planted there by 
 the influence of his friend Ventidius, like a flower in a 
 child's garden, only to wither and take no root. Shake- 
 speare's Antony is a very different being. When he hears 
 of the death of his first wife, Fulvia, his exclamation, 
 " There 's a great spirit gone ! " and his reflections on his 
 
 15
 
 Comments ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 own enthralment by Cleopatra mark the residue of a noble 
 mind. A queen, a siren, a Shakespeare's Cleopatra alone 
 could have entangled Mark Antony, while an ordinary 
 wanton could have enslaved Dryden's hero. 
 
 Campbell. 
 VII. 
 
 The Poet's Lesson. 
 
 We do not mistake this feeling of Cleopatra towards 
 Antony for love ; but he has been for her ( who had known 
 Caesar and Pompey) the supreme sensation. She is 
 neither faithful to him nor faithless ; in her complex na- 
 ture, beneath each fold or layer of sincerity Hes one of 
 insincerity, and we cannot tell which is the last and in- 
 nermost. Her imagination is stimulated and nourished by 
 Antony's presence. And he, in his turn, finds in the 
 beauty and witchcraft of the Egyptian something no less 
 incommensurable and incomprehensible. Yet no one felt 
 more profoundly than Shakspere — as his Sonnets abun- 
 dantly testify — that the glory of strength and of beauty is 
 subject to limit and to time. What he would seem to say 
 to us in this play, not in the manner of a doctrinaire or a 
 moralist, but wholly as an artist, is that this sensuous in- 
 finite is but a dream, a deceit, a snare. The miserable 
 change comes upon Antony. The remorseless practice of 
 Cleopatra upon his heart has done him to death. And 
 among things which the barren world offers to the Queen 
 she now finds death — a painless death — the least hateful. 
 Shakspere, in his high impartiality to fact, denies none of 
 the glory of the lust of the eye and the pride of life. He 
 compels us to acknowledge these to the utmost. Biit he 
 adds that there is another demonstrable fact of the world 
 which tests the visible pomp of the earth, and the splen- 
 dour of sensuous passion, and finds them wanting. The 
 glory of the royal festival is not dulled by Shakspere or 
 diminished ; but, also, he shows us, in letters of flame, the 
 handwriting upon the wall. 
 
 DowDEN : Shakspere. 
 i6
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Comments 
 
 VIII. 
 The Masterpiece of Passion. 
 
 Shakespeare can be complimented only by comparison 
 with himself : all other eulogies are either heterogeneous, 
 as when they are in reference to Spenser or Milton ; or 
 they are flat truisms, as when he is gravely preferred to 
 Corneille, Racine, or even his own immediate successors, 
 Beaumont and Fletcher, iMassinger and the rest. The 
 highest praise, or rather form of praise, of this play, which 
 I can offer in my own mind, is the doubt which the perusal 
 always occasions in me, whether the Antony and Cleopatra 
 is not, in all exhibitions of a giant power in its strength 
 and vigour of maturity, a formidable rival of Macbeth, 
 Lear, Hamlet, and Othello. Feliciter audax is the motto 
 for its style comparatively with that of Shakespeare's 
 other works, even as it is the general motto of all his 
 Vv'orks compared with those of other poets. Be it remem- 
 bered, too, that this happy valiancy of style is but the rep- 
 resentative and result of all the material excellencies so 
 expressed. 
 
 This play should be perused in mental contrast with 
 Romeo and Juliet — as the love of passion and appetite op- 
 posed to the love of affection and instinct. But the art 
 displayed in the character of Cleopatra is profound; in 
 this, especially, that the sense of criminality in her passion 
 is lessened by our insight into its depth and energy, at the 
 very moment that we cannot but perceive that the passion 
 itself springs out of the habitual craving of a licentious 
 nature, and that it is supported and reinforced by volun- 
 tary stimulus and sought-for associations, instead of blos- 
 soming out of spontaneous emotion. 
 
 Of all of Shakespeare's historical plays, Antony and 
 Cleopatra is by far the most wonderful. There is not one 
 in which he has followed history so minutely, and yet 
 there are few in which he impresses the notion of angelic 
 strength so much — perhaps none in which he impresses it 
 
 17
 
 Comments ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 more strongly. This is greatly owing to the manner in 
 which the fiery force is sustained throughout, and to the 
 numerous momentary flashes of nature counteracting the 
 historic abstraction. As a wonderful specimen of the way 
 in which Shakespeare lives up to the very end of this play, 
 read the last part of the concluding scene. And if you 
 would feel the judgement as well as the genius of Shake- 
 speare in your heart's core, compare this astonishing 
 drama with Dryden's All for Love. 
 
 Coleridge : Azotes and Lectures upon Shakespeare. 
 
 The greatest monument of [Shakespeare's] dramatic 
 subtlety is the tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra. With 
 all its noble bursts of passion and occasional splendour of 
 description, this play has not perhaps the massive breadth 
 of feeling and overpowering interest of the four great 
 tragedies, Macbeth, Hamlet, Lear, and Othello ; but it is 
 greater even than Macbeth and Othello in the range of its 
 mastery over the fluctuations of profound passion : it is 
 the greatest of Shakespeare's plays in the dramatist's 
 greatest faculty. The conflict of motives in Hamlet is an 
 achievement of genius that must always be regarded with 
 wonder and reverence; but, to my mind, Antony and 
 Cleopatra is the dramatist's masterpiece. One may have 
 less interest in the final end of the subtle changes wrought 
 in the hero and heroine: but in the pursuit and certain 
 grasp of those changes, Shakespeare's dramatic genius ap- 
 pears at its supreme height. 
 
 MiNTo: Characteristics of English Poets. 
 
 On Antony and Cleopatra Shakspere has poured out the 
 glory of his genius in profusion, and makes us stand by, 
 saddened and distressed, as the noble Antony sinks to his 
 ruin, under the gorgeous colouring of the Eastern sky, 
 the vicious splendour of the Egyptian queen ; makes us 
 look with admiring hate on the wonderful picture he has 
 drawn, certainly far the most wonderful study of woman
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Comments 
 
 he has left us, of that Cleopatra of whom Enobarbus, who 
 knew her every turn, said, — 
 
 "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale 
 Her infinite variety ; other women 
 Cloy the appetites they feed, but she makes hungry 
 Where most she satisfies." 
 
 That in her, the dark woman of Shakspere's Sonnets, his 
 own fickle, serpent-like, attractive mistress, is to some ex- 
 tent embodied, I do not doubt. What a superbly sumptu- 
 ous picture, as if painted by Veronese or Titian, is that 
 where Cleopatra first met Antony upon the river of Cyd- 
 nus ! How admirably transferred from Plutarch's prose ! 
 And how that fatal inability to say " No " to woman shows 
 us Antony's weakness and the cause of his final fall. 
 
 Furnivall: The Leopold Shakspere. 
 
 19
 
 DRAMATIS PERSONAE. 
 
 - friends to Antony. 
 
 Antony, 
 
 OcTAvius C5:sAR, \ tnumvfrs. 
 
 Lepidus, 
 
 Sextus Pompeius. 
 
 DOMTTIUS EnOBARBUS, 
 
 Ventidius, 
 Eros, 
 
 SCARUS, 
 
 Dercetas, 
 
 Demetrius, 
 
 Philo, 
 
 M.ECENAS, ] 
 
 Agrippa, j 
 
 dolabella, 
 
 Proculeius, 
 
 Thyreus, 
 
 Gallus, 
 
 Menas, ■) 
 
 Menecrates, \ friends to Sextus Pompeius. 
 
 Varrius. j 
 
 Taurus, lieutenant-general to Caesar. 
 
 Canidius, lieutenant-general to Antony. 
 
 SiLius, an oiUcer in Ventidius' s army. 
 
 EuPHRONius, an ambassador from Antony to Ccesar 
 
 A LEX AS, 
 
 friends to Ccesar. 
 
 Mardtan, a eunuch, 
 Seleucus, 
 
 DlOMEDES, 
 
 A Soothsayer. 
 A Clown. 
 
 ■ attendants on Cleopatra. 
 
 Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. 
 
 Oct A VIA, sister to Ccesar, and wife to Antony. 
 
 Charmian, ) .. j . r-i u ^ 
 
 J V attendants on Cleopatra. 
 
 Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants. 
 Scene: In several parts of the Roman Empire. 
 
 20
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 
 
 ACT FIRST. 
 Scene I. 
 
 Alexandria. A room in Cleopatra's palace. 
 
 Enter Demetrius and Philo. 
 
 Phi. X^ay, but this dotage of oiir general's 
 
 O'erflows the measure : those his goodly eyes, 
 
 That o'er the files and musters of the war 
 
 Have glow'd like plated Mars, now bend, now turn, 
 
 The office and devotion of their view 
 
 Upon a tawny front : his captain's heart, 
 
 Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst 
 
 The buckles on his breast, reneges all temper, 
 
 And is become the bellows and the fan 
 
 To cool a gipsy's lust. 
 
 Flourish. Enter Antony, Cleopatra, her Ladies, the train, 
 with Eunuchs fa)ining her. 
 
 Look, where they come : lo 
 Take but good note, and you shall see in him 
 The triple pillar of the world transform'd 
 Into a strumpet's fool : behold and see. 
 Cleo. If it be love indeed, tell me how much. 
 Ant. There 's beggary in the love that can be rcckon'd. 
 Cleo. I '11 set a bourn how far to be beloved. 
 Ant. Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new 
 earth. 
 
 21
 
 Act I. Sc. i. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Enter an Attendant. 
 
 Att. News, my good lord, from Rome. 
 
 Ant. Grates me : the simi. 
 
 Cleo. Nay, hear them, Antony : 
 
 Fulvia perchance is angry ; or, who knows 20 
 
 If the scarce-bearded Caesar have not sent 
 His powerful mandate to you, ' Do this, or this ; 
 Take in that kingdom, and enfranchise that ; 
 Perform 't, or else we damn thee.' 
 
 Ant. How, my love! 
 
 Cleo. Perchance ! nay, and most like : 
 
 You must not stay here longer, your dismission 
 Is come from Caesar ; therefore hear it, Antony. 
 Where 's Fulvia's process ? Caesar's I would sav ? 
 
 both ? 
 Call in the messengers. As I am Egypt's queen. 
 Thou blushest, Antony, and that blood of thine 30 
 Is Caesar's homager : else so thy cheek pays shame 
 When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds. The messengers ! 
 
 Ant. Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch 
 Of the ranged empire fall ! Here is my space. 
 Kingdoms are clay : our dungy earth alike 
 Feeds beast as man : the nobleness of life 
 Is to do thus ; when such a mutual pair 
 
 [Embracing. 
 And such a twain can do 't, in which I bind. 
 On pain of punishment, the world to weet 
 We stand up peerless, 
 
 Cleo. Excellent falsehood ! 40 
 
 W'hy did he marry Fulvia, and not love her? 
 I '11 seem the fool I am not ; Antony 
 Will be himself. 
 
 22 4
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act I. Sc. ii. 
 
 ^fif^ But stirr'd by Cleopatra. 
 
 Now, for the love of Love and her soft hours, 
 Let 's not confound the time with conference harsh : 
 There 's not a minute of our lives should stretch 
 Without some pleasure now. What sport to-night ? 
 Cleo. Hear the ambassadors. 
 
 ^-int. Fie, wrangling queen ! 
 
 Whom every thing becomes, to chide, to laugh. 
 To weep ; wdiose every passion fully strives 50 
 
 To make itself, in thee, fair and admired ! 
 No messenger but thine ; and all alone 
 To-night we '11 wander through the streets and note 
 The qualities of people. Come, my queen ; 
 Last night you did desire it. Speak not to us. 
 
 [Exeunt Ant. and Clco. zvith their train. 
 Dem. Is Caesar with Antonius prized so slight? 
 Phi. Sir, sometimes, when he is not Antony, 
 He comes too short of that great property 
 Which still should go with Antony. 
 bem. I ^^ ^^^^ sorry 
 
 That he approves the common liar, who 60 
 
 Thus speaks of him at Rome : but I will hope 
 Of better deeds to-morrow. Rest you happy ! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IL 
 
 The same. Another room. 
 
 Enter Charmian, Iras, Alexas, and a Soothsayer. 
 
 Char. Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most any thing 
 Alexas, almost most absolute Alexas, where 's 
 the soothsayer that you praised so to the queen ? 
 
 22>
 
 Act I. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 O, that I knew this husband, which, you say, 
 
 must charge his horns with garlands ! 
 Alex. Soothsayer! 
 Sooth. Your will? 
 
 Char. Is this the man? Is 't you, sir, that know things? 
 Sooth. In nature's infinite book of secrecy 
 
 A little I can read. 
 Alex. Show him your hand. lo 
 
 Enter Enobarbus. 
 
 Eno. Bring in the banquet quickly ; wine enough 
 Cleopatra's health to drink. 
 
 Char. Good sir, give me good fortune. 
 
 Sooth. I make not, but foresee. 
 
 C/iar. Pray then, foresee me one. 
 
 Sooth. You shall be yet far fairer than you are. 
 
 Char. He means in flesh. 
 
 Iras. No, you shall paint when you are old. 
 
 Char. Wrinkles forbid ! 
 
 Alex. Vex not his prescience ; be attentive. 20 
 
 Char. Hush! 
 
 SootJi. You shall be more beloving than beloved. 
 
 Char. I had rather heat my liver with drinking. 
 
 Alex. Xay, hear him. 
 
 Char. Good now, some excellent fortune ! Let me 
 be married to three kings in a forenoon, and 
 widow them all : let me have a child at fifty, to 
 whom Herod of Jewry may do homage : find me 
 to marry me with Octavius Caesar, and companion 
 me with my mistress. 30 
 
 Sooth. You shall outlive the ladv whom you serve. 
 
 Char. O excellent ! I love long life better than figs. 
 
 24
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act I. Sc. ii. 
 
 Sooth. You have seen and proved a fairer former fortune 
 Than that which is to approach. 
 
 Char. Then behke my children shall have no names : 
 prithee, how many boys and wenches must I have? 
 
 Sooth. If every of your wishes had a womb, 
 And fertile every wish, a million. 
 
 Char. Out, fool ! I forgive thee for a witch. 
 
 Alex. You think none but your sheets are privy to 40 
 your wishes. 
 
 Char. Xay, come, tell Iras hers. 
 
 J I ex. We '11 know all our fortunes. 
 
 Ejio. Mine and most of our fortunes to-night shall be 
 — drunk to bed. 
 
 Iras. There 's a palm presages chastity, if nothing else. 
 
 Char. E'en as the o'erflowing Xilus presageth famine. 
 
 Iras. Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay. 
 
 Char. Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prog- 
 nostication. I cannot scratch mine ear. Prithee, 5,0 
 tell her but a worky-day fortune. 
 
 Sooth. Your fortunes are alike. 
 
 Iras. But how, but how ? give r.:e particulars. 
 
 SoctJi. I have said. 
 
 Iras. Am I not an inch of fortune better than she ? 
 
 Char. Well, if you were but an inch of fortune better 
 than I, where would you choose it? 
 
 Iras. Not in my husband's nose. 
 
 Char. Our worser thoughts heavens mend ! Alexas, 
 
 — come, his fortune, his fortune! O, let him 60 
 marry a woman that cannot go, sweet Isis, I 
 beseech thee ! and let her die too, and give him 
 a worse ! and let worse follow worse, till the 
 worst of all follow him laughing to his grave, 
 
 25
 
 Act I. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 fifty-fold a cuckold ! Good Isis, hear me this 
 prayer, though thou deny me a matter of more 
 weight ; good Isis. 1 beseech thee ! 
 
 Iras. Amen. Dear goddess, hear that prayer of the 
 people! for, as it is a heart-breaking to see a 
 handsome man loose-wived, so it is a deadly 70 
 sorrow to behold a foul knave uncuckolded : 
 therefore, dear Isis, keep decorum, and fortune 
 him accordingly ! 
 
 Char. Amen. 
 
 Alex. Lo, now, if it lay in their hands to make me 
 a cuckold, they would make themselves whores, 
 but they 'Id do 't ! 
 
 Rno. Hush ! here comes Antony. 
 
 Char. Not he ; the queen. 
 
 Enter Cleopatra. 
 
 Cleo. Saw you my lord? 
 Eno. No, lady. 
 Cleo. Was he not here ? 
 Char. No, madam. 
 
 Cleo. He was disposed to mirth ; but on the sudden 
 A Roman thought hath struck him. Enobarbus ! 
 Eno. Madam? 
 
 Cleo. Seek him, and bring him hither. Where 's Alexas ? 
 Alex. Here, at your service. My lord approaches. 
 Cleo. We will not look upon him : go with us. [Exeunt. 
 
 Enter Antony with a Messenger and Attendants. 
 
 Mess. Fulvia thy wife first came into the field. 
 
 Ant. Against my brother Lucius ? 90 
 
 Mess. Ay: 
 
 26
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act I. Sc. ii. 
 
 But soon that war had end, and the time's state 
 Made friends of them, jointingtheir force 'gainst Caesar, 
 Whose better issue in the war from Italy 
 Upon the first encounter drave them. 
 
 Ant Well, what worst ? 
 
 Mess. The nature of bad news infects the teller. 
 
 A lit. When it concerns the fool, or coward. On : 
 
 Things that are past are done with me. 'Tis thus ; 
 Who tells me true, though in his tale lie death, 
 I hear him as he flatter'd. 
 
 Mess. Labienus — loo 
 
 This is stiff news — hath with his Parthian force 
 Extended Asia from Euphrates, 
 His conquering banner shook from Syria 
 To Lydia and to Ionia, 
 Whilst— 
 
 Anf. Antony, thou wouldst say, — 
 
 Mess. O, my lord ! 
 
 Ant. Speak to me home, mince not the general tongue : 
 Name Cleopatra as she is call'd in Rome ; 
 Rail thou in Fulvia's phrase, and taunt my faults 
 With such full license as both truth and malice 109 
 Have power to utter. O, then we bring forth weeds 
 When our quick minds lie still, and our ills told us 
 Is as our earing. Fare thee well awhile. 
 
 Mess. At your noble pleasure. [Exit. 
 
 Ant. From Sicyon, ho, the news! Speak there! 
 
 First Att. The man from Sicyon, is there such an one? 
 
 Sec. Att. He stays upon your will. 
 
 Ant. Let him appear. 
 
 These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, 
 Or lose myself in dotage, 
 
 27
 
 Act I. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Enter another Messenger. 
 
 What are you ? 
 
 Sec. Mess. Fulvia thy wife is dead. 
 
 Ant. Where died she ? 
 
 Sec. Ad ess. In Sicyon : 120 
 
 Her length of sickness, with what else more serious 
 Importeth thee to know, this bears. [Gives a letter. 
 
 Ant. Forbear me. 
 
 [Exit Sec. Messenger. 
 There 's a great spirit gone ! Thus did I desire it : 
 What our contempts do often hurl from us. 
 We wish it ours again ; the present pleasure. 
 By revolution lowering, does become 
 The opposite of itself : she 's good, being gone ; 
 The hand could pluck her back that shoved her on. 
 I must from this enchanting queen break off: 
 Ten thousand harms, more than the ills I know, 130 
 My idleness doth hatch. How now ! Enobarbus ! 
 
 Re-enter Enobarbus. 
 
 Eno. What 's your pleasure, sir ? 
 
 Ant. I must with haste from hence. 
 
 Eno. Why then we kill all our women. We see how 
 mortal an unkindness is to them ; if they suffer 
 our departure, death 's the word. 
 
 Ant. I must be gone. 
 
 Eno. Under a compelling occasion let women die: 
 it were pity to cast them away for nothing ; 
 though, between them and a great cause, they 140 
 should be esteemed nothing. Cleopatra, catch- 
 ing but the least noise of this, dies instantly; 
 I have seen her die twenty times upon far poorer
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act L Sc. ii. 
 
 moment: I do think there is mettle in death, 
 which commits some loving act upon her, she 
 hath such a celerity in dying. 
 
 .Int. She is cunning past man's thought. 
 
 Eno. Alack, sir, no ; her passions are made of nothing 
 but the finest part of pure love : we cannot call 
 her winds and waters sighs and tears; they are 150 
 greater storms and tempests than almanacs can 
 report : this cannot be cunning in her ; if it be, 
 she makes a shower of rain as well as Jove. 
 
 Ant, Would I had never seen her ! 
 
 Eno. O, sir, vou had then left unseen a wonderful 
 piece of 'work; which not to have been blest 
 withal would have discredited your travel. 
 
 Ant. Fulvia is dead. 
 
 Eno. Sir? . 
 
 Ant. Fulvia is dead. ^^ 
 
 Eno. Fulvia! 
 
 Ant. Dead. , , r 1 -n 
 
 Eno. Why, sir, give the gods a thankful sacrihce. 
 When it pleaseth their deities to take the wife of 
 a man from him, it shows to man the tailors of 
 the earth, comforting therein, that when old robes 
 are worn out there are members to make new. 
 If there were no more women but Fulvia, then 
 had vou indeed a cut, and the case to be lamented : 
 this grief is crowned with consolation; your old 170 
 smock brings forth a new petticoat : and indeed the 
 tearsliveinan onion that should water this sorrow. 
 Ant. The business she hath broached in the state 
 
 cannot endure my absence. 
 Eno. And the business you have broached here cannot 
 
 20
 
 Act I. Sc. iii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 be without you ; especially that of Cleopatra's, 
 which wholly depends on your abode. 
 AnL No more light answers. Let our officers 
 Have notice what we purpose. I shall break 
 The cause of our expedience to the queen i8o 
 
 And get her leave to part. For not alone 
 The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, 
 Do strongly speak to us, but the letters too 
 Of many our contriving friends in Rome 
 Petition us at home ; Sextus Pompeius 
 Hath given the dare to Caesar and commands 
 The empire of the sea : our slippery people, 
 Whose love is never link'd to the deserver 
 Till his deserts are past, begin to throw 
 Pompey the Great and all his dignities 190 
 
 Upon his son ; who, high in name and power. 
 Higher than both in blood and life, stands up 
 For the main soldier : whose quality, going on. 
 The sides o' the world may danger. Much is breeding. 
 Which, like the courser's hair, hath yet but life 
 And not a serpent's poison. Say, our pleasure. 
 To such whose place is under us, requires 
 Our quick remove from hence. 
 
 Eno. I shall do 't. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IIL 
 
 The same. Another room. 
 
 Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Alexas. 
 
 Cleo. Where is he? 
 
 Char. I did not see him since. 
 
 Clco. See where he is, who 's with him, what he does : 
 
 30
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act I. Sc. iii. 
 
 I did not send you: if you find him sad, 
 
 Say I am dancing ; if in mirth, report 
 
 That I am sudden sick: quick, and return. 
 
 [Exit Alex as. 
 Char. Madam, methinks, if you did love him dearly, 
 
 You do not hold the method to enforce 
 
 The like from him. 
 Clco. What should I do, I do not? 
 
 Char. In each thing give him way, cross him in nothing. 
 Clco. Thou teachest like a fool : the way to lose him. lo 
 Char. Tempt him not so too far; I wish, forbear: 
 
 In time we hate that which we often fear. 
 
 But here comes Antony. 
 
 Enter Antony. 
 
 Cleo. I am sick and sullen. 
 
 Ant. I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose, — 
 Cleo. Help me away, dear Charmian; I shall fall: 
 
 It cannot be thus long, the sides of nature 
 
 Will not sustain it. 
 Ant. Now, my dearest queen, — 
 
 Clco. Pray you, stand farther from me. 
 Ant. What 's the matter? 
 
 Cko. I know, by that same eye, there 's some good news. 
 
 What says the married woman? You may go: 20 
 
 Would she had never given you leave to come! 
 
 Let her not say 'tis I that keep you here, 
 
 I have no power upon you; hers you are. 
 Ant. The gods best know — 
 Cleo. O, never was there queen 
 
 So mightily betray'd! yet at the first 
 
 I saw the treasons planted. 
 
 31
 
 Act I. Sc. iii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Ant. Cleopatra, — 
 
 Cleo. Why should I think you can be mine and true. 
 Though you in swearing shake the throned gods, 
 Who have been false to Fulvia? Riotous madness, 
 To be entangled with those mouth-made vows, 3c 
 Which break themselves in swearing! 
 
 Ajit. ]\Iost sweet queen, — 
 
 Cleo. Xay, pray you, seek no colour for your going. 
 But bid farewell, and go: when you sued staying, 
 Then was the time for words: no going then; 
 Eternity was in our lips and eyes. 
 Bliss in our brows' bent, none our parts so poor 
 But was a race of heaven : they are so still. 
 Or thou, the greatest soldier of the world. 
 Art turn'd the greatest liar. 
 
 Ant. How now, lady! 
 
 CIco. I would I had thy inches; thou shouldst know 40 
 There were a heart in Egypt. 
 
 Ant. Hear me, queen: 
 
 The strong necessity of time commands 
 Our services awhile; but my full heart 
 Remains in use with you. Our Italy 
 Shines o'er with civil swords: Sextus Pompeius 
 Makes his approaches to the port of Rome: 
 Equality of two domestic powers 
 Breed scrupulous faction : the hated, grown to strength. 
 Are newly grown to love: the condemned Pompey, 
 Rich in his father's honour, creeps apace 50 
 
 Into the hearts of such as have not thrived 
 Upon the present state, whose numbers threaten; 
 And quietness grown sick of rest would purge 
 By any desperate change. My more particular, 
 
 32
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act I. Sc. iii. 
 
 And that which most with you should safe my going, 
 Is Fulvia's death. 
 
 Clco. Though age from folly could not give me freedom, 
 It does from childishness : can Fulvia die ? 
 
 Ant. She 's dead, my queen: 
 
 Look here, and at thy sovereign leisure read 60 
 
 The garboils she awaked: at the last, best; 
 See when and where she died. 
 
 Cleo. O most false love! 
 
 Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill 
 With sorrowful water? Now I see, I see, 
 In Fulvia's death, how mine received shall be. 
 
 Ant. Quarrel no more, but be prepared to know 
 The purposes I bear, which are, or cease. 
 As you shall give the advice. By the fire 
 That quickens Nilus' slime, I go from hence 
 Thy soldier, servant, making peace or war 70 
 
 As thou afTect'st. 
 
 Clco. Cut my lace, Charmian, come ; 
 
 But let it be: I am quickly ill and well. 
 So Antony loves. 
 
 Ant. My precious queen, forbear; 
 
 And give true evidence to his love, which stands 
 An honourable trial. 
 
 Clco. So Fulvia told me. 
 
 I prithee, turn aside and weep for her; 
 Then bid adieu to me, and say the tears 
 Belong- to Egypt: good now, play one scene 
 Of excellent dissembling, and let it look 
 Like perfect honour. 
 
 Ant. You '11 heat my blood: no more. 80 
 
 Cleo. You can do better yet ; but this is meetly. 
 
 33
 
 Act I. Sc. iii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Ant. Now, by my sword, — 
 
 Cleo. And target. Still he mends ; 
 
 But this is not the best. Look, prithee, Charmian, 
 How this Herculean Roman does become 
 The carriage of his chafe. 
 
 Ant. I '11 leave you, lady. 
 
 Cleo. Courteous lord, one word. 
 
 Sir, you and I must part, but that 's not it: 
 Sir, you and I have loved, but there 's not it: 
 That you know^ well : something it is I would, — 
 O, my oblivion is a very Antony, 90 
 
 And I am all forgotten. 
 
 Ant. But that your royalty 
 
 Holds idleness your subject, I should take you 
 For idleness itself. 
 
 Cleo. 'Tis sweating labour 
 
 To bear such idleness so near the heart 
 As Cleopatra this. But, sir, forgive me, 
 Since my becomings kill me when they do not 
 Eye well to you. Your honour calls you hence; 
 Therefore be deaf to my unpitied folly, 
 And all the gods go with you! Upon your sword 
 Sit laurel victory! and smooth success 100 
 
 Be strew'd before your feet! 
 
 Ant. Let us go. Come; 
 
 Our separation so abides and flies, 
 That thou residing here go'st yet with me, 
 And I hence fleeting here remain with thee. 
 Away! [Exeunt.
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act I. Sc. iv. 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 Rome. Ccusar's house. 
 
 Enter Octaz'ius Cccsar, reading a letter^ Lepidus, and 
 their train. 
 
 Cccs. You may see, Lepidus, and henceforth know, 
 It is not Caesar's natural vice to hate 
 Our great competitor: from Alexandria 
 This is the news: he fishes, drinks and wastes 
 The lamps of night in revel : is not more manlike 
 Than Cleopatra, nor the queen of Ptolemy 
 More womaaly than he: hardly gave audience, or 
 Vouchsafed to think he had partners: you shall find 
 
 there 
 A man who is the abstract of all faults 
 That all men follow. 
 
 Lcp. I must not think there are lo 
 
 Evils enow to darken all his goodness : 
 His faults in him seem as the spots of heaven, 
 More fiery by night's blackness, hereditary 
 Rather than purchased, what he cannot change 
 Than what he chooses. 
 
 Cccs. You are too indulgent. Let us grant it is not 
 Amiss to tumble on the bed of Ptolemy, 
 To give a kingdom for a mirth, to sit 
 And keep the turn of tippling with a slave. 
 To reel the streets at noon and stand the buffet 20 
 With knaves that smell of sweat: say this becomes 
 
 him, — 
 As his composure must be rare indeed 
 Whom these things cannot blemish, — yet must Antony 
 No way excuse his soils, when we do bear 
 
 35
 
 Act I. Sc. iv. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 So great weight in his lightness. If he nll'd 
 His vacancy with his voluptuousness, 
 Full surfeits and the dryness of his bones 
 Call on him for 't : but to confound such time 
 That drums him from his sport and speaks as loud 
 As his own state and ours, 'tis to be chid 30 
 
 As we rate boys, who, being mature in knowledge, 
 Pawn their experience to their present pleasure, 
 And so rebel to judgement. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Lep. Here 's. more news. 
 
 Mess. Thy biddings have been done ; and every hour, 
 Most noble Caesar, shalt thou have report 
 How 'tis abroad. Pompey is strong at sea; 
 And it appears he is beloved of those 
 That only have f ^ar'd Caesar : to the ports 
 The discontents repair, and men's reports 
 Give him much wrong' d. 
 
 Ccos. I should have known no less : 40 
 
 It had been taught us from the primal state, 
 That he which is was wish'd until he were ; 
 And the ebb'd man, ne'er loved till ne'er worth love 
 Comes dear'd by being lack'd. This common body, 
 Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream, 
 Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide, 
 To rot itself with motion. 
 
 Mess. Caesar, I bring thee word, 
 
 Menecrates and Menas, famous pirates, 
 Make the sea serve them, which they ear and wound 
 With keels of every kind : manv hot inroads 50 
 
 They make in Italy ; the borders maritime 
 .?6
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act 1. Sc. iv. 
 
 Lack blocd to tl.ink en t, and flush youth revolt: 
 No vessel can peep forth, but 'tis as soon 
 Taken as seen ; for Pompey's name strikes more 
 Than could his war resisted. 
 Ccus. Antony, 
 
 Leave thy lascivious wassails. When thou once 
 
 Wast beaten from Modena, where thou slew'st 
 
 Hirtius and Pansa, consuls, at thy heel 
 
 Did famine follow ; whom thou fought' st against, 
 
 Though daintily brought up, with patience more 60 
 
 Than savages could suffer : thou didst drink 
 
 The stale of horses and the gilded puddle 
 
 Which beasts would cough at : thy palate then did 
 
 deign 
 The roughest berry on the rudest hedge ; 
 Yea, like the stag, when snow the pasture sheets. 
 The' barks of trees thou browsedst. On the Alps 
 It is reported thou didst eat strange flesh. 
 Which some did die to look on : and all this — 
 It wounds thine honour that I speak it now — 
 Was borne so like a soldier that thy cheek 70 
 
 So much as lank'd not. 
 Lep. 'Tis pity of him. 
 
 Ccrs. Let his shames quickly 
 
 Drive him to Rome : 'tis time we twain 
 Did show ourselves i' the field ; and to that end 
 Assemble we immediate council : Pompey 
 Thrives in our idleness. 
 j^^p^ To-morrow, Caesar, 
 
 I shall be furnish'd to inform you rightly 
 Both what by sea and land I can be able 
 To front this present time. 
 (^^^^ Till which encounter, 
 
 37
 
 Act I. Sc. V. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 It is my business too. Farewell. 80 
 
 Lcp. Farewell, my lord: what you shall know meantime 
 
 Of stirs abroad, I shall beseech you, sir, 
 
 To let me be partaker. 
 C(cs. Doubt not, sir; 
 
 I knew it for my bond. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 'Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace. 
 
 Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Mardian. 
 
 Cleo. Charmian ! 
 Char. Madam? 
 Cleo. Ha, ha! 
 
 Give me to drink mandragora. 
 Char. Why, madam? 
 
 Cleo. That I might sleep out this great gap of time 
 
 My Antony is away. 
 Char. You think of him too much. 
 
 Cleo. O, 'tis treason ! 
 
 Char. ]\Iadam, I trust, not so. 
 
 Cleo. Thou, eunuch Mardian ! 
 
 Mar. What 's your highness' pleasure ? 
 
 Cleo. Not now to hear thee sing ; I take no pleasure 
 
 In aught an eunuch has: 'tis well for thee, 10 
 
 That, being unseminar'd, thy freer thoughts 
 
 May not fly forth of Egypt. Hast thou affections ? 
 Mar. Yes, gracious madam. 
 Cleo, Indeed! 
 Mar. Not in deed, madam ; for I can do nothing 
 
 But what indeed is honest to be done : 
 
 Yet have I fierce affections, and think 
 
 38
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act I. Sc. v. 
 
 What Venus did with Mars. 
 CI CO. O Charmian, 
 
 Where think'st thou he is now? Stands he, or sits 
 
 he? 
 Or does he walk? or is he on his horse? 20 
 
 O happy horse, to bear the weight of Antony ! 
 Do bravely, horse! for wot'st thou whom thou 
 
 movest ? 
 The demi-Atlas of this earth, the arm 
 And burgonet of men. He 's speaking now, 
 Or murmuring, ' Where 's my serpent of old Nile ? ' 
 For so he calls me : now I feed myself 
 With most delicious poison. Think on me, 
 That am with Phoebus' amorous pinches black 
 And wrinkled deep in time? Broad-fronted Caesar, 
 When thou wast here above the ground, I was 30 
 A morsel for a monarch : and great Pompey 
 Would stand and make his eyes grow in my brow ; 
 There would he anchor his aspect and die 
 With looking on his life. 
 
 Enter Alcxas. 
 
 Alex. Sovereign of Egypt, hail! 
 
 Cleo. How much unlike art thou ^Nlark Antony ! 
 
 Yet, coming from him, that great medicine hath 
 
 With his tinct gilded thee. 
 
 How goes it with my brave Mark Antony? 
 Alex. Last thing he did, dear queen, 
 
 He kiss'd — the last of many doubled kisses — 40 
 
 This orient pearl. His speech sticks in my heart. 
 Cleo. Mine ear must pluck it thence. 
 Alex. ' Good friend,' quoth he, 
 
 39
 
 Act I. Sc. V. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 * Say, the firm Roman to great Egypt sends 
 
 This treasure of an oyster ; at whose foot, 
 
 To mend the petty present, I will piece 
 
 Her opulent throne with kingdoms ; all the east, 
 
 Say thou, shall call her mistress.' So he nodded. 
 
 And soberly did mount an arm-gaunt steed, 
 
 Who neigh'd so high, that what I would have spoke 
 
 Was beastly dumb'd by him. 
 
 CIco. Wliat, was he sad or merry? 50 
 
 A lev. Like to the time o' the year between the extremes 
 Of hot and cold, he w^as nor sad nor merry. 
 
 Cleo. O'well divided disposition! Note him, 
 
 Note him, good Charmian, 'tis the man ; but note 
 
 him : 
 He was not sad, for he would shine on those 
 That make their looks by his ; he was not merry, 
 Which seem'd to tell them his remembrance lay 
 In Egypt with his joy ; but between both. 
 O heavenly mingle ! Be'st thou sad or merry, 
 The violence of either thee becomes, 60 
 
 So does it no man else. iMet'st thou my posts ? 
 
 Alex. Ay, madam, twenty several messengers : 
 Why do you send so thick ? 
 
 Clco. Who 's born that day 
 
 When I forget to send to Antony, 
 Shall die a beggar. Ink and paper, Charmian. 
 Welcome, my good Alexas. Did I, Charmian, 
 Ever love Caesar so? 
 
 CJiar. O that brave Caesar ! 
 
 Cleo. Be choked with such another emphasis ! 
 Say, the brave Antony. 
 
 Char. The valiant Caesar ! 
 
 Cleo. By Isis, I will give thee bloody teeth, 70 
 
 40
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. i. 
 
 If thou with Caesar paragon again 
 
 My man of men. 
 Char. By your most gracious pardon, 
 
 I sing but after you. 
 Cleo. My salad days, 
 
 When I was green in judgement : cold in blood. 
 
 To say as I said then ! But come, away ; 
 
 Get me ink and paper : 
 
 He shall have every day a several greeting. 
 
 Or I '11 unpeople Egypt. [Exeunt. 
 
 ACT SECOND. 
 Scene I. 
 
 Messina. Pompeys house. 
 
 Enter Pompey, Menecrates, and Menas, in ivarlike 
 manner. 
 
 Pom. If the great gods be just, they shall assist 
 
 The deeds of justest men. 
 Mene. Know, worthy Pompey, 
 
 That what they do delay, they not deny. 
 Pom. Whiles we are suitors to their throne, decays 
 
 The thing we sue for. 
 Mene. We, ignorant of ourselves. 
 
 Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers 
 
 Deny us for our good ; so find we profit 
 
 By losing of our prayers. 
 Pom. I shall do well : 
 
 The people love me, and the sea is mine ; 
 
 My powers are crescent, and my auguring hope lo 
 
 Says it will come to the full. IMark Antony 
 
 In Egypt sits at dinner, and will make 
 
 41
 
 Act II. Sc. i. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 • No wars without doors : Caesar gets money where 
 He loses hearts : Lepidus flatters both, 
 Of both is flatter'd, but he neither loves, 
 Nor either cares for him. 
 
 Men. Csesar and Lepidus 
 
 Are in the field : a mighty strength they carry. 
 
 Pojn. Where have you this? 'tis false. 
 
 Men. From Silvius, sir. 
 
 Pom. He dreams : I know they are in Rome together, 
 Looking for Antony. But all the charms of love, 20 
 Salt Cleopatra, soften thy waned lip ! 
 Let witchcraft join with beauty, lust with both! 
 Tie up the libertine in a field of feasts, 
 Keep his brain fuming ; Epicurean cooks 
 Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite ; 
 That sleep and feeding may prorogue his honour 
 Even till a Lethe'd dulness ! 
 
 Enter Varrius. 
 
 How now, Varrius! 
 
 ]^ar. This is most certain that I shall deliver: 
 Mark Antony is every hour in Rome 
 Expected : since he went from Egypt 'tis 30 
 
 A space for farther travel. 
 
 Pom. I could have given less matter 
 
 A better ear. Menas, I did not think 
 This amorous surfeiter would have donn'd his helm 
 For such a petty war: his soldiership 
 Is twice the other twain : but let us rear 
 The higher our opinion, that our stirring 
 Can from the lap of Egypt's widow pluck 
 The ne'er-lust-wearied Antony. 
 42
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. ii. 
 
 Men. I cannot hope 
 
 Caesar and Antony shall well greet together : 
 His wife that 's dead did trespasses to Caesar ; 40 
 His brother warr'd upon him ; although, I think, 
 Not moved by Antony. 
 
 Pom. I know not, Menas, 
 
 How lesser enmities may give way to greater. 
 Were 't not that we stand up against them all, 
 'Twere pregnant they should square between them- 
 selves ; 
 For they have entertained cause enough 
 To draw their swords : but how the fear of us 
 May cement their divisions and bind up 
 The petty difference, we yet not know. 
 Be 't as our gods will have 't ! It only stands 50 
 Our lives upon to use our strongest hands. 
 Come, Menas. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 Rome. The house of Lepidus. 
 Enter Eiiobarbus and Lepidus. 
 
 Lep. Good Enobarbus, 'tis a worthy deed. 
 
 And shall become you well, to entreat your captain 
 
 To soft and gentle speech. 
 Eno. I shall entreat him 
 
 To answer like himself : if Ceesar move him, 
 
 Let Antony look over Caesar's head 
 
 And speak as loud as Mars. By Jupiter, 
 
 Were I the wearer of Antonius' beard, 
 
 I would not shave 't to-day. 
 Lep. 'Tis not a time 
 
 43
 
 Act II. Sc. li. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 For private stomaching. 
 hno. Every time 
 
 Serves for the matter that is then born in 't. lo 
 
 Lcp. But small to g-reater matters must give way. 
 Eno. Not if the small come first. 
 Lcp. Your speech is passion : 
 
 But, pray you, stir no embers up. Here comes 
 
 The noble Antony. 
 
 Enter Antony and Ventidius. 
 Eno. And yonder, Caesar. 
 
 Enter Cccsar, Mcrcenas, and Agrippa. 
 
 Ant. If we compose well here, to Parthia : 
 Hark, Ventidius. 
 
 Cccs. I do not know, 
 
 Maecenas ; ask Agrippa. 
 
 Lep. Noble friends, 
 
 That which combined us was most great, and let not 
 
 A leaner action rend us. What 's amiss, 
 
 May it be gently heard : w^hen we debate 20 
 
 Our trivial difference loud, we do commit 
 
 Murder in healing wounds : then, noble partners, 
 
 The rather for I earnestly beseech. 
 
 Touch you the sourest points with sweetest terms, 
 
 Nor curstness grow to the matter. 
 
 Ant. 'Tis spoken well. 
 
 Were we before our armies and to fight, 
 I should do thus. [Flourish. 
 
 CcBS. W^elcome to Rome. 
 
 Ant. Thank you. 
 
 Cces. Sit. 
 
 44
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. ii. 
 
 Ant. Sit, sir. 
 
 Cccs. Nay, then. 
 
 Ant. I learn, you take things ill which are not so, 
 Or being, concern you not. 
 
 Cccs. I must be laugh'd at, 30 
 
 If, or for nothing or a little, I 
 Should say myself offended, and with you 
 Chiefly i' the world ; more laugh'd at, that I should 
 Once name you derogately, when to sound your name 
 It not concern'd me. 
 
 Ant. My being in Egypt, Csesar, 
 
 What was 't to you ? 
 
 Cces. No more than my residing here at Rome 
 Might be to you in Egypt : yet, if you there 
 Did practise on my state, your being in Egypt 
 Might be my question. 
 
 Ant. How intend you, practised? 40 
 
 C(TS. You may be pleased to catch at mine intent 
 
 By what did here befal me. Your wife 'and brother 
 Made wars upon me, and their contestation 
 Was theme for you, you were the word of war. 
 
 Ant. You do mistake your business ; my brother never 
 Did urge me in his act : I did inquire it. 
 And have my learning from some true reports 
 That drew their swords with you. Did he not rather 
 Discredit my authority with yours, 
 And make the wars alike against my stomach, 50 
 Having alike your cause ? of this my letters 
 Before did satisfy you. If you '11 patch a quarrel, 
 As matter whole you have not to make it with, 
 It must not be with this. 
 
 Ccrs. You praise yourself 
 
 45
 
 Act II. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 By laying defects of judgement to me, but 
 You patch'd up your excuses. 
 
 Ant. Not so, not so; 
 
 I know you could not lack, I am certain on 't, 
 Very necessity of this thought, that I, 
 Your partner in the cause 'gainst which he fought, 
 Could not with graceful eyes attend those wars 60 
 Which fronted mine own peace. As for my wife, 
 I would you had her spirit in such another : 
 The third o' the world is yours, which with a snaffle 
 You may pace easy, but not such a wife. 
 
 Eno. Would we had all such wives, that the men 
 might go to wars with the women ! 
 
 A)if. So much uncurbable, her garboils, Caesar, 
 
 Made out of her impatience, which not wanted 
 Shrewdness of policy too, I grieving grant 
 Did you too much disquiet : for that you must 70 
 But say, I could not help it. 
 
 Ccrs. ' I wrote to you 
 
 When rioting in Alexandria ; you 
 Did pocket up my letters, and with taunts 
 Did gibe my missive out of audience. 
 
 Ant. ' Sir, 
 
 He fell upon me ere admitted : then 
 Three kings I had newly feasted and did want 
 Of what I was i' the morning : but next day 
 I told him of myself, which was as much 
 As to have ask'd him pardon. Let this fellow 
 Be nothing of our strife ; if we contend, 80 
 
 Out of our question wipe him. 
 
 Cccs. You have broken 
 
 The article of your oath, which you shall never 
 46
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. li. 
 
 Have tongue to charge me with. 
 
 Lep. Soft, Csesar! 
 
 Ant. No, Lepidus, let him speak : 
 
 The honour is sacred which he talks on now, 
 Supposing that I lack'd it. But on, Csesar ; 
 The article of my oath. 
 
 Cces. To lend me arms and aid when I required them ; 
 The which you both denied. 
 
 Ant. Neglected rather. 
 
 And then, when poison'd hours had bound me up 90 
 From mine own knowledge. As nearly as I may, 
 I '11 play the penitent to you: but mine honesty 
 Shall not make poor my greatness, nor my power 
 Work without it. Truth is, that Fulvia, 
 To have me out of Egypt, made wars here ; 
 For which myself, the ignorant motive, do 
 So far ask pardon as befits mine honour 
 To stoop in such a case. 
 
 Lep. 'Tis noble spoken. 
 
 Mcec. If it might please you, to enforce no further 
 
 The griefs between ye: to forget them quite 100 
 Were to remember that the present need 
 Speaks to atone you. 
 
 Lep. Worthily spoken, ^Maecenas. 
 
 Eno. Or, if you borrow one another's love for the 
 instant, you may, when you hear no more 
 words of Pompey, return it again : you shall 
 have time to wrangle in when you have nothing 
 else to do. 
 
 Ant. Thou art a soldier only: speak no more. 
 
 Eno. That truth should be silent I had almost forgot. 
 
 Ant. You wrong this presence; therefore speak no more. 
 
 47
 
 Act II. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Eno. Goto, then; your considerate stone. iii 
 
 Cccs. I do not much disUke the matter, but 
 
 The manner of his speech, for 't cannot be 
 
 We shall remain in friendship, our conditions 
 
 So differing in their acts. Yet, if I knew 
 
 What hoop should hold us stanch, from edge to edge 
 
 O' the world I would pursue it. 
 
 Agr. Give me leave, Cciesar. 
 
 Cces. Speak, Agrippa. 
 
 Agr. Thou hast a sister by the mother's side, 
 
 Admired Octavia : great Mark Antony 120. 
 
 Is now a widower. 
 
 C(PS. Say not so, Agrippa : 
 
 If Cleopatra heard you, your reproof 
 W^ere well deserved of rashness. 
 
 Ant. I am not married, Caesar : let me hear 
 Agrippa further speak. 
 
 Agr. To hold you in perpetual amity, 
 
 To make you brothers and to knit your hearts 
 
 With an unslipping knot, take Antony 
 
 Octavia to his wife ; whose beauty claims 
 
 No worse a husband than the best of men, 130 
 
 Whose virtue and whose general graces speak 
 
 That which none else can utter. By this marriage 
 
 All little jealousies which now seem great, 
 
 And all great fears which now import their dangers, 
 
 Would then be nothing : truths would be tales. 
 
 Where now half tales be truths : her love to both 
 
 Would each to other and all loves to both 
 
 Draw after her. Pardon what I have spoke, 
 
 For 'tis a studied, not a present thought, 
 
 By duty ruminated. 
 
 48
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. ii. 
 
 Ant. Will Caesar speak ? 140 
 
 CcFS. Not till he hears how Antony is touch'd 
 
 W^ith what is spoke already. 
 Ant. What power is in Agrippa, 
 
 If I would say, ' Agrippa, be it so/ 
 
 To make this good? 
 Cccs. The power of Caesar, and 
 
 His power unto Octavia. 
 Ant. May I never 
 
 To this good purpose, that so fairly shows, 
 
 Dream of impediment ! Let me have thy hand : 
 
 Further this act of grace ; and from this hour 
 
 The heart of brothers govern in our loves 
 
 And sway out great designs ! 
 Cces. There is my hand. 150 
 
 A sister I bequeath you, whom no brother 
 
 Did ever love so dearly : let her live 
 
 To join our kingdoms and our hearts ; and never 
 
 Fly off our loves again ! 
 Lep. Happily, amen ! 
 
 Ant. I did not think to draw my sword 'gainst Pompey; 
 
 For he hath laid strange courtesies and great 
 
 Of late upon me : I must thank him only, 
 
 Lest my remembrance suffer ill report ; 
 
 At heel of that, defy him. 
 Lep. Time calls upon 's : 
 
 Of us must Pompey presently be sought, 160 
 
 Or else he seeks out us. 
 Ant. Where lies he? 
 
 Cces. About the Mount ^lisenum. 
 A7tt. What 's his strength 
 
 By land ? 
 
 49
 
 Act II. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Ccus. Great and increasing: but by sea 
 
 He is an absolute master. 
 Ant. So is the fame. 
 
 Would we had spoke together ! Haste we for it : 
 
 Yet, ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we 
 
 The business we have talk'd of. 
 Ccrs. With most gladness : 
 
 And do invite you to my sister's view. 
 
 Whither straight I'll lead you. 
 A7tt. Let us, Lepidus, 170 
 
 Not lack your company. 
 Lep. Noble Antony, 
 
 Not sickness should detain me. 
 
 [Flourish. Exeunt Cccsar, Antony, and Lepidus. 
 Merc. Welcome from Egypt, sir. 
 Eno. Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas ! 
 
 My honourable friend, Agrippa! 
 Agr. Good Enobarbus ! 
 Merc. We have cause to be glad that matters are 
 
 so well digested. You stayed well by 't in 
 
 Egypt. 
 Eno. Ay, sir; we did sleep day out of countenance, 180 
 
 And made the night light with drinking. 
 Merc. Eight wild-boars roasted whole at a breakfast, 
 
 and but twelve persons there; is this true? 
 Eno. This was but as a fly by an eagle : we had 
 
 much more monstrous matter of feast, which 
 
 worthily deserved noting. 
 Mcec. She 's a most triumphant lady, if report be 
 
 square to her. 
 Eno. When she first met Mark Antony, she pursed 
 
 up his heart, upon the river of Cydnus. 190 
 
 50
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act li. Sc. ii. 
 
 Agr. There she appeared indeed, or my reporter 
 devised well for her. 
 
 Eno. I will tell you. 
 
 The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, 
 Burn'd on the water : the poop was beaten gold ; 
 Purple the sails, and so perfumed that 
 The winds were love-sick with them ; the oars were 
 
 silver. 
 Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke and made 
 The water which they beat to follow faster, 
 As amorous of their strokes. For her own person, 
 It beggar'd all description : she did lie 201 
 
 In her pavilion, cloth-of-gold of tissue, 
 O'er-picturing that Venus where we see 
 - The fancy outwork nature : on each side her 
 Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, 
 With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem, 
 To glow the delicate cheeks wdiich they did cool, 
 And what they undid did. 
 
 Agr. O, rare for Antony ! 
 
 Eno. Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, 
 
 So many mermaids, tended her i' the eyes, 210 
 
 And made their bends adomings : at the helm 
 A seeming mermaid steers : the silken tackle 
 Swell with the touches of those flower-soft hands, 
 That yarely frame the office. From the barge 
 A strange invisible perfume hits the sense 
 Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast 
 Her people out upon her ; and Antony, 
 Enthron'd i' the market-place, did sit alone, 
 Whistling to the air ; which, but for vacancy. 
 Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, 220 
 
 And made a gap in nature, 
 
 51
 
 Act II. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Agr. Rare Egyptian ! 
 
 Eno. Upon her landing, Antony sent to her, 
 
 Invited her to supper : she repUed, 
 
 It should be better he became her guest, 
 ' Which she entreated : our courteous Antony, 
 
 Whom ne'er the word of ' No ' woman heard speak, 
 
 Being barber'd ten times o'er, goes to the feast, 
 
 And, for his ordinary, pays his heart 
 
 For what his eyes eat only. 
 Agr. Royal wench ! 
 
 She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed : 230 
 
 He plough'd her, and she cropp'd. 
 Eno. I saw her once 
 
 Hop forty paces through the public street ; 
 
 And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, 
 
 That she did make defect perfection, 
 
 And, breathless, power breathe forth. 
 Mcec. Now Antony must leave her utterly. 
 Eno. Never ; he will not : 
 
 Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale 
 
 Her infinite variety : other women cloy 
 
 The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry 240 
 
 Where most she satisfies : for vilest things 
 
 Become themselves in her, that the holy priests 
 
 Bless her when she is riggish. 
 McBc. If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle 
 
 The heart of Antony, Octavia is 
 
 A blessed lottery to him. 
 Agr. Let us go. 
 
 Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest 
 
 Whilst you abide here. 
 Eno. Humbly, sir, I thank you. [Exeunt. 
 
 52
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. iii. 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 The same. Ccesar's house. 
 
 Enter Antony, Cccsar, Octavia betzveen them, and 
 Attendants. 
 
 Ant. The world and my great office will sometimes 
 
 Divide me from your bosom. 
 Octa. All which time 
 
 Before the gods my knee shall bow my prayers 
 
 To them for you. 
 Ant. Good night, sir. My Octavia, 
 
 Read not my blemishes in the world's report : 
 
 I have not kept my square ; but that to come 
 
 Shall all be done by the rule. Good night, dear lady. 
 
 Good night, sir. 
 CcBS. Good night. [Exeunt all but Antony. 
 
 Enter Soothsayer. 
 
 Ant. Now, sirrah, you do wish yourself in Egypt? lo 
 
 S'ootJi. Would T had never come from thence, nor you 
 thither ! 
 
 Ant. If you can, your reason? 
 
 SootJi. I see it in 
 
 Aly motion, have it not in my tongue : but yet 
 Hie you to Egypt again. 
 
 Ant. Say to me, 
 
 Whose fortunes shall rise higher, Caesar's or mine ? 
 
 Sooth. Caesar's. 
 
 Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side : 
 Thy demon, that thy spirit which keeps thee, is 
 Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable, 20 
 
 Where Caesar's is not ; but near him thy angel 
 Becomes a fear, as being o'erpower'd : therefore 
 
 53
 
 Act 11. Sc. IV. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Make space enough between you. 
 
 A7it. Speak this no more. 
 
 Sooth. To none but thee ; no more but when to thee. 
 If thou dost play with him at any game, 
 Thou art sure to lose ; and, of that natural luck, 
 He beats thee gainst the odds : thy lustre thickens, 
 When he shines by : I say again, thy spirit 
 Is all afraid to govern thee near him, 
 But, he away, 'tis noble. 
 
 Ant. Get thee gone: 30 
 
 Say to Ventidius I would speak with him. 
 
 [Exit Soothsayer. 
 He shall to Parthia. Be it art or hap, 
 He hath spoken true : the very dice obey him, 
 And in our sports my better cunning faints 
 Under his chance : if w^e draw lots, he speeds ; . 
 His cocks do win the battle still of mine 
 When it is all to nought, and his quails ever 
 Beat mine, inhoop'd, at odds. I will to Egypt : 
 And though I make this marriage for my peace, 
 r the east my pleasure lies. 
 
 Better Ventidius. 
 
 O, come, Ventidius, 40 
 You must to Parthia : your commission 's ready ; 
 Follow me, and receive 't. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 The same. A street. 
 
 Enter Lepidus, Mcecenas, and Agrippa. 
 
 Lep. Trouble yourselves no further : pray you, hasten 
 Your generals after. 
 
 54
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. v, 
 
 Agr. Sir, Mark Antony 
 
 Will e'en but kiss Octavia, and we '11 follow. 
 Lep. Till I shall see you in your soldier's dress, 
 
 Which will become you both, farewell. 
 Mcec. We shall, 
 
 As I conceive the journey, be at the Mount 
 
 Before you, Lepidus. 
 Lep. Your way is shorter; 
 
 My purposes do draw me much about : 
 
 You '11 win two days upon me. 
 Mcuc. 
 Agr. 
 Lep. Farewell. [Exeunt. lo 
 
 Sir, good success ! 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace. 
 
 Enter Cleopatra, Charrnhn, Iras, and Alexas. 
 
 Cleo. Give me some music ; music, moody food 
 
 Of us that trade in love. 
 All. The music, ho ! 
 
 Enter Mardian the Eunuch. 
 
 Cleo. Let it alone ; let 's to billiards : come Charmian. 
 
 Char. My arm is sore : best play with Mardian. 
 
 Cleo. As well a woman with an eunuch play'd 
 
 As with a woman. Come, you '11 play with me, sir? 
 
 Mar. As well as I can, madam. 
 
 Cleo. And when good will is show'd, though 't come too 
 short, 
 The actor may plead pardon. I '11 none now : 
 Give me mine angle ; we '11 to the river: there, lo 
 
 55
 
 Act II. Sc. V. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 My music playing far off, I will betray 
 Tawny-finn'd fishes ; my bended hook shall pierce 
 Their sHmy jaws, and as I draw them up, 
 I '11 think them every one an Antony, 
 And say ' Ah, ha! you 're caught.' 
 
 Char. 'Twas merry when 
 
 You wager'd on your angling ; when your diver 
 Did hang a salt-fish on his hook, which he 
 With fervency drew up. 
 
 Clco. That time — O times ! — 
 
 I laugh'd him out of patience, and that night 
 I laugh'd him into patience : and next morn, 20 
 
 Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed ; 
 Then put my tires and mantles on him, whilst 
 I wore his sword Philippan. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 O, from Italy ! 
 Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears. 
 That long time have been barren. 
 
 Mess. Madam, madam, — ■ 
 
 Clco. Antonius dead! If thou say so, villain. 
 Thou kill'st thy mistress : but well and free. 
 If thou so yield him, there is gold, and here 
 My bluest veins to kiss: a hand that kings 
 Have hpp'd, and trembled kissing. y) 
 
 Mess. First, madam, he is well. 
 
 Cleo. Why, there 's more gold. 
 
 But, sirrah, mark, we use 
 To say the dead are well : bring it to that. 
 The gold I give thee will I melt and pour 
 Down thy ill-uttering throat. 
 
 56
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. v. 
 
 Mess. Good madam, hear me. 
 
 Cleo. Well, go to, I will ; 
 
 But there 's no goodness in thy face : if Antony 
 Be free and healthful, — so tart a favour 
 To trumpet such good tidings ! If not well, 
 Thou shouldst come like a Fury crown'd with snakes. 
 Not like a formal man. 
 
 Mess. Will 't please you hear me? 41 
 
 Cleo. I have a mind to strike thee ere thou speak'st : 
 Yet, if thou say Antony lives, is well. 
 Or friends with Cassar, or not captive to him, 
 I '11 set thee in a shower of gold, and hail 
 Rich pearls upon thee. 
 
 Mess. T^Iadam, he 's well. 
 
 Cleo. Well said. 
 
 Mess. And friends with Caesar. 
 
 Cleo. Thou 'rt an honest man. 
 
 Mess. Caesar and he are greater friends than ever. 
 
 Cleo. Make thee a fortune from me. 
 
 Mess. But yet, madam, — 
 
 Cleo. I do not like * But yet,' it does allay 50 
 
 The good precedence ; fie upon ' But yet ' ! 
 * But yet ' is as a gaoler to bring forth 
 Some monstrous malefactor. Prithee, friend, 
 Pour out the pack of matter to mine ear, 
 The good and bad together : he 's friends with Caesar. 
 In state of health, thou say'st, and thou say'st, free. 
 
 Mess. Free, madam ! no ; I made no such report : 
 He 's bound unto Octavia. 
 
 Cleo. For what good turn ? 
 
 Mess. For the best turn i' the bed. 
 
 Cleo. I am pale, Charmian. 
 
 57
 
 Act II. Sc. V. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Mess. Madam, he 's married to Octavia. 60 
 
 Cleo. The most infectious pestilence upon thee ! 
 
 [Strikes him down. 
 Mess. Good madam, patience. 
 Cleo. What say you ? Hence, 
 
 [Strikes him again. 
 
 Horrible villain ! or I '11 spurn thine eyes 
 
 Like balls before me ; I '11 unhair thy head : 
 
 [She hales him up and dozen. 
 
 Thou shalt be whipp'd with wire, and stew'd in brine, 
 
 Smarting in lingering pickle. 
 Mess. Gracious madam, 
 
 I that do bring the news made not the match. 
 Cleo. Say 'tis not so, a province I will give thee 
 
 And make thy fortunes proud : the blow thou hadst 
 
 Shall make thy peace for moving me to rage, 70 
 
 And I will boot thee with what gift beside 
 
 Thy modesty can beg. 
 Mess. He 's married, madam. 
 
 Cleo. Rogue, thou hast lived too long. [Draws a knife. 
 Mess. Nay, then I '11 run. 
 
 What mean you, madam ? I have made no fault. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Char. Good madam, keep yourself within yourself : 
 The man is innocent. 
 
 Cleo. Some innocents 'scape not the thunderbolt. 
 Melt Egypt into Nile ! and kindly creatures 
 Turn all to serpents ! Call the slave again : 
 Though I am mad, I will not bite him : call. 80 
 
 Char. He is afeard to come. 
 
 Cleo. I will not hurt him. 
 
 [Exit Charmian. 
 
 58
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. v. 
 
 These hands do lack nobihty, that they strike 
 A meaner than myself ; since I myself 
 Have given myself the cause. 
 
 Re-enter Channiaii and Messenger. 
 
 Come hither, sir. 
 Though it be honest, it is never good 
 To bring bad news : give to a gracious message 
 An host of tongues, but let ill tidings tell 
 Themselves when they be felt. 
 
 Mess. I have done my duty. 
 
 Cleo. Is he married ? 
 
 I cannot hate thee worser than I do, 90 
 
 If thou again say ' Yes.' 
 
 Mess. He 's married, madam. 
 
 Cleo. The gods confound thee ! dost thou hold there still ? 
 
 Mess. Should I lie, madam ? 
 
 Cleo. O, I would thou didst, 
 
 So half my Egypt were submerged and made 
 A cistern for scaled snakes ! Go get thee hence : 
 Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me 
 Thou wouldst appear most ugly. He is married? 
 
 Mess. I crave your highness' pardon. 
 
 Cleo. He is married? 
 
 Mess. Take no offence that I would not offend you : 
 
 To punish me for what you make me do 100 
 
 Seems much unequal : he 's married to Octavia. 
 
 Cleo. O, that his fault should make a knave of thee, 
 
 That art not what thou 'rt sure of ! Get thee hence : 
 The merchandise which thou hast brought from Rome 
 Are all too dear for me : lie they upon thy hand, 
 And be undone by 'em ! [Exit Messenger. 
 
 59
 
 Act II. Sc. vi. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Char. Good your highness, patience. 
 
 Cleo. In praising Antony, I have dispraised Caesar. 
 
 Char. Many times, madam. 
 
 Cleo. I am paid for 't now. 
 
 Lead me from hence ; 
 
 I faint : O Iras, Charmian ! 'tis no matter. no 
 
 Go to the fellow, good Alexas ; bid him 
 Report the feature of Octavia, her years. 
 Her inclination ; let him not leave out 
 The colour of her hair : bring me word quickly. 
 
 [Exit Alexas. 
 Let him for ever go : let him not — Charmian, 
 Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon, 
 The other way's a Mars. [To Mardian] Bid you 
 
 Alexas 
 Bring me word how tall she is. Pity me, Charmian, 
 But do not speak to me. Lead me to my chamber. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 Near Miseniim. 
 
 Flourish. Enter Pompey and Menas from one side, with 
 drum and trumpet: at another, Cccsar, Antony, Lepi- 
 dus, Enobarbus, Mcccenas, with Soldiers marching. 
 
 Pom. Your hostages I have, so have you mine ; 
 
 And we shall talk before we fight. 
 Cces. Most meet 
 
 That first we come to words ; and therefore have we 
 
 Our written purposes before us sent ; 
 
 Which, if thou hast consider'd, let us know 
 60
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. vi. 
 
 If 'twill tie up thy discontented sword 
 And carry back to Sicily much tall youth 
 That else must perish here. 
 
 Pom. To you all three, 
 
 The senators alone of this great world, 
 Chief factors for the gods, I do not know lo 
 
 Wherefore my father should revengers want, 
 Having a son and friends ; since Julius Caesar, 
 Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted, 
 There saw you labouring for him. What was 't 
 That moved pale Cassius to conspire, and what 
 Made the all-honour'd honest Roman, Brutus, 
 With the arm'd rest, courtiers of beauteous freedom, 
 To drench the Capitol, but that they would 
 Have one man but a man? And that is it 
 Hath made me rig my navy, at whose burthen 20 
 The anger'd ocean foams ; with which I meant 
 To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome 
 Cast on my noble father. 
 
 Cccs. Take your time. 
 
 Ant. Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails; 
 We '11 speak with thee at sea : at land, thou know'st 
 How^ much we do o'ercount thee. 
 
 Pom. At land indeed 
 
 Thou dost o'ercount me of my father's house : 
 But since the cuckoo builds not for himself, 
 Remain in 't as thou mayst. 
 
 Lep. Be pleased to tell us — 
 
 For this is from the present — how^ you take 30 
 
 The offers we have sent you. 
 
 Cccs. There 's the point. 
 
 Ant. Which do not be entreated to, but weigh 
 
 61
 
 Act II. Sc. vi. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 What it is worth embraced. 
 
 C(FS. And what may follow, 
 
 To try a larger fortune. 
 
 Pom. You have made me offer 
 
 Of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must 
 Rid all the sea of pirates ; then, to send 
 Measures of wheat to Rome ; this 'greed upon. 
 To part with unhack'd edges and bear back 
 Our targes undinted. 
 
 Cces. ^ 
 
 Ant. y That 's our offer. 
 
 Lep. j 
 
 Pom. Know then, 40 
 
 I came before you here a man prepared 
 To take this offer : but Mark Antony 
 Put me to some impatience : though I lose 
 The praise of it by telling, you must know. 
 When Caesar and your brother were at blows. 
 Your mother came to Sicily and did find 
 Her welcome friendly. 
 
 Ant. I have heard it, Pompey, 
 
 And am well studied for a liberal thanks 
 Which I do owe you. 
 
 Pom. Let me have your hand: 
 
 I did not think, sir, to have met you here. 50 
 
 Ant. The beds i' the east are soft : and thanks to you, 
 That call'd me timelier than my purpose hither; 
 For I have gain'd by 't. 
 
 CcFs. Since 1 saw you last, 
 
 There is a change upon you. 
 
 Pom. Well, I know not 
 
 What counts harsh fortune casts upon my face; 
 62
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. vi. 
 
 But in my bosom shall she never come, 
 To make my heart her vassal. 
 Lep. Well met here. 
 
 Pom. I hope so, Lepidus. Thus we are agreed : 
 I crave our composition may be written 
 And seal'd between us. 
 Ccos. That 's the next to do. 60 
 
 Pom. We '11 feast each other ere we part, and let 's 
 
 Draw lots who shall begin. 
 Ant. That will I, Pompey. 
 
 Pom. No, Antony, take the lot : 
 
 But, first or last, your fine Egyptian cookery 
 Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Cresar 
 Grew fat with feasting there. 
 Ant. You have heard much. 
 
 Pom. T have fair meanings, sir. 
 
 Ant. And fair words to them. 
 
 Pom. Then so much have I heard : 
 
 And I have heard, Apollodorus carried — 
 Eno. No more of that: he did so. 
 
 Pom. What, I pray you? 70 
 
 Eno. A certain queen to Caesar in a mattress. 
 Pom. I know thee now : how farest thou, soldier? 
 Eno. Well; 
 
 And well am like to do, for I perceive 
 Four feasts are toward. 
 Pom. Let me shake thy hand ; 
 
 I never hated thee : I have seen thee fight, 
 When I have envied thy behaviour. 
 Eno. Sir,^ 
 
 I never loved you much, but I ha' praised ye 
 When vou have well deserved ten times as much 
 
 63
 
 Act II. Sc. vi. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 As I have said you did. 
 Poni. Enjoy thy plainness, 80 
 
 It nothing ill becomes thee. 
 
 Aboard my galley I invite you all : • 
 
 Will you lead, lords ? 
 Ccrs. ^ 
 
 Ant, V Show us the way, sir. 
 
 Lep.} 
 Pom. Come. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Menas and Enobarbus. 
 Men. [Aside] Thy father, Pompey, would ne'er have 
 
 made this treaty. — You and I have known, sir. 
 Eno. At sea, I think. 
 A^fen. We have, sir. 
 Eno. You have done well by water. 
 Men. And you by land. 
 Eno. I will praise any man that will praise me ; 90 
 
 though it cannot be denied what I have done by land. 
 Men. Nor what I have done by water. 
 Eno. Yes, something you can deny for your own 
 
 safety : you have been a great thief by sea. 
 Me7t. And you by land. 
 Ejto. There I deny my land service. But give me 
 
 your hand, Menas : if our eyes had authority, 
 
 here they might take two thieves kissing. 
 Men. All men's faces are true, whatsoe'er their hands 
 
 are. 100 
 
 Eno. But there is never a fair woman has a true face. 
 Men. No slander ; they steal hearts. 
 Eno. We came hither to fight with you. 
 Men. For my part, I am sorry it is turned to a 
 . drinking. Pompey doth this day laugh away 
 
 his fortune. 
 
 64
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. vi. 
 
 Eno. If he do, sure he cannot weep 't back again. 
 
 Men. You Ve said, sir. We looked not for Mark 
 Antony here : pray you, is he married to Cleo- 
 patra ? 
 
 Eno. Caesar's sister is called Octavia. no 
 
 Men. 'T'rue, sir ; she was the wife of Caius Marcellus. 
 
 Eno. But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius. 
 
 Men. Pray ye, sir ? 
 
 Eno. Tis true. 
 
 Men. Then is Caesar and he for ever knit together. 
 
 Eno. If I were bound to divine of this unity, I would 
 not prophesy so. 
 
 Men. I think the policy of that purpose made more 
 in the marriage than the love of the parties. 
 
 Eno. I think so too. But you shall find, the band 120 
 that seems to tie their friendship together will 
 be the very strangler of their amity : Octavia is 
 of a holy, cold and still conversation. 
 
 Men. Who would not have his wife so ? 
 
 Eno. Not he that himself is not so ; which is Mark 
 Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish again : 
 then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up 
 in Caesar; and, as I said before, that which is 
 the strength of their amity shall prove the im- 
 mediate author of their variance. Antony will 130 
 use his affection where it is : he married but his 
 occasion here. 
 
 Men. And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you 
 aboard ? I have a health for you. 
 
 Eno. I shall take it, sir : we have used our throats in 
 Egypt. 
 
 Men. Come, let 's away. [Exeunt. 
 
 65
 
 Act II. Sc. vii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Scene VII. 
 
 On board Pompey's galley, off Misenum. 
 
 Music plays. Enter tzvo or three Servants, with 
 a banquet. 
 
 First Serv. Here they '11 be, man. Some o' their 
 plants are ill-rooted already ; the least wind i' 
 the world will blow them down. 
 
 Sec. Serv. Lepidus is high-coloured. 
 
 First Serv. They have made him drink alms-drink. 
 
 Sec. Serv. As they pinch one another by the disposi- 
 tion, he cries out ' No more ' ; reconciles them to 
 his entreaty and himself to the' drink. 
 
 First Serv. But it raises the greater war between him 
 
 and his discretion. to 
 
 Sec. Serv. Why, this it is to have a name in great 
 men's fellowship : I had as lief have a reed that 
 will do me no service as a partisan I could not 
 heave. 
 
 First Serv. To be called into a huge sphere, and not 
 to be seen to move in 't, are the holes where eyes 
 should be, which pitifully disaster the cheeks. 
 
 A sennet sounded. Enter Ccusar. Antony, Lepidus, Poni- 
 pey, Agrippa, Mcccenas, Enobarbus, Menas, with 
 other captains. 
 
 Ant. [To Ccesaj'] Thus do they, sir: they take the flow o' 
 the Nile 
 By certain scales i' the pyramid ; they know. 
 By the height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth 20 
 Or foison follow : the higher Nilus swells, 
 The more it promises : as it ebbs, the seedsman 
 Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain. 
 And shortly comes to harvest. 
 
 66
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. vii. 
 
 Lcp. You Ve strange serpents there. 
 
 Ant. Ay, Lepidus. 
 
 Lep. Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your 
 mud by the operation of your sun : so is your 
 crocodile. 
 
 Ant. They are so. 30 
 
 Pom. Sit, — and some wine ! A health to Lepidus ! 
 
 Lep. I am not so well as I should be, but I '11 ne'er 
 out. 
 
 Eno, Not till you have slept ; I fear me you '11 be in 
 till then. 
 
 Lep. Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies 
 pyramises are very goodly things ; without con- 
 tradiction, I have heard that. 
 
 Men. [Aside to Pom.\ Pompey, a word. 
 
 Pom. [Aside to Men.] Say in mine ear: what is 't? 
 
 Men. [Aside to Pom.] Forsake thy seat, I do beseech 
 thee, captain, 40 
 
 And hear me speak a word. 
 
 Pom. [Aside to Men.] Forbear me till anon. — 
 
 This wine for Lepidus? 
 
 Lep. What manner o' thing is your crocodile? 
 
 Ant. It is shaped, sir, like itself ; and it is as broad 
 as it hath breadth : it is just so high as it is, and 
 moves with it own organs: it lives by that 
 which nourisheth it ; and the elements once out 
 of it, it transmigrates. 
 
 Lep. What colour is it of? 
 
 Ant. Of it own colour too. 50 
 
 Lep. 'Tis a strange serpent. 
 
 Ant. 'Tis so. And the tears of it are wet. 
 
 Cccs. Will this description satisfy him ? 
 
 67
 
 Act II. Sc. vii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Ant. With the health that Pompey gives him, else he 
 
 is a very epicure. 
 Pom. [Aside to Men.] Go hang, sir, hang! Tell me of 
 that ? away ! 
 
 Do as I bid you. — Where 's this cup I call'd for ? 
 Men. [Aside to Pom.] If for the sake of merit thou w^ilt 
 hear me. 
 
 Rise from thy stool. 
 Pom. [Aside to Men.] I think thou 'rt mad. The matter? 
 
 [Rises, and zvalks aside. 
 Men. I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes. 60 
 
 Pom. Thou hast served me with much faith. What 's 
 else to say ? 
 
 Be jolly, lords. 
 Ant. These quick-sands, Lepidus, 
 
 Keep off them, for you sink. 
 Men. Wilt thou be lord of all the world ? 
 Pom. What say'st thou? 
 
 Men. W'ilt thou be lord of the whole world ? That 's 
 
 twice. 
 Pom. How should that be? 
 Men. But entertain it. 
 
 And, though thou think me poor, I am the man 
 
 Will give thee all the world. 
 Pom. Hast thou drunk well? 
 
 Men. No, Pompey, I have kept me from the cup. 
 
 Thou art, if thou darest be, the earthly Jove : 70 
 
 Whate'er the ocean pales, or sky inclips, 
 
 Is thine, if thou wilt ha 't. 
 Pom. Show me which way. 
 
 Men. These three world-sharers, these competitors. 
 
 Are in thy vessel : let me cut the cable ; 
 
 And, when we are put off, fall to their throats : 
 
 68
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act II. Sc. vii. 
 
 All there is thine. 
 Pom. Ah, this thou shouldst have done, 
 
 And not have spoke on 't ! In me 'tis villany ; 
 
 In thee 't had been g-ood service. Thou must know 
 
 'Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour ; 
 
 Mine honour, it. Repent that e'er thy tongue 80 
 
 Hath so betray 'd thine act : being done unknown, 
 
 I should have found it afterwards well done. 
 
 But must condemn it now. Desist, and drink. 
 Men. [Aside^ For this 
 
 I '11 never follow thy pall'd fortunes more. 
 
 Who seeks, and will not take when once 'tis ofifer'd, 
 
 Shall never find it more. 
 Pom. This health to Lepidus ! 
 
 Ant. Bear him ashore. I '11 pledge it for him, Pompey. 
 Eno. Here 's to thee, Menas ! 
 
 Men. Enobarbus, welcome! 
 
 Pom. Fill till the cup be hid. 90 
 
 Eno. There 's a strong fellow, Menas. 
 
 [Pointing to the Attendant zvJio carries off Lepidus. 
 Men. Why? 
 Eno. A' bears the third part of the world, man ; 
 
 see'st not? 
 Men. The third part then is drunk : would it were all, 
 
 That it might go on wheels ! 
 Eno. Drink thou ; increase the reels. 
 Men. Come. 
 
 Pom. This is not yet an Alexandrian feast. 
 Ant. It ripens towards it. Strike the vessels, ho! 100 
 
 Here 's to Caesar ! 
 Cccs. I could well forbear 't. 
 
 It 's monstrous labour, when I wash my brain 
 
 69
 
 Act II. Sc. vii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 And it grows fouler. 
 Ant. Be a child o' the time. 
 
 Ccps. Possess it, I '11 make answer : 
 
 But I had rather fast from all four days 
 
 Than drink so much in one. 
 Eno. [To Antony] Ha, my brave emperor! 
 
 Shall we dance now the Egyptian Bacchanals, 
 
 And celebrate our drink? 
 
 » 
 
 Pom. Let 's ha 't, good soldier. 
 
 Ant. Come, let 's all take hands, no 
 
 Till that the conquering wine hath steep'd our sense 
 
 IVi soft and delicate Lethe. 
 Eno. All take hands. 
 
 Make battery to our ears with the loud music: 
 
 The while I '11 place you : then the boy shall sing ; 
 
 The holding every man shall bear as loud 
 
 As his strong sides can volley. 
 [Music plays. Enobarbns places them hand in hand. 
 
 The Song. 
 
 Come, thou monarch of the vine, 
 
 Plumpy Bacchus with pink eyne! 
 
 In thy fats our cares be drown'd, 
 
 With thy grapes our hairs be crown'd : 1 20 
 
 Cup us, till the world go round. 
 
 Cup us, till the world go round ! 
 
 Ccvs. What would you more? Pompey, good night. 
 Good brother, 
 Let me request you off : our graver business 
 Frowns at this levity. Gentle lords, let 's part ; 
 You see we have burnt our cheeks : strong Enobarbe
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. i. 
 
 Is weaker than the wine ; and mine own tongue 
 SpHts what it speaks : the wild disguise hath almost 
 Antick'd us all. What needs more words. Good night. 
 Good Antony, your hand. 
 
 Pom. I '11 try you on the shore. 
 
 Ant. And shall, sir: give 's your hand. 
 
 Pom. O Antony, 131 
 
 You have my father's house, — But, what? we are 
 friends. 
 
 Come, down into the boat. 
 Eno. Take heed you fall not. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Enobarbiis and Menas. 
 
 Menas, I 11 not on shore. 
 Men. No, to my cabin. 
 
 These drums ! these trumpets, flutes ! what ! 
 
 Let Neptune hear we bid a loud farewell 
 
 To these great fellows : sound and be hang'd, sound 
 out ! [Soimd a flourish, with drums. 
 
 Eno. Hoo ! says 'a. There 's my cap. 
 Men. Hoo ! noble captain, come. [Exeunt. 
 
 ACT THIRD. 
 Scene 1. 
 
 A plain in Syria. 
 
 Enter Ventidius, as it zvere in triumph, with Silius, and 
 other Romans, Officers, and soldiers; the dead body 
 of Pacoriis borne before him. 
 
 Ven. Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck ; and now 
 Pleased fortune does of Marcus Crassus' death 
 Make me revenger. Bear the king's son's body 
 
 71
 
 Act III. Sc. i. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Before our army. Thy Pacorus, Orodes, 
 Pays this for Marcus Crassus. 
 
 Sil. Noble Ventidius, 
 
 Whilst yet with Parthian blood thy sword is warm, 
 
 The fugitive Parthians follow ; spur through Media, 
 
 Mesopotamia, and the shelters whither 
 
 The routed fly : so thy grand captain Antony 
 
 Shall set thee on triumphant chariots and lo 
 
 Put garlands on thy head. 
 
 Ven. O Silius, Silius, 
 
 I have done enough : a lower place, note well, 
 
 May make too great an act ; for learn this, Silius, 
 
 Better to leave undone than by our deed 
 
 Acquire too high a fame when him we serve 's away. 
 
 Caesar and Antony have ever won 
 
 More in their officer than person : Sossius, 
 
 One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant, 
 
 For quick accumulation of renown, 
 
 Which he achieved by the minute, lost his favour. 20 
 
 Who does i' the wars more than his captain can 
 
 Becomes his captain's captain : and ambition, 
 
 The soldier's virtue, rather makes choice of loss 
 
 Than gain which darkens him. 
 
 I could do more to do Antonius good. 
 
 But 'twould offend him, and in his offence 
 
 Should my performance perish. 
 
 Sil. Thou hast, Ventidius, that 
 
 Without the which a soldier and his sword 
 Grants scarce distinction. Thou wilt write to An- 
 tony? 
 
 Ven. I '11 humbly signify what in his name, 30 
 
 That magical word of war, we have effected ; 
 How, with his banners and his well-paid ranks, 
 72
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. ii. 
 
 The ne'er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia 
 
 We have jaded out o' the field. 
 Sil. Where is he now? 
 
 Ven. He purposeth to Athens : whither, with what haste 
 
 The weight we must convey with 's will permit, 
 
 We shall appear before him. On, there ; pass along ! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene II, 
 
 Rome. Afi ante-chamber in Cccsar's house. 
 Enter Agrippa at one door, and Enobarbus at another. 
 
 Agr. What, are the brothers parted? 
 
 E,no. They have dispatch'd with Pompey'; he is gone; 
 The other three are sealing. Octavia weeps 
 To part from Rome ; Caesar is sad, and Lepidus 
 Since Pompey's feast, as Mena says, is troubled 
 With the green sickness. 
 
 Agr. 'Tis a noble Lepidus. 
 
 Eno. A very fine one : O, how he loves Caesar ! 
 
 Agr. Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony ! 
 
 Eno. Caesar? Why, he's the Jupiter of men. 
 
 Agr. What's Antony? The god of Jupiter. lo 
 
 Eno. Spake you of Caesar ? How ! the nonpareil ! 
 
 Agr. O Antony ! O thou Arabian bird ! 
 
 Eno. Would you praise Caesar, say ' Caesar' : go no further. 
 
 Agr. Indeed, he plied them both with excellent praises. 
 
 Eno. But he loves Caesar best ; yet he loves Antony : 
 
 Ho! hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets, 
 
 cannot 
 Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number — ho! — 
 His love to Antony. But as for Caesar, 
 
 73
 
 Act III. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder. 
 Agr. Both he loves. 
 
 Eno. They are his shards, and he their beetle. [Trumpet 
 within.] So; 20 
 
 This is to horse. Adieu, noble Agrippa. 
 Agr. Good fortune, worthy soldier, and farewell. 
 
 Enter Ccesar, Antony, Lepidiis, and Octavia. 
 
 Ant. No further, sir. 
 
 Cces. You take from me a great part of myself ; 
 Use me well in 't. Sister, prove such a wife 
 As my thoughts make thee, and as my farthest band 
 Shall pass on thy approof. Most noble Antony, 
 Let not the piece of virtue which is set 
 Betwixt us as the cement of our love, 
 To keep it builded, be the ram to batter 30 
 
 The fortress of it ; for better might we 
 Have loved without this mean, if on both parts 
 This be not cherish'd. 
 
 Ant. Make me not offended 
 
 In your distrust. 
 
 Cces. I have said. 
 
 Ant. You shall not find, 
 
 Though you be therein curious, the least cause 
 For what you seem to fear : so, the gods keep you, 
 And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends ! 
 We will here part, 
 
 Cces. Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well : 
 
 The elements be kind to thee, and make 40 
 
 Thy spirits all of comfort! fare thee well. 
 
 Octa. My noble brother ! 
 
 74
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. ii. 
 
 Ant. The April 's in her eyes : it is love's spring, 
 
 And these the showers to bring it on. Be cheerful. 
 Octa. Sir, look well to my husband's house, and — 
 Cccs. What, 
 
 Octavia ? 
 Octa. I '11 tell you in your ear. 
 Ant. Her tongue, will not obey her heart, nor can 
 
 Her heart inform her tongue, the swan's down- 
 feather, 
 
 That stands upon the swell at full of tide ^ 
 
 And neither way inclines. 50 
 
 Eno, [Aside to Agr.] Will Caesar weep? 
 Agr. [Aside to Eno.] He has a cloud in 's face. 
 
 Eno. [Aside to Agr.] He were the worse for that, were he 
 a horse ; 
 
 So is he, being a man. 
 Agr. [Aside to Eno.] Why, Enobarbus, 
 
 When Antony found Julius Caesar dead, 
 
 He cried almost to roaring ; and he wept 
 
 When at Philippi he found Brutus slain. 
 Eno. [Aside to Agr.] That year indeed he was troubled 
 with a rheum ; 
 
 What willingly he did confound he wail'd. 
 
 Believe 't, till I wept too. 
 Cces. No, sweet Octavia, 
 
 You shall hear from me still ; the time shall not 60 
 
 Out-go my thinking on you. 
 Ant. Come, sir, come; 
 
 I '11 wrestle with you in my strength of love : 
 
 Look, here I have you ; thus I let you go, 
 
 And give you to the gods. 
 Cces. Adieu ; be happy ! 
 
 75
 
 Act III. Sc. iii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Lep. Let all the number of the stars give light 
 
 To thy fair way ! 
 Cces. Farewell, farewell! [Kisses Octavia. 
 
 Ant, Farewell ! 
 
 [Trumpets sound. Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IIL 
 
 Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace. 
 
 Enter Cleopatra, Charmian, Iras, and Alexas. 
 
 Cleo. Where is the fellow? 
 
 Alex. Half afeard to come. 
 
 Cleo. Go to, go to. 
 
 Enter Messenger. 
 
 Come hither, sir. 
 Alex. Good majesty, 
 
 Herod of Jewry dare not look upon you 
 
 But w^hen you are well pleased. 
 Cleo. ' That Herod's head 
 
 I '11 have : but how, when Antony is gone 
 
 Through whom I might command it? Come thou 
 near. 
 Mess. Most gracious majesty, — 
 Cleo. Didst thou behold 
 
 Octavia ? 
 Mess. Ay, dread queen. 
 Cleo. ' Where? 
 
 Mess. Aladam, in Rome 
 
 I look'd her in the face, and saw her led 
 
 Between her brother and Mark Antony. 
 Cleo. Is she as tall as me ? 
 Mess. She is not. madam. 
 
 76
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. iii. 
 
 Cleo. Didst hear her speak ? is she shrill-tongued or low ? 
 Mess. ]Madam, I heard her speak ; she is low-voiced. 
 CIco. That 's not so good. He cannot like her long. 
 Char. Like her ! O Isis ! 'tis impossible. 
 Cleo. I think so, Charmian : dull of tongue and dwarfish. 
 
 What majesty is in her gait? Remember, 20 
 
 If e'er thou look'dst on majesty. 
 Mess. She creeps : 
 
 Her motion and her station are as one ; 
 
 She shows a body rather than a life, 
 
 A statue than a breather. 
 Cleo. Is this certain ? 
 
 Mess. Or I have no observance. 
 Char. Three in Egypt 
 
 Cannot make better note. 
 Cleo. He 's very knowing ; 
 
 I do perceive 't : there 's nothing in her yet : 
 
 The fellow has good judgement. 
 Char. Excellent. 
 
 Cleo. Guess at her years, I prithee. 
 Mess. Madam, 
 
 She was a widow — 
 Cleo. Widow ! Charmian, hark. 30 
 
 Mess. And I do think she 's thirty. 
 
 Cleo. Bear'st thou her face in mind ? is 't long or round ? 
 Mess. Round even to faultiness. 
 Cleo. For the most part, too, they are foolish that are so. 
 
 Her hair, what colour? 
 Mess. Brown, madam : and her forehead 
 
 As low as she would wish it. 
 Cleo. There 's gold for thee. 
 
 Thou must not take my former sharpness ill : 
 
 77
 
 Act III. Sc. iv. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 I will employ thee back again ; I find thee 
 
 Most fit for business : go make thee ready ; 40 
 
 Our letters are prepared. [Exit Messenger. 
 
 Char. A proper man. 
 
 Cleo. Indeed, he is so : I repent me much 
 
 That so I harried him. Why, methinks, by him, 
 This creature 's no such thing. 
 
 Char. Nothing, madam. 
 
 Cleo. The man hath seen some majesty, and should know. 
 
 Char. Hath he seen majesty? Isis else defend, 
 And serving you so long ! 
 
 Cleo. I have one thing more to ask him yet, good Charmian : 
 But 'tis no matter ; thou shalt bring him to me 
 Where I will write. All may be well enough. 50 
 
 Char. I warrant you, madam. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 Athens. A room in Antony's house. 
 Enter Antony and Octavia. 
 
 Ant. Nay, nay, Octavia, not only that, 
 
 That were excusable, that and thousands more 
 
 Of semblable import, but he hath waged 
 
 New wars 'gainst Pompey ; made his will, and read it 
 
 To public ear : 
 
 Spoke scantly of me : when perforce he could not 
 
 But pay me terms of honour, cold and sickly 
 
 He vented them ; most narrow measure lent me ; 
 
 When the best hint was given him, he not took 't. 
 
 Or did it from his teeth. 
 
 Octa. O my good lord, 10 
 
 Believe not all ; or, if you must believe, 
 
 78
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. iv. 
 
 Stomach not all. A more unhappy lady, 
 
 If this division chance, ne'er stood between, 
 
 Praying for both parts : 
 
 The good gods will mock me presently, 
 
 When I shall pray, ' O, bless my lord and husband ! ' 
 
 Undo that prayer, by crying out as loud, 
 
 ' O, bless my brother ! ' Husband win, win brother, 
 
 Prays, and destroys the prayer ; no midway 
 
 'Twixt these extremes at all. 
 
 Ant. Gentle Octavia, 20 
 
 Let your best love draw to that point, which seeks 
 Best to preserve it ; if I lose mine honour, 
 I lose myself : better I were not yours 
 Than yours so branchless. But, as you requested, 
 Yourself shall go between 's : the mean time, lady, 
 I '11 raise the preparation of a war 
 Shall stain your brother : make your soonest haste ; 
 So your desires are yours. 
 
 Octa. Thanks to my lord. 
 
 The Jove of power make me most weak, most weak, 
 Your reconciler ! Wars 'twixt you twain would be 
 As if the world should cleave, and that slain men 31 
 Should solder up the rift. 
 
 Ant. When it appears to you where this begins. 
 
 Turn your displeasure that way ; for our faults 
 Can never be so equal, that your love 
 Can equally move with them. Provide your going ; 
 Choose your own company, and command what cost 
 Your heart has mind to. [Exeunt. 
 
 79
 
 Act III. Sc. V. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 The same. Another room. 
 Enter Enobarbiis and Eros, meeting. 
 
 Eno. How now, friend Eros ! 
 
 Eros. There 's strange news come, sir. 
 
 Eno. What, man? 
 
 Eros. Caesar and Lepidus have made wars upon 
 Pompey. 
 
 Eno. This is old : what is the success ? 
 
 Eros. Caesar, having made use of him in the wars 
 'gainst Pompey, presently denied him rivality ; 
 would not let him partake in the glory of the 
 action : and not resting here, accuses him of lo 
 letters he had formerly wrote to Pompey ; upon 
 his own appeal, seizes him : so the poor third is 
 up, till death enlarge his confine. 
 
 Eno. Then, world, thou hast a pair of chaps, no more ; 
 And throw between them all the food thou hast, 
 They '11 grind the one the other. Where 's Antony ? 
 
 Eros. He 's walking in the garden — thus ; and spurns 
 
 The rush that lies before him ; cries ' Fool Lepidus ! ' 
 And threats the throat of that his officer 
 That murder'd Pompey. 
 
 Eno. Our great navy 's rigg'd. 20 
 
 Eros. For Italy and Caesar. More, Domitius ; 
 My lord desires you presently : my news 
 I might have told hereafter. 
 
 Eno. 'Twill be naught : 
 
 But let it be. Bring me to Antony. 
 Eros. Come, sir. [Exeunt. 
 
 80
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. vi. 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 Rome. Ccesar's house. 
 
 Enter Cccsar, Agrippa, and Mcccenas. 
 
 Cces. Contemning Rome, he has done all this, and more, 
 In Alexandria : here 's the manner of 't : 
 I' the market-place, on a tribunal silver'd 
 Cleopatra and himself in chairs of gold 
 Were publicly enthroned : at the feet sat 
 Csesarion, whom they call my father's son, 
 And all the unlawful issue that their lust 
 Since then hath made between them. Unto her 
 He gave the stablishment of Egypt ; made her 
 Of lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia, lo 
 
 Absolute queen. 
 J\,[ccc. This in the public eye ? 
 
 Cccs. V the common show-place, where they exercise. 
 His sons he there proclaim'd the kings of kings : 
 Great Media, Parthia, and Armenia, 
 He gave to Alexander ; to Ptolemy he assign'd 
 Syria, CiHcia and Phoenicia : she 
 In the habiliments of the goddess Isis 
 That day appear'd, and oft before gave audience, 
 As 'tis reported, so. 
 
 licec. Let Rome be thus 
 
 Inform'd. 
 
 Agr. Who, queasy with his insolence 
 
 Already, willtheir good thoughts call from him. 
 
 Cces. The people know it, and have now received 
 His accusations. 
 
 Agr. Who does he accuse ? 
 
 Cces. C^sar : and that, having in Sicily 
 
 8i 
 
 20
 
 Act III. Sc. vi. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Sextus Pompeius spoil'd, we had not rated him 
 
 His part o' the isle : then does he say, he lent me 
 
 Some shipping unrestored : lastly, he frets 
 
 That Lepidus of the triumvirate 
 
 Should be deposed ; and, being, that we detain 
 
 All his revenue. 
 Agr. Sir, this should be answer'd. 30 
 
 Cces. 'Tis done already, and the messenger gone. 
 
 I have told him, Lepidus was grown too cruel ; 
 
 That he his high authority abused 
 
 And did deserve his change : for what I have con- 
 quer'd, 
 
 I grant him part ; but then, in his Armenia 
 
 And other of his conquer'd kingdoms, I 
 
 Demand the like. 
 McFC. He '11 never yield to that. 
 
 Cces. Nor must not then be yielded to in this. 
 
 Enter Octavia, liith her train. 
 
 Octa. Hail, Caesar, and my lord ! hail, most dear Caesar ! 
 
 Cces. That ever I should call thee castaway ! 40 
 
 Octa. You have not call'd me so, nor have you cause. 
 
 Cces. Why have you stol'n upon us thus ? You come not 
 Like Caesar's sister : the wife of Antony 
 Should have an army for an usher, and 
 The neighs of horse to teW of her approach 
 Long ere she did appear ; the trees by the way 
 Should have borne men ; and expectation fainted, 
 Longing for what it had not ; nay, the dust 
 Should have ascended to the roof of heaven, 
 Raised by your populous troops : but you are come 
 A market-maid to Rome ; and have prevented 51 
 82
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. vi. 
 
 The ostentation of our love, which, left unshown, 
 Is often left unloved : we should have met you 
 By sea and land, supplying every stage 
 With an augmented greeting. 
 Q(^lQ Good my lord. 
 
 To come thus was I not constrain'd, but did it 
 On my free will. IMy lord, Mark Antony, 
 Hearing that you prepared for war, acquainted 
 My grieved ear withal ; whereon, I begg'd 
 His pardon for return. 
 (-^^^ Which soon he granted, 6o 
 
 Being an obstruct 'tween his lust and him. 
 Octa. Do not say so, my lord. 
 
 ^^^^ I have eyes upon him, 
 
 And his affairs come to me on the wind. 
 Where is he now ? 
 Q^fQ^ My lord, in Athens. 
 
 Cccs. No, my most wronged sister ; Cleopatra 
 
 Hath nodded him to her. He hath given his empire 
 Up to a whore ; who now are levying 
 The kings o' the earth for war : he hath assembled 
 Bocchus, the king of Libya ; Archelaus, 
 Of Cappadocia ; Philadelphos, king 7^ 
 
 Of Paphlagonia ; the Thracian king, Adallas ; 
 King Malchus of Arabia ; King of Pont ; 
 Herod of Jewry ; Mithridates, king 
 Of Comagene ; Polemon and Amyntas, 
 The kings of Mede and Lycaonia, 
 With a more larger list of sceptres. 
 ^ ^ Av me, most wretched. 
 
 That have my heart parted betwixt two friends 
 That do afflict each other ! 
 83
 
 Act III. Sc. vii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 C(TS. W'elcome hither : 
 
 Your letters did withhold our breaking forth, 
 Till we perceived both how you were wrong led 80 
 And we in negligent danger. Cheer your heart : 
 Be you not troubled with the time, w^hich drives 
 O'er 3^our content, these strong necessities ; 
 But let determined things to destiny 
 Hold unbewail'd their way. Welcome to Rome ; 
 Nothing more dear to me. You are abused 
 Beyond the mark of thought : and the high gods, 
 To do you justice, make them ministers 
 Of us and those that love you. Best of comfort ; 
 And ever welcome to us. 
 
 Agr. Welcome, lady. 90 
 
 Mcec. Welcome, dear madam. 
 
 Each heart in Rome does love and pity you : 
 Only the adulterous Antony, most large 
 In his abominations, turns you off ; 
 And gives his potent regiment to a trull, 
 That noises it against us. 
 
 Octa. Is it so, sir? 
 
 Ccrs. Most certain. Sister, welcome : pray you. 
 Be ever known to patience : my dear'st sister !, 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VII. : 
 
 New Actiitin. Antony's camp.- - - -O 
 Enter Cleopatra and Enoharbtis.''^[^^:.,. 
 
 Cleb. I will be even with thee, doubt it not. - " 
 
 Eno. But why, why, why ? 
 
 Cleo. Thou hast for spoke my being in these wars, 
 
 84
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. vii. 
 
 And say'st it is not fit. 
 
 Eno. Well, is it, is it? 
 
 Clco. If not denounced against us, why should not vve 
 Be there in person ? 
 
 Eno. [Aside] Well, I could reply : 
 
 If we should serve with horse and mares together. 
 The horse were merely lost ; the mares would bear 
 A soldier and his horse. 
 
 Cleo. \Miat is 't you say ? lo 
 
 Eno. Your presence needs must puzzle Antony ; 
 
 Take from his heart, take from his brain, from's time, 
 What should not then be spared. He is already 
 Traduced for levity ; and 'tis said in Rome 
 That Photinus, an eunuch and your maids 
 Manage this war. 
 
 Cleo. Sink Rome, and their tongues rot 
 
 That speak against us ! A charge we bear i' the war. 
 And, as the president of my kingdom, will 
 Appear there for a man. Speak not against it ; 
 I will not stay behind. 
 
 Eno. Nay, I have done. 20 
 
 Here comes the emperor. 
 
 Enter Antony and Canidius. 
 
 Ant. Is it not strange, Canidius, 
 
 That from Tarentum and Brundusium 
 
 He could so quickly cut the Ionian sea. 
 
 And take in Toryne? You have heard on 't, sweet? 
 Cleo. Celerity is never more admired 
 
 Than by the negligent. 
 Ant. A good rebuke. 
 
 Which might have well becomed the best of men, 
 
 85
 
 Act III. Sc. vii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 To taunt at slackness. Canidius, we 
 Will fight with him by sea. 
 
 Cleo. By sea : what else ? 
 
 Can. Why will my lord do so ? 
 
 Ant. For that he dares us to 't. 30 
 
 Eno. So hath my lord dared him to single fight. 
 
 Can. Ay, and to wage this battle at Pharsalia, 
 
 Where Caesar fought with Pompey : but these offers, 
 Which serve not for his vantage, he shakes off, 
 And so should you. 
 
 Eno. Your ships are not well mann'd, 
 
 Your mariners are muleters, reapers, people 
 Ingross'd by swift impress ; in Caesar's fleet 
 Are those that often have 'gainst Pompey fought : 
 Their ships are yare, yours heavy : no disgrace 
 Shall fall you for refusing him at sea, 
 Being prepared for land. 
 
 Ant. By sea, by sea. 
 
 Eno, Most worthy sir, you therein throw away 
 The absolute soldiership you have by land, 
 Distract your army, which doth most consist 
 Of war-mark'd footmen, leave unexecuted 
 Your own renowned knowledge, quite forgo 
 The way which promises assurance, and 
 Give up yourself merely to chance and hazard 
 From firm security. 
 
 Ant. I '11 fight at sea. 
 
 Cleo. I have sixty sails, Caesar none better. 50 
 
 Ant. Our overplus of shipping will we burn ; 
 
 And, with the rest f ull-mann'd, from the head of Actium, 
 Beat the approaching Caesar. But if we fail, 
 We then can do 't at land. 
 86
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. vii. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Thy business? 
 
 Mess. The news is true, my lord ; he is descried ; 
 Caesar has taken Toryne. 
 
 Ant. Can he be there in person? 'tis impossible; 
 Strange that his power should be. Canidius, 
 Our nineteen legions thou shalt hold by land, 
 And our twelve thousand horse. We '11 to our ship : 
 Away, my Thetis ! 
 
 Enter a Soldier. 
 
 How now, worthy soldier? 
 Sold. O noble emperor, do not fight by sea ; 6i 
 
 Trust not to rotten planks. Do you misdoubt 
 
 This sword and these my wounds ? Let the Egyptians 
 
 And the Phoenicians go a-ducking: we 
 
 Have used to conquer, standing on the earth 
 
 And fighting foot to foot. 
 Ant. Well, well : away! 
 
 [Exeunt Antony, Cleopatra, and Enobarbus. 
 Sold. By Hercules, I think I am i' the right. 
 Can. Soldier, thou art : but his whole action grows 
 
 Not in the power on 't : so our leader's led, 70 
 
 And we are women's men. 
 Sold. You keep by land 
 
 The legions and the horse whole, do you not ? 
 Can. Marcus Octavius, Marcus Justeius, 
 
 Publicola and Cselius, are for sea: 
 
 But we keep whole by land. This speed of Caesar's 
 
 Carries beyond belief. 
 Su Id. While he was yet in Rome, 
 
 His power went out in such distractions as 
 
 87
 
 Act 111. Sc. viih=ix. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Beguiled all spies. 
 Can. Who 's his lieutenant, hear you ? 
 
 Sold. They say, one Taurus. 
 Can. Well I know the man. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Mess. The emperor calls Canidius. 80 
 
 Can. With news the time 's with labour, and throes forth 
 
 Each minute some. {Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VIII. 
 
 A plain near Actiiim. 
 Enter Cccsar, Taurus, zcith his army, marching. 
 
 Cces. Taurus ! 
 
 Taur. My lord? 
 
 Cces. Strike not by land ; keep whole : provoke not battle, 
 Till we have done at sea. Do not exceed 
 The prescript of this scroll : our fortune lies 
 Upon this jump. {Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IX. 
 
 Another part of the plain. 
 
 Enter Antony and Enoharous. 
 
 Ant. Set we our squadrons on yond side o' the hill, 
 In eye of Caesar's battle ; from which place 
 W^e may the number of the ships behold, 
 And so proceed accordingly. {Exeunt,
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sg. x. 
 
 Scene X. 
 
 Another part of the plain. 
 
 Enter Canidins, marching with his land army one way; 
 and Taurus, the lieutenant of Ccesar, zvith his army, 
 the other way. After their going in, is heard the 
 noise of a sea-fight. 
 
 Alaruin. Enter Enobarbus. 
 
 Eno. Naught, naught, all naught ! I can behold no longer ! 
 The Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral, 
 With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder : 
 To see 't mine eyes are blasted. 
 
 Enter Scams. 
 
 Scar. Gods and goddesses, 
 
 All the whole synod of them ! 
 
 Eno. What 's thy passion ? 
 
 Scar. The greater cantle of the world is lost 
 
 With very ignorance ; we have kiss'd away 
 Kingdoms and provinces. 
 
 Eno. How appears the fight? 
 
 Scar. On our side like the token'd pestilence, 9 
 
 Where death is sure. Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt — 
 Whom leprosy overtake ! — i' the midst o' the fight. 
 When vantage like a pair of twins appear'd. 
 Both as the same, or rather ours the elder, — 
 The breese upon her, like a cow in June ! — 
 Hoists sails and flies. 
 
 Eno. That I beheld: 
 
 Mine eyes did sicken at the sight, and could not . 
 Endure a further view. 
 
 Scar. She once being loof'd, .
 
 Act III. Sc. XI. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 The noble ruin of her magic, Antony, 
 Claps on his sea-wing, and like a doting mallard, 20 
 Leaving the fight in height, flies after her : 
 I never saw an action of such shame ; 
 Experience, manhood, honour, ne'er before 
 Did violate so itself. 
 Eno, Alack, alack! 
 
 Enter Canidius. 
 
 Can, Our fortune on the sea is out of breath, 
 
 And sinks most lamentably. Had our general 
 Been what he knew himself, it had gone well: 
 O, he has given example for our flight 
 Most grossly by his own ! 
 
 Eno. Ay, are you thereabouts ? Why then good night 
 
 Indeed, 30 
 
 Can. Toward Peloponnesus are they fled. 
 
 Scar. 'Tis easy to 't ; and there I will attend 
 What further comes. 
 
 Can. To Caesar will I render 
 
 My legions and my horse : six kings already 
 Show me the way of yielding. 
 
 Eno. I '11 yet follow 
 
 The wounded chance of Antony, though my reason 
 Sits in the wind against me. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene XL 
 
 Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace. 
 Enter Antony with Attendants. 
 
 Ant. Hark ! the land bids me tread no more upon 't ; 
 It is ashamed to bear me. Friends, come hither : 
 I am so lated in the world that I 
 90
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. xi. 
 
 Have lost my way for ever. I have a ship 
 Laden with gold ; take that, divide it ; fly, 
 And make your peace with Caesar. 
 
 All. Fly! not we. 
 
 Aiit. I have fled myself, and have instructed cowards 
 
 To run and show their shoulders. Friends, be gone; 
 I have myself resolved upon a course 
 Which has no need of you ; be gone : lo 
 
 My treasure 's in the harbour, take it. O, 
 I follow 'd that I blush to look upon : 
 My very hairs do mutiny, for the white 
 Reprove the brown for rashness, and they them 
 For fear and doting. Friends, be gone : you shall 
 Have letters from me to some friends that will 
 Sweep your way for you. Pray you, look not sad, 
 Nor make replies of loathness : take the hint 
 Which my despair proclaims ; let that be left 
 Which leaves itself : to the sea-side straightway : 20 
 I will possess you of that ship and treasure. 
 Leave me, I pray, a little : pray you now : 
 Nay, do so ; for indeed I have lost command, 
 Therefore I pray you : I '11 see you by and by. 
 
 [Sits down. 
 
 Enter Cleopatra led by Charmian and Iras; Eros 
 following. 
 
 Eros. Nay, gentle madam, to him, comfort him. 
 
 Iras. Do, most dear queen. 
 
 Char. Do ! why, what else ? 
 
 Cleo. Let me sit down. O Juno! 
 
 Ant. No, no, no, no, no. 
 
 Eros. See you here, sir ? 3^ 
 
 Ant. O fie, fie, fie ! 
 
 91
 
 Act III. Sc. xi. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Char. Madam! 
 
 Iras. Madam, O good empress! 
 
 Eros. Sir, sir ! 
 
 Ant. Yes, my lord, yes ; he at Philippi kept 
 
 His sword e'en like a dancer ; while I struck 
 
 The lean and wrinkled Cassius ; and 'twas I 
 
 That the mad Brutus ended : he alone 
 
 Dealt on lieutenantry and no practice had 
 
 In the brave squares of war : yet now — No matter. 
 
 Cleo. Ah! standby. 41 
 
 Eros. The queen, my lord, the queen. 
 
 Iras. Go to him, madam, speak to him : 
 He is unqualitied with very shame. 
 
 Cleo. Well then, sustain me : O ! 
 
 Eros. Most noble sir, arise ; the queen approaches : 
 Her head 's declined, and death will seize her, but 
 Your comfort makes the rescue. 
 
 Ant. I have offended reputation, 
 A most unnoble swerving. 
 
 Eros. Sir, the queen. 50 
 
 Ant. O, whither hast thou led me, Egypt? See, 
 How I convey my shame out of thine eyes 
 By looking back what I have left behind 
 Stroy'd in dishonour. 
 
 Cleo. O my lord, my lord, 
 
 Forgive my fearful sails ! I little thought 
 You would have followed. 
 
 Ant. Egypt, thou knew'st too well 
 
 My heart was to thy rudder tied by the strings, 
 And thou shouldst tow me after : o'er my spirit 
 Thy full supremacy thou knew'st, and that 
 Thy beck might from the bidding of the gods 60 
 
 92
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. xii. 
 
 Command nie. 
 
 Cleo. O, my pardon ! 
 
 Ant. Now I must 
 
 To the young man send humble treaties, dodge 
 And palter in the shifts of lowness ; who 
 With half the bulk o' the world play'd as I pleased, 
 Making and marring fortunes. You did know 
 How much you were my conqueror, and that 
 My sword, made weak by my affection, would 
 Obey it on all cause. 
 
 Cleo. Pardon, pardon ! 
 
 Ant. Fall not a tear, I say ; one of them rates 
 
 All that is won and lost : give me a kiss ; 70 
 
 Even this repays me. We sent our schoolmaster ; 
 Is he come back ? Love, I am full of lead. 
 Some wine, within there, and our viands ! Fortune 
 
 knows 
 We scorn her most when most she offers blows. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene XIL 
 
 Egypt. Ccusar's camp. 
 Enter Ccusar, Dolahella, Thyrens, zuitk others. 
 
 Ccus. Let him appear that 's come from Antony. 
 Know you him ? 
 
 Dol, . Caesar, 'tis his schoolmaster : .. 
 
 An argument that he is pluckM, when hither 
 He sends so poor a pinion of his wing. 
 Which had superfluous kings for messengers 
 Not many moons gone by. 
 
 93
 
 Act III. Sc. xii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Enter Euphronius, ambassador from Antony. 
 
 CcFS. Approach, and speak. 
 
 Euph. Such as I am, I come from Antony : 
 I was of late as petty to his ends 
 As is the morn-dew on the myrtle-leaf 
 To his grand sea. 
 
 Cces. Be 't so : declare thine office. lo 
 
 Euph. Lord of his fortunes he salutes thee, and 
 Requires to live in Egypt : which not granted. 
 He lessens his requests, and to thee sues 
 To let him breathe between the heavens and earth, 
 A private man in Athens : this for him. 
 Next, Cleopatra does confess thy greatness; 
 Submits her to thy might, and of thee craves 
 The circle of the Ptolemies for her heirs, 
 Now hazarded to thy grace. 
 
 Cces. ^ For Antony, 
 
 I have no ears to his request. The queen 20 
 
 Of audience nor desire shall fail, so she 
 From Egypt drive her all-disgraced friend, 
 Or take his life there : this if she perform. 
 She shall not sue unheard. So to them both. 
 
 Euph. Fortune pursue thee ! 
 
 CcBS. Bring him through the bands. 
 
 [Exit Euphronius. 
 [To Thyreiu] To try thy eloquence, now 'tis time: 
 
 dispatch ; 
 From Antony win Cleopatra : promise. 
 And in our name, what she requires ; add more. 
 From thine invention, offers : women are not 29 
 
 In their best fortunes strong, but want will perjure 
 
 94
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. xiii. 
 
 The ne'er-touch'd vestal : try thy cunning, Thyreus ; 
 
 I^Iake thine own edict for thy pains, which we 
 
 Will answer as a law. 
 Thyr. Caesar, I go. 
 
 Cces. Observe how Antony becomes his flaw, 
 
 And what thou think'st his very action speaks 
 
 In every power that moves. 
 Thyr. Caesar, I shall. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene XIII. 
 
 Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace. 
 Enter Cleopatra, Enobarbns, Charmian, and Iras. 
 
 Cleo. What shall we do, Enobarbus ? 
 
 Eno. Think, and die. 
 
 Cleo. Is Antony or we in fault for this ? 
 
 Eno. Antony only, that would make his will 
 
 Lord of his reason. What though you fled 
 From that great face of war, whose several ranges 
 Frighted each other, why should he follow ? 
 The itch of his affection should not then 
 Have nick'd his captainship ; at such a point. 
 When half to half the world opposed, he being 
 The mered question : 'twas a shame no less lo 
 
 Than was his loss, to course your flying flags 
 And leave his navy gazing. 
 
 Cleo. Prithee, peace. 
 
 Enter Antony, with Euphronitis the Ambassador. 
 
 Ant. Is that his answer? 
 
 Euph. Ay, my lord. 
 
 Ant. The queen shall then have courtesy, so she 
 
 95
 
 Act III. Sc. xiii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Will yield us up. 
 
 En ph. He says so. 
 
 Ant. Let her know 't. 
 
 To the boy Caesar send this grizzled head, 
 And he will fill thy wishes to the brim 
 With principalities. 
 
 Cleo. That head, my lord ? 
 
 Ant. To him again : tell him he wears the rose 20 
 
 Of youth upon him, from which the world should 
 
 note 
 Something particular : his coin, ships, legions, 
 May be a coward's, whose ministers would prevail 
 Under the service of a child as soon 
 As i' the command of Caesar : I dare him therefore 
 To lay his gay comparisons apart 
 And answer me declined, sword against sword. 
 Ourselves alone. I '11 write it : follow me. 
 
 [Exeunt Antony and Euphronius. 
 
 Eno. [Aside] Yes, like enough, high-battled Caesar will 
 Unstate his happiness and be staged to the show 30 
 Against a sworder! I see men's judgements are 
 A parcel of their fortunes, and things outward 
 Do draw the inward quality after them. 
 To suffer all alike. That he should dream, 
 Knowing all measures, the full Caesar will 
 Answer his emptiness ! Caesar, thou hast subdued 
 His judgement too. 
 
 Enter an Attendant. 
 
 Att. A messenger from Caesar. 
 
 Cleo. What, no more ceremony? See, my women. 
 Against the blown rose may they stop their nose 
 96
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. xiii. 
 
 That kneel'd unto the buds. Admit him, sir. 40 
 
 [Exit Attend, 
 Eno, [Aside] Mine honesty and I begin to square. 
 The loyalty well held to fools does make 
 Our faith mere folly : yet he that can endure 
 To follow with allegiance a fall'n lord 
 Does conquer him that did his master conquer, 
 And earns a place i' the story. 
 
 Enter Thy reus, 
 
 Cleo. Caesar's will ? 
 
 Thyr. Hear it apart. 
 
 Cleo. None but friends : say boldly. 
 
 Thyr. So, haply, are they friends to Antony. 
 Eno. He needs as many, sir, as Caesar has. 
 
 Or needs not us. If Caesar please, our master 50 
 
 Will leap to be his friend : for us, you know. 
 
 Whose he is we are, and that is Caesar's. 
 Thyr. So. 
 
 Thus then, thou most renown'd : Caesar entreats 
 
 Not to consider in what case thou stand'st 
 
 Further than he is Caesar. 
 Cleo. Go on : right royal. 
 
 Thyr. He knows that you embrace not Antony 
 
 As you did love, but as you fear'd him. 
 Cleo. O ! 
 
 Thyr. The scars upon your honour therefore he 
 
 Does pity as constrained blemishes. 
 
 Not as deserved. 
 Cleo. He is a god and knows 60 
 
 What is most right : mine honour was not yielded, 
 
 But conquer'd merely. 
 
 97
 
 Act III. Sc xiii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Eno. [Aside] To be sure of that, 
 
 I will ask Antony. Sir, sir, thou art so leaky 
 
 That we must leave thee to thy sinking, for 
 
 Thy dearest quit thee. {Exit. 
 
 Thyr. Shall I say to Caesar 
 
 What you require of him ? for he partly begs 
 
 To be desired to give. It much would please him, 
 
 That of his fortunes you should make a staff 
 
 To lean upon : but it would warm his spirits. 
 
 To hear from me you had left Antony, yo 
 
 And put yourself under his shrowd. 
 
 The universal landlord. 
 
 Cleo. What 's your name ? 
 
 Thyr. My name is Thyreus. 
 
 Cleo. Most kind messenger, 
 
 Say to great Caesar this : in deputation 
 I kiss his conquering hand : tell him, I am prompt 
 To lay my crown at 's feet, and there to kneel : 
 Tell him, from his all-obeying breath I hear 
 The doom of Egypt. 
 
 Thyr. 'Tis your noblest course. 
 
 Wisdom and fortune combating together, 
 If that the former dare but what it can, 8o 
 
 Xo chance may shake it. Give me grace to lay 
 My duty on your hand. 
 
 Cleo. Your Caesar's father oft, 
 
 Wlien he hath mused of taking kingdoms in, 
 Bestow'd his lips on that unworthy place, 
 As it rain'd kisses. 
 
 Re-enter Antony and Enobarbus. 
 Ant. Favours, by Jove that thunders ! 
 
 98
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. xiii. 
 
 What art thou, fellow ? 
 Thyr. One that but performs 
 
 The bidding of the fullest man and worthiest 
 
 To have command obey'd. 
 Eno. [Aside] You will be whipp'd. 
 
 Ant. Approach, there! Ah, you kite! Now, gods and 
 devils ! 
 
 Authority melts from me : of late, when I cried 'Ho !' 
 
 Like boys unto a muss, kings would start forth, 91 
 
 And cry ' Your will ? ' Have you no ears ? 
 
 I am Antony yet. 
 
 Enter Attendants. 
 
 Take hence this Jack, and whip him. 
 
 Eno. \^Aside] 'Tis better playing with a lion's whelp 
 Than wath an old one dying. 
 
 Ant. Moon and stars! 
 
 Whip him. Were 't twenty of the greatest tributaries 
 That do acknowledge Caesar, should I find them 
 So saucy with the hand of she here, — what 's her 
 
 name. 
 Since she was Cleopatra ? Whip him, fellows, 
 Till, like a boy, you see him cringe his face, lOO 
 
 And whine aloud for mercy : take him hence. 
 
 Thyr. Mark Antony, — 
 
 Ant. Tug him away : being whipp'd, 
 
 Bring him again : this Jack of Caesar's shall 
 Bear us an errand to him. 
 
 [Exeunt Attendants, zvith Thyreus. 
 You were half blasted ere I knew you : ha ! 
 Have I my pillow left unpress'd in Rome, 
 Forborne the getting of a lawful race, 
 
 99
 
 Act III. Sc. xiii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 And by a gem of women, to be abused 
 By one that looks on feeders? 
 
 Cleo. Good my lord, — 
 
 Ant. You have been a boggier ever: no 
 
 But when we in our viciousness grow hard — 
 O misery on 't ! — the wise gods seel our eyes ; 
 In our own filth drop our clear judgements ; make us 
 Adore our errors ; laugh at 's while we strut 
 To our confusion. 
 
 Cleo. O, is 't come to this ? 
 
 Ant. I found you as a morsel cold upon 
 
 Dead Caesar's trencher ; nay, you were a fragment 
 Of Cneius Pompey's ; besides what hotter hours, 
 Unregister'd in vulgar fame, you have 
 Luxuriously pick'd out: for I am sure, 120 
 
 Though you can guess what temperance should be, 
 You know not what it is. 
 
 Cleo. Wherefore is this? 
 
 Ant. To let a fellow that will take rewards 
 
 And say ' God quit you ! ' be familiar with 
 
 My playfellow, your hand, this kingly seal 
 
 And plighter of high hearts ! O, that I were 
 
 Upon the hill of Basan, to outroar 
 
 The horned herd! for I have savage cause; 
 
 And to proclaim it civilly, were like 
 
 A halter'd neck which does the hangman thank 130 
 
 For being yare about him. 
 
 Re-enter Attendants, with Thyreus. - 
 
 Is he whipp'd? 
 First Att. Soundly, my lord. 
 Ant, Cried he? and begg'd he pardon:
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act III. Sc. xiii. 
 
 First Att. He did ask favour. 
 
 Atit. If that thy father Hve, let him repent 
 
 Thou wast not made his daughter ; and be thou sorry 
 
 To follow Caesar in his triumph, since 
 
 Thou hast been whipp'd for following him : henceforth 
 
 The white hand of a lady fever thee, 
 
 Shake thou to look on 't. Get thee back to Caesar, 
 
 Tell him thy entertainment : look thou say 140 
 
 He makes me angry with him ; for he seems 
 
 Proud and disdainful, harping on what I am, 
 
 Not what he knew I was : he makes me angry ; 
 
 And at this time most easy 'tis to do 't, 
 
 When my good stars that were my former guides 
 
 Have empty left their orbs and shot their fires 
 
 Into the abysm of hell. If he mislike 
 
 My speech and what is done, tell him he has 
 
 Hipparchus, my enfranched bondman, whom 
 
 He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or torture, 150 
 
 As he shall like, to quit me : urge it thou : 
 
 Hence with thy stripes, begone! [Exit Thyreiis. 
 
 Cleo. Have you done yet ? 
 
 Ant. Alack, our terrene moon 
 
 Is now eclipsed, and it portends alone 
 The fall of Antony. 
 
 Cleo. I must stay his time. 
 
 Ant. To flatter Caesar, would you mingle eyes 
 With one that ties his points ? 
 
 Cleo. Not know me yet? 
 
 Ant. Cold-hearted toward me? 
 
 Cleo. Ah, dear, if I be so, 
 
 From my cold heart let heaven engender hail, 
 And poison it in the source, and the first stone 160 
 
 lOI
 
 Act III. Sc. xiii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Drop in my neck: as it determines, so 
 Dissolve my life ! The next Csesarion smite ! 
 Till by degrees the memory of my womb, 
 Together with my brave Egyptians all, 
 By the discandying of this pelleted storm 
 Lie graveless, till the flies and gnats of Nile 
 Have buried them for prey ! 
 
 Ant. I am satisfied. 
 
 Caesar sits down in Alexandria, where 
 I will oppose his fate. Our force by land 
 Hath nobly held ; our sever'd navy too 170 
 
 Have knit again, and fleet, threatening most sea-like. 
 Where hast thou been, my heart? Dost thou hear, 
 
 lady? 
 If from the field I shall return once more 
 To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood ; 
 I and my sword will earn our chronicle : 
 There 's hope in 't yet. 
 
 Cleo. That 's my brave lord ! 
 
 Ant. I will be treble-sinew'd, hearted, breath'd. 
 And fight maliciously : for when mine hours 
 Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives 180 
 
 Of me for jests ; but now I '11 set my teeth, 
 And send to darkness all that stop me. Come, 
 Let 's have one other gaudy night : call to me 
 All my sad captains ; fill our bowls once more : 
 Let 's mock the midnight bell. 
 
 Cleo. It is my birth-day : 
 
 I had thought to have held it poor, but since my lord 
 Is Antony again, I will be Cleopatra. 
 
 Ant. We will yet do well. 
 
 Cleo. Call all his noble captains to my lord. 
 
 102
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. i. 
 
 Ant. Do so, we '11 speak to them ; and to-night I '11 force 
 The wine peep through their scars. Come on, my 
 queen ; ^9^ 
 
 There 's sap in 't yet. The next time I do fight 
 I '11 make death love me, for I will contend 
 Even with his pestilent scythe. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Enobarbus. 
 
 Eno. Now he '11 outstare the Hghtning. To be furious 
 Is to be frighted out of fear ; and in that mood 
 The dove will peck the estridge ; and I see still, 
 A diminution in our captain's brain 
 Restores his heart : when valour preys on reason, 
 It eats the sword it fights with. I will seek 200 
 Some way to leave him. {Exit. 
 
 ACT FOURTH. 
 Scene I. 
 
 Before Alexandria. Cccsar's camp. 
 
 Enter Cccsar, A grip pa, and Mcecenas, ivith his army: 
 Ccosar reading a letter. 
 
 Cccs. He calls me boy, and chides as he had power 
 To beat me out of Egypt ; my messenger 
 He hath whipp'd with rods; dares me to personal 
 
 combat, 
 Caesar to Antony. Let the old ruffian know 
 I have many other ways to die, meantime 
 Laugh at his challenge. 
 
 ^f(sc. Csesar must think, 
 
 When one so great begins to rage, he 's hunted 
 Even to falling. Give him no breath, but now 
 103
 
 Act IV. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Make boot of his distraction. Never anger 
 Made good guard for itself. 
 C(ES. Let our best heads lo 
 
 Know that to-morrow the last of many battles 
 We mean to fight. Within our files there are, 
 Of those that served Mark Antony but late, 
 Enough to fetch him in. See it done : 
 And feast the army ; we have store to do 't, 
 And they have earn'd the waste. Poor Antony! 
 
 \_Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IL 
 
 Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace. 
 
 Enter Antony, Cleopatra, Enobarbus, Charmian, Iras, 
 A lex as, with others. 
 
 Ant. Hcji^^ill not fight with me, Domitius? 
 
 Eno. No. 
 
 Ant. Why should he not? 
 
 Eno. He thinks, being twenty times of better fortune. 
 He is twenty men to one. 
 
 Ant. To-morrow, soldier. 
 
 By sea and land I '11 fight : or I will live. 
 Or bathe my dying honour in the blood 
 Shall make it live again. Woo 't thou fight well ? 
 
 Eno. I '11 strike, and cry ' Take all.' 
 
 Ant. Well said ; come on. 
 
 Call forth my household servants : let 's to-night 
 Be bounteous at our meal. 
 
 Enter three or four Servitors. 
 
 Give me thy hand, lo 
 
 Thou hast been rightly honest ; — so hast thou ; — 
 
 104
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. ii. 
 
 Thou, — and thou, — and thou : you have served me 
 
 well. 
 And kings have been your fellows. 
 
 Cleo. [Aside to Eno.\ What means this? 
 
 Eno. [Aside to Cleo.] 'Tis one of those odd tricks which 
 sorrow shoots 
 Out of the mind. 
 
 Ant. And thou art honest too. 
 
 I wish I could be made so many men. 
 And all of you clapp'd up together in 
 An Antony, that I might do you service 
 So good as you have done. 
 
 Serv. The gods forbid ! 
 
 Ant. Well, my good fellows, wait on me to-night: 20 
 Scant not my cups, and make as much of me 
 As when mine empire was your fellow too 
 And suffer'd my command. 
 
 Cleo. [Aside to Eno. ] What does he mean ? 
 
 Eno. [Aside to Cleo.] To make his followers weep. 
 
 Ant. Tend me to-night ; 
 
 May be it is the period of your duty : 
 Haply you shall not see me more ; or if, 
 A mangled shadow : perchance to-morrow 
 You '11 serve another master. I look on you 
 As one that takes his leave. Mine honest friends, 
 I turn you not away ; but, like a master 30 
 
 Married to your good service, stay till death : 
 Tend me to-night two hours, I ask no more, 
 And the gods yield you for 't ! 
 
 Eno. What mean you, sir. 
 
 To give them this discomfort ? Look, they weep. 
 And I, an ass, am onion-eyed : for shame, 
 
 105 •
 
 Act IV. Sc. iii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Transform us not to women. 
 Ant. Ho, ho, ho! 
 
 Now the witch take me, if I meant it thus ! 
 Grace grow where those drops fall ! My hearty 
 
 friends. 
 You take me in too dolorous a sense ; 
 For I spake to you for your comfort, did desire 
 you 40 
 
 To burn this night with torches : know, my hearts, 
 I hope well of to-morrow, and will lead you 
 Where rather I '11 expect victorious life 
 Than death and honour. Let 's to supper, come. 
 And drown consideration. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 The same. Before the palace. 
 
 Enter two Soldiers to their guard. 
 
 First Sold. Brother, good night : to-morrow is the day. 
 Sec. Sold. It will determine one way : fare you well. 
 Heard you of nothing strange about the streets ? 
 First Sold. Nothing. What news ? 
 
 Sec. Sold. Belike 'tis but a rumour. Good night to you. 
 First Sold. Well, sir, good night. 
 
 Enter two other Soldiers. 
 
 Sec. Sold. Soldiers, have careful watch. 
 
 Third Sold. And you. Good night, good night. 
 
 [They place themselves in every corner of the stage. 
 Fourth Sold. Here we : and if to-morrow 
 
 Our navy thrive, I have an absolute hope 10 
 
 Our landmen will stand up. 
 
 • 106
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. iv. 
 
 Third Sold. 'Tis a brave army, 
 
 And full of purpose. 
 
 [Music of hautboys as under the stage. 
 Fourth Sold. Peace ! what noise ? 
 
 First Sold. ^ List, list ! 
 
 Sec. Sold. Hark! 
 First Sold. Music i' the air. 
 
 Third Sold. Under the earth. 
 
 Fourth Sold. It signs well, does it not? 
 Third Sold. No. 
 
 First Sold. Peace, I say ! 
 
 What should this mean ? 
 Sec. Sold. 'Tis the god Hercules, whom Antony loved, 
 
 Now leaves him. 
 First Sold. Walk ; let 's see if other watchmen 
 
 Do hear what we do. 
 Sec. Sold. How now, masters ! 
 All. [Speaking together] How now ! How now ! Do you 
 
 hear this ? 
 First Sold. Ay ; is 't not strange ? 20 
 
 Third Sold. Do you hear, masters? do you hear? 
 First Sold. Follow the noise so far as we have quarter ; 
 
 Let 's see how it will give off. 
 All. Content. 'Tis strange. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 The same. A room in the palace. 
 
 Enter Antony and Cleopatra, Charmian and others 
 attending. 
 
 Ant. Eros ! mine armour, Eros ! 
 Cleo. Sleep a little. 
 
 Ant. No, my chuck. Eros, come; mine armour, Eros! 
 
 107
 
 Act IV. Sc. iv, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Enter Eros with armour. 
 
 Come, good fellow, put mine iron on : 
 
 If fortune be not ours to-day, it is 
 
 Because we brave her : come. 
 Cleo. Nay, I '11 help too. 
 
 What's this for? 
 Ant. Ah, let be, let be ! thou art 
 
 The armourer of my heart : false, false ; this, this. 
 Cleo. Sooth, la, I '11 help : thus it must be. 
 Ant. Well, well; 
 
 W^e shall thrive now. Seest thou, my good fellow ? 
 
 Go put on thy defences. 
 Eros. Briefly, sir. lo 
 
 Cleo. Is not this buckled well ? 
 Ant. Rarely, rarely: 
 
 He that unbuckles this, till we do please 
 
 To daff't for our repose, shall hear a storm. 
 
 Thou fumblest, Eros ; and my queen 's a squire 
 
 Alore tight at this than thou : dispatch. O love, 
 
 That thou couldst see my wars to-day, and knew'st 
 
 The royal occupation ! thou shouldst see 
 
 A workman in 't. 
 
 Enter an armed Soldier. 
 
 Good morrow to thee ; welcome : 
 Thou look'st like him that knows a warlike charge : 
 To business that we love we rise betime, 20 
 
 And go to 't with delight. 
 Sold. A thousand, sir, 
 
 Early though 't be, have on their riveted trim. 
 And at the port expect you. 
 
 [Shout. Trumpets Hourish. 
 
 108
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. v. 
 
 Enter Captains and Soldiers. 
 
 Capt. The morn is fair. Good morrow, general. 
 
 All. Good morrow, general. 
 
 ^'^^- 'Tis well blown, lads : 
 
 This morning, like the spirit of a youth 
 That means to be of note, begins betimes. 
 So, so ; come, give me that : this way ; well said. 
 Fare thee well, dame, whate'er becomes of me : 
 This is a soldier's kiss : rebukeable 30 
 
 And worthy shameful check it were, to stand 
 On more mechanic compliment; I '11 leave thee 
 Now like a man of steel. You that will fight. 
 Follow me close ; I '11 bring you to 't. Adieu. 
 
 [Exeunt Antony, Eros, Captains, and Soldiers. 
 
 Char. Please you, retire to your chamber. 
 
 Cleo. Lead me. 
 
 He goes forth gallantly. That he and Caesar might 
 
 Determine this great war in single fight ! 
 
 Then Antony— but now — Well, on. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 Alexandria. Antony's camp. 
 
 Trumpets sound. Enter Antony and Eros; a Soldier 
 meeting them. 
 
 Sold. The gods make this a happy day to Antony ! 
 Ant. Would thou and those thy scars had once prevail'd 
 
 To make me fight at land ! 
 Sold. Hadst thou done so. 
 
 The kings that have revolted and the soldier 
 
 That has this morning left thee would have still 
 
 Follow'd thy heels. . 
 
 109
 
 Act IV. Sc. vi. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Ant. Who 's gone this morning? 
 
 Sold. Who! 
 
 One ever near thee : call for Enobarbus, 
 He shall not hear thee, or from Caesar's camp 
 Say ' I am none of thine.' 
 
 Ant. What say'st thou ? 
 
 Sold. Sir, 
 
 He is with Caesar. 
 
 Eros. Sir, his chests and treasure lo 
 
 He has not with him. 
 
 Ant. Is he gone? 
 
 Sold. Most certain. 
 
 Ant. Go, Eros, send his treasure after; do it; 
 Detain no jot, I charge thee ; write to him — 
 I will subscribe — gentle adieus and greetings ; 
 Say that I wish he never find more cause 
 To change a master. O, my fortunes have 
 Corrupted honest men ! Dispatch. Enobarbus ! 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 Alexandria. Ccesar's camp. 
 
 Flourish. Enter Cccsar ivith Agrippa, Enobarbus^ 
 and others. 
 
 Cccs. Go forth, Agrippa, and begin the fight : 
 
 Our will is Antony be took alive ; 
 
 Make it so known. 
 ^Agr, Caesar, I shall. [Exit 
 
 Cccs, The time of universal peace is near : 
 
 Prove this a prosperous day, the three-nook'd world 
 
 Shall bear the olive freely.* 
 no
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. vi. 
 
 Enter a Messenger. 
 
 Mess. Antony 
 
 Is come into the field. 
 
 Cces. Go charge Agrippa 
 
 Plant those that have revolted in the van, 
 That Antony may seem to spend his fury lo 
 
 Upon himself. [Exeunt all hut Enobarbus. 
 
 Eno. Alexas did revolt, and went to Jewry 
 
 On affairs of Antony ; there did persuade 
 Great Herod to incline himself to Caesar 
 And leave his master Antony : for this pains 
 Caesar hath hang'd hirn. Canidius and the rest 
 That fell away have entertainment, but 
 No honourable trust. I have done ill ; 
 Of which I do accuse myself so sorely 
 That I will joy no more. 
 
 Enter a Soldier of Ccesar's. 
 
 Sold. Enobarbus, Antony 20 
 
 Hath after thee sent all thy treasure, with 
 His bounty overplus : the messenger 
 Came on my guard, and at thy tent is now 
 Unloading of his mules. 
 
 Eno. I give it you. 
 
 Sold. Mock not, Enobarbus : 
 
 I tell you true : best you safed the bringer 
 Out of the host ; I must attend mine office. 
 Or would have done 't myself. Your emperor 
 Continues still a Jove. [Exit. 
 
 Eno. I am alone the villain of the earth, 30 
 
 And feel I am so most. O Antony, 
 Thou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid 
 
 III
 
 Act IV. Sc. vii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 My better service, when my turpitude 
 
 Thou dost so crown with gold ! This blows my heart : 
 
 If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean 
 
 Shall outstrike thought : but thought will do 't, I feel. 
 
 I fight against thee ! No : I will go seek 
 
 Some ditch wherein to die ; the foul'st best fits 
 
 My latter part of life. [Exit. 
 
 Scene VII. 
 
 Field of battle between the camps. 
 
 Alarum. Drums and trumpets. Enter Agrippa and others. 
 
 Agr. Retire, we have engaged ourselves too far : 
 Caesar himself has work, and our oppression 
 Exceeds what we expected. [Exeunt. 
 
 Alarums. Enter Antony, and Scarus zvounded. 
 
 Scar. O my brave emperor, this is fought indeed ! 
 
 Had we done so at first, we had droven them home 
 
 With clouts about their heads. 
 Ant. Thou bleed'st apace. 
 
 Scar. I had a wound here that was like a T, 
 
 But now 'tis made an H. [Retreat afar oif. 
 
 Ant. They do retire. 
 
 Scar. We '11 beat 'em into bench-holes : I have yet 
 
 Room for six scotches more. lo 
 
 Enter Eros. 
 
 Eros. They are beaten, sir, and our advantage serves 
 
 For a fair victory. 
 Scar. Let us score their backs 
 
 And snatch 'em up, as we take hares, behind : 
 
 'Tis sport to maul a runner. 
 
 112
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. viii. 
 
 Ant. I will reward thee 
 
 Once for thy spritely comfort, and ten-fold 
 For thy good valour. Come thee on. 
 
 Scar. I '11 halt after. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VIII. 
 
 Under the zvalls of Alexandria. 
 
 Alarum. Enter Antony, in a march; Scams, zvith others. 
 
 Ant, We have beat him to his camp : run one before, 
 And let the queen know of our gests. To-morrow, 
 Before the sun shall see 's, we '11 spill the blood 
 That has to-day escaped. I thank you all ; 
 For doughty-handed are you, and have fought 
 Not as you served the cause, but as 't had been 
 Each man 's like mine ; you have shown all Hectors. 
 Enter the city, clip your wives, your friends. 
 Tell them your feats ; whilst they with joyful tears 
 Wash the congealment from your wounds and kiss 
 The honour'd gashes whole. [To Scams] Give me 
 thy hand ; 1 1 
 
 Enter Cleopatra, attended. 
 
 To this great fairy I '11 commend thy acts, 
 Make her thanks bless thee. O thou day o' the world, 
 Chain mine arm'd neck ; leap thou, attire and all, 
 Through proof of harness to my heart, and there 
 Ride on the pants triumphing ! 
 
 Cleo. Lord of lords ! 
 
 O infinite virtue, comest thou smiling from 
 The world's great snare uncaught ? 
 
 Ant. My nightingale, 
 
 113
 
 Act IV. Sc. ix. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 We have beat them to their beds. What, girl! 
 
 though grey 
 Do something mingle with our younger brown, yet 
 
 ' ha' we 20 
 
 A brain that nourishes our nerves and can 
 Get goal for goal of youth. Behold this man ; 
 Commend unto his lips thy favouring hand : 
 Kiss it, my warrior : he hath fought to-day 
 As if a god in hate of mankind had 
 Destroy'd in such a shape. 
 
 Cleo. I '11 give thee, friend, 
 
 An armour all of gold ; it was a king's. 
 
 Ant. He has deserved it, were it carbuncled 
 
 Like holy Phoebus' car. Give me thy hand : 
 Through Alexandria make a jolly march : 30 
 
 Bear our hack'd targets like the men that owe them : 
 Had our great palace the capacity 
 To camp this host, we all would sup together 
 And drink carouses to the next day's fate. 
 Which promises royal peril. Trumpeters, 
 With brazen din blast you the city's ear ; 
 Make mingle with our rattling tabourines ; 
 That heaven and earth may strike their sounds to- 
 gether, 
 Applauding our approach. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IX. 
 
 Ccesars camp. 
 
 Sentinels at their post. 
 
 First Sold. If we be not relieved within this hour, 
 
 W^e must return to the court of guard : the night 
 Is shiny, and they say we shall embattle 
 
 114
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. ix. 
 
 By the second hour i' the mom. 
 Sec. Sold. This last day was 
 
 A shrewd one to 's. 
 
 Enter Enobarbiis. 
 
 Eno. O, bear me witness, night, — 
 
 Third Sold. What man is this ? 
 
 Sec. Sold. Stand close, and list him. 
 
 Eno. Be witness to me, O thou blessed moon, 
 
 When men revolted shall upon record 
 
 Bear hateful memory, poor Enobarbus did 
 
 Before thy face repent ! 
 First Sold. Enobarbus ! 
 
 Third Sold. Peace ! lo 
 
 Hark further. 
 Eno. O sovereign mistress of true melancholy, 
 
 The poisonous damp of night disponge upon me, 
 
 That life, a very rebel to my will, 
 
 May hang no longer on me : throw my heart 
 
 Against the flint and hardness of my fault ; 
 
 Which, being dried with grief, will break to powder, 
 
 And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony, 
 
 Nobler than my revolt is infamous, 
 
 Forgive me in thine own particular, 20 
 
 But let the world rank me in register 
 
 A master-leaver and a fugitive : 
 
 O Antony! O Antony! [Dies. 
 
 Sec. Sold. Let 's speak to him. 
 
 First Sold. Let 's hear him, for the things he speaks 
 
 May concern Cassar. 
 Third Svld. Let 's do so. But he sleeps. 
 
 First Sold. Swoons rather ; for so bad a prayer as his 
 
 115
 
 Act IV. Sc. x.-xi. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Was never yet for sleep. 
 Sec. Sold, Go we to him. 
 
 Third Sold. Awake, sir, awake ; speak to us. 
 Sec. Sold. Hear you, sir? 
 
 First Sold. The hand of death hath raught him. [Drums 
 afar off.] Hark! the drums 30 
 
 Demurely wake the sleepers. Let us bear him 
 
 To the court of guard ; he is of note : our hour 
 
 Is fully out. 
 Third Sold. Come on, then ; he may recover yet. 
 
 [Exeunt with the body. 
 
 Scene X. 
 
 Between the two camps. 
 Enter Antony and Scams, zvith their army. 
 
 Ant. Their preparation is to-day by sea; 
 
 We please them not by land. 
 Scar. For both, my lord. 
 
 Ant. I would they 'Id fight i' the fire or i' the air ; 
 
 We 'Id fight there too. But this it is ; our foot 
 
 Upon the hills adjoining to the city 
 
 Shall stay with us : order for sea is given ; 
 
 They have put forth the haven 
 
 Where their appointment we may best discover 
 
 And look on their endeavour. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene XL 
 
 Another part of the same. 
 
 Enter Ccosar, and his army. 
 
 Cces. But being charged, we will be still by land, 
 Which, as I take 't, we shall ; for his best force 
 
 116
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. xii. 
 
 Is forth to man his galleys. To the vales, 
 
 And hold our best advantage. \_Exeunt. 
 
 Scene XII. 
 
 Hills adjoining to Alexandria. 
 Enter Antony and Scams. 
 
 Ant. Yet they are not join'd : where yond pine does stand, 
 I shall discover all : I '11 bring thee word 
 Straight, how 'tis like to go. [Exit. 
 
 Scar. Swallows have built 
 
 In Cleopatra's sails their nests : the augurers 
 Say they know not, they cannot tell ; look grimly 
 And dare not speak their knowledge. Antony 
 Is valiant, and dejected, and by starts 
 His fretted fortunes give him hope, and fear. 
 Of what he has, and has not. 
 
 [Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight. 
 
 Re-enter Antony. 
 
 Ant. All is lost; 
 
 This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me : lo 
 
 My fleet liath yielded to the foe ; and yonder 
 They cast their caps up and carouse together 
 Like friends long lost. Triple-turn'd whore ! 'tis thou 
 Hast sold me to this novice, and my heart 
 Makes only wars on thee. Bid them all fly ; 
 For when I am revenged upon my charm, 
 I have done all. Bid them all fly ; begone. 
 
 [Exit Scams. 
 O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more: 
 Fortune and Antony part here, even here 
 
 117
 
 Act IV. Sc. xii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Do we shake hands. All come to this ? The hearts 
 That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave 21 
 
 Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets 
 On blossoming Csesar ; and this pine is bark'd, 
 That overtopp'd them all. Betray'd I am. . 
 O this false soul of Egypt ! this grave charm, 
 Whose eye beck'd forth my wars and call'd them 
 
 home, 
 Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end, 
 Like a right gipsy hath at fast and loose 
 Beguiled me to the very heart of loss. 
 What, Eros, Eros ! 
 
 Enter Cleopatra. 
 
 Ah, thou spell! Avaunt! 30 
 Cleo, Why is my lord enraged against his love? 
 Ant. Vanish, or I shalt give thee thy deserving, 
 
 And blemish Caesar's triumph. Let him take thee. 
 
 And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians : 
 
 Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot 
 
 Of all thy sex : most monster-like, be shown 
 
 For poor' St diminutives, for doits ; and let 
 
 Patient Octavia plough thy visage up 
 
 With her prepared nails, [Exit Cleopatra. 
 
 Tis well thou 'rt gone, 
 If it be well to live ; but better 'twere 40 
 
 Thou fell'st into my fury, for one death 
 Might have prevented many. Eros, ho ! 
 The shirt of Nessus is upon me : teach me, 
 Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage : 
 Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o' the moon. 
 And with those hands that grasp'd tlie heaviest club 
 118
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. xiii. 
 
 Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die : 
 To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall 
 Under this plot : she dies for 't. Eros, ho ! [Exit. 
 
 Scene XIII. 
 
 Alexandria. Cleopatra's palace. 
 Enter Cleopatra, Charniian, Iras, and Mardian. 
 
 Cleo. Help me, my women ! O, he is more mad 
 
 Than Telamon for his shield ; the boar of Thessaly 
 Was never so emboss'd. 
 
 Char. To the monument! 
 
 There lock yourself, and send him word you are dead. 
 The soul and body rive not more in parting 
 Than greatness going off. 
 
 Cleo. To the monument ! 
 
 Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself; 
 Say that the last I spoke was * Antony,' 
 And word it, prithee, piteously : hence, Mardian, 
 And bring me how he takes my death. To the 
 monument ! [Exeunt. lo 
 
 Scene XIV. 
 
 The same. Another room. 
 Enter Antony and Eros. 
 
 Ant. Eros, thou yet behold'st me ? 
 
 Eros. Ay, noble lord. 
 
 Ant. Sometime we see a cloud that 's dragonish, 
 A vapour sometime like a bear or lion, 
 A tower'd citadel, a pendent rock, 
 A forked mountain, or blue promontory 
 
 IIQ
 
 Act IV. Sc. xiv. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 With trees upon 't, that nod unto the world 
 
 And mock our eyes with air : thou hast seen these 
 
 signs; 
 They are black vesper's pageants. 
 
 Eros. Ay, my lord. 
 
 Ant, That which is now a horse, even with a thought 
 
 The rack dislimns and makes it indistinct lo 
 
 As water is in water. 
 
 Eros. It does, my lord. 
 
 Ant, My good knave Eros, now thy captain is 
 Even such a body : here I am Antony, 
 Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave. 
 I made these wars for Egypt ; and the queen — 
 Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine, 
 Which, whilst it was mine, had annex'd unto 't 
 A million moe, now lost, — she, Eros, has 
 Pack'd cards with Caesar, and false-play'd my glory 
 Unto an enemy's triumph. 20 
 
 Nay, weep not, gentle Eros ; there is left us 
 Ourselves to end ourselves. 
 
 Enter Mardian. 
 
 O, thy vile lady! 
 
 She has robb'd me of my sword. 
 Mar. No, Antony ; 
 
 My mistress loved thee, and her fortunes mingled 
 
 With thine entirely. 
 Ant. Hence, saucy eunuch ; peace ! 
 
 She hath betray'd me, and shall die the death. 
 Mar, Death of one person can be paid but once, 
 
 And that she has discharged : what thou wouldst do 
 
 Is done unto thy hand : the last she spake 
 
 120
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. xiv. 
 
 Was ' Antony ! most noble Antony ! ' 30 
 
 Then in the midst a tearing groan did break 
 The name of x\ntony ; it was divided 
 Between her heart and Ups : she render'd Ufe, 
 Thy name so buried in her. 
 Ant. Vead then ? 
 
 Mar. ^^^^• 
 
 Ant. Unarm, Eros ; the long day's task is done, 
 
 And we must sleep. [To Mar.] That thou depart' st 
 
 hence safe. 
 Does pay thy labour richly ; go. [Exit Mardian. 
 
 Off, pluck off : 
 The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep 
 The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides ! 
 Heart, once be stronger than thy continent, 40 
 
 Crack thy frail case! Apace, Eros, apace! 
 No more a soldier. Bruised pieces, go ; 
 You have been nobly borne. From me awhile. 
 
 [Exit Eros. 
 
 I will o'ertake thee, Cleopatra, and 
 Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now 
 All length is'torture : since the torch is out, 
 Lie down and stray no farther : now all labour 
 Mars what it does ; yea, very force entangles 
 Itself with strength : seal then, and all is done. 
 Eros !— I come, my queen. Eros !— Stay ^for me : 50 
 Where souls do couch on flowers, we'll hand in 
 
 hand, 
 And with our sprightly port make the ghosts 
 
 gaze: 
 Dido and her ^neas shall want troops, 
 And all the haunt be ours. Come, Eros, Eros ! 
 
 121
 
 Act IV. Sc. xiv. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Re-enter Eros. 
 
 Eros. What would my lord? 
 
 Ant. Since Cleopatra died 
 
 I have lived in such dishonour that the gods 
 Detest my baseness. I, that with my sword 
 Quarter'd the world, and o'er green Neptune's back 
 With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack 
 The courage of a woman ; less noble mind 60 
 
 Than she which by her death our Csesar tells 
 ' I am conqueror of myself.' Thou art sworn, Eros, 
 That, when the exigent should come — which now 
 Is come indeed — when I should see behind me 
 The inevitable prosecution of 
 Disgrace and horror, that, on my command, 
 Thou then wouldst kill me : do 't ; the time is come : 
 Thou strikest not me, 'tis Csesar thou defeat'st. 
 Put colour in thy cheek. 
 
 Eros. The gods withhold me ! 
 
 Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts, 70 
 
 Though enemy, lost aim and could not? 
 
 Ant. Eros, 
 
 Wouldst thou be window'd in great Rome, and see 
 Thy master thus with pleach'd arms, bending down 
 His corrigible neck, his face subdued 
 To penetrative shame, whilst the wheel'd seat 
 Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded 
 His baseness that ensued? 
 
 Eros. I would not see 't. 
 
 Ant. Come, then; for with a wound I must be cured. 
 Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn 
 Most useful for thy country. 
 
 122
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. xiv. 
 
 Eros. O, sir, pardon me! 80 
 
 Ant. When I did make thee free, sworest thou not 
 then 
 
 To do this when I bade thee ? Do it at once ; 
 
 Or thy precedent services are all 
 
 But accidents unpurposed. Draw, and come. 
 Eros. Turn from me then that noble countenance, 
 
 Wherein the worship of the whole world lies. 
 Ant. Lo thee! [Turning from him. 
 
 Eros. My sword is drawn. 
 Ant. Then let it do at once 
 
 The thing why thou hast drawn it. 
 Eros. My dear master, 
 
 My captain, and my emperor, let me say, 90 
 
 Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell. 
 Ant. Tis said, man ; and farewell. 
 Eros. Farewell, great chief. Shall T strike now ? 
 Ant. Now, Eros. 
 
 Eros. Why, there then : thus I do escape the sorrow 
 
 Of Antony's death. [Kills himself. 
 
 Ant. Thrice-nobler than myself! 
 
 Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what 
 
 I should and thou couldst not. My queen and 
 Eros 
 
 Have by their brave instruction got upon me 
 
 A nobleness in record : but I will be 
 
 A bridegroom in my death, and run into 't 100 
 
 As to a lover's bed. Come then ; and, Eros, 
 
 Thy master dies thy scholar : to do thus 
 
 [Falling on his sivord. 
 
 I learn'd of thee. How ! not dead ? not dead ? 
 
 The guard, ho ! O, dispatch me ! 
 
 T23
 
 Act IV. Sc. xiv. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Enter Dercetas and Guard. 
 
 First Guard. What 's the noise ? 
 
 Ant. I have done my work ill, friends : O, make an end 
 
 Of what I have begun. 
 Sec. Guard. The star is fall'n. 
 
 First Guard. And time is at his period. 
 All, Alas, and woe! 
 
 Ant, Let him that loves me strike me dead. 
 First Guard. Not L 
 
 Sec. Guard. Nor L 
 
 Third Guard. Nor any one. [Exeunt Guard, no 
 
 Der. Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly. 
 
 This sword but shown to Caesar, with this tidings, 
 
 Shall enter me with him. 
 
 Enter Diomedes. 
 
 Dio. Where 's Antony ? 
 
 JJer. There, Diomed, there. 
 
 Dio. Lives he? 
 
 Wilt thou not answer, man? [Exit Dercetas. 
 
 Ant. Art thou there, Diomed? Draw thy sword, and 
 give me 
 
 Sufficing strokes for death. 
 Dio. Most absolute lord, 
 
 My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee. 
 Ant. Whfen did she send thee? 
 Dio. Now, my lord. 
 
 Ant. Where is she? 
 
 Dio. Lock'd in her monument. She had a prophesying 
 fear 120 
 
 Of what hath come to pass : for when she saw — 
 
 124
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. xv. 
 
 Which never shall be found — you did suspect 
 She had disposed with Caesar, and that your rage 
 Would not be purged, she sent you word she was dead ; 
 But, fearing since how it might work, hath sent 
 Me to proclaim the truth ; and I am come, 
 I dread, too late. 
 
 Ant. Too late, good Diomed : call my guard, I prithee. 
 
 Dio. What, ho, the emperor's guard! The guard, what, 
 ho! 
 Come, your lord calls. 130 
 
 Enter four or five of the Guard of Antony. 
 
 Ant. Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides ; 
 'Tis the last service that I shall command you. 
 
 First Guard. Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear 
 All your true followers out. 
 
 All. Most heavy day! 
 
 Ant. Nay, good my fellows, do not please sharp fate 
 To grace it with your sorrows : bid that welcome 
 Which comes to punish us, and we punish it 
 Seeming to bear it lightly. Take me up : 
 I have led you oft: carry me now, good friends, 139 
 And have my thanks for all. 
 
 [Exeunt, bearing Antony. 
 
 Scene XV. 
 
 The same. A monument. 
 
 Enter Cleopatra, and her maids aloft, with Charmian, 
 and Iras. 
 
 Cleo. O Charmian, I will never go from hence. 
 
 Char. Be comforted, dear madam. 
 
 Cleo: No, I will not : 
 
 125
 
 Act IV. Sc. XV. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 All strange and terrible events are welcome, 
 But comforts we despise ; our size of sorrow, 
 Proportion'd to our cause, must be as great 
 As that which makes it. 
 
 Enter, below, Diomedes. 
 
 How now ! is he dead ? 
 Dio. His death 's upon him, but not dead. 
 
 Look out o' the other side your monument ; 
 His guard have brought him thither. 
 
 Enter, belozv, Antony, home by the Guard. 
 
 Cleo. O sun. 
 
 Burn the great sphere thou movest in ! darkling stand 
 
 The varying shore o' the world. O Antony, 1 1 
 
 Antony, Antony ! Help, Charmian, help, Iras, help ; 
 
 Help, friends below ; let 's draw him hither. 
 Ant. Peace ! 
 
 Not Caesar's valour hath o'erthrown Antony, 
 
 But Antony's hath triumphed on itself. 
 Cleo. So it should be, that none but Antony 
 
 Should conquer Antony ; but woe 'tis so ! 
 Ant, I am dying, Egypt, dying ; only 
 
 I here importune death awhile, until 
 
 Of many thousand kisses the poor last 20 
 
 I lay upon thy lips. 
 Cleo. I dare not, dear, 
 
 Dear my lord, pardon, I dare not, 
 
 Lest I be taken : not the imperious show 
 
 Of the full-fortuned Caesar ever shall 
 
 Be brooch'd with me ; if knife, drugs, serpents, have 
 
 Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe: 
 
 126
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act IV. Sc. xv. 
 
 Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes 
 And still conclusion, shall acquire no honour 
 Demuring upon me. But come, come, Antony, — 
 Help me, my women, — we must draw thee up; 30 
 Assist, good friends. 
 
 Ant. O, quick, or I am gone. 
 
 Cleo. Here 's sport indeed! How heavy weighs my lord! 
 Our strength is all gone into heaviness ; 
 That makes the weight. Had I great Juno's power. 
 The strong-wing'd Mercury should fetch thee up 
 And set thee by Jove's side. Yet come a little — 
 Wishers were ever fools — O, come, come, come ; 
 
 [They heave Antony aloft to Cleopatra. 
 And welcome, welcome ! die where thou hast lived : 
 Quicken with kissing: had my lips that power, 
 Thus would I wear them out. 
 
 All. A heavy sight! 40 
 
 Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying: 
 
 Give me some wine, and let me speak a little. 
 
 Cleo. No, let me speak, and let me rail so high. 
 
 That the false housewife Fortune break her wheel, 
 Provoked by my offence. 
 
 Ant. One word, sweet queen: 
 
 Of Caesar seek your honour, with your safety. O! 
 
 Cleo. They do not go together. 
 
 Ant. Gentle, hear me : 
 
 None about Caesar trust but Proculeius. 
 
 Cleo. My resolution and my hands I '11 trust; 
 
 None about Caesar. 50 
 
 Ant. The miserable change now at my end 
 
 Lament nor sorrow at, but please your thoughts 
 
 In feeding them with those my former fortunes 
 
 127
 
 Act IV. Sc. XV. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Wherein I lived, the greatest prince o' the world, 
 The noblest, and do now not basely die, 
 Not cowardly put off my helmet to 
 My countryman, a Roman by a Roman 
 Valiantly vanquish'd. Now my spirit is going; 
 I can no more. 
 
 Cleo. Noblest of men, woo't die? 
 
 Hast thou no care of me? , shall I abide 60 
 
 In this dull world, which in thy absence is 
 No better than a sty? O, see, my women, 
 
 [Antony dies. 
 The crown o' the earth doth melt. My lord ! 
 O, wither'd is the garland of the war, 
 The soldier's pole is fall'n : young boys and girls 
 Are level now with men; the odds is gone, 
 And there is nothing left remarkable 
 Beneath the visiting moon. [Faints. 
 
 Char. O, quietness, lady! 
 
 Iras. She 's dead too, our sovereign. 
 
 Char. Lady ! 
 
 Iras. Madam ! 
 
 Char. O madam, madam, madam ! 
 
 Iras. Royal Egypt, 70 
 
 Empress ! 
 
 Char, Peace, peace, Iras ! 
 
 By such poor passion as the maid that milks 
 And does the meanest chares. It were for me 
 To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods, 
 To tell them that this world did equal theirs 
 Till they had stol'n our jewel. All 's but naught; 
 Patience is sottish, and impatience does 
 128
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc. i. 
 
 Become a dog that 's mad: then is it sin 80 
 
 To rush into the secret house of death, 
 
 Ere death dare come to us ? How do you, women ? 
 
 What, what ! good cheer ! Why, how now, Charmian ! 
 
 My noble girls ! Ah, women, women, look, 
 
 Our lamp is spent, it 's out! Good sirs, take heart: 
 
 We'll bury him ; and then, what's brave, what's noble, 
 
 Let 's do it after the high Roman fashion, 
 
 And make death proud to take us. Come, away: 
 
 This case. of that huge spirit now is cold: 
 
 Ah, women, womien! Come; we have no friend 90 
 
 But resolution and the briefest end. 
 
 [Exeunt: those aboz'e bearing off Antony's body. 
 
 ACT FIFTH. 
 Scene s. 
 
 Alexandria. Cccsar's camp. 
 
 Enter Cccsar, Agrippa, Dolabella, Mcecenas, GaUiis, 
 Proculeihs, and others, his council of zvar. 
 
 Cccs. Go to him, Dolabella, bid him yield ; 
 
 Being so frustrate, tell him he mocks 
 
 The pauses that he makes. 
 Dol. Caesar, I shall. [Exit. 
 
 Enter Dercetas, z^ith the szvord of Antony. 
 
 Cccs. Wlierefore is that? and what art thou that darest 
 Appear thus to us? 
 
 Der. I am callVl Dercetas; 
 
 Mark Antony I served, who best was worthy 
 Best to be served: whilst he stood up and spoke, 
 -9
 
 Act V. Sc. i. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 He was my master, and I wore my life 
 
 To spend upon his haters. If thou please 
 
 To take me to thee, as I was to him lo 
 
 I '11 be to Caesar; if thou pleasest not, 
 
 I yield thee up my life. 
 
 Cces. What is 't thou say'st. 
 
 Der. I say, O Caesar, Antony is dead. 
 
 C(Ts. The breaking of so great a thing should make 
 A greater crack: the round world 
 Should have shook hons into civil streets, 
 And citizens to their dens. The death of Antony 
 Is not a single doom ; in the name lay 
 A moiety of the world. 
 
 Der. He is dead, Caesar; 
 
 Not by a public minister of justice, 20 
 
 Nor by a hired knife; but that self hand. 
 
 Which writ his honour in the acts it did, 
 
 Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it, 
 
 Splitted the heart. This is his sword; 
 
 I robb'd his wound of it; behold it stain'd 
 
 With his most noble blood. 
 
 Cccs. Look you sad, friends? 
 
 The gods rebuke me, but it is tidings 
 To wash the eyes of kings. 
 
 Agr. And strange it is 
 
 That nature must compel us to lament 
 Our most persisted deeds. 
 
 Merc. His taints and honours 30 
 
 Waged equal with him. 
 
 Agr. A rarer spirit never 
 
 Did steer humanity : but you, gods, will give us 
 Some faults to make us men. Caesar is touch'd. 
 
 130
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc. i. 
 
 Mcec. When such a spacious mirror 's set before him, 
 He needs must see himself. 
 
 Cccs. O Antony ! 
 
 I have follow'd thee to this. But we do lance 
 
 Diseases in our bodies: \ must perforce 
 
 Have shown to thee such a declining day, 
 
 Or look on thine; we could not stall together 
 
 In the whole world: but yet let me lament, 40 
 
 With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts, 
 
 That thou, my brother, my competitor 
 
 In top of all design, my mate in empire, 
 
 Friend and companion in the front of war, 
 
 The arm of mine own body and the heart 
 
 Where mine his thoughts did kindle, that our stars 
 
 Unreconciliable should divide 
 
 Our equalness to this. Hear me, good friends,— 
 
 Enter an Egyptian. 
 
 But I will tell you at some meeter season: 
 
 The business of this man looks out of him ; 50 
 
 We '11 hear him what he says. Whence are you? 
 
 Egyp. A poor Egyptian yet. The queen my mistress, 
 Confined in all she has, her monument. 
 Of thy intents desires instruction. 
 That she preparedly may frame herself 
 To the way she 's forced to. 
 
 (j^^ Bid her have good heart : 
 
 She soon shall know of us, by some of ours. 
 How honourable and how kindly we 
 Determine for her; for Caesar cannot live 
 To be ungentle. 
 
 Egyp. So the gods preserve thee ! [Exit. 60 
 
 131
 
 Act V. Sc. iy. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 C(rs. Come hither, Proculeius. Go and say, 
 
 We purpose her no shame: give her what comforts 
 
 The quality of her passion shall require. 
 
 Lest in her greatness by some mortal stroke 
 
 She do defeat us; for her life in Rome 
 
 Would be eternal in our triumph: go, 
 
 And with your speediest bring us what she says 
 
 And how you find of her. 
 
 Pro. Csesar, I shall. \Exit. 
 
 Cces. Gallus, go you along. [Exit Galliis] Where 's Dola- 
 bella, 
 To second Proculeius ? 
 
 All. Dolabella ! 70 
 
 Ccrs. Let him alone, for I remember now 
 
 How he 's employ'd : he shall in time be ready. 
 
 Go with me to my tent ; where you shall see 
 
 How hardly I was drawn into this war; 
 
 How calm and gentle I proceeded still 
 
 In all my writings : go with me, and see 
 
 What I can show in this. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IL 
 
 Alexandria. The monument. 
 
 Enter Cleopatra, Charrnian, and Iros. 
 
 Cleo. My desolation does begin to make 
 A better life. 'Tis paltry to be Csesar; 
 Not being Fortune, he 's but Fortune's knave, 
 A minister of her will: and it is great 
 To do that thing that ends all other deeds ; 
 Which shackles accidents and bolts up change ; 
 Which sleeps, and never palates more the dug. 
 The beggar's nurse and Caesar's. 
 
 132
 
 lO 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 Enter, to the gates of the monument, Prociileins, 
 Callus, and Soldiers. 
 
 Pro. Csesar sends greeting to the Queen of Egypt, 
 And bids thee study on what fair demands 
 Thou mean'st to have him grant thee. 
 
 CJeo. What 's thy name ? 
 
 Pro. iMy name is Proculeius. 
 
 Cleo. Antony 
 
 Did tell me of you, bade me trust you, but 
 
 I do not greatly care to be deceived, 
 
 That have no use for trusting. If your master 
 
 Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell him, 
 
 That majesty, to keep decorum, must 
 
 No less beg than a kingdom : if he please 
 
 To give me conquer'd Egypt for my son, 
 
 He gives me so much of mine own as I 20 
 
 Will kneel to him with thanks. 
 
 Pyg^ Be of good cheer ; 
 
 You 're falln into a princely hand ; fear nothing : 
 Make your full reference freely to my lord, 
 Who is so full of grace that it flows over 
 On all that need. Let me report to him 
 Your sweet dependency, and you shall find 
 A conqueror that will pray in aid for kindness, 
 Where he for grace is kneel'd to. 
 
 Cleo. I'^'ay you, tell him 
 
 I am his fortune's vassal and I send him 
 The greatness he has got. I hourly learn 30 
 
 A doctrine of obedience, and would gladly 
 Look him i' the face. 
 
 Pro, This I 'U report, dear lady. 
 
 133
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Have comfort, for I know your plight is pitied 
 Of him that caused it. 
 
 GoL You see how easily she may be surprised. 
 
 [Here Proculeiits and tzi'o of the Guard ascend the 
 monument by a ladder placed against a win- 
 doiv, and, having descended, come behind 
 Cleopatra. Some of the Guard unbar and 
 open the gates. 
 Guard her till Caesar come. [Exit. 
 
 Iras. Royal queen ! 
 
 Char. O Cleopatra ! thou art taken, queen ! 
 
 Cleo. Quick, quick, good hai.ds, [Drazinng a dagger. 
 
 Pro. Hold, worthy lady, hold : 
 
 [Seizes and disarms her. 
 Do not yourself such wrong, who are in this 40 
 
 Relieved, but not betray'd. 
 
 Cleo. What, of death too, 
 
 That rids our dogs of languish ? 
 
 Pro. Cleopatra, 
 
 Do not abuse my master's bounty by 
 The undoing of yourself : let the world see 
 His nobleness well acted, which your death 
 Will never let come forth. 
 
 Cleo. Where art thou, death ? 
 
 Come hither, come ! come, come, and take a queen 
 Worth many babes and beggars ! 
 
 Pro. O, temperance, lady ! 
 
 Cleo. Sir, I will eat no meat, I '11 not drink, sir : 
 
 If idle talk will once be necessary, 50 
 
 I '11 not sleep neither : this mortal house I '11 ruin. 
 Do Caesar what he can. Know, sir, that I 
 W^ill not wait pinion 'd at your master's court, 
 Nor once be chastised with the sober eye 
 
 134
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoist me up 
 And show me to the shouting varletry 
 Of censuring Rome ? Rather a ditch in Egypt 
 Be gentle grave unto me! rather on Nilus' mud 
 Lay me stark naked, and let the water-flies 
 Blow me into abhorring ! rather make 60 
 
 My country's high pyramides my gibbet, 
 And hang me up in chains ! 
 p^Q^ ^'ou do extend 
 
 These thoughts of horror further than you shall 
 Find cause in Caesar. 
 
 Enter Dolabclla. 
 
 £)ol, Proculeius, 
 
 What thou hast done thy master C?esar knows, 
 
 And he hath sent for thee : for the queen 
 
 I '11 take her to my guard. 
 Pyg^ So, Dolabella, 
 
 It shall content me best : be gentle to her. 
 
 [ToCleo.] To Caesar I will speak what you shall please, 
 
 If you '11 employ me to him. 
 Cleo. Say, I would die. 70 
 
 [Exeunt Proculeius and Soldiers. 
 Dol. Most noble empress, you have heard of me? 
 Cleo. I cannot tell. 
 
 Dol. Assuredly you know me. 
 
 Cleo. Xo matter, sir, what I have heard or known. 
 
 You laugh w^hen boys or women tell their dreams ; 
 
 Is 't not your trick ? 
 DoL I understand not, madam. 
 
 Cleo. I dreamed there was an emperor Antony : 
 
 O, such another sleep, that I might see 
 
 135
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 But such another man ! 
 DoL If it might please ye, — 
 
 Clco. His face was as the heavens ; and therein stuck 
 
 A sun and moon, which kept their course and Hghted 
 The Httle O, the earth. 
 DoL Most sovereign creature, — 8i 
 
 Cleo. His legs bestrid the ocean : his rear'd arm 
 Crested the world : his voice was propertied 
 As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends ; 
 But when he meant to quail and shake the orb, 
 He was as rattling thunder. For his bounty, 
 There was no winter in 't ; an autumn 'twas 
 That grew the more by reaping : his delights 
 Were dolphin-like ; they show'd his back above 
 The element they lived in : in his livery 90 
 
 Walk'd crowns and crownets ; realms and islands were 
 As plates dropp'd from his pocket. 
 DoL Cleopatra, — 
 
 Cleo. Think you there was, or might be, such a man 
 
 As this I dream'd of? 
 DoL Gentle madam, no. 
 
 Clco. You lie, up to the hearing of the gods. 
 But if there be, or ever were,, one such. 
 It 's past the size of dreaming : nature wants stuff 
 To vie strange forms with fancy ; yet to imagine 
 An Antony, were nature's piece 'gainst fancy, 
 Condemning shadows quite. 
 DoL Hear me, good madam. 100 
 
 Your loss is as yourself, great ; and you bear it 
 As answering to the weight : would I might never 
 O'ertake pursued success, but I do feel. 
 By the rebound of yours, a grief that smites 
 
 136
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 My very heart at root. 
 Cleo. I thank you, sir. 
 
 Know you what Caesar means to do with me ? 
 DoL I am loath to tell you what I would you knew. 
 Cleo. Nay, pray you, sir, — 
 
 £lol. Though he be honourable, — 
 
 Cleo. He '11 lead me then in triumph ? 
 Dot. Madam, he will ; I know 't. no 
 
 [Flourish and shout imthin : ' Make way there : Caesar ! ' 
 
 Enter Ccesar, Callus, Proculcius, Mcccenas, Seleucus, 
 and others of his train. 
 
 ' Cces. Which is the Queen of Egypt ? 
 Dol It is the emperor, madam. [Cleopatra kneels. 
 
 Ccus. Arise, you shall not kneel : 
 
 I pray you, rise ; rise, Egypt. 
 Cleo. Sir, the gods 
 
 Will have it thus ; my master and my lord 
 
 I must obey. 
 Cces. Take to you no hard thoughts : 
 
 The record of what injuries you did us, 
 
 Though written in our flesh, we shall remember 
 
 As things but done by chance. 
 Cleo. Sole sir o' the world, 120 
 
 I cannot project mine own cause so well 
 
 To make it clear ; but do confess I have 
 
 Been laden with like frailties which before 
 
 Have often shamed our sex. 
 Cces. Cleopatra, know, 
 
 We will extenuate rather than enforce : 
 
 If you apply yourself to our intents, 
 
 Which towards you are most gentle, you shall find 
 
 137
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 A benefit in this change ; but if you seek 
 
 To lay on me a cruelty by taking 
 
 Antony's course, you shall bereave yourself 130 
 
 Of my good purposes and put your children 
 
 To that destruction which I '11 guard them from 
 
 If thereon you rely. I '11 take my leave. 
 
 Cleo. And may, through all the world : 'tis yours ; and we, 
 Your scutcheons and your signs of conquest, shall 
 Hang in what place you please. Here, my good lord. 
 
 Cccs. You shall advise me in all for Cleopatra. 
 
 Cleo. This is the brief of money, plate and jewels, 
 I am possess'd of : 'tis exactly valued. 
 Not petty things admitted. Where's Seleucus? 140 
 
 Sel. Here, madam. 
 
 Cleo. This is my treasurer : let him speak, my lord, 
 Upon his peril, that I have reserved 
 To myself nothing. Speak the truth, Seleucus. 
 
 Sel. Madam, 
 
 I had rather seal my lips than to my peril 
 Speak that which is not. 
 
 Cleo. What have I kept back ? 
 
 Set. Enough to purchase what you have made known. 
 
 Cccs. Nay, blush not, Cleopatra ; I approve 
 Your wisdom in the deed. 
 
 Cleo. See, Caesar! O, behold, 150 
 
 How pomp is follow'd ! mine will now be yours, 
 And, should we shift estates, yours would be mine. 
 The ingratitude of this Seleucus does 
 Even make me wild. O slave, of no more trust 
 Than love that's hired! What, goest thou back? 
 
 thou shalt 
 Go back, I warrant thee ; but I '11 catch thine eyes, 
 
 138
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 Though they had wings : slave, soulless villain, dog ! 
 O rarely base ! 
 
 CcES. Good queen, let us entreat you. 
 
 Cleo. O Caesar, what a wounding shame is this, 
 
 That thou vouchsafing here to visit me, i6o 
 
 Doing the honour of thy lordliness 
 
 To one so meek, that mine own servant should 
 
 Parcel the sum of my disgraces by 
 
 Addition of his envy ! Say, good Caesar, 
 
 That I some lady trifles have reserved, 
 
 Immoment toys, things of such dignity 
 
 As we greet modern friends withal ; and say, 
 
 Some nobler token have I kept apart 
 
 For Livia and Octavia, to induce 
 
 Their mediation ; must I be unfolded 170 
 
 With one that I have bred ? The gods ! it smites me 
 
 Beneath the fall I have. [To Seleitcns] Prithee, go 
 
 hence ; 
 Or I shall show the cinders of my spirits 
 Through the ashes of my chance : wert thou a man, 
 Thou wouldst have mercy on me. 
 
 Cces. Forbear, Seleucus. 
 
 [Exit Seleucus. 
 
 Cleo. Be it known, that we, the greatest, are mis-thought 
 For things that others do, and when we fall, 
 We answer others' merits in our name. 
 Are therefore to be pitied. 
 
 Cces. Cleopatra, 
 
 Not what you have reserved, nor what acknowledged, 
 Put we i' the roll of conquest : still be 't yours, 181 
 Bestow it at your pleasure, and believe 
 Caesar 's no merchant, to make prize with you 
 
 139
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Of things that merchants sold. Therefore be cheer'd ; 
 
 Make not your thoughts your prisons : no, dear 
 queen ; 
 
 For we intend so to dispose you as 
 
 Yourself shall give us counsel. Feed, and sleep : 
 
 Our care and pity is so much upon you 
 
 That we remain your friend ; and so, adieu. 
 Cleo. My master, and my lord ! 
 
 Ccos. Not so. Adieu. 190 
 
 [Flourish. Exeunt Ccusar and his train. 
 
 Cleo. He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not 
 
 Be noble to myself : but, hark thee, Charmian. 
 
 [Whispers Charmian. 
 Iras. Finish, good lady ; the bright day is done. 
 
 And we are for the dark. 
 Cleo. Hie thee again: 
 
 I have spoke already, and it is provided ; 
 
 Go put it to the haste. 
 Char. Madam, I will. 
 
 Re-enter Dolahella. 
 
 Dol. Where is the queen ? 
 
 Char. Behold, sir. [Exit. 
 
 Cleo. Dolabella ! 
 
 Dol. Madam, as thereto sworn by your command, 
 Which my love makes religion to obey, 
 I tell you this : Caesar through Syria 200 
 
 Intends his journey, and within three days 
 You with your children will he send before : 
 Make your best use of this : I have perform'd 
 Your pleasure and my promise. 
 
 Cleo. Dolabella, 
 
 140
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 I shall remain your debtor. 
 
 Dol. I your servant. 
 
 Adieu, good queen ; 1 must attend on Caesar. 
 
 Cleo. Farewell, and thanks. [Exit Dolahella. 
 
 Now, Iras, what think'st thou? 
 Thou, an Egyptian puppet, shalt be shown 
 In Rome, as well as I : mechanic slaves 
 With greasy aprons, rules and hammers, shall 210 
 Uplift us to the view : in their thick breaths, 
 Rank of gross diet, shall we be enclouded 
 And forced to drink their vapour. 
 
 Iras. The gods forbid ! 
 
 Cleo, Nay, 'tis most certain, Iras : saucy lictors 
 
 Will catch at us like strumpets, and scald rhymers 
 
 Ballad us out o' tune : the quick comedians 
 
 Extemporally will stage us and present 
 
 Our Alexandrian revels ; Antony 
 
 Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see 
 
 Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness 220 
 
 r the posture of a whore. 
 
 Iras, O the good gods ! 
 
 Cleo. Nay, that 's certain. 
 
 Iras. I '11 never see 't ; for I am sure my nails 
 Are stronger than mine eyes. 
 
 Cleo, Why, that 's the way 
 
 To fool their preparation, and to conquer 
 Their most absurd intents. 
 
 Re-enter Charmian. 
 
 Now, Charmian! 
 Show me, my women, like a queen : go fetch 
 My best attires : I am again for Cydnus, 
 
 141
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 To meet Mark Antony : sirrah Iras, go. 
 
 Now, noble Charmian, we '11 dispatch indeed, 230 
 
 And when thou hast done this chare I '11 give thee 
 
 leave 
 To play till doomsday. Bring our crown and all. 
 
 [Exit Iras. A noise zvithin. 
 Wherefore 's this noise ? 
 
 Enter a Guardsman. 
 
 Guard. Here is a rural fellow 
 
 That will not be denied your highness' presence : 
 He brings you figs. 
 
 Cleo. Let him come in. [Exit Guardsman. 
 
 What poor an instrument 
 May do a noble deed ! he brings me liberty. 
 My resolution 's placed, and I have nothing 
 Of woman in me : now from head to foot 
 I am marble-constant : now the fleeting moon 240 
 No planet is of mine. 
 
 Re-enter Guardsman, with Glozvn bringing in a basket. 
 
 Guard. This is the man. 
 
 Cleo. Avoid, and leave him. [Exit Guardsman. 
 
 Hast thou the pretty worm of Nilus there. 
 
 That kills and pains nof? 
 Clown. Truly, I have him : but I would not be the 
 
 party that should desire you to touch him, for 
 
 his biting is immortal ; those that do die of it do 
 
 seldom or never recover. 
 Cleo. Rememberest thou any that have died on 't ? 
 Clozi'n. Very many, men and women too. I heard of 250 
 
 one of them no longer than yesterday : a very 
 
 142
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 honest woman, but something given to He ; as a 
 woman should not do, but in the way of honesty : 
 how she died of the biting of it, what pain she 
 felt : truly, she makes a very good report o' the 
 worm ; but he that will believe all that they say, 
 shall never be saved by half that they do: but 
 this is most fallible, the worm 's an odd worm. 
 
 Cleo. Get thee hence ; farewell. 
 
 Clozvn. I wish you all joy of the worm. 260 
 
 [Setting down his basket. 
 
 Cleo. Farewell. 
 
 Clown. You must think this, look you, that the worm 
 will do his kind. 
 
 Cleo. Ay, ay ; farewell. 
 
 Clozvn. Look you, the worm is not to be trusted but 
 in the keeping of wise people, for indeed there 
 is no goodness in the worm. 
 
 Cleo. Take thou no care ; it shall be heeded. 
 
 Clown. Very good. Give it nothing, I pray you, 
 
 for it is not worth the feeding. 270 
 
 Cleo. Will it eat me? 
 
 Clown. You must not think I am so simple but I 
 know the devil himself will not eat a woman : I 
 know that a woman is a dish for the gods, if the 
 devil dress her not. But, truly, these same 
 whoreson devils do the gods great harm in their 
 women ; for in every ten that they make, the 
 devils mar five. 
 
 Cleo. Well, get thee gone ; farewell. 
 
 Clown. Yes, forsooth : I wish you joy o' the worm. [Exit. 
 
 Re-enter Iras with a robe, crown, etc. 
 Cleo. Give me my robe, put on my crown ; I have 280 
 
 143
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Immortal longings in me : now no more 
 
 The juice of Egypt's grape shall moist this lip : 
 
 Yare, yare, good Iras ; quick. Methinks I hear 
 
 Antony call ; I see him rouse himself 
 
 To praise my noble act ; I hear him mock 
 
 The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men 
 
 To excuse their after wrath. Husband, I come : 
 
 Now to that name my courage prove my title ! 
 
 I am fire and air ; my other elements 
 
 I give to baser life. So ; have you done ? 290 
 
 Come then and take the last warmth of my lips. 
 
 Farewell, kind Charmian ; Iras, long farewell. 
 
 [Kisses thcni. Iras falls and dies. 
 Have I the aspic in my lips ? Dost fall ? 
 If thou and nature can so gently part, 
 The stroke of death is as a lover's pinch, 
 Which hurts, and is desired. Dost thou lie still? 
 If thus thou vanishest, thou tell'st the world 
 It is not worth leave-taking. 
 
 Char. Dissolve, thick cloud, and rain, that I may say 
 The gods themselves do weep ! 
 
 Cleo. This proves me base . 
 
 If she first meet the curled Antony, 301 
 
 He '11 make demand of her, and spend that kiss 
 Which is my heaven to have. Come, thou mortal 
 wretch, 
 
 [To an asp, zchich she applies to her breast. 
 With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate 
 Of life at once untie : poor venomous fool. 
 Be angry, and dispatch. O, couldst thou speak. 
 That I might hear thee call great Caesar ass 
 Unpolicied ! 
 
 144
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc. ii. 
 
 Char. O eastern star ! 
 
 Cleo. Peace, peace ! 
 
 Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, 
 
 That sucks the nurse asleep? 
 Char. O, break! O, break! 310 
 
 Cleo. As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as gentle, — 
 
 Antony ! — Nay, I will take thee too : 
 
 [Applying another asp to her arm. 
 What should I stay— [Dies. 
 
 Char. In this vile world? So, fare thee well. 
 Now boast thee, death, in thy possession lies 
 A lass unparallel'd. Downy windows, close ; 
 And golden Phoebus never be beheld 
 Of eyes again so royal ! Your crown 's awry ; 
 
 1 '11 mend it, and then play. 
 
 Enter the Guards rushing in. 
 
 First Guard. Where is the queen? 
 
 Char. Speak softly, wake her not. 
 
 i'irst Guard. Caesar hath sent — 
 
 Char. Too slow a messenger. 321 
 
 [Applies an asp. 
 O, come apace, dispatch : I partly feel thee. 
 First Guard. Approach, ho ! All 's not well : Caesar 's 
 
 beguiled. 
 Sec. Guard. There 's Dolabella sent from Csesar ; call 
 
 him. 
 First Guard. What work is here! Charmian, is this well 
 
 done ? 
 C xar. It is well done, and fitting for a princess 
 Descended of so many royal kings. 
 Ah, soldier! [Dies. 
 
 145
 
 Act V. Sc. ii. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Re-enter Dolahella. 
 
 Dol. How goes it here? 
 
 Sec. Guard. All dead. 
 
 Dol. Caesar, thy thoughts 
 
 Touch their eilects in this : thyself art coming 330 
 To see perform'd the dreaded act which thou 
 So sought'st to hinder. 
 
 [Within. ' A way there, a way for Caesar! ' 
 
 Re-enter Ccusar and his train. 
 
 Dol. O sir, you are too sure an augurer ; 
 
 That you did fear is done. 
 Ccrs. Bravest at the last, 
 
 She levell'd at our purposes, and being royal 
 
 Took her own way. The manner of their deaths ? 
 
 I do not see them bleed. 
 Dol. Who was last with them ? 
 
 First Guard. A simple countryman, that brought her figs : 
 
 This was his basket. 
 Gees. Poison'd then. 
 
 First Guard. O Caesar, 
 
 This Charmian lived but now ; she stood and spake : 
 
 I found her trimming up the diadem 341 
 
 On her dead mistress ; tremblingly she stood. 
 
 And on the sudden dropp'd. 
 Gees. O noble weakness ! 
 
 If they had swallow'd poison, 'twould appear 
 
 By external swelling : but she looks like sleep. 
 
 As she would catch another Antony 
 
 In her strong toil of grace. 
 Dol. Here, on her breast, 
 
 146
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Act V. Sc, ii. 
 
 There is a vent of blood, and something blown : 
 The like is on her arm. 
 
 First Guard. This is an aspic's trail : and these fig-leaves 
 Have slime upon them, such as the aspic leaves 351 
 Upon the caves of Nile. 
 
 Ccus. Most probable 
 
 That so she died ; for her physician tells me 
 
 She hath pursued conclusions infinite 
 
 Of easy ways to die. Take up her bed. 
 
 And bear her women from the monument : 
 
 She shall be buried by her Antony : 
 
 No grave upon the earth shall clip in it 
 
 A pair so famous. High events as these 
 
 Strike those that make them ; and their story is 360 
 
 No less in pity than his glory which 
 
 Brought them to be lamented. Our army shall 
 
 In solemn show attend this funeral, 
 
 And then to Rome. Come, Dolabella, see 
 
 High order in this great solemnity. [Exeunt. 
 
 147
 
 Slil,htd<gi,i,Jua.J^-A'ii'i 
 
 Cleopatra and her son CaesTrion Sacrificing to the Gods. 
 Sculptured in the great Temple^ at Dendera^ 7ippcr Egypt. 
 
 148
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Glossary, 
 
 Abhorring, abomination; V. ii. 
 
 60. 
 Abode, staying; I. ii. 177. 
 Abstract; " the a. of all faults," 
 
 a microcosm of sinfulness ; 
 
 I. iv. 9. 
 
 Abused, ill-used; III. vi. 86. 
 
 Abysm, abyss; III. xiii. 147. 
 
 A d m i 1 1 e d, acknowledged ; 
 registered (Theobald, 
 " omitted ") ; V. ii. 140. 
 
 Afeard, afraid; II. v. 81. 
 
 Affect'st, pleases (Folio i, "af- 
 fects") ; I. iii. 71. 
 
 Aid; " pray in a.," seek assist- 
 ance, call in help from an- 
 other; V. ii. 27. 
 
 Alcides, Hercules; IV. xii. 44. 
 
 Alike; "having a. your cause," 
 " being engaged in the same 
 cause with you" (Malone) ; 
 II.ii.51. 
 
 All-obeying, obeyed by all ; III. 
 xiii. yy. 
 
 Alms-drink, " leavings " (ac- 
 cording to Warburton a 
 phrase amongst good fellows 
 to signify that liquor of an- 
 other's share which his com- 
 panioa drinks to ease h.im) ; 
 
 II. vii. 5. 
 
 Angle, angling-line, fishing- 
 line; II. v. 10. {Cp. illustra- 
 tion.) 
 
 Answer, render account; III. 
 xiii. 27. 
 
 Antoniad, the name of the flag- 
 ship of Cleopatra; III. x. 2. 
 
 Apace, fast ; IV. vii. 6. 
 
 Appeal, impeachment; III. v. 
 12. 
 
 Approof ; " and as my farthest 
 band shall pass on thy a.." i.e. 
 " such as when tried will 
 prove to be beyond anything 
 that I can promise" 
 (Schmidt) ; III. ii. 27. 
 
 Approves, proves ; I. i. 60. 
 
 Arabian bird, i.e. the Phoenix; 
 Ill.ii. 12. 
 
 Argument, proof ; III. xii. 3. 
 
 Arm-gaunt {vide Note) ; I. v. 
 48. 
 
 Armourer, one who has care of 
 the armour of his master ; 
 
 IV. iv. 7. 
 
 As, as if; I. ii. 100. 
 
 ^4^ /owaj, lower than ; III. iii. 37. 
 
 Aspic, asp, a venomous snake; 
 
 V. ii. 293. 
 
 From a wall-painting in a Theban 
 tomb. 
 
 149
 
 Glossary 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Aspic's (Folios 2, 3, 4, "As- 
 pects") ; V. ii.350. 
 
 As't, as if it; IV. viii. 6. 
 
 At heel of, on the heels of, im- 
 mediately after; II. ii. 159. 
 
 Atone, reconcile; II. ii. 102. 
 
 Attend, witness, take notice of; 
 II. ii. 60. 
 
 , await ; III. x. 32. 
 
 Augur er, diviner, foreteller; V. 
 
 ii. Z2,Z- 
 Auguring, prophesying; II. i. 
 ID. 
 
 Avoid, begone, withdraw ; V. ii. 
 
 242. 
 Awry, not straight (Pope's 
 
 emendation of Folios, 
 
 " azvay") ; V. ii.318. 
 
 II. 
 
 128; III. 
 
 Band, bond 
 
 26. 
 Banquet, dessert; I.ii. 11. 
 Bark'd, peeled ; IV. xii. 23. 
 Basket; " enter Clown bringing 
 
 in a basket"; V. ii. 241. 
 
 (direc). The annexed cuts 
 represent ancient Egyptian 
 baskets, fig. 2 showing also 
 the fruit covered by a palm- 
 leaf. 
 
 Battery ; " b. from my heart," 
 i.e. the battery proceeding 
 from the beating of my 
 heart ; IV. xiv. 39. 
 
 Battle, army ; III. ix. 2. 
 
 Beck'd, beckoned ; IV. xii. 26. 
 
 Bed; " the bed of Ptolemy " ; I. 
 iv. 17. {Cp, illustration.) 
 
 From a wall painting on the tomb 
 RameseslII., at Thebes. 
 
 Beguiled, cheated ; V. ii. 323. 
 Belike, I suppose; I. ii. 35. 
 Bench-holes, holes of a privy; 
 
 IV. vii. 9. 
 Bereave, deprive; V. ii. 130. 
 Best, it were best; IV. vi. 26. 
 Bestrid, did stride over ; V. ii. 
 
 82. 
 Bctime, betimes, in good time ; 
 
 IV. iv. 20. 
 Blown, swollen ; V. ii. 348. 
 Blows, swells ; IV. vi. 34. 
 Boar; " the b, of Thessaly," i.e. 
 
 the boar killed by Meleager ; 
 
 IV. xiii. 2. 
 Boggier, inconstant woman ; 
 
 III. xiii. no. 
 
 150
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Bolts up, fetters ; V. ii. 6. 
 
 Bond, ''bounden duty" (Ma- 
 son) ; I. iv. 84. 
 
 Boot; "make b.," take advan- 
 tage ; IV. i. 9- 
 
 Boot thee with, give thee to 
 boot, give thee in addition: 
 
 II.V.71. 
 
 Boy my greatness, alluding to 
 the fact of boys . or youths 
 playing female parts on the 
 stage in the time of Shake- 
 speare ; V. ii. 220. 
 
 Branded, stigmatised; IV. xiv. 
 
 77- 
 Brave, defy; IV. iv. 5. 
 Break, communicate; I. ii. I79- 
 Breather, one who lives; III. 
 
 iii. 24. 
 Breathing, utterance; I. iii. 14. 
 Breese, gadfly; III. x. 14. 
 Brief, summary; V. ii. 138. 
 Bring, take ; III. v. 24. 
 Bring me, i.e. bring me word; 
 
 IV. xiii. 10. 
 Brooch'd, adorned as with a 
 
 brooch (W ray con j. 
 
 " brook' d ") ; IV. xv. 25. 
 Burgonet, a close-fitting 
 
 helmet ; I. v. 24. 
 But, if not; V. ii. 103. 
 But being, except, unless we 
 
 are; IV. xi. i. 
 But it is, except it be, if it be 
 
 not ; V. i. 27. 
 By, according to; III. iii. 43- 
 
 Call on him, call him to ac- 
 count; (?) "visit" 
 (Schmidt) ; I. iv. 28. 
 
 Cantle, piece ; III. x. 6. 
 
 Carbuncled, set with car- 
 buncles ; IV. viii. 28. 
 
 Carriage; "the c. of his chafe," 
 the bearing of his passion, 
 i.e. his angry bearing; I. iii. 
 
 85. 
 Carries beyond, surpasses; III. 
 
 vii. 76. 
 
 Cast, cast up, calculate; III. ii. 
 
 I/- 
 Chance; "wounded ch.," 
 broken fortunes ; III. x. 36. 
 
 , fortune ; V. ii. I74- 
 
 , occur; III. iv. 13. 
 
 Chare, task; V. ii. 231. 
 Chares, drudgery ; IV. xv. 75. 
 Charm, charmer ; IV. xii. 16. 
 Check, rebuke; IV. iv. 31- 
 Chuck, a term of endearment; 
 
 IV. iv. 2. 
 Circle, crown; III. xii. 18. 
 Clip, embrace ; IV. viii. 8. 
 
 , surround ; V. ii. 358. 
 
 Close, hidden ; IV. ix. 6. 
 Cloth-of-gold of tissu e, i.e. 
 
 " cloth-of-gold in tissue or 
 
 texture"; (?) cloth-of-gold 
 
 on a ground of tissue; II. ii. 
 
 202. 
 C louts, cloths; (?) blows, 
 
 knocks ; IV. vii. 6. 
 Cloyless, preventing satiety ; II. 
 
 Colour, excuse, pretext; I. iii. 
 32. 
 
 Comes dear'd, becomes en- 
 deared (Folios, " comes 
 fear'd ") ; I. iv. 44. 
 
 Comfort; " best of c," i.e. 
 " may the best of comfort be 
 yours" (Steevens) ; (Rowe. 
 " Be of comfort " ) ; III. vi. 89. 
 
 151
 
 Glossary 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Command, all power to com- 
 mand; III. xi. 23. 
 
 Commission, warrant ; II.iii.41. 
 
 Comparisons, advantages, i.e. 
 " things in his favour, when 
 compared to me" (Pope, 
 " caparisons ") ; III. xiii. 26. 
 
 Competitor, associate ; I. iv. 3. 
 
 Compose, come to a composi- 
 tion ; II. ii. 15. 
 
 Composure, composition ; I. iv. 
 22. 
 
 Conclusion ; "still c." 1'.^. quiet 
 inference (Collier MS.," still 
 condition ") ; IV. xv. 28. 
 
 Conclusions, experiments ; V. 
 ii- 354- 
 
 Confound, waste; I. i. 45. 
 
 , destroy; III. ii. 58. 
 
 Congealment, congealed blood; 
 IV. viii. 10. 
 
 Content, agreed; IV. iii. 24. 
 
 Continent; " thy c," that which 
 encloses thee ; IV. xiv. 40. 
 
 Contriving; "many our c. 
 friends," i.e. " many friends 
 who are busy in our inter- 
 est " ; I. ii. 184. 
 
 Conversation, deportment ; II. 
 vi. 123. 
 
 Corrigible, submissive to cor- 
 rection ; IV. xiv. 74. 
 
 Couch, lie; IV. xiv. 51. 
 
 Could, would gladly ; I. ii. 128. 
 
 Course, pursue hotly ; III. xiii. 
 II. 
 
 Court of guard, guard room ; 
 IV. ix. 2. 
 
 Crack, burst of sound; V. i. 15. 
 
 Crescent, increasing; II, i. 10. 
 
 Crested, formed the crest of; 
 v. ii. 83. 
 
 Crownet, crown ; IV. xii. 27. 
 Crozvnets, coronets; V. ii. 91. 
 Cunning, " dexterous and trick- 
 
 ish in dissembling"; I.ii. 147. 
 
 , skill, art ; II. iii. 34. 
 
 Curious, careful ; III. ii. s?- 
 Ciirstness, ill-humour; II. ii. 
 
 25. "» 
 
 Daif't, doff it, take it oT 
 
 (Folio I, "daft"; Folios 2, 
 
 3, 4. "doff"; Rowe. 
 
 " doft"); IV. iv. 13. 
 Dare, defiance ; I. ii. 186. 
 Darkens, obscures; III. i. 24. 
 Darkling, in the dark; IV. xv. 
 
 10. 
 Dealt on lieutenantry, acted by 
 
 proxy ; III. xi. 39. 
 Death and honour, honourable 
 
 death ; IV. ii. 44. 
 Declined, decayed, fallen ; III. 
 
 xiii. 27. 
 Defeat' st, dost destroy; IV. 
 
 xiv. 68. 
 Defend, forbid; III. iii. 46. 
 Demon, attendant spirit; II. iii. 
 
 19. 
 Demurely, solemnly, gravely ; 
 
 IV. XV. 29; IV. ix. 31. 
 Demuring, looking with af- 
 fected modesty ; IV. xv. 29. 
 Deputation ; "in d.," by deputy 
 
 (Folios, " disputation " ) ; 
 
 III. xiii. 74. 
 Derogately, disparagingly; II. 
 
 ii. 34. 
 Desires; " your d. are yours." 
 
 your desires are granted; III. 
 
 iv. 28. 
 Determine, decide, resolve ; V, 
 
 i. 59. 
 
 132
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Determines, comes to an end; 
 
 III. xiii. i6i. 
 Diminutives, insignificant 
 
 creatures ; IV. xii. 37. 
 Disaster, disfigure; 11. vii. 17. 
 Discandy, melt ; IV. xii. 22. 
 Discandying, melting, thawing 
 
 (Ff., " diseandering" ; Rowe, 
 
 " discattcring") ; III. xiii. 
 
 165. 
 Discontents, malcontents; I. iv. 
 
 39- 
 
 Dislimns, effaces, blots out 
 (Folios, "dislimes")\ IV. 
 xiv. 10. 
 
 Dismission, dismissal, dis- 
 charge ; I. i. 26. 
 
 Disponge, pour down ; IV. ix. 
 13- 
 
 Dispose, dispose of; V. ii. 186. 
 
 Disposed, settled matters (Col- 
 lier MS., " compos'd") ; IV. 
 xiv. 123. 
 
 Disposition; "pinch one an- 
 other by the d.," " touch one 
 another in a sore place " 
 ( War burton ) ; "try each 
 other by banter" (Clarke) ; 
 II. vii. 7. 
 
 Distractions, detachments; III. 
 vii. yj. 
 
 Diz-ine, prophesy, predict; II. 
 vi. 116. 
 
 Doits, the smallest sum of 
 money (Folios, "Dolts," i.e. 
 fools ; for which reading 
 much is to be said) ; IV. xii. 
 .37- 
 
 Doughty-handed, stout of 
 hands ; IV. viii. 5. 
 
 Dread, fear; IV. xiv. 127. 
 
 Droven, driven; IV. vii. 5. 
 
 Dumb'd, silenced (Folios, 
 "dumb"; W a r b u r t o n, 
 " done ") ; I. v. 50. 
 
 Ear, plough ; I. iv. 49. 
 
 Earing, tilling, ploughing ; I. ii. 
 
 112. 
 Ebb'd, declined, decayed; I. 
 
 iv. 43. 
 £c?^^.s-, blades, swords; II.vi.39. 
 Edict; " make thine own e.," 
 
 decree the reward you desire ; 
 
 III. xii. 32. 
 Effects, realisation ; V. ii. 330. 
 Egypt, i.e. the Queen of Egypt ; 
 
 L iii. 78. 
 Egypt's zi'idozv, i. e. Cleopatra, 
 
 who had been married to 
 
 young Ptolemy, afterwards 
 
 drowned ; II. i. 37. 
 Elder, better, superior; III. x. 
 
 13. 
 Embattle, be drawn up in bat- 
 tle array; IV. ix. 3. 
 Emboss'd, foaming at the 
 
 mouth ; a hunting term 
 
 (Folios, " imbost") ; IV. 
 
 xiii. 3. 
 Enforce, urge ; II. ii. 99. 
 , lay much stress upon ; V. 
 
 ii. 125. 
 Enf ranched, enfranchised 
 
 (Theobald, " e n f r a n- 
 
 chis'd") ; III. xiii. 149. 
 Enfranchise, set free, deliver; 
 
 I. i. 23. 
 Enow, enough (used as plural 
 
 of enough) ; I. iv. 11. 
 Ensued, followed ; IV. xiv. yj. 
 Entertainment, reception; III. 
 
 xiii. 140. 
 , service ; IV. vi. 17. 
 
 153
 
 Glossary 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Enter with, recommend to ; IV. 
 xiv. 113. 
 
 Envy, malice ; V. ii. 164, 
 
 Estridge, ostrich ; III, xiii. 197. 
 
 Eternal; " e, in our triumph," 
 i.e. " be for ever recorded as 
 the most glorious trophy of 
 our triumph"; (Thirlby 
 conj. " ctcrnaling") ; V. i. 
 66. 
 
 Every of, every one of; I. ii. 
 
 Evidence, proof; I. iii. 74. 
 
 Exigent, exigency, decisive mo- 
 ment ; IV. xiv. 63. 
 
 Expedience, expedition; I. ii. 
 180. 
 
 Extended, seized upon ; a law 
 term ; I. ii. 102. 
 
 Eye, appear; I. iii. 97. 
 
 Faction, dissension ; I. iii. 48. 
 Fairy, enchantress ; IV. viii. 
 
 12. 
 Fall, befall, fall upon ; III. vii. 
 
 40. 
 
 ■ , let fall; III. xi. 67. 
 
 Fallible; blunder for infallible 
 
 (Folio I, " falliable") ; V. ii. 
 
 258. 
 Fame, rumour, report ; II. ii. 
 
 165. 
 Fast and loose, a cheating 
 
 game of gipsies; IV. xii. 28. 
 Fats, vats; II. vii. 119. 
 Favour, face, countenance ; II. 
 
 V. 38. 
 Fear, frighten; II. vi. 24. 
 Fearful, full of fear; III. xi. 
 
 55- 
 Feature, external appearance ; 
 
 II. V. 112. 
 
 Feeders, parasites; III. xiii. 
 
 109. 
 Fellows, companions; IV. ii. 13. 
 Fervency, eagerness; II. v. 18. 
 Fetch in, take, capture; IV. i. 
 
 14. 
 Fever, put in a fever; III. xiii. 
 
 138. 
 Figs; " I love long life better 
 
 than f.," a proverbial phrase ; 
 
 I. ii. 2>2. 
 Files, lines of soldiers ; I. i. 3. 
 Finish, end, die ; V. ii. 193. 
 Flaw; "becomes his f.," i.e. 
 
 " accommodates himself to 
 
 his misfortune " ; III. xii. 34. 
 Fleet, float (Rowe, " -float"); 
 
 III. xiii. 171. 
 Flush youth, "youth ripened to 
 
 manhood " (Folios 2, 3, 4, 
 
 " Hesh y.") ; I. iv. 52. 
 Foison, plenty; II. vii. 21. 
 Follozv'd, chased; V. i. 36. 
 Footmen, foot soldiers; III. 
 
 vii. 45. 
 For, as for, as regards; III. vi. 
 
 34; III. xii. 19; V. ii. 66. 
 Forbear, withdraw; V. ii. 175. 
 Forbear me, leave me alone ; I. 
 
 ii. 122. 
 Formal, ordinary; II. v. 41. 
 Forspoke, gainsaid; III. vii. 3. 
 Forth, out of; IV. x. 7. 
 For that, nevertheless; II.ii.70. 
 
 , because; III. vii. 30. 
 
 Frame to, conform; V. i. 55. 
 From, away from; II. vi. 30. 
 Front, oppose, face; I. iv. 79. 
 Fronted, opposed; II. ii. 61. 
 Frustrate, frustrated ; V. i. 2. 
 Fullest, most perfect ; III. xiii. 
 
 87. 
 
 154
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Galley; II. vi. 82. (Cp. illustra- 
 tion.) 
 
 From the Vatican Virgil MS. 
 
 Garhoils, disturbances, tur- 
 moils; I. iii. 61. 
 
 Gaudy, festive; III. xiii. 183. 
 
 Gcsts, deeds (Warburton's 
 conj., adopted by Theobald; 
 Folios, "guests") \ IV. viii. 
 2. 
 
 Get, win ; IV. viii. 22. 
 
 Give, give out, represent ; I. iv. 
 40. 
 
 Give off, go off, cease ; IV. iii. 
 
 23. 
 Got, won; V. ii. 30. 
 Got upon, won, gained ; IV. 
 
 xiv. 98. 
 Grace, honour ; III. xiii. 81. 
 ; " to gr.," by gracing ; IV. 
 
 xiv. 136. 
 Graceful, favourable; II. ii. 60. 
 Grants, allows, admits; III. i. 
 
 29- 
 Grates me, it vexes me ; I. i. 18. 
 'Greed, agreed; II. vi. 38. 
 Green sickness, a disease of 
 
 women, characterised by a 
 
 pale, lurid complexion ; III. 
 
 ii. 6. 
 
 Griefs, grievances ; II. ii. 100. 
 Grow to, be added to; II. ii. 25. 
 
 H, formerly pronounced ache ; 
 here used with play upon the 
 letter and the word; IV. vii. 
 8. 
 
 Hap, accident, chance ; II. iii. 
 32. 
 
 Haply, perhaps ; III. xiii. 48. 
 
 Hardly, with difficulty ; V. i. 74. 
 
 Harried, vexed, put in fear; 
 III. iii. 43. 
 
 Hearts; " my h,," a familiar 
 appellation; IV. ii. 41. 
 
 Heaviness, used with play upon 
 the two senses of the word 
 (i) weight, (ii) sorrow; IV. 
 XV. 2>2>- 
 
 Heavy, sad ; IV. xv. 40. 
 
 Held my cap off, acted as a 
 ^faithful servant; II. vii. 60. 
 
 Herod, a common character in 
 the old Mystery plays; typi- 
 cally, a fierce tyrant ; I. ii. 
 28. 
 
 Hie, hasten; II. iii. 15. 
 
 Hie thee, hasten; V. ii. 194. 
 
 High-battled, commanding 
 proud armies ; III. xiii. 29. 
 
 His, its; III. xii. 10. 
 
 Holding, burden of the song; 
 II. vii. 115. 
 
 Homager, vassal; I. i. 31. 
 
 Home, " without reserve, with- 
 out ceremony " ; I. ii. 106. 
 
 Hope, suppose ; II. i. 38. 
 
 Humanity, human nature ; V. i. 
 32. 
 
 Idleness, f rivolousness ; I. iii. 
 92. 
 
 I. -5
 
 Glossary 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 // that, if; III. xiii. 80. 
 hnmouicnt, insignificant, of no 
 
 moment ; V. ii. 166. 
 Immortal, blunder for mortal, 
 
 deadly ; V. ii. 247. 
 Imperious, imperial ; IV. xv. 
 
 23- 
 
 Import, carry with them ; II. 
 ii. 134- 
 
 Impress, press, impressment ; 
 III. vii. 37. 
 
 In, in for it ; II. vii. 34. 
 
 Inclips, encloses; II. vii. 71. 
 
 Ingross'd, collected, got to- 
 gether; III. vii. 2>7- 
 
 Inhoop'd, enclosed in a hoop ; 
 II. iii. 38. (The annexed 
 copy of an elegant Chinese 
 miniature painting represents 
 some ladies engaged at this 
 amusement, where the quails 
 are actually inhooped.) 
 
 Injurious, hurtful, malignant ; 
 
 IV. XV. 76. 
 Intend; " how i. you." what do 
 
 you mean ; II. ii. 40. 
 
 Intrinsicatc, intricate (Capell's 
 Errata, "intrinsecate"; 
 Wray conj. "intricate") ; V. 
 ii. 304. 
 
 Isis, one of the chief Egyptian 
 divinities ; originally the god- 
 dess of the Earth, afterwards 
 of the Moon ; her worship 
 was afterwards introduced 
 into Rome ; I. ii. 61. 
 
 It own, its own ; II. vii. 46. 
 
 lack, term of contempt; III. 
 
 xiii. 93. 
 laded, spurned; III. i. 34. 
 lump, hazard, stake; III. viii. 
 
 6. 
 
 Keep; " k. yourself within 
 yourself," keep within 
 bounds, restrain yourself; II. 
 V. 75. 
 
 Kind ; "do his k.," i.e. " act ac- 
 cording to his nature " ; V. 
 ii. 263. 
 
 Knave, boy ; IV. xiv. 12. 
 
 , servant; V. ii. 3. 
 
 Knoivn, known each other; II. 
 vi. 86. 
 
 Lack blood, turn pale ; I. iv. 
 
 52. 
 Lance, cut; in order to cure 
 
 (Folios, "launch" ; Pope, 
 
 " launcc ") ; V. i. 36. 
 Languish, lingering disease 
 
 (Johnson conj. " anguish " ) ; 
 
 V. ii. 42. 
 Lank'd, became thin ; I. iv. 
 
 71- 
 Late, lately; IV. i. 13. 
 Lated, belated; III. xi. 3. 
 
 156
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Legions, b'^dies of infantry, 
 each consisting of six thou- 
 sand men ; III. x. 34. 
 
 Length, length of Hfe (Stee- 
 vens conj. "life") ; IV. xiv. 
 46. 
 
 Letlie'd, oblivious, unconscious 
 (Folios, " Lethied") ; II. i. 
 
 27- 
 Levell'd at, guessed at ; V. ii. 
 
 335- 
 Lichas, the companion of Her- 
 cules (Folios, " Licas") ; IV. 
 
 xii. 45. 
 Life; "her 1. in Rome/' i.e. 
 
 her being brought alive to 
 
 Rome; V. i. 65. 
 Lightness, used in double 
 
 sense, with play upon the 
 
 two senses of the word ; I. 
 
 iv. 25. 
 Like, same; I. iii. 8; III. vi. z?- 
 
 , likely; III. xiii. 29. 
 
 List, listen to ; IV. ix. 6. 
 Loathness, unwillingness; III. 
 
 xi. 18. 
 Loof'd, luffed, brought close to 
 
 the wind; III. x. 18. 
 Lottery, prize; II. ii. 246. 
 Loud, in high words; II. ii. 21. 
 Luxuriously, lustfully ; III. 
 
 xiii. 120. 
 
 Make note, notice, observe; 
 III. iii. 26. 
 
 Mallard, drake ; III. x. 20. 
 
 Mandr agora, mandrake ; a 
 plant, the root of which was 
 thought to resemble the hu- 
 man figure and to cause mad- 
 ness, and even death when 
 torn from the ground; I. v. 4. 
 
 Marble-constant, firm as mar- 
 ble; V. ii. 240. 
 
 Mean, means; III. ii. 32. 
 
 Mechanic, vulgar, journeyman- 
 like ; IV. iv. S2- 
 
 Medicine, elixir; (?) physi- 
 cian ; I. v. 36. 
 
 Meeter, more fitting ; V. i. 49 
 
 Meetly, well; I. iii. 81. 
 
 Mered; " m. question," i.e. 
 "the sole cause and subject 
 of the war" (Rowe, "meer"; 
 Johnson, "mooted" ; Jack- 
 son, " meted " ; Kinnear, 
 "merest," etc.) ; III. xi.'i. 10. 
 
 Merely, absolutely; III. vii. 8; 
 III. vii. 48. 
 
 Merits, deserts; V. ii. 178. 
 
 Mermaids; II. ii. 210. (Cp. il- 
 lustration.) 
 
 From L. Andrewe's Mvrroiir arid Dys- 
 crypcyon of the Worlde, n. d. 
 
 Mind; " less noble m.," i.e. be- 
 ing of less noble mind 
 (Rowe, Pope, "less noble- 
 minded") ; IV. xiv. 60. 
 
 157
 
 Glossary 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Mingle, union ; I. v. 59. 
 
 Misdoubt, mistrust; III. vii. 63. 
 
 Mislike, dislike; III. xiii. 147. 
 
 Missive, messenger; II. ii. 74. 
 
 Mis-thought, misunderstood, 
 misjudged; V. ii. 176. 
 
 Modern, ordinary; V. ii. 167. 
 
 Moe, more ; IV. xiv. 18. 
 
 Moment; " upon far poorer 
 m.," with less cause; I.ii. 144. 
 
 Moody, sad; II. v. i. 
 
 Moons, months ; III. xii. 6. 
 
 Morn-dew, morning-dew; III. 
 xii. 9. 
 
 Mortal, deadly ; V. ii. 303. 
 
 Most, utmost; II. ii. 168. 
 
 Motion; "in my m./' intui- 
 tively; II. iii. 14. 
 
 Mount; "at the M.," i.e. M. 
 Misenum; II. iv. 6. 
 
 Muleters, muleteers, mule- 
 drivers (Folios 2, 3, 4, 
 " Muliters" ; Folio i, " Mili- 
 ters") ; III. vii. 36. 
 
 Mused of, thought of, dreamed 
 of; III. xiii. 83. 
 
 Muss, " a scramble, when any 
 small objects are thrown 
 down, to be taken by those 
 who can seize them " 
 (Nares) ; III. xiii. 91. 
 
 Naught, worthless; IV. xv. 78. 
 
 Negligent; " in n. danger," i.e. 
 in danger through being 
 negligent ; III. vi. 81. 
 
 Nessus; " the shirt of N.," the 
 shirt dipped in the poisoned 
 blood of Nessus, which 
 caused Hercules the most 
 terrible agony when he un- 
 wittingly put it on ; IV. xii. 43. 
 
 Nice, tender, dainty; III. xiii. 
 
 180. 
 Nick'd, " set the mark of folly 
 
 on " ; III. xiii. 8. 
 Noises it, causes a disturbance ; 
 
 III. vi. 96. 
 Number, put into verse; III. ii. 
 
 17- 
 
 O, circle; V. ii. 81. 
 
 Oblivion, oblivious memory, 
 forgetfulness ; I. iii. 90. 
 
 Observance, powers of observa- 
 tion ; III. iii. 25. 
 
 Obstruct, obstruction (War- 
 burton conj., adopted by 
 Theobald ; Folios, " ab- 
 stract " ; Keightley, " ob- 
 struction" \ Cartwright conj. 
 " obstacle ") ; III. vi. 61. 
 
 Occasion, necessity; II. vi. 132. 
 
 Of, by; I. iv. 2>7 ', H. ii. 160. 
 
 , about, concerning; II. vi. 
 
 116. 
 
 , from; IV. viii. 22. 
 
 , for ; IV. XV. 60. 
 
 , with; V. ii. 212. 
 
 OfUce, function, service ; I. i. 5. 
 
 On, of; I. v. 27; II. ii. 85; III. 
 ii. 61. 
 
 Oppression, difficulty (Warbur- 
 ton conj., adopted by Han- 
 mer, "opposition") ; IV. vii. 
 2. 
 
 Orbs, spheres ; III. xiii. 146. 
 Ordinary, meal ; II. ii. 230. 
 Ostentation, display (Theobald, 
 
 "ostent"; S. Walker conj. 
 
 " ostention ") ; III. vi. 52. 
 Out-go; "the time shall not 
 
 o.," "life shall not last 
 
 longer than"; III. ii. 61. 
 
 158
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Outstrike, strike faster than ; 
 
 IV. vi. z6. 
 Owe, own; IV. viii. 31. 
 
 Pace, break in ; II. ii. 64. 
 Pack'd, sorted, shuffled in an 
 
 unfair manner; IV. xiv. 19. 
 Pacortis, son of Orodes, King 
 
 of Parthia; III. i. 4. 
 Pales, impales, encloses; II. vii. 
 
 71. 
 Pall'd, decaying, waning; II. 
 
 vii. 85. 
 Palter, equivocate; III. xi. 63. 
 Pants, pantings, palpitations ; 
 
 IV. viii. 16. 
 Paragon, compare; I. v. 71. 
 Parcel; "a p. of," i.e. of a 
 
 piece with; III. xiii. 32. 
 
 , specify ; V. ii. 163. 
 
 Part, depart ; I. ii. 181. 
 Particular, private affairs ; I. 
 
 iii. 54- 
 , personal relation ; IV. ix. 
 
 20. 
 Partisan, a kind of halberd; II. 
 
 vii. 13. 
 Parts, sides ; III. iv. 14. 
 Past, beyond; I. ii. 147. 
 Patch a quarrel, make a quar- 
 rel of pieces and shreds; II. 
 
 ii. 52. 
 Pelleted, formed into small 
 
 balls; III. xiii. 165. 
 Penetrative, penetrating ; IV. 
 
 xiv. 75. 
 Perforce, of necessity ; III. iv. 
 
 6. 
 Period, end ; IV. ii. 25. 
 Persisted; "most p. deeds," 
 
 deeds most persisted in ; V. i. 
 
 30. 
 
 Petition; "p. us at home," re- 
 quest us to come home ; I. ii. 
 
 185. 
 Piece, masterpiece ; III. ii. 28. 
 , master-piece (Warbur- 
 
 ton, adopted by Theobald, 
 
 "prize ") \ V. ii. 99. 
 Pinion d, bound ; V. ii. 53. 
 Pink eyne, half-shut eyes ; II. 
 
 vii. 118. 
 Placed, fixed, firm ; V. ii. 238. 
 Plant, place; IV. vi. 9. 
 Planted, rise (Warburton MS., 
 
 "planned") ; I. iii. 26. 
 Plants, the soles of the feet 
 
 (used quibblingly) ; II. vii. 2. 
 P/a/^ti;, clothed in armour; I.i.4. 
 Plates, pieces of money, silver 
 
 coins ; V. ii. 92. 
 Pleach' d, folded ; IV. xiv. y^,. 
 Points, tagged laces, used for 
 
 tying parts of the dress; III. 
 
 xiii. 157. 
 Pole, load-star ; IV. xv. 65. 
 Port, gate ; IV. iv. 23. 
 , carriage, bearing; IV. xiv. 
 
 52. 
 Possess, give possession ; III. 
 
 xi. 21. 
 Possess it, i.e. (?) "be master 
 
 of it" (Collier MS., "Pro- 
 fess it " ; Kinnear conj . 
 
 "Pledge it," etc.); II. vii. 
 
 104. 
 Power, armed force ; III. vii. 58. 
 
 , vital organ ; III, xii. 2)^. 
 
 Practised, plotted; II. ii. jo. 
 Practise on, plot against ; II. ii. 
 
 39- 
 Pray ye, I pray you, are you in 
 
 earnest or jesting?; II, vi. 
 
 113. 
 
 159
 
 Glossary 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Precedence, what has pre- 
 ceded; II. V. 51. 
 
 Prescript, direction ; III. viii. 5. 
 
 Precedent, former; IV. xiv. 83. 
 
 Pregnant, in the highest degree 
 probable; II. i. 45. 
 
 Present, present purpose, busi- 
 ness ; II. vi, 30. 
 
 Present, represent; V. ii. 217. 
 
 Presently, immediately; II. ii. 
 160. 
 
 Process, mandate ; I. i. 28. 
 
 Project, shape, form (Han- 
 mer, " parget " ; Warburton. 
 "Procter"; Orger conj. 
 "perfect") ; V. ii. 121. 
 
 Proof of harness, armour of 
 proof, tested and tried ar- 
 mour ; IV. viii. 15. 
 
 Proper, fine, nice; III. iii. 41. 
 
 Propertied, endowed with qual- 
 ities; V. ii. 83. 
 
 Prorogue, "linger out, keep in 
 a languishing state " ; II. i. 26. 
 
 Prosecution, pursuit ; IV. xiv. 
 65. 
 
 Ptolemy; "the queen of Pt.," 
 i.e. belonging to the line of 
 the Ptolemies, the Mace- 
 donian dynasty in Egypt ; I. 
 iv. 6. 
 
 Purchased, acquired ; I. iv. 14. 
 
 Purge, be cured; I. iii. 53. 
 
 Pyramises, pyramids ; II. vii. 35. 
 
 Quality, character ; I. ii. 193. 
 Queasy, disgusted ; III. vi. 20. 
 Quick, lively, sprightly; V. ii. 
 
 216. 
 Quicken, receive life ; IV. xv. 
 
 39- 
 Quit, requite; III. xiii. 124. 
 
 Race; " r. of heaven," " of 
 heavenly origin" (Schmidt) : 
 "smack or flavour of heaven"' 
 ( Warburton ) ; ( Hanmer. 
 "ray") ; I. iii. 37. 
 
 Rack, floating vapour ; IV. xiv. 
 10. 
 
 Ram, thrust (Hanmer, "i^am'" ; 
 Delius conj. " Cf'am") ; II. 
 V. 24. 
 
 From the sculpture on Trajan's column 
 at Rome. 
 
 Ranged, disposed in order ; I. i. 
 
 34- 
 
 Ranges, ranks ; III. xiii. 5. 
 
 Rates, is worth; III. xi. 69. 
 
 Raitght, reached; IV. ix. 29. 
 
 Reel, stagger as a drunkard ; I. 
 iv. 20. 
 
 Regiment, sway III vi. 95. 
 
 Religion, sacred, holy obliga- 
 tion ; V. ii. 199. 
 
 Remarkable, worthy of note, 
 distinguished ; IV. xv. 6y. 
 
 Remove, removal, departure; 
 I. ii. 198. 
 
 Render, give up; III. x. Z2>- 
 
 Render'd, gave up (Folio i, 
 " rendred " ; Folios 2, 3, 4, 
 " tendred")', IV. xiv. ZZ- 
 
 Reneges, denies ; I. i. 8. 
 
 160
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Reports, reporters ; II. ii. 47. 
 
 Requires,h&g?,,2isks; III.xii.12. 
 
 Revolted, who have revolted ; 
 IV. ix. 8. 
 
 Ribaudrcd, lewd (Steevens 
 conj., adopted by Malone, 
 " Yon' ribald-rid nag"; Tyr- 
 whitt conj. Collier (ed. 2), 
 " Yon ribald hag," etc.) ; 
 
 III. X. 10. 
 
 Riggish, wanton ; II. ii. 243. 
 Right, very, true; IV. xii. 28. 
 Rivality, co-partnership ; III. v. 
 
 8. 
 Rive, split, sever; IV. xiii. 5. 
 
 Safe, make safe ; I. iii. 55. 
 Safed, conducted safely (Stee- 
 vens conj.; Folios, " saf't") ; 
 
 IV. vi. 26. 
 
 Salt, wanton; II. i. 21. 
 Scald, scabby, scurvy; V. ii. 
 
 215. 
 Scantly, grudgingly; III. iv. 5. 
 Scotches, cuts ; IV. vii. 10. 
 Scrupulous, " prying too nicely 
 
 into the merits of either 
 
 cause " ; I. iii. 48. 
 Seal, make an end (Hanmer, 
 
 "sleep"; Johnson conj. 
 
 " seel ") ; IV. xiv. 49. 
 Seel, blind ; a term of fal- 
 conry; III. xiii. 112. 
 Self, same; V. i. 21. 
 Semblable, similar; III. iv. 3. 
 Sennet, a set of notes played 
 
 on the trumpet or cornet ; II. 
 
 vii. 17 (direc). 
 Several, separate ; I. v. 62. 
 Shall, will; II. i. I. 
 Shards, wing-cases of beetles ; 
 
 III. ii. 20. 
 
 Should make, ought to have 
 made; V. i. 14. 
 
 Shown, appeared, shown your- 
 selves ; IV. viii. 7. 
 
 , made a show of, ex- 
 hibited ; IV. xii. 2>^. 
 
 Shows, seems, appears; I. ii. 
 165. 
 
 Shrewd, bad; IV. ix. 5. 
 
 Shrowd, shelter, protection 
 (Hanmer, " sJirowd, the 
 great,"; Collier MS., 
 
 " shrowd, who is " ; Bulloch 
 conj. "stewardship"; Gould 
 conj. "shield"); III. xiii. 
 
 71. 
 Signs; " it s. well," it is a 
 
 good omen ; IV. iii. 14. 
 Sirs, used with reference to the 
 
 waiting-women ; IV. xv. S^. 
 Snare, trap ; IV. viii. 18. 
 So, if only (according to some 
 
 == thus) ; I. iii. 73. 
 
 , if; III. xiii. 15. 
 
 Sober, modest, demure ; V. ii. 
 
 54- 
 Soils, blemishes (Folios, 
 
 " foyles " and " foyls " ; Col- 
 lier conj. "foibles") ; I. iv. 
 
 24- 
 
 Something, somewhat ; IV. viii. 
 20; V. ii. 348. 
 
 Soonest, quickest; III. iv. 27. 
 
 Soothsay, predict ; I. ii. 48. 
 
 Sottish, stupid; IV. xv. 79. 
 
 Space, space of time, time 
 enough; II. i. 31. 
 
 Spaniel'd, followed like a span- 
 iel, a dog; IV. xii. 21. 
 
 Speeds, succeeds, prospers; II. 
 iii. 35- 
 
 Spot, disgrace; IV. xii. 35. 
 
 161
 
 Glossary 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Spritely, lively; IV. vii. 15. 
 
 Square, quarrel, fight; II. i. 
 45; III. xiii. 41. 
 
 ; "kept my square," i.e. 
 
 kept my rule, proper posi- 
 tion, " kept straight " ; II. iii. 
 6. 
 
 Square, fair, just; II. ii. 188. 
 
 Squares, squadrons; III. xi. 
 40. 
 
 Stablishment, settled inheri- 
 tance ; III. vi. 9. 
 
 Staged, exhibited publicly ; III. 
 xiii. 30. 
 
 Stain, eclipse (Theobald, 
 " strain " ; Warburton MS. 
 and Boswell conj., adopted 
 by Collier (ed.^ 2) , " stay " ; 
 Jackson conj. "stun," etc.); 
 
 III. iv. 27. 
 
 Stall, dwell ; V. i. 39. 
 
 Stand on, be particular about ; 
 
 IV. iv. 31. 
 
 Stands upon; " s. our lives u.," 
 i.e. concerns us, as we value 
 our lives ; II. i. 50. 
 
 Station, mode of standing; III. 
 iii. 22. 
 
 Stays upon, awaits; I. ii. 116, 
 
 Steer, direct, control ; V. i. 32. 
 
 Still, continually, always; III. 
 ii. 60. 
 
 Stir/d, roused, incited ; I. i. 43. 
 
 Stomach, inclination; II. ii. 50. 
 
 , resent; III. iii. 12. 
 
 Stomaching, giving way to re- 
 sentment; II. ii. 9. 
 
 Straight, straightway, immedi- 
 ately; II. ii. 171; IV. xii. 3. 
 
 Strangler, destroyer (Folios 2, 
 3, 4, " stranger " ; Rowe, 
 "estranger") ; II. vi. 122. 
 
 Stroyd, destroyed; TIL xi. 54. 
 Studied; " well s.," desire 
 
 earnestly; II. vi. 48. 
 Subscribe, sign; IV. v. 14. 
 Success, result, issue; III. v. 6. 
 Such, very great, very consid- 
 erable ; III. iii. 44. 
 Suffer, sustain loss or damage ; 
 
 Ill.^xiii. 34. 
 Sufficing, sufficient; IV. xiv. 
 
 117. 
 Sum; "the s.," i.e. tell me the 
 
 whole in few words ; I. i. 18. 
 Szi'order, gladiator; III. xiii. 
 
 31. 
 Synod, the assembly of the 
 
 gods; III. X. 5. 
 
 Tabourines, drums ; IV. viii. ^y. 
 Take in, take, conquer ; I. i. 
 
 23; III. vii. 24. 
 Tall, sturdy; II. vi. 7. 
 Targes, targets, shields ; II. vi. 
 
 40. 
 Teeth; " from his t.," not from 
 
 his heart ; III. iv. 10. 
 Telamon, Ajax Telamon; IV. 
 
 xiii. 2. 
 Temper, freedom from excess ; 
 
 I. i. 8. 
 Temperance, chastity ; III. 
 
 xiii. 121. 
 , moderation, calmness ; V. 
 
 ii. 4S. 
 Tended; " t. her i' the eyes." 
 
 watched her very look; II. 
 
 ii. 210. 
 Terrene, terrestrial, earthly; 
 
 III. xiii. 153. 
 Thanks, thanks for (Capell 
 
 conj. "thanks for''); V. ii. 
 
 21. 
 
 162
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Glossary 
 
 Them, themselves (Capell's 
 emendation ; Folios, " his " ; 
 Theobald, "their"); III. 
 vi. 88. 
 
 Theme; " was th. for you," 
 was undertaken in your in- 
 terest ; II. ii. 44. 
 
 Thereabouts, of that opinion ; 
 III. X. 30. 
 
 Thetis; " my Th.," i.e. " my 
 sea-goddess"; III. vii. 61. 
 
 Thick; "so th.." i.e. in such 
 quick succession ; I. v. 63. 
 
 Thickens, grows dim; II. iii. 
 27. 
 
 Think; " th. and die," i.e. " de- 
 spond and die " (Hanmer, 
 ''Drink"; Tyrwhitt conj. 
 "Wink"; Bccket conj. 
 " Swink ") ; III. xiii. i. 
 
 Thought, sorrow; IV. vi. 36. 
 
 Throes, puts in agony (Folios 
 
 I, 2, 3, " throwes " ; Folio 4. 
 " throivs " ; perhaps " throzcs 
 forth "^brings forth) ; III. 
 vii. 81. 
 
 Throw upon, bestow upon ; I. 
 
 ii. 189. 
 Tight, able, adroit; IV. iv. 15. 
 Timelier, earlier ; II. vi. 52. 
 Tinct, tincture ; I. v. 37. 
 Tires, head-dresses, head-gear ; 
 
 II. V. 22. 
 
 Token'd; "the t. pestilence," 
 spotted plague ; " the death 
 of those visited by the 
 plague was certain when par- 
 ticular eruptions appeared 
 on the skin ; and these were 
 called Goa's tokens" (Stee- 
 vens) ; III. x. 9. 
 
 Top, height of; V. i. 43. 
 
 To 't, to get to it ; III. x. 32. 
 
 Touch, attain; V. ii. 330. 
 
 Touches, sensations, feelings ; 
 I. ii. 182. 
 
 Toward, in preparation ; II. 
 vi. 74. 
 
 Toys, trifles; V. ii. 166. 
 
 Treaties, proposals for a 
 treaty; III. xi. 62. 
 
 Triple, third; I. i. 12. 
 
 Triple-turn'd, three times faith- 
 less (Jackson conj. " triple- 
 train'd"); IV. xii. 13. 
 
 Trull, worthless woman; III. 
 vi. 95. 
 
 Turpitude, extreme baseness; 
 
 IV. vi. 33. 
 
 Undoing, destruction; V. ii. 
 
 44. 
 Unequal, unjust; II. v. loi. 
 Unfolded, exposed; V. ii. 170. 
 Unnoble, ignoble; III. xi. 50. 
 Unpolicied, devoid of policy; 
 
 V. ii. 308. 
 
 Unpurposed, not intended; W. 
 
 xiv. 84. 
 Unqualitied, deprived of his 
 
 character and faculties; III. 
 
 xi. 44. 
 Unsemina/d, destitute of seed; 
 
 I. V. II, 
 
 Unstate, divest of estate and 
 dignity; III. xiii. 30. 
 
 Unto, over; II. ii. 145. 
 
 Upon the river, upon the shores 
 of the river ; II. ii. 190. 
 
 Urge; " did u. me in his act," 
 " made use of my name as a 
 pretence for the war " (War- 
 burton) ; II. ii. 46. 
 
 Urgent, pressing; I. ii. 182. 
 
 163
 
 Glossary 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Use; " in u.," in usufruct ; I. 
 
 iii. 44. 
 Use, are used, are accustomed; 
 
 II. V. 32. 
 Useful, usefully ; IV. xiv. 80. 
 
 Vacancy, empty and idle time ; 
 I. iv. 26. 
 
 Vantage, advantage; III. x. 12. 
 
 Varletry, rabble (Folio i, 
 " Varlotarie " ; Folios 2, 3, 
 4, "Varlotry") ; V. ii. 56. 
 
 Vessels; "strike the v.,' i.e. 
 " tap the casks " ( ? " strike 
 your cups together ") ; II. 
 vii. 100. 
 
 Vials; "sacred v.," "alluding 
 to the lachrymatory vials, or 
 bottles of tears, which the 
 Romans sometimes put into 
 the urn of a friend " ; I. iii. 
 ^3- (Cp. ilustration.) 
 
 From specimens found in Roman 
 cemeteries in England. 
 
 J'ie, contend with, rival ; " v. 
 strange forms with fancy," 
 i.e. " contend with, rival, 
 fancy in producing strange 
 forms"; V. ii. 98. 
 
 Viezu; " to my sister's v.," to 
 
 see my sister; II. ii. 169. 
 Virtue, valour; IV. viii. 17. 
 
 Waged, were opposed to each 
 other (Folio 2, ^^zvay"; Fo- 
 lios 3, 4, " may " ; Rowe, 
 " weigh' d " ; Ritson conj. 
 "Weigh"); V. i. 31. 
 
 IVail'd, bewailed; III. ii. 58. 
 
 Waned, faded (Folios, 
 
 "zvand"; Johnson conj. 
 "fond ") ; II. i. 21. 
 
 ]V assails, carousing ( Pope's 
 emendation of Folios i, 2, 3, 
 " Vassailes " and " Vas- 
 sails " ; Folio 4, " Vas- 
 sals ") ; I. iv. 56. 
 
 Way's, way he is (so Folio 4; 
 Folios I, 2, 3, " zvayes " ; 
 Hanmer, " zvay he's ") ; II. 
 V. 117. 
 
 Weet, wit, know ; I. i. 39. 
 
 Well said, well done; IV. iv. 
 28. 
 
 Wharfs, banks ; II. ii. 216. 
 
 What, why (Collier MS., 
 "Why"); V. n. 313. 
 
 Which, who; I. ii. 4. 
 
 Whipp'd with wire; II. v. 65. 
 (The engraving represents 
 two Roman whips. The 
 thongs of the larger one are 
 set with bones taken from 
 sheeps' feet, the other is 
 composed of metal knobs 
 and chains.) 
 
 Whole, well again; IV. viii. 11. 
 
 Windowed, placed in a win- 
 dow ; IV. xiv. 72. 
 
 With, by; I. i. 56; III. x. 7; 
 V. ii. 171. 
 
 104
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Glossary 
 
 With's, with us; III. i. 36. 
 Woo't, wouldst thou (Capell, 
 
 "Won't") ; IV. ii. 7. 
 Words, flatters with words, 
 
 cajoles; V. ii. 191. 
 Worky-day, ordinary; I. ii. 51. 
 Worm, snake; V. ii. 243. 
 Wot'st, knowest ; I. v. 22. 
 
 Wrongled, misled (Capell, 
 " wrong'd") ; III. vi. 80. 
 
 Yare, light, active ; III. vii. 39. 
 
 , ready; III. xiii. 131, 
 
 , be quick; V. ii. 283. 
 
 Yarely, readily; II. ii. 214. 
 Yield, reward, requite ; IV. ii. S3. 
 
 Roman whips (See II. v. 65.) 
 
 165
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Critical Notes. 
 
 BY ISRAEL GOLLANCZ. 
 
 I. i. i8. 'Grates me: the sum.'', Folio i, 'Grates me, the 
 summe.' ; Folios 2, 3, ' Rate me, the smnme.' ; Rowe, ' Rate me 
 the sum.' ; Pope, 'It grates me. Tell the sum.' ; Capell, ' 'T grates 
 me: — The sum.'; Steevens (1793), 'Grates me: — The sum.' 
 
 I. i. 60-61. 'liar, who Thus speaks of him'; Pope reads 'liar 
 Fame, Who speaks him thus.' 
 
 I. ii. 5. 'charge'; Warburton and Southern MS. conj., adopted 
 by Theobald; Folios, 'change'; Jackson conj. 'chain'; Williams 
 conj. ' 'hang.' 
 
 I. ii. 38. 'fertile'; Warburton conj., adopted by Theobald; 
 Folios, 'foretell' and ' foreteV ; Pope, 'foretold' ; Collier MS., 
 ' fruitful.' 
 
 I. ii. 59-60. 'Alexas, — come'; Theobald's reading of the Folio 
 text, where Alexas is erroneously printed as though the name 
 of the speaker. 
 
 I. ii. 79. 'Saw you my lord?' ; so Folios 2, 3, 4; Folio i reads 
 ' Saue you, my lord.' 
 
 I, ii. 100-105. The arrangement of the text was first given by 
 Steevens. 
 
 I. n. 111. ' minds' ; Warburton conj., adopted by Hanmer; 
 Folios I, 2, ' windes'; Collier conj. ' zvints.' 
 
 1. ii. 129. 'enchanting' ; so Folio 1; omitted in Folios 2, 3, 4; 
 Rowe reads 'Egyptian.* 
 
 I. ii. 138. ' a compelling occasion ' ; Rowe's emendation of 
 Folios, 'a compelling an occasion'; Nicholson conj. 'so com- 
 pelling an occasion,' etc. 
 
 I. ii. 195-196. ' like the courser's hair,' etc.. alluding to the 
 popular notion that horsehair put into water will turn into a snake 
 or worm. 
 
 I. iv. 3. 'Our'; Heath and Johnson conj., adopted by Singer; 
 Folios, 'One'; Hanmer, 'A.' 
 
 I. iv. 22. 'as'; Johnson conj. 'and.' 
 
 166
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Notes 
 
 Johnson, 'your 
 
 I. iv. 46. 'lackeying'; ' lacquying' Theobald's correction from 
 Anon. MS.; Folios, 'lacking'; Pope, 'lashing'; Southern MS., 
 ' hacking.' 
 
 I. V. 48. 'an arm-gaunt' ; Folios, 'an Arme-gaunt' ; Hanmer, 
 'an arm-girt'; Mason conj., adopted by Steevens, 1793, 'a ter- 
 magant'; Jackson conj. 'a war-gaunt' ; Boaden conj., adopted 
 by Singer, 'an arrogant'; Lettsom conj. 'a rampaunt' ; the latter 
 ingenious emendation certainly commends itself ; unless ' arm- 
 gaunt ' =z' hsLv'mg lean fore-limbs.' 
 
 I. V. 50. ' beastly ' ; Hanmer, ' beast-like ' ; Collier MS., ' boast- 
 fully'; Becket conj. 'basely.' 
 
 II. i. 10. 'powers are crescent'; Theobald reads, ' pozv'r's a 
 crescent'; Becket conj. 'power is crescent ' ; Anon. conj. 'power's 
 a-crescent.' 
 
 II. ii. 44. 'Was theme for you,' i.e. ' had you for its theme ' ; 
 Johnson conj. 'Had theme from you'; Collier (ed. 2), 'For theme 
 was you'; Staunton conj. 'Had you for theme'; Orson conj. 
 'Was known for yours,' etc. 
 
 II. ii. III. 'your considerate stone,' i.e. 'I am silent as a 
 stone'; Heath conj. 'your confederate love 
 considerate ones ' ; Blackstone 
 conj. 'your consideratest one,' 
 etc., etc. 
 
 II. ii. 211. 'And made their 
 bends adornings ' ; i. e. " and 
 made their very act of obei- 
 sance an improvement on their 
 beauty" (Steevens); the pas- 
 sage has been variously inter- 
 preted, but this seems tlie 
 simplest solution. 
 
 II. ii. 218. 'A n t n y, e n- 
 throned i' the market-place, 
 did sit alone.' A good idea of 
 the public enthronement of the 
 Roman emperors is afforded 
 by the accomnan.ving engraving of a coin of Trajan. The em- 
 peror superintends the bestowal of gifts upon his citizens by his 
 steward. 
 
 II. iii. 2. 'my prayers'; Rowe reads 'in prayers'; Collier MS., 
 ' ivith prayers.' 
 
 167 
 
 ' Anthony ejtthroned in the market- 
 place did sit alonc.^
 
 Notes 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 His cocks do win the battle.^ 
 
 II. V. 12. ' T aiamy-Hmii d 
 
 II. iii. 22. 'a fear'; Collier (ed. 2), Thirlby conj. ' afeard'; S. 
 Walker conj . ' afear.' 
 
 II. iii. 30. ' he away, 'tis ' ; 
 Pope's emendation of Folio i, 
 ' lie alway 'tis ' ; Folios 2, 3, 
 4, 'he alway is.' 
 
 II. iii. 36. ' His cocks do 
 win the battle.' The accom- 
 panying representation of a 
 cock-fight, presided over by 
 two genii deeply interested in 
 the game, is derived from a 
 bas-relief on an ancient Roman 
 lamp in terra cotta. 
 
 II. iii. 38. ' inhoop'd,' i.e. en- 
 closed in a hoop ; Hanmer. ' in- 
 coop'd'; Seward conj., adopted 
 by Capell, ' in zvhoop'd-at.' 
 Theobald's emendation of Folios, 
 Tawny-fine ' ; Rowe reads ' Tawny-fin.' 
 
 II. V. 103. 'That art not what thou'rt sure of!'; Hanmer, 
 ' That say'st but zvJiat thou'rt 
 sure of; Johnson conj. ' That 
 art — not what? — Thou'rt sure 
 on't' etc.; perhaps the words 
 of the text mean 'that are not 
 the evil thing of which thou 
 art so certain ' ; other inter- 
 pretations have been advanced. 
 II. V. 116. 'Though he be 
 painted one uny like a Gor- 
 gon' alluding to the old ' per- 
 spective ' pictures showing one 
 picture from one point of view, 
 another from another stand- 
 point. 
 
 II. vii. 52. ' the tears of it 
 are wet ' ; Topsell's History of 
 Serpents (1608) refers to the 
 ' common proverbe crocodili lachrimcc. 
 
 ' The tears of it are wet.^ 
 
 (The popular sixteenth 
 century notions of the form of the crocodile are seen in the an- 
 nexed engraving, which is copied from an old woodcut.) 
 
 16S
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 II. vii. "jG. 'there'; Pope, 'then'; Steevens conj. 'theirs.' 
 II. vii. 97. ' increase the reels ' ; Steevens ' and grease the 
 zvheels'; Douce 'increase the revels.' 
 
 II. vii. 115. 'bear'; Theobald's emendation; Folios, 'heat.' 
 
 III. V. 14. ' Then, world, thou hast ' ; Hanmer's emendation ; 
 Folios, ' Then would thou hadst'; Warburton MS., ' Then ivoiild 
 thou hadst' ; 'chaps, no' Theobald's reading of Folios, ' chaps no.' 
 
 III. vi. 53. 'left unloved' ; Collier MS., ' held unloved' ; Singer 
 conj., adopted by Hudson, 'felt unloved'; Seymour conj., 'left 
 unvalued.' 
 
 III. vii. 5. '// not denounced against us'; Hanmer reads, ' Is't 
 not denounc'd 'gainst us?'; Jackson conj., 'Is't not? Denounce 
 against us! ' ; etc. 
 
 III. vii. 69. ' his whole action grozvs Not in the pozver on 't' i.e. 
 " his whole conduct in the war is not founded upon that which is 
 his greatest strength, namely, his land force, but on the caprice of 
 a woman," etc. (Malone). 
 
 III. xii. 13. 'lessens'; Folio, 'Lessons.' Mr. A. E. Thiselton, 
 in support of the Folio reading, which he interprets ' schools ' or 
 ' disciplines,' calls attention to the initial capital letter indicating 
 ' an emphasis which the feeble lessens would hardly carry.' 
 
 III. xii. 28-29. 'And in our name, zvhat she requires; add more, 
 From thine invention, offers'; Grant White conj., 'What she re- 
 quires; and in our name add more Offers from thine invention ' ; 
 Walker, 'and more . . . From thine invention offer.' 
 
 III. xiii. 162. ' Cccsarion smite'; Hanmer's emendation; Folios, 
 ' Caesarian smile.' 
 
 IV. iv. 3. ' mine ' ; Folios, ' thine.' 
 
 IV. iv. 5-8. The text follows Malone's arrangement and read- 
 ing {vide Cambridge Edition. Note VI.). 
 
 IV. V. 17. 'Dispatch. Enobarbus! ' ; Steevens (1773) reading; 
 Folio I, ' Dispatch Enobarbus ' ; Folio 2, ' Dispatch Eros ' ; Folios 
 3, 4, 'Dispatch, Eros'; Pope, 'dispatch my Eros'; Johnson conj. 
 ' Dispatch! To Enobarbus ! ' ; Capell, ' Dispatch. — O Enobarbus! ' ; 
 Rann, 'Eros! Dispatch'; Ritson conj., adopted by Steevens 1793, 
 'Eros, despatch'; Anon, conj., ' Domitius Enobarbus! '. 
 
 IV. vi. 13. ' persuade ' ; Rowe's correction of Folios, ' disszvadc.' 
 
 IV. viii. 2T,. ' favouring ' ; Theobald's emendation of Folios, 
 ' savouring.' 
 
 IV. xii. 25. 'soul'; Capell. 'soil'; Singer (ed. 2) from Collier 
 MS., 'spell'; S. Walker conj.. 'snake': 'grave'; Pope reads 
 
 169
 
 Notes 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 'gay'; Collier (ed. 2) from Collier MS., 'great'; Singer (ed. 2), 
 ' grand/ 
 
 IV. xiv. 87. ' Lo thee'; Grant White conj., ' Lo there.' 
 IV. XV. 10. ' Burn the great sphere ' ; Hanmer, ' Turn from the 
 sphere ' ; Warburton, ' Turn from th' great sphere.' 
 
 IV. XV. II. 'shore'; Staunton conj., adopted by Hudson, 'star.' 
 IV. XV. 21. '/ dare not'; Malone conj., 'I dare not descend'; 
 Ritson conj., adopted by Wordsworth, '/ dare not come dozvn'; 
 Anon. conj.. from Plutarch, ' / dare not ope the gates' ; etc. 
 
 IV. XV. 44. ' the false house- 
 wife Fortune break her wheel.' 
 (Cp. illustration.) 
 
 IV. XV. 73. ' No more, but e'en 
 a ivoman ' ; Capell's version ; Fo- 
 lios read 'No more but in a 
 
 ' Fortune and her whceU 
 From a large brass coin of Gordian. 
 
 Woman ' ; Rowe, ' No more but 
 a meer woman'; Johnson conj., 
 adopted by Steevens, 1773, 1778, 
 ' No more — but e'en a woman.' 
 
 V. i. 15. 'crack: the round 
 world'; Steevens conj., 'crack 
 than this: the ruin'd world'; 
 Singer conj., 'crack: the round 
 world convulsive ' ; Nicholson 
 conj., 'crack: the round world in rending'; Daniel conj., 'crack 
 in the round zvorld ' ; etc. 
 
 V. i. 24. ' S putted the heart'; Collier MS., 'Split that self 
 noble heart'; Elze conj., ' Splitted that very heart.' 
 
 V. i. 59-60. 'live To be ungentle'; Rowe (ed. 2) and Southern 
 MS. ; Folios read ' leaue to be ungentle ' ; Capell, ' Leave to be 
 gentle'; Tyrwhitt conj.. 'learn To be ungentle'; Gould conj., 
 ' bear to be ungentle.' ■ 
 
 V. ii. 7. ' dug ' ; Warburton conj., adopted by Theobald, ' dugg ' ; 
 Folios, 'dung'; Nicholson conj., 'tongue'; Cartwright conj., 
 'zvrong'; Bailey conj., 'doom.' 
 
 V. ii. 50. 'necessary' ; Hanmer. 'accessary' ; Malone conj., 
 'necessary, I'll not so much as syllable a word'; Ritson conj., 
 'necessary, I will not speak; if sleep be necessary.' 
 
 V. ii. 87. ' an autumn 'twas'; Theobald and Thirlby conj.; 
 Folios read ' an Anthony it was ' ; etc. 
 
 V. ii. 104. 'smites'; Capell's emendation; Folios i, 2, 'suites'; 
 
 170
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Notes 
 
 Folios 3, 4, 'suits'; Pope 'shoots.' I am inclined to agree with 
 Mr. A. E. Thiselton that Pope's correction is unimpeachable. 
 
 V. ii. 174. ' my chance' i.e. my changed fortune, lot ; Hanmer 
 reads 'mischance' ; S. Walker conj., 'my change' ; Ingleby conj., 
 adopted by Hudson, ' my glance.' 
 
 V. ii. 178-179. 'We answer others' merits in our name, Are'; 
 Malone's reading; Folios, '' We anszver others merits, in our name 
 Are'; etc. 
 
 V. ii. 352. 'caves'; so Folios 2, 3, 4; Folio i, ' caucs'; Barry 
 conj., ' caries ' ; Anon, conj., ' eaves ' ; Perring conj., ' course.' 
 
 'The barge she sat ttt' (II. 11. 194.) 
 From a wall-painting on the tomb of Rameses III., at Thebes. 
 
 171
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Explanatory Notes, 
 
 The Explanatory Notes in this edition have been specially selected and 
 adapted, with emendations after the latest and best authorities, from the 
 most eminent Shakespearian scholars and commentators, including Johnson, 
 Malone, Steevens, Singer, Dyce, Hudson, White, Furness, Dowden, and 
 others. This method, here introduced for the first time, provides the best 
 annotation of Shakespeare ever embraced in a single edition. 
 
 ACT FIRST. 
 Scene I. 
 
 8. reneges : — Coleridge's suggestion that this word should be 
 spelled reneaguc is supported by the following passage quoted in 
 Richardson's Dictionary from Udal's New Testament, Luke i. : 
 "Those that vaunted themselves by the glorious name of Israel, 
 those he hath rcneagucd and put away from the inheritance of 
 the promises made unto Israel." 
 
 I. There's beggary, etc.: — So in Romeo and Juliet, II. vi. 32: 
 " They are but beggars that can count their worth." . And in 
 Martial, vi. 36: " Basia pauca cupit, qui numerare potest." 
 
 17. Then must thou needs, etc. : — Then must you set the bound- 
 ary at a distance greater than the present visible universe affords. 
 
 44. for tJie lore of Love : — That is, for the sake of the goddess 
 of Love. 
 
 53. To-night, etc. : — So ir#Plutarch's Life of Antonius: " Some- 
 time also, when he would go up and down the city disguised 
 like a slave in the night, and would peer into poor men's win- 
 dows and their shops, and scold and brawl with them within the 
 house, Cleopatra would be also in a chamber-maid's array, and 
 amble up and down the streets with him." 
 
 60. That he confirms the common liar, Fame, in his case to be 
 a true reporter. Shakespeare elsewhere uses approve for prove, 
 as also approof for proof. 
 
 172
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 22,. heat my liver:— Tht liver being considered the seat of love, 
 Charmian says she would rather heat her liver with drinkmg than 
 with love's fire. A heated liver was supposed to make a pimpled 
 
 27. a child at fifty :—' This," says Johnson, " is one of Shake- 
 speare's natural touches. Few circumstances are more flattermg 
 to the fair sex than breeding at an advanced period of life." 
 
 35. no «aw^.f :— Charmian has not been married, and, if she is 
 not to have better fortune, her children will not know their 
 father, therefore will be bastards and nameless. So in the Two 
 Gentlemen of Verona, III. i. 14-16: "That's as much as to say, 
 bastard virtues; that, indeed, know not their fathers, and there- 
 fore have no names." 
 
 49,50. an oily palm, etc. :— This prognostic is alluded to m 
 Othello, III. iv.:— 
 
 "This hand is moist, my Isidy. . . . ^ 
 This argues fruitfulness and liberal heart." 
 
 10 1. Stiff news is hard nezt'S. 
 
 102. Exteiided Asia from Euphrates:— Extend is often found 
 in the old writers for sei::e; extent for seizure, etc. So in As You 
 Like It, III. i. 16, 17:— 
 
 " And let my officers of such a nature 
 Make an extent upon his house and lands." 
 
 So too in Selimus, Emperor of the Turks, 1594:— 
 
 Ay, though on all the world we make extent ^ 
 From the south pole unto the northern bear." 
 
 Plutarch tells us that Labienus was by the Parthian king made 
 general of his troops, and had overrun Asia from Euphrates, and 
 Syria to Lydia and Ionia. Euphrates here is accented on the first 
 syllable. Shakespeare uses the name only in this instance. _ Dray- 
 ton's Polyolbion, 21, has it accented in the same way in this 
 line : " That gliding go in state, like swelling Euphrates." 
 
 125-127. the present pleasure, etc. :— The pleasure of to-day, by 
 revolution of events and change of circumstances, often loses all 
 its value to us, and becomes to-morrow a pain. There seems to 
 be an implied allusion to the turning of a wheel, suggested, as 
 some think, by the " wheel of fortune." 
 
 173
 
 Notes ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 3. / did not send you : — " You must go as if you came without 
 my order or knowledge." So in Troilus and Cressida, IV. ii. 72 : 
 " We met by chance ; you did not find me here." 
 
 8. / do not? — We must understand that as supplied: "What 
 should I do that I do not?" The ellipsis of the relative was com- 
 mon then, as it is now. 
 
 16, 17. the sides of nature, etc. : — So in Tzvelfth Night, II. iv. 
 95, 96:— 
 
 " There is no woman's sides 
 Can bide the beating of so strong a passion." 
 
 2)6. in our brozus' bent: — That is, in the bending or arching of 
 our brows. The brow is that part of the face which expresses 
 most fully the mental emotions. So in King John, IV. ii. 90: 
 " Why do you bend such solemn brows on me ? " 
 
 57, 58. Though age, etc. : — Cleopatra here apparently means, 
 " Though age could not exempt me frgm folly, at least it frees 
 me from a childish and ready belief of every assertion. Is it 
 possible that Fulvia is dead? I cannot believe it." 
 
 63, 64. vials . . . water : — Alluding to the lachrymatory 
 vials filled with tears, which the Romans placed 'in the tomb of 
 a departed friend. 
 
 84, Herculean : — Antony traced his descent from Anton, a son 
 of Hercules. 
 
 91-93. But that, etc. : — An antithesis is intended between royalty 
 and subject. The meaning is, " But that I know you to be a 
 queen, and that your royalty holds idleness in subjection to you, 
 I should suppose you, from this idle discourse, to be the very 
 genius of idleness itself," 
 
 96, 97. Since my becomings, etc. : — That which would seem to 
 become me most is hateful to me when it is not acceptable in 
 your sight. 
 
 103, 104. That thou residing here, etc. : — A strikingly similar 
 thought occurs in Sidney's Arcadia: — 
 
 *' She went, they staid ; or, rightly for to say, 
 She staid with them, they went in thought with her." 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 12, 13. His faults, etc. : — As the stars or spots of heaven appear 
 more bright and prominent from the darkness of the night, so 
 
 174
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 the faults of Antony seem enlarged by his virtues, which give 
 relief to his faults, and make them show out more prominently. 
 
 25-28. // he fill'd . . . call on him for't: — If Anthony fol- 
 lowed his debaucheries at times of leisure only, I should leave 
 him to be punished by their natural consequences, by surfeits and 
 dry bones. 
 
 36-38. Pompey . . . fear'd Ccesar: — Those whom not loz'e 
 but fear made adherents to Caesar now show their affection for 
 Pompey. 
 
 SS-71. Antony . . . lank'd not.: — This superb speech is 
 based upon the following passage in Plutarch's Life of Antoniiis, 
 where the writer is relating what happened after the death of 
 Julius Caesar, but before the Triumvirate was formed : " Cicero, 
 being the chiefest man of authority and estimation in the city, 
 stirred up all men against Antonius, and sent Hircius and Pansa, 
 then Consuls, to drive him out of Italy. These two Consuls, to- 
 gether with Caesar, who also had an army, went against An- 
 tonius, that besieged the city of Modena, and there overthrew him 
 in battell ; but both the Consuls were slain there. Antonius, 
 flying upon this overthrow, fell into great misery al at once; but 
 the chiefest want of al other, and that pinched him most, was 
 famine. Howbeit, he was of such a strong nature, that by pa- 
 tience he would overcome any adversity , and the heavier fortune 
 lay upon him, the more constant he shewed himselfe. And 
 it was a wonderfull example to the souldiers to see Antonius, 
 that was brought up in al finenesse and superfluity, so easily to 
 drink puddle water, and to eate wild fruits and roots. And 
 moreover it is reported, that even as they passed the Alpes they 
 did eate the barkes of trees, and such beasts as never man tasted 
 of their flesh before." 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 4. Mandragora: — Compare Othello, III. iii. 330-333- — 
 " Not poppy, nor mandragora. 
 Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world. 
 Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep 
 Which thou owedst yesterday." 
 So too in Adlington's translation of The Golden Ass of Apuleius : 
 " I gave him no poyson but a doling drink of mandragora, which 
 is of such force, that it will cause any man to sleepe as though 
 he were dead." 
 
 175
 
 Notes ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 2,6, Z7- i^ioi great medicine, etc. : — Alluding, perhaps, to the 
 philosopher's stone, which, by its touch, was said to convert base 
 metal into gold. The alchemists called the matter, whatever it 
 was, by which they performed transmutation a medicine. So 
 Chapman in his Shadow of Night, 1594: "O then, thou great 
 elixir of all treasures." And on this passage he has the follow- 
 ing note: "The philosopher's stone, or philosophica medicina, is 
 called the great elixir." Walker thinks that medicine here means 
 physician, and so the word was sometimes used. 
 
 ACT SECOND. 
 Scene I. 
 
 4, 5. Whiles we are suitors, etc.: — JJliilcs for while: often used 
 so by Shakespeare. The passage means, while we are praying, 
 the thing for which we pray is losing its value. 
 
 26,27. prorogue his honour . . . dulness: — "Delay his 
 sense of honour from exerting itself till he is become habitually 
 sluggish." Till means to, according to an ancient usage. 
 
 30,31. since he went . . . travel: — Since he left Egypt time 
 enough has elapsed for a longer journey. 
 
 Scene 11. 
 
 8. / would not shave 't: — I would meet him without even such 
 a show of respect. 
 
 78. told him of myself: — Warburton, followed by others, ex- 
 plains this as meaning, " I told him the condition I was in when 
 he had his last audience." Hudson's explanation (Harvard ed.) 
 is, " I told him this of my own accord ; or volunteered this infor- 
 mation about myself." 
 
 85,86. The honour, etc.: — Mason explains that the force of 
 now does not fall with talks, but with is sacred; "the point of 
 honour, which he talks on, is sacred with me now, however 
 negligent, or untrue to my oath, I may have been then.'' He ac- 
 cordingly excuses his fault, asks pardon, and tenders reparation. 
 
 92-94. mine honesty, etc.: — My power or greatness shall not 
 work in disregard of my honesty. 
 
 112 et seq. Caesar means, " I do not think the man wrong, but 
 too free of his interposition ; for it cannot be we shall remain in 
 friendship ; yet if it were possible, I would endeavour it." 
 
 176
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 123. Were well deserved of rashness: — That is, you might be 
 reproved for your rashness, and would well deserve it. 
 
 157-159. / 7nust thank him only, etc.: — I must barely thank him 
 lest I be thought too willing to forget his courtesies ; and then I 
 will defy him. 
 
 173. from Egypt: — In Julius Ccesar we have a glimpse of the 
 ennobling developments that arose when sincere Romans stooped 
 to drink from the well-springs of Greek philosophy and science ; 
 in Antony and Cleopatra we behold the counter influence and 
 contamination from too close proximity to Asia — for Egypt is in 
 nature Asiatic — the school of courtiers and of all the arts of 
 servility and seduction that courts give harbour and protection to. 
 
 189, 190. Enobarbus is made to say that Cleopatra gained An- 
 tony's heart on the river Cydnus ; but it appears from the con- 
 clusion of his own description, that Antony had never seen her 
 there ; that whilst she was on the river, Antony was sitting alone, 
 enthroned in the market-place, whistling to the air, all the peo- 
 ple having left him to gaze upon her ; and that when she landed 
 he sent to her to invite her to supper. 
 
 194 et seq. The reader may be pleased to compare Dryden's 
 description with that of Shakespeare : — 
 
 " Her galley down the silver Cyndus row'd, 
 The tackling, silk, the streamers wav'd with gold, 
 The gentle winds were lodg'd in purple sails : 
 Her nymphs, like Nereids, round her couch were plac'd, 
 Where she, another seaborn Venus, lay. — 
 She lay, and leant her cheek upon her hand, 
 And cast a look so languishingly sweet, 
 As if secure of all beholders' hearts, 
 Neglecting she could take 'em : Boys, like Cupids, 
 Stood fanning with their painted wings the winds 
 That play'd about her face : But if she smil'd, 
 A darting glory seem'd to blaze abroad 
 That man's desiring eyes were never wearied, 
 But hung upon the object: To soft flutes 
 The silver oars kept time ; and while they play'd, 
 The hearing gave new pleasure to the sight. 
 And both to thought. 'Twas heaven, or somewhat more ; 
 For she so charm'd all hearts, that gazing crowds 
 Stood panting on the shore, and wanted breath 
 To give their welcome voice." 
 
 177
 
 Notes ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 239. Her infinite variety : — Cleopatra, as appears from the 
 tetradrachms of Antony, was no Venus; and indeed the major- 
 ity of women who have most successfully enslaved the hearts of 
 princes, were less remarkable for personal than mental attrac- 
 tions. The reign of insipid beauty is seldom lasting ; but perma- 
 nent must be the rule of a woman who can diversify the same- 
 ness of life by an inexhausted variety of accomplishments. 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 3. how my prayers : — The same construction is found in 
 Coriolanus, I. i. 217: ''Shouting their emulation." And in King 
 Lear, II. ii. 82: "Smile you m}^ speeches? " 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 3. billiards: — Many critics have called this an anachronism, as 
 billiards, they say, were not known to the ancients. But Hud- 
 son asks, "How do they know this? Late researches," he de- 
 clares, " have shown that many things were in use in old Egypt 
 which, afterwards lost, have been reinvented in modern times. 
 But Shakespeare did not know this? Doubtless not; but then 
 he knew that by using a term familiar to his audience he would 
 lead their thoughts to what has always followed in the train of 
 luxury and refinement. Suppose he had been so learned, and 
 withal such a slave to his learning, as to use a term signifying 
 some game which the English people never had heard of. Which 
 were the greater anachronism?" 
 
 16-18. when your diver, etc.: — This circumstance is from Plu- 
 tarch: Antony had fished unsuccessfully in Cleopatra's presence, 
 and she laughed at him. The next time, therefore, he directed 
 the boatman to dive under water, and attach a fish to his 
 hook. The queen perceived the stratagem, but affecting not to 
 notice it, congratulated him on his success. Another time, how- 
 ever, she determined to laugh at him once more, and gave orders 
 to her own people to get the start of his divers, and put some 
 dried salt fish on his hook. 
 
 23. Philippan: — The battle of Philippi being the greatest action 
 of Antony's life, it was an adroit piece of flattery to name his 
 sword from it. The swords of the heroes of romance have gen- 
 erally pompous names. 
 
 178
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 115. Cleopatra is now talking in broken sentences, not of the 
 messenger, but of Antony. 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 1.3. ghosted: — This verb is used by Burton in the preface to his 
 Anatomy of Melancholy: "What madness ghosts this old man? 
 but what madness gJiosts us all? 
 
 26,27. At land indeed thou dost exceed me in possessions, hav- 
 ing added to thy own my father's house. O'ercount is here used 
 equivocally, and Pompey insinuates that Antony not only out- 
 numbered, but had overreached him. The circumstance of An- 
 tony's obtaining the house of Pompey's father the Poet had from 
 Plutarch. 
 
 28, 29. Since, like the cuckoo, that seizes the nests of other 
 birds, you have invaded a house which you could not build, keep 
 it while you can. 
 
 43-47. though I lose, etc.: — Clarke here comments: "The his- 
 torical fact of Sextus Pompey's having courteously received An- 
 tony's mother m Sicily when she fled from Italy is recorded by 
 Plutarch ; but the touch of delicacy in Sentiment — declaring that 
 to remind or reproach another with a benefit conferred is to 
 forfeit the merit of it — is the dramatist's own exquisite addi- 
 tion." 
 
 55. What counts . . . my face : — A metaphor from making 
 marks or lines in casting accounts. 
 
 71. A certain queen to Ccrsar in a mattress: — This is from the 
 margin of North's Plutarch (the Life of Julius Ccesar), 1579: 
 " Cleopatra trussed up in a mattrasse, and so brought to Caesar 
 upon Apollodorus' backe." Reference is here made to this pas- 
 sage in the text. He goes on thus : " She, only taking Apollo- 
 dorus Sicilian of all her friends, took a litle bote, and went away 
 with him in it in the night, and came and landed hard by the foot 
 of the castell. Then, having no other meane to come into the 
 court without being knowne, she laid herselfe downe upon a mat- 
 trasse or flock-bed, which Apollodorus tied and bound up together 
 like a bundle with a great leather thong, and so took her upon his 
 backe, and brought her thus hampered in this fardle unto Cassar 
 in the castle gate. This was the first occasion, it is reported, that 
 made Caesar to love her." The incident is dramatized with much 
 spirit in Fletcher's Fals^ One. 
 
 179
 
 Notes ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Scene VII. 
 
 95-97- The third part . . . reels : — Difficulties have been 
 made about this passage, in which Singer saw none. He ex- 
 plained it thus : " Menas says, ' The third part of the world is 
 drunk (meaning Lepidus, one of the triumvirs), would it were 
 all so, that it might go on wheels,' that is, turn round or change. 
 To which Enobarbus replies, ' Drink thou ; increase the reels,' 
 that is, increase its giddy course." 
 
 ii8. pink eyne: — The following is in Horman's Vulgaria, 1519: 
 " Some have mighty yies and some be pinkyied. Quidam per- 
 grandis sunt luminibus, quidam peti." The flower called a pink 
 is in French ooillet, or little eye. To pink and wink is to contract 
 the eyes and peep out of the lids. Hence pinky for tipsy, from 
 the peculiar expression of the eyes of persons in liquor. The 
 epithet is therefore well appropriated to the god of wine. 
 
 128,129. the wild disguise hath almost antick'd us all: — Has 
 almost made us antics or buffoons. Upon this scene Clarke ob- 
 serves : " The discriminative characterization developed in each 
 of the revellers — Lepidus's fatuity and solemn dulness flounder- 
 ing beneath the overpowering effect of the repeated healths or 
 toasts with which he is plied ; Octavius's reluctance at the sub- 
 version of his cold equanimity by the riot of the carousal and 
 the effect of the wine ; Enobarbus's mad spirits — yet he even at 
 length giving token of being ' weaker than the wine ' ; Pompey's 
 capital bit of maudlin (' O Antony, you have my father's house — 
 But, what? we are friends'), half lingering resentment, half 
 drunken magnanimity of forgiveness ; the untouched strength of 
 the seasoned Mark Antony, able to bear any amount of drained 
 cups ; together with the rich gusto and classical grape-crowned 
 animation of the whole scene, combine to render this one of the 
 most magnificently painted orgy-descriptions ever set down on 
 paper. It glows before our eyes like a Rubens canvas." 
 
 ACT THIRD. . 
 Scene I. 
 
 \Entcr Ventidius.] How conscientiously Shakespeare kept in 
 view the resolve to indicate the proceeding metamorphosis of the 
 Roman state and Roman society, at the same time that he set 
 forth the characters and fortunes of the triumvir and his para- 
 
 180
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 moiir, is well seen in the short Parthian entrance of Ventidius. 
 He has embodied the biography of Antony by Plutarch from the 
 point at which he takes it up with as much skill as comprehen- 
 siveness. 
 
 I. Struck alludes to darting. Thou, whose darts have often 
 struck others, art struck now thyself. 
 
 27-29. Thou hast, Ventidius, etc.: — Warburton interprets thus: 
 " ' Thou hast that, Ventidius, which if thou didst want, there 
 would be no distinction between thee and thy sword. You would 
 be both equally cutting and senseless.' This was wisdom, or 
 knowledge of the world. Ventidius had told him why he did not 
 pursue his advantages ; and his friend, by this compliment, ac- 
 knowledges them to be of weight." 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 40. Octavia is to sail with Antony from Rome to Athens, and 
 her brother wishes that the elements — winds and seas — may be 
 kind to her ; in other words, that she may have a prosperous voy- 
 age. Johnson and others, however, have explained : " May the 
 different elements of the body be in such proportion and har- 
 mony as to keep you cheerful." 
 
 52. were he a Jiorse : — A horse is said to have a cloud in his 
 face, when he has a dark-coloured spot in his forehead between 
 the eyes. This gives him a sour look, and being supposed to in- 
 dicate an ill temper, is of course looked upon as a great blemish. 
 Burton has applied the phrase to the look of a female : " Every 
 lover admires his mistress, though she be very deformed of her- 
 selfe — thin, leane, chitty-face, have clouds in her face, be 
 crooked," etc. 
 
 59. wept: — The old copies have zveepe. Theobald's reading, 
 here given, has been followed by most recent editors. Steevens 
 tried to give a meaning to the old reading : " Believe that he wept 
 over such an event, till you see me weeping on the same occa- 
 sion, when I shall be obliged to you for putting such a construc- 
 tion on my tears, which, in reality (like his), will be tears of joy." 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 32-34. is't long on round, etc.: — This is from the old writers 
 on physiognomy. So in Hill's Pleasant History, 1613 : "The head 
 
 181
 
 Notes ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 very round to be forgetful and foolish." Again : " The head 
 long, to be prudent and wary." " A low forehead," etc., p. 218. 
 
 35, 36. her forehead as low as she would wish it : — "As one 
 would wish it '' was a cant phrase common in Shakespeare's day. 
 The perverted fancy of our Elizabethan ancestors for a high, that 
 is, bald forehead, is often shown in the Poet and his contem- 
 poraries. So in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, IV, iv. 198: "Ay. 
 but her forehead 's lozv." 
 
 44. 110 such thing: — That is, nothing very remarkable — a col- 
 loquial phrase. 
 
 Scene IV. 
 
 10. from his teeth : — A common expression. So Dryden in his 
 Wild Gallant: "I am confident she is only angry from the teeth 
 outward." And Fuller, in his Holie Warre: "This bad breath, 
 though it came but from the teeth of some, yet proceeded from 
 the corrupt lungs of others." And in Withal's Dictionarie for 
 Children, 1616: *^ Lingua amicus: A friend from the teeth out- 
 ward." 
 
 10-16. The situation and sentiments of Octavia resemble those 
 of Lady Blanch in King John, III. i. 
 
 Scene V. 
 
 [Enter Enobarbus.] The dramatic value of the character of 
 Enobarbus, as Shakespeare has developed it, cannot be over-esti- 
 mated in such a play with such a theme. Besides a remonstrance 
 against Cleopatra's presence in the war, Plutarch furnishes little 
 more towards the character than this : " Furthermore, he dealt 
 very friendly and courteously with Domitius, and against Cleo- 
 patra's mind. For he being sick of an ague when he went and 
 took a little boat to go unto Caesar's camp, Antonius was very 
 sorry for it, but yet he sent after him all his carriage train and 
 men ; and the said Domitius, as though he gave him to under- 
 stand that he repented of his open treason, died immediately 
 after." In the play, Domitius, while he is largely participant in 
 riot and irregularity, and largely accessory to hasty imprudence, 
 and yields to none in appreciation of the seductive charm of 
 Cleopatra, is still in perfect contrast to Antony by his freedom 
 from infatuation. In some respects he is like Cleopatra too, who 
 looks on at the ruin she has made, and mingles pity with her 
 return for the passion that in itself is too degenerate to be called 
 
 182
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 love immingled. It is when Antony is gradually overtasking the 
 sympathies of the spectator, that they are recalled by his proofs 
 of nobility of nature on the desertion of Domitius, and the ex- 
 ampler holds us truer to the end. 
 
 14, no more: — Of course this phrase does not signify no 
 longer, but has the same meaning as and no more, or that is all: 
 " Thou hast now a pair of chaps and nothing more. Caesar and 
 Antony will make war on each other, though they have the world 
 to prey on between them." 
 
 23. Naught has here the same meaning as naughty or had. 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 3. Tribunal here is a stage or platform, ?i ■: in the Uatin usage. 
 This scene is closely copied from North's Plutarch. 
 
 13. The old copy has hither instead of lie there, and King in- 
 stead of Kings. Corrected by Steevens. 
 
 Scene VII. 
 
 6, 7. // not denounced, etc.: — In the passage of Plutarch which 
 supplied the basis of this scene, we have the following: "Now, 
 after that Csesar had made sufficient preparation, he proclaimed 
 open warre against Cleopatra, and made the people to abolish the 
 power and empire of Antonius, because he had before given it 
 up unto a woman. And Csesar said, furthermore, that Antonius 
 was not master of himselfe, but Cleopatra had brought him be- 
 side himselfe by her charmes and amorous poysons ; and that 
 they that should make warre with them should be Mardian the 
 eunuch, Photinus, and Iras (a woman of Cleopatraes bed-cham- 
 ber, that frizeled her haire and dressed her head) and Char- 
 mian ; the which were those that ruled all the affaires of An- 
 tonius empire." 
 
 60. Thetis : — Antony may address Cleopatra by the name of this 
 sea-nymph because she had just promised him assistance in his 
 naval expedition; or perhaps in allusion to her voyage down the 
 Cydnus, when she appeared like Thetis surrounded by the 
 Nereids. 
 
 Scene VIII. 
 
 In connection with these short scenes, which some critics regard 
 as injuring the Poet's work with too many details and changes 
 
 183
 
 Notes ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 in the action, it may be interesting to read this finely expressed 
 judgement of Lloyd upon the structural quality of the drama: 
 " The play throughout evinces the master hand of Shakespeare — 
 It reads with unchecked freshness, as though it flowed with 
 quickest facility from his pen, at the same time that every line is 
 charged with the maturest autumn of his ripened mind. Luxu- 
 riant as the execution is, it is so governed by appropriateness, 
 that I doubt whether any of Shakespeare's plays can be more 
 justly entitled correct, in the technical sense, than Antony and 
 Cleopatra — whether from any other a single line could less easily 
 be struck out without apparent injury and loss." And Brandes 
 has given us this observation : " Assuming that it was Shake- 
 speare's design in Antony and Cleopatra, as in King Lear, to 
 evoke the conception of a world-catastrophe, we see that he 
 could not in this play, as in Macbeth or Othello, focus the entire 
 action around the leading characters alone. He could not even 
 make the other characters completely subordinate to them ; that 
 would have rendered it impossible for him to give the impression 
 of majestic breadth, of an action embracing half of the then known 
 world, which he wanted for the sake of the concluding effect." 
 
 Scene XI. 
 
 35,36. he at Philippi . . . dancer: — The meaning appears 
 to be, Caesar never offered to draw his sword, but kept it in 
 the scabbard, like one who dances with a sword on, which was 
 formerly the custom in England. It is alluded to in All's Well 
 that Ends Well, 11. i. ^2, t,^' " No sword worn, but one to dance 
 with ! " 
 
 52-54. How I convey my shame, etc. : — How, by looking another 
 way, I withdraw my ignominy from your sight. 
 
 Scene XIII. 
 
 47. [Enter Thyreus.] Cleopatra's entertainment of Thyreus is 
 her most salient insincerity, and it is hard to decide how far this 
 might not have proceeded. It was a yielding to temptation, if it 
 was anything — the temptation of the ruling passion to fascinate 
 and influence the powerful. Distinct plan is not to be considered 
 in the matter. 
 
 55. he is Caesar : — So the second Folio. The first Folio has, 
 
 184
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 '' than he is C?esar's," which brings obscurity. "Wg Have a clear 
 meaning in the present reading : " Caesar entreats, that at the 
 same time you consider your desperate fortunes, you would con- 
 sider that he is Csesar: that is, generous and forgiving, able and 
 willing to restore them." 
 
 127. the hill of Basan: — This is an allusion to the Psalms: 
 " An high hill as the hill of Basan." The idea of the horned herd 
 below is also from the same source : " Many oxen are come about 
 me : fat bulls of Basan close me in on every side." It is not easy^ 
 to surmise how Shakespeare came to have such allusions in g 
 play like this. 
 
 162. CcEsarion : — Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar. 
 
 167. / am satisfied : — Antony surprises Cleopatra unmistakably 
 encouraging the messenger of Csesar, and vents his rage upon the 
 messenger by scourging, and his anger in high reproaches and 
 complaints; and then, as soon as the queen can gain a hearing 
 for honeyed words and high protestation, he is soothed and satis- 
 fied at once, and turns again to his old revelry that she had 
 taught him and so often shared. 
 
 183. Feast days, in the colleges of either university, are called 
 gaudy days, as they were formerly in the inns of court. " From 
 gaudiitni.' jays Blount, "because, to sa3^ truth, they are days of 
 joy, as bringing good cheer :o the -lungry students." 
 
 ACT FOURTH. 
 Scene I. 
 
 5. I have many other zvays to die : — Hanmer, conforming the 
 text to the story of Plutarch, read, " He hath many other ways," 
 etc. This is certainly the sense of Plutarch, and given so in 
 modern translations ; but Shakespeare perhaps was misled by the 
 ambiguity of the old one : " Antonius sent again to challenge 
 Caesar to fight him : Csesar answered, that he had many other 
 ways to die than so.'' 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 8. Take all : — Let the survivor take all ; no composition ; victory 
 or death. So in King Lear, III. i. 15 : " And bids what will take 
 all." 
 
 26, 27. " Or if you see me more, you will see me a mangled 
 
 185
 
 Notes ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 shadow, only the external form of what I was." The thought 
 is, as usual, taken from North's Plutarch. 
 
 35. onion-cycd : — We have a similar allusion in I. ii, 172. 
 38. Grace grozv where those drops fall: — So in Richard II., III. 
 iv, 104, 105 : — 
 
 " Here did she fall a tear ; here in this place 
 I '11 set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace." 
 
 Scene III. 
 
 23. Let 's see how it will give off : — This is from Plutarch : 
 " Within a little of midnight, when all the citie was quiet, full 
 of feare, and sorrowe, thinking what would be the issue and end 
 of this warre, it is saide that sodainely they heard a marvellous 
 sweete harmonic of sundry sortes of instruments of musicke, 
 with the cry of a multitude of people as they had beene dauncinge, 
 and had sung as they use in Bacchus feastes, with movings and 
 turnings after the manner of the satyres : and it seemed that this 
 daunce went through the city unto the gate that opened to the 
 enemies, and that all the troupe that made this noise they heard 
 went out of the city at that gate. Now such as in reason sought 
 the interpretacion of this wonder, thought that it was the god 
 unto whom Antonius bare singular devotion to counterfeate and 
 resemble him, that did forsake them." 
 
 3cene V. 
 
 I. This and some subsequent speeches are given to Eros in the 
 Folios. Theobald assigned them to the soldier, at the suggestion 
 of Thirlby. 
 
 Scene VI. 
 
 6, 7. the three-nook'd world, etc. : — The meaning is, that the 
 three-cornered world shall then enjoy the blessings of peace un- 
 disturbed. So in King John, V. vii. 116, 117: — 
 
 " Come the three corners of the world in arms, 
 And we shall shock them." 
 And for a like allusion to the olive see 2 Henry IV., IV. iv. 87: 
 " But Peace puts forth her olive every where." What is the ex- 
 planation of a three-cornered world, according to the notions of 
 our ancestors ? It has never been satisfactorily given. 
 
 m
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 Scene VIII. 
 
 22. Get goal for goal of. youth : — At all plays of barriers the 
 boundary is called a goal. To zvin a goal is to be superior in a 
 contest of activity. 
 
 Scene X. 
 
 3, 4. As Brandes remarks, " Antony fights his last battle with 
 Macbeth's Berserk fury, facing with savage bravery what he 
 knows to be invincibly superior force." 
 
 7. They have put forth the haven: — The gap in this line has 
 been filled in various ways by different editors : Rowe, further 
 on; Capell. hie we on; Malone, let's seek a spot; Dyce. forward, 
 iiozv (adopted by Rolfe) ; White, ascend zve then ; Hudson, mount 
 we, then. It should seem that any of these additions might 
 answer well enough for the ordinary reader, whom the present 
 text, perhaps quite as wisely, leaves to his own ingenuity. 
 
 Scene XII. 
 
 27. Whose bosom was my crozvnet: — "That which I looked to 
 as the reward or crown of my endeavours." The allusion is to 
 tinis coronal opus. 
 
 28. Like a right gipsy: — Three times in Shakespeare (Romeo 
 and Juliet, II. iv., and Antony and Cleopatra, I. i. and IV. xii.) 
 Cleopatra is slightingly called gipsy, probably from the word's 
 resemblance in sound to Egyptian. But there was a certain sig- 
 nificance in this word-play; for the high-mindedness of the prin- 
 cess and the fickleness of the gipsy were mysteriously combined 
 in her nature. 
 
 Scene XIV. 
 
 8. vesper's pageants: — The beauty both of the expression and 
 the allusion in this theatrical figure is lost, unless we recollect 
 the frequency and the nature of these shows in Shakespeare's 
 age. The following apposite passage from a sermon, by Bishop 
 Hall, is cited by Boswell : "I feare some of you are like the 
 pageants of your great solemnities, wherein there is a show of a 
 solid body, whether of a lyon, or elephant, or unicorne ; but if 
 they be curiously look'd into, there is nothing but cloth, and 
 
 187
 
 Notes ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 sticks, and ayre." "This ic, without dotib':/' sayc Hazlitt, "ono 
 of the finest pieces of poetry in Shakespeare. The cplendour oi 
 i^he imagery, the semblance of reality, the lofty range of pic- 
 ,Liresque objects hanging over the world, their evanescent na- 
 ture, the total uncertainty of v/hat is left behind — arc just like 
 the mouldering schemes of human greatness.' 
 
 10. The fleeting away of the clouds destroys the oicture. 
 
 19. To pack the cards was often used metaphorically for con- 
 triving together to deceive another. The Poet means that 
 Cleopatra, by collusion, played the great game they were engaged 
 in falsely, so as to sacrifice Antony's fame to that of his enemy. 
 
 53. Dido and her ^neas: — it has been remarked that Dido and 
 ^Eneas were not likely to be found thus lovingly associated. 
 Either the Poet forgot Virgil's celebrated description in the sixth 
 iook of the ^^neid, or confounded ^neas with Sich:eu3 inad- 
 vertently. 
 
 60. Less noble mind must be understood as if written lesc noble- 
 minded, as some editors have it. Plutarch gives the passage thus : 
 " O Cleopatra, it grieveth me not that I have lost thy company, 
 for I will not be long from thee; but I am sory that, navinj 
 bene so great a captaine and emperor, I am indeed condemned 
 to be judged of lesse courage and noble mind then a woman." 
 
 76, 77. branded, etc. : — Branded with b_aseness him who tin. 
 followed. 
 
 Scene XV. 
 
 9-11. It should be remembered that, according to the old phi- 
 losophy, the sun was accounted a planet, and thought to be 
 whirled round the earth by the motion of a solid sphere in which 
 it was fixed. Supposing this consumed, the sun must wander in 
 endless space, and the earth be involved in endless night. 
 
 62. [Antony dies.] When Antony and Cleopatra perished with 
 each other, she was in her thirty-ninth, he in his fifty-fourth year. 
 She was thus almost uirec "imec as old as Tuliet, he more than 
 double the age of Romeo. 
 
 74. Chares: — This word — now spelt and pronounced chores — 
 is used by Shakespeare only here and in V. ii. 231 of this play. 
 It was long ago used, as it still is provincially, to denote odd 
 jobs of work, especially daily tasks in domestic or farm service, 
 and the like. So ig Heywcod's Brazen Age, 1613 : "She, like 
 a good wife, ic t;er.chine hor servantc sundry chares."
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 ACT FIFTH. 
 Scene I. 
 
 5. Appear thus: — That is. with a drawn and bloody sword in 
 thy hand. 
 
 47,48. should divide, etc.: — That is, should have made us, in 
 our equality of fortune, disagree to a pitch like this, that one of 
 us must die. 
 
 52. A poor Egyptian yet:—Th2Lt is, yet an Egyptian, or subject 
 of the Queen of Egypt, though soon to become a subject of Rome. 
 
 Scene II. 
 
 4-8. and it is great, etc. : — The meaning appears to be that vol- 
 untary death is an act which bolts up change ; it produces a state 
 which has no longer need of gross terrene sustenance, in the use 
 of which Caesar and the beggar are on a level. "Nurse," says 
 Hudson, " appears to be used here for nourishment. Cleopatra is 
 speaking contemptuously of this life, as if anything that depends 
 upon such coarse vulgar feeding were not worth keeping." Hud- 
 son, of course, reads dung instead of dug. On this alternative 
 White, who also retains dung, remarks : " Warburton r^ad ' the 
 dug.' The correction is of the obvious sort, and is indicated by 
 ' palates ' and ' nurse,' as well as by the similarity in form between 
 the original and the substituted word. But as I am unable to dis- 
 cern what is the dug which is the ' beggar's nurse and Caesar's,' and 
 as the word in the text is expressive of the speaker's bitter disgust 
 of life, I make no change." 
 
 29, 30. " In yielding to him I only give him that honour which 
 he himself has achieved." 
 
 35. [Here Proculeius, etc.] " This stage direction," says White, 
 " is not in the Folio, but is formed upon the corresponding passage 
 in North's Plutarch. The scene is one which it is almost impossi- 
 ble to play upon a modern stage ; but in Shakespeare's day, when 
 they could ' make believe ' as hard as Mr. Richard Swiveller's 
 little Marchioness did over her orange peel and water, there was 
 no such difficulty." " Proculeius," says Plutarch, " came to the 
 gates that were very thicke and strong, and surely barred ; but 
 yet there were some cranews through the which her voyce might 
 be heard, and so they without understood that Cleopatra de- 
 
 189
 
 Notes ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 maunded the kingdome of Egypt for her sonnes ; and that Procu- 
 leius aunswered her, that she should be of good cheere, and not be 
 afifrayed to refer all unto Caesar, After he had viewed the place very 
 well, he came and reported her aunswere unto Caesar : who imme- 
 diately sent Callus to speak once againe with her, and bad him 
 purposely hold her with talk, wdiilst Proculeius did set up a ladder 
 against that high windows, by the w^hich Antonius was tressed up, 
 and came down into the monument with two of his men, hard by 
 the gate, where Cleopatra stood to hear what Callus said unto her. 
 One of her women shrieked out, O poore Cleopatra, thou art ta- 
 ken. Then when she sawe Proculeius behind her, as she came 
 from the gate, she thought to have stabbed herself with a short 
 dagger she wore of purpose by her side. But Proculeius came 
 sodainly upon her, and taking her by both hands, sayd unto her, 
 Cleopatra, first thou shalt doe thyselfe greate wrong, and secondly 
 unto Caesar, to deprive him of the occasion and opportunitie 
 openlie to shew his bounty and mercie, and to give his enemies 
 cause to accuse the most courteous and noble prince that ever was, 
 and to appeach him as though he were a cruel and mercilesse man 
 that were not to be trusted. So even as he spake the word he 
 tooke her dagger from her, and shooke her clothes for fear of any 
 poison hid aboute her." 
 
 50. Once is used by Shakespeare for one time, some time, any 
 time. We may take the meaning of this line, which Singer placed 
 in parenthesis, to be, " If idle talk about my purposes be necessary 
 for the nonce." Johnson has shown that zvill be is often used in 
 conversation without relation to the future. 
 
 174. My chance: — Most editors have retained this reading, the 
 meaning of which can only be that her native fire, which is now 
 so overlaid with the ashes of misfortune as to seem extinguished, 
 will flame up through them. Chaucer has a similar image : " Yet 
 in our ashen cold is fire yreken." And in Gray's Elegy : " E'en 
 in our ashes live their wonted fires." But Hudson (Harvard 
 ed.) in following Dr. Ingleby and substituting glance for chance 
 persuasively argues that her native fire might flame up through 
 the ashes of her former hearty and burn in her eyes. 
 
 185. Make not your thoughts your prisons: — Be not a prisoner 
 in imagination. 
 
 229. Sirrah was not anciently an appellation either reproachful 
 or injurious; being applied, with a sort of playful kindness, to 
 children, friends, and servants, and, what may seem more extra- 
 ordinary, as in the present case, to women. 
 
 190
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Notes 
 
 240. Fleeting is another form of flitting ; is changeable, incon- 
 stant. 
 
 243. Worm was commonly used for serpent. The word is pure 
 Saxon. We have it still in the hlindzvorm and slowworm. Shake- 
 speare uses it several times. The notion of a serpent that caused 
 death without pain was an ancient fable, and is here adopted with 
 propriety. The worm of Nile was the asp of the ancients, which 
 is wholly unknown to us. 
 
 256. 257. he that zvill believe, etc. : — Warburton observes that 
 "Shakespeare's clowns are always jokers, and deal in sly satire": 
 but he would have all and half change places. The confusion was 
 probably designed to heighten the humour of the clown's speech. 
 
 289. / am fire and air: — According to the old philosophy there 
 were four elements, fire, air, earth, and water, of which all 
 things were composed. In Henry V., III. vii. 22-24, the Dauphin 
 describes his horse thus: "He is pure air and fire; and the dull 
 elements of earth and water never appear in him." 
 
 293. aspic : — Iras must be supposed to have applied an asp to 
 her arm while her mistress was settling her dress, to account for 
 her falling so soon. 
 
 313. [Dies.] Notwithstanding that the folly of Antony and the 
 falsehood of the Egyptian Queen are made most manifest, the 
 modified triumph of the piece is theirs, and Caesar and his soldiers 
 are left duped and defied and disappointed. 
 
 319. and then play: — Charmian perhaps remembers the words 
 of her mistress (231, 232) : " When thou hast done this chare I '11 
 give thee leave to play till doomsday." 
 
 352-3SS- ^^ost probable . . . die: — The following, somewhat 
 condensed, is from the account given by Plutarch : " Cleopatra 
 was very carefull in gathering all sorts of poisons together, to 
 destroy men. Now, to make proofe of those poisons which made 
 men die with least paine, she tried it upon condemned men in 
 prison. She afterwards went about to prove the stinging of 
 snakes and adders, and made some to be applyed unto men in her 
 sight. So, when she had daily made diverse and sundry proofes, 
 she found none of them all so fit as the biting of an aspicke ; the 
 which causeth only a heavinesse of the head, without swouning 
 or complaining, and bringeth also a great desire to sleepe, with a 
 sweate in the face ; and so by litle and litle taketh away the senses 
 and vitall powers, no living creature perceiving that the patients 
 feel any paine." 
 
 191
 
 AKTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Questions on 
 Antony acnd Cleopatra. 
 
 1. What is the date of composition? To what period of Shake- 
 speare's development does it belong, and before and after what 
 plays does it come? 
 
 2. Where did Shakespeare derive the materials of his plot? 
 What elements of the play are due to the dramatist's own genius? 
 What other plays have been written on the same subject? 
 
 3. How much time is covered by the action? What historic 
 period is embraced in the limits of the action? 
 
 ACT FIRST. 
 
 4. How is the plot subsumed in the opening speech? Is there 
 disregard of convention in bringing the two protagonists at once 
 upon the stage? 
 
 5. What is the passion at once introduced ? What other motive 
 is it quickly brought in conflict with? Who is Fulvia? How 
 does Antony receive Cleopatra's references to her? 
 
 6. What political relation did Egypt bear to Rome at this time? 
 Who was emperor at Rome? What was his age; Antony's 
 previous relations with him? 
 
 7. What was Antony's mission in the East? Officially what 
 position did Antony hold in the Roman state? What is the nature 
 of his utterance in Sc. ii., 97-100? 
 
 8. Who was Labienus? What is the recital of his achievements 
 in the East designed to point out? What effect does the news 
 have upon the mood of Antony? 
 
 9. What do you learn of the character of Fulvia? What had 
 been her influence over Antony? How had the effect of this 
 influence made him an easier mark for Cleopatra? How did 
 Fulvia's death affect Antony? 
 
 10. How does Enobarbus meet Antony's determination to de- 
 part? What besides the death of Fulvia incited Antony to leave 
 Egypt? Were his personal fortunes endangered? 
 
 192
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Questions 
 
 11. What direction does Antony give to Enobarbus at the end 
 of Sc. ii. ? 
 
 12. What had induced in Cleopatra the mood she displays at the 
 beginning of Sc. iii. ? What trait of character does it show? 
 
 13. What statement of political conditions does Antony give 
 Cleopatra? Could Cleopatra feel any personal interest in the 
 recital? Had she the mind of a ruler? 
 
 14. Has Antony yet realized the strength of his thralldom under 
 Cleopatra? What two opinions of Antony do you get at the open- 
 ing of Sc. iv. ? How much of each was just and how much due to 
 the personal temper of the speakers? 
 
 15. Who was Lepidus? What was his relation to Octavius and 
 Antony ? 
 
 16. How large a stage does Sc. iv. set for the enveloping action? 
 Are they historic facts that Caesar mentions in lines 56-71 ? 
 
 17. What means line 69 : It wounds thine honour that I speak 
 it now? 
 
 18. What feeling overtakes Cleopatra in Antony's absence? 
 What is the nature of her jests? How does she describe herself? 
 How much is truth and how much historic exaggeration? To 
 what do her words concerning Caesar and Pompey refer? 
 
 19. How has Cleopatra contrived to get news of Antony during 
 his absence? Do you call this passion of Cleopatra love? Does 
 she so call it? How might it be named? 
 
 20. What has the first Act established as the motif of the play? 
 What means are employed to suggest infinite proportions ? 
 
 ACT SECOND. 
 
 21. Is Sc. i. the only one in the play in which Pompey and his 
 associates absorb the action? May this departure from the prin- 
 ciples of dramatic composition be said to violate the unity of the 
 action? How is coordination effected and the plot advanced by 
 regarding this Scene as corresponding to a Greek chorus? 
 
 22. What really fresh point of view do we get ? 
 
 23. Was the quarrel with Pompey worthy the steel of the three 
 triumvirs? 
 
 24. What view of Antony's soldiership do we derive from 
 Pompey ? 
 
 25. Antony says to Csesar (Sc. ii. 63), The third o' the world is 
 yours : which third? What parts went to the other triumvirs? 
 
 193
 
 Questions ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 26. What are the causes of difference between Octavius and 
 Antony? Who comes out the better in their quarrel ? What traits 
 of character does each display? 
 
 2"]. What humour is in Enobarbus? 
 
 28. What bond of friendship is proposed by Agrippa? What 
 social custom of Rome do we see in the plighting of Octavia? 
 Was Antony even half-hearted in his acceptance? 
 
 29. What scrupulousness of honour does he display in regard to 
 Pompey ? 
 
 30. Locate Mount Alisenum. 
 
 31. Give the use of the word fame in line 165. Did Shakespeare 
 invent Enobarbus's description of Cleopatra upon the river of 
 Cy duns'? 
 
 32. What comment on Antony's susceptibility does Enobarbus 
 make? Does anj^body aside from Enobarbus thofoughly under- 
 stand Antony? 
 
 2,2>- What impression do you get of Octavia (Sc. iii.) on her first 
 entrance ? 
 
 34. If the soothsayer had reported differently, had Antony force 
 of character enough to pursue the changed course of his actions? 
 
 35. Against whom was Ventidius's expedition to Parthia? 
 2)6. Sc. iv. represents the setting forth in which direction? 
 
 27. What line of another play of Shakespeare's does the first of 
 Sc. v. suggest? 
 
 38. What anachronism does this Scene contain? 
 
 39. Do you see any suggestion of cruelty in Cleopatra's nature 
 embodied in her description of the fishing? What is the incident 
 Cleopatra and Charmian here recall ? Explain Cleopatra's prob- 
 able meaning in calling Antony's sword Philippan. 
 
 40. Compare the scene where Cleopatra receives the messenger 
 from Rome with some modern play of similar type — say Sardou'? 
 La Tosca. Has Shakespeare been excelled in emotional pitch? 
 What passions here contend for mastery in Cleopatra ? Cleopatra's 
 impatience for news defeats her means of getting it: could this 
 trait be properly attributed to a man? In her descent to violence 
 with the messengers can you still apply the words of Enobarbus 
 that vilest things become themselves in her? 
 
 41. Where was Misenum? What was the purpose of the meet- 
 ing (Sc. vi.) of the generals? What special cause of quarrel had 
 Pompey with Mark Antony? Was it on account of the strange 
 courtesies that Antony previously referred to? 
 
 42. What new view of Enobarbus do you get from Pompey? 
 
 194
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Questions 
 
 What prophesies of future events does Enobarbus make to Menas? 
 Do we feel the force and truth of these observations? Is Eno- 
 barbus the perfect type of the man of the world? 
 
 43. Explain the meaning of vii. 5 applied to Lepidus, They have 
 made him drink alms-drink'^ Is there dramatic reality in this 
 colloquy of the servants ; that is. is not the pitch too high for what 
 might rationally be expected of servants? What function as 
 "machinery" may they be said to perform? Do you find here 
 the key struck for the succeeding dialogue in which Lepidus fig- 
 ures? Does this dialogue indicate the status of Lepidus among 
 the triumvirs? 
 
 44. What does Menas propose to Pompey? Why does Pompey 
 reply. In me 'tis villany? May we believe that Pompey's only 
 motive for not entertaining Menas's proposal was the one he 
 alleges? 
 
 45. Who seeks, and will not take when once 'tis offer'd, shall 
 never find it more: Where in another often quoted phrase has 
 Shakespeare uttered the same thought? 
 
 46. Do we discover Enobarbus, to be a wit equal, let us say, to 
 Touchstone? 
 
 ACT THIRD. 
 
 47. What is the dramatic purpose of Sc. i. ? Who was Marcus 
 Crassus? How does this Scene extend the stage of action back of 
 the limits of the present play? Is there justification for so doing? 
 
 48. W^hat worldly wisdom does Ventidius display? 
 
 49. What is the temper of Enobarbus's words in his dialogue 
 with Agrippa (Sc. ii.) ? 
 
 50. What parting injunction respecting Octavia does Caesar give 
 Antony? What effect has it on Antony? Is the auditor sensible 
 of a certain irony in the situation whenever these new marital 
 relations of Antony are presented? 
 
 51. What is the effect of Sc. iii. in building up to the final 
 catastrophe ? 
 
 52. What new difference arises between Csesar and Antony? 
 
 53. What mission is Octavia about to undertake as discussed by 
 her and Antony in Sc. iv. ? 
 
 54. What is the dramatic purpose of Sc. v.? ^ 
 
 55. Where is Antony when Csesar accuses him in Sc. vi.? 
 
 56. What do we learn of the developing fortunes of the tri- 
 umvirs ? 
 
 195
 
 Questions ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 57. What is the aesthetic effect of the list of kings of the earth 
 recited (vi. 68-76) by Caesar? 
 
 58. What event has intervened before Scs. vi. and vii. ? 
 
 59. What was the report current in Rome about the management 
 of the war? 
 
 60. What advice did Antony get from his generals respecting 
 the approaching fight ? How does his conduct towards them point 
 to his deterioration? 
 
 61. What was the condition of the fight when Cleopatra fled 
 from the battle? 
 
 62. What does Enobarbus say about his continued allegiance to 
 Antony ? 
 
 63. What noble traits does Antony show in his shame? Do 
 Antony's reproaches to Cleopatra at all lift the shame from his 
 shoulders? 
 
 64. What overtures are sent by both Antony and Cleopatra to 
 Caesar? What is the reply of Caesar? In what light does Caesar's 
 commission to Thyreus show up his previous judgement upon 
 Antony and Cleopatra? 
 
 65. Did Cleopatra expect such answer as Enobarbus gave to her 
 inquiry in Sc. xiii.? 
 
 66. What challenge did Antony send Caesar after the receipt of 
 Euphronius's message? What message does Thyreus bring? How 
 is he answered by Cleopatra? How does she show her incon- 
 stancy ? 
 
 67. In the reconciliation with Antony does Cleopatra employ 
 deceit? 
 
 ACT FOURTH. 
 
 68. How does Ccesar receive Mark Antony's return of his mes- 
 senger? 
 
 69. What does Sc. ii. show Antony to have lost? 
 
 70. What effect of mystery does Sc. iii. convey? 
 
 71. Is there return of the old Antony in his farewell to Cleo- 
 patra before going to battle? 
 
 72. Is there dramatic fitness in the way the desertion of Eno- 
 barbus is finally accomplished? Does it strengthen the feeling of 
 the ruin that falls about Antony? What did Mark Antony do 
 after hearing of it ? 
 
 72. What was the result of the first day's fight? 
 
 196
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA Questions 
 
 74. What was the end of Enobarbus? Who, if any, was nobler 
 or saner than he? 
 
 75. In Sc. xii. is there dignity in the anger of Antony against 
 Cleopatra? Why does Cleopatra escape without attempting de- 
 fence? What was Cleopatra's last supreme device for winning 
 Antony? What is the effect on Antony of the news that Cleopatra 
 is dead ? Is it " divine despair " ? 
 
 76. What service does Antony demand (Sc. xiv.) of Eros? 
 What comment on Antony's reputation does Eros furnish in his 
 self-sacrifice? 
 
 'j/y. How does Dercetas hope to profit through Antony's death? 
 What message does Diomedes bring to the wounded Antony? 
 
 78. What was the "monument"? What poetic refrain (Sc. 
 XV.) does Antony utter? 
 
 79. What are Cleopatra's parting words to the dead Antony? 
 What suggestion do they give of her infatuation? What supreme 
 touch of poetry is given in lines 66-68? 
 
 80. Has Cleopatra uttered any more elevated sentiments than 
 those with which the Act closes? Does Cleopatra justify suicide 
 for her own case? Considered dramatically and historically, has 
 this questioning of the sin of suicide any fitness in Cleopatra's 
 utterance? Do we possibly derive here some insight into the 
 secret working of Shakespeare's belief? 
 
 ACT FIFTH. 
 
 81. How does Caesar receive the news of Antony's death? 
 
 82. What comment on Octavius does Agrippa utter? 
 
 83. What misgiving concerning Cleopatra does the entrance of 
 the Egyptian at the particular moment when Antony's praises are 
 sung, make on the reader ? 
 
 84. What effect is produced by recalling the message with which 
 Dolabella is sent? 
 
 85. What estimate of Caesar does Cleopatra make in the opening 
 of Sc. ii.? Do you feel it just? What estimate has Caesar of 
 Cleopatra? How does he design to use her? Where did Antony 
 bespeak trust in Proculeius, and why? What does Cleopatra ask 
 of Caesar? 
 
 86. What alternative does Cleopatra prefer to going to Rome in 
 the train of Caesar? Who informs Cleopatra of Caesar's determi- 
 nation concerning her future? What warning does Caesar give 
 her at their meeting? What trick of Caesar was revealed by 
 
 197
 
 Questions ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 Seleucus? Has Cleopatra's picture of the play at Rome historic 
 or Elizabethan significance? 
 
 87. For inconsequence of speech, what others of Shakespeare's 
 creations does the Clown resemble? What view of Cleopatra do 
 you get, in that she could jest with a simple clown amid the ruin 
 of her fortunes? Compare the self-slaughter of Cleopatra with 
 that of Juliet. Which showed more courage ? 
 
 88. What similarity of theme do you notice between this play 
 and Macbeth ? Is this an action or a passion drama? Has Shake- 
 speare ever before chosen so large a stage for his action? 
 
 89. How does this play supplement Julius Cccsar? 
 
 90. Compare Romeo and Juliet with this play and state any 
 points of similarity or contrast. Which is the greater play? 
 
 91. How closely does Shakespeare hold to Plutarch's narrative? 
 
 92. Does the play seem overcrowded with minor characters ? 
 
 93. How does the character of Antony as displayed in Julius 
 Ccesar compare with the Antony of the present play? 
 
 94. Which side is the real Antony, the soldier or the artist- 
 bohemian ? 
 
 95. How in this play does Shakespeare make you feel the force 
 of the qualities of Antony that the play of Julius Ccesar is more 
 occupied with? Make a list of the descriptive epithets you find 
 applied to him by the people of the play, and compare them with 
 the impressions you have received of him. 
 
 96. Make a list of the descriptive epithets you find applied to 
 Cleopatra. Do you feel the truth of these in the person that 
 Shakespeare portrays? 
 
 97. In Dryden's All for Love Octavia and Cleopatra are made 
 to meet and indulge in recrimination. Do you feel that Shake- 
 speare shows the finer art in keeping them apart? 
 
 98. Do you find that Enobarbus possesses traits in common with 
 Hamlet, or Charles II., or Dean Swift? 
 
 99. W^hat underlying principle of the philosophy of life does 
 Shakespeare inculcate in this play? 
 
 100. What can you say of the purely artistic or imaginative 
 qualities of the play? Does it contain as beautiful poetry as, for 
 instance, Macbeth! Is it overmatched in Oriental opulence of 
 colour by any other play — say Othello"^ Notice the frequency 
 with which the moon is referred to. What effect of mystery is 
 thus obtained? 
 
 198
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES 
 
 L 009 978 328 4