Antony and Cleopatra
by
William Shakespeare [Collins edition]
Part 2 out of 4
CLEOPATRA.
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!
CHARMIAN.
He is afear'd to come.
CLEOPATRA.
I will not hurt him.
[Exit CHARMIAN.]
These hands do lack nobility, that they strike
A meaner than myself; since I myself
Have given myself the cause.
[Re-enter CHARMIAN 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.
MESSENGER.
I have done my duty.
CLEOPATRA.
Is he married?
I cannot hate thee worser than I do
If thou again say 'Yes.'
MESSENGER.
He's married, madam.
CLEOPATRA.
The gods confound thee! dost thou hold there still!
MESSENGER.
Should I lie, madam?
CLEOPATRA.
O, I would thou didst,
So half my Egypt were submerg'd, and made
A cistern for scal'd snakes! Go, get thee hence:
Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me
Thou wouldst appear most ugly. He is married?
MESSENGER.
I crave your highness' pardon.
CLEOPATRA.
He is married?
MESSENGER.
Take no offence that I would not offend you:
To punish me for what you make me do
Seems much unequal: he's married to Octavia.
CLEOPATRA.
O, that his fault should make a knave of thee
That art not what tho'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.]
CHARMIAN.
Good your highness, patience.
CLEOPATRA.
In praising Antony I have disprais'd Caesar.
CHARMIAN.
Many times, madam.
CLEOPATRA.
I am paid for't now.
Lead me from hence;
I faint:--O Iras, Charmian!--'tis no matter.--
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,
T'other way he'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 Misenum.
[Flourish. Enter POMPEY and MENAS at one side, with drum and
trumpet; at the other, CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, ENOBARBUS,
MAECENAS, with Soldiers marching.]
POMPEY.
Your hostages I have, so have you mine;
And we shall talk before we fight.
CAESAR.
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
If 'twill tie up thy discontented sword,
And carry back to Sicily much tall youth
That else must perish here.
POMPEY.
To you all three,
The senators alone of this great world,
Chief factors for the gods,--I do not know
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 mov'd 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 burden
The anger'd ocean foams; with which I meant
To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome
Cast on my noble father.
CAESAR.
Take your time.
ANTONY.
Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails;
We'll speak with thee at sea: at land thou know'st
How much we do o'er-count thee.
POMPEY.
At land, indeed,
Thou dost o'er-count me of my father's house:
But, since the cuckoo builds not for himself,
Remain in't as thou mayst.
LEPIDUS.
Be pleas'd to tell us,--
For this is from the present,--how you take
The offers we have sent you.
CAESAR.
There's the point.
ANTONY.
Which do not be entreated to, but weigh
What it is worth embrac'd.
CAESAR.
And what may follow,
To try a larger fortune.
POMPEY.
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.
CAESAR, ANTONY, and LEPIDUS.
That's our offer.
POMPEY.
Know, then,
I came before you here a man prepar'd
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.
ANTONY.
I have heard it, Pompey,
And am well studied for a liberal thanks
Which I do owe you.
POMPEY.
Let me have your hand:
I did not think, sir, to have met you here.
ANTONY.
The beds i' the East are soft; and, thanks to you,
That call'd me, timelier than my purpose, hither;
For I have gained by it.
CAESAR.
Since I saw you last
There is a change upon you.
POMPEY.
Well, I know not
What counts harsh fortune casts upon my face;
But in my bosom shall she never come
To make my heart her vassal.
LEPIDUS.
Well met here.
POMPEY.
I hope so, Lepidus.--Thus we are agreed:
I crave our composition may be written,
And seal'd between us.
CAESAR.
That's the next to do.
POMPEY.
We'll feast each other ere we part; and let's
Draw lots who shall begin.
ANTONY.
That will I, Pompey.
POMPEY.
No, Antony, take the lot: but, first
Or last, your fine Egyptian cookery
Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Caesar
Grew fat with feasting there.
ANTONY.
You have heard much.
POMPEY.
I have fair meanings, sir.
ANTONY.
And fair words to them.
POMPEY.
Then so much have I heard;
And I have heard Apollodorus carried,--
ENOBARBUS.
No more of that:--he did so.
POMPEY.
What, I pray you?
ENOBARBUS.
A certain queen to Caesar in a mattress.
POMPEY.
I know thee now: how far'st thou, soldier?
ENOBARBUS.
Well;
And well am like to do; for I perceive
Four feasts are toward.
POMPEY.
Let me shake thy hand;
I never hated thee: I have seen thee fight,
When I have envied thy behaviour.
ENOBARBUS.
Sir,
I never lov'd you much; but I ha' prais'd ye
When you have well deserv'd ten times as much
As I have said you did.
POMPEY.
Enjoy thy plainness;
It nothing ill becomes thee.--
Aboard my galley I invite you all:
Will you lead, lords?
CAESAR, ANTONY, and LEPIDUS.
Show's the way, sir.
POMPEY.
Come.
[Exeunt all but ENOBARBUS and MENAS.]
MENAS.
[Aside.] Thy father, Pompey, would ne'er have made this treaty.--
You and I have known, sir.
ENOBARBUS.
At sea, I think.
MENAS.
We have, sir.
ENOBARBUS.
You have done well by water.
MENAS.
And you by land.
ENOBARBUS.
I will praise any man that will praise me; though it cannot be
denied what I have done by land.
MENAS.
Nor what I have done by water.
ENOBARBUS.
Yes, something you can deny for your own safety: you have been a
great thief by sea.
MENAS.
And you by land.
ENOBARBUS.
There I deny my land service. But give me your hand, Menas: if
our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing.
MENAS.
All men's faces are true, whatsome'er their hands are.
ENOBARBUS.
But there is never a fair woman has a true face.
MENAS.
No slander; they steal hearts.
ENOBARBUS.
We came hither to fight with you.
MENAS.
For my part, I am sorry it is turn'd to a drinking. Pompey doth
this day laugh away his fortune.
ENOBARBUS.
If he do, sure he cannot weep it back again.
MENAS.
You have said, sir. We look'd not for Mark Antony here: pray you,
is he married to Cleopatra?
ENOBARBUS.
Caesar's sister is called Octavia.
MENAS.
True, sir; she was the wife of Caius Marcellus.
ENOBARBUS.
But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius.
MENAS.
Pray you, sir?
ENOBARBUS.
'Tis true.
MENAS.
Then is Caesar and he for ever knit together.
ENOBARBUS.
If I were bound to divine of this unity, I would not prophesy so.
MENAS.
I think the policy of that purpose made more in the marriage than
the love of the parties.
ENOBARBUS.
I think so too. But you shall find the band that seems to tie
their friendship together will be the very strangler of their
amity: Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conversation.
MENAS.
Who would not have his wife so?
ENOBARBUS.
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 immediate author of their
variance. Antony will use his affection where it is: he married
but his occasion here.
MENAS.
And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard? I have a health
for you.
ENOBARBUS.
I shall take it, sir: we have used our throats in Egypt.
MENAS.
Come, let's away.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE VII. On board POMPEY'S Galley, lying near Misenum.
[Music. Enter two or three SERVANTS with a banquet.]
FIRST SERVANT.
Here they'll be, man. Some o' their plants are ill-rooted
already; the least wind i' the world will blow them down.
SECOND SERVANT.
Lepidus is high-coloured.
FIRST SERVANT.
They have made him drink alms-drink.
SECOND SERVANT.
As they pinch one another by the disposition, he cries out 'no
more'; reconciles them to his entreaty and himself to the drink.
FIRST SERVANT.
But it raises the greater war between him and his discretion.
SECOND SERVANT.
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 partizan I
could not heave.
FIRST SERVANT.
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 CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, POMPEY,
AGRIPPA, MAECENAS, ENOBARBUS, MENAS, with other Captains.]
ANTONY.
[To CAESAR.] 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
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.
LEPIDUS.
You've strange serpents there.
ANTONY.
Ay, Lepidus.
LEPIDUS.
Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of
your sun: so is your crocodile.
ANTONY.
They are so.
POMPEY.
Sit --and some wine!--A health to Lepidus!
LEPIDUS.
I am not so well as I should be, but I'll ne'er out.
ENOBARBUS.
Not till you have slept; I fear me you'll be in till then.
LEPIDUS.
Nay, certainly, I have heard the Ptolemies' pyramises are very
goodly things; without contradiction I have heard that.
MENAS.
[Aside to POMPEY.] Pompey, a word.
POMPEY.
[Aside to MENAS.] Say in mine ear: what is't?
MENAS.
[Aside to POMPEY.] Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee, captain,
And hear me speak a word.
POMPEY.
[Aside to MENAS.] Forbear me till ano.n--
This wine for Lepidus!
LEPIDUS.
What manner o' thing is your crocodile?
ANTONY.
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.
LEPIDUS.
What colour is it of?
ANTONY.
Of its own colour too.
LEPIDUS.
'Tis a strange serpent.
ANTONY.
'Tis so. And the tears of it are wet.
CAESAR.
Will this description satisfy him?
ANTONY.
With the health that Pompey gives him, else he is a very epicure.
POMPEY.
[Aside to MENAS.] Go, hang, sir, hang! Tell me of that! away!
Do as I bid you.--Where's this cup I call'd for?
MENAS.
[Aside to POMPEY.] If for the sake of merit thou wilt hear me,
Rise from thy stool.
POMPEY.
[Aside to MENAS.] I think thou'rt mad.
[Rises and walks aside.]
The matter?
MENAS.
I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes.
POMPEY.
Thou hast serv'd me with much faith.
What's else to say?--
Be jolly, lords.
ANTONY.
These quicksands, Lepidus,
Keep off them, for you sink.
MENAS.
Wilt thou be lord of all the world?
POMPEY.
What say'st thou?
MENAS.
Wilt thou be lord of the whole world?
That's twice.
POMPEY.
How should that be?
MENAS.
But entertain it,
And though you think me poor, I am the man
Will give thee all the world.
POMPEY.
Hast thou drunk well?
MENAS.
No, Pompey, I have kept me from the cup.
Thou art, if thou dar'st be, the earthly Jove:
Whate'er the ocean pales or sky inclips
Is thine, if thou wilt have't.
POMPEY.
Show me which way.
MENAS.
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:
All then is thine.
POMPEY.
Ah, this thou shouldst have done,
And not have spoke on't! In me 'tis villainy:
In thee't had been good service. Thou must know
'Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour:
Mine honour it. Repent that e'er thy tongue
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.
MENAS.
[Aside.] For this,
I'll never follow thy pall'd fortunes more.
Who seeks, and will not take when once 'tis offer'd,
Shall never find it more.
POMPEY.
This health to Lepidus!
ANTONY.
Bear him ashore. I'll pledge it for him, Pompey.
ENOBARBUS.
Here's to thee, Menas!
MENAS.
Enobarbus, welcome!
POMPEY.
Fill till the cup be hid.
ENOBARBUS.
There's a strong fellow, Menas.
[Pointing to the servant who carries off LEPIDUS.]
MENAS.
Why?
ENOBARBUS.
'A bears the third part of the world, man; see'st not?
MENAS.
The third part, then, is drunk; would it were all,
That it might go on wheels!
ENOBARBUS.
Drink thou; increase the reels.
MENAS.
Come.
POMPEY.
This is not yet an Alexandrian feast.
ANTONY.
It ripens towards it.--Strike the vessels, ho!--
Here is to Caesar!
CAESAR.
I could well forbear't.
It's monstrous labour when I wash my brain
And it grows fouler.
ANTONY.
Be a child o' the time.
CAESAR.
Possess it, I'll make answer:
But I had rather fast from all four days
Than drink so much in one.
ENOBARBUS.
[To ANTONY.] Ha, my brave emperor!
Shall we dance now the Egyptian Bacchanals
And celebrate our drink?
POMPEY.
Let's ha't, good soldier.
ANTONY.
Come, let's all take hands,
Till that the conquering wine hath steep'd our sense
In soft and delicate Lethe.
ENOBARBUS.
All take hands.--
Make battery to our ears with the loud music:--
The while I'll place you: then the boy shall sing;
The holding every man shall bear as loud
As his strong sides can volley.
[Music plays. ENOBARBUS places them hand in hand.]
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:
Cup us, till the world go round,
Cup us, till the world go round!
CAESAR.
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 Enobarb
Is weaker than the wine; and mine own tongue
Splits what it speaks: the wild disguise hath almost
Antick'd us all. What needs more words. Good night.--
Good Antony, your hand.
POMPEY.
I'll try you on the shore.
ANTONY.
And shall, sir: give's your hand.
POMPEY.
O Antony,
You have my father's house,--but, what? we are friends.
Come, down into the boat.
ENOBARBUS.
Take heed you fall not.
[Exeunt POMPEY, CAESAR, ANTONY, and Attendants.]
Menas, I'll not on shore.
MENAS.
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!
[A flourish of trumpets, with drums.]
ENOBARBUS.
Hoo! says 'a.--There's my cap.
MENAS.
Hoo!--noble captain, come.
[Exeunt.]
ACT III.
SCENE I. A plain in Syria.
[Enter VENTIDIUS, in triumph, with SILIUS and other Romans,
Officers and Soldiers; the dead body of PACORUS borne in front.]
VENTIDIUS.
Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck; and now
Pleas'd fortune does of Marcus Crassus' death
Make me revenger.--Bear the king's son's body
Before our army.--Thy Pacorus, Orodes,
Pays this for Marcus Crassus.
SILIUS.
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
Put garlands on thy head.
VENTIDIUS.
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 achiev'd by the minute, lost his favour.
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.
SILIUS.
Thou hast, Ventidius, that
Without the which a soldier and his sword
Grants scarce distinction. Thou wilt write to Antony?
VENTIDIUS.
I'll humbly signify 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 horse of Parthia
We have jaded out o' the field.
SILIUS.
Where is he now?
VENTIDIUS.
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. An Ante-chamber in CAESAR'S house.
[Enter AGRIPPA and ENOBARBUS, meeting.]
AGRIPPA.
What, are the brothers parted?
ENOBARBUS.
They have despatch'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 Menas says, is troubled
With the green sickness.
AGRIPPA.
'Tis a noble Lepidus.
ENOBARBUS.
A very fine one: O, how he loves Caesar!
AGRIPPA.
Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony!
ENOBARBUS.
Caesar? Why he's the Jupiter of men.
AGRIPPA.
What's Antony? The god of Jupiter.
ENOBARBUS.
Spake you of Caesar? How! the nonpareil!
AGRIPPA.
O, Antony! O thou Arabian bird!
ENOBARBUS.
Would you praise Caesar, say 'Caesar'--go no further.
AGRIPPA.
Indeed, he plied them both with excellent praises.
ENOBARBUS.
But he loves Caesar best;--yet he loves Antony:
Hoo! hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets, cannot
Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number--hoo!--
His love to Antony. But as for Caesar,
Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.
AGRIPPA.
Both he loves.
ENOBARBUS.
They are his shards, and he their beetle.
[Trumpets within.]
So,--
This is to horse.--Adieu, noble Agrippa.
AGRIPPA.
Good fortune, worthy soldier; and farewell.
[Enter CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and OCTAVIA.]
ANTONY.
No further, sir.
CAESAR.
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 furthest 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
The fortress of it; for better might we
Have lov'd without this mean if on both parts
This be not cherish'd.
ANTONY.
Make me not offended
In your distrust.
CAESAR.
I have said.
ANTONY.
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.
CAESAR.
Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well:
The elements be kind to thee, and make
Thy spirits all of comfort! Fare thee well.
OCTAVIA.
My noble brother!--
ANTONY.
The April's in her eyes: it is love's spring,
And these the showers to bring it on.--Be cheerful.
OCTAVIA.
Sir, look well to my husband's house; and--
CAESAR.
What,
Octavia?
OCTAVIA.
I'll tell you in your ear.
ANTONY.
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 the full of tide,
And neither way inclines.
ENOBARBUS.
[Aside to AGRIPPA.] Will Caesar weep?
AGRIPPA.
[Aside to ENOBARBUS.] He has a cloud in's face.
ENOBARBUS.
[Aside to AGRIPPA.] He were the worse for that, were he a horse;
So is he, being a man.
AGRIPPA.
[Aside to ENOBARBUS.] Why, Enobarbus,
When Antony found Julius Caesar dead,
He cried almost to roaring; and he wept
When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.
ENOBARBUS.
[Aside to AGRIPPA.] That year, indeed, he was troubled with a
rheum;
What willingly he did confound he wail'd:
Believe't till I weep too.
CAESAR.
No, sweet Octavia,
You shall hear from me still; the time shall not
Out-go my thinking on you.
ANTONY.
Come, sir, come;
I'll wrestle with you in my strength of love:
Look, here I have you; thus I let you go,
And give you to the gods.
CAESAR.
Adieu; be happy!
LEPIDUS.
Let all the number of the stars give light
To thy fair way!
CAESAR.
Farewell, farewell!
[Kisses OCTAVIA.]
ANTONY.
Farewell!
[Trumpets sound within. Exeunt.]
SCENE III. Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.
[Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS.]
CLEOPATRA.
Where is the fellow?
ALEXAS.
Half afear'd to come.
CLEOPATRA.
Go to, go to.
[Enter a Messenger.]
Come hither, sir.
ALEXAS.
Good majesty,
Herod of Jewry dare not look upon you
But when you are well pleas'd.
CLEOPATRA.
That Herod's head
I'll have: but how? when Antony is gone,
Through whom I might command it?--Come thou near.
MESSENGER.
Most gracious majesty,--
CLEOPATRA.
Didst thou behold Octavia?
MESSENGER.
Ay, dread queen.
CLEOPATRA.
Where?
MESSENGER.
Madam, in Rome
I look'd her in the face, and saw her led
Between her brother and Mark Antony.
CLEOPATRA.
Is she as tall as me?
MESSENGER.
She is not, madam.
CLEOPATRA.
Didst hear her speak? is she shrill-tongu'd or low?
MESSENGER.
Madam, I heard her speak: she is low-voic'd.
CLEOPATRA.
That's not so good:--he cannot like her long.
CHARMIAN.
Like her! O Isis! 'tis impossible.
CLEOPATRA.
I think so, Charmian: dull of tongue and dwarfish!--
What majesty is in her gait? Remember,
If e'er thou look'dst on majesty.
MESSENGER.
She creeps,--
Her motion and her station are as one;
She shows a body rather than a life,
A statue than a breather.
CLEOPATRA.
Is this certain?
MESSENGER.
Or I have no observance.
CHARMIAN.
Three in Egypt
Cannot make better note.
CLEOPATRA.
He's very knowing;
I do perceive't:--there's nothing in her yet:--
The fellow has good judgment.
CHARMIAN.
Excellent.
CLEOPATRA.
Guess at her years, I pr'ythee.
MESSENGER.
Madam,
She was a widow.
CLEOPATRA.
Widow!--Charmian, hark!
MESSENGER.
And I do think she's thirty.
CLEOPATRA.
Bear'st thou her face in mind? is't long or round?
MESSENGER.
Round even to faultiness.
CLEOPATRA.
For the most part, too, they are foolish that are so.--
Her hair, what colour?
MESSENGER.
Brown, madam: and her forehead
As low as she would wish it.
CLEOPATRA.
There's gold for thee.
Thou must not take my former sharpness ill:--
I will employ thee back again; I find thee
Most fit for business:--go make thee ready;
Our letters are prepar'd.
[Exit Messenger.]
CHARMIAN.
A proper man.
CLEOPATRA.
Indeed, he is so: I repent me much
That so I harried him. Why, methinks, by him,
This creature's no such thing.
CHARMIAN.
Nothing, madam.
CLEOPATRA.
The man hath seen some majesty, and should know.
CHARMIAN.
Hath he seen majesty? Isis else defend,
And serving you so long!
CLEOPATRA.
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.
CHARMIAN.
I warrant you, madam.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE IV. Athens. A Room in ANTONY'S House.
[Enter ANTONY and OCTAVIA.]
ANTONY.
Nay, nay, Octavia, not only that,--
That were excusable, that and thousands more
Of semblable import--but he hath wag'd
New wars 'gainst Pompey; made his will, and read it
To public ear:
Spoke scandy 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.
OCTAVIA.
O my good lord,
Believe not all; or if you must believe,
Stomach not all. A more unhappy lady,
If this division chance, ne'er stood between,
Praying for both parts:
Sure 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 mid-way
'Twixt these extremes at all.
ANTONY.
Gentle Octavia,
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 meantime, lady,
I'll raise the preparation of a war
Shall stain your brother: make your soonest haste;
So your desires are yours.
OCTAVIA.
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
Should solder up the rift.
ANTONY.
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.]
SCENE V. Athens. Another Room in ANTONY'S House.
[Enter ENOBARBUS and EROS, meeting.]
ENOBARBUS.
How now, friend Eros!
EROS.
There's strange news come, sir.
ENOBARBUS.
What, man?
EROS.
Caesar and Lepidus have made wars upon Pompey.
ENOBARBUS.
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 letters
he had formerly wrote to Pompey; upon his own appeal, seizes him:
so the poor third is up, till death enlarge his confine.
ENOBARBUS.
Then, world, thou hast a pair of chaps, no more;
And throw between them all the food thou hast,
They'll 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.
ENOBARBUS.
Our great navy's rigg'd.
EROS.
For Italy and Caesar. More, Domitius;
My lord desires you presently: my news
I might have told hereafter.
ENOBARBUS.
'Twill be naught;
But let it be.--Bring me to Antony.
EROS.
Come, sir.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE VI. Rome. A Room in CAESAR'S House.
[Enter CAESAR, AGRIPPA, and MAECENAS.]
CAESAR.
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 enthron'd: at the feet sat
Caesarion, 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,
Absolute queen.
MAECENAS.
This in the public eye?
CAESAR.
I' 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, Cilicia, and Phoenicia: she
In the habiliments of the goddess Isis
That day appear'd; and oft before gave audience,
As 'tis reported, so.
MAECENAS.
Let Rome be thus
Inform'd.
AGRIPPA.
Who, queasy with his insolence
Already, will their good thoughts call from him.
CAESAR.
The people knows it: and have now receiv'd
His accusations.
AGRIPPA.
Who does he accuse?
CAESAR.
Caesar: and that, having in Sicily
Sextus Pompeius spoil'd, we had not rated him
His part o' the isle: then does he say he lent me
Some shipping, unrestor'd: lastly, he frets
That Lepidus of the triumvirate
Should be depos'd; and, being, that we detain
All his revenue.
AGRIPPA.
Sir, this should be answer'd.
CAESAR.
'Tis done already, and messenger gone.
I have told him Lepidus was grown too cruel;
That he his high authority abus'd,
And did deserve his change: for what I have conquer'd
I grant him part; but then, in his Armenia
And other of his conquer'd kingdoms, I
Demand the like.
MAECENAS.
He'll never yield to that.
CAESAR.
Nor must not then be yielded to in this.
[Enter OCTAVIA, with her train.]
OCTAVIA.
Hail, Caesar, and my lord! hail, most dear Caesar!
CAESAR.
That ever I should call thee castaway!
OCTAVIA.
You have not call'd me so, nor have you cause.
CAESAR.
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 tell 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,
Rais'd by your populous troops: but you are come
A market-maid to Rome; and have prevented
The ostentation of our love, which left unshown
Is often left unlov'd; we should have met you
By sea and land; supplying every stage
With an augmented greeting.
OCTAVIA.
Good my lord,
To come thus was I not constrain'd, but did it
On my free will. My lord, Mark Antony,
Hearing that you prepar'd for war, acquainted
My grieved ear withal: whereon I begg'd
His pardon for return.
CAESAR.
Which soon he granted,
Being an obstruct 'tween his lust and him.
OCTAVIA.
Do not say so, my lord.
CAESAR.
I have eyes upon him,
And his affairs come to me on the wind.
Where is he now?
OCTAVIA.
My lord, in Athens.
CAESAR.
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' theearth for war: he hath assembled
Bocchus, the king of Libya; Archelaus
Of Cappadocia; Philadelphos, king
Of Paphlagonia; the Thracian king, Adallas;
King Manchus of Arabia; King of Pont;
Herod of Jewry; Mithridates, king
Of Comagene; Polemon and Amyntas,
The kings of Mede and Lycaonia, with
More larger list of sceptres.
OCTAVIA.
Ay me, most wretched,
That have my heart parted betwixt two friends,
That do afflict each other!
CAESAR.
Welcome hither:
Your letters did withhold our breaking forth,
Till we perceiv'd both how you were wrong led
And we in negligent danger. Cheer your heart:
Be you not troubled with the time, which drives
O'er your content these strong necessities;
But let determin'd things to destiny
Hold unbewail'd their way. Welcome to Rome;
Nothing more dear to me. You are abus'd
Beyond the mark of thought: and the high gods,
To do you justice, make their ministers
Of us and those that love you. Best of comfort;
And ever welcome to us.
AGRIPPA.
Welcome, lady.
MAECENAS.
Welcome, dear madam.
Each heart in Rome does love and pity you:
Only theadulterous Antony, most large
In his abominations, turns you off,
And gives his potent regiment to a trull
That noises it against us.
OCTAVIA.
Is it so, sir?
CAESAR.
Most certain. Sister, welcome: pray you
Be ever known to patience: my dear'st sister!
[Exeunt.]
SCENE VII. ANTONY'S Camp near the Promontory of Actium.
[Enter CLEOPATRA and ENOBARBUS.]
CLEOPATRA.
I will be even with thee, doubt it not.
ENOBARBUS.
But why, why, why?
CLEOPATRA.
Thou hast forspoke my being in these wars,
And say'st it is not fit.
ENOBARBUS.
Well, is it, is it?
CLEOPATRA.
If not denounc'd against us, why should not we
Be there in person?
ENOBARBUS.
[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.
CLEOPATRA.
What is't you say?
ENOBARBUS.
Your presence needs must puzzle Antony;
Take from his heart, take from his brain, from's time,
What should not then be spar'd. He is already
Traduc'd for levity: and 'tis said in Rome
That Photinus an eunuch and your maids
Manage this war.
CLEOPATRA.
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.
ENOBARBUS.
Nay, I have done.
Here comes the emperor.
[Enter ANTONY and CANIDIUS.]
ANTONY.
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?
CLEOPATRA.
Celerity is never more admir'd
Than by the negligent.
ANTONY.
A good rebuke,
Which might have well becom'd the best of men
To taunt at slackness.--Canidius, we
Will fight with him by sea.
CLEOPATRA.
By sea! what else?
CANIDIUS.
Why will my lord do so?
ANTONY.
For that he dares us to't.
ENOBARBUS.
So hath my lord dar'd him to single fight.
CANIDIUS.
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.
ENOBARBUS.
Your ships are not well mann'd:
Your mariners are muleteers, 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 prepar'd for land.
ANTONY.
By sea, by sea.
ENOBARBUS.
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.
ANTONY.
I'll fight at sea.
CLEOPATRA.
I have sixty sails, Caesar none better.
ANTONY.
Our overplus of shipping will we burn;
And, with the rest full-mann'd, from the head of Actium
Beat the approaching Caesar. But if we fail,
We then can do't at land.
[Enter a Messenger.]
Thy business?
MESSENGER.
The news is true, my lord: he is descried;
Caesar has taken Toryne.
ANTONY.
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'll to our ship:
Away, my Thetis!
[Enter a SOLDIER.]
How now, worthy soldier?
SOLDIER.
O noble emperor, do not fight by sea;
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 us'd to conquer standing on the earth
And fighting foot to foot.
ANTONY.
Well, well:--away.
[Exeunt ANTONY, CLEOPATRA, and ENOBARBUS.]
SOLDIER.
By Hercules, I think I am i' the right.
CANIDIUS.
Soldier, thou art: but his whole action grows
Not in the power on't: so our leader's led,
And we are women's men.
SOLDIER.
You keep by land
The legions and the horse whole, do you not?
CANIDIUS.
Marcus Octavius, Marcus Justeius,
Publicola, and Caelius are for sea:
But we keep whole by land. This speed of Caesar's
Carries beyond belief.
SOLDIER.
While he was yet in Rome
His power went out in such distractions as
Beguil'd all spies.
CANIDIUS.
Who's his lieutenant, hear you?
SOLDIER.
They say one Taurus.
CANIDIUS.
Well I know the man.
[Enter a Messenger.]
MESSENGER.
The Emperor calls Canidius.
CANIDIUS.
With news the time's with labour; and throes forth
Each minute some.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE VIII. A plain near Actium.
[Enter CAESAR, TAURUS, Officers, and others.]
CAESAR.
Taurus,--
TAURUS.
My lord?
CAESAR.
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 ENOBARBUS.]
ANTONY.
Set we our squadrons on yon side o' the hill,
In eye of Caesar's battle; from which place
We may the number of the ships behold,
And so proceed accordingly.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE X. Another part of the Plain.
[Enter CANIDIUS, marching with his land Army one way; and
TAURUS, the Lieutenant of CAESAR, with his Army, the other way.
After their going in, is heard the noise of a sea-fight.]
[Alarum. Enter ENOBARBUS.]
ENOBARBUS.
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 SCARUS.]
SCARUS.
Gods and goddesses,
All the whole synod of them!
ENOBARBUS.
What's thy passion?
SCARUS.
The greater cantle of the world is lost
With very ignorance; we have kiss'd away
Kingdoms and provinces.
ENOBARBUS.
How appears the fight?
SCARUS.
On our side like the token'd pestilence,
Where death is sure. Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt,--
Whom leprosy o'ertake!--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.
ENOBARBUS.
That I beheld:
Mine eyes did sicken at the sight, and could not
Endure a further view.
SCARUS.
She once being loof'd,
The noble ruin of her magic, Antony,
Claps on his sea-wing, and, like a doting mallard,
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.
ENOBARBUS.
Alack, alack!
[Enter CANIDIUS.]
CANIDIUS.
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!
ENOBARBUS.
Ay, are you thereabouts?
Why, then, good night indeed.
CANIDIUS.
Toward Peloponnesus are they fled.
SCARUS.
'Tis easy to't; and there I will attend
What further comes.
CANIDIUS.
To Caesar will I render
My legions and my horse; six kings already
Show me the way of yielding.
ENOBARBUS.
I'll yet follow
The wounded chance of Antony, though my reason
Sits in the wind against me.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE XI. Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.
[Enter ANTONY and attendants.]
ANTONY.
Hark! the land bids me tread no more upon't;--
It is asham'd to bear me.--Friends, come hither:
I am so lated in the world that I
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.
ANTONY.
I have fled myself, and have instructed cowards
To run and show their shoulders.--Friends, be gone;
I have myself resolv'd upon a course
Which has no need of you; be gone;
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:
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'll 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.
CHARMIAN.
Do! why, what else?
CLEOPATRA.
Let me sit down. O Juno!
ANTONY.
No, no, no, no, no.
EROS.
See you here, sir?
ANTONY.
O, fie, fie, fie!
CHARMIAN.
Madam,--
IRAS.
Madam, O good empress,--
EROS.
Sir, sir,--
ANTONY.
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.
CLEOPATRA.
Ah, stand by.
EROS.
The queen, my lord, the queen!
IRAS.
Go to him, madam, speak to him:
He is unqualitied with very shame.
CLEOPATRA.
Well then,--sustain me.--O!
EROS.
Most noble sir, arise; the queen approaches:
Her head's declin'd, and death will seize her, but
Your comfort makes the rescue.
ANTONY.
I have offended reputation,--
A most unnoble swerving.
EROS.
Sir, the queen.
ANTONY.
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.
CLEOPATRA.
O my lord, my lord,
Forgive my fearful sails! I little thought
You would have follow'd.
ANTONY.
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
Command me.
CLEOPATRA.
O, my pardon!
ANTONY.
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 pleas'd,
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.
CLEOPATRA.
Pardon, pardon!
ANTONY.
Fall not a tear, I say; one of them rates
All that is won and lost: give me a kiss;
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 XII. CAESAR'S camp in Egypt.
[Enter CAESAR, DOLABELLA, THYREUS, with others.]
CAESAR.
Let him appear that's come from Antony.--
Know you him?
DOLABELLA.
Caesar, 'tis his schoolmaster:
An argument that he is pluck'd, when hither
He sends so poor a pinion of his wing,
Which had superfluous kings for messengers
Not many moons gone by.
[Enter EUPHRONIUS.]
CAESAR.
Approach, and speak.
EUPHRONIUS.
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.
CAESAR.
Be't so: declare thine office.
EUPHRONIUS.
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.
CAESAR.
For Antony,
I have no ears to his request. The queen
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.
EUPHRONIUS.
Fortune pursue thee!
CAESAR.
Bring him through the bands.
[Exit EUPHRONIUS.]
[To THYREUS.] To try thy eloquence, now 'tis time. Despatch;
From Antony win Cleopatra. Promise,
And in our name, what she requires; add more,
From thine invention, offers: women are not
In their best fortunes strong; but want will perjure
The ne'er-touch'd vestal: try thy cunning, Thyreus;
Make thine own edict for thy pains, which we
Will answer as a law.
THYREUS.
Caesar, I go.
CAESAR.
Observe how Antony becomes his flaw,
And what thou think'st his very action speaks
In every power that moves.
THYREUS.
Caesar, I shall.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE XIII. Alexandria. A Room in the Palace.
[Enter CLEOPATRA, ENOBARBUS, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.]
CLEOPATRA.
What shall we do, Enobarbus?
ENOBARBUS.
Think, and die.
CLEOPATRA.
Is Antony or we in fault for this?
ENOBARBUS.
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 oppos'd, he being
The mered question; 'twas a shame no less
Than was his loss, to course your flying flags
And leave his navy gazing.
CLEOPATRA.
Pr'ythee, peace.
[Enter ANTONY, with EUPHRONIUS.]
ANTONY.
Is that his answer?
EUPHRONIUS.
Ay, my lord.
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