SCENE X.

Between the two Camps.

Enter ANTONY, and SCARUS, with forces, marching. Ant. Their preparation is to-day by sea;

We please them not by land.

Scar. For both, my lord.

Ant. I would, they'd fight i' the fire, or in the air ;
We'd fight there too. But this it is; Our foot
Upon the hills adjoining to the city,
Shall ftay with us: order for fea is given;
They have put forth the haven: Let's féek a spot,
Where their appointment we may best discover,
And look on their endeavour'.

[Exeunt.

Enter CESAR, and his forces, marching.
Caf. But being charg'd, we will be ftill by land,
Which, as I take it, we fhall"; for his best force
Is forth to man his gallies. To the vales,
And hold our beft advantage.

Re-enter ANTONY, and SCARUS.

[Exeunt.

-Ant. Yet they are not join'd: Where yond' pine does

ftand,

I fhall difcover all: I'll bring thee word

Straight, how 'tis like to go.

Scar. Swallows have built

In Cleopatra's fails their nefts: the

augurers

[Exit.

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 fea fight.

Ant. All is loft;

Re-enter ANTONY.

This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me :

My

* i. e. where we may best discover their numbers, and fee their motions. 2 i. e. unless we be charged, we will remain quiet at land, which quiet I fuppofe we shall keep. But being charged was a phrase of that time, equivalent to unless we be.

My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder
They caft their caps up, and caroufe together
Like friends long loft.-Triple-turn'd whore! 'tis thou
Haft fold 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 SCAR.
O fun, thy uprise fhall I fee 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 difcandy, melt their sweets
On bloffoming Cæfar; and this pine is bark'd,
That over-topp'd them all. Betray'd I am :
O this falfe foul of Egypt! this grave charm,-

Whofe eye beck'd forth my wars, and call'd them home;
Whose bofom was my crownet, my chief end,
Like a right gipfy, hath, at fast and loose,

Beguil'd me to the very heart of loss 3.—
What, Erós, Eros!

Enter CLEOPATRA.

Ah, thou fpell! Avaunt.

Cleo. Why is my lord enrag'd against his love?
Ant. Vanish; or I fhall give thee thy deferving,
And blemish Cæfar's triumph. Let him take thee,
And hoift thee up to the fhouting Plebeians:
Follow his chariot, like the greatest spot
Of all thy fex; moft monster-like, be shewn
For poor'ft diminutives, for doits; and let
Patient Octavia plough thy vifage up

With her prepared nails4. [Exit CLEO.] 'Tis well thou'rt gone,

If it be well to live: But better 'twere

Thou fell'ft into my fury; for one death
Might have prevented many.-Eros, ho!-
The thirt of Neffus is upon me: Teach me,
Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage:

3 To the utmoft lofs poffible.

4 i. e. with nails which the fuffered to grew for this purpose. 6

Let

4

Let me lodge Lichas 5 on the horns o'the moon;
And with those hands, that grafp'd the heaviest club,
Subdue my worthieft felf. The witch fhall die;
To the young Roman boy fhe hath fold me, and I fall
Under this plot: fhe dies for't.-Eros, ho!

SCENE XI.

Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.

[Exit.

Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and MARDIAN.
Cleo. Help me, my women! O, he is more mad
Than Telamon for his fhield; the boar of Theffaly
Was never fo emboss'd".

Char. To the monument;

There lock yourself, and fend him word you are dead.
The foul and body rive not more in parting,

Than greatnefs going off.

Cleo. To the monument:

Mardian, go tell him I have flain myself;
Say, that the laft I spoke was, Antony,

And word it, pr'ythee, piteously: Hence, Mardtan;

And bring me how he takes my death.-To the monu[Exeunt.

ment.

SCENE XII.

The fame. Another Room.

Enter ANTONY, and EROS.

Ant. Eros, thou yet behold'st me?

Eros. Ay, noble lord.

Ant. Sometime, we fee a cloud that's dragonish;
A vapour, fometime, like a bear, or lion,

A tower'd citadel, a pendant rock,

A forked mountain, or blue promontory

With

5 The meaning is, Let me do fomething in my rage, becoming the fucceffor of Hercules.

Hercules threw Lichas from the top of mount Ætna into the fea.

6 i. e. than Ajax Telamon for the armour of Achilles, the most valuable part of which was the fhield, The boar of Theffaly was the boar killed by Meleager.

7 A hunting term: when a deer is hard run, and foams at the mouth, he is faid to be imbost.

With trees upon't, that nod unto the world,

And mock our eyes with air: Thou haft feen these figns; They are black vefper's pageants.

Eros. Ay, my lord.

Ant. That, which is now a horse, even with a thought, The rack diflimns 9; and makes it indistinct,

As water is in water.

Eros. It does, my lord.

Ant. My good knave, Eros, now thy captain is Even fuch a body: here I am Antony;

Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave.
I made these wars for Egypt; and the queen,-
Whofe heart, I thought, I had, for fhe had mine;
Which, whilft it was mine, had annex'd unto't
A million more, now loft,-she, Eros, has
Pack'd cards with Cæfar, and falfe play'd my glory
Unto an enemy's triumph.-

Nay, weep not, gentle Eros; there is left us
Ourfelves to end ourfelves.-O, thy vile lady!
Enter MARDIAN.
my fword.

She has robb'd me of

Mar. No, Antony;

My mistress lov'd thee, and her fortunes mingled
With thine entirely.

Ant. Hence, faucy 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 discharg'd: What thou would't do,

Is done unto thy hand; the last she spake

Was, Antony! most noble Antony!

Then in the midst a tearing groan did break

The name of Antony; it was divided

Between her heart and lips: the render'd life,
Thy name fo buried in her.

Ant. Dead then?

VOL. VI.

3 The beauty both of the expreffion and the allufion is loft, unless we recollect the frequency and the nature of these fhewes in Shakspeare's age, T. WARTON.

9 i. e. The fleeting away of the clouds deftroys the picture.

1 Knave is fervant.

Mar. Dead.

Ant. Unarm, Eros; the long day's task is done,
And we must fleep :-That thou depart'ft hence safe,
Does pay thy labour richly; Go.-Off, pluck off;-
[Exit MARDIAN

The feven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep
The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my fides!
Heart, once be ftronger than thy continent,
Crack thy frail cafe!-Apace, Eros, apace.-
No more a foldier:-Bruised pieces, go;
You have been nobly borne.-From me a while.

[Exit ERO!

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 ftray no farther: Now all labour
Marrs what it does; yea, very force entangles
Itself with ftrength: Seal then, and all is done 2.--
Eros! I come, my queen :-Eros !-Stay for me:
Where fouls do couch on flowers, we'll hand in hand,
And with our fprightly port make the ghofts gaze:
Dido and her Eneas fhall want troops,

And all the haunt be ours.-Come, Eros, Eros!
Re-enter EROS.

Eros. What would my lord?

Ant. Since Cleopatra dy'd,

I have liv'd in fuch difhonour, that the gods
Deteft my bafeness. I, that with my sword
Quarter'd the world, and o'er green Neptune's back
With fhips made cities, condemn myself, to lack
The courage of a woman, lefs noble mind
Than fhe, which, by her death, our Cæfar tells,
I am conqueror of myself. Thou art fworn, Eros,
That, when the exigent fhould come, (which now
Is come, indeed,) when I fhould fee behind me
The inevitable profecution of

Disgrace and horror, that, on my command,

Thou

2 Metaphor taken from civil contracts, where, when all is agreed on, the fealing compleats the contract; fo he hath determined to die, and nothing remain'd but to give the stroke.