CES.

Antony

Go, charge Agrippa Plant those that have revolted in the van, That Antony may seem to spend his fury Upon himself. [Exeunt all except ENOBARBUS. ENO. Alexas did revolt; and went to Jewry on Affairs of Antony; there did persuade* Great Herod to incline himself to Cæsar, And leave his master Antony: for this pains, Cæsar hath hang'd him. 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.

ENO. I am alone the villain of the earth,
And feel I am so most. O, Antony,
Thou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid
My better service, when my turpitude [heart:
Thou dost so crown with gold! This blows my
If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean
Shall outstrike thought: but thought will do 't,
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.

I

[Exit.

Had we done so at first, we had driven them home
With clouts about their heads.
Thou bleed'st apace.

ANT.

SCAR. I had a wound here that was like a T, But now 't is made an II.

ANT.

They do retire. SCAR. We'll beat 'em into bench-holes: I have yet

Room for six scotches more.

Enter EROS.

EROS. They are beaten, sir; and our advantage For a fair victory.

SCAR.

serves

Let us score their backs, And snatch 'em up, as we take hares, behind; 'Tis sport to maul a runner.

ANT.

Once for thy spritely For thy good valour. SCAR.

I will reward thee

comfort, and ten-fold

Come thee on.

I'll halt after. [Exeunt.

SCENE VIII.-Under the Walls of Alexandria. Alarum. Enter ANTONY, marching; SCARUS, and Forces.

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'll spill the blood
That has to-day escap'd. I thank you all;
For doughty-handed are you, and have fought
Not as you serv'd 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.-Give me thy hand;
[To SCARUS.

Enter CLEOPATRA, attended.

e

To this great fairy I'll commend thy acts,
Make her thanks bless thee.-O, thou day o' the

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'll give thee, friend,
An armour all of gold; it was a king's.(1)
ANT. He has deserv'd it, were it carbuncled
Like holy Phoebus' car.-Give me thy hand :-
Through Alexandria make a jolly march:

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; b
That heaven and earth may strike their sounds
together
Applauding our approach.

SCENE IX.- Cæsar's Camp.

Sentinels at their post.

[Exeunt.

ANT. Yet they are not join'd: where yond pine does stand,

I shall discover all: I'll bring thee word

2 SOLD.

Go we to him.

SCAR.

[Exit. 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.

[Exeunt with the body.

[Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight.

Re-enter ANTONY.

All is lost!

This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me!
My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
They cast their caps up, and carouse together
Like friends long lost!-Triple-turn'd whore!
'tis thou

(*) First folio, auguries.

parenthetically, though there can be little doubt some words after "haven" have been accidentally omitted. Rowe supplied the presumptive deficiency by reading, "Further on;' Capell, by Hie we on:" Malone, by "Let's seek a spot; " Tyrwhitt, by "Let us go; " and Mr. Dyce, by Forward now." The last, slightly altered to "forward then," strikes us as preferable to any of the other additions.

d But being charg'd,-] "But" seems to be used here in its exceptive sense-unless or without.

e Triple-turn'd-] From Julius Cæsar to Cneius Pompey, from Pompey to Antony, and, as he suspects now, from him to Octavius Cæsar.

Hast sold me to this novice; and my heart
Makes only wars on thee.-Bid them all fly!
For when I am reveng'd upon my charm,
I have done all:- bid them all fly! be gone!
[Exit SCARUS.

O sun, thy uprise shall I see no more!
Fortune and Antony part here; even here
Do we shake hands. All come to this?—The
hearts

That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave
Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets
On blossoming Cæsar; 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,"
Beguil'd me to the very heart of loss.—
What, Eros, Eros!

well thou 'rt gone,

If it be well to live: but better 't were
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 the heaviest club,

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!

(*) First folio, pannelled. Corrected by Hanmer. (1) Old text, dolts. Corrected by Warburton.

[Exit.

a O, this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm,-] Mr. Collier's annotator would read,

"O, this false spell of Egypt, this great charm."

Spell is very plausible; but "great charm" is infinitely less expressive and appropriate than "grave charm," i.e. pernicious, deadly, fatal sorceress.

bfast and loose,-] A cheating game similar to what is now

vapour sometime like a bear or lion,

A tower'd citadel, a pendent rock,

A forked mountain, or blue promontory

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

called pricking at the belt or girdle.

e Subdue my worthiest self] The commentators, excepting Hanmer, have not suspected any corruption here; but would Antony, in this hour of bitter remorse, speak of his "worthiest self"? He might have said, "my worthless self;" yet the contex, "the witch shall die," makes it more probable he is thinking of Cleopatra, and that what the author wrote was, "Subdue my worthless elf." Elf being synonymous with witch or fairy.

d

the boar of Thessaly-] The boar killed by Meleager. e-emboss'd.] See note (a), p. 228, Vol. I.

ANT. Unarm, Eros; the long day's task is done,

And we must sleep!-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,
Crack thy frail case!-Apace, Eros, apace!—
No more a soldier:-bruised pieces, go;
You have been nobly borne.-From me a while.-
[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:

Where souls do couch on flowers, we 'll hand in hand,

And with our sprightly port make the ghosts

gaze:

(*) First folio, Cæsars.