Thou would'ft have mercy on me. CES. CLEO. Be it known, that we, misthought Forbear, Seleucus. [Exit SELEUCUs. the greateft, are For things that others do; and, when we fall, Are therefore to be pitied.' CES. Cleopatra, Not what you have referv'd, nor what acknowledg'd, Cæfar's no merchant, to make prize with you 7 Be it known, that we, the greateft, are misthought For things that others do; and, when we fall, We answer others' merits in our name, Are therefore to be pitied.] We fuffer at our higheft ftate of elevation in the thoughts of mankind for that which others do; and when we fall, thofe that contented themselves only to think ill before, call us to answer in our own names for the merits of others. We are therefore to be pitied. Merits is in this place taken in an ill fenfe, for actions meriting cenfure. JOHNSON. The plain meaning is this. The greatest of us are afperfed for things which others do; and when, by the decline of our power, we become in a condition to be queftioned, we are called to answer in our own names for the actions of other people. Merit is here ufed, as the word defert frequently is, to exprefs a certain degree of merit or demerit. A man may merit punishment as well as reward. M. MASON. As demerits was often ufed in Shakspeare's time as fynonymous to merit, so merit might have been used in the sense which we now affix to demerit; or the meaning may be only, we are called to account, and to answer in our own names for acts, with which others rather than we, deferve to be charged. MALONE. Make not your thoughts your prifons:] I once wished to read, For we intend fo to difpofe you, as Yourself shall give us counfel. Feed, and fleep: That we remain your friend; And fo adieu. CES. Not fo: Adieu. Exeunt CESAR, and his train. CLEO. He words me, girls, he words me, that I fhould 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; DOL. Madam, as thereto fworn by your com mand, Which my love makes religion to obey, I tell you this: Cæfar through Syria Do not deftroy yourfelf by mufing on your misfortune. Yet I would change nothing, as the old reading prefents a very proper fenfe. Be not a prifoner in imagination, when in reality you are free. JOHNSON. Make your best use of this: I have perform'd CLEO. I fhall remain your debtor. DOL. Dolabella, I your fervant. Adieu, good queen; I must attend on Cæfar. Thou, an Egyptian puppet, fhalt be shown IRAS. The gods forbid! CLEO. Nay, 'tis most certain, Iras: Saucy lictors Will catch at us, like ftrumpets; and fcald rhymers Ballad us out o' tune: the quick comedians * Ballad us out o' tune :] So, in The Rape of Lucrece: 66 thou "Shalt have thy trefpafs cited up in rhymes, 2 "And Jung by children in fucceeding times." MALONE. Scald was a word of contempt implying poverty, disease, and filth. JOHNSON. So, in The Merry Wives of Windfor, Evans calls the Hoft of the Garter "fcald, fcurvy companion;" and in King Henry V. Fluellen bestows the fame epithet on Pistol. STEEVENS. 2 - the quick comedians-] The gay inventive players. JOHNSON. Quick means here, rather ready than gay. M. MASON. The lively, inventive, quick-witted comedians. So," (ut meos quoque attingam,") in an ancient tract, entitled A briefe defcription of Ireland, made in this yeare, 1589, by Robert Payne, &c. 8vo. 1589" They are quick-witted, and of good conftitution of bodie." See p. 424, n. 5; and Vol. V. p. 228, n. 6. MALONE. Extemporally will ftage us, and present Shall be brought drunken forth, and I fhall fee IRAS. O the good gods! CLEO. Nay, that is certain. IRAS. I'll never see it; for, I am fure, my nails Are stronger than mine eyes. CLEO. Why, that's the way To fool their preparation, and to conquer Their most abfurd intents.4-Now, Charmian?— Enter CHARMIAN. Show me, my women, like a queen ;-Go fetch 3 boy my greatness-] The parts of women were acted on the ftage by boys. HANMER. Nafh, in Pierce Pennyleffe his Supplication, &c. 1595, fays, "Our players are not as the players beyond fea, a fort of fquirting bawdy comedians, that have whores and common courtefans to play women's parts," &c. To obviate the impropriety of men reprefenting women, T. Goff, in his tragedy of The Raging Turk, 1631, has no female character. STEEVENS. 4 Their most abfurd intents.] Why fhould Cleopatra call Cæfar's defigns abfurd? She could not think his intent of carrying her in triumph, fuch, with regard to his own glory: and her finding an expedient to disappoint him, could not bring it under that predicament. I much rather think the poet wrote, Their most affur'd intents i. e. the purpofes, which they make themselves most fure of accomplishing. THEOBALD. I have preferved the old reading. The defign certainly appeared abfurd enough to Cleopatra, both as the thought it unreasonable in itself, and as she knew it would fail. JOHNSON. To meet Mark Antony :-Sirrah, Iras, go.*- To play till dooms-day.-Bring our crown and all. GUARD. [Exit IRAS. A noife within. Enter one of the Guard. Here is a rural fellow, That will not be deny'd your highnefs' presence; He brings you figs. CLEO. Let him come in. How poor' an inftru ment [Exit Guard. May do a noble deed! he brings me liberty. My refolution's plac'd, and I have nothing Of woman in me: Now from head to foot I am marble-conftant: now the fleeting moon No planet is of mine." -Sirrah, Iras, go.] From hence it appears that Sirrah, an appellation generally addreffed to males, was equally applicable to females. STEEVENS. S How poor &c.] Thus the fecond folio. The first nonfenfically reads-What poor &c. STEEVENS. 6 now the fleeting moon No planet is of mine.] Alluding to the Ægyptian devotion paid to the moon under the name of Ifis. WARBURTON. me, I really believe that our poet was not at all acquainted with the devotion that the Egyptians paid to this planet under the name of Ifis; but that Cleopatra having faid, I have nothing of woman in added, by way of amplification, that she had not even the changes of difpofition peculiar to her fex, and which fometimes happen as frequently as thofe of the moon; or that she was not, like the fea, governed by the moon. So, in King Richard III: - I being govern'd by the watry moon, ," &c. Why fhould fhe fay on this occafion that the no longer made ufe of the forms of worship peculiar to her country? |