I could do more to do Antonius good, SIL. Thou haft, Ventidius, That without which a foldier, and his sword, Grants scarce diftinction. Thou wilt write to An tony? 8 VEN. I'll humbly fignify what in his name, That magical word of war, we have effected; How, with his banners, and his well-paid ranks, The ne'er-yet-beaten horfe of Parthia We have jaded out o' the field. SIL. Where is he now? VEN. He purpofeth to Athens: whither with what hafte The weight we must convey with us will permit, We fhall appear before him.-On, there; pafs along. [Exeunt. 1 That without which -] Here again, regardless of metre, the old copies read: That without the which -. STEEVENS. 8 That without which a foldier, and his fword, Grants fcarce diftin&tion.] Grant, for afford. It is badly and obfcurely expreffed: but the fenfe is this, Thou haft that, Ventidius, which if thou didst want, there would be no diftinction between thee and thy fword. You would be both equally cutting and fenfelefs. This was wifdom or knowledge of the world. Ventidius had told him the reasons why he did not pursue his advantages: and his friend, by this compliment, acknowledges them to be of weight. WARBURTON, We have fomewhat of the fame idea in Coriolanus: "Who, fenfible, outdares his fenfelefs fword." STEEVENS. SCENE II. Rome. An Ante-chamber in Cæfar's Houfe. Enter AGRIPPA, and ENOBARBUS, meeting. AGR. What, are the brothers parted? ENO. They have despatch'd with Pompey, he is gone; The other three are fealing. Octavia weeps AGR. 'Tis a noble Lepidus. ENO. A very fine one: O, how he loves Cæfar! AGR. Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony! ENO. Cæfar? Why, he's the Jupiter of men. AGR. O Antony! O'thou Arabian bird!2 ENO. Would you praise Cæfar, fay,-Cæfar ;go no further.3 9 How I believe, was here, as in another place in this play, printed by mistake, for ho. See alfo Vol. V. p. 532, n. 3. I perceive no need of alteration. STEEVENS. 2 Arabian bird!] The phoenix. JOHNSON. So again, in Cymbeline: ..3 She is alone the Arabian bird, and I "Have loft my wager." STEEVENS. MALONE. Cafar-go no further.] I fufpect that this line was de AGR. Indeed, he ply'd them both with excellent praises. ENO. But he loves Cæfar beft;-Yet he loves Antony: Ho! hearts, tongues, figures, fcribes, bards, poets,' cannot Think, fpeak, caft, write, fing, number, ho, his love figned to be metrical, and that (omitting the impertinent go) we fhould read: Would you praife Cafar, fay-Cafar;-no further. STEEVENS. 3 bards, poets,] Not only the tautology of bards and poets, but the want of a correfpondent action for the poet, whofe bufinefs in the next line is only to number, makes me fufpect fome fault in this paffage, which I know not how to mend. JOHNSON. I fufpect no fault. The ancient bard fung his compofitions to the harp; the poet only commits them to paper. Verfes are often called numbers, and to number, a verb (in this fenfe) of Shakspeare's coining, is to make verfes. This puerile arrangement of words was much studied in the age of Shakspeare, even by the first writers. So, in An excellent Sonnet of a Nimph, by Sir P. Sidney; printed in England's Helicon, 1600: Vertue, beauty, and fpeach, did ftrike, wound, charme, Firft, fecond, laft, did binde, enforce, and arme, "His works, fhowes, futes, with wit, grace, and vowes-might: "Thus honour, liking, truft, much, farre, and deepe, "Held, pearft, poffeft, my judgement, fence, and will; "Till wrongs, contempt, deceite, did grow, fteale, creepe, "Bands, fauour, faith, to breake, defile, and kill. Then greefe, unkindnes, proofe, tooke, kindled, taught, "For nothing, time, nor place, can loofe, quench, cafe, Again, in Daniel's 11th Sonnet, 1594: "Yet I will weep, vow, pray to cruell fhee; To Antony. But as for Cæfar, Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder. AGR. Both he loves. ENO. They are his fhards, and he their beetle.* So, [Trumpets. This is to horfe.-Adieu, noble Agrippa. AGR. Good fortune, worthy foldier; and farewell. Enter CESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and OCTAVIA. ANT. No further, fir. CES. You take from me a great part of myfelf; " Ufe me well in it.-Sister, prove fuch a wife As my thoughts make thee, and as my furtheft band' Shall pafs on thy approof.-Moft noble Antony, Let not the piece of virtue,' which is fet Betwixt us, as the cement of our love, To keep it builded, be the ram, to batter 4 They are his fhards, and he their beetle.] i. e. They are the wings that raise this heavy lumpish infect from the ground. So, in Macbeth: 5 You take from me a great part of myself;] So, in The Tempest: I have given you here a third of my own life." STEEVENS. Again, in Troilus and Creffida: 6 "I have a kind of felf refides in you." MALONE. as my furtheft band] As I will venture the greatest pledge of fecurity, on the trial of thy conduct. JOHNSON. Band and bond in our author's time were fynonymous. See Vol. VII. p. 278, n. 4. MALONE. 7 — the piece of virtue,] So, in The Tempest: 3 "Thou art a piece of virtue" &c. STEEVENS. the cement of our love, To keep it builded,] So, in our author's 119th Sonnet: ENO. He were the worse for that, were he a horfe; 3 So is he, being a man. AGR. ENO. That year, indeed, he was troubled with a rheum; What willingly he did confound, he wail'd: 4 CES. No, fweet Octavia, You fhall hear from me ftill; the time fhall not Out-go my thinking on you. ANT. 3 were he a horfe;] A horfe is faid to have a cloud in his face, when he has a black or dark-coloured spot in his forehead between his eyes. This gives him a four look, and being fuppofed to indicate an ill-temper, is of course regarded as a great blemish. STEEVENS. 4 What willingly he did confound, he wail'd:] So, in Macbeth: wail his fall 66 "Whom I myself ftruck down." STEEVENS. To confound is to deftroy. See Vol. IX. p. 351. n. 8. MALONE. Believe it, till I weep too.] I have ventured to alter the tense of the verb here, against the authority of all the copies. There was no fenfe in it, I think, as it ftood before. THEOBALD. I am afraid there was better fenfe in this paffage as it originally ftood, than Mr. Theobald's alteration will afford us. Believe it, (fays Enobarbus,) that Antony did fo, i. e. that he wept over fuch an event, till you fee me weeping on the fame occafion, when I shall be obliged to you for putting fuch a conftruction on my tears, which, in reality, (like bis) will be tears of joy. I have replaced the old reading. Mr. Theobald reads-till I STEEVENS, wept too. |